A Journey of Two, a Pokemon Story

After spending the night at Willow's home, Violet woke up feeling refreshed. It had been nearly two weeks since she last had access to a proper bed, and now it felt like a luxury. After having breakfast with Willow, who was about to face the Saffron Gym's gauntlet, she made her way to a Pokemon park where she was meeting Tetsuya.

He was in the middle of training by the time she arrived. All four of his Pokemon were out and split into a set of two sparring matches. His strategies were fitting for Tetsuya, utilizing a combination of bullheaded power to blast through problems. To his credit, at times he could make it work, managing to inspire his Pokemon with a wild strategy that even Violet could struggle to track. Having Onix use Sand Tomb to block a Bubble Beam from Krabby was an interesting strategy to say the least.

As the fight went on, Violet sat back and waited for it to finish. While she was sure Tetsuya would be fine if she interrupted, Violet felt that would be too awkward. Instead, she wanted to make sure she arrived at a socially appropriate moment. A part of her thought she was overthinking the problem, but that part was swiftly shouted down by the shy parts of her psyche.

It took a few minutes for the spar to end, and for Tetsuya to finish congratulating his Pokemon. Time during which Violet awkwardly tried to get him to notice her, only to eventually give up and realize he was a bit too focused on training. Slowly making her way towards him, she paused for a few seconds in the desperate hope that he'd turn around. "H-hi!" She finally forced out, waving her arm as Tetsuya turned around.

"Violet!" Tetsuya yelled with a smile on his face. "It's so good to see you again, there were a lot of people around us last time, so we couldn't talk properly, so I'm glad we're doing this."

She took a moment to look over Tetsuya's Pokemon, idly noting that his Pidgy had evolved into a Pidgeotto who was flying circles in the sky. "Yeah," Violet uttered, rubbing the back of her neck with her hand. "Thanks for … giving me space." Having to deal with her temporary (hopefully!) fame had been awkward.

"Eh," Tetsuya started, clearly thinking he'd done nothing of note. "I didn't do much." He immediately perked up. "But look at you! Taking charge of handling the entire Pokemon pack, catching a new friend along the way."

Tetsuya really wasn't good at hiding his interest in Umbreon. His entire body practically radiated curiosity about the Moonlight Pokemon. Deciding to preempt the question, Violet tossed Umbreon's Pokeball. "He's pretty smart," she said simply as an introduction.

Thus began a series of introductions, with each of them introducing a Pokemon. First was Umbreon who was rather disinterested in Tetsuya and his Pokemon but was willing to play nice despite having criticisms over the lack of proper spars (Violet and Tetsuya both tried not to think about that). Introducing Krabby, his starter, next, the River Crab Pokemon was more than Violet expected. Rather physically powerful, she felt her eye twitch when she discovered his personality was a near match for Tetsuya's. Entirely willing to use Metal Claw for hours to get through an obstacle, Violet couldn't help but wonder what a fight with him would look like.

Matching a starter for a starter, she introduced Dragonair next. As expected, he immediately began preening to the amusement of both Forretress and Tetsuya's Onix. The most emotionally mature members then mutually introduced each other, with the Bagworm and Rock Snake Pokemons finding a degree of familiarity dealing with an entertaining teammate.

Chansey was introduced next, seeking a dance partner for practice to which Dragonair immediately volunteered, much to Tetsuya's amusement. Violet did make a suggestion. "Tetsuya is a good dancer as well," she told Chansey, who immediately began to pester the betrayed male trainer to act as her dance partner.

Before that could happen, Tetsuya introduced an uncharacteristically focused Drowzee who proceeded to briefly cooperate before going back to practicing Psybeam over and over and over again against a tree. Sighing in fond exasperation, Tetsuya turned back to welcome the last Pokemon, only for Violet to blush as Magneton was currently holding the Pokedexes of both trainers.

"I-I could have Dragonair get those back," Violet indicated before Magneton gave a pointed look at the Dragon Pokemon who was currently being critiqued on his presentation by Onix. She then looked to Tetsuya for help, only to realize she had made a mistake expecting him to have a sane response.

"Come on Violet! Time to catch him!" He lunged towards Magneton, only for the Pokemon to use Magnet Rise to ascend. Catching himself before falling, Tetsuya looked at the tree that was nearby before immediately trying to climb it.

