Elaina was surprised that Shalin seemed to know quite a few players that were just like Elaina, but the more and more Elaina thought about it, it made sense. Shalin was definitely a pro when it came to playing this game, as well as the fact that she loved it a lot. “You know, that's actually probably better to do in the long run.” Elaina said, remembering what she had thought earlier, and from the sounds of the hit, Elaina’s assumption was correct. Elaina had stepped forward when Shalin had told her to go ahead and try out what she had just learned. Suffice it to say, Elaina was a bit worried, however, after watching Shalin giving it a go, and watching her movements carefully, she felt more at ease than before.

[break][break]

Just as Shalin was about to swipe her card, Shalin pointed something out, which drew in Elaina’s attention. One of the more modern practice areas had just opened up. “I think that's a perfect idea,” Elaina smiled. They both logged in on their own platforms. Elaina had decided that Shalin should do the song-picking. “Shalin knows a lot more about the game than I do, and if I remember correctly, every song in the game themselves factors in with difficulty. Knowing my luck, I’d pick a song that’d be impossible for me to do,” She thought to herself moments before they had gotten ready. Elaina nodded at Shalin when she had told her not to set her song speeds up to high before they actually started. Honestly, Elaina had no idea that one could even do that. She kept that in mind for future reference when the beginner’s division started.

[break][break]

As they were doing their practice run, Elaina managed to keep in mind of Shalin’s three tips while also watching her as they practiced together. Elaina had seen Shalin pull some pretty impressive movements, far more difficult than what she herself was doing. When they had finished, Elaina’s neck and forehead were dripping with sweat, her breathing a little heavy from all the dancing. “Ya know,” Elaina said, catching her breath a bit before continuing, “With the way you move, you’d also be great at martial arts. There’s a dojo in Lavaridge Town that I go to on the weekends. You should come by and give it a shot.” Elaina suggested to Shalin with a slightly worn-out smirk, as she continued breath heavily. “And I agree with you on that ending,” Elaina added. She definitely worked a bit harder than she normally did, especially putting Shalin’s tips into actual practice.

+
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+ Shalin Nariya

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

Once the two of them finished their shopping for new attire, they decided to go ahead and check out. As they waited in line, Josh explained to Elaina how the setup for each match generally started. “That's actually good to know when I start a match. Who knows, knowing this could also play in my favor a bit,” She thought to herself. As long as their opponent decide on saving any difficult songs that Elaina knew she couldn’t do, then honestly it’d be a breeze. However, she’d have to remember that she wouldn't have to rely on that feature for the duration of the tournament. After all, if she goes up higher in rank as the beginner division progresses, the difficulty of the songs will go up too. Needless to say though, she was grateful that Josh was there to support her.

[break][break]

She quickly paid for her clothes, along with Josh, then headed back toward the arcade area where the tournament was being held at. “Yep, you’re right. I should probably head to the lady’s room before the beginner’s division starts,” Elaina had said. When Josh said that he’d be watching her compete, she said to him before leaving for the lady’s room, “Thanks! You too,” she said smiling as she left for the restrooms hanging in the far corner.

+ I'll submit this for us! ^^

[break][break]

+ Josh Devlin

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

Elaina simply smiled when Josh had given her his thanks. Despite him being her Second-In-Command, Elaina felt that they were really great friends. What’s more, is that they had only met one another fairly recently. Something just told her that the two of them would make a really good team if they ever had an assignment together. She was glad that he was one of the very few people that she had met since her extended training ended. “Wait, really!?” Elaina said surprised, quickly pulling out her phone, and checking it herself, to see if Josh wasn’t just yanking her chain. However, when she saw her name there, she was shocked at how well she had actually done. “Wow, Shalin’s tips really had paid off. I’ll definitely do something in return for her one day,” Elaina thought, smiling as she stared back at her own results.

[break][break]

When the conversation had shifted towards the Icelands however, Elaina had seen the look on her face, which admittedly she had expected. Josh, despite his own reluctance, comes to tell her the reason why he never mentioned the Icelands when they had first met. Her eyes widened slightly as Josh pulled out the broken Absolite in his hand, then hardened back into a serious expression. She didn’t like the fact that she had essentially backed Josh into a corner like that. In fact, she would understand if he had told her to mind her own business. Despite his own feelings though towards what he had lost that day, along with numerous others, he still had decided to be open about it. This had told Elaina, despite the pain that he had felt when it was brought up, he was still able to trust in her.

