farawayplace | intro post 8)

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intro post 8)

[ A lone figure can be seen walking up the western beach of Ohritori, past Banyan Labs and towards Turnbloom, carrying a backpack and dressed warmly (beanie, turtleneck, cargo pants, gloves and boots) despite the tropical weather. They seem to be talking to themself, looking around with jerky, birdlike head movements, and poking at a classic Pokégear on their left arm. ]

"Now ain't this a pickle. Don't think I stumbled into weirdspace, don't think I'd be eligible to bubble up twice in a lifetime, but if this beach is in INDIGO I'll eat my hat. And that means... drat. The POKéGEAR's no use either. 'Area unknown'? Come on. It's not even doing anything interesting."

[ They over-enunciate the words "Indigo" and "Pokégear", as if each proper noun were its own sentence. ]

"Well! Nothing for it! Guess I'll hoof it 'til I meet someone to ask for directions."

[ With that, they start whistling a tune and continue on their way... ]

((OOC: Heh, been a long time since I wrote this character... or did LJRP at all, for that matter. But I saw advert posts about Faraway Place and decided I might as well dip my feet back in. Hi all! ))

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"Ah, I see," Umbar nods. "Though I can't say I've ever seen the appeal in pockets. My sleeves fit everything I've ever needed to carry." He shows off the sleeves of his kimono. The openings of the sleeves are mostly sewn shut, leaving a comfortable-sized sleeve opening, and a big pocket of sorts inside the sleeve.

Umbar is unphased by the strength of the handshake, just smiling. He raises an eyebrow at the comment about covering up, in a way that subtly implies something, but says nothing, smile widening a little. He'd be tempted to crack a joke if Gold wasn't there.

The lock clicks open, and Gold opens the door.

"Alright, come on in!" he says, not bothering to hold the door open for the others, so Umbar grabs the door and holds it open for Mandy. "Let's go talk in my room!" Gold calls out as he's taking his shoes off at the entrance.

The house really looks just like an ordinary home from the inside too. No signs of a lab are seen around the path Gold leads Mandy through. He heads up the stairs, and to a small-ish bedroom, where he sets his backbag on the bed. Basically everything in the room was there before he moved in: a bed, a closet and bookshelves, and a desk with a chair, all mostly empty. There's a view of the ocean out of the window, and a potted plant at the windowsill. There are some stickers attached here and there as decorations, but none of them are Gold's. Though Gold called it his room, he doesn't quite think of it as anything but a space he's borrowing, yet.

"Sit down wherever, I guess," Gold says. Him and Umbar both sit down on the bed, though, so the chair is basically the only option left. "And, um... I guess you can tell us what's up now?" He's starting to get a little nervous now, not knowing what it is Mandy's about to explain, but his face just shows neutral curiosity.

"Ah! Clever. Guess the old days had their own solutions to that problem."

[ Mandy follows them in, unperturbed by the homeyness of the space. After all, there's only some Professors who would strew their living spaces with science fair projects. If anything, they're more interested in seeing what a "human dwelling" looks like in general - what people usually put there, and what it implies about what they do when they're home. Once inside Gold's room, they sit down on the chair, look out the window at the coast, and take a deep breath to steady themself. In, out. ]

"Alright.

"I've thought about this a bit. You already know the parts I was most scared of. GOLD, you were right when you guessed I was the reason the TM thing happened. And UMBAR, sir, I think you figured out a while back that I'm a POKéMON in disguise. So mostly I wanna get everyone on the same page, maybe fill in some context, and... explain why I'm so nervous about anyone knowing those things.

"When you fished out your POKéDEX and it had that error on it, I told you I'd seen that problem before, or a problem like it. That it happens when it'd try to scan something that it thought was a POKéMON, but that it couldn't interpret as a POKéMON. Later, I floated the idea that the extra copies of that TM in your bag, mighta been caused by the same thing as the error. Now, all that was true; I was only fibbing about why all that would happen."

"The real reason's this: that POKéDEX of yours detected me, too, and tried to include me in the scan. And, well, under these clothes...

