Penny Saves Paldea | Pokemon Scarlet & Violet

Team Star's Code

"You sure you're okay, Ortega?" Giacomo asked for at least the fifth time. It seemed that Juliana's freakish growth spurt combined with Ortega's foot phasing through the Starmobile had seriously put the dark-type trainer on edge. 

"I already told you, I'm fine!" Ortega snapped. It wasn't the type of behavior Team Star bosses showed to each other. They were supposed to have higher standards.

Penny gazed at the gate where Juliana and Arven had just left. She wasn't looking at anything in particular, but when her thoughts were racing like this, it helped to keep her glaring focus on inanimate objects rather than people. 

"Juliana wasn't happy about that loss," she observed. "She's going to train hard to make up for it. And she'll definitely challenge Team Star again." Which meant even more stress for the bosses, knowing they could never really let their guard down. And Penny knew too well how fear could send standards flying out the window. 

"So we need to warn the other bosses to bolster their defenses," Ortega said. "Eri will probably be okay, but Atticus?" He rubbed his eyes with the cleanest part of his muddy sleeve and inhaled loudly through his teeth. "Ugh, we basically just sent the academy's most promising new student against him, didn't we? Maybe Eri can send him some reinforcements?"

He pulled out his phone, and Penny raised her hand. "Hold up. First, we should discuss the proposed adjustment to Team Star's code with them."

"Huh?" Ortega paused with his thumb over the screen. His eyes searched Penny's face in confusion. "What are you talking about? This isn't a time to debate over the code. He needs as much time to prepare as possible."

"Just wait a second!" Penny said, then covered her mouth, surprised at her own volume. "I mean, Giacomo worked really hard on this proposal," she said in a quieter tone. "And it's perfect for exactly this type of situation."

"I did what now?" Giacomo asked.

If Penny was the type of person who elbowed people to make them follow along, she might have taken a jab at Giacomo in that moment. Instead she locked eyes with him, mentally begging him to infer her meaning.

"O-oh. Yeah! I did!" Giacomo mockingly slapped himself in the forehead. "I called it the, um...Emergency Situation Addendum. Didn't I, B.B.?"

Penny nodded. "You did. And I thought it was especially insightful to add that part about how if a crew boss is forced to step down, the crew may remain assembled until they've concluded all necessary business."

"Riiight...and saving Paldea is very necessary," Giacomo added on.

"Extremely," Penny agreed. She turned to Ortega. "Of course, nothing Giacomo wrote is part of the actual code until we vote on it. So we need to get the bosses together as soon as possible."

Ortega rolled his eyes. "Eri and Atticus are never going to buy this. It sounds like we're a bunch of cowards trying to damage control before we lose."

"It doesn't matter what it sounds like. Mela's lost her status--"

"So have I," Giacomo pointed out.

"You're saying you personally battled Juliana and lost?" Penny said.

Giacomo scratched his head. "I mean, I didn't, no, but--"

"--then you haven't lost your status, have you?"

Giacomo appeared to debate over this, searching for a loophole. Juliana had run off before he could physically hand her his badge, but she'd devastated his base as much as she had Mela's. Surely he'd lost his boss status by some spirit of the definition.