Spoon: 4.7 Fish (Patreon)

Aaron’s Pokemon

- Artoria (Kirlia)
- Jeanne (Flaaffy)
- Durvasa (Mankey)

Fish 4.7

Aaron Fulan

Petalburg City

I leaned on my crutches as Artoria stood confidently before me. She had her silver spoon in a textbook-perfect kendo stance, ready and all but vibrating with eager anticipation. The Balance Badge was ours already, but Artoria wasn’t the sort to walk away from a challenge. Across from us, Norman Maple palmed his final pokeball with a satisfied smile. He released close to the center of the field, implying maybe that our final opponent was a close range specialist like Artoria.

When the light faded, it revealed a bipedal pokemon with exceptionally well-developed forelimbs. A pair of large, dagger-like claws capped each paw, much longer than its other fingers and big enough to rival a drilbur’s. Its cream-like fur was streaked with a vibrant red like fresh-spilled blood, a clear warning to all and sundry that the little fellow meant business.

Fierce, bloodshot eyes appraised Artoria with a calculating gaze. Already, its claws were poised and ready to intercept any sudden moves. Despite towering more than a foot above Artoria, it did not immediately dismiss her as a non-threat.

Artoria sized it up in turn. By weight alone, it probably had a decent strength advantage over her and she knew that. Still, her sword remained steady, her aura flaring white with determination and eager anticipation.

“A zangoose, well, this ought to be interesting,” I muttered. They definitely weren’t second badge pokemon. ‘Artoria, expect almost exclusively close combat.’

‘That seems obvious, my lord,’ she noted wryly as the zangoose’s comically large claws came to mind.

‘True. Slashing moves, maybe even Swords Dance if Norman’s feeling mean today.’

‘Understood. Shall I blitz?’

‘Unlikely to work. It definitely knows Quick Attack, probably things like Double Team as well.’

‘An opponent I cannot overpower nor overwhelm with speed. That sounds troublesome, my lord,’ she said. It might have been misconstrued as a complaint had she not been vibrating with excitement. ‘A contest of technique then?’

‘Yup, go nuts. Norman picked a great match for us.’

‘Yes! I will prove that my sword is superior to his claws. I swear on my honor as your knight.’

‘Oh, he’s male?’

‘You humans and your inability to determine pokemon genders is baffling to me.’

‘He’s cute and fluffy and can probably disembowel me. That’s all I know.’

‘My lord…’

I laughed and sent her a pulse of pride through our bond. These mongoose pokemon were infamous for their perpetual feud against seviper. It was a feud that seemed baked into their very DNA; even individuals raised solitarily on farms hated serpentine pokemon, and seviper in particular.

Hell, the feud was so bad that trainers with both were often forced to trade one away, not usually because it was mandated by the League, but because the two would eventually become so antagonistic towards one another that training them became an impossibility. The trainer who could raise both simultaneously was a rare breed.

I used to love zangoose back in my old life. The art reminded me of a cute, punk cat and they had surprisingly decent stats in-game. I couldn’t wait to see what one trained by Norman Maple could do. The go-to strategy with a zangoose in-game was Toxic Boost, but I put that out of mind as Artoria’s opponent wasn’t carrying a Toxic Orb.

“Are you ready, challenger?” the referee called.

“I am,” I said.

“Leader Maple, are you ready?”

“I am,” he nodded firmly.

“Then begin!”

Artoria, lost in her excitement, closed the gap in a single Mana Burst. I was mildly surprised when Norman did not in fact have his zangoose charge in. I’d expected it to fight like a berserker, or maybe an assassin, not dissimilar to a slower sneasel. Instead, it skipped backwards, flipping with unexpected acrobatic grace and leaving Artoria to swing at empty air where he once stood.

The zangoose let out a strangled bark, almost like a cat choking on a hairball. Artoria paused in her chase for a moment but we both saw its emotions remain steady; our opponent wasn’t choking to death or anything. Confused, she stepped forward again, sword posed to land the first strike.

Then Norman said one word that made me question everything about the way I thought this battle would go: “Toxic!”

“Port out!” I shouted in alarm. Was a stall-goose a thing? Would he play keep-away with a teleporter? That sounded idiotic, but then again, this was Norman Maple. He could probably make it work.

Artoria teleported back to our side of the field, but that proved to be a mistake on my part.

Instead of lobbing a glob of corrosive poison our way, the crazy weasel spat it like a loogie straight up into the air. I watched in wide-eyed horror as it allowed the purple poison bubble to splash on its head like the world’s most disgusting water balloon.

