Infernape arrived back at Blastoise's place. He had inferred that the Lopunny must've been a close friend who was using the training field. The plan was to ask Blastoise about. The door opened and to his surprise, Lopunny answered the door. She looked surprised to see he came back.

"Oh hi, You came back." Lopunny pointed out, partially hidden behind the door.

"Yeah, I, uh, wanted to see you again," Infernape said. Lopunny smiled lightly. He seemed nice, quite handsome too. However, there was no way he didn't know about what made her special. Blastoise had always taught her to be careful. Pokemon like her were exceptionally rare, and there were bad people in the world who viewed them as exotic animals. Some saw her as an experiment, others an exotic good to be used. Very bad people would love to get their hands on her.

Infernape took notice of her suspicions. Her poker face was exceptional. Hell, he almost couldn't tell what she was thinking. Almost. It was faint, but her ear twitched slightly. To most, even if they did notice that, they would've assumed that it was a mere twitch or something. Infernape began to wonder. Did something happen to her? Maybe she had just gotten out of a very bad relationship and was scared of it happening again? Maybe that remark about her parents stung more than she let on? Perhaps now was the time to let go?

"Listen, I get it, you are not ready for a relationship yet. I'm not going to disrespect your boundaries. Maybe you don't trust me and I can't stop you from doing that. It's just, the way you reacted when I mentioned your parents, I thought maybe you went through something like I did. I thought that maybe I could help you." he explained as earnestly and genuinely as possible. Infernape saw Lopunny staring at him in what looked like shock,

"D-Did I do something wrong." Lopunny shook her head,

"How did you…" she trailed off. Infernape meekly kicked the dirt,

"You just looked…nervous, scared even."

"I wasn't scared. I just…do you know?'

"Know what?"

"Don't play dumb," Lopunny demanded, "There's no way you don't know what I am."

"Someone who dyes their fur?" Infernape answered. Not a bad answer, given how uncommon fur dyes were in Nihonera, although Pokemon in the west dyed their fur more often.

A little grin made its way across Lopunny's face.

"You're a nice change of pace." she confessed as she walked towards the fire type. "I'm sorry about earlier. You didn't know and I shouldn't have held it against you" Infernape smiled,

"It's no biggie. It's how you felt and you have every right to feel that way.

"That doesn't mean you've won me over just yet."

Dammit.

Lopunny warned, much to Infernape's surprise, "I still don't fully trust you. Luckily for you, I know how you can show me why I should." Infernape blushed as she squeezed his arms. Despite his somewhat lanky appearance, he had some muscle hidden underneath his fur. Lopunny looked into his eyes, "If you can beat me in a fight, I'll date you." she dared. Infernape was surprised but smiled confidently,

"A fight?"

"Yeah, are you up for the task?" she said. Infernape was naturally hesitant to this idea. His idea of a fun date doesn't involve blood sport. Hot take, I know. However, Infernape noticed how excited Lopunny looked at the idea. She looked adorable. His mouth spoke for him,

"You bet!" he said. He was surprised by his response, but didn't regret it. Lopunny grinned in response,

"Great! you'd better not hold back just because I'm a pretty girl." she remarked. Infernape laughed it off,

"Was never planning on it."

The two walked towards a cliff that overlooked Hydroton. The sunset shining its gorgeous orange glow. White spray paint covered the ground, forming a rectangle. Lopunny stood on one side and Infernape stood on the other. Lopunny started to stretch,

"The rules are simple, whoever pins the other first is the winner." she explained. Infernape nodded, it was simple. He took a battle stance before noticing a drop in temperature,

"What the hell? It wasn't like this before." Lopunny slowly approached him, a white mist beginning to surround her legs,

"In case you're wondering, let's just say, there's more than meets the eye," She said with a wink and she sprinted towards Infernape.

Infernape barely had enough time to block the first attack from the rabbit,

"She's fast!" Lopunny spun around and kicked Infernape across his face. "Really fast!" He was thrown across the battlefield with Lopunny in hot pursuit. He planted his feet and had an idea, fire began to shoot out of his elbows and he managed to catch her fists. Lopunny smirked, she jumped up, pulling Infernape along for the ride. She kicked him in his chest repeatedly before kicking him down into the ground. Infernape got back up as Lopunny landed in front of him,

"So I'm fighting an ice-type specialist. I'm honored," he remarked. Lopunny rolled her eyes,

"Don't think that you can sweet talk your way out of this." she scolded. Infernape raised his hands to dissuade the implication,

"No no no, you've got it all wrong. I'm not sweet talking out, I'm stalling to come up with a plan."

He charged towards Lopunny and the two began to exchange blows. To the naked eye, it was as though they were disappearing and reappearing across the field. Infernape shooting fire out of his elbows and the back of his knees to keep up with Lopunny's agility. He actually managed to land a strike then shot a burst of fire to push her back. Lopunny was thrown back, but she still had a lot of fight left in her. Infernape charged again but the rabbit was ready, she stomped the ground and ice rose from the ground towards Infernape. He couldn't dodge before his legs were caught in the ice. He tried to melt it but Lopunny took advantage and repeatedly punched Infernape. He caught her fists and smiled, fire seething from his teeth. Unable to escape, Lopunny ended up facing the full power of a fire blast.

