[Video]

[infernofireblast]

[[Art courtesy of my fantastic missus, so many thanks to her for all her work!]]

[The feed opens on Joey and a Bisharp standing in front of a slot machine. Both wear ecstatic expressions as the machine dispenses coin-after-coin, and Joey holds a confused looking Dratini above his head as he cheers. Noise from the other machines and patrons occasionally cuts through the pair's exultation, but the majority of sound pouring through the feed comes from their cheers.]

Yo we did it! We made out like bandits!

[Joey thrusts the Dratini forward for the camera to see.]

Me and Hermos here have been killin' it on da slots, so dis lil' jackpot here marks twelve and a half grand we've managed to carve out! We got ourselves a big ol' chunk'a change and scored dis' heckin' baloon animal-lookin' Pokémon too! There's no stoppin' da wheels on da Joey Train!

Comments

[ahew_kha]

[Duel Monst...ers? You know what, she's not even going to question it. But living ice cream, teacups, trashbag... Are they sure they aren't dead and this is some sick kind of afterlife? Because it's starting to look like it.

She hums as she contemplates all of this before slowly shrugging.]

I suppose it could be worse, they could be actively trying to be aggressive towards us. [That is not helpful, Kisara.]

I'd say I'm rather happy to not be attacked by someone's spirit again, but maaaaybe that's just me.

(some days later)

[grice]

[ oh, and he does get a lucky call sometime after that! falco sounds elated and breathless. ]

—I’ve got them.

Re: (some days later)

[infernofireblast]

Awww yeah! Jackpot baby!

[Joey pumps the air with his fist.]

So you wanna meet-up somewhere den? You in Goldenrod or are ya' somewhere else, and how much ya want for da boys?

[songstressedout]

[ Well, what do you know? Another duelist! Though she's not heard of literally anything he just said... at least, aside from Duel Links, and KaibaCorp by extension... which brings up yet another question in what the hell is KaibaCorp? Still, she decides to not bring that up right away. She has a feeling that things will get too complicated too quickly. ]

Yep! I'm a Duelist! I hang around in Duel Links, too! Or, well, I did back when I wasn't here.

[ Granted, she could only really claim something like that as of her recent and sudden blackout resulting in an influx of memories. Something that she'd heard of happening to others, but didn't expect it to happen to herself. ]

[infernofireblast]

If you go out into da tall grass dey staht getting real anstsy. If you're not ready ta throw-down I would steer clear ah dose' kinds'a areas. Granted, dey ain't exactly tough, but if you're not lookin' to be fightin' somethin' every twenty feet den I'd be careful where and how ya travel.

[Joey gives a thumbs-up.]

If you gotta travel you could always go in a group or somethin', and da' warp pads mean you can always get back ta places you've been before without havin' to go through all da work of walkin' again.

[ahew_kha]

I've unfortunately noticed, Sadiki was... very keen on pulling me out of the grass after the third problem showed up. [Her poor absol already is doing The Most and is already entirely exhausted. It'd probably fine, she learned.]

Warp pads...? [What does that word combination even mean? She can guess from the context, but it still makes zero sense!] I wouldn't want to burden anyone by slowing everyone down, it's better if I stay on my own and with my... Pokemon, they were called? [Look. Bad things happen around her, this is safe.]

[infernofireblast]

[Joey pulls a couple more cards out of his pouch. An enormous whale, a crocodile monster, and a large black dragon are soon shown to the camera.]

Deez' are da rest of the guys I'm addin' to the squad! Once da whole gang's together der's gonna be no stoppin' da Joey train! I saw in da Pokédex dat a lotta them staht in baby forms doe', so I got my work cut out for me in gettin' dem all beefed-up and ready to kick some butt.

[infernofireblast]

Oh what! Dat's awesome! You gotta be a pretty doggone' good Duelist too if da' eggheads in Kaibacorp decided you made da cut for comin' into da game. How long you been playin' in der? I heard from some of da other Duelists dat things used to be crazy in da early days, but once all da Duel Monstahs gotta added in it turned into da game we've got now. You get to be around for any of dat' craziness?

[[In Joey's era of the game there's only the Battle City era and the "present" of Dark Side of Dimensions so boy-oh-boy is he in for fun when he finds out the game can, essentially, bypass the boundaries of space and time.]]

[infernofireblast]

I dunno. I've had more than my fair share'a bad with da good, so I'd say I break even.

[He rubs his chin in kind of a "ehhh it ain't been that good kind of way.]

[infernofireblast]

I mean, I've set a pretty crazy pace blowin' through here, but that's just cuz' I'm on a mission. I'm sure there's all kinds'a folks going from place ta' place without goin' at a breakneck pace doe, so you shouldn't have too much trouble findin' someone to travel with if you wanna avoid battles.

[Joey thinks a second.]

You know where you're at right now? Dependin' on where you're at der' might even be ways to get to otha cities without having to walk. Some places got boats, some got trains, and Goldenrod where I'm at's got a nifty bicycle shop.

