2nd gear | video + action to goldenrod city

[paishodown]

[It's around midday, and Asami's 'Gear is propped up to record her sitting at a small table in the park. Her Riolu sits quietly beside her. The worn table is inlaid with a chess board, and the seat across from her is empty for now.]

Where I'm from, we have a game called Pai Sho.

[She speaks while she reaches into her bag to pull out a newly purchased chess set- mainly, the directions.]

It's a game of careful thinking and ruthless strategy. There doesn't seem to be a real equivalent here, but someone did point me toward this. Chess.

[Asami begins taking out the pieces and laying them out on the board.]

Anyone know anything about it?

[She'll be here for a while, reading over the rules and trying to teach Teruko how to play with her.]

Comments

[enjoymyatelier]

Hmm... well, if I had a basic design reference there's a good chance I could do something with it. Not for free, unfortunately, as I'd need to recoup the cost of materials and I rather like eating, but feel free to contact me if you're interested in commissioning one.

And precisely --- since they're usually shaped like horses, you can usually imagine it as a... bizarrely unusually agile horse jumping over the other units. Though, they also move in an L shape rather than a straight line, which makes them a bit odd.

[paishodown]

Once I get a good system for keeping up a steady income, I'll consider it! Are you a craftsman?

[Yaayyy, business!]

It does seem like a weird choice for a piece that can move through the others. [A small note of amusement with that.]

[enjoymyatelier]

You could say that, I suppose. My various art projects were more of a hobby back home, but they've proven rather handy now that I'm here. It's not incredibly stable, unfortunately, but it's better than working at a Pokemon Center or something like that to get by.

[such things are far beneath him]

I've never quite figured out why that is, but that's just the rules of the game. There are also pawns, which have special conditions to their first moves, capturing, and promotion.

[paishodown]

[FINALLY, someone with fine taste!]

I've been trying to find a good way of putting my engineering skills to use, myself. Unfortunately, it's looking like I'm going to have to do a lot of studying before I can do that. This whole world is way out of my league, technology-wise.

[enjoymyatelier]

[LET US SIP WINE AND BE DISGUSTED BY THE UNWASHED MASSES TOGETHER, ASAMI.]

Well, good luck with that, if you do attempt it. This place's technology seems a bit... arcane at times, and I mean that in both senses of the word. I'm quite certain nobody here actually knows how Pokeballs actually work.

[paishodown]

[PIP PIP.]

...Nobody even knows?

[She looks more than a bit disappointed at that.]

That was one of the things I wanted to look into!

[enjoymyatelier]

Believe me, that's likely one of the least frustrating revelations I've encountered here.

[HEAVY SIGH.]

Kurt in Azalea is a master craftsman and constructs them in a more traditional way than the mass produced ones, and he's the one I asked about them in the first place... but that was roughly the response I got from him. Perhaps you'd have better luck?

[paishodown]

What kind of master craftsman doesn't even know how his craft works?

This all smells shady, to me.

[Asami plz this is Pokémon World don't go trying to sniff out corrupt businessmen.]

[enjoymyatelier]

...it smells something, but while he doesn't know how they work, but they do work.

It's more... well, the old adage about never attributing to malice what can be adequately explained by stupidity applies here even more than usual.

[paishodown]

I guess you have a point, there...

[No offense to Bolin, but after spending so much time with him recently, she's starting to realize that some people just don't... think about things.]

Especially given the kinds of people who live around here. Maybe it's just the 'small town' feeling, but it's definitely... simpler, in a way.

[enjoymyatelier]

No, it's... definitely simpler. Honestly, other than the Gym Leaders and the odd Nurse Joy, you're going to get better conversation out of your Pokemon than most of the people here.

Unless, of course, you're absolutely riveted by the saga of Joey's Rattata and how it is, indeed, in the top percentage of all Rattata.

[paishodown]

[Asami lets out a bit of a restrained laugh at that.]

I think I'd go crazy if I were the only one here.

[enjoymyatelier]

Wouldn't we all? It's not as bad when you have people to commiserate with, but it's still utterly baffling in every way.

[paishodown]

I've wondered how they even manage to keep their industry afloat, to be honest. It doesn't even seem like there's enough people to run everything or build the cities they do.

[enjoymyatelier]

Well, you could assume that it just does work... or you just assume there's a shadowy Illuminati-type organization making sure everything functions and, most importantly, tells us where the meat's actually coming from.