Brave’s muscle’s quivered with tension as he exchanged blows with an opponent for the first time in years. After a foolish blunder had nearly cost Dani everything, the Urshifu had dedicated himself to nothing other than mastering himself, and it showed. His awareness was heightened to the max, and each strike was delivered with calmness and precision, perfectly weighed and calculated. Despite the relatively low level of exertion, sweat dripped from his brow from his efforts. His opponent on the other hand, looked to be half asleep, irritating him. Brave was called to a halt before he could correct this though.
Phweet-phweet! “Demon, I know I couldn’t have just seen you walk right into a punch now could I?”
As Dani’s whistle and following shout rang across the small clearing they were in, Brave stepped back and allowed himself to rise slightly from his stance, letting his muscles loosen and relax. It had taken the Urshifu a long time to break his instinct of standing at the ready whenever battle or sparring was remotely at hand, but he eventually learned to adapt. One on one, hand-to-hand sparring was a staple of the team’s training and each of them had the rules down pat. Physical and close quarter moves only, and when the whistle blows, stop sparring and get loose. Across from Brave, Brute was doing the same, though he noted that his sparring partner was taking the loosening up part a bit further than he himself was, spinning his hairy limbs with great, theatrical movements.
Stretched out throughout the small clearing within the bamboo area, most of Brave’s team, alongside Doc, Riley, and King, were squared off in two parallel rows. Further down the row, while he was paired off with Brute, Shogun and King, Doc and Wrath, and Riley and Rooster were also paired together and were now standing at rest like himself. Only two at the other end of the line still stood tense as Dani jogged over to them. Saint, the jolly Darmanitan, was bouncing on the balls of his feet, while Demon looked slightly sheepish at Dani’s rhetorical question.
“I didn’t really walk into it Coach,” the Incineroar tried objecting. “I took a punch to make an opening. I couldn’t get through otherwise and you know I’m not gonna drop just from one love tap.”
Their trainer sighed at his words and shook her head. Humans’ brains might rely on a convoluted series of phonetics to understand each other’s speech rather than the much more efficient method of just hearing the meaning behind the sounds like pokemon instinctively could, but Dani had long since gotten the hang of understanding her team. “That’s not the point Demon. Firstly, the only reason you could shrug that hit off so easily is because Saint’s taking it easy on you and sticking to Ice Punch. He’s now going to switch to Power-up Punch. I’m pretty sure you’re going to want to avoid those. Secondly, of course it’s going to be hard to find an opening. Saint’s got the better reach, a smaller profile, and a lower center of gravity. You still need to wait him out. You know how this works. Turn up the heat to make him uncomfortable, bait him into a swing, and then pounce. No need to get impatient and take needless hits. That takes us to the third and most important point. Don't get hit. It doesn’t matter if you can take a hit when you can’t be taking ten or twenty hits.”
Turning to face the rest of the gathered pokemon, Dani made eye contact with each of them and projected her voice out to all of them “Listen guys. This tournament we’re getting ready for is going to be the definition of a grueling stamina test. Each and every battle is going to be a slog against tough opponents. You absolutely cannot be taking hits you don’t need to just because you’re chomping for the knockout. On my guys’ end, I know a lot of it’s my fault. We’ve been playing around with the moppets in Po Town for too long, and I let you slide on some bad habits. I’m sorry for that. King, Riley, Doc, I can tell you three haven’t had the chance to keep it sharp as well. It’s none of your faults, but we’re here to fix that and we’re not stopping until we do… Does anyone have a problem with that?”
Brave shouted in unison with the rest of the gathered pokemon. ““No Coach!””
“Aight then,” she smiled fiercely at their response. Turning towards where a small audience was watching a few meters away, she waved. “Demon and Saint, let’s go over a few more ideas on how to handle these situations. The rest of you, go ahead and take a quick breather. Chansies, if you could help them out?”
“Chansey!” one of them cried as the group of plump, pink pokemon rushed over. As Brave and the rest of the team relaxed further and moved off to the side to give them room, the Chansies started handing out large eggs for them to snack on before happily poking and prodding at some of their limbs. The team’s young recruit, Bancho quickly followed on her little legs, though she seemed more intent on playfully poking Wrath rather than helping. Meanwhile, Dani had reach up to rest a hand on Demon’s broad shoulder to talk with him quietly. Technically, most of the team could probably still hear her with a little effort, but everyone on the team valued their time alone with Dani and respected each other’s privacy when possible.
