Clang.
The sound rang out sharp and clean, cutting through the still morning air.
Clang.
Again.
Clang.
Kael adjusted his footing.
The stone beneath his boots was cold and slightly uneven from years of use. This wasn't some polished training arena. It was old. Worn. The kind of place that had seen countless battles before him.
And right now, it was just him and the blade.
Floating a few feet ahead was a small, sentient sword Pokémon. Its cloth wrapping swayed gently, and a single eye stared straight at him.
Honedge.
Kael exhaled slowly.
"Again."
The Honedge moved instantly.
It shot forward.
Fast.
Kael shifted to the side, raising the wooden practice blade in his hand. He didn't try to block head-on. He angled it instead, trying to push the strike away.
Clang!
The impact still rattled his arm.
He held, barely, before stepping back.
"Not bad…" he muttered.
The Honedge hovered in place again, unmoving, watching him like it always did.
Kael sat down on the stone floor, catching his breath. His shoulder ached, and his grip still felt shaky.
"…Still hurts."
It had only been a week.
A week since he turned ten.
A week since he got Honedge as his starter.
A week since training started feeling like actual battles instead of practice.
He glanced at the blade.
"Didn't think my first Pokémon would try to knock me out every day."
The Honedge gave a faint metallic hum.
Kael let out a small breath and leaned back on his hands, staring up at the sky.
His father had given him this Pokémon.
Not something simple.
Not something easy to handle.
A Steel type.
Not exactly easy to handle.
Kind of like Ferrum City itself.
Even from here, he could see parts of it in the distance. Tall metal structures rose into the sky, catching the morning light. Thin streams of smoke drifted upward, and even this far away, the constant hum of machinery never really stopped.
Ferrum City never slowed down.
It was a place of work. Of structure. Of discipline.
And at its center stood the Ferrum Gym.
Kael sat up again, glancing at Honedge.
"My father said battling you would help us bond."
He paused.
"…So far all it's done is get me beaten."
The Honedge tilted slightly.
Kael frowned a little.
His father wasn't the type to say things without reason.
Darius Ferris wasn't just any trainer. He was the Gym Leader of Ferrum City. One of the best Steel-type specialists in Hoenn.
If he said something, there was a reason behind it.
Kael just hadn't figured it out yet.
"…Alright."
He pushed himself up to his feet again, picking up the wooden blade.
"Let's go."
The Honedge didn't wait.
It lunged.
Clang!
Kael blocked too directly this time. The force pushed him back a step.
Too stiff.
Again.
Clang!
Too slow.
Again.
Clang!
Wrong angle.
Again.
Clang!
He stumbled.
Kael clicked his tongue, stepping back.
"…Why isn't this working?"
He knew what to do. At least, he thought he did.
He had studied battles for years. Watched recordings, memorized strategies, learned how different styles flowed into each other. Even before he got his own Pokémon, he had spent hours watching his father train. The rare times Darius brought out his Aegislash, Kael had paid attention to every movement, every shift in stance, every precise strike.
He had tried to copy that.
Tried to understand it.
But right now, none of it was helping.
The Honedge moved again.
Clang!
Kael raised his blade just in time, barely stopping the strike. The force ran through his arm, but he held.
Still, something felt wrong.
Not just off.
Wrong.
He stepped back again, breathing uneven.
"…I'm doing it right."
He said it quietly, almost like he was trying to convince himself.
His stance was correct. His grip was firm. His timing should have been fine.
So why did it feel like he was always a step behind?
The Honedge hovered in front of him, its cloth shifting slightly as it adjusted its position.
Not attacking.
Just watching.
Kael frowned.
Then he noticed it.
The way it moved.
Not random.
Not chaotic.
But not rigid either.
There was a flow to it. A subtle shift in how it angled itself before striking, how it paused just slightly before committing, how its movements weren't perfectly even but carried a kind of weight to them.
It wasn't following a general pattern.
It had its own.
Kael's grip loosened slightly.
"…I've been doing this wrong."
He had been trying to apply what he knew. Trying to force a structure onto something that didn't follow it.
He wasn't watching Honedge.
Not really.
He was just reacting based on what he expected.
The Honedge moved again.
Clang!
Kael blocked, but this time he didn't push back immediately.
He stayed there for a moment, feeling the pressure, the angle of the strike.
Then he shifted.
Not based on what he thought should happen.
But based on what was actually there.
Another strike came.
Clang!
He turned with it, adjusting just a little differently this time.
Another.
Clang!
He stepped, matching the timing instead of trying to get ahead of it.
Something started to settle.
Not a perfect rhythm.
But something closer.
Kael's breathing slowed.
His focus sharpened.
He wasn't trying to force his movements anymore.
He was watching.
Learning.
The Honedge struck again.
Clang!
Kael redirected it, cleaner this time.
Not perfect.
But better.
The Honedge pulled back slightly, hovering in place.
Still watching him.
Kael lowered his blade just a bit, his eyes still locked on it.
"…You've got your own way of moving."
He said it quietly.
"Not like what I studied."
He let out a small breath.
"…I was trying to fit you into something you're not."
The Honedge drifted a little closer, its eye fixed on him.
Kael adjusted his stance again, but this time it wasn't stiff or forced.
It felt lighter.
More natural.
"Alright," he said.
"Let's try this your way."
The Honedge moved.
Clang!
Kael stepped with it.
Clang!
He adjusted, matching the slight delay before the next strike.
Clang!
He turned, letting the motion carry instead of stopping it outright.
The exchange flowed differently now.
Not perfect.
Kael wasn't ahead of it.
But he wasn't behind either.
He was keeping up.
The final strike came.
Clang!
Kael held steady.
Balanced.
The Honedge pulled back and hovered beside him.
Not in front.
Not opposing him.
Beside him.
Kael blinked.
"…That's new."
He wiped the sweat from his forehead, breathing out slowly.
"That felt better."
The Honedge gave a faint hum.
Lighter this time.
Kael glanced toward Ferrum City again. The towering steel structures stood tall against the sky, unmoving and unyielding.
Then he looked back at Honedge.
"…I've got a long way to go."
The Honedge didn't move.
But it stayed.
Kael tightened his grip on the wooden blade again, a small grin forming on his face.
"Let's keep going."
Clang.
Clang.
Clang.
This time, the rhythm didn't break.