I would think that requires Joan to do a research action.
Spend an afternoon on the internet looking up their version of wikipedia and forums for details.
Honestly, given how the trainer community seems to keep a lot of this stuff internal, either on purpose or because people outside the community don't tend to get it, would we be able to 'google' that kind of thing?
Honestly, given how the trainer community seems to keep a lot of this stuff internal, either on purpose or because people outside the community don't tend to get it, would we be able to 'google' that kind of thing?
I would think that requires Joan to do a research action.
Spend an afternoon on the internet looking up their version of wikipedia and forums for details.
Honestly, given how the trainer community seems to keep a lot of this stuff internal, either on purpose or because people outside the community don't tend to get it, would we be able to 'google' that kind of thing?
If that's true, I'm guessing we should probably get that out of the way while we still have Melati with us? She can probably access those sites and then transmit the information to us.
[X] Plan: Lay of the Electrified Land
-[X] Have Marigold practice with Electrified Terrain.
—[X] See how her magnetic sense is affected, if at all.
—[X] See how the move interacts with the ocean and possibly with the water type Pokémon in it.
—[X] Train her agility while under the effects of the move: do this by playing catch with her and slowly making your throws harder and harder to catch.
"I think… I want to start work on Electric Terrain," you tell Melati. "If I'm going to be working on her magnetic sense, I need to know if it affects it in any way. I also need to check its effect on the ocean and the pokemon in it if I'm going to start training her on the coast, and I also need to try and see if it has any effects on her capacity to move. I was thinking something along the lines of playing catch with increasing difficulty ?"
"Hmm," she muses over a for a moment as you feel yourself working up a nervous sweat. Was that good enough ? Did you say something stupid ? Did you… "Not a bad idea, but there's two things I'd correct here. One is a beginner mistake, and the other I'm going to blame on trainer school because they should have taught you that. I'm just saving you the time it'd have taken you to realise it.
"Let's start with that one : training her agility under Electric Terrain is just training her agility. Maintaining a Terrain doesn't take any real effort for a pokemon. It's an external construct, just like a Shadow Ball or a Mud Bomb. Only more stable. Once it's formed, the pokemon just releases it, so there's no strain to maintaining it besides supplying it with energy from time to time to ensure it doesn't run out. It wouldn't affect her movements in the slightest, especially considering Mareep are even more naturally insulated than most Electric-types."
Oh. You suppose that makes sense, if you'd known ahead of time that it doesn't take any real effort to maintain a Terrain besides spending energy — something that's even less of a concern to Marigold in the first place, you realise.
"You're not entirely wrong to think about how it affects movement, but I would probably focus on how she can take advantage of Electric Terrain to speed up her static charge, since Mareep do that by rubbing their fur over surfaces in the first place. Save the agility training for a dedicated regimen, and instead get her used to moving fluidly while building up and replenishing that charge, since Electric Terrain being up means she can rub over any surface to do so. "
"Huh, I see… That way just moving around in the Terrain would turn it into a passive recovery of sorts…"
"Exactly. It wasn't a bad instinct to worry about how the Terrain would affect your movement. But you thought in terms of how to minimise the detriment to your pokemon.Thing is, they don't ever learn moves which actually hinder them. Only things that might not mesh with what you or they want to do. Start thinking in terms of how to maximise what advantages you get out of moves and how to orient them towards what you and your pokemon envision, rather than lose time and progress trying to mitigate perceived problems," she states, hammering her point in with a stern gaze.
"And what was the beginner mistake ?"
"Oh, that one. I think I only saved you half an hour in pointing it out, but you focused too much on worrying about the smaller details."
"… What do you mean ?" you answer, puzzled.
Wasn't it a good thing to be meticulous ?
"Trying to work out how it will interact with different terrains was very good instinct, as was wondering about whether it would affect her movement or magnetic sense… But in focusing on them you forgot the most important part. What part of Electric terrain are you training ?"
… Ah.
"Will you be trying to improve the speed at which she sets it up ? How strong its charge is ? The area of effect ? If she's going to be repeatedly putting it up to work under its influence, might as well make sure she gets a good handle on the move in and of itself, no ?"
She gives you a small teasing smile at that last question, and you curse the damnable flush you feel rising on your cheeks. Alright, you may have gotten caught up on the excitement of thinking everything through and might have skipped an important step or two… It could happen to anyone !
"Personally," she picks up, taking mercy on you, "I'd recommend working on her speed on setting it up. She's a little young, so she won't be able to pack all that much power in it or spread it all that wide yet. I reckon the best thing you can do, if you intend to make it a big part of how she fights, is make sure she's capable of putting it up undisturbed."
That tracks. You're not quite sure how you intend to use it moving forwards, but it's a pretty rare move for a Mareep and the kind of addition to her toolbox that could be made to work with any number of things, so until you have a clearer picture, making sure she can actually deploy it when needed is as good a bet as any.
Walking away from a snickering Nekeh (you're pretty sure you can tell by now), you make your way to a roughly clear patch of sand far away enough from the camp you feel confident it won't get caught in an eventual crossfire, alongside a curious a little sheep.
"Alright, girl," you say cajolingly sternly, kneeling in order to speak directly to her. "You know that move you showed me yesterday evening ? Electric Terrain ? Do you think you can do it again for me ?"
"Meep !" comes the happy answer, before you suddenly feel static begin to build up in the air.
Ah. You should have probably told her to wait until you were outside the attack's radius, huh.
With a small cry and before you really have the time to process what's happening and move away, your Mareep releases her attack, the ethereal pulse of Electric energy flowing outwards from her. You brace yourself as much as you can, and suddenly a… few continuous jolts nip at your feet and the hem of your trousers, as you feel your hair stand up from the static charge in the air and see the occasional spark light up in the air out of nowhere, or run a long a groove in the sand.
Electric Terrain isn't a damaging move, or one even designed to particularly inhibit those caught in it. It's mostly meant to create an area with a very high ambient static charge, and a disturbing environment for pokemon that makes focusing harder for non-insulated pokemon.
It stands to reason it wouldn't really hurt you.
