Pokemon and all related trademarks belong to Nintendo. The story, its original contents and ideas, and any original characters belong to the author and cannot be used or reprinted without the author’s permission.

 

Author’s note: Well, this is one of the many ‘random’ ideas I’ve had floating around in my head that I’ve actually had enough of to write out. This’ll be a short one, but I hope you’ll enjoy reading!

 

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Rain on My Parade

By nightdragon0 (nightdragon0@hotmail.com)

 

 

 

 

I stared the humongous Feraligatr straight in the eye.

My opponent certainly looked confident, as expected too since he was at the Elemental advantage. However, he didn’t know what he was getting into.

“Uriel, ready?” Came the familiar voice from behind me.

“Hey Leo, I was born ready!” I grinned.

“Thought you might say that.” Leo whispered.

“Feraligatr go! Slash attack!” The trainer on the other side shouted.

The alligator came at me with both claws raised.

“Enter!” Leo called, through I already had the idea.

As his arms came down, I moved in between them so that I was at point blank range with the Feraligatr’s chin. And I gave him a hard whack of my fist for that, sending the water-type to the ground.

“Lesson 1, don’t leave your chin exposed buddy!” I taunted.

“Grrr...I’ll make sure you pay for that!” Feraligatr growled, pulling himself to his feet.

“Hydro Pump!” His trainer ordered.

“Move it Uriel!!” Leo warned.

I rolled to the side, then sidestepped another burst of water. My opponent hesitated, and I took the opportunity to rush in. Feraligatr snapped at me with his jaws, but I flipped over his body and kicked him from behind, using the momentum to execute a fancy somersault as my opponent went face-first into the sandy floor.

“Don’t think anyone ever found victory in the dirt, eh?” I laughed, folding my arms.

“Gargh!!!” The aggravated Feraligatr yelled.

“Mud Slap!”

“Huh?! Argh!!” I stumbled backward, having a fistful of mud thrown into my face. The Feraligatr followed up by punching me in the stomach, knocking me over.

“Uriel!”

“Urgh...I’m OK!!” I muttered, annoyed at being caught off guard.

“Feraligatr! Ice Punch!”

“Fire Punch, Uriel!!”

His icy claw met my fiery fist, creating a large burst of steam. I drew back my fist in pain, but so did my opponent. Instinctively, my other hand came forward, slapping the side of his face.

“Haven’t learnt, have you?!” I snarled.

“RRRARRRR!!!” Feraligatr lunged at me with both arms.

I ducked under his right arm and stepped behind him, one hand grabbing his shoulder and the other pulling his elbow. That resulted in him stumbling to his right, leaving his back wide open for a Sky Uppercut.

I was pretty oblivious to the two trainers shouting commands as I floated the Feraligatr. But what goes up usually comes down, and such, so did his body.

Not before I used a somersault style Blaze Kick to send him flying again, watching in satisfaction as he finally hit the ground and lay there, defeated.

His trainer ran to his fallen comrade’s side, and Leo walked over to shake hands, leaving me standing off to the side.

Feraligatr moaned, managing to lift his head and glance towards me.

“Gurgh...how....?”

“Take heed, you lost to the best.” I laughed. With my back towards him, I turned my head over my shoulder and gave a thumbs-up. “I’m Uriel the Blaziken, remember that.”

 

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“Nice job Uriel.” Leo was saying. “Had me worried there for a while.”

“Nah, I wouldn’t lose to a big dummy like that.” I folded my arms, leaning back in the chair. “You worry too much partner.”

That’s my 18 year old trainer for you. Strong built, tall and black haried. Well, it’s been that way for a long while, since I was his starter Pokemon. And such, even through I speak my own language, Leo understands most of what I say.

The two of us were seated at a roadside cafe, enjoying a short rest after that earlier battle. If there’s one thing about a Blaziken like me, it’s that I’m built very human-like. Meaning, I can use a whole bunch of human facilities without any problem.

“Hmmm...that bunch of kids at the other table are staring at us.” Leo noted.

“Hey, they think I’m cool right?” I laughed. “Well, why shouldn’t they? I’m the hottest and the coolest! They want me to pose for a photo shoot?”

