| Rio POV |
I pace back and forth in front of the lined-up team, my paws clasped behind my back, tail swishing like I mean business. My glare sweeps over the squad, ready to grill them with some good ol' sergeant abuse.
"Alright cadets! Listen up! During this training I don't care who you are or what your tragic backstory is, understood?"
"Sir yes sir!"
"You will work until your bones grind and your blood boils, understand?"
"Sir yes sir!"
I smirk. Oh yeah, I've always wanted to do this. I slam my foot down, making the floorboards rattle. "That's what I like to hear!"
Torchic — no, Combusken now — gives an enthusiastic little hop, accidentallyknocking over a lamp in the process. Ralts stands at attention, hands folded like a perfect little soldier. Even Rotom's screen flashes "YES SIR" in neon letters.
I pace in front of them, arms crossed behind my back, voice dropping into my best drill sergeant growl.
"Lesson one: Speed. If you can't dodge, you're dead. I don't care how much plot armor you think you have — it won't save you from a Hyper Beam to the face."
I stop in front of Combusken. "You! Feather duster! Think you can outrun a Gyarados with Thunderbolt?"
She blinks. Then she pecks the air like she might try.
I tun my sigh back towards Ralts. " And you! how confidant are you in pulling a meteor from space?"
I sigh as I see her down struck expression, ready to offer her some snack and let her sit this one out.
Ralts tilts her head, and I hear her telepathic voice echo softly: Um... I can try?
"THAT'S THE SPIRIT!" I shout with a proud grin.
I look acros the line up, searching for my last target.
Ah. There he is. The big guy.
Type: Null towers at the end of the line, still and silent, like a statue made of bad decisions and unholy science. His mask gleams in the sunlight leaking through the window, and his eyes follow me with a weird, haunted intensity that even I can't read.
"…And you," I mutter, pausing in front of him. "The doggo chimera of doom. You better not sit this one out just 'cause you're scary."
Null tilts his head the slightest bit. A faint clink of metal. No protest. No reaction. Just waiting.
Never mind, his tail is wagging, guess he's excited.
I nod in approval. "Good. I like that attitude. No excuses. You're running with the team."
Torchic lets out a bawk of complaint — probably because she realizes this means keeping pace with a guy who can probably smash boulders by sneezing.
I step back, tail wagging despite my best efforts to look serious. "Alright! Team misfit, assemble! Today we train like legends — or die trying! To the training room!" Gotta thank Roxanne for lending us her gym after me and Tyranitar forced it to close for repairs.
I clap my paws together, cracking a grin. "Alright, feather duster, your time has come. Today, we're gonna fix that problem of yours."
Combusken tilts her head, confused. I gesture at her with a dramatic flourish. "You're like me, a hands on destroyer. You just don't know it yet. We're gonna bring it out. No more standing there throwing Flamethrowers like you're some kinda Ninetales. You're gonna learn some QCC. Today."
She blinks at me.
Then — without warning — lets out a bawk and lets loose a full-powered Flamethrower across the training field.
"NO! BAD CHICKEN! WE'RE WORKING ON SPEED AND STRENGTH, NOT ROASTING THE LANDSCAPE!"
The stone is on fire. how is that even possible...
Rotom's hovering above us, laughing its screen off. "Trainer Rio's Fire Safety Rating: F minus!"
Null calmly stomps over and smothers the flames with his massive tail like this is normal. Ralts floats up beside me and pats my arm in sympathy. Maybe... we should give her a target? she suggests softly.
I groan, rubbing my temples. "Fine. We'll try that."
I conjure up a rock with cursed energy and set it down a good distance away. "Alright. Focus. No dragon cosplays. Just run. Hit that rock with Flame Charge. Imagine it insulted you, called you an empty brained Pidove!"
Combusken narrows her eyes, crouches, and—
FOOOOOOM
Another Flamethrower. The rock is now lava.
I drop to my knees. "WHY ARE YOU LIKE THIS?"
Null's tail thumps happily. I think he's enjoying the show.
Ralts offers a cookie from her snack stash. I take it. I deserve this.
"It's not that hard, look, just wrap fire around your arm or something, and punch!" I try to give her a demonstration, my cursed energy igniting with my divine flame suddenly, "Huh, didn't know I can do that?"
[New move learned: Divine Flame Reinforcement]
Combusken's eyes go wide as she watches my arm, blazing with that eerie divine fire. The glow reflects in her eyes like she's just seen Arceus Himself.
Rotom zips closer, screen flashing in neon. "Trainer Rio has unlocked: Accidental Badassery!"
I wave the flame off my arm, trying to act like I totally meant to do that. "Ahem. Yeah. See? That's the idea. Controlled fire. Direct it. You're not a turret, you're a missile."
Combusken stares at her fists. Then back at me. Then at her fists again. The air around her shimmers for a second — I can feel the heat start to build — but instead of another blast of Flamethrower—
BOOM!
