sinclair's training. [exp]

[ARIBEAR!]

Sinclair walked into the empty training center -- it was very, very early in the morning, after all. The trainer had decided on spending the entire day training, and it was only logical to start out in the morning. Looking at her belt, Sinclair sighed. Her pokemon would need all the training they could possibly get.

The woman glanced around the training area, surveying the scene. There were various parts to the place; a forested area, a rocky plateau, a small body of water, even a miniature desert -- and that wasn't the half of it. A large dome was visible a little bit beyond the forest, which was where Sinclair assumed the some of the machines were. If the brochure was in any way correct, there would also be small domes connected to the larger one, for more specific training purposes. Sinclair stored the information away, possibly for later use.

The brunette thought of her pokemon in her mind, running through each of their strengths and weaknesses. The conclusion of who she was to train was all too obvious -- it was Kain.

Taking off the corresponding pokeball, the woman rolled the sphere around in her palm for a few seconds. Her thoughts wandered to the small Abra contained within. Kain, she had named him, was a small pokemon; smaller than most Abra, at least. Having only recently hatched, Sinclair had expected for the psychic pokemon to have been particularly childish and uncooperative -- quite like her Rosa, to be honest. However, once Kain hatched, the Abra proved himself to be mature. Upon further observation on Sin's part, Kain was not only mature, but obedient. There was just one problem.

The woman didn't release the Abra yet, instead making her way into the forested area. Upon entering a clearing, she stopped and examined her new surroundings. The woman nodded to herself. "This will suffice," she murmured. Pressing the button in the center of the pokeball, the brunette lightly tossed it up into the air. A beam of blindingly red light shot out from the open pokeball, a yellow Abra materializing in front of her on the forest floor. Snatching the pokeball out of the air and returning it to her belt, Sinclair bluntly addressed the blinking Abra. "We're going to train today."

Kain coldly regarded his trainer, his skepticism showing clearly on his fox-like face. How? he replied coldly. Kain wasn't fond of battling or anything of the sort, and his unenthusiasm showed. In the Abra's opinion, fighting was best left to the other barbarians in Sinclair's party. If I'm not mistaken, that Rydia seems to be quite eager to battle, the Abra pointed out, causing Sinclair to roll her eyes in exasperation. Yes, Kain was the only pokemon the woman could actually have a decent conversation with, but it was no secret that Kain had a notoriously bad personality. Yes, he followed orders, but always with a few sarcastic quips shoved in there. To be frank, the Abra's pacifistic nature and bad attitude grated on Sinclair's nerves. Even Rosa fought!

Picking up a particularly heavy stone, Sinclair hefted it and tested its weight. Shooting a dark, amused glance at the sitting Abra, she responded, "Like this." With a small smirk on her face, Sinclair threw the rock at her Abra, hitting the pokemon square in the face. Not missing a beat, the brunette picked up another rock and promptly sent it flying at her pokemon.

What are you doing?! the Abra demanded, attempting to dodge the rocks. Kain couldn't help but think that this woman was completely insane -- after all, she was throwing rocks at her pokemon. Are you some sort of schoolyard bully?

Sinclair chuckled at the Abra's indignant tone, shaking her head. "No," she replied curtly, continuing her volley of attacks. The trainer watched her pokemon run wildly about the clearing, resisting the urge to roll her eyes once more. Taking careful aim, she threw a rock with particular force, catching Kain on the side of his head and knocking the pokemon over. "Weakling," she spat, lacing her words with venom (for the dramatic effect, you see). "Are you or are you not a psychic pokemon?" She paused for a few moments to allow her words to sink in, then threw a stone at the Abra with all of her might. If he didn't dodge this one, it was going to be all over -- Sinclair highly doubted the pokemon's body (or skull) was strong enough to take the force behind the attack. Tell me you're as smart as I think you are, Kain, the woman thought. As vicious as she was acting, she really did want to see this Abra improve.

