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If I can't evade my fate

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[player]http://k003.kiwi6.com/hotlink/6bbpwsuul1/Jungle_-_Happy_Man.mp3[/player][break][break]

It was late.[break][break]

She listened; the world was quiet. The lights of the city were in the distance. As the girl peddled, the sound of her tires rolling over the dirt seemed to be the only sound to meet her senses. The giant headlight to her bicycle flickered, struggling to illuminate the path ahead of her. It wasn't necessary. The route stretched flat with no obstacles ahead of her... and the moon hung high in the sky; full and resplendent.[break][break]

Cruising along the empty roads, something was next to her, running to keep pace. Prick had grown too large to fit in the basket of her bicycle. If he wished to travel with her, he had to run or settle for resting inside his pokeball. He preferred the running.[break][break]

“I think I might be able to keep pushing.” She said, knowing he'd be able to hear her over the whistle of the wind. They would ride through the night if it meant reaching their destination faster. “You still got the energy to keep going?” He grunted in agreement, picking up the pace so they would align as one. He was so close, she knew that one wrong jerk of the wheel would lead to a collision... but they moved in tandem. He anticipated her movements.[break][break]

Her legs burned. Her chest burned. Her body itched with life and with sweat. “You're being awfully agreeable. What's the matter? Worried about me?” There was no response. That betrayed his answer. “You really should focus more on yourself, big guy. You know what I've been through. I can handle my own.”[break][break] If he had been a Nidoran, they wouldn't have had this conversation...

But Prick had been changing. The stubborn and impulsive Nidoran she had known was still there, but evolution had changed him. He had grown aware. The world around him was less confusing. He was starting to know his place in its grand scheme. His problems were still there, plain as day. As plain as the new horn that sprung up from the crown of his forehead–but they had changed, too.[break][break]

Maybe he assumed becoming a Nidorino would solve the way he felt. Maybe the new and better body would compensate for the way he was; the way he had been raised.[break][break]

It hadn't. In some ways, she wondered if his newly endowed horn had made him realize a bigger picture; a larger insecurity that had followed him since he had been declared a runt of his litter. Prick never felt like he was good enough. Jenna knew that had to be it. He'd snarl and push people away if it meant he wouldn't have to disappoint them; if it meant they wouldn't pry and realize he wasn't as assured as he pretended to be.[break][break]

Even if Jenna and Prick had two completely different personalities, they still mirrored each other.[break][break]

The Ranger knew if she so much as mentioned his prospects for the future, he'd become defensive. He didn't want it. Not yet. Nidoking was a step he was not willing to take–a problem she never anticipated. Jenna wondered if it was a desire to earn that evolution–as if he felt as if he wasn't good enough. “You know... I know I don't say this as much as I should...”[break][break]

She had pulled over. He had to skid to a stop.[break][break]

“But, I do worry about you. You know that, right?” He became dissonant, knowing where this conversation would lead... and he seemed thankful when something shambled into the road ahead of them; Jenna's headlights just barely able to illuminate its shape.[break][break]

There was another fight for him to win.[break][break][break]