(Like the first chapter, this one relies a lot more on emotion and character development. I threw in some combat at the end, but there is a lot of talking in this chapter. I like these ones, and I hope you guys do too. Let me know what you think.)

Chapter 8

Truth or Dare?

As I walked down from the red curtains, I tried to keep calm. I was buzzing with nerves, and the massive smile on my face must've tipped Chloe off because when she saw me, she gave me a wide-eyed grin. She ran up to me and tackled me with a hug.

"Great job! Great Job! That was quick! I can't believe you don't even look tired or anything." She blabbered then gestured over towards an exhausted Dante, "he barely made it out! Apparently his Cubone put in some major work and got him the badge though." I looked past her at where Ink was sitting, but he was nowhere to be found.

She noticed and turned away, shy. "Umm, Ink is...he's just hanging out with Fox for a bit. Only for a bit." My eyebrows furrowed and she started to backtrack, "I mean, we couldn't spectate your battle, so he just...um, yeah. He should be back soon, though. He, uh, he said he wasn't going to be gone for long." She had lost her usual bravado.

Dante sat up and said, "I've been giving her some pointers before she challenges the gym. You can walk around or something while we wait for Ink. They wanted to challenge it together. They're a cute-"

"We're not a couple." Chloe cut him off, her cheeks red, and jaw clenched. She was really upset. I started walking towards her to comfort her, but she turned away. "Ok, what else do I need to know?" she asked Dante, wiping her eyes. I took that as a hint to leave her alone, so I walked outside.

~10 minutes later on the edge of Mysticia City~

I had been wandering around aimlessly for a while, when I stumbled upon something I was not expecting to see. Ink and Fox...kissing.

I was walking towards the forest, wondering if I could catch a new pokemon, or at least train my current ones up some more, when I found them pressed up against each other like characters out of some weird book Chloe would read. I couldn't help but gasp loudly, and the sound startled them, forcing Ink to roll out of his rather inappropriate position.

Fox turned to me and glared, "Oh, it's just you." she said with contempt, turning to Ink and running her hand through his hair "Don't worry baby, it's not her. We can keep going."

I almost threw up in my mouth.

Ink stood up, looking embarrassed. He was looking for the right words, words that would clear all of this up and explain everything. Words that would make me forgive him. But all he said was "Please don't tell Chloe." Then he started walking back to the gym. I turned away from Fox and started walking back with him, at a loss for words.

I heard her call from behind us, "Call me sometime babe, you were great."

I threw up in the bushes.

~Inside the Mysticia City Gym, waiting to be registered~

Ink and I sat in the waiting area, waiting for all of their registration for the gym to be cleared up. I was thinking about what I could say to him that wouldn't make him hate me. Wait, why did I care what he thought? He was the one who did something wrong.

I turned to him and in a hushed voice, said, "Ink, why-"

"Shut up." He interrupted, clenching his fists with his head hung low. "It was...it wasn't even anything, just a hook up."

"Yeah, but what would-"

"Chloe say? I don't care. We're not even together, why should she care what I do.

"...Because she-"

"Just stay out of it, man. I don't need you breathing down my neck all the time. You're gonna distract me before the match."

I didn't feel like watching them go through the gym any more, so I left again.

~Back in the woods~

"Hey! Hey Carbon! Is Ink going through the gym yet?" Fox ran up to me from nowhere. Her clothes were nice and orderly again, as if nothing had happened.

"Yeah, he's in there now." I muttered passively, not making eye contact.

"Okay, thanks C." She said with the same bubbly, fake voice she always used. She started to skip (literally skip) away, then she turned back to me. "Carbon," her voice was lower this time, like an actual person, "why aren't you in there watching? Aren't you two like, best friends or something?" She plopped down next to me, her back against the rough bark of a tree, "What's wrong?"

I shook my head. "I don't really want to talk about it." I whispered.

There was a brief but noticeable pause, then Fox piped up and asked something I hadn't heard since elementary school. "Truth or dare?"

"What?"

"Truth or dare? Have you never played that? You pick-"

"Yeah, yeah, I know how to play. Truth I guess."

Fox thought about it, exaggeratedly scratching her head. Nothing she did ever seemed sincere, it was like she was always playing a character. "Hmm...have you ever kissed anyone?"

"Wow, what an original question."

"Oh shut up." She giggled, "C'mon, just answer it."

"Well yeah of course, I'm almost fourteen, of course I've kissed someone." I said huffily, crossing my arms, then uncrossing them for fear of seeming over-the-top. Fox had a way of forcing me to overthink everything.

"What was his name?"

"Her name was Gray."

"Gray? What was she, a pornstar? I'm calling bullshit on that one."

"Whatever, truth or dare?"

"No, no, tell me more about this so-called Gray. What was she like?"

