While Rio fell from the sky, he attracted the attention of more than just Kora. Watching from the shadows was a Bisharp, with a sharp glare fixed directly on the Lucario as the canine fell from above. The Bisharp silently surveyed Rio, his meeting with Kora, and their walk towards the village. He wasn't noticed by either of the two until he crept too close to the treeline and, for a moment, caught the Outlander's attention.
The Bisharp retreated, rather unimpressed at first glance, but felt the faintest sensation of potential in Rio. He believed it might just be due to Rio being of the same species as somebody close to him. With thoughts of the past clouding his mind, the Bisharp blindly bumped into another resident of the island, someone he knew well.
"Zen?" a Scrafty asked. "Where the hell do you always disappear to, dude? And why are you up so early?"
"I could ask you the same thing, Kane," Zen replied. "I find it quite uncharacteristic of you to be out and about before the turn of the century."
"Whatever, smartass. Eva wanted me to find you, wanted to ask if you were ready to become an official team yet," Kane told Zen as they walked through the woods.
"The two of you have asked me this, how many times? I've always answered the same way, so what makes either of you think that today will be any different?" Zen questioned.
Kane shrugged.
"Hell if I know, it was her idea."
After a rather short walk, Kane and Zen came up to a large, hollowed out tree with a door leaning in front of the entrance. It was far wider than any other tree, and despite it being hollowed out, it was still full of life. There was an opening near the top, and from it stood a Zangoose. She was a bit shorter for her speciesthan the average Cat Ferret Pokemon, and instead of crimson red, she bore pink markings on her fur. The Normal Type dropped from the top of the tree and landed in front of the two who had just arrived.
"Zen, I think I can convince you to finally join Kane and I's team!" Eva said excitedly.
"How, exactly?" Zen asked. Eva put on a big grin and pushed the door away from the tree's opening, revealing a room with some of Kane's belongings scattered on the floor, a wool blanket, a fire pit, and a Zorua and an Eevee sitting patiently inside. Zen and Kane were both surprised when they noticed the two children—, they didn'ton't normally hang around either of themwo.
"Hiya Kane! Hiya Zen!" Kai greeted, sporting his own playful grin. "I have some super-awesome news! Kora found an Outlander!" The Zorua looked as if he was about to burst, while his companion was much more contained.
"Yes, I am aware. What about him?" tThe Bisharp asked, thinking back to the stumbling toddler of an Outlander he saw not too long ago.
"Isn't this great?!" Kai exclaimed. "An Outlander means trouble, and trouble means adventure!"
"Weren't you getting bored of being on a tropical island, eating mostly berries and seafood, and only sparring against the same five Pokemon for five whole years? I've been here for almost my entire life, and I know I'm getting tired of it," Eva grinned. "If that Lucario showing up means something bad is gonna happen, don't you think we should form a team and help him?"
"Please, he's hardly capable of walking in a straight line as of now. Whatever 'trouble' his existence indicates can't possibly warrant any concern of ours," Zen replied firmly. "And I don't mind the simplicity of island life... I'd rather this than my old life off the island."
"Oh please!" Kane butted in. "You go on and on about how hard your life was, but mine was just as rough, buddy, and you don't hear me whining about it!"
"Perhaps because you're too busy crying yourself to sleep about it whenever you're alone," Zen retorted coldly. "I only complain about my old life because I had things then to complain about now. What does a castaway bastard like yourself have to cry over?" Kane and Zen glared at each other, the air grew more tense as they were about ready to get at the other's throat.
"A-Alright guys!" Eva quickly stopped the two. "Let's not do this now, we're all friends here!"
"Friends?! This stuck-up hardass hardly even considers us equals!" Kane barked, glaring back at Zen again. "I know that look you give us behind our backs, I'm not stupid. You think you're better than us because you think you're strong, huh?"
"That would be exactly why, yes," Zen replied, his expressionless face riling up the Scrafty more. "I guess you weren't lying when you said you weren't dumb, color me impressed."
