5. Video

[sleepallthewayhome]

[Apparently one of her pokemon is filming this because the camera is a bit further away then usual. You can see Newt sitting by a bed, and also off to the side there is an Eevee sitting on the floor. He is also holding onto a dolls head. It's for moral support.

Newt meanwhile looks at the camera.]

I have a question. If you're af...if you don't really like a certain type of pokemon that much. But you still want to get all the gym badges. Do you think it would be easier to get the gym themed for them over with first? Or should you wait and maybe you won't be so afraid of them in the future?

Oh and does anyone knows what this is?

[She holds up a Spell Tag]

Vasquez brought it back after Halloween but I'm not sure what to do with it.

Comments

[songoftime]

[Totally easy. So easy Link has to take another moment to think about it, his mouth twitching into a frown as he turns the question over in his mind.]

You could... test yourself. Something small. Like meet a nice Pokémon of the type that's scary. Or... Even one that reminds you of it. That way you can find out how much they still scare you.

[sleepallthewayhome]

I....could.

But I met one that looked like a monster from home during the scavenger hunt. It was with a really nice little kid.

[Newt, you're 7.]

And he was best friends with it.

But it looked a lot like the monster from home, in the stage when it jumps on your face that I almost got in a battle with the kid because I was so scared I almost got my pokemon to attack it.

[songoftime]

[Link leans in closer to his Pokégear without realizing it, and his Honedge peers over his shoulder.]

I see... I understand, now. [This is closer to the kind of fear he has experience with. He thought...] Yes... That's very hard.

[This changes everything. But what would he suggest... to someone who isn't himself? What if this was... Romani? Or Zelda? ... no, that doesn't work. Link would just offer to be there to protect them. And this girl, she wants to be able to do it herself. But Link's experiences in facing the things that scared him -- He didn't have any choice. And he could force himself to go by thinking of the people relying on him. A gym badge isn't anything like that.

He's quiet again for a long moment, frowning deeply this time.] ... I think waiting to go to that gym would be okay. If you do all the other gyms first... You'll be stronger. And so will your Pokémon. So you'll know for sure that you will be able to protect yourself and your Pokémon, so maybe it will make it easier to face the scary ones.

[sleepallthewayhome]

[She nods. It's really hard, and scary.]

That's true.... I would be a lot stronger.

That's why I'm trying to get all the badges. Someone told me it showed people that you were strong and could look after yourself. Even if you can't die in this place, I want to be able to survive here and keep my team safe.

[songoftime]

[Link nods, too, in agreement and approval.]

I think it's a good idea. Even if this place is mostly safe, that doesn't mean bad things won't happen. Doing what you can to protect yourself and your friends, and anyone else you can, is important.

[... maybe he should consider the gyms, himself. The more badges he has, the less likely it is that adults will treat him like just another kid.]

I haven't been here for very long, but I think that's something that's the same no matter where you are.

[sleepallthewayhome]

Yeah. Being safe is the most important thing ever.

Were you from a dangerous place too?

[songoftime]

No. [A pause.]

... not really. [Another pause.]

... an evil person made a lot of evil things happen. And then an evil spirit did, too. So I had to become strong to defeat them.

[sleepallthewayhome]

So it was okay but then someone made it dangerous?

[songoftime]

[Link nods.] Yeah. There was always a little danger, I think, but in places like graveyards and where bad things had happened. [Or if grown-ups went into the Lost Woods. But saying that would require a lot of explanations.]

And... There had been a war, sometime before I was born. My mother... [... no, he... still doesn't think he can talk about that. It's easier to talk to other kids than adults, but... This -- He still hasn't processed it. Not really.] Er. What I mean is, it wasn't really all that long ago. But because of that war, things were safe for a little while.

[sleepallthewayhome]

[Newt will 100% let that drop, as she has her own severe issues when it comes to her birth mother that she still doesn't talk about.

Instead she nods.]

My world was like that too. Well the moon I was born on was. There were dangerous places because we were in space so we weren't allowed to go outside much. But it wasn't that bad. Then ...stuff happened and the monsters made everything really, really dangerous.

[songoftime]

[Link doesn't know anything about being in space, but if the moon she's talking about is anything like the moon in Termina, he can understand there being places too dangerous for people to go.]

There are all kinds of monsters back where I'm from. There were more of them, and more strong ones, after the evil in the land became stronger.

Were the monsters on your moon ever defeated?

[sleepallthewayhome]

That's terrible.

[She can't even imagine more then one type of alien. Pokemon could be scary but so far she hadn't seen them rip people apart.]

They got blown up when the colony exploded. So I think...I hope they're all dead. I'm never going back though and no one should ever build there again, just in case the explosion didn't get them all.

[songoftime]

[Link nods, and feels relief. It makes him feel better to know monsters like that are no longer threatening people.]

That's good. [Even if there are any left, no one else will get hurt.] The evil person... I stopped him. He was sealed away so he couldn't hurt anyone else. And the evil spirit tried calling the moon down, but they were defeated, too.

[sleepallthewayhome]

Wouldn't it be better to kill him?

[Sealing up sounds like it means they could get out again.]

[songoftime]

He was... very powerful. He had something that was from the gods. So even with a sword that destroys evil, and a lot of magic... It was the only thing we could do.

[Link doesn't know if he can really get the idea across properly without explaining about the Triforce and the Sages. But... He doesn't really want to talk about it in detail. Everyone knows about the Triforce back in Hyrule (everyone except the Kokiri, at least), but, here... He just finds he feels... reluctant. He can't really explain why.]

[sleepallthewayhome]

[Newt meanwhile nods. She's been here for a while. People used to have magic, were squids. She's open to the idea that someone couldn't be killed because "gods".]

That's too bad. But I guess if you can't kill him, it makes sense to put him away somewhere.

Maybe he'll never get out again.

[songoftime]

I hope so. He... did a lot of bad things. ... hurt a lot of people.

[Ganondorf: He Did A Lot Of Bad Things. That's... well. Link's not wrong.]

[sleepallthewayhome]

Yeah.

We didn't get to kill Burke either, he was a person but he was terrible too. And started everything.

But I think the monsters got him, or the explosion.

[Slight pause.]

I hope it was the monsters.

[She may have reasons for wishing a terrible fate on Burke.]