Tomorrow(UTC+2) once I wake up I'll close the vote .
It seems like "Too many cooks" its going to win unless people start voting for another plan in the last minute.
I totally didn't expect players to decide that they want to be a cook but it seems like it can be fun.
I will have to think about out how cooking works in the Pokemon world and what kind of recipes and cooking utensils exist and the mechanics of combining berries.
I already have some ideas and " food that gives buffs" might even be a thing some cooks do .
Edit :
Well I'm closing the vote .
Too many cooks wins .
I was busy and its later than expected but I'll finish writing the first chapter soon .
Its going to be short and have a simple decision so the next chapter is probably going to be sooner.
There are a couple of depictions of pokemon chefs in the games that might be interesting as inspirations - Spinda and its Cafe, cooking to attract pokemon in Pokemon Quest, and the various cook gym leaders like Mallow, Cilan, and Brock.
It would be interesting leveraging Gummis/Shakes, Rare Candies, and Perfect Apples in some way.
You are asleep .
Two yellow lights plague your dreams , seared into your mind, maybe forever.
"Wake up.... " A strange unfamiliar voice calls you and you slowly wake up , feeling like you hadn't slept anything in days and whith an horrible headache.
As your mind starts to clear you slowly begin to notice that there is something really weird about the situation you are in.
Maybe what tipped you off was the strange voice of someone you don't know , or maybe the fact that you were floating surrounded by an strange landscape of changing colors .
Probably the voice.
"This is not a dream, if that's what you are thinking, or at least not exactly." The voice sounded just behind you this time , but you didn't see anyone.
Although these words were not much evidence of you not being on a dream (you've had weirder ones) , hearing the voice sound just next to your ear without warning was quite useful for that purpose.
You try to think but your mind feels weird .
The last thing you remember.....
The only thing about your life that you remember is two strange inhuman yellow eyes, looking at you and shining.
Your knowledge seems mostly intact but there are certain things that seem missing , and your episodic memory seems mostly gone.
At least you still remember your name , Alice Broth.
The voice seemed to give you a moment to recover before announcing whith a warm tone.
"Welcome to the Pokemon world."
You take a moment to process what the voice just said.
"What."
Examining the world around you realize the place around you does remind you a lot of Pokemon Mystery dungeon's intro.
The whole situation in fact,including the whole amnesia thing.
Saying that now everything made sense would be really stretching the meaning of " making sense" .But at least you had some remains of order to cling to in this weird situation.
Its interesting that you do remember about Pokemon though , even if you weren't the most dedicated fan.
"I see for your reaction that you know something about this world"The voice didn't seem especially surprised by that "Good ,that makes things easier."the voice felt calm and the conversation almost practiced.
"Sorry for awakening you like that but we don't have munch time "
"So I'll be brief"It said ,whith a more serious tone"I need your help ,the world will soon be in danger,and only you can protect it ."
You almost roll your eyes. Seriously?.
Well now that you think about it you aren't sure what to to believe anymore , and the voice doesn't seem to be joking.
"I'll tell you more later, but first I need to know."
It paused for a moment.
"Will you help me ?"
Something tells you the voice might notice if you lie."Let me think about this for a moment ."
"Of course , but dont take too much please."the voice sounded nervous this time.
It seems to be waiting for you to respond.
[]Yes
[]No
[]Ask questions first(write what those questions will be, in order of priority).
[]Lie and say yes
[]Lie and say no
[].....
Write in[]
[x] Plan "Too many cooks"
-[x] Name: Alice Broth
-[x] Gender: Female
-[x] Occupation write-in: Cook (you know how to prepare and make up delicious meals even with limited ingredients)
-[x]Polymath
-[x] Partner: (to be found later)
-[x]Bag of holding (if we start with one item and our partner has another)
-[x]Gem village:
Okay, just tossing this out and the QM has every right to veto it.
Basic idea is that we are a cook and know how to fix up delicious food, so we've got a good reason for other people to put us on their team, we make food they like. Not so much a scientist or engineer.
Then, instead of meeting our partner right away, we go alone for a bit and find them later.
Last, instead of our partner having two items, we wake up with an item of our own while our partner later has their own.
I choose a bag of holding since it was described as a human item, and we might find stuff in it like a knife or frying pan to use as a weapon for when we're all alone.
Thought some of the other items look neat.