[ Mandy rolls up the right sleeve of their shirt, exposing the arm below, and two things become immediately clear. ]

[ First: up until now, the human parts of Mandy that Gold and Umbar have been seeing - the face, the body structure - were never precisely the shape they appeared. It was always some more complicated, twistier, multilayered shape, that just so happens to overlap into the image of a human face and the outline of a human body. It just isn't noticeable unless you can also see a part of them – like their exposed arm, for example, now revealed from under their turtleneck – where the overlapping purple and tan and black didn't align quite right, letting the gaps between the multiple layers peek through. ]

[ Second: Mandy is quite a bit bigger than they looked. Even if only glimpses are visible, between the stacked-up layers, it's enough to give the impression of a ten-foot-tall creature, folded back on itself into a six-foot-tall space. As if their right arm was really just the top part of a huge, Aerodactyl-like wing, which had – up until now – been impossibly contained within a couple inches diameter of sleeve. ]

[ After giving Gold and Umbar enough time to get the picture – and regain their composure if necessary – Mandy rolls their sleeve back down, and with their arm hidden, the optical illusion takes effect again and Mandy is back to looking pretty much human. They chuckle as they continue. ]

"...you can see why a POKéDEX might get a bit tripped up on scanning that. In fact, to put it simple, it gets so confused about how to write its observations into its memory, that it ends up writing into your backpack instead! And - the same as a PORYGON turning from a computer file into a physical creature - the data your POKéDEX tries to write to your backpack turns into... well, about a hundred copies of something else you've got in there."

Edited 2022-11-05 18:10 (UTC)

[ Mandy sighs, and then continues. ]

"Now, all that puts me in a bit of a pickle. I don't want people chasing after me, to use me as a bargain brand JIRACHI; if I'm handing out help, I want it to be on my own terms. And that'd get a lot harder if someone figures out they can toss an ULTRA BALL at me and keep me around for whenever they like. I'm no battler, so I can't really defend myself unless I get a lucky shot. And... well I lived in CELADON. I know how ROCKETs do things. I'd be a juicy target for that kinda guy, if they knew.

"But now... now you know. So what can I do, but trust you, and hope you'll be willing to keep the secret? Not everything, of course. We can say that we met, and that you told me about the region, and stuff. That you were excited to show me your POKéDEX, since I was interested in that kinda thing. We can mention UMBAR, or leave him out, whichever you like. If you're willing, I think it'd even be fair to say that we parted as friends... or we can stay strangers, if you'd prefer that. But the error you saw on that POKéDEX, and where you got those extra TMs from, and the fact that I wasn't just another human... any one of those, if the wrong person heard about it, might be enough for them to figure out what's up.

"So... now that I'm at your mercy... please. Promise me they won't hear about it."

Gold and Umbar listen to the initial explanation with no interruptions, nodding along. But when Mandy unrolls their sleeve, their eyes turn wide. Gold leans back a bit on instinct, while Umbar leans closer to try and see better, to understand what it is he's seeing. After the first shock, Gold leans closer too, awed.

"Whoa..." he says, tilting his head right, then left, to see from different angles. "That's so weird! I thought you'd have like, a scary secret or something but that's so cool! Like, super cool!" The way he says 'weird' sounds like a big compliment.

"It's like a distortion in reality," Umbar whispers. He's heard of Distortion World before, and he's heard of Pokemon - humans, even, at times - who seem so otherworldly their existence breaks the rules of reality, but this is his first time seeing something like that up close. It was as if Mandy were made out of distortion themself. Unimaginable, before this moment.

The way Mandy explains the glitch that caused the items to multiply has Gold's eyes kind of glazing over, but he's nodding along despite not really getting it. So it's a mystery power, he thinks. Umbar doesn't get it any more than Gold, but he thinks about how marvellous it is, for someone to see the world in a completely different way than others, to look at things unimaginable to Umbar and explain them like they're simple physics with a logical explanation. It makes him feel like the world is so much bigger than he ever thought, even though he's lived such a long time. He finds himself smiling fondly.

"Of course I won't tell!" Gold says almost as soon as Mandy's finished talking. "If it's something that needs to be secret, I won't snitch to anyone! Whether it's Rockets, cops, or even my friends! And if somebody's suspecting you, I'll vouch for you! I mean, it's important, after all!" He smiles with determination.

