"Let's train!" Brandon said, shaking me awake.
"What?" I asked. Sleep fogged my mind.
Fionna grabbed me, throwing me over her shoulder. It knocked the wind out of me. "Come on!" Fionna said.
"You don't have to kill me," I said, attempting to scramble off. I couldn't get off; her black paw was clamped tightly on my back.
"Training," Alice explained, "to get you to be able to transform into an Umbreon. Also to heighten your skills."
"Oh. Does Fionna have to fireman-carry me?" I asked.
"No," Fionna said dejectedly, setting me down.
I cheered. "Wait, if no one can see me, how will we train?" I asked.
"We have a special training spot in the basement," Brandon said proudly. "Places for any type!"
"That sounds awesome! Let's go!" I said excitedly, running towards the door.
"Told you I could convince her," Brandon said snidely.
Fionna growled, then I heard her padding feet bolting after me. I whipped around, holding my hands out in a defensive position. She slid to a stop. "Nice!" she praised me.
"Okay, let's train!" I said, walking towards the stairs. When we reached the basement, I found the door locked. I looked at Brandon questioningly.
"I'll get it," he said, gently pushing past me. He turned into a Vaporeon, and again the smell of seawater overpowered my nose. His tail fit itself into a blue touchscreen pad. A red line ran up and down the screen.
"Accepted," a robotic female voice said. A keypad emerged from the wall with a clunk.
Brandon shapeshifted back into a human and punched in the key code: 12302001. "My birthday," he explained.
The thick metal door had rust creeping up its sides. It started to slide open, a metallic grinding noise resounding through the basement. When it finally was open the whole way, we were greeted by a black curtain.
"You really protect this place," I said, walking through the velvet. When I saw the training field, I was amazed. There were clean ponds, a fighting ring, and so much more!
"Here's the Dark-Type spot," Brandon said. He walked to the farthest corner of the room, where the darkest shadows were. To get there, we had to go through grass, jump over a thin stream, and hop over holes in soft soil.
"Here," he said. He jumped into the shadows.
I uttered a cry of surprise. "No way!" I said. "Isn't there a wall?"
Alice shook her head no, leaping with lithe grace into the shadows. The tip of her tail showed for a split second after she jumped, showing that she had transformed into a Liepard.
Fionna pushed me. I fell into the darkness, grasping blindly for something to hold on to. There was nothing. I was falling, and after about two seconds of screaming, I landed on a soft cushion. It absorbed my fall, then I bounced back up.
Brandon's hand reached towards the center, where he assumed I was. I clambered towards him, then grabbed his hand. Working together, I was dragged off.
"We have a Utopia of Dark-Type training down here," he said. "Because Liepard are so energetic, we needed to have a lot of stuff just for Alice."
There were black spires with dark gray tendrils snaking around them, spearheads at the top. Dark hurdles with peels of blackness floating off of them littered the streets. They had various heights, ranging from something amounting to the height of a step to the height of Brandon's chest. Speaking of Brandon, he was smiling proudly.
"How'd you build this?" I asked, in awe.
"Pokémon have a lot of helpful skills."
"That's enslaving your own kind," I pointed out.
"They wanted to," he responded. "I don't force them to work."
"Now let's train!" Fionna said, bouncing to my side.
"Wooooo!" I called, sprinting towards the nearest hurdle.
"Wait," Brandon said. "First we should train transformation."
"I can't do that," Fionna said, sitting down on a black crystal.
"Why can't you transform?" I asked, unable to contain my curiosity.
Fionna's expression sharpened. "I was a person, I have feelings," she said fiercely.
"Sorry, I didn't know it was a problem," I said apologetically. "I was just wondering."
"She deserves to know," Brandon urged Fionna. "She's our friend."
"Fine," Fionna said grudgingly. "Well, you see..."