Wincing from the onslaught of rocks, Kain found himself hating Sinclair more and more. What, in the name of Arceus, was that stupid woman doing? Here he was, running about the clearing like a fool and trying to tell the brunette to stop, and all she did was keep up the attacks -- and insult him. Yes! I am a psychic pokemon! the Abra raged, turning to glare at his trainer ... just in time. He saw the woman bring her arm back, and Kain could tell that this one was going to hurt very, very bad if it hit him. The Abra started to run out of the way, but, thanks to his amazing gross motor skills, tripped. Kain glanced at the rock, his eyes widening. How could he escape from this? Then Sinclair's words rushed back into his mind. Psychic ... pokemon? That was it! Closing his eyes, Kain used Teleport.

The pokemon escaped from the attack just in time to see the rock slam into the ground where the he had been just moments before. Turning to glare at Sinclair, the pokemon found a small grin on his trainer's face. Why ... are you smiling? the pokemon asked, his rage temporarily forgotten.

"Because you figured it out," she said simply. "If you'd remembered faster, you wouldn't have been so hurt." Moving across the clearing, Sinclair quickly regathered her large pile of rocks -- collecting a few things, such as sticks and branches and even a few vines along the way. "Now. Don't just dodge these -- Teleport away from them." In order to rest her arm, the trainer laid out a few rocks at her feet. Allowing herself a small pause, Sinclair took a deep breath -- then she began to kick the rocks at her pokemon. One would have expected the throws to be lessened in power and speed (and accuracy), but, instead, the rocks were every bit -- if not moreso -- as painful as before.

Kain learned that the hard way.

Taken by surprise, the Abra nearly was knocked over again by the first rock Sinclair kicked. He shot a glare at his trainer -- he would never forgive her for making him look stupid -- but decided that now wasn't the time for him to be distracted. Gathering his focus, he once again teleported out of the way of the flying objects. Kain found the feeling that Teleport gave him slightly unsettling; it was as if he was being pulled apart in all directions and compressed at the same time. It seemed as if he would have to get used to teleporting or risk getting brained by one of his trainer's flying rocks.

Shaking off the feeling, Kain quickly teleported himself out of harm's way ... only to immediately get smacked in the face (again! What was with this woman and her face-smacking?) by a rock. Wh-how? the Abra asked, confused. How did she know where he was going to teleport to?

Sinclair laughed, regarding her Abra with something like pity. "You're predictable." The brunette temporarily stopped her attacks, taking the time to teach her Abra a valuable lesson on the battlefield. "Your teleporting patterns are too naive." She gestured at a point a little farther off in the clearing. "You were going to head there next, weren't you?" Kain glanced at the spot to which she was pointing, and realized her point. Slightly amused, Sinclair folded her arms across her chest. "If I can figure out where you're going to go ... we can say that your opponent will be able to do the same." The Abra felt rather stupid as he thought about what his trainer was saying. Psychic pokemon were supposed to be intelligent -- and this training was proving him as anything but.

She quickly kicked a rock at Kain, raising an eyebrow as it solidly connected. "This is no time to be distracted," she said harshly. "Or did you forget we're training?" The woman began to kick more stones at the Abra, increasing her speed. Kain found himself constantly teleporting from one place to another, disappearing and reappearing as fast as he could to avoid the sting of the attacks. To his trainer's surprise, he began to anticipate her attacks, teleporting to a different location before she could even take aim. "Good," she grunted.

Taking another break, Sinclair decided to gather up all of her 'projectiles' once more. The instant she had collected her rocks, she began to kick them once more. Grabbing a large branch that she had placed by her side, Sinclair began to swat at the Abra every time he came within her reach. "Come on, Kain!" she spat. "Can't you move faster than that?" Abandoning the rock-kicking, she dove toward her pokemon, swinging the branch with a deadly grace. She felt the shock of impact run through the branch, sending her Abra flying a few feet away. "Don't forget, there's also close combat," she warned, taking another swing at her Abra.

