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As I stepped out of my front door, my eyes landed on a particularly rotund Doduo. Clearly, it was the one that followed me home the day before yesterday!
Ok, this is something that bugs me. It’s clearly smart. Why are its eyes vacant and is expression dull? Seems like a missed opportunity to give the doduo some character.
This is such an incredibly nonsensical way to name your new bird. But also, this bird has collars? So it was a pet or did it have a trainer? Does that mean there are pokemon trainers who only train doduo? Can Doduo use moves?????
There was one hanging in every club. It read: 'Doduo owners are responsible for the cleaning of any feathers left behind. Violators will be prosecuted.'
One would assume this building was brand-new with all the technology it contained, but these light-green metal floors were actually among the oldest structures on our island.
Ok, this is something that bugs me. It’s clearly smart. Why are its eyes vacant and is expression dull? Seems like a missed opportunity to give the doduo some character.
But also, this bird has collars? So it was a pet or did it have a trainer? Does that mean there are pokemon trainers who only train doduo? Can Doduo use moves?????
A pet. There are no trainers in this world. Doduo in this world can only attack with basic actions. I suppose you could try to argue it can use Tackle, Scratch, and Peck but that is about the extent of it.
People on the Island own Doduo's as pets. If I haven't mentioned it yet, an upcoming chapter for you soon will. I've never specified if Doduo in general tend to follow people around. Mostly the only Doduo you see in the fic is Gotan. Book Two has some other Doduo in it though.
Their modern society can create quantum computers. They have been able to do that for a good while now. If I had to guess, I would say my headcannon would be that they invented them sometime in the past 50 years.
Well if he said woman, it might get misconstrued with him meaning a female Doduo. I suppose he could say 'human' but women are more likely to slap in response
By having some randomly advanced technology. Though anti-gravity is the generally the most impressive technology they have.
If you really think about it, the anime has Pokeballs. Pokeballs transform a living thing into energy and hold it until its ready where it reconstitutes it later. That is like some serious science fiction technology.
After a few seconds the alarm ceased. The screens went black. We were engulfed by total darkness. Everything was silent and no one knew what was going on. None of us dared to shatter the silence.
I could hear everyone carefully stand up. I guessed the others had placed their hands on the table to have a point of reference and something to lean on in the pitch black.
"What's going on?!What happened to the Oracle?!" Rick whispered.
I whispered back. "I'm not sure! But, maybe we shoul-"
Suddenly a bright light appeared up on the silver stage. As my eyes adjusted, I could tell it was the figure... of MEW!
They had a blue glow about them as they hovered over the stage. Mews eyes were illuminated blueish-white. Their brightness was difficult to look at directly. They raised their small paw and began moving it about in small circles almost like slowly swirling wine in a glass.
The screens brightened as the sound of wind gradually grew. The ground appeared to be... sloshing?
Occasional flashes of light were depicted in various places as well as a thick wall of clouds all around the room. Directly above a clear blue sky was displayed with the sun shining down.
It then dawned on me. The scene was the middle of the ocean. In the eye of a hurricane!
Having the appearance of obviously deep water churning underneath my feet was unsettling. Adding to the effect was the eye wall, wind, lightning, and massive waves in the distance. Strangely, the eye appeared to be stationary; we were getting no farther away from the middle.
All of us stood around overwhelmed by the spectacle with a palpable sense of dread hanging over us.
I noticed Tango had flipped over his bed and was hiding under it. It did a rather poor job of obscuring him, but it was all he had...
Mew slowly lowered their paw. "Greetings, mortals."
The voice was in my head!
It was Rick who spoke out first stepping forward with a dramatic sweep of his arm. "Mew!? One of the fabled legendary Pokemon! What's going on here!?" He then whipped out his notepad ready to take notes.
The glowing around Mew changed colors to white and purple, obscuring all of Mew's details.
Suddenly, the screens displayed a solid yellow with what appeared to be red rose petals.
Within seconds, Mew transformed into a girl who looked to be age fourteen!
Artist per Google Translate: linko
Used with permission.
Rick scratched his head. "Somehow, this is not quite what I expected..."
The screens reverted back to the hurricane and Mew transformed again, but only her clothes.
Mew twirled about. "Ok! How about this ? Victoria from GR island usually wears these clothes. Better?"
Isaac frowned with arched eyebrows. "What did you do with the Oracle!?"
Mew laughed. "Pfft! You are ridiculous, Isaac! Demanding answers from a being like me! Want to know who would win in a battle between myself and an army of all the humans in the world? I'll give you a hint, it's not the humans..."
Isaac grit his teeth but his silence confirmed he had no retort.
Mew faced Rick with a mischievous grin. "To answer your question, I have suspended your Oracle and hacked into her systems with my psychic powers. She will remain as such until I deem otherwise."
I furrowed my brow. "What do you mean? That's not how psychic powers work!"
Mew's face remained the same. "Mmm, unlike psychic powers in humans, there are several things I can do with MY psychic powers..." She started casually counting off with her fingers, "Starting hurricanes, hacking computers, seeing the future, bending things like small spoons or airships, teleporting, reading minds, using any Pokemon move in theoretical existence... I could go on, but I think you get the gist."
Nikki spoke up next hiding shyly behind a gardening book she had with her. "Um... What happened to Murray, Miss Mew?"
Mew chuckled. "So polite! That's part of what I like about you, Nikki. I teleported Murray away. He had no purpose here."
In between conversation, everyone except Mew jumped as a lightning bolt tore through the sky.
Oddly the sound from them reduced dramatically while anyone spoke, but it only enhanced how loud they were when there was a pause.
Nikki's eyes widened. "Is he ok?!"
Mew puffed out her cheeks as she lowered her eyelids. "Seriously, Nikki? You thought I would harm him? If I was going to kill someone I would prefer it to at least have a point..."
The water beneath us continued to churn. I made it a point not to look down, lest my stomach get the better of me.
Nikki placed her book on the table and chanced speaking up again. "I'm sorry, Miss Mew. I've never met you before and I don't know why you are here yet..."
Mew grinned. "Manners will get you everywhere. So, I'll fill you all in. I've been around for a very long time by your standards. There was a time where I had no clue what the Pokemon TCG was. At first, it intrigued me. Various cards with different art and attacks. It seemed like something that might be fun to collect. Flash-forward a few years later and I had collected a full play-set of all the available cards in the game, except for the phantom Lugia card."
Rick arched his eyebrows.
My eyes widened. "Even all the promo cards including phantom rares? How?!"
Mew looked down and to the right as she smiled. "I might have liberated them from owners disinclined to use even a small fraction of their potential..."
Isaac was scowling. "You mean you stole them. Don't you know how hard people work to obtain those cards?!"
Mew started laughing. "Are you for real, Isaac? You have the worst morals in this room by FAR and you're trying to lecture ME? Please... stop! My transformed gut can barely take any more of it!"
Mew's amusement suddenly dropped. "Yeah, Isaac... I know everything you were up to... Seriously. Don't you ever try to judge me again, or..."
Mew's eyes glowed as the clouds in the room blackened momentarily. "I'llkill you where you stand."
The fight drained from Isaac's face as he looked to the ground equal parts afraid and ashamed.
Nikki spoke up next wide-eyed. "How dare you threaten my husband!" Nikki slammed her book on the table. "You can't just bully people into doing what you want! Don't you know what Isaac has been through?!" Her eyes started to water.
Isaac placed a hand on his chest as he looked toward Nikki. I imagined his sunglasses might be hiding some tears.
I don't think he was expecting such a defense from Nikki. Frankly, neither was I. Her loyalty and empathy was unrivaled.
Mew sighed. "Alright, Nikki. I have the ability to do anything I want, but I know you are referring to morals. You might not want to assume my morals align with yours though..."
I crossed my arms. "I should think not! None of us go around threatening to kill people even at our worst! None of us rob people either..."
Nikki raised an arm. "I agree!"
Rick nodded.
Isaac was gazing off in another direction at the storm, apparently deep in thought.
Mew frowned. "Fine, you bunch of goodie goodies... Simply put, I had no idea there were these things called laws back then... The concept didn't make any sense to me since nothing that was able to stop me was willing to."
What kind of a being could stop Mew?!
Rick paused in his writing, looking up at Mew. "Things that could stop you... are you implying Ho-Oh, and Lugia? And why did you not take the Lugia phantom card?"
Mew looked off to the side, smiling. "I understand your curiosity, but I'm not about to indulge you on things that might be able to stop me. As for why I left the Lugia phantom card alone... Let's just say messing with it is a bad idea... That's all I have to say there. I might answer some of your other questions though."
Rick frowned with a sigh as he continued writing.
Mew began to float sideways as if laying down with her head leaning on one hand. "Once I learned of laws, I felt kind of bad, so I robbed some rich people and doled out the money to the people I stole cards from. The rich weren't going to miss it anyway. In fact, they never even realized I stole it from them... Bunch of stupid greedy Arboks deserved it..."
Nikki tilted her head. "So you DO care about morals or you don't?"
Mew grinned. "Both... So, as I was saying... Once I had a full card collection, I began observing duels. In a week, I already understood the game better than most players in the world. After another week, I understood better than all but the strongest players... Before a month was over, I understood the game better than anyone else in the world. By that point, I was able to craft decks of all kinds. Even Axel, the hero, had nothing on me."
Rick raised up his random piece of chalk and chanced a question. "Axel, the hero? I've never heard of him!"
Mew crossed her arms. "Really? You mortals really suck at properly passing down history... GR Island does a good job, but not here on TCG Island. I suppose your Oracle is to blame. Always spoon-feeding you like a bunch of babies... Go figure it out on your own."
Mew then stared at Rick without breaking eye contact while Rick did the same.
Nikki looked around at the ongoing storm and broke the increasingly awkward silence. "So! Um... this hurricane is really impressive! But it's pretty scary... can we go somewhere nicer?"
