generalflirt | Appointments Post ( II )

Mmmhm, mmm hm. [He nods here. While I said the plain is empty - and it is for the most part - there's some rolling hills in the distance and a small handful of rocks here and there. Masaomi himself does not go to take a seat on a rock or anything, but instead advanced forward and motions for Ikki to follow]

The sunset's not really relevant, I just think it looks romantic.

[Katara rolls her eyes lightly, if in good humor. Of course, he'd have to set up training to be 'romantic.']

[ Ikki falls in behind Masaomi easily enough. ]

I think nighttime is more romantic! [ FIRMLY. And okay this is still about the whole eating stars thing. ]

Maybe! But it would lower visibility a little! And that might be problematic, because right now you'll need to use all your senses for thhis exercise!

[Soren, Ikki, be forward! He turns and smirks

But he's back in lecture mode too]

Edited 2012-10-16 05:37 (UTC)

[Okay, this spot looks good.

You two have fun now.

~~Tag without me like the wind!~~]

What's this exercise?

[ Soren's got a better idea than Ikki, but he's waiting to hear, too. She's pretty used to training of other varieties, and it's easy enough to fall into waiting and listening, like she has been. ]

You need to sense the world around you. Right now, under the ground below us, are a few pokemon. Ground types, mostly, so it's not a huge problem for Soren, but I want you to feel out where they're surfacing and lead Soren to them.

[And he gives a glance at Soren - don't help her too much.

It's an exercise in intuition. Intuition isn't a natural phenomenon, it's one which is only gained by significant rigorous training. But it also is something which is counter to thought. You need to stop thinking, and feel - subtle movements in the ground, hearing them surfacing, gaining a sixth sense.

Buuut]

Oh, and be careful, because they'll also be attacking you.

[Three three sandshrew, a dugtrio, and then to cap things off, an onix.]

Edited 2012-10-17 23:11 (UTC)

[ That...sounds a lot like he's asking her to earthbend-see like Aunt Toph or grandpa. But then again, Ikki knows for a fact that Masaomi can't do that exact thing, and she's fairly certain he wouldn't ask her to do something that was impossible, So she just nods - up until they'll also be attacking you.

Well - right then. That made the field a lot less pretty and a lot more worrying, although Soren, for his part, looks excited.

Ikki does take a few steps forward, but she's not quite certain what to look for. Feeling out movement in the air is no big deal, but she's never really had to do it anywhere else, and so she looks at the field carefully, trying to spot anything that might be something, straining to hear something other than herself and Masaomi and Katara and Linda and Soren.

...

Yeah she has no idea what she's looking for here. ]

[Masaomi, to his credit, is leaning back, smiling a bit to himself, and trying to keep quiet. Linda is sort of rocking on his head, a bit impatient. She hated this exercise, because it uses pokemon she can't fight, by definition.

The first strike'll be coming quick- A Sandshrew's going to burst out of the ground at an angle (causing mind surface disturbance to Ikki's right) to attack with Dig.

Dodge well. However, if dodged, it's going to follow up with a sand attack, starying dirt towards Ikki or Soren (whoever's closer) to lower visibility. If not dodged and it, well, hits. Then it's going to land on the ground and be briefly open to a retaliation before digging back into the ground]

[ There's a rustle in the grass over there, but is that something she should be - WHOA OKAY WOW Ikki's up in the air without really thinking about it, jumping sideways in instant reaction to things coming at her, so Katara can breathe easy if she was worried. Soren goes the opposite way a split second before she does, and lands further back than the little girl.

Ikki's hands are already up in a ready stance when she hits the ground, but that doesn't really matter - acting on his own again, Soren counters the sand attack sent Ikki's way with an angry air slash to hopefully blow it off course.

They're supposed to be training to do what Chien used to do, and that's the thought that reminds Ikki to say something instead of standing there reeling in things coming out of the ground. ] - Oh! Um, Soren -

[ The type thing means Soren's good against Ground, right? Or, er, not bad. And so one of those moves might be best? ...Okay but which one is she supposed to - she basically blurts out the first thing to come to mind. ] Uh, air slash?

[ That sounded more like a question than an order, Ikki, but Soren will take it, and this time he'll direct it at the sandshrew. ]

[She's thinking. She shouldn't be thinking, and it's causing her to make a vulnerability for herself. If that wasn't a ground type, if that wasn't an easy, low level monster, she'd have been hit. Still, he has to give Soren props. The sand attack does indeed go awry, and one air slash, which hits the shrew square in the face, knocks it back and knocks it out. As per the program, as it flies back it also vanishes into some pixels.

