[Gabe Alim]

Gabe had caught a tremendous amount of Pokemon lately, and with that came some new roles and responsibilities. While he delegated a lot of these to the Pokemon themselves, one thing he would not delegate would be their training. Specifically for a certain Ditto who now had a lot of Pokemon to copy in order to get up to date.

“Alright, Gum,” Gabe spoke causing the Ditto hidden as a ring on his finger to awaken. “We’re going to make sure you can copy everyone.” The Ditto yawned sleepily and hopped off retaking its form and stretching momentarily. Fishing out a few Pokeballs, Gabe released Lizbeth first. “Warm up,” he ordered. Lizbeth glanced from Gabe to Gum and then folded her arms in front of herself and smiled at Gum. The latter smiled back dumbly. “Transform.” A glow, and the Ditto took the form of the Charmander in front of it.

Gabe set a hand on his chin and walked around thoughtfully. Yeah, that looked right. Pointing away from the trees and foliage in the area, he spoke again. “Flamethrower, both of you.” Lizbeth took in a breath. Gum copied the motion, and a series of flames escaped high into the air. Gabe watched without a word judging Gum’s flames against Liz’s. Of course Liz was just more naturally powerful. She was both better trained in her own skin than it could be in its own, but for the most part, they were at least similar for this exercise.

“Now Thunder Punch,” Gabe started. “Focus on building the electricity and keeping it.” The Charmander immediately focused and formed a fist. The spark of electricity on her claw was a testament to her own training. While she was a Fire Type, she could and would learn Electrical moves. Anything to keep the Water Pokemon at bay. Gum hesitated a moment watching Lizbeth before looking down at its own claw. Closing it and focusing, the Ditto sure enough found its own claw sparking— not near as fluidly or readily as Liz, but good enough for this sort of thing.

They went down the list of moves making sure that Gum could copy all of Lizbeth’s to some degree or another. Once that was done, Gabe released Leo the Blastoise and had Gum copy that form as well. Now it would have Wartortle and Blastoise under its belt of transformations capable of going in and out of sizes then without a problem. It struggled somewhat with using an Aura Sphere in the same way it had struggled with Thunder Punch, but Gabe was patient enough. This was training, after all. The third then was Venusaur. Gum had copied Ivysaur before, but now it was time for the big guns. Venusaur was less than pleased to being roped into this sort of thing but allowed it for the sole fact that Gabe offered up a lot of promises for later that she supposed were worth her time now.

He had it copy Crowlie and Frosty again as practice and made sure everything there was up to standard as well. He really needed to evolve Crowlie, but he wanted to make sure he had everything he needed before evolving least there be something that they both missed out on. Why were evolutions by stone such a give and take for seemingly everything but Eevee?? Whatever.

Words: 565

[Gabe Alim]

After a couple of rounds of transformations, Gabe was sure that Gum had copied everyone and their moves to the best of its ability. Thereafter, he returned them all, went back into town, and pulled out several more Pokeballs. He released Bomb the Graveler, Queen the Tsareena, Clopper the Gogoat, Toothless the Pidgeot, and Wishes the Togekiss. They were… admittedly his less utilized Pokemon, and Gum hadn’t had a chance to copy some of their forms before, so this would be a good opportunity for everyone to get acquainted.

The first was Bomb the Graveler. He had been… Arceus he had been a catch in the best and worst ways possible. Gabe still remembered the absolute terror of walking down some rocky way and then stumbling across him. The Graveler had not taken kindly to the misstep and immediately started a Rock Slide in response. Gabe had just barely had time to release Roselle to Vine Whip the rocks away least he be crushed by them. The battle that had ensued had been rather one-sided due to Type advantage, at least until the Graveler had said ‘fuck it’ more or less and decided Self-Destruct was a reasonable response to a stressful situation. The ensuing result was a fainted Graveler, a fainted Ivysaur, and Gabe with entirely too many injuries to name. At the end, though, he had caught it.

Now… Now Bomb still wasn’t exactly the most friendly Pokemon, but he had relaxed some becoming vaguely chill to most things and happy enough to stay in his Pokeball in many cases. He made for a good bomb when absolutely necessary and a reasonable back up for stressful situations, but Gabe was still a little leery of him even now. But anyways—

“Gum, Transform….” Gabe ordered. The Ditto immediately shifted into the Alolan Graveler form stretching and relaxing again. “Both of you try a Rock Slide and then Thunder Punch,” Gabe ordered. Bomb did it faster for sure, but Gum was unexpectedly proficient by the Thunder Punch. If Gabe had to guess, perhaps it was already used to the move via Lizbeth. He couldn’t prove it, but still.

