Chapter 4- Training
Kinje wasn't sure just what the punishment for fighting another Guild member would be, but unfortunately for him, he was about to find out. Forge led him along with Seris down one of the dim hallways to the large door with the carvings of three fire type legendaries- Moltres, Entei, and Ho-oh. This, as he learned not long ago, was Guild Master Arcanine's room. Kinje glanced at Seris, who looked worried, which made Kinje guess that the tyrogue hadn't ever been there before.
Kinje watched as Forge knocked on the thick door with one paw, and for a moment there was no answer. Then, an annoyed voice called out from behind it. "What is it?"
"It's me, Forge," the typhlosion explained, opening the door and pushing Kinje, then Seris inside first.
Kinje noticed right away that the Guild Master's room was much more ornate than the rest of the building. Detailed paintings of fire types were hung on the walls all around the large circular room, and the floor was covered with a moss that felt softer than the kind in all of the other rooms of the Guild building. The room was large and dimly lit, and it looked a lot more comfortable than any other room Kinje had seen. The massive arcanine Kinje had seen before sat a little ways away near a large desk, his back facing them. As Forge walked into the room, the fire type turned and faced them. His long claws scraped against the edge of the desk as he stood up, shaking scraps of moss from his pelt. "What is going on here?" he asked in a low voice, giving Kinje a glare as if he was particularly annoyed that a pokémon who had just become a member was already causing trouble. Kinje quickly looked away-the idea of a powerful fire type staring at him like that was unsettling.
"These two were fighting in the dining hall," Forge explained, still sounding angry despite being in the Guild Master's presence. "Seris told me the scyther hurt one of his teammates. I'm not sure why he did it, but-"
"That's enough, Forge," Guild Master Arcanine replied in a calm tone, no longer sounding aggravated. "I want to speak with them individually."
Forge almost looked disappointed. "But I-"
"I'll let you and Serai decide what to do as punishment," Arcanine replied, "but for now I want to talk to them."
Kinje heard Seris give a sigh of relief, and it made him wonder what it was that Seris thought the Guild Master did to those who broke the rules. He looked back at Arcanine again as the fire type beckoned Seris to walk forward. Hesitantly, the tyrogue stepped toward Arcanine, coming to stand directly in front of the Guild Master.
"Well," the fire type stated coldly, "explain yourself."
"I was defending Sayu-my teammate!" Seris blurted out quickly. "He cut her with one of his blades…and well…I couldn't just…I didn't want him getting the idea that I would just let him-"
Still back near where the door to the room was, Kinje found himself backing away slightly. It didn't occur to him to try and explain that it had been an accident now-not with Seris talking. Suddenly he heard the tyrogue stop, and realized that Guild Master Arcanine had silenced him.
"Reacting to violence with more violence when not absolutely necessary isn't the answer," Arcanine told the tyrogue. "Especially within our own Guild. If Kinje was no longer attacking, there was no reason to fight back…you should have gone straight to Forge or Serai."
"I'm sorry…" Seris managed to mumble.
"Don't get me wrong," Arcanine continued, smiling a little, "I am glad you are willing to defend your teammates. However, everyone in this guild is more or less a team together. A true Guild member wouldn't fight back if the threat has passed. Remember this, and avoid all violence toward other Guild members from now on."
"Y-yes, Guild Master…" Seris replied hesitantly, and Arcanine dismissed him to leave. He walked through the door, looking relieved but slightly annoyed that he wouldn't get to hear what the Guild Master said to Kinje. Afterward, Kinje was beckoned forward, and he slowly approached the Arcanine, beginning to feel more worried.
Kinje wasn't sure where to begin explaining, but what he did know was that he needed to tell the Guild Master that the "attack" on Sayu had been an accident. Stopping in front of the fire type, he looked up at him warily. "I…I didn't-" he began, but didn't get far.
"You don't need to explain to me," Arcanine told him, quickly cutting him off. Kinje looked up at him in awed surprise. "I understand that you feel it wasn't your fault," he continued, leaving Kinje looking confused, "but you must understand…that instinct is no excuse."
