[Got another chapter for you all. Let's get into it. Hope you all enjoy. Note: I do not own Pokémon. All rights to it's actual owners]
[Characters within this chapter:
Flara (Braxian)
Ema (Emolga)
Tony (Monferno)
Spark (Pikachu)
Snive (Servine)
Dew (Dewott)
Tepper (Pignite)
Mr. Emboar (Emboar)
Sasha (Delphox)
Master Samurott (Samurott)
Lucy (Gotherita)
Elizabeth (Lilligant)
Drew (Servine)
Queen Serperior, Snive's Mom (Serperior)
Chapter 18: Her Name Is Vixie.
(Tony)
"FLAME CHARGE!" Tepper yelled, stamping his feet on the ground as he covered himself in flames and charged towards his opponent.
"Eeek!" Flara screamed in fear, freezing up and only managing to brace herself, close her eyes, and hold her staff up in front of her to block. While it may have softened the attack, Tepper still managed to hit Flara across the field, all the spectators following her movements in the air, before we all winced as she landed head first on one of the bushes surrounding her side of the battlefield. At the moment, it was the main crew at one of the battlefields in the Cove Area. In light of Flara's recent acquisition of her family staff, we all decided it would be a good idea for her to get some practice in, given that we now had the week off for newly appointed exploration teams. I was also given a week off for my help in the tests. This practice entailed Flara fighting Tepper with me acting as referee. The others were sitting on the ground behind me, with Ema standing up and cheering every now and then for both Tepper and Flara.
"Ouf, you okay Flara?" I asked, concerned. The bush shook a bit before she pushed one of her hands up through the top of the bush and gave everyone a thumbs up. "Great, just keep on practicing, girl. One more time."
"Maybe we should tone it down for her. I mean, she just got the staff and the power." Dew pointed out.
"She wouldn't really learn much if he went easy on her. We gotta see how far she can go right now." Snive stated, coiled up next to Dew with her eyes closed and just relaxing.
"That…is true. It's how Dad trained me." Dew said before jumping up to stand. "Alright Flara! Get back in there! You got this! Tepper, no holding back!"
"I'm tryin-woah!" Flara said as she tried to get out of the bush but ended up tripping out of it and falling flat on her face. She quickly stood back up, dusting herself off with her free hand and blowing dirt out of her face which now had an embarrassed but cute blush on her face.
Cute? I thought, quickly shaking my head of conflicting thoughts. Ever since the kiss two days ago at Flara's test, my mind has been cluttered to say the least. Thoughts of blooming feelings for the cute, humble, and driven Braxien fighting against still present and hurting feelings of the ice-type fox back home was exhausting to deal with. It's a good thing I didn't see the main crew yesterday lest they would've seen how exhausted I was and probably would've got concerned and questioned me, most of it coming from Flara. And I don't think I'm ready for that conversation with her just yet.
"I'm good, I'm good. Let's keep going." Flara said with a determined smile, trotting back to her place on the field and taking her staff into both hands, getting into a ready position. Despite my conflicting thoughts, I still find myself smiling at her and the drive she was displaying today. It's awesome.
"Hell yeah! That's my girl! Go get him! He can't knock you around that easily! *Turns to Tepper* Fuck yeah babe! That move was awesome! No one can take you down!" Yelled a cheering and jumping Emolga who soon fell down onto her butt and began panting heavily. "Wow this is exhausting."
"Why don't you just pick one person to cheer for? It'll save you the energy." Snive chimed in.
"I can't just pick a side. I gotta support my best friend but I have to be a good girlfriend as well. *exhausted exhale*" Ema said tiredly while falling onto her back.
"And this is the exact reason why I don't have Prince practice fighting with you guys. I'd pass out." Spark said as he was reclined onto Snive while reading a book on his folded up lap. While slightly annoyed at her leader for this, she was too comfortable and tired to move.
"Alright Sis, let's see what you got! Come on and hit me!" Tepper said while flexing and blowing smoke out of his nose.
"Yeah Flara, try hitting him with an Ember! Let's see how much more power you gained!" I encouraged while pumping a fist into the air.
"I'll give it a shot." Flara nodded while flashing a determined smile which I gratefully returned. She then pointed the front end of her staff at her brother before squinting to focus. "Embe-"
Instead of rapid shots of fire though, a ball of flame suddenly appeared at the tip of the staff.
"Huh?" Flara said before the ball suddenly launched out into a small stream of fire. Because of Flara's surprise, the stream didn't get very far and landed just in between the two siblings. The odd thing about the flame though was that it didn't just disappear after it was launched. It instead seemed to wiggle around by its ends like a snake.
"What the?" I questioned before Dew curiosity got to him and he walked up to the wiggling flame. Everyone else had also stopped what they were doing and stared at the flame in interest.
"Got any ideas what this could be Tony?" Dew asked, pointing down at the flame in front of him.
"Not a clue. Nothing I have ever seen I think." I said, beginning my walk over to Dew to stand next to him and study Flara's move.
"You think it's a new move?" Tepper said excitedly.
"Mayb-" I started before the wiggling ends suddenly connected to each other, forming a circle, and stopped moving. Dew bent over to get a better look at it. It then started to spin rapidly in a circle as I soon realized what it was. "Oh shit, mov-!"
The flaming circle suddenly spun quickly and up into the air…right into Dew's face. I instinctively moved back and shield my face from the heat. The move spun pretty high into the air, forming a tall, flaming cylinder that Dew's head was still stuck in.
"WOOOOAH! You learned Fire Spin Sis! That's awesome!" Tepper cheered, pumping his fists into the air as he looked at the Fire Spin in excitement.
"Woah." I heard Flara quietly say in awe.
"DEW!" Spark and Snive yelled, Snive quickly jumping up and launching a vine towards Dew. She wrapped it around his waist before pulling hard, pulling him out of the Fire Spin and causing him to fall to the ground. Snive and I quickly ran up and leant down over him to see if he's okay, Snive close to his face while Spark and Ema searched through Team PPD's treasure bag for something in the meantime. "Dew? Dew? You okay?"
With a second of silence, Dew said and did nothing, making me question just how much damage Flara's Fire Spin could have really done. The silence was quickly shattered by Dew coughing out smoke…right into Snive's face.
"*cough* Ugh, eww. Damnit Dew-fus!" Snive yelled in annoyance, standing up with balled up fists.
"*cough* Wow, I did not see that coming." Dew said, coughing out the last of the smoke before jumping back up onto his feet using his hands. Snive only "hmph'd" and crossed her arms, eyes closed and nose pointed to the air.
"You okay Dew? It may have been just a Fire Spin but you did take it right to the face." I questioned, a bit concerned.
"Dew! OMA, I'm so sorry. I didn't know I could do that." Flara said, seeing her next to us. She bowed a little during her apology before standing back up with a look of apology. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine guys, I've taken worse." Dew stated, pointing to himself with a smile despite his face still being covered in ash and burns. He coughed once again before turning his attention to Flara. "But I've never seen you use that move before. You holding out on us?" Dew joked.
"I…honestly didn't know I had it in me. It surprised me too." Flara said honestly.
"But what a move to learn. Isn't that one of mom's signature moves?" Tepper asked excitedly. "She's gonna be so stoked to hear about this."
"It is, I can't wait to show her. It's thanks to her and this staff." Flara said while admiring her new staff.
"Don't count yourself out either Flara. You're growing." I stated.
"*giggle* It's not all me though. But thanks." She said, flashing another cute, contagious smile that I returned gratefully.
"Snive! Rawst berry, 9 o'clock!" Spark yelled out. We all turned to see Ema toss a Rawst berry towards Snive, who effortlessly caught it with a outstretched vine before suddenly shoving into a surprised Dew's mouth who could only let out a muffled sound of surprise and an annoyed look on his face.