As Brave steadily munched on his egg and tried not to react to the ticklish feeling of the normal types poking at his ribs, Brute sauntered over to him, his own egg having disappeared with a few sloppy crunches. Slinging an arm over the Urshifu’s shoulder, Brute leaned towards him with a strange smile on his face. “Ay up mi Psyduck! How ye doing?”
“I’m fine,” Brave replied cautiously, shooting the Grimmsnarl a suspicious look out the corner of his eye.
“Oh aye. That was convincing,” Brute laughed at Brave’s reticence, causing Brave to shoot him another look. This was strange and he knew Brute knew so as well. Brave was proud to say that Dani’s team worked together like a well-oiled machine, always putting the success of the group over themselves and always having each other’s backs. Still, that didn’t mean they were all the best of friends, and he and Brute were prime examples of that.
He trusted and respected the Grimmsnarl, sure. The towering part-fairy lived, breathed, and bled for the team’s pride and safety. Insulting or hurting them in any way was nearly guaranteed to result in Brute pummeling the responsible party. In all other ways though, Brave had to admit that he and Brute just didn’t mesh. The Grimmsnarl was just so cavalier about everything. Unlike other teams Brave had met over the years, neither he nor Witch, Dani’s two oldest partners, took an active role in leading the other pokemon on the team, instead leaving team leadership entirely in Dani’s hands. She shouldered the role without complaint, but Brave still couldn’t help but be a little vexed on her behalf.
Baron was practically a hero to Bo’s team, leading the way for them any way he could. His actions inspired them and drove them forward. Even Apollo, for all his gruff attitude on the outside, was practically a Kangaskhan when it came to ensuring that the rest of Carter’s team was happy and healthy, always present and willing to go the extra mile for them. Not a single one of them was able to hide an injury or worry from the observant hound. Neither Witch nor Brute were like that. Except for a few rare exceptions outside the team, the two fairies barely spoke to anyone besides each other and Dani herself. It was like leading the team was anathema to them.
Brave thought Witch might occasionally advise and strategize with Dani, but if she did, she kept it entirely private within the two’s minds. Otherwise, she was simply a quiet specter watching them all. Brute was even worse, in Brave’s opinion. For all his monstrous strength and loud nature when he did choose to speak, Brute only truly seemed to be concerned with Dani and Witch. The occasional gruff comment and exhibiting his namesake violence whenever his teammates were slighted was often the only real proof that he cared.
The rest of the team didn’t seem to mind, accepting the two’s quirks with ease, but for the Urshifu, a Legendary literally born from the unified fighting spirt of the Master Dojo and forged further by Dani’s own fighting spirit, witnessing the two powerful pokemon that could be doing so much more for their team and just not doing so grated on him. He hadn’t always been quiet about it either, frequently trying to get Brute to step up as an example for the others to follow, only to be met by the hairy troll’s incredulous laughter. Brave had learned to coexist over the years, but all said and done, he knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that the Grimmsnarl would never start up an idle conversation with him for no reason.
Brute only seemed to smirk harder at his suspicion though. “Oh, quit yer glaring now. Ye face’ll get stuck like that. I just wanne’ to check in with me favorite wushu bear.”
“…Thank you. I’m fine though.”
“It just be that,” the troll carried on in a seemingly meandering tone. “Dani’s right on about us all needing our edge for this, and you be… how do I put this? Yer swingin like a newborn Togepi playing patty-cake, duck.”
The fighting type’s glare sharpened and he snarled slightly at the insinuation. “It’s called sparring, Brute,” he retorted with forced calm. “Obviously, I’m not striking you at full force.”
“Why not?” Brute asked, his teasing voice finally turning blunt. “Ye can nah beat me even if ye tried, so there’s nah a reason to be punching like a babe. I’d say ye were acting like I was a wee human, but I know ye hit those harder than this.”
Brave snarled at the comment, a phantom pain shooting through his core as though he’d just been slammed through a wall. A myriad of emotions raced through him as he struggled to respond; anger, shame, embarrassment, guilt, all churning together inside him.
“That was a mistake,” he ultimately ground out. “It won’t happen again.”
Smack! Brave whirled as the tendril of hair Brute had used to slap him upside the back of the head with retreated. Before he could retaliate though, Brute started talking. “It was nay a mistake, and it damn well better happen again if it need to.”
