Symbiosis

Chapter 16

Eli, in his zorua form, took a battle stance in front of a tree as Alex stood behind him to observe. Eli took a deep breath and opened his maw. A small mass of eerie energy began to form in front of his mouth, but unfortunately for him, he couldn't maintain it very well, and it flew out harmlessly in multiple directions after he had amassed even a small amount. Eli's legs buckled slightly and he started panting tiredly. "Ugh... it's still not working. I couldn't even gather enough energy that time," he said, using his illusion to speak to Alex in a frustrated tone.

Alex brought a finger to his chin, contemplating the issue. 'Hmm, interesting. So before he could gather energy, but couldn't contain it... now he just can't gather energy, period. But what if...' Alex dropped his arm and faced Eli again. "Okay, so then this time, try doing both methods at once."

Eli turned around to give Alex a confused look. "Both at once? How?"

Alex nodded. "Yea, well not at the exact same time. Use your method to start with to gather energy, and then after a second or so, switch to my method to try and contain it... also remember not to lose focus if it ends up working."

Eli gave a slow nod of understanding and faced the tree again. "Okay, I think I see what you're getting at. Lemme try again." Eli closed his eyes and took a couple deep breaths. His body tensed up and his eyes shot back open, giving a determined expression, and opened his maw as well. Once again, a dark eerie energy began forming around Eli's mouth, this time in much greater volume. After amassing a large shapeless volume of the energy, Eli let out a grunt and the formless mass began shaping itself into a compact ball. Eli's eyes widened, but he forced himself to press on, not wanting to lose his progress. The ball of energy continued to shrink in size and grow in density. After Eli determined that the attack was ready, he let out a vulpine cry and lunged forward slightly. The ball of energy shot forward at an impressive speed. The attack was slightly off its mark, but Eli still ended up hitting the side of the tree, causing the area where the ball hit to crack in several spots. Eli's eyes lit up. "It worked!"

Alex grinned and gave a small fist pump. "Nice one, dude!"

The zorua turned to face Alex again, giving a satisfied grin of his own. "Thanks for the help, man. I don't think I'd be able to learn Shadow Ball as fast as I did without it."

Alex chuckled. "Not a problem. Now there's still stuff to work on there. The start up time for that move is quite a bit long right now, and you also may wanna work on accuracy a bit. But that stuff will all come with time and experience. This, as is, should be a great first step for you."

Eli nodded. "Time for a break, you think?"

Alex started walking towards a larger tree. "Yea we've been at this for a bit. Time for some rest."

It was very late in the day, signified by the sun starting to set. Alex had been helping Eli learn a new move for a few hours, according to Alex's phone. Eli decided he wanted to learn a move that was not a dark or normal type move in order to have more coverage in his attacks, should the need for it ever arise. Alex had suggested a ghost type move with the logic that it would hit two of Eli's weaknesses more effectively. It had taken them over an hour to find the right way to come up with the right type of energy to use the move, but Eli's determination helped them make great progress in such a short amount of time.

Eli followed Alex, moving slowly due to using a lot of energy training his moves. The two sat under a large shaded tree, and Alex brought out a couple of water bottles for them both. Alex uncapped one of the water bottles and set it on the ground next to the fox pokemon, who then grabbed the top with his mouth and tilted the bottle slightly, letting the water fall into his mouth.