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smash_logs2011-04-13 02:11 am
punchvolcanoes) wrote in smash_logs2011-04-13 02:11 am
A Renewal of Mind and Body: A Trip to the Dojo Born in Fire!
Who: Sasha solo log with some visiting people
What: Facing oneself and learning
Where: One Fire Type Dojo in FDC
When: March 23rd - April 23rd
Warnings: Training montages, mild swearing
She could still smell the blood on her fingers. Was it from the rabbit a few days ago, or that never-ending image that kept plaguing her nights? Waking up and taking a shower covered in blood, it was hard to believe it had happened just a few weeks ago. She felt terrible about poor Spinny...
How had it all come to this?
The city was calm at three in the morning. The bars had long since closed and few night owls moved in the lit streets of Final Destination City, half-drunk and completely missing the black dragon-like creature that flew overhead silently.
Sasha was lost in her thoughts, as usual. Since her arrival at school she had changed a lot. Change was good, but currently it felt like just a well of negativity. That she was struggling to find something, anything, and that no matter what she did, it simply wasn't working. Running a mile but never reaching the finishing line or knowing why she had run that mile in the first place. She wanted to find love. Yet the concept was alien to her. Couldn't speak her mind properly. Jealousy at someone who called her a friend...jealous at the other women in the school prettier than her. She wanted to be herself, but being herself felt wrong. Fire was dangerous. She was dangerous. She wasn't a real Charizard. She didn't know what being a real Charizard was. She couldn't face them. Couldn't face herself. Couldn't hunt, couldn't be, couldn't let the beast out and...
A soft sigh that was lost in the wind. The Fire Training Facility probably did not have miracle workers, but at least Sasha hope they would understand. If anything, knowing that they and she could be human and talk out her frustrations eased her mind. Turning human was something that would have been impossible to do in Kanto without raising suspicion. It was only then that she realized she was flying so fast that her target was passing right by her.
Violently, she flapped in the air, but the wind currents suddenly pushed her far right causing a slight miscalculation in her landing. The black Charizard's left wing snapped out of path, making her slam into a delicately blooming apple tree headfirst. Her world turned blacker than normal for a few seconds and she thought she was dead before a roaring headache made her stand upright. The tree had fallen over. In fear of being reprimanded, she tried to push it back into the ground, but eventually gave up and left it half up, half down position (it fell over again a few minutes after that.) Hopefully the Firemasters weren't the type to be awakened by crashing noises....oh who was she kidding. She'd probably woken up half the neighborhood.
Silently, she walked up the rest of the path up the hill in silence, her head looking at the dirt road. It was only when she finally craned up her neck, that she realized just how much of an impressive mansion it was.
"Wow..."
It was hard to believe this entire building had been built and constructed to be just for the Fire type's usage. Then again, it didn't seem out of place with all the Gym Leaders she'd visited with Red. Final Destination really did have everything.
Turning human, she walked towards the door, realizing how much of a a disheveled mess she must look like. The bag she had taken careful care to pack had fallen in a nearby mud pit after her crash and even after attempting to shake it off, Sasha realized that most of her belongings were now dirty, wet, and unwearable. After her race with Knuckles, she hadn't taken a proper shower that day, and her hair was clumped together in sweat and dirt. Now there was a growing bump on her forehead to add insult to injury.
If anything, she'd make a truly amazing first impression.
Most of the nearby electrical lights were fizzling out of existence, having been ignored for years, replaced by fire lanterns that were running out of fire at this time of the day. Thankfully, Sasha had her own source of fire, casting a shadow in front as she tried to find the door in the building's front.
She was about to turn it and tip toe in (a marvelous plan that would have then been 'sleep until the next morning') when someone did for her. The Charizard let out a frightful screech as a woman much taller than her herself glared down at her. From the red antenna sticking out from her front she...had no idea what type of Pokemon she could be. If she was a Pokemon at all. It was a Fire type Gym. There could be other non-Pokemon and perhaps now was not the time to think about that. What she knew is that this women could rip her apart if she so chose. Her voice was harsh, and she appeared to be annoyed to be up at this hour.
"WHAT. DO. YOU. WANT."
Sasha had a speech prepared somewhere deep in the recess of her mind. About having problems and wanting the masters to aid her into becoming a better Charizard, please help her Obi-Wan Flamnobi but...now...she just froze. Silent.
The door was slammed in her face.
Well.
That had gone well. The pit in her stomach grew and she realized how much of an idiot she had been. Now she'd have to go back to the school, right after she'd told Kojiro she had to go off. How could she even begin to face her family and Red...
No.
She formed her hand into a fist. Violently, Sasha knocked.
She could hear the rumble and annoyed grunts of the person slowly coming back before the door opened, causing Sasha to just wanted to tear off with her tail between her legs. Yet she stood her ground albeit confused and unsure, even when the woman somehow appeared to be even taller and imposing than a few seconds ago, her eyes on fire. The Charizard swallowed.
"I want to learn." That had not been her prepared speech at all. Meekly she added. "Please?"
The door was slammed in her face.
She didn't turn around. Knocked again. Stand your ground.
The door opened for the third time. Without thinking about concequences, Sasha opened her wings and tried to look as impressive as a 3 o'clock humanized Chariazard could be.
"I WANT TO-"
"Come in." It was a direct order. Her wings fell down to her shoulders and Sasha unconsciously lowered her horns, scuttling at the ground.
"...oh. Thank you." Quickly, she ran in before the lady changed her mind.
* - * - *
She couldn't exactly call this place as cozy. The entire building seemed to be made for fire users, built out of hard rock, with fires in lanterns and lamps. The floor was stone, cold and she noticed the claw marks probably left from whoever had built this place. Yet as she was led by the woman to who-knows-where something about this building, a detail about it scared her more so than anything else before in her life.
This place had an abnormal amount of glass. Glass cups. Glass statues. Glass plates. Glass Doors. Glass armory...
Considering her magnificent walking and tripping skills, she felt very much like a Tauros in a China shop. They'd throw her out before the night was done. Sasha pulled her tail closer to her body so much she could smell her hair singeing every so slightly and bit her lip from screaming, not wanting to make this already strange impression worse.
Finally, she was led into what appeared like a gigantic inner gym, and the woman closed the door behind her.
"..."
Complete silence. What was this? Were they locking her up until morning? She swished her tail around in the darkness to see if anything was there, completely missing the glowing eyes and fire just above her.
"Hello?"
"INFERNAAAAAA!"
Another scream leaped from her mouth, as a strange monkey latched on to her front, pressing his hands against her face deforming it and stopping the scream halfway. She felt like her skin was silly putty in his hands, as he held on to her shoulders with his feet for support and made the same faces as she was doing.
"Uhh..." She managed to stammer through the face melting. Her heart was still beating a mile a minute, but confusion had quickly overtaken all of her other senses. He just grinned and began search in her hair. "H-Hey! Stop that!" Valiantly, Sasha tried to shake him off, but he held on for dear life, only to finally push her to the floor, raising his arms in victory.
And then he turned humanlike, bending his knees to be at her level.
"First lesson. Don't trust what you see." He held out his hand. Groaning, she was about to grab it when...
...He violently took it, spun her around and used it to throw the girl across the floor. Sasha landed in pack of fireproof training balls, the top ones falling on her back. Her entire body was in pain. The monkey just grinned.
"Second lesson. Don't trust me." He held out her hand at her again, but she scoffed and stood up by herself, incredibly dizzy. This was going to hurt so much later today.
Not even ten minutes and she was completely confused and in pain. Then to make matters worse...
"We've been waiting for you...Sasha." He took a few seconds for a dramatic effect before continuing. "You look really bad. Did you take a shower today?"
They knew her name. They knew she was coming. How...
"Arceu--"
"Nah, that's a bit silly. You think a bunch of Fire Pokemon in a city like this see a lot of us pass by? We're a little collective. There aren't many registered fire types in the city who can turn human, you know." He brought out a sheet of paper. "Besides, I like to snoop around on the web. You've left quite a trail." He then put on a pair of glasses, in a way to mockingly appear dignified. "Attacking a civilian sending him to the hospital, ending up in the hospital yourself, this file calls you a 'dangerous Charizard owned to one Red', but you also were Kanto Champions, currently attending Smash Academy...really you'd think you would have come here sooner for some training..."
"Well I..."
"Didn't know? You could have, if you had really wanted. We're in the yellow pages like everything else in the city. But you know what? This place isn't just for personal problems when life hits you so low you can't turn anywhere else. Although THAT seems to happen a lot. Ahhhh! Fire types. What a sorry lot we can be, hmmm? Think of this building as a place were you can train with those of the same type as you." He put an arm on her and pointed at the ceiling,.which had....nothing spectacular on it.
"We're going to put you in so much pain you'll sleep like a Snorlax every night. And then we'll wake you each morning so early you'll be grumpy and want to go away! But that's not all! We're going to nearly try to kill you...like this!" He threw a punch at her. "Think fast!"
