Chapter 11 - Expertise
Wolf yawned, slumped against the window in Canalave pokemon centre. The sun was just setting over Sinnoh, but even the lovely sight of the horizon could do little to lift his mood of being separated from his pokemon. It was a definite habit to get his pokemon a check up at every centre, but the familiarity of the situation didn't mean he liked it. He was only ever happy when Lucky and the others were with him.
The centre was pretty much deserted except for him. He figured that could change anytime, but for the moment he didn't have anything to distract him. Almost on que, the door slid open and a young trainer with purple hair and a hard look approached the front desk. He was dressed appropriately for being a pokemon trainer, wearing a blue and black jacket and black jeans. As Wolf watched, he waited patiently for Joy to answer the bell, and was rewarded when she exited the hallway with Wolf's pokemon in tow. Even as Joy asked what she could do for the trainer, he paid her no mind as the pokemon moved towards Wolf and Lucky gave her boyfriend a loving hug. He muttered something under his breath before turning back to Joy. The comment wasn't meant to be audible, although Wolf's hearing was a little better than most.
"If I could interrupt for a second," Wolf began, drawing stares from both of them. "But I could have sworn that you just said 'pathetic.'" The trainer met Wolf's bemused gaze with his own unreadable expression, wondering if he should even bother answering.
"So what if I did?" he asked, unable to keep an arrogant smirk from his face. "What kind of serious trainer hugs their pokemon?" Wolf kept the first thing that came to his mind to himself, although he found himself with an instant dislike of the trainer.
"One that cares about them." He replied instead. Lucky and Serenity exchanged worried glances, hoping that Wolf wouldn't get provoked into doing something rash. They knew that even he had his limits.
"Care is overrated." He snorted, keeping his hard stare on Wolf. The pokemon could feel the tension in the air, with both trainers not taking their eyes off the other. Joy hovered uncertainly, wanting to try and diffuse the situation but not wanting to become a part of it either. "All it does is cause a pokemon to become spoilt and useless." Wolf's bemused smile changed to a predatory one, the smile he usually wore during a pokemon battle.
"Let's test that theory." He said, looking straight at the trainer. "I challenge you to a one on one pokemon battle. Your first pokemon against my first pokemon." The trainer rolled his eyes.
"It wouldn't be worth the minute it'd take to win." He said, moving to turn back to Joy.
"Prove it."
He stopped. Wolf had thrown down the gauntlet, and he also knew just which buttons to push to manipulate the boy. Turning back, he met Wolf's confident smile with one of his own.
"If it will shut you up, fine."
***
Less than five minutes later, Wolf and his opponent were squaring off in front of the pokemon centre. Nurse Joy and Chansey didn't have anything else to do and so offered to act as referees for the match. There was still light enough to see, although the automatic lights out the front of the centre had activated. Wolf was busy helping Lucky to stretch before the match, the pair using the exercise more to annoy the already unhappy trainer than to actually prepare for the match.
"Are you done yet?" he asked impatiently, his arms folded and one hand grasping the poke ball that held his first pokemon. Wolf grinned at Lucky, enjoying the provocation.
"Almost..." he began, making a big show of getting Lucky calm and ready. "Okay, we're ready." The trainer rolled his eyes, but was interrupted before he could call out his pokemon.
"Hey, Paul!"
Both trainers turned to see three more people approaching Paul. The lead boy was wearing a red cap along with a black jacket sporting a yellow curve and a pair of jeans, a Pikachu hot on his heels. The second boy had an orange and black vest over a green shirt as well as cargo pants, while the girl was dressed in a black sleeveless top, a pink miniskirt with matching boots and a white beanie. As soon as he realised who it was, Paul rolled his eyes again.
"What do you want now?" he asked, the irritation clear in his voice. The lead boy stopped a few metres away from Paul, a smile on his face.
"You're about to have a battle?" he asked, clearly excited at the possibility.
"Yeah." Paul replied. "Now go away and let me get on with it." A frown crossed the new boy's face at Paul's open hostility, and Wolf found his respect for his opponent dropping even further into the negative. After the newcomers moved to a spot where they could see the match clearly, Paul got his poke ball ready again.
"Torterra, stand by for battle!" he called out, throwing the poke ball into the makeshift arena. A burst of white light shot out of the ball, and the continent pokemon appeared in front of Wolf. Wolf grinned, knowing that just by the look of the lumbering behemoth that this would soon be over.
"Lucky, you're up!" he announced, and Lucky made a short jump to be in the battle. Both pokemon sized each other up, waiting with building anticipation for Joy to start the battle.
"Begin!" she cried. Paul wasted no time in seizing the initiative, eager to finish the battle.
"Torterra, use giga drain!" he commanded, and Torterra complied by launching the attack straight at Lucky. Wolf merely grinned, watching as Lucky lazily dodged the slow moving attack before running straight at Torterra. Paul had been hoping that was how Lucky would react, and the smirk appeared on his face again. "Now use frenzy plant!"
