In Your Shadow || Pokémon Short Story ✓

Chapter Three

 "You're doing it wrong. Again."

 The bored Rhine sat atop her rock, gazing down at Riko as he failed yet again at his stance. It had been a couple days since the attempted kidnapping, and the Ninetales twins had made little progress in their training. The rare Pokémon just couldn't do anything. No amount of lecturing seemed to make a difference.

 Well, he hasn't ever had to do anything other than look presentable, so no wonder he sucks, Rhine thought in exasperation as her sibling readied himself for another try.

 Riko set his sights on a boulder sitting not too faraway and took a deep breath. He looked uncomfortable as he prepared a Flamethrower. The male opened his mouth and let loose the weak, fiery blast. For a moment Rhine thought it had a chance of making contact with the target, but it veered off at the last second before dissipating into nothing. She sighed.

 "How many times do I have to correct your stance? If you aren't stable then whatever move you use won't be accurate," she chastised.

 Riko hung his head and plopped down, exhausted.

 "This is so hard," he whined with a pout. "How do you do it?"

 "Practice," was the short answer. "And you're never going to get anywhere with that attitude."

 "I don't think I'm going to get anywhere no matter what my attitude is."

 Rhine rolled her eyes and hopped down from her perch. She trotted over to her brother and looked down at him. He had his head set on his paws as he looked out over the plains. She could tell that he was genuinely sad and frustrated by his lack of improvement.

 "I told you when we started that this might not work out. I have a style that probably doesn't suit you. You have a better shot with Jori."

 Riko glanced up at her. "You may have a different way of teaching, but I should have learned something by now. Our first Contest is in just over a week and I'm not prepared at all. Besides, Jori is just as inexperienced as I am."

 "I thought you said she was preparing a routine for you."

 "She is, but that doesn't change the fact that she hasn't ever trained a Pokémon before. She can come up with as many routines as she wants but if I can't do any of them and if she can't direct me then we're bound to fail."

 Rhine blinked in surprise. She had never heard Riko speak like that. He was solemn, and the always present peppiness in his voice was gone. He was mad at himself, that much was obvious. 

 So this is the real Riko. 

 The twins stayed quiet for several moments longer. Rhine watched him out of the corner of her eye as he let out an aggravated huff. Finally, she reached over and gave his shoulder a push with her paw. He gave her a strange look to which she replied with a curt nod. 

 "Then we'll just have to keep trying. Progress is always slow at first."

 Riko cocked his head. She saw his expression change from confused to understanding, and a grin made the corners of his mouth tug upwards. He got to his feet.

 "Yeah, alright."

~~~~~~

 The sun was just starting to set as Rhine walked toward the barn. All the other Pokémon were turning in for the night as well, and the facility's employees were scattered about making sure that everyone was accounted for. The female was exhausted; she had spent the last several days with Riko trying to get him to perfect something, anything that could help him for his debut. They had decided to take a break earlier that afternoon to get some much needed rest and alone time.