Surprisingly, she managed to hold out her hands and the fist intended for her stomach was stopped just short of it. He raised one of his eyebrows and grinned again as she gave him the most angry of glares.
"Not bad. Fast learner. There may be hope for you yet." Before she could say anything more, he had grabbed her right hand and dragged her to another room, where six piles of hay stood in clumps apart from each other.
"One of these is your bed for tonight."
She looked at him, incredulous.
"But I'll..."
"Burn it? Yep! You'll fall like a rock and wake up to the sound of smoke in your lungs! Better move fast or else we'll have to send you to the Pokecenter!" He laughed and then suddenly turned serious at her. "But really, don't do it. We don't want to fill out death certificates." He clapped his hands twice and the light closed.
"And no turning into a Charizard either!"
"But..." This was all so sudden and different.
"Goodnight! See you bright and early tomorrow kid!"
He was gone.
With a sigh, she looked at the pile of first pile of hay, wondering how she could even...
It caught on fire. In a panicked state she tried to stamp it out, burning part of her foot. It was a fruitless battle. In less than a minute, the pile was nothing but beautiful ash.
"..."
The next one, then. She fell on top of it, trying to make sure her tail was above her entire body. The hay...it stung, the tiny strands irritated, pushing at the delicate human skin. She uttered a few choice words yet before long, too tired and in pain to care anymore, she fell into a deep slumber.
* - * - *
Or maybe not.
That night, or rather what little had remained of it, could be well resumed to tossing and turning, with panics yelps when a burning pile of hay turned into a fiery prison in a few seconds. When she finally woke up for the last time five hours later, all six piles of dry wheat were now six piles of ashes and the cold, the hard floor was now her bed, her body so twisted it was giving her one hell of a crick in her neck.
Why am I here...
The door opened and the woman from yesterday appeared. She gave Sasha another of those glares she had given her the day before, looking around.
"There are no beds left."
The Charizard sat, legs crossed like Kojiro had taught her, defeated. She was tired, hungry, looked and felt like crap. But she wasn't going to give the other woman the pleasure of seeing her break down crying.
"There are no beds left." She repeated, her voice with a little more vitriol than she would have liked. "I toss too much at ni-"
"Come with me."
Didn't even let her explain herself. How irritating and unfair. Grabbing her bag and expecting to be expelled, she followed behind the woman until they got to a giant kitchen. There was something roasting, and unconsciously, Sasha could hear her stomach grumbling.
"Don't move." Instantly she stopped behind a large stone counter. A plastic board was placed in front of her, along with a piece of meat and a knife so large she was afraid of touching it.
"Cut it."
"What?"
"Cut it. The meat. Cubes." She appeared to be a woman of few words. Incredulous at what type of game they were now playing with her, she dropped her bag to the floor and took the knife, beginning to slowly do as she was told, doing her best to remain precise.
"You're terrible," her companion concluded after a few minutes of watching Sasha in silence. "Your hand is shaking and your speed makes a Ninjask feel like a Slakoth." She tried to find the meaning of those words, but realized, too late, that those might be pokemon names.
"I've never really used knives-" She was pushed away and the woman finished the remaining side. Sasha could only watch as precise, simple cuts reduced the meat into cubes in mere seconds what it had taken her minutes to do, all the same size and length. Perfect. Talk about a lesson in reality.
"The blade is an exercise in discovering the extension of your consciousness," she explained, twisting the knife before setting it down on the stone table again. "I do not shake when I grasp it because I am not afraid of harming myself." She looked over at Sasha again. "You are afraid." The blade was thrust into her hand again. "Try to cut again. No meat. Just a cutting motion."
Confused, she pretended to cut the air. The woman sneered.
"See? Your hand is not holding hard enough. The blade shakes from your touch." Angered, she held it so hard that..
"Dammit!" The end of the blade pierced one of her fingers. She released it, putting it into her mouth.
"It's not a deep wound," the other woman said, shrugging. "Accidents happen all the time." She pointed to Sasha's horn. "Like that one."
"Like that one...." Idly she touched the half-torn horn and became sad as the events leading it replayed in her mind. A misguided talk, overreacting to something when she shouldn't...
"You can do two things," the other replied, raising her fingers. "Either you run away from here and learn nothing. Or...you stay and sleep on the cold hard floor and get cut up each morning. But one day..." she took the blade from her again. "You will be able to grasp it without fear. You will not be cut. All six haystacks will be intact. Then, maybe, you may have learned something." Sasha still had no idea what this had to do with being a Charizard was, but who was she to question the wisdom of the teachers? Maybe it was some sort of new age method of teaching or something. But she knew her resolution.
"I'm staying."
A porridge was pushed into her face.
"Good. Here. Eat this."
Tentatively, she took a sip, half expecting yesterday's monkey guy to arrive and kick it out of her mouth. Nothing happened. And it was, it was....Sasha's eyes light up for the first time since her stay there.
"This is really good."
The woman smiled, but it was gone so fast that Sasha wasn't sure if she had dreamed it up or not. "I know. I make it myself every morning." Finally, the stranger introduced herself.
"Vanhi. Hoenn region. I'm a Blaziken."
"A Blaziken..."
"A Blaziken." she repeated, nodding turning to her normal form, still just as tall and imposing. Vanhi looked at her before switching back to her humanoid form again, turning around to leave the kitchen. "Eat faster. You're going to be training with the others." She stood, arms crossed in the door's frame.
"There's orange juice in the fridge, hot sauce in the bottom left drawer. It's powerful stuff, trust me." A pause and then. "There's a medical kit in the middle right cupboard. Patch up your wound, then take a shower. Get moving."
* - * - *
The courtyard was bright and sunny that day. Sasha didn't see that many other students, and realized that they were a much smaller group that she had initially thought, especially considering how large the mansion was. It felt more like a small collective than the busy student life of Smash Academy. She counted five pupils total; two of them appearing to be a pair of mischievous Ponyta twins, a male Growlithe that kept batting eyes at her, a young Flareon, and some sort of camel. She didn't remember fire camels. But there it was, looking at her and yawning.
Then as someone waved yelling her name from the other side of the courtyard, she realized there were actually six students. It turned out yesterday's monkey was the eldest of the group (at twenty years old!), and also in charge of the newcomers.
"My name is Wukong," he explained, appearing out of nowhere and shaking her hand. "I'll be paired with you for the time you're here. Yesterday was just a warm up, I hope you enjoyed it!" She glared at him as he continued on. "Well, unless someone else shows up." He threw a thumb at the guy behind him. "Then you get Fido, over there." Fido the Growlithe who was looking at Sasha like she had something hanging out and she adjusted her training outfit, feeling uncomfortable. Suddenly having the Monkey was looking more appealing than a lovesick puppy.
"Uh here's hoping not-" Suddenly a twin pair of whistles blew nearly her making Sasha's earlobes explode, and she looked around, puzzled. The twin figure of the Ponytas poked at her shorts so that she might realize to look down before they both pointed a finger each at her accusingly.
"YOU!" The first one said.
"You're at a two centimeters of radius too close to the plants!" the other ended, as they both pushed her away, or at least trying to and just sliding over the grass. Sasha moved a few inches when she realized that neither was going to stop until she done so. They raised their arms in victory.
"Do you know?"
"Sunlight is very important for a plant's well being! By putting your fiery tail too close to it, you risk setting up a fire!"
"And fires can be really dangerous during this time of the year when there's not that much rain and everything is so new and fresh."
"We have to respect the environment!" They pointed at her again and spoke in unison.
"Respect the environment young lady!" And with that, they both tore off.
"Are they always like that?" Sasha asked, both memorized and amused at the display. Dare she say adorable?
"Always." he answered. "He's been the cause of them for doing it." He pointed to the Flareon talking with them as they giggled together. "They really like him a lot."
"Oh, I didn't realize it was a he," Sasha groaned, somewhat embarrassed that she had thought the Flareon was female. He patted her on the back.
"Everyone makes that mistake, don't worry about it! He's our young, little adorable mascot. With the twins following his every move, he'll make sure you're obeying all the rules, trust me." They began to follow the others. "Alright, let's go before the teachers show up. I was instructed to show you how to bow before them properly. There's a whole series of ethics you have to follow and as fire types we don't get really learn them..." Sasha held out a hand for him to stop.
"You mean like this?" she offered, bending on her knees, doing it perfectly. He raised an eyebrow, impressed. "I have a Lapras on my team," Sasha explained, with a wide grin and a tiny hint of that spark of pride. The first she had had that day, actually. It felt nice. It felt really nice seeing him be impressed. "Kojiro. He's very..." How to describe him perfectly into just one word?" "He's very zen."
"I see," he answered, stroking his chin. "And you get along well with him despite his type. That's excellent." He held out his hand. "I'm not going to throw you I promise."