Of course, Masaomi also can sense what's coming next. If you asked him, he couldn't explain how, but he knows in about three seconds from right below where Ikki is now the second sandshrew is going to burst up and try to scratch at her legs. He wonders if she'll be able to sense it somehow

(though he can't answer, a few signs include the ground sinking a half-second before it surfaces, a light secondary squeak from underground via the hole the first one made, and a faint clicking sound from it digging nearer to the surface. Though given all the noise of the battle so far, some of those will be easier to tell than others]

[Katara, meanwhile, is tense and unhappy. It's taking her a lot to just stand there, and she hopes you both appreciate it. Her battle senses are piqued and she is trying very hard to hold very, very still.

But she's watching, tense and ready to step in if something should go wrong.]

[ Did that thing just vanish what. But Soren gives a triumphant crow, and Ikki feels herself relaxing a little bit. Not from confidence, but because she can see what they're doing here, now. She's sort of getting a feel for what she's supposed to be doing, and that makes it a little bit easier to breathe and relax into training mode, into the stance she'd already fallen into.

Soren's victory cry covers up the noise of the secondary squeak, although there's a clicking from somewhere, and Ikki's going to wave him into silence - she'd already given him a grateful grin - when there's a shift.

Again, the reaction on her own part is instant, especially when she's adjusted to the idea that this is a training exercise of a different nature. When the ground is broken Ikki's five feet up and flipping out of the way - if nothing else, she's quick on and off her feet - and this time she's more certain in what to do, since Masaomi said nothing last time and Soren seemed to think that was what they were supposed to do.

So she calls out another one of the demonstrated attacks before she hits the ground. ] Quick attack!

[ Not a question, but a direction, because she's almost certain Soren's waiting for those, although she's just as certain he'll act on his own if he thinks he needs to, like he did before with the sand attack, and she's sort of comforted by that. ]

[Masaomi leans back on one foot, smiling. He glances over at Katara... well, it figures she'd be tense. Nothing he can do about it now but he does whisper to her, either way-]

She's doing well.

[And she is. Soren's high level quick attack hits the sandshrew before it even has time to regroup. That knocks it back and makes it land on its ass. Briefly, it looks confused before it just vanishes too, falling back in the same motion. There's a lull here though, and Masaomi calls out-] Three more, doing good, Ikki!!

[ Three more? Okay, that's a number instead of a vague idea of things will keep hopping out and attacking you, so Ikki nods, feeling cautiously cheerful about that.

Three more, right? She's almost worried about taking the time to talk to Soren - what if she misses something? That last one might have gotten to her if she hadn't been an airbender and didn't know the shift of the ground before it moves from living with Korra - but she'll risk it. ] Thanks for earlier, Soren! And we're doing well, did you hear?

[ He totally heard and even though it's Masaomi, Masaomi who is Linda's partner, Soren will take it. He's done this sort of thing before, but Ikki probably hasn't, so he eyes the girl carefully, making sure that she's no worse for the wear. ]

[Curiously, and forebodingly, for a brief moment as they're taking the ground is going to shake - much more than before, more like a small localized earthquake than anything. That's the onix, tunneling under the ground near the surface, but not coming up yet.

Nothing is rising from that though. Just a shaking. Masaomi's smirk becomes more pronounced, and Linda actually starts to get alert, mostly because of Masaomi's smirk there]

[ What was that. Ikki's up on the balls of her feet, prepared to move, but she's not certain if she should or where to. Soren, meanwhile, flaps his wings, either from nerves or impatience - Ikki's banking on the latter, but she's not sure.

She's supposed to be leading Soren to things and not just reacting, right? So Ikki does start walking again, although she's not just walking - she's walking like she's in practice, still in position, and she's trying to figure out where exactly the source of that was. Soren's still following along, too. ]

[It happens again then - the source is going from what is Ikki's right, going towards her left. Last time, it was the opposite direction. The best is criss-crossing under the ground.

...But that's a distraction, really, because behind the two of them the last sandshrew is digging itself out of the ground as quietly as it can and holding up one claw to the sky. That claw is glowing, because it's trying to change the weather. This move isn't a fast one, but if it's allowed maybe ten seconds, a Sandstorm will quite randomly come up on this field. Strong winds and dirt blowing everywhere]

[ The distraction is definitely working on Ikki, who can't figure out where the rumbling is coming from exactly - it's stronger than the sandshrew's digging, and so the only warning she has is Soren, who catches on only at the end of the ten seconds.

Weather shift ahoy!

Ikki adjusts to the winds easily enough, but she has to half shut her eyes to protect them from dirt. She doesn't think she can split her attention enough to bend air away from her and focus on whatever else is going on, and that might obscure things even worse, so she decides to just go with it.

Okay, strong winds - and just like she'd just decided, the weather might make it more difficult for Soren to bend air - sorry, use flying moves - then - ] Quick attack!

