Learning to Fly
Chapter 4: The Combusken
A Clover Guild Story
By Ribombee-anon
Previous part: https://rentry.org/RibombeeFly3
I stood on a high precipice. Strong and frigid winds howled about me, and a vast mountain range, its snow gleaming in the sunlight, stretched out beneath me.
I jumped.
The gale carried me onward. I began to glide as my gossamer wings caught the air, letting me swoop down among the mountains. In a series of dives and rises, like a ship on a rough ocean, I darted down into dark ravines and up over frosty peaks. Then I rapidly flapped my wings, making them buzz and become a blur. I curved upwards and gained altitude under my own power.
I was no longer gliding—I was flying.
I soared up through the clouds, higher than the summit from which I leaped, higher than anything in the world. The air grew cold and thin, but I never stopped until I reached an endless black void, and the world was a great blue marble below me. I drifted and silently watched the peaceful planet from far away.
Then I woke up.
* * *
I had this dream every night since riding on Taillow’s back over Capim Town. Even though several days had passed since then, the captivating memory of soaring high above the world was painfully vivid. I could still see and feel everything perfectly, which made it all the more agonizing that it was over. When would I be able to do it on my own? When would I be able to use my wings?
When would I learn to fly?
Troubled though I was, I refused to give up. Using the advice Taillow offered me about flight muscles, I redoubled my efforts. Despite being busy with dungeoneering and other tasks, I tried to spend a little time each day atop the desk in my dorm, trying to figure out the secret of controlling my wings. I even allowed Sneasel to watch me now; thanks to her encouragement and Taillow’s advice, I believed I would make progress soon, so my struggles were not as embarrassing anymore.
My determination paid off, and I made a breakthrough one day. I still don’t know exactly how it happened, but I suddenly managed to flex the right muscles in the right way, making my wings flutter back and forth more than they ever had before. A strange tingly sensation shot up and down my back, and I yelped in surprise. Sneasel, who was sitting at the desk and reading a book, immediately looked over and watched intently. I tried to repeat what I did, focusing on the memory of how it felt. Over the next several minutes, I gradually caused my wings to wiggle and vibrate on command.
They weren’t really flapping, and they didn’t come anywhere close to allowing a takeoff. They didn’t even buzz or kick up a noticeable breeze. But it was undeniably progress. My wings had been mostly immobile all this time, aside from some cases where I could slightly move them in the first several days after becoming a Ribombee. I believed that was only due to my instincts taking over during that stressful time, and I had lost that ability as I overcame my initial anxiety. Ever since then, I could manage no more than frail, pathetic twitches, so this achievement was enough to make me cheer and jump for joy.
That surge of excitement only lasted a moment before I got self-conscious. I stopped and looked away from Sneasel sheepishly, expecting her to scoff at my joy over such a small thing. Instead, she reached out and gave me a gentle pat on the head, just as she had done back when I vented about my frustrations a few days ago.
“Awesome,” she said, grinning widely. “I mean, it ain’t much, but I’m proud of you, Booker. Keep it up.”
I mumbled my thanks. I felt awkward from my outburst and her praise, but I also couldn’t resist smiling. I was getting closer to making my dream a reality. Even so, I had a long way to go, and I probably couldn’t do it all by myself.
Luckily, the help I needed was right around the corner.
* * *
The next day, while Sneasel and I were resting in our dorm after completing various chores around the guildhall, there was a knock on the door.
“Come in!” Sneasel said.
Our door opened, and in walked a Combusken wearing a tattered red-and-white striped scarf with a guild badge pinned to it. He gave a stoic nod to me and Sneasel as he entered, then shut the door and stood at attention. This was one of my guildmates, and a native of this world. Being a Fire-type chicken-like Pokemon, some other guild members had humorously nicknamed him KFC, and the name stuck. I hadn’t seen him in a while, as he had recently left for the Water Continent to complete a special mission. I didn’t know all the details, but based on what the guildmaster had told everyone after KFC left, it was an important and difficult job. Sure enough, his scarf looked more tattered than I remembered, hinting at the dangers he just survived.
