punchandkiss | Second Viking Assault

[It's hard to tell exactly where Astrid is when she turns her gear on, but there are trees around, and her Axew is visible resting against one behind her, keeping watch over two pokemon eggs. (She hasn't really gotten the hang of keeping them in pokeballs yet, it seems...mean.) Her attention isn't on them though, she's looking at the screen almost thoughtfully.]

I've been trying to get the hang of all the...little things here, so I decided to try and catch one of the wild pokemon running around on the paths. Which worked, except...

[She turns her camera around to reveal a Sentret happily sitting on the ground in front of her, bouncing up and down on her tail as she watches Astrid.]

I just picked it because it was the first one I found. And now I've caught it and I'm...not really sure what to do with it.

I mean...[She turns the camera back to her.] There are dragons here. And fire breathing dogs, and electric vermin, and so many other powerful looking creatures...

[She turns the camera back to the Sentret, who seems quite happy to be the center of attention.]

Then there's her. ...She looks like something babies sleep with. Or something bigger, stronger animals like to eat.

Do people really train these?

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There aren't any good goals here. Collecting shiny things is pointless.

You don't have to follow the routes, they're just faster.

[She shrugs.] It's a challenge. Sometimes winning a challenge is the point!

Why wouldn't you, though? They're safe enough, and pretty quick.

It should be a challenge that's worth winning then.

I usually follow them, except in places like Ilex Forest where the path keeps turning even though there are faster ways through. [Of course, he's lived in a forest his entire life so paths that are obvious to him are invisible to almost everyone else.]

Like what?

[She shrugs.] I haven't gotten there yet.

Something like hunting an animal who can kill you. Whoever wins gets to eat for the next few days.

...So you think a challenge where something has to die, is better than one where nothing has to die?

No, but survival's the only kind of challenge that's worth hurting anyone for. I like competing with animals better when neither of us has to die, but I have to eat too. I try to make sure they die as painlessly as I can and I don't waste any of them.

But you'd still rather kill them then do this. Where nothing dies.

[She's not really impressed.]

[He's just not explaining it very well.]

Of course not! I don't want any of them to get hurt! But there's no way to keep everyone from getting hurt. I have to hurt animals to stay alive and they have to hurt plants and other animals to stay alive. If I could live without any plants or animals getting hurt I would, but I can't. If you don't need to hurt someone to stay alive or to keep other people alive then there's no reason to hurt them at all. You won't die if you don't have a badge, so there's no reason to let the Pokémon get hurt for them. The only reason I don't stop the Pokémon who travel with me from fighting at all is because they want to and the Pokémon they're fighting want to, and they're okay with getting hurt. Even though they want me to I don't go and look for more fights, I just let them fight the Pokémon that challenge us while we're walking.

Hurting things is a part of life. [What? She's a VIKING.] No matter how much you might want to avoid it.

What are you going to do when you encounter something really strong like a dragon and your pokemon aren't strong enough to fight it? We don't seem to be able to get weapons here.

I know. Sometimes you have to, but there's no reason to hurt things if you don't need to.

If I can't beat it I'll run. Or die. [There's no nervousness in his voice when he says that. All lives end.]

Yeah, the knife I got here doesn't hold an edge very well. I think it would break if I used it as a weapon too much.

[Running away isn't really something Astrid approves of, even if it's a sound option.]

Dying seems like a stupid option to take.

At least you have one. I don't know how I'm going to replace my axe.

Everything that's alive dies eventually.

An axe? I don't know to make one of those. I've been getting Furret to cut wood up for fires. There's an old man in Azalea Town named Kurt. If you work for him for about half a day he'll give you the "Cut" HM and Sentret can learn it.

That doesn't mean you have to embrace it.

[She shakes her head.]

That's not the same. I wouldn't know how to make an axe either. Someone said I might be able to buy one in Goldenrod, when I get there.

Maybe. I didn't look around much while I was there. If it's anything like my knife it probably won't be very good.

I'll take what I can get.

And Hiccup might be able to sharpen it for me.

You don't know how to sharpen things?

Of course I do! But not the way he does. He helped our blacksmith a lot.

What's a blacksmith?

[Astrid blinks.]

The...person who forges weapons and armor?

I guess Grandpa must have gotten our stuff from one of those.

What's armor?

You know, protective clothing? It blocks attacks?

You can make clothing like that? That would be useful to have.

...I'm from a Viking village in the middle of absolutely no where. How do I know stuff you don't?

I lived in a forest on a mountain with Grandpa until he died two years ago and since then I've been the only human living there.

[That's how.]

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