crouching_sin | [Text]

Really? That's a shame. Talking with him was always a pleasure.
I haven't received any of his Pokémon, but if I see one you'll be the first to know.

It's appreciated.

He's just that sort of person. He's generally pleasant to most people. He's been like that as long as I've known him.

He made many people's stays here easier with his pleasantness, that's for sure. How long have you known him?

I met him online about a year or so before he started high school... so two or three years before he came here. He ended up becoming friends with my cousin.

That's a decent start, for a friendship. Do you live close to each other, or is it a long-distance friendship?

I moved out when I went to university, but we both live in Tokyo. So reasonably close, though not exactly a half hour's ride from each other.

Close enough to see each other once in a while, distant enough that chance meetings are a pleasant surprise? Sounds nice.

It is. It's a good distance to live from family, I think. I don't mind them, but I don't want them on my doorstep when I'm trying to work.

That would ruin anyone's productivity. I'm sure they understand the need for a little space.

They did. And since I started working even while I was in university I had enough that I could make my own choice of where to live.

The joys of budding independence. Balancing work, education, friends and family without going insane. Though if all your friends are like him, insanity isn't that much of a risk.

That's debatable. And at home I haven't had much contact with people not involved in my project for... eight months at least? Something like that. I did make time to get out and walk around, though.

I'm not much of a 'friends' person.

Seriously? ...Don't overwork and isolate yourself once you return home from this vacation, at least. I've done that and after a while it feels terrible, 'friends' person or not.

No, I'll likely be on the run and hiding myself, given how things went in my version of events.

...That definitely counts as isolating yourself, unless it's going to be a group hiding thing.

I don't have much of a choice, honestly.

You don't even have the possibility of making yourself invaluable by helping powerful associates in a very public manner, making any attempt to arrest or restrain you political suicide?

In my version of events, no. When God is threatening to take away human free will if they don't comply, I doubt any sort of powerful government or other powerful body will want to stand against Him.

So I'll just have to enjoy my freedom here while I can. At least in Atsuro's version of events things went better.

...Doesn't sound like the sort of god a world should have, if he's that unreasonable. How did things go better for him, exactly?

My cousin chose something else to do with his newfound power than bow to a tyrant. Not the most ideal ending, in my opinion, but one that's workable.

I'm all for having more people refuse to bow to tyrants. Spares everyone a lot of pain in the long term.

Same for me. Even if it's difficult, I think it's worth it in the end.

Most things of any worth come with some difficulty. Which is to be expected, I suppose.

Exactly. I suppose it wouldn't be satisfying at all if they were easy.

Still, it's frustrating.

Especially if you put in all the work, but don't get all you were aiming for.

Edited 2015-09-01 16:05 (UTC)

It's not worth worrying about here, though, I suppose. Most of what I have to worry about is my Gardevoir pestering me about not sleeping.

If that's a common occurrence, maybe the Gardevoir's got a point there.

She does, but I've dealt with it for a while. I'll be fine.

Hopefully she'll agree. Don't Gardevoirs learn Hypnosis at some point?

Yes, but it's less sleep and more the dreams that are unpleasant.

...I don't suppose Dream Eater would help with that? Or maybe some sort of charm?

I already had a discussion with her about that. I refuse to make my Pokemon sick by making them use it repeatedly.

Wait, it can make your Pokémon sick? Really? Why do they use it in battle, then?

I don't think it's a problem in battle, but I'd think my level of nightmares might be a bit... hard to digest.

...That doesn't sound like the sort of digestion issue that could be fixed with medicine or a potion. What a shame.

His Stoutland and his Phanpy were in my box this morning.

So that's Cilk and Nalagiri accounted for... good. I've received his Arcanine, Porygon-Z, Golurk, Chandelure, and Zoroark.

You two must have been very close, for you to receive that many.

He was my student at home. We'd known each other for a number of years.

You must miss him a lot, then.

Not really. I know he'll be fine at home.

Fair enough. Still, when someone goes home after a long time, it can't be easy.

True. He has things to do at home, though.

I'm glad he can get to them, at least. That's one good thing that comes from going back, I guess.

I'm Serah, by the way.

That's true.

I'm Naoya.

It's nice to meet you, Naoya. How long have you been here?

I've been here since January. And yourself?

Since the beginning of May. It doesn't even feel like it's been almost four months.

Time does seem to fly in this place.

I'm not sure if that's really a good or a bad thing.