"AL-RIGHT!" Eva shouted, pushing the two boys apart. "Both of you need to chill out! Why are you both so aggressive today?"
"Us?!" Zen turned towards the Zangoose and scoffed. "Whenever Koraza so much as breathes incorrectly, you throw a hissyfit and berate him until he's a mess of tears, or Minerva comes in and stops you! You are the last Pokemon I want to hear talk to others about being aggressive!"
"I do not!" Eva exclaimed. "I just can't stand him messing up and thinking it's alright! It's beyond infuriating!"
"But why do you only get on him when he messes up? Zeke and Nate probably screw things up more than he does!" Kane pointed out.
"Actually, Zeke and Nate are doing a lotta things all the time. They do more than I think any of you do..." Kai said quietly, being hushed by Mia as to not attract the three angered Pokemons' attention. Unfortunately, he wasn't hushed quickly enough, and the rage-filled glares of Zen and Kane fell on him.
Mia tugged on Kai's tail, pointing towards the opening at the top of the tree. "Yeah, I think we should get outta here before things get messy. At least it shouldn't get messier than this room!" The two children snickered, but Kai's snide joke was caught by the owner of this tree, unfortunately.
"HEY! Get back here, runt!" the Scrafty yelled, pushing past Eva and Zen and trying to grab the two kids. "Who the hell even said you could mess around with my stuff, huh?!" Kane dove in to grab the two kits, but was easily avoided.
Both kids used Kane's robust head as a springboard to climb towards the top, leaving the fuming Scrafty in a pile of ash from his fire pit. Kane spat out soot and ash, wiping the residue off his tongue and cussing under his breath. He grumbled to himself as he watched the two annoyances scatter through the foliage, laughing between themselves until they practically disappeared. The Scrafty walked out of his tree, and was met with Eva holding back laughter, and Zen with a smirk on his dumb, metallic face.
"What? What's so damn funny?" Kane angrily asked.
"You just let two children make a bigger fool out of yourself than you do on a daily basis!" Zen said with a chuckle. "They even gave you a makeover. Ashen gray... it soots you."
"And now I've had enough," Kane groaned, grabbing hold of Zen and lifting the Bisharp over his head. "If I get a new look, why the hell shouldn't you?!" The Scrafty chucked Zen directly into the fire pit, a large POOF of ash and soot coated him in a complete layer of grey.
"Why you little-" Zen grabbed Kane by his arm and yanked him into the pit again, and with another cloud of ash, he too was a dashing shade of gray. The two fought each other in the fire pit, when they realized Eva was giggling at them.
"The both of you look like ghosts fighting over who has the right to haunt this place!" she snickered.
Zen and Kane glanced at each other, then grinned devilishly at Eva. They both walked menacingly towards her, with Kane holding his arms out and "OOOOooooOOOooooOOo"-ing like a ghost probably would. Eva grew nervous and walked backwards, stumbling over a tree root and bumping into the side of a tree.
"H-Hey, guys! This isn't funny!" Eva said, trying to lean as far away from the ashen Kane and Zen as she could. "I just spruced up my fur, I'll never be able to get all that grey outta it!"
"Maaaaaybe you should've thoooooought about thaaaaat, befooooore lettin' those braaaaaats in my hooooouuuussssssseeeee!" Kane said as he and Zen grabbed Eva and carried her back to the fire pit.
"Come on, Eva! We're friends, are we not?" Zen jokingly asked. "If one of us gets a makeover, we all do!"
With a toss and a PHOOMP, the white and pink Zangoose became just as gray as the other two. "There! Now everyone's a mess!" Kane chuckled to himself and was about ready to go and clean himself off, when he was suddenly grabbed by a very pissed off Eva. He felt her grip tighten and pain shot up his arm, followed by him being slammed into the wall behind Eva.
"E-Eva! C-C-Calm down!" he exclaimed, the color fading from his face once he saw Zen's body being thrown at him. The two sat in fear as Eva angrily approached them, bearing her rather large claws.
