[FIN] Give It Some Thought

[Suudonym]

"That's… weird," he replied, frowning thoughtfully. "I mean, if everyone in this 'retiring stage' got together and tried seriously, wouldn't they still be able to learn something new? Since everyone trains differently…" There was so much involved with pokemon and training; the idea of reaching a peak and retiring seemed so ludicrous he had to doubt if he was understanding properly.  

[Blood_Goddess]

A grin spread over Ray's face, and she leaned forward, holding her hand up to him in a gesture for a high five.  

[Suudonym]

Well, apparently he was understanding it properly then. He moved reservedly to respond to the gesture - he really couldn't get used to this high five business. "I take it you disagree with the idea, then?"  

[Blood_Goddess]

"Damn right I do." she nodded, accepting the gesture with a grin and lowering her elbows on the table. "I mean, if that's when they want to give up, then fine, They wouldn't have what it takes to push on anyway. Heck, I hit that stage, I hit it hard, it takes a while to realize it, and usually some kind of depression follows. But you know what, if it means anything to you, you usually find a way."
She gestured with both hands "So no, I don't agree with this retirement bullshit."  

[Suudonym]

He nodded in agreement with the sentiment, "Sounds kind of ridiculous, just giving up like that." A thought, and he lowered his head slightly. "Well, though I guess I wouldn't know, since I haven't been at it all that long..." Of course retirement sounded silly to a novice.  

[Blood_Goddess]

"Yeah well, At that point a lot of people figure there isn't really much left for them to learn." She pointed out. "They've come so far, and they've accomplished so much and seem to understand so much, where is the challenge anymore? someday you might get to that point, and despite not wanting to give up, you might wonder the same thing. Where would you go from there?"  

[Suudonym]

"It's kind of hard to imagine," he said, thumbing absently at the corner of the notebook page. "The only reason I started working with pokemon was to fight back against Team Rocket, so even if it felt like I couldn't improve anymore, there'd still be a good reason to keep going." The idea invited a rough conclusion, "Seems like it just needs a clear goal, even if the goal is just something like… proving there's no such thing as an upper limit. I guess I can understand why someone would decide to give up if they were chasing something vague like 'be really good at battling.'"  

[Blood_Goddess]

"Ohhh" ray chimed, arching her eyebrow "That's actually a really good point. I forget you kids are in this for a much different reason then I was."
This drew a thoughtful expression over the half of Ray's face that was visible.
"Granted, just becasue I say that, don't lump me in with the rest of the trainers who do it for adventure. But with this Team Rocket being a threat..."

After a moment Ray tilted her head, keeping her eye on Luke closely "If you don't mind me asking kid, but do you think that being a part of the League would actually help you with that kind of goal?"  

[Suudonym]

That was a question that seemed like it should have a clear answer until he actually considered it. "Probably not much, I think?" he responded uncertainly. "I mean, the fact that the League is here is nice, since it means there are more people taking training seriously, but being a registered trainer or not doesn't have any affect my wanting to stop Team Rocket from hurting people."  

[Blood_Goddess]

She nodded, seeming to be impressed with the answer. "I'll be honest I'm interested in seeing how this fold out, at least while this lull is in place people seem to be rather optimistic, but I suspect we can expect a storm at some point."
She lifted a hand in a light shrug.
"No at all to be discouraging, but I have to wonder, once you consider both sides in this. The League has some very firm opinions in place on pokemon, how they should be treated, so far as to have a code of conduct in place for its training, to help with the fare treatment of pokemon. While Team Rocket... well we know they don't play by the rules, or this code of conduct. And never has."  

[Suudonym]

"Doesn't take a bunch of rules and regulations to know that what Team Rocket does is awful," he commented mildly. "I wonder where it is you draw the line - between fighting fire with fire and not sinking to the same level. I mean, I understand where the whole code of conduct thing comes from, but what are you supposed to do when you challenge a Rocket to a fair one-on-one and they answer by having their pokemon assault you?"  

[Blood_Goddess]

"I supposed in the end that would be up to the League." Ray replied with a shrug "We make our own choices, based on what we believe in, and what you will have to face that leans toward out of the ordinary for this 'sport', but I'm curious to see how much the league will change, and view their ideals based on what their trainers are going to have to go through."
She spoke with a slight sigh following after it her tone taking on such that she was almost talking down on a naive ideal that actually held power.

"They've always been so sure about everything, until something like this comes along, and then what? How could they judge someone who is put in a situation like you are, like your friends are."
Despite questions that she knew neither would be able to answer Ray put a smile on and shrugged again "I suppose we'll find out in due time, I'm interested to see."  

[Suudonym]

He frowned lightly, displeased with the thought of waiting for the League to decide how they were supposed to react when they were being threatened and attacked by people who didn't always care whether or not their victims lived. He remembered being distrustful when the League suddenly showed up to take over the fight, indignant about the idea of handing over the fight to them and walking away. Having a bad attitude about it wasn't going to help anything, though, and only time would tell the League's decision. "Yeah," he replied, "I suppose so."  

[Blood_Goddess]

"It would be easy enough to just keep doing what you need to do, but to go against an organization that you're registered with usually has consequences as well. And in all honesty it would be a number of resources that someone fighting a battle like this wouldn't want to lose. The Pokemon Center, being the largest of these, being able to buy certain trainers gear, as well as not being considered an outcast by thousands of powerful people and their pokemon." She paused "I say the last one loosely"

She watched Luke, tilting her head at his face. "I am old, and I have seen different battles then you face, if you have to adapt, then perhaps the League will as well."  

[Suudonym]

He nodded in understanding. "We're fighting for the same thing, after all," he said, "so it doesn't seem like we should end up in opposition. I guess we'll just have to see what happens…" He couldn't imagine the League, actively defying Team Rocket, making a call so out of line that he could lose faith in the organization altogether.