Bottlecap Bay Inbox (to fix)

[fromsprouts]

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IC INBOX

You feel something reaching out and grasping at your mind...

A psychic connection has been established.

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[sharpjustice]

A tiny Sneasel stands in front of the Oran Berry guild building, and holds her Grumpearl up to speak into it.

"Hey, Umemiya-kun, are you free right now? I'm outside the Spire and... I wanted to get started on training."

She sounds a bit hesitant, but after she's dragged herself all the way here, she won't allow herself to turn back so easily.

(ooc: feel free to pick this up whenever! tagging cos im interested to explore this cr :D)

[fromsprouts]

"Oh! Hey!" Umemiya's voice comes back, warm and eager. "I'll come down and fetch you. Have you already eaten? It's a bad idea to train on an empty stomach."

[sharpjustice]

"Yeah, I had lunch, so I think I'm good."

Mayaka has set a strict schedule for herself which includes ensuring she gets 3 square meals a day between errands. However, she omits the fact that she ate less than usual, since she was a little nervous.

The Sneasel tucks her Grumpearl away and wanders into the main hall. As she waits for the Lucario to appear, her eyes scan the ribbons and awards on display, and the other Pokemon in the guild going about their day.

[fromsprouts]

Umemiya doesn't take long to get to the hall, his tail doing a wag-wag beneath his gakuran jacket. His aura-sensing tendrils are tied back with a coordinating scrap of green cloth, and he's not wearing anything else beneath it.

"Hey, Mayaka! It's really nice to meet you in person. Here, I've already picked out a room we can work in. No extra equipment, nothing."

[sharpjustice]

"Thanks for helping me out, Umemiya-kun."

Mayaka presses her claws together, in an attempt at a 'thank you' gesture despite how awkward it feels, especially since she's wearing gloves now.

She follows the Lucario as he leads her to the training room, her gaze floating from one side of the hallway to the other. She's not been to the Spire much, and is naturally curious about how things are laid out in the Oran Berry Guild.

"Lots happened since we last spoke. Akechi told me about how dangerous the woods were, and Ingo-san and I got into a fight with the Eevees that invaded the Canpoy the other day. He got really hurt. I've just been feeling really useless compared to everyone else," Mayaka says, feeling the weight in her heart lessen after sharing this aloud.

[fromsprouts]

"Yeah, I can understand why you'd feel like that. And it seems like you don't really trust your claws right now. Got them all covered up for safety?"

It reminds him a little of how one of the guys at school with the biggest temper has a habit of sucking on lollipops to stop him from mouthing off at people.

[sharpjustice]

An irritated frown flashes briefly across her face. "Yeah, it sucks having to be so careful. But at least I have these gloves Six-san gave me. Now I can prep food without worrying about poisoning the batch."

"The thing is, Ingo-san told me that to get better at controlling the poison, I need to use it more often too."

[fromsprouts]

"I think he's probably right. But first thing I want you to do is to take off your gloves and shake my hand. Erm, paw." He holds his right forepaw out. There's a large sharp metal spike on the back of it.

See, he wants to prove to her that the poison isn't an issue. He's a steel type, he's immune.

[sharpjustice]

Mayaka has spent most of her time in the Archives learning more about Poison-type Pokemon and their relationship to other types, if only to get a better handle on her unfortunate physiology. Still, she's somewhat cautious as she takes her gloves off and extends her claw to Umemiya.

"The last time this happened, I had to help the other guy walk out of the mountains." She says this to warn the Lucario, before taking a deep breath and grabbing onto his right forepaw.

[fromsprouts]

Umemiya squeezes her hand lightly, ears perked. "Not gonna happen this time. I'm safe for you to be around, even if you aren't fully in control of those claws. See?"

And to his credit, he sure doesn't seem to be getting poisoned!

"So, follow me to the training room and we can get to work."

[sharpjustice]

She exhales, feeling some measure of relief. However, Umemiya might feel her stare fixed on the back of his head as they walk to the training room, as if she's watching to see if he'll suddenly fall over.

"I've read up on moves and such, but how do you actually learn them? Does it come naturally to you when you're training?" Mayaka shifts into diligent student mode as she poses these questions.

[fromsprouts]

"The people who trained me when I arrived did mostly by sparring. They forced me to react to them, to bring out my potential. But I was used to fighting back home. I'm guessing you weren't so much?"