"Eva, we can talk about this!" Zen tried to reason with her, but was instead woefully ignored.
"I JUST SAID I CLEANED UP MY FUR!" The Zangoose's voice was booming, sending chills right up both Pokemon's spines. "DO YOU KNOW HOW LONG IT TAKES TO WASH ASH OUT OF WHITE FUR?!"
"I-I'm sorry! It was all in good fun, you can forgive me right?" the Scrafty begged.
"Oh, you'll be SORRY in a second!" Eva grinned, cracking her knuckles. Zen and Kane braced themselves for her first attack. They waited for it to come, knowing that any moment now they'd be feeling sore and bruised, but the attack never came. Kane slowly opened his eyes and saw Eva clutching her fist and breathing calmly. She let her arm go limp and let out a long exhale, giving her friends a smile.
"Y-You're not m-mad?" Kane asked, pushing Zen's body off him.
"Oh, I'm furious, and you're both gonna make it up to me." Eva clarified. "But not right now. Let's head down to the beach and wash this stuff off."
"Thank you, Eva," Zen said, releasing a relieved sigh and standing up. "It might be presumptuous of me, but I'd like to request that whatever you ask of us is... reasonable, at least."
"Of course it's gonna be unreasonable!" Eva laughed. "Why the hell would I go easy on either of you, especially you mister 'High and Mighty'?"
"Dammit, Metal Head! Why'd you have to ask..?" Kane groaned, not looking forward to whatever deed Eva was gonna throw at them. "I still have burns from the last time we pissed her off..."
"And I'm positive there's still sand in me..." Zen was hoping Eva would forget about this soon, or would at the very least have the mercy to go easy on them, but the deceptively sweet smile she put on was a clear sign that they were in for a grueling experience.
A walk through the woods later and the trio made their way to the serenity of the coastline. Nothing but clean, untainted sand, beautifully scattered seashells, and the light blue ocean that stretched across the horizon. Towards the north was the sky-piercing mountain owned by the Guild, and to the south laid nothing but endless sand and sea... and also the forest, but that's not what we're focusing on right now.
Eva took a deep breath of the crisp, salty ocean air. She would have enjoyed it had she not seen this same beautiful, boring, shore countless times before. After growing up with this beach, seeing all the shells, building hundreds of sand castles, spending hours upon hours sunbathing… it was losing its charm. Despite that, it was still relaxing at least.
"Isn't it grand?" Zen calmly said, walking into the water until it was past his knees. "There is nothing like this on the mainland continents. Truly breathtaking!"
"It really isn't all that," Eva replied, laying down in the water and allowing the waves to wash over her. With each wave, a good amount of soot released itself from her high-maintenance fur.
"Yet you still seem to enjoy it," Kane stated, already in waist deep water.
"Yeah, a little, Who wouldn't? This island is practically a paradise! Doesn't mean I wanna be here forever..." Eva exclaimed, sitting in the water and crossing her arms. "A paradise isn't a paradise if you live there, it's just a home at that point."
"Well, I'd say it's a paradise to me and Kane," Zen replied, washing his face. "I'd rather spend my entire life here instead of spending another day off it."
"I second that. Last time I was off the island, I was bein' chased by some crooks. Had to sneak on one of the Guild's boats and stay hidden until we arrived here," Kane said, shaking the water off his body. "That is not somethin' I wanna go through again. Although, I'm pretty sure I could wipe the floor with any of those punks now!" the Scrafty added, punching the water in front of him and creating a massive splash.
They spent a surprisingly long time washing themselves cleanーthe ash was a lot clingier than expected. The sun was directly above them, so they decided to lay out on the sand and dry off in its heat. After a while of sunbathing, Eva and Kane stood over Zen and poked him to see if he was still awake. Obviously he was, and he tightly gripped their hands.
"What is it?" he asked, agitated.
"We wanted to make one last proposition for you to join our Exploration Team," Eva answered, giving Zen a smile.
