003 / video

[neverstudied]

Soooooo.

[The feed starts a little abruptly, focused on an Elgyem cradled in the crook of someone's arm. The Elgyem in question makes hopeful grabby-hands towards the Pokegear, her handlights blinking.]

Got this little girl recently- from a guy called Ford Pines. She's kind of like, the closest I've come to actually trying to take care of a human baby. You know, Ray likes to call all the Pokemon we get our "children", but this one's the first that's really.. humanoid, I guess? Dunno.

But that's not- that's not what I wanna talk about.

[The Pokegear's camera zooms out a little bit to show a bit more of the whole picture- the Elgyem is cradled to Venkman's chest, and he's currently sprawled out on a couch looking exhausted.]

No, what I wanna talk about is- so, Spengs has a little psychic baby of his own, Kölliker- a Solosis. She's been learning how to speak mentally, right now she's pretty firmly in the "swear all the time" stage of development and I can already see the "terrible twos" comin' up even though she's only, what, 2 months old? And that's a liiiittle terrifying, because, uh, she can kind of read minds? And just peek into our brains and emotions, and that's the kind of power you don't want a toddler to have.

[He shifts his arm a little and looks down at the Elgyem, who's stopped grabbing for the Pokegear and instead has her little nub hands clasped together. She stares up at Venkman unblinkingly.]

And this girl- Sigourney- she's only a little over a week old, but on the day she was born she figured out how to go through our memories, and just like Kölliker she can like- read our thoughts, and emotions, and kind of manipulate them? She was able to send memories from my brain and transplant them in Egon's head, like a mental text message. It's- it's weird.

[As Venkman speaks, he idly rocks Sigourney in his arm.]

And the other day- uh, so, background, I did do a little research on this species and it's evolution after she started doing the whole "reading my thoughts" thing, and the evolution- Beheeyem- is able to just. Completely rewrite people's memories. Sometimes without them even realizing it. And I thought, ok, that's completely fucking terrifying, sure, but she won't be able to do that for a while, right?

[Venkman sucks air through his teeth and shakes his head. Sigourney, meanwhile, snuggles closer to his chest. It looks like she's falling asleep, though her eyes never close.]

Nah. Nope. Nada.

... She hasn't tampered with anything important, and I don't think she really knows what she's doing. But I was writing notes the other day about her dredging up certain old memories, and now when I try to think of what they were, there's just... Holes? [His brow furrows.] Also, I don't remember anything about fifth grade anymore. Like, I literally... don't remember being ten years old, except for summer break. I dunno what it was about fifth grade that she decided to just chuck out the window, but that's just gone now. And today she was poking around a lot at some memories I really don't wanna lose...

So here's what I'm asking.

[Sigourney is definitely asleep by now. He lowers his voice to just barely above a whisper.]

First of all, is this, like, an isolated thing? Is this sorta stuff normal for Psychic Pokemon when they're babies- just being, incredibly powerful and not really sure of how to use that power-, or are Egon, Ray, and I just really, really unlucky? Because I'll be honest, wouldn't be surprised if it's the second one. Could be some sorta, I dunno, residual effect from our dimension.

And second of all- anyone know how to train psychic toddlers to not be mentally destructive and do shit like this? Both for Sig, and for Ko when she hits that tantrum stage. I'm open to suggestions, here. Any suggestions at all. Seriously.

Comments

[neverstudied]

Jeez.

[He falls back on the sofa and puts a hand over his forehead, sighing.]

D'ya think this is gonna be a phase, or is this something we're gonna have to handle for the rest of our lives here?

[pkemeter]

I'm sure everything will be fine once she evolves again or learns how to manage both brains without much conflict. Though I have very little idea how to get to that stage.

[He grimaces, then pulls out the Pokéball to return Kölliker. This discussion might go more smoothly if there isn't a psychic baby poking and prodding at his thoughts.]

What about Sigourney? I take it you haven't gone much further regarding her situation.

[neverstudied]

Forgive me if that doesn't inspire much confidence, Egon.

[Venkman moves over to make room for Egon on the couch while he retrieves Ko.]

Not really. Ford Pines suggested getting her mother to talk with her over the Pokegear... Jack said that we could get Ko to really step into the "big sister" role and convince her to be a positive influence, but that idea's dead in the water now that Ko's like this. Couple people brought up using a Dark-type Pokemon to, I dunno, cause interference?

Two people suggested tinfoil hats.

[pkemeter]

Really? I'm surprised — they actually just amplify signals.

[Egon sits down next to Venkman on the couch, propping his leg up on his knee. He leans back, tapping his fingers together as he thinks.]

And I do not have any Dark-type Pokémon under my care. Perhaps we should go with the option to allow Sigourney's mother to communicate with her. [He sighs.] We could also just contain her when she's not in battle, but that does not seem ideal.

[neverstudied]

That's what I told them!

[He throws his arms up in exasperation. Once Egon settles down, Venkman scoots closer and wraps his arms around him. Say goodbye to your personal space, Egon.]

Tarantula's my only Dark type, so far, but I dunno how much she can help. She kinda follows whatever Ko wants to do.

Containing her won't fix the problem- it'll just mean she'll grow stronger and stronger in battle and still won't know to stop probing through minds.

[pkemeter]

[He's fine with this! Though he does keep tapping his fingers together in thought. His eyebrows furrowing, he instinctively leans into Venkman's touch.]

That's right — she sees her as her older "sister". And she's only a few weeks old, so it might be even more difficult to convince her to take on something like this.

...If I'm being entirely honest, I feel as though this is completely outside of my realm of knowledge. Dealing with interpersonal relationships is...not my strong suit.

[He seems reluctant to admit this, but literally anyone who's talked to Egon for more than five minutes would know this.]

[neverstudied]

They're all babies. Why do we keep getting babies? We need older Pokemon, maybe. Luca's, like, the closest thing to a responsible older Pokemon out of our entire collection of 'em.

... Yeah, I know. [Venkman's tone isn't teasing, at least.] Guess what? "Dealing with interpersonal relationships" is my thing and I still don't know what I'm doing here.

[pkemeter]

...There's Denver, but I doubt he would ever take on that responsibility. He's always too busy grooming himself or scorning us.

[He runs a hand through his hair, and says without an ounce of humor:]

That's because they aren't people.

[No shit, Egon.]

[neverstudied]

Denver's also a baby, he just acts like he hatched out as a sixty year old socialite too rich and important to associate with the likes of us.

... Wow. How long did it take ya to figure that one out, Spengs?

[He rolls his eyes a little as he says it, but he curls closer to Egon.]

Nah, they're not people. But just about all of 'em have higher levels of sentience than most normal animals in our dimensions- if not human-level intelligence. So they can be reasoned with. Hopefully. Eventually.

[pkemeter]

[Egon stops tapping his fingers together, choosing to place a hand on Venkman's shoulder instead. He seems to relax a little as he does so.]

Eventually. [He echoes, staring at the wall. After a moment or two, he glances towards Venkman.]

We could always try electrotherapy —

[neverstudied]

[Cutting him off mid-sentence:]

If you even think about electrocuting the baby Pokemon, I'm getting off this couch.