victory_road | Battle Convention!

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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.

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_{[The nudge gets a deliberately exaggerated moan in response. HOW DARE YOU INTERFERE WITH HER MOPING.]}

Ughhh... it isn't even that we lost, it's that we lost to... that guy.

_{[D I R K.]

[As if on cue, Razz growls and Cicada droops even further. 8c It was his first BIG battle...]}

[PAYBACK FOR ALL THE TIMES SHE'S INTERFERED WITH HIS MOPING.]

[He does grimace though, because ah yes. There's a feeling he can relate to!]

...weeeell.

You want me to concoct some elaborate vengeance for you?

[He's...he's joking. Probably.]

_{[A tempting offer.]

[For the briefest moment, she almost looks like she's considering it. But then she sighs and picks up one of the croissants to pick at.]}

Ugh, no... I'm trying to be a professional.

_{[She's not that good at being a professional... but dangit, she's trying!]}

... If you had any particularly funny ideas, though, I would not be averse to hearing them.

[He perks up immediately. Because oh boy this does mean he gets to at least come up with ideas!]

[Being "professional" and a "good sport" isn't any fun at all.]

Well.

Something ice themed would probably be appropriate. I could have Juliet Ice Beam the floor right outside his hotel room.

Hmm... simple, but effective...

_{[The mental image is very good.]}

Kinda wanna work the headbutts in though.

Oh, isn't that obvious?

Just ice the whole hallway. Have a Pokemon waiting next to the door so that when he steps out and starts slipping, they're ready to headbutt him and send him sliding all the way to the elevators.

Spinning in little circles the whole time, like that godawful puzzle Pryce has. You remember.

Just imagine.

_{[She doesn't really feel like laughing... but the mental image-- which includes Dirk's trademark completely blank expression the entire time he's rotating down the hall-- evokes a witchy cackle.]}

GOD! I fuckin' hated that gym. Worst gym ever. ... Aside from Sabrina.

_{[She still has beef with Sabrina.]}

[Getting her to witch cackle: ACHIEVED]

Can't ever forget Sabrina. Eugh...hated those warp things.

[Envy may not have a personal beef with her but he absolutely had a personal beef with the teleportation pads.]

...although, speaking of warping, the perfect revenge crime does need a getaway plan.

_{[She's nodding... until the mental image of a warp pad placed specifically at the end of an ice path floats into her mind's eye.]}

Hm... a getaway plan... or a disposal method?

_{[OH NO ENVY YOU'VE GOT HER THINKING LIKE AN ANTAGONIST NOW]}

[Envy looks DELIGHTED about this, and it's his turn to cackle.]

Disposal? I'm appalled that you'd think of such a thing. Terribly unsportsmanlike conduct.

[He did not even bother to pretend to be horrified.]

So where's the warp pad going?

_{[After all this time, his villainous influence has finally corrupted her.]}

Depends-- I have to think of where the funniest place to be abruptly teleported to would be.

A dumpster is too obvious.

_{[Dirk is enveloped in too many layers of irony for something like that to even come close to penetrating them.]}

[It was really only a matter of time.]

Hmm...you're right, it's gotta be something good.

[He will refrain from violent suggestions because they're in public. Unfortunately this also stifles his creativity.]

Do you know if there's anything he can't stand? I don't know the guy too well.

I honestly don't, either.

I've only interacted with him in person a few times. We had a casual battle once. And of course there was the whole incident outside Cerulean Cave.

He's...

_{[She pauses for a second, weighing words in her head.]}

... To be honest, I really don't know what to make of him.

The battle today didn't really give me any better of a read on him than I already had.

_{[Dirk has perfected the art of being as facially expressive as a mannequin.]}

[HMMM. Envy takes a minute to think it over. Good thing this isn't a real plan.]

What about...into the middle of a birthday party of screaming kids?

Nobody'd like that.

Oh, I bet he'd either hate it or it would be his natural habitat. One or the other.

_{[She doesn't even realize how right she'll be proven about that first one later, actually.]}

Either way, it'd be funny.

And also, there would be no way he'd get outta there fast enough to ever catch us.

[THE PERFECT CRIME]

Very true.

We are pretty fast.

_{[She lifts her now-room-temperature latte and tilts it towards his.]}

Clink clink on a marvelous scheme.

_{[And you know what? She DOES feel better.]}

[Imagined revenge always makes him feel better! So he figured it'd help. He raises his own drink and taps it against hers.]

Clink clink.

Went off without a single hitch.

So. Now that we've pulled that off, what's the plan for the rest of the day?

_{[Hero and Villain, united in their passion for vengeance.]}

I dunno, was thinking of maybe checking out the sales floor, but I'm not really sure I wanna be seen in public too much right after the battle. Some fans are obnoxious.

_{[SOME. Not all! But 'some' can really ruin an already off-the-rails day.]}

We could go watch some other peoples' battles and eat way too much popcorn?

We could do that. Too many snacks, do some running commentary...

[That's one upside about her being out of the running--no more scheduling conflicts with watching the battles!]

I think there's another one starting in an hour.

_{[THIS IS TRUE. Silver linings-- she does like to watch other peoples' battles.]}

Yeah? Who's in it, let me look...

_{[Reaching into her bag, she retrieves a crumpled schedule that had been handed out earlier.]}

... No one I know.

Wellp.

Serves me right for being antisocial, but what the heck.

Hey, if we don't know them, that means that we can say whatever we want about the battle with absolutely no guilt at all.

[...well Envy likely wouldn't feel guilty anyway BUT HEATHER MIGHT.]

_{[......... LOOK, IF IT WAS ONE OF THE LITTLE KIDS SHE MIGHT.]}

Oh yeah. We're like the Mean Girls of Johto, you and me.

_{[(There is no way she hasn't quoted that movie at him before this point.)]}

Get in, loser, we're going spectating.

[He does get the reference! And laughs. Sadly, he doesn't remember enough of the quotes to have a suitable one to say back at her. Hair full of secrets wouldn't make any sense.]

...and betting? We can bet with just each other and not get hassled about it, right?

[HE'S NOT ALLOWED TO BET WITH JUST ANYBODY ANYMORE]

HAH. Maybe for something other than real money.

_{[SHE KNOWS HIM TOO WELL.]}

Tell you what, let's get one of those big bags of mini Snickit bars and bet with those. Winner takes all.

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exeggutorhead - 2022-11-08 05:20 (UTC) - Expand

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foolishwren - 2022-11-08 05:24 (UTC) - Expand

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