Master of Faster
He/Him
25
December 12
Goldenrod, Johto
Straight
Mauville Gym Leader
Champion
"With great speed comes great responsibility."
TAG WITH @joshdevlin
Josh Devlin
KINDNESS (Social)
POSTED ON Oct 16, 2022 9:24:21 GMT
Josh was relieved to at least be meeting with Elinor for this serious news. If there was one bigwig in the League that understood Josh, it was her. He figured that the day she recruited him into the Rangers, she never thought he would be a Major League Gym Leader! As he listened to the various options Elinor gave him, he frowned. "You're right," Josh answered, "the Trainer School wouldn't help me. It's not the fundamentals I'm struggling with. It's...really advanced stuff." He paused.
Next, he took in the description of the Dragon-focused course. It was definitely a good suggestion, and one he had looked into with the Rangers before. "That sounds really fun! I'd love to take that course some time in the future, but again, I don't think it will help with my specific issue."
Josh's eyes widened when she suggested he take up the Gym Challenge not as a Leader, but as a challenger. It brought him back to the day when the League first went public about Meteno 99943...the meteor that would impact Hoenn in about one month. The meteor of which it was his duty as a Gym Leader to do his part to warp to Sea Hoenn. He was responsible for making sure the Desert Beacon was activated, and had less than a one-second window to do so, given the range he was instructed to activate the beacon at and the speed of a typical meteor as it approached. "I... I..." Josh stammered, remembering the Bonfire on Slateport Beach. It was three months ago, but it now felt like yesterday. "It's funny you speak of the Gym Challenge now. Because..."
Josh reflected on how different his first day of work with the Rangers was compared to all the training he did for the Gym Challenge. It was a lot more fulfilling, yes, but it was also a lot harder work. He took out his Johto Gym Badge case containing five Badges, pulled out a small notepad stored underneath the raised tray that held them. It was filled with notes on all his battles with Gym Leaders, particularly on ones he had repeatedly lost to. He also reflected on the words racing through his subconscious, dreaming mind last night. If the others listened closely, they could hear him repeating these words aloud:
Your courage is admirable, but you sorely lack the foresight to use it. Your confidence is admirable, but you sorely lack the judgment to use it. Your ambition is admirable, but you sorely lack the insight to use it.
Those words flew through Josh's mind on loop as he flipped through his old notes on what he did well in his Gym Challenge and what he could do to improve. He closed the lid on his Badge case, with the notepad still in his hand. "Today...today I chose a new path," Josh said with a solemn look on his face. "To do that, I had to give up one dream to pursue another. A dream that did not work out. But now I have a new dream. One I am sure will come true. I want to pursue this new dream as a new and better person." He undid the belt containing his five other Pokémon, doing his best to hold their Balls up to eye-level. "Today...I'm retiring from the Gym Challenge. I have no need for these anymore." He tossed the notepad into the fire in front of him, then redid his belt. Many of his Pokémon, even the normally emotionless Absol, became beady-eyed as they saw it burn.
"...and that's the other half of what happened that day. The day I came to your office, sweating bullets in a sleep deprived state... remember that day? It's one I'll never forget." He, of course, didn't expect her to remember; she had to have spoken with dozens, if not hundreds, of people on a daily basis. She was one of a few people in one of the most powerful political offices in the region. "That day, I told myself I would leave the Gym Challenge behind. And I wonder...is picking the Gym Challenge back up truly right?"
Then, Elinor personally offered her services as a Pokémon combatant to him. "You sure? What with you being so busy..." If she didn't have the time to, she wouldn't have offered as such in the first place. "If you can, then I think that might be the best way to go. I'll have to give it a lot of thought. If you have a lot of Pokémon, I can tell you what's been causing me trouble. It's not general battling skill. It's something specific I just have no idea how to overcome. You might have an idea what it is, given we clashed back when I was in the Minor League." Elinor Anderson {WC: 814} {PC: 3} NAME SPECIES STATUS Resheph Dragonair Good Blinky Jolteon Good Janus Espeon Good Kamuy Umbreon Good Saber Manectric Good Snacker Sharpedo Good
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