generalflirt | Appointments Post ( II )

[ Okay so that - huh. So you have to knock out all three heads? That makes sense, Ikki supposes? She does see that the Dugtrio is paying attention, but Ikki doesn't guess why. You're supposed to watch your enemy in battle, and she figures this is that, and not a planned pre-counterattack. Soren, who has just defeated all the previous pokemon in one strike, is feeling a bit too confident and cocky to catch what Ikki misses, too. ] Quick attack!

[ And then that happens, the Sucker Punch to Soren's jaw, and wow he's not going to be attacking right now give him a minute.

Ikki gives a little strangled yelp - oh no is he okay what just happened Soren look out what if it does something else - and realizes she can at least buy some more time for Soren to recover. She's going to send her own airbending blast at the Dugtrio, attempting to divert it from attacking Soren again. ]

[Excellent. That's what Masaomi was hoping to see, because the air blast causes the dugtrio heads to pop back under ground quick before popping back up. they're wary now, and more importantly, they are now distracted. While the sucker punch was a heavy blow, it's not nearly enough to knock out Soren. So he has a good chance for a counter attack here.

...Masaomi, meanwhile, is tapping linda. Linda goes to Magnet Rise off his shoulder. The gounds's shaking again, the onix is coming back]

[ If these things are allowed to attack her, Ikki's pretty certain it's not against the rules to attack them back. And she may not be violent in nature, but she is very much defensive, and that reflex was just tripped. ] Aerial Ace!

[ And she's going to bend at the dugtrio again while Soren obeys, because keeping the pokemon's attention split seems like a good idea at the moment. This time instead of a punch, she whips air at it with a kick. ]

[The air hits the dugtrio again - and attention is split. This time between the heads. The two still awake heads actually look in different directions - one at Ikki and one up at Soren. and the result is the attack from the bit hits it square in the noggin, knocking both out at once. It too, vanishes.

And Masaomi gives a prideful smile at her]

That was great.

[The ground is still shaking, though. and now him and Linda are walking right up next to her]

[ Ikki grins up at Masaomi, pleased that he seems pleased, although it changes to a little frown after a moment, as Soren swoops over to circle above them. ]

One left, right, Sifu? [ The questions inside that question are pretty apparent on her face. ]

Yep, but don't worry. I'm handling this last one for you. [With a smile. But it doesn't meet his eyes. His eyes are hard, focused... but Excited. He loves being a trainer. Loves this control.

Three, two... one...

And then an Onix barrels out of the ground in front of them. Not it's whole body, but given it's about thirty feet long, it doesn't need the whole body out. It appears with a loud roar, too]

[ She's about to ask why, but that's pretty much when the ground splits and there's suddenly a giant rock snake attacking and Ikki definitely takes a startled step back - not anything further, though, because Masaomi said he was handling it, and while her eyes are pretty wide, she just watches Linda and Masaomi carefully, trusting that they'll...take care of it. ]

Linda, let's wrap this up. Aqua tail! [Linda, for her part, cackled. The Onix roars and goes to use Rock Throw - a giant boulder goes flying towards Linda and Masaomi. The two leap aside just enough that the boulder (fully as big as Masaomi is) misses him and embeds into the ground about the same moment Lidna is front-flipping into the air. She's leaping impossibly high, aided by her Magnet Floating, her tail coated in water. The water forms a sharp looking blade, and once she's level with the onix's face, she spins and slashes across it. Her water actually leaves a "cut" in the boulder of its face, between the eyes, and it makes one more noise before it topples down the side.

Lidna is now free falling, but as the onix falls (as soon as it lands on the ground with a thud, it vanishes too) Masaomi races out to catch her, and hug her tight when he does]

[ Water against rock. That's one of those two-time things, right? Ikki looks suddenly enlightened, although she's paying enough attention to get out of the way of that boulder throw. Soren lands down next to Ikki once she's well off to the side, chittering angrily at her while he checks her over. Ikki does the same, and decides Soren took the brunt of this session. ] Katara can fix you up, I think.

[ But then the Onix is down, and Ikki claps her hands together once as the count goes to zero. ]

[And - still hugging Linda - he now turns to Ikki with a smile. The blouder landed not near them at all, like he thought. Though maybe nearer to Soren than he'd like, given his rock weakness. And he's grinning]

So Ikki, how was that?

[He's sure Soren liked to be able to fight a bit after losing Chien]

[ Well she moved, Masaomi. Flying boulders make one want to be elsewhere.

Ikki takes the question and considers it. She'd been worried about Soren at certain points, if not about herself. And she's not sure she likes being attacked by random things in the ground, but...it hadn't been bad? It was nice to see Soren happy and doing something, and she'd mostly been upset about her own inability to figure out how to help him. ] Ummm. Good, I think?

[ That question is half to Soren, who seems to agree, so she grins. ] What were those, though?

