Behind Every Monster Is a Person in a Cute Costume: Let's Play Moemon Leafgreen!

[Deme]

I intend for there to be more chapters like these, so we'll see them again. When the number of pokemon we have in reserves increases, I may start taking a vote... So keep in mind who you're interested in seeing more about.

[Deme]

Chapter 18: Digging up the Road

Spoiler

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Before leaving Cerulean, I stock up on potions. Lots and lots of potions. I sell off attract to make some of the difference. Now, as for Water Pulse...

There, that should do it.

I notice that the police officer has moved...Which is good, because it looks like the only way out of this town is through these people's back yard. What's up with that, anyway? Are the people of Cerulean trapped there?

Oh, wow... They tore this place to pieces, didn't they?

"...What's with the verb choice? I mean, I don't think I've ever heard anyone ever say anything like that."
The girl looks around, where things have been...well, yeah, dug into.
Girl:"But it's what they're doing!"
"...Sorry for your loss," I add.

"You said it!"

"How did they break through you wall in a perfect hole like that, anyway?
Man: "No, not that! They left footprints!"

Oh, so that's what the girl meant. A TM like that... Sounds like it would be useful to have.
"If I see a member of Team Rocket, I'll be sure to bring him to justice for you, Sir!"
Man: "Oh, well, the guy who did it's still in the backyard."
"...What? YOU JUST LEFT HIM THERE?"
No one's trying to stop him, and he's not trying to get away? What is wrong with everyone?
I charge out the back...hole.

"Oh, don't try and sound self-righteous to me, bucko!"


"And your outfit's just for a costume party, then, right?"
Rocket: "Ooh, hey, that's a great excuse! Can I borrow it next time? ... I mean, yes, exactly!"
"Well, I'm going to beat up your pokemon...and you're going to be wearing a different costume: a prisoner's uniform!"
Ooy, that sounded cheesy.

"Nice job, Terra!"

...
...
Wow, that's wierd-looking.

Oh, that's so annoying! One more Bite attack would have finished you! Good thing I have an awakening here somewhere...
Well, it's just a minor distraction on the road to victory.


"With the Police Officer in front. And --"

Wow, that's a good guess.

And then he throws down some sort of ninja smoke bomb (who carries these things, really?) and when my vision clears, he's gone.

Anyway, I guess I have to give back the TM, now. I've done a good thing, and someone's going to be happy I was around today.

"But, I have it right here..."
Man: "It's OK, you keep it."

"Oh, thanks a lot, Mister!"


"A lot of you guys should be able to learn this move...I wonder who to teach it to..."
"It'd be so neat to learn a move like that!"
"INDEED."
"Hmm...I think you should learn it, Spike."
"Hey, don't do me favors just because I'm the odd man out -- literally, I mean."
"Well, no -- but it's your type. Or, well, it will be, anyway...So it's a good place to start."
"Yeah... I guess you got it right there..." As I begin to upload the disc, he stares off at some middle distance, his eyes wide; like he’d been punched by something he didn’t even know was there. With a slow, deep breath, he recovers his smirk before I can ask.

"….It’s gonna be… a big change, isn’t it?"

There's a house down the road. I go inside to check it out.

"...For kids?"

Oh, it's a Pokemon daycare service!
"...I'll think about it."
I'm not sure how comfortable I am with paying money to a stranger so he'll do what I should be doing myself.

But the grass around his house has Pidgeys, Oddishes, Bellsprouts, and...

"You're a kitty-pokemon!"
... I have been among too much cute.


"You know, I'm really just trying to walk by. I don't care about your various complaints. My feet hurt, but I don't go up to people and say 'I'm a Pokemon trainer! My feet hurt, though."
The man glares at me and adds,

"But there's no sign..."
Guard: "Listen, Lady, it's closed! No one gets in or out of Saffron without permission!"
"Would permission come in the form of a tasty beverage?"
Guard: "...Maybe. Just this once…"
I sigh.
"Duly noted."

But at least there's a path from Cerulean to Vermillion I can take, describing itself as an “underground passage.” I guess there’s going to be a lot of Zubat, right? The building to enter it is small and decrepit – I guess the people of Cerulean really are trapped, or at least don’t get a lot of money for maintenance.
Inside, there's a girl offering to trade things I don't have for things I don't need.

"This...isn't going to end in a single white staircase, is it?"
"Unlikely, Mistress."


Oh, oh no...Not more of these guys...

Who owns a level 16 Weedle? Isn't that counter-productive?

Several level 16 Weedles! Who owns a whole bunch of them?

