A Sore Battle!

Bambi was back at the serene pond that she had previously met a rather rambunctious Dratini. After quite the adventure in the Pricklemist Forest, the young Mincinno had been relieved to be back from exploding. However, now she was rather on the bored side than tired.

Bambi felt herself sigh irritably at her lack of enjoyment. It may have been difficult to be at the forest, but at least it was fun to be around all of those Pokemon, even if she was sort of nervous at first. Now, though, she was all by herself, and that was boring. She could always go back to her home with her mother, but that wouldn't be any less boring.

Feeling frustrated, the young Pokemon wagged her tail ferociously before beginning to rub her forehead with her paws as she normally did when she felt that way. Bambi needed something new, an experience that would get her blood flowing.

Thinking back on her previous recent experiences she knew exactly what she needed: a battle.

Hidon folded his arms as he made his way to just outside of Grassveil. He was headed out of the Guild, having taken quite enough of his teammate's jabs and fat jokes. He didn't even understand those; he wasn't even fat! But somehow, that fact only seemed to make it harder for him to just ignore the comments and that only drove him further up the wall. Needless to say, the Charmander needed a break. He had immediately left the room he and his team shared and knew the first place he was going to go look to let off some of his steam. The very same place that he had originally met the Taillow: the pond just outside the town.

This was often a good training spot when a Pokémon didn't want to go through an entire dungeon. This was a place where young Pokémon enjoyed themselves, often watched by their parents. But there was also plenty of room for sparring and battles. And sometimes, battles could catch the eyes of some spectators as well, which made things even better for him. If a battle took place in a spot where other Pokémon could watch, he would get to show off how awesome he truly was! And that would definitely make him feel less grumpy.

As he made his way around the pond, he realized that there weren't many Pokémon around today. That was a shame...but at least he could still do his venting as long as he could find somebody worth battling. He walked around the pond, trying to keep his eyes peeled for any Pokémon that looked like they would be capable or willing to fight. He ended up passing by a Minccino. For a moment, he considered asking her...but then disregarded it. He doubted a Pokémon that looked like that would be much of a fighter. And he wanted a tough opponent....

Little did he know, Bambi was actually looking for a battle as well.

It didn't take long for the little chinchilla Pokemon to notice some kind of lizard she had never seen before. His sharp teeth and claws looked quite a bit scary, even though they wouldn't intimidate that many Pokemon. On the contrary she may have been the only one. Charmander, after all, never really inspire anything until they evolve.

However, Bambi's nervousness changed to curiosity and then excitement when she noticed the flame on his tail. Her father had told her about them! He was a... What were they called again? Oh, that's right! "Hey, are you a Charmander?" Bambi asked in her sweet voice, not getting offended by, or even noticed, him ignoring her.

"I heard you guys really like battling," she said, pausing, and making sure she had her facts straight. Being so young was hard sometimes. "Well, I think they do. I don't remember if that describes Charmander or something else." Bambi shrugged. "Oh well, wanna battle?" The Minccino lifted up her paws in such a cute manner that it could hardly even be considered intimidating.

On the contrary, she seemed like she wouldn't be able to do much with her short little arms and lack of fingers. However, Bambi was taking this time to look things over. It was clear that he was a fire type, but she also had to be wary of his teeth, caws, and tails, as those would easily be his main weapons of attack.

Okay, she could tell that, but she wasn't sure where his weaknesses lied. Bambi brushed this out of her mind and just told herself to have fun. "Can we battle, please?" She asked, folding her paws together in a rather girly way, and blinking her adorable brown eyes. This didn't inspire any kind of strength, but it was usually a great method for Bambi to get what she wanted.

Suddenly a feminine voice called out to him from the side. Hidon redirected his attention from the front and followed the sound of the voice. What he found was that same Minccino that he had ignored a few seconds ago. He raised a brow at her as she spoke. He looked the chinchilla Pokémon up and down again, as though sizing her up. Just like before, she didn't seem like she'd be a very strong Pokémon to go up against. In fact, she looked like she'd just make for a boring, weak foe that wouldn't give him any real training experience in the slightest. Maybe it was the feminine way she carried herself, but she didn't really interest him that much. He tried to think of what little he knew about the Minccino species, but came up with nothing in particular other than their stereotypical obsession with cleaning. As if such a Pokémon could put up a decent fight....

