The workers were interesting enough to pause and watch, just for a few moments, especially those with the hammers. Curt figured that hammering stuff was fun enough the last time he did it, so he might've volunteered to help, but he didn't really feel like it at the moment.

One of the women started complaining about another town hogging up all the supplies, and Curt listened with amusement. Right, he'd heard a little about that, hadn't he? It was probably called Fleet, too, completely destroyed in some fiery disaster he didn't really remember the details about. Or maybe the fiery one was Willow. The next comment brought him just as much amusement, but the voice was familiar - as was that face, come to think of it.

"Well, well, well," Curt drawled. "Look who actually came!"

And tripped over a branch. Or almost, anyway - and he even dirtied his pants, which was only noticeable because of how clean the rest of him looked. Curt couldn't wipe the grin off his face, thinking of it.

"And how did you get here? Plane wasn't good enough for you, so you teleported instead?"

Which was great for Curt, since he probably wouldn't have been able to stand however many hours it was sitting beside Phoenix and his constant criticism. But if Phoenix had found a better way of getting here, he should've shared it - Curt offered him a ticket here, hadn't he?

Phoenix looked up sharply when Curt spoke, although if he was surprised at all to run into his cousin he didn't show it. "What? Don't be ridiculous, Curt. Of course I took an airplane to get here. The ticket you'd purchased was simply... too inconvenient, too late. I wanted to get here and get started as soon as possible, rather than laze around for a few more hours like you. So I went to the airport early and exchanged my ticket for an earlier flight. Why you didn't think to buy tickets for an earlier flight in the first place I don't know, but..."

"Hey!" snapped the woman with the hammer, taking a step toward Phoenix and glaring at him. "Forget him! I'm not done talking to you, church boy! I want to know who the hell you think you are to tell me how to manage my crew!"

Another woman, slightly larger and dumpier than the angry one, stepped forward and grabbed the arm with the hammer in it. "Oh, please, Linda, you aren't even officially in charge, just while Harry's mending after twisting his ankle on one of those big branches. Calm down and leave him alone, he's got a point anyway."

Phoenix snorted. "See?" he said.

Linda wrenched her arm free from the other woman's grasp. "There are still people whose houses have gigantic holes in their roofs, and they're all crowding into other people's homes, and you expect me to play pick-up-sticks instead of fixing these buildings?"

"That's not what Harry was asking our crew to do and you damn well know it, Linda!" said the dumpy woman, putting her hands on her hips. "There's no reason at all you can't spare a few people to help keep the streets and sidewalks safe. You're just being overzealous and bossy, and I think you need to slow down and actually use that big Barbie head of yours! Honestly, why Harry asked you to look over things when he could've asked me..."

Leaving Linda and the dumpy woman to their arguing, Phoenix walked over to Curt. "So, cousin Curt. I assume that you at least had enough sense to arrive early enough for a Pokémon, hmm?"

Curt rolled his eyes. "Why would I do that?"

Sure, there might not be a reason to come here at the time he chose to come, but there wasn't a real reason to come earlier, either. They didn't exactly have a limited time stuck here. He probably should've thought of Phoenix just exchanging the ticket, but he didn't know why Phoenix actually bothered when he already had a perfectly good ticket in his possession.

Also, finding a pokémon strong enough to teleport him to another region would have been a greater achievement.

Curt watched as another woman took Phoenix's side in the other argument, and probably preventing a murder. It seemed more like Phoenix was right this time, but there was no reason he had to go through a pile of branches in the first place. With a slight smirk, he looked back at Phoenix, dropping the teddiursa's pokéball onto the ground to release him.

"Of course I did. They didn't seem to be running out all that fast, either. All that worrying for nothing!" He looked down at the teddiursa, wondering if he perhaps should've chosen something less cute. Well. Ursaring. So there. "We're not about to help you clear the branches if you've decided you're bothered enough that you're just going to do it yourself, or that they're probably going to fail completely at branch-clearing, or something."