Mew sighed. "I put so much effort years ago into getting that camera out into the ocean to record it and even helped it along with my power. It looks wicked awesome and you just want me to turn it off?" She then rolled her eyes. "...Fine."
The screens changed back to the hill from before.
Mew was now crossing her arms and looking down and away. "That better?"
Nikki smiled while nodding.
Isaac glared at Mew. "Wait a minute! Why would you hold onto a program for use in the Oracle's room? This isn't the first time you've shut down the Oracle, is it?!"
Mew shrugged. "Eheh... Yeah, you caught me there! I'm a rascal! Rawr!" Mew winked as she held her hands up in a mock-threatening way.
Artist per Google Translate: Okra Pumpkin Pie
Used with permission
Isaac winced, evidently worried he had just been attacked in some way.
Nikki glanced at Isaac, breathed a sigh of relief, and held his hand.
I pondered why Mew acted that way. It was very... odd. Perhaps there was more to this?
Rick held up his chalk. "Speaking of things from the past, how old are you, Mew?"
Mew failed to hide her laughter. "There you go again with that lucky chalk! It gets me EVERY time!"
Rick was still. "I know HOW you could, but why would you know about my lucky chalk!?"
Mew looked up and to the right. "Well... It's because I've been watching your progress on various things. You are quite the intriguing man, Rick!"
Rick smiled. "Oh, um... thanks! Could you tell me how old you are though? I'd really like to know."
Mew looked down and to the ground touching her two index fingers together. "Well... this was back when I was still young... It wasn't long after my awakening. It was about 1,000 years ago..."
O-one thousand years?!
Rick's raised an eyebrow. "That's it?"
Mew's eyes widened as she gripped her face with her hands. "What?! Oh, stop it, you flatterer!" Mew swatted the air in front of her like a cat.
Rick smiled awkwardly. "Uh... well I was just thinking a legendary ancient Pokemon might be a bit older... Forests and rocks are way older..."
Mew laughed. "And here I was worried about people making me feel OLD! You're alright, Rick!"
Rick smiled. "If I'm alright, perhaps you will tell me of your earliest memories?"
Mew looked up and to the right. "Hmm... I guess I said I would give you some answers and it does feel good to be the center of attention... My earliest memory was waking up."
Rick tilted his head. "And who woke you up?"
Mew looked off in the distance. "A talented scientist who went by... Professor Cypress."
Rick held up his chalk. "Are you saying you were created in a lab!?"
Mew laughed. "A lab?! Don't be ridiculous! What do I look like, Mewtwo? Look at you with your wild imagination just because of descriptions on Pokemon cards... Cypress just found me. He had nothing to do with however I came to be."
Rick furrowed his brow. "So, how did you come to be?"
Mew placed a finger on her bottom lip. "I'm not sure! If I had to guess, I'd say it had something to do with the Nexus or The Watchers."
Rick's eyebrows shot up. "Oh? What are those??"
Isaac rolled his head that suggested he was rolling his eyes and glanced my way.
I chuckled and nodded. Rick was having the time of his life here.
Nikki had opened her gardening book and appeared to be taking little notes in the margin. She wasn't quite as into it as Rick seemed to be, but I could definitely tell they were siblings!
Mew rolled her eyes. "I guess I could give you a little more since you were so nice about my age... The Nexus is where I was found. It has the ability to connect to the great beyond. As for the watchers, they watch from somewhere I cannot reach. I can send messages to them though. Sometimes they even reply!"
Rick placed a hand on his chin. "What is the great beyond and how do you know the Nexus can access it?"
Mew frowned. "Aww... I was enjoying questions about me and now you want to make it about that... Dumb Nexus... That's just going to lead to more yapping about stuff I shouldn't. So that's all I'm going to say on it."
Rick shook his head. "No! Wait! Why won't you discuss more of that? Can you explain?"
Mew put a hand to her chin. "Ok, I'll shed a little light on this... Discussing more than that will just lead to more questions which would lead to you asking for information I'm not supposed to reveal. Doing so anyway would violate what I have dubbed 'the sacred pact'. It is important to maintaining the balance of the world."
I tilted my head. "Why?"
A particularly long lighting strike illuminated Mew from behind. "You're better off not knowing."
Nikki's eyes widened. "Miss Mew, are you trying to scare us with that?"
Mew closed her eyes. "No, Nikki... It's the opposite. I'm trying not to scare you... You all need to drop this. I'm not going to answer it."
Rick looked up, nodding his head. "Fine! In that case, you were explaining about awakening?"
Mew stretched. "You're lucky I like you, Rick... When I awakened, I had a rudimentary knowledge of various things but with some odd gaps. I already knew how to speak and use my power perfectly, but I had no clue who or what I was until I saw a Mew card for the first time. I also already had a philosophy!"
Mew's body glowed with a blue light as she levitated high up into the air above us. She spoke telepathically. "My philosophy is the best and the only one worth pursuing... It is of balance through contrast." She made a fist in front of her as if she was crushing an invisible object.
She spread her arms wide. "It is also of fun. There is value in both light and dark, life and death, creation and destruction. Misery and love, murder and rescue. I revel in it ALL! In the between spaces, I thrive on conflict, mischief, intrigue, and passion!"
Just then the doors to the room opened a crack letting a bright light into the room.
Everyone turned to face the door to find a figure who I could tell was a pizza delivery guy from TCG Pizza! He had on the standard uniform, a couple boxes of pizza and some big soda bottles in the holster on his belt. He was also carrying a small plastic bag and a mini disposable cooler.
He scratched his head as he looked around at the hurricane-in-progress. "Uh... this is pretty cool, but I might be in the wrong place. Is there a 'Victoria' here?"
Mew continued floating as she held up a hand. "Yo! Mason, right? Thanks for the pizza and stuff! You can put it on that table over there." She pointed to the conference table.
Was this going where I thought it was going? I was feeling rather hungry, so I sure hoped so!
Everyone watched as Mason took a minute to cross the enormous room. He then sat the pizza down and took the sodas out and placed them out next to the pizza. He then placed the cooler on the table and took out disposable plates, utensils, napkins, and cups. He set the table for each guest.
Mason then turned to Mew and gave the standard TCG Pizza thumbs up with a dashing grin. "It's pizza time!"
Mew laughed. "Gotta love the classic slogan! Oh, and your tip is on the far chair under the cushion."
He then walked over to the Oracle's chair and pulled out a wad of cash far larger than one would expect. "Holy MEW! How much IS this!?"
Mew smiled looking off to the side. "Let's just say... it's enough for the three most important things you've been saving up for plus wiggle room to quit your job and find one in that career you've been wanting."
His jaw dropped as he froze in silence for a moment. He then frantically counted it.
Mason blinked. "Engagement ring, pay off parents' mortgage, cure my sister's blindness, and enough funds to quit my job!! I would ask how you knew all this, but that's really BESIDE the point!" He bowed stiffly with a shrill voice. "THANK YOU SO MUCH!!"
Mew waved her hand dismissively. "Good! Now go and be happy and stuff!"
Mason then laughed as he jogged all the way out of the room. The doors soon closed behind him.
The room then changed back to the hill we were on prior to Mew's arrival.
Mew giggled. "Aww! It feels so nice to do great things for people sometimes! I even made sure not to give him too much money so he had the pressure needed to accomplish his dreams."
I wasn't quite sure what I thought about Mew, but I couldn't deny the beautiful thing she just did for Mason.
Mew closed her eyes, smiling widely. "Well? What are you all waiting for? Dig in!"
Each of us looked at each other and shrugged as we began walking to the table.
Mew's eyes glowed as she opened them. "But don't you dare take all the pepperoni..."
Everyone including Mew were soon full of pizza and soda.
Tango remained hiding under his bed as he had done the entire time...
Rick nodded. "That certainly hit the spot! Thank you, Mew."
Mew grinned. "That's right! No one knows how to have a good time like I do!"
Isaac stared at Mew. "Yeah... I don't trust it. Pizza? It's like some corporate ploy to avoid paying higher wages to employees by placating them with food... But for you, the goal isn't money. It's something else... What do you want?"
The room changed back to the hurricane.
Mew smiled. "Isaac... it figures you would be the first one to question things given how used to manipulation you are... and now that you know my philosophy, I suppose the cat is out of the bag. I find your existence and antics enjoyable."
Rick looked up from his notepad over his glasses. It was the kind of look one might get from a librarian after shouting in the library of the dome.
Mew continued facing Isaac as she made two fists by her side. Her smile widened further. "Your plotting and scheming was such an enticing drama! I was on the edge of my seat, I even shut off my psychic power of foresight to watch! Do you know how exciting it is to have the kind of vantage point I do on all this?!"
Isaac's mouth hung open. Clearly wanting to retort but having no idea what to say to it.
Nikki placed both hands on the table with her eyes shut as she frowned. "You've been watching our struggles and pain... Like it was some kind of movie?!"
Mew giggled. "Yup! With popcorn! Craziest stuff I've seen in a looong time! Quite the contrast compared to what just happened with Mason."
Nikki sat down and hid behind her gardening book. Her face was completely red.
Isaac looked away too with a reddened face.
Great. So my private life and drama was on full display for this... being to get kicks out of...
Rick balled his fists at his sides. "So you don't care about privacy?"
Mew crossed her arms. "Well you're awfully judgemental. If it weren't for me 'disrespecting privacy' this world wouldn't be nearly as pretty as it is now. If I want to have some fun with it, I'm entitled to it."
Isaac grit his teeth. "So, you think you are above reproach, that you can just do anything you want for unexplained reasons?"
Mew looked towards Isaac with a smile. "Sure. Why not? You and this world owe me. As such, anything I do is justified."
I crossed my arms. "Even if you are telling the truth, atrocities are STILL atrocities!"
