Chapter 2 - Fight for Love

It felt good inside his Pokéball. Dark yet light, small and yet spacious. It was lonely, but that was all he could wish for at the moment.

Despite hearing it with his own two ears, as well as everyone else hearing it too, he couldn't grasp it.

Just hours ago she had appeared, Abbie the beautiful Lopunny. As usual, she was clinging to that enormous Typhlosion, Winseye, but this time it seemed different. While Abbie was usually bold and brazen in her actions and words, it was clear by how tightly she clung to Winseye that today's speech would blow all the others out of the water.

"It's decided, you know!? Winseye and I are going to do it--we're going to have as many eggs as possible, can you believe it!?" she asked, though all of her questions were truly declarations, for Abbie never questioned her own desires. The announcement was clearly unexpected, to the point that even Winseye looked alarmed before he began turning blue, a sign of total embarrassment for the poor Pokémon.

Kensa watched the reactions of those around him--Fleep the Ampharos and Milly the Cinccino were congratulating Abbie while Pebil the Luxray, Fleep's devoted life partner, attempted to help Winseye get over his shock. Strei, a blind but fierce Lucario, began choking on the Pecha berries he had been happily devouring before Abbie, who happened to be his half-sister, had appeared.

Kensa spat out the herbs he had been chewing on, standing and leaving the small group abruptly. He needed time away from the others, and the only place he could think of was his Pokéball. He couldn't understand Abbie's decision--like Winseye, he was a fire-type too, but it was obvious that he and Abbie were a better pair than Abbie and Winseye, after all--Kensa was an Infernape, and an Infernape and a Lopunny looked better together than a big fat Typhlosion, right?

Safe inside his Pokéball, Kensa pondered Abbie's decision. Bitterness swept over him in waves, returning ever stronger every time it seemed to be fading. It wasn't right--Winseye clearly wasn't aware of Abbie's plans, and Abbie made stupid decisions all the time. Perhaps she just needed convincing that she was making a mistake. But that wasn't true and Kensa knew it--Abbie had been clinging to Winseye ever since they'd met near that Safari Zone in Johto, and that was so long ago that they had moved to Unova what seemed ages ago!

Besides, whatever Abbie desired... Abbie got--and she made sure of that.

Deep in the process of feeling sorry for himself, Kensa was unprepared when he was suddenly ejected from his Pokéball and thrown to the ground. The moon was high in the sky, and Kensa snarled at the Buneary in the moon, blaming it for his miserable situation.

"Hey," someone said roughly, "Are ya gonna get up or are ya gonna just lay in the dirt all night?"

Kensa stopped glaring at the moon long enough to notice a female Scrafty standing twenty feet away, her arms crossed and eyes narrowed as she watched him. He recognized her, but not well enough to know her name--she seemed very familiar to him, though.

"I said get up... if ya wanna fair fight, that is! I won't hesitate ta kick a ‘mon who's down, though, just so's ya know," she spat.

Kensa shifted to get a better look at her, it was hard in this light--his flame was burning low, in sync with his mood. "Who are you?" he asked, squinting at her.

"I'm Tandia, ya jerk, 'n I've been trainin' and followin' ya around evah since ya showed up here." She paused and took a few steps towards him. "Ya know, it oughta remind ya of somethin'... oh yeah, how's 'bout youse? Always followin' that dumb Lopunny 'round in circles. 'N ya know what's funny 'bout that? She don't even know's ya exist!"

Kensa's fire shot several feet into the air as the Scrafty goaded him on, his bitterness welling up and spilling over. "Shut up!" he yelled, lunging at her. A good hard hit ought to quiet her, at least he thought so.

She dodged and grabbed his tail, throwing him to the ground and slamming a foot onto the back of his neck. "Hey's now, don't get so angry. We haven't even talked ovah the rules. Here's the deal--ya win, I go away forevah. But, iffen I win... we'll talk about that aftah the fight." She removed her foot to allow Kensa to get up, but he didn't move.
"Ya gonna fight like that?" Tandia asked, "Fine then."

Kensa barely dodged her first attack, dirt flying through the air as the two engaged themselved in a fierce battle. It was no good though, Tandia had been training hard for this, and Kensa had spent his time pursuing Abbie and moping after his attempts to woo her had failed.

She took him down with ease, knocking him to his knees with brick-break and forcing him to the ground entirely with a strong headbutt. She grabbed his neck neck fur, drawing him up to her eye level and raising a fist.

"I've been trainin' since I was a Scraggy for this day. Ya nevah noticed me; just like that stupid Lopunny nevah noticed ya. Ya spent so much time chasin’ aftah her, bein’ ignored ‘n feeling sorry for yerself. Didn’t ya evah notice ya were doin’ the same to me? I wanted to get stronger 'n evolve, so I could tell ya someday that... I love ya."

Dropping him, Tandia lowered her fists and walked away. “Next time we battle, ya better actually fight,” she said over her shoulder. It took only seconds for her to disappear in the dark, and Kensa coughed in pain as he managed to drag himself into a sitting position and observe the damage he'd taken from his fight with Tandia.

His Pokéball was still sitting in the dirt where it had been thrown by Tandia.


It was a restless night for many, the panic Abbie had created was still lingering in the air from the night before when it was morning. Strei had managed to force Winseye and Abbie apart long enough to give both Winseye and Abbie a stern talking to--despite his seeingly intense hatred for his half-sister, it was clear he still cared about her enough to make sure she and Winseye would be happy together. Abbie's desire to have eggs also got Fleep to thinking about having another egg, which Pebil was now fiercely trying to get out of--he was clearly happy having only one child--and Milly, who was normally quiet and reserved, had begun bawling her eyes out because she was afraid she'd never find love at all.

While all the other Pokémon had problems based on Abbie's decision, Kensa was the only one to be distraught for another reason entirely. Last night he though the worst thing that could happen to him was Abbie never noticing him, but now his thoughts were elsewhere entirely.

He had stayed up all night thinking about that Scrafty, and he felt awful. He'd never even noticed her, and she was right--just like Abbie had ignored him, he had entirely ignored her. She had trained so hard just to get his attention, and he had been entirely oblivious.

Kensa shifted over to allow Strei to sit down beside him, though it wasn't until Strei began talking that he emerged from his thoughts.

"You're troubled by something..." Strei said, not a hint of doubt in his voice. "I can sense it... Sorry about Abbie, guess it's time to give her up?"

Kensa shrugged. "Sure, yeah..." he mumbled in reply.

"Oh? That easy? I thought I would have to actually beat out your flame before you gave her up... huh. What's on that furry brain of yours that's got you so quiet?"

"A girl," Kensa said, "A really weird girl."

"Already? Gee, if I'd known you would forget Abbie that fast I would've fixed you up with another girl years ago."

"Shut up--this is different... Her name is Tandia, she's a Scrafty... she's hot, man, like... she's hotter than the Desert Resort," Kensa said, elbowing Strei in annoyance, "I'm going to battle her... this time, if I win... she's going to be my partner. I mean it."

You are not authorized to comment here. Your must be registered and logged in to comment