Brave nearly jerked back in surprise at the Grimmsnarl’s words, but Brute cut him off before he could say anything. “Look mi Psyduck, what happened back in Ever Grande might have bollocksed the lot of us, but ye did what ye had to do. I would've done even worse myself if I hadn't already been buggered after the battle. So would all the others. Ye were the only one who ever thought ye made a mistake. Afterwards, Dani wanted to give ye time to recenter yourself or whatever, which is why none of us said anything when ye tried practicing that rapid-style fighting nonsense or skipped battles in order to wank under waterfalls or whatever daft malarkey ye got up to. Now though, we’re about to get into some real fights, and ye’ve officially been lapped in the mental health department by Skittles of all people. Enough is enough. It’s time for ye to get back to yer normal, holier-than-thou, but bloody, fucking dangerous self.”
“I…” Brave trailed off. “I honestly didn’t think you cared.”
“I don’t. The rest of the team though,” Brute bluntly replied before waving his hand towards the others. “Well, if they’re going to give it their all, then they need to see their own personal hero standing tall. Sound about right mates?”
In response, a chorus of affirming whoops rose immediately, his teammates apparently having been listening in for some time. Even Demon and Saint hollered encouragingly over by where they stood with Dani. Brave felt himself smiling at his teammates’ cheers of encouragement, a weight he hadn’t even known existed falling off his shoulders. “Thanks Brute.”
“Eh, don’t need any thanks duck, just promise me ye’ll put yer spine into from now on.”
“Alright mate,” Brave nodded. “I promise I’ll do my best to punch your head off next time.”
“That’s all I ask.”
“Hey,” Dani called out to them. “You all good?”
Feeling her love and concern through their bond, Brave smiled even wider. “All good Coach! Brute was just telling me how much he misses doing pile-up push-ups.”
Brute nodded in agreement at first only to double-take at the end. “Oi!”
Dani was already smirking though. “Well why didn’t you just say so bruv? PILE-UUUUP!”
“Don’t ye bloody-” Brute tried to protest, but couldn’t manage to finish before Brave threw himself bodily onto his back, and if Brave’s jump mildly resembled an actual Body Slam, well, Brute had asked for it. Soon, Wrath, Shogun, Saint, and Demon had jumped on after him, pushing a cursing Brute flat to the ground.
“You three as well,” Dani called out, causing Brute to curse even louder. He only stopped once Riley, with King and Doc clinging to the large Golurk’s shoulders, obligingly leaped into the air and crashed down on the pile of pokemon, eliciting several loud groans. “We can’t spend too much time on this though, so go ahead and keep it to just fifty for now, Brute.”
At the very bottom of the pile, Brute let out one last groan before planting his hands on the ground and pushing mightily, hoisting the entire pile up into the air. As he lowered them back down, he turned his head to peer up at Brave. “Ye know I’m going to kick yer panda-lookin arse for this, right?”
“Worth it.”
*
“Now, with your palms open, you will raise your arms towards the heavens as you inhale. Let the world in, then let the world out. Feel the shimmering light, then be the shimmering light.”
Goliath tried hard not to groan as he steadfastly followed the young Chansey’s slow, rhythmic movements, even as he tried to make sense of the mumbo jumbo accompanying it.
“Empty your mind and think of nothing. The words go in and then they go out.”
Oh, apparently he wasn’t supposed to make sense of it.
Around him, the rest of the ancient Tyranitar’s friends and comrades also tried to follow the egg pokemon’s movements to greater or lesser success. Hazard for instance, diligently copied her movements, the Muk’s fluid body contorting without great effort despite the cloudy and crusty crystals that had started to litter his body over the years. Royal, on the other hand, struggled to copy it with her feline body, her steadily whitening fur trembling with effort as she tried. The prickly Persian’s complaints about incompatible body shapes were brushed off though. Apparently she was supposed to follow along within her heart. Goliath had definitely struggled not to laugh at the cat’s bewildered expression after that particular instruction.
“Step forward. Form a ball within your arms. Pass the ball forward, then pull it back. Let the ball expand as you breathe in and collapse as you breathe out. Now step back.”
“Hey, Nightmare,” Jumbo mock-whispered down the line. “My ball was bigger than yours.”
Pfft* “Yeah right,” the Weavile shot back as she started to shimmy back and forth as directed. “You all wish your balls were as big as mine.”
“Ahem,” Chansey coughed pointedly. “I can hear you, you know. Please focus on the exercise. The size of your balls does not matter, only that you put in the effort.”
““That’s what she said.””
