Chapter Nine: Prepping for the Future
"There's no way it could be Maxwell, Diana. We beat him forever ago!" Zeke said, as Diana paced back and forth. Including Nate, the three Pokémon have been speculating the cause of the Dark Berries showing up. The only thing
close to having a similar effect was one of Maxwell's attacks that warped the mind of whoever it hit. Diana was convinced that somehow, someway, that Alakazam was still alive.
"Who or what else could it be then? You saw that aura yourself Zeke, at least twice now!" Diana retorted.
"Why, if he did somehow survive, would he wait until
now to try and do something? He, of all Pokémon, would not wait almost two decades to try one of his "experiments"," Zeke replied.
"Then how about you come up with a suspect then, hot shot?!" Diana barked. The Blaziken couldn't admit that he couldn't think of another cause. He sighed and sat beside Nate. Diana gritted her teeth and pinched the bridge of her snout.
Not too long later, Jax walked in. "So, what'd I miss?" he asked, leaning on one of the punching bags. Diana sighed and sat near Nate and Zeke.
"We've been trying to figure out what's happening. I know you wouldn't want to hear this, but the only Pokémon we know that is capable of this kind of...
manipulation, is Maxwell," Diana explained.
"The same Maxwell that we, well,
you took care of ages ago," Nate said to Diana. "We were all there Diana. I, uh, wish I could forget it honestly..." Nate shivered. "So
brutal..."
"Nate has a point. There's no reason to think Maxwell survived
you. As much as I want to get to the bottom of this, I don't see why you insist that it's a dead 'mon?" Zeke shrugged. Diana spun around and glared furiously at the Blaziken.
"Because my own
son might have been possessed or controlled by a Pokémon that has every right to want me dead.
You don't have
children to think about! And
YOU aren't the one
HE would be trying to
KILL! If there's even the
slightest possibility that that
psychopath survived and is-" Diana cut herself off, angrily digging into the ground with her claws. Nate and Zeke backed away from Diana, just in case.
It took Diana a moment to calm back down, drawing a breath of relief from Nate and Zeke. "My point is, there isn't any other Pokémon capable of this, as far as I know. That's what I believe, and since my son, my
family, is caught up in this... I can't afford to exclude Maxwell as a culprit," Diana turned to Jax. "What about you, Jax?"
"I really,
really hate to admit it, but I think you're right. The only problem is, how in Arceus' name did he come back? I thought he was dead and gone for a pretty long while now." Jax sat with the other three, two of his arms crossed and the other two planted firmly on the ground.
"So did I. It's been so long, I thought I had the chance to forget about all that. There's this...
feeling I can't shake, telling me it's him. Before he supposedly died, he said that he wasn't done, that his task was yet to be completed. When I think about these berries and what they did to my Kora, those words just keep repeating in my head. It
has to be him, I know it is." Diana held her elbows and sighed.
It had only been a couple of days since the new Outlander showed up and things are starting to take a pretty bad turn. The one thing she kept thinking of were Kora and Kai, her precious boys. The four sat quietly for a few moments before Zeke spoke up again.
"If it really is that Alakazam, how do we find him? The island is a bit large, but the guild takes up the entire mountain and most of the area around it. Someone would have noticed a strange Pokémon running around, right?" Zeke asked.
"I don't think we can find him yet. If we uproot his plants, it might drag him out of hiding. Now that he's caused some unrest among us, I doubt he'd be able to resist observing the results first hand," Diana suggested.
"Under that presumption, he'll be attracted to the Pokémon that ate the fruit and went berserk, meaning we need to keep a close eye on Kora, Zen, Kane, and Rio," Zeke added.
"What do we do when we find him? It's not like he wouldn't be expecting a fight. And If he shows up while we're away from Rio and the others, do you think they'll be strong enough to hold him off?" Nate asked. His question put some worry back into Diana's mind.
"Then we better get Rio and Kora strong enough to beat him then! We were already gonna make them as powerful as we could get them to be, what's the harm in pushing those two a bit more, huh?" Jax replied with a bright smile, which helped lighten the mood.
"So that means you and Zeke are going to amp up your training with Kora and Rio. I guess Minerva and I can go berry-hunting since you two will be busy," Nate added. "She's plenty powerful already, and I don't think Maxwell would be after her."
Diana shook her head. "No, she might not have been affected by a dark berry, but she still needs to be prepared to fight. Remember, she was able to stop Kora's rampage earlier, so Maxwell might take interest in her as well," she saud. "If anyone will be finding the berry plants it's me. If I can find one, I can easily find the rest."