Tentatively, she did, and was pushed to standing upright again. He grinned.
"You know, you're not too bad."
"Thanks I-"
"Oh no, not that. I meant when you smile. You should do it more often. It's not a bad look for you."
He laughed and waved as Sasha felt her cheeks getting hot.
* - * - *
She came in last, the seventh mat center square in the middle. Watching everyone else sit (The twins looking so concentrated she swore they were sweating) in the proper position, she followed suit and waited.
A few minutes later, she heard a door opening to the right. A large frame appeared, a mat of flames following him on his upper chest area. Sasha could have sworn she could figure out his type but...what type of fire user was pink. Unless...she didn't question it too much as Vanhi appeared behind him and closed the door behind her. There was silence for a few minutes. Then the silence was broken so suddenly, Sasha never saw it coming.
"Oi!" The man ran to the center and grabbed Sasha, pushing her up in a headlock so much so that she couldn't breath for a few seconds. "There's the new lass!" He grinned at her. "I never met anot'er Fire Shi'y before."
"You're a shiny!" She replied, gasping for breath. "C-can you please hold me a little less close?"
"Oi! I'm sorry 'bout that. I get so joyfull sometimes! But yeh, I'm a bonified shiny, just like you! You ever seen anot'er Typ'losion look like me 'efore?..In fact, I only know of one other shiny..."
Vanhi groaned. "Here he goes..."
"That one shin' beedrill." He was holding Sasha, eyes sparkling as he continued. In the back, she spotted both Vanhi and Wukong making gagging signs behind him and had to bite her lip from laughing. "'Er name was Spear. I met 'er in the forest, beautiful blue eyes that you ever did see! Blue and Green outline and a figure to die for. She's over at the bug gym. I send 'er a bouquet of flowers every day!" He sighed wistfully, releasing her from her prison. "Oi, Spear. You sure know 'ow to melt a man's poor 'eart." He took one of her hands and kissed it. "Anyway. Name's C'arlie..."
Charlie. Wukong wrote on a piece of paper behind him, knowing full well Sasha would be confused by the man's way of speaking. Whatever you do, don't make fun of his name. Or his pink skin.
"...and I'll be one of your trainers along with Van'i! Lovely lass, isn't she?" He leaned closer to her. "Let me tell you something, she's got one huge, mean rac-" BAM! The man went flying away from Sasha's hand into a nearby wall as Wukong fell to the floor laughing, the other students joining him except for the Flareon who was behind them talking about safety in buildings. Even Sasha had to crack a smile and sneaked up to Wukong, the other students already forming some sort of half-circle as they watched the battle unfold.
"Are they dating?"
"Officially? No." Something if a mischievous grin spread across Sasha's face, despite the headache that still lingered and she knelt down to lean on the older student.
"Okay then. Unofficially." He nodded as they watched Vanhi repeatedly try to bash his face in as poor Charlie defended himself.
"You're catching on quick," he said simply, not answering her question at all. Yet it meant everything Sasha needed to know. "Welcome to your first training day of Fire Training Dojo, kid."
* - * - *
As trainers, Charlie and Vanhi complimented each other perfectly. While Charlie was more upbeat and upfront about landing his punches and teaching everyone how to fight properly, Vanhi demanded perfection and discipline. With the both of them, Sasha didn't feel over-complimented, or under-appreciated.
That wasn't to say it wasn't brutal. It was an unforgiving and hard training session. She was punched, hit, bit, her face set on fire, then her legs and her arms.
Then halfway, they were all asked to change into their Pokemon forms and that's when the real training began. Already out of energy, Sasha muddled her way, before, out of breath, the teachers finally called it a day.
Only three hours after they had began.
It felt like a year to her.
Not caring how much trouble she'd be in, the Charizard collapsed on the floor and spent the next two hours just sleeping there.
* - * - *
Eventually Wukong woke her up a while later, holding a tray filled with two large bowls.
"Okay enough with the beauty nap, you've spent up all your break time on the floor." He placed one of the bowls next to her along with a smaller bowl filled with rice. "Eat up." She turned human and sat down properly, starring at the two sticks in the middle of the meat bowl. "Chopsticks?"
"Of course," he answered, holding his with his right feet, the other holding the meat bowl. "You're supposed to eat the food with them."
"I'm not...very good with them," she confessed, remembering poor Koji trying to teach it to her and failing.
"It's not too hard once you get the catch of it," he explained, switching to his hand and holding them slowly to show her how it was done. Sasha tried the same but like all the times her team member had shown her, she only managed to get a single grain of rice on it. As he continued to eat, she tried her best, before poking the meat with the chopsticks and stuffing them into her mouth, yet unable to conquer the grains of rice.
"Hard?" he finally asked her when he was nearly finished. She nodded. "Good! Nothing should be easy for you here. But I guess sometimes we can...bend the system, if you will. Nothing's ever set in stone...or a pair of chopsticks, right?" He pulled out a spoon. "This will probably help until you get the hang of it."
She had never been a fan of the tiny little white grains, but wow, did that butter-saffron flavored jasmine rice suddenly taste like victory in her mouth.
"In about thirty minutes, we're going to start training again," he warned her. Sasha panicked, nearly spitting out the rice.
"W-what? I can barely feel my arms right now..."
"Oh nothing like that. You'll see...." He snickered and walked off with his dishes. "Don't forget to clean up when you're done, least Vanhi finds you." Silently, she continued to eat her meal and began to question exactly what he meant.
The next thirty minutes seemed like an eternity. After cleaning off her own dishes, she waited in the courtyard, watching the twins taking turns to throw a flame at each other, almost like a strange game of baseball. At one point there came by the nearly sleeping Charizard and played with her wings before she shooed them away.
Finally, the two teachers arrived and mentioned everyone to follow them.
* - * - * - *
They were led to a giant stone building behind the training facility. Sasha spotted the six chimneys that rose above the marble tiles, sending soft smoke into the air at intervals. Some sort of factory perhaps? Once inside it smelled like ash and fire and she wondered what kind of world she was being led into. Or maybe it was just an active volcano?
The ceiling was covered in metal pillars filled with holes and hooks, along with small lamps that shone over the entire atelier. They were made of glass, she noticed. In fact, if the main building had glass displays, this one had glasses of all colors, shapes and sizes everywhere. Despite her lack of breakage the day before, surrounded by even more glass caused the inevitable to happen. She moved a little to much to her left and something dropped, brushed by her wings upon her entrance with the other students. The blob certainly made a loud noise when it fell, causing everyone to look at her. She froze, completely embarrassed.
"I'm sorry..." she began, fumbling around the large space to find a broom before the older monkey student handed her one.
"Happens to all of us," he whispered, giving her a tiny pat. "Just don't let them see you doing it, Charlie gets pretty attached to all these pieces of junk."
"What is this place anyway?" Sasha asked him, pushing the broken shards into a large hole in the middle of the building. The glass fell inside and she heard crushing noises a a few minutes later.
"Why, this is a glassblowing studio of course! Don't tell me you've never seen glassblowing-" he looked at Sasha's confused face. "-okay you've never heard about it, have you. Well, then, allow me to give you a few basics." The broom was removed and she was pushed around to all the parts of the room, introduced to ovens, metal tools, cooling units and so on. "There's all types of glass related artwork such as glassfusing, glass beading, lampworking, but the teachers here decided to go with with this one. They'll never tell you why, but I'll be nice this time and tell you." He held out three fingers. "First, because it's hard work getting it just right, and it requires discipline. Vanhi likes that, as you have no doubt noticed. A bit like that knife cutting she made you do each morning. The better you get at it, the more confidence you'll get in yourself. Two, because it teaches us that fire doesn't always have to be about destructing, burning and simply for cooking." He used his feet to grab a nearby piece and offered it to her. A glass rose. "It can also be the beat of new life, beauty and art. That's Charlie's motto on fire in a nutshell"
A flower. He certainly knew how to capture Sasha's attention. She grasped it, marvelling at the clarity of the object, turning it around to admire the work in the afternoon's light. Her companion continued while she did so.
"Third, because...hey, we're fire users, and it sells pretty well! You think they'd just allow you to be here free of charge, offer you food and lodging and be able to afford this for any old fire user that comes here?" Sasha had to admit that the economical equation hadn't even entered her mind, too preoccupied about her own self-doubts and worth.
"Uhhh...."
"Exactly! You earn your stay by making things." He took the rose back from her and set it in the glass vase on the table. "The path to fireblowing is a hard one, but it will be worth the bragging rights once you get really good at it. If you enjoy it anyway, not everyone's a fan." He pointed to the twins already causing trouble before moving her outside to show her a statue. It looked like piece of glass shooting from all directions in the shape of a red, yellow and blue flames. "Once you've become good enough, they'll ask you to make a piece for this. And that's when you'll really on the path to..."
