CYOA 2 – To The Victor Go The Spoils – Chapter 18: Hard Fought Battles (Patreon)

Last time: Hanzo got fired up by his brother and father to give it his all in the upcoming gym match... which apparently included spreading his legs like the nasty boy he is.

Content/warning: emotional roller coaster; Pokémon getting injured

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Hanzo has to focus on staying upright. His knees feel like jelly and his body is lethargic but he can’t give up now that he’s so close. He feels it in his bones that he can win. He just needs to keep it together for this one battle.

He won’t be bested by his own body. He won’t. He keeps thinking of his father and Genji, looking at him with pity and disappointment. He needs to pull through.

But when he stands there and stares across the battlefield where Miss Song has taken up position still in her pyjamas, chewing bubble gum and looking downright bored… he starts to feel doubts creeping up his lax spine.

She fucked him not half an hour ago. He doesn’t even remember how he managed to put on his clothes properly. Will he be able to lead his Pokémon through a battle against a gym leader when all he is obsessing about is how there is lube still sliding down the inside of his thighs-

“Alright! Thanks again for your product testing help and all that!” she calls over, pulling him out of his thoughts. He straightens his spine minimally, and only nods. At least he doesn’t flush when that gets her to grinning. “Ready for a battle? I got three Pokémon lined up. But they’re all pretty strong, just so you know.”

Of course they are. He can just keep from rolling his eyes, annoyed about the whole thing. He can only imagine her and Genji together…

“Well then! Let’s just begin, alright? I’m bored already!”

He doesn’t know where she pulled the Pokéball from but she’s throwing one into the air a few times, catching it without looking. She is just staring across the battlefield at him with a big toothy smile – like she knows something that he doesn’t.

He’s getting goosebumps, hand moving down to grab one of his own Pokéballs. His heart is beating fast without anything having happened yet. His knees… are shaking. He grits his teeth.

When Miss Song throws her ball, he too throws. It opens a split second after leaving his fingers. Kikuri must have been chomping at the bit, waiting impatiently for them to finally get a move on.

“Aww what’s that? I thought you would fight with Ponyta! It’s so cute! It’ll fit perfectly into my team, you know!”

Hanzo tries to ignore Hana’s taunts as he stares at her Pokémon: Steelix.

He’s seen them before but the sheer size of this one is taking him aback. With no order coming from her trainer, Kikuri just does her own thing. Not that she needs him for any input anyway. She is fast and small, scuttling toward her opponent on all fours, her body ducked close to the ground while Hana suddenly makes a high squealing sound full of disgust.

“Eugh! It moves like a cockroach, what the hell??? Get it away!”

Hanzo almost lifts his arm to do as he is told but snaps out of it before he can move. He throws an angry glare over to the other side of the battlefield.

Hana is just grinning. There is something sharp and calculating in her eyes despite her acting so carefree.

She’s just playing with him. Testing out the waters.

Their Pokémon are acting all on their own. Steelix moves as if they had this exact same fight a thousand times before, curling its body in close and slamming its head down against the ground without its trainer’s input, trying to smash Kikuri against the floor.

Without a doubt that would be the end of the battle immediately. Hanzo’s heart sinks into his shoes when the first vibration of the massive head slamming down travels up his legs. He watches with bated breath as the dust begins to settle, hands curled into tight fists. He tries to think of something to say but his tongue feels infinitely heavy in his mouth.

He can only relax when he sees Kikuri’s small shadow suddenly at Steelix’s side.

“Kikuri! Ember!” he calls over, voice scratchy and weak. She ignores him, instead suddenly leaping up and onto one of the rod-like structures protruding from a few of Steelix’s segments.

Hana calls out her order within seconds: “Mecha, roll! Get that cockroach off of you!”

Hanzo inhales sharply, watching as Steelix’ segments begin to rotate all on their own, one to the left, the other to the right, spinning faster and faster as it tries to throw off the Salandit. Kikuri runs like a hamster on a ball, jumping higher and higher as she does so.

Hanzo’s hands are clenched tightly, nails digging into his palms as in his mind’s eye he sees her slip and getting thrown clear out of the ring and splatting against the wall. The way Steelix spins is whipping up a wind that tugs on his hair. He can’t understand why she would keep obstinately going like this… even her stubbornness had to know an end, didn’t it? He tries to tell her to just jump off and retreat for now but she keeps ignoring him climbing to the top of the huge beast until she is sitting on its flat head.