Sweet Celebi is it uncomfortable to be in, though — like you're constantly being bitten by mosquitoes.
Your starter looks proudly up at you, though, and you don't have the heart to berate her for not waiting until you were out of range.
"Very good, Marigold," you tell her, not having to fake the small note of pride in your voice as you make your way out of the Terrain's radius. "Did putting it up tire you a bit ?"
"Meep !"
You're not sure whether she actually understood your question, but the fact that she's happily bouncing around without showing the slightest sign of exhaustion means you're going to chalk this up as a solid 'no'.
Unsurprising, considering both her natural talent at gathering electricity and… Well, looking from the outside in at what she's created, what you can only call the attack's kind of lacklustre scope and power. It's very impressive for a baby, but at the end of the day that's what she still is.
That said, if she can already do this barely out of the egg, you'll clearly have something to work with.
"Alright, girl, now you know how you rub your fur over things to build up electricity ?"
The answer comes in the form of a happy hyperactive sheep barreling at you and beginning to rub herself all over your trousers.
"Yes, just like that," you coax her encouragingly. "Now you know how you just made this whole area all electric ? Do you think you can manage to build up electricity by just moving around in there ?"
It takes a couple of minutes of her staring up at you blankly until you realise that she has no clue what you're asking her to do. She's so precocious that it's easy to forget that, like all other pokemon her age, there's only so much she can comprehend.
So, in a series of moments you are dearly glad no one has a picture of, you have to resort to miming what you want out of her for a few utterly mortifying (and quite literally shocking) minutes before she finally understands what you're driving at.
Once she gets it, however… Well, she certainly takes to it with enthusiasm. You'd had an inkling of it already, but beyond being simply good at building up a charge, she genuinely enjoys both the act of charging up and spending all that energy. She cavorts around with all the excitement only a child given free rein of a playground can, and while you'd never call what she's doing particularly graceful or agile, she eventually works out various ways in which she can work to quickly build up power while the Terrain is up.
The first, owing to Mareep's tendency to bounce around on its tiptoes, is by sticking close to any protruding features in the Terrain, and making sure she rubs alongside them when moving around rather than bouncing away from them. She also starts incorporating rolls to her bouncing around, which for now still leave her a little disoriented but seem both great fun to her and surprisingly efficient on a friction-heavy surface like sand.
Ordinarily, this would be barely enough to build up anything, but with the added ambient charge, it actually works well enough. At the rate she's replenishing, she might actually gather enough to make up for what she spends putting up and maintaining the Terrain. Sure, that's outside of battle, and her current Electric Terrain isn't actually charged to the brim, but it's still clear that so long as she's free to move around, she shouldn't have any trouble in keeping it up even in a longer fight.
Not that you really test how long she can keep it going. Instead, every time she feels as though it's time to replenish the Terrain, you tell her to let it dissipate, so she can practice putting up a new one. After a small series of charades which necessitate making 'woosh' noises to convey the concept of speed, you manage to make her understand you want her to try to put it up as fast as possible every time. You don't make all that much progress, given you're only at it for an afternoon, but at least she understands what you want out of her and seems like she wants to make it work.
(You suspect she very much likes frolicking in the Terrain, and figures that the faster she can put it up the quicker she can play in it.)
Seeing her stumble around on her little legs, however, you realise that you don't have to scrap everything from your original idea — you can work on seeing how the Terrain affects her magnetic sense and get her a little more comfortable in her movements playing catch.
Instead of scrounging around for metal objects, however, you're (somehow) directed by Yasigi into chipping off a couple of rocks out of one of the nearby cliffs, which turn out to show up in Marigold's magnetic sense, and then set out for a couple of tests.
First, you have her turn her back to you, then lob some of the rocks at her, to make sure she can feel them coming. You need to slow your pitches a little after the first couple of times, but it's pretty clear the only problem is her reaction speed and physical capacity to actually catch the rock in time, rather than her ability to sense it. In fact, it's clear that as you suspected she has very good range and precision for a Mareep fresh out of the egg, even if it isn't perfect yet.
Having established that baseline, you set up the exact same exercise while she stands in her Electric Terrain, and it quickly becomes apparent that something is different. She's noticeably a bit sloppier, and while at first you thought this might be because the Terrain causes interferences, you quickly realise that actually the problem is both twofold and much lesser : at the very edge of her range, her senses fritz a little bit, enough that a small projectile doesn't register quite as fast, meaning she rushes a bit to catch up, and you're also fairly sure that it's a little less precise. Not so much so that she gets where the rock goes wrong, but enough that she sometimes just barely misses it, or has to adjust her trajectory at the last second because she was a little off.
If you had to guess, instead of getting the actual shape of the object she gets a sort of larger, blurrier outline — which means with some training she'll likely be able to learn to take it into account. You're going to take Yasigi's (who has apparently declared herself your assistant) proud nod as confirmation you're correct in that regard.
You continue your game a little longer, more for the benefit of making sure she finds her footing than really working on her magnetic sense, since that'll be a more… maybe not long-term, but at least mid-term project. Eventually, however, you note that the sun is beginning to dip, and that if you want some light for the last part you'd planned for your training, you're going to need to move on.
So off you go to the beachfront proper, Marigold following gingerly behind you as she stares at the surf with a mix of wariness and curiosity both. In the end, with some soothing mutters, you get the latter to win out over the former and gently coax her into approaching the tide.
Your first test is as safe as you can possibly make it : Marigold herself is just out of reach of the tide, and you've made sure that there are no nearby pokemon. The couple of Krabby hanging out aren't anywhere near her, you've set up on the other side of the creek from the small colony of Corsola you didn't even realise were there until Yero disturbed them going for a nearby nest, and you're too close to the shore for the other usual suspects to be near. Your little sheep uses Electric Terrain and… nothing special happens. It just unfolds normally.
