Chapter Fifty-Two: Removing the Rust
It was almost odd to be on the road again. Even though they hadn't been in Fuchsia City any longer than in other places, so much had happened around it that it felt like it had been ages. There were now only two Expositions left before the Grand Expo, and Ash likewise only had two more Gym battles ahead of him before the Indigo League would start. Given how well he'd been doing up until now, and with his team stronger than it had ever been, Serena had no doubts he'd clear his final hurdles before the League with ease.
She wasn't quite so certain about herself, however. Her Pokémon were skilled, of course, as they'd proven repeatedly on the journey thus far, but the ease with which Erin had beaten her made her uneasy. She was still in the lead of the competition, and at this point it was probably impossible for anyone to overtake her anymore, but that didn't mean she'd have it easy. If Erin had been able to beat her handily, then there would likely be other people who could do the same, especially since by now there was plenty of footage from earlier Expositions.
Well, that was a problem for later. For now, Serena and Ash were heading south. They'd take a ferry, make a short stop at the Seafoam Islands, and then head west to Cinnabar Island. If everything went well, they'd reach the ferry around noon the next day, and since the weather was pleasant and was predicted to remain so, Serena wasn't worried they'd be late.
The day of travel passed in relative silence, as traveling days often did. Even though Serena and Ash were together now, and occasionally walked hand in hand for a bit, there just wasn't that much to see, and while there was always plenty to talk about, this kind of passive togetherness was so familiar and comfortable that neither Serena nor Ash felt particularly inclined to actually do so, except during meal breaks.
They made camp for the night when the sun was beginning to set. Suicune had been a bit annoyed at not getting to fight in the Gym battle, and Ash had promised him he'd get the opening round against Blaine on Cinnabar Island, as well as the opening round against the entire rest of the team during the evening practice, which he'd been looking forward to all day, to such a degree that he'd been the first to finish dinner and had begun impatiently admonishing the others to hurry up, to Serena's amusement.
When Ash and his other Pokémon finished their food as well, Serena said, "You go ahead and train, before Suicune decides to level our entire camp. I'll get the dishes done."
"You sure? You already did the cooking, too," Ash said uncertainly.
Serena shrugged. "It's fine. I was just planning on only doing a light practice, anyway. But you get to prepare breakfast tomorrow in return, and clean up after," she said with a smile.
Ash grinned at her. "You're the best, Serena," he said, before looking at his team and continuing, "Alright, guys, let's go! Charizard, you're up first against Suicune. We're doing Sharpedo-tank rounds, like we agreed."
A loud roar of assent went up among his Pokémon, and they quickly got up to join Suicune outside of camp.
Pangoro looked at them speculatively, and Serena said, "Go and join them. I know you want to, and they'll be glad to have another sparring partner, I'm sure. And now you're finally big enough to really go at it."
Pangoro's eyes lit up and he grinned. ("Ash is right. You really are the best,") he said. He got up and ran after Ash. ("Ash! Wait up, I'm joining too!")
Krookodile in particular seemed elated about that, as Serena could see him giving Pangoro a thumbs-up and a fist-bump when he joined the group, who were already forming a line next to Ash to spectate the fight between Suicune and Charizard.
("His excitement is so cute,") Mismagius said with a smile.
("Don't you want to join as well?") Delphox asked.
Mismagius shook her head. ("Not really. I like performing and showing off, but fighting isn't really my thing. I prefer frightening my opponents into submission, but Ash's Pokémon are just like him and incredibly hard to scare, and they hit hard even in training.")
("Would that not lead to injuries?") Absol asked.
"Yes, if someone unprepared trained with them and told them to go hard," Serena said. "But Pangoro trained with them even when he was still a Pancham and they went easy on him, so it would be fine if any of you wanted to join in."
("Yet Pikachu is smaller even than Pancham,") Absol said.
("Pikachu is a freak of nature,") Delphox said with a shrug, and Serena giggled at the blunt remark.
Absol thoughtfully looked at the training session, which had now begun in earnest. Suicune and Charizard certainly looked like they were giving their all, while Ash shouted pointers at both of them and the others cheered them on.
