Whenever Kosh rode up to the National Park, she always found she had dozens of trainers willing to battle with her. The trio was walking the trails through the lush woods on a rather beautiful day when a voice called out to them. They turned at the noise, and from the trees walked a boy clad in dark blue jeans, brown sandals, and a white, button-up shirt. On his belt sat a single pokeball, and that was the first thing Kosh noticed.
"Hey," the voice called out again, and Kosh's head slowly rose to center on the boy's face.
Kosh let out a gasp as her gaze met with that of the boy's dark-purple eyes. They sat beneath dark black bangs, which sprouted from a medium-length head of hair. Kosh studied his face closer and realized she'd never seen someone with skin like this before-- it was a deep brown color, like roasted apricots, and it shown magnificently in the sunlight. He wore a gorgeous lopsided grin, happy to have found another trainer wandering through the woods on this lovely day.
"Oh my gosh," she swooned softly to herself, "he is so handsomely foreign and prince-like!" Beneath her, Pip rolled his eyes and Kipper merely nodded, both heads letting out a simultaneous sigh.
"Ello," the boy said, still grinning. "I'm not from these parts, but I see you have a doduo there. Would ya care to have a battle with me?"
"Even his voice is handsome," Kosh continued to swoon, her clasped hands coming up to her face. Pip swiveled his face around to give her a look.
"'Scuse me?" the boy said, tilting his head in confusion.
"Oh," Kosh said, visibly snapping back to reality, "of course!"
She slid down off Pip and Kipper, quickly brushing the stray feathers from the back of her dress and adjusting the ribbon before stepping forward a few feet to shake the boy's hand. She didn't usually do this, but she really wanted an excuse to get close to him. He smelled like roses, and Kosh almost fainted then and there. She backed up a step before speaking, giving herself a chance to catch her breath.
"I'm Kosh. Would you like to meet my pokemon before we battle?" she said, reaching back and placing her hand on the back of Kipper's head to pull them both forward. "This is Kipper, and this guy," she motioned her head towards Pip, "is Pip. They're my noble steeds."
The boy reached out to pat Kipper on the head, and Kosh breathed in deep as the flowery smell hit her again.
"My name's Kanvar," he said to her, before releasing his own pokemon—a roselia, "and this is Prakrit."
So that's why he smells like roses, Kosh thought happily to herself.
"He's so handsome!" she gushed, leaning down to get a closer look at the pokemon, and prompting a bashful look from the gorgeous boy. "You guys must have worked really hard for him to have evolved into such a good-looking roselia."
"Well," the boy admitted sheepishly, "we have been traveling for a bit. I'm a tad embarrassed to admit that it's been about a year, and Prakrit only just evolved a week or so ago. We aren't much for battling," at this, the boy looked down at his partner, "but our strength in contests is growing every day. We've already placed second in two different contests!"
This led to a rather one-sided conversation on contests. Kosh didn't know much about them, but Kanvar was more than willing to talk, and she was more than willing to stand and listen to him chat on in his soft, singing tone. She was getting lost in both his voice and eyes when she felt Kipper, who'd been getting more and more agitated by this turn of events, bop his head against her own.
Kosh got his drift and quickly reminded Kanvar of the battle. He laughed, before moving across the field they were standing in to take his command position. Prakrit moved into center and took a battle-ready stance—arms and legs spread, and a determined look on his face. Kosh turned and jogged until she was a good distance opposite Kanvar. Pip and Kipper followed her back a smidge before turning and facing their opponent.
"As a gentleman," the boy called over the clearing they'd chosen for battle, "I will allow your Pip and Kipper to move first."
"Fine then," Kosh called back happily, reaching up to brush a strand of hair from her face. She was ready to impress this Prince of Bishie with a win. "Pip, go at him with Peck. Kipper, watch his back!"
The feet shot forward and all at once the twin avian heads were flying towards Prakrit. Before he could even attempt to dodge, Prakrit was sent tumbling head over heels backwards by a solid Peck to the chest. The two bodies slid to a stop at the same time, with Kipper letting out a low squawk. The roselia quickly hopped up.
"Wow! Those two are fast!" Kosh heard Kanvar say aloud. She grinned. "Prakrit," he called quickly, "slow them down with Sweet Scent and follow up with Magical Leaf."
In the center of the field, the green head nodded, letting out a, "Rose!" of acknowledgement, and Kosh thought happily how much Prakrit looked like a little bouquet of roses brought to life by some strange magic. Pip turned his head to the side, one eye watching the small body curiously while Kipper chirped softly above him. Prakrit bent his head down and began to shine a light pink, the color floating out from his massive blooms to surround him. Quickly the air around him began to shimmer in a matching tint, and both Pip and Kipper found themselves mesmerized by the sight.
