100th moon [video]

[paladinlost]

[The video starts with stones. Stones upon stones, stones that form floors and low walls until they give way to the sky. Someway, somehow, the Pokégear has found its way to the top of a tower.

The image turns east, towards taller walls and taller towers, before dipping to show a dark grey yard. A castle, it seems. One so solid it could withstand any army, with strong oak doors to match. As the video keeps moving more walls and outdoor passageways come into view, decorated with lit torches and banners of red and gold. It pauses for a few moments at the castle gate, left open to show the surrounding waterways and a few brave and curious locals who do not quite dare to enter.

Finally, the video moves towards the central courtyard, where dozens of Pokémon can be seen milling about curiously. Their looks of wonder as they explore are too far to be seen but still undeniably present, just like the smile of their trainer behind the camera.

What words could Cecil possibly use, to convey all the feelings that this slight slice of home awakens within himself?]

My Greninja has decided to play hide and seek in the castle. Help.

[...Baron's greatest public speaker, ladies and gentlemen.]

Comments

[audio]

[nullorvoid]

[...Holy...shit, Cecil, where did you even get that thing - ]

...That looks nothing like anything that belongs here. Where'd you find it?

[video]

[paladinlost]

In a moment of madness, I tried wishing for the comfort and familiarity of my true home at one of those trees. This... was not quite what I hoped to obtain.

[Understatement of the century.]

[nullorvoid]

Are all holy knights that well off?

[paladinlost]

I was likely to inherit it long before I became one, actually. Paladins do not receive payment or castles for simply being themselves, but as the Lord Captain of the Red Wings, I was one of the very few who could.

[nullorvoid]

Secondary title then. Got it.

[...]

Congratulations on getting home back, I guess, even if it's not what you wanted it to be.

[paladinlost]

Thank you very much. I must say I never quite truly appreciated how large it was before. Realizing how much sweeping I'll have to do by myself was a shock, to say the least.

[nullorvoid]

Yeah.

[This is...kind of awkward, not really because the conversation is unpleasant but more because it's not; how...do we do decent conversations without picking some sort of fight...]

At least we know the thing that's granting...whatever we're asking for isn't doing stuff halfway.

[paladinlost]

[Step 1: Spend the conversation pondering how this particular display of Pokéworld madness works.]

Which guarantees that it has more power than the average Pokémon. A Legendary, perhaps? Or some sort of spell cast on the trees?

[nullorvoid]

Legendaries are what they call the local gods, right? It makes more sense to me that it'd be one of them, since the gods here are in the weird practice of actually interacting with humans and giving a damn about what they do other than "dying a lot."

I haven't seen too much straight-up magic. Maybe I've been looking in the wrong places, but...

[paladinlost]

The only potential magic I've seen here is whatever takes us from our worlds. Compared to that, granting wishes almost sounds simple. Though most of the legendaries we've seen have a strong link with nature, which would not quite fit in this case...

[nullorvoid]

Ah, yeah...? I only really know about the...llama thing, and I was shown something else that looks like a kaiju or something, I've got no idea what they do.

[paladinlost]

There was also a bird that caused a flood in Olivine, those lovely dogs that completely perturbed the weather, those... golems, I believe, that brought about those terrible snowstorms... The llama is something of an exception, but then again it's also supposed to be the greatest of them all.

[nullorvoid]

...So you've actually seen a lot of the local pantheon. You guys are better off than most people, then, even if they weren't doing what you wanted them to.

[paladinlost]

They were not the first deities I've personally met, but I must say they are the most sociable. Why, Entei even accepted my last steak when I met it, and helped shield me from the rain in thanks.

[nullorvoid]

Huh. I've never met any, back home or otherwise - most I've got is a guy who knows a guy who might be God. Who knows with him, though.

[paladinlost]

...How can he not know for certain? Gods have a certain... presence.

[nullorvoid]

I'm not going to try to start with the "our gods are different" crap, because it makes sense that they would be. Different worlds and all that. None of us have ever met God, though. So I don't know if this guy actually knows him or if he's just messing with us or what.

He claims he's second in line to the throne, though. So I imagine he knows that for a reason.

[paladinlost]

...Your royal families have special knowledge concerning the gods? That strikes me as unfair for others.

[nullorvoid]

...Second in line for God's throne. Not...

[...]

We've got a hierarchy, but not like royalty and stuff.

[paladinlost]

...Second in line for- Your god has heirs and a finite time in that role? How does that work?

[nullorvoid]

...Don't most of them?

[HOW...DOESN'T IT WORK...]

[paladinlost]

Cosmos and Chaos were simply themselves and would have remained gods forever, with no one to take over their roles when they were killed. That's... usually how it works, as far as I know.

[nullorvoid]

[That sounds...really disorganized.]

...So what would happen if they got killed, then?

[paladinlost]

...Their world slowly destroyed itself the moment Cosmos died. I doubt Chaos' death did much to save it.

[nullorvoid]

Oh.

[Because what do you even say to something like that.]

I'm going to guess their world is kept separate from yours?