{ === + === }
Ok, slap complete.
Well, no, not really, because that would be assault and it would be bad.
Anyway.
We got three Ponytas.
Dialogue is now underway to get them new trainers or homes. Our Gym Leader has a friend out in the countryside, and, of course, the internet is a thing.
Problem: Ponytas are, in essence, field units. It's not like they can't be raised in the city, but those that do are doing it essentially just for challenging some Circuit, and not for doing it long term.
I mean, yes, they're horses and can be transportation, but think about how long a car stays parked and unused. They'll be bored to death. Pokemon are not in stasis while inside their Pokeballs.
In the meantime, we will need to keep them fed, entertained, and interrogated. The nearby Ranger officer has a Kirlia we can borrow, so we do, to help facilitate more exact communication between the Ponytas and ourselves.
While we're waiting on responses and takers, the Ponytas will need to be exercised and trained, or else they'll get unhappy. So that's my job.
…
[Three Days Later]
…
Still no takers. We've managed to talk and test the Pontya with what we have on hand and with the help of Kirlia and the nearby Ranger's office (and my abilities). So:
Ponyta A is very interested in being a Circuit Pokemon. She has an above-average IV distribution with very high Speed, and an inherent EV distribution that shows some battle history. On the flip side, her moveset is stale, featuring only standard fire and normal type attacks, and she has signs of long-term damage that would require some treatment and rehab.
From my skills, I can tell that she has a below-average xp conversion rate, so she takes more to level than her contemporaries. Her retention curve is also steep, so she's easy to train, but difficult to keep trained, especially for bigger or more prestigious Circuits.
The good news: she has a very high energy adaptability rating, meaning that she can learn moves that her contemporaries can't or not as easily. She gets damage bonuses from special attacks in general, so her special STAB and coverage moves will hit harder if she's given the opportunity. Also, that retention curve, if properly taken advantage of, could give her a fifth move slot for as long as she's Circuit Active and with the right training.
If her taker has the money for it, she could be a Rapidash who can pop off Grass moves like Energy Ball or Electric moves like Thunder Wave apart from her standard kit.
Conclusion: she will shine given the opportunity in a C3 or above career path. We lack those kinds of clout and connections to begin with, and…well, monsters are plenty in those Circuits, monsters who have less strings attached. It's a damn shame.
.
Ponyta B followed his older sister, more or less, and is less interested in being Circuit Active and is essentially just worried for her well-being. He's a very stock Ponyta–average IVs across the board, standard kit, low retention. Nothing major, for good or ill.
My skills say that his xp conversion rate is absolutely insane. He's about even with his sister on levels despite having basically never fought. He also has a higher EV cap than normal, by about triple.
Now, I'm using Pokemon game terms because I'm familiar with them, but I want to stress here that IVs and EVs, despite being measurable by locally existing technology, are not quantified as numbers. It's like comparing genes, I think: you know what looks right, so things that look wrong stand out. IVs and EVs, then, are generally referred to in terms of how far away from average they are. Similarly, because they're not variables in a program object, EVs and IVs are also not limited. Like…Axews, by virtue of being dragons with chompy murderjaws, usually have Attack IVs in the fifties. In-game, IVs go from 0 to 31, regardless of Pokemon Type.
Similarly, in-game EVs cap at 510, a sum from all stats. Here, it's more fluid. Again, those values will drop in line with age and lack of training, but seeing a cap of, say, 600, is not unusual.
…Well, for me to see a cap of 600 is not unusual.
Back to topic, homeboy here has an EV cap of about 1800. His retention curve is also slightly below average, which means that, in this world of realities and compromises, it's entirely possible for a trainer to cut training a move in favor of just doing stat training, and make him a beatstick who lives and dies by Rapidash bread and butter.
In other words, if his sister is Circuit Active, he goes too, and nine times out of ten he's going to outshine her for just being easier to manage. With the right effort he's easily IPL level. Probably not a first-string or a part of somebody's A team, but still.
.
Pontya C is not related, and has no interest in being Circuit Active. He wants to go into horse racing, and figured this was the best way to get the interest of the correct human trainers. His IVs are above average, EVs show a few fights for self-defense. High intelligence, high retention. He understands what he wants and how to get it, and is rather uninterested in the things that would cause him to get away from that.
