Audio Post

[thedifferencebetween]

Holy shit.

You know what today is? Do ya? Come on, take a guess.

[Jack doesn't expect an actual response to his initial question, it's more of an opener.]

Apparently, according to all available technologies and calendars...I got to this backwater hellhole exactly one year ago today.

One year. It's been one year. A year ago I woke in this utterly nonsensical place with my stupid cat thing. And I was thinking 'geeze, what a shitty year, didn't get much done...' but then I thought 'now wait a minute'. I mean, I've built up a profitable company from scratch. I got married half a year ago, that was pretty cool! Got some major local street cred 'cause I battle my Pokemon so awesome. Hell, I even beat one of those Gyms. I'm a beloved local figure!

Which is good, I should be! I mean, I should be a lot more rich than I am, but I'm getting there. Despite the insane number of limitations and utter stupidity that permeates this place...

Holy shitballs. A whole freaking year...

[So much for getting out of here and back to his glorious, galactic dictator life. Clearly he needs to revive his efforts to just do the same thing here.]

Comments

[audio]

[toothaches]

Hey, here's to another year, am I right?

_{[You can hear his grin through the 'gear.]}

[audio]

[thedifferencebetween]

Don't think I got a choice in it!

But hey, if I did this much in one year...

[audio]

[toothaches]

That's what they tell me. Gonna do anything special for the day? I heard some folks do something...it's almost like getting to have two birthday parties a year.

[audio]

[thedifferencebetween]

What, celebrate the day I was kidnapped and imprisoned on one of the worst planets ever? Are you insane?

[audio]

[toothaches]

OH--uh! Sorry, dude. I keep forgettin' that not everybody is as psyched as I am to be here.

video;

[keep_surviving]

[have a video of diana clapping and smiling]

You're married, Pops?

video;

[thedifferencebetween]

Of course I'm married, been married a bunch of times. I mean, I guess technically I'm a widower, but whatever. She came back from being dead long enough for us to get hitched.

You don't usually get a chance to make an honest woman out of your girl after some assholes kill her.

video;

[keep_surviving]

Well, good for you.

Yikes. Yeah, that sounds like a really shitty deal.

video;

[thedifferencebetween]

What can I say? I'm in demand!

Yeah. Yeah it is. What's even shittier is that at least one of the people involved in murdering her - and generally just trying to destroy everything of mine - gets to have a nice happy life here and she doesn't.

video;

[keep_surviving]

Mr Popular.

That sucks. Have you at least punched him in the jar since you got here?

[brokencode]

Has it really been a year for you? Would it be in bad form to congratulate you?

At the very least I hope you will accept me saying that I am glad we had this. Things have not been perfect on either of our parts, but I would like to think we have made progress. I... hope that continues to be the case.

[thedifferencebetween]

Yeah. It has.

[And he knows she knows the answer to that, hell, she's the only person he's talked to about how he actually feels about being stuck here.]

[He's also not really sure what to make of the rest of it. He hears what she says about him on the public network. But he's had a lot of feelings recently, thanks to Weird Weekend. It had kind of been like going back in time, in a way. A really good time. So he could make a Thing out of it, but he's not gonna.]

Thanks, sweetheart. You doing okay?

[brokencode]

[There was enough finality in his first sentence for Angel to not want to pursue the line of questioning any further. Instead, she toyed with the fabric of her shirt, before turning her attention back to both her 'gear and Jack.]

I am getting by. We are working on getting Gym badges right now. It's... rather exciting.

[thedifferencebetween]

Oh yeah, I finally got one of those. Thought they were supposed to be a challenge, but...wasn't much of one. Might get some more, I dunno. Got some thinking to do, some planning...figuring shit out.

But...good for you. Kinda surprised you're into it, though, the Gyms can get pretty violent and intense.

[brokencode]

You have been here a year. Doubtless your Pokemon show that in their strength. I believe these challenges are meant for more recent arrivals? But I could be wrong.

Honestly... it really isn't my idea of a good time. But Mari jumped into battle, and the others follow. I wouldn't be a good Poke-Parent if I didn't listen to what they wanted.

[How does she keep accidentally making pointed comments at Jack. She shifted a bit uneasily after the words left her lips, hoping he wouldn't read into them at all. For once, she wasn't trying to trade barbs with him.]

audio

[veggie_vamp]

Happy Poke-versary! Or would it like Johto-versary...? Jack-versary?

Anyway, I year two will be WAY better than year one, cause now you know exactly what you're doing!

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[thedifferencebetween]

Thanks, I guess.

That's sure one way to look at it!

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[veggie_vamp]

Am I, like, supposed to get you a gift?

audio

[thedifferencebetween]

...yes. Yes you are.

It's traditional!

[As of now.]

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[veggie_vamp]

Clawesome! What would you like?

[action]

[beastofasister]

You know, for most people, that would be plenty. Building a life somewhere new, taking things day-by-day... [She sounds equal parts amused and approving when she adds,] You aren't someone that's satisfied with meaningless accomplishments like that, though. I know that.

—Ah, you're behind me when it comes to those badges, though~ I was even thinking of riding to Azalea soon, to get another one. Maybe you should come with me!

[action]

[thedifferencebetween]

'Cause I'm not like most people. [Jack gives Manaka a finger gun with each hand, winking.]

Yeah, I got to get my ass moving on those. Azalea, huh? I need that one. Yeah, sure. We'll make a trip out of it. What do they have in Azalea?

[Because he thinks it's stupid to go somewhere just for the badge.]

[beastofasister]

I don't know. I've never been there before. That's why I want to go! I was never able to "explore" anything myself, before I came here. Now that I have the opportunity to view the world with new eyes, I don't want to waste it.

[...]

Ah, and supposedly, the atmosphere there has been "strange" as of late. You can only put so much stock in rumors, but in a world like this... There really might be something out of the ordinary at work, don't you think?

[thedifferencebetween]

Eh, I'll look it up. [Jack grabs his gear and starts flipping through it.] Yeah, you oughtta explore. I mean, there's some stuff worth seeing around here, I guess.

[That's interesting, though.]

Strange, huh? Doesn't hurt to check it out, rumors come from somewhere. My empire grew cause of a rumor that I followed. That rumor led to me vaults, ancient artifacts, and the largest deposit of the rarest mineral in my universe. And I owned all the mining and mineral rights to the whole freaking planet.

[So yeah, rumors were worth looking into. And Jack knows there's powerful, ancient things somewhere here. There always is. All those rumors of legendary Pokemon and folklore about the powers of some Pokemon...that shit doesn't come from nowhere.]

Azalea...oh, wow. This is a boring place, princess. How can a town be both quaint and country and boring artsy? Jazz clubs, shitty diners...oh, but they got rare Pokeballs. Cool.

[beastofasister]

It can't be any more boring than looking at the same city day after day. [She sticks her tongue out, but of course, there's no real offense in her words.] Just think of it as an investigation, then. From what I've gathered, there's a shrine to a legendary Pokémon in the forest nearby, and more people have been claiming sightings there than normal.