mission 001- video/text

[cardboard_boss]

[The feeds snaps on to show a rather grizzled man with a beard and eyepatch patting a rather friendly dog Pokémon. A Poochyena to be precise. Boss grunted in amusement when the dog started to chew on his metallic arm. A toy? Well, the Pokémon thought the metal was rather interesting compared to his other normal limb.]

Hngh. A dog? Didn't think I'd end up having another one trailing after me.

[Boss picked up the empty Poke ball from his back pack and studied it. How could such a large animal fit in such a small device? It was all rather confusing right now. Also, what was that music playing? It sounded like a tape but no music he'd ever heard on his iDroid before.]

Hey! Watch the arm. [Snake scalded the energetic Pokémon when he bit down on one of Snake's prosthetic fingers. He was only a puppy but still. He needed those fingers.]

Going to call you DD. You're just like him. Good dog. [Snake patted Poochyena's head and made the dog sit. Good. At least he was learning. It wasn't the first time he'd had a dog follow him and try to lick his face. Snake focused back to the video feed and sighed.]

Anyone hear me? Can someone tell me what's going on and why these animals seem to fit inside tiny balls? [Yeah. He's going to go with that first of all.]

Comments

Video

[crouching_sin]

Yes, we can hear you. As for your question - they're transformed into energy when you recall them, by a process that I still don't quite understand despite having been here a while. It's best to not question it, because you'll get a headache.

[cardboard_boss]

[It's nice to have someone on the end of the feed actually answering his questions. Not to question it? Now, he was more curious than ever.]

It sounds like some pretty expensive technology to be able to do that. [Transform animals into energy then have them shrink inside the ball? It was odd and weird.]

[crouching_sin]

Expensive, probably - at least it probably was initially. But Pokeballs are actually very cheap and common, so they must have developed it a while ago.

[cardboard_boss]

Yeah. Sounds like the place has some funds to make such an object. I assume the animal doesn't realise it's inside the ball once it's in?

[Do they fall asleep or even know they're inside the ball?]

[crouching_sin]

It doesn't seem to, at least. It's very strange.

[cardboard_boss]

Right. [So much to learn about all this new stuff. Snake looked down at DD, who was now licking his hand.]

Have you been here in this place long, kid? You seem to know quite a bit.

[crouching_sin]

[He laughs a little bit.]

I'm not a 'kid'. But yes, I've been here about a year and a half.

video

[dashdash]

[What a cute dog. Mafuyu thinks she likes the dog Pokemon in this world the best, with all of their biting and drooling and tail-wagging loyalty. Adults, she's usually rather wary of, but adults with cute dogs? She'll make an exception.]

Yo, reading you loud and clear. It's magic.

[An infuriatingly simple and flippant answer, but he won't get a better explanation than that.]

[cardboard_boss]

Magic? [Yeah, he's a little sceptical of that. There must be some science behind it surely? Even Mother Base's R+D would have a field day at examining the little red and white ball.]

A magic ball that can hold an animal inside? Any idea how this magic works? [Snake looked down at the ball and frowned.]

[dashdash]

[She shakes her head.]

No idea. But does it change anything whether you know how it works or not? It's just the Pokemon creatures, you can't fit anything else into 'em.

[cardboard_boss]

I suppose not.

[Would it change his outcome? Probably not. If it works, it works. All he needs to do is know that it actually held his new doggy friend without the need to fear for his safety inside the ball.]

Weird to think that DD can fit inside a ball less than the size of his head.

[dashdash]

It's weird, but it's better this way. There's su~per huge Pokemon out there too that gets shrunk down into that tiny little thing, so you can carry a lot of them around and not have to worry about being run over in your sleep.

[It doesn't look like a Poochyena will pose that sort of problem though, but she also doesn't know what its evolved form is like.]

You named your Pokemon double D? Does that stand for something?

[cardboard_boss]

Huh. Really? Good idea.

[A ball that can carry huge Pokémon? Heavy weights shrunk down into a tiny ball? How can you go wrong with that? Snake smiled at that.]

Yeah. DD. Diamond Dog. Back home I have a dog called DD. I found him in the Afghan desert wandering around as a puppy so brought him back to base. Or rather, he found me.

[Cute little puppy.]

[video]

[paladinlost]

This whole network can hear you loud and clear, and is filled with others who were brought to this world to raise Pokémon, just as you were. We do not know why we were chosen, we cannot return to our homes deliberately, and we are otherwise allowed to come and go around the land as we please. The balls transform our Pokémon into energy for storage, and so do the computers. Do you have any other questions?

[cardboard_boss]

[....cannot return to our homes deliberately...

..So, they were stuck here for now? It seemed that way. Snake sighed deeply and ran a hand through his ponytailed hair. At least this guy was being honest and delivering the truth to him.]

Computers? Are you saying that these Pokémon can fit inside of a computer too? [What the?- Were they like tapes now?]

[paladinlost]

Yes, and thankfully for us. You see, we are only allowed to travel with six at once. Unless you own a home, the others you capture or receive are kept in the PC until you take them out. ...It's painless and relatively comfortable, as far as we can tell.

[It might be lonely, though. Cecil has never dared to ask.]

[cardboard_boss]

Six Pokémon? Right. [Why six? An easy number to deal with?]

So, when I want to swap my team out I can visit one of these computers to change my Pokémon out?

[Snake wondered where these PCs were. It would be in the manual, right? He hadn't read it all yet.]

[paladinlost]

Yes. They can be found in every Pokémon Center, which means the closest to you is in Cherrygrove. Not that you're likely to need it by the time you reach the town, considering the limited number of pokéballs we receive from 'Mother'.

[Limited, yes, but he's still surprised she can afford so per year.]

[cardboard_boss]

[Pokémon Centre. Right. He makes a mental note of what this guy is telling him.]

Mother? [Yeah, that sounds a little strange to him. Someone known as Mother gave them the backpack and stuff inside of it? Was she also the one who brought them all here?]

Is she responsible for bringing us here?

[video]

[usedflareblitz]

[ There's nothing here to see except a blonde girl's face, staring openly at the broadcast. She thought she was just viewing this message but had hit reply by mistake. Holding the 'Gear is still something to get used to; they don't exactly make accessible versions...

As for that she's staring at. It was either the dog or the arm; hard to say, but Yang wasn't saying anything herself. Yet. ]

[cardboard_boss]

[Snake is staring back at the girl, waiting for her to say something.]

You ok? [Was she always this quiet or was it just Snake's appearance putting her off? It wouldn't be the first time that it had happened.]

[usedflareblitz]

[ Being caught staring was worse than that question, if only because Yang knew a stranger who couldn't see her from the neck down would have no reason to ask otherwise. ] W-whu?

Uh. Sorry. I just — I didn't think this was on. [ She'd facepalm, if she could. ]

[cardboard_boss]

Don't worry about it.

[He gave the shy girl a small smile. Was she always so nervous over the video feed?]

You getting used to the Poke Gear? I'm pretty new here too.

[usedflareblitz]

[ Yang shook her head. ] No, that's not it. It's been— [ Four months? Six months? ] I've been here a few months. This was just more clumsiness.

[cardboard_boss]

It's ok. I'm getting used to working this gear too. It's not that dissimilar to my iDroid at home but anyone can make a mistake.

[So, don't worry?]

Name's Snake.