Thank you for reading. Hopefully you enjoy. If you REALLY like it, I have a P-a-t-r-e-o-n, under the same name, where you can read 5 chapters ahead.
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The pitter-patter of falling droplets filled the cave as I wrung out the cloth over the liquid-filled bowl. Viscous red mixed with the clear, breaking up and leaving patterns streaked through the water before the blood trails grew indistinct and tainted the whole thing pink.
Judging it sufficiently dry, but not too much, I returned to my task. As gently as I could, I wiped at the knotted brown fur, large tufts of blood-matted hair slowly coming apart.
A soft mummer and slight shift made my heart gallop with anticipation, yet it sank again when there was no further movement. Eevee remained unconscious in the nest of blankets I had made for her.
Sighing and trying not to be too disappointed, I returned to my task. I kept my other hand at the bottom of the growths, making sure I wasn't pulling on the skin and the wound with it while slowly cleaning her.
The knotting and regenerative properties of a Hyper Potion were truly something to behold. The technology was pretty new; the Ditto cells in it only came into existence after Blaine and Bill made the weirdo creatures, but it was the best widely available Potion for civilian use. Theoretically, the near-legendary Full Restores that the League and PokéCenters had were better, but that shit cost serious cash, and much like an expanded team roster, you couldn't just get that without permission.
As gruesome and horrid as Eevee's injury had looked, the surgical precision with which Ninjask had opened her up made it possible to save her. Her jugular had been sliced, but not any deeper than that, which was the only reason she was still alive.
-hot blood pumped out from the wound in spurts, following the beat of Eevee's heart. I could feel that pulse slow as I fumbled around, nausea rising as my fingers dug into the parting of fur and skin. My digits fumbled around trying to grasp the slippery vein and expose it to the Potion in my other hand-
I forced the memory away, sighing to myself while looking down at the deep red, yet incredibly thin line drawn across the Normal-Type's neck. Another nightmare added to the pile.
If there were any justice in the world, I'd soon have so many they'd cancel out, and I could get some Mew-damned sleep.
The deeper and wider cut across her flank had actually been harder to stop. As such, it was more knotted and uneven where my fingers had struggled to hold the flesh together long enough for the magic medicine to do its work.
The line across her throat would be nearly invisible with time. The rest, probably not.
A soft pawing and whine tried to pull me away, but I wouldn't have it.
"Not right now, Vulpix," I mumbled, taking a clean cloth and dipping it in fresh water. I snorted as I had to fight to get around the Ice-Type. "I'm serious, not now!"
The multi-tailed fox whined again while I dripped water onto Eevee's limp tongue, moving around in agitation. She wasn't taking Eevee's injury very well. Her already decreased appetite had all but disappeared, her usually carefully maintained fur was a little less fluffy than usual, and her ears basically lay permanently against her head.
It had also made her extra clingy, something that was starting to get on my nerves.
"How is she?" A deep, flat voice came from the cave entrance, Bruno's stupidly muscular frame moving towards us silently, every movement graceful and controlled despite looking like a bodybuilder in a bodybuilder suit.
"Alive," was my answer, pressing the back of my hand against my unconscious Pokémon's forehead, clicking my tongue. She was still warmer than I'd liked.
"Hmm." Alongside his standard response to 90% of questions, the Elite Four also plucked a PokéBall from his belt and opened it up.
I was surprised by the pink ovoid Pokémon that emerged, only to realize that I shouldn't be. Bruno fought his own Pokémon regularly; having a Pokémon to heal him up only made sense. And what better healer than a Chansey?
"Would've thought you had a Clefable rather than a Chansey. She's your healer?"
"Healer and trainer," Bruno nodded, sitting down beside me in a lotus position and starting to unwrap a protein bar. "You will become very familiar with her in the coming days."
I worried about his teeth when the bar broke with an audible snap! and a small cloud of dust.
"Hmm." Bruno wasn't inclined to follow up on my theft of his catchphrase, and a silence settled over us while Chansey hummed to herself, pressing her glowing hands against Eevee's side.