They each understood that they would have to act carefully, assuming the vastly intelligent and malicious Maxwell is truly the one responsible for this mess. It was best for them to keep this discussion between them. Anyone else finding out about it would only further the risk of whoever was behind this catching wind of their plan.
Diana was the first to get up and leave, deciding to get to work as soon as possible. Jax, Nate, and Zeke looked at each other in silence, before nodding and going their separate ways.
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Rio jolted awake, breaking the silence and startling Kora and Zen. The Lucario looked terrified about something, holding his side and breathing heavily.
"Whoa, Rio, where's the fire?" Kora asked.
Rio took a moment to recollect himself before answering. "Sorry, I think I had a nightmare. I didn't interrupt anything, did I?" the Outlander asked as he sat himself up and stretched out his arms.
"Not really, no. In fact, you just gave me room to stretch; my arm almost fell asleep," Kora joked. Zen sat silently on the other side of the room, crossing his arms.
"It is convenient that you awoke, Outlander. I didn't want to have to repeat myself if you woke up later," Zen stated, raising his head to face Rio and Kora. "There are a few things we need to cover."
"Well, what about Minerva? She's gotta hear this too," Rio said firmly.
Zen shook his head, arms still crossed. "It isn't important if she does or doesn't hear any of what I say, if you want to inform her when she wakes, be my guest. What
you two need to hear is only important to the three of us since we ate those berries. In fact, I believe we are in grave danger because of those fruits." Zen slightly tensed up, which was enough for Rio and Kora to do the same.
"The strange effects of the berries, while I am unfamiliar with it, I believe is similar to something Diana and Orion told me about ages ago," Zen began. "There was a Pokémon named Maxwell that could control Pokémon and bend them to his will using some sort of aura manipulation. She hated talking about him and did so rarely, so I don't know how he did it or how he was able to even experiment with aura, but I can recall her saying that whatever Pokémon he possessed had an unnatural aura to them," Zen explained.
Kora focused less on the part about Maxwell and more on the fact that Zen is close to his mother in some way. "You make it sound like you and my Mom actually know each other. Which, you know, sounds
ridiculous," the Zoroark said, oozing skepticism.
"That is not important right now, Kora." Zen waved the comment off. "I'm certain Diana thinks the culprit is Maxwell, and I also believe that she wouldn't want us to get directly involved in finding him yet," he continued.
"If she wouldn't want us to get involved, why did you have to tell us then?" Rio asked.
"Because, like it or not, we would be his test subjects," Zen answered firmly.
Neither Rio or Kora really understood what Zen meant, if the look on their faces was anything to go by. "Test... subjects?" they both said in unison.
Zen sighed and shook his head. "He's a scientist, and according to Diana, he doesn't shy away from getting his hands dirty in the name of experimentation. If that Alakazam is the one behind the berries, that means anyone who was affected by the berries would have caught his attention." Zen looked directly at Kora, not changing his expression, "Especially if one of them showed a massive increase in power and aura, and just so happened to be the son of the woman who defeated him."
Kora soon realized what Zen was implying. With a nervous gulp, he looked back at Zen. "Y-You're kidding..?" he asked shakily. "B-But you're the strongest on the island, right? Can't you stop him?"
"We aren't talking about any ordinary Pokémon here, Kora. Maxwell would certainly have devised a plan to deal with opposition from any of us. You might not have seen her in action, but your mother is as ruthless in battle as she is sweet now," Zen replied. "To be frank, Maxwell is not someone to take be taken lightly."
"If Diana's so ruthless, how do you think Maxwell survived her?" Rio asked.
"You would be surprised at how often a Pokemon will make you
think they are dead, just to show up when you least expect it. Diana herself has had several encounters with Pokémon that shouldn't be alive and wanting her dead." The way Zen calmly explained that Pokémon can easily come back from the dead left Kora and Rio feeling anxious.
Hardly a moment later, Kai and Mia trotted in with a little bag. The Zorua hopped directly up to his brother with a cheerful smile on his face. "Hey bro! Oh, hi Rio and Zen! We wanted to give you guys something for helping us earlier!" Kai said, a cheery smile on his snout. He reached into his bag and dug through it, making Minerva shuffle around a bit in her sleep.
Kai pulled out an old scarf, and wrapped inside it were two eye-catching gave the fancy gems to Rio and Kora, and the scarf, which was red and had seen a good amount of use, to Zen.
"Those shiny gem thingies are from me and Mia, we found them a few weeks ago so you better not lose them!" Kai snickered to Rio and Kora. "Oh yeah, and mom gave me that scarf the other day. She said it used to be dad's, but I thought you'd like it Zen. It's red, you're red, and I already have a lot of warm fur, and I thought you'd be cold since you don't have any," the young Zorua said with a big smile, almost as sweet as his mother's. The Eevee next to him smiled and nodded as her friend spoke.
