Training in Sprout Tower then a Badge to Earn :: Rei's Desires

Rei found her way to Sprout tower, finding a rather deserted floor where she thought it would be good to train. She closed her red eyes, feeling the building sway with the battles being held on separate floors. Finally, she felt a nudge to her face. Her eyes opened again, Dratini pushing his snout against her cheek. She let a smirk on her face for a moment, sitting down. Sneasel walked to her side, as Dratini uncurled from her neck and found his way to the floor.

"We need to train to take on the Gym here. I already know you're both strong, but the Gym Challenge is our proof. We'll take the badges back home and show all those snots they were wrong," Rei said, losing herself for a moment with a sneer. She sighed, softening her expression again. "Sorry, that's not my true goal. My true goal is to become a master of my own domain," she said, looking up to her partners. "I will never expect you to fight under me, we will always fight together as a team, as partners," Rei said a bit melodramatically. She was just glad that Max character wasn't around. She couldn't let such people see her softer side, after all.

Rei stood, clapping her hands together once, before sliding her right foot 'round behind her as she raised her left hand to the level of her eye. Her left foot remained forward, her right hand pulled back close to her chest. "Let's begin," she commanded, Sneasel instantly attacking her, slashing his claws furiously. Rei focused on her foot work, careful to step properly with every block and movement of her arms. The foot work was her weak spot recently, having let it get sloppy after going for a while without training. Every time Sneasel's claws came down on Rei's arms, a thin layer of ice formed in the spot as though it were armor of sorts, shattering with every slash as well. "Harder," Rei ordered, to which Sneasel increased the speed and velocity at which he delivered his attacks.

Rei adjusted her footwork and blocks accordingly, speeding up as she stared straight forward at Sneasel. Suddenly, she changed her tactic, grabbing Sneasel by the wrist. The Pokémon immediately went to slash at her hand, but her palm opened and shot him half way across the room with an icy blast. He quickly recovered, hopping back to his feet and dusting himself off. "Snea," he said, preparing a battle stance again.

"I can't believe you still fall for that," Rei said flatly, resetting her stance as well. She glanced to Dratini from the corner of her eyes. "Dratini, you too. Attack me!" Rei commanded. Dratini was reluctant at first, but seeing Sneasel obey immediately as he went in, slashing away again he nodded. Dratini began attacking, lunging in and alternating between attempting to butt her with his head, and whip her with his tail. 

Rei found herself a little more overwhelmed than usual, swiftly using her arms and legs to block the attacks as thin ice walls were made and destroyed. Every now and again, Rei would release an icy radial blast from her body to shoo the two Pokémon so she could regain her footing. After a while of this going on, Rei hoped the two had trained hard enough. They certainly looked worn out. It was especially when she was beginning to become worm out, yet managed to catch them off guard multiple times. Finally, she called the attack off.

"Good," she said sternly, her chest rising and falling. Dew had formed around her face and neck, as she'd exhausted much of her icy power with the training session. It was nothing that some rest and a good glass of water couldn't restore, though. "We'll head to the Pokémon Center for a rest, then depending on how you two are doing by then we may challenge the Gym or train more," Rei said demandingly. However stern as it may seem, she would never push her Pokémon beyond their limits. Dratini curled back around her neck, and Sneasel followed as they made their way back to the Pokémon Center for a well deserved rest.

End Training Session

Lucretia's pokemon earned 69 experience.

34 goes to Sneazel

35 goes to Dratini. (The points cannot be distributed evenly, and the one point goes to the weakest pokemon who has trained.)

Sneazel has leveled to level 14.
Sneazel has learned faint attack.

Dratini has leveled to level 9.
Dratini has learned Thunder Wave.

As Rei headed for the pokemon centre, Max and Jennifer had just reached the City. While it had not been the longest journey in getting to Violet City, Max and Jennifer made the most of it by talking about their pokemon, their goals as a trainer, etc. Max was pleased that he made a new friend and so was Eevee clearly. But Max had other things on his mind then friendship. He wanted a Zephyr Badge and Violet City was the place to get one.

