Day 5: Shield

I woke up. My head was pounding. My eyes hurt. My mouth was dry.

What the hell did I do last night?

"You're finally awake!" Mewtwo said to me telepathically. Suddenly I grabbed my head. It was jolting out in pain.

Stop it...

"Stop what?" Mewtwo asked. I cringed in pain.

Stop talking to me telepathically... Come and talk to me face to face...

"Do you have a hangover?"

How should I know? Just talk to me face to face!

Mewtwo teleported into the room. I hadn't moved much from the bed besides squirming around in a large amount of pain. Mewtwo just looked at me. "Do you have a hangover?"

"What are the symptoms?" I questioned forgetting what a hangover was due to this amnesia.

Mewtwo stared blankly at me for a brief second. "How about I ask a simpler question. Do you remember what you did yesterday?"

"Well I got scanned, learned that my time was even more limited than I previously thought, Rai thought I was with the Reaper, you showed me the ruined city..."

"At the end of the day..." Mewtwo sighed.

I suddenly realized I didn't know what happened. "Ah well it probably wasn't anything important if I can't remember it." I said.

We walked down to the cafeteria where we ate breakfast. After that Mewtwo instantly brought me to a training room.

"What are we doing today?" I asked.

"Well I guess shielding. Attacking also makes you vulnerable to attacks from your opponent so what do you do?" Mewtwo asked.

"Don't jump into the rape?" I suggested.

Mewtwo just groaned. "You shield."

Well duh... you only said that before the question...

"So how do I shield?"

"Its a rather complex method that people have yet to fully understand." Mewtwo explained. "But I will explain the theory behind it."

"Okay... this sounds rather boring..."

"Okay the theory behind shielding is that your body emits an aura or energy that takes a physical form." Mewtwo explained complete with crappy diagrams. "You have to shape that aura and or energy into a sphere so that it blocks an attack. Doing it out here is rather difficult. However when you have your adrenalin pumping it becomes rather easy."

"Okay what else should I know?"

"Well you can control the density of the shield, for instance having a thicker shield will disappear faster however having a thinner shield will last longer when idle but break quicker from attacks. Not to mention that the Shield only covers up as much that it surrounds. If your head is exposed the shield won't do much good to attacks there." Mewtwo explained further. "Really it all sounds complicated but no one pays attention to the theory. You really have to do it to understand it."

"So what do I have to do activate my shield?"

Mewtwo shifted his stance so that it looked like he was in a defensive stance. "The first step is to be in a stance that is rather defensive."

Makes sense.

I followed Mewtwo's example. Placing my right arm in front of my body. Mewtwo looked at it. "Your legs have to be sturdier." He said placing his hand on my bicep. The next moment he lightly pushed me and I fell down towards the ground. "Change your center of gravity." I began to change my stances however Mewtwo continued to push me down time and time again. Eventually I found a stance that Mewtwo approved of. "Good that was the easy part. Now comes the challenging part. Your body naturally lets off an aura, however you have to shape that aura into a solid form."

"How can I do that?" I asked.

"Well we Smashers have years of training just to do this at will... In order for you to be able to do it we would have to stream line that process a bit. Lucario will help you with that."

"Why him?"

"Lucario is the aura Pokemon." Mewtwo explained. "If anyone should know how to help you it should be him. There is just one problem."

This can't be good...

"The streamlined process creates a very different shield, instead of creating a perfect sphere like our shields it creates a flat wall in front of you. It still has the same rules applied to it. But that means that your back is vulnerable."

"That should be fine." I said. "Since Marth is a swordsman I should always be able to see him..."

Mewtwo just nodded. He told me to wait there while he went and got Lucario. A few minutes later he came back. Lucario was rather reluctant to train me but Mewtwo reassured him that it would be okay. The streamlined process of shielding Mewtwo showed me. Essentially I had to use my arms to move my aura in front of me. The only problem was the first time that it took to get visual results, it took ten minutes.

"That seems normal for a human." Lucario said. "If we had some method of extracting your aura faster or opening the gates."

"Gates?" I questioned.

"Aura is much like, for lack of a better term, sweat. Like sweat it comes out of the pores of your body." Mewtwo explained. "Also like sweat the place that the aura comes out the most is the palms of your hands and the soles of your feet."