That's a bit of a downer, but you're nothing if not thorough. You have her step a little further, hooves now occasionally lapped by the waves — the presence of Jura keeping a discrete eye on you a little further away lets you relax enough to trust Marigold with actually wading her feet in the water — and try again. Things go… almost the same, but with a slight difference : at the furthest point from the shore, the Terrain seems to dissipate quite a bit faster than the rest. Or rather, the ground seems to be keeping its charge, but the thicker layer of moving water above it prevents it from remaining stable. Another test — as far forward as you're comfortable letting Marigold go — reveals much the same phenomenon, where the deeper the water the quicker the Terrain gets disrupted.
Figuring that it really wasn't all that dangerous of a charge, you take the risk to test how it actually feels to be in the water when it's being used yourself, and while the jolt you got was definitely more of a shock than on the sand, it's also pretty instant, the intensity lowering fairly fast — although you feel it from much further away.
Half-remembered physics lesson tell you this shouldn't be how it work, but you don't find it in yourself to care.
That said, the air itself still seems to keep its charge relatively long, even if the air above a certain amount of running water definitely loses its charge faster than the one above sand.
So. It's not got much in the way of direct offensive potential. No surprises there, it 's a Terrain move, and using it in water was unlikely to ever change that. It does have potential as a low-effort, low-energy disruptive move, however, considering it's likely to jolt most things out of focus when used, and even though it needs to be exploited quick it'll still give a boost to an Electric move, at least before it disperses.
In terms of what effects it has on water Pokemon caught up in it… You're a bit leery of trying, considering how young Marigold is, but in the end your choice is made for you when a Wingull drops to the ground next to you while your Mareep is practicing.
It bounds back into the air with a squawk, then begins screeching (the action, not the move) its discontent at Marigold while circling her. Not looking harmed in the slightest, but definitely annoyed. For a moment, you almost worry, but…
You wish you could say Marigold's first battle was a glorious thing, a hard-earned victory, but in the end the only thing you can call it is a let down. Before you have the time to issue the slightest command, it dives down with all its indignation to Peck at her, and your starter falls back onto any newborn Mareep's ingrained instinct : nestling into her fur for protection.
Unlike most newborn Mareep, however, she has spent the entire day in a highly-charged environment, building up the static charge in her fur and also knows Charge, which you feel her using on reflex.
The Wingull's beak disappears into her wool, before the Water/Flying type just… starts to twitch, and falls over to the side, properly paralysed — not the kind of mild inconvenience you see in proper competitive battles with pokemon who know what they're doing, but genuinely out of order. Not harmed in any actual way, but most definitely locked out of movement.
An offended Marigold's head juts back out of her fur in confusion, before taking in the situation. Then, with gleeful vindication, she waddles up awkwardly (the waves trip her up) to her immobile opponent and just Tackles it into submission.
… That's one weak Wingull, right there.
Then again, a stronger one would have taken one look at the nearby snakes watching over the scene and wisely chosen not to pick a fight.
Marigold trots away huffily back to you, head held high in a way you'd almost call snooty. A pretty quick turnaround from diving for safety under her wool, huh ?
"Good job, girl," you tell her anyway, figuring she does still deserve credit for winning her first battle, weird as it may have been. "Good job."
As she preens happily under your fingers (and you occasionally wince at the small shocks from the tuft of wool on the crown of her head), you notice that the sun is beginning to properly set, and that you'd best call it a day if you want to be able to see yourself cooking dinner.
Marigold has realised she could be bringing out Electric Terrain faster, and has begun to work on improving the speed at which she does so.
Marigold has realised she can easily build up the static charge in her wool under Electric Terrain by moving around in ways that maximise friction of her fur with the electrified environment. Begun finding ways to do so, mostly contained to integrating barrel rolls and good positioning for now. Gains reduced by Marigold not being particularly good at this whole moving around thing in general just yet.
You have learned that Marigold's electromagnetic sense is still functional under Electric Terrain, although it's slightly less precise than it is normally. It however becomes even better at detecting small objects. This limitation can be overcome through future training.
By combining the magnetic sense training with playing catch, gained a slight improvement to her agility/movement.
Discovered that the environment affects the efficacy of Electric Terrain, and notably that when used in the water it mostly turns into a non-damaging but very irritating stinging jolt, though the benefits of Electric Terrain can still be reaped if an Electric move is quickly used before it disperses. Range also expands in water.
Marigold, like all Mareep, has discovered turtling as a combat strategy. Unlike most Mareep, she has realised that she can actually make it work, at least against very weak opponents. Slight bonus to paralysis chance and potency when contact is made with her wool in general (especially when the opponent is particularly weak to the Electric-type), greater increase in the bonus when she has a built-up reserve and time to use Charge.
Dinner is a slightly less boisterous affair, with Melati leading you into checking up on Marigold for any eventual bruises or blisters from the training — very unlikely, considering it wasn't particularly intense and it was only a half-day's worth, but it never hurts to learn good habits early — and the two of you then settling in for your meal.
While you do the dishes (she'd done the Pyroar's share of the cooking) she goes off for an evening swim with Pep and Jura, and you're finally given an insight into why regularly doing that wouldn't give her a swimmer's build.
There's no other real word for it, but she simply doesn't swim like a human being. In fact, you're pretty sure that most human bodies (and prior to tonight, you would have said any human body) aren't supposed to contort themselves like that, but Melati does, and the undeniable truth is that she swims like a serpent.
A part of you recognises that you probably shouldn't be surprised at this point, but as you see her weave effortlessly around her Milotic using only the power of her core muscles and strange wave-like movement, the much larger part is still flabbergasted that this is actually at all possible.
And a small, curious part ponders the other part of the explanation she gave you yesterday for her level of fitness.
Besides, I cheat.
Between that and the several allusions to things you'd learn later, you're beginning to believe that you're missing something.
A curious Marigold bundling up to you, having finally exhausted herself playing around with Yasigi while you had dinner, draws you out of your thoughts and you spend the next half an hour of remaining sunlight brushing and pampering her before Melati returns and warns you she's going to bed, collapsing in her usual snakepile without further ado after having dried off.
You debate staying up for a moment, until you remember just what awaits you tomorrow — so off to sleep you go, with dread and excitement churning your gut in equal measure.
The following morning begins much as the previous one had — you rise sleepily, fall on your ass when Nekeh decides to jumpscare you and slinks away doing whatever the hissing equivalent of chortling is, and get started on breakfast.
