Chapter 24 – To Death and Back
After the unnerving encounter with Deca in town, Owen had a gut feeling that it wouldn't be a good idea to go out again for a while. Hindsight—after the thrill of meeting a fellow Charmander—suggested that even if Deca was someone he could trust, he wouldn't want to endanger him with this Guardian business. He sighed at the thought. Just when he thought he'd be reuniting with a normal friend…
Why did that not settle right? Deca didn't seem like a normal friend. He knew that for sure. He shook his head. It was a memory still locked away.
A few days passed after that where they went back to their usual routine of meditating and training—for Team Alloy, it was to calm their auras for their inevitable evolution. For the Guardians, it was to continue their everlasting struggle to tune their auras with their Mystic spirits.
Owen fell into a routine on the third day and meditated with Zena the most often. Each day they greeted one another, sat nearby—or in Zena's case, coiled up—and closed their eyes. Zena mentioned that this was what she did on most days when she was in her cave, but that it was much better now that she had company. Owen couldn't understand how lonely it must have felt before.
On the fourth day, right when he was leaving his room, Amia approached.
"Owen, everybody else is gathering together for some training. The scouts at Kilo Village didn't turn anything up yet and, apparently, Star hasn't been able to find anything good in the spirit world, either."
"Oh, okay," Owen said. "What kind of training? Meditating again? Why'd you tell me if…"
"Umm…" Amia rubbed the back of her head. "We're going to be pairing off, actually. An advanced Mystic training a junior Mystic, so to speak."
"And I'm… a junior Mystic? So, you'll be training me?" Owen said, perking up. "That sounds awesome!"
"Actually," Amia said. "I am going to be training Willow."
"Oh," Owen said. "So… Zena?"
"Zena's going to be trained by Anam, actually," Amia said.
"…ADAM?" Owen said.
"ADAM and Valle are going to be sparring one another as fellow mid-tier Mystics."
"W-wait, then who's left?" Owen asked, mentally going over everyone in his head. A spark of hope: "Wait! Am I gonna be trained by—by Rhys?!"
"No." Amia sighed. "Rhys is going to train the other three." Owen counted on his claws, trying to recall who was left. "Owen… Manny personally asked to be the one to train you."
Owen felt the ice in his stomach return, this time from dread. "Y-you mean… the Fighting Guardian?" he said. "B-but I barely beat Azu…"
Amia shrugged, though she was clearly trying to be delicate. "It's okay," she said. "I'm sure Manny will… do something helpful."
"C-can't you ask him to maybe… not?"
"Believe me, I tried," Amia apologized, "but everybody else was in favor of it, dear. I… I couldn't go against the majority. And they did have a point. Of all of us, you have the most potential to grow—and Manny knows how to do that. He specializes in training your… you know. Your kind. S-so, er… Let's go!" She headed out.
"W-wait! Don't I have to eat breakfast?"
Amia paused in her exit. "Do you?"
"I," Owen paused, feeling his stomach. "…I guess not. Huh."
Amia smiled and led the way out.
"Hah! Th' sleepyhead's finally awake," Manny said, clapping his paws together, making a muffled, furry pat. "Took long enough! Oy, did yer mom fill yeh in?"
Owen stood straight, tail trying to look as tall as his head. "Y-yes! Um… but I kind of don't want to die."
"Aaah, you'll be fine," Manny waved his paw. "C'mon! We're gonna start with Azu like befer. Don't worry, he ain't gonna be scared this time."
"Scared? I scared him?"
"Yep! I hyped 'im up, though. He's good."
Owen sighed, looking at Amia helplessly as if expecting her to change her mind.
But she just smiled and shook her head. "Good luck, dear."
"Heheheh…" Manny walked down the rocky caves, deeper into the complex. It was cooler where he was heading; Owen figured it would be easier for him to fight there. The Charmander hesitantly followed, wondering if Manny wanted to train him to help… or to get back at him.
"Owen!"
