Chapter 25: ...Comes Great Responsibility

It was day one of training with Greninja, or Sir Greninja I should say. Buniot was back at his home, leaving Greninja and I to our business.

"Well, Damian. Considering the fact you are standing before me now... I assume you are prepared to begin training?" he asked me as we stand five feet from each other, deep in the forest.

The lighting was dismal and ominous, for we were far into the woods. It was incredibly secluded, making the perfect spot to train.

I nodded in reply.

"That is great to hear. Now I made myself clear yesterday correct? I am unaware of Gallade's training methods, but I'm assuming they will not be as intense as my own. I will say it again, I will push you past your limits in every training exercise we perform. So to begin..."

In a flash, Greninja leapt into the air, and landed gracefully on a branch. In hand, was a ribbon. Which he tied to the high branch that he stood upon.

Greninja landed 5 feet from me with grace. He stood upright, crossed his arms, and glared at me.

"Damian, your first training task is to reach that ribbon... Without climbing or jumping."

My grin faded as he said the last four words.

"How do I do that?" I asked, completely puzzled.

"Do not question me. Just do the task I give you. While you attempt that, I will retrieve food."

"Yes sir Greninja. And thanks, I'm getting pretty hungry already."

"Good... Because you don't eat until your task is finished."

My body went numb. He had to be joking. But then again, he didn't seem like the joking type. He said his training was serious, but not feeding me until I get a stupid ribbon?

I sighed in annoyance.

"Yes... Sir Greninja," I whined.

"Good. I hope to see that ribbon soon. It is one of my prized items," he said with a smirk.

And with that, he turned around and left me to my business. The only question in my head at that point was... How the heck do I get up there without jumping or climbing?

I took a moment to think.

"Maybe he wants me to run up the trees? Or does that count as climbing?" I muttered aloud.

I scratched my head, then shrugged.

"Worth a shot..."

I stood back far from the thick oak tree, got into position, and sprinted full speed towards it. Much to my dismay, my running resulted to my entire body crashing into the oak. My entire body was vibrating from impact.

As I sat up, I growled but I didn't give up just yet. I simply stood up, and tried it again. This time, with my foot out, I managed only jump off of the trees side. I landed with a thud, my legs somewhat hurting from the fall, and I scowled at my efforts.

'Maybe there's a secret hatch or something I don't know about?' I wondered.

I closed my eyes to test my theory, and my theory was quickly proven false. I sighed in frustration. This time I had two plans made up in my mind.

'He said not to jump, he never said I couldn't aura sphere to jump.'

I grinned at the thought, sure this was my ticket to beating this exercise.

I pressed my paws together formed a sphere, putting energy into it for almost an entire minute, then aimed it at the ground.

"I'm getting that ribbon right-"

My speech was interrupted as I fired the blast at the ground and I was launched backwards into a thin tree. I shrieked as I made impact, and as I hit the ground I could only moan as every part of my body felt broken.

I had no idea I could that to myself with my own attack.

"Damn it... I'm... An idiot..." I croaked past the pain.

"Persistence is not judging yourself negatively. Keep trying. I am honest when I say you will not eat until you have retrieved that ribbon for me. In fact, I've come to the conclusion that you shall remain at my side from now until our training is complete. You will not return to Buniot until every ," said Greninja, who was now standing over me with a bag filled with assorted berries and fruits.

He mockingly ate an apple in front of me. And it only made me want to get the ribbon more.

I feebly stood up, rubbing my head from the numbing headache I was facing.

"A helpful tip if I may? Do not harm yourself in this process. If I am correct, this could take you a day to complete. And trust me when I say you will want all of your energy while you have it. I will raise the stakes, in fact. There will be no breaks, rest, or sleep until you have finished," Greninja tauntingly took another bite of his apple, "Continue."

I wiped my forehead, then inspected the now bloody fur on my right paw. Groaning, I thought of something else. I had a plan B, but I couldn't remember what it was, but I was certain it would fail anyways. And that's when an idea switched on like a lightbulb.

"Maybe... What if I... I know what to do now."

I didn't have to climb the tree, I had to get the tree branch to me.

Greninja appeared amused.

"Prove your assurance," he stated.

I looked straight up at the branch, then focused on my paws. I formed an aura sphere in mere seconds, then held the energy as I inspected my shot. The aura sphere takes a lot of energy out of me, and I'm already hurt enough as it is. I aimed paws straight up, pulled my arms back again, and tossed the blast straight for the branch holding the ribbon.

I noticed Greninja's expression. He seemed surprised by my move.

With great luck, the branch snapped off of the tree, and it began to fall at tremendous speed. I swiftly dove out of the way and as I heard the branch hit the ground, I laughed heartily.

I stood to my feet and inspected the branch. On it, the blue ribbon. I tugged at the ribbon, hoping not to rip it, for my lack of hands cursed me. Greninja did the honors of removing it for me. I turned to face him, and all he could do was grin at my success.

"A day hunh?" I laughed.

His grin faded into a neutral frown, "Perhaps I underestimated you, Damian. Congratulations. You have passed your first test... But then again... You failed."

My jaw dropped, "What?"

"This is what I expect when I give you an order. Complete the task accordingly on your first attempt. Do you understand?"

Holding back any complaints, I replied, "Yes... Sir Greninja."

He took another bite of the apple, only making my frustration worse.

"Do not be angry, Damian. I warned you of my intense training, and if you ever plan to pass my tests you will follow my orders and rid yourself of this anger you are constantly feeling."

"I know Greninja-"

"Excuse me?" he nearly yelled.

"Sir... Greninja... Can I ask a question?" I muttered.

"Yes you may."

