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[ Here you have a boy of about twelve, standing tensely under a tree, hair dripping. He hesitates, then addresses the camera with a little nod of hello, as though he's not quite sure he's done it right.

He used to be middle-aged and respectable, he'll not tolerate an entire crowd of strangers calling him Rupert. So. ]

I'm speaking as, um, a new arrival. My name is Giles.

I understand that there are... others like me. I don't intend to stay. But--

[ He turns-- the camera wobbles, he's never touched video chat before in his life-- to show the Ponyta standing mildly beside him, fire-mane spitting in the rain. ]

This fellow has been, um, keeping me company. The so-called handbook tells me next to nothing-- how many creatures are there? Are they all of an-- elemental nature? Is the rain a danger to him?

[ And, unthinkingly, with a high edge of irritation: ]

Where does the bloody irritating music come from?

[ Anyone in New Bark will find him at the foot of the route, stroking through the flames of his Ponyta's mane with a look of delighted fascination. He's hesitating, in the way of someone deciding how safe it is to ride a horse partly made of fire. ]

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Unfortunately, you will have to learn to ignore the music.

[ Giles manages to look like this offends him personally. ]

I can't tune it to something else? Something that more resembles music?

If there is a way, no one has informed me of it.

Lovely.

[ He hesitates. ]

Have you been here very long?

Since December. If you're actually asking about how long individuals tend to remain here, it seems there is no clear answer for that.

[ He nods slowly, considering. Months. That's longer than he can leave Buffy and the rest worrying about him-- they'd do something ridiculous in the rescue effort. ]

People do return home?

Yes, eventually. In fact, someone from my own world left a few weeks ago.

It is also possible to return. When I first arrived, one of my coworkers who happened to be here, as well, informed me that I'd been here two separate times before. Yet, I have no recollection of these earlier visits.

Really.

[ He should probably be more alarmed, but mostly he looks fascinated. The memory loss is interesting-- and that he doesn't remember any sort of portal or moment of transport-- ]

What do we know about the means of arrival? Or, um, departure? [ There must be something. ]

Just that it happens abruptly, without any sort of notice, whatsoever. The last thing I can recall is being aboard the wreckage of a ocean liner, trying to get my subordinates to do their job properly.

[ That last bit makes his eyebrow twitch a bit, but he pauses to regain his composure. ]

Next, I found myself waking up in that odd woman's house.

[ Wreckage of an ocean liner? But oh, good, he's not the only one who doesn't know what to make of 'Mom'. ]

Odd is an understatement. And there's no known connection between... arrivals? [ Perhaps if they've all been exposed to similar... something. ]

Only that people seem to arrive in 'groups' towards the beginning and middle of each month.

[Woah, flaming horses are cool. Flaming horses in the rain? Not so much. Luckily it doesn't seem to be making any...horse-type noises of pain, so Teddie finds himself more distracted by all the questions. ...And only chooses to answer one of them.]

There's only, like, a million!

[And he chooses to answer it wrongly.]

[ Luckily, Giles figures this could mean anything from a few dozen to a literally uncountable amount. ]

Tell me about them. [ Please..... ]

Huh? All of 'em?! Oh geez, that's a lot. Um, lemme see here...

[Teddie taps his chin as he tries to figure out how to quickly describe at least a million different monsters to the best of his abilities. He got himself into this mess, it only seems reasonable to assume that it's his duty now.]

Well! Some of them are pretty big... [Good start.] And then some of them are suuuuper tiny. Like..like this small! [He holds up two of his fingers, more specifically his thumb and pointer. The space between them is, in fact, very tiny. Joltiks are crazy small.] And then some of them are just downright adorable, a-like so~

[Leaving the feed for a moment, Teddie bends down and comes back holding up his cubchoo, a big smile on his face. Because nothing says adorable like snot bears. Said snot bear holds out her arms, kind of like a silent "ta da!" If they're going to show off, they might as well show off in style.]

This one shoots ice outta her nose!

[Ha! Two questions answered now. He's on a roll.]

[ Giles is frowning impatiently at this incredibly vague introduction to Pokemon, but leans forward all at once when the cubchoo enters the screen. ]

Oh!

[ Snot monsters: not entirely new in his life, actually. Friendly, adorable monsters: fairly unusual. ]

Ice and fire. Interesting.

You can say that again! There's all kinds of stuff here. Ice and fire is just the tip of the melting iceberg.

I just...kinda don't know them all yet, 'cause I'm still sorta all...newish.

