Devious Duo
Author’s note: It was a MUST that I had to write a fic with Scolipede messing with Corbeau. I mean, just look at the image above. The boss loves his big bug/poison type, and Scolipede would absolutely reciprocate that affection. Plus, I love writing pokemon and trainer shenanigans. I hope you enjoy!
Series: Pokemon Legends ZA
Characters: Corbeau, Scolipede, Reader/Player, and Philippe
Word count: 2,689
Summary: Scolipede and Corbeau get into an (unserious) argument about who lost the battle against you, which leads to you and Scolipede teaming up together to mess with the boss.
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“Delphox, Fire Spin!”
“Scolipede, Gunk Shot!”
Spiraling flames and oozing globs clash in the center of the battle arena. Mega power surges between your Delphox and Corbeau’s Scolipede in the midst of your duel, casting strong winds around you that make you feel like you’re in an action movie. Your intense battle takes place at the smooth, graveled court at the end of Corbeau’s office, where you’ve taken down all of his team members but one. All that stands between you and victory is his armored Scolipede bursting with boosted strength.
You have the type advantage, but Corbeau’s team has come prepared. Delphox has taken a few hits already, only surviving fainting from a well-timed Reflect against Scolipede’s Earthquake, which has given you the opportunity to hold on a little longer. It’s now or never.
“Scolipede, X-Scissor!” Corbeau swings his arm.
“Delphox, Mystical Fire!” you counter.
Scolipede rushes towards your Delphox. Delphox swirls their torch. Scolipede’s horns prepare to slice across your fire type as a spark from Delphox ignites in front of the poison type. Just before Scolipede can make contact, Delphox releases a blast of flames, striking Scolipede with the super effective move. Scolipede stumbles back. He wobbles on his legs. With a cry, he collapses to the floor, soon after returning to his pokeball with a flash of light.
“Yes! We did it Delphox!” you cheer. Delphox smiles at you, and with a swirl of mega energy that dissipates around them, they return to their regular final evolved form.
“Ah, I almost had you that time,” Corbeau steps forward. There’s a pleased smile on his face too. “We were neck and neck up until the end there. You always put on a good show when I invite you over to the office to battle.”
As you reply, Corbeau picks up a bag from under his desk that has his healing potions.
“Aww, thanks Corbeau,” you take the compliment.
One by one, you heal up each of your pokemon and chat with each other by going over the battle as you do so. Eventually, you both come down to your last pokemon.
“There we go, Delphox. Good as new!” you say to your pokemon. Delphox chirps in response. You hold out the fire type’s pokeball, and with a ray of light, Delphox returns to their ball.
Corbeau sprays one more potion on his bug and poison type. He pats Scolipede’s side when he’s finished. “There you go, Scolipede. Feeling better?”
The bug pokemon lifts himself up on his legs, then happily gurgles.
“Nice going out there, Scolipede!” you praise the pokemon now that he’s all healed up. “You’re pretty strong to take on fire type moves with barely a scratch!”
“Vaa!” Scolipede chirps.
Corbeau pets his pokemon. “Indeed. Scolipede did his best. It was I who fell for your trick when you baited out his Protect and used the opportunity to put up your Reflect that ultimately led to your victory.”
Scolipede snorts, but not a snort to signal that he’s agreeing, it’s a snort that sounds like he’s laughing at him.
Hearing this, Corbeau rightfully narrows his eyes at his pokemon. “Excuse me? And just what was that supposed to mean?”
“Guur,” Scolipede tilts his head away with a playful sass to his movement that could be translated to, I said what I said.
“Oh, I get it. You think I lost us the battle, huh?” Corbeau furrows his brows. Was that a vein bulging too? “We’ll, if you like battling with them so much, why don’t you be on their team!” Corbeau motions towards you while you simply stand there as a witness in the middle of a pokemon versus trainer debate.
“Grrav!” Scolipede turns away and lifts his snout in the air. Without a single hesitation, Scolipede trots over towards you, also looking back to see how Corbeau will react to his bait. The boss of the Rust Syndicate is left with an empty side, jaw agape, stunned.
“Scolipede! Get back here this instant!” Corbeau points at the ground as if that would help the pokemon listen. Now by your side and turned towards Corbeau, Scolipede makes a big showing of shaking his head.
“Vee!” Scolipede says like it was the equivalent of sticking their tongue out at someone.
Corbeau lets out a growl. He stomps over to his big poison type; his pokemon almost appears to tower over him the closer he gets. Corbeau eyes his pokemon with a glare as he moves behind the creature. Then, as if he was pushing a big wagon, Corbeau leans his whole body into Scolipede, shouting, “Get over there right now!”
Corbeau digs his shoes into the floor in an attempt to gain any movement, but Scolipede doesn’t move an inch. It’s like trying to move a boulder.
Scolipede snorts again from the humorous attempt. You also hold back a giggle.
Giving his trainer some slack, Scolipede does in fact move. But just when Corbeau thinks he’s won, he’s met with Scolipede turning around and snatching him up by his jacket collar, holding his trainer up like the scruff of a Litleo cub in the jaws of their parent Pyroar.
