Title: Attract
Rating: T, mostly for Language
Genre: Undecided
Summary: Sokudo discovers a way that just might free him from Kowai: a girlfriend. But will it even work on a demented Shedinja? Sokudo's willing to take the risk to find out.
Author's Comment: This one's inspired from a meme on deviantART. I'll link my entry for that meme on my profile when I submit it, so if you want, keep an eye for it. This story will also be quite a bit slower on the update than usual, at least for the next chapter, so be patient as there's a reason for it. :) I just wanted to submit this chapter to give my readers something in the meanwhile! And if the delay takes too long, I'll put this on temporary hold and work on other entries until progress can resume.

Chapter 1: Idea

"Okay, this is getting ridiculous," Sokudo hisses sourly as he flies towards the Rogue Headquarters, Kowai following closely behind. "They keep moving the Task Board, then wonder why nobody can ever find it!"

"Maybe they're testing us," Kowai suggests in its usual child-like voice. "Like a game!"

Unlike its Ninjask counterpart, Kowai isn't frustrated by the frequent changes in location of the Task Board. Really, it couldn't care less about their job; it only wants to spend time with its brother and please him by 'pulling its weight'. And as long as it's in Sokudo's company, it's generally having a good day, regardless of how foul his mood might be.

"If it is just a fuckin' game," Sokudo starts, crossing his arms. "Then someone's gonna pay for wasting my time." There is a moment where silence comes between them, but then a soft dark-sounding purr emerges from the Shedinja behind him and he quickly adds with emphasis. "And by 'pay', I don't mean 'you-eating-their-souls', you psycho."

"If you say so, brother." Kowai whispers in a tone dripping with blood-lust, earning a chill from its sibling as Sokudo glances back at it uneasily before putting a few more feet between them. Focusing his eyes back to their destination, he looks up at the building before him. It is small compared to the other buildings of the village, and built in the image of a Spiritomb's Odd Keystone. He glances back at his shed to see it turning away a bit, as if reluctant to look at the structure.

It always does that when they come here, as if it's nervous of the place's appearance. He had attempted to ask several times about what exactly was making it uncomfortable, but Kowai never really gave him an answer, or at least a straight one.

Whatever, it isn't important right now and he opens the door for his shed, the husk eagerly entering so as not to look at the building's outward resemblance any longer. Entering himself, he glares around automatically for the Task Board. But it is nowhere in sight and he rolls his eyes before looking to Kowai, who is very distracted as it explores the place for the hundredth time. "Hey, pay attention, freak."

Hearing this, Kowai immediately turns back to its brother before hurrying over to him. "Yes, brother?"

"Look for that stupid Task Board," he orders it. "I gotta talk to Gunpowder about this."

"Okay!" it chirps before going off to make itself useful, hoping to earn its brother's praise.

"Don't break anything!" the Ninjask calls after it before flying towards his leader's desk. Landing on Gunpowder's paperwork, he glares at the larger Pokemon angrily. "Are you leaders trying to make our lives more difficult?"

"Actually, matey, that be Callahan's job," the Gabite tells him before pushing him off the papers and onto a more suitable spot on his desk. "Now, what can this ol' pirate be doin' fer ya?"

"Well, it'll help if you stop moving the Task Board around," Sokudo snaps at him. "Honestly, how are we supposed to do anything if we can't even find out what the fuckin' jobs are?!"

"The Task Board?" For a moment, Gunpowder looks confused before a spark comes to his eyes. "Ah, yes. I do believe we decided to move it here, fer now. But I'll be damned if I can remember where..."

"Of course..." The Ninjask rolls his eyes again, having a feeling his leader is messing with him on purpose. But he says nothing as he flies off the desk to scan the nearby boards and posters for his desired target. There's one for the menus and offers of the local restaurants, an advert for Barty's Bluff, a long and growing list of the team members, and another for...

"What's this?" Sokudo asks as he stares at a heart-shaped bulletin board he's never seen or noticed before. It is covered in multiple ads of Pokemon, of any team, any Guild, and any species. Scanning them, he sees that they are requests for... love-interests? Somehow, he never thought he'd find something like this here.

