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Chapter 7: The Big Test - Part 2

"Nina the zorua and Bree the eevee, enter the arena."

Nina looked around as she left. None of her teammates were there. "Hope those guys are okay..." She entered the sandy field, an eevee already on the other side. "You ready?" Nina asked her.

"After your teammate knocked my sister out in the first round? You bet I am."

"Begin!"

"Revenge? That's awfully petty," Nina smirked.

"Typical dark type, trying to psyche me out. That won't work on me. I'm sure of my motives. Family comes first. Oh, and you've probably been spreading out those traps, huh? That's why you're letting me ramble on?" She suddenly leapt into the air and launched a barrage of star projectiles all over the field. Several bursts of dark energy exploded out of nowhere, Nina's minefield going up in smoke. "There. Disarmed."

Nina grimaced. "You did your homework. But don't think I won't get my own paws dirty." She suddenly laid down and stayed very still.

"What are you doing? Get up and... ohh, I think I see. Substitute? And you're hiding with your illusion to sneak up on me?" Bree leaned back and launched another blistering barrage of stars, scattering them in a wide arc. A few hit the substitute Nina had left behind, causing it to fade away as the energy sustaining it broke. Her invisible body was clipped by a couple, enough to break the light bending shield she formed. In a shimmer, she was revealed, trying to flank from the side.

"Ugh," Nina grunted, more in frustration than pain. "Fine. You're smart. No more playing around." Nina leaned forward as dark energy flared around her body. It slipped out of her fur like liquid and built up into a ball above her.

"Shadow ball? You know that won't... wait," Bree started to mock before she realized. Nina launched her dark shot. At the last moment, Bree dodged it, the ball of darkness missing by only a few inches. Nina started charging another one, slower as she moved to close the distance. Bree backed up, trying to maintain the gap. Instead of launching her dark shot again, she built up more, the extra floating around her head. Bree wouldn't let her get too close, both circling around the arena.

Once Nina had six black orbs, she broke into a sudden sprint. Bree took a split second to react, Nina closing about five feet in that time. She fired off the dark shots, all aimed right at Bree. The eevee avoided the first two with her first backwards dodge, but the third was dead on. She braced for the impact. But instead of getting hit, the ball phased right through her. For a brief instant, she was confused, instinctually looked to see what happened. Then she realized. Nina had mixed in fake attacks with her real ones, the realization coming too late as the next three hit her, one of them being fake.

Bree rolled a few times before bouncing back to her feet. She was panting, taking three strong hits. She didn't have time to take stock of her injuries as Nina was almost on her. Nina jumped into the air and brandished her claws, coming down swinging wildly at Bree. She got some bad cuts before being knocked away as Nina finished her fury swipes. Bree struggled to get up, receiving a foul play tackle while she was down. "I give up!" she called out loudly.

Nina froze. "Give up?"

Bree rolled over and stood up, wobbly at first. "Yeah."

"But you barely even fought. The way you were playing me earlier... you had a chance."

"I didn't wanna win. The next round will have our team leader, Layla. She's really, really strong. Even my sis and I together couldn't beat her. And I don't wanna fight my friend. So, good luck with that." Bree turned and walked off, just fine after Nina's assault.

Nina sighed as her body relaxed. "That was way harder than I planned..." she mumbled. "She read me like a friggen book. And I pulled out all the stops. Even trick shot. If she really wanted to win..." She was so deep in thought that she didn't notice Anko shouting and trying to get her attention.

"Nina!" He cried out, running right up to her.

"Huh? Oh, hey Anko."

"Fusion got beat up really bad! He's in the nurse's office!"

"Really? Ok, I'll go check on him. You go win your match."

Anko nodded and ran off again just as fast.

+++

Fusion groaned as he woke up. His entire body hurt and he was in an unfamiliar place.

"Oh, you're awake!" a cheerful voice said. "Relax, you're in good hands."

Fusion turned his head, grimacing at the shooting pain, to see an audino coming towards his bed.

"I'm Heart, the head nurse. Before I lecture you, how are you feeling?"

"Ugh, I'll manage."

"Just don't move around too much. You've got a few broken bones, the worst being your hip bone. I already applied some oran rub to reduce swelling and pain. You'll stay here until it heals, no more than a couple hours. You also gave yourself some burns. They were minor enough, but you singed your fur, so I had to trim the burnt parts off." She held up a mirror to him. His mane was a lot shorter, no puffier than the rest of his fur. He actually kind of liked the look.

