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A Viper in the Hole, Chapter 3, part 1
🕑 Added 2024-09-11 11:05:22 +0000 UTCFive days later, just as afternoon is shifting into evening, Ran and Spencer enter Violet City. Route 32 had proven well-maintained and not in itself a great challenge. It held some nice variety as far as wild pokémon went, with the plentiful Mareep just one noteworthy example of the pokémon neither trainer had ever seen in the wild before.
What had proven more interesting, was the number of other trainers they’d started encountering especially in the final two days. The closer they’d gotten to Violet City, the more other trainers they’d met who were preparing for their upcoming challenges for the Zephyr Badge. Most of them, like Ran and Spencer, were rookies on their first circuits, eager to get started and heading to the Gym nearest to their starting location. Others came from further away, a significant influx of Kanto rookies apparently having opted to do their first journey in Johto before, as one rather unpleasant girl had put it ‘doing the proper tour with some more experience’.
The presumptuous attitude had rankled, but it had made beating her for a nice wager all the sweeter. Ran had generally done well once they’d started encountering and battling other trainers. Careful in his challenges and willing to put his ego aside when challenged by trainers that were clearly out of his league, he hadn’t ended up facing any impossible odds, with only a trainer from Cerulean in Kanto beating him with his Geodude and Staryu which already knew Psybeam.
But where Ran was sitting at five wins and one loss, choosing his challenges carefully and only having two or three matches on any given day, Spencer had chosen a very different approach. Approaching anyone they encountered with the intent to get into a battle, Spencer’s record was now an amazing seventeen wins to only two losses. Ran personally felt that Spencer’s habit of leaning on the raw power of Scyther and Onix against all these starting trainers, whose pokémon had nowhere near the same innate strength, took the shine off of his record a bit, but it clearly didn’t bother Spencer one bit.
Admittedly, Spencer’s wallet is also looking a lot better than Ran’s, thanks to his more numerous winnings. But, ignoring the disparities between them, the road and its successes have done them both good, as they both wear pleased smiles as they finally enter Violet City proper. Their first stop as always is the pokémon center, as they turn their pokémon in for treatment and book a shared room, before setting out into the city once more, eager to explore.
Said exploration is a bit underwhelming, as Violet City, ‘The City of Nostalgic Scents’, proves to have little going for it. There’s Sprout Tower of course, which they’ll be visiting the next day, and the Gym where they immediately reserve the next-available spots while opting not to challenge any Gym Trainers just yet, though there’s a disappointing nine day waiting period to face Falkner. But other than those attractions, the city proves true to its name, standing out only in its - even by Johtonian standards - traditional architecture and tranquil atmosphere. Fortunately, after only an hour or so, they find the local pokémon school and its arenas.
With Violet a favorite early-season destination, it’s no surprise to see the area brimming with eager trainers, all four arenas actively in use as fresh trainers show off their burgeoning skills by having their low-level pokémon battle. What is noteworthy compared to the battles Spencer and Ran have had over the past few days, is the presence of two referees, both keeping an eye on two arenas at once.
The battlefields themselves are the typical dirt rectangles with white chalk showing off the boundaries, but the presence of referees and more than a few dozen spectators adds a degree of pomp to the air that’s been missing out in the wilds. Ran is happy to settle in and watch peacefully for now, but Spencer is nearly vibrating in his eagerness to participate. Of course, with their pokémon at the Pokécenter, that isn’t actually an option.
Still, his bespectacled friend doesn’t manage to stay by Ran’s side for more than two minutes, before breaking off to go and instigate a few fights for tomorrow. Ran lets him out of his sight warily, hoping against hope that Spencer doesn’t blunder into another Win-situation. For his own part, though having a few battles of his own definitely sounds appealing, Ran is happy to spectate, as he fully intends to spend the entire next day at Sprout Tower.
Initially watching the fights in a general sense, attention shifting from one field to another as big impacts or close dodges happen, a new arrival on the battlefield draws his, and most of the other spectators’, attention.
“Get ‘em good, Ginger!” Cries out an athletic blonde girl about Ran’s age, wearing blue jeans with big brown leather boots and a shirt tied off under her midriff.
Normally not one to pay attention to outfits, Ran feels quite justified when the pokémon she’s giving her orders to is a Ponyta of all things. Native to Kanto, the fire type is anything but common on Johto’s side of Mt. Silver, as is clearly emphasized by the immediate flaring up of envious whispers all around the arenas.
