Chapter 12
Understanding through Strife
"Yes, you want two Oran berries, one Cheri berry, one Rawst berry, and one Pecha berry, correct?" the green Kecleon asked, a pleasant smile on its face.
"Yep! For our next mission!" Zekra said.
"Okay, that'll be 150 Poké," the Kecleon replied.
Terron opened the sack of money he carried and dumped the coins into his paw. With Zekra's help, he took the proper amount of coins from the pile and set it on the counter before him. The Kecleon happily took the money and placed a pile of various berries in its place. Terron put the rest of his money back into his sack and then gathered the berries into his arms.
With the purchase now in hand, Terron and Zekra turned around and started to leave the store.
The two were shopping at the Kecleon Market, using their free time to buy supplies for their next mission. The store had a vague similarity to a candy store with multiple edible items being in barrels, orbs sitting on shelves that were tacked into the walls, and scarves hanging from hooks. The entire store was run by two Kecleon. The two were brothers, one being the normal green kind while the other was an odd shade of purple. With their constant smiling and well-mannered personalities, the very store had a very welcoming atmosphere that might make anyone feel pleasant.
As Terron and Zekra left the store, the purple Kecleon, who was organizing berries into separate barrels, saw them and waved cheerfully.
"Goodbye, you two!" the purple one called. "Come back soon! We might be selling some new weather-changing wonder orbs soon!"
"Alright, we will!" Zekra replied cheerfully. "See you again!"
With their dungeon-crawling items purchased, the two left the store. The children passed up the rest of the merchants in the area, searching for any particular items they might want. Sadly, there weren't many items that the two wanted or could even afford. Even Terron's most sought out item, the Cubone helmet, was nowhere in sight.
However, the children didn't feel too bothered by that.
The cheeriness of the Kecleon shop had rubbed off on them for the time being.
No longer needing to shop, Terron and Zekra went to the Sandslash tunnel to drop off their leftover money there. After that was taken care of, the two headed back to the base and set their new items in their room. They figured they'd use them for their next mission rather than store them away.
With their errands done, the two now wandered through the streets, trying to figure out what to do with the rest of their day.
"So, Éclair was mentioning something about needing to train," Terron stated. "She wasn't too specific about how to do that, but when did you want to start this 'training'?"
"Well, she was mentioning something about fighting wild Pokémon, so maybe we can do that," Zekra suggested. "And, we could do it right now. I mean, we don't have to get a mission now like King said. We could do that later tonight."
"I suppose," Terron replied. "It's not like the Fellowship will run out of missions. So, back to training, we could go to the Gray Lands. That's not too far away. And, I remember there were some wild Pokémon roaming the place."
"We could always go to some Mystery Dungeon as well," Zekra then said. "If we go to a regular wild place, the Pokémon will just run away from us and make battling difficult. If we go to a dungeon though, the Pokémon will naturally attack us and then we'll be forced to massacre them. Then for sure we'll get stronger!"
Terron glanced uneasily at Zekra.
"Um, I don't think so," Terron replied. "That means that they're more likely to seriously hurt us since they're actively trying to attack us. At least with the normal wild Pokémon, we can surprise them since they're not trying to hurt us most of the time.
"I suppose you have a point with the Pokémon." Zekra said thoughtfully. "Alright, we'll go to the Gray Lands that lack the color gray. To the plains!"
Gray Lands
The children sat in the middle of the large field, the gentle breeze swaying the plants within the field.
Quiet filled the air, giving the two a sense of calm during their small rest.
The two had spent the past few hours finding their way to the Gray Lands. At first, they thought they had to venture through Wayward Woods again to get here. However, after a bit of exploring, the two realized there was an alternative path to the Gray Lands and went through there.
It took more time to go around the woods, but Terron and Zekra felt it was better than having to travel through another Mystery Dungeon without any supplies.
As the two sat quietly among the soft grass and watched birds fly by, Terron felt his mind wandering.
At first, he thought about their day and the many things they learned from the leaders of the Fellowship. He felt happy to know that the adults had taken time to teach him and Zekra. He couldn't have imagined how long it might have been before they learned those valuable lessons by themselves.
They truly were nice Pokémon.
"There is a specific rule for what we do to liars, and that is that we execute them."
Terron froze up.
He recognized that voice.
"We don't have a deep and powerful river to dump the corpses in like the Nestati Fellowship, a convenient graveyard nearby like the Oracion Fellowship, nor the ability to drop the bodies off the high mountain tops like the Pledge Mountain Fellowship."
