A Heated Battle

Ashen was sitting atop a large rock near the Small Pond, staring at the water from a distance. Normally, she would go there to relax and bask in the sunlight, but ever since the skies had gone dark, it had become unseasonably cold, much to the little fire type's dismay. Even so, she enjoyed being by the water, and unless if she traveled all the way to Rainfront Town, the Small Pond was the only place where she could take a break from training and unwind. Ahh, this is nice, She thought, feeling a gentle breeze brush against her black fur.

That being said, the young Houndour was still itching for a sparring match. It had been far too long since she had tested her combat skills against a sentient Pokemon... No matter how much she practiced her attacks on boulders and trees, she knew that it wouldn't help her gain the valuable experience that she needed before she could join the Grassveil Guild. Considering that the pond was a popular site for quick skirmishes, she expected to find someone there who wanted to have a good fight.

After a long day of travelling, Rai stopped near a tree to take a rest. It's been all day and I don't even know if I'm close to town yet, the Zubat though to himself. As he traveled further from his home, the air had begun getting colder and colder. "I hope it's a bit warmer in Grassveil Town," he thought out loud. The breeze in the area was rather soothing.

Once Rai was finished with his short rest, he got back into the air and began to leave. As he was leaving, he heard noises not too far from him. It sounded like something (or someone) was nearby. Rai went toward the direction of the noise, and said, "Hello? Anyone there?" He didn't really expect an answer. Who in their right mind would voluntarily be out in such a cold place, anyway?

Ashen's ears perked up, picking up the noise of small wings beating in the air. An inquisitive voice shortly followed, causing her to turn around to face the source: a Zubat. The bat Pokemon was flying only several meters away from her, causing her to flinch in surprise. "O-oh, hi... Yeah, I-I'm here..." The young fire type rasped, looking quite uncomfortable. She had never been very good with strangers, especially when they took her off guard like the Zubat had. She could feel her face heat up as she blushed in embarrassment, upset with herself for stuttering so much.

Shifting awkwardly on her rock, Ashen looked down at the ground, and decided to introduce herself. "Uhm... Name's Ashen. Wh-what's yours?" The hound asked, attempting to give the newcomer a warm smile, although it looked fairly awkward. Wow, I'm screwing this up so badly... She thought to herself in disappointment. Why do I have to be so bad around new Pokemon? At this point, all I'm managing to do is making a fool out of myself...

Rai tried to get a read on the Pokémon's personality. She seems pretty shy... He was interrupted mid-thought after she asked his name. "Oh. My name? Uh, Rai. Nice to meet you, anyway." The cold air was beginning to bother him, and he wanted to leave as soon as possible. Hopefully, Grassveil wouldn't be too far away... and warmer.

After a short pause, Rai asked, "Uh, do you know the directions to Grassveil Town? I need to get to this 'guild' I've heard about." Rai sat down on the rock that Ashen was and wrapped his wings around himself to shield from the cold. He felt a bit uncomfortable talking to Ashen, for all he really knew about her was that she was shy. Though, unless anybody else was around who were willing to give directions, Rai had to rely on Ashen to get to Grassveil. "Also, I don't mean to be rude, but why are you out here in the cold? Aren't there any warmer places to sit in? Like, a house? He knew he probably wasn't hitting all the right points in the conversation. I'm probably coming off as pretty awkward right now... I hope this Pokémon doesn't see it like that.

"Oh, uhm, that's a nice name... N-nice to meet you..." Ashen murmured, still awkwardly looking away from the Zubat. Wow, I sound really stupid right now... This is embarrassing, She thought, her confidence at a low. The cold wasn't really helping with her constant stuttering, either. She frowned, feeling like a babbling idiot.

Then, Rai asked her for directions, which made her feel a bit more comfortable. After all, being a lifelong resident of Grassveil Town, she was knowledgeable on the subject. "Uhm, it's only like a five minute walk from here," Ashen started, pointing her paw in a general direction. "If you go that way for a while, you'll be back on the path, which should lead you there."

Ashen gave the Zubat a confused look when he asked why she was outside in the cold. It was a little nippy, sure, but the weather wasn't THAT chilly. Also, it was a little ironic that a Pokemon who had probably been traveling outside for hours was asking her this. "Oh, I'm just here to think about stuff... I mean, I came here to train, but it doesn't look like there's anyone here to spar with," She rasped, looking around. Unlike most days, where young Pokemon could be seen playing in the water, the Small Pond was completely devoid of activity. It seemed that with the recent events stirring up fear in Grassveil, most Pokemon were staying inside.