I grimaced and felt my heart leap into my throat. That certainly cleared things up for me.

‘Artoria, it’s Toxic Boost,’ I spoke as quickly as I could, sending packets of emotion and memories to facilitate the information transfer. The ability stimulated a pokemon’s nervous system in ways I was too stupid to understand, but we had a few seconds to come up with a plan before the poison fully set in. ‘Major attack buff, but the zangoose isn’t immune to poison.’

‘Which means the wise thing to do would be to turn this into a game of tag and wait it out,’ she hummed noncommittally.

I sighed. I knew that tone. ‘You’re going to do the dumb thing, aren’t you?’

‘I’m going to do the honorable thing, my lord,’ she corrected. ‘Do you not trust your knight?’

‘Of course I do, but that doesn’t mean going head to head against a Toxic Boosted zangoose isn’t silly.’

‘We have the badge, why should we not indulge?’

‘Fine, so be it.’ I smiled. Really, put a powerful opponent in front of my little knight and it could only end one way. It was like a slab of tuna in front of a cat, the silly fight junkie. I spoke aloud for all to hear, voice filled with utmost confidence in my starter. “Artoria! All-in! We’re against the clock. Take him down before the poison does!”

“Kirlia!” she let out an enthusiastic warcry, sword glowing and ready to go.

Norman shook his head with a rueful chuckle. “You know what’s happening and still want to brawl with my zangoose? That kirlia’s definitely the strangest I’ve ever seen. As you please. Zangoose! Oblige them!”

“Zan! GOOSE!”

It leapt forward with a wicked grin, one mirrored on my starter’s face. It opened with a swift but light thrust that had Artoria falling into a textbook maki-kaeshi with her sword pointed diagonally downward, “edge” facing back, so the claws could slide against the shaft and off the bowl of the spoon.

She retaliated with a swift kick to its stomach, sending it stumbling back with a mild grunt. Refusing to let them reset, she kicked off with her grounded foot, leaving a small dust cloud in her wake. Her left arm pulled down like a lever, swinging the spoon head right back to center-mass for a lunging thrust of her own that caught the zangoose by surprise.

“Zan!” it let out a yelp of pain as her strike found its snout. It hadn’t dealt much damage, but the opening it gave Artoiral allowed her to land two more strikes in quick succession. Whatever could be said about Toxic Boost, I was confident that Artoria wouldn’t lose in a contest of skill.

“Zangoose, Crush Claw. Overpower her,” Norman shouted.

With a responding shout, it lashed out in a swipe that batted Artoria’s spoon aside. Had it not been reinforced with her psychic power, I had no doubt we’d be in the market for a new spoon. Its second claw came up in a rising backhand that sent my kirlia stumbling back with a yelp of pain.

Having bought some space for itself, I could see it visibly charging up. A second later, its claws were covered in glowing white light and grew a solid foot in length. They also became thicker, and therefore blunter, trading tearing sharpness for bludgeoning force.

“Artoria, Reflect,” I called, “Match them.”

“Kir.”

A shimmering wave of blue enveloped her silver spoon. It grew in length until it was proportionately as long as a zweihander or nodachi on her diminutive frame.

Properly armed now, the two offered one another nods of mutual respect. At some unspoken signal, they dashed towards the center once more.

This time, the zangoose followed a more balanced fighting style. One of his claws struck out with crushing force, but the other was always pulled back with his elbow slightly bent, ready to protect himself and keep him in the fight for as long as possible.

With his gigantic claws, the posture provided a good amount of protection for his body even when standing still. I would have thought a pokemon using Toxic Boost would naturally go for a hyper-aggressive battle style, but it seemed Norman taught his zangoose a fair bit of technique as well.

For her part, Artoria focused on parrying her opponent’s leading claw to create an opening to strike. Unfortunately, for all her skill, it became clear to me early on that the zangoose had the advantage in an extended trade. Not only was she not a match for the boosted zangoose in strength, she had one sword while her opponent fought with a pair of weapons.

The zangoose brought his right claw down in an overhead swipe, causing Artoria to step off the line of attack. By heading into her opponent’s right flank, she would normally have had the opening to counter, the zangoose unable to pull back his paw in time. However, because his claws were so proportionately massive, he simply pivoted to face her, his left paw almost wrapping around his body like a protective cage.

Artoria’s spoon made a satisfying clanging noise against the zangoose’s claws but that was all she accomplished. She hammered away at his impeccable guard in frustration but was ultimately forced to back off.

