(no subject)

[lovelycharming]

Everybody enjoying another peaceful, carefree day in Ultern? Good, because there's a sparkle in the sky other than Ulternian sunshine and look, it's a bird! No, it's a plane! No, it's...

"TEAM ROCKET'S BLASTING OFF AGAAAAA—huh? Hey, wait a minute...! Jessie? Meowth?! Where is everybody?!"

Before James can get an answer, he'll be crash-landing in Ohritori! Face full of sand on Stardust Beach? Embarrassingly suspended from a palm tree or even an Exeggutor? Or taking a miserably full-clothed dip in the sea? (Brrr!)

((Is this going to be a repeat of Mairin landing on various ships and needing to be rescued multiple times—perhaps, fortunately, both Mairin and James have terrible luck and certainly can wind up in fixes more times than they can count... maybe he's under the impression he can just launch himself back into the sky and find his friends, who knows?! But he just keeps landing here... oof.))

Comments

[red_berry]

Red takes a casual step back before a guy lands in front of him on the beach. His Pikachu, Pika, winces and takes a step back as well. That sure looks like he got a mouth full of sand...

James, in front of you stands a tall, thin-as-a-stick young man who's staring down at you with absolutely no emotion on his face, saying nothing. What will you do?

[James is scared of him, go figure]

[lovelycharming]

He spat, feeling utterly disgusted. What an ungraceful, undignified, utterly unbecoming—

Oh, that is... that is a very, very tall man.

James, after delicately dabbing at his mouth with a handkerchief (which, honestly, looked comical after all the sand-sputtering), sat up and craned his neck to see the rest of the man. He looked a little bit like Ash, almost, but with straighter hair!

That's a... terribly cold expression. James felt a little bit frightened. Did his spitting offend him?!

"I'll, uh, just be... on my way, aha..."

Where's Jessie and Meowth when you need them?!

[Red sure does accidentally intimidate people!]

[red_berry]

Hum, that sure doesn't look fun. But this guy looks vaguely familiar. Has Red seen him somewhere? Oh well, if he forgot, it was probably not important.

Pika, however, recognizes him, and points at him with an exclamation.

("Hold on... That's one of those Rockets! The... kind of pathetic ones that kept popping up everywhere.") Pika deflates, this specific Rocket isn't really anything to be worried about.

"Hm," Red says, though it's unclear if he's replying to Pika or to James. He's still looking at James, at least.

If only Meowth was here, indeed...

[oh, good timing, learned I'll be starting work later because of Ramadan, so more time for tags! ^^]

[lovelycharming]

James felt the pressure steadily mount under that unnerving stare! Ah, then, came out... a Pikachu?!

Could it be the very same?!

"Might you be...?! Oh, are you that twerp we've been following all these years?! How long have I been up in the air?! Have you achieved your dreams?!"

Tearfully, he clasped his hands. I'm sorry, Red, it seems you've been mistaken for another...!

[It's a mutual mistaken identity!]

[red_berry]

Huh, somebody who knows Red? From a long time ago? That does make sense, people come from all over the worlds and time... Well, whoever this is, he sure seems like a kind person.

Has he achieved his dreams? Well, his dream of becoming Pokemon Champion, yes, but his current dream of organizing someone's wedding? No, it's still far away, unfortunately...

"Some," Red says with a shrug, then looks into the distance, perhaps wistfully. Or boredly, it's hard to tell from his face.

Pika watches, kind of in disbelief.

"(Wait, years? Have they really been following us ever since then...?") Something seems a little off about this!

[oh, nooo...]

[lovelycharming]

A kind person! He can be, he truly is at heart, but—

Ah, he's not so chatty as the boy from Pallet Town that he knew... well, to be fair, Ash was never very enthusiastic to interact with Team Rocket, to be fair...

"I'm sorry, did I touch on a sore spot—you don't have to talk about that if you don't want to... might I ask where this place is...?"

[red_berry]

Sore spot? Red doesn't know what gave James that impression, but he does give people the wrong impression often...

"Beach," Red replies. Pika slaps his leg with his tail lightly to get his attention.

("Not what he's talking about...") Pika says dryly.

"...Ah. Ultern," Red says. He can't understand Pika, but he gets the tone of voice well enough to notice his mistake.

[lovelycharming]

"... I've never heard of it, which region is this Ultern located in? Is that the name of this beach?" James ased cluelessly.

[red_berry]

"Ultern region. Stardust beach?" Red clarifies, then looks at Pika for confirmation. Pika nods, it is Stardust Beach.

[lovelycharming]

"... Stardust Beach. Ultern. Oh, none of these names mean anything to me!" James wailed. "Why is everything so confusing...?! Am I much older too?! How long has it been?!"

James crambled back to the water, hoping to see his reflection, but no...

"... do you happen to have a mirror?"

