R/u/n, run, as fast as you c/a/n/

[Birdybot]

Suicune, for whatever reason, was whistling the theme tune for the Great Escape. Fairo was clapping in time to it, and Tsuki was now on friendly turns with Kai, who was clearly in love with him; her purple Espeon eyes shone with admiration as he pointed out various racers and told her which would be good to race against, which not. Mila was following Fairo, grinning at the goings-ons. Sulteron herself split the whistlers from the friends. She was looking between a Ponyta, trying to decide which one she had more chance in winning against as she approached the desk. Unable to decide, she went random.

"Erm, hi. My name's Sulteron. It's my first time, so I not really sure about the rules and everything, but I'd like to race James and his Ponyta, 'Liza. If it's possible, might Suicune race? If that's unfair or something, could I battle with Mizoro, my Tailow?" she asked, smiling politely. Her Pokémon had stopped their antics, and were now behaving very well.

[Crazed Lapras]

The man at the desk smiled at Sulteron. "Of course you may enter. Let me try and explain the rules. You can enter either a single pokemon, or a whole team, and race against the other contenders. So you would race against 'Liza, Flash, and Girafarig. It's pretty much straight forward from that. Whoever crosses the finish line first wins. The only qualification is that you must always be in connection with your pokemon. If that means you ride on its back or in a sled that it pulls, it doesn't matter. We have saddles and sleds you can borrow if you don't have one of your own. The registration fee is $50, and equipment rental is $100. Still wanna run?" He asked, wiggling his eye brows at her. "You could enter your Suicune, of course. We once had a guy who raced a Moltres along side a flock of Pidgeots." He shook his head, remembering the race.

[Birdybot]

Sulteron smiled. "That's brilliant! Right, I'll race against 'Liza, the Ponyta, please. Also, I think I'll go for the saddle." she nodded, handing over the money. Suicune nuzzled her gently, chuckling softly as she tried to image a Moltres pulling along a sled. Once the Water type was saddled up and ready, Sulteron carefully hauled herself into place, pulse racing as she reminded herself that just a few months ago she had been doing homework and worrying about final tests and things. Now, she was riding a legendary! She had come far, in her opinion.

As Suicune lined up his muzzle with the starting line, Sulteron gingerly stroked her fur. "Don't worry if you don't win, Suicune; it's your first time, after all. If there's a problem, just tell me and I'll do my best to sort it out, OK?" she spoke in her ear. She hoped Suicune wouldn't be all disheartened or anything, but that Ponyta looked pretty tough. She leaned forward on Suicune's back to make them more streamlined, like she'd seen professionals do on TV sometimes. Suicune laughed. ~Don't worry, Sulteron. Just hold on tight."[/color] she said back, readying her muscles as she awaited the race's start.[/size]

[Crazed Lapras]

The referee stood at the start line, a brightly colored orange flag in his hand. "Alright racers!" He called. "This race is three laps around the circuit. The first one to cross the finish line on the third lap wins." He paused, letting the tension build before he yelled "On your mark..... get set.... GO!"

As soon as the flag dropped, the other three contestants were off. 'Liza the ponyta immediatly took the lead, though Girafarig was only a few steps behind. Flash the Dodrio seemed to be quarelling between its three heads. His rider looked frustrated as she tried to get them to focus on the race, rather than who's plume was longer. They turned the first end of the oval track and began to sprint the flat plane while the gathered crowd cheered for their favorites.

[Birdybot]

Sulteron had been expecting the opponents to be fast, of course; they were trained that way, after all. However, she was still surprised at the incredible speed at which these Pokémon were able to run at. She was extremely thankful that she had Suicune had her side, or else she feared she'd be trailing far behind. She could feel the wind in her hair, see the track dissolve at Suicune's steady feet... it wasn't about winning or loosing. It was about having fun and experiencing new things.

Suicune was enjoying it too. Her rapid paws kept her close. To her, she had no idea who would win the race but she had a feeling that if Dodrio kept on with the distraction and arguements, rather than working together, they might not win. The Ponyta, 'Liza, however... Suicune was impressed. She reckoned some of the pack might have the same pace as the Fire type. However, the wolf was enjoying this. She noticed that she hadn't been concentrating, for she had slipped back a lot. Shaking her head, a grin crossed her face as she raced after the Girafarig and Ponyta.

[Crazed Lapras]

Girafarig's rider threw Sulteron and Suicune a calculating look as they drew even with his pokemon. He did a double take as he really noticed what kind of pokemon Suicune was, a move that cost him several second and allowed the wolf to gain even more ground on them. He gritted his teeth as the racers rounded the next corner.

