I Sting (Pokemon Poison Type Specialist)

"Oh!" Whitney snapped her fingers as she looked at the plush Virah was holding, "that's my Milktank plush, she's there to remind me of Fat Remi,"

"Your bodyguard?" Virah tilted her head, that Milktank had a name?

"Yep!" Whitney nodded, she grabbed her bag and grinned, "come on, give her to me," Virah handed her the plush and it disappeared into the tiny opening of her friend's trainer bag, "okay, so I think I have everything now…"

Virah looked Whitney up and down, her friend had chosen to be over the top when it came to her clothes for their little outing and she had this ranch girl like look.

Her normal pink cardigan had been replaced by pink mechanic overalls on top of a striped cotton T-shirt. As always, Whitney had shorts since the pinkette doesn't have a taste for pants.

Whitney pulled on her boots and smiled, "where are we going again?"

"A coffee shop," Virah tried to hide her blush by looking away, why did Whitney smell so good?

"Oh," her friend replied, slightly disappointed, "that's it?"

"We can also go around the Town," Virah tried to correct herself, "I don't really know where to go besides Bugsy's gym or some other battle facility though so uh-"

"That's fine," Whitney ran up to her and held her hand, the pinkette's smile was full of joy, "it's okay if you want to take me there, I don't really mind,"

"R-right," Virah stammered, her face hot with blood, her cheeks felt very tingly right now and her ears were numb, "you smell good,"

She blurted that out- why did she-

"Thank you," Whitney giggled, "really, thank you, it means a lot,"

Virah managed to compose herself and she nodded, "you're welcome," but why would it mean a lot? Did Whitney seriously think she wasn't pretty? What? Virah decided that her next words would help with her friend's self confidence.

"You're pretty, Whitney, honestly you're one of the- uhm- prettiest girls I know-" Virah gulped, now she was feeling self conscious, "- so you know… uhm… yeah."

Virah looked away and the fog in her head cleared, "what I meant to say was that you're pretty, Whitney, even if you don't think of yourself like that, everyone around us would disagree,"

Virah turned to her friend only to see her run for the door, "I think we're late so we should go!"

Virah sighed, Whitney didn't even wait for her, she stepped out of the room and locked the door herself. Did Whitney really feel so self-conscious of her looks that she couldn't accept a compliment?

'Well…' Virah pushed a strand of stray hair to the back of her ear, 'at least she wouldn't see me blush this way,'

…

Whitney was feeling happy.

Why?

Well, it's because she's with someone who makes her feel that way. She liked Virah. Simply at first, she admired the dedication Virah had when it came to studies and when she learned that someone her age was a move tutor, Whitney's like turned to curiosity.

After talking to each other and spending time with one another, that like slowly shifted into something closer to admiration but not quite.

Then they fought together, trained together, did that ranger's exam together and her feelings started to bloom.

Whitney had shown Virah sides of her that she never did anyone and Virah, in turn, Virah did the same.

Whitney saw pieces of Virah that she never even knew were there, despite her friend's clear confidence in most scenarios and her intellect, Virah was also vulnerable, both emotionally and physically, she wasn't all talent either, Virah worked hard.

And she wasn't an invincible, efficient machine built for combat either, Virah felt guilt and was even prone to it.

And all of that only made Whitney like her friend more, and now she wanted to know Virah even better.

Right now they were in a battle facility of sorts, a building that trainers such as themselves congregate in to battle one another and add to their Win to Loss ratios.

It was mostly composed of battle courts of all terrains and spectator seats, they were in the latter watching those in the former fight each other.

They didn't really need to add anything to their Win to Loss ratio, Ho oh knows that she had never lost a battle so far and Virah herself had a clean record in that regard, Grene had only lost once so far, and that was thanks to her Tyrogue deciding to fight a Machamp out of the blue.

Well, the nuances of being a trainer aside, Whitney came here with Virah because she knew that her friend enjoyed these sorts of things, she liked analyzing battles and working her mind, loved to see which Pokemon goes well against which.

And Whitney loved to listen to her yap about those things.

"It doesn't really work that way since an Espeon's Magic Bounce would definitely bounch back Leech Seed and even with Grass Type Energy being added into the mix, it wouldn't really tear apart the process responsible for Magic Bounce, which is kind of curious isn't it? How does Magic Bounce work? Is it like a magnet? One that copies any Type Energy and the power behind a move so that it gets reflected? If that's the case then why don't regular moves bounce back? Why does it only work on status moves… wait no, that can be explained by the fact that Magic Bounce has a limit on how much power it could reflect, and since Status Moves barely have any power to begin with, that particular Ability is useful against them- it's only useful against status moves actually…"

Whitney did not, in fact, understand anything that her friend had ranted about. Not. A. Single. Thing.

But she was fine with it, she didn't really mind, Virah was smart and she could think faster than most people, Whitney was just regular smart, which basically just means that she's not incompetent and could hold her own in an academic standpoint.

Virah on the other hand?

Well, the current projects that her friend is working on is a testament to her intellect; Virah was researching, designing, and making gadgets that utilize Elemental Stones, she tutors their Pokemon advanced moves, and she is also a prodigy Aura user despite, in Grene's words, knowing only the basics.

And that's just Virah's day to day stuff, she also does research for Eggtech on the side and investigations during the night, to say that Virah was a genius would be a bit of an understatement, and Whitney scolded herself for underselling her friend.

"What do you think Whitney?"

Whitney crawled out of her thoughts and met her friend's gaze, what did Virah ask about again? What was she talking about before this?..

Ah, right!

"I think I've heard from Dad that Magic Bounce is similar to reflect, and a professor visiting our gym also mentioned that Espeon's orb is the reason for why that barrier is present across its body," Whitney answered with the tiny tidbits that she knew about that particular Ability and Espeon's connection to it.

And, like always, Virah turned that smidgen of information into proper conclusions.

"Wait…" that reflective shine in her eyes that indicated she had an idea came and Whitney waited…

"I get it," Virah took out her Pokedex.

Whitney smiled and watched the ongoing battle between an Espeon and a Snubbull.

Virah would probably take a while to get her thoughts in order so she should watch the battle to entertain herself at the moment.

Whitney took a peek at her friend and saw that she now had an open Pokewatch whose screen showed an article about Espeon's orb, the Pokedex entry for said Pokemon, and was furiously scribbling on her notebook.

Virah looked up, "Espeon's also specialize in the barrier moves don't they?"

"Yes, yes they do," Whitney nodded, smiling, "I think Elite Trainers who have them use them as set ups for that type of thing,"

"Right," Virah nodded, "they're also common leads,"

Whitney focused back on the battle, 'again, this would take a while,'

And she wouldn't have it any other way.