[Video + Action] [001]

[thumbsdown]

Video:

[The video flickers to life showing an exasperated-looking Boone sitting under the shade of a tree, with a Skorupi sat beside him. He's clearly only just accepted the presence of the pokemon beside him, if barely, made obvious by the way he gives it the side-eye every so often.]

Oh, it's on.

[He mumbles it to himself, frowning. He's never worked something like this before.]

Apparently this thing broadcasts to other people. So... I'm new here. Had some things explained to me, but I figure if anyone's got any information I'd like to hear it. Kinda confused about pokemon moves and types. I figured out how to scan this thing beside me- [he nods towards the Skorupi] -and it gave me a list of moves and told me it's a bug/poison type, but that's not really helpful on its own. And, uh... if you've got any tips for someone who just got here, I'd appreciate it.

Action - Route 29:

[He's just finished battling a wild pidgey, and Boone's Skorupi is looking fairly beat up. As it turns out, bug types aren't great against flying types. Boone would rather it didn't follow him around but that doesn't mean he wants to see it hurt, so he's kneeling by it near a patch of grass, trying to figure out what to do. Some help would be appreciated; in fact, if he sees someone walking by, he'll call out to them.]

Hey, you. Can you help?

[He gestures to the injured pokemon.]

Comments

Video

[a_sin_for_him]

And so the cycle continues...

[Lust speaks softly, more to herself than anything. But it's true. People disappear, people appear. They go and come and go and come and it's the only real thing one can be sure of.]

Pokemon can be very confusing, at first. All the information you need is in your Pokedex, once you learn how to navigate it you'll have an easier time.

[thumbsdown]

Never had to deal with anything like this before. The Pokedex, I mean. Think I'm slowly figuring it out, but it's gonna take a while.

[He sighs to himself, looking lost for a few moments before he gives the screen more of his attention.]

What's that about a cycle?

[a_sin_for_him]

What manner of place did you come from?

Oh, nothing, just musing to myself.

[thumbsdown]

Pretty different to here. Came from a desert. Wasn't nearly so... green. And we used weapons to fight with, not pokemon.

[He's still finding it hard to see his Skorupi as anything but a radscorpion, and he misses his rifle already.]

Back home, we'd shoot down things like this.

[He jerks a thumb towards the pokemon by his side.]

[a_sin_for_him]

Oh?

You won't find any guns here. Or weapons at all, beyond replicas and knives for cooking and tool use.

Skorupi are a good Pokemon for battling. They're tenacious creatures, and a dual type. That has some great advantages, but also means he's weaker to more things. Flying and fire, off the top of my head. I think psychic as well, perhaps...

[thumbsdown]

[No guns, huh. He gives his Skorupi a more thoughful look as Lust explains more about it, though.]

So this... Skorupi. He's how I fight here, instead of using guns. So I should make him stronger, right?

[If he wants to survive here, he needs a good weapon. Seems like his Skorupi is gonna have to be it.]

[a_sin_for_him]

Yes, that's one way to think of it. They grow stronger and learn more abilities by battling other Pokemon. It's...almost like a sport. They don't fight to the death or anything like that.

Though they can injure each other. You have a backpack given to you when you woke up, yes?

[thumbsdown]

Yeah, I have. Wasn’t sure what some of the stuff was, though.

[And no, he hasnt read the handbook he got yet. He was more preoccupied with other things, like figuring out the gear and exploring.]

[a_sin_for_him]

It will include some basic healing items for your Pokemon. In the area you're traveling, most wild ones are of the same or lower level as what you've started with, so you shouldn't have much trouble.

You can also catch others.

Video

[sleepallthewayhome]

[Have a seven year old kid, show up on the screen.]

I've been here for a few months. What questions do you have?

[It also helps that she's thrown herself into training pokemon because survival>everything.]

[thumbsdown]

[Boone doesn't mind taking advice from a kid. Any help is welcome.]

Mostly I'm just confused about the types and what's weak to what. I keep running into birds and rats here, but I'm never sure which attacks will do the most damage. Is it just something I'll remember over time?

[He thinks for another question.]

And I guess... anything I should or shouldn't do? As a newcomer?

[sleepallthewayhome]

I made a list on my gear and I've been trying to memorize them. The ones that are two types are harder to remember. So it's always good to double check your gear.

Types are like what sort of pokemon they are. Like flying, fire, water, ice, psychic and stuff. Some of them are simple like water types have an advantage over fire types. And fire types are strong against ice types. But others are weird. Like poison types are strong against grass types.

Um....for being new here. ...

[She thinks for a moment.]

You should listen to the advise people give you. Look over your gear so you know how to use it. Talk to the people working at the first pokemon center you come to. They let you stay there if you don't have much money and they can give you good advice.

You can earn money by battling people and the locals will try to battle you if you walk by them a lot of the time on the routes in between cities. But you can also get a job if you stay in a city for a while.

[thumbsdown]

Great. This pokemon has two types. But it's a good idea, I'll have to try it.

[Boone can't even begin to understand why poison would be good against grass specifically. All of this is beyond him right now.]

Getting jumped between towns, huh. Sounds like home.

[At least something will be familiar to him here.]

But thanks. Seems like I'm gonna have to toughen this thing up if I wanna get by here.

[sleepallthewayhome]

A lot of them will be kids too. Most people from here start when they're ten. I've seven but I'm not from here so they said said I was ten when I woke up and sent me out with my pokemon.

