generalflirt | Appointments Post ( II )

[ Ikki had been assuming they were all going in anyway, so she's pleased with the outcome. ]

Have you ever been in one of these before, Katara? With Pokemon?

Then Katara, I need to insist you don't help. Or there's no point, okay?

[With an easy smile, he goes to open the door - to reveal a grassy flatland plain]

I'll just stand in the background.

[Unless something that you'd better pray doesn't happen happens, you guys won't even know she's there.]

[ Oooooh grassy flatland plain! Ikki wants to bounce in right away, but she manages to keep herself together, bouncing...in place. Soren is going to head in just enough to be inside, though. ]

[Linda leaps to Masaomi's shoulder, and he goes right on in ahead of the other two humans. the plain doesn't seem to have anything in it. Just... grass. It's actually pretty gorgeous when you take into account the sunset on the horizon]

How pretty!

[She said as she moved to... find a place out of the way to stand. Hmm. Maybe over here?]

[ That's Ikki's cue to skip in, stopping over by Soren and looking around with avid interest. She's only been in one or two simulations before, and it has yet to stop being cool. ]

Look at the colours!

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]

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october 4th we're skipping Katara now

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