1746/Between a Rock and a Hot Space

Between a Rock and a Hot Space
Date of Scene:	07 March 2015
Location:	Pokemon Islands - Hoenn
Synopsis:	Alexis goes to teach Duke some tactics, only for his aggression to get out of hand and now the Pokemon trainer has to deal with a raging Growlmon X!
Cast of Characters:	Alexis, Duke

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Alexis has posed:
Hoenn was quite the sight to see, especially when you got to see it while flying overhead.

But this wasn't just a touring trip, and it's at the end of the flight that Alexis brings her Salamence down for a landing on a grassy field. "Here we are." The tomboy slides back a bit from the dragon's shoulders and hops down to the ground. Hopefully Duke can get down without falling off. "Good ol' Mt. Chimney."

The largest active volcano in Hoenn looms before and above them, it's mountainside potmarked with rock ledges, hot passageways and the occasional gravelly slope. "And this spot isn't very active, its a good place to not have to worry about holding back."

Though what she has in mind, she hasn't actually said yet.

Duke has posed:
The Guilmon X had fun riding on the back of the pokemon and staring at the world below. Flying, it was something that felt like he had done before. Something he enjoyed, even seeing the land below was like some cognition that its a sight he has seen, but such frustrations of 'how', were pushed away by just the sheer thrill of it all.

Once they do land, Duke slides down and easily lands on his feet. He looks around the Volcano's ridge, before walking carefully over to where the heat of the lava could be felt rising up from the cauldron below.

His gold eyes then look over to Alexis, "I... don't think I ever been to a place like this, but away from everyone so we can really train hard is a great idea!" He throws his clawed hands into the air, before he slowly lowers them down. His ear fins perking up, as he tilts his head, and his first claw coming to rest against the front of his muzzle. "...but what am I training against?"

Alexis has posed:
Alexis gives the Salamence's head a pat, then recalls him into a pokeball so he can rest before the flight back home. "Something that's going to be just as important as strength and focus eventually -- strategy. Who knows, maybe it'll even help with focusing." Alexis turns and takes a few steps in the opposite direction, so she's on the other side of Duke from the mountain looming over them. "Fighting isn't just about punching things until they stop fighting back. Especially in the Multiverse. It's inevitable you're going to come up against foes or environments you are not at the advantage at." She stops and turns back to the digimon with a small smirk. "Plenty of folks you can't overpower, but ain't run into anything yet that can't be outthought instead."

In one smooth motion she snags a pokeball off her belt and flicks it in front of her, releasing her Charizard. The winged saurian lands with a soft thud, spreading his wings and roaring a few short spurts of flame into the air overhead. "That and Redline has been itching for that sparring match we promised."

Duke has posed:
Duke listens to what Alexis has to say, his tail moving side to side as he takes it all in. He does tilt his head slightly, one ear fin rising up higher then the other. "I... think I understand." He says softly and then watches as the Charizard comes out. Those gold eyes blink a few times, before he huffs a bit of smoke from his nostrils.
"I also have not forgotten," The Guilmon X says with a grin. "I'm looking forward to fighting against you, Redline!" He then pumps his claw hand into the air and then hops up on a rock.

"So... uh..." Those gold eyes blink and look at Alexis, "I'm suppose to outsmart him and not hurt him... or?"

Alexis has posed:
Alexis pfffts. "Oh, don't worry, you're gonna have to fight him. I'm just saying, you're not gonna be able to brute force your way though it. Strategy doesn't have to be a complicated thing. Just keep your opponent and your environment in mind." With that said, she turns to a side stance, pointing mock dramatically towards the dino-like digimon. "If you don't mind, Redline, let's get this started off with a demonstration of what we mean."

"Chrrr..." the saurian lowers himself into a stance, wings partially extended, fangs showing in a bit of a smug look before opening his maw fully. A few sparking embers crackle from the corners, but the flame isn't the concern this time. It's the blast of thick, hot smoke he belches out at Duke.

"For example, obscured vision."

Duke has posed:
The red dino-dragon Digimon's tail flicks softly. "But.. Brute forcing normally works..." However when his vision suddenly becomes obscured and he coughs a bit. "Though this is a bit unfair!" Those gold eyes narrow. "...but fighting is... never fair right?"
The Guilmon X quickly hops down and gets down low, those ear fins moving about as he tries to track down any sounds, including even sniffing at the air. He squints his eyes and carefully moves forward a bit. His claws though easily clacking against the stone ground.

Stealth was not Duke's thing.

Alexis has posed:
"Always counting on a fight being fair is the fastest way to lose one." Alexis notes Duke is at least trying to make an advantage out of the situation, so the point is getting across. The method just clearly isn't one of his strong points. He does find the edge of the cloud of smoke eventually though... but with no Redline standing there?

Oh right, Charizard can -fly-. Or hover, as the case may be. "Or sometimes the opponent just has abilities you can't deal with in the usual way. I mean. He can fly. You can't." That she knows of.