While that's technically not a Weedle, I'm still counting it. It's the same principle.

"How are you going to do that, exactly?"
I decide to ask the next guy I see, since Mr. Bug Catcher isn’t talking.

"Excuse me --"
Camper: ”Hey, quit listening in!”
"Hey, I wasn't listening in! I was asking a question!"

"You guys need to learn some lessons about evolving Pokemon when the time is right."

And the moment that battle's done, his girlfriend just jumps on me!

"Jeesh! I'm sorry, OK?" Nope, too late: fighting time.


"OK, Spike! Time to try out that new move!"

"That was great, Spike!"
"Yeah. Don't worry; I got it. …"

Well, with that fight over, I let the happy couple (of jerks) be.


"I think I recognize your hat. Are you a bug catcher?"

Yes, yes he was...But at least he has the sense to have a butterfree!

"Darnit!" Lucky I'm still stocked on antidotes.

Which I'll go use now that the fight's over with!

"...Is there such a thing, really?"

"I think you need to diversify. You have the sense to let your bugs become useful, but on their own, they're doomed to lose. Get a rock, or an electric and a water...Something to help you out. I don’t really think a person can just be flat-out bad if they try hard enough." …right? I dunno: the words taste a little less true on my tongue than they’re supposed to, like marshmallows going stale. They’re not hard untruths, but they’re a little dusty and come out sort of brittle. I’ve met a lot of the wrong people.
And I leave him with the advice, though.

There are a pair of picnickers (well, a Picnicker and a Camper) on the way to the city that I fight. It goes a little something like:




And from there, it's into Vermillion City. The buildings cast dark shadows over me as I enter. The sun's just starting to set, catching us all in a syryupy golden light. Golden droplets, spray tossed up by the roaring sea, hand in the air like mist. I can hear the bustle, feel the movements of people busy with port life.

Since there are two routes and only two pokemon we don't have, there's no need to vote: we get a Meowth and a Bellsprout. Voting for what to do with them is open, if anyone feels they'd be better than what we have.

[John Cribati]

Get Meowth. Far too cute to pass up.

And you seem to have entered the ransacked house again...

[Deme]

I can (and will, unless some people really think two oddishes are better than one) get Meowth, the question becomes what to do with Meowth. My default assumption is "put it in the box." That's what the vote is for.

...There's always one, even after I edit...Photobucket is TERRIBLE at knowing when I've highlighted something to copy it.

[Mirrinus]

I don't really like either. Persian's actually not a bad Pokemon, but my personal taste dislikes it. As for Victreebel, it can't hold a candle to Vileplume. So yeah, go ahead and box 'em if you wish.

[HypoSoc]

Who are you going to day care though?

[Deme]

Should I daycare someone? I mean, I prefer raising these guys up by hand and saving my money for healing items...

But if you guys want me to put someone in the daycare, I'd oblige. Just tell me who. With one of two exceptions, decisions relating to the management of my pokemon is something I leave in your hands when I can.

But, personally, even if grind sessions are annoying, I like writing about them.

[Mando Knight]

I'd box the Bellsprout and Meowth, for now. Your main team is better than either one, so unless the adorableness of teh kitteh overwhelms Seed, they ought to go in the box. Kitties like to play with boxes anyway...

[Deme]

If you haven't noticed, this chapter's taking a while. Why? Because apparently Bellsprouts have the "cause writers block" ability, and they don't tell you.
Hmm...Better yet, everyone suggest a single personality trait or quirk that they'd like to see briefly in a pokemon, and I'll pick whichever one makes me think of something to say. Or something entirely different.
This may be why I've never really trained bellsprouts.

[John Cribati]

Hmm...Better yet, everyone suggest a single personality trait or quirk that they'd like to see briefly in a pokemon, and I'll pick whichever one makes me think of something to say.

Sadomasochism.

[HypoSoc]

neomarxist complex

[Domochevsky]

Desire to RAZE THE WORLD TO THE GROUND! (Probably fire only.)

Alternatively genocidal tendencies. Or maybe a desire for a specific fruit. One of those.

[Shades of Gray]

The bellsprout thinks it's actually one of the legendary birds.

[AlterForm]

Antidisestablishmentarianism

[Mando Knight]

The Curiosity Sphere.

[Mirrinus]

There has to be someone who believes they're Elvis. Or Abraham Lincoln. Whichever's funnier.

[Geno9999]

There has to be someone who believes they're Elvis. Or Abraham Lincoln. Whichever's funnier.

+1 to this, only because it's funny.

