FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

**********8**********

Ori lead Aaron through the Mt. Silver, almost going back the way they came, but they made a turn at the falls and kept going from there. During the walk, Aaron asked some questions to ask her about her life while he was gone.

"So, how long have you been a mother?" Aaron asked.

"About four years. Terra is my oldest by six months."

"Six months? Isn't that a little too soon to be having a second child?"

"Well, we didn't actually plan Evan's birth. It sort of just happened one night when we went out for a little... break on parenting. We dropped Terra off with Quake while we went out for the evening. One thing led to another, and a few days later, I found out I was pregnant again." she said with a goofy smile.

"Wow, what was it like laying an egg?" Aaron asked. Despite his thirteen years of life, he's never seen a female give birth before. Ori looked at him like that was the dumbest question anyone has ever asked.

"You've never seen a female give birth before?" she asked in disbelief. Aaron shook his head and Ori looked like she was waiting to tell someone for a long time. "It was the single, most painful thing I'll ever experience in my life. I thought I was gonna get ripped apart from pushing that egg through my love tunnel. I thought I was ready for it when mom told me how it was when she gave birth to me, but I was so wrong. I didn't think it would be so painful. It was easier the second time, but it hurt just as bad." Aaron was feeling a little awkward as she was explaining the miracle of childbirth to him. He was also feeling a little bad for not being with her during those times. "At least my hubby was with me the whole time. He was so cute when he held the egg for the first time. I didn't think he'd be as happy as he was when he held our child in his arms. He was so happy, he ran around the mountain with the egg shouting 'I'm a dad!' over and over again. I thought he had forgotten about me in all his excitement, but I was too tired to really care. Birthing babies really takes a lot out of you. You males are real lucky to not have to go through that."

"I wouldn't say we're that lucky." Aaron commented. "It's not easy to please females knowing that there's always competition around the corner and the only thing we really got going for us are our cocks. Besides, with all the things females in general get away with just because they're not males, the least you could do is give birth to the children."

"Well, you didn't have such a hard time pleasing me during our 'fun time' when we were kids." Ori said with a sly grin. Aaron blushed furiously at her remark and was thankful the darkness of the cave hid it from her.

"T-that doesn't count! We were kids and we didn't have that many pokémon living near us."

"So, you want to deny the fact that you took away my virginity without realizing it and enjoyed mating with me from time to time?" Aaron felt his face get even hotter.

"I, uh... I mean, it was..." Ori laughed at him.

"You're just as cute as I remember you. I can't believe how much you haven't changed." Aaron laughed a little too, glad that she hasn't changed much either. She still knew how to push his buttons.

"So, tell me about your mate, or would you prefer I call him your 'hubby'?" Aaron asked with a slight chuckle.

"He's a rhydon who goes by the name of Kepa. Other than me, he's the strongest pokémon in this mountain." Ori replied proudly.

"How do you know that?"

"Silly Kitty, I didn't want just any male as my mate. I wanted a strong male who knows what he wants and wasn't afraid to take it, a male who knew how to take charge and demanded respect wherever he walked. I wanted someone who could take me down on in a fight and not be sorry for getting a little rough, but that doesn't mean I wanted him to be a thug. He had to have a compassionate side to him too."

"At least you're not one of those girls who just looks for a bad boy to show them a good time." the pink cat commented, earning a chuckle from the pachyderm.

"Nah, he's all the bad boy I need in my life. Besides, I already dated all the bad boys around here. They weren't nearly as exciting as you or Kepa when we mated."

"Say what now?!" Aaron was blushing furiously. Not only did she say she mated with, who knows how many other guys, but she said that he and Kepa were the best she's ever had. Before he could say anything else, she started laughing again.

"Jeez, Kitty, I was just joking! You know I wouldn't just whore myself around like some dog in heat. I haven't mated that often after you left and before I met my wonderful mate." Aaron let out a sigh and relaxed. "But I wasn't kidding about you and Kepa." Aaron felt his face heat up again.

"A-are you just saying that t-to mess with me?"

"A little, but I'm being totally serious about that."

