victory_road | video post announcement

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[The camera shows the inside of a private compartment on the Johto-Kanto magnet train. Steven and Thace are sitting close together on a bench, dressed in their outfits from prom, about a dozen pokemon of various shapes and types arrayed around them, all of which are wearing prize ribbons. Steven's grinning widely as he looks at the camera.]

So. Technically this is a bit overdue, but we'd been roughing it up Victory Road practically since prom and I, at least, wanted to visit the Mount Moon B&B while we were still in Kanto. That said, guess who the latest two Aurora League champions are?

I look forward to opening a gym that focuses on improving communication and understanding between people and Pokemon, [Thace tells the camera earnestly.]

[Steven laughs.] We probably should actually get home first before we start filling out the paperwork, though.

[Thace laughs with him, before kissing his cheek.] I'm looking forward to that too.

We'll be in Johto again in a few hours. Try not to let Team Rocket level Goldenrod before we get there. [And Steven reaches forward to turn the camera off.]

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Well, well! Congratulations to the both of you. I suppose I should look forward to seeing the two of you at any future Aurora League meetings--perhaps we could caravan.

[A jest, really. As if Dirk would ever suffer such a crowded situation as that.]

[Steven grins.] It's a nice offer, but we wouldn't want you to feel like a third wheel.

[Also Dirk is almost certainly not who you want to road trip with.]

I confess I have a fondness for trios, but this would be more of a quartet—regardless, I well know the fourth would indeed take issue with such arrangements.

Alas.

[He shrugs and gives a performative resigning sigh, before leveling a smile at Steven again.]

Have you any plans for celebration?

[Steven grins.] I've got nothing against trios myself, nor does Thace, but they generally require more planning than pairs. And yeah, the fourth wheel would immediately go flat at the prospect.

As far as celebrating goes, I promised Kiri that I'd have a little party with her, to make up for missing her birthday while we were on Victory Road, but I'm not sure if we've got anything else planned. The long weekend on Mount Moon was sort of our personal celebration, I guess.

So, you've proven yourselves stronger than the Elite Four. Well done.

[Felix isn't smiling, quite, but he has a satisfied look on his face.]

Though I have to wonder just how 'elite' they really are, if all of the champions have defeated them.

Well, I know that there's plenty of challengers who don't manage it or who have to make more than one challenge to finally beat them. Karen in particular was... difficult for me. That damn Spiritomb...

[He shakes his head.] My God, I hate that thing. That's one ghost I won't catch.

Huh. I’m unfamiliar with that one. What makes it so formidable?

And why don’t any of the champions replace the Elite Four, since they’ve proven themselves stronger?

I mean, it's both Ghost and Dark, so it's literally only vulnerable to Fairy type moves. Which might not be as bad for other people's teams, but my particular team's Fairy type representative is also half Ghost type. And the other Pokemon I'd brought that did have Fairy type attacks was also a Ghost type. So it was just a pain in general to deal with—still, I wasn't going to leave either of them behind to face the Elite Four.

And, well, any Pokemon with only a single weakness is going to be annoying to deal with anyway. It's the same with Koga's Skuntank—I just lucked out that the Pokemon I could send out after that one wasn't also uniquely vulnerable to it.

As for the rest of it, I suspect that they don't let otherworld champions replace the Elite Four because we're in danger of disappearing—and as far as I can tell, though I could be wrong, we're the only ones who have beaten all of them in recent years. That's probably why they made the whole Aurora League thing to start with—as technically separate from the Indigo League the Elite Four represents, I mean. We're—if you'll pardon the pun—in a whole different league than the locals when it comes to strength and capability.

Edited (Tenses, extra words) 2021-06-24 08:41 (UTC)

Huh, hoW elite are these guys?
It feels like eVery Week there's a neW champion or tWo.

[Oh Lanque, you're a little shit. Steven however knows not to let his annoyance show. It's easier with text.]

It had been nearly a month since the last, but people *have* been challenging and winning fairly often lately, it's true. I think there's been seven or eight of us since New Year's. We often went months at a time between Champions before that.

Maybe they call themselves the Elite Four because they only do 'Elite' matches? Most gym leaders give you the option of a smaller team in the mid-levels (Regular matches) and a full team that's maxed out their levels (Elite matches.)

