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The Toxicroak Prince

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"Well, here we are..." Bea said, scratching her head. "I have no idea why you wanted to come here. We can't stay that long."

Bea's Lopunny, Vanilla, looked excitedly around at her surroundings; the wonderful Amity Square of Hearthome City. It was nearly sunset, and the park was bursting with Pokemon and their trainers. "Okay," she said, looking down to Shantal, the shiny Buizel. "Just like I told you."

Shantal nodded, and pulled on their trainer's leg, pointing in a random direction.

"What is it, girl?" Bea asked, and Shantal ran off. "Eh, hey, wait!" She looked at Vanilla. "Looks like she wants to play... I'll come and get you later, okay? You be good."

Vanilla smiled and nodded in reply, and as soon as her trainer was out of sight, she started to survey her surroundings more carefully. They would never tell their trainers this, but recently, Amity Square had become a place for Pokemon to meet singles. And for Vanilla, this visit was no exception. To be a Lopunny, with the Cute Charm ability, and to go this long without a boyfriend was simply unheard of, and she aimed to fix that.

She noticed, right off the bat, that there were several seemingly already established couples walking around the park, holding hands, paws, wings or tails- whichever the situation called for. Most of the couples probably belonged to two completely different trainers, but the Pokemon would always try and get them to take them there, in order to see each other.

She looked around a bit more, and it seemed to her that there was still a good handful of males who looked available, and out of them, a decent fraction seemed date-able. Under half, sure, but enough to at least create a state of mind for her that the trip might not be a total waste in the end, if she played her cards right.

If you really want this, Vanilla, she thought to herself, you have to take the initiative.

She straightened out the pink contest ribbon on her chest and made her way towards a Gallade, who sat on the edge of the fountain, looking over his shoulder, into the water. Much to his surprise, Vanilla sat down next to him, crossing her legs and smiling.

"Hello, handsome," she said, trying her best to look as desirable as possible. The Gallade stammered for a moment, before she went on. "So, does your trainer bring you here often?"

"Hey, get away from my boyfriend!"

Vanilla jumped up in shock. She turned around to see a pink Gastradon sitting in the water, looking up at her angrily. "Wh- what!? Boyfriend?"

"Oh, yes," the Gallade smiled, picking his girlfriend up out of the water and holding her in his arms. "We met here last month. We are very much in love."

Vanilla's jaw dropped. The Gastradon sneered at her and stuck her tongue out. "Hop along, little bunny."

She reluctantly obeyed; not because the little slug had told her to, but because she didn't want to waste any time on a lost cause. She swallowed her pain and went on to the next one.

---

The Toxicroak threw his head back, allowing the bubbly soft drink to flow with ease down his throat. Within a matter of seconds, the can was empty. He crushed it in his hand and tossed it into a nearby garbage can before removing another, full, pop from its plastic yoke. There was a soft combination of a click and hiss as he opened it. He downed half of the can in one gulp.

He sank back into his seat; one of two red benches that sat back to back in the middle of a field. He stretched one arm out, resting it on the back of the bench, while the other hand rested on the arm rest, soda in hand. His eyes were half closed. Even the vast amounts of caffeine and sugar he was ingesting was not enough to keep him alert at the end of a long a day as this one was.

Pokemon Trainer Jenna had decided it would be a good idea for her and her team to stop by Hearthome City, and Amity Square, in an attempt to get some rest on their way home from a rather taxing journey, and while the rest of the team went off to enjoy their time at the park, Rupert just sat on the bench, watching.

He had heard stories of what had become of Amity Square- how it had become the new hot spot for single Pokemon to meet other single Pokemon- and they seemed to be true. Only real problem was that all the singles now appeared to have been taken.

Normally, this wouldn't have bothered him, but recently, perhaps due to having spent so much time around Cotton and Napoleon, he started to think about the possibility of being in a relationship. Unfortunately for him, however, Jenna just plain didn't have any female Pokemon under her belt that he would really consider being in a relationship with. They were all nice enough, sure, but none of them were really his type.

