006 - Time for a Training Montage

[brokencode]

Who: Angel and You

Where: Around the Pelagic Gym, Sevii Islands, and Over the Network

When: End of January, into early February

Summary: Angel gears up for the gym challenge.


A. Action

[After weeks of illness and resultant weakness, Angel finally seems willing to get back on her feet. It starts with simple excursions around the Pelagic Gym. When that seems easy enough, she makes her way to the island proper. The core of her team is experienced enough, so they make quick work of the wild Pokemon in the area when necessary. There are some younger, less trained Pokemon that need the help, though, and so they, too, partake in the battles.

Mostly, though, she's looking for new creatures. She's waiting, trying to observe the types of Pokemon that run around the area. She studies her team, too, trying to figure out where their weaknesses lie and what gaps need to be filled. Sometimes she stands with them, observing the punches thrown by Skagbait and the elegant dances of Bailey, trying to replicate where she can. Other times, she sits in the grass with a notebook, scratching down her experiences here and there.

And of course, there are also the times where she gets too tired to keep going. That usually ends with her head rested against Adorababy, shielded from the breeze by the warm wing of Bailey, and watched over by the Lucario.]

B. Network

[Angel is freshly wakened from one such nap when she opens her gear up. The video has already started by the time she notices (and plucks) a stray leaf from her hair. She smiles at the camera nonetheless.]

I think I'm going to start up the gym challenge once more. Many of my friends have taken it on -- it seems like a good way to honor their legacy by finishing it up for them.

Is there anyone currently taking it on? Perhaps a group that would not mind a stray traveler? I believe I managed to defeat Bugsy last, if that helps at all. That seems right. I'll need to find my badge case, won't I?

[She covers her mouth, laughing to herself.] Of course, I'm also looking for training advice, too. Typing, all of that. I believe most people are familiar with most of my Pokemon? I'd hate to change out some of the main faces but... I suppose for battle, I would need to adjust.

This seems... like a very big deal, now that I'm thinking about it. Maybe I need more time to think.

Comments

video

[copykiri]

[On the video is a little girl, certainly not any older than ten, dressed in a feathered headband, and wearing costume wings over her sleeves. There's a Chatot on her shoulder, and she's holding up a badge case with Hive and Zephyr badges. And a signed pamphlet for Falkner's aerial shows. Her voice doesn't sound like a little girl, but a woman, slightly rough and strained. She looks very proud of her accomplishments!]

I killed people!

[brokencode]

[Well that's... Actually, this is hardly the worst thing she's ever seen captured on camera. The little girl isn't even the weirdest dressed thing she's ever seen. It's probably not a good sign that Angel seems so unphased by this.

Then again, Angel has had years of experience translating from Psycho to other people. A quick look from the child (potentially too young and small to kill) to the badges (not bones or anything else), quickly puts whatever tension had built in her shoulders at ease.

Now, she's left to simply beam at the young girl.]

It looks like you have been very successful at killing. You and I are about as far along as one another.

[copykiri]

I'm so proud of you!

[That's a woman's voice, sounding very bubbly, and so is the next phrase, but what follows next is a man's voice (Jaskier, if Angel has heard him speak.]

I'm Kiri! Used to be a Kenku bird. Cursed to mimic things!

[Kiri grins, and back to the woman's voice.]

Yes, I am very sweet.

[brokencode]

[Angel has not had the (dis?)pleasure of speaking to the flirtatious bard yet. Still, whoever he is, she has to be grateful to the man for giving Kiri such a convenient way to describe her... situation.]

Well. It is nice to meet you, Kiri. My name is Angel. [That smile brightens just a little wider. Maybe it looks a little sadder, too.]

Did you used to have wings, too?

[copykiri]

It's nice to meet you, Kiri. It's nice to meet you!

[The first is a direct mimic, but she looks very proud at being able to separate her name out from the rest of the sounds. The next voice she uses is a man's (Runaan, in specific).]

Covered in feathers! Covered in feathers!