"Here, just…be careful next time. I don't need your curiosity getting the better of you." Snive said, crossing her arms and turning away from Dew to hide her blush from him. Dew's annoyed look turned into surprise and his own blush had been covered by the ash and burns on his face. He then took a bite out of the berry, giving a content sigh as the burns were healed.
"Dawwwe, such love birds." Spark cooed to Ema out of my earshot.
"You said it. Can't wait for our group dates." Ema stated to Spark.
"Dew!" A commanding voice boomed from the entrance of the battlefield. Everyone quickly snapped their attention to the Samurott standing at the entrance along with Mr. Emboar and Mrs. Delphox.
"Master Samurott!" Dew before quickly rushing up to the evolved form and dropping down to one knee to bow. It was quiet for a second, the Samurott looking down at Dew with an intimidating gaze from his one eye, the other being covered by an eyepatch, causing me to tense up a bit at the energy this man brought. The Samurott expression then softened a bit and he smiled down at Dew.
"At ease my son, there is no need for that now." The Samurott said respectfully.
"R-right, sorry father." Dew said, standing up and giving his dad a warm smile.
"Woah, that's his dad? Master Samurott's a legend from what I've heard back in Treasure Town. Vixie would be so jealous of me right now." I stated, surprised to see such a legend in the outlaw hunting game. "How come this is the first time I'm seeing him here?" I asked mostly to myself.
"It's actually not surprising. He's super busy running the Cove Area nowadays. We haven't had the opportunity to see him lately, especially Dew." Flara explained, causing me to nod in understanding.
"Make sense, explorers do retire." I said.
"Yep, and dad was the reason for it. He's the only one who was able to keep up with him. They're always trying to one up each other." Tepper said proudly before getting closer to me and whispering "Speaking of my dad…any stories about my legend of a dad back in…Treasure Town was it?"
"Sadly…" I started, the truth being that I hadn't heard anything about Mr. Emboar back home.
"Oh shit! I completely forgot about this week's training retreat!" Dew yelled, bringing our attention back to the father/son pair.
"Dew, language." Master Samurott scolded simply.
"Ah, sorry Master." Dew stated respectfully with a slight bow. "But I can't believe I forgot our training retreat. I've been looking forward to it."
"Training retreat?" Snive asked, surprised for some reason.
"Yep, Master told me that he would take me on a trip for some new training once I passed the exploration team examination." Dew said excitedly. "You're gonna teach me some new moves, right?"
"Perhaps, my son." Master Samurott said, laughing a little at his adopted son's enthusiasm.
"So you got your own trip planned as well huh? What a coincidence." Tepper said, walking up to Dew and wrapping his arm around his neck.
"You're heading out for training too Tepper?" Spark asked.
"Ours is more of a family outing." Flara chimed in. "I'm going to, but it is also to celebrate our passing. But I thought we were going to meet you back at the school in an hour?"
"That was the plan but we saw this guy heading towards you all and decided to tag along." Mr. Emboar stated while roughly wrapping his arm around Master Samurott, much to his annoyance. "Family outings at the same time huh? You copying me again Sammy?"
"Don't call me that." Samurott said bluntly before slipping out of Emboar's hold. "And I believe you are the one who is copying me. This was my idea after all."
"I'm sure there's an easy way to find out." Emboar said with a threatening grin on his face as he raised a fist that soon caught fire. Samurott only glared as he silently grabbed the handle of his sword, ready to fight.
"Oh here we go again." Flara sighed while shaking her head.
"My dad's definitely got this." Tepper stated proudly.
"My dad's gonna mop the floor with yours." Dew said with a threatening grin. Dew then grabbed onto the end of one of his scalchops while Tepper lit up his own fist that was hanging off of Dew's shoulder.
"I feel like this happens a lot." I stated.
"You have no idea. You should see their joint family gatherings." Spark laughed.
"Dinner and a show, that's all that needs to be said." Ema also laughed. "Also, rumor has it that the real reason that the guild was built in the Cove area was because the two of them fought over it."
"Really?" I said, genuinely intrigued.
"Yep, they fought to a draw and had to compromise." Ema explained.
"Alright you two, stand down. We have places to be and I don't need our trips delayed because of your antics." Mrs. Delphox stated before grabbing one of her husband's and Master Samurott's ears and pulling them to break the two up, earning "Ow's" and protests from the adult males.
"Same with you two, we gotta go." Flara said while walking up and grabbing Tepper's ear and pulling him off of Dew.
"Ow, Siiiiis." Tepper whined.
"I told y'all not to make a habit of this." Snive stated while, at the same time, walking up and grabbing Dew's ear and pulling him off of Tepper.
"Ow ow, I get it, I get it." Dew whined as well.
"And you're leaving today? How can you forget something like that?" Snive asked.
"Yep, all weekend. And like I said, I forgot. I was so focused on classes that it slipped my mind. Why, gonna miss me or something?" Dew said slyly. This brought a slight blush to Snive face before she groaned and let go of his ear.
"I gotta go." Snive said, stomping off to her team's treasure bag. There, she grabbed her badge and teleported away, much to the confusion of everyone there, especially Dew.
"Did…did I say something dumb again?" Few said sincerely to the group while pointing to where Snive was once standing.
"Nah…don't worry about it. She's been pretty exhausted with home stuff these last few days it seems, so it's probably that." Ema said. Whether true or not, Snive has seemed more irritated than usual lately. "She'll come around."
"I hope so…" Dew said.
"In the meantime, we must be on our way." Mrs. Delphox said with a clap of her hands. She then turned her attention to Ema. "Ema dear, will you be busy this week?"
"Eh, not really. My life is pretty boring without all you guys here." Ema said jokingly.
"Well, would you like to come with us?" Mrs. Delphox asked, stunning her.
"…Say again?" Ema said a bit confused.
"Mom's asking if you want to join our outing, girl. It was my idea." Tepper said, pointing a thumb to his chest with a proud look on his face.
"Yeah, he really sold it with all the begging on his knees." Flara whispered to me, earning a chuckle.
"I heard that! It was only light begging!" Tepper stated, turning to us to point with a blush and an embarrassed look on his face. This earned another laugh out of the rest of us, excluding Ema who was pondering. Flara then got her attention by going up to Ema's bumping her hip into her.
"So you in Ema? We'd love to have you." Flara said to her with a sincere smile.
"Please babe" Tepper said to her on her opposite side in a slightly hushed, begging tone. Ema looked between the both of them before looking at the parents before speaking.
"This…is pretty last minute…but I'm in!" Ema said excitedly, to the delight of the fire type family. "Oh shi-shoot, I gotta go pack. I'll meet you all at your house!"
And with that, Ema quickly glided to her team's explorer bag and pulled out her badge, soon teleporting away.
"Thanks again guys. I owe ya." Tepper said.
"It's alright my boy. It'll make things more lively with the company." Mr. Emboar stated.
"Let us be off, everyone. Ema should be waiting there by the time we get home." Mrs. Delphox states to her children. "We'll head out from there."
"Sounds like a plan." Flara said.
"This is gonna be so fun." Tepper says, pulling out his badge to text Ema if she's ready before turning to Spark and I, the only two here that would be staying. "We'll see you guys when we get back."
"Yep, don't miss us too hard. We'll be back soon." Flara stated.
"I'm sure someone's already missing you now." Spark joked while jumping up a little to reach me and wrapped an arm around me.
"Huh, well..I mean…" I stuttered before bringing my focus to Flara, locking eyes with her again before truthfully and unintentionally saying. "I definitely will, y'all have fun."