Meanwhile, most of his master's other male Pokemon seemed to have found someone from the group just fine. Even if the feelings were not returned, like Vincent's for Veruka, or not confessed, like Ross' for Saria, they at least had somebody to feel that way about. All Rupert had was soda.

Another can emptied. It suffered the same fate as the last one. He took his arm off the back of the bench in order to free one of the last two cans and get it open. Once the deed was done, he put the  pop to his lips and restored his arm to its rightful place, except this time, instead of feeling the cold, hard, wooden beam on the underside of his arm, he felt two big, soft, gobs of fluff. Before he could react to this, a loud yelp of pain came from behind him, causing him to spit out the pop in surprise.

---

After the incident with the Gallade and Gastradon, Vanilla had pressed on and found what she thought might be another potential boyfriend, but unfortunately for her, the tall, athletic Blaziken had only wanted to talk to her to see if he had anything stuck in his beak. She sat down in the grass and hugged her knees, sighing as he walked away with his girlfriend, the Miltank.

"Not going so well today?" a calm, cool voice said behind her. She turned around to see a shiny Lucario leaning against a tree, looking at her from the corner of his eye. He grinned, and Vanilla could feel herself blush, just a little bit.

"Well, no... I mean, not yet."

The Lucario turned fully towards her and smiled the kind of smile that said, "Come here to me, sugar, and I'll make things right."

"Come here to me, sugar," he said, "and I'll make things right."

Vanilla's heart leapt into her throat. Oh my gosh, she thought. He's so handsome, too. Oh, he is totally worth getting rejected and-slash-or ignored by those last two. She ran up towards him and threw her arms around him.

He returned the favor by gently wrapping his arms around her. "After all this time..." she sighed into his chest. "Have I finally found my prince?"

He placed his hand on her chin and lifted her head, so that they were looking into each other's eyes. "What's your name, my sweet?"

"Vanilla... What ab--"

"Wait," the Lucario interrupted, quickly changing the mood of the conversation. "Not the Vanilla from the Pokechic magazine?"

Her eyes opened wide with surprise and delight. "Oh! Are you a fan?"

He suddenly let go of her and took a step back. "Whoa, honey, sorry, but it's, like, crucial to the story that I reject you right now."

"What?" she asked, confused and upset.

"So, yeah, you're totally not my type, better luck next time, et cetera, et cetera."

Vanilla lost it. That was the third time in the last five minutes that her hopes were raised, only to be ultimately crushed. She drew her hand back and let it fly, striking the shiny Pokemon's cheek. "You jerk!" she yelled.

The Lucario rubbed his cheek. "Hey, that's great anger! Work with that in the next scene!"

Vanilla pouted in anger and stormed off. "Weirdo!"

The Lucario shrugged. "Eh, just as well. That relationship was corny from the beginning."

Meanwhile, Vanilla continued to stomp her way towards the seating area of the park. She saw an empty bench that sat back-to-back with another bench, on which another Pokemon sat, alone. If it weren't the only empty bench in the whole of Amity Square, she might have gone somewhere else to sit, simply because she didn't want to have to deal with any more guys for the rest of the day. But, unfortunately, the rest of the benches were taken up by happy couples, and the urge to sit down and rest in and of itself was too great for her, so she surrendered, sitting down on the opposite end of the opposite bench.

And, before she was even able to gather her thoughts, something was pressing down on her ears, pinching them between the new mystery object and the backs of the benches. She yelped in pain.

---

Rupert turned around to see that the fluffy objects were, in fact, the ears of a Lopunny who happened to sit down in the bench behind him in the short frame of time it took to open his drink, their great length falling over the back of her bench and onto the seat of his, resting in the empty spot right next to him.

"Whoa!" Rupert exclaimed, standing up. "Sorry about that! I didn't see you there!"