If we can start as a Pokemon... he, my first instinct is to choose Meowth since they can conjure money with Pay Day, and who doesn't want to play as an a character that others only like because they can literally conjure up money and kinda suck in combat? Thought if Pay Day money is considered counterfeit, we can still sell it as metal.
Copper, silver, gold, even stuff like aluminum, iron, or zinc is worth something. Especially if we conjure it up in convenient little discs. Getting metal from Meowths would be just like having it mined from the ground, and there are a few mons like Aron who eat metal. So conjuring up even iron coins basically makes Aron food, and gold and silver can be melted to make jewelry.
Well here you have it ,I was busier than expected this weekend ,sorry for the wait .
This first chapter was more or less already written(At least the parts that the voice says) and doesn't reflect your initial choices munch yet , though some rolls were made using your stats.
I like that you choose gem to start because Its were I intended to start the original fic and I have more characters and things ready there.
[X] Ask questions first.
-[X] What kind of danger?
-[X] How can I stop it?
-[X] Will there be others helping me?
-[X] Why me?
Regarding how cooking could work, a quick look through the wiki on Food and the IQ stat suggests that pokemon gain a good amount of intelligence from eating good food (or at least food that properly matches their typing). Soo... introducing proper nutrition and good food to the Pokemon world might allow us to do things like increase the number of intelligent pokemon, give some pokemon the nutrition needed to develop better brains to get smarter or stronger, or just make them happier. If emotions are a tangible force in this setting, then spreading happiness and generosity could actually help repel "evil" if that is a tangible force as well.
On a more mechanical note, Don't Starve and Zelda BotW have interesting mechanics for their foods.
In Don't Starve, the crockpot recipes all restore varying amounts of health, hunger, and sanity. Which in the pokemon world would probably be akin to restoring health, filling their belly, and maybe raising happiness.
In Breath of the Wild, all food items restore some value of health while having the potential to grant one type of buff. Each meal can only have one buff type, such as restoring stamina, granting temporary bonus stamina, providing protection from heat, cold, or electricity, etc.
For Pokemon... I imagine it would probably that we can cook up a variety of dishes and they all do at least some HP restoration, and the possibility of providing one boost like restoring PP for moves, some resistance to an element, maybe boosting the strength of certain attacks, etc.
As for the dishes themselves...
Vegetarian dishes could restore fewer health, but have more room for boosting ingredients so the buff has a greater effect.
Meaty dishes restore more health, but have fewer ingredients for the buff. Also, meaty dishes could be likely to attract carnivorous pokemon in the wild.
Sugary dishes restore more happiness/sanity but also attract bug type pokemon.
Some meals could be more filling to restore more hunger, but they can't be eaten in combat. Only when everyone's sitting down for a meal.
Others could be snack sized, like berries. Or things like cookies, muffins, jerky, or bottles of juice or elixers. These are smaller, provide less health, but can conceivably be scarfed down during combat if needed.
[X] Ask questions first.
-[X] What kind of danger?
-[X] How can I stop it?
-[X] Will there be others helping me?
-[X] Why me?
Regarding how cooking could work, a quick look through the wiki on Food and the IQ stat suggests that pokemon gain a good amount of intelligence from eating good food (or at least food that properly matches their typing). Soo... introducing proper nutrition and good food to the Pokemon world might allow us to do things like increase the number of intelligent pokemon, give some pokemon the nutrition needed to develop better brains to get smarter or stronger, or just make them happier. If emotions are a tangible force in this setting, then spreading happiness and generosity could actually help repel "evil" if that is a tangible force as well.
On a more mechanical note, Don't Starve and Zelda BotW have interesting mechanics for their foods.
In Don't Starve, the crockpot recipes all restore varying amounts of health, hunger, and sanity. Which in the pokemon world would probably be akin to restoring health, filling their belly, and maybe raising happiness.
In Breath of the Wild, all food items restore some value of health while having the potential to grant one type of buff. Each meal can only have one buff type, such as restoring stamina, granting temporary bonus stamina, providing protection from heat, cold, or electricity, etc.
For Pokemon... I imagine it would probably that we can cook up a variety of dishes and they all do at least some HP restoration, and the possibility of providing one boost like restoring PP for moves, some resistance to an element, maybe boosting the strength of certain attacks, etc.
As for the dishes themselves...
Vegetarian dishes could restore fewer health, but have more room for boosting ingredients so the buff has a greater effect.
