Eleyna grimaced at Jake's words. He was right, the Azumarill was beyond any of them. Eevee had taken a lot of damage, Growlithe and Scyther too. Their injuries were compounded by their exhaustion. Naomi had bravely leaped into the battle to lend aid, to pull the Azumarill's attention onto more rested Pokemon, and now her Farfeth'd was down and both Tai and Drowzee looked like they'd just had their metaphorical bells rung. And now Steven was there, ready to send his Pokemon in. It was only Jake's warning that stopped him. The fighter gave Jake a hard look, but he knew that Jake was right.<br/><br/>Eleyna gave a concerned and quick look down their line of Pokemon, all eight of them. Growlithe, Scyther, Eevee, Ivysaur, Dragonair, Drowzee, Pancham, Hitmontop. It seemed impossible to her that they could all fail. In any league match, a Pokemon would have to be an expert and extremely well trained to stand up to a barrage like this! And out here, there weren't even any rules!<br/><br/>There weren't any rules.<br/><br/>Eleyna's eyes widened suddenly as she realized the obviousness of it. They'd been fighting it one by one, one trainer at a time, one team at a time. They were fighting the Azumarill by league rules.<br/><br/>But this wasn't a league match. This was the wilds.<br/><br/>"It can beat any of us..." Eleyna agreed, then lifted her open hand, four fingers raised. "But it can't beat all of us!" She closed her hand, the individual and frail digits forming a single strong fist.<br/><br/>Jake, Naomi, and Steven all turned their heads at once. And then at once they realized it along side Eleyna. Either Pokemon stood in a line, battered, bruised. Each on their own was only as strong as their individual stamina. But together they stood as an unbreakable wall, united by an unshakable will of stone!<br/><br/>"What say we knock this Azumarill down a notch?" Eleyna grinned.<br/><br/>A smile crossed Naomi's lips and she gave a sharp nod. "Right!"<br/><br/>Steven's eyes narrowed and he struck his open palm with his fist, his knuckles cracking as his muscles bulged. "We're with you!"<br/><br/>Jake's eyebrow rose as he regarded the trainer beside him. He smirked and shrugged. "I guess it can't be helped. Let's take this thing down... Together!"<br/><br/>The Pokemon exchanged looks down their line, Growlithe, bruised and swollen, gave them a toothy grin, then hunched in the sand, staring down the Azumarill, ready. Ivysaur gave an approving "~saur!" Eevee yipped and growled, digging her feet into the sand. Drgonair glared, curling like a spring, ready to strike. A thin smile crossed Drowzee's lips and his hands lifted, his psychic attacks ready! Pancham grinned broadly and cracked his knuckles, and Hitmontop hopped lightly in the sand, his leg lifting and striking at the air dramatically!<br/><br/>Azumarill's stared at them, unblinking. The fervor in its manner was gone as it stared down a wall of Pokemon in front of it, a united front! A bead of sweat appeared on the side of its head and its eyes shifted between its many opponents. "m-marill...?"<br/><br/>Eleyna smirked, her boulder badge gleaming in the sunlight. "Alright... you want a fight...? You got one! Go!"<br/><br/>Growlithe, reinvigorated, lunged! In a sudden spray of sand and rush of air, the other seven Pokemon charged!<br/><br/>A flurry of attacks met the Azumarill, Eevee's quick attack catching the overwhelmed Pokemon off guard! And before it could catch itself, Growlithe followed with another quick attack! And then came a mighty barrage, but Azumarill was quick to tuck itself down into a Defensive curl! Pancham dove in with a Low Sweep, sending a blast of sand upward! Hitmontop leaped and drove his heel down in a High Jump Kick! Ice Beam split the air, and Drowzee Pounded his fist into the curled up Pokemon!<br/><br/>Eleyna pumped her fist into the air, "yeah!"<br/><br/>But her mirth was short lived, as was that of the other trainers! As Scyther struck with Fury Cutter and came back around to strike once more, he had to beat his wings hard and roll as Eevee suddenly appeared in his path, attacking Azumarill in front of him, and nearly being struck by Scyther in the process!