Treasure Town ~ Marowak Dojo

[unrepentantAuthor]

Brisa growled in her chest. She could lose this, easily, but... what if the same de-powering affecting her affected Curio as well? That could give her a chance. Not that the stakes were high or anything, just that she hated to think- she didn't want- ...It would be good to make a good impression before going down like a sandbag.

She had a strategy. Bait out moves until Curio exhausted herself. Good.

She lunged forward, feinting an attack where there would be none. Go!

 

[NebulaDreams]

Now she was getting into it, Curio was enjoying this. Her shimmy earlier boosted her spirits and her strength, now all she needed to do was land another blow. She sprang towards Brisa with a punch, only to weave to the side when Brisa lunged at her with her claws. Now she had a chance to flank her.

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

A good thing about being a quadruped was the ability to leap. It was good for climbing, pouncing, and it served as an excellent way to dodge. Brisa sprang away from Curio's punches, allowing her use of fighting energy to wear her out. Simply evading without using any moves didn't seem to be having the same fatiguing effect. Any second now she'd leap again to strike — this time to land on her opponent and knock her to the ground!

Wait...

Now!

 

[NebulaDreams]

Brisa's attack knocked the wind out of Curio's sails. Wait, what?! She was feeling a fine a second ago, so what--

Never mind. She used up too much energy, forgetting she was back as a Riolu. Damn Diyem for being right. Maybe being a tiny aura pupper wasn't all that it was cracked up to be.

She felt too tired to get up right away, and lifted a paw in the air, trying to coax a thumbs up for Brisa. She was no slouch.

 

[kyeugh]

Lauchs squinted at the fallen riolu, and then raised his leek into the air ceremoniously. "Match!" he cried, chest heaving. "Well fought, you two. Nothing like a couple pups going at it, eh? Though it doesn't feel quite so cute and harmless when I'm shrunk down to this size myself..." he added, looking down at this shrunken little body. He turned his eyes to the fighters—Curio reaching for the sky from the ground and Brisa panting, sparks flying off her paws still. "Brisa wins, so I suppose she'll go on to fight our good Zangoose friend, here. Shall we get to it then?"

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

Brisa took a minute to realise she needed to get off from Curio, on whose torso she still had her paws firmly planted. She dropped off her, and sat back heavily with a huff.

"You made me work for that," she managed to say. "I feel better. Appreciate it."

She looked over to the zangoose, whose expression wasn't so confident as she remembered.

"Ah, shall I see you later?" she asked Curio. "Only, I have to fight this fella now."

 

[Tanuki]

Zane froze. He’d just watched Curio, who’d undoubtedly decimate him in every sense of the word, get pummeled. By the transitive property, this meant that he was screwed as a head under a drill. “Aw, sure you’re not too tired after that?” his bravado asked for him.

He was going to die.

 

[NebulaDreams]

"Welcome," Curio managed to say after catching her breath. "Good. Match. See ya later. Or here. Whatever." She planted her arms on the dirt floor, dragging herself to the safe side of the arena near Lauchs.

 

[Tanuki]

Soon to take her place off the arena, Zane went to take her place on the arena. He looked down on Brisa with the same confidence he had when there were ten-thousand volts on his shoulder. He couldn’t admit he didn’t know how to fight.

Ready as he’d ever be, he brought his right foot back and balled his hands up into fists, properly covering the side of his claws that could do any damage in favor of punches. If there was any doubt he was once a human, it was probably gone by now.

Unfortunately, he didn’t know any human martial arts either. He brought his fists as close to covering his face as possible without blocking his vision entirely. His left leg was primed to spring up and defend his groin if the need so arose.

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

What was that stance he was using? Some strange fighting type technique she hadn't seen? She was pretty sure zangoose were normal type... She would have to be very careful or very bold in the face of uncertainty, particularly as she'd already tired herself out.

She sized Zane up. He was about three times her height. Probably a lot physically stronger, too. Perhaps she could find a weak spot? Suddenly it seemed as if Zane was all weak spots. Oh! She realised what she'd done. She was using leer. She hadn't done that since she was a kit.

She cried out, and dove for his feet, seeking to unsteady him. Ha!

 

[Tanuki]

Zane, perfectly set and prepared for anything, hopped onto his back foot and waggled his front at her. When this proved ineffective, he stomped his foot down towards her and brought his back fist along with it to strike her.

Halfway through the motion, he remembered hearing one time something about putting hips into punches, so he made sure to twist his alongside his punch. By the end of his motion, his arms would be parallel to the ground with his balance barely in tact. Were it not for his tail, he’d have already eaten a healthy helping of dirt.

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

Brisa ducked under the clumsy blow, bunched up, turned on the spot, and tackled Zane's leg, hoping to fell him. He'd have weak spots aplenty if he toppled. Her claws sparked but she held back from channelling any energy. Pure kinetic collision should be enough!

 

[NebulaDreams]

Even in her post-battle stupor, Curio could tell the match had already been decided before it even begun. She turned to Lauchs just as soon as Zane whiffed that blow towards Brisa.

"So... okay, it's hard to believe you're a battle-hardened knight when you look like a walking rubber duck, but how many fights have you been in?"

