The Great Bulk, Interlude 1: Basic Training
Starting the Day
After turning in Iron Wing and Nickel, I rented out a room in the nearby stone-hewn hotels for Makuhita and myself. I insisted to him that I be the one to handle the budget, as he would blow it all on food. After some arguing, he agreed. Even with my budgeting, he still ate two Pokemon's worth of it, and he said it was a “light meal”. The only thing that could outeat him was a Snorlax, it seemed.
The next day, I woke up at sunrise, as I usually did. I walked outside, and retreated to the outskirts of Sahra Town. I got my yoga practice out of the way, as I had plans for later in the day. After that was over with, I sat down and concentrated, inhaling deeply. Even without the benefit of focus, I could sense the Auras of the town's denizens, but in the few moments I had where I could truly clear my mind, I could see the smaller details.
One Aura was a mixture of silver tinged with brown, another I recognized as Jolteon's, feeling like a peppy yellow with some pink and a bit of mint, and as I browsed through the numerous Auras of Sahra Town, I eventually came across Makuhita's own. It was red, as I remembered it being, but in this state of focus, I could see the more subtle parts of his Aura. There was some pink to it, with a small tinge of fuchsia. Perhaps the latter explained his eccentricities.
I relaxed my focus, smiling to myself. My Sensing was improving slowly, but steadily. I didn't need to meditate as intensely as I used to in order to achieve the same results, although as before, the fine details still eluded me in my day to day life. I was already seeing the first improvement my change of professions granted me, as well – I was able to focus in this environment, unlike back in the caravans. There, I was unable to truly adopt the state of mind I needed, for multiple reasons, needing to stay alert for any potential bandits and feeling constantly on edge and agitated. If Makuhita's plan really worked, I would be able to devote as much time off-job to honing myself as I wanted.
Shifting gears, I decided to focus on a thought I dreaded – Aura Expression. It was the next step on the road to mastery; the next rung in the ladder that I've failed to climb for the longest time. I didn't have what you would call a “formal education” in Aura. I was gifted in Sensing from birth, and it gave me a sense of superiority growing up that quickly faded away as the realities of adult life, such as earning a wage, came into play. I've met a couple others who were gifted like myself, but they were just as blind as me. One, a Riolu, tried to explain Expression to me once, and her description was all I knew about the subject. It didn't help that she did a poor job explaining it. Her kind are naturally gifted with Aura, so she was essentially attempting to describe something as intrinsic to her as breathing to someone who was not on her level.
Returning my thoughts to my training, I did what little I could, reducing the amount of Aura leaking from my being. I tried my hardest to move that which was in my body, but it hardly budged. The little that moved was slow; “sticky” almost, if physical descriptors even fit. I continued my attempts for some time, but I got nowhere. With my efforts resulting in failure once again, I returned back to our room, where Makuhita was slowly waking up. “Get up,” I commanded. “I am going to teach you how to fight. I didn't want you to be dead weight, remember?”
He stirred, getting off of the hay bed and yawning. “Yeah, I heard you the first time yesterday,” Makuhita said. “Couldn't you have let me sleep in for a couple hours longer, or let me at least have breakfast?”
I glared at him. “You need to learn restraint and discipline. I will not buy you breakfast until you have trained with me.”
Makuhita simply frowned, his head held low in defeat. With his meal held hostage, I led him outside and entered Sahra's outskirts once more. “Attack me,” I commanded. My bulky companion took up a firm, unyielding stance which was surprisingly competent. When he threw his first punch, however, was when things fell apart. It was telegraphed enough that I could see it from a mile away, and I promptly dodged it. I allowed him to continue his attempts at striking me for a few moments more, before I held out a hand; a signal to stop.
