Wait, we're Linde? Lol.
And our friend is Maya and we've briefly talked with Bridget.
Grabbing this ID here since the portraits are still dead, since all of these are characters from Trails of Cold Steel used as faceclaims.
Linde (Mariana's vote-inaccurate faceclaim) has a lengthy arc in the ToCS games, but in the first game is mainly the only Thors student with an anxiety level approaching Mariana's, a commoner Art Club member, and a recurring target of mild bullying and pranks from her identical twin, Vivi.
Bridget, likewise, is heavily involved in a four-game-long plotline of her childhood friend Alan trying to become a shounen anime protagonist and constantly picking stupid ways to go about it. She is a noble (like Astrid), a member of the Music club, and is mostly an accessory to Alan's subplot...although given Arvis's editions so far, if Astrid has picked up anything from her faceclaim, it's going to be
Alan's hobby of challenging stronger fighters to duels for personal reasons. Especially since Astrid is in the Dueling Club, Mesagoza's version of the Fencing Club.
Maya, Kali's faceclaim, is actually from the second half of the series, a student at Thors Branch Campus after the timeskip between ToCS 2 and 3. She's half Eastern Zemurian, and a markswoman, and has some poignant moments about honoring the mixed heritage she got from her mother, but otherwise isn't involved in much - I'm gonna guess this claim more than anything was for the looks, but then, we haven't met Kali on-camera yet.
Ehhhhh Cassius is kind of an outlier who's tragically miserable in spite of his power, really. Couldn't protect the one thing he truly cared about and it takes his kids growing up and physically smacking him for him to even start getting over it.
He also doesn't really do much aside from saving Liberl that one time which I think helps with the survivability. His ass playing Martial Arts Gandalf to the younger generation is a survival strategy.
EDIT: And you know, Cassius did hop on to Sky's "it takes everyone working together to achieve a miracle, not just one very strong person" theme even before the game got around to turning to the camera and saying it. The people around him tend to take it as humility (or in Estelle's case, laziness), but it's definitely the same genre of "you need friends dingus", just sociopolitical rather than personal.
I'm quoting my own post here to remind everyone that "you need friends, dingus" is literally a four-word summary of both Trails and Pokémon as franchises. Treasure our Bond Points.
Your Father is bringing you to meet a Human, he says. Only a few of your Siblings will be coming to join you in his Horns. You are joyful since that means you will not be pushed to the back of the Horns. You feel sleepy waiting.
Case in point: Roland is best boy.
Also I think we initially pair-bonded with him through Mongolian Wrestling, which is fantastic.
Not much to say about his intro that isn't summed up by "best boy", and the fact that Roland is a
baby baby which we've been frequently reminded of, but I do hope we get more Pokémon POV scenes in the future.
A Chimecho. Ah, a psychic; that explains things. You approach, still chewing on the berry your human's parents had left unattended.
'You must be little Mariana's Pokemon.' You are certain that it is the other way around but you do not correct her. This Chimecho seems…scary. You are immediately vindicated when she started using her psychic grip to *pinch* your cheeks.
'You are just so cute, even cuter with a berry that isn't yours in your mouth,' she says telepathically while still smiling outwardly. She's even starting to laugh!
Chimu is a kindly older lady. Yeah she definitely sealed a bunch of our memories.
At the mention of a rematch (weird how selective their understanding of human words are) Dreepy perks up and looks down smugly at your younger brother. That smugness immediately wilts when Tamara says she also wants a rematch because she wants to know what a Dreepy's tail tastes like.
I respect Roland's game but he needs to know which species will eat him if he loses. Highlanders are one of them.
"You three can have your rematch once you help me clean up." You doubt they'll win their rematches, though. Not like you who won after that thing that happened that you forgot about.
Okay I had trouble parsing this the first time but Mariana and Roland
both "forgot" losing to each other in their first encounter. Nerds.
"Um, sir? Are you sure this is the right uniform? I thought uniforms for non-noble students were green?" you ask the Academy rep. You've never heard of a red Mesagoza uniform before and that's what's just been handed to you. The uniforms have your last name and initials on it though.
