Psalmist
Let's-a Go Eevee
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Chapter 10: Tail of Training:
Big thing to note: the prologue has received a major overhaul -- divides the Word page length by four (from 16 to 4), and improves on stylistic issues. Chapter 1 got some similar changes; 2-5 will as well, though I'm focusing on 11 right now.
Oh and, due to a mathematical error (long story), the new prologue shows Timothy's actual current age - 15.
@Garren;
I'd been wanting to shorten the prologue since it definitely needed it, and pretty much everything you said fixed that for me. Thanks! I'm not 14 or 15 though -- 17. I did start this story way back in 7th grade, but it's nothing like it used to be.
"You ready?" Dawn called out.
"Yeah, I am!" I shouted back.
Situated on either side of the field, holding a Poké Ball in one hand, Dawn and I readied ourselves for whatever might come next. I held the Poké Ball in my left hand, and she held hers in her right. From the entrance to the Center's view, I stood on the right of the field, while she waited on the left.
Dawn laid her yellow bag to the left of her, zipping up the pocket which had contained the Poké Ball she was carrying. Adjusting my hat to fit firmly, exhaling subtly, I especially prepared myself. Something about Dawn gave me the sense that she possessed more experience than me; her mentioning of having to "make a choice" as we exited the building did not help matters. This would be far from easy.
The both of us nodding, we threw the devices up, with me saying, "Snivy, come on out!", and Dawn shouting, "Alright then Piplup! Let's go!"
The lightweight spheres opened synchronously, letting out my Snivy and Dawn's Pokémon, Piplup.
With a round head, standing at an inch or two above Snivy's foot-tall height, Piplup clearly resembled a penguin. The top, side, and back of its somewhat shiny head was blue, while most of the rest of its face was white. Its entirely blue eyes, save for the black pupils in them, were oval, as was its short, yellow beak at the center of its face. Above the beak lay a small area of light blue, zigzagging directly into the solid blue at the top of the Pokémon's forehead.
The blue along the side of its head came down around the Pokémon's neck in three dimensions, clustering together into a bubbly shape much like the bottom half of a large bowtie. The same blue also lay along Piplup's back in a thick clump reaching almost to its rear, spiking up partially at the end. Its body was of the same light blue as just above its beak, as were its fingerless flippers. Two white, oval, button-like patterns were on its upper stomach a few inches apart, with the ovals' tips pointing up and down. Its three-toed, two and a half-inch long, skinny, webbed feet were golden yellow.
"A Piplup!" I said excitedly to Dawn. "I know what that is!"
"I'm sure you do!" she responded proudly, closing her eyes. "Piplup is a pretty famous kind of Pokémon."
"I figured."
"Piiip-lllup!" the penguin stated in a rather high-pitched voice, its flippers on its hips.
I knew Piplup from its appearance in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, where it would use Surf, a watery wave that pushes foes off of the screen, defeating them. I smiled, knowing I was at an advantage -- Grass versus Water.
***
"I'll let you make the first move," I told Dawn.
"Right," she nodded. "Piplup!" she shouted, pointing, eyes brimming with anticipation. "Use Bubble Beam!"
"'Bubble' Beam?" I said to myself. "What's that gonna---"
Holding its head back, eyes closed, stating "Piiiiip," Piplup flapped its wings, and then lunged its head and neck forward, opening its beak. From inside its mouth, a light blue glow emanated. A second later, the Pokémon proclaimed "Lup-lup-lup!" and gushed a six-inch wide stream of blue, high-pressure water, with numerous three-inch bubbles either inside the blast or barely clinging to its outside. A repeating "toof-toof-toof" accompanied the beam.
"Well," I said, my left hand under my chin. "She wouldn't use that unless---Snivy! Dodge it!"
Snivy leaped forward with a small amount of rightward movement. The Bubble Beam blasted by, barely missing its target. The water poured onto a foot past where Snivy had stood, laying most of the grass out flat, soaked, with the bubbles popping the moment they made landfall.
"Man," I said under my breath. "That would've been a direct hit." I pointed to Piplup, ready to take control. "Snivy! Use Tackle!"
Snivy raced diagonally leftward and straight toward Piplup, tucking in its head and neck, saying, "Snnniiii..."
The attack landed without Dawn having the chance to give a command, launching Piplup a few feet to the right of her.
"Woah," Dawn whispered, eyeing Piplup. "That's a fast Snivy." She smiled on one side, saying to Piplup, with both her hands in a fist at her side, "Use Drill Peck!"
"Drill Peck?" I responded blankly. "Uhh...Snivy! Slam!"
Snivy leaped up as Piplup's beak glowed white. The penguin rotated counterclockwise, paused, and then practically flew up to where Snivy had jumped to, spinning clockwise violently and yelling "Piiiip-luuuuuup!" The blue blur drew in the surrounding air, causing thin strips of light to swirl from its beak to around the rest of its body, glistening remarkably off of its skin.
Snivy flipped forward, smacking its tail downward, straight into Piplup's beak. The collision produced a stunning white aura around the two and a thrilling whir. A second later, Snivy was sent upward in the direction Piplup jumped to, while Piplup descended at only a slightly higher speed than what would be expected normally. Snivy thumped to the ground and pushed itself back up, while Piplup landed gracefully on its toes.
"Great Piplup!" Dawn stated happily, seeming relieved. "Now! Use Ice Beam!"
"Ice!?" I thought, starting to sweat, and continued thinking. "No, that's strong against a Grass-type...I don't know what 'Ice Beam' is, but if it's a 'beam'...wait!" I pointed to Piplup, telling Snivy, "Use Leer!"
Piplup had its head held back, ready to fire the beam. Snivy's glowing red eyes reached the penguin immediately, covering Piplup in red light momentarily, halting the attack.
"Yes!" I shouted. "Now, use Slam!"
Snivy lunged up, and immediately, I regretted my command. "Wait...isn't that what I did with Chi---Oh no!"
Once Snivy reached the height of its jump, Dawn told Piplup to forget about using Ice Beam and go with Drill Peck instead. Piplup charged up the move at once, and leaped up to meet Snivy mid-air, rapidly spinning.
"Snivy!" I yelled. "Stop Slam and dodge it, now!"
Snivy had not yet flung its tail out in front, and quickly flipped it sideways, propelling itself to the right. Piplup's move barely clipped Snivy, pushing it away.
Once the two landed, Dawn called out, "Piplup! Use Hydro Pump!"
"Oh man," I said to myself, halting my ability to move. Snivy appeared incapable of dodging. "Snivy! You'll have to block it!"
Snivy held out its arms, readying itself. Piplup drew its flippers together; a liquid, blue circle appeared at chest level, yet unseen from my angle. The penguin proclaimed, "Piiip...LUUUP!!!", blasting an intense, two-foot-wide wall of water, streaming straight to Snivy. The sheer force behind the attack sent Piplup sliding a few feet in the opposite direction.
"Snnniii...VVYY!" the stubby-legged serpent exclaimed, taking the hit, liquid crashing off of it as a waterfall smacks a river. Not even a second passed, and Snivy was launched against a pine tree seven feet to my right. The high-velocity water soon subsided, leaving a drenched Snivy as it descended, watering the tree.
"Alright Piplup!" Dawn proclaimed. "Use---"
"Wait Dawn!" I cut in, gesturing to my Pokémon with my right arm. "That's enough."
Dawn glanced over at Snivy. "Oh...I see."
I nodded, pulling out a Poké Ball. "Go on and get some rest Snivy. Return." A thin beam of the same hue as Snivy's Leer shot out and retracted into the Ball, pulling the defeated Snivy with it. Dawn, in the corner of my vision, began walking with Piplup at her side, over to me.
***
"I'm surprised I won," Dawn stated when she and Piplup reached within a few feet of me, halting.
"I'm not," I answered frankly.
"Really?" She raised an eyebrow. "But...wait, why didn't you use any Grass-type moves? You knew what Piplup is and all, so...how come?"
"Because it doesn't know any."
"What?" she gasped. "It doesn't?" Dawn stopped talking for a moment and ever-so-slightly squinted her eyes at me. "How long have you had Snivy?"
"About a week," I answered plainly.
"A week!?" she flinched. "Well...you must have just been testing out a new strategy or something."
"No," I told her. "It was just like any other battle. But..." I paused, eyeing Piplup for a moment. "Why...do you sound like I'm experienced with this? It's like you expect me to be really good with battling or something..."
"Well, you are, aren't you?"
"Nope," I laughed, situating my hat to sit tight. "Not with Pokémon anyway. I just starting Pokémon Training a week ago."
"WHAT!?" she gasped again. "But I thought...I mean, you seemed so confident in what you were doing. You sure you haven't done this before?"
"Well, I've been around some people who have a lot more experience than me, but..." I glanced down and away for a few seconds, looking back to Dawn as I continued. "I really haven't spent much time with all this -- at least, not as much as you seem to think."
"Well..." She paused. "I'm surprised. I thought for sure you'd battled with Pokémon a lot by now. And...with your...skills..." she looked quietly to the side for a second or two. "I assumed Snivy would have picked up some from you, and it seems like it did. That's why I'm surprised that I won."
Eyebrows lowering slightly, I replied, "You think Snivy has learned some fighting skills from me?"
She nodded, humming, "Mm-hmm."
"But...I haven't trained it like that yet. That's actually what my plans were for today -- to come up with a way to combine my...skills...with Snivy's."
"Oh." Dawn gazed up at the trees to the left of her, right of me. The pines swayed slowly in a sudden gentle breeze; a spiked, brown pinecone was overtaken, and fell to the ground a couple yards from us. Dawn smiled as she viewed the early-morning, purely blue sky, and then gasped briefly; she fixed her focus back on me.
"You know," she said in thought, trailing off. "I might be able to help you with that."
"With what?"
"With training Snivy." She smiled, barely leaning in, hands held together behind her. "You want to bring out its unique skills and personality right?"
My eyes moved left and out of focus with Dawn. "Well I don't know about 'personality,' but...its abilities, yeah."
"Then that's just what I'll do."
I leaned back, almost ready to laugh. "You have combat skills like I do?"
Dawn smiled, closing her eyes. "Eheheh...not...exactly." Her eyes opened. "But...bringing out a Pokémon's special qualities is what I've been doing for years. It's..." Dawn paused, and quietly continued, her hands between her legs. "It's...sorta...one of my skills, I guess."