Wolf didn't even blink as the massive roots erupted from the ground, swaying dangerously before shooting towards Lucky. The Lucario was far too agile to be hit by them though, swaying from side to side even while charging forward. Paul wasn't too worried though. Something that small and spoilt wouldn't be able to scratch Torterra with whatever low level attack it had, even if Torterra couldn't move due to frenzy plant.
"Lucky, time to use force palm!" Wolf called out. Lucky smiled, drawing her paw back before smashing it squarely into Torterra's beak. The strength of the hit caused Torterra to fly back a good ten metres, coming to rest on its stomach. Everyone looked at Torterra in shock, not believing that it had been knocked out with a single blow. Wolf and Lucky were the only ones not surprised by the outcome.
"You may want to let Nurse Joy examine your Torterra." He remarked mildly, more to rub it in than any true concern. "Force palm has a tendency to paralyse its targets." Wordlessly, Paul called back his pokemon and stalked past the group into the centre, Joy hurriedly following him because she could see the full impact of the hit.
Turning back to Lucky as she approached, Wolf adopted an expression of mock sorrow. "I'm sorry I doubted your abilities, Lucky. I thought it would take you fifteen seconds to win." She laughed, giving him a playful shove before he picked her up and hugged her. While they embraced the trio of new faces approached in awe, as though he was in a class of his own.
"That was amazing!" the first boy cried, finding an immediate respect for Wolf. The others nodded in agreement, greatly impressed by Lucky's strength. Wolf smiled lightly and shrugged, showing that he was indeed a seasoned trainer.
"That was nothing." He replied. "I'm sure your pokemon are highly skilled as well." The three clearly wanted to talk some more, so they headed back into the centre to get better acquainted.
***
"So you're in the Sinnoh league this year too?" Wolf asked. Ash nodded over his plate of food, not speaking due to his mouth being full. The four were seated at the table next to the one Wolf normally used while the pokemon occupied their usual one. Lucky had managed to squeeze in on the end next to Wolf, made easier because Dawn was on Wolf's other side.
"I've got five badges." Ash boasted, taking out his badge case and opening it. Wolf peered at the badges, feigning interest. He wasn't exactly concerned with how other trainers were progressing, only the ones he would be facing in the finals. "How many have you got?"
"Five." Wolf answered. "We could have won them all by now, but we're taking our time and exploring Sinnoh more." Brock nodded quietly, having taken a look at Wolf's pokemon prior to dinner.
"It shows." He offered, gesturing to the pokemon eating and having their own conversations. "I haven't seen pokemon trained that well since we met Lucian." Wolf tried not to look smug, but he had never truly considered his training methods could have been that successful as to have the strength of his pokemon comparable to a member of the Elite Four. Sensing the growing feeling of self satisfaction, Serenity turned and clipped him over the head.
"Don't let it go to your head." She said when he turned to look at her. He grinned back at her.
"You don't need to worry about that, Serenity." He replied with a short laugh. Dawn watched the exchange, unable to comprehend how he knew what she was saying. He noticed her puzzled look, not realising what she was confused about until he remembered that they couldn't understand pokemon speech like he could.
"We're close enough that I can understand them." He clarified. He saw the coin drop in her eyes, and a look of awe replaced her confusion.
"So, you're psychic?" she asked.
"Me? Psychic?" he chuckled. "Not a chance. We just share a bond that deep."
"Can you teach me how to do that?" Dawn asked, excitement flooding her voice. Wolf blanched, wondering just how he was going to avoid this.
"Uh, it's not something you can teach." He said, suddenly embarrassed. Her face fell, and he felt a little bad at his rather sudden refusal. "All you can really do is try to be as close to your pokemon as possible." He was saved further improvisation when Joy walked past the table and Brock leapt up in one of his futile attempts to woo her. Watching the spectacle with a mild interest, he was about to try and save her from any further corny flirting when Brock's Croagunk poked him in the ribs with poison jab.
"Hmph." Croagunk muttered while dragging Brock away by the leg. "Am I not enough of a girl for him?" Wolf raised one eyebrow at her statement, not meant to be heard by anyone.
"Does that happen often?" he asked, turning back to Ash and Dawn. Dawn simply giggled.
"Anytime Brock talks to a pretty girl." She said. Trading a glance with Lucky, Wolf decided that he was going to try and help Croagunk resolve the situation after dinner was finished.
***
Brock was walking back to the room he was sharing with Ash and Dawn, one hand on his side. Croagunk had jabbed him no less than four times while he had been assisting Nurse Joy in examining the group's pokemon, which certainly hadn't helped in any way. The poison type was walking beside him, having flatly refused to go back in the poke ball. It wasn't such a bad thing, since they were great friends. That fact had been cemented way back when the group had been in Jubilife City, and they had been evaluated by the poketch app. It had shown that Croagunk had grown very close to him in a very short period, almost unnaturally close.