This caught both Flara and I off guard, blushes apparent on our face and causing Flara to stutter.
"A-and I'll miss you…You all! I'll miss all of you!"
"Alright sis, let's get going." Tepper said while pulling Flara away from Spark and I and towards the parents.
"Yeah, don't need you blowing a blood vessel." Dew jokes, causing Flara's blush to deepen. He then turns back to us as the families start leaving. "See y'all later. Make sure to check on Snive please."
"We will Dew. Good luck with your training." Spark replied while I just nodded to his request and gave a two finger wave to them all. They waved goodbye back and continued their walk. I unconsciously kept my eyes on Flara, somewhat putting me in a trance. This is something Spark immediately caught on to.
"You better not let Tepper or Mr. Emboar catch you staring at Flara like that." Spark joked. "Plus…you're starting to show."
"Huh? Oh crap, I didn't even realize." I said embarrassed, quickly averting my eyes and covering my lower body, bringing my attention to Spark, who was busy texting on his explorer badge.
"Ha, I'm playing dude, and I'm sure they didn't notice." He said before bringing his attention back to me. "You got anything going on today?"
"Not really, since I'm off like you guys I was just gonna hang out with y'all." I stated.
"Well…" Spark started but I knew where he was going.
"Prince?" I asked teasingly with a smirk.
"You don't have to say it in that tone." Spark jokingly whined while giving me a playful push which I just laughed at. "Who taught you that tone? I don't remember you knowing how to do that."
"It's from spending way too much time with you and Ema. I gotta pay you both back for the teasing at some point." I stated jokingly.
"Touché." Spark said laughing again. "But yeah, I'm gonna be with him all weekend. With PPD now being full fledged explorers whilst still in school, we're gonna get pretty busy. Wanna spend as much time with Prince as possible."
"That makes sense. The initial beginnings of an exploration team are definitely the busiest. And I know for sure that your team and EF are gonna hustle out there." I stated proudly.
"Thanks dude. Sorry that I gotta ditch you but…" Spark said as I responded with a passive hand wave.
"You're not ditching, go have fun. We see each other plenty already and we'll get back to it when everyone gets back at the end of the week." I stated.
"True, I'll see you around then." Spark said as we fist bumped. "Try not to get bored around here. There's tons of stuff to do."
"I'll try dude." I said before Spark walked off to grab his treasure bag. Once he did, he teleported away with his badge, leaving me to myself. "Okay…now what do I do?"
As I said this, I felt a vibration on my chest. It was from my badge saying that I got a message. I opened it to find that Flara had sent a quick text saying that she'll text when she gets there, which made me feel a bit warmer inside. Immediately after, another message came in from a contact that I didn't have saved.
Unknown: "Yo, It's Snive. Got your contact info from Flara. You busy?"
(Snive)(Midday)(Arbor Area Royal Palace)
*sigh* This fucking sucks.
I felt like a broken record thinking this but it's the only thing that I can think about. Standing here with my mom, cousin, and Lucy (who was Elizabeth's plus one. Not sure why she wanted to join her, this place doesn't seem to be her kind of scene), looking down from our throne area at the party going on, wearing a bunch of jewelry that got to the point of being excessive.
At least I still got to where my dark blue eyeshadow.
Also, wearing a fake smile that started to make my jaw hurt, and being at a gala that I no longer wanted to be at.
A party that I had to plan.
I'm sure the others noticed how tired and irritated I had been this past week, it's because of this. My mom thought it was a great idea to have me plan out the gala event, something she usually did since she was queen. She thought it would teach me to be more responsible and more focused on my duties as a princess. It only succeeded in tiring and annoying me, though I have to say, I think I did pretty good. There was a lot of nobility in attendance from around the continent and they seem to be having a good time. The food was good and the music, while boring, fit the place well being played by majority Kricketune. My mother's constant comments showed that she didn't seem to think the same way.
"Chin up dear, suitors aren't going to be attracted to slouches." Mom scolded me for the umpteenth time, causing my eye to twitch. "And keep that smile on your face, and your jewels are all crooked. I know I taught you better."
End me now.
"Goodness cousin, no wonder you haven't found a suitor yet with the way you're acting." Elizabeth snidely commented, standing on Mother's opposite side, a leaf fan over her mouth in a failed attempt to hide her smirk. "Isn't that right Lucy."
"Elizabeth, please…" Lucy groaned and whispered, not wanting to be a part of Elizabeth's usual berating comments.
"Talk to me when you actually have a man that can stand you for more than five seconds. Kay? Thanks." I retorted.
"Ugh, you rude little…" Elizabeth started.
"Silence you three. It seems we have company." Mother silenced us, causing the three of us to quickly straighten up and turn to where mom was looking. Once I saw who the company was though, my smile dropped immediately, though a quick Vine Whip from Mother to my back straightened me up.
"Ow." I cried out a little, the Vine Whip causing me to take a step forward. This seemed to delight Drew since it inadvertently moved me closer to him.
"Ah! My beautiful Princess. Always a pleasure to see you." Drew said, proceeding to walk up to me a bit too quickly, bending down, grabbing my hand too quickly for me to take it away, and then kissing the top of it sensually. This caused me to shudder in pure discomfort and the only reason I didn't pull away was because of Mother's lingering gaze on the back of my head, basically telling me to not move. So I endured until he stopped after a minute or so when his mother slithered up to us.
"Great…you're here." I forced out, trying to hold back the words I wanted to say and struggling to maintain my rehearsed smile.
"I would miss my lovely princess' gala for the world. I'll be glad to make your night." He said after standing back up, bowing, and then winking up at me with a grin. I cringed hard.
"How gentlemanly of you Drew. You're raised quite the boy Duchess." Mother said to the other Serperior.
"He's such a good boy. Your daughter is quite lucky to have caught his eye." Duchess said braggingly before slyly saying, "Quite the match, I'm sure."
"I'm glad you see it too." Mother agreed before they continued with a random conversation.
*drawn out groan*
"Drew! It's absolutely amazing to see you again." Elizabeth finally chimed it, barging in front of me with her hand out, expecting the same treatment.
"Uh…who are you?" Drew said bluntly, breaking Elizabeth's demeanor.
"Wha? It's me, Elizabeth? Daughter and heir to the largest estate in the region? We met at the last gala when I was staying here." She stated whining a little.
"Not ringing a bell." Drew stated bluntly, causing Elizabeth to fall over in embarrassment and hurt. Lucy walked over and gave her a half-hearted pat on the back for comfort. This exchange made me laugh a little on the inside.
"Kids, I must discuss some adult responsibilities with Duchess here. You're all excused for now." Mother said, nonchalantly waving her tail in the direction of the party to signal where we should go.
"Thank you Mother/Queen Serperior." We said in sync while bowing. We stayed bowing until the two Serperiors slithered away. I chanced a look up to see that they went into a side room next to the throne and once that door closed, I shot back up, huffed, regaining my usual demeanor, and started to quickly make my way down the stairs to the party below to check on things.
"Woah, wait up my princess. You know I must escort you down there lest people believe that you're available to them. We must show them what a royal couple looks like." Drew said while straightening up and quickly following after me, Elizabeth and Lucy right behind him.
"Yeah, that's not happening, go find something else to do or someone else to annoy. I really don't want to deal with your shit today, especially after the shit you pulled on Flara and Ema. So kindly fuck off." I stated, causing one of the partygoers, who was waiting at the foot of the stairs, to flinch and gasp at my profanity as I passed them. I ignored that guest and tried to readjust the golden choker I had on that was living up to its title at the moment. "Why the fuck is this thing so tight?"
"You and me both." Lucy responded, wearing a similar choker and having the same issues.
