Story Notes:
I feel I should mention that I made somewhat of an effort to write in the "internet style" where there are generally gaps everywhere. It's not something I'm used to since I tend to write my stuff as a text wall. Figured I should mention that for those of you unfamiliar with my work, and those of you who read it and go "WTF with this gap here?"************************************************************
Altered View
Time passed incredibly slowly for Kane ever since he'd spied on the golden haired beauty taking a shower. He didn't know if it was simply the anxiety of waiting for his next peep show or waiting for the right moment to join her, but he had laid awake that entire night thinking about her. One thing that really bothered him about it was that many of his thoughts had very little to do with sex and more to do with the silly human notion of taking a single mate.
When morning had rolled around he had scarfed a quick breakfast before finding a stakeout spot in front of the pokemon centre, waiting for her to come out. Once again he could swear that the minutes were actually hours as he waited for even the slightest glimpse of her, finally being rewarded as she exited the pokemon centre with her Marowak in tow.
The Charmeleon stalked through the sparsely populated streets after them, weaving through the humans and pokemon as he maintained what he thought was a safe distance away. The trainer didn't turn around once, although her Marowak had taken a look behind them as sixth sense kicked in. Kane ducked into a nearby alley as she swung her skull encased head around, giving it a few seconds before exiting the alley and walking after them. He didn't know if Marowak had spotted him, but he hoped his brazen exit threw off suspicion.
So it was only a few short minutes later that Kane found himself skulking around outside a building with a blue roof, once more waiting for his angel to emerge. The seconds crept by once more, though his patience was rewarded once more as she left the blue roofed building, clutching a small red and white sphere that Kane recognised. A poke ball.
"Do you really need more of those?" Marowak asked her, and Kane realised that she was speaking in the human tongue, something he wouldn't have noticed in the crowded pokemon centre. "I thought you already had heaps of them."
"It never hurts to have spares, Sophia." The goddess replied, her lyrical tone almost enough to make Kane's knees buckle underneath him. "Remember a couple of days ago when we were trying to catch that flying blue pokemon? What did the pokedex call it? Lati-oh!"
Absently she had been toying with the poke ball she had been holding, and in her lack of concentration it had slipped from her grasp. It bounced down the pathway, the Charmeleon realising that it was heading his way. She was now chasing after it, but he was faster. Darting from his hiding place around the corner of a nearby building, he chased the bouncing object, pouncing at the last moment.
In a flash of light, Kane disappeared into the poke ball. The beauty stopped in mid stride, blinking at the poke ball as it quickly completed the capture. Automatically she leaned down and retrieved the poke ball, still staring at it in confusion.
"Uh, what just happened?" she asked Sophia, the Marowak giving little more than an open handed shrug to her trainer. Something told Sophia that whatever the motive was at work here, it couldn't be anything good.
***
"Okay. Kane, this is Analise and I'm Sophia."
Kane nodded a greeting at the Marowak before taking Analise's hand and nuzzling it. She blushed at the action, though she did nothing to stop it. She grinned down at him, her face still red in embarrassment.
"You can call me Ana." She offered, gently extracting her hand from his grip. He resisted a little, unwilling to let go just yet, but eventually he desisted and allowed her to take her hand back. She didn't quite know what to make of his behaviour, finally putting it down to being a gentleman.
"It's a pleasure to meet you." Kane replied, trying to be on his best behaviour. Sophia translated for him, even though the Marowak was still giving him an odd look. He didn't like it, especially since she was more likely to be a hindrance rather than a help when it came to him getting what he was after. However, it was the fact that he might need her to translate his feeling to Ana that bothered him most. If she was going to oppose him, it would be very difficult for all of them since she would most likely tell Ana and have the trainer release him.
He would be damned if he let that happen.
