And another FireGrassShipping fic from my hands! This time, I'm taking you back to the aftermath of the episode in which Grovyle evolves into Sceptile after being dumped. Please check your screen for emergency exits. As you can see, there are none. So hang on for the ride!

A New Power

"Sceptile?"

The green Pokémon looked up, and saw the eyes of his friend before looking away quickly. They were troubled.

"Are you okay, Sceptile? You're so quiet. Well, quieter than normal, that is."

He looked away, and sighed. "I'm fine, Combusken."

"No you're not." she said, and sat down next to him. "Now, what's wrong?"

"I told you I'm fine." he was looking at the ground in front of him, avoiding her look.

"Don't lie to me, I know something's wrong." Combusken put a hand on his shoulder, and tried to turn his head.

"Really, Combusken, I'm okay…" he struggled, his voice thinning. When she managed to grab him by the chin and turn his head, so that he was forced to look her in the eyes.

"What… happened?" she whispered shocked. His eyes were blood-run, and his cheeks wet of tears.

Fighting back his tears, he told her what happened earlier that day, how he fought a Tropius twice to win a Meganium's heart. Although Sceptile beat him, and evolved during the second battle, the Meganium picked the Tropius over him. The sheer trauma of this decision caused Sceptile to be unable to use any of his attacks. When he was done, he buried his face in his hands and began to cry.

"Sceptile, I'm sorry, I had no idea." Combusken put her arms around his neck, and pulled him closer. His head shifted from his hands to her chest, soaking her fine plumage with his tears. Although they were good friends, they have never been this intimate, and it was somewhat strange to watch: a fire type cheering up a grass type twice her size. She gently ran a hand over the back of his head.

"You're not alone. We're friends; I'm always there for you, Sceptile." He looked up at her, his eyes still red. "You shouldn't be alone now. How about I sleep here next to you, until you feel better?" A small smile formed on his mouth, and he gave a nod. Combusken smiled back, and ran a hand over his cheek. When they heard two laughs, both of them looked up. They saw Swellow and Corphish laughing at them, and what position they were in. A single sharp look from Combusken silenced them. When she looked down, she saw that Sceptile was pulling himself up.

"They're right. I'm an idiot, falling in love with someone you don't even know. And when I fought for her, she didn't even pick me when I won. I'm just a loser…" he sighed.

"That's not true!" Combusken interrupted. "You're a nice, funny, strong, and hands- I mean sweet guy," he raised an eyebrow at her choice of words. "You're a nice person, and I know that someone will fall in love with you some day."

"Like who, you?" Sceptile asked while looking at her. She fell silent from discomfort, unsure what to answer. "You don't need to answer that." he pulled up his knees, leaned his head against them, and sighed.

Combusken leaned forward, and peeked around his shoulder. "If you want… the offer still stands."

He looked at her with one eye. "You won't stop pestering me until you get what you want, right?"

She frowned at him. "I'm just trying to be nice, that's all."

"I know that, Combusken, and I appreciate it. Thank you." he lowered himself so that his head was at the same height as hers.

"You're welcome." she replied, moving an arm around his back.

A couple of weeks passed, and the two of them slept next to each other every night, the rest of the group began to speculate on what was going on between the two. They shrugged it off by saying that Combusken was helping Sceptile out. The day before the group would reach the next city for May's new Contest, Sceptile woke up by a stirring in his arms. He opened his eyes and saw Combusken standing up.

"Good morning."

She turned around, and looked at him. "Good morning, I wasn't trying to wake you up."

"It's okay." he yawned, and stretched his arms. "You're up early."

"I just wanted to do some extra training for my upcoming Contest, that's all." she explained.

"You might want to do that somewhere else, you'd wake the rest up if you did it here." he got up.

"I know. There's another clearing up ahead, I'll practice there." Combusken walked off.

Sceptile quickly followed her. "I'll come with you. Maybe I can help you?"

"Sure." the two walked away from the rest. "So how's your own training coming along?"

"Pretty bad. I just can't get my attacks to work again." he raised an arm, and focused. The blades lit up for a second, then dimmed again. "I just can't put my finger on it why, or how."

"Don't worry, you'll get over it." she assured him.

"So how are you doing with your training?" he asked.

"Not bad, I'm just feeling a bit anxious for the upcoming contest. It's been a while since I've been in one, that's all." she replied. The two found the clearing that Combusken talked about earlier. There was a clearing about two hundred feet across, with a large boulder in the middle. Sceptile leaned against a tree, and Combusken took a deep breath, taking her opening pose.

She started her routine. Sceptile was genuinely surprised to see how agile and quick Combusken was. She linked a number of flips, kicks and punches effortlessly, with even a spurt of fire now and then. Making a daring move, Combusken made a jump followed by three flips forward. When she tried to land with an outstretched body on two hands and a foot, she lost balance and fell. Sceptile lowered his arms in surprise. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. I just can't master that landing." She took the hand he was holding to her, and was pulled up.

