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This will show her, Rei thought, externally quiet, but laughing maniacally on the inside. She loved her older sister, she really did, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t above messing with her beloved sister. It didn’t help that she was a tad bit jealous of Kaida, even if she refused to admit it to herself. Growing up, Kaida, being the oldest, and being unique, had gotten all the attention. Not only was she shiny, which was like 1 in 8000, but she also had two tails. Rei had never even heard of a Pokémon like that, other than her sister, the self-appointed Defender of Nature. Being like that, it had to be 1 in a million, or maybe even a billion. She was a hard sister to live up to.

It also didn’t help that she was so naturally gifted. Rei would train and practice and train some more, but her sister she easily outmatched her, without even trying. Yeah she loved her sister, but there was definitely some conflict between the two, even if Kaida seemed oblivious to it. Today though, Rei would make Kaida notice. It had taken her a while, but she had finally found her sister’s secret lair. It was well hidden, but Rei had been determined. She would not be denied! Her sister loved treasure; she had even given herself a silly title, Keeper of Lost Treasures or something? Kaida loved giving herself titles. Well today Rei would swipe some of this lost treasure that her sister valued so much.

The hidden lair was located under some ruins. Honestly, from the outside, they looked like a rather poor example of ruins. With merely casual observation, one might think that it was merely the ruins of some ancient shed, but, if one really looked, they would find the trap door. It led downwards, into the true ruins. It was a large, stony, underground structure, possibly centuries old. The part visible from the surface was truly just the tip of the iceberg. This ancient structure, though, was not where Kaida made her home. It was far beneath it. When she had first searched it, Rei had found a broken down elevator, a much more recent addition. It was in a state of disrepair though, and the shaft had caved in. Eventually though, she found the tunnel.

The tunnel went downward, at a very steep angle. Its walls were coated with scratch marks that were very similar to hers. If she hadn’t of seen it, she wouldn’t of believed it, but it appeared that her sister had carved it herself. She doubted she would have been able to conceive of and complete such a project. Even in her absence Kaida taunted her. She would have to find something spectacular to snag.

The tunnel led into the ruins of a man made structure, something as recent as the elevator. Perhaps it was what the elevator connected to? How could Kaida have known where to connect her tunnel to? Knowing her, she found it by chance. She was always so lucky! In a huff, she leapt out of the tunnel and into the connecting corridor. It didn’t take her long to find Kaida’s lair, most of the possible routes were sealed off, some disaster having claimed most of the facility. It was kind of bare bones, but it actually looked like it had once been a lab of some sort. That striked her as odd, but she shrugged it off and continued deeper inside.

In the back of a large, circular chamber she found Kaida’s precious hoard. She had to admit, it was breathtaking. There were gold coins, shiny rocks, gems, rolls of cloth, pinecones, random bits of clothing, bones, and what looked like a rather large fang. There were so many things. What could she take? What would Kaida notice? Then she saw it. It was a collar. Attached to it was a red stone. It was beautiful. Rushing to it, she tried to push her head though the opening. It was just loose enough to fit, but not so loose that it was as risk of falling off. It would be perfect! She could even wear it the next time she saw Kaida. She would certainly notice then! Practically glowing with a sense of triumph, she headed back to the tunnel. Kaida would certainly return soon and she had to leave undetected. Hopefully Kaida would notice its absence and have no idea what happened. Then, the next time they met, her triumph would be revealed!

Some Like It Hot

That was quite a battle! Rei thought, high off the exhilaration of such an epic test of skill. The only thing that could make this day any better was a soak in a hot spring! Luckily for her, she actually had one in her rather warm cave. As she approached her home though, something felt off. She couldn’t quite place it, but she knew something was different. She didn’t know how she knew, which confused her quite thoroughly. How could I know something without knowing how I know it? Maybe there was a scent in the air, or some rocks had been shifted. Whatever it was, though, it was too faint for her to be consciously aware of it, but strong enough to send a tingle up her spine.

She approached her home slowly, wary of a possible ambush. If someone was waiting for her, she would not let them catch her off guard. They would learn to fear her. This wouldn’t be like the battle with that other Eevee, this wouldn’t be for fun. If someone had violated her home, this battle would be for keeps. Well, unless it was her sister. Maybe Kaida had discovered the missing collar and assumed she had taken it? Maybe she had come for revenge? Not that she had any treasure lying about. Still, if it was her sister, she wouldn’t play for keeps. They would battle and it would be glorious, but it wouldn’t be the end of either of them. She was the only one that could get away with such an invasion.

Still, something told her it wasn’t Kaida. Kaida wasn’t so clumsy. If it had been her sister, she would have detected nothing. So that left it a mystery. Despite her confidence in her abilities, she was nervous. She sniffed the air as she approached the entrance, but smelled nothing out of the ordinary. Still, the feeling, she couldn’t shake it.

