March 18th was Pae's birthday and I wrote her up a fic. It wasn't a bad fic; if I had posted it normally it would have been fine. But I gave that to her as a gift, and it was not good enough for her. So for a long while I was racking my brain, thinking up another fic I could give her, one that would hopefully be better. When she went on vacation for a bit, I had again tried my hand at writing something, but I couldn't get it done. Fortunately, Gecko-1539 was able to write a proper ending, but I was still pressed to figure something out for Pae. And thankfully, I got this together. Pae, I hope you like this. Consider it another (late) birthday gift. I love you, my sweet.

Chapter 1

"The Gauntlet" had opened just two months ago, but it was already the most popular place in all of Goldenrod. More battles were held there than the local gym, since the Gauntlet had more publicity and wonderful prizes for the victor, far more than some petty gym badge. It was a place where people could come and bet on the battles and shows, and trainers could show their true merit. It was frowned upon by many, especially the police, but the battles never quite broke any rules, so there was little to be done.

Princess was happy to show off for the cameras before the match. She and Jenna were the top team of bracket B, the tournament being handled in elimination style, with the brackets working their way to the end, then the victors fighting each other, until there was only one left. Princess and Jenna had won six matches this week, and if they won the seventh, they would win the special prize. Jenna had been ecstatic all day. She had won five badges from the various gyms, yet Princess had never seen her this excited till now. And that made the Vulpix all the more eager to fight.

Her opponent, her last opponent, was a Snorlax; a gigantic monster mountain of a creature. As he entered the ring, the ground shook, and the Vulpix bounced a little bit up and down. He stomped about the arena, making an awful racket. Each of his pounding steps made Princess jump a bit, no matter how she fought to brace herself. And to be honest, she was a little scared. She looked over her shoulder to Jenna, and her trainer gave her a soft, loving smile. Princess smiled back.

The referee lifted his two flags: red representing Vulpix and green representing Snorlax. He blabbed about something, and then the fight was on. The Snorlax started the battle in the oddest way possible. He lifted his massive hands, and began drumming on his huge gut. Princess looked back to Jenna, hoping for some sort of advice on what to do next. Jenna gave an odd shrug.

"Now that you're worked up," shouted the Snorlax's trainer. "Mega Punch." The Snorlax's fist glowed white, and he charged forward with an impressive amount of speeding, considering his weight. He punched forward, but Princess just managed to jump back. He was fast, and by how the punch broke the arena's ground, immensely strong. But Princess was confident she could keep one step ahead. Indeed, she managed to dodge and duck several of his punches, each instead breaking into the ground. But then the full largeness of the Snorlax was in the air, and the Vulpix realized he was using body slam. Then she doubted she could dodge. She heard Jenna scream, and though the Vulpix did turn and try to dash, the thousands of pounds of mushy fat sudden squished down upon her.

It hurt, but considering the Snorlax's stomach gave way easily, she didn't feel anything broken. More than anything, she was just rattled and stunned. Pawing furiously, she wiggled and pushed against the thick, smothering fat, trying to escape the embrace. Finally, she saw light. She pushed her paws forward, and dragged herself out from under the giant's girth, panting and breathing fresh air.

"Princess!" Jenna kept screaming. "Princess!"

When her hind paws were free, Princess leapt away. "Princess," her trainer said. "We can't just play the mouse. Flamethrower, while he's getting up."

The Snorlax was on all fours, trying to rise to his feet (which was quite difficult it seemed). The Vulpix took a deep breath, and breathed out a torrent of fire for as long as her diaphragm would allow. She caught her breath, panting. As the smoke cleared, the Snorlax stood there, skin smoking a bit, but otherwise fine.

"Princess…Fire Blast!"