Goliath’s hand smacked loudly into his face as the two pokemon chorused in unison. Despite their age, the two of them had never grown out of their crass jokes. How the currently huffing normal type had set herself up for that without realizing it was beyond him. Perhaps he’d just spent too many years with these old geezers and had learned to expect it.
“Open your arms as you rock backwards, then close them as you rock forward. Rotate your body like a waterwheel. Then raise one leg back into the Drapion position. Feel the Drapion, be the Drapion.”
“Quiet now,” Demise huffed off to the side as she slowly raised on leg behind her head. How the Kingambit did that without her back giving out astounded Goliath. Out of all of them, she had kept up with her exercise the most and despite her graying hair, the steel type’s blades still stood straight and sharp as ever. In contrast, his own back was creaking and cracking like an avalanche just waiting to happen. “We need to focus if we are to fight at our best. No matter what the era, defeat is not to be tolerated.”
A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
“Don’t worry,” Jumbo assured her. “We don’t know what defeat means, ain’t that right Old Man?”
“Damn straight. Now pipe down. I’m tryin’ to be the Butterfree,” Keanu answered while pulling back a leg and waving his arms wildly for balance, drawing several smiles from the others. The human could understand his own team as easy as could be, but it had quickly become apparent that he had zero idea what the Chansey was saying.
“Look beyond the world and let go of everything holding you down.”
‘If only it were that easy,’ Goliath mused to himself. Feeling the ache in his legs, the stiffness in his tail, and various chinks in his joints, the Tyranitar felt his age more than ever. It was a strange feeling, being old. Like something that had just slipped sneakily into his life over the past few years. As a powerful rock type with a longer natural lifespan than most other pokemon, he’d always been the oldest member of the team, having been born long before even Keanu’s parents had been, but it hadn’t been until the last few years that he’d really started to feel it. A slowly building weight that seemed to settle over him, determined to make a once indomitable mountain bend.
The others always seemed to take getting older in stride, satisfied to take life a little slower after all the hard work they’d put in over the years. He though, couldn’t help but worry about what it might mean. That for the first time in so long, he might now have the power he needed to protect the place that he called home. That he might finally let down that wild, crazy lass he’d first met so long ago, the first human he'd ever come to love and trust.
[Feel the moon, feel the darkness. Let it burn within you.]
The Chansey’s voice started to fade into the background as he sank into his thoughts. As Goliath’s mind started to drift to the bleak future he had started to imagine though, another spirit reached out to him, one that burned with both a terrible cold and a loving warmth. His head jerking unbidden to the side, Goliath found Keanu watching him. His face was just as lighthearted and peaceful as before, but his eyes had changed.
Despite all the years of difference, they were the same piercing eyes that had looked fearlessly up at a mourning Tyranitar so full of grief and pain that no one else had dared approach, and asked that Tyranitar to join him.
“Quit your worrying Goliath,” he scolded gently, seeming to have read the rock type’s thoughts with ease. “You’ve still got plenty’a fight left in you, and so do the rest of us fossils. I know getting old can seem scary at first, but you'll adapt. Me and the others just adapted to it faster than your thick skull is.”
“The hell? Is that what was up your ass, you old mountain?” Jumbo asked incredulously. “Hey, hey, Demise, you hear that? Goliath is worried we can’t kick around some snot-nosed, soft-as-a-babies-butt brats just cause we’re a little old now.”
Even the typically dour steel type laughed softly at that. “Time can only attack our physical bodies, my friend. It can never weaken our spirits if we do not let it.”
“More like Time is a wimpy little shit that knows to get out of our way if we give it a good enough kick,” Royal chimed in with a snarl, causing several of them to smile. Goliath felt his smile grow most of all.
[Let the darkness grow, let it deepen, let it eclipse all light]
“The important thing,” Jumbo concludes. “Is that you remind yourself what you’re here for. We are Carmine Village’s bloodiest fangs. No matter how much time passes, no matter what tolls our bodies take, we will always rise to the challenge when our home needs us. The seven of us were never meant to go quietly into the night Goliath. We’re either going out with a bang or not at all. To hell with the consequences.”
At those last words, Goliath felt something shift within him, an old fire that he had let dwindle down over the years. It appeared he’d been mistaken about his old friends being content to simply live out their twilight years and Goliath couldn’t be happier to hear it. What the rotund Morpeko was describing, he wanted that. Unbidden, that first conversation he’d shared with Keanu came to mind.
