Crystal's POV

I am thirsty. This might not be the best opening sentences, I wouldn't even be surprised if this will be nominated for the worst opening sentence, but right now I don't care, because I'm thirsty.

I walked to the lake, exclusive to tribe leaders, to find my peace and remove myself from the existence of my stepsister. As soon as I entered the area, I smelled a not exactly welcome smell. Lycanroc. My mind told me. But, how? I'm pretty sure we exterminated all of them. Unless… I've read enough thrillers where almost every Pokémon of a kind was exterminated except one and that one took revenge and [...] (I'm not planning to give this story a M rating, so I leave that part out) so with this possibility my mind's fantasies went loose until they couldn't get any further. I lowered myself, carefully smelling, analysing everything I heard, smelled, saw, (even tasted) or felt while slowly processing towards the lake. If there was a place you had to hide, the area around the lake was the number one place to go. It seemed too obvious but that is the tactic, you go where everyone thinks nobody goes because it's too obvious. Or it isn't the tactic. Anyway, I still had to drink. Stay hydrated.

The forest seemed somewhat empty, as if the Lycanroc had already gone loose. Not a single Pipipek was searching for bugs, not a Bug-type on the ground, if I would step on something the Lycanroc would probably hear it and flee. Or come to me. The creepy thought made me analyse my surroundings carefully again. The smell seemed to increase. I didn't hear something yet but who knows he's already aware of my presence? So, now he's suddenly a he? Good thing I'm not a feminist or anti-sexism-Pokémon. My mind made up a nice big and muscled Lycanroc, Midday form, as I preferred these than the zombie-like Midnight form. Of course, my mind made him incredibly attractive, looking like my ideal mate. I am single and innocent, in case you wonder why my mind torments me.

'Twack!' said the twig I stepped on. I cringed, as the sound echoed through the forest. Okay, that's a bit overdone. If he was about 200 meter away from me he wouldn't hear it. Then I noticed where I was. The lake just had to be about 30 meters away. Let's hope he's not near the lake. I don't know where that thought comes from, as I'm not the optimistic type. No, that's my sister. I'm not the pessimistic type either, but as impossible to deny there was a Lycanroc nearby as it was to sush an Exploud, I knew he was at the lake. Knowing that there was no way of keeping my presence unbeknownst, I started stepping on more twigs, to prevent him from thinking I was sneaking up on him. After all, isn't it suspicious when you hear one crack and then nothing? If you hear suddenly a lot of sound it feels less sneaky.

Finally, I made it to the lake. As I came out of the forest, my eyes scanned for any strong attractive Lycanroc. I noticed a Pokémon sitting there, though I didn't recognize it at first. It was somewhat reminiscent of a Lycanroc, Midday it dusked on me. It is a Lycanroc. 'Hey, you do know that staring is rude, right?' asked the Lycanroc. It was either a male or a female with a very low voice. Based upon recent events with feminism it was better to not conclude it was a male because of the low voice ('That's sexism! Just because it has a low voice doesn't mean it is a male!'). 'Are you a male?' were the only words I could speak.

That Lycanroc's POV

'Are you a male?' she asked. I stared at her. Then I stared at myself, a bit unconfident. Do I really look like a female? I raised my right hind leg, and the attachment there convinced me that I am a male. 'Yes, I am. Do you want to see some small proof?' I responded. She hesitated, then decided to respond. 'I wouldn't want to miss such a chance.' she said. The attachment started protesting against being called small by becoming the opposite. I felt my cheeks flare up as I looked at her, while she on her turn was blushing too. She's slim, I'll give her that. I had to reluctantly admit that she wasn't bad. In fact, she looked very pretty. She was slim, had some nice curves around her body (in case you misunderstand this: this is about hips and cheeks) and nine beautiful tails. Her eyes were maybe what I liked about her the most. True leadership, and determination were shown in them, but after studying also compassion, and a bit of feminine, which is quite rare nowadays. I'm not sure if I should like that determination. She will probably want to exterminate all Lycanroc. After an awkward moment, we realised we were staring in each other's eyes in a very intimate manner.

