[h3][color=#BB582B]Essie Hietz[/color][/h3][hr][sup][i]Route 2 || Day 1: Late Morning[/i][/sup][indent] [/indent] Route 2 was unlike any route Essie was used to, opening with a slew of shops rather than open land. Staring at the various signs as she passed, she wondered whether there was any truth to the outrageous placards. The first few had been pretty reasonable, with a breeder-run healing service Essie noted for later, but later on down the route, the claims began spiralling. Magikarp scales marketed as miracle cures, Rare Candies going for so cheap the shopkeep was either dumb or dying—or both. Wasn’t there some old people disease that made them forget things? Maybe that’s what was happening. [color=#BB582B]“Well, that’s lunch taken care of,”[/color] Essie said, spotting a curry place setting up, a board titled ‘Brittanium’s World-famous Curry’ propped up beside it. [color=#BB582B]“But it’s still a bit early. What do you two say about a bit of training?”[/color] A happy squawk and slow nod later, Essie was off finding a quiet spot further down the road, where she stopped to allow Mica to swoop down from her shoulder. [color=#BB582B]“Right. Mica, let’s work on your Supersonic. Your aim isn’t that great right now, but if you hit, well, let’s just say your voice is loud enough. Try it against Todd. If you confuse him, I’ll return him, and we’ll be fine.”[/color] Mica squawked happily at Todd, who didn’t look too enthusiastic about the idea. Still, the Torkoal didn’t complain either, turning around to face Mica with a resigned puff of smoke. [color=#BB582B]“Oh Todd, remember that thing we talked about? The lava-that-won’t-cool-too-quickly thing? Let’s try that out,”[/color] Essie said. When Todd looked at her, giving her a questioning ‘Tor,” she shook her head. [color=#BB582B]“No, no, not at Mica. At wherever. Let’s focus on making lava pools since we already know you can hit a target.”[/color] Todd nodded, and Mica squawked again, flapping up from the ground. Essie grinned. [color=#BB582B]“Let’s do this! Todd, Lava Plume! Mica, Supersonic!”[/color] Now, the first few times Mica missed entirely, and Todd’s lava stayed molten for only seconds longer than usual. Still, as they kept it up, minute improvements started stacking. Slowly, Mica managed to swap the high-pitched shrieks she was doing for lower pitched ones in exchange for increased volume, under Essie’s suggestion, and Todd managed to break through a temperature plateau to rapidly increase the lava’s cooling time. How he did that was anyone’s guess, but Essie was happy anyway. [color=#BB582B]“Alright, c’mon back, Todd,”[/color] Essie said, recalling the Torkoal after Mica managed to confuse him yet again. She grinned as Mica landed on her shoulder, she let Todd out again, setting her hands on her hips triumphantly, noting that some of the lava Todd had spouted had still yet to cool. [color=#BB582B]“Good job, you two. Really. I’m proud,”[/color] she said. [color=#BB582B]“Now, let’s pop by the forest over there and take a look before getting lunch. I’m pretty sure we’re closer to it than the shops.”[/color] As soon as she entered the route, though, a blur of black and white came swooping out of the trees, aiming right at her face. Mica was on it, though, flying forwards and aiming a Supersonic at the object, and the battle was on. [hider=Wild Starly][url=https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7anythinggoes-1046027857][color=white] The Supersonic struck true, confusing the Starly, but the wild’s Wing Attack did too, sending Mica reeling back in the air. As she flapped back up, the blur stopped in front of Essie, crying angrily at her. [color=#BB582B]“A Starly? Jeez, what’s got you so angry?”[/color] Essie asked, but her frown quickly changed into a grin. [color=#BB582B]“But alright, you’re on if you want a fight,”[/color] she told the Starly, pointing at it. [color=#BB582B]“Mica, Water Gun!”[/color] She realized her mistake only after Mica attempted a charge, spurting a Water Gun at the Starly. Though it hit, Mica clearly wasn’t doing so well, and another Wing Attack from the Starly brought her down. [color=#BB582B]“Mica!”[/color] Essie shouted, running forwards to catch the Wingull, her other hand fumbling for Mica’s Pokeball. She managed to recall Mica before she caught her, but the Starly had no such patience, already making loud, crying dives at her head again. Thankfully, it was confused, so its dives were missing Essie’s head. [color=#BB582B]“Todd, Lava Plume!”[/color] Essie called, and Todd stepped forwards, shell glowing. The Starly shook its head, as if clearing it, and focused in on Todd, diving down. Though it landed a Wing Attack, its proximity made Todd’s Lava Plume hit that much harder, and it went down without struggle. [/color][/url][/hider] [color=#BB582B]“C’mon Todd, let’s head back,”[/color] Essie said, leading the way back to the main route. She could’ve noticed that the Starly’s attack had hit harder than she’d assumed, but she didn’t. Sure, it was clear that her training had helped Mica out, but Mica was still pretty weak. Even the wilds were a bit strong for her. A light headbutt from Todd prompted her to glance at her Torkoal, and she brightened up again, sighing. [color=#BB582B]“Yeah, you’re right. We’ll just have to do a bit more training, which reminds me—what should we name your new moves? How about ‘ultrasonic’ and lava… um… strike!”[/color] Todd gave her a funny look and she shrugged. [color=#BB582B]“What, I don’t have any better ideas.”