“What’s up with your mon?” Hana calls over. She seems… irritated, her grin a little stiffer than before. “Are you seriously going into a gym leader match with a Pokémon that doesn’t obey your orders? Is that what Sojiro taught his kids? Kinda disrespectful, you know.”

Hanzo knows. He can’t help but feel ashamed… but the fact is that Kikuri is there on top of Steelix’ head and, seemingly on a delay, finally produces the Ember that Hanzo had ordered earlier: claws digging into any crevices it can find, it shoots the fire directly against the top of the Pokémon’s head.

Steelix screeches. Hanzo can feel the sound vibrating in his bones, his already wobbly legs having him take a step back as he watches the Steelix trying to escape the heat of Kikuri’s ember.

It spins its head, Kikuri holding on for dear life while still shooting fire balls against the top of the Pokémon’s head.

“Kikuri, get off!” he calls over, his heart pounding in his throat as in his mind’s eye he sees her seriously getting hurt by the huge Pokémon. Once again, she ignores him, still shooting attacks against the raging, screeching Steelix.

“Mecha! Bury-”

Before she can even finish her order, Hana’s Steelix suddenly stops wildly rotating its head around itself and ejects one last bone shaking groan before it begins its descent to slam down on the ground.

Hanzo holds his breath, bracing for impact– but Hana calls her Steelix back before it can ever hit the ground, leaving Kikuri to flail awkwardly in the air before she drops down the last two meters, landing on her feet like a cat.

“Hey, what gives?! It’s stupid to fight with a ‘mon that’s not listening to your commands!” She stomps her foot like a small girl while Hanzo hurries over the battle field to check on Kikuri.

He can feel the back of his neck growing warm with embarrassment but he tries not to show it as he crouches down and reaches out for her. She looks a little dazed, especially after being spun around like clothes in a washing machine – but she does not seem worse for wear.

“You did well,” he murmurs. “But we’ll have a talk about this behavior later.” He calls her back into her ball, glancing up at Hana who has her arms crossed in front of her chest and is tapping her foot.

“You know, I don’t think Sojiro would like this very much. His son going around fighting with Pokémon that don’t listen to him. I wonder what he’d say if I were to tell him.”

Hanzo swallows hard. He gets back up and lightly bows in her direction.

“I apologize for this. It had not been my intention, I assure you.”

She clicks her tongue, jerking her chin toward the other side of the arena.

“Whatever. Go back to your place, I want to continue.”

He turns around like he’s on rails, making his way back toward his place with slightly jerky movements. He feels weird obeying her commands and her being so pushy and him still feeling all soft around the edges does not really help the matter.

Just don’t let her freak you out. She’s just being a brat; there’s nothing wrong about the way you won just now.

He inhales and exhales slowly, calming himself down before he turns around, grabbing his next Pokéball.

Miss Song looks indeed unhappy on the other side of the battlefield, probably because she lost the first fight. He gets the feeling that she is really very into winning.

“You know, I have to respect it, though. You’re pretty savvy on the battlefield. Got a few tricks up your sleeve from your daddy, hm?”

He tries not to react to it, feeling that he should give her a rise out of him but his hand tightens around the ball either way.

She grins, lifting a hand with three fingers extended. When she curls down the third one, they both throw their balls.

Her squeal of excitement when she sees King emerging is just a background noise to Hanzo staring at her Pokémon, narrowing his eyes and trying to figure out what the Hell he is looking at. He certainly never seen one like it: small with a huge head of black hair and what looks like a yellow dress.

King looks at it just as interested, his ears pricked as he moves forward to inspect the Pokémon who makes little chirping sounds, hands clasped beneath its chin. It looks… cute, to be honest.

Hanzo can’t wrap his head around it. What was it supposed to accomplish in a fight?

“You know, Ponyta is so pretty, it’s a real shame to battle against it. I don’t want to hurt it, you know? I’m really protective of my Pokémon.”

Hanzo’s gaze snaps back to Hana, his mouth pulling down in dismay. She’s playing him like a fiddle, it feels like. He truly needs to-

“Mawile! Chomp down!”

