I Sting (Pokemon Poison Type Specialist)

Type Energy interaction was fascinating in a sense, as they were capable of resisting each other, sure, but that resistance didn't mean that one Type Energy completely stopped another.

No, instead, they kind of meld together, and the more resistant energy between the two would absorb the one weak to it and further turn it into itself.

In a way, it boosts the resistant Type Energy while weakening the ineffective one.

And that last bit was what Virah was focused on as she wrote equation after equation trying to figure out how she could turn Water Type Energy into Normal Type. The two were neutral to each other so it should be possible.

Unfortunately however, she wasn't able to find a single sign of that so after a few more theorithical equations, she reluctantly left the topic be.

She wasn't willing to give up and would come back to it at some point but for now, she grabbed the healing bracelets she designed for both her and her friends.

Calling them bracelets was kind of generous given that they more closely resembled shackles but eh.

Details aside, Virah opened up one of the two devices she made and checked the components, nothing was out of place and the Water Stone constantly pumped the tubes inside full of water.

Virah unlatched one of the tubes and let the water flow to her palm, it looked just like any other water and its secrets can only be revealed when one looked at it with aura perception.

When they do, they'll see the thick pockets of Water Type Energy that's infused with the liquid.

Rubbing the water on one's skin resulted in a cool feeling reminiscent of mint, and then it becomes hot and after that, a bit of aching, lastly, relief would follow and the sensation would go back to feeling cold.

Water Type Energy had natural healing properties curiously enough and even if it wasn't as instantaneous as "Soft Boiled" or "Recover" Virah considered it to be enough for now.

'I'll figure out how to turn Type Energy into other variants eventually,' Virah thought while locking the tube back in place.

Virah snapped the bracelet shut and stared at the door, breakfast should be getting served down at the dining hall right now…

She stood up and made her way downstairs, after finishing her breakfast, she made her way out the inn and into the battle plaza she's been eyeing ever since she arrived in Azalea Town.

She's never had the opportunity to have a decent Pokemon battle so far and she thought that now was the perfect time to see how far she's grown compared to her peers.

Virah sat on a bench and opened up her badge case, she pinned them on her jacket and looked around for any opponent who had as many badges as her.

A trainer punching down their badge level was commonly seen as bad, but that's not all, it also affects their win to loss ratio and in the worst case scenario, someone would report the battle to the league and said trainer could potentially be banned from participating in the Circuit for the rest of the year.

Most of the kids her age in Azalea were unfortunately first or no badge trainers which meant that she had to battle those older than her.

Virah scanned the ground and found herself locking eyes with a smiling lass, Virah nodded and so did her opponent, the two of them stood up from their seats and met each other halfway through.

"How many badges do you have?" Virah asked.

"3," the lass pointed at her skirt and sure enough, there were three badges hanging from there, one from Falkner, one from Marty, and the last was from Pryce.

"I have two but they're challenge tiers," Virah's chest swelled in pride at the sight of the lass' eyes widening in surprise. She turned on her Pokewatch and showed it to the girl, "here's my win to loss ratio,"

"8 wins and 0 losses since the start of the circuit huh?" The lass nodded, "okay, fair enough, let's do it,"

With their battle now set, the two of them walked over to an empty court and pressed their trainer cards on the scanner at its center, it activated and called out their profiles while notifying registered referees nearby about the battle.

"Trainer Virah: Wins 8, Losses, 0 - Two Badges, Challenge Tier Plain Badge, Challenge Tier Storm Badge."

"Trainer Andrea Norris: Wins 14, Losses, 10 - Three Badges, Glacier Badge, Fog Badge, Zephyr Badge."

"You're from Mahogany Town?" Virah asked her opponent as the machine finished calling their profiles.

"Yes," Andrea smiled.

"Goodluck," Virah said to her opponent as she left the scanner and made her way to her side of the court, she palmed Jet's Pokeball to toss and catch as she waited.

Andrea was soon on her side of the court and moments after that, a referee came up to them and offered to watch over their battle, both agreed and the ref, a Ranger by the looks of it, called out their names before proceeding with the standard announcements at the start of each battle.

When all was said and done, the man swung his arms down and both trainers tossed their Pokeballs.

"Jet," Virah calmly called out.

"Go get em Parsley!" In contrast, Andrea's enthusiastic call of her Pokemon's name was loud and boisterous.

"Aerial Ace." Virah ordered her Pokemon to attack first.

"Leech Seed!" Andrea's response was odd to Virah…

'Leech Seed?' Virah tilted her head, wasn't her Oddish weak to Flying Types? How would the poor plant even outsustain Jet's damage output with something like that?

Even with Moonlight, the Oddish had no way to defend itself against Jet's Aerial Aces.

Still, Virah only watched on, unwilling to voice her criticisms, she'd probably tell her opponent about it after the battle however.

As expected, Jet came crashing down from the skies and immediately struck the Oddish in the center, sending it tumbling backwards before it could initiate its move.

"Magical Leaf Parsley!"

Virah blinked, "don't you have any other move?"

"N-no?" Her opponent said, she sighed, "I didn't know you'd lead with a Zubat,"

Oh, so it was just a bad match up? Understandable, Virah nodded and ordered her Pokemon to finish the fight, all it took was another Aerial Ace and the Oddish fell to the ground.

After that came a Mareep that Virah actually considered as a threat.

"U-Turn," she said, her work in the past few days finally bearing fruit.

"Laap! Use Thunderbolt!"

Both Pokemon executed their attacks, but Jet was far faster and he was back in his Pokeball seconds before the Mareep shot out a bolt of electricity from its fur.

Virah switched her Pokemon and threw out Nitro, "Fury Attack."

In one moment, Nitro was in the spot he materialized on and in the next, he was suddenly in front of the Mareep, who couldn't react in time to his attacks and was battered by his drills five times in a row.

"Thunderwave!" Andrea called out, and it was a good move, but unfortunately, it was too late.

"Bug Bite." Virah calmly responded.

With a yell of his name, Nitro's head glowed green before he slammed it at the Mareep, who yelped in pain as it was pushed back.

Then it fainted.

Virah frowned, this was way too easy wasn't it? Was her opponent really someone older than her? How did she even get all her badges? She had three didn't she?

The last Pokemon Andrea tossed out was a Jigglypuff, who Nitro quickly bodied with a Fury Attack followed by a Poison Sting after it tried to use Sing.

And that was it, the battle ended right then and there with Virah as the clear victor.

Virah checked her Pokewatch and sure enough, Pokedollars were transferred to her savings, the standard amount for any League sanctioned battle of her badge tier, which was 800 or so.

Virah recalled her starter and made her way to the center of the court, where she shook the hands of her opponent in good sport.

"You have three badges right?" Virah couldn't help it, she had to ask, "how did you get them?"

"Yearly," the lass giggled, "this year I managed to beat Marty and get the Fog Badge, next year I'll probably managed to beat Bugsy,"

Virah only nodded, it was a little too slow for her taste, "you should give your Pokemon vitamins and watch their diet, it helps a lot in making them stronger,"

"I would but I'm not really interested in becoming a professional battler," the lass replied, "ehehe, I'll most likely work in some office in the future,"

"Ah, got it," Virah bowed, "thanks for the battle,"

"You too!" The lass grinned, "I've always known that challenge tier badges were hard to get but I guess this is the kind of level I need to be in before I could even try and see if I can beat one,"

Virah only nodded, she then left the court, perplexed.

Were her peers this weak?