victory_road | 03 | Accidental Video

[When this video turns on, it's facing out at the interior of the Mahogany Ice Rink. It's now evening, and the Mahogany Mamoswines have finished practice and gone home for the day, so the ice is currently empty...except for Yuuko, who can be seen skating in slow circles. She'd gotten a job here a few weeks ago and has been pretty good with managing the hockey equipment and helping to maintain the ice, but now that she's alone and at a skating rink for the first time in months, she just can't resist doing some after-hours skating herself.

She doesn't seem to be aware that she's being filmed; in fact, it looks like she's entirely lost in whatever music is playing through her head as she skates. At first she just slowly skates around the rink, but soon she picks up speed and does a few spins, first crouching down into a sit spin and then on one leg with her body parallel to the ice and her free leg held above hip level in a camel spin. At the moment, she's forgotten that she's been brought to the Pokemon world and is now immersing herself in the past, back to when she and Yuuri would practice their skating together at Ice Castle and try to copy the great Victor Nikiforov.

Then she picks up even more speed, and for the first time in a while, she does a jump, taking off from the back inside edge of one foot into a triple Salchow. The Salchow was the first jump she ever learned, but it's been a while since she attempted a triple; she manages the three rotations, though her landing is a bit wobbly.

There's an excited chirping behind the camera after Yuuko lands the jump, and that seems to snap Yuuko back to reality and look towards whoever's filming this.]

Wha--Twizzle?! [Yuuko's face turns red...mostly from embarrassment at being caught on camera during a private moment, but also from annoyance. She starts skating towards the camera, and the excited chirping turns into a nervous "eep!" at her darkening expression.]

What have I said about using my 'gear without permission?!

[The camera shakes and is then knocked onto its side as whoever's holding it hastily puts it down. You can briefly see a Sylveon bounding away through the doors to the front desk with Yuuko chasing after her, though Yuuko can't go very fast since she's wearing skates.] Twizzle! You get back here right now, young lady!

[The camera runs for another minute before a Snorunt hesitantly turns it off. Sorry about that last bit, folks.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

It doesn't seem like you've lost much of your skill, though my knowledge of ice skating is pretty limited.

[Still, it was gorgeous to him.]

I bet you could get back into skating competitively here if you wanted.

Well, the Salchow I just did is one of the easier jumps...I'm not sure if I could still pull off the harder ones.

I know there's a hockey league, but I'm not sure if figure skating is really a thing here. And if I did compete, I'd have to get back in shape...

It seems like something that would just take some practice and time.

Maybe it's something you could look into starting? Even if it was just lessons, it seems like something people would enjoy.

I do want to offer lessons at some point, but the rink is closed to the public right now since it's hockey season. I think it'll be open from Christmas Eve to New Year's, though. I wish I'd gotten here while it was still open... [And even then, Yuuko isn't sure if she'll still be here once the rink opens to the public again.]

And that's the only rink in the regions? [That's unfortunate.] Is there any way to set something up for private sessions during times when the hockey team isn't using it?

If there are, I haven't found them...at the very least, this rink seems to be the most prominent one.

I could always talk to the higher-ups at the rink and see if I could work something out. It'll probably be harder once games start coming up, though.

It might be worth looking into. To see if there are others, I mean.

If you do mange it, make sure you let everyone know. It could be a lot of fun.

Probably. I mean, obviously there must be other hockey teams if the Mamoswines are practicing right now...

I will! I always love teaching people how to skate--I've given lessons to kids at home before, and I've also been teaching my own girls.

I wouldn't mind learning properly.

[If anything, it could help him when he used his cryokinesis back home. A whole new style he could utilize in battle that no one would see coming.]

Really? I'd be happy to teach you once I can fit in some time, then! Have you ever skated before?

Not..in a traditional sense. One part of my abilities back home is to create ice and I can slide along it as I freeze the water particles in the air.

[He makes himself an ice slide.]

It took a lot of practice getting use to keeping my balance. I actually use snow boots most of the time to help.

Really? That's pretty cool. [In more than one way. Haha what a brilliant joke]

Well, skates would likely help you travel faster, but you'd probably have a harder time slowing down if you have to...is there anything in particular you'd like to learn?

Slowing down won't be an issue. I usually just use the other half of my power to melt the ice to bring myself to a stop if I have to.

I want to try and make my movements more fluid. I can't use my powers here but if I can practice the movements and figure out how to translate them to my powers, I think it could help me quite a bit.

[Everyone expects him to be a very straight forward powerhouse but if he comes at them with something else, something like the grace and agility of a figure skater..]

I see...in that case, it would be good for you to learn to skate backwards as well as forwards, at least. A figure skater needs to be able to change direction quickly, and I think that might be useful for you. I don't know how useful spins would be, but maybe I could teach you some jumps, too... [Now Yuuko's kind of wishing she could write down some notes right now.]

[Shoto's making mental notes for the time being, intending on jotting things down later so he can do a little homework as well once he's done talking with her.]

That would be incredibly useful. I honestly don't attempt backwards motion all that much just because of how inexperienced I am with it but if I could get a good handle on that..

[He'd be able to get the jump on villains easier.]

I'd be appreciative of any help you'd be willing to give.

No problem! I'll see if I can make some time for you, in that case. I've never taught skating for this kind of purpose before, so it's an interesting change of pace.

I appreciate it and I'll find some way to repay you for this.

Oh, there's no need to worry about payment right now. I'll just try to find a way for you to actually practice first.

03 | Accidental Video

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