The disturbing images started flooding Terron's thoughts.
"So, we bring the criminals to Dusk Mines instead and have them execute our criminals. No one visits them directly, so they have a much easier time disposing of their liars and ours. They don't mind slaughtering our liars, though. In fact, I feel at times they enjoy being able to have more creatures to slaughter… they seem much too happy whenever we bring them a new batch of criminals…"
The smiles of countless killers etched themselves into his brain.
The ones that stood out the most, however, were the leaders of all the Fellowships.
Terron started smacking himself with his own club, attempting to get rid of the faces in his head.
They weren't going away.
"Hey, what are you doing?!" Zekra cried.
Zekra quickly snatched the bone out of Terron's hand with her teeth. Terron tried to get it back, but Zekra was quick to get out of the way.
She leaped backwards, landing a foot away from the Cubone.
"What's going on?" Zekra asked with the bone still in her mouth. "Why were you hitting yourself?"
Terron sprang at the Zorua, trying to get his weapon back. Zekra had seen this coming, however, and took off running in the opposite direction.
Terron started chasing her, feeling rather vulnerable out in the wild without his weapon. Though Terron wasn't as fast as Zekra, he refused to relent until he got the bone back.
"Give it back, Zekra!" Terron shouted. "I'm not going to hurt myself anymore! Just let me have it back!"
"That's what everyone says just to get what they want back after it's been taken away!" Zekra shouted back.
Terron continued to chase Zekra, both of them running around aimlessly in the Gray Lands. Thankfully, no wild Pokémon decided to attack them; they had run away once they saw Terron and Zekra running rampant.
After trying to get the Zorua for several minutes, Terron noticed Zekra was starting to slow down. She must have been getting tired.
Terron, too, felt slightly exhausted, but he pushed himself to catch up with Zekra. He slowly started to get near her as her speed faltered.
Zekra, realizing Terron was nearby, frantically started looking up toward the skies.
Just then, a Swellow flew over their heads. Upon seeing this, Zekra leaped into the air as the pink light covered her.
Terron tried to pounce on her, but he missed and landed on the ground. He spit the dirt out of his mouth and looked back up out of the grass.
Terron watched as Zekra turned into a Swellow and took off into the skies, high above where Terron couldn't reach her. Though she seemed out of breath, she continued to ascend until she was barely visible.
The Cubone collapsed back onto the ground, feeling out of breath from running so much. There was no point in running anymore. Zekra was a bird now and was going to be that way for a while. The best he could do was stay here until she became a Zorua again.
Terron rolled onto his back as he attempted to gain his composure again. While he wasn't happy about chasing around Zekra, he at least felt a little better than compared to a few minutes ago. Possibly because he was too exhausted to let the disturbing images get into his head.
Why'd I have to be friends with a Zorua? Terron thought. They can change so easily to make things work to their advantage…
Not long after thinking this, Terron saw a figure descending from the sky. Knowing what to expect, he sat up in the grass and watched as Zekra came falling down in her Zorua form, the bone still in her jaws.
THUMP!
Zekra landed on the ground, not too far from where Terron sat, tumbling along the grass as her momentum slowed. By the time she had stopped rolling around, Zekra was a couple feet away from her landing site and panting.
Thankfully, she didn't seem to have any injuries.
Terron slowly got to his feet and made his way toward her. Zekra, despite being exhausted, started getting to her feet as if to take off. But before she could do that, Terron managed to grab his weapon that was sticking out of her mouth and attempted to pull it out.
Zekra clamped her teeth down on the bone and resisted.
The two then entered a small tug-of-war, neither wanting to give up their hold on the item.
It was Terron, though, that managed to win after a minute.
Once he got his weapon back, Terron plopped down on the ground a few feet away from the Zorua, needing a break. He held onto the bone tightly, not wanting Zekra to steal it from him again.
There was quiet for another minute as the two slowly regained their energy.
After that minute passed, Zekra finally spoke.
"Why were you hitting yourself, Terron?" Zekra asked, sounding more concerned than earlier.
Terron glanced at the ground. He considered telling Zekra a lie, but then, he realized that he and Zekra were alone. There were no Fellowship members in the area to hear them. They were all back in Aurora Town or still out on missions.
Besides, he and Zekra were friends. If he wanted to stay friends with her, Terron knew he had to be honest and admit to what was going on. They needed to share secrets with each other, just like they had the first day they met.