Kosh thought for a moment about how beautiful the scene was, before quickly realizing the trap.
"Don't just watch," she called out to her teammates, "get away from it quick! Rapidash outta there!"
This seemed to snap the two out of it, and they quickly turned to get distance between themselves and the spreading color. Prakrit looked up as they turned, a grin on his face, and slowly his arms rose. Pip and Kipper had managed to run a few dozen feet when all at once Prakrit threw his arms outward and began to spin in place with increasing speed. From his twirling body flew the accumulated powder, dusting the grounds and ultimately engulfing Pip and Kipper. The dust covered them, and the duo let out an indignant cry before slowing dramatically.
Kosh gasped at the sight. It was like Prakrit had cast a spell on them, slowing time. That dust wasn't good, not at all. She considered her options quickly. At this pace, Pip and Kipper weren't going to outrun the next attack. The only thing they could do was turn around and go back at Prakrit.
Well, the dust had already done its damage; might as well take advantage of their opponent being momentarily occupied.
"Pip! Kipper!" she called urgently. "Circle back on him! Pip, I want you to let out a mighty Growl like the biggest arcanine you can imagine. Kipper, focus on using Quick Attack and trimming that magic bouquet down before he can use his next attack."
They called loudly at her, both heads nodding in acknowledgment. Kosh saw Pip's eyes light up as he imagined the biggest arcanine he could, and beside him Kipper concentrated on taking control, steering the body in a wide arc to plunge back into the semi-transparent film of pink.
There was a moment—a split second—where Kosh saw Pip and Kipper switch over function of the body entirely to Kipper. It was an odd thing to watch, and only anyone who knew the two as well as Kosh could have noticed it. Slowly the left wing lowered and came into the same position as the right—tilted out a bit more and angled downward. Their footsteps took on an almost unnoticeable new beat. Meanwhile Pip's head became steadier as all his attention was focused on the head and neck.
Across the field, Kanvar called out to his pokemon.
"Quickly Prakit! Like we practiced—straight into Magical Leaf!"
His last words were clipped by Pip. Opening his beak wide and screwing his eyes shut, Pip inhaled deeply before letting out an unearthly cry in Prakrit's direction, louder than anything the two trainers and their pokemon had ever heard before in their lives. From her position behind them, Kosh could see the air on the other side of the field ripple, and Kanvar grab his ears in what appeared to be intense discomfort. The doduo continued to move forward, reaching a steady jog as the speed of the Quick Attack met the resistance of the Sweet Scent.
In the center of the field, Prakrit continued to spin. Kosh was a bit surprised at this—any other pokemon would have attempted to dodge their oncoming opponent at this point. It was then she realized what Kanvar called out.
"No! Pip! Kipper!" she screamed out at them, but it was too late. The Growl was taking its toll, and no one on that side of the field could hear anything she said.
The pink was dissolving away, and through her tears, Kosh saw the dark petals begin to form around the roselia. They clumped about his midsection, before spiraling outwards in a vortex of dark purple. Pip and Kipper were only a few feet away when the darkness surrounded them, ripping at their feathers and slicing at their necks.
The Growl stopped instantly, and Kipper and Pip fell back, crying out softly in a heartbreaking fashion before folding their heads together across their backs and laying absolutely still. The moment they hit the ground, the storm of bruised-purple dispersed, the petals landing among them and cloaking the field in a disturbing beauty.
Kosh saw Kanvar look up from covering his ears to find himself the winner. Prakrit stood swaying for a moment, confirming himself the victor, before stumbling backwards towards his owner and flopping down against his legs—thoroughly dizzy and ready to rest.
Kosh ran forward, petting Pip and Kipper gently and praising them mightily before returning them to their pokeball. She sighed heavily, walking forward across the field to congratulate Kanvar.
"Congratulations," she whispered, looking him in his all-of-a-sudden-not-quite-so-gorgeous eyes as she shook his hand. "That was really amazing how he used Magical Leaf right after using Sweet Scent."
"Yea," he said, hitting the button on his pokeball in one hand to return the roselia in his arms, "we practiced on that for hours. It's one of our best contest moves. Pip and Kipper were really amazing too—I've never seen a pokemon use two attacks at once."
Kosh blushed, smiling.
"Um…" he continued with a subdued laugh, prompting a curious look from Kosh, "during the battle, did you call Prakrit a 'magic bouquet'?"
Kosh answered him with a grin and a shrug.