"Hmm..." I said, looking down and away, nodding. "I see. Well that makes sense. You seem to be a lot more experienced than me."
"Yeah," she smiled. "Just a little." Dawn glanced up momentarily, her right index finger laying along her chin. "But first," she said, removing her finger. "You'll have to tell me how you...well...fight and all. If you want me to help that is."
I inhaled briefly, without opening my mouth. "Ohhh-kay," I responded, retreating my neck slightly. "I'd rather not."
She tilted her head sideways, now having a blank expression instead of a happy one. "How come?"
"It's...complicated."
"Well your fighting style couldn't be that---"
"Dawn, please," I cut in.
She frowned. "What's wrong?" Piplup, staring up at me, essentially asked the same question, saying, "Pip-lup pip?"
I folded my arms, sighing. "Look, I just...don't like talking about it. Or the SBL thing. It's a long story."
"Hmm..." Dawn's mouth shifted to the side as she gazed at the ground. "Well, if you really don't want to say why, I understand."
I nodded. "Thanks."
"But..." She frowned again. "It's gonna be harder to help you with Snivy if I don't have anything to go by."
"Well you don't have to help me," I told her. "I'm sure the people I'm with can handle it."
"No," Dawn spoke swiftly. "I want to help. I did kinda...ruin your morning."
"Wha---no, you didn't ruin my morning," I said, unfolding my arms, my head leaning back. "It's probably the least boring morning I've had so far. Except for...when I got my Snivy, of course. It's hard to beat that."
"Yeah," she said, smiling again. "I know what you mean."
A short time later, I remembered that my Snivy could use some rest inside the Center, and told Dawn we'd have to wait for the training. She agreed, and the four of us walked back inside. I handed the Pokémon with its Poké Ball to Nurse Joy, while Dawn decided to give Piplup to her as well, despite it not having taken much damage before, with Dawn's reasoning being, "Just in case." We each sat in the same booth as earlier and waited.
***
We remained speechless in the booth for a good minute. I asked Dawn what time her wristwatch said -- 8:30. Ash and the others would likely get up within an hour.
"So," Dawn said shortly after revealing the time. "Do you have any ideas about how you're going to train Snivy?"
"Well," I answered, staring at the table. "The first thing I want to do is strengthen its arms and legs. I can't train it the way I want to without doing that."
"Umm..." Dawn frowned. "You know, Snivy's final evolved form doesn't have arms or legs."
"It doesn't!?" I leaned backward into the booth. "Well that's gonna be a problem."
"Yep," she smiled. "But...what about its tail?"
"What about it?"
"Snivy keeps its tail throughout both of its evolved forms. You should focus on that, especially with its move Slam and all."
"Except I...don't have a tail."
"So?"
"So I can't do things the way I want to. I want to perform the motions that I want Snivy to do and it'll copy them. That's how I was trained to do what I do."
"Wait..." Dawn trailed off. "Who trained you, anyway?"
"Mario and Luigi."
Dawn gasped, clasping her seat, situating herself to sit firmly. "WHAT!?"
"Oh---" I held out my hands. "Don't freak out. It's not that crazy." I looked up and to the left, my eyes half-shut. "Wait...what am I saying? Of course it's crazy. But..." I fixed my focus on Dawn. "Let's get to that later, okay? Back to Snivy."
"'Kay," she answered, sighing, calming down. "So you want Snivy to imitate what you do?"
"Uh-huh," I said, nodding. "But I can't exactly grow a tail on command."
"Yeah," she laughed. "I don't think anyone can do that."
"Heh, no," I smiled. "No one can, that I know o---Wait!" I grinned. "I actually can!"
"Huh?" Dawn asked, retreating into her booth.
"Yeah, hold up a second."
Reaching into my right pocket, I dug for the inch-wide treasure chest and removed it from its place. After unminimizing it, I set it on the table. Had Dawn the strength for it, her reaction would easily have flipped her booth on its back.
Dawn's eyes wider than her beanie, she barely managed to begin speaking, yet practically yelled her response. "Wha---how---where did that come from!?"
"See?" I showed her the light-blue object in my right hand. "A Mini Mushroom. It makes people and objects shrink down to a fraction of what they normally are."
"You...you've had all that in your pocket the whole time?"
"Yep. The chest has something which will fix the tail problem."
I snapped open the lock and opened the chest, standing up and leaning over the table. I buried my left arm into the container, feeling around through the cluster of objects and power-ups of varying sizes, textures, and colors.
Dawn tried to get up and look inside, but I pulled the container away, saying, "Ah-ah-ahh. All that I got in here is a secret for now." Dawn returned to her seat, frowning.
"Ahh-hah!" I proclaimed. "I found one!"
"Found what?" she asked.
I pulled the object out, unshrinking it and letting its little blue Mushroom plop into the container. I held it crumpled in my hand as I re-shrunk the chest and returned it to my pocket.
"This," I told Dawn, who now stared with curious eyes at my left hand, "is it."
I opened the hand, letting the object unfold itself, returning to its natural shape. It was a palm-sized, brown leaf, with two vertical, rectangular eyes at its center and two wide, lighter-shaded brown stripes that ran horizontally in a form much like an open paperback book. At the top-left corner of the leaf, a circular hole remained, giving it the false appearance that an insect had chewed on it.
Dawn gasped. "Isn't that a..."
"Yep," I cut in. "It's a Super Leaf. Once you absorb its power, it'll give you raccoon ears and a tail." I leaned in. "That tail is much stronger than the games it appears in would make you think -- if you've ever played them that is, and...yeah, you probably haven't."
"How would you know?" Dawn asked, folding her arms.
"Well...have you?"
She flinched abruptly and held up her hands, eyes closed. "Well, n-no, I haven't."
"Huh?" I thought, my eyes squinting. I didn't even need my specialized training to tell me she was lying. I continued thinking: "What's that about?"
"So," Dawn interrupted my thoughts. "That...Super Leaf...it'll give you a tail?"
"Yeah," I said plainly. "Once Snivy is healed, I'll show you."
"Cool." She put her hands down at her side. "But...that could take a while."
"True..." I stuffed the Leaf into my left pocket, keeping it completely separate from my 3DS and the treasure chest.
After a moment, Dawn perked up. "I know, how about we each go back to our rooms and then meet up in an hour or so?"
"Well..." I paused, deep in thought, regretful. "Hold on. I don't want to take away from...didn't you say you were going somewhere earlier?"
"Nah," she shook her head. "It can wait. I have some things I need to take care of in my room anyway." Dawn grabbed her bag with her left hand, ready to get up. She halted before standing, and turned to me in her seat. "I'm sorry about that...thing with your 'abilities' and all. I didn't know that would bother you."
"It's fine," I answered, sighing. I found myself suddenly lost in brutal, relentless memories. Dawn seemed to pick up on this, as she then asked if I was alright.
With another, deeper sigh, I continued, unsure to some extent if what I was saying was coming from me. "I just...three months ago, I hurt a good amount of the people close to me -- physically hurt them. Something...from a long, long time ago...'forced' me to do it, and Mario and Luigi said it wasn't my fault. Everyone did. But...even if that's true...I couldn't have hurt them if I didn't have the abilities I did. That's why I hate talking about my abilities -- and the SBL tournament. What I can do...it...scares me."
Dawn froze, a concerned expression on her face. "I...had no idea."
I blinked twice, shaking my head. Looking back at Dawn, my eyes opened fully. "Why," I asked, "did I just tell you that?"
"Umm..." Dawn paused. "Were you not...supposed to?"
I placed my left hand over my forehead, running my fingers through the small amount of hair that protruded from my hat. Gazing down at the table, I told Dawn: "I...I've never told anyone about that! No one! I mean, I didn't tell you all the details, but...me being afraid of what I can do...and my past......that......I've never told anyone! Not even my own parents!"
"Woah," Dawn responded. "Do you...want me to forget I heard it, or..."
"No," I said quickly, "don't. I'm sure there's a reason why I did that. Even though I have no clue what."
She smiled, glancing down in regret. "Well, sorry about that." She looked rightward and observed the vacant lobby for a moment. "I'm gonna go back to my room now. Snivy and Piplup should be healed by the time ten o'clock rolls around -- eleven at the latest."
Dawn stood up, exited the booth, and strapped on her bag. She said to me, "See you soon," and left.
***
I could not say anything in return. She was gone, out of my sights, and now I was alone again. I began thinking out loud about what just happened; all manner of calm and peace left me.
Among my spoken thoughts, I stated: "What just happened? Why did I tell her what I told her? I don't even like thinking about that, let alone talking about it! Who...is she?"
I instantly reminded myself: "The voice! The voice in my dreams!" I quieted my own voice to a low level in case someone came near the lobby. "It woke me up...earlier in the morning than I have gotten up in months -- at sunrise. And---"
My entire body refused to move. "The voice...it got me up at 'dawn'! To meet someone! And that's Dawn right?"
It couldn't be a coincidence. I never get up that early unless it's some kind of crisis or I have somewhere important to be. I knew I must find out who or what caused this voice, though I had no clue where to begin.
Unable to answer myself, I left and went through the hallway Dawn had disappeared into minutes before and jogged up the spiral staircase around the corner, opening up a wooden door once I reached the top. I turned left and continued to the end of the 40 foot hallway, reaching the far left side of the second floor, finding a window along the wall straight ahead. At my right, the room my friends and I had been staying in awaited me: Room 102.
I used the plastic card key I kept in my left pocket and turned the silver, shining knob. Opening the door cautiously, tiptoeing in, I made my way silently in between the first pair of perpendicular beds, and turned right, heading straight into the open door that led to the bathroom. I shut the door without looking at it, yet still with undetectable silence. I flipped on the bathroom light and the considerably loud ceiling vent, so as to not be heard.
Sitting along the edge of the bathtub, sneakered feet tapping on the floor, fingers quietly rattling the outer wall of the hollow, white structure, I thought aloud in a low, soft tone. A solitary place to think, and sometimes the best.
Half an hour passed as I sat there, and still, no answer -- not to where the voice came from, not to who Dawn was, and not to what it all meant. Restless, confused, and unnerved, I decided to return to the lobby, hoping for some sliver of peace to reside there.
***
My eyes were closed and my arms were folded; I remained leaning against the lobby's counter.
Someone found me and said, "Oh, hey."
