"And how does that make you feel?" He said playfully in his best impression of a Hollywood couples' therapist, casually sweeping one leg over the other as he leaned forward and propped his chin atop his fist, smiling at the worst kept secret in Hoenn- Avatar and patron.

"Pleasure to make yer acquaintance as well, Articuno!" The youth said as he waved at the legendary bird. After meeting Tapu Bulu and a few other legendaries, he was getting more or less used to the sight of the impressive, unique pokemon.

It probably helped that the challenge was not a battle proper, too.

The youth patted his Togekiss gently grinning at the pokemon before turning his smile towards their opponents.

"'Tis be Eggward; he's real excited 'bout today. Let's make it a clean race, eh?"

TAG: Laurence Anderson

The youth glanced back at the bird curiously, taking the pokemon's claims at face value.

"Looks like we've got our work cut out for us, Eggy!" Doug said as he scratched at the back of his head, prompting his Togekiss to croon uncertainly.

At that, the youth swung his body so he was laying chest down atop his Togekiss, before hugging the pokemon firmly and giving him a broad smile.

"Don'cha worry too much 'bout that stuff! Just get into it and have some fun! Remember- This is yer jam!" The youth reminded the pokemon, prompting a slightly more certain nod from it before it moved to stand at the starting line.

The youth turned his gaze towards Laurence Anderson and Articuno, grinning at them once again before turning his gaze towards the referee. The man raised a fake gun in the air in response, holding his hand to his ear-

Blam!

They were off!

"Let's GOOO!" Roared Doug, his Togekiss launching forth with a squeal!

---

And they are off!

The first obstacles were simple.

Not easy, but simple enough. Essentially barriers, with extremely small gaps for the pokemon to fly through. Needless to say, approaching at the speed they were, Doug could feel his heart begin to beat quickly in his chest- and not from the adrenaline rush.

"Oh shit... oh shit oh shit! Here it cooomes!" Screamed Doug as he hugged Eggward tightly and closed his eyes.

The Togekiss narrowed his own gaze before lightly turning its body to fly through the gaps between the several obstacles.

With Doug already flat atop the egg bird, Eggward could thread the line with confidence, unwilling to let its trainer be injured.

Doug could feel the static build up upon the hairs on the back of his neck as he came this close to having his skin grind off!

And then... Wush! A rush of air as they made it through the last barrier and into momentary freedom. Doug's eyes flew open then, the youth propping up his head and blinking in pure amazement at the fact that he was still alive, before he began to smile.

"Hahahaha! Yer awesome, Eggy! Good job" The youth proclaimed with a delighted laugh, Eggy crooning happily in response.

After such a close shave, Doug would have liked nothing more than a rest- but unfortunately, that was merely first of many obstacles.

The next appeared all too soon- when Doug found himself dropping his head back onto Eggy's back with a yelp as a projectile flew through the air.

A rain of projectiles began raining down upon them as the course narrowed around them, forcing them to fly through the narrow valley between several rows of tall building complexes. The sources of these projectiles were... The spectators!

Doug vs Lars

Such an honor to meet such a famous man!

Doug could feel Lars catching up to them- they were right on their tail!

There was only one thing he could...

SUDDENLY.

"IS THAT MR. Laurence Anderson BACK THERE?!" A voice boomed loudly as a single fan casually happened to stick her head out of the window.

"Huh? Mr. Anderson?!" Shouted one random kid. Suddenly, there were not only the people asked to help throw the obstacles at the trainers... Windows and balconies began to swing open at random as word of mouth swiftly passed by, Lars' infinite amount of fans beginning to make themselves known.

"OMG! It IS Mr. Anderson!" Squealed one in absolute delight. The fans, not aware of why random items were being thrown... concluded it was an effort to get Lars to sign them.

Naturally-

They joined in.

Loving fans threw large Lars Anderson branded body pillows (among other such items) at the object of their adoration, squealing loudly the whole time.

Doug almost felt bad, having traumatic flash backs to his recent time with angelo vestri.

And yet...

"GO, EGGY, GOOO!" Whether it was by fate, or by Eggward's super luck... they could not let it simply pass by.

---

Eggward's Super Luck ability triggered(?!).

Doug vs Lars

Such an honor to meet such a famous man!

Every one of them, was the answer.

The windows and balconies were all swinging open as Laurence Anderson flew by, only to be deterred by the legendary bird's pressure.

Nonetheless, Doug and Eggy had attempted to seize the brief window of opportunity and jetted forth to the third obstacle segment. A tall tower had been erected at the center of the path with two sticky batons stretching out to either side.

Doug grasped one as they flew by, staring at it with a tilted brow. The heck was he supposed to do with this? As they flew by, they found yet again, more obstacles in their way, soft, blue balls that flew around threatening to hit him- No wait, they hit him.

It didn't hurt. He barely felt it, actually.

Huh.

A few red balls were mingled in, and for a moment, he thought he even saw a yellow blur, but none of them really represented much of a threat. Weird...

He realized the reason for everything when Eggy grind to halt before a large gate. Upon it, there were two large holes with number screens above them, both counting 0.

He glanced at it, then at the sticky stick, then at the balls, and something click.

"LET'S GO, EGGY!" The youth cried as Eggy swung around and went for the balls, the youth swinging the stick around wildly to catch some on it!

---

Doug vs Lars

Such an honor to meet such a famous man!

What indeed? Doug waved the baton around wildly to catch as many balls as possible, but he didn't really know how many he needed. The gate had been rather cryptic about it.

When there was no longer enough surface mass left in his stick to catch another ball, he had Eggy fly back to the gate and dumped his balls on one of the holes.

The screen came alive, going up by +1 for every blue ball in the stick, before suddenly jump up by +5 when a red one went in.

Then on the screen flashed-

11/30

The youth quickly swiveled back his ride with a broad grin, now fully understanding the game, before flying back into the flurry of balls, eyes sharp for the odd colored ones!

"How were the fans?" He shouted over at Laurence Anderson as he flew near, still grinning.

---