"Has it ever occurred to you to question why Croagunk jabs you all the time?"
Brock frowned at the voice as he walked round to the front of the counter. It was only when he saw Wolf leaning against it that he realised that the voice hadn't been in his head and the frown was replaced with a questioning look, inviting Wolf to continue.
"She's jealous." He said, answering his own question for Brock's benefit. Her eyes widened as Wolf spoke, realising that he was about to divulge her feelings. Brock looked at Wolf first, then at Croagunk.
"Jealous?" he asked. "Jealous of what? It's not like I'd let a girl ruin our friendship." Wolf rolled his eyes good naturedly, not wanting to be insulting with his explainations.
"You're the breeder." He replied. "You're also - vaguely - a ladies man. In light of that, I'll direct your attention to my previous statement. She's jealous." His face showed nothing but incomprehension for a few seconds, until it clicked. His eyebrows shot up as he looked back at Croagunk, who was staring at the floor and blushing furiously. Wolf picked Croagunk up and placed her on the counter so that she was closer to Brock's eye level.
"I've said enough anyway, so from this point I'll act as a translator." Wolf announced, keeping a neutral position while listening intently. For a few seconds no one said anything, simply trying to adjust to the sudden development.
"Croagunk, is this true?" Brock asked, stunned. She finally raised her eyes to look at him, her blush growing in intensity.
"Croaaaa. Croaaa Croagunk." She replied.
"Yes. When we first met, there was something about you." Wolf translated, careful to keep his eyes averted and not distract either of them. They paid him no attention outside of his translation, their only thoughts on the situation at hand.
"Even though I'm human and you're a pokemon?" he asked. She nodded. For a few moments they were silent.
"Brock," she began. "Will you kiss me? Just once. If you don't like it, we can still be friends." He kept his gaze on her, before he decided that he owed her this much. Leaning in, he brought his lips to hers in a tender kiss. He drew back slowly, trying to pinpoint just how he felt about the whole thing. Finally, he sighed.
"I'm sorry, Croagunk." He said. "I don't think I can feel that way about you, but if you're willing I'd like us to stay friends." She nodded again, watching him depart for their shared room with a wistful smile on her face.
"Thanks for trying anyway, Wolf." She offered, glad that he had helped her to get her feelings off her chest. He smiled back at her.
"It's not for everyone, I guess." He thought aloud, shrugging. He watched her follow her friend back to the room, and was about to leave for his own room when Paul exited the hallway. It wasn't the sudden departure of the trainer that caused him to stay, but rather the fact that he was being shadowed by Ash's Chimchar. Rolling his eyes, Wolf set off to find out just what was the story here.
***
Chimchar was hiding behind a tree, watching as Paul called out each of his pokemon. She had never liked any of them, only tolerating their presence because of him. The humiliating loss earlier would have been little to get him to train tonight, but the exercises would be a lot harder than usual. It had been the same when they had battled the human called Cynthia. Chimchar smiled sadly as she recalled the nice way Cynthia had treated her. She was a very passionate pokemon, and had wished that Paul had been nicer to her all the time. All she could do was try and get as strong as possible and try to earn his respect that way.
Unfortunately, it wasn't to be. For some reason she couldn't understand, he had turned his back on her during a battle. After the battle he had released her, despite her pleading not to let her go. Sure, the nice boy Ash had taken her in and treated her well, but it really wasn't the same. Paul had been her first friend, and she couldn't forget that.
Shaking her head, she snapped back to the present and watched him train the pokemon. Even Torterra was finding this session difficult, since Paul was obviously angry that the pokemon had been knocked out with a single blow by the Lucario.
"Something on your mind?"
It may have been a whisper, but the voice still caught her by surprise. Turning, she saw that Wolf was behind her with a gentle smile on his face. She looked back over to see if Paul had heard anything, and seeing that he wasn't disturbed in the least she turned back to Wolf.
"It's Paul." She explained. "I... I can't stop thinking about him." Wolf tilted his head slightly, knowing what she meant but unable to comprehend how she could possibly feel that way.
"What do you see in him?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. "He is the biggest meat head that I've ever met." She smiled ruefully. She couldn't defend him from such a statement knowing that it was true, but she didn't think of him that way.
"I know, but he was my first friend." She admitted, looking back at him as his hair stirred in the breeze. A dreamy smile crossed her face for a fleeting moment, before she realised that Wolf could help. Paul had finished his training, and was preparing to head back to the centre just as Chimchar grabbed Wolf by the hand and dragged him out into sight. Paul started at the two of them emerging out of the woods so suddenly, but his usual disdainful look returned quickly.
"What do you want now?" he asked scornfully. Wolf rolled his eyes, hoping to add to the mood.