So an aVerage of roughly tWo a month.
I guess that makes sense, I'Ve done one of those gyms to get the badge that alloWs me to fly, but it Was an embarrassment With hoW easy it Was, so I haVen't really tried the others.
Is it really that big of a deal? I knoW this World pretty much cranks its collectiVe bulge to these monsters and eVerything, but...

Well, with the frequency of recent Champions, it might not be as high-status in achievement as it used to be, but there's still P2,100,000 in prize money, which is nothing to sniff at, and there's also the free real estate.

That is to say that once you beat the Elite Four, the League will build you a gym to your specifications upon request--and said specifications can be pretty extravagant, considering that Armin got a whole research level aquarium out of his--and pay you P18,000 for every day you stay there waiting for challengers, no matter if the challengers show up or not. *And* they'll pay the salaries of any employees associated with your gym and the prize money for any challengers that *do* beat you.

So I think in terms of the opportunities it affords us, it's still a big deal, even if it's not as impressive as it used to be as a status symbol.

Huh.
Okay, I guess that's a good reason to do it. The money and the gym, I mean.
Maybe I'Ve been too quick to dismiss this, but can you really blame me? It doesn't seem exactly glamorous from the onset.

No, it doesn't particularly.

The other reason to open a gym besides the free real estate is that the locals seem to defer to gym leaders in general. It's a way to set yourself as a person in authority wherever it is that you've put your gym.

Hm, guess I can't really say I'm interested in being the authority, too much responsibility for my tastes.
But then again, I don't like ansWering to authority either.
Alright, yeah. I can see the appeal.

Oh, that's the whole point, right? Of Pokemon training? So congratulations.

Yeah. Though not everyone does it, of course. I didn't plan on doing the gym challenge at all, except the ones I needed to Surf and Fly, and then I enjoyed those so much I went and did the whole thing.

But yes, thank you.

Edited (he's got better manners than to NOT say thank you) 2021-05-21 00:11 (UTC)

You really liked it that much? Huh. Because I know I want to get what I need to do the whole Fly thing, but I'm not really that into the whole battle thing. But most of my Pokemon really are, so it seems a little, I don't know, unfair to them?

Sorry, I'm just thinking here.

Well, you can always let them be the strategists of the matches? Most Pokemon are fairly smart and while not all of them have a head for strategy, some do, and since they understand our language even if we don't understand theirs, it's not hard to work out an agreement through gestures and things. I don't think there's anything wrong with being their escort to and from the matches and being on call as their healer, but otherwise letting them do their thing how they want to. Though with needing to be there for healing, you probably can't play around with your 'gear or read during the matches.

And yes, I liked it that much. I enjoyed the strategic aspects of it, mostly, and the adrenaline rush and the thrill of competition. And the prizes and getting on television isn't bad either.

I mean... Yeah, that's true. I could even work with them on those strategies ahead of time, because that part is kind of what I'm good at? It's just kind of stressful, I guess, to watch them fighting, and getting hurt. That's something I'm still not used to.

[It's one thing to see people in danger when he knows they can handle it; has seen them win time after time... But this is different. He still doesn't feel he knows his team.]

But I do like prizes.

There's some pretty good ones. Like I told Lanque in the comments above, you get P210,000 in total for beating the entire Elite Four, which is certainly not chump change. Even the lesser gyms will usually net you at least P10,000 each and a TM and an HM. If you can beat Clair or Blue's Elite Teams, you can win reusable tickets for a three week cruise.

But yeah, it can get a bit stressful when they're taking a lot of damage out there. I find it helps to research their opponents ahead of time? All the gym team compositions, Regular and Elite, are easily found online, as well as the common movesets a pokemon might learn at every level. Most Indigo League gym leaders don't use TMs on their gym teams, it turns out, except for the ones you get at that gym as prizes. Before Thace and I left, we figured out the movesets for all the pokemon our teams would face, so we could tailor them towards not only who'd be able to do the most damage, but who'd be able to take the least.

There's also some moves like Protect and Light Screen which will create shields against some attacks or one like Fly or Dive or Dig where the pokemon spends a turn above or below the field before they hit their opponent, thus keeping from getting hit on that turn they spend away.

Woah, that's not chump change at all, no. I like the sound of that. And doing all that research ahead of time is really smart. I didn't realize Pokemon battles could be kind of, you know, boiled down that way to be a bit more predictable. I like that.