Mew frowned. "You know, Mister Gentleman? You really should learn how to live a little. Never kissed a girl until today? You're 28, dude."
I put my hands on my head. "Do you take NOTHING seriously?! And look who's talking, Miss over 1,000!"
Mew pouted. "Well, that was mean... Fine then. I'm done answering questions. Instead, I'll get to why I am here. I've never played any duels in the Pokemon TCG until this current generation of you humans. It all looked too boring to be worth it before then. Mister Gentleman, I demand a duel."
Rick hung his head at the lack of further answers. "No... My questions..."
Mew laughed. "Oh, Rick! So dramatic! Tell you what, depending on the outcome I MAY provide some more answers later. Until then, be a good little Nidoran and wait patiently."
Rick crossed his arms. "Why a Nidoran?!"
Mew smiled. "Because they are adorably weak. Your duel against Mister Gentleman was beyond pathetic. He was even using a deck of all commons."
Rick scowled.
Nikki stamped her foot. "Hey! We ALL lost to Mister Gentleman! Don't insult my brother!"
Mew raised an eyebrow. "But why not? He IS weak. You on the other hand... that duel where you brought out Venusaur was almost respectable. A rare thing for an island full of weaklings..."
Isaac was gripping the table with white knuckles. "Why put us down so much? Don't you know how hard we've all tried to get better at the game!?"
The motion of the hurricane on the screen stopped. A lightning bolt frozen in time.
Mew smiled. "It's true. You have all tried hard. But effort can only get you so far... Talent is far more important..."
The hurricane resumed motion.
Talent, huh? If she talked that way about anything other than the Pokemon TCG, I'd disagree.
I crossed my arms. "Well if you want a duel with me, you will be disappointed. I currently only have my deck of commons..."
Mew grinned. "Yes, that would be a let-down even though it turns out you could have become champion with it! But I came prepared. If you check your left pocket, you will find a copy of your original deck, 'Mystic Fire'. You will duel me with that."
I raised an eyebrow. "Why make such a fuss over a duel? You could have just asked me at any time."
Mew laughed. "Right to the point, I see! I've gone about it this way because of the stakes involved! Specifically, a matter of life... and death."
Mew looked at me squinting while smiling. "Refuse the duel and I will kill Isaac right here in front of you all. Agree to duel and win? Isaac lives. If you lose?" Mew's eyes glowed. "I will kill both Isaac AND Nikki."
There were various sounds and words of protest from each of us.
Mew laughed. "Gold. Pure gold. I love it. You know, Mister Gentleman, you could use this as... an opportunity. Refuse to duel and you simultaneously guarantee Nikki's safety and free her from her miserable marriage. You would then be free to marry Nikki!"
Nikki furrowed her brow and frowned. "My marriage isn't miserable!"
Mew frowned. "Poor Nikki... You know I can read minds, right? You're marriage IS miserable... Can't you see I am trying to free you? To make you happy? And just think of how happy it would make Mister Gentleman too!"
Nikki's eyes shut tightly as she balled her fists at her sides. "It WAS miserable! But it's going to be BETTER! And what kind of a wife would I be if I left Isaac!? And I would never forgive Mister Gentleman if he let Isaac die like that! I would NEVER marry him if he did!"
Mew waved a hand dismissively. "Irrelevant! I can just erase your memory of it, Nikki. Then, you certainly WOULD marry him! If you both just accept it, I can make both you and Mister Gentleman very happy. Isaac sucks. Mister Gentleman is way better for you. Oh! If you are worried about what others will think, I can erase Rick's memory too!"
Suddenly a round object bounced off of Mew. The object then opened with a light that enveloped Mew before it faded and the object dropped impotently to the floor.
On closer inspection, it appeared to be... a POKEBALL?
Mew laughed. "Oh my! Did you just try to capture ME with a miserably shoddy Pokeball prototype?! I don't even KNOW how many centuries it would take before those might be invented for real!"
Rick snarled. "How dare you say those things to my sister and how dare you imply you would tamper with my dearly important memories!"
Nikki held her hands to her mouth. "Mew! I've heard enough! What you are saying is horrible beyond words!"
Rick was glaring at Mew harder than I had ever seen him do.
Mew frowned. "Really Nikki? Fine, I don't need your approval..."
Mew turned to me with balled fists near her chest. "I can erase your memory of the deed too! You can have Nikki all to yourself with absolutely no guilt or blame! I can give her to you on a silver platter! Just say the word and I'll grant your deepest desire."
Isaac leapt up from his chair and took a swing at Mew as she floated away.
Mew laughed cruelly. "Wow, Isaac. That was pathetic. Plus, you would be dead if I decided to fight back even a tiny bit."
Isaac snarled. "I don't care, you disgusting tyrant! How dare you try to interfere with our love life!"
Rick closed his notebook. "You know what? I waited a long time to discover you, but you've been nothing but a big disappointment."
All the lights suddenly went out in the room.
Everyone was silent.
After a moment, the hurricane resumed as the lights returned.
Mew glared at Rick. "I'm not here to make you proud of me..."
I grit my teeth. "You dangled Nikki as a prize knowing I couldn't bare doing such a thing! I'm not going to sacrifice my friend even if it WOULD lead to my happiness!"
I noticed Isaac removed his glasses and was wiping his eyes.
Mew raised an eyebrow. "Oh... Are you sure? If you lose, you will be sealing Nikki's fate!"
Isaac stared at me with resolve. "Mister Gentleman, if it guarantees Nikki's safety, you can walk away! I won't let her down any more!"
Nikki clutched his arm. "No! I can't bare to lose you like that! I love you, Isaac! You are the father of my kids and have known me almost my whole life!"
Mew grinned while nodding her head. "Well! Would you look at THAT!? Isaac IS good for something after all! But it's not up to you, little lightning..." Mew changed the pitch of her voice as if trying to imitate a male announcer. "It's up to the champion of champions, Missssster Geeeentleman!"
I glared at Mew. "With my deck of commons, I would be unlikely to defeat you, but with my original unrestricted deck? You're going down! I will not accept the death of anyone!"
Mew laughed. "Fantastic! Finally a motivated and worthy opponent!"
The description of the setting is really neat and just a bit clinical and overexplained, in a good way. Again, it sets up the mindset of our narrator. And there's that vanity with the strange fashion rules.
Fish are a rarity and fishing is limited but people can make their living off it?
The thought of TCG floozies is utterly hilarious but I guess if poker can get them anything can.
"I was only 28 and not 45!" *cough cough* I certainly hope I have a lot of life ahead of me... (is 45)
Oh noooooo mixing up twins! Used to happen to me in middle school. They'd switch places intentionally though.
Oh wait but Amanda and Sara aren't identical? Or does one of them dye her hair?
The clinical nature of the narrator in logging everyone's ages even though he doesn't actually remember them is a hilarious character trait.
Oh no now Amy is in on it Amy no I believed in you
Some of your actions and dialogue are fractured when they shouldn't be. But I notice that's a common thing now. Is that how it's being taught nowadays? In my day (as I said I am old), we learned that action and dialogue from one character went together until broken up by something other than them.
"You're so cute and dependable!" *insert whip crack sound effect*
Ohhhhh they both dye their hair and they switch roles oh good lord it *is* middle school. Also is Amanda's icon really supposed to just be crying or is that makeup too?
Not gonna lie I feel like this entire gym should get reported for repeated harassment.
YESSSS THE STRANGE LIFEFORM IS HERE
aww and there he goes
Anyway good job but dear god that gym is frickin creepy.
The description of the setting is really neat and just a bit clinical and overexplained, in a good way. Again, it sets up the mindset of our narrator. And there's that vanity with the strange fashion rules.
Fresh water fish are a rarity because there are only two lakes in their entire world. All the rest is ocean (so salt water fish). Fish in the lakes are plentiful because fishing is restricted. You have to be very skilled at fishing to be allowed to fish on the lake, and even then, you can't use boats and big nets and such for it. Has to be traditional with a rod. I figured that was too much to put in the chapter though.
Some of your actions and dialogue are fractured when they shouldn't be. But I notice that's a common thing now. Is that how it's being taught nowadays? In my day (as I said I am old), we learned that action and dialogue from one character went together until broken up by something other than them.
Ohhhhh they both dye their hair and they switch roles oh good lord it *is* middle school. Also is Amanda's icon really supposed to just be crying or is that makeup too?
Mew and I took our seats at the golden duel table while Rick, Isaac, and Nikki remained at the conference table.
Mew smiled. "Hey, Mister Gentleman. Would you like to review my deck before the duel? I already know everything in yours, and I'm looking for the biggest challenge I can get."
I frowned. "For someone who threatened to kill my friend, you are being awfully accommodating... But I'm not going to turn it down either. Let me make sure my deck is properly assembled first..."
Mew nodded. "Of course! Take all the time you need."
After looking through every card, I confirmed this was indeed the deck I used to become the champion with. It is as follows:
Trainer Cards: 32
4 Computer Search
4 Bill
4 Itemfinder
3 Energy Removal
3 Switch
3 Professor Oak
3 Pokemon Trader
3 Nightly Garbage Run
2 Gust of Wind
2 Goop Gas Attack
1 Scoop Up
Energy: 12
8 Fire Energy
4 Double-Colorless Energy
Growlithe - HP50
2 colorless: Errand-Running
Flip a coin. If heads, search your deck for a Trainer card, reveal it, and put it into your hand. Shuffle your deck afterwards.
1 fire 1 colorless: Ember 30 damage
Discard 1 Fire Energy card attached to this Pokémon in order to use this attack.
Retreat cost: 1
Kadabra
2 psychic: Psycho Panic - 30 damage
If the Defending Pokémon is Psychic, this attack's base damage is doubled.
