Destiny Colosseum ~ Training Rooms

[Namohysip]

Owen nodded. "Cal, the Ultra Shade who's with me usually, has the same problem. She's been trying to get better at it, but there's just a limit to what she can do when her body's just a projection."

Mia's way of speaking interested Owen. Factual, straightforward. It drove Dave crazy, but he also understood her more than anyone. Owen glanced to his left; Wishkeeper appeared and drifted to some of the Substitutes, picking them up. "How about you try hitting moving targets now?" he offered.

 

[Dragonfree]

"That would be nice. It's better to train with somebody else who can react. I train with Rocky a lot."

She raised her scythes, tensing in preparation for what Wishkeeper would do.

 

[Namohysip]

Wishkeeper treated the Substitute like a puppet, aiming for speed and evasion rather than any counterattacks for now.

"What's got you interested in battles, anyway?" Owen asked curiously. "Is it just something you feel like you should do?"

 

[Dragonfree]

Mia darted towards the Substitute, feinting to the left, then lunging to hit on the right as Wishkeeper moved to dodge her.

"I like fighting. Dave says it makes Pokémon brains release a lot of endorphins. Shades probably don't have endorphins or normal body chemistry, but the other me did, so I like it too."

 

[Namohysip]

"That makes sense," Owen said; the hit connected and Wishkeeper seemed impressed. Perhaps he could get more elaborate with his movements and feints, too...

As Wishkeeper continued, Owen remarked, "Where I'm from, only some Pokemon are like that. It's sort of an informal thing, but they're called battlehearts. I'm one of them, and really strongly. But people give me odd looks if I show it too much."

 

[Dragonfree]

Mia cocked her head, pausing. "That's weird. Is it like a genetic mutation?"

She took aim at the Substitute again, zigzagging from side to side as she approached.

 

[Namohysip]

"It might be," Owen said. "In my world, Pokemon have taken up roles similar to this one, and there aren't any humans in it, either. I don't know what path they took from an evolution perspective, though. Maybe the battleheart gene died out when the need for battle did. OR, it was no longer necessary, so mutations where that went away could still survive.

"There's still a little bit of it, though. Everyone can battle. They just don't immediately go to it. I get kind of shy asking for fights, sometimes, because of that..."

 

[Dragonfree]

So not being a battleheart was the mutation. That was interesting. Pokémon losing the drive to battle if they didn't need it anymore would make sense.

"The other me wasn't allowed to do much fighting," Mia said. "My parents and Dave said I couldn't fight Pokémon because I didn't have Pokémon healing and would get hurt. But I couldn't fight humans either because they said I could hurt them. The only one I could fight was my sister, because she could turn insubstantial and she didn't use moves." She paused. "Although she could. Dave remembers she used moves after the other me died."

 

[Namohysip]

Owen nodded. "Maybe she didn't want to because she wanted to blend in? I remember hearing a little about the world you're from--well, no. Where your memories are from. It sounds awful. I don't know if I'd be happy if I had to be careful about fighting... And I think I'd be even more nervous because of how my mind works. I'd feel like, uh, well, more of a freak than I already do."

 

[Dragonfree]

Mia tilted her head, looking blankly at him. "What's wrong with how your mind works?"

 

[Namohysip]

Owen paused. "...Well... I think it might be depending on how society works, but it isn't the standard for how Charizard think. See, it's kind of like... it's always in the back of my head. Fighting, combat. Weak points, vital spots... It's annoying sometimes. And I'm worried that the way I look at people would scare them because of that..."

 

[Dragonfree]

"I do that too," Mia said. "Is that a battleheart thing in your world?"

 

[Namohysip]

"No," Owen said. "I think that's maybe an extreme battleheart thing, maybe. I don't think it's this thorough like in my head. I was, uh, I went through some modifications in the past that changed how I thought in certain ways."

 

[Dragonfree]

Modifications? That was interesting. "Did they change you to be better at fighting?"

 

[Namohysip]

Owen nodded, taking a seat against the wall before gesturing for Wishkeeper to continue.

"They gave me a state of mind where, if I switched in just the right way in my head, I wouldn't... hesitate to attack a target. I would attack, attack, attack. Battle mode, I guess. That, combined with my Perceive... I was almost untouchable. But there was a flaw. I was hard to control... and it was hard to get me out of that mode once I was in it." He sighed. "It... broke me for a while. I was barely a person."

 

[Dragonfree]

Mia walked in Wishkeeper's direction but kept her eyes on Owen, frowning. "So it made it so you couldn't make decisions anymore?" Without warning, she lunged towards Wishkeeper and the Substitute again.

 

[Namohysip]

Wishkeeper was faster this time, weaving to the left deftly despite his size. His embers flickered, taunting Mia; feints wouldn't work on him. This was a matter of pure speed and agility.

"That's the scary part," Owen said. "I could still make decisions. It's just, the only decisions I wanted to make... were to fight. And just fight... They changed what I wanted to do. I guess sometimes I wonder if that's why I'm so obsessed with battle, even now. Guess that's what therapy's for, ha..."

 

[Dragonfree]

Mia frowned at being dodged, eyes narrowing to glowing green slits. "But if it changes what you want, you'd be just as happy if you just stayed like that and kept fighting."

She took off the ground, wings buzzing to build up speed, circling around Wishkeeper.

 

[Namohysip]

"That's true," Owen said. "I would. If I never changed back to normal, then I'd just be happy with what I did and mindlessly fought. I never cared when I was that way. But once I was back to normal--because that's eventually what happens, with this kind of condition--it... destroys relationships, and my own sense of self and autonomy and control..." Owen paused, thinking about it. "It's... kind of like... someone who's always, always drunk. The aggressive kind."

 

[Dragonfree]

Aggressive? Dave was mostly just a bit weird and then increasingly mopey when he was drunk. Was that something he didn't want her to talk to other people about?

"If it wears off, then it's better if you just don't use it. You can still fight and be yourself. You even have Perceive. You don't need the battle mode."

With a final push of speed, she darted towards Wishkeeper.