I went to the front door and looked out into the night to see a glowing light moving towards the center. "To me Soul", was my command for me Absol so stay by my side until a decision was made to if this thing was friendly or not. As the light got closer, however, I could see that it was not a light, but the flame on a Charmander's tail; the pokemon also had a trainer walking alongside.
"Hello, I'm Luke, my pokemon and I are traveling to the next town for a gym battle but seem to have gotten lost. May we stay here for the night?" He looked at me pleadingly. I smiled warmly.
"I don't see why not, please, come right in" I ushered him and his Charmander into the entrance of the center.
"Thanks so much! Oh, I'm sorry, this is my partner, Aric." Luke hastily introduced me to his little fire lizard. Aric held out its paw.
"Well aren't you so sweet., and such a gentleman!" I bent down to shake the pokemon's paw and handed him one of the many treats I always seem to have in my pockets. Then I hear Rei's voice from the back of the building.
"Hey, Inuko, do we have company or something? I hear a voice that is definitely not yours!" Rei always gets a little impatient when she doesn't know something right away.
"Take a chill pill, Rei!" I yelled back. "And yes, we do have company." I could almost hear her anger as she bitterly replied.
"Well, bring him or her back her so I can meet them! I refuse to leave my darling Clow-I mean Death!" I chuckled as I led Luke and Aric back to where she was with the babies.
"Why did you ever tell me that his name should have been Clown, Inuko! I can't stop calling him that!" Rei angrily said. I just grinned at her.
"It just fits him so well! You should permanently call him that, I know I will!" Luke joined in laughing with me as he saw the mischievous Shuppet zooming around the room.
"I agree and I don't even know him yet!" Eric said while trying to catch his breath.
"No you will not! He is my pokemon and I shall name him whatever I want!" Rei stomped her foot to emphasize her point.
"Oh dear, Rei please don't throw a hissy fit in front of our company!" I said, exasperated.
"Oh yeah, who is this anyway? Its always polite to introduce people when they first meet Inuko." Rei said haughtily.
"Well, if you weren't being so witchy I would have been able to already" I stated quietly as she glared at me. "Anyway! Rei, this is Luke and Aric" I said as I gestured to each in turn. "They got lost on their way to the next town for a gym battle so I told them they could stay here until morning."
"That's cool! How many badges do you have Luke…Luke…Luke? What are you doing?" Rei looked around to find Luke staring at my two Absol. "Never seen an Absol before?"
"No I have, but I've never been able to catch one! They always run away before I can get close." Luke answered Rei's question without even turning around. Star walked up to Luke and rubbed her head against his knee. "You are so adorable!" Luke exclaimed like a little kid as he rubbed Star's belly.
"Well," I said, "that is interesting I've never seen an Absol take so fast to someone." I smiled as Star gently bit Luke's leg when he stopped petting her to look at me.
"Hey Inuko, will you battle me and Aric with one of your Absol?' He looked pleadingly at me. I grinned.
"How can I say no to that face? Soul, feel like a battle?" I asked my pokemon. He looked at me and nodded, "Absi".
"Lets do this then!" I said as I ran out back to our battle field.
"This will be a one on one battle between Luke and Inuko" Rei announced, "When one pokemon is unable to battle, the other and their trainer wins. Match begin!"
"Since you're the newcomer Luke, you can have first move," I said to him. Luke nodded.
"Okay, Aric, let's start with Flamethrower!" He commanded as his Charmander shot out a plume of fire.
"Dodge Soul, and use Slash!" I commanded as my beauty jumped up into the air and clawed the little lizard.
"Crap, Aric, use Fire Spin!" Luke yelled as his lizard struggled to get to his feet.
"Here it comes Soul! Go around and use thunderbolt!" I said as Soul did exactly as I called for. The poor little pokemon fell in a stone cold faint as Absol walked back to me.
"The victory goes to Soul, Inuko is the winner!" Rei called. Luke ran to Aric and picked him up.
"I'm so sorry Aric, I should have done better!" Luke worriedly looked at his pokemon.
"Eh, don't feel bad Luke, Inuko almost beat Cynthia last year, she's kinda good." Rei stated as I blushed.
"Why didn't you tell me before I made a fool of myself?" Luke asked aghast.
"I don't like to because then no one will battle me." I answered, then I had a thought. "Hey Luke, would you be up to taking Star with you and raising her? I don't travel much so she would only be bored here." Luke stared at me with his mouth wide open.
"Do you mean it? Are you sure? This is awesome!" Luke looked at Aric. "Did you hear that Aric, we're going to get a new friend!" Aric smiled at Luke and promptly passed out. "Aric!" Luke shouted.
"Here, let me take him" Rei said. "You go with Inuko to get Star and I'll fix him right up. Luke did as she said.
"Right, let's go!" Luke yelled jumping into the air. I smiled and led him to get Star.
The next morning Rei and I stood at the door waving as Luke, Aric, and Star walked away to his next gym battle.
"Bye!" I shouted to them "Take care and don't forget to call occasionally!" They waved and continued to walk away.
"You're going to miss them aren't you?" Rei asked me.
"Yep" I nodded "but I know this is what Star needs, and Luke has great potential as a trainer."
"Well, let's go play with the pokemon." Rei walked inside. I followed her back inside of the center.