Chapter 15: Stubborn Tinkatink

Nemona threw her Pokéball into the air, and whipped out a Tera orb from her pocket. The pokeball she threw up burst open, and Fuecoco leapt out of it and landed on Nemona's shoulder as she crushed the Tera ball. The teraball shattered like glass, and a pillar of rainbow light exploded below the two of them. Soon, after the Terastialization sigil appeared in front of the eruption of light, the beam exploded, showing Nemona standing alone with a glowing red invoker with a crystaline-like glow. Nemona put her hand out in front of her, and a thin line of fire took shape in front of her hand before transforming into a greatsword. Nemona grabbed the sword by the handle, then pointed it at her opponent...

Who was still trying hard to pull the Pink hammer that was Tinkatink from the ground.

"GET. OFF. THE. GROUND, DARN YOU!" Kai cried.

Nemona's smile faded, and she sighed. She wouldn't feel good cutting loose too much as he is now. She had to handicap herself somewhat. But at the same time, she had to fight in a way that would be a challenge for Kai, or else this whole exercise may as well be just another sparring session between them. Nemona stared at her great sword, then, she threw it into the air, and caught it to hold it with her back hand. She had never held a sword with her backhand before, so this would be a new experience.

"You ready, Kai?!" Nemona asked.

"NO!" Kai cried.

"Well…" Nemona readied her blade. "You've got ten seconds!"

It was time to kick up the difficulty a notch, maybe 75% of her strength would be enough. No- definitely too much. Maybe 50%. Nah, still too much. 40%? No...

20%. 20% is absolutely perfect.

"All right... I'm counting down!" Nemona cried. "Three…!" Nemona clenched her Greatsword's handle. "Two..!"

Kai, who still hadn't lifted his weapon from the ground looked up in terror.

"One!" Nemona moved so fast that she disappeared. Kai's instincts demanded he'd spin and turn, and so he did- barely being able to catch Nemona's blade by clapping his hands between it as it flew his way.

The two entered a deadlock, their arms shook as Nemona's sword inched closer to Kai's armor.

"Swinging a sword while holding it backhanded like this is really weird..!" Nemona cried. "But… I'm open to new experiences!"

"Help me... Tinkatink..!"

The pink Sledgehammer didn't move.

"Gah- I'll do it myself!" Kai pushed Nemona's weapon away and rushed forward alone, swinging his fists wildly only for Nemona to dodge. Her eyebrows were raised in confusion as she ducked and weaved under and over every punch thrown by her opponent.

"Y'know, you're supposed to use Tinkatink," Nemona said as she dodged.

"Forget Tinkatink!"

Kai threw another punch Nemona's way, and she disappeared again due to her immense speed. Kai spun around to see Nemona leaping for Kai's pink hammer- Tinkatink. She grabbed the Poke-weapon by the handle while in mid air and used it to anchor herself to the ground. Kai's eyes widened upon seeing that Nemona was lifting up and holding the sledgehammer with ease.

"Huh," Nemona said, tossing and catching the Fairy-type weapon. She smiled. "Feels nice to hold. Maybe I should get a Tinkatink." Nemona eyed the new weapon she had while twirling the greatsword in her hand. The sword made a trail of flame with every movement it made.

"Look at that- She clearly likes you more than me!" Kai cried. Nemona sighed and shook her head. She then gave Kai a serious look.

"Kai," Nemona said, "you have to show your Tinkatink your strength. Give it a reason to obey you." Kai watched as Nemona slowly raised the pink sledgehammer over her head. " And know…while I'm doing this… remember that I believe in you."

With a swift swing Nemona slammed the earth with the sledgehammer, and a tremor of pink light chased after Kai. Kai gasped and leapt into the air before the tremor reached him, and an eruption of pink earth rose from where he stood and threatened to strike him. Kai yelped, putting his hands out below his feet to catch the rising pillar, positioning himself like he was playing leapfrog and using it as a platform. He then did a handstand before flipping into the air and landing in front of Nemona, who smiled.