[ahew_kha]

I don't know if Sadiki wants to entirely avoid battles, but they certainly aren't something I'm fond of...

[She trails off for a second to fumble around for the map, give her a little bit to figure out where exactly she even is. Also what's a bike????]

I... think it's called route thirty-one? It's been a while since we've been in a town so far. Also, ah, forgive me but what's a train and a bicycle...? [She's from ancient Egypt, there's only So Much she can know.]

[thetombkeeper]

[A rare moment! An actual compliment from Marik.]

You always manage to bounce back, stronger and better than ever. ... I suppose that's adaptability rather than luck though...

[songstressedout]

[ Being praised on her skills as a duelist... it feels like it's been forever since someone's done that. Then again, she has been here for a long time now. ]

Well, I've been here for a long time now, but back when I was at home? I had joined pretty recently. There were a few uh... complications for me at first, but it had been loads of fun! Though it's weird that such a big game appeared all of the sudden, plus...

[ There was the weird mystery about some people she knew already... not knowing who she was. And that's not even bringing up Yuto's reappearance. It was really strange, and she knows that Reiji had decided to look into it, but...

...man, it feels strange to reflect on new memories from almost three years ago that you've only just received during the month. ]

A-Ah, well, the point is that yep! I'm a pretty good duelist, if I do say so myself! Not that I've uh... really had a chance to properly duel in a while.

[ No card games, only Pokemon Battles here. ]

Re: Video

[crystalmaster]

[Radley smiles. This is good then.]

Okay. Yeah, you've got the right idea. I'm sure you and your Pokemon will do great things together.

[grice]

I'm in Goldenrod! We can meet at the Pokemon Center, if that's okay? And for the price— They're going to be 1500P each.

[infernofireblast]

Sounds good ta' me! You're fast at dis breedah thing doe. Thanks ta' you da whole squad's gonna be togetha!

[Joey smiles and gives him a thumbs-up.]

You da' best man!

Re: Video

[infernofireblast]

Me and da' gang are goin' straight to da top. No more runner-up for dis guy!

[He points at himself with his thumb.]

I resolved myself to be a pro duelist now dat I'm done with school, so dis new world is just da perfect test ta see if I got what it takes to adapt ta whatevah changes are gonna come to da game'a Duel Monstahs. If I can't cut it here, den I might as well just pack it in.

[He looks down solemnly for a moment before a smile works its way across his face and he returns his gaze to the camera.]

Joey Wheeler ain't no quittah doe, so der's only one way ta go and dat's ta win. Me and da guys are gonna get strongah and strongah, and we'll be punchin' it out in da big leagues'a dis world in no time!

Re: Video

[crystalmaster]

[Radley smiles. From news reports in his time, he knows Joey makes it. He's not sure if he should reveal that.]

Your way of looking at the world is quite inspirational.

So, how is your new Pokemon friend? I think Evie wants to say Hi.

["Eevee-vee!" Evie exclaims with wagging tail to the Dratini.]

We've never seen a Dratini before.

[infernofireblast]

Well if dis place is anything like Duel Links den not everyone is actually a person. In Duel Links der's a version of a buncha da people from da time of da Battle City Tournament, even me! None ah dem were real people doe. Just programs.

[Joey shakes his head.]

Craziest thing was dat' dey seemed ta know dey weren't da real people too. Like da sistah of dis one guy who used to have da Winged Dragon of Ra, she got a program of her made from back den and it immediately knew dat things weren't right. It's totally wild. Da things Kaiba makes are always outta dis' world, but makin' friggin' people... dat's on a whole 'notha level.

video;

[machismost]

Yo! Congrats on the win, dude! Spending the day at the arcade's one way to beat the cold!

What's that Pokemon you've got who looks like a sumarai?

[songstressedout]

[ ...okay, give Yuzu like, a few moments to uh... PROCESS... ALL OF THAT. Yeah, of course she knew that there was some high-tech stuff going on, that's how there were monsters you could interact with in the game. Like the Tour Guide from the Underworld and such... and the fact that Yuto had come back was already a mystery in and of itself.

So, understandably, hearing about that is uh...

...she sucks in a very deep breath. ]

I-Is that so? Aha... ahaha...

[ If you listen closely you may be able to hear the internal screaming inside Yuzu's mind. ]

[blue_ice]

I had mine first.

[ He huffs. ]

But yours will be bright orange when it's fully grown. And have arms and legs.

[infernofireblast]

Dat's just cuz I've come across too many bullies to get knocked down and not get back up. When I was younga' I hadn't grown enough to understand dat' so I fell down a bad path and ended up a bully myself, but Yuug showed me how wrong I'd been. Since den' I've been livin' to da fullest, takin' life by da horns and nevah backin' down from a challenge.

[He rubs his finger under his nose.]

Means I get knocked on my butt sure, but dat also means I get up strongah every time.

Re: video;

[infernofireblast]

[Joey looks over at his Bisharp.]

Dis guy? Dat's the Legendary Knight Hermos!

[machismost]

[ Kirishima's eyes warm with interest. ]

Oh, I haven't heard that legend yet. What's their story?