[Josh Devlin]

The first three times Josh had sent out his new Honedge, Yagyu, for a battle, the strange Pokémon floated into the young trainer's hand, hanging his sheath from one of his belt loops and wrapping his tassel around his trainer's right arm. He had never held a metal sword in his life, and it had been a decade since he had even held a plastic one. This Honedge seemed adamant to change that, and if the trainer didn't, the Pokémon would be better off back in the wild.



Having left Illumina behind for this trip, the rest of his Pokémon seemed like they would be good practice for him to learn with. Twilight in particular seemed great, considering she could very easily parry Yagyu's blows with her horn. Even if she was hit, she was a Dark-type, and could easily shrug off a Ghost-type's blows. He released his entire team, Saber, Aslan, Nitro, Blitz, and Twilight all in a line, Yagyu immediately jumping into his right hand for the fourth time in a row. "We have a new addition to the team," Josh gestured toward his Honedge, who floated around his hand even when he let go. "He doesn't seem to want to be anywhere except in my right hand or his Poké Ball. That means...I'll need you to spar with me to get him used to us."



All of Josh's other Pokémon except Twilight took a step back. She took a step forward, the black-haired youth snugly holding the ghost-type by the hilt and clinking him against the obedient Absol's hard-as-metal horn. The rest of the Pokémon, particularly Nitro, looked terrified of what Josh asked. He had been involved in martial arts classes when he was younger, but he had forgotten much of what he had been taught. Most of his lessons were centered around unarmed combat, but he did have a couple weeks of armed combat training with objects about Yagyu's length.



The brave trainer took several steps back, then pointed Yagyu at the white Pokémon. Twilight responded with a snort, as to convey she was ready. The Honedge tightened his hold on Josh's lower arm as he raised it, charging and coming down hard toward the stoic Absol.



CLANG!



Sparks of light briefly erupted from the point of contact as Twilight parried the blow with her horn. Josh's whole right arm was shaking, the force of his attack met with an equal and opposite one. While he was reeling from the recoil of his own attack, the Absol shoved a knee into his now-exposed chest, knocking him to the ground. The boy hadn't wielded a sword in years. To be able to properly defend himself, and satiate his new Pokémon's hunger, he had quite a ways to go.

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{WC: 469; 469 total}
{PC: 1}

[Josh Devlin]

Josh groaned, his Absol's "holding back" knee drop still stung more than he expected. He slowly got back to his feet, Twilight staring directly into her trainer's eyes the entire time. Josh and the Steel-type made another coordinated charge, the boy slashing downward at his Pokémon's blade-horn. Sparks flew a second time from the metal-on-metal contact, Josh quick to lower his arm so that Yagyu could parry the knee with his flat.

The two circled each other, Twilight waiting for Josh's moves. After parrying three kicks in a row, the dark-type came at him with his left-front claw, catching Yagyu's flat and disarming him. Nitro's and Aslan's jaws both dropped as Josh seemed to be struggling. Yagyu floated back into Josh's hand, his breathing becoming markedly heavier the moment his Pokémon wrapped the tassel around his arm.

After a third round between the two, Josh's technique was getting better, particularly at using Yagyu's flat to deflect blows. One of the most important techniques of wielding a sword was using it to defend as well as attack. That was just one of many techniques he would need to master to make the ghost-type an effective defense when he had to fight real opponents. Even then, it would likely be a last resort - his other Pokémon were his preferred line of defense.

Josh stood up for a fourth and what he expected to be final round. He pointed Yagyu at his Absol, his right arm shaking...shivering. Why was his right arm so cold, and only his right arm? It was a nice day outside - a little on the chilly side, but not too terrible. When he went to practice his technique before getting ready to slash at Twilight, his reverse cut from bottom to top was slow and sloppy.

The amateur racer threw himself onto the soft ground, Yagyu falling out of his right hand. Eager to keep pushing him further, he floated back into Josh's right hand again. "...Gimme a few," Josh said, barely understandable as it was accompanied by quite the yawn. He sheathed Yagyu again, and within minutes, he could already feel his arm getting warmer.

{WC: 361; 830 total}
{PC: 2}

[Josh Devlin]

A few minutes after Josh started snoring, Twilight gently nudged at him with the flat part of her front paws. It took several nudges before her trainer stood, opening his eyes. "Did I pass out?" he asked, shaking his sword arm - it felt warm again. The condescending-looking Absol simply nodded before walking behind the rest of his fellow teammates. Aslan stepped forward and purred in front of his trainer. "Right," Josh yawned - Fire-types were especially good at deflecting the blows of Steel-type Pokémon. Plus, practicing against a variety of opponents would be helpful, and Aslan was the next best Pokémon he had. The Litleo was quick, giving him a chance to "battle" a moving target. Even if Josh hit him, the fire-type's latent heat would leave him no less harmed than as though he was doing battle with a wild or trained Honedge. Aslan let out another proud but cute roar, as if to say, "Come at me!"

Josh drew Yagyu, though it felt more like the ghost-type embraced him, wrapping his blue tassel around his arm. Aslan gracefully leaped over Josh's initial cut, then hopped back to avoid a second strike from the same direction. Though he didn't have to worry about his hand throbbing like when deflecting Twilight's blows, Josh's sword arm was as-of-yet useless against swift foes. His reaction time was sharp - it was just a matter of developing the technique.

Running at the Litleo a second time with steel in hand, the fighter-in-training went for another leg-level cut, Aslan sidestepping this one. This time, he followed up with a cut back across, the fire-type's heated fur deflecting the blade into the ground. He had to grab Yagyu with both hands and yank hard just to get him out. It was then Josh realized Aslan's roars served a dual purpose - not only was it a way to rally Josh's confidence, but it also dulled Yagyu himself to the point where even if Josh landed a blow, it would barely leave a scratch. Once the two had gone back and forth a few rounds, the cub's roars had shaken Yagyu to the point where he couldn't pierce another Pokémon's flesh even if he tried.

Even Yagyu seemed to be happy with Josh's progress as well - every time he landed a blow on the Litleo, the steel-type absorbed some of his teammate's latent heat. While every hit felt like being hit by one of his Ember attacks directly, he could just feast on his unsuspecting Trainer. The heat from each blow also kept Josh's arm warm, leaving him unaware he was a host to the parasitic ghost-type.

After Aslan dodged a powerful thrust, a strong feeling of dizziness overcame Josh, the young man letting go of Yagyu and falling face-first into the soft ground. His nose ached a bit form the impact, but it didn't feel like he had truly hurt himself - it was a marvel the lengths Birch's training facility went to in protecting him. Nothing the facility could do was going to protect him from his own manipulative Pokémon, though.

The moment Yagyu flew back into his scabbard, Josh's right arm felt like it had been exposed to the harsh cold at the peak of Mount Silver. He started shivering, Aslan quick to ignite the red fur on top of his head as though he were going to launch a Flame Charge. "S-s-s-s-so cold..." he stammered. This made no sense. Why would his arm, and only his arm, get so terribly cold all of a sudden? It was fine the entire time he was sparring with Aslan.

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{WC: 604; 1,434 total}
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[Jae]

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Josh Devlin

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