"On the path to..." she repeated, looking at the statue in awe and wondering how it held together so well.
"I dunno. Better understanding or something." He laughed and threw his hand at her back, reviving the pain she felt from that morning's training. "How should I know? I'm just one of the students here like you. Anyway, let's get you some gloves and show you how it's done." he puffed out his chest. "You're going to have the most amazing partner today anyway...me! I'll show you how it's done."
Sasha groaned inwardly at being stuck with Wukong for the day, least he trick her into doing something stupid again. But she didn't show it.
"Okay, okay, enough staring at the statue, let's go inside."
The next few hours were a mixture of amazement and utter frustration. Wukong was right. Glassblowing was an art that required complete concentration and discipline, something Sasha needed to get better at. Her first try with the instrument caused the glass to be left too long in the furnace and when she took it out, everything had melted inside. Wukong had simply laughed, and explained how she should try again, trying to get a feel for how the glass is, and using the weight to tell her when it would be ready.
Her second try was much more fruitful. But getting the glass so hot it turned yellow was only the first part of the process. Working with Wukong, she was taught how to use the metal tools and water to slowly mold the lifeless piece of glass into something else completely.
"And here's the really fun part," he explained, jumping at the end of the stick and blowing in it. Sasha yelped in surprised and nearly dropped the molding stick she was holding as the bubble doubled in size. "Haha! You see? You have to give it some air! But you have to be careful! It's teamwork. You have to make sure you tell your partner when to blow in and when to stop. Too much and it will just grow from one size into a lump. Too little and it's just going to stay forever a tiny little piece of hard glass. Now you take my place, I'll show you how to mold."
It was only when she looked outside a few hours later that Sasha realized how much time had passed. Compared to the morning's training, hours didn't feel like days, they felt like minutes. And the end result for the both of them, a vase which looked more like a lump of glass thrown together than anything that could be put in was perhaps not the most amazing of things, but as Sasha held it between her hands, she couldn't help but beam with pride at it.
That night she realized something.
She really, really, really liked this glassmaking business.
* - * - *
The next few days passed like a painful blur.
A hard, grueling painful blur.
The knife still shook just as much as the first day. The six beautiful haystacks, hurting her skin and causing her blisters were still piles of ash each morning.
The glass sculptures all looked like piles of melted gloop.
Yet there was something there. Burning, growing.
They talked. She told them what had happened, her fears, her resolution to become a better person, and understand her nature better. Memories that rushed in her during the week that she had unconsciously tried to forget. Something had shocked her, they explained, but they couldn't find what. Maybe it would come back in time, but she shouldn't rush anything. There was one thing which Sasha was sure, however.
It probably had to do with the blood.
She remembered parts of Red being the leader of team rocket and floods of water...it frustrated her. They found her slamming on a wall crying on the second day trying to remember everything. But she hadn't been punished, or threatened. They understood. Perhaps not perfectly, but they knew what she was going through and and that in itself meant more than anything else in the world for her.
In between trying to cut properly, the morning training and the afternoon's glassblowing, Sasha didn't see her time turn into three days. It seemed like she had been there much longer, already falling into a routine.
In fact, it was only when a few of the students (who else, the twins) made some jokes regarding Charlie's skin looking like the petals floating close by did she realize that the spring festival was underway and she was missing it. She also realized what Wukong meant when he explained there was a reason no one was allowed to make fun of Charlie's pink skin color. My, it was a good thing those Ponytas sure knew how to run. Oh wait that one had tripped. Oh. ..my that was a lot of screaming and things set fire there.
There came Vanhi looking pretty angry about everything.
Just another day at the training center, it seemed. With a grin, she realized how much everyone was growing on her. But at the same time, if you twisted everyone's faces just so...
...it reminded her of her team. She felt a pit to her stomach and sighed, idly rubbing one of the floating petals in her hands.
"You miss them, don't you?" Wukong said, sitting close to her. He held out a jalapeno. "Here. I sneaked one of those away from Vanhi's cooking. Don't let her see you eating it." She stuck it in her mouth to nibble. "You could ask them if you want to go, you know."
"But wouldn't it be like quitting?"
"Depends. Are you coming back, or will you stay there?" She chewed entire end, savoring the seeds before answering. It was a hard question. What if she saw someone from her team? Would she want come back here?
Yes, she realized. Yes she would.
"I'll definitely come back. No matter what." She smiled and closed her eyes. "I've still got a lot to learn don't I? I don't think I understand quite what I am just yet. Besides..." she looked back at Vanhi pilldrive Charlie to the ground as he yelped out uncle, amidst the happy claps of the students. "She hasn't taught me how to do that yet."
The next few hours counted down slowly, as she mentally felt butterflies in her stomach, and waited for nightfall. Tonight would be the first of two visits to Smash Academy.
What: Facing oneself and learning
Where: One Fire Type Dojo in FDC
When: March 23rd - April 23rd
Warnings: Training montages, mild swearing
She could still smell the blood on her fingers. Was it from the rabbit a few days ago, or that never-ending image that kept plaguing her nights? Waking up and taking a shower covered in blood, it was hard to believe it had happened just a few weeks ago. She felt terrible about poor Spinny...
How had it all come to this?
The city was calm at three in the morning. The bars had long since closed and few night owls moved in the lit streets of Final Destination City, half-drunk and completely missing the black dragon-like creature that flew overhead silently.
Sasha was lost in her thoughts, as usual. Since her arrival at school she had changed a lot. Change was good, but currently it felt like just a well of negativity. That she was struggling to find something, anything, and that no matter what she did, it simply wasn't working. Running a mile but never reaching the finishing line or knowing why she had run that mile in the first place. She wanted to find love. Yet the concept was alien to her. Couldn't speak her mind properly. Jealousy at someone who called her a friend...jealous at the other women in the school prettier than her. She wanted to be herself, but being herself felt wrong. Fire was dangerous. She was dangerous. She wasn't a real Charizard. She didn't know what being a real Charizard was. She couldn't face them. Couldn't face herself. Couldn't hunt, couldn't be, couldn't let the beast out and...
A soft sigh that was lost in the wind. The Fire Training Facility probably did not have miracle workers, but at least Sasha hope they would understand. If anything, knowing that they and she could be human and talk out her frustrations eased her mind. Turning human was something that would have been impossible to do in Kanto without raising suspicion. It was only then that she realized she was flying so fast that her target was passing right by her.
Violently, she flapped in the air, but the wind currents suddenly pushed her far right causing a slight miscalculation in her landing. The black Charizard's left wing snapped out of path, making her slam into a delicately blooming apple tree headfirst. Her world turned blacker than normal for a few seconds and she thought she was dead before a roaring headache made her stand upright. The tree had fallen over. In fear of being reprimanded, she tried to push it back into the ground, but eventually gave up and left it half up, half down position (it fell over again a few minutes after that.) Hopefully the Firemasters weren't the type to be awakened by crashing noises....oh who was she kidding. She'd probably woken up half the neighborhood.
Silently, she walked up the rest of the path up the hill in silence, her head looking at the dirt road. It was only when she finally craned up her neck, that she realized just how much of an impressive mansion it was.
"Wow..."
It was hard to believe this entire building had been built and constructed to be just for the Fire type's usage. Then again, it didn't seem out of place with all the Gym Leaders she'd visited with Red. Final Destination really did have everything.
Turning human, she walked towards the door, realizing how much of a a disheveled mess she must look like. The bag she had taken careful care to pack had fallen in a nearby mud pit after her crash and even after attempting to shake it off, Sasha realized that most of her belongings were now dirty, wet, and unwearable. After her race with Knuckles, she hadn't taken a proper shower that day, and her hair was clumped together in sweat and dirt. Now there was a growing bump on her forehead to add insult to injury.
If anything, she'd make a truly amazing first impression.
Most of the nearby electrical lights were fizzling out of existence, having been ignored for years, replaced by fire lanterns that were running out of fire at this time of the day. Thankfully, Sasha had her own source of fire, casting a shadow in front as she tried to find the door in the building's front.
She was about to turn it and tip toe in (a marvelous plan that would have then been 'sleep until the next morning') when someone did for her. The Charizard let out a frightful screech as a woman much taller than her herself glared down at her. From the red antenna sticking out from her front she...had no idea what type of Pokemon she could be. If she was a Pokemon at all. It was a Fire type Gym. There could be other non-Pokemon and perhaps now was not the time to think about that. What she knew is that this women could rip her apart if she so chose. Her voice was harsh, and she appeared to be annoyed to be up at this hour.
"WHAT. DO. YOU. WANT."
Sasha had a speech prepared somewhere deep in the recess of her mind. About having problems and wanting the masters to aid her into becoming a better Charizard, please help her Obi-Wan Flamnobi but...now...she just froze. Silent.
The door was slammed in her face.
Well.
That had gone well. The pit in her stomach grew and she realized how much of an idiot she had been. Now she'd have to go back to the school, right after she'd told Kojiro she had to go off. How could she even begin to face her family and Red...
