Chp 29: Rivalry 
 
"A-a-are y-y-ou as cold a-a-as I am?" 
 
"Kinda. It is pretty chilly." Sky said.  
 
"Wimps." Soul teased as she batted a puff of snow at Seth. 
 
He was dressed in a long sleeve shirt and pants. There was a scowl on his face, directed at himself for forgetting to buy a heavy coat. There were faint bits of snow falling from the sky, but it was the wind that made it really cold. "Uhhh..." He groaned as he looked around. "The den has gotta be around here somewhere. Everything looks the same..."  
 
"Aah... Right... over... here!" Soul said, pointing at a hole in the cliff side.  
 
"Oh thank you." Seth said quietly. He looked around, before shrinking down into his umbreon form. 
 
"Why that form?" Sky asked.  
 
"I dunno. This is what I was last time we saw them, so..." 
 
"You just wanna ogle some espeon hunk." Soul snickered.  
 
"N-no!" Sky yelped, blushing and looking away. Seth meanwhile scrambled his way inside and out of the cold. Once his paws were out of the snow, he shook them off and tried to get them dry while the girls came in.  
 
"Flurry?" He called out loudly.  
 
"Come in!" A female voice called back. 
 
Seth and the gang came in, coming around the corner to find an older looking glaceon sitting at the stone table with a pile of berries in front of her. "Who are... Seth? Welcome back!" 
 
"Yep, it's us." Soul said as she strode past Seth and sat down. 
 
"Come over here and take a seat. I want to hear all about what's happened." 
 
+++ 
 
"So then we-" Seth said. 
 
"Mom!" Another female called. "We have a prob-" Vapor paused when she came around the corner, but quickly continued. "Flare and Thunders are fighting again. They seem serious this time. You have to stop them." She explained.  
 
"Not again... oh dear... Seth, would you go deal with this? They're young and hotheaded, just break it up."  
 
"Alright." Seth said, trying to sound upbeat, but obviously forcing it. 
 
"Can I stay here?" Sky asked. 
 
"Sure. It's no big deal." Seth said. 
 
"I'm coming. The snow feels nice." Soul commented. 
 
"Okay, follow me." Vapor said. The three of them left the den with Vapor leading the way back into the snow. 
 
"Why so keen to get back out into the cold?" Soul asked. 
 
"I can't just leech off a nice person like Flurry. It's like paying for stuff." 
 
"ASSHOLE!" A female yelled loudly. 
 
"BITCH!" A male yelled back. 
 
"YOU'RE MORE OF A BITCH THAN ME!" She shouted back.  
 
"Fuck you!" He snorted dismissively.  
 
"You wish." She retorted. Seth and Soul could see the eeveelution girls, Flare and Jolt. Flare was arguing with a jolteon, and there was a vaporeon and a flareon standing behind him. 
 
"Alright, stop it!" Seth yelled as he dashed forward, stepping between the pokemon. 
 
"Who the hell are you?!" The jolteon barked. 
 
"Well hey there~" Flare purred. She stepped forward and nuzzled Seth's side. "Come to visit?" 
 
"H-hey!" Seth yelped as he pulled away from the unwelcome touch. "Your mom asked me to keep you from fighting."  
 
"What, this guy your mate?" The jolteon asked.  
 
"You jealous Thunders?" Flare teased. 
 
"No!" Seth said loudly. "I'm a friend of her mom's. Just leave. Please?"  
 
"Fine. But you watch yourself asshole. Let's go!" He ordered and walked away. The vaporeon shot him a glare, before following the other two.  
 
"Ha..." Seth sighed.  
 
"Nice job mister negotiator." Soul said. 
 
"So what was that all about?" He asked. 
 
"Come on, walk me home and I'll tell you." Flare said with a wink. 
 
"Stop. Doing. That." Seth ordered. "There will be no repeat of last time."  
 
"Whatever you say~ So anyways, those guys are our neighbors. All brothers. Thunders is the jolteon, Booster the flareon, and Showers the vaporeon. And their dad's a glaceon, Glacy." 
 
"Thunders and her have always fought. I think it's their way of showing they care." Jolt snickered. 
 
"Shut up! I hate that jerk!"  
 
+++ 
 
"You really don't have to..." Seth said as he looked down at the assortment of berries and plants.  
 
"Nonsense. You are my guest and a friend. Now eat your fill." Flurry said kindly. 
 
Soul needed no such permission and was already stuffing her face. "Mmfh, these are good. Where did you get them?" 
 
"Belue berries? There's a big patch of 'em to the south of here. I can show you later." Jolt said.  
 