3 psychic: Blink - 30 damage
If an attack damages this Pokémon during your opponent's next turn, flip a coin. If heads, prevent that damage. (Any other effects of attacks still happen.)
Choose 1 Energy card attached to 1 of your opponent's Pokemon and discard it.
Trade 1 of the basic Pokemon or evolution cards in your hand for 1 of the basic Pokemon or evolution cards from your deck.
Draw 2 cards.
Choose 1 of your opponent's benched Pokemon and switch it with his or her active Pokemon.
Switch 1 of your benched Pokemon with your active Pokemon.
Choose up to 3 basic Pokemon cards, evolution cards, and/or basic energy cards from your discard pile. Show them to your opponent and shuffle them into your deck.
Discard 2 of the other cards from your hand in order to put a Trainer card from your discard pile into your hand.
Double Colorless Energy provides 2 colorless Energy.
Discard 2 of the other cards from your hand in order to search your deck for any card and put it into your hand. Shuffle your deck afterward.
Choose 1 of your Pokémon in play and return its Basic Pokémon card to your hand. (Discard all cards attached to that card.)
All Pokémon Powers stop working until the end of your opponent's next turn.
It was good to see my real deck again. Like being reunited with an old friend. And I would need it to save an old friend!
My deck sets up Arcanine and keeps damage off of it with Alakazam. It then plows through all opposition with Flamethrower and Takedown. A full arsenal of draw cards would give me access to everything I needed. Moltres helped dig energy out of the deck so I wouldn't lack in that either.
Once setup was complete, no opponent could hope to stand against it. I had some Goop Gas Attacks in there for good measure and to use against Mr Mime's Pokemon Power that would prevent all damage to it higher than 20.
There was a reason the duelists on the island learned to fear me, and this deck was it.
I nodded. "Mew, I am now ready to inspect your deck."
Mew held a finger to her lip. "Before I do, I want to tell you a little history about it."
I shrugged.
I could protest, but knowing my opponent's deck was an advantage I wasn't about to throw away, especially if it helped me win. Champion or not, I wasn't about to take any chances with my friends' lives.
Mew held up an index finger. "One of the heroes of ages past was your ancestor. He went by the name 'Magician'. My deck took his deck and improved upon it." Mew then handed her deck over:
Trainer Cards: 33
4 Computer Search
4 Bill
3 Professor Oak
3 Energy Removal
3 Challenge!
3 Pokemon Trader
3 Nightly Garbage Run
3 Itemfinder
2 Pokemon Center
2 Gust of Wind
2 Switch
1 Rocket's Sneak Attack
Energy: 10
10 Psychic Energy
Draw 2 cards. (same as Bill)
Look at your opponent's hand. If he or she has any Trainer cards, choose 1 of them. Your opponent shuffles that card into his or her deck.
Remove all damage counters from all of your own Pokémon with damage counters on them, then discard all Energy cards attached to those Pokémon. (Reminder: all damage is technically taken in the form of damage counters. Each counter is worth 10 HP which is the lowest amount of damage that can be received. Thus removing damage counters is the same as replenishing HP.)
Scyther, huh? It seemed good taste ran in the family!
Bust these cards... I had seen them somewhere before... Where were they?
...
I remembered! In my days at the academy, Doctor Wem used to have the class write papers for in-depth analysis on various mon cards and their evolutions... The final set of papers involved this specific set of mon! Even their levels were the same! What could...
What was I thinking about again?
After reviewing, I could tell what her deck wanted to do... She planned to capitalize on Mr. Mime's Invisible Wall power to prevent all damage higher than 20. She would use Alakazam to keep damage off of it and redirect it to Tentacool which would use its power to keep returning to her hand making damage counters disappear in the process. In theory, this should make her invincible, but Goop Gas Attack and Gust of Wind would be able to get around things...
I returned Mew's deck to her and prepared my deck to duel!
Dear diary: A writer has just activated my trap card!
Because we are now touching upon
TCG2 Doduo Adventures,
Reading stories ambiented in the world of the Trading Card Game is a rarity for me. Didn’t even think the subfandom had significant activity in it until at most a year or so ago. So, finding someone who is writing this stuff in TR is always welcome, no matter if it is about the videogame adaptation.
One curious thing was the choice of format to open the story with being the epistolary. A sort of first person limited omniscient that should bring in quite a “videogame-y” approach to the storytelling, but also: a format that can directly expose the reader to the in-universe writer’s “hindsight is 20/20” effect, meaning we get oh so many openings for sardonic narration. I’m Anticipating With Emotion™.
As such, the story doubles as a lets-play in written form.
Add to boons. Playing your hand and having to trust that skill and chance guide the narrative means this also counts as some sort of roleplay. You’ve found yourself into quite the critical role this time.
Now, this has taken me more time than it should to get here and up-to-speed, but what’s five more minutes five more weeks? Syndication can be a bitch.
This entire thing kicks up in diary form and proceeds to an introduction “scene” in after-report format, this means we can skip such silly formalities as having to introduce or describe our characters, after all, who even describes characters, riiiight? :p (now now, you did that in paratext form :p) Protip for writers: get to the meat of the story right away by skipping on describing characters! (</only-half-kidding>)
It also means we get some behavioural cues about the character and the setting right off the writing thanks to the affordances of writing in “I knew it”-past tense.
When describing the events so far, the MC… sorry, Mister™, starts with gauging opponents as “countless”, then explicitly describes his own efforts and the results with “limited” terms. (This is going to come up later, actually) Freestyle / non-ranked competition can be quite the hassle in mainline already with living creatures, but ranked competition doesn’t fall behind in a setting that, withotu having played the videogame before, I can only assume it demands “round-robin” tournament formats.
Things went well enough that Mister™ has become the Champion (of the island)! And that means just enough earned freedom so that we can turn to the mandatory phase of “how did we get here”. And of course it has to be with the best stuff around:
My unrestricted deck, ‘Mystic Fire’, was a force to behold indeed! It was crammed full of the best cards, several of which were uncommon or rare. It used Arcanine with its high 100HP with support from the legendary Moltres and Alakazam.
I see two Legendary Pokémon in there, and Alakazam is not them!
Truly best doggo (I am not biased I swear), alas here it is limited to its card form, no access to the GLORIOUS FLUFF!
Now, I don’t recall if this was back the times when Queendom was available but I have to respect a setup that otherwise lets a great G1 mon like Arcanine take center stage. (Yeah yeah I know this is for the GBC but hey, the TCG has grown a good lot!)
Calmness of a sort follows the storm that the tournament is implied to has-been, and that means Mister™ can now make financially sound decisions such as purchasing a house and making a visit to the barber.
No, like, really!
For my 28th birthday this year, I was able to purchase a home in an upper class neighborhood
…Maaan, don’t we ALL miss the times when the salary for one nerdy passtime was enough to buy a house? What ever happened with that??? I want my 2000s 1980s back.
Like, sure, he lags almost a decade behind Gary Oak, but let’s be reasonable the kid’s just built different.
Speaking of investments, I did notice the barber. Considering the newly-minted champion going about and that all sports have a… non-legit side, with fixers and all that crap, let’s hope this guy is a bona-fide barber and not some player from the, ahem, shadow realms of competition who could pull off a trick like this:
…Maaaan, remember when we would get anime uncensored because the network would not treat us like idiots? What ever happened to those times?? I want LuDo back.
…Of course! Not even a couple hours in as a Champion and you get challenged with a child. I guess some things never change.
But this also tells us yet another important thing just in case it was not obvious: the dueling is not everything in this sport. There’s still commerces and activities that get involved with Pokémon in a world that, well, as described, runs on the stuff. And if you want to keep your money circulating, you’ve got to participate.
I believe my late grandfather would approve! […] He may not have been the TCG Champion, but at least he was able to see me attain the rank.
…What? Where’s the grandpa? I want to see the grandpa! Calmness-after-winning is precisely for stuff like this! (Pssst, show him your awesome Arcanine card)
And on that note the story leads to closing the first writing on this diary, the same way for us readers this is the first time getting this. This little detail joins in with the choice of “intro-esque” musical cues as elements that contribute to sell the thematic aspect of this story. We are playing a videogame, we just are not in the role of “players”.
Off we go then, to train a child. What’s the worst that could happen?
I arrived at Billy’s Mansion and introduced myself to his parents.
“Billy’s Mansion”??? The kid owns the mansion???
Why am I here, like, working 9-to-5 and writing fic???
As for the mansion, it reminded me vaguely of the house I grew up in with my grandfather before he sold it to obtain the funds to send me to the private university…
I’m gong to say it again: I WANT SCREENTIME FOR THE GRANDPA!!!
We get introduced to the past times of Mister™ having to learn and the character of the instructor. Side note I was immersed enough that I thought we were getting introduced to an instructor in Bill’s Mansion until get get the clarification a few words in that we were in ~ flashback mode ~ so a slight edit somewhere to tack in some sort of “back in the day…” might be good to avoid pacing issues for the reader (the pacing of the story here is fine).
Anyway, instructor! Ms. Wem. I like it that her capabilities are described without every clarifying if we are seeing her with “young eyes” or with “hindsight is 20/20 eyes”, so there is a chance she was quite on the level to take on a TCG Champion and do merits, and we get that cue that Mister™ always felt like she was holding back.
Like I said: advantages of writing in epistolary format.
The entire thing nicely sells that feeling of nostalgia for the times, but also it helps sell her position on (not) being the Champion. There is a sense of distance, a distance in her that we can not experience but that we can map to hindsight and distance our MC feels to get some sort of idea about it.
(My today’s two cents: a further pupil of her will turn out to be the main villain. Stay tuned!)
