Duel 01 // Video & Action // New Bark Town

[princelyspirit]

[A blurry splotch of white and red fills the screen, before the camera zooms out to show a Ponyta standing in an open field. It sniffs the air curiously before it faces the camera again, and trots over as a girl speaks in the background]

Hey, careful there-oof!

[The Ponyta's face fills the screen and the camera jerks around wildly, before focusing on a large, blue eye. It blinks as it zooms out again, finally revealing the owner of the pokegear: a young girl in her early teens, with an angular, heartshaped face and long, bright pink hair. The pokemon nuzzles against her, and she sighs as she strokes its nose with her free hand. Compared to a human, it appears quite small; about the size of a miniature horse. Once it settles down, the trainer turns her attention to the camera. Her brow furrows as she begins to speak]

Is anyone out there? I just got done with that professor guy, and – look. I don't know what you want us to do with these “battles”, but first of all, I don't have any time for that. I've got more important things to worry about right now than some silly game! And second...

[looks back at her Ponyta] Even if I was interested, these guys don't really look like fighting material to me. Maybe if they were bigger, or stronger, or....huh?

[Pauses, and blinks while Ponyta moves away – there's a rustling sound as it nudges the bag off-camera. She sighs, and the camera jerks a bit as she pulls it away from him]

...look, all I need is a way out of here. If any of you guys know something... well, I'm all ears.

[and off goes the transmission]

Comments

[Video]

[whateveryoueatliveitspart]

[The image that comes up is very dark. The only reason that Apollo's face can be seen at all is because of the light coming from the PokéGear's screen and the faint firelight coming from somewhere off-camera, presumably from some sort of torch, since he seems to be walking. Also his eyes are glowing red.]

If you can avoid the animals on the routes you won't have to fight, but there are so many that even I can't avoid them all. Since you can't eat them there's no reason to go after them. A lot of the animals here like to fight, but if they don't you shouldn't try and make them.

Re: [Video]

[princelyspirit]

[...aaaand now she's talking to a man with glowing red eyes. Her eyes widen in surprise as she watches his response, but she forces herself to listen to his advice. One thing at a time, one thing at a time... by the time she replies back, she's composed. Sort of. Or at least, as composed as someone dropped in a bizarre new world can be]

Don't worry, I don't plan on fighting any more than I have to, trust me. But... where are we supposed to go from here? I really don't want to be stuck in this place any more than I have to be.

[Does she mean New Bark Town or Johto? Who knows! It could be both]

[Video]

[whateveryoueatliveitspart]

Good.

I haven't heard anyone say there's a way home. I've been here for three lunar cycles and there were already people here for a long time before I came. I know people sometimes disappear and go back home, so I guess everyone has to just wait until whenever that happens.

video;

[nuko]

If you train they tend to level up and evolve? Since it's the starting area everything is very low level.

[ Eri tried asking that question before and had her hopes crushed. No save points or portals out of here sadly.] No one knows of a way out, if you do leave it's random?

Re: video;

[princelyspirit]

Low level? You make this place sound like some kind of video game...

[Shakes her head] But what do you mean, "it's random"? I mean, if people can leave, that means there has to be some way out, right?

video;

[nuko]

It's the best way to explain things? Instead of leveling up your self you level up your pokemon.

I know really know... I was told that some people vanish and get to go home, but there's no way to set it off or know when it will happen.

action;

[worktodo]

[So while Albert's stuck in New Bark waiting for his ride, he's just sort of idling around getting a feel for the local landscape (and pretty much loathing every minute of it) — which is how he ends up spotting the pink-haired girl and her companion in the first place.

And pauses to observe, because, y'know, there's a lot to stare at, frankly.]

You are aware that your horse is on fire.

Re: action;

[princelyspirit]

[Looks up, jostled out of her thoughts by the newcomer. The fire... horse... thing looks up as well, mimicking his partner. She straightens up immediately, now calm and composed.]

It's not on fire, at least, not really. It's...

[She puts her hand through the mane as a demonstration, but trails off as she realizes she doesn't have a better explanation. Utena pulls back her hand immediately and tries to play it cool]

Okay, so I don't what it is. But I don't think it's a horse, either. It's actually a- here, I'll show you.

[fiddles with the pokedex for a minute and points it at the ponyta. Soon, a loud, computerized voice speaks]

Ponyta, the Fire Horse pokemon. It is a weak runner immediately after birth, but it gradually becomes faster by chasing after its parents. Its hind legs, which have hooves that are harder than diamond, kick back at any presence it senses behind it.

[There's a small pause, before she clears her throat]

...what the cell phone said.

[Okay, so that still sounded pretty crazy. Utena scratches the back of her head, before she looks back up at the old guy talking to her]

But what about you? I mean, what kind of Pokemon did you get stuck with?

action;

[worktodo]

[The thing with Albert Rosenfield is, he's generally not inclined to give the vast majority of people the time of day, and particularly not teenagers. By all rights, he'd probably only intended to stop long enough to make some cutting remark about the girl's hair color and incendiary companion, and then be on his way while he waited for his ride to arrive.

