victory_road | 1st Recipe [New Bark Town, Video/Action]

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1st Recipe [New Bark Town, Video/Action]

[Video]

[There are a lot of things you don't expect when you're Jane Crocker. You don't expect the entire world to shift scenes in the blink of an eye, floating in the ruins of a golden moon one second and waking up in what looks to be a normal, sunny bedroom the next. You don't expect some woman whom you've never seen before in your entire life to come in, claim to be your mother, shove a backpack into your arms and kick you out of the house with vague directions to a - a laboratory? And you certainly don't expect to be given what you're darn tootin' sure is a Pokeball once you get there, and as soon as you go, are again booted out towards the only dirt road outta town: Route 29.

So forgive her if she spent the last night in town, pounding on the door of her "mother"'s house and demanding to be let back in and given an explanation. When her video comes on this morning, it shows a very tired, bespectacled teenage girl with prominent buck teeth looking about 110% done with everything around her.]

...Okay, it's on. I think. [She squints, as if looking for something on the Pokegear to in fact indicate it is on, before continuing.] Um...hello? I'm basically going on a hunch that this...weird thing can be used as a communicator of sorts. Almost like FaceTime on a smartphone, right? I-I really hope so, or else I'm making calls into the goshdarned aether. [She sighs, shaking her head.] Anyway. If someone out there knows exactly how someone can wake up in what should very well be a video game that isn't supposed to suck you into a virtual reality, and if there's a way for me to leave, I'd greatly appreciate it. I...was sort of in the middle of something. [A look of hesitance crosses her face, as if...she may be asking to go back, but she sure as fuck doesn't want to at the moment.] I'll be in this...New Bark Town place for a little longer, if you need to know where I am.

- Oh, and, one more thing? [The video blurs as it shifts to a very pink creature that's quietly munching on some trail mix by Jane's side.] Not that she isn't cute, but, um...is this really a Pokemon?

[Action]

[True to her word, Jane lingers in town for the day. The pink Pokemon - Audino, her Pokedex has explained - seems happy to sit nearby and play with the hood on her unusual attire. This seems to be proving endearing enough to get Jane to smile despite herself, but given how warily she looks at the natives, it seems she'd do well with some sort of human conversation that doesn't tend to repeat itself.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[First, the important bit.]

Audinos are great. Not so much for direct damage, but they can easily turn a battle around with their other moves. Love her, and she'll never let you down.

[And now, the rest.]

There's no way for you to get home unless you're randomly sent back, though. But this occurs about every two weeks, so you can be assured that this is relatively normal and that your message is reaching plenty of people.

[Audino - that WAS what the Pokemon kept saying, and they're supposed to repeat their names, so that must be what she has - though Jane's never heard of one before today. She listens curiously to the man's explanation, while the Audino in question looks at it, then at Jane, as if this is the first time it's hearing something about battle before.]

This...appearing here thing is normal? So, I may not be the only person who's just arrived...but, does anyone know why?

Not really. We're expected to train Pokémon, but never actually forced to do it. And some Legendary asked for our help once, but that was years after people started arriving.

[There's planning ahead, and there's planning ahead.]

[...Squinting really hard right now.]

That's ridiculous. There has to be a reason for it. And if what I'm led to think is true, there's surely plenty of people who live here that can train Pokemon for themselves. Why take people unfamiliar with...obviously most of them to do it?

[Because if she doesn't know what an Audino is or does, there's bound to be more that she's never even imagined before.]

Maybe inexperienced trainers offer a greater entertainment value for whatever brought us here.

[Like reality tv, but with extra burns.]

Or maybe it's because we're the only ones who bother to improve and challenge the Gyms. Everyone you'll meet on your way to Violet was already there when I showed up almost four years ago.

[Sloooooowly raising an eyebrow.]

You're joking.

Not one bit. Joey's been hanging around route 30 with his Rattata every time I visited. A lot might have happened to this world over the years, but you can count on the kid and his fellow trainers to always be there.

[He almost makes it sound positive.]

...Dear Lord, it really is just like a video game.

[Excuse Jane while she has a moment of putting her face in her hand and sighing very hard and loud. The Audino beside her watches, a little distraught, and tugs on Jane's sleeve.] Aud, audi...

That has advantages, though. It's been proven that mortal injuries just send us back to the Pokémon Center, instead of killing us.

[Because that will totally improve her mood, yes?]

[Uh...well...it certainly gives her reason to pause.]

We just...wind up in a center? Wake up and everything's...hunky dory?

So I've been told by multiple sources, and I don't doubt them enough to try it myself. I have no idea if it still hurts, though.

[Reason number 1 not to try it at home.]

...

[The next two questions are definitely odd, coming from a young lady.]

Is there a limit? Do you have to give something in return for coming back? That sort of thing doesn't come without a price...

[Please, let it not be the sign of future experimentation.]

No one I've spoken to ever mentioned anything about that. I don't think it happened very often; just enough for people to learn about it.

[No. Just...suspicion.]

I see. I...definitely don't want to find out if it does through first-hand experience, though who would? I'll do my best to be careful.

[Lies, you will get in so much trouble Jane.]

Good. This world might be usually peaceful, but it has enough chaotic days to make looking for trouble very much unnecessary.

...What usually happens on chaotic days?

[Said with a tired kind of dread.]

Freak weather incidents, raining cats, the world being apparently damaged while we were on the moon... The sort of thing you almost come to expect after a few years, really.

[Almost.]

[Oh. Well, of course. There's already Pokemon here, why not add a bunch more crazy to it as well?]

...A few years? Sir, have you really been here that long?

It'll be four years in October. Not the longest stay by far, but definitely not the shortest either.

Oh my gosh! Four?! And - and people have been here for longer?? You're not pulling my leg, are you?

I wish, but no. Some people leave after a month, but others are stuck here for years. It's random, as far as we can tell.

[She looks concerned at that, pensive.]

I see...and, I suppose coming here is just as random?

If there's a pattern, none of us have managed to figure it out. Maybe that means there's none; maybe that means we don't have the right perspective to see it.

I...see.

[Jane's brow furrows, and she shakes her head.] Or, well, I don't, not really, but I don't have much of a choice but to take your word for it. It's not like I've got the means to figure it out.

Well, now that people are allowed to challenge the Elite Four, maybe we'll learn more about it. Or not. I'm not sure they know anything either.

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