It had been a week in Kamphabashi, and no luck. Every other Pokemon there was insufficient, as far as Sycrause saw it, although, being only five males in the facility, including himself, there were slim pickings. Sycrause had been mildly worried Trainer would come back after three days and be disappointed in his lack of progress, but Trainer had not even passed by since she dropped them there, and the Zoroark could smell every single human within a square mile.

And besides the mission at hand, there were other gripes. After his second squirrel-catching feat, the other Skwovets took notice, and as stealthy as he was, more often than not Sycrause was forced to hear the infuriating rustle of branches as his prey escaped. Fortunately they always left most of their stocks, so he was not faced with starvation, but he so craved the flesh of an animal as opposed to the flesh of a berry. The tantalizingly close scent of the mouse he was made to carry with him at all times could be trying, and even maddening as mealtime approached.

If there was one solace now, it was, perhaps ironically, that the Rattata in his care no longer seemed to fear him. He could hold her in the palm of his paw now, rather than gripping her tightly, without fear of her leaping off. And, if ever she did get spooked into a leap, she always dove into his mane, instead of the nearest bush. His animosity for her had faded into a slightly less begrudging acceptance, and her relaxation of her own guard regarding him was of some comfort. Certainly, he enjoyed the feeling of being big and tough, undoubtedly the master of his fate as far as this place was concerned, but that all too easily bled over into being perceived as a monster, which the Zoroark did not so much appreciate.

Sycrause's ear twitched as he heard the heavy, lumbering pawsteps of one of the others, a hefty Flareon, behind him. The Zoroark turned, and, as it always had since his childhood to some extent whenever he saw such a massively heavy Pokemon, his mind briefly wondered if the creature had chosen Zorua as his preferred meal to get so fat. Of course, Sycrause knew that the actual source of the Flareon's girth was from a misguided owner believing that chubby Pokemon were automatically cuter, and overfeeding him to try to win a prize Unfortunately, the plan had succeeded, and he was full of himself about it. 

"Hey there Sycrause, Pristina!"

"Hello Kabul."

Pristina swiftly leapt into Sycrause's mane, but the Flareon was unfazed. 

"So! You find that optimum Pokemon yet?"

"Still working on it."

"Have I mentioned how impressively-"

"Yes, Kabul, you have," Sycrause interrupted. Kabul was a vain Flareon to be certain, which was bad enough. But his apparently unending urge to show everyone just how fat he was, and how large he was generally, was quite bothersome.

"Huh. And I'm still not a candidate?"

"If we're still here in a week, and nobody new comes in, then you might be on the top ten list."

"But there's only eleven Pokemon here... and six of them are females!"

"Well then, I guess you just got bumped up to the top five. Congratulations."

Kabul huffed a small puff of smoke at the ground. "So what are the standings right now?"

Sycrause shrugged. "Can't tell ya. That'd bias it."

"Where are you on the list, huh?"

"You'd better beat it, before I beat you."

Kabul's eyes widened, and he swiftly scrambled away. Sycrause sat down at the base of a tree and curled up. He had eaten already, so it was merely a nap. His ear flicked, as Pristina came climbing over it to sit on his muzzle.

"You have a top five list?"

"I just said that so he'd stop asking questions. As usual, it wasn't nearly as effective as a good physical threat."

Pristina rocked back and forth on his muzzle. "So... even if you don't have your list all done yet... can I hear your opinion on each of them?"

Sycrause sighed, and rolled onto his side, the action gently tossing the mouse Pokemon onto the ground before his face.

"Well, there's Riga, that Granbull. He's safely at the bottom of the list. That busted face I gave him helped that. Not to mention that I doubt he's intelligent enough to know how to breed. There's N'Djamena, the Thwackey. He seems alright, not too big like Kabul, but kinda weaker than I'm looking for. Then of course the Eeveelutions. Kabul is a solid fourth just because I'm pretty sure he terrifies you-"

"That is correct."

"I mean, you don't win a blue ribbon just by being chubby, so he's gotta have some skills and talents he could pass on, but so do Talkeetna and N'Djamena. But I think Talkeetna is a little too focused on the pleasure aspect compared to the actual procreation, so N'Djamena is probably the front runner of them all."

Pristina watched him expectantly. He sighed softly...

"I know this is probably a little... eh... rough... for you, but I have a duty to my trainer, and that's to get you coupled up. At least until she comes back and gets us."

Pristina tilted her head to the side. "Will I get a say in who it is at all?"

"Well, yeah, of course. If you said, 'please don't make me have sex with him,' then I wouldn't make you. That's why Kabul's so low on the list."

"What if I didn't want to have sex with any of them?"

Sycrause's heart sank. "Please tell me that's just a hypothetical question..."

Pristina giggled, and patted the fox's nose gently. "Don't worry, I'll do whatever your trainer needs me to. I just was wondering... speaking of things I was wondering... why didn't you evaluate yourself?"

Sycrause chuckled softly. "Oh, yeah, I'm last on the list, below even Riga. With as hyped as this has become, imagine I just say, 'ah, the winner is me all along!' They'd get frustrated and angry."

"Is that it?"

"Yeah...?"

Pristina closed her eyes. "Well... I think you'd be a great candidate."

"Huh?"

"Think of it... you're kind, gentle, able to control your impulses, and reasonably intelligent. Not to mention you're the strongest, most well developed and most impressive Pokemon here, by a good 52 levels..."

Sycrause blushed a little. Whenever the idea of himself as a candidate for his mission came up, he swiftly blocked it, or reminded himself that he wasn't eligible. But here Pristina had just presented an argument in favour that was hard to controvert logically.

"Well... there's still the matter of size. I'm seven times bigger than you. No way that's gonna fly."

"Did I mention you're gentle?"

Sycrause closed his eyes, trying to come up with reasons why he shouldn't be the choice. But coming up with reasons as to why someone shouldn't mate with yourself is difficult.

"Besides... all of these other Pokemon only want me specifically because I'm so much smaller than them... they just want a few days of fun, and then they're out. But you... you don't seem like that..."

Sycrause looked at her, laying on his side, speechless. Pristina sighed softly, and nuzzled his ear.

"If I had to choose, it'd be a no brainer."

And with that, she crawled into his mane and went to sleep.