what doesn't kill you makes you stronger ( corybantic x inspirit )

[Asbel]

As the revered, eighth gym leader of the Kanto region, Katarina had a bit of a reputation to uphold. She was the final obstacle to ambitious trainers aiming to challenge the Elite Four, and as the last test of strength, she needed to testify that the road past her wouldn't be an easy one.

There was no doubt among the citizens in her town and wandering trainers that she took her job very seriously, almost to the point where her affinity for fire types was engraved into her personality. She was aggressive in battle and unyielding like an inferno; the few that had gotten a glimpse of her warm demeanor, on the other hand, were her own Pokéboys. Katarina disciplined and trained them impeccably, and it showed in her battle techniques that the redhead valued brute strength to overpower her opponents.

So, when the time came for Katarina to leave her Charizard in the capable hands of a guru more knowledgeable in the species than she could ever be, she saw it as an opportunity for her Pokéboy to grow. She needed him to be as stronger and if that meant spending a few months apart for her Charizard to battle against his own kind for the sake of experience, then she was more than willing to make that sacrifice. He might resent her for abandoning him in an unfamiliar place after all they had gone through but Katarina saw this as just another method of discipline she needed him to overcome. She would be back for him, she had promised.

She returned to the reserve a few months later, admittedly a bit later than she had initially planned. She had been busy training the new Pokéboys in her roster and battling the influx of trainers eager to proceed to the Elite Four by the end of the season. Late, but she was here. Katarina retrieved the Charizard's empty Ultra Ball by her waist and held it in her hand. Honestly, she was nervous, although her intimidating facade kept that well-hidden. How much had he grown? Had he missed her? Did he still resent her for leaving him and never contacting him since?

Katarina stood at the reserve's entrance, unfazed by the strong winds that whipped through her hair and the daunting sight of the open canyons around her. It had been quite an exhausting trip coming up here and she wasn't planning on leaving without her Charizard. She tucked a strand of her hair behind one ear and called out, her tone of voice sounding like a command that pierced the empty sky. "I'm here," she called, hoping that the winds would carry her voice to him. "Come back to me, love."

Other Charizards dotted the sky and a few trainers were already on the reserve, either departing from their own Charizards or reuniting with them. She had yet to see hers and it disappointed her, knowing she would have spotted him easily by his strange coloration by now.

 

[Corybantic]

Katarina's Charizard roared at the bright, wide-open sky. The latest new arrival was trying to find his way into the pecking order, and he was strong. He had already challenged and easily defeated several of the weaker Charizards, and it had been emboldened enough to think that he had the chops to take it straight to the top, the alpha. The position Katarina's Charizard had held for nearly a month now, having clawed and fought his way into the position. And had to hold it with power of tooth and claw.

It had not been a position that had come naturally, or easily to Katarina's Charizard. His lived to fight, yes. But the constant challenges , the responsibility to keep his lessers in line, all the rigmarole that came with having to rule was a tendency that he had never developed evolving under the care of a trainer rather than in the wild with the ferals.

Dodging a clumsy wing attack, he knew that this was not going to be his most difficult fight. The newcomer was slow, predictable. Next would come the flame burst. 3...2....1... Katarina's Charizard executed a lazy roll to the right, as the fire passed overhead. He feinted a return burst, but instead let loose with a simple but vicious slash. The newcomer was sent sprawling, scrambling to his feet, his tail swaying for balance, wings flapping impotently, unable to return to the air. Katarina's charizard hovered above him, his wings buffeting the smaller pokeboy, not allowing him to regain his composure.

"Run, little brother. Now is time to run." He landed next to the now cowed opponent. "Rest and recover, and know better your strength for who to battle. You aim for the stars, which is admirable, but unless you understand your skills, you will let down your Trainer. Remember."

Remember, he thought. It was months since he had looked upon his trainer. Felt her presence as he nestled in his cosy ultraball. The warmth of her regard had sustained him in his early stay, but he knew he had to prove himself for her, to be worthy of his return. The longer it took, the more he knew he had more to learn. But as the weeks stretched by he wondered. Had she forgotten? Was another her new Champion? What did he have to learn, to achieve for her to return to him, to favor him with her love? He had begun to assert himself among the brothers, pairing his natural gladiatorial combativeness, with a new need to crush his opponent. He began to seek fights far above his previous challenger level, and rose all the way.

And now... the North Wind had returned, and faint on that wind was her voice. He felt the need and knew where his home lay, at the PokeCentre entrance of the reserve. She had returned. She called to him. He leaped into the air like an arrow, powerful wings propelling him to breakneck speeds back. Home. to Her.

He aligted on the landing pad next to the building and allowed his wings to fold against his body. Dark eyes tightened with concern as to what would greet him as he approached. He had been as a king for weeks, and now his trainer called to him, and he answered...gladly? he always had before. But now, he was not so sure. He held his breath as he stepped over the threshold.

 

[Asbel]

Ah, there he was.

A meek simper lit on her features once she spotted her dear companion in the sky, observing how much more graceful he was now that he had learned to master the art of flight against powerful winds. Her heart soared instead, fathoming how much he had grown in such a short amount of time, and how he would greet her, hopefully like they had never been apart.

But some tension lingered between them as she approached as she was still not entirely sure where his loyalties lied. After dominating one after another of his kind, Katarina knew it would take some adjusting to fall under her command again. If he willed it, that is. The Charizard reserve's guardian had informed her months prior that several trainers had ultimately freed their Charizards for they had become completely independent and feral, a risk Katarina had gladly accepted for the betterment of hers. If, by the end of his training regime, her Charizard enjoyed his life here, surrounded by his kind, the redhead knew she wouldn't have it in herself to be selfish. She would release him, if only he wished to stay.