[Deme]

This was apparently a good idea, since you seem to be enjoying this. I'll remember the rest of these for later (or try this again if need be). I think I have an idea, though, so update will most likely be sometime tonight.

I only realized after the suggestions that came in that there was an easy angle to do, it would just require a little doctoring. I may still encorporate a suggestion, though.

Also, the Meowth has pick-up, so expect it to be a regular, even if it's not in the combat party.

[Deme]

Chapter 19: Take me to creepy town!

Spoiler

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As I'm walking around the area of the daycare center, looking for more pokemon in the grass, I feel something. It's just a little tug; it doesn't occur to me to be actually worried about it; it's the sort of niggling tug of something catching on your skirt or backpack for a second, like a piece of grass or a twig. A little jerk, and it was right as rain.

Hence why it takes me 35 minutes to realize that something has been slowly swiping small items from my backpack (and small change from my wallet) the entire time. At first, I assume I just put everything in a different pocket; but as I sit with all my personal belongings scattered around me, I must come to grips it.

"Who the *bleep* has been taking my stuff?!" And by coming to grips, I really mean yelling angrily. No reply. I put everything back in my bag, except for a singe potion. That, I put in the grass. I hide behind a tree, watching to see if the culprit will come back.
It does: A meowth with a thin, lean smile, sneaks out of the tall grass to grab my potion. I summon Rya.
"Rya! Bite her and don't let her get away!" I step out from behind the tree.
As Rya sinks her fangs into the meowth, I hear her wail
"Lemee go! Lemee go! I...I'll work for you if you stop the biting! I'll give back everything and be your pokemon! Please!" And she affixed me with big kitty eyes.
"Wait, how'd you know I could hear you?"
"You can hear me? I was just hoping for one of those wierd moments of not complete failure you humans have sometimes."
"...You're not helping your case."
"I swear! I'll be a good pokemon! I can...Acquire things for you. Nice things!"

"By stealing them?"
"D-don't look the gift horse in the mouth, oh mighty summoner!"
"Fine. But no stealing."
And with that, another pokemon joined our crew.



“Ok, Lila: let’s see how you do as official pokemon catcher.”
”Yes, Lady Seed! I-I’m ready.”

“Well, let’s try for her, shall we?”
”Oh, it’s a lady! Who are you, lady? Who’s that? What sort of pokemon is she?”
”U-um, should we really be conversing? I-I’m t-trying to weaken you so she can catch you.”
“It’s fine, Lila…”
”Why’s she gonna catch me? What’s it like?”

”Do you smell something kinda...funny…?”

“Whew, I’m kind of glad for the silence. Ok, Lila, finish wearing her down for me.”
Lila struck once, with a good, hard tackle, and then it was time for me to make the final strike.

“Nice job, Lila.”
”You really think so? Oh, thank you.”



"Oh, so it's docked now? I better hurry along, then."
Old Man:"Don't worry. The cruise itself doesn't start until tommorow."
I guess this gives me more time to explore the city.


"Really? I always took Vermillion for a sort of industrial town, what with it being so close to the docks."

"Eww, yeah, that'd be trouble. I can see why that has to be watched."
But I bet they know from experience, eh?


"So it's 'YOURS, ALL YOURS!'?"

I bet I could be back here three years from now and your building still wouldn't be up.

"Keep on trucking, little friend."


Boy, doesn't that sound like the sort of thing pokemon geeks obsess over, trying to pin down to a numerical science?
...But then again, I'm a trainer, so maybe I should pay attention to those things...

"I guess it's all the extra guidance and focus."


"Just you wait, little human...Just you wait..."
"Yeah, but some pokemon are universally recognized as being stronger than others. I think there’s a league out there with formal rankings, and everything."


Has never once seized me, as they are all losers?

Except for Beau or maybe a gym leader...Not really. But that wouldn't be polite to say.

"That's nice." and obsessive.

Ooh, that is nice! Free stuff!

More technological doodads. Between this, my Pokedex (which doubles as a handy way of getting information about specific pokemon), and that funny thing Beau gave me... It's an impressive display of stuff.

"Wait, this doesn't have an AC adapter, how do I --"
Ace Trainer Girl: "Enjoy! And purchase other fine products from Pokegear Shack!"
Of course. I'd have to go get one from the store. That's how they lure you in, huh?
Well, I have a better strategy.
"ChuChu, charge this sucker."
"Aye-Aye! Thundershock!"
And, on cue, it lights up like a christmas tree.


Doesn't he have a name...?
"Well, nice to meet you."

I wonder if they have clinics for that. 'Hi, I'm the fishing guru, and I'm a fishaholic.'

