punchandkiss | First Viking Assault

[When the camera turns on, it’s upside down, and shows a lovely pair of fur lined brown boots sitting on the ground, folded beneath a red leather skirt covered in…are those spikes? They certainly look like spikes. The camera shakes a few times, and then violently shifts to the left as though someone smacked it. And then there is a sigh.]

This can’t be right.

[The voice is female, and frustrated, and after a moment the camera moves wildly again, as it lifts up into the air, showing an image from above of a blonde teenager sitting on the grass somewhere, leaning her back against a tree, and there is a green pokemon curled up on the ground next to her chewing intently on what might be a rock. She looks like she’s about to throw the pokegear away, even make a little growl of frustration, but she happens to glance up at the last second and see that the screen is actually doing something.]

[She brings it back down, frowning at it (still upside down) as she taps the screen with her thumb a few times and finally turns it the right side over. After a few more seconds of poking and prodding, and a few more of pushing her Pokemon out of the way when it becomes a bit too curious about what’s on the shiny machine, she slumps down where she’s sitting and just stares at the screen.]

Okay. That guy. That professor said I can use this to talk to people. Other people, I mean, besides…everyone in this town…people who also woke up in a weird house with a little creature following them around, I mean.

[Some of her anger might be showing through there.]

So, hello. Hi. Whatever. I’m Astrid. I need- [She cuts off as the Axew suddenly pokes his head back into view again, and there’s more shuffling as she pushes him back off-screen.] Sit. Stay. Right there. Good boy.

Anyway. Other than some stuff that didn’t make any sense, all I know is I’ve got this guy following me around and something about training and collecting and…look, it doesn’t matter. I just need to know where Stormfly, my dragon, is…and my axe…and how to get home.

In that order. Thanks.

[Some more fumbling and after about fifteen seconds of a lovely shot of the palm of her hand, Astrid manages to turn the device off.]

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Our weapons and stuff aren't here.

[She doesn't know what to think about that fact that people come in 'constantly.' She would have to look around the town, maybe other people arrived at the same time.]

A game? What do you mean? What kind of game?

['Game' meant 'violent contact activity' to Astrid, generally.]

[ Woah, she looks hardcore! It's like looking at a crazy J-ROCK girl! Man Haruka will never understand that, but alas...

So, Astrid, have a brown-haired girl adorned with red ribbons smiling back onto the feed. ]

I've never heard of a Stormfly, but I think that little guy next to you is a dragon-type pokemon!

[ And your axe?... That means guitar, for J-Rockers, right?... Yeah... ]

I think your axe still might be at home, but don't worry! I'm sure you can find one here, so you can keep up your practice!

[ Yeah totally wrong context here. ]

[Sorry Tiny Sora, you're getting a bit of a glare.]

Yes, I know. I want to know where they are. So I can get them back.

[Astrid is the harcorest of Hardcore. Except she has no idea what that means, outside of being hardcore at fighting dragons. Luckily it didn't come up.]

Stormfly is my dragon. She's...much bigger than this.

[She glances down at the Axew, who happily bounces in place.]

A dragon type...[This part is almost said to herself, and then something else the girl said clicks, and she looks back at the screen.] What? But people have said weapons don't come with us here. Where can I find another one?!

[She wants an axe!]

I don't think anyone knows where they went to. It probably has to do with the world we're in. Weapons aren't really needed so it takes them away.

...Needed?

You always need weapons! What if I'm...by a bear?

That's what you have your new partner for.

A rather inane one, as far as I'm concerned.

[Moving on.]

Think of it as an analogy. When you intend to play a game, there's always a certain way of setting it up such that every game starts out the same — the players stand in the same places, or one person is designated as "it", or everyone has a certain number of items to begin with, and so on. Every time you play the game, those conditions will always be the same.

Similarly, every new arrival in this world comes in under those same conditions: a greeting from "Mom", a partnership, and an instruction to go on a Pokemon journey.

Wow, you already have a dragon? [ -type pokemon ] You must be really talented! [ at pokemon training ]

[ Haruka beams! This girl really is hardcore! Not a moment out of the house in New Bark Town and already somehow she has a super cool pokemon! ]

Right! You don't get anything when you come here--at least except for things in your pockets--but you can find a replacement for your "axe"!

[ slight emphasis on the word "axe" because hey she understands J-ROCK lingo too! Look, she's an inside in the industry also!!! ]

Maybe not in the first town, because I didn't see any stores that would sell it, but I'm in a very large city now called Goldenrod, and I'm very sure you could get a brand new one!

[ Ahh, Haruka, what a doofus. ]

You've got a dragon?

[ wow, Astrid, you are like #5 on Ai's Cool List automatically. ]

[She just blinks. Then looks down at the Axew. Then back at the screen.]

Have you seen him? He can't fight a bear.

They're stronger than you think. I mean Ember's pretty small too, but she breathes fire and stuff.

I guess. [Yeah, she is, but she's not used to it being put out so directly.] Almost everyone in Berk had a dragon, though. But I was one of the first.

[Small pride, maybe.]

Goldenrod. [Well, a town she's never heard of.]

How far is that from where I am? And...how much would an axe...cost? Do you know what they're like? How big are they?

[She knew of money, but she'd never had cause to actually need any.]

[She grins and nods. Okay, she's almost getting used to people just popping up on her little device thing.]

Yes, a Deadly Nadder. But she didn't come with me.

[She glances down at the Axew again. Sorry little guy, she'll love you eventually! But not yet.]

And Ember is...?

[ he tilts the Gear towards his Vulpix... who is in the middle of grooming. ]

[She is quiet as she thinks this through. It makes sense, in a way, and yet in other ways it is nonsense. Still, she couldn't necessarily say she agreed with it, really. But if it was true, it was unsettling.]

So it's a game where we start out with...some random woman as our mother? And then we go off with our new pet...or partner...to have an adventure?

...Why?

A Deadly Nadder?

... That sounds deadly.

[ she's really not as dumb as she sounds on occasion, promise. ]

[...Okay, that's pretty cute.]

And he can fight a bear?

[What, that's her example?]

[And that shaking isn't exactly doing anything for his health, Astrid. Hiccup isn't sounding too hot (literally. Even if his temperature had gone up a bit and he was still bundled in blankets, he was resting somewhere in the vicinity of 'chilly'.)]

Settle down, Astrid, yes it's the stu-- I mean, the pokegear.

[He likes technology. This thing wasn't stupid, it was fascinating.]

I'm somewhere else, okay? But the pokegear will let me communicate with you. This world is much more advanced than Berk. So are you, uh... Okay?

[....]

Yeah, she is. All dragons are, though we stopped fighting with them. Now I just have him.

[She indicates her Axew. Who does not look deadly at all.]

Probably. There's gotta be a bear-type Pokémon.

[ ah ha... as if Sora is astute enough to question it. ]

[The shaking stops after a moment, at least, and she just frowns at the blank screen.]

I'm fine, Hiccup. Well, as fine as I can be without Stormfly or my axe but...what's going on? You sound terrible.

[She pokes at the little device again.]

And why can't I see you? I can see everyone else.

I don't know; that's simply the premise. Presumably it's designed for people who are longing for adventure.

[Or bored teenagers looking for escapism...]

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