To no one's surprise, more eggs.
Once you've finally managed to blearily blink the fuzz out of your eyes and fed your growling stomach, you're treated to a sight you should have probably noticed sooner : Pep and Jura out a little further into the bay, practicing what looks like some kind of show routine. Judging by the frequent interruptions by Melati, who's swimming nearby, it's likely a new one of some kind.
You spend the rest of your breakfast alternating between staring at the gorgeous spectacle and trying to get Marigold to sit mostly still — she clearly wakes up with entirely too much energy, or at least far more than you do. Thankfully, Yero and Yasigi take pity on you and take over the task of watching over her while you clean up your things and ready yourself for the day.
The quiet moment comes to an end, however, with Melati's return as she helps herself to her own serving of breakfast and fixes you with an intense stare.
"Ready ?" she asks, tongue sticking out a little the way it does whenever she's very focused.
"No," you answer honestly.
"Good. You're sensible. What do you know about Named Pokemon ?"
"… You want me to tell you everything ?" you ask, a bit surprised.
Is it even possible to live in this world without knowing about Named Pokemon ?
"Might as well do it right. Never know when you might have been taught wrong or incomplete things."
"Yeah, that's fair," you sigh. Over the last couple of days, you've sure been feeling like there's a gap between what you learned and what the world is like. "A Named Pokemon is… a pokemon that has grown powerful enough that it's considered the de facto ruler of a local area, right ? And considering the more pokemon grow in power, the cleverer and longer-lived they usually get, especially wildborn and wild-raised pokemon, they're basically human-like in intelligence and are usually treated with as though their domain is a little foreign kingdom of its own ?…"
Melati only gives a very familiar sigh, which you've begun to identify as her going on a very long tirade about Trainer school and the state of general education in the depths of her mind.
"Some holes there, though none of them your fault," she began, voice carrying that intensity it gained whenever she really wanted to drive her point home. "First and most important, and if nothing else you will remember this over anything else I am going to say : Named pokemon are not human-like. Never treat them like they are. It's a human conceit, and it's probably killed more idiot wannabe Trainers than any other stupid thing they do. They have cognitive and emotional capacities that rival and often eclipse our own, but that does not make them human. They all have their own set of instincts, their own drives and desires and logic which have no obligation to obey human rationality. The best thing you can do is always, always to remember to treat them like a very clever pokemon. If you wouldn't say or do it to a more regular Nidoqueen, don't say or do it to Cassiopeia.
"The next thing to remember is that as soon as we set foot there, we're not in Johto anymore. It might look like it on a map, but you're on foreign ground and you will show respect. Thankfully, most Named aren't too picky — so long as you don't disturb their territory and don't actively disrespect them, they're fine. Cassiopeia being a little weaker than most and having a slightly shakier status, between how recent her takeover has been and the unrest it arose from, is a little more demanding. Don't grovel or demean yourself, but be respectful and for the sky dragon's sake be honest. Almost every pokemon species has better senses than you, and Named are paragons with usually at the very least decades of experience. No matter how good of a liar you think you are, you aren't. Understood ?"
She's really not helping you settle your nerves here, so the most you can give her is a slightly shaky nod with a vague affirmative noise, one which she takes in stride before relaxing a little.
"Sorry. A little too intense, but it's better to be too wary than not enough. It's not bad, honestly. I actually think you'll enjoy it, and Cassiopeia is always happy to have people around. Nidoqueen are natural rulers — she enjoys having ambassadors at her court like you enjoy drinking when you're thirsty, and in many ways that's what us Trainers are. Some of us are even designated points of contact between the authorities and the more ornery Named. It tends to be the local Leaders, but for more remote ones who don't really interact with humans much, you often have whatever itinerant Trainer gets along best with them, since location isn't as much of an issue."
Huh. You knew they usually sent Trainers as go-betweens, but you'd always assumed that it was whoever was nearest at hand.
"You're one of them, right ?" you ask her — there's something to her voice, a kind of quiet confidence unlike her usual brand of it that only ever peeks out when she's talking about Trainers in a way that includes her.
"Good tell. Kigali and Akashi. Ophion too, when I'm in Hoenn and Juan and Wallace aren't available."
You choke.
"Excuse me ?"
She just smirks at you — a rare sight, an actual fully formed emotion which actually looks disturbingly like Nekeh's — but adds nothing else, letting you catch your breath after a few moments of sputtering.
Kigali alone would have been plenty impressive. The Mountain Mother of Dark Cave, the eldest of the living Steelix and possibly one of the very oldest living non-Legendary pokemon period, at least in Kanto/Johto.
Name : Kigali, the Mountain Mother, Mother Serpent, the Underqueen Species : Steelix Domain : Nominally Dark Cave, but her tunnels run from the feet of Blackthorn to Tohjo Falls Known points of contact : Melati Meriwether, Dragon Clan, Sprout Tower
Bio : Whenever someone tries to establish some kind of ranking of the region's Named pokemon, no one is ever quite sure of where to put Kigali, the gigantic eldest of the Steelix, for the simple reason that the last recorded sighting of her fighting was at least five whole generations ago — and even that was just a report of the earth shaking and of devastated tunnels.
The local tribes of the areas that would later become New Bark, Violet and even parts of Blackthorn, far before even the notion of a united Johto existed, already worshipped her, exchanging gifts and tributes for safe passage through the caves. She's been Named for at least five or six centuries, and the tunnels she carved out hundreds of years ago for her own comfort are still an integral part of Johto's road infrastructure.
Kigali is a bit of an odd duck in that unlike almost every Named, she has never been known to particularly seek self-improvement or challenges, having apparently grown content with what she'd carved for herself centuries ago and is nowadays usually quite happy to stay in her lair and watch over her young — the recurrent references to her maternal role are no fanciful fabrication, as she's known to be unusually doting on the young Onix who hatch from her eggs.
It's also been speculated that the reason she is never really seen fighting is that at her power level, any serious combat would completely collapse everything she's carved and built for herself were she to do it in the vicinity of her home.
