Chapter 10 – The dojo

Following the path in the forest, Andy looked at the Poké Ball in his hand. He had just caught a Mankey and he was glad he had found him.

"Hey, Benny." Andy looked up, stopped and looked around to see where his Butterfree had gone to. He noticed him a little further, in a field of flowers, flying from one flower to the next.

"Alright then," Andy said, laughing. "We'll take a lunch break."

He walked back to the field and noticed a small path. Following the path with his eyes, he soon discovered a wooden building on the other side of the field. By the looks of it, a dojo.

"Perfect!"

Benny stopped taking nectar from one of the flowers and looked at Andy, a quizzical look on his face.

"The dojo over there, " Andy explained. "I promised Bear I would train him, what better place is there to train a fighting type then a dojo? Let's go there."

After a short walk through the field, Andy arrived at the open gate and looked inside. On the courtyard he noticed several trainers and their fighting types, training with their Pokémon, or battling against each other. In the doorway of the wooden building behind it, an older man could be seen, watching the trainers with his hands on his back and a stern look on his face.

With Benny hanging on his shoulder, Andy walked forward.

"Hi. I would like to train here with my Mankey."

"You think you can just walk up to me and request to be trained?"

"I think I just did that, yes." Andy faced the masters stern face with a confident one of his own. "As for the training, I'll take care of that myself, but I don't have the proper attributes to use for the training. This place seems perfect to train my Mankey."

"If I'll allow you to join the dojo to train your fighting-type, you'll have to abide to the rules of the dojo."

"That's fine."

"It's not just the Pokémon who'll receive training."

"That's fine."

"You seem really bold."

"That's f- I mean, I know what I want and I'll go for it." Andy shrugged. "I'll abide to your rules and training if it'll allow me to train my Mankey, but I'll leave when I want to. I didn't start this journey to spend the rest of my life here."

"You seem determined."

"Of course, this is a determined expression." Andy pointed to his face, thought about something and a grin appeared. "Or at least, I think so, I don't have a mirror to check." He turned to Benny. "Did I look determined?"

The Butterfree nodded.

"Ah, there we have it. Seems you were right."

The master of the dojo stared at Andy, but suddenly burst out in laughter.

"Alright kid, you're accepted to the dojo. You've got spirit, I'll give you that much. How you are as a trainer will soon be revealed.

The days followed each other rapidly as Andy spent his time in the dojo with the newest addition of his team. He let his Mankey practise his moves on a wooden dummy, but also stepped up as training partner himself, strapping a wooden plank on his arm, patted with cotton and wool on the inside to absorb the blows the Mankey made on the wood. And he let him train with Benny. Both Pokémon grew stronger and Andy was pleased with how well the training went. But there was one thing he couldn't control: Bears temper. The Mankey still got angry or aggressive very easily, but not at Andy. He liked his new trainer, who trained with him, wrestled with him and played with him. All the rest of the dojo, that was a different story. Many times Andy had to call him back to his Poké Ball, or have Benny use his sleeping powder to put him to sleep, or a tackle to divert the attention of the Mankey.

His time in the dojo also allowed him to observe and he was often seen with a notebook and a pen, to write down things he noticed about the behaviour of Pokémon and the interaction between Pokémon and their trainers.

At one day, most the attendants of the dojo gathered in a large room inside the building for a series of battles. There was no structure, anyone was free to challenge anyone and those who didn't battle, observed from the sideline.

Andy was standing in the middle of the room, two other battles were taking place at the same time, but he hardly noticed. His attention was focussed on the opponent in front of him. A Machop with his trainer.

"Alright Bear, let's show them what you've got."

The Mankey jumped up, landed on his hands, walked around on his hands a bit, jumped back up and landed on his feet. Andy smiled, enjoying the playful nature of his Pokémon, but his opponent couldn't laugh with it.

"Hey! A battle is serious business!"

Andy sighed, wondering why he always ended up with such serious opponents. Bear glared angrily towards the opponent and started breathing through his nose.

"Let him talk," Andy said, before Bear would rush towards their opponent. "He's just jealous he can't do what you just did."

The Mankey calmed down, hearing Andy's words and calm voice. He gave it a moment of reconsideration and raised his arms in a victory sign. Andy couldn't help himself and burst out into laughter.

"That's the spirit, Bear! Now, are you ready to fight?"

A sudden serious look came over the Mankey as he faced his opponent, placing his feet firmly on the ground and holding his arms in striking position.

"We're ready," Andy announced to his opponent. "Feel free to make the first move."

Bear looked over his shoulder to Andy, who winked at him. "We've got to give them a fair chance, right?"

