AN: Review response board! This one is a rant, because I'm now reiterating and spelling things out much more clearly. You've been god damn warned.
Yea, I make mistakes. I literally wrote most of this over the course of a week. I wrote most of it in two days. Sometimes I just forget something, and because I'm not editing at all, it'll still be there. Sorry?
I have no doubt there'll be more of those. I literally named Viridian City Vermillion as a chapter title at one point. I changed it in ffn before posting but it is still there. In my doc. I think slapping in the want for a Ralts which I spell Raltz for some reason when he already has one is pretty forgivable. Also, he can't even travel with it yet. He explicitly wants a psychic because they're generally just good mons. Gardevoir and Gallade are two of my favorites. So I'll probably end up with two and a pile of tiny little cute Ralts running around because they're adorable.
Is it my usual meticulous writing where I care for the details but suck at math? No.
I don't care, so much. My brain goes brr and I write. Zoom.
Also, if a girl is doing something to be mean explicitly, trying to be blatantly mean in a way no one can misunderstand, taking a picture of her kissing someone who someone she is being mean to has dated then sending it to her is a good way to be mean.
Implying or saying the other person wasn't good enough to get the same (whether or not that is true) is another layer of meanness. I'm not going to explain things like this in text because my brain is ZOOMING and I have no time for writing people. I have to write my vague outline of what happens so I can get this cool shit about the world down in a way my brain can decide if it likes it or not.
Sabrina is a bubbly happy person with a mean streak a mile wide and deep as a canyon. Kinda possessive and bad with people because she has so few real friends. IE: I wanted to show her being impersonable / mean with contradicting nice traits because she's still figuring out how to treat people effectively, because ripping what they want out of their head and giving it to them is a crutch she is trying not to use and that makes this whole thing harder.
So she is childishly showing off her achievement to someone she thinks will understand how good it feels while not-so-subtly telling them that this thing is hers and not the other persons (for the time being at least). She is doing this to 1. See how far guys will let you go before they feel uncomfortable. 2. See if the other person will clap back. 3. Have fun because proving her superiority in every aspect over everyone else makes her feel good.
Yea, Sabrina is childish, get over it. She's a one-chapter thing. I move on, so does the story. To things like "What if every champion had family members closer to protags age?" cuz that sounds like fun.
Also, my brother was an annoyingly flirty ladies man who had a girlfriend literally from 8th grade until he got married at 22. I don't know the total number but I assume around 100. The man has talent with picking up women and I don't have the same talent with picking up my preferred partners. I just wing it. It seems to be reading decently, at least! But yea, that will be a thing. He'll skip through girlfriends like a rock contesting the world record does water until he finally falls in and marries someone.
*** Scene Change ***
So, some people might think that getting on this boat - The St. Anne - is a horrible idea. After all, if Giovanni is still out there, and some of his Admins as well? What then? You're doomed right?
I think that's a bad thing to assume. The region is being shaken like a dog who bit a body builder as they try to smoke Giovanni out, and while most people don't recognize it, I certainly do. There's more people in towns who I recognize from past conference videos which I'd been watching for ideas. People who placed second, third, fourth or further down but had stopped going through leagues hunting for a win.
People who I'm pretty sure joined ACE or the Rangers. Because what else do you do with the highly skilled, but not-quite-elite material of a region than put them to work? Everything Giovanni has been known to have a hand in has been shaken out. Events he's had his hand in the creation of - like the St. Anne have had security changed, moles smoked out and generally more aside.
But I think Giovanni is in Johto. Or Tohjo Falls. Either or. And if he's in Johto, he's probably in the fucking game corner. Other than that his options are Five Isle Meadow and the now captured Team Rocket Base which had been found when the Gym Leaders of every town had searched in a 25 Mile Radius around their towns for any places not officially recorded in their jurisdiction, or which had unrecorded basements, psychic shielding, or other obvious signs of secrecy.
Ground types and Psychic types had been used en-masse. There were now two days a week a gym was closed, where usually it's only one off-day per week. The changes were obvious if you knew what you were looking for. The league just said it was regularly scheduled training on new policy.
Which I assume is "If you do shit like Giovanni did, you'll learn what it feels like to be hunted ten times harder than he is being."
Of course, when the Team Rocket HQ had been raided some two weeks ago, they'd found some very disturbing things, including a maturing mew clone which was clearly not Mew, as it was far too large and humanoid. Not being able to find a way to keep it alive, the League had simply pulled the plug.