Seth pulled one over with his paw and bit into it. His mouth immediately twisted and puckered. As the sour juices went down his throat, they left a spicy tingle on his tongue. "Very... tart." He muttered as his lips still resisted his choice of food. "I've never seen these in the berry shops though..." 
 
"I know humans use all sorts of items to fight, are shops where you get them?" Flurry asked. 
 
"Yeah, and there are a lot of varieties of shop too." 
 
"Do humans eat berries as much as pokemon?" 
 
"No, we eat... a lot of stuff. Berries are kinda bonuses. Like seasoning and stuff. Come to think of it, what all do wild pokemon eat? This little glutton eats almost anything." He said, pointing to Soul, who was currently the largest pokemon in the room. 
 
"We mostly eat berries and herbs, but sometimes we go hunting. Swinub meat is quite tasty." 
 
"Yeah, humans don't really eat pokemon. Animals are more our taste." 
 
"But pokemon meat tastes much better." Flare said. "Humans are weird." 
 
"Pretty sure most humans would say the same about you guys." Seth said.  
 
"One day I would like to see what human life is like..." Flurry said dreamily. 
 
"Oh yeah? Well if Seth knocks-" Soul started, before a berry flew up and hit Soul in the nose. She shot a glare at Sky, who looked away innocently. 
 
"Yeah, I could take you into town if you really want." Seth finished for her. He leaned over and whispered into Sky's ear. "Nice save." 
 
"No, but thank you for offering." Flurry said.  
 
"Okay, come on, let's go." Jolt said. When she was met with questioning glances, she said, "The berries? I don't have all day to show you around." 
 
"Oh, I'm done so..." He looked to his left then right. Both the girls were still eating. "I'll go and get us some fresh berries." He followed Jolt out of the dining room and around the corner to the entryway. The entire time, the jolteon shook her rear at him exaggeratedly. Instead of looking, he stared at the stone floor. 
 
They made it outside and back into the cold. The den behind them held warmth surprisingly well. "Okay where..." He looked back to Jolt, only to find her sprinting through the snow, kicking up puffs of white behind her. He had no choice but to dash forward to catch up. "Hey! Wait up!" He called. 
 
That only seemed to make her speed up. Luckily for him, her bright yellow fur was easy to spot in the white snow and green trees. She seemed to be trying to make him get lost with the way she ducked around the snowcapped trees and swerved off a straight line. "Jolt!" 
 
Seth rounded a tree and came face to face with the goal, and Jolt. There were a ton of small trees, all filled with berries. And in the middle of the trees was Jolt, her body facing away from him, but her head over her shoulder, as she shook her exposed goods. "Well? How about a reward for getting you here?" She visibly tensed as Seth began to come closer... until he walked right past her. "Hey!" She shouted, sounded offended. 
 
"No." Seth answered as his body glowed and got bigger for a moment as he turned human. "Not interested." With a swing of his arm, he unshouldered his backpack and began to pick some berries. "Which ones are the belue?"  
 
"I'll tell you for-" 
 
"Oh, nevermind, this is it." He held up the blueish purple pear-shaped berry before putting it away and looking for more. 
 
Jolt sighed angrily and tried to think up a new plan. Until something crunched the snow as it came closer. Three somethings in fact. "What are you guys doing here?" 
 
Seth turned around to find a flareon, jolteon and vaporeon. Based on the fact that Jolt was still where she was, it was those three from earlier.  
 
"Umbreon-human-thing, who do you think you are?" The jolteon, Thunders, asked loudly. 
 
"Jolt. Go home." Seth said. He recognized the look in his eyes. "Now."  
 
"But... okay." She turned and sprinted away back towards the den. 
 
"Seriously?! Still playing the hero?" Thunders growled. His brothers were silent, but based on their scowls, they shared his feelings. 
 
"Listen, I'm just passing through."  
 
"Bullshit. I saw the way Flare looked at you." 
 
"And how Jolt lead you here... the way she acted..." The vaporeon, Showers, said. 
 
"Trust me, it's completely one sided." Seth explained. 
 
Jolt growled loudly and charged forward, sparks dancing over his fur. Seth quickly glowed and transformed back into a lucario. He barely had time to form a small shield of hard aura, just large enough to stop Thunders' electric headbutt. The impact of it forced him back a few inches, causing Seth to grit his teeth. These guys weren't pushovers. He quickly had to move his shield to the side to block a blast of water. With his other paw, he punched forward at Thunders but the jolteon jumped back and away. Booster, the flareon, ran around behind Seth.  
 