After a moment of inspecting their gifts, the three older Pokémon smiled back and thanked the two gift givers. "Thank you, Kai and Mia. It is likely I will need something to keep me warm when it gets cold," Zen said, nodding.
"And we'll be sure to keep these with us all the time! I promise we won't lose them," Rio said with a smile. Kora remained mostly silent, but he still nodded and smiled.
Mia suddenly had an expression as if she remembered something and poked Kai's side to get his attention. "Hmm?" Mia started pointing out the door. "We gotta go? Wait a minute, you're
right!" Kai bolted outside with Mia close behind him. Right after he left, Kai popped his head back inside. "You guys are welcome for the gifts and stuff, but I gotta go, uh, somewhere! See ya later!" he said before sprinting off again.
Minerva finally woke up from all the noise that the Zorua made, rubbing her eyes and mumbling something quietly. "
Wassat? Whosssthe one that wanna get shuddup?" she smacked her lips, not fully awake but getting there.
"It was just Kai dropping some stuff off before going to do, whatever it is he does. He gave me and Rio some fancy gems and gave Zen my dad's... scarf," Kora explained, looking at the tattered garment Zen wrapped around his neck.
"We were also going over what might happen while the three of you trained," Zen added, getting to his feet and adjusting his newly gifted scarf. "I would rather not go over everything again, so I leave it to your friends to explain what we discussed. It's getting to be late and I have some personal matters to attend to."
The Bisharp nodded goodbye before he left, leaving the three friends to themselves. Kora walked out to the garden after Zen left, with Rio and Minerva following behind him.
"What's up, Kora? I'm not entirely sure, but you're kinda acting strange," Rio asked.
Kora stopped and sat down in the exit. The three looked up into the vastness of space, speckled with stars and the faint trails of galaxies surrounding them. It was calm and quiet, something none of them realized they needed until now.
Kora took a deep breath and sighed. "This is a lot harder than I thought it'd be," he admitted. "Even with all the stories my mom and dad told me, I thought being a hero would be easy. We're strong, we're... kinda smart. From the sound of it I thought we'd just fight a bunch but like... I dunno."
"Maybe it's rough at the start, but get's super easy once we get a hang of things?" Rio suggested, lightly poking Kora's side. "C'mon, it's not like it's the end of the world, your mom said so."
"Yeah, an' she's way stronger than any of us could be. Besides, there ain't nothin that can keep us down," Minerva added, putting a paw on Kora's back. "It's a bit rough now, but ya can't let that get to ya, Kora. We'll be fine since we got each other's backs an' all that."
Kora blinked. "I dunno, maybe you're right? It probably is just all in my head anyway. I might feel better if I get some sleep, today's been a rough day."
Rio wrapped an arm around Kora's shoulder and grinned. "Oh totally, I'm beat. If I wasn't so excited for training, I'd have been asleep ages ago."
Kora gave Rio a faint smile and a silent thank you, then turned his head to the night sky. Deep purples and blues, faint traces of pink, stars faded of color and stars with vibrant colors looked back down on him and his friends. It was all so big, bigger than Kora could imagine, yet despite all the pretty colors, most of the sky was dark. Kora's smile began to fade.
Fortunately, whatever was going through Kora's mind was stopped by Minerva taking hold of his paw. "Let's get some sleep, alright?" she asked, curling up next to Kora.
"...Yeah," Kora weakly replied. "I'm tired as hell."
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The first one to wake up was Minerva. Rio and Kora slept and snored, not at all bothered by the feline leaving the two in the garden. An enticingly sweet scent emitted from inside the house, helping to shake off that groggy feeling Minerva felt.
Inside was Diana, Kai, and Mia, sitting in front of the fire with the pot in the middle. Whatever was making that scent was coming from there. The three were too busy putting things into the pot and stirring to notice the Meowth enter the room.
"Mornin' Miss Diana, hey there kids. Whatcha guys cookin'?" Minerva asked, seating herself near the cooks.
"Good morning to you too, Minerva. We're just making some berry juice for you and the boys. You're finally going to start training, you know, again," Diana said warmly, giving Minerva a short, sweet smile while stirring the ingredients Kai and Mia put into the pot. "By the way, your teachers and I talked a bit last night and decided that you three are going to have more difficult training than you first planned. I know it's been hectic since Rio showed up, but I hope it's not too much to throw on you."
