the airborne dummy didn't hit anyone, but it certainly came close. dominic had some warning - the sound of the dummy ripping through tree branches at an ungodly velocity - allowing him enough time to move in order to avoid being struck.

after his physical run-in with Lucas Lane in ever grande, dominic thought that training in the wilderness would be safer. apparently he was wrong.

the dummy comes to a rest at dominic's feet, and his own kubfu descends on it with a flurry of kicks and blows. he allows it a few moments of fun until he realises that the pokemon actually has no intention of stopping, so he steps forward, picks the kubfu up by the torso, avoiding its swinging limbs, in one arm and gingerly picks up the damaged dummy in the other.

descending down toward the place the dummy had been flung from, dominic halts when he sees a young woman with her own kubfu. he clears his throat before speaking, holding up the dummy in one arm.

"this thing yours?"

gazing around at the impromptu set-up, he already knew the answer.

June Fair

”Yeah I’m really sorry about that. You're both alright, right?” June was just glad that it seemed like no one was hurt by her Kubfu’s mistake. She went to go take the dummy from him and noticed that the man had his own Kubfu.

”Oh no way you have one too?!” Just how many people completed that challenge and did they have as a stressful time that she did? Maybe he would be able to tell her how to get hers on board with what was going on but judging by the way he was carrying it and the look on its face she wasn’t sure.

Her own Kubfu walked over to the group, its gazed locked onto the other Kubfu. Not making noise or budging, just staring at it as if it had just found itself an eternal rival.

”Does yours also go crazy and destroy things? Half the time I don’t think mine’s even listening to me.” She recalled the other day where she was trying to train it again with dummies and it managed to knock one out of its posts but instead of it falling to the ground the Pokémon kept attacking it and keeping it in the air JUGGLING it.

dominic sinclair
[Mission]

"yeah, we're fine," dominic said shortly, grimacing slightly at the strain of having to hold an over-active kubfu in one arm.

for a moment he froze up in mild horror imagining many of these little demons populating the region, but he didn't get to entertain the thought much longer because he was starting to lose grip on his kubfu. at least it wasn't screaming, for now. dominic gives an agitated grunt and tosses the dummy into the middle of the little training ground in an attempt to get a better hold on the pokemon.

in that moment, dominic's kubfu gives a piercing screech, and lunges after the dummy, kicking off dominic's chest and forcing him to stagger backwards. when he speaks again, his voice is strained from the blow.

"same with this little fucker. i've never come across a pokemon that is so stubborn." or maybe he's just going soft with age.

dominic frowns and rubs the bruise forming under his collarbone as he watches his kubfu ignore its sibling in order to lash out at the fallen dummy.

June Fair

”Oh man that’s a relief!” June was glad she didn’t have to worry about a potential lawsuit on her hands, she really couldn’t afford going to court and if she went to jail because of this damn bear she was going to strangle it and give the court a real ass reason to send her to the cell.

When Dominic tossed the dummy away June’s Kubfu turned its attention to it, staring at it like a wolf about to pounce on unsuspecting prey. And to make matters even worse the man’s Kubfu gets loose and starts attacking the dummy.

And since it was attacking the dummy now June’s Kubfu had to attack the dummy and the both of them were going at it like a pair of rabid dogs.

”It’s like one second they’re dumb as bricks and then the next they’re killing machines. This makes no sense, that man should’ve warned us about this before giving us one.” June would let the Kubfu tire itself out before trying to return it.

She didn’t want to have the next time she let it out for it to be in attack mode.

dominic sinclair
[Mission]

dominic's lips part as he watches the kubfu other join his, the two beating the dummy with such vicious ferocity that he could see the seams split and the stuffing begin to spill out.

he nods along to what the woman says, eventually tearing his eyes away from the assault to look at her with the ghost of a half-smile.

"right? i'm starting to think this was meant as some form of long-term punishment," dominic says with a sigh. is this what parenthood is like? he doesn't want to know.

wary of the fact that the current dummy has been almost demolished, dominic inches into the clearing, side-steps the pummeling of the two kubfu and tosses a second one beside them. hopefully this will occupy them for a little longer, and won't result in them turning on each other.

"i've raised litters before but this?" dominic shoots the woman a meaningful gaze. "this is brutal."

June Fair

Brutal was definitely putting it lightly. And to prove her point the two Kubfus moved to the next dummy once the first was pretty much dust. What would an army of these angry little gremlins being released into a city look like?

A god damn nightmare that was what and now June was worried about how they were going to act when they evolved.

Maybe it was better that she avoided evolving her Kubfu for a while, at least until she got it under control. But there were definitely times where one couldn’t control a Pokemon's evolution and June prayed she wouldn’t get that surprise.

”A punishment as a prize, huh? What a fucked up way to congratulate people.” She scoffed as he watched the two Kubfu go at it. Watching at how easily and quickly went from one move to the next that a few of the moves were hard to see.

It was like they weren’t completely finishing one motion before moving to the next like she was watching them CANCEL one and move into the other.

It was impressive if it wasn’t also terrifying. She wished she had a camera or something to record their movements and slow it down frame by frame and see which was faster and took fewer frames, them attacking in this fluid rapid motion or more methodically.

Though it felt a bit obvious that in that scenario if you compared frames the faster fluid motion would have FRAME ADVANTAGE. But for now, she’d move her attention to Dominic, surprised by something he’s said.

”Raised litters of what?”

dominic sinclair
[Mission]

dominic tries to not pay attention to the sound of dummies being decimated. he wasn't too sure about these ones, but he knows that back in rocket's kanto days they would fill their training dummies with tightly-packed sand and shredded foam to most closely mimic the makeup of a human body.

he spares his kubfu a single glance and imagines it looks a little more tired out. maybe it's wishful thinking.

"houndour, growlithes, zorua..." dominic's brow quirks into a frown. "i thought zorua would be the worst of them but, well, here we are."

June Fair

”Ya know those sound nice, cute even.” She was sure that much like Dominic alluded to it wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows raising all those different types of canines but at least they didn’t sound like they had a secret blood rage dwelling within that would jump out at a moment’s notice.

June would look over to the two Kubfu and the destruction in their wake and by gods her Kubfu actually looked tired.

She took this opportunity to return the Pokémon back into its capsule before it could make a fuss about it and hopefully it just stayed in there.

”Little nightmare.” She said in a low growl as she looked down at the capsule.

”Again I’m really sorry about what happened but I think I should clean this stuff up and get heading back home. I think I’ve had enough “training” for one day.”

dominic sinclair
[Mission]

dominic wrinkled his nose at the memory of the zorua litter - even more so when june called them "cute". they were cute while they slept, maybe while they ate, not when they were conscious and alternating between tearing his home apart or pretending to be rocks and debris in the living room.

he follows june's gaze back to the kubfu and notices with some relief that they both do indeed look tired out. the punching and kicking and various other flailing of limbs continued only because neither seemed to want to stop while the other was still going. like the woman, dominic seizes the opportunity and recalls his kubfu to its ball.

"it's no problem and... likewise," he says, twisting his mouth into a slightly strained smile. "good luck with that one," dominic adds, inclining his head to the pokeball in her hands.

"i feel we'll both need it."

with those parting words, dominic backs up and disappears back into the undergrowth.

June Fair