It's not really that hard. They get stronger the more you train them and you can train them by fighting the wild pokemon that are also going to jump out and attack you, as well.

[She pauses.]

Oh and this was really important for me. But even if you get attacked by really powerful monsters. No one dies here. I know it sounds crazy and impossible and I didn't believe it for a really long time because everyone around me dies but it's true.

[This is an important thing, she thinks he should know.]

[thumbsdown]

So everyone wakes up here the same way.

[Weird, but okay. He'll just accept it. He doesn't look surprised by Newt telling him everyone around her dies. He's sure there are a lot of kids like that back home. He feels sorry for her, but he won't coddle her either.]

Wouldn't worry about dying anyway.

[He just doesn't die, even when he tries to. Of course he doesn't actively try anymore, thanks to the courier, but he still tends to get a little reckless sometimes under the belief that he'll come out of it just fine anyway.]

It's kinda hard to believe, but I dunno why you'd bother lying about it so I'll take your word for it.

[Maybe she truly believes it and she's wrong, he won't deny that it's a likely possibility. She doesn't seem like she's lying, though.]

[sleepallthewayhome]

[That's good, because she mostly let it slip because she believes that telling people that fact is important. So she'd be glad. She's also apparently getting better since the prom at keeping her dire warnings of, everyone who says that dies. So...progress!]

Yeah, we all do. No matter how old you are.

And it's really hard to believe. I know.

[Just a nod. She really gets.]

Did anyone tell you about the gyms and badges yet?

[thumbsdown]

[He just nods back. It is very hard to believe, but this isn't exactly a normal situation he's in, either.]

Not yet. What are those?

Video;

[schachmeister]

Pokemon types are a bit overwhelming to comprehend at first. I struggled with them myself, but there is a sort of logic to it once you figure it out.

In essence though, every pokemon and every move has a certain type. Some Pokemon might even have two types like yours. And often, a pokemon can learn moves that don't match its type. For example, your Skorupi is Bug/Poison as you said, but it can also learn the move 'Bite' which is a dark type move. There are currently sixteen different types of pokemon and moves.

These different types and moves play a big role in pokemon battling. Essentially, some types are either weak or strong against others. To take a straightforward example, water type pokemon and moves are strong against fire type pokemon. At the same time, fire type pokemon and moves are strong against ice type pokemon. Though not all weaknesses and strengths are that simple.

To be honest, when I first started out here, I drew up a chart for myself to keep things straight.

[thumbsdown]

So pokemon can learn moves that aren't their type. How many moves are there?

[He's guessing there are a lot.]

And how do I teach a pokemon a move? Pointy here came with some moves already, but I don't know how to teach him more.

[Yes, he's named the Skorupi Pointy. He thinks it's fitting. Also, he's bad at names.]

[schachmeister]

I'm not sure. I don't know if anyone ever counted them. And each time new pokemon are discovered, new moves are discovered too.

[A lot is somewhat of an understatement.]

That depends. There are several ways of teaching pokemon new moves.

Every pokemon has a certain set of moves they learn naturally as they get stronger. So for your Skorupi to learn these moves, all you need to do is train him.

Then you can also teach him moves through TMs and HMs. These are special devices you can buy in stores or get from gym leaders when you defeat them which will teach your pokemon a certain move.

Then a third way to teach pokemon new moves is to find a move tutor. There is many of them around. Most specialise in one certain type of move. Most are always eager to teach a pokemon a new move, though some might have certain expectations that they want met first.

[thumbsdown]

[Boone tries to keep himself from rubbing his head at all this new information, and instead focuses on his Skorupi again.]

Well, at least he'll learn some moves on his own. Not really sure how these TMs or HMs work, but I guess I'll find out.

[He glances back at the screen, frowning slightly.]

This is all pretty complicated, but you seem like you know a lot. You must've been here a while, huh?

[Either that or he's a fast learner.]

[schachmeister]

They are a bit hard to explain, but actually fairly easy to use once you get your hands on one.

I think everybody ends up picking up a lot of this stuff in time. Especially if they intend to train and use their pokemon in battle. I've been here for over a year and a half, so I've had plenty of time to learn.

[thumbsdown]

[A year and a half, jeez. His eyebrows raise in surprise.]

That's a long time to be stuck here.

[But he supposes after a while people probably get used to it.]

I'm gonna train my pokemon, yeah. Seems like being strong is kinda important here.

[He's heard that people will try to battle him, and he wants to be ready.]

[schachmeister]

Honestly, it has gone by rather fast. Though I suppose not all of us consider being in this place as being... stuck.

[Some people are dead in their own worlds, after all. And some people have to deal too much with titans.]

It is, for many people. And it is really rewarding to be able to defeat another trainer, especially a gym leader. But there are also other things people do. Some people enjoy breeding pokemon or researching them. A while back, there was a sort of... dress up contest with pokemon. A lot of people seemed to enjoy that as well.

[thumbsdown]

Do you feel that way?

[Because Boone sure does. Then again, he hasn't seen how pleasant this world is compared to his own, yet.]

So I guess pokemon are just like any other pet. Only, you fight with them.

[Which isn't all that strange to Boone. He fought with Rex, after all.]

Can't imagine trying to put clothes on Pointy, though.

[Where would they even go?]