"Wait…what?" Kinje replied, now feeling more puzzled than worried. "Instinct…you mean like, hunting instinct?"
The Guild Master shook his head. "No," he replied, "not that kind. I understand that there are some species of pokémon who cannot help being the way they are, but with any luck, you will be able to learn differently. You'll have to, to stay a member of this Guild."
"Oh, but I'm good at learning!" Kinje replied, deciding that the rest of what Guild Master Arcanine said was too confusing to try and comprehend. "I'm gonna learn how to fly soon!"
Arcanine didn't look amused, and merely shook his head. "There are more important things for you to learn than that," he said coolly, "you must be able to follow the rules, despite how hard it may be…that means refraining from violence."
"I won't be violent anymore…" Kinje promised, giving the Guild Master what he hoped was a convincing look.
Arcanine didn't look convinced. In fact, he looked annoyed, as if he angrily thought that he was being lied to. A moment later that look vanished. "Very well," he told Kinje. "Let's hope you keep that promise…you may leave now," he added after a pause.
Kinje stood still for a moment, before fully realizing what Arcanine had just said and quickly walking out the door. Once in the hallway, he wondered whether to go to his room or back to the dining hall-he hadn't had a chance to eat anyway. However he didn't get to make his choice-Forge soon approached him along with Seris and led them toward the training room Kinje had seen earlier.
"You are to go to training now," the typhlosion explained. "Afterwards, you, Seris, will work on updating the notice board."
"You mean the one that shows rescue missions?" Seris asked.
"No," Forge replied. "I wouldn't trust a young pokémon with that. I'm talking about the one that requests for teams to escort pokémon or retrieve items. You will do this job every day until I say otherwise. Without help."
Seris shot him a glare but Forge didn't notice as he had turned to look at Kinje. "And you," he told the scyther, "I want you to sort the food every morning, and clean it up after the meals."
"That doesn't sound too hard," Kinje replied, but Forge just glared sternly at him.
As the three pokémon walked toward the large door of the training room, they heard Serai's harsh voice sounding through the hallway close by, and even Forge paused to watch as the rapidash briskly led a shameful looking houndoom around the corner and into the hallway. Spotting Forge, she stopped.
"There you are!" the rapidash told him with a hint of annoyance. "I've been looking for you-one of the teams caught this houndoom raiding food from our supplies. When caught, he said he would repay us by joining our Guild, and I told him he could help by cleaning up around the place instead. I want him to have to pay for what he's done somehow!"
"I want to join!" the houndoom pleaded. "But when I tried asking before…no one would talk to me and I-"
"What's your name?" Forge asked.
"Ashka," the houndoom sheepishly replied.
"Why were you stealing from us?" Forge growled. "You can't expect us to let you stay here after that." He paused and looked at Serai. "We should send him away."
Serai shook her head. "You know how hard it is to get those lazy teams to actually do their chores?" she asked him. "He said he was willing to work in return for food-I say we let him. It's not like we need to allow him to be on one of the teams."
Forge sighed and shook his head. "The Guild Master won't like this…" he muttered.
"Oh, he's not a threat!" Serai snorted. "He's a young one-barely evolved I would think. He didn't try to fight back when we caught him."
"I won't steal again…" Ashka whispered. "I promise!"
"I don't know…" Forge sighed. He turned to Kinje and Seris and pointed to the training room doors. "Go in there," he told them. "I'll be with you after I deal with this."
Without hesitation the two young pokémon pushed open the door and walked inside, hearing it quickly close behind them. All around them various pokémon were warming up-team members were sparring with one another while others practiced their attacks with encouragement from their friends or teammates. Kinje spotted Cera in one of the back corners, looking uncertain about what to do. As he headed toward her, Seris walked toward his teammates, who immediately asked him what the Guild Master had said.
Cera looked up in surprise as Kinje came to a halt beside her. "Kinje?" she asked. "Are you all right? You're not hurt are you? What did-"
"Yeah, I'm fine," Kinje replied tiredly. "I have to sort and clean up food though. At least that means I can eat some when no one's looking. And…and…I think the Guild Master thinks I'm stupid," he added in a tone of dismay. "He seemed like he thinks I will have problems learning!"
