Grind 3.3 Wall of Wonder
Celadon City is quaint. It has a few big buildings, a gym, a casino, with an underground secret lair. Well OK, so maybe it isn't exactly quaint. Still it was a welcome break, from the never ending stream of battles. Besides they had a fountain, that counts for something, maybe.
"So, you want me, to sink almost all of my money into buying coins for the slot machines. But I shouldn't actually play the slot machines?" I asked.
"Yup. See with the coins you can go next door and get items to boost the attack power of water, grass, and fire moves. Not only that, you can trade the coins in for Pokemon. The one you want is Dratini. In its final evolution it is one of the games toughest Pokemon, like Gyarados only smaller, and you can fly on its back."
"Is it going to be as much of a pain to train as the last Pokemon you told me to buy?"
"Well, it shouldn't be that bad, though it is going to be under leveled."
Why me?
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The view from the top of the Department store was really quite impressive. The tea I'd bought from the vending machine was a relief, not needing to eat, drink or go to the bathroom sounds nice on paper. However the lack of those day to day necessities is fairly unsettling.
Dennis leaned back against the railing looking up at the sky swirling a half empty soda bottle in his hand.
"I never thought about what the sky would look like." He said.
Glancing up I took in endless field of light blue just above our heads.
"I mean, there isn't any night just constant daytime. No clouds, and no sun either. It's just a solid sheet of light blue. It's weird."
I nodded before taking another sip of my tea, savoring the hint of lemon before I answered. "Yeah, still this is better than Mario where all the clouds where pixilated." Dennis responded with a noncommittal grunt.
"So, when you said there was stuff to do around here to unwind…"
"Yeah, this was it. We can go talk to the people who designed the game, they broke the fourth wall and added themselves, not all that interesting really."
"Fourth wall?"
"Yeah, you break it when one of the characters knows the world is not real. So having the people who programmed the game asking if you enjoy it is a good way to break it."
"Huh, well learn something new every day."
Rolling my shoulders I stood up straight and glanced over at Dennis. The boy didn't look much like himself right now, what with the spiky brown hair, and dark eyes. At least his happy go lucky attitude is back though. Dennis had been bouncing between excited and gloomy for the first couple of hours but he seemed to have leveled out and was making the most of the experience. I was just glad I didn't have to deal with gloomy Gary anymore. It was a stupid joke, a really stupid joke, but I laughed anyway.
The look Dennis shot me just made me laugh harder. Once I got my breathing under control I just shook my head. "Nothing, doesn't matter." Shrugging and shooting me a grin Dennis launched into what he claimed to be the Pokemon theme song, again. I take it back, at least when he was gloomy he hadn't been singing.
"You teach me, and I'll teach you. Pokemon!"
Groaning I chucked my empty bottle at him. Naturally the infuriating spiky haired menace ducked under the bottle and continued to sing.
"Dennis, why don't we split up for awhile?" I like Dennis, really I do. Despite that, after spending the better part of the day with him I needed a break, for my sanity if nothing else.
"Why on earth would we do something like that? I'm your fearless guide, and knowledgeable instructor! And you are my apprentice! Together we travel across the land, searching far and wide! Dun, dun, da, da! To catch them is our real test, too train them is our cause!"
My 'knowledgeable instructor' said breaking out in song for the umpteenth time.
"How about because I cannot stand anymore of your singing." I shot back "Or how about because at this point I really just need to grind levels. There really isn't anything I need your help with right now. Just go for a walk, see the sights, go for a swim. I'll be around, I can't imagine it would be all that hard to find me if you wanted." Please say yes, I cannot stand any more singing.
Dennis put his hands behind his head and shot me a sheepish grin. "Well when you put it that way, I guess I really should let you just do what you want. I've probably been a bit of a backseat gamer, which is kind of a dick thing to do. So sure, I'll go take a hike, I'll meet up with you at the safari zone, maybe try riding a Tourus or something." Spinning on his heal he headed for the stairs leading down from the roof. "Catch you later Taylor."
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As I made my way toward the fourth gym I found Dennis holding a one sided conversation with a creepy old man. The two of them just looking through the front window of the gym. I quietly slipped up behind him.
"You know old guy, it's weird, but I sort of see what you mean. The girls in the gym are all kind of cute, but then they are all sort of cheesy cartoon cute. Granted everyone here is a cheesy cartoon so I get why you would like it, but it's all so… fake. Yeah, fake." Dennis nodded to himself as if he had just said something extremely profound.
"Really Dennis, you don't say." I deadpanned, from right behind Dennis, causing him to jump.
"Taylor! Umm hi, this is ughh… I should go." And with that Dennis took off, my laughter chasing after him."
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Dennis pushed his way through the tall grass leading me through the Safari zone.
"Sooo did you ever ride that Pokemon like you said you would?" We'd been split up for hours, and I had to admit I was curious to find out what he had been doing to keep busy.
"Well I tried to. But it did not go according to plan."
"What does that mean?"
"Well the way the game is working with your power is weird, especially in here. You know how the wild Pokemon just pop up in front of us out of thin air all the time? Well in here Pokemon can run away and you are supposed to either throw food, rocks, or Pokeballs. Since we don't really have to follow the normal rules I can chase after them and try to jump on." Dennis stopped, and scratched at the back of his head. "They can run, and if they run they disappear after just a few steps. Every time I try to grab one, they just vanish. I actually managed to jump on back of a Rhydon at one point, but…."
