[FIN] Show and Tell

[Suudonym]

Hmm. That wasn't very fair, was it. Rem was thoughtful for a moment. Well, she needed the practice anyway, so she could go without her trainer's instructions too!

"No worries; they'll be fine," Luke assured with a smile. "In a standard battle between trainers, a match is over when one of the pokemon is physically unable to fight anymore due to exhaustion, but we don't have to go that far if you don't want to."  

[BlackFireKitsune]

With a devious grin, the Buneary waved a paw. If she wanted to play fair, then by all means! He would clearly be the victor regardless, in the end. That said, he bounded a ways off to get some space for their glorious battle.

"Alright... If you're sure," Nicolette replied hesitantly, though Pascal had already decided for them.  

[Suudonym]

"All right, then." Luke moved to take a position behind Rem, but the Jolteon turned and shook her head in refusal, leaving her trainer to blink. "Oh, do you want to try the stuff we've been working on?" The electric-type gave a nod and an enthusiastic sound in response. "Well okay then. Have at it." He departed from Rem's vicinity to take up a place at Nicolette's side, offering an explanation as the Jolteon took up a fighting posture, "Normally trainers act as the strategists and tell pokemon what moves to use." Judging from her complete absence of a response to her Buneary's readiness to fight, she didn't plan or perhaps even know how to give such commands. "Different trainers develop different ways to go about battling. For me, since I often end up fighting against people with bad intentions, I try to teach my team strategies in advance so they can fight without waiting for my command. In a battle like this, I'd usually give orders, but Rem seems to want to do it on her own this time."

Indeed, Rem was prepared to fight on her own, and with a brief warning, she started off with a Thunder Wave.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Nicolette watched and listened carefully as Luke explained to her about battling, and she frowned lightly. "Do all trainers train to battle again, um, bad people?" Was that the point of pokemon training? But, it sounded like she had a lot to learn... What moves to use. Hmm...

With a battle cry - that was more of a high pitched, squeaky "bun!" than anything - the normal-type bounded towards Rem, but was promptly caught off-guard by the paralyzing attack. He stumbled and fell flat on his face with a surprised noise, but was quick to return to his feet. Even if the attack had slowed him down, he would still fight. He would still win! With a determined cry, Pascal leapt towards Rem, aiming a paw to strike with an obviously super effective, super lethal Pound attack.  

[Suudonym]

He shook his head, "No, most trainers battle either for fun or as a way to earn money. In a real challenge, the losing trainer typically pays the winner prize money. But pokemon are powerful and resilient, so they also make for really great allies if you end up facing a Rocket or a thief or something."

Rem stepped back in the face of the oncoming Pound attack to lessen its impact - an action which proved to be completely unnecessary. She blinked in mild surprise at the… fluffiness of the blow. A battle was a battle, though, and she summoned a Thunderbolt in retaliation.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

"Okay," she said with a nod, sounding a little less unsure about the whole thing. It wasn't that bad, so far, so--

The sudden electric attack struck true, and with a fading cry the Buneary was propelled backwards, and sailed through the air briefly before landing in some bushes.

"Oh!" Her hands flew to her mouth in surprise and alarm, but she acted quick enough, running over to the spot where her pokemon disappeared, then kneeling down as she pulled the unconscious normal-type from the bushes. "Oh, Pascal..." He wasn't awake anymore; was he alright? Did he pass out? He showed obvious signs of life, which prevented her from panicking over the premature death of her brand new pokemon, but the result of the battle was still alarming. "Are you, um, are you sure that battling's alright?" She asked Luke over her shoulder, her voice laced with worry and concern for the unconscious pokemon in her lap.  

[Suudonym]

Nicolette's concern startled Rem, and she looked to her trainer for reaffirmation. She'd been following the strategy right, right? Had she done something wrong?