"Oh... uh, t-thanks. Speaking of your mate, are we getting close to him yet?" Ori stopped walking and looked around for a moment.

"Hmm, he should be around here somewhere." she said to herself. "Kepa, where'd you go?!! I'm getting tired of looking for you!!!"

"Quit your shouting!!! There are others who're trying to sleep over here!!!" a loud voice shouted.

"You shouldn't be sleeping if you're on patrol!" Ori shouted back. There were loud footsteps that were approaching them. A few moments later, a tall, grey, mountain of muscle appeared around the corner. The rhydon looked a little irritated as approached them, but his face seemed to relax once he realized who he had been shouting at.

"Jeez, babe, you know you can't be shouting like that this late at night. What are you doing here anyway? Shouldn't you be at home with the kids? And... Is that a mew?" Ori walked up to the two-legged rhino and nuzzled against his leg, since she was about half his height.

"Yeah, he's the mew I told you about from when I was little. And don't worry about the kids, they're at home with Alann and Riko."

"So you're Aaron?" Kepa asked the little psychic.

"Yeah, and I take it you're Kepa?" Aaron asked.

"That's right. So you're the little pink bastard Quake's been talking' about. I never thought I'd be able to see you in person. How's life treating you?"

"Pretty good. I've been traveling a lot over the years, but I've been staying with some close friends recently."

"Oh, really? You settling down for good or are you just taking a break?"

"It's looking more like a break right now than anything else. There were some things I needed to get done and a promise I had to keep."

"Ahh, Ori told me about that. It's good to see you came through on that. Every year since I've known her, she goes to those graves around this time of year for five days straight waiting for you. I think she's been doing it longer than that though." Kepa said as he rubbed the top of her head.

"Kepa, why'd you tell him that?!" Ori exclaimed. Thanks to Aaron's excellent night vision, he could see her face reddening slightly. The tall rhino noticed her embarrassment and laughed.

"Oh, come on. It's not like he'll think any differently about you. He probably thinks it's a good thing, right?" Aaron nodded his head. "See, nothing to worry about." Of course him saying that didn't lessen the embarrassment she felt about it. Kepa let out a huge yawn and stretched his back. "Anyway, I'm getting sleepy and I bet you guys are too. How about we get some sleep and we'll catch up on things tomorrow?" As if the drowsiness was suddenly contagious, both Aaron and Ori started yawning too.

"I guess that's a good idea, but where are we gonna sleep?" Aaron asked.

"We can crash at my place. It's just around the corner. It's not much, but it's a place to get some sleep if you want it."

"Sounds good to me. I need my beauty sleep anyway." Ori said as she and Aaron followed Kepa.

"That's not gonna help you any." Kepa commented.

"And why's that?" She snapped back.

"Because you're already beautiful." he replied smoothly. Aaron wanted to laugh his ass off at how lame that line was, but thought better of it and let it slide.

"Aww, you're so sweet." Ori said happily as she leaned against him.

"You know you just got away from a beating." Aaron said telepathically to the large rhino. Kepa jumped a little at the sudden intrusion in his mind, but calmed down once he realized it was Aaron. He looked back at him and gave him a thumbs up with a sly grin. Aaron simply shook his head and smiled.

It only took a couple minutes to reach their destination. Kepa was right when he said it wasn't much. The cavern was only big enough to fit about six rhydons and there was just enough headroom for him to walk around without having to worry about bumping his head. The trio gathered around the center since there was more room to stretch. Kepa and Ori took their place laying next to each other, while Aaron situated himself a few feet away from them. He curled his long tail around his body and closed his eyes.

"What are you doing way over there?" Ori asked. Aaron opened his eyes and looked up to see her and Kepa looking at him.

"Uh, I just thought you guys wanted some space to yourselves."

"Silly Kitty, you don't have to act like a stranger. Come over here and snuggle with us. It'll be just like when we were kids... plus one more." she said with smile. "Besides, it gets kind of cold in the mountain and I don't want to see you shivering in the morning cuz you're cold. Now get over here and be warm with us or I'm gonna come over there and sit on you." she said in a demanding tone. Knowing that she isn't one to make empty threats, he got up and flew over the large pachyderm and lay down next to her. "That's better. Now we can go to sleep." The trio exchanged 'good nights' and fell asleep.

