MARCH UPDATE

6'3" / 190 cm height

Murderers are not monsters, they're men. And that's the most frightening thing about them.

awards

3,068 posts

DOLLARS

part of

TAG WITH @zev

POSTED ON Jun 1, 2024 16:04:56 GMT

[nospaces]

[attr="class","zev3"]

[attr="class","body"]

Several weeks had passed since Zev last heard from Rhys Collins. Their previous exchange had taken place in the Giant Chasm, a new environment fraught with danger. Now, in sharp contrast, they met in the fitness center aboard Team Rocket's submarine. [break][break]

Rhys had reached out with an increasingly common request from grunts: combat training lessons. Scientists numbered fewest of that group, but Zev did not treat them any differently. If they sought him out, then he was going to mold them into weapons of the highest caliber. [break][break]

Not for Team Rocket, though it certainly seemed that way on the surface. In truth, he simply expected the best from anything or anyone that earned his interest. [break][break]

"What's your history with exercise or sports?" he asked Rhys after they'd warmed up. "Do you already work out, or not at all?"

TAGS – Rhys Collins[break]
NOTES – mission

[attr="class","pkmn"]

[attr="class","credit"]

[newclass=".zev3"]--accent:#975fb2;font:13px Roboto;[/newclass]
[newclass=".zev3 b"]color:var(--accent);[/newclass]
[newclass=".zev3 i"]color:var(--accent);[/newclass]
[newclass=".zev3 u"]text-underline-offset:3px;text-decoration-color:var(--accent);[/newclass]
[newclass=".zev3 a"]font:13px Roboto;color:var(--accent);[/newclass]
[newclass=".zev3 h1"]font:18px Roboto;color:var(--accent);font-weight:bold;[/newclass]
[newclass=".zev3 h2"]font:16px Roboto;color:var(--accent);font-weight:bold;[/newclass]
[newclass=".zev3 .body"]background-image:url("https://image.ibb.co/cpf8Wc/flower_patt.png");background-position:bottom;background-repeat:no-repeat;text-align:justify;[/newclass]
[newclass=".zev3 .pkmn img"]margin:-10px -7px 0px -7px;[/newclass]
[newclass=".zev3 .credit"]font-size:13px;[/newclass]

close tab

played by

mcfuzzled

he/him

November 16

Verdanturf Town

Gay

Doctor

Grunt

do no harm

unless you justify it

5'10" height

Developing the cure to your miserable existence.

awards

177 posts

DOLLARS

part of

TAG WITH @rhys

Rhys Collins

POSTED ON Jun 3, 2024 21:43:39 GMT

[nospaces]

[attr="class","rhysc4"]

[attr="class","post"]

This was a little weirder than Rhys had expected.
[break][break]
He'd sought Zev after his last run-in with the one-eyed bombardier, but had expected at best for the other man to respond with some recommended reading - or, if he were feeling particularly generous, maybe the name of another Grunt he could take lessons from. Instead, he was in front of Zev himself, which was somehow markedly more intimidating than their last meeting. Perhaps it was the close quarters, with no open sky above, or the fact that all Zev could and would assess was Rhys himself, with no pokemon to lean on.
[break][break]
Still, while they warmed up, Rhys recalled why he appreciated Zev's directness: Rhys didn't have to busy himself with fawning or weighing his explanations, he only had to give an answer to the other's pointed questions, and the conversation would run itself. Fine by him, really.
[break][break]
"No sports," he replied, glancing to the floor. "Some cardio. I do work out," he shrugged - he wasn't a bodybuilder, but he did his best to keep himself in good physical shape; reading enough medical textbooks seemed to have that effect on people. "I just don't know what to do with it, you know?"

[attr="class","ooc"]

NOTES

• Super Training [M]

[break][break]Zev Harcourt

[attr="class","pkmn"]

[attr="class","credit"]

