[PRP] Limitations; Forget Them

[Gwennythe]

It seemed less often that a training room would be empty and available; certainly Tambrey didn't mind sharing one with others, but stepping into a place where training was already going on, while she was still limited by the cast on her left leg, was a little daunting.
In a couple weeks more, she hoped, the cast would be gone finally, along with the crutches she used to get around.
It was tiring and uncomfortable to stay upright for so long, though she had the help of the wall.

Palu, as one of her most experienced pokémon, was facing Ella, one of the easiest to train but who sorely needed it, in a fairly 'gentle' training battle.
"You're doing well!" The grunt called to the little steel type as she dodged a Wing Attack. "Now, respond to that with Metal Claw, not Mud Slap."
Mud Slap was Ella's 'go-to' attack, but using it against flying types, who could dodge and fly too high was something she had to get out of the habit of.
Tambrey watched as the little Aron gave a sharp little nod, then launched herself. It was amazing how quickly, she thought, a heavy little steel type could move when they were attacking.

Focused on the training battle, and a little on the dull ache in her leg, Tambrey wasn't really paying attention to the door or viewing areas.  

[JellyFaun]

Lazuli could technically be described as "working with a disability", but her's wasn't temporary. Her left eye had been waxed with a white film since she was five years old, an unfortunate accident with her father's ponyta. But she didn't let that stop her. She often noticed her hearing was sharper on the left side.

She had her usual hat scrunching her long blonde ringlets down, but atop that sat a small spinerak. He was of normal coloration but Lazuli knew he was unique.

She remained silent as she walked in, relatively new to the team. She only watched as her fellow work-mate trained her pokemon with precision, making sure the aron was getting more attention but the fight was still fair. The spinerak took one look at the pidgeotto and tried to scurry into his trainer's baggy clothes, but she was able to grab his hind legs and pull him back out with a soft sigh.

"Come on, Plank. Watch! Maybe you can get a few pointers." She held the bug in her arms, his hind legs dangling. She hoped she wasn't interrupting.  

[Gwennythe]

Palu wasn't sure if she could have dodged the Metal Claw attack, but didn't try anyway; the object hadn't been for either of them to faint and she trusted her little team mate.
She became aware of the new trainer, and Spinerak, but was able to keep her mind on the battle.

However, Ella, after her attack, also became aware of the newcomers.
Her personal etiquette meant that they had to be greeted, whether she was battling or not. Waving a little arm at the bird as she landed, the Aron called a momentarily halt, leaving the Pidgeotto looking rather confused.
The steel type turned and dipped in a little bow toward the pair, before turning to offer a nod of apology to her trainer. Then, all done, the Aron waved her arm at the flying type again.

"Alright, Palu use- uh, Ella? What are you..? Oh." Tambrey turned her head to look where her pokémon was bowing. "Um, hey. Sorry, I hope we're not too much in the way here?" She had no problem sharing training rooms, or training with another person, but she hoped she wasn't taking up too much room and putting people off.
In the training area, the bird and little ladybird style Aron repeated what they'd done before.  

[JellyFaun]

Lazuli almost blushed. She'd interrupted! How rude of her to distract the Aron in the middle of training. She sort of gripped the top of her cap and was going to pull it down when the other spoke up.

Lifting her off-colored eyes, she gave a little giggle of misunderstanding.

"Not at all!" She stepped forwards and extended her hand. "I was just going to ask if I'd be in the way if I joined you. I'm kind of a newbie so I haven't really learned much about how things work in the base."

She paused and realized she'd not introduced herself. "I'm Lazuli. You can call me Laz if you want. And this little guy is Plank." She held the spinerak up and felt him tense as he shied into her grip, trying to escape the other trainer.

"I was actually wondering if we could join you. I have several pets back at my old house but this isn't the sort of life they'd be able to lead. House pets. Plank's my only pokemon here and I don't really think I'd be a worthy opponent for him. If its not too much to ask, of course." She looked with worry to the pokemon on the court. "Maybe against your polite Aron? He won't be able to poison her and there'd be no type advantage." She looked to the scarved pidgeotto and imagined how many bugs it had torn into.  