"I just figured you might want to know a little more about Chimchar." He responded mildly. Chimchar looked at Paul with hope in her eyes, even while his return gaze gave the impression that she was something he had found on his shoe. "It takes one of two kinds of pokemon to even consider hanging around with you." He continued, not giving him a chance to speak. "Ones who have the personality of a door knob, and ones that have feelings for you deeper that you know." Wolf gestured to Chimchar when he voiced the latter. His expression didn't change, and some of the hope in her eyes faded away.
"What does that mean?" he asked. Wolf brought his palm to his face, shaking his head as he did so.
"Oh, for the love of... you really are a meat head." Wolf muttered under his breath. "Don't you get it? She's in love with you." Much to Wolf's disbelief, Paul's disgust only deepened.
"That's ridiculous." He said, his feelings evident. "What kind of human would want to be with a pokemon, especially one as weak as you." Chimchar's eyes filled with tears as Paul stalked back to the pokemon centre, and Wolf dropped to his knees to put a comforting hand on her shoulder. He watched stonily as the trainer walked back to the centre, wishing a humiliating affliction on him. The matter forgotten, Wolf picked the fire monkey up and gave her a comforting hug. She sobbed into his chest for a minute, but recovered after a while. She looked up into his gentle eyes, the beginning of a smile on her face.
"I think I'm going to be okay." She offered. "At least I can stop thinking about it." Wolf smiled back.
"There will be someone for you." He said gently, and was rewarded with a full smile. Climbing down, she grabbed his hand again and led him back into the bushes before getting him to sit back against the tree. Before he could react she had unzipped his jeans and pulled his rapidly hardening shaft out, running a hand along the whole length.
"Ah, Chimchar, what are you... ah..." he tried to ask, losing focus as she used her hands expertly to tease him to full readiness. She flashed him a mischievous smile.
"Thanking you." She answered, before taking half of it into her mouth. Wolf couldn't suppress a sigh as he felt the moist warmth of her mouth envelop his erection, his eyes fluttering shut as she began to slide her mouth up and down the length. She lightly sucked on him, enjoying the taste as she slid her tongue over the tip in a circular motion. She kept her hands wrapped around his base, adding to his pleasure by pulling on him while she sucked. He could only last so long with her talented hands and mouth on him, and came right into her mouth. She swallowed the lot almost straight away, licking what didn't shoot straight down her throat off the insides of her cheeks as she pulled away. Chimchar looked back up at Wolf, his breathing heavy and eyes unfocused. When he recovered enough to look at her, she merely smiled at him before giving him a mischievous wink and heading back to the pokemon centre. He sat on the ground for a minute before he could move, dressing himself properly and heading back to the trail.
***
Jazz and Buneary watched from the bushes as Pikachu slammed his tail into the tree again, bouncing off it and back to his starting position as he executed another iron tail. He had snuck out after the trainers had fallen asleep so that he could practice some more, not satisfied with how strong he was in comparison to some other pokemon he had seen. Ash was a good enough trainer, but still he felt it wasn't enough.
"Isn't he so cute?" Buneary asked while he readied himself again.
"Not the word I would have used," Jazz replied, smirking slightly. "But I'll agree with you." They watched him strike the tree again with his tail, noticing that he hardly seemed tired at all. "Why don't you go talk to him?" Jazz asked, turning to the fluffy rabbit. Buneary's ears stood on end, and she pulled the wool up over her face.
"He wouldn't be interested in me." She mumbled though the wool. "He could probably get any girl he wants." Jazz looked over at him for a minute, then back at her.
"I doubt that will happen." She said. Buneary lowered the wool, looking at the Raichu questioningly. She adopted a soft smile, much like a mother would give a daughter. "You've been with your trainer long enough to know that pokemon tend to adopt some traits from their human friends, right?" Buneary nodded slowly, not knowing where she was going with this. "For example, I used to never talk to anyone. After I met Wolf, I became much more social."
"Okay..." she replied, indicating for Jazz to continue.
"Anyway," she began. "It's the same with Pikachu. He's as clueless as you can get."
Realisation dawned in the rabbit's eyes as what Jazz said sunk in. It made a lot of sense, certainly. Ash didn't know - or care - about the first thing outside of pokemon battles. Obviously, almost four years of the same attitude would have rubbed off on Pikachu.
"So, what do I do?" Buneary asked. Jazz smiled again.
"You strike me as the romantic type, so go over and tell him that you're interested." Jazz offered. "Take it slow, and make sure that he understands the situation. The last thing you want is for him to not understand what's going on." Buneary smiled happily at Jazz before hopping off to talk to Pikachu. Jazz watched her go with some pride before she realised that she'd just robbed herself of some entertainment for the evening.
"Well, good luck to her anyway." She said to herself, heading back to the path. When she emerged from the bushes, she was surprised to find Wolf coming out of the opposite side. They looked at each other for a couple of seconds in silence.
"Why do I get the feeling you were doing the same thing I was?" he asked, breaking the silence. Jazz grimaced, wandering over to him and climbing up into his arms.