The Lopunny turned towards Rupert, grabbing one of her ears and bringing it back over the edge and onto her lap. "It's okay," she smiled. "It was my fault; I should be more careful with these things." She giggled slightly, took her other ear and turned away, straightening herself up.

"Heh," Rupert said, rubbing the back of his neck. "Right. Sorry." He continued to look down at the Lopunny, and found himself unable to look away, until a brief look from her caused him to turn red and turn away.

Dang it, he thought. What are the odds that someone like her would show up right at this moment?

He sneaked another look and was relieved to see that she had once again turned away. She was looking down, playing the fur on her ears. He sat back down on his own bench and held his drink in both hands, looking down into the small opening on the top of the can, watching the pop settle.

She's really cute... Seems very sweet, too... Maybe... Oh, who am I kidding? A girl like her? She probably has the guys lining up for miles...

Suddenly, Rupert felt a surge of adrenaline rush through his body. His heart was racing and his skin was tingling all over. Something inside of him seemed to be saying "No! You aren't allowed to just sit there and give up!"

He knew this voice was right. He had just been given a once in a lifetime opportunity; he might never run into a girl like her again. He wanted to get up. He wanted to talk to her. But what could he do? Wouldn't it seem strange, if not creepy, that a complete stranger, who, mind you, just hurt your ears, started talking to you, completely out of the blue?

He heard a sniffle; the kind that could easily be associated with either having a stuffy nose, or the start of a really good cry. He wasn't left to wonder which it was going to be for too long, though, as the very next thing he heard was a soft series of sobs. He turned to see the Lopunny wiping away a tear with her finger, and suddenly felt very guilty. Whether or not she was crying because he hurt her ears, he did not know, but in any case, she certainly didn't need for that to happen to her today.

He smiled for a split second, but quickly forced it down. He shouldn't be happy, he knew, but regardless, he now had an excellent excuse to talk to the girl. He stood up, and made his way around to the other bench. "Hey..."

---

"Heh... Right, sorry," the Toxicroak apologized, after pinching her ears against the bench with his arm, even though she had assured him it was her own fault.

Vanilla straightened herself up and put her ears on her lap, to keep such an accident from happening a second time. After a moment, she still felt his eyes on her, and she turned to confirm her suspicions. The Toxicroak turned away quickly, obviously embarrassed. She sighed.

Maybe... No! she thought. I won't let that happen again... Getting rejected three times in one day is more than enough.

So she turned her attention back to her ears. Upon further observation, she noticed that some of the fur had been flattened in the accident, and was no longer as fluffy as she desired. She sighed and started to comb and pull on it with her fingers, in a somewhat vain attempt to get them back to their former, glorious, poofy state.

Oh, what's the use!? Vanilla thought, sniffling. It's not like they helped me at all today. I try to get all prettied up, and for what? To get my heart stomped on? I'm so sick of...

She couldn't hold it in any longer. She started to sob, and wiped away a couple of tears as they came. She wished Bea would come and get her. She didn't want to be seen in public like this.

"Hey..." said a voice, she immediately recognized to belong to the Toxicroak from the other bench. She looked up and there he was, standing next to her, looking as though he wanted to sit down. "Can I sit here?"

What's this guy's deal, she thought, but quickly shook it off, not wanting to project her anger onto him. He didn't break her heart today. "Yeah," she said, trying to hide the fact she had been crying, but she knew it was pointless. "I don't mind."

And so he did. He introduced himself as Rupert, and she did likewise.

"Vanilla?" he pondered. "Why does that sound so familiar..?"

She decided not to tell him who she was, so she just shrugged. "I don't know. I don't think it's that rare of a name for a Pokemon."

"Yeah, I guess you're right... So, Vanilla, I hope you don't mind me asking, but is something wrong?"

Vanilla forced a smile. "Heh, I'll be alright. I normally don't get like this. It's just been a rough day for me."