“No, I think they just like the sunglasses.” Leo said, snatching his shades off my face.

“Gee, thanks for bursting my bubble.” I muttered, reaching for a glass of water on the table.

Suddenly, the glass moved across the table and out of arm’s length.

“Hey, what the?! Yargh!!” I leaned further, only to have the chair’s leg literally yanked out from under me.

I ended up with my back on the floor and opened my eyes to find an ‘upside down’, Bayleef’s face nose to beak with mine.

“Hiya beak-face! How ya doing?! Been a while, eh?”

“Huh? Taryn?!” I gasped, pulling myself to a sitting position. “Ow...haven’t quit with your old tricks, I see.”

“Yep!” Taryn giggled.

“Then, is Kysta here?”

“Yeah, right over there.”

I looked up to see Leo’s childhood friend approaching. Taryn and herself have been together for a long time, and get over the language barrier as well as Leo and I do. She was slightly shorter than him, with blond hair and blue eyes.

Leo had apparently noticed it too, and stood up.

“Hey!” Kysta waved. “Long time no see!”

“Yeah, it’s so great to see you...” Leo knelt down. “Hiya Taryn, how you doing?”

“Great!” The Bayleef leapt into his arms, snuggling him.

(Everyone else faints.)

WHAM!!

“LEO!! What about me??!!” Kysta fumed.

“Oh, hi Kys, didn’t see you.” Leo said, rubbing his head. “Guess I should’ve expected it since Taryn’s here.”

 “LEO!!! You’re so mean!! Is this the way you greet an old friend?!” Kysta yelled.

“Erm...try to relax Kysta...” I began, waving my arms.

“Relax?!”

I backed away. Wonderful, a Blaziken like me getting talked down to by a human girl.

“I can’t relax now!! I....grrrr....nevermind!”

Geez, with all that smoke coming out of her ears, she’d make a good Charizard. I thought. Of course, I didn’t want to be the one to say that to her.

“You like this Taryn? It’s a new recipe.” Leo smiled, feeding Taryn with a handful of biscuits.

She was also giving me a sneaky wink.

 

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“So, you’re headed to the next town?” Leo asked, leaning against his car door.

“Yeah, and it’s a long way.” Kysta nodded. “Well, I was wondering...”

“You guys want a lift right? Well, it’s lucky you ran into us then! Hop in!”

“Thanks!”

Kysta stepped into the front passenger seat while Taryn and I got into the back seat.

“Hey, perhaps you could help me out Kysta.” Leo pulled out a large map. “I’ve been told that there’s a shortcut through this snowy mountain pass. I’ve got to concentrate on the road if we want to get there faster and unfortunately, Uriel isn’t good with maps.”

“Hey!” I snarled in protest.

“You gotta be able to read some numbers to get the maps right, break-face.” Taryn told me.

“Well, I can!”

“Oh yeah? What’s 2 plus 2?” She grinned.

“Gurgh...erm...well...22!”

“Hah! Gotacha!”

“Humph!” I folded my arms. “Well, I’d kick your butt in a battle any day!”

“Guys are so barbaric. Is fighting all you think about?”

“Hey! At least I don’t need to have a bunch of eggs up my...”

SLAP!!

“Mind your language, this isn’t an adult rated fic, you know.” Taryn said, withdrawing her vines.

“Grrr...that’s it! I challenge you to a battle once we’re at the next town!!” I declared.

“Want to get your tail whipped, don’t you?! Fine, accepted!!”  

Meanwhile, Leo and Kysta had finished looking over the map.

“What’s going on back there?” Leo asked.

“Oh, nothing.” Taryn gave him an innocent look (with an angelic halo appearing over her head).

“All right, just checking. Buckle up you two! This is going to be a long trip!”

Somebody help... I moaned.  

 

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Most of the road trip was rather silent and uneventful.

For me, I found myself growing increasingly impatient. Taryn’s my arch-rival in battle. We’ve know each other since we were hatchlings, and pretty much know each other’s moves by heart.

Although somehow, Taryn seems to be able to predict my moves before I can do them.