"Your body and powers are linked. When you go too far with your powers, past your limits, it harms your body as well. That is why you burnt yourself. I know you wanted to win, but doing that in the field is unacceptable. If that was a real fight, what would have happened after? If you had been fighting someone who wanted you dead, you'd never wake up. If you get outclassed, run away, don't throw away your life."

"So... I lost?" Fusion asked.

"Yes, I'm afraid so. You fainted first by a split second. Your opponent had much worse burns, but no damaged bones. I gave him some rawst cream and bandages for until his scales regrow. He'll be ready to fight again tomorrow."

Fusion went limp, lying defeated on the bed.

"Now don't get all mopey. You sure put on a show and proved you've got guts. That counts for something," she encouraged him. "Now, just relax, your bones should knit in a few hours, then you can go home."

There was a knock on the door. "Uh, is this the nurse's office?" Nina asked, poking her head inside.

"Yes, are you here for Fusion?" Heart called over her shoulder. "He's right over here."

Nina came around the curtain that separated his bed area from the rest of the room. "Hey, how ya feelin'?"

"Fine. Just some broken bones," he responded, unable to turn his head far enough to look at her.

"Good. Lee and I made it to the next round and Anko is in his match now."

"I didn't." He smushed his face into the bed, muffling his voice.

"What?"

"I lost."

"Oh. Well uh... You'll just have to do awesome on the last test."

"Yeah... Go cheer on Anko, I'll be okay. See you guys later tonight."

"Oh, before I go, you know that Layla girl right? Riolu? Is she strong?"

"I have no idea. She's driven though, so she'll fight hard."

"Alright, thanks, catch you later," Nina told him before leaving.

Fusion gave out a hefty sigh and laid his head back down.

+++

After two hours, he was given a clean bill of health. He was still a little sore, but had no trouble moving around. During the time sitting there, he had plenty of time to think. Sure, he was bummed that he lost, but it had been so close. He did his best and got a lot stronger, nothing he could do about it now.

Once he got back to the Forest den, he went to Nina's room first. "Nina? You in there?" he called from outside.

"Yeah, come on in," she responded.

He nudged aside the curtain and entered their room. Both Lee and her were there. He expected to see something different, but the girls' room was pretty much the same as his and Anko's. Lee was relaxing on her bed while Nina was reading a book at their table. He walked over to her and sat down. "So I thought about what you asked. We only trained a couple times together. She was upset with how boring her fighting type moves looked, so she might have some fancy tricks. She fights mostly close up, so keep your distance. Hope that helps."

"Yeah, thanks. Nice haircut," she commented quickly.

Fusion turned and walked around the trunk, back towards the door, but stopped when Lee looked at him.

"Hey," she said. "I heard talk about how awesome your fight was. Just thought you might want to know."

"Oh, thanks," he responded. He left their room and crossed the bridge over to his own. When he walked in, he expected to be confronted by Anko, but the room was empty. After he washed up from the day, he looked over his supplies. They'd gathered some berries, apples and seeds. He took off an apple and an oran berry from his shelf to eat for a late lunch.

"Fusion!" Anko shouted from outside. A moment later he burst into the room, panting heavily. His eyes lit up upon seeing Fusion, biting into an apple. "Are you okay?!" He full on sprinted up to Fusion.

"Yeah, I'm okay, just-"

"Is that an oran berry!? You are hurt! What can I do!?"

"Calm down, first of all."

Anko sat and took a deep breath. "All right."

"I'm all healed up. Just a little sore still."

"Are you sure? You fought so hard..."

"Yeah. So, I was thinking. Since I lost, let me worry about Friday. I'll gather up supplies for our trip. You guys just get as far as you can in the tournament," Fusion told him.

"Oh, I didn't even think about that. But you're right, more gear will make our field trip easier. So if that's what you want to do, I'm okay with that. But you still have to cheer me on."

"Deal. Oh, and if you need any help practicing, just ask. I should be all better in a while."

+++

The next day came and Nina had the first round against a familiar face. Lee, Fusion and Anko were all there, Lee just off a fresh win. "She better be good. I should be training for my next fight. Either a dragon type or a water type," Lee complained.

"Rough luck," Fusion commented. "But I think Nina needs the support. She seems worried about this fight."

"Yeah. A fighting type. Her moves will be weak," Anko analyzed, "and if she get's close, she'll get beat up."

"But Nina's really clever. She'll figure something out," Fusion encouraged.

Out the cave window, Nina entered the field. At the same time, Layla the riolu walked in, stretching her arms and legs.

