Chapter 2 - Trainwreck Part 2
Disclaimer: The following is a "parody" of the Pokémon fangame, Reborn. While this story functions mainly as a retelling of my playthrough of the game, I do take some creative liberties on the story and characters while using Nuzlocke comics and other parodies as inspiration. This is all to say, expect some nonsensical bits along the way. Enjoy!
-Lower Peridot Ward-
Surprisingly, Officer "Jen" and the other officers let Kuro leave without as much as any questions, not that he was complaining.
The quicker he could get away from it all, or Julia specifically, the better.
What he WOULD complain about was the crowd that had gathered just outside the crime scene.
They parted around him as he made his way through, giving him a wide berth as big as 5 feet. Despite their obvious reservations regarding him, they gawked at him like a group of Mandibuzz eying a cadaver and talked VERY LOUDLY about him as he walked by, as if he wasn't even there!
Kuro absolutely hated it.
On an unrelated note, he definitely wasn't concerned about getting recognized by anyone.
"Wait, that's it? Only one kid? He can't be the only survivor, can he?" He overheard someone say.
"Bah! Who cares about who survived and who died!" Another man barked. "Can't believe they'd actually close the entire ward for this shit. Said I can't even get home till this whole thing blows over."
"Yeah? Well I can't even get home now that the station is bloody wrecked," Someone else said before sighing. "My wife's going to kill me..."
"My fiancé was on that train," A lone woman, who couldn't possibly be much older than Kuro, suddenly blurted out.
"..."
"..."
"That's crazy," Another woman in rather revealing clothing said, taking a drag of her cigarette. Puffing smoke she added, "But, I don't remember anybody asking."
"Damn."
"Damn."
Damn. Harsh. And just the motivation Kuro needed to powerwalk away.
-Opal Ward-
Eventually, Kuro stumbled into a new area of the city, and he only knew he did when he almost ran headfirst into a sign. In his defense, the whole train bombing thing had taken a lot out of him. He was still also trying to repress as much of the trauma of almost dying as he could.
Compared to the slums that were the Peridot Ward, the Opal Ward – as the sign had read - was obviously more well-maintained. The ward, sporting various splashes of color in the form of banners and such, was a much needed break from the monotony of gray.
Of course, any statements about its general cleanliness were relative at best.
Kuro recoiled in disgust when a terrible smell hit his nostrils. He whirled around to find a tower of trash-bags in a nearby alley sitting out for who knows long.
"What a dump," He decided then and there. "Can't believe people actually live here..."
Kuro's thoughts were interrupted by a raspy chuckle. He spun around to meet the face of some old guy setting on a bench near the ward's lakefront. The guy was dressed up in a tacky golden brown suit with a matching fedora.
"What's so funny?" Kuro demanded with a side of aggression.
Upon seeing Kuro's annoyance, the man held up his hand apologetically.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, it's just..." He sighed. His gaze returned to the vast lake in front of him. "You wouldn't be saying that if you knew. If you've seen what I've seen. What this city once was, it was marvelous. Blue skies, clear waters, plentiful fields, a true utopia where humans and Pokémon could live in harmony. Yep. Those were the days..."
Normally, Kuro would've brushed it off as typical senile rambling, but there was something in the way the man had said it. He said it with such fondness that it made Kuro feel sympathetic? He turned towards the lakefront the man had been staring at. The sky was covered with thick smog, the lake was a murky gray, and the shoreline was littered with trash, but for a moment, Kuro attempted to envision something along the lines of what the man envisioned.
"I... believe you," He eventually found himself saying. The two continued staring at the polluted lake. That was until Kuro remembered what he was supposed to be doing. "Hey, actually, do you know where the Grand Hall is-"
When he looked back to the man with the fedora, he was gone. Kuro hadn't even heard him leave.
"Asshole."
After that little incident, Kuro decided he'd just find someone to tell him where the Grand Hall was. Surely some of the locals would give him directions if he asked nicely, so it should've been quick and easy.
