Call it pride, call it arrogance, but Karis had been so sure that she would win this battle that she simply smirked when Christopher forfeited, therefore making her side the victors. "Good. Let's go back to our room, Taz. We want to make sure we have everything before we dock."
Taz shook himself from head to toe and followed his master out of the room, his ears perked and tail held high with pride. This was by no means his first battle; belonging to Esthin's gym meant that he had to train whether he had a trainer or not. But this was his first battle with Karis, and he had obviously made her look good, which was what he wanted. Besides that, he could still taste the Houndour's blood on his fangs. With a low snarl he licked his lips, his aggression ignited by the taste. But he would have to be tame for now; he was smart enough to know when to fight and when to follow orders. Esthin had taught he and the other young Pokemon that lesson early on.
There was a fair crowd on deck, Karis and Taz discovered after she gathered her bag from her cabin. Just to make sure they didn't get separated Karis returned him and made her way off of the ferry at a brisk pace. She stumbled a bit as she stepped onto dry land, but regained her equilibrium quickly. This section of Littleroot was more developed than the rest of the town; due to the presence of the dock there were more houses, a fish market, a bait shop, and a boathouse or two. As charming as the aroma of fish and sweat was, Karis had bigger things to worry about. She pushed past the congestion of people roughly, ignoring the grunts and curses of protest, toward the heart of the town. The closer she got the more the crowd thinned; there was simply not all that much for them there. Before long she could truly breathe again.
Her absentminded footsteps led her out of the town and onto the route ahead. It was short, she knew, and was grateful for. There was no doubt that Lance's puppets were far ahead of herself, and that simply wouldn't do. She would have to travel quickly, perhaps even through the night. Though the idea wasn't something she liked, she so wanted to impress Esthin. He had always been so cold toward her, and everyone else for that matter, but maybe if she proved herself worthy he would give her his favor. Even Taz would laugh at her if he knew of her hope, but she had never told anyone and she wasn't about to start.
The beauty of nature was lost on her cold eyes as she hurried along. Once, she would have been able to appreciate it, all the while making her trip in good time. But the last few years in darkness, both mentally and physically, had blinded her. It was such that she didn't notice the dark canine Pokemon dart across her path until it was too late. Her foot connected with it, causing it to slide back several feet. It then stood and snarled at her viciously.
"What's your problem?" Karis snapped. "Go, get out of the way."
Instead of obeying the Poochyena lunged at her legs and tried to bite her. Karis jumped back and grabbed Taz's ball. "Alright, fine. You asked for it."
Taz landed in the middle of the path, his hackles raised and fangs showing in a gesture of aggression. His training made him so much more experienced than this scruffy wild thing, but Karis regarded it with a raised eyebrow and thoughts of potential. How lovely would it be to have a double battle team of two Mightyena?
"We're out to catch it," she said finally. "Don't hurt it too bad."
Though Taz couldn't see her logic, he growled an affirmative and slapped the ground in front of the wild Poochyena. A wave of mud splattered onto its fur, obscuring its vision as some of it got into its eyes. It barked and lunged at Taz with a Tackle, which he easily dodged. He then countered with a Tackle himself.
His actually connected. With an almost laughter-like howl of triumph he pinned it down for Karis to capture. She withdrew a Pokeball from her bag and pressed the center button. A jet of red light shot out and converted the wild Poochyena into pure energy, contained within the capsule. Karis smirked and returned the ball to her bag, though in a separate, more organized pocket containing only occupied balls.
"Good show, Taz," she complimented. "Later on we'll let it out and get acquainted. I know it's not going to be as well trained as you, but we'll see."
With that disturbance cared for, Karis continued on, this time with Taz following closely by her side. Thunder roared angrily, followed closely by the first drop of rain. Karis sighed, but figured this wasn't too awful. Already she could see Oldale; she would be in the limits within the next half hour. This guess proved to be true, as about thirty minutes later she entered the Pokemon Center. She was greeted by one of the many Nurse Joys, though this one was far more subdued than most. That told her all she needed to know; one of Esthin's people had been here and cut her down already. That wasn't necessarily a bad thing, since she didn't want to talk, she wanted to get in and get out. She approached the counter and lifted Taz onto it, then set Poochyena's ball down.
"Two Poochyena, one male, one, gender unknown," she said simply. The nurse took them silently and did the necessary tests and healing while Karis browsed the postings on the walls. There were advertisements as to Pokemon for sale or trade and various equipment. Among them was an ad for a nearby lottery involving rare Pokemon as prizes, but she wasn't interested. She needed to lay low, and a lottery was hardly the way to do that.
***
The trainer with the Larvitar hurried past Fyora and Sephy with the Weedle it had assaulted in his arms, gushing concern for the little insect. Fyora shook her head to herself; so many trainers didn't know when enough was enough, even when it came to catching Pokemon. Scars never heal, whether they be emotional or physical, and the way to forge fair bonds with one's Pokemon was not to cause them so much physical damage that they needed immediate medical care.
"That just sickens me," she commented. "People shouldn't take a life for granted like that. It could die before he reaches a Center, and that's only if it survives treatment. I'd like to beat him black and blue."
It seemed that her anger sped her pace until the few buildings of Odale surrounded them. "The first thing we should do is go to the Center," she commented. "I want to get my team looked at and check the bulletins. Sometimes they have some really cool stuff advertised."
That said, she set her path for the Center a few feet to the east. It was times like these that she appreciated small towns. It was so easy to find everything, unlike in the big cities, where it was a stretch to even get to the store. The red roofed building stood out enough that she'd had no problem sighting it. Before long she came to the doors, which had to be opened manually. The interior was smaller than most Centers, but it would do. The nurse behind the counter wasn't as peppy as Fyora would have expected. Perhaps she'd been having a bad day, she thought. She went up to the counter with the intention of hopefully brightening her day a bit. "Good afternoon, ma'am," she said brightly. "I have this male Sneasel here, name is Razor, and a young Pidgey for examination. I'm afraid I can't tell you its gender, but its name is Jesse."