Meaty dishes restore more health, but have fewer ingredients for the buff. Also, meaty dishes could be likely to attract carnivorous pokemon in the wild.
Sugary dishes restore more happiness/sanity but also attract bug type pokemon.
Some meals could be more filling to restore more hunger, but they can't be eaten in combat. Only when everyone's sitting down for a meal.
Others could be snack sized, like berries. Or things like cookies, muffins, jerky, or bottles of juice or elixirs. These are smaller, provide less health, but can conceivably be scarfed down during combat if needed.
Don't worry about that I already thought of something .
I already had decided what effects of food items like berries and its just that I didn't think what happens if you start combining and cooking them .
Like I just had generic food and things like berries as a separated thing .But after people talked about food that gives more buffs I I noticed that there was no reason why people wouldn't just cram as munch buffs into food.
I like your ideas but I miiiight have been writing a unnecessarily complex and weird magic system to make Pokemon work for this quest(or well, I decided to make the quest to use it) for more time than anyone sane would expend on something like that before starting the quest , and now I'm just trying to figure out what a weird mixture of food whith effects would even do to a Pokemon and what happens when you cook berries, instead of deciding that certain food could have certain gamey effects( or at least trying to figure out how to justify those gamey effects that want in terms of "Pokemon magic") .
The part about cookies and bottles of juice seems interesting though .
Feel free to experiment whith food in future chapters btw.
About iq ,and evil being a tangible force in this setting I cannot confirm nor deny anything. Ominous qm grin.
(Seeing players speculating about the setting is fun)
[X] Ask questions first.
-[X] What kind of danger?
-[X] How can I stop it?
-[X] Will there be others helping me?
-[X] Why me?
-[X] Will there be a return trip home if I do this?
All smart questions.
[><]Lie and say no
Tsundere Cook? That sounds amazing. Can we do this? Please?
"I-is it good? N-n-not that I value your opinion y-you DUNCE!..."
[X] Ask questions first.
-[X] What kind of danger?
-[X] How can I stop it?
-[X] Will there be others helping me?
-[X] Why me?
-[X] Will there be a return trip home if I do this?
You decide to be smart about this , and ask some questions before deciding.
Even if the voice decides to not answer you ,at least that will give you some information.
"Can I ask a few questions first ?"you ask.
"Fine , we do have some time "the voice says "I can't answer everything though , I'm not sure how munch I can trust you , and even if I did there are some things I cant afford to risk revealing until you are under my protection."
You think that's reasonable , since you don't completely trust the voice either .
Honestly you feel a bit bad about that , even if its probably the smarter decision , you generally prefer to trust people.
Though you are just asking questions , its not like you are doubting the voice or something right ?
Asking questions is perfectly normal. But you feel nervous for some reason .
"I was going to inform you anyway after you answered , but doesn't matter , tell me what you want to know"the voice said.
"You said the world was in danger"you start.
"Yes , that's true."it answers.
"What kind of danger? And what can I do about it? "you ask .
"Sorry I'm not sure I should tell you , that is one of the most dangerous questions you could ask " the voice seems to think for a moment.
"For now Lets just say that it's related to why you and other humans before you got to the Pokemon world.Though I'm still not sure how.
"Wait so you didn't bring me here ?!."you say dumbfounded.
"You had that impression ?"the voice seemed a bit surprised.
"Yes, kind of "you shrug."I thought you had chosen me to save the world for whatever reason, and was even going to ask you why ."
"I mean I can't remember my life very well but I don't seem to have that munch useful skills apart from cooking ."
You realize a bit late that maybe you should have kept the amnesia secret but you feel that you can trust the voice .
"Sometimes a human appears here in the Pokemon world ,lying unconscious somewhere. I just contact and guide them "
The voice doesn't comment anything about your memory problems , maybe it happened to the other humans as well.
" You probably have more skills than you think but I don't really care. I will help you even if you don't want to help save the world . I know that not everyone is cut to be a hero , and helping me might be even more dangerous than just trying to survive."
"You don't have to choose now , I just asked because some people just say yes and then I can generally know if they are sincere and how much I can trust them ".
"I wont think less of you if you don't want to have anything to do whith this "
"I can't tell you how to find me until you decide though."
You wonder if your mysterious interlocutor its a gardervoir like in first games .
Some part of your mind tells you to not just suspend your disbelief and start assuming everything is like a videogame , but the trippy and bizarre scenery isn't very conductive to that kind of thought.
