<i><b><span style="font-size: 26px"><span style="text-decoration: underline">Pokemon: Yugen</span></span><br/>
<span style="font-size: 18px">Episode 6: Crossroads!</span></b></i><br/><a class="externalLink" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LB5PWnM6AlA&amp;index=2&amp;list=PL2E1A2C12F3A3B7D3" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Appropriate Theme</a><br/><br/><div class="ToggleTriggerAnchor bbCodeSpoilerContainer">
<button class="button bbCodeSpoilerButton ToggleTrigger Tooltip JsOnly" data-target="&gt; .SpoilerTarget" type="button"><span>Spoiler: <span class="SpoilerTitle">Last Time on Pokemon...!</span></span></button>
<div class="SpoilerTarget bbCodeSpoilerText">Having set out southward from Senjo, our heroes stepped out into an unknown world for the first time. Beyond the range of the monitored routes, the islands of Yugen remain largely unknown. Years of debate over the region's stringent regulations on wild Pokemon had limited exploration efforts.<br/>
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However, with the recent success of the League in opening the region to Pokemon trainers has resulted in a flood of new eyes and bounding ambitions. Naomi, fearing that such an influx could easily disturb the natural order of Yugen that had long been unchanged. As rivalry sparked between Eleyna and Jake, a challenge was set to capture the best Pokemon. Against Naomi's concerns, the two trainers struck out to the nearby beach.<br/>
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The competition turned ugly when the trainers were attacked by a unique Azumarill eager for a fight. Jake's and Eleyna's Pokemon, exhausted after a day of fierce training and battle, were no match for the seasoned and full evolved Pokemon. Naomi, seeing her friends in danger, stifled her fears and joined the battle! But even her well rested, if inexperienced, Pokemon couldn't slow down the Azumarill. Seeing the dire situation, Steven sent Pancham and Hitmontop into the fray!<br/>
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Their opponent, strong enough to best any one of them soon discovered that, when united, our heroes' strength was magnified. Forging a unified front, their fearsome foe was at last toppled! With the one of a kind catch secured in a Pokeball, Eleyna found herself suddenly conflicted. With Naomi's warning in her mind, she knew that trainers would flock to the beach in droves at the chance of capturing a Pokemon like the Azumarill. Realizing the the moral weight of such a responsibility, Eleyna gave the Azumarill to Naomi. With her conscience and hope to safeguard Yugen, the strength and value of the Azumarill would be well guarded.<br/>
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</div><br/><br/><br/><br/>"Augh..." Eleyna plopped her butt on the ground and gave a big sigh. "I can't go any further."<br/><br/>She grappled with the laces on her boots, tugging them off her feet and then sprawling onto the grass. She stretched her toes in her socks, feeling the ache in her feet. She looked at Jake, Naomi, and Steven who all shared in her sense of relief at finally stopping -- even though it was her own instance they kept them moving all throughout the day.<br/><br/>Pausing briefly to eat, she had pressed on, hungry for adventure. After the battle with the Azumarill, Eleyna had wanted to overturn every rock at the chance of finding something just as exciting. But her enthusiasm was tempered by Naomi's watchful eye which was an ever present reminder of their responsibility when pressing on into unknown regions.<br/><br/>Making their way toward the forested mountainous slopes to the east, they saw a Mightyena mother basking in the shade of a lonely tree as her pups wrestled in the grass. When she caught the trainer's scent she grabbed the smallest of them by the scuff of his neck and disappeared, the other two pups following her.<br/><br/>In the late afternoon they had spotted a herd of Tauros grazing in the grasslands. But, rather than diving in at the chance of capturing one of the Pokemon, they had been content to simply watch them for a time. Naomi had captured a video of their behavior, knowing the importance of studying Pokemon that had never encountered civilization before. Two Tauros males had even squared off against one another for the position of alpha. It was their battle that Eleyna recorded on her Pokedex, fascinated by their raw, unrefined technique. When the younger Tauros emerged the victor, the trainer's watched as a new generation of leadership was established among the herd while Naomi remarked on how incredibly lucky they were to see something so rare. It could be decades between challenges of leadership in a pack of Tauros, and to see a new alpha established was even more rare. When the alpha began mounting the female Tauros though, they switched their Pokedexes off and, as they were leaving, broke in laughter at how enormously awkward the encounter had become.<br/><br/>When they reached the lightly forested region at the border of the mountain the sun was low and night was encroaching. When someone mentioned needing a fire, Eleyna sprang to her bootless feet and clasped her hand into a fist.<br/><br/>"Right!"<br/><br/>Scyther appeared and with a quick order, flashed through the trees. With a quick Cut, they fell to pieces. A scant few minutes later, they had been arranged. A Growlithe's flamethrower later and the fire crackled in the early night air as the glow of the faded on the horizon.<br/><br/>Eleyna had pulled off her socks and shoved them in her boots and was sprawled in the grass beside the fire, exhausted. She watched the others setting up tents, only then realizing that she didn't have any such accommodation. She quietly cursed her shortsightedness, though was loathe to admit it!<br/><br/>The stars began to appear overhead, one by one and Eleyna stared up at them, putting her hands beneath her head. Growlithe sat down next to her and looked up at the unfamiliar sky.<br/><br/><a class="externalLink" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WG3XGYz3GIY&amp;index=25&amp;list=PL6CF4C91175127FF3" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Appropriate Theme</a><br/><br/>"My mom used to say that the sky was the one thing all people shared... it doesn't matter where your from, we all look up at the same stars." Eleyna recalled then craned her head. "I don't know though... it looks awful different to me than it did from my backyard."<br/><br/>Growlithe looked at her, then wistfully back up at the great expanse, wondering if old friends and family, far away, were looking up at too.<br/><br/><br/><span style="font-size: 9px">.</span><div class="messageTextEndMarker"> </div>