More Moe Is Needed: Let's Play Moemon: LeafGreen, Thread II

[Dusk Eclipse]

Any kind of resolution is good for me.

[Mystic Muse]

I vote no resolution.

[Penguinator]

I don't know... I like Spike/ChuChu, but I think he'd probably end up with Terra...

[fizzmaister]

I think I'm going to vote for resolution. Even if I end up regretting it, I'd prefer an answer.

[Tome]

I'll chime in here as being in favour of a resolution as well.

[Pie Guy]

I'm in favor of a resolution.

[Gadora]

I think I'm going to vote for resolution. Even if I end up regretting it, I'd prefer an answer.

That's almost exactly what I was going to say.

I vote for resolution, but I reserve my right to post sad smilies.

[Deme]

The delays will probably be bigger than I expected: I was planning on working this afternoon on the chapter, like a good LPer. Instead, I spent the afternoon curled up in my bed, sick to my stomach and largely unconcious.

That, and the discussion of resolutions and possibilities has actually caused me to re-think some things. I had one resolution planned when I posed the vote, because it seemed like the truest one at the time. Now, I'm not sure. I think I like the reasons and mood behind the solution I came up with today better, not to mention some good dramatic bits out of it, and it'll last me more a little longer and hopefully really add a narrative spark to the Terra vs Ho-oh (By the way, I think Seed would most likely use Stephanie to battle Ho-Hos, if she doesn't eschew normal rules and just fight them herself). So that's always good.

[Pie Guy]

A wild HO-HO appears!
Seed used Bite!
It's super effective!

[Squiggly-Thing]

A wild HO-HO appears!
Seed used Bite!
It's super effective!

???????????

[John Cribati]

???????????

Ho-Hos are little chocolate-vanilla cake thingies.

Ho-Oh is a Pokemon.

[Squiggly-Thing]

Ho-Hos are little chocolate-vanilla cake thingies.

Ho-Oh is a Pokemon.

OH! I didn't see the spelling difference.

[billtodamax]

Resolution Would be awesome.

[Alaris]

I have a question, you guys: should I give the Spike/Terra/ChuChu thing a clear and direct resolution? Because I can see where I could give one, and I know what it would be. But I don't have to, or, at least, I don't know if I have to. I'm thinking the bulk of you guys might see it just as a bit of character interaction that doesn't need to be resolved, as opposed to a plot that does. And this is one of those instances where it wouldn't hurt me much either way, so I'm turning it over to a vote.

But no, you don't get to decide who he picks if you pick a resolution.

I'm in favor of a resolution.

[Squiggly-Thing]

Heloooooo? Anyone home? Where's the new chapter?

[Deme]

Ok, I'm going to need to call for a vacation. I have a chapter prepped, and I'll post it... But until maybe the 21st or 22nd, I have waaaaaaaay too many midterms and papers to attend to. I apologize, but really -- I just wish the teachers would apologize to me. Shouldn't Fall Break be, you know, a break?

[ScionoftheVoid]

That's fine, take as much time as you need. It's not as if you're being paid to do this. I'm grateful that you let us know in advance, on top of doing this in the first place. Hope you do well with everything.

[Cieyrin]

Shouldn't Fall Break be, you know, a break?

That's what they want you to think. The same for Christmas break.

[Deme]

Chapter 76: Ice, Ice Baby

Spoiler

Show

Well, I've got my coat on, so it's time to check out yet another freezing cave.

Awww...

Let me guess: that ice will soon drop me to my death the moment I walk on it.

Oh, I see. The moment I walk on it *twice*. Ahh....Well, I wasn't using my ankles, right?
"Geronimo!"

Well, that wasn't too bad.
"Mistress! Quit doing things that will get you killed!"
"Hey, she's tough. She'll live."
"Yeah, don't worry, Zu-Zu. I can take a little fall."
"But the human ankle is horribly put-together. I'm right to be concerned."
”If you believe in her, you have to agree on her limits, riiiight? Or is all of that just talk?”
She chuckles. Azula fume.

