Destiny Village ~ Hot Cocoa Therapy Offices

[Namohysip]

"The part that's tired," Fugu said with a nod. "You have quite a reputation in Destiny Village. One of ambition and duty, and of course the fighting. You're among the most 'Guildly' of your team, like you'd been part of a rescue team your whole life." She began to inspect her other scalchop.

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

Fugu's observations seemed fair enough. Brisa wouldn't have played up her reputation so much, and there were other explanations for a good work ethic, but... Sure.

"Yeah," she replied. "My parents were a ranger team. Same thing, more or less. Been goin' on missions since I was a kid, near enough. Always been strong."

Sombra stared at Brisa. "We were trained fer it since we were old enough to channel energy with intent. There's no 'near enough' about it."

Brisa didn't pass that one on.

 

[Namohysip]

"Very young. You must have been born into a life of duty and responsibility." Fugu nodded. "What did you do for fun?" Simple questions, and now Fugu brought both scalchops back in their natural sheaths on her arms.

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

"We didn't get to be happy."

"I used to spar all the time. I was damn good at it, always excited to get stronger. Liked to explore, too. Lotta wanderlust. And I guess I've always been a bit of a reader. Ain't much literature in a frontier settlement like ours, but I dogeared a lotta books as a kid."

"Most kids stopped wantin' to spar, Pa put an end to sparrin' with the rest, we had eyes on us too much to wander freely, and it's not fuckin' cute to have read the only romance novel featurin' a goddamn Roughlander gal upward of twenty fuckin'times, it's just sad."

"I did okay."

 

[Namohysip]

Fugu seemed to be seeing more than what her eyes were showing her.

"You liked to spar," Fugu said to herself, but by the time Brisa finished, she had something else to ask. "Did Sombra want to say anything?"

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

"She's just bein' negative," said Brisa, automatically. "I did alright."

Sombra growled. "We felt what we felt. Does it matter if it's negative? We were fuckin' unhappy!"

"Yeah, so what?" snapped Brisa, turning a snarl on Sombra. "We should've appreciated what we had!"

She clamped down on the outburst immediately, turning her gaze to fix intently on the grain of Fugu's desk.

"Beggin' yer pardon, ma'am."

 

[Namohysip]

Fugu nodded, letting Brisa calm down in some silence. Then, she said, "It seems that there's some conflict and frustration in how you're trying to look at your past. Perhaps we can work some of that out in my typical method of therapy."

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

"What typical method of therapy is that, ma'am?" asked Brisa, raising her gaze to those blunted scalchops, and then to Fugu's eyes.

"I wanna kick her ass," said Sombra, off-handedly.

 

[Namohysip]

Fugu smirked a little, then stepped beside her desk and gave it a firm kick. As it turned out, the desk was in wheels attached to a rail embedded in the ground, flush with the surface. It rolled into the wall and disappeared in an opening that had appeared and then disappeared. Perhaps by one way or another, Fugu already knew that she would accept.

"Sometimes, Pokemon can only speak properly as themselves in a fight," Fugu said. "I am a combat therapist." Fugu drew a scalchop and pointed at Brisa. "Perhaps it is a language that all Pokemon can understand, deep within their psyche. And as that is drawn out, so too are their true feelings."

Fugu gestured toward herself in a beaconing motion.

"Do not think I am weak. I have defeated Puff regularly even without my element."

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

"I'd more'n expect ya t'be strong," replied Brisa, taking up a combat stance, heart thumping in anticipation of facing off against a new opponent. "If that's how y'feel about fightin', it's the least I'd hope fer!"

Pokemon can only speak properly as themselves in a fight. It is a language that all Pokemon can understand. And as that is drawn out, so too are their true feelings.

Sky and stars. Fugu fucking got it.

Brisa's fur caught alight with electrically-charged plasma. She was fucking ready for this.

Brisa used Bright Arcflash! Her Accuracy and Resistance rose! She generated a Charge! She sustained a Burn!
Brisa's Guts boosted her Attack!

 

[Namohysip]

Fugu ran her scalchop against the rocky ground, making a ringing, scraping noise that displayed she meant business. Then, she rushed her. "Now!" she called.

Fugu's Session began! Calling must be the opener if they target Fugu! Damage and threshold gains are cut in half!

Fugu:
4000

"What is it about battle, Brisa, that you look forward to?" Fugu opened.

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

"Everythin'!" cried Brisa, leaping backward and ducking Fugu's slashes. "The thrill, the exertion, even the pain! Doin' what I'm goddamn good at! Seein' who my opponents really are!"

Brisa called out to Fugu!

She grit her teeth and took the first opening she found, lightning kissing her teeth. Sombra had vanished, her Shadow returning to her flesh to strike out with the strength of all her resentment; all her yearning.

Brisa used Overcharged Facade! It's Super Effective! Critical Hit!
(+3, STAB, Guts, SE, Crit, Charge)

Brisa used Electric Facade!
(+3, STAB, Guts, SE)

Brisa was hurt by her Burn for 25 HP...

-87 STM
+28 SHD

 

[Namohysip]

Brisa's Overcharged Facade dealt 248 damage to Fugu!
Brisa's Electric Facade dealt 143 damage to Fugu!

"You mentioned you used to spar in your home world," Fugu said, entering a stiff pose before rushing with a flurry of strikes. She was accurate, but her dull blades made it seem like she was holding back. At the same time, though, her defensive stance made it just as hard to get proper hits against her.

