• Welcome to Thousand Roads! You're welcome to view discussions or read our stories without registering, but you'll need an account to join in our events, interact with other members, or post one of your own fics. Why not become a member of our community? We'd love to have you!

    Join now!

Destiny Colosseum ~ Training Rooms

Status
Not open for further replies.
Reader mode
Namohysip

Namohysip

Dragon Enthusiast
Staff
Partners
  1. flygon
  2. charizard
  3. milotic
  4. zoroark-soda
  5. sceptile
  6. marowak
  7. jirachi
  8. meganium
"No, I'm fine," Owen said. "Wounds like these heal naturally and I like the pain." He grinned, and somehow he wasn't missing any teeth, and his flame was burning healthily, so he seemed to be telling the truth... "You're... really going all out with the training, huh? Good idea. Joule is probably only a few days away by now..."
 
Adamhuarts

Adamhuarts

Mew specialist
Partners
  1. mew-adam
  2. celebi-shiny
  3. roserade-adam
"Yeah, I know, Owen," Cynthian said curtly, and the peppermint scent in the room grew even stronger.

She raised a flower, gathering light in front of it, and aimed at the dummy with scorch marks. The memory of her solar beam bouncing off Starr's shield flashed in her mind, then her aim fell off. Cynthian's solar beam missed the dummy and struck a different one farther back.

Cynthian shook her head and grit her teeth. She tried a second time and managed to land a clean hit. The beam shredded the top half of the dummy, but there was anything but satisfaction on Cynthian's face. It still paled in comparison to the flare blitz that scorched her just an hour prior.

"Not enough..." she muttered to herself with a grimace. With an exasperated sigh, she glanced at Owen, who was still there for some reason.

"What did you come here for anyway?"
 
Adamhuarts

Adamhuarts

Mew specialist
Partners
  1. mew-adam
  2. celebi-shiny
  3. roserade-adam
"Fought my hardest... I was absolutely beaten down without being able to do anything, and Icetales was forced to forfeit because of me." A bit of frigid mint filled the air around her briefly, but the peppermint fragrance overwhelmed it as she scowled.

"If my hardest effort is being helpless and forcing others to carry a dead weight along, then that just proves my point even more, right???" Cynthian held her head with her flowers, pacing back and forth as the shadows clustered around her and coated her spikes a sickly dark purple.

"Not good enough. Not strong enough. If this keeps up..." Without warning, she aimed another solar beam at a different dummy. The beam had a deep purple hue to it and easily shredded through two dummies in a row. Shadowy wisps rose from the beam's wake and coalesced around Cynthian's spikes. She didn't seem to notice.

"Not good enough..." She locked gazes with Owen again. "I'm fine. Just go."
 
Adamhuarts

Adamhuarts

Mew specialist
Partners
  1. mew-adam
  2. celebi-shiny
  3. roserade-adam
"I said I'm fine. This has nothing to do with you..." Cynthian mumbled to herself as she turned away from Owen. Her mind was quick to ignore his presence.

Her spikes continued to glow purple, and she fired two more solar beams at the dummies, decimating them. Each shot she fired made her feel more nauseated and empty each time. The image of Mama Rosa, oh how far away it seemed.

"This isn't working. I'm just... not enough," Cynthian sat sprawled on the ground, tears flowing freely from her eyes. She grit her teeth and wobbled steadily to her feet. Crying wouldn't fix anything. With a whimper, she whispered to herself, "I have to get stronger. I MUST..."
 
Last edited:
Adamhuarts

Adamhuarts

Mew specialist
Partners
  1. mew-adam
  2. celebi-shiny
  3. roserade-adam
Cynthian registered the red charmeleon approaching from her periphery. She was one step away from aiming her next attack at him, but the faint smell of blood made her hesitate. The realization of someone wounded nearby made her want to drop what she was doing and help them, but then she turned her gaze fully and saw it was Owen. Right... he had been there.

"I... maybe you're right, Owen," Cynthian said, sitting back down. A cold minty scent permeated around her.

"I'm... I'm just scared. It hurts that I'm falling behind everyone even now..."
 
Last edited:
Namohysip

Namohysip

Dragon Enthusiast
Staff
Partners
  1. flygon
  2. charizard
  3. milotic
  4. zoroark-soda
  5. sceptile
  6. marowak
  7. jirachi
  8. meganium
"Hey, don't think of it that way," Owen said, slowly, ,slowly easing his way down to a sitting position to get more to her height. "You aren't competing with everyone here when we're saving the world. Not everyone's gonna be front and center for all this, but you're still needed just as much as everyone else, alright? It's not about who's the most useful."
 
Adamhuarts

Adamhuarts

Mew specialist
Partners
  1. mew-adam
  2. celebi-shiny
  3. roserade-adam
"You're kind Owen, but you don't have to tell me what I want to hear just to cheer me up. I already know the truth. I'll always be left behind if I'm weak. Nora already left me behind that evening, all because I was no help at all when we went into that dungeon... Why am I even bringing her up? It's not like you'd even know her." Cynthian shook her head and groaned.

"I wish I could trade places with you, or Brisa, or Starr! I wasn't born a fighter in my world, even now I don't really know what I'm doing. The only thing worthwhile I ever do back home is help out with our flower shop, but Mama Zahra handles that well enough on her own. It's not like she ever needed the help..."
 