*****8*****

Aaron was the first to wake up the next morning. He yawned and sat up from his spot next to the sleeping pachyderm. He felt a slight chill in the cave and the ground felt a little cold. "Guess I should thank her when she wakes up." he thought to himself. He assumed that it was around eight in the morning and wanted to begin his morning ritual of getting breakfast, but he didn't want to leave and have them wake up while he was gone to assume he disappeared. Then a thought popped in his head. He thought back to what he had promised Ori the day before, when she showed him her home and figured that would be a great way to show his thanks and impress her at the same time. With that plan in mind, he had nothing else better to do but to sit back and wait for them to wake up. He fluffed up Ori's side as if she were a pillow and laid his head on her side like he'd done so many times in the past.

Almost an hour had passed before the two mates began to stir from their sleep. Ori was the first to rise and stretch her muscles, followed by Kepa.

"About time you two woke up. I was beginning to think I would have to have breakfast without you." Aaron teased.

"How long were you up?" Kepa asked.

"Almost an hour."

"Why didn't you wake us up? If you were hungry, you could've woken us up or gone to get food yourself." Ori said.

"Well for one, I know you don't like to be woken up by me, and two, I don't know how he's gonna react if I wake him up." the pink cat explained. "Besides, I want to take you all to my place for breakfast."

"You want to treat us to breakfast in your tree house?"

"You live in a tree?" the rhino asked. Aaron sighed.

"Yes, I want to treat you all to breakfast at my tree house. There's plenty of room and enough food to feed everyone." Both Ori and Kepa were a little unsure of his idea. "I can assure you two that you won't be disappointed." The couple took another moment to think on it and agreed to do it. Aaron teleported them to their home to get Alann, Riko, and the kids up and ready to go.

It only took a few minutes to get everyone ready once at the trio arrived at the cave. The kids were excited about having breakfast in a tree of all places, while Alaan and Riko were skepticle of the whole idea.

"Is everyone ready to go?" Aaron asked. The group replied with bunch of nods and yes's. "Okay, this is my first time taking a large group with me so, if you want, I could take half of you with and make it two trips."

"I'm sure you can do it in one go." Ori said reassuringly. "Now hurry up and take us or we're gonna die hungry."

"Alright alright alright." Aaron took a moment to concentrate his psychic powers and he instantly teleported to another part of the world.

The group arrived about half a mile from their destination without losing anyone, except for Sho, who ended up on a low hanging branch. Other than that, the transport was a success. Unfortunately, the trip cost Aaron most of his energy and he had to hitch a ride on Ori the rest of the way. It took them a little over ten minutes to get through the dense forest and into the clearing where their destination was. Needless to say, they were stunned at the structure before them. The enormous tree that was Aaron's home had the height that could possibly rival that of Mt. Silver, at least from their point of view. Multiple entrances could be seen everywhere along the tree, making it easier for any bird, or psychic cat, to get to where they need to be.

"Whoa, it's HUGE!!!" Sho exclaimed in amazement.

"That's the biggest tree I've ever seen!" Kepa added. The others nodded in agreement and generally made similar comments.

"You weren't kidding when you said there was plenty of room. What the heck do you do in there?" Ori asked.

"I got lots of stuff I can do in there. I have a garden in one of the upper levels where I grow various berries I find. There's also a library where I read and study literary works, a lab for conducting my experiments, storage space for souvenirs, a play area, an astronomy lab, and a bunch of other stuff. I could go on for a while, but we're all hungry and I think we should eat first before we go on the grand tour." Aaron said. With that said, the pink psychic got off the grey pachyderm and led the group inside his home.

He led the group to the garden area of his home and took the fastest route possible. Although the route was fun for the kids and Ori, the others were a little hesitant about getting on the bubble elevators. It took a bit of reassuring to make them feel comfortable enough to get on. After that, it was pretty much a straight route from there. They arrived at the garden in only a couple minutes. From there, Aaron picked several different kinds of berries and put them in a big pile that was enough to feed everyone. The group sat in a circle around the pile and picked out their favorite berries and a couple of new ones to taste.

