FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Before you begin, please note that in this commission, the main character is a rather unusual and little-known pokemon called a girafarig. Here is a picture of a girafarig: This is a girafarig: > It's tail has a second head with a simple, independent brain that can see, smell, and bite in reaction to things. Usually, the girafarig is not consciously aware of its tail's actions. _> _Why write a story about girafarigs, of all things?> I have no fucking clue. Lol.

Maya's Tail: Getting Grounded

"Maya! Maya! I'm back! Come here and look what I got!"

Straining from the weight of 6 bulging bags of poke-mart merchandise, an enthusiastic pokemon trainer-to-be by the name of Ben nudged open the door to his apartment with a foot and waddled inside. Already tired from carrying the bags up several flights of stairs, he relaxed his taught arm muscles with a groan and dropped the bags on the coffee table just as Maya entered from Ben's bedroom, having finished a short nap. She gazed at the over-stuffed bags with a wide-eyed look of uncertainty.

With the giddy excitement of a boy ten years younger, Ben began to unpack. "I had to go to three different stores to find it all... but I did it! Here it is!" he exclaimed with pride. "Everything we're gonna need to start your training for pokemon battles."

The girafarig swallowed hard. That was exactly what she was afraid of.

--=-=--

Maya was not what most would call a typical pokemon, even for a girafarig: a species known for its quirkiness. Meek and timid to a fault, the pokemon could pull off a show of self-confidence and assertiveness about as well as a fish could breathe out of water. Ben often mused that if the girafarig became any more faint-of-heart, she'd probably refuse to ever leave the secluded comfort of her pokeball.

Ben owned Maya since he was sixteen, and while during the five years he had owned her he had accepted his pokemon for not being fit to fight, it didn't stop the girafarig from feeling rather ashamed of herself for failing to meet expectations. For this reason, Maya put it upon herself to be the best pet she could possibly be for her owner, and took a meager (but well-deserved!) amount of pride in her loyalty, obedience, and proper pokemon etiquette in both public and private. Why, after some practice the psychic-type would even eat her meals using silverware with the help of her telekinetic powers, a habit that Ben found amusing and rather cute.

This was not Ben's first attempt to get his pokemon to dip her hooves into the casual battling scene. He had tried several times in the past, and the experience usually ended with the pokemon quivering behind her trainer in fear.

However, recent events of the past week had changed the girafarig's mind. After a dangerous confrontation with a wild mightyena, Maya had made the scary decision that she might need to learn how to defend herself. It had been a hard decision for her, and one that she made while in a strange mood, and in the days that followed she began to regret making it. With Ben absorbed with his job during the week and having little free time each night, she hoped that he would forget and things could go back to normal. But now it was Friday, and with the whole weekend free for Ben, she was dismayed to find him just as enthusiastic as ever over the prospect of getting to battle. No sooner than his work day ended did he spend the next several hours downtown shopping for training supplies and equipment!

As Ben continued to unpack, Maya looked on in morbid curiosity at the assortment of training implements that she would no doubt soon be subjected to. Among the whole gamut of battling and training utilities she spied a wide variety of medicinal sprays and tonics, various nutritional supplements stored in bottles, some rather unpleasant-looking dried herbs and roots, strange and unfamiliar berries kept fresh in aerated plastic containers, a small cardboard box with a picture of some kind of yellowish crystals on it, a mesh pouch filled with odd purple gems, a set of awfully uncomfortable-looking braces and bands to encourage muscle growth and endurance, and a few small, technological devices that Maya couldn't possibly guess the use for, but seemed incredibly intimidating nonetheless.

Maya leaned closer to the pouch of gems, feeling oddly drawn to them. Even from where she stood she could sense a faint, but noticeable psionic aura emanating from the crystals.

Ben was busy unwrapping and opening the various items, quickly littering the floor with ripped plastic wrapping and empty cardboard boxes, but he looked up when he noticed his pokemon entranced by the pouch of gems. His eyes lit up.

"Oh, those gems!" Ben dropped the partially un-wrapped bottle of calcium supplements on the sofa cushion next to him and lurched forward with a grunt to grab the pouch.

"These things... I bought them from that weird incense shop on the other side of town. I wasn't sure if the dealer was trying to rip me off or not, but..." Grinning with excitement, Ben fished out one of the purple gems and cradled it between his fingers. "These gems were imported all the way from Unova. Apparently, they store psionic energy. He told me that psychic pokemon can drain them to temporarily boost their abilities. There's gems for pokemon of every type. Neat, huh? Here, take a look."

Ben slowly held out the gem to his pokemon. As he brought it close to Maya's face, a faint hum started emanating from the gem, and the very air around it began to resonate with psychic energy. Then, just before the pokemon could touch it, an intense, albeit exhilarating shiver suddenly shot down her spine, causing the equine pokemon to rear up and jump back in a startle.

"You can feel something, right? So these things really work?" Ben asked. Maya gulped and tentatively nodded. Ben collapsed back against the couch with a relieved sigh. "Whew... well, that's reassuring. The whole idea of crystals and psychic energy and whatnot..." he shrugged. "Well, you know more about that stuff than I do. Wasn't quite sure if the guy was trying to pull a fast one on me or not... they were pretty expensive!"

Maya took another glance at all the battling and training tools strewn across the table. The very sight of it all caused the girafarig's anxiety to kick in.

"Oh, and I got this, too! Seems like the perfect thing we need!" Ben searched a few of his now mostly-empty bags before finding the right one and pulling out a thick, paperbound field manual to show to his pokemon. Maya wasn't sure what the words on the front read, but the cover depicted a heavily-stylized photograph of a kadabra and a gardevoir gracefully posing with purple plumes of psychic energy emanating from their fingertips.

"It's called Mind over Matter: Battle Strategies and Tactics for the Psychically-Tuned Pokemon. 5th Edition.The lady at the pokemart counter swore it was the best guide for psychic types currently out on the market. Cost me a pretty penny, but..." Ben flipped open the manual and thumbed through the pages with a giddy enthusiasm. "This thing looks really cool. It's got bios on every known psychic type: all their individual strengths and weaknesses, along with battle plans individually tailored for each kind of pokemon's abilities. That's so cool! Ooh, and it's got suggestions for strategies and training methods for all sorts of situations, how to deal with pokemon resistant to psychic energy, like steel and dark types, and step-by-step tutorials for some of the more complicated tactics and abilities... here, look: they have a short section just dedicated to girafarigs!"

