- Location
- Here
And it looks like that's going to happen once the investigation is complete.
Like No One Ever Was
- Thread starter Blueshift
- Start date
- Fantasy
- Location
- Oz
Well, that was certainly a good way to cover bases and move on. Showing things were being worked on while also not getting bogged down in it.
Not super sure about the whole 'don't move to solve the actual case of corruption' thing, but it's true that it wouldn't affect Nemona, so yeah, it's not her problem if she only cares about this case for the trophy. Getting the overall thing fixed helps her, getting that previous case fixed doesn't. Shows a nice sort of self-centred 'I only care about how it affects me' attitude that works for her age and also for how her upbringing has subconsciously influenced her.
Not super sure about the whole 'don't move to solve the actual case of corruption' thing, but it's true that it wouldn't affect Nemona, so yeah, it's not her problem if she only cares about this case for the trophy. Getting the overall thing fixed helps her, getting that previous case fixed doesn't. Shows a nice sort of self-centred 'I only care about how it affects me' attitude that works for her age and also for how her upbringing has subconsciously influenced her.
xbox432
Lover of Editing
Oof, if her parents manage to process that once they've woken up a bit more, I could see that messing with their heads. Hell, it could be a reason they suddenly started coming home earlier. Nothing makes such a good kick in the pants as a parent to find out that your kids don't actually considering you their parents. And internally thinking of them in their names rather than Mom and Dad (notably she calls them this as she's waking up)? That would be a harsh realization for them.
(Also, I can't be the only one who thinks it's odd when some kids call their parents by their first names, right? Because I've seen it in person before, and it's weird...)
Nice to see that the parents aren't as keen to let things go as Nemona. Good parents don't let their kids get taken advantage of.
cyan - Cyan
long obscuring - long hair obscuring
Interlude IV - Professor Friede
- Location
- Vancouver
Charizard let out a tired yawn beside my desk before slumping back down again. He was curled up on the floor of the school laboratory I was 'working' in. I reached a hand down to absently scratch the top of his head as I went over the acceptance letter one more time.
'Dear Professor Friede, we were thrilled to see your application letter and are happy to welcome you aboard as the latest member of Exceed. Your thesis was nothing short of marvelous. We look forward to…' Yada yada yada. A bunch of nice words thanking me and telling me to get ready for 12 hours a day in an office or maybe a laboratory, if I'm lucky.
My partner stopped enjoying my service and looked up at me with a big sigh.
"No clue, Charizard, just in a funk."
With further prompting from my partner, I added:
"This was supposed to be what I wanted, everything I was looking for. Everything we worked so hard for." The flying lizard next to me may have been more inclined to take to the skies than read dusty textbooks, but when it came time to study for exams, he was always right there. Whether it was pointing out something I had missed or simply creating a light with his tail that I could study by deep into the night.
"Char char. Rizard."
"It's a nice offer, really generous given my inexperience. This Director Crave seems to love my ideas, I just... I don't know." Charizard cocked his head to the side, puffing out a small ring of smoke nearby the acceptance letter. "Yes, I could turn it down, but what then? Work for the League? All of them are gearing up for Turo's big expedition." It was still many months off even starting yet, but the scientific world was abuzz with the idea of another foray into the Great Crater.
Probably have all the papers printed about as soon as the 'great Professor Turo's' next research becomes public knowledge- No, I couldn't think like that. Sure, it sucked to have my big achievement of becoming the youngest-ever accredited Pokemon Professor be overshadowed, but that wasn't the dude's fault.
Having met him, I found him to be somewhat stiff, but not rude or condescending. I could totally join up with him, especially for a shot at exploring the Great Crater!... If it wasn't for what that little girl had said.
Why was she so convinced it would be bad? Maybe she was just acting weird, little kids do that, right? It felt wrong, like a conclusion that fit the current data at first glance, but was completely wrong when you delved deeper, correlating the wrong evidence and getting an incorrect result.
No, that's definitely not right, Turo was acting very strange. I was waiting for him to say something, defend his invention, and then he just... didn't. Seemed more interested in whatever was on his phone while we were all shocked, then almost annoyed at having to look for Nemona after she ran off.
The door to the laboratory opened suddenly, and I turned to look at the newcomer. She wasn't dressed like any Professor or student, the tall woman wore a dark blue suit. Her long black hair with yellow streaks looked familiar, but it wasn't until she opened her mouth that I could place her.
"Apologies, this wouldn't happen to be the bloodwork lab, would it?" The referee who helped us search for Nemona before asked.
"Nah, it's down the hallway. Why's a referee asking?"
There was a flicker of a frown that crossed her face before she smoothed it out. "Ah, you remembered me. I'm Geeta, a League Official," she pulled out her ID to verify her words as she spoke. "I'm investigating a certain matter and got permission to use these facilities."
Well, that answers less than nothing, I noted before getting up. "Professor Friede. Let me show you where they are, the testing apparatus can be a bit tricky."
As we walked down the hall, I also thanked her. "Thanks for helping us find Nemona, we were all kinda worried when she ran off like that." From the few messages she'd sent me, she seemed to be doing much better, but I knew it was hard to tell how someone was doing from just a few texts - and she, in particular, had a plethora of hidden depths.
"It was no problem. Are you close to her?" The question was polite enough, but there was something steely about her gaze that made me think there was more going on. What it could be though, I have no idea.
"Not really, I met her the day of the tournament. Nice kid though, real bright." I said as I opened the door to the blood works lab.
"As bright as yourself?"
"Hah! Well, maybe," I added after a moment of reflection. What she said about Hisuian Zoroark was true after all. I dug through damn near every document in Uva Academy on ancient Sinnohan Pokemon to collect barely what she had told me off-handedly, but the facts were there.
She raised an eyebrow but didn't press the topic, moving over to the analysis machines. From her pocket, she pulled out a vial with a blood-soaked cloth within.
"Alright, you'll want to place that here to begin an analysis. What's the sample from and what are you looking for?"
"Any traces of unusual vitamins, drugs, or the like in this blood. Belongs to a Flying/Steel Type."
"OK, given those parameters you'll want to be running these scans…" I walked her through the basics and she was able to run her test, the results popping up on the screen.
"Looks like a female, decent health, high-ish iron, but that's to be expected for a Steel Type, and some trace Powerephenol." At her questioning glance, I clarified. "Power Herb. It's an ingredient only found in that plant and where the chemical takes its name from."
"I see. Is there any chance this trace element could be a false positive or have been consumed long ago?" She inquired while pressing the button to print out the results.
"No, no way. This equipment is state of the art and it's quite a distinctive chemical. Powerephenol gets burnt up fast by any Pokemon that eats it - that's why Power Herb is a battle item, it's best eaten and used to power up a Move right away. Even a trace amount like this could have been consumed no more than half an hour before the sample was taken."
"Could a 'trace amount' still affect a battle?" She pressed.
Ooh, that's a toughie. "... I think so, yeah. I believe Professor Fir did a study on it and proved that there was a noticeable effect on Moves at any point where we could still measure the Power Herb in the system. Double blinds were done to ensure that there was no placebo effect as well."
Geeta blinked. "That's quite knowledgeable of you. I see that the standards for Professorship remain high." She nodded, seeming quite pleased with that fact.
"Why thank you," I said back faux modestly. Then, I added: "Honestly, part of it is just looking into other studies, running my own confirmation tests while waiting for my applications to go through. And now, I'll be able to run my experiments." Sure, I'd have tasks assigned to me by Exceed, they had their corporate interests, but I'd have plenty of leeway to run my own projects as well. I might not be able to supervise them all that closely due to my responsibilities for Exceed, but having those resources to run them is a bright side. I have to remember to keep looking out for those.
Her Rotom Phone chimed and floated up to show her a new message, and I caught a glimpse of just the person who sent it. They were titled 'G. Investigators,' and whatever they had to say had her quickly giving her farewell. "I see. I wish you the best in your future endeavors, and thank you for the help you've provided me." She gave me a small bow before turning and walking out.
"No problem, best of luck in your investigation." Whatever it is you're looking into. A Steel Flying Type using Power Herb eaten early sounds like a weird case… my mind flashed back to the final battle Nemona had, the glowing Corviknight diving down at Dunsparce.
"Were you-!" I ran out the door, but in the time it had taken me to put the pieces together, she was long gone. Curse her long legs!
I explained the matter to Charizard, who was upset but didn't know what to do. "Me neither."
This feels like something Nemona would want to know, but should I tell her? Especially before the investigation is over, it might just make her upset.
Resolving to review the matter later, I still brought up my phone to text and check in with her.
Friede: 'Hello young scholar, how's it going?'
Nemona: 'Lol, told you, Friede, you don't need to call me that. I'm doing well, just had my birthday party. I got a bunch of cool gifts, especially stuff to help me train Dun and Rotom!'
Sounds like she's feeling more chipper. She hasn't mentioned anything about the end of the match. I kinda want to ask, but if she's avoiding it, might be best to let things lie.
Friede: 'And you didn't think to invite me? How cruel, everyone knows I love cake
'
Nemona: 'Ah, I didn't think you'd want to come. Also, there was no cake.'
Friede: 'What? No cake??? But I thought you were loaded.'
Nemona:'Yeah, and being rich doesn't preclude me not liking cake.'
Friede: 'I don't know if I can trust the scientific acumen of someone who can ignore the fundamental greatness of cake.'
Nemona: 'Hah, I can kick your butt any day of the week in Pokemon knowledge.'
So formal in her texts, but also childish. It was an odd mix that seemed to define the young girl.
Her last text was also a decent opening so I decided to pick her brain a bit on something I'd been wondering about.
Friede: 'I doubt that. Though now that you mention it, you did say some interesting stuff about Hisuian Pokemon before…'
Nemona: '(Biggrin) What is it you wish to know, oh humble seeker of knowledge?'
Friede: 'Alright big brain, what's your theory on some of the regional variants of the era? The stuff about inactive volcanos and polar shift can only explain so much.'
Nemona: 'They can explain some things, like the more base Elemental Type changes. As for the other changes, while I can't be certain, a lot of those regional variations were only recorded by Professor Laventon and the Survey Corp, during the Sinnoh Crisis. At that time there was a massive distortion field hanging over the land. That kind of environmental influence could have had a huge effect on the Pokemon there at the time.'
I blinked, staring at my screen. Of course, how did I miss that? No, how did she figure that out? For a little girl to have instantly figured out a solid-sounding hypothesis to my problem… it was more than just impressive.
Friede: 'That would make a lot of sense, especially with some of the Ghost and even Psychic varients at the time! How did you know all of that?'
There was a long pause before she finally typed a message back.
Nemona: 'I like studying the past, there's a lot of interesting stuff that happened back then. And like I said, I don't know any of it, just assumptions really. Gotta go train now, talk later.'
Glancing over at Charizard I saw him staring suspiciously at my screen as well before letting out a scoff of scorchingly hot air. "Yeah, I think there's something off with her too. But for now…"
Taking out a new sheet of paper, I began sketching up an independent research application form for my new employer. 'Study into the effects of heavy saturation of Ghost Type energy over the living space of…' Who to test first, Cyndaquil or Zorua? Hmm, let's go Zorua, they're naturally Dark Types so less likely to suffer any side effects if the experiment goes wrong, not that I think there's much chance of that. 'Zorua, to see if it creates a variation in their natural Typing.'
Already I could feel a bit of the malaise that had been lingering over me start to shake off. "This will be fun. Can't wait to see what happens."
'Dear Professor Friede, we were thrilled to see your application letter and are happy to welcome you aboard as the latest member of Exceed. Your thesis was nothing short of marvelous. We look forward to…' Yada yada yada. A bunch of nice words thanking me and telling me to get ready for 12 hours a day in an office or maybe a laboratory, if I'm lucky.
My partner stopped enjoying my service and looked up at me with a big sigh.
"No clue, Charizard, just in a funk."
With further prompting from my partner, I added:
"This was supposed to be what I wanted, everything I was looking for. Everything we worked so hard for." The flying lizard next to me may have been more inclined to take to the skies than read dusty textbooks, but when it came time to study for exams, he was always right there. Whether it was pointing out something I had missed or simply creating a light with his tail that I could study by deep into the night.
"Char char. Rizard."
"It's a nice offer, really generous given my inexperience. This Director Crave seems to love my ideas, I just... I don't know." Charizard cocked his head to the side, puffing out a small ring of smoke nearby the acceptance letter. "Yes, I could turn it down, but what then? Work for the League? All of them are gearing up for Turo's big expedition." It was still many months off even starting yet, but the scientific world was abuzz with the idea of another foray into the Great Crater.
Probably have all the papers printed about as soon as the 'great Professor Turo's' next research becomes public knowledge- No, I couldn't think like that. Sure, it sucked to have my big achievement of becoming the youngest-ever accredited Pokemon Professor be overshadowed, but that wasn't the dude's fault.
Having met him, I found him to be somewhat stiff, but not rude or condescending. I could totally join up with him, especially for a shot at exploring the Great Crater!... If it wasn't for what that little girl had said.
Why was she so convinced it would be bad? Maybe she was just acting weird, little kids do that, right? It felt wrong, like a conclusion that fit the current data at first glance, but was completely wrong when you delved deeper, correlating the wrong evidence and getting an incorrect result.
No, that's definitely not right, Turo was acting very strange. I was waiting for him to say something, defend his invention, and then he just... didn't. Seemed more interested in whatever was on his phone while we were all shocked, then almost annoyed at having to look for Nemona after she ran off.
The door to the laboratory opened suddenly, and I turned to look at the newcomer. She wasn't dressed like any Professor or student, the tall woman wore a dark blue suit. Her long black hair with yellow streaks looked familiar, but it wasn't until she opened her mouth that I could place her.
"Apologies, this wouldn't happen to be the bloodwork lab, would it?" The referee who helped us search for Nemona before asked.
"Nah, it's down the hallway. Why's a referee asking?"
There was a flicker of a frown that crossed her face before she smoothed it out. "Ah, you remembered me. I'm Geeta, a League Official," she pulled out her ID to verify her words as she spoke. "I'm investigating a certain matter and got permission to use these facilities."
Well, that answers less than nothing, I noted before getting up. "Professor Friede. Let me show you where they are, the testing apparatus can be a bit tricky."
As we walked down the hall, I also thanked her. "Thanks for helping us find Nemona, we were all kinda worried when she ran off like that." From the few messages she'd sent me, she seemed to be doing much better, but I knew it was hard to tell how someone was doing from just a few texts - and she, in particular, had a plethora of hidden depths.
"It was no problem. Are you close to her?" The question was polite enough, but there was something steely about her gaze that made me think there was more going on. What it could be though, I have no idea.
"Not really, I met her the day of the tournament. Nice kid though, real bright." I said as I opened the door to the blood works lab.
"As bright as yourself?"
"Hah! Well, maybe," I added after a moment of reflection. What she said about Hisuian Zoroark was true after all. I dug through damn near every document in Uva Academy on ancient Sinnohan Pokemon to collect barely what she had told me off-handedly, but the facts were there.
She raised an eyebrow but didn't press the topic, moving over to the analysis machines. From her pocket, she pulled out a vial with a blood-soaked cloth within.
"Alright, you'll want to place that here to begin an analysis. What's the sample from and what are you looking for?"
"Any traces of unusual vitamins, drugs, or the like in this blood. Belongs to a Flying/Steel Type."
"OK, given those parameters you'll want to be running these scans…" I walked her through the basics and she was able to run her test, the results popping up on the screen.
"Looks like a female, decent health, high-ish iron, but that's to be expected for a Steel Type, and some trace Powerephenol." At her questioning glance, I clarified. "Power Herb. It's an ingredient only found in that plant and where the chemical takes its name from."
"I see. Is there any chance this trace element could be a false positive or have been consumed long ago?" She inquired while pressing the button to print out the results.
"No, no way. This equipment is state of the art and it's quite a distinctive chemical. Powerephenol gets burnt up fast by any Pokemon that eats it - that's why Power Herb is a battle item, it's best eaten and used to power up a Move right away. Even a trace amount like this could have been consumed no more than half an hour before the sample was taken."
"Could a 'trace amount' still affect a battle?" She pressed.
Ooh, that's a toughie. "... I think so, yeah. I believe Professor Fir did a study on it and proved that there was a noticeable effect on Moves at any point where we could still measure the Power Herb in the system. Double blinds were done to ensure that there was no placebo effect as well."
Geeta blinked. "That's quite knowledgeable of you. I see that the standards for Professorship remain high." She nodded, seeming quite pleased with that fact.
"Why thank you," I said back faux modestly. Then, I added: "Honestly, part of it is just looking into other studies, running my own confirmation tests while waiting for my applications to go through. And now, I'll be able to run my experiments." Sure, I'd have tasks assigned to me by Exceed, they had their corporate interests, but I'd have plenty of leeway to run my own projects as well. I might not be able to supervise them all that closely due to my responsibilities for Exceed, but having those resources to run them is a bright side. I have to remember to keep looking out for those.
Her Rotom Phone chimed and floated up to show her a new message, and I caught a glimpse of just the person who sent it. They were titled 'G. Investigators,' and whatever they had to say had her quickly giving her farewell. "I see. I wish you the best in your future endeavors, and thank you for the help you've provided me." She gave me a small bow before turning and walking out.
"No problem, best of luck in your investigation." Whatever it is you're looking into. A Steel Flying Type using Power Herb eaten early sounds like a weird case… my mind flashed back to the final battle Nemona had, the glowing Corviknight diving down at Dunsparce.
"Were you-!" I ran out the door, but in the time it had taken me to put the pieces together, she was long gone. Curse her long legs!
I explained the matter to Charizard, who was upset but didn't know what to do. "Me neither."
This feels like something Nemona would want to know, but should I tell her? Especially before the investigation is over, it might just make her upset.
Resolving to review the matter later, I still brought up my phone to text and check in with her.
Friede: 'Hello young scholar, how's it going?'
Nemona: 'Lol, told you, Friede, you don't need to call me that. I'm doing well, just had my birthday party. I got a bunch of cool gifts, especially stuff to help me train Dun and Rotom!'
Sounds like she's feeling more chipper. She hasn't mentioned anything about the end of the match. I kinda want to ask, but if she's avoiding it, might be best to let things lie.
Friede: 'And you didn't think to invite me? How cruel, everyone knows I love cake
'Nemona: 'Ah, I didn't think you'd want to come. Also, there was no cake.'
Friede: 'What? No cake??? But I thought you were loaded.'
Nemona:'Yeah, and being rich doesn't preclude me not liking cake.'
Friede: 'I don't know if I can trust the scientific acumen of someone who can ignore the fundamental greatness of cake.'
Nemona: 'Hah, I can kick your butt any day of the week in Pokemon knowledge.'
So formal in her texts, but also childish. It was an odd mix that seemed to define the young girl.
Her last text was also a decent opening so I decided to pick her brain a bit on something I'd been wondering about.
Friede: 'I doubt that. Though now that you mention it, you did say some interesting stuff about Hisuian Pokemon before…'
Nemona: '(Biggrin) What is it you wish to know, oh humble seeker of knowledge?'
Friede: 'Alright big brain, what's your theory on some of the regional variants of the era? The stuff about inactive volcanos and polar shift can only explain so much.'