Kane was lost in his plotting even as they made their way onto the trail that led to the next human city. It passed through a forest, the natural sights prompting Ana to let all of her pokemon have some time out of their poke balls and enjoy the scenery. Plusle and Sentret, young and eager boys that they were, were quick to scurry ahead of the older trio to investigate the various plants and flowers that grew on the edge of the trees. Whenever one of them got too far ahead from the group, Ana would call him back with a melodious laugh.
Neither Kane nor Sophia paid any attention to this. The Charmeleon was too busy thinking of a way to get around the language barrier without Sophia's help, and the Marowak was attempting to divine Kane's intentions for tagging along with them. They flanked Ana on both sides as the group made its way along the winding trail, keeping ominously silent even as they stole the occasional suspicious glance at the other.
"Okay guys, time to set up camp!" Ana called out, moving to one side of the path as her pokemon congregated around her. Plusle and Sentret chattered excitedly to one another as she began to unpack her kit, Kane practically jumping at the opportunity to help. Sophia did little more than direct a frosty stare at the Charmeleon, her eyes narrowed in suspicion. Ana saw it, blinking at the Marowak.
"Hey Sophia, are you feeling alright?" she asked, mid way through unpacking her tent. She quickly shook her head as the group's attention was drawn to her, aware of the effort it took her to actually meet Ana's gaze.
"Uh, yeah, I'm fine." She answered, careful not to glare at Kane. She might have her suspicions, but voicing them without proof wouldn't help in the slightest. "Just a little tired from the walk, that's all." Ana frowned at her, before shrugging and letting her attention focus on setting up camp again. Once they were finished Ana stretched her arms over her head, unaware that Kane's gaze lingered on her wonderfully curvy figure.
"Well, that's taken care of." She stated aloud, even though she knew they could see that. Searching through her backpack, she withdrew a small ice blue drawstring bag and wound her wrist through the string. "The map said there was a river a hundred or so metres into the forest, so I think I'll go and freshen up."
"I'd better come with you then. For protection." Kane volunteered, his suggestion earning little more than a snort of amusement from Sophia.
"Oh, like hell that's what you're thinking of." She shot at him, getting herself a reprimanding scowl from Ana.
"Sophia, what are you talking about?" she asked curiously, not quite keeping the annoyed edge out of her voice. She didn't like it when her pokemon disagreed, because it weakened their bond as a team. The Marowak nodded in acknowledgement, understanding that Ana wasn't entirely happy with her.
"Kane seems to think he needs to stand watch over you while you have your bath." She responded scornfully, narrowing her eyes at the Charmeleon again even while he glared back at her. To their surprise Ana gave a short laugh, patting Kane on the head in gratitude.
"It's a nice thought, but not necessary." Ana said, grinning down at him. "I may not look like it, but I can hold my own in a fight! You two just stay here and watch Plusle and Sentret." Humming merrily to herself, she wandered into the forest towards the river and to her waiting bath. Kane watched her go, one arm stretching out in protest even though she had left too quickly for him to respond. He turned to where Sophia sat, an angry outburst on his tongue, only to find she had approached him and was now staring up at him with some irritation.
"Seriously, what's your problem?" she asked, her voice rising a little. "You've done nothing but sidle up to Ana ever since you joined the team. What, do you want her to be your adopted kid or something?" Kane puffed himself up indignantly, using his extra height to stare down his muzzle at her.
"I was gonna ask you the same thing." He snarled, looking directly through the eye holes in her skull helm to stare hard into the real ones. She didn't relent, keeping her own stare on his scarred eye. "Why do you need to question everything I do?"
"Maybe because I don't trust you as far as I can throw a Snorlax!" she shot back, tone getting louder still. "What kind of pokemon just joins someone with no explanation?" Even as Kane and Sophia yelled back and forth at one another, the two younger pokemon shared uneasy glances.
"I'm scared..." Sentret whimpered to his friend, his face mournful. Plusle's ears fell as he looked back, turning away from the two arguing pokemon. "Let's go." Nodding his agreement, the pair turned and walked off into the forest.