"I was trying to get these thoughts out of my head," Terron said with a sigh. "They were bothering me a lot."
"What kind of thoughts?" Zekra asked curiously.
Terron looked over at the Zorua, a hesitant look in his eyes.
"Well, I've been thinking about the Fellowship lately," Terron began. "Though specifically, it was the information King told us about. You know, with how they punish liars. That information really disturbed me. I mean… killing Pokémon just because they lied to us? Th-That's just really creepy. I'm starting to feel terrified of being in this Fellowship, knowing that we do that."
"Oh, I see," Zekra replied. "But, you don't need to worry. We both know that the Fellowship has good intentions. They just do that since they have rather strict rules and don't want to be messed with. But taking that away, they're still nice Pokémon. The leaders even helped us feel better when we were sad, and when we needed some pointers as to how to get better at missions."
"Yeah, I know that," Terron said. "But it still bothers me. The Fellowship does really weird things. I mean, first they mark us like they're branding us, and then they tell us that they kill Pokémon who lie to them. It's… It's just bothering me."
"I don't know what this 'branding' is," Zekra started to say, "but, what do you want to do then about the Fellowship if it's bothering you so much?"
"I don't really know," Terron said quietly. "I mean, we can't just leave the Fellowship; we have nowhere to go. Plus, I do like the place despite their creepy tendencies. I just feel… horrified by the information. And I really want to forget that I know what the Fellowship does."
Zekra started to think about something.
"Does knowing that we kill liars disturb you?" Terron asked before Zekra could talk.
"Well… only a little," Zekra answered hesitantly.
There was silence for ten seconds.
"You're not?" Terron asked, sounding more surprised than uneasy. "Why?"
"I'm a dark-type, which means those kinds of Pokémon are bit more… well, dark in ways of thinking and doing things compared to other types," Zekra explained. "I'm used to disturbing things because I'm one of those dark types. I don't mind killing wild Pokémon in such gruesome ways because of that, for example. So, yes, this idea of killing clients is rather creepy… but it's not enough to bother me. Dark types were made to be able to handle gruesome things without much thought. It's our mindset."
"Oh, I see." Terron said.
"Yeah, but I can understand why you're bothered," Zekra then said. "But, it's not too bad, like I said. The Fellowship has more positive sides to them than negative after all. So, just try to get used to those creepy traits, I suppose."
"But how?" Terron asked. "I can't imagine ever getting used to that. It's like I have blood on my hands that won't wash away…"
"Well, you seem to be getting used to me and my disturbing ways." Zekra said with a smile. "So, maybe if you can do that, you can also do that with the Fellowship. Sometimes, you just have to accept things for the way they are."
"Maybe," Terron replied. "Maybe. I'll try. Looks like I have a lot of things to adjust to now that I'm a Pokémon. First the body and powers, the time thing, and now this… being a Pokémon sure takes a lot of work."
"You'll get used to it," Zekra said with a chuckle.
Terron, now feeling slightly better about the situation, got up and walked up to her.
"So when do you want to find some wild Pokémon to fight?" Terron asked. "That's why we're here after all."
"Oh, right, we were doing that," Zekra replied. "Well, I'm kinda tired from having to transform while I was getting exhausted, so let's just take another break for a while. The sun should be up for a few more hours."
"Yeah, that's probably a good idea," Terron remarked. "I could use a bit of a break myself."
Terron sat down and the two, once again, relaxed in the early summer weather. Terron rested his head against Zekra's side to get comfortable and watched clouds go by with his friend. They named the various images they could identify, whether they were simple outlines of Pokémon or things that Terron remembered from the human world. If he ever found the latter, he would explain them to Zekra, who didn't always understand the concepts even after they were explained.
Eventually though, after a while of making up shapes in cloud formations, the two fell asleep from tiredness.
An hour later, Terron and Zekra started to smell the scent of smoke in the air. It woke them both up from their naps.
A couple yards away, there was a large cloud of black haze. It was slowly spreading throughout the plains, making its way over to the two.
Curious as to know what was going on, Terron and Zekra got to their feet and hastily made their way over to the smoke. Their nap had provided them recovery from their running and transforming, which made getting to the sight quickly very easy.
Once the two were a foot away from the outermost part of the black cloud, they peered inside to see if they could spot anything.
Unfortunately, the smoke was much too thick for them to make out anything.
The two looked at one another.
