farawayplace | Ohritori Vacation!

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pc: ken (kenfrompokemon)

Ohritori Vacation!

[This morning, if you tune in to Ken's Pokemon Talk on the radio, you'll probably hear him announce the program will be on break for the next two weeks while he goes on vacation! And as soon as the program ends, he hops on a boat and is off to Ohritori Island.]

A. GATEWAY PORT

[You can see him arriving at Gateway Port in Turnbloom City, looking pale as he weakly hobbles off a boat and immediately falls onto his knees and hands on the pier, taking deep breaths and looking like he's been suffering from seasickness for the entire journey.]

It's finally over...! Ohritori Island, I'm so glad to see you...

B. POKEMON CENTER

[Once he's rested from his journey, he'll be sitting at the cafe in the Pokemon Center with an ice tea, glancing around somewhat restlessly. A green Ledyba is sitting at his table, eating Berry slices. Spotting you, Ken will smile and wave.

Excuse me, can I ask you a question?

C. ROUTE 1

[Later, Ken can be seen at Route 1 with his Cubburn. He'll find Professor Banyan's laboratory, he'll just wander near it for a while, glancing at the house sometimes like he's trying to gather the courage to approach. Eventually, he'll go up to the door, raise his hand to knock... then hesitates, lowering his hand again. His Cubburn looks up at him with a whine, and Ken sighs.]

I'll do it, just give me a moment...

D. WILDCARD

[Ken can also be seen wandering all around Ohritori Island during his vacation! He doesn't visit the more dangerous places deep in the caves or the forests, but he'll be checking out the tourist spots. Theater Hall, Stardust Beach, the different farms on Gilterrace Town, Route 2 and Route 3; and the Wildflower Cape. Meet him however you want! Also, feel free to recognize his voice from radio!]

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Gold is staring because he doesn't know if Ken's a bad guy or not, and he's trying to figure him out! He stays silent, until Ken mentions the radio station.

"I saved you...?" he whispers, wide-eyed. The mention of the radio station taken over by Team Rocket is too close to home, and he ends up slipping in his words, talking like Ken's brother is actually him. It's the first time he's heard about another world with that event in common with his own, and he desperately wants to know more. But he doesn't want to ask Ken about it, not when he doesn't trust the man yet.

"The Gold in his memories saved him," Ai gently corrected, giving Gold's hands a squeeze.

She looked back at Ken and at Gold, considered her words, then...

"It might not be the same, because... before I was blessed with this body, coming here to Ultern... I was a man-made copy. My father, who worked for them to make Mewtwo... didn't set out to make a copy of the Legendary Pokemon, Mew. He just wanted to make me. But I couldn't live or grow properly, so I always died again."

She didn't explain that part, did she?

"The original Fuji Ai... died at eight years old, um... about eight years ago. In a car crash. My father needed money to fund his project, so he worked for that man. My father tried to clone me, twice, but I always died again after just four years... Mewtwo was the only clone strong enough to survive. Maybe because his DNA came from a Legendary Pokemon. I don't know.

"... but even though... I was a clone, deep down, I'm still Ai. I just lived a different life. The original Ai would be 16 now, but I never could live longer than four years, growing inside the lab, in fluid... like a baby that could never be born, I guess."

This is going to be the first time Gold gets to hear all of this, isn't it? She didn't want the spotlight on her or to make it all about her, it was embarrassing, so she avoided his gaze for now.

"... but. Even though my life and body was so different, there were things my soul couldn't forget, across lifetimes. I knew my father. I knew my mother, too, of course. I remembered... the sun, the moon, the wind, the stars... and the neighbourhood where I lived, even though I never saw it again. Maybe it's cell memory. Maybe it's my soul. Maybe it's both. A clone or copy is not a replacement, but its own unique life. I'm just the same as Ai, in looks, but the life I lived is different from what I would have lived if the accident never happened, right? Mewtwo looks very different from the Mew in that old drawing... so, please cherish each other as new lives, not just replacements, okay? I can't say for sure, because I'm not God, but I think that's why you two were made to meet each other, coming from different worlds."