"I didn't get anything. You?" she began. Wolf smiled.
"A little luck." He replied. "But since we're both out here, you wanna rut?" Jazz nuzzled his cheek, and the pair wandered back into the bushes.
The centre was pretty much deserted except for him. He figured that could change anytime, but for the moment he didn't have anything to distract him. Almost on que, the door slid open and a young trainer with purple hair and a hard look approached the front desk. He was dressed appropriately for being a pokemon trainer, wearing a blue and black jacket and black jeans. As Wolf watched, he waited patiently for Joy to answer the bell, and was rewarded when she exited the hallway with Wolf's pokemon in tow. Even as Joy asked what she could do for the trainer, he paid her no mind as the pokemon moved towards Wolf and Lucky gave her boyfriend a loving hug. He muttered something under his breath before turning back to Joy. The comment wasn't meant to be audible, although Wolf's hearing was a little better than most.
"If I could interrupt for a second," Wolf began, drawing stares from both of them. "But I could have sworn that you just said 'pathetic.'" The trainer met Wolf's bemused gaze with his own unreadable expression, wondering if he should even bother answering.
"So what if I did?" he asked, unable to keep an arrogant smirk from his face. "What kind of serious trainer hugs their pokemon?" Wolf kept the first thing that came to his mind to himself, although he found himself with an instant dislike of the trainer.
"One that cares about them." He replied instead. Lucky and Serenity exchanged worried glances, hoping that Wolf wouldn't get provoked into doing something rash. They knew that even he had his limits.
"Care is overrated." He snorted, keeping his hard stare on Wolf. The pokemon could feel the tension in the air, with both trainers not taking their eyes off the other. Joy hovered uncertainly, wanting to try and diffuse the situation but not wanting to become a part of it either. "All it does is cause a pokemon to become spoilt and useless." Wolf's bemused smile changed to a predatory one, the smile he usually wore during a pokemon battle.
"Let's test that theory." He said, looking straight at the trainer. "I challenge you to a one on one pokemon battle. Your first pokemon against my first pokemon." The trainer rolled his eyes.
"It wouldn't be worth the minute it'd take to win." He said, moving to turn back to Joy.
"Prove it."
He stopped. Wolf had thrown down the gauntlet, and he also knew just which buttons to push to manipulate the boy. Turning back, he met Wolf's confident smile with one of his own.
"If it will shut you up, fine."
***
Less than five minutes later, Wolf and his opponent were squaring off in front of the pokemon centre. Nurse Joy and Chansey didn't have anything else to do and so offered to act as referees for the match. There was still light enough to see, although the automatic lights out the front of the centre had activated. Wolf was busy helping Lucky to stretch before the match, the pair using the exercise more to annoy the already unhappy trainer than to actually prepare for the match.
"Are you done yet?" he asked impatiently, his arms folded and one hand grasping the poke ball that held his first pokemon. Wolf grinned at Lucky, enjoying the provocation.
"Almost..." he began, making a big show of getting Lucky calm and ready. "Okay, we're ready." The trainer rolled his eyes, but was interrupted before he could call out his pokemon.
"Hey, Paul!"
Both trainers turned to see three more people approaching Paul. The lead boy was wearing a red cap along with a black jacket sporting a yellow curve and a pair of jeans, a Pikachu hot on his heels. The second boy had an orange and black vest over a green shirt as well as cargo pants, while the girl was dressed in a black sleeveless top, a pink miniskirt with matching boots and a white beanie. As soon as he realised who it was, Paul rolled his eyes again.
"What do you want now?" he asked, the irritation clear in his voice. The lead boy stopped a few metres away from Paul, a smile on his face.
"You're about to have a battle?" he asked, clearly excited at the possibility.
"Yeah." Paul replied. "Now go away and let me get on with it." A frown crossed the new boy's face at Paul's open hostility, and Wolf found his respect for his opponent dropping even further into the negative. After the newcomers moved to a spot where they could see the match clearly, Paul got his poke ball ready again.
"Torterra, stand by for battle!" he called out, throwing the poke ball into the makeshift arena. A burst of white light shot out of the ball, and the continent pokemon appeared in front of Wolf. Wolf grinned, knowing that just by the look of the lumbering behemoth that this would soon be over.
"Lucky, you're up!" he announced, and Lucky made a short jump to be in the battle. Both pokemon sized each other up, waiting with building anticipation for Joy to start the battle.
"Begin!" she cried. Paul wasted no time in seizing the initiative, eager to finish the battle.
"Torterra, use giga drain!" he commanded, and Torterra complied by launching the attack straight at Lucky. Wolf merely grinned, watching as Lucky lazily dodged the slow moving attack before running straight at Torterra. Paul had been hoping that was how Lucky would react, and the smirk appeared on his face again. "Now use frenzy plant!"