Nemona: 'They can explain some things, like the more base Elemental Type changes. As for the other changes, while I can't be certain, a lot of those regional variations were only recorded by Professor Laventon and the Survey Corp, during the Sinnoh Crisis. At that time there was a massive distortion field hanging over the land. That kind of environmental influence could have had a huge effect on the Pokemon there at the time.'
I blinked, staring at my screen. Of course, how did I miss that? No, how did she figure that out? For a little girl to have instantly figured out a solid-sounding hypothesis to my problem… it was more than just impressive.
Friede: 'That would make a lot of sense, especially with some of the Ghost and even Psychic varients at the time! How did you know all of that?'
There was a long pause before she finally typed a message back.
Nemona: 'I like studying the past, there's a lot of interesting stuff that happened back then. And like I said, I don't know any of it, just assumptions really. Gotta go train now, talk later.'
Glancing over at Charizard I saw him staring suspiciously at my screen as well before letting out a scoff of scorchingly hot air. "Yeah, I think there's something off with her too. But for now…"
Taking out a new sheet of paper, I began sketching up an independent research application form for my new employer. 'Study into the effects of heavy saturation of Ghost Type energy over the living space of…' Who to test first, Cyndaquil or Zorua? Hmm, let's go Zorua, they're naturally Dark Types so less likely to suffer any side effects if the experiment goes wrong, not that I think there's much chance of that. 'Zorua, to see if it creates a variation in their natural Typing.'
Already I could feel a bit of the malaise that had been lingering over me start to shake off. "This will be fun. Can't wait to see what happens."
Here we get to see some ripples from the people Nemona met at the tournament, and a few hints as to the investigation going on. Also, oh boy, was this one tough. While I like Friede a lot, he is a very difficult character to get right, being both smart, but also very 'chill' most of the time.
Last edited:
- Location
- Here
Oh, so I was actually on to something important.
Assuming, of course, that this actually counts as doping in violation of the tournament rules.
Assuming, of course, that this actually counts as doping in violation of the tournament rules.
StrangerDanger51
Novice Writer
- Location
- New Zealand
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Well they disqualified Nemona for using an item, if it's proven that Mr nepotism over there also used an item, then the whole thing could be thrown out.
- Location
- Michigan
Only way could be if he also lost against a Dunsparce that entered the battle without any neutral or supereffective attack options against a steel/flying type.
I am wondering if Nemona will be using older TM lists, I am guessing that Dun has the ability Serene Grace and combined with previous gens giving Dunsparce Charge Beam as a TM move it would be a useful move for her to give both a ranged move and for the guaranteed boost to special attack which would be helpful for preparing to use Boomburst, especially given that outside game mechanics Charge Beam presumably gives the boost even without needing to hit another pokemon with it.
Last edited:
- Location
- Massachusetts
Man, most of this was enthralling until the whole ending with Freddie.
Now I literally will not care about anything else that happens until that's actually resolved. It's the sort of thing that makes me ctrl-f through entire chapters and completely discard if not mentioned.
Way too many authors make a bad habit of sabotaging catharsis this way to drive up interest.
Now I literally will not care about anything else that happens until that's actually resolved. It's the sort of thing that makes me ctrl-f through entire chapters and completely discard if not mentioned.
Way too many authors make a bad habit of sabotaging catharsis this way to drive up interest.
Chapter 22
- Location
- Vancouver
"Alright, both of you, Thunder!" I called out and my two Pokemon followed my command.
Dun raised his tail, the tip of it sparkling with electricity, before swiping it down like a conductor with their baton. The sky answered the unheard song, releasing a lightning bolt down on the empty path before us, scorching the earth.
In the time it took Dun to fire one bolt, however, Rotom had launched three of their own. The Ghost in my phone was for once, outside of it, floating with their blue-plasma body hovering in the air. A slight glow shortly preceded each bolt Rotom called down from the heavens.
They turned around to give me a big grin. "Excellent work you two. Dun, that was great power, your bolt was just as strong as Rotom's even without the Electric Type. Rotom you called those bolts down very fast and you're not tired yet. That's great, I know it's a big step up from the Thundershocks you've been working with. "
"Dun dun!" Dunsparce cheered while Rotom just buzzed happily. They couldn't talk to me outside of their phone, but they were quite emotive, and I had it close on hand if we needed any clarification.
"Next, I want you to use Rain Dance, Rotom ,then we'll try again with the Thunder." I'd planned on training accuracy because I remembered the Move being quite inaccurate in the games, but it looks like that's not the case here. Instead, it seems to be more charge-up speed. Of course, they're accurate against spots on the ground, it's possible the 'inaccuracy' comes from moving targets interrupting you before you can execute the attack. I'd look into that later, but for now, we were just practicing getting a basic handle on the Moves.
Rotom tilted, confused, and zipped back into their phone. "What's the purpose of training in the rain, if I may ask, bzzt?"
"Of course, you can ask. As for that, weather has more effects on a battle than one might think of at first. Rain increases the power of Water Moves and decreases Fire, but it also makes Moves like Thunder or Hurricane easier to use. That's why I got the Rain Dance TM for you and not Sunny Day: Sunny Day would increase the power of your Overheat and protect you against Water Moves in Heat form. Rain Dance will increase the power of Hydro Pump in Wash form, protect you from Fire Moves in Mow or Frost forms, make Hurricane easier in Fan form, and Thunder in every form."
There was a moment of silence and I wondered if I had overwhelmed them or made some mistake in my logic before Rotom spoke up. "Wow, you put a lot of thought into this, didn't you?" Dun chirped smugly, proud to have such a great trainer, and I blushed.
"I mean, of course I did. You guys are the ones that put in the hard work, so I have to do at least this much." I was also somewhat constrained by budget. Realistically, I knew I could ask my parents for money if I needed it, and I had tons of allowance saved up over the past year and a half, but I didn't want to. Plus, mastering six new Moves each would keep them busy for a while.
They both had Protect, Hyper Voice, and Thunder to learn. Protect for being a solid shield and an all-around good option for gaining time, Hyper Voice being a powerful special attack that was fast, hard to avoid, and hard to resist. For Rotom it gave good coverage and for Dun, it had STAB (Same Type Attack Bonus) and would be a good stepping stone for his ultimate Move, Boomburst. Thunder had plenty of synergies for Rotom, and just gave a good range for Dun.
"Bzzt, should I change to Wash form for this next test? I could also practice Hydro Pump-" Rotom 'offered' before I cut them off.
"Nope, still just practicing your base abilities for today. It'll help to give you a handle on the changes you'll feel to your energies in and out of an appliance form." It was well documented that in addition to the Type changes, Rotom's also became a bit slower but much tougher, and even a tad stronger drawing from the motors of the appliances.
At the frown on their face I added "Don't be too eager to change, we'll be starting physical conditioning once you're training in an appliance begins."
"Must we, bzzt?"
"We must. Every battling Pokemon needs to know how to take a hit." Except Shedinja, but I'm ignoring that because it's not helpful to this situation. "It's the best way for you to learn some Moves too, like Hex. Dun did a good job demonstrating it for you, but it's still hard for you to grasp the Move yourself, right?"
They nodded glumly, while Dun had a sharp gleam to their eyes, clearly eagerly awaiting this. That being said, I could tell that he was happy to see Rotom doing well with Thunder earlier too, which is nice to see.
Dun's other Moves he had learned were Agility and Air Slash. Agility was just a good power-up Move, to help him match faster foes, while Air Slash would be helpful in training Roost. He'd demonstrated a good level of control over both already.
Rotom was going a bit slower, but I could tell that despite their worries about getting hurt, they were committed to this. It showed in how they left the phone and threw themselves into the Rain Dance, wiggling their plasmid body around. And the world answered, the sky opening up and rain pouring down.
Dun turned, readying themselves with Rotom, and the two gathered lightning once more. This time though, despite the storm only stretching out about a hundred meters across, the lightning came much faster, the rapid flashes of light forcing me to avert my gaze eventually, counting the shots by the boom of thunder left in their wakes.
"Ok, I think that's good!" I shouted out over the din, and the lightning stopped. Blinking my eyes open, I saw through the rain two lines in the field in front of us burnt black from the bolts that had slammed into it. Dun had landed five bolts in twenty seconds, decent enough for someone just getting used to the Move and that Type of energy. Rotom's line was over double what Dun's was, probably managing at least a dozen strikes in that time.
There's still attacking a moving target, moving yourself while attacking, and general boosts to power and speed to work on, but this is a great start. And really, there's just something… awe-inspiring about the power Pokemon have. To be able to reshape the elements, the world to your whims, it's incredible. Of course, it came with a toll. Dun was looking quite pleased with his work, but he was a bit puffed. Rotom on the other hand was swaying mid-air, exhausted.
"Excellent work, let's- Rotom can you turn this rain off?"
They waved their plasmic arms up, before drooping them back down and shaking their head/body. "That's fine, let's get out of here then, I think we're done for the day."
We walked down to the beach and I offered them an Ether each, something that Rotom eagerly accepted, and Dun shrugged off.
"Ar, un." He said to the Ghost, literally sparking chagrin from them.
"Hey now, I'm not coddling Rotom. They did excellently with Thunder, it's one of the strongest Moves any Electric Type can use." Rotom beamed at my words. "Especially since I lied about this being the end of Rotom's training." They turned to me, shock and horror showing on their teardrop face… until they saw the small smirk on my face. "Psych."
"Dun du dun," Dunsparce laughed at them while Rotom fumed, moving towards the phone, which I pulled back.
"Wait, I lied about lying, sorry! But those feelings, right there, of the joke I played on you, try and hone those. Focus on how you want to get me back. Come up with some plan, make a Nasty Plot."
They concentrated, face flashing through emotions too quickly to keep up until they settled on a frown. After about fifteen seconds, it turned to a cruel grin, one befitting the Dark Type Move, to the point that I would have realized had worked even if I couldn't feel the ambient level of electricity increasing in the air.
"Well done, ok, now it's over." I held out the phone and they quickly slipped back in. "Sorry about that, but I needed to get you in the right frame of mind to use Dark Type Energy."
There was a light buzzing sound, which felt like incoherent grumbling before they calmed down.
"Bzzt, I understand, even if I don't like it. Hopefully, I won't have to use that energy much beyond that, it felt… wrong."
"Yeah, Ghost Types are pretty diametrically opposed to Dark. Unfortunately, there is another Dark Move you might want to learn eventually, that will help you shore up a potential weakness against those resistant to energy-based attacks." Foul Play is a great Move to turn someone's strengths into a weakness.
"I still haven't even used Will o' Wisp, bzzt," Rotom moaned before hastily adding: "I'm not going to be practicing it today either."
Laughing I said "No worries there, take your break, you've earned it. Will o' Wisp is pretty easily learned by any Ghost Type anyways, and they have worked hard today. They're growing in a lot of ways, that denial was a lot firmer than usual, well done Rotom. You're getting more confident every day. Somehow, that thought called to mind an image of a character from my previous life and I stopped.
"What's wrong, bzzt?" They asked, dropping any wariness in favor of worry for me.
"No no, it's nothing." 'Tails' wouldn't work, they never have a tail, and what even is a Prower? But, maybe… "I just- it's dumb but, I thought of another name for you. Miles."
"Bzzt, from the ancient Imperial measurement system before Paldea ended such use and switched to the base ten Metric one? I don't see how it applies to me, admittedly."
But that's not a no. Every other suggestion got a swift rejection. "Ok so, it's dumb because it only makes sense to me. See, I had an idea for a story-"
"Arce ar dun," Dun complained.
"Hey, I don't have a story for every little thing!" I faltered as he opened one eye up fully as if to say 'really?' "Urk- well, a writer should have tons of ideas! Anyways, this one, I hadn't even put it down to paper yet, but it involves some really incredible creatures. Uhh, I'll just describe them as Pokemon for now." Since that's how I'll eventually tell this to others. "There's Sonic, a Shaymin with blue fur that's super fast, even in land-form. He also had a younger friend, like a little brother to him, Miles 'Tails' Prower. They're a Vulpix who's a genius inventor, and nearly as fast as Sonic themselves, and together with their friends they fight against the evil Doctor Robotnik and his army of robots. He's a mad scientist who often captures Pokemon and uses them to power his machines, and sometimes builds amusement parks…"
I shook my head, realizing I was getting off track. "Tails is incredible in a lot of ways, but they feel like they don't always match up to Sonic. But when they believe in themselves, they realize they're great too, and help save the world a bunch. Sonic gets a lot of credit, and he fights hard no doubt, but many times he wouldn't even be able to do anything without Tails. Just there, you reminded me of Tails. Someone smart, driven, and quite strong, who just needs a bit of confidence. Someone who will definitely grow to be one of the greatest heroes in time."
There was silence after I stopped talking. Did I screw up? Was that weird? I hope not, I should just tell them to ignore it- "You never fail to amaze me, Nemona," Rotom said softly. "I think Miles is a lovely name."
"Even though it doesn't fit or make sense to others?"
"I've never truly 'fit', bzzt. Not with the other Rotoms or with other people, not until I met you. If others don't get it, that's fine. It's not their name, it's mine." There was a steel in their voice that told me how firm they were, and in this moment I believed they could take on the whole world.
This touching moment was, of course, shattered by Dun asking if he was the 'Sonic' in this story.
"Haha, no, you wouldn't be Sonic. Honestly, you'd be Knuckles." At my Pokemon's confused glances, I explained. "So, Knuckles is this Annhilape, crazy strong and tough. He's the last survivor of his tribe who defended a mystical artifact called the Master Emerald. It and the seven Chaos Emeralds are the main driving forces of a lot of the plot, with Eggman and Sonic and friends chasing after them. In their first meeting though, Eggman tricks Knuckles into thinking Sonic is the bad guy and makes them fight each other. Soon enough Knuckles sees the truth and works with Sonic to stop Eggman, but they still have a fierce rivalry later on, Knuckles and Sonic constantly competing to see who's best."
"Dun?"
"Who's Eggman? Oh right, I haven't explained yet but Sonic kept on taunting Robotnik by calling him that, which got him infuriated and he ended up making a bunch of mistakes in their prior adventures when anyone taunted him. Eventually, he realized that it was costing him, so he turned around and decided to own the name. Made his own brand out of it as 'Doctor Eggman', which soon enough became a name feared around the world…"
***
"And together, Doctor Eggman, his newly adopted daughter Sage, the Porygon, Sonic the Shaymin, and all his friends joined forces and defeated The End!" I finished my long and winding tale. It had many backtracks, places missed where I forgot or only half-remembered details and names, details I had skipped, and even complaints from the crowd.
"Du dun."
"I must concur, bzzt. 'The End' isn't that inventive of a name for a final foe." Miles threw in their two cents.
"Oh come on! I didn't write it." Though, I guess in this world I will. I suppose a few edits wouldn't go amiss. "Look, Dun, I don't think you even know how to write, so you have no room to talk." He slumped, turning away. "Oh, I'm so sorry, we can work on writing lessons if you want…"
After a long pause, they said laconically "Dun."
"If you don't want writing lessons then don't act like that!" Miles' case was shaking, sparks flying off and Dun was making his odd hissing sound that I took to be laughter. "I can't believe it, my own Pokemon, teaming up on me," I sighed melodramatically but couldn't keep the grin off my face. This was a great day.
Looking out over the horizon, I saw the sun setting and realized that the day was also coming to an end. "Alright, let's head back inside for some dinner and recharging. You've done great learning all those new Moves so far, tomorrow we can work on mastering them-" Dun lightly headbutted my shin. "What- oh. Right, that Move."
"Dun." He nodded seriously.
"That's fair, you've earned it. Thank you for being patient with me. I don't think we'll have time to use it much today, but we can give it one shot before dinner."
I returned him to his Pokeball and pressed the Technical Machine around the opening button, where it began to spin around. You could teach Pokemon TMs without a Pokeball, but the instructions always recommended having them inside. Better for 'auric information transfers' or something like that.
After a minute it was completed, and the disc finished spinning and fell off. Dun's head swayed a bit, seeming a bit overwhelmed by all the information but shook it off fairly fast. "Dun dun!"
"Before you use it, I want to try Terastalizing you. As a Normal Type Move, this will make it supercharged!" Grabbing the Tera Orb with both hands, I threw it above Dun, Terastalizing him.
"Ok Dun, see that cliff there?" I pointed to the small three-story cliff at the end of the beach. "Hit it with the strongest Move you have, Giga Impact!"
He jumped, launching his body forward, and before he was surrounded by the green light of the Move, I could see how he was moving his body differently. The Technical Machine not only imparted Type Energy information, but also the physical information needed to best use the Move, how to shift his muscles just so to maximize his force.
Like an emerald comet, his crystal-covered body smashed into the cliffside. The boom of impact made a shockwave, the sound like a cannon strike washing over me. I blinked my eyes and through the cloud of dust, I saw a massive crater in the face of the earth where Dun had struck, my Pokemon lying at the bottom of the cliff, the Terastalization effect dissipating as his energy dropped.
Miles turned to me with wide eyes, speechless. "... Maybe no one noticed?" I tried.
A large crack spread out from the point of impact, widening and spreading up and down the cliff as a large chunk of it split off from the rest and tumbled into the ocean.
***
"What were you thinking?!"
People did, in fact, notice. The household had been a buzz of activity as we went back inside, the staff wondering if a horde of wild Pokemon were stampeding only to find out that it was just us practicing. Plenty of them had been amused or relieved, but Leah was not among their number.
"We just wanted to try the Move out…" I mumbled, shrinking in on myself. It didn't feel great to get lectured on this, but I also knew she was entirely in the right for doing so.
"Just look at the damages you've caused. The view from this side is ruined…" she trailed off, seeing that the argument wasn't having much impact on me. "What about any Pokemon living up there?"
"Ahh, I hadn't thought it would- I'm sorry." I hadn't seen any Pokemon fall off from there, but there might have been some who used the cliff as a lookout point, or even for nesting among the bird Pokemon. "We'll fix it up, I promise."
That stopped her lecture, leaving her confused. "How do you plan on doing that? We could call in a construction crew but-"
"No, that wouldn't be me fixing it. Well, me and my team. Dun can learn Ancient Power. We'll practice it until he can lift the cliff edge parts back in place." He doesn't know the Move yet, but he should be strong enough to use it by now, and Dun is pretty sharp when it comes to new Moves.
"It's noble of you, to want to fix your own mistakes," a new somber voice entered the conversation and we turned to see the stately majordomo enter the foyer where Leah had cornered me. "But it is often better to prevent the problem in the first place than work to fix it after."
"Ah, Hamber, sir. I didn't hear you there. Sorry about this." Leah began, and he waved her off.
"It's fine, I appreciate your diligence in this matter," he replied before turning to me, clearly expecting a response.
"I get it, an ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure. I'll… try to do better in the future."
"A good goal to have, and one I may be able to help you achieve." Huh? "Your progress has been prodigious. I've reached out to an old friend, who runs a small shall we say, 'outdoors preparedness training group.' We call ourselves the 'Explorers,' and at my request M- our leader, Gibeon would be happy to accept you into our group."
"Wow, I don't know what to say…"
"I would suggest 'I accept', Young Miss," Hamber said so dryly it had me doubled over with laughter.