"Oh, that there be the Datin' Board," Gunpowder answers before smirking. "You interested?"

"You kiddin'," Sokudo answers with a huff, looking at the Gabite like he's crazy. "If I bring a girl over for even a One Night Stand, Kowai will have both our heads on a platter by morning!" He isn't sure if that'll be true but seeing how clingy and possessive the Shedinja is, it won't surprise him. Although... Looking at the board in contemplation, his mind begins working on an idea and he can't help but ask. "Hey, Gun. You think Shedinja feel love?"

"To be sure, matey," Gunpowder replies. "Yer brother certainly loves ya."

"I mean romantically." Sokudo rephrases with a slight hint of irritation.

At this, the dragon hesitates, clearly uncertain of the answer. After a moment, he shrugs. "Can't tell ya, matey. As far as I can tell, Shed's can't be havin' any eggs, so..."

"Well, there's more to a relationship than having eggs," Sokudo points out, glancing back to the Dating Board.

"True." Gunpowder agrees. "Maybe it could happen, who knows." He grins again. "You intending to find out?"

"Most definitely," Sokudo mutters, having way more than mere curiosity in mind as he takes a blank form and stashes it in his item bag. Glancing about, he takes a deep breath. "KOWAI! WHERE ARE YOU?!"

"Over here, brother!" comes the husk's chirpy voice from another room, followed by a loud crash of something large and heavy breaking. "I found it!"

"Whatever it broke, I'm not paying for it..." Sokudo grumbles before flying off in the direction of his shed. "Goddamn it, Kowai! I can't take you anywhere!"

"Sorry."

"You keep saying 'sorry', but I doubt you ever mean it most of the time."

"No, I don't."

Arriving at the scene, he sees the Shedinja hovering by the Task Board innocently, purring proudly at its accomplishment of finding said board despite the large shelf laying broken on the ground next to it. Shaking his head, Sokudo flies over to his brother, giving it a reprimanding swipe on the head despite his claw bouncing off harmlessly due to Kowai's Wonder Guard. In fact, the Shedinja purrs even louder at the contact, despite the ill will behind it.

Sokudo glares at it for having such a reaction before tearing off some of the Task papers and stuffing those into the item bag as well. Turning away, he begins flying for the door, his shed following cheerfully as it remains blissfully unaware of its brother's plan.

Sitting himself down by his desk in his room, Sokudo rummages through his bag before pulling out the dating application. Taking out his pen, he begins filling it out intently.

"Name: Kowai

Gender:"

He hesitates a bit, staring at the male and female symbol next to the word. Despite the shed insisting on being his brother, he still sees it as the gender-less creature it is, and the Shedinja certainly doesn't seem bothered by it. He eventually shrugs to himself before putting a question mark over the symbols before continuing on.

"Searching for a wonderful: Girl

Must be a:"

The Ninjask taps his pen against the desk in thought, wondering just what he should put down. Several points battle in his head and after a few minutes, he eventually decides and chooses the top three.

"-Bug or Ghost-type

-Cuddler"

That one certainly feels important to list, considering how dangerous the Shedinja can get when deprived of its daily snuggles with him. And speaking of importance, he adds to the list his primary reason for bothering to do this in the first place.

"-Pokemon who can keep it AWAY FROM ME!"

He swipes the pen across the paper to underline the words with further emphasis. He wants to make sure there are no misunderstandings with this, and to ensure that, he pulls out a piece of paper and uses it to go into greater detail, the words coming in a smooth flow.

"Hey, ladies, this is Sokudo the Ninjask speaking! Listen, I'm trying to get rid of my brother and this seems like a subtle way to do it without breaking our agreements and whatnot! Just don't tell it that I'm behind all this, alright? It'll kill me if it finds out this is some plot to get it out of my life (no, seriously, it'll KILL me D: )."

He shudders involuntarily, his memories going back to the night Kowai nearly murdered him. Yes, the Shedinja swore not to hurt him, but that promise might be rendered void with this little stunt. Should he really be doing this? He glances at the door, having some second thoughts now that he thinks about it. Well, if Kowai does find out about this and choose to attack him for it, he can Aerial Ace it and fly off. Or kill it himself... No, he's no murderer and although he feels little to no attachment to his shed at this current point in time, he knows he can't play a direct hand in its death.