Flipping the book around, Ben thrust the open manual in Maya's face, but when he noticed the clear, upset pout on her lips, his excited grin slowly faded into a look of tempered disappointment.

"Oh..." he put the book down and closed the cover. "Sorry." He scooted to the edge of the couch and reached out to stroke the pokemon reassuringly along the chin. "I'm getting way ahead of you, aren't I?"

The girafarig nodded slowly, her face solemn and downtrodden. Ben's heart melted at the sight.

"Aw, come here, Maya." He wrapped the pokemon in a strong hug. "You know I've wanted to do this for a long time. I just can't help but get excited about it. But if all this is starting to overwhelm you, just tell me, okay? You know I said last week that we're gonna do this at your pace, so I'll try my best to be patient." Ben gave his pokemon a quick kiss on the forehead before pulling away.

Maya, now with her heart all aflutter and a demure smile on her snout, shied away ever so slightly. Closing her eyes and concentrating hard, she attempted to get a hold of her trainer's mind. It took her several tries, but eventually, she managed to create a tenuous mental link long enough to share her thoughts.

"Thank you, Ben." a meek and quiet little voice entered the trainer's mind. Smiling, Ben gave his pokemon a rub along her long neck.

"Oh hey, I just remembered..." Leaning to his right to search his bags once more, Ben pulled out a carefully folded piece of cloth.

"I also got this as a gift... for you. What do you think?" He put on a warm smile and unfolded the cloth, revealing it to be a stunningly beautiful pink scarf made of pure wurmple silk. Light and airy, the scarf had been decorated with a lavish red and gold inlay depicting a pair of sinuous, intertwined cherry branches in full bloom. Maya's jaw dropped and she sucked in a sudden breath at the mere sight of it. The scarf was simply gorgeous!

"It's ah..." Ben smiled. "I wanted to give it to you for having the courage to make the decision to start training."

The girafarig was without words. She stood, completely silent, and gawked at the shimmering scarf with a look of pure wonder.

"Here, try it on," he said, holding it out to her.

Taking one end of the silk scarf, Ben loosely wound it around his girafarig's neck several times before throwing the free end over her shoulder. He was a little disappointed to find that the shade of pink didn't quite match the color of the triangular, pink spikes that ran down her back and neck, but it was close enough.

"There. Now turn around."

Gracefully, Maya pranced in a circle, delighted to watch the free end of the scarf elegantly flutter in the air behind her. Seeing that open-mouthed grin of joy out of her was all Ben needed. He laughed as he leaned back once more and rested his arms along the backing of the couch. As the girafarig turned to face him, The rippling fabric caught the eye of her tail, which turned to watch it intensely as the rippling fabric came to a rest.

"Perfect. You look lovely. Everything with hooves in a ten mile radius is gonna be falling for you."

Maya's eyes dashed to her trainer's only to look away once the pokemon became aware of the warmth in her cheeks. She was filled with thoughts to jump in Ben's lap and smother him in affection, and perhaps even do more, but Ben...

Ben did not have hooves.

Right away his comment made Maya begin to distrust her feelings. Now self-conscious, the girafarig collected herself and put on a smile, but not before her trainer noticed the momentary frown that preceded it.

"Maya? Something wrong?"

The girafarig flinched. Finding her mental link with him had been lost in the moment of self-doubt, she once again had to struggle to reach her trainer's mind for a few moments.

"Wha-ah... no. No," the girafarig managed, once a tenuous link had been formed. She shook her head effusively. "The scarf is perfect. It's beautiful." Gracious, Maya approached her trainer and wrapped her chin over his shoulders in an armless hug. "Thank you."

"You're more than welcome." Ben smiled, willing to let his pokemon's odd reaction slide for now. He held the psychic type close in his arms. "I'm proud of you, Maya.... this past week I've seen you be a bit more happy and sure of yourself, ever since we..." Ben paused and let go of the hug, now wearing a diffident little smirk.

"Well, you know." He let his smile broaden.

Maya shrunk back a bit, feeling a twinge of embarrassment at the reference to their impromptu little "accident" during the camping trip last weekend. If there was one thing she knew, it was that well-mannered pokemon didn't mate with their trainers.

Pokemon were supposed to go to the daycare and mate with other pokemon while humans were supposed to go on dates and mate with other humans. After all, that's what everyone else did, even on TV! And Maya watched more than enough TV to know for sure.

Ben cocked his head at her reaction. "Still feeling weird about it?" He pursed his lips.

Sensing her unwillingness to discuss things once they returned from the trip, Ben had made an effort to stay off the topic the past week, feeling reluctant to push her too far out of her comfort zone. But now, as he saw Maya unwilling to even answer his question, he was starting to realize that may have been a bad idea.

Ben sighed. "Maya, you know it's okay, right? What we did? You seemed so enthusiastic about it before... don't tell me you--"

The sound of muffled buzzing cut him off and Ben's hand immediately grabbed his jeans pocket. "Ah, shoot, that's probably Brandon wanting to know if he can stop by. I need to take this." Abruptly, he stood up, fished his phone out of his pocket, and put it up to his ear.

Maya let out a diffident sigh as her trainer began talking over the phone. She sat and brooded over the past events and their incredibly taboo nature, finding fault in herself for wanting to explore them again.

The phone call only took a few minutes, after which Ben tossed the phone on the couch. "Alright!" He clapped his hands together and rubbed them anxiously. "That was Brandon. He's on his way over to let me borrow one of his pokemon for the weekend to be your sparring partner."

The words pulled Maya from her thoughts with a jolt. She looked back at her trainer with an expression of pure terror. "S-s-s-sparring partner!?"

"Yeah! I figured it might be way better to ease you into things, rather than just jumping straight into a trainer battle. 'Cause, ah... well, let's just not try doing it that way again." Ben winced a bit as memories of the past few attempts filled his mind. The last time he had encouraged Maya to battle had been almost a year ago, and she had spent most of the battle cowering behind him and trying frantically to get back inside her ball.

"Who... what kind of pokemon will it be?" Maya asked, her quivering voice sounding clearly fearful even through telepathy.

Ben shrugged. "He didn't say. Said he'll look over his team and choose the one most likely to take orders from a guy with no battling experience." A frown slowly formed on his face. "Man, to be honest, just hearing him say that felt kinda... demeaning." he mumbled to himself.

Maya didn't like not knowing. All this worrying was starting to make her stomach hurt.

