[GCEA Wish Master] Seven Days Of Hell

[[Desolate Divine]]

Day 1: The literal definition of Hell.

“Wake up!” said the voice I was still getting used to hearing, “We don’t have all day!”

I groaned as Lewis jabbed the tip of his training sword into my ribs. The silver haired man sighed when I hardly moved.

“I only went to sleep because you did right after you said you would train me.” I muttered, “Besides, you said we are outside time here.”

I rubbed my eyes and began to get dressed, as Lewis looked at me sternly.

“Are you hungry? More than you were when you came here?” he asked coldly. It didn’t seem like he cared if I was hungry or not, but merely wanted to prove a point.

“Yes. But what has that got to do with anything?”

“It means your body is still running normally. We might be outside of time, but your body will still burn energy to keep running. Your metabolic processes aren’t on hold. You will still age.” Lewis lectured, “So yes, we could spend twenty years here, and you would go back after everything to where Skye picked you up. But you would be nearly forty, and your friends would all still be young. I don’t want this to take longer than a week.”

“A week?!” I exclaimed “You say you need to train me, but expect me to learn it all in a week?! That’s impossible!”

“I know!” Lewis said, “But unfortunately, that is the way it is. You won’t be a master, but by the time I am done, you will stand a bit more of a chance against what’s to come. And that is assuming you stop wasting time arguing with me, and get dressed!”

Lewis walked out of the small cabin, shutting the door behind him. I sighed, and put on my clothes. A pair of shorts and a loose-fitting t-shirt. If I was practicing swordsmanship, I should dress with something that allows me to move around.

I walked out into the garden that was Lewis’ home. It seemed to float in existence. As if it were there but wasn’t meant to be. The sky was always a dark pink, orange blend, as if it were always sunset, and the air cold but not chilly. Instead, refreshing. There was a stream that ran through the middle of the garden, which had cold, pure water, and the trees supplied all varieties of fruit. Different Pokemon could be seen and heard playing in the nearby trees. It was a weird thought that normal Pokemon were living outside of time. It felt strange to be staying in such paradise, after living in what felt like hell. Turns out, this place was going to be hellish in its own way.

Lewis sat under the giant rotunda on the opposite side of the stream. As I walked over, I noticed Skye sitting by a tree, reading a book that appeared to be about Celebi, and giggling. By the entrance of it were two practise swords. I grabbed both and went to pass one to Lewis. However he didn’t take it.

“Did I say we were going to be using them?”

“Well you said you’d be training me in swordsmanship, so it’s a fair assumption we would be.” I replied.

“Wrong.” Lewis said smugly, “I said I would be training you. Yes, there is a segment in swordsmanship, but there is much more you have to learn. Otherwise, you will just get cocky, and get yourself killed. And you have proven that. You have failed the first part of your training.”

“Excuse me?” I exlaimed, struggling to hide the irritation.

“Think before you act. And I don’t mean assume.” Lewis berated, “Properly think. Make an educated decision. Not ’He is teaching me swordsmanship so the first thing we will do is bash sticks’.”

“Fine.” I muttered, “Where do we begin master.”

I saw as a nerve popped out in Lewis’ head. There was a flash of light as the man disappeared and in his place was the five meter tall, two hundred kilogram, Legendary Pokemon Lugia. Suddenly hurricane winds appeared, knocking me back and causing all the trees to bend. However none of them broke. Not a single leaf fell off. I was blown back, and grabbed onto one of the posts to stop myself being blown away. I could see fury in Lugia’s large eye.

“Latios might tolerate being disrespected by a bug like yourself! Maybe even Kyogre. But I won’t!”

“You know what the difference between them and you is?” I shouted back, in a p***ed off state, “They aren’t hiding in some little garden outside of time when the s*** hits the fan! Why are you hiding? Is it because you aren’t powerful enough to help? Or too scared?”

There was another flash of light as the winds disappeared and Lewis was standing in front of me again.

“I was considering skipping this as I thought you might have already had some skill in it. But you deserve to do it anyway.” Lewis muttered as he grabbed the practise swords and threw me one. “Come on! Fight me!”

Usually I would be hesitant, but I decided to do what he said. I leapt forward, with an overhead strike. Lewis expertly stepped to the right, dodging the attack barely, before swinging his own practise sword around, smacking me behind the knees, just like I did to Joseph yesterday. I fell to my knees, and with a smooth flick, Lewis had brought his practise sword back, and swung it upwards, smacking me underneath the chin. The force of it was enough to knock me backwards.

“Lewis! What are you trying to do?” Skye yelled as ran over after seeing the scene, “He isn’t going to be much use if you cripple him!”

“Teach him a lesson in humility.” Lewis muttered, “Teach the little brat that he doesn’t know everything.”

“F*** you.” I said through swollen lips. I spat out some blood, before attempting to stand, “At least I am willing to do something instead of hiding in a garden like a f***ing coward!”

“Stand up.” Lewis said, “Now!”

I used the practise sword to help me get up. Before I could get myself up fully though, I was knocked to the ground again by a strike to the ribs.

“Lewis, this is achieving nothing!” Skye shouted, “I brought him here because I wanted you to train him.”

“Oh, I will train him.” Lewis hissed, “Just like you train a Houndour to not s*** on the carpet!”

“Lewis!”

“Heal him Skye.” Lewis muttered.

Skye turned to face me, and her eyes began to glow. I felt my aching body start to go numb before getting feeling back in it and feeling normal.

“You know what you showed me?” Lewis asked.

“What?” I hissed.

“You have no tolerance to pain. One hit and you’re down. Like a little b****.” Lewis said.

“Go f*** yourself!” I retaliated, swinging my practise sword aiming for his head. I didn’t care if he was a God. This guys was a f***ing a**hole.

Lewis raised his arm, and wrapped it around the practise sword, pulling it from my grip. He then swung his own, hitting me in the ribs. I flinched at the pain, before taking another hit behind the knees.

“You take a hit, and any composure you have is gone.” Lewis said, “You flinch, and cry like a little b****, and give me the opportunity to hit you again, even worse.”

“What the f*** do you except me to do?” I shouted, “Nothing?”
“Yes!” Lewis shouted back, “When I grabbed your sword, do you think that I didn’t feel it? It f***ing hurt! But I am in control of myself enough to not let that overwhelm me.”

