001 | Text + Video

[thegreenhornet]

[Floating around in the vast network, there's a new message. The person who wrote it seems to already be catching onto how the Pokegear is supposed to be used, although he doesn't seem to have figured out the intrincacies of actually communicating with people. His message is a request, written in all caps and sounds urgent, even if it actually isn't:]

IF ANY OF YOU KNOW HOW TO TAKE CARE OF A BUG THEN SEND TIPS

[Also no 'please' or 'thank you'. Smooth, Britt.

A few hours later, he's sending a video. He seems to be sitting to the side of a route close to New Bark, throwing leaves at a spot on the ground, like he was trying to cover something. Some of the leaves part, revealing a small Weedle. The Weedle seems rather pleased, actually! Leaves! A whole lot of them, and more coming! The trainer seems to know just what it likes!

That Pokemon will be a tad disappointed once he figures out Britt had a lucky strike by doing this, but what he doesn't know won't hurt him, hm?

Britt turns the Pokegear around, unwittingly filming himself backwards]

So I have been checking around and I saw all those animals people have. I'm gonna have a few words with whoever decided to give me a small worm.

[He's a bit starstruck by everything, because it seems so...fantastical! Kind of amazing! Even if Britt is already a grown adult and all, he's already imagining some flights of fancy. And then reality came crashing on him when he realized he had a Weedle. Britt looks around, as if he expected someone nearby to give him the answer, before focusing back onto the Pokegear]

Is it because I'm a beginner at this or whatever?

Comments

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[plasticasshole]

Technically yes, all newcomers here start out with a relatively weak Pokemon. I'm sure your Weedle will become much more powerful if given the right care and attention.

[Connor has a Cofagrigus casually mashing a plush Snorlax into the side of his face while he speaks. It's fine.]

Welcome, by the way.

[thegreenhornet]

[Why is there a ghostly hand pressing stuffed animals onto this guy's head, Britt wonders. Should he be worried? Seems...ominous to him. Clearly it's going to be a while before Britt doesn't think something's weird or more sinister than it actually is, hah]

The welcoming committee, finally.

[Britt, just because Connor in the response is comfortable with explaining the basics to you doesn't mean he's in charge of welcoming you, geez]

It's a bit hard to think about caring for a bug. [The Weedle looks up, knowing Britt was referring to him. He looks kind of hurt] H-Hey, sorry! Didn't mean that.

[Well, may as well admit to Connor:]

Never had a pet before.

[plasticasshole]

A bug-type Pokemon is just as capable of being a good partner as any other Pokemon, you know.

[But at least Britt felt bad upon seeing he'd hurt his Weedle's feelings. The Cofagrigus leans in to show his face, grinning at the camera. Connor nudges him out of the way again. This will probably be your life too, Britt. Just blandly dealing with strange creatures that want to play all the time.]

With that in mind, you should think of your Weedle as more than a pet.

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[neverstudied]

Hey, count yourself lucky. I started with a cockroach the size of a cat. Worm's a step up.

[The Wimpod in question wiggles excitedly at the sound of his name, and scurries up from Venkman's lap to his shoulder. To his credit, Venkman barely reacts- weeks of putting up with this have made him almost immune to his old disgust for creepy-crawly things with too many legs. Roach purrs and rubs his face against Venkman's neck, which he also ignores.]

It depends. I know a girl who started out with a 6 foot tall turtle dragon. I know another guy who showed up with a tiny beaver.

[thegreenhornet]

I sure would take a turtle dragon over a beaver any day of the week. Or over a worm.

[Come on, Britt, that's no way of speaking about your partner. Maybe sensing his trainer wasn't that fond of him yet, the Weedle stops munching on leaves and approaches Britt, slowly starting to climb onto him.

To Britt's credit, he doesn't try to get Weedle off. That's a start]

Guess the stinger is kinda cool. Looks dangerous.

[neverstudied]

[Roach chitters a greeting to the Weedle, waving his antennae in a friendly way. Hello, fellow Bug type! How do you like your new human?]

Yeah, but the dorky clown nose kinda ruins any sense of danger that guy has. [Venkman snorts.] Don't worry too much, though. Most of the little pathetic-looking monsters grow up into bigger, more intimidating monsters. Though Roach hasn't gotten the memo yet.

[Venkman honestly hasn't even researched what Roach will evolve into, let alone when. The day he evolves into a Golisopod is gonna come as a massive shock.]

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[pkemeter]

[There's a bespectacled man on the other line. Britt can spot a Phantump hovering over his shoulder and drawing on the wall with crayons. Egon doesn't appear to have noticed this.]

Technically speaking, all newcomers to this dimension arrive with relatively juvenile Pokémon. I wouldn't think of it as a personal slight--this world makes sure to take care of its interdimensional travelers, which is much more than several other dimensions can claim.

[He tilts his head and peers at the screen, examining the Weedle playing with the leaves.]

And your Pokémon isn't a worm--if anything, it resembles a larvae of some sort. Worms usually aren't segmented, with the exception of earthworms, and do not have limbs. Yours appears to have small legs.

[thegreenhornet]

[Hey, man, are you aware there's a pumpkin floating behind you? With...crayons...]

Wait wait wait, stop that mumbling for a sec!

[That and Egon's explanation seem to overwhelm him. Half of that seems to have gone over Britt's head, anyway. He actually has to take a moment to mumble all that to himself, trying to make sense of it, until...]

