Metamorphosis (Pokémon Watties 2017)

6: A Restless Student

"Hey, Isa?" Kaden interrupted the story Isa was telling. After staying in the the village for a few days, the two and their Pokemon had finally set off for Luminia just hours earlier.

"Yeah?"

"How mad would you be if I said I'm starting to get some memories back?"

"Mad? Why would I be mad, that's great!" Isa smiled at the comment, but Kaden still seemed a little down. "What is it?"

"I still don't know much, but I remember being one of the Mercenaries of Yveltal. I know I didn't like it that much and often tried to get out of it, but there was something that kept me in right up until I met you." Kaden didn't look too excited when he said it. It definitely came as a startle to Isa.

"When did you start remembering?" Isa asked.

"Yesterday morning." Before Isa could say anything else, Kaden continued. "I didn't want to tell you because I thought you'd be mad. The Mercenaries going out of business are why the village was destroyed, so if you would have known that there was one that you were with, then maybe you'd get mad at me for not being there to help your people." Isa didn't respond. "See, I knew you'd be upset."

"I'm not upset! Why would you think that?" Isa almost yelled, which caused Kaden to flinch back a bit. Isa stopped, taking a small breath before speaking again in a much quieter voice. "I'm not upset. There's nothing you could have done. So don't go blaming yourself for things that aren't your fault. Plus, I don't wanna have any reason to go doubting the only person that I'm gonna be seeing for the next week or something."

"I guess that's not the best of ideas." Kaden smirked a bit.

"Hey, if you were a Mercenary then you must have some proper battle knowledge, right?"

"I remember a little bit."

"Then could you show me how to fight? We're going to be learning in Luminia anyways, but if you teach me, I could have an upper hand when starting out. Most of the students at that academy were either guards or duelists before arriving there, so I could be denied simply because I don't have experience." Isa looked down a little, but not enough to miss the shrug of approval from Kaden.

"Sure. Why not? It'd be fun. We'll start tonight once we set up camp."

"Really?" Isa tried not to show so much excitement, but he didn't succeed. "That'd be awesome! Thanks!"

"Don't mention it."

"So, what was being a Mercenary like?" Isa asked. Kaden looked confused at his eagerness for a moment before speaking.

"I'm still not sure exactly. I remember working underground a lot."

"Sounds sneaky. What did you guys work on?"

"Oh, lots of things. Speaking to ghosts was one of them."

"What?" Isa jumped a bit, which caused Kaden to start laughing. "Hey, you're lying, aren't you?"

"So what if I am? Maybe I'm not, I don't remember."

"I thought you said you'd stop that!"

"You clearly don't know me well enough, then."

---

"Alright, lesson one. The first thing that every battler in Axiom, and even the Dark Lands, is taught is the challenge pose." Kaden held a stick in his hand, standing next to Houndoom. He held the sharp end pointing straight up, clenching it with one hand and holding the other near his side. Houndoom stood ready at his side. "I challenge you to a duel. A proper response is to return the pose, saying that you accept."