A very apologetic Prinplup, upon return to their room, had given them a map of the region, but had informed them that, due to managerial concerns, they could no longer occupy the building. He recommended that they head to a different city where what he had so vaguely and uncomfortably described as "their relationship", as well as what he very apologetically described as "their kind" would be more welcome. A red pen circle on one such nearby town on the map, Viridian City (NOTE: just using the name, no characters or characteristics). Disappointed yet understanding, the pair of pariahs changed into some clothes that would be comfortable to go a long distance in and walked out toward the forest, passing the sign that bluntly stated "City Limits".
Adjusting the backpack that he wore, which held minimal rations and the clothes that the two had gotten from their abnormal encounter in the department store, Ben exhaled, and moved his hands up to the back of his head, arms bowed out to either side as he walked. "Damn," he lamented to no one in particular, before turning his head slightly to look at Delaney. Her bag looked considerably smaller and lighter, a Pokemon Center logo on the back, containing supplies they would need to make camp at some point should they so need to. She turned her head to look at him, eyebrows raised. "You didn't think everything would go swimmingly for us, did you? We're not exactly the world's most welcomed groups." A small shrug came in response from the male, who looked at her for a few moments before turning back to the dirt path ahead of them.
Silence ensued, an awkward sort of vacuum of sound that only allowed through the noise of the surrounding forest; leaves crinkling under foot, bushes rustled as wild Pokemon stirred, the distant call of a fight or perhaps of mating. For the sake of filling the void, Ben spoke up again after a while: "That Vigoroth sure was a dick, wasn't he?" Delaney, who had been zoned out staring at the trail a few feet ahead of her, looked up suddenly, blinking once or twice before turning to him. "Huh? Oh, yeah. Some people just can't see past someone's race. It wasn't that we did anything to annoy him, other than just be what we are." A nod. More silence.
Then: "Why do you think he ran away like he did?" Ben frowned at the question. He wasn't entirely sure; in fact, he hadn't given it much consideration since the incident occurred. "I don't know," he admitted after a second or two. "He looked absolutely terrified, though. Maybe he saw something that we didn't?" Delaney shrugged her shoulders, her pack raising and lowering in accordance with her movements. Shortly afterward, she cracked a smile, sidestepping in toward him and nudging him gently. "Maybe he was scared of how big and tough you are," she joked with a smile also in her voice that ended up being contagious for Ben. He laughed and flexed, growling playfully and Delaney laughed as well.
It wasn't long after that, however, that the gap in conversation popped up again. Ben filled it: "He would have kicked your ass," he joked goodnaturedly. Delaney smirked, shaking her head. "I could have taken him," she assured him. She did, however, falter shortly after, looking to him before looking down. Her mood seemed to have deflated a little. "Why didn't you protect me," she asked quietly, eyes finding the ground again.
Ben's immediate reaction was to laugh, certain that she was joking. He even nudged her a little as she had him previously. He paused, however, when she looked at him. Her eyes, seemingly larger than usual and full of emotion, were focused on him; the color of her irises deepened as a result of the layer of moisture that was building up. He knew that she was about to cry, and so he acted immediately to try to defuse the situation.
Grabbing her by the arm gently, stopping her and him both, he turned her toward him a little. "Hey, I'm sorry. I thought you were kidding. You really thought I could have protected you from that cum-colored cunt?" A small twitch of the corner of Delaney's mouth as she fought off a smile. Taking it as a good sign, Ben pressed further. "I mean, did you see the size of that fucker? He would have torn me to shreds!" He smiled at her, and was confused when she frowned at him in response. He had let go of her arm at some point. "What," he asked, in the hopes that she could clear up some of his confusion.
"You don't really believe that, do you?" Her face lifted. She was fighting back laughter, on the verge of absolutely losing it, obviously. This, of course, meant that it was Ben's turn to frown, his confusion even more intense than it had been. She shook her head, taking a moment to collect herself. Ben's arms folded across his chest, waiting for some type of explanation. "If you really are the person of prophecy," she began with grandiose gestures intended to be sarcastic. Ben seemed hurt by her implication that there was a possibility that he wasn't, but he didn't stop her. "Then you don't need to worry about getting your ass handed to you by some Vigoroth." Ben's eyebrows raised at this point. "With some training, it's prophesied that you'll be the most powerful being in all of both realms- minus Arceus, of course."
By the look on Ben's face, he didn't seem to be buying any of it. Delaney looked him up and down for a moment, then dropped her packs to the ground, a small puff of dirt rising up as it made contact with the earth. "Aright, let's do it then," she said matter-of-factly, reaching to the hem of her shirt and beginning to peel it off. Ben, who thought he knew all too well what she was intending to do, still not having processed the events of the last time she had her mind made up about something, took a few cautious steps back, watching her carefully. "C-can we not do that right in the middle of the woods?"
Delaney finished pulling her shirt over her head, a pink sports bra underneath covering her chest, hugging it to her body and pushing it upward slightly. She looked at Ben in a mixture of confusion and perhaps disgust, or maybe disappointment? "I meant fight," she spat bluntly. "Oh, right," he mumbled in embarrassment, wrestling his tee awkwardly off of his body after setting down his bags.
