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

That's right, I've only been here since April. [A pause.] It's strange to realize I've been here for almost six months now.

... It's been that long already?

[He... really didn't think so. Come to think of it, Doppio himself has spent two Christmases here already, and... now it's October...

He's not sure how to feel about this.]

Somehow... it doesn't feel like it's been that long, though.

[Maybe it's the fact that they all spent a month in Hisui, maybe it's just the fact that Time Is Fake, but somehow... somehow, it doesn't feel like it's been almost six months at all.

But... it's six months longer than he had, anyway.]

I can hardly complain, though; this has been... pleasant.

Kind of like a long vacation, huh?

[Doppio sighs. Maybe that's why it makes him restless; he's not used to long vacations.]

Kind of like that, yes.

[A long... permanent vacation...]

It was somewhat difficult to adjust, initially, but... Mm, never mind.

[Where he'd been going with that... that strays a bit too into "too personal" territory.]

... But?

[He kind of wants to know... though Bucciarati will get suspicious if he pries too much, won't he?]

I guess there's some part of me that's still alarmed at how at ease I've been since that initial adjustment.

[But, well...]

Is it really that alarming? It's not like this world's all that dangerous.

[... At least compared to the mafia life.]

To the part of me that says I shouldn't get so used to this. There's a lot about this world that seems a bit too good to be true, after all.

[So much that could vanish in seconds.]

... I guess I do get that.

[Doppio's stagnation as a trainer... It only reminds him more acutely of his unfinished business in Rome. He can't help wondering if Bucciarati feels the same, though he's prudent enough not ask--

Unless he just... sort of...]

Hey, did you... I'm not really sure how to ask... Did you leave anything hanging back home? Like, something important?

[... Hm.]

It's complicated, honestly. There's something important that I was doing, but... it was pretty out of my hands by the time I was brought here anyway.

[It's not entirely a lie, but... actually admitting to what happened? Even outside of the issue of finding Doppio suspicious anyway, he absolutely would not trust this guy enough to say it.

So that's all he's saying.]

["Out of his hands"? What does Bucciarati mean by that? Does it have anything to do with him turning traitor in the first place, or with whatever awaited him in Rome?

... And how the hell is Doppio supposed to find out without arousing suspicion? He might just not be able to, here and now.]

That does sound pretty complicated.

... Ultimately, it's for the best that I don't worry about it.

[He can't change anything, even if he did go back.

...

Maybe it's for the best that he doesn't dwell on this. Not now. He sighs softly.]

I like it here anyway, so it's easy enough to forget about, for the most part.

[Yeah, it looks like this is about as much as he'll be able to find out this time. But still...]

If it was out of your hands, then I guess you might as well enjoy the vacation, right?

[It's not nothing.]

Yeah, exactly.

[He takes a moment to pat his Slowpoke, clearly fond. And he can't help his chuckle when the Riolu in his lap reaches out to grab his wrist, also wanting attention.]

And it has been fun.

…That’s good.

[Fun, huh… Maybe he’s been losing sight of that. Then again, should he really be goofing off when he’s supposed to be helping the Boss…?]

... How's it been for you, if I may ask? Has something you left back home been bothering you?

[He's not actually expecting to get an answer, but he might as well ask.]

[Well... It's fair enough that Bucciarati would ask. Obviously, he can't go into details, but...]

I was kind of in the middle of something important, yeah... but there isn't a lot I can do about it until I get back. So, um, while I'm here... I guess I'm just trying my best?

[Yeah, that's about what he expected. It was worth a shot.]

Well, I guess that's about all anyone that's been brought here can do until they get home.

Battle Convention!

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