"So with winter coming up, everyone is going to be inside more often. So I was planning on organizing a get-together for some of the members of the guild that were there when I was guildmaster," Espeon said. He sat on a velvet chair while he wore a matching red smoke jacket. In his ears, there were two hearing aids.
"I appreciate it. Although you aren't the leader anymore, you don't need to do this sort of stuff," Tamin replied.
"Well, he has to find something to do with this big house. Because man, this place is utterly huge," Locke said as he looked around.
What Locke said had merit. Locke, Tamin, Espeon, and Sebastien the meowstic all sat together in a furnished guest room which still had room to spare. Locke was larger than the rest of them, and he still had room to stretch. Even then, it was just a small room within a larger structure.
"You know, now that you mention it: yeah, this place is incredibly large for a family of four. I suppose I'm just used to places this large from how I grew up," Tamin said.
"Well I'd still like to host things from time to time, this building is good for that," Espeon explained himself. "It's not like we've built this, we just bought it."
"Besides, you never know how much space you'll end up needing," Sebastien the meowstic said.
Tamin squinted at the meowstic, she wasn't precisely sure what she meant by that. "Well anyways, what were your plans for this meetup?"
"I was planning re-uniting the original team of people who took down Armin and House Breach together, and we could have a catch-up," Espeon explained. "Obviously we can't get everyone together, given that Buizel died and that Hunter's missing. But we could get everyone else together, as well as their partners and children. It could be in the middle of winter, and we could share a potluck."
"Sounds like a great plan!" Locke expressed. "Could I bring my sister along as well? Her child gets rather lonely sometimes."
"I'm… not so sure on that right now," Espeon said. "I understand what you want, but I feel that would rather defeat the purpose of this-"
Right as Espeon was speaking, the four all heard ruckus and what sounded like yelling emanating from another room. "That must be the kids," Tamin said as she quickly began hopping down from her seat, "I'm going to go check it out."
"I'm going as well," Sebastien sat up.
"I wasn't going to touch anything, Leah!" Aika angrily yelled.
"I saw you reaching your paw out! I know what you were going to do!" Leah the espurr yelled.
"Hey, back off of her. She's done nothing wrong," Pannen told Leah as she stepped forward, putting an arm in front of Aika.
"Can't we all calm down?" Elijah asked.
"We specifically told you not to touch anything," Silver the espurr commented.
"You are all getting on me for no reason!" Aika shouted.
"What's going on?" Tamin asked as she ran to the hallway they were in.
"Aika was going to break our stuff!" Silver pointed to a shelf.
Tamin looked at what was being pointed at. It was two strangely shaped knick-knacks that didn't appear to be made out of jewels or crystals. Tamin was utterly baffled on what was such a big deal about them.
"Okay, now you're not just accusing me of trying to touch them, but trying to break them?" Aika asked.
"Well regardless, you're stepping out of line," Leah said.
"Come on now, don't be rude to our guests," Sebastien said as she entered the hall as well.
"Sorry," Silver the espurr said.
"Hey, I'm just trying to exert some authority," Leah defended. "It's some practice for later on."
"That is not how you lead, and you aren't at that point yet anyways," Sebastien scolded her.
"You always act like you're better than us," Pannen commended.
"We are," Leah said.
"Well if you think that's the case, then I challenge you to a fight!" Aika said.
"Woah woah, we are getting way too rowdy here," Tamin grabbed Aika, gently pulling her away from the two espurr.
The cinccino turned to the meowstic and gave an awkward expression. "Should we just come back another day?"
"Yeah, maybe that would be best," Sebastien put her paw on Leah's shoulder, holding her back in a similar way.
"I know Leah and Silver aren't the nicest kids in town, but you still need to treat them with some respect," Tamin said as the full family walked across town.
"I wasn't doing anything, they're just getting up on me," Aika defended herself.
"Challenging someone to a fight is entirely unacceptable behavior."
"Okay fine," Aika said.
Tamin sighed.
"Espeon and I were able to talk about everything that was important already. So not too much was lost," Locke explained.
"I would still prefer it if the kids could all get along," Tamin replied.
"They don't seem like bad parents, so maybe their kids just need to grow up a little more?"
"Yeah, let's hope that will do it."
As the family continued walking together, Aika thought to herself. Tamin had just told her in no uncertain terms that she shouldn't be challenging others to fights, but that only made her desire to do so all that much more. She had been learning new moves to use and fighting styles, so Aika was itching to use them in some sort of way.
"Well we were planning on arriving later, but would it be rude if we went to Elley's home right away?" Tamin asked.