***
Ana was humming gently to herself as she made her way back from the river, feeling much better after washing herself in the river. She had been slightly puzzled at Kane's insistence on standing watch over her, more because she knew that he would know it was a somewhat inappropriate gesture. She certainly wasn't sanguine about letting him see her naked.
As she approached the camp site, a strange sensation intruded on her thoughts. Something was different about the atmosphere, something she couldn't quite place. It was only as she neared the fringe of the camp that she realised that it was completely silent. She should have been able to hear the pokemon chatting amongst themselves. Ana left the last of the trees, her hazel eyes sweeping over the area to find Kane and Sophia sitting on opposite sides, backs to each other and completely silent. It wasn't that which caused dread to shroud her mind.
"Guys..." she said slowly. "Where are Plusle and Sentret?"
The pokemon snapped out of their own thoughts, turning to take in Ana's presence as she voiced the question. Turning to look over the camp themselves, it was a few seconds before either of them were ready to answer, silently berating themselves for letting this happen.
"They were here not that long ago!" Sophia whined, getting up hastily and quickly searching any place she couldn't see from her position. Not to be outdone while Ana was watching, Kane leapt up and began his own search. Ana barely moved herself, in a state of shock at the loss of two of her friends.
"You mean they're gone?" she demanded, her tone carrying a note of warning that had both the Charmeleon and the Marowak cringing at the words. "Why weren't you watching them?"
"Uh... we were fighting..." Sophia started, almost immediately cut off by Kane.
"She started it!" he interjected, pointing one claw at her. She swelled up indignantly, shooting a glare that made his tail flame seem laughably cold at him.
"Don't try and pin this on me you jerk!" she yelled, drawing a frosty glare from him. Before he could retort, Ana interrupted.
"Shut up, both of you!" she cried out, making both pokemon cower again. "You're both to blame! I told you to watch them, but you two were too busy getting at each other's throats to even follow that simple request." She sighed, dropping her towel and soap on the sleeping bag and drawing some cooking tools out of her bag.
"I need to cook dinner, and I want you two to go and find Plusle and Sentret." She said distractedly, not bothering to hide the worry in her voice. "When you get back, you're going to start working on whatever it is you have against each other."
***
"You do realise that this is all your fault."
The statement was so utterly brazen that Kane's eyes widened in anger as he looked over at where Sophia was looking for the young pokemon in the other direction. The Charmeleon abandoned his search, stalking over and spinning the Marowak around, clutching her shoulders roughly.
"You've got some nerve, bitch." He snarled, staring at her hard. "I wasn't the only one arguing back at the camp! Where do you get off unloading all the blame on me?" Sophia didn't even blink at the enraged Charmeleon, instead raising one hand to shove the end of her bone into his neck.
"Before you came along none of us ever had a reason to argue." She spat back, trying to force his head back with the bone. "You're far too shifty, and I don't trust you as far as I could throw a Snorlax." Kane snorted, shoving her roughly back so that she could barely keep her footing. She stared contemptuously at his retreating back, the fire type not even bothering to look back at her.
"Let's just get this over with." He stated, marching back into the forest while trying to retain as much dignity as he could. "Obviously you're not going to see reason, so I'm not going to bother trying to show it to you." Sophia's grip tightened on the bone, the Marowak sorely tempted to nail him in the back of the head before common sense asserted itself. Ana would be very angry with them if they didn't find Plusle and Sentret, and fighting wasn't going to help them for now. With a lofty sigh, she followed Kane deeper into the forest.
They continued their search in silence for the next few minutes, not even talking when they came across three sets of tracks that quickly dissolved into one. Two of them they recognised as belonging to Plusle and Sentret, but the third was a mystery to them. They were larger than even Kane's own, though they were roughly the same shape. Both shared a single glance, before following the new tracks to their destination. It was a safe bet that whatever had made those tracks had taken the pokemon with it, the absence of blood an indication that they were alive when they were captured.