Oak had told me about that in a secured phone call to a Pokemon Center, just yesterday. Apparently every Center had a secure line which was hard-lined into a server where only very high ranking league personnel could get. AKA - the Elite Four and Champion, along with Professor Oak. Apparently. It was the backup emergency button for situations where someone was trying to Coup the region.
Kalos is super fucked with Malva in the Elite 4.
So yea, getting on the boat? No issue. Giovanni is in the Sevii Islands, in the Rocket Warehouse, or he's in Mahogany town or Tohjo falls. I can check out the Islands if or when I go overseas. I just need to get a license to travel, and fly my Dragonite over. If he can circle the globe in 16 hours, getting to Unova should take 8 hours at most.
And considering I can hear the sonic boom when he takes off after getting a decent distance from me, I know he can do it. I'll just need to have him master Tailwind and general air manipulation so I don't get shredded by the wind resistance, and have him not go absolutely full speed.
Or just get a pod to nap in which he can just carry and is immune to that kind of stuff. Whichever. I'm getting pretty rich, and am in the Pokemon world with insane technology. It's whatever.
So, I get on the boat. I give the man handling the ticket booth the Ticket I'd gotten from Bill, and his eyes skim it, then I get a silent nod and a slip of paper. I'm on deck 16 with the other people in the nicer suites, it seems. I'm not on Deck 17 or 18 with the insanely nice suites, but I'm in the upper strata, for sure. Bill has a lot of pull, I guess.
He does manage the Pokemon Transfer system, so I guess it makes sense…
To explain the St. Anne, I can only say this: Imagine those huge ass world cruisers on Earth. Make them a bit more eco-friendly looking and bam, that's this thing. It has some decks with grass filled areas for pokemon. It has pools for Pokemon, and it's a bit bigger than the largest cruise ship I'd heard of from Earth. About on-par for this world's technology. They had spatial compression and could transfer a spatially compressed creature to a pre-designated point from anywhere in the world.
Bigger, fancier boats are probably easy as fuck in comparison.
So, having worked on some boats- even if none this large - and knowing how they work, and how Hotels which these things are - work, I board, and head right to the elevator, then go to the floor with all of the shops.
I need nicer clothes if I'm in a fancy place. I thought Bill would just hand me some, like, lab assistants' tickets. He has to have a helper or three, but no. He gave me his ticket. So, I'm going to get something nice. Slacks, dress shirt, tie, nice deck-shoes, socks and a little bit of product to keep my god-forsaken hair in line. If I'm cleaning up, I'm doing the job properly.
Good thing I boarded early. The first major event takes place an hour after we leave port. It's a dinner to congratulate the trainers who made it. They plan to move slowly, taking us around on the boat and celebrating all of the rookie trainers or distinguished older trainers who the league is welcoming. Which means "If you beat Surge as a rookie for badge 3+ or you beat all 8 gyms already OR if you're some important hot-shot, you get a spot on the boat."
It's still under capacity for comfortable sailing. Like, there's an easy 2000 suites on this thing. Probably more. I know there's around 150 veteran, skilled 8 badge trainers from last year who came in or stuck around. Not all of them are going to go far - but they do have 8 badges. Then there's around 600 rookies who will have 3 badges at this point in their journey. Maybe 20 of those will have a few more. Then there's me and maybe one other who has more than that.
No one knows where Gary Oak is or how many badges he has. I'd guess four, but he could have six, I guess. I doubt eight unless he's goomba-stomped the minor gyms after slapping Brock and the Cerulean Sisters. But then he'd never get the main badges, unless he picked up a whole new team and used them against the other leaders, and he just doesn't have the patience or depth.
Also, I think he wouldn't take the easy way out from just beating all of the easy gyms. He probably plans to avoid the now Elite-4 run Viridian and Saffron, and maybe Fuschia, but he'll take the rest, and at least try Fuschia, maybe Saffron if he sees how I beat Sabrina. It was close but he may think he can replicate the win with some practice.
I do not like Gary Oak, but he is not a coward or a weakling.
After buying what I need, take a shower and get changed, while ruminating who I might run into and where I'll run into them I literally step out of my room and run into someone. It is not Reginald, who I know to be on this boat somewhere. Last I'd seen he'd been thanking Arceus for a vacation from me as he sprinted on deck ahead of me.
No, I'd run into a much smaller person than me. I looked down and saw a face I'd recognize anywhere after doing more research on league contenders this year.
Diantha's, Champion of Kalos, younger sister. Melissa Carne. She's tiny in reality, I realize. Barely Five-two. I react without thinking as she stumbles and steady her with an arm, offering an apologetic smile. "Sorry, miss. I wasn't looking where I was going." I give her an apologetic grin, and she gives me a curious look, before she smiles back.
