A Journey of Two, a Pokemon Story

Alright, on that note the vote is now closed. Looks like both + Umbreon wins. As I work to write up the update and reveal what's been figured out, I thought I'd open it up to the thread to see what ideas there are. Currently, the main topics are going to be intermediate stances, feints themselves, and stunts. More may make it into the update based on what ideas people have.

There were times that Violet wondered why her friends were so different from her. These days she wondered if the meme about extroverts adopting introverts was accurate. Inviting both Tetsuya and Willow for a review of old battles was something she wouldn't have dared think of 6 months ago when she started her Pokemon journey. Umbreon also had a personalized invitation just for himself, although it was more along the lines of inviting him for his perspectives.

Walking over to the meeting place (a small cafe Willow recommended) with her rival and Umbreon, Violet realized she was being quiet even by her standards. She was just nervous about the introduction, what if she screwed it up and her friends hated each other? "So, how did you meet Tetsuya?"

Momentarily distracted from her worries, Violet reflexively answered. "O-our parents introduced us and we got along," she explained. A teasing glint entered Willow's eye, which caused Violet's eyes to widen. "Not like that!" She shrieked as Willow started laughing.

Her voice must have carried, because she saw several adults in the crowd give them knowing looks. Blushing furiously, Violet took off her hat and tried to hide behind it. Embarrassment flowed through her, but at least it wasn't the anxiety from before.

When they arrived, Tetsuya had already reserved a booth for them. "Violet!" He said with his arms spread out wide, "It's been so long."

Standing off to the side, parts of Violet's worries returned, although this time she was able to force herself past it. "I-it's been a week." She deadpanned, wincing at the initial stutter in her voice. "So, Willow, this is Tetsuya, my oldest friend." Willow smiled and waved, but let Violet finish the introductions. "Tetsuya, this is Willow, my self-declared rival."

"So you're Willow," Testuya immediately extended a hand towards her with a wide grin. "I've heard good things about you."

Shaking his hand firmly, Willow returned his smile with her own. "And you're her childhood friend, it's good to meet you." She paused for a moment. "I get to fight her first!"

"Wait, no. I was going to challenge her!" Tetsuya wailed in exaggerated shock, "Violet, can we battle after this?" He looked at her with pleading eyes.

"Uh…" she replied eloquently.

"There's only one way to settle this," Willow said in a faux serious tone.

Immediately catching on, Tetsuya narrowed his eyes. "A Pokemon battle."

"Next week at Saffron Park," Willow set the location.

"A four versus four individual battle." Tetsuya set the rules.

"Then we are agreed," Willow chirped, breaking out of character with a grin.

Besides them, Violet looked at Umbreon who was mentally recharacterizing both Willow and Tetsuya as particularly energetic Eevees. "Now that that's over with," Violet said, momentarily pausing to show Umbreon to his seat. "There's some fights I wanted to review."

The group of four then began watching old videos of battles they were a part of, with their battle styles becoming readily apparent. Violet was focused on seeing through an opponent's strategy before exploiting it completely, somewhat reactive by its nature, it did give her substantial advantages. In contrast, Willow's battling style was aggression personified with all her Pokemon focusing on speed (even Bronzor thanks to Trick Room). She wanted to keep her opponents off balance, allowing her to seize the initiative. Tetsuya, meanwhile, was all about unorthodox maneuvers and charging head first. Every now and then he'd pull off a move that was usually only seen in high-level battles. Even if it was inconsistent, he had been slowly improving.

They first chose to focus on developing a variety of stances based on old battles. Each of them came up with their own ideas, such as Violet coming up with a tactic to handle feints, Willow focusing on a steady drumbeat of constant attacks, Umbreon explaining ambush tactics to the trainers, and Tetsuya thinking up a method to put pressure on stalling Pokemon. All of them weren't easy to implement, but at this point, all three trainers had become experienced enough to implement them to some degree. Flowing naturally between multiple stances and tactics had also been something they were focusing on, although all but Violet had issues with trying to read the opponent well enough to predict what stance would be most useful at any given point.

The next topic was the matter of feints, which all three had begun to encounter. All of them had begun incorporating it, although it was hard to tell how effective it could be and what it may cost. It was here that Violet's battle with Flynn came in handy, with the trio figuring out that feints were notably more exhausting than they had initially expected, but using them sparingly could still be useful. Willow seemed rather interested in a few possibilities.

Then Tetsuya brought up how he approaches fights, and how he came up with unorthodox tactics on the fly and in training. Both Willow and Violet struggled to keep up with his leaps of logic that often seemed counterintuitive and inconsistent. Tetsuya himself sheepishly admitted that trying to have Onix block a Water Gun with Rock Throw led to the Rock Snake Pokemon being hit by both that Water Gun and the thrown rock. However, everyone involved could see the possibilities involved, with Umbreon adding that Leafeon was capable of some rather fascinating pre-planned tactics.

Lastly, Violet then brought up what trainers are expected to do when facing psychics, especially when considering Sabrina routinely reads the minds of her foes. From what she had read, it seemed to be a bit of a gray area, although the League did sanction using psychic moves in response. It notably forbids some of the more visible moves, likely to avoid making it a Pokemon versus human event.

"Wait, Sabrina reads minds in battle?!" Willow interrupted with a mortified look on her face. "Violet, please tell me she didn't see what I was thinking at the start!"

Violet paused, trying to figure out what was the right move, "I-I can lie to you?"

Willow's face turned red before she covered it with her hands. A high-pitched keening sound that was similar to the whistle of a pressure cooker came from Violet's rival.

"She … won't hold it against you?" Violet tried.

The keening sound continued.

The 28th 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 is sadly busy this week.

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.
[] Check out the Odd Trainers - A group of three unusual trainers just arrived in the city and appear to be sanctioned by Sabrina. One of them has been going around conducting a variety of challenges such as taking 10 trainers on at once. Partake in one such challenge.

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.

GM Note: Some of the mechanical discoveries from review have been added to the Mechanics informational. The stances, feints, and stunt sections are likely the most relevant.
Traveling Actions (Must be taken either this turn or the next)

[] 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.
[] Watch your Friends Fight - Tetsuya and Willow did just challenge each other and are going to be fighting. While you expect Willow to win, Tetsuya may surprise you. And it'd be good to just hang out with them afterwards. Not to mention they need a ref.