The trail was short, only a further minute of walking between them and the place where Plusle and Sentret had been taken. The trees had thickened slightly, and over the omnipresent sounds of the forest dwelling pokemon they could hear a stream running roughly over rocks. The most worrying sound however, was the heavy footfalls of the pokemon that took the young boys.
Kane and Sophia peered into the clearing from behind their hiding place in the trees, suppressing their anxiety over the identity of the kidnapper. Standing next to the two unconscious pokemon, just over double Kane's height, was a powerfully built Feraligatr. He paced back and forth in between the boys and their rescuers, every few moments looking over at the slumped pokemon and licking his lips. Sophia glared at the display, turning to her companion.
"When I'm finished with that bastard the only thing he'll be able to eat is the morning dew off the grass!" she hissed, making to rush the massive water pokemon. Kane laid a restraining paw on her shoulder, holding her in check. She rounded on him, ready to smash him with her bone instead until the suspicious look on his face arrested her movements.
"If he's planning to eat them, why hasn't he done it yet?" he murmured, more to himself than Sophia. Sophia frowned at him, turning back to see Feraligatr shooting another anxious look at the unconscious pokemon. He took a step towards them, flexing his claws.
"Rhy said that eating stuff piece by piece when it's alive made it taste better..." he muttered to himself, though his voice carried enough to let the rescuers hear. "Yeah... yeah, wait until they wake up..." He cast a fearful look over his shoulder in time to see the bone smash into his jaw, sending him staggering and knocking several teeth down his throat. Once he regained his footing, he stared wildly in the direction the bone returned to, seeing Sophia jump out from behind her refuge to catch it.
"What did you do that for?" another voice complained, the speaker stepping out after her to reveal himself to Feraligatr. Kane looked somewhere between annoyed and fearful as he moved to her side, keeping his eyes on the hulking water pokemon. "You just pissed him off. Happy?"
"No." She replied, still glaring angrily at Feraligatr. "I won't be happy until the rest of his teeth join the first ones!" Feraligatr roared in response, spitting out the broken teeth and staring straight back into her eyes.
"You'll pay for that bitch!" he yelled, charging straight at her with water drooling out from between his clenched jaw. Before he could get closer, Kane sprinted forward and launched himself into a metal claw attack, his own claw swinging around to crack against Feraligatr's lower jaw. Unprepared, the water type released his attack into the sky instead of at Sophia, a stream of water capable of cutting through rock lancing harmlessly into the empty space.
Kane didn't have time to enjoy his handiwork, forced to throw himself aside to avoid his foe's massive tail as it swung around, intent on beating his skull into the ground. Sophia used the opening to leap onto Feraligatr's back, clinging to the red spines jutting from it and landing bone club after bone club on her opponent's head. He roared again, trying desperately to shake her loose. Kane leapt to the rescue, landing a few more metal claws on Feraligatr's gut and doubling him over.
From that point the pair kept up their tag team battle, nimbly dodging away from the bulky Feraligatr and letting him leave himself open to counter attacks from the other. It took them a while to chip away at their foe's strength, but eventually the sheer number of attacks began to tell and Feraligatr collapsed on the ground with a faint moan.
Kane and Sophia glanced at one another, letting a sheepish grin come between them before carrying their unconscious charges back to the camp.
***
That night Kane and Sophia sat well away from their friends, Ana having placed their food on the opposite end of the camp in an effort to get them to reconcile with each other. She kept tending to the little ones, Plusle and Sentret having awoken and recovered from what was revealed by the trainer as little more than a knock out. The Charmeleon looked over at her for a moment before returning his gaze to Sophia, finding the Marowak staring at him strangely.
"You handled yourself pretty well today." She said, the words coming slowly and with some effort. Kane nodded his thanks, picking up a piece of food and looking at it.
"You weren't so bad either." He replied, his own sentence seeming awkward as well. She grimaced, knowing that they had at least taken the first step to getting along with each other. "A little quick off the mark, but otherwise strong." She laughed shortly, getting a grin from him as well.