"Nice." Nemona said. "Now can you handle both weapons!?"

Nemona dashed forward, but not fast enough to be invisible to the naked eye. Kai raised his fists. Nemona slashed with her broadsword, still holding it with her back hand, and Kai bent his upper body to dodge. Then, with her other hand, Nemona raised Tinkatink's hammer and swung it down. Kai leaned back toward the ground and backflipped to dodge as shards of pink earth flew into the air upon impact with the floor. Kai twirled in the air before landing with a crouch. Nemona raised Tinkatink's hammer and pointed it at her rival as it began to spark with Steel Type energy.

Suddenly, the shards of pink earth that previously flew into the air after Nemona smacked the ground stopped mid flight and floated as steel type energy sparked around it like lightning. They then pointed toward Kai, who gasped and started to run. Nemona twirled the Pink sledgehammer and tapped the ground with the blunt end, and the moment she did this the floating debris flew over to Kai, who stopped running upon being surrounded. He could do nothing but watch as the pink shards of earth started to rotate around the boy.

"All right Tinkatink, take the wheel. Test him with Stone Edge!." Nemona tapped the ground with the blunt end of the sledgehammer again.

The shards surrounding Kai flew toward him one by one, and Kai did his best to dodge every one of them. After each dodge, however, fatigue made his way to catch up with the boy, each dodge became narrower and sloppier. Soon, Kai had to resort to defense. Crossing his arms and taking the pelting of the stones. As every strike hit him, Nemona felt Tinkatink's weapon vibrate with every blow- because she was still connected to Kai's invoker. If Kai got hurt, so did Tinkatink, but that didn't stop her.

"Huh, she dislikes him that much, huh?" Nemona commented.

Kai kept getting pelted until the stones eventually stopped and fell to the ground.

"Huh," Nemona said. "Tinkatink must have gotten exhausted from hurting herself…"

"Ughhh…!" Kai cried. "STUPID THING! She hurt herself while trying to hurt me instead of you!"

"Yuuuup…." Nemona said. "Sounds about right. Pretty normal."

"PRETTY NORMAL!? I have never read anything about Tinkatinks holding grudges for THIS long, and THIS intensely!"

"Tinkatinks have a lot of pent-up anger because their hammers usually gets destroyed or eaten and there's not much they can do about it. So- this Tinkatink's probably putting her anger at you….because you stopped it from attacking that Klawf."

"ARE YOU KIDDING ME!?"

Nemona looked at the pink hammer, and then smiled as an idea came to her mind.

"Sorry about this, Tinkatink," Nemona said. She then threw the hammer all the way over to Kai. The Pink hammer flew like a windmill before sticking the landing right in front of Kai- landing on its hammer-end. Kai's body bounced because of the amount of force it had upon landing.

"Jeez…" Kai said, talking to the Pink sledgehammer. "I dodged your attacks and stuff… doesn't that show that I'm worthy?"

The hammer started to spark with steel type energy.

"No!?" Kai cried. "Well, you know what?! You're a jerk!"

"Hey, Kai!" Nemona cried. Kai's head swung over to Nemona. "I've got one more trick up my sleeve!" Nemona cried. "If this doesn't work, then that Tinkatink's just gonna hate you forever!"

Nemona tossed her greatsword into the air, and held it normally.

"Wait what?" Kai said, looking Nemona's way. "One more trick?!"

Nemona took a deep breath and closed her eyes.. She took hold of her weapon with both hands. Then, suddenly, a fiery aura erupted from below the girl's feet and raged outward like an inferno.

Clive, who had been watching the entire time, widened his eyes in shock as the earth began to tremble.

"Wait…" Clive said. "She isn't planning to…"

"T-Tinkatink..? If you're not going to listen to me, now's not a good time.." Kai said.

Nemona slowly raised her greatsword above her head with both hands.

"I…!" Nemona opened her eyes. "BELIEVE IN YOOOOOOOOOU!" With a swing of her sword, a massive flaming tornado flew out from her sword- it was large enough to nearly rival the size of a hurricane. It was slowly, but very surely, moving toward Tinkatink and Kai.