I stood up on the desk and waved at him. “Hello... KFC,” I said. The comedic name still felt weird to say. “So... you’re back from your big mission? I h-hope you enjoyed your trip.”
Sneasel smirked and added, “Glad you didn’t die.”
“As am I,” KFC said. “The mission was challenging, but in a good way. Now, I can’t stay here for long. I still need to finish writing my report for the Federation. But first, I’d like to talk with you about something, Booker.”
“Oh? What is it?” I asked.
“At the docks, when I got off the ship earlier today, I bumped into Gus. I asked him what I missed while I was away, and he told me you’ve been trying to learn how to fly.”
“That’s right. It’s still... v-very much a work in progress—”
“But he can actually move his wings now!” Sneasel cut in. “Show him, Booker.”
With some effort, I managed to do as she asked. “This is the best I can do...” I mumbled as my wings weakly and unevenly fluttered.
“Any progress is good progress,” said KFC. “Still, I can see you have a lot to learn about your new body. I think I can give you some help, though. That’s why I wanted to visit you.”
Sneasel and I both perked up at this. “No joke?” my partner asked. “I mean, yeah, you’re a bird, but you’re just as flightless as me. How can you help Booker learn about flying?”
“During my trip to the Water Continent,” KFC explained, “I explored a dungeon that had some feral Ribombee in it. As I watched them, I realized they were subtly controlling the wind to help them fly. I think that’s the secret. A Ribombee needs to do more than just flap its wings—it needs to manipulate the air.”
That made some sense. I always assumed flapping wings were all it took to fly, like how it worked for birds and bugs on Earth. But maybe things worked differently for Pokemon. Seeing as they had all kinds of special powers, maybe they had developed or evolved to use those abilities to generate lift in addition to using their wings. Taillow hadn’t mentioned that, but she may have overlooked it, knowing how scatterbrained she was.
“But h-how can I control the air?” I asked. “Ribombee is a Bug- and Fairy-type, and I don’t think those types are known for... well, airbending.”
“Simple: learn Fairy Wind,” said KFC. “It’s a relatively easy move for fairies to learn, and as far as I know, any Ribombee can use it. On that topic, do you actually know how to use any moves yet?”
“No... that’s another thing I haven’t been able to figure out, so...”
“Unfortunate. But it makes sense, considering you’ve only been a Pokemon for a month or so. Actually, come to think of it, I want to test something. I’ve done this with some other humans before, but I don’t think I’ve ever tried it with you. Hold still.”
KFC came over to the desk and sat on the floor beside Sneasel. He looked down at me and held out a feathered hand, the palm facing me. He then shut his eyes, and began to breath deeply. His hand glowed with a faint light, and I watched curiously. He furrowed his brow, and after a minute, he opened his eyes. His beak was curving into a frown.
“Interesting,” he said. “Your Aura’s unlike any I’ve felt before.”
“You were sensing his Aura?” asked Sneasel. “Cool. Wish I could do that. But how’s it different from everyone else’s?”
KFC’s face turned solemn. “Booker, your Aura is... distorted. It’s not right. Like a... how do I put this...? Imagine a piece of pottery that was shattered and put back together... wrong. Now, I knew your Aura would feel strange, since you’ve been forced into a new body that you still haven’t adapted to yet. Every one of the other humans-turned-Pokemon has the same problem. But yours is easily the worst.”
“Oh no,” I murmured. “D-do you know why?”
“I have an idea. The problem every human-turned-Pokemon has is that their Aura—the true ‘self’—is out of sync with their new and unfamiliar bodies. As for why your disconnect is so much more severe than everyone else’s... maybe it’s because your new insect anatomy is extremely different from what you’re used to, so you’re having more trouble adapting to it. There are still things I don’t know about humans, but from what I’ve heard, they’re pretty different from bugs, right?”