[/color] Back on the main road, she got both her Pokemon spruced up at the healing shed, taking a second to chat with the breeder manning the stall and thanking them for their help. Her stomach growling signalled that it was time to leave, and she quickly redirected her team toward the food stalls, where she got into the long line for Brittanian curry. Noon was upon the route, and the [color=#BB582B]“Wow, this place sure is popular,”[/color] she said, peering out to the side to admire the line. It wasn’t the longest line she’d ever been in—breeder show meet-and-greets were ridiculous too—but it was longer than the lines at the rest of the food stalls, looking to be at least a few minutes. “Of course, Brittanian curry is the best. I’m getting my second bowl,” someone said from behind her. “The spicy sauce is where it’s at.” “What? Spicy? Excuse you, true Brittanians get the sweet sauce,” another voice said. “... Well, I don’t know about you all, but I think the sour flavor is pretty good,” yet another voice said. Essie looked back and forth between the line, trying to figure out which of the options sounded most appetizing to her, and by the time she arrived at the front of the line, she’d found her answer. [color=#BB582B]“Large bowl of spicy, sweet, and sour sauce please!”[/color] she told the vendor, who paused his writing, looking up with furrowed brows. [color=#BB582B]“I heard they’re all good, so just mix them. Good and good makes good, right?”[/color] The vendor opened his mouth, shut it, opened it again, then shut it again, pursing his lips. “Whatever you say, missy,” he said, writing her order down, and Essie happily paid and took her number, picking up her mysteriously-colored bowl of curry and plopping it down onto an empty picnic table when her order was called. [color=#BB582B]“Mm-[i]mm[/i]! Doesn’t that smell good?”[/color] she asked, admiring the scent of the curry, which was quite spectacular if she did say so herself. While it had the telltale smell of Tamato berries, it also smelled of sweet Mago and tangy Grepa, which altogether created a noseful of scents. [color=#BB582B]“Dig in, you two,”[/color] Essie said, divvying the portions into two smaller bowls for her Pokemon. [color=#BB582B]“Ahhm.”[/color] For the first second or so, the curry tasted interesting. Confusingly so. Then, it tasted pretty horrid, but by the time it went down, it was back to tasting okay. The aftertaste—well, it was nothing to write home about, but it wasn’t bad. [color=#BB582B]“Hm, I wonder if it tastes funny because they didn’t add enough sour sauce,”[/color] Essie said, looking to her Pokemon. Mica perked up when she looked over, squawking happily without touching her curry, and Todd managed a croaky ‘Tor,’ wincing as he attempted another bite. [color=#BB582B]“Oh, is it too hot? Well, I mean, you’re a fire-type, Todd. I thought you’d be able to handle it, but if not, well,”[/color] Essie said, shrugging. [center] [/center][hr][hider=Actions][u][b][color=#BB582B] Actions: [/color][/b][/u] Trained Signature Moves for her Wingull and Torkoal (still need the stat increase for the Torkoal), then headed to the forest part of the route and engaged a Starly. Now headed to the shops on the route to grab lunch (curry). [/hider] [hider=Pokemon][u][b][color=#BB582B] Pokemon Party: [/color][/b][/u] [indent][table][row][/row][row][cell][hider=Todd — Torkoal][h3][color=#BB582B][sup]Todd[hr][/sup][/color][/h3][img]https://www.smogon.com/dex/media/sprites/xy/torkoal.gif[/img][hr][sup][sup]Torkoal [color=#BB582B]◼[/color] BE: 8 [color=#BB582B]◼[/color] ♂ [color=#BB582B]◼[/color] Shell Armor [color=#BB582B]◼[/color] 100%[/sup][/sup] [indent][sup][color=#BB582B]≻[/color] Ancient Power [color=#BB582B]≻[/color] Smog [color=#BB582B]≻[/color] Lava Plume [color=#BB582B]≻[/color] Yawn [color=#BB582B]≻ Signature Move ||[/color] Lava Surge[/sup] [indent][hider=][sup]Though Lava Plume’s lava usually hardens immediately, Todd is able to create a mixture of molten minerals that allows him to infuse more heat into his so that it stays molten for longer. As a result, Lava Surge allows him to tap into the force of Lava Plume while creating a field hazard with pools of lava for the opponent. Thankfully, Todd is relatively resistant to said lava, though staying in them too long runs the risk of having them harden on him.[/sup][/hider][/indent][/indent] [h3] [/h3][/hider] [/cell][cell][/cell][cell][hider=Mica — Wingull][h3][color=#BB582B][sup]Mica[hr][/sup][/color][/h3][img]https://www.smogon.com/dex/media/sprites/xy/wingull.gif[/img][hr][sup][sup]Wingull [color=#BB582B]◼[/color] BE: 4 [color=#BB582B]◼[/color] ♀ [color=#BB582B]◼[/color] Keen Eye [color=#BB582B]◼[/color] 100%[/sup][/sup] [indent][sup][color=#BB582B]≻[/color] Wing Attack [color=#BB582B]≻[/color] Water Gun [color=#BB582B]≻[/color] Soak [color=#BB582B]≻[/color] Supersonic [color=#BB582B]≻ Signature Move ||[/color] Hypersonic[/sup] [indent][hider=][sup]Mica’s love for singing isn’t all for naught, and as a surprising byproduct of her gradually improving her pitching, she’s been able to increase the accuracy of her Supersonic.[/sup][/hider][/indent][/indent][sup][sup]SpA 10%[/sup][/sup] [h3] [/h3][/hider] [/cell][cell][/cell][cell] [/cell][/row][/table][hr][/indent][indent] [/indent][/hider] [hider=Inventory][u][b][color=#BB582B] Inventory: [/color][/b][/u] [list][*]Potions — 5 [*]Pokeballs — 5 [*]Revives — 1 [/list][h3] [/h3][/hider]