Lyle still didn't feel prepared to be a Gym Leader, but he was trying to take everything one thing at a time. He'd looked over the Gym and living quarters, arranged for renovations, written up some rules for living in the Gym, and challenging it, and hired two gym trainers. But he wanted at least one more, so that challengers had some choice in who they fought. Picking the first two were easy; the other participants in the Gym Leader tournament were the first to be asked, and then his siblings. But then he was out of people to ask. He could have asked friends from school, but he wasn't sure who of them would make good gym trainers. He'd probably have to interview them all, and at that point he may as well put out open applications to everyone.
Which is eventually what he'd did. He figured that he ought to give everyone the same chance he had, so any trainer in Zatao could apply. It was a little while before he got an application, though. Did people not want to work with him because he was just a kid, or were people just not interested? But finally applications started to arrive. Although Lyle was eager to fill the position, he had considered the first application carefully. The teenager had his own pokemon, which was a plus, but he was a Traveler and might be traveling unpredictably, which wasn't so good. Lyle didn't know what he was looking for, really. But he decided to interview the other trainer, because that's what Shina had done and it seemed like a good way to try and get a better idea of what the trainer was like, so he set up a time for it. And then went to the library to research interviews. Why did this feel so much like homework?
By the time the day of the interview arrived, Lyle figured he could at least pretend he knew what he was doing. He wrote up a bunch of questions and invited the trainer to meet him in the Gym's administration office. That had a wooden desk for the Gym Leader to sit at and work on things (which was a lot bigger than the desks at school, with drawers and little places for pencils and papers and whatever else), which a chair that could adjust to make Lyle sit taller, because the desk was a bit too high for him. Opposite the desk was a plainer chair for the other trainer to sit.
So as the time for the interview approached, Lyle sat at his desk reading over his questions one more time. Spinel was with him of course, but sitting on the desk beside him instead of on his head. Lyle wanted to at least try to look professional, even if he didn't feel like it.
Posted: Wed Apr 29, 2015 10:02 am
The next morning, the Gastly awoke to his trainer constantly walking back and forth in the small two room apartment muttering to himself. All his life, he had never seen his trainer become this serious.
Kyle took the last shirt from his closet and placed it beside the five other outfits he had created since morning. He wanted to impress but also did not want to look too casual or too wealthy. "Okay... Jake. My outfits only goes so far. Should I go with this one? or no? " Holding onto the first outfit he placed it against his body for his buddy to see. Although, all that effort only ended up with the pokemon staring blankly back at him while replying with a simple sentence of "Gastly... GASTLY~~!"
The thought about having his own place to stay in without paying rent still lingered on his mind. And of course, medical coverage. There aren't so many places that would. He didn't even have it for his seasonal job.
Today, he was determined to impress without sounding too needy or too obvious about what is on his mind. Today, he will be Kyle Davis without much of a criminal record background compared to Justin D., his alias for TeamRocket, but the young innocent Gym Leader did not have to know about this at all. As long as the Gym Trainers positions are still available, he would do whatever it takes to snatch a position and keep it.
In the end, the young trainer decided to wear a white dress shirt with a grey zipper hoodie donned over it and a clean pair of black jeans. His shoes, well it didn't really matter since he highly doubted that anyone would look that far down. He already knew most of the time that the attention would be focused towards his facial features and height. After having put on his socks, he slipped into a comfortable pair of sneakers before heading out.
~~~
Some time has passed since Kyle left his apartment to get to the Katarina Gym on time for a life changing interview...
~~~
Already sitting in the waiting room, he let out a deep breath. His Gastly, was safely stored inside a Pokeball. The trainer did not mind having him roam freely but it seemed more professional this way to have a shrunken down ball in his pockets that can summon his buddy later, if requested. Kyle loosened up his black tie. He knew that the only bump in this interview is that the background check on him would always reveal that he was a bad delinquent during his educational days, but by now, he already figured out a way to work around it.
mewrose
super sorry for slowness. i had to make sure there were no spelling errors and awkward phrasing!
Lyle was looking over Kyle's application one more time when there was a knock on the office door, followed by one of the Gym staff poking her head in. There had already been a variety of staff hired on at the Gym before Lyle got there, people in charge of things like maintaining the place and managing the schedule of trainers who wanted to use the stadium for battles. One of those managing types had offered to act as a kind of secretary for the day.