"Oh, not at all! That's great, actually," Minerva replied. "The more trainin' I get, the quicker I get to teach Kane a lesson." Diana's smile faded a tiny bit, completely unnoticed by the others with her.
"Really? I hope that's not the
only thing driving you to get stronger. Hating someone might be a good motivator for a little while, but holding onto that for too long isn't healthy," Diana said. Her face was still smiling but her tone was meant to warn Minerva, and thankfully, the message was understood.
"I-I mean, it's not like
all I wanna do is beat up that jerk. I wanna keep up with Kora. A-And Rio too," Minerva said, scratching the back of her head.
Diana smiled and focused back on the pot in front of her. "That's adorable, sweetheart. If you wouldn't mind, could you go and wake those boys for me? We have our hands full at the moment," Diana asked. Kai and Mia both grinned and nodded their heads excitedly. Minerva turned back towards the garden, thinking about what more she and her friends will be doing in their training. She quickly came upon the two snoring males sprawled out on the garden ground.
"Hey Twerp and Blue! It's time to get off ya butts and wake up!" Minerva shouted, not getting a response from either of them. "C'mon, I know you two ain't heavy sleepers! Either get up by yourselves or I'm gonna wake ya up!" Still nothing. The feline sighed and decided it would be quicker to force them up, grabbing Rio's tail and Kora's mane.
"Alright, don't say I didn't warn ya!" Minerva said before spinning the two around a couple times and throwing them upwards. Unfortunately for the slumbering Pokémon, they woke up as they were getting spun, meaning that when they both crashed into the ground, they felt every painful bit of it. Rio was lucky and landed on his back, while Kora landed directly on his head.
"
Uhhhgg... Everything hurts...
again," Rio groaned, rubbing his back. Kora quickly sat on his knees, extremely furious at the unbelievably strong cat.
"What on
Earth is wrong with you?!
Gahh! That really,
REALLY, hurt!" Kora shouted, holding his head with both his paws. Minerva was more surprised with how easily she lifted the two, realizing she still had the weights on her arms.
"You could've just poked us or pushed us or something! I'm gonna feel this all day!" Rio said, dusting himself off and standing up.
"Oh, sorry guys. Guess I don't know my own strength," Minerva chuckled weakly. Kora frowned angrily.
"You send me crashing down on my head, and all you gotta say is
sorry?!" the Dark Type growled.
"Hey, I'm surprised too! Thought with all that empty space ya got up there ya would feel a thing. Who woulda guessed ya
actually had a brain this whole time?" Minerva mocked, turning around to go back inside. Rio was trying not to laugh and Kora was in shock, being too tired and injured to retort.
As Minerva walked away, she had an aura of smugness around her that even Kora felt. "Anyway, ya mom's makin' some juice for us before we go out trainin'. Who knows, maybe it'll give ya more brain to work with."
Those words signified Kora's defeat, causing the fox to fall backwards, speechless. Rio quickly stifled his laughter before helping Kora up, carrying one arm over his shoulder. "I-I... It..." the Zoroark mumbled. "
It wasn't even that clever..."
"I'm sure you'll get her back later with something that's actually good. Right now we should get some food, er, juice," Rio snickered, not getting a response from the "defeated" Pokemon. Kora even sank a bit as they walked.
"This isn't gonna be a good day..." Kora muttered.
"Alright, now you're just being over dramatic you crybaby."
Once inside, the sweet scent of berry juice instantly brought Kora from his slump. The fox practically disappeared from Rio's side and reappeared with a cup full of juice before Rio could say a word.
Diana gave Rio his own cup and she had a somewhat serious expression on her face. "I know you three would like a rest after everything that has happened recently," Diana said to the three before her.
"I'd be lying if I said I didn't. Yesterday went on for
forever!" Kora said before downing the rest of his drink. Minerva gently elbowed him in the side, signaling him to be quiet.
"Yes, honey, I know. However, we need you three to train a bit harder than you were planning. Your instructors and I decided it would be best if you stayed with them while you trained for the month. That way, you can get as much training done in a day as possible." Diana held her paws together in her lap. Rio's ear twitched; he swore he felt something like anxiety, but... in the air? "I want each of you to promise me that you won't get into any fights alone. I
need to hear the three of you say that you won't fight
anyone by yourself."
Strangely, that exteral anxiety Rio felt was joined by worry. "We promise," Rio nodded, followed by Kora and Minerva shortly after. Diana smiled weakly, somewhat eased by their promise.
"So, I guess this means I won't be able to try any of your cooking for a while then? I knew it wasn't gonna be my day," Kora said, slumping backwards.
