victory_road | [action/video] Starting out

Entry tags:

shinobu tsukuyomi (oc)

[action/video] Starting out

Who: Shinobu Tsukuyomi, OPEN
Where: New Bark Town to Cherrygrove
When: Last week of July
Summary: In which things are both new and different and a little too familiar
Rating: PG-13? for references to panic/PTSD
Note: Will match format in replies

New Bark Town [note: mentioned panic/PTSD]

To say that Shinobu was not expecting to end up back here is an understatement. To say he does not appreciate waking up in a strange place only to be confronted by a strange woman insisting she's his mother is an even bigger understatement; Shinobu has a history with this sort of thing; the last time he'd woken up in a strange place it had kicked off what had simultaneously been five and ninety years of captivity. Sure, his Keepers hadn't tried to pass themselves off as his parents, but the rest of it feels so familiar that the moment the woman bursts into 'his' room and starts her spiel, Shinobu starts to hyperventilate.

To say that's not his proudest moment is also an understatement.

Fortunately, memories of his last visit to this world start to filter in at that point, and by the time he's being ushered out the door with a packful of supplies and a PokeBall, the panic has mostly subsided enough for him to at least act normal (or whatever passes for that here). The PokeBall turns out to contain a small white unicorn with a pastel mane, tail, and feathers; Shinobu's not sure whether that's very fitting or very not. Either way: "I suppose you're stuck with me for now," he tells the little creature wryly. The Ponyta just blinks at him, as if she's wondering why he'd say such a ridiculous thing. Shinobu suspects she may have the right of it.

He eyes what the map he's been given says is the main route out of town. He's not averse to traveling alone (or alone with his Pokemon, he supposes), but he wouldn't say no to some company, either.

Cherrygrove City

Cherrygrove City is a nice enough place, he guesses; if he hadn't been forcibly dragged into this world, he might even want to spend a few days appreciating the scenery and soaking up the general atmosphere. As it is, he's far too restless to consider staying any longer than he has to, unless someone convinces him otherwise. He probably should at least aim for Goldenrod City, where the Changeling he can't help but think of as Steven the Younger is based, but that's still quite some distance away and, well, Steven the Younger is based there. His memories of his first visit are still hazy, but he does distinctly remember Steven the Younger attempting to threaten him out of dating his sister (which he hadn't even been doing in the first place, but never mind).

...Perhaps he's not in such a hurry to continue to Goldenrod City after all.

Right now, he can be found around Cherrygrove City, seeing the sights, talking to the locals, and generally trying to learn as much as he can about this world and how it works, because there's a lot he still doesn't remember about last time and what he does remember should probably be independently verified. His Galarian Ponyta (all 0.8m of her), trots proudly by his side, leveling a coolly assessing gaze at any passersby who draw near. She probably won't bite... probably.

[Video 01]

[At some point after he arrives in Cherrygrove, it occurs to Shinobu that he really should take some time to figure out his PokeGear, and besides which, he does have questions about this place. Accordingly, at some point during the early morning hours, PokeGear users will be treated to a video of Shinobu and his Galarian Ponyta down by the beach, the Ponyta seemingly dividing her attention between Shinobu, the water, and anyone who comes near Shinobu.]

Ah, sorry to bother you all, but now that there aren't uncontrollable warps outside of the towns, I'm wondering what sort of transportation this place has normally? Not that I mind walking and camping per se, but is there any sort of transit infrastructure between cities, or are we just left to our own devices for that?

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[OH NO HE'S CUTE. A little old for Claudia. But cute.

Shinobu will see a Japanese-American girl of high school age, dressed in an oversized button-down shirt in pokeball fabric. She's got dangly earrings that look like heavy balls, a hair clip shaped like a friend ball, and is wearing a necklace of chunky clay beads sculpted and painted to look like basically every kind of pokeball available.]

Uncontrollable warps? [she wrinkles her nose.] I dunno about all that. But I don't think they've got cars here. The roads are way too narrow. I've seen bikes and rollerblades in the store, though! You can probably go a little faster that way. I mostly just haven't got them because Thace and Catra--they're my friends I'm traveling with--are from outer space and wouldn't know how to use them.

But they do have magic teleportation things called warps in the pokecenter. You just can't go to anywhere that's not registered on your pokegear thing. So right now I can just go from Violet to Cherrygrove.

I'm Claudia, by the way. Claudia Kishi! What's your name?

[Because you're really cute and maybe now that she's in high school it's okay to start looking at college boys? Well. She'd be in high school in a month normally, anyway.]

Edited 2020-08-01 16:12 (UTC)

[Well, she... seems to be acclimating to this place rather well?]