"Hahaha, oh man, that was good. Of course! Thank you so much. I'd been thinking about getting some training for stuff like that-" I cut myself off before I could ramble too much.
"Think nothing of it Young Miss, I wouldn't suggest it if I didn't think you had the potential to succeed where so many others have failed." The majordomo said before giving me a brief bow and leaving. Ominous… but that just might be how he is. He has a couple of Ghost Types, doesn't he? Wonder if that is part of why he's so mysterious, or if it's the other way around and his personality meant he was more inclined to catch Ghost Types. Still, very nice of him to offer, I should see if my parents can get him a Reaper Cloth for his Dusclops as a year-end gift.
Leah's words snapped me out of my thoughts. "Don't think that you're entirely out of trouble here. Your parents might ground you once they hear about this." I raised an eyebrow and looked at her oddly, causing her to let out a sigh. "Fine, we both know that it isn't likely."
"I know, and I get trying to make sure I'll behave responsibly, I appreciate you trying to instill those values in me." She chuckled helplessly at my words, shaking her head as if wondering 'What am I going to do with you?' What indeed. My training has made Dun strong, and Miles is well on their way as well. But I need control too. At the tournament, I nearly lost myself and would have attacked Freddrick. Haven't been that angry since, well since I was 'young', the first time. Before I started practicing martial arts…
"There's something else I'd like to do," I told Leah. "I want to start practicing martial arts. I think it will help in teaching me control and good physical exercise."
"I've seen your workout drills, don't think you need any help with your physical exercise. But if you wish it, we can begin looking for classes."
"Actually, I had someone in mind. You remember that girl from the tournament, Dendra? I was thinking I could train with her."
"Ah yes, the loud one. That could work. Tell us what times she's available and we'll arrange a schedule for you, Young Miss."
And now comes the part where I have to ask her. Something I had been dreading ever since the tournament. I'd exchanged messages with Friede a few times, mostly about the past or Pokemon facts, and was always messaging Arven, but I hadn't talked to Dendra or Tulip much since then, just letting them know I was ok. The fact that Tulip hadn't messaged me anything since then didn't leave me with any confidence that she had been impressed with how I acted.
Rather than send the model a message, I decided to put it off and talk to Dendra first.
Nemona: 'Hey Dendra, I was looking to get some martial arts training and was wondering if you could help me?'
Almost immediately I got a reply back.
Dendra: 'Osu!'
Dendra: 'That means yes! I'd love to help you!'
We arranged a time and place to meet up. Given she was still a teenager and not a teacher at Uva Academy, we wouldn't be meeting there. Instead, she lived in Alfornada and invited me over there next week. Before that, however, I had my first meeting with the Explorers…
Dun raised his tail, the tip of it sparkling with electricity, before swiping it down like a conductor with their baton. The sky answered the unheard song, releasing a lightning bolt down on the empty path before us, scorching the earth.
In the time it took Dun to fire one bolt, however, Rotom had launched three of their own. The Ghost in my phone was for once, outside of it, floating with their blue-plasma body hovering in the air. A slight glow shortly preceded each bolt Rotom called down from the heavens.
They turned around to give me a big grin. "Excellent work you two. Dun, that was great power, your bolt was just as strong as Rotom's even without the Electric Type. Rotom you called those bolts down very fast and you're not tired yet. That's great, I know it's a big step up from the Thundershocks you've been working with. "
"Dun dun!" Dunsparce cheered while Rotom just buzzed happily. They couldn't talk to me outside of their phone, but they were quite emotive, and I had it close on hand if we needed any clarification.
"Next, I want you to use Rain Dance, Rotom ,then we'll try again with the Thunder." I'd planned on training accuracy because I remembered the Move being quite inaccurate in the games, but it looks like that's not the case here. Instead, it seems to be more charge-up speed. Of course, they're accurate against spots on the ground, it's possible the 'inaccuracy' comes from moving targets interrupting you before you can execute the attack. I'd look into that later, but for now, we were just practicing getting a basic handle on the Moves.
Rotom tilted, confused, and zipped back into their phone. "What's the purpose of training in the rain, if I may ask, bzzt?"
"Of course, you can ask. As for that, weather has more effects on a battle than one might think of at first. Rain increases the power of Water Moves and decreases Fire, but it also makes Moves like Thunder or Hurricane easier to use. That's why I got the Rain Dance TM for you and not Sunny Day: Sunny Day would increase the power of your Overheat and protect you against Water Moves in Heat form. Rain Dance will increase the power of Hydro Pump in Wash form, protect you from Fire Moves in Mow or Frost forms, make Hurricane easier in Fan form, and Thunder in every form."
There was a moment of silence and I wondered if I had overwhelmed them or made some mistake in my logic before Rotom spoke up. "Wow, you put a lot of thought into this, didn't you?" Dun chirped smugly, proud to have such a great trainer, and I blushed.
"I mean, of course I did. You guys are the ones that put in the hard work, so I have to do at least this much." I was also somewhat constrained by budget. Realistically, I knew I could ask my parents for money if I needed it, and I had tons of allowance saved up over the past year and a half, but I didn't want to. Plus, mastering six new Moves each would keep them busy for a while.
They both had Protect, Hyper Voice, and Thunder to learn. Protect for being a solid shield and an all-around good option for gaining time, Hyper Voice being a powerful special attack that was fast, hard to avoid, and hard to resist. For Rotom it gave good coverage and for Dun, it had STAB (Same Type Attack Bonus) and would be a good stepping stone for his ultimate Move, Boomburst. Thunder had plenty of synergies for Rotom, and just gave a good range for Dun.
"Bzzt, should I change to Wash form for this next test? I could also practice Hydro Pump-" Rotom 'offered' before I cut them off.
"Nope, still just practicing your base abilities for today. It'll help to give you a handle on the changes you'll feel to your energies in and out of an appliance form." It was well documented that in addition to the Type changes, Rotom's also became a bit slower but much tougher, and even a tad stronger drawing from the motors of the appliances.
At the frown on their face I added "Don't be too eager to change, we'll be starting physical conditioning once you're training in an appliance begins."
"Must we, bzzt?"
"We must. Every battling Pokemon needs to know how to take a hit." Except Shedinja, but I'm ignoring that because it's not helpful to this situation. "It's the best way for you to learn some Moves too, like Hex. Dun did a good job demonstrating it for you, but it's still hard for you to grasp the Move yourself, right?"
They nodded glumly, while Dun had a sharp gleam to their eyes, clearly eagerly awaiting this. That being said, I could tell that he was happy to see Rotom doing well with Thunder earlier too, which is nice to see.
Dun's other Moves he had learned were Agility and Air Slash. Agility was just a good power-up Move, to help him match faster foes, while Air Slash would be helpful in training Roost. He'd demonstrated a good level of control over both already.
Rotom was going a bit slower, but I could tell that despite their worries about getting hurt, they were committed to this. It showed in how they left the phone and threw themselves into the Rain Dance, wiggling their plasmid body around. And the world answered, the sky opening up and rain pouring down.
Dun turned, readying themselves with Rotom, and the two gathered lightning once more. This time though, despite the storm only stretching out about a hundred meters across, the lightning came much faster, the rapid flashes of light forcing me to avert my gaze eventually, counting the shots by the boom of thunder left in their wakes.
"Ok, I think that's good!" I shouted out over the din, and the lightning stopped. Blinking my eyes open, I saw through the rain two lines in the field in front of us burnt black from the bolts that had slammed into it. Dun had landed five bolts in twenty seconds, decent enough for someone just getting used to the Move and that Type of energy. Rotom's line was over double what Dun's was, probably managing at least a dozen strikes in that time.
There's still attacking a moving target, moving yourself while attacking, and general boosts to power and speed to work on, but this is a great start. And really, there's just something… awe-inspiring about the power Pokemon have. To be able to reshape the elements, the world to your whims, it's incredible. Of course, it came with a toll. Dun was looking quite pleased with his work, but he was a bit puffed. Rotom on the other hand was swaying mid-air, exhausted.
"Excellent work, let's- Rotom can you turn this rain off?"
They waved their plasmic arms up, before drooping them back down and shaking their head/body. "That's fine, let's get out of here then, I think we're done for the day."
We walked down to the beach and I offered them an Ether each, something that Rotom eagerly accepted, and Dun shrugged off.
"Ar, un." He said to the Ghost, literally sparking chagrin from them.
"Hey now, I'm not coddling Rotom. They did excellently with Thunder, it's one of the strongest Moves any Electric Type can use." Rotom beamed at my words. "Especially since I lied about this being the end of Rotom's training." They turned to me, shock and horror showing on their teardrop face… until they saw the small smirk on my face. "Psych."
"Dun du dun," Dunsparce laughed at them while Rotom fumed, moving towards the phone, which I pulled back.
"Wait, I lied about lying, sorry! But those feelings, right there, of the joke I played on you, try and hone those. Focus on how you want to get me back. Come up with some plan, make a Nasty Plot."
They concentrated, face flashing through emotions too quickly to keep up until they settled on a frown. After about fifteen seconds, it turned to a cruel grin, one befitting the Dark Type Move, to the point that I would have realized had worked even if I couldn't feel the ambient level of electricity increasing in the air.
"Well done, ok, now it's over." I held out the phone and they quickly slipped back in. "Sorry about that, but I needed to get you in the right frame of mind to use Dark Type Energy."
There was a light buzzing sound, which felt like incoherent grumbling before they calmed down.
"Bzzt, I understand, even if I don't like it. Hopefully, I won't have to use that energy much beyond that, it felt… wrong."
"Yeah, Ghost Types are pretty diametrically opposed to Dark. Unfortunately, there is another Dark Move you might want to learn eventually, that will help you shore up a potential weakness against those resistant to energy-based attacks." Foul Play is a great Move to turn someone's strengths into a weakness.
"I still haven't even used Will o' Wisp, bzzt," Rotom moaned before hastily adding: "I'm not going to be practicing it today either."
Laughing I said "No worries there, take your break, you've earned it. Will o' Wisp is pretty easily learned by any Ghost Type anyways, and they have worked hard today. They're growing in a lot of ways, that denial was a lot firmer than usual, well done Rotom. You're getting more confident every day. Somehow, that thought called to mind an image of a character from my previous life and I stopped.
"What's wrong, bzzt?" They asked, dropping any wariness in favor of worry for me.
"No no, it's nothing." 'Tails' wouldn't work, they never have a tail, and what even is a Prower? But, maybe… "I just- it's dumb but, I thought of another name for you. Miles."
"Bzzt, from the ancient Imperial measurement system before Paldea ended such use and switched to the base ten Metric one? I don't see how it applies to me, admittedly."
But that's not a no. Every other suggestion got a swift rejection. "Ok so, it's dumb because it only makes sense to me. See, I had an idea for a story-"
"Arce ar dun," Dun complained.
"Hey, I don't have a story for every little thing!" I faltered as he opened one eye up fully as if to say 'really?' "Urk- well, a writer should have tons of ideas! Anyways, this one, I hadn't even put it down to paper yet, but it involves some really incredible creatures. Uhh, I'll just describe them as Pokemon for now." Since that's how I'll eventually tell this to others. "There's Sonic, a Shaymin with blue fur that's super fast, even in land-form. He also had a younger friend, like a little brother to him, Miles 'Tails' Prower. They're a Vulpix who's a genius inventor, and nearly as fast as Sonic themselves, and together with their friends they fight against the evil Doctor Robotnik and his army of robots. He's a mad scientist who often captures Pokemon and uses them to power his machines, and sometimes builds amusement parks…"
I shook my head, realizing I was getting off track. "Tails is incredible in a lot of ways, but they feel like they don't always match up to Sonic. But when they believe in themselves, they realize they're great too, and help save the world a bunch. Sonic gets a lot of credit, and he fights hard no doubt, but many times he wouldn't even be able to do anything without Tails. Just there, you reminded me of Tails. Someone smart, driven, and quite strong, who just needs a bit of confidence. Someone who will definitely grow to be one of the greatest heroes in time."
There was silence after I stopped talking. Did I screw up? Was that weird? I hope not, I should just tell them to ignore it- "You never fail to amaze me, Nemona," Rotom said softly. "I think Miles is a lovely name."
"Even though it doesn't fit or make sense to others?"
"I've never truly 'fit', bzzt. Not with the other Rotoms or with other people, not until I met you. If others don't get it, that's fine. It's not their name, it's mine." There was a steel in their voice that told me how firm they were, and in this moment I believed they could take on the whole world.
This touching moment was, of course, shattered by Dun asking if he was the 'Sonic' in this story.
"Haha, no, you wouldn't be Sonic. Honestly, you'd be Knuckles." At my Pokemon's confused glances, I explained. "So, Knuckles is this Annhilape, crazy strong and tough. He's the last survivor of his tribe who defended a mystical artifact called the Master Emerald. It and the seven Chaos Emeralds are the main driving forces of a lot of the plot, with Eggman and Sonic and friends chasing after them. In their first meeting though, Eggman tricks Knuckles into thinking Sonic is the bad guy and makes them fight each other. Soon enough Knuckles sees the truth and works with Sonic to stop Eggman, but they still have a fierce rivalry later on, Knuckles and Sonic constantly competing to see who's best."
"Dun?"
"Who's Eggman? Oh right, I haven't explained yet but Sonic kept on taunting Robotnik by calling him that, which got him infuriated and he ended up making a bunch of mistakes in their prior adventures when anyone taunted him. Eventually, he realized that it was costing him, so he turned around and decided to own the name. Made his own brand out of it as 'Doctor Eggman', which soon enough became a name feared around the world…"
***
"And together, Doctor Eggman, his newly adopted daughter Sage, the Porygon, Sonic the Shaymin, and all his friends joined forces and defeated The End!" I finished my long and winding tale. It had many backtracks, places missed where I forgot or only half-remembered details and names, details I had skipped, and even complaints from the crowd.
"Du dun."
"I must concur, bzzt. 'The End' isn't that inventive of a name for a final foe." Miles threw in their two cents.
"Oh come on! I didn't write it." Though, I guess in this world I will. I suppose a few edits wouldn't go amiss. "Look, Dun, I don't think you even know how to write, so you have no room to talk." He slumped, turning away. "Oh, I'm so sorry, we can work on writing lessons if you want…"
After a long pause, they said laconically "Dun."
"If you don't want writing lessons then don't act like that!" Miles' case was shaking, sparks flying off and Dun was making his odd hissing sound that I took to be laughter. "I can't believe it, my own Pokemon, teaming up on me," I sighed melodramatically but couldn't keep the grin off my face. This was a great day.
Looking out over the horizon, I saw the sun setting and realized that the day was also coming to an end. "Alright, let's head back inside for some dinner and recharging. You've done great learning all those new Moves so far, tomorrow we can work on mastering them-" Dun lightly headbutted my shin. "What- oh. Right, that Move."
"Dun." He nodded seriously.
"That's fair, you've earned it. Thank you for being patient with me. I don't think we'll have time to use it much today, but we can give it one shot before dinner."
I returned him to his Pokeball and pressed the Technical Machine around the opening button, where it began to spin around. You could teach Pokemon TMs without a Pokeball, but the instructions always recommended having them inside. Better for 'auric information transfers' or something like that.
After a minute it was completed, and the disc finished spinning and fell off. Dun's head swayed a bit, seeming a bit overwhelmed by all the information but shook it off fairly fast. "Dun dun!"
"Before you use it, I want to try Terastalizing you. As a Normal Type Move, this will make it supercharged!" Grabbing the Tera Orb with both hands, I threw it above Dun, Terastalizing him.
"Ok Dun, see that cliff there?" I pointed to the small three-story cliff at the end of the beach. "Hit it with the strongest Move you have, Giga Impact!"
He jumped, launching his body forward, and before he was surrounded by the green light of the Move, I could see how he was moving his body differently. The Technical Machine not only imparted Type Energy information, but also the physical information needed to best use the Move, how to shift his muscles just so to maximize his force.
Like an emerald comet, his crystal-covered body smashed into the cliffside. The boom of impact made a shockwave, the sound like a cannon strike washing over me. I blinked my eyes and through the cloud of dust, I saw a massive crater in the face of the earth where Dun had struck, my Pokemon lying at the bottom of the cliff, the Terastalization effect dissipating as his energy dropped.
Miles turned to me with wide eyes, speechless. "... Maybe no one noticed?" I tried.
A large crack spread out from the point of impact, widening and spreading up and down the cliff as a large chunk of it split off from the rest and tumbled into the ocean.
***
"What were you thinking?!"
People did, in fact, notice. The household had been a buzz of activity as we went back inside, the staff wondering if a horde of wild Pokemon were stampeding only to find out that it was just us practicing. Plenty of them had been amused or relieved, but Leah was not among their number.
"We just wanted to try the Move out…" I mumbled, shrinking in on myself. It didn't feel great to get lectured on this, but I also knew she was entirely in the right for doing so.
"Just look at the damages you've caused. The view from this side is ruined…" she trailed off, seeing that the argument wasn't having much impact on me. "What about any Pokemon living up there?"
"Ahh, I hadn't thought it would- I'm sorry." I hadn't seen any Pokemon fall off from there, but there might have been some who used the cliff as a lookout point, or even for nesting among the bird Pokemon. "We'll fix it up, I promise."
That stopped her lecture, leaving her confused. "How do you plan on doing that? We could call in a construction crew but-"
"No, that wouldn't be me fixing it. Well, me and my team. Dun can learn Ancient Power. We'll practice it until he can lift the cliff edge parts back in place." He doesn't know the Move yet, but he should be strong enough to use it by now, and Dun is pretty sharp when it comes to new Moves.
"It's noble of you, to want to fix your own mistakes," a new somber voice entered the conversation and we turned to see the stately majordomo enter the foyer where Leah had cornered me. "But it is often better to prevent the problem in the first place than work to fix it after."
"Ah, Hamber, sir. I didn't hear you there. Sorry about this." Leah began, and he waved her off.
"It's fine, I appreciate your diligence in this matter," he replied before turning to me, clearly expecting a response.
"I get it, an ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure. I'll… try to do better in the future."
"A good goal to have, and one I may be able to help you achieve." Huh? "Your progress has been prodigious. I've reached out to an old friend, who runs a small shall we say, 'outdoors preparedness training group.' We call ourselves the 'Explorers,' and at my request M- our leader, Gibeon would be happy to accept you into our group."
"Wow, I don't know what to say…"
"I would suggest 'I accept', Young Miss," Hamber said so dryly it had me doubled over with laughter.
"Hahaha, oh man, that was good. Of course! Thank you so much. I'd been thinking about getting some training for stuff like that-" I cut myself off before I could ramble too much.
"Think nothing of it Young Miss, I wouldn't suggest it if I didn't think you had the potential to succeed where so many others have failed." The majordomo said before giving me a brief bow and leaving. Ominous… but that just might be how he is. He has a couple of Ghost Types, doesn't he? Wonder if that is part of why he's so mysterious, or if it's the other way around and his personality meant he was more inclined to catch Ghost Types. Still, very nice of him to offer, I should see if my parents can get him a Reaper Cloth for his Dusclops as a year-end gift.
Leah's words snapped me out of my thoughts. "Don't think that you're entirely out of trouble here. Your parents might ground you once they hear about this." I raised an eyebrow and looked at her oddly, causing her to let out a sigh. "Fine, we both know that it isn't likely."
