"You've been doing good, Lightning, but your tail attacks are getting sloppy," said Slick, squatting down beside Sektek in the sunlit forest clearing. His mouse-heart humming, the Pikachu stared down at the bread knife placed before him, alone in the woods save for his trainer. "Today, let's practice some basic techniques. Now stand!"
Though he couldn't understand every word and every subtle meaning, the Pikachu got the gist of his trainer's words. With an obedient 'Pika!', Sektek got up onto his hindpaws and picked up the bread knife. "Stance!"
He moved into front posture: one foot forward, right paw grasping the knife near the blade and left paw at the handle's base. "Hold position," ordered Slick, and Sektek obeyed, his muscles straining against the weight of the breadknife. "Five, four, three, two, one; good job."
Lowering the bread knife, Sektek relaxed and took a moment to catch his breath before Slick continued again. "Now... lift!" Instantly he shifted back into posture, holding the blade by his cheek. "Five, four, three, two, one; and back down."
They repeated the exercise three more times before Slick moved onto the next stage. "Now as I taught you, lift- step forward and slash down!" ordered the trainer. Blade level with his eyes, the Pikachu strode forward and slashed down, simultaneously dropping to one knee, before stepping back to front stance. "Again."
Forward, slash-down, up, back. The rodent's fur grew damp with sweat in the afternoon sunlight as Slick led him through the standard swordsmanship drills. Tiny blue sparks crackled down the bread knife's length from Sektek's paws as he practiced down slashes, side slashes, high slashes, cross blows, thrusts, lunges, and dodges- executing each technique just as his trainer had taught him.
"Okay, Lightning, I'll leave you to do some private training," said Slick finally, rising to his feet and turning to leave the clearing. "Don't wander off, okay? Just give me a shout if you need me!"
Taking a deep breath as his trainer strode off into the trees, Sektek smoothed down his sweat-slicked fur and raised the bread knife to eye level again. Pressing the cool metal blade to the side of his head, just above his crackling red cheek, the Pikachu stepped forward with a slash, then back again. Step forward, slash, step back; step forward, slash, step back.
As the minutes drew on, and his paws grew sweaty on the bread knife's handle, Sektek tried to pretend that he was fighting a real enemy. Conjuring up a memory of a Houndoom, the Pikachu stepped forward, and slashed an X into the hellhound's chest before stepping back. Stepping forward again, he whirled around as he slashed, slicing at each of the four legs before returning to opening stance.
"As always, you're putting too much force into the blade," said a calm voice, startling Sektek into dropping the bread knife. "Let the knife do the work, my friend. Don't waste your emotions on a sword- they don't have any."
Blinking, the Pikachu glanced up to the tree-tops. "Elias?" gasped Sektek. Chuckling, a Grovyle with a tightly woven leaf blade on his back dropped from a high tree branch and landed in the clearing, sending Sektek jumping back. "H-hey... wait!"
~ In the past ~
Stumbling through the desert, his throat parched and his eyes burning from the searing heat and the harsh sweeping winds. Everywhere was hot and dry, the earth baked and hardened into clay. But he and Venvel had to keep going. Because of Team Storm, River and Saffron, and the warning they had brought home. Because Ilun had promised Team Storm that Team Retrievers would help save Temporal Tower. Little Spark-Tail had to do his part to help his friends, had to help find the Time Gears. But he couldn't go on. His head throbbed with every step.
A pair of eyes gazed through the cruel haze. A green hand reached out for him, pulled him into a craggy alcove where the desert's wrath could not touch him. Blinking, the Pikachu stared up at the hand, stared up at the eyes that he had feared until River came home, and told the world that the Time Gear Thief had been trying to save the world all along.
He lay still in the shade on the sand, gasping for breath, barely able to understand everything that was going on around him. Beside him lay Venvel, just as exhausted, just as thirsty. Together the two children stared up at Elias as the Grovyle gently pressed water-skins to their lips. "We can rest here," said Elias, his eyes kind but firm. "Let me know when you can continue."
~ Back in the present ~
Sektek felt nervous standing in front of Elias, as if he was in the prescence of a legend. And he really was looking at a legend. After all, the Grovyle helped to save the world several thousand years ago, along with Team Storm.
