40th moon [video]

[paladinlost]

[A Rising Badge, carefully turned over and over in a man's hand, obviously being inspected from all its angles. This is the image coming from the Cecil-cam, today.]

A year, to the day. That's more than acceptable for the first part of an adventure. Or perhaps I should say that obtaining this last badge is an excellent way to celebrate my first year in this world?

[Cecil's hand finally closes around the badge, and he brings the Pokégear up to look at the sky instead.]

Would anyone know why the professor cal- No, nevermind. It's not important at the moment. Badges and anniversaries should both be celebrated. If anyone in Blackthorn wishes to join me, I'll pay for the meal and drinks.

[At a very nice restaurant, too. Let it not be said that he does not have taste.]

Comments

[thunderstomach.livejournal.com]

Ah, you managed to get all of the badges? That's pretty impressive!

[paladinlost]

Thank you. It was quite a lot of work, but knowing that it was finally done was more than worth it.

[thunderstomach.livejournal.com]

I can imagine. I'm still working to get my team strong enough to earn our first badge and I've been here a couple of months already.

[paladinlost]

Any rhythm is fine, as long as you enjoy the journey. In fact, it took me nearly three months before I could win the Zephyr Badge.

[thunderstomach.livejournal.com]

It's been about that long for me, actually. I definitely need to start training harder, though. One of my friends just won their first badge and that's motivated me to start earning my own more than I thought it would.

[paladinlost]

Friendly motivation does help. A friend of mine once won three badges within two days, during a particularly... eventful weekend. It convinced me to try quickly, before he could gain too much of a headstart.

[thunderstomach.livejournal.com]

Three in only two days? That seems like it'd be a lot of travel and work for such a short time period. I can't imagine trying to keep up with someone who was able to manage doing that.

[paladinlost]

Travelling was rather strange, during those two days. Walking between cities only took a few hours, and even the Sudowoodo stopped blocking the path between Violet and Goldenrod.

[thunderstomach.livejournal.com]

If only things could have stayed like that. All this walking gets so tiring I almost wonder if it isn't harder than training Pokémon. [And also, she can't wear her cute heels when they walk so much! She was lucky enough to arrive in them, now she just needs to be able to wear them without them getting ruined.]

[paladinlost]

The shorter distances were nice enough, but everything else was eerie. Our Pokémon lost their personalities, so did the locals, the whole world became blocky and barely colored, all of the music was replaced with a single, high-pitched tune...

[thunderstomach.livejournal.com]

In that case the longer walks are definitely worth it. So is your friend still here?

[paladinlost]

...He's left, since then. And returned, and left once more. He never earned more than four badges, in the end.

[thunderstomach.livejournal.com]

Oh... [Silent for a moment. It's never good to be separated from friends so she almost feels guilty for asking in the first place, but let's not dwell on that.] In that case, if he ever comes back you can impress him with how well you've done since he's been gone! Or I guess you can do that if you manage to get home, assuming you two are from the same world.

[paladinlost]

Indeed. I'll even be able to show him how strong his Gyarados has become. I hope he'll appreciate the training I gave him.

[Nothing about worlds, nope.]

[thunderstomach.livejournal.com]

I'm sure he will. It's not like training any Pokemon is super easy to do so the fact that you took the time to train his would mean a lot to any friend.

[paladinlost]

That's reassuring to know. Over a third of my team once belonged to other trainers, after all.

[thunderstomach.livejournal.com]

Over a third? How many do you have?

[paladinlost]

Nineteen, and all of them are over level 60 except for my Blissey, who is level 36.

[thunderstomach.livejournal.com]

Oh, wow. None of mine are even close to that. I guess that shouldn't be any surprise when I'm talking to someone who managed to earn all of the badges, though.

[paladinlost]

Reaching those levels took quite a lot of work. After some time, the local wild Pokémon are too weak to help much. Challenging trainers works better, at that point.

[thunderstomach.livejournal.com]

Really? I'll have to keep that in mind and save battling wild Pokémon for when I want to catch them.

[paladinlost]

You'd not want to find a Pokémon you wish to capture and miss your chance because your team wasted all of their energy on Rattatas, after all.