paladinlost | 28th moon [video]

Um.. do a coin flip! And fast, it seems like that bird is about to kill the dragon..

There is no need to worry. Her level is much too low to harm him.

[Not that it would stop her from trying.]

A-Are you sure? I mean, she looks like she's.. ready to hurt him. Really bad.

Even if she tries, she'll run out of energy before she can truly hurt him.

[Unless she aims for the eyes, that is.]

... I'd put her away just to be safe. She's kinda scaring me.

[Whatever reassuring words Cecil might have had for Rydia are lost, as he's interrupted by a teary-eyed Swablu launching herself at the screen. She's not scary, she swears!]

H-Huh?! Why's she crying?!

Because she hopes to manipulate your emotions and convince you to take her side.

... Wait, huh? That makes her sound.. really evil.

She's not quite reached evil yet. That takes much more effort.

I didn't know being evil took effort. Could I be evil too, if I tried?

I doubt you wish to try. Attacking peaceful people would not suit you.

Yeah, I guess not. I don't like hurting people.. it's mean.

Not everyone is suited for it, and few of those who are not can adjust to it.

Put them in their pokéballs and then randomly pick one! That way it's fair!

That's an excellent ide-

[He suddenly finds himself interrupted by roars and chirps of rage. It appears certain Pokémon do not like fifty-fifty odds.]

...I believe your idea has been vetoed by the majority. How do they expect me to choose?

Well, they'll just have to deal with it! Neither one of them likes the odds but at least they can't accuse you of playing favorites.

Actually, I believe they do want me to play favorites. As long as they are the favorite, of course.

[As an obvious attempt at emotional manipulation, Mist zooms toward the Pokégear and makes sad eyes at Tifa. Don't you think a cute girl like me deserves a nice TM, Miss?]

Ah, but that causes all sorts of problems.

[!!]

Well, aren't you cute! Too bad that won't work on me. [She grins.]

You'd think they'd realize that. But sibling rivalries are a powerful thing.

[Mist chirps angrily before returning to her argument. She tried, at least.]

Why don't they just make one that can be used more than once?

[Hi, Gen 5 meta, how are you doing tonight?]

That's an excellent question. We know they have the means to do it; the Hidden Machines have multiple uses, after all.

[*holds that meta gently*]

Yeah, I forgot about that, even.

I guess they wouldn't have as many people buying duplicates. But if you make them more expensive or something...?

[Stop being clairvoyant, Ken.]

They could raise their prices while only allowing about five uses. Many would still need to buy duplicates, and each TM would give them more money. Still, why enforce scarcity for only some of them?

[Close, but not quite.]

Dunno. Are TM attacks stupidly overpowered or something?

They can help cover type weaknesses, sometimes, but they seem as strong as the attacks Pokémon normally learn. Of course, if you use one to teach a newborn Pokémon an attack it should not know for weeks, you could say they are overpowered.

[Ah, TMs. Riku's faced a similar dilemma before.]

Think it depends on the Pokémon. Who do you think needs it more? Sometimes TM moves help when dealing with weaknesses, or you could teach it to a Pokémon of the same type for an attack boost.

[Cecil picks up a particular TM, and turns it over in his hands a few times.]

This one is Roost, the healing move we receive from Falkner. Three of my Pokémon can learn it; Esuna declined, but those two...

[He gestures toward the arguing Pokémon in the background.]

In both cases, healing would be a useful boon.

...I... presume both of them can't learn the moves naturally?

Apparently not. The handbook says that Kayne could do so in theory, but it does not explain how.

...hm.

...

What is the move you are trying to teach them?

Roost. It allows Flying-type Pokémon to heal themselves, but it grounds them for a few moments.

[Hm! Well Shinn's not intending to catch anymore flying Pokémon right now, so.]

...You can have mine.

...I could never accept that. It is a gift from a defeated Gym leader; It might become quite useful to you someday.

[Shrug]

The only Pokémon in my team who can learn this already has this move in her moveset, so it has been piling up dust ever since I got it from him.

What if you ever catch or receive another Flying-type?

Its alright, I can deal with it.

[EVERYONE IN HIS TEAM IS A GODDAMN OFFENSIVE BUNCH.]

In that case, I must repay you. Are you in need of a particular item? A particular Pokémon?

...Nah, we've just met, I don't want to impose on you like that.

I insist. If you cannot think of anything you might need now, it can simply wait until later.

