SYOC SUBMISSIONS ARE STILL OPEN.

May I just say that that was the lamest battle scene I have ever written in my life. Ever.

My writing is incredibly rushed. I'm trying my hardest to make it bearable, but participating in Camp NaNoWriMo at the same makes it increasingly difficult. Oh well. This'll be my last update for July, seeing as how I have now gained a ranking and it has rekindled my interest in my current project FLY. Then I'll start updating.

My profile's been updated with a rough region map if anyone's interested. There isn't any names of the towns, but shh... I'll do that later. :P

8 OCs. . . Damn, I don't wanna decline people but it looks like I'll have to. And to all those who haven't got a reply from me yet. . . Just wait a while. c:

The sky began to cloud over, and soon the boys grew impartial to the crowd that was beginning the form around them. Tek had grown increasingly hesitant of the Pokémon in front of him, for it had refused to move. Then again, he supposed he hadn't given it any orders. . . But it obeying him was another matter. Lukas had not yet said a word, but Pichu stood lunged on all fours, its cheeks sparking as it awaited its command.

'So do want to go first?' He asked, though in a tone that was almost patronising. Pichu raised its paw in agreement. Tek just stared.

'Are you mocking me?' He yelled, 'Snorunt, Powder Snow!'

The Pokémon stood stationary and made a shrugging motion with the little body it had. When Tek saw this, his face fell. Then, with a sudden realisation, he pumped his finger forward as if to point out something blatant.

'I guess we skip out on lunch then!' He said, a wry smile creeping onto his lips. Snorunt immediately tensed up. Within seconds, the Pokémon had jumped up, and from its body came many white particles. Cold and blunt; they failed to be sharp. All of them shot towards Pichu, but without even a command from its trainer it sidestepped. Then, they crashed besides it, breaking as they collided with the ground.

'How about we spice this up, Tek? The loser buys me lunch.' Lukas prodded. Tek barred his teeth and slipped his glasses up to the bridge of his nose, eyebrows angling downwards.

'And the point of that is?' He asked. 'Though I would hate to lose to you there is the possibility that it may be inevitable.'

'At least you finally admit that -'

'Use double team then ice shard!' Tek yelled, his body swaying with momentum. The Pokémon did so with no delay, mainly due to fear of losing its lunch.

Lukas stumbled backwards and Pichu's eyes snapped open with realisation. Around them spread duplicates in a circumvolved fashion, each with their gaze set intently on Pichu. Then, like wind in stormy weather, shards of ice lurched forward, coming for each and everyone one of them. A few of them struck Pichu and it tumbled backwards, hind legs placed forward as it tried to regain its balance.

'Maybe you should stop gloating and concentrate more on the matter at hand. . . I'm not a pushover all the time.'

'You bribed the poor guy with food, you slavedriver!' He protested. Looking at his grounded partner, he urged it to stand up. With adequate effort, it rose to its knees and waited for its next command, body bruised.

'Pichu, pay back time! Thundershock, let's go!' Lukas yelled, launching his hand forward with sheer determination. Pichu's body illuminated with a yellow hue, and one by one Snorunt's duplicates were struck down. Tek watched with his mouth agape as his Pokémon was struck and sent tumbling towards him, rolling and hitting his ankles. It stood up straight away, but tucked itself straight back into it's cone, hiding it's face from sight. Tek sighed and, deciding that it was no use continuing with a Pokémon who had other wishes, dropped the Pokéball atop of its head. He fell to the ground, grabbed his Pokéball then sat cross-legged, his body hunched.

'It doesn't like fighting, doesn't it? Maybe you should be a coordinator. I'll buy you the dress!' Lukas said. Tek hobbled to his feet once more, gripped the bag tighter over his shoulder and took a few paces from the battlefield. But, even though Lukas had expected a reply, none was heard. 'Oi -'

'So do you want lunch or not?' He asked, albeit rather sharply. Lukas stared at him sideways before shaking his head.

'You don't have to. It'd be a shame if you did.' He replied. Tek turned forwards and continued to walk, leaving Lukas to catch up with him. 'Look. . . If it doesn't like to battle then maybe you should catch a different Pokémon -'

'Well that's a rather crude outlook on life. If your mother died would you just replace her?' He said. Lukas opened his mouth to respond, then shut it again, unsure with what to reply with. 'When do we go to Naplese? I'm bored of Minstrel already.'

'We've been here for five minutes. I doubt you've seen all this town has to offer.' Something to the right caught his attention, and he turned to face it. 'Look. TV.'

'And? What's so special about a TV?'

'Is that. . .' He said, running up to it. Tek, although debating whether to stay back, chased after him. The boy looked as if he was in a trance, hand outstretched like the specimen i front of him was the last angel in heaven.

'And it is?'

'Sinh's league battle!'

That name rung a bell. . . Sinh the league challenger. . . Sinh of Naplese city. Ah yes, that guy. 'No way -'

'Yup!'

'Is Sinh really so famous that he requires 24 cameras to be on him at any one time?'

'Well he is the son of that famous architect that built half of Liandro, who is also the Naplese city gym leader! We'll be facing his father soon, and I expect that all of their tactics run in the family,' he pressed his nose against the window, 'so watch.'

'You expect?'