"But hey, while we wait, how about we try on your training braces and weights?" Ben's voice was full of excitement as he sat down in front of the coffee table and picked up a large, rectangular box to read off the side. "See, it says here that you strap them to your pokemon, and these bands here offer resistance to movement, allowing pokemon to strengthen their muscles as they battle! And they're highly adjustable for just about any...." Ben looked up from the box to see his girafarig staring at the box with a miserable expression. The trainer bit his lip.

"Alright, maybe we'll hold off on that until later.... Okay, wanna see some of the technical machines I bought?" Ben reached for a stack of plastic cases, each with a strange, reflective disk inside. "I wasn't sure what most of these teach, so I figured to buy a bunch and do some trial and error...."

"What do they do?" Maya asked, somewhat afraid to know the answer.

"What? Oh! They'll help you learn different techniques in battle!" Ben fished through the disks carefully, hoping that his pokemon might be more partial to the defensive abilities in the bunch. "You see, this one is for something called Reflect, and here's Light Screen, Calm Mind, and Protect.... Ooh, here's one called Bulldoze! And-" The trainer flinched. "Err, To be honest, I just got that one 'cause it sounded cool. No idea what it's supposed to do..." Ben flipped the disk over in his hands, examining it.

Maya was at a loss for words. She stared at the strange devices with a look of utter confusion. "How... how do they work?"

Ben flinched. "Oh! Ah, well..." he flipped one of the discs over in his hands a few times before scratching his head. "You know, I really don't know. Hold on." Abruptly, he lunged forward for one of the shopping bags, rummaged through one of them, then pulled out a small, folded pamphlet. The front of the pamphlet was dominated by a stylish symbol of an "S" made from pokeball halves, with the words "Silph Co." underneath, and the inside was filled with words that Maya couldn't read.

"It, ah..." Ben hastily thumbed through the pamphlet several times with a look of confusion spread across his face. "You know, it really doesn't say here... Huh. Well, I have no clue how they work! I'll have to ask Brandon when he gets here."

Maya frowned. Ben raked his mind for _something_in his pile of stuff that would interest the girafarig.

"Oh! I got it!" Ben reached across the table for a collection of large glass bottles. "Wanna try some of these supplements I bought you?" He unscrewed the top of one and tore off the airtight seal. "These ones are protein tabs. They're, ah... chocolate flavored. Sounds delicious!" He fished one out and offered it to the pokemon. "Here, try it."

She was expecting a pill, but the girafarig was pleasantly surprised to find that the supplements Ben had bought looked more like a small cookie or biscuit. Compared to what she had seen so far, nibbling on a little food didn't sound too bad, Maya thought. Tentatively, she reached out with her lips and took the large, dusty snack from his fingertips. Pulling the thing into her mouth, she chewed once before pausing, finding the cookie to be dry, chalky, bland, and tasting of synthetic chocolate flavoring. Forcing herself to chew more, she reluctantly swallowed and smacked her lips, trying to hide the disagreeable expression forming on her face. Behind her, Maya's tail stuck out its tongue as if attempting to spit out a piece of invisible food, but the moment was lost as Ben was more preoccupied with the front half of his pokemon.

"What do you think? Not bad?" Ben asked, fishing for optimism.

"They're..." Maya tried to put on a sweet face for him. "Yes. Not bad."

Ben smiled, looking almost relieved. "Good, 'cause I bought you the entire line of different nutritional supplements and vitamins, and I don't want them to go to waste." Ben shoved five additional glass bottles her way, causing the girafarig to take a step back in surprise. "You're gonna need to take one of each every day."

Maya gulped, which she found hard to do from the dryness of the "treat" she had just eaten, and put on an expression of disdain. "Every day!?"

"Yeah! We gotta make sure you're getting the perfect nutrition to maximize your body's abilities! You stick to these and you'll get incredibly strong in no time!" He gave the pokemon a playfully rough pat on the shoulder.

Maya frowned. The more she heard about this battling stuff, the less she liked.

"Well? What do you think, Maya? Feeling ready to get started on your training?" Ben leaned forward, searching his pokemon's face for the slightest bit of excitement or happiness. But, in finding none, he finally let his own smile fade. He sucked in a deep breath and sighed, and Maya, feeling like she had let her owner down once again, ducked her head in shame.

"Alright..." he collapsed back into the couch with a pert frown. "Well, maybe you'll get more into all this stuff once we get you in a battle or two...." Idly, Ben reached for the book on psychic types he bought and began flipping pages. "I'll just... I dunno, read for a while until Brandon gets here. He said he's flying in on his tropius. Should take him about twenty minutes or so." Ben glanced out the window. "Could be sooner if it stays sunny outside."

Maya diverted her gaze to the floor, feeling awkward for standing around. With no idea of what else to do, the girafarig quietly sulked away to Ben's room. Using her psychic abilities, she grabbed her pokeball off his computer desk, pressed the button to activate it, and let herself inside, figuring it was probably most pertinent to give her trainer some time to himself.

--=-=--

"A what!?"

"A nidoking. He's a nidoking." Ben stated rather flippantly. He gestured to the nidoking with a warm smile. "Maya, this is Boris. Boris meet Maya."

Maya gawked at the intimidating, hulking pokemon across from her. Stocky, barrel-chested, and muscular, the purple-and-grey colored pokemon bore all the features of a natural wrecking ball. Bulky dermal armor plating covered most of his body, and even the softer parts were protected by tough hide and a healthy layer of fat. His arms and legs were built as solid as tree trunks and were nearly as wide. His tail, long and muscular, looked powerful enough to shake the very ground with a single, thundering slam. A lone, menacing spike adorned the pokemon's head, capable of injecting a powerful venom that could incapacitate any foe. The pokemon's tapered snout hid a mouth-full of sharp teeth, and large, armored ears dotted with sharp spines only added to his intimidating appearance.

Ben gave the nidoking a friendly pat on his armored shoulder as Maya shirked back to the corner of the room in abject terror. Instincitively, she turned to her side, presenting her tail which sniffed the air as it placed the nidoking's sent. The toothy mouth opened and shut a few times, almost as if biting the air.

"Brandon told me he's really a big softie on the inside," Ben explained. "He swore that Boris is the most easy-going pokemon he has. And best of all, he's happy and willing to help you train, right, Boris?"

The nidoking gave a terse nod and a gruff grunt in affirmation.

"Boris knows a lot of different elemental attacks for you to practice against. He's also a poison and ground type himself, which gives you a type advantage!" Ben's face beamed with excitement. "I think we couldn't have wished for a better pokemon."

The girafarig was at a loss for words. She stared, completely slack-jawed with fear at the intimidating pokemon before her. Ben pursed his lips tight, finding it hard to continue putting on a show of optimism for both his sake and her own.

