[color=ffe150][b][u]Toshi[/u][/b][/color]

Toshi was a bit late getting off the plane, not that he was in any rush despite the anticipation thrumming in his veins. He had spent most of the flight over thinking about what kind of trainer he actually wanted to be, with a lifetime of televised competitive battles to draw on as inspiration.

He wanted to be the best, but what did that actually mean? Looking at other champions, they tended to just use pokémon known for being incredibly strong with others that more or less balanced out the team's strengths and weaknesses, though the same could be said about plenty of competitors that never made it as far as they did. That isn't to say it's not a tried and true teambuilding strategy, or that many such competitors didn't do well, though to him, it did feel a bit samey when so many followed such a template so rigidly.

It was to be expected, he supposed. After all, most of the dark rapidash showstoppers never actually did as well in competitions due to a variety of factors, and the templates for the success that they did achieve was not as universally applicable.

One particular pokémon did stand out to him, however: Lightning the Linoone. It was the lead actor for a children's TV Show about pokémon superheroes, and the Linoone's Extreme Speed certainly gave credence to the idea that none could contest its speed, even if it was only in straight lines. The truly interesting part was that it also sometimes participated in the competitive scene, and wouldn't you know it, its speed is absolutely the real deal. The standard strategy it went for was to use Belly Drum, a traditionally very risky move due to the self-damage it inflicts, heal up by scarfing down a Mago Berry, which most pokémon tend to be more leery about the flavors of, then start dashing straight through any and all obstacles, opponents included. Barring a couple of inconsistent or less successful outliers, its demonstrated speed and striking force were regularly put at the tippy-top of the post-game stat sheets the analysts would put together, and it was a personal favorite of Toshi's among competitors.

He didn't exactly want to go cribbing the style of Lightning the Linoone and their trainer - he'd have to avoid ever picking up a Zigzagoon lest he end up not knowing what else to do with it, but the concept of Lightning in the competitive scene was certainly something he wanted to emulate. The strongest. The fastest. The toughest, perhaps, though that category was a bit too multifaceted to single any particular idea of achieving it out right now. There were a variety of less obvious '-est' things he could think of, and a variety of ways to achieve them. Although he'd never seen them in action, supposedly a Raichu over in Unova was the fastest known Extreme Speed user. Extreme Speed itself has some limitations that faster pokémon need not abide by, and the whole debate over which variant of Darmanitan was stronger after a belly drum was a hot button issue online, not to mention some vague mentions of an Ursaring evolution, whether a Marowak using a bone club as a weapon counts, and some Azumarill simps that frankly don't know what they're talking about.

...He's getting off-topic. Going back to Lightning the Linoone, there are ways other than belly drum to boost a pokémon's strength too, though they tend to take repeated uses, making them significantly slower and less practical. That's why, even if most pokémon are stronger than Lightning, Lightning almost always takes the top spot for strongest strikes.

Could he do better?

The plane finally arrived while he was still pondering the notion, and when it was finally his turn to make his way out, he was greeted with the sight of a massive crowd gathering around what he inferred from the screaming to be some celebrity. He almost completely ignored it when he heard the name Valarie and for a moment seriously considered joining in to get an autograph. She was a gym leader, after all, and the strongest of their teams were certainly no slouches. Still, he wasn't cut from the same cloth as a bunch of rabid fans, and quickly discarded the idea. It wasn't his style to join a crowd, much less ask anyone for their autographs. He'd be giving [i]her[/i] his autograph one day, he reassured himself, though the second glance did catch a sign for Camphor's lab just barely peeking out above the crowd.

Well, that was inconvenient. Seeing as how there didn't seem to be much ways around it, Toshi held his bag close and began to push his way through.

[color=ffe150]"Yo, sorry. Comin' through. Outta the way please. That wasn't actually a request, stop fuckin' loitering Arceus-dammit. And- yeah, thanks. Whew."[/color]

After a short but aggravating ordeal, he found himself standing before who he presumed to be professor Camphor's assistant, with an Impidimp standing on her shoulders, holding up the sign. He wasn't the only one there, though the email had implied there would be more than a couple of recruits picked up here. He decided to introduce himself for now, even if he'd have to do so again when everyone got here. [color=ffe150]"Yo, I'm Toshi. Nice to meet you."[/color] Turning to specifically face Camphor's assistant, he couldn't help but feel dissatisfied with the sign's height clearance. The height of Impidimp's platform and the length of their tiny little arms both seemed woefully ill-equipped for the task at hand, and if they were going to be waiting here until they were noticed, he might as well do what he can to make it more noticeable. He offered both the professor's assistant and her Impidimp one of his signature charming smiles and pointed at the sign Impidimp was holding. [color=ffe150]"Need a lift?"[/color]

Whether Impidimp wanted to hand the sign off and give their arms a rest or simply stand on his slightly less vertically-challenged shoulders, he would leave up to the little pokémon gremlin. He didn't really mind either way.

[@Savo]