King has been sniffing at the face of the little Pokémon, inspecting it thoroughly when suddenly there comes movement into the creature. Hanzo’s mouth opens his tongue feels heavy. His brain screams at him to tell King to move back but he’s lethargic, just able to watch as this Mawile turns around quick as a bullet, the huge thing that Hanzo had thought was just a ponytail, lifting and opening into a large maw full of teeth.

King rears back and tries to move out of the way – but Mawile clamps down on one of his hind feet, teeth digging in.

King’s distressed, pained neigh slices through Hanzo like a hot knife. It feels horrible to watch as his Pokémon struggles to get away, just pulling the Mawile after himself. It is hanging on fiercely, not letting go of its victim’s leg and just digging its teeth in deeper.

King begins to kick backward with his free leg but Hanzo can hear the clank of metal whenever the hoof connects with the smaller Pokémon. It has hardened its body into what feels like a solid block of metal, just sitting out the desperate attacks thrown its way.

Finally, Hanzo gathers himself and calls out: “Ember under your belly!”

He doesn’t believe that King will understand what he means or be unable to follow through with its leg caught in what is essentially a bear trap but amazingly enough, he does suddenly throw his head down and shoot a fire ball through his front legs.

It hits the Mawile who immediately lets go of King’s leg, short arms waving hectically at the smoldering flames as if to wipe them away.

The second Ponyta has been let go, he jumps away – but he is unable to properly put weight on his leg. Hanzo can see blood sluggishly running down his hock as he limps well out of range of the other Pokémon’s huge maw.

“Awww… see? I told you I would have to hurt it. That’s such a shame. But it’s nothing that the Pokémon Center won’t be able to fix, you know. Hey Ponyta! Why don’t you come here, babyboy? I’ll make sure to never let you get hurt like that.”

Hanzo glares at her. His lethargy has completely left his body now replaced by pounding adrenaline and anger. She’s just playing with him and visibly enjoying every second as she idly juggles her Pokémon’s ball in her hand.

King doesn’t move either way, just staring at Mawile now, small flames licking out of his nostrils.

Hanzo gets the distinct feeling that he would keep fighting if he let him; but the risk of him hurting himself further was just too great, so he calls him back, hand steady. He puts the Pokéball against his lips once King has retreated. It feels almost too hot to touch in his tight grip.

“You did well,” he murmurs against the shell while Hana sighs theatrically and calls her Pokémon back as well.

“Awww… it seems that leaves us at 1:1! You know, I never won a fight this fast. It’s kinda funny, don’t you think? I wonder if Sojiro would laugh about it… let me just give him a quick ring-”

Hanzo ignores her quip, fingers splayed over his team’s Pokéballs hanging at his waist.

“I need water!” he calls over.

Hana stops miming putting in a phone number and looks over to him, blinking.

“You need to drink something?”

“No. Water. In the arena.” He waves impatiently at the dirt floor in front of them.

Hana hums, her aura slightly changing as she puts her phone away. She seems interested for the first time in their fight, giving him a little shooing gesture so he would step back, which he does.

He watches her moving to a wall and pressing a button. A low hum starts up in the arena as the floor begins to move, panels sliding around until their are six perfectly round holes distributed in a circle throughout the arena, filled with water.

“They’re connected underneath,” she lets him know, gaze shrewd as she stares at him, obviously trying to figure out what his angle is.

He nods jerkily. He still is thinking about King with his wounded leg, heart pounding so hard it feels like it is lodged in his throat.

He rears his arm back, inhaling deeply, then throws Magikarp’s ball on an exhale. It opens midway, the white beam of light seeming undecided for a split second as to where to land before it zeroes in on the nearest hole of water.

However, no Pokémon is visible. Magikarp has ducked out of sight just as Hanzo has agreed with him just yesterday, keeping hidden for now.

Hanzo can see the confusion in Miss Song’s face as she wanders a few meters left and right of her spot, craning her neck and trying to figure out what her answer should be. In the end she snorts derisively and throws her third and last ball as well.

“It’s all about this round, you know!” she calls over. “If I win, that’ll be it! No more pretty shiny Ponyta for you!”

Her taunt is underlined by the metallic screech of a bird. Hanzo stares at her Skarmory flying in circles above the arena. Whenever it moves its wings it sounds like sharp knifes are sliding against each other. The small hairs along his arms immediately stand on edge.