"Alright, let me hear it. If it's a bribe, I can assure you it won't work." Zen said, getting up and facing the two. Once he saw them jump back and get ready for a fight, excitement started coursing through his veins. "Oh?"
"We figured the best way to fully earn your respect would be to beat it outta you!" Kane said with a confident smirk.
"We've been sparring in secret for a while just so we could make you join our team!" Eva added. "And with the Outlander showing up, now's the perfect time to form an official team, and once he goes on his big journey or whatever, we'll just tag along for the ride!"
"Really? That's what the both of you were doing?" Zen scoffed. "I'll be blunt, if hiding out in the forest and fighting each other for several hours a day is your idea of 'secretly training', you will still need a miracle if you want to best me in battle. Two-on-one is child's play! I've had to fight multiple fully-evolved Pokemon on numerous occasions before either of you were even capable of speaking!"
"Welcome to the club! I took down a Poliwrath before I could even count!" Kane exclaimed.
"That's funny, I don't remember seeing any Poliwrath today?" Zen mocked, getting himself in a battle stance.
"Oh you think you're funny?!" Kane growled. "Eva, help me shut that joker's mouth, will ya?"
"Yeah!" the Zangoose cheered excitedly. "Then we'll be one step closer to forming a team!"
Kane and Eva sped over to Zen, almost surprising the Bisharp, and both threw out a punch aimed for his chest. Zen side-stepped their attacks, grabbing hold of Kane's tail and tossing the Scrafty to the side. Eva quickly turned back around and slashed at Zen three times, but didn't get a scratch on him! Zen kicked Eva off her feet and grabbed her leg. Zen threw her right at Kane, who caught her and tossed her high into the air. Kane closed the distance between him and Zen, throwing out quick jabs while keeping him in one place. After landing a few solid hits, Kane suddenly jumped back.
"Crush Claw!" Eva's voice called from above.
Zen had forgotten about her, much to his own surprise. Eva was right above Zen, her claws glowing a menacingly bright red. Zen was more than able to evade it, or he would have, had Kane not gotten behind him.
"Brick Break!" Kane was closer to Zen than Eva was, and his attack posed far more of a threat than Eva's physically. But being hit with Crush Claw would make this fight more difficult in the long run.
Although he wasn't planning on actually harming either of his companions, Zen decided he had to retaliate. He might have underestimated them at first, but the fight was still his to win. Zen blocked both incoming attacks with his forearms, and the air around him started to crackle dark energy.
"Dark Pulse," Zen spoke, a sudden whirl of darkness sending both his opponents away from him. The Bisharp cracked his neck and grinned. "You're already doing better than I expected! I applaud you both."
"You can applaud us after we become an official team!" Eva declared, again summoning a circle of swords which faded into her body.
Zen dodged another Brick Break from Kane and kicked him in his chest. Kane quickly recovered and threw out another set of jabs. Zen took a couple hits, but was able to land two powerful strikes on Kane and knock him back a bit. Eva rushed in with another Crush Claw, swift enough to land the attack on Zen before he could block or avoid it. Zen winced, feeling a rush of weakness flow through him. He quickly slashed at Eva, but Kane grabbed his arm and punched Zen in his gut.
"Y-You two have indeed improved..!" Zen admitted, clutching his stomach and taking a couple steps backwards. "Quite greatly, in fact..."
"So is that a yes?" Eva asked, fully expecting Zen to say no.
"I thought you'd have to beat me to have me join you. You'll have to try much harder, because I'm just getting started," Zen smirked, darkness crackling around him. "I'll try not to hurt you too much."
"I was gonna say the same thing!" Kane said with a sneer. "You ready, Eva?"
"Hell yeah! I was kinda hoping he'd make a big deal outta this, I've been wanting to spar with him for a while now!" Eva replied, summoning one last set of swords to power herself up.
The three continued sparring, both Eva and Kane seemingly on-par with Zen. All the while, they were being thoroughly analyzed from the shadows.
