The Pokemon professor-to-be found his daydreaming cut short, just as his song was. Before him, a small jet of water erupted from the water, its small, focused torrent whizzing past his head. His hair, and therefore his integrity, were spared by only inches, droplets of water spraying his face as they hopped off the main current of the attack. You little shits can't even let me have this moment to wallow in my own self pity. A groan erupted from deep in his throat that still felt choked up as he nearly stomped his foot like a rampaging toddler. "You want to fight? FINE!" the challenge bounced off of every surface imaginable in the cavern as Fanny swooped over the waterfall. She cawed as she passed over a lone Remoraid that floated with its head poking out of the water at the bottom of the falls some 50 feet down.

"How did you manage to get so close to hitting me from there?" he asked, as if he expected the Remoraid to answer. "Wing Attack!" he called -- it was pretty much their go-to move these days. The Murkrow nodded and went in for the kill, closing the distance between her and the water-type quickly. As that distance narrowed, the Remoraid released another jet of water, this time at Fanny. A split-second reaction had her swerving out of the way, compromising her own attack and leaving both Pokemon unscathed. Raziel watched as the Remoraid disappeared beneath the surface, its shadow racing toward the waterfall itself. For a brief moment, the water-type swam up the vertical stream, defying gravity and all odds. When momentum ran out, the Remoraid leaped out of the stream all together, into the air. Airborne now, it launched another Water Gun at a somewhat confused Fanny, hitting her in the side and nearly sending her into the pool along with the Remoraid.

Reestablishing equilibrium, Fanny caught herself, her eyes also catching the pest of a Remoraid. "Alright, Night Shade. That won't miss." and sure enough, the dark haze that filled a perimeter around the Murkrow burned the floating Remoraid. It wasn't much, but it was enough for an opening. "Wing Attack!" Fanny was quicker this time, locking onto the disoriented Remoraid as she hurdled through the dark mist she created. Wings aglow, the Murkrow gave the Remoraid a hearty whack as she skidded across the surface of the water, pulling up her flight and heading up the waterfall.

Remoraid was a fighter though, and was able to Lock On to Fanny rather readily as she made her escape. A volley of Water Guns chased her. "Watch yourself, Fanny." Raziel advised from his perch at the top of the falls. The Murkrow cawed, weaving left and right to dodge the attacks before pulling up further and making her 90 degree turn up the waterfall into a 180 degree turn away from the waterfall, now flying horizontally above the lake at the bottom. The Water Guns subsided. "Feint Attack!" the booming command echoed in the cavern, and Fanny fell upon her prey once more, this time knocking the Remoraid out once and for all.

It had been a trying battle, but the two of them came out on top. They always did. "WHO'S NEXT?" the angry man was suddenly inspired, eyes surveying the cave defiantly. Fanny circled around the pool below the falls, the scavenger bird searching for its new prey.

Despite his bellowing call to action for any thirsty challengers, Raziel found himself standing alone again for a few minutes. The call went unanswered, at least for a little while. Perhaps any nearby fish pokemon had witnessed Fanny and her gracious might as she pummeled the Remoraid. Perhaps his reputation as a quick-witted battler had finally reached the wild Pokemon of Tohjo Falls. Perhaps his lack of singing had disheartened them. Perhaps fish simply scattered at loud noises. Who could really say for sure? In the absence of action, the ecologist found himself nudging pebbles over the edge of the falls, falling maybe a hundred feet down to the pool below. The falls were too loud and too powerful for him to hear or see the contact of the pebble on water's surface below, but he found amusement in the mere action, so he repeated it a few times.

He'd chuckled as he'd kick another pebble down to the pool below, Fanny simply circling above it, doing little to avoid the falling rocks. She wasn't really in the line of fire anyway. Raziel could feel his emotions quelling and was feeling a little bit more like himself again. Less like a little bitch, at least. He rolled his eyes at his emotional tendencies but could feel them coming back on. That sore feeling in your throat you get before you cry was saying hello, as if to tell him that ethereal silence in a somewhat sacred place was not acceptable and he would have to cry to fill it. Raziel shook his head in frustration.

SPLASH.

