[ti]private[/ti][001] These Boots Were Made For Beating

“What the hell?”

After he’d gotten his fill of the scenery, Kazuki opened the ball he’d been provided. From a small burst of light came a tiny cat who looked like it had been horribly mistreated at a pet groomer.

Sprigatito stared up at him, his wide pink eyes full of wonder for what he knew to be his trainer. He was huge. He opened his mouth and said <Hello!>

Except his trainer only glared, the frown on his face deepening. Sprigatito’s ears folded back, wondering if he’d said something wrong. Before he could ask, he becomes weightless.

Kazuki lifts the cat up by its scruff. He could hold its back with one hand—it weighed nothing. Its stubby legs wiggled in the air. “You are not a dog,” he hissed.

Sprigatito blinked, confused. <Is that my name?> he says, trying to say his words louder in case his trainer hadn’t heard him properly the first time. <Are you giving me a name?>

It was as if his disappointment had hit a precipice. What could he possibly accomplish with something like this? Frustrated, Kazuki waved the cat around as if shaking it would solve his problems—finding some strange amusement in how the tiny creature flailed and meowed about, yet didn’t try to bite or claw at his hand.

A rush of footsteps pull his attention away, spotting a stranger making a mad dash in his direction. Kazuki scoffs, expecting the man to scold him from afar, but when he doesn’t stop moving, his body winding in a matter so familiar, Kazuki finds himself letting go of the cat and moving back.

The elbow slams hard into the bone of his arm as he blocks. He grunts, feeling the impact. His feet remained planted on the spot, forearm shielding him from the stranger’s arm—the strength of which actually surprised him.

He laughs. “Fucking finally.” As if he’d waited ages for the game to finally get interesting.

“Not bad.” The run had ruined the surprise element, the technique rough around the edges, but he’s strong. Kazuki has to wonder if it’s thanks to the game, or if this is on the player.

“But it’s better if you spin.” To demonstrate, he pivots, winding his whole body to counter, his elbow aimed at the guy’s cheek.

Close to the radius of the fight, Sprigatito panics. He had landed on his feet and ran from the fray, and now he couldn’t come close enough to help. <Stop!> He calls. <Stop fighting!> But like with earlier, his trainer is deaf to his protests.

He looks around, spotting another pokemon nearby. <Um! Umm!> He squeaks, running as fast as his little legs can get him to the Litten. <Is that your trainer? Please make him stop!> This isn’t how he’d imagined his first time as a partner pokemon would go. He was supposed to be the one fighting!

He hits air, feeling only the brush of white locks scraping the underside of his arm. His momentum prevents him from dodging and his opponent’s fist slams into his chest, knocking air out of his lungs.

Kazuki’s smile cracks into a grin, his eyes pinching despite the pain and the very real possibility of busted ribs.

During the stranger’s brief distraction, he grabs a tight hold of the man’s arm.

“Mind if I shake you instead, catboy?” His voice is hoarse, yet he’s still got that smug look on his face, a perfect target were he not already in the process of throwing the other man into the ground.

Sprigatito jumps upon seeing the punch and the two trainers crashing. <Is that how it works?!> He doesn’t think he’s ever heard of this type of training, but considering how lax Litten seems upon seeing her Purrai fight, then surely it's the truth.

<Um! Okay, okay…> He takes a deep breath, puffing out his fluffy chest. <We’re gonna fight now!> Because that’s what they need to do! Follow their trainers’ example.

He aims his first hit, swiping with his paw—though it’s only when it lands on Litten’s cheek that he realizes he forgot to unsheathe his claws. His paw paps softly against her face.

The insult only seemed to delight him further. His arm is yanked hard behind him and he falls onto the ground, pinned by his opponent’s weight on his back, pressing his wrist into the '義' inked on his spine.

Kazuki chuckles with his cheek planted against the mud, one green eye peeking over his shoulder to watch the stranger’s infuriated expression. “You can.” He knew he was antsy from being booted out of the ring but it’s still absurd—how much fun he’s having.

He twists, rolling onto his back and pulling the stranger into a grapple. “Tell me,” he says, moving to try and lock the guy’s throat in the crook of his arm. “Where did you learn? You fight like a caged animal.” No finesse and no holds barred. Completely different from how he’s been taught, yet able to stand toe-to-toe.