So what I'm getting from all that is that this is like a baby and isn't really a worm. Okay, got that. [Offscreen, the Weedle repeats its species name] For some reason it keeps repeating 'Weedle' over and over. I think it wants me to call it that.

[pkemeter]

[Egon pauses, raising an eyebrow and staring at Britt. He can wait--he used to be a professor, after all.

...Granted, he wasn't very good at teaching, ever.]

Yes. Some species of Pokémon have a tendency to repeat the name of its species. In this case, your Pokémon is a Weedle. I would recommend naming it something to help develop your bond.

[He adjusts his glasses.] Ah, I forgot to mention that this creature is bonded to you now. I recommend seeking out sources of heat to keep it warm--insects cannot survive in suboptimal temperatures.

[Good luck trying to find that in February weather.]

[video]

[no_ufo_ending]

_{[Here's a shaggy fellow in a Pokemon Center scrub, chilling in the break room.]}

I don't think anyone knows whether or not the Pokemon that's paired up with us in the beginning is random or fate but...you could always trade it away if you wanted.

_{[Henry's firm is weird, almost as though he's challenging this newcomer.]}

[thegreenhornet]

Trade? That's an option?

[Britt sounds somewhat interested! And poor Weedle, from the leaves pile, looks up. He really doesn't like the sound of that.

Britt, you wouldn't want to trade your partner, right? Right?]

[no_ufo_ending]

Mhm. Trading Pokemon is a big thing here. People like to fill out their collections that way. Some of them can only evolve once they've been traded. Not that guy though.

He can turn into a giant bee all by himself.

[Video]

[ghoststanning]

[Hey here's a guy grinning cheerfully as he holds a pumpkin cat who's idly chewing on a Gengar plush.]

Maybe this "mom" would think you would bond well with a worm? I'm pretty sure I got my Pumpkaboo Jackie because of my fascination with the supernatural so I think there is some tie with your personality and what kind of Pokemon she gives you!

[thegreenhornet]

A pumpkin? That's more like a Halloween thing. They may have thought you were really into candy and staying late at night.

[Apparently Britt doesn't think pumpkins classify as supernatural, hah!]

She's not even my mom anyway. She can't know anything about me.

[ghoststanning]

I feel like that would describes Spengs better than me...

[You know Spengs, right Britt?]

Oh yeah, that's just a simplified way of how I describe her! I have no idea who or what she really is, but she only responds to being called "mom". It's a shame that I don't think we're able to go back into her house; I would love to perform some experiments on her!

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[adandyinspace]

Oof, yeah, they must really hate you. Most people get, like, a cool dog or something.

[He didn't even think it was possible to lose the weird monster lotto. But no, there it is. Worm.]

[thegreenhornet]

I know, right? This sucks!

[Behind him, the Weedle doesn't seem concerned at all his trainer dislikes him. Maybe it's because he's surrounded by leaves and therefore is having a feast]

Guess you got something much better, huh.

[adandyinspace]

[Having his own fair share of travel companions he wishes he could get rid of, Dandy can only sympathize. ...A little. At the same time, it's nice to see someone else deal with bad luck for a change.]

You bet, check it.

[He turns the feed around to show his own "cool dog," a small deino who is definitely not a dog and definitely looks like she just attacked the table his hotel room used to have. There's a table leg in her mouth that she easily snaps in half when she stares into the camera, quickly prompting Dandy to turn the feed back his way.]

Never mind, you didn't see that.

[He's going to have to pay for that now, he just knows it--]

[Video]

[agent3]

No, everybody gets a friend. Not always a worm friend, though.

[Thida, for her part, looks like she's somewhere sunny and bright. Kind of nondescript outdoors-y besides that.]

Looks cute. What's their name?

[thegreenhornet]

Name? [Hm...well it's been repeating a word over and over, so maybe...] Weedle? I think that's what it's telling me to call it. It's been saying that over and over for like three hours.

[agent3]

Uh-huh. Okay. Didja give it a name name though? Weedle's the...the species. Gotta name 'em. Like pets're named, 'n stuff.

[Though if he decided to stay with "Weedle" then there's probably nothing wrong with that, Thida decides.]

Video;

[schachmeister]

Every person who arrives here is given a partner. Nobody really knows on what criteria they are selected, or who even does the selecting, but there is really no such thing like a pokemon with no potential. All Pokemon start off pretty weak, but if you are interested in battling them, you can train them to become stronger. And they all have their individual strengths and weaknesses, so there is not one overall strongest pokemon.

Plus, even though your Weedle might not look like much right now, once he evolves he will be much stronger. And one of the great things about Weedle is that they evolve pretty quickly compared to many other species of pokemon.

[thegreenhornet]

Okay, I dunno what you´re imagining, but I sure am having a hard time imagining it battling anything.

[Apparently Britt isn't convinced Weedle can be hardy, haha]

Also, doesn't evolution take thousands of years?

[Video]

[rimeblaze]

There's nothing wrong with a Weedle.

[Shoto is frowning a bit as he says it and the shiny Ninjask perched on his shoulder looks a bit perturbed as well.]

They're just as unique as the rest of the Pokemon in this world.

[thegreenhornet]

[That sounds to Britt like a kids' show lesson. 'Everyone is special and so are you!' Just that it's for the Weedle instead of to him. Everyone in this world sure is coddling that Weedle and Britt's not sure why]

I guess, but it's not really what I expected. You're saying all this because you got a bug yourself, I bet.

[Shoto's bug looks pretty cool, though. Why can't you be like that bug, Weedle, he wonders.

Yeah, Britt is a real jerk sometimes]