"I think it would be fine," Locke answered, "Just a delightful surprise is all."
Elley's house was much smaller than what Espeon had, or even the houses of Tamin's family and Dewott's family; it wasn't much bigger than an apartment. Like Locke, Elley remained as a luxio. She was married to a liepard, and with him she had a singular shinx child.
The child's name was Mill. He wore a blue hoodie with its hood pulled up over its head. When the families got together, Elley still made sure the shinx remained in her peripheral vision. Even minutes into the meeting, she was still keeping an eye on him. It took some convincing just to let Mill go to another room to spend time with his cousins.
The moment Mill got to go to another room with AIka, Pannen, and Elijah, he let out a sigh. Even well-meaning eyes feel sharp when they look at you for long enough.
"Is she still holding you tight?" Pannen asked Mill.
"Yeah…" he admitted. "But I guess I have a bit of time away from her. Anything you guys want to do?"
"Do you have any board games?" Elijah asked him.
"Not really."
"Any puzzles?"
"Oh, I do have a couple of those. Want to make one together?"
"Do you have anything a little bit more… exciting?" Pannen asked the shinx.
"No…"
Aika put her paw on her chin, thinking about what to do. The room door was closed and the parents were keeping each other preoccupied, so she felt it was safe enough to say something a tad riskier.
"Are you able to get out of this house?" Aika asked the shinx.
"I can, but my mom doesn't want me to," he answered.
Aika smiled mischievously. "Okay, here me out:" she eagerly began. "Not today, but someday we and some of the other kids 'round town could sneak out and go just right outside town in the woods, and then we can have some proper fights there. With oran berries and stuff we could heal up all the bruises and look no worse for wear, and we can finally try out the moves we've been learning."
Pannen and Elijah were taken aback. "I am not going to get into a fight," Elijah put his foot down.
"That doesn't sound too safe," Pannen said.
"If we have stuff to heal ourselves it'll be fiiiiine," Aika said.
"I still not sure-"
"I'll do it," Mill, cracking his own smile.
The minccino siblings turned to him. "I've got electricity, and I want to use it. Even if this gets me grounded, it'll be worth it for the excitement."
"Great." Aika still kept her voice low so they wouldn't be heard.
Pannen still had some caution on how safe it was, but she couldn't deny it sounded exciting. She looked up to her parents very well and didn't want to disobey them- but at the same time- how could she make herself like them if she only stuck to safety? Everyone was still a friend, and she had never done something like that before. "If you're sure about it, then I can join alone."
"I really don't want to be apart of this," Elijah nervously said.
"Everything is okay, Elijah. You don't need to join in, but don't be a snitch about it," Pannen said.
"I was thinking we could get the Argus, Ishmael, and Dandelion in on this too. Maybe Leah and Silver as well."
"You'll have to arrange it, since my mom doesn't want me leaving the house too often. But I'm totally down for this."
Pannen and Aika looked at each other. "Let's do this."
Organizing the event in secret without their parents finding out was a tricky operation, especially as secrets needed to be kept for days on end. First they extended the idea to the children of Dewott and Mienshao. They were excited about the idea. Ishmael almost jeopardized the entire event by speaking out loud, but Dandelion saved it by interjecting and making it sound like he was talking about something far more mundane.
Perhaps against her better judgment, Aika extended the idea to Leah and Silver. She knew it was tremendously risky as they could tell their parents about what was going on and the whole operation would be busted. To her delight, her risk paid off. Leah was interested in showing off just how exactly she was better than the rest of them, and Silver tagged along as well.
They had their people, and Aika knew the best location for it as well. Now all they needed was a time for it. They had to figure out their parents schedules and find a gap where they could sneak out of their homes, have it, and get back. It would only take an hour or two to do, but finding a time when everyone was available (especially with Mill having a protective mother) was tricky. But after a few days and nights, they were able to find a gap just long enough that it would work for everyone. It lined up perfectly.
The time for mischief was at hand. Not far away from the town, there was a creek in the neighboring woods. Trees surrounded it from all directions to provide cover, but the landmark was identifiable enough that no one would get lost going to or away from it.
Elijah stayed home, spending his time reading instead. Arriving were Aika the minccino, Pannen the minccino, Mill the shinx, Argus the mienfoo, Ishmael the mienfoo, Dandelion the mienfoo, Leah the espurr, and Silver the espurr. They all did their mental and physical preparation beforehand, and they looked at each other. Mill the shinx took off his hoodie and placed it on a rock, he didn't want it to get dirty from what was soon to commence.