"Why would he think that?" Cera asked, confused, a moment before Forge returned through the doorway.
Immediately all the pokémon lined up against the back wall, and Cera and Kinje quickly did the same. Kinje wondered what had become of the houndoom, but he knew he wouldn't have any chance of asking. "Ok everyone," Forge announced. "I know we're starting a little late, but nevertheless we're going to work on our battle training and endurance training. Battles first. Split up into groups of two."
"But wait!" Kinje shouted, earning him several stares from the other pokémon there. "I thought violence wasn't allowed!"
Forge looked annoyed. "Battle practice is not meant to harm the opponent," he replied. "It's quite a different story from attacking someone."
Nearby, Seris sighed and Sayu rolled her eyes. Forge addressed the group once again. "Split up into groups!" he ordered, and everyone quickly scrambled to find a partner. Most belonging to teams of three had brief arguments before one member went off to find someone else, and Forge, watching these groups disapprovingly, shouted, "remember! We're all one big team here! Find a partner and get ready!"
Kinje quickly darted closer to Cera, who seemed to be the only pokémon in the room willing to stay close to him. "We'll be partners!" he said cheerfully, and Cera gave him a nervous smile.
Forge quickly told every group to stand facing each other at different places in the room, and everyone waited for him to tell them to start. "All right," Forge told them. "You all know the rules-don't aim to injure, keep flame attacks to minimum heat and do not fire them directly at the other pokémon-fire them to the side. Same rule for water type attacks used on fire pokémon and for razor leaf and other such attacks. When attacking with claws, horns, spikes, or…scythes, attack with the side, not with the sharp edge. Are you ready?"
"Yes!" most of the pokémon shouted in unison, looking eager to start.
"All right, go!" Forge cried, and pokémon all throughout the room either launched attacks or darted toward one another. Kinje was distracted by a vulpix's cry of frustration as Cyal the raichu zapped her with a weak electric attack and didn't immediately jump into action.
"Kinje…are you ready?" Cera asked, jolting the scyther's attention back to the task at hand.
"Huh? Oh, yeah!" he cried, running toward Cera with startling speed and slamming the dull sides of his blades into her side.
Cera responded instinctively by twisting her body around Kinje and squeezing tightly, making sure to avoid the scythes. Kinje struggled a bit before finally gasping, "Cera…you're crushing me…" Cera immediately let him go, quickly apologizing.
"Heh, look at them," Seris muttered to Sayu as the two paused in their sparring match. "They're making great progress, huh?" he added sarcastically, pointing to Cera and Kinje.
"The arbok would be a decent fighter if she actually used her strength," Sayu replied, and the two took up a fighting stance again.
Forge walked around the room, giving encouragement to certain team members. When he came across Kinje, he was puzzled to find that neither him nor Cera were battling. Kinje was sitting on the floor, gasping for breath, while Cera waited uncertainly. "What's going on here?" he asked. "I didn't say it was time for a break!" Annoyed, he hauled Kinje to his feet. "Keep going!"
"Ok…" the scyther muttered hesitantly, and Forge walked away to help Tarak the eevee who seemed to be struggling with an attack.
After a few minutes, Forge told everyone to stop and switch partners. Cera quickly teamed up with Cyal, but it took a while for Kinje to find a partner. He ended up being partnered with a worried-looking chikorita who didn't look too confident.
After a moment of resting the battles started again, but the chikorita hesitated. Kinje didn't feel like attacking this pokémon first would make things any better. "Uh…you can attack first," he suggested.
The chikorita looked uncertain. "I don't know my attacks very well…" she whispered.
"Then how about you just try and I dodge?" Kinje suggested, not feeling comfortable with the idea of attacking her before she felt she was ready. The chikorita agreed, and began practicing her razor leaf attack.
It wasn't long before one of the other pokémon told Kinje that he was supposed to be attacking, not just dodging, but luckily Forge told everyone to switch groups again soon after that. This time Kinje couldn't see Cera, but he ended up paired with one of the last pokémon to get a partner, a rather annoyed looking graveler. Kinje attacked first this time, and like he had done to Cera, he slammed into the graveler with the dull side of his blade. He quickly realized this was a big mistake, as the pokémon was, of course, hard as rock and the impact sent pain shooting up his entire arm. With a cry he backed away, asking the graveler if they could stop for this round, which earned quiet snickers from Seris and a few others nearby.