Umbar nods with a bit of a laugh, looking at Gold. "I wouldn't expect anything less," he says, then turns to Mandy. "Naturally, your secret is safe with me, as well. We simply happened to befriend another human, who was interested in Gold's Pokedex, and came over to the house to examine it closer. That's all that happened today. Right?"

"Yep!" Gold says with a nod. "And I got those TMs back home in Johto! They fell off a truck!" He gives Mandy a thumbs-up.

[ A wave of relief crashes over Mandy. Gold and Umbar... it's not just that they agreed to keep all this under wraps. It's that they're both still interested. Still friendly! Gold thought it was cool! Umbar was leaning in, wanting to learn more! Was it luck, or fate? How many years had Mandy wasted, slow-pedaling this? ]

"Thank you. Thank you both. I'm... mighty grateful. It's funny, but after all this time being scared of who knows... knowing that you two do feels like a relief, somehow. I always worried that if someone found out, I'd be on the run for life. Or at least 'til I could start over someplace far enough away. Havin' someone who I could maybe actually talk to about stuff if anything happened..."

[ Mandy shakes their head. ]

"It's quite a difference, I'll say that.

"...say, GOLD, do you have a phone number? I was plannin' to head up the road to the nearest town, but it might be nice to stay in touch, and this old POKéGEAR seems to be getting a cell signal despite everything."

Edited 2022-11-06 00:03 (UTC)

"Yeah, I get it," Gold says, growing somber for a moment. "It's a big relief. It almost feels like it's too good to be true, but it feels lighter once you've said it. ...But even after that, it's still scary to imagine telling it to anybody else." He's thinking of his own experiences. It might not be something like Mandy's secret, but he knows the feeling. Umbar sets a hand on Gold's shoulder.

"There's no necessity to tell a secret to more people, you know," Umbar says, mostly to Gold. "Just a few is enough, as long as they're people you can talk to. And..." He glances at Mandy. "I'm always ready to talk, or just listen, if needed."

Gold nods. He then perks up when Mandy asks about his phone number.

"Yeah, I've got a Pokegear!" he says, then digs it out of his pocket. He doesn't usually keep it attached to his wrist, since he needs it so infrequently. He checks how many numbers he's got saved. "Umm... I've got room for two more phone numbers. Oh, hey, can you put more room for numbers in this?" Gold's starting to think Mandy's basically a super machine whiz who can do anything at all.

[ Mandy bends over to peer at the Pokégear's screen. These are less their specialty than 'dexes are, but it's still Indigo-area trainer electronics – from the right era, even – so they know at least some stuff about how the devices work. ]

"Hm. It's possible, but we'd need the right supplies first. At least in the world I remember, SILPH CO. made a memory expansion card for their POKéGEAR a couple years after it came out. That's not the kind of thing you can make from scratch without a big factory, though, so we'd have to find one that DRIFTed here - either a working one, or a few broken ones to cobble together a working one from the spare parts. Alternatively... well, there's another method I sometimes use to source hard-to-find parts... but it still comes down to having the right tools on hand to make that happen.

"Tell you what. Lemme get myself set up in the nearest decent-sized town, and I'll get in touch once I've had a chance to look around for what we'd need."

Edited 2022-11-06 19:48 (UTC)

"So basically, you can! That's awesome," Gold says, as he's exchanging numbers with Mandy (however that works with Pokegears). "I guess you should go to Turnbloom City then! It's got a Market for all kindsa shops. You could set up shop there. And I think people who drift here usually show up there first?" He shrugs. "I dunno if that's true or if it just feels like it. Anyway, I think you probably find the most stuff there."

"I'm looking forward to seeing your shop estabilished," Umbar says. "Though I have been wondering, how do you work with Pokedexes if they, er, do that around you? I hope that isn't rude to ask."

"TURNBLOOM CITY, got it. Is that the town up the road from here, to the north? I met someone else while I was walking, who said that was the way back to civilization, but I imagine you've got a few towns around here. No way to know if it was that one."