“Well I’m sorry that being bashed with a stick f***ing hurts!” I yelled.

“I don’t expect you to not feel pain. But I except you to not let it control you.” Lewis said, taking a breath and attempting to calm down. “Most of the battles you are in will come down to one thing. Wills. Who is willing to stand up every time they are knocked down. But if you have the willpower to stay standing regardless of what they hit you with, you will have the advantage.”

I tried to get up as Skye walked over to help me. As much as I hated his way of teaching it, I knew he was right. I can’t stop life from being painful. But I can control how I deal with it.

“Heal him again Skye.” Lewis said, “He has proven we have a lot of ground to cover.”

“No! I’m not going to heal him so you can keep using him as a punching bag!” Skye yelled, “I thought you were going to train him!”

“Do it Skye…” I muttered, “I’m not going to give him the satisfaction of me giving up…”

“So what, you expect me to let him keep beating you up because you’re too stubborn to admit defeat?!” Skye said to me, “I am not even sure why I am bothering to help you!”

“Because he is right!” I shouted at Skye, “So just do as he damn well says, and heal me!”

I felt myself get healed again, but saw that I had hurt Skye. Once I was able to stand unassisted, she walked off to the nearby cabin where she had been staying.

“F***…” I muttered to myself.

“Try again.” Lewis said coldly, “And this time, try and hit harder than an infant.”

“I’ll be back in a minute.” I said, as I put my practise sword down.

“Where do you think you’re going?” Lewis said, sounding annoyed, “I’m the one who says when we take breaks, not you!”

“You might not give a s*** that we have upset Skye, but I do.” I said bluntly, “Now go meditate or some s***…”

I heard Lewis mutter a string of threats and curses under his breath as I walked towards Skye’s cabin. I knocked on the door, and could hear crying from the other side. However Skye said nothing. I opened the door slowly, and found her sitting at the end of the bed.

“I’m sorry for yelling at you.” I said quietly as I sat on a chair nearby, “I guess I was a bit too emotional from having the crap beaten out of me by Lewis. If you don’t want to help, that’s fine. I can have my Gallade use Heal Pulse on me instead.”

“I will help.” Skye said quietly, as she tried to wipe a few tears away, “I am just shocked. I have known Lewis for years, and knew he trained people. Heck, when I have needed people to be trained for something, like you, I have taken them to him, but never stuck around to see what it is they went through. For centuries, I have been dropping people off here, disappearing to do my own things, and picking them up when they are ready to help me. If this is what you are doing in your first day, what did they all go through? What hell have I subjected them to?”

“I doubt Lewis was that hard on them.” I explained, trying to ease her guilt, “I have a tendency for being an a**hole, and I guess that Lewis just doesn’t take that well.”

Skye laughed slightly.

“Come on. Let’s go outside before he gets even more mad.”

I continued to spar with Lewis for the next four hours. I didn’t land a hit. And instead, I copped hundreds of bruises that were all healed by Skye. And by the end of it, I was no more resilient to pain than I was at the start. I’d still take a hit and lose my composure.

“That will do for today.” Lewis said, “Improve your attitude, and it might be a little easier tomorrow.”

“You can stick your attitude right up your…” I began to mutter, until I noticed Skye giving me a look. A ’This can’t end well so stop talking before you say something you regret’ look.

“Go get a drink and something to eat, and meet me back here in ten minutes.” Lewis said, before making his way back to his large house at the far end of the garden.

I made my way to the stream to fill up my water bottle. Skye followed soon after.

“No wonder this place is timeless.” I said to her, “I feel like I have been here for years after that session.”

“You did well.” Skye said encouragingly, “I think. After the twelfth time, every beating you took began to look the same.”

“Thanks. I think.”

I made my way back to giant rotunda, where Lewis had set up a practise dummy. He then began showing me basic positions and strikes with the practise sword. Though this became very repetitive and boring after a little while, I preferred it to having the living s*** beaten out of me.

We spent the next five hours going over the poses, and by the time that was over, my arms were ready to drop off. It felt as if it were getting late. My watch didn’t work here, but we started at what felt like 7am. It felt like it was about 5pm, so I had hoped the training for the day was over. However there was one thing Lewis had left to torture me with.

In front of me was a workbook full of blank pages, similar to what I’d use in school and a pen.

“Draw me a symbol. Any simple image with meaning to you.” Lewis explained. I didn’t bother questioning or arguing with him. It was easier to just draw something. I quickly drew a treble cleff. The universal symbol for music.

“You’re a musician?” Lewis said, near condescendingly.

“Shouldn’t I be?” I asked.

“You seem a bit too uncontrolled, and lack the finesse required to play music. But what would I know? I’m just a God.” Lewis sneered, “Anyway, your Treble Cleff is sloppy. The lines aren’t fluid. It just isn’t good. There is nothing more I can say. Do it again. But better.”

“What’s wrong with it?” I asked, “You knew it was a Treble Cleff? Doesn’t that mean it’s done its job?”

“It’s still not good enough. Do it again.”

Lewis had me draw it over and over until it was perfect. If it were even a millimetre out, he would have me redo it. He then gave me a bunch of other symbols, which looked like characters in another language, to recreate. If they weren’t perfect, he would berate me. After two hours he told me to stop.

“Why do you think I was so pedantic about this?” Lewis asked, near rhetorically. He expected me to get it wrong, and I knew I would, so I didn’t even bother trying to get the right answer.

“Because you’re a neurotic perfectionist, with severe obsessive compulsive disorder and possibly slight Tourette’s syndrome?” I retorted, ready to run should he change forms.

“I will just pretend I didn’t hear that…” Lewis muttered, “Get up.”

I stood, and walked with Lewis to the practise dummy. He grabbed his practise sword, and swung twice. The first was to the back of the torso, and the second was slightly left.

“What was the difference between them?” Lewis asked.

“An inch or two?”

“Wrong.” Lewis scolded. “The difference was him being able to walk. One of those was merely a flesh wound, which would heal. The man would make a full recovery. The second would have left him paralysed from the waist down.”

He then made two stabs. One in the centre of the torso, the other a few inches up.

“The first missed any vital organs. The second cut out his heart.”