"TINKATINK..! WE NEED TO MOVE!" Kai cried. Kai turned to the pink weapon that was Tinkatink, and she wasn't moving. It was trembling as though it were in fear.

Kai grit his teeth. He clenched his fists. Only one thought came to mind.

What would the superheroes in his anime or comic books do at this moment?

Without thinking, Kai raised his wrist to his chest and did the unthinkable. He disengaged his invoker armor by slapping his wrist, and then stepped in front of the Pink hammer- and extended his arms, fully prepared to protect Tinkatink.

"You stupid hammer..!" Kai cried. "If you won't let me lift you, then fine..! I'll just take the brunt of this attack… maybe then you'll respect me!"

Kai's body trembled in fear as the massive tornado continued to come closer.

"I don't know why you hate me so much.. But I know…that it'll never compare.. .to how much I hate myself..! That's right… I hate myself… despite everything I've done to try to get myself to be more confident… I pretend to be someone I'm not,.. I pretend that I can do anything… all so I can impress myself..! Maybe that's why I'm not letting you go free… because I'm used to being punished for existing..!" Kai grinned and looked on to the massive tornado slowly coming his way. "Even now, I don't get how anyone could ever believe in me… but for some reason, Nemona does. She knows that I can earn your respect…Tinkatink!"

Kai turned his head, seeing Tinkatink's true body appear behind the pink sledgehammer like it was emitting a shadow. The Tinkatink looked absolutely awestruck.

As Nemona watched from afar, she saw a flash of her own memory come to her at that moment. Nemona had said before that she had a difficult Pokémon, and it was her Lycanroc. Seeing Kai protect his Tinkatink reminded her of how she did the same for her Pokémon.

"I'll protect you, Lycanroc!" Nemona remembered herself saying those words as she stood in front of her Lycanroc to take the brunt of a Hyper beam coming their way. She even took off her invoker so Lycanroc would not take any damage.

As that flash of memory faded from the Champion-ranked trainer's eyes, her mind returned to the present- the positions she and Lycanroc took when Nemona protected him mirrored the positions of Kai and Tinkatink. Nemona couldn't be more proud.

"If you truly hate me that much," Kai cried as he closed his eyes, "if you truly want to see me suffer… then fine! Watch me suffer! Just know… that I'll be back… to get you to respect me…! No matter how many times it takes…! BECAUSE NEMONA BELIEVES IN ME!" Kai grit his teeth and screamed in terror, preparing to take the full brunt of the attack slowly crawling its way over to , the boy felt something slam the ground hard enough for his body to bounce. Kai slowly opened his eyes…. And saw the pink Hammer, Tinkatink, in front of him. The Pink hammer began to shine with a white light. Without thinking, Kai reached for the hammer.

It was as light as a feather.

"I'm worthy...!" Kai cried. Kai looked up at the massive fire tornado coming his way with a wide grin. He then bellowed a warcry and leapt into the air. "Let's do this..! Use…GIGATON…!"

The hammer that Kai was wielding was beginning to expand and grow to incredible sizes- soon, it began to rival the size of a skyscraper. Nemona and Clive both looked up at the boy in awe.

"What?!" Clive cried. "It shouldn't be able to use Gigaton Hammer until it's final evolution..! How..!?"

"I knew you could do it..!" Nemona cried.

Kai looked down at the Firey tornado. The size of his hammer was becoming large enough to eclipse the massive flame storm coming his way.

"HAAAAMEEEEEEEEEEERRRRRR!"

The gigantic hammer slowly fell toward the storm of flame and snuffed it out entirely. The earth trembled in response to the massive hammer slamming to the ground with such force. After it snuffed out the flames, the hammer suddenly shattered like glass. Kai plummeted to the ground and crash-landed flat on his back. Kai let out a sigh of relief before a massive weight fell onto his stomach and caused him to cry out in pain.