"...Yeah." Sage and I used to pretend we could fish, anyway: we'd take sticks and tie string to them, and then tie bait to the string. Would you believe it worked sometimes? I kid you not.

...Maybe it's the natural-but-eroding loner in me, but that sounds bordering on creepy.

And the creepy is gone. It's replaced by free stuff.


You mean it's dissected in English classes by students who don't understand it and grow to hate it because it's forced on them?

...Sure, why not?

I sit down by the water, letting my pokemon loose around me, and start fishing. It feels nice to just take a moment to pause and enjoy this absolutely beautiful city.
Then the rod begins to tug in my hands and I reel it, like a kite, in desperately.
"Oh, great! I wonder what I'll catch!"

"...Well, that's a little useless, isn't it?"
I pack up my rod and go looking elsewhere. I guess I need a better rod to get good pokemon...


Yeah, but will it be able to get in without 'permission'?
I decide to peek over his shoulder to see what he was writing to someone in that locked-up city. After the salutations, something caught my eye.

So that's who I'd need 'permission' from, eh? I'll have to keep my eye out for a good drink, then: if that city needs cleaning out, the only way in is through a highly bribable guard.


"That's despicable -- denying a pokemon a happy life just because they don't like it."
"That's the way the world is, Mistress. Beyond just the rockets. If one cannot serve, one cannot fight, or be useful on this plane." Azula wasn't whispering, but there was something quiet about her voice. Maybe it was how fiercely inward it was, like she wasn't talking to me at all.
"That's just wrong." I repeat, to the man, Azula, and myself.


I think about the pokemon I've met and the ones I've raised -- and I'm not sure I believe her answer to it. True, good training lets a pokemon grow to be better: Azula's shown me that. But still...
"I think it, at least partially, depends on the pokemon." I say, exactly at the same moment Spike mutters it. When I’m outside, I press him about it, but he doesn’t tell me a thing. Just mutters one cryptic comment:
”You are what you are. And what you are decides what you become…” And that’s all he says.
...This town seems to be making them all kind of thoughtful, huh?


Well, maybe this'll cheer them up.
I enter and, seeing other pokemon loose, take my team out.
Every pokemon in the room dogpiles on Spike.
Various Pokemon: "Ooh, a real male!
How precious!
Lookit his horns!
He’s so cute!"
"Ladies, ladies, relax..." And they all swoon. We both roll our eyes.
"Hey! Get off of him!"
"Nah, it's cool. I'm used to it."
"No, I mean you're mine! I have exclusive cuddle rights!"
Various Pokemon: "No fair!
Who says?
He doesn't mind!"

I left them at it...


"That's neat. Did you found it?"
But he brushes aside my question.

"Man, how do you manage them all?"

But you have over 100, you said...

I look over. Spike's really gotten comfortable being fawned over; he looks like the Fonz.
"Sure."

Ok, this is starting to freak me out.

Seriously, wigged out.

RED ALERT! RED ALERT!
Chairman: "At night...I think I see her with such a pretty, girlish face... I love that face, that's only beneath the moon..."
...ooh. Curiosity, or running? Curiosity, or running?

"Yes!" That should have ended about 7 ellipses ago!

OK, I take my free stuff, and I run. And then maybe ask a few questions...From a safe distance.

That sounds like a great place to be that's not listening to you, oh yes.

This was a pretty good trade, I suppose. Having the last of my shattered innocence ground into powder for a free bike. It’s not like I was using them, I suppose.
...
"So, Azula...What was his deal?"
"He's just confused. Sometimes when a human is on the edge like that, they lose track of themselves in the middle of it. The world, for them...Is unstable."
"So he can almost see this stuff?"
"So it appears. Humans are fascinating like that."
I'm not sure if I should feel bad for him or not. Maybe so: maybe he'd be less squicky if he could sort everything out… Something about that train of thought sounds kind of familiar. But, I have a bike to go get, and the less time I spend thinking about him, the better.


"That's right."
"Yup! Read it and weep, rip-off artist!"

I would have guessed there would be a catch, but no. Wow.

Ooh, and it's collapsible! Very nice.

The trip back to Vermillion is an absolute dream.

In a much earlier version, the Chairman would have been portrayed very differently. But then somewhere along the line, the unwritten rules of the series changed, and that version got shut out in the cold as a result.

[Domochevsky]

Creeeepyyy~ oh hey, bicycle! \o/

[Deca]

Just got up to speed with all the updates I missed. It is terrifically funny stuff. I thought the Chairman was a bit creepy too...