"Stop! I don't want to hurt you!" 
 
"You couldn't if you tried!" Thunders barked.  
 
Seth threw the hard aura shield at Thunders. it hitting him on the head, which gave Seth a distraction as he vanished. He reappeared behind Thunders and delivered a powerful punch to his back before the others could warn him. The blow knocked him off his feet and into the snow. Seth looked up just in time to be met with a face full of forceful water. Then, now that he was wet, Thunders let out a burst of electricity that jolted through Seth's body.  
 
"Fine." Seth growled. He leaped back and held his paw into the air. "You asked-" 
 
"That's enough!" A female voice called. An intense wind blew through the field, bitterly cold snow battering all of them.  
 
"Shit, it's Flurry!" Showers called out. 
 
"Run!" Booster cried out as he bolted. 
 
The glaceon walked into the field and gave Thunders a glare as he got up.  
 
"This isn't over." He growled quietly to Seth before he ran after his fleeing brothers. 
 
"Jolt told me everything. Are you okay?" 
 
"Y-y-yeah-h-h." Seth said, his teeth beginning to click against his will. He crossed his arms and began to shiver. "M-maybe a l-lit-ttle c-cold." 
 
+++ 
 
Flare came out of her room and looked down the hall. She could hear her mother further in. Quietly, she walked out into the kitchen. The human, as a lucario, was curled up by the fire with his mates in the next room over, but they weren't paying any attention.  
 
Silently and unnoticed, she slipped out into the night. From there, she went for the spot.  
 
"Where have you been?" Thunders asked. 
 
"Unlike someone, my family cares about me, so I can't just sneak off whenever." 
 
"I'm sick of your attitude. Let's finish this right here and now!" He opened his mouth and shot out a lightning bolt. It crashed into the snow right next to her. She responded by breathing a stream of fire at him, but he dodged it easily.  
 
+++ 
 
"So why is there a difference between pokemon and other animals?" Sky asked. "I don't quite understand." 
 
"Let's see if biology class stuck..." Seth muttered. They were all in their room for the night, Seth still an umbreon. "There are seven groups of animals. Invertibrates, fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, mammals and pokemon. Pokemon kinda crossover into all of the other ones, but all pokemon can use moves. People used to consider pokemon as supernatural entities with magical powers. We were kinda right I guess. Then James... Joe... John? J-something Poke' began classifying and cataloguing pokemon and that's where they get their name. Poke's monsters. Anyways, up until like 500 years ago, pokemon were just considered monsters and we've been learning more about them ever since." Seth stopped to breath and think. 
 
"Pokemon are more... human than animals. I mean, animals can be smart. My neighbor back in my hometown had this dog that knew all sorts of tricks." 
 
"I bet it couldn't breathe fire though." Soul interrupted. 
 
"Pretty sure that was the point. So people found out that pokemon were smarter than animals, pretty much on equal terms with humans, and sometimes smarter." 
 
"Okay, but why do you, I mean humans, treat pokemon differently than other animals?" Sky asked. 
 
"Because we do..." Seth said after a bit. "Humans are finnicky. We kill chickens and cows and stuff by the truckload, but most couldn't imagine killing something like a dog. I mean, I'd probably have a tough time killing something to eat. Stores sell most everything for humans so we don't really have to think about what goes into it. I have heard about places that serve pokemon, but they're not very popular." 
 
"Yeah, I'm thankful I'm a pokemon. I don't have to worry about none of that junk." Soul said as she rolled over, pressing her back against the stone wall. The room was a bit snug with the three of them in it. "I can just do whatever I want." 
 
"I still don't get it..." Sky sounded almost sad. "I don't like killing anyone, but if I had to do it to eat and survive, I would. It's about respect. I'd kill something small, and do it quick." She looked up to find Seth wide eyed. "What?" 
 
"Just... uh, never thought I'd hear you say something like that." He said, clearing his throat.  
 
"Well, you give me plenty of food, so I don't have to and that's nice, but if I really needed to get food, I could." 
 
"Some humans would rather starve than hurt an animal. But there are also people who hunt their own food, though they don't hunt pokemon very often." He realized that didn't answer her question though. "Would you kill and eat a human?" 
 
"Well..." She stalled for a moment. "If I had to."  
 