He opened his mouth to turn the Pokémon down, about to say exactly what he was thinking...but he stopped. There was one last question that the Minccino had let out. One last beg...with the word "please" tacked onto the end. His expression changed from one of mild annoyance to one of slight surprise as he watched her fold her paws and blink at him. She looked like some little kid who was begging to be played with. "Ngh..." he muttered, already wondering if he was falling victim to some kind of trickery. For some reason, he found himself not wanting to let her down....

"A-alright, I-I guess I can humor you for a while..." Hidon murmured. "I mean, you don't seem like much of a fighter, and I'd rather fight somebody who can give me a worthwhile battle, but it's not like I've got anything else to do today. Just...don't be too disappointed in yourself when you lose." He then smirked, spread his legs and struck a pose, putting his claws at his waist. "I am the leader of my own team at the Guild, after all!"

"You will?!" Bambi squealed, feeling herself jump and leap for joy. "Yay! Goody, this is going to be fun!" The little Minccino ran on all fours a few feet away across from the fire lizard and tried a tough stance. [i]"Really?" Bambi asked in response to her own puny stature, and placed a fluffy paw on her chin.

Actually, she had never thought about how much of a factor appearing tough was. On top of that, she wasn't very big, and this was her first official battle. Did she really stand a chance? "Well," she said, placing both paws at her sides. "Maybe you think that way because I've never had a one on one battle before.

Well, she had to start somewhere, and Bambi was confident with her opponent's potential. Bambi crouched down and stances herself on all fours and tried to reflect the smirk that he had. "You must know a lot, then!" Bambi commented. "Would you mind going first, then? I'd like you to show me what a real battle's like"

Hidon very nearly fell over as soon as Bambi revealed that she had never actually even been in a real battle before. "N-never had a one on...?" he repeated aloud in disbelief. He supposed that, when she said that, she had been in a crowd battle at some point, probably involving wild or feral Pokémon in a dungeon somewhere. But still, that experience is drastically different from a solo battle against one other Pokémon. Well...he supposed he couldn't fault her. For a while, his only battling experience had been training in the mountains with his parents. He supposed everybody had to start somewhere. Still, the fact that she continued wanting to fight despite the fact that she was facing the leader of a team from the Guild...? For a first real battle...?

"...Heh. gotta hand it to you, you sure are something else," he said. Then he grinned and crouched, clenching his right arm. "Alright then. You wanna see what a real battle's like? Here it comes. I'll try not to beat you TOO badly!" And then, he began to rush forward. As he dashed, a bluish aura began to form around him. A moment later, the aura began to change shape...until it finally took on a draconic appearance. Once that was complete, the aura began to shift toward the Charmander's clenched arm. He pulled the fist back...and once he drew near enough, he would throw a strong right punch, utilizing a punch backed by his signature attack, Dragon Rush.

Bambi nodded trustingly. Thanks! she replied rather naively at his offer to not beat her up too much. Of course, she wasn't so grateful with the move he decided to start with. The moment she saw that blue aura, Bambi knew she was in for something nasty. Bambi knew she didn't have a lot of time, but being hit by that would be really bad. What to do what to-

Before she could come up with anything, she felt a fist jab into her cheek, sending her roll foot over head. The young lady sat up on her bum, and began rubbing her cheek with one of her paws, clearly not expecting the pain that came with that attack. Ow... she whined a bit pitifully before rubbing her tail with that same paw with twice as much excitement.

Okay, my turn! Bambi sang as if they were playing hide and seek or something. She let out a giggle as she covered her eyes with both of her paws before revealing two adorably brown eyes that seemed to be utilizing all of the Minccino's cuteness to her full potential. Then, while the Charmander was distracted, Bambi went on all fours and started running at him. "Okay, here I come!" Then Bambi aimed to slap the Carmander across the face with her deceivingly fluffy tail.