[Gwennythe]

Tambrey levered herself forward and away from the wall she'd been leaning on to meet the other trainer's grip.

"Oh. Well then, you're welcome to." The older Rocket's lips seemed to twitch in a slight frown, almost regretful, upon hearing Lazuli was a newbie to the team. The expression was wiped by a greeting smile though as she shook hands.
"Welcome to the team, then, I suppose. Uh. Lazuli. Laz." She seemed to test the two names on her tongue and settled with one. "Lazuli and Plank. It's nice to meet you; I'm Tambrey and that's Palu and Ella." She gestured to each in turn, tilting her head to turn the smile upon Plank.
"We'd be happy to." She looked back over, to where her two pokémon had stopped their battle to watch, and saw Ella give a little nod of affirmation.
Palu eyed Plank and then shook her feathers, standing as tall as she could before moving off to the side of the room, into a viewing area.
"A Spinarak is a pretty useful partner for an only pokémon despite, well..." Tambrey looked at where Palu had gone. "I actually have one too- Neph- but I really think Ella is the best choice for a training battle against Plank here. Neph isn't as... sweet as he seems to be. Have you been together long?"  

[JellyFaun]

Lazuli was so relieved the other trainer had agreed. "Its lovely to meet you all. And thanks so much. He's not had a lot of formal training yet and, well...he's still a bit timid. But we'll have a good workout today, right Plank?"

She paused a moment, thinking. "I've been told that they're good at getting into places and constricting enemies, but we've only been about a week or so. He's gotten used to me at least but I thought we should bond before we try any battling. Its my fault he's not been trained yet. Go easy on us, Ella!" She giggled, but sounded sincere.

She walked to the other side of the court, passing the pidgeotto and giving her a little smile and wave. She felt her spinerak tense and looked down at him. "Its alright, Plank. This isn't going to be like a real battle, I think. Just do your best!"

She held her arm out for him to jump off of when she stopped at the other end of the room. He didn't move, so she nudged him, resulting in an 8-legged clench on her arm. "Plank...c'mon now." She finally pried him off and walked to the middle of the court, gently placing him down. "There we go."

She turned to walk back, leaving Plank shaking in the middle of the court.

Plank's eyeballs swivelled until they fell on the Aron. He crouched down, legs bent, eyes huge. 'W-What on earth is this place?' He muttered. He had been captured in the wild but seemed rather inexperienced. He couldn't build a web here and that was the only method he knew for catching prey.  

[Gwennythe]

Tambrey seemed quite surprised.
"Oh. Wow. Well... That. That is a short time. That's certainly not your fault that he's not trained in such a short amount of time." The grunt took some time to give the pair a little more scutiny. "I promise she will. She's a gentle Aron really; it can sometimes be a problem in battles but... well, it's a good thing today, I suppose. Spinarak are pretty great at things like String Shot and other useful things," She agreed. "and they're small enough to get about unnoticed a lot of the time. Good for missions."

Palu watched the trainer and fluffed up again but seemed a little 'haughty'; the bird cooed quietly.

Ella, on the other hand, was good mannered but certainly not haughty; she sat patiently and dipped her head, welcoming her opponent happily.
<> She replied, gently <> The Aron watched the bug type curiously. <>

Tambrey watched as Lazuli had to pry Plank from her arm and set him down.
"Oh my. Um. So, you haven't trained at all until now?"  

[JellyFaun]

'B-battle?!' The Spinerak lowered himself even further down. 'I-I've never battled before. The most I've done is net prey and wrap it up. I-I-I can't battle!' He looked with more worry over his shoulder.