Elias began to pad in a circle around Sektek. "Well, you're starting to adjust to this era, at least," said Elias, looking up at the sunlit sky. The Pikachu reached down to pick up Slick's bread knife. "How are your teammates? They're all healthy and well, I trust? Are you getting along with them?"
The Pikachu didn't reply immediately. No, he didn't get along with his teammates. But then again, Sektek found himself annoying sometimes, so any flak from Insyte or Rush seemed pretty reasonable. He pondered over that for a while, until he realized he was overthinking things, and Elias had been watching him for a few minutes now. "Oh... um, yeah, they're fine," said Sektek quickly. "Sorry."
Elias studied him for a moment, half-intrigued yet half-amused. "At least Lane talks to his allies, every now and then," said the Grovyle, continuing to circle the clearing. "You've spent all hours of the day with these Pokemon for how many months ago, and you still aren't comfortable around them?"
Sektek didn't know what to say. It was almost impossible for him to hide his thoughts; Elias always seemed to know what was in his head. "I- um... sorry. It's just, I can't stop thinking about... well... the old days." It felt silly to apologize, but he didn't want the Grovyle to get mad at him.
"Oh, don't apologize to me," said Elias, crossing his arms. The Pikachu stared at him. "Listen. I know it's hard to forget your old life. But you've got to move on. The Age of Explorers ended three thousand years ago. All you can do is make the most of what you have. Just like River and Saffron did."
The Grovyle's words were familiar, painfully familiar. "Wherever, however, whyever you go in life, always look to the road ahead," Ilun had always said. "Because no matter what, the road behind you is one that you won't be traveling again."
Sighing, the Pikachu sat down against a stump, the bread knife resting across his lap. Elias was right, he did miss his old friends. River, Saffron, Fluff, Vulcan, Mint, Sir Tane, Venvel... what happened to them all? What sort of adventures did they go on? He hadn't seen any of them a long time, just like human boys and girls parted ways with their friends from kindergarten.
And there were things that sounded very simple back in the past, which now seemed very complex and unlikely. He remembered the Time Gears, remembered the announcement in Treasure Town when Team Storm returned, but he'd never really wondered about the entire incident until after he'd landed in the present era. What exactly was Temporal Tower, anyway? Why did it almost collapse? How could River be from the same world as Elias? He might never know the answers.
"Sektek, did you get all that?" Silently cursing himself for letting his mind wander, the Pikachu quickly glanced up at Elias. "See, this is part of the problem," sighed the Grovyle. "You get displaced from the present too easily, Sektek. You need to learn to stay in the here and now. River was alone and helpless, but he found an invaluable partner in Saffron. And you? You're surrounded by potential friends, but you're shutting them out."
"I don't want new friends," muttered the Pikachu. Forget the three thousand years that he'd missed; the whole incident still felt like it was just a year ago. He knew down inside what he was about to say might sound very stupid and childish, but he didn't know what else to say. "Venvel-she's still out there. I remember her... I talked to her. I want Venvel. I don't want Insyte or Rush or any of Slick's Pokemon..."
Elias gave him a stern look that made him recoil. "Your allies may be rough, but they have good intentions at heart," replied the Grovyle, rising to his feet. "Slick feeds you; he clothes you; he shelters you; he teaches you. Don't you understand what your trainer does for you?"
Keeping his eyes down, Sektek regretted saying anything, and didn't answer. "People want to talk to you; but you don't answer them. Instead you retreat. You don't say a thing to them, and when you talk, you're so reluctant to communicate that no one can hear you."
"Now listen- there's a difference between domestic Pokemon and wild Pokemon," continued Elias. "Domestic Pokemon eventually forget what it was like to be in the wild... but a wild Pokemon never forgets what it was like to be domestic. In your heart... are you truly wild?"
Sektek flinched; the Grovyle was almost always right. Elias padded over to the edge of the clearing, then stopped. Drawing his leaf blade, he whirled around to face the Pikachu, slipping back into stance. Sektek had learned a while ago that Elias' sword was much sturdier than it appeared, and was not easily slashed apart. "Now stand, pick up that bread knife, and let's spar."
A few minutes later, Elias padded off into the woods with a barely-nicked leaf-blade, victorious, leaving an exhausted but uninjured Pikachu to wait in the clearing for Slick's return.
