Be it grass, fruit, or beasts, whatever you eat, you have to live its part.

Yamask finally stayed out long enough for me to talk with him.

[After almost a year of trying to get the Pokémon who possessed him for Halloween to actually have a conversation with him, you think he'd be in a better mood. Except not, because Yamask used to be a human.]

His name's Tim Balkie, but he says that I can call him "Punk" if I want. He was 17 years old and lived in Goldenrod City. He likes listening to "punk rock" music and getting into fights, and he wanted to make it so that everyone in Johto is free and no one can tell anyone else what to do. He says he died when he got into a fight and someone hit him on the head with a baseball bat.

[Talking to the ghost of someone who died. Could this get any more depressing?]

Today's his birthday.

[It can.]

He says that he was staying in the PC Box because he'd heard that Pokémon can't die if they're in there, and he didn't want to forget about his life again like he did before we met.

[It really can.]

...I don't know how to cheer him up. I don't even know if I can. Is this even something that someone can be cheered up from?

[Anyone in Mahogany Town will be able to find him sitting under a tree with a pokéball on his lap, fiddling with the pokégear. From what it's reading aloud, he's going through the pokédex data for Yamask, specifically the moves that they can learn.]

[The video comes on to show an adult Vespiquen and Combee, along with 54 baby Combee, slowly flying over the surface of the Lake of Rage. Now and then one falters in the air, but quickly recovers and returns to its position in the flight. Fearow and Archeops (who has been thoroughly instructed that she's not allowed to attack any of the baby Combee) are escorting the swarm on the sides, wings spread to glide and only occasionally flapping in slow, graceful arcs. Apollo's following behind on the shoulder of his Golurk, as evidenced by the sound of thrusters in the background. The sun has begun to set, casting a golden red light over the scene and reflecting off of the lake's surface. Several Magikarp poke their heads out of the water briefly to watch the swarm fly overhead, and several Gyrados surface to watch as well, the roar of one off-screen echoing across the lake. Just before the feed ends, a Milotic leaps out of the water, sending droplets flying to catch the light and glitter, forming a faint rainbow in the air for an instant.

Apollo remains silent. He has nothing to add to this scene.]

[The video opens on Apollo sitting on a bench outside of the Celadon City Pokémon Center. A cameramon is obviously involved, considering that both of his arms are visible. He's not wearing his cloak for once, given the heat, just the loose green sleeveless shirt he usually wears under it. He does have visible muscles, but his arms are still pretty skinny. He also seems kind of... uncertain? about this post.]

I finally got off of that route and ended up in a place called "Celadon City". I talked to Nurse Joy and found out that there's a "Magnet Train" in Saffron City that I can take to get back to Johto. It sounds like it will take a lot of money though. Is there some way to get back as fast that doesn't need as much money?

[He could end it there, but no, he can't ignore the thing that's bothering him anymore. He brings his hands into the picture, holding up a well-worn hardcover book: "An Examination of the Historical Basis for the Myths of the Kingdom of Alisia".]

This is one of Grandpa's books. After he died I left it on the shelf with his other books, right where he left it. It was in the PC when I checked it. How did it get there? I thought that only people came here, not other things.

[He puts the book back on his lap, looking down at it for a moment.]

It feels kind of like someone dug up his grave.

[The cameramon wisely decides to end the video there.]

[Later, Apollo can be found with a Combee and a Vespiquen, looking through any flower and gardening shops they can find, buying seeds and flowering plants. He definitely looks like someone who's entirely there for the sake of the Pokémon, and could probably use some cheering up.]

[The video comes on to show Apollo sitting outside the Pokémon Center in Blackthorn City, holding a Rising Badge with a hand that has a few cuts on it. His face has a few cuts on it too. He sighs and lets his hand drop to his lap.]

That could have gone better. Clair wouldn't give me the badge right away, Sawsbuck is disappointed that all of the Pokémon who were with Clair fainted before he got a chance to fight, Archeops is mad at me because I put her in her pokéball even though Nurse Joy says that she was at only 1 hp after one attack from the Gyarados who was with Clair and she wouldn't have been able to fight anymore anyway, and none of the Pokémon who are with me can use the Waterfall HM that we won.

[He scratches around one of the cuts on his face. In retrospect, teaching Archeops Cut for the gym battle was probably a bad idea.]

Archeops hasn't gotten any more cooperative since she evolved. I think that she's gotten a little worse, actually. I've tried talking with her and I still can't understand everything she says, but I haven't been able to get her to stop attacking me or anyone else besides Fearow who gets close. Just telling her not to attack other people when they get close hasn't worked either, no matter how firm I am with her. I'm not sure how to get her stop besides just not getting near her.

