DEM'S FIGHTIN WORDS [Audio]

[tsuntrader]

[...You know, being all agitated and wound up because of the giant chain of kidnappings in house 11 is doing him no good. It's time for a change of pace. It's time for something important. Really important. So important, in fact, that he's pulling out his journal right this minute to bring it up until just waiting until he sees Gold. He would try to filter it to him, but whatever, like he cares.

So his journal is out, and for once, he's actually using his voice... Because he lost all his pencils. Whoops. Whatever, this is best said and not written anyway.]

Hey Gold, don't you think it's about time we had a battle? It's been way too long. [...No, too simple. Too friendly. Not... Challenging enough. Yeah, that's it.]

Of course, we both know that there's no way you'd beat me in a million years, so if you're not up for it, no hard feelings.

[That's much better.]

Comments

[shamelessness]

S-so that's why she didn't do so well against Masaomi's Linda!

[Skarmy sort of makes an annoyed sound and looks like she's pouting.]

[tsuntrader]

You and Masaomi had a battle? [This is good and pleasing news.]

[shamelessness]

A small one... on the day of that big trainer picnic.

1/2

[tsuntrader]

[...How did he miss that?


Oh right, he spent the entire time being dumb and competitive and eating sandwiches and going CRYS IS HERE and getting kicked-]

[tsuntrader]

[SO ANYWAY] I've been training with him occasionally for a while. You've got some catching up to do.

Even if he has a type advantage over Skarmy, the two of you can still come up with strategies to counter his.

[shamelessness]

There is? We'd like to know!

[Even Skarmy perks up at this. The bird is sort of vain, and losing was a blow to its pride. So she really wants to show that Pichu what's what.]

[tsuntrader]

Don't get too excited just yet. First we gotta cover the basics. [Oh, juniors. Always rushing into things.] What moves does Skarmy know?

[shamelessness]

Leer, drill peck, pursuit, return, taunt, sand-attack, swift, and agility?

[tsuntrader]

...You have the same problem Masaomi did. [WHY ARE YOU GUYS SO MOVE HAPPY]

[shamelessness]

[But she's perfected half of them! And she has half as many as Masaomi. But anyway-]

W-we do?

[tsuntrader]

Reduce your focus on moves. While moves are versatile and important, so's strengthening your Pokémon, especially as a beginner. Try to narrow down your focus for now.

Sure, you could get a good counter strategy for Linda's electric type attacks, but Linda also uses physical attacks a lot, and Skarmy has high defenses. You should focus on training Skarmy to endure and dish out harder hits.

[shamelessness]

[Shiemi nods. She's already noticed that her Skarmy doesn't go down in one hit. ]

What moves do you think we should focus on for that?
[But even as she says that she's thinking. Skarmy seems to favor peck/drill peck, but she also likes swift. That seems to be a good long-ranged move for them.]

[tsuntrader]

Drill peck is a powerful flying type move. Pursuit is fast and powerful, but only against a retreating target. Return is a move that increases in power depending on how in sync a trainer is with their Pokémon. Taunt is great for shutting down more versatile strategies. Swift almost never misses and Agility is a great speed boost.

[...That's more than four.] Pick four of those for now to focus on. Four that work well with Skarmy's style would be best. Then you can broaden your horizon. I can think of some moves Skarmy could learn outside of those if you don't want to focus on four of those.

[shamelessness]

Skarmy really likes taunt, and I think swift will work good for us. Maybe agility too?

[tsuntrader]

Drill Peck, Taunt, Swift, and Agility. That'll do. It's pretty well rounded. You can ease into more moves later.

[shamelessness]

We'll do just that, Silver!

[Skarmy, excited to make some progress, also makes her own noise of agreement.]

[tsuntrader]

[He is so okay with this.] Then I'll show you some simulations in the battle dome. Some are made just to hone your strengths and defenses. Some require instincts and good intuition. Some will make you both stay in tune with your senses. Some just require thinking outside the box. You'd be surprised at all of the stuff you can do with just one move, let alone four.

Then comes the fun stuff, but we can worry about that later. [Basics first, then fun stuff.]

[shamelessness]

[Shiemi's face lights up. There's so much for her to do! This is exciting.]

[tsuntrader]

[Oh yeah, this is gonna be-

...Right, he was eating, wasn't he?]

[shamelessness]

[When the silence settles in she eats too. The food is actually really good because Rin made it. If it were up to Shiemi, though? All of this probably would have been too bitter to eat.]

[tsuntrader]

[Luckily it isn't. Bitter food isn't that bad, but it's getting there. The only thing worse than bitter things are really dry things. ...Of course, he'd eat anything, but...

...Murkrow, Sneasel, don't be like that. Come on, you've already eaten. ...Okay fine here's some food.]

[shamelessness]

[Skarmy sees what her dad is doing, and takes after him. She'll go and bother Shiemi for food...

Who actually doesn't resist. She lets Skarmy rummage through her bento... which might make a mess of things, but the girl doesn't seem to mind.]

[tsuntrader]

[It's tempting to say something. It's really tempting to say something.

...But anything that he could say would just make him a huge hypocrite, so he'll stay quiet.]

[shamelessness]

[The girl isn't a complete pushover though. When Skarmy tries to take something from her hands Shiemi insists that the Pokémon cannot have it. Skarmy pouts, eats something else, and decides that she is done. However the bird has sauce and rice all over its beak. So Shiemi pulls out a napkin and cleans her up. When she's finished that the blond looks up at Silver, and offers him napkins.]

Want some?

[tsuntrader]

[...? ...Oh, uh-] Don't need em.