ten (text/action) ♊ this is the dance of the pokémon advance!

[viiru2alert]

[Early on the morn of the seventeenth, this anonymous text message appears on the Network:]

PFC. Since I haven't heard anything about stopping the meeting in light of that rampage at the Department Store, it'll still be happening. Just be ready to move somewhere else if they tell us to; I'd say Route 35 would be a good place. So yeah, if you like Pokémon battling, come on up to the top of Goldenrod Depot in a few hours.

[And a few hours later, lurking on the rooftop of one Goldenrod Department Store is a kid with stupid glasses who seems more interested in his Pokégear than anything else. But that's really because people haven't showed up yet!! There's not a lot to suggest that there is even a thing still happening here, to be honest, no banners or anything. He... didn't really put in much effort to get snacks or anything, because there are vending machines right over there, and all the money people win can totally be used for food! ...And for the people who lose, they should have brought more money.]

[There's gonna be two subthreads below: mingling and battling. If two characters meet and want to duke it out, one of them should make a new thread under the battling comment, just to keep it neat.]

Comments

[friendyousohard]

[Armband, check. Black with one pink and one teal button on it.

Pokemon, check.

Collection of healing items for in between battles, check.

And that was really all one needs for a meeting like this. Twilight's eyes are practically sparkling (heh) as she flies down onto the roof on the back of her loyal Dragonite. Immediately upon landing she hops off and begins looking around to see who else is arrived, but it looks like she's pretty early. Well, that's no problem. Time to get a few drinks for herself and her team and wait to see who else shows up.]

[viiru2alert]

[Look at all the effort put into this meeting, Twilight. Look at it all.]

[...yeah there really wasn't much.]

[Don't mind the yellow armband of the Trainer now walking up to Twilight as she waits for her drinks to come out of the machine; that's just his weak team, as one can tell by the two white and one black pins on it. But really, he seems much more interested in the Pokémon she rode in on.]

That's a Dragonite, isn't it?

[friendyousohard]

[Well, nice to meet the creator of this little group in person. Twilight gives Sollux a little wave of greeting as he walks up to her, smiling and gathering up lemonades and sodas.]

Yep. Spike, say hello.

[The Dragonite gives a cheery little wave, grinning kind of dopily at Sollux.]

Spike here was my starter, and he's still my right-hand Pokemon. It's hard to find a Pokemon more adaptable and powerful than a Dragonite, and I've always gotten along well with dragons at that.

Nice to meet you in person, by the way.

[viiru2alert]

Good to hear. I just bought a Dratini egg at Breedcon, and I heard they were pretty kickass, so I just wanted to make sure. [And he casually just checks out that dragon for a moment.]

[So cool.]

Yeah, you too. In case you couldn't tell by the symbol [that Gemini glyph on his shirt in the same color as his text], I'm Sollux.

[friendyousohard]

Thought so. And in case you've forgotten my face, I'm Twilight Sparkle. Twilight's fine.

[Twilight tosses Spike a lemonade, and the Dragonite immediately twists off the top and starts drinking it down.]

I'm about done here if you want any, I just figured I'd treat them before the fights start. It looks like that might be a while, judging by the amount of people here.

[viiru2alert]

Nah, I stocked up already, keep 'em.

[He tugs on his backpack. Totally stocked.]

Well, you could always just fight people with the Pokémon you have on hand. If there wasn't enough turnout for a tournament that's what I was going to suggest.

[friendyousohard]

Well, that's the club in a nutshell, isn't it? Sounds reasonable enough. Think there's enough room up here if several fights break out at once, though?

[viiru2alert]

I think there is. And if not, we can always just relocate.

[friendyousohard]

Yeah, that's always a possibility. Might be necessary, too, if people start bringing out the heavier Pokemon. Like my Snorlax.

[viiru2alert]

Snorlax?

[...Never seen one of those before.]

I didn't know people even trained Snorlax.

[friendyousohard]

Don't let appearances fool you. I label my Snorlax as one of the most powerful, vital members of my team. They're slow, yes, but they're also very, very powerful and hard to take down.

[viiru2alert]

Huh. Whatever works, I guess. [He shrugs.] How'd you end up with one of those?

