Professor Oak's Ranch

Butterfree had the feeling that today was going to be a great day.

It was a beautiful day outside. The sun shone brightly, unperturbed by any cloud. The atmosphere was pleasant and warm, and from time to time a cool, refreshing breeze would blow, stopping the atmosphere from getting too warm. Naturally, the Pokemon at the ranch were enjoying the day outside. Many were lazying around, others were sparring in order to keep their abilities honed, and others were eating the berries from the many bushes that grew around the place.

Butterfree had found a particularly nice looking Tamato berry that would make for a nice appetizer, something to give him enough energy for his usual sparring with other Pokemon belonging to Ash he was the closest with, such as Bulbasaur or Squirtle, though recently, he was also having matches with Yanma and Ambipom.

He also found a pretty sweet spot to eat, under the shadow of the canopy of a large tree. Or it would have been the perfect spot, if it wasn't for what happened next.

"Hn?" Butterfree muttered, as he was alerted by a nearby noise.

A Pidgeotto flew past him, reaching to a nest where another one was resting, as well as a couple Pidgeys. The former Pidgeotto was carrying a couple berries, probably to feed the young ones. Butterfree guessed that the bird Pokemon didn't belong to any trainer, but they were part of Pidgeot's flock, and thus technically wild. A couple that apparently had chicks together. The image was a bit bitter for the Butterfly Pokemon, who was reminded of his time with his pink hued mate and the kids they had together. He decided to find a new spot before the sight of the happy family made him too nostalgic.

Flying around, he found a tree stump that looked comfortable enough to sit on and have his little meal. But again, when he was about to eat his berry, he realized he was in front of a couple of Ninetales being affectionate with each other. Grumbling, Butterfree flew away looking for another spot.

He then sat against a rock, but to his frustration saw that there was a pair of Nidoran of each gender snuggling against each other. As anger was building inside him, Butterfree left again.

But unfortunately for the Bug/Flying-type Pokemon, it seemed that, no matter where he stayed, he always managed to find a couple of Pokemon in the middle of a very public display of mutual love. It seemed that, no matter where he went, he always found a happy couple forcing him to remind his time with his mate.

"Is everybody in this stupid ranch hooking up or what?" he seethed to himself as he angrily flew around.

Then, he saw something that noticeably improved his mood: Ash's Tauros herd, happily grazing on the part of the ranch they claimed for themselves. Butterfree flew towards the area, and sat on the fence.

"There, nothing but males here. Plus Tauros only care about fighting and competing with each other and stuff like that. No happy couples rubbing their love in my face and reminding me how alone-" Butterfree was then interrupted when he saw a pair of Tauros affectionately licking each other's faces. This had to be a joke.. "OH COME ON!"

Butterfree angrily threw the Tamato berry into the sky, and flew away. His apetite was completely gone, replaced by sheer anger and frustration. This day was feeling like one, big mean joke to him. He was feeling like proverbially punching somebody. Where were Squirtle and Bulbasaur? Today's sparring session was going to be more intense than usual.

He was then alerted by a loud noise, followed by cheers. Looking around, he found the source of the disturbance: a Growlithe fighting aginst one of Ash's Grimers, with many other Pokemon, some he did recognize, others he didn't, forming a circle around them, cheering and hollering. Butterfree realized it was one of those little fight clubs that sometimes formed around the ranch. The rules were simple: two Pokemon would fight, and when one lost, another took their place and fought the winner. Rinse, repeat. Butterfree normally avoided them, preferring his spars with Bulbasaur and Squirtle.

But Butterfree's mood was bad enough to give those fight clubs a chance. As he got closer, he saw the Growlithe –was it Gary's? Nah, that was an Arcanine now. Though it certainly had an arrogant air not unlike Gary– KO'ing the Grimer with a powerful Take Down. Two other Grimers grabbed their fallen friend by each of his arms and dragged him from the battlefield.

"Ha! That was hardly a challenge!" Growlithe boasted, raising his head in pride. "So, anyone else wants to step in? Only if you're going to put a real fight, I don't want to waste my time pummeling weaklings."

Oh, look at that. Somebody was begging for a big serving of a humble pie. And Butterfree was very eager to obligue.

"How about me?" Butterfree said, as he hovered above the ground in front of the Fire-type.

The Growlithe let out a condescending snort. "Didn't you hear me? I said only worthy challenges. I doubt a weak bug like yourself can give me a challenge."