My skills show that he's hovering around average otherwise. Some fluctuations here and there, but nothing worth singling out. Still, the fact that he's so smart is a definite plus, even for Circuit Active Pokemon. Given the right training he could probably be C3, or even C2.
.
Still, be that as it may, I can't really do anything beyond take them for runs around the city block. As Pokemon are a part of everyday life, cities are therefore also designed to work around said Pokemon, so they're not at risk of being hit by trucks or whatever.
So, I take them out after breakfast, lunch, and dinner for runs (god they love running), and in-between are combat training for Pontyas A and B, and speed training for C.
Again, we're a small, family-owned Gym so resources are scant. Some neighboring trainers (Marina included) are kinda wowed by Pontyas being so close (the pony effect), so they help out when they can free of charge, but a diet of normal and grass types is really not good for a Pontya's continued experience if they're looking to go pro, so to speak.
…
Another week passes. Some good news. Actually, pretty good good news.
I entered Pontya C in a local horse race, as a means of getting him some attention. Paid for it out of pocket (it hurt), and he came third out of seven. It did what it was meant to do, though: he got scouted out by a racing trainer in a neighboring town, and agreed to join their team. He transferred out yesterday.
The gym got a nice payout for taking care of him, of which I got a cut (felt nice). I also got to name him. Because the saying does not yet exist, I named him Eclipse.
Eclipse First, the rest nowhere.
I'm getting a little emotional, excuse me.
.
Ahem.
.
I've borrowed Kirlia again and talked with Ponyta A and B privately about their expected performance, and what their chances are to actually become Circuit Active. A was initially sulky about how B is likely going to outperform her, but at the end of the talk…they'll either go together or not at all.
So, again, the goal is to get scouted by someone with more clout, money, and facilities than we do. A will most likely end up as a C2+ Gym Retainer, and B…probably Sub-League. Like, I do believe he can be IPL with investment, but getting that investment in the first place is rough.
To achieve that goal, given that we are an Area Gym, is, again, to enter a high ranking competition or something advertised, so that we can get the eyes on them. Having them languish at the gym while waiting for a taker is both deeply disrespectful…and kinda expensive. Pontyas eat a lot.
I mean, A is eyeing my Petilil every morning until she gets some carrots so I'm in a bit of a hurry.
…Unless she's doing it on purpose to score more carrots. Is she doing it on purpose?
…Well when I asked she started looking around like she saw something interesting anywhere else, so she's doing it on purpose.
Anyways.
The best chance we got is in June, that's next month. The Lumiose June Invitational is a pseudo-tournament that's pretty heavily advertised, because it attracts a lot of Sub-League and League Circuit Trainers to get a feel of their place ahead of their scheduled matches in July.
Alternatively, we can take an exhibition match at the Northland Gym (C3) that's happening next week, but that's a Ground gym and it's not advertised, so it doesn't get me what I'm looking for.
…Also Northland's expensive and the Invitational is free. I mean, we're not guaranteed to get TV time or go viral on the internet, but it's better than having no chance at all.
So that's the plan.
…
The rules for the Invitational is standard five. As in, a team of three, with in-battle switching limited to five seconds (read: two mons are allowed to stand within the ring for no more than five seconds). Failing that rule is an auto-lose.
So, to that end, we'll be practicing switch ins and switch outs. I don't have access to U-Turn or Volt Switch, so we'll just have to do normal. This means we'll also need some anti-Pursuit training.
For them specifically: Ponyta A (P-A) benefits from having a wider moveset, and she'll stand out better this way, so I'll have her train with Petilil and the Boss's Leafeon on movesets. P-B is traditional, and he's at that spot where his physicality and weight class makes him difficult to pair against someone other than his sister, so he gets no special moveset training. I wanted to borrow Kirlia for some nonstandard training with B, but that's really expensive, so that's out.
Otherwise, they'll train with each other on standard Ponyta moves like Flame Charge and Stomp, and get as comprehensive of a strength and agility course as I can manage.
The Gym is still in operation, mind, so I'm basically doing this on my own. My Petilil is mine, in the sense that as long as I'm employed by the Gym she will take my orders, but everything else is coming out of pocket.