I rolled my eyes and stared up into the thick canopy of leaves above us, "Truth or dare."

I heard Fox sigh, "Fine. Dare."

"Why dare?"

"Because you picked truth."

"If I had picked dare, would you have picked truth?"

"Probably not. Just dare me."

I had to think about it. Whenever kids used to play this, they'd always dare each other weird stuff. All the kids in the school by the Leaders Resort were super snobby and whatever, they never invited me over. "Umm...I dare you to…"

"Oooo, suspense. I like it." She said teasingly.

I glared over at her. The light from the sun rained down in broken rays, reaching desperately through the leaves above. Those same rays bounced perfectly off of her pale skin, and...wait, what? No, I couldn't start thinking like that. I had to clear my head. I couldn't let her get to me. "I dare you to cover yourself up for once." I said harshly. I didn't mean to seem so mean, but it was more for my sake than hers.

She seemed surprised, and just a tad hurt. She started buttoning up the top few buttons of her shirt, and she pulled a jacket out of her purse. She put back on her plastic smile and giggled, "I left those buttons open for a reason you know."

"Yeah, I don't doubt it."
"Oh, hush, truth or dare."

"Truth."

"You're so boring."

"Fine, dare."

"No, you're not allowed to just change it like that."

"Then why'd you complain?"

"I wasn't complaining. I was just letting you know that you're boring. Ok, tell me more about this mythical Gray girl you supposedly kissed." Fox picked herself up and positioned herself in front of me.

"What do you want to know?" I looked away into the trees.

"I don't know, anything. Where did you meet her?"

"She was a retired Gym Leader's daughter. She lived in the house across from mine in the Leaders Resort."

"Show me a pic."

"What? No. And don't say pic in real life. Just say picture."

"Pics or it didn't happen." She was stubborn.

Annoyed, I took out my phone and pulled up a picture of me and Gray at school. She wasn't as pretty as I remembered.

"Ooo, she's pretty. She your girlfriend?"

"No. Truth or dare."

"Truth." Fox said. Surprised, I looked over at her, half-expecting her to take it back. She seemed like a dare kind of girl. She laughed at my expression and giggled, "Shocked you, didn't I? Believe it or not, I'm capable of picking truth."

"Who was your first kiss?"

"Copycat."

"Whatever, I'll ask something else."

"No, you can't change it. It was Ink."

There was a long pause and I looked at her. "Really? He was your first?"

The fake wide eyes and smile drained away, and she sat back, laying on the ground and looking up into the sky, "You wouldn't expect it. I know I act like...well, you know. Like a whore."

"No, you-"

"Don't bullshit me C, I know that's what you think. It's not your fault, it's mine for acting like this. I always get all of this unwanted attention from guys and girls, I hate it. It's not really who I am, it's all an act," She looked up at me, "but you could tell it was an act, couldn't you?"

I avoided her question, "If you get all that attention, why do you still act like this?"

"I don't know," I could hear her getting choked up, "My dad was...he wasn't a very good guy. Always drunk and angry. I hate him. He would...never mind."

I felt my heart sink a little. She wasn't anything like I expected her to be. I sat next to her and started running my fingers through her long, soft, red hair. I wasn't really thinking, just trying to calm her down. There was another pause.

"He kept calling me a whore. I didn't even do anything, he was just always so...angry. So I don't know, I sort of lived out his expectations. I fit into the part I was supposed to play." She wiped a tear from her eye.

"Well, for what it's worth," I said, getting up, "I think you're pretty great, even when you're buttoned up."

She smiled through her tears, and got up with me. "Thanks. That...that means a lot." She took a deep breath, and looked back up at the specks of blue that were visible through the branches. "Truth or dare?"

"Dare."

This time she was surprised, but she smiled and said, "Battle me."

Normally I would've said no. It was extremely one-sided, I had no chance of winning. But she needed a distraction right now.

It was another double battle, and we each sent out our pokemon. Looking at the matchup again, I had a better chance of winning than I thought. Her Mienfoo could only do so much to defend itself against Omen's flying type attacks, and Omen could also use Pursuit on Kirlia. As long as Mirror stayed away from Mienfoo, he would be safe to use Psybeam on it, and Shadow Sneak in to finish off Kirlia. It was a solid battle strategy.

The match started off with Mienfoo using Meditate. I had to shut that thing down before it got its attack high enough to take down Omen. Kecleon rushed at it with a Shadow Sneak, hitting it hard, but not hard enough. The Mienfoo, regained its balanced and struck a combative stance, giving it enough momentum to retaliate with a Force Palm. Mirror dodged and countered with a Dizzy Punch right between the fighting fox's eyes, confusing it. This was Omen's opportunity to dive in with a Pursuit, allowing Mirror to regain a safe distance from his Fighting type foe.