"Honestly Drew dear, how can you be so infatuated with her? She is so undignified and uncouth." Elizabeth spoke up.
"Well at least she's not some nobody like you. Again, who are you?" Drew said, annoyed and stopping to face her.
"*exaggerated gasp* Nobody?! Why you little-! I'll have you know..!" Elizabeth began going over her titles, achievements, and the like. Drew only yawned right in her face which made her even angrier as the argument continued. This was beginning to cause a scene as I groaned for the umpteenth time today, knowing that I'd have to deal with this before Mother hears of it.
"I'll…take care of Liz and…Drew was it? You can head out to look over the party." Lucy stated, surprising me and making me question how she knew I planned this thing and why she'd want to step into this. Lucy seemed to catch on when I raised an eyebrow at her. "Oh, I can feel your irritation from your emotions thanks to my psychic power and Elizabeth told me that you planned this gala. Good work by the way. I can deal with Elizabeth just fine."
"Oh, Flara can do that as well…Okay…Not sure why anyone would want to deal with Drew but thanks. Make sure to have fun here, whatever fun that can be had here." I said before walking away, assuming Lucy was doing the same towards the arguing pair. Whilst I wouldn't say we're friends, since I barely know her, she still seems pretty cool and we share a vibe. I immediately went over to the snack's table to check it out. If there was one thing that I enjoyed about these events, it was the snacks. It was presented well, baked goods and rare berries stacked into small hills on the table. I grabbed a few of the baked goods and stuffed them into my mouth. These things didn't just look good, they tasted good as well.
Damn, my chefs need a raise. This shit is amazing!
I grabbed a few more before turning to inspect the rest of the party, my eyes closed as I satisfied my sweet tooth. Since my eyes were closed, I immediately ran into someone, causing me to drop the sweets onto the floor.
Oh Arceus damnit.
I was about to apologize but the Pokemon I ran into spoke up first.
"Ugh, watch where you're going, you bottom feeding cur-" A Machoke started before turning around and seeing my annoyed expression. He was the son of some noble whose name I didn't bother memorizing. And even though I ran into him, the insults were really unnecessary.
"Oh no, continue, you don't have to stop." I dared, crossing my arms and looking him dead in the eyes. It was also then that a Rattata servant ran by, ate up the snacks that had fallen on the floor, and bolted away to avoid interrupting what was going on.
"P-Princess Snive! A pleasure to see you again." The Machoke bowed before looking up at me. "May I perhaps trouble you with a dance so that we may discuss things, mainly our futures."
"Yeah I'm gonna pass on that." I said quickly while turning around to go back to the snack table. I would've left if it wasn't for the Machoke grabbing my arm to keep me there, causing me to snap my attention back at him while looking angry. "If you don't remove your hand right now…"
"This has gone long enough Princess. Everybody knows this kingdom is gonna need a strong king to run this place and provide you with heirs." He blatantly said, not caring what I had to say. "You are too old to be rejecting my gracious advances. No one will want a disrespectful woman like you as their wife at this rate so just accept."
"*eye twitches* Wow, you sound just like my mother. But since you aren't my mother…" I said about to unsheathe my vines to forcibly remove this asshole from the party.
How fucking dare he!?
"She's not going to be with you because she belongs to me!" Another voice yelled out, bringing attention to all three of us. The third turned out to be a Leidian. Again, this was the son of a noble who I didn't bother remembering. The Machoke seemed to know him though.
"You!" He yelled, letting go of me and turning his attention to the approaching bug type, who quickly flew over to us and floated in front of the Machoke. The two ended up head butting and struggling for dominance. "You dare show your face here and in my presence! Trying to take my rightful princess as well!"
"Your rightful princess!? Her hand in marriage belongs to me!" The Ledian yelled as they continued the head butting struggle for dominance.
"You two bottom feeders again!?" Another familiar and annoying voice rang out behind me.
Arceus damnit.
I turn to see Drew storming up to the group, somehow getting away from Lucy and Elizabeth since they were no longer with him. He came up right to our group, pushing me out of the way in the process.
"Hey!" I yelled.
"You all have some nerve showing up to my princess' party." Drew said, all three idiots ignoring me at this point as Drew joined in on the head butting. "I should have you both thrown out of here."
"Please, you have as much chance with the princess as muscle head here." The Ledian said, point a thumb towards the Machoke.
"More of a chance than you bugs eyes. She wouldn't want a freak like you!" The Machoke said, causing the Ledian to smirk.
"More like a freak in bed. I see you've heard about me from the ladies you've failed to please." The Ledian smirked, causing me to cringe at the mental image. "I've also heard from other ladies who've turned you away about how…lacking you are."
"T-that's just hearsay. Those harlots couldn't handle me so I sent them to the less fortunate, you." The Machoke shot back but it was clear to see that his ego got crushed a bit, given his blushing face and falter in his head butt strength, though he quickly recovered it. It was then that an obvious question came to mind.
Why am I still here?
At this point, I turned around to get away as they continued to argue, not wanting to have another three shitty suitors trying to bed me. I'll just let one of the other nobles handle this shit, I'm sure at least one of them will get annoyed by their talk and call the guards.
That or call me. *groans*
As I took my first step, the three suitors were suddenly in front of me, making me take a reflexive step back as they now blocked my way.
"Shit." I said.
"Alright Princess, let's end this back and forth. It's time to come out and say that we're together so we can get these peasants off our backs." Drew said cockily.
"We all know that's Tauros shit. It will be me that weds her!" The Machoke yelled, bringing more Pokemon to the crowd of onlookers.
"It is time to choose Princess, this waiting game is unbecoming. It is time to pick a mate." The Ledian commanded with us arms crossed as all three walked towards me, making me walk backwards until my back hit the snack table again. This time, I was actually trapped.
"Yeah…how about I give my answer…" I said lowly, the three suitors becoming excited to finally see who will get with me.
I already had my answer but he's gone for the week…
The suitors didn't seem to notice my vines angrily peak out of my shoulders.
I don't know if I could take all of them on at once in a fair fight, but this is my turf, and they have no right to disrespect me here, no matter what my mother or these other royals think.
"How about a fourth option!" A new voice yelled out to the side of us. While the voice sounded familiar, I was too annoyed and pissed at the fact that another suitor may have just shown up to bother me.
"Arceus damnit, who is it now!?" I yelled as the others, the crowd, and I turned to the place in the crowd where the voice came from. I was surprised to see a Monferno, wearing a black and red bow tie instead of his usual explorer scarf, hop on a Torterra noble in order to leap over the crowd in front of him, much to the annoyance of the noble.
"Hey!" The Torterra yelled, insulted.
"Sorry sir, there was no space!" Tony yelled in the air before skillfully landing in front of me. He then bowed down and offered an opened hand to me, giving a friendly smile. "How about just a dance between friends then?"
I was shocked for a few seconds at what just happened before a snort came out of my mouth. I then started laughing hard, confusing the guests before grabbing Tony's open hand.
"It's about time you showed up dude. Let's move." I said before leading him towards the big, dancing area of the room, now happy that I had someone here to kill time and actually have fun with here. The two of us had also passed the three suitors who were all shocked as they stared at us pass them.
"But…" The Ledian noble said confused, landing on the ground.
"Who?" The Machoke noble continued, pointing at Tony while also confused.
"Him!?" Drew yelled, stomping on the ground angrily. "He's not even a royal. No way will a peasant take my princess away!"
"Your princess!? She's mine!" The other two suitors yelled, all three taking a step forward to confront us…only to fall flat on their face thanks to a Grass Knot I sneakily tied to one of their feet. This got a snicker out of a few guests while a few who knew I did it looked insulted at my actions, but I didn't care at this point as I smiled proudly. Tony had also laughed a little at what happened.