"I'm sorry, but you have bad luck. I've seen you fight. You won't be able to beat me," Layla warned, "I won't hold back, not even against a friend's friend. So just give up and I won't have to hurt you."

"Quit? You're nuts," Nina shot back.

"Fine. You give me no choice."

From the sidelines, Fusion frowned. "Layla looks... wrong. She looks so serious..."

The call was made, both pokemon bracing for an attack. Nina didn't expect any ranged attacks, but was ready just in case while she started forming dark traps. It was always a complex process, hiding a location away from her body, building up energy there and then maintaining both parts. Too hard to do while fighting directly, but perfect as an opener.

Layla clasped her paws together. The tassels hanging from her head rose into the air as an orange glow covered her body. "I can see your illusions."

"You're bluffing. Bree could only guess where they were."

"Your illusion comes from your pokemon power, which comes from your life force. It is all tied to a force called aura. I might not be able to control it, but I can feel it. It's like waves, flowing from where you've hidden your attacks."

Nina ignored her taunts and started building up for trick shot. She formed three balls of decent size, only one of them made of light. Layla was slowly advancing. Suddenly, the riolu froze. She then took several steps to the side before continuing towards Nina, avoiding a dark trap flawlessly. Nina decided it was time, firing her shots off sequentially. The first was the fake.

Layla didn't move at all as the fake dark shot went for her. It passed through her harmlessly without a flinch. As the second right behind it came at her, she raised a paw. With the back of it, she almost gently pushed it out of the way. The dark shot altered course and exploded into the sand behind her. She repeated the motion with the other. "I can feel the differences in your attacks as well. The real thing feels much stronger."

"Then how did you brush my attack off like that!?" Nina demanded, losing her cool.

"My entire body is covered in a thin layer of fighting type energy. I can't use any moves, but it improves me body, as well as allowing me to touch energy. Your special attacks are useless." She continued her advance. Nina desperately fired off a shadow ball, which Layla easily batted aside.

"Of course you have to use some easy-peasy thing like can't. Can't beat me by the books?" Nina taunted, her words laden with energy.

The orange field around her flared up for a moment. "That won't work either. Status attacks don't have enough power to punch through this. The only way to fight me is with physical attacks."

Layla suddenly charged forward. Nina erected a protect barrier just in time to block a punch. Her paw opened and grasped the shimmering dome, then her other came up, as she climbed to the top, standing right over Nina.

Dark energy blew through Nina's fur as she built up power, ready for a final showdown. The protect would give her the element of surprise, for but the briefest of moments. As soon as she was ready, she would let it disperse, letting Layla fall right into her attack.

Layla however, placed one claw against the dome. "Protect has a fatal flaw. Enough force in a small enough point..." Nina was the one caught unaware as the dome suddenly shattered. Layla spun in air, slamming a foot into Nina's back and knocking her flat onto the sand. Her hold on her energy loosened, causing a big black explosion. A moment later, Nina was sent flying out of the cloud. Layla sprinted out right after her.

Nina sprung up as she approached in a feint attack, swinging a dark covered paw. Layla caught it mid air and pushed her arm aside. She then grabbed Nina by the midsection and suplexed her face first into the sand. Nina flailed until she hit the ground, at which point she went limp.

"Oof," Fusion winced. "That hurt."

"Nina!" Anko cried out.

"Unlucky match up. She couldn't have fought anyone worse," Lee commented.

Layla, without even looking, sensed Nina fainting and walked off without a word.

"Wow, she got strong," Fusion said.

"Seem's like everybody has been working hard too. You would have lost if you fought her," Lee turned to Fusion. "But Anko and I could probably beat her."

"Well, I gotta get running," Anko told them. "You two wait for her to wake up."

"You got it boss," Fusion responded.

About ten minutes later, Nina's eyes fluttered open. "Ugh, did I win? My head is pounding..."

"No," Lee said bluntly.

"Ease her into it or something, she just woke up," Fusion scolded her.

"No, it's fine. I guess I need to vary up my style. I'm too focused on long range."

"Well, you two do whatever. I gotta get ready for my next match. Whoever won, they'll have massive type advantage, either a ground dragon or a water ground." Lee told them, already walking off.

"C'mon, we can still catch Anko's match first."

+++

"Round four, match two: Lee the fennekin and Tremor the gible."

