[X] Buy Items - Now that you've earned eight badges, you should start looking into buying items for your Pokemon.
[X] Extended Travel - Choosing to travel at an accelerated pace would let you get to the Indigo Plateau at the end of this week. It would mean Tetsuya would meet you at the Plateau rather than here.
[X] Buy Items - Now that you've earned eight badges, you should start looking into buying items for your Pokemon.
[X] Find Old Contacts - Flynn and Crystal are both milling around the town in preparation for their journey through Victory Road. It may be fun to see what they have been up to.
[X] Buy Items - Now that you've earned eight badges, you should start looking into buying items for your Pokemon.
[X] Extended Travel - Choosing to travel at an accelerated pace would let you get to the Indigo Plateau at the end of this week. It would mean Tetsuya would meet you at the Plateau rather than here.
[X] Buy Items - Now that you've earned eight badges, you should start looking into buying items for your Pokemon.
[X] Extended Travel - Choosing to travel at an accelerated pace would let you get to the Indigo Plateau at the end of this week. It would mean Tetsuya would meet you at the Plateau rather than here.
[X] Extended Travel - Choosing to travel at an accelerated pace would let you get to the Indigo Plateau at the end of this week. It would mean Tetsuya would meet you at the Plateau rather than here.
[X] Find Old Contacts - Flynn and Crystal are both milling around the town in preparation for their journey through Victory Road. It may be fun to see what they have been up to.
[X] Teach Umbreon how to Command a Pokemon Battle - Umbreon's tactical skills surpass most trainers. Improving those skills via practical experience in commanding battles would do wonders.
huh, just realised this, but how much cash do we even have for Items right now?
I'm assuming we'll be able to afford something for everyone.
On that note, how do the Choice Items actually work? most other Items I can get since they probably are items infused with Pokepower, but how do Choice items lock you into just one move? do they lock you in? or do they hyper focus on it and force drop the ranks of other moves?
If you do something like a combo move with a Choice Item that locks you into one move can you only do that combo move or can you use all the moves that were components in that combo move?
[X] Buy Items - Now that you've earned eight badges, you should start looking into buying items for your Pokemon.
Locating the items she wanted for her Pokemon was a more complicated process than Violet initially expected. Leftovers were the items she wanted most, but they proved to be more complicated to buy than she had thought. Instead of a general item, it seemed that they had to be tailored to the specific Pokemon. It was certainly doable for Violet, but gathering the various items she wanted would take time.
Admittedly, it helped that she was trying to buy them here as opposed to other towns or cities. The influx of high-level trainers also brought high-level items, albeit at inflated costs. It was the only reason she could find someone that might be willing to sell her Slowbronite, even if the cost required was too high even for her.
That was surprising to Violet, mostly due to the number of trainers she could see with similar Mega Evolution items. However, after sating her curiosity, she found out that the cost in Kanto was simply drastically inflated for a variety of economic reasons. Should she travel to another region, then such items would become affordable.
Regardless, Violet was glad that she purchased the various items now as opposed to trying to buy them at the Plateau. There, the local economy was far more seasonal and focused on tourists rather than trainers. Which meant that items were far, far less available.
During her few days in town, Willow spent her time battling a few trainers as she got used to a few items she had bought in Saffron City. Violet only tangentially kept track of what her rival was doing, but she did note that Willow's strategies had gotten better with the energetic girl now far more dynamic in battle.
Overall, the time spent in the town of Victory Road was mostly bland without too much interesting going on due to Violet's focus on purchasing various items. There was some news about a jailbreak that occurred, releasing several Rockets, but details were still rather limited. While she doubted they would be interfering with the battles at the Plateau, Violet was still worried about what the Team was up to.
[] Write-in Items to Purchase (1 per Pokemon, so 7 total)
huh, just realised this, but how much cash do we even have for Items right now?
I'm assuming we'll be able to afford something for everyone.
On that note, how do the Choice Items actually work? most other Items I can get since they probably are items infused with Pokepower, but how do Choice items lock you into just one move? do they lock you in? or do they hyper focus on it and force drop the ranks of other moves?
If you do something like a combo move with a Choice Item that locks you into one move can you only do that combo move or can you use all the moves that were components in that combo move?
For cash, I abstract it overall so you can buy whatever you want apart from Mega Evolution items or Z move items due to those being hard to get in Kanto.
As for Choice Items, those work by helping to shape a Pokemon's energy into a specific form so trying to use a different move would cause the item to fight against it causing problems. While it doesn't fully block other moves in my ruleset they do notably reduce their rank.
And should you do a combo move on your own, then it'd require you to only do that combo move. Albeit the malus to the moves in said combo move will be lesser.