"Anyway , I was going to ask If I'm going to have help in this world saving quest you talk about."You continue.
"I guess I'll explain the basics of your situation and I'll try to be quick since we are running out of time ."the voice said.
"Fine."you reply.
"As I mentioned before this is not the fist time something like this happens ,some humans have been appearing on this world for a long time"
"For a long time I have been protecting and guiding all the humans that I could find."
"Uh , how did you find me then ?" you ask.
"I didn't , its just that someone whith my powers can easily contact humans on their dreams". the voice answers nonchalantly.
"Wait didn't you say this wasn't a dream"? You ask confused.
"You could think of it like that, but as you can tell this doesn't really feel like a dream , and you won't just forget the conversation once you wake up."
"Just think of it as a method of communication that just happens to only work while you are sleeping."
How does that even work , I'm clearly awake but somehow dreaming at the same time? I doubt I was an expert in biology but that is weird"you try to figure out how that could work , but after a moment you give up , deciding its just Pokemon magic.
"Does that mean I'm just .. lying unconscious somewhere , and you don't even know where? "
"Yes , but don't worry , whatever brought you here doesn't seem to want to kill you and you are more protected that it seems , so you aren't going to die until you wake up".the voice explained
"You will wake up soon , either in a safe place,or near a low level dungeon "
You find a bit weird that the voice calls it "low level " but maybe another human told it about the Pokemon video game ?.
At least you hope the world doesn't actually have explicit levels like that , this whole situation is already weird enough .
Thinking about that actually makes you wonder why the voice seems to be speaking English perfectly.
"... or at least that's what happened whith past humans , I can't be sure." It continued after a moment.
"That's reassuring.... I guess " you say , not really feeling very safe being unconscious somewhere.
That reminds you something important you intended to ask before " Will I have any help ?"
"If you are thinking about other people from your world ,you are alone in this, unless I find another human "It didn't sound like that was very likely, so you are alone in this it seems.
"But I will be helping you in what I can and maybe you will find friends and people you trust "
"Even then I ask you to not reveal that you talked to me , and if possible try to hide the fact that you are human you are human" the voice .
"Although that might end up not being a concern."
Wait ,does that mean what I think it means you think . I'm going to become a pokemon?.
You aren't sure how to feel about that, being a Pokemon sounds awesome, but the more pragmatic part of you is wondering if its even a good idea.It could be horrible if you end up as a magicarp or something.
Or even just something without hands.Unless Pokemon can magically grab things without them somehow?.
Who knows . Maybe you should ask....
"Not all Pokemon are friendly or even people ,so be prepared to run if necessary."
"What abou...."You are going to ask something else but the voice seems to notice something and starts to speak faster interrupting you.
"One last thing if you do find other humans please tell me ." it said "Maybe I just missed someone , but they could also be working for our enemies so be careful ."
"Sorry but I have to leave you"
Wait , already ? I still have so munch questions , like what is a dungeon exactly , what dangers I'm about to face , how to get food and water.....
You kept thinking new questions but its too late , the colors around you disappear and your consciousness slowly fades away .
You keep transforming into different Pokemon in your dreams.
Soon you wake up. You don't feel very rested.
You touch grass whith one of your hands while you wake up .
This tells you two things , first , that you sill have hands(yay) , second that you aren't in your bed.
"....."
After a moment you gather the courage to open your eyes and move a bit.
You feel a weird mixture of relief and disappointment when you notice you are still human.
Was that all a dream ? .you think , confused.
In your right hand you have something slightly heavy whith a plastic handle.
Examining it you realize that It's a frying pan and looking at it brings memories of making people happy whith food.
You are surrounded by tall grass , and slowly come to terms whith the fact that the weird conversation most likely happened.
You are wearing an apron and red working clothes.
Maybe you were wearing it when you got here?.
It certainly doesn't seem that you were prepared for something like this , and the hopes of actually being an interdimensional badass and just having forgotten it fade away.
Well Its not like you don't wan't to be a cook. This frying pan has made me remember how much I liked making people happy whith my food.You think examining it.
You apparently know about lots of things , science , math, technology ......
You could probably have chosen to do something else if you had wanted.
I don't think I was famous and there were probably other works that payed better.
But I decided to become a cook , because that's what made me happy.
Well....
I'm totally romanticizing a life I don't even remember aren't I?.you sigh and start checking yourself for injuries.While you do that you notice that you have a small but sharp knife in a pocket .