Bear nodded enthusiastically and returned his attention to the opposing Machop again.

As the Machop run forward for a low kick, Andy ordered a focus energy for Bear. Then he ordered fury swipes and the Mankey run to the Machop, hitting him several times, before jumping back to where he began. When their opponent ordered a karate chop, Bear jumped aside or leaned backwards to escape the chops and after Andy calmly asked it, landed a low kick himself. After a well places karate chop, the battle was over.

"Nicely done! So. Who wants to be Bears next opponent?" Andy asked looking around, but no-one came. Bear was jumping from one foot to the other, happy with the victory and because it was just fun to do.

"Nobody?" Andy looked at his Mankey, clearly still full of energy and took his Poké Ball to call Benny out. Bear immediately turned to Benny, ready to fight.

"Man, Mankey, Man?" Bear asked him.

Benny nodded. "Freee!"

The two engaged in battle, Andy stood aside, watching them and giving out orders to both. Bear was at a disadvantages and he knew that. But he always seemed to like the challenge Benny posed to him and Benny usually stuck with tackles and evading attacks, instead of using the moves Bear was weak to, like gust or confusion. On the other hand, Bear had gotten stronger and more agile, so it wasn't long before both Pokémon were panting.

"Alright you guys, that's enough." Andy took Benny's Poké Ball and called him back.

"I'll battle your Mankey," a voice behind Andy spoke and he turned around.

"So let me get this straight. When I asked if anyone wanted to battle, you didn't come. Now that he's tired from a battle with Benny, now you want to fight? No way."

"What? Is your Pokémon to weak? Or a coward perhaps?"

Andy wanted to reply to that, but Bear jumped up, landed between them and glared at the trainer.

"Bear, no. He just wants an easy victory. Don't let him talk you into a fight like that."

The Mankey ignored him, breathing heavily through his nose.

"Bear! Don't give into his taunting."

"Mankey," the Pokémon growled.

"Bear," Andy sighed, as he walked around the Pokémon to stand in front of him. "Now listen to me. You don't have to prove how awesome you are. I know that, you know that. Benny knows that. That's all that matters. That he doesn't know is his loss. You don't have to prove a thing. You are neither weak nor a coward, you know that, as do I. You are the most awesome Pokémon in the building, so you don't have to feel attacked if this nitwit doesn't know that. It's a waste of time to prove him wrong, all that matter is that we know how fantastic you really are. Got it?"

Bear nodded, but Andy wasn't done yet.

"This one here is a waste of our precious time. He had the chance to accept our challenge and was to chicken to do so. Now that he sees you've had an exhausting battle with Benny, now he wants to battle. He really just wants to defeat you, don't give him that pleasure."

Bear shook his head, looking fiercely towards Andy.

"Really Bear, as awesome as you are, you must know your limitations as well. You are tired, what point is there to deny that?"

"Mankey! Mankey, mank!"

"Seriously Bear, you get all worked up over nothing. He's not worth our time."

The Mankey calmed down a bit and leaned to the right, so he could watch the student behind Andy, then shrugged and jumped up to one of the wooden beam, which he held onto with his tail and feet and gently swung, watching the trainers and their Pokémon below him.

"If you really want to battle, come back in half an hour, after two battles he deserves a break." Andy didn't look at the other trainer when he said this. The trainer left without saying a word, but his place was quickly taken by the dojo's master, Juno.

"You made a good decision there. I think, with some time, your Mankey will be able to control his temper. He has already made a great improvement from the first day till now under your guidance."

"I do my best," Andy said, with a confident smile. "I think I'll be leaving soon. There's only so much he can learn here, and the same counts for me. I feel we learned pretty much we can learn here and all there's left is to improve those skills. I can do that on the road, I don't have to stay here for that. And there will be other experiences on the travel."

"You're right about that. It was good having you here, Andy. I'm sure you'll do fine on your travel."

"Thanks for your confidence." Andy grinned and turned to Juno. "But I agree."

Juno laughed. "With a positive attitude the battle is half won and the goal half reached. And you seem to have an unending supply of optimism. Take your benefits from that and good luck." He reached out his hand and Andy took it to shake it.

"Thanks for the experience, master. I've enjoyed my time here. I'm sure Benny and Bear had a great time as well."

When he let go of Juno's hand, Andy turned to Bear, still swinging on the wooden beam. "Bear! We're leaving!"

The Mankey jumped down and landed next to Andy, who took Bears Poké Ball and called him back. After a final goodbye to the other trainers and the master, Andy left the dojo to continue his journey.