"This looks a lot like a smokescreen," Zekra said. "It's too thick for it to be a normal fire. There's probably a Pokémon causing this inside there."
"I wonder why a Pokémon would be making this, though," Terron said in response. "I can't think of a practical reason to make a whole bunch of smoke."
"Hmmm, maybe there's another wild Pokémon in there and the original Pokémon is fighting it," Zekra suggested. "Could be that the smoke is being used to blind the enemy."
An eager smile grew on Zekra's muzzle.
"Which means… this would be the perfect opportunity to fight and gain experience!" Zekra proclaimed. "Visibility is clearly limited, so we could do a surprise attack and we'll be striking an already weakened enemy! And visibility won't be a problem for me!"
"Would we be able to breathe in there, though?" Terron then asked. "That smoke looks pretty thick."
"Well, only one way to find out!" Zekra said enthusiastically.
Without another word, Zekra darted into the haze. Terron immediately lost sight of the Zorua.
The Cubone was considering whether he should risk going into the cloud of darkness, when suddenly, a bright and orange light glowed within the cloud.
"Arrogant Pokémon of darkness!" a deep and powerful voice exclaimed. "How dare you attempt to attack me!?"
FWOOSH!
Zekra immediately came running out of the smokescreen, sections of her fur singed. Her eyes were wide with panic.
"Retreat! Retreat!" the Zorua cried.
"Zekra, what's going-"
FWOOSH!
A large stream of flame spewed out of the cloud, nearly missing Terron. Even still, he could feel the intense heat coming off that burst and it nearly scorched his arm.
Out of pure reaction, Terron started running as well.
"Get back here!" the voice yelled. "You must receive your penalty for your actions!"
Terron turned his head to see what was behind him. He was expecting an enormous fire-type Pokémon that would suit the unknown voice. He figured it was an Arcanine or Emboar since they were rather large Pokémon that could produce such deep voices.
Much to Terron's surprise, the Pokémon that emerged from the black haze was a Quilava. While normally Terron wouldn't have found this Pokémon to be very intimidating, this one had an intense glare of rage etched into its eyes.
Terron had only seen that much rage in Zekra whenever she was offended.
Seeing it on a different Pokémon that seemed set out to murder them was somewhat terrifying.
"You cannot escape!" the Quilava shouted, confirming it was the voice from earlier.
The Quilava immediately picked up speed, rushing toward Zekra. Once it had managed to close much of the distance, the Quilava fired a swarm of star-shaped energies from its mouth. Zekra attempted to swerve out of the way, but the Quilava was quick to cease its attack and lunged at Zekra's change in direction.
Its body caught fire, causing the Quilava to gain a quick burst of speed.
Zekra didn't move out of the way in time.
Terron watched in horror as the Quilava rammed its head into Zekra's side, knocking her into the ground. Her side immediately caught fire. Zekra attempted to roll around in the grass to put the fire out, and though she managed, it also made the plants surrounding her catch fire.
Terron started running toward Zekra, wanting to assist her. However, the Quilava noticed his presence and acknowledged it by releasing a pillar of fire at him. Terron attempted to move out of the way, though he wasn't fast enough to avoid all of the attack. His hand got the brunt of the attack, which caused Terron to instinctively bury his hand in the soil below him.
The Quilava looked down at Zekra, a scowl apparent on its face. It was no longer coated in fire.
It put its foot on Zekra's burnt fur so that she wouldn't attempt to get away.
"Now that you have received your punishment for attempting to batter me, I will ask you a question," it said. "Why did you do such?"
"What?" Zekra asked, too preoccupied by the fire around her to understand the question.
The Quilava stamped out the flames growing around Zekra with its free foot. Once it had done that, it looked back at the Zorua.
"I will say it again; why did you attack me?" the Quilava said with a cold voice. "Answer the question."
"I thought you were a wild Pokémon!" Zekra explained hastily, wanting to get away from the fire-type. "That's what my friend and I were out here for! We wanted to train and we thought that you were a good target since you were in the smokescreen! You know, since Pokémon get blinded in those things!"
The Quilava let out a snort, making small streams of fire come out of its nostrils.
"Is that so?" the Quilava asked. "You believe that a field feral has the capability to understand the mechanics and advantages of impenetrable smog?"
"Yeah…" Zekra said nervously.
The Quilava stared at Zekra with a doubtful expression. It then looked over at Terron, who was checking to see if his hand had sustained any serious burns.
