The Shiny Hunter

Welcome to Constant Box, where we not only take care of your Pokémon and their needs, but also you and your needs. And we'll do the best we can. Promise.

V(Volt)

(Spiky-eared Pichu and Yuri play with each other before Pichu jumps onto Rei's shoulder and Yuri runs alongside Ricka)
Dragon, Ghost, Ground, Flying, (Several Pokémon are seen playing)
Poison, Bug, Water, Electric, Rock, Grass, Dark, (Rei and Ricka are seen eating with Pokémon)
Ice, Normal, Fire, Fighting, (Yuri and Pichu are fighting over a Grepa berry)
with Steel, Psychic, and Fairy. (Trainers run by)

Right now, my adventure begins, and the only path is to the horizon. (Ricka counts the stock of Pokémon food while Yuri carries cans of Pokémon food.)
A rain of tears will appear soon, but we'll push our way through it in the end. (Rei is seen brushing a Luxray's coat, but too many Pokémon also wanting attention surround her and she ends up getting shocked, Pichu sighs)
Now, lets go on to tomorrow, to surpass who I was yesterday. (Shun smiles as he hands a Pokémon egg to Ricka, who blushes and Rei giggles.)
Every encounter is precious. (Two grunts watch from a hilltop)
My heart is pounding, Challenger! (A Misdreavus scares them away)

I have my dreams in this world, that without fail, will come true one day. (Ricka looks at the sky as images of Trainers and their Pokémon pass by)
Indeed that's what you taught me, (Shun comes up to her and smiled gently)
and why I travel, (Yuri hops up onto Ricka's shoulders)
Is to seek the answer to that one question! (Rei and Spiky-eared Pichu run pass them and she sticks her tongue out playfully before Ricka smirks and she chases after her with Shun.)

Red bonds connect in a circle and spread out far and wide! (Ricka commands Yuri to use Sucker Punch)
The energy will go to everyone and bring happiness to them all! (Yuri attacks the Claydol she is fighting before she turns and uses Fire Fang on a Trainer's Frosslass)
Blue is the earth that we live on and all of its hope shines brightly. (Rei smiles as Pichu let's out a Thundershock at the multiple Grunt's Yanma.)
While yellow flowers bloom life. (Shun turns away with a sad smile as his Tyranitar's Sand Stream Ability causes him to vanish in the sandstorm.)

Dragon, Ghost, Ground, Flying, (Rei, Shun, and Ricka are seen watching the sunset with their Pokémon)
Poison, Bug, Water, Electric, Rock, Grass, Dark, (Rei eats several dozen berries along with the Pokémon as Ricka sighs at her actions and Shun just smiles.)
Ice, Normal, Fire, Fighting, (Shun leans in towards a blushing Ricka, their faces only inches apart.)
with Steel, Psychic, and Fairy. (It turns to the Day-care center with Rei, Shun, Ricka, and their Pokémon smiling)

…

She always found the safety in the arms of her Pokémon. The shade of its body was cast over hers. The twenty-year-old woman smiled as she gazed at him. His powerful arms glided along her body, holding her close. She was placed close to his chest, where she could hear the gentle thumps of his pounding heart. Blue eyes moved up, just so she could get a good look at his face. His eyes which were usually so intense were now wide and tender; he wasn't hiked up with rage. She allowed a smile to creep upon her lips, where she began sliding her fingers down his bottom jaw. From the touch, she whistled lowly.

"Hey Quest..." Ricka whispered, his large eyes catching her words, "I love you..."

I love you. No one would believe those words would ever leave Ricka's mouth. But her Pokémon heard it as many times as they pleased. Because Ricka truly loved all of them. Her statement was only meant to be heard for her Pokémon, but someone else caught wind of it. She was sitting near Ricka's Sceptile, in fact.

Rei thought about Ricka's words over and over again when she heard the woman whisper them to her Nidoking. I love you. Such sincere words, sincere words Rei hadn't heard in a long time. With ease, Ricka could say them to her Pokémon. She wasn't scared or deterred, nor embarrassed. She was happy.

Rei began to wonder as she brushed hair from her face. Did Ricka love her as well?

…

"Well you guys, I have bad news..."

Ricka twiddled her thumbs as she looked over to them. One of Shun's eyebrows slid down in a perplexed manner, while Rei gazed at the woman in confusion. Of course. Sighing. Ricka picked up a piece of paper on her table, while she propped her head up with her hand.

"You see guys," Ricka said as she read over the various numbers on the piece of paper before her, "We're, and be we're I mean me because I run this damn place, are broke."

"What did Ricka break?" Rei asked, confused by the woman's jargon.

"I think she means how broke are we?" Shun said next.