"What are you thinking about?" Serena asked.
Absol didn't reply immediately, and when he did, he still kept his eyes on the training. ("I have always disliked combat,") he said, ("yet when I see the vigor with which Lord Suicune, Ash, his Pokémon, and even Pangoro train, I cannot help but wonder…what would it be like if I engaged with them? Would I stand a chance, or would I face defeat the moment the battle begins?")
He frowned. ("I have always believed myself to be a fairly capable fighter, should the need arise. I have lived for a long time and have fought when I could not avoid it, winning many of those altercations. But now, seeing these clashes be referred to as just 'training' makes me fear that I have been solitary for too long. In the upcoming disaster…will I be able to prove myself useful at all?")
"Well…Ash's idea of training is on the extreme side," Serena said with a small smile, "but if you want to know how strong you are…why don't we have a small battle, too? That is, if one of you wants to be a sparring partner?"
She looked at Delphox and Mismagius in turn, figuring that Sylveon wouldn't want to fight, but then…
("I'll do it,") Sylveon said quietly.
Everyone looked at her. "Are you sure?" Serena asked. "I mean, you don't like fighting, either."
("That's exactly why,") Sylveon said. ("Absol doesn't like fighting, but he wants to try because he wants to help when things get dangerous. I want to help, too, so if Absol and I both don't like fighting, maybe we can still help each other get stronger. And…it would be harder for him to fight me than Delphox or Mismagius.")
Serena nodded slowly. "That makes sense," she said.
She looked at Absol again. "What do you think? Do you want to try it?"
Absol looked at Sylveon, who smiled, and then gave a single nod. ("Very well. I see merit in this plan.")
Serena could hear that he was nervous, even though the fight would only be a spar and she was sure Sylveon had no intention of going all-out. It certainly wouldn't be anything like the carnage Ash and his Pokémon were creating further away.
"Are you two okay with that, too?" she asked Delphox and Mismagius.
("I am. I'd love to see our new teammate battle,") Delphox said with a smile.
("Me too. He wasn't lying about not liking to fight, either. I can sense his nerves,") Mismagius said.
("Your gleeful tone is disconcerting.")
("Yeah, I get that a lot.")
"Well, let's do this, then," Serena said, smiling inwardly at the short exchange.
She walked a bit out of camp, followed by her Pokémon. Delphox and Mismagius took up positions next to her, while Absol and Sylveon stood opposite each other.
"Okay, Absol, how do you want to train? Do you want to fight on your own first, or do you want me to give you pointers?" Serena asked.
("I will attempt to battle on my own first,") Absol replied. ("That way, you can see my battle style and the moves I know.")
"Alright. Sylveon?"
("I'd like advice,") Sylveon said immediately. ("I feel better when I know you're supporting me.")
"Got it. Okay, since both of you are a bit nervous, just take it easy, alright? You can land hits, but keep it civil. We don't want any injuries and neither of you need to feel like you need to outdo Ash's team. We're not fighting for real, here," Serena said.
Sylveon and Absol both nodded.
"Let's begin! Sylveon, open with Swift!"
Sylveon immediately leapt into action and fired off her Swift stars, which streaked towards Absol from different directions, but Absol's eyes briefly sparked blue and he deftly dodged all of the stars, and then his horn began to glow as he charged up a Razor Wind.
("Detect, huh?") Delphox said. ("Good opening move.")
Serena nodded. "Double Team, Sylveon, don't let him hit you!"
Sylveon blurred momentarily and a ring of clones appeared, all of whom seemed to be dancing happily. Absol tried to track all the clones with his eyes, but then gave up and quickly spun around, swinging his horn as he did so and sending out a circular blast of energy. It was thinner at the end of the swing, but clearly still present, as it knocked Sylveon out of her Double Team and pushed her back. Not missing a beat, Absol immediately jumped at her, his horn glowing again, dark purple this time, as he went for a Night Slash.
"Protect, Sylveon!"