Edited 2023-07-13 09:51 (UTC)

At the squeeze of his hands, Gold looks back at Ai.

"Right, yeah, of course," he replies with the look of someone who's not sure he actually wanted to be brought back to reality. He hasn't saved anyone. He's just been dreaming of going to that radio tower takeover and saving Silver months now. Literally dreaming, it's a frequently reoccurring dream that always ends just before he reaches Silver.

Gold is not the Gold that Ken knows, but for a moment, Gold can't help but wish he was.

But then Ai starts telling the story of herself, and Gold tries to focus on her. He always knew there was something about Ai's past that was unimaginably painful, and hearing this makes the pieces he's heard connect, but... Why now? Why now, when Gold's mind and heart are already in turmoil trying to deal with his emotions over this sudden brother and what he's talking about.

He can't handle this right now. It's too overwhelming. He wants to give Ai's story his full attention and he hates that he can't. And while he's hating himself, he realizes he's spaced out and barely heard half of what Ai's said, and spirals further into self-blame.

He's so selfish. After everything Ai's been through, all he can think about is himself? He tries to hold on to what Ai's saying. Clone? Man-made copy? Cell memory, soul? He doesn't get it, he doesn't get it at all. Ai is so smart. What she's saying sounds like she's trying to teach Gold something, but Gold doesn't get it at all.

You two were made to meet each other, coming from different worlds... Gold tries to hang onto that, at least. They were meant to meet. Okay. Cool. Why?

Gold's jaw shakes as he stares at Ai blankly, close to tears. And that's when another voice speaks up.

"I believe we should take this inside. Gold may be having a case of heatstroke, so let's let him rest and drink something for now," Umbar the Lugia's voice comes out tinny from the Lure Ball among the Pokeballs on Gold's waist, in human language. It's an excuse, a way to explain Gold's behavior away while giving him a chance to calm down.

Gold does not respond to it, still holding on to Ai's hands.

Ken's not sure what to take from Gold's statement about saving Ken. Was that disgust at it being Ken who was saved, or was there something else to it? Gold was so different from Ken's brother. He didn't know how to read him at all. It was eerie.

But then Ai began to speak, and Ken would never have expected any of that. He'd thought back on what Ai said to him when she called, and he picked up on the implications that Ai was cloned, just like Mewtwo and the other Pokemon, but he avoided dwelling on it.

A father who missed his daughter so much he ceaselessly tried to bring her back, again and again... Ken could understand that. The loneliness of being in Ultern, unable to meet his family, was enough to have him thinking it'd be enough to just meet an alternate version of his brother, just to see him again...

But it's not the same, is it? It's not fair to Ken's brother Gold, nor is it fair for this Gold he's only just met, to think of them as each other. Because Ai is not the original Ai, and Mewtwo is not Mew. They have different lives, thoughts, dreams...

Ken glances at Gold for the first time after avoiding looking at him for a while, wondering what kind of dreams he's got, and then does a double-take as he sees the look on the boy's face. His instincts as a big brother take over.

"Gold? Are you okay?" he asks, crouching to hover worriedly, then flinches back at the surprise voice, looking around wildly for the source. "Who's there?!" he asks. He agrees they should bring Gold inside, but who the hell was that talking when there's nobody else around? Was that a speaker hidden somewhere? Was somebody else watching them??

It was too much, all at once, wasn’t it?

Ai felt sorry for confusing and upsetting Gold and now, Ken looked frightened too…!

“Please calm down, Ken-san,” Ai said, voice slightly strained. “It’s only Gold’s Pokemon. Hello, Umbar.”

Ai politely acknowledged the Pokemon and tried to help Gold up, although she couldn’t do very much, being a lot smaller than him. She let go of his hands and tried to gently pat his head, stroking his hair.

