A Journey of Two, a Pokemon Story

Violet wasn't entirely sure what she wanted to do during the two days they were in Cremini Town. Both Willow and her resupplied within a day, as well as giving their Pokemon checkups at the Pokecenter. For a while, Violet considered exploring something unorthodox, perhaps asking some of the local Pokemon rangers for a tour, but she eventually changed her mind after realizing the possible delays that could result from that.

Willow, on the other hand, had little difficulty deciding what to do. The moment she heard there was a Battle Tower nearby, she immediately gathered all her Pokemon to go out and challenge it. After running her plan by Violet (which was mainly to try and treat it like a 5 vs 1 fight and hope the Frontier Brain wouldn't switch to another Pokemon), Willow headed out, an enthusiastic smile on her face.

This left Violet alone once more, and as she tried to think of a way to pass the time, she sat downstairs in the Pokecenter and just observed what was going on. Having Forretress join her, they observed a few interesting sights such as a group of new trainers prattling on about how they were going to be Pokemon masters in a few months, a decently experienced trainer from Unova preparing to take on the Battle Tower, and a Pokemon Ranger warning a trainer about a Beedrill hive a few hours from town. Despite that, it was rather relaxing for Violet to just sit back and rest. Especially after spending so much time with Willow. While she was a great friend, sometimes Violet wanted some time to herself.

As sat there, the local Nurse Joy was talking to the group of new trainers, mentioning how she went on a Pokemon journey when she was younger. Violet turned her head slightly in that direction, curious as to how she hadn't heard of this. The Joy family was rather famous, after all, but even with that, they tended to focus on the medical aspect of Pokemon rather than the battling aspect of it. Rather predictably, the moment Nurse Joy shared that she still battled regularly, all of the new trainers clamored for a battle.

"It would be quite the gauntlet to face all of you," Nurse Joy hummed, pitching her voice to be humorous and amused. To Violet, however, she heard a slight tremble in her words. Glancing over at her, Violet saw Nurse Joy's eyes dart from each of the trainers present before looking at the clock and then to the door. "But a triple battle may be fun~"

A short discussion broke out among the trainers, each of them wanting to participate in the fight. However, despite their attempts to persuade Nurse Joy to a full 6 vs 6 fight, she remained resolute, forcing the group of new trainers to settle picking three out of their number to face her.

In the end, Charmander, Zubat, and Pidgy were sent out against Nurse Joy, causing her to pause. "Oh, I wasn't expecting those choices."

"It's cuz of Wigglytuff," one of the trainers explained. "I've seen you use her to battle, so … yeah." The trainer trailed off, considering their explanation finished.

"It's a good selection," Nurse Joy demurred, pretending to sound suitably impressed despite clearly trying to figure out which of her Pokemon she should use for this. Based on what Violet was hearing, it sounds like she had significantly overestimated the trainers facing her. "But perhaps you should wait until after my next battle?"

"Oh, are you facing an out-of-town trainer?" Another one of the new trainers asked, practically bouncing on his feet. "I wanna see, who are they? How many badges do they have?"

"Well," Nurse Joy hesitated, trying to think up a trainer who would be willing to face her. "They have a few badges, I'm not sure how many." She lied, beginning to dig a hole for herself in an attempt to get out of crushing the dreams of three children.

"That's cool, when are you going to battle 'em?" The first trainers asked, clearly believing Nurse Joy's attempts to create a fictional event. "Cuz we could do our battle first unless your Chansey's healing makes it take too long."

"Blissey," Nurse Joy corrected. "And … it shouldn't be long before the battle, a few minutes perhaps."

"Is that her?" The third trainer pointed at Violet, causing her to stiffen. "She has four badges, that's gotta be her!"

Violet's eyes widened before she looked at Nurse Joy and subtly shook her head. Internally, she cursed at her decision to pin her badges on her shirt. Sure they made her look cool, but now she was being dragged into this mess against her will.

Nurse Joy looked at her Forretress and then back at Violet with pleading eyes.

Forretress gave Nurse Joy a deadpan expression, causing the nurse to look at the Bagworm Pokemon with pleading eyes.

From the side, the first trainer asked, "...why are you two staring at each other?"

Nurse Joy mouthed a 'Please' at Violet, before quietly gesturing towards a Blissey that was currently manning the front desk of the Pokecenter. Looking over at the Pokemon in question, Violet knew that any fight against these three trainers would be utterly one-sided.

