video - 001

[nastyboy]

[For those who happen to check into this particular Pokegear feed, they'll find a... bit of a mess at first. It's the awkward fumbling glitch of a person who has never used technology: random noises, constantly shifting camera views, going from selfie mode to camera mode... a mess! But eventually, after a few minutes of this mess, the scene finally stabilizes...]

[To a view of a video game loading screen. To be exact, Misty Mendacity.]

[After another second, a smaller screen pops up in the corner of the video - the camera of the Pokegear that's streaming this whole mess. And it's not a person, despite the name attached to this Pokegear being "Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd". Rather, it's.. a Rattata.]

[Yes, someone's Pokemon has learned how to use it before the actual owner.]

[Yes, a purple rat is streaming what the kids call a "let's play".]

[The head of a rather skeptical Shinx joins the Rattata as the game starts, leading through the opening scene with an ominous Mismagius explaining the story, and then the first level starts off with what looks like a hotel and way too much Aipom imagery scattered about. It seems to play sort of like a 3D Pacman, for those familiar with that game...]

[And, also, you know, murderous looking Aipom animatics with enormous teeth that lead to a jump scare and "death" screen.]

[The first time this happens, the Rattata shrieks and scurries off while the Shinx merely jolts in surprise before leaning forward with the glare of suspicious cats everywhere. After a few moments, the Rattata creeps back with morbid curiosity, and hits the 'continue' button.]

[Encourage the Rattata's endeavors? Or wait a few hours later until there's the sound of a door opening into what's clearly a hotel room behind the little Rattata and a confused (and deep, if you're into that) voice speaks up.]

What are you doing...?

Comments

[nastyboy]

[RIP in peace, my dude]

[But the sound of a human yelp has earned the Rattata's curiosity, and the rat scurries back as well to peer at the screen. Immediately, leaving the game on the "CONTINUE?", he starts to paw at the screen where Doppio is displayed.]

[HEY WHAT'S UP WITH YOU, MY GOOD BRO]

[epitaffio]

[Damn it, is this thing on? This thing is totally on, isn't it. Doppio sighs.

... And then he softly pokes the screen, right about where the Rattata is pawing at.]

Hey there. Were you really the one playing...? I think you're better at videogames than I am. Then again, I've never played one, so...

[nastyboy]

[The Rattata's ears perk up as he's spoken to, and he lightly pats a little rat hand against the screen where, presumably, Doppio's own finger is. At least, on his side if nothing else.]

[There's some Pokemon gibberish when Doppio admits he's never played, and he cocks his head to the side. Why not, bud?]

[epitaffio]

[Huh. Is the little guy actually curious...?]

I don't have time to play videogames! My job is really important.

[nastyboy]

[As a rat, Gremlin's idea of "A Job" is kind of fuzzy, and he cocks his head to the other side with some additional curious chittering. What's so important?]

[epitaffio]

You don't get it, huh?... Well, I guess you wouldn't. But think about it this way... If your trainer needed you to fight right now, you couldn't be playing games, right?

[... He's... kind of assuming the answer is yes, since they ARE talking ("talking") through a PokéGear, but -]

You do have a trainer, don't you?

time for a rat adventure

[nastyboy]

[Gremlin's ears twitch upwards. Oh! Right! A trainer is, like... a thing that is now relevant to him! He nods, and then... trots off.]

[From the Gear's very awkwardly placed camera, it is possibly to briefly see a blur of purple, and then there's the sound of a tiny rat body smacking into wood. Something creaks. The Shinx, still visible on camera, makes a face.]

[After a second, Gremlin comes bouncing back into view, but he doesn't stick around to ""talk"". Instead, he just... Okay, hold on, just... enjoy this view of the inside of a Rattata's mouth as he picks up the Gear. At least it's only partially Rattata mouth.]

[....But, due to the angle, the other part is mostly Gremlin's nose, and the passing by of something high above him. Ceiling pattern?]

[After a few minutes of this absolutely riveting view, the Gear puts down again, and the hotel hallway is now far more visible. What's also far more visible is the view of Gremlin scrambling his way up a wall while a very unimpressed Shinx watches. This keeps going until he can smack a little rat hand onto the "down" button for an elevator.]

[And then he just. lets himself. sliiiiide down the wall....]

[As the elevator starts to come back, he bounds over to the Gear again and peers into the screen. BUD. BUDDY. HEY. ARE YOU STILL THERE? HE HAS TO MAKE SURE.]

[epitaffio]

[What... the hell.

A certain someone else, unseen but remotely aware of what is happening, is starting to wonder why the hell Doppio is still on the line. In all honesty, after a few minutes of this, Doppio begins to wonder the same. But it's not like there's anything else interesting going on, nor does he have anything particularly important to do other than...

At some point during Gremlin's travel, a shrill noise that sounds an awful lot like a grown man imitating a telephone can be heard, and moments later Doppio is being reminded that oh yeah, he needs to start heading out to Ecruteak for Halloween. Does he have the costumes yet? He should make sure he has the costumes. Yes, of course, the date didn't slip his mind or anything. He was just packing up!

By the time the Rattata looks at the screen again, Doppio is nodding vigorously while he holds a water bottle to his ear.]

Oh-- Gotta go! I'll report back very soon, Boss! Beep.

[And NOW he can finish his conversation (?) with this little guy.]

Hey there. Did you have something to show me?

