[attr="class","needleliespost1"]

IT'S NOT EASY MAKING
A NAME FOR YOURSELF ―

The pup fought well. Fran stood comfortably with her raichu licking his fist at about her ankles. They watched strictly, analyzing the mechanics of the poochyena's fight and judging his decisions. Even though it was young, its innate desire to protect and defend proved promising. The more Fran watched her companions fight, the more she could see their opportunity for growth. Maybe they just needed a push...

When the dog was caught in a bind, the ferocity of not only himself but his trainer took Fran off guard. They would rip that snake apart if they needed to. The dark-haired woman raised an eyebrow, her mouth twitching upward briefly. 

With the poochyena released, the snakes slithered back into the alleyways of Whitestone. They only left a snowfall of scales on a path. Fran stepped over them without a second glance at the weak beasts. "Ya know," she began, followed by a look from her raichu, "you've got some fire to ya. I'm surprised you are so new to battlin'." The midnight-haired woman may have started her pokemon journey later in life, but she was no stranger to scrapping. These elements seemed absent in Natalia. Still, with her partner at her side, she had a spark. A small one, but it only needed a little kindling. 

"Not sure that one is a good influence on anythin'," she continued, moving slowly down the paved street. Denver snickered, his cheeks flickering with dark intentions. "But it's better to have a cutthroat fighter than a coward." Fran spoke plainly. Those unaccustomed to her bluntness may believe her to be harsh. For her, this was merely a fact of nature. 

She turned her emerald hues in Natalia's direction. They were colored in an earnest shade. "Ya gotta keep fighting. If you don't fight, you can't get stronger," she spoke. Fran was offering more advice than usual. Perhaps she was taking a liking to this ranger. 

As the dark-haired woman turned her head to face forward once more, she caught a white blur in the corner of her eye. The fuzzed mass collided with her raichu, pushing him onto his back. Fran was able to catch an image of the beast; a pachirisu. She had seen one before, and was aware of its typing. It also appeared stronger than the other wilds they had run across thus far. The squirrel laughed and smiled, sparking at the cheeks. It wanted to play. 

Denver pulled himself up with a sneer painted across his face. He was ready to kill his opponent, but with a red streak, Fran returned her raichu to his pokeball. She replaced him with her first partner, the pokemon she had been traveling with since the beginning of her journey. A white pooling shine revealed a beast larger than any surrounding building. He towered over the streets and cast a shadow across the town. Her steelix yawned lazily, trying to focus his eyes on the tiny opponent he must face. "Dig," Fran commanded. 

Perhaps this wasn't the best environment for her to unleash her largest beast, but Fran grew tired of these interruptions. She believed Natalia would be too. So with a quick eruption from her steelix, a hole was punctured into the street. The tunnel curved underground and led to the very surface the pachirisu was standing on. Detroit flung the squirrel off the streets and far, far away. It was a rather quick fight, and an immense display of power. The second wild that had happened upon the troupe began to shake. Fran only threw it a glance. 

Yet she returned her steelix to his pokeball once more. She moved easily around the holes her beast had dug into the streets, paying no mind to the teddiursa beyond. She could see the gates of Whitestone. "We're almost there," she spoke. 

637 words. detroit +2.  

by sixsmith.