The crisp tang of the cool autumn breeze blew through the grassy clearing as master and student climbed over the lip of the ancient crater. Gentle sloping hills turned to sharp craggy peaks as one went around the crater's lip, soft grass replaced with dirt and stone. In the center of this great dip in the earth was a small pond, its glistening water reflecting the pale blue sky, and the sisters as they stood by its banks.
Flidais stared across the invisible boundary separating her from her apprentice. The Gardevoir tried to keep the straight-faced, stony mask of a teacher, but it wasn't proving easy. Despite her misgivings, despite the nagging worries in the back of her mind, and despite roughly five hours of sleep, Flidais couldn't help but feel excited. She was going to be a teacher! She was going to show her sister the ways of a warrior. She was going to watch her little Pixie grow up.
Keeping that straight face wasn't made any easier by Nia. She had skipped more than walk on their way here, throwing in a few sprightly spins for good measure. Even now, she was practically dancing on the spot.
Flidais cleared her throat, falling back into teacher mode. Nia stared up at her, the Kirlia's already massive smile widening further as she did.
"Now, my apprentice, what is the first rule of combat?"
Nia frowned, her brow furrowing in thought as she tapped her chin.
"To win...?"
"That-" Flidais raised a finger, about to correct Nia when she stopped, mouth open. She wasn't wrong.
"That, well... yes. That is important. But, the first rule is always have another plan. Sometimes your first strategy won't work. Let's say I want to open with a Psybeam."
Flidais's hands moved in a complex, intricate pattern as the air around her seemed to darken, before a magenta glow enveloped her fingers. She slammed her hands together in front of her, launching a brilliant purple lance of pure psychic energy into the sky. Nia watched wide-eyed, gasping in amazement as the lance exploded in the air in a bright light. She loved watching the Platoon's attacks, and loved her sister's displays most of all.
"But," Flidais coughed, bringing Nia back to the present. "What if I'm fighting a Dark type? I can't do a thing to them with a psychic attack."
She motioned for Nia to step back, and began stretched her hands out towards a nearby grove of trees. A violent wind blew through them, pulling dozens of leaves off their branches. The leaves flew towards Flidais, circling her as they grew stiff and their edges sharpened. A bright violet aura surrounded each of the deadly leaves as they spun faster and faster around their master, before Flidais pointed her hand at a boulder on the other end of the pond. The swarm of deadly flora blasted towards the boulder, leaving deep gashes in the stone as they impacted and shattered on it.
Magical Leaf. For such a whimsical name, its power was something to be feared in the right hands. Flidais motioned for Nia to come forward, giving her a rare cocky smirk. Flidais took great pride in her abilities, and though she'd never admit it to herself, loved having an appreciative audience.
"So, as you can see..." She placed a hand on Nia's shoulder and pointed her towards the devastated boulder. "It pays to have options."
Nia was bouncing on the balls of her feet, utterly mesmerized by the beautiful, terrible display.
"I wanna do that! Show me! Show me show me show me!" She tugged on Flidais' arm, pulling it with her with every frantic bounce.
"Easy, Pixie, easy. That's a pretty advanced technique. There's a lot of steps to-"
"Please?"
"Let's start with something simpler-"
"Pleeeeeeaaaaaaaase?" Her eyes grew wide and glistening, with just a hint of worry on the edge. Her mouth formed a little hopeful smile, one that looked ready to burst wide open if Flidais would just say yes. Her head was tilted just slightly to the side, as she stared up at her sister, begging her to make the right choice.
Nia was doing The Face. No, no no no, Flidais told herself, she was not going to-
"Come on, sis, please? Just let me try once!"
It was too much. With a heavy sigh, Flidais' shoulders slumped in surrender. Nia had won.
"One day I'm going to learn to say no to that face." Flidais admitted defeat with a wry smirk, and readied her first impromptu lesson.
"Now, the first step is to plant your feet firmly. This is a Grass move, so you want to feel that connection with nature."
Whether this was actually necessary or not, Flidais didn't know, but she found it helped concentrate on the rest of the steps. Nia obeyed, bowing her legs slightly and shifting her feet to be as flat to the ground as possible. Satisfied with her stance, the Kirlia turned to her teacher expectantly.
"Then what?"
"You have to stay focused, sweetie."
"Focused, right, sorry." Nia's head snapped back forward, blushing slightly from her misstep.
"Now, hold your arms out behind you, like this. Yes, that's it. Now, spread your fingers, let the air flow through them. Good, good, like that."
Flidais watched on proudly as Nia followed her directions, clumsily but accurately. The Kirlia shut her eyes, squinting hard as she tried to focus on guiding the wind with her will. It wasn't proving easy. Her head her head was buzzing with brief scraps of thoughts. Was she doing it right? Could she even do it? What if she was using the wrong leaves? No no, Flidais did it. That was cool. I wish I could do fire moves, those are really cool. How do you not get burned though? How does Hellfire's head stay on fire? This dress is itchy. I wonder if-
She shook her head, trying to clear her mind of distractions, and began again. After a minute of intense concentration, a soft breeze blew around her. It wasn't strong enough to do more than ruffle her pigtails, but it was enough for her.