After checking and not finding anything serious you inspect your surroundings .
You are on the middle of a forest .
In front of you, (which you think its towards the north by the position of the sun), there is a small path made of dirt that goes from west to east and runs parallel to a line of trees that seems difficult to cross.
Behind you there is a small rocky hill that you don't have any idea if you can climb (You aren't the most athletic person).
To the right it the path turns towards the north and ends in a big clearing.
there is a rattata in the path there , not moving ,maybe fainted (or at least you hope its not dead).
The rattata confirms it ,you aren't in Kansas anymore ( maybe literally , you could have been on Kansas before this for all you know ).
To the left the path continues until it turns around the hill and continues towards the south .
You can see something on the floor there in the middle of the path .
It's a brown bag , but you can't tell munch about how it looks from here.
The bag seems to have fallen there while its owner was running , and the band that one would use to wear it is broken.
What looks like a giant seed and a few berries are in the floor near the bag , probably fallen from inside.
Feeling curious and a bit hungry you decide to go towards the bag .
"Whats the worst that can happen anyway" you murmur.
After a few steps two rattata appear from nearby bushes and go towards the bag.
The rattata look at you and don't seem friendly , but it doesn't seem like they'll attack unless you come near them.
By the sounds on the bushes there might be more of them .
You decide to avoid saying anything like that again until you are really sure this was just a coincidence and narrative causality is not actually a thing here.
But now you have o take a more urgent decision .
What will you do?
[]Run towards the clearing.
[]Try to get the bag without angering the rattata and continue towards the south .
[]Kick the rattata , grab the bag and run towards the clearing.
[]Try to climb the hill and go towards the south .
[]Write in.
Well , planning fallacy hits again .I almost finished this in time for the weekend , but I procrastinated too munch on it and I almost couldn't write on Sunday .
I will try to be more consistent from now on .
In the map Alice is represented by a random mapmaker character , and that's not necessarily how she looks , since I haven't really described her in the story , if you want her to look differently tell me .
I like feedback so feel free to tell me what you think about the chapter.
Also reading your ideas is fun and inspires me , don't be discouraged by the fact that I more or less already have decided how my setting works.
Especially since I haven't though of lots of things , and often I realize my worldbuilding doesn't make sense and have to change things.
[x]Try to get the bag without angering the rattata and continue towards the south.
-[x] Try talking to the Rattata. "Question: Are you intelligent and this bag is yours, or are you wild and the real owner dropped this bag to escape you?"
Don't worry you most likely will .
I admit that I wanted to see that kind of reaction when I wrote this chapter .
I assume you are going to turn into a pokemon soon,but I can't be sure that you will because you might do something I don't expect ,or get very lucky/unlucky whith some rolls.
You will have other opportunities to turn into a pokemon latter if you want anyway.
[X]Try to get the bag without angering the rattata and continue towards the south .
I am intrigued!
Also tempted to try and push for Dark type just you can have MC with an ominous appearance/nature who's actually really friendly and likes making meals for everyone. (Also because Dark type best type)
[X]Try to get the bag without angering the rattata and continue towards the south .
I am intrigued!
Also tempted to try and push for Dark type just you can have MC with an ominous appearance/nature who's actually really friendly and likes making meals for everyone. (Also because Dark type best type)
Thanks, its nice to know that you are intriged.
I was wondering if people were just waiting for the geting turned into a pokemon and cooking part and maybe the first chapters were boring or something .
(Well , I do understand that you don't have much options for now, and awesome pokemon powers are awesome pokemon powers so of course you are waiting for that ).
Let's see if you survive without a partner until then though . Ominous qm grin , prepares dice.
[x]Try to get the bag without angering the rattata and continue towards the south .
-[x] Try talking to the Rattata. "Question: Are you intelligent and this bag is yours, or are you wild and the real owner dropped this bag to escape you?"
You decide to slowly approach the bag trying to not seem threatening .
The ratatta don't seem intelligent ,and you assume they will say something if they are .
They approach the bag while you do ,and you almost loose your cool and run in the opposite direction , but they don't seem to want to attack you .
Something changes .
Its subtle , but you can see their expressions and behavior change in a weird and unnatural way when you approach them.
Fearing the worst you reach for the bag while you try to stay calm and not do anything that might seem threatening.
The rattata that seemed just curious about the bag before suddenly appear to not want you to get it ,and one of them jumps at you the moment you try to grab it .