Phoenix shook his head. "Oh, I don't know, Curt. I suppose that I assumed you'd already made plans for your arrival in Kutho. Apparently that assumption was incorrect. While you were wasting time, I had business to attend to. I'm all finished with that and ready to move on to my next engagement, while you... hmph. I'm sure you don't have any sort of destination in mind, do you? What are you planning to do, hm, wander around aimlessly until one of those giant venomous serpents I've heard so much about comes along and devours you?"

He watched as the little bear Pokémon materialized from his cousin's Pokéball. "Well, well, well!" he said after Curt had finished speaking. "We don't waste any time showing off with our fluffy little teddy, now do we? No, no, I'm not doing these workers' job for them. I do have a few minutes before I'm needed elsewhere, however..." Phoenix dropped a Pokéball of his own to the street, revealing a small, slender blue creature with long, black paws, a black mask and odd, earlike appendages dangling from the sides of its canine head. The Pokémon bounced energetically back and forth with its forepaws held up like fists, clearly ready to fight. "Why don't Riolu and I give your teddy bear a little workout? And place, oh, I don't know, 100 Kuts on the outcome?"

Phoenix made plans for his vacation? Probably ruined the whole fun-vacation part of it too. He sounded like he was here to work or something... probably was. Curt wouldn't put it past him to find a job or three in the short time between buying a ticket and coming here.

...loser.

Curt couldn't really disagree with Phoenix's assessment of the teddiursa (but he was the one thinking ahead this time, so ha!), but that was something that could be fixed with a single evolution. But he really expected something less... riolu-like after Phoenix mocked the teddiursa. Really, now. Hypocrisy at its finest.

"Aww, wook," Curt said in a baby-voice, "youw widdle stuffed doggy is even mowe adowable dan mine!" He smirked, though it felt weird to say it. "We should start a club. But if you'd really rather have..." namenamename "...Lunatic beat the stuffing out of your toy, we can arrange that. It'll cost you a hundred Kuts, of course. Don't need an appointment, do ya?"

He'd have to draw this out and make Phoenix late for whatever he had next. A few minutes... hm. Yeah, he could do that, and if he beat Phoenix too quickly, he'd have to extend the taunting to make up for it.

When he was ten, he'd ignore any non-damaging moves his pokémon had since they didn't contribute much to the goal of hurting the other pokémon so much it passed out. Lowering an opponent's defence didn't help much since a pokémon could do more total damage in less time by constantly attacking. That still didn't seem like a bad idea, though he didn't want this to go too fast... scratch should probably be the strongest, but lick wouldn't be so bad. It also sometimes paralysed the opponent, if he remembered correctly, and he could draw it out even more in that case.

Besides, it would be funny! A teddy bear chasing a stuffed dog trying to lick it was too good an image for Curt to deny himself.

"Right, Lunatic - that's your name from now on - just lick Riolu as much as you can. Don't hold back! Show him the full force of your tongue!"

Phoenix bit his lip and glared at Curt, stung. "Don't be so quick to make a fool of yourself, really," he said, shaking his head just a little bit to regain his composure. "There's a lot more than just stuffing in my new Pokémon; looks aside, I wouldn't have chosen it if it didn't have potential. Which I will now demonstrate--Riolu, use quick attack! Give 'Lunatic' there a beating and dance around its tongue!"

Lunatic turned to look at Curt, giving him a wave and an adorable, conspiratorial wink--Phoenix snorted--and then turned to his opponent with his tongue sticking out as far as he could force it to. Before he could move toward Riolu, however, the blue canine was already on top of him. A blue blur rushed right at Lunatic, landing a hefty kick on the Teddiursa's stomach. Lunatic squealed and staggered back a few paces, surprised; Riolu had already backed up a good distance by the time he'd recovered. Lunatic frowned slightly, rubbing his stinging tummy with a paw, but did not let it dampen his mood. The playful smile quickly returned to his face as he stuck his tongue right back out again and dashed after his target. Riolu gave Lunatic a puzzled look, as if to ask, "...what's with the tongue?". Unfortunately for him, he got a firsthand answer when the little bear gave him a very hearty lick, tongue slathered with very cold, thick saliva. The slimy, gummy spittle clung to the Riolu's blue fur, strange chemicals in it seeping into the Fighting-type's skin. Riolu shuddered violently and did not move, an expression of great discomfort and distaste on his face. Lunatic giggled and clapped, tongue still protruding.

