Destiny Colosseum ~ Training Rooms

[Flyg0n]

He shook the offered paw, the movement still a bit awkward with his quadruped body.

Koa tensed, stifling a growl of annoyance. Not at Brisa, but at everything. Showing up late, not being able to fit in with the team, not knowing who anyone was.

He huffed, then nodded. "Yeah," he grumbled. "I still don't even know how to fight."

A brief pang of sadness washed over him. Back home, he'd had his team to rely on, and they on him. He understood how to be a good trainer. He studied moves and types and he knew it all. But here... here nothing made sense to him.

"Back home it was just... yourself. And a team of pokemon. But now there's all these powers everyone has and I can't do anything."

A bitter edge crept into his voice at his last few words, and his lips curled into a frown.

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

Wow, he sure was an angry lil' fella. To be fair, Brisa had spent her fair share of time on Cibus in various states of frustration and resentment. She got it. But it just wasn't the attitude the kid needed.

"Quit yer bellyachin'," she drawled. "If'n ya wanna learn to fight, you've come to the right place. You'll pick up combat techniques faster'n you expect, an' Blacklight moves're derived from one's intent and inner feelings rather'n trainin' as such. The other stuff, you'll pick up soon enough. I can take ya through some of that, too, but maybe pace yerself. You oughta get settled and meet some folks before you go studyin'."

She peered at him, levying her sharper luxray vision to judge the strength of his body. It didn't seem like the boy had much in the way of musculature, but that was far from the only thing that mattered. Perhaps he'd be a ranged fighter, or a fettler.

"Y'got time t'learn a move or two? I'm a bit of a combat instructor fer the team, as it happens."

 

[Flyg0n]

Bellyachin? He almost might have been annoyed by her comment, save for how she reminded him of Kitto's admonishments, just a bit. Besides, he kinda liked her direct attitude.

"You can show me how to fight?"

His tail started to wag slightly at the idea of real training, not just bumbling around. Although... what exactly had she meant about 'Blacklight' moves being powered by 'inner feelings'? Maybe he could... dodge that bit? Pushing aside his concerns, he focused for the moment on Brisa.

"Yeah, I've got time! Just show me what to do."

He flashed a determined grin and shifted, lowering himself into a battle stance.

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

"Koamaru, I'd be fuckin' delighted t'show y how to fight."

She got into her own stance, in an exaggeratedly deliberate way, for him to pick up on it. His own stance . . . honestly wasn't bad, considering. And his attitude was great, once he had an opening.

"C'mon. Let's see whatcha got."

He could come at her with anything at all, and she'd be impressed. If he surprised her, well, now that would be a pleasure. But it would be pleasure enough to fight in something with no risk of death, something fun and simple and with the opportunity to tutor a keen student. Yeah, this was gonna be great.

 

[Flyg0n]

These pokemon all spoke so strangely compared to where he was from... Dismissing the thought, he focused on what lay before him.

Koa tensed, evaluating Brisa like he would if it were a pokemon battle. Luxray were usually physical fighters. But he also didn't really know any ways to attack from a distance. He had no choice but to get physical.

Growling, he crouched low, trying to remember everything Kitto had shown him. Balance. Attack and Defend. Pay attention to your opponent. He spent one more moment taking in everything he could about Brisa.

Then he charged forward, feinting as if to strike from the front before running to try and tackle her from the side.

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

Koamaru's first tackle was practically telegraphed, but he was trying to pull off basic combat jukes, and he was unafraid. Good. Brisa let the tackle hit her, felt a little more power behind it than she'd expected, and grinned. Then she swiped him off his feet for not darting back quick enough.

He was giving it the right stuff, at least. Yeah, she could teach this one.

She had to give credit to Koa. He was tenacious, he was receptive, and he sure gave a shit. He patiently and seriously took in her lessons about channelling his energy, using it to make ranged attacks, improving the speed and power of his body by pushing against his limits. As expected, he learnt fast. By the time he was fatigued enough that it was seriously affecting his performance, his stubbornness was barely beginning to falter. Sure, he'd griped, but the kid really was a trooper.

"Again," she ordered, smiling coolly. This one was the type to excel when really pushed. She had a feeling.

Koa grunted an acknowledgment, then kited her as she'd instructed, firing off bolts and waves of electrical power at her. Sure, they did practically nothing to Brisa's new body, which turned out to be better at taking ranged hits than melee blows, but that wasn't the point. This was about technique. About core competencies. About drill.

"Shoot me like you mean it," she yelled, striking him with a glancing hit from a Shining Whiplash, just to keep up the pressure and really make him feel just how much she wanted him to excel. "Run like it's what you were made to do! Yer a pokémon now, kid—fightin' is how you live!"

Something sparked in the kid's eyes, and he seemed to shine, just a little, and he sped around her in a tighter circle than he'd yet managed.