No.
She formed her hand into a fist. Violently, Sasha knocked.
She could hear the rumble and annoyed grunts of the person slowly coming back before the door opened, causing Sasha to just wanted to tear off with her tail between her legs. Yet she stood her ground albeit confused and unsure, even when the woman somehow appeared to be even taller and imposing than a few seconds ago, her eyes on fire. The Charizard swallowed.
"I want to learn." That had not been her prepared speech at all. Meekly she added. "Please?"
The door was slammed in her face.
She didn't turn around. Knocked again. Stand your ground.
The door opened for the third time. Without thinking about concequences, Sasha opened her wings and tried to look as impressive as a 3 o'clock humanized Chariazard could be.
"I WANT TO-"
"Come in." It was a direct order. Her wings fell down to her shoulders and Sasha unconsciously lowered her horns, scuttling at the ground.
"...oh. Thank you." Quickly, she ran in before the lady changed her mind.
* - * - *
She couldn't exactly call this place as cozy. The entire building seemed to be made for fire users, built out of hard rock, with fires in lanterns and lamps. The floor was stone, cold and she noticed the claw marks probably left from whoever had built this place. Yet as she was led by the woman to who-knows-where something about this building, a detail about it scared her more so than anything else before in her life.
This place had an abnormal amount of glass. Glass cups. Glass statues. Glass plates. Glass Doors. Glass armory...
Considering her magnificent walking and tripping skills, she felt very much like a Tauros in a China shop. They'd throw her out before the night was done. Sasha pulled her tail closer to her body so much she could smell her hair singeing every so slightly and bit her lip from screaming, not wanting to make this already strange impression worse.
Finally, she was led into what appeared like a gigantic inner gym, and the woman closed the door behind her.
"..."
Complete silence. What was this? Were they locking her up until morning? She swished her tail around in the darkness to see if anything was there, completely missing the glowing eyes and fire just above her.
"Hello?"
"INFERNAAAAAA!"
Another scream leaped from her mouth, as a strange monkey latched on to her front, pressing his hands against her face deforming it and stopping the scream halfway. She felt like her skin was silly putty in his hands, as he held on to her shoulders with his feet for support and made the same faces as she was doing.
"Uhh..." She managed to stammer through the face melting. Her heart was still beating a mile a minute, but confusion had quickly overtaken all of her other senses. He just grinned and began search in her hair. "H-Hey! Stop that!" Valiantly, Sasha tried to shake him off, but he held on for dear life, only to finally push her to the floor, raising his arms in victory.
And then he turned humanlike, bending his knees to be at her level.
"First lesson. Don't trust what you see." He held out his hand. Groaning, she was about to grab it when...
...He violently took it, spun her around and used it to throw the girl across the floor. Sasha landed in pack of fireproof training balls, the top ones falling on her back. Her entire body was in pain. The monkey just grinned.
"Second lesson. Don't trust me." He held out her hand at her again, but she scoffed and stood up by herself, incredibly dizzy. This was going to hurt so much later today.
Not even ten minutes and she was completely confused and in pain. Then to make matters worse...
"We've been waiting for you...Sasha." He took a few seconds for a dramatic effect before continuing. "You look really bad. Did you take a shower today?"
They knew her name. They knew she was coming. How...
"Arceu--"
"Nah, that's a bit silly. You think a bunch of Fire Pokemon in a city like this see a lot of us pass by? We're a little collective. There aren't many registered fire types in the city who can turn human, you know." He brought out a sheet of paper. "Besides, I like to snoop around on the web. You've left quite a trail." He then put on a pair of glasses, in a way to mockingly appear dignified. "Attacking a civilian sending him to the hospital, ending up in the hospital yourself, this file calls you a 'dangerous Charizard owned to one Red', but you also were Kanto Champions, currently attending Smash Academy...really you'd think you would have come here sooner for some training..."
"Well I..."
"Didn't know? You could have, if you had really wanted. We're in the yellow pages like everything else in the city. But you know what? This place isn't just for personal problems when life hits you so low you can't turn anywhere else. Although THAT seems to happen a lot. Ahhhh! Fire types. What a sorry lot we can be, hmmm? Think of this building as a place were you can train with those of the same type as you." He put an arm on her and pointed at the ceiling,.which had....nothing spectacular on it.
"We're going to put you in so much pain you'll sleep like a Snorlax every night. And then we'll wake you each morning so early you'll be grumpy and want to go away! But that's not all! We're going to nearly try to kill you...like this!" He threw a punch at her. "Think fast!"
Surprisingly, she managed to hold out her hands and the fist intended for her stomach was stopped just short of it. He raised one of his eyebrows and grinned again as she gave him the most angry of glares.
"Not bad. Fast learner. There may be hope for you yet." Before she could say anything more, he had grabbed her right hand and dragged her to another room, where six piles of hay stood in clumps apart from each other.
"One of these is your bed for tonight."
She looked at him, incredulous.
"But I'll..."
"Burn it? Yep! You'll fall like a rock and wake up to the sound of smoke in your lungs! Better move fast or else we'll have to send you to the Pokecenter!" He laughed and then suddenly turned serious at her. "But really, don't do it. We don't want to fill out death certificates." He clapped his hands twice and the light closed.
"And no turning into a Charizard either!"
"But..." This was all so sudden and different.
"Goodnight! See you bright and early tomorrow kid!"
He was gone.
With a sigh, she looked at the pile of first pile of hay, wondering how she could even...
It caught on fire. In a panicked state she tried to stamp it out, burning part of her foot. It was a fruitless battle. In less than a minute, the pile was nothing but beautiful ash.
"..."
The next one, then. She fell on top of it, trying to make sure her tail was above her entire body. The hay...it stung, the tiny strands irritated, pushing at the delicate human skin. She uttered a few choice words yet before long, too tired and in pain to care anymore, she fell into a deep slumber.
* - * - *
Or maybe not.
That night, or rather what little had remained of it, could be well resumed to tossing and turning, with panics yelps when a burning pile of hay turned into a fiery prison in a few seconds. When she finally woke up for the last time five hours later, all six piles of dry wheat were now six piles of ashes and the cold, the hard floor was now her bed, her body so twisted it was giving her one hell of a crick in her neck.
Why am I here...
The door opened and the woman from yesterday appeared. She gave Sasha another of those glares she had given her the day before, looking around.
"There are no beds left."
The Charizard sat, legs crossed like Kojiro had taught her, defeated. She was tired, hungry, looked and felt like crap. But she wasn't going to give the other woman the pleasure of seeing her break down crying.
"There are no beds left." She repeated, her voice with a little more vitriol than she would have liked. "I toss too much at ni-"
"Come with me."
Didn't even let her explain herself. How irritating and unfair. Grabbing her bag and expecting to be expelled, she followed behind the woman until they got to a giant kitchen. There was something roasting, and unconsciously, Sasha could hear her stomach grumbling.
"Don't move." Instantly she stopped behind a large stone counter. A plastic board was placed in front of her, along with a piece of meat and a knife so large she was afraid of touching it.
"Cut it."
"What?"
"Cut it. The meat. Cubes." She appeared to be a woman of few words. Incredulous at what type of game they were now playing with her, she dropped her bag to the floor and took the knife, beginning to slowly do as she was told, doing her best to remain precise.
"You're terrible," her companion concluded after a few minutes of watching Sasha in silence. "Your hand is shaking and your speed makes a Ninjask feel like a Slakoth." She tried to find the meaning of those words, but realized, too late, that those might be pokemon names.
"I've never really used knives-" She was pushed away and the woman finished the remaining side. Sasha could only watch as precise, simple cuts reduced the meat into cubes in mere seconds what it had taken her minutes to do, all the same size and length. Perfect. Talk about a lesson in reality.
"The blade is an exercise in discovering the extension of your consciousness," she explained, twisting the knife before setting it down on the stone table again. "I do not shake when I grasp it because I am not afraid of harming myself." She looked over at Sasha again. "You are afraid." The blade was thrust into her hand again. "Try to cut again. No meat. Just a cutting motion."
Confused, she pretended to cut the air. The woman sneered.
"See? Your hand is not holding hard enough. The blade shakes from your touch." Angered, she held it so hard that..
"Dammit!" The end of the blade pierced one of her fingers. She released it, putting it into her mouth.
"It's not a deep wound," the other woman said, shrugging. "Accidents happen all the time." She pointed to Sasha's horn. "Like that one."
"Like that one...." Idly she touched the half-torn horn and became sad as the events leading it replayed in her mind. A misguided talk, overreacting to something when she shouldn't...