"What happened to the bounty hunter?" Bruno eventually asked.
"... I killed her." Silence filled the cave as he stopped chewing and stared at me. A couple of days after the fact, I was a little more conflicted on that front. The pale, confused face and glazed eyes appeared in my dreams, but when I woke and saw the wound as I changed Eevee's bandages, any regret vanished.
The thoughts must've shown on my face as he slowly swallowed the bite of protein bar and spoke, rather than arresting me or something.
"... you understand that it can not become a habit. Accidents happen because of bad luck or mistakes for whatever reason, but that is extremely different from not valuing life at all."
It might be the most I'd heard the stoic man say at one time, his tone only tolerating one answer.
"Yeah, I know." And I did. I had a hard time feeling guilty about it, but I understood.
Intellectually, at least.
"What happened to the body?"
"I, uh, left it." His raised eyebrow was very unimpressed.
"You will show me where, and I will have it picked up. Don't want the locals to get used to human." I grimaced at the words. That was a good point; I should've considered it.
"What about the training? How are we doing that?" Based on his expression, he wasn't impressed by my attempt to change the subject, yet he went along with it anyway.
"That depends." He stuffed the last of the pure protein powder in the shape of a bar into his mouth and stood back up.
"On what?"
"On what your goals are." He waved at me to follow him. I hesitated, looking at Chansey and Eevee. "There's nothing you can do. Leave Chansey to her work."
Sighing, I complied and followed him outside, almost tripping over Vulpix as she literally followed on my heels until I scooped her up in my arms, wincing as her claws sank through my shirt while she clung to me.
It had been late at night when I'd finally arrived at Bruno's camp, and the man had insisted on heading to bed immediately. As such, there was a slight chill to the usually humid air, the shadows beginning to emerge against the dimly lit ground as the horizon brightened. Walking a little way away, the Fighting-Type Master turned to me with crossed arms. "So? What do you hope to accomplish here?"
I thought about it, hands clenching at the memories of my last fight. "... I need to get better. Not just stronger – though it never hurts, I suppose – but actually skill-wise. The last two months," and it was wild that it had only been a little longer than that since I left Pallet, "we've mostly been fighting for our lives, or learning pretty simple techniques. It's been working, but we're brute forcing our way through most of it, and that can't last."
"It takes humility to recognize your flaws," Bruno complimented, though most people who knew me would disagree.
I continued. "I also have a few Pokémon who could use some help with Fighting-Type techniques, and I imagine you've got enough experience to help with other Types. Beyond that, personally, I hoped you could help me get better with Aura."
His head shot up, looking at me, stunned.
"You know of Aura?" I looked back, nearly as surprised as he was.
"Yeah? Couldn't you tell? Agatha could."
"Agatha is wise. I am not." The self-deprecating comment was delivered as flatly as everything else. "I am not qualified to be a teacher. Not of this."
"Don't you, like, wrestle Onix and box Machamps?" I questioned, confused. As far as I was aware, Bruno was one of the best Aura users in the world.
"Petty tricks." He snorted lightly at the expression I was making, a glimmer of amusement in his eyes. "Even a child can hit something hard. It is much harder to open yourself up and listen."
"... I don't know what that means," I admitted. I knew that Aura could be used for something more metaphysical than just 'punch hard', but I had no idea how that worked.
"I barely do myself." Bruno's deadpan delivery was growing on me. "That's why I'm a bad teacher."
"Right, okay. If you say so," I conceded. Despite his words, he was still the closest we had to an expert. "But hitting harder is still very useful."
He regarded me for a moment before sliding his feet a little wider, toes digging into the thin layer of soil over the rocky area. His arms unfolded and lowered to his waist with his biceps straining against his skin, veins pulsing as he braced himself.
"Show me."
I didn't need clarification, putting Vulpix down in spite of her insistent protests.
Stepping into range, I took the time to stretch to make sure I gave him my best. With anyone else, I'd have been somewhat hesitant to hit them dead on like that; while I was far from even a medium-strong Pokémon, I was still decidedly in the superhuman realm.
