Looking for Recruits

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A Charmander stepped around the small pond just outside of Grassveil Town. After his recent training session in the Shadowhue Forest, he decided to get back to what he was still looking to do. He had failed to find anybody anywhere that would serve as an appropriate teammate as of yet. Still, though...he wanted to find somebody worthy of creating a team with him. But so far, he'd had no luck simply asking around town or looking in the local dungeons for other training Pokémon. So this was the last place he could hope to find somebody...and he could only hope that he would find some better results. But so far, he was rather unimpressed with what he saw.

All around him were mostly younger Pokémon, play-battling or simply playing games with friends and family. There were even a few Pokémon here for a peaceful picnic. This area of the pond was definitely not what he was looking for. So he let out a frustrated grunt, put his claws behind his head and walked forward, making his way to the less-populous shore on the opposite side. This side of the pond was obscured from the rest by some heavy brush on the side. Sometimes, Pokémon would use the foliage to leap into the water from above...but for now, the area seemed empty enough. Maybe he could find somebody doing some training or practice battling out this way. Or at least somebody who didn't seem to be with a young child or be a young child themselves.

All Hidon could hope for was the presence of one Pokémon...just one! He only needed one Pokémon who could give him a good fight that would be willing to join his team. But was he going to be that lucky?

Hidon, back pressed up against the tree, had nowhere to run. When the Taillow momentarily stopped his attacks, he did not shy away. Instead, he glared right back at Pilot, meeting an intense glare with one of his own. He knew that he was not going to be given an opportunity to escape the incoming powerful attack at all. As such, he knew that he needed to do something now if he didn't want to be defeated. But what could he do? He needed a little bit of range to build up his flames for his Flame Charge, and the same went for his draconic aura using his Dragon Rush. That left only two available options for him right now: a Scratch and a Growl, neither of which were likely to be very effective in altering the outcome.

But that certainly didn't mean he wasn't about to try. The Charmander pulled his claws back as far as they would go and prepared to slash them forward and meet Pilot's attack head-on. He was planning on overpowering him and swinging this fight back into his favor. However, before he could get his claws around, it was too late. It took the bird Pokémon a much shorter amount of time to deliver his attack than he thought it would. The beak slammed into his head, which was in turn slammed up against the tree's trunk behind him.

"GAH!" the Charmander growled from the new attack. His flexed arm, claw at the ready, slackened...and soon fell to his side. He then sank to his knees before collapsing, falling to the ground with his head resting on the earth mere inches from the Taillow's feet.

From there, Hidon did not move, with the exception of his breathing. It would seem that Pilot's last blow had done the trick. He had finally managed to defeat him.

Pilot panted, staring at the downed Charmander. Had he finally done it? "Hey, hotshot..?" The bird chirped, nudging him with his talon. He elicited no response, indicating that the Charmander had finally been knocked out. Slowly, a grin crept onto Pilot's face. "I knew I'd win~!" Pilot sang, clearly elated by the results of the fight. He proceeded to climb onto Hidon's body and jump on it, as if he were a hatchling winning his first battle. "Wooo! Yeah, you really showed me, Charmander... How does it feel, bud? Not good, eh? Should've thought of that before you got in my way!"

After a (ridiculous) celebration, Pilot wondered to himself what he should do. Obviously, he wasn't going to fly back to Grassveil; his left wing was still in bad shape. Should I wait for this clown to wake up? Eh, why not... The avian Pokemon got up and moved closer to the pond to pass the time. Pilot watched the water, preening himself so that he looked somewhat presentable (he happens to be very conscious of his appearance).

Hidon's body did not react as Pilot climbed on top of him and jumped around on him, feet pressing his body slightly harder into he dirt. Thankfully, Hidon would not be feeling that much when he woke up, thanks to a Taillow's light weight. The Charmander continued to simply lay there, unconscious, as Pilot continued to celebrate on top of him. In fact, it wasn't until after the Taillow had stepped over to the pond and just about finished preening himself that he finally began to stir and show some form of movement.