[red_berry]

Unfortunately, you're talking to the wrong person for a clear explanation. But if it's a mirror you want, Red's got you covered! He'll take out his phone, turn on the mirror app and crouch down to show James his beautiful face. And the mirror app too. Ba-dum-tss!

[lovelycharming]

"... that's a... very strange devi—oh! It's a camera?"

Naturally, James is very quickly over his confusion by the smart phone because he sees a camera and he must pose!

"Haha! I still look young and dashing! Either I aged quite gracefully for a... 35 or 45 year old, or, you're...?"

[red_berry]

Sure, it's a camera. Might as well take a photo then if he's posing, Red decides and takes a pic. Oh, that'd look nice with some Vulpix ears and sparkles, so he adds them to the photo without asking.

You're...? Ah, he's asking for a name. Red could've sworn this guy recognized him, but maybe he got the wrong idea.

"Red," Red says. "You?"

[Red, nooo…]

[lovelycharming]

“O-oh! So you’re not Ash from Pallet Town! My apologies, good sir, you looked like him and, well, that Pikachu… but that explains the very different ways you carry yourself! I was beginning to wonder what could have changed him so much…”

[Red does what he wants]

[red_berry]

Ash from Pallet Town? Huh, so it's somebody from the same town as Red. He did meet a guy named Ash who had a Pikachu, but did he look like Red? No, not at all, not in Red's opinion. Can't be him then.

"Hmm," is all Red says as he adds some more sparkles and a filter to the photo he took and then shows it to James.

[James has more vanity than common sense, so no permission needed!!]

[lovelycharming]

Fortunately for Red, James is very vain and proud of his looks! He peers closely into the picture, eyes wide, blinks twice, then bursts into a big smile.

"I look cuter! However did you do that?! Is it photomanipulation, special effects?"

[‹- guy who definitely knew exactly what he was doing ._.*]

[red_berry]

"Skills," Red says with a proud expression. Which is to say, his usual face but with a single sparkle.

[VS beauty before duty James]

[lovelycharming]

"Well, then, you simply must teach me your skills, o wise master!!"

Evidently, James was very easily distracted from his predicament by the ever important goal of looking good.

[red_berry]

Well then! Red will show James how the app he's using works with no explanations, just examples! Unfortunately the mun knows nothing about this so this will have to be handwaved ^^;

Pika watches from the sidelines, wondering how they keep meeting weird people like this.

[lovelycharming]

He's a little quiet, but James likes Red very much!

James would like to insist he's not weird, he's just a free spirit with a great sense of style!

"Thank you, this is amazing! It's not hard to get a hang of, either... I should look into this more, I wonder how all of this works..."

(Someday, James will be quite good at hacking, but for now... he's just curious about technology!)

[red_berry]

Red's happy to help! Oh, and now that he's got his phone out, he might as well communicate using it. He types his response and shows it to James.

"u shud get a phone 2!! then u can do that urself ^o^ whats ur name btw???"

[lovelycharming]

Oh! James wasn't expecting chatspeak.... or bubbly kaomoji!

"It's James! My name is James. It's nice to meet you, Red! I'm sorry I didn't properly introduce myself earlier..."

James scratched the back of his neck shyly, blushing a bit in embarrassment.

[Red's mind goes places... XD]

[red_berry]

"nice 2 meet u 2 james!! its ok, u were busy eating sand XDD"

Red notes the blushing. Hm, hold on, isn't this almost like a meet cute straight out of a romantic movie? After Red prayed for a boyfriend on palentine's day, a guy wearing all white like a prince falls out of the sky right in front of him, and they get along well, and James doesn't seem turned off by Red's lack of speaking...

It's a shame James isn't really Red's type. Oh well! Maybe next time a hot guy will fall out of the sky.

"do u think anybody else will fall from the sky??? *_*"

[James is fortunately oblivious...]

[lovelycharming]

"Please don't remind me!" James said with a pout.

That's fair, Red isn't really James' type either! If he compared him to a prince outloud, he might not take it well, like the time a young girl thought he was her knight in shining armor... but as it stands, Red hasn't mentioned anything about marriage (he's gamophobic!) or dropped the dreaded "f" word (fiance!) that would trigger flashbacks, so James is happily oblivious.

"Ah, I hope it'll be Jessie or Meowth... or even Wobbuffet! Not that I'm hoping they'll fall like I did, it's just that we usually fall together."

[red_berry]

Red huffs out a small laugh.

He has no reason to talk about weddings or princes to James right now, so we're safe!

"r those ur friends? sux if u got separated!! esp if theyre not in ultern... :// but anyway tell me about them!!!"

Red doesn't remember Jesse or Meowth, but he's interested in hearing more about James' Pokemon friends! And since "Jesse" can be a male name, he's holding onto hope...

(Pika, meanwhile, does remember a talking Meowth! That guy sure wanted to impress Giovanni... It's good to hear at least another world's versions of them seem to be doing all right.)