I opened my eyes and turned. Dawn stood left of me, having come from the same hallway we had been commuting through. "Oh, hey Dawn. What're you doing here?"
"Nurse Joy told me over the intercom that Piplup was healed."
Just then, the Nintendo logo door behind the counter opened. Nurse Joy paraded though with Piplup in her arms, stating, "Dawn, I'm happy to report that your Piplup is just fine now."
"Thank you," Dawn replied, reaching for Piplup. She carried Piplup by its underarms overtop the counter, and held it in the same manner at chest level, pressed gently against herself like a stuffed animal.
"How's Snivy?" I asked the nurse.
"It'll be ready to go in a few minutes," Joy answered.
"Right," I nodded. "Thanks."
"No need to worry then," Dawn said, facing me. "You can start your training real soon."
"Yeah, I can."
Joy smiled and said, "Alright, well, I should get back to what I was doing." Joy turned away and promptly left through the door, which swayed to and fro for a brief moment.
After a few seconds, Dawn started to speak, yet I cut her off, holding my hands up. "Dawn, wait. Could we...sit down again?"
She paused. "Umm...sure."
***
"Listen, Dawn," I began, the three of us already positioned in our seats; Piplup sat comfortably in Dawn's lap, mostly unseen from my view. "You don't have to answer this, 'cause we just met and all, but..." I squinted my eyes slightly. "Who...exactly...are you?"
She looked around aimlessly. "Umm...Dawn."
"Wha---" I sighed. "I know that. But...I mean...what is it that you do? Are you just a Trainer, or..."
"Oh," she answered. "I'm a Coordinator."
"A...so you're a Trainer?"
"Nooo..." She tilted her head to her right side. "A Coordinator."
"Right," I nodded. "You coordinate your Pokémon, so you're a Trainer."
"No, I---" Dawn frowned. "A Pokémon Coordinator is different from a regular Trainer."
I paused. "So...you're a choreographer for Pokémon?"
She gave me a curious, inspecting look. "No...do you not know what a Coordinator is?"
"Heh," I smiled. "Nope."
"Wha---" she leaned in. "How!?"
"Well I'm not exactly from around here, for one thing."
Dawn folded her arms together, staring analytically at me. "Well...Unova is one of the least Coordinator-driven regions in the world...but if you're not from here...ah!" She snapped her right fingers and pointed at me without moving her arm, which now had its elbow resting on the table. "You're from Kanto!"
"Nope, not Kanto." I smiled; I knew where this was heading.
Dawn paused and squinted, saying, "Kalos?"
"Nope. The only regions I know of are the ones you just mentioned."
"Wha---HUH!?" She smacked her right hand abruptly on the table. "Then...you don't know what Hoenn is!? Or Johto!?"
"Nope."
"Wait...you must know about Sinnoh, right?"
"Nope, no clue."
Dawn ceased all manner of motion and signs of activity with her. Piplup hopped up onto the table and exclaimed, "Piplup-pip LUP!?"
"Should I?" I asked, laughing momentarily at the penguin.
"Yes!" she yelled, and then quieted down slightly. "Of course you should! It's not out of the way like Unova, and it's certainly not as quiet as Kanto! And plus...I'm from there."
"Well," I laughed, "sorry. Never heard of it."
"Then..." she calmed down. "Where are you from?"
"Heh," I grinned. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you."
Dawn glanced up and right, looked at Piplup for a second, and focused back on me, saying, "Are you from...the Orange Islands?"
"Nope."
"The Decalore Islands?"
"Nope."
"'One,' 'Two,' or 'Three' Islands?"
"Nope. Are those even real names?"
"Yes," she frowned, "they are. Is it...an unincorporated island?"
"Nope, it's not an island."
Dawn sank into her booth while Piplup stared blankly at me. "Are...you messing with me?"
"No."
Her eyes zeroed in. "Well...either you're a really good liar, or...I give up."
"No," I laughed. "Trust me, I'm a terrible liar."
"Then...where?"
"Okay, since you tried so hard...I'll tell you."
I leaned forward, pausing momentarily to build up Dawn's suspense.
"I'm from......the Real World."
Piplup, startled, fell back into Dawn's lap, while Dawn jerked so much that her white beanie tumbled off her head and onto Piplup's, covering the Pokémon's face almost entirely. "What!?" she exclaimed, picking up the hat. "You're from...Earth!?"
"Yep. Weird right?"
Dawn placed the hat back on top of her dark blue hair. Fixating it carefully with both hands, she said, "That's...so cool!"
"Cool?" I leaned back into my booth. "What's so great about it?"
"I've always wanted to go there," Dawn stated, sighing, gazing upward.
"Why? The overall crime rate there is like five times what it is here. And the people can be absolute jerks a lot of times."
"People can be like that here too, you know. Ever met Team Rocket?"
I sighed. "Unfortunately, yes. But they're only two people. And besides -- for someone like you -- there's no Pokémon there."
"I know." She petted Piplup's head gently as she continued, keeping her focus on it. "But...there's so many different cultures there, and plenty of people I haven't met. And so much history there, too."
My eyes widened. "You like history stuff?"
Dawn nodded, humming, "Mm-hmm."
"So do I!"
"Really?" She perked up.
"Yeah. Although, I haven't studied that stuff in a while, so I might not be the best source of Real World history. I'll have to get you to talk to my dad soon. He's a history professor."
"Oh, cool! I'd love to!"
"I figured. So, what does your da---"
Just then, the "Bl-dum, dum, duhdum dum!" theme played over the lobby's intercom.
"Oh, your Snivy must be ready," Dawn stated.
"Right," I nodded as Dawn took hold of Piplup. "Let's go."
Nurse Joy walked in through the door in a timely, almost systematic fashion, perfectly on cue with our arrival at the desk. She handed me my Snivy inside its Poké Ball, I thanked her, and the four of us left for the backyard. I was surprised to not see Ash and the others up yet, yet I didn't really care. I had trained with them many times before, and this new way of training wouldn't even need them.
I figured one time without those three wouldn't be much of an issue.
***
I stood in the middle of the field, holding the Super Leaf in my right hand while holding a Poké Ball in the other. I called out Snivy and hid the Ball away in my pocket. Turning around to face Dawn, who stood near the entrance, still holding Piplup in place, I held out the Leaf in my hand, presenting it to her.
"Here we go," I told her. "Now..." My eyes shut partially. "This might look a little ridiculous."
Dawn nodded, half smiling. Piplup watched in silence.
I closed my eyes completely, curling my right fingers in. Intense energy, small spurts of wind, and a faint presence of smoke surrounded the hand and its enclosed Leaf. In seconds, the Super Leaf absorbed into the palm of the hand, rushing through my arm and the rest of my body at once, thrashing in all directions, empowering and stimulating my mind, body, and soul in an effortless few seconds. The Leaf now entirely inside me, a pillar of smoke billowed instantly from my feet to my head, blocking Dawn's view of me for a split second, being accompanied by an abrupt purr and a "Brddwling-Brddwliing-Brddwliiing!" The smoke cleared as quickly as it came.
With me facing Dawn directly, I now had a brown, raccoon-like ear jutting out of either side of my hat, yet without ripping a hole in it, since the ears mended together with the hat perfectly. The rim and back of each ear was light brown, while the inner ear was dark brown.
Dawn's eyes remained opened wide. I turned left 90 degrees, letting Dawn see the true highlight of the Leaf. In the same clothing-friendly, holeless fashion as the raccoon ears, a bushy, six-inch wide, dark and light brown-striped tail jutted from my tailbone, reaching over a foot in length.
Dawn hid her mouth with her right hand and turned leftward, shielding her expression partially.
I folded my arms. "Go ahead, laugh. You deserve it."
Dawn immediately broke into giggles that occasionally snapped free of her mouth in spurts of regular laughter. She'd periodically glance over at me and then retreat to her somewhat concealed position. "I'm...sorry," she said, trying yet failing to contain herself. "It's just...I know...what that Power-up...does and all, but...seeing it...in person like this..."
Piplup laughed along with her, slapping its flippers along Dawn's arms and exclaiming, "Pip-lu-hi-hi-hip-luuup!"
"I know what you mean," I said, laughing with them. "I felt the same way the first time around. You'll get used to it."
"I...hope so," Dawn said, barely withholding herself.
I rotated rightward, a sudden cackling grabbing my attention. "Sni-vy sni-sni-hi-hi-vy Snivy!"
Snivy rocked back and forth on its curved back with its arms along its stomach. It continuously laughed and carried on, relentlessly mocking and occasionally pointing at my tail.
"Oh," I said to Snivy, arms still folded. "You think that's funny do ya?"
Dawn continued to giggle. "I...hear ya Snivy."
Snivy persistently laughed, stating its name in random sequence and rocking endlessly in place.
I turned back to face left and perpendicular to Dawn, giving all three of them a perfect view of the laughable sight. I wagged the tail, causing a lighter-toned purr than the transformation's. The two of them roared further, with Dawn removing her hand in complete laughter, bending herself down, nearly dropping Piplup, and Snivy doubling in volume.
"Eheh," I smiled, eyes closed. "I'm glad you three are enjoying this..."
A few seconds later, Dawn took in a deep breath and stood straight, now grinning with only a giggle here and there. Her face had reddened from laughing so hard.
"Well," I said to Dawn, "I guess this makes up for what happened when we were eating."
"Mm-hmm," she nodded, breathing some more. "The battle...was enough, but...this...more than makes up for it."
Arms still folded, I sighed, stating, "Well at least I did something right."
A moment later, Dawn finally simmered down; Piplup soon followed through with Dawn, but Snivy remained the same.
"Snivy," I stated, turning to it. "I think you've made your point."
It didn't listen.
"Look, Snivy, I know you want to get stronger, so...you're not going to get anywhere if you keep carrying on like that."
Snivy opened an eye as it rocked; it did calm down and quit laughing, yet made sure to take in a few more moments of the sight first.
--As if it had not seen a tail before.
***
"So..." I broke the silence. "Snivy, should we get started?"
It nodded.
"How are you going to start?" Dawn asked.
"Well..." I paused, left hand on my chin. "I......don't...wait! I know!"
Within ten seconds, I pulled out the treasure chest, unshrunk and opened it, removed an object from it, unshrunk that object, closed the chest, and returned it to my pocket. I only removed the top half of the object's Mini Mushroom, leaving the beige stump inside the object. The object I selected was a white sandbag with two black, horizontally thin eyes in the middle of it on one side, standing at just over Piplup's height. I let it stand on the ground right of me, and directly between Dawn and Snivy.