Max had been to Violet City a few times so he roughly knew his way around. But it wasn't hard to find things like the Sprout Tower and the Pokemon Center in Violet City, they stuck out like a sore thumb in the middle of all of the small houses and shops. Max lead the way to the Centre with Jennifer and their two Eevee's trailing behind. The automatic doors opened and the small group stepped inside.

Max headed straight for the counter as he knew the quicker he got his pokemon healed, the quicker he'd be able to challenge Falkner. The nurse did her usual display of smiling sweetly as she took his pokemon for healing. Max leaned back on the counter while he let Jennifer do the same. Max looked over at the video phones and considered calling his mum. But what would he say? 'Hey Mum me and these girls I don't even know took down a group of poachers and could have gotten ourselves killed! Max decided he'd just leave it until the next town to call her, she wouldn't mind. As a tray with three pokeballs containing Max's pokemon was passed across the counter, the automatic doors opened and Max's eyes shot up.

'It's that girl from before' Max said casually to Jennifer, trying to hide his disappointment. While the girl was probably not that bad of a person, she had a dark side that she loved to show Max every time they talked. Max hadn't retaliated anything she said, but he did that in hopes of never seeing her again. Now that she was here, Max was tempted to show her what he was made of.

Unsurprisingly, traveling with another Trainer was much more entertaining than simply traveling alone with one's Pokemon team. Jenny quite enjoyed talking with Max, though she wasn't much for carrying on a conversation, she rather liked hearing Max's own thoughts on Pokemon Training.

As the two entered the Pokemon Center, Jenny took the opportunity to give Paprika a bit of a rest, (not that the energetic little Eevee needed it.) Regardless, Jenny was determined to have her single Pokemon in fighting shape before taking on her first gym battle.

Max then directed her attention towards the entrance of the Pokemon Center, and to Jenny's surprise, she saw none other than the icy Trainer, Rei. Jennifer, seemingly unaware of the ongoing tension between Rei and Max, waved towards the white-haired girl in a foolish manner. It wasn't meant to be taunting, as Jenny thought she was being polite by greeting their acquaintance. Little did she know the trouble she may have just caused.

Rei had traveled south through the town, past the trainer school and back to the familiar red roofed building. For some reason, she paused outside the doors for a moment, as though a tension in the air was pulling her back. She shook her head, walking forward regardless. She couldn't let such silly things get in the way of her progress after all, and right now her Pokémon needed a short rest before the challenge that lay ahead in Violet City's Gym.

She'd heard about Falkner and his flying type armada, grinning a bit as she had an advantage. With Sneasel's ice type attacks, she was confident of her upcoming win. However, her mood was quickly dampened as a familiar face turned from the counter. Her fists immediately clenched. She couldn't even explain why she hated him anymore, it was just second nature now. Straight faced, she nodded to Jenny while keeping her eyes on Max.

She walked forward with her long strides, the silent tension in the room so thick you could cut it like butter. She walked to the counter, her red gaze sharply glaring at Max through the corner of her eyes. She then turned her attention to Joy, giving the respectable though overly perky nurse a nod as Sneasel jumped onto the counter. Dratini uncurled, slithering to the counter beside the ice type.

"They just need a short rest to recover their energy, they're relatively uninjured otherwise," Rei said, Joy nodding and taking the two into the back room for a few minutes. During this time, Rei turned to the other two trainers and smirked at Max. She could see the discontentment in his expression, and she was just eating it up. "What's wrong? You don't seem happy to see me," she said while holding the unnerving grin on her face. As cold as she looked with her usual stern expression, this smile was easily thrice as bad.

Max kept his eyes on the approaching Rei as she did the same to him. While she acknowledged Jennifer and talked sweetly to the nurse, Max knew her true colors. While on the surface Max hated her as much as she did him, but inside he just couldn't bring himself to hate anyone who hasn't really wronged him. But the cheeky remarks weren't helping their already strained relationship.