Violet looked down at her Pokeballs, thinking about how easy it would be to put an end to this. Then she looked at Tetsuya and saw how much he was enjoying this. And finally, she thought about it herself and realized she would enjoy the chase. "I-I'll cut him off." She said, dashing to cut off the direction Magneton had been planning to use to escape.

It didn't take long before they were caught, but following that chase, several other Pokemon joined in. Including Pidgeotto who had flown down from his flight in the sky. Spending the rest of the day chasing each other around, by the time the sun set, both Violet and Tetsuya were exhausted and happy.

The 27th Week, Pick 2

Pokemon Actions

[] Train with your Pokemon - All of your Pokemon are skilled in battle with unique skills, but they can see some improvements through practice.
[] Train Umbreon - While he is experienced, he has had an informal training period and may benefit from special attention. And to set some expectations about what proper training is.
[] Buy and Use TMs/HMs - You're a big enough trainer to afford TMs and HMs for your Pokemon. You should take advantage of it when you can.
[] Train with Willow- While it would be nontraditional to train with your rival, both of you have unique skill sets that could complement each other. She did just get through the gauntlet and will be challenging Sabrina this week.
[] Review Past Battles - You were so close to beating Flynn, and some of the tricks he tried are giving you ideas. Going over your past battles may help with that.

Battling Actions

[] Challenge New Trainers - Now that you and your Pokemon have developed, fighting a few trainers in rapid succession would be easy.
[] Challenge an Experienced Trainer - Some trainers in the area have two badges, beating them may be a good experience.
[] Challenge the Dojo - An unofficial gym with skilled Fighting Type Pokemon, you may benefit from challenging the leader within.

Exploration Actions

[] See the Sights Inside the City - There are several interesting attractions in Saffron City. You saw a fair few last time you were here, but far from all.
[] See the Sights Outside the City - With Diglett Cave nearby, it could be fun to spend a few days exploring the cave system and see what interesting locations and Pokemon are within.
[] Explore Unorthodox Locations - Saffron City is a large metropolis with several rather unconventional places to explore. See what you can find.

Traveling Actions

[] Leave the City - It's about time you decided to head out. There are a few cities that you want to travel to. Not to mention quite a few adventures to have. Opens travel sub-vote.

Social Actions (For socials, it's assumed you keep up a basic level of contact through text, choosing a social means I write it up)

[] Call your parents - Your parents did leave Saffron City a while back, it may be good to talk with them.
[] Meet Tetsuya - An old childhood friend of yours, the two of you drifted off recently. He is preparing for a Gym Battle with Sabrina, but right now would like to hang out.
[] Watch Willow's Fight - Willow plans to fight Sabrina this week, it'd be useful to watch and see some of the tricks Sabrina uses. As well as to just provide some support for your friend.

Alright, I'll be calling the vote here. Looks like you'll be watching Willow's fight. Additionally, the vote itself is tied between Training Umbreon and Reviewing past battles, so that'll be done via a d2. As for Willow's fight, I'll just be rolling that here.


2 - Review

Well, surprisingly Willow does make it a close fight and only loses to Sabrina's final Pokemon.

Violet shifted awkwardly in the stands as she waited for Willow's battle to begin. She wasn't sure if Willow understood that the chance of a win was low. Before heading over to the gym, Violet had thought about bringing that up, but one look at Willow made her remain silent. Her friend had her own determination and emotions to work off of and through, and getting in the way would have been mean.

Willow appeared to understand that she was a significant underdog in this fight. Going into a four-badge fight with only four Pokemon was a bold move (and likely foolish a part of Violet whispered), but Willow wasn't willing to wait before facing Sabrina. In truth, Violet wondered if she would be disappointed if she won. It would mean she wouldn't be able to see the gym leader going all out against her.

A part of Violet had been disconcerted by the faint hints of jealousy Willow had been masking. Ever since the incident with the Eevolutions, her rival appeared to understand that Sabrina approved of Violet to a degree. One that Willow deeply wanted to match. Thankfully she hadn't verbalized that to Violet. Having to respond to that would have been mortifying.

The 5-badge fight that preceded Willow's ended with a victory for the challenging trainer. Ignoring them, Violet's eyes flickered across the monitors, spotting Willow plotting with her Pokemon. Glancing over at Willow's parents sitting next to her, Violet braced herself as she indicated what was going on. "S-she seems to have a plan."