“You wind up your punches too much,” I said. “It doesn't matter how strong they are, if you cannot even hit your target.” He simply nodded in response, and we started again. This time around, he still had trouble hitting me, but I had to try harder to dodge; his accuracy improving as we went along. Near the end of this portion of his training, however, Makuhita seemed to revert to his old bad habits, his punches becoming telegraphed once more. I dodged out of the way of one, and to my surprise, he hit me with a series of Arm Thrusts which dazed me for a few moments. He capitalized on this by Tackling me with his bulk – an unexpected move which sent me off of my feet, and onto the sand.
“Well, Assy, it seems as if you need to learn to expect the unexpected! I bet you didn't think I could use my weight against you,” he said jovially. Hearing him use that name again, I got up quickly, my gaze sharpening into a glare.
“If you think you're so tough, fight me,” I demanded of him. “I could just use my psychic abilities to tear you apart, but since this is about martial prowess, I shall restrict myself to strictly that. If your fat-constricted brain seriously thinks you can defeat me, you're mistaken.”
Makuhita laughed. “It's on, you reed! You get to attack first, though; you've been sitting there and taking it the entire time,” he responded. It was only then, that I realized what he had done. He had used that nickname of his for me to bait me into fighting him. It was a deviously intelligent move, for a witless oaf such as himself.
Brawl
I immediately ran forward and punched Makuhita in the stomach, my blow being mostly absorbed by his bulk. I dodged out of the way of a counter-punch, and went for a kick. That, too, hardly seemed to phase him, and he took that window to hit me with some Arm Thrusts, disorienting me again. I recovered quickly, however, and lept above him as he charged at me with his bulk – I wouldn't let him hit me with that technique again.
Landing back on the ground, I rethought my strategy. At my current level of strength, body shots were hardly capable of phasing him. Waiting for him to come to me, I dodged out of the way of another Arm Thrust, and attacked him with a Brick Break to the face. Unlike before, Makuhita actually flinched, and confirmed a suspicion of mine – his body was incredibly good at absorbing physical trauma due to its fat, but his head was not, since it didn't have as much “cushioning”, to put it in a tactful way. I followed up with a few more blows to the head, but was interrupted by him shoving me away.
I stumbled, and as I did, he Tackled me with his bulk, much like in striking practice. I was launched onto the sands, but I quickly recuperated, getting up and going back on the offensive. I attempted to hit Makuhita's head again, but he quickly adapted, blocking my attacks. With my only known viable tactic out of the way, I attempted to strike from every angle imaginable, but his fat kept soaking it up. He was, in effect, a living punching bag who was whittling me away, little by little.
“C'mon, Assy! Your fists are about as hard as pillows, you're gonna have to try harder than that to keep me down,” he yelled cheerfully. My blood boiled. Not only was a Pokemon with less experience and skill than me winning, on sole account of his biology, but he was insulting me all the while. My striking became more wild and unpredictable as a result, yet yielded little. Seeing this, I rashly took a gamble.
I remembered my meeting with that Riolu all those years ago, and what little she described. I slowed the rate at which my aura was leaking, and I began to force it from the rest of my body into my arms. It actually began to move at a decent rate – I would've been surprised, if I wasn't focused on the task at hand. As it began to concentrate, I could feel my body slow down, but I had a solution for that, too. I closed my eye for a moment, and seen a few seconds into the future with Detect. With that knowledge, I was able to leap out of the way of another Tackle by Makuhita.
I wouldn't be able to rely on Detect again for some time, but it didn't matter. I was ready. I had successfully concentrated my Aura for the first time. I've heard the concept described to me once, but now, I truly had its power in my hands. I attacked Makuhita with a punch to the body, and to my shock, he flinched. I followed with more punches, sending my glorified punching bag of a partner back inch by inch, until finally, using all of my strength, sent him to the ground.
