"Karma."

It was their usual post-training ritual: a meal at the local juice bar. She'd grown used to it ever since her sifu -- her master in the arts -- had moved to Viridian, relocating his entire gym with him. It was much less of a trip for her to see him, which meant much more direct study from a league professional. Every day ended with the same meal at the same spot: a hearty salad, some water and chilled fresh berries.

"Yes, sifu Caldera?" She looked up at him in-between forkfuls. Caldera was a chisel-cut Hitmonchan, with a broad chin and eyes that caught everything. He was even watching how she held her fork.

"Is your thumb alright? I know you jammed it slightly when we--" There was no 'soft' concern in his voice, just the worry of a trainer making sure his prize fighter was at her best.

"I can move it, and it hasn't seized up, so I will be fine." Karma offered a light smile in return. "I have a tournament to enter, after all."

"The SECT." Caldera's jaw worked, slowly. "All-grade, and full of wildcards. Are you sure you really want to do this? I will be blunt; it strikes me as a waste of your talents. You would do well to try and enter a pre-league pool. I know one, and it would make for excellent practice against others of your caliber."

"I'm not entering just to win," Karma replied, looking down into her salad bowl. A tomato slipped by her fork, and she stabbed it a second time. Another slip. "I have other reasons."

That took Caldera by surprise, and he leaned forward a bit. Between the second and third fork-stab, the tomato was gone, and Caldera slowly chewed away. Karma jumped a bit, then looked up at her master. "Just like you didn't see my fingers, I cannot see your reasons. Either you're slipping something past me, or..."

"No. It's not that. I've given up on that path. Only darkness and pain lay at the end." Karma felt the faintest of chills in her heart, as old, buried feelings stirred for a brief moment. "I... I think I've found my answer."

"'What is strength?'" Caldera rested his chin on both fists. "A very profound question, but not one with the same answer for every person. Still, I would like to hear yours."

"We think of strength being something that is just of the body. Muscles, sinew, bone, carapace." She flexed her own arm, looking at the scar ringing her right biceps. "But there is more. Much more."

"Go on."

A pause, and then Karma looked up at the ceiling. "It... well, uh... I was sitting on a swing at a playground when it came to me."

"A playground?"

"Leo has taken me on a date, and was going to buy some sno-cones, so I sat there and waited for him." A soft, warm smile played along Karma's lips as her eyes closed. "There were children there. Lots of them. Running around, climbing, laughing... I remember one of them took a big spill, and just bounced back up like it was nothing to climb the same high tree."

Caldera's lips pursed. "And?"

"... when we're young, we aren't afraid to feel. We aren't afraid to love. We aren't afraid to explore, to try, to dare. In that innocence, with that kind of heart, we were invincible." Her eyes opened, and Karma regarded her trainer. "An open, pure heart... only seeking to find others."

"You used to say that you couldn't help but show your heart on the field of battle." Caldera let a tiny smile appear. "So... you knew part of it all along?"

"Yes. Our hearts are open then, joined together in a struggle to become... something. Sometimes it's tainted. Hate. Anger. Desire. But when it's pure... that is when and where you find the strength to stand, the strength to fight, the strength to dream."

Caldera was silent, simply looking at Karma.

"... sifu?"

"I'm waiting for you to make an analogy to sex, Karma."

Karma's eyes widened and her antennae curled, but she said nothing aside from a few stammered apologies, leaving Caldera to laugh into his hand. "I'm no innocent girl, but... no, not that far. Still, this joining is possible even outside of battle. And it can give birth to wondrous things."

"It's called 'friendship', Karma."

Karma, about to continue, jerked as realization hit her. "... you're absolutely right."

"I suppose you got to where you needed to be, even if it was a little roundabout. But yes." Caldera's hand came to rest on Karma's shoulder, giving it a light squeeze. "There's all kinds of anecdotal evidence about companionship and love bringing out the best in us mon. Nothing scientific, but you can't measure passion, nor courage or devotion. But you can feel it... here." He prodded at Karma's chest, right above her heart. "I see why you're doing this, then... it's not just for you, is it?"

"We all yearn to shine. I want to shine with others... I want to... well..."

"Be their friends."

"Something like that!"

There was a long pause before Caldera gave Karma a warm, strong hug. She was more than happy to return it. "I'm proud of you, girl. Perhaps you're ready for the leagues after all... or maybe you're ready for something else."

"Only time will tell," Karma chimed in.

"Indeed. Only time... time... oh, shit." He looked at his watch. "We're missing the bus."

And thus, two fighting-type mon hurried off towards the bus stop... after grabbing their meals, of course. Waste not, want not.

"This is your fault, sifu! I can't be late for signups!"

"I wasn't the one who was being all lovey-dovey preachy!"

"Hmph!"

---

"... Carapas."

She took a moment to inspect her signature, then flumped down into a nearby chair, tired, sweaty and... elated.

"You're lucky, dear. We were just about to close up for the week."

"I blame it all on epiphanies, ma'am." Karma smiled goofily, leaving the confused SECT representative to just take her entry and tuck it away for filing.

---

Karmalita Carapas, known as Karma for short, is a budding young Fighting-type phenom... but has turned from simply seeking fights to seeking friendships. Time, trial, love and life experiences have matured her, awakening the girl from a commune and showing her that the greatest power of all is the bond of friendship -- a bond she seeks to forge with as many care to have a goofy, nerdy young Heracross girl as a friend.

Born on communal lands held by Purists (pokemorphs who have taken to a lifestyle as free from modern convenience as possible without being out-and-out tribals like one would find in the Safari Zones), Karma's life was one of study, training and curiosity -- first stoked by the 'outsider' martial arts teacher Caldera, and later by the junkman Wigglytuff that would become her guardian, Jethro Biggs. In time, she reached a point where her hunger for the outside world tore her away from her family, who grudgingly accepted her decision to leave the Purist commune. Within a day, a world of cell phones, Internet, fast food and comic books assaulted her, and she nearly felt the desire to return out of sheer fright... only to remember her sifu Caldera's words, the last words he told her before leaving himself: "Seek your path, and do not stray from it... and one day you will find the answer to all your questions." Karma has not strayed since... and it looks to be that her answer has finally come: strength is friendship.

As a person, she is friendly, open, light-hearted and a bit geeky -- Karma has a love for comic books, blogging and cheesy cartoons. She also has a tremendous sweet tooth, and it's only her rigorous regimen that keeps her in shape. As a battle opponent, she is firm, direct... but not afraid to smile, especially when she is enjoying the fight. To her, winning has taken on less meaning... now, she seeks to truly understand people's hearts both through friendship and fighting. An odd combination, but Karma is an odd girl.

---

Refpic lovingly done by and I am totally in her debt.