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"Ooh, texting Yushiiiro again? Ashley teased over Elizabeth's shoulder in between wrangling fistfuls of hair into the curling iron, working it gently down her neck with measured, wobbling strokes to create long, loose curls that truly represented light waves in her normally pin straight hair than anything else. Elizabeth looked back to Ashley and pulled her phone flush against her chest, "Now I know you're a nosy one, but is that really necessary?" Beth pulled her phone away from her skin and looked back to her messages, "Yes, I'm texting Yushiro. I feel bad. I've practically ignored him all day and it's his big duel day. It's just-" "Wait wait wait, hold on. This is the part where you start talking with your hands and I'm on the last curl." Ashley finished her work in silence, and finished by taking a moment to admire her work. Satisfied, she playfully spun Elizabeth's computer chair around so that she was facing Ashley on the bed in Elizabeth's apartment bedroom. "Okay. Tell me everything. I've been waiting for this all week. But!" Ashley looked down at her watch, "But we should get out of our PJ's and into those dresses soon. It's already 5 o clock." Elizabeth leaned back in order to shoot Ashley an annoyed but amused look, "As I was saying, Ashley. When we were out the other night, we practically spent half an hour snogging it up, having a blast of sorts, and then had to sneak back into our dorms! It was sort of, you know, hot. I thought I was getting some adventurous daring part of Yushiro I had never seen before. But he's barely even asked me to the dance; he's essentially only asked me if I'll be there to see him. Like, he asked in his way but... I was hoping for a bit more gravitas. You think I've done something wrong? Did I give him the jitters with the foul?" she looked down at her phone, punching in a quick message To: Yushiro From: Beth Of course I'll be there. Can't miss your big duel! Are you at all nervous? Beth groaned; she hated that text but couldn't think of anything better to say. "Well..." Ashley paused, tapping her finger to her chin, genuinely thinking of the question at hand, "I guess it's possible, but you had mentioned he seemed pretty shy from the start. I think if I had to guess he's relieved you took the first step. But... he might not have any idea what to do next. I wouldn't worry about it too much Beth. You're right, today is a pretty big day for him. He's probably just distracted. If I knew he was going to be your date I would never have scheduled the duel at the time!" Ashley chuckled, before handing the curling iron over to Beth, "Alright. I know you're better with the flat iron but it's my turn. I'm going to pull it back. Just curl my ponytail real tight the best you can, with those back and forth motions like I showed you." Beth nodded, switching places with the blonde girl. Just as she was about to get started, her phone vibrated, and she looked over quickly, drowning out the various complaints and groans from Ashley about it. A little, yeah. I'm feeling a lot better after all that practicing we did last week though! Oh, good! Just focus on the fundamentals. Then again, if you win, who knows if I'll even get a chance to see you tonight with all the attention you'll be getting "What? What? Oh yes sorry Ash I was just distracted by something. Do you think he'll win?" Beth inquired "Against Hiraku? Listen Beth I know he's your fling right now but I wouldn't be taking bets on him if that's what you're saying. Hiraku's really good, he's a starter for the duel team! You should know that. He might end up on the disciplinary list a little too often for the Headmaster's tastes but he is a damn good duelist, Beth. And hey, could you pay attention a little? Ponytails aren't very fashionable with burn marks; I can feel you riding up the roots back there." Beth stared daggers into the back of her best friend's head as she continued to work on Ashley's hair, "Yeah, I guess you're right. I just hope he wins; if I have to cheer him up who knows where our night is going to go. I'm not what you would call an optimist." "Yeah, that's great and all Elizabeth but who cares about the duel? Do you like him? Elizabeth stopped for a moment, "What? I don't know, we've barely been seeing for a week Ash. It's only been two dates." Beth continued through her hair, You better keep your hands in your lap, miss. I'm not arsing about with this again." Ashley squinted, trying her best to stay still while Elizabeth very roughly dragged the curling iron through her ponytail, " Well I don't know. Hot word on campus is that you've been spending a lot more time with the duel team, and with Hitomu being single.." Ashley tiptoed her way around the sentence, but