There was an unconscious Pokémon on his stomach, and it wasn't the tiny body of a Tinkatink. No, that Tinkatink had evolved into a Tinkatuff. It was holding its bigger hammer in its arm, which added onto the weight Kai had to endure when it fell onto his stomach. Nemona and Clive approached the groaning Kai.

"Huh-" Nemona said, blinking in disbelief. "Tinkatink evolved!"

"Interesting," Clive said, crossing one arm and raising a bent finger to his lower lip. "Perhaps it was because of the stress its body endured upon using Gigaton Hammer. It isn't supposed to be able to use that move until it reaches its final evolution. And yet, it still pushed and used that ability. It must have wanted to save Kai. Perhaps... Tinkatink- er-...Tinkatuff, was amazed at the fact that despite all of the beatings she had hurled his way... Kai still tried to protect her." Clive nodded to himself. "That has to be it."

"Well, that's nice!" Nemona cried. "How do you feel, Kai!"

"Like a ton of bricks landed on my chest..." Kai groaned. "Ugh…!" Kai managed to pull his brand new Tinkatuff's ball from his pocket. "Return…" The ball shot a laser at Tinkatuff and returned it into its ball.

Nemona crouched down to Kai who was still lying on the ground.

"I knew you could do it," Nemona said, smiling.

"Ugh… Yeah… Though I don't know if my Tinkatuff respects me for sure now... but at least she listened to me... Heh."

"You'll have to find out if it respects you the next time it-"

Suddenly, Tinkatink's pokeball opened, and out of it came Tinkatuff. In her hand was her hammer, which was now the size of a club. Her eyes were closed, and she slowly opened them as she looked over to Kai.

"Tinkatuff... you... you got out of your ball by yourself..." Kai said. "Ugh, that's annoying, but... fine, I guess. Anyway-... are you going to listen to me, now?"

Tinkatuff blew raspberry*, then turned away. "Tinka!" she said in a huff.

Kai looked in complete and utter disbelief.

"Well, she's not hitting you, at least!" Nemona said.

"UGHHH..." Kai groaned. "WHYYYYYYYYYY..."

"Kai," Clive chimed, "this may not be what it seems. How many badges do you have?"

"I didn't go to a Gym yet." Kai replied.

"That's why Tinkatuff isn't listening to you. She has grown at an alarming rate, as such, your badges, the representation of a trainer's strength, is necessary for Pokémon to stay obedient. This is consistent regardless of the species of Pokémon. Your Tinkatuff has grown too... tough... for you to handle as of right now. After you earn a Badge or two, Tinkatuff will start listening to you. But for now, it seems that you cannot use her in battle reliably. But as Nemona said before, your Tinkatuff has not attacked you. That is a definitive sign that she is respecting you. This exercise was not for nothing."

"Thank goodness." Kai said. He then turned to Tinkatuff. "Thanks, Tinkatuff. I'll admit it...You did great."

Tinkatuff turned her head and huffed before walking away.

"Wh- Where are you going!?" Kai cried. Tinkatuff went to the first rock she could find and raised her weapon, ready to strike it. Kai quickly spun over to his stomach and whipped out his Pokeball before returning Tinkatuff into her ball. "Okay- STAY IN THE BALL!" He cried. He pulled the ball and put it under his stomach. "Don't you dare-"

The sound of a Pokeball opening rang in the air before Tinkatuff bellowed a cry.

"Tiiiinkaaa...!" Kai yelped as he saw Tinkatuff slowly lifting Kai over her head, and then throwing him.

"Tinkatuff." The pink Pokémon huffed, dusting her hands.

"Why won't you stay in the ball..." Kai grumbled.

Tinkatuff blew Raspberry at Kai again. She looked down at her hammer that was on the floor, picked it up and hoisted it over her shoulder. She then went over to that same rock that she was going to smash, raised her hammer, and smashed it. She then looked at her hammmer nad nodded in approval.

"Well..." Nemona said, chuckling a bit. "Looks like she won't be completely obedient... But at least she respects him."