[break][break]

Loss was something that cut deeper than any bladed weapon. Elaina knew this well. In fact, she too suffered from the loss of her own mother about a year ago. In fact, Elaina still suffers from the loss of her mother. There are still so many unanswered questions - about why and who would murder all of those people, including her? The scandal of the company she worked for involving Team Rocket. Her father, who knew more than she did, was withholding those answers from her, which resulted in them arguing, and her leaving for the Hoenn Region. That was another thing that she did not like. She didn’t like how things went down between her father, who was grieving the loss of his wife, alongside his daughter. As a means for her to make her own kind of amends, she decided that she would become a Ranger, and that was what she exactly did. She wanted to become something that her father would be proud of - what her mother would have been proud of.

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She wasn’t sure as to whether or not such accusations about her mother were true or not. In fact, she had denied them, and still does to this very day. Her mother was a kind and generous woman, and for her to believe that she was involved with a group of terrorists was outrageous… Wasn’t it? What was worse though, was that, since she had left home, she considered those answers now gone forever … and she accepted that.

[break][break]

Elaina had felt the need to apologize, however, before she could, Josh had changed the subject, seeing that he himself had turned the dull mood around once again. Elaina was shocked that after seeing how he felt about the conversation, was still able to change the mood with just a tip of a hat, so to speak. Elaina immediately softened, her reaction to how Josh changed the mood so quickly, made her smile, as if washing her surprise away immediately, making it seem as if she weren’t surprised, to begin with. She simply smiled at Josh and said, “It looks good on you. I like it.” Giving her friend a genuine assessment of how the purple hoodie looked on him.

+

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+ Josh Devlin

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

As Elaina hopped on Josh’s Togekiss, positioning herself comfortably on the pokemon, as well as making sure Mastema was also comfortable with her sitting on top of him. She smiled at Josh’s kind words, showing a form of modesty. “Oh, I wouldn’t go that far. But I do appreciate the compliment,” she said, smiling at her second-in-command. “I’d like that. If you aren’t busy later, send me an email and read it through,” she said. Elaina liked the thought of being able to do assignments with Josh. After all, she had not done any missions with any of the Rangers here yet, so it’d definitely be nice to do so. She considered all of the rangers here in Mauville to be her teammates already, not having done any actual work with them yet. She had grown to set this example from not only her father but her mother, which made things run smoothly with their job, in her opinion.

[break][break]

Before she had taken flight though, Josh said that he would demonstrate what a roll was, which was a really good idea. Any kind of hands-on learning experience was something Elaina liked a lot. It’d give her a general idea as to how to steer while in the air, which will make things easier, not only easier for her, but for Mastema as well. As josh ascended into the air; performing a left roll, Elaina put her right hand over her eyes, so that way the sunlight wouldn’t obscure most of what she needed to see. Elaina noticed that Josh was coaxing the left as well as his right rolls rather than forcing them, which was something that Elaina had naturally done while riding Blitz earlier. She also noticed that the movements Josh was making as he steered were more fluid than when riding on his Jolteon, which was also something that Elaina had kept in mind of as well.

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The same fluid motions were also more gentle when he had begun his pitch as well, while also noticing that it had given Ares the opportunity to flap its wings harder to maintain its own flight. “If I can all of that in mind while flying Mastema, I’m sure that it’ll be perfect for the both of us,” She thought to herself. What’s more, was that she had kept in mind that Togekiss’s aren’t regular fliers weather. They Levitate in the air, which makes them a lot faster than a flying pokemon that has to rely on the actual strength of their wings as Ares does.

[break][break]

Once Josh had descended back down to the ground with Ares, It was now her turn. “Alright, Mastema. Let's get going,” Elaina had said, and with that, the Mastema quickly ascended into the air, slightly faster than Ares did. This in turn made Elaina aware that she needed to perform a roll, while also imitating Josh’s movements that she had witnessed earlier. She could tell that Mastema had really wanted to use Extreme Speed badly, however, orders were orders, and didn’t want to upset his master. Instead, it complied with Elaina's swift, yet fluid movements in order for the Togekiss to steer properly.

[break][break]

As Elaina was up in the air, performing the simple tasks she saw Josh perform earlier, was breathtakingly amazing. It definitely reminded her of when she flew Queen Zing out in the Marshlands. After a good ten minutes of putting in the practice of her own, She and Mastema had finally descended back to the ground a short yet reasonable distance away from where Josh was. “That was a lot of fun,” Elaina had said to him, having yet another smile on her face. She quickly hopped off Mastema, thanking him and Josh both for the learning experience; sharing their knowledge before making her leave with the rest of the other students who participated in today’s class. "Don't forget to email me when you can!" she called to Josh as she walked away, waving them a 'goodbye'.