It might have happened before you got here. I think they call them "weird weekends."

[Shinobu remembers a surprising percentage of his time here during the last one at this point, but there are still gaps, and there's a hazy dreamlike quality to those memories he does have that bothers him no end because it's too familiar.]

Bicycles I'm aware of, but I seem to have missed rollerblades. I'll have to keep an eye out for those.

[Though he wouldn't be surprised if "Grandfather Tsukuyomi" not only knew what they were but was an expert in their use. That seems to be the way things go with him... not that that has anything to do with this girl or their current conversation, but still.]

I see... so the warps are restricted in that way. That's an interesting way to set things up. [It's also a very suspicious way to set things up.] I suppose the powers that be figure it will give people a chance to train their Pokemon.

And I'm Shinobu. Tsukuyomi Shinobu. It's nice to meet you.

Nice to meet you too, Shinobu!

[She beams at him.]

Yeah, I just got here on the tenth. Which is the day before my birthday, so I missed that back home. It was pretty stale. So if there was a weird weekend, it hasn't happened yet.

[Stale is a word that Claudia and her friends use to mean basically the opposite of cool.]

And rollerblades are like rollerskates, only the wheels are all lined up like an ice skate. They're really new and cool, but I guess they might not have them were you come from. Where are you from?

Or they do have them and I've just missed them - that's entirely possible.

[This sort of thing happens when you come back to the mundane world after five years of captivity to discover you've actually lost ninety and you have an ungodly amount of catching up to do.]

Do you mean originally or most recently? I'm originally from Japan, but settled in San Diego about a year and a half ago.

That's... California, right? My friend Dawn lives in California. In Palo City. That's one of those suburbs around Los Angeles. But I guess you wouldn't know her if you're not from the same city, huh.

[It's kind of tempting to ask anyway. But she won't.]

My grandmother was born in Japan, but I was born in Stoneybrook. That's in Connecticut? It's on the other side of the country from you.

I don't really get to Los Angeles that often.

[So... probably not.]

Connecticut is... in the northeast, isn't it? One of the states below Massachusetts?

[He actually does know this, because eidetic memory is useful for things like this, but sometimes it's easier to just not mention that.]

[Claudia takes a moment to try to picture the geography in her head. What direction did her parents have to drive to get to Boston?]

Yeah, that's right.

I've only been to Los Angeles and even then we really did just spend most of the time in Palo City at Dawn's father's house. Me and the entire club went. There was this boy there, Terry Liang... [She sighs, nostalgically. Why did she always meet the cutest, best boys when she was on vacation?]

Club?

The Baby-sitter's Club! Kristy started it. We'd meet once a week at my house--'cause I had my own phone line--and all the parents in Stoneybrook would call us during our meeting hours to schedule babysitting jobs with us. We were famous in town.

[Steven stares at the screen of his pokegear long and hard as he tries to dredge up the name of his future self's associate, which the weird weekend's after-effects has made a bit more difficult. It was also the name of a character from UY, wasn't it? Not Ataru, but...]

Shinobu?

... have you been here ever since that weekend?

[Shouldn't he have realized this sooner?]

[...Well, this is one way to get the awkwardness over with, he guesses.]

No, I just arrived again a few days ago.

Oh. Okay. That's good to know, I guess.

[Jesus, this is awkward.]

Is, uh, Charley okay? I mean, as far as ghosts go?

[It's somewhat less awkward for Shinobu, at least; after all, he hadn't threatened anyone.

Also, he's not remotely surprised Steven's asking after his sister first and not Shinobu himself.]

She's doing very well, yes.

[He's just not going to mention the whole "accompany her to France so they can ~~steal~~ appropriate certain medieval artifacts that were certainly not for additional ghost-summoning purposes" episode.]

[He was doing his duty as a big brother! Someone had to give the very attractive boy Charley's age who Steven had seen her hug some kind of shotgun speech. Not that Steven had a shotgun, alas.]

Good, good. And, uh, you and your, uh, grandfather too, right? And-- everyone else in San Diego?

[Look, baby sister is his priority, but he can remember his manners. Eventually.]

[No, someone really didn't.]

Everyone's been fine. And Grandfather Tsukuyomi is... still the oldest person in San Diego.

Because he's made of such strong stuff?

[God, now that Steven knows about Old Man Tsukuyomi, that's such a terrible joke.]

Exactly.

[Steven's going to quick switch this to private, since he's got reason to.]

So. Uh. Things are a little fuzzy, but I've got the impression that I might have given you a shotgun talk?

Charley called it a shovel talk.

