victory_road | 001 ✶ video

[The feed opens on a young girl, who's staring at the camera very quizzically... until she notices the little light went on.]

Huh? Did it do something? [There's a cry of "Happy!" off-screen for a second and the screen 'shakes' slightly, as if someone's tapping the gear that's recording.] Oh... Do you know how this works? I'm not really sure what I'm...

[She stares some more at the screen, tilting it left, then right... even flipping it upside down. Then she blinks a few times as some of the information on the screen finally registers...]

W-Wait, can people see me through this? Um, I... I'm... [She looks around nervously, before reaching down and picking up a Happiny, which she quickly hides her face behind.] You... You say something instead...! I don't know what I'm supposed to do... [The little Happiny looks very confused, but her trainer is still hiding behind her.]

Um. Is there really someone out there? I'm really lost.

[...Like this it does almost seem like it's the Happiny talking instead of the girl. That's one way to talk to the network. She does, shyly, poke out her head juuuust a little. But it's really just the top of her face that's visible now.]

I'm looking for my friends. Jude? Milla? Can you guys hear me? Alvin?

...Teepo?

[Oh geez, at that last name she almost sounds close to tears.]

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I always thought there was just one... Then I found out there was another one. And then I woke up here...

[And people just keep telling her about even more worlds. It's a lot to take in.]

It's really strange. It doesn't really... feel right. There's not even any spirits around...

...That's pretty normal, though, isn't it? At least, they're not terribly common where I'm from. Although, that... might change at some point...?

It's not normal at all. At least, not back home. Spirits are everywhere there. Lesser spirits, at least.

Well, I know a few people who'd like that, really, but I think we've managed to get by pretty well without them.

But... spirits bring life everywhere, don't they? Like nature and animals...

I thought that was how it worked.

Well, they're certainly helpful in that regard where I'm from, but not entirely necessary. It... might work differently in different worlds, though.

I guess so... The last place I saw without spirits was dying. But this world seems just fine. I still wish they were around, but I guess it's alright...

[It sucks not being able to use spirit artes, though, like wow.]

Oh, um... [And then she realizes she should probably introduce herself instead of just talking about spirits the whole time.] I'm Elize Lutus.

Admittedly, I feel like Pokemon seem as though they may be close enough to spirits to count, given that I initially mistook them for the sorts of spirits that exist in my world. I also know that some of my abilities are... simply gone, so if they are effectively spirits, you may not be able to sense it.

[...yeah right wow whoops uh]

Well, at the very least, it's nice to meet you, Miss Lutus. I'm Tarrlok.

Huh? [That bit is news to her.] Wait, is that really true? I just thought... none of my powers were working because there's no spirits. So that's not it...?

[Well, that's... kinda distressing.]

Um, right! It's very nice to meet you too.

I don't think so. Bending... which is manipulating certain elements through forms... isn't actually dependent on the presence of spirits, so that wouldn't explain why I'm not able to do it here.

So it's just everything then... That's really weird. So then maybe it's just... because of how this world is?

[Wow, this is way beyond her... She really wishes Rowen were here, she's sure he'd have a theory or something, he's smart.]

I guess here they just have these Pokemon, like people keep saying...

This really isn't my area of expertise, so I couldn't exactly say, but... from what I've observed so far, that does seem to be the case, yes.

Did you get one of those Pokemon too? Someone was saying everyone is supposed to get one.

Oh, yes, I did. I'm beginning to feel like if you didn't have one of them, you'd be up a rough creek without a paddle, considering how everyone talks about them.

Yeah, everyone seems to depend on them a lot. It's, um... like a symbiotic relationship.

So I guess it's good everyone gets one.

It's honestly just very nice anyway, if you're going to be dropped into some strange alternate universe without explanation. You sort of immediately get a friendly new companion right off the bat instead of having to face it all on your own.

That's true. I wish I'd ended up here with the friends I already had, but... It's nice not to be all alone.

They seem really nice, too.

Well, I think everyone has a person or two they're going to miss, at the very least. Most people, anyway.

But yes, they're definitely very friendly --- and they seem pretty clever, too.

Yeah... That's true. I've just... never really been apart from this friend before.

[Not for this long.]

They are! Um, mine probably knows more than I do about all this right now...

...oh, I see. That... can definitely be difficult, but it's not impossible to deal with. You'll see your friend again at some point, at the very least, though, so you just have that to look forward to, don't you?

[...you know, it is a lot easier to talk to this kid than Tenzin's, probably because he finds... that a little bit relateable.]

...and I think that's probably true for all of us, honestly.

Yeah... I guess that's true. I'll just have to hang in there until then. I just hope that... he'll be okay without me.

[He will absolutely be okay without her, but that's complicated and ha ha let's not talk about that.]

I'm glad there's a lot of people here. Well, I mean, I'm not glad everyone has to be away from home. But it's nice that there's so many friendly people around.

He'll probably be fine. I've heard time is a bit funny here in relation to things back home, so... while I don't have any evidence to support it, it might be like you've never been gone.

It does help to stay positive about it, anyway. That's the sort of thing that gets you through this.

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