Dragalge and Tympole

"Did you ever wonder what else life could have given you?"

"Hmm?" The Tympole looked over at his partner, a rough and scarred Dragalge. The slippery dragon was coiled around the ship's rails as usual.

"Like, what if we weren't out here passing through the same old swamp day after day," the Dragalge said, looking over the murky muck of vegetation they used the boat to get over safely.

The Tympole shook himself. "That wouldn't be good. Trainer says there's valuable things he harvests out here and that's how he gets his money, to take care of himself and us."

"Well that isn't the only way to get money," she said, sliding along the rail. "There must be other ways because if not, other people wouldn't be able to pay him for this stuff."

"And someone else would have to pay those people," he considered. "But where would that money all come from in the first place?"

"I have no idea," the Dragalge said. "I'm no human. Besides, I didn't want to talk about money. I want to talk about life."

This was odd, but hardly the first odd topic she brought up on quiet days like this. "You sure you want to talk about it? Life can be a sensitive thing."

Her eyes narrowed and her seaweed fronds shook. "Don't be twisting my meanings, stupid! I mean about what our lives could have been like."

"Hmm." The Tympole closed his eyes, but he kept his ears open so he could keep doing his job. His nose was telling him that they could be getting in trouble shortly.

"Nothing says that if we were to repeat this life that it would go exactly the same way,"' she said, missing the cue for a moment. "Change one little thing and it might be different. Like on the day we met. I hate acknowledging a loss, but if I had won that day, I would still be out in the swamp trying to attack this boat like all the other Dragalge do. And some other Dragalge would be here talking to you, maybe about life, maybe about something else. What do you think? What little thing would have sent you down a different life?"

He remained with his eyes closed. This wasn't going to be pretty. But after having dealt with her for so long, he knew it was the best way to get her to realize things.

As he thought, she got mad at first. "What're you ignoring me for? A nap? That's so stupid, we have a job we need to do and while we can talk, we certainly can't nap and ignore it entirely. You're the one who taught me that, so you should know better."

There was a worrying splash nearby, not loud but typical of a certain Pokemon. The Tympole used his cheeks to send out a piercing warning croak, including information on which direction the threat was coming from and how far away. Their Trainer, at the controls of the swamp boat, slowed the vessel's speed and watched them for hints as to where the trouble was. Passing up her anger for a moment, the Dragalge brought her head up and looked in the direction he gave to spot another of her kind paying attention to them and preparing to attack. They could easily take down a far bigger and sturdier boat than this one, so the Dragalge with them spat a few poison balls in quick succession to deter the one in the swamp.

The disruption gave her the moment she needed to realize what happened. "Aw no, I called you stupid again, didn't I? Tympole, I'm really sorry about that. You know how I am; that kind of thing just slips off my tongue when I'm not thinking about it. I wanted to talk about something serious this time, that's all." He opened his eyes in time to see her shake herself. "You and Trainer are so calm and civilized that I can't quite get used to it even after all this time with you two."

"I do know that you wouldn't bring up stuff about life with anyone else," the Tympole said.

"Yeah, because I know you aren't going to snap at me for thinking of such weird stuff," she said. "I sort of like you for that."

"Only sort of?" he asked.

"Hey, don't push it!" She looked off into the swamp rather than at him, usually a sign that she'd embarrassed herself. "But anyhow, even if our life went on so that we ended up with this human and each other, things could have been different. He could have used us in battles with other humans and Pokemon; we could've been evolved to more powerful forms already."

"Well it would be nice if I did evolve," he said. "Then I could know the swamp better and be a more accurate scout."

The Dragalge sighed. "If you were evolved, we wouldn't have to be making this swamp trek nearly every day. We could be earning a lot of money and respect as a battle team."

The Tympole curled his tail's edges some. "I dunno. I like this. We get to talk to each other a lot and Trainer makes us good meals, then we go back to a nice home every night and sleep out of the weather. If we were a battle team, we'd be in a lot of battles and be resting to heal a lot. We couldn't talk much then. And Trainer would have to be traveling around so we couldn't always come back home. And he couldn't always make us good meals because he wouldn't have his kitchen. Maybe if it was another life, I wouldn't mind that, but as this is this life, I would mind it. I'm happy with how things are, being here with you and Trainer every day. Wouldn't trade this life or you for anything."

"St… Stop embarrassing me!" she said, tensing up and trying to stay a prideful wild Pokemon even though she'd been in a human's possession for over a year now.

At least she hadn't called him stupid. But he'd still like to know if she honestly like this life or not.

…

Dragalge X entry: Their poison is strong enough to eat through the hull of a tanker, and they spit it indiscriminately at anything that enters their territory.

Tympole Black entry: They warn others of danger by vibrating their cheeks to create a high-pitched sound.

Been a rough time for me. Anyhow, after struggling with this story for months, I finally got something up. The original request including Elgyem, but I couldn't get the three to work together without one seeming out of place. And then real life stuff hit hard, obviously. I hope I can get back to regular updates with this. At 650 now!