"Oh, no. I should not have been so close to the walls, no? I just did not expect someone else to have been on board already, most on these floors prefer late, dramatic arrivals to timely ones." She responds, before letting out a chuckle as I let her go, at last, before moving out of the way, then closing my door.
"Still, I didn't think I'd run into someone who might be a challenge here. My name is Greg Daniels, of Pallet town. You seem strong, so hopefully we can battle some time." I offer my hand, which she takes, the soft smile turning almost predatory, as she nods.
"And I am Melissa Carne. I have heard you discussed, and I have seen your battles. You are most impressive. This cruise may be more interesting than I assumed after all, what with you and Jon on board. You must know of Jon Dickson?" She asks, and I feel a chill go down my spine.
The winner of the Silver conference next year. He'd been 4th last year, and said he was taking a year off to try to beat as many conferences to 10 badges as he could this year.
He has yet to break Indigo, and is battling Koga for the badge, if what I'm hearing is correct.
He must be going to Fuscia on this cruise for the same reason I am.
"Damn, we will have challenges. I see I won't be the only one going for Koga's real team when we get off this boat." I sigh, and her grin sharpens.
"Yes, I suppose we will determine who goes for him first with the tournament, non?" She asks, some of the accent slipping into her voice as she looks like she can almost taste the battle, and is starving.
"Yea, we will. I'm looking forward to it, honestly." I say, and I can tell I'm grinning like the devil himself.
It's no wonder why, when we step out of the elevator at the 1st floor and step out in-stride, the crowd parts around us, splitting like the school of Horsea before a Garydos.
We both end up going to the same place, the training halls, and doing the same thing.
Booking a private room. As we part, we share one final overly pleased glance and wave. "Good luck." I offer, before turning as she shoots the last words.
"Why offer, when you're the one who'll need it?" And boy didn't her smug tone just put me in the mood to crush everyone we're going to meet in the tournament?
I sent out my team with a flourish, and seeing my grin they all started to smile back at me, the glint of battles to come entering their eyes, and Growlithe even blasted a Flamethrower at the psychically reinforced ceiling of the room, which is fifty feet up.
They used spatial expansion, I'm sure.
"Okay guys and gals, we have a big tournament ahead of us, it'll start tomorrow evening. We have at least one major contender for the Indigo Conference, the person who placed 4th last year in the Silver Conference, and there's probably more. We're going to defeat them all." I conclude my short pep-talk, then clap, and they all stand from where they sit before me. Charizard gives me a nod as I point to Growlithe, and they walk over to a corner - around a football field away - and then I turn to the others. "Gravity sparring. Physical moves only, we're going to refine your abilities to dodge, move and fight in close. After we do that, we'll move to target practice as a group. Top three get a poffin, sound good?" I offer, and get a series of roars in agreement.
At the end of the spar, I feel very very bad for whoever tries to get in close with Ninetails. She can use each of her tails as a sort of whip. Like an Ekans body, except she can imbue her tails with attacks and then freeze you from the inside out. Or crush you with steel type energy, or whatever else she needs.
Because, yea. Ninetails is the last one standing. She just dodged and ducked around the combat, swiping those who tried to get out of the main fray and keeping everyone in the middle while she swept up those who tried to engage her directly. Leafeon had been wrapped up in three tails and bludgeoned and cut with paws and claws while wriggling and slashing with Leaf Blades Ninetails directed away with yanks and slams from her remaining tails.
In the end, Dragonite had come out of the three way brawl between himself, Garchomp and Pidgeot in the skies to see Ninetails carelessly tossing the frozen form of Scizor to the side. He'd flown down and landed two good punches before being clinched by Ninetails latching onto every limb and then clawing, biting and freezing Dragonite as he bit, clawed and body slammed himself around.
Too bad he's so weak to Ice-Types, and also was more injured from the much harder battle for air superiority.
Ninetails limped three steps, howled her victory, then collapsed.
Chansey rushed over, pulling out Revives, which are basically smelling salts which have some solidified potion crystals so when they're inhaled they heal the most vital stuff first, then disperse through the blood into the rest of the body. She cracked them open and heal pulsed them, one-by-one as they woke up. Dragonite looked miffed, and I could see plans forming behind his eyes to take her out first next time.