Yeah, turns out the nice big brother figure is also a little bit of a delinquent, sorry.

[sharpjustice]

Mayaka, who had been doing simple stretches one might expect before the start of PE class, freezes in place.

Umemiya, as far as she can tell, is a normal high school guy-turned-Lucario, that tailored school jacket he's got on is enough evidence. So the 'fighting back home' he's talking about can only mean one thing.

She shoots a glare at him.

"Umemiya-kun, were you a troublemaker in school?"

[fromsprouts]

Oh no, what a dangerous look...

"Me? I mean, I'm not...maybe a little, uh...you see..."

Paws up trying to look innocent, but it's not working.

[sharpjustice]

"A little?!" Mayaka can get really loud, despite her size.

"Fighting's no good!" she says, before realising what they're meant to be doing here today. "I mean, fighting in school. What do you have to say about yourself?"

[fromsprouts]

He sighs, and then moves to sit right down on the floor.

"Is that an actual question you want an answer to, or is that rhetorical and you're just aghast at the idea that I might be a bit of a troublemaker? Because I have a reason that I fight. I'm not just making trouble for trouble's sake."

[sharpjustice]

"Both." Mayaka says sternly.

She's never actually spoken to any of the delinquents in school before, preferring to keep her distance and ignore them when they caused a ruckus. She doesn't really get along with people who don't follow the rules, because it feels like they're disobeying just to get a rise out of the prefects and teachers. As long as the rules aren't unfair or ridiculous, why be so disruptive? She doesn't understand rule-breakers.

But Umemiya has been nothing but helpful so far, and so she decides to give him the benefit of the doubt.

"Why do you fight?"

[fromsprouts]

"I go to a school called Furin High, next to the town of Makochi. It's been a mess, Furin has, for a long time. Shit test grades, full of boys who don't care about anything or anyone. Graffiti, stealing from local shops, messing with grannies and kids...it was a bad situation."

He tells this story plainly, with a hint of a smile.

"When me and my friends got old enough for high school, we decided we were going to go to Furin, fight our way to the top of the school, and make things better. We're third years now, and we're actually running patrols of the town. Finding lost cats, keeping other gangs from harassing the locals. We do still get into fights, sometimes, with other gangs. And sometimes our school gets kids in who know Furin by reputation, expect it to still be a free-for-all. So it's not like everything is always perfectly peaceful. But it's better than it used to be."

[sharpjustice]

As Umemiya opens up about his past, Mayaka's gaze begins to soften. She already feels more kinship with him than with that know-it-all city kid Akechi.

"I'm from a town near the mountains called Kamiyama," she begins, as if it's only right to share this after hearing what the Lucario has said. "It's pretty quiet and uneventful all year round, and has lots of rice and veggie farms."

Which is to say, she can't really relate to what Umemiya's life in school must have been like. And yet.

"I can't condone fighting," she declares firmly. "But... I think, if I were in your place Umemiya -- no, Ume-kun -- I think I'd want to do whatever I could to make things better too. To do what's right."

[fromsprouts]

"Yeah, I can understand where you're coming from. For me, when I fight with someone who wants to be fighting, it's a little like a conversation. How someone fights tells you a lot about where their head is at. But like...I think it really is a good thing that most people don't want to fight."

And then his smile grows a little distant and wry.

"Here, though, we aren't people. We're Pokemon."

[sharpjustice]

"And if I don't learn how to use these properly, I could accidentally hurt others." She holds her claws up in front of herself and sighs, wondering if this is how she'll resign herself to the combative laws of the Pokemon world.

She pauses, and then says: "Between you and me, I've wish I could've punched a guy or two before."

(By her logic, this wouldn't count as fighting since it's just one punch. And also, they deserved it.)

[fromsprouts]

"What stopped you before?"

Ume levers back up to his feet, starting to move one of the training dummies into position for one of the practice drills he wants to show Mayaka.

"Was it just the societal agreement that fighting is inherently bad?"

[sharpjustice]

"Because..." Her voice cracks a little. "Because it's not right to hurt others just to prove a point."

This, she believes, even though she can't help but think that if she'd been some place like Furin High, it would've been easy to just give in to her short temper and retaliate. The thought scares her. (And here, she's already wanted to strangle Akechi at least once so far!)