Key words: should've been.
Kuro considered the first few people he asked a fluke. After the first eight, he began to suspect something. By the first seventeen, one thing had become blatantly apparent to Kuro. Maybe it was his clothes or the way he presented himself because from a first glance alone, the average Rebornian could tell he wasn't from around there. He was an outsider; a foreigner.
Why did that matter?
To put it simply, discrimination.
Most of the people Kuro approached were civil enough to flat out reject him and then walk away. Others straight up walked away if it looked like he was about to approach to them. Finally there were those who intentionally sought him out and spoke to him with such vivid and colorful language he wasn't sure he could possibly - and legally - describe such 'kindness.'
It was a grueling process. Kuro didn't even know how long it'd been. His only watch broke in the bombing and he had to ditch his phone the night before on account of its tracking system. After some time though, he figured it was easier to find the Grand Hall himself.
Course, like always, he was proven wrong. To his frustration, every map and sign he came across had been vandalized to the point much of the original text was illegible. It didn't help that every damn part of the ward looked the exact same!
It was likely late into the morning now if the position of the sun meant anything. His legs ached to the point of burning, and his thin jacket did little to warm him in the chill morning air.
While briefly toying with the idea of swallowing his pride and going back to the train station to find Julia and ask her, Kuro wandered towards a tall set of set of steps leading up to a massive bridge stretching over a wide river. From the looks of it, it connected to another area of the city, which is why he avoided it for the most part. Now, he was out of options, and it wasn't like he could get any more lost.
He approached the first step.
"Hey!"
Kuro turned to a boy – maybe in his teens – marching towards him. He stood out most notably for his matching red tanktop and cap, both clearly too big on him. He was also one of the only Rebornians not to cuss him out on sight. Unfortunately, any hope for a bearable conversation was cut short by the kid himself.
The kid put himself between Kuro and the stairway to the bridge. "Tourists aren't allowed," He added, crossing his arms while shooting him a glare.
Kuro was stunned, but quickly recovered and snorted in amusement. "I'm pretty sure you don't own this bridge, kid. 'Sides, I'm a trainer, not some tourist."
He stepped to the left in an attempt to move past him, but the red-capped kid moved with him.
"A trainer, huh? Since you're not from round here, that must mean you're enrolled in the Reborn League, riight?"
"Yeah, what's it to you?" Kuro asked with a sharp glare.
The red-capped boy – Red-Cap. Kuro was going to call him Red Cap – shrugged. "Well, ignorin' the fact you DON'T have a League challenger badge and probably no ID either, if you show me at least ONE Pokémon, I'll let you through."
The emptiness in Kuro's pockets felt heavy.
Noticing Kuro's silence, Red-Cap's frown morphed into a grin. "Wait. You don't even got any Pokémon, do you?"
"You little-" Kuro held back his tongue.
Of course he had Pokémon damnit! In fact, he trained more Pokémon than that kid had likely ever seen in his life! Just... It wasn't his fault he had to leave them all at hom- BEHIND. He had to leave them all behind. Course, even if Red-Cap believed him, Kuro wasn't give him the satisfaction of being right.
Wait a minute.
Kuro gave Red-Cap a quick look over. He had what five years on him, stood more than a foot over him, and he was probably stronger too. Why was he even entertaining this kid like he had any authority over him? Matter of fact, why was he still listening to him?!
"I don't have time for this," Kuro muttered as he easily shoved Red-Cap aside. "Go bother someone-"
And then Red-Cap kicked him in the kneecap so hard he could've mistaken it for that of a Mudbray.
"GAH!" Kuro screamed as he crumpled to the ground, clutching his leg. "What the FUCK!"
"Exactly what I thought. All talk and no bite. NO ID, NO Pokémon, and probably NO bitches either!"
Kuro was about to talk smack back when another sting of pain caused him to clench his teeth. He would've gotten his getback, and DAMN did he want his getback.
