[PKMN FULL] Hoenn: Square One [IC]

QueenNothing · Jan 31, 2023

Junko "June" Enomoto ft. Jordie Hughes

Saturday, October 10th
Morning
Mauville City

"Entering the Hall of Fame will be no easy task" was planted deep into June's head by Mr. Yamaguchi, though with everything that happened between then and now, one could forgive her for forgetting. But witnessing trainer Jordie Hughes' probably impressive victory had reminded her that indeed, this wouldn't be easy. But it's nothing she can't overcome when she has four gym badges to her name… right?

June was kind of hoping actually seeing Jordie in person would give her a better idea of what their gender was, but even then she still didn't have a solid guess. As much as she doesn't want to, she might just need to ask them.

"Um, it's nice to meet you." June bows while greeting her opponent. "My name is Junko Enomoto, but call me June, please."

Her opponent waves their hand and forms a V with their fingers. "The name's Jordie, but just Jo is good."

"I see… also, apologies if I sound rude while asking but, um… are you a boy or are you a girl? I really haven't been able to tell… err, sorry to ask."

Jo raises their eyebrows and takes some time to come up with an answer. They chuckle at the girl for some reason, but then answer. "Neither. Don't worry about that. Just call me by they and them pronouns, ok?"

"Oh." June says wide-eyed. "I didn't know it was possible for humans to be neither. I mean, I know for some Pokemon and even for some bugs it is, namely Shedninja. I mean, given it is basically just a Ninjask's shed skin turned sentient it makes sense why it wouldn't be able to reproduce. Or, well, it actually is capable of producing offspring, believe it or not, though not with other bugs actually. Unlike Nincada and Ninjask, it's in the Mineral Egg Group. The way that works is that-" June blushes, realizing she had rambled about bugs in-front of a large audience. "I-I mean, let the best trainer win!"

Jo is looking away from her, shaking and covering their mouth with one hand while trying to hide their blushing face from June. When they finally calm down, they put on their sunglasses, probably to hide their tears, and still with a smile on their face they look back at her.

"Right, the battle," they say between laughs. "What format do you like?"

"Which format…?" She taps her lip. "I don't really have any strong preferences."

"Double Battle, then. Four Pokémon is okay with you? I like having variety."

"That sounds just fine." June nods. She knows from experience 4v4 double battles aren't the easiest format, but it's always good to challenge herself.

"It's settled, then. Give it your best shot!" Jo grins, picking two DuskBalls from their belt and tossing them into the battlefield. "Go! Gabby, Bane!"

Jo's first two Pokemon are Solosis and Lairon, two Pokemon June isn't particularly familiar with. With that in mind, she decides to lead with her safest pair.

"Einstein and Chip, come on out!"

From a first glance, Bane is undoubtedly the bigger immediate threat of the two. It works out for June then that he possesses a crippling weakness to fighting-type moves- once Chip is hit hard enough, Joe can come out and take him out. But for now-

"Einstein, Supersonic on Lairon! Chip, Aqua Jet towards him as well!"

After Einstein emits a sound wave in Bane's direction, Chip's body is engulfed in water and he skids forward, though rather than directly hitting him he instead circles Bane, making it appear as though he's trapped in the middle of a ring of water.

"A direct attack would've been more effective…" Jo mutters. "Bane, Protect!"

Bane lowers his head, partially curling himself into a ball, forming a barrier around him that protects him from the Wimpod's attack as well as the supersonic waves.

Jordie then looks at Gabby and nods at her, making a signal with one hand. The Solosis nods back.

"Bane, Curse!"

The Lairon lets out a small roar and stomps the ground with one of his front legs. His expression becomes more aggressive after that, but his movements are slower too, making him more vulnerable for another attack.

"Curse…" June says aloud, referencing her Pokedex. "Hm, increases physical strength and defense at the cost of speed, I see… Bane here seems to take on a more defensive role, so I might just need to focus all my efforts on him… In that case, Einstein, Confusion! Chip, Waterfall!"

Using his psychic abilities, Einstein grabs onto Bane and puts enough pressure on him to keep him in place while the water surrounding Chip increases and grows into the size of a small wave that crashes right into him.

Bane is slightly pushed backwards after being hit. Jo doesn't seem concerned in the slightest about Chip's attack, but instead they stare at Einstein for a second.

"Your Pokémon are fast."

"Oh… really?" Having her Pokemon complimented is a nice change of pace from her last battle. "Um, thanks! I put a lot of effort into raising them."

"Heh! Good to know. Speed is very important for battles, y'see?" her opponent adds. "Do you have anything for speed control, though?"

"Speed control? I… Hmm, I'm not sure I know what that means."

"I see." Jo grins at June and then looks back at Gabby who has been waiting in the same position she started the battle in, and nods at her. "Gabby, Trick Room."

Gabby closes her eyes and her green bubble starts to glow with psychic energy she had accumulated, which instantly covers the whole battlefield the moment it's unleashed.

"A word of advice: Don't leave the support alone," Jo says. "Bane, Take Down on Einstein."

The Lairon's movements suddenly become faster, as he charges directly at the Orbeetle, managing to leave the Wimpod behind.

"Wha- what just happened!?" June exclaims while Einstein hurls backwards, despite his efforts to dodge. Chip, who tried to chase after Bane, was still lagging behind, as his speed had somehow drastically decreased.

"Trick Room. I don't know the sciency specifics, but it seems to invert the speed of the Pokémon in the battlefield somehow. Bane became faster because he was slower," they explain. "With that said… Gabby, Hidden Power on Einstein!"

Gabby's bubble glows a bright green now. This time the energy transforms into a green ball that's directed towards the Orbeetle.

"Oh, that's actually quite fascinating- I mean no, Einstein, Ally Switch!"

Before the projectile is able to land, Einstein disappears in a flash and Chip appears in his place, leaving him open for the attack to hit. Chip screeches when hit and turns around, high-tailing it back to his Pokeball- though somehow his speed there isn't affected by Trick Room. Thanks to Chip's ability though, Joe is sent out onto the battlefield, and is as eager as ever to brawl.

"Heracross." Jo takes Bane's DuskBall from their belt and takes him back, switching it for another DuskBall. "Blaster, your turn!"

"Oh…" Right. Of course Jo would swap-out the Pokemon weak to Joe's attacks. She should have expected that, but because she didn't her strategy completely fell apart all from a simple swap-out.

"Blaster, Defense Curl! Gabby, Psyshock at Heracross!"

Gabby quickly shoots a beam of psychic energy Joe's way, while Blaster curls into a ball and a small shield starts forming around them as they spin in their place, slightly increasing speed. The Psyshock is painful for Joe but not enough to take him out, possibly due to Endure. He jumps up and down to rock the ground with Bulldoze, an attack which Einstein simply floats above while sending a Supersonic to Gabby.

Bulldoze might not be the most effective attack in terms of type-advantage right now, but it has excellent range, which is what I'll need for a double battle like this. Plus, it's also known to slow down targeted Pokemon, which is a helpful side-effect that-

Oh wait. Trick Room is in effect right now. That means I've only made Jo's Pokemon faster, doesn't it?

At Jo's command, Blaster picks up speed, still with the small shield formed around them. They bounce as they roll towards Einstein and despite the cracks and the small bumps created by Bulldoze, the Golett has no trouble reaching June's Orbeetle, as if he was being locked on.

Jo looks at Gabby, signaling her to calm down as she progressively floats closer to the ground, swinging and trying to shake off her confusion, but she fails to listen to her trainer and hits herself instead. At least that's one thing that went right for June.

"Gabby should be easy to target… Joe and Einstein, focus on her!"

Einstein nods while Joe just charges forward as soon as the word was given. Joe tries his absolute hardest to run as fast as he can, despite the fact he and Einstein move as if in slow motion. If anything, he looks like he's only getting slower the more effort he puts into it. That leaves them both vulnerable, which is why Einstein attempts to remedy this by rapid firing Struggle Bugs at Gabby, hoping to get in as much chip damage as he's capable of.

Jo immediately commands Blaster to use Rollout again on Einstein. They have reached the corner of the battlefield and take a sharp turn as they start rolling faster, circling past Joe and picking up more power and even leaving a trail behind. The bumps lift them quite a bit, but it's a small burst of energy blasting from their hands what gives them the impulse they need to reach Einstein. He tries to counter with Confusion, but the attack doesn't activate fast enough and is again sent hurtling back. June isn't terribly worried about him though, not when Orbeetle are as bulky as they are.

But what does worry her is her Heracross. Joe grunts, each step slower than the last. He can't seem to accept the fact that Trick Room is active, and it makes him increasingly frustrated. It shouldn't be taking him this long to just reach his opponent! So the impatient beetle decides to forego June's command and Bulldozes the ground again, desperate to get a hit in.

"Wh- Joe, what are you doing!?" June cries, though Joe just ignores her and continues to jump up and down to create quakes in the ground.

The attack makes Gabby come back to her senses at the expense of receiving a lot of damage, but the smirk in Jo's face show June that it doesn't worry them much.

"Gabby, Recover! Blaster, Astonish on Einstein!"

Blaster stands a few steps in front of Einstein, but with their legs still slightly flexed. They extend both arms and shoot their hands out to push the Orbeetle away. Meanwhile, Gabby hides behind the Golett, where she starts recovering some of her lost health.

"This isn't going well at all…" June frowns. Deciding Trick Room is too much for Joe to handle, she has him return to his Pokeball so Sting can take his place. She sighs in relief when noticing how Sting's movement speed is mostly unaltered, at least when compared to Joe and Einstein.

"Sting, shoot an Electroweb towards Gabby while Einstein uses Confusion on Blaster!"

As Einstein starts placing psychic pressure on the Golett, an Electroweb is shot from Sting's unrolled proboscis, aimed at Gabby as his trainer commanded. However, Jo has another trick up their sleeve, as they command Gabby to use Ally Switch. Sting's Electroweb lands and Blaster's arm, but it does nothing to them, whereas Einstein's Confusion doesn't affect Gabby too much.

"Gabby, Blaster! Final blow on Einstein, use Hidden Power and Astonish on him!"

Gabby shoots another green ball of energy at the Orbeetle, which is directly followed by another pair of Golett hands, perfectly aimed towards him, landing and taking him out.

"Einstein…" June says while returning him to his ball. "...you did your best out there."

With little other options available, Joe is out again where Einstein stood. He might not be a great option, but her only other alternative is Chip so… not much of a contest, really. All she can think to have him do is continuously shake the ground while Sting flaps his wings forward to use Silver Wing.

"Interesting choice, but why do you keep using Bulldoze?" Jo asks in a low voice.

"Huh? Oh, well I mean, it's the only attack my Heracross can really use when he moves too slow to really do anything else."

Jordie nods, but doesn't limit themselves to keep the talk going and turn to their own Pokémon instead. "Gabby, float closer to Sting and use Recover! Blaster, use Defense Curl, then Rollout on Joe!"

"Float closer? But what benefit does that serve them… it doesn't make any sense. Either way, Joe, Counter!"

Joe holds his fist back, preparing a powerful attack, and before he can be flattened by Blaster he delivers one heavy punch to reverse the momentum. Sting, meanwhile, takes advantage of how close Gabby is and lunges forward to go in for a Bug Bite.

Blaster bounces back after being hit by Joe's Counter. They didn't seem to get any damage, though, they just changed direction. Jo tells them to roll around their target to gain more speed, which they do. Gabby on the other hand had received a lot of damage from Sting's attack, and Jo smiles.

"Gabby, Endeavor! Blaster, go for another direct hit towards Joe!"

Gabby stares at the Beautifly, and a white energy bursts out of her bubble which gives back all the damage Gabby had taken so far. Blaster rolls away from Joe and then takes a sharp turn to charge at him directly on the front. When they are close enough to the Heracross, Jo shouts another command.

"Gabby, Ally Switch!"

All of a sudden, Blaster appears in front of Sting, striking him with full force as they slightly turn around to aim for Joe again. He plants his feet firmly into the ground, trying again with another, more forceful Counter to hit Blaster with, which sends them rolling back again, however, that leaves him open to being hit by another Psyshock from Gabby who is now in front of him. When Joe falls to his knees, June also notices Sting lying unconsciously on the dirt- three down now. And so all she's left with is Chip…

She instinctively reaches for Chip's Pokeball, but stops herself. There's no way a Wimpod alone would be able to defeat Jo's four remaining Pokemon, one of which June hasn't even seen yet. Maybe she'd have somewhat of a fighting chance if it weren't for Trick Room, but as it stands she's completely outmatched. Sending out Chip would just be putting him in unnecessary danger by pushing him to achieve something impossible.

It's not a decision she's proud to make, but perhaps now is a good time for her to swallow said pride.

June sighs before putting on a smile. "That was a good battle we had! As much as I'd like to see it through though, I think it's best for me to forfeit."

Jo smiles back at her and nods, taking both of their Pokémon to their respective DuskBalls, then they put their sunglasses on top of their head again. "Good game," they say and turn back at the spectators cheering their name, giving them a big smile before leaving.

"Wait!" June cries out to grab their attention, Jo stops and looks back at her. "Not to bother you, but I was wondering, umm… could I have your number? You seem like a very experienced Pokemon trainer, and I'd very much appreciate it if you would be able to impart some of your knowledge on me… if that's alright, of course."

"Uh, sure!" Jo turns around, and smiles at June. They approach her and turn on the screen of their watch. Both of them register each other's information in their devices, and with that, Jo waves at June and smiles at her. "I'll be seeing you, then, June!"

"Y-yes…" June mutters, cheeks flashing pink. "I'll see you soon as well, I suppose!"

