[Video]

[goingbythebook]

[The feed doesn't take long to focus. It's a little shakey at first but then levels out, and a kid with white hair and a Ranger outfit steps back. He's muttering to himself that it "seems like it's working" and then, once the focus kicks in, he clears his throat.]

Ah, Huey Duck here, trainer ID [Number]. Transmitting from New Bark Town. I am a fresh arrival, and this is a call for assistance by anyone more experienced at being here than I am.

[There. With the business up front and out of the way, he can get on with the rest of the message now.]

I arrived not too long ago and, as I understand many others have, I have acquired a PokeGear and a Pokemon. [He leans and adjusts the feed until it shows a Castform, spinning happily nearby, more concerned with what seems to be watching the clouds than anything else.] As it seems to resemble a water molecule, I have currently nicknamed it Cavendish.

[A little chuckle at his own joke, then it petered off and he cleared his throat, setting the PokeGear back where it was.]

I must confess I am quite... well, not exactly out of my element, finding new worlds and monsters is all part and parcel of being part of the adventuring family I am. Even if it does come with... [And he looked at his hand, flipping it over and wagging his fingers.] ...strange transformations.

[Then he shook his head and looked back at the camera.]

But I do feel a little over my head. So, if anyone out there has any advice, I am- more! -than willing to listen. After all, Junior Woodchuck Guidebook rule number two states, "All Junior Woodchucks must be open to the unknown in their quest for truth."

[Here his business attitude drops a bit, as he taps his forefingers together, looking off; likely watching Cavendish just off-screen.]

Even when the unknown is... like this.

[He looked back and leaned to cut the feed, though not without a-]

Huey Duck, initial transmission complete.

[And off.]

Comments

[talkyourwayout]

Huey…?

[Like there’s any real questioning it. Even if he hadn’t stated his name, only his brother could be that much of a nerd.

Louie never would’ve thought he’d miss that. But it’s been months since he’s seen his family, and he’d be lying if he pretended he wasn’t closer to Huey than Dewey. When you’re often in over your head and scared, it’s comforting to have someone around who’s always looking out for you.

He’s excited to see his brother. Confused all over again as to how and why either of them are here. Happy to have the reassurance of Ol’ Huey here. A little worried about iow Huey’ll do in this place. It’s a lot to sort out, and so explaining that he’s Louie slips his mind. Of course, if his voice in general doesn’t give him away? What he says next might.]

H’boy… Okay: Can you stay put? I’m going to try to get to New Bark in a few hours. I’ll let you know if I can’t!

[And if Huey can’t tell it’s him, well… That might sound awkward at best.]

[goingbythebook]

Louie??

[Call it sibling intuition, call it "knowing him well enough to recognize him anywhere," call it Huey being Huey but whatever it is all he needs is that first word to know it's him. He listened to the rest of it but only just, because as soon as Louie finishes talking-]

How did you get here? ..How did I get here?? How long have you been here? [WAIT WORLD OF WEIRD MONSTERS-] Are you okay?? What about your own Pokemon? Are you alone?

[talkyourwayout]

I'm okay, Hue, don't worry.

I've been traveling with just my team, mostly, but I've met up with a few other people who wound up here along the way. I don't know how anyone gets here, though. Nobody seems to know that.

[What else did Huey ask... Oh! How long he's been there. He tilts his head to the side.]

It's been two months... Which I guess answers a question I've had, about how time's moving back home compared to here.

[goingbythebook]

Two months?? But I saw you yesterday!

[He rubbed his forehead.]

There must be some kind of- of inter-dimensional time dilation going on-

Wait. [Looked back.] Your team? You have a whole collection of Pokemon?

[Louie?]

video;

[nastyboy]

[Dimitri sure had A Day not long ago, with the auction being what it is... But a call for help is something he can't help respond to, especially from such a young child. So he flicks on his Gear for a response.]

[Ignore the unicorn with the glittery mane shoving his head over Dimitri's shoulder to see What's Going On]

Hello, Huey. I know this must be a confusing situation. My name is Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd.

Is there something in particular you are concerned about? Traveling, your companion... The transformations?

I will help how I can.

Video

[goingbythebook]

[Sorry, that unicorn is going to get a fair few moments of first attention. Then he shakes his head clear; focus.]

A pleasure to meet you. I have several questions, actually. What is the travel like here? Are there faster methods than on foot? [The "on foot" part he surmised just watching people meander about.] What are the other Pokemon like? And what's the goal here?

