Battle Convention!

[indigo_league]

Early Saturday morning, the doors of one of the largest --if not the largest-- convention centres in Viridian City open to welcome everybody to this years Battle Convention.

Spread out across several floors, and the battling fields outside, the Battle Convention is the place to be for anyone with an interest in pokemon battling. Whether you are a hardcore battler trying to hone your craft even further, or a newcomer to the battling scene hoping to learn, the Battle Convention has things of interest to everybody. It's promising to be a busy event, with trainers attending from all over Johto and Kanto. Famous battlers and gym leaders alike can be spotted in the crowds, hosting workshops or even entering in the tournaments.





The Tournament Ground

Outside of the convention centre, stands have been erected around at least a dozen Pokemon battle fields. This is where the various Tournaments will be held. Throughout the weekend, three tournaments will be held here. There is the Otherworlder Battle Tournament, a separate tournament for native Elite Four Champions, and a third Li'l Champs tournament for trainers under the age of ten.

Viewing the various battles is absolutely free, and could be a good source of insight into battle strategies employed by some of the best battlers in the region. Or, if you are attending the Li'l Champs tournament -- a most adorable insight into the dedication and friendship between young children and their first Pokemon.

Due to the number of battles, at any given time, various battles will be ongoing. The Li'l Champs tournament will be held on Sunday, while both the Otherworlder battle tournament and the Elite Four Champions battle tournament will have most of their preliminary matches held on Saturday, with the finale few matches on Sunday.

So, if you are done shopping (or maybe just ran out of money) and there aren't any workshops catching your eye, why not come down to the Tournament Grounds and catch a few battles?

First Floor

The first floor of the Convention Centre has been reserved entirely for various workshops and battle demonstrations. In essence, whatever topic related to battling you might be interested in -- whether it is using certain moves or items, battle strategies, or even demonstrations on why you should be adding X type to your roster -- you'll probably find someone here willing to talk about it. Even breeders might find something of interest here, as there are a few people giving workshops on how to breed pokemon for battle-minded customers.

Schedules are available so you won't miss anything you are interested in. Some of these workshops might only be given once, while others are repeated a few times throughout the convention, so make sure to check your schedule!

And among the crowd giving demonstration and workshops, you might even find a few familiar faces -- yes, members of the Aurora League have also been given the chance to speak about any battle topics near to their heart. Why not check out what they have to say?

Second Floor

The second floor of the Convention Centre has been reserved for the important business of commerce. Have some money to burn? Want that sweet serotonin boost of buying a thing? Maybe you deserve a little treat after winning (or losing) your battle. If so, head on up here.

Spread across various rooms, the Battle Convention dealers have everything that could be of interest to a trainer. There is, frankly, far too much to list here individually, so please accept this rough list of what your characters can find here.

Held Items -- it is possible to buy held items here, however the vast majority of them are pretty rare, so sellers will only sell you one of each. Buying several different held items is fine, but you won't find anyone willing to sell you five Amulet coins. The only exception is for held items that also double as evolutionary items. Those can be freely bought in any quantity. TMs -- It is also possible (though might require some searching across various dealers) to buy any kind of single-use TM here. The same rules apply as with Held Items -- TMs that are currently available in stores can be bought at any quantity; TMs outside of that are limited to one per person. Eggs -- There is also a small group of professional breeders present where you can order eggs with egg moves. The eggs themselves will be delivered to you in the days after the tournament. There is no limit on the amount of egg moves you can request for your egg, but there is a hefty price tag involved! These are professional breeders, so expect a base price of 6000p per egg, with 1000p per requested egg move. Training Equipment -- it's also possible to buy all manner of training equipment for your pokemon. From weights to training bags to agility aids -- if you can think of something that could help you train your pokemon in a more efficient manner, you can find it here. And the bigger items can be delivered to where you are staying, so you won't have to carry around a giant Wailord Training Bag. Odds and Ends -- In addition to all this very focused battle stuff, you'll also be able to find general pokemon items, such a wide variety of Pokeballs, Evolutionary Items, Vitamins and Potions and such. All of these will be sold for the same price as in stores.

However in addition to all of these items, the Silph Co. Booth is drawing a lot of attention. There is an announcement that they will be unveiling something truly special on Sunday, so all of Saturday is awash in rumours and guesses. There is talk that whatever they will be unveiling will be one of the prices in the tournament, though who knows if that is true. When Sunday finally comes, there is a huge crowd around the booth, watching as Silph Co. unveils

EXP-Share, the newest held item to make your training a little easier.

The EXP-Share, which will go on sale in the department stores after this weekend, is a new type of held item. Once given to a Pokemon, this Pokemon will receive EXP during battles, even while not battling itself. Have a Pokemon that is difficult to train like Magikarp? Did you just hatch a new Pokemon, but you are in an area where the wild Pokemon are too high in level for them to train against? Why not give them an EXP-Share and have them comfortably gain EXP without risking them in battle.

Battle Convention attendants can get an early start on buying an EXP-Share, though they are limited to one per customer. The price is 40,000p.

Third Floor

This is where you can go if you need a little break from all the hustle and bustle downstairs. Various food vendors and sit-down places have been set up here, allowing characters to grab a meal or something to drink, rest a little, or even go strategise for upcoming tournament battles.

As always with these type of events UBIRDS will be available to fly characters to Viridian City and back to where they were staying afterwards.

Comments

Shrike | Oopen

[fayblood]

[I. Watching the Tourney]

Even though he's far too shy to have participated himself, Shrike is fascinated by the tournament. He's watching every possible match he can, his attention riveted as he mentally notes the different strategies and tactics used.

Really, his attention is so focused he's probably not paying much mind to his surroundings, meaning should he turn and find someone next to or behind him who wasn't there before, that person might be greeted by a startled yelp. Have fun with that.


