Impression. [Solo]

'Meditation is good, keep it up. Thoughtfulness and an ability to keep your mind about you is key to leadership. No problem has ever been resolved optimally by losing your cool. Take it from someone who learned that the hard way in his youth.'

So had his grandfather proclaimed to him, and so had the boy listened. 

It had been less than a week since his permanent relocation to the Jade Palace, and in the last few days, his patience had been tested. Just as he had expected.

There wasn't much room for questioning just yet; he didn't often find himself having to give orders, after all. But there was plenty of room for whispers, and the ever present stink eye.

It didn't matter whether the person was subtle or forward about it; the boy could practically feel it in the back of his neck every time, to the point he was beginning to wonder if some of them were actually holding violent intent against him.

What a shitty job. He wondered what would happen if someone with no actual martial skill was chosen. It wasn't out of the realm of possibility; you didn't need to be a martial artist to be an expert fighting type user.

Sitting in the Grand master's private chambers, his back straight and his legs folded underneath him, the boy took a deep breath, and tried to sort out his thoughts, brushing aside the errant thought.

He had but one (relevant) companion, the single entity within the walls of the palace that could come and go into his chambers as they pleased. 

Mienfoo was completely silent, her legs folded underneath her, her hands resting on her thighs. She was perfectly mirroring him, save for the fact that unlike him, her mind was at peace.

Bit pitiful that his student was more adept than him at meditating now; just a few weeks prior, he had been struggling to teach her how to meditate.

He had intended to clear his mind of venomous thoughts, and to come to an understanding with both his feelings, and the one's shown towards him. He had only succeeded in riling himself up so far, and he could scarcely keep himself from trembling in place from his anger alone. 

Not helping were the rest of his (nonrelevant) companions, the bunch of loud pains in the ass.

"Would you two shut up!" Shouted the boy in frustration as he swung about his torso, throwing the first thing that his hand found (a scented candle) straight at the loud pair. Charmander and Beedrill had been arguing about who the hell knows what for the good part of 10 minutes now, and Doug's tolerance was far past its limit.

Sadly, the pair didn't heed the command (they never did), with Beedrill 'catching' the scented candle with one of its stingers almost casually. In the same movement he held it up to the Charmander, who blew a small ember onto it, lighting it up..

Beedrill then proceeded to chuck it back at the boy. That out of the way, the two pokemon resumed arguing about who the fuck knows what while the boy caught the candle, the fire extinguishing against his palm. He simply breathed in deeply, his brow twitching as he squeezed tightly onto it, the wax beginning to crumble as a very visible vein popped on his temples.

"Mienfoo." He spoke, his tone eerily calm and in complete contrast with his clearly maddened countenance. 

Mienfoo responded immediately, her eyes opening and her head turning towards her master.

"Be a dear and put the boys to sleep for me, won't you?" He said before turning his gaze away from the arguing pair, breathing in deeply and gritting his teeth before finally settling back into his meditative stance.

Mienfoo simply nodded, before slowly standing up... and then sharply turning to face the other two pokemon. A chill climbed up the Charmander's spine as the Mienfoo's steely gaze fell upon him. 

Beedrill, ever self centered, ever overconfident, simply took the Charmander's silence as an opportunity to verbally destroy him in the argument, never realizing the danger until a small shadow loomed over him.

---

After about 5 minutes of struggle, the room was finally silent once again, Doug trying to focus back on his meditation as Mienfoo sank to her knees besides him and resumed her own.

So naturally an asshole chose to knock on his door at that very moment.

The boy took a deep breath and bit down on his tongue just as his mouth went to scream to whoever it was to get lost, knowing that wouldn't do him any favors. Instead. he took a second to calm himself down and slow his breathing, before speaking.

"You may come in." Said the boy, taking a deep breath immediately after. The sound of the shōji sliding open didn't exactly tell him who had entered into his chamber, and the steps on the tatami mats weren't particularly telling either.

"Grand-master." Came a low, deep tone several meters behind him, followed by the sound of creasing fabric as the man gave him a shallow bow. 

A goodie. Old men. His favorite people in the palace. Not. 

"Master Fei." He replied without turning to face the man, breathing in deeply. Thankfully the man couldn't take offense at this; if anyone was being rude here, it was the old man for interrupting his meditations. "I was meditating."