"Urgh...." Hidon groaned as his groggy mind finally started to come to. "What...happened...?" As he spoke, he pushed his arms against the ground, slowly raising himself onto all fours. And there, he stopped when he felt the soreness in his body from the fight he'd just been in suddenly wash over him. In his groggy state of mind, he couldn't quite recall his battle just yet, nor his opponent. He could not even put together that he must have been defeated, since he'd been rendered unconscious. But that certainly didn't stop him from raising his bowed head to look around at his surroundings for any kind of clue.

After hearing some movement behind him, Pilot swung around, grinning. "Heyyy, what's up, hotshot? How're ya feeling?" He asked in mock concern. Obviously, he couldn't care less about how Hidon felt. He was, however, curious to see how the Charmander would react to his presence. Also, he wondered what a Charmander like him was doing, alone at the pond... He was pretty sure that the fiery lizard hadn't been training, and he certainly wasn't enjoying the water, being a fire type. I'll have to ask him about that...

While he WAS going to visit the Grassveil Guild after his training session, his battle with Hidon had essentially ruined the chances of that happening. How could he show off his flying skills when he couldn't even get in the air? On the ground, he was about as useless as the common Rattata (even HE knew that he had gotten lucky during the battle). He wouldn't be able to train in the air, either, so he needed to figure out a way to pass the time. Of course, chatting with the Charmander he had just defeated would be a good start.

Hidon groaned and continued pushing himself until he was finally able to rise to a sitting position. It was not much better, but at least he wasn't bowing his head. His attention was quickly drawn, however, when he heard a voice from nearby. He looked over, searching for the source for a few moments before he finally locked eyes with a blue, white and red form in front of him. At first, he seemed unfamiliar, but the word "hotshot" caused his memory to suddenly jump back to him. Even still, it didn't quite register with him that this was the very same Pokémon he'd just lost to.

...But that was quickly changed.

"GWAH!" he exclaimed, jumping backward and onto his feet. "Y-you!? Wh-what're you-!?" As he leaped, however, he ended up hitting his head on the tree behind him. He'd completely forgotten that he had collapsed in front of it. "OW!" he exclaimed anew, clutching the back of his head and stumbling forward. "Ow, ow, ow!" This was clearly not his most graceful official meeting of a Pokémon he'd ever had. And certainly not the most friendly he'd ever felt with common vegetation for that matter.

Pilot cackled, taking great pleasure in watching the Charmander's spastic reaction to his presence. No doubt, he had spooked the lizard. But was it out of pure surprise, or fear? Pilot, being the arrogant bird he is, made the assumption that Hidon was afraid of him. The avian continued to approach Hidon, still laughing at his clumsiness. "Hee... You're absolutely hilarious," He gasped in between his breaths. Once he finally calmed down, he tried to keep a straight face.

"So... How're you feeling?" The Taillow asked, grinning cockily. Again, he couldn't care less about how the Charmander felt. However, it was in the talkative Pokemon's nature to start up conversation.

Hidon growled lowly as he finally pushed himself back to his full height. He heard Pilot's cackling and tried as hard as he could to ignore it. Still, he couldn't help but allow his face to turn red in his embarrassment. "Stupid trees," he growled, rubbing his head again. "Can't wait 'til I can use Ember. The first thing I'm gonna do is burn one of these stupid things to cinders." Truth be told, he could use his tail flame instead, but he was willing to ignore that small fact in order to keep an excuse to not potentially give the tree another way to humiliate him.

Once the pain had finally subsided, Hidon glared over at the Taillow, still rubbing his head anyway. "What's it to you?" he muttered. "What, you sticking around to mock me for losing against you and tell me how superior you are?" His expression changed into a slight scowl as he glared at the tree again. "Go ahead, I don't care. I only lost because of these stupid trees anyway."