Willow's mother turned towards her, as Violet pointed towards Willow on the screen. Aunt Hazel stood up and both Violet and Willow's father leaned away when they realized what was about to happen. Clapping her hands once, Willow's mother leaned back, cupping her hands around her mouth. "Come on, Willow! You've got this!"

A notable portion of the crowd looked their way, as Violet tried to hide herself behind her bag. She briefly glanced at Willow's father who had the expression of an introvert that had spent too long next to an extrovert. Willow looked up towards the monitor that displayed them, waving with a confident grin on her face that only faintly showed her nervousness.

Striding forward, Willow arranged her Pokeballs in a specific order, seemingly in anticipation of the fight. Practically vibrating in excitement Violet's rival was excited and nervous in equal measure even as her mother cheered her on before the fight had even started.

Then it began, with Willow sending out her Umbreon and Sabrina sending out Espeon. As both trainers called out their initial orders, Violet spotted Sabrina's eyes begin to glow before a faint blush spread across her face. Distracted, it gave Umbreon the chance to avoid Dazzling Gleam and counter with Assurance. Switching out Espeon for Mr. Mime, the Barrier Pokemon was hit by an immediate Bite even as they used Calm Mind twice in a row giving Willow just enough time to switch Umbreon for Heracross. And the moment Alakazam entered the fight glowing with power, Heracross used Shadow Claw, causing the Psi Pokemon to faint.

Sabrina sent out Venemoth next who was immediately hit by an Aerial Ace before managing to poison Heracross with Poison Powder. With a smile on her face at her plan going so well, Willow ordered Heracross to use Aerial Ace once more. And just as it was about to land, a red glow caused Venemoth to switch out and for Slowbro to take their place.

Everything went a lot worse for Willow after this, with Sabrina reading the use of Shadow Claw before replying with Disable. Then Willow switched to Umbreon as the gym leader used Yawn and then Protect to handle Umbreon's last attack. Bronzor was next, but Sabrina used the opportunity to use Curse twice, once on the switch and once when Bronzor used Safeguard. For a moment, Willow thought Hypnosis would solve the problem, only for Slowbro to use Sleep Talk followed by Future Sight. After using Safeguard, Willow swapped to Umbreon who managed to both survive the powerful attack, but also simultaneously wake up with Slowbro.

Unfortunately, Umbreon had yet to learn Dark Pulse, which caused him to faint when Slowbro used a third Curse followed by Stored Power. However, Willow did manage to use Starmie to bring Slowbro down to a more manageable health followed by Heracross finishing the fight with an Arm Thrust.

Now in a two versus three, Willow rallied admirably, managing to switch to Bronzor and use Trick Room followed by Gyro Ball to defeat Mr. Mime. Unfortunately, this was followed by Espeon using Protect followed by Shadow Ball twice which led to Bronzor fainting. A poisoned Heracross then attempted to win, but Espeon followed their prior fight by using Protect, dodged the Shadow Claw, Protect a second time, and was hit by the second Shadow Claw, before chaining a Protect, Detect, Endure combination that caused both Pokemon to faint. And with Venemoth remaining, Sabrina became the victor.

Following the fight, Violet attempted to approach Willow only to find that her friend appeared to be in good spirits. While it had been a battle she could have won with proper preparation (catching a fifth Pokemon), Willow was somewhat relieved she could still face Sabrina for her 8th badge. As such, rather than attempt to cheer her friend up through platitudes, Violet decided to approach matters another way. "S-so, what's your plan next time?"

Willow blinked at the question, somewhat relieved not having another person trying to alleviate any perceived sadness from the loss. "Huh, well I've got a few ideas. Have a full team for one." Willow then proceeded to begin talking about a number of different strategies and tactics. Discussing the possibility of teaching new moves to all her Pokemon, trying a variety of new stances, preparing a variety of strategies, and more. Making a mental note of the ideas, it made Violet consider if she should invite someone when she starts reviewing her old battles.

[] Invite Willow - Having already given some thought to the problem, Willow does have unique perspectives on the matter.
[] Invite Tetsuya - You're not sure how helpful he'll be considering his approach to fighting. Nonetheless, he does have a perspective of Pokemon you don't.
[] Invite Both - Being able to double as an introduction between your two friends, it would allow for a broad range of perspectives.
[] Write-in - There may be others you've encountered that could provide some insight.