[The most nervous of chuckles. Here he is trying to look professional and he can't even list off a million monsters. This calls for a flawless topic change.]

It's too bad you missed all those hot days, though. Your pony probearly would've loved those.

Ah. [ Giles lets up a bit. Information from spotty sources is still better than no information, though, so he doesn't intend to quit asking. But: ]

I came here from California. Enough hot days for a lifetime. The rain is... refreshing.

[ It had better be; the tree he's under can only do so much. The Ponyta, at least, looks patient with the hissing and sputtering of its mane. Giles glances at him, a little hesitantly. ]

He doesn't seem to mind it.

[At the mention of California, Teddie can't help but blink and stare off to the side. He isn't sure what a California is, but he's determined to pretend that he does and proceeds to keep his mouth closed. Although if it has that many hot days, it almost sounds like it's on the sun... NO! FOCUS! No sun-related questions right now.]

I don't know much about the flamey-types, but if he does start crying, you can always put him back in his ball thingy.

[He backs away from the feed again, this time digging around and holding up a pokeball when he returns.]

I mean, I bearsonally don't like them all that much, but it keeps 'em safe when you're in a tight spot. Like, saaaaay, getting caught in the rain.

Ah. Right. [ He fumbles out a pokeball, looks down at it for a moment, and at his new horse. The Ponyta calmly doesn't budge. Apparently he's more concerned with keeping an eye on Giles than getting wet.

Was that a-- was that a pun? He eyes Teddie like he's not sure what to expect. ]

Thank you. For the advice. Is that... is she your only one? [ He encountered the concept of a team in the handbook. ]

[Well, as long as everything's okay. As Teddie said, he has absolutely no idea how fire-types work, and if the horse is fine, then the horse is fine. He's fairly certain ponies don't lie, either. ...Hopefully.]

Who? Cho-chan? [He motions to his cubchoo, who has shifted herself onto her trainer's shoulders at this point.] Oh no, I got a bunch more! ...Which I'm still kinda trying to get used to, it was never this easy for me to get pets like this bearfore. In fact, I betcha you can get a whole bunch in no time, too!

[ All right, that was definitely a pun. What does 'pets' imply about their intelligence? Why does his horse seem more familiar with the situation than he does? Giles abandons all these questions in favor of a few dozen more. ]

Is there a, a reason we're meant to? Other than to learn about them?

[ He really wants to learn about them, who is he kidding. Watch him wade through tall grass and be delighted by the totally unexciting nature of Pidgeys. ]

Erm...

[He stares blankly into the feed for a good second or two before finally tapping a finger onto his chin, eyebrows furrowing. It's then that Teddie realizes that is a really good question.]

Ya know, I never really thought about that one. That's just what everybody else was doing by time I got here, so I just started doing it!

[Oh boy, this is going to bother him all night.]

I 'spose the reason is to...just have fun with it.

[ Because it's fun is not a reason Giles is used to. ]

Well... [ He hesitates. ]

They are interesting. That's reason enough. And if they're all like-- um-- [ he turns, glances to the Ponyta, unsure if it has a name or if he's meant to give it one, ] my friend here, they might be good company.

[At that, Teddie almost seems to panic. Or rather, he panics and tries his hardest to hide it. S-Should he tell him? Oh...he should probably tell him...]

Um, heheh... About that.

[Oh gosh, he's really going through with this. He's going to be the downer.]

Some of 'em...some of them aren't...such good company. In fact, you could say they can get kinda grizzly...

[ Luckily, Giles perks up as if this is good news. He was waiting for the catch; he's used to much-less-friendly monsters. This makes far more sense. ]

How dangerous are they, exactly?

[How anyone can perk up about that is beyond Teddie, but he's certain there must be some sort of mistake. Dangerous things were bad, that's just common sense. One of the few common senses he even has... He must have just heard him wrong.]

Oh, you know, kinda like this-

[The feed is positioned a little farther back now, as Teddie proceeds to bend over and pick something else up, although it doesn't look like he has to bend too much. He visibly flinches at first, wincing from whatever he just got, before sitting back up and holding out his arm.

On it clings a pancham. Via her mouth.

Nothing too life threatening, sadly, but nonetheless unpleasant.]

I'm pretty sure the number was over 600 or something known to us anyway. If you think being normal is an element than yes, everything has an element.