“Right, well. I’m going to see if I can’t find a way back up.”


And when I find it, I end up with FREE STUFF!
Totally lame free stuff, but it's one step at a time.


Also, that's a really pretty pokemon.



Ice. Sliding Ice. Bane of the world.
"I am so going to slip and break my ankles."
"Mistress's ankles are sturdy, are they not?"
"Hey, you said it yourself -- ankles are poorly-constructed. I mean, all that weight isolated onto two relatively fragile joints..."
"No fair using my arguments, Mistress. No fair."
"...Well, anyway, I guess we better give this a whirl. Everybody."
"What?"
"WHAT?! "
"Awww, come on? Is little FISTICUFFS afraid of slipping? You're letting the ice beat you, you two?"
"ABSOLUTELY NOT! I WILL CRUSH THE ICE -- I WILL BE ITS MASTER!"
"...I'll not be bested."
"My goodness, how silly. After all, I can just hover --"
"Oohhhhh, no you don't. Everybody. Ice. On."
"*grumble*"




I wobble around before deciding that I don't want to try and make a turn without something to bounce off of.

"Come on, Spike! Let's ice skate!"
"Yeah, yeah, alright..."
The two of them end up on the opposite side of the ice as everyone else, but as I swoosh by, I get enough of their conversation that I cling to a rock and eavesdrop.
”What was that about? Earlier, I mean. Seriously.”
I hear the sound of someone else scrabbling onto the same rock for protection, but keep my eyes focused.
”I love you, Spike. And I’m glad you really, really tried to make an effort to see me as not just another groupie, OK? I’m airheaded, but I’m not an airheaded groupie.”
”I know that. You’re pretty tough, for someone so fragile.”
”Aww, shucks! No, wait! That’s not what I meant! Aggg… Listen… I can’t make you love me, right? I got that. But sooner or later, you’ve got to tell me how you feel. I’m not a groupie. I won’t hang forever.”
”Dangit, I know! I just… I didn’t want to…”
”Dissapoint me?...T-that’s Ok… Umm…Is it Terra? The one you want?”
Behind the stone, a little catch of breath.
”THAT’S NOT – that’s not it. I… I do care for you, ChuChu. You’re sweet and you’re cheery, and you make me feel like the strongest guy in the world.”
And then a figure detaches from the other side of the stone and quickly shoots away.
It’s Terra, her head down and her shoulders raised like a shield against the world.
”Stupid. Stupid. To think you are understood… To make the same mistake twice…How foolish of me.”

And yet…He doesn’t notice. He’s still talking.
”But I care about Terra, too. Just as much. And… And we’re a team. I don't want to wreck that, even if that means missing out. No matter what happens, I want us to be a team...And a team means no one gets left behind.”
Thanks, Spike, for thinking about my needs, too…
”...Could it… be a team with snuggles?”
”Let’s talk to Terra, first, Ok, Dollface?”
”Does Terra even like you?”
”That’s what I need to find out.”
”Well, you know what? I’m down for whatever you’re down for! Love’s about new things! Yahoo! He likes me! And if she says no, maybe I will still get snuggles.”
Aww… I’ll leave them to work it out. I better go check up on Terra.

…Though when I find her, she’s asleep on the ice. Or maybe she’s just pretending. There’s little traces of ice, clinging to her doll-like face.


At last! Free stuff and less drama!


And getting off this crazy thing. I’m glad I don’t have to rely on Jane for stopping the crazy – I mean, she never did.



An HM? Here? Dang, that is a hidden machine.

"Well, guess who gets this?"
"Well...*sunglasses* water you waiting for?" She giggles.
I surpress a groan.
"Ok, ok... Well, Ice Beam's the most replacable, so let's take care of that."