This arrangement is not unusual, mind: a modest, middle-income family would have two Pokemon tops, maybe only one if it's naturally big, evolved, or a calorie hog, and it would obey orders from everyone within the family. Any family with big guys like, say, a Blastoise is almost always a Trainer Family of some renown, or in some business that requires the skillset of a Blastoise. They're just that rare to keep as pure pets. Like…the Lumiose fire department keeps a pair of Blastoise as first responders. A pair of Blastoise, one Lampert (scouting with Flash Fire protection), one Koffing (smoke management), one Audino (victim care), one Blitzle (transportation, Lightning Rod). This group is the Lumiose Fire Fighting First F-Responders. They have a patch that reads with four Fs. But, yeah, big boys require a purpose to be big boys.
Anyways.
…
[One month passes]
…
Training went well.
I'm kind of betting on the scouting bonus at this point, because I'm behind on rent, but it went well.
I'm not kidding when I say Ponytas are not cheap to raise. I mean, granted, Circuit Actives are more expensive by several factors, but still…
…regardless, if this fails, the pair will give up on trying to get Circuit Active and return to the wild.
Just FYI, the Rangers used to be the de-facto drop off point for any surrendered Pokemon, but after the shenanigans Team Plasma pulled in Unova they stopped. At one point there was one ranger office handling like 150,000 surrendered Pokemon alone. It was insane. So, the IPL stopped taking surrenders entirely.
Like, it's kind of heartless, but at the core, sometimes dreams are just things you wake up from.
Anyways.
Match day.
…
The Invitational is held at one of the Lumiose Gym's annex buildings. It's not hard to find–they're all gaudy for advertising purposes–and I get signed in in short order.
Number 1186.
Entrants are separated based on achievements–C3+ on one side, Area and below on the other–and the winners in the group stages get an exhibition match with the gym leader in the center building, the big tower, so that's cool. Since I belong to a Local Gym, I am therefore a Local Rank Trainer.
Hoo. Welp.
Here goes.
…
[3rd Person Camera]
…
"On the red side, number 1186."
The Ring, no larger than a basketball field, is barriered off by working Reuniculus, to keep the audience's safety. The ring sits among eight other rings, all with various battles already in progress.
There's a small table in front of the ring, with an announcer, her friend, their microphones, and a small speaker. They're temps, here because it sounded like fun.
Their table is dedicated to the ring in front of them with a pair of docks for the girls' phones. Wires run from the docks down the table's legs and towards the ring, ending at a series of sensors mounted on the chest-high wall surrounding the ring. The sensors read energy discharged and translate it into recognizable Move names for a layman.
The announcer checks her notes. "A little bit about our entrant: he works at the Sunshine Gym, southwest of Lumiose. He's looking to debut a pair of Ponytas for a trainer that's willing to take them." Small, polite applause, from the four or five onlookers. "His opponent is 1187. A little bit about him…"
The two participants meet in front of the table and shake hands, before moving to their respective trainer boxes in the battle zone.
"Alright, red sends out Pontya, blue sends out Sandshrew." The announcer grimaces with a slight smile. "A type disadvantage to start off the day for our red side."
A small, digital display appears in the air between both contestants, showing a countdown starting from 10.
Welp, here goes. 1186 takes a deep breath.
3…
2…
1…
Start!
"Sandy, attack!"
"Pattern One."
Sandy the Sandshrew and Ponyta A charge at each other. A, being faster, covers the distance and slams into the Sandshrew with a Flame Charge, sending the comparatively lighter Pokemon staggering. Without checking the target, A circles back and, with the increased speed, gets into position on her side of the field.
The Sandshrew totters and flops. Out.
"An incredibly strong hit from the Ponyta." The announcer says, genuinely surprised. "Wow, that's some power."
"Great recovery too." Her friend agrees. "That doesn't happen if there isn't a good degree of trust."
Blue sends out a Marill. "Bubblebeam!"
The Marill starts spewing bubbles everywhere. Instinctively, A begins to dodge by backing away from the incoming bubbles.
"Far right."
A calms down, and makes tracks to the right side of the field, skirting around the edge.
"Far left, up!"
As the beam of bubbles gets close, A jumps over and dashes to the far left of the field. The Marill, running out of steam, ends the attack in favor of catching breath.
"Let's show off a little." a smile. "Pattern Five!"