As she entered, waves of heat washed over her. The heat was comforting, but she was still on guard. Her main room seemed normal, maybe the intruder was near the hot spring, or had come in through the secondary entrance? She silently chastised herself for not sealing it up; she always knew it was a security risk. Not that many Pokémon would brave its super-heated waters, though. Still, she would check.

Rei stealthily crept around the corner, to her hot spring. It was then that she saw it. Submerged, deep below the hot water, there glowed an object. She couldn’t quite make it out; it was distorted by the water. But she knew that this thing, whatever it was, must have been what she had sensed. She was relieved that there wasn’t someone waiting for her, but still, whatever it was, it had to of gotten there somehow. First thing was first though; she had to figure out what it was.

Diving in seemed the easiest way, getting an up close look at it, so, she jumped in. Normally she just soaked at the surface, she actually hadn’t swum to the bottom before; it was just not something that had ever come up. She was actually quite shocked to find out how deep her hot spring was. As she neared it, she could start to make it out. It appeared to be a star? Confused, she swam nearer. Yes, it was a star, she couldn’t fathom how it had arrived in her hot spring, but, now, that wasn’t her most pressing concern. As she reached it, she suddenly felt tired. Normally this would confuse her but not be particularly alarming, but, at the moment, she was underwater. Falling asleep here could have dire consequences.

Panic setting in, she fled the star as quickly as she could, struggling with each stroke to reach the surface. As she neared the surface, her arms felt heavier and heavier, they didn’t want to move, but to let them stop would mean certain doom. She had to reach land; there was no other option for her. Her eyes shutting, against her will, she could no longer see, but still, she pressed on. A wave of relief flooded over her as her arms reached the surface, but still, she must reach land or she would surely drown. Alas, her arms were failing her, they refused to budge, and she went to sleep feeling only fear.

Luckily, though, she still had forward momentum and, despite losing consciousness, her body managed to float to solid ground. Her head coming to rest, just out of the water.

A Jolly Holly Christmas

[x]

Quick Attack - Move Solo

“You can do it Rei!” Holly cheered, miniature stuffed piplup in hand, as she sat on a pillar in what Rei referred to as the ‘training room’. The training room was an unusual cavern near their cave. It was full of pillars that seemed to erupt put of a small underground lake….with ice cold water. Rei had set up practice dummies on some of the pillars and was leaping back and forth, from pillar to pillar, attacking them.

Distracted by the sudden outburst, Rei missed a dummy and fell…into the icy water. “Blahghgh!” she yelled out as she made contact with the cold water.

“Sorry, Rei,” Holly called out.

After a few moments, Rei had pulled herself out of the water and sat down next to Holly. “Soo… sooo … cold,” her teeth chattered.

“Try this,” Holly suggested, handing the other girl a thermos full of hot cocoa and marshmallows.

After taking a long drink, Rei stated, “I am just not getting enough speed; why isn’t quick attack working?”

“But you look really fast!”

“But it isn’t fast enough…”

“You can do it! You are super fast Rei!”

“Thanks, well I should probably get back to practicing.” At that, Rei launched herself off the platform and, flying feet first, made contact with one of the dummies. Jumping off of it, she spun in midair and landed on a nearby pillar.

“Wow, that’s amazing!” Holly exclaimed.

Rei spent the next three hours performing similar feats. By the end, though, she was exhausted. She also hadn’t reached the speed she had hoped for. She began to doubt that she would ever be fast enough. Maybe her legs just couldn’t carry her at the speeds she needed to perform a quick attack. Or maybe she just wasn’t as motivated to reach those speeds, as she had thought she was. Rei felt defeated.

Just then, the ground began to shake. Possibly due to a pokemon unleashing an earthquake nearby. Regardless off its source, though, it was clear, there was an earthquake. The pillar that Holly sat on began to shake and crack. Before she had a chance to react, the pillar began to lean over and collapse. Holly screamed out, in shock, as she plummeted through the air, towards the icy water below.

Like a bolt of lightning, Rei launched herself at Holly, catching her in midair, before she was able to hit the water. Landing against the side of another pillar, Holly in one arm, she launched herself back up and onto solid ground. “That was close!” she exclaimed.

“You saved me Rei! You were so fast. It was like a lightning bolt!”

“Yeah, I think it might have been fast enough.”

“If you wouldn’t have caught me, I might have fallen into the ice cold water!”

“Yeah, and I think it was fast enough. You ready to go home?”

“Sure, but can I go for a swim first? The water looks nice and cold!” Without waiting for a reply, Holly dived off a pillar into the water below.