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

[islandshore]

Or smashing it could just let him loose again...

[Ugh, which would only bring them back to square one. Brilliant thinking on his part.]

He'd be better off trapped in a place like this. No powers means he'd be on the same level as everyone else.

[friendyousohard]

That's also a possibility, yes.

As for him being brought here, I'm sure he'd find a way to be a nuisance anyway. Mind games are a favorite of his, and while it would be harder for him without his powers, I doubt it would be impossible.

[islandshore]

Well, if he didn't end up in Team Rocket, at least he'd have to start small. If he did, well... Guess that's just one more obstacle for the rest of us.

But I mean, that's if he shows up. I'd say we're safe for now.

[friendyousohard]

He probably would be a Rocket too. He's not much of a team player though, so he might end up causing them as much trouble as us.

And he might come from after he reformed...

[islandshore]

Wait, reformed? But I thought he got turned back into a lawn ornament. Am I missing something here?

[friendyousohard]

Well, a while after we sealed him, Princess Celestia brought her to us in Ponyville in an attempt to get him to reform and start using his powers for good. How she came to the conclusion that such a thing was even possible, I'm not sure.

We all put in an effort, but in the end it was Fluttershy who pulled it off. It was remarkably simple, too. She managed to befriend him, and when he realized that if he went back to his world-wrecking ways he'd lose her as a friend, he admitted defeat.

[islandshore]

Wow. She was seriously able to turn him over with friendship? I'm impressed.

[Because that sounds like the kinda thing you'd only see in a fairy tale. Or an after school special.]

Too bad that'd never work with some of the threats around here.

[friendyousohard]

I have to admit, I was surprised too, and I'm the one in charge of friendship studies back home. I guess it makes sense if you think about his personality, though... Chaos isn't inherently bad, and he'd probably never met anyone else he could share a laugh with.

[She'll insist up and down that her world isn't some fairy tale perfect paradise, no matter how much it sounds like it sometimes, but she has to admit that things like this make it hard to back up that stance.]

Ugh, tell me about it... though you never know. Some of the Rockets might be in a similar situation. And a rampaging Legendary Pokemon might just need some way to talk out its problems. It's worth a shot if you're diplomatic enough.

[islandshore]

But do you think that'd work with somebody like Seth? I mean, let's be real. Some guys are so stuck on one path that you just can't knock them off their feet.

[He shakes his head, frowning.]

Don't get me wrong. I wish it were that easy, but this place already has a habit of making things difficult.

[friendyousohard]

I said some of them might be open to discussion. Plenty of them are probably just in it out of greed or sadism or because it's the easiest path to power. Trying to talk it over with them won't get you anywhere. There are people like that back on my world too, some of them with far more power than anyone like that should have.

[King Sombra and Queen Chrysalis come to mind.]

But if you can do it without placing yourself in too much danger, I still say it's worth the chance. I mean, when we did it with Discord we had the Elements at the ready to reseal him if necessary. Diplomacy is usually helped by a position of strength.

[islandshore]

Hmm, so in our case, a few powerful Pokémon might work as incentive.

[Grinning, Riku reaches for a Pokéball and tosses it up and down.]

Well, ignoring the fact that they've probably got their own powerhouses. That's one thing I've noticed about Rockets: they almost always go for the heavy hitters.

[friendyousohard]

They're thugs, so that stands to reason. But every team has a weakness, and if we have to defeat them to get them to listen, so be it.

And if they won't listen after that, well, they'll still be defeated.

[islandshore]

Sure. Just wish that the Gym Leaders and cops would do more to help. I mean, c'mon. What are they, slackers?

[friendyousohard]

I was thinking incompetent, really.

[islandshore]

Makes me wonder what the average IQ for this place even is. Even the Gym Leaders and Elite Four members barely lift a finger.

Wait, scratch that. They never do.

[friendyousohard]

They don't seem unintelligent exactly, just... utterly unable to adapt.

Which is an evolutionary disaster, and that's either ironic or fitting, I'm not sure which.

[islandshore]

Could be some psychological issue, too. There's some pretty serious denial when it comes to outsiders like us. Think they might be so set in their ways that they don't want to adapt.

[friendyousohard]

They wouldn't be the first people who are against change, if that's the case. But they seem to be taking it to extremes. I mean, we've been here four years. You'd think they'd have been forced to adjust things at least a little.

[islandshore]

Sure, but some habits are tough to shake. Sometimes I wonder if they're intimidated by us, since we don't always play by their rules, and a lot of us do have power on our side.

[friendyousohard]

Well that's fair enough, but most of us play by the rules just fine. It's just that we seem to devote more effort to improving ourselves and our Pokemon than they do.

Which still confounds me.

[islandshore]

Yeah, I don't get it either. A lot of the kids who hang around the routes don't even have fully evolved Pokémon.

Like that Youngster Joey...

[Riku shudders at the thought of him and his pesky Rattata.]

[friendyousohard]

And they tend to have Pokemon that are just barely above the levels of the wild ones around them. Which, to be fair is probably the easiest and most efficient route, but most of them don't have six Pokemon so you'd figure they could put in the effort to improve the ones they do have.

[islandshore]

All I can think is that they're intentionally holding back. Who knows? Maybe they've already seen everything and are acting like novice trainers as a way to spread their wisdom.

...But that's a serious stretch.

[friendyousohard]

Well... it's sort of true of the Gym Leaders, isn't it? With their regular and elite teams? Maybe they aren't the only ones who do that.

I'd say it's a bit much to say that the whole world does it, though.