Part 2: Exploring Ringtown

The thread has spoken, and we're playing as Circle Circe. Now where were we?

Music: Introduction




Oh, right. We're flying to Wintown and Plusle managed to tag along.

New Music: Ringtown


*Everyone except Fearow landed*

This Plusle followed us here?



*Plusle runs off*

Maybe it's intimidated being in an unfamiliar environment. I think it will come back here on its own later. We should return it to its natural habitat then.
Welcome back, Leader!
*At Circe* Oh, hiya! Are you the hot rookie prospect? The name's Lunick. Glad to meet you! What's your name?
This is Circe, who's become a Ringtown Ranger today.
Circe, Circe... OK, I've memorized it! Welcome to our team! We'll be working together from now on. Let's do our best! Oh, and this is my partner Pokemon. Minun! Come on, introduce yourself!



If we chose to play as a boy, we would meet Solana here with her Plusle. And the first Pokemon we catch would've been Minun.

Now that the introductions are over, let's head inside. *heads in*
This building is Ringtown's Ranger Base. Come on, let's go in!

*Everyone else heads in*

New Music: Ranger Base


Oh, yeah, yeah! Yup, I heard you were coming. You're the letter writer, aren't you? Yup, I got to reat them, too. You sure know how to express yourself! Oh, yeah, yeah! My name's Murph. But you can just call me Murph, OK? I've been a Ranger for, oh, three years now. But my Ranger Rank hasn't gone up all that much... Oh, yeah, yeah. That Ranger Rank thing, it's really tough... Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah! This is my partner, Slowpoke! It's the faster of us two! Glad to meet you!

'Yeah' doesn't even sound like a word anymore.

All right, will everyone gather, please?

*Everyone gathers*

This is Ringtown's Ranger Base. Circe, you're a member of this base starting today. That said, for me to recognize you as a fully qualified Ranger, you still have quite a ways to go. There's a mountain of things you have to learn from here on out. Are you sure you're up to it? ...OK. The look in your eyes tells the tale. Your skill level aside, you're a real Ranger in spirit. As compatriots in Ringtown, let's all work together to the best of our abilities!



*Someone comes in*



Listen, Leader! My precious Pokemon ran off in the Lyra Forest! Hurry! Capture my Pokemon and take it into protective custody!
This sounds like the perfect mission for Circe. Enter the Lyra Forest and capture Larry's precious escaped Pokemon. That's your first mission! Don't fear failure. Do your best!

Music: Mission Received!


This is a nice introduction. Just a sneak peek into what the Rangers do everyday, with our colleagues there in case we messed up.

Music: Ranger Base
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa?! Don't be afraid of failure? Leader, you've got to be joking! Failure's no good! You've got to be afraid of failing! Are you sure it's going to be OK asking this rookie girl to handle this mission?

Screw you. Not only are you rude, you're also giving out bad life advice

Hahaha! There's nothing to be worried about!
*To Circe* The Lyra Forest is right outside Ringtown. I'll go ahead and meet you there. *leaves*
Well, isn't this just dandy. I asked the Leader because he's the most trustworthy Ranger here. But look at this rookie. A less trustworthy face I've yet to see! *leaves*

Screw you. Because you're a jerk, I'll be one too and not help find your Pokemon this update.

Circe, don't let it bug you! Larry can say some rotten things, but he doesn't really mean what he says. Anyway, that's not important. I'll give you a few simple tips about the Capture Styler. Besides capturing, your Styler has many convenient functions.
Oh? Circe, your Styler... It's not turned on. See, you take this part like this...



First, this is how you open the menu. Just touch the 4/4 at the upper left of the Touch Screen. That displays a ring of icons around you. Give it a try.



We'll talk about all of these later. If you're observant, you might notice a contradiction to what I've said last update.

OK, good. Your Capture Styler really is an amazing piece of technology. It can show you your present location and give you information on Pokemon, for instance. See? That kind of data is shown on the upper screen. Oh. It also allows you to quicksave your game if you want to take a rest! You should check it out for yourself.
Hello, rookie Ranger. I'm very pleased to meet you. I'll be right here to recharge your Styler whenever you need. Oh, yes, if you want to save a record of your Ranger activities on you Styler...



First: Unlike the mainline games, we can only save on Save Machines. There's a quicksave, but it's a one-time deal.

Second: The top screen now shows the map and the list of friend Pokemon we have. The map shows Pokemon on the field, the area transitions, and the Save Machines. Not shown: the layout of the area.
It's a useless map.

Third: This is the only line an operator is going to get in the game, not counting the prompt to recharge our Styler.



Anyway, let's take a look at our menu. The top screen is self explanatory. Line length is the length of the line we can make with the styler. If we make the line we draw exceeds the maximum, it will disappear from the other end. It's not really that important.

As for the bottom screen, we have plenty of icons. Quicksave makes a one-time save. Options lets us change the text speed and window border (there's 10 to choose from). Release does exactly what it said. Browser is basically our Pokedex, with nothing in it right now.



Remember last update when I said I didn't think there's an ingame map? I was completely wrong on that. I forgot about it since I never used it. The fast travel in this game doesn't involve the map.

There's only Ringtown and Fall City right now, but more will be added as we explore Fiore.



I also completely forgot this exists. It's from the Mission icon.



The Glossary is basically the Datalog. It offers information that adds to the worldbuilding.

