[PRP] Have You Got What it Takes?

[Akira Midoriyama]

Clara listened intently to Ray with mixed feelings of admiration and perhaps some jealousy. She wondered what kind of person she would have been leading what kind of life if only she had taken the path that Ray and so many others seemed to have. It was pointless wondering about the past now, though. It was only the future that could be changed by starting with the present.

"Yeah...they really are cute together," she agreed, smiling faintly. If Ray didn't know his circumstances, though, then who was he to tell her? Either Luke hadn't wanted to mention it, Ray hadn't been interested, or something else, but it wasn't his place to say anything about Luke's background.

Nodding determinedly at the silver-haired woman's offer, Clara agreed. "Thank you so much. That sounds great. Silly, you ready for this?"

The Serperior met his trainer's gaze when she looked over at him. Realizing she was serious, he rolled his eyes and gave a small hiss of a sigh.  

[Blood_Goddess]

It wasn't uncommon to see a grin spread across the women's face so wide, that it was practically unsettling, though it was in times of great joy an intrigue that she slipped this smile on, this time with her focus on the person who would be her new trainee.

"Alright then-" She said. "So, first order of business." she said, holding the Luxury ball up into her hand."This- is staying with me." she slipped it into her pocket.
"Balls are an inconvenient convince when it comes to learning team work,and as we continue, you both are eventually going to understand just how important it is that you two are not just a team- but partners."  

[Akira Midoriyama]

Hesitating a moment at the mention of the Luxury ball, Clara nodded, but Silly's jaw dropped. He didn't like this. No, he didn't like this at all.

he snapped in protest. He reared back to strike at Ray, only to find himself weighed down by Clara wrapping her arms about his neck.

"Silly, Silly, it's okay," she tried to tell him, patting his head. "It's not forever. Just...uh...until you can get used to being without it. It's like a handicap; you have to learn how to survive outside of it," she attempted to reason. "It's...also a good incentive to work hard and do well? Because the sooner you adapt, the sooner we can prove our worth and you can get it back."

Shocked at his trainer's daring intervention, Silly was caught off-guard long enough to listen to what Clara had to say. He still didn't like it and he wasn't buying any of it, but Ray was empowering his otherwise cowardly trainer and under her influence, he doubted he could frighten Clara into submission as he had so often before. He was starting to think he had no choice. Sinking back down like a hissing, seething, slowly deflating balloon, the Serperior lay himself flat on the ground in sulky, fuming defeat.

Unsure what to think of her pokemon's behavior but glad she had at least managed to stop him, Clara breathed a small sigh of relief. She wasn't any more keen to rely on Silly as he was to rely on her, but at the moment he was her strongest pokemon and they had shared the most time together. It would be the biggest obstacle to overcome their differences, but perhaps that was all just a part of the challenge. She looked back to Ray with a nod. "I think we've come to an understanding. What else?"  

[Blood_Goddess]

Ray leveled her eyes on Silly as he started going off on her, She knew exactly what it was about, but remand without comment or movement during the pokemon's protests.
In turn, the pokemon that were in Ray's presence also did nothing against the growing hostilities toward the women.

Though as Clara stepped in and addressed her pokemon's behavior, in a reassuring and reasoning way, a smile peeled over Ray's lips.
"That was good, both of you, Thats exactly the kind of thing I want to see from both of you." She said, pointing tot he two.
As she said that she shrunk the ball and placed it into her pocket.

clapping her hands and rubbing them together Ray's mossy green eye shifted between the two.
"Alright, well, first off. I'm going to teach you what kind of perspective you will be learning with me. Firstly being; What kind of roles do you think a trainer and a pokemon team have?" she waved her hand "tell me what your understand is of each of your roles on the team."  

[Akira Midoriyama]

Both pokemon and trainer-to-be looked up at Ray in surprise as she remarked on their behavior. Clara smiled sheepishly at the ground, and Silly just sighed irritably, scowling as he watched his precious home disappear into the tall woman's pocket.

The brunette stood straighter and put her hands behind her back as Ray began to speak once more. When she asked a question, Clara paused to think about this, her features contorting as she pondered an answer. "Well...I think mine would be to...make decisions based on my pokemon's best interests. Listen and observe to understand what they need...and advise them based on strategy that only I as a trainer can develop through assessment of the situation. Trust and believe in them and their abilities."

She glanced down at Silly, who was glaring at her out the corner of his eye, still flat against the ground. "And...I'm not entirely sure about Silly...but I think trusting me to have his best interests in mind would be a start." She smirked. "Maybe not trying to strangle me within an inch of my life."  

[Blood_Goddess]

It was very clear how pleased Ray looked with that answer and a sharp snapping of her fingers brought one of the long digits with a black pained nail pointed to the younger lady.
"You are a natural," She announced. "Its the mindset I will highly encourage in your training. Though I think above everything else, you need to understand that this is a partnership, not necessarily about you telling your pokemon what to do."

She glanced over at Silly, then back at Clara as she addressed them both. "Before you can even think about being a good team, you have to first prove to your pokemon that you can be reliable in being their outside eyes, you need to train yourself on what to look for, and how to look for it, becasue if you can't be relied on to relay the kind of information that your partner needs, then you might as well not battle at all."
She reached her finger up to tap the corner of her own eye. "You need to be trained how to see."

She clapped her hands together again and rubbing them together.
"Alright, so, Silly, It might be a good idea not to strangle your partner while she's trying to learn, so we're all going to have to be patient, this isn't something that we learn in just a week, or sometimes even a month." she reassured the pokemon with a wide grin. "You, need to make sure to be able to respond to your partner too, being a top physical condition, and together you need to work on your reaction and power. understood?"  

[Akira Midoriyama]

Clara blinked, surprised at the compliment. A natural? Her? Then why was it so difficult to get even one pokemon to listen to her? "A partnership," she repeated, attempting to engrave the idea in her mind. The only problem then, it seemed, was that while she had more than enough respect for Silly's power, it didn't seem like he had even a smidge for her. And could she blame him? He was a pokemon with powers and attacks while all she was was a weak little human. How could they ever view each other as equal partners?

She did not voice these concerns, however, as she continued to pay attention to Ray. Sure enough, the older woman already seemed to have noticed at least part of the problem and was addressing it. What to look for and how to look for it... she repeated mentally. Train to see.

The Serperior raised his head when he was called by his nickname, looking more than a little peeved, but eventually nodded grudgingly. It wasn't like threatening Clara would get him anywhere while Ray was in possession of his Luxury Ball, anyway.

"How...how do I train to see what I need to see?" Clara ventured, growing increasingly curious and eager to learn. She didn't like the sound of the time it might take; the Rockets were an ever-growing threat. Still, the sooner she could start, the better. This training and these lessons likely wouldn't mean a thing if they were rushed.