"Broke as all hell," Ricka stated with a yawn, "Like... really broke..." she shook her head, "Let's just say we're as broke as building #3," ouch, "You see, I spent a lot of my own personal money-getting the food needed to take care of people's Pokémon, not to mention paying to have the individual buildings furnished," she shook her head, "I've also been looking into getting the buildings electricity and plumbing and all that shit... not to mention..." she looked over to Rei, "Buying even more Pokéfood for those Pokémon you brought with you not to long ago!" she started shaking the paper, "I came to the horrible fucking conclusion that we're, and be we I mean me, are broke!"

"Then what does Ricka do to unbreak herself?"

"Good question," the twenty-year-old replied as she looked between the two, "Do you have any ideas? Because I'm fixing to tear my fuckin hair out..."

Money problems must have really bothered Ricka, because her potty-mouth increased when the situation became palpable. It was so bad, Rei herself blushed from the wording. But Ricka had good reason to get angry. She didn't think the Constant Box was going to waste away her funds so easily. If this kept up, she would need to dip into her old reserve banks, an act she's never done. How could anyone keep living this way?

"So what are we planning on doing to remedy this situation?" Shun asked as he leaned forward in his chair.

"Not we," Ricka stated, "Me. I own Constant Box, so its money troubles are my money problems," she grabbed her face and sighed, "Which means I need to head out of here and beat the hell out of a lot of trainers just to get half of my funds back."

"No!" Shun suddenly cried as he grabbed Ricka's hand, making her yelp, "I'm not just gonna let you do all the hard work!"

Ricka was taken aback by Shun's actions and his words. It made her reconsider her thoughts. But of course, she reconsidered her reconsideration, and immediately punched him in the shoulder. He winced from the blow, falling back into his chair as he did so. Ricka shook her fist while she glared at Shun, then glanced away to hide a smirk.

"Well Rei, I don't suspect you have money," Shun asked as he wheeled his hurt joint around.

"Huh? Rei don't even know what money is. Sounds strange..." the ten-year-old replied, while her Pichu mewled from the statement.

Suddenly, the spiky-eared Tiny Mouse leaped from Rei's shoulder and scurried to Ricka. While the ten-year-old chased for her Pokémon, the mischievous little being leaped at Ricka's waist. Ricka, while she did enjoy Pichus, did not like it when one leaps into her clothing. She quickly leaped up, slapping at her cutoff jeans while Pichu rumbled around within. Rei too lunged for Ricka, while Shun tried to figure out what to do.

Eventually, Ricka good the good (or bad) sense to tear off her shorts. She sprang out them (quite quickly honestly), and threw them right into Rei's face. The ten-year-old was able to pry her Pichu from the shorts, cupping her close after doing so. Ricka glared down at Rei and Pichu with eyes that could kill, before an unsightly drift of cold rushed through her loins. Gazing down, she stared down upon her naked legs and front of her panties. Yeah, her striped ones with the image of an Emboar on it.

Blushing slightly, Ricka started dragging her eyes back up. She looked at Rei, then up and over to Shun. He was just looking at her, this silly smile on his face, his cheeks as red as any Charmeleon. Seeing his eyes line her thighs like that made Ricka's rage go into overdrive.

"SHUN!" she roared.

…

"Awww! Rei didn't know Ricka looked so cute when she were young!"

Somehow, after being attacked by that little Pichu, Ricka's old photo collection within her belt was released. Funny; she could have sworn she placed all those images on her PC years ago. But it seems as if her growing times from Unova, Johto, Kanto, Hoenn, Sinnoh, and Kalos, even Orre, were now on display for everyone to see. And Rei just couldn't get enough of it.

"Look at Ricka's hair in this one!" the child gushed as picked up one image, while the adult groaned from behind.

It was Ricka alright, back in her Unova days. Where she wore a uniform that better befitted a schoolgirl days, something no one would expect of her. It was far different from the cutoff jeans and white shirt she wore today.

"Can you stop messing around?" the woman said as she crossed her arms, "I'm so embarrassed by those things."

"Hey Ricka," Shun said as he rubbed the black eye he gained, "I didn't know you were a Lass Trainer when you were growing up," he looked at her, "Strange. I always pegged you as an Ace Trainer or, at the very least, a Battle Girl!"

"I became an Ace Trainer when I went through Hoenn!" Ricka snarled as she pointed, "Those are pictures from when I was, like, eleven or something! Go to my newer ones!"

Rei suddenly lifted one of those older ones. It was an image taken some years before now. If Ricka was twenty now, then she was probably fifteen in this image. Taken at the city of Lilycove, Ricka was sitting on a bench with her red hair flowing. She wore this burgundy top and pants that just seemed to make her look strong.

"You must have been quite the battler," Shun claimed as he lined his fingers down the image taken five years ago.

"Must have been?" Ricka repeated in shock and insult, "What? You don't think I'm still a good Trainer!?"

