I darted through the trees, tearing up the moist forest floor beneath my paws. I can hear him gaining on me, but escape was never the intention; I was going to win this battle. A crash of snapping brush tells me he's finally caught up to me, but this is his defeat, not mine.
"Gotcha!" The rogue Absol sends a large Shadow Ball at me; I've timed this perfectly. Deftly, I place my paws on an elevated tree root, and launch myself swiftly into the air in a 180 degree spin, flying over the attack and turning to face my opponent. I can see the confusion and frustration cloud his crimson eyes as realization that his ego is about to be shattered.
I release a powerful Flamethrower, catching Absol directly between his eyes. He howls in pain and claws at his muzzle, tears of defeat gathering. I smirk at his shame, landing gracefully across from him, my tails swirling around me. "I believe that signals your exit." He glares at me, and I watch as his claws begin to glow a malevolent purple. Quicker than his Shadow Claw, I Flame Charge and throw him back, his bruised form slamming into a tree. "Leave, now."
As he scurries into the foliage to tend his wounds, I begin to groom my own fur back into slick perfection. My name is Ember, and I never asked for all this. I was born to my parents as both the last of the litter and the smallest. My mother was a Ninetales, like myself, and my father a disconnected Purugly that I hardly remember. However, unlike the rest of my siblings, I wasn't born with the red fur of a traditional Vulpix; I was sheathed with sunshine and bathed in gold. My father was disgusted. "What rotten luck that the runt would be the Shiny one." He stomped off, muttering about my inferiority. Mother licked me just as clean as my other siblings, and whispers into my ear, "Don't you listen to him, he's just jealous of your beauty. Someday, you'll be bigger and stronger and more beautiful than any other pokemon in this entire forest." Wanting to snub my father and impress my mother, I trained harder than any of my other siblings. When I evolved well before my time, my father glared from the shadows. As I took my new form, a pearly white coat, nine elongated tails with ocean dipped tips and mittens on my paws, I watched him slink off into the distance. Mother told me he had left the forest, and wanted to find a new mate for himself. That was four years ago.
Now, a full grown Ninetales with exquisite features and battle knowledge, I've climbed higher than my late mother could have ever hoped for me. Now, I am the Alpha Female of this forest, helping the meek, fighting the negligent, and guarded all the pokemon of the forest. I act alone, as I haven't taken a mate yet, although it is well overdue. I hear the female Sawsbucks muttering and whispering behind my back, the male Ariados' shaking their heads in the canopy above, the Gyrados' chuckling from the lake. But when I turn and look, it's all bows and respect. No one would dare strike up a battle with the most powerful pokemon in the forest without more than gossip as motive. While it is true I haven't taken a mate, it isn't that I don't want one… but I won't take a mate who can't be my equal in battle. I'm a female, not a mother, and I need someone I can share my responsibilities with.
That was the issue I had with the Absol; a stark rookie in his first mating season, he thought he was the first male clever enough to try and take me by surprise. The battle was over in seconds, and I still hadn't found my mate. Although I took pleasure in victory and caring for my fellow pokemon, it would be ecstasy to find someone that could prove their worth to me. As I trot the perimeter of the forest, along the route that I see many young trainers take, I wonder if there is anyone in this forest who can be my equal, and not a submissive pup.