Beth cut her off long before the thought was finished, "Well that's about enough of whatever it was you were about to say. I'm not dating my dead brother's best friend you loon. He was just doing me a favor, getting me involved with the duel team again and all that. You said yourself you wanted me to get back on the team, Ashley." Elizabeth sighed; she could feel the blood rushing to her cheeks from aggravation; that was always something that followed her and Hitomu, even when Tess and Hitomu were as in love as ever, or at least as far as she could tell from her perspective. She supposed it was only natural that people would look on the outside and assume there was a connection there, but still, she said out loud, "It's never been like that between him and I. I'd do anything for him but not like that. It's those kinds of rumors though, that history that follows me for one reason or another... I'm pretty positive I'm going to end up really breaking Yushiro's heart at some point. That's why he's not texting me back." with one final wrist stroke, she was done, although her spinning around of Ashley in the computer chair was far less enthused. It was met by an equally confused face on Ashley's end, "Wait, what?? You never mentioned anything like that. What do you mean? she documented Elizabeth's body language as Beth began to squirm; this was a routine Ashley had seen thousands of times before in the last year and a half, although this time she let Elizabeth fester in it a bit out of her own interests. "When we were kissing, he told me how he was feeling. And... Well I guess I sort of warned him what he was getting into. I know, terrible idea but... I think I might have been a little scared myself, and it rubbed off on him. I pulled away from him pretty sharply and... well I'm not sure he knows about Todd. A feeling I can't shake." Ashley frowned slightly, "You have to stop being so scared of these things, Beth. He's a duel team tryout underclassman and you're Elizabeth. Freaking. Hall. That kid's lucky to have you, and if you break his heart, well... it's happened to both of us before too. You remember bawling into our history notes after Kyata? It's a part of growing up, Beth." Ashley stood up confidently, making her way over to her dress that was hanging off of her wardrobe door, "At least you have a date. I was so busy this year I bought this stunner of a dress just to wear it for nobody. I'll guess I'll go to the bar and shoot the breeze with Hitomu for a bit after the duel is finished." Elizabeth followed suit, running her fingers down her own dress, "What's with that, anyway? I've never known the Student Council President herself to be without a date for some kind of function. Surely you had takers, no?" Ashley nodded, "I did, I did. I guess I'm just so worried about trying to make all these events happened I couldn't, uhm, what's that word you're always saying? Arsed. I couldn't be arsed to feel out the crowd. Did I use that right?" She was met with a snicker, "It's not nearly as ravishing without the accent. Well, Ash... You spend so much time worrying about me and everyone else I hope you carve out some time to worry about yourself. These things are going to mean nothing to you later in life if you're not able to enjoy them. Come on, let's get into our dresses, I'll help you look for appropriate suitors while we wait for Yushiro to finish his duel." Elizabeth winked at her best friend and they quickly got to work finishing their preparations for the evening. ---- Some time passed, and the girls were arriving to the dance with some time to spare before the festivities truly began. Elizabeth chose a two piece dress, showing off her complete midriff with an open back top, pairing it with short, black closed toe heels. A normal suite of casual makeup was paired with a bold red lips, giving her normally pale lips a candied apple sheen about them, drawing all attention directly to her face. Ashley, on the other hand, is all about the bold, and decided to match her normally radiant features with an attractive A-line High-Neck Dress that came up just above her knees. The bloom of the dress gave her a whimsical, alluring aura about her, high pointed silver heels gave her a classic yet formal look. Ashley's smile brought the entire outfit together, and it only grew as they approached the venue, seeing the fruits of her labor come together. "So! Where should we go first? You wanna hit the bar and say hello to the mystery bartender before he's on the clock?" Elizabeth shot Ashley a look, "Mystery? Is he hiding his identity?" Elizabeth giggled, being careful not to rub her lipstick on her hands while she covered her teeth, "Sure, lead the way. I'm sure Yushiro would rather be focusing on his duel coming up anyway."