Dragonite did not like losing, but seemed to fail to realize everyone else knew that and figured out who he'd target, remove and then they'd pick the best chance they had to make it out - and duel them. Sometimes plans went awry because the target is fast enough to get into another fight - and make it a 3-way fight. This is what Garchomp did. He'd picked Pidgeot because Pidgeot was strong, and then made it a 3 way fight in hopes of beating out Dragonite with a 2-on-1. It hadn't worked, but it had made Dragonite get so delayed he barely had any hope against Ninetails.
Scizor and Milotic almost always fought off to the side with the newer Pokemon until one of them remained, after the other three knocked themselves out fighting. They'd go all out on each other, and then whoever won would go off and fight whoever was finishing, or join the final clash. They showed the two methods of fighting very well. Constriction and martial technique - or using your natural advantage or using honed skill.
Everyone knew if Scizor used her full range of moves in those fights she'd always win.
That wasn't the point. It was to help them get better at fighting. Scizor was, bar none, the best technical fighter on the team. Ninetails and Dragonite and Garchomp probably being tied for second, while Leafeon had the best power and was still figuring out how to overcome cheese like getting wrapped up, walking on ice, or other tricks she never really deals with in the wilds. Because cutting Iron Tails wrapping up your sword is hard.
Ninetails, I'm pretty sure is actually up there with Dragonite and Garchomp for my most effective general fighter. Which is kind of scary. Charizard is right behind them, but he's taken an almost fatherly role in helping the younger members catch up, teaching them the most outside of Milotic, while Scizor is hoping to get them to catch up for maximum chaos in the spars.
As we wrap up the post-spar snack, I pull out what amounts to a tennis ball thrower for your dog, and load it up with a solid iron ball. We all know the rules by now.
Hitting is 1 point. Hitting and using your attack to block someone else's attack gets you a point and you steal whoever you block. Yes, you can go negative.
Breaking the ball with a new attack is three points. Once you break a ball with an attack, you don't use it in target practice except for control, where you're trying to lower the power enough to break others' attacks but not the ball. If you break the ball with the same attack twice, you get no poffins that day. If you manage to not break the ball and block the others attacks with your attack, you get three poffins through the day when you want them.
Yes, you can get this benefit many times. No, you can't get it more than one time per day with the same attack. Also, if you don't work on a new attack or controlling a new attack, I will hold the rights to Veto your Poffins.
Why an Iron Ball? Because they're made to be immune to Pokemon Attacks. They're made to be weapons Pokemon hold and throw at other Pokemon. When you can break this with a ranged attack, Steel Types will just cease to be effective against you.
Ninetails had taken pleasure when the first one had shattered under her Blizzard.
So, I began round two of training, to the immense glee of my team, who broke a record number of balls that day.
Every single one with an attack which had never broken a ball before. They did almost two attacks each for breaking a ball.
So, I moved on to something I thought would never happen.
Meditation and control. I had Ninetails set up a hailstorm, and I have every member of the team practicing deflecting, but not breaking, the ice-balls with their moves. The fragile, light, insignificant pieces of ice. The goal?
To make a wall, 10 feet high, which is stacked with pure control. Keeping everything not-ice and snow away from it.
Ninetails, meanwhile, was practicing making increasingly complex ice-sculptures with her cryokinesis, and animating the two she made to fight while creating a third.
She would do the wall practice later with sand, while Garchomp practiced Geokinesis.
I would need a room with some rocks, I thought, frowning as Dragonite punched what remained of his wall to restart when something happened to one of his ice-cubes.
He's doing this the hardest way, trying to stack with fire. But to each their own. At least half is Dragonfire, then normal fire.
I'm pretty sure its very effective, but also… time consuming as fuck. He fails the most, but also has the most advanced control out of anyone who is not Ninetails, Garchomp or Pidgeot. At least at this.
Leafeon, Milotic and Scizor need to do some more work, I think, before their elements of choice will be viable for stacking tests like this, but it's still good for them to get groundwork. Their other methods of energy control have all seen massively increased growth.
Doing this for half an hour for them, every day, was more valuable than an extra hour of more generic energy control training, training various normal moves to improve how they work and sharpening their general body control and the energy in their bodies - it's good. They need to master it. But Scizor and Milotic are almost wholly elemental in how they fight. Scizor is almost pure steel and Milotic is all water.
Stacking sand and Ice with water is hard. It melts. She's working on controlling the temperature of her water - which means Scald and Freeze Dry maybe. I explained to her how evaporation in boiling water works, and she'd seem positively inspired, then had learned dragon breath from Dragonite, and spent a while just spitting fire out of her mouth.
Still, she is by far the most dedicated to training, in spite of her wall melting again. Not angry, just stony determination.
But, then we go to round four of training, which is the newest thing to be added, per both Sabrina and Anthony's notes.