The ponyta seemed oblivious to everything, she was so enthralled in the race. If one could read her face, it looked as though she lived to run. But even with her enthusiasm, Sulteron was gaining on her. Hearing the heavy yet steady thump of large feet, the fire-type cast a glance back and noticed Suicune at her flank. Her brow furrowed and she kicked up her heels in a burst of speed, trying to put a safe distance between the two of them. Meanwhile, Dodrio seemed to have finally realized what was going on, and was quickly making up lost ground while Girafarig kept a few paces behind Suicune.

[Birdybot]

Sulteron glanced behind her, seeing that the Dodrio had pulled itself together and was now making up distance while Girafarig kept the steady pace. She could see the line ahead which would mark the end of the first lap, and face a decition. Should she urge Suicune to sprint to get ahead, then risk her becoming tired out later? Or should she stick to the same pace and hope that the other Pokémon would become tired? She whispered this situation to Suicune.

The wolf laughed. ~Oh, don't worry. We've only got two more laps to go and I'm sure I won't get too tired.~[/color] she told Sulteron. Without waiting for further coment, she sprinted ahead. As they crossed the line stating one lap was completed, she and 'Liza were neck and neck. Suicune kept running at that new pace for a bit, waiting to see 'Liza's next actions.

Meanwhile, on the sidelines watching, Mila the Riolu had found out how to open Sulteron's backpack. Fairo noticed just in time as a glinting heart-shaped scale designed to evolve Riolu and such showed. He tried to pull Mila away, but was too late. The Riolu had grabbed the Heart Scale, not knowing what it was, and began to glow. Oh, dear. Soon a Lucario was blinking in surprise, sitting before an open bag. ~........cool.~[/color] he finally said after a long pause. Fairo sighed. The others stared. Kai, however, stepped up. ~Mila, we're only on level one, much lower than the others. Why don't we find Sulteron's Rare Candies?~[/color] she suggested. Mila nodded, grinning. After a little searching, they found a pocket containing a huge mound of the sweets. They each stuffed seven in their mouths, swallowing. They grinned. They were at level eight, the same as all the others. The other Pokémon were horrified. What would Sulteron say? They quickly took action before anything else could happen, and Tsuki sat on top of the bag.[/size]

[flexa]

Girafarig's rider was looking frustrated as well. Shaun urged his Pokemon to go faster, but she was looking tired, having been running on empty from all the hard training her rider put her through. She tripped up for a moment, stumbling enough for Amanda and Flash to sprint by, the Dodrio's taloned feet kicking up chunks of dirt every now and then.

The flying Pokemon's tail wasn't fanned out as usual, since it would create drag. The rose-colored feathers were closed and down, and Flash's heads were done bickering for now, and bend forward, beaks looking determinedly at 'Liza and Suicune in front of them. The tri-headed Pokemon was gaining on the duo, though slowly.

'Liza dared not cast another glance towards her opponent, she could hear the Suicune next to her perfectly fine. The Pokemon's head leaded down, and so did the boy on her back, trying to help his Ponyta in any way possible.

A tiny bit of gain; the wind was whistling loudly, and the ground rushed by below the fire type's hooves. 'Liza was pulling ahead, pushing herself to run faster, hoping that her feet would sprout wings and that she could just float ahead, leaving this Suicune in the dust.

[Birdybot]

Sulteron hadn't noticed that Mila had accidently evolved himself as Suicune ran by. She was concentrating too hard on making sure that Suicune was all right, not too tired, and so on. Suicune, however, did notice. She decided not to mention it to her trainer in case it snapped her concentration, however. The wolf's eyes had 'Liza fixed in her vision, and she could see that the Ponyta was hoping to get ahead. She was about neck and neck.

Sulteron herself was tempted to urge Suicune to sprint, just for this little bit, but fought against it. It seemed that 'Liza's rider was thinking along the same lines as her, to keep going at a steady pace and hope that the opponents would fall behind as they grew tired. So she resisted that urge, Suicune's paws thudding against the track at a regular pace. It was just a matter of who would tire first...

[flexa]

She saw it, but didn't know what to do. A small dip in the ground, small enough to be mildly difficult to see, but big enough to cause a problem. Liza whinnied loudly, hitting the small pothole at her high speed and tumbling horribly, dragging her and her rider to the ground with a crash followed by a slide. They didn't seem horribly hurt, nothing broken at all, but they were upset. Too bad nobody would've seen it, the other racers were all past them in a second.