"It seems to be like you're trying to use bravado to hide how deadly afraid you are of this weak bug," Butterfree fired back.

The rest of the Pokemon hollered and laughed, while Growlithe gritted his fangs in anger, and narrowed his eyes at Butterfree.

"Very well then, you asked for it!"

Growlithe opened his jaws, releasing a volley of small bolts of fire. Butterfree nimbly moved aside, dodging the attack without much effort.

"Ember, really? Am I not worthy of a Flamethrower?" Butterfree taunted him. "Or you don't know how to use it?"

Growlithe fired another volley of Embers, but Butterfree easily dodged them again.

"Guess you don't know it, do you?" Butterfree asked. "I shouldn't expect a puppy like yourself to know such an advanced attack."

"Puppy!?" the Growlithe roared, as fire began to gather inside his mouth. "Let's see if a puppy can do this!"

Growlithe leaped at Butterfree, and opened his jaws, ready to attack the Bug and Flying type with a Fire Fang. However, Butterfree was already expecting that, and moved upwards dodging the attack once again, while firing a String Shot from his mouth, latching onto the Growlithe's leg. The moment the Growlithe landed, Butterfree pulled the string, making him trip and land on his face in a comical fashion. The Pokemon watching the fight broke into laughter.

"If he doesn't like being called puppy, he's going to be really mad when he sees how the Pokedex classifies his kind as," Butterfree thought, repressing a chuckle. "You're nothing but a puppy. Puppy, puppy, puppy! Go back to your mom, puppy!" Butterfree taunted again.

"SHUT UP! I'M NOT A PUPPY!" Growlithe bellowed, as he charged towards Butterfree again, his body glowing with energy, as he left a trail of fading white light behind.

Butterfree wasn't somebody who liked to insult or even merely taunt his opponents. It wasn't in his nature, and even if it was, Ash would have make sure to correct such a flaw. But today, Butterfree was pissed beyond belief, and he desperatedly needed someone or something to vent his anger with, regardless of how little they had to do with his woes.

"You're right," Butterfree said, as he started to flap his wings, producing a gale of wind, with silvery scales sprikled on it. "Puppies are stronger than you."

Butterfree's Silver Wind crashed against the Growlithe, stopping his Take Down before he had a chance to get close. Despite having the type advantage, the power of the Silver Wind was too much for the young Growlithe, and was hurled into the air, before painfully landing back with a loud thud. Growlithe's eyes were now swirls, and its tongue was dropping from its opened jaws. He had been defeated.

Butterfree hovered a meter into the air, and looked around. "Well, that puppy provided a good warm up, but now I'm ready for a real fight. Anybody else wants to take his place?"

The next volunteer was one of Ash's many Golbat. Butterfree could see his eyes were glinting with confidence, probably because he had type advantage over the Bug and Flying type.

It took Butterfree less than three attacks to show him how misplaced that confidence was.

"Go back to live to a cave, you big-mouthed loser!" Butterfree yelled, as two Zubats carried their knocked out evolved brethen away.

The next in line was a Graveler. She was also sure he could win due her type advantage. And Butterfree also showed her how mistaken she was.

"I've fought Oddish that were harder and more resilent than you, you dumb piece of rock! They could throw a punch better than you, and they had no arms!"

After Graveler was taken away from the makeshift arena, the next challenger took her place. A Raticate. This one wasn't as confident as the other three Pokemon Butterfree had soundly beaten, given that he had witnessed Butterfree's previous fights. Not that it made Butterfree be any less merciless. Especially since Raticate reminded Butterfree of the man who tricked Ash into trading him when they were on that ship that sank into the ocean.

"Come on! I'm just getting warmed up here!" Butterfree shouted. "Who wants to fight me next?"

"How about me?"

Butterfree turned around to see his next opponent: One of Ash's Vivillons. One whose wings were deep purple with lavender trims, and some red and orange spots. Unlike the Raticate, this one looked pretty confident.

"You aren't the Vivillon Ash uses to fight," Butterfree pointed out.

"No, I'm not," she replied, sounding annoyed. "Is that a problem?"

"It's going to be a problem. Not for me though," Butterfree replied. Oh, he was going to enjoy breaking this smug Vivillon. "But if you want to be my punching bag, I'm not going to stop you. You know what? I'll let you make the first move."