Ginger the Ponyta doesn’t seem to be affected however, merely pawing eagerly at the ground as she waits for her opponent to be sent out. The other trainer seems anything but eager to do so, appearing as if he wasn’t aware of just what pokémon he’d be facing ten seconds ago.
Eventually, begrudgingly, he sends out a Rattata. Were it not for the sheer novelty of seeing a Ponyta, Ran would have lost interest on the spot, the outcome already determined by virtue of the second trainer’s attitude alone. Sure, Ponyta is the clear favorite, but going into a fight with a defeated mindset will only hasten the process.
Over the course of the next minute, he’s proven correct in his assessment, as Rattata’s Quick Attack is blown away by Ponyta’s far more impactful Flame Charge, after which it’s merely a matter of time before Ponyta lands another good hit and the purple normal type is knocked unconscious. The girl seems eager to continue, but no other takers present themselves, after which she makes way for another pair of battlers in disappointment.
Ran’s evening winds down after that point, no other battles really drawing his attention for the further half hour he spends watching. Eventually, Spencer in tow, he heads back to the Pokécenter and turns in for a night in a comfortable Pokécenter bed.
The next morning, bright and early, he makes his way to Sprout Tower, Spencer begging off from their earlier plans in favor of the fights he’d arranged the previous evening. Ran is sad to see his friend go for a moment, having spent the past year and a half at least imagining various points in his journey with Spencer at his side, only for his friend to seemingly value doing things together far less than Ran had anticipated. With the comforting weight of his pokémon’s pokéballs back on his belt though, Ran’s mood is easily buoyed.
Crossing the bridge to Sprout Tower, occasionally crossing paths with other young trainers making their way back in the opposite direction, he casts a look out over the impressive lake, thinking vaguely of Spencer’s suggestion to catch a Tentacool, before dismissing it. Though Tentacool and its evolution are by no means bad pokémon, training a pokémon that needs to live in water comes with certain needs and challenges that Ran isn’t looking to take on any time soon.
Instead, his attention shifts to Sprout Tower properly. Bellsprout, found there in larger numbers than anywhere else, doesn’t interest Ran as a potential partner, but as a sparring partner, there’s hardly any better he can think of for his current team. Zubat is resistant to Poison and doubly so to Grass, whilst for attacking they’ve been working hard on the super-effective Air Cutter. There’s still work to be done, but Ran feels confident that Bellsprout, which resists a large part of Zubat’s other options, is the perfect opponent to accelerate Zubat’s progress.
Spinarak is just as resistant to Bellsprout’s typings as Zubat and likewise suffers from a lack of offensive effectiveness against the Grass-Poison type. For her, Ran is hoping that the supposedly mystical aura of Sprout Tower might help her progress in mastering Night Shade and/or Shadow Sneak, the Ghost-type moves thus far having proven hard to master for the little Bug-type.
Finally, things are simpler for Ekans, with Ran’s starter already making solid progress on Acid, the plan is for him to master the move and then simply get as much training in as possible, as they continue working towards the eventual evolution that will really open up some possibilities to get creative with the snake’s moveset. As for training against Bellsprout specifically, not only is Ekans also resistant to most of what it can do, but where the other two need to be wary of Bellsprout’s ability to Wrap, Ran is confident that Ekans can beat the Grass-type at its own game.
Entering the tower properly, the first thing Ran notices is the surprisingly high number of bored, underwhelmed young trainers wandering about on the tower’s ground floor. They’re looking at the many Bellsprout-themed decorations spread throughout the room and painted and chiseled into the wooden walls, but only a few actually seem to have any genuine interest in what they’re looking at.
As Ran watches, a younger trainer, likely a sponsored one considering his age, makes his way to the large staircase at the back of the room, where two monks stand waiting with placid smiles. Before the boy can speak up, one of the monks raises his hand to stop the boy from speaking. The monk says something softly, before waiting for a response from the boy.
The room is too large and busy for Ran to catch the softly-spoken conversation, but it ends when the boy turns around in frustration and storms towards the exit in a huff, shouting angrily over his shoulder towards the monks as he goes, “I’ll just go and train somewhere else! Your stupid Bellsprout are overrated anyways!”