Laughter echoed from him, as he unsteadily got up on his feet. “I dunno where all these gains came from, Assy, but keep 'em coming,” he said, further inviting retribution upon his being... Wait, “gains”? I tried to parse the definition of the term he used, but it was no use. Instead, I decided to focus on the battle at hand. I struck again, but this time around, he managed to block my attack and stand firm. Adapting on the fly, I stepped to the side and struck him from there with a knife hand jabbed into his side, causing him to become off-balance. Following that up with a strike to the head, I sent him down for the second time.
“Are you conceding?” I asked him. He simply laughed at me and got up to his feet yet again. I saw how much Iron Wing struggled to keep him down, but I had no idea of how unnaturally durable my partner was until now. In melee, he was a slow, immovable object, weathering an unnatural amount of punishment. If this were a serious fight, I would have to use my Psychic skills in order to win. Makuhita interrupted my train of thought by attempting to hit me with another Arm Thrust, but I weaved out of the way. This, however, was a feint. As my body was moving away from one arm, he used an Arm Thrust with his other at where my body moved to, and it -hurt-. I was sent flying back, the damage I took magnified due to some unknown factor.
I crashed to the ground, the Aura I had concentrated in my arms leaking out. My Aura's natural flow and leakage quickly returned to normal, and I twitched on the ground, finally having ran out of vigor. Makuhita walked up to me and helped me up, his smile wider than its usual. “You did pretty good, Asana,” he said. “I'm sorry for egging you on, but it worked, didn't it? I got you to work harder than you would have otherwise.”
I couldn't help but laugh, due to the sheer absurdity of the situation. Makuhita not only tricked me into fighting him, but he got me to make the first true leap in Aura I've had in years, merely by exploiting my pride! “You definitely did,” I said. “You helped me a lot more than you can even comprehend. Let's go get breakfast, now. You've earned it.”
Hearing this, my partner snickered to himself. “I actually forgot all about my meal! I was so busy, I forgot I was hungry." With that, we headed back into town, my coinpurse silently weeping in anticipation of Makuhita's gluttony.
Later that night...
The “Date”
Jolteon watched as her dear Makky devoured yet another bowl of food. Everyone in the pub, even the Aegislash behind the counter, were observing the spectacle in a combination of awe and horror. Much of the clientele were Ghost-types, but observing her “date” fill the unending chasm that served as his gut was putting the fear of Arceus into them. A small part of her told her that it was a mistake to foot the bill, but she pushed it aside. It all had to be worth it, if it meant hooking up with someone as cool as Makky.
He was absolutely fearless in the face of danger; durable to withstand anything life threw at him, and what he told her made him seem even cooler in her eyes – he was gonna become an outlaw hunter! Granted, so was Assy, but Jolteon did not like her. She didn't know what Makky saw in her.
As Makky finished his meal, Jolteon looked at him. “Oh, you're done? This was a fun date, wasn't it?” She asked. Makky's reaction was not what she expected.
His smile vanished entirely; mild concern and confusion evident on his features. “Wait a minute, hold the phone... This was supposed to be a date? You should've been forward with it from the beginning; you're not my type!”
Jolteon's eyes opened in shock as she stuttered, attempting to find the right words. Ssparks flew off of her, anger burning behind her eyes. “You couldn't tell? How dense do you have to be, not to be able to tell when a woman has feelings for you? A-are you blind?”
Makuhita shrugged. “Forgive me. I can't read social cues that well, ever since I headbutted a cliff too hard while training and cracked my skull.”
Jolteon steadied her breathing, baring her teeth. “You said it was a Graveller last time!” She screamed at the top of her lungs. “Get out of here, you jerk, and never speak to me again!”
Makuhita was unintimidated. He got up from his seat, and began to walk out of The Saloon. “Bros before hoes,” he muttered to himself.
Due to her keen hearing, Jolteon was able to pick this parting line up. “What does that even mean?” She thought, as she realized yet another mistake she made. Since she forced Makuhita to leave, she couldn't force him to pay for all the food he ate! Grumbling, Jolteon made her way up to the counter and awkwardly slid Aegislash the tab.