No no no! I’m liking the ancient history! I have THEORIES already! Even if it’s only two but hey…
We are returned to the present day, where it is now Mister™’s turn to be the instructor. Will he hold back? I mean, this is a 6 yr old (WHO OWNS A MANSION) so for the time being I take it the answer will be yes. A walk to the studio where the introductory lesson will take place…
…because first things first, we have to explain what a card game is!
I nodded. “Do you know what it looks like to play the Pokemon Trading Card game?”
“OH! I know! You wear duel disks on your arms and call out these monsters that are holograms and play shadow duels!”
Well well well! if it isn’t the consequences of me jokingly “threatening” over our DM channel that this review would have YGO references. I guess I am now short-circuited from a good portion of them that I wanted to pepper the review with, yes?
Well, don’t you think you have me beaten yet, because I have…
…the ProZD card game! yes the one with Lysanderoth
Now now, I don’t think Mister™ is gonna go all the way, that’d be mean on day 1 and Mister™ needs the job it seems? But hey the kid asked aout Yu-Gi-Oh first, if he’s mature enough to deal with the Shadow Realm he’s mature enough to deal with advanced decks ft. Best Legendary Doggo. I don’t make the rules.
Billy looked profoundly disappointed. “Well there’s still holograms in it right?!”
That’s the spirit! You are the Champion and this is Chapter 0, you can’t get ass-beat by a punk! (just ask Lance lol)
Now I gotta say Mister™ is a good teacher because he provides context and stuff. Sure, to a 6 yr old but still, it’s important to help students connect things. If your child does not understand there is just not enough arable land in the world so as to maintain a population that will develop the technology for holograms, well, the kid will continue to ask for holograms!
And speaking of,
I smiled. "Ah, Billy, worlds that big are a fantasy! Giant islands called continents are a fun concept for a story, but I’m afraid our world is not that large. "
Dude this is a SMALL world! Got a chuckle at the small “but what is west from Westeros? Presumably Westereros” kind of moment. A nice jab at how our world would look like from their world.
Also: Mister™ takes care to “limit scope” for his explanation. There are three islands: we enumerate them. We emphasize the rest of the world is a “singular thing” (“nothing but ocean”). Then, rather than introducing a “whole new” concept, he builds on the singular existing one (“giant islands called continents”), then explains concisely how they are not a thing (their world is not large enough for them).
The kid owns a mansion, yes, but that does not make him Plato.
And then we get right to the action to train this child:
Time to choose their Pokémon GO team!
Err… apologies, wrong side franchise.
And we get some nice conversation out of that! What with Little Kid Oligarch just about disparaging every. single. life choice. of our protagonist, that just gives an entertaining mood to the scene because, frankly, I can’t say Billy is doing this without intent. Observe:
Billy shrugged. “If you say so. Did you at least graduate?”
At least?! Why was I feeling judged by a child?!
Like, honestly, this story is about an old game from the 00’s but it just feels so real getting called out on if or not having a title now in 2025 when university degrees are actually strongly devalued.
All the thingsMister™ has to do to try and retain composure… they are fun yes and they also show us potential tics or nonverbal language about the character. To his credit, Mister™ manages to introduce and explain all the cool thigns you can do (and sorta have to get to do, surely the story will get into this eventually!) to climb the ranks and eventually become a cool Champion. Ya know, one who can afford a house.
I waved my hand dismissively. “Oh, I wasn’t THAT old! There are many people who don’t even become parents by my age of twenty-eight!”
Billy’s eyes widened. “WOAH I thought you were forty-five!”
Fortunately Billy won’t be stopped from his ambitions by the emotions and insecurities of people around him [note] , so the scene can merrily continue! And Mister™ provides, continuing the tale and pointing out in simple language how the circuit of a card battler is all… well, battles. Gotta win fights here and there and ascertain your domain.
[note] Life pro tip: get used to speaking to an audience, even if it is an invented one 8the old mirror trick). Does wonders for self-image and also trains you to be able to think of ways out or in of a dialogue at the snap of your fingers.
This has the effect of inspiring Billy to actually learn, somewhat:
Billy poked me to bring me out of my thoughts. “Hey, Mister! I’m ready to learn Pokemon Cards now! Make me the very best!”
Explanations begin as it is customary to do in science and academia: by using a live (virtual) subject, in this case Doduo the Actual Bird That Exists. A curious thing to have and that also functions as an inconvenient distraction vector for Billy.
In between the crisscrosses and Mister™’s suffering, we cover pretty much all the important bases: combat is a thing between two parties, each one using a deck of cards representing creatures; one takes action with the cards and inflicts damage to the other; damage in the game does , and I have to insist here, does NOT affect you nor your creatures in reality, unlike in some other card games with creatures…
(Digimon Tamers: Absolutely safe to play for kids! No trauma or death whatsoever!)
(I’m legally required to mark the above line as sarcams, btw)
… and the Card Game is a centralizing activity in the world to the point of being used to solve disputes. Like, ya know, legal jurisprudence, or even school violence! Remember children: to stop school bullies, challenge them to a nerdy activity! That’ll sure put them off! And with that we’re golden.
I said we’re golden!
Aaaah, what’s with children questioning the underpinnings of society, law and most importantly, commerce. What has the world come to!
After an in-depth lesson on how to play the Pokemon Trading Card Game, I could tell the boy was spent, so I bid my farewell to Billy. At least teaching the mechanics went smoothly…
Silly Mister™ this is how all of them begin, they get caught in the simple mechanics first, and four months later they are knee deep running simulations in Pokémon Showdown and trading Gibles with perfect IVs in the black market.
Given we do not see more about classes for at least the next ten days, we can only hope for the best.
(Narrator’s Voice: “Things were not, indeed, the best.”)
"Mister"™ learns the hard way that the one big issue about being alone at the top is… well, being alone at the top. No one likes to lose, and with an ELO of over 9000 a Champion is a bad prospect for anyone to challenge just because.
One thing that had gone mostly implied in the story so far during the April 1-14 run, was the “upkeep cost” of associated with a high-tier, competitive and active profile in this sport. You need to get new cards, need to keep up with “the meta”, need peace of body and mind… all in all, even when (if!) you win, it’s a money that flows in easy and flows out easier.
We even see how during the last few lines, the tone of the narration ever so slightly changes to stress time factors more.
Unfortunately I had been running up a bit of a credit tab this past month
Oi! Social commentary is my purview in the context of this review! :p But yeah finding yourself without a source of stable income does unveil to the eyes much of the failure of the global systems we live in. I’m not sure exactly what is the idea of taxing property that is in use, tbh.
Speaking of “a better world”, could you imagine if we had Regular English and thus all numerals were made with -th? (or -þ, if you want to be extra cool). Oneth, twoth, threeth, fourth, fiveth, etc.
The saying “necessity is the mother of invention” is sometimes used to excuse or apologize rather clumsy or even harmful societal practices, but in this case it quite correctly applies. Within the context of a tightly regulated game, where spectacle is part of the name, "Mister"™ has decided that it is time to push into the realm of the absurd, of the subversive, to gain a new foothold.
The idea is not without merit. Take a bunch of common cards and play with those. Let the enormous dissonance between “a Champion” and “a (below!) entry level deck” would draw attention, challengers, money, and a new vision of tactics. Who are we kidding we are all here for the money.
There was no talking myself out of it now… I owed it to myself to try! I needed to see just how far my skill at the Pokemon TCG could really take me!
And the personal challenge ofc. This is like Nuzlocke, but “soft” in that no one gets to die.
I said NO ONE gets to die!!!
We get a brief run of the deck, which alas features no Arcanine and thus no Legendaries (fite me). But it is the cost of running a “common”-limited deck FOR GREAT JUSTICE! The three (three!) Dark Rapidash are a nifty
and just chef’s kiss to me, the artwork and the 'dex entry are just that cool. Admittedly the other cards past Rapidash and Energy Removal did not call my attention much but then again I’m not a TCG technician holograms when!.
If this deck works… it will be a time of greatness, if not even a sort of in-universe meme campaign. We do are told that no other Champion so far has done anything like this, and from a pretty good source.
And thus, it’s time for a new day. A new beginning.
Reading stories ambiented in the world of the Trading Card Game is a rarity for me. Didn’t even think the subfandom had significant activity in it until at most a year or so ago. So, finding someone who is writing this stuff in TR is always welcome, no matter if it is about the videogame adaptation.
I think my fic about the videogame adaptation is the only one in existence that is of significant length. I was shocked to learn there was nothing else out there like it!
One curious thing was the choice of format to open the story with being the epistolary. A sort of first person limited omniscient that should bring in quite a “videogame-y” approach to the storytelling, but also: a format that can directly expose the reader to the in-universe writer’s “hindsight is 20/20” effect, meaning we get oh so many openings for sardonic narration. I’m Anticipating With Emotion™.
Add to boons. Playing your hand and having to trust that skill and chance guide the narrative means this also counts as some sort of roleplay. You’ve found yourself into quite the critical role this time.
Yep! I commit to the outcomes of the duels. I didn't even play the duels ahead of time. I just wrote and played as I went! Now for all of Book One, it goes off of the results in the original prologue, so I knew in advance when writing Book One what those results would be since I already played the games for them long in advance, but when I wrote the original prologue, I really was writing as I played.
This entire thing kicks up in diary form and proceeds to an introduction “scene” in after-report format, this means we can skip such silly formalities as having to introduce or describe our characters, after all, who even describes characters, riiiight? :p (now now, you did that in paratext form :p) Protip for writers: get to the meat of the story right away by skipping on describing characters! (</only-half-kidding>)
Well, get used to character descriptions because there is a whopping 40ish characters in Book One alone and roughly that amount in Book Two ADDED to that!
I got pretty tired of having to introduce characters but the things we do for fics...
It also means we get some behavioural cues about the character and the setting right off the writing thanks to the affordances of writing in “I knew it”-past tense.