God, he hates bird Pokémon. Their mean little eyes and sharp, long beaks… whenever Skarmory swings around toward him, he has to withstand the need to just take a step back.

Standing his ground and ignoring Hana’s taunts, he throws out an arm toward Skarmory and barks: “Watergun!”

Using his arm as a point of reference, Magikarp shoots a hard stream of water out of hiding. It hits Skarmory, but the Pokémon just takes it and does a roll in mid air, flinging the last clinging water droplets off of it. It screeches again, sounding even angrier than before.

Hanzo’s insides quiver.

Goddamn creepy bird Pokémon…

He reangles his arm and shouts again: “Watergun!”

Once more, Magikarp obediently shoots out a hard stream of water – and once again, though getting hit, Skarmory does not look particularly phased other than getting more angry, flapping its wings until a cacophony of metal against metal has goosebumps rising all over Hanzo’s body.

It is only then that Hanzo realizes Miss Song has been suspiciously quiet for far too long.

He looks toward her, his breath stuttering when he sees the downright creepy smile on her face as she just stands there, rocking on the heels of her feet and just waiting everything out. When she notices Hanzo looking at her, she jauntily wiggles her fingers in a wave. She turns her head up toward Skarmory and calls in a downright lovely voice: “Jet! Go fish! I wanna see who this little rascal has sent into a fight against us.”

Skarmory screeches and Hanzo can only watch in quiet shock as it suddenly angles its metallic body down, wings pressing against its side so it can plunge into the hole the last attack had come from.

It sinks into the depths with nary a sound. His heart is beating a mile a minute in his chest as he hopes that Magikarp will naturally be faster than the bird in the water-

but he must have been just as shocked by the proceedings as Hanzo was. A moment later, Skarmory bursts out from another hole, water flying everywhere as it snaps its sharp wings open to quickly gain height. In its talons, Magikarp is helplessly wiggling, his bright orange scales glittering in the harsh lights of the arena.

As Skarmory flies a victory lap and Hanzo’s eyes meet his Pokémon’s, he can’t help but feel that the gaping of his mouth looks dismayed and shocked, his large round eyes twitching around, trying to get his bearings as he has been ripped out of his natural environment quite rudely.

“What. The. Hell. Is. That?!” Miss Song’s voice has climbed to an octave that Hanzo had quite frankly not thought possible for a human being. She looks quite like Magikarp in that moment, mouth hanging open – stunned.

A moment later, her face crumples up. Hanzo can see even over the distance separating them how her cheeks become red with honest anger as she stomps her foot, hands balled into fists at her side.

“Are you making fun of me?! Are you insane?! You bring a fucking Magikarp in here?! I have never been this insulted! Holy fuck – I so will tell Sojiro? Holy- Jet! Get this goddamn fish OUT OF HERE!” Her voice breaks as she screams the last, anger palpable.

Hanzo can feel embarrassment bubbling through him like stomach acid, the first thought flinching through his head being ‘why did I send him in?’.

Skarmory screeches in triumph, head thrown back.

Magikarp can’t make any sound, helplessly hanging in the clutches of its foe. As Hanzo watches, he can see droplets of blood starting to drip from one of Magikarp’s fins. Skarmory’s sharp talons have dug beneath Magikarp’s hard scales and into the soft flesh beneath.

Hanzo’s breath hitches. Time slows down as he can see how Skarmory briefly digs his claws in even deeper, Magikarp’s perpetually gaping mouth opening a little wider in pain.

Their gazes meet and everything snaps back into place, time seemingly jumping forward like a rubber band as he exhales roughly and cries out: “Thunderbolt!”

There’s a sound on the other side of the arena as if Hana is choking on her tongue but he can’t take his eyes off of the pair in the sky as Magikarp’s whiskers suddenly start crackling with electricity.

Honestly, Hanzo has no idea if what Magikarp does counts as a Thunderbolt or whether the electricity is too weak for that, but he can see how the crackling energy first engulfs his Pokémon before quickly jumping over to the still wet parts of Skarmory before completely encasing it.

Skarmory screeches, contorting in mid-air as its muscles are jumping due to the shocks running through it.

“Jet!!” The panic is palpable in Hana’s voice but Hanzo can’t feel sorry for her.