But it was Bruno. Surely he could take it.
Breathing deeply, I cocked my arm back and closed my eyes. Imagining the wispy core of my being, I formed a mental force field and began compressing it down. It struggled, strands of smoke escaping my grasp as it fought the order and discipline that was so far from my nature after my time in the Distorted Realm.
But, with time and effort, I had managed something, and that was what I used, ignoring that well over half of my Aura 'leaked' through my 'fingers'. Instead, I took what I had and put it in my fist.
My arm heated up, my already tumultuous emotions surging. Rather than pushing it away as I normally did, I reveled in it, using the urge to tear and claw and burn to fight through the pain and condense, condense, condense.
My eyes snapped open, and an unconscious roar ripped from my throat, my fist hurling through the air faster than I'd ever managed, all my pain, all my frustration and rage packed into it.
SMACK!
Our hair ruffled lightly in the resulting breeze from the impact, my hand landing straight on his sternum. I felt my knuckles compress the skin and micrometer of fat before hitting muscle-
-and my wrist bent against the steel wall, a weird clicking noise coming from the bone as I pulled back, cradling my arm.
"FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFUUUU-!" I bit off my curse, blowing on my wrist desperately as it instantly began throbbing and swelling. A massive hand gripped me by the elbow and raised it, Bruno inspecting my injury before grunting.
"You're fine." Easy for him to say, he didn't even have a red mark! What the fuck was he made of!? "Good punch."
"Oh yeah, knocked you on your ass!" I grumbled, still shaking out the pain.
"I punch better." I snorted despite myself. I had to give him that. "You have an Electabuzz. Is that the Pokémon you want to teach Fighting-Type moves?"
"Him and my Arcanine primarily, yeah," I nodded. He did the same and took the same stance as he did with me.
"Show me," the martial artist said once more.
Releasing Hercules, the two fighters looked each other over, inspecting their opponent. I couldn't read Bruno, but I could tell Herc was impressed.
"This is Bruno. He's going to help us train for a bit," I told him, making him whir softly in anticipation. "He wants to fight you." Herc looked around for another Pokémon. "No, he wants to fight you himself."
The whirring cut off instantly, Herc looking between Bruno and me incredulously.
"I'm serious!" I insisted. "Don't worry, he can take it." Hercules didn't look convinced.
"Both of them." I joined Hercules in staring at the adult, stupefied.
"Uhh, are you sure? No offense, but Sol's an Alpha and pretty strong-alright, alright." I held up my hands when his gaze somehow got even deader.
Once again, it was Bruno. Even two of my strongest Pokémon probably couldn't hurt him.
Surely.
Sol and Hercules looked at each other dubiously after I'd explained to the Fire-Type. They inched closer to the Master hesitantly and stopped a fair distance away, clearly waiting for Bruno to make the first move.
He didn't. There was a moment that in a different world would've been tense, where they locked eyes, but with clear reluctance, it was more awkward than anything else. I opened my mouth to tell my team to get a move on, but Bruno's eyes shifted to me with an obvious warning in them.
Fine, he could have his staring contest, edgy asshole, thinking he was cool. In the meantime, I picked Vulpix back up and let her fuss over my wrist, even if the pain was already fading.
It couldn't last forever, however, and eventually, Sol got bored. Letting out a loud 'woof', he started trotting towards Bruno. Slowly, he picked up speed to a light run, but nowhere near his top speed. Rather, it was the same way he moved when he wanted to bowl me over to lay down on top of me, and I could see the mischievous twinkle in his eyes when he put on a slight burst of speed and lowered himself to hit Bruno shoulder-first.
Except that's not what happened.
Rather, when Sol went faster, Bruno's hips twisted, and his left leg slid backwards in a dance-like motion. His massive quads strained against his loose pants as he bent, left hand going high to find the scruff on the side of Sol's neck, and the right went low to Sol's chest, right between his legs.
And then he heaved.
