"Yeah! The Military has those; tend to be a lil' limited in scope, but there's gotta be a bug-type specialization in there, somewhere." Said the youth, breathing in and out slowly, swinging his arms back and forth as he turned his attention to the trio left.

His attention was taken away from them by Noah however, the youth's swinging arms flopping to his sides at the Gym Leader's words, his eyes blinking at the man a few times.

"Y- ya can?" He asked, looking at the man dubiously.

He hadn't expected such a thing when he came into the gym. It was quite shocking to hear- specially from a Gym Leader. Gym Leaders had actual power and clout; unlike talking and joking with a friend about such things, such promises from those capable of following through was quite... tempting.

"Are ya sure?" He asked, scratching at his head. Was that how it worked? "A resume... I- I would've to stan' out from everyone else..." In a good way.

The youth was rubbing his chin, brows packed together tightly in deep thought, his jaw set.

"Oh... OH! Y-yeah... Yeah! Please help me out!" He finally said after what he felt had been far too long a moment of thinking, clapping his hands together and bowing to Noah.

The scampering of feet brought his attention away from the gym leader, and he remembered what his current task was. As if jolted, the youth clapped his face firmly with both palms before breaking into a sprint for the trio that had seemingly attempted to hide away in the corner of the room, leaping towards the one trapped in the center as the other two jumped in either direction.

"'pologies, sir!" Said Doug as he struggled the Machop under his arm, standing up with it held at waist level. "I should at least finish the very first task ya gave 'fore asking for favours."

---

TAG: noah faber

"a personal reference from a gym leader can go a long way." noah says, puffing his chest out like some rousing fletchling. "don't need to do the honorifics and all, buddy." he smiles uneasily, the bow embarrassing noah a little more than not.

the conversion to action almost wakes the tired machop up; however, noah's machamp, with all of its arm, acts like a beaked mobile. as the other machop flee from the center, noah tracks the one that flees to their right. playfully, he chases the machop down as doug endures his own writhing machop.

"we can multitask!" noah leaps onto a higher level, causing several blocks to topple. "the military really beat the formalities into you, huh?"

[attr="class","pkspr"][attr="class","pokesprite pokemon machamp"]

John Sullivan

Doug laughed as he brought the Machop under his arm to Cobra, handing the lil' guy over before turning towards Noah.

"First order o' business in bootcamp was beatin' discipline into us, and I ain't sayin' 'beating' lightly!" He said. The military was the military, not school. When you back-talked your teacher, you got detention. When you back-talked your drill sergeant, you got a slap across the face and a 1000 laps around the training grounds.

"Learned that the hard way! My drill sergeant ain't one for punchin'... he's worse. He breaks all of us down together. One of us backtalks, all of us get to enjoy an impromptu triathlon." Despite his words, the youth was grinning and clearly amused as he said this.

They all quickly learned to keep their mouth shut, lest their own brothers in arms began hating their guts. And with discipline out of the way, the man began the real training, just so they wouldn't forget.

So thoughtful of him. Lovely fella.

Thanks to Noah's help, there was only one Machop left to deal with- and it was looking rather pleased with itself, even as it was cornered by the bugcatcher.

And why shouldn't it? It had won the game. It was the Machamp.

"Yer lookin' far too smug there, lil' fella." Said Doug with a chuckle as he approached it, plucking it off the floor with little resistance. Turning to Noah, the youth scratched at the back of his head, looking sheepish.

"I'll try n'be more... myself in the future." The word Sir hadn't even been part of his vernacular until he had entered the military.

Neither had vernacular, for that matter.

Bringing the final Machop to the expertly cradling Machamp, Doug swiped an arm across his forehead before turning to Noah.

"Awright, Let me try again. M'name's Doug Sullivan, and I'm gonna be the best goshdarned soldier all sides of Hoenn. Look out for me, Noah. I'll earn yer help!" He said, holding out his fist towards the Gym Leader and grinning wide.

---

TAG: noah faber

noah grins too, for doug's recollection, which is painted in smiles and sore muscles, brings back remembered bruises. he doesn't regret his own commitment to the league. in some contradictory manner, being the frontline of defense against threats have allowed him to become stronger. his past survival depended on one part luck one part skill— and the rest needed to be honed.

as the last machop is returned to the canvas fold, noah claps. although the task may have been completed without a hitch— it was a testament to doug's ability. beginners often sported purple bruises as medals for their achievement.

"that's much better, man." noah matches the other's fist with his own. "alright, doug sullivan. let's help you reach that dream."

his machamp begins to cart the machop away.

"we'll get some muscle on you in no time."

[attr="class","pkspr"][attr="class","pokesprite pokemon machamp"]

John Sullivan