Sylveon recovered from the hit of the Razor Wind and the green glow of her Protect shield flicked Absol's attack aside, and Absol bounded away and reset for another attempt. The gem on his head glowed, and six rotating swords appeared in the air around him, spinning around him before pointing at him and disappearing.
"Don't let him make use of that Swords Dance, Sylveon, Fairy Wind!"
Sylveon immediately jumped forward, whipping up a sparkling vortex around Absol, who had again begun to charge up a Razor Wind. The Fairy Wind buffeted Absol and made him wince, but he didn't drop the charge on his attack.
As soon as he began to swing his head down, Serena yelled, "Now, Sylveon, dodge to the side and use Swift!"
Sylveon didn't hesitate for a moment and deftly jumped away, firing off Swift stars even as she kept her Fairy Wind going. Absol, still recovering from firing off his Razor Wind and with his mobility hindered by the Fairy Wind around him, took the full rain of stars and stumbled back.
"Alright, you two, I think that's good for now," Serena said, and Sylveon immediately dispelled her Fairy Wind.
("I am not injured. I can continue,") Absol said.
"I know, but this is just practice, remember?" Serena asked.
("I…do not feel I have truly shown my capabilities,") Absol said hesitantly. ("I would rather not leave such an underwhelming first impression of my skill.")
"I don't think you were underwhelming at all," Serena said.
("I didn't, either,") Sylveon said. ("I enjoyed the training, so thank you,") she added, giving a small bow to Absol, who returned it somewhat reluctantly.
("You fought skillfully,") he said. ("More so than I would have expected from someone who dislikes fighting.")
("I've trained a lot for Showcases and Expositions,") Sylveon said with a smile. ("So even though I don't like fighting, I know my moves well, and I had Serena looking out for me, too. I didn't beat you on my own.")
("Indeed, the two of you are well in sync with one another,") Absol admitted.
He still seemed put out by his performance, and Serena said, "We can work on that too, you know. You have powerful moves and the skill to use them, too. I'm sure we can come up with a way to get the most out of them."
She smiled. "I may be a Performer first and foremost, but I can battle, you know. I've traveled around with Ash far too long not to have picked up some skills."
Absol inclined his head. ("I would like that,") he said. ("It is clear I have a lot of work to do if I am to be able to be of help in the task ahead…")
"Don't beat yourself up over a spar," Serena said. "You told me not too long ago that it was understandable I was feeling insecure. Well, now I'm saying the same to you. And I'm also saying it'll be fine. You're a bit rusty, maybe, but I don't think you're weak. That circular Razor Wind might have changed the entire battle if you'd hit Sylveon with the middle, rather than just the very edge, so let's work on getting the power distributed evenly along the entire arc, to start with, and using your Detect while you're charging to keep safe."
("Two moves at once?") Absol asked. ("Yes, that is what Sylveon was doing, was it not? An impressive feat,") he added, seemingly to himself.
"All my Pokémon can do that. It might weaken the overall power of the move, but the control makes up for it, and it's a vital skill for Showcases and Expositions. What do you think? Do you want to work on it?" Serena asked.
Absol thought about it only for a moment before saying. ("Yes. I will gladly work with you to develop my skills. Thank you, Serena. I believe I am fortunate to have met up with you…")
It's been a while, sorry about that! It wasn't the fanfic author's curse, though, I've just been really busy. I had a fencing tournament abroad last week and ended up above the Olympic champion in the final ranking, and last Saturday I had a krav maga level test. I passed, even though my own instructor told me he wouldn't have passed me, so I got a bit lucky.
Anyway, the 'Sharpedo-tank' or shark-tank in real life, is a form of training where you basically form a circle and the one in the middle fights everyone in turn, after which a new person goes in the middle and fights everyone in turn. I had a boxing training like that today and it was awesome, and it seemed like the kind of thing Ash and his Pokémon would regularly do anyway.
I actually wanted to include one more scene in this chapter, but I figured it might fight better in the next one, so I hope to see you then! Shouldn't take two weeks this time…hopefully.