"That's so courteous of you," Vivillon said in a mock grateful tone. "And foolish! Take this!"

Vivillon quickly flapped her wings, creating a strong wind current in the form of a Gust. Butterfree didn't bother to dodge it. Not only because he was sure it wouldn't cause any damage, but it would also be a good way to measure her power. The Flying-type attack hit and... Butterfree was thrown off balance for a second, the wind pushing back with surprising strength. Butterfree had to admit it was more powerful than he anticipated. Not strong enough to cause any serious harm, but still.

"Not bad. My turn!" he replied, flapping his wings as well.

The wind Butterfree blew not only was stronger than Vivillon's, but carried a multitude of sparkling silvery poweder scales on it. Undeterred, Vivillon quickly flew back in order to avoid the Silver Wind. She then turned around and started to fly in circles, in a way to get closer to him while avoiding the wide area of the attack.

Once she was close enough, she fired a String Shot at Butterfree. Butterfree stopped the Silver Wind, and moved away in order to avoid the attack. More String Shots followed the first one, but Butterfree dodged all of them easily. It was such a pitiful display, she didn't appear to be even aiming.

"Ha, you missed!" Butterfree taunted.

"No, I didn't!" Vivillon said, before bringing her whole body back in a pulling motion.

Butterfree realized that the String Shot still on her mouth was attached to something heavy, and before he could turn around or even move, a large rock smashed against his back.

"What...? How!?" Butterfree yelled.

"Say, did you like that?" Vivillon mocked.

Looking around, Butterfree realized that there were some rocks around the arena. The same rocks that Graveler had tried to crush him with. It was then when he realized why the String Shots were so easy to dodge.

Butterfree turned around, and saw that Vivillon was already preparing her next move. She opened her mouth, and exhaled a green projectile of greenish-yellow light. Said projectile split into smaller ones, which took the shape of six legged insects, all flying at him in irregular, looping patterns. Butterfree blew them away with another Silver Wind.

"Struggle Bug. So, you know a trick or two, despite not being a fighter," Butterfree replied.

"Why did you assume that just because I don't fight for a human, I'm not a fighter?" Vivillon rebutted.

"Very well then. In that case, you won't mind if I go all out?" Butterfree asked.

Vivillon smirked. "Please be my guest."

Butterfree was determined to make that arrogant Vivillon eat her words. The Butterfly Pokemon started to flap his wings again, producing yet another Silver Wind. And like she did before, the Scale Pokemon started to fly around in circles in order to avoid it, while also getting close to him. Though, unlike last time, rather than a String Shot, she opted for another Struggle Bug.

"Take this!" she said.

"You're a fool," Butterfree said in a low voice, as his eyes started to glow with a multicolored light.

After a second, he fired a white, purple and pink beam of psychic energy at Vivillon. The attack easily plowed through the Struggle Bug, and hit the Scale Pokemon squarely. The poor purple-winged insect let out a yelp of pain and surprise as the attack made her tumble backwards, as a feeling of dizzyness overcame her.

"Ouch... that was..." she muttered, as she tried to focus her eyesight. It was blurry, and everything spun around her.

"You liked that? How about this then!" Butterfree shouted from below.

Vivillon felt something sticky attaching to her body, and realized that she had been hit by a String Shot. Butterfree then pulled her down with a deceptively strong force, painfully slamming her into the ground. It didn't end there, though, as Butterfree pulled her up again, before smashing her against the ground once again. He repeated the process many times, the Pokemon watching the fight wincing with each hit, feeling sorry for the poor Vivillon. Only when the silk thread holding her finally snapped did the pain end.

Though, by that point, Vivillon was more than beaten. Her whole body hurt, and just trying to stand up caused a wave of pain to wash over her body. Still, she was able to flap her wings enough to pull herself from the ground.

"And that's nothing compared to this!"

Vivillon turned around, and her stomach turned with panic as she saw Butterfree flying towards her like a rocket, his body glowing with a light blue aura.

"No, wait, stop, I give up! Don't-"

Too late, the Acrobatics hit her with the force of speeding train, and Vivillon was painfully hurled backwards once again, screaming in pain as the force of the attack dragged her through the ground, tearing the grass and stirring a wall of dirt.

The match was over, and Butterfree had won again.

However, unlike the previous time, there were no cheers, no hollering. Only a deafening silence.

"The hell's wrong with you?" a Poliwhirl asked, finally breaking the silence. "She already said she surrendered! Why did you keep attacking?"