He blinked a few times, body perking up and listening for a source in his periphery. Gravel behind him was moving now, so he turned around. A lone Feebas flopped on the gravel -- he must have heard Raziel's hungry battle cry. "Heh, let's fight." he wiped his moist eyes and grinned at the Pokemon. "Fanny, come on. " he called over his shoulder. The drama queen skimmed the surface of the falls and emerged behind him a moment later, ready for the battle. "Wing Attack!" wings glowed and she soared into the Feebas, whacking him further along the bank of the cavern river. Raziel watched him flop a few times, dancing toward the Murkrow rather fruitlessly. Then it stopped. Raziel leaned forward. "You're done? It's our turn?" a chuckle rose from the back of his throat. "I thought you'd make this harder. Wing Attack again." And so they repeated, knocking the Feebas back along the bank to where he started.

Then he'd Splash again as Fanny flew high above him. No amount of steroids would let the Feebas reach her, and at some point he figured it out. Raziel opened his mouth to issue another command, when suddenly the fish was practically flying at his face. Why go for the bird when he could go for the trainer? Raziel matrix'd the little shit and it landed right where he'd been kicking the pebbles off into the pool below. He grimaced, fighting back the urge to just send the Feebas flying like a kickball destined for outer space.

But he was having such a rough day. And the Feebas started it! He deserved this. He'd earned it. Karma was doing him a -- WHACK!

Raziel gasped. Fanny had appeared with another Wing Attack and sent the Feebas hurdling, like the pebbles before him, along the waterfall. Though they couldn't hear the splash, they knew that Feebas had reached the bottom. He did not resurface.

"Fanny!" an amused shock sat on his face as he smirked at the Murkrow, who simply stood at the edge, head held high in victory. The two looked over the edge again, hoping that the Feebas wasn't actually dead.

There was no sign of life below them. Raziel rationalized that the pool was deeper than they thought, and that the Feebas was simply resting at the bottom. Besides, dead fish floated. If there was a bead of sweat to wipe, he'd have wiped that, but the mist that clung to his skin would have to do.

"SQUAWK!" the flapping of wings followed what had to be the Murkrow equivalent of the word "fuck;" Raziel looked down. Below him, Fanny desperately whipped her wings around to try and break free from the Vicegrip of a Corphish that had apparently snuck up on them. Her trainer couldn't help but chuckle, watching as the otherwise lifeless, emotionless Corphish just stood there, one giant pincher equally desperately holding onto the Murkrow. Raziel walked away, unpressed by the potential severity of the situation. Fanny would be fine. When there was enough distance between him and the conjoined Pokemon, he turn heel. "Night Shade, Fanny. Then Wing Attack." she quickly stopped struggling and began emitting her ominous haze into the air around them. As the haze began to rub against Corphish's shell, it began to burn him enough to loosen his grip on Fanny. Raziel's Pokemon sensed this and yanked her tail free -- wings now glowing white in the otherwise dark and hazy sphere, she unleashed the bitch slap of the century and sent the Corphish soaring across the river. The crustacean landed on the other side, still energized enough to get to his feet immediately. "Watch for Bubblebeam." Raziel advised, knowing what may be coming next. Fanny, who was tending to her horribly ruffled tail feathers, looked up and saw the Corphish begin to blow a stream of bubbles her way. Rather than get out of the way, she threw a wing up in front of her. The remaining wisps of Night Shade were enough to alleviate some of the bubbles before their contact, but she withstood a blow.

Another barrage of bubbles welled up in the Corphish's mouth, cascading toward Fanny within seconds of the first attack. "Tailwind, let's blow them back." Bubbles were pretty insubstantial -- they'd either pop at the wind, or they'd turn around and hit Corphish. Fanny beat her wings heavily a few times, and soon a wind tunnel formed in the cavern, concentrated along the strip between the two Pokemon. Raziel watched as his hypothesis was verified: most bubbles popped, and what few didn't ended up popping in Corphish's face. A grin curled on his lips, and Raziel pointed a finger dramatically at the Corphish from behind Fanny. "Wing Attack!" she, being equally dramatic and sensing the opportunity to perform, swooped up in the air, doing a backflip into the current of her tailwind to pick up speed, and finishing with a tucked barrel roll before unfolding her wingspan once again and practically slicing the Corphish in half. He was soaring once again, this time the wall behind him finishing his flight rather quickly. The thud echoed in the cave, and Raziel suddenly felt something. Was it sympathy? Camaraderie?

Raziel dug into his bag and yanked out a Pokeball before the Corphish would have a chance to scurry off in defeat. As it expanded in his hand, the researcher wound up and launched it at the Pokemon. It shook...shook...shook...

Somewhere in his periphery, he could feel Fanny glaring at him.