Lee stood up and left the seats to go to the arena. The Volcano den arena was in the caves, with multiple tiers of viewing spots dug through the walls, holes in the wall looking towards the main chamber. The gallery was a bit small and cramped. The main arena had several boulders strewn about as cover, the only decoration in the dark grey stone cavern.

She walked down the stairs, rounded a corner and walked onto the field. She heard steps behind her, probably her opponent. It being the gible instead of the shellos changed little. She walked to her side of the arena before even sparing him a glance.

"Miss, I mean you no disrespect, but I will be holding back. It wouldn't be right to attack a female with my full strength," Tremor told her as he got into position across from her.

"Excuse me? What did you just say?" She asked, anger creeping across her face.

"It's nothing against you personally. I was raised to treat females with kindness. I couldn't live with myself if I hurt you, even by accident."

Lee clenched her paws before smiling. "Fine, underestimate me. It'll make my victory sweeter." The air around her grew wavy and blurry as she let off a lot of heat. "Shimmer." Two images of her split off, sliding away from either side of her body until they stopped a foot away.

"A mirage? Created by your body heat and controlled by your psychic powers? A smart and beautiful technique. Simple to counter howe-"

"Just shut up. Everything about you just pisses me off!" Lee shouted. She opened her mouth and breathed a thick wave of flames toward Tremor. He let out a roar as a wave of sand shot from his mouth, snuffing the fires before they reached him. The sand blew violently outwards, swirling through the air and scratching Lee as the grains passed. The sandstorm would weaken the power of her fire attacks, but not enough to snuff them out now that it had spread throughout the room. Visibility was also reduced, but not enough to really cause problems.

What Tremor didn't expect was that Lee already had a counter strategy. The sand blowing through her shimmer field got a lot hotter. She couldn't burn hot enough to make it melt, but it would hold the heat. She drew in a deep breath and launched a coiled spiral of flame. It expanded upon nearing Tremor, only shrinking a bit from the sand filled air, then spun into a fire spin. The tornado of fire accelerated the heating of the sand. The fire spin didn't last long, as she didn't put much power in it.

At first, Tremor thought it was just a weak attack. It wasn't until he felt the burning pain of the heated sandstorm that he realized. Her goal was to turn his own move against him. Now with the sandstorm hurting both of them, Lee changed her line of attack. This time, a spiral beam of psychic energy came from her forehead, crashing into Tremor. He grunted and stumbled back a bit, his head starting to pound and vision growing blurry. The burning sand blowing against him only made it worse. It was dangerous to fight like this. Instead, he closed his eyes and braced his body. Lee however, planned on letting him tire himself out fighting his confusion. She didn't expect his plan to tough it out.

Through the sandstorm, she couldn't see that his eyes were closed. She spat a few embers to keep him at bay as she maintained distance and circled him. By the time she realized he was just standing there, the sandstorm was losing momentum and his confusion passed. Based on him only having reddened spots on his body and how she felt just a bit tired, they both had plenty of energy left.

His mouth opened wide and he spat a large ball of purple fire at her. It shot out so fast that Lee didn't even react until it had already hit her, the thing big enough to hit the entire radius of her shimmer. In reality, none of the three images he saw was where she actually was, between the center and right mirages, but it didn't matter against large attacks. The crackling orb surrounded her, burning her body. At least her shimmer barrier reduced its power. With a burst of flames, she cast the dragon energy away before it naturally dissipated. Even with all the defensive measures, it still hurt. He really was strong. Gritting her teeth, she focused on her next attack. She would win. She had to win.

In her mouth, she built up a big coil of fire, much larger than before. At the same time, she built up the psychic energy for a psybeam. As she shot out the spiral of fire spin, she wrapped it in her psybeam. Before the fire spin hit Tremor and expanded into a tornado, it froze and unraveled, Lee having complete control over it. Tremor's eyes widened at the long rope of flame moving around in front of him. With blinding speed, it lashed across his body twice before coiling around his chest like a snake. It wrapped him up tight, the psychic energy giving the flame more form and body. With a grunt of pain, he flailed his small limbs, trying to break free without much success. The fire was already burning his scales, her hottest attack yet.

Lee lifted him up into the air, squeezing tighter. Like a whip, Lee flung him downwards with great force before she lost control of her attack. He crashed into the ground hard enough to crack the rock. "You're..." he coughed, struggling to catch his breath. "You're very strong."

"No, no, I'm just a weak little female!" Lee snarled angrily. "A runt! I couldn't beat a big strong dragon!" The burst of anger broke her concentration, her shimmer fading away.