🐞 June's Party 🐞

0
Debt remaining:

885,508

Spoiler:

QueenNothing · Feb 2, 2023

Junko "June" Enomoto

Saturday, October 10th
Noon
Mauville City

"Well, it looks like we should be headin' out right about now." Tetsuo announces as he carries his bad through the hotel lobby. "And I just wanted to let ya know again that you did real good out there on the battlefield."

"Heh, thanks…" June feigns a smile. Her visiting family members had finished packing their bags and were about to be on their way to return to their lives. Akira, however, was absent- allegedly she had something she needed to check on, though even June could figure out she just didn't want to show her face after last night's outburst.

"It's true." Giorgia nods. "You might have not won the battle, but you were the winner in our hearts."

June chuckles. "Thank you, really. I'm flattered you thought so highly of it. I just… I wish I could have better displayed what my bugs are capable of to such an audience."

"Joride was gonna be a hard battle for you as a beginner, no getting around that. But ya did your best out there, and I think you showed 'em bugs are more than weak little grubs, especially against Sora. This was only your first step towards that dream of yours, but with enough time and experience you'll be facin' off in Evergrande before you know it! And who knows. Maybe you'll even make it all the way up to the Hall of Fame." Tetsuo grins, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Plus, ya knew when to throw in the towel! I think your grandma would be proud of you for that."

June hadn't made the connection herself, but he raises a good point. In her final letter, June's grandma had shared how during her years as a gym leader she was rather infamous for how hard she pushed her Pokemon, even pushing some of them to their own grave. June, remembering her vow to learn from her grandmother's mistakes, smiles- not out of obligation, but out of pride.

"I'm sure she is smiling down on us right about now." June says, holding her pendant. "Even if she didn't want me to go down this path, she must be pleased to know I'm carving my own path instead of following in her own."

Tetsuo and Giorgia watch proudly, silently basking in the moment. But the silence doesn't last too long- not when a certain mountain of a woman steps through the sliding doors.

"Hey Giorgia! Trucks fixed now. Ready to go?"

"Oh- of course! Just-" Giorgia throws her arms around June and then Tetsuo, giving both of them a tight squeeze not expected from such a small woman, and rushes over back to her wife. "Farewell Junko, Tetsuo! Hope to see you both soon!"

"See ya Junko!" Akira waves. "Oh and uhh, Tetsuo-" She bites her lip, catching the attention of her little brother. She hesitates to continue, but does so anyway. "It might not mean much comin' from me, but I'm… sorry for all the hell I've given ya. I know what I did is gonna take more than an apology to earn your forgiveness, but… I just wanted ya to know that I shouldn'ta done that."

Tetsuo had been grabbing his arm and looking away throughout her apology. "Thanks." He utters. "I'm not quite sure I forgive ya yet, but… I appreciate it."

The whole sight is a little uncomfortable for June. Not because it's full of tension like last night, but rather because it's extremely awkward. So much so that she sighs in relief when Akira and Giorgia walk out the door and the atmosphere is expelled.

"Well… guess I should be headin' out now. For real this time." Tetsuo snickers, an action June mimics.

"It was nice to see you again! I really appreciate your encouragement, even if I did lose. But even if I did lose, I'll have plenty of opportunities to try again!"

"Yeah! That's the spirit, Junko!" Tetsuo flashes a thumbs up!

June nods. "It still is a bit of a shame though- I was kind of hoping the prize money would help pay off my debt."

"...I'm sorry, debt?"

Uh oh.

June can't believe she just let that slip. This isn't gonna be fun to explain.

🐞 June's Party 🐞

0
Debt remaining:

885,508

Spoiler:

Caesar · Feb 20, 2023

🌧️Tuesday, October 13th - Mauville (Morning)

Great, it's raining. Clint laid in his bed, listening to the raindrops hit the window to his room. He was going to leave the wretched city today no matter what, but maybe he should have checked the weather first. Not like he would have reversed his decision, Clint would still rather trek through the rain than be stuck in this Arceus forsaken place any longer. With that in mind, Clint got up, and awkwardly got himself ready to go, his limitations on his wrist making even simple tasks more difficult than they should be. He took the last shower he would be taking for the next few days, got himself a full breakfast, and got dressed, throwing on the old buckskin coat he got as a hand me down, still kept rain away better than most fancy synthetic materials. With everything packed and ready to go, Clint returned his room key to the Pokecenter staff, and made his way north.

Clint was clear of the city now, passing by the gaudy estates of the rich folks on the north end of town, including the Winstrate's compound where Clint had spent most of his weekend. The rain had not subsided at all, and looking off into the distance north it didn't look like he was going to get any reprieve anytime soon. As he stood there on top of a hill overlooking the city. He gave Mauville the middle finger, then turned around and continued north.

At least with the rain, the trails were nearly empty today, only occasionally coming across other humans, where a simply head nod would suffice instead of talking before each party went their own ways. Only the most dedicated, or in Clint's case the most stubborn were out trudging along in the weather. For the most part, only thing accompanying Clint along the way was the chirping of the Tailow in the trees.

The park itself was the most challenging hiking Clint had experienced in Hoenn, by quite a noticeable margin. While the other routes he was on were relatively flat, the Mount Chimney Park Reserve, as the signs called it, was full of changes in elevation, along with the vast swarths of forest he had to navigate through. At least the foliage assisted in keeping the rain off of him. Grass beats water I guess, Clint thought to himself, shrugging his shoulders as he did so.

Clint continued along for a little while longer until he could feel his legs start to get weaker, keeping an eye out for the perfect rest spot, somewhere dry being the ideal place. Easier said then done today, but Clint came across a rock overhang, by his estimate the rock had been eroding for a long time, providing a space big enough for Clint to sit under and rest his legs. He had climb a short distance to get to the overhang, more of a crawl up to the spot had eyed up, but enough that he had to use his arms the best he could. He could feel a quick shot of pain in his wrist anytime he used his left hand for support. He was able to muscle it out, and got under his shelter. He wasn't quite able to stand up inside, but close to it. He set his hat, jacket and backpack to the side, and flopped down onto the back wall of the overhang. This would be a good place to set up camp, if it were farther along the path. Only about a half a day done on a trail that was going to take him three full days at the very least, according to estimates he read about.

Hopefully the weather clears up at some point during that time, Clint was already sick of the rain. While he found himself a spot for some respite from the rain, he could still feel the humidity sticking to him. That and he could tell his gear was getting damp already, water-resistant was not quite the same as waterproof. He would have to suffer in the meantime, but with the volcano and desert to the north of him drying his gear out shouldn't be an issue.

After enjoying a short stint under the rock, its time for Clint to continue along the path. He wasn't thrilled about the subject, again the rain was enough to annoy him but he had to make up some more ground today. So with that in mind, Clint picked his gear back up and slowly made his way down from his perch, and back onto the main path.

The path took him to a wide open clearing, where there was no foliage to disrupt the rain, leaving him to face the showers head on. Clint continued up the hill in front of him, taking in the view of the meadow around the path, noticing how lush the grasses were, and keeping an eye on the Numel grazing away. As long as they didn't get riled up Clint should be fine passing through. The path took him to the top of the hill, above the trees. This gave him as good of a view of Mt.Chimney as one would get today, as well as the terrain that surrounds it. A sea of lush greenery, with the statuesque Mt.Chimney rising out of it and into the clouds. Clint took the sights in while he caught his breath. This would really be something else on a sunny day. Putting his canteen back in his backpack after taking a drink of water out of it, Clint continued along the trail, wondering what he'd see next.

Team & Inventory:

Spoiler:

Blaze|Brave| Moves: Ember|Dragon Breath|Bite|Smokescreen|Fire Fang|Slash

Overgrow|Sassy| Moves: Leaf-age|Detect|Quick Attack|Double Kick|Assurance|Bullet Seed

Water Absorb|Quiet| Moves: Hypnosis|Water Gun|Pound|Mud Shot

Synchronize|Gentle| Moves: Confusion|Double Team|Teleport|Growl|Draining Kiss
Inventory:

$26,000
2x Potions
1x Pokeballs
5x Iapapa Berries
10x Oran Berries
4x Normal Gem
Sceptilite
Gengarite
Thunder Stone
Water Stone
TM Protect
TM Bullet Seed
TM Rock Smash
TM Low Kick
TM Grass Knot
TR Sludge Bomb

Spoiler:

Spoiler:

Spoiler:

Aquacorde · May 18, 2023

Marie Rachelle Mocinno

Knuckle, Dell

₽33,000

Monday Oct 12, Evening

Mauville

Chapter 6 #12 - Calculated

This stage in Luca's process, more than anything else on Marie's journey so far, is teaching her how to put her oft-neglected PokéDex to practical use. Even if the method is so tedious it has her slumped over a Pokémon Center cafeteria table. Surely it's been hours since they escaped Audrey at the Contest Hall.

"Next?" Luca demands, daintily sliding her phone out of her loose grasp and handing it to Teddiursa to play with. It's only been about half an hour since they sat down, apparently.

Yeesh.

"Leaf Storm." Marie tabs open the associated page while Luca scribbles it down in his sketchbook. "Summons a storm of leaves. Some of these descriptions are so incredibly useful, aren't they?"

Luca whaps the back of her hand with his glittery gel pen. "Summarize the other notes, c'mon. And the details."

"Hard-hitting, less accurate than standard. Takes a lot of energy and drops its user's special attack. Lot of downsides." Marie sighs. "It seems like it usually likes to form tornadoes. That sounds neat."

"We'll think about it. A lot of high-powered attacks are just that, though: high powered attacks. There's not always much versatility in them. Next."

"Leech Seed- he knows that already."

Luca scribbles it anyway. "To see if it's something we can combo,' he clarifies. "Next."

"Light Screen. Counterpart to Reflect, which he already knows."

On and on it goes, slowly picking apart every possible technique an Alolan Exeggutor could possibly learn and then moving on to sets for a Stunfisk- Stunnie is allowed to join them for that, if only to charge Marie's PokéDex. Its built-in solar charger is no use when someone forgets to take it out of her bag, and the big windows looking out into the city have well lost their sunset tint. Instead, they look out upon artificial illumination- scrolling signs and pulsing safety lights and curtain-diffused living spaces, all speaking of a city still wide awake. Mauville hardly sleeps, as a whole, and there's proof even as close as the buzzing, bustling cafeteria. While even Slateport's Pokémon center had died down by nine, here was Mauville with half its tables filled at- oh, god, nearing eleven now. Marie's quite glad Luca has gotten lost in his notes at this point; even droning off more data seems beyond her foggy brain. It's not like she is a habitually early riser, but at a certain point of a few long nights…

Something slides into her palm, and her fingers automatically curl around her phone. "...the morning. Eight on your floor?"

Marie blinks. "What?"

Luca rolls his eyes. "Yes, that's exactly why. We are going to reconvene at eight o'clock tomorrow morning on your floor. Might be more peaceful without all these baby Coordinators making eyes at me."

She'd seen that, certainly, but her sluggishness is not conducive to figuring out why her floor would be a better environment. "Aren't there coordinators up there?"

"Do you- are you not on twenty-four?"

"Twenty-three, why?"

"Oh." Luca taps his cheek with the end of his pen. "Point stands, I suppose. It's like- it's not a rule, but Coordinators stay on twenty-two and battlers stay on twenty-four when they're in Mauville. Twenty-three's for locals and spillover and- newbies, I guess. It doesn't matter much."

Weird. Weird little nuances and tidbits that everyone apparently just knows. It irks her- maybe she will switch floors tomorrow.

No. Silly. Do it next time.

Luca stands and stretches, several things clicking audibly. "Oh! We can't sit this long tomorrow. It's bad for us." He scoops up the loose sheets of paper he's been using in a haphazard way, jostles a sleepy Teddiursa into action- "I can't carry you right now, c'mon-" and bids Marie good night.

Stunnie sends a buzz of electricity into her shoulder when she takes too long to follow Luca's lead.

⟡ ⟡ ⟡ ⟡ ⟡

"This is Lemon."

Lemon's gangly frame is a barely noticeable silhouette against the grey backdrop of Mauville's morning skyline. Marie waves vaguely and bites her tongue against the unfocused morning-thoughts of it's too early, is it raining?, and why is this person called Lemon? They're not shaped like one at all.

The being known as Lemon resolves into a more detailed human, though one mostly made of joints, as the rolling clouds finally overpower the rising sun and Marie drops onto the lobby's squeaky couches. They're really not much to look at. Without a word, they offer Marie a handful of equipment and scuttle off to an oversized chair some ways away.

"What is… any of this?" A case with a disc- a machine? And a little box thing?

"Did you bring your copy of Magical Leaf?" Luca presses. How unhelpful.

…perhaps somewhat helpful. The case holding Magical Leaf is green, as opposed to the new case's vibrant yellow, but they are certainly a similar product. And this machine- she's definitely seen it before, briefly. "Oh. This is for teaching moves?"

"Did you never look into using your machine?"

"I-" Once, maybe. Right after she acquired the thing from Merry, after refusing to admit to a gym leader that she didn't know something as basic as how to teach her Pokémon new moves. But it had been quickly overshadowed by more interesting experiences- Sunny and Edison and Sky Battles and arcade games- and really, Marie had forgotten the machine until Luca's demands to step up rang clear. "Not really."

Luca's disapproval radiates without words. His diligent studiousness feels somehow at odds with both the visual construct of adorable, chubby-cheeked charm he emits casually as well as the fleeting glimpses of high elegance Marie knows would flesh out his stage persona. If she was ever to be whipped into shape, she wouldn't have singled out Luca Sivoy as one to do so. Perhaps she would have thought Brendan Birch, a man with credentials to spare. Or Wally Greene- she'd already trained under him, after all. And Brawly had basically invited her to call him whenever, even if he might want her more as a babysitter than a student. Yet for all those kind offers, it is Luca's irritated resolve and high expectations that she finds herself bowing to.

Maybe a harsher tutor suits her better.

