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.

Looking up, she saw that they were a few meters away from the massive bulb-shaped thing made of latex in the distance, looking at it made Virah think that Whitney somehow planned for all of them to sleep in the same tent which… is fair and also better than her buying them a tent each- and now Virah thinks that it's a stupid plan.

Virah looked away from the tent and up at the trees and spotted a Hoot Hoot, “- it was just Weedles at first,”

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“Well yeah,” Whitney retorted, “that's just obvious- what I meant is that you practiced with them?”

“That's what I said,” Virah replied dryly, then she nodded, her expression going neutral, “I started with teaching Weedles how to use basic moves like Pound or Tackle and then went up from there, until eventually, I managed to get a Beedrill to learn Fury Attack after it just evolved,”

“Huh, good for you,” Grene complimented, “and it's also not surprising why you're such a good move tutor,”

“I'm not that good,” Virah denied with a swipe of both her arms in front of her in an X shape, “seriously, don't just say that randomly, I'm sure that there's a move tutor out there that's better than me at teaching Pokemon,”

“There are,” Whitney agreed- which may or may not have stung Virah's ego by a tiny bit, sure she denied the claim but the pinkette could have just left it at that! “But honestly?” Whitney met her eyes, “you're pretty versatile for someone our age,”

Grene nodded, “you talk about talents that we both have but you're clearly also a prodigy-” she pointed at herself, “Aura user-” her finger turned to Whitney, “battler,” and then finally, and to that person's shock, Virah herself, “- move tutor and breeder,”

Whitney grinned, “I bet Virah would become a great Professor huh?” The pinkette said with a hum, she placed her hands on the back of her head and looked up, “imagine if she was wearing a lab coat…” she trailed off, ears red, “heh, it suits you I think?”

“You think,” Virah drawled.

“Yeah, I think,” Whitney smiled, “but also, I really believe you're going to be a good move tutor one day, or even a breeder,”

Virah looked down at her feet, “... thanks,”

“Eh? You're welcome?” Whitney said with a shake of her head.

It wasn't the Elite Trainer she had been dreaming of or even a Champion but Whitney's belief in her ability to become a move tutor felt… nice.

Compared to that topic, the things the three of them talked about as they neared Whitney's tent were rather mundane and even carefree, and Virah felt that going back to talking about Pokemon, fashion, and what kind of Pokemon is popular at the moment felt… a bit weird- odd.

It was like they just decided to forget about the weight of expectations and worrying about to future and moved on to something more natural- freeing.

Virah tilted her head upward and eyed a gap in the leaves, a ray of sunlight passed through it, shining down on the ground and illuminating it.

She smiled, thinking that maybe expectations could be put at the back of her mind for now and she should focus on more normal things- like talking with her friends about stupid, childish, but at the same time, carefree things.

“-irahhhhh-”

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.”