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Post by NPC on Mar 1, 2024 10:38:42 GMT -6
This is your own thread, your own room in the gym, where you can work on any of the stats you desire. No more than 2 in each, and no more than 5 total! Good luck!
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Post by Emery on Mar 4, 2024 11:05:35 GMT -6
Emery entered the gym with Moxie in tow, her cane clacking against the ground. She wasn't the best candidate for this- you could only call her physically fit in the context of a joke, and she sincerely hoped she could keep up with Moxie's energy. Moxie, to his credit, seemed thrilled to be here. He twitched his head around curiously, examining the high ceilings and the polished floors. He wasn't often allowed in human buildings due to his size and... exuberance, so this was all a brand new experience for him. Hopefully it wouldn't be a negative one, but Emery knew full well that gym training was especially tough. She stepped up to the front desk and quickly signed in, scribbling her name and Moxie's on the paper before he could mistake the moving pen for a small animal and try and grab it from her. She slapped it down on the paper again and tugged on his lead. Emery 1 Moxie 18.1/18.1 Stamina 1
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Post by Emery on Mar 4, 2024 12:10:10 GMT -6
His nails clicked against the concrete floor as they walked down the hallway, looking for a particular room. Emery wasn't quite sure what she was looking for yet. She knew she wanted Moxie to increase his stamina- but exactly how was up in the air. It was made especially difficult given that Emery didn't have a lot of stamina herself, so she would have to find something that Moxie could do without requiring much effort from her either- so running alongside him was right out. Still, she was sure she would find something. Quite a few of the rooms here were already occupied by other pet owners with their charges, no doubt training for the tournament as well. Emery made sure to avoid those rooms, both so their training wouldn't accidentally clash but also admittedly because Emery disliked making small talking with other people. She had more important things to focus on.
Emery 2 Moxie 18.2/18.2 Stamina 2
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Post by Emery on Mar 4, 2024 14:12:56 GMT -6
She kept passing by doorways, only glancing at the contents, until she finally found one that caught her eye. It looked like a pool room, normally reserved for much larger and more aquatic creatures. But it gave her an idea. She pulled Moxie in behind her and let the door swing shut behind them. The occasus kito immediately started sniffing the air- the water was normally kept without any major chemicals in it and even salty in some cases for the benefit of some creatures that needed it, but the smell of perfectly fresh water was no doubt refreshing to him. Emery was on the hunt for something more specific than fresh water however, and carefully eyed the pools as she passed by them. Most were deep- sometimes even deeper than a human could reasonably dive, leaving her almost unable to see the bottom. Those were presumably for the benefit of creatures such as pliathor.
Emery 3 Moxie 18.3/18.3 Stamina 3
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Post by Emery on Mar 4, 2024 14:30:57 GMT -6
Emery wasn't interested in those in the slightest. She did come to a stop in front of one that was more to her tastes however- a wading pool, presumably used for juvenile creatures so their owners could get in and splash around with them. On Emery, it would come up to about her hip. On Moxie, it would probably brush the bottom of his belly. Perfect. She didn't want to get in the water, of course. She had too many mechanical parts strapped to her body- cleaning and regreasing them to prevent rusting would be hell for her, so hopefully she could get this done without getting wet. "Moxie, get in." She said, tugging on the kito's lead. He resisted for a moment, and she could understand why. He was primarily a fire based creature- there was no doubt as to why he didn't like water, but it wouldn't kill him.
Emery 4 Moxie 18.4/18.4 Stamina 4
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Post by Emery on Mar 4, 2024 14:48:25 GMT -6
But she was the one with the leverage in this situation, so with a few short tugs he finally stepped into the water with an unhappy squeak. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a chunk of meat for him, and suddenly everything was ok. He was so easily bribed, she thought as he ate it out of her hand. He wasn't panicking however, which meant that she could get started on his training. Her idea was to lead him in a circle in the water at a slow, steady pace. Sure it would be easy at first, especially considering she wasn't trying to make him go very fast, but he would want to stop eventually- what creature wouldn't? But the goal was to them push him further and longer, to improve his ability to hold out over time as opposed to trying to make him faster or stronger.
Emery 5 Moxie 19.0/19.0 Stamina 5
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Post by Emery on Mar 4, 2024 14:54:55 GMT -6
With that in mind, she got started. At first, she dropped his lead, letting him walk around freely. "Moxie, follow." She said, and began walking away from him along the perimeter of the pool. With little coaxing he began to follow her, albeit at a pretty slow pace- it looked like he was fascinated by the water flowing around his feet. She supposed this was rather new and exciting for him- it wasn't like she had ever taken him to the lake, so he had likely never seen this much water in one place. Now that he knew it wasn't going to hurt him, it was interesting. Unfortunately, he'd probably be pretty sick of it by the end of their time here. For now though, it was a bit of fun for him while she led him around. The pool was circular in shape, so she was able to tell how many laps they had done pretty easily.
Emery 6 19.1/19.1 Stamina 6
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Post by Emery on Mar 5, 2024 11:09:40 GMT -6
She had dropped her bag where she first moved Moxie into the pool, so it acted as a marker for where she had started. She walked Moxie around with the command to follow her, and he performed it easily, though he wasn't sure why yet. When they passed that bag again, she tossed him a chunk of meat as a reward, intending to give him one for every loop they completed. After all, he'd need good motivation to train this hard. This first loop was easy though, and he was eager to get going again when Emery gave the command for him to follow once more. As he walked, she looked at his stance. He carried himself well for a kito- there was no misalignment of his feet or poor posture that she could recognize, so nothing she could really change to increase his efficiency when walking around like this.