"Could ya give it a rest twerp? If ya
really want it to be a bad day, I could always throw ya again," Minerva snickered, grabbing hold of Kora's arm.
Kora snapped his head forward, a fake smile plastered on his face. "Oh boy! I can't wait to try some of your cooking when I get back from training, Mom! I'll definitely totally not have a bad day at all!" he said with an annoyingly high-pitched voice.
Minerva sighed and rolled her eyes. "Alright fine, whatever."
"Thanks for the breakfast Miss Diana. I guess I'll see you around, maybe?" Rio thanked the other Outlander before following behind Minerva, leaving Kora and Diana behind. The fox broke his fake smile and looked at his mother with a bit of worry showing.
"So, uh... Are you sure I-
we, need the extra training?" Kora asked.
Diana inhaled and closed her eyes before replying. "Koraza..." Diana let out a sigh and opened her eyes. "I know how you feel about heroism, and I know you're used to taking it easy, but... Rio needs you,
Minerva needs you. I'd say that the world needs you, but to be fair, I doubt that it'd be that serious. Arceus above knows when the world needs a hero, and I swore to be that hero when the time comes again."
"Rio is... interesting. Very much unlike other Outlanders I've met, and in more ways than just his pleasant personality, but he isn't..." Diana thought of a nice way of putting this. "If the world was in grave danger, he wouldn't fit the bill of "hero" all that well."
"That's harsh," Kora winced and chuckled. "But still, if Rio and Minerva really had to go out and save the world, I wouldn't be needed. Minerva is so strong, and Rio just...
feels like he's going to be even stronger! They don't need me," he shrugged, but put on a smile. "But I know how much you'd want me to do this, and how much Dad would have loved to see me go out there and save lives," Kora looked down at his paws. "I'll... try. I'll stick by them, and see what happens. I hope I don't let you down."
"Oh, Kora, no matter what you do, I'll always be proud of you." Diana pulled her son close and hugged him tightly. She then grabbed Kai and added him to the embrace. "Both of you, I will always love the both of you, no matter what."
The family held each other for a while before Kora let go. He gave his mother and brother a warm smile. "Alright, see you guys later," he waved goodbye, downing one last cup of juice before leaving the tent.
Kai and Mia both whispered something to each other before turning to Diana. "We'll be going too Mom! Love you!" the Zorua exclaimed before dashing out the entrance with Mia.
"Ok, stay safe..." Diana sat in the empty room for a few minutes before getting herself ready for her own plans, grabbing her satchel and putting out the fire. Before leaving Diana lifted one of the rocks around the fire, revealing a hole beneath it. She reached in and pulled out a box. Inside was a tattered blue and white scarf and a ring big enough to fit on one of her claws.
"Arceus, watch over those children as you did for me," she muttered, putting the scarf around her neck. "And Orion, please... Watch over our child," Diana whispered, kissing the ring and putting it on.
Diana didn't want to explain everything to the three teens, but after Kora's outrage and the possibility of Maxwell's still living with revenge on his mind, the feeling of bad things to come wouldn't leave her. It pained her to lie to her son to his face, but if he knew how dangerous everything could turn, he'd never willingly go with Rio and never grow into the Zoroark she knew he could be.
'I have to find those berries before anyone else gets hurt. And the moment Maxwell shows himself, I'll have to finish what I started so long ago...' Diana let out a deep sigh before running outside the house with sparks trailing behind her.
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Rio turned his head back quickly, scanning the forest behind him and Minerva.
"What's wrong, Blue?" she asked, looking back to see if there was anything there.
"I just... I could have sworn something just said my name," Rio said, waving it off.
"Maybe it was the wind. Or maybe the twerp finally decided to catch up to us," Minerva joked, getting a light chuckle from Rio. Sitting before the two are Jax, Nate and Zeke, each showing serious expressions and waiting for the last Pokémon to arrive. Their stoic silence didn't quite sit well with Minerva or Rio. It wasn't long before Kora showed up, quietly sitting down next to Minerva and facing Jax.
"Good, you're all here," Jax said, both pairs of arms crossed.
"Diana already told you that you will be going through more intense training, right?" Zeke asked.
"Uh-huh," Kora replied. "For better or for worse..." he muttered to himself.
"Then we should start right away. First order of business is training gear," Nate stated, pulling a large chest from behind him and placing it in between them. "Much like the weighted bands I gave Minerva, I have six thirty-pound bands, two for each of you. Feel free to wear them however or wherever you like, but you must wear both of them," the Feraligtr explained.
"Wait, does that mean I still gotta wear
these arm bands?" Minerva asked, getting a quick nod from Nate.
