victory_road | Accidental video;

[The video opens to the upside down, wide-eyed face of a Sobble, peering at the gear in curiosity, pawing at the screen with his little lizard paw, before a sudden loud noise startles him and he turns invisible, fleeing out of sight of the camera. The gear itself tumbles a little, coming to lay on its side. It’s still recording, the picture at a neck-twistingly weird angle, and not properly centred, but it shows a battle.

But wait, isn’t that trainer on screen Lance from the Elite Four? The big ol’ dragon man himself?

The challenger isn’t visible (though his battle instructions can be heard occasionally over the noise of the battle and the battle music) but his pokemon is: a scarred Sharpedo looking a bit roughed up and facing down Lance’s mighty Charizard. The battle is, for lack of any other word, epic. Too bad the camera angle is so awkward because that certainly is quite the fight taking place. And it is no wonder. This is an Elite Four match, after all.

Both pokemon are holding nothing back, the Charizard wheeling through the air, diving at the Sharpedo, who gives every bit as good as she is getting, powerful jets of water propelling her into the Charizard with intense speed, until finally the Charizard is knocked to the ground. Its wings beat weakly as it struggles to rise for one last counter-attack, claws scraping the floor, but it’s been too much, and it falls, defeated. Victory to the rough looking Sharpedo!

Both pokemon are withdrawn, and two new contenders are released onto the field. For those familiar with Lance’s pokemon, they will instantly recognise his mighty Dragonite, the final and perhaps most powerful of his pokemon. The challenger meanwhile is almost comically small looking compared to the Dragonite: a Shiinotic with a cheery smile that is just this side of unsettling. There is barely a beat before both trainers are shouting commands to their pokemon again, the Dragonite taking to the air to prepare for a flying attack, while the Shiinotic sprouts thick roots, anchoring himself in place. Like before, neither pokemon is holding anything back, the Dragonite aiming Wing Attack after Wing Attack at the Shiinotic, while the Shiinotic counters with equally powerful Moon Blasts. Occasionally, bright moonlight shines over the whole battlefield, bathing the Shiinotic in an almost alien glow as he recovers HP, while the Dragonite eventually sinks down to the ground to try and recover its own health through Roost. With the Dragonite on the ground, the Shiinotic takes his chance and releases a heavy cloud of spores in the air. The Dragonite tries to get airborne in time to avoid the heavy cloud of spores, but the battle has been wearing on it, and it fails, falling victim to the powder. For a moment or two, it seems to be fighting its effects, trying to shake off the dust coating its body with a few beats of its wings, but then it succumbs, crashing to the floor fast asleep. And that seems to be what the Shiinotic has been waiting for. His eyes start glowing a bright, unnatural red, and dark shadows shoot towards the Dragonite from his buried roots, rising in the shadowy form of a Shiinotic, before they pass through the Dragonite.

The Dragonite snaps awake, but it is flagging fast, the HP it had recovered through Roost stolen from it by the Shiinotic’s Dream Eater. Lance orders another Roost, but before Dragonite can even get properly situated, his opponent calls for a Dazzling Gleam. A bright, rainbow-coloured shine seems to engulf the Shiinotic, growing brighter and brighter, before it illuminates the battlefield with a flash that feels too bright to look at directly. And when the light fades out, the Dragonite is down, defeated by the fairy attack it is so vulnerable to.

For a few moments, nothing moves, before the sweeping battle music changes to a bright and cheery victory tune, and the dimmed lights in the gym return to their normal brightness. If you’ve still been watching so far (nothing better to do?), the next bit is certainly going to be a bit boring. The pokemon are withdrawn and Lance and Armin meet in the middle of the gym. (Were you surprised? Of course not. The username is a bit of a dead give away, isn’t it?) They talk, Lance congratulating the newest champion. Too bad the gear is too far away to pick up the conversation. Thankfully, before you die horrifically of boredom, the Sobble from before reappears again, fading back into view. Now that the battle has ended and everything has grown calm again, he is a bit more daring, sniffing the gear and even sticking out his great big tongue to lick the screen. Is this food? No. No, it is not.]

-thur, what are you doing?

[A pair of hands suddenly lifts the Sobble out of view, and all you can see are some legs.]

Come on, you can’t eat that.

[There are some shuffling noises, and then the camera shakes as it is picked up and turned over. For a moment it captures Armin’s face on the camera, still looking flushed and pleased with himself, the little Sobble up on his shoulder. Armin’s expression quickly changes though, his brows drawing in confusion.[

Wait, is this recordin—

[End video.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I didn't really intend to start hoarding them, but there are just so many amazing ocean dwelling Pokemon I want to learn about, and well, it has led to me owning quite a few of them.

How d'you play with 'em all?

I keep my Lapras in a pod, so they actually play together. Of course, I try to visit them every day, but I really want them to behave as much as Lapras do in the wild as possible.

For all the others, well, we've got a house, so they are welcome to go and do whatever they want. If they want attention, they know where to find me, but they also have a lot of other pokemon to play with.

But...don't they gotta be in th'water?

[Water types = water all the time, don't they?]

Most water pokemon can spend time on land too. Some are as comfortable on land as they are in the water, even.

That said, we live right on the beach. So they have plenty of access to the water if they want to swim.

Ooooh. Oku...needs water.

[She's not an Octarian, she can't survive in the air alone.]

Don't want her t'dry out.

That is a real concern when dealing with water pokemon. Especially in arid locations. There are some things they sell in the pokemarts that help keep water pokemon from drying out on land, special cremes and oils and such. And I've also heard some people swear by using the fluid excreted by Pyukumuku to help keep the scales of their other water pokemon healthy and moist while on land. Thankfully I don't have to worry about that too much, not when the ocean is so close by.

What kind of pokemon is Oku?

Yeah, I got cream for her...use it sometimes. Still, better t'be near water 'n stuff.

She's Octillery.

Oh! I'd love to own one of those someday. I like watching them when I go diving, but they can be very hard to spot with how they like squeezing into all sorts of tiny holes and rocks.

Oh! Then, y'gotta get Remoraid first. 'Volves into it.

That's true.

I ended up with so many new pokemon while travelling on Victory Road though that that'll have to wait.

Aah...

[Thida thinks for a moment.]

...Even if y'got an egg, though? What if y'got it as an egg?

Well, it wouldn't feel right to abandon an egg, so if I somehow ended up with one right now, of course, I'd hatch and raise it. But I also think every new pokemon deserve some special attention to bond with them so I wouldn't go out of my way to request an egg from a fellow breeder.

[She considers this for a moment, then nods. Thida isn't a breeder, and wouldn't know how to convince Oku to have eggs to start with, but if she could figure it out, she'd help Armin with this. After he's had some time to work with his current Pokemon.]

Makes sense.

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