A

[fingersandteeth]

Is it okay to ask what you're writing about?

[And that's Steven who just sat down nearby to where Angel is, but well out of arm's reach. He gives her a sheepish smile as he does.

(He and his new boyfriend--who is ridiculously tall it seems--had made it to the island earlier that day, so that Steven could breed Fail Whale with one of Armin's pokemon and so that Thace could challenge Armin for the Abyss Badge.)]

[brokencode]

[Angel starts just a little. It's not because it's Steven -- she'd known he was on the Islands and visiting Armin, after all. She just isn't expecting anyone to come along and ask after her.

Thankfully, she doesn't look too bothered, brief alarm notwithstanding. She holds the notebook out to him as an offering. The top of the page has the name Adorababy written. There are two columns of moves listed out -- moves that he knows and moves that he can learn. On the other side, there's a secondary set of columns -- gyms and gym leaders that he might be strong and weak against.

The rest of it is various notes on abilities, tactics, and other stuff.]

I am trying to figure out the best course of action for our coming challenge.

[fingersandteeth]

Ohhh. [He grins as he looks her charts over.]

That's clever. I've got notes of my own for all my Pokemon, but I hadn't thought of doing ones to measure them against gyms. When I have a gym, I make notes on the gym leader's pokemon and then I page back through my notes on Pokemon to see if any will work. But by the time you reach every gym, you'll already have an idea how well everyone on your team will fare.

Are you planning on just one consistent battle team for all the gyms or are you going to tailor your team to each gym?

[He passes the notebook back with a chuckle.]

Sorry. I know I can get a little obsessive over gym strategy. I just find it fascinating in its complexity and variations—and thankfully Thace does too, so I don't bore him like I suspect I did Jack, [he admits.] He didn't see much use in the gym challenge, other than getting cleared to fly on that dragon of his. I doubt he saw all my matches, even after they went up on Staryutube.

[brokencode]

That's a good strategy, I think. [But Angel shrugs nevertheless.] I witnessed a number of battles with Krieg and Gaige when we were traveling with one another, plus I hear others speaking of their own strategies. I figure trying to start early with what I know wouldn't be a bad start.

[She ponders his question momentarily, looking down at her notebook.]

Tailoring a team for each gym would make the most logical sense. The problem is that I grow very attached to each member. It's... difficult to let any of mine go, even if it's only temporarily.

[She shakes her head, just a little sadly.]

Unless it pertained to him, Jack didn't really care about the hobbies of other people. I am glad you found someone who can appreciate your sense of strategy.

[fingersandteeth]

Yeah, [Steven says softly.] Me too. [He's quiet for a moment.] Every now and again I look back at my younger self and I think, 'what the hell was I thinking?' But then I remember I was at the peak of my self-hatred when I met Jack and he was... well, understanding about everything I was ashamed of. Maybe that should have set off those warning bells, but I was just so high on the experience of being liked for myself and not a carefully curated better version of me. I thought he was the only person in the world who could understand me... but in the end it turned out that I was the one who couldn't understand him.

[He shakes his head.]

If you want to keep the same team for the whole gym challenge, you should. You just have to make sure it's balanced--and then fill up on TMs to cover the thing you don't have through natural attack. Mm and also prepare to do a lot of gyms where you only functionally use a fraction of your team.

I suppose it's a little like planning an Elite Four team--or one to face Blue for boat tickets.

[angewiesen]

I just finished up in Kanto a couple months ago, but I'm planning on doing Johto once the weather warms up a little. This is your first time doing the gyms, right?

[brokencode]

More or less, yes. When I traveled with Krieg, previously, I collected a few badges, but never finished the challenge.

I don't suppose you are looking for company on the road?

[angewiesen]

It'd probably be for the best. If I go out there alone again, I think I'll completely forget how to talk to people by the time I'm finished.

[brokencode]

You mean you knew how to talk to people to begin with?