“Ken-san, please listen to Gold’s Pokemon, okay? You can help Gold, I’ll get him something to drink.”

"His Pokemon...?" Ken repeats, then looks at Gold's Pokeballs. Gold had a Pokemon that could speak human language, too? Well, if Ai thought it was normal, then it must've been. "Ah, hello, Umbar, sir." He defaults to polite language, even bowing a little.

He wants to help Ai, but he's a bit uncertain about touching Gold, given how much Gold seems to distrust him. He just hovers awkwardly, until Ai tells him to help Gold.

"Right! Okay. Uh..." He looks at Gold, and at the Pokeballs. Gold still seems pretty unresponsive, so should he ask the Pokemon? "May I... carry you?" He ends up asking it from Gold after all.

"Hello, Ken," Umbar replies. He's not entirely sure of Ken yet, either, but Ai seems to trust him, so Umbar will give him a chance. Still, whether he's a good person or not, it's possible for him to hurt Gold unintentionally, so Umbar will keep an eye on him.

Gold's basically just mentally checked out of everything right now. He can tell everyone's fussing about him, and honestly? Let them. Gold kind of wants to just not think about anything right now. He's being selfish, yeah, and he's definitely showing a bad example to Ai, but maybe that's what he is! Anyway, Umbar's dealing with things. Gold will let Umbar deal with things.

(He has to ask Ai to tell him all of that again some other time. He's dreading that already. He doesn't want to make her have to repeat all of that because he wasn't listening, but he owes it to her to hear what she wanted to let him know.)

Then Ken asks if he can carry Gold, and Gold looks up at him. ...He looks kind of funny, fussing like that.

"Yeah," he says. Who cares anymore. Gold doesn't know what to think about Ken and he's too tired to think anymore. If Ken wants to fuss over Gold, he'll let him!

Ai really didn't like focusing on herself. It wasn't her nature, so she might not like to have to repeat it, but if it would help Gold, then, she will, maybe not in so many words, but...

She smiled faintly at Gold agreeing to let Ken carry him.

"Umbar is a Lugia. Isn't that amazing, Ken-san?

It's been a long time since Ken's carried his little brother, and he can't help but feel a bit nostalgic as he wraps his hands around the back of Gold's knees and his back, then picks him up with some difficulty. But Gold is small and not very heavy, maybe even smaller than Ken's brother.

"A Lugia? Wow, that is amazing!" Ken says. Gold must be an amazing trainer - and there he goes, thinking of his brother again. Because 'Gold' is the name of his brother, thinking of it always makes Ken think of him. He needs to give this Gold a nickname or something.

"Ai, could you hold the door open for me? And show me where to bring him," Ken says, leaving that thought for later.

(Gold, meanwhile, is just letting this happen. When's the last time he's been carried like this? Did it ever happen? It's kind of nice. Maybe if he just closes his eyes and pretends to be asleep it can go on for longer.)

(Flambear, meanwhile, is having a fun time playing with the Pokemon living near Professor Banyan's house, unaware of anything that's going on with his owner.)

"Yes!" Ai said, very dutifully, and hurried to pull open the door. "His room is upstairs, but if that's too difficult, the living room is okay, too."

Ai will lead the way to a good place to let Gold rest and cool off!

"It's fine, I can handle it," Ken says, determined. "I'll carry him upstairs."

When they get to Gold's room, Ken can't help but glance around. A pair of plushies on the bed, some library books on the table, a kendama and an unopened boxed toy on the shelves, and basically no other decorations. It feels empty. A far cry from Ken and his brother's shared childhood room.

Ken sets Gold down on the bed, where Gold keeps pretending to sleep. ...Ken turns away, feeling like he's intruding. After carrying him all this way, he can tell Gold isn't really sleeping, but he won't call his bluff.