Silent Meditation for thirty minutes as we consider what we're working on - move wise - and how it works. Feels. How to improve the energy flow. How to sharpen it with the insights we may have gleaned from training.
Milotic, Leafeon and Dragonite take the longest with this, and so I nod to them, then the others, and we move a respectful distance away, and I whisper that it is time for the Final Stage.
One-on-One bracket, no holds barred. They get to decide the bracket. I put the four newest members on the weaker side so they can run into a weaker member and maybe evolve in a hard fight, and the rest sort themselves out.
Dragonite, then Leafeon, and after another twenty minutes, Milotic wander over.
The the fights begin.
Garchomp, brutal and fast, sends Scizor out, brute forcing the more skilled fighter into what amounts to a blow-for-blow trade, being faster than Scizor. I'll need to fix that. Speed shouldn't matter, but it's a hard thing to fix. Garchomp is also more skilled than your average opponent will be.
Leafeon is graceful as always. Ending it near painlessly, she sends Milotic out, who, upon waking up, goes and starts working on her moves, dedicated as ever.
Dragonite and Pidgeot have the by-far fastest battle, and Pidgeot barely loses out in spite of being faster in the tighter quarters. A bit too fragile, yet.
Charizard and Ninetails both take on the winner of today's childrens bracket. Ninetails and Charizard both push and push, and in the end meet success on this day.
Hakamo-o and Servine both manage to evolve, to the jealousy of Growlithe and Ferroseed. They still lose, but it is much closer after the evolutions.
Then Charizard and Ninetails fight, and Charizard manages to win that fight, by proving he HAS been working on something while teaching Growlithe. Fire Control. It didn't have any notable changes the last couple of days, but when he made his section of the room, blocked off by a barrier turn into fire which were so hot I saw the air between the primary and the secondary barrier warp with heat, and even on the other side of the next barrier I saw heat warping the air. Then, I saw water fill in the barrier, and stared in awe as it started evaporating and freezing at the same time. Then it all froze over at once as the fire went cold for a few seconds, then exploded in heat, making the first barrer explode at the sudden, explosive increase in temperature and pressure from the steam.
Charizard was hurt as fuck, but not unconscious. Ninetails was unconscious, but seemed less overall damaged. I guess Charizard had been in the epicenter…
"That was outstanding, but control the fire to make the steam explode on the enemy, and not yourself. I wonder if you can create a vacuum for a second by burning the air completely off all around you? It would block the attack for the microsecond there was a vacuum." I murmur, getting a VERY interested look from Charizard. "Bah, you basically just made a fire type explosion attack against water types, that's outstanding. You're out though, look at you!" I growl and Charizard Flinches as Chansey slaps him over his bowed head, and then heals him.
I force a Dragonite Leafeon fight, since they're the least damaged, and Leafeon needs to get used to vastly more powerful pokemon coming after her. She used to be one of the strongest innately in the forest, and it's hard to get used to things which are faster and stronger than her by such a margin again. She's making up for it, but I can tell it's a hard adjustment, where for the rest of my team it's very normal, since Leafeon was that for them.
I also think Dragonite likes to rub it in that he is the stronger one now. Leafeon, on the other hand, likes to grumble about how unfair it all is.
So, six hours later, having had lunch and another round of training, I leave, and manage not to run over the tiny woman on the other side this time. She glances up, and smiles, sweat covering her from head to toe as she takes in my pristine condition.
Ninetails and Charizard made sure I looked my best before they let me return them when I explained we all needed to look and perform our best.
Where Ninetails learned how to do hair, or Charizard learned how to tie a tie, I'll never know. It was like my parents before prom. Next thing I know they'll be telling me to kiss Melissa here. Because it's only proper. I smile and roll my eyes as she looks up at me.
"Amused to find me waiting on you?" She asks, falling into step as I start down the hall, and I shake my head.
"More like I find it amusing you're trying to get run over. Again." I respond, and she scoffs.
"How else am I going to get your number so we can stay in contact? Come on, it's your job as the man to ask this kind of thing, you know?" She asks. I give her an odd look, take out my phone, and then look over.
"So, can I have your number?" I ask cheekily. She grins back.
"Well, if you're asking so nicely, sure!" She chirps, and rattles off her number and then I give her mine, and we walk in a companionable silence to the dinner which signals the departure of the boat, and the first round of the tournament for the 3-badge trainers which is taking place right after. With there being the most of those trainers to watch, it only makes sense. It'd continue tomorrow for round two before the first round of the 4, 5, 6 badge tournaments begin. All very ordered. The three badge trainers are getting a rough ride with going from night battles to morning ones. Everyone else has a slightly easier schedule to keep.