"Your home is very impressive," Alann commented. "but why have it so big? Isn't it a little much for just one pokémon?"

"Yeah, it really is, but there's a silly reason for it. Us 'legendary' pokémon have a tendency to make our homes either overly complicated or really simple. For example, Lugia lives in an underground maze of caverns in the middle of the ocean and the legendary birds Moltres, Zapdos, and Articuno, live in a shrine on top of a mountain on their own islands." Aaron explained.

"Doesn't it get lonely being here by yourself?" Riko asked.

"It does sometimes. I told all the nearby pokémon that they're welcome to come over anytime they want, but because of my 'legendary' status in the world, they think it would be rude to show up unannounced and they treat this place like some sort of sacred ground or something."

"Man, that kinda sucks." Kepa commented.

"I guess, but you learn to deal with it." Aaron sighed. "But enough about that, let's get to eating already."

*****8*****

Back in Viridian City, the sun was high in the sky and the weather was hot, but not hot enough for it to be unbearable. Chris and Tora were in their backyard training. They started off slow with some basic warm-ups to loosen up, then went on a twenty lap run around the house. Chris had a bit of difficulty around lap twelve, but pushed himself to finish, despite Tora's suggestions for him to rest. After the run though, she forced him to take a break by sitting him down under a tree and whipping his leg with her tail whenever he tried to get up from his place under the shade. It stung a bit and she accidently left a couple of cuts. Just for extra measures, she paralyzed him while she went inside to bring them some drinks. When she came back, she released him from the hold and handed him his drink.

"Did you really have to do that? I couldn't feel anything for five minutes." Chris whined as he already finished his cup.

"You can't sit down for five minutes to save your life. Of course I had too." Tora replied as she took a few sips from her cup.

"Couldn't you have warned me first?"

"If I warned you, you would've run away." she replied. "Besides, I'm the one who needs the training. You can only use it to get yourself back in shape, and that doesn't mean pushing yourself too hard. We have whole month before we set out, so relax." Chris sighed. He knew she was right, but now that he was really preparing, he couldn't really sit still for anything.

After about twenty minutes of resting in the shade, Tora decided that it was okay to continue with her training. Chris ran inside the house and got everything he needed for their session. Since today was their first day of training in a while, he chose to go over some of the things they did last time and move on to more intense methods later. He came back out with a four tall wooden stakes, a hammer, a few frisbees, and some tennis balls. He hammered the stakes in the ground two feet apart from each other and set aside the other stuff for later.

"Alright, you know what to do. Just hit those targets with your thunderbolt and we'll see if your aim has gotten any worse since last time." Chris said.

"Are you trying to say that I'm not as skilled as I used to be?" Tora asked as she took her place a distance away from the sticks in the ground.

"No, but I will be if you miss any of them." Chris replied with a grin.

"Whatever. You might wanna sit down though."

"Why do I have to sit down?"

"Cuz I'm gonna blow you away with my skills and I don't want you to hurt yourself." Chris laughed at her remark and then an idea popped in his head.

"Hold on a sec. Since you seem so confident in your 'skills', "he said doing air quotes, "then I'm sure you can handle one more target right?"

"One more won't make a bit of difference. It's just one more chance to prove to you that I'm still the best." she confidently.

"We'll see about that." he muttered.

"What was that?"

"Oh, nothing. I'll be right back." Chris said as he snuck away with a huge grin on his face. He ran inside the house and went into the same box he got the wooden stakes from. "Hope it's still in here." he thought as he went through the stuff inside. "Ha, here it is!" He pulled out a small matallic rod, or to be more precise, a lightning rod that was about as long as his forearm. He remembered the first, and hopefully last time, that he and his parents used the magical metal rod.

