The appearance of Melody nearly made his heart stop. Glimmering, bright, she went far beyond any of his wildest expectations, embodying the very idea of the word dazzling. A light blush crept across his cheeks and he coughed out a quiet "Thank you," at the end of her explanation.

Ravioli, who had left his ball, poked his head out from behind trainer, his eyes peering down at Jasper, a hint of disapproval apparent. It wasn't until a light nudge of A wing shoved him forward that Jasper shook his head, smiled, and gave his Pokémon a reassuring pat. "I'm good, I'm good."

During this time the stage itself had begun to take form. First, blanketed with a cover of darkness, the sound of gears loudly cranking rang throughout the arena, accompanied by the occasional squeal of a wheel. Then, light had returned to the stage, and with it, a new appearance all together. "Huh." The long hallway and simple door was definitely unexpected. More or less, Jasper had originally imaged this long outstretched area full of wipe-out tm inspired traps to send any challenger flying. This was fine too.

Adrenaline rushed through their veins as they inched closer towards the door. It felt like the start of a rollarcoaster-- jumbled emotions toppling over each other, sporadic nerves going off the walls, the snickering from a friend (Ravioli). Jasper's (noticeably) shaky hand reached out for the knob. He turned it, slowly, carefully.

That's when the music blared out from the hidden speakers, smothering anything and everything in it's path. In an instant, a devilish grin carved it's way across the challenger's face and a flame lit itself in his eyes. They're playing THIS song, huh. He hadn't heard it for years, sure, but it all flooded back to him in an instant.

 The beat rang out of him without a second thought. The duo made for the art gallery, the bass of the drums creating their tempo, and the rifts powering their movement. Jasper's experienced eyes, even when distracted, were quick to noticed the jutting movement of the mannequins.

He gestured for Ravioli fly upward, above the mannequin's heads. He was quick to understand.

 Swooping forward, the archer Pokémon took position above their wooden heads and in front of Jasper, who had some difficult pelting the incoming groupies back. Simple dodges weren't going to keep up for long.

 The bass drops. Drums and guitars obliterates the airwave as the trainer, following it's beat, jumped up and used one of the mannequin's rigid shoulder to further propel himself upward and toward his Pokémon, who effortlessly took hold of his wrists, as they've done so many times before.

The taste of victory evaporated nearly instantaneously.



The Gardevoir's attack ripped through the duo, forcing them to separate almost immediately after entering the room. Ravoli, who forced to go upward, was quick to caw out to Jasper, who had to roll onto the ground, allowing the force of their roll to cushion their fall. A low grunt beckoned from their lips as their eyes lifted toward the opposing Pokemon.



"Key's on her neck." They barked out, answering his Pokémon's worry with information. They didn't have much time till she strike again and Jasper knew that. A plan, they needed a plan to grab that key and move on to the next room. Getting close could be dangerous, though-- there's no telling when she'll use another move on them. They had to distract her somehow and do it quick.



"Shoot at us!" The words flew out of their mouth without a second thought. In theory, if Ravioli could send out a barrage of arrows towards them, the Gardevor would forced to focus on dodging, allowing them a small window of time to snatch the key. Decidueye's first response was to shake his head. He knew Jasper's agility would save them from any of his arrows, but there was still a chance one unlucky quill would find it's way through.



"Trust me!"



The frustrated grunt of his trainer was just enough for the Pokemon to outstretch his bow arm, reach for a handful of quills, then bombarded the duo (but mainly the Gardevor) with a flurry of arrows. Jasper, who was ready for it's launch, would take the opportunity to reach for the key the moment their opponent left an opening.

It all happened in slow motion.

The arrows, which fired one after another, sliced the space between them, their speed mimicking that of Jasper's own hand reaching up towards the Gardevoir's neck. "A little closer..." They grunted, their finger tips inching towards the metallic key. The arrows appeared closer-- about a millisecond away. It was now or never.

That's when they felt the sudden tug of their body, the zap of reality shifting, and the unfamiliar appearance of a completely new location among the map. That's also when they felt the cold touch of a familiar object clutched tightly in their hand.

"My bad!" They apologized to the gym leader. Still, the remnants of a victorious grin were clear on their face. "CAWWWWWW" Ravioli fluttered their wings towards Jasper, immediately greeting them with the solid thud of his beak. Worry was clear in his eyes. "Ow ow ow, cool it dude. I'm sorry...I'M SORRY!"

With the duo reunited, Jasper and their Pokémon gave each other a sharp nod before proceeding forward.

The metallic click of the knob turning was closely followed by the grand greeting of the next room: another dummy infested paradise. This time, however, a giant ass guard stood watch over the next door. The gym leader's resounding voice was quick to confirm their suspicions: don't get caught.

Raised eyebrows, wide grin, the trainer nudged his partner with their elbow, "Got this?" The avian only rolled his eyes in response. Years of illegal activities had trained him as much as it had trained Jasper.

The lights of the arena were quick to vanish from the equation, allowing only the echoes of one's movements to reveal their position to the other. This gave them the advantage. Without hesitation, Ravioli strung back several arrows from his wings, directing them to the far right of the room. Whether it hit a dummy or not didn't matter-- as long the arrows made some kind of sound.

They didn't need to talk or create a plan of action. The map to victory had already been engraved in their bones through years of practice.

The Pokemon's wildish rage induced movements brought a smile to both Jasper and Ravioli's face. Their attempted effort of misdirecting the Pokemon was successful. Now, there was only one remaining question: how do they get to the key?

The question buzzed in their mind, unraveling into several different webs of ideas. Eventually, one led to another, which led to a possibility of victory.

Ravioli nudged his trainer. Their eyes stared back at each other, unwaveringly so, as they both seeked out an answer to their own questions. Jasper then understood-- Ravioli had an idea worth trying. Flicking his hand upward, they signaled him the okay, which the Pokemon nodded to.

Within the next millisecond, an arrow wizzed across the room, landing a few feet to the left of the Obstgoon. If provoked, the decidueye would be quick to send a spirit shack it's way, aiming at its ankles. Hopefully, it would be enough to send the Goliath toppling over.

Melody Miro

Given the dimness of the room, Jasper's had a difficult time seeing what had resulted from their second assault. Did it work? Were they closer to victory? The answer to these questions came with a screeching caw from Ravioli, who had immediately dived towards his trainer the moment the obstogoon's directional path became clear.

With both the rumbling of the massive normal type, as well as the cawing of his own Pokémon, Jasper knew action had to be taken quickly. So, with his trust fully invested in his other half, the trainer flung himself to the right, closer towards the screech-like caws. If done in time, his hands would clasp around the avian's feet, carrying him above the raging obstgoon.