Hidon watched Bambi as his Dragon Rush punch landed directly against Bambi's cheek, just as he had aimed and hoped for. He smirked slightly while the Minccino began tumbling backwards and struck another pose, this one similar in stature to the last. "Heheh...how was that?" he said. "And that was me holding back for you. You should try to watch me more carefully. That way you can react in time to avoid the-" But as he spoke, Bambi began to rise back to her feet again. He was taken slightly by surprise when she was able to get back up so quickly. He must have held back more than he thought. Either that, or this Minccino was tougher than she looked. Whatever the case, at least she seemed to be more than willing to keep going. And in actuality, she seemed rather excited to keep going....

"...Right," he replied, grinning slightly. "Then make sure you give me your best shot. I won't be satisfied unless you're throwing everything...at...me...?" His expression faltered slightly when he saw the look that Bambi was giving him. He stared at her large, brown eyes, seemingly lost in them for a few moments...until she started moving again. "Wha-?" he murmured, shaking his head. "Huh?" He turned his attention back to his foe, trying to concentrate on the fight again. But it was too late at that point.

Bambi had already closed the distance by the time he snapped out of it. He saw that white tail get swung through the air, too late to do anything about it. His eyes widened while the tail smacked hard into the side of his face. "Gah!" he cried out in pain as the attack landed successfully, causing him to fall back, landing heavily on his back at Bambi's feet.

Bambi felt herself inwardly squeal at the fact that both of her attacks hit their marks, but she wouldn't show it. After all, Bambi was a big girl and couldn't act like a child. At least, that was her intention. What she thought her actions were were quite different from what they actually were.

"Yay! Bambi cheered, bouncing on her two, round feet at the fact that she hit him. "Okay, your turn!" Bambi said, before noticing that he was still on the ground. This made the Minccino worry a bit for the lizard, and approached him with a paw innocently over her mouth. "Uh, Mr. Charmander?" Bambi questioned, nudging his shoulder. "Are you okay? It's your turn."

Bambi didn't know the point of a battle was to make the opponent faint. Of course, she didn't know if he fainted or not, but she still thought he was acting strange. "Oh, I'm sorry!" she squealed in a bit of a panic. "Did I hurt you? I didn't mean to do it that badly! I just thought I had to try my hardest because I'm so new and you know so much. Am I disqualified?"

Bambi certainly hoped she wasn't. She really thought battling was a lot of fun.

Hidon shook his head, pushing himself back up and into a sitting position. "Yeah, I'm fine, I'm fine," he muttered, waving away the Minccino's worries while simultaneously climbing back onto his feet again. "You just...took me by surprise is all. I hadn't expected that. and you hit a little bit harder than you look like you would." He rubbed the side of his head that had been struck by that attack. "That was pretty good, actually." He then grinned, looking at Bambi with more genuine interest. "Maybe you're not as weak as you look."

However, the grin did not last long. Soon, it faded when he started to realize something. He tilted his head to the side slightly in confusion. "But there're a couple things I don't get," he said. "And I'm guessing it's 'cause you've never been in a battle like this before. First of all, why do you keep saying that it's my turn and your turn? What d'you think this is, some kind of game?" He paused at that, reconsidering his choice of words. "Well...I guess it kind of is in a way...but this isn't a turn thing. In a battle, the goal is to defeat your opponent. As long as they're down for the count, you win. If you attack once and then let your opponent attack back every time, it's harder for you to win. If you hit your opponent, you should do what you can to attack back if you've got them down or stunned or something. Consider that a tip from a pro."

The Charmander then flashed his cocky grin once more. "The other thing is that you don't have to worry about being disqualified or anything like that. The harder you hit, the better as long as you actually hit them. If you knock 'em out, you win, after all. In fact, most full battles go until one of the Pokémon is unable to continue. But, since this is your first battle, I've got a different idea...." He then lifted his arms up and displayed five digits. "Five seconds. How about we determine our winner from the one who can knock the other one down and pin them down. Whoever keeps the other one press against the ground, whether it be from laying on top of them or merely a foot planted on the chest, for five seconds is the winner. That way, we don't have to knock each other out. And if we want a rematch, we can have one immediately.

