Ching, ching. Excadrill had sweat dripping down his face, his body slightly aching from beating up on the rock in front of him. The steel mole was sharpening his metal claws, preparing himself for the next club battle tourney in Mistralton City.
There would be some tough opponents there, including Georgia, who was a rival of Iris. She also happened to have a Beartic, which was one of the mole's rivals in of itself. After last time's loss, Excadrill wanted revenge on the icy bear.
"If ya want ta beat yer rivals... Ya gotta train hard!"
Excadrill deep breath, before going for rapid strikes on the rock in front of him, and the mole used all the force he could muster for the final barrage. Once he slashed the rock with both of his claws, Excadrill began panting as he kept his arms out, and his claws were slightly spread out.
The steel mole took it all in, proud of his mighty power. He glanced down at the rock, seeing all the scratch marks he had created. The mole smiled, deciding to sit down on the rock to show his dominance, as well as giving himself a little breather.
Excadrill looked up to the sky, raising a paw up to his face as he gently wiped some sweat away, with the sun beating down hard on the land. Luckily he had some shade thanks to the large blade on top of his forehead, which covered his face.
The mole continued to look at the sky, taking in the sight as clouds slowly rolled across the cerulean blue. He continued to gaze upwards, until he saw a Pokémon soaring slowly through the air. He stared for a few moments, recognizing who it was.
The steel mole went ahead and got up, climbing onto the rock as he waved his arms into the air, hoping to flag down the Pokémon. He had to balance on the rock, the surface being a bit slippery, especially since the mole didn't have the smallest feet.
"Hey, Unfezant! It's Excadrill!" He called out, finally getting the bird's attention. She turned her slow fly into a fast dive, soaring downwards to the ground. She aimed for right next to the rock the mole was standing on, slowing her dive as she gracefully landed on the grass.
"Hello hun, have something on your mind?" The pheasant inquired, ruffling her feathers slightly as Excadrill sat back down on the rock, adjusting himself to face her.
"Nah, I don't have anythin' on ma mind," he responded, stretching his legs out. Unfezant tilted her head to the side, raising an eyebrow as she felt a little confused.
"Hm, what did you call me down for then? I don't suppose you would want to talk with little ol' me..."
"Well, obviously that's the case. I could use the company."
"Oh... er, I suppose that's just fine then," She responded with some surprise in her voice, no one ever really wanted to hang out with her. Other than Snivy, Unfezant wasn't particularly close to any of the other members on Ash's team, nor Iris or Cilan's teams. The bird was pretty reserved, so it made sense that the one Pokémon she was close to was also reserved.
"So... we don't know each other very well. How about ya tell me somethin' about you?"
Unfezant had to think about it for a few moments, answering with a shrug before she opened her beak again.
"I don't know what to say, I'm afraid I'm not the most... interesting Pokémon around." She shuffled her feet, looking to her right and away from the mole as she started to feel a little awkward.
"Aw, no need ta worry about that, anythin' will do. Maybe you can just tell me your favorite food or somethin' like that."
The mole gave the pheasant a reassuring grin, which helped Unfezant feel a little less awkward.
"My favorite food are pecha berries, I love how sweet and soft they are!"
"Heh, there ya go. May as well tell ya that my favorite food is the soup that Cilan makes sometimes, the really spicy one. That's sure ta put the faar in yer belly!"
Unfezant giggled at that, partially because of his mannerisms, but mostly because she genuinely found the last sentence funny. The bird was easily amused, laughing at anything she deemed funny, which was surprisingly a lot of things. Excadrill gave a chuckle, rubbing his nose with a metal claw.
"Anyhow, what were ya flying for? Taking a stroll or lookin' around or somethin' along those lines?" The mole asked, adjusting his position on the rock yet again.
"I just enjoy flying around and watching the ground below, it brings me peace of mind," the pheasant sighed, resting her body on the grass. She was now on a lower plane than Excadrill on the rock, so she now had to look up to see him, and he had to look down to see her.
"Lemme make this a bit more bearable," Excadrill said, hopping off the rock and sitting in front of the bird, prompting Unfezant to turn left.
"Huh, that rock looks beat up, how did you manage to feel comfortable on it?" Unfezant asked, since she noticed the rock had scratch marks all over it, not to mention the fact that, well, it was a rock after all.
"It's nothin' for a steel and ground type like me," the mole shrugged, "Besides, I was ta one that banged up that rock with ma claws." He showed off his claws, proud of how sharp they were now.
"Ahh, I see. Why did you scratch up the rock though? Surely rocks haven't treated you poorly?" Unfezant humored, making Excadrill shake his head as he held back another chuckle.
"Of course not, don't gotta worry about rocks when ya have the type advantage. Anyhow, I was scratchin' the rock to sharpen ma claws and build up ma stamina slightly. I did that so I could get a little stronger fer the next club battle tourney once we make it ta the next city."
"My, my, I didn't realize you trained so hard! I'd never do something like that myself!"
"Eh, I like ta keep fit. I have a certain bear ta possibly watch out for at the tourney anyhow... wanna git ma revenge on that sucker," Excadrill said, feeling a little riled up at the thought of the Beartic. He kept his cool though, taking a small breath to relax.
"Oh yes, I remember watching you fight during the last club battle tourney, you did great against Georgia!"
"Meh, I could've taken down the Beartic and won the tourney fer Iris... But I had ta go an' mess it up for her."
Unfezant frowned a little, a look of concern on her face.
"Hey, don't talk down on yourself like that! You still put up a good fight and tried your best! You're very strong. Don't let that loss weigh down your mind."
