hugtopia | Video - Early Malom, a couple days after the party

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Video - Early Malom, a couple days after the party

[Action; at Kiwi and Will's house]
[Will isn't expecting a package. He hasn't ordered anything, after all--and why wouldn't he go pick it up at the store, if he had? But he gladly signs for the small padded envelope regardless, and retreats to the living room to open it. A single, marble-sized Pokéball spills out into his hand; he gasps out loud, immediately standing to enlarge it and let out the Pokémon inside. A Hypno appears in a blaze of crimson light, looking around the unfamiliar room.]

Reve! Y-you--I thought--

[A little choked noise, like he's trying not to cry, and Will throws his arms around her for a tight hug.]

I'm so, so sorry. I never meant to abandon you, I didn't know I'd be leaving.....

[Video]
[Once the reunion is out of the way, Will flips on the video feed to make a post, looking more genuinely, radiantly happy than just about anyone has seen him here.]

Hi, everyone! I've got a favor to ask--or maybe an offer to make? I guess it depends on how you look at it!

Another member of my team arrived today! This is Reve.

[The camera pans over to show a Hypno sitting on the couch, polishing an already glittering pendulum. She looks up at the introduction, raising a hand in a silent greeting.]

Reve is a Hypno. Hypno are technically omnivores, but primarily psychovores--they mainly eat products of other creatures' minds. In this case, it's dreams. Where I'm from, I can normally easily keep her fed just by battling, since that's my job. That's not an option in Havenwell, though.

So my proposal is this: if you have nightmares you want to be rid of, or even if you just need help getting to sleep and want to keep your dreams, please let me know! You can contact me privately too, if you'd rather not speak up where everyone can see. There's no need to pay, of course--you're already giving us something, after all.

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Is it? What are they supposed to look like where you're from?

[Maybe this is another Pokémon with a direct animal counterpart? He swears he's heard the name baku before, he just can't remember where.....]

People have actually been having a lot of nightmares over the past few months, so I think there should be plenty to spare, even if people want to keep their good dreams. But I took her off the hands of another trainer who didn't understand how to take care of her right--he thought she only needed normal food. We've been together ever since!

[A very diplomatic way of putting the circumstances, but not a lie. Nobody wants to hear about a jerk mistreating their Pokémon, right?]

Never saw one myself, but legs of a tiger, body of a bear, the nose they got right, usually green or brown though.

[It's a chimerical creature. Meant to be good luck, usually revered by people for their protection. It's interesting to see one sitting around like that. This guy must have some sort of spiritual connection, right? Maybe he'll know what Doudanuki is, too.]

A....trainer? Is that like a saniwa? Or, uh, I guess a sage? I guess she won't be hungry then if there's a lot of nightmares to be had here. Kinda shitty though. Must have bad energy in the air.

Tiger? Bear?

[He's never heard of either of those before, but he assumes they must be animals of some sort. The body of a bear..... Is that like a Beartic? He tries to imagine what this kind of animal could even look like. Huge and powerful and shaggy, a deep bark brown or mossy green, probably powerful limbs with long claws, a Hypno's nose..... It sounds strong, and surely no stranger than plenty of Pokémon species?

He shakes his head to dismiss the momentary confusion, spreading his hands with a wry smile.]

There's been a lot of bad energy lately. Now that it's over, I think the dreams might have been messengers of the gods trying to warn us, but we didn't understand until it was too late. I'm not sure I'd call all trainers sages, exactly, but.....

[But it's not actually a completely inaccurate comparison, for Doudanuki; it's a shame he doesn't have his Bronzong here with him. Will scratches his head and considers how best to phrase this.]

A trainer is..... mmm, you might call us teachers? We teach Pokémon--they're sort of like the animals you probably have in your world--how to realize their true potential. With our guidance, they grow stronger, faster, tougher--even evolve into new forms, if their species can do that. We learn how to strategize and command, how to develop close bonds and work together as a team--and then we challenge other trainers and their Pokémon to friendly battles, to hone our skills even further.

[Yeah it's gonna be hard to describe a chimera to someone who doesn't know the parts. Doudanuki himself only knows tigers from Gokotai and bears from...well, seeing Yamabushi wrestle bears. The guy is insane, but a good sword.

He shrugs even though his video isn't on and decides to let those questions drop. He isn't an encyclopedia after all. He can't describe well enough to someone who has never seen them. Besides, something far more interesting just popped up and Doudanuki's voice gains an edge to it as he asks:]

Battles? You fight battles with your youkai?

[It's so close to what he knows - almost there, but not quite. The saniwa would never refer to them as animals.]

So you're like a commander?