"Acquaintance of this darkness Pokémon!" the Quilava called.
Terron looked up and turned his head to the Quilava.
"Come here so that I may question you and verify the information your companion gives to me," it said.
The Cubone reluctantly made his way over. He was somewhat relieved that this Quilava was no longer attacking them, but he was still worried about what it would do if Terron didn't properly answer the questions.
He could only imagine what the Quilava would do to Zekra.
Terron stopped in couple feet away from the fire-type, wanting to keep a distance from it.
"Do you vouch for your friend when she says that she attacked me because she mistook me for a feral and thought she would gain strength from that?" the Quilava asked.
"Yeah, I do." Terron said quietly, not making eye contact with the fire type. "That's what happened. We're sorry, though. It was a misunderstanding."
The Quilava eyed Terron. After a moment, it decided to believe Terron and took its paw off Zekra. Zekra immediately got to her feet and went next to Terron.
"Fine. I shall believe your truth," the Quilava said. "You no longer have reason to fear me."
Zekra and Terron let out a sigh of relief.
"You mention that you desire to train, if I remember so correctly," the Quilava then said. "Is this so?"
"Yeah, we're trying to get stronger." Terron answered. "We figured battling wild Pokémon would help with that."
The Quilava started to consider something. It then started to walk away from the two.
"If you wish to gain strength, then follow me," the Quilava said without looking at the children. "I know of a more suitable place where your skills may grow and prosper."
Terron and Zekra looked at one another, unsure of whether they should follow the Quilava that they barely met. However, as the Quilava grew farther away from them, the two hastily made up their minds and ran after the fire type.
"I believe you never gave me your names." the Quilava said as the children caught up to it. "What are they?"
"Oh, I'm Zekra," the Zorua introduced. "And this my friend, Terron. What's your name?"
"My name is Novus," the Quilava said. "Nice to meet you, Terron and Zekra."
Aurora Town
After some time of walking in silence, the group made it back out of the Gray Lands and into the beloved town Zekra and Terron called home.
"Now that we have come back to Aurora Town, allow me to show you the place where you main gain the strength you seek," Novus said.
Novus then led the children to the north side of town nearby the police station. Eventually, after much more walking, Novus stopped a few feet away from a particular building. Zekra and Terron glanced at it curiously.
It was a large, dome-shaped building that appeared to be made of many differently-colored bricks. At the very top of the dome was a flag on a pole, bearing a picture of an Infernape and Medicham throwing fists of fire at one another.
"This is a gymnasium," the Quilava explained. "Many Pokémon come here to learn new techniques for battle. I felt that because you two seek a form of that, this organization would suit your needs."
"Yeah, that'd be great, actually!" Zekra said happily. "But, how do you know about this place? No one I know mentions this place."
"Others you know may not know of here, due to not feeling the need of training," Novus suggested. "As for why I know, it is because I am one of the trainers here."
Terron and Zekra looked at the Quilava, their faces clearly expressing their surprise.
"You are?" Zekra asked. "But, then how come you were in the Gray Lands if you work here?"
"I was practicing the art of using black haze," Novus said. "I wanted to see how wide I could make the radius of the skill. I needed as much space as possible, and I felt a vacant field was a choice place to practice."
"Oh, I see," Zekra said with a nod. "Makes sense I suppose."
"Now that your questions have been answered, let us go inside," Novus then said.
Novus led the two into the doorway at the front. Once the three entered inside of the dome, Terron and Zekra looked around in wonder. The room they stood in had literally nothing in it, but what the two were marveling at were actually several different doorways surrounding the room. Each doorway seemed to lead into a hallway that would lead into another room. Above each entrance was a symbol of sorts, such as an orange and red flame, a bolt of yellow, circular shapes of blue, wisp-like streams, and more.
Light flooded in from above through various windows in the ceiling.
A few Pokémon were standing nearby the doors, as if waiting for the trainers. A couple of the Pokémon talked to one another as they waited. None seemed to pay any attention to the group.
"Each of these hallways leads to a room where a trainer may help you." Novus explained. "As evident by the symbols above each hall, every trainer is a different element so they can help everyone."
"Really?" Zekra asked curiously. "Who's the trainer for the dark kinds like myself?"
"You will have to discover that for yourself," Novus simply replied.
"I sure will!" Zekra said eagerly.
She immediately dashed down the hallway bearing the symbol of dark violet eyes that were narrowed in an almost malevolent expression.