Sol's face was one for the ages when he suddenly found himself perpendicular to the ground, Bruno effortlessly and smoothly letting the humongous dog's own momentum do most of the work. For a moment, all 2000 pounds of fire-breathing canine simply hung there, held aloft by a pair of human hands.
And then he was brought down.
BOOOOOOM!
I almost fell over as the earth quaked, a shockwave exploding out from the point of impact like a bomb had gone off. A crater formed, several feet deep, cracks spreading in the stone as the dirt was blasted back. Saliva blew from Sol's mouth, all the air knocked out of him as he bounced a bit. A cloud of dust and debris began to form to hide the fight, yet before it could, Bruno brought his foot back and kicked Sol in the side before he even finished falling. The smokescreen was blown away by the blast of air, Sol tumbling across the ground in a storm of soil and stone splinters.
His first victim gone, Bruno turned his eyes to the stunned Hercules and waved him over, face unchanged.
Herc's gaze grew firm, and he pounded his fists together. He wasn't going to underestimate the martial artist.
Standing opposite each other, they both took a stance that looked quite similar, something that had Bruno quirking an eyebrow. Herc's first jab was slow, despite his resolve, and Bruno met it with his own fist mid-air.
Another jab was blocked in a similar manner, and so were the third and fourth. Herc's brow started to furrow as he tried a hook, and Bruno met him halfway, their fists colliding and repelling each other. The speed rose increment by increment, the stripes in Herc's fur making his arms more and more indistinct, but still, Bruno was there to match him. Jab after jab, hook, feint, it didn't matter. Anything the Electabuzz tried, the Elite Four member was already doing the same thing.
When Hercules was going as fast and hard as he could, the human was not only still matching him, but with the same blank look on his face.
I saw the exact moment it became too much, and Hercules took it up a notch.
Pulling back, the Electric-Type focused for a second, a bright cloak of energy engulfing him as he activated Quick Attack. Despite knowing better, I braced myself as he shot forward in a spray of earth, appearing in front of Bruno with an enhanced arm cocked back.
BAM!
Herc's disbelieving eyes slowly tracked up his own fist, past the deeply tanned knuckles pressed against his own, and then to Bruno's face, where a small smirk pulled at the edge of his lips.
The next straight jab was met half an inch closer to Hercules than the rest, regardless of his new speed.
And then even closer.
BAM! BAM! BA-BAA-BAM!
I could hardly see their arms as they dueled, small shockwaves disturbing the ground whenever their fists met. They weren't kicking, only boxing each other at speeds so fast their limbs vanished.
But I saw Hercules take the first step back. And I saw when his arm buckled under Bruno's strength, and he simply couldn't match the man anymore. He tried to keep up, but Bruno was still getting faster, Herc's arms barely managing to lift before they were bruised by Bruno's already completed punch. Soon, all the Electabuzz could do was hold his arms up as shields and endure.
It happened in a flash. As soon as Hercules abandoned offense in favor of pure defense, Bruno's arm came back even further, and a haymaker unlike anything he'd thrown until then brushed Herc's arms aside like they were made of paper and buried deep in his gut.
I didn't get a chance to see his expression before he was gone in a cloud of debris, but I doubted it was pleasant.
However, that did mean Bruno was focused on Herc. So, he must've been unaware of the no-longer-playing Sol hurling towards him as fast as the canine could go without falling.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
The biggest explosion yet went off, the whole mountain enclosure quivering with the strength being displayed. Something shot out of the dust, moving extremely fast, and even having seen everything the Pebble Clan member had done, I couldn't imagine it being anything other than Sol pushing Bruno's smashed body.
I was half right.
Leaving a trail of destruction in their wake, Bruno's arms held the snarling Arcanine at bay while Sol pushed the two of them forwards. His feet slid across the ground, a pair of shallow trenches exposing the rocky surface beneath. Despite Bruno's greater strength, Sol was three times his mass, and physics was still trying its best to remain relevant.