<br/><br/>Azumarill maintained its curl, its defenses rising under the pummeling! Dragonair readied another ice beam when Pancham ran into him, leaping away to prepare for another Low Sweep! Dragonair angrily yelled at Pancham who caught himself before falling into the sand, frustrated to have been stumbled by his own ally. None of the Pokemon were trained to work in such a large group, and their inexperience with such a scale of coordination became suddenly stark and clear.<br/><br/>As if sensing their disorganization, a gleam flashed in Azumarill's eye and it lurched upward out of its defensive curl, reaching out and snatching the nearest Pokemon, Hitmontop!<br/><br/>"Look out!" Eleyna shouted as the fighter Pokemon was suddenly subjected to the Azumarill's Rough Play!<br/><br/>Growlithe dove to Bite the Azumarill and pull it off Hitmontop, but found himself running headlong into Hitmontop as Azumarill swung the fighter around into the canine's path. They tumbled into the sand and the Azumarill turned, tackling Ivysaur who charged with the same intention! The two collided and Ivysaur hit the sand, the inflated attack and defense of the Azumarill proving too much of a match for his own!<br/><br/>"Damn... its defense it up!" Eleyna shouted, clutching a fist before her.<br/><br/>Jake grimaced beside her. "Damn... this isn't going to work! They're just running into each other out there!"<br/><br/>"We need to coordinate our attacks!" Steven yelled. "Hitmontop, retreat and wait for an opening!"<br/><br/>Eleyna followed Steven's lead. "Growlithe! Use Smoke Screen!"<br/><br/>Thick black smoke rolled from Growlithe's mouth, covering the beach in front of Azumarill and reducing the visibility near the Pokemon dramatically.<br/><br/>"Tentacruel!" Eleyna yelled furiously a the squid Pokemon who floated in the shallows, tired disinterested in participating. "Tentacruel, dammit! Use Acid! The Azumarill is weak to it! You need to weaken its defenses!"<br/><br/>Tentacruel huffed, lacking the same battle motivation that kept Growlithe and Scyther fighting through their exhaustion. Eleyna's a vein bulging in her forehead yelled, "I'm going to strangle you with your own tentacles you useless baka!"<br/><br/>An attack went awry in the Smoke Screen as the accuracy of the allied Pokemon was impaired as well. Growlithe, with his keen and legendary sense of smell was the only one of them that could readily navigate his enemy inside of it.<br/><br/>"Damn damn damn! We need to hit this damn Pokemon hard...!" Eleyna looked at Hitmontop. "Steven! Hitmontop's High Jump kick is our strongest attack! We just need it to do more damage... and we need it to be accurate! Naomi, Jake keep it busy! Steven, get Hitmontop over here! Growlithe, you too!"<br/><br/>At the edge of the smoke cloud, Drowzee used Confusion and Eevee darted in the smoke, furthering Azumarill's disorientation. Pancham, seeing a chance, attacked! But in the smoke his attack wasn't clean did reduced damage!<br/><br/>Eleyna nodded to Growlithe and Hitmontop. "Got it?"<br/><br/>Steven looked at Eleyna, unconvinced. "I don't know about this."<br/><br/>"Neither do I, but we've got to try it! Ok, you two get ready!"<br/><br/>Hitmontop looked to Steven for instruction and the muscular fighter nodded his head. It was a strange move, but they needed a ringer, and if Eleyna's wild idea worked, it could be a devastating blow to Azumarill.<br/><br/>"Scyther!" Eleyna yelled as Hitmontop and Growlithe ran a distance down the beach. The airborn Pokemon looked at Eleyna. "Scyther, get its attention, turn its back to Growlithe and Hitmontop! Attack and make it obvious!"<br/><br/>"Scy~!" The Pokemon nodded, it saw Hitmontop jump on top of Growlithe like it were going to ride him. It seemed strange to him, but he obeyed his trainer, trusting her.<br/><br/>Eleyna yelled, "alright, go!"<br/><br/>Scyther dove and Growlithe lunged forward, his feet kicking into the sand, propelling him into a sprint. Hitmontop held tightly to the Pokemon's fur. Even burdened with a rider the size of the Pokemon on his back, Growlithe pushed himself to his absolute limit, his aching legs pushing past their weakness to get him up to break neck speed!