He keeps staring at the spectacle even as his eyes begin to tear up, one hand curled into a tight, shaking fist as he hopes that Skarmory won’t dig its claws even deeper into his… friend.

Magikarp’s shock peters off rather quickly but Hanzo can see that it already did the trick. Skarmory has stopped flapping its wings and begins a rapid descent, its claws opening to finally release its prey.

Hanzo’s thighs spasm before suddenly catapulting him forward. He moves on instinct, arms outstretched, hoping against hope that he will be fast enough to catch his injured Pokémon before it hits the ground hard-

but once again, Magikarp starts to glow with light.

It’s not the light of his electricity, however.

Hanzo does not even notice how he stumbles over his own feet and falls to his knees, staring with his mouth hanging open as Magikarp is engulfed in the blinding light of evolution that he’s only seen yesterday when Lúcio’s Lotad and Kricketot had evolved for him.

His heart is pounding so fast, filling his ears with the thrum of his blood.

Before his eyes, in mid air, Magikarp’s form begins to change; first a small unidentified blob that wafts ominously before them before it quickly begins to stretch out… bigger and bigger, taking on the shape of a huge snake-like creature: Gyarados.

When the monster hits the ground, Hanzo can feel the vibration through his bones.

The holes punctured into his flesh earlier have now become minuscule little wounds while the rest of Gyarados’ body still show the old scars of the previous abuse that Magikarp had worn.

Hanzo had never… he’d never seen a Gyarados in person and the fact that his comparatively small Magikarp had become this huge beast of a Pokémon puts him in awe. He slowly gets up on his feet. His legs feel like cooked noodles but somehow he stumbles over towards Gyarados, falling against his side and bracing himself.

The shells now making up the segments of Gyarados’ body feel thick somehow; like nothing could ever harm him again. Hanzo swallows hard and makes his way toward his face, one hand still bracing on his Pokémon.

By the time he is there, Gyarados is starting to come around, huge body starting to shift slowly and head raising from the ground. His flat face with the wide open maw looks terrifying, Hanzo can’t deny that… but it also makes him fiercely proud.

Nobody is going to underestimate him again.

He puts his hand between Gyarados’ eyes, rubbing the trident shaped crest sitting there like a crown. It’s warm against his palm.

“I got a name for you,” he says quietly. “It’s-”

Before he can get it out, he is interrupted by Miss Song, voice close to his elbow: “You only won because of a stupid trick.”

Hanzo whirls around, staring at her in confusion. She looks angry and pouting, her arms crossed in front of her chest and a Pokéball clutched in her hand. Since Skarmory is nowhere to be seen, she must have called it back already.

“What do you mean? What trick?”

“With your Magikarp. That didn’t seem right; they’re fucking useless.”

He scoffs, his hand still pressed against Gyarados’ face.

“You weren’t the first gym leader he won against, you know.”

“I want a rematch,” she says sharply, eyes narrowed.

Hanzo slowly takes his hand off of Gyarados and turns fully to her, his belly feeling queasy.

“You are not acknowledging my win, then?” Could she do that? He’s not sure; she’s a surprisingly dangerous little lady and he does not feel exactly confident having crossed her. She looks pissed off.

His question has her face darken even more. She thrusts a hand into her pocket and pulls it out with jerky movements before slamming it against his chest. He can feel something small and hard poking him painfully and just about manages to catch the badge before it falls to the ground.

“Don’t be stupid,” she hisses. “Here is your stinking badge. But I want a rematch at one point. So you know that I am better than you.”

He looks down on it glinting in his palm; a stylized chunk of metal with an electric pink heart in the middle.

“Thank you… I suppose,” he says haltingly. He does not know how to think about the battle as a whole; he’s never fought someone that is so aggressive and hellbent on winning.

He is happy, of course; it was a hard, fast-paced battle that he and his Pokémon managed to overcome but… at what price?

Miss Song waves him away, her expression still sour before wordlessly turning away and flipping up a hood from her pyjama top that he hadn’t even noticed before.

He turns back to Gyarados still lying there patiently, his huge back fin slowly moving up and down. The motion looks… playful, really. Satisfied. As well he should.

“You saved me once again,” he murmurs quietly. “Thank you… Zeus.”

.oOo.

Hanzo is not prepared for Lúcio to wait for him outside once he steps out of the gym.