Discarding those thoughts quickly, he turns his attention to the paper, ignoring the bells still going off in his head.

"Its name is Kowai, and although gender-less, I want it to be with a girl, 'cause... y'know... I'm a guy and it's my shed. Anyway, I personally don't care who steps forward, but I think you'll have a much better chance of socializing with it if you are the same type (especially if you're a Ghost, so it won't see you as Soul Food) . Yeah, it doesn't like people in general, so expect some resistance from it."

'Some'... what an understatement, he thinks to himself before shaking his head.

"It's obsessed with cuddles and although I doubt it'll cuddle with you at first, I also feel that once it's used to you, it'll cuddle you as often as it cuddles me (about twice a day or more) . And most importantly: KEEP IT AWAY FROM ME! I'm trying to escape here and I need your help to do that! You don't even have to truly like it, just pretend for a while! Keep it busy, I don't care how, just do it! It'll resist, but keep persisting! My life could be on the line here!"

Hopefully, that drives the point home. It might scare away some potential volunteers, but he doesn't care. Surely there has to be someone brave enough to take the job, and that's his target demographic.

"Personality-wise, it's got this child-like innocence and curiosity to it; this is its first time out of the Spirit World apparently and being a naive, asexual creature, you'll probably have to teach it the ways of romance. No worries though, it's a very fast-learner. But be warned: DON'T get it mad! Just trust me when I say that you don't wanna do that, unless of course you can defend yourself with an attack that'll bypass its Wonder Guard.

And don't be too freaked out about the black mist coming out of its back. It's some kind of energy that feels very cold to touch and it'll grab you to steal your soul if you look into the hole it emerges from, but other than that, it's just... there... Kowai refuses to tell me more, but maybe you'll have better luck!

Yeah, this whole thing's a long shot, but I'm getting desperate. Take it away from me and I'll be in your debt! Anything you want, I'll do my best to make it happen, just do me this favor! Anyone interested can meet with me at Spinda Cafe, we'll talk.

Peace Out,
-Sokudo- "

That should be good. Proof-reading his entry, he looks back at the application and stares at the blank dotted square, obviously for a photo of the applying Pokemon. That could be tricky, but maybe he can pull it off. He just hopes Kowai won't ask too many questions. Putting the papers in the bag and taking a camera in his claws, he flies out of the room and looks about for his brother. But the Shedinja is nowhere in sight.

Narrowing his eyes and immediately on his guard, he scans all its favorite places in the house to find no trace of it. Tense, he wonders and hopes that it's just outside and he goes to the door to check the perimeter. Swinging it open, he jerks back in startlement as the husk floats there in front of him silently. Immediately, his heart skips a beat and he can't stop his voice from shaking.

"W-What're y-you doing out here?" he asks.

"Eating," the Shedinja answers flatly and Sokudo takes note of a Patrat's body a few yards behind Kowai. He grimaces a bit before forcing his eyes away and getting himself to calm down. For a moment there, he thought the husk was onto him. Thank goodness that didn't seem to be the case, although the ghost did seem rather suspicious of his nervous demeanor. "Where're you going, brother?"

"Well, I'm probably about to go back to Headquarters," he informs it, his mind working for an excuse. "I need to ask Gunpowder about some of the Tasks."

"Take me with you." Kowai continues, its voice still without any particular tone. Immediately, he shakes his head.

"No, Kowai. I want to get this done quickly, before it gets too dark. I'll be back in few minutes, so just relax. If you're good, I'll give you a Cuddle Session," he tells it, flying around it slowly, Kowai turning to keep staring at him. He is about to take off when he remembers the entire reason why he was looking for his shed in the first place and he spins back around to face it. "Hold still for a second."

Before the ghost could question, he lifts the camera to his face and pushes the button. The Shedinja flinches with a hiss at the bright light, and starts to growl as the camera noisily prints out the photo. Taking the picture, Sokudo looks at it, hoping it isn't blurred from Kowai's startled movement. But luckily, it is clear and he wastes no more time before heading off, disappearing from sight.

Leaving the Shedinja still growling...