Amanda was grinning, her and Flash had a chance! The Dodrio felt the same as his rider, and felt renewed vigor slide into his body, propelling him faster. He was now right near the Suicune, his opponent. Flash had taken Liza's place, but his taloned feet were steady, strong in their strides. This bird wouldn't be tripping up anytime soon.

[Birdybot]

Sulteron watched as 'Liza fell behind, grinning. She'd have a hard time catching up after that! She guessed that she needent worry about the Ponyta any more. The Espeon 'morph didn't think that there was too much of a chance of her catching up and still having the energy to go on to win. She could see Flash beside her, and didn't want to look behind her for Girafarig in case she threw Suicune off balance. She knew that the girraffe Pokémon had stumbled and grown tired earlier, however, so chances were that she didn't have to worry about him, either. Most likely, it was between her and Flash now.

Suicune took in long, deep breaths, a confident smile as she ran neck-and-neck with the Dodrio. Her plan was to run at a steady pace, then sprint for the last half a lap. Well, she still had oh, say, a quarter of the track left to run until she even reached the start of her last lap, and then she would ready herself for a sprint finish. She kept on running, not keeping an eye on Flash; that was Sulteron's job.

[Kairi]

Kairi, with Pikachu on her shoulder and Shaymin in her land form in her arms with Shiva walking beside her entered Sage Town,"Were finally here guys," she informed her Pokemon. +It's about time. I thought we'd never get here,+ Shaymin sighed and yawned. The trip here had tried her out very badly.

"Chaaa," Pikachu sighed as his stomach growled. He was getting pretty hungry. He laid down on his belly on Kairi's shoulder moaning in a very hungry moan,"Oh, hungry huh, Pikachu," Kairi sighed. Well, she was also getting a little bit hungry herself. Maybe they'd go by the Pokemon Center first then.

"Hey, guys what'll you say we stop by the Pokemon Center and get some lunch?" Kairi asked her Pokemon. +Really! I'd love that,+ Shaymin cheered. Shiva nodded her head in agreement. "Chaaaa!" Pikachu said happily, knowing that he'd have a full tunny soon.

"Ok let's go guys! Onwards to the Pokemon Center then. Then we'll go to the Mart and pick up a few things. I'd like to buy you some TM moves, Pikachu," Kairi told him.

Up ahead of them was a race track. Kairi could see a lot of Pokemon running a race. The first few Pokemon that were in the lead ran passed her blowing smoke into the air. Kairi and her Pokemon stopped and started coughing. Once the smoke cleared Kairi saw something blue getting ready to run by her. She quickly took out her Pokedex just in time as it and it's ridder ran passed her. There was a Dodrio running next to it. The Pokedex said:


The legendary Pokemon Suicune, the Aurora Pokémon. It travels the world and and purifies water wherever it goes, sailing on the North Wind. Suicune embodies the compassion of a pure spring of water.

"Wow!" Kairi said impressed,"So that's a Suicune. I always wanted to meet one of those. But....that Suicune was a different color then the one in the Pokedex," Kairi said looking confused. She figured maybe she'd just go up into the stands and wait until the race was over with and ask the trainer why Suicune's a weird color.

Kairi and her Pokemon went up into the stands. Shiva sit beside Kairi. Pikachu was still on her shoulder and Shaymin was in her lap. Kairi was sitting next to a very large Lucario,"Hi, there," she grinned at the Lucario,"Is that your trainer down there ridding that Suicune?" She asked as there didn't seem to be anyone sitting next to the Lucario so Kairi kinda figured maybe it's trainer was in the race.

[Birdybot]

The Lucario saw Kairi, and grinned. Her question was simple. The six other Pokémon were looking at Kairi, too, now. A shiny Charmeleon sat next to the Lucario, clearly good friends with the Pokémon. Next to the Charmeleon was a backpack, with a handsome shiny Umbreon sitting on top of it. A shiny Espeon was next to him, and it was clear that she was deeply in love with him although he only wanted to be friends. A Tailow fluttered onto the head of a shiny Drigoon to get a better look.

The Lucario guessed that this human would not be able to understand Pokémon language, so spoke using his telepathy. +Yo, trainer. Yeppers, the Espeon Pokémorph on Suicune is my trainer. She's called Sulteron. Suicune doesn't have a name, she's a wild companion. I'm Mila, myself. The Charmeleon's Fairo, the Umbreon's Tsuki, the Espeon's Kai, the Tailow's Mizoro and the Drigoon's Azi.+[/i][/color] he said, smiling.

