Training? Really? (Dojo)

[Haunter]

[dojo]itzJzM_Q

[Clover Frost]

Despite Charizards not being dragons for whatever reason, they could still do plenty of dragon-like things. Cynder had actually unlocked one of these draconic attributes not too long ago, in fact, and she was excited to see just what she could do with it. 

Standing in front of a rather flammable target, Cynder began to exhale deeply, expecting a torrent of flame to come flowing out. Unfortunately, that wasn't what happened at all. Nothing came out at all, despite her best efforts, which only made her confused. "What the...?" Cynder said aloud. She tried again a couple more times, only to get the same result. "That's not right. I should be able to..."

"Don't worry about it, love," Clover said encouragingly. "This is kinda uncharted territory, right? You gotta get the hang of it is all."

Cynder perked up a little in response to these words, her confidence renewed somewhat. She still didn't like the fact that she hadn't gotten it yet, but she still had plenty of time to work with. Maybe she could really do it if she just kept at it long enough? With that in mind, she summoned as much of her inner strength as she could, determined to channel the true draconic power within her.

[Gardeon]

[dojo]pztHbovC

[Clover Frost]

Clover had heard some stories about Drifloon in the past. Supposedly, they had some sort of deal where they would have children grab them and then carry them away, never to be seen again. In concept, that all seemed pretty scary, but fortunately, Bloon didn't ever seem to even attempt to do that. Maybe he was an exception, or maybe that was just a wild Drifloon thing, but he just seemed to think himself "above" such a thing. 

Nonetheless, Bloon could still carry things with those little threads hanging off him, and Clover assumed that he could do more with them. By taking him to the Dojo to test this, she could see that he could indeed do some other things with them, but nothing too crazy. He could entangle targets and squeeze the living hell out of them, but not much else, it seemed. In fact, even his ability to constrict targets with his tassels didn't seem all too effective, so after a while, she began to wonder to herself if it was even something worth practicing for him.

Bloon could sense she wasn't blown away, though, and to be frank, he didn't like that at all. He was busting his figurative rump, and she was starting to think his efforts weren't good enough? He'd show her...

[Gardeon]

[dojo]9pkhT7pK

[Clover Frost]

With Kinito being very glitchy and strange, it'd made it a little weird to work with it in the past, and even with a good amount of research, Clover hadn't found much she could potentially do in order to fix the Porygon's coding issues. This was a bit frustrating, enough so that she eventually decided to put off any attempts at fixing Kinito for a while and focus on actually working with her little buddy the way it was.

Kinito had thus far proven good at attacking in various ways, but maneuvering hadn't really been their focus up to that point, from what Clover could remember. From the looks of things, it was a bit tricky for Kinito to maneuver around reliably and without any weird complications. She could notice sudden bursts of speed, jerking in various directions, and even what looked like stuttering, like what she'd see in an online game with bad connection. It was odd to see Kinito do something as simple as float around a track, or do loop de loops, as all sorts of weirdness happened without Kinito even seeming to notice any of it. Perhaps there was some way to correct these issues without going into the Porygon's code? They'd just have to see.

[Arcanine]

[dojo]FG460Ok7

[Clover Frost]

From what Clover could recall, Cynder had recently had some trouble with using Dragon Rage, which led to a rather subpar experience for everyone involved. Why this was, neither of them were totally sure, but Clover figured that it could've just been a case of being new to using the move, and she'd get better at it over time. If that were to be the case, all they'd need to do was to keep at it.

"Alright, you've got it this time," Clover said, flashing Cynder an encouraging thumbs-up. Cynder, perking up a little at this, turned to face the target laid out for her. All she'd really need to do was leave the thing a little scorched, at least, and they'd know she was capable to using Dragon Rage effectively. That wouldn't be too hard, right?

Well, as it turned out, it would still take some doing. It wasn't quite the same as spewing out fireballs, that was for sure. It was more like she was trying to control some sort of primal energy from within her. If she could successfully concentrate that energy, and channel it into her breath, then...

Sure enough, as she leaned forward, out came a small stream of blue flames, nearly reaching the target. Awesome. Now all she needed to do was actually hit the thing.

[Gardeon]

[dojo]pU89bEHx for 8/10 >>

[Clover Frost]

Kinito was about ready for another training session at the Dojo, even if the Porygon didn't seem all that excited about it. That wasn't anything new, and Clover figured she could relate to some degree, but still, she figured she'd be able to keep make the experience at least a little engaging for her little virtual buddy.

"Alright, let's see if your tackling is still on point," Clover said casually. All she'd really felt the need to do was have Kinito use Sharpen a bit, then start getting up close and personal with some training dummies the Dojo had available. It was a simple enough task that they'd done before, so Clover figured it'd be something they could handle.

Kinito did indeed manage to use Sharpen a good few times, looking especially angular as a consequence, and began pummeling the targets one after another. Doing so led to some rather glitchy consequences, its body contorting strangely and the air being filled with a sound most comparable to the screeching of a dying radio, but that was nothing new. Really, Clover was more interested in the move Sharpen. It was definitely useful in battle, but would Kinito even be able to use it effectively upon evolving? Honestly, she wasn't sure, and it kept her mind rather busy during that session.

[Gardeon]

[dojo]g94xRFK5

[Clover Frost]

Clover had put off the Dojo for long enough, it seemed, since even her own Pokemon were starting to wonder about it. Problem was, she wasn't super sure who to take and what they'd be doing there. Surely, it had to be someone who hadn't gone in a while, and who had a lot of energy to burn, but who would that be exactly?

Then, of course, Stuart rampaged around the house because they ran out of berries for thirty minutes, and just like that, Clover's mind was made up.

So, once again, they were hanging out at the Dojo, trying to see how much electricity the small rodent could produce. Based on the machinery the Dojo provided, he could produce a decent amount of electricity, or at least more than one might imagine for such a small Pokemon. Still, Stuart could do better, and they were there to push him to his limits...partly because it was good training, and partly because Stuart being able to trash an entire room singlehandedly was something that Clover wanted to avoid, so tiring him out seemed like a good half-measure as Clover put together how to best prevent such incidents in the future.

[Rowlet]

[dojo]wLLPTpwR

[Clover Frost]

Pitting Kinito against a Ditto at the Dojo for an afternoon may not have been the most innovative idea, but Clover figured it'd do for the time being. After all, it wasn't like it wasn't a safe bet. Plus, she was kind of curious about what would happen to a Ditto that tried to copy Kinito's form. Would it also inherit Kinito's corrupted code?

As it would turn out, that was not the case, as the Ditto simply took the form of a normal-looking Porygon. Sure, Clover could point out a few slight imperfections here and there, but otherwise, it looked like the spitting image of her little virtual buddy. Just, well, without the glitchy attributes.

That was kind of weird in itself at that point, but Kinito didn't seem bothered. The Ditto could also do what Kinito could do, and Kinito would act in turn. This would eventually lead to the two coming to blows, using whatever powers they shared to try to outdo one another. Unfortunately for Kinito, the Ditto seemed much stronger overall, so despite being an actual Porygon, Kinito was struggling. Still, there was still a chance for victory, and Clover was sure that Kinito had a trick or two for getting a leg up in mind...

[Gardeon]

[dojo]hNTW6AK5