He teleported out of the way, a huge headache forming in within his mind. The Abra could feel the strain of constant teleportation catching up to him -- it seemed as if each time his trainer swung that accursed tree branch of hers, the interval between his teleportation and her supposed contact was getting shorter. He was barely escaping by the skin of his teeth (as humans said it). Kain didn't know if he was getting slower or if Sinclair was getting faster or if it was a mixture of both but he soon found himself unable to keep up with his trainer's deadly attacks.

It took one good whack about the ears with the branch for both Kain and Sinclair to realize that the Abra couldn't teleport anymore. Panting slightly -- they had been at it for over three hours -- Sinclair smiled. "Good job, Kain." The Abra nodded, too tired to say anything. Instead, the yellow fox-like pokemon simply collapsed onto the ground, ready to take a good nap. Sinclair smiled down at her pokemon (for being just recently hatched, he was pretty tough) before smacking him out of his doze with her tree branch. "Who the hell said we were done?" Kain's shot a venomous glare at Sinclair, refusing to move.

The woman returned her pokemon's glare with a frigid one of her own. "Get up, Kain. We're not done." She drew back her leg, ready to send the Abra flying way across the clearing like a soccer ball.

Kain hastily sat upright, confused. What was this crazy woman doing? I can't ... teleport anymore. You know that. Sinclair nodded, rolling her eyes. She pointed at her brain, obviously indicating that the Abra actually use it. What do you want me to do, Miss Insane Trainer? he asked icily. I can't ... Wait a second. It was only last night that Sinclair had used a certain disc and taught him another move. You ... want me to use Psychic? On what? This earned the Abra another exasperated sigh.

Sinclair lifted another rock, this time just gently tossing it at the Abra. Kain caught it, warily eyeing his trainer. "Instead of dodging these rocks, I want you to stop them." The Abra stared at his trainer in shock and horror.

Did I not make it clear? the Abra yelled, losing his cool. I have a rampaging Tyranitar in my skull! Kain gestured at his head, inside of which was forming a very, very large headache. I told you! I CAN'T -- Kain's rant was abruptly cut off by a vicious thwack from the tree branch.

"Does it ... look like I care?" Sinclair said coldly. "Faint. Go ahead." She swept her hand across the clearing. "Fight, don't fight. It's up to you." She regarded her pokemon with contempt. "But if you're going to give up now, you'll be a weakling forever." Sinclair hefted the branch, laying it over her shoulder. Her challenge wasn't spoken, but it was clear. Was Kain going to continue with her training or not?

The Abra glared at Sinclair for a while longer, then gave in. An awkward silence ensued, with Kain eventually exploding, Are you going to kick those rocks or not?

The brunette laughed, nodding. "Good." Instead of kicking the rocks, however, she picked one up and threw it at the Abra. Kain let loose a large burst of psychic power, stopping the rock in its tracks and making it fall to the ground. Sinclair shook her head, dissatisfied. "You need to control that power. Only use as much as you have to; otherwise, you'll tire yourself out." She tossed another one at the Abra. Kain attempted to reign in his power, instead releasing only a small amount of psychic energy. This wasn't enough, and the rock still found its way into the Abra's face. Sin sighed, a slightly exaggerated note of disappointment in her voice. "And that's not enough power. You need to be able to do this without even thinking, Kain." The woman paused. "Maybe I should have asked for that other egg."

The psychic pokemon was getting frustrated. Fine! he spat. He would show that stupid human. He would show her just how powerful he was! And he would show her that he was every bit as strong as his siblings. No. He would show her that he was the strongest. Energized by rage, jealousy, determination, and a maelstrom of other emotions that pretty much equated him not wanting to lose, Kain began to gauge just how much power was needed to stop each rock. He started off with quite a bit of power, instantly stopping the first rock. Slowly but carefully, he began to decrease the amount of power he was releasing.