"Why did it stop?"

Fugu called Brisa!
Fugu used Fury Cutter on Brisa, and then again! It dealt a total of 29 damage!

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

"I had to quit it," spat Brisa, diving under a blow. "I didn't hold back, and it scared folk. My Pa most of all. He put an end to it, fearin' if I kept it up, I'd get fuckin' done in by some jumped-up mob."

She parried the next few attacks with a grunt of effort and a solid barrier, and lashed out with her radiant tethers from behind that protection.

I was ashamed of bein' violent. Spent years fearin' that I weren't safe around other people. Took it all out on outlaws I thought deserved a goddamn beatdown. I was so strong, in my old body. As strong as they get. One negligent slip . . . and I could've fuckin' killed someone.

Brisa called out to Fugu!
Brisa used Protect and created 4 barriers!
Brisa used Shining Whiplash, and showed her heart to Fugu!
(+3, Guts, SE)
Brisa was hurt by her Burn...
Brisa got her Second Wind!
-164 stm
+28 RAD

 

[Namohysip]

"So you feared your own power against a world that was not ready for it," Fugu stated. "Similar to areas beyond Destiny Village. Like Surf and Turf against the average civilian... But it seems they did not trust you the same way."

Fugu slammed her scalchop against the barrier once, but then stepped back.

"You couldn't spar anymore, and you don't read as often, either. What, then, did you replace all that time with? What did you do for pleasure?"

Brisa's Shining Whiplash dealt 93 damage to Fugu!

Fugu called Brisa!
Fugu used Razor Shell, but Brisa blocked it!
Fugu used Swords Dance!

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

"I took pleasure in my work, as much as I could," hissed Brisa, hunting for a better angle of attack past Fugu's flawless defensive stance. "I told myself I could get by on the fulfilment of carryin' out my duty. I just kept workin' harder, year on year. Downtime? I spent it all starin' at the stars, wishin' fer things I couldn't have."

She had to pace herself. Brisa kept up the tethers and snapped at Fugu's limbs, timing her attacks so that she could keep some energy in reserve. She'd need it.

I figured if I could just be goddamn perfect that maybe they'd trust me, want me, love me. It never got me any such goddamn thing.

Brisa called Fugu!
Brisa used Shining Whiplash, and showed her heart to Fugu!
(+3, STAB, Guts, SE)
Brisa used Thunder Fang!
(+3, STAB, Guts, SE, +150 prlz/+50 flinch)
Brisa was hurt by her Burn...
Brisa got her Second Wind!
-70 stm
+28 RAD

 

[Namohysip]

Brisa's Shining Whiplash dealt 137 damage to Fugu!
Brisa's Thunder Fang dealt 65 damage to Fugu! Fugu wasn't affected by any status effects yet...

"And so you keep fighting, aiming for that perfection and that recognition from a world that expects endlessly more?" Fugu asked. "That seems to be the situation you have been placed in. How do you see yourself?"

Fugu called Brisa!
Fugu used Razor Shell on Brisa's barrier!
Fugu used Razor Shell again, smashing the barrier!

Fugu pressed her dull blade against Brisa's shoulder, locking them both in place for a mere moment. "How do you see yourself when they say your best isn't enough?"

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

Brisa pushed back against the lock, unheeding of the pressure of the shell blade against her flesh, and her reply when it came was raw, ragged, reverberating.

"I'm strivin' fer somethin' outta reach, never able to escape, fuckin' chained t'my duty, trapped by it!"

Her fur glowed as the energy – electrical, emotional – in her body flared up to its peak, and then stayed there, held at that point by sheer will, despite the way it burned Brisa so. A low yowl rose in her throat as Radiant manacles wreathed in Shadow manifested on her opponent . . . and herself.

Brisa called out to Fugu!
Brisa used Charge!
Brisa used Umbral Arrest!
(+300 paralysis, -75 speed)
Brisa was hurt by her Burn...
Brisa's Gusto kept her going!
-96 stm
+28 SHD, +14 RAD

 

[Namohysip]

Fugu staggered back when Brisa disarmed her with her pushing back. Her scalchop went flying off to the side of the room; she glanced at it briefly, but then refocused her efforts on Brisa.

"What has you trapped?" Fugu questioned as balls of water formed on her hind legs. She propelled forward, grazing Brisa, but then a second blast slammed her full weight against Brisa next. "Who has you trapped striving?"

Fugu Called Brisa!
Fugu used Aqua Jet, grazing Brisa and then hitting for full force at 29 HP!
Fugu shook off the Paralysis and became a little more resistant to it!

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

Brisa panted, drawing on reserves of energy she wasn't sure she'd had.

"My moral duty! Principles! Knowin' that if I abandon my post, innocents'll suffer fer my negligence!"

With a yowl, a flash of claws, and a surge of Shadows, Brisa released her pent-up energy. Would Fugu see how she strained against the manacles her own feelings placed on her wrists?

"I gotta do my utmost – if I can't keep that up, I ain't got anythin' else!"

Brisa called out to Fugu!
Brisa used Overcharged Facade! It's Super Effective! Critical Hit!
(+3, STAB, Guts, SE, Crit, Charge)
Brisa used Electric Facade!
(+3, STAB, Guts, SE)
Brisa was hurt by her Burn for 25 HP...
-87 STM
+28 SHD