Hehehe, you could say that! Although Pokémon haven't been called youkai in a long time. Where I'm from, there hasn't been any warfare in a while, but nobody wanted to give up their traditions.

So we turned it into something more like a competitive sport, instead. Instead of learning how to fight at each other's sides to kill or conquer, we do it to become the best we can be, and find a way to settle our differences so nobody has to be seriously hurt. Sometimes, all it takes is showing each other your fighting spirit, and you can really come to respect and understand each other!

[Just because there's peace doesn't mean the tools and trade of war have to be thrown away. They can still be just as cherished as ever, even if they're now used to help bring friendship and happiness. Nice, isn't it?]

[Ah...yeah.

That's the goal of every sword used in history, to bring about an era where they aren't needed anymore. Doudanuki has seen that era come and go, and he scratches at a scar absently. When he speaks, that enthusiasm from earlier is notably absent.]

So it's all for show now, huh? Guess that makes sense. As long as you're not gettin' rid of your youkai-- Pokemon? things. Your tools once they're not useful anymore.

[Not a sports man, Doudanuki? Will notes the way the fire has faded from his tone, but he's not entirely sure what to make of it--so for now, he chooses to simply ignore it, shaking his head instead.]

Of course not! They're my best friends, after all. I've got a pretty big team back home, but only a few managed to make it here with me so far. Ainea should be able to find them all eventually, though.

[Will makes a beckoning gesture; after a moment, a Xatu and Chansey enter the frame. A Flareon obscures them moments later as she jumps into Will's lap, settling in right in front of the camera.]

It's mostly for show now, but there's still some substance to it--if you prove that you're the best of the best, you've got a pretty much guaranteed seat at the political table. And of course, if there's any trouble the police can't handle, trainers would be the first ones drafted into dealing with it.

[They're all...animals. Doudanuki watches the feed curiously, leaning in closer to the screen as if that'll somehow bring him physically closer to these things. One looks like a bird, one a...pink??? Egg??? And other one looks like a fluffy fox of some kind. They're not like any youkai he's ever seen or heard of before, and this is honestly actually interesting.

He's not sure how he feels about the battles being used for political gain, but it's not like it's anything new. War is war, even if it becomes a facsimile of it, apparently.]

What kinda trouble? I thought you said your world? [That's so weird to say.] Is at peace.

Oh, it is! But that doesn't eliminate all potential trouble, unfortunately. Things like natural disasters can need organized relief efforts, for example. And sometimes there are just..... troublemakers, too. Criminal groups that want to take advantage of or hurt people, whatever their reasons are. They're not always easy for law enforcement to catch, so it can fall on trainers to help root them out if they see anything untoward happening.

[The animals--Pokémon? Youkai?--seem to be ignoring the screen, since Doudanuki isn't on a video feed; Will absently pets the one on his lap as he talks. Sure, there's trouble still. It's just more localized, now, more the fault of small malicious groups rather than entire countries coming to blows.]

[Humans can't help themselves it seems. Even in times of peace there were still crimes, even if his swords were never used to quell that violence.

He nods, scratching his chin.]

Seems like a lot to put on a buncha people and animals though. Evolved or not.

[He watches the screen for a moment longer before asking:]

Do they talk? How do you tell them what to do? Is it some kinda spiritual connection?

It is, honestly. Nobody says they have to, but trainers are a brave bunch--some of them really go above and beyond the call of duty.

I just..... Give commands, most of the time? Some trainers have special kinds of gems that let them harness a kind of spiritual connection to grant their Pokémon strength, but I haven't managed to get my hands on one yet.

As for talking..... Heh. I can understand them, since I'm psychic. But some of them can talk to anyone thanks to that, too. Reve and Deja can, out of the ones here right now.

[Will motions to the Hypno and Xatu.]

[Well, that's not unexpected. There are always those who will volunteer to give it their all. They're the ones people rely upon the most in times of trouble when the lords need troops or the townspeople need protection.

He nods and then has to really think about what this guy says next. The bird and baku can talk to anyone using...psychic powers?]

So. You're not a sage, but you got powers, and you can talk to your animals and some of them can talk to anyone.

[Yeah.

That makes zero sense to him.]

Huh.

[Wait. Isn't this what that pink-haired kid was talking about?]

Do they turn into humans, too?

Can't say they do. Sorry, this is probably one of those world difference things, isn't it? Are sages the only people with unusual abilities where you're from?

[So there is more than one world with these creatures??? Holy shit.]

Uh, sort of....? I guess you have the saniwa and there're probably like psychics or somethin' around, but I only know of the saniwa myself. I mostly knew soldiers and samurai before that.

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Video - Early Malom, a couple days after the party

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