"Yeah, yeah, blame it on the trees..." Pilot chirped, rolling his eyes. Deep down, he knew that the fiery lizard was right; the environment they had fought in heavily favored bird Pokemon. There were plenty of places to perch on, giving Pilot the freedom to temporarily remove himself from the battle to rest, all while his opponent tried to figure out how to get him down. And, of course, Hidon slamming into trees several times had probably helped him win, too. But was he going to admit that? Of course not. "Either way, you still lost, champ~," The bird sang, boasting an arrogant smirk.

"...That's not why I stuck around, though. For one, I can't fly back to Grassveil," Pilot started, twitching his damaged wing. "But I was thinking... Why were you out here alone? You obviously weren't training."

"Hey, it was all the tree's fault!" Hidon half-roared back at Pilot, not seeming to care much for that tone of his. Still, he couldn't say anything else when the bird Pokémon sang about his defeat. After all, Pilot had a good point. Whether it was truly the tree's fault or not, he'd still been beaten. Such an excuse for his loss wouldn't matter out there in the real world. If he got beat out in a dungeon, anything could happen to him; he could get robbed or kidnapped or worse! Wild and feral Pokémon certainly wouldn't care whether their win was a fluke or not. They'd just take the win and do what they wanted. With that knowledge, Hidon simply lowered his head slightly in an attempt to hide his blush of embarrassment.

He couldn't believe he'd let himself lose to this guy...! He needed a rematch. That much was for sure. But he also knew that neither of them could simply battle again as they were. But at the same time, he also knew that he might not ever see this punk again. And if he never saw him again, that'd mean that his win/loss ratio couldn't be fixed! He needed to make sure he knew how to find this guy again...but how?

At that moment, Pilot's question was asked. "Hmph," Hidon grumbled, crossing his arms and looking away again. "And why should I tell you any-" However, he stopped himself when a thought crossed his mind. The thought caused him to smirk slightly. He now had a great idea. But before the idea could come to fruition, something dawned on him. "...W-wait, what d'you mean 'OBVIOUSLY?'" he growled. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Pilot cocked his head slightly when Hidon smirked. What could he be thinking about? Before he could think of anything, the Charmander finally picked up on his careful wording.

"Well..." Pilot grinned, satisfied with his subtle shot at the Charmander. "You ran into a tree, twice, so it's obvious that you haven't been training," He continued, relishing in the lizard's embarrassment. For some reason, annoying the hotheaded Pokemon gave him some sort of gratification. "Your reaction time is on par with a hatchling's," The bird added with a chuckle. Even though the fight was over, he still felt like an opponent to the Charmander. Like a rival, almost.

Hidon's teeth clenched as Pilot continued to take shots at him. His clenched fist only tightened its grip when Pilot stated the very reasons why it was so obvious he hadn't been training. Of course, he was still wrong. Hidon had been training since the day he'd set foot in Grassveil. He had been trying his best this entire time. But no matter how much he tried, he always seemed to lose his battles. In Pecha Forest, Shadowhue and now to this guy...he'd been taken down and defeated at every turn. He had hardly improved at all. But perhaps that was just because he was trying too hard to train by himself. Perhaps what he needed was a strong partner after all...somebody to train with and grow stronger. A strong rival to really push himself forward and push him to be his best!

The Charmander's blush deepened as ilot continued pointing out his embarrassing faults from their battle. Still that didn't stop him. "...Hmph," he muttered. "A-alright, so maybe I'm not perfect and you got lucky a couple times...." He trailed off for a moment, letting out a short sigh. "But I guess I can't deny that you still beat me. Y'know...I think you'd be perfect." He then raised his gaze to look at Pilot. He still seemed embarrassed, but now he was sporting an obviously-forced smirk.

"To tell you the truth, you were right, I wasn't training. I was scouting." Hidon then put his claws to his waist and puffed his chest out as pridefully as he could. "For a partner worthy of forming a team at the Guild with. And I was thinking of actually giving you the privilege of joining my team. Besides...there's no better way to keep up with you so I can challenge you to a rematch later. So, what d'ya think? Care to join the soon-to-be greatest Exploration Team in the world?"