"Nemona..." Kai grumbled, clearly still in fatigue, "Can I have my Quaxly back..?"

"Oh, yeah, sure!" Nemona said. "Though uh, it's in my pants' pocket, and uh, my invoker armor is kinda in the way, and uh, I'm still tera-fused with my Pokémon, so..."

"WHY DO YOU NOT KNOW HOW TO TURN IT OOOOOOOOOFFFFFFFFFFF...!?" Kai whined.

"You can 'turn it off' by asking your Pokémon to do it." Clive said.

"Ooooooooh!" Nemona cried. "That's right!"

"If I could move, I'd smack you..." Kai grumbled.

"Ooh, sounds like a good time! I'd be down for a round 2-"

"NEMONA." Kai cried.

"Okay- okay!" Nemona looked to her weapon. "Hey, Fuecoco..? Wanna, uh, y'know, turn back to normal for me?"

The weapon Nemona wielded suddenly shattered like glass the moment she asked, and the cyrstalline like red color around her armor faded away. The shattered glass flew as though it were carried by a current of wind, and slowly began to construct the form and shape of Fuecoco. After it completely created a glass-like sculpture of Fuecoco, the glass shattered again, and revealed Fuecoco himself. He leapt in the air with joy with bot of his hands up in the air.

"Fueee!" He cried.

"Ooooh! You were right!" Nemona said, looking down to see that her armor was still engaged. "My armor's still on, too.. Nice!" She said. "Okay, disengaging the armor now..!" Nemona slapped her wrist, and the invoker armor she wore disappeared with a flash of light. Then, she went into her pocket and went over to Kai, who was still lying on the ground.

"Here you go," Nemona said, placing the ball right next to Kai.

"Oh thank goodness.. welcome back... buddy... please never leave me again... Thank goodness that you listen to me..." Kai said to the ball. "I'm so grateful for you..." Kai picked up Quaxly's ball and then put it in his pocket.

"What's the plan now?" Nemona asked.

"Well, first, I'm gonna lay here for a few minutes," Kai answered. "Then, I'll-"

Tinkatuff made her way over to Kai.

"Wait," Kai said. "What're- why are you coming near me?!" Kai watched as Tinkatuff approached his feet. She first put her hammer on her back as though it were sheathed like a sword, then started to pull on Kai from his feet.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?" Kai cried.

"Tiiinkaaa..!"Tinkatuff cried.

"She's pulling you at the direction of the Team Star base. She doesn't want you to rest, it seems." Clive said.

"WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!?" Kai cried as Tinkatuff started to pull him rather quickly. The little being was much stronger than it looked- it had to be, because the hammer it used was rather heavy. Nemona and Clive watched as Kai was pulled away screaming.

"We should definitely follow," Clive said.

"You've read my mind," Nemona said. She looked down at Fuecoco. "Ready to go, Fuecoco?"

"Fueee!" Fuecoco raised his hands and jumped for joy. Nemona then turned to clive.

"Let's go, Directoooooooooooooooooooooooooooorrrrrr..."

"You can say it, Kai's nowhere near here," Clive said with a smile.

"D-Director...uh...Clavell..." Nemona giggled awkwardly and scratched the back of her head. "Sorry..."

"You're doing your best, Nemona." Clive said with a smile. "I appreciate it. Although, for now, just call me... C."

"C?"

"Yes. There's no way you can make a mistake by calling me a letter."

"Good point! Anyway, Let's get going! I'm excited to see what Kai's going to do against those Team Star trainers! Let's go!" Nemona turned and ran, and Fuecoco followed suit.

Clive smiled.

"Well, this is certainly interesting," He said, walking onward.

Author's note:
*Blew Raspberry: 'Blowing Rhaspberry' is known as putting your tongue out and then blowing to make a fart-like noise. I didn't want to use this word; but it'd be weird to say "Tinkatuff put her tongue out and blew on it" It'd be even weirder if I said "Tinkatuff went PFFFFFFFFFFTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT with her tongue. Nah, Nope. Not doing that.