When describing the events so far, the MC… sorry, Mister™, starts with gauging opponents as “countless”, then explicitly describes his own efforts and the results with “limited” terms. (This is going to come up later, actually) Freestyle / non-ranked competition can be quite the hassle in mainline already with living creatures, but ranked competition doesn’t fall behind in a setting that, withotu having played the videogame before, I can only assume it demands “round-robin” tournament formats.
Actually, tournaments tend to be elimination or at least the tournament Book Four is based around is because I would go insane if all the low level duelists stuck around for too long lol... 😅 I've committed to them all being 2 out of 3 match style for said tournament... because I clearly enjoy pain like a Doduo in my fic. 😬
Things went well enough that Mister™ has become the Champion (of the island)! And that means just enough earned freedom so that we can turn to the mandatory phase of “how did we get here”. And of course it has to be with the best stuff around:
I see two Legendary Pokémon in there, and Alakazam is not them!
Yeah... that is NOT how I meant for that to be interpreted! Fine, fine... I've reworded it for Alazakam to come first and THEN the legendary Moltres. By the way, the game distinguishes between a legendary Moltres and a regular Moltres. The legendary card version has a special Pokemon power to pull fire energy for the deck. Very useful!
Now, I don’t recall if this was back the times when Queendom was available but I have to respect a setup that otherwise lets a great G1 mon like Arcanine take center stage. (Yeah yeah I know this is for the GBC but hey, the TCG has grown a good lot!)
Calmness of a sort follows the storm that the tournament is implied to has-been, and that means Mister™ can now make financially sound decisions such as purchasing a house and making a visit to the barber.
No, like, really!
…Maaan, don’t we ALL miss the times when the salary for one nerdy passtime was enough to buy a house? What ever happened with that??? I want my 2000s 1980s back.
Yeah... things got harder. We have the best technology and ironically the worst economy. Unlike the world of the fic where things (at least on TCG Island) became a pretty cool place to live!
Speaking of investments, I did notice the barber. Considering the newly-minted champion going about and that all sports have a… non-legit side, with fixers and all that crap, let’s hope this guy is a bona-fide barber and not some player from the, ahem, shadow realms of competition who could pull off a trick like this:
…Maaaan, remember when we would get anime uncensored because the network would not treat us like idiots? What ever happened to those times?? I want LuDo back.
Yeah somehow people get less nice but anime gets more censored. Must be a direct correlation. People don't get what they want in their anime, so they have to turn to real life for it until they get irl censored by the cops.
But this also tells us yet another important thing just in case it was not obvious: the dueling is not everything in this sport. There’s still commerces and activities that get involved with Pokémon in a world that, well, as described, runs on the stuff. And if you want to keep your money circulating, you’ve got to participate.
You CAN live totally off of dueling without being a paid employee of a card club, but unless you can pull off wins like Mister Gentleman, you might not have much luck.
…What? Where’s the grandpa? I want to see the grandpa! Calmness-after-winning is precisely for stuff like this! (Pssst, show him your awesome Arcanine card)
And on that note the story leads to closing the first writing on this diary, the same way for us readers this is the first time getting this. This little detail joins in with the choice of “intro-esque” musical cues as elements that contribute to sell the thematic aspect of this story. We are playing a videogame, we just are not in the role of “players”.
Ah, so I forget if you mentioned you would, but it seems you are utilizing the soundtack! I've put a lot of work into picking out the tracks for the fic and almost no one ever comments on them. As such, comments like these are highly novel and appreciated!
Yet another unfortunate if not amusing misinterpretation... Since it conflicts with a scene in book two, I've reworded it to make it clear the mansion belongs to Billy's parents rather than Billy directly.
You will get Mister Gentleman thinking back to him and his words and remembering him at times, but I do not currently have plans for a flashback with actual dialogue for Grandpa Jack. Perhaps I will add something at some point.
We get introduced to the past times of Mister™ having to learn and the character of the instructor. Side note I was immersed enough that I thought we were getting introduced to an instructor in Bill’s Mansion until get get the clarification a few words in that we were in ~ flashback mode ~ so a slight edit somewhere to tack in some sort of “back in the day…” might be good to avoid pacing issues for the reader (the pacing of the story here is fine).
Anyway, instructor! Ms. Wem. I like it that her capabilities are described without every clarifying if we are seeing her with “young eyes” or with “hindsight is 20/20 eyes”, so there is a chance she was quite on the level to take on a TCG Champion and do merits, and we get that cue that Mister™ always felt like she was holding back.
Like I said: advantages of writing in epistolary format.
The entire thing nicely sells that feeling of nostalgia for the times, but also it helps sell her position on (not) being the Champion. There is a sense of distance, a distance in her that we can not experience but that we can map to hindsight and distance our MC feels to get some sort of idea about it.
I like the way you think. That certainly would be a good way to write a villain.
I'll refrain from confirming or denying since if true, confirming would be a spoiler and if not true, denying it is a light form of spoiler for what things are not.
We are returned to the present day, where it is now Mister™’s turn to be the instructor. Will he hold back? I mean, this is a 6 yr old (WHO OWNS A MANSION) so for the time being I take it the answer will be yes. A walk to the studio where the introductory lesson will take place…
…because first things first, we have to explain what a card game is!
Well well well! if it isn’t the consequences of me jokingly “threatening” over our DM channel that this review would have YGO references. I guess I am now short-circuited from a good portion of them that I wanted to pepper the review with, yes?
Well, don’t you think you have me beaten yet, because I have…
…the ProZD card game! yes the one with Lysanderoth
Now now, I don’t think Mister™ is gonna go all the way, that’d be mean on day 1 and Mister™ needs the job it seems? But hey the kid asked aout Yu-Gi-Oh first, if he’s mature enough to deal with the Shadow Realm he’s mature enough to deal with advanced decks ft. Best Legendary Doggo. I don’t make the rules.
He has nothing to worry about since he won't actually be playing against Billy.
But if he did, Billy would likely use a deck from the modern meta. They would be 'fake' cards for their world. Mister Gentleman would laugh and call them absurdly overpowered and how no one who designed cards could possibly design them that way.
Now I gotta say Mister™ is a good teacher because he provides context and stuff. Sure, to a 6 yr old but still, it’s important to help students connect things. If your child does not understand there is just not enough arable land in the world so as to maintain a population that will develop the technology for holograms, well, the kid will continue to ask for holograms!
And speaking of,
Dude this is a SMALL world! Got a chuckle at the small “but what is west from Westeros? Presumably Westereros” kind of moment. A nice jab at how our world would look like from their world.
Yeah the games only have two Islands but I threw the Neo romhack in with it since it was done well enough to count as a psuedo 3rd game in my book. (story is exactly the same as the first game but with completely different cards)
Also: Mister™ takes care to “limit scope” for his explanation. There are three islands: we enumerate them. We emphasize the rest of the world is a “singular thing” (“nothing but ocean”). Then, rather than introducing a “whole new” concept, he builds on the singular existing one (“giant islands called continents”), then explains concisely how they are not a thing (their world is not large enough for them).
And we get some nice conversation out of that! What with Little Kid Oligarch just about disparaging every. single. life choice. of our protagonist, that just gives an entertaining mood to the scene because, frankly, I can’t say Billy is doing this without intent. Observe:
Like, honestly, this story is about an old game from the 00’s but it just feels so real getting called out on if or not having a title now in 2025 when university degrees are actually strongly devalued.
All the thingsMister™ has to do to try and retain composure… they are fun yes and they also show us potential tics or nonverbal language about the character. To his credit, Mister™ manages to introduce and explain all the cool thigns you can do (and sorta have to get to do, surely the story will get into this eventually!) to climb the ranks and eventually become a cool Champion. Ya know, one who can afford a house.
Fortunately Billy won’t be stopped from his ambitions by the emotions and insecurities of people around him [note] , so the scene can merrily continue! And Mister™ provides, continuing the tale and pointing out in simple language how the circuit of a card battler is all… well, battles. Gotta win fights here and there and ascertain your domain.
[note] Life pro tip: get used to speaking to an audience, even if it is an invented one 8the old mirror trick). Does wonders for self-image and also trains you to be able to think of ways out or in of a dialogue at the snap of your fingers.
This has the effect of inspiring Billy to actually learn, somewhat:
Explanations begin as it is customary to do in science and academia: by using a live (virtual) subject, in this case Doduo the Actual Bird That Exists. A curious thing to have and that also functions as an inconvenient distraction vector for Billy.
In between the crisscrosses and Mister™’s suffering, we cover pretty much all the important bases: combat is a thing between two parties, each one using a deck of cards representing creatures; one takes action with the cards and inflicts damage to the other; damage in the game does , and I have to insist here, does NOT affect you nor your creatures in reality, unlike in some other card games with creatures…
… and the Card Game is a centralizing activity in the world to the point of being used to solve disputes. Like, ya know, legal jurisprudence, or even school violence! Remember children: to stop school bullies, challenge them to a nerdy activity! That’ll sure put them off! And with that we’re golden.
Silly Mister™ this is how all of them begin, they get caught in the simple mechanics first, and four months later they are knee deep running simulations in Pokémon Showdown and trading Gibles with perfect IVs in the black market.
Given we do not see more about classes for at least the next ten days, we can only hope for the best.
(Narrator’s Voice: “Things were not, indeed, the best.”)
"Mister"™ learns the hard way that the one big issue about being alone at the top is… well, being alone at the top. No one likes to lose, and with an ELO of over 9000 a Champion is a bad prospect for anyone to challenge just because.
One thing that had gone mostly implied in the story so far during the April 1-14 run, was the “upkeep cost” of associated with a high-tier, competitive and active profile in this sport. You need to get new cards, need to keep up with “the meta”, need peace of body and mind… all in all, even when (if!) you win, it’s a money that flows in easy and flows out easier.
