[audio]

[sharddrive]

-should be working, right? Yo, first of all, lemme just say what the heck.

[The voice crackling out over the network is very emphatic about that, it seems. Waking up in a new place, in a new body, as a new species, with an entirely brand new mom- it's all a bit disconcerting, for reasons he can't quite put his finger on. Just a feeling.]

Second of all, uh-

[Shard pauses, trying to choose his words carefully.]

Passing on a message, I guess? King, Queen, uh- Queen, Joker-

[Another short pause.]

Nicole? If any of you are listening, your good pal Jack would really like to get in touch. Sounds like he's got some pretty crazy stuff to talk about. Try to get in touch soon. He, uh, sounded pretty weirded out. By things.

[Definitely in no way awkward or suspicious.]

Also did anyone lose a- ...I don't know what this is but it's been sticking to me kind of literally since I got here.

[A photo goes out attached to the message, a slightly awkward zoomed and cropped shot of a Mimikyu on someone's shoulder.]

I'm not exactly cut out for pets, you know? Shard out.

Comments

[ video ]

[fortuna_tenax]

[ Well. That definitely is weird, and definitely isn't for her, but if she leaves the guy to flail around like that... ]

That's your new pokémon. Everyone seems to get one when they arrive. It'll be your companion and, unfortunately, your only means of defense in the wild- though more can accompany if both you and they want.

[ A pause, while she looks away in thought for a moment. ]

I hope you can find someone you know.

[sharddrive]

Thanks? But I'm not sure I buy that this little dude can handle himself better than I can, even like this.

[He's all squishy and soft and it's weird and dear Walkers why are there so many fluids]

And someone's just handing these things out?

[ video ]

[fortuna_tenax]

They can surprise you. I have a tiny plant that can poison things or put them to sleep and then steal their life force for herself, and she looks like a leaf doll. ... I started with a psychic cotton candy unicorn though, which was. Alarming.

[ ... Thinking about her team's capabilities was terrifying sometimes. And that wasn't even going into the ghosts. ]

I don't know where they come from, but... we just. Get them, when we wake up at that house. Check your gear- there should be an app that can tell you about yours and what it can do.

Re: [ video ]

[sharddrive]

Okay. One question.

[This is all patently absurd but it's also clearly happening, so he's got no choice but to roll with it as best as possible right?]

...psychic cotton candy unicorn. Cause that's a lot of words I'm pretty sure shouldn't actually go together.

[ video ]

[fortuna_tenax]

Oh, yeah, no, I definitely didn't think I'd use that particular combination ever. In my life. And yet...

[ There's a shift in the camera as it turns around, giving a clunky look at a sparse room before settling on a Galarian Ponyta for a moment. She is in fact a psychic cotton candy unicorn, and she's very focused on something a Misdreavus is telling her. Then it turns back around. ]

Don't really know how else to describe her.

text

[epitaffio]

That one's really cute!
Did you give it a name?

It's yours by the way, I'm not sure if anyone's told you that yet

[sharddrive]

i have been told

not sure i totally buy it yet but i guess we're stuck together until i find its mom or whatever

[He's not just gonna abandon it.]

i have not named it yet

like i said i'm not exactly the pet type

or the tiny bodyguard type, if people are right

[epitaffio]

I think YOU'RE basically its mom now
I mean, it looks like it likes you...

[sharddrive]

oh wow

i'm too young to be a mom

my family would disown me if they hadn't already

also if i had any actual family

guess my awesomely independent existence is once again actually a plus, go me

[epitaffio]

[... Wow, uh, it sounds kind of like this guy has some stuff to work through.]

Uh... Sorry about that
It's more like having a pet than a kid, if that helps

[Not that he knows what having a kid is like.]

[captainash]

'What the heck' is a reaction you'll have often throughout your stay, I'm afraid.

[Isn't that a wonderfully reassuring greeting?]