Pilot raised his eyes as Hidon began talking. He could tell, just by the way the Charmander was speaking, that he had something significant to say. It was almost as if he were giving out a speech. So, rather than cutting Hidon off when he tried to defend himself, the bird let him talk. He listened intently, which wasn't something he did often.

When Hidon said "you'd be perfect", the Taillow gave him a very confused look. What the heck, perfect for what? Is he coming on to me or something? Pilot joked in his head, grinning. He opened his beak to ask that very question, but was interrupted when the Charmander resumed his speech. Ugh, that was a good one, too. But I guess I'll have time to piss him off when he's done.

When the fiery lizard finally finished, Pilot was genuinely surprised. Me? Him? Partners? Ha, he wishes... But maybe... That's not a terrible idea. I'm looking for a partner, and... He did put up a good fight. We could probably help each other get stronger!

After a few seconds of thought, the Taillow grinned. "I like how you think, hotshot," He chirped, nodding his head. "Yeah, sure, I'll be your partner!"

Hidon's expression didn't change as the bird Pokémon simply looked back at him, a somewhat awkward silence passing between them. But when Pilot finally grinned back at him and nodded, accepting his offer, his embarrassed look turned into a genuine look of surprise. In all honesty, he had expected the Taillow to turn his offer down and laugh at his face for another minute or so. He had expected something more along the lines of "You wish!" but got an acceptance instead? To say that he was shocked would be a complete understatement.

A moment later, though, he quickly wiped that look of shock off of his face and replace it with a knowing grin, as though he had known all along that Pilot would accept his offer. After all, who wouldn't want to be partners with a guy of his level? He nodded back at the Taillow. "Heheh. Of course you will. And if you like how I think, then that's perfect. 'Cause I like how you fight," he replied. "Just don't think that just because we're partners that I'll be taking it easy on you next time."

Hidon laughed slightly at that, trying to sound as though he weren't still feeling the soreness from the battle he'd just finished losing. "And next time, there won't be any trees to get in my way. So you'd better get stronger. Strong enough to battle me on an open and level playing field."

Although, now that he thought about it...he wasn't sure what they were going to do now. Sure, they had decided to be teammates...but neither of them looked rather impressive at the moment, exhausted from their bouts. Perhaps they'd need to find something to restore their strength and stamina before heading to the guild...?

"As if I couldn't already do that," Pilot countered, smirking. Even if his big win was probably a fluke, the Taillow still needed to stay competitive if he wanted to get stronger. Maybe I can end up going two for two, He thought to himself, imagining himself standing triumphantly on the lizard's body again. If I'm already ahead of him, I should be able to keep up... Especially if we're both training together. There's no way he's gonna beat me!

"I was going to say that we should head back to Grassveil, but there's no way we can go like this... Got any Oran Berries, uh..." Pilot cocked his head, trying to remember if the Charmander had even given him his name. "What's your name?"

Hidon's smirk returned as Pilot countered his words. He took a moment, considering countering that by claiming that the trees had simply gotten in his way, but decided against that. He'd already made the declaration. For now, he needed to stay focused on his recruitment. He certainly didn't want a partner like this one to slip away. After all, as far as he was aware, there weren't many Pokémon like this in the world. This might be a one time opportunity to pick up a perfect teammate like this.

The Charmander crossed his arms when Pilot began talking again. He began to move his feet forward, stepping toward the same bird Pokémon that had beaten him. It was strange for him to be so relaxed about the results of the battle. Though that was likely due simply to his desire to add Pilot to his team.

"My name...?" Hidon repeated. His smirk widened slightly when Pilot realized he didn't know. He chuckled and unfolded his arms again, stopping just a few steps shy of the bird Pokémon. "I guess it can't be helped this time. The name's Hidon. And you better remember it. It'd suck to have a teammate who didn't even know his team leader's name."