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The Bet (part 2)

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“Okay, Miss Phantomhive, what seems to be the problem?” Asked a Nurse Joy as she walked into the treatment room with a Chansey at her side.

“I think there may be something wrong with my Infernape.” Chris explained as she glanced at Kimchi who kept fidgeting and vigorously shaking his leg, while his eyes darted about the room, apprehensively.

The Nurse Joy looked the fidgety Infernape over, before turning back to the female trainer. “Well, he does seem a little anxious but there isn’t a lot I can do for that.” 

“That’s just one of the newer symptoms.” Chris said. “He’s been on edge like this all day.”

Kimchi’s finger tapped vigorously against the padded examination table, to the point where he was beginning to burn a hole through the paper covering. He immediately withdrew his hand, upon noticing. 

Nurse Joy and her Chansey raised an eyebrow. “And what other symptoms has your Infernape been displaying?”

“Well, he’s been having trouble controlling his body temperature, like, whatever he touches, chances are it’ll literally burst into flames.” Chris explained. “If you don’t believe me, have your Chansey bring in some paper and have him touch it. I also brought some Rawst Berries with me, just in case somebody gets burned.”

“Has this happened before?”

Chris shook her head. “This is the first time.” 

“Anything else?”

“He’s been a bit more temperamental than usual.” The female trainer took another glance at her Infernape, noticing the slight bags beginning to form under his eyes. “I don’t think he’s been getting enough rest either…”

“Forgive me, Miss Phantomhive, but these sound a lot like signs of withdrawl.” Nurse Joy said, her face taking on a very concerned expression. “With this assumption in mind, I have to ask, does your Infernape have any…addictions…?” the Nurse asked awkwardly.

“Not to drugs and alcohol if that’s what you’re thinking.” Chris answered. “But…he does have a tendency to…pick a lot of fights.” She added.

Once again, the Nurse Joy raised an eyebrow. “What does this have to do with addiction, Miss Phantomhive?”

“A lot, actually.” Chris replied. “Kimchi craves a battle the way an alcoholic craves a drink. He takes his training very seriously…and sometimes to…obsessive extremes.” The trainer explained, earning her a glare from her Infernape.

“(I’ve gone four days without pickin’ a fight. FOUR DAYS!)” Kimchi snarled, his body trembling like a leaf as steam started to simmer off of his body. “(I am NOT addicted!)”

Chris immediately hopped of the counter, startled while the Nurse Joy and her Chansey had taken a step back in fear.

“See what I mean?”

“I think I do.” Nurse Joy replied. “How long has your Infernape gone without battling?”

“Four days.”

“What’s the longest time your Infernape has gone without battling?”

“...Four days.” Chris repeated. 

“It seems that your Infernape is so accustomed and used to being in battle so much, that to suddenly stop for that much of a period of time, although brief, has caused him to have these symptoms that mimic withdrawal.” Nurse Joy explained. “This isn’t exactly what we would normally prescribe, but I think if you find a tough-looking trainer and challenge them to a battle with Kimchi, I’m confident the symptoms should fade quickly.”

“Are you saying, I should make Kimchi battle again?” Chris asked, as though to confirm what Nurse Joy was saying.

“Like I said, it’s not usually something a nurse like myself would recommend, but I’ll make an exception for a case like this.”

“Thank you, Nurse.” Chris said as she stood up and bowed politely.



“You need to call off this bet with Lola, right now.” Chris said, with an edge of irritability to her voice as the two walked out of the Pokémon center.

“(I can’t cave now, I’m on day 5!)” Kimchi said, in an almost pleading kind of tone.

“Yeah, and look at yourself, Kimchi, you’re a hot mess” Chris took a brief pause, “Literally!”

“(I can’t call off this bet!)” Kimchi argued.

“You can and you will. I’m not gonna stand by and watch you make yourself go mad. When we get home, I’m calling Amanda, I’m sure Pippy or Thade will gladly spar with you.” And Chris ended the argument there.

The rest of the walk home was silent. Upon returning home, Chris vanished into the kitchen and Kimchi went into the sitting room, hoping he could catch a few Z’s on the couch before Chris’s best friend showed up with her Pokémon, but when the Infernape walked in, the first thing he saw was Lola sitting on the couch, reading a fashion magazine. The Lopunny flipped to another page before looking up and noticing Kimchi.