Rio was aching all over.H e felt like his legs were made of lead, his arms being weighed down by boulders, his heart was about ready to burst from his chest, and his lungs were on fire! He must've been running for an hour at-LEAST! The Outlander kept going, feeling glad that Kora forced him to get to the beach on his own two legs, but also incredibly pissed that the Zoroark didn't slow down and left Rio entirely alone!
"Wh-When I... hah... hah... find that fox..." Rio panted, finally stopping to take a break. "I'm gonna... hah... I don't even know..."
Rio decided to wait a while for his body to recover a little before walking down the path. He should probably be close to the beach already, so there was no need to keep pushing himself. It wasn't all bad; the soil was soft, the forest was calm and quiet, and his body was back to one-hundred percent in no time flat!
Aside from being beaten senseless, Rio was enjoying himself here. It was hard to believe that this world was in danger. But now that he was thinking about it, Rio was having trouble remembering who told him that...
After enjoying a little bit more peace, Rio could smell the distinct scent of saltwater, and heard the sound of waves breaking along a shoreline. Rio ran towards it, making his way from soft, loamy soil to white, grainy sand. He took in the beauty of the shoreline, the relaxing sound of waves, the warmth of the sun, and soon laid his eyes upon a red bush-like mane laying in the sand.
"Hey Kora!" Rio shouted, causing the mane to jump and reveal Kora beneath it. Rio walked over to the fox and debated what he should actually do to him, eventually siding with the idea of pricking the fox in the side with his arm spike. "Thanks for leaving me behind, jerk!"
"AAUUUUUGGGGHH!" Kora shrieked. "H-Hey! It was your idea. Besides, you look fine now!"
"Still coulda slowed down a bit," Rio said, poking the Zoroark again.
"O-OK, I'm sorry! Please s-stop that, it tickles!" Kora pleaded.
"Tickles?" Rio cocked his head. He wasn't really trying to hurt him, so that's better than it being painful.
Rio was about to take a seat beside Kora when he noticed that someone was missing. It didn't take long for him to figure out the missing Pokemon was Minerva. Right before the Outlander opened his mouth to ask where she was, a splash came from the ocean, followed by Minerva coming ashore. She carried an assortment of clams, struggling to keep them from dropping out of her arms. The Meowth plopped down the clams once she reached the two boys, grinning from ear to ear.
"I think we're gonna find a pearl in some of these," she happily exclaimed. "If ya gonna be livin' on an island, might as well get loaded on valuables, right?"
"I just think they're neat. Still don't get why you would wanna sell them if we hardly find any in the first place..." Kora said, grabbing a clam and instantly opening it. Once he saw there wasn't a pearl, he slurped up the meat inside and tossed the shells back into the water.
"We sell them because they're hard to come by, dumbass!" Minerva had a glint in her eyes as she cracked open a big clam, but that glint went away once it also revealed nothing but clam meat. She handed the clam to Kora, who happily ate it and did away with the shells. "When somethin's hard to find, that means it's worth a fortune! Ya can't make money sellin' shit that everyone can get,"
"Well we already got so many, won't the price drop or something?" Kora asked, helping Rio pry open a clam. A rather decent sized pearl fell out of it, and Minerva wasted no time swiping it.
"If we have all the pearls, then we get to raise the price on 'em and make even MORE money!" Minerva explained, a greedy glint returning to her eyes. "Once we get off this island, we'll be filthy rich, Kora!"
"That sounds kinda, I dunno, greedy?" Rio stated, trying the clam meat and immediately regretting it.
"Hey, we've been puttin' in the work for these things. It ain't greedy if ya put hard work behind it, at that point it's just knowin' what you deserve." Minerva told Rio, opening another clam but not finding a pearl. "All we get near the island is clams. Do ya know how difficult it is to get pearls from clams? If this was a job, I'd demand more pay than the pearls themselves are worth!"
"Now I know that's greedy," Rio replied, struggling with another clam and handing it to Kora. "You guys can enjoy the pearl hunting. I'm just gonna enjoy the sun for a while."