Rai was relieved to hear that he was almost there. It felt like he had been traveling forever. After listening to Ashen's directions, he thanked her and got off the rock, ready to set off for Grassveil. As he was leaving, Ashen began talking about why she had come out to the pond. The Zubat seemed rather intrigued when she mentioned training.

Rai thought for a moment about her statement. Nobody to spar with? I probably have the time for that... though, it might not be very practical right now... When he was finished thinking, Rai spoke up. "Need somebody to train with? I'd be glad to be your opponent. I'm always up for a good match." The Zubat made a small amount of distance between himself and Ashen, and took an offensive stance. Maybe I'm getting a bit ahead of myself... Rai thought. No. I need to prove that I'm strong enough to deal with foes who won't hold back.

"R-really?" Ashen asked, getting up from her rock and giving Rai a warm smile. She was clearly excited by the proposition of a sparring match with the Zubat, as her tail was wagging uncontrollably. "Alright, b-but I won't go easy on you!" She playfully barked while trying to size her opponent up. Uhm, let's see... I know that he's a flying type, but I remember that Zubat also has a second attribute... Was it normal, dark, or poison? I can't remember... That doesn't really make a difference, though. Neither of us have a type advantage, so it should be a pretty good fight, The dog Pokemon happily thought to herself.

Ashen assumed a combat-ready stance, and gave the bat Pokemon an oddly seductive look. "You can make the first move," She told Rai, grinning. Unbeknownst to him, she had just used a variation of the Leer technique, intending to lower his guard. While the Houndour was admittedly pretty bad at using charm to her advantage, it usually threw the opponent off enough to make a difference in the battle.

"Let's get started, then!" Rai said in excitement. He didn't really know anything about his opponent; he hadn't ever heard of a 'mon like this before. His best bet for now was to start slowly to see what moves would work best against the Houndour. He was glad to hear that she had offered him the first move. Good, he thought. Hopefully my plan of attack will work better now that I'm going first.

After a short pause, the Zubat flew back a little bit. He then dove forward as fast as he could and bared his fangs. As he came closer to Ashen, he yelled, "I won't disappoint you!" He tried to get in as close as possible so he could bite her with his Leech Life. He tried to look tough, but in the back of his mind, he thought, I really hope this works! He tried to hide the fact that he was rather nervous about battling her. He hadn't been in a fight for a while.

Ashen grinned as the Zubat came barreling towards her. They're always so eager to take the offensive... The hound smugly thought to herself, ready to deliver a swift counterattack. When her foe got close enough, she attempted to Sucker Punched him, although her delivery wasn't quite on point. Instead of hitting Rai's tiny head section, she ended up making contact with one of his leathery wings, which would undoubtedly do much less damage. Just as she whiffed her first attack, the Zubat lunged at her midsection, biting her with a Leech Life attack. She could feel the bat sucking her energy away, and she knew that if she couldn't detach him from her body, she would lose the fight.

Opening her maw, the fire type decided that it was already time to put her inner ember to work. She let out the most powerful ember attack that she could muster, making sure that she aimed exactly where the Zubat was clamped onto her body. If Rai reacted quickly enough, he could fly away and avoid her attack, but if he was unable to do so, the attack would connect, either lighting him on fire or burning his skin.

As Rai flew in to attack, he could feel Ashen deliver a light hit to the inside of one of his wings. It hurt a little, but it wasn't going to stop him. He bit down as hard as he could into the Houndour's midsection. He slowly began draining energy away from her. Good! Now I just have to stay like this for a little bit lo- his thoughts were interrupted by a growing heat, approaching him fast. Before he could react, he was assaulted by flames.

The pain of the Ember attack made Rai release his bite on his opponent. He fell to the ground not far from Ashen. The Zubat quickly got up and used his wings to pat out the small, lingering flames. When he knew that they were gone, he went airborne again. With a surprised look, he exclaimed,"Woah! That hurt a lot!" Rai then made some distance between the two of them. If she really hits that hard, then maybe I can keep her from hitting me at all! he thought. A smirk crossed his face, and he confidently said to Ashen, "Let's see how you like the sound of this!" Rai began to emit a loud, screeching noise of a high pitch, until he couldn't hear it himself. Though he didn't use his Supersonic much, he figured that it would be very useful if he wanted to defeat Ashen.