"You're not making this easy... Well, I probably couldn't eat a pokemon, even if I tried. I mean, I'm in love with two of them so that probably has something to do with that. Back before I could talk to pokemon, I didn't really think they were so special, but I knew they were something more. My neighbor's dog was fun, but it wasn't... My dad, well, back then he was just my mom's pokemon, but he acted like a real father. He taught me how to ride a bike and tie my shoes. He'd always play with me. Not like a dog plays, but like another person. We'd play board games and pretend sword fight. It wasn't really hard to think of him as my dad when I discovered it. And he would punish me if I did something wrong. I remember one time I was acting like a total brat for some reason I can't even remember. My mom was getting really frustrated, so he picked me up and kept me in a corner until I behaved. From what I understand, the animals I eat couldn't do that. They just stand around all day. The fact that a pokemon could do that is enough to treat them specially."  
 
"I see." Sky said, going silent in thought. 
 
"Lighten up you two!" Soul called out. "Worrying about stuff isn't healthy." 
 
+++ 
 
Both Flare and Thunders glared at each other while panting heavily. 
 
"What? Had enough?" Flare growled. 
 
"I'm not letting you beat me this time!" He barked back. His fur crackled as he shot out a bolt of electricity. It hit Flare right in the face, sending shocks through her fur. He quickly followed up with a head on tackle. She took it and flinched back a bit, but quickly retaliated and smacked him across the dirt.  
 
He grit his teeth. That hit was strong. She wasn't playing around anymore. One paw at a time, he got back up. Sparks danced along his fur as he built up energy, before it shot out in a concentrated beam. She responded with a wave of flame from her maw. The accurate beam pierced right through the fire, zapping her. He quickly moved out of the way of the slower fire. At the new angle, he charged and fired another beam, building up more energy this time. She tried to turn but her body refused to move, the static in her body locking up her muscles. The charge beam hit her in the side, and Thunders dashed to a different spot, her eyes losing track of him. 
 
She grunted as another one hit her in the flank. Those attacks were really starting to take effect. He wasn't as strong as her. She knew that. Every other fight they'd had proved that. But here he was, running circles around her. He was making her look weak! "I'm not weak!" She roared, her fur billowing with fire. The flames burst out in every direction, causing Thunders to yelp in surprise. 
 
He leaped back, dodging the biggest wave of fire, but he still got singed. Then he stumbled on the landing as his right forepaw gave out from exhaustion. "No... Not yet." He growled while gritting his teeth. It hurt, but he could still stand. He opened his mouth wide and began to build up white energy. A massive beam of power shot out, crackling with all the electricity he had built up. It crashed into her side, causing her hot body to roll across the snow, leaving a slightly melted path. She came to a stop on her belly, lying face down in the rapidly melting snow. 
 
Thunders took a step forward, his entire body screaming in agony. Not yet. He was so close. He stumbled his way over to her, faceplanting into the snow halfway there, before righting himself and finishing the trek. Once he made it to her, he had just enough energy to lay on top of her before his body gave out. 
 
"Hah... Get... Off..." Flare grumbled while panting. 
 
"Sorry... I can't move... And you're just too warm." He said quietly without opening his eyes. 
 
She tried to push up and move him, but with the combination of exhaustion and paralysis, she couldn't even budge. "Fine. You won. Now get off." 
 
"I know. I finally beat you." He smiled. 
 
"Yeah, one time. You just got lucky." 
 
"One was all I needed. Flare. I love you. Will you be my mate?" 
 
"What the fuck?" 
 
"Yeah. I guess I have a thing for pushy girls."  
 
She smiled. "Well, must say I like the confidence. Tell you what, why not give me a taste of what you can do, then I'll think it over." 
 
"Yeah... uh, I actually can't move." 
 
+++ 

"I'm surprised none of the eevee sisters have jumped you yet." Soul said. 
 
"Me too. I haven't really given them a chance though." Seth muttered. "We're leaving in the morning, so hopefully I can get off scot-free." 
 
"Who's Scott?" Soul snickered. 
 
"We only have two gyms left." Sky said. "Gyms are one thing, but I've heard nothing but horror stories about the elite four." 
 
"Yeah. Volkner was pretty impressive. So if he's below the elite four and the champ... whew. We might not be able to do it with just the three of us. They'll probably have full teams of six, and each one will be super strong." 
 
"Do you even know who we're up against?" 
 
"No. The identities of all the members are hidden, even the champion." 
 
"Then what's the point? If nobody knows you're the strongest trainer why bother?" 
 
"Money is a big one. The prize money is off the charts. I'm kinda thankful its hidden. Can you imagine having a hoard of fans chasing you everywhere you go?" 
 
"I agree. Privacy seems boring until you don't have it." Sky said. 
 
"We should probably go to bed. Who knows how late it is."