"You and me both." Rupert took a sip of pop. He didn't want to tell her about his love woes. No point in being too obvious right off the bat. But he still wanted to continue the conversation. "My friends and I went out to battle today, and we got our butts whooped by this guy with a Typhlosion." Oh, jeez, he thought. What a great line, Rupert. Impress the girl by telling her about how badly you lost. "So, uh..." he said, trying to deter from his last comment. "How about you?"

Vanilla turned her nose up. "That's a little personal, don't you think?"

"Eh, sorry... I didn't mean to pry."

"It's okay," she said, putting her head down. "But, thanks for caring enough to ask."

"It's not because of what I did to your ears, is it?"

Vanilla shook her head. "No, no, that wasn't your fault."

"Still, though, I want to make it up to you." Rupert produced a can of pop and offered it to her. "Care to have the last one?" he asked.

"Oh, I really shouldn't. I have to watch my figure."

Rupert patted his firm stomach. "Vanilla, I drink this stuff every day. With plenty of exercise, it's not going to do anything to your figure."

"But I probably don't get nearly as much as you do. I'm not exactly bred for fighting." She referred him to her contest ribbon.

"Ah," Rupert said in acknowledgment. Well, now I know she's out of my league...

There was a brief moment of awkward silence, broken finally by Vanilla's sigh. "Actually, you know what, I think I will have that."

Rupert tore the can from the ring and handed it to her. She struggled to bend the tab back, and right when he was about to offer his help, she succeeded. She took a sip and sighed contentedly.

"Why the sudden change of mind?"

"Well, it isn't like my figure has done me much good today, right?" she said, but immediately caught herself, realizing she had said just a bit more than she wanted him to hear.

"Oh?" came his simple reply.

Up until now, Vanilla had kept herself from getting a really good look at Rupert, and while his species was not, by nature, the most appealing Pokemon in existence, even she had to admit that he definitely had some handsome qualities.

She could feel her cheeks get hot, and she looked down at the pop can. "Sometimes, I just feel like I'm cursed. I mean, I can't get a guy who really cares for me, and also isn't a complete weirdo, to save my life. But I'm a Lopunny. With Cute Charm. We're practically expected to have guys lining up just to get the chance to talk to us, you know? But, nothing..."

He knew she was right. Aside from Cotton, he didn't know too many Lopunnies with Cute Charm, but whenever he met one outside of battle, they did typically seem to have a following of infatuated men.

"But Cute Charm just never works for me," Vanilla continued. "Maybe they were wrong... Maybe I don't have it at all."

"Oh, I doubt that," Rupert said, and then fell silent, realizing what had just come out of his mouth. Now it was his turn to say too much.

If it weren't covered in fur, Vanilla's face would have been beet red. "And what, Mr. Rupert, are you trying to say?"

"Well, you know," Rupert chuckled, turning a similar shade of red, though it was more visible on him. He was unable to think of a way out of the situation. "I mean, you are rather cute..."

Oh my gosh, Vanilla thought. He thinks I'm cute... She turned to look at him. And he definitely isn't that bad looking himself...

Meanwhile, Rupert stared at her, thinking to himself, Oh, man, what did I just do? Did I come off as creepy? Was that too much too soon? She was feeling bad about herself, right? I was just trying to make her feel better...

The two stared at one another for what felt like forever. Without even realizing they were doing it, their faces started to get closer to each other's, slowly and surely, until their noses were just about touching.

But Vanilla stopped it. "Wait," she said.

Rupert's heart sank. "What is it?" he asked, his voice full of despair.

"I just have to be sure... I can't get poisoned from kissing you, can I?"

The Toxicroak blinked. "N... No..."

Vanilla said "Okay," but it was too quick to be registered, as a moment later, she had once more leaned in towards Rupert, this time all the way. She closed her eyes wrapped her arms around him, and he did the same, each one of them still holding onto their respective cans of pop.

Is this really happening? Rupert wondered as they kissed. Or am I just so tired that I'm hallucinating?

After a moment, Vanilla motioned that she wanted to get into a more comfortable position, and Rupert agreed, but there was some disagreement as to how that would be done exactly. Their movements clashed, and soon enough, they were falling off the bench and onto the ground.