Also, Mellow is funny. One day, she'll get someone to wear the mushroom hat. Then they'll see the truth.

[Deme]

Just got up to speed with all the updates I missed. It is terrifically funny stuff. I thought the Chairman was a bit creepy too...

Also, Mellow is funny. One day, she'll get someone to wear the mushroom hat. Then they'll see the truth.

And by "truth" you mean "the beauty of having control of your body slowly taken over by a mushroom," yes?

And, technically, Mellow at the moment is a "they," not a "she". I'm aware it's very confusing, but there you go. they're plural, at least for the moment. To my knowledge, the pokemon aspect is a "she", and the parasitic mushroom is an "it" that will accept being called a "she", especially after evolution.
...
Mellow is like my favorite non-party-member character. You were the one who pointed out the fun/creepy factor of Paras's evolutionary path, weren't you? Thanks. I'd have never thought about it, as I've never raised a paras. (Well, I'd have thought of it when I was 10 and had these memorized, but...)

The chaiman, I should add, originally (like, this was how I was thinking of him when writing chapters 1-5) was only going to be creepy depending on how child-like you percieve the moemon to be.

[Deca]

...
Mellow is like my favorite non-party-member character. You were the one who pointed out the fun/creepy factor of Paras's evolutionary path, weren't you? Thanks. I'd have never thought about it, as I've never raised a paras. (Well, I'd have thought of it when I was 10 and had these memorized, but...)

Aw shucks. Thanks. I just remember being really creeped out when I was a kid by the Parasect. It's blank mindless eyes stare into your soul.

Not to mention that anime episode where Ash and friends help a reluctant Paras to evolve. They doomed it.

EDIT: Also, here

Further EDIT: That's actually one of the little things I like about Pokemon. It has a suprising amount of little dark things like Parasect being a mindless zombie. Or Drifloon disguising itself as a balloon so it can steal away children. Or the fact that Cubone's wear the skull of their deceased mother*. And that's just scratching the vast resevoir of Pokemon creepiness.

*Fun fact: I had a Cubone once. I nicknamed him Norman. Kudos for anyone who gets the reference.

[Terry576]

Waitwaitwait.

I'm confuzzled. Is this Hard mode or not Hard mode?

SO MANY CONFUSING THINGS.

[Deme]

It's hard mode, or something like it. There's really only two rules that I haven't abandoned in some way ("All pokemon must be nicknamed..." and, in mine, have a line of dialogue"... All pokemon are friends and to lose one is heartbreaking." and "If a pokemon faints, it must be released."
"Catch first pokemon you see in area" is replaced with "Catch whatever you guys tell me to, but one per route/area.")

...But those are two seperate routes, right...
*worries*
Right? I mean, there's a whole city between them...
*is not currently in a position to check in-game*

If not, I'll have to release one. Maybe the Bellsprout. We'll ret-con it to just being a test for Lila, all will be well.

Also, it helps to understand that Seed, our protagonist, does not know this is a hard mode game. She is playing by different rules than the rest of the world, and has yet to be fully informed of this fact. It's just not come up yet.

[Destro_Yersul]

*Fun fact: I had a Cubone once. I nicknamed him Norman. Kudos for anyone who gets the reference.

Did he run a motel and kill enterprising young female thieves? and then put them in the trunk of their car and push it into the swamp?

[Illven]

It's hard mode, or something like it. There's really only two rules that I haven't abandoned in some way ("All pokemon must be nicknamed..." and, in mine, have a line of dialogue"... All pokemon are friends and to lose one is heartbreaking." and "If a pokemon faints, it must be released."
"Catch first pokemon you see in area" is replaced with "Catch whatever you guys tell me to, but one per route/area.")

...But those are two seperate routes, right...
*worries*
Right? I mean, there's a whole city between them...
*is not currently in a position to check in-game*

If not, I'll have to release one. Maybe the Bellsprout. We'll ret-con it to just being a test for Lila, all will be well.

Also, it helps to understand that Seed, our protagonist, does not know this is a hard mode game. She is playing by different rules than the rest of the world, and has yet to be fully informed of this fact. It's just not come up yet.

Yes they are two separate routes, 5 and 6

[Deme]

Excellent, then! All is right in the world.

[Penguinator]

I do like the Meowth sprite. Drowzee, on the other hand...

[Ranielle]

Registered just to say how much I like this. Keep up the good work. Well, that and I've been coming over to this thread like 20 times a day hoping for an update, and ended up reading half of the forum. So I thought, might as well start posting, since I'm here all the time anyway.

Thanks, and I hope none of your girls die. My heart would be broken.