Ah, so this bit inspired me to add a new section explaining how all the cards they have are the cards they have always had for all of recorded history. New cards never get created. You can't fix perfection. (aka the games don't get new cards so neither does the world of the fic for the sake of my sanity if nothing else!)
Oi! Social commentary is my purview in the context of this review! :p But yeah finding yourself without a source of stable income does unveil to the eyes much of the failure of the global systems we live in. I’m not sure exactly what is the idea of taxing property that is in use, tbh.
Just yet another way to tax. They tax when you make it, they tax when you spend it, they tax when you own important things, and they tax you for holding it (aka by printing money so the value of your money drops, effectively stealing it from you which is what a tax is: legal theft by the government of your money. Granted, there are legitimate uses of taxes, but considering how much is taken, not having enough for essentials is only a theoretical problem...)
Speaking of “a better world”, could you imagine if we had Regular English and thus all numerals were made with -th? (or -þ, if you want to be extra cool). Oneth, twoth, threeth, fourth, fiveth, etc.
The saying “necessity is the mother of invention” is sometimes used to excuse or apologize rather clumsy or even harmful societal practices, but in this case it quite correctly applies. Within the context of a tightly regulated game, where spectacle is part of the name, "Mister"™ has decided that it is time to push into the realm of the absurd, of the subversive, to gain a new foothold.
The idea is not without merit. Take a bunch of common cards and play with those. Let the enormous dissonance between “a Champion” and “a (below!) entry level deck” would draw attention, challengers, money, and a new vision of tactics. Who are we kidding we are all here for the money.
We get a brief run of the deck, which alas features no Arcanine and thus no Legendaries (fite me). But it is the cost of running a “common”-limited deck FOR GREAT JUSTICE! The three (three!) Dark Rapidash are a nifty
and just chef’s kiss to me, the artwork and the 'dex entry are just that cool. Admittedly the other cards past Rapidash and Energy Removal did not call my attention much but then again I’m not a TCG technician holograms when!.
Glad you could still find some interesting tidbits in there! I figured folks could spend as much or as little time as they want looking over the cards in it.
If this deck works… it will be a time of greatness, if not even a sort of in-universe meme campaign. We do are told that no other Champion so far has done anything like this, and from a pretty good source.
Hello! Here for the review exchange. I'm reviewing the prologue and Chapter 1, but I've actually read up until Chapter 5! I wanted to have some more context to review the first chapters. I will review the other chapters as I get deeper into the fic.
Amazing? Was my skill at the game really that hard to attain? It was almost as if the other duelists were just there for kids to craft decks against and beat. They all seemed to have at least a basic knowledge of the game, but compared to Doctor Wem and myself, their tactics were woefully predicable and limited... They also didn't seem to grasp the concept of optimizing their decks. Such a perplexing phenomenon...
I was mortified. "Billy! No! We do not do that! You have to settle disputes with the Pokemon Trading Card Game! If a group of foreigners invaded our land, held our people hostage and stole most of our cards, the only way to stop them would be by winning duels against them in the Pokemon Trading Card Game!"
Happy to know this is a civilized society where card games have finally replaced war. Though I guess stealing most of their cards would make fighting back harder.
Unfortunately I had been running up a bit of a credit tab this past month. It normally would have been no big deal, but without a constant stream of duels to boost my funds, I found myself short!
I had little in the ways of liquid assets, so the only thing I could quickly tap into was my vast collection of rare and uncommon cards! If I had known I was going to need more money quickly I would not have paid my mortgage off last month! Unfortunately, I had not seen my current predicament coming...
I think you could expand on his financial troubles a little more. He bought a house, paid off his mortgage (so I guess he paid in full), but then he also ran up a credit tab. He became the champion on April 3, and by April 15 was running out of money. Did people only stop fighting him once he became the champion? If that's the case, what did he spend so much money on?
I think his financial issues could really be an opportunity to show more about his character. We know he likes looking good, he likes material possessions (though not just material possessions), so knowing what caused him to spend so much could give him a lot of tension and intrigue!
No one would refuse to duel me if they knew I was using all common cards! The embarrassment of being scared to duel an all-common deck should be too much for any duelist...
As I laid in bed, I considered the space of my new home. It certainly gave room to breathe, but had a certain... emptiness about it.
Perhaps these halls would someday contain a family I would make? I certainly wasn't opposed to the idea... But alas, I'd never had a girlfriend and found the concept of romance to be somewhat alien and inscrutable. Indeed, I had never even kissed a girl before...
The brisk morning air and glowing rays of the sun welcomed my immersion into the outdoors as I set about my tiny trek to the Grass Club.
It was a fine day for a new adventure!
As I strolled along the sidewalk, I enjoyed the various landscapes of the other properties in the neighborhood. The trees were somewhat disappointing considering how small they were, but it was a new neighborhood, so it couldn't be helped.
I notice you like to start line breaks often. I think if you bunched your sentences together in paragraphs more, it would make it easier to read and make it clearer how the ideas meld together. For example, I think this could really be smoother like this:
The brisk morning air and glowing rays of the sun welcomed my immersion into the outdoors as I set about my tiny trek to the Grass Club. It was a fine day for a new adventure! As I strolled along the sidewalk, I enjoyed the various landscapes of the other properties in the neighborhood. The trees were somewhat disappointing considering how small they were, but it was a new neighborhood, so it couldn't be helped.
I wanted to ask Nikki out back in those days, but how could I? Surely only the very best would do for such a lady, and, talented as I was, I had only attained the lowly rank of Fire Club member.
Noooo the tragedy of it all! He thought he had to prove he was worthy, but he didn't realize the time was slipping away, and she didn't know he was waiting to do that.
Also, ice-cold of Isaac and Nikki not to invite him to the wedding. I wonder if there was a falling out, or if they just met more important people. Still sad.
Well, women do approach him, but they're more interested in his title (and presumably money) than him. It's interesting to see that even after becoming champion, he feels nervous about approaching women, and would rather have them initiate. Combined with his earlier quote about learning to smile to portray confidence, it suggests that he's had to deal with insecurity throughout his life. Even though he is champion now, he doesn't feel like he can be the pursuer.
You know what, valid. If I had a custom-made red suit, I too would take every measure possible to keep it pristine. Don't want to keep dry-cleaning after all.
Brittany cringed. "Yeah... I guess that's one reason to prefer the floor... Those stall-out deck noob-bashers always duel at the tables where they can tolerate sitting longer. I'll take a sore butt ANY day over having to deal with another one of THOSE duels!"
Brittany used a deck with Beedril, Victreebel, and a variety of other grass types. My Dark Rapidash easily ruined her chances of victory. She wasn't able to fully evolve any of her mons, due to how fast I burned through them.
I read you say that you wanted to focus on the outcomes of duels more than the duels themselves. I think that makes sense if there are a lot of duels, but I would like to see what the first duel is like! You take your time explaining the mechanics and the cards in the prologue, so it makes sense to show some of them. I also think, during one of the later duels, it would be great to show how the Porygon conversion strategy works. Especially if you can show opponent's reactions.
A good balance could be to show the first duel, to establish what the dueling is like, and then you can summarize the outcomes for the rest of the Grass Club members because we don't need to see all of them. That way we see how he deals with the different types, but it is not super repetitive.
My win felt awful even though I had done nothing objectively wrong... Were she my daughter, I would scoop her up in my arms and make the rest of my day about brightening hers. But I had no daughter or family to express such care to...
My man is lonely! It's nice to see he has empathy towards kids; and the fact that it's Nikki's daughter must be especially difficult for him to deal with.
I'm curious about this... is Nikki perhaps interested in taking him on?
So far, I'm really intrigued by this romance plot! I think I didn't see it coming. What will it be like when he faces off against Nikki after defeating all the regular club members? And I'm guessing he may have to face Isaac as well! You also have a good sense of humor about the world. The protag (will his name be revealed later?) seems like a jolly, light-hearted guy dealing with some real pain from his past, so it makes sense he tries to laugh about the absurdities.
Hello! Here for the review exchange. I'm reviewing the prologue and Chapter 1, but I've actually read up until Chapter 5! I wanted to have some more context to review the first chapters. I will review the other chapters as I get deeper into the fic.
Happy to know this is a civilized society where card games have finally replaced war. Though I guess stealing most of their cards would make fighting back harder.
Yeah, not really sure how that is supposed to work in the original story of the game. Team GR just invades and steals pretty much all TCG Island's cards but if the protagonist beats them in card duels then they have to give them back. In this fic, I try to make it where both good AND evil need to win card duels to make stuff happen. I think Yu-Gi-Oh got that part right.
I think you could expand on his financial troubles a little more. He bought a house, paid off his mortgage (so I guess he paid in full), but then he also ran up a credit tab. He became the champion on April 3, and by April 15 was running out of money. Did people only stop fighting him once he became the champion? If that's the case, what did he spend so much money on?
I think his financial issues could really be an opportunity to show more about his character. We know he likes looking good, he likes material possessions (though not just material possessions), so knowing what caused him to spend so much could give him a lot of tension and intrigue!
I've had a few other people pick at this a bit too, but your suggestion here finally gave me something I could implement! I have now added the following:
"Perhaps I should not have purchased that personal transportation drone, my new car, and the monstrosity underneath the concrete of my garage... If people would just agree to keep dueling me as much as I want whenever I want then none of this would be a problem!"
In the game, you can get opponents to keep dueling you over and over. You could even play a single opponent 1,000 times in a row if you wanted! So the idea of people not being willing to duel is a reference to that.
I notice you like to start line breaks often. I think if you bunched your sentences together in paragraphs more, it would make it easier to read and make it clearer how the ideas meld together. For example, I think this could really be smoother like this:
Hmm! So, at first I would make huge walls of text paragraphs that were too long. I think I might have over-corrected in trying to fix it. There ARE some places that would do better combining. I agree. I'll try looking out for these in the future, but feel free to point more examples out like this as it might help me learn to spot them better.
