#099 Kingler

Kingler, the pincer Pokémon. The evolved form of Krabby. Kingler has an enormous, oversized claw. It waves this huge claw in the air to communicate with others. However, because the claw is so heavy, the Pokémon quickly tires – Nurse Evergreen.

The following day, Nurse Isabelle felt much better. The sunburn that she had received while training with Dewgong had vanished, like Nurse Joy had predicted. Her thighs were still sore, but it did not bother her as much. Even better, she'd gotten a text message that Dominic Whitewater was in town! They had been texting a lot that evening, talking to each other about their days. When she mentioned she was at the beach, he let her know he was as well. So today, she was going to meet him again. She'd been hardly able to sleep, being so excited to see him again. She almost forgot about her muscle ache. Almost. Twisting and turning in bed had been rather painful. She was all right now and had been able to shower without any problem. She even used her favourite products which made her feel good.

Coming down with wet hair drying naturally, she saw him stand in the lobby of the Pokémon centre with his hands in his pockets. He tried to look so cool, but he also looked a tiny bit awkward, standing in the middle of the centre with everyone giving him a curious look. She rushed towards him, wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him deeply, standing on her toes to reach him better. His beard pricked her a bit, but she didn't mind. All around them, people whistled and laughed. He wrapped his arms around her back, holding her against him. When they broke the kiss, they pulled closer into a tight hug.

"Hey," she told him, breathless and beaming.

"Hey," he returned, smiling down at her, smoothing a strand of hair from her face. Hand in hand, they went to the beach. As she had her hair in a braid every day, it felt good to have it loose, letting it curl and tangle in the wind. Despite talking every night, they talked about everything. Izzy relived her encounter with Wendy. When she mentioned the odd comment 'sleep tight' she'd gotten, Dominic laughed out loud.

"She seems like a great girl. Weird, but intriguing and wonderful. I'd love to meet her one day."

As they walked along the shore, they heard a Pokémon crying out. Something yellow was squirming violently because it was stuck in a net. The poor thing was screaming as well. When the two approached, the Pokémon froze long enough to give them the evil eye as if they were the cause for his misery. It also allowed Dominic to get a good look at it.

"Oh bugger. It's a Psyduck," he complained. Indeed, it was a duck stuck in that net, not one of his favourite Pokémon.

Isabelle hesitated; "If I bring out Ivysaur, I could end up cutting it accidentally. How to tear this net without harming Psyduck? I don't have a knife on me."

"Machoke can do it." Dominic summoned said Pokémon, who tugged on the well-crafted rope as soon as he received the command. However, this only made the Psyduck cry even harder as the ropes tightened around his body.

Dominic cursed loudly, making Isabelle cast him an unamused glance.

At the water, a Kingler appeared, walking slowly and majestically. His orange colouring had faded and his claw was chipped in places. This Kingler seemed rather old, yet still looked incredibly strong. Ignoring both humans and the fighting type Pokémon, Kingler walked up to the Psyduck and rammed his claw on Psyduck's head, causing the screeching to stop immediately as it slumped down.

"Oh, that's much better," Dominic sighed. "Thanks, Kingler. I suppose we need to cut it free now?"

Isabelle crossed her arms, only faking anger. "Of course! We're not leaving it here."

Dominic sighed. "Was afraid so. Only joking, sweetheart. Wouldn't really leave the noisy duck behind. Kingler, could your mighty claw take care of that?"

"Goki, goki," he murmured, snapping the ropes with ease. Machoke, upset to have been beaten by a mere crab, shoved Kingler away. It seems jealous it had been unable to complete the task it had been summoned for. Slamming his fists together, the bipedal Pokémon challenged the crab to a fight.

Izzy was a little horrified, but Dominic grinned. "Let's do this, Machoke. I want to catch that Kingler!"

Izzy decided not to watch that battle. She knelt in the sand to clean the wounds of the surly Psyduck, who would not look at her the entire time she was busy. When she finished cleaning the cuts from sand, the duck walked off with a moody flick of his tail.

"You're welcome," Izzy called after it, causing it to huff in his duck-like manner.

"Pokéball, go!" Isabelle heard when she focussed her attention back on the fight. Kingler was down on its back, flattened by the heavy weight of the Machoke. Seismic toss, maybe? Dominic's Pokéball caught it without any problem. The old crab had spent his energy battling Machoke.

Grinning, Dominic held out the ball for Izzy to see. "Look, honey! I've caught a Kingler! Third member of my team!"

Izzy smiled softly. "Well done. Does that mean we're going to celebrate?"

"That's right! And I know exactly how I'd like to do that." He cupped her chin, angled it up, and claimed her lips in a kiss again.