"So that's about it," Hidon finished. "Two big things to keep in mind. Don't worry about turns. Just keep an eye on your opponent and see if you need to attack or defend. And don't worry if you knock out your opponent or not in a battle. Got it?" He then grinned...although he hadn't really considered the fact that he had basically just told her that she can attack again whenever she wanted to. It all depended on how soon she would be willing to attack again....

"Really?" Bambi blinked a bit, trying to process the complements that she was receiving before forming a rather genuine smile on her face with a bit of an innocent glint in them. "Wow, thanks, Mister! That's really nice of you to say! I guess I am tougher than I look." Bambi crossed her short arms in an attempt to copy the Charmander's confidence, but just didn't really make that good of an attempt with that kind of face.

However, her head tilted at the question being asked of her. "Isn't that how you play?" the Minccino questioned. "You find an opponent, start a fight by taking turns, and then whoever says 'Uncle!' loses. That's how you play, right?" He seemed to be trying to say that battling was much more than a game, but she didn't see it that way until he began explaining.

The concept was still simple enough, but that didn't mean it wasn't hard. The battling itself seemed fun enough for Bambi to look over this one weak spot, but that didn't make her any more comfortable fainting, or even causing another Pokemon to faint. That just seemed far too scary, the idea of fainting out in the middle of nowhere. It made her a little scared just thinking about it.

But, then again, battling seemed to be in a Pokemon's DNA. Even those who don't consider themselves battlers have at one point in their lives had a battle, so perhaps fainting is a lot less scary than she thought. After all, her father probably had to go through it all the time, so why couldn't she?

It was clear to her now why taking turns wouldn't be the be way of fighting, but she didn't really think anyone could blame her too badly. She was less than a year old, even though she was close to her first birthday. What would he have thought battling was if this Charmander was raised the way she was? Bambi didn't at all feel as if hewas at all impatient with her, but she was still curious.

When she heard rules that he suggested, probably something he made up, Bambi felt even more relieved. That was most certainly a great way to get a Pokemon as young as herself introduced to fighting. "Ooo!" Bambi relied with unrelenting enthusiasm. "That sounds a lot less scary, and a lot of fun! I'm in!"

It was all settled as the Minccino ran back to the spot she had started. The male repeated his recommendations with a confidence she tried to mimic. This time, she would try and attack first, but since the idea was to hold him down, "Oh, by the way," she said, seeming to recall something they both seemed to have rudely forgotten. "I'm Bambi."

Once that was said, a metal coat can covered her tail, initiating her special Iron Tail attack, something she too inherited from her father. Bambi ran at the lizard on all fours at full speed, and aimed the attack at his chest. That seemed like a good way to pin him down, eve if he was a Fire-Type. What's your name? She asked this regardless on whether the attack made its mark or not.

Hidon shook his head at Bambi's initial question. But then he hesitated, stopping to thin about I a little bit more. If it was merely play-fighting, then he supposed there would be some differences. "Er...yeah, you can do it that way in a friendly battle I guess?" he murmured thoughtfully, brow furrowing for a moment as he attempted to think up the best way to word what he wanted to say. "But if you ask me, a Pokémon should be ready to deal in real battles. If you're gonna fight, then do it right. Prepare yourself for what the wild Pokémon in the outside world will do. They won't give you turns. They'll attack you again and again, wanting nothing more than to defeat you by any means. So when you fight, that's what you should get used to."

He then smiled slightly at her enthusiasm for his suggestion. That was good. He just had to remember afterwards to remind her that most battles weren't going to end that way. To him, it was just the best way to do training or sparring matches. He also couldn't help but chuckle slightly when the Minccino ran back to where she'd started and made an obvious attempt to copy his confidence. This little Minccino was a lot more interesting than he had thought she was. He actually even started to wonder if maybe he should try training her. But then again, he was still in the middle of his own training. He didn't really have the time to devote to training somebody else. Especially not while he was still actually weaker than Pilot was....

Once Bambi had introduced herself, she didn't hesitate to rush at him, tail beginning to gather a silver sheen of some kind. But he wasn't about to let her next move hit this time. He gathered his own strength and began to dash forward as well. As he charged, however, flames began to spark to life around his body. He could very easily have avoided the Iron Tail, but that wasn't how he enjoyed his fights. He was going to take her attack head-on.