"Eight people in total?" Dandelion asked.
"My brother didn't want to come along, so this is all we've got," Aika said.
"Did you have a planned structure for how we're going to do this now that we're all together?" Mill asked.
Aika gave an unsure shrug. "Free for all?"
"Works for me," Argus the mienfoo said.
"Is this the part where we start kicking?" Ishmael asked.
Leah put his paw on her face. "Could I propose a different idea?"
"Sure," Aika said.
"Given we've got exactly eight people, why don't we make this a three-round tournament?" Leah proposed.
"You can't divide eight by three," Ishmael said.
"No that's not- that's not what that means," Leah looked dumbfounded. "First round we have four one-versus-one battles, which will then have four victors in total. Second round we have two one-versus-one battles between the victors of the first four fights. Once those are done, the two victors fight against each other in round three for the final fight. And with that, we can figure out who is best."
"Oh, I see," Ishmael said.
"I'm fine with pretty much anything. I don't need to be the best, I just wanted to mix things up," Mill said.
"Is everyone okay with fighting their own siblings though?" Pannen asked.
"Yeah", Argus, Ishmael, Dandelion, and Silver all said at slightly different times, Argus adding on another "pretty much".
"Okay then…" Pannen said.
Aika smiled. "Well honestly, I feel I could take on like three of you at once, but if it's one-on-ones then that's even better! I could easily win like that."
"Hey now, I'm easily better than you," Leah said. "I'm both older than you, and I've actually been training with a purpose!"
"Oh have you now?" Aika asked.
"Yes," she confirmed. "I'm going to be the next guildmaster of the town's guild when I grow up!"
"I'm pretty sure your father has fully given up that position," Aika said.
"No I'm not going to inherit it, I'm going to EARN the position!"
"Okay so clearly we've gotten one of the four starting fights figured out now. Now what will the other three fights in round one be?"
"I don't want any sibling fights in round one. But aside from that, I'm okay with anything," Pannen said.
It took a minute to figure out the exact structure for the mini tournament. They ended up taking some coins Silver had in her bag and tossing them so that Pannen, Mill, and Silver could each pick a random one of the three mienfoo to fight. Picking three possible candidates from coins which had two sides was another logical problem they spent a solid minute to figure out.
At the end, the first four fights were figured out: Aika versus Leah, Pannen versus Dandelion, Mill versus Ishmael, and Silver versus Argus.
With the plans finally figured out, the first fight could begin.
Aika and Leah stood across from one another while everyone else stood on the other side of the creek. The minccino and the espurr looked into each other's eyes, watching the other's movements.
Aika went on all-fours and dashed forward to begin closing the distance between them. Leah unfurled her ears and used her psychic powers to levitate three small stones that were close to her, which she then sent flying towards Aika. Aika changed course and ran to the side to evade the stones, but that gave Leah enough time to levitate another set of stones upwards. Aika knew she would have to change up her strategy.
When the second volley went towards her, Aika leapt behind a tree to take cover. Instead of waiting behind the bark, she quickly began climbing up the tree as Leah was still on the other side. Aika climbed onto a branch, and then leapt towards Leah. Leah sent another volley of small stones at Aika. They connected and did hurt, but it wasn't nearly enough to deter her. As Aika was in the air, she made a flip and prepared an attack using her tail.
Leah tried to get out of the way, but wasn't fast enough for the swift minccino. A tail attack connected to Leah's leg, causing her to let out an audible grunt. The espurr unleashed a wave of psychic energy to push Aika back and regain some distance between the two.
After being pushed back, Aika rolled onto her belly and began spriting towards Leah on all-fours again. The espurr attempted to hold her back with her psychic powers, but doing so quickly brought upon a headache and tired her. As Leah stammered backwards with her head in pain, Aika continued forwards again and leapt. Aika tackled Leah, pinned her down, and used her paws to hold her ears closed.
"Are you going to give up now?" Aika asked as she held the espurr down.
Leah still resisted. She gritted her teeth and struggled to get free from the hold down. As she struggled, Aika moved her tail and gently pet the side of Leah's belly with the tail's tip. Leah felt the sensation of it, feeling she had to hold back a laugh from the small tickle. "Alright! You win!" Leah said.
"Good," Aika smiled.
She stepped back and let Leah get up. The espurr was trying to not let the failure get to her, but to all others could see her holding back feelings of anger and misery. The first victory went to Aika the minccino.