"Yeah, were you afraid a girl was upstaging you or something?" a Machop added.

More Pokemon started to chastise Butterfree, who started to feel confused. As the rush of the adrenaline wore off, Butterfree finally registered the last words Vivillon had said, in an almost pleading tone, before taking that brutal finishing move. And now she was there, her body bruised, her wings crooked, barely able to stand up. And the realization, combined with that image, hit Butterfree like a bucket of cold water.

"Oh no... oh no! What have I done!?" he asked in shock, as he quickly flew towards the fallen Vivillon. He saw in horror how messed up she looked: her body was full of bruises and scratches, there were many cuts on her wings, with one of them crooked in an ugly angle. She was also covered in mud, dirt, and bits of grass. "Are you o-"

"DON'T TOUCH ME!" she screamed, as she swatted Butterfree with the crooked wing. Tears swelled at the corners of her black eyes, maybe because of the pain, or the public humuliation Butterfree submitted her to. Trying to fly as best as her injured wings allowed her, Vivillon slowly left the impromptu battlefield.

The rest of the Pokemon crowded around the area also began to disperse as they murmured to each other, the mood for fighting clearly gone. Soon, everybody left, until Butterfree was left alone.

"What... what did I do...?"

An hour and a half later

Butterfree was flying around the ranch, a Sitrus Berry between his hands. For the last hour, he felt incredibly conflicted. On one hand, he wanted to find that Vivillon and help her recover from the unnecessarily brutal beatdown he gave her. On the other hand, a part of his mind told him that he only wanted to alleviate his conscience and soothe his guilt, and that he was the last thing Vivillon wanted to see right now. Something Butterfree was unable to disagree with.

Eventually, after some thinking, he reached a compromise: find her, check on her, give her the berry, say he's sorry, but not press her into forgiving him and leave her alone if she didn't feel like doing so –which was the most likely scenario.

After some time, he finally found her sitting on a branch of a holm oak. A low branch, though, given that in their current state, her wings couldn't take her very high into the air. He could see now how badly she looked. A mere berry wasn't going to fix her.

At the very least, she was no longer covered in mud and dirt. He could see some droplets of water glistening against her wings and skin, suggesting that she either took a bath, or had a Water Pokemon spray the grime out of her. Still, water would do little to alleviate her many wounds.

Sighing, he landed on the floor under the branch –he was smart enough not to get close to her– and cleared his throat.

"Um... hi," he meekly said.

Vivillon turned around, and looked down at Butterfree with anger-filled eyes. She didn't say anything, and turned her head away from him again. Well, at least she didn't tell him to go away like the Butterfly Pokemon was fearing and expecting, so that was something. Then again, he knew that sometimes silence could be worse than the harshest of insults.

"Um, I'm sorry... for going overboard like that..." Butterfree continued. "I brought you a Sitrus Berry. It will make you feel a little better."

"Oh, you brought me a berry," Vivillon said, her voice being cold as ice. "How thoughtful of you."

Butterfree's antennae drooped, and sighed in defeat. He was ready to turn around and leave, but Vivillon spoke again.

"Though if you say it will help me feel better... I'll take it," she said, much to his surprise.

Butterfree then flew (very slowly) towards the branch Vivillon was perched at, and let the berry near her –again, he knew better than to hand it to her personally– before returning to his spot on the ground. Vivillon grabbed the berry, and started to eat it in small bites.

"I'm not usually like this," Butterfree began. He expected some kind of response, but all he could hear was Vivillon munching on the berry. "Today has been a lousy day and... um... oh well, I'm sure my excuses are the last thing you want to hear. I'll let you be. Goodbye."

Butterfree was about turn around and fly away, but before he could do so, Vivillon spoke for the second time.

"I know."

Butterfree turned around.

"Huh?" he dumbly asked.

"I know you aren't like this," Vivillon said, shifting her position so she was now facing Butterfree. "I saw you spar with other of Ash's Pokemon many times, like that Squirtle and Bulbasaur. You give your all but you never go overboard. When you lose, you take it in stride and compliment your opponents. When you win you encourage your opponents to do better next time."

"You saw me sparring?" Butterfree asked, upon something Vivillon said dawned upon him. "Wait a second, you've been stalking me?"

"Stalking? Uh... no, of course not!" Vivillon said, turning her sight away, as a faint blush crept through her face. "I... I wanted to spar with you too. But I never had the courage to just fly to you and simply ask."