Dawn leaned back. "Isn't that..."
"You know what it is?" I asked her, in complete disbelief.
She flinched, holding up her hands. "Uhh---no, of course not."
My eyebrows lowered. "But you...okay..." Another lie. She knew exactly what it was, somehow. I continued, choosing to ignore it for now. "Well, it's a Sandbag from the Smash Bros. series -- ever since Melee. But since I only removed the top half of the Mini Mushroom, it's much smaller than what it would be.
"With this, Snivy and I can practice together and not put anyone in any sort of danger. And unlike in the games, it can be grabbed, which," I turned to Snivy, continuing, "will come in handy."
I then explained to Snivy how I wanted to start, and, carrying the Bag over to the center of the field and beyond where Snivy sat, I demonstrated the plan:
"Now, Snivy, watch closely."
Snatching up the Bag, holding it at eye level, I threw it upward 15 feet, with just enough forward motion to make it move five feet horizontally. I then leaped up and slightly forward, front-flipping once I came close to reaching the Bag. Coordinating my tail with my swing, moving my knees toward my chest, I smacked the Bag straight down with the tail, and while my back was now parallel to the grassy ground, the tail pointed below, directly to the Bag. The momentum at once positioned my feet to face the ground, and I wagged the tail behind me repeatedly, suspending me in the air with its Mushroom World powers and preventing any more forward flipping. I soon ceased wagging and landed softly.
I faced Snivy. "Now---"
"Woah," Dawn spoke up, making me face her. "Nice...jump."
"Uh---thanks," I answered, turning back to Snivy. "Now...you think you can do that, Snivy? With Slam I mean?"
It nodded, stating its name firmly. Snivy dashed toward Dawn and me, grabbed the Sandbag from behind, and threw it upward, proceeding to attack it as I did. Snivy flipped itself forward, bent on smacking the object down with full force, but flew overtop and past the Bag, landing shortly after the Bag did.
"Okay, Snivy. Try and throw it a bit higher this time."
Snivy nodded once more, and performed the same combination as before. It missed again, with the Bag barely being thrown farther.
"Try it again."
Snivy tried; no luck. Without me giving any commands, Snivy tried an additional three times. A total of six attempts, all complete misses.
"Hang on Snivy," I said, holding out a hand. "That's enough."
Snivy paused and stared down the Sandbag as I placed my left hand on my chin.
"Maybe it's too heavy," Dawn spoke up. "Snivy's arms aren't very big."
"No," I answered. "It shouldn't be. At that height, the Sandbag isn't much heavier than Piplup. Though..." I looked down, eyeing the blades of grass sway slowly in a sudden breeze. "If it can't get the Sandbag up high enough, you're probably right. Its arms are a bit thin. Maybe...too thin for this combination."
"And then," Dawn continued, "you have to think about what you'll do when it evolves fully. Its final form won't be able to use arms anyway."
"Right," I said firmly. "It's definitely fast enough to get in close to start this, but if it can't finish it, then..." I sighed, passively continuing. "This combo might not work out."
"Yeah," Dawn agreed, nodding subtly, "you might have to try something else. I don't think Snivy can handle it."
Snivy immediately turned and glared sharply at Dawn. It darted straight to her, and before I could stop it, jumped up and slapped Dawn in the face with both arms, creating a red line on both of her cheeks, causing her to yell "Hey---OWW!" and bend down slightly, her eyes closed, gritting her teeth. Piplup hopped out of her arms and onto the ground, waving its flippers erratically, shouting, "Pip-lup piplup pip-pip-lup piiip-lup!"
I rushed over to her. "Dawn," I said quickly, "you okay?"
"Uh...huh." She opened her eyes and stood straight, though bit her bottom lip.
"You sure?"
"Mm...hmm."
I exhaled deeply without opening my mouth, and faced Snivy, glaring back at it. "What was that for!?"
Snivy folded its arms and turned its head away from the three of us.
"Snivy, apologize!"
It grunted, stating, "Snnni," tightening its folded arms.
"What's your deal? She was just telling the truth! You're not a Pokémon that's made for throwing things like that. We can work on a different combination." I paused, glancing up. "What if you could use Tackle to launch the Sandbag up and then use Slam afterward?"
Snivy turned its head and neck to face me and flashed its eyes wickedly; I almost mistook the motion for Leer, yet soon realized it wasn't.
Dawn smiled, eyes closed. "Eheh, I guess the truth really does hurt."
"Uhh...was that a joke?" I asked.
She shrugged.
"Heh," I responded, laughing. "Good one. But..." I returned my attention to Snivy. "Even if a decent portion of what I do comes from what you just tried, we don't need it. There are plenty of other fighting styles we could---"
Snivy rotated fully to face me, shot another hateful look, and turned back to the Sandbag. With a shouting of "Snniii," the Pokémon released a forest green, half-inch-thick vine from either shoulder, and stretched the vines out to reach the Bag some ten feet away. The vines swiftly wrapped around the immobile object and at once suspended it a foot off of the ground. Snivy proclaimed "Vvvyyy!" and threw the entangled Bag upward an impressive distance, unraveling the vines simultaneously. It leaped up, retracting the vines completely and flipping forward. With sheer precision, force, and a drawn out exclamation of its name, Snivy smacked the Bag straight down with its tail held out in front, creating a four-pointed star-shaped glow at the impact point. The Bag crashed, grass flattening, dirt expelling, and fell over, laying on its fake, apologetic eyes.
Initially speechless, I slowly managed to speak. "Wha...what was that?"
"Th...That," Dawn answered barely, "was Vine Whip."
"Vine---" My hand moved to my chin. "Isn't that a Grass-type move?"
"Sure is," she nodded. "Normally it's just used to swipe at other Pokémon, but it can be used to grab things too."
"I see." I turned to my Pokémon and continued, overly thrilled: "Snivy! That's great! You learned a Grass-type move! And you pulled off that combo that I---we...were going for!"
"And," Dawn added. "That hit was a Critical Hit."
I paused. "A what?"
"It's when you time and angle a Move so perfectly that the maximum damage is done. I can count on two hands how many times I've pulled one off, but Snivy did it like it was natural."
"Really?" I responded, still focused on my partner. "Snivy, that's awesome!"
It simply shrugged, laying its arms out perpendicular to itself.
"Seems like Snivy isn't impressed," Dawn said, laughing. "Either it's too modest or too overconfident. I think it's overconfidence though, to be honest."
"Yeah well, it should be proud." I reversed the energy from the Super Leaf, sending it back to my hand and returning it to its Leaf state; the raccoon ears and tail left with it. Stuffing it in my pocket, I continued:
"If you've been Pokémon Training since you were 10, and you've only gotten a handful of Critical Hits during those five or six years, then that has to mean Snivy is extremely good at this, right?"
"Five or six?" Dawn asked, perplexed. "I have been Training since I was ten and all, but...I'm 14."
"14?" I leaned back. "You su---well of course you're sure. But...you...look older than that."
"Older? How old did you think I was?"
"Oh I don't know...15 or 16. Maybe 17, though I think 18 would be pushing it a bit."
She folded her arms. "What makes you think I could be 17!? I'm shorter than you!"
"I know. But..." I immediately realized I couldn't safely answer this question. "Just...take it as a compliment. It is one, just so you know."
"Well you've got a weird definition of a 'compliment.'"
"Look, you just look older than you are. But isn't that a good thing at your age?"
"No! Why would it be!?"
"Oh boy," I sighed, placing my hand over my face. "Alright, can we just---"
The electronic doors suddenly slid open; Dawn and I paused to face them, wondering who could have activated them. We both stepped back to let the individuals walk out.
***
Three people stood in the doorway -- Ash, Iris, and Cilan. All three of them immediately greeted the two of us with Dawn's name, with Ash being the first. Dawn then stated the three's names, and the four of them -- as well as, presumably, Pikachu, Piplup, and Axew -- exchanged friendly "How are you's," confirming after each that they were fine and well. Ash excitedly held his hand and arm up above his head, and Dawn met up her hand with his, high-fiving him, as if rehearsed. Moments later, Dawn turned to me and explained who the people were, thankfully seeming to have forgotten the insult:
She relayed how she traveled through the Sinnoh region with Ash shortly after she turned 10. She'd met Cilan and Iris a few weeks earlier than now after arriving at the Unova League to see Ash's progress in person, yet she had arrived late and only got to be with them for a few days. The three of them then flew by plane straight to an airport near Nuvema Town, while Dawn stayed at a friend's beachfront villa for a week before flying to her home in Sinnoh. It was then that she decided to travel back to Unova to go on a journey there, and so she flew to an airport near Accumula Town two weeks later.
When asked by Iris what the two of us were doing out here, I told her and the others of Snivy's training and how much progress we had made. Cilan insisted that I show him, as did Ash and then Iris.
I nodded and gave Snivy the command calmly; surprisingly, Snivy listened, performing the Vine Whip and Slam combination, only without the Critical Hit. I couldn't have been more pleased; pulling off the combo wasn't a fluke. Snivy's success was real and true.
***
Throughout the rest of the day, Snivy and I -- with the help of the others, especially Dawn -- worked on more usage of Vine Whip, coordinating the move to throw its target in each of four simple directions: Up, Down, Forward, and Back.
I felt incredibly confident that night, more so than ever before with Pokémon Training. My mind rushed through all the different attack combinations I may be able to pull off after this bout of training, and continued to think up new strategies we could work on in the near future. The basics of my own combat training were now set up. Snivy was ready to go into Pokémon battles and start the match as I typically would, with a simple yet effective toss. Thanks solely to Dawn's tail advice and honesty regarding Snivy's weak points, its weaknesses were overcome.
Dawn decided, despite her previous plans to head to Nacrene City, to stay overnight and go with the rest of us to watch my rematch at the Gym the next day. She stayed in the room she'd been staying in, while my group remained in our room. Iris, though, opted to spend the night in Dawn's room to keep her company, as Dawn had an extra bed. Dawn got along well with the group, having already spent months traveling with Ash, and having mingled with Cilan and Iris a mere few weeks before. Dawn already knew the three of them better than she knew me.
Ignoring the questions relating to the voice and Dawn's role in it all, I made sure to get plenty of rest, determined to win when I awoke the next morning.
