Chapter 2: Two delinquents and a Commander
Rufus was speechless when he saw the Pokemon before him. It was the same Commander from his dream. But now that this was reality- at least he hoped so- he could identify this Pokemon. It was a Houndoom, and a very intimidating one it was. The same red cartoon demon mask was fastened to left side of his head.
"Well? Come on worms, tell me! What were you two doing here, huh?" The Houndoom growled, slightly baring his jagged fangs at them. Cinder recoiled, cringing too much to explain. Rufus sighed. A great, he had to explain their situation to this hothead.
"Um, well, you see sir-"Rufus began, but was cut off by the Houndoom.
"Don't address me in that way maggot, come on, and speak to me like a soldier!" The Houndoom barked, his fire red eyes glaring at the two before him.
Rufus let out small growl of frustration. "Excuse me sir, but me and my companion, sir, were just looking about the training grounds, sir!" Rufus than saluted, though on the inside he was laughing at the manner he had to talk to this superior officer.
"Much better" the hell hound growled. "Now, you two know it's prohibited to be here when you have not been instructed to do so! But…." The Houndoom then let out a short laugh, and clapped a paw on Rufus's shoulder. "I like that you two are trying to get in extra training, bright and early. Nice job. I won't report ya' runt, or hotshot over there." Rufus smiled in relief, but then cocked an eyebrow at the nicknames.
"Uh, Excuse me sir, my name is Rufus, and his Cinder, but what was it you just referred to use as, sir?" Rufus calmly asked, as Cinder was now relaxing and pumping his paws into the air.
"Hmm? Runt and Hotshot? You two just seem like a runt, and a hotshot. Now, come on Runt, go get Hotshot over there, and let's get back to the campus, morning call is soon." The Houndoom replied, already starting to walk back towards the campus.
Rufus rolled his eyes. Great, nicknames, and he just had to get Runt. Calling Cinder over, they followed the Houndoom back to campus, who was already yelling at the two to hustle. Cinder happily obliged, and ran up ahead of Rufus, and past the hell hound. Rufus just let out a groan, and reluctantly began to run as well, still lagging behind on purpose.
By the time they reached the campus, the unwelcoming sound of a Loudred using uproar was heard throughout the area. The Houndoom that was leading them back, turned on his heels, and faced them, a stern glare pointed at them.
"Alright Runt! Hotshot! That was the morning call! Now go line up with the rest of the maggots!" Rufus and Cinder nodded frantically, not expecting the sudden outburst. They sprinted through the camp, to the center by the flagpole, where some Pokemon were already lined up. Taking their places within the growing line, they stood firmly, their eyes unblinking.
The hotheaded Houndoom and a brown skinned humanoid like Pokemon that Rufus recognized as a Hitmonchan walked up. The Houndoom stepped towards the line, while the Hitmonchan stayed where he was at, with his hands behind his back.
"Alright maggots, welcome to what some may call purgatory. We're gonna be evaluating your skills, and if you pass, you get sent off to war, or as those same Pokemon call it, hell!" The Houndoom barked at the line, some Pokemon cringing at the loud mouthed officer.
"Now, you shall be referring to me as Commander Kief, got that worms?" The Houndoom introduced himself to the patient Pokemon before him.
The formation of Pokemon replied in Unison "Yes sir, Commander Kief, sir!" Commander Kief smirked, content on how the formation replied back.
So, Commander Kief is his name huh? Rufus thought to himself. I wonder…was it mere coincidence that he appeared in my dream? Rufus again began to ponder his dream, but was interrupted when Commander Kief began to speak again.
"Since I know some of you have been eager to train" Commander Kief glanced towards Rufus and Cinder "We're going to start the day off with training!" Some Pokemon in the line groaned, not liking the idea one bit. "So, this is your training instructor." Commander Kief motioned to the Hitmonchan behind him, who nodded, then walked up to them.
"Good morning trainees. I'm your training and move instructor Ace. I'll be taking it easy on you today, but today only. Starting tomorrow, I'll be working you harder than you've ever been worked before." The boxing Pokemon stated calmly and almost….politely.
"Eh, you're too soft on 'em Ace. If you want them to be tough, you gotta be rough with 'em." Commander Kief remarked, while Ace rolled his eyes at the comment.
"Well, if you were the trainer, maybe we could, but you're not. Remember, I'm the expert on this stuff. I know what's good for them." Ace replied back smoothly, no hint of anger, resentment, or anything negative in his voice. Rufus quirked an eyebrow, he was almost expecting everyone at the military to be a loud mouthed hothead like Commander Kief. Rufus did respect Kief, but he was glad that there was someone like Ace around. He could hopefully simmer down the heat. Well, with at least attitude anyway. Rufus had a sinking feeling that this wasn't going to be "easy" training as Kief kept accusing it as.
Ace then spoke once more. "Ok trainees, follow me to the training grounds in formation order. " As he spoke, he already began leading the line off towards the training grounds, Commander Kief tagging along as well.
Marching along, the grass that was beneath everyone's feet soon turned to dry dirt, as they arrived at the training grounds.
"Though I am a Hitmonchan, I myself prefer the offensive. Though I'm not stupid with it, I know how to use my moves, mixed in with strategy, to help to my advantage since I have no defensive moves. But, today, we'll will not necessarily being training on this. For now, I just want to see what moves you know, how you use them on these dummies," Ace pointed to the nearest burlap dummy with his boxing glove-like paw "and how powerful they are. We'll then move on from there, learning tactics, and improving on your skills. Any questions?"