 

[kyeugh]

Lauchs watched with amusement as little Brisa latched onto the zangoose's leg for dear life, looking rather like a joltik trying to fell a golurk. Still, she didn't seem to be all too easy to shake off... Lauchs should have known by now that strength could come in small packages, but it seemed to be a lesson that needed constant re-teaching. He also watched with interest as Zane staggered backward, his muscles rippling with each motion, visible even through his scruffy fur. Just a bit of polish might turn the fellow into a real gem of a fighter, Lauchs thought to himself. This sparring is good for him, humiliating though it may be...

He looked to Curio as she began to speak. He could hardly make out her accent, strange and foreign yet confident and consistent. Just where was she from...?

"Ah, one or two," he said, scratching the back of his head nervously and fixing his attention back on the fight. "Back home, I'm a knight errant—I wander the land looking for monsters to slay, I slay them, and I receive my payment. Not the safest line of work, but it certainly teaches one their way around a sword, eh? Not that it's getting me very far here, regrettably..." He folded his hands in his lap. "What about you? You lost your bout, but I thought I saw understanding in your gaze and experience in your posture. I suspect you have an interesting tale to tell yourself, oho!"

 

[Tanuki]

The leg once holding roughly half his weight no longer was. Brisa had demolished his foundation like a light breeze would tip over a grain of rice. Surprise squandered the moment he had to correct his balance and sent him crashing to the floor.

He felt the blow to his pride before he felt the ground, already succumbing to his fate. Was it hubris or foolishness that brought him here? Oh, what did it matter. Both are folly, so either could end in a fall. Mercy be that Jolt wasn’t here to eternalize this shame.

The ground finally hit him, the broken man. Yet, it wasn’t as harsh as he’d expected nor as hard. In fact, it was fluffy. Not at all the gritty dirt floor he’d expected to hit, but instead the gentle floof of fur. As it turns out, he hadn’t landed on the floor at all.

He’d landed on Brisa.

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

At least the plan had worked, after a fashion. Even if it had resulted in pain and indignity. Well, there was certainly no point in holding back now.

Brisa yowled as she unloaded the full force of the electric attack she'd been holding back since midway through the bout with Curio. From the feel of it... possibly a thunder shock? Being flat on top of her as he was, there was no way Zane could dodge this!

 

[NebulaDreams]

“Huh,” Curio said to Lauchs, “you know what, that sounds awesome. Well, I’m sure it’s like any sort of work you do, but it sounds better than most of what’s available back home.” Curio sat cross legged, combing through her tail with her paw. “Well, I teach other Pokemon how to speak human sometimes, but I guess that’s not the most interestin’ part you’re looking for.” She took a deep breath, recounting some of the experiences she both wanted to remember and forget.

“...I got tortured once.” Curio almost cracked there, but took a deep breath before she got further down that bottomless pit of a rabbit hole. “I’ve spent time in the wild before, which almost killed me. Spent time with a trainer, time I’ll never get back. Time with a gang, though, woof, there’s a lot to unpack there.” She blew a Razzberry. “Then I laid low for a bit, and now I’m here. I swear, laying it all in front of me, I can’t believe I’m still alive. I bet you had your share of close calls, bein’ a hunter. It’s amazing that us Pokemon can just go through all this crap and bounce back. I—“

Well, she was rambling, and she didn’t even drink anything before coming to the dojo. Maybe the fight still made her feel woozy. Curio turned her attention to the current battle before she made herself feel any worse. Catching a Zangoose pancaking a Shinx certainly made for an entertaining sight.

 

[Tanuki]

Zane knew electricity. Time with Jolt gave him no option but to know it. He couldn’t remember the last day that had passed without a few thousand volts coursing through him. He should have been used to it.

New bodies, however, came with new tolerances, and this body did not tolerate electricity. Every muscle tensed at once, his arms shooting beneath him to squeeze as close to his chest as they could. Unfortunately, there was a cat in the way.

Try as he might, he couldn’t move. Paralysis, a once distant memory, coursed through him, yanking Brisa into an impromptu bear-hug. He just wanted to tap out, but electricity overrode his brain’s demands.

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

Brisa wriggled and crawled out from underneath the zangoose, exhausted and near her limit. One good shock was all she'd had in her. Fortunately it seemed that receiving it was all Zane could handle, too. Having extracted herself from his bulk and gingerly checked herself over for genuine injuries, she gave a weak wave of her tail to Curio on the bench and the farfetch'd sitting with her. She was tired, but feeling significantly better about her chances of pulling her weight. This was good. Very good. She'd be fine now, just so long as nobody else challenged her.

 

[Tanuki]

Zane teetered just on the edge of consciousness. He barely felt Brisa crawl out from under him, only seeing the end result. She was out of the ring; he was in the ring. Was she conscious? Was he? He was decently sure he was. If he was in the ring and conscious, that had to mean he'd won. Maybe. The stars circling his vision struggled to form a coherent thought.

He needed a second opinion. He looked to the... what was it called? He knew the bird with a leek was it, so he aimed his eyes roughly in that direction. "Did I win...," what was the guy that determines success calle—right!—, "dad?"