Good. There it was.

Brisa let Koa complete the rep, grinning with satisfaction, before she told him what he'd managed.

"Looks like you're already usin' radiance, Koa," she drawled. "That burst of agility at the end? That's yer intent powerin' a radiant technique through sheer will. As fer battlin' . . . you're a natural. But that's enough fer now. Y'gotta know when to call it a day."

She gave a respectful nod, and moved to escort him out.

"I want you back in here with me four days a week until you're up to spec," she remarked. "If yer willin', that is. With your kinda dedication, I expect it'll be no time at all afore you're tradin' blows with the best of us."

Sky and stars, but this felt good. It was a pleasure beyond reason to feel so hopeful about something so simple as teaching a fella to fight.

 

[Flyg0n]

Yes.

This felt so good. He hated it, hated how Brisa was faster than him, stronger than him, more experienced. But he also felt like he was finally learning.

Finally making progress, and improving. Every time he got hit, he got back up, determined and ready for more.

Was this how it felt? Being a pokemon? The joy of combat, of testing oneself, learning and understanding. With each hit Brisa delivered and each he tried to hand back, he felt like he understood her. Not fully, but just a little.

Her determination, her resolve, her desire to fight; to protect.

And then it happened. She called out, daring him, challenging him to run, to hit her like he meant it. Like he meant it.

Something snapped.

He was sick and tired of being late. Being one step behind, no, several steps behind. He wanted to prove that he could keep up with the team. Prove he could make a difference.

His exhaustion fell away like shackles. For a single, shining moment, he was free. The world slowed, and energy poured through his entire being.

By Mew he was a Pokemon!

He could do anything!

So he ran.

Light poured from him as he shot around Brisa, faster than he'd done yet. After a couple circles, he stopped, panting. His eyes glowed and his body trembled, but he felt amazing.

"Looks like you're already usin' radiance, Koa," she drawled. "That burst of agility at the end? That's yer intent powerin' a radiant technique through sheer will. As fer battlin' . . . you're a natural. But that's enough fer now. Y'gotta know when to call it a day."

Koa started to protest. Why stop now? He could do so much- Then the exhaustion hit him. He nearly collapsed, as he realized for the first time how tired he felt. He nodded in agreement, too weary to speak. Yet inside, a new excitement burned. This was what radiance was? It felt amazing! Incredible! It was sick!

He followed Brisa out, listening intently as she informed him of more training. There was a new swagger to his walk as he left the colosseum that day. Not just blind excitement, but a confidence and determination. This was just the beginning.

With mon like Icetales and Brisa, he felt more sure than ever. Nothing could stop him.

<><><><><><>
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[Spiteful Murkrow]

In the quiet days following the battle with Red, Kate finally had time to turn her mind to other matters. One of which was a matter that had bugged her since that fateful day that Joule killed off half of Team Spectrum's front line and led to the whole mess in the Voidlands. The whole reason why Kate was here in the Training Rooms staring down a lonely green lizard-like Substitute instead of doing something actually fun like hitting up the juice bar.

"Alright, let's try this again..."

Kate lunged for the Substitute, flashing her claws and raking them across as she passed her dummy target, much as she had to numerous others over the past couple hours.

Thwip!

The Substitute rended around a prominent gash, spilling out something that looked like sand out. Even if she couldn't tell who made it, it evaporated into the ether not wholly unlike the Substitutes in her own world did. Kate looked back at the empty air, and down at her claws. No matter what she tried, she just couldn't seem to manage to reproduce that one attack that had made her claws shine gold and left a coat of hoarfrost behind on the dragon. The Sneasel curled her face down into a sharp frown and let out an exasperated sigh.

"I don't get it. What am I missing here?"

 

[Chibi Pika]

Normally Starr wouldn't have found herself hitting the training rooms so soon after a mission, but then again, usually she found herself sustaining the kind of damage that required a stay in the infirmary, and it was rare that she felt pretty much fine so soon afterward. Well, physically at least. Mentally she was still a ball of nerves from the fact that the guild had Giovanni prisoner with spies on the loose. Which was why she made damn sure one of her teammates had the next watch after her covered before she left.

Routines helped keep her mind off things, always did. Truthfully, Starr just wanted to go get a good meal, but after standing in one spot for so long, she was feeling stiff, so sitting down didn't sound appealing. Maybe a bit of training first. That also tended to work as a distraction.

Not many people were in the training rooms despite it being the usual busy hours. Just the Sneasel who'd joined the team late--Starr hadn't gotten much chance to talk with her yet. Well, now was as good a time as any, when Team Spectrum really only knew they could trust each other. (Goddamn spies.)

"Hey there. It's Kate, isn't it?" Starr asked, giving a small wave as she set her bag down by the entrance.