"You can do two things," the other replied, raising her fingers. "Either you run away from here and learn nothing. Or...you stay and sleep on the cold hard floor and get cut up each morning. But one day..." she took the blade from her again. "You will be able to grasp it without fear. You will not be cut. All six haystacks will be intact. Then, maybe, you may have learned something." Sasha still had no idea what this had to do with being a Charizard was, but who was she to question the wisdom of the teachers? Maybe it was some sort of new age method of teaching or something. But she knew her resolution.
"I'm staying."
A porridge was pushed into her face.
"Good. Here. Eat this."
Tentatively, she took a sip, half expecting yesterday's monkey guy to arrive and kick it out of her mouth. Nothing happened. And it was, it was....Sasha's eyes light up for the first time since her stay there.
"This is really good."
The woman smiled, but it was gone so fast that Sasha wasn't sure if she had dreamed it up or not. "I know. I make it myself every morning." Finally, the stranger introduced herself.
"Vanhi. Hoenn region. I'm a Blaziken."
"A Blaziken..."
"A Blaziken." she repeated, nodding turning to her normal form, still just as tall and imposing. Vanhi looked at her before switching back to her humanoid form again, turning around to leave the kitchen. "Eat faster. You're going to be training with the others." She stood, arms crossed in the door's frame.
"There's orange juice in the fridge, hot sauce in the bottom left drawer. It's powerful stuff, trust me." A pause and then. "There's a medical kit in the middle right cupboard. Patch up your wound, then take a shower. Get moving."
* - * - *
The courtyard was bright and sunny that day. Sasha didn't see that many other students, and realized that they were a much smaller group that she had initially thought, especially considering how large the mansion was. It felt more like a small collective than the busy student life of Smash Academy. She counted five pupils total; two of them appearing to be a pair of mischievous Ponyta twins, a male Growlithe that kept batting eyes at her, a young Flareon, and some sort of camel. She didn't remember fire camels. But there it was, looking at her and yawning.
Then as someone waved yelling her name from the other side of the courtyard, she realized there were actually six students. It turned out yesterday's monkey was the eldest of the group (at twenty years old!), and also in charge of the newcomers.
"My name is Wukong," he explained, appearing out of nowhere and shaking her hand. "I'll be paired with you for the time you're here. Yesterday was just a warm up, I hope you enjoyed it!" She glared at him as he continued on. "Well, unless someone else shows up." He threw a thumb at the guy behind him. "Then you get Fido, over there." Fido the Growlithe who was looking at Sasha like she had something hanging out and she adjusted her training outfit, feeling uncomfortable. Suddenly having the Monkey was looking more appealing than a lovesick puppy.
"Uh here's hoping not-" Suddenly a twin pair of whistles blew nearly her making Sasha's earlobes explode, and she looked around, puzzled. The twin figure of the Ponytas poked at her shorts so that she might realize to look down before they both pointed a finger each at her accusingly.
"YOU!" The first one said.
"You're at a two centimeters of radius too close to the plants!" the other ended, as they both pushed her away, or at least trying to and just sliding over the grass. Sasha moved a few inches when she realized that neither was going to stop until she done so. They raised their arms in victory.
"Do you know?"
"Sunlight is very important for a plant's well being! By putting your fiery tail too close to it, you risk setting up a fire!"
"And fires can be really dangerous during this time of the year when there's not that much rain and everything is so new and fresh."
"We have to respect the environment!" They pointed at her again and spoke in unison.
"Respect the environment young lady!" And with that, they both tore off.
"Are they always like that?" Sasha asked, both memorized and amused at the display. Dare she say adorable?
"Always." he answered. "He's been the cause of them for doing it." He pointed to the Flareon talking with them as they giggled together. "They really like him a lot."
"Oh, I didn't realize it was a he," Sasha groaned, somewhat embarrassed that she had thought the Flareon was female. He patted her on the back.
"Everyone makes that mistake, don't worry about it! He's our young, little adorable mascot. With the twins following his every move, he'll make sure you're obeying all the rules, trust me." They began to follow the others. "Alright, let's go before the teachers show up. I was instructed to show you how to bow before them properly. There's a whole series of ethics you have to follow and as fire types we don't get really learn them..." Sasha held out a hand for him to stop.
"You mean like this?" she offered, bending on her knees, doing it perfectly. He raised an eyebrow, impressed. "I have a Lapras on my team," Sasha explained, with a wide grin and a tiny hint of that spark of pride. The first she had had that day, actually. It felt nice. It felt really nice seeing him be impressed. "Kojiro. He's very..." How to describe him perfectly into just one word?" "He's very zen."
"I see," he answered, stroking his chin. "And you get along well with him despite his type. That's excellent." He held out his hand. "I'm not going to throw you I promise."
Tentatively, she did, and was pushed to standing upright again. He grinned.
"You know, you're not too bad."
"Thanks I-"
"Oh no, not that. I meant when you smile. You should do it more often. It's not a bad look for you."
He laughed and waved as Sasha felt her cheeks getting hot.
* - * - *
She came in last, the seventh mat center square in the middle. Watching everyone else sit (The twins looking so concentrated she swore they were sweating) in the proper position, she followed suit and waited.
A few minutes later, she heard a door opening to the right. A large frame appeared, a mat of flames following him on his upper chest area. Sasha could have sworn she could figure out his type but...what type of fire user was pink. Unless...she didn't question it too much as Vanhi appeared behind him and closed the door behind her. There was silence for a few minutes. Then the silence was broken so suddenly, Sasha never saw it coming.
"Oi!" The man ran to the center and grabbed Sasha, pushing her up in a headlock so much so that she couldn't breath for a few seconds. "There's the new lass!" He grinned at her. "I never met anot'er Fire Shi'y before."
"You're a shiny!" She replied, gasping for breath. "C-can you please hold me a little less close?"
"Oi! I'm sorry 'bout that. I get so joyfull sometimes! But yeh, I'm a bonified shiny, just like you! You ever seen anot'er Typ'losion look like me 'efore?..In fact, I only know of one other shiny..."
Vanhi groaned. "Here he goes..."
"That one shin' beedrill." He was holding Sasha, eyes sparkling as he continued. In the back, she spotted both Vanhi and Wukong making gagging signs behind him and had to bite her lip from laughing. "'Er name was Spear. I met 'er in the forest, beautiful blue eyes that you ever did see! Blue and Green outline and a figure to die for. She's over at the bug gym. I send 'er a bouquet of flowers every day!" He sighed wistfully, releasing her from her prison. "Oi, Spear. You sure know 'ow to melt a man's poor 'eart." He took one of her hands and kissed it. "Anyway. Name's C'arlie..."
Charlie. Wukong wrote on a piece of paper behind him, knowing full well Sasha would be confused by the man's way of speaking. Whatever you do, don't make fun of his name. Or his pink skin.
"...and I'll be one of your trainers along with Van'i! Lovely lass, isn't she?" He leaned closer to her. "Let me tell you something, she's got one huge, mean rac-" BAM! The man went flying away from Sasha's hand into a nearby wall as Wukong fell to the floor laughing, the other students joining him except for the Flareon who was behind them talking about safety in buildings. Even Sasha had to crack a smile and sneaked up to Wukong, the other students already forming some sort of half-circle as they watched the battle unfold.
"Are they dating?"
"Officially? No." Something if a mischievous grin spread across Sasha's face, despite the headache that still lingered and she knelt down to lean on the older student.
"Okay then. Unofficially." He nodded as they watched Vanhi repeatedly try to bash his face in as poor Charlie defended himself.
"You're catching on quick," he said simply, not answering her question at all. Yet it meant everything Sasha needed to know. "Welcome to your first training day of Fire Training Dojo, kid."
* - * - *
As trainers, Charlie and Vanhi complimented each other perfectly. While Charlie was more upbeat and upfront about landing his punches and teaching everyone how to fight properly, Vanhi demanded perfection and discipline. With the both of them, Sasha didn't feel over-complimented, or under-appreciated.
That wasn't to say it wasn't brutal. It was an unforgiving and hard training session. She was punched, hit, bit, her face set on fire, then her legs and her arms.
Then halfway, they were all asked to change into their Pokemon forms and that's when the real training began. Already out of energy, Sasha muddled her way, before, out of breath, the teachers finally called it a day.
Only three hours after they had began.
It felt like a year to her.
Not caring how much trouble she'd be in, the Charizard collapsed on the floor and spent the next two hours just sleeping there.
* - * - *
Eventually Wukong woke her up a while later, holding a tray filled with two large bowls.
"Okay enough with the beauty nap, you've spent up all your break time on the floor." He placed one of the bowls next to her along with a smaller bowl filled with rice. "Eat up." She turned human and sat down properly, starring at the two sticks in the middle of the meat bowl. "Chopsticks?"
"Of course," he answered, holding his with his right feet, the other holding the meat bowl. "You're supposed to eat the food with them."
"I'm not...very good with them," she confessed, remembering poor Koji trying to teach it to her and failing.
