Disclaimer: Pokemon is owned by the Nintendo, Hakunon/Fate is owned by the all-powerful Mushroom(Nasu), and all that stuff.
Houndour
Dark/Fire Type
The Dark Pokemon: An extremely loyal canine Pokemon, it corners prey using different types of cries to communicate with its pack. Extremely intelligent and is known for its teamwork.
Huh, this… might be harder than she thought, typically against a dark type they could probably rely on Nomia's Fairy Wind, however with the Houndour being part Fire-Type they gained resistance to it. She had to hope that the Houndour's flames were weak enough that they might have a chance. Maizie had informed her that Yoko only got the Pokemon a little over a month ago, a short time compared to Maizie and her two, but far longer than she had teamed with Nomia. But, there was still a chance. She scrolled onto her Terminal, trying to find something similar to her idea, a technique Nero used to throw off Robin's aim. Clicking her tongue when she couldn't find it, her finger hesitated over an app that had long been installed…from her time in Lunar Seraph.
"Tink?" Hakuno paused, Nomia had climbed onto her lap, and the little Gnome was seemingly amazed by the Terminal, Hakuno had only shown her a few pictures and holograms from the device. Hakuno blinked as Nomia grabbed her Terminal and bit it. The terminal was completely unharmed, not even a scratch on its crystalline body, Nomia on the other hand cried she held her empty hand on her face as Hakuno patted her head gently. "Ask before biting." Hakuno sighed, as she checked the small Fae's teeth, they looked fine, "Are you crying because it hurt or because it wasn't metal?" The tears stopped before she giggled out her name.
Hakuno rolled her eyes, glancing over at Maizie who was at her court she nodded to herself, "This… video should let you see my idea of how to get your Fairy Wind to protect yourself. I don't expect it to be ready by tomorrow, but before we head to Kurt's forge try and see if you can do it."
Admittedly, the little Gnome managed to do something similar once when being chased. But that was a burst, that surrounded her entire body, Nero's method was slightly different, the way Nero wove her roses into being around her flaming sword let her have a wider shield than Robin could ever think of. She hesitatingly clicked on the first video, "Maestro~" Hakuno shuttered at her voice, "Your Device's light is flickering." The video clicked on, it was in their little room Nero's face was so close to the camera that it felt like she was right here beside her again.
"I want to record your abilities, I need to be able to reference them to plan our fight with Dan, let's start with your defensive skills." Her own voice came from behind the terminal, Nero's face flickered, and she gave the device a radiant smile.
"Muoooo, Umu, fine. Then I shall begin, this is my Trés Fontaine Tempestes!" A flurry of Rose Petals surrounded her Crimson Blade, "My love and beauty should stun any who dares to strike upon me~!" Making sure Nomia saw how Nero's petals flowed around the blade in the video she hesitated before turning off the video. She… didn't know it would hurt so much. To see Nero, her Rose that she had left behind, she couldn't even fathom the words needed to express it. She took a few moments to compose herself, Nomia should be told everything, but at least she should wait until after they don't have to worry about a fight.
"I don't… expect you to get it right away." Steer the conversation away from it, skirt its edges, "But if you're able to get it for even a moment it might work out." They will have to abandon practice on Quash, for now, the move took too much energy from the little Gnome. Maybe see if they can't get her to handle Steel-Type energy to enhance her hammer before the fight, a Steel Move wouldn't be useful, but perhaps just having the hammers sturdier would help? Or, perhaps they could improvise a Physical Version of Fairy Wind? Nomia looked at her and gave her a nod.
"Tinkatink." She hopped down, a tiny flickering of glitter coming out of her hands. Hakuno gave her a small smile as the little Fae began practicing.
Hakuno sighed as Nomia took in deep breaths, she picked up the small Gnome and eyed the Sun, it was barely starting to dip above the forest, and there were a few more hours left in the day. Nomia had managed to get the Fairy Wind to focus more on herself, halving the width of the winds, but couldn't seem to figure out the last step of getting it to protect her. She had used a few small rocks and aimed them at places that wouldn't even get close to hitting the little Pokemon as a test, and it soared through with ease, only a slight battering from the Fairy-Type energy.