"Fair enough." She replied, before letting her expression become more serious. "Enough about that I guess. So... what was it that made you want to join up with us? I can't say I've met too many pokemon that would have done what you did today." Kane sighed heavily, his gaze once more lingering on Ana.
"Well..." he began, watching her smiling at the little ones as they ate. "I... I'm in love with Ana."
When morning had rolled around he had scarfed a quick breakfast before finding a stakeout spot in front of the pokemon centre, waiting for her to come out. Once again he could swear that the minutes were actually hours as he waited for even the slightest glimpse of her, finally being rewarded as she exited the pokemon centre with her Marowak in tow.
The Charmeleon stalked through the sparsely populated streets after them, weaving through the humans and pokemon as he maintained what he thought was a safe distance away. The trainer didn't turn around once, although her Marowak had taken a look behind them as sixth sense kicked in. Kane ducked into a nearby alley as she swung her skull encased head around, giving it a few seconds before exiting the alley and walking after them. He didn't know if Marowak had spotted him, but he hoped his brazen exit threw off suspicion.
So it was only a few short minutes later that Kane found himself skulking around outside a building with a blue roof, once more waiting for his angel to emerge. The seconds crept by once more, though his patience was rewarded once more as she left the blue roofed building, clutching a small red and white sphere that Kane recognised. A poke ball.
"Do you really need more of those?" Marowak asked her, and Kane realised that she was speaking in the human tongue, something he wouldn't have noticed in the crowded pokemon centre. "I thought you already had heaps of them."
"It never hurts to have spares, Sophia." The goddess replied, her lyrical tone almost enough to make Kane's knees buckle underneath him. "Remember a couple of days ago when we were trying to catch that flying blue pokemon? What did the pokedex call it? Lati-oh!"
Absently she had been toying with the poke ball she had been holding, and in her lack of concentration it had slipped from her grasp. It bounced down the pathway, the Charmeleon realising that it was heading his way. She was now chasing after it, but he was faster. Darting from his hiding place around the corner of a nearby building, he chased the bouncing object, pouncing at the last moment.
In a flash of light, Kane disappeared into the poke ball. The beauty stopped in mid stride, blinking at the poke ball as it quickly completed the capture. Automatically she leaned down and retrieved the poke ball, still staring at it in confusion.
"Uh, what just happened?" she asked Sophia, the Marowak giving little more than an open handed shrug to her trainer. Something told Sophia that whatever the motive was at work here, it couldn't be anything good.
***
"Okay. Kane, this is Analise and I'm Sophia."
Kane nodded a greeting at the Marowak before taking Analise's hand and nuzzling it. She blushed at the action, though she did nothing to stop it. She grinned down at him, her face still red in embarrassment.
"You can call me Ana." She offered, gently extracting her hand from his grip. He resisted a little, unwilling to let go just yet, but eventually he desisted and allowed her to take her hand back. She didn't quite know what to make of his behaviour, finally putting it down to being a gentleman.
"It's a pleasure to meet you." Kane replied, trying to be on his best behaviour. Sophia translated for him, even though the Marowak was still giving him an odd look. He didn't like it, especially since she was more likely to be a hindrance rather than a help when it came to him getting what he was after. However, it was the fact that he might need her to translate his feeling to Ana that bothered him most. If she was going to oppose him, it would be very difficult for all of them since she would most likely tell Ana and have the trainer release him.
He would be damned if he let that happen.
Kane was lost in his plotting even as they made their way onto the trail that led to the next human city. It passed through a forest, the natural sights prompting Ana to let all of her pokemon have some time out of their poke balls and enjoy the scenery. Plusle and Sentret, young and eager boys that they were, were quick to scurry ahead of the older trio to investigate the various plants and flowers that grew on the edge of the trees. Whenever one of them got too far ahead from the group, Ana would call him back with a melodious laugh.