There was a time when Tora was a pikachu, when she had way too much electricity stored up in her body and, as with most electric types, went on a rampage by zapping everyone and everything in sight to get rid of all that pent up power. Even the local pokémon in the forest weren't safe from her blind fury. It took his dad nearly half an hour to figure out what was wrong with her and pretty much stole, but later paid for, a few lightening rods from the hardware store and planted them in the backyard of their house. Chris eventually lead her away from the city to the house, nearly getting zapped by several thunderbolts on the way, and ran circles in the backyard for almost half an hour to get her to use up all her electricity. He taunted her the whole time as the rods did their work in absorbing her attacks. In one final desperate move, she used a powerful thunder attack and passed out, having exhausted herself and expelling all her electricity. Whether it was a good thing or not, she doesn't remember what happened that day and when she asked about it, they just told her she was knocked out by another pokémon in a battle. She accepted that being the reason why she was so tired that day.

Using the knowledge that she doesn't remember that day and has never seen a lightning rod since then, he figured a little prank would be the right amount of payback for those lashings across his leg. Chris made his way to the backyard, where the electric mouse was waiting impatiently, and drove the rod in the ground.

"Finally. If you're done stalling, I want to move on to the part where my skills knock you off your feet." she said with little sparks coming from her cheeks.

"You gotta hit them all first to do that. Show me what you got." Chris said as he took his place behind her. Tora charged up her electricity and let loose a wicked thunderbolt on the rod Chris just planted.

"Ha! How was that?"

"Not bad. Let's see you try the next one." he responded, trying to seem as unimpressed as possible. Tora charged up again and sent another thunderbolt at the next stick over. It seemed like a sure hit, but it curved at the last second and hit the metallic rod.

"Wait, what?" she asked out loud, a bit confused as to why her attack had curved like that.

"I said hit the next one."

"But... I just..."

"You just what?"

"I... was just seeing if I could switch my target at the last second." she lied behind a fake smile. Chris could see that she was shocked to see her attack curve like that and wanted to laugh, but suppressed the urge to draw this out more.

"Well, it's good to see you're trying something new, but that can wait for later. Hit the next one." She turned back to the task at hand and started to think that maybe she did miss and got lucky. This time, she tried for the one in the middle. It was a good distance away from the metal rod at It seemed like sure hit, but it curved again and hit the rod for the second time.

"What the heck?! Why did it do that?!" she shouted in both surprise and frustration.

"Seriously, Tora, quit playing around so we can move on already." Chris said trying to contain his laughter behind a straight face.

"Didn't you see that?! That was unnatural! What's up with that stupid stick you put down?!"

"There's nothing up with the stick. Maybe you're just having an off day."

"I'm not having an off day! There's something wrong with that stick!" she protested.

"Tell you what, if you try one more time and still hit that same stick I'll believe you." Tora grunted and faced the row of stakes yet again, this time a little ticked off. This time, she was going to try for the stake on the opposite side of the rod. It was the very last one on the opposite side of the rod, so if the attack were to curve again, she might have a few things to say to Chris.

Once again, and probably the last time before she snaps, she shot a bolt of lightning at her target and it curves at the last second once again. Chris started laughing when she failed to hit a different target for the third time in a row. Finally fed up with whatever magic was doing this, she stomped her way to the metallic rod with her tail glowing white and sparks flying from her cheeks. Realizing what she was about to do, Chris ran to stop her.

"Wait! Hold up a second! There's something I have to you abo-" It was too late. Tora broke out into a run and snapped the metal rod down to where it met the earth with her iron tail. She picked up the part she broke off and chucked it away with all her strength. It landed surprisingly far for a pokémon with short arms. "Uh... I didn't know you could throw that far..." Chris commented.

"Oh, really? You want to see how far I can toss you?" she said as she glared at him.

"No, not really. Say, how about we move on to something else before someone gets hurt, namely me."

"I think that's a good idea." Without another word, she walked passed him while angrily muttering to herself.

"Guess that plan backfired... Maybe I should just stick to the training for now and take her out for ice-cream later. That always cheers her up." Chris thought to himself.

