Deceitful: A Pokemon Transformation

Chapter 27: The Not-So-Easy Part

As I had awaken from my unconscious state, the pain was still all there. My torso felt bruised, my back and shoulders were scraped from the dirt, my head was throbbing. I sat up, moaning pain.

"Welcome back," said Greninja smugly.

"How long was I out?" I grunted.

"Three hours. I did not expect you to fall so easily, Damian. Whatever happened to your persistence?"

"I can't have persistence if I'm knocked out," I said half-angrily.

"Nothing is impossible. Anyways, get up. You still have a training exercise to complete. Once you've mastered this, you may sleep. And... You should also hurry. There isn't much sunlight left, and I happen to fight my greatest at night."

'And knocking me out wasn't his greatest!?'

I stood up, sucking air through my teeth from the pain.

"The sooner you get this done, the sooner you may rest," he stated.

"Yeah... I know."

Whether I liked it or not, his training methods weren't going to change. I just had to deal with it, no matter how many times he knocked me out or how much pain I was feeling. I had a lot of confidence with this training, but what I didn't understand was why am I even putting up with it in the first place? I could just train with Gallade if I wanted to.

But I didn't want to. When Greninja said he was going to push me past my limits, I loved the sound of it. No matter how hard he pushes me, I'm going to exceed my own expectations. Greninja had a feature that Gallade did not. Discipline. Many would call it "tough love" but Greninja definitely showed it. And not just that, but I loved the challenge.

I probably have the most persistence out of anyone else on Earth, and I only took advantage of it.

I grinned and got into stance and ignored my pain, somewhat remembering Sir Greninja's techniques.

"I'm ready..."

"I'm proud of your persistence. Before we start, I will say that no sane Pokemon would take on my training. Now if you are truly prepared. Let's begin again."

Greninja did not change his routine in any form. He did the same same kick for my gut, which I jumped over. He lunged forward to grab my shoulder, and I simply hopped backwards. I was really hoping I wouldn't make the same mistake as last time. He made his forward punch, in which I instantly responded by putting my arms up in an X formation.

He was then behind me, which I dove away from his strike and quickly tried to stand. I thought I was doomed at that moment. As I was just standing up, he fired his water blast which I easily dodged. He then threw his water shuriken towards me.

"Damn..." I swore.

I had to be the luckiest guy in the world. I was just barely able to toss myself into the air by pushing with all of my force towards the ground. His projectiles flew right under me, but none made contact. Thank Arceus. At this point I was almost certain I couldn't lose. What I wasn't remembering was that as soon as I hit the ground, his dark pulse is going strike. As I landed, I swore over and over in my head as the attack made impact.

"Damn it!" I growled.

He was instantly in front of me with his shadow claw ready. I panicked and dropped to the ground just before he could strike. I then rolled away from him. Before I could even stand, however, he fired his shadow ball which hurt a lot more than last time. I got up as quickly as I could and I expected his final two moves, but I was too fatigued to even dodge them.

Dirt was kicked into my face, and Greninja finished his same maneuver with the roundhouse which made stunning impact with my skull.

I fell to my knees, grabbing my head with one paw.