Really? [ He can't help looking interested. There must be resources, a library, somewhere... he needs to find a way home, assure Buffy and the rest that he's fine, but. A bestiary of 600 unknown, friendly, elemental animals sounds fascinating. ]

'Being normal'?

There are several types of pokémon, some like water and fire. There are others like ghost, fairy and normal.

Fairy? What do those look like? [ Okay no he's in research-mode, why isn't "trainee professor" an option, now he'll be hunting through the tall grass for anything remotely odd. ] Are the ghosts actually dead?

[ He'll get to say something that politely isn't a question. Eventually. ]

Depends, there are all sort of them, some pokémon gain that typing after evolving.

We know for sure that one pokémon is, there are few that might a might be. The other ghost types could be manifestation of other things.
[If there is one thing he knows it's ghost types.]

[ He nods. ]

It sounds fascinating. How did you learn all this? Do you really, ah-- have to go out and catch them?

[He tilts his head slightly thinking for a moment before answering]

You tend to pick things up as you live here and talk to people. Though there is still a lot, we don't know since we're limited to two regions.

I hadn't thought of how big this world must be. Do-- ah-- newcomers get along well with... natives?

[ He's still clearly unnerved by Mom. ]

The only time locals would have a problem with you is if they thought you weren't treating your pokémon right. Or if you skip out on job but that's anywhere.

Oh I will warn you now. When you get to the pokémon center don't be surprise by how many times you run into the same nurse named Joy. Or a police officer named Jenny.

Edited 2015-08-22 19:49 (UTC)

I... see. [ He looks fairly at a loss, but it's good to have a warning. ]

Are we expected to have jobs? [ He hadn't even considered that the money in his pack would only get him so far. Or that he'd be allowed to earn more of it. ]

You only start off with the cash given to you. You have to earn more yourself.

I was afraid we'd be camping and foraging forever. [ As other worlds go-- especially those full of magical monsters-- this is much more civilized than he expected. ]

Are no one minds that we've come from lord knows where?

Considering the Mom house is a thing and no one questions that, than no, no one cares at all.

[ Oh, looks like it's time for new people to start showing up again. Suddenly Chie feels glad she didn't have to start her journey in weather like this - she doesn't mind rain, but making the three-day trip to Cherrygrove in a rainstorm isn't her idea of having a good time. ]

There are about 700 species or so; all Pokémon have either one or two elemental types.

[ Ah, specifics. Thus far, she is definitely his favorite. ]

Two types? What would that look like?

[ There would be a 'thank you' in there but he's busy looking like he wants to take notes. ]

I'll show you.

[ Luckily, Chie doesn't care about getting thanked. She reaches for one of the Pokéballs clipped to her belt, presses the button and out comes a Golett in a flash of bright light, landing on the floor with a heavy thud. ]

That's a Golett. Part Ground, part Ghost. A lot of Ghost-types don't seem to be actual ghosts - they just have characteristics of one. This guy hatched from an egg and I doubt it was born dead.

Oh!

[ He leans forward eagerly, as though that'll help him get a better look through the screen. ]

From an egg? That's fascinating. Where did you-- how did you obtain it?

I bought it. Lots of people breed their Pokémon and then sell the eggs over the network.

Looks like you've already gotten a few answers on how many of these things there are-- as for the rain, he should be okay unless it's a downpour. He won't enjoy getting wet, though.

Mine sure doesn't.

You have one, as well? [ He looks kind of delighted. Given the rain, Giles hasn't encountered... anything, yet, so he doesn't really have a frame of reference for the availability of flaming horses. ] A-- Ponyta?

I'll try to keep him out of it.

Sure do. Or, well, that's what she used to be, anyway. She's all grown up now.

_{[The camera shifts as she gets up from where she's sitting, apparently in a tent of some kind.]}

Hang on, I'll let her out and show you. Just gotta get outside to avoid turning our only shelter into a flaming wreck.

[ This sounds promising. ]

Do they grow very fast, or is this the, um-- evolution?

The latter. But when I got her, she was about as big as yours. Maybe even a little smaller-- oh, okay, here we go.

_{[She shields her head against the drizzle-- it's not coming down as hard wherever she is as it is by New Bark, but it's still pretty gross outside. Still, there's a clicking sound and a flash of white light and then, before the camera is an impressively-large unicorn with a cream-colored coat and a mane of flames.]

[She whickers disapprovingly, giving her head a shake and splaying her ears out to the sides. TRAINER why on earth did you send her out in this, this is terrible ugh.]}

Sorry, girl, I'll put you back in a sec, I promise.

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