Poké Warrior Kris

“My… partner?”

The words echoed to her, feeling foreign, like a gust of air from another city. Who was this woman claiming to be her partner?

“Excuse you?!”

Fake? This schmuck was calling her fake? What did that even mean?! That Kris Clarity wasn’t her real name? Or, maybe even worse– that she wasn’t the real Kris Clarity? Either way, it was an unfounded claim and it made her anger flare more than it had any right to, or maybe that was more because of the other girl’s shin suddenly colliding with her own. She grunted at the contact, feeling the shock race up her spine, but did not fall; she swung a leg around before snapping it back into place, effectively catching one of the other girl’s legs between her own.

“You’d betta’ believe I’s real as crap, uddawise you ain’t even gonna know what hit’cha!!”

That was replaced with a very mild panic as she found herself being swung like a ragdoll. It took her a moment to compose herself in the wake of the other girl’s bodyslam.

“You’ve made your point. Now are you going to get off of me?”

Too crazy to deal with? Perish the thought! Kris had taken down a Team Rocket Executive with an affinity for knives. She’d put up with a man with a Suicune obsession for months! There was nothing too crazy for her to deal with, least of all a freak who stole her hair and then had the gall to pretend that she didn’t know who Kris was.

No, Kris wasn’t at all deterred by that. It just further made her angry.

“’Magical defenda’a Johto’, huh? Defendin’ from what, huh? Team Rocket? Sorry, kid, I’s got ‘dat covered. Always have, always will. An’ you t’ink you can just march up in ‘ere wit’ some dumb name, t’rowin’ words around an’ pickin’ fights wit’ ‘da real hero’a Johto? –You’s got guts.”

“And I’s gonna rip ‘em out.”

And she curled one of her hands into a fist, hurling it towards the other’s now-unprotected middle.

It was all she could do to stop herself from interrupting the other Kris’s tirade. She studied, not bothering to resume her guarded stance; the girl had already telegraphed her intention, after all. It wouldn’t be that hard to dodge.

The actual attack came with surprising speed, and managed a glancing blow even as she stepped aside. Well, that was certainly a lesson to learn about overestimating herself. She winced, but she wasn’t about to let it stop her.

“A Rocket?!” And to make matters even worse: “A Rocket grunt?!” The words left her tongue with a nearly palpable disgust, like this stranger had just called her one of the worst insults in the language.

“Do you know who I am?!”

“I’s ‘da Capturer Extraordinaire, Johto’s Pride an’ Joy, ‘da fuckin’ Alpha and ‘da Omega! ‘Da Ubermensch! Team Rocket’s Public Enemy Numbah One!” With each one of these she stalked closer, fists clenching and raising to an offensive position, because unlike the other, Kris likely did want to fight this stranger.

“I’s Kris-fuckin’-Clarity, bitch. Who ‘da fuck are you?!”

I don’t talk like that, do I?

If anything, the inaccuracies were even more worrisome. They meant that this wasn’t some impostor—at least Team Rocket would probably get her name right, if they were bothering to imitate her. No, signs pointed to this actually being a completely different Kris, somehow.

“You want my name?” She wasn’t going to run, so she edged closer instead. Then she raised her hand dramatically. "I am Beauty Marina, magical defender of Johto! Those with wicked hearts, beware!"

“Hey, oy, ‘da crap you mumblin’ about–?”

But before Kris could even turn to address whoever had decided to intrude on her personal space, she felt something spherical collide with the small of her back. And when she pivoted on her heel she found a pokeball resting on the ground– which prompted a million thoughts to run through her head.

Not a single one was good.

“OY. YOU. Yeah, you, ya fuckin’ poser-ass wannabe!” she snarled at the other, teeth gnashing together. “’Da fuck’s yer damage, huh? You lookin’ fer a fight? Huh? You lookin’ fer a fuckin’ fight?!”