"No, no! I didn't say that!" Shun claimed, "It's just that... well... you've been here, at the ranch, with your little sister! You must not have that much time to yourself to do things, is all I'm saying! It's only natural if your skills decrease!"

"I am now, and forever will be, the greatest Pokémon Trainer you've ever known! EVER!" she roared, "In fact, I'm still on my League Challenge!"

"Yeah, that doesn't save your case," Shun said, his eyes growing lax, "If you're as great a Pokémon Trainer as you say, then why are you here, running a daycare with your little sister, instead of the Pokémon Champion of some region?"

His question caused Ricka's voice to get caught in her throat. Even Rei and Pichu were wondering the same thing, as they gazed up to her with wide eyes. The woman opened her mouth again to speak, but stopped in order to snarl. Crossing her arms, she instead began marching out of the room.

"I think you hurt Ricka's feelings..." Rei whispered as she hugged her Pichu close.

"I... I didn't mean too..." Shun stated as he stood up.

Suddenly, Ricka reappeared at the doorway, this visage of anger on her face. She was holding a case in her hand, her Gym Badge Case. Snapping it open, the twenty-year-old practically shoved various shimmering badges into his eyes. They glittered, one by one, various badges from various regions. Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, Sinnoh, Unova, Kalos, badges one by one.

"See!" she snapped, "I gained all of these! Me!"

But there was something wrong about it all. There were many duplicate badges, ones she gained from facing the same Gym Leader more than once. Not to mention the fact that some regions didn't have the complete set. Places such as Sinnoh only owned six badges, where a place like Kalos for instance only had two.

"I just never challenged a Pokémon League," Ricka claimed as she pulled her badges back, "So nyeh!"

"Uh... yeah, Ricka..." Shun replied as he stared back down to her photos. One of them caught his eye.

"Rei like young Ricka," Rei said as she mused at an image of the woman taken in Sinnoh, "And Rei love how cute Ace looks in some of these! His Treeko form is so cute and adorable!"

"Chu!" her spiky-eared Pichu called in her arms, and angrily too.

"But Pichu is cuter!" Rei claimed to calm her down.

"Well, this is all nice and all," Shun said as he shuffled something into his vest, "But we still don't have an answer to our money problem."

"Oh! Oh! Rei have an idea!" the child suddenly said, making both of the adults gaze at her, "Every morning, this man comes by and places papers on our doorstep. And every morning, Yuri gives it to Rei! They have something very important on it today that Rei think will help with money! If... if money has a lot of zeros in it..."

"A... lot?" Ricka asked in a slightly stunned manner, "Let me see this..."

Rei pulled out a newspaper from under the couch, handing it to Ricka. The woman started to read, but pulled back to think. Why the hell was it under the couch? Thinking it better to not think about it, Ricka went back to reading.

"Tournament?" she whispered to herself, "Nearby?" she kept reading, "Ten million Pokédollars!" she nearly fainted, "Ten... ten... ten ten... million? Did... Did I just read that?" she suddenly looked down to Rei with a big smile and wide eyes, "DID I JUST READ THAT!?"

"Yeah! Ricka just read that!" Rei replied, as the adult grabbed her.

They began leaping up and down together with giddy excitement. Rei had no idea what was going on, but Ricka sure did. A tournament? Easy-peasy lemon-squeezy! She's won countless Pokémon Tournaments in her day! Both in battling and coordinating, so this one was just gonna be another victory.

While they plaid and jumped and enjoyed themselves, Shun neglected to join them. His hand reached into his black vest, returning with one of Ricka's photos. With the two girls enjoying themselves, they didn't notice how he took it. His hazel eyes ran up and down the image presented to him. It was of Ricka of course, a young thirteen year old Ricka. She was wearing a black uniform, one with an 'R', on it. She had her arms holding around the necks of others wearing the same uniform, and she was smiling greatly.

His eyes flared red briefly.

…

"Is Ricka sure of herself?" the ten-year-old asked as she watched the woman brush her hair.

"But of course!" the twenty-year-old replied as she gazed at herself in the mirror, "Ricka Constant rarely, if ever, loses!"

"But Ricka only allowed to use three Pokémon," Rei said as she watched Ricka jaunt around the changing room.

"And I have my three," the woman replied, with a snicker, "Yuri, Quest, and of course Ace! With these three, I'd never lose!" she straightened out her red hair to a point she liked. They quickly went back to their split and curled selves however, making her groan, "I'mma beat down these guys, get that money, and put Constant Box on the spot! No more word of mouth for us!"

"Is Ricka sure?" Rei asked as she scratched the back of her head.

"Course I am," Ricka claimed before turning around, "Hey Rei, go and wait with Shun, I've gotta get ready for the battles," she patted the child on the behind to get her moving, "You're gonna see some grade A Pokémon Battling in a moment!"