"Oh, really, how immature do you have to..." sighed Phoenix, glaring at Lunatic. "It's just a little saliva, Riolu, don't let the little teddy's childish games get to you!" But Riolu did not listen; he simply stood there, shivering and clutching at his slimy face. He took a shaky step away from Curt's Teddiursa, but stumbled and fell over; Lunatic, snickering even harder at Phoenix's use of the word "game", leaned down and gave Riolu another big, slobbery lick on the chest. Riolu blanched and shuddered even harder.

"Incapacitated by teddy bear drool... how humiliating. Riolu, get up! It's nothing, I assure you!" Riolu bit his lip at his trainer's words--he couldn't feel the teddy drool--but he didn't seem to like the sound of humiliation, either. He shook himself vigorously, aura sensors flopping around wildly and a few flecks of Lunatic's spittle flying off of him, and then stood. There wasn't really any room for him to run at his opponent again, especially since that opponent was leaning in with another slobbery smile, so Riolu swung out with the quickest, hardest punch he could muster. His fist connected with the advancing Lunatic's nose. Lunatic yelped and stopped moving, taking a minute to rub at his sore snout with sticky paws; he then gave Riolu a third lick, causing the puppy-like Pokémon to recoil.

Phoenix nodded approvingly. "That's a bit more like it. Keep up the quick attacks, you'll wear the unsanitary little thing down." He glanced at his watch and rolled his eyes.

Update: Foe Riolu has been paralyzed.

End stats: Foe Riolu is paralyzed.

Rushing in with Quick Attack already... did Phoenix think this was going to end quickly? All that running around would probably just tire the riolu out. The attacks weren't slowing Lunatic down too much, either. Riolu was more affected by Lunatic's licks than Lunatic was by the Quick Attack, even to the point where Riolu was unable to move out of disgust.

"Incapacitated by teddy bear drool... how humiliating. Riolu, get up! It's nothing, I assure you!"

Curt had been doing pretty well with watching silently, grinning the whole time, until that comment. He half-choked, half-snorted with laughter, and chuckled, shaking his head. Sure, it seemed to work - Riolu recovered enough to punch Lunatic in the nose - but the next lick had him flinching in disgust again.

Still, Phoenix was content with that, probably just as long as Riolu continued to attack. More Licks should ruin that nicely, and the attack was as amusing as Curt first thought it would be, but he'd be merciful.

"Phoenix claims that there's more than stuffing in Riolu," he commented idly. "But I have my doubts, so I'll need you to prove it to me, Lunatic. Open Riolu up with Scratches, so I can see it for myself!"

Still smiling and giggling, Lunatic advanced again. He kept his tongue out of his mouth and waggled it around a bit, snickering at Riolu's horrified expression, but instead of giving his opponent another sloppy kiss he leaned in and scrabbled away at the Fighting-type's blue fur with his sharp little claws. The attack opened up several scratches across Riolu's chest, although they were all quite shallow and did not do much to really penetrate the skin.

Riolu struggled to his feet, keeping one paw over his scratched chest. He growled at Lunatic, eyes narrowed in frustration, and took a step back to give himself a bit more room to run; his muscles seized up at the last moment, however, casuing him to trip over his stiff leg and fall onto his face. This gave Lunatic another opening to pounce, claws bared, and to scratch a few more openings into his opponent's flesh.

Lunatic seemed a bit disappointed--so far, he hadn't found any stuffing inside of his foe. Perhaps because he wasn't trying hard enough...? He reached down for another round of scratching, already swinging wildly. But before he could land another hit Riolu regained control of his leg and rolled out of the way, leaving Lunatic swiping at empty air. Phoenix gave an impatient snort as Riolu finally managed to stand up properly, and the snort turned into a low chuckle as Riolu dashed forward again, rushing right into the little bear's midriff. He seemed satisfied with the surprised gasp his attack elicited, but let out another gasp of his own when Lunatic recovered and laid into his chest again. Several of the previous scratches opened up a bit more, and a little blood began to trickle out, but none were deep enough to reveal any soft, fluffy cotton.

