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In order to keep up with Darumi's abundant energy, N revolved in a standing position, facing the Darumaka at all times. "You have a trainer?" he asked the fire type with a hint of confusion -or was it disappointment?- in his voice.

"And you...like her?"

Wayne jolted when he was called, snapping the Pokédex shut almost reflexively as he turned around. Was this kid a trainer? He looked a bit too young to have silver hair. Still...

He pushed off his palm and onto his feet, "Hey, what's up?"

Hitmonlee stopped kicking out and retracted his leg quickly, holding it bent against his chest before lowering it down to the floor. He watched the new arrival with quiet anticipation.

"We're just training. Gonna take on the Gym Leaders," Wayne said, gesturing to Hitmonlee with his thumb, "you a trainer too?"

With a nod Takamaru Said "Yes, My names Takamaru, Takamaru Takashi" he inclined his head a little bit to show his respect to the older trainer, "I'm here to challenge the gym leaders to help make my pokemon stronger so that i can one day become a pokemon ranger." he finished with a grin, his hand settling in his pockets.

"How long have you been journeying? you must be pretty strong trainer from the looks of your pokemon" he said as he gave a small whistle signifying his impression of Hitmonlee's strength.

"well i mean when compared to my pokemon and all he is..." he trailed off looking a little embarrassed.

straighting up he caught wayne in the eye and said, "as for my pokemon the only way i show them off to other trainers is in a battle" he finished with a little smirk. Grabbing a pokeball from his belt he began to spin it on his pointer finger, "so how bout it? wanna show me your hitmonlee doesn't just look strong?" His grin widening with excitement.

"I mean you did say you were training right? and what better way to train then to have a proper pokemon battle and not with these..." he paused looking for the right word ".. Beginners?" referring to the Kid Wyane beat a little while ago.

When Darumi stopped circling N, N stopped spinning around to match his position with the monkey. His eyes narrowed and he curled the corners of his mouth into a small frown. To N, it sounded like Darumaka had been taken from his home, stripped of things that he cared about and fed an illusion of happiness in it's place.

"You-" N began before trailing off, clutching the side of his head and closing his eyes. Darumi had dizzied him in more ways than one.

As much as he wanted to help out his new friend, N could not. More importantly, he didn't know how. N had it all down to a science. His dream was a formula, an equation. Darumi just could not fit into it in any way for N, like a jigsaw puzzle piece from the wrong box. And so N just had to remove Darumi from the equation. Some hero I'm supposed to be...

"I hate to stop our conversation so shortly, but I have to get going," N briskly told Darumi as he turned around, the nausea from spinning around having subsided. "I promise you my friend, one day you will get to go home." N then walked away towards, removing the cube hanging from his belt so he could fiddle with it once more. His head hung low, as he was now absorbed into a formula he knew completely once again.

To the right of his legs, the light flickered around for a moment. If you missed it, you wouldn't know it had happened. But just for a moment, what had looked like a small, animal-like shape had appeared in a subtle movement of vibrant pink and purple hues. And then as soon as it had appeared, it was gone.

And there it was, Robby had found the point on the map he was looking for finally. Route two. But the map was about as useful as a sign that said "thataway." Except the sign might have an arrow to tell him which way all this was supposed to be. But he had learned something in school, 'bout the sun and all that.

Using this amazing knowledge, he was able to determine which direction route two was in in comparison to the mart, and finally began making his way towards it. The slow waddle gave proof that the obese youth was in no hurry to get out of town, but he knew that he'd be slightly more rushed when he reached the grass. The experience earlier made it very clear that he might deal with another pack of those little beasts otherwise...

Salieri smirked at Eunmi, curling his fingers into a fist in front of her chest. "Dodge, Chen Zhen!"

The grass monkey, with a large smile on it's face, jumped up and put his hands down onto Dali's shoulder as it used the Tackle attack. He thrust himself just a little higher and a little bit farther back, using the Oshawott's force as leverage. Now, he assumed that pushing down on Dali's shoulder would cause the otter to falter and perhaps even fall forward.

Such hand to hand combat tactics were natural to Chen Zhen, who trained with Salieri in kung fu everyday. Still, Dali had some force behind the attack. If he wasn't careful, he'd take a fair amount of damage.

"Now Brick Break!"

----

“Good, good, now you’re getting the hang of it.”

Salieri completed the palm thrust motion as her father did beside her, their steps in perfect sync with one another in the backyard of their Nuvema Town Household. The stout, balding middle aged man resembled a Throh more than Salieri, and said pokemon happened to be sweeping the back porch as the father and daughter practiced their kung fu.

“A good fighter will never use all of their energy if they don’t have to,” Sal’s father calmly instructed as he stepped forward, thrusting his other palm in front of him. Below him the grass rustled, as if pushed forward by his sheer force. Salieri did the routine the same way, although the grass did not budge in front of her. “This is because when the opportunity arises, they can release all of their power into an explosive force at once, demolishing defenses. That is the true power behind the Brick Break attack. With this technique, you can meet even the greatest of walls head on. Like so.”

To demonstrate, Salieri’s father dashed forward at a small boulder lying in a sandy zen garden next to their grassy lawn, breaking his kung fu routine abruptly. Sal stood and watched as her father jumped into the air, rearing his head back in preparation to headbutt the boulder, which was about the size and shape of a Voltorb. Although Sal winced, she didn’t speak out against such a seemingly reckless action: she trusted her father enough not to.

The boulder cracked and shattered as his head made contact, and Sal uttered a single, “Wooooow,” as her father stood upright again, exhaling a long and slow breath while standing still. He turned to Sal and gave her a large grin, rubbing his now red forehead as he did so.

“But that doesn’t mean you always should. Zehahahaha!” he laughed heartily, holding his hands to his rounded stomach. Sal giggled at her father’s laugh, and then focused her attention onto a smaller rock next to her, about the size of her fist.

Salieri flipped it up with her foot, and waited for the stone to fall around her eye height. Once it did, she thrust forward with a punch, shattering the rock into pieces. Her eyes widened as she recoiled, the pieces of stone falling onto the lawn as she waved her bruised knuckles around. "Ow ow ow!" she cried, and her father just laughed even harder.

----

"Pan-Sage!" cried Chen Zhen, sticking his tongue out in concentration to use his newest move.

Chen Zhen, upon order, clasped his fists together and brought them down above Dali's head to use the Brick Break attack his trainer had tutored to him. If successful, he'd pound the otter's face into the grass and then land in front of his opponent, ready for the next move.