...Well, if you say so...

[Wait, he forgot to introduce himself.]

Shinn Asuka, and you are?

My name is Cecil. Cecil Harvey. [He bows elegantly.] It is a pleasure to meet you, Shinn.

[Oh. Must be from the middle age or something. Well, not commenting on it, rather, he's just going to bow as well.]

The pleasure is mine.

Have you been in Johto for a long time? It must have been at least a few weeks, if you've defeated Falkner.

Edited 2011-05-04 01:33 (UTC)

...actually. I've been here for over four months.

That's quite the respectable time. It also means you missed most of fall's strange events; how lucky.

Yeah, I've... heard about them.

[Well only that it was weird and glitchy.]

It's rather strange, in fact. The last few months have been overly quiet. Though I suppose this month's weather was rather chaotic and unnatural...

At least it wasn't as bad as suddenly waking up with no memories of the past few days.

True. That was rather alarming, especially for those you woke up in other cities.

No kidding.

Then again, such events were what finally convinced my friends to move on from Cherrygrove and Violet.

...now that you think of it, a lot of people tends to get stuck in both places for... a long while.

Preparing for the battle against Falkner does take some time, especially if your Pokémon are disadvantaged. And Azalea and Goldenrod are much harder to reach.

...yeah, I still remember being defeated by him a few times.

I managed to beat him on my first try. ...Then again, I'd been in Johto for nearly three months.

...well, that would certainly help in beating him.

It was necessary. Rosie disliked training, Flare was too young, and Esuna had the disadvantage of being a Bug-type. Only Avenger could truly stand up against them in direct combat.

...sounds similar to my situation, except I literally only had two battle-ready Pokémon back then.

Did either of them have the advantage over Flying-types?

Nope, Destiny was a Flying-type herself, and my Cubone is a Ground-type.

That's far from the ideal team to challenge him indeed. Flying-types are useful in Azalea, at least.

No kidding about that one.

...

Even though it ended with Marowak fighting his Scizor.

That must have been an impressive match to watch.

It was tough, but we managed to pull through in the end.

Difficult matches tend to be the most impressive. A lack of challenge makes it dull.

True, that.

I suppose that's why I enjoyed my battle against Whitney so much, though the aftermath was somewhat trying.

[Shinn's face pales suddenly.]

Don't remind me of her...

...Bad experience?

[He sympathizes. A lot.]

You have no idea...

I can probably imagine, all things considered.

Edited 2011-05-07 05:07 (UTC)

She forced me to carry her shoppings after losing once.

...Not again.

[Brb, having traumatic flashbacks again.]

...she did it to you too?

She was crying. I wished to cheer her up, and offered to escort her to the Department Store. She accepted. For the whole afternoon, and the better part of the evening. On Christmas day.

...ouch.

How long did she keep you busy?

...we had dinner together.

[Yeah that long.]

...I hope she gave you time to warn your friends, first.

[This is his 'are you joking?' look.]

Then again, she might not have wanted to give you the chance to ask for help.

...probably, yeah. She dragged me out before I could even refuse!

With her assistants giggling the whole time?

...pretty much, yeah.

Someone should post a warning on the network. Everyone expects the tears, now, but not the rest of it.

...

"Warning: Gym Leader will cry just to get you on a date."

Something like that?

Nailed to the door of the Gym, and etched on the bricks. With red arrows pointing to it.

[Chuckle]

Yeah, that sounds like a good idea.

Then again, I refuse to imagine what would happen if she caught us at it.

...I don't think she'll do anything besides blowing up in anger.

If she shouts as loudly as she cries, we might be in trouble.

Women, they are such a mysterious creature sometimes.

I'd say Whitney is worse than every woman I know. I cannot understand what goes through her mind.

Edited 2011-05-10 12:12 (UTC)

I don't think anyone can.

Not even her female challengers?

...Maybe.

...Probably not.

[Shinn then happened to look at his Pokégear, and noted the time.]

Right, I remembered that I have an appointment with a friend of mine, can we continue this talk later, Cecil?

Of course. I'd not want to keep you away from previous arrangements.

Thanks for the conversation!

[Bzt! Feed is cut!]

You're welcome!

[And he goes off to try and calm the kids down.]

... I only really use TMs on the members of my team who I know I'll always be using for important battles.

How can you be certain you'll not use another Pokémon? Your usual team might find itself disadvantaged against a particular Gym leaders.

