Chapter 0 - The Game

The words "Flank Steak with Blueberry Sauce" catch in his head and echo back and forth. Once the door swings open he sees that there is, in fact, a steaming steak sitting there.

Iris was more than okay with returning the enthusiasm Layl reflected back at her. However, just as she was about to answer, she found her mind... blank... She couldn't find the information she wanted to know, like it had been wiped from her knowledge. Of course, she'd already noticed that she had gaps in her knowledge, when she was looking into what she could and couldn't do. Still, Layl was asking now. Iris had to try. Spondered for a bit, finding that the information just wasn't there, only a memory of a memory of it. Concern causing her to frown and bite her lip, she tried for a good minute before shaking her head. She could not answer Layl's question, not as well as she would have wanted to, at least.

It was while she thought that Yoko suggested eating. Iris politely declined, "No, thank you. I'll eat a little later. I'd suggest you eat light as well, I think we should get to practicing Pokemon battles pretty soon," with a shake of her head and a wave of her hand. Of course, she also looked towards the kitchen from which various noises of concern originated. She couldn't see Shossk, but she could see the Dartrix. She didn't even need to channel the owl Pokemon to figure out what was happening. "Um... If you could," Iris did ask for a favor, "Try to restrain Shossk as well? It's not good to battle on an over-full stomach... usually..."

Then she turned to Layl, an apology practically written on her face. "Sorry about that," Iris explained herself as she rubbed her head, "I knew all about this before, but now... I think AL messed with my knowledge a bit along with my powers. I knew so much about stones and myths and the like, but now it's all gone... I feel like I remember that there used to be stories about legendary weapons crafted from the power of Pokemon, some interpretations might have used stones. I know that I used to make held items and accessories from shards I'd find while dowsing, but... man... I can't even remember how to dowse properly now."

Nacht went... unnoticed. The Zorua was tiny and, well, Iris still didn't feel very comfortable around his evolutionary line. Iris did hear his tail hitting the ground, but she didn't look at him, afraid of what kind of rude behavior she'd possibly show without meaning to.

Iris frowned at Layl, quite confused by what Layl meant about the Zorua looking too young. Now she had to look at Layl's Zorua, and when she did, her thoughts were only confirmed, <Yeah, he doesn't look young at all.> She said this out loud, "Yeah, he doesn't look young at all. What's more, they're supposed to be our partners in this game. Barring the creation of a moral dilemma to spice up the drama, I don't see why AL would give us a Pokemon that is too young to fight." To Iris, at least, it was all straightforward. There was no need to ask questions, not when a Pokemon was willing to fight, like this Zorua seemed to be saying with his glare right now. However, she understood how easy it was to think the other way. There were plenty of people in her world, entire organizations in fact, that believed in some variant of "making Pokemon fight is wrong. Before Layl could ask, Iris addressed this with her own take on the matter, "Now... I know it probably sounds terrible to you, making other creatures fight for us. There are a lot of people in my world who think like that, but not everything is black and white. In my experience, most Pokemon actually want to fight, or to put it in a better light, to challenge themselves and grow stronger. It's part of their basic instinct because of evolution. Like I said, though, not everything is black and white. There are also plenty of Pokemon and trainers, or rather owners, who live together without really caring for or maybe even vehemently hating battles. Really, it's up to you and your Zorua to figure out the answer yourselves. My advice, though, is to at least become familiar with commanding your Zorua. I'm sure your Pokemon, if he cares for you, will also like to know that there is something he can do to protect you, even if it is just as a last resort."

"Right then," Iris proceeded, "We still have on more mystery terminal to figure out, but we can do that later. If it's some introductory training, we have everything we'll need. Training about Pokemon and training about how our new abilities work. Come on now, let's get the others." There was a wave of her hand to gesture that Layl should follow her and a smile that was trying to help dissipate the uncomfortable expression that had crossed Layl’s face. Layl’s discomfort reminded Iris that she needed to stay strong and collected.

Where was Iris going? To the kitchen of course, where everyone and their Pokemon was at. "Yo-ko!" Iris punned as she slid half of her body into the room, the "yo" being said in greeting followed by the "ko" to finish her new companion's name. Terrible greeting pun aside, Iris noticed, "Ah, you haven't gotten anything to eat yet, have you?..." That certainly clashed with the plans she had in mind.

She'd noticed that the rooms appeared to be self-containing. The onsen's steam did not leave its room. The bathroom was flooding to at least ankle-height by now without a drop of water spilling outside. Iris made an educated guess that food from the kitchen would not make it outside. She could be wrong, but she didn't want to test it out at the moment. After some obvious contemplation, Iris shrugged with a smile, and if Layl happened to have followed along, she would grab Layl’s wrist and walk into the kitchen with her. ”I suppose a light meal before some exercise never hurt anyone,” she reasoned with absolutely no basis for the certainty she spoke with, ”Come on, Layl, and Yoko, looks like we’ll take you up on your invitation to eat together. Shoss, you probably ate already, but sit with us anyways. Did you feed your Dartrix? No, doesn't look like it. I'll get something for him and the other Pokemon to eat.” She did notice that Yoko looked nervous, but Yoko had been looking nervous, like, at least 80% of the very short time Iris had seen her. Her intuition (incorrectly) told her that it was just because of the general situation and not about anything specific, so Iris rolled with it.

Nacht decided to follow Iris silently, she was giving him a chance to fight after all. Layl on the other hand, was confused on the fact she had clearly said she wasn't in the mood to eat. She sighed and shook her head, before walking after Iris. No reason for her to not join them, even if she doesn't eat, they can still talk. There's no problem with joining them for that. "I'm going to pass on the food, but I'll join you all simply because it will give us a chance to talk more, besides, maybe Nacht is hungry. Plus I haven't even said much to Yoko at all, no time like the present!"

Iris had been walking to the refrigerator and by the time the Dartrix spins his head to her, she had reached her destination. "Fine. Fine. I won't worry about you then," she laughed as she opened the door, an assortment of berries filling her mind. When she looked into the fridge, she expected to see a bowl of berries. However, that was not to be case. Instead, the gelatinous cube stared back at here, right where she had lifted. Iris stared back. Iris closed the door and reopened it thinking of berries and fruit. The cube remained.

Unconcerned with any electricity bill it might raise, Iris stared at the cube of mishmash with the door open for who knows how long. Eventually, though, she reluctantly takes it out and sets it upon the table without a word, closing the refrigerator door behind her like a good kid. Part of her wants to throw it out. Part of her was now curious. Bravely and boldly, Iris sets off to find a spoon, and when she finds one in a drawer, she returns with it. Spoon in hand, she digs out a very, very, very small scoop of the gelatin and taps her tongue against the sliver of a sliver of mystery food.