"What if there's an exercise I can't do on my first try? I mean what if I have to fight you for example? I'm not capa-"

"What was my very first lesson, Damian? Do you remember?" he asked sternly.

"Y-yeah umm... You said something about... Uhh... Nothing is impossible."

"Correct. You can have all of the persistence in the world, but it is nothing without effort. Get things done the first time! End of discussion. Your next task will be more challenging and I expect you to complete it in one attempt. If not, you will try until you have done it, move onto your next task, and hopefully you will do that task your first attempt. So without further ado..." Suddenly, a mirror copy of myself stood before me from a puff of smoke.

"With one strike, I want you to defeat your reflection. Now think wisely for you have only one strike. Begin."

The mirror copy of myself did everything I did. I raised my arm, it raised its arm. I make a silly dance, it makes a silly dance. I had to somehow strike this version of me without hurting myself in the process. And how I was going to do that was a mystery.

I then began to think. And think... And think...

I was thinking of a plan for what seemed to be an hour and after many tossed ideas, I thought of what could take my illusory copy out without harming myself. I looked up at the trees, as did my reflection. I had to make sure there were no branches above me or this wouldn't work.

Nearly positive I was safe, I launched an aura sphere at a slight angle upwards so it would snap a large branch, which then landed on my illusory self, causing it to vanish from thin air.

"I did it!" I exclaimed with pure joy.

Greninja approached me now. His face was unreadable.

"Well done, Damian. Congratulations, you have passed your first task. You may eat, but once you have finished eating, you will resume training. And my stakes remain the same."

"Okay... I mean... Yes Sir Greninja," I corrected.

He dropped the bag, in which some berries fell out as it tumbled to its side. I frowned at the amount left from what he didn't eat, but it was enough to fill me up for a bit. A round light blue berry was thrown onto the pile by Greninja,.

"Eat that first. It's an Oran Berry. Oran Berries are much healthier than those Sitrus berries."

I'd heard of Oran berries, but I always gave my team Sitrus berries whenever they were hurt from battle. That'll never happen again.

I picked up the berry with both of my paws, and as I ate the berry, I was amazed by the taste. It was sweet and sour, but it was a perfect blend of both. As I swallowed it, I instantly felt energized and my headache was now gone.

"Cool... Oran berries hunh?" I asked.

"Yes. If you ever feel you are lacking of energy or if you are injured, Oran berries take care of it."

I chuckled in my head, as he spoke like an advertiser, selling Oran berries as his product.

I them focused on the pile of of fruits before me. Stuffing my face.

"When you are finished, I wish to speak with you before you begin your next exercise," said Greninja.

I swallowed what I was eating and replied, "Yes Sir Greninja."

He nodded, "Enjoy."

Greninja then whirled around, walked a short distance from me, and began to meditate as he sat with his legs crossed.

I shrugged and continued eating.

"Damian...?" a familiar voice called in my head.

As I ate, I used my thoughts to reply, "Hey! What's up Treecko?"

"I just want you to know I hope you're safe. How's umm... The new training guy? Is he mean?"

"Who, Greninja? No way! He's just... Really strict is all. He's actually really cool, though."

"Oh... That's good then umm... I don't know what's going on, but I kinda heard Staraptor talking to Weavile. She said you didn't want to be a human anymore? Is that true, Damian?" she asked.

I sighed as I finished whatever I was eating at the moment,

"Treecko... It's true. But only somewhat okay? I haven't made up my mind yet if I want to or not. But for the time being... I mean I talked to Absol and he said that I should do it," I explained aloud.

"Oh... But that's okay though, right? I mean... You're still Damian to me. And... You'll always be my trainer."

I smiled, "That's what Absol told me. Umm... So... What have you been up to lately?"

"I've just been playing with Tay and everyone. I really like this place, Damian. Are you liking where you're at?" she asked.

"Definitely, Treecko. I have a really awesome friend named Buniot who's really strong, and he's letting me stay with him. I also have Greninja who's training me. So... I'm happy."

"That's good," she paused, "I'm gonna leave okay? I miss you, Damian."

My heart sunk as she said that, "I... I miss you too... Treecko."

As she finished speaking, Azelf began, "Damian?"

"Yes, Azelf?"

"This is my opinion on the matter, and I've thought long and hard about this. I care very deeply for you and your situation. I've spoken to your team and so have my sisters and I even discussed it with Absol."

"What is it?"

"Well... I first wanna tell you that Josh and the others know everything they need to know. And... I was thinking that well..."

I gasped, "You wanna attack the base yourselves?"

"Something like that. I just thought that if we did this, it would all be over ya know? You wouldn't have to run anymore, your team wouldn't have to hide. You can be safe. Before, this was all about revenge and getting back at Lewis, but now it's no longer about that. Team Plasma has to be stopped one way or the other, and we don't need you getting hurt anymore."

"Azelf... I... I don't know. I mean... If any of you get hurt or just... If I lost any of you for my sake it would hurt me more than being pummeled by one of Team Plasma's Pokemon."

"So... The answer is no hunh?"

I didn't want to assure her my answer, "Just... Let me think about it okay? This is a huge thing and... I just need some time."

"Okay... Now I probably should have told you this first but... My sisters and I looked into it further. This Team Plasma complex can't turn you back into a human, but there is another we found that does. Team Plasma is experimenting with turning their own people into Pokemon. And Arceus knows what they'll be doing with that. So.. the opportunity is there if you ever wanted it."

I nodded, "Thanks for letting me know,

"No problem. I'll give ya some time to think about it for a bit. Just keep training with Greninja for the time being."

"Way ahead of ya," I said with a forced chuckle.

"Yeah... Bye," she replied uncomfortably.

"Bye."

As her voice faded I continued my feast, with now many things to think about.