As Terron watched her disappear, the Quilava glanced at the hall meant for the fire types and saw a Monferno standing outside it. It was tapping its foot against the ground impatiently.
"I have someone I need to assist, so I will be leaving you," Novus said to Terron. "You are free to come and go as you please in this gymnasium. There is no fee required."
"Oh, okay then," Terron said. "But, before you go; how do you guys run this place if we don't have to pay you?"
"The city pays for it," Novus answered. "They gave us money to construct this gymnasium, and also give us payment for being instructors. They felt that it was necessary to train others in the arts of battle since, after all, it is what we Pokémon are known for. No Pokémon should be lacking in those skills."
"Oh, I see," Terron said. "Alright. Well, see you later, I suppose."
Novus didn't answer back and walked over to the fire- type chamber, where he began speaking with the Monferno.
Terron, no longer needing to talk to Novus, started to head toward the room Zekra had disappeared into since he was always with her wherever they went.
But before he could, Terron saw the symbol for the ground types on a nearby hallway.
It was a tornado of sand, flinging dirt in all directions.
Upon seeing it, Terron's curiosity started to grow. He wanted to follow Zekra, but he knew he'd have no use in being with her with a dark-type trainer. He had no plans to harness dark powers, nor did he feel he wanted to train against the dark-types at the moment
He made his way into the hall of the ground types and proceeded through it. Once at the end of the hall, he found himself in a new room that was much bigger than the previous room. The room itself was mostly unremarkable, with the walls being completely barren and the flooring simply being the dirt from the ground.
However, there was one aspect of the room that immediately caught Terron's eye:
The giant, reddish clay statue that stood proudly at the end of the room.
Terron approached the strange statue and stopped in front of its enormous mass. The statue stood high above the Cubone, its head slightly lowered so that it seemed to be looking directly at Terron. Standing before this unknown creature made Terron feel incredibly small despite being shorter than many Pokémon he met.
The Cubone glanced up at the statue's eyes, curiosity in his eyes.
"Oh, I see you're visiting Groudon."
Terron quickly turned his head to find a Donphan standing next to another door in the room. Alarmed by the sudden presence, Terron hastily took a step backwards. Memories of his incident with the wild Donphan came to mind.
However, once he realized that this Donphan was sentient, Terron was quick to calm down. He wasn't going to be attacked like last time.
"Groudon?" Terron asked oddly. "Is that what this is?"
"Why, of course!" the Donphan replied as it made its way over to Terron. "You don't recognize him? When this statue was crafted, we made sure that his features were exact to as how the legends describe him!"
"He's a Pokémon, right?" Terron then said. "He looks kind of familiar… but I can't remember much about him."
"A Pokémon who's never heard of Groudon… and a ground Pokémon at that!" the Donphan huffed. "Groudon is the one who created the lands of the world! He is our kind's guardian! He is the one who gave us a home within the oceans ruled by Kyogre! We can live because of his influence! You must be incredibly sheltered not to know the creator of the land. Every ground Pokémon practically worships Groudon."
Terron didn't know how to reply. Seeing this, the Donphan let out a sigh to cool down.
"So I can assume you're here because you want to train, right?" the elephant asked.
"Yeah, I was told this place can help me become stronger," Terron replied as he brought his attention to the Donphan. "Are you the trainer of the ground types?"
"Why, yes I am!" the Donphan said proudly. "Master Tunra at your service! And who might you be, new trainee?"
"Terron," the Cubone answered. "Nice to meet you, Master Tunra."
The Donphan gave a pleasant smile. He opened his mouth to say something, but then stopped when he seemed to notice something about Terron.
"Pardon me for asking this," Tunra then said, "but why is it that you don't have a helmet? I realize you're a Cubone due to the weapon in your hands… but never before have I seen one of your kind not wear their helmet."
Terron frowned hard, though he didn't dare show his annoyance in any more ways.
"I lost it," Terron replied blandly. "I woke up one morning and it wasn't on my head anymore. It was probably stolen more than likely, but it's gone. I'm trying to get a new one, though."
"Oh, I see," the Donphan said. "That's what happened."
There was an awkward pause between the two.
"… Well, let's get started on your training," Tunra then said. "Let's go to the center of the room."
Terron nodded as he followed the Donphan to the middle of the room. Once the two made it there, they created a few feet of distance between one another. Tunra stared at the Cubone oddly for a moment before he glanced downward.
