14th Grail: [Video]

[dressofheaven]

I don't tend to make a big deal out of this sort of thing, ordinarily. But under the circumstances it seems appropriate.

[Ilya holds up Claire's Rising Badge to the camera, then shows off the other seven badges pinned to her collar. She adds the last one and makes no effort to restrain her victorious smirk.]

That's the eight badges of Johto collected. I hope the elite battles over in Kanto give a bit more of a challenge. I don't suppose anyone can give me an idea of what to expect from them. I'd like to hear any stories you might have.

Oh, but I'm feeling nostalgic. Even if you haven't fought the elite matches yet, even if you only have one or two badges, why don't you tell me about them? It seems like as good a way as any to celebrate, at least until I get my little gathering underway.

Also, Claire, if you're listening. Gyarados still isn't a dragon type.

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[dressofheaven]

Thank you, Yukio.

[He blushes so easily. It's enough to tempt her to laugh, though she keeps it behind her lips.]

And where are you now? How many do you have?

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[in_praetego]

I've been travelling with Alphonse Elric and my brother. We're heading to Olivine right now so I'm just kind of picking up where I left off. That brings my badge count to... four?

[ He can't help it. Talking to girls? That's one demon he was never taught to wrangle. But there's a smile there. He has to admit, that's quite an accomplishment, these badges. ]

Still a long way to go, though.

[dressofheaven]

You're halfway through, at least in Johto. Of course, the strongest ones are to come, but then again you must have some very highly trained Pokemon by now. In fact, I think my hardest battle was with Falkner, simply since my Pokemon weren't nearly as strong back then!

[She'd still had Berserker, though, and even as a Rhyhorn he'd been a force to be reckoned with, especially against fliers.]

[in_praetego]

I did have a little problem with Bugsy the first time I tried to challenge him... only because I didn't really have anyone I could use against him.

[ There's a small sigh at the memory as he ruffles his own hair. ]

The second time was a charm, at least.

[dressofheaven]

No fliers or fire-types? Pity. But at least you learned from your defeat.

I've heard a lot of people had trouble with Whitney and her overgrown cow.

[in_praetego]

Yeah. I caught Hoshi after that and he managed to get us through that gym.

[ There was a small wince though at the memory of said cow. ]

My team was a little higher than Whitney's was but... that miltank did give us a little trouble. How'd you do against it?

[dressofheaven]

Oh I had no trouble with her. Hephaestus had evolved by that point, and Whitney's entire team was helpless in the face of an Aggron. Her attacks did virtually nothing to him.

[in_praetego]

[ Huh. A steel type. Why didn't he think about that? But that makes him think. ]

I have to admit, I feel a little bad taking on the rest of the gyms when my main team is probably twice the gym's level. Do you think I can ask to challenge their Elite team from the get-go?

[dressofheaven]

No, I checked. They don't allow it until you've gotten all the badges, so I decided if they're going to be that firm about the rules they can pay the price.

If you want to go out of your way to give them a more even fight, I guess all you can really do is build up a new team.

[in_praetego]

I guess that's one way of keeping things even.

[ There's a chuckle though. ]

It's probably not doing much for their reputation as gym leaders if someone comes to their gym with a full team of level 100s almost every week.

[dressofheaven]

I can't imagine why they don't run into that problem more often, really. The only thing in between any trainer and fully trained Pokemon is time, and the people who live here don't seem to have anything but time.

[in_praetego]

Looks like we've got all the time in the world, really.

[ And a ruffle of his own hair. ]

At least keeping their levels high enough comes in useful when we need to defend ourselves.

[ Not that it happens very often. ]

[dressofheaven]

Well, yes, though it does make dealing with most attacks regrettably dull. I don't think there's a single wild Pokemon that could pose a threat to even one of mine now, save for Legendaries.

[in_praetego]

There's that too... Has anyone seen the Legendary pokemon around or at least know where they are? I've only read about them.

[dressofheaven]

Didn't you come to the huge battle last year up by the Elite Four's mansion? There were three Legendaries involved there, and we even got to talk to one.

[in_praetego]

I remember. After all, it isn't everyday we get the chance to talk to Arceus.

But I can't help but wonder... where do they go? Where do they come from? We don't really see them in the wild...

[dressofheaven]

[Ilya just shrugs at that.]

Given their power and the things they tend to be tied into, they probably have more important things to worry about than us. And remember, there's only one of them each, and most of them don't even live in Kanto or Johto. Seeing them at all is astounding, or did you think "Legendary" was just a name?

[in_praetego]

O... of course not!

[ Doi, Captain Obvious. Pardon the fluster. ]

It just made me wonder if they had any part to play in why we're here to begin with.

[dressofheaven]

Some of them might. Dialga and Palkia are said to rule Time and Space, and of course there's Arceus. The first two working together could easily explain why we're here, or the latter could just be doing it on its own. Or their might be more involved that we haven't met yet.

Or maybe it's not them at all. It's all kind of a guessing game right now.

[in_praetego]

It's as good as anyone's guess, really. If it was Dialga and Palkia, why would they do such a thing? Was someone controlling them?

[ And a shake of his head. No one has the answers he wants at all. ]

Even Arceus didn't look like it wanted to talk about it.

[dressofheaven]

If someone was controlling the Pokemon who rule over Time and Space, I imagine that whole thing with Groudon and Kyogre last October would have been completely irrelevant.

Also, I'd want to meet that person and find out how in the world they accomplished a feat like that.

[in_praetego]

All this waiting... it's not like they think everyone's just going to sit around and wait for an answer.

I just wish they'd tell us what we want to know rather than keeping us in the dark like this..

[dressofheaven]

Well we kind of have to sit and wait. We don't even know who's responsible for this, and even if we did, someone that powerful isn't going to tell us anything until they're good and ready to.

Besides, we don't actually know for sure that there's a person behind this at all, human or Pokemon. It just seems likely.

[in_praetego]

I guess we have no choice.

[ There's a small sigh and a shake of his head. ]

I'm glad to see you're holding up though.

[dressofheaven]

Oh you don't have to worry about me. I can handle most anything. Besides it's not like life has been particularly difficult recently.