GubGar

Pokemon: Starlight Dreams

A few things:

1.) I intended for the Rotom phones to be like...a rentable phone/pokedex thing that the Institute gives to trainers to collect data and then when they're done adventuring, they return it. But I think I forgot to put that down in the OOC page so if anyone written down something that says the opposite, I'm not going to make you change that or anything. Just obviously the Rotom-Phone can't be used in battles. But you can have yours talk if you want! Or not. Up to you.

2.) I'm not fully clear on all of the Pokemon game lore in regards to stuff like dreams and Pokemon, but dreams and the Dream World will be relevant for stuff later to come so if anything contradicts established game stuff just let me know. I may just flag it as "creative license" and roll with it or change it depending on how important/relevant it is to what I have planned.

3.) The "Pokemon being more connected to Dream World" is not game canon to my knowledge but I said it because there are Pokemon that are directly connected to dreams in some form (some more closer than others) and also due to the more fantastical nature of Pokemon, was my line of thought.

Just a fyi, while I will be trying to stay close to the game lore (or maybe even show lore at times if its more interesting), the story will have...elements that push the boundaries of the canon a little. Just a smidge. It's a fan rp, I don't think anyone here is gonna be too bothered by it. But just in a fyi.

@Yankee and @Enzayne hopefully Mags' intrusion into your convo is okay. If you need to finish the conversation you guys started before recognizing her/her antics, go ahead.

I know I said I'd have Mags' dialogue be like green or something but I wanted to go with a more spooky-color given her ghost-obsession. But if it's too similar to Cass' dialogue color, just let me know.

@Brose

Oh yeah I kind of anticipated you were taking a creative license with stuff, just because that's (in my opinion) the most fun way to engage with source material. Hope it didn't feel like I was trying to quiz you about the the in-game dream world lore!

Pokemon: Starlight Dreams

Will have my posts up by tonight. Sorry for the delay!

@Brose

No sweat at all! I don't really think you've kept anyone waiting.

Pokemon: Starlight Dreams

Went ahead and had Vinny rush through a couple questions, since I figured bouncing around singular questions and answers might slow things down a little, and I didn't want to delay the party meeting by too much! Hopefully it didn't come off as too wordy in the process.

Pokemon: Starlight Dreams

Vinny Verdana

Location: Beryl Town, Mid-Festival.
Interacting With: Cassandra Stern (played by @Brose)

---

Vinny's pen worked swiftly, transcribing the CEO of Morpheus' words with practiced ease. He might not have been a top journalist, but he had experience.. And also no recording software, which meant he did a lot of writing. His penmanship was surprisingly nice as well, given the speed he was going. Not that anyone would notice that since his method would be to transcribe from the journal to his independently hosted website.

As for the answer itself.. It was good. Practiced good, she definitely had media training, but that wasn't surprising. What really itched at him was the mention of the Prince.. Something Vinny really wanted to pursue further, but decided to drop as to not offend. She already seemed to barely want to do this, he didn't want to imply she was second fiddle to the Prince. He was maybe a little shiesty, but he wasn't a jerk! Mostly. "That's a lot of faith you have in this batch of trainers! Since I'm participating myself, I'll do my best not to disappoint. Though don't go putting any money on me winning big!" Vinny said in a friendly tone as he finished writing down her words, and a few notes. In his experience, harmless chit-chat helped an interview feel more pleasant and less like an interrogation.

"Since I'm certain you've got a packed schedule and want to enjoy the festivities before you're called away, I'll try to fire off a couple consecutive questions, then I'll be out of your hair, promise." Overstaying the welcome was a big no-no when you were a guest, and Vinny wanted to part on good terms. Plus.. if he didn't get to those stands soon, they'd probably run out of Roto-Phones! Interviews came first, but if he could have his cake and eat it too, all the better! Who wanted to have cake and not eat it? That'd be crazy.

"Firstly, on the subject of the Dreamlink, I'm sure people are dying to know.. Currently valued as an fantastic piece of technology but a luxury item, there have been rumors that things are in motion to improve the accessibility of the product. Would you be willing to offer any comments on that?"

The question that every interviewer would probably ask, but it was for good reason! It was what people wanted to know the most. Vinny's intellectual curiosity was great, but the masses cared far more for questions that actually concerned them. And people wanted Dreamlink, no two ways about it.