For his part in the matter, Redline just makes for an actual attack this time, spitting several small Embers into the smoke cloud, abiet it's more to make the point of having a superior position than heavily hit Duke. This time at least.

Duke has posed:
Duke gets to the clearing to not see the Charizard, but then to realize he is above about the time the embers come in. The Digimon actually high tails it /back/ into the haze, even as one of the blasts clip his tail. "Ow!" Is the only thing Alexis or the Charizard here.
Though what comes next is a glow within the haze before two fire balls come racing right up for where Duke last saw the Charizard, then another comes just slightly to the right.

Alexis has posed:
Alexis smirks a bit as Duke dives back into the smokescreen for cover. He seemed to get the general concept of the training excersize, even if not fully yet. Probably that more experienced him still lost in his subconcious having an effect on the matter. Or that would be her theory, knowing what she does know. It was still a part of him, even if he didn't remember it all right now.

Redline jukes to the side mid-air when fireballs are fired back, but Duke's variation in shots is enough to still score a hit and cause him to whirl a bit before restabilizing himself. Oh, now it was on.

"Huh. Charizard is a Fire type, but it doesn't look like he really resisted that much. Maybe because it's partially digital." Mostly observing to herself. "Well, I guess it's your turn Redline. You can't see him clearly, what do you do?"

For a moment he gives his trainer a look, feigning surprise that she'd doubt him. Then back to the smoke. Hovering over it he spreads his wings fully as their surface starts to glow brightly, air getting that same slightly distorted effect that happens on a hot summer day as his temperature heats the air. Then with a mightly flap propels the wave of super-heated air towards Duke in the smoke, using it's wider coverage to much the same effect as the digimon did the alternate firing angles.

Duke has posed:
Deep within the Guilmon X was indeed a great deal of combat knowledge and experience, though Duke himself was just following his instinct. He did not fully understand how he knows what to do, but just that he, well, does.
As such when the Charizard goes to head up the area, those gold eyes start to frantically looking around, before he starts to run in what he believes is the opposite direction. When the pokemon then blasts out the gust of wind with heat, Duke gets lifted right off his feat.

Those gold eyes going wide and he can see the edge go by, even as shallow has it may be. There was no way to stop his fall. There was no way to recover from this. He lets out a cry like roar, before he impacts the rocky ground. His body rolls along the rocks, as he tries to dig his claws in to recover himself.

+++BADUM+++

As the Guilmon X slowly pushes himself back up, he huffs out a bit of smoke, before his pupils narrow down to primal slits, his claws dig in as the area around him starts to electrify. Bits of the lose rock start to rise up, as his tail twitches.
Duke then huffs out a bit more smoke, before he lets out a primal sounding roar that almost shakes the area. That is when his body glows and with a blast of light, he leaps out from that brilliance, jumping straight into the sky....

....He has become a Growlmon X. He has digivolved, but something is very wrong.

As he lands down, his white hair on the back of his head bristles up as his claws glow with plasma energy. Those primal gold eyes stare right up at the Charizard and then crouching down low, he leaps up into the air and then goes to slash both of his plasma lit claws right into the Pokemon, attempting to bring him down.

Alexis has posed:
The colors are different, but Alexis knows that look all to well. She remembers seeing it in the eyes of an Entei that had little control over himself. "... shit." One has to wonder if this being possible was part of the reason a part of Duke wanted to learn better focus? To keep from losing himself in the evolution.

But that is why they came out somewhere more isolated and less likely to cause a problem. Other than to themselves, which is pretty much par for the course for Alexis. "Watch out Redline, I think he's gone a bit feral!"

Not that the heads-up is soon enough to avoid a smack down. Caught off-guard by Duke's sudden change in size and the powerful leap Redline lets out a growl of dismay as the claws hit and he takes a hard fall to the ground, rolling end over end a couple of times before digging one set of claws into the ground to arrest the motion and push himself back up. Wings flare out and a smokey snort hisses from his nostrils. "Charrrr." <Is this one of those times I gotta beat sense back into him?>
"Yeah. Most likely. Wear him out enough and he should revert again."
<Fine with me.>

A powerful downbeat of wings launchs the saurian back into motion, building momentum as he rushes towards Duke and then spins midair to slam the digimon with his heavy tail and throw him backwards into the rocky cliffside.

Duke has posed:
The Growlmon X snarls as Redline comes charging in and then goes racing right at him to meet him. Fire is blazing from his maw, as he attempts to leap in, but being more feral minded, means lack of thinking. This works in the Charizard's favor as his tail slams dead on into the Digimon and he goes sailing.
Duke slams into the back of the rocky cliff and slides, down a bit, however he shakes his eyes. His gold eyes stare down the Charizard and he ends up rearing back his head, before blasting out a massive, explosive magma flame right toward the Pokemon.

He steps forward and attempts to blast out another stream, this one sadly Alexis will need to be careful of as well. This is perhaps the reason why he wanted to learn focus, her thoughts are correct on this. Duke knows he could become like this, he knew within himself, that he was a danger to everyone and somewhere in there, he is probably screaming at himself to stop.

