The Scolipede seemed like an absolute colossus in comparison to his tiny Aron, but that never slowed down Sven before. Though before he could even go in for an attack, the Scolipede managed to send the poor Aron flying. While Sven managed to catch the quadrupedal steel type, he could see that the pokemon was in no condition to keep fighting. He withdrew the pokemon and sent his Axew out for the attack.

"Use Iron Tail!"

The Axew was quick to make an attack, but it wasn't long until the Scolipede followed up with a Toxic and poisoned the dragon. Shit, this wasn't good! Despite the situation, the two perservered and the Axew attacked again to weaken the bug type. Once it seemed weak enough, Sven took a leap of faith and threw a pokeball to snag the bug. In the same turn, he withdrew his Axew. He'd have to get both it and his Aron to a pokemon center fast.

catching scolipede

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@solowild

With his Aron out to get some training in, he figured the Fiery Path was the best place. While steel types were weak against fire, the pokemon was lucky in the aspect it had a dual typing with rock. It was a hike but one he was happy to take. If it meant he got to explore the new region that he called home, then by all means. As he placed a hand on one of the ledges to scale up the path, he noticed a patch of hemlock growing just out of reach. What could something as poisonous as that be doing out here? Brows knit together but he pushed forward.

His Aron sat comfortably atop his head and kept itself balanced. Once Sven reached an area of decent footing, he pulled both himself and the Aron up and allowed the quadrupedal creature to jump down first, then soon joined it.

"Toro, we're going to make sure you're iron tough! Got it?"

Somehow it seemed the pokemon understood him and gave a nod. Sven was pleased to see that the two were in decent sync, to say the least!

solo wild: poison/fire spawn

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@solowild

"Use Fury Attack!"

Galahad, Sven's recently acquired Galarian Farfetch'd, swung its leek much like a sword and smashed away at the boulder before it. Before long, the stone crumbled and left mere pebbles in its wake. Once the dust cleared, Sven was left to stare at the Zangoose that had made its way further into the cave. A look of excitement plastered itself upon his face. A wild Zangoose?! Here?! The blonde took a step back and readied to order his Farfetch'd to charge.

That is until he saw the Zangoose's trainer approach.

The Farfetch'd came to an immediate halt upon Sven's orders. At least despite it being relatively new to his team, the pokemon was a quick learner. It soon returned to its trainer's side and in turn, Sven knelt down and gave it a firm pat on the head. Once he was done praising the Farfetch'd, he glanced up at the grey haired man and gave a rather enthusiastic wave. To say he was surprised to see another soul out here was the bare minimum, to say the least.

"Yo!" he greeted with a grin. "I'm surprised to see someone else as far out here! Getting some training in too? Galahad here and I are trying to perfect his strikes so we can get him into the Sirfetch'd I know he can be!"

The Farfetch'd to his side stood proud and raised one of its wings in a sort of salute. But the problem at hand was how he almost took the Zangoose on in battle. Sven couldn't help but flash an apologetic smile to the young man and speak once more.

"Sorry, I almost attempted to nab that big guy. But well, pleased to meet you! Name's Sven!"

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memphis evren

He'd been coasting along just fine in the game, more than pleased to be at least ahead of Saskia. Though the moment that she went and slapped the remote from his hand, it all went white. Sven didn't even know what was going on. In fact, for a solid moment there, it seemed he was trying to play the game without the remote, as if the phantom feeling of the remote still in his hand kept him mashing imaginary buttons. Though the moment he looked down and saw that indeed he was remoteless, he scrambled quick to the ground and grabbed the remote to try and gain at least some comeback.

Though comeback wasn't exactly what one could call it.

The screen flashed that he came in last place and his mouth dropped. He turned from the screen, to Saskia, back to the screen, and then back to Saskia once again. A look of offense was painted completely on his face as he shouted at the brunette in a manner that was admittedly unbecoming of such a relaxed young man. If it weren't for the fact she'd knocked his remote out of his hand, he could be called a sore loser from the way he reacted.

"Hey, rematch, you damned cheater!"

Once he chose to start up the game, it was his turn to try and play dirty. As he took the turns, Sven obnoxiously leaned over and bumped his shoulder against his ranger companion and attempted to throw off her groove of the game. This meant shoving his shoulder into her arm, at times he'd move his entire torso in an attempt to block her vision of the screen, all the while attempting to keep his own remote out of reach.

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saskia volosenkova

Axel's words were met with a shrug. Sure, energy drinks weren't good for people. But honestly, what was good for people nowadays? Just breathing the air outside was laced with carcinogens of all kinds. Sure, Sven had the downsides of chugging drinks like that, but they helped him out for the most part so he could stand the caffeine-induced panic attack that came and went.

"I get it, but really what isn't bad for you nowadays?" he insisted. "Though I appreciate the concern, really!"

Sven pulled a headband out of his pocket and stretched it out to place it over his head to keep his hair out of his face. After he did that, the blonde quickly moved to dusting above and around the woodwork. While he didn't put much fuss into his own living quarters, he did know how to clean quite well. Once he got the top part of the woodwork around the window, he hopped down from the windowsill and began to work his way down. The only thing that stopped him was the spritz of water his Oshawott spit in his face. It was the creature's way of telling him that his face was dirty. All he could do was give a laugh. He hadn't even realized that Axel and his pokemon were there hauling some of the boxes.

"I think a lot of it is due to the way folks get used to it. I haul around a lot of equipment myself so I'm kind of used to heavier things."