Neither Kane nor Sophia paid any attention to this. The Charmeleon was too busy thinking of a way to get around the language barrier without Sophia's help, and the Marowak was attempting to divine Kane's intentions for tagging along with them. They flanked Ana on both sides as the group made its way along the winding trail, keeping ominously silent even as they stole the occasional suspicious glance at the other.
"Okay guys, time to set up camp!" Ana called out, moving to one side of the path as her pokemon congregated around her. Plusle and Sentret chattered excitedly to one another as she began to unpack her kit, Kane practically jumping at the opportunity to help. Sophia did little more than direct a frosty stare at the Charmeleon, her eyes narrowed in suspicion. Ana saw it, blinking at the Marowak.
"Hey Sophia, are you feeling alright?" she asked, mid way through unpacking her tent. She quickly shook her head as the group's attention was drawn to her, aware of the effort it took her to actually meet Ana's gaze.
"Uh, yeah, I'm fine." She answered, careful not to glare at Kane. She might have her suspicions, but voicing them without proof wouldn't help in the slightest. "Just a little tired from the walk, that's all." Ana frowned at her, before shrugging and letting her attention focus on setting up camp again. Once they were finished Ana stretched her arms over her head, unaware that Kane's gaze lingered on her wonderfully curvy figure.
"Well, that's taken care of." She stated aloud, even though she knew they could see that. Searching through her backpack, she withdrew a small ice blue drawstring bag and wound her wrist through the string. "The map said there was a river a hundred or so metres into the forest, so I think I'll go and freshen up."
"I'd better come with you then. For protection." Kane volunteered, his suggestion earning little more than a snort of amusement from Sophia.
"Oh, like hell that's what you're thinking of." She shot at him, getting herself a reprimanding scowl from Ana.
"Sophia, what are you talking about?" she asked curiously, not quite keeping the annoyed edge out of her voice. She didn't like it when her pokemon disagreed, because it weakened their bond as a team. The Marowak nodded in acknowledgement, understanding that Ana wasn't entirely happy with her.
"Kane seems to think he needs to stand watch over you while you have your bath." She responded scornfully, narrowing her eyes at the Charmeleon again even while he glared back at her. To their surprise Ana gave a short laugh, patting Kane on the head in gratitude.
"It's a nice thought, but not necessary." Ana said, grinning down at him. "I may not look like it, but I can hold my own in a fight! You two just stay here and watch Plusle and Sentret." Humming merrily to herself, she wandered into the forest towards the river and to her waiting bath. Kane watched her go, one arm stretching out in protest even though she had left too quickly for him to respond. He turned to where Sophia sat, an angry outburst on his tongue, only to find she had approached him and was now staring up at him with some irritation.
"Seriously, what's your problem?" she asked, her voice rising a little. "You've done nothing but sidle up to Ana ever since you joined the team. What, do you want her to be your adopted kid or something?" Kane puffed himself up indignantly, using his extra height to stare down his muzzle at her.
"I was gonna ask you the same thing." He snarled, looking directly through the eye holes in her skull helm to stare hard into the real ones. She didn't relent, keeping her own stare on his scarred eye. "Why do you need to question everything I do?"
"Maybe because I don't trust you as far as I can throw a Snorlax!" she shot back, tone getting louder still. "What kind of pokemon just joins someone with no explanation?" Even as Kane and Sophia yelled back and forth at one another, the two younger pokemon shared uneasy glances.
"I'm scared..." Sentret whimpered to his friend, his face mournful. Plusle's ears fell as he looked back, turning away from the two arguing pokemon. "Let's go." Nodding his agreement, the pair turned and walked off into the forest.
***
Ana was humming gently to herself as she made her way back from the river, feeling much better after washing herself in the river. She had been slightly puzzled at Kane's insistence on standing watch over her, more because she knew that he would know it was a somewhat inappropriate gesture. She certainly wasn't sanguine about letting him see her naked.