End stats: Foe Riolu is paralyzed.

(( ffff so uninspired ))

A little blood. That was more like it. It didn't reveal what Curt was really looking for, but all battles needed some blood in them. That was a pretty small amount, though, and in this case, not as interesting as cotton would be.

"That doesn't prove anything! It's the same as no results - so far. Keep trying. You'll just have to dig in a bit deeper." He raised a hand to his face, stroking an imaginary beard. "Maybe you should try attacking his face."

He should probably sneak in a few licks between some of the scratches, just to scare the riolu a bit more. After the stuffing started coming out would be a good time, if the riolu hadn't fainted yet.

"This is getting ridiculous, Riolu!" said Phoenix, scowling. "I certainly hope you can do better than that! Shake that drool off and get it with Quick Attack!"

Riolu took off immediately, rushing in as quickly as he could so that he might take advantage of his ability to move. His fist slammed into Lunatic's nose, and Lunatic staggered back just a little bit, surprised. He recovered quickly, however--much more quickly than his opponent seemed to be able to most of the time--and swung out at Riolu's face with his sharp little claws. The claws raked the Fighting-type's cheek uncomfortably close to his eye; he cried out and threw his arms up defensively, only to overbalance and fall over backwards. He shuddered as he hit the ground and, predictably, could not marshal his nerves well enough to get up right away. Lunatic giggled and tore cheerily away at Riolu's face, clearly enjoying himself.

Perhaps Lunatic's slashes were a bit too overenthusiastic, however--he continued to swing heartily for several moments before he noticed that Riolu had finally managed to wriggle out from underneath the attack. Riolu now stood several feet away, glaring agitatedly at the Teddiursa from a scratched and slightly bloodied face. He dashed forward again, landing another swift punch on Lunatic's nose only to receive several scratches on his outstretched arm.

"Keep up the Quick Attacks, Riolu!" Phoenix didn't elaborate any further; he appeared to be quite frustrated.

End stats: Foe Riolu is paralyzed.

Everything was going great. Phoenix was getting pissed off, Riolu kept freezing up, and Lunatic was obviously enjoying himself, so he couldn't be too hurt. Lunatic had a few bruises but they weren't as numerous or obvious as the scratches all over the riolu's body. Riolu wasn't showing many signs of tiring from so many short bursts of speed, but Lunatic was still more energetic.

"It looks like the poor Riolu's hurt. You can just tell that he's not going to be getting much sympathy from his trainer. Church boy here will probably just get mad because we're better than they are." Curt shook his head sadly. "No, you'll have to take his place as primary affection-giver. Kiss Riolu better with Lick. Lick his wounds clean." He grinned. There, that should scar the riolu a bit more, although it didn't seem necessary. "And then if he ends up attacking you after that, well, it's not nice to reject your affections that way. You'll have to punish him - replace Lick with Scratch, and rip up his face. We're still looking for stuffing, and there's always something in the head." He paused, glancing up at Phoenix. "Well. Most of the time."

"Kiss it better... oh, dear god, man." Phoenix gave Curt an exasperated look. "And you have the nerve to say I'm the one with stuffing in my head."

Riolu stood rooted to the spot, horrified by the idea of more bear drool covering his already slimy, shaky body. This was not a good idea, as it gave Lunatic ample time to come in and plant a big, wet "kiss" on the open wounds lacing Riolu's face. Riolu whimpered as the awful saliva stung his cuts, and sat down hard, shivering. When he didn't bother getting up right away, much to Phoenix's dismay, Lunatic leaned in and licked his opponent's face yet again. Riolu groaned and swung out, punching Lunatic's nose again. The blow didn't exactly hurt, but Lunatic had been instructed to be harsh if Riolu hit him. He put on an expression of mock seriousness and slashed at Riolu's head again. This time his claws snagged as they raked across the fighting-type's blue and black fur, and the Teddiursa had to pull extra hard to finish the swipe. The cuts opened up by this recent attack looked to be quite deep, and Riolu howled as Lunatic yanked his claws free.

