victory_road | 2nd Cast Off [Video] Ruins of Alph

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2nd Cast Off [Video] Ruins of Alph

[The video turns on and moves across dimly lit cave walls and symbols in the Ruins of Alph. This goes on for a bit before Kira starts speaking, the video continuing to move along the walls. Once again Kira seems to be documenting rather than "blogging".]

I'm going to make an educated guess and say a dozen people before me have already done this. But maybe that makes things a bit easier.

I guess this is for anyone interested in research and history. I find myself curious and with nothing better to do but I'd like to compare notes, maybe? Like... you see these things. [The camera zooms in on the symbols.] They kinda look like American letters. Or, uhm, English. Yeah. I recognized some of them and made a guess but I could be way off the mark. And I'm only asking partly because there are puzzles here and I don't want to waste my time. [Not because he's stuck. No way.]

More importantly, I'd like to hear some theories and thoughts. I guess it never crossed my mind that there might be some deep history here but I'm interested. Since those skull guys showed up I've been hearing a lot about Legendary Pokémon and so on and so forth. It has me curious about this place. More than I already was actually.

So what do you guys know? Give me an information dump to listen to while I struggle with kid puzzles...

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Unown are pretty strange. The similarities to letter make you wonder if the language here was based on them or if it's the other way around.

But what's even weirder was when I first came here, there was a huge outbreak of Unowns turning everything into crystal.

Thing is, that hasn't happened since.

[He pauses, sighing softly.]

And that was around six years ago.

[Kira scribbles the information he was just given down. Six years ago... Six.

Well shit. That's a long ass time.]

Interesting... [He hesitates for a moment, unable to help himself he bites the end of his pen.] Well... there are worse places to be, you know? You could have got stuck in a real hell hole or something.

[And this is true. It's not wrong. But it's not home. It's not with friends and family...]

Heh. Yeah, honestly, I'm fine with it overall. Already had plans to visit other worlds, anyway, and typically this place is less hellish and more... unpredictable, I guess?

[He shrugs. There's... a lot of wacky stuff that goes down, some less pleasant than others.]

You stick around long enough, and you can pick up on the general logic to this world, but it still throws curve balls every now and then. Like new types, shark tornadoes, ghost possessions... Stuff like that.

Shark tornadoes? [Shit that sounds so awesome...]

Well I mean... I can think of worse places to be. It's not like things were stellar in Morioh, not that I wanted to leave or anything. I have a lot of unfinished business. But it can always be worse.

And it feels like I have a lot of important stuff to do here and all that, you know? I've got an endangered Pokémon and a book on breeding. That's the world telling you something. I don't know if I'm comfortable staying here forever but I'm not exactly opposed. I guess it's more about the people you're forced to leave behind that your thoughts keep spinning back to.

[What an awkward time to feel a bout of homesickness. Gross...] Aaaaanyway... that's enough of that. Shark tornadoes seem cool. Ghost possessions? Not so much.

Literal tornadoes with sharks. It was a while back, but it made for some... interesting weather.

And endangered? Well, guess it depends. What's the species? Some of the rarer monsters have been bread over the years, but if you've got something super scarce, I'm sure there'd be plenty of trainers willing to contribute somehow.

Long as your Pokémon's cool with it, anyhow.

[But that's all fairly complicated. Breeding tends to happen on the mons' terms, not their trainer's.]

If it makes you feel any better, the possessions aren't too common. Now, giant monster attacks and evil teams fighting for world conquest? That usually happens at least on an annual basis.

It's a Lapras. My dex said she's an endangered species. I woke up here with a device that told me that and a book about breeding. Doesn't really get any clearer when it comes to your purpose in life, huh?

Constant thirst from world domination... Sure. That sounds about right actually. Anywhere with people can't be all sunshine and roses. This place is still better than most, I think... Gotta say it's the Pokémon that make it this way though.

Nah. Pretty straightforward when you put it that way.

And it's... funny, actually. Overall, this world's really peaceful. There's never been a serious war during my time here. People are content to train, battle, and raise Pokémon.

I still don't get how they maintain peace when there's so much destructive potential, though.

Yeah... Now that you mention it... I imagine some of these creatures could just level civilizations. But... it's not like that at all.

Another interesting mystery this world holds. This one doesn't need to be solved. I'll take the peace even if it involves shark tornadoes and incompetent organizations from time to time.

Depends. How interested are you? Just an overview, or specifics about specific ones? The libraries have got the first one covered if you read enough, but specifics are really hard to come by around here.

[why no he's not salty why would he be salty]

Well... I guess both. But what do you mean specifics are hard to come by? I figured with so many people here some of them are bound to be legit researchers and stuff. Shouldn't that kind of information be more available? Or are there really just these big mysteries out there that no one can figure out?

[That'd be cool but that also means the research is far beyond his grasp. He's a doctor not a scientist or... whatever. He's not sure if he's got the time or energy to unlock the secrets of the universe.]