First one is the formal dress uniform. It's what you're expected to wear on the first day, during formal events and during Field exercises. The other is the casual uniform. There's multiple of them and it's what you're typically supposed to wear during day to day classes. It's a white polo shirt with color coded pants according to your status. Purple for nobles, Green for non-nobles. Though yours is red for some reason.
This'll come up later, but the red uniform for Class VII specifically is a Trails of Cold Steel element. We're the elite, and more importantly, we're a mixed-social class class. The separate uniform marks us as separate from the normal divisions of the Empire.
Also notable that Arvis gave Mesagoza the two uniform variants (dress/field) you'd expect from a military organization, as opposed to Thors, which operates on Japanese High School Rules...in general, but also specifically in having winter vs. summer uniforms.
Also probably worth noting now that Thors
also works off the Japanese academic school year with the term starting in April, whereas Mesagoza is closer to the American or (as our QM is from the Phillipines) Filipino standard of starting in late summer, albeit still earlier than most of the schools I know. As a point of comparison, the big summer festival in ToCS 1 happens during the third Field Study.
… Emperor Rodrigo Diaz Arnor would meet one of his closest companions, The Masked Maiden, in the Andosin Highlands—The refinement of Tera Crystals into Orbal Energy would revolutionize science and technology in the aftermath of the Great War a scant four decades ago—Algebra is a branch of mathematics in which—A yet unknown linguistic ancestor is believed by leading to shared by all human cultures in the world—The temperamental nature of most Dragon Types make raising them a difficult prospect—Emperor Rodrigo is also known as the Father of the Renaissance for the flourishing of Arts and the Natural Sciences under his—
Studying seems to consistently be a rapidfire lore dump so we should do more of it!
Another Emperor Rodrigo namedrop and, to clarify a point I've made before, his full name marks him a a clear reference to real-world Spanish national hero
El Cid, Christian name Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar. El Cid never ruled Spain and in fact famously fought for pretty much every side in the inheritance and religious wars that marked his lifetime, but he is nonetheless a beloved hero like Emperor Rodrigo here. Also this was the first nicknamedrop for Ogerpon, don't think any of us caught it. Also interesting that she's associated with Andosin, rather than Kitakami or whichever Province equates to Legram (if there is one). It's entirely possible Arvis has skoshed the geography to make Kitakami and the events of the Teal Mask more convenient, though, especially as I don't think the name's come up as an independent Region.
One-off mention of the relationship between Tera Crystals (raw material) and Orbal Energy (end product) that I shamefully missed before but it's in the glossary now.
You don't know this, but you do algebra in your head all the time, usually whenever you're trying to figure out how much of something you need to get the result you want.
"Un(kn)own linguistic ancestor" I see you, Arvis. I vote we don't think too hard about what this means for Leaf's occasional peppering of Japanese words into her English sentences.
Dreepy also mostly understands the words you say now. A part of you thinks that they sometimes pretend to not understand you just to get out of doing things it doesn't like. They can be easily bribed with berries, though; they seem to like oran berries the best.
I was gonna go on a deep dive about what liking Oran berries best means in terms of Roland's personality and Nature but 1) the details of the berries-as-food mechanics like Pokéblocks and Poffins are complicated enough to terrify me just reading about them on Bulbapedia, and 2) I'm pretty sure liking Oran berries is the Pokémon equivalent of your favorite food being Chicken McNuggets. No shame, just very much the Median Flavor.
"Remember to write at least once a month! And call if you have free time! …Not if you're busy, we don't want to distract you!" Your mom orders as she crushes you in a vice grip of a hug. Your dad and your siblings look at the scene of your death, amused. You're totally only getting them a single souvenir each. …Maybe two. Eventually Chimu and Ravs convince her to let you go.
You're freed only to be rushed by your younger siblings for a hug one last time. "Make sure to come back sis!" pleaded Tamara.
"I won't forgive you if you lose, my rival has to get stronger than the old coot ever got!" demanded Timothee. Right, he calls you his 'rival.' So cute. Dreepy makes a chirping noise that you're pretty sure is laughter. You ruffle their heads and reassure them.