'No I'm overjoyed' Max said sarcastically. 'How's the training going?' Max asked. It wasn't really out of curiosity, just trying to steer the conversation away from a fight. He couldn't read her expression. While she smiled her eyes remained their unnatural red and her face was as cold as ice. He decided he better get out of the center after she answers his question.

He grabbed his pokeballs off the counter and began clipping them to his belt. While Max had three pokemon, none of them were going to be super effective against Falkners flying types. And Heracross was a no go with his 4x weakness to flying. It wasn't gonna be the easiest fight but it would be even harder for someone like Jennifer who only had one pokemon. Rei had an advantage with sneasel but who knows what tricks Falkner might have up his sleeve.

Between the icy glares and the bitterness in each Trainer's tone, Jenny was able to pick up on the tension in the air. The last thing she wanted was a confrontation right in the middle of the Pokemon Center. She couldn't quite tell why Rei was grinning in such a way, though it was obviously not a friendly gesture. Max, on the other hand, looked like he was ready to dash out the door at any moment now.

But when he mentioned training, Jennifer's thoughts quickly took off in another direction. "Oh, yes. Have your Pokemon gotten any stronger since we last met?" she asked Rei, quite curious about both Sneasel and Dratini. "Max and I haven't really gotten any Training in yet, but that's not going to stop us from taking on Falkner!"

Truly, she meant her words to be encouraging for both Max and herself. Hopefully they wouldn't be looked down upon by Rei... (And hopefully they didn't humiliate Max in any way.)

Rei wasn't new to sarcasm, but chose to ignore it in favour of irritating him further. "Oh that's good, and here I thought you didn't like me," her tone was clearly not serious at all. "As far as training goes..." Rei started, when she heard the back door swing open. Joy returned with her two partners, looking well rested. "Well see for yourself," Rei finished, motioning to her partneres. Sneasel jumped down next to Rei, Dratini following close behind as he slithered to the edge of the counter and jumped down to the floor. "I'd say they've both grown at least a few levels," she said, looking down at the two.

Sneasel crossed his arms, trying to look tough. "Snea," he said in agreement with Rei. Dratini just wavered back and forth, smiling happily. Whether the training had been much of a success or not, it was clear she took good care of her Pokemon anyway.

"I'm just getting ready to head over to the Gym, and give them a test run of their new powers. That is...after I do something first," Rei said, kneeling down to Dratini. She pulled out a few disc like objects, placing them one by one to Dratini's head. "You aren't as strong as Sneasel, so that'll give you somewhat of an advantage," Rei announced, though quietly so. Dratini learned Thunder! Dratini learned Surf! Dratini learned Rain Dance! "It'll take some practice to perfect them, but this is good enough for now."

All the sarcasm aside, Max was happy that Rei was talking to him like he was an actual trainer. When before when she treated him like a kid who didn't know squat about pokemon when in reality he had one more badge than her and was probably older. Max's eyes looked over at the returning Sneasel and Dratini, both look well rested.

'They look strong' was all Max could think of. He didn't want to say anything that might upset Rei but even that comment might spark her off somehow. While he didn't much care for the pokemon of someone who hated him, Max showed some interest in the teaching of TM's to Dratini. Max rearely use TM's as he didn't have much money on him so he'd only use them if he got one as a gift or from a gym leader.

'Well I'm all healed up and ready to go' Max said cheerfully. 'Falkner better watch out, he won't know what hit him' Max said confidently. While he was confident he knew Falkner would be no walk in the park. While his skills as a trainer were far from perfect Falkner was still a gym leader and that wasn't a title you threw around often. Still, Max knew he could beat him.

''You guys gonna challenge him now or get some extra training in?' Max asked.