However, after that round, Forge asked everyone to line up again, stating that since they had less time that day, battle training was over quicker than it normally would be. "Ok," he announced. "Now we're going to focus on endurance. You see those paint marks leading from this side of the room to the next? You're going to run…or fly, or slither, or whatever…along those lines and back. I want you all to do this until you've run back and forth twenty times. Try to be among the first to finish."
"Oh, you mean like a race?" Kinje stated happily. "I can do this!"
"And one more thing," Forge continued, "those whose species gives them an unfair speed advantage must run across more times." He walked over to Cyal, telling the raichu to run twenty five times, and telling Kinje to run thirty.
As the typhlosion went on to instruct some other pokémon, including telling the smallest ones they only had to run to the other side and back ten times, Kinje shouted, "that's not fair! Why don't you just-"
"It's not fair that you're faster than everyone else," Forge stated. "Ok, everyone," the typhlosion then announced to the entire group of pokémon, pausing for a moment before yelling, "GO!"
All the pokémon took off at once, Seris, Cyal, and a growlithe in the lead. Kinje was too surprised by how quickly Forge had told them to start the race that it took him a few more seconds to get started. Quickly he darted after the others, soon surpassing the rest of the pokémon easily. As he reached the other side and turned around to go back, he rushed right by Seris who took the opportunity to trip him as he ran past. Seris sneered at Kinje as he fell to the ground.
"Careful there, Kinje!" Forge called, thinking that the scyther had simply just fallen. Kinje angrily got up and continued, though he was feeling tired after his first burst of speed.
It wasn't too long before a few of the pokémon had finished, and went to get a drink from some small containers set aside on one side of the room. Kinje was growing even more tired, though as he noticed more and more pokémon finishing, he realized that he was falling behind, and that he had foolishly used up most of his energy at the beginning. It was when he saw the last pokémon finish, while he still had to run back and forth two times, that he decided it was time to give up. Once he reached the side where the rest of the group were, he stopped running and walked over to where the others getting a drink.
"What are you doing?" Forge asked him. "I'm pretty sure you didn't run thirty times."
"Yeah I did!" Kinje lied. "I'm done."
Forge shook his head. "No you didn't," he told him. "Run there and back two more times." The typhlosion watched as Kinje muttered angrily and did as he was told.
Cera, who was resting beside Tarak the eevee, who looked exhausted, noticed Sayu and Seris's barely stifled laughter as they watched Kinje run back and forth again. She didn't think Kinje noticed, but all the same, it made her angry. She felt like telling the others to leave him alone, but she felt too nervous to approach them.
After Kinje rejoined the others, Forge began speaking again. "All right," he announced. "We'll take a short break and then-" He paused as the door to the training room was pushed open and Serai walked inside. "Uh…what is it?" Forge asked, sounding annoyed. "We're in the middle of training."
"The Guild Master wants to speak to both of us," Serai told him.
"What? Now? Is there something wrong?" Forge asked.
"Yeah, the Guild's on fire," Serai replied sarcastically, and when Forge looked back at her with a shocked expression, she sneered. "No you idiot! There's nothing wrong! He just wants a meeting! Nothing unusual about that. Now come on, and send the team members to their rooms for the night."
Forge sighed. "All right," he told all the assembled pokémon. "You heard her, get to your rooms. Except for you Seris-you get to work updating the notice board. And Kinje, I want to see you in the morning! Now, go on everyone. We'll train harder tomorrow to make up for the time we lost today!"
As the group of assembled pokémon left, Forge followed Serai reluctantly and Kinje headed alone to his room. By the time he entered it and lay down, he was more exhausted than ever, but strangely he seemed unable to sleep. He felt that he hadn't been able to do anything right, apart from actually joining the Guild. At least, he thought, this had only been his first day at the Guild…and tomorrow, he was determined to do better.
To be continued...
