Inner Focus Training Arena

[Flyg0n]

"Spin!" Noro called as Zack attacked.

Alakazam twisted with the strike, letting it glance off him. "Passable. The key to success in battle is being creative and adaptable. Rely on your trainer for what you can't see, and he must rely on you as well." He paused, then added a thought to Seb: "Focus! A trainer should always be ready to guide their Pokemon. Don't get cocky."

Noro's next command came swiftly. "Cover."

In a surprisingly quick move, Alakazam stepped around Zack and formed a Focus Blast. Instead of aiming for Zack, he rose into the air and thrust it towards the earth, where it kicked up a dust cloud that surrounded Zack. Just on the edge of the cloud, Alakazam's silhouette could be seen, though he'd moved from his previous position. Only Seb could see him now.

 

[Hanafuda]

Zack coughed in the dust cloud, unable to see clearly. “Man, I should’ve seen that comin’,” he said in a strained voice, trying to blow away the cloud with a wing.

“What the…?” Seb flinched in shock after hearing Alakazam’s voice in his mind. “He actually talked to me?” He shook his head and quickly focused back on the battle. “Above you!”

“I knew he was acting weird,” Jack muttered, wings crossed over his chest. “He must’ve told something to Seb that either helped us or is gonna hinder us. But why?”

Zack looked above, trying to find Alakazam, but it was difficult for him to see. He tried performing a spin attack with his wings as he jumped, becoming desperate. “Come on!”

 

[Flyg0n]

The attack felt desperately short. A palpable flash of irritation came from Alakazam and he made no attempt to move away. He slammed another Focus Blast into the earth again, creating more dust before shifting position once more. "Come now!" He broadcast his words to Seb and Zack. "Command your pokemon! Rely on your trainer's eyes."

Noro frowned. "Alakazam, this isn't free tutoring session time. We came here to get stronger. To test ourselves."

"I am testing myself. It's taking all my strength not to annihilate this whelp," Alakazam replied to Noro smugly.

 

[Hanafuda]

"I see what's going on," Seb muttered, holding his chin in thought. "You're being a teacher of sorts? I appreciate it."

Zack landed back to the ground, getting out of the dust cloud. He huffed out a few heavy sighs before looking up. "Y'know, I'm startin' to hate this. It's gettin' kinda boring, like doing the same thing over and over again."

"Zack, what are you doing?" Jack asked in worry.

"So how about this? No fancy tricks? Whaddya say to goin' all out?" The Pidgey moved a wing in a beckoning manner. "Show me your full power. I wanna see if we can make it fun."

"Zack, no!" The Farfetch'd jumped and fluttered his wings frantically. "Don't give him any ideas! You're already at a disadvantage!"

"Huh? What's wrong, Jack?" Seb looked at his Pokémon in confusion.

 

[Flyg0n]

Noro gritted his teeth. Seriously? What were these idiots thinking?

He could feel and read the vexation from Alakazam all too clearly. "Full power? Fool, very well."

Noro pressed his hand against his the key stone on his wrist. He spoke, his voice low. "Alakazam, show your true strength and annihilate our opposition."

Light shone from the key stone and from the Alakazite around Alakazam's necklace. Then it surrounded Alakazam and his form began to change. When the light faded Alakazam had changed, its beard growing much bigger and five spoons levitating effortlessly overhead.

Power radiated from Alakazam now, and he appeared clearly stronger. "Is this fun?" Alakazam demanded to Zack.

 

[Hanafuda]

"Oh, hell yeah!" Zack exclaimed, his beak wide open in a smile.

"AAAH, Mega-Evolution!" Seb shouted, taken aback in a mix of worry and excitement. "I've always wanted to try that!"

"ZACK, YOU IDIOT!" Jack yelled. "What have you done!?"

"I just wanted somethin' cool to happen!" the Pidgey responded, cracking his neck in preparation. "And I'm all for it!"

"This is why I try to push you in the right direction! Don't make me hate you for this!"

"I'll be fine!"

"Okay, the tides aren't in our favor," Seb said, hands trembling from the excitement, "but we shouldn't give up yet. Give it all you got, Zack!"