Though Max and Rei obviously weren't very friendly towards each other, at least they'd stopped exchanging bitter glares. The tension eased as Rei began teaching her Dratini some TM moves. Jenny watched carefully, rather curious as to how the discs worked, magically teaching Pokemon new moves. She wondered if it would be wise to invest some money into a few TMs to teach Paprika some new moves.

Max then mentioned taking on Falkner, and posed an interesting question that Jennifer had to think on for a moment. Was she ready to take on her first gym leader? She'd barely even battled any Trainers before! And little Paprika, as much as she tried to please her Trainer through battling, probably didn't have the strength to defeat all of Falkner's Pokemon.

Heaving a heavy sigh, Jenny shook her head. "I think Paprika and I will do some more training first. We're not really used to battling other peoples' Pokemon, so we need to work on that." she said, bending down and petting her Eevee.

Paprika gazed up at Jenny, a bit confused as to why her Trainer was so disheartened. She gave a playful bark and leaped around in circles as if to show off her strength.

Jennifer smiled, then looked towards Rei. "What about you? Are you heading to the gym now?"

Rei didn't seem like she was listening much, instead petting her Dratini and scratching under his chin. However, in reality she had heard every word. She stood back up, giving Sneasel a pat on the rise. She turned to face the other two trainers, choppy white hair dangling in her face a bit. She had a choice she could make. Challenge Falkner before Max had a chance to get to him, or help Jenny train by battling her. Of course, Rei would have the upper hand unless she used only Dratini. Even then, Dratini's move pool was now a bit deeper so the match might be leveled out even with the difference in overall level.

She thought for a moment before shaking her head. She pulled her red hood over her head, letting it loosely sit there as she looked to the two. "I'm challenging Falkner first," she announced, motioning to her partners. She knelt once more, holding her arm out. Dratini crawled up it and to her shoulder. "I'll be heading there now," she said, turning to the door and walking through them. Sneasel looked at the two trainers for a moment longer, nodding before bounding along behind Rei.

The young icy girl began to walk off toward the gym, though it would be her first official Pokémon battle. Any other time it was usually her fighting along Sneasel's side against hordes of wild ones or less than reputable 'trainers'. Now she would have to rely on her partners completely, and resist the urge to physically battle herself. It wasn't but a few minutes of being lost in thought before Rei realized she was standing before the Violet City Gym's doors. She took a calming breath, pushing the doors open and stepping inside with every footstep echoing. "Falkner, I've come to challenge you for your badge," Rei announced flatly, awaiting Falkner's response.

Falkner flew down from a podium on his Pidgeot landing on the gym floor. Falkner then dismounted from Pidgeot and walked over "Oh hey a new challenger" he said "my names Falkner the Bird Type gym leader now if you would kindly follow me" he turned walking them to the battle field where the referee was standing.

Turning back he waited the Referee calling over "Now this will be a three on three gym battle only the challenger is allowed to substitute pokemon so... Begin" Falkner throwing up another pokeball "Come on out Hoothoot" Hoothoot coming out in a flash of white light and awaiting it's opponent rather impatiently hopping from foot to foot.

Rei was a bit surprised to see the Pidgeot, but knew for Gym challenges he had a set arsenal that didn't include the fully evolved bird. "Three on three, eh?" Rei said out loud, taking a battle stance. She quickly broke of it though, remembering her silent promise to herself. "Well I only have two, but I think they will suffice," she said pointing to the field. 

"Dratini, you're up first," Rei said to the snake creature around her neck. Dratini nodded, climbing down to the ground, then making his way to the battle field. He let out a cry of his name, announcing his presence to the new foe, Hoothoot. "Alright then, shall we get started?" Rei asked with an unnerving smirk on her face. 

"Dratini, start of with Rain Dance!" Rei ordered, hoping Dratini had at least somewhat of a grasp for the new TMs he was taught. Dratini nodded, wiggling around a bit and chanting. He shimmered a bit, before a faux cloud was summoned above them, causing it to rain on the field. "Well I'm glad that works inside too," Rei said laughing silently to herself. 

