[X] My Assistant

[Living Arrow]

Travelling back to Port Barley after the events at the Petropolis Grand Invitational had been a long and gruelling affair for Lori. Well, it had involved public transport which inevitably meant sharing elbow room with all manner of undesirable and social reprobates. If she was not worrying about her bag being stolen from off of her shoulder, the young Trainer was replaying the events of the tournament again and again to find the moment that had made her act so foolishly.

*Who really thinks they can play the hero and go down some stupid hole to save random people they’ve never even met before!?* She demanded of herself for the fiftieth time as the stench of body odour from her latest ravel companion drifted her way. Holding back a gag, she politely turned her head the other way and cried inwardly. *At least Cesc smelled good!*

*Hey! Stop thinking about him, dammit!* Lori blushed in spite of herself, heat rising in her cheeks to decorate her skin with blotches of ruby embarrassment.

The coach pulled up to a stop at the edge of the town in the later hours of the sunny morning, a couple of miles from her final destination, and freedom announced itself as the coach doors clunked open.

*Close enough!* Lori told herself, springing up from her seat without a backward glance for the stinking hobo next to the window. Cuddling her bag close to her chest with one hand while squeezing the length of her intensely red hair in the other, she hurried to the front of the vehicle.

“Thanks!” She smiled and bowed her head politely to the driver (a sweet old man who she doubted spoke any English) and skipped down the steps to the sidewalk. The coach pulled away with the hiss of its brakes releasing to leave her drinking in the fresh air of the coast. It had been a while since she had been in Barley, and the town hadn’t changed a bit, but she felt like a different person to the rookie that had picked fights with bullies on her first day in the town.

*Never again, Lor.* She reminded herself of the boys that had threatened to cut off her hair when she’d defended another beginner trainer at the bus station. She shuddered at the memory, pushing those thoughts down to her toes where they couldn’t plague her thoughts anymore.

“Pipster,” Lori clicked open the green-capped Pokeball of her Piplup and grinned as he materialised in front of her, “we’re back in Barley.”

“Lup, Piplup!” His cheery reply was a welcome change to the dismal mutterings of the ‘people’ on the coach.

“And you know what that means, right?” She prompted him. A blank expression was her response. She rolled her eyes and pumped her fists energetically, the infectious enthusiasm of her naturally bold demeanour finding its way back to the front of her otherwise woolly teenage brain. “It means we get back on a ferry and go to Fidona! That Gym badge won’t win itself, y’know?!”

“Lup!”

“So, let’s go!” Lori cheered, breaking into a run down the final slope into the town with her Penguin Pokemon close on her heels.

[Kamaitachi]

Watching as the tear-strained girl approached. Tag bowed towards her as she thanked him for the battle. As he prepared to do the same, his eyes snapped up to meet a new voice floating in the area. They met eyes with a woman whose vibrant hair matched that of his opponent's. The aforementioned Kino Pardare, whose reputation as a Champion preceded her. Brimming with confidence, she looked absolutely stunning as she strode purposefully forward, Gardevoir in tow.

Tag's eye immediately caught a glint of the mysterious bauble hanging around the Gardevoir's neck. The trinket looked eerily similar to the baubles that Omar and Ace had possessed back in Petropolis - a means for Pokemon to Double Evolve? Super Evolve? He remembered the look of the gargantuan, extra-plated Aggron, and the even more Hellish looking evolved Houndoom that he and a few others had faced down underneath the colliseum for the Petropolis Grand Invitational.

As Kino spoke, Tag heard the dry bite in her tone and moved to protest, but she turned and and disappeared with a pop.

He'd have to follow them to the Pokemon Center to protest his case...well, possibly. It didn't seem right to stalk them there. But, his Pokemon had fainted in the fight as well, and he needed to refresh his entire team after their spot of training.

Looking over, the other battle that had broken out nearby appeared to have concluded, and now the strange girl whom he'd accidentally attacked with Tonbo was standing nearby him, giving him strange sidelong looks.

Hate to ask?

"Oh." She mentioned the goggles around his neck. "No. Johto. These were a gift from a friend living in Aridana." He watched Roxxy adjust her own pair, noting that they were really quite similar. Also, goggles weren't exactly a common accessory among the Furoh populace. "I take it you're from Hoenn, then?" he nodded towards her pair of GoGoggles."

Looking around, he noted the direction of the Pokemon Center.

"Uh...it's just down that way." he pointed down one of the roads, which conveniently led to the Pokemon Center. "I'm headed there now, if you'd care to join me."

He wasn't sure if it sounded like a come-on, or any sort of flirtation, so he simply started walking in the direction he'd indicated. It didn't occur to him that he'd potentially cut the conversation short, and that he hadn't even made proper introductions.

[Living Arrow]

“What was that, Kino?!” Lori rounded on her sister as soon as her boots materialised inside the Pokemon Center. “First you just show up out of nowhere to embarrass me, without even a ‘hello’, by the way, and then you just Teleport us off without even asking if I’m OK with it?! What the hell?!”

“You aren’t OK with it?” Kino’s sarcastic eyebrow rose dangerously high.

“No!”

“Tough.”

“Kino!”