Yeah, they can. It's not a part of battling that people always talk about, but I find that planning match strategy ahead of time always makes me feel better about my chances.

The thing about gym matches is that unlike the matches you have with the random people you might challenge in the street is that there's an order to them and patterns and rules. Street matches are kind of anything goes, but with gym matches you have formal turns and usually even a standard order the gym leader will send out their pokemon in. It's much easier to strategize ahead of time when you know the opponent won't be pulling out extra pokemon or firing off multiple moves before you can even use your first.

Edited (wording) 2021-05-28 11:53 (UTC)

Yeah, that makes sense. Maybe I've been thinking about the training stuff all wrong, then. Or at least the gym challenge part of it... It might not be so bad if I can prepare and strategize.

I mean, yeah sure, this is another adventure I got dragged on with any say, but... Maybe I could be good at this.

You could! Having a strategic mind will serve you in good stead for the gym challenges. It's probably one of the most important things.

That and research, I think. The Loudreddits for the Indigo and Aurora League gyms, as well as the Elite Four, were pretty helpful to me for some of my gyms—Cecil's gym in particular, because I had no idea what inverse battles were before I faced him and they helped me figure out why everything in his gym was *backwards*.

Oh! Congratulations to both of you.

[Dimitri smiles, glad to see that the two of them are not only doing well, but successful.]

It seems that the two of you will have a lot to do... But I agree that relaxing is the most important thing. You have both earned some of that.

[Steven laughs.] Honestly, after three weeks of camping—which Thace loves for some ridiculous reason—I just wanted a few days in a cozy little bed and breakfast with a real bed.

Compared to Goldenrod, camping is rather peaceful. [You know, if you don't get jumped by Pokemon.] Still, there is no denying the comforts of a bed.

You both must tell us when you decide to open your gyms up officially. Felix has fought the two of you in sparring sessions, of course, but I am certain he would delight in a Paliens battle as well. I cannot deny the intrigue on my end as well.

We should actually be ready to hit the last gym in Johto soon on our own end... Perhaps one day we may join you in the list of champions. It is a pleasant thought.

I think he'd enjoy what we have tentatively planned for our gym--I think you would as well. Or at least, you might find it an interesting challenge. In the best Aurora League gym fashion, we plan to be absolute pains in the asses.

But good luck with Pryce and Clair. Do you think you'll start doing Elite matches in Kanto or just stick with the regular ones with your lower level pokemon? I mostly did the latter, but I know quite a few other people who did the former.

I did not know that was a tradition. In that case, I will have to keep it in mind.

[Maybe if they all make it to Aurora League status, they can just outsource all their big pain in the ass-ness to Claude, he has fun with that. He gets it.]

Well.... Chip actually wants to go against Pryce's elite team, so we will see how that works out, although I am not sure how it will turn out. They still rather like rushing in, although they learn from their mistakes, and Felix is constantly trying to rein them in.

[Truly, he suffers]

As for myself... I would actually like it if I could try the Elite matches. However, while Felix will likely be prepared by then, well... My only level 100 companions would be Dean and Gremlin, for right now. [He's a little embarrassed as he says it, shaking his head] I am rather dreadful at sticking to one full team. It doesn't feel fair if I don't try to interact with all of my Paliens...

If you start doing Aurora League gyms, you'll soon see what I mean. Dirk actually requires you to rap battle him if you're challenging the Dirk Strider Memorial Gym--and this after walking up roughly thirty flights of stairs.

You could start out doing regular and once you've got more high-level Pokemon, you can try to do Elite? Honestly, there's only one you really need to do as Elite and that's Blue's. He doesn't give out boat tickets for the regular matches.

So Blue does not go easy on anyone... Admirable, honestly. It will be quite interesting to go up against him, then.

Still... [Dimitri pauses a moment.] I am not sure if my rap abilities are up to par with what Dirk cares for. I do not think I impressed when I attempted my own rhymes, for an entirely different cause.

Nope. Even for a regular match, he's got the full complement of six pokemon.

As for Dirk's rap abilities... you don't have to beat him at the rapping part, you just have to make an effort. [That said...] What cause?

Well... I had heard that he had experience and talent in making wagons. As our own travel group was getting quite large, I reached out to him on the subject. After hearing his voicemail, I thought that I could perhaps lighten his mood by framing it in rhyme.

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