One of the most well-known and famous of Johto's Named pokemon, even if not many may actually know much about her, and possibly the one whose actions have had the greatest positive impact on the humans of Johto as a whole.
Prefers to be left alone, but known to house and entertain passing Trainers for a night or two — though rarely ever more than that, and always some distance away from her young.
Ophion, although unsurprising considering she's a Trainer with a famous Milotic and has family from Pacifidlog both, would have also been well enough to impress you.
Name : Ophion Species : Milotic Domain : Hoenn's seas. No, really, that's as precise as it gets, though it's most commonly sighted in the stretch between Pacifidlog and Sootopolis. Known points of contact : Melati Meriwether, Juan, Wallace, 'Pike Queen' Lucy
Bio : Not all that much is known about Ophion, and not being from Hoenn you've never even bothered to learn all of it. Still one of the more famous Named anywhere, because it's a damn Milotic and the one widely acknowledged to be the most beautiful of them all. If ever there was a top five of the most beautiful Milotic (a species that would already be one of the top contenders for first place in a top five of most beautiful of all pokemon), it's only serious competition for the top spot would be Cynthia's Milotic, and that would be on outsider odds.
Having first properly appeared about fourty to fifty years ago, it's the whole package : huge, ridiculously graceful, powerful, eager to show off and it's even shiny — if Milotic perfection had a beauty standard, he would be it. Although he shares most of his species' famous peaceful and friendly temperament, he is known to be exceptionally vain and to take anyone upstaging him personally. Loves attention, and often shows off for passing boats and ferries
Wallace's Milotic is famously one of his children.
But Akashi ? The Red Gyarados himself ? The Tyrant of the Lake of Rage ? The one you call Lance himself to calm down ?
Name : Akashi, the Red Gyarados, Tyrant of the Lake, That Fucking Gyarados Species : Gyarados Domain : Lake of Rage Known points of contact : Melati Meriwether, Pryce, Ethan 'Gold' Kowalski, technically Lance but you only want these two within with three miles of each other if everybody's been cleared out of the surrounding area
About : In many ways, Akashi has no business being this high up the list. It's very young, for one, or at least it is for a Named — it's still older than you — and the area it rules over is, by all means, shared with the local fishermen, even if they tend to leave the centre of the Lake alone. But Akashi is also several things that saw him earned his Named status earlier than just about any pokemon you could care to name.
While the Lake of Rage has long been a famous Magikarp breeding ground, it'd been centuries since the last Gyarados was sighted. It's just too peaceful an environment to provide the kind of tough challenge the famously mediocre fish pokemon needs to transcend itself. However, one thing the local fishermen knew was that there was one unnaturally bellicose Magikarp in the lot you simply didn't mess with : the golden one. It outsmarted any attempt at catching it, and most importantly it ruled that lake as much as a Magikarp can. It was known to pick fights — and win them — and also to put down any attempt what few non-Magikarp species which showed interest made of settling in the lake.
When Team Rocket attempted the disastrous live tests of its forced evolution technology, it finally received the impetus needed to become a Gyarados… Alongside an entire lake previously full of Magikarp which had also just evolved. Newly evolved Gyarados, rendered ultra-aggressive by the pain the evolution broadcast caused. Dozens upon dozens of new Gyarados eager to challenge the former top dog.
Funnily enough, at first the Rockets' experiment was thought to be a failure. Lance and Gold managed to put it down, and then headed to the Lake to quell one of the few specimen the broadcast had seemed to work on, a rampaging red Gyarados whose battle with the current Champion and the challenger who came closest to his crown was by all account awe-inspiring. That alone had been worth a successful high-budget action movie and two TV specials, but it was upon dragging the depths for the ships which sank during the rampage that they uncovered the most unbelievable part.
Dozens of fresh Gyarados corpses, some of which had turned upon each other, but most of which had been torn to shreds by the very force of nature they'd tried to topple asunder. The reason there hadn't been a major disaster caused by a horde of rampaging Gyarados was because none of the newly-evolved rage monsters had wanted to submit to Akashi, and he had fought all these would-be challengers to the death. Quite possibly at the same time.
Akashi is a freak of nature, and besides Old Bertha in Ilex Forest arguably the one considered to be the single most dangerous Named in Johto. It usually sleeps at the centre of its Lake, but without a regular outlet for his rage provided by strong Trainers which come to test themselves by challenging him, will fly into an uncontrollable fury which usually requires calling up the heavy hitters — usually Lance — to quell.
In a way, you shouldn't be surprised. You know exactly three serpent, snake or snake-adjacent Named pokemon, and she's a known contact for all three of them. She's nothing if not consistent. But still… even if you'd been severely underestimating her strength as a Trainer, she shouldn't be strong enough to handle the likes of Akashi or Kigali. Ophion, maybe, and even there you're not convinced.
So you voice that thought.
"Sorry if that's rude, but… How… I mean, how are you supposed to handle Akashi or Kigali when…"
"—I'm not strong enough to ?" she asks, no judgment in her voice. "Don't worry. It's not rude to ask — it's true. But that's not the point. You're thinking like a Battler. Think. I already gave you enough to understand why I'm a better choice for both of them."
So you do. You think back to the weird and varied lessons she's given you so far, and to her little lecture about Cassiopeia earlier, back to that little spiel about respect and honesty, until finally the answer unfolds in your mind.
"… Because no one appreciates them like you do, right ? No one finds Ophion as beautiful as you, respects Akashi's power like you or shares Kigali's adoration of her children quite the way you would ?"
It's so simple, in the end. Melati really, really likes snakes. She feels nothing but awe and wonder for them. She sees nothing in them she does not like — and she is brutally, painfully honest about it, which mean these pokemon know it.
"Exactly," she smiles. "Akashi is ornery and irascible, but he has been through a lot. The human reaction is to feel pity for him — but what he wants is for the willpower it took to overcome each and every hurdle to be acknowledged. Ophion just wants to be adored. Kigali cares for her children above anything and everything in the world, and she has no time for anyone that wouldn't fawn over them as much as they fawn over her.
