Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Stardust

Chapter 7: Training

"So you start training with Alistair today right?" asked Blitz.

"Yep. Right after today's mission." replied DJ. After he returned to the guild house the night prior, DJ had told all of them that he would be receiving training from Alistair starting today. He was so excited that, do to his inability to keep his emotions from others, everyone else (minus Asura) couldn't help but feel excited as well. "I wonder what he'll teach me."

"Hopefully something that will keep you from utterly failing again." said Asura coldly. This statement caused DJ to look down, ashamed and caused the rest of Team Stardust to glare at their leader. Seeing the glares, Asura wisely changed the subject. "Anyway. Here are the assignments for today. I expect them all to be completed. And my father wanted me to tell DJ that you'll meet with Alistair at the practice fields." With that he handed out the missions and left.

"Don't worry DJ." said Grace in an attempt to cheer up the depressed Riolu. "Sooner or later he'll forget about what happened."

DJ gave her a small smile in appreciation. "Thanks Grace." He then turned to Jackson and Katara. "Let's go! The sooner we get this mission done, the faster I can train." With that the trio left.

A half hour later, DJ, Katara, and Jackson were making there way down a path through the forest. The trio walked in silence as they came out of the forest and entered a field. As they walked across the field they came across a fence that surrounded the majority of the field. In the enclosed area there were hundreds pink cow-like Pokemon that had black fur surrounding there heads, making it look like they were wearing hoods (Miltank). In the center of the enclosure there was a big red and blue barn.

"Umm..." said DJ, with a confused look on his face. "This doesn't look like a dungeon."

"That's because it's not." said Jackson. "Not every mission we do requires us to go through a dungeon. Today we're assisting Farmer Quake with a pest problem."

"Pest problem?" asked Katara. "What do you mean by that?"

Before Jackson could answer, there was a booming voice came from inside the enclosure. "Howdy!"

The trio turned around and saw a giant gray dinosaur looking Pokemon with a cream colored drill/horn on its nose and intense red eyes (Rhydon). The Rhydon approached the gate and smiled. "I take it y'all are the team sent to help lil' old me?"

'Little?' thought the trio.

"Yes sir." said Jackson. "We're members of Team Stardust. Are you Farmer Quake?"

"Yes siree!" said Farmer Quake with an upbeat voice as he unlocked the gate and ushered the three inside. "Good to see y'all here to help me with my pest problem."

"What kind of pest are you talking about?" asked Katara.

"The Mightyena kind." said Quake with a solemn look on his face.

"M-M-Mightyena?" asked Katara with a hint of fear.

"Yep." replied Quake. "Those varmints always come by here around this time a month to try to attack my Miltank herd."

"Might I ask sir, why do you have so many wild Pokemon here?" asked DJ. "Aren't they dangerous."

"Well you see lil' pup (a tick mark appeared on DJ's forehead) I bred these Miltank so they are almost completely loyal. Though they do sometimes fight, but nothing I can't handle.

Almost as soon as he said this, an angry moo came from their left. They turned around to see a Miltank rolling at them at high speeds (Rollout). Jackson, Katara, and DJ tensed, but Quake merely chuckled. As soon as the rolling Miltank was upon them, Quake crouched down and caught the Miltank and threw it in the air. The Miltank landed with a thud and gave a weak moo. The members of Team Stardust were shocked, but Quake simply smiled and knelt down next to the Miltank before he patted it on the head.

"Nice try Bessie, but you have to be quicker than that to catch me off guard."

The Miltank gave an indignant moo causing Quake to laugh. He then got up and turned to Team Stardust.

"As I was saying,I use them to produce milk and beef, which I sell to Miracle Town. Anyway, y'all's job is to help me fight off them Mightyena." Seeing Katara's slightly fearful look he spoke again. "Don't worry though. Them Mightyena are pretty weak."

Katara sighed in relief. "OK then let's get started."

Four hours later

"I can't thank y'all enough for helping me." said Quake. "I'll send y'all's reward to the guild.

"Thank you sir." said a winded Jackson. Throughout the four hours five Mightyena had attacked, but they were all stopped before they could get to the Miltank.

"All make sure to call y'all if I ever need help with those varmints." said Quake as Team Stardust waved goodbye and started down the path to Miracle Town (AN: I didn't describe the Mightyena attack because this chapter is supposed to focus around DJ's training. The farm was just a filler, but will play a part in future events.).

Forty-five minutes later, the three members of Team Stardust. Having just received their reward for the mission, make their way out of the guild.