"I know, and I get trying to make sure I'll behave responsibly, I appreciate you trying to instill those values in me." She chuckled helplessly at my words, shaking her head as if wondering 'What am I going to do with you?' What indeed. My training has made Dun strong, and Miles is well on their way as well. But I need control too. At the tournament, I nearly lost myself and would have attacked Freddrick. Haven't been that angry since, well since I was 'young', the first time. Before I started practicing martial arts…
"There's something else I'd like to do," I told Leah. "I want to start practicing martial arts. I think it will help in teaching me control and good physical exercise."
"I've seen your workout drills, don't think you need any help with your physical exercise. But if you wish it, we can begin looking for classes."
"Actually, I had someone in mind. You remember that girl from the tournament, Dendra? I was thinking I could train with her."
"Ah yes, the loud one. That could work. Tell us what times she's available and we'll arrange a schedule for you, Young Miss."
And now comes the part where I have to ask her. Something I had been dreading ever since the tournament. I'd exchanged messages with Friede a few times, mostly about the past or Pokemon facts, and was always messaging Arven, but I hadn't talked to Dendra or Tulip much since then, just letting them know I was ok. The fact that Tulip hadn't messaged me anything since then didn't leave me with any confidence that she had been impressed with how I acted.
Rather than send the model a message, I decided to put it off and talk to Dendra first.
Nemona: 'Hey Dendra, I was looking to get some martial arts training and was wondering if you could help me?'
Almost immediately I got a reply back.
Dendra: 'Osu!'
Dendra: 'That means yes! I'd love to help you!'
We arranged a time and place to meet up. Given she was still a teenager and not a teacher at Uva Academy, we wouldn't be meeting there. Instead, she lived in Alfornada and invited me over there next week. Before that, however, I had my first meeting with the Explorers…
Here we are, kicking off the new arc with some new Moves. Nemona's got some training of her to do. And just a note in regards to Nemona's feelings at the end there before people get too worried/upset; she's not a perfect narrator. She can make assumptions that are incorrect.
xbox432
Lover of Editing
Ah Nemona... Things will be all fun and games until they order you to jump a little girl and steal her family heirloom. I'm curious to see how long it'll take before Nemona twigs onto the fact that she accidentally joined an evil "Team".
- Location
- Michigan
I assume that if she sees/meets Gibeon she will have the same reaction many fans had upon first seeing Lysandre, they both give the vibe of "well this is obviously somebody evil" to anybody who has meta knowledge of the pokemon series and is even moderately genre savvy.
Chapter 23
- Location
- Vancouver
"Does it have to be so dimly lit?" I questioned as Hamber led me through the odd building. Or maybe it's just a very well-furnished tunnel, not like I would be able to tell.
Hamber and I had traveled outside a few minutes walk from the house before being met by an Elgyem that had been waiting for us. The odd rocky blue-looking pure Psychic Type was there as transport to the Explorers' base.
We had been teleported into wherever this was.
From the dim light present in this place, I could make out smooth metal plates on the floor, walls, and likely ceiling. On the ground, the plates were interrupted by small glass strips, illuminating the place with a turquoise light, the only source of illumination in the hallway. The width was moderately-sized and spacious, enough to walk three across comfortably, but not much more. It was quite tall, however.
I think most Pokemon could fit through here with relative ease.
"It has a certain unique aesthetic," Hamber commented. "Gibeon appreciates the lighting for his meeting places. For the training rooms, you'll have different levels of illumination. Some are even much dimmer than this place, to help simulate caves or other locations where light is rare and possibly dangerous to make, attracting unwanted attention."
"It's- that's fine, I guess. Just… weird." My feelings as such did not diminish when we exited the hallway and came upon a grand meeting room. It had the same flooring as before, but this chamber was vast, with glowing yellow tubes lining the walls, in the back, there were the same lights set into the wall, but these glowed a mix of yellow and blue and were set in some odd pattern I couldn't decipher.
Some were disconnected, at a diagonal pattern others would bend and stop. The floor still had the same lighting as it had before, but all of this was secondary to the central features that commanded the most attention in the room.
Dominating the center of the room was a large group of purple crystals that reached up like an incredibly elongated candlestick. In front of it were a couple of steps, and in front of them were several strange metal poles that I recognized.
"Holographic projectors?"
"Well, well, don't we have a sharp one? Looks like she might contribute slightly more than the bastard." The somewhat mocking voice came from a young man with wavy teal hair, the presumed owner of the Elgyem whose Pokemon returned to their side. He was wearing a rather elaborate getup, a light blue jacket with black lining and yellow clasps, matched by his long, almost knee-length heeled boots. He had on dark leggings and to top it off, an honest-to-goodness cape.
To be fair, it was a larger dark jacket, but with how it hung off his left side and was held in place by a clasp, it was clearly a cape.
"Spinel, thank you for your assistance." Hamber thanked the odd man, before continuing. "I would not call Amethio a 'bastard', however. He has as much potential as Nemona here." That perked my ears up. Someone who can match me? That sounds fun.
"Peace." The words were not a request and came from none of the people in the room but instead from the purple crystals in the center. The two of them instantly turned and bowed to them.
"Gibeon, this is the recruit I mentioned. I believe she will be a fine addition to the Explorers."
"Good. Spinel, make sure to give her the uniform." 'Gibeon' said, and the young man obeyed, pulling out a set of clothes he'd been hiding in his cape. Did he have a Sliph-type pocket in there- probably. He seems extra enough to do that.
Walking up slowly to receive them I saw a light gray jacket that was cut to only cover the shoulders, neck, and sleeves, and similarly colored leggings. There was a skirt with pink highlights and a dark gray shirt with the same highlights. What caught my eye most was the badge on top of the pile of clothes, a black diamond shape cut across by a stylized 'E' with a blue star near the center.
"Uhh, no thanks." Don't feel like wearing a skirt. But also…
Spinel turned to his Pokemon and made a motion toward them, which caused them to raise their arms and flash their multi-colored, finger-like stubs in my direction. Red, yellow, red, green, green, yellow-
"Ugh, sorry, could you please stop that Elgyem? I don't know what you mean and it's kinda bright." The Elgyem turned to Spinel, giving a brief shrug of their shoulders and stopping. The guy seemed the most affronted by that, for some reason. Jeez-though I guess it's kinda rude to order Pokemon you don't own. But I just asked a question…
"How rude, to turn aside the generosity offered by Master Gibeon," Spinel recovered, scoffing at me. "Perhaps I was wrong and you're even worse than Ameth-"
"Is this an evil Team?" I asked bluntly, cutting him off, and dropping the entire room into silence. Do they boldly accept it? Shake it off? Try to imply it's not, but not confirm it isn't? Act outraged? Actually get outraged? So many different options they had here, and I wanted to see how they responded to inform my next move. Even though the GPS was acting wonky here, I could still send or receive messages here, a discreet glance at Miles had told me on the way in.
"Evil Team? Ah yes, I heard those became a new craze recently," Gibeon's voice boomed out from the crystals. Without a face or even body language to place it to, it was hard to tell how he felt, but he sounded mildly amused. Recently? How old are you? There hasn't been a major Evil Team in a decade, in part because there were so many in the decade before that police have been keeping an extra close eye on anything like them springing up.
"Of course, we aren't a Team, Young Miss. Just a dedicated, if slightly eccentric, group banded together by our love of exploring this vast and wondrous land."
I could feel the sweatdrop on my face and it was hard to keep a straight smile, but I managed. That was exactly what a team was!
"Uhuh. So I don't have to wear this uniform or help you steal Pokemon or try to capture Legendaries to remake the world or anything?"
Laughter echoed out from the purple crystal. "Why would I need your help with something like that?" At his words, a white dog-like Pokemon stepped out from one of the shadowy corners of the room. The Pokemon had three hexagonal-shaped patterns on its chest, two green and one red.
It also had a few other green highlights including a stripe around its neck with an odd green protrusion sticking out about two feet in the air, as if it had part of a leash as a feature of its body.
"Z- Zygarde!?" I exclaimed, stepping forward to get a better look. The coloration isn't right, but that's definitely one of Zygarde's forms. Is it shiny? How can it be shiny?!? After a few steps, Zygarde gave a low growl warning me not to come closer, so I stopped and turned to face Gibeon. "Why is it that color? Isn't Zygarde supposed to be black and green?"
Gibeon's next words were for Hamber, not myself. "You were not mistaken when you said she was a bright young girl." Then to me, he added "I've met scholars that were less knowledgeable than yourself. There is an unusual trait Pokemon sometimes possess to give them a different coloration."
"Right, being 'shiny'." Shiny hunters existed in this world, but it was a far more brutal thing than in the games since Pokemon were living thinking beings here. Trying to catch one was the dream of many a collector who would often display the rare Pokemon like a trophy.
But that's for regular Pokemon, where you can eventually find an egg that hatches into that rare color. "I didn't know Zygarde could be shiny. I thought there was only one in the world. Or, rather, spread across the world."
"Spread across- what are you talking about you daft child?" Spinel demanded, glaring at me. Not making friends with him at least. Oh well, this guy feels like he'd be a jerk even outside of this weird group.
"Zygarde is split up into many cells across the world. They only gather in large numbers to unleash its true strength when the world is in danger." I answered. Seeing Zygarde made me relax a little. These people are still weird, but they can't be all bad if they have a defender of the world like Zygarde working with them, right?
"How many cells would you say are in Zygarde as they stand right now?" Hamber asked. Zygarde barked as well, giving me a curious look with its pupil-less eyes.
"Uhh, about 10%? Sorry, it's hard to get an exact read on it, but you definitely aren't at fifty or higher." Immediately after the words left my mouth I had to suppress a wince, noticing the way the two men in the room were staring at me. That was way too knowledgeable, no excuse I could possibly give to know that exact ratio.
The crystals thrummed again, reminding me of the fourth and most important 'person' in this conversation. "Fascinating. As for your question, while remarkably rare, there are instances where even a so-called 'Legendary' can appear as 'shiny'. One such case you may have heard of was the 'Black Rayquaza' from ancient times. They traveled alongside the legendary hero-"
"Nobunaga!" Right! Pokemon Conquest was a thing!
"... Lucius."
There was an awkward moment of silence between us before Spinel broke it by laughing.
"Hahaha, how foolish. Do you not know of the hero Lucius? It's such a common tale. Of how he traveled the world a hundred years ago with the Black Rayquaza, Entei, Moltres, Lapras, Kleavor, and Arboliva before finding-?"
"Spinel," Hamber warned his comrade, finally getting tired of his rudeness. I was happy for the support, but I had my own reasoning to throw in as well. This guy just gets under my skin. Or maybe it's the whole vibe of this creepy place.
"Hey, I don't consider 'a hundred years ago' to be ancient history!" I retorted hotly before adding: "But no, I hadn't heard about him. He sounds like an interesting guy though."
"Different from this, Nobunaga was he?" Gibeon asked, just a tad too calmly to actually be casual.
"Oh yeah, Nobunaga was big on his Dragon Types, though I don't remember the rest of his team. Honestly, I should have realized you weren't referring to him when you mentioned him being a 'hero'. Nobunaga was a warlord in ancient Ransei."
"... Ransei?" Gibeon drew the word out as if testing it out to see if he could figure it out just through pronunciation. Like a puzzle piece that doesn't quite fit.
"Yes, Ransei was a war-torn land hundreds, maybe thousands of years ago, with warlords vying for control constantly. Nobunaga set out to try and conquer the whole place before being stopped by the Hero. The Hero was the one who eventually unified the land against them, which in the end was kinda Nobunaga's goal."
"'The Hero?'" Spinel mocked.
"I don't remember, ok?! I'm not even sure if their name was even ca- something known."
"Where did you hear about this Young Miss?" Hamber finally prompted and I hid a grimace. Ok, time to play the 'how to deflect from having meta-knowledge' game.
"Uhh, I don't quite remember. Maybe from my time in Unova?" I suggested.
He pursed his lips and gave a low hum. I probably didn't convince him of that. Ah well, he still won't guess the truth and it's a good enough deflection for now.
My biggest detractor just shook his head dismissively, his Elgyem at his side copying the motion. "Please, you got taken in by a bunk story kid. I've never heard of this 'Ransei' before either."
"Just because you've never heard of it before doesn't mean it doesn't exist!" I mean, it might not. Not in this world, I focused too much on the mainline games and never checked out the spinoffs. It could be true too, though. I just don't know. Still, screw this guy.
"And how do you explain 'warlords' using Pokemon in conflicts centuries before Professor Laventon's research and the Survey Core help Pokemon and humans bond?" Spinel pressed further.
I laughed derisively at that. "Please, Pokemon have been used by society for eons. Paldea had many a conqueror in the past two thousand years, and they didn't just fight through the force of their own arms. Even more ancient societies existed with technologies we couldn't even dream of today, making Pokemon through harnessed souls and machines. We have forgotten and lost more societies than you could ever imagine. Laventon's research is just some of the most widespread base principles of the modern age. The idea that this era is the pinnacle of enlightenment and harmony is only the height of hubris."
"And how does that make you feel?" This time the question was from Gibeon, and I swore the other lights got dimmer or the central crystal glowed brighter. Like the Eye of Sauron turning it's full attention on you.
I opened my mouth before closing it and thinking about the answer. "... Excited. It's humbling, and maybe a little scary to comprehend how dangerous and vast the world is, to know that everything I know could be wiped away in an instant. But to know how much is lost, to think of what I could find… that's exciting." Probably not a great instinct to have at the thought, I can admit that.
Not that Gibeon seemed displeased at my answer, however. "Very good. That's why I founded the Explorers, to discover new horizons, unlock new vistas, and rediscover lost wonders. I understand that this may have been… off-putting for you, but I hope this can put your mind at rest. We simply want to better understand the land so we can explore it together."
"Oh. Well… cool." I finished lamely. "I guess I'd still like to learn if you're willing to have me." You're weird enough that I won't be that heartbroken if you say no, though.
"Of course, Young Miss. And you don't have to wear the uniform if you don't want to, we just thought it might help you fit in with some of the others, like Amethio. He's only a few years older than you and he shows great potential. We could go meet him now if you wish." Spinel made a dismissive sound at Hamber's words, so I had to throw in one last jab his way.
"That sounds great. Spiney, you can just take those away, thanks," I said, dismissively waving a hand at him before turning away. He gnashed his teeth before turning suddenly and marching off, his cape whirling around.
"If you'll follow me, Young Miss," my majordomo requested and I followed while lost in my thoughts. So, this place is creepy and very weird. But are they bad? Nothing I had seen so far was evil, and Spinel being arrogant and full of himself didn't mean that everyone in this organization was like that.
Even that isn't a sign that he's a bad guy or anything. I guess, for now, I'll stick with it. I'll be vigilant! Any signs of cult or gang-like activities and I'm bolting. Their offering to teach me wilderness exploration is nice, but that doesn't mean I owe them anything or need to do anything bad because they asked me to.
Hamber directed me down a different hallway to a large open room, like an empty warehouse. No, a battle arena. The lighting was still regrettably dim, which is why I didn't make it out as a battle arena at first.
I did see the young boy standing there, however. He had split white and black hair that was slightly curly at the ends. He was also wearing the same type of uniform I had rejected, though he had black pants instead of leggings and a skirt.
"Who are you?" He asked, turning around to glare at me, then glance upwards at Hamber.
"Why are your pupils triangles?" I asked back, crossing my arms. The boy was taken aback, eyeing me up like I was out of place. Sorry, maybe I'm still on edge from how Spinel was acting, but that is just kinda weird. How do eyes even work in this world? Do lenses, retinas, and the like work differently here?
"Wha-" The boy began before our awkward first meeting was cut off by the adult we both abruptly remembered was in the room.
"Children," Hamber clapped his gloved hands together. "This is Nemona, she will be joining the Explorers. Nemona, this is Amethio, one of our newest members."
"If she's a new recruit why isn't she wearing the uniform?" Amethio asked me suspiciously. As if I somehow managed to trick my way down here while accompanied by Hamber while missing that.
"Cause I didn't want to." I resisted the urge to stick my tongue out at his shocked face, but it was hard. He just looks so completely thrown by that idea!
"Before we give you further training, I thought it best to test your skills as battlers. It'll also be a good chance for you to get to know each other." Amethio didn't look too impressed with me but didn't say anything in response to Hamber's words, taking his place on one end of the field.
Hmm, I think I should give Miles their first fight here. Perhaps I was underestimating Amethio, but I felt Dun would be a bit much for most trainers his age to deal with. Plus, in any case, it would be a good experience for Miles.
"Alright Miles, I'm going to use you for this battle, ok?" I muttered as I opened my bag. They gave a small buzz of affirmation. What appliance would be best?… Probably the oven. Most resistances, few weaknesses. We'd practiced with all of them a little bit, enough that they knew how to possess each of them, but they didn't have any preferences yet.
"What are you doing- what is that?!" Amethio squawked out as I hefted the massive red oven from my bag.
"Miles, I choose you!" I cried, tossing it a meter in front of me. Miles zipped out of their phone case and into the oven, possessing it. The machine stopped falling immediately and was surrounded by red energy, with Rotom's eyes now colored red appearing above the oven door, with a small mouth in between. The red energy also extended out on either side of the oven ending in bulky approximations of hands, particularly hands that were wearing oven mitts.
"Wha- huh?" Amethio just seemed kinda shocked at the display. "What is that?"
"That's Miles, my Rotom. They're in Heat Form! Go ahead, you can release your Pokemon too." I urged and he shook himself out of it.
"Go, Charcadet!" He shouted, pulling up his Pokeball and releasing an adorable little guy. He was just over half a meter tall with an overly large head and a humanoid body. His torso had many flame motifs, and actual flames were flickering out the top of his head, back, and even off his eyes.
"You got a Charcadet? Cool." I never really played with them in the games, though I remember that Armarogue and Ceruledge looked pretty cool. I wonder if he has plans on which he wants to evolve-
"If both trainers are ready?" Hamber called out and I snapped my focus to the battle at hand.
"Yes!" We both called out, locking gazes with each other. I can sense his determination, but also nervousness within his gaze. His nose was turned up at me, but I saw how tightly his fists were clenched at his sides, betraying the nervousness he felt.
"Begin!"
"Flame Charge!" Amethio ordered. Charcadet had already started rushing at Miles before the command was even given, but when it was, he covered himself in a burning aura.
"Rain Dance!" I countered and Rotom waved their plasmic hands in the air and began dancing around frantically. They're nervous, too. It was to be expected from Miles' first battle, but I had every confidence in them.
Despite having the initiative, Charcadet was just a lot slower than Miles, so by the time he reached the plasma Pokemon, rain had begun to fall. Charcadet leaped up to slam into Miles, but the fire surrounding it was fizzling out in response to the rain pouring down. He hit Miles with a dull thud before sliding off. Brushing himself off, he jumped back up, covering his body in weak flames and whaling against my Pokemon not even leaving a scratch on the durable Rotom appliance body.