Falkner grinned as Hoothoot shook it off leaping into the air and flying at Dratini full speed "Peck Now!" Falkner called Hoothoot's growing in Length and becoming sharper as it flew at Dratini aiming to do some major damage.

"Dratini, try to dodge!" Rei ordered. However, Hoothoot was too fast and the peck landed doing a bit of damage. Dratini let out a small cry of protest, but quickly shook it off and glared at Hoothoot. "That's fine," Rei said, pointing to Hoothoot with a smirk as the rain fell on the battlefield. This was her strategy, fool proof. "Thunder!" she commanded, Dratini beginning to spark with electrical energy. Suddenly, the power was released in a large surge, sure to hit the Hoothoot with the rain coming down.

Hoothoot was hit and fell to the ground extremely weak now due to the boosted power "Don't give up" Falkner called across smiling in encouragement, Hoothoot getting up "Great now use Fly" he beckoned Hoothoot flying up with speed out of sight amongst the clouds awaiting the right moment to dive down and attack.

Rei's smirk spread on her face into an almost evil looking grin. She knew that Falkner was trying to buy a little time, hoping to protect Hoothoot by keeping it out of site. However, Rei knew that Thunder could hit even flying foes. This being so, she pointed toward the roof. "Thunder once more!" Rei ordered. Dratini nodded, sparking again. After a moment to charge the power, he discharged it once more through the clouds. Rain Dance should have a turn or two left before it dies off... She thought silently, making her plans and preparations ahead of time.

Hoothoot however flew around going through the gym door behind both Rei and Dratini Falkner smiling as Hoothoot had dodged flying in with speed at Dratini using the attack with fly from behind. Falkner keeping quiet so not give the game away he just looking up to the ceiling pretending to panic looking as though he had though Hoothoot was hit.

Max was disappointed when Rei took off quickly. He was hoping to challenge Falkner first to show her what he was made of. Now that Rei was going to challenge him first, her point of view on him won't change. Then Max realized this could be a great opportunity for both himself and Jennifer, to watch Falkner in action. While knowing what pokemon he has would be good, learning his battle style would be even better. Max looked over at Jennifer who was still playing with her Eevee.

'I think we should both tag along and watch her battle' Max suggested. 'It'll help us both a great deal to see what kind of trainer Falkner is.' Max was sure Jennifer would agree. While she was only a rookie trainer she seemed smart, strong and she was sure that Eevee of hers while cute, could most definitely be able to pack a punch.

When Rei left, Jenny wasn't quite sure what to think. It didn't seem unusual for the girl to head off by herself like that, though Jenny was hoping they were all on a bit more friendly terms by now. But hoping wouldn't do any good if Rei preferred being alone.

Jenny looked up at Max when he mentioned following Rei. It took a minute or two for Jenny to calm Paprika down, who was in a very playful mood at the time, before she finally managed an answer. "Alright. That sounds like a good idea. I've read a lot about bird Pokemon, but I suppose seeing a gym leader use them would be much more educating." She held onto the wiggling Eevee and stood up, following Max towards the gym.

Max led the way to the Violet City Gym which was in the centre of the town, near the pokemart. He decided to walk in and see if the battle had started. While the first room seemed like a training area that was deserted, he could hear noises from the next room.

'Come on' Max said. 'And try to keep quiet we don't want to distract them if they're in the middle of a battle'. Max was surprised to see the battle very much underway as he entered the stadium. But was even more surprised to find it raining inside. He realized he and Jennifer better head to the empty grandstand near the referee. He grabbed Jennifer's hand and led her to grandstand as she was also distracted by the battle.

'Come on we should sit and watch.' Max said.