Lewis then made two slices. Both were about an inch long. One below the right ear, the other one slightly further towards the back of the neck.

“The first cut the carotid artery, which is what brings oxygenated blood to the brain. The other missed it and was merely a cut.”

Lewis sat back down, putting down his sword.

“If you can’t draw these simple symbols perfectly, the way you intend to; if you can’t control your body to the most precise degree, you won’t be able to control whether you merely stop a man from hurting you, or whether you kill him.” Lewis explained, “You might kill a man who is forced to fight a cause he doesn’t believe in. Or you might accidentally let a man live who is too dangerous to be alive. You need to be in control. More so than anything else.”


Day 2: A warrior’s blade.

I awoke at roughly 7am the next morning and began the day the same as the previous day. Having the s*** kicked out of me by Lewis, who was trying to teach me control. To control the pain. To feel it but not let it control me. Today didn’t begin with a colossal fight, but there was still hostility and tension in the air. We spent four hours working on this, and then another four hours working on the positions he taught me the day before, and the drawing of the symbols. As eccentric, and in some ways insane as it was, I could see the logic behind it. Having a ‘swing and hope for the best’ attitude isn’t going to help. I need every move I make to be precise and educated. It reached what felt like early evening when Lewis interrupted the symbol drawing.

“Usually I would wait until you were a bit more skilled and a lot more disciplined before making this a priority, but we don’t have time to wait. “ Lewis explained, leaving me slightly confused, “I can teach you for years to become a master of the sword. But if you haven’t got your own, it is of little use. Part of your training from here on out will be to forge yourself a blade.”

“Whilst that sounds really cool and all, I have no experience working a forge.” I said, “How am I supposed to make a decent weapon? And where?”

“I have a forge built into the back of the house. I will teach you how to do it and make sure you don’t manage to screw it up.” Lewis explained, “I have all the materials needed except one thing.”

“Let me guess. The blade?” I said half joking. Knowing my luck the thing he is missing is the most valuable part.

“I haven’t got any metals to use for the blade. You will need to acquire that yourself. You can take the afternoon off to try and sort something out.” Lewis said, “See if Skye can help you.”

Lewis began to walk to the house, picking up a set of shiny golf clubs, with the word Titanium written on the bag, before I spoke up.

“Where are you going? Aren’t you going to help me?” I shouted.

“I have played golf at this time on every Tuesday for the last two hundred years with Henry.” Lewis said, “I’m not stopping that tradition for you!”

“Time doesn’t even run here.” I shouted back, “How can it be a Tuesday?”

“It just is!”

I managed to find Skye sitting in her usual spot, underneath a tree, deep into a book.

“Sorry to disturb you but I need some help.” I said, as I sat opposite her.

“What do you need?” Skye asked, folding the corner of the page she was up to and putting the book down.

“Lewis wants me to forge myself a blade. And he has all the materials I need, except a metal for the blade. He said you might be able to help me out?” I explained.

Skye looked at me confused.

“How does he think I can help you?” Skye asked.

“I am not sure. Maybe take me back to my world, so I can find something?” I suggested.

“I can’t.”

“What are you talking about?” I said, slightly shocked.

“Remember how I said your existence was on the line? Before I brought you here?”

“Yes?”

“By picking you up and taking you at that exact moment, I gave you the chance to save your existence. If you enter your world, your time, again, and you haven’t saved your existence, you will cease to exist.” Skye explained, “You can’t return there until we have saved your existence.”

“So what does that mean? We have to somehow find a metal to craft a blade from here?” I asked.

“I think so.” Skye said.

I couldn’t help but sigh at how nothing seemed to be easy.

“Look, do you even know what metal you want?” Skye asked.

“Not right now, no.” I replied.

“Then let’s go try and pick a metal that you could use.” Skye said, “Lewis has a massive library in the house. I’m sure he won’t mind you doing some reading to try and make a better decision on it.”

Skye led the way towards the house, opening the front doors. Lewis had gone to play golf with whoever this Henry was, so the large house was empty. All the rooms had high ceilings and large doorways, which I assume is to accommodate either form, should Lewis decide to turn into Lugia for some reason or other.

Eventually we found ourselves in a large library. The high walls were lined with shelves and books. Skye navigated around the room like an expert. The books she seemed to always be reading must have come from here.

“Found it!” Skye said, “It was in the chemistry section.”

Skye passed me a rather boring looking textbook.

Common metals of the 21st Century.

“Hopefully this can provide some answers.” I said, as we sat down and began looking through it. The book was boring but gave some ideas.

“What about cobalt?” Skye asked, pointing to the section on cobalt, “It says here that it is a hard metal?”

“That’s true.” I said, “But it also says it is magnetic. I am not sure that would be helpful. That and it is probably also pretty heavy. I need something light.”

“Aluminium maybe?” Skye suggested, “It is renowned for being light, and it isn’t magnetic.”

“One hit against something and it would bend.” I said. Then I realized something.

“Skye, we can pick a metal, but how are we going to get it? We don’t know where any of these are found naturally?” I explained.

“So what? We have to pick something that is already made and melt it down?” Skye asked, “I’m not sure Lewis would like that…”

“Hey, he chose to play golf instead of helping us. Besides, do you really think he uses half the s*** he has around here?”

“That is a good point.” Skye admitted.

“Okay, so we will split up and search the house. Look for anything metal that we could potentially melt down.”

An hour later, we met back in the library, both with a list of metals found in the house.

“So I found silver cutlery in the kitchen, more than enough to make a blade.” Skye said, “I also found cast iron pots in the kitchen.”

“Silver is too soft and easy to damage.” I explained, “And cast iron is too brittle.”

“What about you? Did you find anything?” Skye asked, trying to remain optimistic.

“Nothing useful. Just a brass bed-frame.” I said, slightly annoyed, “How the hell am I supposed to make a decent blade if I can’t find a good metal?”

“I’m not sure. Is there something we have missed?” Skye asked.

“I get the feeling we have missed something. I just can’t figure out what.”

I picked up the book again, and began flicking through the pages. I flicked past one metal, however recognised the name and turned back. Then it hit me.

Titanium.

“Skye, I found it… But getting it is suicide.” I said as I handed the book over.

Skye quickly read the description.

“Titanium is perfect for what we need it for! Where can we get it?”