The cans of pop exploded, covering the two in sticky, brown liquid. The kiss was broken. Vanilla got onto her knees and looked over herself, while Rupert laid back, waiting for her to explode.

But, fortunately for him, she smiled. And giggled. And finally laughed.

He chuckled nervously in reply. "Are you alright?" he asked.

"Nothing a quick bath wouldn't fix," she said, calming down. She held her hand out for him and smiled.

He returned the smile, and reached out to grab her hand, but before they touched, a voice called out, "Vanilla! What happened to you!?"

The Lopunny looked over her shoulder to see Bea and Shantal walking up behind her, a look of shock on her face. "What is that all over your fur?" she asked, hoisting Vanilla upright. "I was only gone for fifteen minutes! Come on, we have to get you home and cleaned up!"

Vanilla tried to resist, but her trainer's pull was too strong. She looked solemnly at Rupert as she was dragged away by the arm, reaching out for him.

No, Rupert decided. I won't let this happen!

He jumped upright, and got ready to go after her, but suddenly his own arm was grabbed. "Rupert!" a voice said, this one of his own master, which he confirmed when he turned to see her. Jenna had a look of shock on her face, similar to Vanilla's master's, but to a lesser degree. "What on earth happened here? Did you get into a fight or something?"

Rupert ignored her, and turned to see Vanilla, but she was gone, along with her trainer. He felt a lump in his throat, but tried to keep it down.

"Come on, you," Jenna continued. "Let's get home and get you cleaned off, huh? Come on, guys!"

Several of the trainer's other Pokemon came up, and they all started towards the exit, save for Rupert, and once they saw he wasn't moving, Veruka and Vincent.

"What's wrong, dude?" Vincent asked. "And how did you get covered in soda?"

"That's a good question," Veruka added. "You never let that stuff go to waste, so what happened?"

Rupert said nothing. Veruka and Vincent looked at each other, and shrugged. Then, the latter noticed something on the ground. "What's this?" the Lucario asked, bending over to pick a pink ribbon out of the grass.

Veruka took the ribbon and looked at the Toxicroak. "Rupert..?" She raised an eyebrow.

Rupert took the ribbon from her and looked at it. Then it hit him. "Oh, man! Vanilla! I know where I know her from! She's the Lopunny from that Pokechic magazine!"

"What? She's here? Where!?" Vincent asked, looking around excitedly.

Veruka clamped his snout shut with her hand and sighed. "Man, you're hopeless... Alright, you two, let's get going. We can talk about this later, but for now I don't want to be left behind." She pulled a mumbling Vincent along with her as she made her way to the rest of the group. "You coming, Rupert?"

"Yeah, I'm coming."

He looked down at the pink ribbon he held in his hands. He wanted to get it back to her, but he had no idea how. "So, I guess..." he said, smiling, "we'll just have to wait until we see each other again."

He ran to catch up with the rest of the group, confident that the two were destined to meet again. The ribbon was proof of this.
(You can now critique this story if you wish!)

I hope this turned out good...

Anyways, this little story was inspired by this series of comments on one of *Kikulina's pics... [link]

Fun fact, this story was posted almost EXACTLY one week after BtG commented on the pic, which was the inspiration for the story. :XD:

But, yeah. I always wondered about Rupert, wondered if he would ever get a girl. I even though about pairing him with one of my own OCs quite a while back, but then I read those comments, and I knew it had to be Vanilla.

Anyways, hope you all like it!

Oh, and something sad... The whole "Frog Prince" thing didn't even register with me until I was just about finished writing... I mean, seriously? That should have been the first thing to jump into my head.

Vanilla, Shantal and Bea are *Kikulina's
Rupert, Vincent, Veruka and Jenna are *BehindtG's
Chiental is mine
Pokemon (c) Nintnedo, Creatures Inc, Game Freak, etc...
© 2010 - 2024 pynni
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DragonTeens's avatar
any greninja prince fic anywere.