I think I told you this already, but Classic and Alternative Rock

Hitomu adjusted his tie one final time before inspecting himself in the mirror hanging above his bathroom sink. A slim fitting black suit vest, complemented by a black-and-white pinstripe tie and a crisp white shirt, that’s what he had chosen to wear. The chain of a pocket watch intentionally dangled from the lower right pocket of the vest—a family trinket that had originally belonged to his grandfather, the first in his family to use a Toon deck, the front of the watch was engraved with the likeness of The Book of Toon. To finish the look, he had tied his hair into a tight bun. Not something he normally would have done, but Tess swore he looked good with it up (not that he was trying to impress her anymore). “...I’ve gotta be forgetting something,” he muttered, glancing around. The outfit looked great—stylishly formal—but the nagging voice at the back of his mind that insisted something was missing refused to go away. I don’t have time for this. I’ve gotta start setting up in the next twenty minutes, he thought, after checking the time on his phone. Plus I still need to message Hiraku and Yushiro. Whatever, it’s probably just nerves or something. Short on time, Hitomu pulled open his messages and started to work on his texts as he left his dorm, speed-walking to Maiden Hall. All the while, his deckbox sat on the bathroom counter, completely forgotten. Crowds started to meander into the building right as Hitomu finished prepping. He didn’t recognize any of the faces yet, and thankfully, for the first time in ages, none of them recognized him either. Tonight only, Hitomu Amaya was not Blue Yonder’s famous Duel King; no, tonight, he was just a mysterious bartender, all thanks to the mask he had donned before entering the building. It was nice. Not that he hated being in the spotlight, or resented anyone, but he had always been the laidback-type. Stardom was hard to adjust to. Especially after the contract. Overnight, he had gone from famous amongst his high school peers to a ‘talent to watch’ to all those interested in the professional scene. It was a bit of a hassle. Tonight, for his last ever Kickoff, he just wanted to relax. Leaned over the counter of the bar, lost in thought, Hitomu almost didn’t notice Ashley and Elizabeth as they approached. “Oh? Two beautiful young ladies, come to visit a foolish jester like me?” Hitomu grinned underneath the mask. “Could it be for alcohol? Hmm, no, the king of this castle doesn’t permit me to give my gifts to anyone who has seen less than eighteen summers,” he said, looking at Elizabeth. He was also doing a weird and somewhat high-pitched voice, different enough from his own for anyone who wasn’t a personal friend to be fooled. He giggled and pulled the mask off just enough to reveal part of his face, then quickly put it back down. “Hehe. I’m playing; it’s me, Hitomu. You two really do look great though,” he said. “Try not to give Yush too many nosebleeds, eh, Lizzie? I already have my work cut out for me.”

Jacklyn seemed to be pleased with the suggestion, which was surprising. Belle had expected something along the lines of, "a great adventurer never stops to eat!" or some nonsense like that. Instead, she shouted out, "great idea Belle! After all, adventure isn't just about exploring new places, but exploring new flavors as well! And since we're in a new place, there's no doubt new flavors here to try!" Belle froze. That sounded...oddly familiar. She felt as if she had watched something like that, once upon a time. Though she couldn't remember most of what she watched, honestly, having watched quite a bit, but it sounded familiar anyway. Had Jacklyn watched it too? Ivan agreed, patting his stomach. "I could go for some food myself. Then it's settled - we get some food." He said, turning towards the rest of the city. "Plus, it'd be good for our Pokemon to get some rest." However, there was something that Belle, and Jacklyn in her excitement, had forgotten, that the tanned boy had not. "Before any of that, though, we should find a Pokémon Center. Gotta make sure everyone is in good condition for training." Jacklyn quickly agreed with that, but Belle couldn't help but frown. She had never used a Pokémon Center before. When Moo had needed to rest, she had just let him rest in his Poké Ball and not used him. Still, a way to quickly heal up injured Pokémon sounded useful. At least it meant they would be prepared if they needed to fight. Going through Skrelp Harbor, the bluenette noticed that Jacklyn was having...difficulties keeping to task. Every so often she would start drifting toward a building that looked "exciting," and each time would have to be guided back. Belle glanced at Ivan and made a face. "At this rate it'll be dawn by the time we get to the Pokémon Center." After reaching the Center, Belle greeted the nurse with some trepidation, however the woman seemed perfectly friendly, which caused her to relax somewhat. Handing over her Poké Balls, she watched them glow slightly in the strange machine, curious. It wasn't too long before they were both back in her hands. Gazing at the two of them with furrowed brows, she realized that...she could not tell them apart. This wasn't good. Closing her eyes, the girl concentrated on the balls. If she could just focus, then maybe...maybe. Even the most inexperienced of psychics can identify which Pokémon is in their own Poké Ball. Putting forth all her effort, she tried...and failed. They both felt exactly the same to her. She frowned. Jacklyn and Ivan don't have any problems sending out their Pokémon. Did that make them psychic? So she was even worse at this psychic business than the two of them? That was a little...depressing. Not that I really wanted to become a great psychic, she shook her head. But it would be quite useful right about now. The girl sighed and put them away. Well, she would just have to figure it out later. Maybe mark them? For now, she glanced over at Jacklyn, who had already started to babble on about something or another. From the menu she was holding, it was probably about where they were going next. "The Skrelp Flambé, huh?" the bluenette muttered, "sounds fancy." Way above her head, and probably above her allowance too. "It's supposed to be a pretty famous place to eat around these parts with loads of dishes you can't find anywhere else," Jacklyn frowned, "but, I'm not sure if our pokemon will like it there. So we should probably look for a place for them too." Pulling out her two pokeballs she said, "I should probably be fine with just carrots but uh...what do your guys's pokemon eat?"  "Eat?" Belle repeated. "Oh yes, that." Her brow wrinkled. Actually...she had not fed Moo once since getting him. He had never really seemed hungry either, though she thought she saw him eat grass once. Or, he was holding it in his mouth anyway. She hadn't really been paying attention. "I think Moo eats grass," she mused. "I just caught a Rattata, not sure what it eats." She did remember hearing once about it needing to gnaw on things, or else its teeth would grow too long, but that didn't help her now. She wanted to know what it was supposed to gnaw on, not that it did.