Loud skittering and tiny pebbles bouncing signaled Gahi's rapid approach. By the time he turned around, the Trapinch's massive head was already a split-second away from slamming into his chest. Owen didn't have time to bring up his Protect barrier; The slam, wreathed in the dark aura of a Feint Attack, sent Owen skidding and stumbling back. Gahi then jumped out of the way; across the hall, Mispy's leaf glowed bright.
"Oh no."
This time, Owen had time to react; crossing his arms, a golden barrier formed in front of him and deflected the barrier toward Manny, who shouted in surprised and crossed his arms. No barrier formed. "Aw, c—"
They all winced when the small explosion deafened the team. When the light finally faded, Manny brought his arms down to inspect his scorched fur, then laughed. "Hah! Feelin' rowdy?"
Demitri, who had been behind Mispy, uncovered his eyes to inspect the damage. He sighed with relief when he saw that it was minimal, and Amia, who had been startled enough to mimic Manny's movements, formed her own cyan Protect barrier, though it was useless.
"Rhys said we can't train with Owen," Gahi said. "So, we just wanted to get a cheap shot in so it counts as a fight!"
Owen smirked. "Well, it only half-worked," he said.
"Bah!" Gahi snapped his jaws in Owen's general direction. "That Protect's cheating! Dumb gold shield…"
A shrug was all Owen gave in reply, at this point toying with Gahi's aggressive mood. "Hey, Mom did it, too, so I guess it was reasonable."
Amia tittered. "Well, I saw you doing it, and you're always good at knowing when to use those…"
"Erm, Gahi, we should go see Rhys now," Demitri said. "You know, so he doesn't start to worry."
All Demitri got in response was a growl, but he eventually shuffled away, though he stopped to look back. "Oy, Owen," he said. "Think we can hang out after the training? Y'know, just… I dunno."
To that, Owen's expression softened, a warmth spreading through his chest. "Totally. We're Team Alloy, after all." He tried to ignore the bittersweet feeling that nudged away the warmth. "So, we should do stuff as a team every so often."
"Exactly," Gahi said, a sad glint in his eyes. "Well, I, eh… yeah. Gonna go train."
Demitri and Mispy exchanged a look, and Demitri asked for them both, "Gahi? Are you okay?"
"What's that supposed ter mean?" Gahi growled, speeding off. "Let's go already!"
Mispy rolled her eyes and bobbed her leaf toward Owen.
"Guess Gahi's just a little miffed that we can't train together still," Demitri translated for the departing Trapinch. "I miss it, too, y'know. But it's fine. You need to do your special Mystic training, right?" he asked.
And Owen saw a knowing look in Mispy's eyes, too—because they still couldn't risk training together with what little they knew about their true forms. "Right," Owen said. "One day. Maybe we can, I dunno, cook together sometime?"
Demitri's eyes lit up. "Yeah! Actually, I wanted to get back into cooking more. It's hard to compete with Rhys, but I don't want him doing all the cooking anyway, and, er… And Mispy likes it, too, so…"
She giggled and bumped her hip against his. With a final leaf-bob to Owen, Mispy left and guided Demitri with her.
Owen watched fondly, a new resolve bubbling in his mind. The sooner he perfected his training and prepared himself for his Charizard form, whatever it was, the sooner he could be with them as a proper team again.
"Alright, I'm ready," he said to Manny, and then gave his mother a confident smile.
"Um… Auntie Amia?" asked Willow, watching the Charmander leave with the rowdy Guardian.
"Auntie?" Amia repeated, looking down at the tiny Joltik. "When did I get that title?"
"I dunno…" Willow said.
Amia smiled. "Well, what did you want to ask, Willow? Before we get to training."
"Is Owen gonna be okay?"
"Oh, Willow." Amia sighed. "Yes. Owen will be fine."
Willow hopped on one of the glowing, blue mushrooms, then another, and then stopped on top of a large one. She wobbled when the stem broke, the cap hitting the floor on its corner. "You didn't send Manny to assassinate him?!"
"O-of course not!" Amia said. "Why would—no! That's not it at all! I trust Manny. He knows that Owen is stable as a Charmander. He won't have to do anything like that."