Then Kain came to a point where it was perfect -- he could almost feel his own psychic power and the rock collide, each negating the other. Now comfortable, he began to stop the rocks at a rapid pace -- Sinclair, noticing that Kain had become accustomed to stopping the rocks by now, had resumed kicking. She started off slowly, then rapidly began to increase her speed. Kain stopped each and every rock in its tracks, forming a formidable pile of said rocks in front of him. The pair of them kept this up for at least an hour, Sinclair occasionally batting the rocks with her branch or simply chucking a handful at her Abra.

The strain was showing, however. Kain's eyes were slightly glazed over, and his head was throbbing with pain. He refused to tell his trainer to stop, however; his pride wouldn't let him do anything of the sort. Eventually, Sinclair stopped herself. "You're still wasting too much energy," the woman said bluntly. Kain's looked at his trainer in surprise. The brunette held up a finger, glaring her pokemon into silence. "Psychic pokemon are supposed to be smart, Kain. Think. How would you prevent those rocks from hitting you using the least amount of energy possible?"

The Abra stared at Sinclair, uncomprehending. He had been stopping the rocks for a full-on hour, and now she was telling him there was an easier way? Sinclair, as if she knew what he was thinking, shook her head in dark amusement. "Unless you figure it out, I'm going to be kicking these rocks until you drop." Kain sighed. Of course. Sinclair would never tell him anything helpful. He couldn't help but wonder if his trainer had some kind of special ability, like pokemon did -- it seemed as if her stamina was endless. Of course, he had no way of knowing the kind of upbringing she had received, but he wondered regardless.

Kain was launched back into the routine of rock coming -- stop the rock -- another rock -- stop that one too as he wondered just what Sinclair was talking about. The rock-stopping had become so habitual that Kain was able to ponder the mystery while lamenting his horrendous headache and still be able to prevent any of the projectiles from coming into contact with him. The psychic pokemon kept this up for a few minutes until a particularly nasty hammering headache attacked the Abra's skull. Distracted by the pain, he made a rock accidentally veer off-course, instead of stopping it.

Then it came to him. He was supposed to deflect the rocks, not stop them!

Struck by the inspiration, Kain tried his theory. He applied the same force that he did when he stopped the rocks to make the rocks fly to the side. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Sinclair smiling. Feeling rather smug, Kain gradually reduced the amount of power he was using to deflect the rocks. After a few minutes of experimenting, Kain found that he could make the rocks hit everything but him with a simply nudge with his mind -- much less energy-consuming than using brute force to drop the rocks to the ground.

It continued this way for another few minutes, when Sinclair finally stopped kicking the rocks. A light sheen of sweat on her brow, she began to clap slowly. "Good job," she said quietly. "You ... figured it all out yourself."

Kain glanced at his trainer with pride, then faltered. So ... you knew. From the beginning, you knew. Sinclair raised an eyebrow at the Abra's accusation. You ... you tricked me! That's why you were being so ... so cruel! A chuckle began to bubble up in the back of the woman's throat. Why didn't you just tell me how to do it from the start? the Abra demanded, aggravated. He'd been played like a violin by this human! There was no need to prolon --

"You're wrong." Kain cut off suddenly, surprised by his trainer's sudden words. Sinclair was no longer smiling. Instead, she was looking down at her pokemon, a serious look in her eyes. "If you didn't figure it out for yourself, then this entire thing would have been completely pointless." She swung the branch around, sighing. "You need to learn to make the best decisions, Kain." She smiled softly at her pokemon. "You're the only one. Rosa, Rydia, Tifa, Paine. None of them can do anything right if I'm not there."

The pokemon seemed to be taken aback by the unexpected praise. He could feel his headache coming on again in full force -- now that there was no urgent situation for him to deal with, it seemed as if he was going to pass out at any time. Kain attempted to get one last question in. What ... what if I didn't ... figure it ... out ... The pokemon's words trailed off as Kain finally fell asleep.

Sinclair returned her pokemon to his pokeball, smiling. "I knew you would."

NOTES no icon because I'm lazy and goddamn this was long. and all of sin's trainings will be in this thread in the future because I'm awesome that way.
TAGS mod for levels.



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