The pokemon is clumsy and predictable but really fast . You try to dodge but trip and fall , avoiding the tackle .
When the pokemon hits the ground the impact sounds too big for something of its size , and you suspect it would have hurt a lot if you had gotten hit.
Unfortunately your far from stellar attempt to dodge has left you into the ground , and meanwhile more rattata have covered the path .
Maybe there is a nest or something there?
That doen't explain why they don't want me to get the bag.
I guess they can smell food inside or something.
You almost decide to leave the bag to see if the wild pokemon stop attacking you.
But you are really curious about its content and .....
Its not really that you are risking your life to satisfy your curiosity , the bag could have something necessary for your survival latter.
And I doubt its owner would mind since I'm saving it from the rattata.
Right?
You convince yourself your whim is the obvious best course of action and grab the bag while you try to get up and run.
The nearest rattata seems like its going to attack you but it suddently grabs the bag by the remains of the handle whith its teeth after failing to bite the bag itself ,and starts pulling .
The pokemon is stronger than you would expect but in the end it doesn't weigh enough top keep its feet on the ground while you lift the bag .
Suddenly you feel a sudden pull on it , the rattata moves weirdly .
You hit it whith your frying pan while you get up . The Pokemon falls dazed and takes a moment to recover.
I't doesnt seem to have taken too munch damage.
While you try to get up another rattata hits you using its tail like a wip ,which hurts a lot and almost makes you drop the bag but doen't cause a serious wound.
The rest are reaching you .
The rattata you hit stumbles a bit , still recovering .
It touches the seed that was left in the floor .The other rattata suddenly seem to see something on the seed and flee from it .
The seed explodes in a big ball of fire.
The rattata that touched it seems a burned in multiple and its unconscious but other than that it seems fine.
You feel relieved , even if they are attacking you don't want them to die
You use the distraction to run.
It doesn't seem like you can dodge the rattata and go towards the south so you run the other way , towards where you suspect the owner of the bag might have fled from them.
Maybe you can even find however it is.
You don't know if they will be friendly ,or if its a good idea to reveal yourself being a human . But it's probably better than being alone .
Maybe you can even cook for them.
What do the pokemon eat ?.you ask yourself .
Are there normal animals apart form pokemon ?.
This is not the time to think about that , first survival , then cooking.
It seems like you will have a lot off problems for not having turned into a pokemon , you can barely fight these rattata.
Even if it doesn't make sense you do feel like this world owes you something .
You like your body , but awesome pokemon powers are awesome pokemon powers.
And everything so far has been so much like pokemon mystery dungeon that you were already expecting it when you woke up .
If a group of rattata were too much for you who knows what coud happen if something stronger attacked .
And you aren't sure what you will eat or even drink.
Maybe the mysterious voice will apear again if you survive until the night .
It said you were protected somehow but it doesn't look like that to you .
Though you haven't been hit yet , so you could have some kind of magical protection.
But you don't really want to test it .
Maybe that's why the voice didn't tell you anything, so you wouldn't do anything risky and find the limits of the protection? By how it talked it sounded like it had to deal whith hotheaded teenagers often.
You suddenly realize that you have been running for a while and you are already on the middle of the clearing that you could see before.
Trees surround you, the clearing seems too symmetric and flat to be natural ,it seems like someone cut the trees and moved some rocks to make room for something , but didn't build anything.
The path continues towards the north ,there the clearing ends and you can the the start of a mountain .
The path ends in a strage opening in the mountain , surrounded by strange rock formations that look
Like fractals.
The opening is bigger than you and weirdly rectangular .
You can't see anything inside , as if the light just disappeared in the boundary.
That's clearly a dungeon. Maybe the clearing is a gathering place to go into the dungeon? The way the grass has grown gives the impression that people nobody has been here in a while though.
Now that you think about it the rattata seem to be pushing you to go there .
They block the path you came from but don't seem to be pursuing you yet .
Also the forest is full of thorny bushes and it doesn't seem like you can cross it .
You open the bag , finding lots of weird pockets whith strange metallic boxes inside.
The interior of the bag feels diferent from the exterior , as if it had once been part of a different bag.
There are buttons on the boxes .
curious you press one.
The metal box expands and opens , revealing a few berries that definitively didn't fit there before .
You contain your excitement at having a bag that's bigger on the inside and decide to check its contents fast , before the apparently dumb rattata decide to pursue you again .
