reveiller | video. | action for goldenrod.

[It starts with Fuji eying a pokeball contemplatively. He gets up from his seat, apparently entirely unaware that the feed is running, and turns to the side as though addressing someone else in the room just beyond the scope of the video feed --]

-- say, could I borrow a screwdriver?

[The feed abruptly ends.

The next time the feed turns on, it's deliberate. Fuji is smiling into the screen with all the innocence found only on naked baby birds and seasoned salesmen.

He holds up a pokeball ruefully.]

All right, I give. Does anyone know what's going on inside the pokeball when the pokemon goes in?

I tried prying it open, but it seems like it didn't like that very much. I think having a pokeball short-circuit on me once is enough for the day.

[A beat, and he throws a meaningful look at the black smear on the hotel wall behind him. Plastered against the wall next to the black smear is a ditto the shape of a black smear -- one can easily tell that it's a ditto because this particular ditto was too lazy to even mimic the texture of the burn. He pays it no mind, turning back to the screen.]

And out of curiosity, has anyone tried to catch anything that's not a pokemon with the pokeball? [Wryly--] If you go with the theory that the pokeball is actually a gateway to an alternate dimension, maybe whoever that gets shoved inside will end up going home -- or end up in someone else's 'home'. You'd never know. Space-time works in mysterious, mysterious ways. [He's joking. ... maybe. A theatrical sigh--]

Sadly, I don't think there's a way to know for sure unless we give it a test run, though. [A grin.] Any volunteers?

[Filtered to Watanuki]

[There's a gastly egg in the mail for you, along with a short and succinct text message, which is entirely uncharacteristic of Fuji (which means it's probably more sincere than usual).]

The cake was delicious. I hope you didn't mind that I shared it with my pokemon. They all seemed to like it very much.

Thank you.

[Filtered to 'Mister Blackbird']

[You get a dratini egg in the mail today that should pretty much hatch upon arrival (he got it sixth, but hasn't had a time to send it off until now due to matters of contrivance). The note has a happy face drawn on it beatifically.]

Blackbirds get along with dragons, don't they?

=)

[Filtered to Yukimura]

[Video calling--]

I hope you've settled in nicely. I was thinking of sending a set of tennis equipment over as a housewarming gift, but while I was browsing, I realized I didn't know what brand of rackets you used, which sort of rendered the whole thing moot.

I did pick up a nice pair of earmuffs, though-- would you say green is your color?

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Ah, sorry about that. [Rueful.] They're both very nice names.

In this world, maybe there's a pokemon equivalent of 'Santa', floating around during the Christmas season. A Christmas pokemon... somehow, that plausible, now that I think about it. They really do come in all kinds.

I like the giant birds myself. It makes flight that much more attainable.

Don't worry about it. And thank you.

Entirely possible. All in all, the egg was not an unpleasant surprise.

_[Hm.] I own one of those, but I hadn't actually considered him for flight. _{[Then again, Coop doesn't like birds much--]} I take it you're in ownership of at least one as well?

Not at all, actually. To be honest, I don't think I'd be terribly qualified to take care of a bird.

You and me both. But seeing as I started out with a Hoothoot, I didn't have a lot of say in the matter.

Well, this place does like to express its sense of irony. But at least it was a hoothoot, and not, say, a spearow.

_{[At the irony comment, he looks like 'tell me about it' but doesn't express it. Instad, Spearows:]} They do have a bad reputation.

[He smiles, conspiratorially, because Fuji is A++ at picking up unspoken cues and A++ again at not acting on them until the most random times.] And terrible tempers. Murkrows too, but they're more on the thieving side.

I suppose we get what we get. But if you had a choice, what sort of pokemon would you'd rather start with?

_{[...he hasn't thought about that before, and takes a moment to consider it, only to come up with very little.]}

I don't know. I've never had much of a preference or affinity for animals, pets or wild. I would answer with a general description such as something useful or practical, but most pokémon seem to be.

But not birds. For you, at least. I'd say that shows you do have some sort of preference, at least in the sort of animals you would rather not be saddled up with.

Quite the contrary - my Noctowl has proven to be a good companion. While it is true that I don't like birds very much one of the defining traits of the human race is our ability to adapt to the situations we find ourselves in.

Fair enough. Though in people's case, it's probably less 'adapting to our surroundings' and more of a 'change our surroundings to adapt to us' sort of thing.

Unfortunately, that is very true. I think they've struck up a balance between human society and nature much better here than at home.

You think so? Somehow, it feels like we're still more or less ordering nature around to do our nefarious bidding.

Only now, nature actually listens. [A pause as he glances over at his eevee.] Well, most of the time, anyway.

True, but it seems the people here are doing so with more consideration, at least as far as nature is concerned. The issue of capturing and battling pokémon is a little different.

Possibly because if we treat nature lightly here, we're likely to get punched by a very angry tree. But you have a point -- pokemon training does seem a little different than the usual animal abuse.

It definitely presented a moral dilemma for me when I first got here until I realized my starter was naturally inclined to fight and the fact that he possessed incredible endurance and healing abilities. It's still definitely debateable, but I don't see much point in oppossing it at this time, especially considering that taking the gym challenge is one of the few directions we were given on arrival.

Vague directions, though. I don't think anyone's still sure if getting all the badges will really amount to anything.

If I had to be cynical, I'd say it's some sort of a placebo.

Frankly, I don't think it will. While not exactly a placebo it wouldn't surprise me if it was an activity to keep us occupied. Or more likely, just another part of this culture that has no relation whatsoever on our being here.

At the same time everything is worth trying.

Edited 2011-03-19 00:54 (UTC)

[Amusement.] At this rate, even people without an existentialist crisis might develop one anyway.

You know, that reminds me. Has anyone died, while they were here?

Not that I know of. Any particular reason you're asking?

No, not really. It just seems like an interesting sort of question to ask, doesn't it?

It is, and possibly more relevant than we might think. Nothing indicates how long some of us will stay here.

If death lets us leave, it would explain why nobody has left voluntarily. Yet, at any rate.

_{[Pause - sceptical.]}

If it does, there is no way to know.

video. | action for goldenrod.

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[video] sorry for the late ;o;

[video] never late /o/

[video] <33

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