The announcer scoffs good-naturedly. "As if he's not doing that already."
P-A charges at Marill, who takes a deep breath.
"Water Gun!"
"Soft Right!"
P-A skips two steps to her right, dodging the sudden stream of water.
"Pattern Five!"
P-A pivots and slashes the Marill with her tail. Her tail, normally a plume of red and golden flames, glow with a bright green energy.
The announcer's deadpan shock made heads turn in her direction. "Wait, what?" In front of her, on the display screen, was the name of the attack the Ponyta just unleashed.
As the announcer is momentarily dumbstruck, her friend picked up the commentary slack. "T-the Ponyta just used Leaf Blade?"
The Marill, taking massive damage from the attack, readies for some kind of counter action. P-A Stomps it in the chest with her hind legs, and it rolls out of the ring, trying to heave and chatter its indignation at the same time.
"Ok, ok, wow, wait, what?" The announcer squats on her chair, now very excited. "Are you serious? That can happen?!"
"Ok, ok, calm down." Her friend nearly drags her butt back into her chair. "We got a third match and red is switching."
Round three: Petilil versus Vulpix.
The announcer laughs. "Wow. I mean, it hasn't mattered, but that's some luck to have three td fights in a row."
"Type disadvantages don't seem to matter here." Her friend agrees. "But then again, this isn't a Ponyta."
"Go!"
"Dust!"
The Vulpix releases a flurry of Embers from her tail as the Petilil fires a shower of Stun spores. The spores catch the embers and burn up to nothingness.
The announcer has calmed down. "A very standard opening here, with very standard results." She's a little nervous because the amount of eyes on her ring has quadrupled in the past minute.
The Vulpix continues to release Embers to defend itself against the Stun Spore, before suddenly retreating and evading a Razor Leaf from out of nowhere.
"Nice, no command needed." The Friend says. "That Petilil's his Ace, then."
"Blue's got an uphill battle though." The Announcer says. "He's down to one and his opponent still has a mystery up his sleeve." She smiles, slightly embarrassed. "I mean, we know it's a Ponyta, but, um, yeah." Slight laughter from the onlookers, and she hides her face behind her red hair.
The Vulpix is now stressed, having to defend from both puffs of stun spore and occasional razors aimed at its face. Blue has also moved away from his box to get closer to his Pokemon, as he was now in real danger of getting hit by crossfire, which slows down his Vulpix's reaction time.
"Magic."
Vulpix suddenly feels cuts of energy and yelps in surprise.
"Yep, the Magic Leaves are out." The Announcer says. "Good switch, good hits. It's all standard for a Petilil, and for a good reason."
"Don't fix what ain't broken." The Friend goes for a high-five at the rhyming. The Announcer obliges, barely.
Vulpix, no longer needing to deal with spores, unleashes a full Flamethrower at the Petilil.
Petilil hunkers down and covers its head, its nubby little arms reaching somewhere around its cheeks. A wall of faintly blue light appears between it and the incoming flames, quenching and redirecting the stream of fire around the little plant.
"Light Screen?" The announcer reads the declared move. "Water-typed? That sounds about right."
"Petilils don't usually run defense like this." The Friend says, reading quickly from a chart that logs historical move distributions on Petilils and two or three comments under each move. "It's a very passive choice for a Pokemon that's already passive to begin with."
The announcer shrugs. "I mean, it's working now, so I guess red knows what he's doing."
Vulpix cuts its Flamethrower, panting slightly, to check damage.
Petilil is slightly singed, one of its top pedals spinning frantically to put out a small fire, but is otherwise ok.
Vulpix, seeing its target still up, resumes its burst of Flamethrower.
"Oh, that's…crude, I guess." The Announcer frowns. "Light Screen is easier to throw up defensively than Flamethrower, so I guess he can make the other side run out of energy first."
The Friend nods in half-agreement. "Petilils aren't known for being durable, though, so red should have some other trick up his sleeve."
"Does he, though?" The Friend has a thought. "I mean, we've seen it use Razor Leaf, Stun Spore, Magic Leaf, and Light Screen, and all of them were quality moves." By which she means, trained with the intention of common usage. "So he should be out of cards to play."
"Well…" The Announcer laughs. "I guess sometimes brute force works?"