Wolf didn't even blink as the massive roots erupted from the ground, swaying dangerously before shooting towards Lucky. The Lucario was far too agile to be hit by them though, swaying from side to side even while charging forward. Paul wasn't too worried though. Something that small and spoilt wouldn't be able to scratch Torterra with whatever low level attack it had, even if Torterra couldn't move due to frenzy plant.
"Lucky, time to use force palm!" Wolf called out. Lucky smiled, drawing her paw back before smashing it squarely into Torterra's beak. The strength of the hit caused Torterra to fly back a good ten metres, coming to rest on its stomach. Everyone looked at Torterra in shock, not believing that it had been knocked out with a single blow. Wolf and Lucky were the only ones not surprised by the outcome.
"You may want to let Nurse Joy examine your Torterra." He remarked mildly, more to rub it in than any true concern. "Force palm has a tendency to paralyse its targets." Wordlessly, Paul called back his pokemon and stalked past the group into the centre, Joy hurriedly following him because she could see the full impact of the hit.
Turning back to Lucky as she approached, Wolf adopted an expression of mock sorrow. "I'm sorry I doubted your abilities, Lucky. I thought it would take you fifteen seconds to win." She laughed, giving him a playful shove before he picked her up and hugged her. While they embraced the trio of new faces approached in awe, as though he was in a class of his own.
"That was amazing!" the first boy cried, finding an immediate respect for Wolf. The others nodded in agreement, greatly impressed by Lucky's strength. Wolf smiled lightly and shrugged, showing that he was indeed a seasoned trainer.
"That was nothing." He replied. "I'm sure your pokemon are highly skilled as well." The three clearly wanted to talk some more, so they headed back into the centre to get better acquainted.
***
"So you're in the Sinnoh league this year too?" Wolf asked. Ash nodded over his plate of food, not speaking due to his mouth being full. The four were seated at the table next to the one Wolf normally used while the pokemon occupied their usual one. Lucky had managed to squeeze in on the end next to Wolf, made easier because Dawn was on Wolf's other side.
"I've got five badges." Ash boasted, taking out his badge case and opening it. Wolf peered at the badges, feigning interest. He wasn't exactly concerned with how other trainers were progressing, only the ones he would be facing in the finals. "How many have you got?"
"Five." Wolf answered. "We could have won them all by now, but we're taking our time and exploring Sinnoh more." Brock nodded quietly, having taken a look at Wolf's pokemon prior to dinner.
"It shows." He offered, gesturing to the pokemon eating and having their own conversations. "I haven't seen pokemon trained that well since we met Lucian." Wolf tried not to look smug, but he had never truly considered his training methods could have been that successful as to have the strength of his pokemon comparable to a member of the Elite Four. Sensing the growing feeling of self satisfaction, Serenity turned and clipped him over the head.
"Don't let it go to your head." She said when he turned to look at her. He grinned back at her.
"You don't need to worry about that, Serenity." He replied with a short laugh. Dawn watched the exchange, unable to comprehend how he knew what she was saying. He noticed her puzzled look, not realising what she was confused about until he remembered that they couldn't understand pokemon speech like he could.
"We're close enough that I can understand them." He clarified. He saw the coin drop in her eyes, and a look of awe replaced her confusion.
"So, you're psychic?" she asked.
"Me? Psychic?" he chuckled. "Not a chance. We just share a bond that deep."
"Can you teach me how to do that?" Dawn asked, excitement flooding her voice. Wolf blanched, wondering just how he was going to avoid this.
"Uh, it's not something you can teach." He said, suddenly embarrassed. Her face fell, and he felt a little bad at his rather sudden refusal. "All you can really do is try to be as close to your pokemon as possible." He was saved further improvisation when Joy walked past the table and Brock leapt up in one of his futile attempts to woo her. Watching the spectacle with a mild interest, he was about to try and save her from any further corny flirting when Brock's Croagunk poked him in the ribs with poison jab.
"Hmph." Croagunk muttered while dragging Brock away by the leg. "Am I not enough of a girl for him?" Wolf raised one eyebrow at her statement, not meant to be heard by anyone.
"Does that happen often?" he asked, turning back to Ash and Dawn. Dawn simply giggled.
"Anytime Brock talks to a pretty girl." She said. Trading a glance with Lucky, Wolf decided that he was going to try and help Croagunk resolve the situation after dinner was finished.
***
Brock was walking back to the room he was sharing with Ash and Dawn, one hand on his side. Croagunk had jabbed him no less than four times while he had been assisting Nurse Joy in examining the group's pokemon, which certainly hadn't helped in any way. The poison type was walking beside him, having flatly refused to go back in the poke ball. It wasn't such a bad thing, since they were great friends. That fact had been cemented way back when the group had been in Jubilife City, and they had been evaluated by the poketch app. It had shown that Croagunk had grown very close to him in a very short period, almost unnaturally close.
"Has it ever occurred to you to question why Croagunk jabs you all the time?"