The only thing stopping him was not self-control. He didn't care if that little shit was fourteen, twelve, or anything in between because he still would've gladly beat his ass.
No, it was the fact that the kick to the knee reminded Kuro how exhausted he was, mentally and physically. That kick was only a supplement; train bombing aside, he'd been walking the entire morning with little to no breaks. He was angry, sure, but still had enough sense to know if on the very likely chance he tried to fight that kid and lost...
That thought alone made Kuro grimace. It worsened when he realized there was only one reasonable, albeit embarrassing, thing to do.
"Yeah, and don't come back, asshole!" Red-Cap taunted Kuro as he limped away. "That's right. Keep walking! Keep walking you-"
'Don't respond to him. Responding means admitting he's getting under your skin,' Kuro assured himself, focusing on literally anything else. 'Just take deep breaths. In and out. Yeah... In... and out. In... and out.'
As he focused on his breathing, he actually started to calm down? The fog that had gathered in his head was starting to clear up, making thinking much easier.
Breathing exercises did work. Who would've thunk? He definitely needed to apologize to his second therapist, or was it the third one he was thinking of? The fact was, he was starting to calm down. In fact, he didn't remember why he got so wound up in the first place-
"Excuse me!" A voice called to him. "You're that foreigner that was in that train exploded, weren't you? The one everybody seems to be talking about?"
And then something snapped. Something inside of him.
He remembered why. It was all because of this shithole of a city. The source of quite literally all of his problems could be traced from this stupid FUCKING city.
And you know what? He was tired. Not from only getting 4 hours of sleep, not from the explosion, and not even from walking around the ward aimlessly. He was sick and tired of this entire damn city treating him like NOTHING.
"Apologies if you're not. It's just that you seem rather lost around here and-"
Who were any of these assholes to treat them less than the dirt they walked on? Who were they to treat him like he was the bane of their pitiful existences. Maybe everyone was right about Reborn. Maybe these people were to blame for their own misfortune!
Did they even know who he was? Kuro didn't like flaunting who he was, hell he was actively trying to hide it now, but if they knew... OH if they knew exactly WHO. HE. WAS.
"Uh, hello-"
Kuro whirled around. "WHAT DO YOU FUCKING-"
Staring back at him was a woman no older than fifty with wavy indigo hair. A soft turtleneck sweater covered her buxom figure, with a golden necklace wrapped around the base of her neck, and a long dress skirt hung from her waist, all of which besides the necklace varying shades of blue.
"Want..."
Oh and she was pretty. Like really pretty, not that it was relevant to Kuro in any way shape or form. Totally.
That aside, her expression caught his attention. It lacked the contempt and disgust he quickly grew accustomed to. She looked... concerned?
The woman reacted to his outburst all at once, gasping and putting a hand to her mouth. Kuro flinched back, part ashamed and part apprehensive. He expected her to either slap him, yell at him, or, the most likely, both.
Clearly he didn't consider the secret fourth option.
"Oh my goodness, you poor thing!" She declared, rushing towards him.
Kuro's brain stalled. "Uh... huh? What? Huh?!"
She gave him a look over "Are you hurt, dear? I can't even believe they'd let you leave without taking you to the hospital! You could've broken bone for all they know!"
A single string of thoughts looped in Kuro's head. 'Pretty... Woman... Nice... To Me...'
And just like that, something changed.
"Oh, uh, y-yeah! I'm fine!" Kuro sputtered, a red hue creeping onto his cheeks. He fumbled between an 'ok' sign and a 'thumbs' up before smiling sheepishly. "Super fine, even!"
The woman glanced up at him, frowning. "Really? Nothing's hurting at all?"
Well, since she WAS asking... "Now that you mention it, my back's a bit sore. And my leg," Kuro rubbed the leg Red Cap had kicked, "does have a bit of a limp."
Another gasp. "You've been limping around Opal Ward this entire time!? What if you overexerted it or worse, pulled it! That was a very dangerous thing to do young man!"