The sparsity of trees provided them with ample room to move about, and the gentle breeze that blew through every so often felt pretty good, despite it being somewhat cool outside still otherwise. Ben adopted what could loosely be considered a boxer's stance a few feet away from Delaney, who just stood and watched him. Something about the scrutinizing way that she was watching him made him rather uncomfortable. Ben was certain that the bunny girl had to be far his superior in fighting, but despite his doubts in her previous words, knowing that he was theoretically powerful brought him a small amount of comfort. "You can take and dish out a lot more damage here than you could in the Etherrealm," a voice in his head told him, "don't be nervous." Was that his own thought?
Delaney dashed forward abruptly, taking Ben by surprise. She brought her right fist low by her hip as she moved toward him, and as she neared brought it up and higher, aiming it directly for his left ribs. The human, no professional but certainly no stranger to fights, stepped back and out of the way, also swinging upward underneath Delaney's arm, taking advantage of the momentum. The additional energy on her swing rendered her briefly off-balance, and Ben took this opportunity when her guard was too high to defend against a quick enough attack, so Ben brought his knee up into her side.
If he had hit her gently, he wasn't aware of it. Regardless, Delaney didn't even flinch as his knee hit her in the side. Recovering herself, she struck him with a lightning-fast open palm strike in his sternum, sending him literally airborne a few inches and back several feet where he hit the ground. A skid actually occurred before he, the wind knocked out of him, fell back and onto his back. "What's the matter, Benny Boy?" Her taunts came from a point that was nearing him. "Afraid to hit a poor defenseless little girl?" He took in a deep breath through his burning lungs, then exhaled it and stood up. Delaney was wearing a satisfied smirk. Her ears, one upright and one bent forward in half, only added to her playful expression. "Or maybe you just hit like a pussy anyway," she continued with a small shrug.
With that Ben charged her, aiming to tackle her to the ground while her guard was somewhat down. Her hands moved off of her hips where they had been, now positioned in front of her and open slightly. It occurred to Ben that she hadn't intended to dodge, and that she was simply going to take the hit and transfer the energy back onto him. It occurred, however, a little too late, and Ben couldn't stop himself. Delaney braced herself, and Ben went to tackle her about the waist.
The pair moved in Delaney's direction for a solid foot or two as the energy from the hit was dispersed, but once all of the momentum was gone, it became merely a battle of strength. Ben was still holding Delaney around the waist in a sort of aggressive hug type of position, his face right by her cottontail, and Delaney's arms were over Ben's back, hands on his hips. They pushed against one another, not much ground being made in either direction. After a second or two a yawn was heard, from Delaney. Ben's face, already strained from the effort of trying to drive his opponent backward, twisted into a frown. "You're a lot weaker than I expected," she murmured, and abruptly lifted him in a hinge sort of motion, bringing his lower body upward and toward her head, dangling him. Once his feet were off the ground and all leverage was lost for Ben, he let go of his hold around her waist, flailing a little. "Fucking put me down!" Clearly irritated was the male. "Poor choice of words," came the female's rebuttal, and she dropped him on what would have been his head had he not tucked his neck up toward his shoulders. It still hurt like hell when he hit the ground on his back, however, and he grunted a swear quietly as he did so.
The bunny girl looked down at him, shaking her head. One of Ben's feet had landed on hers, so she moved it to the side a little and then stepped over his body. She knelt down, one knee on either of his biceps, and placed her ass on his chest. "You lose," she told him in a faux-empathetic tone, sticking out her bottom lip to mimic his disappointment. He glared up at her, wriggling from side to side under her, but found that he couldn't free himself. "I knew you were lying to me," he informed her in irritation. She raised her eyebrows, examining his facial expression for a moment before shrugging. "I wasn't lying. You just need more training," she retorted matter-of-factly. "Which means we're going to have to start doing this often," she continued. Placing her hands on his arm on either side of her knees, and then brought her legs down and along his body, kneeling now on either side of his ribs, keeping his arms pinned with her hands. "Great," he muttered sarcastically.
Delaney giggled, closing her eyes for a second and shrugging. "It could be fun. Who knows, if you win you might get a...reward," she speculated in a sultry tone, eyes opening and finding his again. He blushed, but didn't give any response. Delaney's giggles faded to a small smile, and she leaned in closer to his face, looking into his eyes. "But for now, I'll just claim my prize," she whispered. Ben's heart did a somersault as the bunny girl leaned in closer, pressing her lips gently against his, eyes closing in contrast to Ben's eyes, which were wide open in surprise. Her lips were soft and tasted like her breath smelled: some kind of sweet berry. A second passed and Ben decided to relax and enjoy it, his eyes closing about as hers opened and she pulled away.
She brought her right hand up and patted his cheek twice in a condescending manner, then got off of him and stood, all but bouncing over to her bags. "Come on, let's keep going. You can't just lay around all day, we need to get as much traveling done today as we can," she called back to him, bubbly.
The very confused and very red-faced male blinked, getting up and grabbing both of their shirts they had taken off and picking up his bags. He looked up to the bunny girl, who had already started off into the thicker part of the forest. "Wait up!" He called to her, moving to start a jog before stopping. Behind a tree, he could have sworn he saw something black move. As he looked closer, something rustled back behind a bush. He stared for a second before shaking his head, jogging after his companion. Day would only last a few more hours, but he knew it was going to be long. Even longer, he got a feeling, would be the night.