As she approached the camp site, a strange sensation intruded on her thoughts. Something was different about the atmosphere, something she couldn't quite place. It was only as she neared the fringe of the camp that she realised that it was completely silent. She should have been able to hear the pokemon chatting amongst themselves. Ana left the last of the trees, her hazel eyes sweeping over the area to find Kane and Sophia sitting on opposite sides, backs to each other and completely silent. It wasn't that which caused dread to shroud her mind.
"Guys..." she said slowly. "Where are Plusle and Sentret?"
The pokemon snapped out of their own thoughts, turning to take in Ana's presence as she voiced the question. Turning to look over the camp themselves, it was a few seconds before either of them were ready to answer, silently berating themselves for letting this happen.
"They were here not that long ago!" Sophia whined, getting up hastily and quickly searching any place she couldn't see from her position. Not to be outdone while Ana was watching, Kane leapt up and began his own search. Ana barely moved herself, in a state of shock at the loss of two of her friends.
"You mean they're gone?" she demanded, her tone carrying a note of warning that had both the Charmeleon and the Marowak cringing at the words. "Why weren't you watching them?"
"Uh... we were fighting..." Sophia started, almost immediately cut off by Kane.
"She started it!" he interjected, pointing one claw at her. She swelled up indignantly, shooting a glare that made his tail flame seem laughably cold at him.
"Don't try and pin this on me you jerk!" she yelled, drawing a frosty glare from him. Before he could retort, Ana interrupted.
"Shut up, both of you!" she cried out, making both pokemon cower again. "You're both to blame! I told you to watch them, but you two were too busy getting at each other's throats to even follow that simple request." She sighed, dropping her towel and soap on the sleeping bag and drawing some cooking tools out of her bag.
"I need to cook dinner, and I want you two to go and find Plusle and Sentret." She said distractedly, not bothering to hide the worry in her voice. "When you get back, you're going to start working on whatever it is you have against each other."
***
"You do realise that this is all your fault."
The statement was so utterly brazen that Kane's eyes widened in anger as he looked over at where Sophia was looking for the young pokemon in the other direction. The Charmeleon abandoned his search, stalking over and spinning the Marowak around, clutching her shoulders roughly.
"You've got some nerve, bitch." He snarled, staring at her hard. "I wasn't the only one arguing back at the camp! Where do you get off unloading all the blame on me?" Sophia didn't even blink at the enraged Charmeleon, instead raising one hand to shove the end of her bone into his neck.
"Before you came along none of us ever had a reason to argue." She spat back, trying to force his head back with the bone. "You're far too shifty, and I don't trust you as far as I could throw a Snorlax." Kane snorted, shoving her roughly back so that she could barely keep her footing. She stared contemptuously at his retreating back, the fire type not even bothering to look back at her.
"Let's just get this over with." He stated, marching back into the forest while trying to retain as much dignity as he could. "Obviously you're not going to see reason, so I'm not going to bother trying to show it to you." Sophia's grip tightened on the bone, the Marowak sorely tempted to nail him in the back of the head before common sense asserted itself. Ana would be very angry with them if they didn't find Plusle and Sentret, and fighting wasn't going to help them for now. With a lofty sigh, she followed Kane deeper into the forest.
They continued their search in silence for the next few minutes, not even talking when they came across three sets of tracks that quickly dissolved into one. Two of them they recognised as belonging to Plusle and Sentret, but the third was a mystery to them. They were larger than even Kane's own, though they were roughly the same shape. Both shared a single glance, before following the new tracks to their destination. It was a safe bet that whatever had made those tracks had taken the pokemon with it, the absence of blood an indication that they were alive when they were captured.
The trail was short, only a further minute of walking between them and the place where Plusle and Sentret had been taken. The trees had thickened slightly, and over the omnipresent sounds of the forest dwelling pokemon they could hear a stream running roughly over rocks. The most worrying sound however, was the heavy footfalls of the pokemon that took the young boys.