"Oh, come on, Maya... give him a chance. At least talk to him a bit before making a judgment. I'll leave you two be for a few minutes while I go change clothes and gather up what we need for practice, okay?"

With that being said, Ben excused himself to his bedroom, leaving both pokemon in the living room alone.

Maya cowered in the corner, too afraid to even attempt to make conversation. The nidoking stood there with a puzzled look on his face for a moment, before finally clearing his throat and speaking up in a low, gravelly voice.

"Hmph. I am Boris. And trainer says you... you are Maya?"

Maya ducked her head and refused to meet the pokemon's gaze. "Um... yes," the girafarig whispered out loud, being far too shaken to even attempt telepathy with the other pokemon at the moment.

"Well met, Maya!" Playfully, the pokemon slapped the girafarig on the back, causing her to jump in fright. "My trainer, he talked much about you..." His face turned into a frown. "But this... I deedn't expect something so small and frail looking. Or with such strange tail!"

Maya bit her lower lip, unsure of how to take the comment.

"Well, no matter. Boris can help teeny little pony thing." The nidoking confidently nodded to himself. "You need help learning to battle. I..." he patted his armored chest. "I will help you learn. Together, we will practice and grow strong."

"I... Please. I don't want to. Not anymore." Maya shook her head. "I... maybe I should practice by myself first. Alone. Against a tree or something. Or a rock..."

"Ha!" The nidoking let out a hearty laugh. "That is good one. Good joke. Battling ees fun; Boris will show you." Eagerly, the poison type clasped both hands together. "You are afraid. That ees silly thing to do. What you fear, hm?"

Maya curled her lower lip in a pout, unsure of how to answer. Being forced to fight against another pokemon... what wasn't there to be afraid of?

Boris took her silence in stride. He nodded to himself, smiling. "You are afraid of geetting hurt? Of confrontation? Of geeting hurt? Of fainting? Of losing? What?"

Maya hung her head low in shame. "All that, and also, disappointing Ben..."

Boris let out a snort. "You have nothing to fear. Fighting for your trainer, fighting to win, fighting to best your opponent een battle... these are exciting things. Threel-ling things. Fun things! At worst, you lose: you feel pain, you get hurt." The nidoking patted his chest again. "But even so, eet ees no big deal to get hurt. Pokemon centers heal fast. You will see."

"But..." the girafarig winced. "But getting hurt... hurts!"

The nidoking laughed once more. "You are funny. I like you, teeny pony thing. You will fight and you let your rage flow and then pain will not bother you. Eet only will make you stronger. Fight harder." An eager gleam appeared in the nidoking's eyes as his own words began to work himself up. "And een the heat of battle, when only thought een your mind ees how to win, you feel your rage build, and you let eet out and crush and smash and pound opponent into ground like puny ratatta and--"

Boris pounded his fist into his palm and let out an enthusiastic growl. "Eet is good feeling. Best feeling." He nodded assumingly. "You will see. Boris will help you see."

Maya stared at the nidoking with a look of pure horror. All of those things sounded absolutely dreadful. She had no desire to crush or pound anyone! What a terrible thing to do!

Just then, Ben re-appeared in the living room, having donned a set of traveling clothes, hiking boots, and a backpack full of potions, berries, revives, and just about any other battle item that could fit. In one hand was his book on psychic-type battling strategies, and in the other, was Maya's and Boris' pokeballs. He was wearing an eager grin.

"Alright... sounds like you two got acquainted?" Ben asked, hoping the unintelligible sound of conversing pokemon was a good sign.

Boris turned to his temporary trainer and gave a confident nod while Maya stood there unsure of how to react.

"Great! Let's go, then! We're gonna find a nice, secluded area outside and get started right away."

Maya felt her stomach turn to ice as her pokeball was activated and she was pulled inside.

--=-=--

"Alright, let's see here...."

It hadn't taken Ben long to find a nice, quiet patch of open field a comfortable distance away from the route closest to home. Patches of grass were matted down and dead, and occasional small craters or depressions dotted the area, showing clear signs of use by trainers in the past. The very sight of it all filled Ben with a swell of excitement, though Maya felt only dread.

"Okay, Boris... you stand over there." Ben pointed to the far side of the clearing. As the pokemon began to take his spot, Ben grabbed him by the shoulder and stopped him, leaning into the poison-type's large, fan-like ears.

"Listen," he whispered. "I want you to take things easy on Maya, okay? Just, ah.... we're gonna go at her pace. Understand?"

Boris grumbled a response, nodding in affirmation and slamming his fist in his palm with a heavy Wham! Ben opened his eyes wide.

"Nonononono. No. I mean... defense only. No attacks unless I say so. Got it?"

The nidoking, being displeased with the notion, let out a grumpy grunt and looked away. Ben gave an apologetic shrug.

"Listen, Boris, I'm sorry. But this isn't a battle. It's a practice, remember? Can you do that for me, please? Or do it for your real trainer at least?"

The nidoking stared at his temporary trainer out of the corner of his eyes as he took his spot opposite of Maya. After a moment, he gave an unhappy nod.

"Thanks. I appreciate it, Boris." Turning to his girafarig, the trainer-to-be put on an encouraging smile. "Alright, Maya... let's get started."

Ben's pokemon stared back with the most pitiable frown she could muster. Against her wishes, the pokemon had been hooked up with the set of elastic bands and weighted braces Ben had bought, and her mind was reeling from all the technical machines she had been subjected to. The bands on her body provided resistance to movement, which would strengthen muscles over time, but for now they merely felt uncomfortable and stiff and heavy and Maya hated it all. The girafarig shifted in place, trying to get used to the restricting equipment and shaking her head, trying to clear her cloudy mind.

"How are you feeling, Maya?"

The girafarig let out an unhappy whine. Feeling pity, Ben pulled her head close.

"Listen, remember why you're doing this, okay, Maya? Remember the mightyena in the woods, the campfire? We agreed to do this for me... and for yourself. Together."

Ruminating on those events from the past, the girafarig closed her eyes. After a moment, she opened them, and her irises immediately began to glow. Reaching out to her trainer's mind, she grabbed hold and at once felt all the emotions Ben had been hiding: his excitement for the coming battle, the pride he had in seeing her courage to take on such a scary challenge, and over everything else, his love and affection in seeing his pokemon do something that meant so much to him.