Willow sparked uncomfortably. "Owen's scary when he…"
"I know, Willow. You were so shaken up." The thought alone "I'm sorry you had to see him like that. But he's nice now, right?"
Willow hopped off the mushroom, mumbling to herself.
"What was that, dear?"
"…Which one's the real Owen?" Willow asked.
"The real…?" Amia repeated, but then went quiet.
"If this way that Owen is now is just… him being suppressed… and sealing away his memories and stuff… and in the end, when he evolves, he becomes… that… then who's the real Owen? His suppressed form, or his…"
It was as if Willow was pulling from Amia's deepest fears. The Gardevoir was frozen in place.
Willow, oblivious, kept talking while staring at the mushroom's dimming glow. "It's like we're only seeing a tiny part of him, and there's this… this huge monster that's waiting to break out. And… and when that part comes… what'll happen to this tiny Owen? If you're tiny… you'll just get squished. Who's… who's really Owen?"
The Gardevoir finally came to her senses. "The one we know, of course," she said. "Owen used to be in control of himself all the time—but something happened that made him—all four of them, actually—unstable. Like something didn't… quite go right. So maybe the Owen you saw wasn't the real Owen, either."
"What happened?" Willow asked.
"I wasn't around to see it myself," Amia said evasively. "So, I'm not sure. But—Rhys could tell you!" She nodded. "We… we aren't supposed to talk about it. They might overhear, and that might trigger the memories. It's too risky."
Willow buzzed irritably. "Is Owen evil?"
"No! No, nothing like that. I promise," Amia said, nodding.
Willow's big, blue eyes stared at Amia. She huffed. "Fine," she said. "Let's train."
Owen sputtered and coughed, feeling something crack in the back of his head. He slammed against the rocks and felt the entire world go dark. In what felt like an instant to him, his eyes shot open, gasping for air. He panted and felt the back of his head—no wounds, but he felt something crusted and caked on. He pulled his hand forward; dried blood fell from his scaly palms. "What—"
An Aura Sphere slammed into his chest, smashing him against the rocks again, dislocating his arm. He yelped and tried to find the source frantically, spotting Manny. "W-wait! That's not fair!" he shouted. "I—I was fighting Az—"
A blue fist slammed into Owen's stomach, pushing him even further into the wall. He was positive that a few of his organs had flattened against the back of his body from that one. "W-wait… t-time out…!"
Azu punched him near the center of his forehead, and he blacked out again.
Another instant in Owen's mind passed, and he opened his eyes.
He saw a fist going right toward him. Owen held his arms up in a cross—he blocked it in a shield of light. "Ng—" Even with the Protect barrier, the shockwave knocked the wind out of him.
"Eh?" Azu said. "Hey, look! The little guy blocked it!"
"Hah!" Manny said.
"Y-yeah… I did!" Owen said, thrilled. "I blo—"
Azu's second fist slammed into Owen's chest, rupturing his lungs. He couldn't breathe. The Charmander's eyes bulged out—vision fading… He fell to the ground. He saw Azu's tail swing toward him, slamming him into the opposite wall across the training grounds. Then, he blacked out completely.
And again, Owen's eyes shot open. But this time, only slightly. He didn't want to look awake yet. Through the thin sliver he opened, he saw two blue figures sitting nearby. Azu and Manny. They were staring at something on the ground. He focused… They were playing some sort of game with rounded pebbles. Owen breathed a bit too loudly, and the two looked at him. They both stood up.
"W-wait, p-please—" Owen begged.
Manny casually fired an Aura Sphere from his right paw. Owen reflexively opened his mouth and blasted a plume of flames. It slowed the attack but didn't stop it, and Owen flew across the ground in a messy, rocky twirl, losing some scales in the process. He flicked his tail to alter his angular momentum just enough to get his footing. Using his good arm to stabilize, he miraculously found his footing. Azu rushed toward him with a firm punch. He dodged to the left and countered with another Ember.
"Gah—" Azu turned around and swiped at Owen with his tail. Owen jumped and turned green, opening his mouth again. A huge vine shot from his throat, wrapping around Azu; he swung his head and slammed him on the ground. Azu grunted and broke free, but Owen turned orange again and the vines became flames, burning the Feraligatr. He chomped down, snapping the burning vine away to extend the burn even longer while Azu tried to pull free.