Neither of the robed bald men so much as flinches, merely continuing to stand and smile placidly as they wait for the next trainer to approach. A few other trainers are clearly discouraged by what just happened however, as they soon beat a quiet retreat, also leaving the Tower behind in search of other opportunities. Unclear as to just what the remaining trainers are supposed to be doing or are trying for, Ran quietly walks over to the pair of monks himself.
This time, the one that hadn’t acted previously draws his attention, smiling invitingly as Ran nears the pair.
“Yes, young supplicant?” He asks kindly, gentle baritone soft as to not disturb the near-quiet that hangs over the room.
“Hello, my name is Ran Carr,” Ran introduces himself politely, “I was hoping to come and train against the Bellsprout here.”
The monk closes his eyes for a moment, nodding in understanding, before opening them once more and finally explaining the other trainers’ behavior, “We do not believe in training for violence’s sake. Go, examine the works around us and show your willingness not merely to gain strength, but to understand and to learn. Return to us when you feel ready to and my partner will ask you a question. If your answer shows an open mind, you will be allowed to pass.”
Ran smiles hesitantly, “I don’t suppose you’re willing to give me the question in advance?”
The monk’s own smile is sincere, “That would defeat the purpose.”
“I figured,” Ran admits ruefully, before turning to go and have a proper look around, “Thank you for your time.”
“You are most welcome,” The monk replies kindly, “Good luck.”
Ran wanders towards the first noteworthy thing he sees which doesn’t have someone else examining it at the moment, which ends up being a to-scale statue of Bellsprout made out of wood. Interestingly however, rather than fashioned out of a single solid piece, it has multiple joints, the statue seemingly able to move. On the ground floor as they are, the statue stands completely still, but he’s curious whether the tower’s swaying on the higher floors would be enough to make the statue move along as well.
Next, he wanders to a stretch of wall where, in a series of images, humans are pictured hunting various pokémon with spears and stones. Then, an injured and unarmed human gets swarmed by angry pokémon, only for the next image to show a Bellsprout chasing the attacking pokémon away before offering the human a berry in the image after that. Throughout the next series of images, the human and the Bellsprout befriend each other, eventually interfering in another pokémon hunt and ending the humans’ violence. In the final image, Bellsprout and its companion stand swaying side-by-side in the middle of a crowd of cheering humans and pokémon.
Moving on, Ran ends up next to a pair of quietly conferring girls as they examine three side-by-side paintings of Bellsprout. All depicted in the same pose, at first glance the paintings seem identical to each other, however upon closer examination, Ran realizes that, unlike the girls muttered ‘pokémon triplets’ theory, the Bellsprout are arranged from youngest to oldest, as is visible in the slight darkening and muting of their colors as he looks from left to right.
Just as he’s about to move on once more, the girls decide to brave the monks at the foot of the stairs once more, but, unsurprisingly, after a brief conversation, they are refused passage. Dejectedly, the girls leave the Tower, even as other trainers enter and, after a brief talk with the monks, start their own examinations. Ran doesn’t let the continued lack of success, as trainer after trainer approaches the monks only to be turned away, deter him, continuing to go around the room and properly study all of the artworks.
Eventually, just before he’s about to turn and approach the monks, he notices yet another trainer step up to attempt the monks’ challenge, but this one, unlike all previous trainers, is recognizable to Ran. It’s the Ponyta girl who steps up brashly, with a confidence that borders on arrogance. When she is asked a question, her answer is immediate and, surprisingly, apparently satisfactory, as the monks smile genuinely before stepping aside, allowing her to ascend to the second floor.
A true hush falls across the room, the muted whispering around the room now falling away entirely as everyone watches in surprise at the sight of someone actually passing the monks’ challenge. Before the quiet can break or people can rush towards the monks out of any hope that perhaps they’ve lowered their standards, Ran steps up, his first footfall breaking the silence and sending those trainers that didn’t come alone into frantic, though at least still respectfully hushed, discussions.
He pays them no mind, however, instead approaching the monks and nodding in acknowledgement when he locks eyes with the second monk, the one that asks the question that decides who is allowed entrance.
Comments
Wiggy
Man, has there been a single *onscreen* instance of spencer in any way acting like a friend? I'm starting to think Ran just has stockholm syndrome from growing up in a tiny town with no other real options for people to hang out with and doesn't actually realize the difference. Hopefully he figures it out.