Maya nearly choked on her own emotions. Shaking her head to clear the emotions from her mind, she gave her trainer a nuzzle and pulled away, feeling oddly inspired to take initiative, the girafarig took her stance opposite of the imposing nidoking and did her best to look fierce.

Unaware of the mental intrusion, Ben felt a swirl of pride. "That's my girl! Okay! Let's start off with..." He flipped through his battle manual for psychic types for a moment. "Um.... No. Not that one.... Ah, here we go! This looks like a pretty simple attack: a psybeam!"

Maya looked back in confusion. She had no idea how to perform such an attack.

Ben continued reading. "It says here,'The pokemon draws upon their psychic energy and concentrates it into a single point, usually from the palm or forehead, whereupon they manifest the essence into a beam of pure energy that they project towards the opposing....' Man, this book is really dense. Can you get the gist of that, Maya?"

Bitting her lower lip, the girafarig gave a tentative nod. The long-necked pokemon shut her eyes tight and concentrated hard, trying to feel her way through the steps of performing the attack. After a short moment, a point of purplish light began to manifest from her forehead. Ben's eyes opened wide with excitement as the light grew stronger and a low hum began to reach his ears. Maya grimaced and grunted as she drew more power into the point of light, and when she felt she had a decent grasp on stabilizing the energy, she opened her eyes. Squinting hard, she saw the Nidoking in front of her about thirty feet way. Boris had taken a defensive stance, planting his feet firmly into the ground and holding his forearms in front of his face. She saw his expression, focused and fearful at the intense halo of light emanating from her forehead...

At once, Maya let out a cry and let loose. A flash of light filled Ben's eyes, and he watched with giddy anticipation as a tiny, focused beam of energy shot across the field. Boris braced himself for the impending hit, expecting a heavy blow that would knock him off his feet. But when the beam made contact, he stood there feeling almost nothing, and stood up straight, blinking.

The psybeam... it... it merely tickled!

Boris began to choke up with a bestial, rumbling laughter. Maya looked on as the beam dissipated, while Ben only dropped his jaw in disbelief and disappointment.

"Maya..." the trainer ran up to her. "What... what was that?" He gesticulated wildly in the direction of the snickering nidoking.

The girafarig winced. Shutting her eyes tight, she reached out with her mind and Ben waited for her to make mental contact.

"It..." she began, her telepathic voice sounding embarrassed. "I was afraid of hurting him."

"Afraid of hurting him!?" Ben gawked. "Maya, that's the point of battling: to hurt him!"

"I know, I know.... I just..." The girafarig turned away with a huff. "I felt bad."

"Maya!" Ben yelled.

The pokemon shirked backwards. "I did! I felt bad having to hurt him when all he did was stand there."

From behind, the pair heard the nidoking laughing even more. Having only caught Ben's end of the conversation, it was nevertheless more than enough for Boris to piece together what had happened. Ben thought the bestial, rumbling, almost grunt-like guffaws sounded awfully unusual to his ears. He had never heard such a large and low-voiced pokemon laugh before.

Ben dropped his hands in his head and sighed. "Alright, alright...." The trainer gave himself a moment before collecting himself and looking at his girafarig in the eye. "Maya, let's get this straight: Boris over there is a trained battler. He's used to be being hit. Heck, he's even standing there willingly, ready to defend against your attacks! The least you can do is give the nidoking what he's expecting."

Maya blinked, then sucked in a deep breath.

"Oh... okay, Ben," the timid girafarig managed giving her trainer a firm nod. "I'll try."

Ben clapped his hands together. "Alright! Let's do this!" He turned to the nidoking and gave the ground type a thumbs up. In response, Boris tamped the ground with a foot and lowered his head with a growl, ready for battle.

"Okay, let's see...." Ben began consulting his battle manual once more. "Let's try another attack. This one seems a bit more..." Ben faltered on the word "violent". He cleared his throat. "Ah, difficult to master. It's called a psyshock. It says here, 'The pokemon concentrates its psionic energy into a tightly-spinning aura around itself...' Hm, seems like the psybeam, kinda... Let me skip some parts... ah, here we go: then you're supposed to 'release all control of the spinning orb in one single moment, causing the psionic energy to erupt in a violent shockwave around the pokemon's body that's capable of sending foes off their feet'." Ben looked up from his manual to find his girafarig staring at him, mortified at the visceral description. "Looks like you have to get close this time. How does that sound?"

Maya gulped and gave a tentative nod. Sheepishly, she approached Boris with her head meekly lowered. Only her tail stood at proud attention. It sniffed the air and, in detecting a scent once again, turned to look at the ground type in curiosity, its perpetual toothy smile doing little to unnerve the battle-hardened nidoking.

"I, um..." the girafarig looked away. "My trainer wants me to do a psyshock. I... I'm sorry if I hurt you."

Boris slammed a fist into his palm. "Ha! Good. Come at me, teeny pony girl. You try to push Boris back with leetle shock wave," he grumbled, lowing his body to an attack stance. He flicked his tail idly behind him, causing it to slam against the ground with a heavy thwack!

Maya took in a deep breath and concentrated. It took more than a few minutes to get the logistics right, but eventually Maya found a spinning purple aura of psychic energy wrapping around her. She sucked in a sudden breath in fear, causing the energy to begin to dissipate harmlessly into the air.

"No!" Ben yelled, approaching her cautiously. "You got this, Maya! Don't let go! Concentrate... concentrate!"

With her trainer's encouragement, May grimaced and gave it her all. Before Ben's eyes, the purple aura began to spin faster and faster, slowly collapsing into a disk shape. Ben felt a chill run up his spine. She was actually doing it!

"That's it, Maya!" Ben yelled. "Now let loose!"

"I'm... I'm scared!" the girafarig yelled into his mind.

"Don't worry! I'm here! Just let it go all at once. Relax your mind!"

Maya contorted her neck, squeezing her eyes shut with all her might.

"Ah... ah, ah!"

Suddenly, an explosion ripped through the air.

A brilliant purple flash of light, followed by a second flash of white as the back of Ben's head hit the ground hard. The rest of his body quickly followed as the trainer was blown backwards. Dust and kicked-up grass settled. Groans, both pokemon and human in origin, reached Maya's ears.

The girafarig sucked in a sudden breath in shock. Not her trainer, too! Ignoring the fallen Nidoking, Maya dashed towards Ben, who had been catapulted a good five feet away and had landed on his back.

"Ben! Ben!" The girafarig was panic-stricken as she paced around him in circles.

"Ohh man..." Ben blinked his eyes open and slowly pushed himself up onto one elbow. "I... I have just one thing to say... Ow."