"And now that is what I call comeuppance." Tony stated, looking back at the fallen trio before turning his attention back to me. "That wasn't too much right? It's not gonna cause a national incident or anything?"
"You're fine dude, I got you covered there." I reassured him with a passive hand wave before pulling him forward so we were now walking side by side. I had also slipped my right hand into his arm to keep up appearances. "So what happened? Why're you so late?"
"We'll I'm still new to PokePark, took me a minute to find a DATS to the Arbor Area and then find this place…" Tony said sheepishly and "matter-of-fact"-ly. This caused me to stop our walk, groan, and facepalm.
"I knew I was forgetting to do something. Sorry man." I said sincerely. "I texted you right before getting ready and got super busy."
"It's cool, gave me a chance to explore the area. You and Spark were right, it's a pretty peaceful place. I like it." Tony said as we continued our walk.
"We'll have more time to explore it once I'm done with this royal stuff." I said as we finally made it to the dance area, taking a free spot right at the center. I turned to face him. "So Mr. Explorer Master, you know how to dance?"
"N-never really had the opportunity." He stated, embarrassed.
"It's alright, I expected to take the lead today anyway. Now as for hand placement." I stated before quickly grabbing his right hand and placing it on the small of my back and taking his other hand into mine and raising it into the air a little. My free hand went to hold onto his side.
"Woah." Tony said, surprised by the sudden action and touching. "Y-you okay with doing this?"
"It's customary to dance like this at these fancy events and don't worry, I trust you." I stated before smirking slyly. "What? Never touched a girl like this before?"
"Uh, well…" Tony said embarrassed, blushing and looking away from me.
"No shame here dude. I'm probably just as inexperienced with romantic shit outside of royal duties." I stated sincerely. "Now follow my lead. And try not to step on my foot or you'll be getting Leech Seeded."
"Heh heh, yes ma'am." Tony said as we began to slowly fall into the rhythm of the slow dance, Tony picking up on the movements surprisingly well with only minor mistakes. I was impressed. I then smirked again.
"You know, you're pretty good so far. Maybe after this you can take Flara out to one of these things and show her a thing or two." I smirked while throwing a wink his way.
"You think?" Tony said a bit too quickly and excitedly, causing me to giggle.
This is already turning this gala around.
"Wait, hold on. I just walked right into that. Where did that even come from..?" Tony said defeated. "But I'm sure a certain Blue Knight would do the same for you."
He smirks at me as well. I blushed heavily at who he implied, not ready for Tony to shoot back. But upon thinking about Dew, I groaned in frustration.
"What's wrong? Did I go too far?" Tony asked, concerned.
"No, it's not you, it's just…is he mad at me?" I asked quietly.
"Mad? Who? Dew?" Tony asked, to which I responded with a nod. "Of course he's not mad, he was worried about you, even asked us to check up on you."
"That does sound like him…" I said mostly to myself with a smile before shaking those thoughts out of my head. "He should be though. Arceus, I'm an idiot."
"Stop, there's no need for that kind of talk." Tony responded seriously. "Why would you even think that?"
"Cause I got mad at him for something so stupid and out of his control. I should've just asked him earlier to avoid feeling like this…" I said sincerely and annoyed, mainly at myself.
"You were going to ask him…" Tony said before gaining a look of realization on his face. "Oooooh, that does explain earlier."
"Yep, I don't know where this dumb courage came from but it backfired, hard." I said annoyed before leaning my forehead against Tony's chest and groaning, still continuing our slow dance. "I'm a fucking idiot, thinking I deserve him."
"Hey, enough of that shit." Tony said, surprising me with his sudden curse. "A few things I don't like in life are my friends talking down on themselves, especially when it's not true."
"But it kind of is. I'm such a bitch to him and I put him through way too much stress. I hate it but I can't help it." I complained.
"Why do you say that?" Tony asked, causing me to sigh as I lifted my head from his chest and looked away.
"All my life, I've been introduced to so many boys that were supposed to be potential matches that I lost count." I began to explain, Tony staying quiet as he listened. "I felt nothing for any of them and just saw it as another royal duty that my mother forced upon me with no choice in the matter. With no way to just say no to them, I decided to be as rude and as unappealing as possible. I got a lot of them off my back this way but with some many barging into my life and with no positive example, my thoughts on relationships and how to respond to my feelings became greatly skewed."
"I see…" Tony chimed in simply, not really adding anything but beckoning me to continue.
"I was honestly fine with this, thinking I wasn't ever gonna get married or shit like that. Didn't work out with Mother so why would I want to be unhappy being with someone I never cared about. But then Dew showed up…" I continued. "It was during the time of the Wish Park crisis. He was with Spark and the two were the first to start investigating. I joined up with them *giggles slightly* much to Dew's dismay, and our adventure went from there. Honestly, and I know I'm gonna sound really corny saying this, but it felt like our meeting was fated to happen. Not just with Dew and I but with Spark and Tepper too."
"With the friendship y'all got, I wouldn't be surprised if it was." Tony laughed a little, making me feel a bit better. "So how does this lead to Dew?"
"I'm getting there." I snidely joked before continuing. "My feelings for him weren't immediate, we were just normal friends for a time. I did some light teasing to his expense but we were all still normal friends. After the crisis, Dew went with Master Samurott for a time for training. I didn't think anything of it but after two months, he came back and…"
(Flashback, a few months ago)(Arbor Area)
A newly evolved Servine is seen running through the Arbor Area, eager to head towards the junction connecting the Areas together to meet up with her best friends, only friends really, to show off a huge milestone in her and most Pokemon's lives.
It's about time too, Tepper has been annoying me too much with him evolving first. Snive thought upon reaching the slightly opened door of the Arbor Area gate. Without checking first, she rushed through and immediately ran into another Pokemon, knocking the both of them down.
"Ow." Both Pokemon said in unison.
Okay, maybe it'll be good to slow down. Now I gotta apologize to whoever this is. Great… Snive thought, rubbing her back where she landed.
"Oh mon, sorry about that ma'am. Are you alright?" The other Pokemon said. The voice was deep though there was a bit of familiarity to it for some reason.
"Yeah, it's my bad, I was in a ru-" Snive started before looking up to see a Dewott standing over her with an outreached hand, offering to help her up.
Not only was the voice a bit familiar, so does this Dewott. Why though? Snive thought as she grabbed the hand, the Dewott helping her up. Kind of cute too…why does saying that weird me out?
"Rush, I'm on my way to meet up with friends." Snive stated, unaware that the two were still holding hands. "Do I know you by the way?"
"Dew! I told you not to run!" A definitely familiar voice yelled behind the Dewott. Attention turned to the Pikachu and Pignite running up to them, the Pignite slightly out of breath and panting heavily upon reaching the grass and water Pokemon. "Did you guys really have to race up here, you just got back."
"*pant* Hold on *pant* one second. *Deep breath in* How did you get so fucking fast?" Tepper exhaled, trying to get his breath under control. The whole time, I was lost in my thoughts.
Wait, Spark and Tepper? And did he just say Dew? Snive thought, specific features about the Dewott started becoming noticeable and familiar.
"What, he challenged me. What was I gonna do? Say no?" Dew joked, turning to the other guys. With a squint, I finally spoke up.
"Dew-fus?" I questioned, not saying it as an insult but more as an instinct.
"Dew-fus? Well that's a bit uncalled fo-" Dew stopped upon realizing something, his eyes widening before turning back to look at me. After a second of staring me up and down, which I was doing the same to him, he finally spoke up.
