[PKMN] The Well

[knux400]

Rugose here!

This room is a bit more lush than the previous one, still pretty flat and open but the grass is a lot healthier- and taller! It's a tad bit more humid, which I am deeply enjoying, and the Pokemon here seem to be leaning more towards Bug- and Grass-types. There's a lot of small flying things swarming around, which can get a bit overwhelming to deal with if you're not careful!

Make no mistake, though, dear reader- I am being very careful. It seems like as long as someone remains in the room, new phantoms are prevented from appearing. I would poke my head into the room upstairs and verify this for myself, but I'm not exactly eager to fight the same bunch of goons twice in a row if I can avoid it. Speaking of goons, I've been studying the behavior of the Phantoms more closely, and I think I was mistaken in my initial assessment. That's okay- admitting when you've made a mistake is a crucial part of the scientific process! If everyone went around doubling down on the first conclusion they made just because they didn't want to be wrong, we'd know a lot less about the world than we do now. I mean, could you imagine if medicinal Tynamo were still a thing?

Anyway- I think I'm seeing two distinct types of Phantoms- the "local" Phantoms, who seem to match the biome of the room, and the "follower" Phantoms, who just sort of pop up every now and again, and maintain the same form consistently regardless of what room they're in. The local Phantoms don't seem to coordinate much with one another, and will usually defer to the authority of a larger or more powerful Phantom- the alpha, if you will. Anywhere between ten to fifteen of these will be inhabiting every room. The follower Phantoms are a lot more interesting. I mentioned seeing a Chikorita and Hoothoot duo in my first journal, and remarked that they must have been the leaders for that room. I don't think they were. There was an alpha Phantom for that room, too, separate from the follower Phantoms. There doesn't seem to be any actual conflict between the two groups, but they don't associate much with one another, either.

I only mention this because the Chikorita and Hoothoot appeared again- or rather, the Hoothoot appeared again. The Chikorita had apparently evolved into a Bayleef, and the two of them picked up a Tympole somewhere along the way. Again, this group felt much more intelligent, and seemed to act independently of the local Phantoms. The Hoothoot in particular gave me a bit of trouble due to its natural type advantage against me, and the group seemed to be aware of this fact and attempted to use it to their advantage. Hoothoot was the main attacker, with Bayleef and Tympole acting more in a support role until I grabbed the blasted bird by the feet and slammed it into the ground. The fight was basically over at that point.

It definitely seems like the follower Phantoms are a unique and separate entity from the local Phantoms. Maybe I should give them a new name that reflects their role better... "The Watchers"? I don't know, I was never that good at poetry or evocative writing or anything like that.

Curious to see what the next room holds, though!

~Rugose