[So... yes.]

Right, yes, that's another name for it. Well. Uh. I sort of remember having a reason for that, but, uh, I don't think it matters here unless Charley came with you.

... she didn't come with you, did she?

Edited 2020-08-01 23:03 (UTC)

No.

[And yes, he's worried.]

I vaguely remember someone telling me that time doesn't pass at home while we're here. Is that true?

From what I've been told, yes.

Ah, shit, right. If you're not there, who else is going to summon her?

Grandfather would, and I believe your older counterpart was studying different ways to do it as well.

[Still, though.]

Right. Of course he is.

[Steven has such mixed emotions about Future Steven. On one hand, he's literally everything Present Steven wants to be someday. On the other hand, it's not so easy to deal with someone who's a better you than you, even if they're still you. It makes you feel... smaller.]

[Honestly? Shinobu could probably relate to that.

He's not so sure Steven would appreciate him asking about that small note of hostility he's picking up, though, so he's just going to route around that for now.]

She's still into anime, incidentally.

[That actually provokes a smile out of him.]

Of course she is. Is she watching anything in particular these days?

Something about gay ice skaters?

Oh, that sounds delightful. [He's not even joking. He trusts his sister's tastes in anime better than her taste in men.]

[Which is why he's not planning on breathing even one word about Alain.]

If it's not her current favorite, it's close to it.

I wonder if there's a pokeworld equivalent...

[That's probably a good idea. Even if he'd actually like Alain once he got to know the medieval French ghost—Steven the Elder had, at least.]

Are there a lot of equivalents to things from other worlds here?

A decent number. You've got bands like The Smashing Pumpkaboos and Seismitoad the Wet Sprocket... and authors like Stephen Kingler and Jules Vernipede... you even have Dungeons & Dragonites. Actually, ah, I'm playing in two games of that last one.

I'm familiar with that last one - or rather its counterpart - and with the authors, to a lesser extent.

[He's just... not going to mention that Steven's older counterpart was the DM, at least until Petra'd gotten annoyed with all the total party kills and taken over.]

[That's probably just as well. Steven knows he's a killer DM. That's why he usually doesn't, unless no one else can.

(Thorne could have if her telekinesis was better, but as it was, DMing involved too much dice-rolling for her as a ghost.)]

Huh. If you're looking to play, Armin's game is down one. I could maybe see if he'd let you join the virtual table.

Armin?

A good friend of mine here. He's a bit younger—almost twenty—and very clever. Honestly, he's just as smart as Charley is.

Does he work with you?

No, actually. He works at a marine biology facility in the Sevii Isles--as I understand it, it's a sort of work-study? Anyhow, practically the first pokemon I caught on my own was a very obnoxious Wailmer and I wasn't entirely sure if I should keep him or release him back into the sea, so I asked the transfer channels on the pokegear if they had any advice.

And Armin? He loves Wailmer and Wailords. So he did his damnedest to convince me to keep Fail Whale and I ended up listening to him. I even rode him during the race back in February and placed sixth. [He grins.] The rules said your pokemon couldn't get around by flying. They said nothing about bouncing.

[Hey, look! It's another familiar face - and judging by the pleased smile on it, Tyler's pleasantly surprised to see Shinobu again. His AusLan is subtitled, as usual.]

Well, welcome back.

[Shinobu smiles as well.]

Hello again.

And now I remember why I suddenly wanted to study sign languages. [His smile takes on a note of slight chagrin, and then he signs as he continues speaking:] Unfortunately, it's the wrong one.

[Tyler stares with a blank frown at that sign for a few moments before realisation flicks on in his eyes.]

Oh, you learned ASL? [His smile is sympathetic, at least.] I appreciate the effort, at least. I know some signs, but my native languages are Auslan and Taiwan Sign. I can send you a dictionary of Auslan that I've been compiling from memory, though. It's not my full vocabulary but it's a strong start.

[He's still a bit annoyed with himself for learning the wrong sign language, but considering that he hadn't had any memory of why he'd wanted to learn, it probably couldn't be helped.]

That would be appreciated; thank you.

[Given how Tyler hadn't even told him which sign languages he knows, it's honestly more impressive that Shinobu knows any at all.

Tyler smiles, and reaches out for his gear for a moment - and about a minute later, there's a direct download for his sign language dictionary in Shinobu's inbox.]

It's a shame they're not particularly mutually compatible, but I do appreciate you putting in the effort.

Maybe it will come in handy in some other way.

And thank you for the dictionary; it's a big help.

[Shinobu likes being able to communicate on the same level with the other person or entity he's conversing with.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[action/video] Starting out

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