Once her purchases had been secured, Violet ensured her bag was packed and headed towards victory road where Tetsuya and Willow were waiting. The journey through the tunnel system would be complicated, lengthy, and dangerous. Three things that Violet knew should spell disaster when it came to caving. Thankfully for them, most of the danger from the environment was alleviated by the artificially expanded interior. Signs were present indicating the proper route, although that didn't always stop trainers from getting lost.
Unsurprisingly, Willow was practically bouncing on her feet the moment she saw Violet. The energetic trainer had been growing antsy seeing other trainers head into Victory Road themselves, and Violet knew that the battles she had fought only served to heighten her anticipation for the plateau. Tetsuya, on the other hand, was putting up a front. He'd been traveling for 10 days straight now, having decided to bribe a Lapras pack to take him from Cinnabar Island to Pallet Town before then getting sidetracked rescuing a Pidgeot in the Viridian Forest. Nonetheless, he was clearly happy to see Violet again. "Violet!" Tetsuya visibly perked up, giving her a wide smile. "It's so good to see you again! How are you? Run into any more poachers recently?"
"No poachers in the last week," Violet replied with a small smile. "Rescue any more Pokemon recently?"
"Just Pidgeot," Tetsuya puffed up, clearly proud of his accomplishment. "It's what a good trainer does."
"Alright, let's go!" Willow interrupted, trying to ensure Violet and Tetsuya's discussion didn't delay them anymore. Then, in a softer voice that Violet was pretty sure she wasn't supposed to hear, Willow added, "I'm so excited~"
They stepped into the dimly lit passage, and within a minute, the air itself felt different, cold and damp compared to the warm, dry air outside. The path itself was smoother than any cave Violet had been in, the ground worn down by years of trainers traveling on it. More concerning to the trainers was the rustling of unseen Pokemon.
As they journeyed, Tetsuya continued to drag Violet into conversation as he asked question after question. Trying to make up for lost time, he jumped from topic to topic, asking about her Pokemon, her gym battles, and more. Violet herself asked questions in response while answering his own, although her questions were less frequent. As she was trying to determine if she should ask about one of the new moves his Pokemon had learned, she heard a set of four wings flap.
"Magnezone," Violet said simply.
The Magnet Pokemon emerged from their Pokeball with a glow of red light, immediately aiming with Thunder Shock at the charging Golbat.
Minun emerged a fraction of a second later as Willow went for her Pokeball, just in time to contribute if Magnezone missed.
They didn't.
"We're going to have to set up a watch, aren't we?" Tetsuya said with a sigh.
Two days later, the trio was still walking through Victory Road, having made considerable progress. Mildly irritated at the constant Pokemon battles that they had to take seriously, by now, a strategy had been put in place to help manage them. Violet and Forretress would identify when they were about to be attacked, while Willow and Tetsuya would immediately strike back at whoever it was. Overall, it worked rather well, even if they had to cycle the Pokemon involved in and out as needed.
As they continued onwards, however, Violet stopped in her tracks at a faint sound echoing from one of the side tunnels. A rather prominent 'Do not enter' sign was present, along with a set of footprints headed into the tunnel. "Is … is anyone there?!" Violet yelled into it, hearing her voice echo through the tunnels. A few seconds passed, and just as she was about to head out, she could just faintly make out an indistinct response.
"Alright, we can't just leave them in there," Tetsuya said immediately, glancing at the other trainers present. "Violet, you know the most about caving among us. What do we do?"
"I've got a map," Willow added, handing Violet a set of sheets that showed Victory Road. Looking at it, Violet winced at the side tunnel's route. Branching off into multiple other pathways that crisscrossed each other, navigation wouldn't be easy.
[] Head in Alone - Heading in alone would let you move considerably faster. However, it'd make navigation riskier, not to mention making it harder to pull someone out if they can't move or are stuck.
[] Head in with Willow - Taking a partner would be slower but safer. You are more familiar with Willow, so she would be a natural choice to join you.
[] Head in with Tetsuya - On the other hand, Tetsuya does have more survival experience than either of you. He may be more helpful in the cave system than Willow.
[] Get Help - The level of danger involved in exploring a complicated passage that you hadn't prepared for is considerable. It'd take another day to get to a location where you could call the League, however.
[] Write-in
[X] Head in with Tetsuya - On the other hand, Tetsuya does have more survival experience than either of you. He may be more helpful in the cave system than Willow.
[X] Head in with Tetsuya - On the other hand, Tetsuya does have more survival experience than either of you. He may be more helpful in the cave system than Willow.
[X] Head in with Tetsuya - On the other hand, Tetsuya does have more survival experience than either of you. He may be more helpful in the cave system than Willow.