Azu struggled to his feet, panting. "W-well… that ain't so bad," he said. "Heh… the Charmander's much better this time. It only took a few mortal blows."
"C-can't you tone it down a little?!" Owen begged, seizing the opportunity. "You could've killed me!"
"Ha-haaa!" Azu declared. "But we did kill you, Charmander! Quite a few times! In a technical sense."
"Well, if yeh were a normal Charmander," Manny said, "we totally would've killed yeh fer real. We were doing some real strong attacks, not holding back at all, heh. But yer Mystic. Amia said yeh weren't eating. That's th' sign."
"The sign?" Owen asked. "Not eating? Wait," Owen said. "When was the last time that I ate…?"
Manny looked at Azu, but then flicked his head back. Azu nodded and disintegrated into a blue ember, returning to Manny. The Lucario motioned for Owen to sit down; he obeyed and, thankfully, Manny did as well.
"It's like Star said," Manny said. "Mystics… don't get strong th' same way normal Pokémon do. Eh… they do, but their Mysticism, heh… it's trained in another way."
Owen hesitated. It wasn't his perception talking, just general intuition. Was he about to get an important lesson from Manny about Mysticism? He gulped. "Um, Manny."
"Eh?"
"You're gonna explain to me a lot of stuff, right? You're giving me a lesson?"
"Yeh."
Owen shifted where he stood. "I… can't understand what you're saying half the time."
Manny flinched. "E-eh, yeh, I figure."
"I'm—I mean, I hear it from Gahi, but for you, it's—"
"Nah, nah, I get it." Manny shifted awkwardly. "Feh…"
"I'm sorry. I'll try to understand! It's just, I'm apologizing in advance if I have trouble with what you're saying."
"Nah, nah," Manny said. "I got an idea. Hang on." He shut his eyes, breathing deeply. For a split-second, Manny jostled where he sat as if he thought he was falling. Then, his eyes shot open. He stared at Owen, then at his paws, and then at Owen again. "Hello."
"…Hi." Owen knew this was someone different. "Did Manny just… switch places with one of his spirits? You can do that?"
"Mm, yes. My name is Yen. It takes a lot of energy to do this, but I suppose this would be easier for a lesson. I always was the better teacher, ironically."
"Ironically?"
Yen chuckled. "Ah, just thinking. You'd expect Manny, as Guardian, to be better than me. In any case, you wished for an explanation on Mysticism?"
"Just a little. I've been going through the motions, but I don't know what the motions are for. Does that make sense?"
Yen held his paw forward, creating a small Aura Sphere. Owen reflexively flinched and brought his arms in a cross, forming another Protect shield.
"Now, now, there's no need to worry," he assured him. "This is only for visual aid."
"O-oh, okay." He lowered his battle stance, but only halfway. His muscles twitched, ready for anything.
The Lucario resumed. He held the sphere forward, and then faced his paw upward, like a stage. "Now. Let's say this is the aura for the average inhabitant of Kilo. Not just Kilo Village—the whole world. Most Hearts reside in the crater, so that skews the average quite a bit."
"Okay," Owen said. It was about the size of a small apple, and about as bright as one of the mushrooms in his room, barely enough to illuminate it in the dark to see the walls. "Hey, is this like Nevren and Rhys' whole theory on aura efficiency?"
Yen stared at Owen with an odd look. "Aura efficiency?" he said. "You're aware of that?"
"What? Uh… I mean… kinda. Rhys is kinda pioneering the theory. And Nevren has this scanner that measures our… aura efficiency, or something, based on how much power we can dish out, and how fatigued we feel after. Last I was scanned, I scored—er—really high! For my species. Pretty high."
"Hm. How interesting. Very well. We shall call it that, aura efficiency." Yen continued with his explanation. "The more you use your techniques to fight others, or to simply train in other ways, the more you…" Yen watched Owen. "Your eyes are glossing over."
"H-huh? No!"
"Hm. A book-smart Charmander. How interesting."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Owen frowned.