I'm going to tattoo "people love you, idiot" to the inside of Mariana's eyelids.
Also how many rivals do we
have? Makes me feel even sillier about picking a fight with Goku.
Never mind he doesn't need to eat as a ghost-type.
Honestly this aside makes everything about Roland funnier.
"Is everything gonna be a ritual for you everytime?" Jenkins snarks. You roll your eyes, you don't need this from him. He does one last check to make sure everything is ready (while reminding you to check to see if you haven't left anything, which you haven't) before taking off. It'll be about an hour flight (accounting for Doremi taking breaks) to Zara Gate, the old Paldean fort separating the Highlands from Tagtree Thicket and by extension, the rest of the Region.
I actually missed this the first time around - Tauros Fort and Zara Gate being two different locations, specifically. That makes a bit of my Trails comparison from the last deep dive post inaccurate, mostly because the Erebonian forces in Nord are more concentrated than the Paldean forces in Andosin - it's pretty much Zender Gate and a Watchtower consisting of like four guys and a pair of binoculars who are just there to make sure the Republic doesn't get uppity. Still though, I guess refer back to my last post? Especially since the "Fort" here seems to be almost an entirely civilian settlement, just built up around what was formerly a fort.
Soaring through the skies on Doremi's back, you take in your surroundings one last time. A part of you admits that flying through the air like this has gotten somewhat routine. But there's something… calming about it. No noise other than rushing wind and occasional sounds of other flying pokemon. Endless vistas passing beneath you, towering mountains in the horizon and the occasional landmark so far down below they almost look tiny. You can't wait 'till Dreepy is big enough to fly you eventually.
Yeah yeah, wrong subseries.
"Shut it all, four of you," he scolds. "Look, kid. If there's one piece of advice I gotta give you, it's that you shouldn't be afraid to lose. When I was doing my Journey, it took me 'till the end of my second year to win my second badge. I got my fifth badge in my seventh year and I finally got my seventh badge ten years after I started. Never even got my eight, kept trying at it until the war broke out."
"What I mean to say is that you shouldn't stress yourself you're not moving or progressing fast enough, trust me, Trainers these days shoot up like reeds. Enjoy your youth while you have it, alright?" he finishes. You make a noise of affirmation and stay silent the rest of the way, unsure of what to say.
Reminder to Mariana: this
Reminder to the thread: losing costs money. Pls get more money.
"Hey, could you train Kali a bit before she goes out for her Journey? She's been kinda in the dumps lately. I think it's 'cause she didn't pass the exam with me." you ask him.
He gives you a look of exasperation and disbelief. "I pity that kid and anyone else who falls in love with you," he whispers something under his breath you couldn't hear. "Alright, I'll teach her the ropes, I still owe you for agreeing to the whole… y'know." Right, the Stakes.
Maybe we should make this a drinking game (we would all die.)
Still, I'm looking forward to seeing Kali on-camera one of these days, and Mariana being completely oblivious to why she's so smad.
[] Elise Montenix: You met her while changing stations in Zapapico. A girl with dark skin, long dark blue hair and turquoise eyes from Montenevera. You find that she's a kind and sociable person. Mid-conversation, the long curved sword in a sheath that she was carrying along with her luggage suddenly stood up. The blade peeked out from its sheath and a blue eye on the base of the hilt opened and stared at you.
- Your first friend in the Academy will be Elise Montenix
- She is Minor Nobility. Adopted Daughter of the Baron of Glaseado-Montenevera
- You'll be in the thick of it, both the conflict with the nobility and the mysterious powers besetting Paldea
- Though as classmates you will still be in the thick of it just by default
- Her Starter is a Honedge possessing a Tachi
Obviously, as pointed out before, Elise here is the OC equivalent to Rean Schwarzer, protagonist of the Trails of Cold Steel games (and named for his adoptive younger sister). Explaining his deal would mean explaining basically the entire plot, but suffice to say he, and presumably Elise M. here, have an
inordinate amount of supernatural horseshit going on in the background, as well as being the kind of lovable doormat who spends his entire school career doing sidequests for basically free. Notable immediately
obvious thing is that while we were panicking, she studied the blade. Rean's a huge weeb who follows an extremely powerful school of supernatural swordsmanship...sort of...and Elise seems to be doing the same, down to even bringing across the name of the school - Eight Leaves, One Blade. Being the adopted child of minor but influential nobility is also gonna be something we chat about at length as we get to know her, since adoption tends to make inheritance very complicated, especially when you're a foundling rather than another noble kid.
