victory_road | Chapter 1 - video/action for Ilex;

[How odd. It's like there's a total lapse in his memory... not that this is anything new. He distinctly remembers setting off to collect more badges, yet here he is, back in the Goldenrod area, minus all but one Pokémon, all his badges and belongings, and with a new secondary starter.

Still, for all his bewilderment, Ringabel greets the camera with a cool expression.]

How strange! Seems I've been away for a while, yet my memory suggests otherwise. I'd been told that those who leave simply forget, but I honestly can't remember even returning to Luxendarc...

Yet my Bisharp has reverted to a significantly lower level, and my team seems to have vanished outright...

[Sighing, he rubs at his brow.]

I'd ask if anyone has seen the rest of my roster, but I suppose it's best to assume the worst in these situations, hm? And I suppose there's always the option to search for them...

[Shaking his head, he soon recovers with a smile.]

In any case, to all the ladies of Johto and Kanto alike, and to those I've yet to meet, you can call me Ringabel, and it seems my journey here is far from over.

[...]

Now then, I take it things have gotten a bit... messy in my absence, and I'm quite curious to hear the full story.

[In the mean time, he'll venture further into the woods. Talk of poison types running wild is more than enough to catch his interest, and he's fortunate enough to have a steel type.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Yeah. It might just be because we're not used to it, but for a world without any visible government, army or heavy industries, it feels a little too ordered, peaceful and bountiful, sometimes. Like everything's going too well, and the other shoe could drop any time.

Given Team Rocket's presence, though, isn't that always a possibility? Perhaps they've a new scheme under way, and we're none the wiser.

Sure. They probably do, but I doubt they'll act on it anytime soon. Considering the current state of the world, chances are they're too busy analyzing the effects on their scheme to start it immediately.

A valid point, but isn't it just as possible that they might use the situation to their advantage? I suppose it depends on how much they're willing to gamble, but they are a powerful organization with numerous resources that we lack.

[Except he's technically on the team. That goes unsaid, however.]

Sure, it's a possibility. Just as much as frustrated trainers fighting back by setting them on fire is also a possibility. I mean, I don't know about you, but if some criminal pops up with sweet equipment and tries to grab my Pokémon, I'm looting his stash while he's unconscious.

That's a sentiment I can appreciate, actually! As a matter of fact, I rather enjoyed stealing from foes once I'd acquired the thief's asterisk.

But I suppose there's a certain satisfaction in overwhelming a foe with enormous, elemental beasts.

Enormous elemental beasts, or enormous mobile suits... Both are enjoyable, though I have to admit I miss doing the fighting myself. Telling a Houndoom to use Flamethrower isn't really the same as using your own beam saber to cut another suit's arm off.

This is why I've half a mind to improvise with weaponry. A pipe, a pan, even fists still have their uses. Granted, we lack the scales, fur, and metallic defenses of our partners.

And makeshift weapons certainly can't compare to the idea of a beam saber.

Don't get too starry-eyed. Those sabers are meant to be wielded by gigantic robots, not by humans directly. And since mobile suits haven't been created in this world, even I have to make do with chairs and baseball bats.

Still, giant robots do have a certain allure. I imagine it's quite thrilling to command them. The size, the strength...

I'm far from power hungry, but even I find myself enthralled.

Their battle capabilities are nice and useful, but they're nothing compared to the possibility of flying in space. Darting around asteroids while encase in metal, alone except for the stars all around you... Nothing else can replicate that feeling.

I have experienced something similar, albeit through the air rather than in space. Travel by airship is rather liberating, however, and what's most incredible of all is that our ship held an entire town!

Well, that, and for the longest time, we'd assumed it was merely a large boat.

Wait, it holds an actual town, buildings and all? And it can still move fast enoug to make it useful for travel? You'd think it wouldn't be very aerodynamic.

Its mechanisms are rather mysterious. I've heard the ship's thousands of years old, yet it functions better than many modern airships! Perhaps the orichalcum powering its engines are to blame, but since we uncovered its flight capabilities, it's been an invaluable asset on our journey.

That's often the case. Current mobile suit become obsolete after twenty years or so, but I've seen machines hundreds of years old that work better than anything built since then. Guess some engineers just don't share their secrets with their apprentices.

It does leave one wondering why. To avoid mimicry, perhaps? To avoid enemies uncovering their secrets?

Whatever the case may be, it's a shame in that it stifles innovation.

...It might be an attempt to keep that technology out of the hands of those who would misuse it, by limiting its use. Destroying it fully would be safer, but there are those who cannot imagine truly abandoning any scientific advance, no matter how terrible.

True. It would be a waste to completely eliminate it, but in addition to keeping it out of dangerous hands, it might be an attempt at thwarting mimicry. Cheap duplicates.

Cheap duplicates made from partial blueprints wouldn't be even half as good, so that's definitely an efficient strategy.

It would be interesting to see attempts at replication without blueprints, but I can't imagine it'd be simple.

But then, some may welcome the challenge.

It'd be a fun project. If I wasn't so busy, I know I'd be tempted. But considering the destructive capabilities of those old things, it wouldn't be such a good idea.

Chapter 1 - video/action for Ilex;

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