Update: Scratch scored a critical hit.

End stats: Foe Riolu is paralyzed.

"No," Curt said, "I didn't say anything about the contents of your head, but if I did, it would've been that there's nothing there."

Despite Phoenix's disapproval, the licking worked well. Riolu was too horrified to move, allowing Lunatic to lick him twice before Riolu could strike back. Even that was weaker than usual, and when Lunatic moved on to scratching as ordered... ha! A deeper scratch than usual, and a pained howl as a result. Phoenix could order all the Quick Attacks he wanted, but it wasn't about to change anything. Riolu was still getting hit, and that was more impressive-looking than his attacks against Lunatic.

"Keep scratching."

The look on Phoenix's face indicated that he might just like to open Curt's head and have a go at what was or was not inside of it, but he took another deep breath and pursed his lips. "Get it, Riolu," he said, his words slow and his tone strained. "Don't just stand there uselessly, get it."

Stung, Riolu rushed forward, little droplets of blood flying out behind him, and hit Lunatic hard around the mouth; Lunatic's next swipe caught him across the muzzle, drawing more blood from his soft little nose. Riolu squeaked and his paws flew up to his face, eyes watering just a little. As a result, Lunatic's second scratch only scraped the back of Riolu's hands, not cutting very deeply and mostly just glancing off of the little white nodes. Riolu made a noise under his breath that might have been some sort of oath and kicked out at the Teddiursa again, this time landing a hit on his stomach again. The blow was a bit harder than most of the recent ones had been, at least hard enough to knock Lunatic onto his bottom and wind him slightly, but Lunatic hopped smartly back to his feet and lashed out with his claws yet again. He was starting to look just a little bruised around the face and stomach, but the minor little bumps and black spots barely visible through his fur were paltry compared to the lattice of red lines Riolu sported.

"Get yourself back together, for god's sake, and keep going!"

It was hardly a challenge, getting under Phoenix's skin. And once that was achieved, Phoenix hardly managed anything back, not even changing his orders. If that was even possible, anyway. His encouragement had an effect, though; Riolu didn't fail to attack, even with the teddiursa-spit covering him, except for when he was blocking an attack.

"Attacking where he's blocking? You can do better than that. Go for his stomach if he's protecting his nose. Otherwise... yeah, scratch his nose so hard he'll wish he didn't have one."

Lunatic kept an eye on what Riolu was doing with his hands as he moved forward, waiting to see how his opponent would try to protect himself. Desperate to avoid more nasty scratching if at all possible, the fighting-type put one paw over his nose and the other over his stomach before shrinking back and cringing; the protection this offered wasn't great, but he hoped that it might just deter Lunatic. The little bear stopped for a moment and scratched his head, puzzled. If is nose is covered, and his tummy is covered, then he should... of course! Thinking himself quite clever Curt's Pokémon bounded forward and swung out at the space right between Riolu's nose and stomach, catching him across the neck. Riolu gasped and gagged a little, paws flying up to his throat; the damage didn't appear to be too severe, but more blood came away on his paws all the same. He tried to take a step backward and fell clumsily, shuddering.

Heartened by his stroke of genius and its effective results, Lunatic closed in yet again. He yelped when Riolu gave him another quick smack to the face, but his questing claws worked their way around his foe's flailing arm and scored more scratches across his cheeks. Not the nose he'd been aiming for, but certainly still painful judging by the wail Riolu let out. Lunatic continued his swinging and swiping with gusto, this time more or less ignoring the second punch to the face.

Update: Scratch scored a critical hit.

End stats: Foe Riolu is paralyzed.

Oh, sure, now the Riolu chose to protect both of the areas Curt mentioned, and Lunatic ended up confused. Just because Curt hadn't specified any other targets, Lunatic had to stop? He wasn't some sort of mindless program, presumably; he could think for himself, right?