*****8*****

He went to the next exercise that tested both her reflexes and how well she could use her tail. This is where the tennis balls come in. During the first part of the test, Chris would throw the balls at Tora and she had to dodge them while staying in a 3x3 foot box marked off by the wooden stakes used earlier. She successfully passed that part without any problems. The second part of the test wasn't too bad. All she had to do was hit the balls back to Chris using her tail. After that, it was time for strength training. They had to leave the house for this and go toward the edge of town, but first, they had to take a break from the hot sun and let Marcus and Angela know where they were going. Tora was still slightly sore about what happened earlier and had already suspected that Chris knew about it the whole time.

After their break, Chris let his parents know that they were leaving and headed out the door. It was around two in the afternoon and they decided to jog to their destination rather than walking the whole way. It was just another way to get in some stamina training in. It took about half an hour of jogging, but they finally made it. At the edge of town there was wide open area and in that open area were lots of decent sized boulders. They were the perfect thing to test the power of her iron tail, as well as her other attacks. Even without her iron tail, she could destroy one of those boulders with a strong thunder attack.

"So, ready to get to work, or should we rest first?" Chris asked while he was catching his breath. "I say... we rest first..." Tora replied just as out of breath as he was. They lay their backs on the grassy ground under their feet and stare up into the clear blue sky. They lay with their feet pointing toward the other's head so they looked like they were upside down to each other. The two watched as the clouds rolled by and occasionally pointed out different objects and shapes the white puffs in the sky formed. They were having a relaxing time together and completely forgot about the training they were supposed to be doing then.

"Hey, uh, sorry about earlier today." Chris said.

"About what? Oh, you mean when you ticked off with that stupid stick of yours? Yeah, that was real funny Chris." Tora replied sarcastically.

"I didn't mean to make you mad. I just wanted to get back at you for whipping my leg. I didn't think you were gonna flip out like that."

"Yeah, well you'd be the same way if you were in my shoes."

"You don't wear shoes." Chris joked.

"You know what I mean. Anyway, I guess I didn't have to hit you as hard as I did. My tail tip is pretty sharp." she said as she examined the bolt-shaped tip of her tail.

"So, we're both sorry?"

"I guess."

"Hug it out?" Chris asked as he sat up.

"Yeah, okay." Tora got up from her spot, hopped onto his lap and wrapped her little arms the best she could around his chest. Chris embraced her as well and added a little backrub with his right hand for added measures. They both sighed in contempt as their little squabble was settled and forgotten in their minds.

"Feeling better?" Tora didn't say anything. She just nuzzled her face into him and hugged him tighter before letting him go.

"Now I do."

"Hey! Kid with the raichu!" someone shouted. Both Chris and Tora looked to see a young trainer wearing blue jeans, a green shirt, and a black sleeveless bikers jacket walking toward them. He looked to be in his late teens or early twenties. Chris took Tora off his lap and stood up to greet the trainer.

"Hey, what's up?"

"I take it that's your raichu?" the trainer asked.

"Yeah, she is. Why do you ask?"

"I want to battle you. I figured that since you got that raichu, you could be a nice challenge for my pokémon." The trainer had a smug look on his face when he said that, but Chris just brushed it off as him being overconfident. Up close, the trainer looked more like a thug and he felt a little uneasy being challenged by him. He looked down at Tora.

"Well, do you feel like battling?"

"I guess so. I could use a little workout. After all, we were supposed to be strength training right now anyway, now that I think about it." she replied while stretching her muscles. Chris mentally face palmed himself for forgetting about their training.

"Oh well. Can't do anything about it now." he thought. "Okay, we'll take you on, but I only have one pokémon."

"No problem. I only have one on me anyway." The trainer turned around and distanced himself from them to make room for the battle. Likewise, Chris and Tora took their places as well. Although they didn't show it, both of them were very excited to have a battle after such a long time.