"...I," Violet tried to say, stumbling over her words at the unexpected attention she was getting. "Um," she paused, trying to restart. "I don't …"

"No, that's not her," Nurse Joy finally said, saving Violet from the situation she had been put in by Nurse Joy's actions. "Well, maybe we should - "

"I … a battle could be fun," Violet interjected. A part of her had been annoyed that Nurse Joy hadn't said anything at first. But after a second to think about it, Violet realized that this nurse was likely just trying to extract herself from the situation. There were definitely better ways to do it, but Violet could relate to doing something generally seen as socially unacceptable just due to who they were. "B-but, maybe just a one-on-one?"

Nurse Joy appeared incredibly relieved. Both due to avoiding the need to send out three experienced Pokemon against three starting trainers, as well as keeping the battle duration somewhat limited. "Yes, yes, a one-on-one would be perfect."


Violet's Perceptive Trait Kicks in!

Nurse Joy will avoid using Roost, only using it if Violet's Pokemon use a healing move themselves. As it is, her main strategy will be to use Protect on the first damaging move that comes in before using either Reflect or Light Screen based on what Pokemon she's up against.

Following this, she'll then use a series of Dazzling Gleams and Air Slashes against whichever Pokemon is sent out. She'll intersperse these with Protects when needed but can't quite predict when an attack is incoming. A well-timed feint could bait it out for other purposes.

During this, Togekiss will start off the fight in an Evasive stance before switching to a Steady Offense stance after the initial screen is set up.

[] [] [] [] [] Write-in

Alright, as it is it seems that Plan Gainz wins it, which does lead to a lengthy battle thanks to both participants in the fight having the ability to heal as well as decently high stamina. As it is, I'd say this would be the equivalent of 1.5 episodes of anime combat so to speak.

For the fight itself, it's an interesting mixture of high intensity and slow paced. Due to Togekiss' stance and both Pokemon mostly just attacking, it's surprisingly fast paced with constant attacks going in and out. The thing that causes it to drag out is Blissey using Life Dew as well as Togekiss using Roost and constant Light Screens. In the end, the battle drags on for a while, with Nurse Joy realizing fairly quickly that you're able to predict her Protects near perfectly which forces her to constantly attack to stop Echoed Voice from building up. But eventually Togekiss runs out of steam and when combined with a slightly greedy Air Slash it results in you winning the fight.

[X] Plan Gainz

Violet took a slow, calming breath as she stepped up to the arena. Idly stretching her arms, Violet felt a complex mixture of emotions within her. Curiosity as to how Nurse Joy would fight. Annoyance at being put on the spot for a battle (seriously, Nurse Joy should have just asked her to a fight, she'd have agreed easily). And while feeling petty wasn't exactly an emotion, Violet thought it would count here.

On the other side of the arena, Nurse Joy stood there alongside her Togekiss. Taking a look at the Jubilee Pokemon, Violet frowned as she mentally went through her options for the battle. While Dragonair could be interesting, he would really only be able to use Wrap which would almost certainly result in a loss. There was Magneton … Thumbing their Pokeball, Violet took a moment to imagine how that would go. …okay, maybe that would leave the realm of petty and move into the realm of outright meanness.

"Let's have a fun, quick fight." Nurse Joy said from the other side of the arena, seemingly forgetting that Violet had been awkwardly dragged into this. Frowning, Violet gazed at her opponent, realizing that the Pokemon Nurse did feel a bit guilty over this, it was mainly overridden by Nurse Joy's belief that Violet would genuinely enjoy the fight.

She wasn't entirely wrong, although Violet felt as if she too should get something out of this fight. Nurse Joy clearly wanted a quick fight, but Violet was more focused on training. A smile came to Violet's lips as she replied, "G-good luck."

Nurse Joy's smile turned slightly brittle as Blissey emerged from her Pokeball. Togekiss on the other hand looked interested, sizing up the Egg Pokemon as he lifted himself into the air. Then a few seconds later, the battle began.

Immediately, Nurse Joy called out, "Let's see what she does," as a shimmering Protect sprang to life. Togekiss himself began to fly through the air in unpredictable patterns, first forming the protective screen then as it expired laying down a Light Screen to handle the expected attacks from Blissey.

On the other side of the arena, Violet's words were much quieter, "Wait for Protect to fade," she ordered a moment before Togekiss even began to use the move. "Then keep up Echoed Voice."