She is shown once how to use the reader and immediately forced to do so unassisted, Luca refusing to let her deny the opportunity to use Lemon's gifted machine right then and there. It teaches Stunnie a move called Magnet Rise, which Marie only barely remembers seeing in a Sky Battle or two, and she certainly approves of giving her weird little fish more maneuverability. And with the reader returned to the ever-silent Lemon, and the machines stowed in Marie's room, Luca leads her efficiently and confidently through a convoluted exchange of similar trams, eventually spilling out onto the quiet cliffs north of the city. Other people dot the muted landscape, some alone and some in pairs, but all are taking advantage of the sprawling, breeze-swept plateau to give themselves room to train. Even in the drizzling rain. Thank goodness for the yellow poncho Edison had been so kind as to provide.

Luca's observations are persistent as they meander away from the station, bubbling up from underneath the sparkly bubble umbrella he holds, and by the time they have found a suitable spot to settle into Marie's brain is crammed full of new knowledge- what different types of drills are for and what they look like, safe ways to physically interact with moves, that gauging a Pokémon's ability to pull off a move is not only possible but necessary knowledge, that Coordinators' practice doesn't look so different to a battler's training- "or shouldn't, because while a Coordinator's focus on refining the desired execution of a technique without regard to output of force is in theory at odds with the focus on sheer power that amateur battlers covet, any battler above an intermediate level will tell you that the key to strength is in fact the correct application of force and therefore-" Luca's tone takes an abrupt twist from lecture to irritation. "Oh. They know it."

Marie nearly gives herself whiplash in her haste to lock on to gossip, but what she sees isn't particularly interesting. Actually, on take two- she's seen the pair before, she's sure. The short one, that's the one she ordered a falconry glove from somewhere on Mauport. And the other, the big guy… no, she's not sure. "What do they know?"

"Were you listening?" Luca tsks. "Application of force. Application of technique. Mobility, especially, for the blond one. Don't fight the blond one yet. He outmaneuvered me in doubles! And he's not even Hoennian!"

"Neither are you?" Marie hasn't been able to place Luca's lilting accent. It's not from one of the major regions, that's certain. Luca dismisses this regardless, too busy pouting about the next slight against his ego.

"And the redhead! Shutting down near every move I made, and with flair-" the tirade continues in a mix of Ranseigo the language that must be Luca's native, the indignance flowing from every syllable transcending Marie's lack of understanding. She bites back a smile- even skilled professionals get caught up in emotion, it seems. Of course they do. How else would rivalries stand the test of time?

Marie's rivals don't particularly invoke that strength of emotion within her. Sunny is far more a friend now than anything. Competitor might be more apt for her than rival. Edison and Natsuko and Avril had been something like that from the beginning, of course. Who else has she met? Oh, that cowboy from the tournament- Clint. It's annoying that he beat her. But no, the person that really gets her irritated…

Eugh. It's Junko.

Is Junko her rival?

Preferably not.

Her attention snaps back to Luca with the snap of his manicured fingers. "Pokémon out, Marie."

Cutie stretches toward the cloud-covered sun and Stunnie pops up onto his tail to scrutinize the area. He's been more on alert lately, and Marie isn't sure what that means. She'll have to contemplate it later, though, because Luca's notes are out and he's tapping his glittery pen against them expectantly.

"Primarily what we will be working on today is implementation of newly learned skills, however, I do have recommendations for other focus areas and future movesets. Of the other techniques Cutie is already able to perform, both Dragon Hammer and Hypnosis need significant improvement; Dragon Hammer is slow and inaccurate, as it is completely obvious when he is winding up, and Hypnosis is highly limited if direct eye contact needs to be made. Both of these Pokémon are slow, Marie, and that needs to be mitigated in some way. Cutie is slow due mostly to his size, while Stunnie is slow due to immobility on land. We can alleviate pressure on the former by expanding his sets to take advantage of his natural psychic power- it's more latent, in the Alolan form, but able to be tapped into. Techniques that require less movement of the body and more command of energy are preferred, understand? I would add Light Screen to complement Reflect, and use it in a similar manner. Over time, when you are able to afford more machines, that is the preferred purchase- oh, and Power Whip as well."

A hazy recollection of Power Whip pulls a visual of vines, which Cutie certainly doesn't have, but Luca tuts her concerns away. "A tail works just fine- for Dragon Hammer as well. Training it for that will make Power Whip much easier to execute in the future."

"Now, Stunnie." The Stunfisk slides his narrow gaze toward Luca. "While Stunfisk are able to glide through the air, it is to a limited extent and reliant on a good jump to get started. Magnet Rise allows control of electromagnetic fields to hover and, to an extent, fly. However, the technique not being as innate at the ability Levitate means that it takes reasonable training to be able to maintain while performing. Users are also kept relatively low to any platform, which may seem limiting, but!" Luca flashes a grin. "Pair him with Cutie's Reflect Barriers and you widen your range. We always think of the team, don't we? And there's much you can do with both Muddy Water and Electroweb, individually and in combination, but Electroweb is another machine that we do not have at this moment and Muddy Water is not something we will be training into today."

Luca snaps his sketchbook shut. "Any questions?"

Marie's head is spinning, just a little bit, but she's pretty sure she has a handle on it. "No. Well. Yes. We are working on Magical Leaf and Magnet Rise, I understand, but, um. How?"

"How? How have you trained new moves so far?"

"Um…"

"Oh. Right, yes. You haven't." Marie bristles, but it's not as if Luca is wrong. "Machine moves are often more difficult to master than those a Pokémon can train specifically to unlock- for the latter, there is often an already existing foundation, and it is either power or refinement from that foundation which the new move is building on. For Stunnie to learn Magnet Rise- he has never controlled electricity more than aiming and firing, has he. Cutie, as well… has he manipulated anything? Has he even moved his barriers around after placing them? Shaped them at all?"

Marie has thus far been under the impression that this was not a possibility. And now she is under the impression that she is not nearly as creative as she has previously thought she was.

But Luca shows her how to be, how to think, with a sharp tongue and hasty, damp sketches and a demand for precision seen only in the truly dedicated. And they practise, practise, practise under the ever-darkening sky until a blinding flash and harsh crack send them dashing from another soaked training field.

luca sivoy - click for picrew maker

Spoiler: Team

Spoiler: Inventory

Spoiler: Contacts

Aquacorde · May 31, 2023

Marie Rachelle Mocinno

Knuckle, Dell

₽42,000

Tuesday Oct 13, Noonish

Mauville

Chapter 6 #13 - Confronted

"So, what, are you famous too?"

Marie clicks her tongue in annoyance as she drops herself onto a bench overlooking SkyPark's waterfall, today blending seamlessly with the heavy rain running down the building. It's not Luca's fault, what happened on the tram, but being mobbed by overeager young businesspeople will never be a highlight of her day.

"No." Mostly true, still, despite her mother's efforts. "My dad is, in certain circles. He'd prefer not to be famous. I'd prefer not to be. At least not right now, not for just being part of a 'corporate dynasty' or some such garbage."

Alton had taken his position as head of the Mocinno Corporation from his mother with his usual accommodating, resigned grace. What else could an only child do under the weighty glare of generations past? It doesn't matter that he enjoys surveying land more than people, that he prefers solitary, independent work over board meetings. It doesn't matter that he'd have loved a quiet life in the countryside with a caring partner and happy children. There was only one path laid out for him, from the moment his mother had chosen to never have another child.

Somehow it's taken until this moment for Marie to realize two things in quick succession: that Alton had made sure he raised his children to have a choice, and why he had separated from her mother.

That's a wild thing to figure out on a Tuesday morning.

"So you'd be fine with being famous for something else?" Luca asks, rescuing Marie from an impending spiral into analyzing her childhood.

"I suppose so. Anything that I've done on my own merit would be reasonable. I don't want people to know me or follow my progress simply due to my name."

"Then change it? I did."

Marie's strangled noise of shocked offense is drowned out by a heavy sigh and flat voice from behind their bench. "Irrelevant advice."

A well-toned arm catches Luca before he falls out of his seat. "Oh, hiiiii, Harper," the Coordinator fawns nervously. "What brings you into the city?"

"You are ignoring my calls."

Harper's solid build contrasts in an interesting way with the same soft face and grey eyes as Marie has come to associate with Luca. He's older than Luca, though, certainly, and not nearly as well-groomed. More like a Ranger than a person used to urban life, and perhaps that's the reason he looks so uncomfortable. She vaguely wonders how he made his way into SkyPark- he doesn't seem the type to have a membership.

"Yes, well, I have a perfectly good reason for doing so." Luca sniffs, and Marie could have seen that lie from a mile away. Harper raises a heavy eyebrow. "How did you even find me?"

Harper holds up a phone wrapped in what is possibly the thickest waterproof case Marie has ever seen. Certainly an outdoorsman, this guy. "Did you forget?"

Luca's sullen pout is quite different from the wide-eyed, trembling-lipped act he's put on before. "Grandma made me share my location so you could rescue me, not harass me."

Harper pinches the bridge of his nose for the length of a measured exhale. "I have rescued you enough times to warrant a favor."

"Fine," Luca huffs, "but I don't appreciate having time with my student interrupted!"

Harper gives Marie a long, measured look, then nods curtly. "His training is valuable. His advice may not be. He only changed his first name."

"It's relevant-!"

"It is not."

Harper moves away at an unhurried pace, and after a moment Luca scrambles to follow him, irritated jabs and huffy complaints bouncing off the stoic man all the way to the elevator.

Well, she'll have to take this cooking class alone, she supposes.

Ophelia la Cour is the embodiment of a master chef and so obviously Kalosian that Marie has to wonder if it's an act, but the woman herself is kind and forgiving of the inevitable mistakes a beginner baker makes. It's as easy to forget Madame la Cour is famous as it is easy to forget Alton is famous; one-on-one they are simply people. But once Marie's tray full of slightly wonky PokéPuffs are boxed up and the kitchen is open to other members once again, Marie finds herself edging away from the crowd swarming Madame la Cour and hightailing it to the staff locker room, drab and utilitarian but empty and quiet.

Does she want to be famous?

She considers this as the meticulously cinches a bandana over her braided hair and haphazardly ties an apron over her usual attire. Fame comes with a certain amount of social power, she supposes. But what use is that to her? Marie rather likes the amount of power she wields now. Does she need more than that? Does she need the scrutiny that comes with fame, the judgemental eyes of those who critique even devoid of context? Does she need her every misstep to be relentlessly circulated, her every word filtered through consciousnesses she had not tailored it for?

Marie shudders as she wheels her cleaning cart from the staff room. Fame sure seems an awful detriment to living.

luca sivoy - click for picrew maker

Spoiler: Team

Spoiler: Inventory

Spoiler: Contacts

Eleanor · Jun 5, 2023

Hikaru

18 - ✨ - Castelia City

Pokémon / Inventory:

HIKARU'S TEAM:
⚡ Rei (Tynamo), ♂
Levitate
Spark, Charge Beam, Tackle, Thunder Wave
⚡ Hoshi (Staryu)
Illuminate
Psywave, Rapid Spin, Water Gun, Camouflage, Confuse Ray, Harden
⚡ Aruku (Clobbopus), ♀
Technician
Rock Smash, Leer, Feint, Detect, Bind, Brick Break
⚡ Tsuga (Treecko), ♀
Overgrow
Mega Drain, Pursuit, Pound, Quick Attack, Quick Guard, Detect
⚡ Kansei (Klink)
Plus
Thunder Shock, Vice Grip, Charge, Gear Grind

HIKARU'S BADGES:
🥊 - 🧱

Tournament Debut

Friday, October 9^th - morning - Winstrate Tournament

Two of your Pokémon evolved already, that is…

A bad sign.

Hikaru spent most of the night with their hands in their hair, laying awake on the bed. All their practice, all their confidence, all their victories, all seemingly gone because of one person. The badges they eventually grabbed from their backpack to fidget with reminded them that no, their accomplishments were still valid, but that merely framed the situation as a perception problem.

Their debut at the Winstrate Tournament was going to be a difficult one.

Hikaru showed up stiff and nervous, with no blog entry or picture shared on their accounts for at least two days, and quickly agreed on the battle format with their opponent - a very standard 3 vs 3 single battle - while still finishing their second big cup of coffee for the day. They only changed their attitude when their Pokémon started to get out of their Pokéballs and into the field, but… even that felt a bit forced.

The good news? Aruku! the Clobbopus wouldn't notice that. She was just curiously approaching the Cacnea that Hikaru's opponent, a lanky boy named Oliver, just sent out, when the referee called the beginning of the round and she was promptly hit by a Sand Attack. The blue haired trainer was actually quite quick to call out a Feint, and that gave Aruku! enough agility to get up close and personal with Cacnea immediately - after which the fight turned into who could flail their arms the fastest, with the two Pokémon trading Needle Arm and Brick Break for a while. A very tired Aruku! eventually came out on top, but… what was there to say? Hikaru (more than anyone else) knew she could hit hard if she wanted to.

Oliver followed up with a Wingull, the easiest possible opponent for a Pokémon like Rei - Hikaru, knowing this, let Aruku! faint to a Wing Attack, preserving their switches for later just in case, and… oh, of course, their opponent grabbed a Pokéball as soon as he registered what was happening. Tynamo was going to face off against Sudowoodo now.

Let's rephrase that. Tynamo was totally going to face off against Sudowoodo, because of the Block that she used right away on the unsuspecting Electric-type. Aruku!'s KO was now pretty useless, but… Hikaru at least had a knack for being stubborn.

They seemed weirdly detached, however, when they instructed Rei to stay way above ground and fire down Charge Beams. Not that he really needed to hear that, he knew by now that it was an effective plan - but the delivery definitely threw him off too. Nonetheless, Rei gave it his all to charge himself up, while avoiding the various Rock Throws that came his way. Hikaru helped, of course, by suggesting where to stay and from which direction to attack, but this was mostly Rei.