“Lewis’ golf clubs…”

Skye’s jaw dropped.

“You cannot be serious?!”

“I don’t really have any other choice.”

“You really think you can get away with stealing his golf clubs and melting them down to make a sword?!”

“Probably not, but a lot depends on it. Besides, what’s the worst he could do?”

“He is a God, Jacob. He could do a lot…”

“Okay. Well what’s the worst he would do?”

“Beat the snot out of you like he did yesterday?”

“I survived it once. I think I can survive it again.”

Skye sighed.

“Well, it’s your funeral.”

“Will you help me get them?”

“I don’t exactly have much choice. I need your help and you need that sword.” Skye said, still somewhat worried.

“He wouldn’t do anything to you though, would he?” I asked, “You guys are friends?”

“Yes, but he really loves those golf clubs.” Skye explained, “Then again, I used the whole time travel thing to get him out of a bad situation a few years back. He owes me one. So I might be able to get away with it.”

“Get away with what?” said Lewis’ voice from the door.

F***…

“Get away with…” I began, tyring to think on the spot, “Forgetting to get you a birthday present!”

Lewis looked at me suspiciously. I knew that my story was about as believable as a surfing Charizard.

“Right.” Lewis said, trying to stare me down, “And how would you know my birthday?”

“Didn’t you have a golf game with Henry?” Skye asked, trying to change the conversation.

“He bailed at the last second. Gave some crappy excuse about a Clear Bell, Ecruteak City and some girls in Kimonos.” Lewis explained, slightly annoyed, “I think he just didn’t want to lose again. Any luck finding the metal?”

“I have a lead.” I said, as Skye began to look at me suspiciously, “Could you please fire up the forge? I am gonna go looking for something and will be back late to melt it down.”

“Fine. Just don’t burn the damn house down.” Lewis said.

“I won’t. But I will go looking for it now. Don’t wait up for me.” I said.

“Believe me, I have no intention to.” Lewis muttered, as he placed his golf clubs down, and walked out to the back. Skye and I made our way back out of the house.

“I thought you were going to be secretive?” Skye said, unnerved by the whole thing.

“I don’t know how to use the forge, and it’d take hours to heat up anyway.” I said, “I needed him to heat it up. I will just hide out in the forest for a while, and when it is late and I know he is asleep, I will go to the forge. You will sneak in and take the clubs and bring them out to me. Then we strip them, and melt them down.”

“ME?” Skye exclaimed, “Why do I need to be the one to take them?”

“Because you are a God as well. If anyone has a chance of sneaking into the house of a sleeping God, and stealing their golf clubs, it is you.” I explained, “Besides, you said yourself he owes you one.”

“Yes, I meant that he could forgive me for helping you melt them down, but not stealing them myself!”

“Please Skye! I need this! You know just how much I do! More than I know!”

Skye was silent for a moment.

“Okay, I will do it. But now you owe me big time. Like, ten times what Lewis did.”

“I will find a way to make it up to you. Thanks.”

I made my way into the forest, and lit a campfire out there. All of the Pokemon watched from a distance, and if they noticed me looking at them, would hide. However there was one that didn’t. I first noticed it as some sounds in the nearby bushes, from something bigger than the usual Furret, or Teddiursa. After a few seconds, it emerged from the bushes. A Skarmory.

I extended my hand with some berries from Lewis’ garden. At first it was cautious, but slowly the Skarmory made it’s way over, and began eating from my hand. I nearly cut myself on its sharp feathers.

Suddenly there was a sound from deeper in the forest, which got the Skarmory’s attention. It took off into the air and flew towards it, leaving me alone again.

I sat alone for six or so hours, thinking about everything that was going on, and how strange my current situation was. I was currently living and training with two legendary Pokemon. I was about to steal ones golf clubs with the help of the other to craft my own sword. S***, this will be a fun one to tell the kids.

It got to what felt like midnight, and I made my way back towards the house. There was a dim light out the back, and I found the forge fired up and hot. Based on the lack of light inside the house, I assumed Lewis was asleep. A few minutes later Skye appeared with the bag of clubs.

“Do it, quickly!” Skye said, looking back over her shoulder, “I think he was waking up slightly when I took them.”

I quickly pulled each club out of the bag, and broke the head off each one. That was the titanium we needed.

“Hurry…” Skye muttered, looking over her shoulder.

I placed all the heads in the metal, heatproof bowl, and used the tongs to put them in the furnace. After a few minutes we heard it. The roar of Lugia.

“Run…”



Day 3: Pain is compulsory. Being hurt is a choice.

“You owe me a new set of golf clubs!” Lewis shouted as I walked to the rotunda to begin training. I had hidden in the forest the night before, hoping he would cool down a little before training. However I knew the chances were slim.

“I will get you your clubs when I get back.” I said, as I picked up the practise sword. I knew we would start off with trying to train me to manage the pain. However this was going to be a lot more painful.

“Are you sure you don’t want a matching shield to go with the sword you melted my clubs for?!” Lewis shouted, swinging his practise sword, a lot harder than usual. This was going to be a long day.

“You literally told me to go find some metal to make a blade out of.” I said, attempting to block the attack, “You gave me no direction whatsoever. How the f*** am I supposed to know where to find a good metal?”

“So you steal my golf clubs and melt them down when I am sleeping?!”

Lewis swung his practise sword, aiming for my head. Without thinking, I grabbed the sword with my left hand, and swung mine hard, smashing it into the side of his head. The force was enough to knock Lewis to the ground. Surprisingly, my hand didn’t hurt too much. For a few seconds, at least. Then the adrenaline wore off…

“F***!” I screamed as I dropped my practise sword and grabbed my already swollen hand. I could not feel my fingers at all, and had a hunch that I had broken it.

Skye ran over upon hearing the screaming, and looked shocked to see Lewis on the ground, clutching his head. Then she saw my hand.

“Give it here!” Skye said, grabbing my hand, causing me to scream in pain, before turning to Lewis.

“Look what you’ve done!” Skye shouted at Lewis, “Just because he took your damn golf clubs!”

“I didn’t tell him to grab the sword out of the air!” Lewis shouted, “And don’t worry Skye, I’m fine!”