It should've just taken the loss. Physics was clearly for amateurs, as Bruno demonstrated when he lifted his foot. Briefly, a light seemed to shine through his skin, coming from the very depths of the leg.
CRASH!
The limb blurred and was suddenly buried to mid shin in the sheer rock under him. Instead of snapping in two as logic dictated, Bruno and Sol stopped instantly, cracks splintering the stone apart from the force bleeding into it.
Sol looked up under the hand on his forehead, eyes wide and wet when he saw Bruno's other fist raised.
The Arcanine whined to try to get some sympathy.
The Elite Four snorted.
"No."
And punched.
BOOM!
The stony ground broke into pieces, cracks joining the ones from Bruno's leg to tear the rock asunder. Sol's head caved in the ground and bounced off it high enough that he lifted above Bruno's eyeline, before falling back down into the rising dust, eyes swirling around in his head much like I imagined his brain was.
I gaped as the… whatever the fuck Bruno was, ripped his foot from the ground easily, looking between the near-unconscious Sol and the slowly rising and staring Hercules, before nodding and moving back towards me.
"I see what you mean. You're right. More power than skill, especially Arcanine. I've seen worse than Electabuzz, and he's not a Fighting-Type, though he fights like one. I can work with them both."
"..." For once, I had no words. He wasn't even breathing hard. The only sign of what had gone down was a slight layer of dust and his white pants being ripped around his ankle where he'd jammed it through a rock.
Not very good at Aura.
Yeah, suuuuure.
He started pacing back and forth, crossing his arms as was his custom. One of the PokéBalls on his belt shook and opened on its own. The red light grew into a humanoid shape, half a head shorter than Bruno himself, even with the three ridges growing from its skull. Four arms crossed stoically as the Machamp imitated its Trainer, moving behind him with a blank look on its face.
If I hadn't just seen Bruno – a human – treat my Pokémon like children, I might've looked down on the Fighting-Type for being quite a bit shorter and better tempered than Champy, Oak's own Machamp. If I wasn't wrong, Bruno's was even a little bit shorter than average.
But given that it was nearly as wide as Bruno himself, I'd give it the benefit of the doubt.
"As you said, I can help you with Fighting-Type energy, and close-quarters combat overall, as well as general physical conditioning," Bruno began. "This will make up the bulk of our training. I will advise you on your other Pokémon as best as I can, but as I said, I'm not wise."
"That sounds good. Honestly, just buckling down for a while will be good for us," I agreed. In response, the neutral Machamp broke, and a grin spread over its face.
"I doubt that mentality will last," Bruno stopped and stared me down. "This is one of the few vacations I get, and I intend to train myself. I will instruct you, but I won't slow down. If it's too much, it will be up to you to adjust it; if you can't, leave. Understood?"
"Yeah, I understand." I agreed, suppressing the rising nerves. Surely, it couldn't be that bad.
Something flashed through Bruno's eyes. From anyone else, I'd have called it laughter, but his mouth didn't twist.
"Good. Then today, we will assess you and your team. Release the rest. We start now."
—-
"Uuuuhhhhhh," I moaned lowly, cheek pressed against the dirt. Chansey's glowing hands ran up and down my body, soothing my protesting muscles, but they still trembled and hurt from the insane workout they had been put through. "Ohhh, everything hurts."
"Not bad for your first time," Bruno wiped the towel down his face and then slung it over his shoulder. The fucker didn't even seem out of breath despite it almost being evening, a thin sheen of sweat glistening over his painfully defined muscles. "You might get more out of this than just a destroyed ego and body."
"Uuuuhh." Something flew through the air, shining with reflected sunlight. It came down like a missile, and I had just enough time to get worried before it embedded itself into the ground next to my head.
"Yo' ok'y?" I mumbled into the soil. Honedge didn't answer, eyelid half closed and threatening to close completely. Deep nicks and scratches littered his blade, the sword Pokémon looking like it had gone through a war zone. Moving with ballerina-esque grace, Bruno's Gallade pranced by and patted Honedge's hilt in what I thought was a gesture of a job well done, before the Psychic/Fighting-Type gently removed the snoring Betty from his shoulder and put her down by the fire.