Excadrill thought about it for a second, sighing as he moved his arms to his side, putting his weight on them to hold himself up. "Hm... I guess yer right about that. Sorry 'bout lettin' ma worries show."
"Hey, it's no problem at all! I'm happy to help out where I can."
The two smiled at each other, both of them happy that they had made a new friend. They savored the moment together.
"We should probably see if lunch is ready or not, huh?" Unfezant spoke up after a short silence. The mole nodded in agreement, getting on his feet and stretching his body once more.
"I'll walk ya back if yer fine with that," Excadrill offered, as Unfezant got up herself.
"I don't usually walk, but I'll make an exception this time," the pheasant said, smirking at the mole. Excadrill felt his face warm up slightly, probably from the outside heat.
"Hmph, if ya say so." And with that, the bird and mole walked off together into the thick of the forest. They stayed silent for the whole walk, which was only about five minutes long.
Once they made it to the clearing where their trainers and Cilan were, they walked up to the aforementioned trainer to get their food. Today for lunch, they simply had Poké pellets mixed with chopped cheri and oran berries. The two each grabbed a bowl from Cilan, who bowed respectfully after he handed them the bowls.
"Enjoy lunch you two!"
The mole and pheasant nodded, and they walked off in the same direction.
"Would ya want to sit with me or nah?" Excadrill asked, looking hopefully at Unfezant. She nodded slowly, not being able to respond verbally since she was holding her bowl with her beak, gripping it tightly.
Excadrill smiled, walking over to a tree to sit in the shade, and Unfezant followed suit. The mole plopped down on the ground, placing his bowl in front of him. Unfezant moved her body downwards to put the bowl down next to the steel mole's, before walking around it to sit next to him.
"Feels nice being in the shade after having the sun beat down on you... I felt like I might've started getting roasted out there," Unfezant said jokingly, before moving her head down to grab some pellets in her beak. Excadrill chuckled yet again, grabbing some pellets himself.
He popped them one by one into his mouth, chewing the pellets quickly yet quietly.
"I bet, must be even worse since ya have all those feathers on ya," Excadrill said after he finished chewing the pellets he had initially grabbed.
"Eh, it's really not that bad," Unfezant shrugged, "it could always be worse. I could have fur like Oshawott or Emolga."
"Huh, yeah... I sure am thankful I don't have any furr maself, too much work," the mole commented, causing the pheasant to nod.
"Having feathers is more than enough work itself. I'm always having to pick things out of my wings! Usually leaves or twigs or whatever," Unfezant lamented, shaking her body slightly as a sort of shiver.
"Ah... I bet that's pretty tough fer ya considerin' you don't have paws or hands."
"Yeah... such is the way of the bird I suppose," Unfezant sighed, staring down at her food a little disappointedly. Excadrill frowned seeing her like that, making him think if there was a possible solution to the pheasant's issue.
An idea soon popped into the steel mole's head. As he opened his mouth to tell Unfezant, he felt his face heat up again, stopping him in his tracks as he confusedly shut his mouth close.
"Why the heck is ma face heating up again? I'm not even in the sun..." The mole thought about it, shaking his head since it didn't make sense to him. Could it have been the starting stages of a sickness? That doesn't work out though, Pokémon don't get sick that often, nonetheless he was feeling perfectly fine. Excadrill tried to shrug it off, and he went ahead and told Unfezant what he had wanted to say.
"It might be murr convenient if ya had someone else take the stuff out of yer wings. I'd be glad to help ya."
"Oh my, you'd be willing to do that?"
Excadrill nodded, looking away from the bird as he was now focused on eating, and of course trying to figure out why his face felt warm again.
"Thank you for the kind offer, I'd really appreciate it if you could do that... maybe once a week."
Unfezant smiled, then continued to eat her food.
The two sat and ate in silence the rest of the time. Excadrill ended up finishing first, in fact being one of the first Pokémon to be done with lunch. After he stood up to hand Cilan his bowl, he lumbered back to Unfezant, waiting for her to finish before he started up another conversation with her.
He waited a few minutes, watching the pheasant eat and glancing at the other Pokémon as well. The mole found his face warming up a little more with every time he looked at Unfezant, so now the mole put two and two together.
He had a crush on Unfezant.
It really wasn't that strange actually, he had always thought the bird was kind of cute. He also considered her a strong gal, which was endearing to him. Nevertheless it was a little unexpected for the mole, but still a welcome surprise.
Excadrill decided that it would be best to wait and get to know Unfezant a little better before trying to pursue a romantic relationship with her.
Anyways, once Unfezant finished eating, she stood up to go give her bowl back to Cilan, but the mole stopped her.
"I'll put back yer bowl for ya if you wouldn't mind," Excadrill offered, prompting Unfezant to smile again.
"That would be very sweet of you, thanks!" She said, which made Excadrill smile back, and he stood up yet again to hand her bowl back to Cilan. After he did so, he went back to where Unfezant was, and the two stayed standing up since once lunch was over, they would be sent back to their Poké Balls anyhow. It just made more sense for them.
"What didja think of lunch today?" Excadrill inquired, stretching his body once more.
"I thought it was great, a little dry though," she commented, licking her beak with her small tongue. Excadrill nodded in agreement, feeling the urge to lick his semi-dry lips too.
"Yeah, but at least it had some spice to it! Can almost always count on Cilan to do the job."
Unfezant giggled at that, and the pheasant sighed happily.
The bird and the mole continued to talk about mundane things for the rest of their time, before Ash and company put all their Pokémon back in their Poké Balls...