Chapter 27

Chapter 27

Virah waved Nera goodbye, “well, see you,”

“See ya, kid,” the ranger tipped her hat in a way that got her arms to puff up, she grinned, showing four fangs on all corners of her teeth, “rest assured that your brood is safe with me,”

“I will, and thank you,” Virah bowed.

With one last nod, Nera silently left, leaving room for Virah's friends to come up to her and start asking questions. In Whitney's case though, she more or less just gawked at the green-head, “so you really have a bunch of Beedrills?”

“Yeah, I told you didn't I?” Virah said with a tilt of her head.

“Ho- how did you even feed all of them?!” The pinkette exclaimed.

“They fed themselves,” Virah answered with a shrug, “all I did was escort them to a bunch of easy-to-get berry bushes in Ilex Forest while explaining all the things they can do to avoid getting killed by predators when they were still Kakuna,” Virah hummed, “I also fought with them too I guess,”

“Did you teach them moves?” Whitney asked.

“No,” Virah shook her head, “that's just... a stupid thing to do,”

Was she willing to admit to the fact that her brood had been her practice targets in teaching Pokemon moves?

No, she would never say something like that to her friends, let alone tell them about how the first few people that she tutored moves for were bug catchers who she somehow convinced would win battles if they paid her 50 to 100 Pokedollars to teach their Spinarak, Weedle, and Caterpie moves.

Did she regret doing it? No- it got her to be the sort of adept move tutor that she is today and well, doing all of that had also been a kind of income for her- one that got her to buy ramen and save up on her monthly allowance.

It even eventually got her to purchase a Pokeball for herself, which didn't seem like a big deal now- she could buy as many Pokeballs as she wanted without ruining her budget for food after all, - but it was back then and what's more, Nitro is inside that very Pokeball so to say that the little sphere on her hip had sentimental value would be an understatement.

Her Pokeball is her first achievement.

“You don't look like you think it's stupid,” Grene pointed out and to the side, Whitney nodded. “You taught your brood moves, didn't you?”

Virah sighed... but nodded, “yes, I did,” she answered simply, “and... I also kinda practiced with them?”

“Oh? So you did teach your Beedrills moves?” Whitney said.

“No, no-” Virah shook her head and stepped over a rock.

Virah turned away from the scenic ray of light and to Whitney's nagging form, she felt her lips curl up into a smile, “hm?”

“I just wanted to ask, what do you plan on teaching Hollie-” that was the nickname Grene gave to her Pokemon, “- during the exam? You said you'd teach her something right?”

“Oh, yeah, I will,” Virah nodded, expression pursed, “it'll have to wait until we get settled down though,”

They reached Whitney's tent soon enough.

The thing was located somewhere near a lake of water- a small one filled with Poliwags, Oddish, and Crabby, - that formed from the constant rain as well as the occasional Water Type, the placement wasn't so close that the Pokemon on the lake will notice them and start attacking, but it also wasn't so far that they had to walk for a while before reaching it.

The tent itself was pretty big, it was shaped like a dome and colored in a dull green mixed with orange. Black lines ran on the spots where the poles went into, emphasizing them and most likely making it easier for the camper to pitch and put down the structure of the tent.

The ground around the tent was mostly empty but it was also clear of leaves and Virah noted that her friends had been working on cleaning the place while she was away- she turned to them and said her thoughts out loud, “you guys cleaned this place?”

“Yeah,” Whitney nodded, “we were going to start putting out our cooking supplies too,” she went into the mouth of the tent and came back out holding a pink handbag twice the size of Virah's palm, Whitney's hand went inside of it and out came a pot that glistened under the soft light of Ilex Forest, “I bought an entire set just in case,”

“I also brought some,” Grene tilted her head and both girls turned to Virah.

“I have an electric heater here and even a rice cooker so...” the green-head rubbed the back of her neck.

“Where are we even going to plug those in?” Whitney asked, incredulous.

“Trainer bags usually come with their own sockets and charging stations though?” Virah lifted her bag and showed the port and sockets hidden underneath a flap on its back to her friends, “see?”

“Virah... those are only meant to be used to charge lamps and stuff,” Whitney sighed, “those things aren't that good, it's better off if we just find a Voltorb or something to power up your appliances when we go on a journey,”

“I guess?” Virah said in resignation, tone lowering in disappointment, “so uh, are we going to start fires when we're out in the wild?”

Grene nodded, “we have to,” the martial artist said that as if it was an annoying task she was forced to do which Virah very much sympathized with, she really didn't want to cook with fire if she could help it, “and I guess if it rains we can cook using your electrical stuff? Those will be useful during that kind of weather,”

Virah slumped even as she saw the silver lining to it all, “I can't believe I bought these for nothing though,”

“How much did they cost anyway?” Grene asked.

The words coming out of her mouth hurt, and Virah felt like she was starting to choke as she said- “6,000 Pokedollars.”