Video

[nastyboy]

[The unicorn does that, so Dimitri doesn't mind much. He just waits patiently]

When it comes to travel between the towns... To first arrive at a place, you will most likely be traveling on foot, at least until you make it to Cherrygrove Town - that is three days away by foot. I heard they have a bicycle shop there, although it would take some time to save up for that...

Once you arrive in town, however, you will want to go to the Pokecenter there. They will not only help your companions recover from any battles, but you will find something called Warp Pads there. If you have visited a city before, you can teleport there... Although there are some restrictions. Cherrygrove only goes to the next town after it, Violet City. So... Consider them like hops, I suppose, instead of going wherever one likes.

There is also a train that connect two countries in the largest city, Goldenrod, but... Besides that, riding one large enough Pokemon is normally what happens for travel. There is also flying, although you will need to go through some trials for that, and riding on the back of water-going Paliens as well - another term for them in another dialect, pardon me.

[Dimitri that is not how it works and you know it-]

As for a goal.... I am afraid it varies. It is unknown how we arrived here, you see. Most people simply... live their lives.

Although there can be something slightly more concrete to go after... Did you receive a Trainer's Handbook in your bag? It would be good to know far you have familiarized yourself with it before I go any further on this, along with answering your question about Paliens.

[goingbythebook]

[He is dutifully nodding along, and by his small mutterings is making notes of this in the journal of his mind. Having absorbed all that information then, is time to go onto the other things.]

I did receive the Handbook, though I haven't yet had the time to peruse it thoroughly. The situation coming here has been a little more disorienting though I might want it to be... [He shook his head.] I do want to know more about this "being a trainer" business. Is training Pokemon similar to, say, when someone wants to go to an athletics gym? How serious are these "battles" that occur?

[Apparently fairly serious, if a special facility exists to help them recover.]

[video]

[fortuna_tenax]

You're handling this better than most people, I gotta say.

( even if she also asked for information, she certainly wasn't as professional about it. huey duck, huh...? )

I'm assuming with how thorough you are, you were able to locate the guidebook, right? It's not as thorough as it could be, but it might just be out of date. But a lot of people are willing to help.

( she's just not gonna launch into any advice without knowing what he actually needs. )

... Sorry, this is going to sound a bit weird, but do you have a brother? There's a Louie Duck who showed up a bit ago too.

Video

[goingbythebook]

Well-ell, I do pride myself on keeping a calm, level head in all situations. There's no use panicking, or it'll just make it worse.

[He rubs his chin thoughtfully.] I have seen some information on my PokeGear as well as the handbook in the backpack I received, but it never hurts to get the straight story from others around, either. Particularly those who've been here longer than I have.

[Then is her question about his brother, at which he visibly lights up.]

Yes! He's my youngest brother and, for the first decade of our life, nigh on constant companion.

[Even if kicking and screaming.]

Re: Video

[fortuna_tenax]

I spoke to him a while back. If either of you need fare to meet up, I've got plenty of extra cash.

Now then... I'd recommend catching or purchasing a meowth as soon as possible. They have a unique ability to make money that few others can learn, and the local laws allow it's use. There are other ways to make money, but it definitely helps- especially when you're on the road.

( .... maybe she should hook cinna up- )

Because it comes up a lot with newcomers... Battle is acceptable- and in some cases required. If your pokemon don't want to, they'll let you know. It's a matter of communication. Pokemon can also eat anything we can, but they also can eat special berries- you'll find image references in the guidebook. ... Don't push your luck with those.

[goingbythebook]

Louie and I have arranged to meet up already, but the offer is much appreciate all the same!

[MONEY- Shoot that was the furthest thing from his mind. He's going to have to find a way to get some, there's no uncles to get an allowance from here (or great-uncles to laugh in your face about the possibility of any money). Meowth is duly noted to be looked into later.]

I was wondering about battling. It sounded harsh at first, but if it's more like competition, then that's different I suppose. [He glanced over at Cavendish, who noticed the attention and bobbed into the shot, up under Huey's arm.] I'll look into berries and other food too, thank you.

Video;

[schachmeister]

[It is like looking at a younger version of himself. If he had ever been a duck-turned-human, that is. And it brings to mind old memories of Dipper too.

Which basically means Armin has to help. For the sake of nerds everywhere.]

Hello Huey. First, let me introduce myself. My name is Armin Arlert and I've been in this world for-- [A momentary pause as he counts] over four years now. I'm not sure if I am able to answer all your questions -- there are a lot of unknowns in this world -- but I'd like to try.

Uhm, is there any subject you'd like to start with? You already seem to understand the gear well enough, so that is good.

Video

[goingbythebook]

Four years! Wow. I'd like to start with that, if you don't mind?

