The gym was even quieter than they had anticipated. One of the minor ones dotted around the city, it was, which didn't need to cater fully to the great influx of competitors that came with the hosting of a battle tournament. Although part of its relative emptiness was likely due to the fact that, as their companion Skye had requested, the gang had arrived in Hearthome well ahead of schedule.
With the rest of the fighters still lingering back in Eterna, therefore, or making their way from elsewhere around the region, that left Roisin and Laurie having almost free reign in the facility, the small handful of other gym-goers caught up in their own regimens - cardio, building muscle, or just to stay healthy - allowing the duo to make their way to a more secluded area in the back. An otherwise empty little room, spare for the blue free-standing impact bags at one end, and a thick red line crossing the floor at the other. Perfect for the pair to practice a technique that Rocky had told them about on the train up.
"But you've used Take Down before, right?" Roisin asked, rolling her shoulder a little in an effort to dull the faint throb of repeated impacts.
In typically nonchalant style, Laurie finished off the latest swig from her second Soda Pop of the day, before replying in between notably heavier breaths. "Couple times," she said, parked on a small bench to recover, not even bothering to look up at the bird stood alongside her.
"And did it work?" the Staraptor continued, not nearly as worn out as her larger partner was, but still taking a sip of her own from the water bottle she had brought along.
The Camerupt shrugged. "Seemed to."
"How did it work?" Roisin pressed, "Like, how did you get it to actually happen?"
"Focus," the big gal told her, going back for another gulp or two of soda.
The Flying-type's brow furrowed at such a curt answer. In the short time she had been a part of this world, Roisin had already seen plenty of fighters with their own mindsets, their own ways of training and preparation. Jet's swiftness and sparring back in Jubilife, Tamsin's all-out aggression and elemental assault in Oreburgh, Kerry's intimidation and attacks flowing non-stop in Eterna. The lackadaisical Laurie, on the other hand, this fat, lazy lump of lava and lard, seemed to fly in the face of all of it. Surely there was more to battling than that. "...focus?"
Laurie nodded.
An awkward pause hung in the air, Roisin waiting for any further explanation from the more experienced of the two. Which, of course, didn't come. A sigh escaped her beak as she rolled her eyes. Trying to get conversation out of Laurie was like trying to wring water out of a rock. "You're a pretty crap teacher, you know that?" she huffed.
That seemed to catch the attention of the Camerupt, who actually turned her head toward the taller bird at the accusation. "M'kay then, watch..." she replied, setting her half-finished soda on the floor, before heaving herself back to her feet with a hefty grunt of effort, and a relieved groan from the bench, leaving the seat bowing a few inches below where it should have been. A noticeable reminder of its overweight occupant.
Leaning back against the far wall, the Staraptor simply watched as Laurie lumbered her way over to the red line, squaring herself up to the bags on the other side. Light tufts of white smoke were billowing gently from the rocky vents on the Fire-type's shoulders, a tell-tale sign of her exhaustion. Despite that, and after only a few deeper breaths and a step back to build a touch of extra momentum, Laurie quickly charged forward with a pace belied by her tremendous size, thundering across the room in almost no time at all as she drove all that momentum straight into the impact bag, nearly flattening it to the floor as she landed heavily alongside.
All Roisin could do was throw her hands up in annoyance. Dozens of times she'd ran full speed at those things that afternoon, dozens of times she'd little more than nudged them slightly, and now the walking furnace had somehow out-sped the bird, and taken the bag straight to the ground on her first try. "How is that any different than what I'm doing?" the Staraptor growled.
"Focus," the big girl reiterated, starting to hoist herself up again. "I told you."
Roisin's jaw visibly tensed at the latest piece of Laurie's utterly impenetrable tutelage. "...on what?!" she barked.
The Camerupt huffed a little as she slowly stood up once more. "On the move," she answered.
Pinching her brow, Roisin let out a great huff of frustration, tossing the water bottle carelessly beneath the bench before striding forward. "You are totally useless..." she snarled, shaking her head.
"Just try it," came Laurie's reply.
Roisin simply glared at the decidedly unhelpful Camerupt, arms folded as she waited impatiently by the red line for Laurie to plod her way back behind it, as were the rules in most gyms like this one. Finally given the space for yet another attempt, the Flying-type muttered a vague curse under her breath and set one foot back in a ready stance, staring dead ahead at that blue bag she had been running into over and over for too long, slowing and calming her breathing as best she could. If focusing was what she was meant to do, then that's what she'd try, thinking back to the only time anything had actually happened when she did - by the statue in Eterna, with Skye alongside her.
With that moment in mind, the Staraptor arched her back, ready to run, and began to feel...something. A fuzziness, disconcerting at first, beginning to build up throughout her body. Gradually, everything seemed to narrow in on her target, her periphery fading from her mind as the soft haze continued to swell. Leaning back for an instant, she set off right as the fuzz reached its apex.
As soon as one foot left the floor, Roisin launched ahead like a rocket, as if an invisible fist had clutched onto her sternum and hauled the bird along faster than a Thunderbolt. Before she even had time to think, she collided shoulder-first into the impact bag much, MUCH harder than her previous attempts, a spasm of pain shooting right down to her thighs, the unexpected force shearing the bag clean off its mounting, sending both her and it flying through the air, barely tumbling across the ground for more than a yard or two until the Staraptor crashed spine-first into the wall at the far side, a cry of pain shooting from her as she crumpled into a heap alongside the limp, lifeless, and now broken piece of equipment.
"Woah," exclaimed Laurie in shock, and actually sounding it. "You okay?"
Crawling her way out, Roisin made it most of the way to her hands and knees, before keeling back over and clutching the shoulder that had taken the brunt of that immense collision. "Arrrrgh!" she groaned, able to eventually at least sit up against the wall. "Arceus, that hurt...!"
"It worked, though," the Camerupt added, heading over toward her and extending a hand. "Want to call it for the day?"
Grasping her companion's chubby hand with a nod and a grunt, Roisin found herself lifted to her feet almost effortlessly, not quite managing to stand up straight without the dull ache in her back pulsating even harder. Gingerly, she staggered for the exit, leaving Laurie to gather up their belongings. If she had done this much damage to herself with just a single Take Down, she had no intention of dealing with the aftermath of another. She had already needed extended stays in the Pokémon center too often recently.
As she shuffled her way into the lobby, an unopened can of soda was thrust in her direction by a fat, orange arm. "Have a drink, you'll be fine." Laurie told her.
Without a word, Roisin grabbed the beverage, immediately cracking it open and taking several hasty gulps. Not nearly as acerbic as Lemonade was, but with a pleasant enough tang to the mixture of berry flavours to avoid becoming too cloyingly sweet. It would, as ever, take time to work its healing wonders, though.
"I told the staff about the bag, by the way," the Camerupt added.
The Staraptor couldn't help flashing a look of vexation at Laurie, before one last glance behind, just in time to see one of the staff members - a Poliwhirl, as it happened - disappearing into the room the duo had just left.
"Thanks for that, then," she replied, limping out and down the stairs to the street, beginning the trek back to their hostel. "Bet Rocky'll love getting that bill."