"I know I scared you a bit, talking about Cassiopeia and Named in general, but at its heart it's simple enough. Remember how you got Pep to acknowledge you ?"
Your memory flits back to an awe-induced bow, and a single solitary nod.
"It's no different. There's a reason I looked for that fire in you, before anything else. You can see them, see their worth as individuals and don't shy away from it. If you accept them for the amazing creatures they are, and don't go out of your way to disrespect them, they'll like you."
"… It's that simple ?"
It seems a little easy, doesn't it ?
"I've always thought so," she says. "Most people don't believe me."
"And you've never wondered if that meant there might be something more to it ?"
Melati shrugs uncaringly, rising off of her seat on the ground and beginning to gather things.
"They're the same people who would tell me not to swim with Pep or wrestle Nekeh," she dismisses the concern. "They're afraid, don't understand. Think like humans."
"And you don't ?"
It slips out, unbidden. You weren't even aware you were asking the question until it was out of your mouth, but as it flows out you're relieved to realise she doesn't seem to have taken offence to it.
In fact… In fact, this might be the first time you've asked her a question that necessitates her to stop and actually think properly about the answer.
"… Human-adjacent," she concludes a little hazardously, but a a quick side-eye at your opening mouth has her stone her features. "You'll get it when you get stronger. Maybe not agree. But you'll get it."
For all her general weird quirks and Melati-ness, you've been nothing but awed by the woman you've been traveling with ever since you first met her.
At this precise moment, you think you've just discovered something very important. Something which you might consider the only black mark you have to hold against her. You'll reserve your judgment until you understand what she means better, but you're beginning to get serious hints that Melati sees a good Trainer the same way she sees a good trained pokemon : as something more than its species.
The walk to Cassiopeia's… Court ? Lair ? The place where she lives, at any rate, is almost distressing in how peaceful it is. You sort of expected an army of angry Nidoran to line the road, glaring at you and daring you to stray an inch out of the correct path, but instead you're relatively undisturbed as you follow the winding track through the crags.
Eventually, though, you do get nearer to the seat of her power, and you're not sure when or how you started noticing, but you did.
There's a weight to the air, an almost anticipatory charge to it, that sort of floating tension in the air in-between the moment where you notice someone you don't know coming towards you and the moment they reach you. Are you just psyching yourself out ? Is this an actual feeling, or just your mind conjuring up tricks of perspective as you realise you're likely approaching your destination ?
You don't know, and you forget about it all anyway when you see the first couple of Nidoran watching you carefully. Heads peeking out from behind rocks, at first, until a female feels braver than the others and waddles up to you, sniffing at you carefully. Nidoran are usually fairly cautious as a species, but you imagine it's hard to develop much caution towards humans this deep in a Named's territory. Anyone would know better than to risk upsetting them.
Once it's established that you won't violently kick the little rodent as soon as it nears you, the others become a lot bolder and bundle along, looking curiously at you as they grow in numbers. Funnily enough, and unlike most of your experiences thus far, they actually in large part shy away from Melati, preferring to have a good look at you. It's a bit of a surprise, until you realise the depressing truth when you think back to that time a family of Pidgey took one look at her and booked it : they're much more scared of her than they are of you. Not that they're wrong to, but one day, just once, you'd like people to look at you and feel threatened. Not that you want to threaten people, you don't want to hurt anyone, it's just… you know ?
Two Nidorino join your little procession, ostensibly watching over the young but otherwise happy not to interfere, and after two days of conditioning by Marigold you almost reflexively give some head scratches to a particularly valiant male Nidoran who all but pulls at your trousers until you remember the whole 'covered in poisonous barbs' thing.
… Maybe cuddles will wait until you're confident enough in where the barbs are.
Speaking of Marigold, you've called her back for now, leery of letting her out until you knew what you would find, and the fact that Melati doesn't have any of her own pokemon out — not even Yasigi — comforts you in that choice. Maybe you'll let her out if you have permission, though. You have a feeling the little bundle of energy would love having this many playmates.
The rocks around you keep getting larger and taller, and you realise you're being led to the centre where the crags seem tallest… Until suddenly, right around the corner of another jutting spire, you find yourself in a clearing.
Small caves have been carved into the large rocks, and a pool has been dug just off the middle of it, where a few very young Nidoran frolic while older ones are drinking. A Nidorina gathers Berries in a pile (and you're no gardener but if these are all wild that's a small fortune right there) while two other are dragging back the carcass of a… Stantler, that's a whole damn Stantler. A small circle of what looks like recently evolved Nidoking and Nidoqueen are taking part in some kind of ritualised wrestling.
You don't pay attention to any of it, because you only have eyes for the throne carved straight out of the rock at the clearing's end, and the pokemon occupying it.
You've seen bigger pokemon than Cassiopeia in the last day alone — hell, you don't think Melati has a single pokemon shorter than the Nidoqueen. But there's three things to take into account.
The first, of course is that Melati's pokemon are all snakes. Sleek, strong, muscled ones, but they're all about length. A Nidoqueen in comparison may be shorter in the absolute, but it's bulky. A small titan, the closest there is left to the saurians that once ruled the food chain and whose might is only preserved in fossils that fail to capture their true might. Small only by comparison to these monsters.
And this one isn't all that much shorter than Yero or Yasigi, except it has the bulk to match.
Speaking of bulk, the second thing to keep in mind is that even from afar you can see her strength. You don't mean that she's demonstrating it, either : her body simply conveys the impression of being a mass of rippling muscle even at rest, even hidden underneath the armoured plates of her evolutionary line.
And the third thing which renders any size comparisons meaningless is the presence. The sheer charisma. You've felt it twice before, in very different ways, the first time you witnessed Pep and Jura up close. And now you understand what Melati meant when she said there was a difference between a strong regular pokemon and a Named one, because this is even stronger, that weight that settles on your shoulders and tells you 'this person matters'.
As you finally reach a respectfully close enough distance to her throne, Cassiopeia shifts, and the whole world seems to shift with her. The ground shivers, all the pokemon in the clearing immediately turn their heads to her, her stone throne creaks under her… The slightest of movements and suddenly she is the centre of attention — and you finally get a closer look at her.