[II. Workshops!]

When there's not a match going on, Shrike does manage to brave the crowds enough to check out some of the workshops and demos. Or at least, that's his intent. Being rather smaller than his actual age and insisting on wearing a hood out in public means he's struggling a bit to get a good view on some of the more popular ones.

"I can't see..."


[III. Shopping Time]

To saw Shrike is awed by the selection is probably an understatement. He doesn't even know where to begin looking, there's so much stuff here. And a lot of it possibly useful, too.

Still, the most useful item is, unfortunately, also the most expensive. Yes, he's definitely eyeing that exp share, and no, he doesn't really have the cash to afford it. He's still a kid, after all, he's limited in the number of hours he can work in a given day!

So, that means he's pretty much stuck just staring slightly wistfully at all the amazing things he can't buy.


[IV. Quiet Time]

Most of the time, however, Shrike can be found upstairs in a nice, quiet corner of one of the lounges. He's still not good at dealing with crowds, so it helps to be able to get away from them a bit.

Not that he's just lounging around, though. Should you approach, he'll probably be busily working on something. Perhaps looking up Pokémon an moves on his 'gear, or slowly making his way through reading a book. Maybe even very carefully and painstakingly writing things in a cheap notebook. Whatever it is though, he seems pretty absorbed in it...


[Wildcard]

Got another idea? Feel free to hit me up in Discord (AC#7235) or PM! Or just toss your brilliant tag here, that works too.

Workshops

[nellacerniera]

[Oh, hey, he remembers this kid. Bucciarati takes a glance around and noting the empty seat in front of him...]

Ah, would you like to swap seats with me, then? If that would make it a bit easier.

[fayblood]

"Oh, um, is that okay...?"

Shrike really doesn't want to impose.

[nellacerniera]

Yes, absolutely. Here, let me just...

[He scoops up the Riolu that was seated on his lap and stands up so he and Shrike can swap seats.]

[fayblood]

Well, apparently that's decided, then. Shrike can hardly not take him up on the offer now, seeing as he's already moved out of the way, so he scoots on over.

And then after a moment remembers the manners Sandalphon's been trying to drill into him.

"Uh, thank you..."

3

[dejabrewed]

Are you looking at that EXP-share, Shrike?

[ he was too, but even he, who can work any amount of hours he could (and quire frankly, it was a lot) could not afford that luxury. it was too much. far too much.

even if it would make life so much easier. ]

[fayblood]

"Yeah..."

Shrike's hood bobs a bit as he nods.

[dejabrewed]

That makes the two of us.

[ god, why is it so expensive.... ] It'd be so useful for new pokemon.

[fayblood]

It's definitely way too expensive.

"And for the ones who can't battle very well at first."

Eager as Shell has always been for action, battling was... tricky, as a Togepi.

[dejabrewed]

But the steep price tag makes it harder for us to even consider it in the first place.

[ he starts to leave the exp-share. ] Let's find something else we can buy.

[fayblood]

"Ah--"

Actually you know what that's probably a good idea, so Shrike turns to follow.

"Okay."

[dejabrewed]

Did anything else catch your interest? [ because honestly, there was a lot. ]

[fayblood]

There is totally a lot and it's really kind of overwhelming if he actually stops to think about it like. at all.

"There's lots of the TMs and items and things, but I don't know what to get..."

[dejabrewed]

Then let's narrow it down to what your team needs the most in terms of type coverage or health in general. I need some Potions, myself. [ because healing important. ]

[fayblood]

Shrike considers that a bit as they wander.

"I think I have good types for most of the gyms..." Though there's doubtless some move types that aren't covered. "I think there's items the Pokémon can hold and use, though?"

Then again, those might get pretty expensive, too. The good TMs aren't exactly cheap, either.

[dejabrewed]

[ a nod. ] There are, and I have my eye on one, but the price tag hurts.

[ it was the amulet coin. sure, sandalphon had his own mobile cafe, but earning money while fighting other trainers? please, sign him up. ]

[fayblood]

"How do most people get the money to buy things like this?"

Is it just for rich people? But most things in this world are affordable by pretty much everyone, so Shrike is really at a loss here...

[dejabrewed]

Work. Either that or win as many pokemon battles as you can. Those are really the only options we have.

[ sandalphon shrugs. it's the best he's got, that's for sure. ]

[fayblood]

Well, now he's got Shrike thinking about it. And possibly doing some somewhat laborious mental math.

"I think the money from beating the next two gyms would be enough..."

With the bonus earnings for being a trainer, he's right, as it happens. Whether he plans on actually doing that, however, is a good question.

[dejabrewed]

[ sandalphon hums, seeing where shrike is coming from. but also... ]

That's only if you spend rather frugally outside of basic necessities, such as shelter and food.

[fayblood]

"I don't really need much?" Look, the kid's used to eking out a living from a cave in the mountains. "But I need money for the Pokémon, too..."

Well that, and little modern conveniences like shampoo. Which Shrike doesn't actually want to do without, even if he'd be willing to if he had to.

[dejabrewed]

[ the most dead of deadpan stares. ]

You can't even begin to tell me you'd sacrifice modern comforts just to get an experience based item for your pokemon. Your pokemon would have a fit.

[ he would too but shhh. ]

[fayblood]

"Uh, I didn't say I was gonna!!"

He was just thinking about if he had to, okay. It can't be worse than how he'd been living before Johto, after all.

[dejabrewed]

That idea of yours said otherwise.

[ he calls it as he sees it, shrike. ]

[fayblood]

Well, Shrike's just gonna deflate at that, since he doesn't have it in him to try to argue or protest further.

"It'd be nice not to have to battle as much though..."