it's the ultimate showdown (of ultimate destiny)

[captainobnoxious]

Thursday.

The day that'd been so longingly awaited since the meeting on Monday by both combatants.

The tables in the dining hall have been pushed to the walls for seating, everyone's had a paper shoved beneath their door alerting to them to the evening event, and anyone who had any business there suddenly does not. Seriously, those papers are like littered everywhere, unless you're not coming there's no way you didn't know there was something tonight.

On one side of the room is Sigrun with her weapon of choice: a pike she got from the vending machine a little bit ago, practicing her handling of it with a grace that remarks upon her life of combat experience, a quiet seriousness to her that's rarely seen. Her focus is on the opponent on the other side, twenty or so feet away, the clinking gears ever rolling.

Colress and Klinklang are also concentrated on what's about to go down, the man talking quietly to his Pokémon, all too ready to show the strength of the creature off to Sigrun. They'd been becoming reused to each other, Colress learning just what his frankly new friend (at least in evolution) could do, since that challenge put forth by the woman, and it's with confidence that the three now face each other, the air heavy with anticipation.

Let's fight.

Comments

[pokexplorer]

[Colress does come over, but...obviously, he doesn't have a scratch on him. Klinklang is the one with scratches in various places.]

I don't suppose you know how to treat a mechanical Pokemon, do you?

[He's completely joking, of course. Klinklang is mostly going to just need some rest in its Pokeball, and maybe a bit of wiping down with a cloth.]

[amygdalae]

...that probably requires me to understand its biology first.

[How does sentient gears work?? Do they need to eat? Bruce assumes it needs to eat. What does it even eat, metal?? So many unanswered questions.]

But I assume you can handle that on your own. [Since it is with Colress, after all.]

[pokexplorer]

If you're actually interested in learning, I would be happy to teach you sometime.

[Clearly it will be a good opportunity for Bruce to learn about Pokemon for when he can get one for himself at some point!! Clearly.]

Yes, I can handle it just fine. Is Miss Sigrun doing all right?

[He's more worried about her than Klinklang. And that's not to say she did worse, it's just that it's a lot harder to actually damage solid steel gears.]

[amygdalae]

If you wouldn't mind, I'd be glad to learn.

[AS STRANGE AS IT ALL IS... Bruce does like learning new things. And Pokemon is a very big new thing, apparently.]

And yes, the captain is fine - just a few bruises, and nothing some ice and rest can't fix. [The fact that she's very... durable also helps, mostly.]

[pokexplorer]

Not at all! I would love to educate everyone here about Pokemon. Simply let me know when you want to begin your lesson.

[Your de-facto Pokemon Professor is here, Vault residents!

And as for the Sigrun subject...]

Good, I am glad. And I am very, very impressed with how well she handled herself out there. As I said, people do not challenge Pokemon to fight all on their own very often. It takes a large amount of strength and wit to go toe to toe with creatures like them.

[amygdalae]

Both of which she has in spades.

[Well, at least where battles are concerned, anyway. It's clear that Sigurn really is made for the battlefield.

...not that Bruce is fond of that, but its helping out a lot in their situation and she knows where to stop most of the time, so he's alright with that.]

But its easy to see why people won't go at it barehanded. It must be incredibly dangerous. [What with electric attacks and flying gears... Bruce can easily imagine even more dangerous scenarios.]

[pokexplorer]

Without a doubt!

[As strange as she can be sometimes, Sigrun really does come through when it counts. Despite his own commanding experience, she handles the group of them so much better.

He nods in response to the danger factor of Pokemon.]

As I've said in the past, serious injuries do not happen too often, but that is because people usually have a Pokemon of their own to protect them in dangerous situations. A regular human is not going to be able to withstand a Pokemon attack like Thundershock or Ice Beam. I limited Klinklang's moves to ones that Miss Sigrun could handle for that reason.

[And also because he still doesn't know what Klinklang's other moves are just yet. But maybe someday...]

[amygdalae]

[Yeah those... sound really bad. A bean of ice? An electric attack?? A regular human would probably die instantly.]

...it might be wish to let her know that, eventually. [Bruce sounds just a bit wry at that.] Otherwise I can imagine her going up to try and challenge anybody who has a companion like you do.

[pokexplorer]

Haha, good point! I will do that.

[He sounds way too cheerful about it...Sorry, he's just imagining her having to dodge attacks like that and it's a bit ridiculous. And concerning, but mostly ridiculous.]

While I find her determination to battle Pokemon on her own, I actually would love to see a Pokemon in her capable hands. It would be a good test battle for my research...

wise* wow my typos are bad

[amygdalae]

...I doubt she'll mind that either. She certainly seems to enjoy Klinklang.