"Let's leave a glass of water for when he wakes up," he tells Ai quietly.

Ai nodded and head back downstairs, focus on her task. Ai came back a little more slowly to avoid spilling the water.

Ken heads downstairs with Ai, then stays there, sitting down on the couch.

Gold, however, opens his eyes and sits up on the bed after Ken and Ai left his room. The familiarity of it, and the cool sheets underneath him, help him anchor himself and feel a bit more... grounded in the moment.

Ai trusts Ken, and thinks he's not that bad. And Ken did tell him he wanted to know how Gold is doing. It still feels bad that he's just thinking of him as a replacement for his family, but... Wait. Is that why Ai was talking about being a clone, and... whatever else she was saying? Because... replacement, clone, something, something... Ugh, why couldn't he listen properly?

Anyway, so, Ai trusts Ken! And Gold... finds that he might actually trust Ken because of that, too. He let his guard down, after all. Let himself be carried all the way to his room. And now Ken's seen his room... Somehow, Gold's all right with that.

And Ken's not a bad person, just because he's pals with Attila from Team Rocket. Attila's got some explaining to do, but Ken seemed to clueless about what he was saying to be an actual stalker himself. And he... the radio station...

...What about Silver? Did the Gold from Ken's world save Silver, too? He has to ask him about that later.

Then the door opens, and Gold looks over to see Ai, carrying a glass of water.

"Oh, hey..." Gold says awkwardly. "Sorry about all that."

Ai was so happy and relieved to see Gold was looking better, she smiled softly, the stress leaving her small shoulders.
“Nn, it’s okay,” she said, shaking her head, but very, very carefully bringing the glass to Gold.

“I’m just happy you stopped fighting.”

Gold accepts the glass and sips from it, then drinks a bigger gulp when he realizes he's pretty thirsty.

"Yeah, sorry if I scared you, yelling like that... I don't really like people yelling either. He just... scared me." The last part is spoken quietly, as Gold doesn't really like to admit that, but it is true. Seeing a stranger who knew him waiting for him outside his door was scary.

"How'd you know him anyway? You said something about calling him?" Gold asks. He doesn't listen to the radio a lot, so he hasn't put two and two together and connected Ken with the radio DJ

As soon as he accepted the glass, Ai sat down on the floor, folding her legs underneath her. She listened sympathetically.

"... I understand. You didn't know who he was, so he seemed like a bad person."

At the question, Ai blinked in surprise, not realizing she hadn't explained it. "Oh! Do you remember the time I asked to make a phone call and you gave me your PokeGear? I was calling Ken-san on his Radio Show!"

"Yeah. I mean, I guess he's probably okay, but I dunno him. He's weird," Gold says with his hands wrapped around the glass of water. "What does he even want from me? I'm not his real brother. He's got nothing to do with me."

"Oh, so that's what that was about," Gold says, connecting that confusing conversation from before to that information. "So he's the radio guy who talk about Pokemon in the mornings. You called his radio show and talked about the boss or ex-boss of Team Rocket?" Gold blinks. "Why?"

"I... was hoping to find Mewtwo or my papa... I thought maybe someone would know them and recognize them if I told the story," Ai admitted, looking down regretfully.

"I miss them, that's all."

Edited (Not Ai's favoured word.) 2023-07-13 18:22 (UTC)

"Oh," Gold says. He feels like if he'd listened properly to what Ai was saying earlier, this'd make more sense. But he remembers Ai mentioning Mewtwo before, and he figures him and Ai's papa have something to do with that Giovanni guy.

"Yeah, don't blame you for that. I miss my dad too." Gold takes another sip of water. "You know, I know this guy who's probably in Team Rocket. When I meet him again I'm gonna ask him about Mewtwo and your papa! He owes me anyway." Or Gold figures he owes him, at least, for being a stalker and telling Ken about him.