“S-Scolipede!” Corbeau reaches up to try and unhook his shirt from the clutches of his Pokemon’s mouth. “Put me down!”
Scolipede growls and gives Corbeau a good shake from side to side like his trainer was a squeaky toy he was playing with.
“Whoa, whoa whoa!” Corbeau shouts almost in a blur of movement. Once Scolipede stops and Corbeau’s swinging slows like a rope that lost momentum, the boss huffs and crosses his arms, still dangling above the ground as his tall pokemon holds him captive. “Ha ha. Very funny Scolipede. Hilarious. You got me. Now put me down.”
“Gurr,” Scolipede gurgles through a mouthful of his trainer’s shirt.
The giggle you were holding back makes its appearance. You’ve been quiet through all of this, but seeing the playful nature of Scolipede’s actions and the silly position Corbeau has gotten himself in, you get a mischievous idea.
“Well, if it’s so funny, then you should be laughing, Corbeau!” you move your hands towards Corbeau’s sides and scribble your fingers.
Instantly, the man gasps and jolts his arms down. A twitchy smile appears on his lips, followed by his snickers that start to turn into full-blown giggles.
“K-Kid! Wahahahait a minute!” Corbeau frantically waves his hands at you. With anyone else, you know Corbeau would try to swallow his laughter and hide it away for as long as he could, but with you taking him off guard, plus his fondness for you that makes him comfortable enough to drop his tough-guy persona, he lets his giggles slip nearly right away.
“There you go! Now you’re laughing!” you cheer.
“Why yohohohou little-!” his growl is cut off by more of his laughter when you stretch your hands up high to scratch at the bottom of his ribs, causing him to paddle his feet in the air.
Scolipede beams with joy, letting out a chirp. While making sure to keep Corbeau’s feet off the ground, the pokemon lowers his head a bit to allow you easier access to tickle his trainer, especially so you’re not standing on your tippy-toes to get him.
You chuckle in appreciation, now able to easily knead at Corbeau’s ribs. “Thanks, Scolipede! Now would you look at that, Corbeau. Scolipede and I are already working together without saying a word to each other. We’re in sync! You were right. Maybe we should team up more often.”
“Nohohoho! Yohohoho twohohoho need to stahahay fahahahar away from ehehehe-each other!” Corbeau cackles. “And if yohohou are ever together, yohohohou need to stay far ahahaway from mehehehe!”
“You hear that, Scolipede? I guess Corbeau isn’t up to the challenge to take on a powerful tag team and a devious duo like us,” you grin. As Corbeau reaches above his head the best he can in another attempt to unlatch his jacket from Scolipede’s mouth, you notice that his purple dress shirt has become untucked in the scuffle, rising up and exposing just a little bit of his belly.
So you, living up to your newfound title, get an absolutely devious idea.
“Yehehes, yehehes! Yohohou’re both vehehehery powerful,” you can hear the thick sarcasm through his laughter. “Nohohohow put mehehe dohoho-OOOWN!” Corbeau screeches when your hand slips under his shirt and fingers touch down on his bare tummy. He wildly kicks his legs, causing him to sway in the air a bit before he grabs hold of your wrists to keep himself still.
“KID! Gehehehehet out of thehehehere!!!” he cackles, tossing his head into the side of his shoulder. His cheeks start to flush pink behind his glasses.
“Bingo! It’s a critical hit!” you cheer. Scolipede chirps to cheer with you.
At the other side of the office, the elevator bell dings.
The doors open, and out walks Philippe, scrolling on a Rotom Pad.
“Boss, I have the new tasks for the Rust Syndicate members you wanted to go over-” It takes the man a second to actually hear the laughter from across the room over his words before he looks up and pauses in his tracks. You all freeze for a moment too, hearing another voice enter the office.
However, once you process that it’s Philippe who walked in on your shenanigans, you relax immediately. The secret of your silliness is safe with him.
“Oh! Hey Philippe!” you excitedly greet him.
“P-Philippe! Save me!” Corbeau says in a panic. He bursts into a handful of giggles again when you take another dig at his tummy, causing him to take lighthearted swats at your hands.
“Hey! Don’t spoil our fun just because Philippe is here,” you joke. You pull your hands away to give Corbeau a break.
Philippe approaches the scene in front of him, curiously observing a dangling Corbeau still being held up by Scolipede.
“Boss, how did you get yourself up there?” Philippe can’t help but crack a smile.
Corbeau crosses his arms. “Ask these two. They’re the ones who wanted to ‘show off’ the potential of their teamwork. Especially Scolipede, who refused to be on my team! His own trainer!” the boss points up at his pokemon and looks up at the creature with an icy glare.
“Guuurve!” Scolipede argues.
Corbeau gasps, like he understood exactly what his pokemon said. “I did not! How dare you! Philippe! Tell Scolipede to put me down!” Corbeau tries to nab at the fabric in Scolipede’s mouth again, but Scolipede just lifts his head up higher.
“But boss, he’s your pokemon,” Philippe responds.
“I know that, obviously!” Corbeau snaps back. “Just get me down from here!”