“(Oh, you’re back.)” Lola said in mock-surprise, before a slight smirk played her lips. “(So how was your visit to the doctor's?)”

“(Wouldn’t you like to know.)” Kimchi snapped, slightly bearing his fangs.

“(Sounds like it didn’t go so well,)” Lola said, her smirk growing a little bigger. “(You look even worse than this morning.)”

“(I’ve never been better.)” Kimchi retorted.

“(Somehow, I don’t see it.)” Lola countered, crossing her legs and looked up at Kimchi like she had to upper hand.

Kimchi clenched his fists tightly until they were shaking. He wanted so badly to claw that confident look off the Lopunny’s face. 

“(Oh no, did I hit a nerve?)” 

“(Bite me.)” 

“(The nurse told you, you had to battle again, didn’t she?)” Lola said, not put off by Kimchi’s harsh words at the least. “(So that means you have to forfeit.)” 

“(I went more than three days without fighting, that was the original bet anyway, wasn’t it?)”

Lola nodded, the smug smile never leaving her face. “(Yes it was, but it was your ego that pushed it to a week.)”

“(The hell’re you talkin’ about?)” 

“(Quote, ‘Bitch, I can go an entire week if I wanted to’, Unquote.)”

Kimchi opened his mouth to further rebut Lola’s statement, but the Lopunny cut him off because she knew she had Kimchi beat.

“(Face it, Kimchi, I could have let you off easy but you’ve dug yourself onto a deeper hole as you usually do.)” she added, “(You can forfeit the bet, but in doing so, you lose and you have to face the penalty.)”

“(Even if I have to forfeit on Doctor’s orders?)” 

“(Since when have you ever followed orders from anybody?)”

Damn, she had a point. He couldn’t even figure out how to keep the argument going.

“(Personally, I could care less what you do, but either way, I still won.)” Lola added.

“(What makes you so sure?)” Kimchi asked, displeasure edged in his voice.

“(If you forfeit, you’ll just spend the rest of the month being my personal slave monkey, and if you don’t, odds are you’ll probably crack sometime today or tomorrow and still have to do my dirty work.)” 

“(I’d rather commit Seppuku!)” Kimchi snarled. 

“(That’s taking it a bit far don’t you think?)” Lola asked, raising a doubtful eyebrow. She knew Kimchi hated being told what to do by anybody that wasn’t Chris, but there was no way he’d go so far as to slit his own abdomen to prevent that from happening. It had to be the lack of sleep talking.

“(I’ll win this Arceus-damn bet, whatever the cost! And when I do, you better have a comb an' rag ready ‘cause I’m gonna milk that grooming and the suffering that goes with it for all it’s worth!)”

“(Even at the cost of what little mental stability you have left?)”

“(AND THEN SOME!)” Kimchi declared angrily, the sudden outburst caused Lola to flinch. The Infernape took a deep breath, after that. “(Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m gonna take a nap.)” Kimchi said before walking past Lola and vanishing up the stairs.



The next two days were a blur, but the mental torture both Kimchi and Lola were enduring was still fresh in their minds. After what had felt like an eternity, the last day of the bet had finally arrived and once the clock stuck midnight tonight, this nightmarish week of hell would be over. 
Lola mentally pictured herself standing under the blissfully scalding stream of the shower, lathering her body with her favorite soaps that smelled of passion fruit and wildflowers, and rejuvenating her once gorgeous fur with the most expensive conditioner Chris had in her bathroom closet; all the while apologizing to her body for putting it through such abuse and how it would never happen again.

Meanwhile, Kimchi’s fists were clenched so tight the blue in in his knuckles were constricted until they were stark white. He couldn’t afford to think of the feeling of landing a perfect solid right cross, or a swift uppercut without fearing he might unintentionally attack someone passing by and ruin an entire week of bottling up his aggression. Something an Infernape with his type of situation really shouldn’t do. But, oh man, when this bet was over he was gonna go (no pun intended) ape shit. Question was, on who? He could always take his week’s worth of pent up anger on Torch, but then Kimchi would run the risk of killing him, and while that wasn’t necessarily a bad thing in his book, Chris would throw a fit. Maybe he could just go up to Mt. Coronet and just go wild on any wild Pokemon unfortunate enough to cross his path.

