Hey guys, sorry I haven't updated in a few weeks, but I've been a little busy and haven't really felt like writing. Oh, on the last chapter, I made a little edit, I accidentally used the names Foxstream and Delusion as the team name. That was an accident, Foxstream was the original name I had chosen to use as the team name, but halfway through I decided to change it to Delusion and forgot to change it on some parts. I do hope y'all enjoy this chapter though. Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon

Chapter 4: First Impressions

The Braviary snickered and covered his face with his wing, obviously trying not a laugh. "W-what's your name new girl? I'm Gale."

"Um…Lucy." This was going to be incredibly awkward wasn't it?

"W-well Lucy, y-you have my sympathies." Gale was having a terrible time at keeping his laughter in check.

"Sympathy? What the hell does she get sympathy for?" The enraged Zoroark snapped.

"Because she has to put up with you!" The bird was now trying to compose himself.

"What does that mean you bastard?" Shy glared.

"It means you're an asshole!" Gale snickered.

Sly snarled and shifted his gaze over to me. "We're getting this settled right now!" He then proceeded to grab my arm and drag me down the stairs.

"Lucy!" Tsubaki and the Braviary started to follow after us.

"Hey, let go of me!" What the hell's wrong with him?

His grip only tightened as I continued to struggle against him until it felt as if my wrist was about to break.

Heads turned in our direction when we passed, curious as to what the enraged Zoroark was up to.

When we reached the request room, Guildmaster Darian was standing outside his office. It was like he was waiting for us…

"Darian! What's the meaning of this?" He bellowed.

"Sly…why are you handling miss Lucy so roughly? That's not how you treat your partner." Darian ignored his question.

Sly growled and ever so slowly let go of my arm. "What…is…the…meaning…of…this?"

"The 'meaning of this' is that it's about time you got a partner. Now, I've looked the other way for a while now, but I can't any longer. Everyone needs a partner, including you Sly." The Guildmaster said.

"You're wrong! I don't need a partner! Let someone else have her, I don't need her!" Sly pointed a clawed finger at me.

"Excuse me, but don't I get a say in this?" I shifted around, irritated at the obnoxious and arrogant Zoroark in front of me.

"No!" Sly turned to glare at me this time.

Darian let out an exasperated sigh. "Sly, I'm not going to change my mind. Lucy is your partner and that's final."

"If you don't mind Guildmaster, I have a suggestion." Gale and Tsubaki stepped in from behind me.

"Oh, and what would that be?" The Guildmaster asked.

"Why don't they have a battle? If Lucy wins, she will be allowed to be Sly's partner no matter how much he hates it and if Sly wins, Lucy will join a different team, even if they're all full, or she can form her own team."

"Or better yet, she can just leave." Sly growled.

"She will do no such thing Sly. However, I will agree to Gale's proposition. Lucy, Sly, do you agree to his terms?" Darian looked over both of us.

"Yes!" Sly replied, rather aggressively.

I sighed as four pairs of eyes trained on me. "…Yes."

Sly's eyes gleamed viciously as he sneered. "Get ready to get your ass handed to ya." He turned and left.

"You're letting them fight? Sly's the best fighter in here!" Tsubaki exclaimed.

"Even so, I think she can beat him. Even if Lucy loses, it will be an interesting match to witness." Darian nodded.

"I guess…" The dragon sighed, clearly unhappy with the situation at hand.

"Well, let's get going then, shall we?" Gale made a swooping gesture with his wing and followed after Sly.

Giving an exasperated sigh, I followed suit, Darian and Tsubaki trailing behind me. Why do I have to do this?

Much to my dismay, the Training Room was quite…lively. At least a dozen Pokémon stood around the battlefield, with Sly in the center.

As I approached the center of the room, whispers could be heard amongst the other Pokémon here.

"Hey, look! There she is!"

"That's her? I think Sly's going to have a hard time with this one."

"Are you kidding? He can burn her to a crisp using Flamethrower! Focus Blast will do a nasty bit of damage too."

"Maybe, but Steel Types are incredibly sturdy. She can do quite a bit of damage herself if she uses moves such as Aura Sphere and Close Combat."

"You're right, but how powerful is she? Will she be strong enough to actually beat Sly?"

"We'll just have to wait and see."

The whispering was brought to a halt as I stood opposite of Sly. The air was thick with tension, as the gathered Pokémon waited with bated breath to see which of us would triumph.

As I waited for the battle to start, I took this opportunity to study the Zoroark's aura. The aura was incredibly aggressive, lashing out in great wisps. There was also a sense of eagerness to it, it was clearly evident that Sly loved to battle, and was definitely looking forward to besting me in battle…but…there was also something else there, it was faint, but I could just barely make it out…interest?

I didn't get to analyze it any further as crimson flames started to leak from his unopened maw.

I dodged the stream of flames quite easily, although a few of the Pokémon behind me who hadn't scrambled away in time singed pretty badly. I charged up an Aura Sphere and fired it. Halfway between us though, it collided with an oncoming Focus Blast and exploded, filling the room momentarily with smoke.

It didn't last long though as Gale and the other Flying Types blew it away within seconds using their powerful wings.

There was something off though once the smoke finally cleared away…Sly had vanished. Everyone looked around frantically for the missing Zoroark, but he was nowhere to be found.

"Lucy!" I recognized the voice of Drax.

Spotting him in the crowd, I followed his gaze upwards. Coming from up above me, Sly was falling head first at me, claws coated in a form of dark energy. How the hell did he get up there?

I brought an arm up just in time to avoid being clawed in the face, and brought the other one up to send him flying with a Bullet Punch.

Surprise and irritation flickered in his aura, but disappeared as he released a wide ranged Flamethrower. Unable to doge all of it, my right leg was caught in the blaze.

I winced in pain as I brought my leg out of the fire. The fur was charred black and burned off in some places, revealing the irritated skin underneath. Sly was going all out if the flames were that hot.

As my burned leg distracted me, Sly made a run for me once again with claws cloaked in dark energy. He swiped them across my chest and I yelped in pain. Of course I resisted Dark Type attacks thanks to my Fighting Type attributes, but the attack still hurt.

He leapt back before I could strike him back, but I used Extreme Speed to catch up and continued on with a Close Combat. The Zoroark sailed through the air and landed on the ground with a thud from the impact.

He didn't get back up…I had won.