Tremor's eyes widened again. "Oh, I see." Lee was about to launch another attack, but the somber look on his face made her hesitate. "I am sorry. You have the heart of a fighter. My beliefs insulted that. I will use my full ability now. Forgive me for treating you gently." Dragon type energy poured off his body, enough to move the sandy ground away from him. It was Lee's turn to be surprised. He really had been holding back. Whatever attack he was about to use, it was at least three times as potent as the ones before. "My team, Team Titan, was formed with the singular goal of being the strongest. I gathered the best pokemon from the Volcano den for it. We will not lose."

With a burst of speed, he sprinted at her, his energy trailing behind him. She was already forming an attack, to dodge would break her concentration. Just as he neared her, the sand on the ground and rocks kicked up from their fight began to float into the air. Lee took the dragon rush head on, getting sent rolling back. At the same time, her psyshock launched, tons of rubble flinging towards him at high speed. Even the tiny grains of sand packed enough psychic punch to hurt, the rocks punching off his scales.

Lee sprang up as quick as she could. That attack had been really strong. Another one of those would be the end. "In that case, I'll get serious too," she said, forcing a strong presence despite the fact that she was barely holding on. Flame began to build up in her body, temperature sky rocketing, the telltale signs of a flamethrower. Instead of sending her opponents way, she looked down and breathed a wash of flame at the ground. This was her strongest move. She used psyshock to contain and condense the fire, forming it first into a column, then into a spear, a narrow tube of pure fire. It was her strongest move. She finally raised her head to see Tremor charging for another dragon rush. She fired the spear off at him.

In a burst of rock, Tremor disappeared below the surface, leaving a hole in the ground as he dug his way through the dirt. The spear moved, still under her psychic control, and aimed back towards Lee. Tremor burst from the ground, hitting her from underneath with a dragon rush and launching her several feet into the air. An instant later, he grunted in pain as a burning heat pierced his back. The psychic power holding the fire together faded, causing the highly compressed flames to burst outwards, strong enough to be an explosion.

Lee was sent flying by it, crashing into the wall on the far side. As the flames faded, Tremor was face down, covered in wounds, blood on the ground. Lee was faded fast, her vision blurry. The last thing she saw before passing out was an audino running into the arena.

+++

"You really went overboard young lady." Heart chastised Lee. "You have some broken ribs and muscle tears. You'll recover soon. Your opponent is in much worse shape. He has deep burns, even inside his body, and the shockwave from that explosion tore him up."

Lee frowned, staring up at the ceiling. She was lying on her back in one of the beds.

"You're lucky pokemon are so resilient. That would have killed any other creature on the planet. Broken bones usually take months for animals to heal. For us it is only hours. Still, there are limits. Even with berries and seeds boosting our health, strong enough pokemon have to be careful using their full power."

"Oh... I didn't mean to..." Lee frowned harder.

"Don't worry. There is no way you students can kill each other while I or nurse Bliss are on duty. Every year, we always have injuries like this. It's good practice for the real dangers out there. Now, you just relax. Your friend Fusion had to wait for his bones to heal just like this. If you move around too much, they could heal in the wrong position."

She walked up and set down a bowl of sitrus berries next to Lee. "Eat those, it'll make you heal faster. You still have another match today. I can give you a heal pulse later to get you ready." With that, Heart left Lee's section, going over to another injured pokemon beyond the curtains.

Lee reached over and grabbed a sitrus berry to eat, wincing at the pain in her chest. After a little while, there was a groan from the next bed over.

"Oh," Heart exclaimed, rushing over. "Just relax, you got hurt pretty bad. I healed most of cuts, bruises and burns, but your insides are still burnt, including your stomach. You can't safely eat right now, so you'll have to do without berries for the time being."

"Hey, uh, nurse? Could you move the curtain?" Lee asked. "I want to talk to him."

The curtain got pulled back, showing Tremor lying in his own bed. "Don't expect him to be much for conversation. It'll hurt for him to talk," nurse Heart warned her.

Lee nodded and the nurse left them. "Hey. Are you... okay?"

"Yeah, I-" he coughed loudly. "I think so. Hard to breathe," he explained weakly.

"I didn't mean to hurt you so bad. I just... the things you said, it brought up bad memories. I was just so angry. I realize you didn't mean to piss me off."

"No, my fault. Should have seen you wanted a fight, not to be protected."

"That doesn't justify hurting you like that. So... uh, sorry for going overboard."

"No, we both did out best."

"We didn't though. If you hadn't held back in the beginning, I would've had no chance. Next time we fight, we do it on equal grounds."