Once everyone was ready, the trainer tossed his pokéball and called out his pokémon. "Let's get things rolling, dratini!" In a flash of light, a dratini materialized from its ball, but it was nothing they had expected. Dratini are usually somewhat long with shiny blue scales, a smooth white underbelly, and are full of 'life energy'. This one however, didn't meet any of those descriptions. Instead of the usual blue scales, they were a light shade of purple, almost pink looking. The white underbelly was slightly gray and covered in dirt, making the dragon look like it had just gotten out of a pretty tough fight, which was probably true because it looked like it was ready to pass out. Not only that, but the dragon was smaller than a normal dratini. If Chris were to compare its body length to Tora's height, it would only beat her by a couple inches. The tiny dragon's breathing was hard and unsteady. It looked back at its trainer, and then faced forward to see Chris and Tora staring at it. Out of nowhere, it broke down and started whimpering.

"Uh... Is your dratini okay?" Chris asked a little unsure of what to make of the situation. Tora was at her wits end too. Here she was, pumped up for a battle, and her opponent starts crying as soon as it enters the battle field.

"Urgh, not this again." the trainer angrily mumbled. "Hey, what's your deal?! Why the hell do you keep on crying?! I thought you wanted to get stronger!" The little dragon turned back to its trainer and whimpered something under its breath. "I don't have time for your petty little crying! We're in a battle right now and if you want to get stronger, you need to suck it up and get fighting!" At this, the dratini just flopped down and refused to move, which frustrated the trainer even more.

"Should we do something?" Tora asked, fearing what the trainer might do to the dragon if this goes on any further.

"I think we should. I don't like where this is headed." Chris said with same worry in his voice. He approached the trainer with Tora right beside him. "Hey man, take it easy. If your pokémon doesn't want to fight, you shouldn't force it to."

"Mind your business kid! This doesn't concern you!" the trainer snapped back.

"Yes it does! You challenged us to a battle with a pokémon that's clearly exhausted and you're still trying to make it fight. As a trainer and human being with compassion, I can't just sit by and watch you mistreat your pokémon like you're doing now!" Chris shouted back.

His anger was at an all-time high. He couldn't stand trainers who mistreated their pokémon. He heard about the things abusive trainers did to their pokémon behind closed doors from reports on the news. They would beat, torture, even rape and molest them for 'bad behavior' or just sick pleasure. He hated to think about the pain those pokémon must've gone through before justice had been served and those trainers were arrested for their crimes. Unfortunately, some of those pokémon never recovered from their abuse and either ended up in a special center that treats them for their damaged psyche, or killing themselves. He'll be damned if he just sits back and watches the same abuse happen in front of him without doing anything to help.

The trainer didn't take too kindly to Chris's accusation of him mistreating his pokémon and stepped passed his dratini so he stood face to face with him. Well, not exactly face to face. He stood about a foot taller than Chris and had to look down at him. Any other kid would have back away from such an intimidating sight, but not Chris. He was too pissed to really care how tall his opponent was and didn't mind if this confrontation ended up in a fist fight.

"Mistreat my pokémon? Ha! Look kid, since you're young and probably don't know this, I'll let you in on a little not-so-secret secret. Pokémon won't get any stronger unless you get them in as many battles as you can. The more they battle, the stronger they get. The stronger they get, the more battle they'll win. Eventually, I'll be the strongest trainer in the world, even if you think I'm 'mistreating' my pokémon. While you're still at home treating every single cut, scratch, or bruise your pokémon get, I would've already become the new champion by the time you get your second badge!" While the arguing was going on, Tora took it upon herself to make sure the dragon, who was still lying on the ground, was still alive and conscious.

"Hey, you still awake?" she asked as she gently shook the pinkish dragon. Instead of a verbal response, she got shocked by a weak electrical jolt and quickly pulled her paw away. It felt numb and she couldn't really move it properly. "Thunder wave. Poor thing must be scared out of its mind." she thought. "I'm not gonna hurt you. Just let me see if you got any bruises or some-." The dratini growled fiercely at her with sparks flying about its head fins. "Come on, little guy, I'm not gonna hurt you." she said with her paws raised up defensively. At this, the sparks grew fiercer and the dratini was about to unleash it's attack, but the sound of flesh being hit broke its concentration. Fearing the worst, Tora turned around expecting to see a hurt Chris on the ground, but it turned out to be the other trainer on the ground holding his bleeding nose.

"You little bastard! What the fuck?!" the trainer yelled.

