Fire and Ice

When One Door Closes

"Come on, Froakie, lighten up a little!" Chespin taunted the Bubble Frog Pokemon, nudging him with his elbow. "It's not like we're doing anything bad! Can't you just have fun for once?" 

Hawlucha watched out of the corner of his eye as Chespin pestered his teammate, Froakie, into joining in a game of tag. Unfortunately for Chespin, Froakie looked as though the last thing he wanted to do was play stupid games. For a moment, he considered stepping in on Froakie's behalf, but decided that the little frog probably wouldn't appreciate it if he interfered. Not to mention it wouldn't be good for his reputation either. 

After all, it wasn't exactly a secret that Hawlucha had a soft spot for Froakie. AN: Yes, I mean that platonically. 

Unfortunately, he was also quite a showoff, so Froakie despised him. 

"No thanks," Froakie replied coldly. "I have better things to do." 

"Oh yeah? Like what?" Chespin scoffed. 

"Like not playing any of your stupid games," the Bubble Frog Pokemon shot back. Hawlucha stifled his laughter by biting down on his tongue. Trust Froakie to come up with a smartass response like that. 

Chespin glared at Froakie, who simply gave him a bored, irritated look in response. 

"Fine, then. As if I'd ever actually want to hang around a disgusting half-breed like you," he spat. 

Hawlucha had no idea what that was supposed to mean, but he knew it couldn't be anything good, for as soon as the words left his mouth he immediately slapped a paw over it, his eyes widening in horror. But the damage had already been done, and Hawlucha watched as Froakie's eyes turned stone cold and he turned his back on Chespin. 

"Froakie, wait! I'm sorry, I didn't mean it!" the grass-type starter cried. 

"Tell someone who cares," Froakie growled, not even looking back as he stormed off. 

Hawlucha hesitated for a moment, wondering whether he should go after Froakie or let him be for a little while. He eventually decided on the second option, knowing that the water-type would need some time to cool down. Whoever said that water-types were always cool and collected had obviously never met a pissed off Froakie before. 

Instead, the former forest champion rounded on Chespin and hissed, "If you go anywhere near Froakie again, you'll find out just how painful a Karate Chop to the head at full strength can be." 

"I-I didn't mean-" Chespin stammered. 

"It's too late now," Hawlucha said coldly. "I don't know what possessed you to say that and I have to admit I'm not entirely sure what it means to you and him, but you will not bother Froakie again. Understood?" 

Without waiting to see if the grass-type would respond, Hawlucha turned around and stalked off, leaving a stunned Chespin behind him. 

An hour later, Froakie still hadn't come back. Hawlucha was growing worried, for it was almost time for everyone to start moving again. He wasn't worried about them accidentally leaving Froakie behind, for Ash always took extra care to make sure that all his Pokemon were accounted for. No, what worried Hawlucha was that Froakie was all alone, in a forest he was completely unfamiliar with, and with dangerous Pokemon around every corner. It didn't help matters that most forest Pokemon were grass-types, which Froakie had a type disadvantage against. If he ended up in a fight against multiple grass-types, he was a goner. 

Hawlucha stood up and flew off into the forest, deciding to take it upon himself to search for his missing teammate. Before he got very far in, however, he saw a very particular blue frog hopping back towards the camp. He flew down and landed in front of Froakie, who jumped at his sudden appearance. 

"Oh-Hawlucha?" Froakie asked, startled momentarily before narrowing his eyes distrustfully. "What are you doing?" 

"Looking for you, actually," Hawlucha responded. "You were gone a long time, so I wondered where you got off to." 

"Oh," Froakie said, his glare melting into a look of puzzlement. "Well, thanks I guess." 

Hawlucha nodded, then hesitated for a split second before asking, "May I ask you what Chespin meant when he called you-well, what he called you?" 

"You may," Froakie replied stiffly, but didn't expand any further. 

"And...do I get an answer?" Hawlucha pressed. 

Froakie sighed and looked up at him. "All right, it's like this," he began. "There's always been a...bad relationship between starter Pokemon, who are born and raised in a lab, and wild Pokemon, who obviously are not. Most wild Pokemon think starter Pokemon are too weak to survive in the wild, which to be honest is a fair statement. I mean, we're purposely bred in labs so we don't have the natural instinct that allows us to survive and thrive in places like your old forest. I guess it's because it makes us easier for new trainers to deal with. As for starter Pokemon, most of them view wild Pokemon as savage, barbaric monsters for obvious enough reasons, I'm assuming." 

"That makes sense," Hawlucha said. "But what about you? From what I've heard, you were quite a handful for your old trainers." 

"Right," Froakie agreed, nodding. "And that's where this next part comes in. See, there's also a thing among starter Pokemon about birth. For whatever stupid reason, someone decided that the best starter Pokemon are ones that are born to parents of the same species-for example, a Chespin born to two Chesnaught parents. They're seen as the ideal starter Pokemon, because their blood isn't tainted. Next down on the line are the ones that are born to two starter Pokemon, but of different species. Those aren't as highly revered, but they're still treated with respect because they have starter blood. And then there are Pokemon like me...who have one starter parent and one wild parent." 

"That's why they call you a half-breed demon?" Hawlucha asked in indignant disbelief. 

"Oh no, that's only the half-breed part," Froakie answered bitterly. "It's worse for me because of my father. My mother was a Greninja obviously-all Pokemon eggs hatch into the same species as the mother. But my father was-or is, since I don't know if he's still alive or not-a Malamar. The one Pokemon everyone in Kalos hates more than anything in the world." 

"That's-that's-" Hawlucha stumbled over his words as he tried to think of an appropriate way to express his outrage. 

"I know," Froakie sighed. "But there isn't anything I can do about it." 

"Do you feel like forgiving Chespin?" Hawlucha questioned tentatively. 

The blue frog Pokemon shook his head. "No," he answered. "I think it's better this way. But...well, I guess I'd just hoped that others would be able to look past my parentage by now." 

"I don't think there's anything wrong with you," Hawlucha told him honestly. "And it doesn't matter to me who your parents are. You may be stubborn and a little annoying at times, sure, but you are not a demon. Don't ever think for one moment that there's something wrong with you." 

Froakie smiled a bit at him. "You know, you're not so bad yourself," he said. "Even if you do like to show off. A lot." 

Hawlucha laughed and hugged Froakie who, after a brief hesitation, hugged him back. And perhaps one of them should have been surprised, for this was the same Froakie who only ever let Ash pet him and absolutely loathed it when any of the other Pokemon touched him. They should have been surprised, for this was the same Hawlucha who usually treated gestures of affection as though they were a sign of weakness and therefore a waste of time. Under normal circumstances, they would have jumped back immediately and then never spoken of what had transpired between them ever again. 

But forget normal for now, because for the first time ever Froakie had met someone who didn't recoil in disgust upon hearing the truth about his parentage and they weren't having one of their arguments, so a little abnormality was acceptable in this ccase.