"It wouldn't do you any good to take them off now. We're sorry to put all this on you three at once, but it's all we really have right now," Zeke answered, handing each of the three trainees their new equipment.
"We aren't going to make you do anything too harsh until you're used to wearing those without overly straining yourselves. You'll instead be doing simple exercises until then," Jax nodded, standing up and facing Kora. Nate and Zeke did the same, facing Minerva and Rio respectively.
"From now on, you three are going to have to put your all into your training. In a month's time, you'll be stronger than you ever were before," Zeke said firmly.
Rio and Minerva both felt a good amount of pressure being dropped on their shoulders, other than the extra sixty pounds. The two had the feeling that they were in for a pretty rough time, but a part of them was also really excited.
"What's wrong? I thought you two were more than excited to become heroes," Kora said coldly to them, adding to the pressure they felt. "
This is the easy part. If the both of you are shaken at the idea of a couple extra pounds, you
definitely aren't gonna enjoy what you signed up for."
The sudden lack of, well,
Kora that Kora used to radiate, coupled with the cold sternness of his tone, almost bled all the color from his two companions. It was like he was an entirely different Pokémon.
"W-well, that's why we have each other! I'm sure we can make it with these weights on. I mean, it's
just sixty pounds," Rio chuckled, trying to lower the tension around everyone.
"Actually, it's more like a hundred and twenty for me. The both of ya are lucky," Minerva corrected the Lucario, readjusting her arm bands.
"When the week ends, you'll go to seventy-five pounds, then a hundred the next week, then one twenty-five," Nate explained. The three older Pokémon each inhaled and exhaled.
"Look, we understand that all of this seems excessive at first, but it's just like Kora said. This is the easiest it'll be for you guys," Jax said, showing a bit of concern. "Anyway, we used up enough time already. Oh, before I forget, we've given you guys every weekend to relax and revitalize yourselves."
Minerva and Rio nodded, relieved that they would be getting some free time through all this. Kora frowned, crossing his arms. "So basically, you're putting us through almost non-stop training until our days off?"Kora asked, getting a slightly surprised reaction from Jax.
"W-Well... I wouldn't say
non-stop per se," Jax cleared his throat and put back on his stoic attitude. "But that's not important now. We have work to do, and the sooner we finish the sooner you can relax."
The six Pokémon split into their pairs. Minerva and Nate traveled back into the forest, Rio and Zeke headed towards the beach, and Kora and Jax went onto the field behind the gym. Rio and Minerva were more worried about the sudden change in Kora's personality rather than whatever training they'll be doing.
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Rio and Zeke reached the beach a fair bit slower than their first time there together. Maybe fifty extra pounds made Rio more sluggish than he or Zeke expected. To the Outlander's surprise, Zen was already at the beach, the scarf he was gifted swaying in the cool ocean breeze.
"Hmph, about time the both of you showed up," the Bisharp said, dusting some sand off of himself. He had a more positive expression, almost like he was
happy to see Rio and Zeke.
A nervous chill crawled up Rio's back. "Wh-Why is Zen here?" Rio asked, eyeing the Bisharp.
"Is it not obvious? I came to witness your powers firsthand," Zen sighed. "And, for as much confidence I have in Zeke's ability as a teacher, I decided to personally see to your growth, Outlander."
"We're gonna wait a bit before testing out his ability. First and foremost, we get him used to the weights he has on. For a Fighting Type, the best way to get used to extra weight would be to keep him in his element," Zeke said, walking next to Zen.
"So he's going to be fighting the both of us? I'm expecting there to be some catch," Zen asked.
Zeke turned to face Rio, a red glow and what looked like small flames radiating off of him. "The catch is that we're not going to give him a chance to win," the Blaziken held a fist out at Rio; a small burst of flame sending warmth towards the Lucario. "We
both are coming at you at full power, but not at the same time at first. Not yet. Wouldn't wanna hurt you too badly."
"I will make no promises," Zen huffed.
Zeke rolled his eyes, then snapped his claws as he remembered something. "Oh, before that... I want to see how far you've progressed, Rio. Tell me what you see when you look at me."
"What I see..?" Rio asked, putting a paw under his chin. "Um... you look the same. Same red fiery glow. Same red and orange feathers. Same… head feathers. Did you spruce yourself up or something?"
Zeke grinned "So you see translucent flames, right?" he asked.
"Yeah, am I not supposed to?" Rio cocked his head.
"Really? Well, this might sound a bit out there, but how do the flames
feel?" Zeke asked, placing a claw on Rio's shoulder.