For now they seem to be gatering in the entrance of the clearing, blocking it .
The bag has 3 oran berries , two persim berries and a leppa berry that look like you would expect from the games( each berry in a different box for some reason ).
In a diferent compartment you find a box whith some kind of fuit ,vegetables, tofu and rice that seem a bit mushy and crushed , but not as much as you woud expect if they had been there when the metal case was small.
You are very interested on how those things taste ,especially the berries , and feel a bit hungry , but you don't know if the food has anthing that humans can't eat , and you aren't that hungry yet.
The rice seems normal and you might be being too paranoid , but better be safe than dead , one can never be cautious enough about food.
This brings back vague memories of being sick as a kid for eating something poisonous.
The faces of your parents start to appear in your memory but soon it fades and you remember the yellow eyes instead and your head hurts a bit.
Anyway , what were you doing...?
Trying to not think too munch about how you don't even remember your family you continue checking the bag's contents .
In the bag ,outside the metal boxes you also find a rough looking notebook ,which seems more like some bad quality paper put together by some strings, .
You don't have time to examine it now but you notice the cover has weird symbols that don't seem like any writing system you recognize, although one symbol looks like a z,while others vaguely resemble kanji.
There are also tree giant seeds like the one that was in the floor , two green and one yellow ,the one that exploded was red so you thing they wont explode but you dont touch them too much.
Finally you find transparent spheres the size of your hand whith weird pattern of bright colors inside , also in different boxes each one.
The rattata start slowly going towards you.
While it seems that they are coordinating, it looks more like they are randomly running from something until they reach their position , and then sudently feeling calm and curious about you.
You wouldn't have noticed if you had't seen it up close before ,but you suspect they are being controlled .
You feel cornered , without more option than entering the dungeon , which might prove even more dangerous than the rattata .
Maybe you are supposed to go there ? you cannot help but feel like the voice should have given you more instructions.
If this was a videogame that would be where you are supposed to go , but if you are thinking that explicitly you probably are wrong genre savvy.
You could just try to climb up a tree and wait for the rattata to leave,but you dont feel very confident in the rattata not being able to climb it .
Or you could fight the rattata ,but you don't like your chances whith that , there are more than 7 of them , and you don't have anything to disinfect wounds whith if you get bitten.
Besides , now that you are here you might as well go on an adventure , maybe you can even get turned into a pokemon, get psichic powers or at least something , since you don't think being a regular human is going to be very safe arround here.
What will you do?
[]Enter the dungeon .
[]Go fight some rattata
[]Write in.
Your plan can cover more than just your immediate actions , like what to do if you find the owner of the bag , things to try whith the bag or items once you get rid of the rattata, examining the notebook etc , Alice will follow your plan if it makes sense on the contextt of what happens next udapte.
Partner vote:
Your Partner is nearby and you might find them next chapter so lets also have that vote now .
Both votes count separately.
Example :
Current plan :[]do something.
partner:[] partner idea
You will encounter a friendly Pokemon at the start of your journey that will probably help you on your adventure.
What will be your partner's species?
[]Pikachu
[]Kecleon
[]Vulpix
[]Oshawott
[]Piplup
[]Torchic
[]Abra.
[]Write in(subject to qm veto , some options might mean specific things for the backstory of the partner).
Some background/dream combinations might not be valid if I cant find a way for it to makes sense
Background :
[]Rich family
-Has money
-Might not be on good terms whith his/her family
-Had a good education , knows about lots of things, though not necessarily the thing they would have wanted to learn about :
-Haven't lived on their own until recently .
[]Troubled past
Has lived a rough life and might have committed some crimes on the past , now wants to start a new life .
-Has connections whith criminals
-Skilled at sketchy things.
-Past might become a problem
[]Beasmaster:
Comes from a tribe of beastmasters and can control a few wild pokemon(which are not sapient in this setting), has problems entering cities whith them .
-Rare beastmaster ability.
-Lacks knowledge of the local laws ,politics and technology.
[]Wild kid
-Lived some time as a kid whith wild pokemon .
-Fortunately was old enough to know how to talk.
-Lacks basic knowledge that other pokemon might have and he is bad at interacting whith other people .
-Knows a lot about how to survive in the wild and has experience fighting.
[]Explorer's apprentice
The explorers federation is very influential on the region,and a lot of young pokemon train whith them them even if they don't necessarily end up being explorers.