She launches herself forward in a burst of flame and speed, leaving a trail of scorched earth behind. The rock? Obliterated. Shattered into a spray of molten pebbles.
I stare. "...Well. I'll be damned."
She turns, feathers singed but proud, and lets out a bawk of triumph, before falling beak first as she trips over a rock when walking back, typical...
Ralts claps politely. Null's tail wags harder. Rotom's already editing together a highlight reel with dramatic music, wait never mind, that's a funny fails compilation.
I smirk, crossing my arms. "Well, it's a start, feather duster. The first step's what matters."
I glance at my still-smoking arm. Okay... gotta figure out what that flame thing was too.
I flex my fingers, watching the last wisps of divine flame flicker out. Note to self: don't accidentally burn the gym down.
Combusken picks herself up, shaking soot off her feathers like a wet Pidgey, then puffs out her chest all proud anyway. She struts a bit, trips on a pebble again, and I swear Null's tail is wagging so hard the floor's vibrating.
Rotom hovers close, playing back the fail reel on loop. Combusken's Greatest Hits: Volume 1. There's even a little sad trombone sound effect as she faceplants.
"Okay, okay," I clap my hands to get everyone focused again. "Good work. You keep drilling that, Flame charge and Blaze kick are the only moves you'll ever need anyways, but first—next victim."
I pivot, finger pointing dramatically at the chimera. "Null! Big guy! You're up. Time to see if that armor slows you down, or if you're as fast as you look scary."
Null tilts his head, considering this, then lets out a low rumble and launches forward. It's like watching a freight train suddenly decide it's a bullet. The ground cracks under his charge, my eyes perfectly following his trajectory before he collides with his target with a simple tackle, and the boulder doesn't just break — it explodes into a cloud of dust and rubble.
Ralts winces. Rotom's screen pops up a fake insurance form. "Property damage report: filed."
I cough into my paw, trying not to look as impressed as I feel. "...Right. Okay. Speed training... maybe we put you in the back for a bit so you don't level the whole town, next."
Null's tail wags harder. He liked that.
Ralts floats up beside me, shyly tugging at my arm. Um... do I really have to pull a meteor? she asks in that soft telepathic voice.
I smile gently as I ruffle her hair. "Nah, let's start smaller. We'll work our way up. Let's see what you've got—light up that target, Stardust."
Her cheeks tint pink at the nickname, but she nods. Her eyes glimmer like distant galaxies as psychic energy hums to life around her… and without even trying, without so much as a flicker of effort, the entire field shifts.
Every pebble, every boulder, every chunk of earth — and one unfortunate sleeping Geodude — rises in perfect, silent synchrony. The air thickens, heavy not with strain, but with sheer, effortless control. It's like gravity itself forgot what it was doing at her command.
My ears flatten, and I feel my own aura shrink under the weight of her psychic energy. "...Holy crap."
The Geodude floats there, eyes wide in sleepy confusion, gently spinning like a rock-shaped planet in orbit.
Ralts tilts her head, studying the floating debris like an artist pondering where to place the next brushstroke. She gently lowers the poor rock type. The Geodude lands softly, blinks, and waddles away like nothing happened.
And then she takes my words to heart, can't pull down a meteor? Create one.
The mountains of debris coaless into a single tennis court sized boulder, easily 20 meters in diameter.
And before I can say a word, she launches it.
The massive rock roars across the field at barely subsonic speed, slamming through the far wall like it's tissue paper. A new, gaping entrance to the gym opens up, sunlight streaming through the ragged hole.
As the dust settles, I squint. The boulder kept going — carving a deep trench through the trees beyond. And on a splintered branch at the edge of the devastation, one traumatized Pidgey clings for dear life. Its tree? Gone. Its forest? Half flattened.
I breathe a shaky sigh of relief. "At least no one's hurt…"
But then my aura spikes as I recognize that Pidgey. My fur bristles, fangs bared. "It's YOU!"
The same Pidgey that tried to kill me back when I was a newly hatched, confused Riolu. The one that divebombed me outta nowhere like some feathered assassin.
The Pidgey stares at me. I stare at the Pidgey.
Rotom zips over, screen flashing: Trainer Rio's grudge meter: MAXED OUT.
Null's tail wags like this is the best thing he's seen all day. Combusken is still gaping at the hole in the wall.
I point dramatically, fur bristling with righteous fury. "That's it. Stardust, that's your next target!"
Ralts blinks, tilting her head. Um... I thought we weren't hurting anyone?
I smirk, eyes gleaming as my aura crackles around me. "We're not. We're just... letting it know I remember."
The Pidgey, still clinging to its shattered perch, fluffs its feathers in horror.
And with that, I leave its fate to the imagination of any poor soul watching.
Word Count: 1800
Poor bird… what do you have planned for it?
MC: Ever wondered what gets served during Thanksgiving in the Pokémon world?
…I don't want to know.