Ch 80 - Nope

Cloudburst swooped, swinging back and forth through the air like a pendulum as she closed the gap. Mid turn, she banked suddenly, throwing her wings out wide in preparation for a-

“Nope!”

She swung her wings forward, too far into the process of the Move to abort now. Her powerful limbs created small bursts of wind, but no light.

Pidgey let out an angry squawk.

David winced a little too. He thought she’d been close that time too. Not close enough though. Before her, on the ground of the training grounds, her opponent watched her unblinkingly.

“Good job, try again!” He shouted.

Cloudburst squawked angrily at him in particular this time. Her eyes fixed on him and a chill wound down his spine.

“Hey!” David shouted, shaking himself to try and escape the chill. “Enough of that.”

She was not taking his participation in the exercise well - participation on her opponent’s side that is. It was a simple exercise. Cloudburst would fly above and try to unleash a Cannon on Venonat. Venonat would try to stop her with their cancel move. It was simple, but it focused on two very important things - Cloudburst’s agility and dodging, and Venonat’s one useful Move.

At the start, David had stayed out of the training, interceding between the competing Pokemon only to offer advice or call for a break. However, as Cloudburst learned how to make her movements unpredictable and Venonat tired, the balance shifted. David needed to intercede for Venonat’s health if not the good of the exercise. Cloudburst was strictly to use weaker Cannons, but weak was a relative term for sharp twists of mystical energy.

Venonat never complained about the hits, but their antennae drooped and they grew twitchier the more time went on. Part of that was the pain, but David suspected the trouble also lay with their instincts about staying in an open field as an aerial predator approached.

Even so, it was a very productive exercise.

Cloudburst was always able to fly this nimbly. She was practised from all the time spent flying through trees and under branches, but it was one thing to be able to do so and another to plan a similar winding route when surrounded by open sky. It went against her instincts to swoop and circle around when a straight path was the least energy intensive. This dodging practice was a key step to her winning aerial battles.

As for Venonat, they needed to practise training. David didn’t know what a wild Pokemon’s life was like, but it definitely didn’t involve energy blocking another Pokemon before it could hit you while a human shouted at both of you. Venonat needed to practise using its Moves over and over again in an environment where they could get all the nutrients they needed to support that. They needed to build their stamina, and mostly importantly, they needed to learn to work with and listen to him.

David needed to do the same.

Cloudburst spun in the air above, coming in for another dive. He kept an eye on her, but he also watched Venonat. He needed to learn their tells, their movements. How much training was too much? When was Pidgey within their range? How long did their energy block last? How often and how quickly could they use it?

A white antenna shifted and he went for it.

“Nope!”

The next angry squawk from Pidgey came before she could wind up for a big swing. That was a success in David’s books.

“Unlucky, try again Cloud. Remember it seems to be line of sight. You need to move across Venonat's vision!”

Pidgey squawked again, but this time it was in annoyance. She was not a fan of nicknames. Spurred on, she circled around once more.

Venonat shifted, turning to the side to keep a better eye on Pidgey.

“Nope!”

This time nothing happened for a few seconds. He must have called it too early.

Cloudburst drew nearer, diving and twisting, trying to maintain motion in all three axes. It was dizzying how with the lifting of a single wing and a dip of her head, she would descend into a twist that tore her sideways, to the side and forward. She rarely rolled fully upside down, but she strayed near vertical many times. It was dizzying, but also beautiful in a way.

She got a lot closer this time before spreading her wings wide.

David might be ‘losing’, but a smile still grew on his face as he watched her. It was incredible to see the progress. Pokemon were intelligent. Not like him, but intelligent and Cloudburst was an athlete.

Cloudburst swung her wings forward, not stopping in place while she did. For a second David saw a colourful glint on her feathertips. It fizzled away.

She squawked so loudly it was more of a screech. Her dive hadn’t stopped as she tried to eke out another metre on Venonat, and she made no move to end it even as the Move failed.

David’s eyes widened as she threw her wings out seconds before she hit the ground. A powerful flap kicked dust into the air. He ran forward, uselessly swiping at the dirt in the air to try keep it out of his eyes.

”Really?” He asked as he got closer to the unrepentant bird. That'd been a pointlessly risky landing. Another injury would only lengthen the time between battles. “You know you’re meant to be resting. I agreed to light training only.”

“Gey!” Pidgey ducked her head under a wing, plucking at a stomach feather. She was an athlete, and it looked like she'd picked up some of the attitude that came with that.

David tutted, looking back at Venonat to make sure they were fine. Venonat had sunk, crouching down to rest on their haunches. He didn’t see them doing it often. It was an easier position for them to rest in, but it reduced how quickly they could move and react to stimuli. They must be quite tired.