"It's not too hard once you get the catch of it," he explained, switching to his hand and holding them slowly to show her how it was done. Sasha tried the same but like all the times her team member had shown her, she only managed to get a single grain of rice on it. As he continued to eat, she tried her best, before poking the meat with the chopsticks and stuffing them into her mouth, yet unable to conquer the grains of rice.
"Hard?" he finally asked her when he was nearly finished. She nodded. "Good! Nothing should be easy for you here. But I guess sometimes we can...bend the system, if you will. Nothing's ever set in stone...or a pair of chopsticks, right?" He pulled out a spoon. "This will probably help until you get the hang of it."
She had never been a fan of the tiny little white grains, but wow, did that butter-saffron flavored jasmine rice suddenly taste like victory in her mouth.
"In about thirty minutes, we're going to start training again," he warned her. Sasha panicked, nearly spitting out the rice.
"W-what? I can barely feel my arms right now..."
"Oh nothing like that. You'll see...." He snickered and walked off with his dishes. "Don't forget to clean up when you're done, least Vanhi finds you." Silently, she continued to eat her meal and began to question exactly what he meant.
The next thirty minutes seemed like an eternity. After cleaning off her own dishes, she waited in the courtyard, watching the twins taking turns to throw a flame at each other, almost like a strange game of baseball. At one point there came by the nearly sleeping Charizard and played with her wings before she shooed them away.
Finally, the two teachers arrived and mentioned everyone to follow them.
* - * - * - *
They were led to a giant stone building behind the training facility. Sasha spotted the six chimneys that rose above the marble tiles, sending soft smoke into the air at intervals. Some sort of factory perhaps? Once inside it smelled like ash and fire and she wondered what kind of world she was being led into. Or maybe it was just an active volcano?
The ceiling was covered in metal pillars filled with holes and hooks, along with small lamps that shone over the entire atelier. They were made of glass, she noticed. In fact, if the main building had glass displays, this one had glasses of all colors, shapes and sizes everywhere. Despite her lack of breakage the day before, surrounded by even more glass caused the inevitable to happen. She moved a little to much to her left and something dropped, brushed by her wings upon her entrance with the other students. The blob certainly made a loud noise when it fell, causing everyone to look at her. She froze, completely embarrassed.
"I'm sorry..." she began, fumbling around the large space to find a broom before the older monkey student handed her one.
"Happens to all of us," he whispered, giving her a tiny pat. "Just don't let them see you doing it, Charlie gets pretty attached to all these pieces of junk."
"What is this place anyway?" Sasha asked him, pushing the broken shards into a large hole in the middle of the building. The glass fell inside and she heard crushing noises a a few minutes later.
"Why, this is a glassblowing studio of course! Don't tell me you've never seen glassblowing-" he looked at Sasha's confused face. "-okay you've never heard about it, have you. Well, then, allow me to give you a few basics." The broom was removed and she was pushed around to all the parts of the room, introduced to ovens, metal tools, cooling units and so on. "There's all types of glass related artwork such as glassfusing, glass beading, lampworking, but the teachers here decided to go with with this one. They'll never tell you why, but I'll be nice this time and tell you." He held out three fingers. "First, because it's hard work getting it just right, and it requires discipline. Vanhi likes that, as you have no doubt noticed. A bit like that knife cutting she made you do each morning. The better you get at it, the more confidence you'll get in yourself. Two, because it teaches us that fire doesn't always have to be about destructing, burning and simply for cooking." He used his feet to grab a nearby piece and offered it to her. A glass rose. "It can also be the beat of new life, beauty and art. That's Charlie's motto on fire in a nutshell"
A flower. He certainly knew how to capture Sasha's attention. She grasped it, marvelling at the clarity of the object, turning it around to admire the work in the afternoon's light. Her companion continued while she did so.
"Third, because...hey, we're fire users, and it sells pretty well! You think they'd just allow you to be here free of charge, offer you food and lodging and be able to afford this for any old fire user that comes here?" Sasha had to admit that the economical equation hadn't even entered her mind, too preoccupied about her own self-doubts and worth.
"Uhhh...."
"Exactly! You earn your stay by making things." He took the rose back from her and set it in the glass vase on the table. "The path to fireblowing is a hard one, but it will be worth the bragging rights once you get really good at it. If you enjoy it anyway, not everyone's a fan." He pointed to the twins already causing trouble before moving her outside to show her a statue. It looked like piece of glass shooting from all directions in the shape of a red, yellow and blue flames. "Once you've become good enough, they'll ask you to make a piece for this. And that's when you'll really on the path to..."
"On the path to..." she repeated, looking at the statue in awe and wondering how it held together so well.
"I dunno. Better understanding or something." He laughed and threw his hand at her back, reviving the pain she felt from that morning's training. "How should I know? I'm just one of the students here like you. Anyway, let's get you some gloves and show you how it's done." he puffed out his chest. "You're going to have the most amazing partner today anyway...me! I'll show you how it's done."
Sasha groaned inwardly at being stuck with Wukong for the day, least he trick her into doing something stupid again. But she didn't show it.
"Okay, okay, enough staring at the statue, let's go inside."
The next few hours were a mixture of amazement and utter frustration. Wukong was right. Glassblowing was an art that required complete concentration and discipline, something Sasha needed to get better at. Her first try with the instrument caused the glass to be left too long in the furnace and when she took it out, everything had melted inside. Wukong had simply laughed, and explained how she should try again, trying to get a feel for how the glass is, and using the weight to tell her when it would be ready.
Her second try was much more fruitful. But getting the glass so hot it turned yellow was only the first part of the process. Working with Wukong, she was taught how to use the metal tools and water to slowly mold the lifeless piece of glass into something else completely.
"And here's the really fun part," he explained, jumping at the end of the stick and blowing in it. Sasha yelped in surprised and nearly dropped the molding stick she was holding as the bubble doubled in size. "Haha! You see? You have to give it some air! But you have to be careful! It's teamwork. You have to make sure you tell your partner when to blow in and when to stop. Too much and it will just grow from one size into a lump. Too little and it's just going to stay forever a tiny little piece of hard glass. Now you take my place, I'll show you how to mold."
It was only when she looked outside a few hours later that Sasha realized how much time had passed. Compared to the morning's training, hours didn't feel like days, they felt like minutes. And the end result for the both of them, a vase which looked more like a lump of glass thrown together than anything that could be put in was perhaps not the most amazing of things, but as Sasha held it between her hands, she couldn't help but beam with pride at it.
That night she realized something.
She really, really, really liked this glassmaking business.
* - * - *
The next few days passed like a painful blur.
A hard, grueling painful blur.
The knife still shook just as much as the first day. The six beautiful haystacks, hurting her skin and causing her blisters were still piles of ash each morning.
The glass sculptures all looked like piles of melted gloop.
Yet there was something there. Burning, growing.
They talked. She told them what had happened, her fears, her resolution to become a better person, and understand her nature better. Memories that rushed in her during the week that she had unconsciously tried to forget. Something had shocked her, they explained, but they couldn't find what. Maybe it would come back in time, but she shouldn't rush anything. There was one thing which Sasha was sure, however.
It probably had to do with the blood.
She remembered parts of Red being the leader of team rocket and floods of water...it frustrated her. They found her slamming on a wall crying on the second day trying to remember everything. But she hadn't been punished, or threatened. They understood. Perhaps not perfectly, but they knew what she was going through and and that in itself meant more than anything else in the world for her.
In between trying to cut properly, the morning training and the afternoon's glassblowing, Sasha didn't see her time turn into three days. It seemed like she had been there much longer, already falling into a routine.
In fact, it was only when a few of the students (who else, the twins) made some jokes regarding Charlie's skin looking like the petals floating close by did she realize that the spring festival was underway and she was missing it. She also realized what Wukong meant when he explained there was a reason no one was allowed to make fun of Charlie's pink skin color. My, it was a good thing those Ponytas sure knew how to run. Oh wait that one had tripped. Oh. ..my that was a lot of screaming and things set fire there.
There came Vanhi looking pretty angry about everything.
Just another day at the training center, it seemed. With a grin, she realized how much everyone was growing on her. But at the same time, if you twisted everyone's faces just so...
...it reminded her of her team. She felt a pit to her stomach and sighed, idly rubbing one of the floating petals in her hands.
"You miss them, don't you?" Wukong said, sitting close to her. He held out a jalapeno. "Here. I sneaked one of those away from Vanhi's cooking. Don't let her see you eating it." She stuck it in her mouth to nibble. "You could ask them if you want to go, you know."
"But wouldn't it be like quitting?"
"Depends. Are you coming back, or will you stay there?" She chewed entire end, savoring the seeds before answering. It was a hard question. What if she saw someone from her team? Would she want come back here?
Yes, she realized. Yes she would.
"I'll definitely come back. No matter what." She smiled and closed her eyes. "I've still got a lot to learn don't I? I don't think I understand quite what I am just yet. Besides..." she looked back at Vanhi pilldrive Charlie to the ground as he yelped out uncle, amidst the happy claps of the students. "She hasn't taught me how to do that yet."