<br/><br/>With a burst of air from his wings, Scyther came at Azumarill as if he were attacking with cut. The wing from his wings blew a hole in the smoke in front of him, exposing him clearly to the Azumarill. The Pokemon turned, prepared to blast him out of the sky with Aqua Jet. It grimaced as it heard something at its back and it began to turn. Growlithe, smelling the Azumarill and knowing its exact position in the smoke, put himself on a straight line to him, sprinting, and in the last stretch, threw himself forward with a growling cry!<br/><br/>Hitmontop planted his feet against Growlithe's side and kicked off him, the canine's momentum combining with his leap! Like a bullet he hurtled through the smoke, a wake swirling behind him as he drew his foot back! Azumarill head turned just enough for the shape to appear in the corner of its vision before the Super Sonic High Jump Kick connected. The smoke rolled and the impact boomed. Azumarill's form collapsed around the kick and a grimaced froze upon its features as its widened eyes went blank beneath a hit the likes of which it had never felt. Azumarill was launched from the smoke screen, tumbling and skipping across the beach.<br/><br/>It rolled and skidded, sand piling around it as it came to a halt. It stumbled as it tried to lurch to its feet, the world spinning. It vision cleared for only an instant long enough to see the shape of a running girl and the red and while blur sailing toward it.<br/><br/>"You're -- finished!" Eleyna shouted, throwing the Pokeball.<br/><br/>it struck the Azumarill and popped open, the matrices of energy beaming out and capturing the form of the Azumarill. The ball closed and hit the beach, rolling as its contents fought against it. Eleyna's lips pursed and she watched with trepidation and a sweat laden brow as the Pokeball jolted and bounced.<br/><br/>Behind her the eight Pokemon waited, their trainers joining them, the group tense.<br/><br/>And then the Pokeball rocked, rolling against an embankment of sand left by the Azumarill's collision. It rolled back and became suddenly still. A chime sounded from it, indicating the successful capture.<br/><br/>A cheer went up among the Pokemon and Eleyna jumped, punching into the air. "Yeah! Woo!"<br/><br/>She ran over to the Pokeball, snatching it up and raising it up into the air. The trainers all gathered, their exhausted Pokemon looking on. Eleyna peered at Jake nervously, the recalling their bet. Both wondered silently what the battle would mean for it. Eleyna thought for a moment, knowing that it was her Pokeball that had captured it... she could claim it since she was the first one to fight it as well. But, looking at Jake, she knew it would be cheating him. He had fought just as long and hard as she had.<br/><br/>Eleyna took a deep breath, staring at the Pokeball as the sunlight glistened off its surface, sand clinging to it.<br/><br/>"Here." She held out the Pokeball to Naomi whose eyes widened. "You take it. It should be yours."<br/><br/>Naomi stared, dumbstruck as Eleyna dropped it into her hand. Eleyna sighed heavily as she stared at it still, quietly longing. She grabbed the brim of her hat and lifted it slightly, drawing her forearm across her sweat laden brow.<br/><br/>"Maybe we can't stop people and trainers from spreading across Yugen looking for rare Pokemon..." She looked at Steven, then back at Naomi. "But... maybe that doesn't mean we should help them along. You're right, Naomi... there are some amazing things out here. Who knows how many trainers would come to this beach looking for a Pokemon like that if they found out it was captured here. I don't think I'm big enough for that responsibility... but, I think maybe you are."<br/><br/>She smiled at her friend, then at the boys. For a moment she felt like something had changed. In Senjo she had been beaten by a stronger Pokemon. On this beach she had faced the same challenge, but won... and it wasn't because she trained the hardest or had the best Pokemon. It was because this time, she wasn't alone.<i>No matter the challenge... we'll face it together.</i><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><span style="font-size: 9px">. </span><div class="messageTextEndMarker"> </div>