Namohysip

Namohysip

Dragon Enthusiast
Staff
Partners
  1. flygon
  2. charizard
  3. milotic
  4. zoroark-soda
  5. sceptile
  6. marowak
  7. jirachi
  8. meganium
"I'm not lying, Cynthian," Owen said firmly. "You know by now that I'm not good at that sort of thing.... And... You should be careful what you're wishing for." Owen looked down. "I was crafted into a weapon. I enjoy fighting but there's always a little feeling in the back of my head that I was designed to be that way. That, like, my feelings aren't genuine, that I was crafted to be that way." He sighed, shaking his head. "So I guess sometimes I wish I wasn't a born fighter. I'd definitely get less funny looks..."
 
Adamhuarts

Adamhuarts

Mew specialist
Partners
  1. mew-adam
  2. celebi-shiny
  3. roserade-adam
"Crafted into a weapon? Were you raised in a military obsessed family then? Sounds a bit rough, I met a mienfoo like that once." Cynthian said with widened eyes.

"That's not really the kind of thing I'd want, maybe. How do I even put this..." She took a deep breath and leaned against Owen. "I want to be strong enough to not have to be alone, to be relied upon and not only have to rely on others for help. Iddon't want to be strong just for the sake of it, but even then, only the strong know what it's like to be free, won't you agree?"
 
Namohysip

Namohysip

Dragon Enthusiast
Staff
Partners
  1. flygon
  2. charizard
  3. milotic
  4. zoroark-soda
  5. sceptile
  6. marowak
  7. jirachi
  8. meganium
"Um. No." Owen rubbed his arm. "My brain was tampered with so I'd go into a mindless fighting mode when I had to. I've been turning that off lately, but it toys with a Pokemon's natural fighting instincts. Compared to humans, at least." He glanced at Cynthian. "...Back home, I didn't feel free at all. Even if I was strong, I was still being used by people who wanted to exploit that strength." Owen sighed. "Strength just gives you more responsibility and more people trying to control you."
 
Adamhuarts

Adamhuarts

Mew specialist
Partners
  1. mew-adam
  2. celebi-shiny
  3. roserade-adam
Cynthian's mouth hung open. Owen's words rendered her speechless, and she couldn't think of anything to immediately say in response to them. She curled herself up further and stared at the ground.

"What I just said must've sounded really dumb to you, huh?" Cynthian wanted to ask him more about his brain being tampered with, but she wasn't sure if it was a story he wanted to share, or if he even should. Was she wrong for believing the things she did? Surely, that couldn't be the case, right?

"There must've been some upsides to being strong like you, right?" she asked, an edge of desperation in her voice.
 
Namohysip

Namohysip

Dragon Enthusiast
Staff
Partners
  1. flygon
  2. charizard
  3. milotic
  4. zoroark-soda
  5. sceptile
  6. marowak
  7. jirachi
  8. meganium
Owen smiled a little. "Well, of course," he said. "If I'm strong, I still had more agency, when I wasn't being controlled. And it's harder to beat me up. If there was someone I wanted to stop, I'd have more power to do it. But... that doesn't really mean much compared to the friends I made. No matter how strong I am, I'm stronger with a team. Even I have weaknesses, no matter how strong you think I am. You have weaknesses, too... so, teammates help cover your weakness. It's not something to be ashamed of. Nobody can do everything. Look--even Arceus needs our help."
 
Adamhuarts

Adamhuarts

Mew specialist
Partners
  1. mew-adam
  2. celebi-shiny
  3. roserade-adam
"But I don't really have any friends back at home... or at least none I think still consider me as one." Cynthian heaved a sigh. She glanced at Owen who still covered in wounds. So, she conjured up a small bubble of water. She splashed it onto him and watched some of Owen's wounds begin to heal.

"You guys are all I have now, and I'm always scared we won't always be together. But... none of this is even going to last, and odds are I'll forget my time here when I return home. Will any of the experiences I've had here even matter when this all ends?" Cynthian lookedfforward solemnly and bit her lip. "Will I feel better remembering about Cibus, or crushed that it's all over and never to happen again? It's... it's sad and frustrating really."
 
Namohysip

Namohysip

Dragon Enthusiast
Staff
Partners
  1. flygon
  2. charizard
  3. milotic
  4. zoroark-soda
  5. sceptile
  6. marowak
  7. jirachi
  8. meganium
Owen flinched a little, then looked over at his body. He looked a little disappointed that the wounds were going away. He liked healing naturally from them... but he saw Cynthian's intent and nodded. "You might remember, you might not," Owen said. "But I think getting down about it will just make the experience as it happens worse. Look at it this way--if you don't remember... then you won't know what you're missing. And if you do, then you should remember that it was a time you treasured. It's hard, but... That's what I think is a good way to look at it."
 
Adamhuarts

Adamhuarts

Mew specialist
Partners
  1. mew-adam
  2. celebi-shiny
  3. roserade-adam
Cynthian smiled bitterly, but her heart lightened a bit at those words. Treasured memories, indeed, that's what they were.

"Thanks Owen, I feel better now," Cynthian said with a huff. She glanced at him and noticed he still had wounds left. "If you want, I can heal the rest of those for you."

She hummed. "Maybe we could even spar afterwards. My views on it are a bit different, but I still want to get stronger at the end of the day for my own self improvement. That's not too selfish, right?"
 
Namohysip

Namohysip

Dragon Enthusiast
Staff
Partners
  1. flygon
  2. charizard
  3. milotic
  4. zoroark-soda
  5. sceptile
  6. marowak
  7. jirachi
  8. meganium
"N-no, it's fine, really," Owen said. "I'll walk these off. But... sparring, huh? Yeah. Sure!" Owen grinned. "I don't mind a little sparring. Maybe I can try helping your Grass techniques when I shift to my Guardian form, too, y'know?" He nodded, though he also said, "But... Just don't forget that we're all here for each other. And if we can take anything home from all this, it'll be those experiences."
 
Reader mode
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top Bottom