Tremor smiled widely. "You'd fit in with team Titan."

"I already have a team."

+++

"Excuse me, sir?" Lee asked.

Bomb, the magmortar leader of the Volcano den, looked down at her. "Yes?" They were in the Volcano den arena stands, just before the next round started.

"I'd like to drop out of the tournament."

"Did I hear that right? You wanna quit?! Why?"

"I don't want to fight anymore. I already made up my mind."

"Is this about what happened with Tremor? You're really something to have beaten him. You're still young and unskilled. Let me guess, your training was all about power, not control?"

"How did you know?"

"I was young once too. I almost burned down a whole forest. As you get better, you'll learn to control exactly how much power you use. Fight an enemy hard enough to knock them out but without hurting them more than you need to, that's the trick."

"Oh..."

"Yeah, I keep telling Phantom we need to push training to the first two months so our students learn how to manage their strength. Instead, we focus on core stuff like moves and types first. He says it's good students learn this way, teach 'em about pain so they know how to survive the worst. We've never had a student suffer permanent injury during the tournament, so don't worry."

"That does make me feel better, but I made a decision. I'm done."

"Alright then, I'll remove your name. If you change your mind, you've got time until your match is declared a forfeit. And I'll assume you still want to do the field trip on Friday?"

"Yeah. I just don't want to end up hurting someone else."

"Like I said, control. Don't let fear destroy your future," Bomb told her. "You got potential."

Lee nodded and left as he began calling the first round.

+++

"You what!?" Nina shouted.

"Calm down, it's not a big deal," Lee responded calmly. They were both in their room.

"Not a big deal? Me and Fusion lost fair and square. But you just quit? Nuh-uh. That's a bunch a crap!"

"I accomplished my goal for the tournament. I beat a super tough guy. You'll see come next week. Guarantee I pass."

"That's not the issue," Nina frowned. "I'm mad cause you just gave up, after we've all been trying our best."

"And I lost, at least in my head. He was way stronger than me. I only won because he wouldn't fight. I should have lost. Now, I'm gonna go train, if you want to join me."

"No, me and Fusion are gonna go watch Anko."

"Okay. Tell him I'll be there for the finals."

+++

"Damn." Lee opened her mouth and spat out another ember. The fireball was half the usual size she normally made and less bright. It hit the dummy, leaving yet another burn mark, in addition to the dozen others she had made. "Still too much?" She had been gradually lowered the power of her weakest attack, trying to use one that wouldn't burn the dummy. The dummy was obviously less sturdy than a pokemon, but if she could attack without leaving a mark on it, she could practice the basics of controlling her power output. It was starting to get hard to form the attack. She built up another fireball in her mouth than spat it towards the dummy. The ball was visibly distended and fizzled out before even making contact.

"Ugh," she groaned and sat down, tail flicking about frustratedly. As she calmed down and thought it out, a new idea started to form. She had been going top down, taking her normal power and weakening it. Maybe she should start from the bottom.

She starting building up heat, just enough that she could feel the temperature in her mouth increase. Energy formed at that temperature, no more than 200 degrees. She fired it from her mouth, a ball of fire looking heat. Unlike usual, it was see-through, just an orange haze in a sphere shape, small enough to fit in her paw. It flew out and hit the dummy, disappearing into nothing, leaving no mark. Lee's eyes widened as she walked up and pressed her paw on the spot. It was warm, but unharmed. A smile broke out on her face. "Ha! Yes!"

Her smile quickly faded. That attack would have been useless in a battle. She had to get better at managing her power, be able to reliably measure and match an enemy's strength. Practice and experience...

+++

"LEE!" Anko shouted. He nearly climbed onto the table to wave high in the air at her.

She walked over to their table and sat down. "You guys eat yet?"

"Not yet," Nina told her.

"I made it to the semifinals!" Anko burst out.

"That's great," Lee cracked a small smile. "Hey, so I was thinking. We need to learn to manage our powers. If we go into a dungeon and fight a bunch of baby caterpie, we'll end up hurting them."

Everyone was silent for a second before Nina spoke up. "Well, duh." Lee immediately glared at her.

"Yeah," Fusion added. "You can't fight all out all the time, you'll hurt somebody."

"W-well y-yeah! I-I uh, I just wanted to make sure you idiots knew that!" She retorted angrily, looking away in embarrassment. "So we're integrating control into our training regiments. I want you able to knock someone out without putting a scratch on them!" she ordered.