True to their guesses, the Vulpix runs out of steam a second time, and the Petilil is swapped out for Ponyta B.
Seeing the writing on the wall, 1187 flags for his Vulpix to return, and forfeits the match.
"A good call." The Announcer says as the two trainers shake hands. "If the Ponyta can't absorb the flames effectively, then a fresh Vulpix would run circles around it. Likewise, a Ponyta will stomp a Vulpix that can't catch its breath."
"Bit of a waste of a Petilil though." The Friend says. "And doesn't really show off the Ponyta beyond that first bit."
…
[1st Person Camera]
…
Well, yes, but that's the point–can't play all the cards when there's no audience.
My next round is in thirty minutes. So while we're waiting, I get the team out and give them all fresh waters (plus a straw for the Petilil). And adjust.
It's pretty much a given that nobody shows up to a competition with just four moves. As I've mentioned before, all Pokemon retain knowledge of all the moves they've ever learned, plus the ones they learned via watching or other methods, the difficulty is the use case.
Y'know, practice one punch ten thousand times.
So, again, it differs depending on the variables the Trainer and Pokemon have to contend with (i.e. Circuit difficulty), but in general most people have three Class A Moves (CAMs), four CBMs, and at least one CRM (Class Reserve Move). The idea is that CAMs are immediately usable and is a core part of the mon's kit, CBMs can be switched in and out depending on circumstance with a few minutes of on-site retraining, and CRMs can be switched in and out with fairly substantial retrain, but no more than a day. Anything that takes longer than a day to prepare isn't categorized, they're just a part of a trainer's job.
Time and resources are limited, so there's an implicit upper cap on how many of these moves can be prepared to the level of performance required for a combat-capable mon. Again, variables apply–an IPL mon will have fewer CRMs than a C3 mon, because the per-move performance requirement in IPL is so high.
In my case, Petilil has Light Screen, Stun Spore, and Magical Leaf as her CAMs, with Razor Leaf, Ingrain, Growth as CBMs. A very standard kit for a Petilil, Light Screen aside. Her job is to just wall and stall.
The Light Screen has aspects of Water mixed into it, learned by having her play with the wall while dancing around a sprinkler. It essentially gives her some aspects of a Water type (strong vs fire, weak vs electricity, so on). If she's stronger the effect would be more pronounced, but it does what it's supposed to do, which is to wall and stall against ranged attackers and force them into Stun Spore distance.
'Course, if they end up doing things like the Vulpix did then she's kinda boned, but eh, can't have everything in life.
The two Ponytas…well, we've only had a month, so both of them have pretty much the same CAMs: Stomp, Flame Charge, Leer. P-A has Leaf Blade, which she learned while working with the Cottonee. I mean, I said it before, but as things are, P-A is the more flexible fighter while P-B is the traditionally stronger one.
And, because I brought this up with respect to P-B before: 'not having a fourth move' is not the same thing as 'cutting a move slot'. A cut move is informally referred to as a Null slot, and would be something that requires training to stick. Like a semi-permanent choice band.
Anyways, I do a little retraining to shift around power and movement priorities, and we're ready for round two.
…
[Round Two]
…
Simple enough. It's an invitational, and everybody attending has somewhat similar goals: get noticed quickly.
My opponent has…I think he's a breeder? Three Poochyenas. Little Dark-type dogs.
I don't know why I say 'I think' when he got introduced. Yes he's a breeder, family-run company. They got more than expected from the last crop of eggs, so he's here to advertise for the ones that are looking to go into Circuits. Pokemon can fight as soon as they're born, though to actually be Circuit-Active, even at Local level, requires a fair amount of training and preparation.
Point being, he's here to advertise for their business model next month or so. My Ponytas kick their skulls in. Proverbially speaking.
…I'll clarify and say that he didn't bring the new hatches to the fight. That would just be cruel.
But, yeah, a much more straightforward fight than round one. His business doesn't cater to Trainers all that much, so his combat knowledge is lacking.
Since this fight was way straightforward, there wasn't much of an audience.
Horse kicks puppy, moving on.
…
[Round Three]
…
Another thirty minutes.
My opponent has a Lairon? Oh, that's new.
Lairons are kind of…really rare for a city. Then again, he's like 14, this is obviously his father's Pokemon, they run a recycling center. This is not a fight.
