Samantha caught the folder that was slid down the table at her by placing a hand over it before turning her attention back to Alex. As someone who had never paid much attention to what the league did during her travels she was interested to see if it did more than just battles and contests; not that there was anything wrong with either of those events, her own disinterest in contests aside, battling was her wheelhouse after all and she loved it. But Samantha had always enjoyed taking part in those eclectic little events that existed all around the world whether they were local traditions, festival games or something bigger; if taking part in the league meant missing out on those kinds of events then she was going to be sorely disappointed.

So it was that as Alex continued to hand out the assignments a small smirk slid into place on Samantha’s face when she heard that there were going to be both a strongman competition and a relay race in the very first event. In all honestly, she had always thought the league was just a place where the trainers with a little more flair got snapped up for sponsorship deals, and while that may still turn out to be true she was glad to hear that they at least took part in a diverse range of competitions; land races like that one she took part in in Kanto or a water race like that one Gym leader in the Orange Islands liked to do, and although she had never taken part in a strongman competition that only meant that the league held events that she had yet to experience.

When their team captain was done Sam finally flipped open the folder to see her opponent’s photo staring back at her. Alex wasn’t wrong when he called him ‘jacked’ and she had to admit that Cassius Frasier was a pretty cool sounding name but at the end of the day her opponent’s looks didn’t really make much of a difference; no matter how intimidating the guy might be he wasn’t the one she had to beat. It was his Pokémon she had to worry about and looking at this team? She was going to be fine.

From his muscles and scars Sam had expected Cassius to be the kind of guy who focused on strength, but instead his team was made up of Pokémon known for their bulk and their high defence. This was pretty much the antithesis of Samantha’s own battling style which would probably make for a pretty interesting match come the day she had to face this guy.

Scanning through his team again she compared it to her own, considering strengths, weaknesses and type match-ups before coming to a quick decision on which four Pokémon she would use for this battle and closed the folder. There was more information she had yet to read and Alex had mentioned something about tapes of previous battles, but this was likely to be the last time Sam looked at the folder or anything to do with her opponent until the day of the event. Battles were supposed to be fun, you weren’t supposed to overthink it and you definitely weren’t supposed to do homework for them. It was probably due to this attitude that Samantha had never won any of regional leagues she had taken part in. Not that this mattered much to her; Sam had always been someone who sought out experiences rather than accolades.

Leaning back in her chair and linking her hands behind her head Samantha looked across the table at the man who had just mentioned food. [color=f49ac2]“I could eat.”[/color]

[@CaptainSully]