[ She had to raise her voice to be heard, and at least Ikki doesn't seem to be having too hard a time with the wind, although she has to keep moving to avoid being blown over. She's tiny. ]

I like her style. [Worth noting: Soren is being buffeted by the wind, and the dirt hitting him is doing damage. Not a lot, but it's making him need to flap his wings harder, making him need to look closer for things, and generally just harassing him. Still, it does not lower his visibility enough that he can't hit the sandshrew and knock it out, making it vanish.

...Even if that doesn't make the sandstorm vanishing. It's now adding howling wind and lower visibility to her searching. The earth's rumbling again fro, the underground onix, this time in a circular motion around the area, but that might be hard to pin down from vibration and sound alone. Even Masaomi isn't following that. he's instead watching his student.

...He wonders, idly, if she could possibly do some bending trick to make Soren's visibility easier. Perhaps getting on his back and then bending away things around him? If she doesn't think of something herself, he makes a mental note to suggest that for next time]

[ Ikki was hoping the sandstorm might have vanished with the perpetrator, but no such luck. And there's more rumbling and it seems to be coming from everywhere - one of these pokemon is moving around way, way too much, or they're dancing down there, and Ikki's not certain how to find that.

Two more.

The wind and sand isn't hurting her - at least, not enough that Ikki notices - but she does see that Soren looks more harassed, and she growls a little, because while her temper is generally pretty upbeat, she doesn't exactly like the situation. It's more Soren's body language than the need for visibility that causes Ikki to close the distance between them; she doesn't get on his back (it doesn't occur to her, although that would definitely make what she's attempting easier), but she takes a breath and tries to get a bubble of air around them. She's not sure how long she can keep it up in this sort of condition, and it makes it harder for her personally to pay attention to the ground, but at least it should make it easier on Soren.

Also, she can't figure out what the rumbling is up to, anyway. ]

Three, two... [Because it turns out, there's a second rumble now. the onix is still moving, but there's a much more localized and much more violent one. namely, the Dugtrio is using Earthquake. As a ground move, as long as Soren and Ikki get airborne it shouldn't effect them at all, but Masaomi takes a three steps forward, just in case.

Because the dugtrio is going to burst out of the ground two or so feet from Ikki and Soren, and the ground all around them is going to split apart. Breaks in the ground, crags of dirt-rock-stuff splitting up, violent land shaking, the works.]

[ Ikki's bending helps Soren's visibility, and he's a lot more experienced than she is at this sort of thing. The instant the ground starts shaking he's off of the ground, and as a bonus he's knocked into Ikki to get her on his back beforehand. That got her to yelp a little in sheer surprise - and stopped the bending, so have some more sandstorm Soren - before she rolled with it and attempted to clear the air around them again as Soren kept them aloft.

Okay, an earthquake - but where is the source

oh nevermind there it is and that would be why Soren thought it was important to get them airbound, Ikki has to agree she wouldn't have liked being there for the sudden ground demolishment. Ikki grips Soren just a little tighter. Good thing one of them caught that. ] Can you do anything with me on you? [ Half asking and half trying to think about it.

Soren's of the opinion that obviously he can, but it'd probably slow him down a lot, and Ikki isn't certain she'd be able to stay on - or, well, that she wouldn't get in the way - so this time she'll give an order before slipping off of his back, while they're...pretty high up in the air. ] Peck!

[ And oh hey falling but it's a controlled fall more than anything else, concerned grandparents don't need to take her antics too seriously. It's a little difficult with the windstorm, but bending air beneath her isn't advanced at all. ]

[One Peck isn't enough to take out the Dugtrio though! It does hurt the three headed mole though, and it retreats (blindingly fast) back into the broken earth before appearing again off to the right, trying to slash (very fast) up at Soren with some sort of... claw... thing. Despite not having arms. Still, being the air, while the dugtrio is much, much faster, Soren is probably more nimble.

That said]

Keeping hold, Ikki?! Good luck!

[Masaomi calls that, strutting closer to the battlefield. Linda groans as he enters the outer ranges of the standstorm. Even if it's starting to die down now (five turns and all)

[ What the hell is that thing anyway. There's no time to fiddle with pokedexes at the moment, though, so Ikki figures she'll ask about it later. Soren, still airborne, does manage to dodge whatever was just thrown at him, although his attention is now split, because he's worried about the little girl on the ground, considering they're both viable targets in this apparent exercise.

Ikki is less worried about that, although she should probably share his concerns. ] Quick attack! [ since that one worked all the other times. There's a split second delay before Soren obeys, because okay at least if he does this they'll have one less to worry about. Maybe.

And at least the sandstorm is starting to die down. Ikki's in tune with the wind conditions, if nothing else, and she glances over at Masaomi as he starts coming over. One more, if they got dugtrio, so she's not sure why he's coming in. Did she do something wrong? ] I'm okay!

[ covered in sand and probably she's got a few cuts from the sandy wind, but she's bouncing on her feet and ready to go still.

little does she know. ]

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october 4th we're skipping Katara now

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