To wit, the Lairon is cranky because it's a heavy little armored monitor lizard the size of a sofa, and it eats metal for breakfast, and this one obviously missed breakfast, and the kid doesn't seem to care, he just wants the Lairon to wreak havoc and bring honor to the house (I guess), and it's not doing that.
To be fair, Lairons are big buckets of physical defense and the only one with the damage output to actually do anything to it on my side is Petilil, who is weight-screwed in this fight for…maybe a good 300 times? Probably less. Honestly this Lairon looks underfed.
I'm a little annoyed that their family is keeping this Lairon like this, but Lumiose recently did switch to a lot of biodegradable materials, so I guess I kind of understand.
Still, there's not much point in attacking someone who's not interested in fighting, and the Trainer seems to be utterly uninterested in switching out.
So I forfeit.
…
[Round Four]
…
Forfeiting isn't really a big deal, because, again, reality.
When Pokemon don't obey the Trainer, there's really not much value in continuing that fight–a Pokemon battle, even outside a Circuit, is an expression of mutual trust. Between a team, between the Trainers. A Trainer having Pokemon they can't even control is a clear betrayal of that trust, and therefore the Trainer themselves does not deserve that respect.
That's the official stance of the IPL, and most people tend to agree. Those that don't agree tend to come around to the idea after realizing that the people they meet are not obligated to be nice to them in all circumstances.
Anyhoo.
Round Four is versus a flying-oriented trainer. He's trying to drum up interest for the skydiving business that he works for. His team is Pidgeotto, Staravia, Fletchinder.
Fliers suck to fight against, mind. They're kinda all-or-nothing in terms of capability, in that a grounded flier gets eaten really quickly, but once they're in the air they dominate. A team that doesn't have good ranged attacks or hard counters to Flying types gets mauled.
My team lacks good ranged attacks and hard counters, so we get mauled. The Fletchinder makes very good use of its Wing Attack and Ember kit, to the point where I have no idea what its two other moves might be.
I mean, the only one on my team with any anti-air skill is Petilil, and she's kinda flammable. The Ponytas have Ember but I didn't practice them because we only had a month.
…
[Round Five]
…
Fighting type time! Dude is a Gym Trainer in Shalour and is on vacation, so she's down here to play. She's not allowed to use her team from work, so instead she has an Onyx.
Now, grass beats rock, but Giant Rock Snake beats Little Grass Princess. Petilil throws around a few Razor Leaves like a champ before the Onyx swats her with its tail and sends her up into the ceiling, where she clings onto a light and panics about the height.
The two Ponytas fare no better, and we lose. Technically they know Double Kick, but, again, size.
One of the trainers managing the event helps ferry Petilil down from the ceiling with his Swablu.
…
At this point, we're kinda tapped out on stamina, so the event is functionally over for us.
Also, going further runs the risk of permanent damage adding up, so no thank you.
Instead, I take the time to advertise. After all those fights, I have gotten a decent following in the event, so there's at least a little bit of traction.
…
[Three Days Later]
…
A taker!
A trainer team out west is interested in taking both Ponytas.
Actually, we've had multiple takers who wanted to take P-A, just P-A, on the basis of her Leaf Blade, but we were insistent on it being both or neither.
Either way, the team is a somewhat consistent C3 team, fair amount of money, services, etc. We'll go there tomorrow to scope out the place and meet with the team trainers.
…
[Next Day]
…
It's a quick train ride away, an hour to the west coast of Kalos. I really hope this goes through because, as much as I love my flaming horsies, it's really bad for them to be on this kind of limbo.
Anyways.
Teams. They're basically sports teams but for Pokemon. Teams exist for different reasons, some battles, some contests, some are more like worker unions, so on, so forth. For a team to be successful, even at C3, means they have a dedicated facility, staff, funding, sponsors, and so on. Like, yeah, they're not renowned like a C1 or Sub-League team would be, but those are kinda rare.
For context, most money for doing Circuit Battles tend to be at the C3 and C2 levels, because they're plentiful compared to C1s, so a team with resources can pull in a lot of revenue by entering a lot of Circuits at once. 'Course, a team that can reliably clear C1s gets astronomically more money through other avenues like advertisements, endorsements, movies, etc., so eventually everyone wants to get to that point, but until they do…
Anyways, C3 team, visiting hours.