The zangoose had his forelimbs crossed now, right paw mid-strike and left paw in defense. He rapidly uncrossed his arms, grating both claws against each other in a scissoring motion that repelled Artoria’s lighter frame with ease, sending her flying back like a tennis ball launched from one of those serving machines.

She recovered quickly from the force but Norman saw his chance.

“Zangoose, follow up! Quick Attack!”

His entire body burst with white light as he launched a headbutt straight into Artoria. She managed to bring her spoon into a guard just in time, preventing her from taking too much damage. A spoon forged from Reflect was amazingly convenient like that. But with no footing to brace into and the large difference in strength, she got knocked flying again anyway.

At this rate, she would win, but only because the poison exhausted her opponent faster than she could bring him down.

I saw my own chance. ‘Teleport behind it. Soften it up with lighter strikes.’

I felt her disgruntled pouting through the bond, but she acquiesced knowing that getting into a strength contest had been a mistake.

She flew through the air but vanished into a flash of blue. Then, from behind, she landed a vicious Mana Edge that repaid the zangoose back for that Quick Attack. The explosive force sent the larger pokemon rolling across the field with a cry of pain.

Then, before he could recover, she was there, bringing her spoon down onto his head in a textbook-perfect strike.

“Goose!” he growled, just managing to bring his claw up in time. He used his other claw to roll, practically lifting his entire body onto one claw before righting himself.

“Don’t let her do that again. Disable!” Norman shouted.

My eyes widened in alarm. ‘Don’t meet its-’

Too late, the zangoose waved his claws in a waving pattern as he met Artoria’s eyes.

As it had been explained to me, Disable separated the psychological schemas from the victim, temporarily keeping them from making the connection between “Teleport” the name and Teleport the move.

The Disable took hold, imposing a limited psychosomatic block onto her mind. Artoria wasn’t new to psychic attacks, but she wasn’t nearly experienced enough to instantly no-sell them like her parents could. It only lasted ten or twenty seconds, just so long as the zangoose’s aura remained in Artoria’s system, but that was potentially crippling in a fight.

“Shit!” I swore. This was why Quinn’s mastery of Shadow Sneak was so damn useful. As much shit as I gave him for being a hopeless chuuni, having multiple forms of rapid movement was incredibly useful. ‘You’re just going to have to compensate with Mana Burst.’

‘So I see, my lord,’ she grunted.

‘Try to overwhelm him with speed. Attack from multiple angles. Keep switching your rhythm.’

I received a pulse of assent and watched as Artoria burst forth again, cratering the ground slightly with Mana Burst. The zangoose met her mid-charge with an eager shout of hid own, happy to have found a worthy opponent.

Then his face contorted in surprise and pain as Artoria struck him from above. She had formed a platform in midair with Reflect and used it to kick off, abruptly changing trajectory.

Those platforms didn’t last long, formed as shoddily as they were, they couldn’t even take a single hit from me, never mind a pokemon, but they didn’t have to.

This was one of the secondary advantages of Artoria’s hyper-focused training style: Everything for the sword. Rather than use Reflect and Light Screen like castle walls to hide behind, she had spent months creating shaped constructs, all for the exclusive purpose of clubbing her opponents senseless with a spoon. Forming a small platform by her feet for the instant it took to leap wasn’t nearly as taxing as sustaining a psychic construct.

She dove for the ground, not unlike the taillow earlier, and landed several strikes before her opponent could react to them. I saw Norman’s eyes widen in surprise and knew that had I not already been promised the badge, this would have cinched it.

Then, as if to prove that even his lower-level pokemon were extraordinarily well-trained, he called, “Agility. Quick Attack. Match them speed for speed.”

The zangoose winced in pain as he took off. Though he was resistant to poisons and had good pain tolerance; he sure as hell wasn’t immune. He was running out of time and knew it, so he threw everything he had at Artoria.

‘I suppose all good things must come to an end, my lord,’ Artoria pouted over our bond.

‘We promised we’d beat that zangoose before he collapses from poison,’ I reminded her.

‘Then we should hurry up.’

‘Of course. Evade and counter with Double Team.’

‘Yes, my lord.’

Before we could respond as we’d planned, the zangoose rushed her down with reckless intent, forcing her to block hastily. He slammed one glowing claw against her, driving her down to her knees with the force of his strike. Then he smashed the second claw right on top of the first, causing visible cracks to spread from the focal point.