Blissey began to sing, causing the air to begin to vibrate as the energy within began to build and build. Nurse Joy, however, wasn't idle, shifting into a steady offensive cadence with a mixture of Dazzling Gleams and Air Slashes Blissey began to have her health slowly decrease even as Echoed Voice built in strength.

From an outside perspective, the battle was an interesting mixture of high intensity and slow. Unlike most Blissey, Violet's Pokemon chose not to simply turtle up and accept the hits. Instead, she chose to try and avoid them as best she could, and while it seemed like a poor choice she was far more graceful than most Blissey around. When combined with a near-constant Echoed Voice that was only broken for the use of Life Dew or when Violet snuck in rest periods when Togekiss tried to break Blissey's rhythm with Protect.

Togekiss and Nurse Joy only broke their constant attacks to either use Roost or to reapply Light Screen. While they initially did well ensuring Blissey couldn't build the power of Echoed Voice, that simply couldn't last forever.

While Togekiss had high endurance, the Chansey line was famed for its stamina. Fights between two Blissey had lasted for days before, while Togekiss was reliant on his admittedly good training.

But eventually, a combination of slight mistakes and exhaustion caught up to him. Used to reapplying Light Screen the moment it fell, both Nurse Joy and Togekiss failed to take into account the level Echoed Voice had built up to. Having been expecting a cycle that had already occurred four times to simply repeat the fifth time, there were two small differences that spelled disaster.

The first was the initial four Light Screens occurred before Echoed Voice had time to build up to a notable level. And the second was that Togekiss had been starting to grow tired.

Nurse Joy attempted to counter this, calling out for a Roost instead of a Light Screen. Diving to the ground, Togekiss felt the intensity of Echoed Voice double as Light Screen fell. Even as he panted, the sound only grew louder as he was thrown backward, too tired to fight against the move and force through a Roost.

Rather than attempt a futile dodge, Nurse Joy quickly called out her surrender, leaving Violet the victory of a rather lengthy match. Blissey herself was visibly injured, something that was rather rare, to say the least. Nonetheless, Violet was quite happy with her performance in the fight.

*Blissey improves Evasion from C+ to C++*
*Blissey improves Echoed Voice from B-- to B-*
*Blissey improves Life Dew from B-- to B-*

Following her victory, Violet felt a bit awkward walking up to Nurse Joy and asking for her to ensure Blissey healed properly after the fight. But once that was done, and Willow's Pokemon were healed from her expected defeat against a Frontier Brain, the two girls made the rather uneventful trip to Pewter City where they had gym battles to get to.

The 35th Week, Pick 1

Pokemon Actions

[] Catch your Sixth Pokemon - Now that you have four badges, you could catch another Pokemon providing a full team.
[] Train with your Pokemon - All of your Pokemon are skilled in battle with unique skills, but they can see some improvements through practice. Especially with their new moves.
[] Buy and Use TMs/HMs - You're a big enough trainer to afford TMs and HMs for your Pokemon. Even if the options are rather limited in Cremini Town.
[] 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.

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 - There are at least a few experienced trainers around here that may be worth fighting.
[x] Challenge a Pewter City Attendant - In order to face the gym leader, you have to first defeat one of the attendants.
[] Challenge the Pewter City Gym - Since you're already facing the attendants this week, you could ensure that you finish the gym challenge within a week of arriving.
[] Unexpected Activity - A recent string of wild Pokemon vanishing near Pewter and Sable has led to requests for a state of emergency to be declared. Should it continue the gym may even close.

Exploration Actions

[] See the Sights Inside the City - There are several interesting attractions in Pewter although you have seen many of them before. Still, it may be fun to revisit them.
[] Explore Unorthodox Locations - Pewter City has a lot that you can explore, some of them have been on your list to visit for years. Try and explore them.
[] Explore the Northwest - Partially on the way towards Johto, the area northwest of Pewter City is rumored to hold a Battle Pyramid. There may also be other interesting sights in the mountains there.

Traveling Actions (Must be taken either this turn or the next)

*You cannot travel until you earn the badge from Brock*

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 would as usual like a call when you're free.
[] Call Tetsuya - He just left Fuchsia City and is headed to Vermillion City in an attempt to earn his fourth badge.

Alright, I'll just close the vote as it is despite the tie.

1- Train
2- Unexpected Activity

[X] Unexpected Activity - A recent string of wild Pokemon vanishing near Pewter and Sable has led to requests for a state of emergency to be declared. Should it continue the gym may even close.