Ah, well... That might be the case, but I'll always bring Hina and Sony, even if they would be at a disadvantage type wise... They're just so much stronger than the rest of my team that it balances out.

How much higher are their levels, compared to everyone else?

Hina has a good... fifteen levels on the one who's third strongest in my group... While Sony just has ten. I've jus tbeen focusing on bringing everyone up to speed lately.

... though it's a little hard to do when I have two newborns to worry about.

I can understand that. I've been receiving newborns every few weeks since January, and I currently raise four. Thus, my oldest Pokémon are at much higher levels than everyone else. Though I train to train them a little every week, to keep them in shape.

Ahaha... I train them both a little each day, but they're so strong that at this point it takes a few weeks or a real tough battle for them to gain a level...

Mine will certainly soon reach that state. I generally set them loose near the city during the day and train the little ones myself at night, but even with that they only gain a single level each week, and it always takes the full week.

Yeah... I don't think the wild Pokemon around here are really made for fighting against ones who are as high leveled as Hina and Sony...

Hopefully there are stronger ones living near Cianwood or Blackthorn. Otherwise, training everyone will become quite impractical.

Mm... Lately it seems like the strongest ones I can battle I run into while fishing, but there's only so much I can do with that... And to be honest, I feel kind of guilty if I use Hina on the ones around Olivine.

You feel guilty? Why?

Ah, well... Don't you ever feel sorry for the wild ones if you go all out on them...?

Not particularly. Even a loss can help them become stronger, after all.

Ehhhhh...? It's not like they're Saiyans and gain more power with each near death experience...

Saiyans? I'm not familiar with that term.

--ah! ... I would be very surprised if you were! But, um... The point still got across, right?

Even if they do not gain levels, they still learn that some strategies do not work, and also how to gauge their opponents. That is also a way to become stronger.

Do you really think so?

--er, I mean... Regarding the wild ones, that is... I've never really noticed them changing how they attack or anything...

Perhaps not as a species, but individual members might, though I doubt they'd attack you again.

... if the same ones kept attacking over and over again, it would be like a never ending grudge match.

Or a rather one-sided rivalry, especially if we use different Pokémon to defeat them each time.

... it's almost starting to sound like bullying...

It would only be if we deliberately seeked them out.

... don't we, though? I mean, we do go out into the wild specifically to look for Pokemon to battle...

But we seek out Pokémon in general, not individuals in particular.

--ah!

... that's a good point.

In fact, I doubt we'd be able to recognize them. They do seem to have less physical differences than most humans.

And it's not like they get battle scars or anything...

You'd think some of those attacks would leave marks...

... very distinctive ones at that.

Especially for wild Pokémon. They have no access to the centers, after all.

Aha... It makes me curious as to how long it takes them to recover...

A few hours, at least. Or perhaps even days?

... that just makes me wonder why they don't heal naturally after we catch them.

...They might do so at a much slower rate?

It would have to be extremely slow...

Slow enough to be impossible to perceive, even.

Mm... No regenerating health for us.

That sounds unfair for our Pokémon, losing their ability to heal like this.

Seems like a dilemma. [How very astute of you, Kain.]

Without more information, my biased opinion would choose your dragon.

Do you hear that, Kayne? That's one vote for you.

[He hears that indeed, and that cheer is deafening.]

I was thinking of teaching them a healing move for Flying-types. Kayne is at a higher level and thus more likely to participate in important battles, but Mist shows much potential despite her young age.

You named him after me? I'm flattered. It's a shame what I would choose probably won't affect what you will choose.

[Ow, his ears. Meanwhile, you can hear Richard laughing at their argument.]

Hmm... I'm afraid I won't be of much help. You could make a good case for both. How much do you plan on training Mist?

I've named quite a few of my Pokémon after people I care for. They deserve good names, after all.

[Mist is chirping something very uncomplimentary about the Dratini family and their mothers, which earns her a half-hearted twack.]

I plan to train her until she reaches the highest level and beyond, of course. I rotate between my Pokémon every day, to make sure they train properly.

Still, it means a good deal to know that I still fall into that category.

[Hey, just because you're ~*RIVALS*~ with Kayne and Richard's a bit of a jerk doesn't mean you should insult their entire family, Mist. Shame on you.]

A fine goal to have. One that I share, provided that nothing unexpected happens.

Of course you do. We're best friends, after all.