I could feel the immense strain she was under through our bond and did my best to send her pulses of determined calm. ‘No choice. Mana Edge. Detonate the Reflect outward.’

“Kir-lia!” she shouted. Her cry was all but lost in the sound of her spoon construct erupting. The explosion sounded like a firework tossed into a house of mirrors. The field erupted with smoke, obscuring the combatants.

A second later, the zangoose flew out of the smoke and skipped along the ground before he used his two, oversized claws as brakes. The fucking thing still wasn’t down. Poisoned, panting in exhaustion, but his eyes were as clear and combative as ever. He skidded along the floor until he almost reached the psychic barriers, then kicked off in another burst of Quick Attack.

Thankfully, that had bought us enough time. Artoria was equally tired, her stamina not a match for Norman’s zangoose, but she took those few seconds to collect herself and eked out three illusionary clones. When the smoke cleared, her opponent found himself crashing through one clone, only to take a retaliatory strike across the ear.

‘Good. Don’t let up. We need to end it now.’

‘Agreed.’

My little knight’s aura burned white-hot with determination as she forced herself to fight through the fatigue. She cried out in a piercing, lyrical battle cry that bellied her ferocity as she put on speed with Mana Burst. Beside her, the two remaining clones followed suit, seemingly vanishing to strike from hilariously impractical angles.

Above, down on the collarbone. From the lower left, towards the kidney. A thrust from behind to the spine that switched targets in an instant to become a parrying swipe. It didn’t matter in truth. The sheer volume of attacks forced the zangoose back into a guarded stance.

Artoria’s technical precision alone had not been enough to break that guard, but tired as he was, a bit of trickery provided the right opportunity.

A clone launched a rising slash from the left that he attempted to slap away. A second clone drove in from the center, a thrust towards his throat that made him raise his other claw in defense.

That was it, the moment Artoria had been waiting for. With his left paw wide and right lifting into the air, the real Artoria erupted from below, catching the right claw and using his own momentum to finally break his guard. It was a modified harai-ageru, a low-to-high parry that swept the opponent’s bokken high above their head, leaving the body open for a decisive strike.

I saw and felt her moment of triumph, that instant flood of glorious victory and pride  as her spoon shone like a torch in the night.

“Kir-li-aAA!” she roared, bringing her sword down onto her opponent’s head with an explosive crash.

That finally proved to be too much for the zangoose. He was out before he hit the ground.

Artoria stood there, panting and visibly trembling, but the sword still locked in her finishing stance. Then, ever so slowly, she released the tension in her body. She blinked slowly, as if her victory had finally settled in her mind. Then, with a joyous shout, she lifted her spoon into the air.

“Kirlia!”

“Gym Leader Maple’s zangoose is unable to battle. Challenger Fulan is the victor!” the gym trainer called unnecessarily.

Still, it had the desired effect. The few spectators we had erupted into applause. Artoria basked in it, positively glowing at her accomplishment.

‘You know, you can’t call Jeanne a diva anymore, right?’ I teased.

‘Nonsense, she is a diva,’ Artoria huffed fondly.

‘And you are?’

‘I never said I wasn’t. There is nothing wrong with delighting in hard-won victories.’

‘Of course not. This is your moment, Artoira, savor it.’

I hobbled over and motioned for her to teleport onto my shoulder. For the first time in a while, she didn’t squirm or complain about her damaged dignity. We shared a quiet moment of camaraderie before we heard Norman Maple approach.

“Congratulations, young man, you’ve proven several times over that you are worthy of the Balance Badge,” he said warmly. In his hand was the badge in question, which, if I was being honest, looked rather underwhelming. It was a simple metal badge shaped like a barbell, though I supposed it was supposed to represent the many balances a trainer ought to strike in life.

Nevertheless, I accepted it with a happy smile; the badge wasn’t important after all. “Thank you, Leader Maple. And thank you for picking the zangoose as Artoria’s opponent. I think she got a lot out of that.”

“I’m sure. Toxic Boost is a risky strategy to use, a tradeoff that favors immediate, overwhelming strength over a drawn out battle. I didn’t think you’d try to race the clock though.”

He walked us over to the bleachers so I could finally rest my legs. The tentacool venom had been washed from my system, but the rash remained and I still couldn’t stand for long. I had to temporarily return my team so he could put our five pokeballs into the healing machine in the corner.

“Heh, that was Artoria’s idea. She’s a knight; she would have hated playing a game of tag until the zangoose poisoned himself unconscious.”