“Hmph,” Philippe narrows his eyes at his boss, though a smile still reaches his lips. You see in his expression that he’s contemplating whether or not he should help after such a rude remark, so you jump at the opportunity to sway him to your advantage.
“You know, Philippe, Scolipede and I could always use another member on our team,” you smirk and lean towards him.
Fear strikes in Corbeau’s eyes.
“Nononono! Philippe! You don’t want to be on their team. You want to be on my team!” he claims.
“And what’s wrong with our team?” you tease.
“Your team is built on mischief and trickery!”
You shrug, “So what? I would say our team is pretty powerful.”
“Only because you got the jump on me!”
“So why should Philippe join your team then?”
“Because I’m the boss!” Corbeau points to himself.
Philippe steps forward. “Alright you two. Don’t fight over me. I’ve made my decision anyway.” Philippe glances in your direction and winks. “I’ll help Corbeau.”
As Philippe walks past you, you fully process the meaning behind Philippe’s wink. You smile.
“Thank you, Philippe,” Corbeau shoots a smug, victorious look toward you while Philippe positions himself behind him. The boss speaks to his right-hand man, prideful of Philippe, “You have truly shown where your loyalties lie-AHAHEY!”
The shorter man starts squirming and giggling again when Philippe’s hands scratch at his underarms.
“PHILLIPE!” Corbeau calls out from the (tickly) sting of betrayal, “Yohohohou said you would hehehelp mehehehe!”
“Oh, you must have misunderstood me, boss. I meant that I would help you by joining the kid’s team and helping you smile!” Philippe grins.
“Yohohohou TRAITOR!” Corbeau shouts through his laughter, though there’s no real malice behind his words.
“Alright, Philippe!” you root for him and pump your fist in the air.
Philippe looks up at the big bug type above him, smiling. “You can let go of him, Scolipede. I’ll take him from here.”
Scolipede gurgles with glee. Gently, Scolipede lowers his head and transfers his giggly trainer into the strong arms of Philippe, who easily keeps Corbeau off his feet as Philippe’s wiggling fingers keep holding him by his underarms. Scolipede then joins you at your side.
“Phihihihilippe-hehehehey!” Corbeau wiggles so much it looks like he’s running in the air. Philippe finally puts Corbeau down for the smaller man to stand on the ground, but Philippe’s tickly clutches are still just as strong as he takes the opportunity to add a few prods to his ribs. Corbeau yelps and folds himself in half, with the force of his momentum causing him to twist to the side, but Philippe easily catches him and pulls him back to help his boss into a standing position.
“Yes, Mr. Corbeau? You called my name. I’m all ears. What did you want to say?” Philippe pauses to huff out a laugh, “Well, if you can say it, that is.”
“I-” Corbeau stumbles over his words before his laughter completely steamrolls over the rest of his sentence. The blush behind his glasses returns while he switches his squeezed arms at his sides to instead hug his bouncing torso.
You nudge the air with your elbow by Scolipede’s side and look up at the pokemon with a grin. “I guess our devious duo just turned into a troublesome trio, huh?”
“Guree!” Scolipede wholeheartedly agrees, his eyes smiling.
Corbeau finally gains control of his giggles to speak, “Ohohohokay! Philippe! Philippe! Thahahat’s enough!”
A chuckle rumbles from Phillippe’s chest. “You got it, sir.”
Just like that, Phillippe stills his fingers, allowing Corbeau’s giggles to gradually fade into deep breaths. Corbeau slumps back into Philippe’s arms, who was fortunately ready to catch him.
“Okay,” Corbeau says, winded and his clothes askew, “Maybe I did deserve that.”
Phillippe lifts Corbeau to stand his boss up straight. Corbeau regains his balance once Phillippe pulls his hands away, but he still leans forward as he catches his breath.
“Are you alright, Corbeau?” you ask.
He holds a hand up. “I’ll be fine.”
From your side, Scolipede scuddles up to his trainer. With a gurgle, he nudges the side of his head into Corbeau’s shoulder. Corbeau reaches up and pats his pokemon.
“Yeah, yeah. You’re sorry. But you were enjoying every second of that, weren’t you?”
“Vee!” Scolipede chirps to agree.
“Boss, when you’re ready, I still have those tasks to look over,” Philippe nods to Corbeau, trying to get back on track for business despite also enjoying seeing his leader loosen up.
“Ah, yes. Thank you, Philippe. I’ll look over them with you in a moment.” Corbeau adjusts his glasses, tucks his shirt back in, then turns to you.
“If you’ll excuse me, I have to get back to work. It was a pleasure battling you, like always.” Corbeau smiles and puts out his fist for a fist bump. “I look forward to our next match.”
You leave him hanging for a second to grin at him, “Sooo, does this mean that you enjoyed both of our battles? Even the one me and Scolipede teamed up on?”
“Don’t push it, kid,” Corbeau says with the hint of a chuckle.
“Hehe, I’ll take that a yes.” You hold your arm out and return to him a fist bump. “See you next time, Corbeau,” you reply with a smile, sealing the deal for another battle with Corbeau, and providing yourself with an excellent excuse to come visit him again.
