Ninja Encounter

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Geo was a ninja. He was also an Eevee, but didn't think something small like that could hold him back from his goals. He could do anything he wanted if he set hit mind to it, even something most pokemon would call impossible. Even so he couldn't help be a bit embarrassed. What would other pokemon think if they found out about an Eevee aspiring to be a ninja? It simply wasn't usual. He didn't want to find out how pokemon would react, so he only wore his ninja headband when alone or with close friends.

This time he had made the unfortunate assumption that he would be alone at night in Pecha Forest. This was the perfect time to wear his headband. To run around, tossing sticks and Cacnea spikes like kunai. Using gravlelrocks as shuriken. He had the limitation of not having opposable thumbs, so he used his mouth for throwing such objects. This was difficult, but with determination and practice he was getting the hang of it. This was, in fact, not his first night exploring at night as a ninja.

Okay, so maybe he wasn't a ninja yet. But he loved to pretend he was. He never trained with a clan, or learned the lifestyle, but he had learned what he could and practiced what he knew when he was alone. This was by far one of his favorite activities. That being the case, Pecha Forest at night was nearly perfect. It was dark, great for trying to sneak around (something Geo needed much more practice with), being a ninja without anyone seeing him do so (in theory), and being relatively safe for a pokemon who was still finding their inner strength. He had no lack in determination, so however hard this quest for becoming strong like his uncle Gli might be, he was sure to manage it eventually.

But for now, his expedition would lead to an encounter with a more expert ninja.

"Well that's a silly question," Lee said, "I came from a ninja family." Lee was kind of surprised that Geo didn't know that he himself was a ninja. He had even announced to the whole town when he first arrived that he was going to be the worlds greatest ninja. But then again it was possible that Geo wasn't in town when Lee had first arrived a month ago himself. "My goal is to surpass my older brother and become the world's greatest ninja," he said.

Geo had his suspicions confirmed. This pokemon was born and raised as a ninja! Hmm... he thought to himself, What should I say now? It'd probably be pretty embarrassing for this pokemon to find me trying to be a ninja. I've never had formal training, I'd probably be about as good as when this pokemon when he was just starting his training, and I bet he's completed it already for him to be out here! without overthinking it too much, he decided to just say something, "that's awesome! What's it like being a ninja? How did you train, how long did it take? Where did you train? Can any pokemon do it? Do you need an instructor? Can you show me?"

He realized with a small moment of internal terror he may have seem a bit too interested, and thought, great, now this pokemon might find out! I just have to play it cool... play it cool...

Lee was right, Geo was practicing some ninja skills when Lee first came across him. With the sudden line of questioning it was more than obvious he wanted to be a ninja, and he wanted to learn what he could from Lee. Normally Lee would have happily provided training, but now after being home he realized that he needed to primarily focus on his own. The only person who would maybe get any training from Lee was going to be Jet since they were partners and Jet would learn from watching Lee, but Lee wasn't going to give out any formal training. Not until he was fully trained himself.

"I've trained my entire life," he said, "And you at least need a teacher to get you started on the basics. But a lot you must do by yourself." Lee now wanted to get to know Geo more, he wanted to see why he wanted to be a ninja as well.

Lee's Energy: 15 (from new page)

Guest carried out 1 launched of one Pecha Forest :

(15 energy)

Geo figured at this point hiding it was a lost cause. He only ever expressed his desire to be a ninja with close friends, and being that he liked meeting new pokemon, he figured that maybe just making friends would be a good option in this situation.

He felt a little disappointed that when he asked what it was like he didn't get any insight to the lifestyle, and that this pokemon seemed closed to the option of showing him anything, and didn't mention where he trained, so there was no figuring out where he could get trained. Still, Geo assumed there was a good reason that Lee didn't answer everything, and tried to respect his privacy by not pushing the skipped questions. Instead he decided to ask a more vague question that would allow Lee to answer at his discretion. "So, say I wanted to be a ninja, I mean, hypothetically speaking... what would you suggest?"

"I would suggest finding yourself a master," Lee said. Even to Lee, who was a lot of the time clueless about things, could tell that Geo wanted to be a ninja. He was asking all of the questions one would ask if they wanted to become a ninja. Lee saw no harm in giving him a few more tips though because he wanted to see if Geo really could become a good ninja. "But don't just go to anyone that will willingly say yes. A real ninja would never allow anyone to be their student. So if someone says no initially, don't get discouraged and try to prove yourself to them." Lee said as an added tip. He hadn't even considered that this might encourage someone to constantly ask him for help and lessons.

Lee's Energy: 14

Geo took a deep breath, stood up, suddenly deciding that he wanted a master. That there were no other ninjas near to train him. That he had to impress Lee, and by being afraid to show himself as a ninja wasn't the way to do it. He pulled his ninja headband from his bag, and put it back on around his neck.

He spoke with more confidence than he ever had before, "I've tried, and tried, and tried. I've never met any other ninjas around here. But I also want to be an explorer. Lee, I want you to train me... maybe even to join your rescue team! I know I'm asking a lot, but this is my only chance. My uncle told me to do the impossible... So I want to prove myself to you, even if I have to do the impossible!" He didn't know how the Froakie would react, but he didn't care, this was quite probably his only chance to be trained by a true ninja and he decided to take it.