-You are likely to also get recruited, less freedom , better training and access to some difficult to get resources and training.
-Knows about dungeons ,and has some training .
-Has official permit to accept official quests.
[]Foreigner
-Comes from another region, might speak a different language and have an accent when speaking the local one.
-Knows less about local geography , laws and customs.
-Necessary if you want certain species of Pokemon.
-Exact backstory will depend on other choices.
-Can help you pretend to be foreigner to avoid suspicion about your ignorance(to a certain point).
[]Normal background
-Self taught, centered in whatever dream they have .
-Normal family ,some relative might have been a famous explorer or something depending on item choices.
-Has learnt to fight and knows how to get jobs and live by themselves.
Dream
What your partner wants to do whith their life.
(will also affect what your partner is good at ) .
[]Explorer :
Explorers not only go to new lands but they also map and investigate dungueons
[]Runemaster :
A long time ago people discovered a method to create certain inscriptions that produce all kind of effects when inside a dungeon or when activated , masters of this art guard their secrets very well .
Your partner wants to become one of them .
[]Merchant :
Your partner wants to get rich and influential trough commerce.
[]Learning about humans :
A long time ago humanity controlled the planet, and there are ruins of their civilization all around the world.
Your partner always wanted to know more about them(might overlap whith Scientist)
[]Politician:
Your partner wants to influence the politics of the region.
[]Rescuer:
Your partner wants to help people in danger , in dungeons or elsewhere.
[]Healer :
Your partner wants to learn how to heal people .
[]Scientist:
Your partner whats to figure out how the world works and maybe join the research society.
[]Improve the world:
Your partner just wants to have a positive influence on the world .
[]Undecided :
Your partner is just trying to make a living , and doesn't have munch idea what to do whith their life .
[]Chef:
Make delicious food.
[]Chronicler:
Starting item :
Your partner will start whith them, choose one.
Runes only work on dungeons and near kangaskhan statues.
[]Rune of holding
- Needs to be charged near dungeons but less restrictions than the bag of holding .
[]Healing rune
-Slowly regenerates while you are in a dungeon .
-Doesn't work on humans and doesn't completely heal all wounds .
-Explorers guild gives one to new members.
[]Light and lesser defense rune
Useful to see on dark places and protection , counts as 1 item.
[]Power rune.
-Increases the damage the physical moves of the user cause (might not always correspond whith the game's physical/special divide).
[]Special rune.
-The same for special moves.
[]Heat protection rune :
Keeps a small volume around the user at room temperature , might not be a good idea for some pokemon to wear.
[]Warp rune:
Randomly teleports the person wearing it and whoever they are touching small distances.
[]Pecha rune
Protects the user from being poisoned by most kinds of Pokemon poison.
[]Everstone
Prevents pokemon near it from evolving .
[]Rare Evolution Item
You can use this to select an evolved form of your partner's species if necessary .
[]Secret dungeon info
Specific secret Intel about a dungeon , like info about the entrance of a secret room or the location of a previously unknown dungeon(depends on your other choices)
[]Blackmail material .
Your partner knows something that someone influential would not want to be known .
[]Rock whith weird symbols :
Strange rock found in a dungeon that a runemaster might be interested in seeing .
[]Apricorn
Repels Pokemon near it if a move or ability is used on it .
[]Pokeball
Irreplaceable item left by human civilization , can capture any Pokemon .
Nobody knows how it works or how to repair it if it breaks.
Might not be working perfectly after so munch time .
Your partner keeps having one secret.
Very important to some people and a bureaucratic nightmare for you if the authorities find out you have it.
vote finishes on Friday
Author's notes:
The rng god did't seem to favor you today but it didn't favor the rattata either.(though you did do well in perception checks )
Unfortunately you weren't able to continue towards the south but you survived and got the bag .
Next chapter if everything goes as I expect you will be meeting your partner and will turn into a pokemon of your choice .
Partner: [X] Plan Curious Spirit
-[X] Abra
-[X] Normal Background
-[X] Learning about humans
-[X] Pokeball
I'm thinking that having a Psychic companion would be fairly useful on principle, and I honestly don't see a need for the special background- the Abra was just a normal Pokemon, found a Pokeball one day, and centered their life around that. Fairly straightforward. Lucky for them, they run into someone who could be considered sort of an expert on humans- sort of. Amnesia's a real bummer sometimes.
Please?