"Ohmygosh, Ben!" Hysterical, Maya threw herself in her trainer's arms to nuzzle his face and neck. "I'm so sorry, so sorry! I didn't mean to! I didn't, I swear! Are you okay?"

"Maya, calm down, for pete's sake!" The trainer let out a hoarse laugh. "I'm fine." He guided the shaking and quivering equine pokemon out of his lap and stood up to dust himself off. "That was my bad for not realizing the psyshock would hit in all directions. The book calls it a psychic shock wave... Shoulda put two and two together and stood farther away." Ben shook his head.

Maya put on a miserable expression. "I... I don't want to do this anymore! I can't... I can't get any attack right, and I almost caused you to--"

Ben did a double-take. "What-no! Maya, that was incredible, don't you see?" Ben's eyes grew wide with delight. "I mean, I never knew you were capable of doing such a strong attack. That was so... so cool!" He bent down to give his pokemon a congratulatory hug. "I'm really proud of you, Maya! We gotta practice that one a lot!"

Maya stood there, feeling awkward in her trainer's embrace. She didn't quite know what to do or say. Why wasn't Ben mad at her, or disappointed, or upset? She was a horrible pokemon for hurting her trainer! Why, she could have seriously harmed him, or worse: caused him to faint!

Across the field, Boris the nidoking got up with a groan. His eyes full of anger, his tail slammed against the ground and fists tightened as he attempted to keep his aggression in check. "You." The ground type let out a snort. "That was..." the pokemon searched for a fitting word.

"...Not bad."

Taking in a deep breath, the nidoking let it out slowly, letting go of his budding rage. He then gave a boisterous laugh. "Yes, not bad, teeny pony girl. But eet will take much more to bring Boris down...

...You will see."

Maya gulped in fear.

--=-=--

Practice had gone on for over an hour. Maya's legs hurt badly from the braces and weights. Ben had to take them off a while ago due to the girafarig being unable to move without tripping and falling. A number of potions had been opened and used. Too tired to concentrate much more, Ben had Maya taste ether for the first time. Though sour and extremely bitter, the liquid nevertheless revitalized her mind and spirit for a short while. Even Ben was tired: although having done little physical exertion himself, the trainer had been on his feet, moving around the entire time and had broken out into a sweat in the midday sun.

"Alright, Maya... just one more time." Ben looked down to the battle manual. "It says here that the intense and unsettling nature of a full-blown psychic attack can startle and traumatize the opposing pokemon, temporarily making their mind vulnerable to further attacks." He looked at Boris, who was lying down idly with one arm on his knee. The pokemon was clearly bored and not even ready to defend himself, but the nidoking gave Ben the goahead for another attack anyway.

"I'm sorry," Maya whispered to the nidoking as her eyes began to glow.

Ben stood by, just as in awe as the first time as his girafarig created another intense, purple, billowy explosion purely with her mind. But as the ethereal smoke vanished, he was disappointed to find the Nidoking standing there looking bored, as if the explosion had not hurt him at all...

...Just like the other six attempts.

"Rrrg!" Ben ran his hands through his hair and pulled out of pure frustration. "Alright, that's it." Maya cowered as her trainer stomped onto the battlefield.

"I'm sorry!" she squeaked as he approached her. The girafarig let out a tiny whimper.

Ben put his hands on his hips as he stood over his shuddering pokemon. "We've gone through about 10 different psychic attacks and you've barely landed a scratch on Boris! Come on, Maya!"

The girafarig winced. "But... but... I just feel bad to see him standing there waiting to be hit, and..."

The trainer dropped his shoulders with a sigh. "That's what I was afraid of." Ben ruminated for a moment. He closed his eyes.

"And I'm also afraid of what I have to do next."

Maya looked at her trainer, eyes wide with bewilderment and uncertainty. Ben stood in place thinking for a good minute, weighing his options in his mind before finally dropping his head with resignation.

"Boris?" Ben slowly opened his eyes and cast his gaze upon the ground. "In a few moments, I want you to hit me with a tackle."

Maya sucked in a sudden breath as Boris simultaneously got up from his sitting position with an eager grunt.

"What? Ben, no!"

"Maya..." Ben cradled his girafarig's trembling head in his hands. A warm, calming smile was spread across his face. "Listen to me. I know you can do this. Remember when you fought off that mightyena in the woods? Remember?"

Fearfully, Maya nodded.

"What did you do that time that made you so brave? You were in a position where you were forced to fight. And in an instant, you let go of all your fears, all your thoughts, and just let instinct guide you. You kicked, you stomped, you had your tail bite. And you did all that without one little bit of hesitation. That same Maya is still inside of you, I know it."

Maya gulped. "But... I don't know how--"

"Maya." Ben smiled as he stroked the girafarig's neck. "You do know how to fight. You just have to let your fighting instincts come out again. And I've come to the conclusion that the only way to make that happen is to put you in a spot where you're forced to fight."

"But you'll get--"

"I'll be fine. I'll be fine because I know you'll prevent Boris from ever getting to me." Ben smiled. "I have faith in you, Maya. You've done it before, and you can do it again." Ben looked up to meet Boris's gaze, and in an instant, the smile was replaced with a somber, stoic look. "Boris, you ready?"

The nidoking gave a singular nod and let out a snort.

Ben closed his eyes and sucked in a slow breath. All Maya could do was stare at her trainer in utter dismay. He took a number steps back, putting some fair distance between him and the opposing pokemon. He licked and bit at his lip for a second, before opening his eyes in a flash.

"Go!"

Maya felt her heart drop into her stomach. Her insides turned to ice. Boris pushed hard against the ground and took off running. The pounding of his feet shook the ground. Maya whimpered. She cringed as the nidoking closed in. Boris accelerated. He dropped to all fours to increase his speed. The nidoking approached like a runaway bulldozer. He pushed off the ground with all four limbs. Ben cringed as he saw the bulky pokemon, with battle-lust eyes, put all his power into the leap.

"Ben!"

A flash. A shimmering, green light. Inches before contact, a gleaming green sphere manifested around the girafarig's trainer. Boris crashed into the protective sphere with a heavy slam. To the right of her trainer, Maya's eyes shone brilliantly with the activation of her psychic powers.

The nidoking slammed against the shield with a heavy c_rack_, causing Maya to jump back in fright.

"Heh," the nidoking let out a snort. "Alright, leetle pony girl. Let's play game, eh?" He pounded on the sphere with one massive fist. "Trainer says I can hit him. So let me hit."

