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POSTED ON Jan 17, 2023 4:29:36 GMT

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Out in the corner of Slateport, where the city's skyline dissipated to the occasional house or apartment complex, Penelope stood along a dirt battle arena, outlined by thick white lines drawn into the ground.
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"Thank you for coming out," she smiled, "I know things have been busy back at HQ."
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After their pleasant lunch out together, she'd decidedly reached out to see if the elite four would assist with some of her personal training. It had become her new year's resolution, and thanks to METENO, she was actually pressured to achieve it.

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[attr="class","ooc"] Callan Young[break]

MISSION

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POSTED ON Jan 19, 2023 16:37:36 GMT

❝

"It's no trouble." Callan rested an ultra ball in the palm of his hand, the orb cool to the touch as he idly balanced it between his fingers before it enlarged to the size of a softball in his hand. "What would you like to achieve?"

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Penny, the coveted

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September 25

Petalburg

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TAG WITH @penelope

POSTED ON Jan 21, 2023 5:04:29 GMT

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To not be a liability.
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To survive.
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There were several different responses that came to mind, but out of all of them, she went with an opaque "Strength."
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Clicking her normal pokeball to life, the councilwoman began to walk backward toward her side of the court, hands pinned behind her back.
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"Meteno kinda woke me up a bit to my deficiencies."
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[attr="class","ooc"] Callan Young[break]

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POSTED ON Jan 25, 2023 15:49:33 GMT

❝

Callan smiles, "Sure, we can work with that." He tosses a pokeball outwards onto the pitch to reveal his choice of Pokemon. Bubblegum, an ancient form of Goodra with a steel shell on its back unfurled itself from its massive, gleaming snail shell.

BUBBLEGUM ♂︎ (HISUIAN) | OVERCOAT | SHELTER, DRACO METEOR, BODY PRESS, SLUDGE WAVE, PROTECT, THUNDERBOLT

"Let's do a few rounds of battle so I can see where your approximate level is at. You can start first." Callan pauses between the ending of his sentence to toss another query towards her. "Does this have to do with the peer pressures of yor new job position?"

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Penny, the coveted

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September 25

Petalburg

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POSTED ON Jan 25, 2023 16:18:55 GMT

MATIAS SILPH likes this

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(No title)
Damn, he hit the nail on the head.
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Fortunately, nearly a decade's worth of journalistic endeavors had prepared the woman enough to conceal the truth with a placid smile and sigh.
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"I would be lying if I were to say that didn't play a part in it."
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She scrunched her nose as her thoughts rummaged back to her conversation with MATIAS SILPH. How there was fire that spat between them, in a world already encrusted by molten rock. Tucking a piece of hair behind her ear, she continued, all while tossing out a pokeball of her own.
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"If the entire world yells at you, it makes you think, maybe I ought to listen."
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Out from the pool of crimson, a garcomp materialized, heat pouring off from his blackened scales.
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"Garlic," she called out the dragon, "set up with a sandstorm!"
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[attr="class","ooc"] Callan Young[break]

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Imagine pretty code later
For now
Garlic
Male | Sand Veil
Dragon Rsuh, Take Down, Sandstorm, Dragon Claw, Sand Tomb, Crunch
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POSTED ON Jan 26, 2023 8:56:35 GMT

❝

Callan's eyes observe Penny with an impartial eye. "I think it's always good to learn to defend yourself, for sure."

Penelope's choice of Pokemon comes out. A six foot long ground shark with a mean, aggressive streak. Callan observes the Garchomp's behaviour's in response to Penny's actions. But it wasn't for long, Penny's order cuts the pause and is followed by an instinctive compliance by Garlic.

The wind whips up across the small stadium, a swirling vortext of sand released artificially by the Garchomp's energy. Being part-steel, the whipping sand doesn't damage Bubblegum's layer of thick, impact absorbent gel, but it did camouflage the movements of Penny's groundshark a bit. "Bubblegum, Shelter!" He replies.

His own Goodra slips into its shell, coating itself with a fresh film of strange, silvery goo. As it pops out, its capacity for sustaining blows of a physical nature increased dramatically.

"But if I'm being honest, it sounds like you're being hazed." Callan replied, "If you'd like to share, I'm willing to listen."