“I know you’re hurt,” The young man with the tiny rodent at his side said. “I know you miss Mahina. Unfortunately, there’s nothing we can do about that. I’ve got no idea how to bring someone back an I’ve got no idea how to make someone stop hurting.”
I roared at him, annoyed that this insignificant spawn would bother me in my grief just to tell me he couldn’t help. His next words stopped me though.
“What I can offer you, the only thing I’ve got to offer anyone really, is a chance to spread that hurt,” he said with eyes that blazed hungrily at sights unseen. “The rest of the world is already fixing for a fight, and Jumbo and I want to show them that they don’t know the meaning of the word. Come with us, and we’ll let you rage and destroy as much of the world as you could want. And hey, maybe at some point, some of the pain will go away, even if it’s just a little bit.”
Remembering those words and what came after, both the times of terrible horror and times of healing comradery, Goliath smiled.
[Witness your foes cower before the darkness]
His friends were right. He might not be what he once was, but he’d be damned if he let that hold him back now that his people needed him again. It was time to do what he did best.
[Listen to their pleas for mercy and do not give it to them]
As his resolve firmed, he could almost feel that heavy weight that had settled over him shift and tremble, slowly falling away like grains of sand.
[Blue Pidgeot, check, check, green, seventy-eight]
His spirit burned and strength seemed to build up in his previously weary limbs. Each movement he made became sharper and with more intent.
[I like my men how I like my coffee, inexpensive and easy to order]
He was Goliath. Ace of Mahina Moon. Bulwark of Keanu Moon. Guardian of Mt. Moon. Terror to all who opposed him.
[Now hop like a Buneary three times.]
He would- ‘Wait, what?’ he thought to himself as he stumbled mid hop, shaking the ground beneath him. Alongside him, several of his companions looked up in confusion as well, only to find Sarge’s stout form smirking down at them alongside the young Chansey.
“Just seeing how long it would take you lot to notice I was fucking with you,” she said easily, before her eyes turned sharp. “The actual words and movements aren’t all that important as long as it gets you into the right headspace. Now that you lot are there, are you ready to take things up a notch?”
As one, Goliath and his comrades grinned savagely. Arceus-damn right they were ready.
*
Apollo unleashed a torrent of black-tinged flames with a howl towards the group arrayed in front of him. He could feel their defenses rise in place, various barriers, physical obstructions, and psychic powers pushing back against his attack, but he didn’t let that deter him. His flames were practically a part of him, raw manifestations of his wrath and savagery, and he reached out with his spirit to manipulate them as such.
In an actual battle, he might have been tempted to try and twist and split the flames into a bundle of flaming Ekans to try and go around their defenses, but right now he was focusing on power. Taking control of his flames, he goaded them to grow heavier and burn brighter, trying to force them past the unyielding defenses before him. Above him, a small, conjured sun pulsed with even more heat, fueling his fires even further.
Alongside him, Hobbes and Princess were unleashing their own attacks. Hobbes was firing off a continuous laser of energy through Solar Beam, while the Hydreigon had started up a cascade of Flamethrowers, Dark Pulses, and Dragon Pulses. Combined with his own attack, the rocky clearing around them shook with the force of the blasts and the air turned hazy with heat around them. Nevertheless, as Apollo and the others were finally forced to catch their breathes and the smoke cleared, he growled in frustration at the sight of cracked, but still standing barriers in front of him.
“That was great Princess!” Angel called from the row of defenders as the barriers dropped. He, Witch, Noelle, and Dahlia were all grouped together across from Apollo. The two fairy types and the Spiritomb had erected various barriers to block the attacks, while the Tyranitar had pulled thick layers of stone into the air, smoothly reforming them every time one was destroyed. As Apollo watched, a small group of Clefairy hopped over to them and began handing out leppa berries to re-energize them. “I really felt that one.”
“Really big bro?” the young dragon asked excitedly, only to slump as Dahlia laughed.
“Nope. Something would actually have to get past the barriers in order for us to feel it. At the moment, I could take a nap and still not feel anything.”
“Rrggh. If Uncle would let me use Draco Meteor, I’d-”
“Princess, no!” Carter called out from a few yards to the side where he observed their training, well familiar with the signs that the dragon was about to go on a rampage. “No Draco Meteor. We all know you can unleash more powerful attacks, but right now we’re focusing on getting the most out of your weaker attacks.”
