That's cheating!

A soft pull on his arm meant Qiān stopped moving. In response he too stood still and turned around. “Something the matter?” he asks, but the pokémon only pulls at his arm again, asking him to follow. Knowing better than to question him, he does as he says until they stand still once again. Míngzé knits his brows, still not knowing what exactly is the meaning of this. They stand in front of one of the stalls, great, but why?

“I think he wants you to play,” the friendly voice of a young woman tells him. She is standing in front of him and pushes something in his hands. A gun. Fake of course, but at least now he knows what carnival attraction this is. “Alright, go ahead.” Míngzé sighs softly while he looks away while the woman explains what to do.

Whatever it was, Qiān understood and acted immediately. Fifteen shots, all hits and without using the gun. The pokémon next to him sounds very proud, while the woman lost any ability she had to speak. “Happy now?” Míngzé sighs.

[Open]

Míngzé removed the gun from his own hands while waiting for Qiān to finish. It was far too dangerous for him to try and he would not hit anything anyway. But the pokémon was enjoying himself and that was all that mattered.

The voice of some young man sounded, telling them three shots was the maximum. “My apologies, he got carried away,” he says honestly, lowering his head a bit. Míngzé simply assumed this person worked here too and was trying to help his colleague.

Only that proved to be false.

The stranger’s challenge made him arch a brow in disbelief. Did he hear that right? Or maybe his ears were also failing him. “Are you trying to teach my pokémon how to use a gun?” There must be some law against it. But a shot followed and Míngzé flinched for a second, not expecting Qiān to actually try. This time the pokémon did not sound as happy as he looked at the gun. It was still close, yet not a hit. He lifted the gun again, but Míngzé quickly placed a hand on the loop and pushed it down. “Qian, enough,” he warns him, but Qiān gives him an annoyed look which goes unnoticed. All his shots were hits and he wants the same result with this gun.

“Why don’t you show him how to use a gun instead,” Míngzé says with a nod towards the stranger. Maybe that way Qiān sees he has no reason to prove himself.

Somehow it felt wrong that some stranger dropped a gun in his pokémon’s hand. Míngzé was not so much as angry, more flabbergasted. This was far from the first time someone approached Qiān while he was working, but this whole gun thing was new. With a deep frown on his head he looked at the figure. “Yes, I’m well aware it is not a real gun,” he says quickly. It is the only thing that comes to mind.

His mind is completely blank for a few seconds when Qiān tries to shoot the gun. Míngzé could even feel the resistance when he told him to stop. He should never have given his pokémon the freedom to enjoy himself a bit while he was working.

The stranger did agree to show his shooting skills and a smile tugged on his lips when he said he wasn’t any good. Perfect. He did not necessarily want him to fail, he simply wanted Qiān to let it go. The pokémon had nothing to prove. Or so he taught. Two shots sounded and he waited in anticipation. However his jaw dropped when the other spoke again. Lucky. Which meant he must have at least hit one target. “Good for you,” Míngzé said with a forced smile.

Again the other challenged Qiān. “I’m sorry, but we are leaving.” Míngzé placed his hand on the Inteleon’s arm, gently pulling it. Normally that was enough for him to listen, but not today. The pokémon actually pulled his arm away, leaving Míngzé stunned with his hand still in the air. “Qiān?” This was unusual behavior for him.

Another shot and it made him jump again. This time Qiān sounded pleased with himself. He turned towards the stranger, a smile on his lips as he raised the gun a bit. He’d hit his target after listening to the other’s advice.

This could not be happening. A pokémon that was so well trained should not act this way. Míngzé was lost for words as he stood there, being completely ignored by Qiān. No, he was having too much fun with some stranger. He was aware he liked shooting, which is why he gave him the opportunity to do so, but this was too much. The stranger was also not helping. Even though he was well aware Míngzé didn’t want this, he kept going.

“Unbelievable,” he muttered to himself as he turned away from the duo. Two emotions were swirling inside him, one of irritation and the other of a slow rising panic. Míngzé focused on the first one, not wanting to admit that he was in a way scared of Qiān’s unruly behavior. Day in and day out he placed so much trust in the pokémon.

Qiān on the other hand was having the time of his life. He smiled widely at the compliment given to him.  While the gun was not reliable, his own powers were. Which he demostrated by shooting one of the targets with a small blast of water. As the other tried his luck again, the pokémon carefully watched him doing so. When asked about his name, he nodded a few times. The first shot was a miss, but the other hit the target.

Maybe now it will finally be over. But no, now his pokémon was allowed to choose a price. “Oh, for Arceus sake.” Míngzé desperately wanted to go away, just to go sit on some bench and wait for all of this to end. But he could not even do that. He looked around while the two of them were having a moment. There were enough people he could ask for help, but somehow that felt wrong.

The inteleon had been staring at the prices for a while, unable to choose. There were two items he wanted and he kept looking between those two. One was a very small sobble plushie, the other a toy water gun. He pressed a finger on his lips, before pointing at the two items and looking at the young man. Maybe he could help him choose.