"Don't you dare talk about Tora like that, you second rate trainer!" Chris shouted. "You say one more thing about her and I'll pound your face in!" For a brief moment, Tora stared at Chris as if he were a completely different person. It had been forever-and-a-day since the last time he hit anyone that insulted him or her. Whatever that trainer said about her must've pissed him off even more than he already was. The trainer slowly got up with a slight grin, still covering his bleeding nose.

"Second-rate trainer you say? Hehe, okay kid, tell you what. Since you think you can raise pokémon better than me," he reached along his belt and pulled out a pokéball. "then you raise that sorry excuse for a dragon and try to prove me wrong, not that you ever will." he tossed the ball to Chris, who caught it without letting up the glare he was giving him. "I'll take my leave now, since you wanna go around punching people in the face, and get this fixed up real quick. Just know this, the next time I see you will be on the battlefield and I'm gonna crush you and your weak ass pokémon into oblivion." The trainer turned and walked away, stepping passed Tora and the growling dratini, but not before he took one last glance at dragon and shook his head disapprovingly.

Chris looked at the ball in his hand and then to the dratini. He pointed the ball at it and recalled the dragon into the sphere. With a heavy sigh he looked over at Tora. She seemed a little worried about what may have happened in order to tick him off that bad. Either that, or she was probably thinking about how bad the dratini was beaten.

"Come on. We gotta get this little one to the pokécenter." Tora nodded and followed right beside him as he ran to town. It took them about fifteen minutes to get into town and to the pokémon center. Once inside, they ran up to the front desk almost out of breath. Nurse Joy was working at the desk and was a little startled by their entrance.

"Is there something I can help you with?" she asked with concern.

"I need you... To heal... This... Dratini..." Chris gasped as he put the ball on desk. Joy took the ball and placed it on a machine that was behind her. She pressed a few buttons and the machine can to life. The ball lit up and faded repeatedly as the machine was doing its magic to heal every cut and scratch that was on the dragons scales. A wave of relief swept over the two friends, that is until Joy brought their attention back to her.

"Everything's in order and it'll take about an hour to heal the pokémon."

"Thank you, Nurse Joy. You have no idea how good it is to hear that." Chris replied gratefully, which earned him her trademark smile.

"It is my job after all to make sure every pokémon is in tip top shape. Now, this dratini isn't yours correct? Do you know the owner of it?" Chris managed to keep his cool and not let his anger show on his face. "Yeah, the owner gave it to me after I won it in a battle. He took off saying that I could raise it better." It was more of a truthful fact than a lie. He did punch him after all, so that counts as a fight, right?

"Oh. Well in that case, I could register you as the current owner if this pokémon right now, or would you rather wait until the dratini is healed?"

"I think it's best I do it later. There's someplace we have to be right now, so we'll come back in an hour." Joy nodded.

"Very well. I'll be sure to look after it while you're gone."

"Thanks, Nurse Joy." With that said, he and Tora made their way outside with a lot to think about. The best way to think things over is with a frozen dairy treat. "What do you say we get some ice-cream? It's been a long day and I think you deserve a treat."

"Really?" she asked with a bit of excitement in her voice.

"Yeah, you worked hard today and it wouldn't feel right if I didn't reward you some kind of way." She grinned from ear to ear when he said that.

"Thanks. Don't forget to get yourself something too. I don't want to be the only one enjoying delicious dairy treats. It'll make me feel like I'm fat." she joked.

"Oh you're not fat, you're just chubby." he said with a laugh. He suddenly felt his leg seize up and fell on his face. "Owww..."

"Just because I said that, it doesn't mean you can call me fat."

"I said you were chubby, not fat." Chris replied getting back up, only to fall on his knees as she shocked him again. "If you keep this up, we're not gonna get any ice-cream today." Tora went wide-eyed at the thought of not getting any ice-cream.

"Alright, I'll stop! Just promise me we'll still get some ice-cream!" she begged. Chris got up and chuckled at her.

"Yeah, yeah. We'll still get some ice-cream, just no more shock therapy." Tora giggled as he stood up once again to lead the way to Milshakes.

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