The second fight was Mill the shinx versus Ishmael the mienfoo. Mill knew he didn't have nearly as much exercise as the mienfoo siblings had, but he still wanted to try his best. In the fight, Ishmael attempted to tackle and pin down the shinx just as Aika had pinned down Leah, but that was an exceptionally bad idea as it only put him in a position to get a royal shock from the shinx. Even with that blunder- however- Ishmael still managed to win the fight with his fur fried. The second victory went to Ishmael the mienfoo.
The third fight was Silver the espurr versus Argus. While Argus did put up a significant fight, he couldn't overcome the distinct type disadvantage he was put at against the psychic type. The third victory went to Silver the espurr. Leah was visibly relieved that at least her sister could make it to the second round.
The final fight of the first round was Pannen the minccino versus Dandelion the mienfoo. Like Argus before her, Pannen was put at a type disadvantage, but she didn't let that get to her head. Pannen knew she was faster than the mienfoo was, so she used that advantage to the best of her ability to do a hit-and-run tactic.
The battle between them lasted longer than any one had before. At one point, Pannen's confidence flourished when she landed a strong tail strike directly on Dandelion, only for that confidence to quickly evaporate when Dandelion used the chance to grab Pannen by her wrist. In that moment of panic, Pannen realized her only options were to either give up right then and there, or go through with what Aika had stopped just short of doing. She chose the latter option. Underhanded as it was, she brought her tail to Dandelion's stomach and began tickling her, forcing the mienfoo to laugh and relinquish her grapple as everyone watched.
The fight took some time. But in the end, the fourth victory went to Pannen the minccino, who was left panting by the end of it.
The first round of the tournament was over. Aika, Ishmael, Silver, and Pannen were the winners who moved onto the second round.
There was a small discussion on who should fight who in the second battle. They came to the decision that the ones who won the first two fights should fight each other so that the ones who won the later two fights had a chance to catch their breath. As such, the second round would be Aika vs. Ishmael, then Pannen vs. Silver. They stretched their muscles again and got ready.
Aika got in position once again, now facing off against Ishmael the mienfoo. The minccino knew she would have to be more careful with this match, both because Ishmael had already proven himself by beating Mill and because she was at a type disadvantage. But she was still confident and nowhere close to giving up. As they still stood across from one another, Aika visualized a dozen different ways in which the skirmish could play out.
Ishmael didn't wait around with the same careful consideration. He charged forward and began making a flurry of attacks, forcing Aika to act and make defensive maneuvers.
The mienfoo's attacks were quick, Aika struggled to keep up with avoiding them as she looked for her own opportunity to strike. Eventually, Ishmael did manage to connect a punch and forced Aika back with it. For a split second she panicked- but then- she had clarity. With this new opportunity, Aika used the move Fake Tears; putting both of her paws over her eyes and bending over as she began crying.
Ishmael was taken aback by this. A concerned expression came upon his face as he lowered his guard. "Are you okay?" he asked, getting closer. "Did I hit too hard?"
Even while her eyes were coerced, Aika could sense how close Ishmael was with his voice. Once he got close enough, Aika quickly acted and made a sweeping attack with both her leg and her tail. Unprepared for it, the attack caused Ishamel to trip once it connected with his legs. Once he was down, Aika immediately sprung up, put her paws together, and struck down on Ishmael with a pound. She then continued attacking, denying Ishmael a chance to get back up.
The victory of the first fight in round two went to Aika the minccino. She knew her tactics were underhanded, but she was fine with that. How else could she have won at a type disadvantage?
Next up was Pannen the minccino versus Silver the espurr. Everyone watched intently; this battle would determine what the final match would be.
With it being another minccino and another espurr, the fight had mirrored the first match of the tournament. Leah first acted by levitating a few stones into the aid, but she didn't cast them just yet. SIlver learned from her sister's mistakes and was ready to fight more defensively rather than being the first to strike.
Pannen spent a moment analyzing the situation. She had no ranged attacks, and even if she did, Silver would be the far better ranged combatant. Pannen didn't have any tricks like Fake Tears, and she didn't have any companions in the fight either. She realized there was no fancy way she could go about the fight, she just had to do it. "My parents adventured into mystery dungeons knowing that they would get hurt along the way. We can do the same," she thought to herself.
Pannen ran forward to close the distance. Silver threw the stones at Pannen- some she dodged, some she did not. Even with the pain, she kept moving forward. Silver threw more objects and directly attacked Pannen with psychic energy, but the minccino kept pushing forward. Even with accumulating pain, she was willing to trade blows.
