[hider=Dana][indent] [/indent][h3][color=LightSlateGray]Ardanata “Dana” Stamos[/color][/h3][hr][sup][i]France  ||  Headquarters  ||  May 14th, Afternoon[/i][/sup][indent] [/indent]
Professor Sycamore’s announcement that afternoon was a pleasant surprise for Dana. Not only was she given a reason to challenge her fellow trainers to matches, but she would also be offered a chance to see how much progress she was making with her team. The later tournament, on the other hand, would serve to set the gold standard for all trainers on earth, and Dana would be lying if she said she didn’t want to achieve that standard. Though it would be a tough climb, she’d done it once before, and she’d maintained her standard of excellence for nearly a decade between her three champion titles. Compared to what she’d accomplished in the past, the current challenge seemed doable enough, and Dana had never been one to back down from a challenge anyway. So, when the Professor’s assistants came around with papers and pens, Dana swept her eyes briefly over the text before signing her name at the bottom with rapid strokes.

But, before she did any actual challenging, Dana wanted to fit in one more afternoon of training—if only to self-assess her team. Seeing as she’d already worked with four of six members of her team, Dana figured that a visit to the Parisian parks was in order, since her Ivysaur’s Poison Powder would give it the upper hand against any Cherubi and Jigglypuff they came across. 

[i]Could squeeze in a match after dinner,[/i] Dana thought as she located a group heading towards the park. 

[indent] [/indent][hr][sup][i]France  ||  Park  ||  May 13th, Late Afternoon[/i][/sup][indent] [/indent]
It took no time at all to locate her first target, mainly because of the abundance of trainers around her, most of whom were new and could only take on the weaker wilds in the area. All Dana had to do was watch for wilds successfully fleeing towards the bushes and trees lining the park, since the ones that successfully defeated their challengers were obviously stronger than the ones too scared to emerge from their hiding places.

[color=LightSlateGray]“Ivysaur, Razor Leaf then Poison Powder,”[/color] Dana said when one Jigglypuff broke from the trainer that’d cornered it and sprinted for the bushes in Dana’s general direction. Her Ivysaur nodded, positioning itself to intercept the incoming Jigglypuff. 

[i]The Razor Leaf will stun it, allowing for Ivysaur to close in for a Poison Powder,[/i] Dana thought, glancing at her Ivysaur as she pulled out a Pokeball. [i]It should have no problem with accuracy, being the most used to its devolved form.[/i]
[h3] [/h3][hider=Notes][h3] [/h3][u]     Pokemon:          [/u]
[list][*]Duskull ♂ — Lvl 34
[*]Ivysaur* ♀ — Lvl 34
[*]Combusken ♂ — Lvl 34^
[*]Scizor ♂ — Lvl 34
[*]Marshtomp ♂ — Lvl 34^
[*]Clefable ♀ — Lvl 34
[/list][indent] [/indent][/hider] 
[indent] [/indent][/hider][hr][@Balthazar007] turned in Mr. Mime. Jigglypuff lvl 17, male. Dana will throw a Pokeball if she wins.
[indent] [/indent]
[indent] [/indent]
[hider=Camden][indent] [/indent][hr][h3][color=Khaki]Camden Montero[/color][/h3][hr][sup][i]France  ||  Paris Proper  ||  May 13, Dusk[/i][/sup][indent] [/indent]
[color=Khaki]“Ruby!”[/color] Camden shouted, ice-cold alarm coursing through his veins. His hands fumbled for the button on Ruby’s Pokeball, succeeding in summoning the arc of red light after some struggle.

[color=Khaki]“Hang in there, Ruby,”[/color] Camden said, his grip tight on Ruby’s Pokeball as he sprinted for the rendezvous spot. It wasn’t until he sat down on the van and—after one last fruitless examination of Ruby’s Pokeball—leaned back to touch his head against his seat that he realized how hard his heart was pounding.

[i]I signed up for this,[/i] Camden thought hollowly. [i]I knew that Gothita was stronger than Ruby.[/i]

Ruby’s Pokeball gleamed in the last slivers of sunlight, its flawless surface betraying nothing of the life inside.

[indent] [/indent][hr][sup][i]France  ||  Headquarters  ||  May 13th, Night[/i][/sup][indent] [/indent]
A whirl in the healing machine back at headquarters had Ruby fit as he was pre-Gothita, but he appeared quite hesitant about approaching Camden despite Camden’s peace offering of Chesto berries.

[color=Khaki]“Heya Ruby, you okay?”[/color] Camden asked, leaning down to scoop up the Cherubi before sitting down on one of the benches scattered through the camp. [color=Khaki]“It wasn’t too scary, was it? No emotional scars or anything?”[/color]

Ruby didn’t quite seem to understand all of what Camden had said, but, after a brief moment of consideration, he shook his head, his leaves flapping with the motion. 

[color=Khaki]“That’s good to hear,”[/color] Camden said, smiling gently. [color=Khaki]“Here, have some berries. You must be hungry after all that.”[/color]

Ruby glanced at the berries, hesitation clear, before looking up at Camden again. “Cher, Cheru?”