[angewiesen]

[Oh, burn! If it were from someone else, Jean would've been pissed, but from Angel, he almost feels proud. He even has to try and swallow a laugh.]

You're learning!

[schachmeister]

[Part of Armin really wants to constantly help Angel with her new training, but he also realizes he cannot do that. In part, because he has his duties as a gym leader, of course, but also in part because Angel needs to do this on her own. She needs to get the chance to develop her own strategies and team, and not just listen to what he says.

Plus, if she is going to be travelling on her own come spring, he can't be there to fuss over her every move either.

Of course, that doesn't have to mean he can't spend any time with her either. He gets lunch breaks, and Angel and her pokemon require breaks from training too!

So with the morning's gym duties behind him, and with some freshly prepared sandwiches and a thermos of tea in a basket --does this make him Red Riding Hood?-- he goes out to find Angel wherever she is training around the Pelagic gym. Luckily the island isn't all that big, so she is easily found, dozing peacefully against Adorababy in the grass.

She is so damn adorable.

After snapping a quick picture on his gear --this is going straight into the 'My girlfriend is the cutest person in the world' files-- he sets down the basket, pressing a finger to his lips to mime silence from Angel's watchful crew of pokemon. Making himself comfortable, he plucks a blade of grass, reaching over to lightly tickle Angel's nose.]

[brokencode]

['Dora perks his head up, ears angling back briefly before he realizes who has come to visit. He settles back down just as quickly. Skagbait, on the other hand, pretends not to have seen any of this. If she had, she might have had to put a stop to it. This way, she has plausible deniability.

And Angel, of course, is none the wiser. Her arm tightens around 'Dora's frame, mouth pressing into a content smile at the presence of warm fur. That expression twists in the slightest at the first brush. With the second, she reaches up to brush it away.]

Dora, your ribbons -- [She blinks her eyes open and -- stares at Armin. She remains staring for a long few seconds, trying to parse out what's happening, where she is, and why her nose tickles. Her eyes finally alight on the little blade, and she huffs.]

I was having such a nice nap.

[schachmeister]

[Good girl, Skagbait. Your pragmatism is one for the books.

Armin props himself up on his elbow, reaching to the side to grab the basket and hold it in view, almost like a peace offering.]

I figured. But I didn't think you'd want to miss lunch.

Unless you'd really rather sleep.

[brokencode]

[Angel rubs at her eyes. She glances at the basket, before shifting to bump her head against Armin's shoulder.]

I should eat. [She still sounds awful drowsy, though.]

[schachmeister]

Can't train on an empty stomach.

[Armin bites his lip, trying not to explode at how adorable Angel looks when she is drowsy and sleep-mussed.]

I brought lunch for your pokemon too. I imagine they must be pretty hungry by now too.

[fortuna_tenax]

I'm... hoping to start soon, actually? And it's just me and another kid, so I don't really know if you'd get anything from this. But. I'd like to talk as we both go, if that's okay?

[ She's 15 and new at this and Felix and his have been great but also she doesn't want to worry about disappointing him and this lady just seems really nice. It's her Vibe. ]

[brokencode]

Oh! [Angel is... surprised at the question, but she certainly doesn't look put off. She nods emphatically, in fact.]

I would be more than happy to assist you. And I am sure I would get plenty from the journey, in any case. If you are just starting out, you're really not all that far behind me.

[fortuna_tenax]

We won't be leaving Violet for the rest of winter, and it sounds like you're looking to get going though.

[ Far be it from her to impede anyone's anime journey. That's just rude. ]

[brokencode]

I'm afraid I do not really have the constitution to be traveling in the winter myself. I am mostly looking to gear up and be prepared. The climate where I am is at least a little more temperate -- It's easier to get out and move, here.

So. Perhaps our journeys will begin concurrently all the same.

[fortuna_tenax]

Honestly, I don't think I do either- I'm lucky I didn't get a cold earlier.

[ She's chuckling about it though? ]

Maybe!! The only other people I really know are all way farther ahead- I think they were going to... Ecruteak?