I felt my hand start to go numb, as Skye did her usual healing tricks. I was used to it by now. Once my hand was healed, I noticed Skye start to look a little unsteady. Suddenly she fell to the side. I quickly grabbed her and helped her stand.

“Sorry guys, but a massive injury like that takes a lot to heal.” Skye said, “I have to go rest before I can heal anyone else. I think you should call it quits for the day, seeing as if you have done that in the first ten minutes, I’d hate to see what more damage you could do to each other.”

I expected Lewis to argue but he instead nodded.

“I agree with you. Go rest. Thanks Skye.” Lewis said before turning to me.

“Granted, what you did was stupid and reckless, it shows progress.” Lewis explained, hiding a smile.

“How the f*** is me breaking my hand progress? If that were a real sword, I’d be missing half of my fingers!” I asked.

“Because even though it hurt, you didn’t react to it until you had beaten me.” Lewis explained, “What you did gave you the advantage because I wasn’t expecting it. I was expecting you to start screaming in pain, and that would have given me the opportunity to beat you. But you didn’t and you won because of it.”

I was silent upon hearing what Lewis said. I was not used to hearing words of praise from him, if you could call what he said praise. But nevertheless, I was speechless.

“So what do we do now?” I asked.

“Well seeing as my clubs are currently a liquid in the forge, we might as well start turning them into a sword so it isn’t for nothing.” Lewis said, still sounding annoyed. I don’t think I have angered anyone as much as I have him.

We went to the forge, where in the furnace was a bowl full of bright silver coloured liquid.

“So how do we make a blade? Just get a mould and pour it in then let it cool?” I asked.

“If you want it to snap the first time it takes a real hit, then sure.” Lewis berated, “Otherwise you are going to have to work a little harder than that.”

“So how do we do this then?”

“We will turn the metal into various sheets, constantly heating it, and then fold it. The more we compress it, the harder and stronger it will be.” Lewis explained.

“And then we use this folded strip of metal as the blade?” I asked.

“If you’d just let me finish…” Lewis muttered, “No, we will be using a technique called the Gomai technique. It involves making an extremely hard backbone of the blade, then surrounding it with a slightly softer body. Then creating the edge using the same hardened metal as the backbone.”

“So in other words we will be working our a**es off?” I asked, “Will we be able to make a good sword in time? We are already three days in, and only have four left, and this is alongside my training?”

“We will.” Lewis said, “Unfortunately, you need sleep. We will train for ten hours a day. Whenever you are not training or sleeping, you are in the forge, working on this sword. When you sleep, I will work on it, as well as when you are doing things that I don’t need to be present for, like drawing the symbols.”

We got the liquid titanium out of the furnace, and into a mould to let it solidify into sheets. Then we began the work of constantly heating it, and folding it. Once it was folded we would hammer it down, compressing the fold. At first it was easy, but after the first few folds, it took all of my strength to hit the next folds in.

After a few hours, Lewis took over, and told me to go bathe and clean myself up, before coming back for the next lesson. I did the usual practise positions and strikes, as well as the symbol drawing. Though it was repetitive and boring, I could see slowly my accuracy improving. As I did this, Lewis continued working on folding the metal.

At what felt like early evening, our training for the day was over, and I took over folding the metal, whilst Lewis took a break to rest. Even though he was a God and could handle stuff like this a lot more than I could, it was still taxing him, and he wanted to be well rested before doing the overnight shift.

Occasionally Skye would visit me in the forge and bring food, or just keep me company. However she would never stay long. She didn’t admit it but I knew why. Even as a human, she was still a grass type, and the heat was affecting her more than myself or Lewis.

I continued to fold and hammer until what I would have defined as midnight, before Lewis returned and took over, telling me to go to sleep, because I had my work cut out for me the next day.



Day 4: Skye, the Celebi with attitude

I awoke at what would have been the crack of dawn, if this place didn’t just stay at a permanent sunset type of setting, and got dressed, making my way to the rotunda, trying to mentally prepare myself for the beating I was going to take in my pain management session.

I arrived at the rotunda, and found Lewis there. He looked slightly more fatigued than usual. I was expecting him to begin with the training, but instead he said something else.

“It is ready.”

“You’re kidding me?” I asked, “You finished the three parts of the blade in a night.”

“Of course I didn’t you idiot.” Lewis said, “That’s impossible. No, I finished the two hardest layers. The backbone, and the edge. They are in the forge, being heated. Enough so they don’t become completely solid, but not enough to melt them. Just the right temperature to keep them easy to work with.”

“Can I see them?” I asked.

“Usually I’d tell you to be patient and wait until we are actually there.” Lewis explained, “But Skye is running late, and without her, you won’t be able to be healed between me beating the crap out of you. So we can go and look at them.”

We made our way to the forge, where in the furnace was the product of Lewis’ and my own labour. A thin shaft which was to be the backbone of the blade, and a thin sheet which would be the edge. Now all we needed to do was the body.

We made our way back to the rotunda where Skye was waiting for us.

“Sorry I was late. I was returning a few books, and got side-tracked by this book on Pokeballs.” Skye said, “Did you know they are building a prototype for a Master Ball? One that no Pokemon can break out of? That could be problematic Lewis.”

“We will take care of it when the time comes.” Lewis explained, “Right now, we must continue training.”

We began the training the usual way. It was hard to notice, but I could tell I was getting better. Lewis would take a few seconds longer before managing to hit me, and every of often, if I was lucky, I would hit him. I was still getting the s*** kicked out of me though.

The lesson ended abruptly when Lewis swung his sword similar to the way he did yesterday. Instead of grabbing it, this time, I raised my left arm, and swung my forearm into it. I felt my arm break, and watched as the practise sword cracked, and broke in half, before swinging my own sword and hitting Lewis in the ribs.

“Owch.” I said, however I didn’t flinch.

“Are… Are you okay?” Skye asked, slightly worried.

“I think my arm is broken.” I said, wincing slightly at the pain.

“How are you not screaming?!” Skye asked, “I saw how hard Lewis hit you!”

“He is ready.” Lewis said.

“Ready for what? An orthopaedic cast for the arm that he has just broken?” Skye asked, “Seriously, I can only heal so much, and you are pushing me to my limits.”

“Don’t worry Skye. This is our last session of teaching him about pain.” Lewis said, “Heal him, then go enjoy yourself in the library.”

