With my mind made up and a plan already formed, I walked calmly, adamantly over to the tree.

"Get down," I commanded. He wasn't listening. "Get down!" I commanded, a little louder. A snore echoed across the canyon. Of course. Sleeping.

Lazy, worthless little – I drew a huge breath, then shouted, "Get down!!!"

He turned over and fell out of the branch.

I stifled laughter as he fell and hit the ground with a thud, enough to wake him up. It was kinda hard to stifle it all and I eventually had a bad case of the giggles, definitely not a good image for my dominant self.

He shook himself and walked over to me. "What happened?"

I burst out laughing. I couldn't help it if I was rude, and right then, I wasn't feeling very friendly toward him anyway, so I didn't care. I managed to stand again after falling on the ground with uncontrollable laughter, and wiped my eye for effect before asking, "What did you say?"

He frowned, and decided to stay somewhere on the ground for this night. Perfect, my plan was already in action. Tomorrow I confront him about the problem with the Mightyena, forgetting about the hilarious gut-busting fall he took today, and beat him in a fight, and evict him. That'll work, I thought, still laughing, so long as you don't crack up at some point in the fight.

I climbed up to where he had been, secured myself with the surrounding branches and vines, and fell asleep.

I awoke the next morning feeling relaxed and refreshed, ready to fight, and, thankfully, all laughter on the subject of falling out of a tree was gone, though the anger of a foreign Blaziken, no, make that any foreign predator, threatening the local pack of Mightyena, let alone anyone, in my territory still burned like a blazing, roaring fire, the fire inside me burning to have him gone already.

I pushed myself up and jumped down, feeling the familiar thump of solid ground under my feet. I heard the morning cries of the local Taillow and Zigzagoon, and saw the Alpha Mightyena sleeping close to the entrance of their den. This was my home. And there's no way I'm gonna let some newbie come in here and kick me out, or worse, I thought. Instead of consoling me, the thought made me feel even worse, more anger building up. Maybe the cause was the 'or worse' part.

I walked up to the Blaziken, who was sitting up against the tree. "That's the last time I ever sleep on the ground," he said, smiling.

I growled. You'll pay for what you said to Ight and Yena, I thought viciously, and some of it must have shown on my face, for he backed away.

Well, I might as well get it over with, I thought, and accused, "You threatened the local Mightyena pack."

"No I didn't," he objected, looking shocked.

"Yes, you did," I insisted. "You told the Alpha Mightyena that if they didn't tell you where I was, you'd kill their pups."

"No, I didn't!" he said again, taken aback. "I simply asked them politely! I just wanted to talk, so I could find a way back home! If that's what they said, maybe they just want you to get rid of me!"

"You may not have noticed, but that's what I want, too," I snapped back. So what if the Mightyena had lied about him threatening me? The fact was that they had led him over somehow, and we all wanted him to leave. "This is my territory, and you need to get out, and stay out."

He stood, offended. "What have I ever done to you??" he asked, sounding hurt.

I didn't care whether he was hurt or not. "You are not allowed in my territory, no male Blaziken is!!"

He looked confused. "What?"

I quickly got over my own shock at my slip-of-the-tongue. "I meant, no other Blaziken, whether they're male or female." I was feeling very territorial just then, so it wasn't exactly a lie. "I am dominant over this piece of land, and will allow no other supreme predators to set foot on my land."

He looked angry. "Well, fine, if that's the way you feel, I'll just go."

I smiled in victory. "That's right, get out and stay out."

Angrily he turned to leave, and started west, toward the desert I had told him lay on that side of my territory. He cast one last glance, but, seeing as I wasn't just about to repent, continued out.

I smiled in victory, and felt like letting out a triumphant roar. The eviction, kicking him out permanently, was in place. I relinquished my hold over dignity and roared, scaring most families into their burrows.

He heard it. He turned straight around

"Well, what are you waiting for?" I asked, my smile vanishing.

"You just declared that you had won a tremendous battle, when in reality I left of my own will," he growled angrily. I realized that I should have waited until he was out of earshot to roar, but I was ecstatic just then. The feeling of ecstasy converted itself into adrenaline as I heard him say, "For that, I will be sure there is a real fight."

I was confident in my own abilities, and said, "So be it, then. I'll have something real to celebrate, a true victory against someone worth fighting."

He launched an attack, going for a sudden Double Kick. I prepared to dodge, but just before he came within range, he disappeared and I felt two hard blows to my back.