Somehow, he forgotten to tell her the limp was recent. Oh well. Fumbling with his shades, Kuro chuckled, "Well you know... Sometimes you just gotta keep pushin' on forward. That's what separates your average trainer from an elite, y'know!"
Luckily for him, she was eating it up. "A trainer, huh?" Her face lit up. She reached into her purse and pulled out a purple bottle: a potion. Kuro studied it with confusion as she smiled sheepishly. "I know, I know. It only works best on Pokémon , but I insist you take it! Please?"
"Well, how could I possibly say no?" Kuro sighed happily, accepting the gift immediately. At that moment, a thought snapped him back to reality. Somewhat. "Uh, actually, momm- MA'AM. Ma'am, do you know where the Grand Hall is? I've been looking for it for hours."
"Grand Hall?" She tapped her chin. "Oh! You mean that building?" She pointed behind him.
Kuro glanced over his shoulder. "What building-"
On the opposite side of the sidewalk was by far the largest building in the ward. A building that was kept in pristine condition compared to the buildings surrounding it, meaning it stood out the most. A building Kuro walked past a grand total of nine times, and unfortunately for him, that number sounded right in his head.
A single tear streamed down Kuro's cheek.
"...Are you sure you're alright?"
"I'm contemplating every decision that led me here."
If Kuro was paying attention, he would've noticed the disapproving frown that was quickly replaced with a smile. She clasped her hands together. "Well, I'm glad I could help you, but I'm afraid I'l have to be off on my way!" She turned around to walk away, but not before glancing back to him one last time. "Make sure to stay out of trouble, m'kay?"
"Alright!" Kuro nodded dumbly as he watched her continue on her way, smiling like an idiot all the while.
That was until Kuro blinked with newfound clarity and became increasingly aware of his recent behavior. His cheeks stayed red for an entirely different reason than before. His head snapped to the left, then to the right. Nobody was watching, at least he hoped so. That didn't stop him from cringing any less.
"I'm not a simp. You're a simp," Kuro muttered to nobody as he turned around and stalked away.
...
Damnit he forgot to tell her his name!
-Grand Hall-
"Wait!"
After climbing up a set of steps leading to the Grand Hall, Kuro was just about to enter when he was stopped by a girl with a long mane of pointy black hair. More than that though, she looked exhausted.
"Are you Kuro, by any chance?" She asked, her voice hoarse.
Kuro nodded. "Who's asking?"
"Oh, thank Arceus!" That was good enough for the girl if evident by her sigh of immense relief. "You don't have a clue of how long I've been waiting for your arrival!
It only took Kuro three seconds to figure out what on earth she was talking about before it clicked. "Hey... You're that local Ame said was waiting for me, right? The one signing up for the Reborn League Circuit?"
She cleared the scratchiness from her throat, the formalness she radiated rising. "Correct. My name is Marlow Victoria, but you my call me Victoria, Kuro-kun."
"Uh, nice to meet you, Victoria...san?"
The usage of honorifics was not lost on Kuro, amusing him if anything. While she didn't seem to be Kanto-Johtonese, though she could've easily had ancestry, she was wearing a gray and black karate uniform complete with a black belt, so that must've had something to do with it.
A brief silence followed. Then, Kuro asked abruptly, "Wait, what time is it?"
"10:32," Victoria answered without missing a beat.
He thought for a moment. "And what time did Ame first notify you?"
"2 hours, 56 minutes, and 15 seconds ago. Why?"
Eerily specific answer aside, he noticed how much she had been shivering... "Wait, were you waiting for me out here the-"
"Let's just go inside, Kuro-kun." She said with a resigned sigh.
Well, he wasn't going to argue with that.
Kuro followed her inside. The Grand Hall was pretty standard in terms of league registration buildings. A built-in Pokécenter near the front, a small Pokémart stationed to the right, and of course a registration desk all the way in the back. Surprisingly, there were quite a few people inside. Amongst the various individuals working behind computers near the registration area, Kuro spotted a familiar silver haired woman.
