MoonRazor | Trainer: Odin | Pokenoids: Shrike

”I didn’t realize… that you can start battling right out of the egg,” Odin mused, glancing down at baby Shrike as she toddled after him on the dirt path. ”Doesn’t really seem right, y’know?” He had her little hand in his as she tried out her legs and made a valiant effort to keep up.

The little Natu had a look of intense concentration on her face, taking three steps to Odin’s one, but to her credit, she let out a little giggle as she did so. ”Have to learn somehow,” she said in little more than a whisper, gripping Odin's hand tight as she sped along beside him.

"Well. True..." Odin said, glancing down at the baby Pokenoid. "You're just so small."

"Only the body, not the mind," Shrike answered, voice still barely above a whisper. She didn't like to speak loudly, Odin had quickly learned, and instead preferred to be unobtrusive. The little Natu was quite unlike Osias, who didn't hesitate to showboat a bit or to push back whenever he felt even the slightest bit wronged. Instead, Shrike tended to keep her opinions to herself and rarely sought the spotlight.

Suddenly, the bush beside the path nearby shook. There was a barely audible gasp, and little Shrike startled sideways. She darted over to Odin and leaped up at him, scrambling up his torso like he was a tree. The Natu threw her arms around his neck and hung on tight, clinging to him like a little koala.

"Uh. Baby Shrike? It's just a..." Odin peered at the bush, squinting through the leaves until he could see the Pokemon shifting inside. "A Metapod."

Shrike peered at the bush as well, quiet, narrow-eyed, until she came to the very same conclusion. She loosened her death grip on his neck until she hung easily from his shoulders, and he reached up to swing her down.

"I know," she said, brow furrowing crossly as she alighted on her little feet. "Must be safe." She was quite militant in her insistence for safety, never mind that she was surrounded by a rather large trainer and an older brother, or that they weren't really out in the wild where true danger lay. It didn't seem to matter to Shrike what had caused the ruffles in the bushes, or the shadows passing overhead. She erred dramatically on the side of caution and refused to give in until she herself had determined that they were in the clear.

Odin chuckled and picked up her little hand again. They continued down the dirt path until they arrived at a little wooden dummy he had set up in a clearing. It was a simple little scarecrow-like thing, but for Shrike’s first ever practice, it would do.

”What is it…?” The little Natu said, eyeing the dummy with characteristic wariness.

”A practice dummy!” Odin said cheerfully. ”For low-stakes combat training. You can hit it as many times as you want, and it won’t fight back, so it’s perfect for learning the ropes. The goal would be to knock it down, I think.”

Shrike stared at the thing for a long, long moment, almost as if she was expecting it to move. Finally, she blinked and nodded quietly, taking on her Pokemon form as she faced the dummy. With just a little windup, she dashed forward and landed a hard peck on the dummy, knocking it backward. It leaned just a bit but stayed upright.

”That was a nice solid hit, Baby Shrike!” Odin cheered, pride welling up inside him. He felt thoroughly unprepared for the emotion that hit him as he watched the young Pokenoid test out her moves.

For her part, Shrike beamed, feeling quite accomplished now that she had landed her very first hit ever without missing. The little Natu eyed the dummy and the way it now leaned slightly backward, beckoning her to hit it again. ”More center,” the Pokenoid whispered, more to herself than anything else as she sized the dummy up one more time. She hopped backward, measuring out three careful steps from the dummy’s base. A deep breath swelled in her chest as she dropped into an athletic stance, feeling her weight sink low into her legs, priming herself like a boxer as she danced a bit on the balls of her feet. It was all about learning to feel her own body, figuring out where and how to balance herself and prepare for her next hit. Then she let out her breath in a woosh and dashed forward – one step, two steps, three. The Natu drew back on the third step and launched herself forward at the dummy with a loud, resounding peck. The hit echoed off the dummy with a dull thwack and the thing teetered quietly before toppling over, defeated.

”WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!” Odin’s exuberant whoop ripped through the clearing as he leaped excitedly to his feet, even before the dummy had hit the ground. ”BABY SHRIKE, LOOK AT YOU!! I’M SO PROUD OF YOU!” He was practically shrieking in excitement as he swept the little Natu up as if she weighed nothing. Shrike giggled as he hoisted her proudly above his head.

”Just a dummy,” she tried to protest, her laughter bubbling up from deep inside her as he tossed her up and caught her again with glee. It felt good, though, that much was for certain. She let her arms stretch and happily rode the up and down of Odin gently holding her up into the air like she was the league champion herself.

”I don’t care one bit,” he declared, dropping her back down into his grasp and bring her in for a big bear hug. ”An achievement’s an achievement. You can’t tone that down. Gotta own it, Baby Shrike.” The trainer wasn’t about to hide how enthusiastic he was, how thoroughly pleased her performance had made him.

The Natu giggled again and buried her little head against Odin’s chest, snuggling up comfortably. ”Well, okay,” she said finally, shutting her eyes. It’d been a big day.

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