"You wanted to spar with me? Why?" he asked.

Vivillon let out a sigh. "This place is pretty nice. It feels safe, and the Pokemon and humans here are both very welcoming. But it's not our home. There was talk among us Vivillon about leaving this place once things calm down a little. Then I realized that, once we leave this place, we would be vulnerable again. If that evil human thought we were valuable, there are others who think likewise. And then I heard what happened to a swarm of your kind."

Butterfree felt a pang of pain upon being reminded of such a tragic event.

"We aren't leaving anytime soon, but in the meantime, I thought that maybe I could try to become a little stronger learn a new attack or two. You know, so I'm better prepared to defend myself if the need arises," Vivillon explained. "That's why I wanted to spar with you. You're strong, and our species are close enough so I could pick up something from you."

"Why don't you ask Ash to train you?" Butterfree suggested. "If I'm this strong, is thanks to him."

"I thought about it but..." Vivillon trailed off, her gaze directing to the sky above. "I don't like the idea of a human deciding what battles I get to fight."

"I see," Butterfree replied.

"Anyway, when I saw you on that fight club asking for opponents, I felt it was my cue to finally get to fight you," Vivillon explained.

"Heh, quite the first impression I made," Butterfree chuckled mirthlessly as he averted her gaze.

"I guess I'm partially to blame for picking an opponent out of my league, who didn't feel like pulling his proverbial punches," Vivillon admitted.

"Don't say that. You're not at fault for what happened. I'm the only one to blame," Butterfree replied, feeling miserable. "Why me, though? Did my sparrings with Bulbasaur and Squirtle impress you that much?"

"It wasn't that the first thing that made me notice you," Vivillon said. "It was you and the other Pokemon fighting against that immensely powerful Psychic type with the spoons."

"Sabrina's Mega Alakazam?" Butterfree asked. "Wait, you were there? I don't remember seeing any Vivillon-"

"I was a Spewpa back then," Vivillon cut him. "And it wasn't just the fight. It was that extremely powerful Psychic attack that managed to plow through a Protect. It was... a sight to behold. Heh, now that I think about it, I was lucky you didn't use that move on me, or would have been a goner."

"I couldn't have used that even if I wanted. You need a human trainer to do a Z-move, as well as other things" Butterfree explained, and saw how Vivillon's enthuisasm vanished upon hearing that. "By the way, Z-move is what that move is called."

"I see," she said.

The two Bug/Flying-types fell into a silence. Silence that didn't last long until Vivillon spoke again.

"Though, care to tell me why you were behaving like you have a Lansat berry up your ass?" Vivillon asked. "I think I deserve to know as much."

"It's... a very long story."

"I have time," she quickly replied.

Butterfree sighed again, wondering where he could begin, or how was he going to justify all the crazier parts, like that criminal somehow gaining powers to destroy reality, and the creator of the universe flinging Ash back to the past. In the end, he decided to just go for the most important parts.

"Sometime ago, I lost somebody important. My mate," Butterfree began.

"I'm sorry," Vivillon said, looking at him with a bit of sympathy. "Was she part of that swarm that got captured?"

"Yes. Though that's only the beginning," Butterfree said. "After we were... separated, I left Ash to find her. It took some time, but I finally did. However, when I found her, I found that she had lost her memories. Including her memories of me and the time we spent together."

A soft gasp left Vivillon's mouth. "That's... terrible. Didn't you try to make her remember you, or win her over again?"

"I would have loved to, but by the time I found her, she already had another mate," Butterfree replied. He wisely decided to leave the part of him planning to kill the new mate so he could reconquer her, given that it was a fleeting thought he discarded almost immediately, and he didn't need to make himself look worse in Vivillon's eyes. "In the end... I decided to let her have her new life, and I returned here, with Ash. If you're asking what that has to do with anything... well, since I got up, everything I saw reminded me of her, and how she's happy with another Butterfree, and how we will never be together again. Almost like the universe was rubbing my misfortune in my face. And I was angry... I was so angry, I needed to vent my anger with somebody."

That moment, Butterfree remembered the argument he had with Ash before he left to find his mate, how he blamed his trainer for being separated from his mate, despite the fact that not only did Ash have nothing to do with it, but Ash would have helped Butterfree find her, even if that meant to say goodbye a second time.

