[attr="class","wizzcred"]

[attr="class","aheader"]

[attr="class","athread"][player]http://k007.kiwi6.com/hotlink/31im16wmt1/Hack_Your_Way_CrossCode_Original_Game_Soundtrack_192_kbps_.mp3[/player]
Annie nodded, several times in a row. “That’s me! Don’t worry, you won’t forget the name any time soon after this. I hope we both learn something from this, Ken!” His Pokemon came out. Their shared choice in Pokemon earned a mild chuckle out of Annie, and she sent out her duo to show him why. A surfing Raichu and a Ludicolo doing the Macarena made up her electric-water tag team. The two barely spoke beyond greeting their enemies, but neither of them seemed capable of sitting still…. Much like their trainer, who was stretching her arms behind them.

For the first time since she’d arrived, the girl was silent. It wouldn’t last, of course – she simply needed a few seconds to think. “Feels like bait, but just in case… Pancake, Thunder on the Pelipper! Rudi, land a Scald on the yellow spikeball!” A true rain master must have known to expect a move enhanced by the rain, which left Annie a little confused. Would the bolt from the heavens make its mark on the bird?

Rudi, fortunately, had a little less to worry about. A jet of boiling water fired from her mouth to meet the Jolteon. All while dancing, of course.

[attr="class","tag"]@ken

[attr="class","aheader"]

[attr="class","athread"][player]http://k007.kiwi6.com/hotlink/31im16wmt1/Hack_Your_Way_CrossCode_Original_Game_Soundtrack_192_kbps_.mp3[/player]
Protect. That was the second gym leader in a row that had started the battle with Annie’s favourite least favourite attack. “Why do the top dogs of Hoenn love using the worst thing to happen to competiti- You know what? Whatever. We’ve got this.” She wasn't about to let that move get abused again If there was one thing she’d learned from too many infuriating encounters with the move, it was that it offered a brief window of opportunity after each use.

“Rudi?” The Ludicolo’s dance had been stiffened by the blast, but it seemed to insist on showing its moves regardless. That was enough to tell Annie that she had fight left in her, to say nothing of what she could steal. “Get in there with a Knock Off!” For such a shaggy, bulky blob of a Pokemon, the dancer didn’t give the aura of a speedster… Mostly because it wasn’t. When it abandoned the rhythm to charge at the enemy, it became clear that it wasn’t quite a slowpoke either. Could it match a Jolteon? Almost definitely not. But a Pelipper weighed down by a Jolteon? They’d find out. If she managed to cross the distance in time, she’d leap up and smack the Lightning Pokemon with a glowing palm – and maybe even throw him off his steed…

Making the opening his partner needed. “Who says lightning doesn’t strike twice? Pancake, one more time!” The clouds above cackled and roared, giving but a brief warning before the third beam of the match was unleashed. Would it be the first of Annie’s that met its mark, the Pelipper?


[attr="class","tag"]@ken

[attr="class","aheader"]

[attr="class","athread"][player]http://k007.kiwi6.com/hotlink/31im16wmt1/Hack_Your_Way_CrossCode_Original_Game_Soundtrack_192_kbps_.mp3[/player]
It was a plan well-executed, but at what cost? Annie hadn’t counted on the gym leader using friendly fire – an assumption that would cost her dearly. The Hurricane was a heavy blow under any circumstance. Combined with the Thunder moments before, it was a knockout blow. “…Huh.” What should have been a victory cheer from the trainer was diminished to mild surprise… And then amusement.

“Alright, alright, you’re taking me seriously! Sorry you had to take that, Rudi, but you did great!” The dancer lay splayed out against the ground, barely able to groan in response before she was returned to her ball. That left the Raichu, blown aside by the Hurricane, and then rocked by a mighty bolt. She’d managed to stay atop her tail through it all, the sheer power of the attacks balanced by her resistance to them, but they’d managed to wipe the smile off her face. Annie’s had only grown.

“Think you can catch a wave up here?” A daring “Chu” and a pair of raised stubs heralded water rising from beneath the plateau, curling and growing into a tidal wave as it rushed to embrace the mouse. Not that that worried her. A psychically-charged jump propelled her atop the wave, her tail acting as her surfboard as she spun to face the Jolteon. Under her command, the water’s wrath crashed down on the enemy, the mouse coming to hover inches off the ground a few feet behind her target. "Gotta make the most of good weather while it lasts."

[attr="class","tag"]@ken

[attr="class","aheader"]

[attr="class","athread"]
The canine was down, and it took Annie a few seconds to realise he wouldn’t be getting up. Her lips widened into an all-out grin. “Wow, we nailed it! Not a bad match, if I must say so myself.” Pancake swivelled around on her board, zipping past the gym leader and his fallen friend, into Annie’s open arms. “Oh, you’re all wet but I don’t care! You did really well with that Thu- Ow!” The Raichu had nuzzled her face, forgetting for the third time that week that her cheeks were also lightning sacs. Annie reared her head back, giving her partner a stern stare. It wouldn’t last. “Don’t embarrass me in front of the gym leader, alright?” Even as she spoke, her face gave way to the smile’s return.

“We’ll talk later. Pancakes for dinner.” The mouse squealed and flipped in the air as Annie set off, walking across a drenched battlefield to meet Ken. “Having one Pokemon carry another is a really cool way to have them cover each other’s weaknesses! I wish I’d thought of that. Maybe I’ll have to next time. That’s the fun of finding another weather trainer – you see all kinds of new ideas!” She offered a handshake to the man.

[attr="class","tag"]@ken

[attr="class","aheader"]

[attr="class","athread"]
Her frozen face is no less awkward as she’s awarded the badge. After a few seconds of expectation, she let out a nervous chuckle. “I’m glad you’re so eager to give me the badge, but that was for a handshake, dummy.” The badge is unceremoniously shoved into her tracksuit’s pocket, and the hand is offered again, giving him one more chance to get it right.

“Don’t look so down! Or maybe that’s just how your face is. I don’t think you’ve cracked a smile once since I got here… Anyway, you did good; I just did better. And that should linger over you, fellow weatherman! Next time, I expect you to beat me, and then I can come back and beat you again! We’ll make each other better.”

With all the positivity out of the way, she cleared her throat, placed her hands on her hips, and announced: “Now, it’s Annie Mei tradition to take something extra from every defeated gym leader! I accept advice, cash, an autograph, your favourite training spot, a charitable donation to me in my name, or a cloak. You have a cool cloak. It’d make a good blanket, so I’m mainly hoping for that.”


[attr="class","tag"]@ken