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"Indie! Indie- are you alright?"
Scraping your face off the floor, your eyes met Erna's. She was offering a paw... you took it.
Not a moment later, you were back on your feet.
Staring down a big angry ball of fur with iron bracelets on its fists and ankles.
"Wha..."
Erna immediately started talking before you could ask anything. "That wasn't fair! I- I told ya he was strong, you trippin' him doesn't count."
There was ire in her tone. Wh-
No more thoughts.
A sinister grin spread across the ball of fluff's negligible mouth area, and the hulking mon backed up a bit. You reckoned he was maybe three-foot-ten, three-foot-eleven...
Even while trying to distract yourself with his height, your blood still ran cold- and when the mon opened his mouth, that didn't help things at all. He spoke in a surprisingly deep voice... "Doesn't count, you say? Well then, you have a lot of explaining to do for last time."
You heard Erna gulp behind you, but she stayed strong. You tried your best to do the same- even if your heart was pounding out of your chest. In fact, despite it all, you even managed to open your mouth. "What... what last time? What's going on, Erna?"
Your friend opened her mouth to speak- the other mon talked over her. He didn't even maintain eye contact- he just scanned his claws while he spoke. "Oh, nothing. The little braggart said you're tough enough to beat me, and that I should leave her alone if I wanted to keep myself moving."
A bit of fluff touched your arm. A lot soon bumped your waist and brushed against your bum. That was her, wasn't it?
No time to look back. Your eyes remained locked onto the stranger's. He took that as a sign to continue, sparing you a glance in the process, beginning to grin again. "Evidently, however, she was exaggerating things."
The mon curled his paw into a fist for just a moment, bringing it a little closer to you- or was it Erna?- before retracting the thing and letting it fall by his side. The mon made sure he was louder as he spoke, now directing his gaze behind you. "MAYBE YOU SHOULD TAKE A PAGE OUT OF MY BOOK, ERNA. I <span class="mu-i">EARNED</span> THIS EVOLUTION, JUST AS I EARNED MY ALLIES, AND YET YOU'RE STILL HERE PARADING AROUND SOMEONE ELSE'S STRENGTH AS YOUR OWN."
The deep growl in your opposition's voice was beginning to get hard to listen to. You glanced past him, to Bud- who was now watching two other mon at two other stalls. Not the owners of those stalls, no- the mon lined up for shopping at them. Similar balls of fuzz to the one in front of you, if smaller. Without much gear either.
You heard a whoosh behind you, and you were gone.