“This is ridiculous,” Chris hissed in frustration before turning to another female trainer, with brown hair similar to Chris's, accept for the lone purple streak and another lone stand of hair sticking upward. “Can your Pokemon do anything to talk them out of this nonsense?” Chris asked the female trainer.

“So you’re saying you want Pippy and Ember to try and talk Kimchi and Lola into forfeiting this bet they have going on?” Amanda asked, trying to make sure she understood what was being requested of her.

“Or one of them to forfeit, I don’t care, I just can’t stand it for a minute longer.” Chris confirmed.

Amanda turned to the Empoleon and female Infernape behind her. “What do you guys think, can you do it?”

Pippy looked both nervous and uncertain as he looked to Ember who matched his concerned expression.

"They'll...try their best, won't you guys?" 

“(We don't have much of a choice do we?)" Pippy sighed.

"I'll make it worth your while, promise." Chris pleaded.  

Pippy and Ember both exchanged glances before finally agreeing with a nod.

"Thank you." Chris sighed with relief.

"You two can decide who you want to deal with, in the meantime, I'm gonna catch up with Chris."

Pippy and Ember nodded before leaving the room.

“(I think it’s best you take Lola and I take Kimchi.)” Pippy said as he made his way to the front door with Ember in tow. 

"(I don't think that's a good idea,)" Ember retorted, "(You're not exactly Kimchi's favorite 'mon. I might have better luck with him.)"

"(No way. From the way Chris was talking, Kimchi sounds like a time bomb waiting to go off, I don't anything happening to you. At least if i'm the one who sets him off, I have a type advantage to protect me.)"

"(You know as well as I do, that doesn't mean a thing to Kimchi. He's taken down Empoleons before, you said so yourself.)"

"(You don't know what he's capable of when he's like this.)" Pippy said. The Empoleon has known his fellow starter since they were both first stages in Rowan's lab, and knew that Kimchi could be unruly and sometimes even volatile when he didn't get his way. The last thing he wanted was Ember to be on the receiving end of that temper like he was for so many years.

"(Maybe I don't, but I don't think he'll attack me right on sight.)"

"(All the more reason I should be the one to deal with Kimchi, he'll lose the bet immediately if he attacks me, and this'll all be over.)"

"(Or I could convince him to forfeit, and you don't have to spend the night in the Pokemon center.)" Ember countered.

"(And what makes you think he'll listen to you.)" Pippy asked.

"(I don't, but I figure it's better than letting you get beaten within an inch of your life)". Ember replied.

Pippy sighed "(You're really dead set on this aren't you?)"

Ember nodded firmly.

“(Okay fine, but if he so much as touches you, i'm drowning him.)”

"(I'll be okay, promise.)"

"(Let's just get this over with. The sooner one of them caves, the better.)"

At least, that was the plan…



“(Hey, Lola...how, uh, how're you doing?)” Pippy greeted the Lopunny sitting in the kitchen.

“(How do you think i'm doing?)” Lola snapped as she plucked a pink poffin from the plate in front of her and took a violent pit out of it. “(And don't think I don't notice you standing so far away.)”

Pippy sighed at his stupid question. Of course she wasn't doing okay, and the fact he was standing a considerable distance from her was also a dead giveaway that he had taken notice to Lola's new scent.

“(You can say it, I look like a Muk just had its way with me.)” Lola said, crossing her arms and shrinking into her seat.

Pippy blinked. “(That’s…that's an image...)” his face contorted in disgust. “(and one that's probably gonna be in my nightmares tonight...)”

“(Call it what you want, but that’s what it feels like.)” Lola explained.

“(So why are you putting yourself through this if it makes you feel so horrible?)”

“(You’ll think it’s stupid, but I promise you, I’m trying to make a point.)”

Pippy titled his head, waiting for Lola to elaborate.

“(I was tired of watching Kimchi skate through his punishments so I made a bet with him saying who couldn’t last more than 3 days without picking a fight,)” Lola explained. “(and it worked better than I thought when he pushed it to a week but then he had to drag me into it as well.)”