Emery 7 19.2/19.2 Stamina 7
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Post by Emery on Mar 5, 2024 11:12:02 GMT -6
A shame- being able to fix his stance would have been a relatively easy way of increasing his stamina. Oh well. The second loop around passed just as easily, and Emery tossed him another chunk of meat. He got even more excited this time, and started running ahead to complete his next loop now that he got the picture. Emery quickly stamped on his leash however, stopping him short with a jerk. "Moxie, follow." She repeated, not wanting him to get ahead of himself- or her, for that matter. After all, this was not a training session focused on speed, sprinting, or getting as many goodies as quickly as possible. it was about learning to exert a constant amount of effort over time. She didn't need him blowing all his energy on rampant excitement now. Luckily, stepping on his leash seemed to do the trick and he soon returned to his slower pace at Emery's side.
Emery 8 19.3/19.3 Stamina 8
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Post by Emery on Mar 5, 2024 11:15:24 GMT -6
She could tell from the way his tail was twitching that he still wanted to go fast, but she had the feeling that that would be changing soon enough. Besides, he would get his food eventually- he just had to be patient. Sure enough, the moment they passed the bag again on the third loop, she threw another chunk of meat into his waiting maw. He chirped happily as he snapped it down, and Emery was very glad he was feeling cooperative today. Tournaments were competitions filled with very rough creatures- pliathor, seeker, drej. Some of them were known for their rather... sour dispositions, to put it lightly. She wasn't sure she could deal with a creature that was constantly trying to bite her, let alone one that was simply disinterested in anything she had to say. At the end of the day, she was grateful for how pliable Moxie was.
Emery 9 19.4/19.4 Stamina 9
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Post by Emery on Mar 5, 2024 11:18:18 GMT -6
Still, his general jubilance couldn't quite match getting tired. They went through a couple more loops, and she could tell that his initial enthusiasm was lagging. No longer did he have a spring in his step, and no longer was his tail twitching eagerly. While he wasn't panting by any means, she could tell his breathing was getting heavier, and the sloshing of water around his legs became louder and louder as it took more effort for him to drag his legs through the water. She did have a few tricks up her sleeve to help him along though. First, she picked up his leash and walked ahead of him, letting it grow gently taut. That seemed to make him perk up a bit- she couldn't actually pull him along or support even a fraction of his wait, but the placebo effect was powerful in convincing him to keep going now that Emery was 'helping'.
Emery 10 20.0/20.0 Stamina 10
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Post by Emery on Mar 5, 2024 11:26:00 GMT -6
That got Moxie through another few loops. In that time, a few people had poked their heads into the pool room they were training in, but Emery simply cranked the volume up on her vocalizer and stated "Occupied." As loud as she could. Moxie was an easily distracted creature, and even though these rooms were meant to contain multiple trainers and creatures at once, she refused to run the risk of him finding an excuse to get out of the pool and bother someone else. This was hard work after all- he was probably dying for an excuse to stop. But she wouldn't let him, leading him in circles again and again, being careful not to slip on the pool water that now soaked the ground beneath her feet. Moxie had sloshed it out of the pool a bit at a time on every loop, and now her boots splished quietly with every step.
Emery 1 20.1/20.1 Stamina 11
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Post by Emery on Mar 5, 2024 11:31:36 GMT -6
The leash trick only worked for so long, and soon Emery found the lead growing more and more tight as the occasus kito slowed. Emery wasn't a fast walker either, needing to swing her cane out ahead of every step. "Come on Moxie, you can do it." She said in an entirely unencouraging monotone. Damn her voice. Moxie didn't seem pepped up by it at all, so she knew she would have to change to a bigger prize. On their next loop, Emery tossed twice the amount of meat into his jaws than before. That seemed to get his attention, and even as she repeated the command to follow her and walked off again, he snuffled towards her hand again, looking for any extra goodies she might have for him. He hadn't stopped yet, so she felt the need to reward his hard work, and that meant extra food for him.
Emery 2 20.2/20.2 Stamina 12
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Post by Emery on Mar 5, 2024 11:33:52 GMT -6
Unfortunately, that was also the last trick she had up her sleeve, which meant that it would have to do to keep Moxie motivated through the end of this. She had blocked out about an hour and a half of training time. Hopefully that would be enough. She moved her hand up to reach into her coat before stopping, realizing something. Then, she grabbed a rag she had tucked into her pocket to wipe off the meat juices on her hand instead before tucking the rag away again. Then she reached into her coat, pulling out a stopwatch. They didn't have too much time left to walk- if Moxie could keep it up just a little bit longer, they'd be finished and he could go home. "Just a bit more, Moxie." She said, putting it away again. He didn't respond with even a chirp, his breathing now deep and exaggerated.
Emery 3 20.3/20.3 Stamina 13
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Post by Emery on Mar 5, 2024 11:43:11 GMT -6
She led him around a few more loops, but it was clear to Emery that her kito was exhausted. He huffed loudly, his eyes dim, his tail only held up because if he let it drop it would create further drag on the surface of the water. But if there was one thing Emery had going for her, it was her relentlessness. She kept giving him the command, kept her hand firmly on the leash, kept him going. She wouldn't stop and wouldn't let him stop either. She gave him more meat then before but it steadily stopped helping, even though his stomach was a bottomless pit. He'd accept the meat, but it didn't urge him forward like before, it was simply an obligation like everything else he was doing, which was a little concerning. "Moxie, follow me." She said again while he continued to slow, steadily reaching the end of his rope.
Emery 4 20.4/20.4 Stamina 14
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