 

[Spiteful Murkrow]

"Hey there. It's Kate, isn't it?" Starr asked, giving a small wave as she set her bag down by the entrance.

"Heh, that's right," the Sneasel said, giving a small tap of her foot. "Sounds like my reputation precedes me."

The Dark-Type gave a curious tilt of her head back up at the Incineroar, as she realized that all this time she'd never really stopped to chat with the 'mon since she arrived in Cibus.

"You're Starr, right?" she asked. "I've seen you hanging around Brisa lately, though I think this is the first time we've really run into each other. Come down here to train too?"

 

[Chibi Pika]

Starr gave a nod. Right, Kate and Brisa were roommates, figures the Sneasel would have seen her around.

"Yeah, was feeling on-edge around the guild. All that spy business and such. Tired of thinking about it--figured I'd beat on some Substitutes for a while to chill out a bit." Well, not literally. Said beating would mostly involve fire.

 

[Spiteful Murkrow]

Starr gave a nod. Right, Kate and Brisa were roommates, figures the Sneasel would have seen her around.

"Yeah, was feeling on-edge around the guild. All that spy business and such. Tired of thinking about it--figured I'd beat on some Substitutes for a while to chill out a bit." Well, not literally. Said beating would mostly involve fire.

"Story of my life, really," the Dark-Type said. "I actually came down here since I've been having trouble with this one move I accidentally used back when we were fighting Joule."

The Sneasel cast a look down at a set of claws, before balling them up with a sigh.

"It was this one slashing attack that I used, except somehow my claws lit up with a golden light and it left behind ice on Joule's hide where I cut him kinda like hoarfrost," she explained. "I've been down here more times than I can count since then, especially after everyone came back from the Voidlands, and I still can't for the life of me figure out what exactly I did back there."

 

[Chibi Pika]

Starr tilted her head. "Sounds pretty much just like Radiance to me. The rest of us got it from Maple but I suppose you must've gotten it just by spending time around the team."

Then again, Maple had said it was contagious, hadn't she? A few of the team members wouldn't been caught dead touching the glowy ball of light by choice, but they'd ended up picking it up just the same. Weird to see it happening all over again with the new recruits. (And it'd probably be the same with Shadows too...)

 

[Spiteful Murkrow]

Kate blinked at Starr's mention of Radiance, remembering that Pleo had told her as much during the fight with Joule. But just what exactly was Radiance? Brisa said it had something to do with showing intent... but the golden glow, the lightheaded and uninhibited feeling... what did that have to do with intent?

And more importantly, what did a 'mon need to do to use it?

"Right. I think Pleo told me something about that. Do you use this 'Radiance' yourself? What exactly is it, and how do you control it?"

Kate looked back at her Substitutes, before giving a sheepish paw at the back of her head.

"I mean, I am starting to run out of Substitutes here, so if you've got any pointers, I think they could come in handy."

 

[Chibi Pika]

Starr scratched at her cheek fur. "Eh, well... as far as I know, Radiance came from Joule. But the team originally got it from Maple. I guess she thought it would kill us since these bodies are made of Dark Matter." She rolled her eyes with a small huff. "...Not that that matters anymore though--obviously it didn't kill us, so it's another weapon we can use against the Blacklight besides our regular powers. Some people on the team act like their Radiance is drawn from certain emotions, but, eh. I've never really been into that." Hell, the way Brisa talked she knew exactly what sorta 'deep inner thoughts' her Radiance and Shadows supposedly came from. She'd even named hers, the nerd.

As far as Starr was concerned, there was just the Radiance that hurt, the Radiance that made her guts feel like they'd flipped inside out, and the newest one, the one that...

 

[Spiteful Murkrow]

Starr scratched at her cheek fur. "Eh, well... as far as I know, Radiance came from Joule. But the team originally got it from Maple. I guess she thought it would kill us since these bodies are made of Dark Matter." She rolled her eyes with a small huff. "...Not that that matters anymore though--obviously it didn't kill us, so it's another weapon we can use against the Blacklight besides our regular powers. Some people on the team act like their Radiance is drawn from certain emotions, but, eh. I've never really been into that." Hell, the way Brisa talked she knew exactly what sorta 'deep inner thoughts' her Radiance and Shadows supposedly came from. She'd even named hers, the nerd.

As far as Starr was concerned, there was just the Radiance that hurt, the Radiance that made her guts feel like they'd flipped inside out, and the newest one, the one that...

Kate blinked as she followed along with Starr's explanation. It never occurred to her that Radiance was something that might be dangerous to the body she had in Cibus, even if it sounded like Maple's initial assumptions didn't come to pass. But a type of move that was so tied up in emotions for some of the team while not for others...? Did everyone even use Radiance the same way?

