I Sting (Pokemon Poison Type Specialist)

"What do you think they're talking about?"

Virah stopped reading through her notes and looked up at Whitney. The pinkette was sitting on the branch of a low tree, her legs swung back and forth like a pendulum, while her head tilted to the side, pressed up against the trunk of the tree.

Virah followed her gaze to where their Pokemon sat, talking about one thing or the other. She hummed, "something about sounds or whatever,"

"Hmmmm...." Whitney hummed, "sounds?"

"Yeah, they're asking Jet about how it feels like to "see" the world like he does," Virah shrugged, "it's not really that interesting,"

"Got it, then." Whitney nodded, "what about you? What are you doing?"

"Catching up on my notes," Virah answered, "I'm writing down what I remember from the fight and putting it down, I'll review it later,"

Whitney nodded and Virah was fortunately allowed to continue working on her notes but, as always, it didn't last all that long and the pinkette was soon addressing her again.

"So, notes huh?" Whitney started, "are you gonna try and fight another grunt?"

"No?" Virah shook her head, where had her friend even gotten that impression? "I'm writing it down so I can learn from my mistakes and see where I can improve, I'm sure that there's a flaw in here somewhere I can work on at some point,"

"Ah," Whitney snapped her fingers, "that makes more sense,"

"It does, yeah," Virah nodded in agreement.

In all honesty, Virah wasn't exactly sure just what she could improve on when it comes to the kind of "battle" they had experienced against the Rocket Grunt because all in all, her quick thinking had actually lead to a bunch of finely executed commands that used the environment as well as utilized how certain moves interacted with one another.

Jet snuffing out flames with his Wing Attack is a good idea, and Nitro using his String Shot to control the terrain has always been something she was doing due to all the times she had seen the move Sticky Web get used on the professional scene.

But out of everything she's done, Virah thought that using her own Aura had been the most eye opening thing she managed to do during the fight.

Why?

It's simple- because she can potentially experiment with Poison Type Pokemon moves on her own using her Aura, she didn't have to involve Nitro or even Jet.

And actually, with this method, she can focus on creating new moves while her Pokemon physically train at the same time, which will not just give her new ideas on what kind of new moves she can tutor them, it would also increase her capacity and skill in using Aura.

It's basically a win-win situation.

'And if I ever meet another Rocket Grunt, I'll be prepared...' Virah bit the nub of her pencil while frowning in thought, 'hm. Guess I should probably use my Aura more...'

Virah pried her eyes away from her notes and shifted her gaze towards Grene, who was meditating under a tree with Tyrogue's Pokeball between her legs.

The martial artist was the best teacher she had on learning that stuff at the moment, and Grene was more than willing to teach Virah about that kind of thing without expecting much in return...

Virah eyed the girl as she meditated, Grene kept her eyes shut, she looked serene, calm, and at peace despite what they had experienced and Virah couldn't help but grow a fond smile at the sight of it.

Virah focused back on her notes, 'so practicing Aura is going to be something that I'll start doing...'

She wrote that particular thought down and continued reviewing her notes.

Fighting using the environment was something she had been doing for some time now but it's only really after she entered Ilex Forest that she realized there's more to it than just flat terrain.

And from all the "areas" that she has seen when watching professional battles, she knew that there's also more than just forests and trees.

'Mountains, Deserts, Lakes, Oceans, and so many more,' she wrote each word down as she thought of them followed by writing "generate ideas on how to properly deal with these" at the bottom once she was done.

After folding a few pages just for that particular topic, Virah moved on to how she could utilize Pokemon moves the same way she did when Jet snuffed out flames using his Wing Attack.

She wrote the names of her Pokemon and then their known moves and realized that they were more versatile than she originally thought, 'which is a good thing since it means that I can do more things with them...'

She hummed in thought and wrote down the possible things she could do with her available moves, 'Nitro can control the terrain using his String Shot, Jet can snuff out flames with his Wing Attack, and... Hm...'

Virah bit the bus of her pencil and hummed in contemplation, 'Jet can most likely attack from above using Wing Attack too...' she wrote that down, 'and Nitro... Nitro can most likely break projectiles with his Fury Attack but we'll have to practice that before we do it in battle.'

Virah continued jotting down notes as everyone around her did their own thing, Grene continued her meditation, Whitney opened her Pokewatch for entertainment, and their Pokemon continued talking about Jet's ability to hear things...

'Huh.' Virah wrote down "Jet has good hearing" and underlined the words three times for emphasis.

She could use something like that during battle, but her Pokemon would definitely have to get used to finding what it wants through loud noise first.

'Maybe a bunch of berries scattered around blaring speakers?' Virah thought before nodding, 'yep, that's a good idea, Jet can practice his hit and run tactic pretty well using that kind of training, he'll fly above, scan the ground for berries through loud noises, and then fly down before quickly going up,'

Virah wrote the barebones of the training down, 'I'll also have to make sure that his time between "dives" gets shorter and shorter, make it a goal that he only needs a few seconds to search for berries even when there are loud noises.'

She continued writing things down, 'I should probably mix in different berries there too, including ones that Jet hates so that he can learn how to differentiate his targets...'

Virah's hand moved on its own as a fugue came over her, she wrote down one idea after the next, never slowing and never stopping until everything was written down.

After that, she messed around with how she would theoretically change her approach when the terrain changes or if she found herself in a new area and worked on that until Galeforce finally came back with a haggard looking Nera in tow.

She looked like she had seen better days; her clothes were in disarray and her hair was disheveled to the point that some strands stood up in some areas, a part of her pants was scorched black while everything below her knees was caked in mud.

To say that the ranger looked haggard was an understatement and Virah frowned once she saw Nera's state.

"Are there other Rocket Grunts out there?" Virah asked as the woman neared.

"... Yeah," Nera answered after a pregnant pause before looking away from her to scan the clearing, her eyes stopped on the grunt they trapped under Nitro's webbing and at the sight of it, Nera's eyebrows shot up.

"Were you the ones who caught him?" She pointed to the grunt and the girls nodded, "... How?"

"He only had three Pokemon," Grene answered as she got up from her meditative pose and neared the criminal, "two now, since Tyrogue wanted to join us,"

"... Tyrogue wanted to join you?" Nera sounded skeptical.

Virah nodded for everyone, "yeah, the Pokemon sided with us during the fight,"

"Did it?" Nera focused a narrowed gaze Virah's way but the poison specialist didn't even flinch, only nodding. The ranger sighed, "guess it did, then."

Nera stopped talking and went near the trapped grunt who started spitting out curse words, making Virah frown and Whitney wince.

When the ranger got close enough to reach him with her boot, she stepped on the man's stretched out hand and bent down to check on his pulse, "hm, he seems fine enough," Nera stood up and nodded at them, "I'll take care of him,"

The Ranger took out her stylus and without fanfare, used it to tie the criminal down and when she was done, she turned back to the girls, "well, I'll put him under custody now so I'll be leaving, take care alright?"

The girls nodded, with Whitney responding with an energetic wave, "see you!"

When the Ranger left the vicinity, the girls slumped.

"Well, looks like everything is done," Whitney sighed, "now, how about we go back to camp?" Her stomach growled and she smiled sheepishly, "I'm feeling hungry,"

Virah nodded, "let's go,"