Total Eclipse of the Heart Swap

[Whatevr89532]

She nodnods. "That'd be helpful. I haven't bothered to try anything like that before since my style is mostly physical...except Trump Card, which the way I use it is a one-shot thing, and powerful without much help anyway."

[AmbushCat]

*removes the stickered Poké Ball from her belt* It's agreed, then. Let's get started.

*Amber triggers the Poké Ball, releasing an Espeon. The creature backs away from Amber and Whyte a few steps, taking in the situation cautiously for a few moments before settling down on its haunches. Wisdom and experience shines in its eyes.*

Whyte, let me introduce you to Ida. She'll be my aide for these training sessions. *smiles* And by no coincidence, she's Swift's mother.

[Whatevr89532]

Whyte nods, and kneels to be close to the Espeon's eye level. "Hey Ida, nice to meet you," she says.

[AmbushCat]

Ida: *cautiously sniffs* --You really are part-Eevee? They weren't exaggerating...-- *settles down some* --I'm sorry, I've never trusted humans, so I've always been wary of them.-- *faint smile* --Let's work well together.--

[Whatevr89532]

Whyte nods. "I was exactly the sort of human you shouldn't trust a long time ago," she says seriously. "Then I was a full Eevee for...I dunno, forty years? Something like that. Anyway, I don't blame you."

[AmbushCat]

Ida: --Sounds like quite a tale, but maybe some other time. Mrs. Harrison?--

*Amber nods and chants again, materializing a chair for Whyte that wouldn't be out of place in a classroom. The Espeon's response is to blast the neo-human onto her tailbone with a point-blank Psybeam.*

Ida: --Let me clarify: Mrs. Harrison, are you ready to teach?--

*stands back up, grimacing* Yes, I'm ready, I'm ready. Sheesh!

[Whatevr89532]

The Eevee-gal stands up, at attention. "Well, I'm ready to learn, too," she says.

[AmbushCat]

Good. *clears her throat*

Stored Power, as you already know, starts off weak but gets stronger as your abilities do. The buffs in question provide a wellspring of power that the technique attempts to draw from whenever its used. Of course, it still tries to draw from said power when working from square one, but it finds next to nothing.

We'll demonstrate this, and then we'll show you how to get to square one. Kuro, that's your cue.

*Amber takes a Poké Ball and activates it, letting out a Liepard; the dark-type looks around, confirming the presence of everyone, then turns to face Ida. The Espeon's forehead gem glows as she tries to gather power, going through the motions for Whyte's sake, then a short burst of lavender-hued energy erupts from her body. The energy bolt drops onto Liepard from above almost immediately, but aside from disturbing some of the dirt and grass around it, the dark-type is completely unharmed.*

[Whatevr89532]

Whyte nods; she's seen this move plenty of times in the past but is trying to pay careful attention since she's certainly never learned to use it before.

[AmbushCat]

*Amber erases the chalkboard, then etches some new things onto it while she talks. From Whyte's viewing angle, they aren't clearly seen yet.*

Your humanoid form's the key to this. Nearly every fighter of sufficient ability has reserves of power they can tap into, and most of those people that I've met personally tend to be human in appearance. Ironically it's those that are the most gifted for hand-to-hand combat, physical work, that are most likely to have psychic potential; however, they're also least likely to figure out how to strengthen it.

Ida: --Indeed, your appearance is ideal... but for you there will be nothing like meditation, which takes too long to be of any use in a fight. Rather, focusing. Focusing with all of your heart, mind and body. Channel it from the brain, to the body, back to the brain, and from there to your target. Some fighting-type Pokémon, such as the Machop line, use a similar principle when learning Focus Blast for the first time... only they instinctively skip that third step [i](from the body to the brain) when gathering power.--[/I]

*Amber steps away from the chalkboard, displaying what's drawn there. It seems to be a rough outline of the human body, with wavy lines around the head. A few of those lines are in fact arrows that coalesce in the center of the body. From there, an arrow drawn in green chalk leads back to the brain, and from there to a little square marked "Target" off to the side.*

((OOC: Role-playing as a teacher is hard. ()^_^ ))

[Whatevr89532]

Whyte nods first, then scratches her head some. "I do think the trouble is I don't really know how to focus power like that, at least not intentionally. Trump Card is about the only attack move I know that doesn't consist of just physically hitting something, and I actually have no idea how I do that. I just want a card to throw and it shows up, unless I'm all out."

((I think you're doing it really well, though))

[AmbushCat]

Understandable. This may sound like a strange question to ask, but how vivid is your imagination?

((OOC: Thanks. Here's hoping.))

[Whatevr89532]

The Eevee-girl takes a moment to try and test it, closing her eyes. After a few seconds she opens them again to answer, the very slightest bit of red in her cheeks. "I'd say...moderately? Not a lot of detail, but definitely something."

[AmbushCat]

Good enough. Take a few moments and close your eyes again. Imagine that you're seeing a white outline of yourself in a pitch-black mirror. Keep focusing on that image, and don't open your eyes until I tell you to.

*Ida looks up at Amber for a few moments, as if contemplating blasting her again. Before she can, her eyes light up in recognition of what the neo-human's trying to do; her quiet "Esp" could be loosely translated as "Oh."*

[Whatevr89532]

Whyte nods and shuts her eyes almost immediately, missing out on Ida's response for the most part.