"That's a kinda stran-
O-Oh!" Rio gasped, his fur standing on end. "I-I feel excited! The flames are... they're excited, if that makes any sense. They're also… anxious? No, antsy!" he said, his tail wagging excitedly behind him. He put his chin on his paw and hummed. "That doesn't sound right either…"
Zeke laughed and jumped back to Zen. "Fantastic! Only two days, and no practice in the art whatsoever, and you're reading aura like, well, an above average aura reader. You're a natural," the Blaziken pumped his fist into the air. "I'm expecting great things from you, Outlander!"
"Reading... aura?" Rio asked.
"Aura is, to put it as simply as possible, the very thing that gives a Pokemon power. Whenever a Pokemon uses an attack, be it Zeke's flamethrower, my dark pulse, or even one of Jax's punches, we require a bit of aura to do it. Without it, our attacks wouldn't be nearly as powerful," Zen explained. "And, fortunately for you, Lucarios have an innate ability to sense and use aura far more effectively than other species. They're so in tune with the power of aura that they can use it to strengthen themselves without wasting excess aura, and some can even create objects."
"R-Really?!" Rio gasped, all starry-eyed. "That's so cool! You guys think I'll be able to do any of that?"
"Well, seeing how quickly you're learning, I wouldn't be surprised. Normal Lucarios would need to train diligently in order to do either of those things. But, seeing how you
are an Outlander... who knows?" Zeke shrugged, then got into a fighting stance. "But we can talk more about that stuff later, let's just hit each other already!"
Rio snickered, mirroring Zeke's stance. "
Hehe, I've been aching for a full-on fight against you since we first sparred. And
you too, Zen!" the Outlander's confidence and enthusiasm put a smile on Zeke's face. "Oh man, I can't wait to learn to use aura! Now I'm too excited to hold back!"
"If I didn't know any better, I'd have thought I was fighting a real Lucario! We've got no time to waste then," Zeke said as he cracked his neck.
"I can't wait to wipe that smirk off your face, Zen. Just wait until I beat Zeke, alright?" Rio said to Zen before focusing back on Zeke.
Zen crossed his arms and shook his head, putting on a more stoic look. He was unaware of the smirk he had until Rio pointed it out. "Hmph, I'd love to see you try."
<><><><>
Minerva and Nate went to a different clearing than before. It was almost spotless, excluding a few twigs and leaves. It had a dip in the middle, and the trees around the clearing were noticeably larger than most of the forest.
"I thought we was still cleanin' up that other clearin'. Why're in a different one?"Minerva asked. Her mentor didn't answer right away, walking to the center of the clearing and facing her.
"Tell me why you decided to join Rio and Kora," Nate asked, mostly ignoring Minerva's question.
"Don't I have to? It's somethin' like my destiny or whatever to help them, right?" Minerva responded. Nate shook his head and crossed his arms.
"I guess I should rephrase that. Why do you think you'll be able to
help them?" the Feraligatr questioned his trainee. At first, Minerva felt insulted, but it didn't take her long to see why he would ask that.
"If ya wanted to say I'm too weak for this, all you had to do-"
"Who said you were weak?" Nate interrupted the Meowth. "Despite you being in a small handful of fights and still aren't even evolved, you have incredible strength, Minerva. Don't let
anyone tell you you're weak. You've hardly trained in your life, you were raised on an
island, and the only hardships you've faced, you and your friends almost always came out on top!"
As her mentor spoke, Minerva remained silent. Nate's words of praise were some she never heard before. "Minerva... you can become one of the strongest Pokémon to ever live. All you have to do is
try."
All of a sudden, it felt as if the weights on her body weren't there. Not just the bands, but something inside her…
shifted. After a few moments of quiet, Minerva gave Nate a confident smile.
"You're a big softy, especially for an alligator, ya know?" Minerva scoffed, a confident smile on her snout. Nate returned a smile, but held up a claw.
"Glad to see my speech worked. However, there are a few things you really need to work on. Your durability, for example. What's the use of being the world's strongest Pokémon if you can't take more than a few punches?"
"Yea, I getcha. What's the fix for that doc?" Minerva asked, semi-sarcastically. "Wait, no, croc. Actually… eh, nevermind."
Nate snorted, but quickly snapped back to being a serious instructor. "Aside from having naturally hard scales, I was put through countless battles that I had no chance of winning. Every time I got knocked down or blasted with an attack, I had to force my body to power through it. Eventually, after years and years of strengthening my hide, I got to the point where someone could break a log over my back and I'd hardly feel it." He blinked, looking down at Minerva and snickering. "Can't say the same for you though, so maybe we should just stick to the fighting part,"
Minerva grinned and brandished her claws, prepared to battle. "Then let's hurry up an' duke it out already, lizard-breath!"