"I can stretch out those pores, called gates, using aura." Lucario said grabbing my hand. A blue flame appeared around Lucario and it went onto my hand, I could feel a light pressure on it. When Lucario pulled his paws away my hand was glowing with the blue flame. Lucario then grabbed the other hand and did the same thing. "There is just one small problem. Unless you are able to control your aura you will eventually run out."

"Okay this is bad how?" I asked.

"Aura has several different names such as: wave, but perhaps the most important name is life-force, if you run out you die." Mewtwo explained.

I stared at them in complete shock that they didn't mention something so vitally important to my life sooner.

"Don't worry." Mewtwo said throwing a pair of black leather gloves. "Put them on and you can use them to help control your Aura." I did so. I could feel the aura being held in the glove. "Now then you can't take them off until you learn to control the Aura. You have to try and force the aura out of the gloves and stop the aura flow."

"Okay..." I closed my eyes and tried to relax. Mewtwo and Lucario weren't giving me any hints on how to control my aura. I did everything that seemed to come to mind, breathing in, breathing out, and punching the air. But none of it seemed to work.

Damn it how can I shield?!

I tried to envision myself in that blackness, the same blackness that I was in when I was controlling Pichu. But not even that helped. After about an hour of trying different things and giving up I looked at Mewtwo. "Can't you tell me how to do this?"

"No." Mewtwo replied. "It is something you have to figure out on your own."

I went back to trying to manipulate my aura. I could see that both Mewtwo and Lucario were getting quite a bit of entertainment from all of the methods I tired. Eventually they stopped me and gave me several drinks to help restore my energy and calm me down. I tried to think about it. The way they were talking was that releasing Aura was an involuntary process that could be mastered. I looked at the gloves. My guess was that they were specifically made for suppressing Aura. I held both of my hands in front of me. They were parallel to each other and I tried to envision an aura sphere in the direct center. Eventually I began to breath rather slowly trying to relax. Eventually a sphere of aura appeared.

Mewtwo smiled, this distracted me causing the aura sphere to explode. I went flying backwards but quickly landed on my feet.

"Good you've figured it out." Mewtwo said. "The easiest way to control Aura requires the body and the mind to be perfectly calm. You can't be anxious otherwise it could be disastrous."

"Just one question." I asked. "How did it explode?"

"Everything explodes." Mewtwo replied. I glared at him wishing for a more satisfactory answer. "Aura itself is unstable. When you lost concentration and were no longer sustaining the form it was in and exploded. Now you have to stop your aura from coming out of your body."

This time I didn't even know where to start. Turning off my own aura seemed like such a daunting task. Once again I tried to remain calm. It seemed to work as both Lucario and Mewtwo were nodding their heads in agreement.

"Excellent!" Mewtwo said impressed. "Now then you just need to do switch from focusing your aura in front of you and turning it off completely until it becomes second nature and can do it with different emotions boiling up inside of you. So do each about a thousand times."

I didn't complain despite the high amount of I had to do of the exercise. Instead of becoming easier as time passed it seemed to be getting harder. I was getting more and more exhausted. Aura after all is your own energy so it would make sense for one to become tired while doing this along with any other exercise. Somewhere near five hundred Mewtwo stopped me for lunch. I had to go to the washroom due to the drinks that I had earlier. It was then I noticed how much of a toll repeatedly using my aura was taking on me. Every step I seemed to falter. Even opening the door to the washroom seemed like a chore. After finishing my business and washing my hands I exited the washroom and made my way down to the cafeteria.

I was swaying back and forth. Those who passed me in the hall way must have thought I was drunk. Eventually I sat down at a table, too tired to even get up and get the food. Mewtwo came to me bringing an extra plate filled with mostly vegetables.

"When this training is over your aura will be completely depleted." Mewtwo explained.

But my aura is my life force... I'll die…

I was too tired to even speak. "Yes and no. You will collapse due to exhaustion before you deplete that amount of aura to kill you. Your body will then create more aura and you should be able to hold more than before."

Is this really going to work?

"I have no idea, but even the streamlined process of shielding takes about a week to master. Now then open your mouth for the airplane."

I looked up and Mewtwo was lifting up a spoon full of vegetables using his psychic powers and floating it in front of me. Had I had the energy I probably would have given him the finger.

Don't treat me like a kid...

"Look the vegetables are filled with nutrients that will help replenish your energy."

I know that...

I opened my mouth and the spoon went in. I quickly closed my mouth, and the spoon came out. "Now chew..." Mewtwo ordered.

