stonebones | no. 002 [photos + audio from route 30.]

[It's been two weeks and a lot of trouble for young Emil, navigating with his blindfold. The unfamiliar setting was hard enough, but with rain on top of that? At least he'd accepted the Sableye after a few days and had time in Cherrygrove to unwind. He's gone out again now, though the image he shares with the network shows him indoors and in dry clothes -- he'd had to change back into the clothes he'd arrived in, soaked as he was from the day's rain. It's a little blurry, definitely not something that would win awards, but it's still enough to show a Meowth egg settled in his lap and that was the idea. Well, that and testing out the 'gear's functions to see if he'd gotten it right and he really could attach a picture to his voice.]

So this...really isn't a mistake? This egg will really hatch into a cat?

[He makes a thoughtful noise, switching to a tone that sounds more like he's musing to himself.]

I don't really know how many things come out of eggs back home -- like this, I mean, with a shell and everything. Definitely not cats. But I look forward to it, if it's true!

[There's the soft clatter of glass being set onto a table before the feed abruptly cuts out, but it's only an hour or so before another picture shows up with the same voice accompanying it -- softer though, warmer. The photo shows the young boy eating and laughing with an older man that some might be able to recognize as Mr. Pokemon. Well, honestly the image is mostly table, like something small had taken the picture instead of another trainer. Emil might not have known Stilzchen was playing with the camera again, but...he's glad he did, if he gets to have this memory to share.]

It's been raining a lot, but...that's okay. People here are really nice. Nicer than I ever expected...

Even the friendly people back home were never this welcoming towards me. Is this just how other worlds are? I wonder... [He seems to remember then that he's not just recording his thoughts for himself and clears his throats.] They did have a good reason, so maybe it's just me. What were your worlds like for you?

[ooc: this is slightly forward dated to the evening, around suppertime!]

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[He gives a thoughtful noise before responding.]

Hm...I suppose that's true. I'm sorry, I don't mean to say that it shouldn't, it's just...not something I had back home. I've gotten used to it by now, but thinking about it in times like these reminds me of how unusual it is.

Huh... How long have you been here? I would've thought that would make it even more like magic...

[Unless the concept of magic didn't even exist and no, we're not going down that route, that's too weird. Instead, Emil's going to rally with a different angle!]

I guess most people don't associate finding an explanation for things with magic, though.

I've been here for a year, now. I guess I don't think about it that way as much because...well, you see, my Father is a programmer. We both worked with computers a lot; I still do. He always thought about the technical, logical side of things. How things worked...it was always very scientific, if that makes sense.

I don't really mind the idea of magic, though. It...sounds rather fascinating, actually.

[He makes a small, thoughtful noise before falling quiet for a little while.]

So what about...science that causes magic? How would people like you and your father think about that?

...I don't know. If my father knew that something like that existed, he would probably want to try to study it.

[Emil can't see, but Chihiro's smiling at the thought. His father would always get excited about things like that, especially advances in the field of technology.]

Yeah... That makes sense, I guess.

[Anyway.]

If you think about pokemon that way, maybe it's a little easier. They weren't experiments or anything -- not that I've heard -- but it's still something unexplained and unusual coming from a place that people can look to for reference. Magic from science.

That's kind of...how I've been thinking about it. [In a roundabout way.]

Magic from science...

[He echoes Emil's words softly to himself.]

That's a good way to think about it, I think. There's only one Pokemon I know of that was actually man made...it's very interesting. I've been trying to learn everything I can about them since I first arrived.

-- Is it okay?

Oh, of course. It's a fascinating Pokemon...made entirely out of programming code. I'm still not entirely sure how it works, but they seem just as happy as any other Pokemon might be. They're called Porygon.

Oh. That's good...

[If it weren't Emil, he'd probably doubt that a bit longer.]

I don't really understand this...programming you're talking about, but if it's happy, that's...good. Is it the same stuff you and your dad did back where you're from?

That's right. I was actually working on my own project similar to what they are, back home...it was a type of artificial intelligence. Not a Pokemon, of course, but a program capable of performing certain functions on its own.

Really? You can do that?

[It sounded amazing... Still weirded him out a bit, but most fascinating things were pretty weird.]

It must be nice to have them around, then. You can keep studying it, even when you're in another world! Maybe you could even end up making your own pokemon.

I...I suppose it's possible. I can't even begin to imagine the amount of work that went into creating Porygon, though...they aren't simply artificial intelligence.

[Making them capable of using moves and even evolving...as knowledgeable as computers as Chihiro is, all of that is still far over his head.]

But I agree. I'll have to keep studying them to see what new things I can learn about how they work. Regardless, they make just as good companions as any other Pokemon.

Heh... It all seems really hard to me, but I guess that's because we don't really have that where I'm from.

[And then because it's occurred to him -- ]

Wait. So all pokemon... Do Porygon come from eggs too, even though they're different?

Porygon do come from eggs! They are different in the way they breed, though...you can't breed egg moves onto them, and the only Pokemon they're actually capable of breeding with is a Pokemon called Ditto, which can breed with any Pokemon regardless of species.

...That doesn't seem right.

[He had a very...sparse education, but at least make some sort of biological sense please.]

[SORRY EMIL POKEMON ARE GOSHDANG WEIRD

BREEDING IS GOSHDANG WEIRD]

All I can say is, um...breeding is...a bit complicated. A lot of things about it don't make very much sense.

[WHY THOUGH]

Ah... I guess I should be relieved that I was made a trainer instead. I don't think I would do very well having to make sense of all that all the time.

Yes...it's usually best to just try and accept it for what it is.

[...strange. Very...strange.]

I'm sorry if I've taken up your time with this. It can be very interesting, as complex as it is. I do hope your Pokemon hatches soon, though. You'll be able to see for yourself when it does.

Oh! No, I don't mind! I mean, you answered a lot of questions for me, and it's fun to talk to other people!

I'm definitely looking forward to a cat coming out of an egg, though...

Just make sure you keep the egg warm. It should hatch in no time.

Okay, I will! Thanks a lot, Fujisaki-san!

no. 002 [photos + audio from route 30.]

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