That was nice of him after she had been a terror to him. Gallade was the coolest of Bruno's team that I had met.
Thud!
Machamp sat down beside where he had unceremoniously dumped Sol, the Arcanine growling softly but too exhausted to do anything about it. Seeing me, he slowly nosed his way closer to me, giving up when he got close enough that I could feel his breath on my skin, and lying down with a heavy sigh.
All around the little camp, outside the cave where Eevee was still resting, was the same: Bruno's Pokémon dumping my own battered and mostly unconscious team on the ground. I'd like to think that he released the Gallade, along with a Hitmonchan and Hitmonlee, because he couldn't handle all of us with just Machamp, but that would've been a bald-faced lie.
As he'd said, we'd started basically immediately. At first, it hadn't been that bad. We stretched, then did some light physical exercise: a little running and some sprints. Then, Bruno had us moving some rocks – and when I said we, I meant we. I hadn't been spared from any of it, even if my rock was smaller and my route shorter.
Anyway, by the time we'd pushed the rocks, I'd had a good sweat going and was breathing hard, but nothing terrible.
Then we did some sparring. I'd gotten the honor of being pushed around by the man himself, while his Pokémon threw around my own. It really hadn't been fair to Siren, and I scowled at the unrepentant Hitmonlee when it placed the Feebas next to my limp body. Bruno had specified that it was physical sparring only, so my princess had to throw herself at the Fighting-Type: literally.
I would get it back for that – one day.
The sparring had kept up until we were bruised and panting, heaving for air.
And then my team had to do target practice with Bruno's Pokémon serving as targets, while I threw empty PokéBalls as hard as I could.
And then we ran again. And moved rocks. And got our asses kicked. The only time we got to stop was to drink water, which Bruno insisted we had to do like clockwork, or when we threw up – not helped by the insane amount of water.
Suffice to say, it had been a rough first day.
And the training hadn't even begun.
Yay.
Feeling Chansey move on, I braced my palms against the ground and strained. An embarrassing noise flowed from my mouth as I pushed myself up and managed to turn on my side, getting the last stretch up into a sitting position from there.
Bruno tore open a large bag of something, holding it over the pot he'd hung over the fire. Squeezing it, a gelatinous mass fell with a sound between a splat! and a plop!
Reaching a hand out, Chansey waddled over and handed him the egg from her stomach pouch, which he cracked in. Then, he added water and stirred; a fairly pleasant smell soon began drifting from the food.
"What are you doing out here, anyway?" I clarified in response to his questioning look. "I mean, the Fuschia Plains. Why meet out here?"
"I'm meeting someone." I waited for more information, though nothing came, and I don't know why I thought it would. The fighter simply retrieved a tub of something and began scooping white powder into the pot.
"I thought you were on vacation?"
"There's work to be done." I rolled my eyes. I was starting to think Bruno wasn't much fun.
"And who are you meeting?"
"You'll see."
"Man, you really are the diplomat of the Elite Four, aren't you." He just hmm'd. I was starting to get a little nervous as he kept adding scoops to the stew, a small mound forming on top of the broth. Bruno finally – thankfully – screwed the top back on the tub and started stirring it into the stew-esque thing he had going. Apparently satisfied, he poured two bowls and handed me one. Groaning at the pain, I grabbed it and slowly pushed my spoon into the brownish liquid. To my surprise, Machamp, Hitmonchan, and Hitmonlee started pouring their own bowls as well.
Guess they were humanoid enough that we could all eat the same thing, though I imagined they still needed specific vitamins and minerals. Convenient nonetheless.
"What are your goals for the future?" I snorted at the line, wrinkling my nose at the stew. It had a sludgy texture, with a little grit that crunched between my teeth.
"Is this where you start the recruitment garbage?"
"Yes." I sighed at the response. It was like poking a brick wall.
"Well, don't bother. It's not going to work." I shoveled in more of the thick soup. It actually didn't taste that bad.
