Shark Skin Crowd
You can thank InsanityRot for begging me, hands and knees, for more Unaki. AGunRod too, he really likes Garchomps.
Unaki would follow her Thomas anywhere. Right by his side, hovering over him like a scaly guardian angel through pouring rain, freezing sleet, or scorching sun... Though the latter felt really good on her scales. It didn't matter to the powerful Garchomp, she'd be there. Not even a dreaded earthquake could shake the former champion's resolve and loyalty...
A crowd, however, especially one so... Rambunctious... Gave the former champion pause. For some insane reason, Thomas had decided she'd enjoy an outdoor carnival. Her displeasure has been made well known by pinning the man to a tree with her hip, carefully, of course, for several minutes. However, what had once been a dominant display of strength had been twisted against her, as he had simply passed the time by playing a bongo beat on her rump.
The audacity of this human...
Unfortunately, where he went, so too did she, and currently her former trainer was on a crash course for a freaking traveling carnival. That being said... The accents wafting from the distant bloom of lights and sound had Unaki's nostrils flaring. It didn't take anyone to point out she'd, let's say, indulged in culinary delights since her retirement, and her myriad injuries meant training couldn't be as harsh as they once were...
Unaki growled as she looked down to the slight paunch she'd developed in recent years, and her rump Thomas was currently using as a musical instrument. Both were still hard as steel... Yet... She could feel the natural aquatic blubber of her species returning. This was outrageous!
She couldn't!
She had discipline!
Then the wind blew, carrying upon it sugary delights and baked wonders. Meaty treats and juicy mysteries swirled around her nose and... and... Suddenly, she wasn't so disciplined anymore.
"Ahaaa, is my princess hungry? There's tons of food stalls at the Starly Carnival. I'll buy you whatever you want if you play some games!"
Bribery!
But effective bribery, a tactic Thomas had used effectively against her time and time again, to great results. Memories of all the poke-treats and massages and spa days and extra training she received in return for peak performance drifted across Unaki's mind like a warm summer breeze. In the end, just like back then, she relented.
"Grrrrnnnaaaawwww..." Paws crunched twigs and claws churned dirt as the massive Garchomp released her human, despite his cheeky grin.
"Uh-huh! I know what my precious desert gem likes." Warm fingers closed around Unaki's wing claw, the safest and only way to hold the big shark's paw. Incredulous at her own weakness, Unaki found herself pulled along towards the ever-encroaching carnival. Lights and music, voices and smells, it was a sensory buffet, a kaleidoscope of the nose and ears and eyes that left the big reptile wavering. Were it not for Thomas's soft touch on her claw, she'd have turned away miles ago. But… he promised food and… and fun…
Reluctantly, Unaki followed her trainer into the throngs of people and pokemon, many turning to gawk at her stature and scars. Shame filled her muscled chest as her paws shuffled closer to the bulwark that was Thomas, his eyes cast about in wonder at the rows and rows of stalls and bright lights and drifting Magikarp balloons. Music wafted through the air to fill Unaki's ears, her awareness shattered as the throngs moved around her like a river parting for a stone. Thomas firmly pulled her arm, leading her to the edge of the crowd near a food vendor selling… some kind of meat on a stick. The moment the Garchomp opened her maw to, gently, complain that the carnival was a tad overwhelming, one of said sticks was upon her tongue, the wood held fast in Thomas's free hand.
Bliss…
The spices, the roast, the aroma and flavor… meat melted upon her rough tongue as Unaki chomped on reflex, devouring the morsel, stick and all. Butter and garlic, thyme and… something else… rosemary? Did it matter? An explosion of euphoria raced across the Garchomp's maw as her trainer smiled, offering the rest of the all-too-small treat. One that she accepted with a happy rumble.
"Food always calms you down, big girl. Come on, lets try the house of mirrors. It isn't a carnival without the mirrors!"