"H-hey what do you think you're doing?" Mac shouted. Ari rolled his eyes. Taking you away from there, what else? But he didn't say that out loud. He knew Mac would just get mad and pretend she wasn't upset earlier or something. Kazo said goodbye to the other children and quickly caught up, passing them in no time. The Helioptile seemed to gain some energy at that, shouting out "Oh no you don't, c'mon Ari, it's a race now!" And, without letting go of Ari's hand, she began to run as fast as she could to try and outspeed Kazo. "All right all right," the Litleo muttered, increasing his pace. She seems a lot happier now, though, so I guess that's fine. He wasn't sure why she seemed to dislike the children so much, but maybe it was because of that earlier fight. She really knows how to hold a grudge. In the end, they did not win the race, but Ari was fine with that. Mac let go of his hand when they reached Kazo's house, telling him, "You didn't have to do that you know, sheesh." Then, to Kazo, "I bet I would've won if I had been by myself!" "Oh sure," Ari replied. "Or you could've been even slower." Though he knew he had been the one to hold them back, he couldn't resist saying that. He turned to the Tyranitar. "Hi again, Mrs. Kaz--I mean, Trish," he babbled, a little nervous still at talking to THE mother for Kazo. "The wedding was...fun," he finished lamely. -- Following the others in, Easter paused in front of the Kingdra. "Thank you," he said quietly. "We will all do our best to keep Dora safe. Until the day she decides to come back here." He didn't say that she for sure would come back. He wasn't the master of Dora's mind, so he didn't want to say for sure whether she would or not, but whatever she did, he would not stand in her way. And he was sure Brooke would not either. She loved Dora, but she was not like the king. Were everybody down, Easter would try to slide the throne back to hide the way they left, but he would not spend too long doing so. Either way, if the Kingdra knew where they went, then most likely the others would soon find out as well. Descending the stairs, he glanced around, noting the glowing stalactites. He watched Phione create a bubble with some confusion. Could all water gijinka do this or was it just Merm natives and legendaries? Once the group was surrounded by the bubble, the Sylveon glanced at Brooke. She had been rather nervous the last time they were in the bubble. "So...after this. What next?" he mused. "We return Phione to her mother, and then..." Fight? Mewtwo had mentioned that. Earlier, he would have been enthusiastic at the thought, and honestly, a part of him still bubbled with excitement, but, there was yet another part that could not help but worry. He glanced at Dora. He would fight, but what about Dora? He would much rather she stay far away from those sorts of battles. -- Keanu noticed Randy and Marie stopped to pick up Allie, but for himself, he wanted nothing to do with the crazy tita. No, he just wanted to get some kau kau in his stomach. However, once they actually got themselves seated, he ended up sitting next to Nani somehow. Why does this always seem to happen to me? He wanted to cry. He wanted to even more when he saw what they'd be eating. Meat, meat, and more meat. Sometimes, it sucked being a vegetarian. Even the smell made him feel a little queasy. "And then he got sick, but I told him that would happen after swallowing an entire frog whole. Was wicked awesome though." The conversation topics did not help there either. Thankfully the people of Trailsau had bread and corn. No fruit apparently, though. Or pancakes. Sighing, Keanu picked up a large cob and began to eat. Listening to the people speak, every so often he would join in, becoming friendlier and livelier the longer the meal went on. After all, Keanu wasn't particularly unsociable. He had been to luaus, tiki parties, and more, and it was fun talking with all the different folks of Alola, meeting new faces, and doing silly stuff surrounded by people that enjoyed those things. Except sometimes he liked to just lie on the sand and sleep the day away. "So one time," he shouted to be heard over the others. "I was surfing, and a shark came up and tried to chomp on my surfboard. And right at that moment, another shark came. So you know what I did?" "No, what?" one of the gijinka asked. "I sent a little shock right through my surfboard. Knocked the one shark right out, but the other was still on my tail. So I used da kine surfing move, where I launch right into the air! The shark didn't follow. I think it realized I wasn't food." "Dang, man, that's pretty awesome." "Yeah, can you imagine, outdoing a shark?" "Did you ever wrestle one?" Keanu gave a mysterious smile. "Not me, but this one girl I knew, Lucine, she dove right into the water to wrestle one. 