Fantastic Four.

Well, wasn't Iris a let-down. The poor girl; she has such high expectations to live up to on account of being not only an eighth Gym Leader, but a Dragon-user at that. Last Dragoon we encountered was the charming Lance, who took so long to beat I may have chewed my own arms off up to the pre-set maximum of twice.

My way of saying I'm ready to fight the Elite Four. Had to get past Cheren, who needed more proof that I was better than him than simply beating him in every single fight from the very start. Thinking about it it's a wonder he kept going on his Pokemon adventure and Belle gave up, considering how she is currently the ONLY person to EVER beat me in this game, and that was the very start.

Still no sign of Zekrom. Starting to look like I'll need to prove myself to his foxy twin brother at the Champion's Hall before he'll deign me with his thundery presence. But! There is another surprise that I was not expecting. Had my first glimpse of something called Volteros today, this Generation's chase-him-around-the-world-map Pokemon. Nicely done, Nintendo. Volteros' presence on a Route is signified by a typhoon, very cool, but unlike Entei and co. he's not going be scared away by some puny trainer with a few less-than-Legendaries. Here's the cool thing: Volteros turns up in Isshu once a week, starting at the south of the region and slowly making his way north, ending up on Champion's Road as the day ends. That means it's a lot easier to chase him around, not having to dart on and off the world map each time you change locations. Going to concentrate on the plot for now, though, and then we'll pay Volteros a visit.

Final team is the same as the last Gym team: Lazarro at 50, Patty at 47, Afro at 46 (when will he evolve?!), Iko at 46, Wanita at 44, Golgoth (new entry, a Dragon called Kibago) at 43. Wanted to get Metas in there, but with a perfectly good Cross Scissor on Lazarro I don't think I'll be in need to any more Bug.

JET stuff coming together, going to try my hand at a Personal Statement tomorrow. And then it's clear sailing for another weekend. Looks like things are starting to settle down a bit, which is good 'cos the stress was bubbling up without my knowing it. Making mountains out of molehills all the time last couple of weeks, hasn't been good for my heart. Though apparently my teeth are excellent.

Gradius time. That thing is going DOWN!

Thanks for reading.