The girafarig shook her head. "No... no!"

"Come on, Boris," Ben encouraged, ignoring the uneasy fear bubbling under the surface. "Hit me!"

"No, stop!" the girafarig shouted. "This is crazy!"

"If you want him to stop, then stop him, Maya."

Another forceful pound against the shell protecting her trainer resonated with a dull thud. It was getting harder and harder for the girafarig to keep the protective barrier strong enough to withstand the punishment. Sooner or later the shell would fail....

The girafarig let her jaw hang loose. "I... I." She violently shook her head. "I can't fight!"

Boris let out a callous laugh.

"Yes you can. You were just taught how to fight. You learned many moves this day.

"But--"

With that being said, the nidoking gave the shell a proper headbutt. Maya grit her teeth and visibly buckled as she put every ounce of her energy into strengthening the shell just as the other pokemon hit. Ben flinched, finding it hard to stare down an attacking nidoking even behind a protective barrier.

The shell began to fracture. Boris grinned. Ben grit his teeth.

"Maya..." Ben's tone of voice was pained and worried.

Boris took a step back and lowered his head, aiming to gore the shell with his horn. With a loud snort, he launched himself, head first, at the shell, and the defenseless trainer behind it.

"Ah... ahh!" Maya screamed.

Suddenly, the nidoking was thrown back by an invisible force. He tumbled backwards and landed on his belly. Maya took a step forward, her eyes still glowing from the telekinetic powers she had activated, and her expression unusually stern. Ben's hair stood on end. There it was: the moment he had been looking for!

But after a few seconds, the girafarig became self-aware once again, and her expressioned softened.

Maya began to shirk backwards. "S-sorry!" she called out to Boris.

"No no no!" Ben rushed to his pokemon. "That's it, Maya... that feeling you just had when you threw Boris back. I need you to focus on it."

Maya whimpered as the nidoking picked himself up. "It felt horrible! All I could think of is--"

"Let go of those thoughts," Ben encouraged. "Just let them go and focus on Boris, okay?"

"But I--"

"Shh!" The trainer chided her, smiling sweetly. "Just like in a real battle, there is only one thing to worry about: the only way to get him to stop is to defeat him first."

The girafarig was silent as she took in his words.

Ben began to take some steps backwards. "Focus on Boris. Focus on that feeling you had right when you threw him back." He called out.

Maya turned and looked back at her trainer, completely mortified with what was going on. The nidoking merely smirked.

"Come at me, leetle pony, or I heet trainer."

Maya gulped.

Letting out a roar, the nidoking charged right at her, causing the girafarig to cower in fear. But just before he could connect, a violent shockwave pushed him backwards. The air tingled with raw psychic energy. In a flash, Boris had regained his footing, but he was surprised to find a certain girafarig had oriented herself right between him and Ben. Maya's head was lowered and her eyes were still shimmering a bright purple. However, her body was shaking and quivering. It was hard to tell how much was due to fear, and how much was due to adrenaline.

"Hah... has pony come out to play, now?" Boris laughed. "You are learning, yes?"

The girafarig did not reply. She merely bit her lower lip in hesitation. However, the purple aura of psychic energy around her body did not disappear.

Tauntingly, the nidoking took one step forward. But no sooner than he did, another purple shockwave shot out from around the girafarig, causing the nidoking to fall backwards on his tail. Boris got up with a grunt, his face showing clear irritation and annoyance.

"Hah, that will not stop me!" Boris snarled. Growling under his breath, the nidoking charged forward. He lowered his head, looking to deliver a strong blow with his horn. But suddenly, a blinding flash filled his field of vision as a psybeam hit him square in the chest. Boris let out a grunt from pain and wavered on his two feet. He used his tail as a third leg to support himself, trying to clear his now dazed and hazy mind.

"Rrrrg!" the nidoking roared. He shook his head left and right.

"That's eet," he grumbled.

Gone was any pretense of holding back or going easy on the little girafarig. Gone was the pretense of training and practice.

Boris was angry.

With a wild jump, the nidoking turned his back to the equine pokemon. Boris raised his tail and slammed it down with all his might. The thundering blow deafened Maya's ears, startling her and leaving her unprepared for the shower of dirt and rocks that followed.

Another thunderous slam, and the very ground split underneath Maya's hooves. The massive discharge of energy uprooted more rocks and chunks of dry earth and shot them in nearly all directions, pelting the giarafarig mercilessly. A softball-sized stone cracked her on the head, causing the girafarig to cry out in pain. She stumbled and fell, and Boris used the opportunity to leap onto the unsuspecting pokemon.

CRUNCH!

Boris's body slam left the girafarig with the wind knocked out of her, but the nidoking howled in pain as Maya's tail latched on, it's incredibly strong jaws proving to be too much for the other pokemon's keratinous armor. After pulling the tail off, Boris stumbled backwards, eyes smoldering, and turned in place. Gaining momentum, he whipped his long tail around and smacked the girafarig just as she had begun to stand up. The blow took her clear off her hooves, and she tumbled to the now rocky and pock-marked ground.

Now favoring his right arm from a vicious bite, Boris once again lifted his tail and slammed it down with another booming crash. He repeated the act several more times, filling the air with dust and dirt debris and sending more rocks and clods of hard dirt flying dangerously through the air. But as he turned around, the nidoking saw something he did not expect.

Maya, standing straight, head lowered, nostrils flared. Eyes glowing purple. Fourteen stones floated in the air around her, having been caught effortlessly and stopped in their tracks by her strong telekinetic powers.

A twitch of the girafarig's right eye. All fourteen of the stones launched forward in Boris's direction. Bringing his forearms to his face, he braced himself and grunted in pain as he was pelted. The nidoking's natural armor protected himself from the smaller rocks, but a slab of granite the size of a football sent the pokemon back to the ground.

Grunting in pain, the Nidoking pushed himself up. He beat his chest with a roar, clearly showing no signs of exhaustion. But instead of intimidating Maya, he was shocked to find her running straight at him, giving the best battle cry a girafarig possibly could. The sound of galloping hooves quickly drew near. Sparks of pink energy began to ignite in the air around her, quickly growing into a shimmering, sparkling aura. Boris' pupils shrunk to points.

There was an incredible flash as the built-up energy in the girafarig's aura transferred to the nidoking in a destructive flare. Boris was knocked completely off his feet and sailed through the air for what seemed to be way too long. He hit the ground with a heavy thud and rolled to a stop, his body now limp and motionless.

