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

[sassymaru]

I can do one better.

[There's... a little flourish of his hands, and Shadowmaru whips out a business card. Which he hands to Min-Gi.]

There you are.

[outofsynth]

[Oh! A business card. He assumes that means this guy's pretty well established on there. Min takes it, staring at it for a long moment before tucking it inside his jacket pocket.]

Thanks. I'll check it out. That's, like, your main job then?

[sassymaru]

It is, yes. Technically, I'm labeled as a "breeder", but that has never appealed to me.

[Making pokemon spawn for profit?? That feels so very wrong.]

[outofsynth]

So you can be successful even if you don't stick to the role you're given?

[Granted it might be a little more complicated in his situation, but that's nice to know.]

[sassymaru]

Of course.

Some people open shops, or run theatres. There's no shortage of options. Provided you don't want to become a detective.

[Yeah, he's still bitter about that.]

[outofsynth]

They don't have detectives here?

[That seems like a weird omission.]

[sassymaru]

[The MOST dramatic of sighs.]

They do, but you're only allowed to join if you're part of their family. It's absurd!

[outofsynth]

Really? What if one of them was a criminal? Wouldn't that be really easy for them to cover?

[There are way too many ways to exploit that system...]

[sassymaru]

Tragically, it would appear logic is not their strong suit. I presented myself as a detective, and was still turned away.

It's absurd.

[outofsynth]

You'd think logic would be one of their top skills.

[But probably lucky for Min that isn't the case given his Rocket alliance.]

[sassymaru]

Thank you.

I attempted to explain this myself, but none of my protests were accepted.

[outofsynth]

At least you found something else you're good at. It sucks you're literally not allowed to do your old job though.

[sassymaru]

I suppose. If I must...

But I remain astounded they tolerate such incompetence.

[outofsynth]

Would you still prefer being a detective if you could?

[sassymaru]

I suppose so.

It was my purpose, after all.

[outofsynth]

Why don't you become a PI? They can't stop you doing that, right?

[sassymaru]

Mm, I suppose it's an option. If my channel ever dies out, perhaps.

[outofsynth]

[Ah. That is not enthusiasm. He feels like he shouldn't have taken "purpose" as meaning "goals" given the expectations he's grown up with himself. It's a weird way of phrasing it, but even from his name and title Min gets the idea their worlds are very different.]

I'm sure it won't. You seem like you know a lot about fashion.

[Not that he's remotely an expert. He doesn't think his fashion is bad, but he's definitely not up on all the trends.]

[sassymaru]

Ah, thank you. Your support is genuinely appreciated.

[This is... another bow. That's what it is.]

[His purpose was, of course, to be a detective. To be a police robot. It was all he'd known before coming here. But now that he has the spotlight... he's not as certain any longer. Not that he needs to dump it on the poor boy.]

[outofsynth]

[Wow. This guy sure likes bowing. Is he meant to be returning them? He won't, because he doesn't want to risk looking stupid, but he's definitely having some internal anxieties over how he's meant to react. He kind of waves his hands dismissively, then instantly regrets it because that seems rude.]

You really don't have to thank me. If you're passionate about something, then that's worth pursuing no matter what anyone else thinks.

[sassymaru]

I thank each and every one of my supporters.

[Did he just wink.]

[Min, it's okay, you don't have to keep talking to him. He's just. Like This.]

So, indeed, I thank you.

[outofsynth]

[It feels rude not to talk to him! But at the same time that wink is somehow more mortifying than the bowing is. He'd kind of like to just melt into the ground a little bit and it shows.]

Th-that's okay, but I didn't even subscribe yet.

[But now he definitely feels obligated to.]