"My deepest apologies for disturbing you, Grand Master." Said the old man; the sound of creasing cloths told the boy he was bowing once again. "But since your relocation to the Palace three days ago, masters and students alike have seen very little of you. The rest of the masters and I were hoping you would join us in our evening session at the courtyard. It will be a learning experience for the students."

Well, he had been waiting for this to happen. He had just hopped he would be able to meditate for at least 10 goddamn minutes before getting his ass dragged in front of a crowd.

"I understand." Said the boy as he rose to his feet, "Rise, Mienfoo. We've an eventful evening ahead of us." Every time he talked to these old men, he found himself channeling his inner mom and grandpa. He wasn't too sure his usual speech, filled to the brim with precision 'fuck's, 'shit's and 'dude's would do much to impress the old coots.

Mienfoo rose to her feet as smoothly as him, turning to face the old man at the same time as he did.

"Let's go. I still must attend to my meditation."

---

He found himself in the wide open courtyard, his legs folded underneath him while Mienfoo sat besides him, his eyes on the mass of master's elegantly shifting from one stance and technique to another almost seamlessly, the group flowing with perfect synchronization.

The master's evening session was an overly complex, flowery, seemingly impressive display of synchronized skill and dexterity. Or as the boy liked to think of it; a martial arts movie display.

Basically flying over complex katas in perfect synchronization, it looked nice, but had very little use. With these many fighters gathered in one place, his mother would have had them just spar, not try to wow their students with flashy displays.

The fact that the students were actually eating it up made the boy cringe inwardly. At least the kata seemed to be of their own creation. A mix of different styles of Martial Arts, intended to reflect his mother's philosophy of taking what was useful, discarding what wasn't. He had yet to see the part where they added their own thing, but with any hope, it would come soon enough.

Naturally, he hadn't joined in; nor was he expected to, despite what the masters and students may have desired. It wasn't like he could just guess his way through their flowery, long ass kata after all.

He was just there to spectate, and he guessed to 'socialize' with the students.

Or, he was there so the students could get a good look at their new grand master. In all his 13 year old, 5 foot 4 inch glory. Some of the students spectating looked to be almost twice his age.

He could feel eyes on the back of his neck, but he tried to ignore the feeling, instead focusing on the showcase until it reached its end.

What was he supposed to do about this? His mother would have called off the entire thing a minute into it, but the boy wasn't his mother. As in, he would have agreed with motion completely, but he didn't carry anywhere near the weight or presence of his mother to do such a thing in front of these many people.

Still... this had been a complete waste of time. A nice demonstration of dexterity, but not much else. Did they do this every evening?

His brows knotted together, the thought of wasting so much of everyone's training time making his lip curl. Very slowly, he drove away the displeasure off his features, until an amateurish mirror of his mother's stoic expression laid itself onto his face.

As the masters all filed across from him and bowed, Master Fei stepped forth, bowing to the boy. The man then went to speak.

"Grand master, we hope you en-"

"Master Fei." The boy suddenly interrupted him.

"-! ... Yes, Grand Master?" The man recovered his composure swiftly, though Doug thought he saw a flash of annoyance on his expression; he guessed he didn't like being interrupted.

"I'll be returning to my chambers now." He said as he rose to his feet unceremoniously. Mienfoo mirrored him soon after, falling in line besides him. "I shall join you for your evening session tomorrow as well." He said as he walked past the man, the group of masters parting to allow him to pass. 

There was a general air of disbelief as the boy left the courtyard; it only grew as the boy came to a slow stop at the doors, turning his head slightly to look over his shoulder. 

He didn't have his mother presence, or strength, or influence over this people. But he knew exactly what she would have thought, what she would have said, and after that show, it was clearly the only person with any understanding of the woman's philosophy was him.

So he said what he knew she would have said, word for word.

"If you truly wish to know; I found this to be a waste of everyone's time. Expect some changes tomorrow." He said as blankly as he could, before walking back into the palace.

He liked to think he had chosen that course of action without losing his cool. He would definitely not be making friends thanks to it, but he didn't care. The students and masters of the temple were going down a pathetic path without his mother to guide them, and he wasn't about to drag her all the way here after she had put him in charge.

He was going to fix this and remind these men and women the lessons they had so clearly forgotten. 

"Mienfoo." He spoke as he walked through the halls, his student looking up at him. "Fetch Master Medicham and the rest of The Six for me, please. I need to speak with them."

---