"Ame-sama, I have returned with Kuro-kun." Victoria stopped as she came to a stop in front of the desk, Kuro by her side.
"Yo." He waved.
Ame smiled warmly. "Hey. You're actually here! Great! For a second I thought you had gotten cold feet and changed your mind, hehe!" She said before mumbling, "Not that I would've blamed you..."
"Well, I can't exactly say the idea hadn't crossed my mind once or twice." Kuro admitted aloud. 'or a dozen.'
"Regardless, I'm glad you decided not to in the end. And before you ask, there's no sign of any suspects yet, but I've got several officers out searching the area."
"Suspect?" Victoria question. "Might you be talking about the station bombing?"
Kuro frowned. 'Great.' Just as he was starting to forget about the whole thing, it just had to be shoved right in his face again.
...Okay, that was a lie; the bombing had been playing faintly in the back of his mind like a bad song on loop.
Meanwhile, Ame gave a nod to Victoria. "That's right. If anyone responsible for the incident is in the area-"
"You mean like Jul-"
"WHO IS MOST LIKELY NOT JULIA," Kuro grumbled to this as Ame continued, "We'll find them. But until then, we'll probably have to restrict travel between the wards." Having said that, Ame stood up from her seat. "Anyways, new trainers like you two don't need to worry about that! For now, let's finish your registrations. That means picking your starters!
She looked between Kuro and Victoria.
"So, who's going first?"
"Kuro-san can go first, I don't mind-"
"I CALL FIRST!"
Victoria shot him a look, causing Kuro to chuckle sheepishly. Ame was relatively unfazed.
Kuro chuckled sheepishly when Victoria shot him a look. Ame, on the other hand, seemed relieved.
"Guess it's decided then. Right this way then, Kuro!"
"Whoa..."
When Kuro had followed Ame behind the counter and up a flight of stairs, he did so with relatively low expectations. Every event that transpired so far didn't do much to raise the already impossibly low bar. This is all to say, he was half-expecting Ame to hand him a Bidoof she picked off the street and call it a day.
So when he entered a room holding not one, not three, but twenty one freaking Pokémon - all of which were bred specifically to be starter Pokémon of their region of origin - well, to say he was speechless was an understatement of the century.
"Impressed?" Ame asked somewhat smugly, standing behind Kuro as he continued to gawk.
"Hoothoot motherfuckas," a Rowlet commented while flying across the room.
Kuro finally picked up his dropped jaw. "One question. HOW?!"
Getting three starter specific Pokémon would already cost a fortune. Getting this much...
All her cockiness vanished in an instant. "Well, we did kind of have to blow half our budget on getting them..." She perked back up. "So, who are you going to choose?"
It was at that moment that Kuro realized he hadn't actually even thought about that. He didn't want to make any hasty decisions, but he also felt like he was obligated to not take too much time on account of Julia.
He surveyed the room for a third time, the area itself a small imitation of a habitat fit for water, grass, and fire types alike. Obviously most of the Pokémon had noticed his and Ame's presence, but only a few of them actually paid constant attention to them.
Kuro eyed a Charmander lying lazily on top of a rock. If he was being honest, having a Charizard would be freaking awesome. Though, if he was going with a fire type, a Chimchar or a Torchic would be better to cover that rock weakness once they evolved. Maybe he should ask Ame about the order of the gym leaders-
'Julia's a gym leader.'
Huh?
Where did THAT come from? Instead of worrying about that, he tried to get his mind back on tracks. If he remembered correctly, he was choosing between-
'She's the electric type gym leader.'
And now he couldn't stop thinking about Julia apparently. Great! It got even better when he realized he completely forgot what he was thinking about. Even his own brain was starting to-
'Ground types are the only type resistant and outright immune to electric type attacks.'
...