[Come on! Kayne's mother was a Ditto. A Ditto.]

I wish you luck with that. It becomes rather more complicated once you've obtained more than six of them.

Of course...

[And what's wrong with that? Ditto is awesome.]

I would imagine. Richard by himself can be a handful at times.

[It means no egg moves unless they're TMs!]

They might be handfuls, but they are handfuls that are well worth the effort.

[But they can also help breed a Poké of the correct gender if you have two males or two females.]

Yes, I find that I enjoy his company very much, and he's good in a fight. Others simply do not share my fondness of him, and that can cause... difficulties.

[Bartz's Ditto tried to molest his Clefairy!]

Why would anyone dislike him? Dratinis are such lovely creatures.

[By which he means bloodthirsty and battle happy, but still.]

[Again, blame the individual, not the species as a whole.]

... Richard has a fondness for pranking others, particularly Squall.

[Kain sees that part as a bit of a boon. It means that Richard doesn't complain about his style of training.]

[Nanao's Ditto is not any better, and let'S not talk about Souji's!]

...I can see why that might cause some friction in a group. What sorts of pranks...?

[...That's it. When I inevitably app a character that would be appropriate to get a Ditto as a starter, that Ditto will be the closest thing to Pokémon asexuality there is.]

For the moment, they're rather simple things like tripwires and precariously balanced buckets of water on top of doors. Still, while the group can dodge them fairly easily, they are annoying, and I'm afraid that they may escalate.

[The masses will stare in utter confusion.]

How does he manage that without arms? Can he tie the string with his tail?

[Inside jokes are often the best kind.]

I would suspect he uses both his tail and his mouth. I'm not certain, though. I usually find them after the fact.

I can only imagine what he'll manage once he gains arms.

I only hope I'll be able to train it out of him by then.

[But since it's an endearing character trait, he will fail miserably.]

Training it out of them does not always work, sadly.

[It worked for Avenger, but Kayne still likes to torture Pidgey. The poor things.]

[Don't crush his frail hopes, Cecil.]

Still, I must try.

[So~rry~!]

However, Avenger is less of a prankster than he was when I caught him, though he's not completely rid of the habit. You still have a chance.

[He'll forgive you, this time.]

That is... relieving.

Then again, that was because he redirected his energies in his rivalry with Rosie. Perhaps Richard needs some competition?

I suppose it couldn't hurt.

[He just needs to find another Pokémon that meets his exacting standards.]

Try to find a Pokémon with neutral relationships to the Dragon- and Flying-types, for a fair competition.

[...That'll take weeks.]

That would leave Normal, Poison, Flying, Psychic, Ghost, and Dark. And I have a feeling that a Ghost-type would make it worse.

[Weeks? More like months.]

Yes. Yes, that would make it worse.

[Years!]

[Speaking from experience, Cecil?] In any case, I know that there are several kinds of Normal- and Flying-type Pokémon in the area. It will not be difficult to catch one.

[Decades!]

[Yes.]

I've heard nothing but good about the Pidgeys and their evolutions. I'm afraid I know less about the Hoothoots, the Rattatas and the Sentrets, however.

[Centuries!]

I believe I will choose one of the fliers. It will give them more TMs to squabble over.

[Millennia!]

Be careful once you reach Violet, then. They'll have trouble against the sheep and the rocks in the Dark Cave.

Thank you for the advice. I'll be sure to keep it in mind.

[He'll level-grind that Pidgey or Hoothoot until it OHKO's them!]

Then again, you might want to catch one of the sheep. Falkner uses Flying-types.

[...He would, at that.]

That is a good idea. I have been using only Richard for far too long, and I would like to do this badge challenge fairly quickly.

In that case, you'll need an Electric-type for Violet, a Fire-type for Azalea, a female Fighting-type for Goldenrod, and a Dark-type for Ecruteak. Those last three might be harder to find, however.

I'll still keep an eye out for them, though. If all else fails, I can always use brute-force.

[It's what the Dratini family is made for, after all.]

Do not hesitate to use Thunder Wave, too. Paralysis can be extremely helpful, though the other status ailments also have their uses.

I'll keep that in mind. Any other words of sage advice, O Mighty Cecil?

[As a matter of fact, he does.]

Do not mistreat the Magikarps, for you do not want to be eaten in your sleep by gigantic flying water dragons.

I do not have any Magikarps, but advice taken.