No one raised a paw, or made a comment. Ace nodded, and then pointed to the field. "Alright then, if there are no questions, then go and spread out to a dummy each, and start using your moves on them. I will come around, and check on what you know, and how you use them, as I said before." Ace explained to the formation of Pokemon, who obeyed, and spread out to a dummy each.
Rufus and Cinder decided to take a dummy by one another, to chat a bit while Ace wasn't by, and to check out each other's moves. Rufus was quite curious on how strong Cinder was, as well as Cinder, who had the same curiosity as his friend.
The two soon began to train, while keeping an eye on one another. Rufus only knew the moves bite, roar, quick attack, and howl. Not much with variety, Rufus considered his move set plain and boring. It was of course weak, he acknowledged, but he wasn't too bad with strategy, so he knew that made up for it. He unleashed attack after attack on the dummy, but soon got bored with the whole thing. Taking a slight break, he watched Cinder practice.
Cinder unleashed a move Rufus recognized as Fury swipes, along with a few barrages of ember, which evidently made the dummy catch on fire on small areas. But the fires were extinguished when Cinder would follow up with a tail whip, or another set of fury swipes.
Rufus was slightly impressed with how effectively Cinder was using his moves. But he was also curious if Cinder had another move that had no use with the training at the moment, like growl, or just one he was neglecting to use. He was going to ask, when he heard Ace speaking nearby, just past where Cinder was. Cinder also stopped his attacks, to listen in on what Ace was saying.
"Well done, well done! Good use and combinations of your moves, with grace as well. Uh, what was your name again lass?" Ace's voice questioned to the apparent female Pokemon he was checking. Rufus and Cinder tried to get a look at the Pokemon, but Ace was obstructing the view slightly.
"The name is Serena sir. And thank you for the comment." The voice Rufus and Cinder heard was definitely female, even though Ace had already pointed this out. Rufus and cinder tried to look around Ace to get a glimpse of the female Pokemon.
"Ah, a fitting name." Ace chuckled, but then spoke once again. "Strange though. Why would you want to join the army? Your species of Pokemon as well as your evolution aren't very fond of fighting. "
"Oh, well, I am a bit different than other Skittys and Delcatty," Rufus and Cinder both acknowledged the fact that she gave way what species she was. "I do enjoy fighting, but I mostly joined to try and help stop the war." Rufus and Cinder could see Ace nod his head. They then quickly went back to training when Ace turned around, and started walking towards them.
When Ace walked up besides the now training Cinder, he watched intently on Cinder's moves and fighting style. Seeing enough, Ace put a hand out, signaling Cinder to stop.
"Nicely done. Good combination of attacks, and I like how you extinguished those small fires from you ember with tail whip. Name?" Ace said to Cinder, looking pleased at his skills.
Cinder smiled, and then replied. "The names Cinder sir." Ace nodded, and then walked over to Rufus.
"Ok Pooch, let's see what you got." Rufus nodded, and began his well thought out assault on the dummy. Soon, Ace signaled for him to stop.
"Excellent. Even with the lack of offensive moves, you were able to work things to your advantage. Your name?" Ace complimented the pup, smiling proudly at him. Rufus returned the gesture, and answered his question.
"The names Rufus sir. I'm glad you think so, sir." Aces smiled, and pat Rufus on his gray head. He then walked off to the next Pokemon in wait. Rufus smiled brightly, and turned to talk to Cinder. He was met with Cinder's sly, toothy smirk.
"Man that Skitty sure is a cute one, eh?" Cinder nudged Rufus, a very sly look on his face. He then lightly whistled, as he looked off in the direction of the Skitty. His whistle was too soft to be heard by anyone but him or Rufus though.
Rufus rolled his eyes while shaking his head. "Cut it out Cinder. This isn't really the place to be checking out girls, or being a Casanova." Rufus elbowed Cinder firmly, but lightly on the shoulder.
"Oh come on, I was joking! But seriously, I think she was checking one of us out." Cinder gave a toothy grin, and wiggled his brow. Rufus again elbowed him. Cinder let out a small yelp as the elbow was harder this time. He rubbed his shoulder where he was hit.
"Give it a rest Cinder." Rufus deadpanned. "Don't want to get in trouble with Commander Kief. Or worse, the Skitty you were just checking out." Rufus then snickered. Cinder scowled.
"Hey, I was not checking her out. And what's that supposed to mean? Think I can't take her?" Cinder questioned, giving Rufus a playful glare.
"I don't think you can't take her; I know you can't." Rufus then chuckled as Cinder pouted.
"Yeah, yeah, whatever. But seriously, she was so checking-" before Cinder could finish, Rufus once again elbowed him, this time in the stomach.
"I heard you the first time….Like I said before, give. It. A rest." Rufus then began attacking the burlap dummy again, which was already pummeled and worn from his last attacks on it. Cinder just sat on the dry ground, seemingly bored. But he then smirked.
"What if I said she was checking you out?" Cinder smirked slyly, which grew even larger when Rufus turned around, a light scowl on his face.
"Dude…shut up!" Before Rufus could begin chasing the laughing Cinder, Ace's voice was heard over everything else.
"Alright, now that we got the easy part done, we're going to start the real training. Its sparring time!"
End of chapter 2