7 Badge trainers start on day three. 8 badges and above the fourth day. Then an all-level tourney with a mystery prize for the person who goes the furthest out of everyone with their badge count starts on day six, and is a pure one-on-one tournament. People with deeper teams of high skill will go further, and there is a good chance a rookie with a smaller more powerful team could overcome an older person who had a harder battle, allowing them to 'jump someone with more badges' as it were.
So if you're the only 3-badge person, you get a random - apparently superb - prize.
Free time for people with higher badges for the first day or three is so they can go around and get connections with other powerful trainers, or the assorted important people on deck. Maybe even a visiting gym leader or elite, if one is lucky.
"I'll introduce you to my friends if you introduce me to yours?" I ask, and she shoots me an impressed, and pleased, look.
"Sure. How many people do you know on this boat, anyways?" She asks, and I suppress a grin.
At least four. If I'm lucky, I know five.
*** Scene Change ***
As we're walking up from the rooms we spent the last few hours in - for a quick shower on Melissa's part and for a couple calls and cleaning up for me - I send out a message to Professor Oak, since he's most likely to have the answer.
'Who do I know on the St. Anne, if you have a list? I just spent some time talking to someone, and we're going to introduce each other to others who might be interesting to meet.' I send, and Oak replies almost instantly, with a picture of himself, Gary and Daisy in a room overlooking the lower decks, then a room number - on deck 18.
'Stop by anytime. I know Ash, Brock, Misty, and some other assistant Gym Leaders on board, even some of the minor gym leaders. This is more of a sponsorship deal for the league - where we show support for the ship and make sure it runs well, to open new highways of travel - than it is an actual luxury cruise. I know various members of the Elite 4 will stop by at various times, though they won't stay long.' is the final reply I get as I hop in the Elevator, and we start our ride up to our rooms. I pocket the phone and toss a smirk at Melissa.
"When you're done you can meet some of the people I started my journey with, and a few friends from back home. They should be on the ship, in Gary's cabin. He's on deck 18, being the grandson of Professor Oak has its benefits." I comment, and she gives me an impressed look, before smiling mischievously.
"I'll set us up to meet some of my friends for breakfast tomorrow then. That sound good?" She asks, and I nod.
We both know this is really just networking, but damned if it isn't fun. Teasing each other back and forth like this.
"Sure. I suppose I'll see you in a few minutes." I toss out, as I walk up to my door. "I'm going to check in on a few others to see when or if they want to meet." I finish, and then toss a wave as I walk into my room. I note that she picked up on the way I implied she wouldn't take long. Which means one of two things, really.
I hope she chose the complementary version. We'll see, I guess.
I slip on another of my nice sets of clothes, being sure to check I don't smell bad before putting the fresh clothes on, and then I start typing out messages to Ash, Daisy and the Professor. I make sure that the Professor knows who I'm bringing and that I'm trying to network here, so good impressions from everyone would be nice.
I also make sure Daisy knows I'm not romantically pursuing this person. Both because her family is kind-of nobility in Kalos, and because she's a rival and I will not surrender my strategies to her inadvertently by traveling with her.
I just make sure to tell Ash to dress up nice because he's going to be sitting with Professor Oak, myself and someone I've met and we'll all be dressed up nice. He asks why, when there's a tournament going on, and I make sure to beat it into his head that if he can battle and look like he's ready to go to one of the parties in his moms movies, people will respect him more, here.
Other places, normal clothes are fine. Here? Not so much.
I think he gets it, when I step out of my room twelve minutes later, having heard the shower next door torn off.
Time to go hover outside her door, and then when she runs into me I'll be all dramatic. There are two places people tend to freeze up when going to meet potentially important people. I don't know if she will have the same issues, so I'll just keep her talking and walking with me until we're with the Oaks, then down to the dining hall. I'll try to weave her into a conversation with the Professor and Daisy about Kalos Pokemon and how they differ from Kanto Pokemon, along with the things people do with Pokemon, like common trainer school information and whatever. Build that up to commonly known little tricks people 'all know about' in Kalos, and then just trade basic tips.
My plan starts flawlessly as Melissa slams into me wearing an elegant black dress. I stumble dramatically back, before looking up. "Sorry miss, I should have been looking where I was going" I say, grinning like a demon, she gives me the cutest pout I've seen to date, and then twirls, and we're off.
Ice successfully broken.