"I really have an habit to vent my anger on people that have nothing to do with my problems, don't I? I should try to work on fixing that," he noted sadly. "Now that I think about it, perhaps I should seek the Pokemon I beat and insulted before you and apologize to them as well."

"Yes, you probably should," Vivillon said matter-o-factly.

"In that case, the sooner the better," Butterfree said, feeling that the conversation was reaching towards its end. "I think I know what you're going to say but... is there anything else I can do for you? You know for... making up to you for me being such an idiot?"

"Now that you mention it... I still need a sparring partner," Vivillon said.

Butterfree looked at her, incredulous. "What? You still want to spar with me after that?"

"If you can promise me there isn't going to be a repeat of today, then yes, I'm still interested," Vivillon replied.

"O-Ok, if that's what you want..." Butterfree said. "Come to me when you feel healthy enough to spar. You should seek Professor Oak or another human here to give you a potion or something. A berry can only heal you so much."

"Thanks for the advice," she said. "And for the berry."

"You're welcome," Butterfree replied, as he took off. "And, um, see you later."

Butterfree spent the next day looking for the Pokemon he beat and harshly insulted during the fight club, and apologizing to them, as well as giving them some berries as a peace offering. Fortunately for him, said Pokemon decided to be gracious and forgave him, all of them concluded that Butterfree was just having a bad day. Which wasn't far from the truth.

The day after that, Vivillon came to him. Much to Butterfree's relief, the Scale Pokemon looked noticeable better: most of her wounds had disappeared or were in the process of doing so, her wings were fixed, and she didn't appear to be in any state of pain.

"So, are we going to spar or what?" was all what she said.

And spar they did. This time, Butterfree made sure to pull his proverbial punches and adjust the power of his attacks in order to provide a proper challenge for Vivillon, without overwhelming her in the process.

The battle was carried in a professional manner, trading attacks but not words, not even taunts or trash talking, as it happened in their first bout. And once Vivillon exhausted her energy, she called the sparring sesosion off. They only spoke to agree where and when their next session would be, next day, same hour, same place.

...

The days passed, and Butterfree and Vivillon continued sparring. The Butterfly Pokemon was forced to adjust the strength of his attacks with every sparring session, given that Vivillon's power was growing faster than he anticipated. Not just that, but Vivillon was also becoming aware of Butterfree's tactics, forcing him to come up with new ones.

While their first spars were mostly silent, little by little they started to pepper them with some words, either be encouragement, praise, trash talk or slight jabs at each other. The tension that plagued the first sparring matches slowly vanished, being replaced by a more friendly and casual atmosphere, as Butterfree and Vivillon slowly grew accustomed to each other.

"Take this!" Vivillon shouted, using Struggle Bug. Butterfree flapped his wings in return, generating a powerful Silver Wind that blew the insect-shaped projectiles away. Vivillon flew back in order to avoid the attack.

"Oh no, you aren't getting away!"

Butterfree then fired a String Shot at her, while still channeling Silver Wind, much to the other Bug's shock. Vivillon, however, already moved out of the thread of silk's trajectory.

"You missed~!" she said in a mocking tone.

However, much to her shock, the silk thread split into multiple threads that spread outwards in every direction. One of them managed to latch onto Vivillon's leg.

"I don't think so!" Butterfree triumphantly said. "How do you like this? I call it the String Multi-shot! Now get over here!"

Butterfree gave a mighty pull, thrusting Vivillon towards his direction. However, the Scale Pokemon didn't panic, and did her best to adjust her position in order to keep her balance. This was an opportunity to give her teacher and sparring partner quite the surprise.

"That was a big mistake!" Vivillon said, as her eyes started to glow with a blue, white and pink light.

Butterfree's eyes widened in shock upon realizing what was going on. "No way-"

"HA!"

When she was close enough, Vivillon fired a beam of blue, white and pink psychic energy at Butterfree, who was unable to dodge it from such a close distance, while also destroying the silken thread binding them. Butterfree was pushed against the ground, landing with a booming noise, raising a cloud of dirt.

When the cloud of dirt vanished, Butterfree was still there, laying on his back, visibly sore. Still, not sore enough not to get back into the air.

"Psybeam! How did you learn it?" Butterfree asked, surprised.

"It isn't obvious? By seeing you using it," Vivillon replied.

"But I only used it like, three times during our spars!" Butterfree said.