David inspected Cloudburst even as the dust irritated his eyes. There didn’t seem to be any new damage, just the lingering cuts from the battle yesterday that the Pokecenter had already dealt with. Still, he was sure he’d seen her wing hit the ground. Reaching forward he gently pulled that same wing up to get a better look, ignoring Cloudburst’s slow, offended squawk.

“Perfectly fine,” He muttered. He cast a glance at the packed dirt around them. Had he been mistaken?

“Hmm.” A line had been drawn in the dirt about a metre away. It wasn’t straight but a gentle arc. He wobbled Pidgey’s wing in his hand. The bones were frighteningly light. It was possible that it had been made by one of her claws as she came down, but it was equally as likely that that was from another Pokemon earlier in the day.

Another complaint from Cloudburst pushed him to release her wing. She pulled it back in and sat down in her roosting position.

“You’re done then?”

She chirped.

It was quite late. The sun had set a while ago. He was getting used to these hours, but she was not. He plucked at the knotted belt around his waist for a second before pulling her pokeball out. When he closed his eyes this time it was to preserve his night vision as much as anything else.

Turning back to Venonat, David smiled. “Let’s rest for a while, then some Tackle practise?”

Venonat let out a rattling squeak which he took as a good sign.

-.-

David set the remnants of the cardboard down and rolled his neck. “Break for a bit?”

Venonat squeaked and settled back down.

“Great,” David said, trying to stretch his back now too. It was awkward trying to communicate with his other Pokemon without Pidgey. This was one of the few times they seemed in alignment. Training Venonat's Tackle was also a lot harder than it had been with Pidgey. They needed to attack something to train unlike Pidgey’s more reactive version. What this meant was that David needed to hold a cardboard target down at Venonat’s level, yet far enough from his own body that he wouldn’t get hit. The position was horrible on his back.

He pulled a cap off his bottle, taking a swig. When he noticed Venonat’s eyes on his own, he offered the flask towards them.

Venonat didn’t move.

“Not thirsty then.”

Venonat rarely drank water directly. In the six days since he’d caught them, they’d drunk from a bowl like Pidgey only four times. Perhaps because of this, their Bug type food sachets were a lot wetter, more of a paste rather than the flexible blocks that Cloudburst’s sachets tended to be.

Venonat turned to the side and David followed their gaze. Someone new had arrived to the training grounds and Venonat had been drawn to the movement. The training grounds were quiet at night and there were only two others apart from him here now.

The man flicked his eyes back and forth, scanning the training grounds as he hesitantly walked in. His shoulder length hair remained dead still even in the light wind. It was a little odd, but some people got nervous at night. Shadows had a way of freaking people out when their main sense was hindered. They’d be fine. The training grounds were a huge open space. Nothing could sneak up on you here. It was one of the reasons David liked it so much.

He sat down and began to stretch. Another hour. They’d do one more hour before calling it for the night. It wasn’t a lot of time to spend together, but it was better than leaving Venonat alone all night.

“Hey.”

David turned. It was the newcomer. There was more than enough space for everyone so he must need something.

“What’s up?” He checked to see Venonat's reaction, but the Pokemon was staring at the newcomer, antenna wriggling.

The newcomer lifted a hand, shifting his shoulder length hair aside and scratched at his head. “I recognised you and wanted to say sorry about the other day.”

“The other day?” David repeated as he re-examined the other man.

The newcomer had a long nose, not a poking one but it was prominent on his face. Along with a high brow, he had sharp cheekbones and a round chin. He would probably be called handsome, but there wasn’t anything David recognised about him. David didn’t think they’d battled either. There hadn’t been enough battles that he’d forgotten anyone yet. For all the man’s features, it was his hair that was the most memorable..

‘Oh.’

The man, the psychic, the Voyant winced and his hand clenched in his hair for a second. “Yeah, I wasn’t in the best of states. I didn’t mean to make it look like I was about to attack you or anything. I just wanted out of the city.”

David said nothing, thoughts whirling as he tried not to let anything show.

“Anyway,” The Voyant let his hand fall. “I just wanted to say that. Not out to get you or anything. Have a good night.”

He turned and began to walk away.

David’s mouth opened before he could stop it. “What was that?”

The Voyant turned. “Huh?”

David closed his eyes. His stupid mouth and endless questions. “In the street. With all the locals.”

Well, it was too late now.

The Voyant’s face fell. “I was not my best. I haven’t been to Fuchsia before, and.. let’s say the locals know how to bear a grudge.”

David didn’t say anything, not trusting himself not to dig into that or reveal something he shouldn’t. The Voyant seemed to take the silence as a reproach.