The next few hours counted down slowly, as she mentally felt butterflies in her stomach, and waited for nightfall. Tonight would be the first of two visits to Smash Academy.
March 26th
She was grateful, even if her entire body ached. With their permission, she had been allowed to come back and visit, but Sasha couldn't face her own team, or the others just yet. Yet the siren call of the festival was her own undoing.
Her love of flowers...For a Charizard, it was an fragile relationship. Her skill at taking care of them was close to little. She was only grudgingly accepted into the greenhouse, for fear of setting things on fire. Yet a freshly cut bouquet or a patch of roses made her happy to be alive. They even made her cry althought she'd wipe away the tears before anyone looked. Something as marvelous as all these trees in full bloom could not keep her away for too long.
It was the middle of the night when the rest of the school was asleep. There, she was free to admire the trees filled with pink, listening to the wind softly blowing between her horns.
Charizards, however, were not the best of creatures to hide. In the end, whenever she felt in the clear, Sasha would use her own tail to light up the cherry blossom and marvel at them.
That's when she found Red...
March 27th
"Nope," she cheerfully remarked without even looking disappointed, stretching her arms and neck, cracking them horribly. "I barely slept on the cold hard floor again. I'll just doze off the two break hours." He raised an eyebrow.
"I guess flowers really do you a world of good."
"Definitely," she agreed, watching the two masters coming in.
There were still many things to fix, of course. This wasn't some miracle house that would change her in a few days, but knowing that Red knew where she was and approved it meant a lot more than she had previously thought. Running away had been a terrible mistake and she realized that now. She would have to make them gifts...vases...or at least attempt so. Beautifully melted pieces that looked like nothing.
Maybe in a week or two, she'd be able to face the school. Find out exactly what had happened when she had been her other self. Something still seemed to be missing and it made her want to find out. Yet the first night of visiting the flowers had made her thirst for more, and she resolved to go again that night no matter how hard the training would be that day.
That proved to be a mistake.
March 27th - Sasha Vs Char
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That eerie stillness inside of him still hadn't faded. It had changed, though: instead of a silent bubble of emptiness, it was more like a cord stretched out to its maximum tension, ready to snap at the faintest movement. He was going to face his murderer. Vinnie might have had enough love for Bulba to forgive him for his sin, to try to shelter him from it. Char, on the other hand... there wasn't a single ounce of forgiveness in that shriveled, cantankerous heart of his. He wanted Sasha to know what she'd done. He wanted her to stare her crime right in the eye, not hide from it among flower petals and fancy mansions.
He wanted to make her pay.
Char lifted his head to the sky and let out a roar, shattering the serenity of the night and setting a few stray dogs in the distance barking. He was calling her out - she could keep hiding in there if she wanted, but it would just mean he'd be coming in there after her. No more avoiding it: karma was cashing in its checks tonight.
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"Hey! You must be that other Charizard in town. Char, right? What brings you to the fire dojo here? Did you want to train as well? And you mind toning that noise down a little? The intro's nice but it's nearly one in the morning!"
Below him, Vanhi sighed at the fact Wukong was yelling himself and groaned inwardly.
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"Shove it up your ass, fuckmonkey!" Char shouted right back. "Send out the goddamn Charizard, or I drag her out!"
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MARCH 28th-31ST | SOMETHING WILL HAPPEN HERE AND IT WILL BE AWESOME.
April 1st-April 16 - TRAINING
April 17th
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So he didn't come visit right away. Bright and early Sunday morning (ok, after 8 AM. everyone in this crazy dojo has probably been up for hours), though, he appeared with the sheet of paper in one hand and a paper lunch bag in the other. It smelled kind of weird. ...Wait nevermind he pocketed the paper.
... This place was huge. OK. Time to say hello. He approached the door and knocked.
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"It's a human!"
"Or maybe not, his eyes are red!"
"What a weird outfit!"
"He has black hair!"
That was enough of clues for her. Dropping the knife, she ran from the kitchen, miscalculating her steps and nearly sliding on the tiles into the nearly case before she managed to turn and open the door herself, now fully turned back to her charizard form.
Red!
He got a huge lick all over his face.
Behind her a vase finally gave up shaking, fell down and shattered.
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"SASHA!" ...Is what he would have said if there wasn't a tongue in his face. It sounded more like "bbbghbh," but oh man, he was so happy to see her. He didn't even bother wiping the Charizard spit off of his entire head!
When the vase broke he jumped a little and stared at it. Well that might be a problem. "Uh... I'll help clean that up."
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April 18th
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April 21st
WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME WHY DID THIS TAKE SO LONG
If Red had allowed it, he really would've run off to find her the moment she was missing. But he had to trust his trainer, and he had to trust Sasha. It shouldn't have surprised him that both of them had a similar means to cope, after the madness of that changed week. In their own way, they were both trying to discover a new way of being themselves through training. And now that he was finally feeling some semblance of balanced again - maybe not wholly satisfied, but he was still clawing his way back up - he could stand in front of this dojo on his own two feet.
The Venusaur walked up to the door and opened it without an ounce of hesitation. Fire? Bring it on. If there was any Grass Type that wasn't afraid of getting burned, it was Vinnie. Nothing was going to stand in his way now that he was here.
Also he was carrying a giant tulip. It was huge. Like a small child. But that was beside the point.
"SASHA--?"
Re: WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME WHY DID THIS TAKE SO LONG
Under-aged twins who started at Vinnie as he came in.
{´◕ ◡ ◕｀}{´◕ ◡ ◕｀}
"He has green hair!"
"Green hair!"
"Green hair!"
"He must be the Venusaur Sasha told us about!"
"Venusaur! Venusaur!"
{´◕ ◡ ◕｀}{´◕ ◡ ◕｀}
"Hello!"
Maybe they should go get Sasha. You know, after they stopped staring at him, eyes beaming.
April 22nd
PLACEHOLDER FOR ... oh no this is just a post. In the afternoon!
Bulba hadn't thought too much about the other Charizard's disappearance at first. There really wasn't any reason for him to. He was too occupied with guilt he couldn't place and horrible dreams he couldn't remember. She wasn't his team mate, he had no reason to worry himself over it. Team mates taking off was a fairly normal thing for him anyway. Of course once one piece of information got leaked and everything tumbled back into place, things changed. Bulba was suddenly very aware of the fact that his fellow shiny mon was not there.
Once his sins had been firmly established in his mind, everything else had slowly started to come back to him as days went on. Who had picked him in the lab. What that boy had gone on to accomplish. What they had been planning to do. Who his team mates had been. There was a Charizard, but he hadn't been at the school. That wasn't Sasha. Sasha had been a Blastoise. Honestly he wasn't entirely sold that the Blastoise had been her, but all the pieces fit. If she remembered, her disappearance made sense. There were only so many shinies around... She was the only other one he knew, after all.
The only way to find out was to ask.
So there he was, standing in front of the dauntingly large building with the scrap of directions clutched firmly in his hand. Uh. Wow. Okay. That was a big place. A big place full of fire types. Huuuhhhhh his everything was telling him this was a really bad idea but he was just going to tell it to shove it. So he was a big flower walking into a ring of fire that was... fine. Sure.
Seeing as it was a bright and sunny afternoon, Bulba wagered that the doors would probably be open. So he gave them a polite knock... and realized that was probably silly. He opened the door after that, looking around curiously as he slipped into the entrance.
"Hello... ?"
Re: PLACEHOLDER FOR ... oh no this is just a post. In the afternoon!
"He's so cute!"
"I like him better than the guy yesterday."
"Look! He has spots on his face! And those ears!"
"...is he a...bulbasaur?"
"...a bulbasaur..."
Suddenly, and impolitely, might I add, they flew out of their hiding places, poking at his clothing and jumping up and down so they could touch his ears sticking out of his head. Bulba you had two girls looking at you with a single expression on their faces;
{´◕ ◡ ◕｀}
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"Hi there... Um..." Oh gosh look at their faces this was hard to deal with.
"Is Sasha here?"
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April 23rd
IT'S A REAL POST NOW
Saturday was the day after his stupid physics packet was due. Saturday he had time to leave the school. So on Saturday he headed out to where she was training. Some sort of fire-type pokemon place or whatever. He marched up, didn't see anybody around outside, so he opened a door and stepped in.
And now a real tag
Max...was not a Bulbasaur.
"Hello-" The first twin covered the other's mouth, eyes growing round and frightful. The both pointed to him, little out a shriek.
"BLASTOISE! IT'S A BLASTOISE!"
"A really big one at that!" Quickly, they turned to their Pokemon forms and tore off to the glass studio to warn the others. Max could probably hear their screams in the back.
"BLASTOISE! Vanhi! There's a Blastoise!"
And now a fake tag
And now a real tag
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