Chương 29: Battles
The next day training resumed as normal, with Daikon sparring with Pangoro in the morning and battling with his pokemon in the afternoon. Gerald started to watch his battles and gave the odd comment here or there. Though he didn't say much, his advice always revealed the flaw in the battle or a mistake Daikon and his pokemon made.
His days were filled with intense training and battling, causing the time to past quickly. Another month went by, bringing the total time he spent in the valley to four months. Daikon had finished the first stance in Dragon Form and was taking off his clothes to bathe in the lake. His body was still covered in scars from his fight in Cerulean City, a particularly bad one on his left shoulder and neck. Underneath the scars were well defined muscles that were ready to burst out with power. Daikon's black hair had grown long, causing his to brush it back out of his eyes, much to his annoyance.
Daikon jumped out of the lake and was met with his grandfather waiting for him. Quickly getting dressed, Daikon approached him. Gerald threw him a wooden sword and said, "Today you start learning swordsmanship."
Daikon smiled, excited. Though he liked hand to hand combat and was getting better at it, his passion was with the sword. Since he was young, he loved the black sword that his father left. It felt perfect in his hands and he had a special connection with it.
Gerald placed one hand behind his back while pointing the sword at Daikon, "Come at me." he said.
Daikon squeezed the wooden sword with both his hands, feeling a little nervous from his grandfather's nonchalant expression. He quickly suppressed that feeling and calmed himself.
He sent out a fast stab towards Gerald's chest but was deflected away easily. Not fazed by it, Daikon slashed upwards trying to catch him off guard. Gerald's eyes flashed for a split second before his face turned back to its usual stone look. He also deflected this slash before slapping Daikon with the flat of his blade across the face leaving a red mark.
"Your attacks are quick and decisive but you leave too many openings. No wonder that Hyet brat was able to cut you up." Gerald coldly said to Daikon.
Daikon ignored the stinging pain from his cheek and retook his stance, ignoring Gerald's comment. He then did the same stab at Gerald's chest, which Gerald deflected away easily. This time Daikon took a step closer to Gerald before sending a slash upward towards his opponent's chest.
Giving his head a slight shake, Gerald went to deflect the blade but was stunned when Daikon's blade changed course halfway through.
'A feint!' Gerald thought before leaning back to avoid the sword. He then returned the attack with his own slash that struck Daikon on his shoulder.
"Nice move. Do you know why it didn't work?" Gerald asked.
Daikon who was rubbing his shoulder said, "You are too quick."
"It just looks like that. My movements have no wasted energy and are brought back to its simplest form. Your form and swordsmanship isn't bad at all but somewhere you added unnecessary movements causing your swordsmanship to look flashy but lose their purpose." Gerald said, playing with his wooden sword.
Daikon looked down at his sword and pondered what his grandfather had said. After a few moments of thinking, he took his stance again, inviting Gerald to attack.
A rare smile appeared on Gerald's face. 'He really is a genius.'
The pair continued to fight, the air filled with wood clashing against each other. By the end of it, Daikon was covered with red welts but his face was covered with smiles. No one in Pallet Town was able to teach him about the sword but sparring with his grandfather he had a teacher and he enjoyed learning about something he loved. Daikon soaked up everything Gerald did and said, observing his body movements and sword position.
Daikon left to go spar with Pangoro leaving Gerald watching him leave.
"Genius… absolute genius." Gerald said with a bright smile on his face. Pride swelled up in his chest.
'Well of course he is! He is my grandson!' Gerald laughed loudly, walking away.
---
After training with Pangoro he grabbed Espeon and searched the forest for a pokemon to battle.
Him and Espeon talked about about random things including Daikon's new sword training and how he promised to brush her tonight.
'Master you must know that Vibrava is weak compared to the rest of us and will bring us down in that tournament.' Espeon said, voicing her concerns. Daikon had shared with his pokemon that they would be participating in the U20 Pokemon Tournament and that they needed to place high or Gerald's dragons would train them for another year.
Hearing this, they all started to panic and take their training seriously, causing Daikon to laugh.
"I know but he puts the most effort in his training. He will catch up with the rest." Daikon knew that Vibrava was weak and was falling behind the other pokemon but he also trained longer and harder than the rest, impressing Daikon.
Espeon disagreed but didn't say anything. Though training and hard work was important, a pokemon needed a certain level of skill and talent to become a powerhouse and she didn't believe Vibrava had that.
Daikon knew her worries but thought she wasn't being fair. Vibrava was slowly building his strength everyday, pushing himself to his physical limits. Plus, Vibrava still had another evolution that would unlock his full potential.
"What do you think about Togekiss?" Daikon asked Espeon.
Daikon asked for Espeon's opinion on many things, wanting her view and insight.
'Powerful. Might be your strongest pokemon.' Espeon simply said.
Daikon nodded his head before seeing a flash in the corner of his eye.
'Master!'
Espeon cried, immediately jumping into action, the jewel on her forehead glowed as a Psybeam shot out from it and hit a shadow.
Daikon turned to see a small bug pokemon, Ninjask. Known for its speed, Ninjask were expert assassins, able to land a quick and decisive blow to its prey. Seeing its attack fail, it buzzed angrily at Espeon before attacking her. Even with Daikon's enhance vision and reflexes, he could only catch flashes and glimpses of Ninjask, making him unable to react and counter attack.
Espeon seemed to have a better time than Daikon with her precognitive powers but was still unable to land an attack.
Daikon quickly tried to think of a solution for their predicament.
Daikon decided to try something, "Espeon use Swift and control the stars with Psychic, creating a barrier of stars around us. When you sense it attacking, send the stars outward." Daikon said, hoping that it would work.
Espeon did as he said, creating a dome of stars around them. Espeon's was at full attention, trying to predict where Ninjask's next attack came from. Suddenly her tail slightly shivered, causing Espeon to react immediately, sending the wall of stars behind Daikon.
Ninjask was shocked as a wall of stars rushed towards him. He tried to evade them with his insane agility but was unable to avoid them all, being struck by the attack.
"Don't let it recover!" Daikon yelled as he saw the Ninjask being hit.
Espeon seemed to have the same idea as she was already moving towards Ninjask using Quick Attack. Espeon slammed into Ninjask, causing it to hit the ground rolling. Her vicious nature came through as she used Psychic, enveloping Ninjask and lifting it up and slamming it into the ground repeatedly.
Daikon told Espeon to stop after a while, knowing that the Ninjask had fainted. Espeon grudgingly stopped, glaring at the fainted Ninjask.
'This bug dares attack you, I should kill it.' Espeon spat venomously.
Daikon scratched her ear before continuing through the forest, battling strong pokemon with Espeon.
Time continued to flow...
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