“Yes. They’re mammals, not insects, so this body is really weird for me. I have an exoskeleton now, I smell with my antennae, I breathe through holes in my sides... th-this body is mostly human-shaped, but i-it’s still alien. And it’s also w-way smaller than my old body. So, I can believe I’m experiencing some sort of d-disconnect like you’re talking about.”
“Aside from that, it could also be caused by simple bad luck. You know how some guild members can read the local language after transforming, and others can’t? It seems like there’s a lot of randomness and luck involved with you humans. Maybe the damage to your Aura is another aspect of that.”
“I guess so.” I mulled over KFC’s new information, and it made me sulk more and more. “It’s bad enough I can’t fly, but I also can’t use moves, and now I find out my Aura is br-broken... man, there’s a l-lot wrong with me...”
Putting that into words made me feel sick. My voice shook and trailed off, and I had to look away from my guildmates to hide my pouting face.
However, Sneasel put her elbows on the desk and leaned in closer to me, whispering, “C’mon, stop moping, partner. I said it before and I’ll say it again: nothing’s wrong with you. Everyone’s different. It ain’t your fault you can’t do the kinda stuff a regular Ribombee can. So quit whining about it. Just accept you’re different, and if you don’t like it, work hard and change it. That’s what you’ve gotta do. Got it?”
Despite being rather blunt, this helped lift the dark cloud that had settled over me. I looked up at Sneasel and surprised myself by smiling at her. “Yeah, I g-got it. Thank you.”
“I like that mindset, Sneasel,” said KFC. “Booker, she’s right. You can change this. The other humans have been learning to control their bodies and use moves, and even if you have more of a handicap than them, I still believe you can accomplish great things. If you want to fly, and learn moves, and fix your Aura, it should be possible. In fact, you may be able to do all three things at once.”
“Really? That would be nice, but... how?”
KFC crossed his arms and bowed his head, collecting his thoughts. “Let’s think this over. You want to fly. To fly, you need to learn Fairy Wind. To learn Fairy Wind—or any moves in general—you need to repair your Aura. To repair your Aura, you need to get in sync with your new body.”
The Combusken looked right at me, his orange eyes staring into my soul. “And to do that, I think it would be a good idea to start a training regimen. You’ll exercise your body and your mind, and gradually grow comfortable in your Ribombee form. Working out and meditating would be good ways to accomplish this. And if you’re interested... I think I can train you.”
I gasped, while Sneasel grinned and glanced at me. “Trained by the one and only KFC? That’s a pretty cool offer, buddy. I say you do it.”
I didn’t respond right away, as I was still trying to grasp what the Combusken just said. I was surprised that he would make an offer like that to me. He was a talented, smart fighter, so being trained by him would be an honor—one that I felt I didn’t deserve. I wondered if he really meant it, but he certainly sounded sincere.
While waiting for my response, KFC added, “If you’re unsure, then I should also mention there’s another benefit to this approach: it might help you learn how to use Aura.”
That snapped me out of my thoughts. “Wait, A-Aura? I could use Aura? Like you?”
“I don’t see why not. Ribombee are naturally adept at sensing Aura, so if you attune yourself to your new form, you should unlock and power up those abilities. Also, physical exercise will strengthen your body, which can set you up for controlling Aura in addition to just sensing it.”
“Dang, this deal keeps getting better and better,” said Sneasel, laughing. “Imagine throwing around Aura Spheres and stuff. That’d be so cool! You’re smart, partner, so you ain’t gonna let this pass you up, right?”
It took me even longer to grasp this new batch of information, but I had to agree with Sneasel that it was an appealing offer. If this skilled Combusken was willing to act as my personal trainer, that sounded like a perfect way to overcome my problems. And learning Aura was a fascinating prospect. I wasn’t familiar with the full extent of what Aura could do, but there had been scattered instances where I was able to vaguely sense people’s emotions before. If I could learn to feel people’s emotions on command, or detect their presence, or even read their thoughts... and if I could channel Aura into attacks like Aura Sphere... the possibilities were enticing. But I couldn’t get ahead of myself.