Okay maybe his brain was onto something.
'Ground types, huh?' The first thing that came to mind was Turtwig - a popular grass type starter in Sinnoh. He spotted the green turtle Pokémon chatting it up with a Bulbasuar. He could go with a Turtwig... if it weren't for two glaringly obvious problems.
Kuro didn't know if and when it learned ground type moves, and it only gained the aforementioned typing in its final evolution in Torterra. In other words, the advantage Kuro wanted from it would most likely be too little and too late.
So, he turned to the second option lying on a rock near a small stream. The quadrupedal Pokémon's body was sky blue and its most notable features were the star-shaped orange gills on its cheeks and a large light blue tail fin.
Oddly enough, it was wearing something? Some kind of a trucker hat that covered the fin that could be found on the species' heads.
Mudkip: The Mud Fish Pokémon. Now, why would Kuro consider a water type starter, a type weak to electricity? While Kuro didn't know much about Turtwigs, he did know some things about Mudkips. Enough to know that It gained its dual ground typing in its first evolution. On top of that, it could learn a variety of ground type moves pretty early on. With enough training, Kuro could have the perfect counter to Julia's gym.
Kuro was about to announce his decision when he stopped himself. Would it really be alright to make his arguably most important decision in the League Circuit based on gaining an edge over one measly gym leader alone? A bad decision? No, but it was a hasty one. It wasn't like he couldn't defeat Julia without a ground type on his team. So was it all really worth it in the end?
'Did you get to see the train go BOOM?!' He remembered Julia squealing in response to the explosion that killed some and nearly killed him. 'Ooh, I bet it looked so COOL!'
Nah. It was worth it.
"I choose you!"
The declaration was followed by a loud silence as the entire room paused. All eyes settled on him. Ame, particularly confused, stared at him, looked to where he was looking, then back at him.
"Un... Choose who?"
"Huh?" Oh. Right, they couldn't hear his internal dialogue "I- uh, Mudkip. I choose Mudkip."
Strangely, after Kuro clarified that, every starter - excluding Mudkip - seemed relived, happy even. What was up with that? He wasn't given much time to think much of it before they all returned to whatever they had been doing before as Ame clasped her hands with joy.
"Great!" She exclaimed. "Truth be told, Mudkip is one of our oldest starters here, so it's great he's finally being picked! Here, let me go get his Pokéball!"
Kuro gave Mudkip once last look before following Ame towards a cabinet. Unbeknownst to the both of them, Mudkip slowly cracked an eye open, giving his would-be trainer a good lookover.
"Meh," He grumbled, returning to his nap.
"So, who have you chosen as your destiny bound partner, Kuro-kun?" Victoria asked as Kuro once he and Ame returned to the lobby.
Having shoved Mudkip's Pokéball into his pant pocket, Kuro gestured to Mudkip who had been walking alongside him; the mud fish Pokémon gave Victoria a nod of acknowledgement.
"Wait a minute," Kuro said, eyeing Victoria with suspicion "You're not going to pull a Blue on me and get a grass type specifically because I chose a water type, right?"
"Of course not! I have too much honor than to do something as cowardly as that!" Victoria defended herself. "In fact, not only have I already determined who my starter will be, but as fate would have it, they are a typing weak to your Mudkip!"
"Oh, that's cool then-"
"Some may consider this a cruel doing of fate-" She was still going, "- but I consider this to be an opportunity to push myself to new limits! A challenge I need to properly grow and hone my skills! Yes, I can see it now! This will truly-"
"Less talking more choosing!" Ame said, hauling Victoria towards the stairs mid-speech as she continued unfazed and undeterred.
Kuro twiddled his thumbs. Victoria was gracious enough to let him go first, so he figured he probably should wait for her at the very least. Plus, it gave him the opportunity for introductions with his new partner... in theory.
Mudkip had been silent the entire time, and the hat covering his face rendered his expression unreadable for the most part, making Kuro a bit more hesitant to approach him.
