The mole and the chicken.

In a tree in Pecha Forest, Fira was resting on one of the branches. She had been going out into the forest more often recently, getting bored in town and places. She leaned against the tree on her branch, and after a while she hopped down back onto the ground and started to walk around again.

Below the tree on which the Torchic was perched on, something was coming up to the surface, as tiny bits of rock, dust and soil bounced up. Just after Fira landed, a Drilbur drilled out, and plopped onto the ground. He looked around, cheerful and happy to finally be able to get out of the Guild and do some exploring of his own for once. Then, he spotted the Torchic. "Hey there!" Horace called out.

Fira jumped when she heard the noise. She turned around and saw that it was a drilbur. She figured that's how it seemingly just popped out. "Hey!" She called back to him. "Who are you?" She asked curiously, wondering if she had seen him before.

"Oh, I'm Horace, one of the Grassveil Guild's staff." Horace replied, smiling. "And who are you? I don't think I've seen you around town." the Drilbur took a Pecha Berry and munched on it to pass the time. Besides, he was starving, so why not?

"I'm Fira. I've just been wandering around the area, seeing the sights." She responded. "So Horace, why are you out here?" She asked. She knew that most jobs in the guild took time, so seeing the workers out and about wasn't really unusual, but slightly unexpected.

"Oh, er," He finished off the sweet, light pink berry, and continued. "I just came out for some fresh air. It is one of the few days I ever get free time for the whole day, after all. Plus, I thought that maybe I could do a little training with the wild Pokemon here. I've been slacking off, while going around, flipping boards and posting papers each and every day."

Fira nodded in understanding of Horace's story. "I see." she said in response, thinking about what he said. She wondered why others would join the guild if they didn't get to get out that much. "So, you said you were thinking about training?" she asked, getting an idea.

"Yes, why?" Horace replied, clueless as to what the Torchic was hinting at. He wondered how his substitute was doing, filling in for him while he was off. He said he was professional, but the Drilbur wondered if that was true, of just something to say to make others impressed. In other words, Horace was slightly sorry for the filler-in.

"So, maybe you would be better off with a small sparring match with a pokemon." Fira said, hinting at wanting to have a quick battle with Horace. "Maybe with someone like me?" She added after.

"OK! That'd be nice. Ready when you are!" Horace replied, jumping back to create a little distance, before entering a battle stance, his claws flexing and his gaze steady.

Fira nodded her head, and got into a battle stance also. She closed her eyes for a second, and opened them, using a focus energy on herself.

Horace watched as the Torchic used a Focus Energy. OK. Better watch out for a critical hit now... he thought quickly, and then went in for the attack. He formed a bright light brown sphere, and let it fall into the ground, creating a huge sandstorm around the area (Sandstorm). In the midst of the sand, he was pretty much at home, but he wondered how a Fire-type like Fira might fare in this weather condition.

Caught up in the sandstorm attack, Fira let out a grunting sound, being buffeted by the sand. Despite the sand flying around, she used an ember attack, trying Townsend it over to Horace.

Horace was caught off guard by the sudden Ember attack, and was blown back by the small flare. Regaining his cool, the Drilbur used Dig, and drilled his way underground, waiting for a while before swiftly spinning upward, and smashing through the surface, and ramming straight into Fira from beneath her.

Fira looked around, watching when Horace went underground. She tried to keep track of where he was, but was sent into the air by his dig attack. Coming back down from the air, she came down head first, getting in a peck attack towards Horace, and landing back onto the ground on her talons.

Horace watched as Fira was sent flying into the air, but once she started coming down with a Peck attack, he immediately ducked back down, and away from the Torchic. Once in a safe position, he started scratching his claws together, and sharpening his strength and accuracy with Hone Claws.

Watching Horace use Hone Claws, Fira decided to counter with Focus Energy. She blocked out all other things and focused completely on him, waiting for him to attack.

From underneath the ground, Horace proceeded to drill through the ground. He rapidly burrowed, his strength augmented from honing his claws. Then, he paused for a while, got ready, and shot straight up to make another Dig attack, from below Fira's feet.

After his last attack, Fira watched Horace as he burrowed down. She waited a couple of seconds, jumped out of the way of the attack, and used an Ember attack on Horace as he came up.

Horace barely dodged the Ember, and rolled on the ground. As he rolled, he kept whipping up a Sandstorm. Once he came to a halt, Horace jumped back to his feet, and slammed his arms onto the ground, sending massive seismic waves through the ground at Fira as an Earthquake.

Fira had been caught by the sandstorm, and didn't see the seismic waves coming. She was knocked over by them, but got back up, not as fast as usual. She quickly sent a wall of embers up around Horace in all directions, using Fire Spin on him.

Horace looked around, not able to see a way out, and braced himself, burning in the flames. Then, he quickly leaped out, and used Dig again to hide away from the Fire Spin.

Fira smirked, but then quickly frowned as Horace dove into the ground again. She kept paying attention to where he would be, and when she thought he would come up she jumped out of the way, using an ember attack on the spot.

Horace quickly resurfaced, enduring the hot embers, and tunneling straight into the Torchic, and didn't stop until he knocked her away to a safe distance away from him.

Fira started to smile, thinking she was successful, unfilled she saw Horace emerge and ram straight into her. She flew back a couple of feet and landed on her feet. "You're pretty good!" She said, and used another ember attack towards Horace.