victory_road | [video / action for new bark town]

[Ford is perhaps better-equipped than most to deal with suddenly being dropped into a strange world unlike anything he's ever seen before. That was his life for thirty-odd years, and that it's begun again doesn't trouble him much. He'll adapt; he always has, with time. The woman (clearly younger than him) calling herself his mother is a little strange, but further inquiry and a cursory scan of the literature included in his new backpack answer most of his questions. In particular, they explain the neat little device that looks very much like an odd cellphone. This 'Pokégear' can be used to communicate with other people, and so that is exactly what Ford decides to do. If he's learned anything in his prior experience with this sort of thing, it's to ask questions.

The camera shakes a little, and his face is sort of awkwardly off to the side of the frame, but he managed to get it working and that's the important thing. For a first try he's not doing all that badly. Behind him, trees and a couple of quaint New Bark Town roofs are visible.]

Greetings! Is greetings the polite form of salutation in this universe? My name is Stanford Pines, and like what I assume must be the majority of you, I am not a native of this world. I only just arrived today, in fact. This is probably the warmest welcome I've seen since the universe where every day is your birthday.

[That place got old really fast, honestly (and you got old really fast if you stayed there too long).]

But, to business. [He holds up a pokéball with the hand not holding the 'gear.] How do you open--

[As if on cue, the Pokéball pops open and out of the light materializes a small green creature. It takes one look at him, lets out a surprised trill, and zips away out of frame.]

Oh! [Ford peers in the direction it went, clearly thrilled to bits.] I think it hid in those bushes, hold on --

[Those who reply by 'gear will get to follow what is essentially Ford Pines liveblogging his attempts to recapture his own starter. Or perhaps, if you're in New Bark Town as well, you'd like to help in person? An old man crashing around in the underbrush on the outskirts of town is sure to draw attention.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Holy beans that's an adult. An adult who definitely just showed up here and was "kicked out" of a house by "Mom" and given a Pokemon.]

Sir? Sir, you might want to try coaxing it back to you a bit more calmly? You can return it, but I'm going to assume that's your first Pokemon, and that you'd like to get to know it better and not just keep it in its ball.

[He's very calm, just... obnoxiously enthusiastic. Shh. It's fine.]

I absolutely would! I barely got a good look at it earlier.

[The frame moves as he walks, following a blurred green form as it zips from bush to bush.]

Are they always this skittish?

Um, it...depends, honestly? Mine aren't too camera-shy, but it's probably a...personality thing?

Yes, yes, I suppose. Every animal is different.

[To a point. Wait -- did he hear that right?]

You have more than one?

Oh, yes! I have three! I believe the limit to the amount you can carry with you at one time is six.

Yes, yes, I remember reading as much.

[In one of those incredibly helpful guides he skimmed. Thank goodness it clarified you can own more than six, because only six is far too limiting a number if you ask him.]

At the moment I'd be happy just to have the one.

[He stops. Predictably, the Pokemon stops too, about ten paces away, hidden mostly behind a tree. It's like it's waiting for him to start up the chase again.]

I can't imagine what it might want from me, though at this point I know it isn't food.

...Maybe, perhaps, it needs time in order to approach you instead of you approaching it?

[It's really a shot-in-the-dark guess.]

[That is how one might deal with a skittish animal. There's logic to it, he has to admit.]

At the very least I have several people offering opinions. One of them has to be close to correct.

[As it turns out, Mabel's suggesting that the little creature is just playing hide and seek is the closest to right. Which means that, after several misadventures (including being hit in the face with a stick), Ford Pines does finally manage to wrangle his starter.]

As it turns out, you were right. It warmed up to me just fine on its own time.

El!

[Half a green face pokes itself on-screen. Neither of them are too good at using cameras just yet.]

Oh! That's good! [She'll smile at the unfamiliar Pokemon and wave.] Hello there!

[The Pokémon tilts its head; despite making vocal sounds, it doesn't appear to have any mouth. It raises one of its little arms in a mirror of Jane's wave, and the round digits on what must be its hand light up -- red, yellow, green.]

I think the pattern of the lights may be some method of communication, though I couldn't begin to decode it yet. I suppose that's going to be my project from this point on!

[Yeah she has never seen anything like that before, but it's sort of cute!]

That's a good project to have! For the most part, I know Pokemon can only speak their names, but I do know that the Psychic ones can communicate with us telepathically with a little practice.

[Well that sure perks him up immediately. This one is obviously a psychic type; he'd have been able to tell that from context clues even without the 'dex to tell him.]

Then that will be another project for the two of us. The gathering of new information is one of the most rewarding parts of exploring a new universe, and it's always best to get that information straight from the horse's mouth, as it were.

I agree! It's always beneficial to ask the people or creatures who are native to a place, respectively!

[And she's gotten to speak to a Psychic type before too! It was super interesting.]

Have you traveled, then?

[He doesn't necessarily mean cross-universe, though that's always a possibility. She's a little young, but you never know. Roxy sure gave him the impression he's not the only one.]

Not very much - this is technically my second time going to a world that isn't the one I grew up in, but when there's actually people to interact with I refuse to be foolish about it.

Very wise! I take it this means the last world you visited was uninhabited? Those are always... spooky.

It was dead, in most of definitions of the word. A lot of crypts. A lot of skeletons - some of which would become animated and attack. So...yes, in a way it was spooky.

Eesh. How unpleasant.

Most of the dead worlds I've seen have been completely dead. Having dealt with zombies, I would almost prefer that.

You're telling me - we had four planets of that! Crypts, mounds, pyramids, tombs, and skeletons. And a lot of elemental gasses. If I ever see them again, it'll be too soon.

You very well might not. In my experience it is very difficult to return to a universe once you've left it without working very, very hard to make it happen.

[That's... bleak, Ford Pines.]

...

[Do you see the slow-dawning relief blooming in this girl's eyes?]

Holy toledo, I hope that's true...

[... Huh. That's not the reaction he usually gets when he says that.]

I can only speak for myself, but with theoretically infinite universes it stands to reason the chances of visiting the same one twice are incredibly slim.

I wouldn't care if I never had to set foot in there again, I...

[As long as she could make sure her Dad was alright, of course, but other than that, fuck LOCAH.]

[video / action for new bark town]

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