victory_road | 001//video;

[The video feed starts and focuses on a young, thin, tanned skinned teenager with a Yamask laying over his shoulder. One might use the stereotypical term "exotic" to describe him. He softly clears his throat before speaking.]

Ah, hello. My name is-

[The boy pauses, obviously mulling something over in his mind.

I don't need to hide who I am here. Even if there is someone I might know, they all know who I am now so...]

-Marik. I just arrived the other day and I'm currently traveling along Route 29.

[He looks around at the area off screen.]

I've never seen so much green before! The grass is so soft and the way the wind blows through the trees... It's all so wonderful.

[I never thought I'd get to experience any of this.. Domino City had pockets of greenery here and there but still place is so different.]

I'm afraid I'm still not 100% certain on how things work here but I've got the jidst of it. The music is going to take some getting used to, that's for sure. Is there some speaker system it's coming from...?

[Another pause as he debates whether or not to ask the question that pops into his head.]

Hn... Is there another way to catch pokemon? Other than fighting and weakening them, I mean. It seems... kind of cruel to beat the poor thing up and then stuff it into a pokeball. I'm honestly just used to handling cards, not live animals.

[He mutters to himself]

It's still strange to think that these are real creatures and not just holograms...

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

( allium looks at the yamask across the screen and gently leans forward, pressing his paw against the gear in solidarity. the only reason he put up with training was his sense of pride- now that he's the ultimate moneycat, he has no need or want for it, and jinx is happy to let him be a lapcat forever. godspeed, his anti-fighting brethren. )

Mmm... With people, it's when you attend a meeting with someone who works at the place you want to work for and explain why you'd be a good fit for their company. But with pokemon, it's not quite like that- they want to see if you'd be a good trainer for them based on how you respond during the battle, while trying to show you that they're good battlers and worth taking with you. ... Unless, like. Something stupid happened like you broke it's nest or something- then they probably just want to beat you up.

( jinx.

she continues as if she literally didn't just say that with an almost cheerful smile. )

As for having to fight... if he doesn't want to, you're doing great by him already. Some pokemon don't want to battle and simply want to live with people. It looks like you understand him enough to start meeting his needs already.

[Chenzira perks up a bit more, eventually raising his own paw up to place on the pokegear. Marik smiles and gently pats him on the head. This particular pokemon was a good choice for him in teaching him how to be patient and gentle.

It's the eyes too. How can you be mean to something with those eyes?]

Ah, I see. The analogy makes sense then.

[He's totally unaffected by the latter part of doing something stupid and pissing it off. That's like with all animals so that's no surprise.]

Yeah, I've been explaining strategies and stuff through this card game from my world. I think he's picking that up more than actually wanting to fight since it's just paper and words. I don't mind though. It's been fun teaching him.

That's actually a really good idea- I never would have thought of that.

( allium peeps a little. chenzira, you're his friend now. jinx smiles at this little display, gently scritching the top of his head. )

Allium here doesn't like battle, he only did some training because one of the moves he knows relies on having a higher level. It sounds like you're already really good at communicating and understanding your partner's boundaries, though.

My card deck is the only thing asides from my clothes that I arrived with. I'm not sure why it was that and nothing else since I had a few other things on me...

[Chenzira has made a lot of friends today! It's been really nice for him to hear about the other pokemon that aren't interested in battling.]

I'm glad I've been doing alright with looking after him so far. There's something about him... Like I can sense his general vibe, you know? It's strange.

( if she'd been taken just moments earlier, would she have had the HIVE communicator? ...

allium glances back at his trainer and mewls a little. hey. hey. stop thinkin bout sad stuff, mom. he's being cute look at him. mom.

(he gets another pat for his efforts.) )

I wonder if it's because he's a ghost type? My ghosts have a certain energy at times too, helps project their feelings. Maple especially benefits, since she's got difficulty showing her emotions.... Being made of wood will do that.

[Don't feel too bad, Jinx. He freaked out that the Millennium Rod was gone when he arrived. Not that he'd use it anymore but still. It's his job to protect it.]

Yeah, my Pokedex says he's a ghost type. That makes sense then that he's good at projecting his emotions.

[Plus the poor thing wears his heart on his sleeves so it's easy to see when he's distressed or discouraged.]

Did you say she's made of wood? Are... there are pokemon made of inanimate objects?

Kinda. A lot of the grass types are plant-based... I think I saw a pokemon that's also a keyring before? Maple herself is both ghost and grass type, so part of her physical body is a hollowed out tree. A few pokemon also resemble food, or use various things as shells. Applin hide in hollowed out apples, for example, but you almost never see anything of them except their eyes, so a lot of people thought the apple was part of them.

A keyring.

Wow.

And food... That seems dangerous.

[He rubs the back of his neck.]

So they just inhabit the apple. Is it possible to see what they actually look like?

Yeahhhh... the ones who look like food are good at making sure they don't get eaten though!

( jinx hums a little in thought before nodding. )

It's rare but possible. They're lil chubby worms with biiiig eyes.

I hope they're at least obvious in their appearance, like you can tell the difference between the real food and the pokemon.

A worm. Of course. It is an apple they're inhabiting...

[He just sighs and shakes his head.]

Some of these seem too deliberate. As if they're someone's creations, you know?

Mm, maybe something out there's got a sense of humor.

( she'll let him figure out the worm/wyrm thing on his own, though. )

Everything here is some sort of little pun or clever reference somehow. It's not a bad thing, though. It's just... kinda silly sometimes.

Sure seems like it.

[That'll be a fun discovery.]

Honestly, I don't mind it. It's a nice change of pace from the darker... themes of my world. Obviously it's not perfect but I'm finding it really easy to just... relax here, you know? I would like to learn more about the history of Pokémon. They're very similar to the monsters of this card game I play back home.

001//video;

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