Brock frowned at the voice as he walked round to the front of the counter. It was only when he saw Wolf leaning against it that he realised that the voice hadn't been in his head and the frown was replaced with a questioning look, inviting Wolf to continue.
"She's jealous." He said, answering his own question for Brock's benefit. Her eyes widened as Wolf spoke, realising that he was about to divulge her feelings. Brock looked at Wolf first, then at Croagunk.
"Jealous?" he asked. "Jealous of what? It's not like I'd let a girl ruin our friendship." Wolf rolled his eyes good naturedly, not wanting to be insulting with his explainations.
"You're the breeder." He replied. "You're also - vaguely - a ladies man. In light of that, I'll direct your attention to my previous statement. She's jealous." His face showed nothing but incomprehension for a few seconds, until it clicked. His eyebrows shot up as he looked back at Croagunk, who was staring at the floor and blushing furiously. Wolf picked Croagunk up and placed her on the counter so that she was closer to Brock's eye level.
"I've said enough anyway, so from this point I'll act as a translator." Wolf announced, keeping a neutral position while listening intently. For a few seconds no one said anything, simply trying to adjust to the sudden development.
"Croagunk, is this true?" Brock asked, stunned. She finally raised her eyes to look at him, her blush growing in intensity.
"Croaaaa. Croaaa Croagunk." She replied.
"Yes. When we first met, there was something about you." Wolf translated, careful to keep his eyes averted and not distract either of them. They paid him no attention outside of his translation, their only thoughts on the situation at hand.
"Even though I'm human and you're a pokemon?" he asked. She nodded. For a few moments they were silent.
"Brock," she began. "Will you kiss me? Just once. If you don't like it, we can still be friends." He kept his gaze on her, before he decided that he owed her this much. Leaning in, he brought his lips to hers in a tender kiss. He drew back slowly, trying to pinpoint just how he felt about the whole thing. Finally, he sighed.
"I'm sorry, Croagunk." He said. "I don't think I can feel that way about you, but if you're willing I'd like us to stay friends." She nodded again, watching him depart for their shared room with a wistful smile on her face.
"Thanks for trying anyway, Wolf." She offered, glad that he had helped her to get her feelings off her chest. He smiled back at her.
"It's not for everyone, I guess." He thought aloud, shrugging. He watched her follow her friend back to the room, and was about to leave for his own room when Paul exited the hallway. It wasn't the sudden departure of the trainer that caused him to stay, but rather the fact that he was being shadowed by Ash's Chimchar. Rolling his eyes, Wolf set off to find out just what was the story here.
***
Chimchar was hiding behind a tree, watching as Paul called out each of his pokemon. She had never liked any of them, only tolerating their presence because of him. The humiliating loss earlier would have been little to get him to train tonight, but the exercises would be a lot harder than usual. It had been the same when they had battled the human called Cynthia. Chimchar smiled sadly as she recalled the nice way Cynthia had treated her. She was a very passionate pokemon, and had wished that Paul had been nicer to her all the time. All she could do was try and get as strong as possible and try to earn his respect that way.
Unfortunately, it wasn't to be. For some reason she couldn't understand, he had turned his back on her during a battle. After the battle he had released her, despite her pleading not to let her go. Sure, the nice boy Ash had taken her in and treated her well, but it really wasn't the same. Paul had been her first friend, and she couldn't forget that.
Shaking her head, she snapped back to the present and watched him train the pokemon. Even Torterra was finding this session difficult, since Paul was obviously angry that the pokemon had been knocked out with a single blow by the Lucario.
"Something on your mind?"
It may have been a whisper, but the voice still caught her by surprise. Turning, she saw that Wolf was behind her with a gentle smile on his face. She looked back over to see if Paul had heard anything, and seeing that he wasn't disturbed in the least she turned back to Wolf.
"It's Paul." She explained. "I... I can't stop thinking about him." Wolf tilted his head slightly, knowing what she meant but unable to comprehend how she could possibly feel that way.
"What do you see in him?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. "He is the biggest meat head that I've ever met." She smiled ruefully. She couldn't defend him from such a statement knowing that it was true, but she didn't think of him that way.
"I know, but he was my first friend." She admitted, looking back at him as his hair stirred in the breeze. A dreamy smile crossed her face for a fleeting moment, before she realised that Wolf could help. Paul had finished his training, and was preparing to head back to the centre just as Chimchar grabbed Wolf by the hand and dragged him out into sight. Paul started at the two of them emerging out of the woods so suddenly, but his usual disdainful look returned quickly.
"What do you want now?" he asked scornfully. Wolf rolled his eyes, hoping to add to the mood.
"I just figured you might want to know a little more about Chimchar." He responded mildly. Chimchar looked at Paul with hope in her eyes, even while his return gaze gave the impression that she was something he had found on his shoe. "It takes one of two kinds of pokemon to even consider hanging around with you." He continued, not giving him a chance to speak. "Ones who have the personality of a door knob, and ones that have feelings for you deeper that you know." Wolf gestured to Chimchar when he voiced the latter. His expression didn't change, and some of the hope in her eyes faded away.