"I've never trained a Cubone in all honesty," Tunra stated. "In fact, I didn't even know you Cubone and Marowak left the wild to live in society. I always thought you stayed in the wild since it suited your ways better than society's. However, I see you prove that wrong."
Tunra started to pace around, contemplating.
"Cubone and Marowak, despite being ground Pokémon, are quite different from other ground types," Tunra continued. "You rely on your weapons to win battles. Hardly do I see your kind using the abilities known to the Pokémon of ground. You don't bury underground to strike your enemies from below. You don't manipulate the ground to cause quakes or make it erupt with power. Never do you use the dirt beneath your feet. You Cubone and Marowak are one of us ground types… yet you do not act like us. I've never had to train ground types who don't normally use the soil to their advantage..."
"So are you saying that you can't teach me anything?" Terron asked.
"No, I can teach you," the ground master replied. "It's just that I normally teach those who come here how to improve their powers over the ground. If I were to teach you, I would have to start with the very basics before I teach you what I normally teach. You see, despite preferring bones as a means of offense, you can still learn how to use abilities the rest of us ground types have. Even if you weren't meant to use such abilities, you can still acquire them with training. Of course… I haven't taught basics in a very long time…"
"But you can still teach me, right?" Terron asked.
"Perhaps," Tunra said. "However… like I said, I may need to adjust my teaching methods in order to teach you."
"Alright, well what do you have in mind?" Terron asked curiously.
The Donphan stopped and brought his gaze over to Terron. There was uncertainty in the trainer's eyes.
"I'm not entirely sure, but I believe the best way to teach you for now…"
Tunra suddenly curled up into a tight ball. Terron's eyes grew as the rolled- up Donphan started to speed toward him.
"…Is to see what level your current combat skills are at and see what I can do from there."
The Cubone hastily moved out of the way as fast as he could. The roaming Donphan swept past him, kicking up dirt into the air and getting into Terron's eyes. Terron started to rub his eyes.
"Isn't there some other way you can test me?!" Terron cried. "I don't want to fight! I can't beat you! I tried once with a wild Donphan and I didn't have the right skills to do it!"
Terron lowered his hands after his eyes were clear again. However, upon opening his eyes, the only thing he saw was a rolled up Tunra two seconds away from running him over.
Terron held up his weapon to block the attack. He knew his efforts were futile against such a high velocity assault, but it was all he could think of doing besides standing there.
Terron closed his eyes and prepared for the inevitable pain.
THUD!
Terron could feel Tunra slam into his weapon. He could feel himself getting pushed backwards a little, but he didn't fall over as he thought. However, it would only be a second longer before he would get crushed anyway.
Terron took in a deep breath.
This is it. Terron thought. This is where I get run over and no doubt get all of my bones broken. Or maybe I'll die. I shouldn't have to put up with this just to train…
He shut his eyes tighter and grit his teeth.
The second where he thought he would be run over passed.
Terron hadn't been crushed yet.
Another second passed by and Terron was still not injured.
The Cubone, in his confusion, slowly opened his eyes.
Tunra was right in front of him, attempting to roll into the Cubone. However, something was preventing him and thus keeping him spinning in place. Terron looked up to find that his bone club was what kept the Donphan in place. Terron was somehow holding the Donphan back with the weapon.
"How… How am I doing this?" Terron asked in disbelief. "How am I able to stop you from running me over?"
"Many ground Pokémon have strong muscles." the Donphan explained as he continued to roll. "It's what helps us to bury underground so quickly and control the ground. It's also useful for regular attacks such as charging an enemy. You are no different. However… I am simply using a fraction of my own strength. Let's see if you can continue to hold me back when I start trying more…"
Terron felt the momentum of Tunra increase, causing him to slowly slide backwards. He tried to keep his feet firmly in one spot, but they couldn't handle the increase of power. His feet dragged across the ground.
Terron leaned forward to help increase his own power, but it hardly did any good.
"You're going to kill me if you run me over!" Terron shouted when he realized he couldn't do much else. "Can we call it quits before that happens?! I get it! I know I have a lot of strength now! Killing me won't help me learn though!"
"You won't die!" Tunra insisted. "Besides, you need this! The only way you can ever improve your strength is to get used to intense situations! If you don't suffer, then you'll never grow stronger!"
Yeah, no pain, no gain. Terron thought irritably. Seems humans and Pokémon both share that concept.
Crack…
Terron looked up at the bone in his hands. Much to his horror, a crack had formed down the middle.