Carrying the little Gnome toward Kurt and Maizie's home gave her time to figure out the best way not to lose her upcoming fight that didn't revolve around Nomia figuring out one of Nero's skills. Maizie gave her a rueful smile as she mentioned she had to work a bit on a 'secret' move for Pokey before they wanted to head back.
With Maizie staying in Azalea to go after Bugsy's badge and Hakuno leaving for Cianwood the pair only had another week or so before she had to make it through Illex and get to the ferry in Palmpona. Maizie had told her she already had a few Pokemon she would be seeking to join her team, something about picking slow Pokemon on purpose? Shaking her head she had arrived at their temporary dwelling, the gate was already open so Hakuno walked around to the side, following the clanging of metal and the small smoke cloud towards the Forge.
She waited in the doorway, Nomia rested in her arms and her eyes grew wide as she looked around. Kurt's Shuckle lazily rose from his spot and kept an eye on the little Gnome, while Hakuno waited for Kurt to finish his latest Pokeball.
He quenched the black and yellow Pokeball in the nearby water causing steam to come off, giving a slight frown he shrugged his shoulders before placing the ball on the bottom shelf and sealing the furnace.
"Shuc, Shuckle." Kurt jumped at that, his eyes turning from Shuckle to Hakuno.
"Ah, Hakuno…and the Fairy." Hakuno ignored the slight sigh Kurt gave when he noticed Nomia out of her ball, she had been a pain to the Smith, "Did you need some help with something?"
Hakuno shrugged, "We are fighting a Houndour tomorrow. Do you have any advice? And Nomia wants to use her hammer, we are working on Fairy Wind to be defensive, but a Steel Move would be useful." Kurt gave her a slightly confused look before nodding, "I might, Shuckle here knows a Steel Move or two, I'm pretty sure it's how he made his underground den." Shuckle gave her a triumphant look before sticking its tongue out at Nomia.
Nomia fumed.
"Be nice/Play nice." The two humans spoke simultaneously. Kurt coughed in his hand, "Alright, I haven't done actual Pokemon Battles in a while, but I'll give you some of the basic training advice I gave Maizie."
She felt like Hakuno was expecting a lot from her.
That Legendary, as only that could be said about that being, their sword almost had won them over. Just almost, well maybe she could take inspiration for the core of her hammer? A Tinka's hammer is their life's work… A strong sturdy inside inspired by that might just work…
And learning what appeared to be that being's life work in one day!? She struggled to control Fairy-Type energy that much, she could ask it to flow but getting it fully under her control was hard.
But for now, she had an overgrown Houndour to deal with, and the Forgemaster's Shuckle was going to teach her how to do… something. "Bring it on!"
The other Pokemon looked dully at her, "Thief, I don't know why Celebi's child wants to raise you, however… If she loses she will bring disgrace to my Master's name." She huffed, "I chose to fight, the Trainer was being mean."
The Shuckle loomed over her, she could feel the strength. She knew she was faster, a dead Rattata was faster than it, but the power in each of its limbs was above what she could do. At least twice as strong as her which wasn't saying a whole lot as she was young while he was old.
Shaking her head, "Teach me or let me practice in peace."
The grin on the normally dull-looking Pokemon made her wary, "Your Trainer wants you to learn what Steel is… I shall show you."
She gulped as their stone shell became covered in a silver coating.
Hakuno frowned, Kurt had gone on for an hour as she recorded what she thought would be useful information, but… Most of the information he gave couldn't be used, mostly due to Kurt's fondness for an extremely defensive style that Nomia could not handle at this stage.
Probably never, as Shuckles are considered some of the sturdiest Pokemon that are known to exist, most likely due to their nature as being a type of strange Sentient Mold and their shell's natural defensive properties.
Nomia looked practically exhausted from her 'training' session with Shuk-Shuk. She did have a playful smirk as she ate her new food, even handing her an Aspear Berry that she had 'found' to add. Hakuno ignored the dejected look on Shuckle as Kurt gave a slight chuckle. She slipped a slice away to taste it and was surprised by its Sour taste. She had given her a bite of a Cheri Berry but Nomia turned her nose to it, sadly she probably wouldn't have a companion that could handle Spicy food like her.