After that was Queen the Tsareena, and she was…. ready to show her stuff. Rather than show her physical moves right then, she stepped forward walking around as if she were on stage. Gum stared before slowly taking on her form and walking (or trying to walk) in a similar way. Gabe snickered softly before joining in, setting hands on his hips and following suit.

What probably should have stayed as a practice somehow fell into a small strut-stunt competition between Gabe, Gum, and Queen. The other Pokemon including Bomb were forced to be the onlookers to this entire thing (and were subsequently asked for their opinions after the fact). Bomb was… not that interested and kept making questionable hand gestures as his decision. Clopper was honestly a little anxious about this. She kept wanting to say something only to fall short and look down. It was too hard to judge her trainer and two of those she considered friends! They were all so good! (Even if she very much still believed Queen to be the most radiant of them). Toothless was much more embarrassed that everyone was so cute? How was everyone doing this so cute??? It was terrible, and he kept looking to and leaning on Wishes for support (who really didn’t appreciate any of this and would have preferred to get the competition or whatever over with without his presence).

“One two three four, one two three four, one two three four—” Gabe was walking one foot in front of the other, two steps forward, one step back, much more like dance than showmanship. Queen shook her head a bit at him clearly displeased with his work and then gave her own rendition which had five steps and a sharp turn. Gum watched both and copied both but ended up tripping over its own legs while doing so— which earned a sharp reprimand from Queen. If it was going to take on her form than it had to have a better stride and step than that. Gum muttered out a lame apology before starting up again. One two three four five??

It was in a moment of impulse that Gabe clasped Queen’s hands and fell into step. She was very much a long shorter than him and forced to look up, but… but she actually kind of liked being this close to them? Hm, she supposed a four-count step was fine. Gabe, meanwhile, chuckled as he stepped one way, the next. He really loved… dance. He loved dance so much. After that, he asked Gum to shift a bit bigger than Queen, and sure enough, it took on a Large form and was a much better dance partner thereafter. One, two, three, four. That was right. That was nice. A bright smile broke on Gabe’s features, and for a few seconds all his Pokemon there froze.

They were new. They had never seen their trainer with such a…. a genuine smile on his face, a look that he wasn’t a conniving asshole but actually a soft person somewhere under there. It was jarring, but… but maybe not as unwelcome as one might expect. Clopper loved it. She loved seeing those softer sides of her trainer poke through in one form or another. Toothless was.. a little jealous. He wished he could dance like that for his trainer (hm actually, maybe wings would be a reasonable substitute for arms?) Wishes was still mostly indifferent or at least pretended to be. It was hard to be sure that his trainer was genuine even in these moments, and maybe he’d just wait and see where it went before making any determination on the validity of it. Still, he’d be lying if he didn’t admit that smile was nice…

Ah uh… hm. Well, maybe after he worked more with Gum to get it to copy all these Pokemon, yes. That sounded like a plan.

1020 (+ 565 = 1585)
Seeking +1 Agility for dancing with Pokemon

[Gabe Alim]

Back to work then. Gabe had Gum copy Clopper next. The Ditto fluidly shifted from its Tsareena form to that of a Gogoat. Clopper blushed a little at being copied so well but was quick to recapture herself when it was clear that they were practicing. “Start with Synthesis,” Gabe had stated. The Gogoat was quick to close her eyes and feel the sun’s rays around her. It was a little cold out, but the light was what she needed. Gum watched for a moment before fluidly following the motion, closing its eyes and trying to focus as well. Both Gogoat and Impostergoat seemed to glow as they absorbed it in turn. Gabe smiled a little.

Queen hummed a little to herself. That wasn’t exactly dance worthy, but she supposed it was pretty enough with that hazy coloring. It was still Grass which was more than she could say for one stupid rockhead over there. She shot Bomb a look, and the Graveler blinked confusedly thereafter. What? What did he do? Shut up, Queenie. Toothless had started adjusting his feathers a bit restlessly. Everyone here was so beautiful and so vibrant, and all he had to show as black feathers and a somewhat large appearance. Did that even really count for anything? He glanced at Wishes who was now staring up at the sky indifferently.

From the corner of his eye, Gabe caught sight of the restless Pokemon. “Toothless, why don’t you fly around with Wishes, practice some aerial maneuvers since you look so bored,” he offered. Wishes huffed and immediately took flight. Toothless squeaked and flew after him. Where were they going? Aside from Up that was? Toothless had no idea, and from the way Wishes was flying, he realized he was pretty sure Wishes had no clue either. He was just flying in general, perhaps to get away from Gabe for a while or perhaps to just… stretch his wings.