"So wait, you have a Radiant move yourself? Think you can give a primer for how to use it? Since maybe it'd help pass some inspiration along on my end."

 

[Chibi Pika]

Starr shrugged. "Sure, no problem." She crossed the room and grabbed one of the Substitutes, setting it up on the far side of the room before taking up a position alongside Kate.

"Suppose I should've mentioned that everyone's Radiance does something different, and there's no real pattern to it. Some people use the energy like an attack, some like a shield. Mine's more like a powerup." There was also the fact that different amounts of Radiance seemed the change the nature of the move, but that wasn't really needed for the first lesson.

Starr leaned forward, bracing most of her weight on her left leg, raising both fists in front of herself as she focused on the Substitute in front of her. Already she could feel the familiar glow spreading from her core, making its way to her fingertips. Like her inner fire, but not. Except for that one time it was...

"You might feel a sort of tingle from the energy. You wanna try to focus on that and let it fill your whole body, almost like you're getting lighter. Then, when there's enough of it--" A surge of energy shot through Starr's legs and she lunged forward, drawing a fist back and slammed it straight into the Substitute, sending it flying straight into the wall.

"--That's when you let it loose," Starr finished, wincing slightly from the familiar ache that tore through her chest afterward. Nothing she couldn't handle.

 

[Spiteful Murkrow]

Starr shrugged. "Sure, no problem." She crossed the room and grabbed one of the Substitutes, setting it up on the far side of the room before taking up a position alongside Kate.

"Suppose I should've mentioned that everyone's Radiance does something different, and there's no real pattern to it. Some people use the energy like an attack, some like a shield. Mine's more like a powerup." There was also the fact that different amounts of Radiance seemed the change the nature of the move, but that wasn't really needed for the first lesson.

Starr leaned forward, bracing most of her weight on her left leg, raising both fists in front of herself as she focused on the Substitute in front of her. Already she could feel the familiar glow spreading from her core, making its way to her fingertips. Like her inner fire, but not. Except for that one time it was...

"You might feel a sort of tingle from the energy. You wanna try to focus on that and let it fill your whole body, almost like you're getting lighter. Then, when there's enough of it--" A surge of energy shot through Starr's legs and she lunged forward, drawing a fist back and slammed it straight into the Substitute, sending it flying straight into the wall.

"--That's when you let it loose," Starr finished, wincing slightly from the familiar ache that tore through her chest afterward. Nothing she couldn't handle.

Kate looked on as a surge of golden energy shot out of Starr at the now-former Substitute, the Sneasel looking back and forth in awe before giving a puzzled tilt of her ear and scratching the back of her head sheepishly.

"Er... not that that wasn't impressive, but what did you do there again? Meditate? Breathe in deeply? Think 'come out, golden glowy powers' to yourself?" she asked. "Just not sure what you did there that I'm not."

 

[Chibi Pika]

Starr chuckled a bit. "Alright, you know what, fair. For me, it felt a lot like drawing on my element for the first time. I had to get used to fire since I was a human before all this, so I was kind of already in that mindset."

She crossed her arms, contemplating. "I guess if I had to describe it, it's sort of like meditating, yeah. Probably sounds stupid to put it like that, but... Well, first question: have you felt anything that seems like some kind of light from inside? If you used it once before, do you remember what that felt like? Cause that'll be the feeling you wanna focus on."

None of them had really known what to expect when they tried using Radiance for the first time, but they did have the experience of touching that weird glowing orb, which at least gave them something to focus on. Picking it up secondhand must've been a lot harder.

 

[Spiteful Murkrow]

Starr chuckled a bit. "Alright, you know what, fair. For me, it felt a lot like drawing on my element for the first time. I had to get used to fire since I was a human before all this, so I was kind of already in that mindset."

She crossed her arms, contemplating. "I guess if I had to describe it, it's sort of like meditating, yeah. Probably sounds stupid to put it like that, but... Well, first question: have you felt anything that seems like some kind of light from inside? If you used it once before, do you remember what that felt like? Cause that'll be the feeling you wanna focus on."

None of them had really known what to expect when they tried using Radiance for the first time, but they did have the experience of touching that weird glowing orb, which at least gave them something to focus on. Picking it up secondhand must've been a lot harder.

Kate blinked at the Incineroar's explanation. She was a Sneasel, her kind didn't really do light-based attacks, let alone at her level of experience. Why the only attack that had really churned up any sort of light at all she'd ever done so far was her Radiant attack itself!

Hold on. All this time she'd been trying to mimic her slash that she hit Joule with by trying to repeat the form. If she thought hard enough about how she felt while using it and the thoughts she had then, then...

"Does it work if you think about the Radiant move itself?" she asked. "And am I supposed to try and mime the motions with it? Try to put myself into some sort of state of mind first, or...?"