A Journey of Two, a Pokemon Story

Alright, looks like you'll be heading to Celadon via the northern route and also sidelining Chansey for this battle. In hindsight, I probably should have checked on the stats of Tetsuya's team before and have had you choose who you wanted to use for this. Magneton was, uh, a bit too powerful for this.

Before heading back home to Celadon City, Violet had another commitment to resolve. And so, in the late morning the day before she was headed out Willow, Tetsuya, and herself stood at an arena in Saffron Park. Standing on one end of the field with her oldest friend on the other, Violet could tell how excited Tetsuya was for the battle. While he hadn't practiced properly for this, he did apparently come up with a few ideas for how to surprise her. Although Violet thought as she frowned, he may be underestimating the effect of traditional training.

"Just you wait!" He shouted from across the arena, grabbing Onix's Pokeball as he posed. "I'll show you what I have prepared!"

Violet didn't respond, letting her hand drift to her waist and grab Magneton's Pokeball. Based on how her opponent was acting, she should be able to land a Flash Cannon which would be devastating to Onix.

Willow spoke up next, "Let the battle begin!"

Two Pokeballs were thrown out, with Onix emerging and immediately using Sand Tomb without any orders. Pinning Magneton in place, the Rock Snake Pokemon attempted to get behind the trapped Pokemon.

"Flash Cannon," Violet calmly ordered. A moment later, concentrated Steel-type energy slammed into Onix, immediately causing her to faint.

Tetsuya visibly paused as a faint hint of worry passed through his body before being drowned in determination. "Hypno, I'm going to have to use you early. Open up with Hypnosis." As he threw the Pokeball, his voice dropped to a whisper, forcing Violet to read his lips to understand what he was saying. "Fake Hypnosis, use Fire Punch instead."

"Don't fall for it Magneton," Violet ordered in an equally soft voice. "He's using Fire Punch, stay still and use Flash Cannon again."

Magneton's only indication that he heard her was a subtle shift in his stance as the Magnet Pokemon instinctively prepared to step into the blow and counter. Hypno seemingly stayed at range, as psychic energy pooled into their eyes. Then he dashed forward, fire coating his arm just as Magneton unleashed a burst of Steel-type energy into the Psychic Pokemon from point-blank range.

Both participants were blown back, although Hypno clearly came out of the exchange far worse for wear. "Hypno!" Tetsuya called out, "Use Poison Gas!"

Violet's head snapped towards Tetsuya, trying to figure out his plan. He clearly knew Magneton was a steel-type. Was he expecting her to switch?

The answer to what he was planning came in the few seconds she spent thinking, as the cloud of poison grew thick enough that Hypno was entirely obscured by it. Blindly using Flash Cannon, Magneton's three eyes darted around, trying to locate the Hypnosis Pokemon.

A Psybeam struck him in response, the attack causing Magneton to spin backward even as Violet ordered a second Flash Cannon in that general direction. While it missed, the attack did help disperse the cloud, just in time for Hypno to use Disable.

Fully on the defensive, Tetsuya managed to predict Violet's use of Thunder Shock allowing Hypno to avoid the attack and use Disable for a second time. Stepping backward, Hypno managed to dodge a follow-up Electro Ball from Magneton just as Violet began to worry that she would have to begin resorting to moves that hadn't been practiced in months. Only for the constant defensive work to distract Hypno from a third Disable, allowing Magneton to use a second Electro Ball which caused their opponent to faint.

Letting out a breath, Violet reflected on how that could have gone if Tetsuya had opened with Hypno using the Poison Gas cloud. If Flash Cannon had been disabled before Onix was sent out, things would have gone far worse for her.

The rest of the battle was almost an afterthought. Tetsuya attempted an interesting combination attack with Kingler, although it seems he wasn't able to use two moves in rapid succession. Magneton simply used an Electro Ball to win the fight. Few were. Pidgeotto similarly attempted an unorthodox strategy, trying to drag Magneton into the air before dropping them. Unfortunately, Violet managed to see it coming and simply ordered the Magneton Pokemon to drop to the ground. And over 100 pounds of steel was not something Pidgeotto could lift. And for the third time in a row, Electro Ball caused Tetsuya's Pokemon to faint.