"Snive?" Dew questioned, causing the other guys to give a questioning look towards me before their eyes widened and they gasped with Spark covering his mouth with his hands. I gave a nod and Dew grew a big smile. "Holy shit, Snive! You evolved too!"
"Snive!" Spark and Tepper yelled out excitedly before rushing up to me Dew lunging towards me as well. Dew was obviously the first one to reach me, bringing me into a hug that allowed me to feel…everything.
Woah, that training really paid off. This is a new feeling. He has a good amount of muscle in all the right places, wrapping me up tight in a grip that had me stuck and not wanting to leave. I could feel my face heating up and my legs starting to weaken. This made me panic slightly. What am I feeling right now? Need answers. Need help!
Before I could question these rushing feelings further, Spark and Tepper finally reached us and crashed into Dew and I, bringing us all down to the floor. The guys were laughing while I was still gathering my thoughts.
"Finally got your evolution huh? It's about time Snive." Tepper stated.
"So proud of you girl! I knew you were close." Spark said.
"You look awesome too, Snive. Looks like we were both growing." Dew stated with a laugh, though his comment made me blush harder and panic more.
"Okay..! I think we've had enough hugging." I squirmed and slither my way out of their hold, facing away from them. I soon noticed that I was breathing heavily a bit.
"Uh Snive? You good? That hug knock the wind out of ya or something?" Dew said jokingly but with noticeable concern. I then felt a touch on my shoulder, which caused me to flinch away from him out of reflex and years of experience. Upon looking back to see Dew with a raised hand and a concerned look on his face. I immediately felt bad. "Shit, sorry, no touching."
"No it's not you. I…" I said before stopping to reevaluate my thoughts. With so many emotions and thoughts running through my head, I came to one conclusion "I…gotta go!"
And I bolted.
(Present Time)
"Woah, that was a lot." Tony stated. "Though I think that's pretty normal for most Pokemon, gaining new hormones and stuff from evolution and acting out in ways you don't understand. It was the same for me."
"I'm pretty sure I just got really horny for the first time and didn't know how to deal with it." I stated bluntly, blush apparent on my face.
"I-I didn't want to say it out loud, thought that would be pushing it." Tony stated sheepishly.
"Luckily it mellowed out soon, which is why I can have normal conversations with Dew now. The feelings for him soon went from surface level to deeper stuff. He never saw me as just the Arbor Area Princess. And seeing how strong, courageous, respectful, funny, sweet, and chivalrous he has been since I met him made me push past the lust and into liking the guy. He's humble too but can be cocky at times, though I do like seeing that side from time to time, especially when he backs up that cockiness." I stated with a smile as positive thoughts of Dew filled my head. "Plus, I like the reaction I get from him when I annoy him sometimes. It's cute and it keeps his attention on me."
"Like? You don't think it's more than that?" Tony asked.
"What? Like love? The girls said the same thing. I don't really know. Like I said, I'm not good with this romantic stuff so I don't want to jump to conclusions…" I stated. "But I am not dismissing it. I'd do anything for him and the other guys, they're what I needed in life. With Dew though, something more is there and it's hard to explain why."
"I understand where you're coming from. And you should pursue that Snive." Tony stated, causing me to become downtrodden again.
"What if it doesn't work out though? Arceus seems to be telling me that with my track record. And do I even deserve him at this point?" I continued questioning. "Plus…Mom wouldn't allow it. He's considered a lowborn to her and she doesn't like him or the others to begin with."
"Well your mom is a terrible judge of character if you don't mind me saying. You two do deserve each other, I can tell. And you won't know unless you give it a shot. Don't be like me and just go for for it Snive." Tony said sincerely before freezing, and with what he just said, I think I knew why.
"What do you mean 'don't be like you?'" I questioned him, causing him to sigh.
"It's…part of the reason I'm in PokéPark actually…" Tony stated. I stayed quiet as a sign for him to continue. "Well you see… Her Name Is Vixie…"
(One long backstory later)
"…so I took the job immediately to get away from it all for a while and wound up here." He finished explaining, a few things beginning to make sense.
"That…explains things." I started, noticing his tail flame turn black. I pointed it out and said "That tail flame as well."
"Yeah…I don't understand why it does that but it only happens when I'm upset." Tony explained. "Guessing Flara told you about it."
"And Ema too. Late night girls talk. Hope you don't mind." I said. He took his hand off me for a second to wave off my comment.
"It's alright, it was bound to get out eventually." Tony stated before placing his hand back on me.
"Arceus, I can't imagine witnessing that, especially if it was Dew and someone else I knew." I stated, shuddering at the thought.
"Don't…think about it too much, not a good feeling." Tony cringed out, making me shake my head on the bad thoughts.
"Noted. Though you can't really be mad at her though. The heart wants what the heart wants or however that saying goes." I stated.
"I could never be mad at her. She didn't do anything wrong. I'm mad at myself with how I handled the whole thing. I just…ran." He stated solemnly and a bit angrily, looking away from me. I looked on in sympathy.
"Hey, I don't think anyone would blame you for what you did. I certainly don't. Sometimes we all just need time to get away from things and that was definitely one of those times. Plus, it's not like you're never gonna go back there. That's your home." I said.
"Of course, I could never abandon that place. I'll go back when I figure out stuff here. I'll even take you guys there if you all want to meet everyone and show y'all around." He stated, getting me to smile.
"That would be cool. You gotta promise. I'm sure the others would be down to go." I stated.
"It's a promise." He responded simply, now looking a bit happier than before.
"That Jack guy does seem like an asshole though." I stated bluntly.
"Yeah…he's an acquired taste. I think he's just too enthusiastic about being in a famous team, doesn't know how to relax and likes to show off too much to Vixie. She seems to like it though." Tony grumbled out.
"She has a weird taste in guys." I stated.
"'The heart wants what the heart wants.' Just like you said. They spent quite a bit of time together, and I'm sure that only grew with my…absence." Tony stated.
"So, is all that why you haven't asked Flara out yet?" I questioned, causing him to rub the back of his neck, embarrassed.
"Yeah, and like you, I don't have much experience in this type of thing. But mainly because I don't want my feelings for Vixie to jeopardize anything…" Tony stated dejectedly.
"But you do clearly like her right. Got them warm, fuzzy feelings and shit when you're around her." I joked to lift up the mood somewhat.
"Can't really lie about not having them. I'm sure you've all witnessed it." He blushed.
"Well she clearly likes you too. I think you should go for it, it may help in the healing process to be with someone who takes your mind off things. Plus, you might be able to grow from each other." I explained. "And if it doesn't work out, I doubt the two of you would just drop each other."
"Possibly…" Tony responded, seemingly pondering my logic. "Though I could say the same for you and Dew."
"What…oh shit." I cursed, realizing that part of the logic in my explanation applied to both of us. "You're not gonna turn this around onto me are you?"
"Snive, you know I am." Tony joked. "That's what you get for making sense."
"It's a gift and a curse it seems." I sighed. "So what do you have in mind?"
"We help each other out, push each other out of our comfort zones. Be wingmen to each other basically." Tony explained.
"And how are we gonna do that exactly?" I asked skeptically.
"I'm…not sure yet. But we can start by just hyping each other up when we need too, like just now." Tony explained. "Better than nothing right?"
"True there." I agreed before letting out a relaxed exhale. "Alright, let's not make the whole party about all this lovey dovey stuff. Gotta have some real fun."
"I mean this dance was pretty good but what else you got in mind?" Tony asked as I looked behind him towards the stage where the orchestra was playing. Their song began to reach its end and the head Kricketune soon began walking to the front of the stage where a mic was.
"Oh you'll see. It's about that time." I smirked.
"Time for what?" Tony questioned as it soon became darker in the room with the only bright light being a spotlight on the head Kricketune.
