mission 001- video/text

[cardboard_boss]

[The feeds snaps on to show a rather grizzled man with a beard and eyepatch patting a rather friendly dog Pokémon. A Poochyena to be precise. Boss grunted in amusement when the dog started to chew on his metallic arm. A toy? Well, the Pokémon thought the metal was rather interesting compared to his other normal limb.]

Hngh. A dog? Didn't think I'd end up having another one trailing after me.

[Boss picked up the empty Poke ball from his back pack and studied it. How could such a large animal fit in such a small device? It was all rather confusing right now. Also, what was that music playing? It sounded like a tape but no music he'd ever heard on his iDroid before.]

Hey! Watch the arm. [Snake scalded the energetic Pokémon when he bit down on one of Snake's prosthetic fingers. He was only a puppy but still. He needed those fingers.]

Going to call you DD. You're just like him. Good dog. [Snake patted Poochyena's head and made the dog sit. Good. At least he was learning. It wasn't the first time he'd had a dog follow him and try to lick his face. Snake focused back to the video feed and sighed.]

Anyone hear me? Can someone tell me what's going on and why these animals seem to fit inside tiny balls? [Yeah. He's going to go with that first of all.]

Comments

[cardboard_boss]

[You're looking good on your age, dude.

Snake looked at his card and flipped it over a few times before seeing the word "Trainer" written on it. There we go. He was one of those apparently.]

Trainer.

[crouching_sin]

Right. There are eight gyms in each region. You're likely in Johto right now, unless you took the ferry. The goal of a Trainer is to defeat each gym leader's team, and they all specialize in certain types. The first one is a flying-type gym, so I'd advise you to look for Pokemon with electric, rock, or ice moves. Defeating them gets you money and a few other items, as well as the ability to use special items known as HMs that teach your Pokemon moves that are commonly used outside of battle.

Why you can't fly on a bird or surf on a giant turtle without a badge that says you can, I don't know.

[cardboard_boss]

[Boss listened and took it all. Gyms, huh? Not like the ones he was used to on Mother Base. They were bound to be filled with more than just exercise equipment.]

So, these Pokémon all use the elements as power to battle one another? [He was slowly starting to understand it all. He'd have to read the booklet more though like Kaz told him to.]

What's the currency they use here?

[crouching_sin]

Pretty much.

[He huffs, amused. Here we go.]

Pokedollars. It's pretty much Poke-everything here. Pokegear, Pokedollars, Pokeballs...

[cardboard_boss]

So, it's Poke everything?

[Made sense in a world full of animals called Pokémon.]

Do you know how you go about gaining more of these Pokémon to add to your party?

[crouching_sin]

Either buy or get given them from other people, sometimes in eggs - and yes, everything hatches from an egg here - or battle them and catch them yourself.

[cardboard_boss]

Catching and battling would be the free option, right?

[Since Snake was a man who always aimed to try and save money. A trait perhaps gained from working back at Mother Base. Saving the budget for more important things.]

Have you caught any Pokémon yourself?

[crouching_sin]

That's correct, though often people who breed Pokemon will give free or discounted eggs to newcomers.

And I have. Including... ah, Yurlungur, come over here.

[A large Arbok slithers over, peering into the camera over his shoulder.]

Like this one. He was a lot smaller before he evolved.

[cardboard_boss]

[He'll have to look out for that one.]

A snake? [How ironic, since that this's guy's name. Was it fate that there was a world filled with giant snake Pokémon? He'd have to get one of those, right?]

Huh. A big purple snake. My name's Venom Snake. Maybe I should get one of those too.

[crouching_sin]

Heh. Maybe. He's a poison type, too. My name's Naoya, by the way.

[Scritchings for the snake, yes. The snake looks happy, at least.]

[cardboard_boss]

[That would suit him down to the ground. His name was Venom Snake. How much closer could you get to a poison type?]

He looks happy. What does he eat usually?

[crouching_sin]

There's Pokechow you can buy in stores. Otherwise, you can sometimes forage for berries on the road, but those won't cover all of their nutrients.

[cardboard_boss]

[Pokechow? Was everything related to the word Poke here? It seemed so.]

Berries sound like a good option. Free food that's good for the Pokémon. You can't sustain them on berries alone though, right?

[crouching_sin]

No. Some Pokemon have different dietary needs - like Steel types that can eat whatever scrap metal you might have, or some of the Ghost types that feed on your life energy.

... Don't go overboard on that one, obviously.

[cardboard_boss]

[A Pokémon that can feed off life energy. Damn. That just sounded plain creepy.]

I don't intend to. [Venom brought the camera down to show Naoya his Poochyena, which was wagging his tail and looking up at the screen.]

Got a Poochyena. Do you know what dietary requirements he'd be best suited to?

[crouching_sin]

... Generally what you'd feed a dog, if those exist in your world. Meat, some carbohydrates, a little bit of fats and oils, and some fruits and vegetables.

[cardboard_boss]

[That made sense. DD was as much a real dog as the DD back home on Mother Base. He was just a different breed and called a Pokémon.]

Wonder if DD will like sausages.

[crouching_sin]

Maybe. It's worth a shot.

[cardboard_boss]

[Yep. Definitely worth a shot.]

You got any other Pokémon apart from your snake there?

[crouching_sin]

Oh, yes. About... twenty five, now? One of them even helps me out in the bakery where I work. Alice, come over here and say hello.

[A Gardevoir wanders over, bowing her head slightly as she looks at the camera.]

Hello there.

... She's a Psychic type, and one of the kind that can talk, as you could probably tell.

[cardboard_boss]

[Damn. This guy had twenty five? That's quite a few.]

Alice?...

[Snake was rather taken aback when he noticed the Gardevoir. Such an elegant yet strange creature. Did it just speak to him? Yep, it did.]

It spoke to me. How...did it do that?

[crouching_sin]

She's a Psychic-type, as I said. Not all of them can talk, but some can.

I know it must be strange for all of you coming from places where Pokemon don't exist...

[cardboard_boss]

Yeah. It's strange.

[He still couldn't quite believe this creature was talking to him.]

Back where I'm from no animals can speak to humans like this.

[crouching_sin]

I'm told that's common... very odd to me, but common.

This place has a way of always surprising you. At least it keeps things interesting.

[cardboard_boss]

[Snake still frowned when he heard the Pokémon speak. It just felt a little odd to him right now.]

Yeah. Seems like they don't want to keep you bored whilst you try and master all the kit you've been given. [As in PokeBalls etc.]