Lucki

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"Rike!" the electrike barked again, looking at her challengingly and shocking the air in front of it. "Rike trike!" Lucki reached for Flare's pokeball.

"Go!" she shouted, throwing it forward. "Ember!"

The fireball struck the electric puppy in the face, knocking the smaller pokemon head over heels. He shook himself off and barked defiantly. Small bursts of static began gathering over his body, the sparks jumping around in a cloud of electricity, and with a yell of "Ele!" he sent the mass forward into Flare, who yelped as the spark attack hit.

"Another ember!" called Lucki.

Flare inhaled and sent another fireball at the lightning pokemon, who retaliated by running a few feet closer and sending another shock at the fire type. When Flare tried a third fireball, the electrike managed a sudden burst of speed, propelling it a few feet out of the way in a blur. Then it sat down, giving Flare a cocky look. "Trike!"

"All right Flare, get 'em with tackle!" Lucki decided, irritated by the wild pokemon's smugness.

Flare ran forward and smashed into the smaller pokemon, who yelped in surprise and shocked him in response. Flare jerked, his whole body stiffening for a moment. Paralyzed, I bet, Lucki identified. Great, now it'll be even easier for that electrike to dodge.

"Flare, ember!"

The first fireball hit, but then the lightning pokemon dodged the second and third. "Rike trike!" it called confidently.

Lucki had an idea. "Flare, sand attack!"

Flare nodded, realizing what she had planned. He spun and kicked sand into the other canine pokemon's face, leaving it temporarily blinded and distracted.

"And now bite!"

While the electrike was pawing the sand from its eyes, Flare jumped it and bit down on its back. It whined and collapsed, and Lucki tossed a pokeball at it. The pokeball rocked a bit, then stopped moving and the button grayed. Her first capture!

Lucki collected the newly filled pokeball, then remembered Flare and quickly pulled out a potion and paralyze heal for his injuries. Once he was healed, she recalled him.

She looked at the pokeball in her hand. Well, no time like the present for introductions. She released her new electrike and pulled a translator from her bag. She leaned over and clipped the translator around the electrike's neck and was rewarded with a shock. "Hey!"

"Hey yourself!" barked the electrike back, his voice sounding like that of a seven or eight year old boy. "You're the one who caught me!"

"That doesn't mean you get to shock me!"

"Does so! I don't wanna be caught! Trainers are jerks!"

Lucki felt insulted. "We are not!"

"Are so!" The electrike stuck his tongue out at her.

"If trainers are jerks, how come you're the one doing the shocking and yelling?" Lucki asked, annoyed.

"Um...because!" The electrike looked pleased with himself.

Lucki sighed. This was going to be frustrating. "Why don't you talk to my pokemon?"

"No way! He beat me up!"

"You challenged me!"

"Yeah, but I thought I'd win. I wouldn't've done it if I knew I was gonna lose," the electrike told her, in a tone of voice that said she was stupid for not thinking of it that way. "Mom 'n Dad said to stay away from trainers because they were tough, but I figured I could do it."

Lucki thought a minute. "Then you want to get stronger?"

The electrike nodded. "Yeah!"

"Then you should want to have a trainer. That way you'll get stronger," Lucki told him. "Like my flareon you fought. We just beat a gym leader together!"

"Hm..." The electrike considered.

"Look, how about you just try it? I'm not mean, and I'll let you go if you decide you don't want to stay on my team, okay?"

"Okay!" chirped the electrike agreeably, his tail wagging.