Kane and Sophia peered into the clearing from behind their hiding place in the trees, suppressing their anxiety over the identity of the kidnapper. Standing next to the two unconscious pokemon, just over double Kane's height, was a powerfully built Feraligatr. He paced back and forth in between the boys and their rescuers, every few moments looking over at the slumped pokemon and licking his lips. Sophia glared at the display, turning to her companion.
"When I'm finished with that bastard the only thing he'll be able to eat is the morning dew off the grass!" she hissed, making to rush the massive water pokemon. Kane laid a restraining paw on her shoulder, holding her in check. She rounded on him, ready to smash him with her bone instead until the suspicious look on his face arrested her movements.
"If he's planning to eat them, why hasn't he done it yet?" he murmured, more to himself than Sophia. Sophia frowned at him, turning back to see Feraligatr shooting another anxious look at the unconscious pokemon. He took a step towards them, flexing his claws.
"Rhy said that eating stuff piece by piece when it's alive made it taste better..." he muttered to himself, though his voice carried enough to let the rescuers hear. "Yeah... yeah, wait until they wake up..." He cast a fearful look over his shoulder in time to see the bone smash into his jaw, sending him staggering and knocking several teeth down his throat. Once he regained his footing, he stared wildly in the direction the bone returned to, seeing Sophia jump out from behind her refuge to catch it.
"What did you do that for?" another voice complained, the speaker stepping out after her to reveal himself to Feraligatr. Kane looked somewhere between annoyed and fearful as he moved to her side, keeping his eyes on the hulking water pokemon. "You just pissed him off. Happy?"
"No." She replied, still glaring angrily at Feraligatr. "I won't be happy until the rest of his teeth join the first ones!" Feraligatr roared in response, spitting out the broken teeth and staring straight back into her eyes.
"You'll pay for that bitch!" he yelled, charging straight at her with water drooling out from between his clenched jaw. Before he could get closer, Kane sprinted forward and launched himself into a metal claw attack, his own claw swinging around to crack against Feraligatr's lower jaw. Unprepared, the water type released his attack into the sky instead of at Sophia, a stream of water capable of cutting through rock lancing harmlessly into the empty space.
Kane didn't have time to enjoy his handiwork, forced to throw himself aside to avoid his foe's massive tail as it swung around, intent on beating his skull into the ground. Sophia used the opening to leap onto Feraligatr's back, clinging to the red spines jutting from it and landing bone club after bone club on her opponent's head. He roared again, trying desperately to shake her loose. Kane leapt to the rescue, landing a few more metal claws on Feraligatr's gut and doubling him over.
From that point the pair kept up their tag team battle, nimbly dodging away from the bulky Feraligatr and letting him leave himself open to counter attacks from the other. It took them a while to chip away at their foe's strength, but eventually the sheer number of attacks began to tell and Feraligatr collapsed on the ground with a faint moan.
Kane and Sophia glanced at one another, letting a sheepish grin come between them before carrying their unconscious charges back to the camp.
***
That night Kane and Sophia sat well away from their friends, Ana having placed their food on the opposite end of the camp in an effort to get them to reconcile with each other. She kept tending to the little ones, Plusle and Sentret having awoken and recovered from what was revealed by the trainer as little more than a knock out. The Charmeleon looked over at her for a moment before returning his gaze to Sophia, finding the Marowak staring at him strangely.
"You handled yourself pretty well today." She said, the words coming slowly and with some effort. Kane nodded his thanks, picking up a piece of food and looking at it.
"You weren't so bad either." He replied, his own sentence seeming awkward as well. She grimaced, knowing that they had at least taken the first step to getting along with each other. "A little quick off the mark, but otherwise strong." She laughed shortly, getting a grin from him as well.
"Fair enough." She replied, before letting her expression become more serious. "Enough about that I guess. So... what was it that made you want to join up with us? I can't say I've met too many pokemon that would have done what you did today." Kane sighed heavily, his gaze once more lingering on Ana.
"Well..." he began, watching her smiling at the little ones as they ate. "I... I'm in love with Ana."