Sure, he didn't look like it, but he could lift a surprising amount for his slim stature. He even threw in a quick flex of his right arm to emphasize his words. Now that the woodwork was cleaned, all that Sven could think there was left to do was to maybe polish the attic floors a bit to really get the dust out.

"Speaking of which, if you want, I can hold those boxes if you guys can scrub under them. Want to make sure this place is in top tier quality!"

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absalom steel

The way Zain spoke so carefully felt so charismatic. But that was normal with psychologists it seemed. They couldn't really break past a patient's barriers without any sort of charisma to their words and actions. Once the tables were turned back on him, Sven didn't even notice. Instead, he fed right into the doctor's ploy and spoke up with a bounce in his step as he lead them forward.

"Well y'see, I've always had an interest in calamities and trying to find a way to reverse them. The biggest thing I want to really look into is avatarship -- not for myself, but its effect on others. I submitted applications in a few places, and it seemed like Dr Eva Morales was really interested in my application! To say I'm flattered is an understatement, I'm hoping I can help her out though."

Before he could continue his little ramble, Sven felt the impact of a wild Cyclizar that rammed right into him. Flat on the ground, it took him a moment to get up and dust himself off. Normally most people would be upset, but he seemed somehow elated to have a pokemon that wanted to take him head on. He was quick to throw out his Cranidos and let the creature battle in his place.

"I kinda want to know what made you so willing to help people, Zain! I'm sure you've got plenty on your plate as is, but what drove you into the field of psychology?"

He watched the battle between his Cranidos and the Cyclizar unfold, and it wasn't long until his Cranidos wore out the dragon. Sven was quick to toss a pokeball in an attempt to snag the dragon.

normal/psychic spawn

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@zain

As soon as the hand met his mouth, he seemed stunned. Had he said something wrong? Right, right, some celebrities appreciated privacy to any and all degrees. At her request, he gave a quick nod. As soon as Melody pulled her hand away, he was quick to wipe his mouth and breathe out a breath he didn't realize he'd held onto. But his first jump surprisingly didn't seem to be ecstatic about Melody's fame, but rather the Zoroark bodyguard she chose to have accompany her. His grin went from ear to ear as he eyed the perfectly disguised guard, none the wiser to its true nature.

"Hey, that's an impressive trick you've got there, buddy!" he beamed.

After he offered that to the bodyguard, he turned back to Melody and took a deep breath in. As promised, he didn't shout again. Instead, he kept his voice at a normal volume and addressed the pink haired idol accordingly.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to almost blow your cover. I just noticed you dropped that and felt it was only right to give it back," Sven spoke as he nodded, mostly to himself. "I've dabbled in music so I get how important demos and stuff can be."

In a sense, it's not like he wanted to draw attention to his own dabblings. And that seemed obvious the way he quickly held his hands up in a defensive fashion and stuttered about for something to say. While he wasn't shy to be in her presence, he was a little nervous to be talking about himself so carefree. Maybe it was due to the fact she was so high up in the league and he was just beginning to dip his toes into league affairs to some degree. As he spoke, he offered a gesture where he spun his fingers counter clockwise of one another as if a motion to signify a rewind.

"Sorry, sorry, let's rewind that. I'm Sven, pleased to meet you!"

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Melody Miro

It's not like he could outright lie and tell Josh that he had any sort of experience. All the blonde could do was shake his head no. It had actually been the first time he'd even managed to board a pokemon let alone ride it with such ease. A grin played upon his countenance as he blurted out the answer that came to mind.

"Nope! But really, it's just all a matter of instinct. You gotta trust the mount and the mount's gotta trust you, I guess."

But as Josh began to point out the varied sectors of his gym, Sven seemed intrigued. It seemed if he wanted a challenge with the gym, he'd have to acquire badges to some degree. But at the same time, he felt that starting off in Mauville was the perfect spot. He had some time to consider on what to do, given he hadn't quite buffed out his team, but he'd work on it. He mindlessly gave Alphamax a pat on the head as thanks for being so willing to follow him in the flight.

Josh had spent plenty of time talking about his gym, but there was one question that posed in Sven's mind heavily. It probably should have been the question he asked first, but it honestly slipped his mind. Once he had a moment of silence as not to interrupt Josh's explanation of the varied paths his gym's race tracks had to offer, the blonde finally spoke up and beared his question forthright.

"Y'know, I never bothered to ask. What made you want to become a gym leader anyway? I know the league has done some questionable things in the past, but people say it's all for the best. What made you trust them enough to become one of their figureheads in the gym challenges, I guess I want to ask?"

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Josh Devlin

As Sven tended to his gardens, the sight of a Skiploom caught his attention. The little grass type bounced happily as if it searched for food. How could he pass this up? The creature was admittedly so cute! Once he placed his wailmer pail down, Sven dusted himself off and carefully approached the wild Skiploom. He kept some pellets of pokemon food on him in case something like this were to happen. As he offered some out, the creature floated over to him and sniffed his hand.

"Hey little buddy, if you're looking for food, I can get you plenty. Think you wanna tag along with me?"

The Skiploom made a sound that could best be described as agreeable as it carefully began to eat from the palm of his hand. It wasn't long until he pulled out a pokeball and gently tapped it against the creature's head. After a few wiggles, the ball gave a satisfying click. It would be worthwhile to have a type that could fly on his team.

CATCHING SKIPLOOM

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shiv