The minccino continued to close in. Silver knew she couldn't maintain distance forever, but she still felt she had the advantage due to the damage Pannen had sustained. Rather than continuing with psychic attacks, Silver extended the claws in her paws and swiped them as Pannen drew close. She was not anticipating a physical attack from the espurr, but she still reacted quickly. Pannen managed to grab Silver's wrist, reposition herself, and then throw the espurr to the ground with a push. With the distance closed and Silver downed, Pannen only needed to continue making downward attacks until Silver eventually surrendered (much to Leah's dismay). The winner of the second round of round two went to Pannen.
The battle left her in pain and with adrenaline flowing through her body. It was only after the fight was over that the reality of the situation hit her: Aika was the one who won the other round two battle, she would have to fight her own sister for the final battle.
Pannen turned to Aika to gauge her expression, wondering if she could talk her into calling this tournament off. Instead, Pannen saw Aika grinning. "Well, this tournament has gotten quite interesting, hasn't it?" Aika said.
"Well… that is a way you could put it," Pannen replied.
"I'll give you time to fully recover, But I am really interested in seeing where this goes."
With the peer pressure of all those there by the creek, Pannen knew she couldn't just back off from this. She let out a deep breath before going towards the oran berries they had brought along- she knew this would not be easy.
At last, it was the final round of this small little tournament. Pannen and Aika stood across from one another, both of whom were undefeated up until that point.
They both spent a few seconds before either made any actions. For Aika, it was consideration. For Pannen, it was hesitation.
Aika made her first move. As she did in her first battle, she quickly climbed a tree and got onto a branch, which allowed her to leap off the branch and perform a tail attack with the added force of gravity and a flip. Pannen evaded the attack, causing Aika to strike at the ground. Pannen used the opportunity to bash Aika, but the attack was weak and without purpose. Aika quickly recovered and struck back at Pannen. This time, connecting. This time, with force.
The effect that one attack had on the battle was immense. Before then, Pannen still wasn't fully mentally into the fight, she couldn't fully accept the fact that she needed to fight and strike at her own sister. But once Aika's attack connected with her, that was when it had set in. Now, the fight was truly on, and Pannen had the willpower to retaliate.
Aika continued making a flurry of attacks. The first two Pannen gracefully dodged, and the third she blocked. Right after blocking, Pannen punched Aika in the head with greater power than Aika had anticipated. Pannen followed up with another attack, with Aika only narrowly managed to sidestep to avoid.
The battle continued on at ultra-close range, faster than any onlooker could quite keep track of. With neither of them having a type advantage or unexpected trick, the fight could not be ended quickly. It continued on for some time as they both attacked, dodged, and blocked.
As it continued on, one thing became clear: Pannen was just a slight bit faster, a slight bit stronger, and a slight bit tougher. It was no doubt on account for her being older, and it became more clear the longer it went on. Aika knew she had to change up her tactics.
As Pannen went for an attack on Aika's head, Aika saw a chance to perform one final gambit. Aika ducked to avoid the attack, then placed her paws on the ground. Quickly, she rotated herself on the ground to make a sweeping maneuver and attack with her leg and tail, just as she had done to Ishmael. By the time Pannen realized what she was doing, it was too late. Aika successfully tripped Pannen. Afterwards, AIka got up and tackled Pannen into the dirt and mud, where she began to pin her down.
Pannen struggled to break free from the pin with her superior strength, but Aika was persistent; she struck her sister a few times as she continued to hold her down on the ground. "Man, you just don't know when to give up, do ya?" Aika asked.
They struggled on the ground for the better part of a minute, the other six all watching. Eventually- as exhaustion began to take hold- Pannen spoke. "Alright, fine. You win," she said.
"Yes!" Aika said to herself as she stood up and threw her paws into the air. She looked around at the reactions from everyone else there. "Yes…" she uttered again.
"Good job, Aika," Mill the shinx said. "And thanks for setting this up. This is the most excitement I've had in awhile."
"No problem," Aika replied.
"You really did do a good job, there," Pannen congratulated as she got back up.
"Thank you," she said. "Now come everyone: let's get back before our parents find out about this."
Oran berries were consumed to heal themselves, fur was cleaned at the stream, items were collected, and Mill got his hoodie on again. Ishmael, Argus, Pannen, Aika, Dandelion, Mill, Leah, and Silver all walked out of the forest together while standing side-by-side in a line. Aside from Leah and Silver, they all had a smile on their face from the roughhousing. Painful as it was, it was still a good experience for them.
The whole time, Aika was just having fun. And for that whole day, never once did she think of Pannen and Elijah as being anything less than her full siblings.
End of chapter 2