"You're getting better, C, but not quite better enough. Go!" Fox shouted, commanding her Pokemon to follow through with some unspoken plan. Kirlia dashed over to Omen and let out a cry. Omen, tried to dodge the move, but Kirlia's Disarming Voice does damage to the mind. He couldn't escape. At least he was able to knock that Mienfoo out, I thought to myself. Then, bafflingly, Mienfoo dashed to Omen with vigor that was impossible for a confused pokemon. He landed a devastating Force Palm, then cartwheeled out of the way as Kirlia finished off the poor Murkrow with one of its signature Magical Leaf attacks.

As I recalled Omen, I looked over at Fox, expecting an explanation. "Haha, you really don't get it? Well, that's understandable I guess, there was a chance it could've fallen apart completely. But I had faith in my Mienfoo, and it all paid off." I was still confused, and she sighed and said, "Mienfoo used Detect right before your Murkrow used Pursuit. While he wasn't damaged by it, the force of the impact knocked him out of his confused state. It's simple."

Now I understood why she was the leader of the three strategists. She understood risk versus reward perfectly. I focused back on the battle to see Mirror leaping and dodging and Shadow Sneaking his way out of all of Mienfoo's attacks. He was getting hit by some of Kirlia's projectiles, though, and it was clearly taking its toll. He kept glancing over at me with an unsure look, as if he was asking for permission. I couldn't think of anything he could do better, but it was obvious he had an idea. I thought about what Fox said about trusting her Mienfoo to pull it off, and I thought. Mirror had never let me down before. Sure he wasn't the sort of loose cannon Omen was, and he didn't have the raw power, but he was a thinker. A strategist, just like Fox. I decided to go with Mirror's zigzaggy gut, so I looked at him right in his beady, reptilian eye, and I nodded. Go, I mouthed, and he nodded back with a tiny smile.

The Kecleon immediately leapt into action. He was bright pink now, and indication of the Fairy type he had gotten from Kirlia's last Disarming Voice. He pretended like he was going to dodge Mienfoo's Force Palm, but instead, he took it. I winced, expecting my poor lizard to go flying, but nothing happened. There was no great impact like I expected. Then I realized what Mirror had known this whole time. Mienfoo wasn't trying to hit Mirror, he was the distraction. He was still too weak from fighting to deliver a finishing blow, so his Force Palms ironically didn't pack much force. They were decoys. Mirror's Fairy type helped soften the blow, but his scales once again changed color into a rusty orange. Mienfoo looked startled, and Mirror smacked him with a Dizzy Punch before using Shadow Sneak on Kirlia.

I almost shouted out for Mirror to get out of there. He was such a short distance from Kirlia, she didn't need to use Disarming Voice, she could use the more powerful Confusion. I saw psychic waves emit from Kirlia's forehead as she closed her eyes and focused her energy on my Kecleon. Mirror was brought to his knees by this super-effective blow, but he wasn't out yet. He was weak, but he was smiling for some reason; and as he shifted to a deep purple shade, I figured out why that was. That clever son of a bitch.

Mirror once again used Shadow Sneak, evading a second Confusion from Kirlia. His target this time was Mienfoo, and as the dizzy fox drew its fist back to hit Mirror, the Kecleon unleashed a close-range Psybeam, powered up by his new Psychic typing. The Mienfoo finally fainted, knocked unconscious by this well-planned blow.

After Fox recalled her Mienfoo, Mirror proceeded to beat the living shit out of the startled Kirlia with a barrage of Shadow Sneaks and Dizzy Punches, taking her down in what seemed like a few seconds.

"Damn, C. That's a strong Kecleon you've got there. You take good care of him." Fox said with a smile, shaking my hand with more sincerity than I had ever seen from her.

"Thanks Fox, you take care too. Man, I really wish you could come along with us, but I don't know, that might mess with the flow of things." I said, scratching my head.

"Wait, what? I thought I was going with you guys. Ink did ask me out while I was helping him train. I was under the impression that sort of included me, you know, sticking with you guys."

I was baffled. Why did Ink lie to me and say it was just a hook up? What was Chloe going to think about this? Was our group able to handle any more people we barely knew? I felt Fox's hand in mine, and she said to me, "Don't worry C, it'll all work out."

I smiled and we started walking back to the gym. She was right, everything was going to be fine.

That was when we heard the explosion.

(Back in action. Thanks a ton for reading, I was having some scheduling problems. The next few should be out smoothly. Please review and tell me what you like, and more importantly, what I could do better. Thanks, you big dummies.)

Tune in next time to see what the explosion was. Did anyone get hurt? Was it planned, or an accident? Will Fox joining the team cause any unwanted tension in the team? All of this and more next chapter, in "Rise of the Knights"! Thanks for reading.