[nastyboy]

[By the time Doppio comes back, it appears that Gremlin is exiting an elevator, and he takes a moment to put the Gear down and make an excited nod of his head. Yes! Just one second...]

[A minute later, and Gremlin drags the Pokegear onto the lip of a window, adjusting it so that Doppio can see what is very clearly the outside of Cherrygrove City. There in the yard in front of the hotel... is Dimitri, very noticeable being the tall blond with an eyepatch and a leather jacket. He has a rake in his hand, doing his best to tidy up... and looking like he has not slept in ages.]

[Gremlin excitedly smacks the window, looking back to the Gear so that he can look at Doppio. YOU ASKED ABOUT HIS TRAINER, LOOK, THERE HE BE]

[epitaffio]

[... Wow. This boy is REALLY smart. Honestly not what he assumed after seeing a bunch of these - not that that's a knock against Rattata or anything. It's perfectly fine, even expectable, for rats to be kind of stupid.

Never mind the fact that Doppio's house is very much made of glass when it comes to looking smart or not.]

Oh! Uh... Thanks for showing me!

[Wait, is he going to talk to the trainer now, he wasn't prepared for this--]

[nastyboy]

[Gremlin beams and chitters more. What is he saying? A mystery. Maybe thanks. He seems happy, at any rate.]

[And then more window smacking! That seems to eventually rouse Dimitri's attention, despite the fact that a Flabebe has landed on his head because of his careful slowness. Dimitri looks up, blinking to the sight of his rat beating on a window again, and visibly sighs. And he walks away, off camera...]

[And, a minute later, the Gear's view shifts as Dimitri picks it up.]

I gave this to you for use in the room.... Do not break it.

[He adjusts it to look down onto the screen, which makes it clear that Gremlin is scrambling up his shoulders, and pauses.]

....Is this one of those video games, or is this something else?

[Gremlin just chews on his hair in answer.]

[epitaffio]

[Okay, well, it looks like NEITHER of them are prepared to have a conversation. That takes the edge off of it a little.]

Hi! No, I'm a real person. Your Rattata was talking to me.

[nastyboy]

[It's still... really weird for Dimitri to talk to someone, and they're not there, but in a tiny little box he's holding, while they're also... not exactly in the box.]

[....Give him a second to just come to terms with this all over again.]

...He was talking?

[And then come to terms with this possibility.]

[Listen... Maybe his rat can talk. Dimitri hasn't tried! He doesn't know! There are no rules here!]

[epitaffio]

Oh! He wasn't using words or anything. I think I got the gist of what he was trying to say, though.

[Pokémon are basically animals, and animals are pretty simple, right? There's not a whole lot that they care about. Food, safety, sleep, maybe their favourite human... They're not so hard to figure out.]

[nastyboy]

I see.... I suppose that makes more sense.

[The afterlife is at least not this strange. That's... something, he guesses.]

Then.... Greetings. I am Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd.

[Giving his whole name is simply a habit by now. What isn't a habit is stopping his Rattata from eating his hair, because it's still doing that.]

Was he... doing the video game again?

[epitaffio]

[Wow, that's quite the name. He might as well return the courtesy, although he knows it's going to sound a little silly next to this man's name -] Vinegar Doppio. Dimitri is a... Russian name, right?

And I guess he was! Has he been playing it a lot?

[nastyboy]

[The heck's a Russian-]

I am from... Faerghus. Northern Fodlan. Yet that seems to be a distant land for many people, even before all of this...

[Gremlin makes a muffled noise, mouth still preoccupied with air, and Dimitri nods.]

He has... begun to use it, today. I did not know it was capable of such things...

[epitaffio]

[Yeah, those names spark Zero recognition, and it shows in Doppio's perfectly blank stare. He may not know much about videogames, but he knows even less about what whatever a Fodlan might be.]

The PokéGear, you mean? It's really fancy, isn't it? It almost feels like a tiny laptop you can have in your pocket...

sorry for taking a while, nano devoured me

[nastyboy]

...Quite.

[He's just going to accept he doesn't know what a laptop is. Possibly never will. That's fine.]

Do all- Paliens have such a fascination with Pokegears...?

no worries!

[epitaffio]

[... Another one with the Paliens, huh.]

Hmm, I don't think so? They all have their own likes and dislikes, you know... like regular animals. [Or people, but hey.] They're called Pokémon here, by the way.

[nastyboy]

[ . . . ]

Chip says they are paliens.

[Yes, he has following the child's lead on this. And he is not budging.]

[epitaffio]

Uh... Okay. But nobody else here calls them that, so...

[Please. It's easier for literally everyone (except, perhaps, Chip).]

[nastyboy]

I have noticed.

[Dimitri might outright dissociate at times, but he's still managed to pick up on that. It's... admittedly been pretty hard to ignore. Pokecenter, Pokemart, hundreds of posters and things on the Gear and whatever is spoken by people...]

[It's... A Lot.]

However, I will still continue to refer to them by that name, in an overall sense. Individually, I will call them by the names they are known by here.

[Chip hasn't said anything on that front, after all.]

[epitaffio]

... Are you that kid's... caretaker, or something?

[Just wondering. Maybe that's why he doesn't want to make them upset...]

[nastyboy]

We travel together, alongside their father.

[Is that good enough a reason to stick to the name? Who knows. Dimitri is doing it regardless.]