She picked Jesse up from her pocket gently and set it on the counter, where it began to peep in protest at being disturbed. The uneasy look on Joy's face melted away as she cooed over the baby.
"It's just so precious. I'll have a gender for you when I bring it back."
With that she took Fyora's Pokemon to the back to be examined. This left her with a space of free time to occupy. She turned to the bulletin wall and examined the notices posted. To her left was another, much taller girl who appeared to be a few years older. Her entire aura was that of cold darkness. Subconsciously Fyora moved a few feet away with a shiver.
***
Karis glanced at the girl who came to stand next to her and had to do a double take. She looked so much like her darling Esthin. She could have sworn, too, that she'd come in with a Sneasel, which had probably gone for treatment. Esthin had never mentioned having family, but he'd never been very personal at all. She knew better than to ask him, though, and therefore resolved to find out this girl's last name.
***
Among the ads for lawn mowing, hedge trimming, house cleaning, and Pokemon for sale was a normally sized sheet of paper with bright lettering. Across the top it read "WIN" in bright red letters. Drawn in as effectively as a guppy to an anglerfish's light, she read on.
WIN
Draw a number, win rare Pokemon!
Once in a lifetime opportunity!
4836 Zimmerman St.
There was more to it, including information on date. To her surprise, the end date was today, in three hours. The best part was, there was no charge. Fyora thought this must surely be a scam, but it was worth a try.
When the nurse returned with her Pokemon she hurried to the counter and allowed Razor to take his place on her shoulder, then replaced Jesse in her coat pocket.
"Jesse is a girl," Joy told her. "And she's very sweet. You're quite lucky. Take good care of her."
With an assurance that she would Fyora left the Center, not noticing Karis' eyes on her the entire time. She went immediately to the location of the lottery, hoping that she wouldn't be too late. This was such a good opportunity. As it turned out, the address was a small restaurant that she assumed was family owned. She entered slowly to find a crowd of people in three basic groups; one, in an area that seemed to be designated for drawing numbers, one to turn in the numbers, and one away from the rest while they waited. Fyora joined the first and drew her number. As an impulse, she paid the fee to draw a second number. Then she melted into the next group and turned her numbers in. All that was left to do now was to wait thirty minutes for the drawing.
The time passed slowly, but it was up eventually.
"Alright girls and guys, it's that time!" a voice amplified by a microphone informed them. "Come close, lean in, see if your ticket wins! We'll have four drawings today. If you win, come right up and accept your prize."
Razor climbed to her other shoulder as Fyora stood and came toward the podium. The numbers were in a wire cylinder, which a balding man in a plaid flannel shirt was operating. Fyora crossed her fingers as he stopped the cylinder and withdrew the first number.
"6324," he read out. Fyora looked at her ticket stub and her jaw dropped; it was her number. Dumbfounded, she pushed her way to the front of the crowd.
"Well, little lady, it's your lucky day! Here's your prize. Please note we ask that you don't release it until you get outside."
Though it would be so easy to have handed her a common Pokemon, Fyora just nodded and accepted it. Instead of going to the back of the group she stayed at the front. The next number called turned out to be who else's, but Sephy's. She flashed him a congratulatory grin as he took his. The next was Sephy's as well. That was unbelievable luck, she thought. But she was even more astonished when the fourth and final number was hers as well. Eyes as wide as dinner plates, she accepted a second ball. "Th-thank you," she stammered as she took it, then left the building. She wanted to find out what exactly she had won.
She discovered upon exiting the building that a light drizzle had started, so she stayed under the restaurant's awning as she released the first Pokemon. A fairly small green lizard with a dark tail, which separated into two portions. "I know what you are," Fyora said excitedly. "You're a Treecko." It gave her a look that said 'Yes, that's obvious.' Fyora knelt down to examine it better. In this way she found a leather collar around its neck with its information.
'Treecko, male,' the tag read. 'Pound, Leer, Leech Seed, Synthesis.'
"Not bad," Fyora said, impressed. "What else did I get?"
She released her other Pokemon and gave a small squee of delight. "Charmander!" she said happily. It tilted its head at her and swished its tail. She reached out and caught the tag on its collar, similar to Treecko's, between her fingers. 'Charmander, male. Scratch, Growl, Swords Dance, Bite.'
With a bright grin she allowed Razor to hop off of her shoulder and examine the two new Pokemon, his ears perked. He stood tall on his hind legs with his arms crossed. Fyora thought he looked as though he were giving them a pep talk; she wasn't entirely wrong.
[
There is no alternative to my word,] he warned them. [
I am the boss, after Fyora. You will do as I say.]
Treecko waved its tails menacingly. [
Says who?]
Razor hissed at him and extended his claws, causing Treecko to back down immediately. Charmander shrugged in answer to Razor's declarations. [
Alright, as long as you're worthy of leadership I won't question you. He most suited for alpha male will have it, and if that's you, I trust you.]
Fyora had been waiting respectfully for their conversation to be over. When it appeared that it was, she recalled Treecko and Charmander, thinking she would get to know them better later on. For now she had to go to the Mart. Just as she was about to head that way she saw the guy with the Larvitar standing outside the Mart. Unable to believe the way fortune had favored her on this day, she hurried closer, barely caring that the rain was picking up in intensity.
"You," she said calmly when she was close enough. "You're the guy I saw on the route earlier, aren't you? Your Larvitar was impressive. Would you care for a quick match? Two on two, no switches."