Yes, as it turned out, though it took a moment. Not just anywhere either - the throat. His claws weren't big enough to damage much more than the skin, but still - awesome. Next swipe was aimed at the face, probably the nose, but it just ended up hitting the cheek. Not as great, but Curt was still more interested in that throat-gash Riolu was sporting.

Lunatic, then, could obviously learn to think for himself in a battle, rather than following orders like a machine. Curt already hardly had anything to do in a battle, so if he could at least get Lunatic to think for himself, Curt could do something else in the meantime. Standing around, talking, and thinking... not that much fun after a while.

"That's how you do it," he said. "He can't protect everything, so just look for the sensitive spots and slash them up!"

Riolu was panting heavily by now and tottering on his feet, still clutching miserably at all of his wounds. He sat down and closed his eyes, whimpering. Phoenix didn't say anything this time. He just glared furiously between his Pokémon, Lunatic and Curt, as though a stern glower would magically get them to start doing what he wanted.

It didn't work, unfortunately. Riolu did eventually get to his feet and smack Lunatic in the chest as fast as he could, but Lunatic's scratching continued unabated. The little fighting-type's swings became more desparate, still quick but not very powerful at all; Lunatic, on the other hand, looked as though he was beginning to wear down but didn't especially care. Two more decisive scratches, one to the face and another to that handy neck area he'd oh-so-cleverly figured out, and Riolu fell down. He let out another miserable whimper, curled up into a sad little ball on the pavement, and stopped moving. Lunatic giggled, leaned over and gave his opponent a prod with his claw. No response. He giggled again and looked back at Curt, smiling.

"I... I don't believe this," said Phoenix. He didn't look angry; his face was more or less expressionless, although judging by the way his nostrils were flaring each time he inhaled he was trying very hard to keep himself composed. He reached for Riolu's pokéball and recalled it. "Not good enough, eh... we'll just have to see about that," he mumbled to it before putting it away. He walked quickly over to Curt, handed him a few blue bills and then turned away. "Well, Curt, I can see that you aren't completely useless with a Pokémon. Good for you! But we'll see how far you and your little slasher teddy bear will get with your usual pointless wandering through life. Take care, then, Cousin, and do watch out for those man-eating serpents, mm? I'd imagine they probably enjoy teddy bears, too." Curt started to walk away, stopping only to talk to the dumpy woman that had stopped Linda from beating him with the hammer; Linda herself appeared to have left before the battle's conclusion, probably to blow off steam. "Excuse me, ma'am. Is there a Pokémon center I can take my Riolu to around here?"

"Oh, uh... no, no, we don't have a Pokémon center, young man. But you can stop by the clinic; they'll take care of it. It's a few blocks down that way, can't miss it," said the woman, pointing further down the street in the direction Phoenix had been walking.

"Thank you," said Phoenix. He gave Curt one last withering glare, and then hurried down the street without looking back again.

Update: Riolu has fainted. Lunatic gains 5 exp (level up to 6, 0/10) and is at 40% health. You have gained 100 Kuts.

Curt returned Lunatic's smile. It had been obvious Curt and Lunatic were going to win from the beginning, and Phoenix had been fooling himself if he was surprised, but there was something cool about their first win. And beating his cousin was a plus. Hundred Kuts... well, whatever.

"It's great that you've got a plan, then, since you suck," Curt said as Phoenix walked toward the woman to ask for a pokemon centre, but it seemed he couldn't waste any more of Phoenix's precious time. Whatever Phoenix had planned, though, could apparently wait until after a trip to the clinic. Curt could follow Phoenix and annoy him on the way there, but Phoenix wasn't important enough to keep Curt from his pointless wandering.

He shook his head and looked back at Lunatic. "Well, that was good. Doesn't look like you took too much damage. Let's go find some man-eating serpents," Curt said, locating the routes on the pokenav map. "We can use an actual challenge."

Route 3 sounded good, he decided, starting to walk.

The road leading to Route 3 was not far from the site of the battle, and Curt found it in short order with Lunatic toddling obediently behind. Clouds began to obscure the sun as Curt walked further northwest, casting a light shadow over the hills that lined the route.

If you do not wish to remain here, you may now post in Route 3.