“But-”
“Just think about how proud Bo’s going to be once he sees all your hard work,” Carter interjected, causing her to perk up immediately. “And Dahlia, please don’t goad Princess into trying to blow up the mountain. You live on this mountain now, remember. Your new home is only thirty feet away.”
“Oh, that’s why Prinny’s not going all out?” Noelle asked curiously while Dahlia winced in realization at Carter’s words. “That sounds hilarious. Prinny, do it, do it.”
Realizing that this wasn’t going to resolve itself anytime soon, Apollo felt a slight surge of irritation. There was a time and place for joking, sure, but they were supposed to be training. He knew it had been a few years since any of them had trained seriously, but that should have motivated them even more. They had so much lost time to get caught up on, and yet, here they were, acting like it was just another day. It wasn’t though. At long last, they had a chance to reclaim the respect and dignity that had been taken from them, and he would not let anyone screw that up.
“Enough,” he Snarled, the faint waves of dark type energy flicking irritatingly, but ultimately harmlessly, across the gathered group, grabbing their attention. “They’ll be time for games later. Right now, we need to focus.”
Bo and Dani’s pokemon simply nodded in acknowledgement, while Dahlia and Noelle had the grace to look chagrined. Good. Satisfied that the others were behaving seriously again, Apollo turned to their trainer. “Carter, your orders?”
Carter quirked an eyebrow at his question, but hummed gently in apparent thought. Internally though, Apollo felt the faint feeling of gentle reproach pass through their bond, causing him to fight back an eye roll. He and Carter had bickered over their leadership styles more times than he could count over the years. Apollo knew, with all his experience and instinct, that strict discipline and vigilance were paramount when leading any pack, but Carter insisted that patience and understanding were most important.
Apollo nearly snorted at the thought. Sure, he could admit that sometimes patience was needed when guiding others, but his human took it way too far. Instead of defusing problems the instant he saw them forming, or even defusing them at the last possible moment, Carter was often happy to just let whatever disaster was about to happen blow up in all of their faces. According to him, as long as the fallout didn’t cause “grievous” harm, then making mistakes was the best way for people to learn and do better in the future. Ha! In reality, he just loved watching pretty much anything blow up. If Apollo let him do whatever he wanted, Carter would have three fewer limbs and a missing head by now!
Sensing the Houndoom’s lack of repentance, Carter actually did roll his eyes, before smiling indulgently and stepping forward to address the group. “So far, this has been a good start. Defensive team, you are handling the attacks pretty easily, so I want you to try to push yourselves a little more. Right now, you’re putting all your strength into several, wide scale shields, which must be tiring you out pretty quickly. You can get away with it because of the berries, but no reason not to take the training opportunity. Focus on modulating your defenses so that they’re just as large and sturdy as needed for the attacks coming in.”
When the various pokemon cried out in agreement, Carter nodded sharply before turning back towards Apollo and the others. “Now, as for the attacking side, I do want to try and make a few changes. Hobbes, you’re going to switch from blunt power to sniping. Focus on findings weaknesses in the defenses and nail them. I’ll trust you to decide how to do it. Princess, I know you like switching things up, but try sticking with one attack at a time for now. I want to get a good measure on how much power you can build up if you stick to one type energy. Lastly, Apollo…”
As Carter trailed off slightly, the Houndoom felt himself reflexively tense in anticipation. Carter might have favored a more relaxed style of leading, but Apollo hadn’t always trained under him. His Boss, Carter's older brother, had been a trainer who’d understood the necessity of demanding discipline, focus and perfection in all actions, and Apollo had strived to meet those demands. Even after being left behind by the Boss and tasked with watching over his younger brother, a then weak and inexperienced teenager, Apollo still held himself to those standards, and had grown powerful because of it.
“…hmm,” Carter finally continued with a nod to himself. “I want to see if we can get Flame Ray working. We almost had it a few years ago, but never managed to lock it down. Can you give it another shot?”
Apollo quickly growled in affirmation, brushing off the slight twinge of doubt. There was no reason he couldn’t executed the move he and Carter had first formulated back in Hoenn, but he had never quite managed to get the finicky move to work perfectly, despite getting close a few times. Sure he could produce a similar effect to the move through sheer control over his flames, but it took a lot more energy to accomplish than what Carter wanted him to do. Nevertheless, now wasn’t the time for doubts. If he was asked to surpass his old limits then that’s just what he’d have to do.
“Alright then,” Carter said as he stepped back out of range. “Barriers up… Good, begin!”