+ This seems like a good place to end ^^ you can make a quick exit and submit this to mod reqs! <3
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+ Josh Devlin

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

Elaina had come to realize just how dangerous the Hoenn Region was. Not only that, but it was also the second time that she felt completely helpless, unable to do anything at the moment to help. The first time she felt this way was when her mother died. Now, it pertained to her actual job. She was a ranger, which meant, ensuring the safety of the region's people as well as its pokemon - domesticated or wild. However, such a danger as this ... made Elaina's faith in herself and her capabilities quiver in despair. Elaina pondered for a moment, thinking of just how she would be able to help at this time.

[break][break]

I'm sorry," Elaina choked out slightly, her words faltering slightly. If it weren't for lack of knowledge, then maybe they'd find a solution right away. However, Elaina still knew better, knowing that her inferior intelligence wasn't to be blamed here. However, she still couldn't help but feel that her knowledge of Kyurem wasn't satisfactory in helping the professor. The people and the pokemon who suffered here when the Icy dragon's glaciate froze them, encasing them in ice eternal, only making Elaina feel all the more helpless. They were right there - right there!. Yet, she could do nothing but look on ...

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However, Elaina was still going to make sure that Illeana would be kept from harm. That was something that she could do, at least. She wondered though why this was never mentioned to her when she first started her job. Were they afraid of the newbie rangers resigning after knowing the truth? Whatever the case was, That didn't necessarily sit well with her. Not because they withheld information like this, but rather because no one had been out front with it, to begin with.

+ I hope this is good <3 after you reply you can submit this to mod reqs! <3
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+ illeana reyes

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

Elaina nodded to Izumi, as the Inteleon and the Primarina continued to control the flames from the outside. Elaina still made sure that everyone who stayed watching was far enough back for their own safety. "What I've read about them was fairly new as well, which surprised me as well. To be honest, I was surprised when I found him." she said, remembering the day she had first met the ghost monkey. She was out near Mauville Hills and had found him, just sitting there. He was very polite and gentle, despite his typical spouts of anger. She figured that he only got that way when he was battling, which somewhat made sense.

[break][break]

Meanwhile, inside the building, Ira and Sonya had just started to free the people from the trapped room. While some of the fire inside had been contained, there was still a good portion of flames. Sonya the Oshawott was seemingly near her limit as well, however, the tiny otter had eventually started to glow, evolving into a Dewott. Ira watched, slightly surprised by his companion's new appearance, however, it of course still recognized her all the same. Sonya, feeling recharged after evolving, started to use its Aqua jet once, using its stream of water to douse the source of the flames. It used the walls within the room as a means to have the stream flowing around it spread around the burning stove as well as the general area. Elaina had noticed that the flames from within were dying out rather quickly, getting Izumi's Attention as she saw what was going on.

[break][break]

Then within a few minutes later, Ira and Sonya, in her newly evolved state, came from out of the balcony, jumping down to the ground level in front of their trainer, with Ira holding onto the two civilians that were trapped inside. Elaina was needless to say surprised that Sonya evolved. She was also happy that Sonya had managed to pull through for them; being able to stop the flames from the inside with just her only water-type move. She returned Sonya and Ira both back to their pokeballs. "Both of you did very well, Rest up okay?" she said to them despite them already now in their pokeballs. Elaina then faced Izumi and said, "Well, it looks like we saved everyone that was inside, and stopped the fire," She paused, letting out a sigh of relief. "By any chance, would you wanna go grab a coffee together?" Elaina had asked, noticing that it wasn't even noon yet. Besides, having a nice cup of joe after an early start on the job was a great way to relax.

+ After you post again, go ahead and submit this to mod reqs! <3
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+ Izumi Yamamura

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

“That’s awesome, dude! Congrats,” Elaina had said when he told her about being pretty high up on the list. She knew that she herself wouldn’t make it that high up as far as the standings went, but that was okay. To her, being here was more so having fun; taking a breather from work. Despite being a recent addition to the Mauville Ranger headquarters, she had been given a lot of opportunities, working with a bunch of people whom she had just met. She had not taken on a mission with her own group yet, but she was certain that’d there would be plenty of time for her to get to know her fellow co-workers a bit more as she continued to fulfill her duties as a ranger.