"What, and you don't think I don't train on my own?" Vivillon replied, sounding a little indignant. "I know if I hope to get close to your level, I need to work hard."

"I see. Well, good job on that, Viv. Psybeam is not an attack easy to learn if you don't know another Psychic move beforehand," Butterfree praised. "I think you are already on a level where you could defend yourself from many moderatedly threatening enemies."

"Thanks, I'm glad to hear that- wait, what?" Vivillon titled her head, upon realizing what Butterfree said. "What did you call me?"

"Viv," he said, now sounding a little nervous. "Short of Vivillon. Kinda to to diferentiate you from the other Vivillon. I think it's cute."

"How ingenious of you," Vivillon smirked. "Are we close enough to call each other by nicknames?"

"Well, if you don't like it-"

"I didn't said that," Vivillon said. "But I do get to use a nickname with you as well! Something like... let's say, Butt!"

"Butt?" Butterfree said, mildly outraged. "Butt? Seriously?"

"Short for Butterfree. It's the same logic you used with my nickname," Vivillon said, sporting a smug smile.

"It's not the same! Viv IS a cute name! And Butt is... an ass!" he yelled.

"Well, I think it's kind of fitting, given that you were kind of an ass to me when we first met each other," Vivillon fired back.

Butterfree visibly deflated, his antennae drooped, feeling ashamed of the memory of that painful first enocunter. It would be some time before he could live that down. "Okay, I think I deserved that."

"Aw come, on, I just being facetious," Vivillon said with a heartly chuckle. "You can call me Viv you want. You're right, I think it's cute."

Butterfree perked up, and smiled. "Great. I'm glad you like it."

"Now, let's continue the spar! I want to test my new attack a bit more!" Viv said.

Butterfree shook his head. "You'll have to wait for tomorrow. I think we already sparred enough for today."

"I have enough energy to continue," Viv insisted.

"Knowing when to stop and rest it's as important as training hard," Butterfree replied. "Your Psybeam will work better if you're completely rested."

"You know what I think?" Viv said, as she flew close to Butterfree, piercing him with her glaring black eyes. "I think that you're afraid of me. Of how strong I'm becoming. And soon, I'll leave you in the dust. That's why you're going easy on the sparring sessions lately."

Viv's fierce glare was met by Butterfree's unamused blank stare. "You might like to call me Butt, Viv, but of the two of us, you're the one who's full of shit."

Viv floated back, her glare disappearing, replaced by a look of incredulity. Then, much to Butterfree's surprise, she broke into laughter.

"Hahahahahaha! Oh boy, that was such a good comeback!" Viv laughed, finding Butterfree's joke funny even if it was at her expense. "I would have never guess you capable of such zingers! Hahahaha!"

"Well, I've been spending a lot of time with you lately," Butterfree replied, chuckling alongside her. "Though, I stand by what I said. We can continue the spar tomorrow. Same hour, same place."

"Okaaaaay," Viv finally conceded, pouting a little.

"By the way, have you thought in giving Ash a chance? I'm sure you'll get much better under him. After all, I'm training you the same way he trained me," Butterfree began. "And hey, you can see the results."

Viv looked pensive, almost as if she was considering it. "I'll think about it. I'm not making any promises, though," she said, before she started to fly away. "See you tomorrow, then."

"Viv," Butterfree called her. Viv turned around, and looked at him. "Why do you want to train so hard? I thought you said you weren't leaving anytime soon. We have plenty of time to train."

"I'm not leaving anytime soon," she confirmed, before she turned her back at him. Then, she turned her head towards him again, her mouth now curved into a smile. "But mating season is coming soon. And I need to keep getting better if I hope to attract an ideal mate, don't you agree?"

And much to his shock, she winked at him, before finally flying away.

Butterfree stood there, frozen, dumbfounded, as his mind processed what had just happened. No way. No freaking way. There's no way she had just implied that...

Then, words from another Butterfree he heard some months ago echoed inside his mind.

Just because the apparent love of your life is gone, it doesn't mean that your life is finished. You can still go on, find somebody else, have fun. You still have your entire life in front of you.

Back when he first heard those words, Butterfree was, understandably, too bitter to follow them and try to find a new light in the darkness of his life. But now... he started to realize how right that other Butterfree was.

Butterfree also flew away as he hummed happily to him.

He couldn't wait to spar with Viv again.

Butterfree had the feeling that tomorrow was going to be a great day.