"I think it's a matter of balance. When you're standing like this..." Sceptile took the pose Combusken was in before she fell. "You have a lot more balance, because your leg supports your lower weight better."

She gave him a push, he stayed standing. "Yeah right, you can tell that in a split second?"

He moved his leg a little to the side. "This is how you landed. If you fall like this, you will land on your face like you did."

Combusken pushed him over. "Sure, show me the correct pose from a standing position. It's a lot harder when you are flying through the air."

Pulling himself up, Sceptile walked away from her. With a swift turn, he spurted at her, jumping at half the way. Making three flips forward, he landed in the way he explained, and jumped again, keeping his hands on the ground. Walking on his hands towards her, he moved his legs backwards and slid them onto the ground, landing on his knees in front of Combusken. "It's not that hard." He said absently.

Combusken blinked. "Did you just improvise that? I had no idea you could do that."

"Well, I can. I don't keep any secrets from you, you know that. Maybe it's because of my size. I have quite some reach; I can put that to a variety of uses." He tilted his head. "Now you try it."

She nodded, and took a deep breath. Turning to the side, she ran off, and jumped. Doing two flips, she landed, immediately linked a jump onto it, did a single flip, and landed straight up, standing on only three toes, with her arms spread to the side.

Sceptile laughed and clapped. "See, I told you I was right."

With a smile, Combusken left the pose. "Yes you were. Sorry that I didn't believe you."

He kneeled in front of her, and put a hand on her shoulder. "It's okay. I think that with the right directions and maybe an example, you can do almost anything."

She grabbed his hand, and gently squeezed it. "Maybe, but only if you are the one giving directions." She smiled at him, him looking at her with admiration. A moment passed, and Combusken put her arms around him. A surprised and confused Sceptile just sat there with her wrapped around him. "Thank you for being such a good friend."

Sceptile felt a bit uncomfortable, mainly because he was sitting on one knee, his other leg pulled up, with Combusken holding him tight. "You're welcome." Getting up a bit to put his legs on the same level, his body with Combusken holding onto it became top heavy, and he fell forward. Combusken landed on her back, with Sceptile hovering just above her. They spend a moment looking at each other, and he could almost see some kind of longing in her eyes.

"Sceptile..." she whispered. She gently ran a hand over his cheek; he took it in his own hand. She closed her eyes, and moved her head closer to his. The moment her beak touched his mouth, he pulled free. A surprised Combusken looked up, and saw him walk away.

"I'm sorry. I... can't do this." Sceptile sighed.

"Why not? Because you don't want to ruin our friendship?" she asked, walking up to him.

"No, it's not that. It's just..." raising an arm, he focused. The blades lid up for a moment, but dimmed quickly. "How can you figure me out, when I can't figure out myself?"

"Sceptile, we've known each other for about a year now. I think I know you pretty well. We've been through a lot, and I know that I can trust you and can count on you. And I think... that I love you." Her eyes began to tear, and she grabbed his hand. "Please, I know that you're not feeling well, but I can help you. I will help you any way I can, you just need to ask."

He kneeled down in front of her. "Combusken, I know you do, but you can't help me. I'm not saying that I do not share your affection, but I can't love you." He wiped away her tears. "How can I love someone when I can't even love myself? How can you hold something dear when it's not worth anything?" Letting go of her, he got up and turned around. "I need to be alone now. I need to think."

"Sceptile, wait!" Combusken grabbed him, but he ran off, pulling her down. She watched as he disappeared into the forest. Getting into a sitting position, she looked down and sobbed. After going over his words, she stood up with the intent of continuing what she came for: practice her moves.

Going through her routine several times, she noticed that she had become sloppy because of her sadness. She made missteps, forgot parts or only finished half of some moves. Knowing that she couldn't continue like this. Looking for something to vent her emotions on, she looked at the large boulder in the middle of the clearing. Building speed with a dash, she jumped at the rock with an outstretched leg, intending to kick off a large chunk, if not shatter it in a single kick.

Something else happened. Instead of breaking under her blow, the rock moved with her kick. When she was out of momentum, the rock veered back, launching Combusken through the air. Landing on her back, she saw that it wasn't a rock she attacked: the surface moved and fell down; it was a large piece of cloth. From below it, a large object began to rise: a near-white balloon shaped like the head of a Meowth with a green basket below it.

"See? I told ya guys that dis plan would work." The Meowth from the basket spoke.

"Yes, but it almost didn't work because we took the wrong clearing. And it's still pretty stupid." James answered.

"Aw come on, youse just jealous dat it worked." Meowth replied.

"This can come later. We have a catch!" Jessie looked down at Combusken. "Prepare for-"

Without bothering with letting them finish, Combusken turned around and ran for the rest of the group.

"Oh no ya don't! Fire da Extendoclaw Mark eight!" Meowth shouted, pressing a button. A machine mounted below the basked took aim and fired. Before she could act, a claw had grabbed Combusken, and began to reel her in. Trying to struggle, she discovered that it was useless. Hanging face down with her arms pressed tightly against her body, she was unable to move, and she was hanging at such an angle that didn't allow her to use her fire to melt herself free. All she could do is flail helplessly.