Lee was shocked that Geo suddenly pulled out a ninja hood and wrapped it around his neck and told him everything. Lee was right, he did want to be a ninja and now he wanted Lee to be his master. Lee would like to be his master, it was always his dream to be a master himself and teach his own students. But Lee still needed to practice and train his skills, he hadn't even come close to mastering his clans secret technique from the scroll he received back at home. However Geo did mention something that intrigued Lee. Making him a member of Team Mizuchi would allow Geo to learn things from Lee, as well as help Lee and Jet. "Geo I can't be your master," Lee said, "I'm still learning myself. But I do have an idea that you might be okay with."

Geo's eyes glimmered. Lee had said he couldn't be his master, but he never addressed the question of joining the rescue team. Even if he couldn't be trained directly from Lee, joining the team would still let him learn from the other members of the team. If this was really what Lee was thinking, he would have to make sure the rest of the team was okay with him joining, but a chance was a chance. He didn't want to leap to assumptions, but with his idea in mind he couldn't help but feel giddy inside, asking gleefully, "What's your idea!?"

"I will talk to my partner Jet and see if he would be willing to meet you," Lee said. He wasn't sure how Jet would react to adding Geo onto his team, and he wasn't sure if Geo was even capable of being on his team. As Lee turned away to think, he noticed an orb that was stuck in some nearby tree branches.

Lee then hopped across a few branches and grabbed the orb. He recognized the orb from a few lessons he had while training back in the village. He knew this orb as one that holds a shadow demon, but the people of Grassveil knew it as a Petrify Orb. But right now the Orb wasn't important to the situation at hand. "But before I do," Lee said to Geo, "I have a little test to give you."

He hadn't said anything explicitly about joining the team, but talking to his partner? This just had to be about joining the team. "Awesome!" he was sure, there was no doubt in his mind. He watched patiently as Lee retrieved the orb. Hearing what Lee said, a fire began to rise in his heart, and it showed in his eyes. One thing he loved was doing the impossible. And one thing he hated was being told he can't do something.

Being tested meant two things. One, no matter how hard, how impossible, he had to win. Two, if he lost, he might be told that he can't, and that wasn't an option. He was gonna pass whatever test Lee had planned, even if it was to defeat Arceus. "Bring it on!" He smiled, antsy to pass whichever test this was as fast as possible. His heart began to race, there seemed to be a fire in his eyes. Perhaps an overreaction to a "little test," but he was going to give it 120%.

Lee smirked as he turned to face Geo when Geo had said 'Bring it on'. Lee slid the Orb into his explorer bag that he received when he registered with Jet. "Catch me if you can," Lee said with a smile. He then activated his camouflage and started to hop across the branches through the trees. He made sure to make his initial direction obvious by jumping through a branch so that it snapped and Geo would at least have a general direction to try and follow Lee.

Geo grinned, hastily leaping off to the branch he had seen break. He leaped again, before realizing he had lost sight. He took a deep breath, and opened his ears and nose. He couldn't smell Lee, the wind was the wrong direction... but he could hear Lee. And that would have to do. He began tailing Lee again, but began to fall on the branch he landed on next. This wouldn't do... he would have to try harder.

He paused to calm himself, thinking of the three rules he had learned, though he couldn't remember where from. He quickly recited them to himself. Rule number one - silence: dissolve in the darkness and erase your breath. Rule number two - transpositional thinking: Analyze the target in order to predict his thoughts and movements. Rule number three - speed: find the target before the target notices your presence.

A breif explanation. Rule one, if Lee couldn't see or hear him, he would be less likely to hurry up when Geo approached. Rule two, if he could predict where Lee was going he could try to cut around a faster direction to catch up. Rule three... well, that one would just take focus and strength, but would have a direct relation to how well he apprehended Lee.

With his new sense of focus, he had zoned out of reality, and had let is instincts lead him. Any scent, and tiny bit of visual information that might pass his subconscious, the smallest smells left on branches. His strides grew stronger and more confident than he had manged before. Being pushed by a challenge every fiber of his being, every bit of cognitive strength, he had focused everything he had into catching Lee. His leaps faded into the quiet chirping of bugs and wind rustling the leaves. His breaths flowed smoothly and silently.

He could feel it, he was sure he had already closed the gap from when he paused to gain his focus and when he had slipped, and soon he was ready to close in on the head start too... As a branch broke beneath him, he pulled himself back up on another close one, hastily returning to his leaping through the trees. He wasn't about to let a mistake set him back. Mistakes were part of living, so naturally his best opportunity would be if Lee made a mistake. But that was a luxury he could not count on, so he continued at full force.

Lee was too busy moving through the trees to focus on what Geo was doing behind him. Lee was not aware that Geo would be able to use his scent in order to follow Lee in the direction that he was moving. Lee had encountered trainees from another ninja clan what could use their scent in a similar manner. But Lee had never encountered Geo's species before so he didn't know that Geo could do so the same.

Lee simply kept on moving through the trees. He wasn't moving at his fastest, he simply wanted to see how Geo would react to Lee suddenly vanishing and how he would decide to chase after Lee. Like with his test for Jet, Lee just wanted to see how Geo would react to the challenge.

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