Let's introduce our friend to Violet's newly developed hobby.
[X] Head in with Tetsuya - On the other hand, Tetsuya does have more survival experience than either of you. He may be more helpful in the cave system than Willow.
[x] Head in with Tetsuya - On the other hand, Tetsuya does have more survival experience than either of you. He may be more helpful in the cave system than Willow.
[X] Head in with Tetsuya - On the other hand, Tetsuya does have more survival experience than either of you. He may be more helpful in the cave system than Willow.
[X] Head in with Tetsuya - On the other hand, Tetsuya does have more survival experience than either of you. He may be more helpful in the cave system than Willow.
Scheduled vote count started by Daemon Hunter on Mar 3, 2025 at 9:04 PM, finished with 8 posts and 7 votes.
[X] Head in with Tetsuya - On the other hand, Tetsuya does have more survival experience than either of you. He may be more helpful in the cave system than Willow.
[X] Head in with Tetsuya - On the other hand, Tetsuya does have more survival experience than either of you. He may be more helpful in the cave system than Willow.
"Tetsuya," Violet said, her voice firm. "You're coming with me. Willow, stay here and wait for us."
Willow nodded. "Got it. I'll go get help if you're not back in an hour."
"Make it four," Violet replied, understanding that it would take a lot longer than she'd like to explore the tunnels in search of a trapped or lost trainer.
"Can we use Onix to dig us a tunnel?" Tetsuya asked, holding out a Pokeball. "She's pretty good at that."
Violet pursed her lips, thinking about the risk of a cave-in. "That's plan B." Not to mention that the League frowned upon altering Victory Road in any way.
Heading into the darkness, Violet and Tetsuya were guided by their headlamps. The tunnel twisted and turned, branching off into multiple smaller passages. Carefully comparing the terrain to the map, Violet struggled to keep track of their location.
"How do you even track where we are?" Tetsuya asked, breaking the silence. "I'm not entirely sure myself."
"By taking things slow," Violet replied. At every intersection, she deliberately took out the map and compared it to what she saw in front of her. It was only after she was certain of their location that she continued to move. "You'll get better with time."
After what felt like an eternity, they finally got close enough to determine what the trapped trainer was saying. "Alright, Espeon, let's try it one more time."
"Can you hear us?!" Tetsuya yelled out.
"Oh, thank Arceus," was the reply. Rounding another bend in the tunnels, Violet paused for breath while taking in the scene. "I've been stuck here for hours."
It wasn't an encouraging sight; the trainer was trapped, having tried to squeeze through an opening far too narrow for him. Both legs appeared to be pinned along with one of his arms. Arranged around him were eight Eevolutions arguing among themselves on how to get him out.
"Looks like you're wedged pretty tight," Tetsuya said with some concern. "Can you move at all?"
"Sort of," the trapped trainer replied. A moment later, they heard the sound of a shoe scraping across rock. "It's my hips that are stuck. By the way, I'm Jack. I'm just glad a trainer heard me."
"Why did you even come here?" Tetsuya asked, leaning down to try and see what was pinning Jack.
"I thought it'd be fun," the trapped trainer replied. "But I, uh, made some mistakes."
Violet rapped her knuckles against the rock surrounding Jack, frowning at the lack of dust that fell. Budging them wasn't going to be an option. Tossing out Slowbro, she glanced at him, then at Slyveon. "Maybe together?"
Both Pokemons' eyes glowed, Psychic being used to telekinetically tug Jack to drag him out. A pained expression crossed his face a moment before both Pokemon stopped.
This was going to be a lot harder than Violet had hoped.
Pick 1
[] Have Onix Dig Jack Out - Having Onix dig around Jack could cause a cave-in if you're unlucky. However, it would be the quickest way to do so.
[] Use Slowbro to Teleport Jack - Slowbro has recently learned Teleport although his accuracy has room for improvement. He may accidentally teleport the two of you to another part of the cave though.
[] Go Get Help - A rather safe option that'd take time, you could teleport out with Slowbro and call in the League. You would have to sprint through Victory Road to make it to the Indigo Plateau however.
[] Write-in
[X] Go Get Help - A rather safe option that'd take time, you could teleport out with Slowbro and call in the League. You would have to sprint through Victory Road to make it to the Indigo Plateau however.
Pending better ideas, guaranteed safety is more important?
@Daemon Hunter How about having Onix Dig Jack Out, then someone Protect if there is a cavein, and we recall before Teleporting out through Slowbro?
Otherwise, wear the rock down through acid or some kind of Move and then pull him out, if there won't be accidental collateral damage?