[break][break]

Elaina smiled when Josh complimented her own looks, essentially giving a silent yet meaningful ‘thank you’ to her second-in-command. Elaina nodded when Josh said that he would now look for as well try on a new outfit. When josh mentioned the Kyurem incident, Elaina’s heart slightly sank, remembering what she had learned about the frozen icelands out near Oldale. That was when she met illeana reyes . In fact, she was the one who told her everything. “Hey, not to dull the mood or anything, but I’m kinda curious … why didn’t you tell me about the Icelands when we first met?” she had asked him, her face being slightly more serious than before. She was sure that Josh had his reasons for not telling her about it right away, however, she was just a tad curious why he never mentioned it. If she had known about it sooner, she felt that she could have helped in that area more. Sure, it was far away from Mauville, but Elaina didn’t really care about that. She remembered that area being pretty much uninhabitable, barren. It was even a miracle that there were wild pokemon still lingering in that area. Plus, not to mention the rifts and the frozen pokemon encased Kyurem’s ice.

+

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+ Josh Devlin

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

“Not really,” Elaina shrugged, trying to remember. However, nothing really came to mind in that aspect. “I guess in the heat of the moment I kind of just phased it out,” Elaina had admitted nonchalantly. To be honest, that's just how she always was. Whenever she was doing something hands-on oriented, she kind of tuned out everything and focuses on what she deemed really important and at the time, what she was focused on was making sure she was steering Blitz properly. And from what she could tell, Blitz seemed to enjoy having Elaina be their rider.

[break][break]

After that, Josh’s Togekiss had a very …. Peculiar staring contest with Elaina. It was then that the Togekiss appeared as if he wanted her to ride on him. However, despite the fact that Elaina wasn’t falling for its tricks, as well as having just been told about its tendencies from Josh himself, she still didn’t really have much of a choice in the matter. "I think this Togekiss will come to learn not all that innocent,” Elaina had said to herself mentally. She had fought, disarmed, and broken fully-grown men’s bones either because they touched in a bad way, or because they were bad themselves. In fact, a part of her kinda enjoyed inflicting pain on guys like that. It was a for-sure way to teach them a lesson they’ll never forget.

[break][break]

“Ah, okay. I think I understand now,” Elaina nodded while getting herself ready. “Also, I’ll take a ride on your Togekiss. Don’t wanna pry you away from your Charizard or anything,” Elaina had said, basically telling Josh, despite her lack of skills in flying, that was certain she would be able to handle herself just fine. Shalin’s Beedrill may not be as fast as a Togekiss, however, it was still fast enough, and since she had flown Queen Zing herself, she was certain that she’d be able to fly on Josh’s Togekiss.

+
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+ Josh Devlin

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

“I have, but I wasn’t very good at them,” Elaina had admitted, remembering the games she’d occasionally played on her phone when she was younger. Elaina also couldn’t help but agree with Shalin’s statement. Perhaps that was because Elaina wasn’t very good at the game. Normally, she’d rely on her fingers to play games like this, allowing her to score points more easily. This time though, she had to rely on her own two feet. “It's funny when you think about it. I’m good at martial arts which requires a good amount of bodily movement, but when it comes to dancing to the rhythm of a song, … the concept seems lost on me,” Elaina admitted while giving Shalin a nervous chuckle. She guessed dancing was vastly different from martial arts after all.

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Elaina proceeded to Follow Shalin over to the practice cabinets. Shalin wasted no time in demonstrating to Elaina three important things. The first was that she should always do her best to alternate her feet. Elaina also noticed that there was some advanced tech on the chart, but since Shalin never said anything about it, she figured that more than likely wasn’t all that important in accordance with her own personal skill level. The second piece of advice Shalin had given Elaina was to not touch the center. Elaina also paid close attention to Shalin’s feet while being instructed to do so, and from what she saw, her feet never touched the center at all. Not even once. Elaina was really impressed with Shalin’s own footwork. “She’d make a really good martial artist with that footwork,” Elaina thought to herself for but a moment.

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That was when Shalin had given Elaina the final piece of advice, which was somewhat weird. She told her to not use the handlebar that would be behind her. Elaina was gonna ask why, but before she could Shalin had decided to explain without needing to be asked, stating that it would mess up her timing, which in all honesty made sense. The reason is that beginners like her get the assumption that using it would benefit them in some way, however, whenever they do, they think about it instead of just reacting to the situation, thus messing up their own timing. “I doubt I’ll ever make it to that point, but I get what you’re saying,” Elaina said, being truthful.

+
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+ Shalin Nariya

[attr="class","pokeclass"]