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Penny, the coveted

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September 25

Petalburg

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POSTED ON Feb 6, 2023 1:53:50 GMT

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Frankly, Penelope wasn't aware of the intricacies of what pokemon held what ability. So when the prehistoric goodra withstood the fierce winds of her Garchomp's SANDSTORM, it brought out a brief wave of surprise.
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"I don't know if I'm being hazed," she tried to laugh off, but in reality, the recent slew of harsh conversations had taken a bit of a toll on her. It was one thing being shown the extent of your capabilities, it was another to be dragged across the mud, time and time again, in the name of helping one better 'weather the upcoming storm.'
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Alas, those weren't things she was prepared to admit to her coworker though.
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"I think...there's just a certain expectation that I've been failing to meet for some people." She looked back at the battlefield. "Garlic. Sand Tomb!"
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A spiral of sand attempted to ensnarl the goodra, clawing at its arms and legs.
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"And it makes sense. I just didn't know it was one of the job requirements."
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[attr="class","ooc"] Callan Young [break]

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POSTED ON Mar 3, 2023 15:08:50 GMT

❝

"I think it's wrong to please everyone, and I learned this the hard way." Callan replied. "I also don't think it's worth it to please anyone in the League, as long as you know what value you provide to the organization, that's what matters most."

"So I'll ask you this, Penny, what's the point in learning to battle?" The Sand Tomb closes up underneath Callan's Hisuian Goodra, sinking it into the ground to hamper its movements. "Do you want to appear stronger to everyone around you? Are you genuinely interested in mastering a different skill from your regular job? Do you simply want to improve your self-defense? Are you just looking for a workout?"

The Goodra responds, quick, violent, vicious. Summoning DRACO METEOR overhead, the sun is suddenly blocked by a slew of flaming purple meteors aiming to rocket toward Penelope's Garchomp. "Your intention for doing this is more important than how well you're doing it."

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Penny, the coveted

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POSTED ON Mar 10, 2023 23:52:42 GMT

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Callan Young was right in more ways than one. But it lacked one point in particular; the reason which drove her down this path in the first place.
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"I joined The League in hopes to bring about change, not only to Hoenn but the system itself. But," She began, her face crumpling as memories compiled into her thoughts, reminding her of the woman she used to be, and who stood there now. "the more I grew accustomed to things, the more I realized where I fell short myself."
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Garchimp fell victim to the incoming DRACO METEOR. Forced to release the goodra from it's bindings, he shrunk back into the sandstorm, using SANDVEIL to gain enough evasion to slink between each bundle of rock flying straight toward him.
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"I don't want to be a burden. Not to myself or anyone else, regardless if it's back at HQ or on the field. I'm not looking to master anything - all I want is the ability to stand on my own."

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POSTED ON Mar 30, 2023 4:55:50 GMT

❝

Callan's Goodra stopped in its tracks as Callan held up a hand. "Return, Bubblegum." Callan said, as he extended his Ultraball. Once the Goodra was safely back on his belt, Callan turned to look towards Penny.

"It's good you asked me. At least it's a step forward." Callan began, "But if you wanted to really improve your battling skills to hold your own, the first thing you need to do is be clear about what you are lacking. If it's an over-encompassing lack of knowledge, a Youtube video on how to get better at Pokemon battling would have sufficed."

"You say you want to be better, but what I'm hearing from it is that you don't want to be judged for being unable to 'stand on your own'." Callan raised air quotes with his fingers. "You don't actually want to become good at battling, it's just a necessity in which you'll have to undertake in order for you to keep doing what you're doing."

"First, that's not your job. That's our job. Second, 99.9999% of the population of Hoenn is mediocre at battling. You feel weak because you're inundated on all sides by the absolute top hierarchy of Pokemon Trainers. Having battled dozens of gym trainers in the past, I can tell you that putting even the tiniest amount of effort into looking at how to optimize your existing Pokemon's moves will give you a huge advantage." Callan paused, "Your Garchomp, for example. If you wanted to make it stronger, why not just have a search of all the moves that make such a magnificent Pokemon even more powerful? Focus on one thing at a time, one Pokemon at a time. Find out why those moves are strong and then try to emulate the techniques they use."

As for her joining the League, Callan sympathized. In the end, they all had their own beliefs and reasons for joining the government.

"When I first joined the League, I wanted to be seen, not just by the general public, but by my ex-wife and my daughter. I convinced myself that if I was able to make Hoenn into a better place, and show them that I was an Elite Four and a Rock Star, they'd fly back into my arms. That is the emotion that drove me to become who I am now. I crave validation at a level so deep that it drives me insane almost every night. It's a hole that's so deep that if I don't take Xanax and self-medicate with alcohol it eats me alive. And that is why I am obsessed with the skills that I have. I turned a violent, and irrepressible self-loathing into a seething anger that drives me to need to be the greatest rock star in the world, the greatest champion in the world."

"That is what makes me strong. I would say, first things first Penny, sort out how you feel about where you are in life." Callan scratches the back of his head. "You should sit with how weak you feel. Don't let sycophants or your girlfriends or your current boyfriend tell you how amazing you are, because quite frankly, that's the opposite of what you should do. Absorbing how bad you feel and using it is the first thing you should do in order to get better."