Skye healed my arm, then left, muttering something about us being insane.

“How can we be done with this? My arm hurt like crazy?”

“Of course it is going to f***ing hurt you idiot!” Lewis scolded, “The whole point of this wasn’t to make you impervious to pain! But to control how you deal with it! Hell, if you can apply this to situations in ways where you don’t break limbs, you might be that much better off.”

“So what do we do now?” I asked.

“We keep working at the basic positions and poses I have shown you, as well as those symbols. Your accuracy is improving but still needs a lot of work. I will also begin training you with more advanced techniques. You will be no master by the time I am done with you, but you will be better. We will also finish this damn sword.”

Lewis and I made our way to the forge to spend the next few hours working on the next part of the blade. As we walked Lewis continued talking about the sword.

“I have metals for the hilt, spacer and scabbard.” Lewis said, “However because you went with a titanium blade, I don’t think they will be usable any more.”

“How come?” I asked, “I don’t think you will let me inside your house again to melt anything else down.”

Even though I was joking, it was too soon. Lewis was still angry about his golf clubs.

“Because the metals I have stored are too heavy. Titanium is light. If you were to use any of them, the weight distribution of the sword would be horrible.” Lewis explained, “The hilt would be too heavy compared to the blade, and make it horrible to work with.”

“So I need to find something else that is light?” I asked, “Where can I find that?”

“Not in my house.” Lewis said, “Tomorrow morning, I want you to go out and try and find something to use.”

I continued to practise the positions, whilst Henry continued working on the blade. The sheet of metal he was working on was the last piece of the blade. The body. This one was meant to be softer than the backbone and the edge. But there was still a lot of work ahead of us.

Once I had the basic positions near perfect, Lewis took a break from folding the steel, and showed me some more advanced positions. I practised them, though was absent minded most of the time. I knew that in the forest, I had seen something metal, but couldn’t remember where.

Training was over for the day, and we repeated what happened yesterday. Lewis went to rest whilst I took over the folding, until it was time for me to sleep. Then Lewis returned to continue working.

As I made my way back to my cabin to sleep, I couldn’t help but try and remember where I saw the metal in the forest the other night. I had to try and find it the next morning, but at this rate, had no leads.



Day 5: One Pokemon’s Treasure Is A Crazy Man’s Treasure As Well

I awoke to find a note on my door from Lewis, reminding me that we didn’t have training in the morning, and to spend some time in the forest, trying to find some material we could use for the rest of the sword. Granted I had no idea what I could possibly find in there. I know that I saw something last time that was made of metal. But I cannot remember for the life of me what it was.

I spent the next hour walking through the forest. I could see plenty of wood, dirt and stone, but no metal. I watched as the Pokemon were going about their business. Looking for food, building nests and fighting over territory. Then I remembered what I saw the other night. The source of metal that I found. The Skarmory.

I called out Magnitude, my Flygon, and climbed onto his back. Magnitude flew into the air, as I pulled out my Pokedex, looking for any information I could find on Skarmory, as Magnitude was looking around, trying to find it. Then I realized something.

The Pokedex says that Skarmory’s natural habitat is the mountains. We were looking in the wrong place. Chances are I saw Skarmory purely from a fluke in the forest. It must have been looking for food or something, but it’s nest would have been in the mountains.

To the- well I am not sure what direction, because this place makes my compass go haywire. I saw in the distance a mountain range, and urged Magnitude to fly towards them, and continued to keep an eye out in the skies. Eventually we found it, flying down towards a rocky outcrop, jutting out from the cliff. As it landed, I realized something. This Skarmory needs its feathers. If we take them, it will be unarmed.

We landed on the cliff and looked down at the Skarmory in its nest. I pulled out my Pokedex and had another look at the information on Skarmory. Then I found it. Our silver lining.

”Skarmory's steel wings become tattered and bashed in from repeated battles. Once a year, the battered wings grow back completely, restoring the cutting edges to their pristine state.”

I looked down at the Skarmory. I could tell it was the same one I saw the other night, based on its size. But something was different. It’s feathers weren’t scratched and dull like the other night. They were now shiny and lustrous. It had shed its old coat and grown a new one.

So that plan was to watch Skarmory and follow it. Hopefully it is a creature of habit, and goes the same way to get food and water. So if I was lucky, I might be able to follow it to where it lost its feathers.

I sat there waiting, and watching. However Skarmory did nothing. I didn’t want to make a noise, because if I scared it away, it might not go its usual route.

After a few hours, I heard a noise. Wings, but not large wings. Small wings. I looked up and saw a small green blur buzzing around. Eventually it slowed down and landed next to me. Celebi. There was a flash of light as she changed to her human form.

“What the hell are you doing here?” Skye asked.

“Shut up.” I hissed before covering her mouth. I looked over the cliff edge. The Skarmory was stirring but still seemed to be napping.

“What are you doing?” Skye whispered, “Lewis is getting p***ed off that you are missing your training, and leaving him to do all the work on your sword. He said that it shouldn’t take you this long to find what you need for the rest of your sword. ”

“We are right above the nest of a Skarmory that has shed its old coat.” I whispered, “I am waiting for it to go look for food, so I can tail it, and find the feathers it dropped.”

“Why does it have to be Skarmory feathers?” Skye asked.

“Because they are light.” I explained, “The blade is titanium which is light, and the hilt can’t be heavier. It throws off the balance of the sword. And Lewis hadn’t got any more golf clubs to melt down.”

“So you are going to follow it until you find what you need?”

“Pretty much.”

We continued to watch for another few hours. Then finally it happened. Skarmory began flying away from the nest.

“Follow it, but don’t get too close.” I said to Skye. She changed back into Celebi as I let Magnitude back out of his Pokeball, and began following the Skarmory from up high. Celebi tailed it fairly closer, which proved to be helpful, especially when Skarmory descended below the tree line. I was forced to land a bit further away from where it did to avoid scaring it off, but Celebi was still behind it.

As I was walking around the forest floor quietly, trying to find it, I felt someone poking around in my head. I was used to this feeling from both Gwaine and L.

“It is by a small pond about five hundred meters east of where you are.”

“Skye is that you? And my compass doesn’t work here. Which way is east?”