He and his Pokémon are standing just across the small path, leaning against a building and listening to his music while they wait. They all perk up when Hanzo steps outside, Lúcio’s expression one of hopeful anticipation.

“Well? How’d it go?”

Hanzo… does not know what comes over him in that moment, standing there after making his way out of the gym alone like he did something wrong by winning the match. He thinks of his Pokémon that got hurt during the fight and how his first walk will be the Pokémon Center and asking for their forgiveness afterwards, and how he wonders about what Miss Song will tell his overbearing father…

It is probably the adrenaline that is suddenly missing that makes him suddenly tear up, the corners of his mouth turning down. He quickly lowers his head, staring at the ground to try and get himself back together but he had seen for just a split second how Lúcio’s expression had fallen in alarm and that makes it all the harder for some reason.

He hears the crunch of soil beneath Lúcio’s feet as he hurries over and a few silent tears start to fall when his friend crushes him in a tight hug.

“Hey, what? What happened? Did you lose?”

He shakes his head, eyes pressed against Lúcio’s shoulder, his hands curled into tight fists.

“You won?! That’s awesome, dude! I knew you’d do it! Why’re you crying, man? Isn’t it awesome?”

Hanzo tries to speak but all he can do is shudderingly inhale with what he hopes does not sound like a big sob.

Lúcio falls quiet then, just rubbing over his back as they wait it out.

.oOo.

“That sounds like a seriously crazy battle. I heard that she was super into winning but that…”

Lúcio trails off, watching as Hanzo offers King another treat, though his gaze keeps traveling toward the huge Gyarados lounging in the afternoon sun.

“The Hell is it doing?” he asks in a stage whisper, leaning into Hanzo’s shoulder.

“I suppose he is enjoying the sun now that he is able to breathe on land. After all, he is part flying type now…”

He trails off and takes a step back, watching his team in the Pokémon playground. King, Zeus and Kikuri have been treated at the Center behind them and seem in very good spirits since they have ultimately won the match.

Maddox is sniffing around the periphery of the fence area, supposedly looking for some snacks and the huge Goomy is sitting at the edge of the sandbox, holding a bit of its slimy body inside and slowly pulling kernels of sand up into its mass for some reason.

They all seem… happy, as far as Hanzo can tell. It loosens something inside him, making him relax a little. He will have to figure out how to make Kikuri start listening to him, and he wants to check in with Goomy since he hadn’t really done that after catching it… but all in all, everything seems to be – fine.

Other than the most glaring things, that is.

Lúcio nudges him in the side with his elbow.

“Ya look like you’re getting back in your head, man. Everything is fine, isn’t it? You won, Magikarp evolved into a banger ‘mon, your team is looking better than ever. What’s that expression for?”

Hanzo lifts his hand to touch his face but stops halfway, arm falling back to his side. He’s not entirely sure what kind of face he is making but it certainly is a humbling thought that Lúcio has grown so close to him as to see so clearly what he is feeling.

“I am just wondering what she will tell my father. I have to report back to him…” he lifts his phone, staring at the dark screen with mixed feelings.

“Hm… I dunno what she should tell him. You won and that’s what matters. She had a little temper tantrum but at the end of the day you bested her with a Magikarp. Think she’ll be kind of quiet about that, to be honest.”

Lúcio shrugs one shoulder and claps Hanzo on the back.

“You go and call your father and I’ll see about our dinner. We’ll be moving out tomorrow, right? Where to?”

“Uh… Akala Island,” he says after a moment, still stuck on the thought of calling his father.

Lúcio makes an excited sound.

“Oh yeah! That makes sense; they’re not far off and we can ride on Gyarados now! That’ll be awesome, I heard there’s a resort there and the Gym Leader is supposed to be super nice.”

Hanzo nods, feeling himself relax because of Lúcio’s enthusiasm. He lowers his arm and glances at him.

“I hadn’t thanked you, you know.”

“For what?”

“For waiting for me outside. It was… a nice surprise.”

Lúcio throws him a weird look though Hanzo can’t tell for what but he pats him on the back once more and mumbles something that sounds exasperated before leaving him be.

Next time: Hanzo and Lúcio arrive at Akala Islands, a downright tropical place where they can rest for a bit during the midpoint of their Pokémon journey. While there, Hanzo realizes that he might just have a general thing for big muscle men that are too loud and lovable for their own good.