Fire and Ice

Jealous

Two days had passed since Ash's gym battle against Olympia, and still Frogadier and Talonflame wouldn't stop talking about it. Normally this would have irritated the others, but it had been a hard battle so almost everyone felt they had every right to be proud.

The key word being "almost".

Frogadier wasn't entirely sure what he had done, but Hawlucha had been noticeably distant with him ever since the battle against Olympia. He rarely spoke to him unless necessary, and if addressed directly only responded with grunts and the occasional "yes" or "no" if the situation called for it. But no matter what, he wouldn't say what was bothering him.

Eventually, Frogadier decided that enough was enough. After a training session, he pulled Hawlucha aside so he could talk to him once and for all. The Aztec bird whirled on him, a snarl on his face, but Frogadier refused to back down.

"Leave me alone!" Hawlucha demanded.

"Not until you tell me what's been going on," the Bubble Frog Pokemon countered.

"There's nothing going on! And why do you care anyway?" Hawlucha huffed, but Frogadier could see his anger beginning to crack.

Then he realized what his friend had just said. "What do you mean, why do I care?"

"Well, since you seem so happy with Talonflame as a battle partner, I figured you wouldn't notice me!" the fighting-type snapped back.

Frogadier blinked. "That's what this is all about?" he asked incredulously. "You're upset because you think I like Talonflame more than you?"

"That's literally what I just said," Hawlucha huffed, but there was something wrong with his voice, and Frogadier realized in horror that his eyes were starting to tear up.

Oh, no, no, now what do I say? he thought in a panic. The last thing he wanted was to make Hawlucha cry.

"You know...just because we had one battle together doesn't mean I prefer him over you," he said tentatively.

"I know," Hawlucha admitted. "It's just...it took months until you actually liked having me as a battle partner, and now you have one battle with Talonflame and you already love working with him! And-and we never seem to do anything together anymore, and I just..."

His voice shook and died away. Hesitantly, Frogadier reached out to place a comforting hand on his shoulder. Hawlucha stiffened slightly, but then relaxed and rested his head against the frog Pokemon's shoulder, barely holding in his tears. He dared to let a few slip, but the Bubble Frog Pokemon either didn't notice or didn't care.

"Hawlucha...you know I would never prefer anyone over you," Frogadier said softly. "Honestly, the whole reason I was even able to tolerate Talonflame is because of you. If you hadn't let me be your friend, I guarantee you I would have treated him just as horribly as I used to treat you."

That seemed to cheer Hawlucha up a little, and he lifted his head off of Frogadier's shoulder. His eyes were slightly watery, but he didn't seem like he was going to burst into tears at any given moment anymore.

"I'm sorry," Hawlucha sighed, sniffing a little. "For being so, you know...moody. I just...I...."

"Don't worry about it," Frogadier said reassuringly. "And hey, maybe next time we'll be able to battle together."

Hawlucha smiled happily at that idea, linking his arm with the frog Pokemon's. He wasn't quite ready to tell him why he had been so jealous-but it didn't really matter, at least not now.