Boris could not breathe. He could not see anything save for pure white, and his ears heard nothing but loud ringing. The nidoking struggled to get up but found his sense of balance had completely left him, and quickly fell down again.

Across the field, his opponent approached. The nidoking found himself starting to regain his vision just as the girafarig came close. He looked up. Above him, Maya stood with an unusually ferocious look in her eyes. Her short, dense fur was matted, dirty, and messy. She was wheezing and her body was shaking and shivering. She was hurting, tired, and on the verge of breaking down.

But still, she was standing.

--=-=--

As the dust and kicked-up grass settled, Ben stood as still as a statue. His expression was locked in an open-mouthed gawk.

"Maya!" Ben yelled, a look of wonder spread upon his face. "Maya, you... you actually beat him! You won!"

Slowly, the girafarig came to her senses. Maya blinked. In front of her, Boris lay on his side in the grass. She watched his heavy chest rise and fall with the pace of his breathing, but the nidoking made no attempt to get up. In fact, it looked like Boris was down for good.

"Not... bad." The nidoking coughed. "Leetle pony." He attempted a hoarse laugh, but it quickly turned into a groan. "You win this time."

A strange chill ran up the girafarig's spine at the word "win".

Straining hard, Boris propped himself up with one arm. "You see now... You see how to let go? To feel your rage, your instinct, and use eet to fight?"

Slack-jawed and wide-eyed, Maya couldn't reply. She was too stunned.

"Hmph." Boris nodded, somehow taking her lack of response as a yes. "I told you... you would see."

And with that, the exhausted nidoking let himself collapse back in the grass with a resounding Wumph!

"Maya! I can't believe it! You... you were incredible!"

The girafarig turned to find her trainer wearing the biggest grin and running straight towards her. But as Ben drew close, he became surprised to see his pokemon looking like she was about to cry. His smile quickly fell.

"Maya..." he knelt down on one knee. "Are you okay?"

Still panting hard from exhaustion, the little girafarig looked back and forth between her trainer and the fallen nidoking several times.

"I... I...." Maya blinked. "I won?" She looked off and searched her mind, trying to find the right response for doing the impossible. She wavered on four hooves, swaying a little and having to put her forelegs out in front of her for balance.

"Yes!" Ben steadied her. "Boris is down and you're still standing!"

Slowly, a powerful chill crawled across the girafarig's skin, starting from her spine and igniting a fire in her chest.

"I...." Slowly, a smile spread across her face as the girafarig allowed herself to have a moment of pride.

"I did it." She looked to her trainer with an open-mouthed grin. "Ben, I did it!"

Maya was unprepared for when her trainer scooped up the pokemon with both arms. Ben staggered as he burdened the weight of the four foot tall pokemon. Hoisting her up and holding her close to his chest, he spun her around in a circle, laughing all the while.

"Yes, you did it and it was amazing! You fought so hard and pulled off things I never knew you were capable of doing. I'm so proud of you!" He squeezed her tight and gently set her back down on the ground, finding the girafarig's eyes now full of happy tears.

"You... you really mean that?"

"I mean it, Maya... I've never been more proud of you in my life." Grinning ear-to-ear, Ben wrapped up his pokemon in a hug and ran his hands through the short, stiff fur of his pokemon. Maya felt her cheeks turn red hot as she rocked with him.

"Oh man, what a rush! Your first victory! One of many to come, I hope, haha!" He broke the hug to give her a playful rub on the forehead.

"I... I didn't even know what I was doing!" The girafarig giddily proclaimed.

"Didn't you hear me yelling attacks for you to do?!"

Maya looked utterly shocked. "You were calling out attacks?"

Ben nodded. "I figured. Well, I don't care, we can work on communication later. The important thing is that we won!" But just as he stopped to pick up his gear, suddenly the trainer caught himself: "Oh, hey: what was that last move, anyway?" He asked, grinning wide. "We never even practiced that one, but it looked so powerful!"

The girafarig's celebratory smile quickly faded. She... she had no idea what she did, or even how she did it! The pokemon wracked her brain for a moment before admitting in shame the truth:

"I... I don't know." Maya sheepishly replied.

Confused, Ben picked up the psychic type battle manual that had been lying in the grass. He began flipping wildly through the pages of his battle manual. In front of the pair, struggling to stand up, Boris mumbled a few words that were completely incomprehensible to Ben's ears. Maya looked at the nidoking with wide open eyes, and replied in turn.

"What's he saying, Maya?" Ben asked, distracted with the appendix at the end that listed every psychic attack in the book.

"He said... he said my fighting instinct kicked in and did an attack called 'Return'. " Maya translated for the pokemon through telepathy.

"Hm.... It's not in here." Ben muttered, bewildered.

"It's not a psychic attack. It's... Boris said it's a normal type..." The girafarig shied away, feeling embarrassed for performing an attack she couldn't even explain.

"Ah, I know what to do."

In a flash Ben had flipped his phone out of his pocket and was using it to look up details of the move on the internet. It didn't take long before he found the right page. At once he began reading out loud:

"Return is a powerful normal-type move that inflicts physical damage. The pokemon draws upon the power of love and affection for their trainer and manifests their emotion into a strong aura. The pokemon can then wield this energy, usually in the form of a powerful tackle, to greatly augment the amount of physical force they can inflict. The closeness of the bond a pokemon has with its trainer directly affects the strength of this move. The stronger the relationship, the more powerful the attack. Named by the trainer who invented it, this move was originally referred to as the pokemon 'returning the favor' of all the love and care a trainer gives, and the association quickly stuck."

Ben scanned the lines several times, but each time his eyes lingered on the second-to-last sentence...

The stronger the relationship, the more powerful the attack.

Ben dropped to his knees. "Maya...." He looked up at his pokemon, and Maya watched as his stunned expression slowly turned into a warm and loving smile. Before the girafarig knew what was happening, her trainer had wrapped her up in a tight embrace.

And in the middle of the now wrecked and cratered grassy battlefield, Maya felt for sure that she had never been more happy in her life.

THE END

Post-story notes:

-As a little experiment to my proofreaders, I added in intentional mistakes like "Ben crapped his hands" instead of "clapped". Not a one of them caught any of them. LOL

-Maya's character is so gosh durn fun to write.

-Yes, I just seriously posted a story with no porn in it. The audacity! Still rated adult though because it references pokemon-poking. And that shit is nasty.

-There is a follow-up to this that will have porn in it. It's coming next. After that.... The Persistent Dragon, anyone?

-Short notes are short. I am pressed for time and need to skedaddle, so I am uploading this as quick as I can.