"Uh... huh..." Rei answered.

The ten-year-old child stepped back, her blue eyes watching Ricka. The twenty-year-old's eyes were gleaming in a way Rei had never seen before. Walking back, the child slipped through the exit and into the outside hall. There were many people walking left and right, many Pokémon Trainers. Rei's eyes shined as these people walked pass her. When it came to humans, the child must say Ricka was the only one she operated with on a regular basis. Was that good or not?

After exiting through another pair of doors at the end of the long hall, Rei stepped onto the stairs of this massive arena. There were so many people around and she was walking up so high, she felt a powerful sense of vertigo take her. When the ten-year-old girl wished to fall, not even the sound of Pichu could stop her. It was only by the grace of a hand that grabbed hers did she stop falling over.

"Hey, hey, hey now!" this unknown man said as he held Rei up, "If you fall from here you might hurt yourself!"

Rei shook her head as she looked up to this man. He was so much older than her, his age comparable to Ricka's. His hair, black with blue highlights at the tips and a bang of his right eye. Not to mention that ponytail that further reminded the ten-year-old of Ricka. But he was a friendly man, who smiled at Rei so gently.

"S-sorry," the child said, "Rei's never been so high before in a place like this..." she gazed down to the arena, which was so far below, "Rei's name is Rei!"

"Rei's name is Rei?" the man laughed, "Let me guess, is one of your friends battling here today?"

"Uh-huh!" she replied with a big smile, "Ricka's gonna show everyone grade A battling!"

"Ricka huh? Is that your friend whose fighting?" this man mused.

He suddenly placed his hand on his chin. Upon doing so, a ghastly aquamarine Pokémon appeared on his shoulder. It was snickering at the little girl, which made Pichu spark up like a light. This being, with a zipper for its mouth, smiled mischievously, as it perched itself on its master's shoulder.

"I think I'm gonna have to remember that!" the man stated, his hand leaving his chin.

"Oh... so shiny..." Rei said as she gazed at the Pokémon on his shoulder.

"Say 'hi' to the her, Tsukumo," this man said with a smile, "After all, she seems to be an admirer of yours."

"Bane bane!" the Marionette Pokémon replied.

"Hey, Rei!" another voice called from behind. It was Shun, and he was carrying various amounts of food, "Got all the food right now! Let's find... our... seats?"

When Shun stared up to this man who stood above Rei, he locked up. The ten-year-old was so ignorant of what was occurring, she just smiled jovially. But when her azure blue eyes gazed at Shun, she realized things were serious.

"Well, I have to go," the man said, "Enjoy the fights Rei!"

"W-wait!" she called out to him as he walked away, "Rei didn't learn your name!"

"It's Pyrus..." Shun answered, which made Rei turn around to face, "His name is Pyrus..." he stared at his retreating image, specifically the Master Ball on his back, "Pyrus is a Pokémon Trainer unlike any other. He's a brilliant trainer whose gained many badges with only three Pokémon."

"Whoa! That's awesome!" Rei said, shocked.

"They call him the... Shiny Hunter..." Shun claimed, "Because he only catches and trains Shiny Pokémon... hm..." his eyes slid into a squint, "If he's here, then this isn't going to be an easy battle for Ricka... let's get up to the balcony..."

"O... okay..."

As he and the child walked up to their sitting area, the arena suddenly turned black. Meanwhile, the lights of the stadiums fell upon the arena itself. As the crowd began to stir, Shun's eyes fell upon Pyrus again. He breathed in deeply.

"Isn't Shun coming?"

"Yeah... I'm coming..."

Maverick Talks!

Wow... this chapters way shorter than what I usually write. Why, you may ask? Because I felt like I needed to post something today (or tomorrow).

Anyway, this chapter is pretty much a set up for the next chapter. Oh yeah! Chapter's ten and eleven are going to have a fight! What kinda fight? A Pokemon fight! But that's not to say this chapter doesn't have its fair share of things! We learn a little about Ricka's past! She apparently was a Lass and an Ace Trainer at some point in time. So cute.

I love Lasses and Ace Trainers, though my favorite Ace Trainer is Gen 6's by far. I don't know why I'm admitting this. But I am. So there.

Anyway, the character for this chapter and the next chapter is Pyrus uh... Pyrus! He doesn't have a last name! He comes to use courtesy of Bang Rowdyruff. Even though Pyrus showed up only at the end, I think his little scene was top notch. I just felt like I set him up so perfectly! He's coming back in the next chapter, where we really get to see what Pyrus can do!

So, next chapter, we continue with this tournament. And hopefully, I find the perfect way to interject comedy and action at the same time! Amazing right?

But, as always, read and review, because I love them. And also send in your OCs to see them in future chapters!

Maverick Kay Prime

Maverick Kay Prime