"Hah," I laughed, mostly at how shocked all three of them were. Honestly not that shocking when you think about it. In Heat Form Miles resists Fire attacks anyway, and Rain Dance is reducing the power even further. I was impressed that Miles had made even a small rain cloud indoors here. They had done fine enough with practicing it outdoors, but indoors added another level of difficulty to most weather Moves.
"Good job Miles!" I cheered, to let them know my appreciation but also to boost their confidence. "I think we've given you enough of a chance, now it's our turn, Thundershock!"
Miles brought their plasmic hands together, letting sparks fly between them. Amethio's cries for Charcadet to dodge were in vain. He was far too close to get out of the way and received a painful shock as the accumulated lightning was unleashed upon him.
"Get out of there!" The boy shouted, and Charcadet jumped away nimbly. Not paralyzed yet. Miles has been working on Thunder Wave, but it's not reliable yet. We could go after him, but if they want us to do the setup, why not?
"Nasty plot." I imagined Miles had a big grin on his face, though I couldn't see it from behind.
"Clear Smog, don't let them build up!" Amethio called out, a look of panic on his face. His fiery partner took a deep breath and let out a bunch of white smoke that washed over Miles.
"Rotototo," they whined, shaking about and exiting the cloud. Immediately I felt that their power had decreased back to normal. Something to get rid of stat changes and deal damage? Nice Move. Pretty sure it's Poison too, so no Resistances to help either.
"Confuse Ray, then blast it." Rotom unleashed a tightly clustered bunch of dancing lights that shot right at Charcadet's face, dazing him. He tried to continue his attack but started blowing the smoke in the wrong direction.
"No, other way!" Amethio shouted, but it was too late. Miles called down a massive bolt of lighting, like a blue spear striking down from their conjured rain cloud it struck Charcadet. To his credit, the tiny Pokemon remained standing after the first bolt. Unfortunately, their body stiffened, Paralyzed by the shock, and so they had no chance of dodging the next three bolts, which each struck dead on. Before the fifth could be called down, he crumpled to his knees and fell over unconscious. "Charcadet!"
He ran to check on his Pokemon. From what I could see, the Charcadet would be fine, but I walked over and offered him a Revive. "Here. You did well."
"Hardly. I was completely outmatched." He scoffed but took the medicine, waking Charcadet back up.
"Well yeah, Miles did great," and I flashed them a thumbs up, which they eagerly smiled back at. "But that Clear Smog was smart thinking on your part. Would have been a lot tougher to deal with if I had that going." I had more to say but was distracted by the rain, a drop falling very close to my eye.
Turning to Miles I asked, "Hey can you turn off the rain?" They tilted their body to the side, the equivalent of cocking their head slightly before waving their arms around to little avail. Alright, I've been considering this since last time. Luckily, this is not a game, and I have an idea. "Just go up to the clouds and release an Overheat."
With a nod, they flew to the center of their dark storm clouds and opened their oven door. A massive blast of heat came out, enough to be felt on the ground, drying us instantly and blowing the clouds away.
The boy muttered, looking up at my Pokemon, "I didn't know Rotom could do that."
"Yeah, they're pretty impressive. Each of their forms has a super powerful move of the other type they gain in that form."
He nodded.
"We'll have to train hard to beat you next time."
"Cadet!"
I beamed broadly. "That's the spirit!" I offered him my hand, he took it, and I pulled him back up from where he'd been kneeling beside his Pokemon.
"Quite a show, both of you. I have a feeling you're both going to make good Explorers." We'll see. Still, if she spends more time fighting quiet but not stupid guys like Amethio and less time around creeps like before, it might not be so bad.
Hamber and I had traveled outside a few minutes walk from the house before being met by an Elgyem that had been waiting for us. The odd rocky blue-looking pure Psychic Type was there as transport to the Explorers' base.
We had been teleported into wherever this was.
From the dim light present in this place, I could make out smooth metal plates on the floor, walls, and likely ceiling. On the ground, the plates were interrupted by small glass strips, illuminating the place with a turquoise light, the only source of illumination in the hallway. The width was moderately-sized and spacious, enough to walk three across comfortably, but not much more. It was quite tall, however.
I think most Pokemon could fit through here with relative ease.
"It has a certain unique aesthetic," Hamber commented. "Gibeon appreciates the lighting for his meeting places. For the training rooms, you'll have different levels of illumination. Some are even much dimmer than this place, to help simulate caves or other locations where light is rare and possibly dangerous to make, attracting unwanted attention."
"It's- that's fine, I guess. Just… weird." My feelings as such did not diminish when we exited the hallway and came upon a grand meeting room. It had the same flooring as before, but this chamber was vast, with glowing yellow tubes lining the walls, in the back, there were the same lights set into the wall, but these glowed a mix of yellow and blue and were set in some odd pattern I couldn't decipher.
Some were disconnected, at a diagonal pattern others would bend and stop. The floor still had the same lighting as it had before, but all of this was secondary to the central features that commanded the most attention in the room.
Dominating the center of the room was a large group of purple crystals that reached up like an incredibly elongated candlestick. In front of it were a couple of steps, and in front of them were several strange metal poles that I recognized.
"Holographic projectors?"
"Well, well, don't we have a sharp one? Looks like she might contribute slightly more than the bastard." The somewhat mocking voice came from a young man with wavy teal hair, the presumed owner of the Elgyem whose Pokemon returned to their side. He was wearing a rather elaborate getup, a light blue jacket with black lining and yellow clasps, matched by his long, almost knee-length heeled boots. He had on dark leggings and to top it off, an honest-to-goodness cape.
To be fair, it was a larger dark jacket, but with how it hung off his left side and was held in place by a clasp, it was clearly a cape.
"Spinel, thank you for your assistance." Hamber thanked the odd man, before continuing. "I would not call Amethio a 'bastard', however. He has as much potential as Nemona here." That perked my ears up. Someone who can match me? That sounds fun.
"Peace." The words were not a request and came from none of the people in the room but instead from the purple crystals in the center. The two of them instantly turned and bowed to them.
"Gibeon, this is the recruit I mentioned. I believe she will be a fine addition to the Explorers."
"Good. Spinel, make sure to give her the uniform." 'Gibeon' said, and the young man obeyed, pulling out a set of clothes he'd been hiding in his cape. Did he have a Sliph-type pocket in there- probably. He seems extra enough to do that.
Walking up slowly to receive them I saw a light gray jacket that was cut to only cover the shoulders, neck, and sleeves, and similarly colored leggings. There was a skirt with pink highlights and a dark gray shirt with the same highlights. What caught my eye most was the badge on top of the pile of clothes, a black diamond shape cut across by a stylized 'E' with a blue star near the center.
"Uhh, no thanks." Don't feel like wearing a skirt. But also…
Spinel turned to his Pokemon and made a motion toward them, which caused them to raise their arms and flash their multi-colored, finger-like stubs in my direction. Red, yellow, red, green, green, yellow-
"Ugh, sorry, could you please stop that Elgyem? I don't know what you mean and it's kinda bright." The Elgyem turned to Spinel, giving a brief shrug of their shoulders and stopping. The guy seemed the most affronted by that, for some reason. Jeez-though I guess it's kinda rude to order Pokemon you don't own. But I just asked a question…
"How rude, to turn aside the generosity offered by Master Gibeon," Spinel recovered, scoffing at me. "Perhaps I was wrong and you're even worse than Ameth-"
"Is this an evil Team?" I asked bluntly, cutting him off, and dropping the entire room into silence. Do they boldly accept it? Shake it off? Try to imply it's not, but not confirm it isn't? Act outraged? Actually get outraged? So many different options they had here, and I wanted to see how they responded to inform my next move. Even though the GPS was acting wonky here, I could still send or receive messages here, a discreet glance at Miles had told me on the way in.
"Evil Team? Ah yes, I heard those became a new craze recently," Gibeon's voice boomed out from the crystals. Without a face or even body language to place it to, it was hard to tell how he felt, but he sounded mildly amused. Recently? How old are you? There hasn't been a major Evil Team in a decade, in part because there were so many in the decade before that police have been keeping an extra close eye on anything like them springing up.
"Of course, we aren't a Team, Young Miss. Just a dedicated, if slightly eccentric, group banded together by our love of exploring this vast and wondrous land."
I could feel the sweatdrop on my face and it was hard to keep a straight smile, but I managed. That was exactly what a team was!
"Uhuh. So I don't have to wear this uniform or help you steal Pokemon or try to capture Legendaries to remake the world or anything?"
Laughter echoed out from the purple crystal. "Why would I need your help with something like that?" At his words, a white dog-like Pokemon stepped out from one of the shadowy corners of the room. The Pokemon had three hexagonal-shaped patterns on its chest, two green and one red.
It also had a few other green highlights including a stripe around its neck with an odd green protrusion sticking out about two feet in the air, as if it had part of a leash as a feature of its body.
"Z- Zygarde!?" I exclaimed, stepping forward to get a better look. The coloration isn't right, but that's definitely one of Zygarde's forms. Is it shiny? How can it be shiny?!? After a few steps, Zygarde gave a low growl warning me not to come closer, so I stopped and turned to face Gibeon. "Why is it that color? Isn't Zygarde supposed to be black and green?"
Gibeon's next words were for Hamber, not myself. "You were not mistaken when you said she was a bright young girl." Then to me, he added "I've met scholars that were less knowledgeable than yourself. There is an unusual trait Pokemon sometimes possess to give them a different coloration."
"Right, being 'shiny'." Shiny hunters existed in this world, but it was a far more brutal thing than in the games since Pokemon were living thinking beings here. Trying to catch one was the dream of many a collector who would often display the rare Pokemon like a trophy.
But that's for regular Pokemon, where you can eventually find an egg that hatches into that rare color. "I didn't know Zygarde could be shiny. I thought there was only one in the world. Or, rather, spread across the world."
"Spread across- what are you talking about you daft child?" Spinel demanded, glaring at me. Not making friends with him at least. Oh well, this guy feels like he'd be a jerk even outside of this weird group.
"Zygarde is split up into many cells across the world. They only gather in large numbers to unleash its true strength when the world is in danger." I answered. Seeing Zygarde made me relax a little. These people are still weird, but they can't be all bad if they have a defender of the world like Zygarde working with them, right?
"How many cells would you say are in Zygarde as they stand right now?" Hamber asked. Zygarde barked as well, giving me a curious look with its pupil-less eyes.
"Uhh, about 10%? Sorry, it's hard to get an exact read on it, but you definitely aren't at fifty or higher." Immediately after the words left my mouth I had to suppress a wince, noticing the way the two men in the room were staring at me. That was way too knowledgeable, no excuse I could possibly give to know that exact ratio.
The crystals thrummed again, reminding me of the fourth and most important 'person' in this conversation. "Fascinating. As for your question, while remarkably rare, there are instances where even a so-called 'Legendary' can appear as 'shiny'. One such case you may have heard of was the 'Black Rayquaza' from ancient times. They traveled alongside the legendary hero-"
"Nobunaga!" Right! Pokemon Conquest was a thing!
"... Lucius."
There was an awkward moment of silence between us before Spinel broke it by laughing.
"Hahaha, how foolish. Do you not know of the hero Lucius? It's such a common tale. Of how he traveled the world a hundred years ago with the Black Rayquaza, Entei, Moltres, Lapras, Kleavor, and Arboliva before finding-?"
"Spinel," Hamber warned his comrade, finally getting tired of his rudeness. I was happy for the support, but I had my own reasoning to throw in as well. This guy just gets under my skin. Or maybe it's the whole vibe of this creepy place.
"Hey, I don't consider 'a hundred years ago' to be ancient history!" I retorted hotly before adding: "But no, I hadn't heard about him. He sounds like an interesting guy though."
"Different from this, Nobunaga was he?" Gibeon asked, just a tad too calmly to actually be casual.
"Oh yeah, Nobunaga was big on his Dragon Types, though I don't remember the rest of his team. Honestly, I should have realized you weren't referring to him when you mentioned him being a 'hero'. Nobunaga was a warlord in ancient Ransei."
"... Ransei?" Gibeon drew the word out as if testing it out to see if he could figure it out just through pronunciation. Like a puzzle piece that doesn't quite fit.
"Yes, Ransei was a war-torn land hundreds, maybe thousands of years ago, with warlords vying for control constantly. Nobunaga set out to try and conquer the whole place before being stopped by the Hero. The Hero was the one who eventually unified the land against them, which in the end was kinda Nobunaga's goal."
"'The Hero?'" Spinel mocked.
"I don't remember, ok?! I'm not even sure if their name was even ca- something known."
"Where did you hear about this Young Miss?" Hamber finally prompted and I hid a grimace. Ok, time to play the 'how to deflect from having meta-knowledge' game.
"Uhh, I don't quite remember. Maybe from my time in Unova?" I suggested.
He pursed his lips and gave a low hum. I probably didn't convince him of that. Ah well, he still won't guess the truth and it's a good enough deflection for now.
My biggest detractor just shook his head dismissively, his Elgyem at his side copying the motion. "Please, you got taken in by a bunk story kid. I've never heard of this 'Ransei' before either."
"Just because you've never heard of it before doesn't mean it doesn't exist!" I mean, it might not. Not in this world, I focused too much on the mainline games and never checked out the spinoffs. It could be true too, though. I just don't know. Still, screw this guy.
"And how do you explain 'warlords' using Pokemon in conflicts centuries before Professor Laventon's research and the Survey Core help Pokemon and humans bond?" Spinel pressed further.
I laughed derisively at that. "Please, Pokemon have been used by society for eons. Paldea had many a conqueror in the past two thousand years, and they didn't just fight through the force of their own arms. Even more ancient societies existed with technologies we couldn't even dream of today, making Pokemon through harnessed souls and machines. We have forgotten and lost more societies than you could ever imagine. Laventon's research is just some of the most widespread base principles of the modern age. The idea that this era is the pinnacle of enlightenment and harmony is only the height of hubris."
"And how does that make you feel?" This time the question was from Gibeon, and I swore the other lights got dimmer or the central crystal glowed brighter. Like the Eye of Sauron turning it's full attention on you.
I opened my mouth before closing it and thinking about the answer. "... Excited. It's humbling, and maybe a little scary to comprehend how dangerous and vast the world is, to know that everything I know could be wiped away in an instant. But to know how much is lost, to think of what I could find… that's exciting." Probably not a great instinct to have at the thought, I can admit that.
Not that Gibeon seemed displeased at my answer, however. "Very good. That's why I founded the Explorers, to discover new horizons, unlock new vistas, and rediscover lost wonders. I understand that this may have been… off-putting for you, but I hope this can put your mind at rest. We simply want to better understand the land so we can explore it together."
"Oh. Well… cool." I finished lamely. "I guess I'd still like to learn if you're willing to have me." You're weird enough that I won't be that heartbroken if you say no, though.
"Of course, Young Miss. And you don't have to wear the uniform if you don't want to, we just thought it might help you fit in with some of the others, like Amethio. He's only a few years older than you and he shows great potential. We could go meet him now if you wish." Spinel made a dismissive sound at Hamber's words, so I had to throw in one last jab his way.
"That sounds great. Spiney, you can just take those away, thanks," I said, dismissively waving a hand at him before turning away. He gnashed his teeth before turning suddenly and marching off, his cape whirling around.
"If you'll follow me, Young Miss," my majordomo requested and I followed while lost in my thoughts. So, this place is creepy and very weird. But are they bad? Nothing I had seen so far was evil, and Spinel being arrogant and full of himself didn't mean that everyone in this organization was like that.
Even that isn't a sign that he's a bad guy or anything. I guess, for now, I'll stick with it. I'll be vigilant! Any signs of cult or gang-like activities and I'm bolting. Their offering to teach me wilderness exploration is nice, but that doesn't mean I owe them anything or need to do anything bad because they asked me to.
Hamber directed me down a different hallway to a large open room, like an empty warehouse. No, a battle arena. The lighting was still regrettably dim, which is why I didn't make it out as a battle arena at first.
I did see the young boy standing there, however. He had split white and black hair that was slightly curly at the ends. He was also wearing the same type of uniform I had rejected, though he had black pants instead of leggings and a skirt.
"Who are you?" He asked, turning around to glare at me, then glance upwards at Hamber.
"Why are your pupils triangles?" I asked back, crossing my arms. The boy was taken aback, eyeing me up like I was out of place. Sorry, maybe I'm still on edge from how Spinel was acting, but that is just kinda weird. How do eyes even work in this world? Do lenses, retinas, and the like work differently here?
"Wha-" The boy began before our awkward first meeting was cut off by the adult we both abruptly remembered was in the room.
"Children," Hamber clapped his gloved hands together. "This is Nemona, she will be joining the Explorers. Nemona, this is Amethio, one of our newest members."
"If she's a new recruit why isn't she wearing the uniform?" Amethio asked me suspiciously. As if I somehow managed to trick my way down here while accompanied by Hamber while missing that.
"Cause I didn't want to." I resisted the urge to stick my tongue out at his shocked face, but it was hard. He just looks so completely thrown by that idea!
"Before we give you further training, I thought it best to test your skills as battlers. It'll also be a good chance for you to get to know each other." Amethio didn't look too impressed with me but didn't say anything in response to Hamber's words, taking his place on one end of the field.
Hmm, I think I should give Miles their first fight here. Perhaps I was underestimating Amethio, but I felt Dun would be a bit much for most trainers his age to deal with. Plus, in any case, it would be a good experience for Miles.
"Alright Miles, I'm going to use you for this battle, ok?" I muttered as I opened my bag. They gave a small buzz of affirmation. What appliance would be best?… Probably the oven. Most resistances, few weaknesses. We'd practiced with all of them a little bit, enough that they knew how to possess each of them, but they didn't have any preferences yet.
"What are you doing- what is that?!" Amethio squawked out as I hefted the massive red oven from my bag.
"Miles, I choose you!" I cried, tossing it a meter in front of me. Miles zipped out of their phone case and into the oven, possessing it. The machine stopped falling immediately and was surrounded by red energy, with Rotom's eyes now colored red appearing above the oven door, with a small mouth in between. The red energy also extended out on either side of the oven ending in bulky approximations of hands, particularly hands that were wearing oven mitts.
"Wha- huh?" Amethio just seemed kinda shocked at the display. "What is that?"
"That's Miles, my Rotom. They're in Heat Form! Go ahead, you can release your Pokemon too." I urged and he shook himself out of it.
"Go, Charcadet!" He shouted, pulling up his Pokeball and releasing an adorable little guy. He was just over half a meter tall with an overly large head and a humanoid body. His torso had many flame motifs, and actual flames were flickering out the top of his head, back, and even off his eyes.
"You got a Charcadet? Cool." I never really played with them in the games, though I remember that Armarogue and Ceruledge looked pretty cool. I wonder if he has plans on which he wants to evolve-
"If both trainers are ready?" Hamber called out and I snapped my focus to the battle at hand.
"Yes!" We both called out, locking gazes with each other. I can sense his determination, but also nervousness within his gaze. His nose was turned up at me, but I saw how tightly his fists were clenched at his sides, betraying the nervousness he felt.
"Begin!"
"Flame Charge!" Amethio ordered. Charcadet had already started rushing at Miles before the command was even given, but when it was, he covered himself in a burning aura.
"Rain Dance!" I countered and Rotom waved their plasmic hands in the air and began dancing around frantically. They're nervous, too. It was to be expected from Miles' first battle, but I had every confidence in them.