The battle became longer and longer, due to Sudowoodo using Tearful Look to nullify every Special Attack boost that Rei would get, but still struggling to hit him for any meaningful damage from the distance. A familiar situation, surely… but, unfortunately for Hikaru, Rei was the one to faint first. A Rock Throw eventually connected, then another one… and Charge Beam was not doing enough in return.

Hikaru's hand instinctively reached for Tsuga's Pokéball, but… that was not the best choice, with a perfectly healthy Wingull to back up Oliver's Rock-type. Or was that fully evolved Sudowoodo the main issue here after all? They couldn't even look towards their opponent for this battle as they planned what to do next.

Eventually, Kansei the Klink was out, again without much encouragement from their trainer. Like Aruku! though, it seems like they didn't need much of it. All they really cared about was blowing off some steam, or so it felt from their fast movements all around the field. When they eventually decided that getting Sudowoodo caught in the middle of their Gear Grind was a good idea, she had no chance. She landed a good hit with Low Kick before fainting, but at last, Oliver had to call out his Wingull again.

Wingull, a Pokémon that knew Supersonic and was not afraid to use it.

As Kansei randomly spun around the battlefield, Hikaru was once again holding their head in their hands. The last scenes from their battle with Avril resurfaced, and then so did their previous battles on Mauport Bridge, their adventure in the Trick House - where Kansei came from in the first place. What were they even going to do with those memories? They were at the last couple turns of an official battle, in a tournament they wanted to be in so badly, but they were about to lose in the first round!

"Kansei, just focus, you can do this!" They cried out, in no way whatsoever to talk to a Klink. "Just Charge! Hold that energy!"

Klink eventually stopped moving erratically, not before being hit with a few Water Pulses. They turned their eyes towards Hikaru, then back to Wingull, before starting to have the two gears spin together faster and faster, sparkles crackling between them - all of this while standing still in mid-air, right in front of Hikaru.

"Release!"

The next Water Pulse coming their way was pierced through by a sudden lightning bolt, which reached all the way to Wingull for the knock-out.

Caesar · Jun 7, 2023

🌧️ Tuesday, October 13th - Mt. Chimney Park Reserve (Mid-day)

Clint stopped for a break, taking refuge from the rain under a large tree. Clint was fairly in shape, farm work and walking around outside certainly helped with that, but even he was being worn down by the tough terrain of the Park Reserve, requiring Clint to stop like he has now to recover.

Clint had been sitting for a few minutes when a group of three travellers walked past him. Two boys, one girl, looked to be teenagers as well, and considering they all were wearing belts with Pokeball's attached, Clint had to assume they were all trainers, on the same adventure as him. The adventure party stopped right at the edge of a gorge, and looked down.

"Bridge is out," Clint hollered at the group.

"I can see that, do you know another way to the other side, my map says there's a trainer station a bit further down this path," One of the boys, who was holding a fancy Holotch, asked Clint.

Clint rose from the ground, and walked over to the gorge, standing next to the trio. He scanned the valley below, and saw a path that winds all the way down and back up, situated not too far from where the main trail meets the gorge.

"That path there should work, just got to go slow," Clint assured the group,

"Bet the rope bridge comes undone every now and then."  "Isn't it safer if we double back and try a different trail," the girl in the group asked.

"Last turn off was ninety minutes back, plus according to the map this path is the only one that takes us to a trainer station before nightfall. Now I don't know about the rest of you but I'm in no mood to spend a rainy night in a tent," the Holotch wielding boy asserted.

"Well maybe Nikita and I will head back to the other path, you and your new friend here can make your way down to the bottom," the other boy suggested.

"We should stay together, we're a team," the girl, Nikita must be her name chimed in.

"You can tag along with us if you'd like, whatever your name is."

Clint mulled it over for a second. Sure he liked the solitude, but having someone to call for help in case he slipped and broke his legs or something would be a good idea. Clint decided to tag along as a fourth wheel,

"Ah what the heck, I'm in, name's Clint by the way."

"I'm Nikita, and this is Aaron and David.

Nikita, Aaron and David, don't forget that, Clint thought to himself, Aaron's the one with the Holotch, David's the one who wanted alone time with Nikita.

"I'll take the lead, make sure the path is safe for the rest of you," David volunteered.

"After you then," Clint replied.
So David led the group down the windy pathway to the bottom of the gorge, which was a few hundred feet deep. Not insurmountable, but Clint's legs wouldn't have much left in them after they reached the top. The group had to go in single file, as the path was very narrow, didn't leave them much room to walk. Combine that with the rain making things slippery, their pace was rather slow.

"Wait I minute, I remember you," Aaron said, looking at Clint,

"You were in the Winstrate Cup last weekend, final four am I right?"

"Yup, close but no cigar," Clint replied.

"Semi-finals ain't all that bad, better than any of us, David was the only one to get anywhere in the tourney, Nikita and I were both out fairly quickly," Aaron explained.

"Opponent got lucky, or else I would have won it all," David chimed in.

"Luck has little to do with it David, battles often come down to understanding of the minutiae, every little detail makes a difference in such a competitive atmosphere," Aaron added.

"How'd your minutiae work out for you Aaron, out in the first round," David snapped back.

"Sheesh, how do y'all travel together like this," Clint said.

"They're always like this, they'll get over in no time. The three of us grew up together, I've seen them go back and forth for years now," Nikita breaking her silence in the conversation.

"And how'd you get so lucky to end up in the middle of it," Clint asked Nikita.

"The three of us grew up on the same street back in Petalburg, got our first Pokemon's within a month of each other. Always dreamed of being the best Trainers in Hoenn, following in the footsteps of Wally, Brendan and May. Eventually took the leap, and now here we are," Nikita answered.

"What's your story then Clint?"  "Oh me, just looking for a way to kill the time," Clint replied.

The group continued their way down, Clint wondering what he had signed himself up for tagging along with this trio.

Team & Inventory:

Spoiler:

Blaze|Brave| Moves: Ember|Dragon Breath|Bite|Smokescreen|Fire Fang|Slash

Overgrow|Sassy| Moves: Leaf-age|Detect|Quick Attack|Double Kick|Assurance|Bullet Seed

Water Absorb|Quiet| Moves: Hypnosis|Water Gun|Pound|Mud Shot

Synchronize|Gentle| Moves: Confusion|Double Team|Teleport|Growl|Draining Kiss
Inventory:

$26,000
2x Potions
1x Pokeballs
5x Iapapa Berries
10x Oran Berries
4x Normal Gem
Sceptilite
Gengarite
Thunder Stone
Water Stone
TM Protect
TM Bullet Seed
TM Rock Smash
TM Low Kick
TM Grass Knot
TR Sludge Bomb

Spoiler:

Spoiler:

Spoiler:

Aquacorde · Jun 11, 2023

Marie Rachelle Mocinno

Knuckle, Dell

₽45,000

Tuesday Oct 13, Evening

Mauville

Chapter 6 #14 - Cornered

Luca reappears near the end of her shift without the mysterious Harper, but certainly with an attitude, and whisks Marie away to the Game Corner in order to vent his frustrations through several rounds of high-intensity laser tag. Even by the time Luca has cooled off (helped along by a frozen Kevin), Marie still has no idea what part of Harper's request for assistance is so horribly objectionable. As nosy as she is, Luca's foul mouth and bright burning irritation puts her off asking directly.

She kicks her feet under the table idly and something about the sticky floors jog Marie's memory, and she suddenly twists in her seat, eyes roving over the big screens facing into the central snack area. "Thbts a jhm bathl!"

"What?"

Marie spits her straw back into her icee. "That's a gym battle! Isn't it? The ones in VR?"

"Oh. Yeah." Luca is far less impressed, likely desensitized to the scene if the Game Corner is where he spends a decent chunk of his time. "Her talent for shows is wasted on this gym stuff, though."

"Her?" Marie stares at the screen, waiting for the camera to cut back to the trainers. Two women- one scrawny, in a simple bikini top, cutoffs, and flip-flops, and the other tall and curvy in a glamorous white and gold one-piece, pink sarong barely brushing her knees and of course doing nothing at all to conceal the cleavage born of the deeply plunged neckline. Both incredibly suited to the beach they battle on, both calf-deep in sparkling blue waves. "Who?"

"Virtua. The one with the Porygon. I thought you knew the leaders?"

"I thought Mauville was run by Eiddon Roth?"

"Yes?"

Marie and Luca stare at each other in mutual incomprehension.

"Eiddon Roth is a drag artist. His drag persona goes by Miss Virtua."

Ah. That's the key information Marie had missed. She leans back against the squishy vinyl booth and stares at the closest screen to feature the beachy showdown. While the challenger looks as if she may usually be at home in the water, something about the setup is disorienting- even to Marie, even from here. The rolling waves aren't real, of course, perhaps that's what's throwing both her and the scrawny girl off. Yes, definitely- the young trainer keeps catching her balance, as if bracing against the pressure of a wave that never comes to knock her off her feet. Miss Virtua, though, is obviously in her element, moving with much more confidence and poise than her opponent. A transparent screen appears and disappears with a wave of her hand, and it's noticeable that such motion precedes a call for a different technique. But that's strange- "Does she not know her Pokémon's moves?"

Luca shrugs. "She's always tinkering with those Porygon. I'm fairly certain they know a completely different set of techniques every time she takes them out."

"Isn't that… detrimental? To forming effective strategies?"

As expected, Luca slips quickly into lecture mode. "Oh, undoubtedly. Pokémon aren't able to pull off incredibly effective and honed strategies as soon as they learn a technique, as we've discussed. The disadvantage Virtua puts herself at is shocking, honestly, when you consider that she changes most- if not all- her Pokémon's movesets for each battle. Not only are her Pokémon reliant on a quite basic form of each technique, but she herself must remember eighteen completely different moves and figure out how they will best be used. Every single battle." Her tutor looks stressed simply to be thinking of it, but Miss Virtua's dark eyes shine with glee even through the screen as she swaps her Porygon for another, the former leaving behind a glowing ball of energy that the latter sweeps up as it rockets toward its foe for a knockout. "I should think that makes her weaker in doubles, but I believe she exclusively uses three Pokémon per battle to deter the format."

Marie stirs her icee thoughtfully. "I was under the impression that you weren't into the battle circuit?"

Disdain twists Luca's soft features. "I absolutely am not! Virtua is… well." His grey eyes dart away from Marie's as he takes his irritation out on the straw of his frozen Kevin. "She bothers me."

"Oh? Why?"

"Because of everything! She's an innovative performer who refuses to compete in contests. She is an encyclopedia of base techniques and yet dedicates none of that knowledge to advanced strategy. She is one of the most beautiful people I have ever seen and she only exists on a virtual stage. She is fun and flirty and entertaining and Eiddon is a ratty, boring little man!" Luca slams his fist into the table, making Marie think twice about pointing out the oddity of calling someone a foot taller than you "little". "She bothers me," he finishes, and sullenly drains his drink.

"Ah. Meeting your idol crush went poorly." Marie nods sagely.

"Shut up."

⟡ ⟡ ⟡ ⟡ ⟡

Marie examines the fresh lines of less tanned skin along her forearm. It's been over a week since Tuie evolved, over a week since Sunny patched Marie up in some shop bathroom. She's been very busy, hasn't she? It doesn't feel like it's been so long.

But it has. It's been long enough that her phone speaker puts out the bouncy tones of that redheaded leatherworker, asking her to meet at some rooftop plaza, despite the morning rain. It's been long enough for the gauntlet to be finished, flexible and soft around the wrist and palm without any barriers to the movement of her fingers but stiff and padded through the forearm. She's told to break it in, that it'll be a few days before she can wear it with fewer breaks, and assured that she may call at any time if it gives her trouble and they'll be right there, right away! And Marie's skepticism about that claim is blown away as their giant robotic Pokémon rockets up and away, vanishing toward the Winstrate estates.

She's pretty sure that's not strictly legal.

It's also been over a week since Edison, completely out of his mind, managed to win himself a third badge. Nearly a week since she and Sunny made it to Mauville. And while Sunny went full-force at Eiddon- Miss Virtua- several times, in fact- Marie has barely contemplated the idea. Isn't that meant to be her goal? Her reason for being here? The thing that's keeping her in a city seemingly full of people who flock to her name? Aren't trainers just supposed to hit the gyms and bounce?

But wasn't that what Edison complained about Sunny doing? And Marie had agreed with his complaint. Not just to say the right thing in the moment, but because she does agree: a journey is meant to be a meandering experience.

Yet perhaps her experience in Mauville should be coming to a close.

Her final shift at SkyPark precedes another night at the Game Corner, and she might be counting too much on the idea that she will be able to get ahold of that badge so quickly. Luca, begrudgingly along for the ride, certainly tries to keep her expectations realistic. But if Sunny can take Miss Virtua on several times in one night, Marie very well can. And she'll actually come out of it with a badge. It will be simply down to trial and error- or perhaps just luck.

Either way, she'll be getting that badge tonight.

luca sivoy - click for picrew maker

Spoiler: Team

Spoiler: Inventory

Spoiler: Contacts

Eleanor · Jul 2, 2023

Avril Reese

16 - ♀ - Laverre City

Pokémon / Inventory:

AVRIL'S MONEY: $37 000

AVRIL'S TEAM:
🌼 Poppy (Floette) ♀
Flower Veil
Synthesis, Moonblast, Grassy Terrain, Aromatherapy, Wish, Petal Blizzard

🌼 Hydrangea (Gastrodon) ♀
Storm Drain
Water Pulse, Mud Bomb, Recover, Rain Dance, Mud Sport, Hidden Power (?)