"Why not?"
"Because I don't want to? Because you're assholes?Because half of you are corrupt, if not straight up trying to steal my shit? Take your pick, I have plenty."
"Petty reasons." Stopping mid-chew, I glared at him.
"The fuck's that supposed to mean?"
"It means that your reasons are petty." He kept eating, neither he nor his Pokémon showing any concern that every one of my awake teammates was giving him dirty looks. "You say you don't want to. Life isn't about what we want. You say we are assholes and corrupt. Setting aside your own personality, how are your actions making it better? Is butting heads with us at every turn making us friendlier? Is keeping secrets and working against us, instead of beside us, making the League more fair? Your reasons are petty because they are all about you, and none of them stop you from trying to change these things."
"Is that what you're doing, huh? Little Bruno's gonna change the League by himself, even if he has to turn his back on his family?" For the first time, one of my taunts worked, and he looked up at me with hard eyes.
"Yes. That's correct." His answer took me aback. "My Clan hates the Blackthorn Clan. They have done so for centuries, and they have reason to. Thousands have died from their raids throughout history. Many of them still carry the scars of the Rebellion on their flesh, my grandfather included." His eyes glazed over, staring through me. "My grandmother died in those days. As did my uncle and aunt. They were less than 10 when they burned alive."
"Fuck…" I knew Grant hated Lance and the other Blackthorns, but shit.
"I understand my grandfather's hatred. After my parents died, he had nothing else and clung to that anger. But," suddenly, his gaze sharpened again and bore into me with scorching intensity, "understanding does not equal agreeing. The Pebble Clan and the Blackthorns have been fighting for hundreds of years, yes, but they don't have to fight for another hundred. Not while I am here. Someone has to go first. Someone has to discard their pride and work for a better future. Yes, I joined Lance. Yes, I walked out on my only remaining family. Yes, I turned my back on millennia of traditions and rivalry. And no, I have very little to show for it. But," He leaned forward, eyes aglow with passion I didn't think him capable of, "I don't regret a single second. For a better future, a future where no more children have to die, I will dedicate every moment of my life, no matter how many spit on me for it. So look me in the eyes, Periwinkle, and tell me that your reasons aren't petty."
I was speechless, blinking at him dumbly. Fortunately, I was spared from having to do so by the sound of slow clapping.
Clap! Clap! Clap! "What a speech." A low, masculine voice said.
Unfortunately, it came from right behind me.
Grabbing Honedge, I grunted while swinging it clumsily around. The blow was slow and awkward, so I was hardly surprised when it was blocked. It was more shocking that it happened when someone stepped on my arm and overbalanced me, sending me into the dirt. Sputtering, something narrow dug under me and turned me over so I could breathe.
A pair of dark, near black eyes gazed down at me under a mop of spikey black hair and bushy eyebrows. An orange-red scarf was wrapped around the middle-aged man's lower face, obscuring it from sight. A tight black uniform clung to his lithe body, his average-sized frame filled with lean muscle. Grey bracers covered his forearms and shinguards his lower legs, the drab colors interrupted by a pure white belt.
But it was the eyes I came back to. There was something about them. I couldn't really read Bruno, but I knew he had feelings, and now and again, I could see them in his eyes.
But there was nothing in the gaze of the stranger: just an empty curiosity, like a child seeing a bug.
Bruno took that moment to introduce us.
"Periwinkle, this is Koga, the Fuschia Gym Leader and Head of the Fuschia Clan. He's who I am meeting. Koga, this is Perwinkle." Koga hummed in recognition, something I didn't like.
"Greetings, child." The future Elite Four member nodded back, his voice surprisingly smooth.
"Uh, hi."
—-
If Peri ever gets as strong as Bruno, it's going to be at the end of the series. The guy is literally a Master-tier fighter himself. What a chad.
Thank you for reading. Hopefully you enjoyed. If you REALLY liked it, I have a P-a-t-r-e-o-n, under the same name, where you can read 5 chapters ahead.