"Try to disarm him!" Jack shouted.

Zack leapt towards the floating spoons, attempting to kick them away.

 

[Flyg0n]

"Psychic," Noro muttered.

Without moving, Alakazam moved the spoons out of the way moved to grab Zack in a psychic hold. "Well hero? Is this enough power for you?"

"Just give up!" Noro snapped. "You're not strong enough for this."

Waste of time. If he'd looked around more he could have found a better trainer probably. This Pidgey looking 'mon just wasn't strong.

 

[Hanafuda]

Zack huffed and wiggled while in the psychic hold, holding his eyes shut. "Dangit."

"Zack, we should surrender now!" Jack exclaimed, moving his wings around in a frantic manner.

"Come on, get outta there!" Seb shouted next, shaking his fists.

"Heh. Yeah, just how I like it." Despite his struggle, the Pidgey smiled with a determined look towards Alakazam. "Thanks."

The Farfetch'd became confused after hearing the message of appreciation. What was he saying thanks for, exactly?

"You guys gave me a good fight. You helped me push myself over the limit. Not to mention all the teacher stuff. And now..." The Pidgey looked up, closing his eyes. "I think it's time I showed the fruits of my efforts. 'Cause honestly, I feel kinda tingly inside. Weird, eh?"

"Huh? Haven't I heard that before."

The small crest on Zack's forehead started swaying lightly. "Oh, boy, I can feel it comin' now." The feathers grew long and floppy behind his head, turning a bright red. His tail also grew in size, becoming a pattern of red and yellow.

"Woah! Zack, you actually evolved!?" Seb exclaimed in delighted shock.

Zack, having become a Pidgeotto, opened his eyes, extending his wings with vigor. "Time to return the favor!" He flapped his wings, releasing a gust of wind that was bigger than before.

"Yes! We can do this now!"

 

[Flyg0n]

This time, the burst of wind actually knocked the levitating Alakazam back a few feet and made the spoon rattle. "Well well, it seems you do have some fight in you!" he said to Zack.

Noro raised his eyebrows slightly. "Good for you," he said emotionlessly. "Now Alakazam, attack. Focus Blast, triple strike."

Three spheres of weak energy formed around Zack, then shot towards him, one after another. Each orb moved quick, but not so quick that a keen eye couldn't dodge or counter.

 

[Hanafuda]

"Check this out!" Zack maneuvered himself in midair to avoid two of the Focus Blasts, landing on the ground before attempting to slap the last one back at its caster.

"Huh? That's no Mirror Coat!" Seb said, maintaining some excitement. "You're still doing good, though!"

"C'mon, friend, keep at it!" Jack exclaimed, raising his leek with enthusiasm.

 

[Flyg0n]

Despite the unusual manuever, it proved somewhat effective. The Focus Blast was knocked back at Alakazam. Raising a spoon telekinetically, Alakazam knocked it aside where it crashed into a tree.

Noro folded his arms. "Alakazam, let's end this now."

"You put up an adequate fight," Alakazam said. Noro gave a nod, and Alakazam's eyes flared pink. A pulse of psychic energy surrounded Zack - not enough to hurt, but it would be enough to probably knock him out.

 

[Hanafuda]

The Pidgeotto held his head in pain, starting to lose balance. "Ooh... Yeah... Again, thanks for everything..." He stumbled back towards his Trainer, falling on his side.

"Zack!" Seb crouched and put a hand on the bird's chest. He could feel it moving as he breathed heavily. He sighed. "You were epic."

"I didn't... disappoint ya, guys, right?" Zack asked between breaths, moving his head towards Seb and Jack.

"That was an amazing show, friend," Jack replied with a smile. "Can't win 'em all, but you gotta keep going."

"Yeah... Sweet... Oh, I need some sleep after that."

"Guess it's decided, then." Seb gave Noro a solemn gaze. "You win." He lowered his head in defeat. He believed in a chance for a comeback after that evolution. Or perhaps he didn't pick his fight correctly? Still, he was glad that Zack became stronger.

 

[Flyg0n]

"Obviously I won," Noro said. His voice sounded more bored than cruel. "You're not ready yet, your pokemon isn't even evolved to its final form. Alakazam and I have been battling together for years now."

