"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.
Rhine was about to enter the building when she heard a sound. She halted, lifted her head, and cocked it slightly so she could hear better. It came again, and this time she was able to locate it. Making sure there was no one watching her, she snuck away and towards the back of the barn.
She stopped when she got to the end of the wall. The Ninetales peeked around the corner curiously, her ears standing up. It didn't take her more than a moment to trace the source of the noise and, when her eyes landed on it, they widened a bit.
Riko was standing a little ways away in an attack stance. He had his gaze locked on a large rock similar to the one he had been practicing with before. He was breathing heavily, and just from the way he stood indicated how tired he was. Rhine raised an eyebrow.
What is he doing?
She watched as her sibling steadied himself and raised his tails. For the first time since they had started training, he looked stable and his stance was the same one she had demonstrated. Riko inhaled deeply before letting loose a pillar of flames from his mouth. Rhine expected it to miss like all the other attempts she had witnessed but, to her surprise, the fire made direct contact with the rock. The object was engulfed for a few seconds before the flames died out.
Rhine gave a small smile as Riko straightened his posture, proud of himself. The female then came out from her hiding spot and approached her twin quietly.
"Not bad," she commented, making him spin around as she came up beside him. "Have you been practicing since this afternoon?"
Once seeing that it was just his sister, he relaxed. "I stopped for an hour or so. I felt like I was finally onto something so I kept going."
"Seems like you were right; that was a solid hit." Rhine wagged her tails a bit. "Everything will come a lot more naturally from here on out. You'll only really need to know the basics for this first Contest anyway."
Riko nodded. The twins fell into a comfortable silence. It was one of the only moments Rhine could remember voluntarily spending time with her sibling since they were pups. No words needed to be spoken, so they just sat there looking towards the fields beyond the fence.
"Have you ever thought about running away?"
Rhine snapped her head in his direction, surprised by Riko's sudden question. He was gazing at her expectantly and knowingly, as if he could already predict her answer.
Finally, the female responded hesitantly," Yes, I have. Why?"
"I was just curious."
Another minute of silence passed before Rhine sighed. She knew he was waiting for an explanation.
"I've wanted to leave for the longest time," she started, making him turn to her. "I don't do anything besides practice and I can't even be traded away because Jori has my Poké Ball. There are so many opportunities for me out there, but I'm stuck here."
Riko hummed. "I understand that."
For a second, Rhine felt a flash of irritation shoot through her. She thought back to all the times attention had been given to him over her, and how it was because of her brother that she was still on the farm in the first place, whether he had intended for it or not. But when she saw Riko's expression turn downcast, she forced herself to calm down.
"You do? How?" She inquired.
He paused. The Pokémon appeared to be deep in thought before opening his mouth to speak.
"No one truly cares about me, it's all based on my looks. Jori definitely wouldn't have chosen me to be her partner if I wasn't rare. We've grown close and I love her dearly, but I understand why you wouldn't. I know that these couple years have been hard on you, Rhine, and I'm sorry for that."
His sister stared at him. She hadn't imagined that the day would ever come where Riko would issue her an apology. She had been so consumed in herself and her frustration that it had blinded her to whatever struggles her twin was going through. It made her feel awful but, at the same time, a spark of hope ignited within her.
Maybe we can actually work this out.
"Thanks for training me, I really appreciate it," Riko said, snapping her out of her thoughts. He grinned. "I hope we can continue."
For what was probably the first time since they had grown apart, Rhine returned the gesture with a smile of her own.
"Of course we can. It would be my pleasure."