"No."
The crack grew wider. Terron could see a small glimpse of the marrow in the bone.
"No."
The bone split into two pieces, shards of cartilage flying into the air.
"NO!"
CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!
Terron fell backwards as the Donphan proceeded with running over him. Terron couldn't breathe as several of his bones snapped from the massive weight. His insides became crushed and for a brief moment, Terron felt he was going to upchuck all of his organs.
After Tunra had finished rolling over the Cubone, Terron lay there on the ground, unable to get up. Raspy breaths came from Terron as he attempted to breathe.
As he remained there in his pathetic state, Terron saw Tunra in his normal form, looking down at him. He seemed to have an almost disappointed expression in his eyes.
"Hmmm, seems your strength hasn't developed much," the Donphan stated. "You have strength… just not enough to be considered adequate. Well, looks like that'll have to be the first skill we work on. No ground type should have lacking physical strength."
"C-Can't b-breathe," Terron attempted to say.
"And your endurance too, apparently," Tunra then added thoughtfully. "You should be able to handle being run over and getting right back up."
Terron gave a shaky glare to the Donphan as he tried to get up. However, he found that his muscles refused to function and kept him pinned down. The ground master let out a sigh as he went to go retrieve an Oran berry that was resting on a shelf. He then came back to the Cubone and dropped it in Terron's mouth.
Terron slowly chewed down the berry, giving him some strength to sit up. Breathing started becoming easy again.
"I was able to hold you back," Terron said slowly, trying to catch his breath. "You're saying that isn't a sufficient amount of physical strength? How? That's an impressive feat to me."
"I'm afraid not, compared to what I have taught," Tunra replied. "I have seen others not only hold back my rolls, but also toss me across the room in that state. And those weren't even my expert students. So yes, I have much to improve in you. We'll start with getting your strength and endurance at a reasonable level so you may then learn decent ground techniques. I can't teach you how to use the dirt beneath your feet until you've grown in those two areas."
Terron let out a sigh. He hated to know that he was rather weak.
Yet at the same time, Terron was happy to know that he could improve. If he could stop a rolled-up Donphan now, then what more amazing things could he do later with more training?
"We'll start your training the next time you come here," Tunra declared. "I believe it's almost evening, and you should probably go home. So we'll end now. Until then, I have an assignment for you."
"What would that be?" Terron asked curiously.
Tunra gestured over to the shattered remains of Terron's bone club. Terron looked upon his weapon in pity.
"As you can see, your main weapon has been destroyed," Tunra said. "So, I want you to go find a new one. However, don't get any old bone; find one that belongs to a dragon or a fighting Pokémon."
"Why those kinds of Pokémon?" Terron asked.
"Those kinds of Pokémon have the strongest bones of all Pokémon," Tunra answered. "Their bones never break no matter how much damage is done to them, due to all the abuse they go through. If you can find one of their bones, I can guarantee that it will remain whole no matter how much you use it."
"Hmm, I see," Terron said with a nod. "Well, I'll look into that. I'll try to find a place that might have some skeletons of those Pokémon."
"Good," the Donphan said pleasantly. "I'm sure you'll manage to get one."
"Alright, well thanks, Master Tunra," Terron said as he got to his feet. "I'll see you in a couple of days or so."
The Donphan waved goodbye with his trunk as Terron managed to exit the room. His muscles were still sore from being run over, and he felt bad that his weapon was ruined, but Terron managed to get over it. He did so by telling himself that he'd be able to rest and get a temporary bone from the kitchen very soon.
Once Terron made it back to the main room, he found Zekra waiting for him outside the dark-type chamber.
"Oh hey, I thought you were in there!" Zekra said as she came over to the Cubone. "Could hear talking from inside. How'd it go?"
"Good, good," Terron answered. "I got an assignment to do. I'll explain it to you later, though. How about you and your teacher?"
"Oh, she was nice," Zekra said with a smile. "Her name's Cres. She's very nice and she said that she can teach me quite a bit. She might even be able to help with my illusion powers even though she's not a Zoroark or anything!"
"Huh, well that is something," Terron said impressively. "Well, seems like we've found the perfect place to train. Sure beats trying to fight wild Pokémon. We can just take a quick walk through town now and have experts teach us. We'll have to thank Novus for showing us this place when we see him again. For now, though, let's just go back to the base and get some dinner and find tomorrow's mission. I think we've had enough excitement for one day."