🌼 Wisteria (Inkay) ♂
Infiltrator
Night Slash, Hypnosis, Topsy-Turvy, Pluck, Reflect, Psybeam

🌼 Thistle (Wooloo) ♀
Bulletproof
Tackle, Growl, Defense Curl, Copycat, Guard Split, Double Kick

Away:
🌼 Venus (Mawile) ♀ - at Littleroot Research Lab

AVRIL'S INVENTORY:
🌼 1 Empty Pokéball
🌼 2 Potions
🌼 Eviolite
🌼 Silk Scarf
🌼 TM for Ally Switch (from Wally)
🌼 5 Rare berries
🌼 Sea Incense
🌼 Pink Scarf
🌼 TM for ??? (from the Trick House)
🌼 Light Clay
🌼 Yellow Nectar (4 doses)
🌼 9 Quick Balls
🌼 TR for Hyper Voice (Mauville Beach)

🌼 Holotch (phone version)
🌼 Fanclub Membership card - valid until October 17^th
🌼 Ophelia's stamp
🌼 Various clothes and commodities
🌼 Pink Woolen Hat
🌼 Binoculars

🌼 Rental skates ~~again~~ until Friday, Oct. 9

AVRIL'S CONTACTS:
Jordie, Shuna, Natsuko, June, Marcella, Hikaru

AVRIL'S BADGES AND RIBBONS:
🥊 ➕

🎀• 1

🌼 Avril's birth date is April 25^th, 2010
🌼 Character art made with [SPAN="color:rgb(40,180,40);"]https://picrew.me/image_maker/338886[/SPAN]

Music to my ears

Thursday, October 8^th - afternoon - Mauville

Now what?

Avril stares intently at the stones in her hand, now certain of what they are and still wrapping her head around what they can do. One is a Mawilite, and like the name says, it's clearly the one Venus was always looking for. The other is a Key Stone, and it's meant to go on her instead.

Those stones only work when they are together, but when they do, they can dramatically… change the Pokémon's appearance and make it much stronger in battle? And with that quick explanation, she's immediately sold on the idea.

Not only it's hard to find any other use for these stones, it's also strange to realize that Venus was so attached to an item that is, allegedly, completely useless by itself. Unless her goal was to get the Key Stone as well, and… oh right, if Avril looks at it that way, then she, a trainer, is the last piece of the puzzle that Venus needs to unlock her stronger form. Interesting.

In her mind, Avril is absolutely not that trainer. She caught Venus by accident and she never really understood how to work with her even when she was trying her best to show her worth. Then Venus decided to, well, have a snack the good old way, and the story was put on pause when May started taking care of the Mawile. In the meantime, the part of Avril's mind that was meant to deal with Venus got locked up over time, chains coming off only now after days of having other things to worry about - like the Mawilite itself, and all the things Hikaru put the girl through to get it back.

"Think I can actually do this?" She asks Poppy, who is resting in her usual spot - Avril's hair. The Fairy-type floats down to take a better look at the stones, but simply nods in approval and shrugs. What else could Poppy have answered? I should know by now.

Poppy wasn't alone, at least. Hikaru definitely thought the same, judging by their actions. Oh, that's some good company, yes. What about May then? The one who was actually meant to train up Venus while Avril sorted out herself?

Poppy is quick to point out one detail on the book Avril is reading, which is that the stones can only work if there's already a strong bond between trainer and Pokémon, which the girl may have already built over time with those first battles, including against Wally, and that contest in Dewford. Nothing out of this world… but, like the Fairy-type was trying to assure Avril of, still enough to get things back on track once the training with May was done.

The blonde girl thinks about that for some time until she eventually lets go and lays her head right over the book. "I'm not ready, I can't get Venus back just now." She moves the book away before there's a chance she might ruin the pages with her tears - luckily they aren't flowing just yet.

Poppy pats her on the back of her head. She's been giving Avril trouble until now, with her process of learning Moonblast, her skating shenanigans, and ultimately, her and Angie's evolution. She can understand that and she is fine with Avril taking her time to sort this out, as long as she doesn't forget about Venus entirely.

And so, she gets an idea, and starts pointing at Avril's chime. She doesn't get it at first, until the book comes to her rescue with a section about Key Stone accessories. Lots of trainers, apparently, get a rather standard Mega Bracelet to store their Key Stone in, ready to be touched and utilized for Mega Evolution. There's other options, like tiaras, gloves, and even earrings apparently… but the one that's relevant now is pendants. Funnily enough, that's the option that Kalos Champion Diantha has chosen.

Avril's pendant is one of the most meaningful accessories she has, being the one she associates with her parents back in Kalos. She's heard its sound countless times during her life, if not even earlier, and it has always helped her calm down in tense situations. That sound is, of course, the product of a small stone rattling inside an ornate, well, "metal cage"... that can actually be opened up. And that is what the girl tries to do.

The Key Stone is larger than the other stone, but it still fits in that space and still makes a sound that is not so far off from what it was before. Poppy happily nods as her trainer puts the pendant around her neck again, trying to feel how significant the changes are. The accessory problem feels sorted out.

Later on, with Avril in her bed and struggling to fall asleep, the new pendant comes in useful. She's definitely tired, given how intense the last few days were for her, but her brain is still active, with all sorts of little impulses spazzing everywhere. Going to sleep without any plan for the following day is always a little scary, and if that plan has the potential to involve spectating battles at Winstrate Tournament - going there or not is still a very hard decision for Avril at this point - things are only made worse.

The sound of the Key Stone inside the metal is not easy to get used to right away, but eventually it works. It may no longer remind Avril of her family, but now it reminds her of all her recent progress. She's been through quite the adventure to get that stone into that pendant, what's going to be some more of it?

Caesar · Sep 4, 2023

🌧️ Tuesday, October 13th - Mt. Chimney Park Reserve (Afternoon)

Clint and the trio of trainers he had just met had finally reached the bottom of the canyon, an unexpected detour along the way. As Aaron, David and Nikita would put it, the Park Reserve earned a reputation for being tough on young trainers, and it was certainly living up to its billing so far. They were travelling over rock paths made wet by rain, and now forced to step over a fast moving river from rock to rock in order to cross over to the other side of the canyon, and one wrong step would result in slipping into the fast moving water.

Clint motioned for the group to stop, then motioned for Aaron to hand over his walking pole. Aaron obliged, then Clint dipped the pole in the water, testing the depth of the river and the speed of the current. The current was fast enough to push on the pole considerably, while Clint quickly ran out of pole as he moved it inwards. He could see the bottom, could be around shoulder height deep on each side of the rapids where the path met the river. They had to be safe about this.

"What's the hold-up," David asked.

"Just coming up with a plan," Clint replied, handing Aaron back his walking pole.

Clint then pulled out a length of rope out of his backpack.

"David, you hold one end, and I'll take the other end to the other side, then I'll hold on there while everyone else holds on to the rope while they cross over," Clint explained.

Clint took his first leap to the first of four rocks he had to cross to get to the other side. Dicey for sure, but with the rope strategy, at least someone would be able to fish him out of the river. After stabilizing on the first rock, Clint jumped to the next one, and so on until he crossed the river. Clint dug his heels in on a spot on the other side, and waved over for the next person to cross. Nikita went first, ladies first after all. She crossed at a slow pace, taking her time as she moved from rock to rock. Once she made it, David went next, crossing confidently and quickly, making to the other side without much hassle.

Aaron was last, Clint could tell Aaron was not big on the idea of crossing. Aaron clenched on to the rope very tightly, and stood at the edge of the river, breathing very heavily as he debated crossing, no doubt part of Aaron's mind was telling him to tuck tail and head back to Mauville.

"Let's go Aaron, we don't have all day," David taunted.

"David," Nikita sighed,

"You can do it Aaron, just one step at a time."  Aaron took another breath, then leaped to the first rock. His balance wasn't the best, but he froze again once he got to the first rock. He looked all around, clearly scared to make the crossing. Aaron then made his leap to the second rock, but he failed to stick the landing, and slipped into the river, falling over in the upstream direction. From there, the river took him and pushed him into the rocks, where he pulled into the rapids. Clint sprung into action, pulling the rope in, dragging Aaron in his direction. It was working, but Clint could feel his wrist starting to give on him.

"Quickly David, give me a hand," Clint exclaimed, feeling the severity of the situation.

They had to get Aaron out of the water as soon as possible. David began pulling the rope in, fighting both the current and Aaron's weight to try and bring him in as he started to go downstream, screaming out for help as he did so. Clint yelled at him to hold on to the rope, as him and David continued to pull the rope in. After some strenuous pulling, they managed to bring Aaron onto the bank, and laid him down on the bank, and checked in on him.

Luckily, he was still conscious, but he was hyperventilating now. Shivering as well, a given since he just took a swim in a very cold river. Nikita immediately took over the caretaking process, leaning him up against the cliff side, putting a blanket on him then gave him an embrace.

"Glad you're out of there, I was worried sick," Nikita said.

Clint waited, giving Aaron the time to catch his breath, Clint needed to catch his breath as well, was a lot of work pulling Aaron out of the river.

"We need to get moving," David interrupted.

"David, Aaron needs rest," Nikita shot back.

"As much as it sucks, he's right. Need to get Aaron dry, won't be able to do that here," Clint added.

"All right, I'll help you up Aaron," Nikita replied.

Nikita helped the soaked boy up, keeping the blanket on him and put her arm around him, helping him keep stable. David then took off ahead, Clint motioned for Nikita and Aaron to go ahead, and Clint took up the rear position.

It was getting dark as the group reached the hostel camp, just a short walk from the top of the cliff the group had climbed up. Nikita, David and Aaron were all inside the building, dealing with Aaron. He was in rough shape, nothing he couldn't come back from but still needed his rest. Clint was sitting at a bench near a fire, which was set up under the cover of the treetops, enough to keep most of the rain away. He was looking at his wrist, pain still throbbing away. At least I didn't fall in a river I guess, he thought to himself. David showed up, sitting down on the bench next to him.

"How's Aaron holding up," Clint asked.

"He's dry, and in bed now, he'll be fine. Nikita is pacing back and forth in there, I had to step out for a bit, get some fresh air," David answered,

"Rope idea of yours ended up being pretty handy, glad you were around."

"No problem, learned that trick a while back, worked for me before," Clint replied.

"Guess you're going to keep going north tomorrow," David inquired.

"That's the plan," Clint answered.

"Well we're in no rush, going to wait around a bit, make sure Aaron's one hundred percent before we set off again," David continued,

"If you want to travel with us, we'd be more than happy to have you along."

"I'll have to think about it," Clint answered.

"You do that, I need some shuteye, see ya in the morning Clint," David said, getting up off the bench and heading back inside.

Clint should probably get some sleep too, but it wouldn't hurt to sit and stare at the fire for a little while longer.

Team & Inventory:

Spoiler:

Blaze|Brave| Moves: Ember|Dragon Breath|Bite|Smokescreen|Fire Fang|Slash

Overgrow|Sassy| Moves: Leaf-age|Detect|Quick Attack|Double Kick|Assurance|Bullet Seed

Water Absorb|Quiet| Moves: Hypnosis|Water Gun|Pound|Mud Shot

Synchronize|Gentle| Moves: Confusion|Double Team|Teleport|Growl|Draining Kiss
Inventory:

$26,000
2x Potions
1x Pokeballs
5x Iapapa Berries
10x Oran Berries
4x Normal Gem
Sceptilite
Gengarite
Thunder Stone
Water Stone
TM Protect
TM Bullet Seed
TM Rock Smash
TM Low Kick
TM Grass Knot
TR Sludge Bomb

Spoiler:

Spoiler:

Spoiler:

Groc · Sep 20, 2023

Natsuko Soyokaze, Marcella MacMillan
Thursday, October 8th; morning
Mauville City

Although the footprints literally dried up, it wasn't hard for Natsuko and Marcella to spot their target once the crowds thinned out. The begoggled individual made his way down to parts of the city that weren't as populated, with the downside that he would be more likely to spot them if he happened to turn around.

Fortunately, that doesn't happen, and the girls follow the man into the industrial sector, where he opens a creaky old door and vanishes into an old storehouse of some sort. Tsu has mixed feelings about this development.

"Okay, this is probably where he hangs out, but we don't know what's going on in there, or how many others are with him. This is definitely the kind of place a gang would set up, so we're going to have to be careful. Any ideas, Marce?"

Even in their dimly lit surroundings Tsu can see the girl's face is now white as a sheet, but the expression she wears is steely. "Well, there's no turning back now. We- we have to sneak in and find out what they're up to. Oh-!" Marcella reaches into her purse and pulls out a shiny, black Luxury Ball, clutching it to her chest. "This is my only other Pokémon, besides these guys and Bijou." She nods towards the Petilil still perched on her shoulder, and the Meowth circling their legs. "She's a Clamperl. I'm not sure what's behind that door, but if anything happens it might be good to have our Pokémon at the ready. Who do you have on you?"

"Well, I have Shiny, and- I mean, a Ponyta, Nosepass, Totodile, Popplio, and…" she reaches for her pocket, frowning slightly when she only feels four. And Stacy, but she's not here right now.

"...and an Egg." She instead finishes lamely. "If we want to be sneaky, my guys aren't the best at that, but they can throw down if they have to." She grabs Riptide's ball and holds it close. If things go wrong, throwing an angry crocodile at someone's face isn't a bad play.

Marcella nods solemnly. "Yes, good. Between us, we should be able to defend ourselves, then." She takes a deep breath, peering at the storehouse as she fidgets nervously with a ring on her index finger. "Do you think we should scope out the surroundings first or just follow him in? I don't want to lose him, but it could be reckless if we don't know anything..."

"Um…" Tsu hesitates a moment. Getting a feel for the surroundings is a good idea, and it had been her job the last time she'd done this. But there were more people in the gang back then. "How about you circle the perimeter while I stay on his tail? I'll call you if I need backup, or you can call me if you spot anything hinky."