Alexis has posed:
One can't say that Alexis didn't come prepared. "Balisong, I need you! King's Shield!" By the way the phantom shield faded into view at her arm made it hard to tell if it had come from its pokeball or just been lurking around unseen as ghosts tended to do. Didn't really matter, it's defensive move was enough for Alexis to hold up and nullify the stray fire raining in her direction.

While his opponent was no longer smaller and weaker than him Redline still had the advantage of maneuverability, veering and spiraling through the lava splays as he closed in on the digimon again. <That's enough of that out of you!> Grabbing onto Duke the Charizard turned him so his blasts were pelting the mountain instead as he heaved the other saurian off the ground.

Then goes into a controlled spin and dives, aiming to slam the digimon again into the ground, harder this time. <Say hello to Mr. Solid Ground!>

Duke has posed:
The Growlmon X roars out as the Charizard gets ahold of him. He attempts to break free, but by the time he manages to figure out how, Redline slams him into the ground, which cracks under the impact. The Digimon reaches up with his claws, as he huffs out smoke.
As his hand falls to the ground, his head hangs over to the side as his eyes then close. It isn't shortly after that his body flickers and ends up going back to the small four foot Guilmon X once more. Duke is out cold for the moment.

Though after a bit, he 'mms' softly and tries to move gently, "...Alexis..?" He says softly, as he tries to open up his eyes.

Alexis has posed:
Redline gets up afterwards and shakes dust off his wings. Nudges Duke with his foot. <I think he's out> And there's the devolving.

Alexis walks over and crouchs at the edge of the small crater the impact made. With the Agieslash at her side still, just in case. "Well the wigging out was kind of annoying, but you had the right idea before that. I think a part of your fragmented code still understands strategy even if you don't."

Duke has posed:
Those gold eyes looked at her and then looks away. "I am sorry... I got scared... frustrated... and just..." He closes his eyes and then with sudden movements, he goes to hug her unless she pulls away. "I am sorry! I am really sorry!"
If she doesn't try to move away he nuzzles into her like a child clinging to a mother really, his ear fins fully back and his tail down low. Though he doesn't stay that way long, before he goes to wipe away some tears that are trying to show up. "...got... dust in my eye..."

Duke then looks over to Redline, before he frowns still, looking up at the Charizard, "...I am sorry to you too, Redline."

Alexis has posed:
"Hey, hey, don't be sorry!" The moment doesn't last long enough for her to have to try and nudge him loose again, at least. "The only way you're going to get over that hurdle is to face it when it comes up.... Also kind of why we came out here away from any real populated areas. I have delt with this sort of thing before, y'know." She gave the ghost shield a pat. "And came prepared."

Duke has posed:
The Guilmon X looks over to Alexis, as his ear fin stays back a bit, sadness in his eyes. "What is worse is... I know I didn't something wrong... but I don't remember what and, and...." He lowers his head, "...you shouldn't have to come prepared like that."
The Digimon then looks back Alexis once more, before scratching the side of his face, rubbing his snout and inhales deeply. "But I'll try to focus harder. I'll try to keep trying to focus, so, so I don't lose control like that but, its hard."

"Its hard," He continues to try and explain, "Because my nature... the nature... its... hard to ignore sometimes." The Guilmon X shakes his head. "It causes my thoughts to be cloudy... even worse in that stage."

Alexis has posed:
Alexis pfffts, causing her bangs to flutter briefly from doing so. "Remember, nature is what you make of it. You can control it, or it can control you. All a matter of perspective. You'll get the hang of it eventually." She pushes herself back onto her feet. "I like being prepared. Besides, it freaks people out when they expect me to just want to smack things until they stop fighting."

Duke has posed:
Duke nods head gently, "I'm trying. I really am! Like remembering, I want to remember, I want to get better." He then lowers his head. "Like... I want people to believe I am not stupid or a dumb animal." He growls softly at this. "I am better then that and I am better then all of them!"
Those gold eyes look up to her once more, "Right?"

Alexis has posed:
Alexis reachs over to give Duke a helping hand out of the crater. "You're most certainly not just a dumb animal. Probably don't want to go around saying you're better than everyone else though. That comes off sounding cocky and eventually someone's gonna want to try and prove otherwise. Arrogance is not a trait one wants to pick up."

Duke has posed:
The digimon doesn't turn Alexis away and allows for her to help him get up fully. Duke eye ridges furrow as Alexis explains that he should not be arrogant and glances off to the side, before he returns back to look at her. "I'll... I'll try to not be arrogant." He says softly, but then smiles gently as his ear fins perk up, "Could we go back to the Ranch get food and um, maybe try this strategy thing again? I think Redline needs a proper fight still."

Alexis has posed:
Alexis puts her arm around the shorter digimon's shoulders. "Yeah, let's take a break and get some chow. We can work on this more later."