“(Geez,)” Pippy said. “(so all you wanted to do was show Kimchi what it's like to be punished, but he ended up dragging you down with him, and now you both are on the brink of losing your minds?)”

“(Yes! So you understand why I have to see this through?)” Lola asked, hopefully.

“(I mean, I see what you're trying to do but I don't think you went about it the right way.)” Pippy responded. “(Kinda defeats the purpose when you're punishing yourself too, doesn't it?)”

Lola’s eyes narrowed. “(You’re here to talk me into forfeiting, aren’t you?)”

"(I-I didn't say that!)" Pippy stammered.

“(You are, aren't you? If that's the case,)” Lola said as she stood up, “(this conversation is over.)”

“(Lola, wait.)” Pippy pleaded as Lola stormed out of the room.

“(Sorry, Pippy, but there’s a million things I’d rather do than Kimchi’s bidding,)” The Lopunny shivered. “(Arceus knows where he’s been…)” She left the room for a second before coming back and yanking the plate of poffins on the table. 

“(These are mine.”) she huffed before stamping out of the room once more.

“(I hope you’re having better luck than me, Ember…)” Pippy muttered in defeat.



Ember wandered the forest area of the ranch, keeping her head up and scanned the tree-tops for a flash of orange. If she was trying to hide away from everyone, or just wanted to peaceful time to herself, she would hide amongst the trees; being another Infernape, she assumed that Kimchi liked to do the same.

However, it wasn't the sight of Kimchi's vivid coloration that gave away his location, but rather the sound of loud rock music flooding out from the headphones he wore sideways so they wouldn't be burnt to a crisp by his fiery crown. From a distance, Kimchi looked to be relaxed and enthralled in his music, but upon closer inspection, the male Infernape's eyes were shut tight and his breathing was sharp like he was trying and failing to calm down. Ember honestly doubted that Kimchi's choice in music was doing anything to remedy is building temper.

"(Kimchi!)" Ember called, cupping her hands over her mouth. Her call fell on deaf ears, as Kimchi continued to his futile attempt to calm himself down. Realizing trying to get his attention like this would get her nowhere, she opted for a more forward method.

Ember climbed up the tree; upon reaching the top where Kimchi was resting, she slowly outstretched her hand. "(Kimchi?)" 

All Ember's hand had to do was brush up slightly against his arm, and Kimchi's eyes immediately snapped open, grabbing Ember's hand and gripping it, causing her to wince.

It took Kimchi a moment to register who was in front of him. "(Ember?)" he loosened his grip and quickly slid the headphones around his neck, rock music playing on full blast. "(What're you doin' here?)"

"(I was just in the area.)" Ember said. "(I didn't mean to startle you.)" she apologized, offering Kimchi a sheepish smile.

"(N-No, I've...just been havin' a rough week.)" Kimchi explained, rubbing his neck and averting eye contact with her.

Ember titled her head. "(Did you want to talk about it?)"

"(It's nothin',)" Kimchi said dismissively, "('sides, it'll all be over after tomorrow night?)"

"(Oh? Why's that?)" Ember inquired.

"(Lola an' I just got a lil' bet goin' on. All I gotta do is go one more day without battling, an' victory's all mine.)" Kimchi declared.

"(That wouldn't happen to have anything to do with why you're being so antsy, would it?)" Ember asked, bringing Kimchi's shaky leg to his attention. "(If you're itching for a battle, I can-)"

"(No!)" Kimchi snapped. He winced when he realized that he probably sounded a lot harsher than intended. If he did, Ember showed no indicator.

"(You don't think you proved your point by going this far?)" She asked, her voice still calm and even.

Kimchi narrowed his eyes at Ember. "(Oh, I see what's goin' on here. Chris put you up to this, didn't she?)"

"(W-Well...)" Ember wanted to feign ignorance, but she could find it in her to lie to Kimchi. 

Kimchi stood up on the branch. "(I'm outta here.)"

"(Kimchi, wait!)" Ember tried to grab his arm, but he had already made his descent down and vanished amongst the underbrush.
 
A sigh of defeat escaped Ember. At the very least, he didn't lash out at her the way he probably would have if Pippy came to talk to him. 



“You couldn’t get either of them to crack?” Chris asked.

Both Ember and Pippy shook their heads solemnly.  