If she is a ruler, then it's very much one of the warrior-queen variety. Her hide is littered with scars and pockmarks and some of her spines are snapped. The point of her horn has been chipped, and the ruins of her left eye shows clear signs of having been gored out.
Considering what you know of her, presumably by the very Nidoking whose skull has been nailed above the throne with its own broken horn, a grim but clear reminder of who is in charge and why you shouldn't mess with her. It's far from the only such trophy, too, only the one which gets to be the centrepiece. You recognise an Onix's horn, a Blastoise's launcher and even a Xatu's crest in the lot.
If you'd been shown pictures of her beforehand, you'd have thought her the ugliest representative of that line you'd ever seen.
Looking at her now, in the flesh, you feel nothing but the same kind of awe and wonder that's welled up within you at the sight of Pep and Jura. You'd never call Cassiopeia beautiful, but that doesn't mean she isn't breathtaking in her own right.
Melati comes to a stop and inclines her head slightly. You're about to imitate her, when earlier memories of Nidoran shying away from her and of a talk about respect resurface, and you instinctively correct your posture.
Cassiopeia is stronger than Pep or Jura. You can tell that. But she's not so much stronger that she could plow through Melati's team if she threw everything and the kitchen sink at her. In fact, she might even lose, even if it'd be a pyrrhic victory. So Melati stands there as an equal, although one who respectfully acknowledges that she's not in charge here.
You… Aren't quite there yet. At all. So, driven by a slapdash mix of instinct and what vague boring etiquette nightmares you remember of the celebrations you had to watch at Sprout Tower with your school, you make sure to stand about a full step behind Melati and to her right, and unlike her, you bow. Much like you did to Pep.
You hold the pose for a few seconds, before a rumbling snort that feels as though it could grind your bones escapes the Nidoqueen, and with an amused hand gesture she invites you to rise.
"Hello, Cassiopeia," your mentor greets her, and gets waved to a raised stone you realise is a seat of sorts. "We settled down on the beach below, so I thought it'd only be polite to drop by."
The Nidoqueen snorts again while you stand awkwardly, not having been directed to a seat yet not really sure about whether you've been dismissed. Thankfully, you get your answer when Cassiopeia makes a vague wondering gesture in your direction.
"Ah, yes. This is Joan. He's a hatchling I'll be taking care of until he can fend for his own."
You'd be more offended, but it only takes you a second to realise that she's modifying her words in order to couch things in terms that still more or less reflect your dynamic while being more understandable to the Nidoqueen, who looks at you again, though far more piercingly this time.
You're not sure whether you should say anything, but honestly at this point the silence is just getting to you.
"H-hello… I'm sorry if I've shown you any rudeness, ma'am ! It's just that it's my first time meeting someone… Well, quite as strong as you," you admit, a little embarrassed. "I don't think I was quite ready for it."
It's flattery yes, but not empty — it's absolutely the truth. You heard that particular lesson loud and clear, and having laid eyes on the gigantic Named pokemon (seriously, she's not that big in the absolute but considering that a young Nidoqueen already feels huge despite not even reaching one-and-a-half metres, one that's almost double the height and twice the muscles feels positively humongous, and that's before you take into account the raw presence), you're not particularly inclined to take the risk of pissing her off.
And much as it did with Melati, awkward truth-telling apparently carries the day. Cassiopeia huffs a pleased snort before turning back to Melati and barking a guttural cry, waving in your general direction.
"She thinks you're alright," your mentor translates. "You're free to wander about while I catch her up on the news. You can let Marigold out, too, so long as neither of you leave the clearing — and whatever you do, don't catch one of the Nidoran, not even if they unambiguously want you to. You're a little too green for her to trust you with one of the young ones."
And with that, she turns back to Cassiopeia, and begins telling her about some story involving Kigali.
Leaving you free to pick something to do. You release Marigold, who is immediately swarmed by some of the more curious young Nidoran while you ponder your options.
[] You're happy that Marigold found some playmates, but you'd still rather be close at hand in case there are any incidents. Follow the lot of them as they play around, and make sure everything goes smoothly.
[] The Nidorina that was sorting berries tries to attract your attention, apparently wanting some help identifying a pile of ones you're not sure you've all seen before. Where did these even come from ? By the time you're done, Melati seems to be done catching Cassiopeia up and has instead pulled out a bottle of… Is that alcohol ? Maybe you should investigate.
[] The young Nidoking and Nidoqueen wrestling circle has broken up a little in-between two bouts, and the winner takes advantage of the respite to throw you what you're pretty sure is a challenging taunt. You don't expect to beat a goddamn Nidoking in wrestling, but how often are you going to get the chance to try ?
A/N: Finally, it's done, and I'm only minimally late. This wouldn't have been so long if you'd picked anyone but Melati as mentor, since she was the only one who could give you a clear idea of what you should do when meeting Cassiopeia — the other two would have led to a vote as to how you handle your introduction — and also by far the one with the most to say about Named in general, and those she know personally. Fun fact : Elena is a point of contact for one, while you would have discovered Simon is considered notoriously poor at getting along with them.
There's no trap option in the choices — they're about what you'll be taking away first and foremost from this visit, and the kind of connection you'll be making to the Route 32 Nidoran enclave. And for those who'll worry about it — whatever you do, you will be keeping an eye on Marigold even from afar, picking either of the other two options does not mean neglecting her.
Also the training happened ! Gains are minimal, considering future training votes will almost always cover longer periods, but I hope it was a good way to see the sort of logic that'll be going into thinking up training write-ins, and the kind of reasoning I'll be applying to it.
Only a single standard vote for this update. No moratorium for this one, I think, considering the lack of write-ins or plans involved.
[X] You're happy that Marigold found some playmates, but you'd still rather be close at hand in case there are any incidents. Follow the lot of them as they play around, and make sure everything goes smoothly.
[X] The Nidorina that was sorting berries tries to attract your attention, apparently wanting some help identifying a pile of ones you're not sure you've all seen before. Where did these even come from ? By the time you're done, Melati seems to be done catching Cassiopeia up and has instead pulled out a bottle of… Is that alcohol ? Maybe you should investigate.