Across the field, Tetsuya stared at the Pokeball in his hand, having returned Pidgeotto. Expressing a mixture of disappointment and contemplation as if he was processing the gap between expectation and reality. Eventually, he sighed and walked over the Violet, his voice carrying a forced lightness. "You really wiped the floor with me, huh?" He managed, a small smile but the way he avoided her eyes spoke volumes.

Violet shifted uncomfortably, not sure how to respond. Her mouth opened attempting to speak before it closed with a click. "Come on Tetsuya, that was way better than what you showed me," Willow interrupted with an easy grin on her lips. Having sensed Violet's discomfort, she had walked over while both had been distracted. "Seriously, that Poison Gas trick was clever."

"I-it was closer than it looked," Violet forced out, holding her hands by her chest. "Y-you did well," she added quietly.

Tetsuya's smile widened slightly before he quickly shook his head. "Yeah, but it wasn't enough." His hand closed into a fist as his smile morphed into a serious expression. "I should have stuck with what works for me."

"The-the tricks were unexpected," Violet commented, recalling how Tetsuya's usual approach to problems was to use out-stubborn them. "B-but while they help, th-they need a good foundation."

He looked over at Violet, determination in his eyes. "Next time we battle, I'll be ready."

Letting out a breath, Violet felt relieved that he didn't hold the loss against her. And she was glad he wasn't too discouraged by it.

Willow nudged her playfully. "Well, you have two rivals now, so you better be prepared."

Violet let out a short chuckle, a smile now on her face. "I look forward to it."

The next day, Willow and Violet were climbing a rocky outcropping as they headed towards Celadon City. The northern route was seldom traveled by trainers for good reason. Intersecting with the southern tip of a mountain range, the terrain forced trainers to either take a number of switchbacks or scale rocky outcrops. Not to mention the unconfirmed reports on Rocket presence meant that most trainers either took the normal route, or the southern one if they wanted to face a few Rockets themselves.

As Violet was clipping her climbing rope into a hook placed by the Pokemon League, she began to hear whispers from above. Straining her ears, Violet picked up a few words here and there. Looking down below, she spotted Willow climbing behind her. Waving to get her attention, she put a finger to her lips and her rival nodded with grim determination.

Slowly continuing to climb, Violet took care to remain silent as she began to hear more and more of the conversation before pausing completely as she heard two voices she hadn't heard in a while.

"Shut it," V growled. "We got what we wanted, don't get greedy."

"I'm just saying-" an unfamiliar voice replied before abruptly being cut off.

"You were just shutting up you mean," D interrupted. "V told you what to do. You wanna test me again?"

Violet could practically hear the Team Rocket grunt's teeth grinding. Slowly coming to the lip of the outcropping, Violet counted three Rockets being cowed by D and V. Observing the situation, she counted a total of 18 Pokemon actively deployed (5 for V, 4 for D, and another 9 split between the three grunts). Having to fight 2 vs 1 wasn't ideal, even if the grunts were less experienced than her. As Willow looked up at her for instructions, Violet realized she had a decision to make.

[] Deploy Forretress and Chansey - Of the trainers present, only D has the reaction times needed to properly respond to a sudden self-destruct. Having Chansey use Protect can help ensure it goes off properly.
[] Ambush - Having you and Willow deploy all 9 of your Pokemon and having them use their strongest moves will allow for a devastating ambush and will also leave you with options. You're confident you can remove all the grunts from play.
[] Send a Message - You do know how to contact the Saffron Gym. Sending them a message and waiting would be a valid option. However, they are busy this week so it may take a full day for someone to arrive. And Team Rocket appears to be preparing to leave.
[] Write-in