At Carter’s signal, the other two started immediately, following his previous guidance. Hobbes slung a series of Pin Missiles, each one cracking across different areas of the barrier in front of them. Out of the corner of his eyes, Apollo even noticed one manage to slip through, forcing Witch to twist out of the way. Princess too, unleashed her attack, this time launching three shimmering Flash Cannons from her mouths that scorched the air in front of Angel.
Meanwhile, Apollo gathered a searing amount of heat within his mouth, focusing on packing the fiery energy as tightly as possible. Carter had first gotten the idea for Flame Ray, from a similar, water type move called Aqua Cutter. The premise behind the move was, rather than simply unleashing powerful flames over an area, to condense the flame and heat until he’d effectively formed a thermal lance that so hot that it would actually cut through its target instead of burn it. So far, Apollo could gather the power easily enough, but getting it to go any distance without dispersing was the hard part.
Only once he had his flames condensed as tightly as possible, did Apollo push it out with a howl. Instantly, a searing streak of orange lanced across the clearing and he felt a surge of satisfaction. That satisfaction soon fizzled though, replaced by a familiar aggravation, when he felt the concentrated heat start to sputter and billow out halfway through the clearing. Bursts of flame and heat escaped from the Flame Ray at random, searing the nearby surroundings. By the time the beam of heat it the opposing barriers, it had lost the raw piercing power the move required.
A snarl of frustration building deep in his throat, Apollo refused to accept the failure and pushed harder. Marshalling his spirit, he forced more power into the next Flame Ray, clamping down even harder on the heat building up in his mouth, tightening it to a tiny bead of searing energy. Unleashing it again, the Flame Ray came out even more powerful, but it still quickly went out control, dispersing heat everywhere.
Only pausing momentarily to berate himself, Apollo continued trying, determined to get it right. Despite his efforts though, he just couldn’t make the move work. Some attempts were better than others, but no matter how forcefully he clamped down on the energy while attacking, it tried to burst out of his control in the blink of an eye. Nevertheless, he kept trying. And trying. And trying. It was only once his vision started flickering and both Princess and Hobbes had stopped their own attacks to glance at him with worry, was he forced to stop.
He panted hastily, his body craving the oxygen he’d apparently forgotten to breath in while attacking. Feeling the worried gazes of the others surrounding him, jagged shards of self-loathing dug into him. This was pathetic, not being able to get one measly move right when needed.
‘If the Boss could see me now,’ the idle thought drifted through his frustrated mind. It stuck though, and Apollo could soon practically see his old trainer’s cool gaze and hear his icy voice demanding that he got back up. Failure was not to be tolerated, no matter what. With that in mind, he pushed away his weariness, straightened up and started gathering flames once more. He felt a brief tug of concern within his spirit, but that too, he pushed away. Or at least, he tried to.
“Apollo,” Carter called out calmly, his warm aura gently forcing its way through their bond to embrace the frustrated Houndoom. “Try to ease up a little. Forcing it isn’t the answer for this one. You have the skill, power, and ability to pull this off. You’re just putting too much pressure on yourself. Take a deep breath and relax. Then, when you’re ready, gather the heat, aim and just let it fly. We can build up from there.”
“I don’t need to relax. I need to get this right,” Apollo couldn’t help but snap towards the large human. “If you don’t have any better advice than to relax, just focus on the others. I’ll figure this out.”
“Well, if you insist,” Carter shrugged easily, not looking at all bothered by Apollo’s anger. The Houndoom felt a surge of guilt over lashing out, but pushed it down. He needed to focus and at least Carter was… walking towards the middle of the clearing? “Hold fire everyone.”
Feeling his confusion, Carter raised a casual eyebrow towards Apollo. “What, you said you wanted something useful, right? Now let’s see here…”
As the gathered pokemon watched, Carter strolled towards the center of the clearing before looking back and forth between the two sides with a calculating gaze. Shuffling in place slightly, he finally positioned himself about halfway between the two groups, directly in front of Apollo. As the human stopped in place, Apollo felt a wave of anxious suspicion well up inside him, but Carter paid his worry no heed. Turning around, he waved towards the curious looking Spiritomb. “Noelle, go ahead and lower yourself about five inches down and three to the right.”
As the ghost slowly complied, her swirling form now just barely visible to Apollo past Carter’s large frame, Apollo’s suspicion quickly turned to panic. Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw Hobbes and Dahlia were also starting to shift anxiously as the realization hit. Even Noelle's shadow features twisted more than normal.