“Ah, that would explain it. It’s important to account for your pokemon’s personality when deciding on an approach. That’s why I settled on Toxic Boost for this particular zangoose,” he admitted. “His body lacks the natural immunity to most poisons that some members of his species have, but he’s a scrappy one. He didn’t respond well to other fighting styles and it took a while for us to come to an understanding about using this little quirk safely, but I’m happy with the balance we’ve set so far.”

“How does that work exactly?” I asked curiously. “Toxic Boost, I mean. I know it makes the pokemon stronger, but I’m not sure about the mechanics. It’s not just pure aura nonsense, is it?”

“‘Aura nonsense,’ he says,” he chuckled. “No, no it is not. What you have to understand is that not all poisons are the same. Some work by thinning the blood, making even small injuries debilitating. Others cause muscle spasms by influencing nervous synapses. The especially dangerous ones cause apoptosis, cell suicide, in white blood cells and other important cells in the body.

“It’s the second type that my zangoose doused himself with. However, instead of simply causing muscle spasms or painful convulsions that can restrict blood flow or constrict the airways, some of the chemicals inside the poison react with special hormone receptors unique to zangoose, replicating the effect of adrenaline and other hormones that are released during combat,” he finished.

“I think I get it. So not all poisons would work the same for Toxic Boost.” It made sense. “Poison” as a type covered everything from rotting sewage to neurotoxins in the games. Reality tended to be considerably more nuanced than that.

“That’s right. Toxic Boost is an evolutionary adaptation the zangoose species developed in response to their feud with seviper and so triggers when similar cocktails are used. A grimer’s poison for example, would not trigger this response.”

“Thank you, Leader Maple, that was very informative.”

“No need to thank me, young man, it’s nice to see someone your age hold an interest in learning. Usually, people are only interested in things that affect their own pokemon.”

“Speaking of my pokemon, do you have any advice for me?” The man was one of the strongest trainers in the region, to the point that there were whispers about him taking over for Drake should the dragon master retire. I didn’t know how true those rumors were, but someone who could be talked about in the same breath as the Elite Four was someone worth respecting.

“Hmm… I haven’t seen your flaaffy battle so I can’t comment on that one. Your mankey is doing well enough. His anger is very typical of his species and even fighting type masters have a hard time reigning in that temper. It’s good that he is not the strongest on your team because they tend to be bullies if left unchecked; I had a similar experience with my vigoroth before he evolved.”

“I see. I hadn’t realized Artoria’s constant humbling was doing so much for him.”

“Mankey, like vigoroth, live in highly structured troupes. One might not think so considering how chaotic they are, but their relationship dynamics are very complex and striated. It may be that because your kirlia favors such a martial-focused fighting style, he respects her more. If she relied on psychic might alone, I don’t think he’d be as obedient.”

“A fighting type’s pride, huh?”

“Indeed. It’s working for you. However, be sure to spend time with your mankey. The stick must be balanced with the carrot. Ensure that he grows alongside your other pokemon. Otherwise, he may begin to resent his place in the team.”

“That makes sense. I try, but I admit I’m not nearly as knowledgeable about hand-to-hand combat as I am at kendo.”

“You do not have to be. Simply letting your mankey know he is appreciated and that you will explore avenues for growth is enough. You seem to have done a decent job of that already. I do have to wonder though, how did you end up with such a unique kirlia? I hadn’t realized Leader Fulan had an interest in kendo.”

I laughed sheepishly. “Mom? Definitely not. That’s my own interest. I’d show you, but,” I waved to my crutches. “Artoria looks up to her dad, mom’s gallade, and wants to be a knight like him. I figured it’d be really neat if I taught her kendo.”

That was as much time as we had before Max and May rushed over, their mother unable to contain their energy.

“That was so cool! How did your kirlia do that?” Max shouted excitedly. He began to chatter in a babbling stream before I could answer even one of his questions.

“Max, be quiet,” May chided her little brother. “You haven’t even let Aaron talk.”

“It’s fine,” I waved her off. “I have a brother too. I know what they’re like.”

The boy in question laughed nervously. “Ehehe, sorry. I think your kirlia is awesome. I want a kirlia of my own one day.”

“Oh? Kirlia aren’t girly?”

“Not when they can do that.”

“Well that all depends on how you train them, doesn’t it?”

“Yeah! I’m gonna be a trainer like you one day! Dad! I want to learn kendo!”

“Oh? Do you think it’s easy?” the gym leader said with a stern frown.