“They must really want to see this thing through to the end,” Amanda said, “I mean, it’s the last day anyway, right? Why don’t you just let them wrap it up?”

“I don’t have much of choice, do I?” Chris sighed. “You make a good point though, they’ve gone this long, may as well have them finish out the last day.” The female trainer faced Pippy and Ember. “Thanks for at least trying, you two.”

The two Pokémon nodded their response to Chris’s thanks.

“So I guess there’s nothing more to do than to watch the final events unfold,” Chris said, before looking towards Amanda. “Thanks, for taking the trouble to come over, girl.”

"It's no trouble at all," Amanda said, "you know know I'm always there when you need me."

"And I couldn't be more grateful." Chris said, pulling her friend in for a hug.

"I just wish you the best of luck when those two go back on their habits." Amanda said with a chuckle.

"Oh Arceus, you're right." Chris said, breaking apart the hug and poking her head into the kitchen where Dusky was prepping dinner. 

"Dusky, remind me to buy more conditioner and have a couple of fire extinguishers at the ready." she called to her Dusknoir.

"(As you wish, Mistress.)" Dusky said without shifting his focus from cutting vegetables. 



Night time befell the Soulfire Ranch, shortly after Amanda’s departure. Pokémon began to retreat into their homes, while the mansion’s residents bade each other good night and retreated into their rooms as well.

Lola, however, decided to take a late night stroll through the ranch. There was no way she was gonna be able to sleep tonight and soil her fresh linen sheets with the filth resting on her body and stare at the clock, waiting for it to strike midnight. So, the Lopunny thought maybe a stroll throughout the property would take her mind off of things.

Soon enough, Lola’s walk brought her to the small pond just by the berry orchid. She bent down and cupped her paws together before dipping them in the water and helping herself to a drink, probably not the most sanitary drink, but at this point, Lola didn’t really care.

She waited for the water ripple to cease before getting a clear look at her reflection, causing Lola to gasp at what was looking back at her. Strands upon strands out of place, on her every sector of her fluff which looked greasy and lifeless, and even matted at certain sections. There were even a couple of gnats staring to swarm around her. She swatted a paw immediately across the water to get rid of the horrid image, and took note of the droplets of water, falling off of her paw.
Slowly, the Lopunny took her wet paw and ran it across her arm. A small smile crept to her face, feeling the coolness against her skin, but also because the water seemed to wash away the layer of a week’s worth of dirt and grime in one fell swoop.

Lola glanced in all directions to make sure there was no one nearby before taking another paw full of water and splashing her face. A content sigh escaped her as she proceeded to dip her paws in the pond’s water and wash herself clean of the filth that accumulated on her body over the past week. It was no shower, but it sure as hell was the next best thing!

It wasn’t until noticing on faint, orange glow on the water’s surface, Lola’s bliss was short lived because when she happened to look behind her, there, standing over her, was Kimchi wearing the smuggest smirk.

“(K-Kimchi…)” Lola stammered.

“(How’s the water?)” The Infernape jested, the smirk on his face never wading.

Lola didn’t know what to say. Kimchi had caught her red-handed, cleaning herself. She was the first to cave…

Or so she thought.          

Upon closer inspection, the glow of Kimchi’s firey crown had betrayed a couple of scratches, brusies, and, Arceus, was that blood splatted across his shoulder plate?

“(What happened to you?)” Lola inquired.

The smirk Kimchi was previously wearing had dissipated. “(I…I fell asleep in a tree and I fell off.)” he explained hesitantly.

“(No you didn’t. You were battling.)” Lola retorted.

“(You can’t prove any-)” Kimchi started to say but was cut off by the sound of moaning, causing the Infernape to pale and Lola to look behind him where a battered Shiftry just barely managed to drag himself out of the bushes. He held out a trembling leafy hand toward Lola before finally collapsing into unconsciousness from his injuries.

Silence befell both Kimchi and Lola before both Pokémon exchanged looks.

“(YOU CAVED!)” both Infernape and Lopunny pointed an accusing finger at the other and broke out into an argument over who had caved first.

The screams were loud enough to cause a light to flicker on in the mansion and within a few minutes, a groggy Chris stamped out the door wearing red and black plaid pajama bottoms and a large T-Shirt depicting six masked men standing behind a city and full moon. Dusky was in tow behind her, ready to defend Chris or break up any violent fighting.