'Cept she was a rock type, and water and rocks don't mix." The others winced. "Was all good in the end. We got to eat shark meat too." He had almost forgotten that Nani was right beside him. Until she spoke. "You saw, didn't you?" The Pikachu paused, heart stopping along with him. "Y-yeah," he said, then cleared his throat. "Yeah, I did, so what?" his voice came out a little cocky, but inside, his heart was doing butterfly impressions. He continued, not stopping to think about what he was saying. "But it was kinda sandy and stuff, so I might not have seen it very clearly. I couldn't have. No face looks like that, I mean, no, of course not," he shook his head. "Never mind. I didn't see anything." -- As Nine spoke, Shaymin's wariness had died down, replaced with nervousness. "I..." she began, stopping when Lok arrived. As he introduced himself as well, she giggled and took his hand. "It's nice to meet you Lok. You too, Nine," she glanced up at the Houndoom with a shy smile. Looking at Kayla, she shook her head. "No, I'm the one at fault," she brought a hand up to her chest, balling it into a fist. "I...I shouldn't have panicked like that. But...the very thought of facing that thing again," she shuddered. "Well, I didn't face them. Not for very long, anyway. It was mostly my other self," she looked down with gloom before turning back to the others. "Let's start over," the legendary said, tone brighter. "My name is Shaymin, and...I'm not very special. I did not create the volcanoes, the seas, or time and space itself," her voice grew distant. "I am merely a messenger, sent to purify the land and deliver feelings of gratitude. I soar through the sky while watching over the earth. Or, I did, before..." she bit her lip, and then shook her head vigorously. "I...I'm sorry. I know you saved my life, and I'm truly grateful for that. But I have a hard time even referring to them, much less describing them." Shaymin sighed. "They are a most terrible gijinka. Fearsome and powerful, one of the most powerful to ever exist. At the beginning of time, they helped to shape the world. Yet, consumed by their power, they began to rampage, for they desired a different world, one much worse than the one we live in. Eventually, they were sealed away, and I created a barrier to prevent their return." She paused. "I gave up my main duties as guardian of the earth and sky to power the barrier. Yet it seems I was needed after all." She shook her head. "Only gijinka devoid of gratitude could seek the return of They Who Lurks. Of the god Giratina." The woman stopped speaking then, shivering in place.

Hi it's shadowliepard I decided to come back after all this time. Felt like creating some cards. So you guys have new digs? What's up with that?

"Others? Who else? Who did you fight?" "Were they cool?" "Were they strong?" "Were they pretty?" There was a lot of questions, and for some reason, Mac wasn't happy about it. Wasn't this what she wanted? Recongition, being a hero, all that sort of jazz? Kazo never could understand that girl. Thankfully, Ari was on the ball when it came to answers. "Yeah, they were super cool, strong, and uhh, maybe there were some pretty ones, I don't know," he shrugged at the last question, wrinkling his nose slightly. "There was one who looked to be a kid just like us, but she acted so grown-up. It was weird, but not weird because she was a legendary. But, uhh," he grinned sheepishly. "That was a pretty hard fight, and we're all pretty tired. So," he took the Helioptile's hand, "gotta go, sorry!" and started to run. "Come on, Kazo!" he shouted. "Yeah, we'll talk to you all later. I gotta make sure my mom is alright after all that fighting," Kazo waved at the kids before he to ran off. The good this was, he was great at running. He scooped up Ari and Mac as he passed them and ran as fast as he could. Time for a tactical retreat! "What is...a Godslayer?" Mistakes were made. Denku never imagine that these people were so sheltered that they didn't hear about a group of mass murderers running around killing people so legendary that they controlled forces that the world hinged on. He could just imagine Easter and Brooke were thinking less and less of him by the minute. "Well, I'm going to admit, you've thrown me for a loop... I didn't think there were people that didn't know about this. Must be nice," He muttered. "Basically, dangerous people are coming to this city, wanting to kill Manaphy. Dora's likely to get caught in the crossfire, because the king knows about Manaphy, and they'll hurt Dora to get the king to spill the beans. So we are taking Dora away from that, so when it happens, she can't be hurt," He explained. "Please, don't make it harder for us to protect Dora,"

There's something that comes from writing something that I just can't get anywhere else. A satisfaction and joy that only comes out of creation. Even if it's only a few hundred words at a time.