friendyousohard | 11th Spell: [Video/Action for Union Cave]

[The gear clicks on in steady hands, focusing directly on Twilight's face. She checks it out a moment before nodding in satisfaction.]

Looks good, Starswirl. Make sure to keep it recording so I can review this later.

[She clears her throat and goes into scientist lecture mode.]

Date: September the Seventh by Johto's Calendar.

Location: Outside Union Cave, Azalea Town entrance. Preparing to re-enter the cave.

Experiment: In order to test the effectiveness of the Repel item sold in the shops, I wore the fragrance through the Cave and am now going to return into it as the item has worn off. I will document the difference in the frequency of encounters and use this data to determine a rough estimate of the effect. Further experiments may be necessary depending on my results.

The experiment begins now. Come on, Starswirl.

[She turns and heads inside the cave, walking along at a sedate pace. Soon enough there's the sound of wings flapping.]

Hmmm, we seem to have Pokemon already. Well that's a fairly large difference in and of itself.

Wait, just how many of them are-

[She's cut off with a shriek as a Zubat flies by, and another buzzes the gear. Starswirl quickly drops the gear and goes to help his trainer, causing the image to drop to the ground and start showing nothing but rock. Before the gear shuts off, Twilight shouts:]

It's in my hair! It's stuck in my haiiiiiiir!

[It clicks off after that.

A few minutes later, the gear clicks on again, showing a very grumpy Twilight sitting outside the cave with a bandage on her face and her hair looking like it just went through a wind tunnel. One full of various debris.]

Conclusion: There is no need for further study. The item clearly works, and works very well.

Also, a personal note here.

I hate Zubat.

Can't believe I had to catch the rotten thing to get it out... [She mutters a few more inaudible things as she switches the gear back off. Well, no one ever said scientific research was easy.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

That's something, at least...

[tries to offer an encouraging smile]

And hey, it takes guts to actually try something like that out. Most people I know wouldn't even bother.

To be fair, I wasn't expecting such an intense result. I thought I'd get a few more Pokemon coming up to me over the course of an hour or so, not mobbed by a flock of Zubat. So it was less bravery and more... a complete underestimation of the Pokemon in there.

Still, I'd have probably done it anyway. Science requires sacrifice sometimes, even if it's just testing the effectiveness of an item. Now that I know it's worth the money, I'll probably carry those things around more often.

I probably will, too - I haven't been to any of the caves, but I had a few close calls out on the road. We got out of it okay, but it would've been nice to get to a Pokecenter without worrying about what was going to jump us next.

Anyway, you sound like you really know your stuff. How often do you do experiments like this?

I can understand that. I was fortunate enough to get brought to a town with a Center to do my early training in soon after my arrival by a friend of mine, but if that hadn't been the case I'd have probably been very worried for Spike by the time I got to Cherrygrove.

Less often here than I used to back home, but that's largely because I'm spending most of my time studying or training. Do you have any idea how long you could spend just looking trough the Pokedex for new information? It's amazing!

Yeah, I went through it when I first got my Ponyta. It's a little overwhelming, though - I can only go through so much before I have to put the thing down. Besides, it's useful, but it's also good to get hands on experience, you know? Like it's one thing to read something, but it's another thing to actually see it.

I can't really deny that. Much as I love a good book, there are some things I've learned you just can't get out of them. Still, it's both an incredibly valuable resource and, to me, a great way to pass the time.

But the longer I stay here, the more of these experiments I imagine I'll be doing. That's the thing about science. The more you learn, the more questions arise.

Yeah, that makes sense. It kind of reminds me of some of the stuff we learned about in history class - somebody would make one big discovery, something that changes everything, and before you know it everyone is making all sorts of new breakthroughs.

Precisely. It's like a staircase, one where we don't know quite where we'll end up, but the view from each step up is so amazing that we can't help but wonder what the next one will be like.

And is that how it's been for you? With your experiments here, I mean.

Mostly. I won't pretend I haven't had setbacks, but every new discovery I make is a step forward, just like back home. It's one of the few things that's universal, and I won't deny... it's kind of a comfort.

[looks down]...yeah, yeah I can see why. I guess most people like having something that reminds them of home, especially if they're stuck in a place like this.

[Some dark thoughts lurk in the back of her head, but she pushes them aside, and tries to brighten up]

And I bet it helps out around here, too. I mean, I bet you've found out all sorts of interesting things about this place.

Oh absolutely! I could go on for hours about what I've discovered, and still have more to talk about. It's a good thing I can write down notes in the gear, or I'd have too many papers full of them to carry around comfortably.

Really? I've never thought about using the Gear like that - mostly I just use it to talk to people and look up stuff on the Pokedex. Then again, I wouldn't really know where to start with this kind of thing... science really wasn't my strong suit back home, to be honest.

That's alright. Not everyone has the same interests. That's one of the reasons I feel the need to document my own results, so that people who won't want to test these things themselves can still benefit from the knowledge.

Well, if you do another experiment, I'd love to hear about it - though, hopefully there won't be as many Zubats next time.

I'll let you know the next time I feel the need to do one, then. And don't worry. I'm sure I can find a completely different species of Pokemon to mob me next time around.

11th Spell: [Video/Action for Union Cave]

[video]

[video]

[video]

[video]

[video]

[video]

[video]

[video]

[video]

[video]

[video]

[video]

[video]

[video]

[video]

[video]