victory_road | Video from Indigo Plateau! [backdated to Dec 18]

*The video starts off with a series of clips of pokemon battles strung together, all featuring Sion and his team. The first features Dusk the absol, landing a powerful Night Slash against a bronzong belonging to a masked man. The second, Valiant the gallade faces off against a ninja's toxicroak. Then Valiant is seen again, this time up against a machamp belonging to a rather strong-looking trainer. Following that, a clip of Just the lucario readying a powerful punch against a silvery-haired woman's absol.

Finally, (and perhaps most importantly) the background music changes to a battle theme few if any have heard before, the video this time showing a clip of Sion's glaceon Jina readying a blizzard against a certain caped dragon master's dragonite, as a hailstorm swirls all about the battlefield.

Then, after the montage fades out, is Sion with a smug grin, a certain dark-haired mage doing his best to avoid drawing attention in the background while Sion holds up a fancy-looking certificate.*

I suppose if anyone else wants to know what the Elite Four have on their teams without finding out first hand, Ryner and I could certainly spoil the surprise.

Ah, and I have a copy of the recordings of Ryner's battles, too, if anyone's interested.

*aaaand he's turning it off before Ryner can have a chance to protest*

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I don't know, it may well be a lost cause.

*especially since Marian does all the cooking anyway*

Perhaps if they stopped insisting on specializing on one primary type each...

...I'd argue against such negativity, but after tasting my team's cooking...

[He's learned to accept that some people are beyond help.]

Surely they'd be allowed to do so if they wished. It works out well enough for Viridian, after all.

I suppose some simply don't have the knack for it.

*Ryner must have used his entire allotment of genius towards magic or something*

Even if it's allowed, I wonder if many simply don't wish to, regardless of how negatively it may impact their teams' strength.

Or the limbs necessary for it, but that should not be the case for him.

[Unless he's very, very good at hiding missing arms.]

Perhaps the thought of earning victories as a trainer with such a handicap pleases them. Or perhaps the fondness they feel for a particular type outweighs practical considerations.

Having the appropriate limbs and utilizing them well are two entirely different matters...

*is Sion aware of how many different ways that could be taken? it's hard to say....*

It could be either, I suppose. Or, it could possibly be intended to test a trainer's skill and knowledge. Being familiar with the types and how to use them to one's advantage, based on one primary opposing type at a time...

With the few dual-types they use serving as an additional challenge? It could be. Since the types they use are publicly known, they must expect us to come prepared with various counters for them.

Exactly. If they wanted to have a truly competitive match, their teams would need to be unusually strong, or more difficult to counter.

*or both*

As it is, it's possible to easily cover their primary weaknesses with only four pokemon, allowing for two more to act as backup depending on the situation.

*which is... quite the advantage, really*

Do you know if they might have elite teams of their own, for rematches? That would offer a good opportunity to show us exactly what they're capable of, when they've no need to give us a fighting chance.

They didn't mention anything of the sort, but I suppose it's possible. Perhaps if they do, they're waiting to unveil it until more have successfully completed their challenge as it is?

That might be it. Or they've decided to wait another six years to test our resolve and staying potential, perhaps.

I certainly hope not...

*...although he honestly might not mind staying here another six years, so long as Ryner's around, really*

...It's not how I'd choose to spend my years either, but there are worse fates.

Well, at least time spent here has no bearing on what passes back home.

*which is the only reason he's been able to, y'know, let himself enjoy any of this...*

Thankfully. Otherwise, I'd have gone mad years ago.

Video from Indigo Plateau! [backdated to Dec 18]

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