With some semblance of a plan in place, the girls go their separate ways: Marcella circling the building, and Tsu heading straight for the door.

The door had made a terribly loud creak when the goggles thief opened it, so Tsu hopes to avoid doing that if possible. Fortunately for her, she spots a dirty old window with a sizable hole in it. Someone probably threw a rock or baseball through it at one point. Remembering an old trick Geo had shown her, she grabs a towel from her bag, using it to protect her hands as she pulls the broken glass shards out of the window. The towel also muffles the sound of glass as she deposits the dangerous shards on the ground outside.

With the entry hazards out of the way, she hoists herself through the now open window, dropping into a crouch and tucking herself behind some old boxes. Like a ninja… she thinks to herself.

This floor is mostly empty, save for some old boxes still lying around, and some more recent. It looks like no one has used this area for a while, except to toss an empty box aside, but she can hear noises deeper inside. There aren't any boxes to hide behind, but she risks getting closer rather than lose her target.

Given the option of entering a side office or taking a stairwell down, she opts for the stairs. She immediately notices a shift in the temperature as heat radiates from the lower level. Cautiously opening the door at the bottom, she winces at the suddenly bright light that hits her eyes.

The room she finds herself in is bright and hot, the ceiling lined with lamps and the air filled with the sounds of machinery and heavy with a sickly sweet scent. As her eyes adjust, she sees that the machines are all small treadmills, each placed in a small cage containing a Pokémon. Dozens of tiny cages line the walls, each with a Shuckle inside being forced to run. The poor creatures look exhausted, breathing heavily and sweating profusely, with one having given up and curled into its shell.

Who would do this to Shuckle? Why would they do this to Shuckle? Tsu has many questions, peering into one of the cages. Berry pulp and juice coat the floor, likely the source of the smell. If nothing else, the Shuckle appear to be well fed. She pulls her new camera out of her bag, taking pictures for evidence.

Some of the Shuckle are looking at her blearily, as if confused by her actions. She lightly touches one of the cages, but withdraws when the Shuckle inside flinches away from her hand.

The door on the far wall opens, and Tsu drops in a panic, sticking as close to the cage as she can. She hears one of the machines stop, and a cage being opened. She doesn't dare look, but after a moment hears footsteps and the door open again. When it closes, she slowly counts to five before peeking her head out.

The coast is clear, no one here but Shuckle.

She goes over to the empty cage, looking for clues. The empty cage held the Shuckle that had retreated into its shell, too tired to run anymore. Someone had come to retrieve it, and taken it through the door.

Where does that lead? What's going on in there? And what does this have to do with Bijou?

She moves to the door, determined to find out. She opens the door, and nearly screams as a loud roar comes from her pocket. She fumbles at it, quickly silencing her phone as it roars like a Gyarados.

Crap! I forgot I set an alarm so I didn't forget to check in on Stacy!

She takes a second to catch her breath, but the moment is short lived as the door is flung open, staggering her back a step as it's pulled from her grip.

"Hey, what the-?" A man asks in confusion, before roughly grabbing Tsu by the arm. "Where'd you come from?"

"Ow, let go of me, you-" Tsu squirms in his grip, stopping when she sees the Safety Goggles he's wearing. "You!"

"Me!" The man grins, then frowns in confusion. "Do I know you? Wait, I do! You're the clumsy bitch who ran into me on the way here! What, you lose your cat or something?"

Wow, rude… Tsu tries to pull her arm away from him, but his grip is too tight. "That wasn't…" She stops herself before she tells this thug about Marcella. You don't rat out your friends to save your own hide. "Yes, I'm looking for my cat. Now let go of me!"

"No can do, Cat Bitch." The Very Rude Man scratches his chin with his free hand. "I don't know how you got in here, but this place is off limits."

"Oh, I didn't know. If you could just let me go, I'll leave and never bother you again." Tsu lies, smiling sweetly at him.

"No can do," he says again. "See, intruders are above my pay grade. Boss will know what to do." He tugs at her arm, trying to pull her deeper into the building.

Tsu panics, trying to pull away again. "I don't want to meet your boss! I just want to leave!" She swings her fist at his head, her camera dangling from her wrist by the strap. Unfortunately, he catches her arm, pulling her closer to himself.

"Whoa! You brought a camera with you? Now I really gotta take you in." He starts backing up, dragging Tsu with him and keeping her arms up, where she can't reach her Poké Balls or phone.

"No no no no no no no…" Tsu panics and struggles, knowing no one will help her in this situation. If she can just get a hand free, she can buy herself some space, send out a Pokémon, call for help…

"Hey, boss! Found something you might wanna see!" Her captor calls out, signaling that she's out of time.

Tsu hears a sigh from the room ahead. "Is it good or bad, Perry? Because let me tell you… I have had a day."

"It's a little girl!" Perry (his name, apparently) grins as Tsu struggles. She actually stops to stare at him, bewildered. Little girl? How young does he think I am?

A woman steps out of an office up ahead, letting out another sigh and a plume of smoke. "That would be bad." She tosses her cigarette to the floor, staring directly at Tsu as she snuffs it out with her foot. "Don't just stand there, bring her in here."

Perry drags Tsu into the room, shoving her against the wall and dazing her long enough to get her arms behind her so she can face his boss rather than him.

Said boss shuts the door before sitting down at her desk. "Now, why don't we start at the beginning? What are you-"

"Hey, Rox! Check it out!" Perry shakes Tsu, making her camera sway as it still dangles from her wrist. "She's got a camera!"

Rox (her name, apparently) glares at Perry before looking back to Tsu. "Or let's just skip to the end. Why are you here?"

Tsu swallows nervously, trying to stop from shaking. "I was just trying to find my cat! She's a Purrloin, and I followed your friend here because he's wearing her goggles!"

Perry shakes Tsu again, which is starting to annoy her more than scare her. "I thought your cat was a Meowth?"

"I already caught up with him, now I'm looking for Purrloin."

"So, what? You have two cats?" Perry tightens his grip on Tsu's arms.

"Yeah, which is two more than you have brain cells." Tsu snaps back.

"Enough!" Rox slams her desk drawer before either Tsu or Perry can say anything else.

Tsu jumps from the noise. "I'm sorry, I can't shut up when I'm scared."

Rox massages her temple with one hand, holding a roll of duct tape in the other. "I don't need this today. I don't care who you are, or why you're here. I just want you out of my warehouse, out of my operation, and out of my hair."

"Aren't those all the same thing?" Tsu grins innocently, but Rox isn't having any of it. She tears off a piece of tape and roughly slaps it over Tsu's mouth, then has Perry turn her around so she can tape Tsu's wrists together behind her back.

"Get rid of her, and her camera. No one's gonna miss one kid. Put her in the truck, take her out of town. We don't want to make a mess here."

Whatever hope Tsu had of making it out of this mess unscathed dies with those words. She feels an icy cold in her stomach, and she cries out against the duct tape over her mouth.

"Stay with her, Perry. And don't screw this up." Rox opens the door to her office, looking out down the hall. "...Dani, come here! Grab the keys, I need you to drive."

Perry shoves Tsu forward, laughing as she struggles. "You ready for a ride, little girl? Come on, let's go!"

A joint post between Groc and juno.

Eleanor · Oct 12, 2023

Avril Reese

16 - ♀ - Laverre City

Pokémon / Inventory:

AVRIL'S MONEY: $37 000

AVRIL'S TEAM:
🌼 Poppy (Floette) ♀
Flower Veil
Synthesis, Moonblast, Grassy Terrain, Aromatherapy, Wish, Petal Blizzard

🌼 Hydrangea (Gastrodon) ♀
Storm Drain
Water Pulse, Mud Bomb, Recover, Rain Dance, Mud Sport, Hidden Power (?)

🌼 Wisteria (Inkay) ♂
Infiltrator
Night Slash, Hypnosis, Topsy-Turvy, Pluck, Reflect, Psybeam

🌼 Thistle (Wooloo) ♀
Bulletproof
Tackle, Growl, Defense Curl, Copycat, Guard Split, Double Kick

Away:
🌼 Venus (Mawile) ♀ - at Littleroot Research Lab

AVRIL'S INVENTORY:
🌼 1 Empty Pokéball
🌼 2 Potions
🌼 Eviolite
🌼 Silk Scarf
🌼 TM for Ally Switch (from Wally)
🌼 5 Rare berries
🌼 Sea Incense
🌼 Pink Scarf
🌼 TM for ??? (from the Trick House)
🌼 Light Clay
🌼 Yellow Nectar (4 doses)
🌼 9 Quick Balls
🌼 TR for Hyper Voice (Mauville Beach)

🌼 Holotch (phone version)
🌼 Fanclub Membership card - valid until October 17^th
🌼 Ophelia's stamp
🌼 Various clothes and commodities
🌼 Pink Woolen Hat
🌼 Binoculars

🌼 Rental skates ~~again~~ until Friday, Oct. 9

AVRIL'S CONTACTS:
Jordie, Shuna, Natsuko, June, Marcella, Hikaru, Kimberly

AVRIL'S BADGES AND RIBBONS:
🥊 ➕

🎀• 1

🌼 Avril's birth date is April 25^th, 2010
🌼 Character art made with [SPAN="color:rgb(40,180,40);"]https://picrew.me/image_maker/338886[/SPAN]

The Petalburg Girl

Friday, October 9^th - noon - Mauville

Spectating the Winstrate Tournament still feels a bit too much. All that competitiveness and determination is commendable, yes, but for Avril it feels draining. It takes effort to stay there. After nearly missing Hikaru's first victory, the girl is here just because she's seen a certain "Junko" on the list of participants and is waiting for her to appear. With the Mega Stone issue solved and some newly found confidence after defeating Hikaru, she feels like reuniting with June (who she left hanging because of the blue-haired trainer) is the next natural step.

"You!"

That does not sound like June.

Avril looks already fed up as she turns around, and she has good reason to be. She's facing a girl with white hair in a perfect long bob cut, a dark complexion and an expensive-looking red dress. "You owe me a battle."

image made with picrew

"That was so long ago, who cares anymore!"

"Rule number something, always keep your promises!"

"And…?"

"It's fine. Just let me see if I have improved!"

"Well. Did you get a ribbon eventually?"

"Grrr… no but it's whatever!" the white haired girl quickly swaps her confident smile for a pout.. "Please?"

"I'm a bit busy now!"

The girls keep arguing until Avril, realizing she has basically nowhere to run, ends up agreeing to the challenge. She can handle it just like she did with Hikaru, hopefully.

June finally steps onto the field for her first turn battle as Avril is leaving the stands, her hand pulled enthusiastically by Kimberly from Petalburg. On the first battlefield nearby, her two Zigzagoon are let loose, up against Poppy and Angie. Who have both evolved once. Kimberly is not the methodic kind and just starts attacking any way she sees fit, while Avril is more busy telling her Pokémon not to hit their opponents too hard - since after all, they're still two Zigzagoon.

What follows is the most boring battle ever. After a couple of turns where Angie and Poppy pretend to attack with Moonblast and Water Pulse, what follows is a series of Synthesis, Recover, Grassy Terrain and Wish. The Zigzagoon do their best - dodging every attack and swiftly running around the field - but their own attacks barely put a dent on Angie, and Poppy dodges most of them anyways.

This gives time for the two girls to banter between commands, but also to open up to each other.

Kim has still been under the effects of her curse. Not a ribbon in sight for her. She's gone as far as Mauville to try and change air, but she's found herself not making any meaningful impression. All the while the Winstrate Cup was bringing in more and more people to the city, including coordinators who would try out some Mauville contests in between spectating battles and supporting their "regular trainers" friends.

The facts seem to suggest it's her fault though. The Zigzagoon twins are more or less the same as usual, only the Galarian one has learned Snarl and upgraded his moveset. It sure doesn't help against Poppy and Angie, who are very good counters to their strategy. Hitting often at the cost of damage per hit only gives Avril's Pokémon more time to dodge and heal, and they don't care at all about their own offensive prowess being shut down by things like Snarl or Sand Attack because they don't need it to win.

Kimberly's attitude is the same, too. It's like she claims to deserve the win by birthright when she shows up to a contest or battles people like here. It's a great display of confidence, if not for the fact that it doesn't always feel genuine. As the "battle" keeps going this becomes more and more evident - she just refuses to believe that this is how the situation is unfolding.

Avril, seeing this, prolongs the battle even longer by telling her Pokémon not to attack at all. In fact, she keeps on replacing Grassy Terrain as often as necessary, now being aware of the fact it heals the two Zigzagoon too. She is still afraid of battling "properly" and putting herself out there as the trainer of her own Pokémon - she's not winning this battle, Angie and Poppy are. In a way, she's giving Kimberly and her Pokémon the choice of when and how to lose.

Obviously Kimberly would never choose the fast route, not even in front of her opponent's evolved Pokémon (which she's clearly taken note of). She's still shouting commands as her two Pokémon shake their heads in disapproval, before seemingly falling asleep, surrounded by the flowers of Grassy Terrain.

"Did they seriously just… start to sleep!? Does this mean I lost?"

"I didn't do that!" Avril shrugs. "Maybe they're just tired?"

Kimberly at this point is shaking, clearly struggling to process all that. "This never happened to me…"

"I, uhm…"

Avril doesn't have much to say.

"Well, that sure looks like a good strategy for timed battles. Hopefully I'll avoid people like you in contests."

Turns out Kim is really a regular of Contest Halls in south-west Hoenn. Battling is not the end of the story though, given that she's got in second place very often. Of course, simply praying for your opponents to be worse than you is not the best strategy - if the Petalburg girl really does that it's her loss - but Avril is by no means an expert.

"I have another D-rank in a few hours. Maybe I should prepare…" Kim whispers. For Avril, it is a liberating moment: from now on she won't have to worry about that crazy girl randomly challenging her to a battle every time they cross line of sight. Or is it?

