Chapter 0 - The Game

Iris body basically goes "zing!" when she's hit by the rainbow of flavors. She could have sworn her hat jumped off of her head right then, but of course it hadn't. That just wasn't possible. What did happen, though, was Iris loudly recommending, "Dude! Everyone should try some of this!" while scooping out another small chunk, only a little bigger than the first and offering it to everyone in general. There was definitely a flavor overload, so better to take in a little at a time.

"Oh, and in the meantime," she doesn't forget the reason why she kept everyone in the kitchen even while swinging around a spoon of questionable food, "Those not eating should go through their bags and bring out any items they don't understand. I recognized everything in my pack. Heck, it's exactly what I had in it before coming here except for the TM... but even the ones that are exactly alike are probably just copies. Anyways, let's make sure that we're all on the same page with items. Items can be important in Pokemon battles... probably."

Still holding up the spoon, Iris identifies the "summoning orbs" as, "Ah, those are Pokeballs, specifically the most basic type, fittingly known as a Basic Ball. They allow for easy storage of Pokemon if it's cumbersome to have them outside. Not sure how, but it's technology. I'm sure of that. If you hit a wild Pokemon with a Pokeball that isn't already claimed by a Pokemon, then the Pokeball can attempt to capture the wild 'mon. Oh, but Pokemon that already claim a ball can't be captured. There's a safety mechanism in the balls that prevent that so that trainers don't catch other trainers' Pokemon. Um... success rate of capture depends on the quality of the Pokeball, like I said basic is the lowest, and how tired/hurt the wild Pokemon is. If the rules in this game are like my world, you can carry at most six Pokemon with you. Even if they weren't, I'd recommend an upper limit of six. Like I was telling Layl earlier, it's hard to give each Pokemon the appropriate attention the more Pokemon you have."

Iris just sort of frowned at Shossk, a little concerned over the conclusion he came to. "I... I...," Iris wasn't even sure how to answer the question. It was true that, generally speaking, even wild Pokemon were inclined to follow the lead of the trainer that caught them, which was a sort of bond born out of the show of dominance that had been displayed at the time of capture, but it wasn't complete domination, nor would Iris describe it as the Pokemon binding to the will of the trainer. Her mind flashbacked to a certain violent Pancham, and Iris suddenly figured out a pretty good way to describe what it meant to capture a Pokemon in a Pokeball. Motioning to the Dartrix she gave an example, "Okay, wait, let me just say something. Look, I'm not sure what you mean by Dominate and bound to one's will, but in my world... Well, let's put it this way. If your Dartrix suddenly decided it wanted you dead, nothing you say or think, aside from convincing it otherwise, will stop it from attacking you. A Pokemon is free to act as it wishes even after capture, a good number just tend to follow the orders of the person that captured them out of their own free will. The advantage a Pokeball gives is 1) preventing a Pokemon from being caught by another, 2) convenient storage, and 3) an easy means to restrain a Pokemon if it does act up. After the initial capture success, it's very rare for a Pokemon to break out of its Pokeball without the trainer releasing it." Iris frowned really hard as she spoke. She was very, very serious about Shossk understanding that Pokemon weren't just creatures he could call upon simply to fight for him. Earlier, he seemed to understand easily enough about having to feed and take care of his Pokemon. Iris just hoped that it was easy for him to wrap his mind around Pokemon as creatures that followed his command by choice rather than force. If she could, she would have liked to address how their Pokemon actually weren't that different from them, but she could feel that would over complicate things. Maybe she can address it a little later after everyone had gotten used to giving their Pokemon orders so they wouldn't try anything funny in a fight.

Shossk blinks and tilts his head fractionally, considering for a moment.  "Bounnd demons do everything inn their power to escape or mmurder their captors.  These creaturess have shown themselves to bee intelligent.  Would they not do the same, iff given the freedom?"

Shossk stares at Iris for a moment.  He glances at the dartrix, then turns back to Iris, his head lowering a scant few millimeters in the motion.  "Howw vital to our success will thesse creatures be?  I do not know iff I will be able to understand them."

The dartrix pauses at this, food still in mouth, to spin his head towards Shossk.  He chokes down his food, then gives a low coo towards his trainer.

Shossk didn't say anything at that.  He only spoke up when Iris went to return her food to get more.  "You willl need to return the plate.  The magic will nnot allow you more than one."

Layl unravels the ribbon once more, before quickly tying it back in it's proper place on her outfit. She began nodding as Yoko said almost exactly what they were. "In essence yes, Heartless are beings born form the darkness of the heart. They are what happens when a human becomes corrupted by darkness. If you have a strong enough will you can abate the process but you will eventually turn into one. It's only if you let yourself fall far into darkness that you have to worry...not that I would want to fall into it even a little..." After she says that she winces as she realized she has already started her own descent into darkness, at least if this Shade Caller was what she thought it was. Maybe it wasn't? A girl can dream.

Layl was just about to open her mouth again when she hears Iris ask for help, she nods to confirm she heard and headed over to the mysterious cupboard. So she just needed to imagine it supposedly, well no time like the present! Layl conjured to mind an image of a cornucopia filled with various fruits and veggies,mostly with gourds and corn, and the occasional pumpkin. Alongside the cornucopia she imagined a large glass with a Sea Salt Popsicle inside it. With that thought in mind she opened the cupboard.