"Chin up," Alakazam demanded to Seb. "Defeat is a chance to learn, not lose yourself in sadness. Figure out what you can fix next time."

Noro snorted. "And pick your battles better."

Despite the harsh tone, the advice seemed nonethless genuine. Or perhaps at least helpful in some way.

 

[Hanafuda]

Seb retrieved Zack into his Poké Ball and stood up straight, adjusting his jacket. "Still, it was pretty nice. I honestly kinda let Zack jump in, but... Well, it was a good duel. I'll see you once I get a better team, then." He waved and turned around. He hid a glare from Noro, but relaxed his expression a bit as he thought about a message he wanted to give to Alakazam. "I was pretty shocked about your supportive attitude, sir. I thought you were as smug as your Trainer, but you gave off some good teacher vibes. Thanks, and see you." Hopefully he heard that. He walked away with his hands in his pockets, Jack following closely behind.

The Farfetch'd waved goodbye as well with his leek.

 

[Flyg0n]

Noro made no reply more than a shrug, before turning to leave. The mega evolution had faded, leaving Alakazam once again in his usual form. As Noro walked away, Alakazam moved to follow, but paused as he caught Seb's thoughts.

"You need not thank me," he replied. "Just be stronger next time." There was no malice in his cool tone, it seemed to simply be a statement of fact.

And with that, Alakazam departed. "Let's find a real challenge next time," Noro groused. Maybe one of the trainers with an actual final stage pokemon. Or some special powers like z-moves or someone with a mega evolution. "I came here to train, not train others."

"Indeed," Alakazam replied.

<><><><>​

 

[ShiniGojira]

With questions flying left and right, and people leaving in search of clues, June decided to leave the office as well. There was probably more he could've learned about, but he was definitely not cut out for this, he needed some time off to clear his mind, organize his thoughts as they say, leave the problem solving to the experts or whatever.

And that was probably why he was standing in front of a training dummy, with his claws clenched into fists. Training was certainly one way to keep his mind off of things.

He charged forward, swinging at the dummy, his tail flame burning brighter than before. He grunted, throwing another punch before Evie chimed in from beside him when his fist connected.

"You're doing it again, June," she said, freezing him in place. "You're still thinking like a human. You need to remember that your punches aren't going to do as much damage as your claws. You'll need to learn how to use your body properly if you want to improve."

He glanced at her briefly, opening his mouth before closing it and turning his head away. She was right, he needed to learn, he needed to be able to defend himself, he couldn't keep relying on them.

He sighed, biting down a snarky remark. "Yeah, okay."

June looked like he wanted to say more but Evie pretended to not notice as he refocused on the dummy.

 

[IFBench]

A Tropius flew into the area, looking troubled. There couldn't be bad humans. There couldn't. They couldn't exist.

Seeing some Pokemon below, Coleane swooped down, fanning out her wings as she landed on the ground.

"Hiya! What're you doing?" she asked, a smile on her face, though nowhere near as wide as the one she had on the boat.

 

[ShiniGojira]

Scratch. Scratch. Scratch. And maybe a Metal Claw for the finis–

"Hiya! What're you doing?" she asked, a smile on her face, though nowhere near as wide as the one she had on the boat.

Dispersing the Steel-type energy flowing to his claws, he turned to the newcomer. The Tropius from the boat.

What was her name again? Colgate?

"Uh, hi there." He waved at her before pointing at the damaged dummy. "We're just doing some light training."

Evie faked a cough.

"Okay, very light training." He shrugged. "Just needed something to do before jumping back on the mystery train."

 

[IFBench]

"Oh! Mind if I join you?" Coleane asked, craning her neck to look down at June. "I've been wanting to practice Roar!"

Maybe this would help take her mind off of her conversation with Gladion and Hazel.

 

[ShiniGojira]

"Oh! Mind if I join you?" Coleane asked, craning her neck to look down at June. "I've been wanting to practice Roar!"

"Sure! Want a practice dummy or something? Evie can get you one if you like."

"That won't be necessary." Evie shook her head before facing Coleane. "You can practice on me."