Then again Nero and Sakura couldn't enjoy the food either… Kotomine gave her a funny look as she ate the Mapo Tofu he made especially for her, which was the only moment the priest's expression flickered from his normal nonchalance into fear, although, she was fairly certain it was a trick of her imagination. He was a normal High AI, not a sentient one like she was as far as she knew.
Shaking her head Hakuno opened the door to their room, at the least Hakuno and Nomia could watch a few videos of Houndour fights, she had requested her Terminal to pull up any videos it could find of Houndour like they would be fighting. While it wouldn't be a perfect match she felt antsy about not knowing more about their foe the night before. At the very least she had figured out that it was the current Elite Four member Karen's Houndoom, as she was the only one that actively used one. Hakuno sighed as they got comfortable. Her Portable Terminal began to transform the videos into holograms to give them whatever edge they could gleam.
Hakuno wasn't fully confident about the battle, they still had no true answers to the Dark Fire Type. She sighed as she put on her new 'Traveler' outfit. Adding the cargo jacket really did help, it let her squirrel away her Portable Terminal safely out of view.
As well as some Cherri Berries in her sleeve pocket.
Nomia had just eaten a light breakfast and she had managed to mush in a slice of her morning Occa Berry with her Aspear. If eaten before a Fire-Type attack, the Berry can lessen the blow. Somehow.
She wasn't too sure about the properties of it, but it's been proven to work and her Terminal vouched for it, although the small slice she slipped into her food wouldn't do more than make it slightly harder for her to get sunburned, if that.
Shaking her head Hakuno brought out the new oil as she cleaned Nomia's chest piece and hair with the water-resistant coating. She was luckily it wasn't flammable or they would have to start using it tomorrow. The little Gnome preened at the attention and care. Hakuno made a mental note to continue doing this, even when/if Nomia figured out how to work her Fairy or Steel energy to do it for herself. Nomia shook her head when Hakuno offered to wipe her weapons down as well.
"Are you ready?" Hakuno didn't feel ready, but Nomia nodded triumphantly, she held hammers in both of her hands. One seemed slightly sturdier than the other, although not by much.
"Tinkatink tink tink." Hakuno nodded to the little Gnome's insistence. "Alright, you remember our plan?" Nomia shrugged before nodding, with Hakuno's stare the Pokemon sighed before nodding.
Alright, although now that she thinks about it they never did set a time for their 'battle'...
Arriving at the Pokecenter Hakuno handed Nomia over to a new receptionist just to ensure Nomia was in perfect health. Maybe that's what she should have her Portable Terminal focus its personality on something to make sure they stay healthy, she was clueless about health problems other than vaguely bandaging bleeding wounds.
But that was for later, "Your Tinkatink is in a lot better health than yesterday, we hope to see you again~" Hakuno paused at that but shrugged it made sense, they would rather see them coming back than never again. Death was something she could not let happen to herself, not until she had stories to share with her beloved Rose.
Walking out back, the courts were empty so she approached the one that Maizie was using the previous day, at the least, the small rocks might be able to provide cover against the hound's fire moves. "Maybe you should stretch before they get here?"
Nomia nodded as she began to run in circles around a rock, smacking it with a different hammer each time denting and chipping the rock. Not enough to do actual damage to it, but enough to leave a small impression.
"You think you're going to win?" Maizie rocked on her feet, her shoes scuffing the ground, "Pokey or Teddy could do it for you you know, I know, Nomia is stubborn but…" Hakuno shrugged at her request.
"Nomia wants to fight, and I trust she will listen." At least enough, she doesn't expect full trust to be formed overnight, it had taken her and Nero a while to trust each other fully, but that was mainly due to a clash of Personalities. Although it catapulted far faster than most would consider 'normal' and theirs was life and death every possible moment outside of their little slice of Lunar Seraph.
"You know, you never did tell me where you're from." Hakuno glanced over at Maizie, ah, was that why she was nervous? The younger trainer's eyes zoned in on her own, Hakuno frowned slightly, should she tell her?