"That's good, that she's not to rough." She bit her lip, rather nervously, feeling her spinerak's tension growing as he almost laid down on the field."Well, I've looked up what sort of attacks Spinerak can use, and he knows how to shoot webbing, but this is our first real time against an opponent. But we all have to start somewhere, right?" Her laughter was more nervous now, but she shook it off. "C'mon, Plank! We can do this! Let's see what you've got."

She went over all the attacks she had read in her head. Since her Spinerak was so new, she'd make sure he could handle the basics and then try something else. "How about you start off with a string shot!"

The Spinerak turned back to the Aron, who was now very intimidating, and he slowly parted his pincers, releasing a small stream of silk. It looked more like a child playing with silly string than an attack.  

[Gwennythe]

<> The Aron paused, seeking adequate phrasing perhaps <> She seemed very calm and happy to explain.

Tambrey, leaning against the wall again, nodded understandingly.
"Ah. Well, yes. That is true. You'll want to train as much as you can. Missions are... Well." She gestured toward her leg in the cast. There wasn't any point in scaring the other Rocket, but she felt, at least, that Lazuli should know about certain possibilities. "This is a good start, I hope, for you, but you will want to train as much as you can; and not only your pokémon."
She smiled as Plank delivered his String Shot.
"I suspect he'll get a lot better at that with plenty of practice." She hoped it was encouraging.

Ella wasn't really able to dodge, and hadn't been told to, so she still got a little caught up in the string.
"Okay. Ella, your turn, try and send a mud slap Plank's way!" Tambrey called, and, with a little nod, the Aron obeyed; though it wasn't a very energetic one at all.  

[JellyFaun]

The spinerak looked anything but calm as his attack ended. "That was really good for a first try!" His trainer encouraged, knowing it was nothing like what other pokemon could do. But he tried, at least! And that was a start.

"You hurt your leg in a raid?" She was inquisitive but knew this wasn't really the time for stories. Not when her pokemon needed her. "After the battle we should hit the mess hall and have a nice chat about it! Try and get out of the way, Plank!"

Plank took a few sharp breaths as his trainer commanded him to dodge. Dodge? What was a dodge!? He spun around to look at her and felt a steady splatter of mud hit his back, covering him to his eyes. He gave a long screech and bolted, running around blind, shaking his head until the mud was clear. He gave the aron a long, terrified stare and then turned, running from the battle, towards his trainer. He skitted behind her legs and came to rest there.

"Plank!?" Lazuli sighed. "Sorry, sorry. One moment!" She knelt down and gave his back a little pet. "There there, Plank. Its alright. You just got a bit startled! You did great for your first time out." She inspected him. "That probably hurt a little bit, but you're alright. Do you want to try again, for me?"

Plank looked out to the arena, to the other trainer, her aron, to the pidgeotto in the corner. He shrunk back behind her again and gave a nervous whimper, shaking his head.

Lazuli sighed and stood up. "Is it alright if we take a rain check on this battle? Maybe get some lunch and try again this afternoon."  

[Gwennythe]

"Um. Yes. We can talk about it afterward." Tambrey nodded. She didn't feel much like scaring Lazuli but perhaps it wouldn't be such a bad thing; she kind of wished she'd known, or had some real idea, of what could happen on a mission when she'd started.

"Oh. Frak." Tambrey muttered, seeing the bug type respond to Ella's attack in such a way.

Palu seemed... amused. She cooed slightly, somewhat smugly.

Ella, however, seemed very confused, and then very apologetic.
<> She called, watching, with a little concern, as the Spinarak sought refuge with his trainer.

"We... can." Tambrey nodded but seemed a little concerned. "Um. We can get lunch and talk, yes..." About more than the raids, she thought, with a short worried look at Plank. She then brought out pokéballs to recall Palu and Ella before taking up her crutches.  

[JellyFaun]

Plank shimmied even further behind Lazuli. 'You meant to kill me! A-all of you are in on it! And then you call me weak! A-a poison pox on thee!"


Lazuli sighed and recalled Plank. "It was a good try." She lied to herself softly, then turned to her new friend. "Thanks. I'm sure he's just a little stage fright." She shrunk the ball and clipped it to her waist, hurrying back across the room.

