I Want to Lay the Very Best! - Chapter 3 Part 1

Tags: (None for this chapter, it's mostly setup! Just a little teasing)

A panicked run was such a good idea right up until the adrenaline ran out and Brandy very ungracefully flopped over onto the grass.

It was a pleasant day to be on your back at least, puffy white and crisp blue skies. Only slightly marred by Sparky’s gleeful face popped into view, excitement blazing in those four blue eyes.

“She’s not chasing us” Sparky said with both arms waving at the tall grass they’d just spilled out of “I can’t believe she didn’t chase, usually running really sets them off!”

“You ran too though?” Brandy said with great puffing breaths between each word.

“Oh yeah, but you’re the one she’d grab. I was completely safe!”

Wow. What a strong partnership they’d formed so fast. Truly Brandy was blessed to have such a stalwart partner. Brandy padded through the grass until she found a pebble and tried throwing it at Sparky, but the Joltik was far too nippy and just ducked out of the way with a laugh.

“You’re familiar with them?” Brandy said as she pushed herself up a little so she could feel the breeze on her face. She badly needed to cool off after all that.

“I mean we’re not friends or anything,” Sparky said with a big shrug, hands tipped up to the skies. “I tried but she’s kind of intense. But every other week someone will try to capture Mercury and she’s good at giving us a show by making them lose really loudly. It’s hard to miss all the crushing impacts and psychic blades flying everywhere. Even harder to miss the noises that come after.”

A faint ecstatic cry carried over the wind and Sparky shrugged as if her point was proven.  

“Well we should be safe now, no way we’re ready for that.” Brandy said she pushed herself further up to sit, her forearms dangled over her knees as she caught her breath. “Unless you have a poison move? That might let us whittle her down some”

“Wouldn’t you like to know?” Sparky smirked, kneeling to lay her elbows on Brandy’s forearms, staring her down with an impish squint in her eyes. “Maybe you could check if I’ve got fangs? Stick your tongue in there, I don’t bite.”

Brandy didn’t need to, she could see the fangs perfectly fine. But she reached up to take Sparky’s chin in her hand and leaned in as if to lay a kiss on her. Then turned Sparky’s head to look at Brandy’s shoulder, which still had pairs of red welts from all the bites a worked up Sparky had laid on Brandy while they’d been going at it frantically back in the forest.

“Oh. Well I don’t bite much?”

“If you actually had poison I’d be more poison than blood right now.” Brandy huffed “Nice try though. You actually help out in the mines and I’ll put in the work to find out all your secrets”

Sparky was very eager to get moving after that.

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It took a few faltering starts but Brandy eventually got back on the trail. Walking helped with the aching some and Sparky even helped her pick out a few choice berries along the way for a pretty welcome juicy snack. The Joltik may be relentlessly trying to get back into her pants, but she wasn’t holding a grudge about failing. Another roll in the grass was awfully tempting, but Brandy wanted to be a good Trainer and that meant not giving in to her horniest urges. At least not every time anyway.

Brandy was finally getting her second wind as the sun began to approach the horizon passing a pond with a few lilies floating gently in the light summer breeze. It was a good bet there was a Lotoad hiding in there somewhere and if she wasn’t conserving her stamina she’d have happily sent Sparky splashing in to try scare one out. Sparky wouldn’t have picked her name if she didn’t have any Electric moves and she’d probably have been able to wear them down so much that all Brandy would have to do is wade in and have a few steamy moments with a Pokémon who was hypersensitive from all the frazzling.

An easy win would be good but her home was famous for Grass Types and she wasn’t about to drag a Water girl along as her second pick to tackle the gym. Lotoad’s long blue hair was really pretty and Brandy would happily sink her hands into a good pair of hips but they just wouldn’t be of any use in an actual fight and she didn’t want to make them feel bad about that!

A Flying type would have been perfect and Sparky could have easily pin one down to the ground, if she actually could be coaxed into using some of those hidden moves. The only downside was there just weren’t any nearby. The long stretching plains weren’t really the kind of terrain they liked, it made them far too easy to follow when they were playing their chasing games with trainers, wearing their pursuers out instead of the other way around.

Her Volcarona Poké-mom would be the ultimate weapon now Brandy thinking about it, she’d never really thought about what her Poké-mom had been like before she was captured. Her other mom must have picked her for a good reason, maybe she’d helped her destroy the Grass Gym when she was young?

Well she wasn’t going to ask her mom to fight her battles, the embarrassment alone would kill her. No she had a hope of what she wanted, Rock Types were usually slow and got smothered by Grass Types but Brandy had taken to heart that careful partner planning let you upset the rules. You judge every Pokémon by their type and you’ll be the one ending up biting pillows when one surprises you. She just needed one that had that hidden edge.

The Galar Mines weren’t as active as they’d been when her mother was young but what was a loss for industry was a gain for trainers as the unused mines were left open for them to plumb for anyone that had taken up residence. Brandy and Sparky gave a wave to a pair of women sharing a packed lunch by the gate to the still active mines. A fairly average looking human with shortly clipped black hair was cuddled up in the lap of a very square and muscled looking Pokémon. She certainly looked like she would be good to lean up on and eye catching too! Curly gray hair, long white claws and a yellow hard hat with a Comso Corp logo that had got a little faded but was still visible. It looked like a very cute date at least so rather than interrupt the two pairs fired excited waves of arms back and forth at each as Brandy and Sparky followed the tracks into one of the mines that hadn’t been sectioned off.

Thankfully some kind soul had left the electric lights into the mine's scaffolding so Brandy didn’t have to use her Pokédex for light, though the mine’s lighting did cast some truly concerning shadows at the shafts first bend and it probably wouldn’t get any better.

“Okay, you take lead Sparky” Brandy said, giving the Joltik a pat on their delightfully firm rear and a push to get her going.

Sparky blew a kiss at Brandy as she went in, a staticy pop fizzing in Brandy’s ears from a sudden burst of sound. Sparky definitely had some kind of Electric Move to pull that little trick off, but guessing which was going to be the trick. Giving Pokémon commands they simply couldn’t follow stressed the bond between them and their trainer and Brandy wasn’t about to throw away the work she’d put in to capture this yellow furred tease.

The mine rumbled, lights clattering against the walls and flickering as Sparky hopped to keep her balance. Someone big was here too? Well they hadn’t come for big, so they’d just have to stay out of her way and avoid ending up going the way of the Maple.

Brandy thought back to that scene and bit her lower lip. Well. Surely a peek couldn’t hurt just for future collection right?