While Kora and Minerva kept cracking open clams, Rio laid back in the sand and rested the back of his head on his paws. With the serenity of the beach, and the sound of Kora and Minerva chatting and playfully mocking each other, Rio's mind again hovered over the idea of the world being in danger. Was it really? Diana did say she'd be the first to know if it was... Well, Rio wasn't going to complain.
"..."
The sudden silence from Minerva and Kora's voices got Rio's attention fairly quickly. He opened one eye to look at them and see what was up. They were both just... staring at something; Minerva in anger, and Kora in worry. Rio turned his head to face whatever they were staring at, seeing a furry, white and pink Pokemon and a scaly, orange and yellow Pokemon with what looked like a very large pair of pants.
"The hell do ya want?" Minerva spat. "We're busy, so buzz off."
"We're here for the Outlander," Kane said bluntly, his odd grin putting Rio off.
"He's better off with us than a short-tempered child and her brain dead friend," the furry one stated. Minerva was pissed now, and Kora tried his best to calm her.
"Don't listen to them, Minerva... We're leaving..." he said, his voice almost unfamiliar with how downtrodden it was. "We can finish looking for pearls later... C'mon Rio..."
"Oh? You still have the habit of running away?" the furry one spat. "At least you're kind enough to bring your 'friends' this time!"
"Shut the hell up, Eva!" Minerva growled. "I swear I'll come over there and beat the shit outta both of ya!"
"Maybe, if you weren't too busy following behind Kora. Clingy much?" the scaly one chuckled. For Rio's first meeting with these two... he had the strangest feeling that this maybe isn't how they normally act.
"Y-You don't need to be such a jerk to her, Kane..!" Kora retorted weakly, lacking his normal confidence.
"Don't try to be anybody's hero now," Eva stomped her foot in the sand. "The only thing you'll be saving at the end of the day is your own hide! And you won't even give her a second thought."
"I said that's enough!" Minerva growled, standing between Kora and the two Pokemon insulting them. "I've already had it with the both of ya! Kora, ya can sit this one out, I'm gonna beat these jerks to a pulp!"
Eva and Kane chuckled, getting into a fighting stance. The air started to shift, wisps of dark energy floated off their bodies, and a crimson glint shone from their eyes. Rio was about to ask if that was normal, but Minerva didn't seem to notice. Kora, on the other hand, got a bit worried and went over to Minerva's side.
"That's... There's something wrong with them," the fox said, bearing his claws to fight.
"Ya mean other than them lookin' for a fight no reason?" Minerva asked, not taking her eyes off the two.
"No... I'm not sure how to explain it..!" Kora replied. "M-Maybe we should run..."
Without even giving Kora a chance to retreat, Eva rushed towards him and slashed at his chest. The fox wasn't able to step back fast enough, getting two scratches across his chest. Minerva punched the Zangoose away, pushing her several feet away. Rio felt he should probably try and help them, but wasn't sure what he would do. His body still felt foreign and stiff, which would do little more than get in the way.
"We'll make quick work of the both of you. Can't have our ticket outta here get all buddy buddy with Kora, no point in endangering him before he's even off the island!" Eva said, again running in to attack Kora. This time the fox grabbed her paws and held her in place.
"I-I..." Kora muttered.
Minerva quickly knocked Eva away. "Stop listenin' to her, Kora!" she told her friend, dodging a Brick Break from Kane. "If ya don't wanna fight her then get outta here! Ya don't gotta worry about me, I'll be fine."
"But..." Kora looked back at Eva and the furious glare she had pointed at him. He held his chest and tried to stop thinking about her. "Are you sure?"
"Yes! I got this, promise," Minerva replied with a reassuring grin. "They're not that much trouble to deal with."
"Of course, just leave your friend behind! You're oh so good at that," Eva spat, her claws glowing a sinister red. "Just like old times."