Friendly little fish, they are. Why, I still remember the day Squall's Seifer evolved. I thought his head was done for. And Bartz's Excalibur, who so loves to hug her trainer tightly with her coils...

Ah, Seifer. I remember watching Squall brutalize the local wildlife with it after he came to New Bark to get me. They sound to be a good investment.

[He'll have to go buy an Old Rod.]

Does he still do that? I thought he'd want to train his new starter instead, but I suppose Seifer would be a great time saver. He must enjoy the exercise; I rarely had the chance to take him out, after he fathered Leviathan's eggs.

[He can have Cecil's, it's never used anyway.]

I wouldn't know. I do not watch him train, though I would hope he would have the sense to train the ones who need it.

[This is what friends are for. They give you free stuff.]

He used to keep his whole team at around the same level. I wondered how he would deal with Griever being so much younger than the others, at the time.

[Free cheap stuff. Rosa and Rydia get all the nice things.]

I doubt he could do so this time. The distance between the levels of Seifer and the rest of his Pokémon is vast.

[Why? Because they're women? Because they didn't betray you? Because they're not too stubborn for their own good?]

Even the youngest Pokémon can catch up surprisingly quickly. Flare is at a much higher level than Esuna, even though he is over a month younger.

[...Because he can go to their rooms and ask them if they need anything before he leaves for the Pokémart.]

Level five against over level eighty, though?

[Oh. Clearly, he needs to get to Ecruteak sooner.]

Seifer will stop growing soon enough. The others will have all the time in the world to catch up, then.

[Of course he does. Ecruteak sells water bottles.]

I imagine it will take quite a bit of it, too.

[Those water bottles will be vital to our quest!]

Months, certainly. He'll quite probably have them.

[Never will thirst affect them again!]

I would imagine, seeing as I've been here for almost a month, already.

[They shall defeat that deadly foe, dehydration!]

Almost a month is nothing. I see people who have been here for four months and can still think of them as recent arrivals.

[Offer its corpse as a sacrifice to the gods of safe travel! ...Or the RNG, if it's not too picky.]

It feels as though time flows strangely here. At some times, it's as though it just stops, and, at others, it seems to go much more quickly.

[How does dehydration leave a corpse to offer? Is it an anthropomorphic personification?]

Time flows like the daily life here: almost stagnant when you stay quietly in a city, rushing when you travel or something strange happens. I've been too stagnant, these last few months. I should feel more ashamed of it.

[Metaphorical corpses totally count.]

That wasn't exactly what I meant, though I'm not entirely what exactly I do mean. [He means that time moves at the speed the plot dictates.]

[I didn't know the gods of travel and/or RNG accepted metaphorical corpses. Wouldn't they prefer actual corpses?]

That happens to the best of us, and the local time tends to confuse everyone who thinks about it too much.

[They would, but good luck finding real corpses in Johto.]

Edited 2011-05-17 20:44 (UTC)

TMs are now able to be used on multiple Pokemon - I bought Return from the Department Store, and have used it on all of my Pokemon, and it hasn't broken yet.

Is that so? However, I received this TM months ago. Would it also have that effect?

I... think so. I don't remember the explanation, but it was something like, 'All TMs are now the same as HMs' or something.

...How can they affect all pre-existing TMs like? Could they also decide to force them to stop working, somehow?

I... honestly have no idea. It might be something to do with radio signals or something weird and technological like that.

[He now stares at the TM suspiciously.]

...They could always pretend it was merely a defective item, and convince us to buy another.

I don't think they'd go that far - this world doesn't seem to be out to get us.

And maybe you could toss a coin to decide which one should get it first, in case it does break.

Sadly, it appears they greatly disapprove of coin tosses, and of luck in general. They want me to choose a 'favorite', I believe.

Which have you had longer, or, which one has the lower level? That could help.

I've had Kayne at the end of January, and he's nearly level 60. Mist hatched a week ago.

...ah. That is quite the dichotomy you have there.

Even with that age difference, they argue like siblings. Then again, from a human point of view three months is very little time.

This is true... I'm sorry to say, but I cannot think of a way to easily resolve your conflict.

I think the conflict itself might be avoided. A young man has just offered the use of his own Roost TM, as he claims not to need it.

Truly? Ah, that is quite helpful, then.

...why would he not need it?

His only Flying-type learned that ability naturally, and he claims he'll not need to catch another.

28th moon [video]

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