"And to sate my readers curiosity-"

All ten monthly readers! Ten whole people who ate up his content like it was grade-A chow!

"-There have been attempts to interact with Pokemon dreams made by the Devon Corporation, and Unova's own home grown scientists. But your company has gone a different direction, and found great success in the field of human dreams. Is there any connection in Morpheus to the Devon Company or the creators of the C-Gear? And regardless, does Morpheus have any intentions of exploring the prospect of Pokemon dreams? Or are you more than happy sticking to the dreams of us humans?"

Technically the second was a bit of a two for one special, but Vinny needed to ask it. The first part, potential connections, shared inspirations, former co-workers- what have you, it made for great clickbait fodder. The second part was more of a serious question, and prompted Ms. Stern to speak on what was next for Morpheus now that they had found significant success. The question was, did she care to share? And arguably more importantly, did he manage to successfully get through the interview while giving a good impression?

Spider-Verse: Dark Destiny

Oliver Raulot, AKA, Argyros

Another New York City. Wondering how he can duck this awkward situation.

---

Oliver had to admit that the Arachnid had him dead to rights. Mythology, theology, gods tended to lean towards wrathful. The exceptions to the rules were usually pretty distinctly known as gods of mercy slash peace slash whatever. So, okay, fine, yeah. He was correct. Oliver could admit that. "..Alright. Maybe you're onto something. I guess better I get rudely dismissed than accidentally star in my own personal Plagues of Egypt. I'll try to at least mask my dislike next time we run into the ol' Spider God." Try to. Succeed? Hopefully, but not assuredly. Oliver was pretty bad at not expressing his opinions.

Fortunately Spider-Connors (ehh, he needed to get a better nickname for this version of his mentor.) changed the subject, and the first part was touching- if untrue, Oliver used to be very ordinary. -the second part.. Woof. He'd like to go back to talking about the wrathful spider god instead. "Well, you were not late to work on the day I got mine. But uh, you got a worse deal than me. I'm working on fixing it though. So no harm no foul." A deeply traumatic experience and several missing persons that might not have been from the Gar but very well could have been did not mean no harm, but this version of Connors didn't need to know the messy details.

"Kind of part of why I'm not so stoked about the dimensional travel. I've got responsibilities back home. No offense, it's cool to meet a version of you that has the same Spider Powers as me, I'm not complaining about that.. I just don't like wondering what's going on in the Narrows while I'm away." Oliver explains, before turning his attention to the third member of their group once again.

"What about you, Arachnid? Do your Spider-Bots patrol while you're away? If so, I am very jealous."

Pokemon: Starlight Dreams

Kazu helping out the youngster was really sweet. I'm digging our cast of adventurers!

Pokemon: Starlight Dreams

Vinny Verdana

Location: Beryl Town, Mid-Festival.
Interacting With: Cassandra Stern (played by @Brose)

---

Vinny wasn't any sort of elite journalist, but he had a pretty good eye for people. And with that eye, he could tell that one Cassandra Stern's knee-jerk reaction to his question was very much negative. The quick turn-around, the recoil. Vinny winces, and braces himself to get ejected from the venue without even having gotten his freebies. He only hoped that getting the boot from the festival didn't mean his right to challenge the League was revoked. How much sway did she have? Could she pull that off? Would she? But to his surprise and relief, the CEO composes herself, and says;

“Castelia...Crown? You are far away from home.”

“As for the matters of interviews, normally I would say no. But today I am feeling generous. You may ask a few questions, and they must remain on the topic of today’s festival or Morpheus itself; anything else and the interview is over.”

Vinny responds professionally. Which for him means he looks directly up to the sky, and wordlessly raises both arms, hands balled into fists, in triumph. Like an athlete that just won the biggest game of their career. In his mind, Vinny declares; ~YES!!!!~ He had managed to score a major interview just after landfall. This was big! It was huge! If he could do well here and keep the momentum going, then the Starre Region just might manage to save his career. But first he had to make sure not to fumble at the starting line. So, after a long pause where he just held the same victory pose, Vinny reverts to his normal posture and nods in the affirmative. "Of course, absolutely! Those are more than fair terms. The Crown's no gossip rag, we're only in it for real stories."

