Destiny Colosseum ~ Training Rooms

[unrepentantAuthor]

"Right. Well. It's good that y'don't seem to have much trouble seein' pokémon like us as people."

Brisa took a breath. May as well ask now.

"Look, I got a favour to ask. Somethin' I reckon you'd be better suited for than anyone else in the posse, what with bein' a former human, and a father, and a dark-type. So. Pretty specific."

 

[Dragonfree]

Dave quirked an eyebrow. "Yeah, that's pretty specific. What are you thinking?"

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

"Few weeks back, when I was laid up in the clinic, this world's Voice of Life offered to put me in touch with my pa. It's never seemed important enough, and I've always been..."

Scared.

"Well, now we have a reason. Shield, and folks like him, have information on the threats to Cibus that they ain't sharin' with us. If we can get Jesse's psychic powers on our side, it could give us a badly-needed advantage. The thing is..."

Brisa was tensed up so hard she felt like her jaw would shatter.

"You know. It's... it's him."

 

[Dragonfree]

Dave blinked. "What? You sure? I'm sure there are some psychics in Cibus that aren't that motherfucker."

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

Brisa shrugged stiffly. "Two of the most powerful ones here are against us. We need more on our side, and my pa is a former human. That makes him... very powerful. He can shift the balance."

 

[Dragonfree]

"Hmmm." Brisa's fucking dad, though? "I don't know, would he even help? Do we want his help? You made him sound like the world's biggest shitbag. Why do we want to even ask him?"

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

"'Cause my duty is more important than my comfort," answered Brisa, automatically.

She nodded, and let go of some of the tension in her.

"He would help, is the thing. He's saved my world before, remember? He was brought there specifically to do it. He cares about the greater good, and he sacrificed a lot fer it."

 

[Dragonfree]

Dave gave her a skeptical look. He hadn't exactly sounded like some sort of noble altruist. But whatever. If Brisa wanted to? Why not. See this guy for himself. Let him explain whatever sorry-ass excuse he had. Maybe Dave could have a word or two with him.

"Sure. Okay. Where are we going?" He glanced back at Mia. Would she want any part of approaching this asshole? ...Did he want her to be exposed to this asshole, who'd wanted to murder his own daughter for merely thinking about hurting a friend?

"Hey, uh, Mia? I'm going to do a thing with Brisa. You probably wouldn't care. Want to just stay here and practice?"

"That sounds good," she said, without looking in their direction. He hesitated a moment; he hadn't actually left this Mia alone before. But she'd be fine, right? She could spar without seriously hurting anyone, and nobody here wanted to hurt her.

"Just... don't wander out of town or anything," he said before turning back to Brisa. "Stay in or around the stadium, where there are people."

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

"Buffet's text said to meet at Treasure Town Daycare of all places. Figure it has somethin' to do with Sunny. Heard from Cynthian she's got some mysticism of her own, so maybe he wants her help with the 'crossin' universes' side of things."

She shook her mane irritably as they made to leave the training grounds. "I dunno about you, but as much as I like it here, it's downright weird sometimes."

 

[Dragonfree]

Daycare? Sure. Of course it was. "You can say that again." He shook his head. "Let's go talk to your dad."

<><><><><>

 

[Negrek]

The training rooms under the colosseum were a familiar spot by now, although Nate didn't give much of a shit about training himself. They were usually pretty quiet, though, and they had doors that shut, and it was rare that anyone would come and bother you while you were supposed to be learning to punch or whatever the fuck. Plus Rocky liked practicing his fake attacks or whatever they were, and once in a while, what the heck, Nate was even in the mood to give a few commands.

As usual Rocky'd picked up a bag of caramel corn from the snack bar and was cheerfully eating it by smashing one handful at a time against his core, and as usual Nate was pretending not to notice. He was on the lookout for an empty training room, not paying more than a thread of horrified attention to his familiar, when Rocky abruptly veered off towards one of the training rooms. "Ooh, look, it's that scyther girl who came to the hideout with us! I wanna talk to her!"

"Hey! Fuck's sake, you shouldn't just bust in on someone while they're in the middle of training. Do you really have to make friends with every single fucking familiar?"

Inside the room, Nate could hear Rocky already going through his routine. "Hi, I'm Rocky! What's your name? What're you doing? Are you training?"

"Fuck's sake," Nate grumbled, and padded towards the room himself before the bullshit psychic tether started yanking on him.

 

[Dragonfree]

Mia was in the middle of practicing her slashes when someone bounced into the room and started asking questions.

She finished a lunge at the reinforced punching bag before she looked up. It was a familiar, like her, in the shape of an Infernape, followed by the Mudkip she remembered from the hideout. He didn't want to be here, but the familiar did. Did he just follow him around? That was strange.