Oh, wow. How conveniently placed this is. This waterfall, the likes of which I have never seen before.... Sometimes I feel like the world's a little too conveniently organized. I cling to her back as she ascends, salmon-like.


"Aww...I was just hoping for pure, raw treasure."
Oh, well. No matter.


Caves within caves. CAVECEPTION!


It’s Lorelei. And Team Rocket.


“Not so ignorable now that they’re on your turf and without Giovanni, huh?”
It’s not that I don’t agree with her on this one… Just that it’s terrible that she only cares now.

And as much as I love stomping evil, I've got to mention that. And maybe see if I can't ask her if she's, you know, nearly killed anyone lately.


"I'm sorry. Am I going to get elbowed in the throat again, for walking into *your* cave?" I didn’t see your name on it.

...Seriously?

"Well, sure, I guess..."
I mean, what, I beat you, now we're buddies?

...Come to that, that's working out pretty well. I have 4 legendaries and a boyfriend that way.
So... umm... question withdrawn.


"Yeah. I'm taking you thugs out. No one hurts innocent pokemon on my watch."

"You sure you don't want me taking the other two?"
Lorelei: "This is my home island. I won't let it be taken advantage of!"


"Is it all that confusing? I'm here. I'm kicking your pasty white hiney. Simple."

"Because Team Rocket abuses pokemon in their possession."
And also because you're evil.

*sigh* One day, I will fight people who don’t use purposefully weak pokemon.

But today is not that day.

"Also, ChuChu...I know you're having a good day, but can you ease up on the dancing in place? Just a smidge. I'm worried about your aim."
"Sorry! Tee-hee. Eeeeeeeee!"
She's not listening at all, is she? Can we get a 'ChuChu is in love with Spike' sign here?


I stand back and let her do this.

Lorelei: "What is your objective?"
R. Grunt: "We will topple this corrupt system, which keeps the ungifted down! We will take this elitist institution... And replace it with our corrupt organization!"
...You had my sympathy, and then you lost it, boys.


"Hey! That's my line!"
Lorelei: "Now that they lack their former protection, destroying their threat to our order is league business, Miss Champion."

Do I tell her that it's probably on the next island, all things considered?



I jump in the way. You can’t talk as big a game as I talk and not do that – I can’t let her hurt people just because she’s been hurt. No matter what the consequences, I won’t compromise on this.
”Mistress!”
The ice beam arcs, and for a moment I realize that I am about to die, and my eyes see everything – Lorelei, who is surprised and confused, the glittering walls of ice, reflecting in one corner a brightly-colored shape that moves and vanishes…
And Azula, grabbing me bodily and pulling me away, leaving my jacket hanging in the air to take the hit.
"Hold-up, hold up! No one's killing anyone, ok? I don't care whose business it is!"
It’s cold.


Caaalled it.


"Hey, wait just a --"

I bet the other password's swordfish.


"Why did you get in my way? I can't kill the champion!"
"You shouldn't kill anybody! That won't address their grievances or stop their crimes, except on the individual level!"

She nearly stomps off, before I add...
"Still. Nice work -- I'm surprised you cared."

"The system protects the people here -- and in all of the Kanto-Johto area, so I work for it. It may seem terrible, to someone as young as you... But it doesn't matter. You either work for the system or are crushed by it. Even Oak couldn't find a way to change it, and neither could Lance. There are no equals in this world."
...That just sounds like someone who's given up.
"I'm going to go stop them."

...
I decide to wait the night before taking the trip to Five Island, though. It's a long day, I lost my coat, and I'm tired.

****

The matter of teleporting to Pallet is an easy one.
I've made this mistake twice -- I have no intention of making it again. Once, I loved the boy who would become Bill. I thought I did -- now, I no longer believe I am capable of such a thing.

I thought I...I thought perhaps I had feelings... I thought maybe...
But then again, maybe I did.