"Yeah, I am!" I shouted back.
Situated on either side of the field, holding a Poké Ball in one hand, Dawn and I readied ourselves for whatever might come next. I held the Poké Ball in my left hand, and she held hers in her right. From the entrance to the Center's view, I stood on the right of the field, while she waited on the left.
Dawn laid her yellow bag to the left of her, zipping up the pocket which had contained the Poké Ball she was carrying. Adjusting my hat to fit firmly, exhaling subtly, I especially prepared myself. Something about Dawn gave me the sense that she possessed more experience than me; her mentioning of having to "make a choice" as we exited the building did not help matters. This would be far from easy.
The both of us nodding, we threw the devices up, with me saying, "Snivy, come on out!", and Dawn shouting, "Alright then Piplup! Let's go!"
The lightweight spheres opened synchronously, letting out my Snivy and Dawn's Pokémon, Piplup.
With a round head, standing at an inch or two above Snivy's foot-tall height, Piplup clearly resembled a penguin. The top, side, and back of its somewhat shiny head was blue, while most of the rest of its face was white. Its entirely blue eyes, save for the black pupils in them, were oval, as was its short, yellow beak at the center of its face. Above the beak lay a small area of light blue, zigzagging directly into the solid blue at the top of the Pokémon's forehead.
The blue along the side of its head came down around the Pokémon's neck in three dimensions, clustering together into a bubbly shape much like the bottom half of a large bowtie. The same blue also lay along Piplup's back in a thick clump reaching almost to its rear, spiking up partially at the end. Its body was of the same light blue as just above its beak, as were its fingerless flippers. Two white, oval, button-like patterns were on its upper stomach a few inches apart, with the ovals' tips pointing up and down. Its three-toed, two and a half-inch long, skinny, webbed feet were golden yellow.
"A Piplup!" I said excitedly to Dawn. "I know what that is!"
"I'm sure you do!" she responded proudly, closing her eyes. "Piplup is a pretty famous kind of Pokémon."
"I figured."
"Piiip-lllup!" the penguin stated in a rather high-pitched voice, its flippers on its hips.
I knew Piplup from its appearance in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, where it would use Surf, a watery wave that pushes foes off of the screen, defeating them. I smiled, knowing I was at an advantage -- Grass versus Water.
***
"I'll let you make the first move," I told Dawn.
"Right," she nodded. "Piplup!" she shouted, pointing, eyes brimming with anticipation. "Use Bubble Beam!"
"'Bubble' Beam?" I said to myself. "What's that gonna---"
Holding its head back, eyes closed, stating "Piiiiip," Piplup flapped its wings, and then lunged its head and neck forward, opening its beak. From inside its mouth, a light blue glow emanated. A second later, the Pokémon proclaimed "Lup-lup-lup!" and gushed a six-inch wide stream of blue, high-pressure water, with numerous three-inch bubbles either inside the blast or barely clinging to its outside. A repeating "toof-toof-toof" accompanied the beam.
"Well," I said, my left hand under my chin. "She wouldn't use that unless---Snivy! Dodge it!"
Snivy leaped forward with a small amount of rightward movement. The Bubble Beam blasted by, barely missing its target. The water poured onto a foot past where Snivy had stood, laying most of the grass out flat, soaked, with the bubbles popping the moment they made landfall.
"Man," I said under my breath. "That would've been a direct hit." I pointed to Piplup, ready to take control. "Snivy! Use Tackle!"
Snivy raced diagonally leftward and straight toward Piplup, tucking in its head and neck, saying, "Snnniiii..."
The attack landed without Dawn having the chance to give a command, launching Piplup a few feet to the right of her.
"Woah," Dawn whispered, eyeing Piplup. "That's a fast Snivy." She smiled on one side, saying to Piplup, with both her hands in a fist at her side, "Use Drill Peck!"
"Drill Peck?" I responded blankly. "Uhh...Snivy! Slam!"
Snivy leaped up as Piplup's beak glowed white. The penguin rotated counterclockwise, paused, and then practically flew up to where Snivy had jumped to, spinning clockwise violently and yelling "Piiiip-luuuuuup!" The blue blur drew in the surrounding air, causing thin strips of light to swirl from its beak to around the rest of its body, glistening remarkably off of its skin.
Snivy flipped forward, smacking its tail downward, straight into Piplup's beak. The collision produced a stunning white aura around the two and a thrilling whir. A second later, Snivy was sent upward in the direction Piplup jumped to, while Piplup descended at only a slightly higher speed than what would be expected normally. Snivy thumped to the ground and pushed itself back up, while Piplup landed gracefully on its toes.
"Great Piplup!" Dawn stated happily, seeming relieved. "Now! Use Ice Beam!"
"Ice!?" I thought, starting to sweat, and continued thinking. "No, that's strong against a Grass-type...I don't know what 'Ice Beam' is, but if it's a 'beam'...wait!" I pointed to Piplup, telling Snivy, "Use Leer!"
Piplup had its head held back, ready to fire the beam. Snivy's glowing red eyes reached the penguin immediately, covering Piplup in red light momentarily, halting the attack.
"Yes!" I shouted. "Now, use Slam!"
Snivy lunged up, and immediately, I regretted my command. "Wait...isn't that what I did with Chi---Oh no!"
Once Snivy reached the height of its jump, Dawn told Piplup to forget about using Ice Beam and go with Drill Peck instead. Piplup charged up the move at once, and leaped up to meet Snivy mid-air, rapidly spinning.
"Snivy!" I yelled. "Stop Slam and dodge it, now!"
Snivy had not yet flung its tail out in front, and quickly flipped it sideways, propelling itself to the right. Piplup's move barely clipped Snivy, pushing it away.
Once the two landed, Dawn called out, "Piplup! Use Hydro Pump!"
"Oh man," I said to myself, halting my ability to move. Snivy appeared incapable of dodging. "Snivy! You'll have to block it!"
Snivy held out its arms, readying itself. Piplup drew its flippers together; a liquid, blue circle appeared at chest level, yet unseen from my angle. The penguin proclaimed, "Piiip...LUUUP!!!", blasting an intense, two-foot-wide wall of water, streaming straight to Snivy. The sheer force behind the attack sent Piplup sliding a few feet in the opposite direction.
"Snnniii...VVYY!" the stubby-legged serpent exclaimed, taking the hit, liquid crashing off of it as a waterfall smacks a river. Not even a second passed, and Snivy was launched against a pine tree seven feet to my right. The high-velocity water soon subsided, leaving a drenched Snivy as it descended, watering the tree.
"Alright Piplup!" Dawn proclaimed. "Use---"
"Wait Dawn!" I cut in, gesturing to my Pokémon with my right arm. "That's enough."
Dawn glanced over at Snivy. "Oh...I see."
I nodded, pulling out a Poké Ball. "Go on and get some rest Snivy. Return." A thin beam of the same hue as Snivy's Leer shot out and retracted into the Ball, pulling the defeated Snivy with it. Dawn, in the corner of my vision, began walking with Piplup at her side, over to me.
***
"I'm surprised I won," Dawn stated when she and Piplup reached within a few feet of me, halting.
"I'm not," I answered frankly.
"Really?" She raised an eyebrow. "But...wait, why didn't you use any Grass-type moves? You knew what Piplup is and all, so...how come?"
"Because it doesn't know any."
"What?" she gasped. "It doesn't?" Dawn stopped talking for a moment and ever-so-slightly squinted her eyes at me. "How long have you had Snivy?"
"About a week," I answered plainly.
"A week!?" she flinched. "Well...you must have just been testing out a new strategy or something."
"No," I told her. "It was just like any other battle. But..." I paused, eyeing Piplup for a moment. "Why...do you sound like I'm experienced with this? It's like you expect me to be really good with battling or something..."
"Well, you are, aren't you?"
"Nope," I laughed, situating my hat to sit tight. "Not with Pokémon anyway. I just starting Pokémon Training a week ago."
"WHAT!?" she gasped again. "But I thought...I mean, you seemed so confident in what you were doing. You sure you haven't done this before?"
"Well, I've been around some people who have a lot more experience than me, but..." I glanced down and away for a few seconds, looking back to Dawn as I continued. "I really haven't spent much time with all this -- at least, not as much as you seem to think."
"Well..." She paused. "I'm surprised. I thought for sure you'd battled with Pokémon a lot by now. And...with your...skills..." she looked quietly to the side for a second or two. "I assumed Snivy would have picked up some from you, and it seems like it did. That's why I'm surprised that I won."
Eyebrows lowering slightly, I replied, "You think Snivy has learned some fighting skills from me?"
She nodded, humming, "Mm-hmm."
"But...I haven't trained it like that yet. That's actually what my plans were for today -- to come up with a way to combine my...skills...with Snivy's."
"Oh." Dawn gazed up at the trees to the left of her, right of me. The pines swayed slowly in a sudden gentle breeze; a spiked, brown pinecone was overtaken, and fell to the ground a couple yards from us. Dawn smiled as she viewed the early-morning, purely blue sky, and then gasped briefly; she fixed her focus back on me.
"You know," she said in thought, trailing off. "I might be able to help you with that."
"With what?"
"With training Snivy." She smiled, barely leaning in, hands held together behind her. "You want to bring out its unique skills and personality right?"
My eyes moved left and out of focus with Dawn. "Well I don't know about 'personality,' but...its abilities, yeah."
"Then that's just what I'll do."
I leaned back, almost ready to laugh. "You have combat skills like I do?"
Dawn smiled, closing her eyes. "Eheheh...not...exactly." Her eyes opened. "But...bringing out a Pokémon's special qualities is what I've been doing for years. It's..." Dawn paused, and quietly continued, her hands between her legs. "It's...sorta...one of my skills, I guess."
"Hmm..." I said, looking down and away, nodding. "I see. Well that makes sense. You seem to be a lot more experienced than me."
"Yeah," she smiled. "Just a little." Dawn glanced up momentarily, her right index finger laying along her chin. "But first," she said, removing her finger. "You'll have to tell me how you...well...fight and all. If you want me to help that is."
I inhaled briefly, without opening my mouth. "Ohhh-kay," I responded, retreating my neck slightly. "I'd rather not."
She tilted her head sideways, now having a blank expression instead of a happy one. "How come?"
"It's...complicated."