"Well I'm heading off to meet Gramps." said DJ enthusiastically.

"You mind I tag along?" asked Jackson. "I'm curious of how Alistair plans on training you."

"Sure." responded DJ with a shrug as they made their way to the practice fields.

"Hey! I want to come too!" shouted Katara as she ran after Jackson and DJ.

Once they had made it to the practice fields, they saw that there were several other Pokemon there training. Several Pokemon gave the trio curious looks, but went back to their training. The trio looked around until the spotted Alistair meditating off to the side. As they made their way over to Alistair, he looked up and smiled at them.

"Ah, DJ. Good to see you. Who are these two?"

"This is Katara and Jackson. They're also part of Team Stardust and they wanted to watch us train. Is that OK?"

"I see no problem with that." said Alistair as he stood up. "Now, for your training..."

"Are you gonna teach me how to shoot energy from my mouth?!" asked DJ as he bounced on his feet with anticipation. "Or how to move things with my mind?! Or-"

"Now now." said Alistair as he placed a hand on DJ's shoulder in order to calm him down. "Before I teach anything like that, we're going to work on keeping your emotions from others."

DJ looked down in sight disappointment, but quickly regained his determined attitude. "OK. Let's do it!"

Alistair smiled at DJ's determination. "Good now, first, close your eyes." Once DJ had done this, Alistair continued. "Now take a deep breathe and clear your mind." DJ took a deep breathe and visibly calmed down. "No I want you to imagine your emotions as physical objects. One you have done this, imagine taking those objects and putting them away in a box." DJ did this, thankful that he has a vivid imagination, but didn't feel any different.

"Did it work?" asked DJ with his eyes still closed.

"One way to find out." said Alistair with a mischievous smirk. He then presided to hit DJ on the top of his head.

"OWWW!" shouted DJ angrily (Considering a Lucario's bones are made out of metal, hit hurt quite a bit). "What was that for Gramps?!"

Alistair gained an angry tick mark on his forehead. "Can't you call me anything else?"

"You said I could call you whatever I wanted." DJ said cheekily.

Alistair simply sighed in defeat. "Anyway I hit you to see if we could feel your emotions." He then turned to Jackson and Katara. "Did either of you feel his emotions?"

"I didn't." said Jackson.

"That's weird." said Katara. "I still did, but it was more, for lack of a better word, subtle than before."

"Hmm." said Alistair. "That is strange. I personally didn't feel his emotions. I find it strange that you still did. Unless..."

Alistair gained a pensive look and didn't continue until DJ spoke up. "Unless what?"

Alistair snapped out of his musings and chuckled. "Sorry about that. Anyway, the only reason that I can think of why Katara can still feel your emotions is that you bonded with her."

"Come again?" asked DJ with a confused look on his face.

"What do you mean by 'bonded'?" asked an equally confused Katara.

"You see," began Alistair. "When a Riolu is born it will bond to the first Pokemon it sees. What bonding does is, as the name entails, bonds the two Pokemon making it impossible for the Riolu to hid its emotions from the other Pokemon. This trait was developed as a way for the Riolu's parent to always know if something is wrong with their child. Since DJ was transformed into a Pokemon, he was 'technically' re-born, and because Katara was the first Pokemon DJ saw he bonded with her."

"I guess that makes since..." said Jackson.

DJ and Katara just looked at each other, not saying anything. Seeing their uncomfortableness, Alistair spoke.

"Anyway, back to training." This statement quickly grabbed DJ's attention and he looked at Alistair eagerly. "Now I'm going to teach you how to block out the emotions of others. Now close your eyes and imagine a a barrier that surrounds your mind. Blocking off all outside emotions."

DJ did as instructed and almost instantly, he stopped feeling outside emotions. Except for the emotions of one other person.

"That's weird." said DJ. "I can still feel Katara's emotions."

"Oh." said Alistair. "I forgot to mention that the bonding process works both ways. Meaning that you can't block out Katara's emotions. This trait was developed so that the parent of the Riolu, usually a Lucario could 'guilt' a Riolu into behaving. You see because Riolu are sensitive to emotions, they hate seeing others in mental pain. Because of this, whenever the Riolu is disobedient, the parent would 'be sad' causing the Riolu to immediately feel guilty and therefore cause the Riolu to listen. However, because of this if the Riolu sees something hurting their parent/bonded Pokemon being hurt physically or mentally, the Riolu will stop at nothing to 'remove' whatever is causing their parent/bonded Pokemon's pain, even with the cost of the Riolu's own life. That's why the bonded Pokemon is normally the parent Lucario, so the Lucario can block their emotions from the Riolu. But because Katara isn't a Lucario she can't block her emotions, so DJ will always feel her emotions."