Kai tried to put her paw on top of Tsuki's, but the confused Umbreon pulled away. She frowned, but then her attention was drawn to the newcomer's Pokémon. She said something in Pokémon language, which Mila quickly translated. +Kai said, 'Wow, a Shaymin! They're as unusual as Suicune, how'd you find her?' and I myself, erm, am wondering what your names are.+[/i][/color] Mila asked.[/size]

[Kairi]

The Lucario answered Kairi smiling,+Yo, trainer. Yeppers, the Espeon Pokémorph on Suicune is my trainer. She's called Sulteron. Suicune doesn't have a name, she's a wild companion. I'm Mila, myself. The Charmeleon's Fairo, the Umbreon's Tsuki, the Espeon's Kai, the Tailow's Mizoro and the Drigoon's Azi.+

Kairi grinned back at him,"Those are all nice names. Oh an Espeon and an Umbreon. As you can see I also have an evolved Eevee here. This is Shiva," she said introducing Shiva,"Uh, Shiva?" Kairi said a little confused.

"Pika, pikachu," Pikachu said tugging at Kairi's leg and pointing towards Kai and Tsuki. Shiva seemed to have her eyes sit on the male Umbreon,"Glacee," she said wagging her tail trying to get his attention, completely ingoring the fact that Kai kinda liked Tsuki. Kairi kinda giggled a bit. It looked as if her shiny Glaceon had a little bit of a crash on the shiny Umbreon.

She saw Kai try to put her paw on top of Tsuki's as if she was trying to get Tsuki to not pay any attention, to the attention seeking Glaceon. But to Kai's dismay Tsuki had pulled away from her. Kai had then gave up as her attention was turned to Shaymin as she spoke,"Huh? What did you say?" Kairi asked, not understanding.

The Lucario, Mila translated for her,+Kai said, 'Wow, a Shaymin! They're as unusual as Suicune, how'd you find her?' and I myself, erm, am wondering what your names are.+

Kairi grinned,"Oh, Shaymin isn't my Pokemon yet. She's just traveling with me for a little while. Were hoping to visit her home during our journey. I'm Kairi by the way. You already know Shiva there. This is Pikachu. Most of my Pokemon don't have nicknames," Kairi replyed.

Pikachu walked over to the Lucario,"Pika pi pikachu. Chu pikachu pi pika," that meant,<Wow! You seem like a very strong Pokemon Mila. I'd love to train with you one day.>

Shaymin translated for Kairi,"Oh! So you want to be as tough as a Lucario huh, Pikachu? That'll take a lot of work," she said giggling,"Oh yea," she said pulling out four PokeBalls,"Tese are my other Pokemon," she released them. Out popped a Mightyena, a Emcub, an Aron and a shiny Pachirisu,"The Mightyena is called Mighty. And this is Emcub, Aron and Pachirisu." Kairi pointed out each of her Pokemon and then turned her head back to the race. Pikachu was interested in getting some good training tips from Lucario,"Pika pikachu chu pika?" He asked.

[Birdybot]

Tsuki saw that this Shiva Glaceon appeared to fancy him as well as Kai. That wasn't the best of things, now, was it? Well, he'd have to do something. He didn't want a fight to break out or anything, after all. He should distract Kai, so that wouldn't happen. He could think of one good way to do this. Well better a friend than a stranger, right? He shuffled closer to the Espeon, smiling briefly to Shiva before flicking his tail towards Kai. The mint green cat was stunned, a little suspicious, and absolutely delighted. She couldn't help but feel a little bad for Shiva, however. Hopefully she'd find a cute male to partner with eventually.

Fairo looked at the new Pokémon, smiling. Aside from having two Electric types, that was a pretty well-rounded team. A bit like Sulteron's team, he supposed, only she'd put her other Fire type in her PC. Well, anyway, Kairi seemed an interesting trainer. He watched her Pokémon curiously for a bit, before his focus returned to the race, like the other Pokémon's had done.

Mila looked at Pikachu. Training advice? That wouldn't be too easy. After all, he was a human like Pokémon, and Pikachu was a mouse like Pokémon. Their battling styles would be entirely different. He smiled to the Pokémon. ~Our battling styles are different, but I can safely say that you can trust your instincts. Perhaps, when our levels are more evenly matched, we can battle!~[/color] he said to Pikachu, then turned to Kairi. +So, what do you do? Are you a trainer? Breeder?+[/color][/i][/size]