"Your appointment is here, Mr. Cricket," she told him. Lyle tried not to grimace, and managed to keep it to a small frown. Being called "mister" was so weird, even worse than being called Gym Leader. And sitting behind a big desk in an office. And being asked to manage the staff of a big, important building. OK, now he was just making himself nervous. He took a deep breath, nodded at the young woman, and slid off his chair. Time to go meet the other trainer.
As he headed for the door, Spinel hopped of the desk onto his shoulder. Lyle had used some of his income to buy a new outfit, which he thought made him look more like a professional trainer, instead of a newbie kid. He'd made sure that the hat and shoulders of the jacket were reinforced with material sturdy enough to hold up to Spinel's claws, so the Sableye could keep his grip more easily. "Stay there," Lyle quietly told his pokemon, not wanting Spinel to climb around or make trouble. The Sableye grinned at him and answered "Eye-eye!"
That made Lyle smile as he entered the waiting room. There was only one person waiting there, so it was easy to figure out who was here to see him. Still smiling, Lyle walked up to the other trainer and held out his hand. "Hi, you must be Kyle. I'm Gym Leader Lyle, it's nice to meet you." He'd had to practice calling himself "Gym Leader" before he could do it without sounding weird.
FrostyPeaches
Posted: Wed Apr 29, 2015 1:43 pm
Kyle sat around and stretched his neck and loosened his stiff shoulders before anyone showed up to get him. So far the waiting didn't seem so bad. He already counted how many chairs there were in the waiting area along with how many doors it had. He had seen a fire exit near the washrooms which made this gym quite reliable.
The help desk near the entrance had been staffed with friendly workers. One of them even took her time to guide him all the way to this specific location before she said goodbye to head back to the front.
As soon as the door swung open, Kyle's eyes immediately focused on the person that walked out. This person was said to be the current Gym Leader of Katarina. He didn't hesitate to shake Lyle's hand and was surprised at how young and small he looked, like a child... Even his handshake was soft and delicate.
"Hey Lyle, I'm Kyle, one of your many applicants, I assume," he replied calmly before letting go of the boy's hand. He got up slowly, and gave a polite bow. The last thing he wanted is for the Gym Leader to feel small standing beside someone over six feet tall.
Lyle's outfit though, suited him. Kyle just stood there and smiled.
Lyle liked that Kyle was polite. He decided not to mention how many applications he may or may not have gotten. "Nice to meet you," he said instead. Spinel sat up on his shoulder and waved, prompting Lyle to point to the pokemon and add, "And this is Spinel."
"Sableye!" Spinel chirped in agreement.
Lyle gave his pokemon a fond smile, then said to Kyle, "Come on in to my office, and we can get this interview started." He held the door open for the other trainer, then went in and took a seat behind his desk. He had to subtly step on the footrest to get into the chair, and once seated his feet dangled off the ground. He was glad the desk had a panel across the front that hid his feet. While he waited for Kyle to take the chair in front of the desk, he tapped the desk's top and said, "Here, Spinel." His pokemon obediently climbed down his arm to resume his seat on the desk. Lyle patted his pokemon's head, silently thanking him for being well-behaved. Then he picked up the sheet of paper where he'd written his questions.
Once Kyle was settled, Lyle asked, "So to start with, tell me about any experience you have as a trainer. Remember that trainers of any experience level are eligible."
Posted: Sat Oct 31, 2015 1:03 pm
He noticed that the Sableye was sporting a shiny coat and sparkling eyes. This only means that this gym leader is a good person looking after his pokemon. He waved at Spinel and took a seat, legs crossed.
"To be honest, I did not get a lot of battle experience since I moved here. Perhaps if I got acquainted to this place, and study how my pokemon behave in battles, I could seek out and accept more from other trainers. If you want to know how I caught Ryuu, my poochyena, you may find it a bit abusive," he told Lyle with a half smile. "He was stealing food, probably tying to survive in the wild, since I could see his ribcage and matted fur, quite filthy too I may add, but he was lucky to run into me. I had my gastly attack him over and over until he was out of HP. Didn't want him to get away. Didn't let the pooch eat until he was caught first. Then I released him out of his pokeball where he ate all the food I had with me in my bag until he was bloated and content. After that, I bought him back to my apartment and gave him a long bath. He dirtied my floor a lot at fist, but over time, he knew that he could sleep wherever he wanted. After a month of interaction, he opened up to me only. So he pretty much doesn't listen to anyone else but me."
mewrose
and this is the interview / questionnaire i filled out from hiring thread. So if y111ou want, we could skip a couple of questions during the interview in Lyle's office.
