I Sting (Pokemon Poison Type Specialist)

Thanks to its proximity to Goldenrod, a night of camping and two days of walking was all it took for them to near Azalea Town.

It was just beyond the horizon now and Virah could see the silhouettes of its buildings in the far distance, they stood tall enough that from the angle Virah viewed them on, their great heights seemingly touched the sky.

The road they were following led to a long winding path full of trainers, some rested on the benches built on the side of the road, others were training their team members, and a good few battled with each other.

All in all, it was a common thing to see during a circuit, especially near towns and cities.

"You know," Whitney said as they passed by a bench, "I'm starting to think that maybe we should have searched for a Munchlax back in Ilex Forest,"

"It's not worth it," Virah shook her head at the pinkette, "if a Munch Lax lives in Ilex Forest then it means they've been pushed out of more dangerous places,"

"That's not a bad thing though right?" Whitney rebuked.

"It also means they're weak," Virah further added.

"Well then they needed my help," Whitney retorted, "so we should have searched for one didn't we?"

"… If you put it that way, yes," Virah nodded, "but I personally don't think it's worth it, especially if we spend an entire week searching for nothing but a Munch Lax."

Whitney frowned, "a week doesn't sound that long,"

"It doesn't, not… really," Virah sighed, "I'm sorry, okay? It's just- I don't know, a Munchlax right now sounds like way too much work and investment on our part,"

"Yeah, you're right," Whitney replied softly, "maybe next time then,"

With that topic gone, the three of them went off to go and walked the rest of the way towards Azalea Town, when they got there, the first thing they did was go to a Pokemon Center to get themselves a room.

Unfortunately, nothing was available.

"Uhm, but we aren't really planning on staying for a few weeks? We're only here for a few days," Whitney explained, the adamant pinkette refused to leave here without a room, "all three of us can even share one,"

"We're sorry," Nurse Joy gave out the same reply she did the first time, "but this center is packed already, so we don't have rooms to give to you,"

Whitney pursed her lips, "okay…"

Virah held the pinkette's hand, "we're fine, Whitney," she said, "we'll just rent an inn,"

After walking out of the center, the three of them made their way around Azalea Town in search for an inn with available rooms on them and so far, none had any.

"That's the 8th," Grene said as they got out of the inn, "and still nothing,"

"Yeah, I get that…" Virah sighed, she looked up, "do we actually have to camp outside of town during our stay?" She asked out loud, her question not directed towards anyone in particular, "… we should keep searching."

They got around some more and finally, after reaching the older parts of town, they found themselves inside a building worn by time and weather, the wooden walls outside had long since grown moss and mushrooms on their surface, the windows stained by dirt and grime, seemingly unmaintained.

Virah sniffed, the scent inside reminded her of fresh books and the morning forest air.

The entrance they found themselves in was pretty wide, the floors were waxed and polished enough to have a glossy shine, paintings and pictures hung on the walls, and potted plants were placed on the corners of the room, near the doors, as well as the windows.

In front of them was a receptionist's desks that was manned by an old lady reading a book about plants.

"Uh, hi?" Whitney called out, eliciting the elder woman to look away from the pages and towards the pinkette, "we're here to ask if you have rooms available?"

"We do," she nodded, "plenty,"

Whitney sighed in relief, "thank Ho oh," she said with a shake of her head, "we've been searching around town for a while now,"

"Well, it seems that it's just your luck that you stumbled around here then," the old lady chuckled, "if you came here a week sooner, it would have been filled,"

"A week is too short, I think two days is more appropriate," Grene said, "the circuit has barely started and Azalea Town is already full,"

"You're right," the woman smiled, "but that's because our Gym Leader is considered to be one of the easiest to fight,"

"Bugsy isn't really weak though," Whitney murmured as they neared the counter.

"Oh? What makes you think that?" The old woman asked as she counted their payment, "I thought you'd agree with me,"

"I've seen him fight professionally," Whitney shook her head, "his Scizor, Ariados, and Forretress core is something that shouldn't be underestimated."

"His Venomoth is a sweeper too," Virah pointed out.

"Yeah, that," Whitney nodded, "letting it set up is a death sentence at the best of times, and an opportunity on rare occasions,"

"Hm…" the woman hummed while putting the money on a tiny metal box, which Virah thought was a sewing kit at first, "so you three know how to battle huh?" She smiled, "interesting,"

"Battle Theory is normal to learn if you want to be a professional," Virah said.

"It is, but kids your age are usually more concerned about having fun during their first circuit, not training," the old woman retorted, "still, I'm glad that the newer generations are just as passionate about battling as us when we were young,"

"We're just doing our best," Whitney's smile was genuine as she said that, "right guys?" Her friends nodded.

"By the way," the old woman looked at Virah, who herself was focused on the six Pokeballs resting on top of a pillow on the right arm of the counter, "what's your specialty?"

"Grass," the woman answered, "my team only has six members, and they go from Vileplum and Victreebell, my two starters, Bayleef, Venusaur, Sunflora and lastly, Jumpluff."

"It's a pretty good composition for a team of Grass Types," Virah complimented, "it must've been hard for you to get all the badges though right? Johto isn't exactly grass friendly after all,"

"It wasn't easy no," the old woman shook her head with a sigh, "most of the Gym Leaders resisted my team's main typing, and three are super effective against it,"

And that was accurate; Jasmine, Claire, and the like have specialities that outright resist Grass Moves while Pryce, Bugsy, and Falkner are tailored for taking down Grass Types.

"How many badges did you get? If I can ask?" Whitney chimed.

"All eight," the woman smiled, "but it wasn't an easy task, I'll tell you that much,"

"Huh," Virah said, "that's amazing,"

"Thank you," she replied, "well, here are your keys, if you need me, I'm either here waiting for customers or inside of the kitchen making food to sell later tonight,"

"Thank you!" All three girls bowed in unison before leaving for their respective rooms.

"Are Grass Types really that hard to specialize in?" Grene asked as they walked deeper into the building.

"Yes," Virah nodded in confirmation, "there's only one Gym that it's good in and even then Grass Moves are only neutral against Normal Types."

"What about playing defensively?" Grene asked.

"It's impossible if you go against someone like Bugsy," Whitney answered, Virah nodded, "so yeah, it's hard to be a Grass Type specialist around here,"

"Huh," Grene murmured, "and what if you somehow succeeded in becoming an Elite with that kind of speciality?"

"Then you'd either be a prodigy, in possession of a lot of money, or extremely hard working," Virah replied, "all three of those would basically make you a good battler, have items someone of your badge tier shouldn't have access to, or have enough will to continue despite setbacks,"

"Oh," Grene looked down, "that's harsh,"

"It is," Whitney nodded, "but honestly? Why would we even become trainers if we don't like it?" The pinkette questioned philosophically, "all trainers must have enough passion to become an Elite after all,"

Virah wanted to rebuke her but was Whitney wrong? She honestly didn't know, Team Rocket seems to treat Pokemon as tools, and yet they somehow managed to become a powerful organization.

And sure, some of that success may be because of the boss behind everything but if the organization encourages treating Pokemon as tools then clearly the big man at the top is fine with doing it.

'He must have a lot of money, giving him access to a lot of strong Pokemon that he constantly shuffles,' Virah considered.

That conclusion made her feel nervous, after all, if the leader of Team Rocket shuffles his team around, then it's impossible for them to prepare against him and his team…