"Well, I imagine Charmander would struggle to use books. The burning," Yen said evasively. "Er, well, Owen. Tell me what you know, first. I can build off of your understanding. Does that sound fine?"
"Oh! Y-yeah, Rhys taught us this!" Owen said. "Basically… every technique that we do is actually channeling from the aura's inner energy. The same energy that helps some Pokémon evolve, when our aura becomes strong enough. It's like… a little bit of power that helps us do what we want it to do. Breathing fire, or weakening the enemy, or even making it rain! It's all because of that power in our aura cores. We use that same power to resist what others are doing to us. So weaker Ember attacks, for example, hurt less… because our auras deflect a lot of it." Owen rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "I guess that means I still have a long way to go, if your host is getting me in just a few hits. I can't deflect those attacks at all."
Yen nodded. "Very good," he said. "Efficiency is indeed how rapidly you can draw from that aura core." The aura in his paw glowed brighter. "So… how does Mysticism come in?" He nodded. "Everyone's core's output is fixed. Once at full efficiency, you can go no further."
"Yeah. That makes sense. Once you're fully efficient, you can't really draw more than everything!"
Yen's brow raised slightly.
"Y… you can't, right?"
"Well, yes," Yen said. "If you have ten apples, and your arms are large enough to carry twenty, you can only carry ten apples regardless."
"…Why big arms?" Owen asked.
Yen waved his paw dismissively. "But what if," he said, "you made more apples? Different apples?"
"Uh—"
Yen brought his second paw forward and created something else—it wasn't another sphere. It looked more like a blue, bright flame. It reminded him of the spirits in the aura sea that Hecto oversaw. "Hunters, Guardians, and the Creators all possess Mystic Energy. It's similar to what you know, but it provides so much more." He combined his two paws into a bowl-like shape, and the flare enveloped the sphere, creating something that Owen had to squint at to see. "Now, there's more to get."
"But it looks different," Owen said. "It's not just more power. There's… it doesn't…" Owen knew that much. The moment he had become a Guardian, he already did something that no ordinary Pokémon could do—become a Grassy Charmander, humiliating as it was. Not to mention drown and survive. And apparently, in a little while, he was going to learn how to fly, too, just like his mother. "That power doesn't feel… solid, like our aura powers normally."
"Mm. So, you mean it isn't defined?"
Owen nodded.
"That's because it isn't. Not quite. Normal energy is defined. You can only do certain things with it. Flamethrower… Aura Sphere… they're defined techniques, crafted by Star, I imagine, for mortals to access controlled versions of the divine power inherent in all Pokémon. But Mystic Energy? Quite broader. Yes, it may be easier to perform certain actions—for example, become an embodiment of your Orb's Type—but then… because it is not defined, you can get creative, with enough skill and power. Indeed, after enough time training, you practically become a spirit in the flesh."
"A spirit… in the flesh," Owen said, pinching his arm thoughtfully. The scales held their pinched shape slightly along his elbows. Owen made a mental note to drink some water later.
Yen nodded. "Guardians can bend reality just a slight bit more… dynamically, harnessing the same power that the Creators used to craft the world."
Owen gulped. "That's… not what my power feels like at all."
"You're still weak," Yen said. "And it's not as if we have any significant portion of that power on our own." He shrugged. "At most, you can easily change things about yourself, and perhaps the area immediately around you. With the little amount of undefined energy provided by a single Orb, you cannot go beyond that sphere of influence. Still, you can certainly hone its intensity…"
Owen blinked. "How?"
Yen went on. "As Star said, Mysticism is not strengthened the same way the traditional aura is. You must connect with your core directly by performing actions that affect your flare—powerful emotions, deep meditation, and, ah… almost dying."
"A-almost…?"
Yen chuckled. "Well. Once you reach a certain point, nearly dying does not become viable. Diminishing returns. Still, so long as we don't hit you too hard, it's a very effective method for weaker Mystics to become stronger. So, we can 'kill' you all we want," Yen smiled apologetically, "and you'll come back. Consider it… an at-death experience. Right up to Dusknoir's Door, hm? But then you turn around and return to the living. But every time that happens…"
Yen showed the flare dying down and rising up, dying down, rising up, stronger and stronger each time. "You tap into that power a little more. Make your arms bigger to grab hold of those apples."