In both cases, I felt they understood my heart. He knew how to tell if I was sleeping, how to reach me in my dreams. He told me I was better than I knew -- he told me there was something Excellent in me.
I cannot be understood. There is nothing to understand. There is no 'real me,' just a collection of beautiful dreams.

I believe, which is the closest thing I have to knowing that I can't stay here. I'm not jealous -- but I have no intention of watching myself be betrayed. But before I go... There is one last service I may render, to this girl -- sometimes hard and sometimes gentle, sometimes confident and others neurotic...
She's an excellent trainer. I've learned a lot.
And this is my lesson.


??? "Who goes there?"

"I am here to fight you, in honor of Seed, Champion among humans. The woman-child you were spying on in the cave"

??? "You must be a joker! How funny! A fine joker, or a heart-sick fool!"

"I am what I am not, and I am not what I am. That is, I think, how Sartre would put it. I'm not sure if he's right, about freedom... But I suppose we'll see.


I throw my gage at you, Spirit of Rebirth. Do your best."

[Cieyrin]

(image)"My goodness, how silly. After all, I can just hover --"

Missing image, I guess, since you have a tag there for one.

I throw my gage at you, Spirit of Rebirth. Do your best."[/color]
[/SPOILER]

I suspect y'mean 'rage,' not 'gage'; also, Cliff Hanger! I'll wait anxiously for the next chapter, whenever that happens, as I realize life pulled out the baseball autogun. Get it done when you have time to, I'll wait patiently for it.

[Dusk Eclipse]

Damn, I was expecting some Drama concerning the love triangle and to be honest I wasn't expecting Terra to react that way, for some reason I though Chu-chu was more likely to do that...

And Ho-oh is a really nice sprite

[Eledragon]

I bet the other password's swordfish.

I love you. Forever.

also, aww...false Terra-rejection

[Deme]

Damn, I was expecting some Drama concerning the love triangle and to be honest I wasn't expecting Terra to react that way, for some reason I though Chu-chu was more likely to do that...

And Ho-oh is a really nice sprite

Is that a good damn or a bad damn? Besides... This situation, while heading towards a resolution, isn't exactly resolved. There's room for more drama.

I suspect y'mean 'rage,' not 'gage'; also, Cliff Hanger! I'll wait anxiously for the next chapter, whenever that happens, as I realize life pulled out the baseball autogun. Get it done when you have time to, I'll wait patiently for it.

No, I mean 'gage.' It's an archaic term, reffering to a glove. To throw down your gage is to challenge someone to a duel.

[Mystic Muse]

"Gauntlet thrown, Gauntlet picked up, and now I'm going to bludgeon you over the head with the gauntlet." Okay, not something Terra would say, but that's what it reminded me of.

I'm looking forward to the fight.

[Dusk Eclipse]

Is that a good damn or a bad damn? Besides... This situation, while heading towards a resolution, isn't exactly resolved. There's room for more drama.

A good damn definitely, I really wasn't expecting to develop that way and it was far better that what I thought would happen. As always I am impresed Deme.

[Cieyrin]

No, I mean 'gage.' It's an archaic term, reffering to a glove. To throw down your gage is to challenge someone to a duel.

Ah, I see. The more you know...

[Forum Explorer]

Kick her ass Terra! *Cheers*

[Gadora]

Kick her ass Terra! *Cheers*

Couldn't have said it better myself.

[Deme]

I'm working on the next chapter now, since I have more time than originally estimated. Though most of the day won't be used productively, it will instead be used for birthday celebrations. But I've gotten the fight screenshotted, now I just need to do the writing there, and then probably move onto a bit of Five Island fun... By the way, Fizzmaister... Nothing seems to be happening with Nuriko and Articuno, should I wait longer, or switch to another bird, or...?

[Math_Mage]

Just archive binged, and I love the story. Gotta say, though, I feel a bit behind the plot--Seed beat the E4 before we even properly understood what they stood for, as far as I could tell.