(Me and Silverstar will stop posting until the fight is over)

The tactic may have worked, had the door not been shut before the battle started. As such, she heard the flying type behind her. It angered her that he could get away with having his Pokémon leave the arena in the middle of battle, and quite thought of it as cheating. "Thunder now!" Rei called, being zoned into her battle mode. Dratini quickly unleashed a Thunder as Hoothoot flew toward him, the rain creating unrivaled accuracy that could only truly be dodged by going underground. She heard the door open a second time, glancing momentarily from the corner of her eye at Max and Jenny. She ignored them for now, focusing on the task at hand.

((I can most certainly do that. I was actually going to suggest it if nobody posted by now. :P))

A flash of bright light filled the gym as Thunder struck the Hoothoot right out of the sky, the accuracy of the attack causing double the damage. A thin trail of smoke followed as the bird plummeted down towards the floor of the battlefield, but Falkner already knew this Pokemon was down for the count.

The gym leader held out his Pokeball and called the fainted Hoothoot back. "You did well, Hoothoot." he said quietly, smiling towards the Pokeball in his hand. It wasn't often he'd use this particular Pokemon in battle, but he was proud of it nonetheless.

Foe Hoothoot fainted! Dratini gained 9 exp!

Refocusing on the battle, Falkner picked out his next Pokemon and took a deep breath to clear his mind. A hint of a smile returned to his lips as he hurled the Pokeball upward, calling forth his beloved bird. "Come on out, Pidgeotto!"

The bird spread its wings and let out a battle cry as it instantly took to the skies. It quickly took in the situation and awaited orders from its master.

Falkner knew he was still in a heap of trouble with the rain increasing the accuracy of electric attacks. He would have to act fast if he wanted to get any attacks in before Dratini unleashed another Thunder.

"Alright, Pidgeotto, use Quick Attack!"

The bird called out loudly in acknowledgement, then swiftly charged towards the little Dragon type.

Pidgeotto, male. Level 13

Rei smirked as she saw Pidgeotto come from its ball with a screech. "Dratini..." Rei started, when she felt the rain slow. "Tsk..." she said, glancing up to the clouds which were now beginning to break. When she looked back down, she saw Pidgeotto disappear in a flash, causing her to blink when Dratini began tumbling backward. He took a good deal of damage, being a few levels lower than Pidgeotto.

Sighing, she knew the rain wouldn't help her now, as it had already slowed to nothing more than a sprinkle, and was quickly dissipating. She pulled out Dratini's pokeball, aiming it at him. "Alright then, Dratini return!" she called out, though Dratini was still capable of battling. The red beam shot from the face button, absorbing Dratini and drawing him back into the ball. Rei then turned to Sneasel at her side. "Your turn, buddy. Go get it! Ice Beam!" Rei called, looking back up to the bird and pointing.

"Sneasel!" the Dark Pokemon cried, jumping into the arena. Immediately, he opened his little mouth. A light blue orb formed there, before a powerful beam of icy power was shot at the flying type Pokemon!

Falkner watched in silence as Dratini was called back to its Pokeball. He was unsure of what Rei was planning, but he was anticipating a switch at any time now. It wasn't uncommon for Trainers to use each of their Pokemon in an effort to keep any of them from tiring out, as any good Trainer would know better than to push one too hard.

The gym leader had many thoughts going through his head when Sneasel came forward and unleashed an Ice Beam. Falkner's eyes grew wide and he quickly called out, "Pidgeotto--!"

The bird barely had time to react, and though it cleared a majority of the attack, its wing was clipped. It fell towards the ground as it struggled to remain airborne, but it only managed to hover above the floor before gently touching down.

"Pidgeotto, are you alright?" Falkner asked. The Pidgeotto spread its wings and shook them in response, then it flew back up once again. It wouldn't be able to maneuver as easily now, with its wing still suffering from the Ice Beam. This wasn't going to stop Falkner, however.

"Alright then, use Gust!"

The bird cried out and began flapping its wings rapidly, though its clipped wing was a bit slow, so the attack wasn't a powerful as it could have been. Nevertheless, a strong blast of wind was sent towards Sneasel. Pidgeotto used Gust!