56th treasure [text]

[captainash]

When you think of the people you left behind, do you imagine them as they were, or as they would be?

Time back home doesn't flow while we're here. I know that. But we feel its effects, so the brain sometimes just... forgets, I guess? And starts thinking about missed retirement parties.

Having to buy six years' worth of belated retirement presents would suck. And don't get me started about birthdays.

Comments

[thegreenhornet]

So...if we stay too long here we gonna turn into old people, and then when we return home everyone else will think we suddenly got much older?

[He's imagining himself all white-haired and old with the people he knows, yeah.

But yeah, Ash's text here sounds rather philosophical, and although Britt was never much for philosophy, this seems worth talking about]

[captainash]

All previous accounts strongly suggest we'll go back to our original ages, with no memeories of this place.

Which is going to be real fun for the kids who end up going through puberty twice, or those old enough to start their midlife crisis.

[thegreenhornet]

This place gets worse with every new thing I hear!

[That sounds like a bonafide nightmare]

Then what's even the point of being here if we won't remember? This is stupid.

[captainash]

There's a strong possibility we're not here for ourselves but to help this place, considering the number of problems we've had to deal with. Legendary Pokémon propably don't field questions from most of the locals, after all.

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[badluckbabe]

I still do that yeah I think about how my old team would probably have picked up some new members to try and keep being petty criminals, and how my new team probably thinks I bailed on them to go into hiding.

I think about the guy I liked and how he's probably moved on. He liked to move fast.

I mean yeah you gotta kick yourself sometimes and remember that's not how things work but...I mean I feel older then when I got here. And I know I'm not the same girl I was back them either.

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[captainash]

You'll be the same girl when you go back, but that's even worse, in a way.

Would any of them have tried to look for you? Felt something was wrong? Though I guess that depends on where you were at the time. A disappearance during a heist would be more obvious than one during a vacation.

[badluckbabe]

Wait memory loss too? Well that blows.

I dunno about the Titans. Kid Flash would have for awhile yeah...and maybe The Hive if they wanted something from me.

The last thing I remember was getting on a train to head downtown so yeah they wouldn't really know where to look.

[captainash]

Wanting something from you is as good a motivation as any to look, but your circumstances wouldn't exactly scream 'I was abducted by a world filled with cutesy monsters'. Guess they'd just think you're extremely good at lying low.

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[notyourgoddess]

You've been here for six years?

And I'm pretty new here so I'm still coming to terms with the whole, time thing. I know it works because I'd have noticed if Krieg were gone but...

Part of me still wonders what they're doing back home and not what they were doing when I last saw them.

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[captainash]

Yes. At that point, the dissonance between actual ages and theoretical ages is becoming distracting.

At least you're not forced to rely on third-hand stories to believe it? Not that brains care about that, during idle ponderings. Within a year or two, you'll start wondering who changed jobs and who got married.

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[notyourgoddess]

Yeah, I can imagine. Has anyone been here longer then six years?

Having proof helped a lot. Which is good because I didn't need more things to be annoyed about when I got here.

I'm sure I'll do just that once I get used to the place. Or a variation of those thoughts.

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[captainash]

The record was around eight, last I heard. Maybe nine, by now.

Maybe whatever brought us could tell you didn't need to deal with that at that moment, and generously made sure you'd be able to confirm it? Or maybe this is all random, and imagining hypothetical birthdays is how we cope with the sudden lack of certainty in our lives.

[forsaintcecilia]

I can't imagine how my friends would grow up. I can guess, but you never know!

I wonder more often... If one of them came here, would they be shocked by me? I mean, I'm still the same person, but I've grown, and I've accomplished things. I would hope they would be proud.

[captainash]

Indeed. For all I know, my subordinates would be busy with work, but who's to say they couldn't have won the lottery two years back and retired together on a tropical island? There's no way to tell.

They could also be proud without being shocked, if they expected you to do great in the first place. Unless you count the shock they'd feel upon meeting you new companions.

[forsaintcecilia]

I guess you're right. They're my friends, so they'd only be happy for me to be doing well.

I really wish I could share this great experience with them.

[captainash]

Maybe you will, someday. I'm not sure how many worlds are out there, but considering the number of people that show up every month there's always a chance your friends will show up.

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[toxicodendron_isley]

I'm used not to seeing my companions for long stretches of time.

I usually envision them as similar to the last time we met but sometimes they have changed and surprise me. Not regularly though.

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[captainash]

Knowing a few stable, unchanging people can be either reassuring or terrible, depending on the circumstances. This time, you might be the one to surprise them, if they ever show up.

At least you'll never risk admitting that you once wondered how wrinkled they'd get.

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[toxicodendron_isley]

True. Though I suppose not as changed as some, given there are those who change appearance completely just from arriving, let alone after long periods of time. I can't imagine how their associates would react.

Well, bouts of incarceration are common during my absences so honestly sometimes I think nothing short of limb loss would be a shocking change.

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[tearsofademon]

I don't want to even try to imagine some of the people from back home being any older than I last saw them. It'd be terrifying, if Arua had really grown that much... Besides, when you bring those comas that sometimes happen into things, it just gets more complicated.

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[captainash]

If time did flow at the same pace in all worlds, I'd have definitely missed the funerals of a handful of people I know. It's not a thought I enjoy very much. How old would that Arua of yours be by now?

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[tearsofademon]

Last time I saw him, Arua was about six. As for how old he'd be now, that depends how you want to count it. I first ended up here about eight years ago. But I last had one of those comas about three years ago. So would he be fourteen? Or nine?

For a kid like him, that would be a huge change either way, right?

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[thenightsky]

Both? But only because I've seen both..

Some of my friends from back home came here and both of them

They were ahead of me in the timeline so to speak. One was much further ahead. By ten years actually.

And then I left and went home myself and time passed..

It's strange having memories of this place, going home, then coming back and having memories of all of it still. Before and after. Makes grasping time really difficult.

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[captainash]

Shit, that sounds confusing as hell. And I'm guessing you couldn't remember whatever you learned about your future to change it as necessary? Then again, knowing that your friends won't die in a freak accident before then is a good reason not to meddle with the timeline too much.

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[thenightsky]

Yeah I had no memories of this place or anything I learned about home until I came back here...it was really confusing. Still is kind of?

I also found out that the way I remember things is not how other people from my world remember it? So even more confusing.