[attr="class","juliaw"]

For a moment, Julia thought the violet being painted across the sky was some sort of high-tech special effect. But then she felt the crackling in her mouth. Special effects weren't supposed to do that. Nor were they supposed to spawn the familiar cracks in the sky and flashes of what looked like lightning. No way... Was this a space-time distortion?!

[break][break]Already, people were panicking. Screams filled the distorting air. People pushed and stumbled over each other in their desperation to get away. Security guards shouted for order and guided people away from the chaos, and it was Julia's duty as a Ranger to help.

[break][break]She hurriedly put on her armband and badge before joining Slateport Ranger Captain Tam Fawley and the other Rangers that had gathered around him. It looked like he had this part of the evacuation under control, so Julia figured the best way she could help was by staving off the aggressive wild Pokémon appearing from seemingly nowhere.

[break][break]What looked like a taller, bluer Sneasel with wicked-looking long claws materialized dangerously close by. Julia didn't even have time to think about how it might differ from a regular Sneasel or Weavile. She grabbed Spot's Poké Ball from her belt and tossed it out. "Spot, hold it off!" she shouted.

[break][break]Spot shot an Aura Sphere at the Sneasler. It flinched a bit at the attack, but not as much as Julia had been expecting. Then, it rushed forward and pummeled Spot with a series of clawed punches using Close Combat. Spot growled in pain and fell to one knee, already looking exhausted.

[break][break]"Come on back!" Julia called before recalling the Lucario in a red beam of light. Already, the Sneasler had its sights set on her; she had to think fast! If it barely took damage from Aura Sphere, then it probably wasn't Dark/Ice. Maybe it was Fighting? That Close Combat was the best hint Julia had. She tossed another Poké Ball onto the battlefield. "Chester, let's go! Use Drill Peck!"

[break][break]Once he'd materialized, Chester ran forward, cawing his determination. His beaks glowed with Flying-type energy before he drove all of them into the Sneasler at once. The Sneasler cried out and fell to the ground. It looked like that worked!

[break][break]"Great job, guys!" Julia looked around to make sure there wasn't anyone left to evacuate. "Come on, let's get out of here!" Chester nodded one head and ran over to Julia so she could hop on his back. Together, they rode out of the distortion.

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Another blue shard? This was starting to get silly. How many of these were down here, anyway? And what were they even shards of? Julia would have to ask the event organizers later. For now, she pocketed her newest acquisition and continued her search for treasure. Something seemed to be poking out of some seaweed dancing in the current. What could it be?

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Dull pain crept its way into Julia's skull as she reeled in her next catch. The Bruxish she reeled in didn't look very happy about its current situation. "Sorry!" Julia said, rubbing her temples with one hand. "Here, let me just..." She removed the hook from her latest catch and set the Gnash Teeth Pokémon back into the ocean, where it swam deeper into the water. Julia sighed in relief as the ache in her head subsided. Okay, hopefully her next catch wouldn't be quite so angry... or able to give psychic headaches if it was mad.

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This time, Julia would let herself relax more. Focusing too hard on perfecting the Magikarp Splash would just psyche her out, so it was time to let herself clear her mind of everything but breath and being a Magikarp.

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[break]That time, she was a bit too relaxed and forgot to signal the Mantine to perform the trick! Oops! She giggled bashfully to herself. "Maybe you need to become the Magikarp, not me," she said to the Mantine. It dooted its confusion.

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It looked like priam conrad's attempts paid off! But Julia was just as determined to reclaim and keep that throne... at least for a little while. Her tongue poked out as she concentrated. Once she was satisfied with her aim, she pitched the ball.

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[break]Alas, she missed. Oh, well! There was always next time!

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Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Integer pretium elementum nisi eget laoreet. Etiam feugiat nisl nec aliquam finibus. Nullam pellentesque neque orci, ac scelerisque sem imperdiet vel.[break][break]

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"Aliquam sit amet sodales risus. Aliquam a luctus velit."[break][break]

Pellentesque habitant morbi tristique senectus et netus et malesuada fames ac turpis egestas. Aliquam sed turpis at nibh sodales tempus sed eu libero.

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"That's awesome!" Julia said. "I've never been in a contest before, but they sound like a lot of fun."

[break][break]When she took a closer look at Elga, she realized that, yep, the Beheeyem had no ears. How was he wearing those, then? Man, this was gonna bug her now.

[break][break]"I dunno, either. Telepathy, maybe?" The word Julia was looking for was "telekinesis," but in her defense, she wasn't exactly a Psychic-type expert.

[break][break]Hideo had a point that the Wooloo probably didn't like being abducted, but Julia thought that some Pokémon just had strange ways of thinking. Still, even if it was some weird form of play, abducting its "playmates" seemed a bit extreme. She didn't get a chance to vocalize her thoughts, though. Hideo suddenly stopped mid-sentence, and Spot's ears and appendages perked up once he'd spotted the thief's aura. The Lucario turned and nodded at his trainer. Julia nodded back.

[break][break]"Looks like it," she said. "Lead the way, Spot."

[break][break]She crept behind her faithful Lucario, trying to keep her footsteps as quiet as possible. Though maybe that was pointless, given that their opponent was a Psychic-type. Would it be better to rush in before it could react? Wait, hold on, was just thinking about this putting her at a disadvantage? Maybe if she just thought really hard about doing the opposite of what she was actually going to do, she could trick it? Except she'd just thought about doing that, so now it knew, and this was why Julia didn't like thinking too hard about plans and stuff, dang it! Was this how Chester felt when his heads couldn't agree on a decision?

[break][break]The heck with it; she was just gonna go for it. "Get in close and grab 'em," Julia whispered to Spot. Spot nodded, keeping his aura sights locked on the little thief, and dashed forward with a Mach Punch. He didn't intend to hit the Beheeyem, just get close enough to grab it for questioning.

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"So I've heard," Julia said with a nod. She realized her speech was a bit more formal than usual, but that was probably the best for now. This was work, after all. She followed the Vespiquen down the path and deeper into the wilderness.

[break][break]"Hmm..." She hadn't expected to be put on the spot like this, but she didn't let it bother her much. "Well, first we have to know why they're fighting, right? If it's resources, maybe we can help with that. Though I guess we should calm them down first. Lazuli, my Lapras, is good at that. Just be ready to cover your ears so you don't fall asleep." She recalled how Lazuli's Sing had calmed a net full of trapped Carvanha and Sharpedo so they didn't hurt each other trying to escape. Maybe something similar could work here?

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Okay, it was another Poké Ball. Neat! Maybe it was time to search elsewhere. She swam among a school of Goldeen to a relatively untouched area of the seafloor.

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"Whoa!" Julia exclaimed with a laugh as she pulled up a huge Mantine. "Hey there, big guy! You could probably carry a bunch of people on your back, huh?" The Mantine dooted. That probably meant yes. Once it was safely unhooked, it joined the rest of the school, where a couple of the smaller fish Pokémon took refuge under its wide wingspan. Julia had to be careful when casting her line out again; she had quite the entourage with her!

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Slowly yet surely, Julia was getting the hang of the Magikarp Splash. She'd be one heck of a happy camper if she could pull it off this time!

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[break]Ouch, too much energy in the flop and another thumbs-down from the judge. Julia would have to dial it back a bit. Or a lot, probably.

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Time for another go at the dunk tank! Julia tossed the ball in her hand once before taking aim. Then, with all her might, she threw it at the target, aiming to get poor @howl dunked.

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