"Oh, uhm… I don't think I can make it, but let me know how it goes, ok?"

*Avril and Kimberly exchanged numbers!*

Groc · Oct 15, 2023

Sunny Dey
Saturday, October 10th; evening
Mauville City

This entire week leading up to the tournament has been a wild ride. Between finding out about it, stressing over not having enough badges, and everything going on with Eddie and Marie, Sunny has barely slept. After failing to get the Badge from Mauville, Sunny had called up Brawly to ask for his badge. He had initially given her nothing but vague answers, until randomly deciding to send it to her.

Of course, she hadn't expected his wife to be the one delivering it, or that she'd have to fight her for it. Miss Shauna was every bit as tough as her husband, but less vocal during their match. Sunny went three to one against her Medicham, which probably contributed to her victory, and was rewarded with the Knuckle Badge that all her friends had already won.

But she didn't have time to get upset over that, she had to go register for the tournament. And it was about that time her poor decisions caught up with her, because she started dozing off while registering and ended up just handing her license to the clerk and making him do everything. Which is why the announcer kept calling her by her legal name on her license rather than her preferred name she keeps telling people.

But she has bigger concerns now. Her first match was utterly forgettable, mainly because neither her nor her opponent had any real strategy to speak of. They'd both just gone in with confidence and determination, hoping for the best, and Sunny attributed her victory to luck as much as skill. But her second battle showed her the error of her ways.

She'd agreed to a 2-vs-2 match, because honestly it didn't matter to her, choosing Sputter and Flare. Her opponent seemed to have a preference for Ground types, a problem for a dedicated Fire trainer like herself, choosing an Onix and a Sandslash.

As she learned, Onix are incredibly fast and very durable, especially when one has an Eviolite. Sandslash, meanwhile, are heavy hitters with decent defenses, and the trick to taking them down was to use Special Attacks. Too bad for her Flare is a physical attacker, meaning he wasn't able to provide much assistance outside of hitting Sputter with Fire Punch to trigger her Flash Fire Ability.

Sandslash spent most of the fight underground, leaving Onix to pelt her team with rocks, which turned out to be pretty devastating. The only reason they survived was from Sputter using Will-o-Wisp to hinder the opponents' offenses. When they managed to deal enough damage to Onix, it decided to take Flare and itself out with a mighty Explosion while Sandslash was still underground, leaving Sunny with just Sputter, deprived of Flare's flames to boost herself.

In the end, she'd won by using similar dirty tricks that she's often chided Eddie for using. Sputter made herself small and hard to hit while the burn whittled Sandslash down, and just in time because even burned it was doing tremendous damage to the Lampent. It was sheer luck and she felt dirty for relying on it. Given her lack of plan and apparent lack of strength, she almost feels like she shouldn't have won, even by the skin of her teeth as it was.

Maybe Marie was right about her. Maybe she is moving too fast, not giving herself time to adequately prepare. It's too late to do anything about it now, but win or lose tomorrow, she'll definitely need to reevaluate her methods.

Eleanor · Oct 29, 2023

Avril Reese

16 - ♀ - Laverre City

Pokémon / Inventory:

AVRIL'S MONEY: $35 500 ↓

AVRIL'S TEAM:
🌼 Poppy (Floette) ♀
Flower Veil
Synthesis, Moonblast, Grassy Terrain, Aromatherapy, Wish, Petal Blizzard

🌼 Hydrangea (Gastrodon) ♀
Storm Drain
Water Pulse, Mud Bomb, Recover, Rain Dance, Mud Sport, Hidden Power (?)

🌼 Wisteria (Inkay) ♂
Infiltrator
Night Slash, Hypnosis, Topsy-Turvy, Pluck, Reflect, Psybeam

🌼 Thistle (Wooloo) ♀
Bulletproof
Tackle, Growl, Defense Curl, Copycat, Guard Split, Double Kick

Away:
🌼 Venus (Mawile) ♀ - at Littleroot Research Lab

AVRIL'S INVENTORY:
🌼 1 Empty Pokéball
🌼 2 Potions
🌼 Eviolite
🌼 Silk Scarf
🌼 TM for Ally Switch (from Wally)
🌼 5 Rare berries
🌼 Sea Incense
🌼 Pink Scarf
🌼 TM for ??? (from the Trick House)
🌼 Light Clay
🌼 Yellow Nectar (4 doses)
🌼 9 Quick Balls
🌼 TR for Hyper Voice (Mauville Beach)

🌼 Holotch (phone version)
🌼 Fanclub Membership card - valid until October 17^th
🌼 Ophelia's stamp
🌼 Various clothes and commodities
🌼 Pink Woolen Hat
🌼 Binoculars

🌼 Rental skates ~~again~~ until Monday, Oct. 12

AVRIL'S CONTACTS:
Jordie, Shuna, Natsuko, June, Marcella, Hikaru, Kimberly

AVRIL'S BADGES AND RIBBONS:
🥊 ➕

🎀• 1

🌼 Avril's birth date is April 25^th, 2010
🌼 Character art made with [SPAN="color:rgb(40,180,40);"]https://picrew.me/image_maker/338886[/SPAN]

Contest frenzy

Friday and Saturday, October 9^th and 10^th - evening to morning - Mauville

"It went terribly. I didn't pass the first round, the judges were so cold…"

"Are you going to try again?"

"Well of course!! When's the next one in Mauville?"

Avril shakes her head while Kimberly, sitting in front of her in the PokéCenter lobby, pulls out her PokéNav and checks the contest schedule. It's crazy how little it takes for Kimberly to make Avril doubt her own feelings of empathy she had after their battle.

"It's only Rank C contests for the weekend!?" The Petalburg girl groans. "Monday is too late for me, I need to be on my way home by then…"

Avril can't stop being helpful. "Hey, I think Mauport Bridge has something. You wanted Doubles, right?"

"Yeah! Hm…" Kimberly smiles briefly. "No, this can't be. Contests on the bridge?"

"Uhm, yeah. Can't you look it up?"

Kimberly seems to take some time to register that. "Oh, I see it! Saturday at sunset and Sunday at dawn. Sounds great! I'll do both!"

"Wait, are you sure? What are the prompts anyways?"

The PokéNav reads Roses, Cloudy, Wood for Saturday and Pillars, Library, Guardian for Sunday. Who even makes these… wait, Roses?

Poppy has clearly picked up on that as well. Sure, Poppy is holding… a poppy, obviously, and not a rose, but the color is similar - she could probably get away with it. Avril already has a ribbon, and one more would be enough to put her in C-rank… "You know what, Kim? I have to try that Saturday contest. The prompts are just right for her!" She points towards the Fairy-type.

"I thought you wanted to help me…"

"Excuse me? You can always join the Sunday contest… it would be one each, what's the problem with that?"

"The more contests I try, the better! It's called statistics!"

Avril keeps quiet for a moment. "Fine. You'll just have to hope we don't get paired in the battle round."

"I'm feeling lucky today. I know it won't happen."

"Ok, but jokes aside, please start planning for the Contest."

Kimberly leaves the lobby with an annoyed hmpf.

🦝🦝🦝

The morning after, Avril returns to the Winstrate Cup, making her way through the crowd once more to get a glimpse of some battles. It's not really in her character, but there's something that compels her, and it is obviously June. Being dragged away from the stands right as the other girl started her first turn battle was just as annoying, as it was relieving to see her name in the list of the participants who made it this far. She blushes as June eventually takes the stage, but Avril's eyes quickly jump to her opponent… it's Jo!

Things took quite the turn since she last saw them. Do they still remember her, or what they told her in Slateport? All of those thoughts mix with what her eyes and ears can pick up from the battle, and the result is… a mess. The battle is interesting to watch but difficult to follow through, and there's just a lot of things that don't make any sense to the blonde girl. All she can do is stare in awe at how good June and Jo are.

Poppy is a lot more attentive. Clearly. She is not making a single sound as she sits on top of Avril's hair, and only cheers at the end, when June forfeits and Jo is declared the winner. That was a harsh defeat though… I've got to feel sorry for June.

In the end, Avril meets up with neither, as she needs to get her stuff ready and leave for Mauport Bridge. She has a plan for her performance rounds and she's done some last minute training - well, explaining - session with her Pokémon of choice, but she has to ask herself, does Kim have a plan at all? She finds her at lunch time in the PokéCenter's lounge.

"Hey Kim, are you ready to go? You know we're better off sleeping on the bridge right?"

"You can sleep on the bridge!?"

"Have you ever been there?"

"Of course, how do you think I got here?"

"So you know there's houses, shops, restaurants, a b&b…"

"No."

"On what thing did you travel over the bridge then?"

"Bus, obviously."

"Oh, right."

Does she ever look out the window?

"Let me think for a moment… I guess we could walk, the contest place is near the north end anyways. But if you want to get there early, familiarize yourself with the place, get a room and all that, maybe it's better if you rent a bike or something like that."

"Are those the two only options?"

"There's also roller skating, I guess."

"Fiiiiine. I'll rent a bike."

And with that, the three more days that Avril extended her rental period for her skates start to make sense.

Eleanor · Oct 30, 2023

Avril Reese

16 - ♀ - Laverre City

Pokémon / Inventory:

AVRIL'S MONEY: $38 000 ↑

AVRIL'S TEAM:
🌼 Poppy (Floette) ♀
Flower Veil
Synthesis, Moonblast, Grassy Terrain, Aromatherapy, Wish, Petal Blizzard

🌼 Hydrangea (Gastrodon) ♀
Storm Drain
Water Pulse, Mud Bomb, Recover, Rain Dance, Mud Sport, Hidden Power (?)

🌼 Wisteria (Inkay) ♂
Infiltrator
Night Slash, Hypnosis, Topsy-Turvy, Pluck, Reflect, Psybeam

🌼 Thistle (Wooloo) ♀
Bulletproof
Tackle, Growl, Defense Curl, Copycat, Guard Split, Double Kick

Away:
🌼 Venus (Mawile) ♀ - at Littleroot Research Lab

AVRIL'S INVENTORY:
🌼 1 Empty Pokéball
🌼 2 Potions
🌼 Eviolite
🌼 Silk Scarf
🌼 TM for Ally Switch (from Wally)
🌼 5 Rare berries
🌼 Sea Incense
🌼 Pink Scarf
🌼 TM for ??? (from the Trick House)
🌼 Light Clay
🌼 Yellow Nectar (4 doses)
🌼 9 Quick Balls
🌼 TR for Hyper Voice (Mauville Beach)

🌼 Holotch (phone version)
🌼 Fanclub Membership card - valid until October 17^th
🌼 Ophelia's stamp
🌼 Various clothes and commodities
🌼 Pink Woolen Hat
🌼 Binoculars

🌼 Rental skates ~~again~~ until Monday, Oct. 12

AVRIL'S CONTACTS:
Jordie, Shuna, Natsuko, June, Marcella, Hikaru, Kimberly

AVRIL'S BADGES AND RIBBONS:
🥊 ➕

🎀• 1

🌼 Avril's birth date is April 25^th, 2010
🌼 Character art made with [SPAN="color:rgb(40,180,40);"]https://picrew.me/image_maker/338886[/SPAN]

Contest disappointment

Saturday, October 10^th - afternoon - Mauport Bridge (north end)

The two girls managed to sign up to the contest in time, but were not really presentable after their ride. The wind, the weight of their bags, Kimberly not renting a bike until Avril was with her, the occasional Taillow or Wingull bothering them… they made Avril look sleepy and sweaty, and Kimberly upset and rather messy. As soon as they got rooms for the night, Kimberly hid inside, combing her hair and working on her outfit, while Avril ran out and tried out a few more moves before the contest. It felt like that team was not going to last much longer.

To Kimberly's credit, she went first out of twelve and pulled out something decent with Sand Attack first and Pin Missile second, acting as the thorns of a rose. Nothing too different from the first round performance at the Dewford contest that Avril won - maybe that was her strength, to adapt easily to first round prompts by making just a few changes to a single routine. But judges could have grown tired of that after a while, perhaps…

Avril used Angie and Poppy, the two Pokémon on hand that were the most interested in Contests to begin with, and started with Rain Dance, easily checking the box of the Cloudy prompt. The clouds moved around slightly with the wind as Angie prepared the field further with a Mud Sport, moving in circles effortlessly as Poppy followed her and planted Grassy Terrain. She then floated up into the rain cloud and readied up Petal Blizzard, then Synthesis, making for a very cool light effect as Rain Dance's cloud eventually dissolved.

Both of them made it to the second round, and Kimberly proudly stood up, looking at her potential opponents with a smug grin. She was still feeling lucky. But luck did not feel like siding with Kimberly… and so the Petalburg girl was promptly paired with Avril for the first battle of the second round.

She grimaced and even went as far as asking Avril if she could go easy on her, but a battle between Poppy and Angie on one side and Zigzagoon and Zigzagoon on the other could only end one way. Kimberly tried to get some points for looks by calling combinations of attacks, like Sand Attack and Snarl, or using Pin Missile to blow the occasional incoming Water Pulse, but Poppy was not having any of that and always made sure to keep the Normal-types at bay with Petal Blizzard, before using Moonblast to spring up in the air and clearing the path for Angie's Hidden Power. The timer eventually ran out without any Pokémon fainting, but the two Zigzagoon ended their performance surrounded by a myriad of swirling petals and clearly on their last legs. Overall, the tally of the points was not as one-sided as one could expect, but the judges still favored Avril over Kimberly.

The Petalburg girl was out of the contest, but not truly out of the way. While Avril was concentrating on her third round exhibition, Kimberly was still around, mostly making comments about the other participants that went from amusing to somewhat rude. She had something to say about the judges too, obviously - apparently they were guilty of completely disregarding the contestants' ages this time - but the blonde girl tried not to listen to any of that.