Eva jumped above Kora and struck him with Crush Claw. Minerva tried to help him, but was kicked away by Kane. Kora pushed Eva away and slashed at Kane, anger showing on his face.
"Leave her alone!" he warned. Kane grinned and chopped Kora in the side.
"If you want me to stop, then stop me," Kane taunted. Minerva grabbed Kane by his tail and threw him at Eva, but he caught himself and dusted his shoulders off. "Although, it doesn't seem like you're gonna be able to do that."
"GAH! I HATE that cocky ass attitude ya always have! I'm gonna knock that outta ya real quick!" Minerva furiously declared, chasing the Scrafty along the shoreline.
Kora tried to pump himself up to fight, but whenever he looked up at Eva he felt whatever confidence he built slipping away. Eva frowned and bore her claws, a circle of sword swirling around her before fading away. They went to battle, Kora mostly on the defensive and Eva lashing out with anger-filled attacks.
Rio thought he'd be of no help to either of his friends, and although he wanted to stay, he felt something staring at him through the woods. He only caught a glimpse of who or what it was, and decided to check it out himself.
He ran through the woods in pursuit of what he saw, but eventually bumped into a red, blade covered Pokemon in a small clearing. Rio felt he'd seen him somewhere before, but couldn't put his finger on it.
"...You're the Outlander, correct?" the bladed Pokemon asked, his tone sounding somewhat disappointed.
"Yeah, I'm Rio," the Lucario replied. Suddenly, an idea popped into his head. "My friends Kora and Minerva are in trouble! Could you help them? I can't exactly... fight right now."
"I am aware. But if you are unable to assist your 'friends', I refuse to do it for you," the Pokemon replied coldly, turning deeper into the woods.
"Wha- Please? The two they're fighting... don't seem right! I can't do anything to help them right now, please!" Rio pleaded.
"If you care so much about two Pokemon that you met this morning, why are you here?" the Pokemon glared at Rio, sending a chill up his spine.
"I was... I thought I saw something watching us, and when I came over to see what it was, it ran off into the woods," Rio explained.
"You allowed something that you don't even know to draw you away from your friends in need? Pitiful."
"M-Maybe they were trying to bring me to you so you could help me!" Rio thought aloud, realizing how stupid that sounded once he said it. "Look, I really can't help them by myself, can you please help them? Please?"
The bladed Pokemon thought to himself before turning back to Rio. He raised his arm and swung it to the side, a burst of energy erupting from his body. Rio took a step back, regret burning throughout his body.
"If you are so weak that you can't even stand by your companions in battle, then you are worthless. Not only as a Pokemon, but as an Outlander as well," the Pokemon growled. "I will be generous, however. If you can survive a fight with me, then I will assist you. If not..." Blades extended from his gauntlets, a menacing sheen to them.
"A-Are you serious?! I-I'm only asking for help because I can't fight!" Rio exclaimed. "But if you'll help Kora and Minerva, I'll... I'll do it!"
"You're both weak and a fool. We'll see how far that naivete gets you. Caring for others... endangering yourself for them... None of that matters when you lack the strength to do so." The Pokemon was surrounded in a black glow as he got into a fighting stance. "If you yourself are weak, then all you will accomplish is failure! I'll prove it to you with this very fight."
Rio, fear building within him, felt an unreasonable excitement building as well. As deadly intimidating as this guy was, Rio couldn't deny how much the thrill of his first fight was getting to him. His body moved on its own and got ready to fight.
"I don't really get what you're going on about, but I'm ready!" Rio admitted. "I don't think I've ever felt so scared and so excited at the same time!"
The two stood across from each other, Rio grinning excitedly, and the Pokemon he faced radiated a fearsome pressure. Rio's heart was pumping, he felt more in tune with his body than before, and his tail was wagging without him noticing. He was so caught up in his excitement that he almost forgot that Kora and Minerva needed help. Not knowing exactly what to do, Rio let his body do whatever it thought was best, and ran towards his opponent.
"Alright, here I go!"