"Ladies and gentlemen, it is an honor to have you here at the Arbor Area Annual Gala. This is a very special night as this gala is hosted and planned by the benevolent Queen Serperior's daughter, the beautiful and young Princess Snive!" He explained as a new spotlight appeared on me, causing Tony to quickly move out of the way to avoid having it shined on him. I remained disinterested to the light shined upon me as well as the applause of the attendees, seeing it as just another event. "Now given that there is a new host, there has been a new event added it seems, one that even I'm not aware of."
"Here it is." I said quietly and a bit excitedly. Many guests began to quietly talk amongst themselves, wondering what's going on.
"I just received an envelope containing the instructions." The head Kricketune stated, holding up said envelope. With a quick cut to the top using his claws, he takes out the paper inside and unfolds it to read it. "Okay…'this gala will be the first to host our new annual event, the Gala Gladiator Battle!'…Huh?"
"Battle you say? Now things just got really interesting." Tony said with a bit of excitement.
"You said it. I know how to throw a party." I stated. I also began to hear more comments from the guest, some talking with skeptical excitement and others with disgust, which was expected.
"I must first ask that dancers leave the dance floor since it will now be used as the battlefield." The Kricketune said, continuing to read despite his reservations. After the dance floor cleared, Tony and I moved off as well, he continued. "Now let me introduce our first fighter to start us off…Princess Snive!?"
Now this definitely got a reaction out of the crowd, especially when the spotlight was on me as I smirked.
"It's just like her, that rebellious princess. So unrefined. Her mother better not let her host the next gathering." A guest scoffed to his partner.
"Leave it to the new generation to mess things up." His partner stated.
"A battle? I thought this was going to be boring. And the Princess is fighting? Thought she'd be stuck up like the Queen." Another guest said, sounding surprised.
"Yo, hold this for me." I said while taking off the pounds of jewelry I had on and handed it to Tony. "Wish me luck."
"You don't need it. Go all out girl." Tony smirked while nodding towards the now battlefield. I smirked back as I began strutting confidently towards the battlefield. The guests continued their side comments, some good, some bad. I stopped listening to mentally prepare for this fight, since I don't know who I'll be facing.
If things actually worked out, my opponent would have been Dew. He definitely would've loved that…*shakes head* Stay focused girl, we'll fix it later. A fight with anyone would be good today.
When I got to the center, the head Kricketune spoke up again.
"My Princess." He bows. "Who shall be your opponent?"
"You can have the spotlight pick someone. I don't have anyone here in mind!" I yelled out for him to hear.
"As you wish, your highness." He bows again. "As she said, the spotlight will move amongst the crowd to find her opponent."
As he said this, a new spotlight searched the crowd. After a few seconds, it stopped on my target. It shocked me but I soon smirked at him. The Monferno was surprised to find himself getting picked and I saw him panic a little trying to figure out what to do with all the jewelry I gave him to hold, causing me to giggle a little. Luckily, Lucy suddenly teleported next to him, startling him a little. After a second of conversation, Tony handed the jewelry over to Lucy and ran over to stand in front of me.
"Well this was a surprise." Tony smiled as the field was suddenly lit up.
"A welcomed one. Now just because you're some strong and famous explorer, that doesn't mean you can go easy on me. I won't be holding back." I stated.
"I wouldn't dream of it. What's a battle if we hold back." He stated.
"Now will the challengers take a few paces away from each other." The head Kricketune said. Tony and I turned our backs to each other and began to walk away from each other. After a few paces, we stopped and turned back around. "Now this will be a normal battle, it ends when one side faints. Please try to keep ranged attacks controlled as there is no protective barrier to cover the spectators. Princess, do you understand."
"Yes." I stated simply before exhaling to try and relax my nerves.
He's gonna be a tough opponent. Gotta be ready for anything.
"And Challenger…" The head Kricketune started.
"Tony sir, and yes I understand." Tony stated.
"Excellent! Challengers, make ready!" Kricketune stated as Tony and I got into our battle stances, Tony going into a fight pose as I leaned forward and crouched a little to the ground, ready to run after him. "Now, let the battle…commence!"
(No one's POV)
The match started with Snive racing towards Tony, quickly closing the gap between the two. Tony was going to charge as well but couldn't move his legs. He looked down to find that his lower legs were locked in by tight Grass Knots.
"Clever girl." He stated to himself with a smirk. Snive used the distractions to launch a Vine Whip at Tony, quickly wrapping it around one of his arms. Gotta be careful around her, she's definitely a speedster. I could easily burn her off or…
Gotta make this quick, whittle him down and exhaust him. Snive thought as she quickly retracted her vines into her shoulders while they were still wrapped around Tony's arm. With the Grass Knot supporting her, Snive was able to launch herself forward, turn so she could land a kick to Tony's face. In a split second before it connected, Tony managed to lean to the side, making Snive sail past him. Snive didn't miss a beat though, sneakily releasing her Grass Knot as well as tossing a Leech Seed onto Tony's body, unknowingly spreading across his body, as she did a backflip in the air, her vines bringing Tony up into the air as well. Snive landed and was about to swing Tony around to slam him into the ground until she felt serious burning on her vines.
"Fuck!" She cursed in pain as she tried to retract her vines, only to find herself being pulled up to Tony who she now saw had arm lit in flames. He then proceeded to use Flame Wheel to rapidly spin Snive up and over him, slamming her in the ground instead, back first, and knocking the wind out of her. She coughed as she got back to her feet.
"Ouf, that looked like it hurt." Lucy stated with a wince, watching from the side lines with Drew and Elizabeth. "That was a great move though."
"Meh, I've seen better. The peasant is lucky he's not facing me though." Drew boasted. Drew's statement was met with a shocked look on Elizabeth's face.
"Wait, he's only a peasant!? Well that just dropped his attractiveness tenfold, the nerve!" Elizabeth scoffed, pointing her nose in the air with her eyes closed as she fanned herself.
"He may just be everything we saw him to be…" Lucy said quietly in awe.
"What was that Lucy?" Elizabeth asked.
"Nothing." Lucy said nonchalantly, waving Elizabeth off as she kept her focus on the battle.
"*Wince* Okay, not a good idea." She said to herself, wincing from the burns on her vines. "But at least that Leech Seed should be activating…"
"Ow!"
"Now." Snive smirked, feeling slight relief from the Leech Seed healing her a bit.
"The heck…you Leech Seed me!?" Tony yelled to Snive, not in an aggressive way though as seen by his smile.
"Got it on ya when you dodged me! I'd say it's good payback for the burns but I want more out of ya!" Snive yelled back, getting ready to charge again.
"You got me there. Alright," Tony started as he got into a ready stance again, lifting a hand and doing the 'come at him' motion to Snive. "Give me all you got!"
"You asked for it!" Snive yelled before charging again. Snive then did a handstand mid-run and did a spin. "Leaf Tornado!"
Snive proceeds to launch several Leaf Tornadoes at Tony. She knew this wouldn't do much against him but she had another plan in mind.
Leaf Tornadoes? Simple dodge. Tony thought as he simply sidestepped the tornadoes which sailed by his right side. …Too simple of a dodge actually, almost like…
Tony then heard running from his right side on the other side of the tornadoes.
"A distraction." Tony stated, looking to his right just as Snive leaped gracefully over her attacks, Tony catching sight of her tail leaf glowing a bright green light.