"Hi," she said. "I'm Mia. Do you want to fight?"

 

[Negrek]

"What, just like that?" Nate asked. He was barely through the fucking door and they were going to start up a battle?

Rocky didn't seem fazed. "Sure! I like to fight." He wandered over to the small arena marked out on the floor, then turned to face Mia, puffing his chest out. "You better watch out, though. I'm really good!"

 

[Dragonfree]

"I am, too."

Mia had learned about the rules behind friendly battles since hatching. Asking first, starting in particular places, waiting to start until everyone's ready. They were annoying and arbitrary, like most rules, but of course, she had figured, and Dave had confirmed (though she hadn't even asked), that no one would want to fight her unless she followed them.

The other Mia couldn't do all that much. She had small scythes, and speed, and muscle strength, and a sense of precision, but that was about it. She could do something basically like a Slash, but she couldn't use proper moves. But she could. She had a proper Pokémon body and proper Pokémon abilities. She could fight real Pokémon without her parents running up to get her and telling her she could get really hurt because her mostly human body wasn't built to have Pokémon battles.

Infernape was a Fire/Fighting Pokémon. His Fire-type moves would hurt; his Fighting moves barely would. If he was smart, he'd go for fire.

Meanwhile, she had wings now.

She took her place on the arena, waited for Rocky's nod, and took off the ground in a buzz of wings. Against a Fire-type, it would be better to be very fast, to hit quickly and avoid getting hit. She called on a tinge of psychic power for an Agility, zooming in a wide circle around her side of the arena to build up speed, watching for Rocky's first move.

 

[Negrek]

The scyther wasted no time getting started, darting around the arena with an agility. Plenty fast, but plenty fragile, too. Rocky shouldn't have a lot of trouble against a bug.

If she even was a bug. All the familiars were kind of shadowy, wispy things. Did they actually get whatever typing corresponded to the pokémon they became, or were they all, eh, ghost-types or some shit? Or the same type as Joule, like, dragon or some shit?

Was Rocky's fire really proper pokémon-fire, or just look like it? It was hot enough, but pokémon-fire hurt because of more than heat. During the battles they'd been in, Nate hadn't seen the familiars doing much damage. Usually they hung around to cheer their partners on, or help out with heating items. He hadn't really seen one in a proper battle before.

Nate stepped up to the edge of the arena without even thinking about it and said, "Okay, scyther are close-combat fighters, so start off with--"

"I don't need your help!" Rocky said. "I'm going to win all by myself." The familiar's gauntlet glowed white-hot as he raised his arm, sending a heat wave rippling across the arena towards Mia.

 

[Dragonfree]

Mia darted higher to avoid the worst of the Heat Wave. It was a wide-range move and hard to dodge completely, but this way it only singed her feet. She pushed her boosted speed harder, trying to stay ahead of the wave, waiting for the moment the attack died down and she could dip in for an Aerial Ace.

 

[Negrek]

"Mmm," Nate said, watching the scyther go up and over the worst of the heat wave. "Have fun, I guess."

A second later the bug familiar streaked down with an aerial ace attack that cut right across Rocky's chest. The ectoplasm tore and reformed a second later--definitely like a ghost, yeah. Nate could try a foresight, actually, see whether that did anything. Later, of course, since Rocky was so adamant that he didn't want anybody interfering in his fight right now.

Whether that attack had been super-effective or not, the familiar obviously hadn't enjoyed it. He was laying about with blazing fists, trying to land a fire punch on whatever part of the scyther he could reach.

 

[Dragonfree]

Mia was already moving back out of range as soon as her attack made contact; Rocky's first countering Fire Punch grazed her foot, the black goo that formed it splattering and reforming with a searing tingle, but she was out of reach before he could hit her with the next. She zipped around in the air as he tried to reach her, contemplating her next move. He was ready to counter at close range. So maybe she could first create an opening.

She concentrated on the still air of the training room and slashed, aiming two blades of energy down at the Infernape, readying another Aerial Ace for when he was distracted.

 

[Negrek]

A couple of air slashes splashed against Rocky's protect shield. The familiar dismissed the barrier with a flick of his tail and raised a hand, spewing a flamethrower up at the scyther.

"More fire, huh?" Nate said mildly. "Bet she won't be expecting that." Rocky glared at him.

 

[Dragonfree]

Protect. Hmm.

Mia circled around him, pushing to stay ahead of the Flamethrower as Rocky tried to follow her with it. Keeping up this speed for a long time was tiring. The flames licked her feet, yet again, and she bared her teeth as the ectoplasm boiled, dissolved, and reformed.

What if she struck back faster than he expected? As soon as the Flamethrower dissipated she went for a Quick Attack to get in close and strike before he could react. Maybe if that disoriented him she could pull off another quick Aerial Ace?