Ai's eyes brightened at the possibility, but then she shook her head with a frown. "If he's really in Team Rocket, are you sure you can trust him? Did he seem like a dangerous person? If you're not sure if he is or isn't, maybe it's better not to talk to him..."

But, Gold said something about him owing him?

"... are you two friends? Did you help him somehow?"

Maybe... if they were already friends, then, it could be okay!

"Yeah, he's probably dangerous, but we're chill," Gold shrugs casually, but then his face darkens. "Or at least I thought he was, but then he apparently told Ken where to find me. So that's why that guy owes me an explanation and some kinda apology for talking about me behind my back! Oh, but..." Gold pauses, thoughtful. "I guess he's friends with Ken too, so maybe he can ask for you."

"...How much do you trust Ken, anyway?" Gold asks quietly, glancing at the door, then looking at Ai. "Knowing he's friends with a possible Rocket guy, you still trust him? And do you trust the Rocket guy more, knowing he's friends with Ken?"

Yeah, Gold's still not entirely convinced about Ken, so he wants Ai's opinion, too. She's pretty smart, after all.

"I can't make decisions about someone I never met," Ai said with a frown. "But... Team Rocket's usually bad news. But I know not everyone associated with them is bad... my papa was, after all, and he's not bad... I think everyone can take a wrong turn in life, sometimes, so it's better to judge based on what they're doing now and what they're planning to do in the future, instead of focusing on their past.

"Ken-san seems... like he doesn't know any better. Sometimes, people who are very nice will be friends with people, even if they're mean or bad, because they're too nice to reject people or don't know any better. Or maybe he was just very desperate, like papa was... I don't know, Gold. But I think Ken-san has a good heart, he's just a little... awkward, shy, maybe..."

Gold listens to everything Ai says attentively, nodding. It makes sense. Ken does seem kind of... Well, naive, to put it nicely. He told him directly about Attila and how he told him where to find Gold, after all, like he thought that would go well. Maybe he's the kind of person who's so nice he doesn't understand that bad people exist.

"Yeah, I agree. Nobody's totally evil." Gold's glad Ai thinks that too. "You gotta judge people as people and not get stuck on what they used to do or what kinda team they belong to or whatever. I know that Rocket guy, Attila - or Buson, or whatever his real name is - and I'm pretty sure he's not dangerous to me. I dunno what his relationship with Ken is though."

Somehow, saying Ken's name feels strange in Gold's mouth, and he's not sure why. Maybe he's still uneasy about the guy suddenly showing up like he wants to be part of Gold's life.

"I dunno if Ken even knows that guy's in Team Rocket. I mean, he said he knows Team Rocket's scary, and told that story about them, but he's friends with that guy? Maybe you're right, and he just doesn't know better."

More reasons to have a talk with Attila, he supposes. If Ken made some kind of a desperate deal with Attila, like Ai's papa... Not that Gold cares what Ken does, though. He'll just protect him because Ai likes him, that's all.

“Then, it’s best to take it slowly, I think, and pay attention.”

Ai nodded.
“Maybe he didn’t know he was… or maybe there’s something else we don’t know. I think you’ll figure it out eventually, Gold..

With a yawn, Ai decided she’d take a nap right there on the floor and lay down on her side, curling up a bit, almost in a fetal position.

This had been quite the ordeal…

“Oh… should one of us stay with the guest?” Ai asked sleepily, eyes already shut. “Or do we wait for the Professor…?”

"Yeah... I guess that's all we can do, huh?" And Gold will get to the bottom of this.

"Oh, you're taking a nap? You want my pillow?" Gold asks, and sets his pillow down next to Ai without waiting for an answer. She can take it or not. It's warm enough she probably doesn't need a blanket though.

"I'll go keep an eye on him, you just nap right there," Gold says and heads for the door. "You need anything?" he asks, hand on the door handle.

Ohritori Vacation!

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[CW child death, traffic accident, vague references to religion]

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[Gold, baby... that's very poignant ;_;]

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