preybeforemeals | 002. [Video/Action for Goldenrod City]

[Well, it seems that Tsukiyama has finally left whatever hellhole he's buried himself in for the last couple of weeks; he hasn't been out nearly as much as he'd normally like – really, he hasn't been out at all unless it's been absolutely necessary – but it seems that today he's decided that if he's going to bury himself in several layers of escapist fantasy, he might as well do it outside rather than behind the locked doors of a hotel room.

...That, and he's run out of reading material.

The feed from Tsukiyama's device today opens with a slow pan over some of what he's managed to find in his attempt to stave off boredom; after a moment, his voice can be heard over the video.]

I'm finding myself a bit at a loss, really – if nothing else, I'm unsure whether I should be impressed or offended.

[To his credit, he sounds more amused than anything; after a moment he turns the camera around to actually get him in the shot. He seems well enough, if a bit exasperated.]

They seem to have things such as The Metamorphosis and Battle Royale as well, things that don't seem to have changed much just judging by the title, but I'm sure there's some sort of completely hideous difference in there that will make itself known eventually. For now I think I'm just grateful that I haven't found anything like The Black Gogoat's Egg...I'm sure it would be by someone like Takatsuki Sentret, while we're at it.

[Because this place is a travesty like that.]

From what I've seen, the film selection isn't much better... Tell me if you've found anything particularly interesting during your time here, will you? I don't particularly mind if it's a pun-entrenched mess; if anything, I'm a little curious about how badly they've managed to butcher things.

[Granted, he's not entirely sure how this is going to go, given that there's apparently a market for things like Sharpedonado around here and as such he is effectively asking for recommendations from people who find things like that to be high art, but you know what, live a little.]

[ACTION]

[It's a little overcast today but it's not too cold, and as such he can be found sitting in one of the squares near the department store; there's a café nearby that he's come to like, even if it's not Anteiku (because nothing is quite like Anteiku, even if he'd never really frequented the place as much as some it had its charms, he can't deny that), and he's claimed one of the outdoor tables with a book laid nearby and a cup of something that steams in front of him. As usual, he's a little hard to miss – which is really just a polite way of saying that he's still something of an eyesore, but at least it looks like there was an attempt today and the entire ensemble is blessedly argyle-free.

He's not reading the book he's got laid out, though once in a while he looks at it in a way that implies he's tempted to at least see how much of a shitshow it's surely going to be; for now, his time seems to be given to actually taking the time to savor the joy that is pumpkin-spice everything while it lasts (as long as we all take the word "joy" to mean "experience that involves drinking that coffee once in a while like he's not sure if it's poison, only to set it down and look at it funny and be clearly unsure in its general direction...but for some reason he can't stop drinking it once in a while anyway") and...once in a while swatting away a really persistent Klefki that is hovering near his head.

She doesn't seem to mind the swatting; if anything, she's seeming to find it to be a game of some sort, and she keeps coming back and...unlatching, for lack of a better word, for the sake of waving one of the keys she's found in his general direction with the happiest damn noise because NO YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND

SHE FOUND A PRETTY ONE AREN'T YOU PROUD OF HER.

...After a while the implications of that will sink in, however, and...]

...Mirabella...

[Surely she hasn't.]

Mirabella, amore – exactly where have you been getting those...?

[If he has gotten some sort of kleptomaniac keyring he swears to god - ]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

It is more true to the game I remember that way, really. When your main character is supposed to be only ten years old you can expect for that sort of thing to be pushed a bit more than is realistic. The same goes for the NPCs who are happy to just give you items simply when you talk to them, for example...it was a surprise to discover that that holds true here as well.

[And it certainly is a surreal experience when you're stopped by someone in town and they just shove a berry at you for your time, no questions asked.]

It's certainly helpful, I'll never say that it isn't. At the same time, once one is both beyond the age of ten and used to a place...far more violent than this, let's say, it's a little jarring either way. Difficult to trust it, for one.

[That has Nagi thinking for a moment, and it takes him a bit to think of what he wants to say next.]

Oh, I wouldn't trust anything about it. At least not outright.

[Oh, now that's interesting, isn't it.]

Despite your games? Dare I ask why?

In my games, it's inevitable that whatever happens to you, even if you're the worst trainer and cannot tell a Pikachu from a Caterpie, everything is designed with your success in mind. You're supposed to be able to beat the 'bad guys', get to the Elite Four, become Champion, catch the Legendary...all of that.

I noticed that when Team Aqua and Team Magma were here, they did not simply challenge us with their Pokemon and wait patiently in turns to give us a chance at victory. I'm fairly certain that if Arceus hadn't shown up when it did, we all would have been killed.

This place may be generally sugar coated, but whatever happened there was not.

I should certainly say it wasn't; there's a reason I haven't told my associate who wasn't around for that little skirmish exactly what happened.

Granted, people here also seem to be incredibly blasé about sustaining serious injuries, and I'm not certain why that is.

I've been fortunate enough so far to avoid injury myself. I can't help but wonder how that sort of thing is handled, since you don't exactly see regular hospitals alongside Pokemon Centers, do you?

[Either way, he doesn't plan on getting himself killed any time soon to test the theory that this world is so...unrealistic, for lack of a better term, that certain death can actually be avoided.]

I haven't, no.

What I did notice was that those charming individuals dressed in blue and red sustained several injuries that probably should have been critical - someone seemed to have made frag grenades out of the crystals, among other things. There was a flash of white light when they were hit hard enough, and then they would be gone. It was surreal, for want of a better term.

[...oh, well that confirms what he was wondering, then.]

....so they whited out. They literally whited out.

[And he continues because that's not going to make any sense otherwise-]

If you lose a battle, you..."faint", so to speak, and inexplicably wake up in the Pokemon Center so you can heal your Pokemon.

I wouldn't be surprised if that is where they ended up.

...There's actually a game mechanic for that?

[GOD BLESS YOU, YOU...HORRIBLY NERDY CHILD.]

Do you suppose that happens to everyone here, or just the natives?

I wouldn't test it to be sure, but it's very likely. It would also explain the lack of concern for injuries in the first place.

[...also the lack of...actual hospitals.

...but that also gives him a horrendous thought.]

If that is the case, death may be assumed to not be permanent...though I don't know what would happen if you were injured badly, but not badly enough to die from it.

I'm assuming you mean something like the loss of an eye or limb, or...I don't know, a severed spinal cord low enough to not be immediately fatal. Things like that?

Right. Naturally you don't go beating up grunts in the game itself, but seeing as that goes out the window here, I'm not sure how that sort of thing might affect someone.

Well, it's not as though I plan on finding out anytime soon, anyway.

I appreciate the information, though, amore, you have no idea - may I ask your name? I'd like to know to whom I owe both the gratitude and the pleasure.

[Gratitude. Not something he hears often, yet in this world it just keeps happening, and each and every time it comes as a surprise.]

Tensai.

[...]

...I know a lot about this place, even though there are many new things here I'm unfamiliar with.

If you ever have any questions, I would be the one to ask.

[...tensai

are you serious]

I'll keep that in mind.

You can generally be reached on this channel, then?

Yes. Usually by text message.

Consider your generosity appreciated.

Tsukiyama Shuu, by the way.

Tsukiyama, then.

Perhaps one of us will have learned how much abuse a person can physically take here before it's game over if we speak again.

Or you will have discovered what this world's version of The Metamorphosis truly contains.

002. [Video/Action for Goldenrod City]

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