Gabe watched from the corner of his eye before smiling and settling in on the Pokemon again. “Good, now both of you use Aerial Ace…” Gum watched Clopper first leap up and summon the aerial power before releasing it. Thereafter, Gum repeated the maneuver pretty well. They went on like that for a while. Queen occasionally commented to Bomb, and they seemed to at least form a stable ground while the two Flying Pokemon moved about. Gabe was pleased with the progress.

After a while, Gabe called Toothless back with a whistle. The Pidgeot really didn’t want to stop following Wishes but turned and sure enough flew back towards Gabe again. The instructions were the same as always: Gum transformed and then moves were performed. This time, however, Gabe instructed Gum to fly up with Toothless, and the Ditto seemed hesitant. “Don’t worry, you have wings now…” Gabe chuckled, but that didn’t entirely soothe the Ditto. Still, if Gabe was sure, Gabe was sure. With a powerful stroke of wings, the Ditto managed to make it up in the air.

Toothless blushed as he realized how he must look when flying— not entirely sure if he was embarrassed or just …. What now. At least his dark plumage seemed to hide most of this (or Gabe and the other Pokemon got really good at actively ignoring it). It was…. it was nice, though, to see how he moved and how he flew— like a mirror almost. It gave him a stronger sense of… everything, perhaps. Yes, he liked that… a lot.

After having instructed the Pokemon to fly, Gabe had settled down with the land Pokemon and slowly taken out a kit. Queen was curious to see just what he was doing with it and leaned over to watch. Bomb already knew what it was and swayed a bit. Clopper hesitated, feeling that this was sketchy somehow, before slowly leaning down and watching as well.

Click, clack, click, twist… Gabe worked methodically, his hands in synchronicity as he practiced. He’d bought a simple lock-picking kit recently and plenty of locks to try and hone some of his skills before… before the big day. He could train and practice with his Pokemon all day, but if he wasn’t up to par on top of that then was he really a decent thief? Hardly. Mumbling something softly to himself, Gabe twisted the lock around in his hands and then adjusted the pick a bit more. Clack… And the lock opened up this time. Gabe smiled a bit to himself. There we go…. Good to know at least one of these was easy. There were more to come, though.

Handing the lock over to Queen, Gabe smirked. “What do you think?” he asked. The Tsareen squinted not entirely sure of what she was supposed to do with this. It was not nearly as graceful or wonderful as dancing! A soft irritable trill escaped from her as she shoved it at the Graveler instead.

Bomb took it and was about to insert it directly into his mouth when the sounds of Gabe’s irritable noises has him stopping. “Don’t do that…” Gabe snatched the lock back. “These are for practice…” Bomb gave a shrug. He could always just blow shit up if absolutely necessary. Why bother with this? A soft sigh escaped from Gabe, and then slowly a laugh reverberated from him. “I suppose you that’s true…” Gabe answered the Graveler’s facial expression more than his words or otherwise. “But still.”

Words: 917 (+1585 = 2502)
Seeking +1 for Crime (or +2? Since Criminals earn crime at double the rate, but I'm not sure how that works in the TG)

[Gabe Alim]

After some flying practice as the Pidgeot, Gum the Ditto was instructed to copy Wishes the Togekiss and repeat the maneuvers. When that was done, it was on to copying the last all while Gabe worked and entertained the other Pokemon. After that, he recalled them all (save for Gum who took its position as a ring on his finger), walked to the center, returned them, and grabbed another set. This was taking longer than he had anticipated, but at that point, Gabe knew it was all but a requirement. Gum would never have the strength of a regular Pokemon, but it had more versatility than any Pokemon. That was what made it as a Ditto useful.

Coming back with still more Pokemon, Gabe released Candle the Litwick, Reptar the Charizard, Kitty the Litleo, Spirit the Marowak, and Ignis the Vulpix. Candle was… strangely happy to meet Gum. He seemed absolutely fascinated when the Ditto took on his form, and as both practiced moves in the same vein as before, he seemed absolutely starstruck by each little motion. Gabe was … more than a little excited to see those flame bursts shoot up into the air and light up the sky for a moment. He had the Fire team ready which would mean he would see more of that now for sure. Gum seemed a little hesitant on using Hex until it was directed at a tree instead and assured that nothing bad would actually happen. Candle laughed and teased Gum on that point for quite some time much to the latter’s frustration.

As he watched and instructed Gum to copy the other Pokemon as it had before and practice out one move after the other, he settled into practicing lockpicking again. Unfortunately for him, Kitty thought they were toys and immediately stole one of them before sprinting off. Gabe sputtered, shoved himself up, and immediately went after her. The Litleo wouldn’t stop playing keep away, though, and soon Ignis was roped into it as well.