"Leaf Blade!" Snive said, quickly flipping and falling fast towards Tony. Tony quickly back-steps to avoid the attack, causing Snive to put a cut into the ground. Snive got back on her feet, spinning and lunging her glowing tail forward at Tony's face. With little time, Tony tilted his head to the side, causing the Leaf Blade to sail past him though it was dangerously close to his face. Snive didn't keep it there for long as she brought her tail back, slicing at Tony's cheek. Tony couldn't dodge because it was at that moment that the Leech Seed activated again, making him flinch. He was hit and winced, as did others in the crowd. He took a step back, bringing a hand to his cheek and feeling something wet on it. He brought his hand back to look at it and found blood on it. Realizing she drew blood, Snive deactivated Leaf Blade and looked at him concerned.
"Oh shit, are you okay? I accidentally put too much power into that move." Snive said concerned.
"I'm alright, I've taken worse. Plus, it's a small cut." Tony said with a reassuring smile. "We told each other we would hold back right? Come on, show me what you got, Snive. It's been a minute since I had a battle this fun."
"If you say so, and same here. I really needed this." Snive agreed.
"Anyway, let's get back into it. It's my turn." Tony said before taking off at Snive, ready to throw a normal punch at her. Snive readied herself to defend. Tony stopped just short of her, bringing a fist at her. Snive could have simply dodged it but saw a black spark appear on the fist, causing her to suddenly flinch and unintentionally blocking her face.
Wait, I didn't mean to do that. Why would I…Fake Out! Snive thought in a panic as she saw Tony's other fist light up in flames. Shit!
"Fire Punch!" With her unable to dodge, Tony brought his other fist up into her side, dealing super effective damage to his opponent and knocking the wind out of her again. He then brought his fist back to him, shutting his Fire Punch off, before jumping a bit to spin around and deliver a downward kick onto her. Snive, while still reeling from the Fire Punch, saw him coming down. She spun and crouched down, using her tail to block and hold the kick in place with a little bit of strain. It was then that Tony lit his kicking leg in flames, causing Snive to scream out in pain and Pokemon in the audience to wince or cheer at the thrill of the fight.
"Arceus Damnit!" Snive yelled, straining under the force and pain of the Fire Kick. She felt her energy draining quickly and knew that she had to do something. It was then that Leech Seed activated again, causing Tony wince and his attack force to weaken. With the weakened attack, Snive screamed and managed to push Tony off of her. She then fired off several leaves into the air in front of her. "Alright, I'm going all out now!"
"Go get him, Princess!" A male in the audience cheered.
"I'm surprised she held out for this long. Maybe she could use her energy from battling in her royal duties." Another said.
"She's fighting a losing battle though. That Monferno has some experience, I can tell." A female said to her partner.
"He's probably just lucky. No way someone that young can have a lot of battle experience." Her partner stated.
Snive grabbed hold of a few of the leaves in her hands and some with her shoulder vines. The leaves began to glow a bright green and she soon began throwing them at Tony. Tony would dodge the ones he could and burn the others using his flamed up fist, though these would cause slight damage as he wasn't always able to burn them in time. He also began moving back as he was attacked. Snive continued to throw her Razor Leaves, walking to close the gap between the two in order to engage in close combat again. The second she got close enough, instead of throwing the leaves, she held onto them in her hands, retracted her vines, and activated her Leaf Blade tail and began her attack. The two became locked in combat, Snive using her glowing leaves in her hands and tail to inflict fast damage to Tony.
Even if it's not very effective, it'll add up. Snive thought, pushing herself to her limit. Even though she was a bit burnt and very exhausted, this battle was awesome to her, shone by her tired smile. Upon seeing her smile, Tony smiled back, feeling the rush of the battle as well despite getting hit and receiving shallow cuts here and there. The Leech Seed also added to the damage. "I'm not giving up!"
"Neither am I!" Tony yelled back before his cheeks puffed up, surprising Snive. He then released a small burst of a Flamethrower, point blank, forcing Snive back and burning the leaves she was holding. He then turned around and grabbed Snive's arm with his tail, burning her more with his tail flame as he increased the fire output of it. He then side flipped, bringing Snive up and over him as he slammed her onto the ground. Running on her adrenaline, Snive quickly recovered, sliding on the floor to try and sweep Tony's legs with a Leaf Blade. Tony only had to jump back and out of the way but Snive was fine with this. In her spin, she ended up performing a handstand and continued spinning to launch a full powered Leaf Tornado at Tony. Given the close proximity, it was practically a point blank attack, leaving Tony no time to recover and dodge.
"Fuck!" He cursed, crossing his arms over and being taken by the tornado. With it at full power, it was much bigger than the last ones and easily carried Tony in it. Its power even had some of the guests being harassed by its strong winds. Snive then resumed her previous strategy, grabbing a few of her Razor Leaves and stood at the base of her Leaf Tornado, ready to start launching leaves at an undefended Tony in the air. What she didn't expect to see was Tony fly out the top of the tornado, seemingly having pushed himself to the top. He luckily flew over Snive, looking down at Snive's surprised face. In her hesitation, she was slow to start her attack. It didn't matter in the end though. Tony cheeks puffed out again before unleashing a powerful Flamethrower down at Snive. Snive tried to run out of the line of fire but the flames quickly landed in front of her path, stopping her in her tracks. She tried to run around but Tony turned his head in a circular manner. Soon, Snive was trapped in a circular wall of flames. She looks up to find the Flamethrower approaching her. Time seemed to slow for her as she stared at the fire coming towards her, the heat becoming intense. And with a small chuckle, she simply says "Fuck."
Tony let out the rest of the Flamethrower as he flew over Snive and came down to land skillfully a few feet from her. His attack had caused a bit of a smokescreen that blocked Snive's status, making everyone hold their breath. Soon, the smokescreen cleared, and everyone gasped at the blackened figure of Snive struggling to stand up. Before Tony could voice out his concern, questioning that maybe he had gone too far, Snive raised up a hand to give a thumbs up and smiled.
"*cough* Good…Battle." Snive coughed out before her eyes swirled and she fell onto her back. A cheer resounded throughout the gala as the battle reached its conclusion.
"Oh crap." Tony said as he quickly ran up to Snive's body and kneeled down to check her, bringing her head up slightly. "Hey Snive, you okay? Talk to me."
"What is going on here!" An authoritative voice boomed out from the throne. Everyone turned their attention to see that Queen Serperior had returned along with Duchess. Upon seeing her fainted and burned daughter in the arms of the fire-type monkey, she gasped along with Duchess. "Daughter! Guards! Seize that monkey!"
The guards, which were all Pawniard and Bisharp, despite knowing why their Princess was in the state she was in, knew not to disobey their Queen and charged towards Tony.
"*cough* Go Tony, I'll handle them." Snive said weakly, trying to push him away but failing to do so.
"I'm trying to find an out here." Tony said, looking around him to see the guards circling him, leaving him no room for a conventional exit.
"Yes! Lock him up for hurting my Princess!" Drew yelled out in glee, other guests voicing similar opinions in the crowd. A whistle rang out in the crowd, catching Tony's attention. It was Lucy that whistled out to him and when she got his attention, she silently brought attention to her explorer badge, Tony catching on immediately and nodding to her in agreement.
"You sure you'll be alright?" Tony questioned Snive one more time to Snive.
"I'm fine dude. *cough* If you got an out then go. Text me later." Snive moaned out. With that, Tony set Snive down gently on the ground before pulling out his explorer badge. Right before the guards had reached him, he teleported back to the school, Snive weakly laughing at the situation and how much trouble she was going to be in before passing out again.
[ Another chapter done. Also, in case you wants some more Pokemon content, I just started and posted another Pokemon story. It's called Pokémon Sun and Moon: Not Always Bright. It's set in Alola and tells the story of a Team Skull grunt and rapper. Head over and see what you think. I hope you all enjoyed. Anyway, onto the outro
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