Everyone was silent, letting what they had just heard sink in. After two minutes of silence, Katara spoke.

"Well I guess why that's why you were so 'open' with me when we first met."

"I-I guess so." said DJ sheepishly.

There was another minute of silence, until Alistair spoke again.

"Well know that that's out of the way, let's get back to your training. Now DJ. I want you to close your eyes and try to only focus on my emotions, while blocking out the emotions of others."

DJ nodded and tried to only focus on Alistair. At first he only felt Katara's emotions, but then he felt emotions that weren't her's. He focused more and soon he felt Alistair's calmness

"I did it." exclaimed an excited DJ.

"Really?" asked Alistair in a slightly surprised tone. "Then how do I feel?"

"You feel calm." replied DJ, closing his eyes in order to focus better. "Wait there's something else. I also feel... sadness?"

Alistair was shocked. 'Normally it takes a Riolu several days to be able to only focus on one Pokemon's emotions yet he managed to do it in less than a minute! And on top of that, he was able to see so the sadness that I thought I hid so well. He's just like him...' He then saw that DJ was looking at him strangely. 'Shit! I've been silent to long! Gotta say something.' "Impressive DJ. Not many Riolu are able to do that in such a short period of time."

"Really? Awesome!" exclaimed DJ in happiness, instantly forgetting about the sadness he felt from Alistair a moment ago.

"Well, since you got that down rather quickly we can move on to the next part of your training."

"Cool!" said DJ, tail wagging in excitement.

"Now." began Alistair taking a fighting stance. "I want you to try to hit me."

"W-what?" asked DJ.

"You heard me. Try to hit me. No moves, just fighting. I want to see what I have to work with."

"O-OK then." said DJ taking a stance, before attacking Alistair.

DJ lunged at Alistair only for Alistair to sidestep out of the way. DJ turned on the spot and lunged at him again, but Alistair sidestepped and stuck his foot out, causing DJ to fall flat on his face.

"Don't tell me that's all you've got." said Alistair in a mocking tone.

DJ quickly got to his feet and sent a punch towards Alistair's stomach. Alistair merely grabbed DJ's paw and tossed him over his shoulder. DJ landed on his back hard causing the wind to be knocked out of him. He slowly got to his feet and resumed his attack. DJ launched punch after punch at Alistair, but none of his attacks connected.

"Come on." said Alistair. "Stop trying to hit me and hit me!"

DJ was becoming increasingly infuriated as he continued his assault, but no matter how many times he punched or kicked Alistair would either dodge or block his attacks. 'I can't even land a single hit on him! Damn!'

Katara and Jackson watched the fight with wide eyes. "Amazing." said Katara. "DJ can't even land a single hit on him!"

"I know." said Jackson. "And DJ's tiring out while Alistair hasn't even broken a sweat. At this rate, Alistair will when without ever hitting back."

True to Jackson's words, a few minutes later DJ's attacks began to slow as he gradually began to tire.

"OK, that's enough." said Alistair. "I've seen all I need to see, for the moment."

DJ instantly collapsed on his back, breathing heavily. Alistair simply sat down cross-legged in front of the exhausted Riolu.

"Now why do you think you couldn't hit me?" asked Alistair.

"You were to fast." replied DJ, still trying to catch his breathe. "You were just to strong for me."

"Wrong!" said Alistair, gaining a surprised look from DJ. "You lost because you weren't fighting like a Pokemon."

"What do you mean by that?" asked DJ.

"I mean just what I said." replied Alistair, crossing his arms. "You mindlessly throw attack after attack, making your moves easy to predict. A Pokemon either would switch up their attacks in order to confuse their opponent or counter. Just because a Pokemon is stronger than you, that does not necessarily you'll lose. You must strategize as fight in order to gain the upper hand for it is said that even a small Weedle can defeat a full-grown Dragonite if it has the right strategy. Every Pokemon is born with the innate ability to adapt and strategize in battle. Not only that you are not using your full abilities. Riolu are naturally nimble and light on their feet. You must use this to your advantage in order to gain the advantage in a fight. You have to stop thinking like a human and start thinking like a Pokemon. Now," said Alistair as he stood. "Attack me again."