“Oh, shut up, Lori.” Kino tossed her perfect hair and sauntered towards the front desk. “Your Pokemon were injured so you’d be coming over this way, anyway.” She looked back over her shoulder expectantly. “Besides, we need to talk.”

“What?” Lori trotted to keep up, her anger still not completely gone despite the seed of curiosity growing exactly where her sister had planted it.

“One second,” Kino nodded back to her Gardevoir, “Penelope – please see to Lori’s Pokemon.”

The serene Psychic Pokemon spread her arms a little, almost in imitation of a curtsey, before peeling away from the trainers towards the Nurse Joy who had been watching the girls’ conversation patiently. All four of Lori’s green-topped Pokeballs floated free from her belt, wrapped up in a silvery light that matched an odd hue that had illuminated in Penelope’s, and over to the admissions tray before the Nurse. Kino placed a hand on Lori’s back to guide her away from the desk and towards a side room.

“We could do with some privacy, I think.” Kino muttered, giving a lanky kid a dangerous look with narrowed eyes as she pushed the door closed behind them and indicated towards a chair where Lori could sit. Lori made no move to take the offer of a seat and instead folded her arms over her chest petulantly.

“What do you want to talk about?” Lori demand, pursing her lips haughtily. “Clearly I’m not going to get a hug or anything.”

“Hmm,” Kino appraised her sister with calculating dark eyes. Lori knew that stare well – it normally meant Kino was sizing Lori up for something that Lori wouldn’t like. “You’re right – this isn’t a social call.” Kino admitted, crossing the room to briefly look absently out of the window. Her eyes returned to Lori with a fierce intensity.
“As your sponsor, I have decided that some changes need to be made.” Kino went on, those eyes still examining Lori for something unseen. “In recent weeks I have been tracking your progress and have decided to remove that Rufflet from your care.”

“You what?!” Lori’s curiosity reverted to its original anger which instantly escalated to a shout. “You can’t just take my Pokemon!”

“Actually, they’re not your Pokemon – theyre mine.” Kino remained the picture of perfect calm, unblinking and still as a mill pond. “When you signed the contract to accept my sponsorship you also agreed to the selection and removal of any Pokemon caught as and when I choose. And, right now, I’m taking that Rufflet.”

“What! Mom and Dad are gonna-“

“What?” Kino’s red brows shot up. “What do you think our parents will or can do? We made a business arrangement and that’s that.”

“But-“

“But nothing, Lor.” Kino sighed, idly teasing a thin lock of hair across her breasts between her fingertips. “The Rufflet is coming with me – not forever – just until I’m sure you can handle it.”

“But, I can!” Lori protested, finding a swathe of her own hair gripped in her fist. “I won a battle at the Petropolis Invitational with Apache and-“

“Yes you did.” Kino nodded, unphased by Lori’s claim. “But didn’t you stop to wonder why a newly hatched Pokemon was such a proficient fighter, irrespective of the levelling device at the event? No? Wasn’t it strange that a baby Pokemon could battle so well on its very first try?”

“Uh…”

“No. You didn’t.” Kino crossed the room in a few short steps to lay her hands on her smaller sister’s shoulders and look straight into her eyes. “Apache is young but far too powerful and inexperienced for a rookie to start training without looking to get hurt. I’m not doing this to piss you off – I’m doing it to look out for you.”

“So stealing my Pokemon is looking out for me?!” Lori couldn’t believe what she was hearing. How dare Kino do this to her?!

“It’s not stealing.” Kino snapped, her cool finally starting to break. “Rufflet are a dangerous Pokemon to train if you don’t know what you are doing and, from the way you handled yourself earlier and failed at obtaining a Gym Badge before, you are certainly not ready.”

Lori bristled angrily. Every inch of her wanted to slap her sister across the face but somehow something held her back, reminding her that the taller girl was faster than a striking Seviper and twice as slippery when she needed to be. Settling for a disgusted pout, Lori glared daggers at her sister, her voice hissing as she spoke:

“And when will that be?”

“When you have two Gym Badges in your possession.” Kino’s reply was fast and direct. “Get the Tamanagi and the Stonebloom Badges – then I’ll make sure that Rufflet comes right back.”

“Two?!”

“Two.” Kino confirmed, her cool calm returning quickly. “Raising Pokemon like this isn’t a game,” she stopped to turn and lift her emerald top while keeping her eyes on Lori, “anyone can get hurt.”

Lori audibly gasped as Kino exposed her left side to reveal a deep pink scar across her ribs, just an inch from her porcelain breast. The scar was jagged and pitted, clearly the work of a claw or tooth that had turned upon the trainer years ago. Surely a wound like that would have required serious medical attention and yet Lori had never heard of any such accident from her sister’s stories.

“Kino…”

“Only two Badges and it’s your again.” Kino repeated solemnly, tugging her top back down to hide the ugly scar. “Until then, I want you to take a different Pokemon that I just caught and train it as your own. It’s pretty young and will be a challenge to get to grips with but it’ll definitely help you on your journey.”

“What?!” Lori gasped, her anger melting with the flood of expectation and excitement that her sister threw upon her. “What is it?”

“You’ll see.” Kino smiled fondly, reaching out to take her sisters hands in her own. “But first, how about that hug?”