I Sting (Pokemon Poison Type Specialist)

Virah looked on in boredom as the Youngster and Lass battled each other, it was a couple's fight apparently and the two of them decided to settle things with a Pokemon battle- which left Virah confused because what would happen after this?

'One of them would have to apologize anyway,' Virah mulled over as she spectated the fight between an Oddish and a Ratata, both didn't look like combatants.

'The boy's Ratata looks like it knows how to fight but it doesn't seem healthy,' Virah inspected the traits of the rodent, 'Fangs are way too long, one is also dull, does it even chew on things? Arms and legs are too small, its fur is dirty, but not puffy, it lacks the protective shine of the common Ratata too,'

Virah's observation on the Ratata's fur was confirmed when the rodent screeched the moment it got struck by a haphazardly thrown Acid.

'If its fur was well groomed it would have shrugged it off,' Virah thought as the Ratata began to panic from the pain, 'it would have shrugged off most elemental attacks actually,'

The rodent screeched and wailed as it ran around while its trainer looked on in anger.

"Ratata! Quick Attack!" The boy stomped his foot, causing him to almost slip.

'The glossy shine of the floor isn't just for decoration,' Virah considered, 'good thing Jet and Nitro know how to fly,'

The poison specialist worried for Whitney's Meowth as well as the entirety of Grene's team, the aforementioned Pokemon were strictly landlocked and they wouldn't be able to fight properly in this type of terrain.

"We should teach our Pokemon figure skating," Virah quickly mentioned, causing both her friends to look at her in shock and confusion.

"What?" Whitney asked the moment she recovered.

"I second that," Grene shortly followed.

"The floor is slippery," Virah slid her sneakers on the floor, making it screech, "and it won't just be the boat, there will be times when we'll fight on slippery terrain,"

"And why figure skating?" Grene leaned closer, "why not train their balance?"

"That could work too," Virah nodded, "we probably need to prepare them for several things actually, like mud, quicksand, rain, actually-" Virah paused, "why don't we train them in all the weather conditions?"

"That's a good idea," Whitney agreed, "also, is it just me or is the Ratata crying in pain right now?"

"It is," Virah nodded, "it's panicking,"

"Huh," Whitney tilted her head, "I've never seen a Ratata react to Acid like that,"

"The move Acid was designed to lower the defenses of Pokemon, which means it has very strong corrosive properties all on its own, that Ratata barely had any defenses to begin with, and when it was struck with something that degrades it well…"

"Your saying the Ratata isn't properly taken care of?" Grene asked.

"Mhmm." Virah leaned back, "its fur lacks the shine most Ratatas have, its fangs are way too long, they haven't been sharpened in a long while too, it also looks malnourished,"

"Hmm…" Whitney frowned, "why did its trainer even send it out then?"

"For the same reason he sent always sent it out; to battle," Virah answered, "he wants to become a trainer but doesn't know how to, he's stuck as a casual while also being an idiot,"

"I see," Whitney sighed, "and the Oddish?"

"Fat, lumpy, and its leaves look like they're properly trimmed," Virah raised her observations on the Oddish, "it looks like its trainer used pruning techniques on it even, like actual gardening techniques,"

"Huh," Whitney raised her eyebrow, "your saying that it can battle?"

"Nope," Virah shook her head, "it can't fight no matter how hard it tries, earlier, if you noticed, its aim was off," both her friends nodded, "it shot Acid several times and almost all of them hit the floor, only the last one landed,"

"It doesn't know how to aim its spores too," Grene tossed her own observation, "the spores come out well, and definitely in larger amounts than normal, but the quantity didn't matter when the resulting move is just a directionless cloud,"

"Mhmm." Virah nodded, "it barely condensed the attack even, I think a good amount even puffed from behind it,"

"So your both saying that if the two of them are the same person they'd be an amazing trainer?" Whitney thoughtfully guessed.

