paladinlost | 93rd moon [video]

[The view: the ceiling of the most enpensive restaurant in Celadon. The background noise: dozens of customers enjoying their meals, and Cecil tapping his fingers on a wooden table.]

When I first awoke in New Bark Town, four years ago, I was... unwell. This whole world's very existence confused me, and so did my presence in it. The relatively weak and harmless-looking monsters were also a shock. Had it not been for Rosie's sweetness, I surely would have attempted to fight her. You could say that day was very unpleasant, though still far from the worse I've had.

[The background noise: a liquid hitting glass. The view: a quick flash of a wine bottle in a corner.]

And yet... when I finally managed to use the Pokégear, I was contacted by friends I'd not seen in seventeen years. Friends I'd not remembered in seventeen years, and that I would not have expected to ever see again even if I'd kept those memories. I also met kind people, good people, who made my first few weeks here much easier than they would otherwise have been. All have been gone for years, now, but I still find myself thinking of them fondly. Therefore... you could say that day was a good day, too.

[The action, unseen and barely heard: Cecil making a silent toast to all those people, and downing that glass before setting it back on the table.]

...Well! Now that I've shared my first day experience, it's only fitting that you do the same. Surely you all have interesting stories to share.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

If we were to give up on searching, on hoping, it would make the hopes and hard work of those that have long left us worthless. But our best early leads were proven false, and most theories I know depend on magic that is taken from us upon arrival. I have to admit that the lack of new possibilities is disheartening.

That's the sort of thing one of my friends tends to say a lot, too, regarding the reasons why we shouldn't give up - I think it's something that a lot of people could learn from, as it's gotten us through a lot.

I'm glad to hear it from someone else, too.

I've long learned that in certain situations, my only choices were to keep fighting and hoping or to give up and die. Luckily, the consequences here would be much less dire, though still unhappy. Is that friend of yours one of the people you were reunited with on your first day?

He is, yes! We didn't meet in person here, though; he was several cities away by the time I arrived, since he got here before I did.

Ah, that can be troublesome. Had he arrived early enough to have acquired a Pokémon large enough to ride or a flyer by then, or did you both have to walk?