[X] The young Nidoking and Nidoqueen wrestling circle has broken up a little in-between two bouts, and the winner takes advantage of the respite to throw you what you're pretty sure is a challenging taunt. You don't expect to beat a goddamn Nidoking in wrestling, but how often are you going to get the chance to try ?
Get gainz young trainer
"Exactly. It wasn't a bad instinct to worry about how the Terrain would affect your movement. But you thought in terms of how to minimise the detriment to your pokemon.Thing is, they don't ever learn moves which actually hinder them.
[X] The Nidorina that was sorting berries tries to attract your attention, apparently wanting some help identifying a pile of ones you're not sure you've all seen before. Where did these even come from ? By the time you're done, Melati seems to be done catching Cassiopeia up and has instead pulled out a bottle of… Is that alcohol ? Maybe you should investigate.
[X] The Nidorina that was sorting berries tries to attract your attention, apparently wanting some help identifying a pile of ones you're not sure you've all seen before. Where did these even come from ? By the time you're done, Melati seems to be done catching Cassiopeia up and has instead pulled out a bottle of… Is that alcohol ? Maybe you should investigate.
Looks like Named Pokemon (capitals deserved) fit the Terry Pratchett quote.
Elves are wonderful. They provoke wonder.
Elves are marvellous. They cause marvels.
Elves are fantastic. They create fantasies.
Elves are glamorous. They project glamour.
Elves are enchanting. They weave enchantment.
Elves are terrific. They beget terror.
The thing about words is that meanings can twist just like a snake, and if you want to find snakes look for them behind words that have changed their meaning.
No one ever said elves are nice.
Elves are bad.
Great update! Marigold was super cute bumbling around and even in the way she took down the Wingull. Loved the worldbuilding, it really absorbed me into the story!
[X] The young Nidoking and Nidoqueen wrestling circle has broken up a little in-between two bouts, and the winner takes advantage of the respite to throw you what you're pretty sure is a challenging taunt. You don't expect to beat a goddamn Nidoking in wrestling, but how often are you going to get the chance to try ?
There's an author guarantee nothing is going to go wrong. So I really want Joan go and do the most dangerous thing in the options. After all, when are you gonna get another chance to wrestle a Nidoking and Nidoqueen without risk? YOLO.
[X] You're happy that Marigold found some playmates, but you'd still rather be close at hand in case there are any incidents. Follow the lot of them as they play around, and make sure everything goes smoothly.
[X] You're happy that Marigold found some playmates, but you'd still rather be close at hand in case there are any incidents. Follow the lot of them as they play around, and make sure everything goes smoothly.
It amuses me that for all Joan really wants to be tough and respected for his toughness... he just cannot escape his soft boi status and love for young Pokémon that are adorable.
[X] The young Nidoking and Nidoqueen wrestling circle has broken up a little in-between two bouts, and the winner takes advantage of the respite to throw you what you're pretty sure is a challenging taunt. You don't expect to beat a goddamn Nidoking in wrestling, but how often are you going to get the chance to try ?
[X] The young Nidoking and Nidoqueen wrestling circle has broken up a little in-between two bouts, and the winner takes advantage of the respite to throw you what you're pretty sure is a challenging taunt. You don't expect to beat a goddamn Nidoking in wrestling, but how often are you going to get the chance to try ?
Tempting as those berries are, we need to get used to a more rough and tumble lifestyle. Electrical shocks, extreme heat and cold, high altitudes, rough skin and scales, horns, thorns, and needles, mild poisons, slobber and slime… any given type specialist can endure more than the average trainer, obviously, but I'd like to get to that baseline average sooner than later. Let's give this Soft Boi a spine of steel, and calluses to match!
[X] The young Nidoking and Nidoqueen wrestling circle has broken up a little in-between two bouts, and the winner takes advantage of the respite to throw you what you're pretty sure is a challenging taunt. You don't expect to beat a goddamn Nidoking in wrestling, but how often are you going to get the chance to try ?
[X] You're happy that Marigold found some playmates, but you'd still rather be close at hand in case there are any incidents. Follow the lot of them as they play around, and make sure everything goes smoothly.
[X] The Nidorina that was sorting berries tries to attract your attention, apparently wanting some help identifying a pile of ones you're not sure you've all seen before. Where did these even come from ? By the time you're done, Melati seems to be done catching Cassiopeia up and has instead pulled out a bottle of… Is that alcohol ? Maybe you should investigate.
I like this one the most simply because it allows us to establish ourselves as helpful, and also finding out about the local berries that may be available.
[X] You're happy that Marigold found some playmates, but you'd still rather be close at hand in case there are any incidents. Follow the lot of them as they play around, and make sure everything goes smoothly.
[X] The young Nidoking and Nidoqueen wrestling circle has broken up a little in-between two bouts, and the winner takes advantage of the respite to throw you what you're pretty sure is a challenging taunt. You don't expect to beat a goddamn Nidoking in wrestling, but how often are you going to get the chance to try ?
[X] You're happy that Marigold found some playmates, but you'd still rather be close at hand in case there are any incidents. Follow the lot of them as they play around, and make sure everything goes smoothly.
[x] The Nidorina that was sorting berries tries to attract your attention, apparently wanting some help identifying a pile of ones you're not sure you've all seen before. Where did these even come from ? By the time you're done, Melati seems to be done catching Cassiopeia up and has instead pulled out a bottle of… Is that alcohol ? Maybe you should investigate.
[X] The Nidorina that was sorting berries tries to attract your attention, apparently wanting some help identifying a pile of ones you're not sure you've all seen before. Where did these even come from ? By the time you're done, Melati seems to be done catching Cassiopeia up and has instead pulled out a bottle of… Is that alcohol ? Maybe you should investigate.
As much fun as wrestling would be, it doesnt fit Soft Boi so berries it is
[X] You're happy that Marigold found some playmates, but you'd still rather be close at hand in case there are any incidents. Follow the lot of them as they play around, and make sure everything goes smoothly.