Noooo the tragedy of it all! He thought he had to prove he was worthy, but he didn't realize the time was slipping away, and she didn't know he was waiting to do that.
Also, ice-cold of Isaac and Nikki not to invite him to the wedding. I wonder if there was a falling out, or if they just met more important people. Still sad.
Combined with his earlier quote about learning to smile to portray confidence, it suggests that he's had to deal with insecurity throughout his life. Even though he is champion now, he doesn't feel like he can be the pursuer.
You know what, valid. If I had a custom-made red suit, I too would take every measure possible to keep it pristine. Don't want to keep dry-cleaning after all.
Pretty much. Also, harder opponents use the floor, so a stall deck would take even longer to win if it did. This helps keep boring stall decks out of the meta except vs noobs.
I read you say that you wanted to focus on the outcomes of duels more than the duels themselves. I think that makes sense if there are a lot of duels, but I would like to see what the first duel is like! You take your time explaining the mechanics and the cards in the prologue, so it makes sense to show some of them. I also think, during one of the later duels, it would be great to show how the Porygon conversion strategy works. Especially if you can show opponent's reactions.
A good balance could be to show the first duel, to establish what the dueling is like, and then you can summarize the outcomes for the rest of the Grass Club members because we don't need to see all of them. That way we see how he deals with the different types, but it is not super repetitive.
Alright. Fine. You want to see duel details??? I'll give you duel details... New section added! I'm only doing one duel like this as a tutorial for the readers. But maybe I'll do more of this kind of thing if people really seem to like it.
As with most duels against opponents of Brittany's rank, there would be only four prizes to claim. Each mon I KOed would let me claim one and when all four are claimed or she ran out of mon, I would win. Had she been the one to seek me out and challenge me, it would have been a six prize game instead.
We proceeded to game setup. I reviewed my hand:
Lightning Energy x2
Voltorb
Energy Removal
Gust of Wind
Switch
Bill's Teleporter
So, since I only had one basic mon in hand, that one would be going to my active mon position where it can deal and take damage. Brittany placed three mon: one in active and two more on her bench, leaving four cards in hand.
Next, the prizes were placed. We each took four cards from the top of our deck to place in the prize zone. KOing mon would let us pick them up and add them to our hand.
Next was the opening coin-flip to determine turn order. Tails. I would be going second. Second is always a disadvantage, but I wasn't worried. I had fire in my deck even though I didn't have any out currently.
Brittany held up her fist and pulled it down towards her chest. "Oh yeah! That's what I'm talking about!"
She proceeded to her turn and drew a card, attaching her energy for the turn on her benched Bellsprout. An odd choice considering how her Scyther in active slot was left with none.
I drew my card for the turn: Gambler. So, first order of business would be to draw as many cards as possible. I started with Bill's Teleporter and flipped heads! This meant I would now draw four cards instead of it doing nothing. As for my cards:
Bill
Ponyta
Nightly Garbage Run
Fire Energy
More cards were seldom NOT better to have, so I played Bill next, which let me draw two more cards:
Lightning Energy
Bill
Ah, I did love a good card draw chain! I played the next one immediately:
Fire Energy
Gambler
Brittany crossed her arms. "Don't think you can scare me with all those cards! You can still only attach one energy per turn and you can't evolve any mon the first turn they are placed! Also, you can only attack once per round!"
Ah, so typical of my opponents to completely miss the point of having more cards... Additional cards meant more options and making every limited action count.
My hand still had two Gambler in it, but those were best saved for last or when the hand was out of useful cards. Flipping tails would send all cards back to the deck and then I would only draw one card from it. Not something to use when things were good. Keeping energy off opponent mon was important, so I played Energy Removal on her Bellsprout, sending her energy to the discard pile.
She was running Grass, so it was best to lead with a Fire type. I played Ponyta from my hand to my bench, but I would need to get it in the active position to attack. Making use of the zero energy retreat cost of my Voltorb, I retreated it to my bench to swap it with Ponyta. Now that Ponyta was in the active position, I attached a Fire Energy to it.
I surveyed my cards in hand, but it was all energy or ways to switch around the active mon in play. I decided this would be a good place to end my turn by attacking her Scyther. I COULD have used Fireworks attack to deal more damage, but it involved a coin-flip that would discard my energy if the flip failed, so I settled for a simple Kick attack instead. Due to weakness, the base 10 damage was doubled to 20 damage, bringing her Scyther from 60HP to 40HP.
Brittany drew a card and benched a Weedle from her hand. She then attached another Grass Energy to her Bellsprout and ended her turn.
I drew:
Energy Search
Not particularly useful right now. I attached another Fire energy to Ponyta in case I could evolve it soon or in case energy got discarded by Fireworks. Since she had a Bellsprout with energy, I had a tactic to help get rid of it. I confirmed it had only 40HP and played Gust of Wind to force it to active, putting her Scyther back to the bench. I then used Fireworks and flipped heads to keep my energy! Sometimes one COULD have their cake and eat it too!
Brittany frowned. "Darn-it! That puts me back to zero energy again and NOW you get to claim a prize!"
I picked one at random since they are always turned over and concealed:
Lightning Energy
Not particularly what I wanted. I was already rolling in energy, but at least I was one prize closer to victory...
Attacking had passed it to Brittany and she drew her card for the turn. She placed a Pinsir from her hand to the bench. Weedle was in her active slot. She moved it there right after I KOed her Bellsprout as there must always be an active mon. Brittany attached Grass Energy and used Poison Horn which did no damage, but poisoned instead. Poison did 10 damage in between every turn, but could be removed by evolving or retreating as status effects could only apply to the active mon.
Her turn passed since she attacked and Ponyta took 10 damage. I drew my card:
Energy Removal
Always a nice thing to see. I played it immediately on her Weedle.
Brittany clenched her teeth. "No! I just want an energy! Stop that!"
I shook my head. "Not going to happen."
I then played a Switch from my hand to retreat Ponyta without paying it's energy cost, removing the poison in the process. What's more is that with Weedle having 50HP, I could attack it with Voltorb for 10 damage with Thundershock maybe paralyze it and then next turn retreat and finish it off with Fireworks! I attached Energy to Voltorb and attacked, flipping a heads which paralyzed her Weedle!
Brittany dragged the fingers of both hands across her fact. "Why!? All your coin-flips are heads! Nooo! Now my weedle can't retreat or attack for an entire turn! At least the paralysis will go away when I end my turn..."
She then drew her card and played potion to remove the 10 damage from her benched Scyther and attached a Grass Energy to it. She passed her turn without attacking and the paralysis was removed from her Weedle.
I attached another lightning energy to Voltorb and retreated it for Ponyta, using Fireworks which discarded my energy to KO her Weedle and claiming another prize:
Bill
Excellent. Card draw in all it's forms were welcome indeed!
She then brought out her Scyther and benched another Bellsprout for all the good it would do her. What WOULD do her good, however, was attaching another Grass Energy to her Scyther to use it's attack:
Slashing Strike - 40 damage
Scyther can't use this attack during your next turn. (Benching Scyther ends this effect.)
With my Ponyta only having 40HP at MAX, this was an instant KO. She claimed a prize.
Brittany nodded while smiling. "Awesome! When you use this deck I can actually KO your mon!"
This was a bit of a predicament as now I only had one mon remaining: Voltorb. Granted, she could not use her attack again next turn, so it would give me a chance to recover... Running out of mon in play would mean defeat. I drew my card for the turn:
Bill
With two Bill, surely I would draw something of use! I played both of them:
Fire Energy
Pokemon Trader
Dark Rapidash
Pokemon Trader
It wasn't nearly as good as I had hoped, but at least with Pokemon Trader I could get another basic mon played. I swaped it back to the deck for a Ponyta, played it, attached Fire Energy to it, and attacked with Voltorb's Group Spark for 30 damage bringing her Scyther to half HP.
Brittany drew a card and passed her turn.
As for me, I drew a Dark Rapidash! I wasted no time attaching another Fire Energy to Ponyta and evloving it. Now it had 60HP and an attack for 30 damage! With weakness boosting, it would become 60 damage. At that point, I knew there would be no way for Brittany to win. I retreated Voltorb and KOed her Scyther, earning me my third prize:
Fire Energy
One more attack and the game would be mine!
Brittany's eyes widened. "Oh crap!"
Brittany decided to go down swinging. She brought out a Bellsprout, attached a Grass Energy, and used Vine Whip for 10 damage.
I drew my card without looking at it and attacked for 30 damage boosted to 60 for weakness to her 40HP Bellsprout, allowing me to pick up the last remaining prize and win the game.
Not too shabby for an opening duel! At least my new deck seemed able to trounce things weak against it!
Brittany was upset after the duel. "So I lost to a deck of all commons?! Are you here just to make fun of me?!"
I reassured her that I was certainly not there to hurt any feelings and that my victory likely meant it would do well against the other members of the club too. I also reminded her how she was able to KO my first Ponyta. That seemed to help her feel a little better at least.
She then reached into her pocket and pulled out the two booster packs to give me as my prize. They would fetch a fine price indeed at the local card shop!
He has immense empathy towards kids. And yes, he is lonely. At this point he only has one friend that he sometimes sees: the former champion, Ronald. It's not mentioned in these early chapters, but it's not really a spoiler, so I figured I'd mention it here.
Indeed. She saw how he beat all her club members including her daughter, Heather. She may seem shy, but she is competitive and protective of the feelings of her family members.
So... yeah... about the name... It's going to be a VERY long time before it's revealed. In fact, it isn't even going to get revealed in Book One at all. The name reveal happens in the original which will be re-posted soon as Book Two with enhancements and additions to it. The name reveal is important to the plot of Book Two. Until then, you can call him whatever you like.