Sandshrew, Dugtrio, and Onix. [She thinks... He hopes she felt it. A bond with Soren. Over time, maybe she's come to like it more. He never feels more in sync with Linda than went they battle...

Oh well. He motions for her and Soren to follow him back towards Katara]

[ Ikki nods, trying to remember the names for later, before adding to what she'd said. ] The - Dugtrio? - got Soren in the chin that one time, and I didn't notice the Sandshrew and they made it all windy and sandy and that hurt Soren but not a lot and those weren't good, but other things were.

[ She...had a lot to learn. Maybe then she'd be able to help him out more. She does brighten up as the near Katara, though. ] Oh! But at the end, with the Dugtrio, that was fun!

[It's official: She hates this. It's foreign and unnatural and dangerous. She had practically bit her cheek through in effort to just continue to stand there and trust Ikki to handle herself.

She doesn't wait for Ikki to get closer to her, moving at first jerkily to meet them in an effort not to simple run and sweep her away. She stops, bending down, and smooths Ikki's bangs.]

You did very well.

Yeah she did! Especially at the end there, when you were moving with Soren! I felt the bond growing right there!

[He knows he's more upbeat than any of them here except the Pokemon, probably. Linda, incidentally, is going to offer a paw up to Sorren for a high five. If he wants. After all, he deserves a little leeway right now]

You mean when I was bending with him? [ She'd just wanted to give him more of a chance.

Ikki smiles up at Katara reassuringly, taking one of Katara's hands as her grandmother fusses with her hair.

Soren, for his part, eyes Linda for a beat, trying to figure out if this is a serious offer - and then accepts. It...wasn't terrible, although she totally showed off at the end. ]

[Taking hold of Ikki's hand, she straightens to look at Masaomi.]

Mmmhm! I don't have super powers, but Linda and I have out own style to play off each other. So do Gold and his partners and Silver and his [He says that part to Katara - he knows she watched Gold and Silver's battle, she must have noticed that] so that was a super important first step to your partnership with Soren.

[And now he turns back to Ikki-]

That is, if you still want to continue.

[ She nods, but glances over at Katara a split second after doing so. They'd had the talk about personal responsibility with who she spoke to, but did this fall under that? ] Katara?

[Her eyes were shaded. She hated this. Hated it. Her gaze rested on Linda and Soren for a long, long moment, her lips forming a firm line.

But. It might be a way to help Ikki survive here. And she wasn't going to let anything get in the way of that.]

We might need to talk to Aang about it before we can completely commit.

[She turns her gaze back to Ikki.]

But I'll support you with whatever you decide.

Ah. [You know, his last chat with Aang ended with... well, that's only fair. The guy should be leaving his ivory tower anyway, and so he keeps a pretty blase face through all of it, smiling with a slightly forced, but even smile

"Shall I call the man, or is this a family purview thing?"

No wait, before that. He crouches down to Ikki's level again, lightly taking one of her shoulders to turn and face him]

Ikki, I personally would love for you to be Soren's partner. Because it means I could train with you. [He might as well be upfront with that] Similarly, I think he's made it clear that he would love for it to come to pass as well. But... you're under no obligation, to either of us. Soren can find a different partner, with some help from my comrades. The choice has to be your own, and for your own purposes. [He feels like he's berating her to reiterate this again.

But to be honest he's mostly doing it for Katara's benefit]

[ Ikki, for her part, is used to the way things are dealt with at home. Katara and Aang discuss things - with her and without her, although she's always told what is happening and she always knows the rules - and decide things, although she's supposed to listen to Uncle Sokka and Aunt Toph as well (although she shouldn't listen to Toph when Toph tells her she can ignore the rules). Their house is fairly big on family discussions and family meetings - which is why dinner is a big part of her day, and Ikki's always home before it starts to help set up.

She purses her lips, frowning a little at Masaomi, although she's not upset. ]

I'd like to be Soren's partner. [ She can be frank, too - she normally is. But there's a little more to it than that, and she looks up at Katara again. ] - But Katara and Grandpa and Uncle Sokka and Aunt Toph might have to talk about it, too, 'cause I'm seven and we have house rules and that's how it works.

...But that's my decision. [ She's confirming it to Katara more than Masaomi. ] So, we'll make up new rules, too. With Soren and me and everyone. Right?

[Katara smiles painfully, like through cracked glass.]

Right.

[She bent and kissed Ikki's forehead. Straightening up, she feels a bit more like herself. She glances at Masaomi. Thank you, you know.]

Soooo. Should I call Aang-kun here? I was thinking about calling Gold, but if it's not confirmed, maybe we should ask the man out.

[He says this, standing up and winking at Katara. Of course.]

I don't think we have to? [ Katara's pretty much confirmed she'll support Ikki, and Ikki doesn't think her grandfather would have any major objections. ] Well, it's confirmed for me, I mean!

But should we, Katara? [ It's not actually her choice if they do or don't, after all. ]

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