“Yes it’s me! Just walk forward about five hundred meters, but be quiet! It took us this long to track it.”

I made my way forward, and eventually could hear the sound of moving water. I snuck out between the trees, and saw what I was after. Skarmory drinking from a pond. However there was something else I noticed. Something glimmering underneath the water. Skarmory’s feathers.

I stood out from the bushes, as Skarmory spun around and saw me. It flapped its wings, and flew back into the air.

“Good on you!” Skye said sarcastically, “You spent the last six hours tracking it only to scare it away!”

“I found what I was looking for.” I said, as I took off my shoes. I then pulled off my shirt.

“What the hell are you doing?” Skye asked.

“The feathers that it shed are at the bottom of the pond.” I said, “And if feel uncomfortable seeing me without a shirt, I suggest you turn around.”

Skye obliged, as I took off my shorts, now wearing nothing by my underwear, and dived into the water.

Though the feathers sunk, they were fairly light, and after about three trips, I managed to get all of them to the edge of the pond. There were ten in total, but they were large feathers. More than enough to use for what I needed. I got dressed, as Skye looked at the feathers.

“They don’t look too impressive.” Skye said.

“They have been on the Skarmory for a year.” I said, “Don’t worry. We will polish them up and they will look good as new.”

“You know Lewis is going to kill you for taking so long right?”

Before I could answer, I felt coming and jumped out of the way, narrowly avoiding being hit by the Skarmory. It landed and looked at me angrily.

“What the hell do you need them for?” I yelled to the Pokemon, “You have your own!”

The steel type flapped its wings and began flying towards me. I hit the button on Gwaine’s Pokeball, letting him out, within a second of Skarmory hitting me. The fighting type caught the Skarmory in midair, and threw it to the ground. I then grabbed a Pokeball, and threw it at the Skamory. It rolled three times, before stopping.

“If it is so attached to the damn feathers, it can come with me.” I explained to Skye, “The lazy b****** just sleeps all day anyway.”

We collected the feathers and put them in my bag, careful not to accidentally cut anything, before I climbed onto Magnitude and Skye changed forms, and we flew back to Lewis’ garden.

“What the hell took you so long?” Lewis shouted as I landed. The silver haired man saw us flying above and walked over, “Do you know how much time you have wasted?”

“Sorry Lewis, it took me a while to find these.” I said as I climbed off Mangitude’s back, and pulled open my backpack, revealing the wings.

“Skarmory wings?” Lewis said, thinking to himself, “That is ingenious! They are light, but one of the hardest metals.”

“Yeah, and I was stuck waiting for about six hours for this Skarmory to lead me to where it dropped these things.” I said, “And then I had to dive into a pond to get them, and fight the Skarmory for them.”

“They will work well.” Lewis said, now in a surprisingly good mood.

“How goes the sword?” I asked.

“The blade is ready. I finished the body and put it all together. I spent the last three hours hammering and heating it together.”

We walked towards the forge. It was early evening, and I could see that Lewis was starting to get tired. I began working on the wings.

The wings were actually two metal plates stuck together. A red and silver plate. The joint however was near non-existent. I used a grinding stone to grind back the edge of the wings, and then used a chisel to separate the plates, leaving me with twenty red plates and twenty silver.

I put all of the red plates on a tray on the edge of the furnace, where it was hot enough to soften them, but not enough to melt them, to become the scabbard. The silver ones, I broke into pieces and put them into a heatproof bowl, where they would melt into a clump of metal, to become the hilt.

Whilst we waited for them to heat, I continued to practise the advanced positions that Lewis had shown me. I continued this until late into the night, which wasn’t actually night because of the continuous dusk, before Lewis told me to get some sleep.



Day 6: Blessings Come In All Shapes And Sizes

I awoke at the same time as previous mornings. I was now getting used to this, and getting out of bed a lot quicker. I walked outside, and found that Lewis wasn’t at the rotunda. Nor was Skye in her usual position underneath the tree, reading. I made my way to the back of the house where the forge was, and found Lewis napping on a chair by the water barrel. As I walked past, he quickly woke up.

“I wasn’t sleeping.” Lewis said.

“Sure you weren’t.” I retorted, before looking in the empty furnace. “Where is the sword?”

“Oh s***!” Lewis exclaimed, which had me worried. He stuck his hands in the water barrel and pulled out the sword and scabbard. “I put these in to cool, and dozed off!”

“I thought you weren’t sleeping.” I said, as I grabbed the sword of Lewis. I lifted it, but a bit too quickly. It was much lighter than I expected, and I accidentally threw it. Lewis dived out of the way.

“Idiot.” Lewis hissed, picking up the sword, and inspecting it for any damage. Luckily there wasn’t.

“Sorry, I’m not used to it.” I explained.

“Well get used to it. Chances are you will need this somewhat soon.” Lewis muttered, as he grabbed a cloth, and began polishing the dirt off the blade from where I dropped it. As he did this, I inspected the weapon itself. The blade was nearly chrome, it was that bright and shiny. The hilt was a slightly duller silver, however retained some patterns of the Skarmory fathers. The scabbard was put together carefully, like a jigsaw puzzle. None of the feathers were cut, but all joined together, near perfectly. It was a deep, blood red.

“It looks amazing.” I said.

“Yes. It makes me slightly less angry seeing that my golf clubs turned into this.” Lewis explained, with a slightly bitter tone, “But I have to say, it is one of the best swords I have ever made. I’d try and recreate it for myself, but I don’t think I could.”

“When could I use it?” I asked, “And where is Skye?”

“Not for another few hours. I have a few final touches I need to make. It needs to be sharpened, as well as something else, which I will try and do. As for Skye, she is running an errand for me. She will be back in a little while.” Lewis explained, “For the time being just work on what we did yesterday.”

I spent the morning and most of the day working on the advanced positions. By this point, they were now natural to me, and second nature. I was both excited and terrified for the time I would have to use these skills. As I did this, Lewis was polishing the sword and the scabbard, making them look even more amazing.

During mid afternoon, our session was interrupted by Skye walking over, and floating behind her was a small Pokemon. It was grey and yellow, shaped somewhat like a star, and roughly a foot tall. It seemed fairly cheery, like Skye.

Suddenly I felt a telepathic message.

“It’s good to see you again Lewis!