I was back in the training room, still exhausted. Mewtwo ordered me to continue. Each time it was becoming harder and harder to use my aura. This time the aura exploded a lot more often each time Mewtwo would add on another ten or twenty times that I would have to do these exercises.

Around eight hundred the Manager came down to see me. I was lying on the floor exhausted. Mewtwo constantly ordering me to get up and finish the remaining two hundred exercises plus whatever I had accumulated at that point in time (which was probably another thousand).

"Hello Manager." Mewtwo said. "What brings you here to our end of the neighborhood?"

"Nothing really." The Manager replied. "I just wanted to know what all of the explosions were that I have been hearing before I leave for the weekend."

"I'm teaching him how to manipulate his aura." Lucario explained.

Liar, liar, liar

"I think it's about time we get onto shielding..." Mewtwo said.

"Well just don't kill him." The Manager said walking out of the room. "I'm looking forwards to the match."

"Don't worry, he will be fine!" Mewtwo smiled.

Lies, lies, lies you sadist!

Mewtwo moved his hand and I floated up into the air.

"Part two of the theory." Mewtwo said. "The longer you have your shield out the weaker it becomes, however when you rest it the stronger it becomes. There is however a natural cap to how big it can be. Your aura can only be projected about two feet away from your body until you lose control of it. Now then create a shield."

I focused my aura in front of me. It became a sphere but now there had to be something else done. I tried moving my arms and making the aura into a wall. Mewtwo threw a shadow ball at it and it shattered instantly. "That's good for a beginner..."

Mewtwo made me create more and more shields eventually I was getting the hang of making one quickly. And finally I was able to make a shield that was high enough quality to block Mewtwo's shadow ball. Mewtwo smiled impressed.

"Well," Mewtwo sighed. "Now that you have the basics of shielding down, its time for some practice." with that Mewtwo pulled out a bazooka from absolutely nowhere. "Now then if you don't shield you will die. If you are able to activate your shield at the right time it will be reflected back at me."

"Wait!" I shouted suddenly finding the energy to do it. "Is this really necessary?"

"No," Mewtwo replied. I breathed a sigh of relief. "But I've always wanted to do it." I stared as I realized that Mewtwo was 100% serious and was still going to attack. I knew I didn't have enough strength to block the explosion from the bazooka with a shield. And I didn't have enough strength to run away.

Mewtwo fired and I tried to create the shield but my legs collapsed and I fell on the ground. The bazooka shell just went over me and collided with the wall. It didn't explode revealing it to be a dud.

"I'd say that is enough for today." Mewtwo said. Mewtwo just teleported us to the cafeteria where we proceeded to eat dinner. It was rather late probably eight or nine pm at this point. My whole body was sore and I had great difficulty even eating. "I'd say that you progressed quite well."

I looked up at Mewtwo.

"Well you will be happy to know that tomorrow we will just be relaxing so you can regain all of the aura that you lost today. But even relaxing can be training..."

I seemed to remember smiling. He handed me a Maxim Tomato and I felt a small portion of my energy come back.

"There is one more thing about aura." Mewtwo said calmly. "You can use it to defy gravity and double jump in the air."

"How do I do that?" I muttered.

"You focus the aura to your feet, then create an explosion to propel yourself upwards. And visually it creates a ripple in the air."

When we finished the meal Mewtwo helped me up and we began towards my room. Mewtwo made me climb every single step. And with every single step I cursed at him in my head so that I knew full well he would hear me. Twenty something floors later we stopped and walked towards an elevator that took us up to the 30th floor.

I entered my room and stumbled towards my bed. I then collapsed.

With how exhausted I was I should have fallen asleep right away. But I didn't...

To be continued...

Fun facts:

The actual reason why the main character doesn't know what happened at the end of the previous day was because this was actually written before the previous chapter was finished, so there was no end to the previous day... Ironically I did eventually decide on the whole drinking/hangover...

"Don't jump into the rape." was an actual suggestion from a 'pro' SSBM player in an interview. He/she used it to explain that people always look at the final hit as the ones that KO them, not the little ones that build up their percentage. (I think the interview was on Wifi-wars, which I think was created by the same people who created Smashboards)

Aura in japanese is called Hado (Translated directly it means 'wave')

Not so fun fact that I probably would only care about:

The chapters are getting smaller...