smash_logs | Dorm Log: the millionth revenge

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"Of course! That's what you're supposed to do when you're working toward a goal: work hard, and study hard!" proclaimed the gym leader. Over the course of their conversation, he had livened up notably even with the thoughts of death looming over his subconscious. He had already taken the time to consider what he would need to do to rectify his shortcomings even before his 'death' at Wheatley Laboratories, and he would do anything in his power to make himself grow.

So this would be his future instructor! "So what's your name?" he inquired, promptly pointing to himself. "Mine's Chili! I'm a gym leader of Striaton City in Unova."

What Byrne knew about gyms was that they were places to train. He knew little about the specifics of Pokemon, and while he was sure gyms were mentioned in their context, he figured it was the same thing as the gyms he knew: where people exercised and trained. So when this kid said he was a "gym leader," Byrne highly doubted it. He looked too weak.

"I doubt you're a gym leader," he said flatly, "Whatever that even is."

He never bothered to actually study Pokemon or any of the other species here. It never interested him. He figured a "gym leader" was one who owned a gym, who trained the hardest and earned the rights to leading it. Well, Byrne was sort of right. He just didn't know that it applied to Pokemon.

...What. What room did this guy have to judge him about such matters?! He so was a gym leader and the only person to say otherwise would be himself, whenever he decided to bow out gracefully from his position! (He was sure taking a break from being a gym leader soon would be in order, but it was statements like these that made him want to keep his job just to prove his point!)

"I am, too!!" he asserted, his face taking on a hue of red out of embarrassment and frustration. "Have you ever even been to Unova?! My brothers and I are the gym leaders of Striaton, and everyone knows it!! And heeeey, you probably don't even know what you're talking about, anyway!" He said so himself! Whatever that even is, he said! Well, that was what he was, Chili thought to himself. The nerve!

Edited 2012-07-18 02:34 (UTC)

"No, I've never been to Unova," he said flatly. But if he and his brothers led gyms, it sounded to Byrne like gyms were an important cultural thing in this Unova place.

"I'm assuming that to lead a gym you have to be strong, and adept in physical matters."

He looked back at the boy, evaluating him. No, he didn't look strong. He looked annoying and weak, but at least he had determination. That was better than nothing.

~~Shinon get out~~

Chili's defensiveness was rooted in the fact that he already felt inferior compared to his fellow gym leaders. To be challenged by someone who didn't even understand the purpose of a gym leader made him feel even more awkward. Apparently, he didn't look the part... His face stayed flushed, but it was mostly out of embarrassment.

"Gym leaders are strong!" he clarified. "We protect our city with our Pokémon, and set an example for aspiring trainers below us! We're also supposed to provide a challenge for those who want to advance in the league, so we decide who's worthy to move on!"

"Ah, it's a Pokemon thing," he responded, finally getting what it stood for. Pokemon trainers apparently had a team of Pokemon that battled one another, though Byrne knew so little about it. It sounded like a form of slavery to him, but apparently it was not.

"Fine, you may have strong Pokemon," he acknowledged, "But that's useless if you don't have your own strength. Pokemon will not help you in my class."

~~"Yeah look at my strong Pokémon!" sed Chili and Pansear came out and was a weak baby monkey "YEAH SO STROOOONG!!!!! how am i a gym leader"~~

He placed a hand on his hip. "I know that! My Pokémon are strong... but..." He was letting them down, he'd already decided. Chili knew he couldn't be a reliable trainer without matching the vitality of Pansear, and that was what he was here to study for.

"I want to be strong, like them! It's me who needs the work." Did that even make any sense? Chili wasn't sure. "What I mean is, I can't let my friends down anymore just because I wasn't fast enough, or strong enough, or smart enough..." He frequently let Pansear and Lillipup down for not having faith in their combination as a team, and he let Cress down by mistrusting him and... getting himself killed. "...And I don't want to be the one that falls behind! That can get you k-killed." He stuttered. Chili didn't often stutter, and even he noticed the trip in his words. It left a bad taste in his mouth.

Normally Byrne would have shrugged off those words, but today that last phrase hit a nerve in him. Fall behind and you get killed... If Byrne hadn't let himself get captured somehow, if he had paid more attention... He had grown too cocky, it seemed, and whatever had happened in that laboratory was obviously attempting to teach him a lesson.

"Indeed it can," he said. "And overconfidence can get you killed as well."

And Byrne knew that he suffered from overconfidence, letting it get the best of him multiple times. He was lucky he survived this long, but once he got into the rush of his own power, it was difficult not to feel secure in his abilities.

"Your Pokemon won't always be there to protect you," he stated darkly. As a lone wolf, Byrne never fought amongst companions, never relied on others to defend him. It was a skill worth having.

Overconfidence, too, was something he felt might have contributed to his own death. He'd been challenging the situation as if it were a mere game, engaging in petty sibling rivalry over the matter when in reality, its consequences - the tests - weighed more than it seemed he could handle. He averted his gaze.

"Of course," Chili agreed. In the laboratory, he didn't have his Pokémon with him. He had Cress. They were usually so renowned for being in sync with each other, but even then, they messed up. "You're probably implying that I should learn to handle my own, even without anyone's help, and... I'm going to! Really!"

Byrne nodded. Whether or not the boy was serious was yet to be determined. But, he said his piece. Byrne didn't care one way or another whether this kid got himself killed, but he upheld what little moral responsibility he had by telling the kid how to improve himself.

"Yes, that's what I said. And that's what you should do."

Dorm Log: the millionth revenge

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