She let Tambrey lead the way, since she was a little lost. It'd taken her a while to find the training room to begin with. "So, how did you hurt your leg anyway? Oh, sorry, that was a little rude and blunt of me. If you don't mind my asking, though, I'd like to know."

She put her hands behind her back, listening intently.She was curious and did love a good story, real or not. "I'll tell you in return how this happened." She put her finger to her injured eye and gave the lid a tap.  

[Gwennythe]

As the red light enveloped her, Palu was looking very very amused, while Ella looked quite aghast, and as though she wanted to reply to the Spinarak. Being sucked into her pokéball made that rather difficult though, so she held her tongue and made a note to reply as soon the two saw each other again.

"It wasn't a bad try for a first attack." Tambrey agreed, using her crutches to move along quite well- she'd obviously spent some time with them now.
"Um. But I think you know that it would be... kind of dangerous for that to happen 'in the field'... Or, uh, even around here sometimes... Don't worry about being blunt; most people here don't really seem to mind that and that's fine; we already said we'd talk about it." Tambrey smiled as they walked. She looked at the damaged eye when it was indicated and nodded slightly. "Only if you want to."
Then, after a small bite at her lower lip, she settled on the words she wanted.
"Actually; this is almost embarrassing. The last mission I was on was sent to capture a Mesprit. At least, that's what we thought... Everyone did. I don't know if you heard about that mission, but I guess if you did, you'll know why this is embarrasing..." She sounded less concerned about it being embarrassing than the emphasis might have suggested. "Anyway... We cornered the thing in a cave. It decided to try to kill us." And nearly succeeded a couple of times, she added mentally.  

[JellyFaun]

Lazuli gasped at the mention of a Mesprit. "I love Mesprit! Its so cute and soft looking." She put her hands to her cheeks, remembering when she was a little girl with her pokemon dolls. She had mesprit, uxie and azelf but mesprit was her favourite.

She went back to listening. "I've never heard of any stories from here, to be honest." She paused and had to stifle a giggle. "Well, I don't think many pokemon would be happy to be captured by a gang of rockets, especially legendary pokemon. Though, I'd have given anything to see it in person." She sighed again, her fantasy fading as they entered the mess hall.

It wasn't bad food but it did take a bit of getting used to. Lazuli didn't really have the funds to go out and eat at the bars and pubs, so she settled on the free stuff from home. Tonight was roast beef but it was almost too overcooked to be edible. Finding a table, she let Plank back out and cut up an extra plate for him.  

[Gwennythe]

Well, the enthusiasm was nice. She wondered once, that she might have had similar feelings about such pokémon... Things had certainly changed her mind though.
"Well... It does look that way." Tambrey agreed. "We... succeeded in capturing the pokémon we went after but it wasn't a Mesprit after all... My leg was broken by a Ditto." She smiled ruefully, but at least she wasn't blushing.
"Anyway, if Mesprit acts anything like that Ditto did... I don't think I want to meet it, though, yes, we were specifically trying to capture it, I guess."

Tambrey passed on the beef, settling for some bread, a biscuit she picked up from a counter and a cup of tea.
"Hum. Plank is... Well, he's adorable," The grunt began, looking at the little spider. "But he's very obviously new to this. In a situation like the Mesprit one, having my pokémon there, and other's, doing their jobs, protected me and the others in the team... It worked because we all knew what we were doing, more or less... I still came out of it with this though. So... I cannot emphasize training enough." It was a little heavy for dinner conversation, maybe, but Tambrey felt like she needed to say something. "I don't know if you know... just what you've signed yourself into, becoming a Rocket, but I know you'll have a better chance at just... surviving all this... if your pokémon, and you, are ready... trained for the things you'll have thrown at you."
The dark-haired grunt smiled sadly again.
"Anyway. That's how I broke my leg and probably the only advice, that you probably know anyway, I can really give about this place; train a lot, for everything."