Armed with a stronger sense of confidence than before, and also an already noticeable increase in strength, Minerva held her ground against Nate. She was more than determined to win and get stronger, not just to save the world or help her friends, but to prove Nate and herself right.
<><><><>
After the others left, Jax immediately broke the seriousness, ecstatic to
finally fight Kora. He was so excited that he didn't notice that Kora wasn't exactly in the fighting mood. As the Machamp stood across from the fox on the field, it took him a minute to realize that Kora was just… standing there.
"What's wrong little buddy? Don't you wanna fight?" Jax asked, his excitement slowly fading.
"I don't know... I mean, I'd prefer not to," Kora replied. Jax didn't know what to do now, really. It's not like he could force Kora into fighting.
"What if we have a race then? We can run to the beach and back?" Jax hoped that a race would be able to lighten up his friend's mood, but he didn't get the response he wanted.
"What if we just
said I trained today?" Kora, his expression and tone remaining the same.
"N-no... I promised Diana I would train you. I can't just
lie to her, dude," Jax said.
Kora shrugged. The two stood in silence, Kora with his unchanging negativity and Jax with his growing confusion and frustration. Eventually, Kora started walking towards the Gym.
"W-where are you..?" Jax asked. Kora stopped, not turning to answer Jax.
"I promised Mom that I would stay with you, but all that means is that I'm not supposed to be back at my house for a while. If I can't go there and sleep, I guess I'll just sleep in the gym instead. Might even go over to Minerva's place and stay out of your way," Kora said, giving a weak wave as he left.
"Listen, Kora, I can't let you do that. Not today, at least. If you want to rest you have to earn it," Jax said firmly right before Kora entered the Gym. "Minerva and Rio are putting in their hardest, hell, so are Nate, Zeke and I! They can't do any of this alone, they need you. Bein' a hero might be tough, but I believe in you, your friends believe in you, and so does your family! You can't just... walk away from this, Kora."
Jax's little speech didn't get a response from Kora. Instead, the Zoroark stood briefly in silence.
"If I fight you, will you let me go?" Kora asked, still facing the Gym.
"If you beat me, then you can do whatever you want. In return, if you lose, then you have to train with me as planned," the Machamp said, pounding his fists together. He believed this bet was entirely in his favor. Forcing Kora into something he doesn't at all want to do isn't exactly how Jax planned on this turning out, but it's ultimately the best for Kora and his team.
Kora walked back to the other side of the field, expressionless but in a fighting stance. Jax got into his own stance, his excitement to
finally fight Kora returned. "All I have to do is win this fight, and I can leave. I'm holding you to that." He got on all fours, a cold expression on his face.
Jax scoffed and flexed, either ignoring or not noticing the look Kora gave him. "
If you beat me. That means I'm goin' one hundred percent!" Jax ran at Kora with impressive speed for a bulky Pokémon like himself. When he got close enough Jax pulled back two of his fists, a bright yellow glow crackling around them.
"Thunder Punch!" Jax threw both fists at Kora's chest. The moment his fists touched Kora's body, the fox dissipated. Suddenly, a powerful Dark Pulse slammed into Jax's back. A feeling of uncontrollable pain seared through Jax's body for a moment, despite how little damage he actually took.
Before Jax could retaliate, Kora reappeared right in front of him. "Night Slash." The fox quickly slashed twice, one upward and the other downward, each hit striking Jax's side and knocking him down to a knee.
"It's gonna take... a lot more than that to-
GAHH!" Jax was interrupted by a powerful bolt of fire, an Incinerate from Kora. Whenever the dust would clear, Kora would fire another, then another. Jax struggled to find an opening to counter it. Kora didn't let up until Jax gave in. The Machamp fell to his knees, holding himself up with burned arms.
"That wasn't a fight, Kora..." Jax groaned, clutching his side. He gave Kora a pained look, but Kora didn't seem to care.
"I didn't want a fight. Go fix yourself up, I'm out of here," Kora said coldly, turning to leave Jax by himself. There was definitely something wrong with Kora, but Jax didn't know what. As much as he would love to chase after Kora, he felt it might be better if he let Kora do his thing.
"Goddammit…" Jax sighed. "He better get back before Diana does."
Instead of staying in the gym, or going over to Minerva's like he said, Kora kept on walking. He walked through the Square, uncaring of the tents around him, of the sweet scents from the bakery, of the warm greeting of Nick. He didn't stop walking, even when he hit the edge of the forest.