I clenched a fist, remembering the last time, when she’d won by tripping me up and causing me to fall into a pond. Not that Leo blamed me for not being able to swim, but I was pissed off nevertheless.

As if on cue, Taryn looked towards me.

“Better hope there isn’t a pond nearby this time.” She winked. “Then again, you should probably learn to swim in waist-deep water sometime.”

“Humph.” I huffed, turning away.   

“Psss...hey!” Taryn extended a vine and tapped me on the shoulder.

“What?”

“Not so loud.” She whispered. “I don’t want them to hear this.”

“Leo and Kysta? Why?”

“Have you noticed anything odd about them, you know, when they’re together?”

“Huh?”

“You know, acting sorta weird. Being a little shy.”

Yeah, thinking about it, Leo’s usually a lot more talkative than this.” I nodded, noting that Leo seemed completely focused on driving while Kysta was silently staring out the window.

“Not just that, but....” Taryn looked to the side. “Kysta’s been sending a bunch of e-mails recently.”

“E-mails? Oh, that message thing with the computer?”

“Yes.”

“Yeah, Leo does that sometimes. I can’t really read much of what he writes, but there’s usually these three symbols at the end. A...”

“A pink heart, a red rose and a sunflower?” Taryn asked.

“That’s exactly it....” I stared at her. “How did you know?”

“Because those symbols are always at the end to the e-mails Kysta’s reading and....of course!” Taryn realized. “They’re being sent to Leo!”

“Huh? Say what?!”

“He’s a guy and she’s a girl! Don’t you get it?!”

“Erm...”

“Damn, you’re so dense!”

“Hey, Leo’s always so hesitant about replying to those mails.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, there was once he sat in front of the computer for half an hour, then turned it off without sending the message.”

“Wow! That really proves it! They DO like each other!” Taryn said happily.

“You think our trainers like each other because they’re sending a bunch of e-mails?” I muttered. “Gimme a break.”

“No, it shows that Leo’s just too shy to admit how he feels. And Kysta, what she’s writing is a bunch of gibberish. She really just wants to talk to Leo.”

“Then why don’t either of them say something now?!”

“Well, human courtship rituals are really complicated.”

“I think you just want to be around Leo because he pampers you so much.” I growled.

“Hey, that’s not it!” She protested.

“Is to!”

“Is not!”

I was about to reply when a loud explosion startled all of us.

“Aw man!” Leo leapt out of the car and opened the front panel.

“What happened?” Kysta asked, stepping out as well.

“Did I bust a gear or something?” Leo muttered, fiddling with the engine components.

Taryn and I climbed out, standing by the side as our partners tried to fix the machine.

“This wire...goes here....” Leo was saying under his breath.

“Hey, don’t put the red wire there!” Kysta warned.

“I know what I’m doing!”

“No you don’t!”

“Just wat...argh!!”

BOOM!!

Smoke erupted as another small explosion took place, sending everyone diving for cover.

“Leo!!” Kysta said angrily. “You idiot!!”

“OK, my mistake! I’m sorry!” He sighed. “Everyone all right?”

“AARRRGGGHHHH!!!”

All heads turned towards Taryn, who was screaming as a tiny flame had gotten onto the leaf on her head.

“Help! Help! Fire!! Fire!! ARRRGGHH!!!” She screamed, running in circles round the car.

“Taryn stand still!” Kysta ordered, only to be completely ignored by the panicked Bayleef.

“Hargh!” Timing myself, I stepped out in front of Taryn and slapped my palms together, putting out the fire with a single hit.

Taryn stared at me, wide-eyed, before collapsing.

“Taryn! Are you OK?! Taryn?!” I asked. “Haven’t you heard of stop, drop, roll?”

SLAP!! One of her vines immediately went into my face.

“Are you trying to kill me or something?!” She fumed. “And you messed up my leaf head!! Do you know how long it took to get that in shape?!”

“You’re welcome...” I snarled, rubbing my cheek.

“Humph!”

“Humph!”

“Aw, isn’t that so cute!” Leo commented. “I didn’t know you had a soft spot for her, Uriel.”

