Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Hands of Creation

Chapter 87 - Sunken Eyes

"Alright, Charizard. Why did you want us to come over? You don't usually go flying all the way to the lab unless one of your kids is sick..."

Charizard grunted, looking at the remaining children she had. She held her belly once, feeling the telltale signs of another egg coming, but then looked at Redscale, Smallflame, and two other Charmander—the latter two still not ready to go with a human.

"They look healthy to me. You have another egg coming, don't you?" The human with the fireproof coat rubbed Charizard on the shoulder. "You aren't getting a little egg-protective, are you?"

Charizard grumbled and sat down next to Smallflame, using her tail to nudge him forward.

"Oh?" The assistant looked down.

"Smallflame wants to challenge you," Charizard said. "I made a wager with him. He wants to see proof of the strength that Pokémon gain from humans."

"Hmm..." It didn't seem like the human fully understood her. Instead, she looked at Smallflame. "What do you want, little guy?"

Smallflame spat a flame on the ground and stomped his foot. "Fight me!"

"Oh! Well, that's pretty obvious." The human laughed, digging through her pockets. "I think I understand. You want to see how strong Pokémon can be, huh?" She pulled out a clipboard. "Why don't you wait here? I know just the thing."

She left, and Smallflame spent a good while kicking the dirt and huffing angrily.

Charizard smiled and bumped her tail against Smallflame again. "Think you'll win?"

"Of course," Smallflame said. "I trained under Redscale. I'm unbeatable."

Charizard shrugged, adjusting her position to get more comfortable. "I think the egg's coming soon," she murmured to herself.

Smallflame nodded, but then looked back at the facility. He heard the door opening, and out came two humans. The first was the same as before; the other was a young human with long hair. Curious eyes. What did she want? Was that his opponent? She looked weak.

"Okay, found your opponent! You ready to go, Charmander?"

"Always." Smallflame hopped on his feet.

"Wait." Charizard carefully stood up. "This isn't going to be a simple fight. Smallflame said that he needs to be convinced that a Pokémon with a human is stronger... and if he's convinced, he'll go with one, too."

Smallflame's chest tightened at the prospect, but he nodded firmly.

"What?" the human asked. "I don't understand... Sorry. You don't want to fight?"

"Oh, I think I know what's going on," the unfamiliar, younger human said. "If I had to guess..." She dug through her bag, pulling out an empty Poké Ball.

Charizard smiled.

"Yep!" The young trainer looked at the lab assistant. "They want this to be a battle to catch Charmander."

"Oh! So clever." The lab assistant nodded. "Would you mind doing that for us? A simple fight to get things going, and then I can take him to the lab if he decides to come with us. Can you and your partner do that?"

"Oh, um... Well, let me ask. Maybe he understands the situation?" She dug through her bag and pulled out another ball.

Smallflame growled. He was never going to wind up in one of those things; there was no point. Crammed up like that, just because some stupid human needed a guard while they went on a self-serving adventure? So, what? His siblings could do that. Not him.