The Snorlax started coming forward. Princess braced herself, taking a deep breath, before breathing out another large torrent of flame. When she had to stop, again, the Snorlax continued forward. Princess backed away, trying to catch her breath, but she was overheating. And the Snorlax, when in range, took a massive grip around her middle. To Princess' horror, she could have sworn that the rival trainer ordered his Snorlax to eat her. Fortunately, she heard Jenna first and foremost. As the Snorlax opened his mouth, Jenna's voice came and ordered her to use Fire Blast. The Vulpix closed her eyes and stuck nearly her whole head into the Snorlax's gaping maw. She opened her mouth, and breathed whatever fire she still had. The Snorlax gagged and dropped her, spitting wildly, breathing fire as if it were one of his attacks.

"He's not fireproof on the inside, Princess!" Jenna shouted. "Now, climb him, and bite his ear."

Again, the Vulpix was a little confused at that, but she trusted in her trainer. The Snorlax was flailing. Princess dodged and ducked between the flabby swinging limbs, and climbed onto his shoulder, before clamping her muzzle down hard on his ear. The Snorlax roared, and clenched a glowing fist. "Jump!" shouted Jenna, and the Vulpix leapt behind the Snorlax. The glowing fist punched, smashing into the Snorlax's head, as Princess dashed far from him. The Snorlax fell back, rocking the ground as the massive fat hit the floor.

"Snorlax is unable to battle," the referee said. "Jenna and Vulpix are the winner."

Then there were cameras flashing. The crowd was cheering. Princess smiled wide at the loud applause, and then as Jenna came running into the ring. Her trainer took her around the middle and picked her up into her arms. Jenna planted kisses on Princess's head, whispering how proud she was of her. Princess gave her little licks back. She was proud herself. Exhausted, and had a rattling in her head from when the Snorlax had landed on her, but proud none the less.

In one of the arena's sky boxes, was a large man, clean shaven, and having a vast, muscular build, he had more than a passing resemblance to a Machoke just beside him. To that end, there was a Machoke just beside him, arms crossed over its massive pectorals.

The human lifted his phone to his ear, and said, "She's perfect."

***

The Gauntlet had no Pokémon Center of its own, but it had one right next door, and that was Jenna's first stop. When the adrenaline of the battle died down, she was overcome with worry about her Vulpix. Princess as well felt an achiness in her bones. The Snorlax had really done a number on her. A second hit and she would have been knocked clean out. The center took good care of her. The kind Nurse Joy checked her out, gave her some medicines and let her sleep in a warm, comfy bed the whole night. Princess had wonderful dreams, and woke up the next day not only to Jenna's smiling face, but a nice bag of treats.

"Princess," Jenna said. She fed one treat to the happy Vulpix. "I'm very proud of you."

Princess gave a munch of the food and happy yip.

"We got an invitation to an exclusive party. Everyone else is still too tired from running the Gauntlet, but I wanted to bring the little vixen who took down a tubby giant."

Princess gave a happy nod, and spent the rest of the time before nightfall relaxing with her trainer. For this special meeting, trainer groomed her properly: brushing her fur and massaging her tails. What a wonderful day she had.

Jenna carried Princess in her arms to the Gauntlet. A new week of rounds had started, and few of the crowd noticed their prior champion. That hurt Princess somehow. The prior day, they had all cheered and shouted for her. Now they didn't notice.

Jenna stroked Princess' head. "Oh relax. You'll always be my champ. And who knows, maybe the mystery prize will be a championship belt."

Princess put her head down, yawning slightly. They went the same way as before, as if going to the locker rooms, but this time they made a left instead of a right at the fork in the halls, and moved through the door and into the hallway. It was bright this way. The walls of the arena were painted a deep scarlet, and the locker room was grey. This hallway was painted white, with very bright flood lights on the ceiling. Princess started to get a headache. Finally, at the end of the hallway, they came to an elevator. Princess sensed a little pause in Jenna's movements. Princess gave her a lick under the chin to assure her. Jenna returned it with a kiss on the nose, before they stepped through the door.

There was a man wearing black, serving as the elevator's conductor. "Um…the VIP floor please," Jenna asked.