“What was that they say?” Kysta scratched her head. “You always hate the one you like?”

“Me?! Like her?!”

“What?! This blockhead?!”

Taryn and I glanced towards each other and simultaneously stuck out our tongues.

“But back to business, what now?” Kysta asked.

“The car isn’t moving anywhere...but...” Leo opened the map. “There’s an inn pretty close to our location.”

“How close?”

“About 45minutes, but it involves a trek through the snow.” Leo pointed away from the road. “That cuts the traveling time down significantly.”

“Is that safe?” Kysta wondered.

“It’s a marked path, and besides, it won’t be long.”

“We’d better hurry then. It’s getting dark and the temperature’s dropping.” Kysta noted.

A chilly wind blew past, almost as if to hurry us on.

“Yeah, let’s go.” Leo nodded, pulling out his jacket.  

 

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“Is this the right way?” Kysta muttered.

“The map says it is.” Leo insisted.

“Cause I’m sure we’ve been walking for much longer than 45minutes.”

The seemingly ground level path we’d started on had sloped upwards and taken us up into a mountain range. All the coniferous trees and other landmarks had been left in the valley below. The path significantly narrowed down too. However, we’d also passed the last of the marker pillars about 10 minutes ago and hadn’t come across any others since, giving everyone a cause for concern.

I was starting to shiver from the cold, and I couldn’t imagine what the others were feeling. But whatever it was, the stress seemed to put Leo and Kysta in a very bad mood.

“Kys, I know what I’m doing!”

“Where have I heard that before?!” Kysta said angrily. “Let me see the map!”

“Hey, be careful with it!” Leo pulled back as Kysta tried to grab the map out of his hands.

“Whoa, calm down you two!” I gasped.

At that moment, Leo decided to let go, just as Kysta pulled hard and slipped. The flimsy map was caught in a strong gust of wind and flew over the edge of the path. All of us stared as it disappeared into the shadowed trees below.

“Great! This is all your fault Leo!!” Kysta shouted.

“My fault?!” Leo protested.

“Yes! Are you trying to freeze us alive out here or something?! At least I got a look at the map earlier, and the inn’s this way!”

The trail in front of us split into two paths, having been obstructed by a mountain rising through the center. Kysta had stepped towards the left-side path.

“No, it was the right path!” Leo insisted.

“You were probably reading the thing upside down.” Kysta snorted.

“Hey! I’m trying to help everyone out here!”

“Then do me a favor, and don’t do me any more favors!” Kysta stormed off down the left path.

“Fine! Go freeze to death for all I care!!” Leo waved his arms furiously before stepping onto the right hand path.

Taryn and I glanced at our respective partners, then at each other. We were lost, and neither Leo nor Kysta wanted to admit it. To make things worse, the winds were brewing up again and it was getting both darker and colder.

“This is a bad idea, splitting up...” I commented. “What do we do now? We’re going to have to follow our partners. So much for whatever was between them, eh?”

“No! That isn’t true!” Taryn yelled, causing me to jump. “Can’t you talk to Leo or something?”

“Leo doesn’t listen to anyone, even me, when he’s this mad.”

“Uriel! What are you waiting for?!”

“Taryn!! Come on!!”

The two of us looked towards our partner’s callings before turning back to each other.

“Kysta’s just like that too.” Taryn sighed. “Hey, I’ve got an idea, I’ll go after Leo. He might listen to me.”

“Yeah right.” I waved. “There you go with you and Leo again...”

“This isn’t about that, OK? Please, trust me! I’ll watch Leo’s back, but then, I...”

“You don’t want to leave Kysta alone, right?”

“Yeah, so...”

“I’ll take care of her, don’t worry.” I smiled. “Besides, you still owe me a battle!”

“Fine. But don’t you dare let anything happen to Kysta, promise?”

“Jeez, don’t go all mushy on me...”

“Promise?” She repeated firmly.

“Fine, I promise.” I replied.

“Thanks, Uriel.” Taryn nodded, before running off. “You’re a really great friend, you know.”

As I moved down the opposite path, it hit me.

Wait a second! She wasn’t being sarcastic like she usually is. Then, did she actually...mean that?