"Again, with the arms… Do you guys have a thing for arms?"
Yen cleared his throat. "Once you have full access to your Mystic power through this method, you can meditate to hone the specifics and refine it. That is what most of the mid-level Mystics, like ADAM and Zena, are doing at this point. You are still catching up."
"So, at first, to get full access to my power as a Mystic, I need to… die. A lot. And after that, I can work on actually improving it?"
"Yes! Well, to get there the fastest," Yen said. "Still, I recommend you fight back. Mysticism is strongly tied to desires, and the desire to fight back can accelerate the process further."
"But why do I need to die for that? How come all of those things with emotions, and dying, and meditating—that's all with the aura, too, right?"
"There is a key difference," Yen said. "Normal training. That's how the body and the mind connect to the aura, which itself channels the defined power, provided by Star." Yen closed his eyes. "Mysticism, you can't rely on that defined connection. It is not your body to your aura. Mysticism is tied to something deeper than the aura—to the very source of your power. This training is for the connection between your aura and your spirit. Something normally untouchable. The body and the mind are the outermost layer. Then, there is the aura. And within the aura is your spirit. That is the true source of power. The aura is just a filter on what that power can do. Mysticism… weakens that filter."
"The… spirit," Owen said. He hadn't realized it until just then, but without any fighting in this part of Hot Spot Cave, everything was silent. He could hear his own little heart struggling to beat. He hadn't realized how broken his body still was. "Sorry," Owen said, realizing he'd been silent for too long. "Before all this Guardian stuff, I didn't even think Star was real, forget the soul, or the spirit, or whatever. I guess I'm still trying to wrap my head around it."
"I understand," Yen said. "Manny and I were the same way. Take your time."
Owen nodded, but then gathered his bearings. "What's… the difference? The aura and this… spirit thing."
"Ahh…" Yen's tail wagged twice in a slow, rhythmic motion. "How nostalgic, that question."
Owen waited patiently. His eyes were bright with curiosity—but, more importantly, the longer he could stall, the longer he could catch his breath.
"The spirit… it's an interesting concept. It's something that I learned about a long time ago. Old, old culture. Something you can't quite see. Something you can only feel." Yen looked up. "The inner aura. The source. Where you are. What stays when everything else goes. That… is the spirit."
"Isn't that just the brain?" Owen mumbled. "I read books on this. All that stuff is just the brain."
"Well, er, I suppose, physically," Yen said, his momentum completely interrupted. "But it isn't as if you're carrying your brain with you in the aura sea, hm?"
"…Good point," Owen mumbled. "What stays when everything else…" He thought about the aura sea. His body had dissolved there. In the spirit world, like the Grass Orb's realm, or the ethereal forest, he had been an aura—a spiritual form that looked like his body. But in that strange void, even that body had dissolved away. He had been nothing but his aura flare. Yet he had still been there.
Owen looked at his hands again, as if they weren't real. He sighed. He should have become an academic. Or maybe it wasn't too late to become a farmer as his father had suggested.
"The connection…" Owen said again. What could that mean? It didn't sound like Yen knew the full extent of this 'spirit' business. Perhaps Star did, but Yen just saw its effects. Still, one thing was clear: Yen, and by extension, Manny, were looking for results, and what he was doing supposedly made Owen's Mysticism stronger.
"So, you've been 'killing' me all this time to… make my aura closer to my spirit? Or to make my Mystic power connect to it better. So, by dying, and meditating, and having these emotions, that speaks to my spirit, which the power of the Orb can let me… harness?" He paused. "Wait. This sounds more like you're just making my aura unstable so more 'Mystic' leaks through!"
"Yessir."
Owen flinched. It was Manny again. Based on the smirk the Lucario gave him, Yen must have either lost hold of his control or relinquished it upon completing his explanation. Owen missed him already.
"…Couldn't you have told me that?!"