Most of the man in black's face was covered by the shadow from the visor of his cap. His gloved hand lifted and put a key into the wall, above the buttons for the elevator. The key sank in, and he twisted it, and Jenna felt the elevator lurch. She hugged Princess a little tighter, and into her ear whispered, "Something feels wrong…"

The elevator doors opened, and Jenna instinctively walked out. Being the VIP floor, she was expecting something big and grand. She was expecting a party perhaps? Lots of well dressed people, sitting around, smoking and chatting about battles and fights. Maybe she expected a party in her honor, or some sort of elaborate rewards ceremony for when they gave her the victory belt. There was a smell of smoke, subtle yet noticeable, but not people sitting around talking. This room had the same red and black color scheme as the arena, but this place was noticeably dimmer. At the desk all the way into the room sat a very large man, and beside him a hulking Machoke. The man smoked and puffed gently on a cigar. He rose from his chair, still puffing lightly, the little glow at the end of it illuminating his features.

"I saw your fight last night. You were quite impressive. Both of you."

"Thank you," Jenna said softly. "May I ask…your name?"

"You can call me Vaux. You see, I'm something of a talent scout, you see, for our organization. And I must say, you have such talent."

"Thank you," Jenna said. She was squeezing Princess tight to her chest when she took a step back, and hit a muscular wall. Looking back, she saw the elevator conductor.

"We are always looking for strong Pokémon, and your Vulpix is quite strong. Would you be willing to part with her?"

"I'm sorry; she's not up to be traded."

"I never said anything about trading, my dear."

Jenna turned and swung a leg into the elevator conductor's crotch. He gave a yell, falling to his knees, and Jenna had pushed past him, running for the elevator. The man on the floor reached into his coat, but Vaux sharply said, "Don't you idiot, you might hit the Vulpix."

Jenna dashed into the elevator, and pounded every button. When that didn't work, she turned the key that was still in the lock, and the doors closed, before the Machoke who had been sent to catch her could reach the doors. The elevator began its slow descent. Jenna was nearly crying, holding Princess tight against her chest. "I'm so sorry. I'm so fucking stupid. Oh geez…Princess. I'm so sorry."

Princess licked her trainer under the chin, trying to assure her it was alright. Jenna kissed her back. "We…we have to get to the police. We have to get out of here." She set Princess down and wiped her eyes on her arm. The door opened, and Jenna and Princess headed down the hallway at a careful jog. Reaching the first hallways again, Jenna tried to walk slow and inconspicuous, but soon enough she saw the security guards and ticket takers touch their ears and start pushing through the crowd towards her. Scooping up her Vulpix again, Jenna turned and ran. She was smaller, and by that virtue, and squeezing Princess to her chest, she could duck and dodge through the crowds until she reached a doorway, a fire escape perhaps but she was not exactly concerned with what it was. Just that it was a way out. She slipped through and closed it, hoping that the bad guys didn't see her.

Back to running. The way behind them was a dead end so Jenna ran forward. Princess could run herself, but Jenna was clinging tightly to her. At least until they turned a corner, and came to another wall. Something like twenty feet high, and slick, slimy bricks that made getting a grip impossible.

Jenna set Princess down. Undeterred, the Pokémon prowled the wall for some opening, some loose brick that would let them slip out. Finding none, she went in front of Jenna and readied to fight. Down the hallway, they could hear scuffling and shouting. The bad people were coming. Down the hallway, they could hear scuffling and shouting. The bad people were coming.

"Princess," Jenna said. She took a poke ball off her belt, though Princess didn't notice. "I'm very proud of you. I love you very dearly. From the moment you hatched from that egg, I've always loved you. I just want you to know that. Return."

The red light of the ball swallowed the Vulpix up, just as she turned, in shock at that word, but already she was trapped inside the ball. "I love you, my little Princess," Jenna said softly, giving the ball one last kiss. She pulled her arm back, and then threw it with all her might. It arched high over the wall, and then dropped down over the other side, out of sight. Jenna sighed. She sat back against the wall, waiting for the footsteps to come upon her.