“Perfect. Now Apollo, go ahead and use Flame Ray on Noelle,” Carter commanded calmly, confirming Apollo’s fears. “Take your time. Oh, and if you wouldn’t mind, don’t hit me.”
“Oh hell no,” Apollo barked reflexively, concern overriding his previous frustrations. “No, no, no, no, no, you crazy bastard! I am not doing that!”
“I can tell you’re excited.”
“I’m not doing it.”
“You’re doing this.”
“I am not.”
“One way or another, you are. Seriously, I’m willing to stand here for the next two months straight. And if you try to move and practice elsewhere, I will follow you. I know you’re nervous, but it’s for your own good, I swear.”
Apollo’s mouth fell open as he gawked at his human’s confidant smirk. This! This was why Apollo needed to maintain control over situations at all times, because if not, this damn adrenaline junkie would take on the dumbest risks imaginable. It almost made Apollo miss the times before Carter met Bo and Dani. Back then, he’d been as scared and spineless a human as you could find, barely ever leaving his bakery or the house. It had been mind-numbingly boring, but at least he’d been easy to keep safe.
He started to bark another protest, but Carter cut him off, his easygoing gaze finally turning sharp and penetrating as he met Apollo’s eyes. “Apollo, I swear, I’m not taking this lightly. I don’t want to let this Gym opportunity slip away any more than you do, and I think Flame Ray could help. Now, I could let you just beat yourself into a tightly-wound, perfectionist spiral of negativity until you manage to force your way into breakthrough, but even if I thought that would work, I wouldn’t do it. You have everything you need to get this right, right here and now. You’re just getting too into your head about it. Keeping me and the rest of us safe though, that's as easy as breathing to you. So, just relax and give it your best shot.”
A flush of heat traveled through him at the human’s words, but he still hesitated. He could feel that Carter was being serious, that he actually believed what he was staying, but it was still ridiculous to believe that he could just get the move right in the next go after he’d failed so many times before. The only difference would be the consequences of his failure. Pretty words were nice and everything, but they wouldn’t actually prevent Apollo from killing his human with a single stray flame. The Boss would never have even considered something this reckless for even a single second.
Carter though, just kept looking at him and smiled wide. “Hey, you and me are partners, remember? That means we're in this together, and if I have to take a risk to help you, then that’s what I’m going to do. So, please Partner, trust in me when I say that I trust you to do this.”
“…Sigh. You’re still an idiot. Partner”
Quickly praying that Emma had re-upped Carter’s life insurance before he started spending time around Skittles, Apollo threw aside his doubts. Planting his feet, he once more drew on the heat and flame burning within him, and gathered it tightly within his jaws. His eyes locked on Noelle’s floating form just barely visible behind Carter’s bulk
‘Alright,’ the Houndoom breathed slowly. ‘Forget about getting it right. Just. Don’t. Hit. Carter.’
Tension somehow leaving his body at the thought, he breathed out a blazing Flame Ray. The bright streak of orange blurred through the air, straight towards Carter. In a split second, the attack blew past his head before lancing into the glowing barrier in front of Noelle. With a thrumming roar, the tightly packed flames burned through, forcing the ghost to twist out of the way. A few yards behind her, a far less mobile boulder split in two, cracked edges glowing ominously with residual heat.
“WOO! That’s what I’m talking about Apollo!” Carter whooped jubilantly with a wild smile on his face. He also quickly pinched a lightly smoking part of his earlobe, but a delighted light still burned in his eyes. Apollo felt his own lips pull back in a toothsome smile. He’d done it! And Carter still had most of his ear! “Alright. That was beautiful. Now let’s keep that momentum going. You too, Princess and Hobbes. This time, try to avoid hitting me while also avoiding getting hit yourselves. Counter team, give them something to dodge.”
‘Son of a bitch.’
Whether unconcerned or caught up in Carter’s enthusiasm, neither Rebel nor Huntress hesitated to step forward from where they'd lounged behind the defending pokemon and unleash devastating attacks of their own. Apollo snarled at the sight of Carter laughing uproariously as a Sludge Bomb flew by him before jumping out of the way. Seeing that the grinning human was making no effort to get out of the line of fire, he cursed internally. Carter was definitely enjoying this, something the two of them were going to have words about afterwards.
‘For now, though,’ Apollo thought with a savage grin. ‘I might as well take the practice where I can get it.’
A second later, another lance of searing heat screamed past Carter’s head.