…
[Doing A Visit]
…
On one hand, it's a good place, plenty of everything.
On the other…it's a team that's primarily water focused, and they want the Ponytas almost exclusively to be newbie fodder. As in, an easy win for new guys they're looking to bring onto the team to test type advantages and stuff.
That's not weird, by the way: basically all teams do that. The issue is that the Ponytas are looking to be Circuit Active, and being dedicated practice mons is not Circuit Active.
Since the Ponytas are not into it, there's no deal.
…
[Next Day]
…
Hey, look, positive side effects!
A different C3 team saw us during the last visit and are making an offer. They're direct competitors of a sort.
This new team is a primarily Steel type team. So them looking into getting Fires is kinda odd.
To elaborate, teams will specialize in a type to save on the logistical costs for getting stuff. Pokemon will eat normal food, and do kinda need normal food, but, for example, Lairons have additional aspects to their diet in the form of iron, so a team that wants to use Lairons on their team will need, among other things, storage for the iron and the unused dirt, loading/unloading, parking for the trucks, so on, so forth.
And, of course, different types of training for different Pokemon requires different gear. A Lairon will not get the same kind of strength/Attack EV training as an Aron, for example. Overstressing a Pokemon works the same way as a normal animal: they don't get as much out of it, and they can get injured.
This particular team has training facilities set up for the Aron family, Magnemite family, Honedge family, and…Scyther family? Scyther-Scizor transition family. Each has separate sub-organizations for training as according to their roles within a team.
For example, the Aron family has training areas dedicated for…uh, Attack EVs, Health EVs, Attack+Health EVs, Health+ EVs, EVs, Defense EVs. They're called something different and more goal-oriented-y, but when it's boiled down to the numbers…
But, yeah, there's one for Arons, one for Lairons, one for Magnemites, so on, so forth. The differences in power input and output require adjustments, sometimes a lot of adjustments, so, again, expensive.
So why the Ponytas?
…
[One Interview Later]
…
So, in short, they're looking to get some mons to train on weakness mitigation. Same idea as the other team, but more and less sensical at the same time. The Water Team could have had the Ponytas be type coverage on their team, but the Metal Team really doesn't benefit from having Fire in their roster, does it?
I mean, Steel is weak to Fire, and Fire is kinda rough against Fire. Abilities like Flash Fire only work up to a point, and it's difficult to tell when somebody's switching out in a real time combat system.
According to the lead trainer here, they're currently on a bit of a losing streak, and they're hoping that new blood will help get them up and going again.
Kind of a red flag, not gonna lie.
But, the Ponytas are ok with it, and I don't have the experience to say if it's a bad idea or not, so we're agreeing to the deal.
…
[Ta-Da]
…
We've made a deal with the Team, the Ironwreckers.
As a matter of the initial agreement, the gym (and my) costs of upkeep for P-A and P-B are covered by the new team. I'm also on loan to the Ironwreckers to help transition P-A and P-B. The Team has three C3 challenges and two Opens coming up in July. Depending on how well P-A and P-B can integrate into the roster, they'll be lined up for one of the slots on the teams.
It's like a dozen trainers and each one is allowed at least three Pokemon, but most trainers have one or two Pokemon that are fixed onto their team, so it's a handful of slots.
It's still a lot, though.
I think the Ironwreckers are rivals with the Water Team, and they have a loaner agreement with a few Ground and Flier ranches for type coverage. So, yeah, kinda weird to try and integrate Fire types into their team so closely when they already have these kinds of connections.
Oh well, I'm getting paid.
The schedule is as thus: the earliest the Ponytas can join the teams is in three weeks, when the first C3 starts. The latest is six weeks, which is the last C3. The Opens are somewhere in the middle, so if we can't make it to those, then it's game over.
Which is not necessarily a terrible thing–depending on how the training goes, the team is willing to keep the Ponytas on retainer anyway, just to train type weakness and slot them in later.
At that point it would no longer be my business. If I can't get them prepped and integrated in six weeks I deserve it.
Alright.
Let's do this.
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{ === + === }
Author Notes:
Ponytas are waaay smaller than I thought they were.