Elise is obviously for the refrance. "Montenix" is probably derived from the place name Montenevera, the canon ScarVi location, but also happens to combine the Spanish Monte (mountain) with Nix, which can be a reference to either the Greek goddess of night, or possibly
the fact that Rean can trivialize boss fights by spamming Impede and AT delay so the boss never gets a turn, "nix" meaning canceling or negating.
[] Eri Merkit: You met her right at the station as you were leaving the highlands. It was the first time you met someone your age taller than you. Long black hair in a braid like yours with brown eyes, she is surprisingly gentle and polite despite her stature and later you found out her standing. You are having a conversation with what is essentially your people's Royalty. A bored looking Riolu carried half her luggage with ease while she carried the other half calling it training.
- Your first friend in the Academy will Eri Merkit
- A Princess of the Merkit Clan, the richest clan as well as the ruling clan in the Andosin Confederation.
- She will make and have enemies both due to her background as essentially Foreign Royalty.
- People will assume you are her handmaiden
- Will not be in the same class as you
- Her Starter is a Riolu. She has another Pokemon with her that she didn't show
Eri is a Pokémon character, perhaps surprisingly, and one of the Team Star bosses (specialized in the Fighting type) from Scarlet/Violet. Athletic, skilled, and beautiful, this led into something of a spiral of bullying out of jealousy, something that will probably be even more prominent here thanks to the presence of anti-Andosin racism and her presence as the most visible and important Andosin at the academy. Not a noble by Paldean rules, but very much one by ours, on about the same level as Theodora and Manuel as an heiress.
Also probably outright terrifying at Bökh. We should get to know her before she goes full lucha libre with the mask.
The
Merkit were a historical Mongolian tribal confederation (geographically Mongolian, at least), one of Genghis Khan's neighbors who were among his rivals and first conquests.
[] Atticus Henzo: You were still wearing your deel when you met him. Introducing himself as Atticus, an apprentice weaver from Zapapico, he enthusiastically inquired about your clothes. Question after question about the quality, craftsmanship, sewing and stitching of your deel. Eventually, he noticed you were exhausted and apologized. As recompense, he woke the Spinarak clinging to his uniform and over the course of the rest of the train ride, he sewed you a decent bracelet out of Spinarak silk.
- Your first friend in the Academy will be Atticus Henzo
- From a commoner artisan family in Zapapico
- Not really in the Academy for battling but he is skilled at it.
- His eccentric personality, background and interests will make him few friends and connections in Mesagoza
- Is in the same class as you
- His Starter is a Spinarak. He had another Pokemon with him that he didn't show.
Another Team Star Boss, Atticus is the Poison specialist and in that game, like here, is a lover of fashion, handicrafts, and old-fashioned things generally (and ninjas. Can't be a poison specialist without being a ninja). We love a man with special interests, okay? As I mentioned before, he also seems to be playing the role of Trails of Cold Steel's Eliot Craig, a military academy student who dislikes fighting and really just wants to play the violin (or in Atticus's case, make extremely bespoke outfits and costumes). Why's he at Mesagoza? Well, Eliot's dad is a general in the Imperial army...
At first I misread Henzo as Hanzo, a Japanese name probably inspired by legendary ninja/samurai/bladesmith Hanzo Hattori. But no, it's Henzo, a Galician (the region of Spain) variant on Enrique/Henry, which means "Estate ruler".
(I hope it's still a Hanzo reference).
I'll start going into Ostia on the next one of these, since they won the vote, and we pretty immediately adopted them, as is right and proper for the terrifying supersoldier kids that keep popping up in Trails. They share a face with Renne and a partner with Millium, so I'm just waiting for them to bust out the cat-ear headband to bring in the Tio reference...