Despite having the initiative, Charcadet was just a lot slower than Miles, so by the time he reached the plasma Pokemon, rain had begun to fall. Charcadet leaped up to slam into Miles, but the fire surrounding it was fizzling out in response to the rain pouring down. He hit Miles with a dull thud before sliding off. Brushing himself off, he jumped back up, covering his body in weak flames and whaling against my Pokemon not even leaving a scratch on the durable Rotom appliance body.
"Hah," I laughed, mostly at how shocked all three of them were. Honestly not that shocking when you think about it. In Heat Form Miles resists Fire attacks anyway, and Rain Dance is reducing the power even further. I was impressed that Miles had made even a small rain cloud indoors here. They had done fine enough with practicing it outdoors, but indoors added another level of difficulty to most weather Moves.
"Good job Miles!" I cheered, to let them know my appreciation but also to boost their confidence. "I think we've given you enough of a chance, now it's our turn, Thundershock!"
Miles brought their plasmic hands together, letting sparks fly between them. Amethio's cries for Charcadet to dodge were in vain. He was far too close to get out of the way and received a painful shock as the accumulated lightning was unleashed upon him.
"Get out of there!" The boy shouted, and Charcadet jumped away nimbly. Not paralyzed yet. Miles has been working on Thunder Wave, but it's not reliable yet. We could go after him, but if they want us to do the setup, why not?
"Nasty plot." I imagined Miles had a big grin on his face, though I couldn't see it from behind.
"Clear Smog, don't let them build up!" Amethio called out, a look of panic on his face. His fiery partner took a deep breath and let out a bunch of white smoke that washed over Miles.
"Rotototo," they whined, shaking about and exiting the cloud. Immediately I felt that their power had decreased back to normal. Something to get rid of stat changes and deal damage? Nice Move. Pretty sure it's Poison too, so no Resistances to help either.
"Confuse Ray, then blast it." Rotom unleashed a tightly clustered bunch of dancing lights that shot right at Charcadet's face, dazing him. He tried to continue his attack but started blowing the smoke in the wrong direction.
"No, other way!" Amethio shouted, but it was too late. Miles called down a massive bolt of lighting, like a blue spear striking down from their conjured rain cloud it struck Charcadet. To his credit, the tiny Pokemon remained standing after the first bolt. Unfortunately, their body stiffened, Paralyzed by the shock, and so they had no chance of dodging the next three bolts, which each struck dead on. Before the fifth could be called down, he crumpled to his knees and fell over unconscious. "Charcadet!"
He ran to check on his Pokemon. From what I could see, the Charcadet would be fine, but I walked over and offered him a Revive. "Here. You did well."
"Hardly. I was completely outmatched." He scoffed but took the medicine, waking Charcadet back up.
"Well yeah, Miles did great," and I flashed them a thumbs up, which they eagerly smiled back at. "But that Clear Smog was smart thinking on your part. Would have been a lot tougher to deal with if I had that going." I had more to say but was distracted by the rain, a drop falling very close to my eye.
Turning to Miles I asked, "Hey can you turn off the rain?" They tilted their body to the side, the equivalent of cocking their head slightly before waving their arms around to little avail. Alright, I've been considering this since last time. Luckily, this is not a game, and I have an idea. "Just go up to the clouds and release an Overheat."
With a nod, they flew to the center of their dark storm clouds and opened their oven door. A massive blast of heat came out, enough to be felt on the ground, drying us instantly and blowing the clouds away.
The boy muttered, looking up at my Pokemon, "I didn't know Rotom could do that."
"Yeah, they're pretty impressive. Each of their forms has a super powerful move of the other type they gain in that form."
He nodded.
"We'll have to train hard to beat you next time."
"Cadet!"
I beamed broadly. "That's the spirit!" I offered him my hand, he took it, and I pulled him back up from where he'd been kneeling beside his Pokemon.
"Quite a show, both of you. I have a feeling you're both going to make good Explorers." We'll see. Still, if she spends more time fighting quiet but not stupid guys like Amethio and less time around creeps like before, it might not be so bad.
Nemona gets her first look at the Explorers and... they're really creepy! Given how they're able to have some of their members hide in public I figure it's possible for them to conceal any wrongdoings, but still come across as very weird. Have I ever mentioned how hard it is to portray canonical characters pre-canon, through the lens of someone who doesn't know what they're supposed to be like? It's tough, but I hope I got them right here, and I'll explore the Explorers (haha) a bit more later.
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- Location
- usa
Considering I have no idea about the Scarlet/violet DLC or the anime, you did a good job at showing them being weirdos that are kinda suspicious without me being able to tell if they are bad or not.
xbox432
Lover of Editing
So Nemona has unfortunately joined an evil team. Good thing she didn't wear the uniform, at least now she can deny deny deny in a few years once their actions come out. Because otherwise it would be a bit awkward to explain why the "Young Miss" of the Glitterati was working alongside a bunch of crooks.
Oh come on Nemona, you should be more genre savvy than to ignore something like that...
There we go.
Really should have listened to her instincts, but I guess I can't blame her for being thrown off by the Zygarde. And seriously, why is Zygarde helping Gibeon? I wish that were explained, because it IS a bit odd.
Spinel - Amethio
They eagerly "what" back at?
The boy muttered, looking up at my Pokemon, "I didn't know Rotom could do that."
- Location
- Vancouver
Thanks, glad that came across well. They're a very sketchy group, but we honestly don't know a lot about them.
As do we all. Unfortunately, the anime has been tight lipped about that.
I've made the corrections, thanks.
- Location
- Michigan
My first guess(keeping in mind I still haven't watched Journeys and plan to do so before starting Horizons so am working with minimal wiki descriptions) would be that the Zygarde is not actually working to Gibeon's benefit and is just working with him because he is trying to go to the same location which I would assume is where this Zygarde is from.
The second guess is that Zygarde is just preparing to derail Gibeon's plans/goals but may not yet know what those plans/goals are in detail yet and may be staying close because it hasn't decided if it will need to intervene yet.
I am fairly sure that Zygarde's forms also aren't a world wide percentage but a maximum in one body percentage, this would also allow for certain Zygarde cores to have different views on their self imposed role. It is possible with this interpretation to have the third guess, that some cores could be hostile to humanity, either as a whole or just certain groups(such as a given family or even an entire nations), while still viewing themselves as Guardians of Nature if they consider humans to be overly detrimental to nature and this could easilybe how certain past civilizations were lost.
- Location
- Here
Am I the only one who thinks it's weird that Zygarde's presence had such a huge impact on her opinion? It didn't even occur to her that Zygarde could've been keeping its enemies closer, mistaken, tricked, blackmailed, corrupted…
- Location
- Vancouver
It definitely had a decent impact on her opinion, but it's not like the Explorers did anything wrong either, they were just kinda creepy and Zygarde helped balance that out. As for Zygarde, she doesn't really think that it would need to 'keep it's enemies closer', could be blackmailed (what are they going to threaten a Legendary with?), or corrupted in a non-obvious ways (going from meta-knowledge, it's usually fairly apparent if something like that has happened). She did not consider them being mistaken or tricked however, which was a bit of an oversight on her part. Nemona's smarter than the average seven-year-old, but she can still mess up.
Chapter 24
- Location
- Vancouver
"Osu! Welcome, to my dojo!" Dendra declared, sweeping her arms out as she opened the sliding door to a traditional martial arts dojo.
The floor was wooden, with a few mats placed in the center. In one corner was a wooden post with several poles sticking out to practice katas, and opposite it hung a punching bag. On the walls hung a few pieces of elegant calligraphy, and a somewhat incongruous motivational poster of a Sprigatito clinging onto a branch with the caption 'hang in there'. Sunlight streamed into the room from a large window, and beside that windowsill a Meditite hovered, carefully pruning a Bonsai tree that rested atop it. They turned to look at me curiously before returning to their work.
Fixing the lapels of my white gi, I followed her inside. I removed my shoes before stepping inside and placed my bag by the door.
"So, uh, what do you think? I know it's a bit old-fashioned but-"
"I love it," I said, excited to be here, and the nervousness on her face evaporated into pure joy.
"Osu!" She stepped inside and took her place at the top of the room, straightening her belt. It's kinda cute, seeing her all eager and nervous like this. Dendra was always enthusiastic in the games, but she was an adult there. Now I'm seeing her as a kid, just doing this for the first time.
Her Meditite finished her pruning and drifted over to Dendra, giving me a polite wave and yawning sleepily before pressing the button on their Pokeball and recalling themselves. Must be pretty young, she looked somewhat small.
"My plan today is to run you through the basics of what martial arts are, some stretches and drills to get you fired up, and practice a few simple techniques. Before we begin, do you have any questions?"
"How did you get this dojo?" I'd been in a slightly bigger martial arts studio in my prior life, but we'd had classes with over twenty students and three or more instructors in that one. I'd also had classes out of garages or basements when times were leaner.
"Ah, well, it's not exactly mine. My Shifu entrusted it to me to keep safe while he trained in the wilderness. I pretty much live here now, not that there's too much to do, but things are too quiet at home." She laughed, but it felt just a little forced and hollow. Plenty of reasons why someone's parents might be gone or missing in this world.
"Is it alright for you to be teaching me here? I appreciate the offer, but I don't want you getting in trouble with your teacher or any other students."
"No worries! I don't think Shifu Chuck will have a problem with me teaching you or anything though, if- when he comes back. And there's no other students left but me."
"Oh, sorry to hear that."
"No no, it's fine," she waved her hands animatedly, plastering a grin on her face.
"The others just got busy with studies and other things, and stopped focusing on being a trainer."
"Huh? What does being a coach have to do with practicing martial arts?" This is about improving my body and discipline, not my Pokemon's, or is it some co op thing.
"Well, you know the stereotypes," she scratched the back of her wild black hair. "Or don't you? You weren't born in Paldea."
"No, I'm--I'm from Unova." I stammer over the words for a second before remembering where I'm from from in this life, and not the past one.
"I don't know if things are different there, but most people around these parts only seriously practice martial arts when training Fighting Types." She quickly seems to notice her gaffe, putting up her arms in a defensive position in front of her
"Not that Fighting Types aren't great, my whole team is Fighting! But in general, people drop the practice when they stop being dedicated trainers, or pick up other Types on their team."
"That's dumb." My blunt words caused Dendra to be surprised for a split second before snorting.
"Yeah, it is. I'd practice Karate forever, even if I wasn't a trainer." I returned the fierce grin she gave me with one of my own. Definitely, I feel the same way.
"Do you plan on training any Fighting Types?"
"I hadn't set out concrete plans on who I want to train, so many cool Pokemon out there. And I just want someone who wants to be on my team and meshes well with me." I wouldn't mind finding one that worked well with me, though. There are some very cool and strong Fighting Types out there.
As if reading my mind she shouted "Quick, name your favorite Fighting Type!"
"Aah, Bewear? Or maybe Lucario! But Hawlucha's great, too..." Heracross and Annihilape are great, too! Does Meloetta count as one? Or doesn't she count? Because she's a mythical, and she can switch between fighting and not fighting.
She laughed heartily. "I know, right?!" Then she caught herself and cleared her throat. "Right, I teach a class here. Ahem. Now, was there anything else you had questions about?"
"No, thanks Sensei Dendra. Or would you prefer Shifu Dendra?" I asked and she put her hands over her mouth.
"Too… cute." She squeaked out and looked like she wanted to pick me up like a teddy bear before managing to control herself. "Uh, Sensei Dendra is fine." She shook her head and took a deep breath.
"Right, the basics of martial arts. I'm going to teach you karate, which I learned from my Shifu in this dojo, but every style has the same foundation. Martial arts is a sport and an art form. It's an expression through the movement of the human body."
"People often look down on them because of this, but almost all styles were designed with a very practical purpose: to hurt others. They're meant to help you refine and arm yourself. As such, I expect you to treat this training with the utmost respect."
"Karate can be used in tournaments, if you wish to do so we can go over the rules of those and how you fight in those circumstances. Outside of those or this dojo, I expect you to only be using it against others as a method of self-defense or to defend others.:
While people may be weaker than Pokemon, that doesn't mean we can't be dangerous with enough training. Some people also use it as an excuse to hurt others and then pretend the pain they cause isn't serious because it wasn't caused by a Pokemon or a weapon. That will not be tolerated in this dojo, are we clear?!!"
"Yes, sensei."
She let out a sigh.
"Phew. Sorry about that, but that was a strict rule in this dojo and I needed to go over it. I don't think you're going to hurt anyone but-"
"No, I get it." My former teacher always said the first thing you should look into in a confrontation is if you can de-escalate or safely escape without a fight. Using violence, and truly hurting others should always be the last resort.
"We'll begin class by bowing to each other, to show respect as teacher and student."
To demonstrate, she gave me a short bow, back straight and bending at the hips. I returned it with my own, clasping a fist with an open palm.
"Osu! Do you already have training in martial arts?" How did she- right the bow.
Just a sign of respect, but the gesture to go along with it, is something that would have come with training. Especially so instinctually.
"Yeah, I've had a bit of training before I moved to Paldea." Technically sorta true if you squint at it?
"I thought you might have!" Dendra pumped her fist in the air. "Your punches at the tournament were very interesting. What style did you study?"
"It was mixed martial arts. Ju-Jitsu base with a bit of everything thrown in. Karate, Muay Thai, Sambo, etcetera."
"Ohh! That sounds very cool. I haven't even heard of Muay Thai!"
Right, different world, different styles names or just some less popular styles. Martial arts was quite a niche interest here. "Change of plans, we're still going to warm up, but after that you can show me what you know and we'll go from there."
"Osu!" I shouted out… which may have been a mistake as she grabbed at her heart, falling over and muttering something about 'cuteness overload.'
Turning on my heel, I pulled out my water bottle from my bag and splashed her with it. "Wha- ah."
"Ready to begin?" I asked, giving her the chance to recompose herself and not press her on the topics. Cheeks a little red from embarrassment, she nodded. I had Miles start hovering in the back, recording the class for Leah and my parents to review.
The stretches were pretty standard, though I was surprised by how far my body could go. Last life I could just reach the ends of my toes with my hands in a sitting stretch, now I'm reaching like a foot past it. It could have been part of the general upgrades humans had in this world, or just my child body being naturally more flexible.
The push-ups, sit-ups, and other exercises Dendra quickly ran me through were nothing new, all stuff I practiced at home. Even the kettlebell squats and chin-ups were all familiar to me, though using equipment I didn't have, so they worked out muscle groups I hadn't focused on as much in this life, giving me a good burn before my teacher called a break on that.
"Now that you're all warmed up, I want you to show me your moves! Let's start with a jab." She threw her hand out, and I almost copied her before remembering she wanted to see my style.
Bending my knees, I placed my legs apart, in line with my shoulders, one foot facing her in front of me, the other off to my right. I raised my hands beside my face, my fists clenched by my cheeks. Slowly, I extended my left arm out in a jab, letting her see every part of the motion clearly before drawing it back.
"Interesting, you didn't turn your fist over horizontally, you kept it vertical. Do you do the same for your punches?"
"Yes," I said, demonstrating my punch with my right hand. It was similar to my jab, but I turned my shoulder and pivoted my foot with it fully for extra reach and power. "It gives the wrist more protection and is just a little bit faster. I'll turn it for a hook punch or uppercut, but that's mostly to get better angles on those strikes." She nodded and motioned for me to demonstrate those as well, which I did.
"Good, good. You're throwing back behind each punch, even in the jabs where you pop your shoulder a bit. That's one of the most important steps and you've already got it down. You keep a very high guard. That'll protect your upper half, but what about your body?"
"I'd either use my elbows or knees. Possibly catching or deflecting a kick with my hands or arms if I felt it was viable."
Then I showed her the three leg blocks, raising my left leg high, first at an angle out, then in, and finally with my right leg at an angle out as well. "Any strike from an opponent I'm facing can be covered with these and force a lower strike to deflect against the knee or shin."
Dropping my elbow down, I showed how from my high guard I could still cover down to my hip while only dropping a few inches away from my face, giving me plenty of time to return to cover any follow-up strikes. Especially since any attack it blocked would limit any further attacks on that side. At least, from a human opponent. An angry Pokemon attacking me would be a very different story, even before any Moves.
After running through a few more strikes, she said "I think that's enough for now. Run them through for me, together." With that my new sensei started calling out strikes repeatedly, having me chain them together against imaginary foes.
"Elbow's dropping."
"Yes, sensei."
"Overturning your foot there."
"Thank you sensei."
So it went. My knowledge was not perfectly retained, but thousands and thousands of the basics ensured that they stuck in my mind. The muscle memory wasn't there anymore though, so as I started moving at full speed, I got sloppy. Made mistakes. Honestly, it's really impressive that Dendra can already get my style well enough to spot all the mistakes I'm making here, she's a great teacher.
Sweat was just starting to roll off me when Dendra called "Enough! Take a quick water break." I did so gratefully. "Well, I wasn't expecting you to already have a solid base style. Hmm, this is going to complicate things. What do you want to do from here? Keep your style as is and try to add the Karate into it, or start fresh?"
I thought hard about the offer before saying "I want to keep my style. It uses a lot of Karate anyway, probably the second heaviest influence to my style. I should be able to incorporate it without too much difficulty." There were often worries about having to train out prior influences when learning a new style, but I hoped that I could blend what I knew and what I learned without too much difficulty. "I don't want to lose what I learned."
It's funny. Hadn't practiced in a few years before I was reborn but… the mere thought of discarding what I had then cuts like a knife. My old teachers, an old man, and his son flashed through my mind. Maybe I'll never pass this on, I can't make any promises as to how this life goes, but I'll try to make you proud. Hope you're doing well, wherever you are.
"Nemona?" Her voice was tentative, not excited at all, so I turned to face Dendra wondering what was bothering her. "We can take a break if you want."
"What?! No!" I shook my head and felt a bit of water fly off my face. What- oh. I was crying. "I- no, I'm fine. Let's keep going." I wiped my face.
"... Alright. Let's practice some katas. Here, take a Zebstrika stance." I blinked, confused at her words before I saw her stance and realized what she meant.
"Oh right, yeah. Sensei," I tacked on the end as I took what I knew to be a horse stance. Of course, they would have different names.
"Hold your fists down lower, by your sides. Your guard will be lower for this, but there are blocks we'll train from here. Now, follow my lead, osu!"
***
Training continued like that, going pretty well. It wasn't hard for me to copy her moves, a lot of them I knew or were very familiar to me ,just would take a lot of practice until I had them down perfectly, could use them without thinking, and even more training to make sure they fit into what I already had, but I was feeling pretty hopeful.
Towards the end of the session, Dendra had me practicing on the wooden dummy and then the punching bag. The dummy went well, in part because I was aware of how tough the wood was and was careful not to hit it at full force. A punching bag can feel soft, you don't realize how dense the sand packed inside it can be.
"Ha! Kiai!" I shouted out as I punched and kicked into it.
"Harder!"
"Hah!" Exhaling, I threw a heavy hook into it. My fist felt a bit sore, but my wrist was fine, so I kept on going. Just like my shins, this would just be good conditioning, right?