What was a house of mirrors? Why were they going? Why didn't Thomas explain anything… was it a dojo? Could pokemon observe their own technique in the mirror? That sounded fun.
The entrance was smaller than Unaki expected, the building was made of wood and… irregular. How could pokemon perfect their art in such a ramshackle construction? Planks groaned beneath her weight as she followed Thomas close, her eyes wide with worry as a pair of human children rushed between her legs and out into the chaos of the carnival. Had they touched her scales-
"Come on, you." Thomas pulled her along, her maw split in a surprised yelp as the damnable human drug her in front of… a mirror… Unaki stared at herself but… wrong. Taller and… thinner…
"Graw… Gaaarrrr?"
Squat…
Streeetch…
Stare.
Growl.
"It's you, silly thing!" Thomas sidled in beside her, his own visage taking on a similarly strange affect. Tall and skinny and wrong. Interest began to sparkle in Unaki's bosom, the Garchomp padding over to the next mirror, a squat thing barely half her height. Obviously, though, it was made for humans. As such… it accentuated very specific parts of the Garchomp's anatomy. Thomas couldn't stop himself, laughing uproariously as Unaki crossed her clawed arms to glare at him.
Unaki turned her gaze back to the absolute slander happening in real time before her. The mirror didn't reflect her forged body of steel and scales, oh no, gone was her chiseled chest and powerful legs, replaced with plump hips and a wide gut paunch. Turning to admonish her trainer only shifted the horror to her backside, her powerful tail becoming a tube of pudge and the once iron-hard slabs of glutes rotund bakeries.
"G-Gaarrrr!"
"Haaahahaha! You really let yourself go- ack!" Gently as she could, Unaki forced the cheeky man in front of her, a wicked grin splitting her maw as he took on the visage of a fat body. He wasn't nearly as Olympian as her, but he wasn't a couch potato. Unaki wouldn't allow it. Now, however, his midsection bulged like a pregnant woman's. "Oof, it's yours, Unaki." A blush burned in her scales as Thomas grinned up at her before giggles spilled from her fanged mouth. Very feminine giggles… but… she couldn't bring herself to care.
Unaki turned in the mirror once more, pursing her scaly lips as she attempted to 'twerk' or whatever it was the youth of today called it. Thomas's laughter banished whatever embarrassment she may have harbored, a startled yipe followed by another giggle spilling from her throat as the man smacked her fake dumpy.
Maybe… maybe the carnival was fun after all… maybe she didn't have to be Unaki the champion anymore… maybe it was okay to just be Thomas's best friend…
Thoughts swirled in her scaly head as they left the house of mirrors and towards a booth where men were tossed baseballs at a stack of bottles, few if any falling prey to the powerful pitches. A confused warble wafted from her throat, her claw gently prodding at her human's shoulder.
"Hm? Oh those, it's a scam. The bottles are weighted so its damn near impossible to knock- where are you, oh boy." Thomas rushed after his suddenly exuberant Garchomp, her arm already rolling in its socket. Without permission, the land shark plucked a ball from a frustrated man's hand and wound up hard, her paw lifting from the dirt. Complaints and shouts for cover rang free, the air dissipating as Unaki curled her claw around the ball, all the power of a champion launching the pitch towards the innocent bottles with speed that made the air crack.
The bottles didn't just fall… they disintegrated…
Silence fell over the collected crowd as the baseball continued on through the game master's tent and into the dark forest in the distance, Unaki's grin shining with fangs. No one stopped her when she plucked a massive stuffed Goodra from the top of the stand either…
"Hagarrrr! Chomp!" Unaki displayed her prize to her human, her precious Thomas, elation and joy filling her scales as he nodded his approval.
"Well, I guess even rigged games can't hold up to a Gar_champ_, huh?"
Ugh… still, as Unaki pulled the stuffed Goodra to her chest… she decided she liked carnivals after all. More than that… she liked carnivals with Thomas.