Crystal's POV

We both turned away, ashamed. How did my eyes look? What did they show? At last I know they are interesting, as he was staring quite deep in them. While he was interested in that branch that always catches your attention during awkward moments, I studied his body. He was muscled, but not very visible, to my disappointment. He had the mane of both a Midnight and Midday Lycanroc, but the body of a Midday form. He also had the Midday's cute fluffy white tail. His fur was orange and white. He was a bit bigger than me, and looked a bit older too. I assumed he was 9-10 months older, at maximum a year. 'Well, in Kanto it isn't unusual for mates to have an age difference. It's very common to have at least two years difference. Some even have thirteen years difference.' My step sister - a normal Ninetales - popped up in my head. 'Not now, Candle.' I muttered. He turned his attention to me once again, and I got to see his eyes again. While his body was a lot more arousing, his eyes were what I liked about him the most. They were green, instead of the usual blue. They were fascinating, and I couldn't help but think about how he would react if I would say something about them.

'Oh, ehm, well, thanks.' he said, blushing uncomfortably. What? 'Ehm, excuse me. Thanks for what?' I asked, a nasty feeling creeping closer. 'For the compliment.' he responded. 'About my eyes.' he added when he noticed my inner and apparently outer confusion. 'Oh, eh, I didn't know I said it aloud. Do you have these moments that you apparently say something you were thinking about?' I asked, hoping to keep up the conversation. 'Not really, because if I would have them I wouldn't have survived.' he said, then grinned nervously. I laughed, though I tried to suppress it as I was aware of what he meant. 'I hope your agenda doesn't consist of eliminating me.' he added. I blushed. 'How about another appointment?' I asked, to which he laughed on his turn. I smiled. 'So, how did you survive? I thought I did a pretty good job.' I asked. His smile faded, and he looked at me, trying to find out why I asked him that question. 'I prefer to not talk about that.' was his response. 'Maybe you want to tell how you evolved into this form?' I hopefully asked. He hesitated, looking up in the sky - causing me to look up as well in case something interesting was there - but finally decided to tell me how he evolved.

'I was still a Rockruff when I escaped. I ran through the forest, having nowhere to go, and no one to lead me. I encountered several Pokémon who tried to kill me, but I escaped just like how I escaped you. After a few minutes, I got tired, stumbled and fell, and I kept rolling over and over and over until I was stopped. In front of me was nobody less than Tapu Lele. She (here have most legendary and mythical Pokémon genders) brought me to the Ruins of Life, where she healed me. After that, I howled as the sun - coloured green - went down and I evolved. It was dusk, so she called me a Lycanroc Dusk form. After that she told me to go and find myself a mate, someone who wouldn't kill me but instead share a night (and nights after that) with me. When I asked how I could find her, she responded it could be a male too if I was gay (not meant insulting). She then answered that I would find the special, and that I had to push through, how hard it would be. 'Servimus tu.', she said. From that moment on, I've been searching for her for months, but I haven't found her. I've met several possible candidates, but none of them really felt like the promised mate.'