For the last round, Avril tried to recreate something similar to the comet performance from the previous week. After a Moonblast to propel herself upwards, Poppy used Wish and materialized a shooting star, with Angie preparing a Mud Sport once again. Thanks to Gastrodon's quick movements, she could dodge the comet as it came by, and finally trap it inside of her own Water Pulse. This would send the comet back up to Poppy, who would break the bubble with Petal Blizzard. On the second round of this, unfortunately, Angie missed the timing and Wish hit the target, while Poppy could only hit the empty Water Pulse with a Moonblast for a final burst of shiny droplets.

Avril didn't give that mistake much thought, and neither did Kimberly to be fair. But the judges likely did, because at the end of the contest, the blonde girl only got second place. In first place, instead, stood a boy named Winston, with his Wormadam and Taillow.

She didn't mind too much. It was unfortunate to end a contest like that - and if that really happened to Kimberly as many times as she claimed, of course she'd act that way - but ultimately, Avril joined the contest mostly to let her Pokémon be creative on a stage and have some fun, not to win it. Even the more competitive Poppy let it go quite soon and happily congratulated the winner. But obviously, Kimberly had something to say.

"Not you too…" she groaned. "You did better than him, you were more creative, and you weren't here for long… Winston's stuff is the same old every time."

Avril raised an eyebrow.

"You even beat me to get to the finals! You deserve that ribbon."

"Kimberly, can you not, please?"

"Why not? I'm calling out bad judges if I see them! We deserve more ribbons than we have, you know?"

The blonde girl turned away. "You know what, you don't deserve any ribbon!"

"WHAT???"

"M-maybe that was too much, sorry, but…" Avril flails her arms around in agitation. "But do you remember when we met?"

The blonde girl pulls out her one and only ribbon, the one she won in Dewford with Kimberly in second place. "This. This is just a tiny piece of metal with some decor, but you know exactly what it means to us both."

"I don't get it… a ribbon is a ribbon."

"To me it's more than that. It was the first time I competed with Venus. You know, Mawile. She is currently training elsewhere, I don't have her with me. I also assume you think this is the symbol of yet another defeat, so it probably stings to look at it now." Avril puts the ribbon away. "But regardless… it's also proof that me and my Pokémon were considered good enough to win a Contest, you know?"

"I know I'm good enough to win a contest, it just hasn't happened yet!"

Deep breaths.

"Then why do you go to all these contests and try so desperately to win a ribbon, if you're so confident that you can win in the first place? Why do you always blame it on luck when you lose? Don't you think it would have turned in your favor by now? If you think judges make bad decisions, why do you care so much about winning the ribbons that they award? What's your point then, uh?"

"What!? But it's…"

"Well?"

"What else am I supposed to believe? What else am I supposed to do? Why do I have to go through all of this? Why do I have to prove time and time again that doing something I enjoy is not a waste of time?"

Avril was very emotional and on the verge of crying, but this time around, Kimberly had long preceded her.

"Kim, sorry... let's get back to our rooms and rest a bit."

budube · Feb 27, 2024

Jordie "Jo" Hughes

Sunday, October 11

Mauville City - Winstrate Stadium

Chapter 6: Part 2 - Round 3, vs. Sunny

Jordie takes a deep breath and calmly walks their way into the battlefield the moment they hear the announcer call their name. At the same time from the other side of the field they see yet another girl, one with bright red dyed hair in nearly the same fashion as their own green. The girl waves to the crowd, though she winces when her name is announced. Said name is "Sonya Dey", as it says in the screen above them, and she definitely has at least one red Pokémon with her; it's just a normal guess, Gabby is the same color as Jo's hair as well.

"Hey!" Sonya calls out from her side of the field. "I hope you're as good as I think you are. Don't want this to get dull!"

"Don't worry I never disappoint, miss Sonya Dey." Jo smirks, this is a breath of fresh air compared to how shy their previous challenger was. They like it. "A double battle, if you are not afraid of having me at my best, that is. Only three Pokémon to raise the stakes."

"Fine, but only under one condition: call me Sunny Dey, alright? I prefer that to my given name." She grabs a pair of Poké Balls from her belt, accepting the offer of a Double Battle.

"Right. The name is Jordie by the way, but you can call me Jo." They put on their sunglasses and then follow Sunny by grabbing two of their Dusk Balls and throwing them into the battlefield. "Let's go! Dewey, Bane!"

"Alright! Flare, Jalapeño!" Sunny tosses her Pokémon as well, her Darumaka dancing happily in place while Seedot stares down his opponents. "Oh, a Lairon? I've got an Aron, myself. Wait, I mean… Don't think I'll make this easy for you!"

"Heh. Called it," Jo whispers the moment they see Flare come out of his Poké Ball.

Jo calls for Bane to boost his defenses with Curse, but Flare throws a small rock that bounces off his snout. It didn't hurt, but the Dark-infused rock Taunts him and keeps his focus on Flare. At the same time, Dewey aims her spinneret at the Darumaka and shoots a Spider Web to immobilize him. Sunny Dey calls for Sunny Day, and a brilliant orb rises from her Seedot, shining warmly on the combatants.

Sunny looks at Flare, trapped in sticky thread, and glances briefly at her watch. "Jalapeño, set up Grassy Terrain! Flare, use Fire Fang to get those webs off you!"

"Grassy Terrain, huh? That's fine by me," Jordie smiles. "Dewey, use Aqua Ring! Bane, aim Rock Slide at Flare while it's distracted!"

Jalapeño glows green as grass sprouts across the floor of the arena. Flare starts burning away at the webs, but is pelted with rocks before he can completely free himself.

Sunny winces at the impact. "Okay, new plan! Focus fire on Lairon! Flare, Fire Punch! Jalapeño, Bullet Seed!"

Bane charges at Flare with Take Down once Jo calls for their Pokémon to take the offensive. As the Lairon takes the collective attack of both of Sunny's Pokémon, Dewey shoots a string of silk at one of the rocks and swings it around to strike Jalapeño, to then cling to it and jump closer to him.

Jalapeño glares at the Dewpider, gathering Dark energy. "Hey! We'll deal with that later! Mega Drain on Lairon for now. Flare, keep using Fire Punch!"

Bane gets slightly pushed away after receiving Flare's attack. Jo knows he's not close to going down, of course; physically taking him down would be really difficult with the terrain healing and the Eviolite. He's still hurt, though, and apparently burnt since he's having problems retaliating with full force.

Jalapeño's Mega Drain comes through and Bane puts on some resistance instead of backing off. Dewey jumps on the Seedot's head and Bug Bites him to distract the grass type from further attacking Bane, whereas the Lairon uses his tail to swipe some mud at Flare's eyes as the Darumaka's next Fire Punch is ready to impact him.

Flare swings wildly as the mud hits him, nowhere close to hitting Bane. "Hey! Flare, focus! He's on your left! Move closer and Fire Punch! Jalapeño, ignore that bug and keep Draining Lairon!"

The Seedot looks unhappy with that order, but obeys, while the Darumaka jumps forward recklessly, swinging wildly at Bane.

"Are you for real? If you're going to keep doing the same thing, at least focus your moves on the threat in front of you!" Jordie calls Sunny out, then has the Dewpider crawl to Jalapeño's face to use Infestation, making her shoot a dense white gas from her spinneret which causes the Seedot to slowly wear himself down.

Bane throws another chunk of mud Flare's way after barely being able to move away from his attack. While the Darumaka recovers from the attack, the Lairon turns around, focusing all of his strength on a final full-body Take Down, sending Flare tumbling to the left side of the field. The little Darumaka weakly tries to stand, but falls.

"I know what I'm doing!" Sunny snaps as she returns Flare to his ball. She tosses another ball, revealing a Lampent. "Sputter, use Will-o-Wisp on Lairon! Jalapeño, use Payback on the Dewpider!"

Ghostly fire emerges from within the Lampent, flying toward Bane, while Seedot rocks forward to hit Dewey with a headbutt.

Bane was already burnt, so the Will-o-Wisp does nothing other than intensify the pain. It doesn't matter, though, since Jo was waiting for Flare to fall to switch him out for Maroon.

Dewey quickly gets back up from the ground, the smaller water bubbles around her head rapidly healing her and she locks Jalapeño to the ground with Spider Web. Maroon drives the tip of their anchor to the ground and stretches themselves while picking up momentum, swinging the ship's helm directly at the Seedot.

The light from Sunny Day fades, and Jalapeño seems to slump as it does. The fire in Sunny seems to have gone out, leaving just a weak smolder as she slumps more than her Seedot. "Sputter… use Confuse Ray on that Dhelmise, see if we can keep it at bay. Jalapeño, hang in there, try to get that sun shining again."

Jo adjusts their sunglasses, thinking about a way to counter. Confusion is not a fun status condition to battle against. "Dewey, help Maroon by restraining the Lampent, don't worry about the Seedot for now."

Dewey shoots another silk string, this one aimed towards Sputter's right arm, however, the Lampent is faster than her and manages to hit the Dhelmise with her Confuse Ray. Jordie sighs. That can't be good.

"Hang in there, Maroon, focus!"

The Dhelmise doesn't listen, though. They start going on a berserk, leaving the helm alone on the ground, making them look like a weak seaweed spider as they try to snap out of their confusion.

Sunny stares in surprise, perhaps a bit confused herself. "Hang on, that worked? I could still win this!" She bounces back quickly, pep back in her metaphorical step. "Focus on Dewpider, then! Jalapeño, use Mega Drain! Sputter, try to catch both of them with a Flame Burst!"

Ignoring the webs on her arm, Lampent fires a large ball of purple fire at Dewey, smaller orange sparks leaping off of it and heading toward Maroon. Seedot glows green as he leeches energy from Dewey, both content to leave Maroon flailing.

The fire sparks that fell on Maroon seem to alter them a bit, as the seaweed directly turns Sputter's way and lashes at her with ghost-type energy without any prompting from Jo. Dewey uses that moment to pin the Lampent to the ground with Spider Web and run behind the anchor to set up another Aqua Ring on herself.

Jordie tsks, now the Pokémon more vulnerable to fire attacks is in the front line. "Maroon, what do you think you are doing!? Get away from there!"

The Dhelmise, however, fails to listen and decides to attack the Lampent with Astonish again.

"We have them right where we want them!" Sunny crows, changing tactics to target the more vulnerable Pokémon. Lampent fires a Sunny Day-boosted Flame Burst at Maroon, catching Dewey with the secondary burst damage, while Seedot aims a Dark type Payback at them.

Maroon backs-off, severely damaged by the two consecutive attacks. They don't lash at the Lampent again, though, instead they swiftly extend towards the helm to pick it back up from the ground, already calmed down.

Jordie adjusts their sunglasses, and sighs. How embarrassing, but at least they are back on track.

"Maroon, are you listening now?" One of the seaweed 'tentacles' wrapped around the anchor 'nods' in response, Jo nods back.

Dewey comes out from her hiding spot behind Maroon's anchor. Her water bubble grows in size as she aims a Water Gun directly at Sputter's face which turns into steam on impact. As the steam floats away, the next thing the Lampent sees is the red seaweed building up ghost type energy around the helm that's rapidly approaching her like a wheel. It strikes directly and quickly returns back to the Dhelmise like a whip, just for Dewey to follow up by approaching Sputter to Bite her.

The 1, 2, 3 of steam, anchor, and fang leaves Sputter reeling and, true to her name, her internal flame sputtering. Struggling back up into the air, the Lampent releases another Flame Burst at Maroon, while the Seedot charges in to dish out some more Payback.

Sunny Dey herself is looking nervously between Maroon and her Lampent, possibly concerned which one will fall first.

Maroon takes the attack, and the helm bounces back to the anchor sticking on the ground. The Dhelmise angles the anchor forward, aiming towards Sunny's party, with the helm facing them as it starts rotating and forming bubbles around it.

Dewey jumps out of the grass and shoots another string of Spider Web at Sputter's arms to bring her back to the ground and pull her closer to the Whirlpool that just started sucking her in.

"Sputter, don't touch the ground! Use Ember, like in the Sky Battles!" Sunny calls out frantically. Her Lampent unleashes a gout of flame from her base, aiming it at Maroon, but even boosted by Sunny Day the flame isn't strong enough to escape the webbing and the pull of the Whirlpool. Sunny may not be ready to give up the ghost yet, but Sputter is barely holding out now. Meanwhile, the little Seedot, without instructions, attempts to Drain more energy from Dewey.

Dewey leaves Sputter behind, leaving her to be sucked in by Maroon's Whirlpool and faces the Seedot. Her Aqua Ring recovers part of the health Jalapeño absorbed and then the Dewpider shoots another burst of Infestation gas at him.

With Sputter pulled into the Whirlpool, it doesn't take long for the Lampent's flames to flicker out. Rather than let Seedot face off against two opponents by himself, Sunny recalls both of her Pokémon. She grits her teeth, looking tired and somewhat angry, but she puts on a thin smile for the crowd's benefit. "Well, even I know when I've had enough! I won't draw this out any more!"

Jo sighs. "That was… easy," they say to themselves. Were it not for that one moment of confusion, they would've finished this much earlier, they think as their pride starts taking them over again. The trainer puts their sunglasses above their head and recalls their Pokémon back, turning around to face the crowd with a huge smile and raising both arms, and then faces their opponent. "Good game!"

"Haha, yeah! You definitely showed me a thing or two! Next time won't be so easy!" Sunny quickly shakes Jo's hand, giving a quick wave to the crowd as she leaves the arena.

CSS Template by Juno
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ft. Groc as Sunny Dey

Jo's portrait made with this picrew

[PKMN FULL] Hoenn: Square One [IC]

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Chapter 6: Part 2 - Round 3, vs. Sunny