"Last set, harder!" The words weren't harsh, I didn't have a reason to be upset, but it felt like I was hitting it as hard as I could. If I'd been thinking about it rationally, I'd recognize that I did still have a bit more to give, that it was about seeing if I could keep my form while using all my strength. But in that moment it just sparked a bit of frustration, and I grabbed onto that, Imagining Freddrick's dumb, smug face on the punching bag.
Jab, punch, uppercut, followed by an arcing overhand haymaker I stepped through to deliver. The bag was knocked back hard, swaying on the chain that held it aloft. As I slipped aside from its return swing, I saw my hands and realized they were bloody, something Dendra saw too.
"Stop! Nemona, what happened?"
"Nothing, I just fu- screwed up. Could I get an ice pack?" My hand was throbbing a bit.
"Yes, and bandages, oh gosh." She ran off to the main entrance room, and then down the hall to get some medical supplies.
Can't believe I was so stupid. Waving for Miles to stop recording, I called them back to me. At their worried expression, I said, "Don't worry, this doesn't really hurt."
"I'm so sorry Nemona, I shouldn't have let you get hurt!" Dendra wailed as she burst back into the dojo, her arms full with a box of medical supplies.
"Whoa, I think that's a bit much. I only need an ice bag." Glancing at my bloody knuckles I added "Maybe some gauze too."
"You sure you don't need a bandage or-"
"It'll just get in the way, it's the knuckles that got abrased." She handed me a strip of gauze and the ice pack. Applying the former to my knuckles, I put the latter against my wrist and let out a sigh of relief.
"Don't you need that for your knuckles?" she asked.
"No, they just sting a little bit. I tweaked my wrist with that last punch." I'd had minor wrist problems in my last life, probably from some injuries I'd acquired over my decades in martial arts, and I remembered Nemona having that brace in the game. I don't want to get those problems again, gotta be more careful.
"I'm sorry Nemona, I shouldn't have-"
"Stop it! Sensei," I added much too belatedly, the incongruity of it causing my lip to twitch upwards at the ridiculousness of it. That caused her to laugh and soon we were both just giggling. It's strange how being close to a friend can make everything so much brighter, and flip a bad mood around in an instant.
Once we stopped laughing I made sure to clarify. "Seriously though, it wasn't your fault. I got angry, made a mistake, and hurt myself. Wasn't even that bad, just scraped a bit of flesh off the knuckles. Besides, it's martial arts, I should expect a few bumps and bruises."
"Don't let Tulip hear you say that, she feels that every injury should be avoided." Dendra smiled at me as if to say 'How silly Tulip can be,' but I was distracted. Something about that triggered something in my mind. Didn't Dendra have a scar in the games? I think… I think she did, somewhere on her face, but pretty small. I couldn't see it here though, so it was likely an incident yet to happen.
The older girl continued. "While I'm glad you didn't get scared off or anything… what caused you to get so angry?"
Sitting down I let out a small sigh. "Nothing serious, just picturing beating that jerk from the tournament, Frederick. Figures he gets me in trouble again." I gave a small mirthless laugh. But I know the truth; it's my temper getting me in trouble, not him, even if he is an asshole.
"Do you think we could do any meditation as part of the class?" It's not like I need to meditate here, but it's a nice routine and something I enjoyed before when practicing.
"We could, but you'll probably do more of that with Tulip."
"Huh?"
"Oh right, she's been busy with her modeling and trying to get in contact with her old teacher, but she'll be ready to train you in Aura soon."
"I- I thought she- after my outburst, how I nearly… I thought she wasn't going to teach me that."
"Whaaaat? Why would you think that?!"
"Well, I got really mad, and…" Holding up my injured hand I shrugged. "She saw all that and we hadn't talked at all since, so I assumed…" I trailed off.
"No, of course not! You didn't hurt anyone, and of course, you were frustrated. We all were, that call was bogus! We were all just kinda shocked, and then you ran off, but no one blames you for that. That girl! She accuses me of being scatterbrained sometimes, but whenever the shoe's on the other foot…" she devolved into grumblings, and I smiled. Dendra looks a lot happier when talking about her friends rather than the people not in her life anymore.
"I wouldn't have blamed her if she hadn't wanted to teach me after that, it's not like she owed me anything. Oh, right! I should pay you for the class." She tried to wave me off, but I refused.
"No, this was a good class, from an expert for several hours, you deserve to get paid for it."
"You're a friend, it's not like I have much to do right now anyway…" That won't do at all.
"Ten thousand for the session."
"What!? No, that's way too much!"
"Eleven thousand."
"That's higher!" She shrieked.
"And it'll keep on going up until you accept," I shot back cheekily. Was sticking my tongue out too much? Nah.
"Why I- alright, fine, we'll settle this in a battle! I win and you have to pay me a reasonable price."
"Uhh…" Holding out my still bloody hand and using the other one to gesture at my much smaller body I said. "I don't think that's very fair."
"Not a martial arts match, a Pokemon battle! I love sparring, but I like Pokemon battling too, and I've been fired up ever since I saw your tournament fights!"
"Sounds good. Do you have anywhere to fight?" The dojo might be great for human sparring, but I was sure that Pokemon would tear it apart in a few Moves.
"The backyard has a sand pit that should be large enough for our Pokemon." Heading outside I saw a very spacious backyard, and tastefully arranged at that. Smooth stones were inlaid in the ground to make a nice path towards an empty pond and a tall tree. Hedges lined the edge, with a few shrubs inside. The back half was dominated by a sand pit with even lines running through it that made me suspect someone had been using it as a Zen garden.
Dendra took her place on one end of the rectangular field and I stood at the other. "Osu! Let's have a 1-on-1 battle. Whoever faints first or surrenders loses." She released Meditite, who didn't take to the field but instead moved outside it, taking their place in the center. Ah, they'll be the referee for this match.
"Sounds good, go, Dun!" I released the land snake from his ball and he gave a loud chirp, eagerly wiggling about on the sand.
"Go, Hariyama!" Dendra responded, releasing her Pokemon. He was a rather rotund figure, very humanoid with a pale cone-shaped head and massive orange hands.
She already has a Hariyama, I should have figured. She has a Type advantage over Dun, but given her experience, I don't think Miles would be up to the challenge yet. Plus, we've got a few new tricks to try against Fighting Types.
"On the count of three, we'll begin. Three, two, one… go!"
"Glare," I gave my order out immediately. Considering Dendra was counting us in, that gave me a slight advantage, and Hariyama had no chance of closing his eyes before his muscles started seizing up.
"Arm Thrust, hit him hard!" Dendra cried out, making thrusting motions with her own hands. Her Pokemon lumbered up, trying to palm-strike Dun repeatedly. My starter dodged out of the way of most of them, faster than the debilitated Fighting Type, but the sheer size of his hands meant that one of the shots clipped him and sent Dun tumbling tail overhead across the field from the force.
At least that gives us some breathing room. "Hex!" Purple shadowy winds whipped around Dun for a moment before dissipating as dark purple flame-like energies gathered around Hariyama. The large Fighting Type flinched heavily at that, trying to disperse the energy, only to freeze up part way through.
"Shake it off, Harriyama! I know you got it in you!" Dendra shouted. I would have felt it was a waste of time… if I didn't see her Pokemon do just that. With a quick shake of his head, he pushed aside the Paralysis, his body limbering up and he clapped his large hands together menacingly.
Gah! How did she- whatever, gotta stay in the game. The distance between them… too much for that, but he's going to close anyway, won't he? "Earthquake, followed with an Air Cutter," I gave my command as Hariyama started jogging towards us.
Training on the beach so often meant that sand was no obstacle for Dun to move, his repeated strikes to the ground sending waves of sand rippling out around him. As the waves neared Hariyama, they rose, crashing over him like a tidal wave.
"Nice work Dun!" I called out as I saw the Fighting Type getting pushed back and covered by sand. Hariyama spat out a few grains. More waves came in, which he just punched through, but each hit roughed him up a little bit and slowed him down.
Dun's wings flapped hard, gathering energy and swirling the winds around him even while he didn't move himself. To my surprise, Hariyama proved faster, closing with Dun before he could launch his attack. The wind was released in a cutting slash at Hariyama, who managed to dodge it partially, twisting his large body to the side so the blade of air only cut him in the shoulder before smacking Dun hard into the ground with a slap of his own.
"Dunnnnn!" the land snake gave a pained cry, rolling around away from any follow-up. No, it wasn't that Hariyama was too fast, it's that Dun moved too slow; he took twice as long as he usually does to use that Move.
"Drill retreat!" Dun's tail started spinning noisily, giving Hariyama a moment of pause, which was all Dun needed to escape. We still hadn't gotten the Move Dig down fully, but he was good enough to drill down and make a tunnel to escape, popping back up far away from Hariyama a few seconds later.
"Air Slash, again!" His wings flapped again and blades of air started flying across the battlefield at Hariyama. Much faster this time. It must be because he didn't just use Ground Type energy before it - drilling through the ground isn't the same as Earthquake. I'd taken it for granted, with Dun being so naturally great at using different Type energies, but switching between them rapidly is still a limitation we face for the newer Moves.
Dendra wasn't just going to let us pelt her from afar, however. "Stone Edge the Air Slash." The big-handed Pokemon reached down, condensing sand into a giant boulder twice the size of Dunsparce and hurling it low to the ground at his foe. It burst through the whirling air with ease and before it even reached his target, Hariyama was reaching for another toss with his other hand.
"Protect! Go low and pick up speed!" At the last moment, Dunsparce conjured a hexagonal patterned forcefield around him. The barrier wavered, ripples spreading out from the point where the jagged rock impacted it, but ultimately held.
More rocks were thrown, some of them smashing into each other or hitting the ground, kicking up large clouds of dust neither of us could see through. I'm not worried though, Dun knows what to do.
When the clouds cleared, the rocks breaking back down into sand, they revealed an empty space where Dunsparce had been. "Huh? Oh, I see," Dendra nodded, figuring out my strategy in a second. "Fine, we can play like that. Hariyama, Belly Drum!"
My eyes widened. He still has the energy left for that? Damn it! The big fighter did indeed, joyously slapping his own hands against his belly making an odd sound ringing out through the air. He looked quite beat up, more from his own Move than any of the ones we had landed on him, but he was still standing proud.
Dunsparce poked his head out from the sand and I knew it was time to act. "Strafe him, Hyper Voice!" Dun dashed across the battlefield, and with the Agility he had used underground, he moved quite quickly at that, drawing in a deep breath. Belly Drum is a huge threat, but if he can't reach us we can still win this-
"Bullet Punch." Hariyama rocketed forward, right hand outstretched in a fist- no, like his fist was pulling the rest of him forward. Dun let out a high-pitched screech, causing Hariyama to wince, but his aim was true, connecting with the speedy snake and sending him flying across the arena and into a hedge where he collapsed in a heap.
Hariyama wobbled, dropping down to one knee and placing a hand on the ground. He was hurt but still conscious while Dun… was not. Meditite raised their arm on Dendra's side, indicating she was the winner, but I barely noticed.
"Dun!" I ran over to him and began immediately applying Revives and Potions to him after extracting him from the hedge. He blearily blinked his eyes back open.
"Arce ar?"
"We lost, sorry pal. You did great out there though."
"Dun." He was disappointed, but not upset this time. I feel the same. If we had lost to Freddrick- well, that guy was still a jerk so it would have hurt more, but losing to Rika wouldn't have been bad. I wonder if I'll get to challenge her when I take on the Elite Four?
"Osu! That was incredible! You two were awesome!" Dendra exclaimed as she ran over. I tossed her a few Potions to use on Hariyama, which helped him a bit but didn't clear all of his bruises.
"Thanks, but it was Dun that did great. I shouldn't have played so on the fence around the Belly Drum. Should have gone all in the moment he came out, or maybe gone full defense, waited for you to commit with something else, Glare at a distance and Protect to stop it, then counter?
Or…" my mumblings became indecipherable as I puzzled it over in my head.
If there was any possible way to win, I'm the kind of person to obsess over it. Admittedly, this one would have been pretty hard no matter what. Her Hariyama was incredibly tough, well-trained, and had the Type advantage. I'll face more challenges like that as I grow though, so many more if I want to be the Champion. People who have built whole teams solely to defeat me, and I'll need to counter those.
I noticed Dun slither over to Hariyama and exchange a few 'words.'
"Dun, un."
"Ama?"
"Arce spar, dunsparce."
"Ha ha hariyama!"
Dendra grinned, reading the situation as well as I had (albeit, from the other side).
"We'll be ready to take you on any time, osu!"
"Just you wait, Dun is gonna be so much stronger the next time you face him!"
Her eyes blazed fiercely as she met my determined gaze and I held out my fist for her to bump it. She did so, and Dun did something similar, holding out his tail for Hariyama who tapped it… and sent Dunsparce blasting off.
The three of us looked on in shock and horror before running off after Dun, trying to catch him wherever he landed.
"Oh no, he still had Belly Drum up! I'm so sorrrrry!!"
The floor was wooden, with a few mats placed in the center. In one corner was a wooden post with several poles sticking out to practice katas, and opposite it hung a punching bag. On the walls hung a few pieces of elegant calligraphy, and a somewhat incongruous motivational poster of a Sprigatito clinging onto a branch with the caption 'hang in there'. Sunlight streamed into the room from a large window, and beside that windowsill a Meditite hovered, carefully pruning a Bonsai tree that rested atop it. They turned to look at me curiously before returning to their work.
Fixing the lapels of my white gi, I followed her inside. I removed my shoes before stepping inside and placed my bag by the door.
"So, uh, what do you think? I know it's a bit old-fashioned but-"
"I love it," I said, excited to be here, and the nervousness on her face evaporated into pure joy.
"Osu!" She stepped inside and took her place at the top of the room, straightening her belt. It's kinda cute, seeing her all eager and nervous like this. Dendra was always enthusiastic in the games, but she was an adult there. Now I'm seeing her as a kid, just doing this for the first time.
Her Meditite finished her pruning and drifted over to Dendra, giving me a polite wave and yawning sleepily before pressing the button on their Pokeball and recalling themselves. Must be pretty young, she looked somewhat small.
"My plan today is to run you through the basics of what martial arts are, some stretches and drills to get you fired up, and practice a few simple techniques. Before we begin, do you have any questions?"
"How did you get this dojo?" I'd been in a slightly bigger martial arts studio in my prior life, but we'd had classes with over twenty students and three or more instructors in that one. I'd also had classes out of garages or basements when times were leaner.
"Ah, well, it's not exactly mine. My Shifu entrusted it to me to keep safe while he trained in the wilderness. I pretty much live here now, not that there's too much to do, but things are too quiet at home." She laughed, but it felt just a little forced and hollow. Plenty of reasons why someone's parents might be gone or missing in this world.
"Is it alright for you to be teaching me here? I appreciate the offer, but I don't want you getting in trouble with your teacher or any other students."
"No worries! I don't think Shifu Chuck will have a problem with me teaching you or anything though, if- when he comes back. And there's no other students left but me."
"Oh, sorry to hear that."
"No no, it's fine," she waved her hands animatedly, plastering a grin on her face.
"The others just got busy with studies and other things, and stopped focusing on being a trainer."
"Huh? What does being a coach have to do with practicing martial arts?" This is about improving my body and discipline, not my Pokemon's, or is it some co op thing.
"Well, you know the stereotypes," she scratched the back of her wild black hair. "Or don't you? You weren't born in Paldea."
"No, I'm--I'm from Unova." I stammer over the words for a second before remembering where I'm from from in this life, and not the past one.
"I don't know if things are different there, but most people around these parts only seriously practice martial arts when training Fighting Types." She quickly seems to notice her gaffe, putting up her arms in a defensive position in front of her
"Not that Fighting Types aren't great, my whole team is Fighting! But in general, people drop the practice when they stop being dedicated trainers, or pick up other Types on their team."
"That's dumb." My blunt words caused Dendra to be surprised for a split second before snorting.
"Yeah, it is. I'd practice Karate forever, even if I wasn't a trainer." I returned the fierce grin she gave me with one of my own. Definitely, I feel the same way.
"Do you plan on training any Fighting Types?"
"I hadn't set out concrete plans on who I want to train, so many cool Pokemon out there. And I just want someone who wants to be on my team and meshes well with me." I wouldn't mind finding one that worked well with me, though. There are some very cool and strong Fighting Types out there.
As if reading my mind she shouted "Quick, name your favorite Fighting Type!"
"Aah, Bewear? Or maybe Lucario! But Hawlucha's great, too..." Heracross and Annihilape are great, too! Does Meloetta count as one? Or doesn't she count? Because she's a mythical, and she can switch between fighting and not fighting.
She laughed heartily. "I know, right?!" Then she caught herself and cleared her throat. "Right, I teach a class here. Ahem. Now, was there anything else you had questions about?"
"No, thanks Sensei Dendra. Or would you prefer Shifu Dendra?" I asked and she put her hands over her mouth.
"Too… cute." She squeaked out and looked like she wanted to pick me up like a teddy bear before managing to control herself. "Uh, Sensei Dendra is fine." She shook her head and took a deep breath.
"Right, the basics of martial arts. I'm going to teach you karate, which I learned from my Shifu in this dojo, but every style has the same foundation. Martial arts is a sport and an art form. It's an expression through the movement of the human body."
"People often look down on them because of this, but almost all styles were designed with a very practical purpose: to hurt others. They're meant to help you refine and arm yourself. As such, I expect you to treat this training with the utmost respect."
"Karate can be used in tournaments, if you wish to do so we can go over the rules of those and how you fight in those circumstances. Outside of those or this dojo, I expect you to only be using it against others as a method of self-defense or to defend others.:
While people may be weaker than Pokemon, that doesn't mean we can't be dangerous with enough training. Some people also use it as an excuse to hurt others and then pretend the pain they cause isn't serious because it wasn't caused by a Pokemon or a weapon. That will not be tolerated in this dojo, are we clear?!!"
"Yes, sensei."
She let out a sigh.
"Phew. Sorry about that, but that was a strict rule in this dojo and I needed to go over it. I don't think you're going to hurt anyone but-"
"No, I get it." My former teacher always said the first thing you should look into in a confrontation is if you can de-escalate or safely escape without a fight. Using violence, and truly hurting others should always be the last resort.
"We'll begin class by bowing to each other, to show respect as teacher and student."
To demonstrate, she gave me a short bow, back straight and bending at the hips. I returned it with my own, clasping a fist with an open palm.
"Osu! Do you already have training in martial arts?" How did she- right the bow.
Just a sign of respect, but the gesture to go along with it, is something that would have come with training. Especially so instinctually.
"Yeah, I've had a bit of training before I moved to Paldea." Technically sorta true if you squint at it?
"I thought you might have!" Dendra pumped her fist in the air. "Your punches at the tournament were very interesting. What style did you study?"
"It was mixed martial arts. Ju-Jitsu base with a bit of everything thrown in. Karate, Muay Thai, Sambo, etcetera."
"Ohh! That sounds very cool. I haven't even heard of Muay Thai!"
Right, different world, different styles names or just some less popular styles. Martial arts was quite a niche interest here. "Change of plans, we're still going to warm up, but after that you can show me what you know and we'll go from there."
"Osu!" I shouted out… which may have been a mistake as she grabbed at her heart, falling over and muttering something about 'cuteness overload.'
