Heroes of Dreamland, Book 3: The World of Nintendo (OLD)

Nintendo City

Several days later:

Onboard the Warship Nintendo:

"Ha! Stay sharp!" Meta Knight shouted as he leapt lithely out of the way of Rose's sword and sent a swipe back at her. Completely in his element at the moment, he was quite enjoying himself.

"Grr! Why won't you stay still?" Rose grunted as she spun around, trying to follow the Star Warrior as he jumped around the ship. Once she had finished her short recovery, he had convinced Link to lend her his sword (she had returned Galaxia) so that he could begin to train her.

"If I stayed still, it would defeat the whole purpose of this exercise, young one. Now, do not forget to maintain a constant guard," he reminded her, swinging at her and barely missing, making her shiver a bit. She knew that he would never actually hit her, but it was still unnerving to have magic gold come within inches of your face.

She did, indeed, have a bit a natural talent with the sword, but she was still only an amateur. And he was clearly demonstrating this, as he dueled circles around her. It was sort of embarrassing to be so easily bested by someone less than half her size.

"Come on, Rose. You can do it!" Rinda called out helpfully from where Ash was helping her train with the Pokémon on a different part of the deck.

Ignoring her, Rose groaned as she tried to launch another attack, "Look, I'm never going to be all that good at this. What's the point of trying?"

"Do not look down upon yourself so," he disagreed as he leapt over her head, avoiding yet another strike. "You have already proven that you have the spirit of a warrior, and the ability to battle and win. Now, rather than lunge at me every time you think you see an opening, time yourself. Keep your guard up, and wait until the moment is right. A good swordsman spends much more time defending than attacking."

Determined, she nodded once. "Okay. I'll keep trying, for awhile longer, anyway."

"You will keep trying as long as is necessary. Nintendo World needs you, you cannot just turn around now because it is too hard," he told her firmly.

Meanwhile, Rinda frowned as Ash waited on her. "Come on, Elfie. Make your move, give your Pokémon a command. I won't wait much longer before I tell Pikachu his next attack."

"Sorry, I just have trouble remembering each Pokémon's moves. Can I check the Pokédex again?" she pleaded, flustered.

"No. You won't always have time to pull the Pokédex out, you need to have your Pokémon's attacks memorized. Now, you're working with Lapras. That's a water Pokémon, what's a basic attack that most water Pokémon have?" her Trainer friend prompted her.

"Oh, right. Um, Lapras. Use Bubble Beam!" she commanded, gesturing toward Pikachu.

"Lapras!" the Lapras giggled, and shot bubbles at the electric mouse, who deftly evaded them.

Smirking, Ash teased her, "Good, but not great. Pikachu, Thunderbolt!"

"Pika-pika-PIKACHU!" Pikachu shouted, as he sent a shock toward Lapras.

"Lapras, dodge the attack!" Rinda yelled, just quick enough for her Pokémon to obey.

"Great! That was really good," Ash congratulated her, then the two both jumped as Meta Knight suddenly roared,

"Delinquents! Return my cloak!"

Sounding ticked off, Rose added, "And my hair bow!"

"What's going on?" Rinda chortled, bemused, as the battle paused and she and Ash both moved to where they could see the swordsmen around the mast.