[friendyousohard]

I asked for one over the gear and someone was kind enough to give me one. I had a primarily offensive team at the time and I wanted a strong defense too. Sapphire fulfills that role quite nicely.

[viiru2alert]

My starter was a pretty defensive Pokémon, and she ain't going anywhere.

[Pchoo, out comes a Claydol, who gives her greeting in a low drone and then promptly starts spinning. It does that.]

Though right now I'm mostly focusing on training some of my younger Pokémon, eheheh... [Yellow armband. Yup.]

[islandshore]

[Well, it won't be hard to miss this dude with his trusty Charizard in tow and---

BaaoOOOOOoo!

Oh. Oh, boy. That'd be his skinny, big-winged Dragonite trudging over, raising an eyebrow and Spike and Twilight. Who is this? Why do they have another Dragonite? There's only room for one awesome Dragon in this--

...cue Flare dragging him off to the side while Riku approaches.]

Fancy seeing you up here.

[friendyousohard]

[Okay she totally expected him. She turns to Riku with a wave, which Spike mirrors at Flare and Draco, looking like a complete dope.]

I thought it would be a good chance to see how they've progressed, depending on the challengers we get. Right now it looks like we're pretty deserted, so here's hoping things pick up.

[She tosses Spike a lemonade, which he happily opens and starts to chug.]

I hope the roof's strong. I wouldn't want to have Sapphire break anything.

[islandshore]

Yeah, same here. Draco's been itching for a serious fight, and I've thought about heading back to the center and grabbing a few rookies to test out.

[Flare's fast enough that it'd probably only take a few minutes. Right now, though? He's packing a full team of powerhouses.

And, heh. Seeing Draco huff at Spike's lemonade, Riku's gonna go ahead and grab one for his bratty dragon. Chill, bro.]

[friendyousohard]

Yeah, it would be a good chance to get some practical experience for the lower-levels. I probably couldn't do a full six-on-six like that, though. Three-on-three or four-on-four, maybe.

[She chuckles and motions to her armband.] Exactly the same problem I have with my higher-ups, point of fact.

[Spike just watches with that dopey grin on his face, just totally chilling. Practically looks like a stoner.]

[islandshore]

My rookies just need more experience outside of fighting my roster. Going up against 100's pushes them and nets them some solid experience, but every trainer teaches their Pokémon differently. They won't get that same variety if they don't get out and fight some real battles.

[And cue a grumble from that disgruntled Dragonite. Who cares about those dumb rookies? They're a waste of time!]

...And I think Draco's just irritated because he didn't get to win a round in the tournament while my Advanced team swept the floor. He doesn't take well to losses.

[friendyousohard]

Ouch. He didn't manage a single win in the entire tournament? I find that...

[She glances at the lean and mean looking Dragonite, and takes into account what she knows about the species.]

Hard to believe. Very hard.

oh god, that was a derp moment on my part

[islandshore]

Ack, my bad. He won some rounds, but he didn't take home the prize. That's all. Made it to the second match before he finally went down.

[Hruumph. Good thing you clarified that, trainer, or he woulda done so himself. >|]

It's cool!

[friendyousohard]

Ohhhh. Yeah, that makes a lot more sense. Who was his last match against?

[islandshore]

A Mamoswine. He made it past that trainer's Kabutops and Volcarona before he went down, so I'd argue he still put up one heck of a fight.

Plus, that match dragged on forever. My Scizor against his Mamoswine, both healing, hail storms on and off... It really could've gone either way.

[He doesn't consider a loss as a sign of poor training. Even the elites have to lose sometimes.]

[friendyousohard]

Ah. Yeah, if there's one Pokemon that's almost tailor-made to defeat Dragon-types in general, it's Mamoswine. I'd have one myself, but I make it a policy to avoid having the same types of Pokemon as my friends, as much as I can.

Was that the last match, then? Scizor versus Mamoswine?

[islandshore]

I have one, but he's still in training. Granted, Mamoswines still have to worry about fire, fighting, steel, and a whole slew of other moves.

[But as for Twilight's question, he nods.]

That was the final match up before I finally went down. Still made it to the finals of the Standard cup and took home the Advanced cup, so it wasn't all bad. The Elite cup was the most bloated of the bunch, anyway.