That Mimikyu's not lost. It's your new partner, and also your only true defense against the local critters until you catch more of your own. I suggest you stick closely to each other.

[sharddrive]

It's not giving me much choice right now anyway.

[Ash can probably see it still on his shoulder in the video.]

It got up there on its own. Mostly.

[captainash]

It doesn't need to be that closely, really, but at least you didn't end up with a species that's both clingy and could accidentally set your head on fire. Just make sure it remembers to climb down when the fighting starts, and you're good to go.

[He's hoping the Mimikyu already understands that, but it's best to make it clear.]

[sharddrive]

Head fire seems like it would be bad, how much hyperbole is that?

[captainash]

It's not. Multiple Pokémon species are actively on fire, and even more can breathe it even at low levels. Out of all those, plenty are small enough to climb on the average adult shoulder, too.

AUDIO

[seacub]

I don't think you'll be able to contact anyone you know from here... ...Unless they're already here, maybe?

[Considering how many people he knows are here, maybe there's a chance actually!!]

Oh-! But, I wouldn't worry about that mimikyu! Actually, I thought the same thing when I got here but...pokemon are pretty good at looking after themselves, it turns out! And it's pretty dangerous to go anywhere without one, actually...

[sharddrive]

Them being here was kind of part of the plan, yeah.

[Though the more he gathers, the less sure he is whether it'd be a good or bad thing for his team to be here.]

How dangerous are we talking on, say, a scale of tripping and stubbing your toe to a pissed off troll wizard melting your face and burying you alive? Hypothetically.

[seacub]

If it helps, people don't really 'plan' to come here...but hmmm...

[He has to think about this.] The pokemon on route 1 aren't that strong...but they can be stubborn...and while most are normal types, there's one electric type...and those can paralyze even when they're little...

[...]

I'm pretty sure the far end of your scale won't really happen here though.

[sharddrive]

The buried alive part or the face melting? Cause I'm assuming "electric types" has something to do with tossing around electricity, which seems like it opens up some unfortunate possibilities.

[seacub]

Well, mostly the troll wizard part actually. I guess both of those things could happen separately though..?

...we don't really 'die' here is the thing. We just wake up in one of the pokemon centers.

[un_oiseau_rebelle]

If it helps, Mimikyu - that's your pokemon's species, for lack of a better word - is actually fairly hardy. Just don't try to look under its disguise.

[sharddrive]

Okay, first, why would I want to do that. Second, what makes it a disguise versus- just being a little cloak. Thing.

[un_oiseau_rebelle]

Some people like to live dangerously.

It's called a disguise because it's specifically modeled after another pokemon, Pikachu. If you go by the PokeDex entry, it's because Pikachu is a very popular pokemon, and Mimikyu by virtue of being Ghost pokemon tend to be lonely and fixated on finding friends. In actuality, that varies from Mimikyu to Mimikyu, but they all end up having Pikachu disguises anyway, for some reason.

Also, whenever they're attacked the disguise takes the first hit for them, sparing them from harm but breaking the disguise's "neck." This tends to upset them.

[sharddrive]

[Well, that phrasing sure gives Shard a thousand yard stare for just a second. He is suddenly and completely sure that the multiverse is making some kind of joke at his expense and he's not sure he appreciates it.]

Got it, got it, cool. That's about one of the saddest things I've ever heard.

[un_oiseau_rebelle]

There is apparently a risk that looking under the disguise can sicken or even kill the person looking, although that death wouldn't stick here. Still, I can't say I'm eager to find out for myself.

Ghost pokemon tend to have origin stories like that. Then again, it's just as possible to breed Ghost pokemon as it is to breed all other types, and they come out of their eggs looking just like those in the wild. It's particularly jarring when you're talking about pokemon like Phantump, who are supposedly tree stumps inhabited by the ghosts of dead children. If that remains true when the Phantump has hatched from an egg, then that raises a lot of questions.