Name: Kyle Davis What pokemon do you have?: A gastly companion who recently evolved to haunter, and a snappy poochyena What kind of relationship do you have with your pokemon?: We tolerate one another and it is one that is not common between tainers and pokemon What experience do you have as a trainer?: Not much. Ryuu is the first pokemon I have caught What are your goals as a trainer?: I would like to be an opponent to challengers that requires a rematch in order to beat me How often will you be available to accept gym challenges?: If I leave my number with you, we can arrange specific dates for me to show up at to accept gym challenges. I have a seasonal job ;D Gym assistants have basic needs provided for, but earn no salary, only whatever money a trainer normally wins in trainer battles. Is this acceptable to you?: This is completely fine with me Gym leaders and their assistants are sometimes called on to assist with emergency situations, such as aggressive wild pokemon, natural disasters, or major criminal activity. Are you willing and able to help protect Katarina in such situations?: Of course How soon would you be able to begin assisting at the gym?: As soon as I find out this month's schedule from my manager
Spinel grinned and waved back. He shifted, about to get up and see Kyle closer up, but Lyle glanced at him and he stopped. That's right, his boy wanted him to be quiet and stay put for now. So he settled back down.
Lyle patted Spinel again as he listened to Kyle's answer. "It sounds like you're taking good care of him now," Lyle said. "And I didn't have a lot of battle experience when I became a gym assistant at the Motterossa Gym, either. When I was hired, I only had Spinel."
He glanced down at the questions he'd written ahead of time. Kyle's answer had covered the first few, so..."What are your goals as a trainer?" he asked, picking the question he felt should be covered next.
Posted: Tue Nov 03, 2015 7:17 pm
Kyle smiled at the Spinel seeing that he is interested to know who he is. If you knew who I am, you wouldn't want to go near me little Sableye. His face became serious again as he fixed his gaze at Lyle and at the area behind him. However, he remained calm in his seat and decided not to try too hard toward getting the job. Not too shabby for an office I might say.
"Indeed," he replied. "I don't suggest any kids petting him though. His bites can draw blood." And there it was. He just heard the new gym leader mention that he didn't get a lot of experience either. "Oh?" was his response and he shifted in his seat.
"Jake was the 'mon my mom gave me, but that was a long time ago. I was maybe eight back then? maybe younger?" he couldn't really remember but he knew him and his gastly were inseparable. "I only caught Ryuu because he was weak at the time. If he didn't steal my lunch I would only have one pokemon for now," he laughed and heard Lyle's next question.
For a moment he was silent. His mind was only filled with the mission to infiltrate into the gym as a Rocket member. I want to steal all the strong pokemon! All of them! Muaahaha! He imagined all the shinies and the rare types being karted off in a giant sturdy van at lightning speed in the middle of the night...
Snapping back to reality, he cleared his throat and responded. "How to put this.. Hmm.." he went on before finally giving the little boy an answer. "My goal is to have many battles with my team and become a real strong opponent to challengers. To the point where they may need to go to the pokemon center to heal their pokemon and come back to the gym for a rematch in order to beat me. When that happens, I will know that my goal has been obtained."
He pretended to be looking right at Lyle, but honestly, he was watching the training battles happening through the window behind the gym leader. A Machoke could come in handy...
Lyle considered this answer. So basically he wanted to get stronger, right? A pretty common goal for pokemon trainers. But more than Lyle had had a year ago. He'd just wanted to battle for the fun of it, and maybe earn some money. So it seemed like a reasonable answer.
He looked down at his paper again for the next question. Come to think of it, should he be taking notes of the answers? Eh, he hadn't so far, it would be weird to start now. He'd just have to remember them. So let's see, next was..."How often will you be available to accept gym challenges?"
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