*** Scene Change ***
"Come in, my boy!" Professor Oak - Samuel, he'd said to call him, slapped me on the back after opening the door. "We have thirty minutes until we're due for dinner, so plenty of time for you to introduce us to your newest friend!" He jovially continues, before holding out a hand. "I'm Professor Samuel Oak, it's a pleasure to meet you!" He concludes bombastically, and I note that he's tuned up the happy old man energy to eleven. Like he did when I was way younger, or when a new skittish Pokemon would show up after being caught. It always works.
"Melissa Carne." The response comes with the intended smile getting dragged out, a genuine smile, too. "A pleasure to meet the creator of the Pokedex, and honestly, an honor." She responds, looking excited. I'd only mentioned Gary was here, and she thought that was the end of it. She can't see my evil grin return in full force as Daisy comes around the corner and waves us all inside.
"I'm sure miss Carne has better things to do than to stand in the hallway grandpa. Let her in so we can sit already. Gary is impatient to begin comparing himself to Greg, even if we all know how that will end." She says, sighing dramatically before turning back to the room she came from. The Professor laughs and follows, I just shake my head, as I smooth my face and follow. Melissa giving me a goggle eyed look.
"You didn't say The Professor would be here with his Grand Champion granddaughter!" She hisses, and I shrug as I turn into the room they moved into, seeing Gary and slipping into the couch next to him. He gives me a speculative look, before nodding, and listing his achievements.
Four badges, thirty two pokemon caught, a growing fanbase, and a team who are mostly fully evolved. Though I note most of them are Stone Evolutions, which are probably carrying his team for now. He concludes with "I don't see how you could top that, but I'll let you try, Greg." Then he sneers.
He REALLY hasn't looked into any of us, has he. Probably assumes he knows us all as well as his own hand. I gleefully pull out my badge case and open it to show him, before I start talking about how I'd gotten seven badges, went and got the Viridian badge from an appropriate Elite 4 member, and then did Sabrina's badge, followed by the remaining Minor Gyms as I worked my way up to Koga. I boasted about my Pokemon - and anyone who had my trainer page would know this information - and a few of the simple things which would be easily seen in the videos of me. Atypical command structures designed for different types of battles, combination moves, the works. I watch as Gary, eyes glued to my twelve badges in my overful case, gapes and blinks rapidly as though trying to disbelive me. Meanwhile I can tell Melissa, Samuel and Daisy are having a polite chat while listening to us. Daisy looks incredibly proud, Samuel looks pleased and Melissa looks impressed, meanwhile Daisy is talking about how after she won the most recent Grand Conference, she met Wallace and exchanged details with him, since she's going to Sinnoh soon, and he's very interested in her experience in the Circuit there.
When she concludes, asking about Melissa's recent triumphs and high-points for her career, she in turn boasts about how her sister is the Champion, has raised a powerful Elite Four who have never had to even use a fifth pokemon against a challenger, and how her sister is also the master for their regional specialties, going into some detail on the Battle Mansion and Fashion and how she's met all kinds of important trainers and coordinators both as a result. How she got nine badges in Kalos the first time, and then lost late and how she already has eleven badges here, with only Koga and Sabrina left, along with Viridian which was too hard since it was run by the Elite Four now, while they got a replacement lined up for next season.
"Really, I think after they gave out one or two badges, they started using some Pokemon they're personally training for their teams or as backups to smash challengers and give out no more badges!" She complains, shooting me a look.
"I fought a massive Onix, Steelix and then I had to beat a Nidoking which Bruno had raised, all three of them. I only won because I have a lot of specific counters to Ground Types." I reposte, specifically the Lava Battlefield. "They're not publishing any victories from Viridian because it could show a weakness in the Elite Four, and they can't have that, so I'll hide that trick until I need to use it." I huff, and then, the game is afoot as we compare ideas which we have shown and roughly how they work. Trying to bait more information out of each other with insightful questions from Gary, technical issues with both of our techniques from Daisy and improved versions which Samuel has seen.
We keep going until dinner is announced, then as a group, head down chatting all the way about more mundane topics, like the upcoming tournaments and how we expect people to do. I say I expect Ash to do well, but not win. He has a habit of placing well but not winning in a lot of early events, and early Indigo has some real monsters. Like, if Misty goes all out she can smash the tournament. Her Garydos is literally an 8-badge level Pokemon given to her by her sister to defend her while she travels. She just doesn't use it for fear of the beast.
Melissa bets on some kid who is hot online, but I have little faith in making it past six badges. He has a lot of technical skill but his Pokemon are already barely on par at gym three when real powerhouses are still ahead of the curve and they have some strategy. I agree he'll do well, but I disagree on his winning.