"I did it!" She squealed in delight, turning to Flidais grinning, only to be met with a bemused smirk.
"Yes, yes you did, but there's still a few more steps. Try again."
Embarrassed, Nia turned back, trying to summon the wind again. It came easier this time, though not by much. Flidais watched as it came back, a very faint whirlwind surrounding the girl.
"That's better. Now guide the wind to that tree over there and pluck a few leaves."
Nia began moving her arms as she herded her breeze to the same tree Flidais had used. It was slow going, with Nia constantly and frantically correcting her course. Eventually though she led her whirlwind to the top of the tree and held it there, gently tugging at it. She was rewarded in time with a leaf. A single leaf.
Flidais called to Nia to bring her wind back, and she began the complex dance to guide her prize towards her. After a minute it came back, the leaf swirling lazily around its mistress. Flidais looked pleased, grinning proudly at her student's progress.
"Very good! Now you have to sharpen the-"
"GYAAAAAH!"
Caught in the moment, Nia blasted the leaf forward, not having heard Flidais's last command. Her sudden gust carried it several yards away, before her air stream broke apart and the leaf drifted harmlessly down to the ground, landing softly on the grass without bending a blade.
Nia stared at the leaf, disbelief etched on her face.
"That's it?" She asked dumbfoundedly, an edge of disgust in her tone.
Her head and shoulders slumped in disappointment. She thought she had put everything she had in her effort! And what did she do? She got a leaf. One, single, leaf. She hadn't even reached the destroyed rock, she hadn't even hurt the grass! Stupid, dumb, useless-
Her self-loathing assessment came to an abrupt halt as suddenly she found herself in the air and spinning around. Flidais had picked her up and spun her around, before bringing her into a tight hug.
"That was fantastic! Oh Pixie, I am so proud!"
Nia blinked, deeply confused.
"But, but I messed up?"
Flidais loosened her grip, letting Nia lean back in her arms to meet her gaze. Flidais still beamed.
"You grabbed a leaf off the tree. That's a huge step for your first real try."
"Even just one?" Nia tilted her head. Flidais nodded.
"Even just one. We'll have to work on making your leaves a little more..." She looked at the remarkably non-lethal leaf still sitting on the grass, "...effective, but that's still a great start. That's a pretty advanced technique for a beginner."
Nia rewarded her with a smile, looking more pleased with herself than she had, and Flidais set her down. Well, it was a start, and not a bad one.
***
"Let's practice with something simpler. Confusion is a basic attack, but its usefulness shouldn't be overlooked."
The pair had walked a short distance from their previous training spot to clearer grounds, away from the pond and the scattered boulders. Flidais didn't fancy an accidental swim should something go awry.
"There's a lot less steps than Magic Leaf, don't worry. All you have to do is reach out and scramble your foes thoughts. It may not sound like much, but in the heat of battle, you can turn the tide almost immediately." Flidais smirked to herself, remembering when she had been jumped by three Primeape thugs, until she convinced one of them that the other two had said some very unkind things about his mother and the shape of her snout. "Just distracting the enemy for a few seconds can make all the difference."
Nia raised an eyebrow, tilting her head in confusion herself.
"So, how do I do it?"
"It's quite easy, really. You just have to reach into your opponent's consciousness and put a thought in there that will distract them. It could be something silly, or something that makes them angry, or just something that makes no sense. Sometimes you can even convince them that their friends are the enemy, or even that they are themselves!" There was a hint of wicked glee in her tone as she described the last possibility. That was always fun.
"Okay, but... what do I use it on?" Nia scanned the valley, wondering if Flidais had brought someone else along.
"Oh, you can practice on me." Flidais answered matter-of-factly. Nia's eyes widened in shock.
"W-what!?" Nia jumped back, shaking her head and waving her hands in protest. "No, no no no no no!"
But Flidais raised her hand to calm her. "Sweetie, it's fine. We're both psychic, you won't be able to do any real harm to me." The fact that Nia was highly inexperienced was also a significant factor, but Flidais kept that little tidbit to herself.
"I-if you're sure..." Nia didn't look convinced, but shuffled back to her previous spot, looking up at her sister uneasily.
"I'm quite sure. Now go ahead, Pixie. Whenever you're ready."
Flidais took a few steps back and stood relaxed, arms open and palms facing Nia. Trusting her sister's strange judgment, Nia shut her eyes, concentrating. After a few moments, she was back in her mental plane. She reached out, feeling her surroundings. She felt the faint traces of insects crawling through the grass and dirt. She felt the Poliwags splashing merrily in the pond. But most of all, she felt Flidais. The psychic's presence was as subtle as a flare in the night sky. She glowed radiantly, the magenta light spilling on the ground, drowning out anything else nearby. Hesitantly, Nia stretched out to her, trying to reach into her mind. Her own tendrils of thought thrashed wildly, Nia barely able to steady them.