“Whatever you two are arguing about it better be worth waking up in the dead ass of night over.” Chris growled, causing both of her Pokémon to briefly stop arguing to acknowledge her presence.

“(He/She Caved!)” both pokemon exclaimed, pointing at each other before resuming their arguing. 

Chris look a moment to look up at the sky before turning to her Dusknoir. “What time is it, Dusky?” Chris asked.

“(Exactly midnight, Mistress.)” Dusky replied.

“Did you hear that, you two?” Chris spoke up a little louder, so her arguing Pokémon could hear her.

At the sound of her voice, Kimchi and Lola stopped arguing once again, but this time only to give their trainer a confused look.

“(Hear what?)” Kimchi asked, raising an eyebrow.

“It’s midnight, meaning the bet’s over.” Chris explained.

“(Okay, but, who caved first?)” Lola inquired.

“(It doesn’t matter,)” Dusky answered. “(for all we know you both could have given in at the exact same time,)”

“but the only thing that matters is that you both caved, therefore both of you lost.)” Chris finished.

“(So…what happens?)” Kimchi asked.

“Well, since you both lost, none of you win anything, so I guess the only thing for you two to do is wash up, go to bed, and go back to doing what you normally do tomorrow.)”

“(I call first dibs!)” Kimchi shouted, making a sprint towards the house.

“(Wait, I haven’t showered all week!)” Lola shouted after the Infernape, bolting after him. “(KIMCHI!)”

“Glad that’s finally over.” Chris sighed.

“(I’m not!)” came a disgruntled female voice before a Mismagius appeared before Chris and Dusky. 

“(Do you know how mad all the Pokémon are gonna be when I tell them that none of them won? It’ll be a frenzy!)”

“(I’m sure you’ll be able to figure something out, Clarice.)” Dusky assured the Mismagius. 

“(Perhaps you could maybe hand the items you’ve obtained to the Mistress and myself.)”

“(Well, I’ve certainly got no use for it,)” Clarice sighed. “(Fine, it’ll be on the kitchen, first thing in the morning.)”

“It might not have ended the way you wanted to, Clarice, but I still hope you had fun with it because something like this will never happen again.” Chris piped in as the three began to walk back towards the mansion.

“(Aw, why?)” Clarice asked with a pout.

“Because Kimchi could have brutally hurt someone, and I have to burn all the furniture that Lola sat on this past week.” Chris explained begrudgingly.

“(Too late for that, I just saw Zero passed out in the bushes. Kimchi did quite a number on the poor troll.)” 

“(Shall I retrieve him, Mistress?)” Dusky offered.

“Sure, we’ll take him to the Pokemon center in the morning, though.” Chris said before a yawn escaped her. "Tomorrow's gonna be a long day and 'till then, I'm gonna milk what little time I have to sleep for everything it's worth."
Aaaand here's part two! (For Part 1: fav.me/dahqtuj)

So like I promised, here's the synopsis for story #3, "Hydeigon Outta hell"
Chris is ecstatic when she learns her grandmother is coming from Unova to visit the Soulfire Ranch. Since she was a little girl, every visit from Gramma Phantomhive would entail a unique gift from one of the regions, and this visit is no exception. When she does arrive she tells Chris the gift she bought is a little different than what she's used to getting and releases a Hydreigon
a shiny one! 
Chris is over the moon, finally having a shiny Pokemon to call her own, but the excitement is short-lived when the three-headed dragon begins attacking everyone and everything on the Ranch. Unable to subdue the Hydreigon, Chris questions her Grandmother as to why she would gift her with such a violent Pokemon? That's when Gramma Phantomhive proposes to Chris, that the Hydreigon is hers, but only if she's able to tame it. Can Chris tame the rampaging dragon Pokemon before it lays waste to the entire ranch?
  
Status: In Progress.

Amanda, Pippy the Empoleon & Ember the Infernape @~ :iconmoonlightwolf22:
© 2016 - 2024 Mythica-Chris
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pokediginut's avatar
I'm surprised that Chris didn't force him to battle the way she said she was when the chapter started.

Seriously Chris is way too easy on her Pokemon I swear XD