"Nah, bein' scared an' fightin' fer yer life? That builds th' spirit, too."
"That's…!"
"Well, enough talkin'," Manny said, cracking his neck. "Y'know what I'm doin'."
"W-wait, bring Yen back, please, I—"
"Nope!"
Manny fired the Aura Sphere he was preparing straight at Owen, and the helpless Charmander hit the wall once again.
Willow screamed in the blue flames that surrounded her. In an instant, they died down; the smoldering Joltik twitched and opened one eye. "What?" She coughed.
"Y-you were screaming," Amia said, shivering.
"And you stopped?!" Willow said, hobbling to her feet. The very tip of the fur on her tiny body was still on fire; she shook, ridding herself of most of the ash, and the flame went out.
"Yes!" Amia said. "Because it… it looked like it hurt!"
"Of course it hurt!" Willow screeched. "But we're training! Don't stop!"
"B-but, Willow, you're half-ash at this point!"
"But I didn't pass out, so let's keep going!"
"I—I can't do this," Amia said, voice hitching. "I'm sorry, I just—ow!"
Willow zapped Amia with a bolt of electricity. She sped toward her. "Don't you dare stop now! You're way stronger than me, and I want to get to that level, too!"
"B-but, I can't, Willow, I just…!"
"What kind of Fire user are you? You can't even go full-force!"
"I—I'm just… I'm just not a fighter, Willow. I'm strong, yes, but… But this is too much! It's torture! I can't—"
"Keep fighting!"
"B-but you'll die!"
"I won't die!" Willow shouted. "So… stop being so weak!"
"I—I…" Amia gulped.
"DO IT!"
The Gardevoir shut her eyes and blasted Willow with another flurry of flames. She tried to dodge, but the blast radius was simply too large. She screamed and collapsed on the ground, unconscious.
"I—I can't do that! I can't!" Amia covered her eyes.
"Wh-huh? Did I pass out?" Willow coughed a cloud of ash.
Amia was trembling and had to sit down. "It's too hard to hurt friends! This kind of training is… is too much!"
Willow shook away the soot from her body and skittered toward the Gardevoir. "Mnngh…! I can't believe you! All that power and you're afraid to use it!"
Amia couldn't look at her. "I know, I know…"
Frustrated, the Joltik shook her fur and started creating little sparks. Eventually, however, she settled down in a huff.
It was a quiet part of the cave. Manny was still beating Owen to a pulp a few corridors down. Owen was screaming for help. Manny just laughed.
"Scared of your own power," Willow repeated. "Maybe that's where he gets it from."
Amia watched Willow with concern; the Joltik could barely climb her dress, but she managed it. She sat atop her lap.
"If someone like you raised Owen…" She trailed off. "…and if he took on even the littlest fraction of how you are…. I see why you think he can overcome that battle instinct he's stuck in."
Amia flinched. She bit at her lower lip and tried to stay calm. At least this was giving Willow some time to look less charred. "Yes," she said. "I've shown Owen… a lot of love. And he's been so gentle… So, he'd surely be able to overcome it."
"I think he can, too," Willow said. "He's too nice."
"Y-you think so?"
Willow nodded. "…So… you aren't gonna beat me up?"
"I… I don't think I have it in me," she said, lowering her head. "I'm sorry,"
Disappointed, the Joltik turned around. "Then I guess I'll train with them, instead," she said, turning to look down the large cavern. In the open area, the group was locked in combat.
ADAM and Valle were sparring with one another. At similar strength, they grew together almost as rapidly as the weaker ones who were trying to catch up. While the Porygon-Z was not able to have much of an effect with his Normal attacks against Valle, the rocky Shiftry was not quite able to hit ADAM as easily due to his lack of movement.
"Well, um… okay," Amia said. "I'm sorry that I can't…"
"It's okay," Willow said. "At least we have someone who can tell us to not get so angry, right?"
Amia gently touched her chest. "Oh," she said softly. "…Thank you, Willow."
And with that, Willow dashed toward ADAM and Valle. She hopped in front of a Hyper Beam, blocking most of it, but screamed nonetheless.