“I can do it!”

I couldn’t help the beaming smile on my face. I wasn’t an instructor anymore, but it felt good seeing someone express interest in the art I’d honed for almost three decades. “Oh? You can, can you? Kendo isn’t what makes my kirlia strong.”

“It’s not?”

“It’s bonds,” I said, tapping his chest. “Heart. Friendship.”

“Everyone says that,” he said with a pout.

“Well, if I, your father, my mother, and even the Elite Four and Champion keep saying so, then there must be a reason for that. The connection Artoria and I share is what really makes us great. She’s not just a pokemon, she’s my friend, and that word has power, Max.”

“He’s right, son,” Norman said, “All great trainers understand this. A strong connection will be what carries you far.”

“Then I’ll be the best friend a pokemon could ask for,” Max exclaimed with all the innocence of youth.

“I’m sure you will,” I said earnestly. Considering how he managed to befriend the Wish Maker in the original timeline, I sure as hell wasn’t willing to bet against him. If Jirachi hadn’t gone off to take his thousand year siesta, who knew? Max might have even begun his journey with a legendary as his starter.

Norman coughed Softly into his fist to get my attention. “Now, normally, this is when I’d give you a TM, something to commemorate the battle. The TMs I give out contain Facade, a move that allows the pokemon to feign weakness before striking with great power. However, I did promise a more fitting reward. Tell me, is there a TM in particular that you want?”

“Loads, but normal type moves, right?”

“I do have to stay on brand.”

“Well…”

“Personally, I recommend Protect.”

“I do too. I have it already. The biggest reason I don’t use it more often is that it loses initiative. It’s a big investment in terms of stamina and gives your opponent momentum. I think of it as a last resort rather than something to be relied on heavily.”

“I see. In that case, perhaps Swift? Your team seems to rely heavily on melee combat. Both your kirlia and mankey would benefit from something with a bit more range.”

That was true. Swift wasn’t too powerful, but this was only the second badge. It wouldn’t do to ask for something absurd like Hyper Beam, not that I could use it in the first place.

Considering Swift’s homing property, it was an especially useful move. Even its lack of power was to our advantage; mastering it would be far less time-consuming than many other options. More than one trainer started with Swift and added their own elemental twist to the move. Artoria wouldn’t use it, but maybe…

“If that’s what you recommend,” I said finally, ideas running through my mind.

“Then I’ll go get that and Facade for you. Don’t look too surprised; Swift isn’t so valuable that I can consider it a reward on its own.”

“Thank you, Leader Maple.”

“Please, just Norman. I’ll be watching your journey with great interest, young man.”

“We all will,” Caroline added with a mothering smile.

X

I wasn’t quite fit for travel even though I’d accomplished everything I wanted to do in Petalburg. I spent a few days of my recovery with the Maples, particularly the children. Artoria never warmed up to them, but Jeanne and May got along like a house on fire once May found out I also participated in contests. I told her about my idea for using directed electricity as an instrument and her eyes practically shone like stars.

With little else to do, I was able to find out what those things were called: thoramins. They weren’t well-known here, what with pokemon being the center of attention, but that just meant Jeanne’s debut as a living instrument would be even more eye-catching. I made sure to devote a few hours each day to studying up on the physics of it all and downloaded as much literature as I could on the subject onto my pokenav so I could learn while on the road.

For his part, Durvasa continued to master Detect. I wanted him to have a sort of discount Ultra Instinct by the time he evolved. I’d give him Swift eventually, but it was best to take things one at a time.

As for Artoria, she was still riding high on her victory. I bought her a parfait and poffins as promised, which ended with her stuffing herself until she looked like a balloon. That zangoose showed us that her strength, discounting the explosion of Mana Edge, was lacking, but there was unfortunately little we could do to remedy that until she evolved. I had some ideas, but they’d take work to implement.

Author’s Note

Commission, which cleans up my monthly list.

A zangoose’s sclera is naturally pink and makes it look like it’s pissed the fuck off. I’m not sure if the fight scene was easy to understand, but I wanted their duel to be a bit more mechanical than usual.

Be advised that my understanding of biology never progressed beyond AP bio in high school. I’m sure a ton of what I said is wrong, please don’t crucify me.

Animal fact? Sure. The plural of “mongoose” is mongooses, not mongeese. Some are solitary while other species live in groups. These groups are called mobs. Despite the stereotype, mongooses do not subsist primarily on a diet of venomous snakes. They prefer simpler prey like insects much of the time.