“Th-that sounds like it... could be a good idea,” I replied slowly, “but... I never exercised or meditated before. How difficult is this r-regimen going to be, and how long will it take?”
KFC nodded in understanding. “Valid concerns,” he said. “I’ll admit, the training won’t be easy or fast. You’ll push yourself to your limits, exerting yourself every single day. This will take a long time, and you’ll make slow progress, especially since you’re new to this. And as for the Aura thing, don’t get overconfident and think you’ll master it right away. Even though your new species is naturally talented at sensing Aura, it could be tricky to master that skill because you’re not a natural-born Ribombee. And it will even harder to learn how to actually control Aura. But I am willing to train you, if you are willing to put in the effort.”
The whole time KFC was talking, I felt my heart sink lower and lower. This was the solution? A long regimen like this would be a major challenge, and if progress was slow, it would be a struggle to stay motivated. Was I disciplined or strong enough for this?
A tantalizing series of thoughts began to creep up in the dark corners of my mind. Was all this even worth it? Did I really need to fly? Did I actually need to learn how to use moves and Aura? What if the training didn’t work, and I just wasted all my time and effort, and I ended up as a pathetic failure? It would be so easy for me to just give up on my dream—and perhaps that would be the smartest thing to do. After all, I’d already lived a whole month without flight. I could manage without it, right? Especially since I had Sneasel to help me deal—
Sneasel. She was watching me with a small smile on her face, her notched ear standing straight up as she impatiently waited to hear my decision. I knew she was eagerly hoping I would accept. She valued strength and dedication more than anything else. If I rejected this offer and proved myself to be cowardly and weak, she would be disgusted. And she would have every right to feel that way.
The thought of my trusty partner being disappointed in me—maybe even hating me—all because I took the easy way out and shied away from a challenge... I couldn’t bear it. I’d never forgive myself if I made her lose faith in me. I couldn’t fail her—or myself.
And with that, I finally made up my mind. I looked KFC in the eyes and tried to put on a brave face, with mixed success. My voice still shuddered, but I spoke my mind regardless.
“I’ll do it,” I said. “I’m... I’m scared about how it’s going to go. I’ve never done any physical training before. Maybe I won’t succeed, m-maybe I won’t be able to stick with it all the way to the end. But... I want to overcome the p-problems with this body. And if this is the way to do it... then I’ll give it a try, and I’ll do my best. So... p-please teach me. I know you know a lot about these topics, so I trust you to help me, and I’d... I w-would be honored to be your student.”
The corners of KFC’s beak curved up in a faint smile. “I was hoping you’d say that. In that case... Booker, I accept you as my student. I’ll go ask the guildmaster for his approval before we begin, but I don’t see why he’d disagree. I think he’ll be happy with you getting stronger.”
“I know I am,” said Sneasel. Her smile had grown since I gave my reply to KFC. She looked at me and rubbed a knuckle on my head, giving me a huge noogie that would have hurt a lot more if I didn’t have an exoskeleton. “This is gonna be great! I know you can do it, Booker.”
“Thank you, Sneasel,” I said. “And you too, KFC. I... I really a-appreciate that you’re willing to take the time and effort help me. That m-means so much to me.”
“Well, it’s good for me too,” said KFC. “Taking on a student will help me better understand the topics of physical training, meditation, and Aura. So we’ll both benefit here. Anyway, you don’t need to do anything to prepare. You can keep performing your usual work. As for me, over the next few days, I’ll write the report for my last mission, get approval to train you from the guildmaster, and come up with some lesson ideas. I look forward to training you.”
“And I... look forward to being trained,” I replied.
There was undeniably a little spark of enthusiasm in my heart, even though I was still quite nervous about all this. The fearful part of my mind kept telling me this plan would fail, and I’d suffer and embarrass myself under the weight of this regimen. But I needed to grow comfortable in my new body in order to fly, and if physical and mental training was the way to do it, then I had to be strong—both for my partner, and for myself.
Next part: https://rentry.org/RibombeeFly5
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