The battle unfolded in front of them as a beautiful clash of sorcery. Each Pokémon was completely synced with their trainer, their legs moving in rhythm with the beats of their commands. Dodges after dodges were made, attacks after attack. Pokémon withdrew, Pokémon released. . . Yet one side was winning by a landslide, though their strength as a duo diminished.

'That's Sinh's first Pokémon. His only one, too.'

'You're joking -'

'Nope! Every battle he competes in he only ever uses one. I've seen him battle with my own eyes before. . . I can assure you.'

Tek looked at Lukas, his expression unchanging. Behind this façade it was possible to see a hint of ambition, but yet it was covered with narrowed lips and bland eyes. 'I want to be like him.'

'Oooh, I see you've found your resolve in life. . . . It's a weird one, to say the least.' Lukas said, remaining focused on the TV in front of him, 'but then again you are weird. Careful, though. The trust Rhydon has in Sinh is through the roof. You and Snorunt on the other hand -'

'Snorunt trusts me, it's just that it doesn't like battling. We can work past that -'

'If it doesn't like battling you can't force it to -'

'We'll work past that.' He replied, this time his voice bitter. Lukas took a step back and, for one moment, he lifted his eyes from the TV and allowed them to drift elsewhere.

A flash of neon lights seized the boy's attentions attention back to the tv. Soon they were pushed up against it, hands in front of them, and watching with a piqued curiosity. Upon the battlefield stretched a plume of dust, about 5 meters in diameter, and beneath it it was possible to see two figures. The dust rose quickly, most of it cascading down the earth, the rest blown to places beyond the human eye. Then, it was possible to see two figures. . . One grounded, one stood proud.

The TV was mute but, even though the subtitles were small, it was possible to make out what was being said. Lukas' arms flopped to his side. 'So he lost?'

'Well he's only human.' Tek stated. As the two had stood there, the wind had blown Tek's hair into his face and he quickly scraped it away, although the wind protested otherwise. This led him to think for a moment.

Can that much loyalty really be achieved? Is it possible?

He turned to Lukas. 'Say, what do those two do together to build up that much of a bond?'

Lukas shrugged. 'Who knows. I'm not a stalker.'

Tek opened his mouth, but failed to come up with a witty response. Instead, he asked: 'are we in Naplese yet? Minstrel is boring.'

'Oh come on!' Said Lukas, grabbing his arm sternly and pulling him away from the TV, 'you haven't see half of it yet! Stop complaining! Let's go to the center, okay? I head - no, see - that they're doing stuff over there!'

'But Naplese -'

'Come on!'

Soon, the two had delved through the depths of many crowds, Lukas without a care about how they viewed them. Tek wallowed behind with reluctance, and soon the two stood near a fountain. Around them stretched tall, overbearing buildings that cast shadows with their heightened structure. Tek wouldn't complain, for it provided shade from the onlooking sun. The complete reversal in temperature reminded him of Frostline though.

Lukas perched on the edge of the fountain, taking in the views around them with wide eyes. 'There's a lot here. Anything cool?'

Tek took a moment to look around. The place was indeed busy. Stalls were lined up in every direction, each and everyone differing from the one next to them. Some achieved more publicity while others remained bare, no matter how hard the salespeople behind them tried for their attention. They all looked interesting, and Tek had to admit that he was beginning to feel rather hungry.

'Go for a food stall.' He said. Lukas jumped back onto his feet, then walked a little before stopping.

'Which one.'

'Any.'

'God you're so indecisive!' He said. The two began to walk once again, this time rather quickly, although the distance they had to cover couldn't have been more than a few meters. Tek looked up and, expecting nothing less from the boy, sighed in defeat.

'This isn't food, Lukas.'

'Ice cream is totally food! And plus, it's not like you decided anyway.' He said. He pushed a hand deep into his pockets, then slapped his face. 'You got any spare cash?'

Tek pulled the bag off his shoulders, eyes fixed to the boy with an expression that showed boredom twisted with a slight hatred. He threw him it, and the boy reached out to catch it. When he pulled on the zipper, it appeared to get stuck and, with pain and exhaustion (and no help from Tek), he was finally able to get it undone. Sighing, he reached into it, then threw it back once he pulled an object from it.

'Go sit. I'll be back soon. . . I hope.'

Tek agreed, for he had no reason to tire himself anymore by standing. He walked back over towards the fountain and laid against it, eyes directed to the sky above him. Across the blue map scudded small clouds, yet no bigger. Next to him he could hear the constant churn of water which, if the center wasn't so busy, he would have found relaxing. However, its noise was drowned out by the chatter of those around him which, to Tek, was a much less appealing sound.

He turned his head the the side. Around him were people - loads - gathered in small groups and dotted throughout the area. Around them stood Pokémon. Now that he realised it, there were also Pokémon helping at the stalls. Fire Pokémon lit the stoves, water Pokémon helped the cleaning. . . It seemed like a joyous community, although Tek himself knew that these people were disconnected from each other, for everyone stayed within their individual friend groups.

Up front, an arrangement of instruments had been made, yet there were no people to accompany them. Perhaps they were for later. He turned his attention back to the ice cream stall. Lukas was almost getting served, which he supposed was a miracle in itself. Though admittedly he had taken to the place where he laid, and standing up again wasn't something that he felt like doing.

What am I doing with this story. . . Oh and hey Sinh!