After agreeing to her terms, Vinny rummages through his tote bag and produces a journal and a fountain pen. Most interviews were recorded, with, you know, a recorder. And maybe if Vinny had been less in a rush he'd have gotten one of those handy Roto-Phones and been able to record it with that. But he didn't, so he couldn't. No worries for him though, he could write up a storm- especially with such a nice pen. He'd gone through ten brands before finding one that felt right. "Then since you've so generously agreed to give me some of your time, I'll make sure not to waste it.." The interview was ready to start..

The art of the interview was one of give and take. If you rushed towards the heavy hitting questions, people would close up. But if you asked nothing but fluff, the interview would be nothing of value. A careful balance was needed.. You had to bait out the big stuff, especially when your subject did seem to enjoy giving interviews. "Morpheus' Dreamlink technology has been very successful.. But even the most successful companies don't throw around 'investments' as generous as the ones you have today. What is it about this League Season that's different? Is your company on the verge of a massive financial boom. Or has this season caught your eye in some way?" An valuable question, but also one designed to make Ms. Stern look good by answering. No matter how she answered, it was drawing attention to her and her company's generosity.

Most likely he'd throw out questions in a more rapid-fire format once he found his footing, but for now he was playing it safe and slow. Once interviewer and interviewee both found their rhythm, then he could pick the pace up.

Fate/Dark Heritage

Rider - Jan Sobieski

Location: An abandoned lot in Kyoto
Interacting with: @Letter Bee @Randomguy @GOATPlumber @Digmata

---

This had become quite an eventful first night. Were all Grail Wars this hectic? How vexing that if Jan did have experience in past Grail Wars, he didn't have that experience to draw on. Perhaps that was for the best, though. It meant every time he was summoned was the first time. The Wars could never become dull. But.. well, he had to confess he wasn't much of a fan of this one. For one, it seemed a great many innocents were in severe danger due to the corrupted nature of the grail. And for two..

Well, honestly. He was just kind of uncomfortable with the energy created in this alliance at the moment. Watching the stand off between Saber, her Master, and the newly revealed Arachne- How on earth are people so good at guessing identities..? I recognize her now that he's said the legend, but I'd never have gotten that just from an affinity towards spiders... -Well.. it was very tense. Using the Grail's modern knowledge, Jan was able to compare it to watching an argument occur that you were not involved in, but could not walk away from. Such as when you were a guest in someone's home.

Seeing Saber's master attempt to defend her was rather odd, and clearly the other Servants felt the same. Saber was clearly a powerful warrior, she needed very little protection. But Arachne putting her hands (or strings, rather) on Saber's master felt like it was about to cause things to escalate, non-violent or no. So Jan hurriedly intervenes. He had a few words for Saber's master as well, namely that revealing a Servant's True Name while in an alliance with them was a bit uncouth. But he had no desire to pile on and escalate things.

"Near the center, you say? Wonderful! It seems we have our target, then. Time to get going, I'd say!" Jan declares as he physically interposes himself in the center of the conflict, body blocking both sides from one another as best as he was able. Not moving to defend either, but simply attempting to form a physical wedge to end the stand-off. This.. was actually not new territory for him. While Jan was not politically savvy, he was a friendly enough face that he was able to prevent arguments from escalating. That didn't mean he missed doing it, though.

What was a bit awkward was that while he disapproved of the reveal of their new ally's name, he.. didn't have anything else to refer to her by when speaking to her.

"Ms. Arachne, you said you'd be going with us, then? I notice you do not have a vehicle of your own. You're welcome to catch a ride with me on my steed. She isn't as mighty as the Warhorse I once rode, but I find it quite the charming modern vehicle. Ah, of course if you have your own method of transportation I will take no offense." He was of course referring to his electric scooter. A very non-threatening, unimpressive vehicle. Though Shielder might have been aware that Jan had some ability to allow it to go far faster than it ought to have been, since he saw it briefly in action on the way over. "Either way, we ought to conclude the conversation and make our way over. I doubt our newly revealed foes will be content to wait patiently."

Pokemon: Starlight Dreams

Nice! Looking forward to seeing those posts.

On another note, I've been holding off on posting as Vinny under the assumption I ought to let everyone get their first post out before I continue. But it occurs to me that might not matter if no one else is interacting with either Vinny or Cassandra. Should I hold off or go forward? No sweat either way, I'm not planning on rushing anybody.

Pokemon: Starlight Dreams

Alex borderline freaking out while a random super nerd talks her ear off is really good. Post is more than alright I'd say.