<div class="floatleft">(http://cdn.bulbagarden.net/upload/4/46/VSLt_Surge.png)</div><br/><strong>Name:</strong>Colonel Surge<br/><br/><strong>Location:</strong>Douglasberg Stadium, Central Ring<br/><br/><strong>Tagging:</strong>Lexi, Skylar<br/><br/><strong>Current Pokémon:</strong>Raichu<br/><br/><hr/><br/>The crowd of excited trainers surrounding the central ring parted as Colonel Surge approached the arena, the nearly seven foot-tall Goliath of a soldier striking awe into locals that had never even met Gym Leaders before, aside from those at Seastorm Stadium. Many knew that this would probably be their only chance to see a member of the Elite Four, who would soon disappear into the Pokemon League headquarters and await their future challengers. His Raichu somehow managed to perch on his shoulder as if it was a mere Pikachu as he ascended the stairs onto the platform, another testament to the build of the man. With how warm the day was, he was dressed only in his arm fatigue pants and green tank top, though that hardly made him look like any less of an officer.<br/><br/>Reaching the stage, he took a look at each of the competitors; both Lexi and Skylar looked like they were ready to give their all in this fight. Both seemed like they were banking on this victory to bring them to a new step in their lives, and while it was unfortunate that one of them wasn't going to make it, Surge couldn't have been more pleased that they were both committed. "If you're both ready to go, we just have a few rules to lay down. Number one: only three pokemon each. Number two: obviously, only one sent out at a time. And number three: no items at all except for these," he told them, tossing one Full Restore to each of them, enough to make one clutch comeback.<br/><br/>Surge grinned with anticipation and stepped out of the way, Raichu hopping down to the ground for a more comfortable view of everything. "Unless either of you have anything else to say...START!"<br/><br/>===<br/><br/><div class="floatleft">(http://cdn.bulbagarden.net/upload/2/20/VSMisty.png)</div><div class="floatright">(http://cdn.bulbagarden.net/upload/1/11/VSBrock.png)</div><br/><strong>Name:</strong>Misty and Brock<br/><br/><strong>Location:</strong>Douglasberg Stadium, Rightmost Ring<br/><br/><strong>Tagging:</strong>Marco, Madison, Drevana<br/><br/><strong>Current Pokemon:</strong>Starmie and Onyx<br/><br/><hr/><br/>Brock watched the two women in the battle send in their pokemon without having much to say himself. He was pumped up for the battle, as they all were, but even though his own former pupil was here, it seemed that Misty was the one that was most eager to start. Unlike her, Brock hadn't lost his contest yesterday, so the Kanto redhead had a bit of pride to earn back with this match, and a whole audience to prove herself in front of. After Lucille came out, Brock sent out his Onyx, who towered over the other pokemon and let out a fierce roar that brought a cheer from the stands. Misty may have been more of a fan favorite thanks to her beauty, tomboyish nature, and tendency to often wear a swimsuit, but that Onyx had earned a lot of his own fans the day before.<br/><br/>"I thought about giving this fight some special conditions, cuz we didn't want to shut you guys down<em>too</em>bad, but having a handicap would just be embarrassing in front of all your new challengers, right? So we're going to do this the old-fashioned way!" Misty announced, pumping her fist. "All we'll say is this: one pokemon per person, one Full Restore per team! Everything else goes, and I'll even try to hold from your hitting your little fires and rocks!" Her confidence couldn't really be overstated, or maybe her pride was just getting the better of her. Of course, that knock at Rock types got a bit of a scowl from Brock, who took the chance to shut his partner up by making the first move.<br/><br/>"Onyx, hit them with a Rock Slide!" The rock snake let out another war cry as he slammed his tail at an angle into the dirt arena, uplifting the various rocks and boulders that were scattered around and sending them fly toward all three opposing pokemon.<br/><br/>===<br/><br/><div class="floatleft">(http://api.ning.com/files/mdHZvw03i*CGtsDN0LtfmUcgwnGEzcn1TYwBd-dIje3UhHDsWx0iVsng64hRwI31SfNV4pQJqB1nofG6HkqXVYVMMEycorew/Drayolagain.jpg)</div><br/><strong>Name:</strong>Cedric Oleaster<br/><br/><strong>Location:</strong>Douglasberg Stadium<br/><br/><strong>Tagging:</strong>Elektra, possibly Katsuo<br/><br/><strong>Current Pokemon:</strong>Gloom (Priscilla), Turtwig<br/><br/><hr/><br/>Elektra didn't really have to look very far, since Cedric was being guided to the same place she was. Like her, he was being put up into a battle against one of the First Shot raffle winners, though she had the special distinction of going up against the winner of the amateur contest that took place before they came out into the stadium. There were four of them left that hadn't been stuck in some other event, so there were four opponents waiting in the battle rings painted on the grass over toward the left wall. There wasn't much telling how difficult these opponents could actually turn out to be, but Cedric wasn't worrying about that too much right now.<br/><br/>"I was meaning to talk to you and Katsuo about those two thieves we encountered on the ship yesterday," Cedric explained, trying to keep his voice low so the bystanders didn't pick up on too much. He seemed a little more edgy than usual being here; being a scientist, and coming from such a quiet part of the region, he probably heavily preferred the quiet of his lab to a bustling tourist trap like Douglasberg, and being stuck at the center of hundreds of people that had come to see them specifically probably didn't help. "I wasn't able to find out much about the woman, but I think I might have a little bit of background on the guy Katashi fought, just going off the description. It might not give us any way of finding him, but at least we'll know what to watch out for if we see him again. I just want you two to know about it for now, though."<br/><br/>He paused as something caught his eye, pointing toward one of the rings; specifically, the one Elektra had been directed to head to. "Looks like that guy might have been coming here for more than just the show." In the ring, shielding his eyes from the same bright morning sun that reflected off of his long, blonde hair and white coat, was Bellin, the same mysterious trainer that had helped her against the Wobbuffet. Well, he had seemed like a decent trainer, but if he had won the contest, maybe he was better than they though.