"You let your guard down!" he shouted at me. "Or have you never fought anyone worth fighting; are you overconfident?"

I growled angrily and shot out a Flamethrower directed at the heavens. He flinched. "That was a warning shot!!" I called. "You don't want to know what I can really do!!"

"Yes, I do," he retorted. "Bring it on; this'll be the first fight that's a real challenge in a long time."

I ran at him, charging, and at the last second, jumped and landed behind him, using a Sky Uppercut. It didn't send him flying as it did most local Pokemon, but then again he wasn't 'most local Pokemon'. At least it did some damage. I was able to get a Blaze Kick in before he dodged, and I leaped into the tree, ready and waiting. My eyes taunted him with obvious confidence and complete control. This was my arena, my home-field advantage. I win.

He used something called 'Double Team' and used it to climb the tree without me noticing which was real. Pretty soon I felt a powerful Fire Punch land on my right shoulder, knocking me out of the tree and landing me face first onto the ground, surrounded by those annoying illusions. I stood and roared a challenge. Nobody knocks me out of my own tree. I shot a Flamethrower at all of them, burning the real Blaziken and dissipating the illusions. I angrily snarled, rushing at the knocked-over Blaziken and picking him up.

"Not so easy to beat me, is it?" I asked quietly, and sent him flying with the strongest Sky Uppercut I could muster. He only flew a few feet, but it still caused a lot of damage.

He looked beaten, weary and bruised, but still stood. "I'm not giving up that easily!!" he shouted at me, confirming that the battle was still going.

"You're just desperate for pain, aren't you?" I asked, and rushed at him in a zigzag pattern. And a sudden powerful Fire attack hit me headlong and pushed me back a couple of feet. I fell over from the sudden hit.

"That was called 'Overheat'," he told me, walking up to me. He looked down. "Despite my damage, I am still able to pull off an attack like that, though I don't think I'll be attacking you in cold blood."

"Your mistake, then," I growled through clenched teeth, and rolled onto my back, using a Blaze Kick on the unsuspecting Blaziken.

He stepped back a couple steps, rubbing his chin. "That hurt."

"That's the point of a battle, isn't it?" I snapped, rolling onto my feet and standing. "To defeat your opponent by causing as much pain as possible until they give up."

He snarled and let another Overheat out. I dodged it, noticing that his attacks seemed to be getting weaker. He rushed at me, preferring hand-to-hand combat over his now-weakened firepower. I obliged him, pulling off a Sky Uppercut and Blaze Kick, though he just barely dodged both, and took minimum damage. He used Double Kick, and I, not seeing it, caught both and the top damage they could inflict. I snarled and tried just plain punches but that got nowhere. He caught my second, and smiling mischievously, threw me. I landed face-first onto the dirt, and could hardly get up. No more hand-to-hand combat, I thought. From now on it's long-range attacks.

I backed up, releasing a Flamethrower and going for the trees. Then an idea so desperate it just had to work popped into my head. I smiled viciously, and, smile disappearing as I turned to face him, I stopped and waited for him to make a move.

He hesitated. Me stopping suddenly was certainly a bit suspicious, but as his pride as a male, and Blaziken, he couldn't turn down this challenge. He stepped back, and released an Overheat. I simply held out my claw and the Overheat faded away.

I snickered. This was too easy. He, in long-range terms, was wasted, and I certainly wasn't allowing him to fight up close. I smiled and let another Flamethrower go. He dodged and ran towards me, for an up-close-and-personal Fire Punch.

This was it. I leaped into the air…

…and delivered my special, hidden attack: Aerial Ace.

He went down without a second thought.

I walked up to his fallen form. "I told you to get, so get."

Suddenly he was grinning and hit me with an up-close-and-personal Fire Punch. I stumbled backward, and as consequence, couldn't get my guard up in time. He used Double Kick, twice, and surprised me with an Aerial Ace of his own. I was down now, and understood what had happened. He had seen that I wasn't about to play fair on my own grounds, and so tricked me. I could hardly defend myself, but at some point during a Double Kick attack, I managed to leap out of the way. Unfortunately the second kick caught my foot, sending my leap spiraling out of control. I landed roughly on the ground a couple of yards away, and was still.

He came to stand over me, and placed his foot on my chest, holding me down. I sucked in a deep, sudden breath. It hurt.

"So, in the end, I win," he gloated.