"Well your fighting style couldn't be that---"
"Dawn, please," I cut in.
She frowned. "What's wrong?" Piplup, staring up at me, essentially asked the same question, saying, "Pip-lup pip?"
I folded my arms, sighing. "Look, I just...don't like talking about it. Or the SBL thing. It's a long story."
"Hmm..." Dawn's mouth shifted to the side as she gazed at the ground. "Well, if you really don't want to say why, I understand."
I nodded. "Thanks."
"But..." She frowned again. "It's gonna be harder to help you with Snivy if I don't have anything to go by."
"Well you don't have to help me," I told her. "I'm sure the people I'm with can handle it."
"No," Dawn spoke swiftly. "I want to help. I did kinda...ruin your morning."
"Wha---no, you didn't ruin my morning," I said, unfolding my arms, my head leaning back. "It's probably the least boring morning I've had so far. Except for...when I got my Snivy, of course. It's hard to beat that."
"Yeah," she said, smiling again. "I know what you mean."
A short time later, I remembered that my Snivy could use some rest inside the Center, and told Dawn we'd have to wait for the training. She agreed, and the four of us walked back inside. I handed the Pokémon with its Poké Ball to Nurse Joy, while Dawn decided to give Piplup to her as well, despite it not having taken much damage before, with Dawn's reasoning being, "Just in case." We each sat in the same booth as earlier and waited.
***
We remained speechless in the booth for a good minute. I asked Dawn what time her wristwatch said -- 8:30. Ash and the others would likely get up within an hour.
"So," Dawn said shortly after revealing the time. "Do you have any ideas about how you're going to train Snivy?"
"Well," I answered, staring at the table. "The first thing I want to do is strengthen its arms and legs. I can't train it the way I want to without doing that."
"Umm..." Dawn frowned. "You know, Snivy's final evolved form doesn't have arms or legs."
"It doesn't!?" I leaned backward into the booth. "Well that's gonna be a problem."
"Yep," she smiled. "But...what about its tail?"
"What about it?"
"Snivy keeps its tail throughout both of its evolved forms. You should focus on that, especially with its move Slam and all."
"Except I...don't have a tail."
"So?"
"So I can't do things the way I want to. I want to perform the motions that I want Snivy to do and it'll copy them. That's how I was trained to do what I do."
"Wait..." Dawn trailed off. "Who trained you, anyway?"
"Mario and Luigi."
Dawn gasped, clasping her seat, situating herself to sit firmly. "WHAT!?"
"Oh---" I held out my hands. "Don't freak out. It's not that crazy." I looked up and to the left, my eyes half-shut. "Wait...what am I saying? Of course it's crazy. But..." I fixed my focus on Dawn. "Let's get to that later, okay? Back to Snivy."
"'Kay," she answered, sighing, calming down. "So you want Snivy to imitate what you do?"
"Uh-huh," I said, nodding. "But I can't exactly grow a tail on command."
"Yeah," she laughed. "I don't think anyone can do that."
"Heh, no," I smiled. "No one can, that I know o---Wait!" I grinned. "I actually can!"
"Huh?" Dawn asked, retreating into her booth.
"Yeah, hold up a second."
Reaching into my right pocket, I dug for the inch-wide treasure chest and removed it from its place. After unminimizing it, I set it on the table. Had Dawn the strength for it, her reaction would easily have flipped her booth on its back.
Dawn's eyes wider than her beanie, she barely managed to begin speaking, yet practically yelled her response. "Wha---how---where did that come from!?"
"See?" I showed her the light-blue object in my right hand. "A Mini Mushroom. It makes people and objects shrink down to a fraction of what they normally are."
"You...you've had all that in your pocket the whole time?"
"Yep. The chest has something which will fix the tail problem."
I snapped open the lock and opened the chest, standing up and leaning over the table. I buried my left arm into the container, feeling around through the cluster of objects and power-ups of varying sizes, textures, and colors.
Dawn tried to get up and look inside, but I pulled the container away, saying, "Ah-ah-ahh. All that I got in here is a secret for now." Dawn returned to her seat, frowning.
"Ahh-hah!" I proclaimed. "I found one!"
"Found what?" she asked.
I pulled the object out, unshrinking it and letting its little blue Mushroom plop into the container. I held it crumpled in my hand as I re-shrunk the chest and returned it to my pocket.
"This," I told Dawn, who now stared with curious eyes at my left hand, "is it."
I opened the hand, letting the object unfold itself, returning to its natural shape. It was a palm-sized, brown leaf, with two vertical, rectangular eyes at its center and two wide, lighter-shaded brown stripes that ran horizontally in a form much like an open paperback book. At the top-left corner of the leaf, a circular hole remained, giving it the false appearance that an insect had chewed on it.
Dawn gasped. "Isn't that a..."
"Yep," I cut in. "It's a Super Leaf. Once you absorb its power, it'll give you raccoon ears and a tail." I leaned in. "That tail is much stronger than the games it appears in would make you think -- if you've ever played them that is, and...yeah, you probably haven't."
"How would you know?" Dawn asked, folding her arms.
"Well...have you?"
She flinched abruptly and held up her hands, eyes closed. "Well, n-no, I haven't."
"Huh?" I thought, my eyes squinting. I didn't even need my specialized training to tell me she was lying. I continued thinking: "What's that about?"
"So," Dawn interrupted my thoughts. "That...Super Leaf...it'll give you a tail?"
"Yeah," I said plainly. "Once Snivy is healed, I'll show you."
"Cool." She put her hands down at her side. "But...that could take a while."
"True..." I stuffed the Leaf into my left pocket, keeping it completely separate from my 3DS and the treasure chest.
After a moment, Dawn perked up. "I know, how about we each go back to our rooms and then meet up in an hour or so?"
"Well..." I paused, deep in thought, regretful. "Hold on. I don't want to take away from...didn't you say you were going somewhere earlier?"
"Nah," she shook her head. "It can wait. I have some things I need to take care of in my room anyway." Dawn grabbed her bag with her left hand, ready to get up. She halted before standing, and turned to me in her seat. "I'm sorry about that...thing with your 'abilities' and all. I didn't know that would bother you."
"It's fine," I answered, sighing. I found myself suddenly lost in brutal, relentless memories. Dawn seemed to pick up on this, as she then asked if I was alright.
With another, deeper sigh, I continued, unsure to some extent if what I was saying was coming from me. "I just...three months ago, I hurt a good amount of the people close to me -- physically hurt them. Something...from a long, long time ago...'forced' me to do it, and Mario and Luigi said it wasn't my fault. Everyone did. But...even if that's true...I couldn't have hurt them if I didn't have the abilities I did. That's why I hate talking about my abilities -- and the SBL tournament. What I can do...it...scares me."
Dawn froze, a concerned expression on her face. "I...had no idea."
I blinked twice, shaking my head. Looking back at Dawn, my eyes opened fully. "Why," I asked, "did I just tell you that?"
"Umm..." Dawn paused. "Were you not...supposed to?"
I placed my left hand over my forehead, running my fingers through the small amount of hair that protruded from my hat. Gazing down at the table, I told Dawn: "I...I've never told anyone about that! No one! I mean, I didn't tell you all the details, but...me being afraid of what I can do...and my past......that......I've never told anyone! Not even my own parents!"
"Woah," Dawn responded. "Do you...want me to forget I heard it, or..."
"No," I said quickly, "don't. I'm sure there's a reason why I did that. Even though I have no clue what."
She smiled, glancing down in regret. "Well, sorry about that." She looked rightward and observed the vacant lobby for a moment. "I'm gonna go back to my room now. Snivy and Piplup should be healed by the time ten o'clock rolls around -- eleven at the latest."
Dawn stood up, exited the booth, and strapped on her bag. She said to me, "See you soon," and left.
***
I could not say anything in return. She was gone, out of my sights, and now I was alone again. I began thinking out loud about what just happened; all manner of calm and peace left me.
Among my spoken thoughts, I stated: "What just happened? Why did I tell her what I told her? I don't even like thinking about that, let alone talking about it! Who...is she?"
I instantly reminded myself: "The voice! The voice in my dreams!" I quieted my own voice to a low level in case someone came near the lobby. "It woke me up...earlier in the morning than I have gotten up in months -- at sunrise. And---"
My entire body refused to move. "The voice...it got me up at 'dawn'! To meet someone! And that's Dawn right?"
It couldn't be a coincidence. I never get up that early unless it's some kind of crisis or I have somewhere important to be. I knew I must find out who or what caused this voice, though I had no clue where to begin.
Unable to answer myself, I left and went through the hallway Dawn had disappeared into minutes before and jogged up the spiral staircase around the corner, opening up a wooden door once I reached the top. I turned left and continued to the end of the 40 foot hallway, reaching the far left side of the second floor, finding a window along the wall straight ahead. At my right, the room my friends and I had been staying in awaited me: Room 102.
I used the plastic card key I kept in my left pocket and turned the silver, shining knob. Opening the door cautiously, tiptoeing in, I made my way silently in between the first pair of perpendicular beds, and turned right, heading straight into the open door that led to the bathroom. I shut the door without looking at it, yet still with undetectable silence. I flipped on the bathroom light and the considerably loud ceiling vent, so as to not be heard.
Sitting along the edge of the bathtub, sneakered feet tapping on the floor, fingers quietly rattling the outer wall of the hollow, white structure, I thought aloud in a low, soft tone. A solitary place to think, and sometimes the best.
Half an hour passed as I sat there, and still, no answer -- not to where the voice came from, not to who Dawn was, and not to what it all meant. Restless, confused, and unnerved, I decided to return to the lobby, hoping for some sliver of peace to reside there.
***
My eyes were closed and my arms were folded; I remained leaning against the lobby's counter.
Someone found me and said, "Oh, hey."
I opened my eyes and turned. Dawn stood left of me, having come from the same hallway we had been commuting through. "Oh, hey Dawn. What're you doing here?"
"Nurse Joy told me over the intercom that Piplup was healed."
Just then, the Nintendo logo door behind the counter opened. Nurse Joy paraded though with Piplup in her arms, stating, "Dawn, I'm happy to report that your Piplup is just fine now."
"Thank you," Dawn replied, reaching for Piplup. She carried Piplup by its underarms overtop the counter, and held it in the same manner at chest level, pressed gently against herself like a stuffed animal.
"How's Snivy?" I asked the nurse.
