victory_road | Surfing Swarm!

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Surfing Swarm!

[The video feed opens with Radley filming as he goes outside on his property to see what some of his Pokemon are exclaiming about. He almost drops the PokeGear when he sees.]

What the ... ?!??!!!

[Pikachu and Alolan Raichu are surfing in the pond.]

Just ... how?!??!

[Evie makes an exclamation of delight and runs over to the shore.]

Evie! Evie, no! Come back!

[Evie has already leaped onto the surf board to ride with Raichu. She warbles in delight.

Radley slaps his forehead.]

Oh gosh. Evie!

[He's terrified of Electric types attacking him, but he's more afraid of them getting mad and hurting Evie. He watches for a moment, tense, but they seem friendly and welcoming to her being there. Seeing that, he keeps filming the video, but it's probably shaky until his hands stop shaking.]

So ... I'm not gonna antagonize these guys. But ... what do I do about this? How are they even surfing in my pond?!

[A crowd is starting to gather outside the property fence, enjoying the show. Seeing this, Radley ponders. If Evie's not in danger, and people like this, maybe it can turn to his advantage. Maybe he can subtly hint at the crowd getting some food to eat while watching the entertainment.]

... They are pretty skilled at what they do. I have to say I'm impressed. Anyone wanna drop by and see this in person?

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In the air?! How did that work?

[He can kind of picture it, having grown up with a cartoon where a character did cloud-surfing.]

With a small engine inside it to propel it forward. They were not very large.

That sounds pretty cool.

They are called disk riders, and they are useful devices. Fast. Manoueverable. Much more so than other small aircraft.

Did they have anything to strap them on to the disks?

No. Not the ones I have seen used. You just stand on it and fly.

[Imagine zipping through the air on something only somewhat bigger than the seat of a large barstool.

It's really good for separating the daredevils from the scaredy-cats.]

... Yeah, I'd probably be a scaredy-cat in that case.

Disk riders are not for the faint of heart, I agree.

[Keldor isn't, and even if he were, Miro wouldn't accept that his son might be legitimately afraid of something like that.]

What these pokemon are doing reminds me of disk riders. But on water, not in the air.

I don't think I'd be up for regular surfing either. It's funny since I'm fine with riding a motorcycle and a lot of people think that's too scary.

Motorcycle? They are vehicles, correct?

[Pause.]

Someone mentioned that to me once. Was it you?

Yeah, I think it was. It's a really fast-moving vehicle that's open to the elements. They're in accidents a lot. Bigger vehicles on the road sometimes don't see them.

Sounds like some of the vehicles of Eternia. Fast-moving. Exposed to elements.

[Some capable of flight, like the sky sled.]

They are not at risk from larger vehicles though, as there are not enough of them to pose much threat.

[Eternia has technology. Advanced technology. It's not a technological world, and people are as content to get about on foot or use what might be dubbed "archaic" modes of transportation to get about as they are to use advanced tech vehicles.]

That's good that they're safer in that way. Is that how most people get around?

Not everyone does, or has the means to acquire something like it, so they use other methods instead.

[Like Keldor, who had his pet, Panthor to use as a means of getting about.]

Yeah? What do the others do?

Aside from walking, there are things like animal-pulled carts or steeds if you have one.

Cool. So it sounds like a mix of eras. We used to have those back in my world too, but they're less common now. Although the hearse in town was a horse-drawn carriage.

Something like that, perhaps. It is not a world that relies on machinery overmuch.

[Huh?]

Hearse?

... Yeah, uh ... the thing that takes bodies to the cemetery for burying. Only it was used for other purposes too, in my town. People got shoved in coffins and taken to the mines in the hearse.

[He shudders, remembering his own ride.]

[Keldor doesn't see the shudder—he's not where Radley is. But he's almost sure he heard it in Radley's voice. Should he ask about it? Would it be better to not drudge up old memories so soon after coming back to the present? Probably.]

A kind of funeral carriage I take it?

Yeah. I guess they thought that was a laugh, symbolically and literally sending people to their eventual deaths in the mines. Some of them got hysterical not wanting to be put in the coffins. They were forced in anyway.

[Even though the feed isn't angled up towards his face, Keldor still frowns.]

Is this something you would like to talk about more?

[It is a heavy subject. They both shared some of their unhappy pasts. It might be time to just have fun.

AKA, if you want your "out" from having to talk about it right now, instead of waiting for a better moment, here it is.]

[Radley ponders the question. He has already revealed the worst parts of his past, albeit not in detail.]

There's probably not a lot to say on that.

[He's not sure he's ready to talk about how he was humiliated and then dragged unconscious into the coffin and woke in terror during the ride.]

Understood. Whatever you wish to talk about, I will listen to.

[No pressure. It will either be discussed, or it will not be.]

[Radley smiles.]

Thanks.

[It means a lot that there is someone willing and interested.

Now one of the baby Eevees, Scotch, wants to surf.]

Oh gosh.

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