I don't really mind it. It makes it easier if you have something to occupy you.

What sort of thing do you do to keep yourself occupied?

I train. Work on programming challenges for myself. I work at a bakery. I've been exploring more of Goldenrod, because even though I've been here for months there's always something new.

Programming challenges? That's one I haven't heard a lot about here.

Are there computers in your world?

All over the place, actually. That's how the people in the bigger cities do their shopping.

Ah, I see. Some people who show up here have never seen computers before.

I was a freelance programmer back in my world. And I don't like the idea of my skills getting rusty, so I code... whatever I can. No complete programs, really, but enough to make sure I can still do what I need to do.

Edited 2015-09-02 02:11 (UTC)

Four years, holy hell. That's a long time for this place, if you ask me.

You going to be okay?

I'll be fine. Maybe after a drink or two.

Just one or two, huh? If we're measuring emotional states in alcohol, that doesn't sound so bad.

He'll be fine. He's going back to a better set of events than I would.

Glad to hear that, he seemed like a good kid. You guys're from the same place, then.

We are, but branching paths of the same timeline. Things happened differently for him.

I've run into that a few times. Weird problem to have, isn't it?

It is. It makes sense, but it is.

Makes perfect sense, sure. Gotta figure things can't go the same everywhere, with how many worlds there are.

Still makes for some damn confusing introductions.

Honestly it's too much to bother with for most people. Just 'we're from the same world' and address those things if and when they come up.

No kidding. I think if it ever comes up again, I'm just gonna shrug it off and say 'yeah well we're not trying to kill each other now so who cares'.

That should work just fine. As long as you can tolerate each other it shouldn't matter. Or keep to separate areas, whichever works.

Hey, I don't have a problem with most of the people back home. They want to start something, that's up to them.

I didn't want to assume that you were friends. Not everyone gets along well with the people that show up here.

I'm not usually the kind to hold a grudge. Hell, even Saber and I were enemies once.

No reason you can't get along with someone you're supposed to be fighting to the death.

[lancer...]

I am... depending on the grudge.

[Grudge champion 5500 years and running right here.]

But that's true. You never know when you're going to end up on the other side.

It's hard to predict things like that. Enemies, friends, people switch between the two without any warning sometimes. No need to burn bridges when you don't know if they'll switch back or not.

I know. There's some bridges that need to be burnt, though.

Sure, I can think of a couple of those myself.

Indeed.

... Maybe I'll upgrade that 'one or two' drink estimate to three or four. Any suggestions?

Ah, I remember him... He was quite kind. He'll be missed.

I wouldn't say four years is a short time, at least not... while you're young. That's longer than high school.

When you're his age, no. It's not a short time. I'm a bit older, though, so it's a much smaller chunk of my life.

This is very true; it's all in the perspective of the individual.

Were you two close?

He was my student at home, and one of my cousin's best friends.

Ah, I see. I'm sorry.

It's fine. He's got things to do at home.

Indeed. I imagine most of us do, though I hope his world isn't nearly as dangerous as some I've heard.

The crisis has been resolved there for now. It might come back, but he should be safe for a while.

That's relieving to hear, at least. That's so unsettling, though...

It's a problem, but there will be an answer. For now at least the peace can be enjoyed.

This is true. It's probably best if we enjoy the peace while we have it

Four years is impressive, as far as a stay in this place is concerned.

I don't suppose there's any word on his Pokemon? One of mine was friends with his Porygon, I know.

What's the longest you've heard of someone being here?

And his Porygon-Z? I have it. It's staying with my own Porygon for now.

Somewhere around five, generally. Though I'd say on average, any stay of longer than two years is what people tend to consider "long-term" here.

And it's good to hear it found its way to a home. I'll make sure to pass along the word.

I see. I wonder if there's any pattern to the length of stays here...

I picked up several of the others as well. None who quite trust me yet, but I have my Gardevoir attempting to play peacemaker. I never thought she'd be so handy, but she's surprised me.

Oh? Color me curious — what others were there, besides the Porygon?

An Arcanine, Golurk, Chandelure, and Zoroark.

How much luck is the Gardevoir having with the Zoroark?

Not a lot. She has trouble with my Dark types in general.

I had a feeling as much. It's interesting how a type advantage in battle sometimes translates into an advantage or disadvantage outside of it, too.

It doesn't surprise me. Aside from a few examples, a lot of demons aligned with one element or another don't get along very well.

Demons aligned with an element?

