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

[outofsynth]

[ooc: Haha, it's okay. I got it.]

That sounds pretty cool. I don't think we have anything like that where I come from.

[Magic: The Gathering still has a few years to go before its release, but if it had been around when he was growing up he probably would have been embarrassingly into it.

He offers Marik an encouraging grin at his doubt.]

I'm sure you'd do fine. Especially if you're already used to something that's kind of similar.

[He nods, having employed a similar method himself so far. There's been some planning, but only so far as checking out what he might come across before he starts out on each route.]

I think it's better if you have a connection. I've tried to get a variety, but I only want to catch Pokémon I think I'll be able to bond with. Otherwise it just doesn't seem fair.

[thetombkeeper]

I've got my deck with me. It's one of the few things I actually arrived with. Obviously you don't need to agree to it right now but if you're ever interested in trying it out, I can teach you the basics.

[Chen nods along. It would be neat to see big brother Duel someone!

Marik will refrain from telling Min that a huge portion of his Duels during Battle City were just him straight up cheating and playing through other people.

Which means whatever he learned about techniques and strategies is kind of useless. Kaiba's been teaching him proper ones though thankfully.]

Yeah. I know they say that most pokémon don't mind being caught but I'd rather have them join me on their own terms.

[He pauses.]

... Huh. All of my current party were given to me except Anippe... She's a perfect example. Crawled right over to me and wouldn't return to the other Shellos so I asked if she wanted to come with me.

[outofsynth]

Yeah. That sounds like it'd be fun.

[He doesn't have much idea what to expect, but he does sound genuinely interested. He... doesn't need to know about the cheating. By the time Min wraps his head around it Marik will most likely have picked up some better strategies anyway!]

I caught most of mine. Ryan's the only exception besides my starter, but the others don't seem to mind having a trainer.

[He nods towards the Plusle who doesn't seem to have tired of goofing off with Oba yet. He's friendly with just about anyone. It's a miracle he didn't end up tagging along with a trainer before now, honestly.]

[thetombkeeper]

It is. Just let me know whenever. I can even teach you over the network.

[No one outside of those directly involved will ever know. That's the number one thing Marik's been trying to do in the pokémon world: start fresh.

He looks over at Ryan and Oba and chuckles.]

I'm glad he's all for humoring Oba. He's kind of a handful.

[Oba has moved from gun-antenna to telling Ryan about Kaiba's Goodra again. Big brother King! Sure, he told him the basics before but now he needs to go indepth about it! About the time it was raining and he was riding on his shell or another time when they were playing in a river.

Or the time he tried eating soap. It didn't taste good but it made him bubbly!]

How did you catch Ryan, if you don't mind me asking?

[outofsynth]

That's probably easier. Who knows when we'll end up in the same area again.

[Especially if he's sticking around Kanto while Marik is going back to Johto.]

So's Ryan, so no worries. Maybe they'll wear each other out.

[He laughs a bit, not really expecting that to be the outcome. Both of them are still looking pretty energised from the outside. Ryan is nodding along enthusiastically, and probably getting lots of terrible ideas from Oba. Like eating soap. Sure, it wouldn't make him bubbly in the same way, but maybe it would still have some kind of interesting effect!]

I found him in my backpack when I woke up one morning. I tried to chase him off, but... that didn't work. Obviously. Turns out he wasn't really interested in stealing. He's just nosy, then decided he wanted to stick around.

[thetombkeeper]

Works for me then.

[The blonde snickers, knowing full well that's definitely not going to happen for a while. Not if Ryan's anything like Oba.

They should make soap taste better, he says.]

Haha! That's quite the introduction. I have no idea what I'd do in that situation. Guess it would depend on the pokémon too...

At least he's sociable already. It's weird to think sometimes just how sentient they are, you know? Way more than I initially thought. ... Not that I have any experience in dealing with wild animals back in my world to really compare it to.

[outofsynth]

[It seems unlikely, but let a man dream. It's still early enough in their partnership that Min's hopeful there's a limit to the energy of this weird electric bunny.