Ashen gave her opponent a satisfied grin when he was singed by her attack, but her victory was short-lived. Soon after Rai had patted the flames off of his body, he had let out a high-pitched Supersonic attack, which pierced her ears. The canine's hypersensitive hearing was doing her no favors, only making her more vulnerable to the move. Ashen let out a shrill cry, lying down on the ground in a vain attempt to muffle the sound. It didn't take long for the noise to get dizzyingly loud, causing the Houndour to become confused. Her vision blurred, and it became difficult for her to see. Eh!? What's going on...? The young fire type thought to herself, having never experienced confusion before.

As soon as she got to her feet, the Houndour lunged at the Zubat, but was off by several meters. She crashed right into the rock she had been lounging on before, and began to Sucker Punch it! Ow! Why is his body so brittle? She thought to herself, grimacing in pain. She had no clue why her attacks weren't working, leaving a window of opportunity for the bat Pokemon to attack her. However, if he didn't hurry, she would snap out of confusion before he got the chance to land some hits!

Rai could see the effects of being confused taking it's toll on Ashen. She had tried to hit him with a Sucker Punch, but instead crashed into a rock and began hitting that. He only had a bit of time to plan ahead, and if he wasn't fast enough, he could miss out on an easy hit. Rai quickly thought about what to do next, and while Ashen was still dazed, he went in for another Leech Life.

The bat Pokemon bit down around her neck, draining more of her energy. I could stay like this until she regains her sense of direction, but that might leave me open for another hit. On the other hand, If I let go quickly enough, I can make some distance and possibly avoid her next move... After a few seconds of draining Ashen's energy, Rai let go and flew back some. If she did plan to make another offensive move, he might have just enough time to avoid it.

After smashing her paws against the rock several times, Ashen finally snapped out of her confusion. Wait... Why am I hitting a rock...? Oh, that must've been a Supersonic attack, She realized, before feeling a sharp pain in her neck. Rai had gone in for yet another Leech Life attack, siphoning her energy. However, before she could fully escape the effects of her previous status affliction, the bat Pokemon had already pulled back. Looks like I can't get him with a Sucker Punch from here. I can still try to nail him with an Ember, though... She thought, opening her maw and filling the air in front of her with searing-hot embers and soot.

I don't even know if it'll reach him... And he'll have plenty of time to dodge it... She mused, trying to think of a plan to make up for her miscues. But still, if I hide behind my embers, I can get closer to him, The Houndour thought, suddenly bolting towards Rai with the protection of her own attack. He'd be so focused on dodging her Ember attack that he wouldn't even see the Sucker Punch coming!

Sure enough, Rai's plan worked. By the time Ashen had snapped out of her confusion, he had enough time to bite her and to get to a safe distance. The Zubat began to feel rather confident about his chances of winning. If things keep going at this rate, I'll win! It might even be rather easy now! As Rai was about to taunt Ashen from down below, she had thrown a fireball in his direction with an Ember attack. As he prepared to dodge her attack, it dissipated before it could hit him. Following right behind the fireball was Ashen. Before he knew what was happening, he was hit directly in the head with a Sucker Punch attack. He was sent barreling towards the ground, and laid a few feet away from the opponent.

Laying in shock, Rai laid motionless. Wow... that was an amazing strategy! She threw me off guard, and hit me right where I was most vulnerable! He sat up after he had gotten over the surprise of being hit. If he didn't pull off a decisive blow quickly, he might lose the fight. The bat Pokemon went airborne again, and began charging up a Zen Headbutt attack. If I can land my strongest move right here and now, I'll be able to win this... It's worth a shot! Rai began to charge all of his willpower around his head, making it much more powerful. He flew towards Ashen as fast as he could, and hit her in her side with his Zen Headbutt. It had pushed her a little bit, but did no physical damage. "What?!" he shouted in surprise. Why hadn't his strongest move worked?

Ashen grinned as her Sucker Punch connected with her opponent's head, sending him tumbling to the ground. Looks like I can turn this around, She noted, staring at Rai as he struggled to get up. While she probably could have ended the fight in that moment, something prevented her from attacking him while he was down... It would've felt morally wrong to do that. Not wanting to become known as a dirty fighter, she waited for him to make a move.

Suddenly, the bat Pokemon took flight, and seemed to be charging up some kind of attack. Cloaked in a bluish aura, he rammed right into her side, but to her surprise, it didn't seem to do very much. Sure, it had pushed her several feet, but she felt no pain. For a moment, she was just as confused as her foe. Wait... That must have been Zen Headbutt, a Psychic type move, Ashen realized, remembering that she was immune to those kinds of attacks. She smiled victoriously.

While her opponent was still in shock, the Houndour decided to take the opportunity to attack. She let out yet another Ember attack, and given their close proximity, Rai would be hard pressed to dodge it.