victory_road | Battle Convention!

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.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Post-loss TM shopping

[Now, Cecil and his team have been battling for over a literal decade. Losing is part of life! It would have been nice to keep going, but Emporio's victory was well-deserved, and Cecil wishes him nothing for the best for the rest of the tournament.

But! There's no point in losing if you don't learn from it, and if you don't at least attempt to find counters against the strategy that beat you. And as it happens, Cecil can afford counters, as long as they're available.

Thus, a man and his Clefable are having a lively discussion near an elevator on the second floor.]

Now, Rosie, I can buy you as many status-preventing moves as you wish, but that'll hardly compensate for your lower speed.

[Fable clefclef clefable faaaaaaa!]

Yes, well. That's not your ability, there's nothing we can do about that.

[Don't hesitate to ask them to move if they're in the way, really. They won't mind.]

Egg purchase

Yes, madam, I am being entirely serious.

[And Cecil does, indeed, look serious as he speaks to a particular seller. The woman in question is holding up a paper list, with a confused yet hopeful look on her face.]

I'd like all seventeen options, please. Are you certain you cannot transmit tutor and TM moves to the child? I'd not mind paying extra for those, if they're available.

[This is one breeder's very lucky day, apparently. But which species is he buying?]

Other?

[If you'd like to meet Cecil in other circumstances, go right ahead! He'll be all over the place throughout the weekend, he's not actually glued to the second floor.]

"Now, and here I thought you didn't need any more eggs..."

Of course, Sion can't resist the opportunity to tease!

"Ah, but I did say I was looking for a local Sneasel, did I not?"

Sion gets a glance, but very little more for now, as apparently pre-ordering an egg worth a small fortune involves paperwork and a deposit.

"As it happens, this wonderful breeder offers exactly what I need, which is very much a necessary quality if one wishes to sell eggs."

Admittedly, the seventeen egg moves are more of a bonus than a necessity, but no one involved in the transaction is complaining about it.

"You didn't, however, mention that it would need to come with so many egg moves."

Nope, Sion's not letting this one go that easily. It's the principle of the thing! And, of course, the fact that a pair of gym leaders are standing there joking around while one of them orders a specially-bred egg probably isn't going to hurt the breeder's reputation any.

"To be entirely fair, the egg moves are more of a happy opportunity. One that'll make this young Sneasel very popular next summer, I've no doubt."

Between the reputation boost from a double leader visit and the wallet boost from seventeen freaking egg moves, Ms. Breeder's day is certainly made. Her week, even. Maybe she'll even frame that paperwork as a souvenir!

Granted, there's several gym leaders wandering about the event, and several more Aurora League members who haven't established gyms... but still. Still.

If she were feeling ambitious she could ask for autographs!

"Well, I look forward to when your menagerie inevitably attempts to outdo what mine and Ryner came up with."

That is a positively devious grin he's sporting as he says that.

"Oh, we're only a single, limited team, we could hardly hope to match your impressive output! That could only happen if-"

And that's when his right hand swiftly clamps over his mouth, startling the breeder. His Pokémon may be in their balls but that doesn't mean they can't hear, oh no, he can't give them ideas, please don't let them get any ideas.

His hand is still in place when he carries on, muffling his words.

"Let's not encourage them too much, shall we."

Oh now that gets a laugh out of Sion.

"Now, now, you were the one who was about to give them ideas, not me!"

Even if he may have deliberately provoked that reaction a bit.

"Anyone would agree you deserve partial credit."

He's starting to look a bit ridiculous, as he's very much aware. His hand falls down once more.

"They'll have a few more potential partners to choose from, next time, and likely a few new moves to pass on, too. That'll have to suffice."

On the bright side, doubtless any number of passerby have now found themselves treated to a rather entertaining little spectacle? Likely there will be some choice photos or video clips uploaded to various sites in short order.

"And hopefully they will remain content with that, I imagine."

Cecil would not call it a bright side, but he also does not frequent Staryutube often enough to be faced videos in question, so his opinion is irrelevant.

"Content? Never. However, they do understand that without such a compromise, their breeding sessions would be immediately and permanently canceled."

Really, given that gym leaders are something of celebrities in this world, he ought to be operating on the assumption that anything said or done in public might end up photographed or recorded, anyway. It just comes with the territory!

"Oh? Isn't agreeing to such a compromise in itself choosing to be content with matters?"

"Can courtiers who agree to a compromise when it comes to the boundaries of their lands be called content, if the alternative is a royal sanction? Even an unwanted compromise can be better than the alternative."

The truly surprising part is that they're keeping to it, despite outnumbering him greatly. Looks like they do care!

"Ah, but that's just it, isn't it? It is better, and so, doesn't that imply at least some level of contentment of the choice over the alternative?"

Sion can play these word games all day. Not that that should be remotely surprising, considering.

Battle Convention!

Cecil Harvey | OTA

Egg purchase

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btw did you want to continue their hisui thread?

My heart says yes, my schedule weeps.

Aww, maybe whenever you can squeeze it in, then

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