DJ nodded and got to his feet and faced Alistair. Neither Pokemon moved, they simply observed each other. DJ took a deep breathe and charged. Alistair made to sidestep, but DJ saw this and changed his directory in order to intercept Alistair. DJ threw a punch at Alistair, but Alistair batted it away. DJ launched a kick at Alistair's mid-section, only for it to be caught by Alistair's. Alistair then threw DJ to the side, but DJ pivoted in mid-air and landed on his feet. As soon as DJ touched the ground he launched at Alistair, surprising him as he defended against the little Riolu's assault. It seemed that almost every counter that he made was in turn countered by DJ.

'Amazing.' thought Alistair. 'He appears to have a firm understanding of how to strategize in battle. Well then. Let's kick things up a notch.'

Alistair then sent out a punch towards DJ's head. DJ was surprised at the sudden attack, as Alistair had not attempted to hit him through the whole spar, and barely dodged the attack. Alistair then threw another punch at DJ, but DJ managed to block the punch. Alistair kept on attacking, sometimes punching or kicking from various angles, causing DJ to slowly back up. DJ was slowly becoming overwhelmed by Alistair's attacks. Alistair attempted to kick DJ with a round house kick, forcing DJ to lean back in order to dodge. DJ then tried to sweep Alistair's leg out from under him, only for Alistair leap into the air and attempt an ax kick on DJ. DJ jumped backwards, but as Alistair landed he launched at DJ, using the momentum from the fall to increase his speed. DJ attempted to block, but he was to slow and Alistair punched him right in the gut. DJ clutched his stomach as he jumped back again in order to avoid another punch from Alistair.

"W-wait a minute." said DJ trying to get over the hit.

"An enemy won't give you a minute in the middle of a battle." said Alistair as he continued his assault.

DJ was know on the complete defensive as he tried to dodge and block Alistair's attacks. After a few more minutes of this one-sided battle, Alistair finally said enough. DJ collapsed in a heap, covered in bruises and gasping for air.

"You did a good job." said Alistair, not even breathing hard from the spar. "You clearly understand the strategizing aspect of fighting. We just need to work on your speed and strength so that you can effectively dodge and block an enemies attacks."

"Can't you just teach me some powerful move, so that I don't have to worry about that stuff?" asked DJ, still gasping for air.

"What good is a powerful move without the strength to utilize it?" asked Alistair sagely. "No, first we work on your speed and strength, then I will teach you some moves. Here." said Alistair as he handed DJ an Oran berry. "This shall restore your strength. Once you have finished it we shall continue."

"What?!" cried DJ, choking on the berry. "We're not done?!"

"Of course not." said Alistair with a small chuckle. "It's only been about forty-five minutes. Now I want you to run around Miracle Town twice and then do one hundred push-ups and sit-ups."

DJ gaped at Alistair. "I-I can't do all that!"

"Yes you can." said Alistair. "Remember you're a Pokemon and a Fighting type Pokemon at that. You have more endurance than you used to. Now get running."

"Slave-driver." DJ muttered under his breathe.

"What was that?" asked Alistair, holding his ear as if he didn't hear him. "You want to run three laps?"

"No sir!" shouted DJ as he ran off before Alistair could assign more laps.

"Damn." said Katara. "Alistair is worse than a drill sergeant."

"I know." said Jackson. "I'm glad we don't have to do that."

"What was that?" asked Alistair, holding his ear again. "You want to run too?"

"Nope!" shouted Katara and Jackson before they ran off.

"Hehe, kids." chuckled Alistair as he sat down to meditate.

Later that evening, Grace was serving dinner, when she noticed that DJ was not there.

"Where's DJ?" asked Grace.

"I think he's still with Alistair." said Jackson.

"They've been training since we got back from our mission." said Katara.

"Well fighting types are notorious for training for hours without rest." said Blade as he arranged his food to that it was symmetrical.

"Still though..." said Grace with a hint of concern in her voice.

"I'm sure he's fine." said Blitz.

They all then heard the door open and when they turned they saw DJ stumble into the room, looking ragged.

"Speak of Giratina (AN: hehe see what I did there?)." said Bertha as DJ walked in and sat down next to Katara. "DJ. We were just talking about you. How was training?"

"Brutal." responded DJ, leaning back in his chair. "Gramps had me doing push-up and various other exercises. Ugh. I'm going to be sore in the morning."

All of Team Stardust, minus Asura (who was acting indifferent to everything going on around him), laughed at this comment and began to eat. After he ate, DJ went to his room exhausted from training with Alistair and fell asleep, hoping that the training will make him stronger, so that he will no longer be a burden to the team.