MADE BY GUNSMILE

[googlefont=Poppins]
[newclass=.rhysc4]--accent:#54C797;[/newclass]
[newclass=.rhysc4]font:12px Roboto;letter-spacing:.3px;line-height:17px;[/newclass]
[newclass=".rhysc4 b"]color:var(--accent);[/newclass]
[newclass=".rhysc4 i"]color:var(--accent);[/newclass]
[newclass=".rhysc4 u"]text-underline-offset:3px;text-decoration-color:var(--accent);[/newclass]
[newclass=".rhysc4 a"]font:12px Roboto;color:var(--accent);[/newclass]
[newclass=".rhysc4 h1"]font:18px Poppins;color:var(--accent);font-weight:bold;letter-spacing:.5px[/newclass]
[newclass=".rhysc4 h2"]font:16px Poppins;color:var(--accent);font-weight:bold;letter-spacing:.5px[/newclass]
[newclass=".rhysc4 .post b"]font-size:12px;letter-spacing:.1px;[/newclass]
[newclass=".rhysc4 .ooc b"]font-size:12px;[/newclass]
[newclass=".rhysc4 .pkmn div"]background-color:var(--accent);[/newclass]
[newclass=".rhysc4 .pkmn img"]margin:5px -7px -10px -7px;[/newclass]
[newclass=".rhysc4 .credit"]width:125px;background-color:#1c1c1c;font-size:10px;margin-top:7px;padding:3px;[/newclass]
[newclass=".rhysc4 .credit a"]font-size:10px;font-weight:800;[/newclass]

close tab

played by

gunsmile

The Devourer

he / him

January 8

Lavender Town, Kanto

heterosexual

general of war

god general

6'3" / 190 cm height

Murderers are not monsters, they're men. And that's the most frightening thing about them.

awards

3,068 posts

DOLLARS

part of

TAG WITH @zev

POSTED ON Jun 5, 2024 13:04:52 GMT

[nospaces]

[attr="class","zev3"]

[attr="class","body"]

Zev nodded as he listened. "Good. We'll start off with establishing your baseline, then we'll move onto basic maneuvers," he said, leading Rhys to the clear space near the machines section of the fitness center. [break][break]

Zev explained what he wanted Rhys to do: as many push-ups as possible within one minute, then as many pull-ups as possible in the same amount of time, with a two-minute break in between. Afterward, Zev had Rhys run on a treadmill for five minutes to gauge the grunt's speed and endurance. Where machines could not record the grunt's numbers, Zev kept count in his head. [break][break]

When they finished the baseline test, he allowed Rhys to sit and drink water while he analyzed the report. "How did that feel? Was it easy or hard?" he asked.

TAGS – Rhys Collins[break]
NOTES – mission

[attr="class","pkmn"]

[attr="class","credit"]

close tab

played by

mcfuzzled

he/him

November 16

Verdanturf Town

Gay

Doctor

Grunt

do no harm

unless you justify it

5'10" height

Developing the cure to your miserable existence.

awards

177 posts

DOLLARS

part of

TAG WITH @rhys

Rhys Collins

POSTED ON Jun 24, 2024 19:11:40 GMT

[nospaces]

[attr="class","rhysc4"]

[attr="class","post"]

Rhys didn't know what he'd expected, really, although he wasn't about to voice his surprise. If anyone had told him a year ago - or, hell, even a week ago - that he'd land a one-on-one training session with the scariest man he'd come across so far in Rocket, Rhys would have laughed them out of the room.
[break][break]
He reflected as he did his push-ups that he wouldn't have expected the training to be so...well, gym class. Still, as Zev had said, it was a baseline, and that was a concept Rhys was familiar with, albeit perhaps not in this particular context; you had to know where you were starting from to know where to go, true of any experiment.
[break][break]
Pull-ups were not part of his regular rotation, and he cursed internally as he worked through them, his arms burning. At least he felt reasonably about his progress through the testing; he wasn't a professional athlete, but he wasn't a couch potato either - a state that could and did sneak up on the most perceptive of scientific minds if they weren't careful.
[break][break]
Rhys had never allowed himself that level of complacency, and as he ran on the treadmill - exhausted but still going - he briefly thanked his past self for ensuring that he wasn't giving a worse performance now.
[break][break]
The water bottle was a relief, and he gulped a third of it down immediately before remembering to moderate himself. "Middling," he admitted, glancing at the Beast. "Push-ups and jogging I'm used to, but it's been a while since I was on the wrong side of a pull-up bar," he commented wryly.