By the time we're in the dining hall for the dinner to announce the beginning of the tournaments and have the first one begin right after the meal, we all have declared who we think the top 8 will be, and have a 'small' bet on our guesses being the most correct. Small being $10,000. Each. We settle in at our table, and shortly after are joined by Brock, Ash and Misty. Misty is glaring heatedly at me, I just give her a nonchalant look, nod, and then smile minutely at her being here. She just keeps glaring.
Ash, meanwhile, is in a verbal boxing match with Gary and Brock looks like he's about to declare his undying love for one of the two women at the table - who is not Misty - but is restraining himself. His face is very red, and he is slightly shaking.
So I engage Samuel in conversation while Misty engages Melissa. I keep an ear on that while Samuel and I trade very light conversation topics - like how the garden has progressed since I left, while I feigned interest in his research on the varied types of berries and their effects. He also seemed indifferent, like it was a chore to have to confirm or deny some researchers' berry theory.
He'd be denying it, because it was all wrong. From the sounds of it, he's keeping the correct answers to himself. Until he verifies it with three attempts, at that.
"Be careful. You're at a table of sharks here. They're all talented monsters, and won't hesitate to leave you behind if you can't keep up." Misty whisper-hisses at Melissa, who laughs quietly before responding, while Misty's face turns red and disbelieving.
"Good. They have standards and know when to move on, then. I would find it hard to respect anyone who kept someone who slowed them down or hampered their ability to grow properly. It would be akin to taking off an arm to make someone who lost theirs feel better. It would be better to use both hands productively, helping those less fortunate. Don't you agree?" She responds, also quietly. Covered mostly by Gary and Ash gloating about their achievements.
"You can't possibly, really believe that!" Misty gasps, and Melissa chuckles.
"I do. The best will rise to the top, marry at the top and defend the world from the top. It is natural." Melissa says, cutting right into the heart of Misty's issue. "If you are not worthy now, then see that you grow enough to be worthy before you run out of time to grow." She concludes, giving a beatific smile. Misty just looks like she's been slapped. She doesn't get outwardly angry or thrash Melissa, recognizing the Carne name most likely from introductions, but also disengages from the conversation rapidly, while giving confusedly angry looks at me and Melissa now.
Samuel finishes his faux passionate rant about the delights of Sitrus, and what miracles were discovered about it - all false from what I know - and then asks me if I've noticed anything about berries. I nod, then pull out my notebook with the basic list of berries and what they do from the games, then make a copy. I'd improve this with some testing when I find wild berries and can observe my Pokemon directly. So I make sure to add "In perfect conditions these are the rough effects." to each, with notes on the EV decreasing berries that it seems to stunt or even encourage the regression of certain types of training to allow more room for specialized training for the primary muscles the pokemon use primarily, though using them outside of the highest level for the most powerful pokemon is likely folly. After making a rough copy with less numerical and meta-notes, I pass it over, then sip at the offered wine I'd been served while we wait for the first course.
Oak actually gets an excited gleam in his eye and then looks up after scanning the page like a photocopier. "This is outstanding! I can verify most of these to be true, and to think those berries which were considered mildly poisonous could have some positive effect if used correctly!" He continues excitedly just loud enough for Melissa to hear. "This will allow for your pokemon to grow far more powerful when you reach the peak! Truly remarkable!" He lays it on a bit thick in his maybe not faux anymore excitement. His eyes look almost aflame with emotion.
"Eh, it's still incomplete analysis. I need to actually see what they do in a lab with the tech to see what happens in the cells and organelles along with the whole of the body and then what the specific parts do in reaction." I complain, getting a series of nods from Oak before we dive into a debate on how this research should be done.
I hardly even notice as everyone but Ash and Gary tapers off as they listen into what is turning into a debate which could have major implications to training. While we don't mention names of berries or what they do, I can feel the interest at our table rise, before breaking as a plate is set before Ash, then Gary, then Samuel, and one by one they quiet down before moving to the safer topic of the food in the quickly quieting room.
When I glanced around, I saw Daisy, Melissa and Misty all looking at me like they suddenly have no idea who I am. I give them a smile after swallowing my first bite. "This is good. You should eat before it gets cold, unless you want me to eat it?" I offer, and they all snap out of the confused looks and get to eating, joining me and Oak in analyzing the food and showing off our the meal continued, for all seven courses we chatted on the food and when that grew tiresome, about the people who we recognized in the tournaments. Who to watch out for, what we knew of them, and so forth.
It was a good discussion, leading up to the first tournament on board the St. Anne.