[Maybe having one will make sure that she doesn't go around fighting other Pokemon with her bare hands too???]

is it weird that I read it as wise anyway

[pokexplorer]

She would definitely want an offensive-based Pokemon- perhaps a Fighting-type? Or perhaps something like Bisharp...

[It has blades on its arms and torso, that must be appealing to her, right?!

...

Oh, right. Not talking to Pokemon-savvy people here.]

Ah- my apologies. I got a bit carried away, didn't I?

But you know, it would be nice for everyone here to end up with a Pokemon. I could probably place a Pokemon to a person in most cases, too.

no, i didn't notice it myself either lmao

[amygdalae]

[...yeah you're losing him there a little, Colress. At least you came back.]

It's fine. [Smiles a little here.] That does make me wonder - I assume Klinklang is one of a--species of Pokemon?

[...it really shouldn't be strange to think that but Bruce has no point of reference to go from, so.]

[pokexplorer]

It is indeed! We call them "types", based on their genetic makeup and the primary moves that they learn. Klinklang is a pure Steel-type, though some Pokemon can have multiple types.

Pokemon are also split into "categories" in relation to their defining characteristic. Unsurprisingly, Klinklang and its entire evolutionary line are known as the Gear Pokemon.

[amygdalae]

[...that... sort of makes sense? But at the same time not really.

Pokemon world sure is weird.]

How many... [trails off. How does he phrase this question.] 'types' of Pokemon are there? If you don't mind me asking.

[pokexplorer]

[Colress is never going to mind this sort of stuff, really...

Also Fairy-types do not exist yet for him obviously, so his count is going to be off.]

Not at all! There are seventeen types, ranging from Fire to Water, Electric to Flying, Psychic to Fighting, and so on. I can go into detail about all of them in one of our lessons if you'd like.

[amygdalae]

[Those are some... very specific types. (Flying? Psychic?? Creatures with powers of telekinesis??

...the last one sort of reminds him something about his most recent dream, but. Let's just skip that.]

I would like to hear more about them. [Because... yeah. Those sure are some strange ways of typing.]

[pokexplorer]

Ah, right now? We may want to pull up some chairs, then- this will take some time.

[He's rather excited that Bruce seems to be into it, at least!]

[amygdalae]

That works.

[Bruce didn't expect it to be right now, but he's also flexible.

Anyway, give him a moment to take two chairs over for them.]

[pokexplorer]

[Impromptu lessons can't hurt! At least it can take their mind off of the...everything, that they're dealing with for a little while.

Once Bruce has the chairs, Colress will take a seat. It feels surprisingly nice to sit down after standing during the battle and whatnot!]

So where would you like me to start? Did a specific type I mentioned as an example interest you?

[amygdalae]

[After settling down as well Bruce more or less just shrugs at the question, gesturing vaguely at Colress.]

Whatever you're most knowledgeable in.

[pokexplorer]

That would be Steel-types!

[Awww yeah lesson time!]

Steel-types, as you can imagine, get their typing usually by being made of steel or containing a metal coating of some sort. Some Pokemon evolve with the use of a Metal Coat to become part Steel! They are among the sturdiest types, and resist a great number of other types in battle. They are a popular choice among powerful Trainers for that reason!

The type also contains some of the more unconventional-looking Pokemon such as my Klinklang or Magneton. Many Steel-types are mechanical in nature, but the ones with a simple metal coating tend to be another type of animal, such as Steelix, a metallic rock snake.

[He pauses there to see if Bruce has any questions. Aren't you glad to have given him an open channel to tl;dr, Bruce.]

[amygdalae]

[Yes, he is... very glad. Mostly.

Obviously a good portion of this is flying over his head because what is Pokemon even, but let's try to tackle this one by one.]

...'evolve'?

[And with a... metal coat?? What??]

[pokexplorer]

Oh! I haven't explained evolution to you yet? My apologies! I seem to have lost track of what I've explained to whom.

[OKAY, LET'S BACKTRACK THEN.]

Evolution is when a Pokemon changes shape to become stronger! For example, imagine my Klinklang, if you will. Not too long ago, the only gears on its body were the two minigears. At that time, it was a Klink. Since then, it has evolved twice: once into Klang, and again into Klinklang.

Not all Pokemon are capable of evolution, and some only evolve once. It varies.

[amygdalae]

[Bruce frowns a little at the explanation, trying to visualize it. Well, its easy enough to see where Colress is getting at, but how it seems to work biologically is a bit hard to imagine.]

How do they change shape? Metamorphosis?

[...he's sort of imagining Klinklang in some sort of weird steel cocoon.]

[pokexplorer]

Ah, simple! They glow with a bright energy as they do it, similar to how they turn into energy when they enter a Pokeball. As they evolve, you can actually see their shape changing before your eyes. It's very exciting, actually!

[So...it's a cocoon of sorts, but an energy one.]