[He's never had this problem before. He's the resident Nature Hero who gets along with animals better than he does with other humans. Situations like this aren't supposed to happen with him.]

Has anyone else ever met a Pokémon who wouldn't let you near them or who wouldn't listen to you when you told them to stop doing something?

[The feed comes on to show Apollo's Fearow, caught in his last second of preening before seeing that the camera's on and puffing himself up to look even larger and more awesome than usual. He's looking pretty proud of himself right now and decides to announce his pride for those who are merely in earshot of their PokéGear and not actually looking at him.]

Feeeeeeaaaaaar!

[To Pokémon it's a cry of triumph. To everyone else it's a sound like the screams of the damned in Hell. Hope you weren't planning on falling asleep anytime soon.

Apollo appears from behind the camera, apparently having propped it up on something, and stands next to Fearow with a smile on his face. With him for scale it becomes clear that his Fearow is significantly larger than average.]

Fearow wants everyone to know that he reached level 100 today, and that he reached it before all of the other Pokémon who are with me, [Apollo's smile falters for a moment and he side eyes Fearow until he finishes relaying the message.] especially Firaga.

[The reference to something that's meaningless to 100% of the viewers over with, Apollo returns to smiling.]

They explained it to me, but it seems strange that a Pokémon can't reach a level higher than 100. There are more numbers past 100. It sounds like they stop getting stronger as easily once they've reached level 100 too. Everything about levels seems kind of strange, but this is the strangest part that I know about. Is there anything else strange that happens when a Pokémon reaches level 100?

[There're a series of screams and cries from off-camera, sounding garbled to any Pokémon listening. "Hunt! Now!" is about all that can be gleaned from it. Apollo's smile loses a bit of its strength as he looks over at the source of the cries. Fearow, on the other hand, stops looking as proud as before and starts looking more like a teenager whose secret crush has just walked in. Which is exactly what's happened, as Apollo's shiny Archen makes her entrance from off-camera. Fearow hops after her with a happy "Okay!" and the two of them leave the camera's field of view, leaving Apollo standing alone in a forest watching them go. He looks back to the camera, but if he had anything else to say he's forgotten it, so he shrugs slightly and walks over to the camera to end the feed.]

[The feed comes on to show a nice blizzard and thick snow, as seen from the shelter of the entrance to a cave, with the flickering light of a fire coming from somewhere behind the camera. It's a bit loud, but the camera's deep enough into the cave that the sound isn't overwhelming. After a bit Apollo speaks up.]

It's really getting thick out there.

[A pause for a moment.]

There's something about when the snow really piles up. It tells you that you've run out of time to prepare for winter and now it's time to hope that what you've done is enough. All you can do is wait and see. It's a good feeling when you feel like you're ready, but when you know you aren't you almost feel sick. I know I'm not as ready as I need to be. I got started later than usual here. I'll have to go out and get more food before spring, but at least I'll just need to spend some time in Mahogany Town rather than try and hunt in the middle of winter.

From what I-[The feed cuts to static for a few seconds. When it comes back, it's showing Apollo looking at the gear in confusion. He's wearing a length of white cloth wrapped around his head with part of it bunched under his chin, looking like he had it over his face like a balaclava and just pulled it down so that he could talk clearly. The leather biker jacket from the Yamask possession can be glimpsed under his cloak a few times as he moves, and the rock wall of the cave is visible behind him.]

That was strange. But back to what I was about to say, from what I've heard it doesn't sound like most humans here prepare for winter much. It sounds like they just rely on going to the stores like normal, even when the weather's bad. Why wouldn't you want to get everything you need before winter comes? Then you wouldn't have to go out in weather like this.

[Another pause, during which the image turns a bit grainy for a moment.]

One other thing that I'm wondering is, what do most people do when they can't go outside? Winter's always the most boring season since you have to stay inside a lot and there aren't many interesting things to do.

[Someone's in a good mood after 4th wall.]

This wasn't where I went to sleep, and the sun rose in a different place this morning. Did this happen to anyone else? I think that this is like what happened before where everyone was asleep for three days, but waking up here is a lot better than waking up in Goldenrod City. You can buy fish here, for one thing, and I can tell that it's actually meat from a fish, not like the other meat you can get from the stores where I can't find out anything about the animal it came from. [He's going to buy so much fish. He'll dry it or keep it in the PC or something, but it's not mystery meat!

He turns the camera to show the outside of the berry orchard in Pallet Town, with the glass roofs of the hothouses being the main things visible.]

This place grows all kinds of berries that I haven't seen anywhere else. Apparently most of the plants need to grow in warmer places so these special buildings keep them at the right temperature all the time. It makes me wonder if I could make a smaller one somewhere else. I asked the people here how it worked and it doesn't sound very complicated to do.

