one; video in New Bark Town

[notvaljean]

Okay, seriously, this is just stupid.

[For someone who had never seen a camera or a video until a couple of hours ago, Jean has taken to both rather quickly. He always did enjoy fooling around with things and learning about them through experimentation, and while the angle of the camera is distinctly unflattering—somehow stretching his long face out even longer while simultaneously giving him six chins—the sheer indignation in his eyes comes across perfectly.]

Everyone else gets something cute, or useful, or sweet or whatever. And I get this.

[The camera swings around, jittering wildly out of control for a moment, and then focuses on a round, red and white ball with glaring eyes. The ball’s eyes narrow further when it realizes the camera is on it, and it lunges forward with a crackling sound. Jean yelps and jumps backwards, making the camera swing wildly for a moment.]

See! He’s crazy!

[The Voltorb crackles ominously but doesn’t try to come any closer, watching Jean from where it hovers.]

So how am I supposed to make friends with this thing? Because that’s what we’re supposed to do, right? Make friends with them?

[Jean sounds almost condescending about the idea of befriending the Pokemon. Anyone listening very closely might notice how his voice is trembling the tiniest bit, betraying all his uncertainty that he will vehemently deny if he gets called out on it. His hand stretches into view, pale with callouses across the palm, and he extends it towards the Voltorb.]

You want to be friends, asshole?

[The Voltorb lunges forward again, and the camera falls to the ground, pointing upwards towards the sky, capturing cheery blue and recording the sounds of electricity crackling and Jean shouting.]

Ow! OUCH! You dick, what was that for?!

Comments

[notvaljean]

[Jean nods thoughtfully. That sounds a lot like training a horse, or any other animal. Some of the cadets had had horses that had wanted to please, and had done anything their rider asked. Others, like himself, had had horses that required a firmer hand.]

[He turns his face away from the camera, and snaps his fingers at the ball.] Stop.

[For a minute, it looks like the ball is going to shock him again, its eyes narrowing and electricity running over its surface. Then, surprisingly, it lowers itself down onto the grass, and Jean blinks in surprise.]

It listened.

[dreamsofahero]

*nods*

The one you find yourself with upon arriving here is meant to be your partner. So while some can be willful or mischievous, I doubt they would active oppose their trainers. It's simply the case that many people have difficulty exercising their authority in a productive manner.

[notvaljean]

... great.

[So Jean's partner is a floating, sentient ball. Wonderful.]

Do these things have names? Like, individual names?

[dreamsofahero]

There's names for each of the different species, so to speak. Of which there are several hundred. The one you have is a Voltorb, for example.

[notvaljean]

A Voltorb, huh...

[The ball perks up a little at that, and floats a little closer. Jean eyes it cautiously, but keeps his hands to himself for now.]

So it's a Voltorb, but does it have a specific name? Like, I'm a human, and I'm also Jean. What about them?

[It's not wearing a collar. Where would you even put a collar on a ball?]

[dreamsofahero]

Ah, well, that part's up to you.

[notvaljean]

Oh.

[Somehow, the ball seems sentient enough to have its own name already.]

I was calling it Blitz earlier.

[dreamsofahero]

*who knows, perhaps they do, but also like the adopt the nicknames their trainers give them, or somesuch nonsense...*

Oh? Then perhaps it may already think that's its name.

[notvaljean]

Maybe...

[Jean looks over his shoulder, and tentatively calls to the ball, only feeling slightly stupid while doing so.]

Blitz, come here!

[The ball glowers for a moment, then floats over. Jean grins.]

Hey, it worked!

[dreamsofahero]

*chuckles*

Well, it seems you're already on your way to getting along.

[notvaljean]

Maybe.

[Jean offers his hand to the Voltorb, and after a moment's consideration, it butts itself up against it.]

What kinds do you have?

[dreamsofahero]

Well, Dusk here is an absol...

*he turns the gear so Jean can see the white-furred 'mon that's sticking close to Sion as usual*

Some of my others include an arcanine, a glaceon, a serperior and an ampharos.... quite a few, really.

[notvaljean]

You've got a lot of them.

[Jean is suitably impressed.]

Have you been here long?

[dreamsofahero]

Ah... around four and a half years now, I believe.

[notvaljean]

... what? Really?

[How is that even possible?]

So do you just live here now?

[dreamsofahero]

Well, there isn't any way to know or control when a person will come or go from this world, so we can't really do anything about it. It seems that time spent here has no effect on that which passes in our own worlds, however.

[notvaljean]

Wait, really?

So whatever I was doing at home, I'll go right back to doing that if I ever leave here?

[A valuable little tidbit to file away.]

[dreamsofahero]

That seems to be the case, yes. There have been instances of people who've been brought here leaving, then coming here again, and I've never heard of anyone speaking of any problems of missing things back in their own world, at least.

[notvaljean]

[A moment's pause.]

If... if people come here and don't lose time in their own worlds, can people come from different times in their worlds?

[Say, for example, if someone was dead in Jean's present, could they show up from earlier in time and still be alive?]

[dreamsofahero]

As far as I understand it, it's certainly possible. This place seems to interact strangely with other worlds.

[notvaljean]

I wonder if that's ever happened to anyone...

[He hopes it has. Maybe he can ask about it on the network later.]

[dreamsofahero]

I've never asked about that in particular, but it wouldn't surprise me.