I thought of a way to keep the conversation going on. 'How would the promised mate look?' I asked. 'I have no idea. She didn't give me any hints of what she would look like. Or he, if I would get to "re-discover" myself.' he said. I couldn't help laughing at the part of the re-discovering. 'I mean, how do you hope she will be?' I asked after I recovered. 'I don't know. Kind, lovely, passionate, reliable, actually everything you would want your ideal mate to be.' he responded. 'What Pokémon would it be?' I asked. He gave me an intriguing gaze. 'I don't know exactly. But I have a quadruped in mind. Just because it's easier to…' he stopped right there. 'You don't have to act like I'm a princess. In fact, I think men's humor is pretty funny.' I said. 'Most of the time.' I muttered after it. He stared at me for a while. 'I'm not a feminist, or not an enthusiastic one.' I said, smiling at him. He chuckled, and continued his sentence (though he continued after the part): 'I think I would like her to be an Alolan Ninetales, especially if they are all like you.' My cheeks flared up. 'Don't worry, it's not because you're …' he stopped once again. I felt my cheeks almost melting (after all, they had flared up) but once again felt treated like a fragile Polteageist. Oh wait, Pokémon in Alola might not know about Galarian Pokémon. Well, nevermind that. 'I'm not a…' I started, but he cut me off: 'Well, I don't want to make you feel uncomfortable by telling something about your body, but I don't want to make you feel insecure either.' I tried to progress what he just said. So, he wants to say something about my body? Is it positive or negative? I assumed it was positive, otherwise he wouldn't say that he didn't want to make me insecure. 'So… What did you want to say?' I finally dared to ask. I stared at him. This time his cheeks coloured red. 'Well, don't get me wrong as a pervert, but, ehm, I wanted to say that you're, ehm, very … slim.' he said. Giving him a skeptical look, he finally admitted that he thought I was cute, and after another skeptical look he admitted that he found me sexy. A little jolt went through me. 'You don't have to withhold from telling me. I like hearing these compliments.' I said, smiling at him. As I was thinking about what to say next, he spoke up: 'Well, isn't it time for you to go back home? Won't everyone get worried where you are? They wouldn't want to find you hanging around with a Lycanroc.' he said. His voice went from an awkward tone to a snapping, somewhat venomous tone. I thought only females could change the mood from all fun to all gun. 'Will … you be here tomorrow? At the same time?' I asked. 'Oh, surely, I will be on time. Or maybe I should guide you home?' he suggested in a sarcastic tone. 'Well, you could go to the river and then…' I started, only for him to burst out. 'OF COURSE I WON'T BE THERE! I WON'T GUIDE YOU HOME EITHER BECAUSE THAT'S A KAMIKAZE MISSION! DO I LOOK THAT STUPID!?' he burst. Are you a female? I stared at him, trying to get to his thoughts, but unsuccessfully as I'm not a Psychic type. I sighed. 'I'll be here, tomorrow. All alone. If you're not there, that's … okay.' I began, feeling disappointed at the thought of him already leaving tomorrow. 'But if you are there, I would like to have some time with you again.' I said, before attempting to leave again. However, his eyes caught my attention and it took about three minutes for me to leave successfully, and still, it felt like his eyes were stabbing in my back.

I should tell the others about him. It's my duty. The thought of it didn't make me feel great. I thought about him. I promised him something. But I promised my tribe that I would defend them against predators too.

Back home

I was immediately greeted by Candle (in case you hadn't noticed it yet, Crystal's sister is called Candle, which explains why she said: 'Not now, Candle.') who asked where I have been. 'Just. Been to the lake. Doing some business. Nothing that matters.' I replied, way too stiff to be believable. Though she didn't believe my reply, she didn't ask further either. I didn't tell her.

And somewhere, and somehow, it felt great.

Don't worry. There will be more parts. And, I want to tell you: I don't mean being gay isn't right, and I don't mock you by making a joke about it. I don't hold a grudge against feminists either, it's just that they can overreact sometimes which is why I mock you. Have a good day/night/quarantaine!

I just received a review which was partially about the mate who could be a male too. I did it the first time because I want to avoid reviews like: it could be a male too! Also I did not want people who are gay to feel left out. If you were offended by this: sorry. I was not planning to do this in further chapters. The second time was just meant as a reference to what was said earlier. So just to be clear: it was not an offense or meant as a joke, I just wanted to avoid discussions about leaving the possibility of being gay out.

About Alolan Ninetales being larger than Dusk Lycanroc: Pokémon vary in size, even if they are the same species. Take Ash's Krabby (now Kingler) for example: it is smaller than Gary's Krabby. An average Alolan Ninetales may be larger than an average Dusk Lycanroc, but Crystal is in this case just smaller than an average Alolan Ninetales.