"...After I win." She yawned, pulling out the Portable Terminal to check the time after breaking eye contact with the other girl. "Alright, then you better win." Maizie nodded, Hakuno could easily hear the smile in her voice.
Nomia ran around with Teddy, the poor little bear, who was spooked by the faces she made as she popped around his blind spot, the glittery smoke giving her the edge of hiding. "Don't get too tired." The little gnome giggled in response.
"Going to use that as your excuse?" Hakuno blinked, her eyes trailing up seeing the familiar scarlet-haired girl stomping over to her, at her side was a pitch-black puppy it had a little skull cap with three off-white bones covering its spine and bangles made of bone. Her eyes still bore the misplaced anger she had from the last two days, a familiar azure-haired older lady was walking behind her with a steaming white cup in her hand.
Hakuno grimaced as the pup's small nub of a tail stopped wagging when it noticed Nomia and let out a soft growl. "Are you ready to lose?"
Officer Jenny sighed as she meandered over to the midsection of the court into a faint chalk outline forming a square. The two Pokemon quickly returned to their respective Pokeballs as Hakuno walked over to the side of the court with the slightly more stones.
"This is a league-sanctioned match, and as such it will be a One-on-One match between Hakuno Kishinami and Yoko Kaoruko. Trainers, are you ready?"
"Wait." Nurse Joy panted as she ran up to them, "Officer Jenny, what is the meaning of this?"
Was battles between a non-trainer and a Provisional one so rare? Hakuno tilted her head as she looked towards Nurse Joy while Officer Jenny frowned. The officer rolled her eyes. "Well, my niece believed you unfairly judged her during the test, and I decided if she proves that she is a better trainer than an accredited League Trainer, I will appeal to Gym Leader Bugsy to override your decision." Hakuno frowned. "And if Hakuno here is unable to show she can control her… Pokemon then I will also appeal and get her license revoked. It is only a Provisional one after all."
Nomia's Pokeball shook in her hand at that last comment.
Could she even do that? The grimace on Nurse Joy's face made her think it might be possible.
"This was supposed to be a friendly match!" Maizie growled out, "Hakuno's only hand Tinkatink for a day!"
Officer Jenny shrugged, "Well, she got a near-perfect score, Yoko didn't I think that makes it a fair competition then? And Hakuno has already agreed."
Hakuno frowned, she wouldn't under these circumstances. It was too risky, being tied here longer would intrude on Kurt's kindness for longer, and stifle Nomia's growth, and there was a chance she would mess up due to her not knowing an esoteric law that Officer Jenyn would punish her with.
She wasn't too sure why Officer Jenny seemed to hate her, but that wasn't her problem. She had trampled on people's wishes in the past, and if Officer Jenny wants to stop her from being able to tell Nero stories at the end of all this? Then she will bulldoze through her wish just like she did before.
"Alright, if this is going to be a league-stationed match, then there has to be something for each of them to win." Hakuno tilted her head at Nurse Joy, the Pink-haired nurse sent her a wink.
"Fine, standard win rates-"
"It should be higher, with the threat of possibly losing her license shouldn't it?" Maizie eeped as Officer Jenny sent her a glare.
Collecting herself Officer Jenny groaned, perhaps she was finally realising it was getting too annoying to deal with a petty fight for a kid's temper tantrum. "Fine, whoever wins gets the equivalent of what a match between two Second Badge holders would… Or an item of equivalent value if you are unable to pay." Hakuno had no idea how much that was, but from the slightly nervous look on Yoko's face at the least, it should be a decent amount of money.
Hakuno gave a reluctant nod seeing Nurse Joy shrug and drop a Pokeball, one that reminded her of a Chansey appeared but far thinner, popped out of the Pokeball. The Pokemon was even wearing a little hat!
Shaking her head to refocus, Hakuno thumbed Nomia's Friend Ball, "Trainers! Release your Pokemon!"
Author's Note: Well uh, the chapter was getting long, I was intending to have Nomia's fight included in here but… yeah it was already a bit too long.
Sorry for the cliffhanger! Cya next week!