Turning on my heel, I pulled out my water bottle from my bag and splashed her with it. "Wha- ah."
"Ready to begin?" I asked, giving her the chance to recompose herself and not press her on the topics. Cheeks a little red from embarrassment, she nodded. I had Miles start hovering in the back, recording the class for Leah and my parents to review.
The stretches were pretty standard, though I was surprised by how far my body could go. Last life I could just reach the ends of my toes with my hands in a sitting stretch, now I'm reaching like a foot past it. It could have been part of the general upgrades humans had in this world, or just my child body being naturally more flexible.
The push-ups, sit-ups, and other exercises Dendra quickly ran me through were nothing new, all stuff I practiced at home. Even the kettlebell squats and chin-ups were all familiar to me, though using equipment I didn't have, so they worked out muscle groups I hadn't focused on as much in this life, giving me a good burn before my teacher called a break on that.
"Now that you're all warmed up, I want you to show me your moves! Let's start with a jab." She threw her hand out, and I almost copied her before remembering she wanted to see my style.
Bending my knees, I placed my legs apart, in line with my shoulders, one foot facing her in front of me, the other off to my right. I raised my hands beside my face, my fists clenched by my cheeks. Slowly, I extended my left arm out in a jab, letting her see every part of the motion clearly before drawing it back.
"Interesting, you didn't turn your fist over horizontally, you kept it vertical. Do you do the same for your punches?"
"Yes," I said, demonstrating my punch with my right hand. It was similar to my jab, but I turned my shoulder and pivoted my foot with it fully for extra reach and power. "It gives the wrist more protection and is just a little bit faster. I'll turn it for a hook punch or uppercut, but that's mostly to get better angles on those strikes." She nodded and motioned for me to demonstrate those as well, which I did.
"Good, good. You're throwing back behind each punch, even in the jabs where you pop your shoulder a bit. That's one of the most important steps and you've already got it down. You keep a very high guard. That'll protect your upper half, but what about your body?"
"I'd either use my elbows or knees. Possibly catching or deflecting a kick with my hands or arms if I felt it was viable."
Then I showed her the three leg blocks, raising my left leg high, first at an angle out, then in, and finally with my right leg at an angle out as well. "Any strike from an opponent I'm facing can be covered with these and force a lower strike to deflect against the knee or shin."
Dropping my elbow down, I showed how from my high guard I could still cover down to my hip while only dropping a few inches away from my face, giving me plenty of time to return to cover any follow-up strikes. Especially since any attack it blocked would limit any further attacks on that side. At least, from a human opponent. An angry Pokemon attacking me would be a very different story, even before any Moves.
After running through a few more strikes, she said "I think that's enough for now. Run them through for me, together." With that my new sensei started calling out strikes repeatedly, having me chain them together against imaginary foes.
"Elbow's dropping."
"Yes, sensei."
"Overturning your foot there."
"Thank you sensei."
So it went. My knowledge was not perfectly retained, but thousands and thousands of the basics ensured that they stuck in my mind. The muscle memory wasn't there anymore though, so as I started moving at full speed, I got sloppy. Made mistakes. Honestly, it's really impressive that Dendra can already get my style well enough to spot all the mistakes I'm making here, she's a great teacher.
Sweat was just starting to roll off me when Dendra called "Enough! Take a quick water break." I did so gratefully. "Well, I wasn't expecting you to already have a solid base style. Hmm, this is going to complicate things. What do you want to do from here? Keep your style as is and try to add the Karate into it, or start fresh?"
I thought hard about the offer before saying "I want to keep my style. It uses a lot of Karate anyway, probably the second heaviest influence to my style. I should be able to incorporate it without too much difficulty." There were often worries about having to train out prior influences when learning a new style, but I hoped that I could blend what I knew and what I learned without too much difficulty. "I don't want to lose what I learned."
It's funny. Hadn't practiced in a few years before I was reborn but… the mere thought of discarding what I had then cuts like a knife. My old teachers, an old man, and his son flashed through my mind. Maybe I'll never pass this on, I can't make any promises as to how this life goes, but I'll try to make you proud. Hope you're doing well, wherever you are.
"Nemona?" Her voice was tentative, not excited at all, so I turned to face Dendra wondering what was bothering her. "We can take a break if you want."
"What?! No!" I shook my head and felt a bit of water fly off my face. What- oh. I was crying. "I- no, I'm fine. Let's keep going." I wiped my face.
"... Alright. Let's practice some katas. Here, take a Zebstrika stance." I blinked, confused at her words before I saw her stance and realized what she meant.
"Oh right, yeah. Sensei," I tacked on the end as I took what I knew to be a horse stance. Of course, they would have different names.
"Hold your fists down lower, by your sides. Your guard will be lower for this, but there are blocks we'll train from here. Now, follow my lead, osu!"
***
Training continued like that, going pretty well. It wasn't hard for me to copy her moves, a lot of them I knew or were very familiar to me ,just would take a lot of practice until I had them down perfectly, could use them without thinking, and even more training to make sure they fit into what I already had, but I was feeling pretty hopeful.
Towards the end of the session, Dendra had me practicing on the wooden dummy and then the punching bag. The dummy went well, in part because I was aware of how tough the wood was and was careful not to hit it at full force. A punching bag can feel soft, you don't realize how dense the sand packed inside it can be.
"Ha! Kiai!" I shouted out as I punched and kicked into it.
"Harder!"
"Hah!" Exhaling, I threw a heavy hook into it. My fist felt a bit sore, but my wrist was fine, so I kept on going. Just like my shins, this would just be good conditioning, right?
"Last set, harder!" The words weren't harsh, I didn't have a reason to be upset, but it felt like I was hitting it as hard as I could. If I'd been thinking about it rationally, I'd recognize that I did still have a bit more to give, that it was about seeing if I could keep my form while using all my strength. But in that moment it just sparked a bit of frustration, and I grabbed onto that, Imagining Freddrick's dumb, smug face on the punching bag.
Jab, punch, uppercut, followed by an arcing overhand haymaker I stepped through to deliver. The bag was knocked back hard, swaying on the chain that held it aloft. As I slipped aside from its return swing, I saw my hands and realized they were bloody, something Dendra saw too.
"Stop! Nemona, what happened?"
"Nothing, I just fu- screwed up. Could I get an ice pack?" My hand was throbbing a bit.
"Yes, and bandages, oh gosh." She ran off to the main entrance room, and then down the hall to get some medical supplies.
Can't believe I was so stupid. Waving for Miles to stop recording, I called them back to me. At their worried expression, I said, "Don't worry, this doesn't really hurt."
"I'm so sorry Nemona, I shouldn't have let you get hurt!" Dendra wailed as she burst back into the dojo, her arms full with a box of medical supplies.
"Whoa, I think that's a bit much. I only need an ice bag." Glancing at my bloody knuckles I added "Maybe some gauze too."
"You sure you don't need a bandage or-"
"It'll just get in the way, it's the knuckles that got abrased." She handed me a strip of gauze and the ice pack. Applying the former to my knuckles, I put the latter against my wrist and let out a sigh of relief.
"Don't you need that for your knuckles?" she asked.
"No, they just sting a little bit. I tweaked my wrist with that last punch." I'd had minor wrist problems in my last life, probably from some injuries I'd acquired over my decades in martial arts, and I remembered Nemona having that brace in the game. I don't want to get those problems again, gotta be more careful.
"I'm sorry Nemona, I shouldn't have-"
"Stop it! Sensei," I added much too belatedly, the incongruity of it causing my lip to twitch upwards at the ridiculousness of it. That caused her to laugh and soon we were both just giggling. It's strange how being close to a friend can make everything so much brighter, and flip a bad mood around in an instant.
Once we stopped laughing I made sure to clarify. "Seriously though, it wasn't your fault. I got angry, made a mistake, and hurt myself. Wasn't even that bad, just scraped a bit of flesh off the knuckles. Besides, it's martial arts, I should expect a few bumps and bruises."
"Don't let Tulip hear you say that, she feels that every injury should be avoided." Dendra smiled at me as if to say 'How silly Tulip can be,' but I was distracted. Something about that triggered something in my mind. Didn't Dendra have a scar in the games? I think… I think she did, somewhere on her face, but pretty small. I couldn't see it here though, so it was likely an incident yet to happen.
The older girl continued. "While I'm glad you didn't get scared off or anything… what caused you to get so angry?"
Sitting down I let out a small sigh. "Nothing serious, just picturing beating that jerk from the tournament, Frederick. Figures he gets me in trouble again." I gave a small mirthless laugh. But I know the truth; it's my temper getting me in trouble, not him, even if he is an asshole.
"Do you think we could do any meditation as part of the class?" It's not like I need to meditate here, but it's a nice routine and something I enjoyed before when practicing.
"We could, but you'll probably do more of that with Tulip."
"Huh?"
"Oh right, she's been busy with her modeling and trying to get in contact with her old teacher, but she'll be ready to train you in Aura soon."
"I- I thought she- after my outburst, how I nearly… I thought she wasn't going to teach me that."
"Whaaaat? Why would you think that?!"
"Well, I got really mad, and…" Holding up my injured hand I shrugged. "She saw all that and we hadn't talked at all since, so I assumed…" I trailed off.
"No, of course not! You didn't hurt anyone, and of course, you were frustrated. We all were, that call was bogus! We were all just kinda shocked, and then you ran off, but no one blames you for that. That girl! She accuses me of being scatterbrained sometimes, but whenever the shoe's on the other foot…" she devolved into grumblings, and I smiled. Dendra looks a lot happier when talking about her friends rather than the people not in her life anymore.
"I wouldn't have blamed her if she hadn't wanted to teach me after that, it's not like she owed me anything. Oh, right! I should pay you for the class." She tried to wave me off, but I refused.
"No, this was a good class, from an expert for several hours, you deserve to get paid for it."
"You're a friend, it's not like I have much to do right now anyway…" That won't do at all.
"Ten thousand for the session."
"What!? No, that's way too much!"
"Eleven thousand."
"That's higher!" She shrieked.
"And it'll keep on going up until you accept," I shot back cheekily. Was sticking my tongue out too much? Nah.
"Why I- alright, fine, we'll settle this in a battle! I win and you have to pay me a reasonable price."
"Uhh…" Holding out my still bloody hand and using the other one to gesture at my much smaller body I said. "I don't think that's very fair."
"Not a martial arts match, a Pokemon battle! I love sparring, but I like Pokemon battling too, and I've been fired up ever since I saw your tournament fights!"
"Sounds good. Do you have anywhere to fight?" The dojo might be great for human sparring, but I was sure that Pokemon would tear it apart in a few Moves.
"The backyard has a sand pit that should be large enough for our Pokemon." Heading outside I saw a very spacious backyard, and tastefully arranged at that. Smooth stones were inlaid in the ground to make a nice path towards an empty pond and a tall tree. Hedges lined the edge, with a few shrubs inside. The back half was dominated by a sand pit with even lines running through it that made me suspect someone had been using it as a Zen garden.
Dendra took her place on one end of the rectangular field and I stood at the other. "Osu! Let's have a 1-on-1 battle. Whoever faints first or surrenders loses." She released Meditite, who didn't take to the field but instead moved outside it, taking their place in the center. Ah, they'll be the referee for this match.
"Sounds good, go, Dun!" I released the land snake from his ball and he gave a loud chirp, eagerly wiggling about on the sand.
"Go, Hariyama!" Dendra responded, releasing her Pokemon. He was a rather rotund figure, very humanoid with a pale cone-shaped head and massive orange hands.
She already has a Hariyama, I should have figured. She has a Type advantage over Dun, but given her experience, I don't think Miles would be up to the challenge yet. Plus, we've got a few new tricks to try against Fighting Types.
"On the count of three, we'll begin. Three, two, one… go!"
"Glare," I gave my order out immediately. Considering Dendra was counting us in, that gave me a slight advantage, and Hariyama had no chance of closing his eyes before his muscles started seizing up.
"Arm Thrust, hit him hard!" Dendra cried out, making thrusting motions with her own hands. Her Pokemon lumbered up, trying to palm-strike Dun repeatedly. My starter dodged out of the way of most of them, faster than the debilitated Fighting Type, but the sheer size of his hands meant that one of the shots clipped him and sent Dun tumbling tail overhead across the field from the force.
At least that gives us some breathing room. "Hex!" Purple shadowy winds whipped around Dun for a moment before dissipating as dark purple flame-like energies gathered around Hariyama. The large Fighting Type flinched heavily at that, trying to disperse the energy, only to freeze up part way through.
"Shake it off, Harriyama! I know you got it in you!" Dendra shouted. I would have felt it was a waste of time… if I didn't see her Pokemon do just that. With a quick shake of his head, he pushed aside the Paralysis, his body limbering up and he clapped his large hands together menacingly.
Gah! How did she- whatever, gotta stay in the game. The distance between them… too much for that, but he's going to close anyway, won't he? "Earthquake, followed with an Air Cutter," I gave my command as Hariyama started jogging towards us.
Training on the beach so often meant that sand was no obstacle for Dun to move, his repeated strikes to the ground sending waves of sand rippling out around him. As the waves neared Hariyama, they rose, crashing over him like a tidal wave.
"Nice work Dun!" I called out as I saw the Fighting Type getting pushed back and covered by sand. Hariyama spat out a few grains. More waves came in, which he just punched through, but each hit roughed him up a little bit and slowed him down.
Dun's wings flapped hard, gathering energy and swirling the winds around him even while he didn't move himself. To my surprise, Hariyama proved faster, closing with Dun before he could launch his attack. The wind was released in a cutting slash at Hariyama, who managed to dodge it partially, twisting his large body to the side so the blade of air only cut him in the shoulder before smacking Dun hard into the ground with a slap of his own.
"Dunnnnn!" the land snake gave a pained cry, rolling around away from any follow-up. No, it wasn't that Hariyama was too fast, it's that Dun moved too slow; he took twice as long as he usually does to use that Move.
"Drill retreat!" Dun's tail started spinning noisily, giving Hariyama a moment of pause, which was all Dun needed to escape. We still hadn't gotten the Move Dig down fully, but he was good enough to drill down and make a tunnel to escape, popping back up far away from Hariyama a few seconds later.
"Air Slash, again!" His wings flapped again and blades of air started flying across the battlefield at Hariyama. Much faster this time. It must be because he didn't just use Ground Type energy before it - drilling through the ground isn't the same as Earthquake. I'd taken it for granted, with Dun being so naturally great at using different Type energies, but switching between them rapidly is still a limitation we face for the newer Moves.
Dendra wasn't just going to let us pelt her from afar, however. "Stone Edge the Air Slash." The big-handed Pokemon reached down, condensing sand into a giant boulder twice the size of Dunsparce and hurling it low to the ground at his foe. It burst through the whirling air with ease and before it even reached his target, Hariyama was reaching for another toss with his other hand.
"Protect! Go low and pick up speed!" At the last moment, Dunsparce conjured a hexagonal patterned forcefield around him. The barrier wavered, ripples spreading out from the point where the jagged rock impacted it, but ultimately held.
More rocks were thrown, some of them smashing into each other or hitting the ground, kicking up large clouds of dust neither of us could see through. I'm not worried though, Dun knows what to do.
When the clouds cleared, the rocks breaking back down into sand, they revealed an empty space where Dunsparce had been. "Huh? Oh, I see," Dendra nodded, figuring out my strategy in a second. "Fine, we can play like that. Hariyama, Belly Drum!"
My eyes widened. He still has the energy left for that? Damn it! The big fighter did indeed, joyously slapping his own hands against his belly making an odd sound ringing out through the air. He looked quite beat up, more from his own Move than any of the ones we had landed on him, but he was still standing proud.
Dunsparce poked his head out from the sand and I knew it was time to act. "Strafe him, Hyper Voice!" Dun dashed across the battlefield, and with the Agility he had used underground, he moved quite quickly at that, drawing in a deep breath. Belly Drum is a huge threat, but if he can't reach us we can still win this-
"Bullet Punch." Hariyama rocketed forward, right hand outstretched in a fist- no, like his fist was pulling the rest of him forward. Dun let out a high-pitched screech, causing Hariyama to wince, but his aim was true, connecting with the speedy snake and sending him flying across the arena and into a hedge where he collapsed in a heap.
Hariyama wobbled, dropping down to one knee and placing a hand on the ground. He was hurt but still conscious while Dun… was not. Meditite raised their arm on Dendra's side, indicating she was the winner, but I barely noticed.
"Dun!" I ran over to him and began immediately applying Revives and Potions to him after extracting him from the hedge. He blearily blinked his eyes back open.
"Arce ar?"
"We lost, sorry pal. You did great out there though."
"Dun." He was disappointed, but not upset this time. I feel the same. If we had lost to Freddrick- well, that guy was still a jerk so it would have hurt more, but losing to Rika wouldn't have been bad. I wonder if I'll get to challenge her when I take on the Elite Four?
"Osu! That was incredible! You two were awesome!" Dendra exclaimed as she ran over. I tossed her a few Potions to use on Hariyama, which helped him a bit but didn't clear all of his bruises.
"Thanks, but it was Dun that did great. I shouldn't have played so on the fence around the Belly Drum. Should have gone all in the moment he came out, or maybe gone full defense, waited for you to commit with something else, Glare at a distance and Protect to stop it, then counter?
Or…" my mumblings became indecipherable as I puzzled it over in my head.
If there was any possible way to win, I'm the kind of person to obsess over it. Admittedly, this one would have been pretty hard no matter what. Her Hariyama was incredibly tough, well-trained, and had the Type advantage. I'll face more challenges like that as I grow though, so many more if I want to be the Champion. People who have built whole teams solely to defeat me, and I'll need to counter those.
I noticed Dun slither over to Hariyama and exchange a few 'words.'
"Dun, un."
"Ama?"
"Arce spar, dunsparce."
"Ha ha hariyama!"
Dendra grinned, reading the situation as well as I had (albeit, from the other side).
"We'll be ready to take you on any time, osu!"
"Just you wait, Dun is gonna be so much stronger the next time you face him!"
Her eyes blazed fiercely as she met my determined gaze and I held out my fist for her to bump it. She did so, and Dun did something similar, holding out his tail for Hariyama who tapped it… and sent Dunsparce blasting off.
The three of us looked on in shock and horror before running off after Dun, trying to catch him wherever he landed.
"Oh no, he still had Belly Drum up! I'm so sorrrrry!!"
A lot of this is me geeking out over martial arts, sorry if that isn't your thing as much. If it isn't don't worry, the Pokemon battles are always going to be the major focus. In any case, I hope you continue to enjoy my story.
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xbox432
Lover of Editing
Hmm, a good first training session. Not everything went perfectly, but her Sensei knows what she's doing and the two of them seem to be getting along just fine. One thing that I hope to see? With Dendra seeming to be completely alone, maybe Nemona could invite her over for dinner some time?
Because even if someone refuses help like she was doing with the pay, it's always appreciated when a friend invites you to their home. A way to avoid the loneliness and quite? Yeah, Dendra would probably like that occasionally.
Because even if someone refuses help like she was doing with the pay, it's always appreciated when a friend invites you to their home. A way to avoid the loneliness and quite? Yeah, Dendra would probably like that occasionally.