[He moves the camera to show a forest green canvas tarp spread out on the grass, with at least one of every kind of berry the orchard grows sitting on it, and his bag next to it, overflowing with even more berries. You know that "small fee" that the orchard charges for an hour of picking berries? Apollo's obviously paid that fee several times and has been picking berries all day. Almost all of his Pokémon are gathered around the tarp, apparently doing a taste test of all the different berries. He's got a larger-than-average Fearow, a Furret, a Sentret, a Sawsbuck, a much larger-than-average Golurk, a Combee, a Vespiquen, a Growlithe, and... a Zangoose? Yes, it seems he has somehow ended up with a new addition to his team, who's eating a Spelon Berry around the twig it's holding in its mouth.]

Zangoose was with me when I woke up. I don't remember her asking to come with me even though she does, but I remember riding with her and a bunch of other Zangoose on the back of a bird Pokémon called Ho-Oh and the Zangoose jumping off of Ho-Oh to attack Cobra Commander and the humans who were with him, but I don't remember what happened after that. I also remember walking through a forest and being able to talk to the trees again, and something about some ruins filled with Pokémon who looked like letters. There are some other things that I can remember that don't make sense, but I don't understand what most of them mean.

[As Apollo's finishing the last part, a Solrock floats past the camera silently. And upside-down. After a moment the camera moves to follow it, now right side up, as it floats around.]

I don't remember meeting Solrock before though, and it doesn't remember meeting me or going into a Poké Ball. It doesn't mind being with me, but it feels strange for neither of us to remember it deciding to come along.

[He turns the camera back to focus on himself.]

Did anyone else have something like this happen to them?

[Apollo's plan for this post was to mention that he'd gotten the Mineral and Storm Badges and was finally able to use Fly now that the fog was gone, but more importantly to talk about the whole Yamask possession thing where he became a teenage punk for two days.

But as the feed comes on to show his face and he's about to speak, his eyes glance down and his jaw starts to drop. The hand holding the PokéGear drops and dangles, the camera showing a brief glimpse of the Fearow he's riding before it comes to rest on what Apollo is seeing.

Johto.

Beams of sunlight shine through the cloud cover and reflect off of the sea between Cianwood and the mainland as a pod of Wailord surface and spout water from their blowholes. A wind blows lines across the long grasses of Route 39. Flocks of bird Pokémon fly through the air, so far away that it's impossible to tell what kind they are. Far in the distance the snow-capped peak of Mt. Silver can be seen, with Mt. Mortar dwarfed by comparison. Ilex Forest is a tiny patch of reds and oranges at this height, and the shining skyscrapers of Goldenrod City look like models, even the Radio Tower appearing small. And, so far away that it's hard to see, is New Bark Town.

Apollo's awed voice can faintly be heard in the background, though it's easy to miss.]

All that time I spent walking... it was all this small? ...But it keeps going...

[He finally understands what the map is actually trying to show, and with that comes a thought.]

Is Grandpa's forest this small too?

...

I never knew the world.

[Responses will be ICly delayed by an hour or two while Apollo recovers from being shown how limited his worldview was.]

[The video comes on and immediately begins spinning around wildly, eventually coming to rest slightly crooked with a thin root visible in the corner of the image. The first clear thing that can be seen is Apollo, apparently having jumped down from somewhere, punching Cobra Commander in the face as part of his landing, after which this music starts to play.

(Click for the complete log of what can be seen.)

( Click for a summary of what can be seen. )

As Apollo's team begins to regroup for healing and all level up at once, the camera shakes and a paw covers the lens. There's a glimpse of Apollo's Furret, the source of those Grass Knots that Cobra fell victim to, and then the feed ends.

Apollo: 1. Cobra: 0.

Responses will be ICly delayed until Apollo's finished making sure his team is healed up.]

[Apollo doesn't fully understand why people make badge posts, but his team is resting after the battle so he might as well, right? He definitely needs to do something to calm down after spending the entire battle worrying about his team's safety. Plus there's something he wants to check on.

So the video opens with a shot of Fearow, Furret, and Sawsbuck resting in the Ecruteak park. In the background you may catch glimpses of Combee gathering nectar from some flowers and Vespiquen hovering nearby. After a moment of this the camera whips around to show the Fog Badge and Strength HM he won in his hand, then moves to show his face. He looks like he's doing better since the last badge post he made.]

It took two tries, but they managed to beat the Ecruteak City Gym. The Pokémon there have some really strong moves, especially the one that makes other Pokémon faint after a while. I almost couldn't call Fearow back in time, but I kept them all from fainting, so it worked out.

They want to try to beat another gym so I was thinking we would go to the one in Olivine since it gives two HMs. I was wondering though, how much longer will it be until the first snows come? It feels like I'll have time, but I want to make sure.