"What does that mean?" he asked. Wolf brought his palm to his face, shaking his head as he did so.
"Oh, for the love of... you really are a meat head." Wolf muttered under his breath. "Don't you get it? She's in love with you." Much to Wolf's disbelief, Paul's disgust only deepened.
"That's ridiculous." He said, his feelings evident. "What kind of human would want to be with a pokemon, especially one as weak as you." Chimchar's eyes filled with tears as Paul stalked back to the pokemon centre, and Wolf dropped to his knees to put a comforting hand on her shoulder. He watched stonily as the trainer walked back to the centre, wishing a humiliating affliction on him. The matter forgotten, Wolf picked the fire monkey up and gave her a comforting hug. She sobbed into his chest for a minute, but recovered after a while. She looked up into his gentle eyes, the beginning of a smile on her face.
"I think I'm going to be okay." She offered. "At least I can stop thinking about it." Wolf smiled back.
"There will be someone for you." He said gently, and was rewarded with a full smile. Climbing down, she grabbed his hand again and led him back into the bushes before getting him to sit back against the tree. Before he could react she had unzipped his jeans and pulled his rapidly hardening shaft out, running a hand along the whole length.
"Ah, Chimchar, what are you... ah..." he tried to ask, losing focus as she used her hands expertly to tease him to full readiness. She flashed him a mischievous smile.
"Thanking you." She answered, before taking half of it into her mouth. Wolf couldn't suppress a sigh as he felt the moist warmth of her mouth envelop his erection, his eyes fluttering shut as she began to slide her mouth up and down the length. She lightly sucked on him, enjoying the taste as she slid her tongue over the tip in a circular motion. She kept her hands wrapped around his base, adding to his pleasure by pulling on him while she sucked. He could only last so long with her talented hands and mouth on him, and came right into her mouth. She swallowed the lot almost straight away, licking what didn't shoot straight down her throat off the insides of her cheeks as she pulled away. Chimchar looked back up at Wolf, his breathing heavy and eyes unfocused. When he recovered enough to look at her, she merely smiled at him before giving him a mischievous wink and heading back to the pokemon centre. He sat on the ground for a minute before he could move, dressing himself properly and heading back to the trail.
***
Jazz and Buneary watched from the bushes as Pikachu slammed his tail into the tree again, bouncing off it and back to his starting position as he executed another iron tail. He had snuck out after the trainers had fallen asleep so that he could practice some more, not satisfied with how strong he was in comparison to some other pokemon he had seen. Ash was a good enough trainer, but still he felt it wasn't enough.
"Isn't he so cute?" Buneary asked while he readied himself again.
"Not the word I would have used," Jazz replied, smirking slightly. "But I'll agree with you." They watched him strike the tree again with his tail, noticing that he hardly seemed tired at all. "Why don't you go talk to him?" Jazz asked, turning to the fluffy rabbit. Buneary's ears stood on end, and she pulled the wool up over her face.
"He wouldn't be interested in me." She mumbled though the wool. "He could probably get any girl he wants." Jazz looked over at him for a minute, then back at her.
"I doubt that will happen." She said. Buneary lowered the wool, looking at the Raichu questioningly. She adopted a soft smile, much like a mother would give a daughter. "You've been with your trainer long enough to know that pokemon tend to adopt some traits from their human friends, right?" Buneary nodded slowly, not knowing where she was going with this. "For example, I used to never talk to anyone. After I met Wolf, I became much more social."
"Okay..." she replied, indicating for Jazz to continue.
"Anyway," she began. "It's the same with Pikachu. He's as clueless as you can get."
Realisation dawned in the rabbit's eyes as what Jazz said sunk in. It made a lot of sense, certainly. Ash didn't know - or care - about the first thing outside of pokemon battles. Obviously, almost four years of the same attitude would have rubbed off on Pikachu.
"So, what do I do?" Buneary asked. Jazz smiled again.
"You strike me as the romantic type, so go over and tell him that you're interested." Jazz offered. "Take it slow, and make sure that he understands the situation. The last thing you want is for him to not understand what's going on." Buneary smiled happily at Jazz before hopping off to talk to Pikachu. Jazz watched her go with some pride before she realised that she'd just robbed herself of some entertainment for the evening.
"Well, good luck to her anyway." She said to herself, heading back to the path. When she emerged from the bushes, she was surprised to find Wolf coming out of the opposite side. They looked at each other for a couple of seconds in silence.
"Why do I get the feeling you were doing the same thing I was?" he asked, breaking the silence. Jazz grimaced, wandering over to him and climbing up into his arms.
"I didn't get anything. You?" she began. Wolf smiled.
"A little luck." He replied. "But since we're both out here, you wanna rut?" Jazz nuzzled his cheek, and the pair wandered back into the bushes.