[i]A question?[/i] Camden thought, mind scrambling to decipher what his Pokemon had just said to him. What kind of question would Ruby ask?

[color=Khaki]“Definitely won’t happen again,”[/color] he said. [color=Khaki]“I’ll make sure we’re more prepared next time. Don’t know why I thought our Morning Sun routine would work.”[/color]

Ruby shook his head again. “Cher,” he repeated, enunciating his syllables. “Cher, Cherub.”

[i]He’s fine with my asking him to battle the Gothita?[/i] Camden thought, surprised. [i]But—what is he saying then?[/i]

[color=Khaki]“No more Gothita, for sure.”[/color]

A firm head shake.

[color=Khaki]“I won’t ask you to use Morning Sun near sunset?”[/color]

Another head shake.

[color=Khaki]“We won’t battle again until you want to?”[/color]

“Cher!” Ruby repeated, eyes imploring and wide as he stared at Camden. “Cher—u—bi!”

[color=Khaki]“I… I have no idea,”[/color] Camden said, a hand going up to push his hair back. [color=Khaki]“What are you asking? Is it about the Gothita?”[/color] Head shake. No. [color=Khaki]“My bad judgement?”[/color] No. [color=Khaki]“Me then? As a trainer?”[/color] No. [color=Khaki]“You?”[/color]

Ruby nodded vigorously. “Cher, Cher!”

[color=Khaki]“Okay, you. This question is about you… and the battle?”[/color] 

Ruby nodded. 

[color=Khaki]“About… your loss?”[/color] 

Ruby nodded again, then pointed at Camden emphatically with a leaf. “Cher,” he said, then pointed at himself. “Cher?”

[color=Khaki]“Am I… mad that you lost?”[/color] Camden guessed. 

Ruby nodded again, this time jumping a few times as well, but Camden’s hands stopped him.

[color=Khaki]“No, Ruby. I am definitely not mad that you lost,”[/color] he said, holding the Cherubi in his hands. [color=Khaki]“If anything, I’m mad at myself for thinking that you could win against the Gothita.”[/color]

“Cher!” Ruby cried, pointing to himself. “Cher, Cheru!”

[color=Khaki]“Not your fault we lost,”[/color] Camden said. [color=Khaki]“It was mine.”[/color]

“Cher!” Ruby repeated, pointing at himself again.

[color=Khaki]“Jeez, okay, it’s both our faults, alright?”[/color] Camden said, laughing. [color=Khaki]“Stop trying to blame it all on yourself.”[/color] 

A light bulb went off in Camden’s head, prompting a grin. 

[color=Khaki]“I get it—you have a modest disposition,”[/color] he said, pointing accusationally at the Cherubi, who seemed confused again. 

[color=Khaki]“Nevermind,”[/color] Camden said, grin still in place as he pushed his forgotten peace offering towards Ruby again. [color=Khaki]“Here, eat. You must be starving by now.”[/color]

Ruby, who looked much more relaxed now that his question had been answered, got to work inhaling the Chesto berries Camden had brought, clearly famished. The size of his mouth expanded to encompass the sizable berries, and Camden got a good look at wads of chewed berry between bites.

[i]I’ll save my lectures on closing your mouth while you eat for later,[/i] Camden thought, faintly amused. [i]For now, you get off for being flat-out amazing personality-wise.[/i]

[indent] [/indent][hr][sup][i]France  ||  Headquarters  ||  May 14th, Afternoon[/i][/sup][indent] [/indent]
Camden, though interested in the conversation occurring prior to the meeting’s start, declined to partake in the discussion, since guessing at imminent happenings seemed quite childish in his mind. So, when Professor Sycamore’s announcement came through, Camden didn’t hold back when he had a question, figuring he could cash out on the words he’d saved up. As such, by the time the Professor finally announced the small tournament, Camden reined himself in to two questions, feeling that any more would make him stand out among the question askers. He wanted to appear engaged, but not too engaged; committed, but not obnoxiously so; and when the meeting wrapped up to allow the Professor’s assistants to pass out the necessary forms, Camden made sure not to allow his absolute giddiness shine through as he signed and returned the form.

Though it wasn’t really a contest like the ones he wanted, it was nonetheless a competition, and Camden had a small competitive streak if he were being honest. Sure he could tell himself things like winning at monopoly didn’t matter, but when he won, it always felt infinitesimally better than when he lost. Okay, so he was a bit more competitive than was necessary to pull off the “cool and suave” image he wanted, but so what? Was having a competitive streak a bad thing? If anything, he had to make up for his overly modest Cherubi—fill Ruby’s ego as fast as the Cherubi emptied it. And what better way than to win a few battles against fellow trainers?

[i]Do I want to win, or do I want to improve?[/i] he mused to himself, looking around at his competition. [i]How about both? Now how to go about challenging someone…[/i]
[h3] [/h3][hider=Notes][h3] [/h3][u]     Pokemon:          [/u]
[list][*]Ruby // Cherubi ♂ — Lvl 10^: modest
[/list][indent] [/indent][/hider]
[indent] [/indent][/hider]