"But, what? Come on Dennis you can tell me."
"It vanished, went poof. I ended up flat on my face." He grumbled.
It was really hard not to laugh at that, but I managed.
"What about you Taylor, how's your party coming along?"
"It's coming. Still need a new water type, but I have a Flareon now so I've got fire covered."
Dennis frowned at me over his shoulder. "Please tell me you are kidding."
"Umm, I'm not, why?" Honestly, what unknown rule had I unwittingly broken this time?
Dennis groaned rubbing at his eyes. "It's not that Flareon is a bad Pokemon, not exactly anyway. It has OK stats and it knows a few good physical attacks but in terms of actual fire moves, it sucks. Really, all it knows is fire spin, not exactly a power house."
Shit, I needed a fire type not really badly but still having one would help a lot. "Shit. Please tell me this does not mean what I think it means."
Dennis just shook his head. "Sorry Taylor, I'd recommend dropping it and training a Growlith instead. Check your Pokedex when we get out of here, and you can go get one to train up. As for water types… maybe a shelder. It knows some good ice moves so it is a good match up against dragon Pokemon."
"Two Pokemon I have to train up from scratch, again. Dennis, I know you like this game, but I'm starting to hate it."
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"I won! We can finally get out of here!" Dennis shook his head with a goofy grin plastered all over his face.
"Congratulations Taylor, way to go, you have triumphed over an opponent who cannot train his minions past a certain point and that you can easily predict because you were told exactly which Pokemon he was about to use."
"Oh shut up, I bet you ran around your room shouting the first time you beet this." I said sticking out my tong.
Just then Professor oak practically ran up to Dennis and I.
"Taylor! So, you won! Congratulations! You're the new Pokémon League champion! You've grown up so much since you first left with Bulbasaur! Taylor, you have come of age! Dennis! I'm disappointed! I came when I heard you beat the Elite Four! But, when I got here, you had already lost! Dennis! Do you understand why you lost? You have forgotten to treat your Pokémon with trust and love! Without them, you will never become a champ again! Taylor! You understand that your victory was not just your own doing! The bond you share with your Pokémon is marvelous! Taylor! Come with me!"
Before I could comment on what a jerk Oak was being to his own Grandson Oak dragged me along into the next room. After another short speech I felt the all too familiar tug at my arms. Just as I started to shout my victory I found myself not in the PRT testing room where Dennis and I had first started but instead I found myself in the black room. Rather than the annotated lights I was looking at rows and columns of words. Some of the blurbs shined white, others in blue, and one green.
"Taylor, what's all this?" Dennis asked from right behind me. "I don't know Dennis, this never happened before."
I walked up to the wall and started to read.
A Spell for Chameleon
Bink: Cannot be harmed by powers or the products of powers. Meant to be subtle and shape events with as little effort as possible.
Dragonsong
Menolly: Small hybrid creature, limited telepathic/empathic link to bonded individual.
Super Mario Brothers
Mario: Eating mushrooms causes' growth, suffering injury reverses growth. Eating flowers enables fire balls.
Luigi: Eating mushrooms causes' growth, suffering injury reverses growth. Eating flowers enables fire balls.
Princess Peach: No Powers.
Toad: No Powers.
Avatar: The Last Airbender
Katara: Hydrokinisis controlled partly through body motions. Ability to heal physical injury. Ability to reverse the effects of mental contamination.
Toph: Ability to manipulate earth and metal partly through body motions. Ability to sense and interpret vibrations through earth and metal.
Iroh: Ability to create and manipulate fire, partly through body motions.
Pokemon Fire Red
Taylor: A randomized projection of one of the creatures from the game's final party.
Dennis: A randomized projection of one of the creatures from the game's final party.
"I think, I think these are my options." I mumbled.
"Your options." Dennis deadpanned. "Not only do you have a power that lets you get new powers, it now comes with options. Taylor your power is so broken."
"Dennis stop joking look at this; Luigi, Peach, Toph, Iroh, You. These are all characters other people played. If I take people with me I could double up! Every insert could mean multiple powers!"
"You're only proving my point for me, you do realize that right?" Dennis asked arching an eyebrow.
Stepping up I tapped Menolly's name. The color of the text changed to white. "I'll bet I can swap them around like this, hang on let me just see if…" stepping over to my left I tapped at Bink's name it was the only name lit up in green, that had to mean something. Unlike Menolly's tapping Bink's name seemed not to have any effect.
Shrugging I moved down the line to Avatar. "Hey Dennis do you think Vista would be upset with me if I grabbed earth bending, and metal bending, or would she just be excited to tag team people by mixing our powers?"
"Dunno but it sounds fun either way. Grab it, and then we can get out of here."
"Sure, I'll just grab it then swap Mario to hang on to my dragonets, just give me a sec." I tapped Toph's name and as the color shifted from white to blue I felt an all too familiar tug on my wrist.
"No, wait I need too…"
Then we were out, back in the PRT power testing lab.
I need to find my dragonets. I need to find my friends.