It is also completely optional and you can still understand everything, gameplay and story, even without touching it. Unlike certain other game...



Correction: Fall City is at the East of the region, as shown by the map earlier.



Spoiler: The "three compatriots" part will be retconned later in the series.



The word 'literally' here is literally redundant.



Ranking up also carries other benefits, but more on that when we actually get promoted.



It looks a lot like a phone. I wish my phone can tame animals...

There's some more entries about capturing, damage and game over, but I'm going to skip them because we already covered them in the last update.



I'm pretty sure this is brought up in the game itself later. And yes, we have to make a loop before we can flee. It's annoying when dealing with multiple Pokemon at once and dangerous if our energy is very low.



This is a nice feature that I never used.



The radar is useless and sometimes can be misleading.



This is a useless feature that I never used. I honestly can't think of a reason why you'd do this.



Since the top screen is now functioning, we can see the Pokemon's Pokedex browser entry when we tap them.

Hmmhmm, hmhmhmmm... Whoops! This is no time to be humming! Rookie training is what I have to do! So, uh... What can I teach you now? Oh, right! If there's something you don't understand, look it up in the Ranger Glossary! Just open your Styler menu and touch "Glossary" to get at it. The Glossary explains important topics in detail so it's easy to understand. Why, even I make use of it all the time! Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah! I need to tell you about a second floor in the building you can reach by elevator. There! I told you.

We already know about the Glossary and the elevator can easily be seen, but thanks. Also, an information being in detail does not necessarily mean easy to understand and vice versa.

Map This seems to be a map of the Fiore region. It's exciting to look at!

This is your first time in Ringtown, right? It's a small town compared to Fall City, but it's a good place to live, with lots of trees and nature. You should take a tour of the town before you go off to the Lyra Forest.

Will do. _{It's a good excuse to avoid dealing with Larry.}



What do you do if your Styler is about to run out of energy during a capture? The answer isn't "stick it out." "Run away" is the correct answer. Assessing the situation and fleeing if necessary is a perfectly acceptable strategy. If you need to run away, just draw a single loop around a target Pokemon, then touch the Flee icon that appears.
Here's a piece of advice from an older Ranger. If your Styler runs out of energy, it can't make captures anymore. That means you won't be able to do your job as a Ranger. To avoid the heartbreak of that sad situation, remember to save your record often during missions. If you see a Save Machine during a mission, I hope you'll remember what I said.

Both are very good advice and we should follow them.

Potted plant This lush and healthy plant has been tended carefully.



This here Dragonite likes nothing more than working for us Rangers. Take a ride, and you'll find yourself at another Ranger Base in no time flat! Rookie, I hate to say it, but it's a bit too early for you to be taking a ride on this guy here. When our Ranger Leader recognizes your worth--that's when you can take a ride anytime. Hurry up and become a good Ranger. You know, the kind that's earned the right to ride!

This Dragonite is our method of fast travel. It's not going to be available anytime soon, though.

Our Leader's Fearow has an aggressive nature. It's tops in Fiore when it comes to speed.

Let's go outside and take a look at Ringtown.

Music: Ringtown


The layout of Ringtown is as simple as it gets. It's similar to the starting town in the mainline games. It's also the name of a town in Pennsylvania.

We'll check the houses first, starting from the lower right and moving counterclockwise.



Some get startled and run away. Others turn aggressive and will attack. You should observe how different Pokemon react.

Bookcase There are serious books on Pokemon here...but some fun Pokemon books, too.
TV This TV is perfect for this room. I wonder what's playing?
Calendar It's a Pokemon calendar. What's this month's Pokemon?

We don't get to find out



Not a day goes by without him raising a big commotion about how his beloved Pokemon ran away. His lunch is ready, too...

You have my sympathies.

Computer It's a cutting-edge personal computer. What kind of software is loaded?
Fridge This refrigerator is matched to the room's decor. What's chilling inside?

This game has the same flavor text for similar objects, for example the bookcase and TV in this house have the same flavor text as the one we see earlier.



I know what a Pokemon Ranger does.
Pokemon Trainers? Dear, Trainers are people who capture Pokemon using something called Poke Balls.Just like Rangers, Trainiers are very protective of Pokemon. It's too bad, but there are no Trainers in the Fiore region. There are many, many Trainers in far-off places like Kanto and Hoenn. Mommy wanted to become a Trainer a long time ago, so I'm a bit of an expert!



This is Ringtown, but this whole region, including cities, mountains, the sea, and everything, is called Fiore? ...Did you know this, then? There're lots of Pokemon living in the Fiore region. You really knew that?
Ringtown's nestled in nature. It has a lot to offer. I love this town where people and Pokemon live happily side by side.



Living with my little friend, it feels like I get to share its vitality.



Some objects have a special description in the top screen. Field Move is a central mechanic of this series, and we'll learn about them later.

Yo, yo, yo! Hop on our Doduo and join our Capture Challenge, yo! ...Yeah, I know I said it, but we're actually not quite set up, yo. Sorry! Come again, will you?

The are to the right is exclusive to the Grassland Challenge, so we can't go there right now.



Aww, forget it. It's pointless to hear your name. You're just a Ranger passing through or something, right? (Sigh...) I wish I could just bolt from this sleepy, boring town already!

Just do the Grassland Challenge if you're that bored. They probably have an imitation styler or something so civilians can play, right?