"It'll be ready to go in a few minutes," Joy answered.
"Right," I nodded. "Thanks."
"No need to worry then," Dawn said, facing me. "You can start your training real soon."
"Yeah, I can."
Joy smiled and said, "Alright, well, I should get back to what I was doing." Joy turned away and promptly left through the door, which swayed to and fro for a brief moment.
After a few seconds, Dawn started to speak, yet I cut her off, holding my hands up. "Dawn, wait. Could we...sit down again?"
She paused. "Umm...sure."
***
"Listen, Dawn," I began, the three of us already positioned in our seats; Piplup sat comfortably in Dawn's lap, mostly unseen from my view. "You don't have to answer this, 'cause we just met and all, but..." I squinted my eyes slightly. "Who...exactly...are you?"
She looked around aimlessly. "Umm...Dawn."
"Wha---" I sighed. "I know that. But...I mean...what is it that you do? Are you just a Trainer, or..."
"Oh," she answered. "I'm a Coordinator."
"A...so you're a Trainer?"
"Nooo..." She tilted her head to her right side. "A Coordinator."
"Right," I nodded. "You coordinate your Pokémon, so you're a Trainer."
"No, I---" Dawn frowned. "A Pokémon Coordinator is different from a regular Trainer."
I paused. "So...you're a choreographer for Pokémon?"
She gave me a curious, inspecting look. "No...do you not know what a Coordinator is?"
"Heh," I smiled. "Nope."
"Wha---" she leaned in. "How!?"
"Well I'm not exactly from around here, for one thing."
Dawn folded her arms together, staring analytically at me. "Well...Unova is one of the least Coordinator-driven regions in the world...but if you're not from here...ah!" She snapped her right fingers and pointed at me without moving her arm, which now had its elbow resting on the table. "You're from Kanto!"
"Nope, not Kanto." I smiled; I knew where this was heading.
Dawn paused and squinted, saying, "Kalos?"
"Nope. The only regions I know of are the ones you just mentioned."
"Wha---HUH!?" She smacked her right hand abruptly on the table. "Then...you don't know what Hoenn is!? Or Johto!?"
"Nope."
"Wait...you must know about Sinnoh, right?"
"Nope, no clue."
Dawn ceased all manner of motion and signs of activity with her. Piplup hopped up onto the table and exclaimed, "Piplup-pip LUP!?"
"Should I?" I asked, laughing momentarily at the penguin.
"Yes!" she yelled, and then quieted down slightly. "Of course you should! It's not out of the way like Unova, and it's certainly not as quiet as Kanto! And plus...I'm from there."
"Well," I laughed, "sorry. Never heard of it."
"Then..." she calmed down. "Where are you from?"
"Heh," I grinned. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you."
Dawn glanced up and right, looked at Piplup for a second, and focused back on me, saying, "Are you from...the Orange Islands?"
"Nope."
"The Decalore Islands?"
"Nope."
"'One,' 'Two,' or 'Three' Islands?"
"Nope. Are those even real names?"
"Yes," she frowned, "they are. Is it...an unincorporated island?"
"Nope, it's not an island."
Dawn sank into her booth while Piplup stared blankly at me. "Are...you messing with me?"
"No."
Her eyes zeroed in. "Well...either you're a really good liar, or...I give up."
"No," I laughed. "Trust me, I'm a terrible liar."
"Then...where?"
"Okay, since you tried so hard...I'll tell you."
I leaned forward, pausing momentarily to build up Dawn's suspense.
"I'm from......the Real World."
Piplup, startled, fell back into Dawn's lap, while Dawn jerked so much that her white beanie tumbled off her head and onto Piplup's, covering the Pokémon's face almost entirely. "What!?" she exclaimed, picking up the hat. "You're from...Earth!?"
"Yep. Weird right?"
Dawn placed the hat back on top of her dark blue hair. Fixating it carefully with both hands, she said, "That's...so cool!"
"Cool?" I leaned back into my booth. "What's so great about it?"
"I've always wanted to go there," Dawn stated, sighing, gazing upward.
"Why? The overall crime rate there is like five times what it is here. And the people can be absolute jerks a lot of times."
"People can be like that here too, you know. Ever met Team Rocket?"
I sighed. "Unfortunately, yes. But they're only two people. And besides -- for someone like you -- there's no Pokémon there."
"I know." She petted Piplup's head gently as she continued, keeping her focus on it. "But...there's so many different cultures there, and plenty of people I haven't met. And so much history there, too."
My eyes widened. "You like history stuff?"
Dawn nodded, humming, "Mm-hmm."
"So do I!"
"Really?" She perked up.
"Yeah. Although, I haven't studied that stuff in a while, so I might not be the best source of Real World history. I'll have to get you to talk to my dad soon. He's a history professor."
"Oh, cool! I'd love to!"
"I figured. So, what does your da---"
Just then, the "Bl-dum, dum, duhdum dum!" theme played over the lobby's intercom.
"Oh, your Snivy must be ready," Dawn stated.
"Right," I nodded as Dawn took hold of Piplup. "Let's go."
Nurse Joy walked in through the door in a timely, almost systematic fashion, perfectly on cue with our arrival at the desk. She handed me my Snivy inside its Poké Ball, I thanked her, and the four of us left for the backyard. I was surprised to not see Ash and the others up yet, yet I didn't really care. I had trained with them many times before, and this new way of training wouldn't even need them.
I figured one time without those three wouldn't be much of an issue.
***
I stood in the middle of the field, holding the Super Leaf in my right hand while holding a Poké Ball in the other. I called out Snivy and hid the Ball away in my pocket. Turning around to face Dawn, who stood near the entrance, still holding Piplup in place, I held out the Leaf in my hand, presenting it to her.
"Here we go," I told her. "Now..." My eyes shut partially. "This might look a little ridiculous."
Dawn nodded, half smiling. Piplup watched in silence.
I closed my eyes completely, curling my right fingers in. Intense energy, small spurts of wind, and a faint presence of smoke surrounded the hand and its enclosed Leaf. In seconds, the Super Leaf absorbed into the palm of the hand, rushing through my arm and the rest of my body at once, thrashing in all directions, empowering and stimulating my mind, body, and soul in an effortless few seconds. The Leaf now entirely inside me, a pillar of smoke billowed instantly from my feet to my head, blocking Dawn's view of me for a split second, being accompanied by an abrupt purr and a "Brddwling-Brddwliing-Brddwliiing!" The smoke cleared as quickly as it came.
With me facing Dawn directly, I now had a brown, raccoon-like ear jutting out of either side of my hat, yet without ripping a hole in it, since the ears mended together with the hat perfectly. The rim and back of each ear was light brown, while the inner ear was dark brown.
Dawn's eyes remained opened wide. I turned left 90 degrees, letting Dawn see the true highlight of the Leaf. In the same clothing-friendly, holeless fashion as the raccoon ears, a bushy, six-inch wide, dark and light brown-striped tail jutted from my tailbone, reaching over a foot in length.
Dawn hid her mouth with her right hand and turned leftward, shielding her expression partially.
I folded my arms. "Go ahead, laugh. You deserve it."
Dawn immediately broke into giggles that occasionally snapped free of her mouth in spurts of regular laughter. She'd periodically glance over at me and then retreat to her somewhat concealed position. "I'm...sorry," she said, trying yet failing to contain herself. "It's just...I know...what that Power-up...does and all, but...seeing it...in person like this..."
Piplup laughed along with her, slapping its flippers along Dawn's arms and exclaiming, "Pip-lu-hi-hi-hip-luuup!"
"I know what you mean," I said, laughing with them. "I felt the same way the first time around. You'll get used to it."
"I...hope so," Dawn said, barely withholding herself.
I rotated rightward, a sudden cackling grabbing my attention. "Sni-vy sni-sni-hi-hi-vy Snivy!"
Snivy rocked back and forth on its curved back with its arms along its stomach. It continuously laughed and carried on, relentlessly mocking and occasionally pointing at my tail.
"Oh," I said to Snivy, arms still folded. "You think that's funny do ya?"
Dawn continued to giggle. "I...hear ya Snivy."
Snivy persistently laughed, stating its name in random sequence and rocking endlessly in place.
I turned back to face left and perpendicular to Dawn, giving all three of them a perfect view of the laughable sight. I wagged the tail, causing a lighter-toned purr than the transformation's. The two of them roared further, with Dawn removing her hand in complete laughter, bending herself down, nearly dropping Piplup, and Snivy doubling in volume.
"Eheh," I smiled, eyes closed. "I'm glad you three are enjoying this..."
A few seconds later, Dawn took in a deep breath and stood straight, now grinning with only a giggle here and there. Her face had reddened from laughing so hard.
"Well," I said to Dawn, "I guess this makes up for what happened when we were eating."
"Mm-hmm," she nodded, breathing some more. "The battle...was enough, but...this...more than makes up for it."
Arms still folded, I sighed, stating, "Well at least I did something right."
A moment later, Dawn finally simmered down; Piplup soon followed through with Dawn, but Snivy remained the same.
"Snivy," I stated, turning to it. "I think you've made your point."
It didn't listen.
"Look, Snivy, I know you want to get stronger, so...you're not going to get anywhere if you keep carrying on like that."
Snivy opened an eye as it rocked; it did calm down and quit laughing, yet made sure to take in a few more moments of the sight first.
--As if it had not seen a tail before.
***
"So..." I broke the silence. "Snivy, should we get started?"
It nodded.
"How are you going to start?" Dawn asked.
"Well..." I paused, left hand on my chin. "I......don't...wait! I know!"
Within ten seconds, I pulled out the treasure chest, unshrunk and opened it, removed an object from it, unshrunk that object, closed the chest, and returned it to my pocket. I only removed the top half of the object's Mini Mushroom, leaving the beige stump inside the object. The object I selected was a white sandbag with two black, horizontally thin eyes in the middle of it on one side, standing at just over Piplup's height. I let it stand on the ground right of me, and directly between Dawn and Snivy.
Dawn leaned back. "Isn't that..."
"You know what it is?" I asked her, in complete disbelief.
She flinched, holding up her hands. "Uhh---no, of course not."
My eyebrows lowered. "But you...okay..." Another lie. She knew exactly what it was, somehow. I continued, choosing to ignore it for now. "Well, it's a Sandbag from the Smash Bros. series -- ever since Melee. But since I only removed the top half of the Mini Mushroom, it's much smaller than what it would be.
