25th Spell: [Video]

[friendyousohard]

You know, of all the Pokemon to honor, Slowpoke seems like a rather odd choice.

[If Twilight's voice sounds funny, it's because she's currently at the bottom of a well. And those familiar with Azalea town should probably be able to get clued in pretty quickly that it's Slowpoke Well, specifically.]

Not that I have anything against the species in general but... it's not a Legendary or anything, which is what these are usually named after. I guess it could just be because there are so many of them... though I haven't actually seen any yet.

[As she says that there's a squish sound, and the video wobbles when she jumps.]

Ah! Oh... There you are. [The view shifts to a Slowpoke, who seems entirely undisturbed by the fact that it just got stepped on.] Good, I'm glad you're here after all. Snails, come on out!

[One pop of a pokeball later, a Slowbro is standing there staring down at it's brethren. The two of them stare at one another for several moments before the Slowbro talks.

Sloooooooow

The Slowpoke stares in response for several more moments before answering with a Pooooooke of its own. Twilight groans.]

... Okay in retrospect I don't know why I thought this would need to be record- waugh!

[She jumps again, jiggling the camera, and the view turns to show several more Slowpokes coming towards her.]

Oh. Well, there really are a lot of them down here, aren't there? I guess Snails will have plenty of company for this little visit... Wait. They're coming from the direction of the stairs up, aren't they? Which means the path back is now all slimy and I'm liable to fall on my face...

[She and the camera swivel around back to Snails, who stares blankly at her, but with a big dopey grin on his face.]

You had them do that on purpose, didn't you?

[This seems like a really silly accusation at first...

Until he slowly, deliberately winks at her.]

You're not funny!

Comments

[friendyousohard]

I mean admittedly it is a legend, but still. Was it just one Slowpoke?

[dreamsofahero]

As far as I'm aware, yes.

[friendyousohard]

That's just bizarre. I have to assume that either the legend is untrue, exaggerated, or that the storm just came by as a coincidence and people credited the Slowpoke. I mean if it had used Rain Dance or something, maybe...

[dreamsofahero]

I think that, barring the possibility of a slowpoke with very particular abilities, it's mostly likely coincidence. But as it apparently happened centuries ago, there's really no way to be certain.

[friendyousohard]

Well, stories are stories, after all. They can't all be true. Really the ratio of true ones to false ones in this world is kind of surprising.

[dreamsofahero]

There's usually some grain of truth to most legends, I think, but here they do tend to be somewhat nearer the mark than most.

[friendyousohard]

Actually in my experience myths like that tend to be used as a metaphor rather than anything with any historical accuracy. Though there have been exceptions.

[dreamsofahero]

I suppose that depends on the legend, but of those I'm familiar with there's usually something or another that inspired it, even if the legend itself no longer resembles the truth.

[friendyousohard]

Interesting. Then your world never made up stories about natural phenomena like eclipses, storms, or the day/night cycle before people became advanced enough to determine the real reasons?

[dreamsofahero]

Depending on where you go, there may be various stories and myths, certainly, yes, but even in those cases, they're rooted in explaining something that truly occurs, are they not?

[friendyousohard]

Well yes, but the story doesn't have much root in truth, usually.

[dreamsofahero]

The point is being able to discern where that original piece of truth is though, isn't it? For example, it's obvious that a story about the cycle of night and day is based on the fact that those changes actually occur, but what about one about a phenomenon that isn't so often or widely repeated? Perhaps something that has only occurred once or twice in all of history. In that case, those stories might be the only clue that it ever existed at all.

[friendyousohard]

You mean like the stories of the legendaries. Or this one, though I kind of doubt we'll see proof of this one, and the legendary stories tend to get substantiated eventually.

[dreamsofahero]

Exactly. Ryner and I have spent some time trying to learn what we can of some of those legends here, though discerning what is and isn't truthful isn't exactly an easy task.

As for the slowpoke, however... well, presumably something happened at the time, but whether it was the slowpoke that caused it or sheer coincidence is anyone's guess.

[friendyousohard]

I find that's one of the most popular of this world's mysteries to go after, if only because there's a lot more information about it than, say, how we were brought here. Or by whom.

That's more or less what I figured. In the end I guess it's up to personal interpretation.

[dreamsofahero]

It's certainly one way to pass the time, at least.

*nods*

Without any better documentation, it's really anyone's guess, and impossible to prove either way.