Having already beaten the Pewter City Gym, Willow's choice of activity was notably different from Violet's. Rather than sticking around for Violet's match (which Willow said would probably last a few seconds), she instead decided to see if she could find the rumored Battle Pyramid before circling back to check out the unexpected activity east of the city. After saying a quick goodbye to her friend, Violet began meandering through the city on her way to the gym.

Taking a moment to study the people within the city itself, Violet could tell that it was somewhat different from the cities in the center of Kanto. Rather than focusing on offices and white-collar jobs, Pewter City was instead focused on more physical jobs such as mining. Catching a few sites along the way such as a Pewter Museum and the Rock Museum, Violet was in a good mood. She expected a quick victory against whichever attendant faced her, but she wasn't entirely sure if she should use Magneton or another one of her Pokemon. While Flash Cannon would be very effective, there wasn't much training potential with it.

Humming in thought, Violet eventually decided that decision could wait until she saw who her opponent was. Approaching the entrance to the iconic rock gym, Violet frowned as she noticed a longer line than she had anticipated. Stepping into it, she was forced to spend nearly an hour waiting, although at least she was behind a crowd of trainers who were talking with each other. She really didn't want to get dragged into a conversation while she was paying attention to the attendants at the front of the line.

A set of two gym trainers were conducting tests for who was and wasn't ready for a battle with Brock. Swapping between twelve Pokemon for different skill levels, Violet observed as a trainer after trainer tried their luck. Most of them were rather young, likely children who just got their Pokemon and wanted to try to face Brock immediately.

In the larger Kanto region, the Pewter City Gym was often thought of as the starter gym, a place where you earned your first badge and moved on. In Pewter City, however, the gym was far more well-received thanks in large part to the effort of Brock himself. He was a skilled trainer who was very good with both kids and Pokemon. Having quite literally written a book on the culinary preferences of various Pokemon, it was safe to say that he understood Pokemon at a level very few people could.

As she idly mused about the gym and what stage of the Indigo Plateau Brock could reach, Violet noticed that she was next in line. Steeling her nerves at the realization that much of the crowd was now focused on her, she awkwardly shuffled in place, making sure that all four of her badges were prominently displayed on her shirt so she wouldn't have to ask for a fifth badge test.

As the attendants wrapped up, one of them turned to her. Clearly, about to ask about her relative skill level, he paused when he saw four badges present on her shirt. "Oh, we don't get many people of your level out here."

"Do…" Violet paused, running the words through her mind before finishing her sentence. "I can come back later if you need." Judging by the levels of the twelve Pokemon the attendants had, it might be necessary. Only one of them was at the level of a four-badge test, and even they were banged up from an earlier battle.

"Nah," waved off the attendant, grabbing a hold of two Pokeballs and beginning to play to the crowd. "What do you say to a 2 v 1?"

The other attendant frowned, whispering softly in an attempt to avoid Violet listening in. "Try and play this up, doesn't matter who wins, just make it cool."

The first attendant subtly nodded and grinned. Tossing out the two Pokeballs, Violet wasn't surprised as an Onix and Graveler emerged. "So, what do you say? Wanna see which one of us cracks first?"

Violet didn't reply at first, instead observing the two Pokemon and their trainer. Graveler leaned forward with a smile, clearly playing to the audience, he pumped his arms up as the crowd of trainers began to chant. Onix then rose from their seated position, staring down at Violet in a facsimile of a glare.

Violet simply stared back, content to play up the role she was asked. Tilting her head slightly, several seconds passed as the noise of the crowd died down. Mirroring her head tilt, Onix gazed down on her, his body grinding against itself as he moved.

Choose 1

[] Dragonair - Perfect for making this fight a spectacle, he may have some issues using Outrage against the two physically strong Pokemon. But Twister should work when combined with his evasiveness.
[] Forretress - Having to force herself through their defenses will not be easy, although they lack the ability to really damage her in return.
[] Blissey - Certain to be a slower fight, yet one you'd win. It wouldn't be that entertaining unless you tried some unorthodox moves.
[] Magneton - A quick one-sided stomp would be interesting. And there is the option of having Magneton and you play the villain of the story. Even if that would be a tad awkward. Magneton would definitely love it though.
[] Umbreon - Simply letting Umbreon handle the battle as he wishes would be an interesting experience for everyone present. He would also be rather good at it.