Sprigatito’s shocked at how quickly Litten goes down, only to puff up when he sees her batting his face from the floor. <Fight! We’re fighting!> he insists, even as his tail wags excitedly, as every part of him starts chanting playplayplay. Letting out a war cry—that sounded more like a high-pitched mieeee!—he leaps and tackles her, sending both of them wheeling over the grass in a red-green ball of fluff.

A sharp pain shoots up his arm and Kazuki hisses, his arm tensing until it became apparent the jaws wouldn’t release otherwise. His opponent escapes him, and he blinks from where he’s still lying on the ground, eyes moving from the guy spitting his answer, to the ring of red teeth marks now embedded on the inside of his elbow.

“You bit me.” Kazuki chuckles. “You bit me.” He cackles with his head thrown back. “You are insane.”

He does pull himself up—languidly, as if he wasn’t still in danger of getting attacked. “So, you fight on the streets then?” Which honestly seems plausible, considering he had opened with a fucking elbow to the face. But Kazuki’s eyes, as appraising as they are, seem to rake over the stranger with some derision, as if he’s still too good to be true.

“Bit hard to believe,” he admits, and without warning reaches out. “Since you’re here. And you’ve got these.” He flicks the ears atop the stranger’s head, snickering.

Sprigatito lands with an oomf!, shaking his fur when he gets up, his cherry eyes alight with determination. When Litten begins preparing to attack, he shuts them, bracing himself—only for it to be a hairball that flickers for a moment.

His eyes sparkle. <Me next!> It’s his first time trying out a fancy move. He hopes it’ll be something as cool as fire. Squeezing his eyes shut, he holds his breath and starts willing something to happen.

It gets to the point his face starts turning a bit pink.

A few leaves come, flapping onto Litten’s fur.

Sprigatito wheezes, success feeling an awful lot like oxygen.

From the look on his face, it seemed like Kazuki would be treated to a second round.

But the moment is ruined by the sound of matronly demand. He turns at the same time as Verai does, brows furrowing at the woman calling out to them. They’d been at each other’s throats, yet she words it as if they just came out of a slap fight. Some random woman who looked absolutely nothing like his own mother.

This goddamn game.

Sprigatito jumps from his moment of victory as Litten suddenly bursts into action, turning into a blur as she darts towards the house. His ears twitch to life at the mention of—<Treats? W-wait!> He stumbles and then scrambles in pursuit, the promise of treats far more delectable than the call of battle.

But he does pause, just a little ways past Purrai to check on his trainer, bouncing on his paws and wishing sorely that the man would move faster.

Kazuki scoffs. His eyes move from where the older woman disappeared to his opponent, weighing something in his head.

“Well? You heard her, Verai,” he purrs, moving to clip the guy’s shoulder on the way inside.

Sprigatito had already continued on the moment he saw his trainer move, now joining Litten on the hunt for treats—which is looking more like trying to inconvenience Mom as much as possible.

The woman frets, trying to step carefully as the little darlings wove about, threatening to trip her. “Goodness, yes, you’ll get your treats! But if I spill this, the rest of us won’t—” she sighs, looking to the entrance. “Could I get some help over here?”

In lieu of a greeting or human decency in general, Kazuki moves past the threshold, intent on rummaging around the unfamiliar house.

Sprigatito is having the time of his life. After snacks—which were very tasty, and he thinks the best food in the world now is anything with ‘green’ in it—he and Litten get to play. The chewy twisty-tie got taken, but now they’re making a game of looking for another toy, and there’s so much to do that he doesn’t even notice his trainer has gone.

And the house was quiet. It’s quiet all the way down the hall, until Verai reaches the ajar door near the end.

The bedroom is simple, with a queen-sized bed and various handmade decorations among the wood furnishings. Clearly well-cared for by the utter lack of dust, but there is a fresh sense of disorganization. Drawers had been pulled out; boxes opened.

Kazuki pauses from where he stands by a bookshelf, his hands holding an open photo album.

“Got bored talking to her already?” He smirks, returning his attention to the album. “I’ll save you the hassle. There’s nothing worth taking here.” They must expect it from the players; it’s impossible this woman didn’t have any jewelry.

He flips another page. “I wonder if she’s got an actual story or if they’re generating it depending on the player.” He inspects the pictures with mild interest. “Seems like her husband’s dead in this one.”