Fire, ice/water, wind, electricity, light, or dark. Many demons have skills that align to one or another. and then you have the pure elemental demons that represent one of those elements. For instance, I wouldn't put Tlaloc and Wendigo anywhere near each other.

Atsuro-san was one of the first people I spoke with when I first arrived. In a way, I guess it's a good thing he's gone home seeing as he's been gone so long.

As for his pokemon, I think I have one. A Clefairy... but she hasn't stopped crying since I took her out of the PC.

He has people at home who want to see him, after all.

Asterisk? Oh, good. She might do that for a bit... she was very attached to him.

Then he's definitely better off back home.

I think Asterisk found a friend in my cubone though. He seems to have calmed her down a bit.

From what I hear, they won't even have known he was gone, so things should work out.

That's good. Just giving her a little space to grieve might help, but if she's with another Pokemon that can understand that's even better.

I guess that's fine. Kind of strange why it happens anyway but that's pretty convenient, all things considered.

Though I'd guess you traveled with Atsuro-san if you happen to know his pokemon this well?

It is.

We did travel together. He was my student at home, so it made sense.

It does.

Thanks for letting me know about Asterisk. We'll try to take care of her. Anything else we should know about her though?

Not that I can think of. I don't know very much about her type.

Alright. Rest assured she's in good hands, though.

It's appreciated.

When do you think he left?

Today, I think. I called him, and I got a 'user not found' response.

I see. I didn't receive any of his Pokémon, but I hope they found good trainers.

I see. I managed to end up with five of them.

He must have placed a lot of trust in you.

He was my student at home.

So this much be rather rough on you then.

... Not as much as you might think. He has people who want to see him at home.

Edited 2015-08-29 00:56 (UTC)

Time has stopped in that world. It'll be like he never left. But you're still left behind.

[He can't help a small wince at her phrasing.]

It's better that I'm here. Things went differently for us.

Enemies?

Heh. Yes. Diverging timelines, where the person with the power to change the world had multiple options. He chose a... better path in Atsuro's version of events. Not ideal, but better. He chose... rather poorly in mine, aiding the greatest enemy humanity has.

I see. That sounds somewhat similar to what I went through. Or more like my sister. Though in the end... it's the same end.

... Oh?

[He'd like to hope those two timelines don't end up the same...]

I saw what was, and I saw what will happen. The end was the same in all timelines in the end. There is no happy end for my world.

A vision of the future? Interesting. But there's always a way to fight fate, even if it's long down the road.

It's what I've been doing. Something I tell everyone to.

Of course. Rolling over to die just isn't my style.

Those who do deserve what they get in the end.

[Or she snaps them out of it, like in the case of her friends.]

Well, you can't get payback by just sitting around.

People can be idiots. Some are content with doing nothing, accepting their 'fates' as if everything was set in stone. I don't pity them.

Some people don't know there's something better. I suppose those people can't be blamed as much, but those that do know... no. I don't pity them at all.

I've gotten lucky with my job that most people are understanding. I've only met one man adamant that I can't do anything to help him.

Unfortunately it's not the case that I've found, but I'm glad that it's going well at least somewhere.

I'm sure if you ask around, there's others in far worse situations than you're in. Or getting to be.

Wait, he's gone??

That's what I said, yes.

damn.
i was just talking with him too.

Heh, well. He's definitely the friendly sort.

Edited 2015-08-28 04:17 (UTC)

u ok?

I'll be fine. He couldn't stay here forever.

it can still hurt when that sorta thing happens

but if u say ur fine then i guess ur fine but im here if you ever wnant to talk

He's got things to do at home. I can deal with it.

what kinda things?

Like finishing school, for one.

....oh ya thats a thing thats important

In general, yes. It's advisable to finish it.

what kidn of shcool is it?

Ah, just high school. He'll be going into his last year.

so a normal school!! good for him o finally graduate then. what about you??

What do you mean, 'what about me'?

were you doing school or anything back home before everything went to shit?

I'd already graduated university and started working.

wow nice. at least you dont have to worry about missing schoolwork or anything then right?

Exactly. And I'd just finished my last project.

do you have any projects youre doing here now?

Off and on. I have some programs I'm vaguely mapping out. Nothing solid yet.

well if u need any help gimme a call!!! dunno what i could od but it would be somethikgn

It's appreciated.

[Kind of.]

we're friends eright?

I don't really do 'friends'.

i mean ok but weresitll friends

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