Heart of a Dragon [Training, Solo]

(For the sake of those keeping track, this thread takes place after "Home Sweet Home?" and before "[Tournament] Volt Vs Charlotte".)

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With only a few days to go until the tournament's start, Charla felt the need for some training.

Most of what she performed were simple exercises- running, jumping, flying, push-ups. What she really came to train for was the one move she was sure she would need for this battle, Dragon Rage.

Facing a straw target from a range, Charla inhaled and concentrated. As she lifted her head back, a small orb of energy began to appear in front of her mouth. The blue aura circled in a small vortex, before pulling together in a tight ball.

Alright! Charla thought to herself, I did it this time!

"DRAGON RAGE!"

She threw her head forward, ready to release the brilliant beam- and watched as the small ball of power floated slowly to the ground in front of her. She was disappointed, to say the least, but it quickly got worse as the ball exploded upon touching the ground, showering her in a burst of dust and dirt.

"Grrrr... One more time!" She decided, charging up again.

From the distance, sitting on the rooftop, a winged figure observed the girl in training...

Once more, a small explosion sounded throughout the ring. This time, Charla managed to move out of the way before it burst. A string of odd swear words came from her mouth as she cursed her failure.

"You seem to be having trouble." She heard from above. Charla looked up and saw a much larger person than she, a male charizard gijinka with big muscles and no shirt to cover them.

Clearly, the man was a fighter or explorer in his own right. His clothing made him look very battle-worn; a torn cloth belt, charizard emblem-ed boots, and a spiked orange shoulder pad made him look quite menacing, despite his long, unkempt brown hair.

"It's my Dragon Rage," she explained, "it won't go anywhere, and it's not the big beam it's supposed to be."

The charizard thought for a moment. "So you're a ranged attacker?"

Charla shook her head and grinned. "I prefer jus' gettin' up close and givin' 'em a good wack!"

The man smiled. "Ah! Good! You're just like me then." He turned to face the straw dummy. "Sometimes, if a move doesn't work the way you want, you just have to try something new..."

The crew of the arena noticed the events that we occurring on the ground floor. Charla noticed several of them begin to panic as the man faced the straw dummy.

"Oh crap! It's him! Open up the gate!"

Gijinka everywhere scrambled to get to a series of levers and pulleys. Slowly, the massive back wall of the arena began to open. Had this guy been here before? Why all the fuss over an attack demonstration?

The charizard gijinka lowered himself into a ready stance. "When you're a physical fighter," he explained, "sometimes it's hard to use breath weapons. While being able to use attacks with your mouth is all fine and good, you can't use your head to draw out true power. If you want that kind of force..."

He put his hands back in a strangely familiar pose. Immediately, the area around him began to shake, as a massive glowing orb formed in his hands.

"YOU HAVE TO USE YOUR HEART!"

[Due to the excessive amounts of awesome, power, and majesty, I am unable to write what has occurred here. In laymen's terms, just assume that if the gate had not been opened, it would have been vaporized.]

Charla could only stare in amazement at the place where the dummy had once been. Never before had she seen an attack of such ferocity and magnitude.

He turned to her. "Okay, now it's your turn."

Moving to face a different straw dummy, Charla closed her eyes and focused. Okay... not what your brain tells you to do... she dropped back, emulating the stance she had seen earlier. but what your heart tells you to do!

"Draaaaaaaaaaaaa..."

A smile crossed the face of the Charizard gijinka.

"GOOOOOOONNNN...."

A panicked look came over the faces of the gijinka who had been running the gates. "He didn't actually teach her to-"

"RAAAAAAAAAAAGE!" Charla finished, thrusting her hands forward. Her eyes now open, she saw the massive ball of energy she had been charging turn into a beam. Although it was nowhere near as big or powerful as her instructor's, it let loose a roar as if a true dragon had been awakened. Even the charizard gijinka flinched a little at the sound.

When the dust settled, the dummy was gone, and a large hole had been burned into the wall of the arena.

Charla jumped up and cheered. "I did it! I finally did it!" She turned to the man, who had a large grin on his face. "Did you see that? I found my roa..."

All at once, the exhaustion hit. With all her energy drained, Charla collapsed to the ground, falling asleep immediately.

The elder charizard smiled. "Well done, kid. Don't forget that roar." Gently, he lifted her up in his arms. "Sorry about the wall, guys. I'll come back and pay for it later." With a flap of his great wings, he lifted off into the sky.

When Charla came to again, she was in her room at Lucy Luffet's house. On the bedside stand was a note.

If you ever want to train again, you know where to find me.

-The Old Man

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THREAD COMPLETE