[attr="class","ooc"]

NOTES

• Super Training [M]

[break][break]Zev Harcourt

[attr="class","pkmn"]

[attr="class","credit"]

MADE BY GUNSMILE

close tab

played by

gunsmile

The Devourer

he / him

January 8

Lavender Town, Kanto

heterosexual

general of war

god general

6'3" / 190 cm height

Murderers are not monsters, they're men. And that's the most frightening thing about them.

awards

3,068 posts

DOLLARS

part of

TAG WITH @zev

POSTED ON Jun 25, 2024 18:02:40 GMT

[nospaces]

[attr="class","zev3"]

[attr="class","body"]

Zev nodded, as if Rhys' results were what he expected. "You need to start a strength training program, something that will complement hand-to-hand lessons," he explained, beckoning for the grunt to follow him. [break][break]

The Rocket Beast led the way to the back of the fitness center, where training mats were laid out over the space to form a large square. In the center, he stopped and turned to face Rhys, then fell into a fighting stance. Zev explained the finer details: feet set shoulder-width apart, hips pivoted with the dominant foot as the back foot, arms raised but shoulders relaxed. [break][break]

Then he had Rhys mimic him, taking a moment to correct the grunt's posture. When he was finally satisfied, Zev assumed the stance again across from Rhys. [break][break]

"Next is basic footwork. When you fight and you want to move forward, backward, left, or right, you always want to start with the leg closest to that direction. So step forward with your front leg first, while sliding up your back leg." He demonstrated this by darting forward a step. [break][break]

"And to go back, step back with your back leg first, while following it with your front leg." Another demonstration, this time in the opposite direction. Zev relaxed his stance and faced the younger man. [break][break]

"This is so our legs don't get crossed while we're moving, which could cause us to stumble and fall. That is the last thing we want. So go ahead, try it a few times in different directions."

TAGS – Rhys Collins[break]
NOTES – mission

[attr="class","pkmn"]

[attr="class","credit"]

close tab

played by

mcfuzzled

he/him

November 16

Verdanturf Town

Gay

Doctor

Grunt

do no harm

unless you justify it

5'10" height

Developing the cure to your miserable existence.

awards

177 posts

DOLLARS

part of

TAG WITH @rhys

Rhys Collins

POSTED ON Jul 8, 2024 1:24:10 GMT

[nospaces]

[attr="class","rhysc4"]

[attr="class","post"]

Rhys took direction as well as the next Grunt - or better, he privately thought, given some Grunts he'd run across during his tenure - but even splitting the notion of a fighting stance into its component parts left him feeling stiff and unwieldy by the time he'd followed each of Zev's directions.
[break][break]
The man's slight adjustments to his posture resulted in a framework that felt more natural, his joints less mechanical, and not for the first time the notion of physical activity baffled him - even with his education, even with him following each prompt exactly as stated, it wasn't right. Now it was - he supposed fighting was an art as much as it was a science, in that respect.
[break][break]
Nodding, he took a few experimental shuffles to the back, then forward. It made sense, but it wasn't something he'd have thought of; if he tangled his feet and tripped, he'd lose the engagement before he ever landed a blow.
[break][break]
He voiced as much to the other man, and added a query of his own, based on his limited brawling experience with one particular Leaguer: "How do you make the right decision, quickly? Dodging, standing firm, or trying to, say, trip them up? I've never felt less prepared than when this man was running at me with a hunting knife."

[attr="class","ooc"]

NOTES

• Super Training [M]

[break][break]Zev Harcourt

[attr="class","pkmn"]

[attr="class","credit"]

MADE BY GUNSMILE

close tab

played by

gunsmile

The Devourer

he / him

January 8

Lavender Town, Kanto

heterosexual

general of war

god general

6'3" / 190 cm height

Murderers are not monsters, they're men. And that's the most frightening thing about them.

awards

3,068 posts

DOLLARS

part of

TAG WITH @zev

POSTED ON Jul 8, 2024 10:50:29 GMT

[nospaces]

[attr="class","zev3"]

[attr="class","body"]

Zev watched Rhys' first attempts at footwork and nodded approvingly. The grunt's movements were awkward and slow, but it was clear he understood the basics and the concepts behind them. [break][break]

The Beast crossed his arms over his chest. "There's no magical formula. It all comes down to second nature, developed over countless hours of training and rounds of practice. What starts out unfamiliar becomes instinct." [break][break]

He gestured to Rhys' form, still arranged in the fighting stance. [break][break]

"This is just the beginning. But I'm going to design a training program for you, and if you can stick to it, you'll see massive improvement even in a few months' time. You won't be a weapon yet, but you'll have more confidence in your own capabilities." [break][break]

"That will translate into having a better idea of what to do when another man comes at you with a knife."

TAGS – Rhys Collins[break]
NOTES – mission

[attr="class","pkmn"]

[attr="class","credit"]