div style="color: #2c3635; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;"emDear Diary, /em/div
div style="color: #2c3635; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" /div
div style="color: #2c3635; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;"emEight months and four days. That's how long I have been on this mountain. Eight long months of trudging over harsh, rugged terrain, and climbing up steep, rocky cliffs, one right after the other to the point where it became nearly second nature to me; anxiety producing, but second nature nonetheless- and four restless days. I remember the days leading up to my adventure- the fear that I had continued to allow to bubble up inside of me to the point where I already had felt weary and discouraged. The first day of my mission, if I remember correctly, I had just been standing at the foot of this beast of a land mass, already feeling sick to my stomach, and looking up, I noticed that the peak had been cloaked in a thick veil of dark, ominous storm clouds. It had already seemed as if the very thing I coveted: the top, was just as I had originally suspected it to be- simply unobtainable. I thought to myself: "why even bother?" but as soon as I had noticed Giovanni come into my rather blurry line of sight, and when he asked me whether or not I accepted the task at hand, I immediately accepted without hesitation, despite what I had been feeling. I knew quitting would simply not be an option, even though he had given me plenty of opportunities to do so. But when he had told me that I wasn't completely going up alone and unprepared, many of my fears were allayed-particularly when I had heard that my best friends and teammates, Jessie, James, and Meowth were the ones coming along for the ride. The first few feet we traveled, I immediately stumbled and fell. You could not imagine how many cuts and bruises I had received from climbing those rock mounds. But I kept going- I kept going and going and going. Then came the storms: the rain, the snow, and the hail. The howling winds and lightning and the thunder, and the countless earthquakes and rockslides. Getting to experience such things put the fear of Mother Nature in our hearts. The first rock slide we encountered /ememgave me one of the worst panic attacks I've ever experienced; James having to be my security blanket for the night after. Surrounding by falling boulders as the lightning fought against the rain as if Zapdos and Articuno themselves were fighting a battle to the death; and then winding up making the wrong move and being swallowed up by the storm, trapped under the rubble and sediment. It was terrifying. But my friends pulled me out and I lived. We all did. Somehow. As the old maxim goes: "what doesn't kill you makes you stronger", right? But I digress. /em/div
div style="color: #2c3635; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;"emDespite the near catastrophes I had miraculously lived through, there were points where I had forgotten that with every obstacle I conquered, I was closer to my goal than I thought. It was those times where I felt like I was going to give up the most; like it was the only escape from my seemingly never-ending suffering. But nonetheless, I still managed to hold onto a sliver of hope, and kept on fighting. That hope had come in the forms of my dearest companions. Every step of the way, and through every tempestuous storm and sleepless night, Jessie, James, and Meowth followed right behind me, preparing to catch me if I fell and pick me up when I stumbled, and provided me with plenty of love and moral support. They were continual reminders that I didn't have to fight alone, and they always made a decided effort to reaffirm that each day. And sometimes, they were the only thing keeping me from giving up too soon. And after eight months and four days of anxiety and pain, we finally reached the summit together, as a team. And with everything we've been through these past eight months and four days, getting to watch the sun finally rise above the clouds was worth every second of being on that mountain. It's positively breathtaking up here. This might have been the first mountain I had to climb, but it certainly won't be my last, especially now as my journey to become a top-ranking Team Rocket officer is now in its final phase. But with every mountain, no matter how steep, there is always a sunrise to look forward to in the end. I don't know how long, or hard, or tedious my next climb will be, and /ememI won't know until it comes time to climb that mountain. But for right now, I just know that with this under my belt, I can practically tackle anything, and that I can always count on my teammates for help. I'm just happy we made it through okay. I know they're really proud of me for this, /ememand I could not be more proud of them too. /em/div
div style="color: #2c3635; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;"em /em/div
div style="color: #2c3635; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;"em-Stephanie Delaluna /em/div
div style="color: #2c3635; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" /div
div style="color: #2c3635; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;"emEight months and four days. That's how long I have been on this mountain. Eight long months of trudging over harsh, rugged terrain, and climbing up steep, rocky cliffs, one right after the other to the point where it became nearly second nature to me; anxiety producing, but second nature nonetheless- and four restless days. I remember the days leading up to my adventure- the fear that I had continued to allow to bubble up inside of me to the point where I already had felt weary and discouraged. The first day of my mission, if I remember correctly, I had just been standing at the foot of this beast of a land mass, already feeling sick to my stomach, and looking up, I noticed that the peak had been cloaked in a thick veil of dark, ominous storm clouds. It had already seemed as if the very thing I coveted: the top, was just as I had originally suspected it to be- simply unobtainable. I thought to myself: "why even bother?" but as soon as I had noticed Giovanni come into my rather blurry line of sight, and when he asked me whether or not I accepted the task at hand, I immediately accepted without hesitation, despite what I had been feeling. I knew quitting would simply not be an option, even though he had given me plenty of opportunities to do so. But when he had told me that I wasn't completely going up alone and unprepared, many of my fears were allayed-particularly when I had heard that my best friends and teammates, Jessie, James, and Meowth were the ones coming along for the ride. The first few feet we traveled, I immediately stumbled and fell. You could not imagine how many cuts and bruises I had received from climbing those rock mounds. But I kept going- I kept going and going and going. Then came the storms: the rain, the snow, and the hail. The howling winds and lightning and the thunder, and the countless earthquakes and rockslides. Getting to experience such things put the fear of Mother Nature in our hearts. The first rock slide we encountered /ememgave me one of the worst panic attacks I've ever experienced; James having to be my security blanket for the night after. Surrounding by falling boulders as the lightning fought against the rain as if Zapdos and Articuno themselves were fighting a battle to the death; and then winding up making the wrong move and being swallowed up by the storm, trapped under the rubble and sediment. It was terrifying. But my friends pulled me out and I lived. We all did. Somehow. As the old maxim goes: "what doesn't kill you makes you stronger", right? But I digress. /em/div
div style="color: #2c3635; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;"emDespite the near catastrophes I had miraculously lived through, there were points where I had forgotten that with every obstacle I conquered, I was closer to my goal than I thought. It was those times where I felt like I was going to give up the most; like it was the only escape from my seemingly never-ending suffering. But nonetheless, I still managed to hold onto a sliver of hope, and kept on fighting. That hope had come in the forms of my dearest companions. Every step of the way, and through every tempestuous storm and sleepless night, Jessie, James, and Meowth followed right behind me, preparing to catch me if I fell and pick me up when I stumbled, and provided me with plenty of love and moral support. They were continual reminders that I didn't have to fight alone, and they always made a decided effort to reaffirm that each day. And sometimes, they were the only thing keeping me from giving up too soon. And after eight months and four days of anxiety and pain, we finally reached the summit together, as a team. And with everything we've been through these past eight months and four days, getting to watch the sun finally rise above the clouds was worth every second of being on that mountain. It's positively breathtaking up here. This might have been the first mountain I had to climb, but it certainly won't be my last, especially now as my journey to become a top-ranking Team Rocket officer is now in its final phase. But with every mountain, no matter how steep, there is always a sunrise to look forward to in the end. I don't know how long, or hard, or tedious my next climb will be, and /ememI won't know until it comes time to climb that mountain. But for right now, I just know that with this under my belt, I can practically tackle anything, and that I can always count on my teammates for help. I'm just happy we made it through okay. I know they're really proud of me for this, /ememand I could not be more proud of them too. /em/div
div style="color: #2c3635; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;"em /em/div
div style="color: #2c3635; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;"em-Stephanie Delaluna /em/div