"Don't try to break free, you can't." James smirked. "Too bad your boyfriend ran off, we could have used him as gift for the boss as well."

Combusken's eyes widened. They had seen everything? They were gaining altitude, being almost a hundred feet off the ground. Below, a green flash caught her eye. Jumping up, the balloon shook as it grabbed onto the claw, and Sceptile began to pull at her restrains. "You came back for me!" she exclaimed in relief.

"Of course." He grunted, pulling at the claw with all his strength. "Come on, if I could only use my blades..."

"Well well, it seems like we got ourselves a bonus." James smiled.

"I dunno guys. He said that he can't use dose blades of his. I fink he doesn't have anothah attack either; he'd 'ave used it by now." Meowth translated.

"Then he's useless and only dead weight. Serviper, show him the way down!" Jessie called, and her Serviper appeared. Coiling its upper body around one of the bars connecting the basket to the balloon, Serviper began to lash out at Sceptile with its tail. Evading the first few blows, he took a jab at his right shoulder. Losing grip with that arm, he hang onto the claw with only one hand. Taking another blow to his arm, he cried out in pain, but didn't let go. A blow to the head proved too much: he let go and fell to the ground, landing hard on his back.

"Sceptile!" Combusken cried out in panic.

"Sorry, but ya boyfriend ain't comin' back. Now, let's take ya to meet ya new mastah." Meowth told her.

His body felt sore, but powerful. A power he had used only once before began to take hold of him. Getting up, he felt another force beaming onto him. Tapping into it, he immediately knew what it was.

Combusken saw Sceptile get up, and something happened to him. He began to glow; a combination of a green aura with a bright glow on his back. Crouching, he leapt up: nearly three hundred feet straight up from a standing position. Grabbing onto the claw, she saw that he was filled with power trigged from Overgrow, his self-defence mechanism that granted him great power when he was injured. With a single slash of the blades on his arms, he shattered the claw. Combusken was relieved, but realised to her shock that that claw was the only thing stopping her from a deep fall. She began to scream before she started to fall.

Sceptile didn't seem to notice. Pulling himself up for another jump, he slashed Serviper once in retaliation, his jump ending at the same height as the balloon itself. Slashing with his blades, several tears opened the balloon from the front. When he began to fall, he pulled himself down from the rags of the balloon, allowing him to descent faster. When they were at the same height, he grabbed onto Combusken, and turned in mid-air to face the balloon. His second power fully charged he unleashed it as a bright Solar Beam from his mouth. Piercing through the basket, it detonated, blasting the trio off.

"See, that didn't work after all!" James proclaimed.

"It was close enough!" Meowth replied.

"Plans or not, we're doing what we do best." Jessie told the two.

"We're blasting off again!" with a twinkle, they disappeared into the distance.

Sceptile landed on his feet, a petrified Combusken clamped onto him. "Please, never do that again."

"I'm sorry, I just lost it there. You were never in danger though." He sat down, with Combusken on his lap. "Are you okay?"

She relaxed somewhat. "I am now. I see that you figured out yourself."

He looked over her shoulder at the blades on his arm. "Yeah, I did. I realised that if I keep living in the past, I can never continue into the future. If you do not go on, you lose what you care for."

Combusken smiled at him. "That's pretty deep, coming from you. Not that'd I expected otherwise."

He looked away. "There is something else. Remember what I said about caring about myself and others, and returning affection? Well, when you care for yourself, you also care about those who care for you. And, well, there is someone who deserves the same caring for her as she has shown me."

Combusken's heart lightened. "You mean..."

Sceptile raised a hand and ran it across her cheek. "Be honest with me. When you came to cheer me up all those weeks ago, was it because you loved me?"

"I... don't know. I didn't want you to be sad. I wanted you to be happy, to smile, to laugh. I might have had a little crush on you, but that was not why I began to cheer you up. I cared for you as a friend, but over the last few weeks the crush began to grow and grow..." she grabbed his as it brushed her cheek.

"Well, I think I feel the same. Until recently I saw you as a good friend, maybe even a rival. But now..." he took a deep breath. "I like you. A lot. More than I'd openly admit. But if I must be honest to myself, I must be honest to you too. And honestly, Combusken, I think I love you too."

Combusken blinked, his words sinking in. Then without a word, she grabbed his head and kissed him. Sceptile made a surprised mumble, but joined in anyway. Lowering himself onto his back with her on top of him, they held their kiss as long as they could.

When they finally broke off, he grinned at her. "Scratch that: I don't think I love you, I *know* I do."

"Same here." Combusken panted, and kissed him again.

And so ends yet another story. It took me longer than I'd like, but hey, it's here. Meowth's accent was tricky to write, but I think I pulled it off. Thanks for reading, and please rate/review/favourite!