"They will be a trainer," Virah corrected, "the resulting person would be willing to make their Pokemon fight and know how to take care of them but we don't know how well they would do as a battler,"

"I guess," Whitney frowned, "weird how the two of them even chose to battle,"

"It's probably the guy's suggestion," Grene looked at the youngster, "he blew hot air but couldn't do anything more than that,"

Virah nodded, "meanwhile the girl didn't want to fight but since she took proper care of her Pokemon…"

"She's winning," Whitney finished.

"That." Virah sighed, "well, whatever, their business is their business and we should stay out of it,"

All three of them unanimously agreed to that and continued spectating the fight, the following sequences were a bit painful to watch, especially since all three of them were competent trainers in their own right.

After the Ratata had recovered, its trainer immediately called for action, he ordered the rodent to use Quick Attack and nothing more.

Meanwhile, the girl commanded her Oddish to use Acid.

Both Pokemon did as ordered and to no one's surprise, the Ratata quickly backed away when it saw the Oddish shoot out another ball of purple goop towards it.

Shivering, the Ratata slowly stepped backwards until it reached the end of the white line where upon it struck the barrier of the Kadabra.

The Psychic Type looked at the Ratata's trainer when the rodent shot it a pleading look, and when the youngster growled, it shook its head.

The Ratata slumped, but then quickly looked forward, its body glowed white, and then it charged.

"Acid Prisley! Knock it out!" The lass raised her hand in excitement.

'Will the attack even land?' Virah questioned as she continued observing the battle.

As it turns out she was wrong, and so was the lass because the attack did land and the Ratata… didn't faint. It died.

Virah sighed, she stood up, "come on Whitney-"

"She's gone," Grene was the one who replied.

"I knew it." Virah rubbed her temples and ran over to her friend, she grabbed the pinkette by the arm and pulled her back, "please don't do anything stupid,"

"Wha- the Ratata died!" Whitney glowered, "I'm not just gonna stand around!"

Virah closed her eyes, "I know it died. Whitney."

The force pulling against Virah's arm stopped and was replaced by the feeling of something touching the back of her hand.

"Virah…"

"I'm fine," the poison specialist opened her eyes, "that's not the Ratata I knew," Virah shook her head, "it's why we need to go-"

"No." A flash of anger crossed Whitney's face and she tugged on Virah's arm until she let go, "they can't just be careless trainers, if they want to battle with Pokemon they have to make sure to take care of their partners!"

Virah ran forward to try and catch up to Whitney but it was too late, the pinkette had already yelled out to the youngster and was now making a scene.

'Lugia bless me,' Virah silently prayed as she quickly went over to Whitney.

If anything, the best she can do right now is damage control.

"You should have taken better care of your Pokemon!"

Whitney was pointing accusingly at the youngster as Virah arrived to the scene and the boy in turn was crossing his arms in defense, the latter clearly wasn't taking anything from Whitney's side of the argument, words or otherwise.

"How is it my fault?" The youngster retorted with a scoff, "if Molly told her Pokemon to hold back then nothing bad would have happened!"

"You don't sound like you feel bad for your Ratata's death," Grene's tone was calm, which only made her accusation worse.

"I-I am!" The youngster stomped his foot, "but I don't need to feel bad for a Ratata dying! They're easily killed!"

Virah narrowed her eyes, "what?"

"You heard me! The Ratata line can easily be killed!" The youngster doubled down.

"How many Ratata have you gone through?" Virah couldn't help but ask.

"A… few- but they die because they're weak, if they weren't then they would still be here," the boy refuted.

"Or you're a bad trainer," Grene argued to Whitney's nod.

"Yeah!" The pinkette gagged when she turned to the corpse to point at it but she pushed through, "your Ratata's fangs are way too long, its fur isn't shiny, and it is clearly malnourished! I've worked with Ratata before and their fur don't ever look like this!"

Virah sighed as a back and forth went on, she turned her gaze to the side where a small crowd was forming, someone behind them ran away from the scene, presumably to call a crew member.

'This is going to be long,' Virah thought in dismay.