[And whether he does or doesn't, Huey's gonna plow ahead anyway.]

With a time like that, that means you've functionally moved here. Any idea on the state of the home you left before? What are your Pokemon like? And do you have a permanent domicile or do you wander?

Video

[schachmeister]

[Armin doesn't even have a chance to say he doesn't mind before Huey is already launching into questions.]

Well, first about my world -- While any of us are here, time does not move in our own worlds. Or perhaps it is more accurate to say that once we return to our own worlds, we do so to the exact same moment we left, so you are never really absent from it. I have a friend from my own world here who arrived from a much later point in time, and he confirmed that I never went missing. So in a sense, my world is not something I worry about. I know it is in the same state as it was when I left, and that it will continue on as normal should I ever go back.

And currently, I live on the Sevii Islands. I have a gym here, though I lived on my boat before that was built. I did use to travel around though, probably for the first... year or so that I was here. That's when my friends and I were getting our badges, so it made more sense to be mobile rather than settle down in one place.

Also I wouldn't mind telling you about my pokemon, but between my own, my gym pokemon, and my breeding project there are about, uh, sixty of them? Seventy maybe? So that would... take a while.

[Yes, Armin is a little embarrassed to say the amount, but hey, about twenty of those should be getting ready to go into the wild very soon, so he swears he is not hoarding.]

[goingbythebook]

That's certainly comforting to know. I'd certainly been wondering about the world I left behind, especially with the way things last were. Nothing bad per se, in fact we'd just surmounted a large threat. But it's been a bit confusing finding out new places in the aftermath. And now I'm here.

[At least the others will be alright without him.]

It's interesting to know that we "outsiders" in the Pokemon world can own gyms. I'd like to learn more about that soon- [Especially with that magic word of BADGES] -but at the moment, the mention of a breeding project sticks out to me? Is that a necessary thing to do for Pokemon, or something you're doing for fun?

[islandshore]

...Heh. You wouldn't be the first duck turned human, for what it's worth. This guy named Donald showed up years ago.

[Still, Riku offers a sympathetic smile. He's been here over a decade and seen enough nonhumans go through the existential nightmare that is being shoved into a new body.]

As for advice- depends on what you wanna know. I'm an Aurora League member, been here for eleven years, and I've trained my share of dangerous Pokemon. Seen a lot of things in my time here, too. ...A lot of 'em don't make sense, so I guess there's your initial pointer: don't expect rock hard logic in a place like this.

[goingbythebook]

Donald? Here?

[A bit of an awed scoff.]

I can't imagine he must've been very happy. But then again, he used to be an adventurer, so perhaps he was...

[Sorry Riku he heard everything else he promises. He's just a bit obsessed with this bit about his uncle right now.]

And I wonder why he never mentioned it? Perhaps there's some sort of interdimensional time dilation occurring...

sorry 'bout the delay! got super busy x_x

[islandshore]

[So this guy knew Donald. Good to know. Heh. Judging by his strong reaction, he must've been pretty close, too. Parent? Other miscellaneous relative?

Riku chuckles. Kid's sharp, that's for sure.]

Something like that. Far as everyone knows, time freezes back home while we're here, and people can get dragged from all across the timeline. Sometimes parallel dimensions, too, I think? Haven't encountered much of that, but I had two clones here once.

video

[epitaffio]

Do you have a twin brother or something?

[Like, Doppio would be willing to assume this is just... another ex-duck-turned-human who follows the same naming scheme, because perhaps that's just how worlds of talking ducks work... but they do look a lot alike. Although from what he's seen, the other one is a lot more lax...

Not that he's paying that much attention. Kids this young are usually harmless.

Anyway, speaking of harmless, the young man on the other side of the feed pretty much looks it. He's got the kind of eyes that make it look like there isn't a lot going on behind them.]

Uh, sorry, that's not very helpful.

Video

[goingbythebook]

Close! Triplet, actually. I'm the oldest.

[Said with a prideful smirk, like hatching first had been his plan all along. ...Then again with Huey, you're never really sure about that kind of thing-]

I'm guessing you know my brother Louie?

[epitaffio]

A triplet? Wow.

[Now he's wondering if the third one is going to show up here too, or if it's common for people with close ties to come in groups like that... Hm.]

And yeah. I talked to him just the other day, actually! He, uh, wanted an elevator installed in a really old building.

[text]

[instrumentally]

Cavendish?

[Text]

[goingbythebook]

Ah! That's the last name of the scientist who discovered the composition of water via experimentation with hydrogen and combustion.

[Text]

[instrumentally]

In that case, I agree. It is a good name for a water drop.