"Uh... Hey?" Kuro said, attempting to strike up a conversation
"Hey yourself." Mudkip's voice was low and croaky as if it had been days since he had even a sip of water. That'd be ironic for a very obvious reason.
Kuro could've believed Mudkip was an ice-type with his stone cold response. Still, he persisted. "So... how's life?"
"Alright."
"Cool. Cool..."
A short silence. Kuro scratched his neck. Mudkip was unbothered.
"So-"
"Heyyy," a new - and feminine? - voice appeared. "You're cute~"
Kuro didn't recognize the voice, but she sounded hot enough so, "You're pretty cute yourself, Ms.-"
He eagerly spun around and- Oh. It wasn't a girl.
It was a... guy? Yeah, Kuro was sure it was definetly a guy. A guy that looked like he just stepped out of a Hot Topic, silver accessories and all. His entire outfit, even his eyes and hair were all varying shades of lavender. Despite him not possibly being much older than Kuro, the latter had to crane his neck up to meet his eyes. Or maybe that was just the combat boots he was wearing.
"Uh... Wait, what did you say?" Kuro asked after realizing he hadn't said anything for a good while.
"Nothing~" The prettyboy singsonged unconvincingly, adjusting the large fringe of hair that swept over the right part of his face. He looked Kuro up and down before asking, "Why are you wearing sunglasses indoors?"
"For... the cool loner vibe I'm going for?" Somehow, Kuro's was even more unconvincing than he had been..
"Uh huh..."
Fortunately, he didn't seem as half as interested in that as he was for whatever he was looking for, evident by his eyes roaming around the room.
"Was Ame just here?" He asked, his eyes settling back on Kuro. "I kinda need to talk to her."
Kuro pointed his thumb to the stairs behind the counter. "You just missed her. She's giving someone their starter Pokémon right now."
"Ohhhh, so she's with someone else. 'Kay~" Chuckling, he extended his hand out. "Name's Cain. What's yours?~"
The weird undertone in Cain's voice was throwing Kuro off a bit, but not enough to stop him from shaking his hand. "Call me Kuro."
"Kuro huh? That's a pretty name~."
"What?" Kuro deadpanned.
"Nothing~"
"Uh huh..."
Should he be worried?
Cain took a second to think. Then, he cleared his throat. "Imma just cut to the chase. Since you're here, and assuming that Mudkip is yours, I'd say you're planning on challenging the Reborn League, right? I was just coming here to resi-" The words caught in Cain's throat. "Er... To start over, yeah. Figured I'd try taking on this league instead. And seeing how I got some time to kill since Ame's doing something..."
Cain produced a Pokéball in his hand, tossing it up and down.
"Whaddya say to a battle?" He smirked. "If it's your first time, I'll be gentle~"
At the mention of a battle, something flared within Kuro. He stood just a little bit taller and grinned.
"Do I look like a little kid?" Kuro snorted. Obviously, it wouldn't his first time-
BATTLING. He's talking about battling.
That aside, a Pokémon battle sounded real good right now. He wanted to see just what Mudkip was capable of as well. Speaking of him...
"Well, what do you think Mud-" Kuro turned to his partner only to be surprised when he saw Mudkip had already taken up a stance in front of him, facing Cain.
Did he simply want to battle too? Or something else?
Whatever it was, it only further motivated Kuro who sent Cain a challenging look. "Well, I guess we both like the sound of it."
Cain's smile widened, giving his Pokéball one last experimental toss. "Innuendos aside, I won't be going easy on you."
The two trainers took up a fighting stance, prepared for the incoming battle.
Challenger Kuro vs Prettyboy Cain
BEGIN!
Chapter 2 baby! Same thing as chapter 1. If you have any criticism or questions feel free to notify me right away! The more critiques I get, the better my story is, and the happier I am! If you're enjoying this story, let me know! It lets me know I'm making something people will enjoy! See you all next time!