“I should explain more,” He said with a sigh. “Hi, I’m Finn Voyant. Average empath, Fair farseer and weak telekinetic. ”

David’s thought went a mile a minute. Two facts stuck out amongst all that he needed to unpacked. The Voyant doesn’t know that I know who he is. He doesn’t know who I am.

For a second, a rush of victory flooded him. This was an opportunity. David had the advantage for once.

The Voyant blinked in surprise at him.

“That still explains very little,” David said in the end.

“Empath,” The Voyant stated, waving at himself. “When I say grudge, I really mean a century old hatred that’s been taught and honed. It’s resentment and malice amplified and directed by everyone.” He shuddered, shoulders falling in as he gripped his elbows with both hands. “It’s fucking awful.”

“Oh.” That was not what David had expected. This was not how he'd expected this meeting.

“Uuggh. Just thinking about it makes me feel awful.” Finn shook his head side to side. Weirdly his hair remained perfect. It didn’t seem gelled and David suspected liberal use of hairspray. “Anyway, you were a small island in all that. It helped until I freaked you out.”

“Right,” David said absently. It all made sense even as he tried to look for a hole in the story, some hook they were going to use to reel him back in. “I appreciate the explanation and the apology.” He felt no need to clarify why he’d been freaked out or correct Finn’s assumption.

Finn lingered, not saying goodbye or moving to leave at all.

David’s suspicions rose again. “Is there anything else?”

“Well.. I was also hoping to get a look at your Venonat. I’m hoping to get one eventually.”

“A Venonat?” David asked in surprise. “Doesn’t the whole Bug-Psychic..” He waved his hand at Finn.

Finn snorted. “A little. Venonat are a bit particular though. They have a touch of the gift themselves, and Venomoth can grow quite powerful.” He turned towards where Venonat sat watching the two of them. “They’re stealth pokemon. They use it to keep hidden and to strike hard when they do. For decades they were hated in my family, but since.. they’ve had a bit of a resurgence.”

“Mm,” David murmured as he re-examined Venonat. That was some very helpful information. He’d been avoiding reading too far into anything about Venonat since learning about their type. Not out of a fear of what more he might find, but so he could fix ‘Nope’ in both his and Venonat’s mind.  Learning the Move’s official name might wreck that and it was too useful a Move to take the risk.

“You know,” Finn began, his voice light and happy. “We used to make training dummies of Venonat when we were kids. It was a lot of fun with all the-” he gestured at Venonat “-fuzz. It really sucked when we later had to watch them torn apart for training.”

Finn went quiet for a second.

The moment passed and he brightened up again. His face was extremely expressive. “Still, I’ve always wanted one. How’s your training going...”

David blinked. Oh, he hadn’t introduced himself had he. His thoughts raced and his mouth opened once again before he could consider it properly. “Fred.”

‘Shit.’ Fred could definitely be linked back to him in Saffron. Anyone searching for him likely knew the name.

Finn didn’t seem to notice the connection, or he ignored it. “Hi Fred.” He poked at the pieces of cardboard on the ground. “What’re you training now?”

“Tackle.” David eyed Finn. “I figured best not to start with Venonat dummies just yet.”

Finn laughed. “Probably for the best. Have you tried Bug Bite yet? I’ve heard it's awkward to train.”

-.-

They had a nice chat before Finn needed to leave.

More than a little confused about his encounter with the shockingly normal Voyant, David wandered across the road back to the campsite. Before he could cross back into the campsite itself though, the manager held up a hand to stop him.

“David Smith?” The manager wasn’t wearing his glasses today and it made his eyes seem all the more piercing underneath his flaming orange combover.

“Yes?” David replied warily, stifling a yawn. Was he behind on his dues? Or had Venonat managed to escape and nibble on someone else’s tent when he wasn’t looking?

“Message from the Route 18 Ranger’s office for you.” The manager passed over an envelope, not setting his book of anecdotes down.

David’s brows furrowed as he took the envelope. Route 18 was the road to Celadon. Was this something from Louis? He broke the seal and read the letter inside. It was short and to the point.

Please come by the Ranger’s office.

“Now?” David asked in surprise.

With a sigh, the manager closed his book. He gently set down Ninetales in North Johto down on the desk. “If it was urgent enough that it needed to be done this late at night, the Rangers wouldn’t leave a message.”

David blinked weary eyes. “That’s a good point.” He couldn’t hold his yawn back this time. “Thanks, and good night.”

The manager lifted his book up, covering his face. “Good night David.”

----------------------------

A surprisingly chill chapter for the content. Hope you're all having a good week.

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