Feather 12 [Video]

[usedfeatherdance]

[ Not that January 1st was actually Joshua's birthday instead of just being a handy date to roll up his age one more year, but Joshua couldn't help the feeling that somehow Johto had hatched his shiny new egg into a... well, shiny new male fox, of all things, this day on purpose.

It probably could only have been more on the mark if the thing had been some combination of grey, blue, and/or purple. ]

Since this isn't exactly the first time it seems everyone spontaneously obtained an egg all at once, I'm going to ask a different question. Do we have any idea what determines which Pokemon we each receive?

[ And if anyone happens to be in Cianwood, Joshua can be found towards the outskirts of the city, sitting sideways on an Absol, Espeon on shoulder and a newly hatched golden Vulpix on his lap, all four of them watching as a Luxray happily bounds about on the sand and knocks out any Pokemon it scares up with its antics. ]

Comments

[Voice]

[usedfeatherdance]

[ One moment while he looks that one up. ]

... Hmm. So it's now an odd Pokemon out on your team?

[Voice]

[moveslikestrider]

Nope. I have Murkrow, Krookodile, and Houndour. Dark types suit my fighting style so she fits right in.

[Voice]

[usedfeatherdance]

So rather, you mean it's not likely to have been given to you by someone who was listening to you.

[Voice]

[moveslikestrider]

Exactly. Anyone listening to me would have forked over a dragon type.

[Voice]

[usedfeatherdance]

Either that, or they just ignored you.

[Voice]

[moveslikestrider]

The point is the eggs were given by someone or something thinking on a different agenda than we are.

[Voice]

[usedfeatherdance]

That's not particularly surprising. But what's interesting to ponder is what that agenda might be.

What are your initial thoughts on your Zorua?

[Voice]

[moveslikestrider]

I know they change shape and are pretty tricky. Being a dark type means a lot of the attacks she'll learn will be indirect shit. She's a good addition I'll just need to train her my way.

[Voice]

[usedfeatherdance]

... "Your way"?

[Voice]

[moveslikestrider]

Non-verbal commands. Harder to guess what attack is coming when you have no idea what I just signaled my pokes to do.

[Voice]

[usedfeatherdance]

Fair enough. It seems to be a somewhat common strategy, after all. But don't you worry about distracting them from a battle?

[Voice]

[moveslikestrider]

That's why you make sure to consistently get the same pitch. You practice it yourself until that's second nature.

[Voice]

[usedfeatherdance]

Can you get enough variation like that?

[Voice]

[moveslikestrider]

With practice you can. [Which he has. Plus he doesn’t discount the smarts of his buddies.] They’re smarter than they look you know.

[Voice]

[usedfeatherdance]

Yes, but sometimes smarts can only get you so far. I was just curious, anyway. I've seen some very creative ways of commanding Pokemon, and it's fascinating to hear what people can come up with.

[Voice]

[moveslikestrider]

You’re right, smarts will only get you so far. Because on its own it’s meaningless. You have to temper it with other things like spending every waking hour together or at least knowing enough about that person or pokemon to know how to help them get better.

What ways have you heard of?

[Voice]

[usedfeatherdance]

Teaching them to battle on their own. Grunts. Replacing the attack names with other words. There were quite a few different techniques on display at the tournament a couple months ago.