I mean... take, say, the Legendary Beasts. Entei, Raikou, and Suicune. You can find out they exist, trivial as it is. You can find artist's renditions, some of which are accurate, some of which are definitely not. There's a popular legend about how they came to be - they were beasts who died in a fire when lightning struck Ecruteak's Brass Tower, and Ho-oh came and revived them, and they embody the fire, the lightning, and the rain that put the fire out. Lots of different variants on that one. One version says the beasts were the corresponding evolutions of Eevee, but that one's pretty uncommon.

But actual research into the beasts themselves? Is really, really hard to find. Where do they roam? Obviously not the routes of Johto or Kanto themselves, or they would have shown themselves more than just the one time. Obviously they don't have trainers, so it'd be hard to actually find out what moves and TMs they can learn, but no studies at all? Just vague 'this one can use lightning', 'this one can use fire' and stuff.

And the best part is, those three are some of the ones with more information about them. If you want anything substantial about Arceus? Forget it. And he's the Pokemon God. I've met him twice. Their god is a goat. But it's like they don't care.

[...okay maybe a little salty, considering how long he's been at this. Also, it's a llama, Ryner.]

[He's still taking a few notes about all of this, might as well, right? This does sound frustrating though. To be here so long and unable to learn anything of significance? Yeah. That sucks.]

I mean... at least you met him, right? So that in itself is some kind of solid proof. With the lack of information and documented evidence you might even say these creatures don't exist. Or they're the stuff of legends and have long since died. But if you actually met one of them that's another matter completely...

It's real if you can see it.

I get it though. I mean, I can't help but feel a bit disappointed. I'm taking all these notes and trying to learn something but it's all going to feel pointless if I can't find the answers to the big questions. [He lets out an audible sigh. He's not completely put off though. He'll keep doing what he's doing mostly because he has nothing better to do. But he can sense some irritation in his future.]

...I guess you could put it that way, yeah. It's pretty great that I've actually gotten to meet him. Twice, even.

It's still a pain, though. Back where I'm from, I could thoroughly research every legend the country had heard of and not move around at all. Here, you get the basics at most, and that's after years of digging.

[conveniently leaving out that that research back where he's from was done while stuck in prison...]

Yeah. That blows no doubt. [It feels a little discouraging to even keep digging and researching but he's got nothing better to do and maybe he'll be pleasantly surprised.]

I'll be sure to keep my expectations extremely low and maybe I'll get lucky occasionally.

But while I have you here what do you know about these symbols? They're Unown, right?

Yeah, they're Unown. I mean, you're pretty unlikely to see an actual living one? Or at least, the last time I was at the Ruins of Alph, I didn't see any, and most of the books say they're pretty shy... But the symbols on the walls are Unown. Their shapes are based on the letters of the language here.

Yeah, I haven't seen a single one. That's alright though.

But I thought that's what they were. I know I came here suddenly learning the language and all it's just the basic letter design wasn't immediately recognizable to me. I just wanted to be sure before attempting any puzzles. Getting trapped underground is the absolute worst thing I could do to myself.

Well, if nothing else, if you do get stuck, see Unown on the wall, and can't make them out, if you ask the network, somebody'll be able to help you out.

Yeah. I've learned pretty quickly that everyone here is really friendly. Like... maybe too friendly. But it's not unpleasant or anything. Just really really different.

Yeah, it can take some getting used to. But I guess when everybody's dumped in a strange place from different worlds that all work in different ways, maybe it's just natural that everybody helps each other out.

That's different... but I like it. The kindness of strangers and all that isn't something you see all too often but it sure exists in abundance here.

It really does.

Um...are you stuck? I've been through the Ruins before, I can help if you need it.

[You know, just...bypass the question entirely.]

[He can't help but feel his face heat up. He's not stuck... He can figure this out for sure. He just... The letters.

He's got some American ancestry but he doesn't know the language. And not the letters for sure.

And he came here suddenly able to read all that but mixing these symbols with a language he suddenly knows is tricky. He's having a hard time putting it together in his head.]

I just... I don't know the English alphabet that I think these letters are based on is all. I definitely want to do it myself... And I'm sure I can figure it out. [Answer the question Kira. Do you need help?] I mean... maybe a little.

...Hehe.

[Ain't nothing worse than a teenage girl giggling at you. For all the wrong reasons.]

That's me with Japanese characters, actually. Since my teacher went home I've been having to do it solo. Show me what the letters look like?

[She laughs. But he probably does sound like a bit of an idiot. Josefumi would be laughing too if he were here. Good grief...]

I'm Japanese and I can see how it's tough for foreigners and such. If you're self teaching just be careful you don't learn things wrong. That's hard to undo.

Anyway...

[He snaps several pictures of the walls, hoping to snag all the available symbols/letters over a few frames and sends them over. Unown_Cave_Photo_1_of_6.png.

Maybe another video would have been better? Whatever.]

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

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