Who is now agreeing wholeheartedly that soap should taste good. It smells edible, so why isn't it??]

Yeah, I'd probably have been more worried if he wasn't so cute. I know that doesn't mean anything and even the cute ones can be just as powerful, but it's hard to look at him and think of him as a threat.

I haven't got much experience with animals, but they're definitely smarter than the ones we have back home. These guys understand exactly what we're saying. Makes me wish I was as good at understanding what they have to say.

[On the plus side, he's blissfully ignorant to the ongoing soap conversation.]

[thetombkeeper]

[Great minds think alike! Clearly they're on to something.

Marik stifles a snicker because he doesn't want to insult Ryan but Min's absolutely right. It's hard to take the super cute ones in a more serious tone. Especially when they behave more like children than animals.]

Yeah. Heh. You're right.

I've gotten decent at being able to kind of understand my Yamask. Obviously it still sounds like gibberish but I get the general vibe he's trying to convey. It's weird to describe. But I know what you mean. It would be nice to be able to hear their actual thoughts and opinions.

This little rascal though...

[He reaches over to pat Oba's head who's been caught red-handed. The Goomy deflates into a flatter pile of goo.]

... I know he's talking about something he shouldn't be. What are you telling him about, Oba?

[Oba whines. There's nothing wrong with eating soap!]

Judging by how guilty you look, I'd say it's something you ate that you shouldn't have.

[He does that a lot. Toothpaste, detergent, random things he'll find on the ground. It's a problem if he isn't supervised. Marik just chuckles.]

He's one of the easier ones to read because he wears his heart on his sleeve.

[outofsynth]

[Ryan definitely behaves like a child sometimes. Unfortunately since he's still a fairly new addition he hasn't got the hang of telling apart when he's up to mischief rather than just having fun yet.

He raises his eyebrow as the Goomy deflates, slightly worried about the ideas he might have been giving Ryan now. Hopefully the Plusle hasn't been giving him bad ideas in turn. He's not quite worried enough to separate them, but he does drag his hand down his face with a strangled groan.]

I hope I learn how to get a better read on him soon. Please don't eat anything I don't give you, Ryan...

[Ryan just laughs, giving his trainer a cheeky little smirk.]

[thetombkeeper]

[It's hard sometimes even when you've had them for a while. Usi still throws him for a loop from time to time.

Oba makes a gurgling noise, absolutely defeated due. He doesn't know how to be less obvious. It probably isn't even possible.]

Oba's made of mucus so he can break down whatever he eats, even if it's... inedible and bad for him. [Mmrrr!] Don't eat what he's suggested, Ryan. Otherwise you'll get sick.

[He gives his Goomy's head a ruffle before standing back up. Or as good a ruffle as one can give to gelatin. It just makes him jiggle.]

I swear, my Haunter's probably the one telling him to eat random things...

[Troublemakers, the whole lot of them. Except for Chen.]

Speaking of eating, I was thinking of grabbing a smoothie. Wanna join me?

[outofsynth]

[Getting a talking to from another trainer actually does seem to have an effect. Ryan pouts, ears flopping a little as he deflates. Urgh. He should probably be annoyed at him (and is definitely going to be keeping a close eye on him for a little while), but the Plusle really is too cute for his own good.

Min scoops him up, scratching between his ears to try and cheer him up a little.]

Sure! That sounds great. [He looks down at the Pokémon in his arms.] I'll share if you promise not to eat anything you shouldn't.

[Judging from Ryan's excited reaction that's a deal!]

[thetombkeeper]

[At least Ryan listens. Marik's not sure if Oba would listen if someone else told him to stop.

He holds out his hand to allow the Goomy to trail up onto his arm except Oba goes up his pant leg to his torso, then to the top of his head where he sulks and messes up the Egyptian's hair. Sigh.]

Great! My treat then.

... You can have some of mine, Oba, since it's actual food.

[And like nothing happened, the Goomy immediately perks up and vibrates happily. Marik just rolls his eyes and chuckles, turning to head towards the cafeteria.]