So, when her Charizard approached her, she searched his gaze for any semblance of familiarity that would convince her that her Champion, the Charmander she had been raised with, was still there. "Did you miss me?" she asked. It was a simple question albeit an important one. She stepped closer and placed a gentle palm on the side of his cheek, stroking the chiseled surface with her thumb.

He had certainly matured physically as well, his features now rugged and darkened due to hours of outside training. She slipped a hand to the nape of his neck and clutched his hair gingerly, holding his gaze with her emerald-green eyes. She wanted to reward him for all that he had endured surviving in a foreign place, surrounded by unfamiliar individuals that only knew battle, but this was not the place. How long had he gone without a woman's touch to smooth out the rough edges of his newly adjusted lifestyle? Katarina kissed him softly on the cheek, welcoming him home with a fond gaze that was so unlike the way she looked at others.

"Do you want to come home?" she asked. If he preferred it here, she wouldn't convince him to leave with her; after all, all of this had been for him. But if he longed for her the way she had yearned for him, she would remind him once again what it felt like to be tamed and loved.

 

[Corybantic]

At the slightest touch of her hand, Charles stiffened. His world had been so focused on the daily struggle in a testosterone driven, primal battle for supremacy that a gentle touch was alien to him. Using an effort of will, he allowed himself to lean into her hand, the soft, uncalloused hand lightly stroking his cheek. There was a warmth there that went beyond the transfer of body heat, a softness that had nothing to do with the texture of her delicate, yet firm fingers.

Did you miss me? Do you want to come home?

He remembered pain from those fingers, from that hand, but he also remembered love. The memory was muted, but undeniable. His eyes sought hers as he sought the answer within himself. "Many owners come, take their friends. Still I am here." The effort of condensing so complicated feelings into his few words was extroadinary. "So I wonder if I am no longer needed. No longer your champion." He trembled slightly at the memory. "I am sad. But almost all owners glad to... reunite. So perhaps I need to be more. So I grow, I change, I... " he searched for the words. "I became king. And still you don't come, so I grew angry."

His trembling intensified, almost shaking now.

"And then one day, a trainer came and his pet didn't leave with him. I found there was a chance that you would come and we would not leave together. And I found I was no longer angry. I became scared. Scared that this was what would become of us."

His trembling subsided and he straightened his shoulders.

"And now you are here and ask me this. I never thought it would be in my hands. But since I have become king here I have to make choices each and every day. Hard choices. I have a choice to be the best here, or serve you as your champion."

He looked deep into her hypnotic green eyes. His face grew hard, then he suddenly sagged, melting down to one knee.

"I want to go home, please. If you will have me."

 

[Asbel]

She listened, because by no means was Katarina a neglectful nor an abusive mistress. She hadn't left her Charizard at the reserve out of ill intent, but even she couldn't deny how crippling those months of being alone could have been for Charles to cope with. That was why she was here now, more than willing to whisk him away.

"I promised you that I would come back for you," she said, her tone of voice as unwavering as her gaze. "Nothing's changed between us but the fact you've become stronger. I can sense that." Her hand slipped down his bare arm, squeezing his bicep that had hardened after a long and arduous period of training.

She hadn't expected him to fall to one knee and beg of her to take him back, but it proved to her where his loyalties lied if there ever was an inkling of doubt that clouded her judgment. Instead of returning him to his Ultra Ball, she lowered herself gracefully on one knee and cupped the Charizard's cheeks. "I will always want you," Katarina swore. The redhead's fingers gently brushed away his charcoal fringe to press a chaste kiss to his forehead, a gesture of affection that was even rare for her Pokéboys to see of their stoic tamer. But Charles had been good; resilient and strong when she needed him to be the most.

"And see to it that you never sink to your knees again, except for me," she added playfully, a small smirk adorning her features. She stood first now, brushing a thick tress of her cinnamon-red hair behind one ear. A thin crowd had gathered around them, all of whom who knew her as the eighth gym leader with her awe-inspiring Shiny Charizard.

"Come, let's go home, then."

She enlarged the Ultra Ball in her hand and tossed it to him, the contraption lightly bouncing off the Charizard's shoulder and splitting open with a mechanical hiss. Red light engulfed him whole before sealing his form inside.

Only when they were in the comforts of their gym did she release him again, hoping that he hadn't forgotten what home looked and felt like. This gym, passed down generations after generations to Katarina, had been where the two were raised, way back when Charles had been nothing more than a scrawny Charmander learning to breathe fire for the first time. They had come a long way since then.

 

[Corybantic]

Be Ready. Observe. Identify threat. Charles emerged from the pokeball in a fighting stance, one fist clenched resting on the ground, in a runners crouch, eyes flitting about, taking in the details without narrowing his focus until he assessed his whole surroundings. His wings remained close to his body, but he could be airborne in two heartbeats if the need arose. His breathing was steady, and his posture was tense. As the details of his surroundings filtered through his senses, he relaxed his stance, rising to standing. He wasn't in the reserve any longer. He was back in the gym. He tucked his wings in, and his tail curled around his leg.

Clenching and relaxing he noticed that his gaze kept drifting to the roof. Being in an enclosed area kept made his shoulders itch. He had developed a habit of taking to the sky during his time away, and that option being denied sat poorly on him, and he wasn't in the habit of schooling his displeasure at his situation, so a scowl slowly crept across his features as the he understood the source of the irritation.

He watched as gym students battled their pokemon, his eyes narrowing at the naivete of some of the tactics used. Predictable. Slow. he mentally cataloged the weaknesses and mistakes, seeking patterns to be exploited, as he often did when observing battles between the trainer-less pokemon jockeying for status.

He looked for his Mistress, awaiting her direction, eyes only occasionally flitting to a nearby battle or up to where his instinct screamed that the open sky should be.