Virah sat down on a dusty bench and sighed, "that's the plan, yes,"

The poison specialist faced Whitney with a serious expression, she didn't know why the pinkette decided that now was the time to start worrying about getting caught but Virah thought that her friend's worries were valid.

"Are we sure we'll be fine if we do this?" Whitney said in a stressed out tone, "I mean… what if we get caught?"

"…" Virah looked away, "we don't have to do this you know," she replied, expression and tone neutral, "we can just continue being trainers instead of doing what we're planning,"

"Do you want to do this?" Whitney asked, "I… don't think that this is a good idea but…"

"We can just move on and go on our journey," Virah glossed over what Whitney was implying.

She didn't know what the pinkette meant by trailing off like she did just now and maybe that was the point; that Whitney herself was confused and just wanted to hear something.

Virah sighed, "we don't have to worry about Team Rocket, or even the people on the slums, the gangs will be fine without us, and nothing will change if we ignore all of them."

"And if we try and mess with them?" Grene said from the side.

"Then there's a good chance that we get caught," Virah turned and met the martial artist's gaze.

"But?" Grene pushed.

"But we can probably help the slums if we do," Virah said with a unconfidence.

"Probably? Why?"

She faced Whitney, "because their situation is more complicated than what's shown on the surface," Virah answered, "we've talked about this several times already, saving them from the gangs won't help them,"

"Right…" Whitney looked down at her feet, she crossed her arms in discomfort, "how do we help them then? Possibly help them- I mean," she stammered.

"We can spread awareness," Virah replied, "people will probably notice our actions and I don't know, maybe they'll help out the slums once that happens?"

"I can ask dad about helping them," Whitney supplied, "is that a good idea?"

"No, it's too suspicious," Virah shook her head, "he'll probably caught on to what we're doing if you ask him to help out the slums in the same week we attack a gang,"

"Right…" the pinkette sighed, "what do you want me to do then?"

"Stay silent, then continue with our plan, I guess," Virah replied, "that's the only thing we can honestly do, we can't influence cities in the same way Gym Leaders and Champions can,"

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

"So you're saying that we just need to become the champion then?" Grene said with a small yet confident smirk, "sounds easy enough,"

"Pfftt, you wish," Virah shook her head as she giggled, "on a serious note… if we do become champion, I think we'll be able to do pretty big things, more than just putting attention towards slums."

"Well," Virah sighed, "not that we can do it even if we want to since the position is currently unavailable for both regions,"

"I thought the war ended?" Whitney tilted her head, "isn't there a champion already?"

"The war just ended," Virah corrected, "so which means a champion is either going to get picked this circuit or next year,"

"Who do you think it'll be?" Grene asked, "the last two champions died two years back so you know," the martial artist made a shrugging motion, "maybe they'll want someone strong to show that Johto can recover quickly?"

"I don't know, honestly, I'm not really a sucker for this kind of topic," and she really wasn't, the fact that Grene is though implies that her family is into the region's politics.

"I think it's the Black Thorns," Whitney said, "they're strong so they'll win against the Elite Four easily, and it's not like we have an Ice Type specialist here to beat them like the one in Kanto,"

"And, I think, that's where the problem lies, because if Kanto has an Elite Four that can counter Dragon Types then chances are, Johto won't let them get the title of Champion," Virah pointed out.

"What? Why?" Whitney tilted her head, "and how?"

"They'll make it hard for aspiring Black Thorns to get their badges and plant counters in the League, and also, the Elite Four would actually give their best once they do fight," Grene's answer came quickly, "there's plenty of ways to ensure that a weak trainer doesn't represent us,"

"Mhmm…" Virah nodded.

"But the Pokemon League won't do that right?" Whitney's optimism had shown itself again and as the pinkette waited for an answer, Virah considered if being honest was a good idea.

"Yep," she lied, "I'm sure that the League won't actually do that," she smiled at the pinkette, "skill does matter after all,"

"Right!" Whitney pumped her fist, "and when I become a Gym Leader, I'll make sure that nothing like that happens in my Gym! Just like dad!"

'Yeah…' Virah smiled, "I'm sure you'll do well as a Gym Leader," she lied, "well, moving on, how about we continue discussing our plans?"

"Okay," Whitney nodded, "so we're going to continue our attack then?"

"I guess so," Virah shrugged, she honestly wanted to talk about their plans for the journey but this works too she supposed.

"You said that you wanted to do something with the Thunderstone that you won?" Grene questioned.

"Yeah," Virah took out the item from her bag and presented it to her friends, "winning something like this is pretty common in the Speed Pokeathlon so I thought that if I succeeded with the tests then I'll continue doing it during our journey,"

"Uhuh," Grene took out the item that she herself won, a Black Belt, "that's first place right?"

"Yep," Virah confirmed, "don't worry, I think Nitro will continue to dominate in the events for a while,"

"Won't you have to register once you go back to the Pokeathlon for the second time though?" Grene tilted her head, "how will you deal with that?"

"By putting up my actual identity," Virah shrugged, "anyway- we're getting side tracked, we need to refine our plan on the raid,"

Virah pointed at Whitney, "are you fine with being the distraction?" She wanted to confirm if the pinkette had gotten her nerves back, "because I can infiltrate the building just fine even without it-"

"No, I'll do it," Whitney put up a shaky thumbs up, "but what about you? You're going in there all by yourself,"

"I'll be fine," Virah smiled, "I can sneak around just fine,"

"Right," Grene said, "and if you do get caught, we'll charge into the building to help you,"

"That is the plan," Virah agreed, "so with that being said, let's talk about refining it,"

Virah hopped down from one rooftop and into the next, the starlit sky above her blanketed the world in darkness, hiding her from the illuminated streets below.

There were people accompanied by Pokemon patrolling the outskirts of the building, their routes were unplanned save for their distance from the building's walls.

They looked well equipped, with clean clothes, a decent haircut, and shoes meant for running. They also had weapons, nothing that could truly hurt a Pokemon but the bats they were carrying were more than enough to incapacitate a person.

And speaking of Pokemon, the ones with them were first stage evolutions, most were Poison Types like Koffing and Grimer but a few had Oddishes.

The ones directly in front of the door had Houndours standing next to them, it was safe to assume that both trainers were strong if they were guarding the entrance directly.

'That or they're just there for intimidation,' Virah thought as she eyed the two bulky men blocking the entrance of the building.

She wouldn't know which of her guesses were right unless she fought them directly which won't happen unless she was forced to.

Virah stood up and ran away from the spot she was on, she jumped from rooftop to rooftop until she reached the building directly next to their target and their, she eyed the window she would be entering.

Inspecting her "entrance" allowed her to learn a few things about it, like for example, the fact that it was boarded up, going around and inspecting the other windows yielded the same results.

Virah got away from the slums and back into the crowded streets of Goldenrod City, she ran around the streets until she found a spot to take off her costume.

She placed her ninja gear inside her bag and slumped against the toilet's canister, "this is a whole lot harder than I expected,"