DAGM20

With Cadet Yuina Higashi

Just outside of Camp Winstrate's chain fence gate, a guard booth could be found.

A guard was presumably supposed to be there doing a job, but instead, one John Douglas Sullivan sat in a swivel chair, feet up on the windowsill from which he was supposed to lookout from, and with his body reclined as far back as the chair would allow without dropping him on his ass.

Some thing would never change, it seemed.

At the sound of approaching footsteps, however, a single eye opened.

"Oh? Someone's early." He said as he saw her, his feet slipping off the window sill as he moved to stand, yawning. "Good day, Cadet Higashi!"

DAGM20

With Cadet Yuina Higashi

He smiled gently... Before snapping his gaze into an iron scowl.

"Wrong. That's Lieutenant Colonel Sullivan to you, Cadet." He said, voice lowered down to an exaggerated, gravely pitch as he reached behind him and grabbed a hefty bag, before lugging it at Yuina.

Despite the act, he couldn't help the giddy grin on his face as he folded his arms behind his back.

"Now strap that on and start warming up. We're going for a little jog."

DAGM20

With Cadet Yuina Higashi

"You sure are mouthy for a cadet." He said with a smile. "Get running before I decide to start muscle training early."

To her credit, she was not wrong. The jog that was coming would be anything anything but little.

But hey, at least it was a jog.

---

"It's been 45 minutes and 5 miles!" He informed her cheerfully as he jogged besides her. "How are you feeling?"

To be perfectly frank... this was excessive as a warm up for a museum curator. Even if some ranger training had given her a runner's lungs—

The 25 pounds of weight he had made her strap to herself had probably not helped any.

But this was bootcamp, and Yuina needed to get harder, better, faster, stronger in record time. So... he would be cheating a little bit.

A few Lele scales to expedite the process.

DAGM20

With Cadet Yuina Higashi

For his part, he jogged in place as she came to a gasping stop.

"This is barely a warmup, CADET!" He finally said a moment later, grinning from ear to ear. "Don't worry! It ain't gonna kill you— you'll wish it did, though!"

He wasn't about to go easy on her just because she was a friend. Oh no— precisely because she was a friend, he would work her until she made career soldiers look like rank amateurs or died trying!

"We still got a mile left, cadet. You got a minute to catch your breath— then we're going straight until we reach bootcamp!"

Wait... they weren't even there yet?!

DAGM20

With Cadet Yuina Higashi

"D'atta girl. That's the spirit." He said, a tiny bit of genuine admiration slipping into his words.

Choosing to keep going without any real complaints, whatever her reasons, took guts and strength of will.

The true hurdle was choosing to continue again and again before pain and exhaustion, however. Time would tell if she could see the training through.

At the very least though, she saw through the last mile.

"Well done, cadet! You got through it alive!" Doug said with a grin, his eyes on a stopwatch as he approached her, holding out a bottle of water. "Take 10 and rest up."

Pulling out a notepad, the youth casually began to write things down, humming to himself as he looked at her, then the stopwatch, then the road, and several other things...

"What do you think?" He said suddenly, eyes on her. "Wanna keep training still? I know bootcamp is hard. It was hell for me too."

He had been stick and bones at the time, malnourished and emaciated after being homeless for long enough to hate the system, but not enough to cave into rocket.

"Worth breaking your back over?"

Yuina didn't have any memories of Hoenn; while he didn't doubt the honesty of her desires, he did wonder where they were even coming from.

DAGM20

With Cadet Yuina Higashi

Her words made him sigh, his hand dragging up his face and over his hair as he heaved.

"What a stubborn woman." He said as his shoulders settled, smiling down at her before striding to her.

Rounding around her, he nudged away the backpack before pressing his palms to her back.

A soothing coolness would push into her abused back muscles as he began to speak.

"I'll always be worried, ya know?" He said. "Whether yer a complete newbie or a vet capable of knocking out noah faber and beating kyle lopez in a pokemon battle."

His close friends were all more or less competent vets by now, even the ones that were still children.

He still worried for them, though. Because he loved them, and didn't want them to even risk getting hurt.

He didn't get to decide how they expressed and saw through to their ideals and goals, though. It went against what he believed in.

"Since yer determined... I'll do everything I can to help ya grow strong." He said, before offering a laugh. "Just know I'll be worried all the same."

DAGM20

With Cadet Yuina Higashi

"Oh, did I not tell ya?" He asked with a cheeky grin. "I'm a magic man."

Right. Even if Yuina might've relearned of AQUA since losing her memories, it didn't mean she was acquainted with its members— or knew of their abilities.

He snickered.

"I'm just an avatar." He clarified after a moment, shaking his head with a smile. "Remember when I found ya in the cave?"

He was pretty sure she had seen Tapu Lele then.