Reptar and Spirit only sat back and watched— Reptar watching with a particular care as he was still kind of worried about Gabe in one form or another. He hadn’t said anything to Lizbeth and didn’t want to but…. but maybe he should. Spirit, meanwhile, was entirely too comfortable being this close and personal with a very hot gay Charizard who didn’t seem to realize he was a presence there? C’mon Rep, please? Please give him a chance??? Arceus, at least acknowledge he was there or something. Whatever.

After a while, Gabe instructed Gum to shift into Reptar and had them practice a few more aerial maneuvers while he watched from the ground. Gabe was… aware Rep wasn’t happy with him still but was still not even sure how to address it. It had been… borderline awkward between him and the Charizard after a particular series of events had played out. It was going to be fine, eventually, but until then it was …. Ugh.

Gabe would just refocus on doing his lock picking for now instead— and keep Kitty and Ignis preoccupied with something aside from the picks. Like Candle and Spirit— who were both not happy to be singled out but was unable to do anything about it. They vaguely played with the other fire types, Spirit using his fiery bone as a fetch stick for two easily amused Pokemon.

....Hm. This one wasn't working for whatever reason. Not that the pick wasn't right or the lock wasn't normal, but what should have been a pretty easy to intermediate test didn't seem to want to click open. Pausing a moment to flip the lock around and read the safety instructions on the back, he then registered why. This was one of those types with two mechanisms and had one of those longer often gold-plated keys attached. They were specifically designed to be office locks and weren't exactly good for initial practice. But. His stubborn ass was going to try it anyways. 

His gaze flicked up a couple of times just to watch Rep and Gum move about in the air. It helped they were graceful enough to stave whatever frustrations he had off. Otherwise it would have been a little more annoying than not. It's just practice, he reminded himself a couple of times. I probably won't even need it with Pokemon around.  Specifically with a heist coming up, having a Ghost Pokemon around would help tremendously once they were actually inside. The outside had those annoying alarms and Anti-Pokemon things, but inwards that was harder to justify to anyone. And it wasn't like they were going to trip the alarms and activate that stuff anyways. 

Ah, he was getting off track though. Gabe's eyes lowered again to what he had been working on only to find that while not thinking about it, he had solved it. One of those rubix cube conundrums now, though. How did he recreate that even? Pushing the lock closed again, he took in a slow breath and starting working again. Oh come on.... The lock hesitated. Come on come on come on.... Nope, it wasn't moving now. Gabe chewed the inner lining of his mouth and leaned over it a little more. Ah no, actually he needed better lighting for this. Lean back then. Ok but was that better even. Not like I even would have access to that sort of thing anyways when on the fly. Granted the purpose of practicing was to get good enough to do it and--

The subtle click of it unlocking again earned a sigh. So just not thinking about it was apparently going to be his best bet on these types of locks. Good to know, he guessed. A small, weird laugh came and went from Gabe. Oh well. 

Words: 1014 (+2502 = 3516)
Seeking +1 for Crime (or +2? Since Criminals earn crime at double the rate, but I'm not sure how that works in the TG)

[Gabe Alim]

After a while, Gabe would return all his Pokemon again and go exchange them out yet again. He cycled through Ignis, Pokey, and Ocea, Rogue, and Soul. He had the Ditto copy each of them down to the letter. Thereafter he did the same with Volt, Mesmar, Bane, Ifrit, and Hariette. It took a while for Gum to get used to Hariette specifically as she was… very different from the other Pokemon in a lot of ways. However, as she assured it would get the hang of things in time, it found new resolve and excitement in the prospects of getting better. It only had to copy exactly one Sceptile which was good considering Gabe chose the most mild of the ground with which to copy. That left a less than interested Shelgon, and then they were done.

It had been a long day. A very very very long day. Gabe hadn’t even intended for it to be that long, exactly, and now h ehad wished that he had split it up or something over time. He was exhausted. Gum was exhausted, but at the very least: it was done. At the very least they would only have to maintain from there on out, not constantly be updating for exact specifics. I’ll also know better to maintain next time… Right right yeah. Well, outside of that, it had bene good training. Gabe was pleased.

Words: 237 (+ 3516 = 3753) 
Notes: Seeking +1 Agility, +1 (or +2?) for Crime, and +1 (or 2?) for Crime.

[Ebblow]

Congratulations!

Your thread is complete and now locked.

Gabe Alim

Your thread has been locked. Because it was 3682 words, you receive 14 levels, 140 Pen, a Dive Ball, an Orange Apricorn, a Red Apricorn, an Ultra Ball, a Persim Berry, a Timer Ball, a Purple Apricorn, a Heal Ball, a Dusk Ball, a Luxury Ball and 6 Rare Candies.

You also successfully gained +1 Agility and +4 Crime for your training!