Bambi's Iron Tail slammed up against the flames of his Flame Charge and the two attacks collided. For a moment, there was a brief power struggle between the two. Hidon's natural strength and type advantage had an edge...but at the same time, his physical strength had been diminished slightly earlier and his attack wasn't quite as strong as hers. In the end, the two attacks resulted in a tie, causing Hidon to stumble backward...but at least he managed to stay on his feet this time.

"...Hidon," he called over to Bambi, trying to strike a confident pose once again...though perhaps a bit too soon. If Bambi recovered from the tie just as quickly and she pressed the attack, she might take him before he could get his guard up. After all, overconfidence was arguably worse than no confidence.

While the two attacks collided, Bambi felt the heat absorb into the tail, slowly but surely. Bambi knew that it would start hurting if the Charmander didn't give up soon, but it would hurt even more if she did. It turned out, the attacks somehow managed to deflect one another, so neither one of them were hit. Still, she dusted the ground a little to try and get rid of the heat in order to recover as quickly as she did. Lesson learned: under no circumstances should Iron Tail ever be used on a Fire-Type, ever.

When it came to balance, she had an advantage since she had four limbs to land on rather than his two, but they both seemed equally balanced none the less. Perhaps the heat messed Bambi up a bit. However, opportunity was given to her when Hidon, the Charmander, continued to be too confident for his own good. She formed a genuine smile, whether than a smirk, as she ran toward the lizard, which meant only one thing: Baby Doll Eyes was coming up again. However, this time she made sure she was close up so that he had a harder time ignoring it. That same glint covered her brown eyes, hoping that Hidon would once again be distracted by them.

Regardless, Bambi ran behind the lizard, and aimed another pound attack, this time at his shoulder blades. Since she understood more that battles were supposed to be more serious than a little game, Bambi was silent throughout her little 'strategy', even though it was just the same thing she did before. She didn't have as many options as he did.

Hidon was surprised and rather impressed by this Bambi person's abilities. She was pretty tough for somebody who seemed so young. But that definitely didn't mean that he was going to let up on her any more than he already was. He watched Bambi as she recovered just as quickly as he did, if not quicker thanks to her more stable stance. And a moment later, he caught it. He met Bambi's gaze and grunted slightly, taken off-guard by the sudden, innocent look he was receiving yet again. Just like before, he couldn't help himself. Something about those eyes drew him in. He knew that she was rushing him while he was distracted, but he just...he couldn't help himself. They were just so-

"Huh?" Hidon murmured in confusion once Bambi had broken eye contact. "Where-?" A moment later, he got an answer to his unfinished question. Bambi had taken the Baby-Doll Eyes' distraction as an opportunity to sneak around and get behind him. that familiar tail swung mightily against his body. "Gah...!" Hidon grunted as he felt the muscle-backed attack smack his back.

The Charmander was knocked forward, cleanly off of his feet, and found himself prone on the ground for a moment, momentarily stunned from the surprise attack to his back. "N-not bad..." he commented vaguely.

Bambi took a bit of a breath when she saw that Hidon had fallen down. Battling was fun, but it was a lot harder than she had initially thought. Well, now came what she thought would be the hard part: she had to keep Hidon pinned down for five seconds. That may not have seemed like such a difficult task, but this Fire-Type was a leader of a team from the guild. Naturally, he was tough, and she felt the heat even while getting the upper hand. None the less, she wouldn't let this opportunity get away from her.

Bambi crawled on all fours on the Charmander's back while he was on the ground, sat down, and looked over the top of his skull with another smile. Initiating another Baby-Doll Eyes, Bambi wondered if this was good enough. Using the same two attacks over and over seemed like a bad strategy, and using one was even worse, but this was all she had. She was just hoping that she was being creative enough to catch the lizard off guard every time she used them.

While she tried to keep eye contact with the male, and keep him pinned down, Bambi began to count aloud. She wasn't that heavy, so perhaps using another Pound would have been a better idea, but Bambi knew that if he was well enough after this, they may have another one right after. She also didn't want to be at too much of an advantage, since that wouldn't be fun, and it wouldn't feel fair to her. "One," she began counting the seconds down, holding her breath inwardly.