After several not terribly graceful tries, Nia made contact, connecting with the Gardevoir's powerful mind. She couldn't read her thoughts, Flidais's mental shields far too powerful for Nia's inexperienced probing, but she still thought she could slip an idea in there. But what to choose? Something to make her angry? No no, that was a terrible idea. Maybe something funny, yeah that was good. But what? Nia's mind wondered back to the comic she had been reading last night. It wasn't that dumb, now she thought about it. She loved it when Ludi, the Ludicolo protagonist, grabbed his Lombre sidekick Soggy, and spun him around in joy when he heard the ice cream truck's song-
Without warning, a small white orb escaped from Nia and flew towards Flidias. It was halfway there before Nia tried thought to stop it, but it was too late. In horror she watched it sink into the vast well of Flidais's thoughts.
"Oh no..."
Nia's eyes shot open, breaking her concentration as she stared in terror at Flidais. To her surprise, Flidais still stood there, unmoving. Her eyes were closes, and a look of serenity was on her face. Maybe it wasn't so bad, maybe Nia had stopped it, or messed it up, or-
Flidais opened her eyes, and her mouth grew into a massive smile, one of bottomless joy. She charged at Nia, grabbing her by the shoulders before Nia could even think of turning to run.
'LLLLLUDILUDILUDI!" Flidias screamed at the top of her lungs, imitating the hero's catchphrase, if you could call it that. "SOGGY! MY FRIEND! DO YOU HEAR THAT BEAUTIFUL MUSIC?"
Nia gulped, squirming slightly in Flidais's surprisingly strong grip as she tried to look the madly-grinning Gardevoir in the face. "W-what music?"
"AH-HA-HA-HA! OH YOU SILLY FROGGY, THE ICE CREAM MUSIC!, OF COURSE!
THE TRUCK IS COMING THIS WAY!"
"I still don't hear- YAAH!" Without warning, Flidais grabbed Nia's hands in her own, and began spinning joyously, lifting the incredibly scared Kirlia into the air.
"WE ARE GETTING ICE CRFEAM TODAY, SOGGY! IT IS A GOOD DAY! LLLLLUDILUDILUDILUDILUUUUUU!"
"PUT! ME! DOO-HO-HO-HOWN!" Nia screamed, and to her surprise, Flidais obliged. Nia sat on the ground, her head still spinning as she looked up at Flidais, hoping that maybe she had snapped out of her delusion.
That hope was shattered when she saw Flidais still had her hyperactive grin.
"OF COURSE, FROGGY-MAN. HOW COULD I BE SO SILLY? I CAN'T CARRY YOU AND THE ICE CREAM! LET US GO, SOGGY!" With another scream of "ludi-ludi", Flidais dashed off towards the pond.
"HALT DAIRY MAN, YOUR FROZEN GOODS ARE MINE!"
Without warning, without reason, and without hesitation, Flidais hurdled herself into the pond, her arms outstretched in front of her as if she could fly. She landed with a loud smack of a bellyflop, sending a cascade of murky water flying. Nia gasped, running to her sister in fear. Oh no, oh no oh no oh no, this wasn't good. Nia waded into the water, grabbing Flidais's legs, and tried to pull her out.
"Come on, sis! Get out of there! Come on!" She tugged and tugged, barely moving the much larger pokemon. Panic began to set in, and Nia pulled desperately, finally setting foot on land again.
No sooner had she reached the shore than did Flidias start flailing her legs, before her head burst out of the water. She spat out the murky liquid, gagging on it, though thankfully more because of the taste than fighting for breath. She knelt in the shallow water by the shore, shaking a hail of water droplets off her.
"Oh sweet ARCEUS why does it taste like feet? It tastes like asparagus and FEET!" She stuck out her tongue, trying to wipe the foulness of the pond off it before she realized where she was.
"Nia." She asked icily, pulling a strand of seaweed out of her hair. "Why am I sitting in the pond?"
Nia's relieved smile turned into an embarrassed grimace. "Well..."
They sat in the sun, far, far away from the pond, and the irritated poliwags who chirped angrily at them, their tranquil pond disturbed by the invaders. The sun had climbed high enough to at least be somewhat warm, and helped to dry them off. Flidais rang out the skirt of her dress again, squeezing out a bit more water. The white fabric had been dyed a dirty brown, though she had at least gotten most of the seaweed and moss off it.
Flidais's face burned bright red as Nia finished her account of what had happened, intermixed with many, many apologies thrown in, and a few less apologetic giggles.
There was a long silence as they stretched out together, soaking up the sun.
"...We never, ever, speak of this again. Got it?"
"Not even to-"
"ESPECIALLY not to Hellfire. Or anyone at the Manor. Or anyone at all. I don't care if Dialga himself comes and asks, you don't breathe a word of this."
"Okay." Nia agreed, thinking it over. "Wait, but couldn't Dialga just reverse time and-"
Flidais shot her a look, and Nia shut up.