"Don't get it twisted, Ume-kun. I'm not here to learn how to be a fighter."

She thinks about Red Velvet, who she accidentally poisoned, and Ingo, who got wounded because she couldn't make heads or tails of the fight.

"I'm here to learn how to control myself."

[fromsprouts]

"I know that. But the first thing you'll need to learn is how long your arms are. Not by sight, but by feeling."

He gestures for her to come over to the dummy, which is shaped vaguely like a Hitmonlee. That is, bipedal with no apparent head.

cool training dummy

[sharpjustice]

Mayaka shuffles over, tucking her claws close to herself.

"Not by sight, huh."

She extends an arm, and observes that where her paw stops in midair, her claws continue outwards, tapping the dummy. It's like having really, really long nails, now that she thinks about it.

[fromsprouts]

"Exactly. I want you to practice punching and clawing at the dummy, not to knock it over, but to just, just barely scrape the fabric on the surface. Move your feet, get closer and further away. I want you to build a sense for how long your arms are, and how long your stride is."

He'd done similar drills with one of the first years at his school, Sugishita, who has a habit of standing hunched over and not using his full height or the length of his arms. It's a confidence thing in Sugishita's case. Embarrassment about towering over everyone.

[sharpjustice]

Umemiya's given really specific instructions, which should make this easy for Mayaka to (in theory).

"Don't laugh," she says self-consciously, as she attempts to repeat the drill a few times.

Sometimes she's just short of touching the dummy, and at others she misjudges the distance and her claw pushes against fabric. There's a lot of keep track of: how far she's moving in a step as well as where her reach ends, depending on the bend of her elbows.

"This is harder than it sounds."

[fromsprouts]

"I know exactly how hard it is. I've done the same drill myself. And once I thought I was good at it, I did it blindfolded. And then worked on kicks, but that's not something I'm asking you to do, because you don't want to be here to learn to fight."

He's working from experience, teaching her to learn her body the same way he did, except he came in with martial experience and familiarity with his body.

[sharpjustice]

Blindfolded?? Yeah, that seems a bit much for Mayaka at this point.

"I can see the usefulness, even if it's not for fights," she admits.

As she continues jabbing at the dummy, she says: "Ume-kun, you're lucky I'm not interested in fighting. It'd be even harder challenge to teach me since I've got zero experience." Unlike the Lucario who is watching her like a coach.

"Have you helped out anyone else with training?"

[fromsprouts]

"Of course. I like doing it. I'm not as good with schoolwork or anything, but this is an area I get to feel like an expert."

He moves to the other side of the dummy to watch her, smiling.

[sharpjustice]

Normally, this would be the time Mayaka offers to tutor Umemiya. However, she doesn't think that has much use in Bottlecap Bay, neither is she a star pupil. She will find a more appropriate time to lecture him about the importance of studying even if it's a pain.

"You've got to have other stuff you're good at besides fighting." She continues jabbing, and missing the mark by just a bit.

"... I'm not saying that just because I'm biased against it."

Well, maybe a little.

[fromsprouts]

"Gardening? I'm good at that. And pretty decent at cooking, as well."

Which aren't really school subjects. Well, his garden's on the roof of the school, maybe that counts for something.

[sharpjustice]

"Now that's more like it, Ume-kun!" Mayaka approves. "Do you have a garden somewhere here?"

She shifts her body, placing her right foot in front of her left. Maybe she'll have better luck controlling her movements if she switches sides.

[fromsprouts]

"Absolutely! The winter vegetable garden in Skull Town was my project. Flamebringer and I have been talking about plans for springtime--he's got more experience with herbs than I do. I really want to make sure we get an early crop of tomatoes this year, and some spring onions. Plus, lettuce might be fun to grow, too!"

You might get more infodump if you don't stop him.

[sharpjustice]

Mayaka is content to let the Lucario continue sharing about his garden. She knows that it involves a lot of hard work to set up and maintain, and respects the effort. Maybe she can offer to help out come spring.

With his rambling in the background, Mayaka continues practices her drill... and eventually finds a steady rhythm where her claw taps lightly on the dummy. She finally has a sense of how much force to put in her step, and the reach of her claws.

"Am I doing it correctly?"

[fromsprouts]

He nods excitedly.

"Do you want to try it with the blindfold, or leave that for next time?"