[ Mandy enters some notes into their own Pokégear. They'd have to scout out exactly where the Market is; it'd be the obvious place to set up in the short term, but they always preferred someplace on the edge of town, if possible, so that they could dabble in wild business after hours. They look up from their notes when Umbar chimes in. ]

"Well, keep in mind that GOLD's POKéDEX was set up a bit differently from the ones I'm used to. Back home, you had to aim them a little, and they ruled out anything that was actually touching the device. I've never managed to scan myself with one, even when I tried. I did get scanned accidentally once or twice, but it was always from broken customer devices where some fault was making them scan nonstop; it was easy enough to pass off errors as a side effect of the problem they already knew about... and if they discovered their new items later on, they didn't have any reason to link it back to me.

"But that does mean I'll have to be a bit more careful, now that I know POKéDEXes might be floating around which were built different. I'll just have to think of a cover story ahead of time. Maybe get some decoy object for the shelf behind me - something like those maneki-MEOWTH statues, which wouldn't sound too crazy to blame for a POKéDEX trying and failing to scan it."

Edited 2022-11-07 07:42 (UTC)

"Yeah, it's to the north," Gold says. He's no good at navigating, but he does know where north is on the maps. "And there's another town more to the north too. I dunno if there's any other ones on the island, but I guess there's more on the mainland." Not that Gold knows anything about the Ultern Region outside Ohritori Island.

Umbar listens to the explanation. Though he doesn't get technology, Pokedexes are something he's seen enough that he can somewhat understand what Mandy's saying. Dealing with broken Pokedexes is probably the best way to hide Pokedex errors caused by your presence, now that he thinks about it.

"You can't scan yourself when holding the Pokedex? Hmm, I suppose that makes sense," he says. Privately, he now wants to try and scan himself once Mandy's no longer close enough to be detected by the Pokedex.

"Ah, I'm glad meeting us has brought some benefit," Umbar says teasingly. "Knowing is half the battle, as they say. Ah, besides Maneki-Meowths, perhaps you could get decorations featuring those... man-made Pokemon. The little duckies. I think they'd be fitting. What were they called again?" He looks at Gold.

"How should I know?" Gold says.

Gold and Umbar look at each other, then at Mandy, hoping they would know the answer.

[ Mandy scratches their head. Man-made ducks? Like those rubber Psyduck toys? But why would that have to do with glitches? They wrack their brain for a moment, trying to remember what duck Pokémon there are. And what did he mean by "man-made"? Unless... ]

[ All at once, they realize what Umbar was trying to say, and smack their forehead with a chuckle. ]

"Oh! PORYGON? There's an idea! Appropriate. I could do a lot worse for a mascot. Maybe a PORYGON-Z - lean on the idea of it being a friendly place for devices that aren't behaving quite normal!"

[ They chuckle again, and rise to their feet. ]

"Well! With that thought, I should probably get going. Again, awful grateful to have met the both of you, even if things got weird there for a bit. I'll be sure to keep in touch!"

"That's the one," Umbar snaps his fingers. He wouldn't even know about the Porygon family if it wasn't for that incident in Hisui back in the days when a bunch of strange Pokemon appeared through time-space distortions. When Mandy took so long to remember it, Umbar was starting to worry it hadn't been created yet. Good to know he didn't accidentally break the timeline or anything.

"Oh!" Gold jumps to his feet. "I'll lead you out!" When Umbar moves to stand up, Gold tells him "No, you wait here. I still wanna chat with you when you're like that!"

"Oh, very well then," Umbar chuckles, and waves to Mandy. "Good luck with your work, and I hope to see you around!"

And with that, Gold leads Mandy back out of the house, the same way they came in. He pauses in the doorway, holding the door open.

"Um, I still feel kinda bad about knowing your secret, so, maybe next time I'll tell you a secret about me so we're even!" He then pauses awkwardly, not sure what else to say here, so he ends up just saying "Bye!" and closing the door, whether Mandy was responding or not. Sorry, Mandy.

((ooc: since the thread seems to be ending i wanna say this was a lot of fun and i hope we can thread again! mandy's a really neat character concept! and it was fun having umbar interacting with them like that))

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