Lopunny was thrown back again and this time created a huge mist around the arena. Infernape created a small flame in his hand to see through the white that surrounded him. An impact smacked him in the back of his head and he stumbled forward. A blur of white covered his vision as he was kicked back. He regained focus to hear a familiar voice,

"What's the matter? You were talking about some plan. What happened to that?" Lopunny taunted from the mist, Infernape couldn't track her voice. He thought to himself and then turned off the flame on his head. He just stood still and listened, he began to pick up on quiet little jumps. He heard a jump from behind and he used his tail to grab whatever was behind him. His tail wrapped around Lopunny's leg and he threw her in front of him. Before she could get up, he began a barrage of punches against her. She was launched back but she quickly got her footing. She looked up to see Infernape readying an uppercut. She dodged and the two began another clash of attacks, The fog clearing around them.

Infernape blocked a kick from Lopunny, in response she smirked. She flipped over him and smacked him with her ears. Infernape, thinking on his feet, grabbed her by the ear and threw her back down. She spun around and kicked him in the shins, tripping him up. In the brief second he was in the air, he spun around and smacked her with the side of his fist. She jumped back with Infernape in hot pursuit. They clashed their fists but Infernape managed to strike Lopunny before continually punching her. She fell back and kicked him into the air. She jumped up after him and tried to kick him. He caught her foot in between his legs and threw her back down.

She stood up and clapped,

"Wow, I gotta hand it to ya, whoever trained you did an excellent job. You are actually able to keep up with me." she congratulated. Infernape smiled to himself, at the very least, he had earned her respect. He then took a good look at her and realized something. Parts of her brown fur had suddenly turned white. The fluff on her ears had some cyan splotches on them. He raised his eyebrow, but stopped thinking about it when he heard what Lopunny said next.

"Although, to be honest, I've been holding back," admitted Lopunny to Infernape's terror.

"She was holding back?!" he panicked quietly. Lopunny's arms became encased in ice up to elbow, like gauntlets. Her feet received a similar treatment, being frozen up to just below the knees.

"I didn't want to seriously hurt you, but now I know I can go all out!" she declared.

Almost instantly, she was behind him and struck him with an ice coated fist. The hard material slammed into his back like a truck. Infernape flew across the arena as a trail of ice followed him. He saw the ice and shot some fire to shoot himself away before it could capture him. He landed on the ground to see Lopunny appear in front of him. He immediately went to headbutt her but she interrupted him with a roundhouse kick. She grabbed him and held in front of her,

Infernape grabbed Lopunny by her arm and used his weight to bring the both to the ground. He then used his feet to push Lopunny away. As he stood up, he shot multiple fireballs at her. Lopunny created a barrier of ice to stop the projectiles. Infernape went around the wall and jumped towards the ice type. Lopunny then kicked him in the chin, sending him back again. She launched the ice barrier at Infernape but it was destroyed easily. Lopunny lunged towards the fire type and kicked him upwards.

"Come on, is that all you got?" she taunted from below.

Infernape looked down at the rabbit with determination. This was no longer a matter of dating Lopunny, this was a matter of pride. He had agreed to the fight and he was gonna goddamn finish it.

Fire burst from the bottom of his feet like an explosion, shooting him towards his opponent. Lopunny braced for another attack but Infernape subverted her expectations. He shot into the ground, sending Lopunny and large chunks of rock into the air. He started to jump from rock to rock, gaining speed as he did. Once he got to a satisfactory speed, he began his attack, sending lightning quick kicks and punches that Lopunny couldn't react to. She created an ice sphere around her to try to create some breathing room. It didn't last long as Infernape burst through. He grabbed Lopunny and slammed into the ground, a crater being formed from the impact.

Lopunny found herself unable to move, her arms restrained in a bear hug while Infernape's tail wrapped around her legs. She noticed that the hard ground floor was softer and warmer than normal. She looked behind her to see Infernape lying in the crater, holding her. He looked as though he was in a lot of pain.

"He-He cared enough to protect me?" she thought. At the very least, he had 100% earned that date.

"Did I win?" He groaned. Lopunny was surprised he could talk. She nodded,

"Yeah, you did. C-can you let me go?" Infernape blushed bright red and rapidly released Lopunny like she was covered in spikes.

"Sorry," he apologized.

It was at that moment that Lopunny looked at herself and saw her fur. Instinctively, she attempted to cover herself. She then sighed and said,

"I guess I can trust you. I'm a hybrid."

"Whoa," was all that Infernape could say. Sometimes, a pokemon with parents of different types can create a hybrid, which inherits a type from both of their parents. For example, a fire and ground type Rhyhorn. An electric, ghost Pichu. A fire and water type Primarina, etc, etc. They were exceptionally rare. Infernape was surprised that he was staring at one right now. Lopunny rubbed the back of her head,

"That's my secret. Surprised?"

"Yup," said Infernape.

"What in the hell am I looking at?" Sceptile called out from atop the crater. Infernape instinctively sat up. Sceptile stated at the two like a disappointed parent,

"I told you not to go on vacation here and look where you are now." he said, much to Infernape's annoyance.

"Oh come on, let me have some fun at least."

"That can wait until after the cult is dealt with." Sceptile insisted. Infernape sighed and stood up with Lopunny following suit.

"Wait, you are with Sceptile?!"

"Yeah, why?"

"I was wondering who trained you."

"Can we focus back on the cult?" Sceptile interrupted, "Who knows what they're up to now?"