"With this, Snivy and I can practice together and not put anyone in any sort of danger. And unlike in the games, it can be grabbed, which," I turned to Snivy, continuing, "will come in handy."
I then explained to Snivy how I wanted to start, and, carrying the Bag over to the center of the field and beyond where Snivy sat, I demonstrated the plan:
"Now, Snivy, watch closely."
Snatching up the Bag, holding it at eye level, I threw it upward 15 feet, with just enough forward motion to make it move five feet horizontally. I then leaped up and slightly forward, front-flipping once I came close to reaching the Bag. Coordinating my tail with my swing, moving my knees toward my chest, I smacked the Bag straight down with the tail, and while my back was now parallel to the grassy ground, the tail pointed below, directly to the Bag. The momentum at once positioned my feet to face the ground, and I wagged the tail behind me repeatedly, suspending me in the air with its Mushroom World powers and preventing any more forward flipping. I soon ceased wagging and landed softly.
I faced Snivy. "Now---"
"Woah," Dawn spoke up, making me face her. "Nice...jump."
"Uh---thanks," I answered, turning back to Snivy. "Now...you think you can do that, Snivy? With Slam I mean?"
It nodded, stating its name firmly. Snivy dashed toward Dawn and me, grabbed the Sandbag from behind, and threw it upward, proceeding to attack it as I did. Snivy flipped itself forward, bent on smacking the object down with full force, but flew overtop and past the Bag, landing shortly after the Bag did.
"Okay, Snivy. Try and throw it a bit higher this time."
Snivy nodded once more, and performed the same combination as before. It missed again, with the Bag barely being thrown farther.
"Try it again."
Snivy tried; no luck. Without me giving any commands, Snivy tried an additional three times. A total of six attempts, all complete misses.
"Hang on Snivy," I said, holding out a hand. "That's enough."
Snivy paused and stared down the Sandbag as I placed my left hand on my chin.
"Maybe it's too heavy," Dawn spoke up. "Snivy's arms aren't very big."
"No," I answered. "It shouldn't be. At that height, the Sandbag isn't much heavier than Piplup. Though..." I looked down, eyeing the blades of grass sway slowly in a sudden breeze. "If it can't get the Sandbag up high enough, you're probably right. Its arms are a bit thin. Maybe...too thin for this combination."
"And then," Dawn continued, "you have to think about what you'll do when it evolves fully. Its final form won't be able to use arms anyway."
"Right," I said firmly. "It's definitely fast enough to get in close to start this, but if it can't finish it, then..." I sighed, passively continuing. "This combo might not work out."
"Yeah," Dawn agreed, nodding subtly, "you might have to try something else. I don't think Snivy can handle it."
Snivy immediately turned and glared sharply at Dawn. It darted straight to her, and before I could stop it, jumped up and slapped Dawn in the face with both arms, creating a red line on both of her cheeks, causing her to yell "Hey---OWW!" and bend down slightly, her eyes closed, gritting her teeth. Piplup hopped out of her arms and onto the ground, waving its flippers erratically, shouting, "Pip-lup piplup pip-pip-lup piiip-lup!"
I rushed over to her. "Dawn," I said quickly, "you okay?"
"Uh...huh." She opened her eyes and stood straight, though bit her bottom lip.
"You sure?"
"Mm...hmm."
I exhaled deeply without opening my mouth, and faced Snivy, glaring back at it. "What was that for!?"
Snivy folded its arms and turned its head away from the three of us.
"Snivy, apologize!"
It grunted, stating, "Snnni," tightening its folded arms.
"What's your deal? She was just telling the truth! You're not a Pokémon that's made for throwing things like that. We can work on a different combination." I paused, glancing up. "What if you could use Tackle to launch the Sandbag up and then use Slam afterward?"
Snivy turned its head and neck to face me and flashed its eyes wickedly; I almost mistook the motion for Leer, yet soon realized it wasn't.
Dawn smiled, eyes closed. "Eheh, I guess the truth really does hurt."
"Uhh...was that a joke?" I asked.
She shrugged.
"Heh," I responded, laughing. "Good one. But..." I returned my attention to Snivy. "Even if a decent portion of what I do comes from what you just tried, we don't need it. There are plenty of other fighting styles we could---"
Snivy rotated fully to face me, shot another hateful look, and turned back to the Sandbag. With a shouting of "Snniii," the Pokémon released a forest green, half-inch-thick vine from either shoulder, and stretched the vines out to reach the Bag some ten feet away. The vines swiftly wrapped around the immobile object and at once suspended it a foot off of the ground. Snivy proclaimed "Vvvyyy!" and threw the entangled Bag upward an impressive distance, unraveling the vines simultaneously. It leaped up, retracting the vines completely and flipping forward. With sheer precision, force, and a drawn out exclamation of its name, Snivy smacked the Bag straight down with its tail held out in front, creating a four-pointed star-shaped glow at the impact point. The Bag crashed, grass flattening, dirt expelling, and fell over, laying on its fake, apologetic eyes.
Initially speechless, I slowly managed to speak. "Wha...what was that?"
"Th...That," Dawn answered barely, "was Vine Whip."
"Vine---" My hand moved to my chin. "Isn't that a Grass-type move?"
"Sure is," she nodded. "Normally it's just used to swipe at other Pokémon, but it can be used to grab things too."
"I see." I turned to my Pokémon and continued, overly thrilled: "Snivy! That's great! You learned a Grass-type move! And you pulled off that combo that I---we...were going for!"
"And," Dawn added. "That hit was a Critical Hit."
I paused. "A what?"
"It's when you time and angle a Move so perfectly that the maximum damage is done. I can count on two hands how many times I've pulled one off, but Snivy did it like it was natural."
"Really?" I responded, still focused on my partner. "Snivy, that's awesome!"
It simply shrugged, laying its arms out perpendicular to itself.
"Seems like Snivy isn't impressed," Dawn said, laughing. "Either it's too modest or too overconfident. I think it's overconfidence though, to be honest."
"Yeah well, it should be proud." I reversed the energy from the Super Leaf, sending it back to my hand and returning it to its Leaf state; the raccoon ears and tail left with it. Stuffing it in my pocket, I continued:
"If you've been Pokémon Training since you were 10, and you've only gotten a handful of Critical Hits during those five or six years, then that has to mean Snivy is extremely good at this, right?"
"Five or six?" Dawn asked, perplexed. "I have been Training since I was ten and all, but...I'm 14."
"14?" I leaned back. "You su---well of course you're sure. But...you...look older than that."
"Older? How old did you think I was?"
"Oh I don't know...15 or 16. Maybe 17, though I think 18 would be pushing it a bit."
She folded her arms. "What makes you think I could be 17!? I'm shorter than you!"
"I know. But..." I immediately realized I couldn't safely answer this question. "Just...take it as a compliment. It is one, just so you know."
"Well you've got a weird definition of a 'compliment.'"
"Look, you just look older than you are. But isn't that a good thing at your age?"
"No! Why would it be!?"
"Oh boy," I sighed, placing my hand over my face. "Alright, can we just---"
The electronic doors suddenly slid open; Dawn and I paused to face them, wondering who could have activated them. We both stepped back to let the individuals walk out.
***
Three people stood in the doorway -- Ash, Iris, and Cilan. All three of them immediately greeted the two of us with Dawn's name, with Ash being the first. Dawn then stated the three's names, and the four of them -- as well as, presumably, Pikachu, Piplup, and Axew -- exchanged friendly "How are you's," confirming after each that they were fine and well. Ash excitedly held his hand and arm up above his head, and Dawn met up her hand with his, high-fiving him, as if rehearsed. Moments later, Dawn turned to me and explained who the people were, thankfully seeming to have forgotten the insult:
She relayed how she traveled through the Sinnoh region with Ash shortly after she turned 10. She'd met Cilan and Iris a few weeks earlier than now after arriving at the Unova League to see Ash's progress in person, yet she had arrived late and only got to be with them for a few days. The three of them then flew by plane straight to an airport near Nuvema Town, while Dawn stayed at a friend's beachfront villa for a week before flying to her home in Sinnoh. It was then that she decided to travel back to Unova to go on a journey there, and so she flew to an airport near Accumula Town two weeks later.
When asked by Iris what the two of us were doing out here, I told her and the others of Snivy's training and how much progress we had made. Cilan insisted that I show him, as did Ash and then Iris.
I nodded and gave Snivy the command calmly; surprisingly, Snivy listened, performing the Vine Whip and Slam combination, only without the Critical Hit. I couldn't have been more pleased; pulling off the combo wasn't a fluke. Snivy's success was real and true.
***
Throughout the rest of the day, Snivy and I -- with the help of the others, especially Dawn -- worked on more usage of Vine Whip, coordinating the move to throw its target in each of four simple directions: Up, Down, Forward, and Back.
I felt incredibly confident that night, more so than ever before with Pokémon Training. My mind rushed through all the different attack combinations I may be able to pull off after this bout of training, and continued to think up new strategies we could work on in the near future. The basics of my own combat training were now set up. Snivy was ready to go into Pokémon battles and start the match as I typically would, with a simple yet effective toss. Thanks solely to Dawn's tail advice and honesty regarding Snivy's weak points, its weaknesses were overcome.
Dawn decided, despite her previous plans to head to Nacrene City, to stay overnight and go with the rest of us to watch my rematch at the Gym the next day. She stayed in the room she'd been staying in, while my group remained in our room. Iris, though, opted to spend the night in Dawn's room to keep her company, as Dawn had an extra bed. Dawn got along well with the group, having already spent months traveling with Ash, and having mingled with Cilan and Iris a mere few weeks before. Dawn already knew the three of them better than she knew me.
Ignoring the questions relating to the voice and Dawn's role in it all, I made sure to get plenty of rest, determined to win when I awoke the next morning.
Big thing to note: the prologue has received a major overhaul -- divides the Word page length by four (from 16 to 4), and improves on stylistic issues. Chapter 1 got some similar changes; 2-5 will as well, though I'm focusing on 11 right now.
Oh and, due to a mathematical error (long story), the new prologue shows Timothy's actual current age - 15.
@Garren;
I'd been wanting to shorten the prologue since it definitely needed it, and pretty much everything you said fixed that for me. Thanks! I'm not 14 or 15 though -- 17. I did start this story way back in 7th grade, but it's nothing like it used to be.
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