Except that then something he admittedly wasn't expecting happened:

> She parried the jab without losing her temper
> She demonstrated a prior actual attempt to investigate the phenomenon outside of "oooh, I have a pony and it is on fire!"
> She admitted her own ignorance without attempting to justify it
> And then she sought out more information from the closest thing she had to a reliable corroborating source

...Color him actually mildly surprised. Apparently this one can think, despite the bad dye job.]

Hooves that are harder than diamond? Now that's worth a test. I don't suppose you're engaged.

[It's mostly dry sarcasm, that last remark — though he wouldn't put it past a teenager to be jumping into matrimony by any means, he also hasn't spotted any diamonds on her fingers.]

I got a dog. Does that make you a horse person?

[papasmellslikethis]

Unfortunately, I think you'll just have to make do for the time being.

[princelyspirit]

[takes a deep breath] I know, I know. I all ready heard that there's no way out, but... It just seems so impossible. I mean, what's stopping us from getting out of this place, anyway?

[Seems like someone didn't get the memo about this being a whole new world...]

[papasmellslikethis]

[ He feels bad... he has the same issue, honestly. But it's still not cool to see other people feeling this way. ]

Mmm, I suppose being unable to find the door would be what's keeping us here.

[video]

[combat_butler]

Oh, if you're worried about them being bigger and stronger, that should happen over time as you raise them!

... though I can definitely understand the hesitation.

[video]

[princelyspirit]

[Someone else is giving her the whole "welcome to Johto! You're stuck here, and we don't know why!" speech, so when she sees Hayate's response, she skips the usual round of questions.]

That's not the point. Look, I know we're all stuck here for now, but that doesn't mean I'm going to run around fighting everything I see. Besides...

[Glances down at her ponyta]

Some other guy came on here - he said that not every pokemon here even likes to battle. So, even if they do get bigger and stronger, it still doesn't seem fair to make them fight for us.

[video]

[combat_butler]

--eh? Well, no... You definitely don't have to do it. Yet at the same time you'll be in a bit of a rut if you just sit back in New Bark without stepping out into the tall grass.

*Hrmmm...* If it bothers you that much, there's always the option of only fighting when necessary and running from most battles? That might make you take a hit to your pride though...

[Video]

[friendyousohard]

We all have important reasons to leave. The problem is that in order to get out, we first have to figure out how we got in.

[Twilight sighs and leans back into her chair.] And that we just can't seem to do.

[Video]

[princelyspirit]

[...okay, maybe she was being just a bit selfish. Utena glances down for a moment and takes a deep breath]

I'm sorry. It must be hard on everyone, but... well, waking up in a place like this isn't really what I expected, you know?

[She brushes an errant strand of hair behind her ear, and looks straight into the camera, her brow furrowed as she thinks over what else Twilight Sparkle had to say]

But what do you mean, nobody knows how we got in? Do you mean that nobody around here knows, either?


[Is referring to the pokenatives, not the more experienced "guests" here. She was hoping that she'd eventually find someone more useful than Mom and the Professor around here]

[Video]

[friendyousohard]

Trust me, we all felt the same way when we first woke up here. Well, with maybe a few exceptions.

[Some people might actually like being in Johto and not have any real reason to want to go home, after all.]

If by "around here" you mean the natives... I don't think you're going to get anything useful out of any of them. Ever. Save for advice about how to get along in this world, but even then you're better off asking the network. When it comes to finding out things about the mystery of how we got here or how people leave, we really are all completely in the dark. All we have are wild guesses.

video;

[sometimesooc]

Kuuukuku! Your escape from this world has long since been cut off~

video;

[princelyspirit]

[...okay, what the heck is this? Utena gives the camera a blank stare fr a second, before she shakes her head.]

Let me guess. You're the one who's responsible for all this?

[Her tone is flat and completely deadpan; she doesn't seriously think that. One, that's just ridiculous, and two... the girl doesn't look any older than her. Not exactly evil mastermind material, there.]

video;

[sometimesooc]

Kukuku, unfortunately I too have been brought here. An even darker power than an ancient vampire like myself is in charge here, though I plan to uproot him myself~

[ See these two fingers going up to her eyes to make a sideways-v? They're the sideways-v of triumph. Or imagination. Probably both. ]

video

[islandshore]

[The first thing to pop up on the screen is an oversized Charizard, who passes the 'Gear to his trainer.]

I hate to break it to you, but there's no way out other than to wait and hope for the best. As for your Pokémon... it'll only get stronger if you battle.

video

[princelyspirit]

Whoa!

[She knows the animals around here are weird, but so far, the giant dinosaur takes the cake! Wait, scratch that, it's more like a giant dragon. Are there going to be any more pokemon like that?!

...whatever, she doesn't have time to worry about that now. Utena realizes that the camera's running, and she quickly straightens up and composes herself]

Yeah, that's what everybody's been saying so far... about getting home, I mean. As for battling - sorry, but I don't see what the big deal is. I know you can't avoid it, not entirely, but I don't see the point in going around and collecting badges. It sounds like people do it just to say that they did.

video.

[amiroll]

Ami heard you have to swim back home!

[ she knows this isn't true, but nothing's wrong with a little pranking! ]

video.

[princelyspirit]

Wait, so you mean we're stuck on some kind of island?

[She's not taking Ami's "advice" to heart, but Utena hasn't realized that she's not serious, either...]