"Ah…" He gave a smile of reassurance to the Jolteon, "You're all right, Rem." Taking a potion from his supplies, he moved to bushes from which Nicolette was extricating Pascal and spritzed the Buneary with the restorative. "It's fine," he replied. "Sorry, he seemed really into it and didn't mind going without commands, so I didn't think he was so inexperienced."  

[BlackFireKitsune]

The potion's effects were immediate, and the Buneary's dark eyes fluttered open. It took but a moment for him to ascertain what had happened, after which he practically vaulted himself from Nicolette's lap - to her astonishment - and stumbled back over to Rem to take up his bouncy fighting stance once more, though with noticeably less energy. "Buneary! Bun!"

This was all still so new to her, and her hands found her cheeks again as she frowned. Well, that was quite an easy fix, considering he'd just been struck by lightning, but now he was bouncing around... "He doesn't want to do it again does he?" She asked, sounding rather incredulous.

"Bun!" Oh yes, yes he did want to go again. Their battle wasn't over, and he would definitely win! What had happened before was obviously just a lucky shot, clearly. Obviously.  

[Suudonym]

Luke laughed lightly at the Buneary's rapid response, "That's some fighting spirit. I bet he'd be quite the brawler with some serious training." He pushed off from his knees and walked over towards the normal-type, raising a hand to Rem who regarded the situation with her ears flattened in confusion and reluctance. "Hey there," he said, crouching beside Pascal, "you're not gonna get a lot of battle experience against an opponent who can knock you out in one go, right? Why don't you try working together with your trainer to fight some wild pokemon? You'll be stronger in no time, and then we can have a rematch."  

[BlackFireKitsune]

A brawler? Oh, dear; but he was so cute... But, maybe that was a good excuse to experience battling more fully, if he was so eager to do it.

Rem's reluctance to continue was disheartening, evidenced by how the Buneary ceased his bouncing and dropped his arms, but Luke drew his attention when he lowered himself to the small pokemon's level. His words initially made the Buneary's paws fly up in aggravation - he wanted to battle! - before he crossed them, flicked his hears backwards and flopped down with a huff to pout. What the human said made sense, however, and he stared down at his wiggling feet in consideration. Even if that was a 'no' to battling the Jolteon now, it meant he could at some later point - which, waiting wasn't fun - but it also meant lots of battles in the meantime. That was quite acceptable.

Pascal jumped up, his enthusiasm renewed, and stuck a paw out for Luke to shake. "Buneary!" It was a deal.  

[Suudonym]

With a smile that was equal parts good-natured and amused, he moved his hand to shake the Buneary's little paw, sealing the deal, "All right, I'll hold you to it." Well, this necessitated that Nicolette have some experience herself; she seemed enthusiastic enough about learning, but the challenge was how little she knew. There was an awful lot to battling, and to training in general. "Are you much for reading?" he asked, standing to address the girl.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

"Bun!" He said excited as Luke shook the offered paw, and the moment the gesture finished he had bounded to Nicolette began bouncing around her in excited circles. That meant they would go battle now, right? Right?

The girl looked down at the normal-type with a smile, though Luke quickly piqued her attention. "Oh, yes!" She clapped her hands together excitedly, "I love to read!" What could she read? Would he suggest something? Ohh, she hoped so!  

[Suudonym]

A nod in approval; that made things a little easier. "There's a lot more to battling than I could explain clearly, but there are a bunch of resources in the library if you don't mind learning the basics from reading."  

[BlackFireKitsune]

It was Nicolette's turn to bounce in place briefly, though she caught herself and ceased the action immediately. "Ohh, that would be wonderful! I love to read, so I wouldn't mind learning from books at all." That had, after all, been her primary learning material growing up, so it was good that she didn't dislike it. She paused though, offering him a thoughtful and yet apologetic frown, "Um, where is the library?"  

[Suudonym]

"Perfect," he said, gesturing for Mieu and Tenebrae to come to his side so that he could return all three of the pokemon to their pokeballs. "It'll probably be easier if I just show you," he offered. "It's not too far." When she was prepared to move on, he would lead the way to the large building.