The message must have been coming from the Pokemon. I had never seen it before, which shocked me slightly. During my time off from school, I spent a fair bit of time researching Legendary Pokemon, and knew what a lot of them were supposed to look like.

“Jacob, this is Jirachi.” Skye said, “He is a friend of ours, and is close with your friend Aidan.”

“You know Aidan?” I asked, somewhat shocked. I hadn’t heard from him since he went his own way after Dewford.

“Yes. He and I met on Dewford Island.” Jirachi said.

So that is why Aidan left.

“Anyway, Jirachi is a steel type, and is a God like us.” Lewis said, “I figured that if you were going to be going to the depths of hell and back, your weapon should be the best it can be.”

“Okay. I’m not quite sure I understand though.” I said.

“Jirachi is the wish-granter. His power is near infinite.” Skye explained, “And something he can do to help you out, is to bless your sword.”

“You’d do that?” I asked.

“Your purpose spans across more than what you realize.” Jirachi explained, “If this can help you to achieve it, I will happily bless the sword.”

Lewis placed the sword into its sheath and gave it to me. I held it out in front of me, laying it across both my hands. Jirachi began to glow, and the sword began to emanate a yellow aura. After a few seconds it was gone.

”It is done.” Jirachi said, ”Skye would you mind taking me back? I should rest.”

“Whatever you want, Jirachi.” Skye said, “I will be back soon!”

Skye and Jirachi left before I got a chance to say thanks. After they left, I pulled the sword out of its sheath. It felt perfect. As if it were not a weapon but an extension of myself.

“You should feel honoured. That has only happened a handful of times before.” Lewis explained, “That sword will never break, rust or go dull. And it will be perfect for you. If anyone else tries to use it, it will be unbalanced, heavy and near useless.”

“I do feel honoured.” I said, looking at my blade. I swung it a few times, and tried a few of the positions Lewis had made me learn. This felt more natural than the practise sword, and this was the first time I had ever used it.

“So how am I going to test this out?” I asked, “Are we going to spar again?”

“No, I don’t want your first experience with that sword to be a bad one.” Lewis said bluntly. He took me to the rotunda, and brought out some practise dummies and a red marker. He then proceeded to draw a plethora of small thin lines, and circles on them. The lines represented slashes, and the circles stabs.

Lewis grabbed his own sword, and set a timer for a minute. He then proceeded to cut along as many of the lines, and stab as many of the circles as he could in that time. When time ran out, he counted them. Eighty-seven.

“That is my score.” Lewis said as he snapped his fingers, and all the holes on the dummies closed, “You have to beat that before we move on.”

“Okay.” I said, grinning. This is what I had been waiting for. A chance to put my skills to the test.

“3, 2, 1.” Lewis said. I began slashing and stabbing at the dummies, trying to meet Lewis’ score. It felt like I was going at the same speed as him, granted, I looked a lot less graceful when doing it. Then I ran out of time.

“55.” Lewis said, “However, all of your hits are dead on. Not a single miss. Do it again.”

This continued for the next eight hours. The first two I was stuck around the high fifties to low sixties mark. However I improved over time. It got to what I would have assumed was midnight, when I finally did it.

“90.” Lewis said, slightly shocked.

“Don’t be too surprised.” I said, “I did the exact same thing every time, and just got quicker at that. If we did another pattern, I’d lose no doubt.”

“I know.” Lewis said, “But don’t sell yourself short. You have done well for someone with as little training as yourself.”

I couldn’t help but feel proud at that remark.

“Get some sleep. Tomorrow, before you leave, we duel.”



Day 7: What it takes to survive.

I awoke at the crack of dawn and found Lewis and Skye in the usual spot under the rotunda. Lewis had his actual sword instead of a practise sword. As I walked over, Lewis called out to me.

“Call out your Gallade.”

I was slightly confused, but obliged, pressing the button on Gwaine’s ball. As per usual, when Gwaine saw them, he bowed.

“You are such a freaking show off.” I said to the Gallade.

“Skye, you are going to follow my movements. When I am about to hit Jacob, you will place a barrier to stop it. Gwaine, you will do the same, should Jacob be able to hit me.” Lewis said, “The barriers won’t be able to stop the strike completely. But enough so we don’t cut each other to ribbons. This will still bruise and still hurt.”

Skye nodded, and I felt myself start to get nervous. This was my final test here. To see what I had learnt.

Lewis drew his sword, and I drew my own. We both stood, locking eyes. Until the silence was broken by Skye.

“Begin!”

Like a whip, Lewis leapt towards me, swinging his blade, which I was barely able to block. I tried to parry his next hit, but barely accomplished that. After less than a minute, I felt the crack of his sword hit my leg. The barrier didn’t cut it, but the impact was still there.

“Again!” Lewis shouted, and we continued to duel.

This lasted for a few hours. Occasionally I would get close to hitting him, but realize he had faked the opening, and took advantage of me going for it. Then finally, I won.

Lewis made a lunge to stab at me, which I managed to sidestep. I knew that nothing he taught me would win this, and that I had to rely on my own style that he hadn’t seen. Being unpredictable as a Tauros on Methamphetamine.

As Lewis lunged, I spun out of the way, and slammed my elbow into his face. The hit took him by surprise and as he attempted to compose himself, I used my right foot to kick his legs out from underneath him. He hit the ground back first and dropped his sword, as I place mine to his chest. I was expecting him to get angry for fighting so dishonourably, but I was sick of constantly losing. Instead he laughed.

“You have managed to survive on your own so far because of your ingenuity, and willingness to do what people consider to be wrong.” Lewis explained, “It was not my intention to train you out of that. But more give you something else to work with.”

“So you’re not mad?” I asked.

“No.” Lewis explained, “If this were a real battle, and you didn’t do that, you’d be dead by now. But because you did that, you are still alive. Ideally, I’d rather teach you how to fight without doing things like that, but we don’t have the time. So for now, I can say you are ready.”

“Jacob, it’s time to go. To do what I originally got you for.” Skye said, as a portal opened up behind her.

“Good luck Jacob.” Lewis said, holding out his hand to shake.

“Thanks Lewis.” I said, “I owe you a lot.”

“Yeah, like some new damn golf clubs! Don’t think I have forgotten about that!”