islandshore | 67

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67 - video;

[It's late at night when Riku turns on the feed. Judging by the starlight surrounding him he's outdoors. Lights from the surrounding cityscape shimmer from afar. The camera hovers behind him as he rests along the edge of a roof.

It hovers closer, and he finally turns around, gaze distant despite the camera's close proximity.]

You ever stop to wonder about our place in this world?

[Why, yes, it's one of those messages.]

I mean, think about it. We're dragged from our homes, dropped here and expected to play by their rules. And sure, some of us are successful. We've had businesses sprout up from nothing, helped fight off giant monsters, been invited to proms...

Still, we're outsiders, and sooner or later, we might disappear, and all the work we do here gets left behind.

[He looks up, sighing softly.]

It just got me thinking... What do the locals think about us? Do we count as citizens, even though we aren't part of the world? And how much do they really know about us in the first place?

[Heh.]

But maybe I'm over thinking it. I mean, this is a world that somehow manages to sustain itself even without an obvious education, limited career paths, and a surprising amount of pacifism in the face of crime. Community service as catchall punishment's kinda light, after all...

[Leaning back, Riku shrugs.]

I don't know. What are your guys' thoughts? I've got time to kill.

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Honestly, as simple as things are here, the people in this place adapt to things hella quickly.

And when you think about it, it kinda makes sense.

Like, sure, my out-of-town-ness comes up in conversation sometimes when I'm out and about, and people are interested, but like. In the background there'll be a rogue Tentacruel chasing people off the beach on the news. Or someone's Kadabra accidentally teleporting halfway through a brick wall and needing a whole team of Machokes to delicately chip it back out.

The people here are used to weird shit and I think by this point, people like us popping up is just... par for the course. A weird thing amongst five billion other weird things that everyone is just used to now.

Edited 2016-03-24 18:38 (UTC)

[Hmm. That's... an interesting outlook. In hindsight, he should've taken it into account. This world is weird, and after a certain amount of time, that weirdness ends up losing its novelty.

Plus, it's always been a part of the place.]

And I guess after so many years of random strangers popping up, they've just come to accept it. It seems to happen in intervals, too. At least a few times a month. Then there's those crazy weekends that happen twice of year, like clockwork...

Makes you wonder what it'd take to really shake them. Not that I want to.

Not a lot, probably.

I mean, those weird weekends always throw them for a loop, but like, to be fair, they throw everybody for a loop.

You know what the funniest thing is, actually?

Usually when my being an otherworlder does come up, people are surprised. Like, they'll say stuff like how I fit right in or they'd never be able to tell if I hadn't said anything. One person even told me I had a Goldenrod accent and asked if I was joking when I said I was one of the people who came from a different world.

I mean, that was at a bar and the guy was almost definitely drunk, but you see what I mean.

They definitely notice when someone first shows up and is freaking out, but like... once we pick up the customs and kinda settle in...

_{[She shrugs a bit.]}

You've been here at least as long as I have, so maybe we're just extra settled in, but.

...Man, I didn't even realize there was a Goldenrod accent.

[Maybe he needs to pay more attention to the nuances of the local culture. Maybe then he'd catch on. It's not really something he'd considered up until this moment, with Ecruteak as the most blatantly cultural place.]

Wonder if part of it's because we're forced to adapt to their ways. We lose powers, weapons, vehicles, everything-- all we can really rely on are our Pokémon, just like them.

Well, mostly. The cops seem to get around just fine, but I guess cars aren't very practical when you're trying to protect local ecosystems.

Neither did I, but this town kind of has been my go-to home base whenever I'm not traveling.

But yeah.

When you get right down to it... aside from not having been born here, there's not a whole lot that sets us apart. We train our Pokemon, we spend money on food and board, we take jobs here and there. Sure, some of the cultural things are a little... weird, but it's not like it's not that way in most places.

I'm pretty sure if I went to... I don't know, Russia or something, I'd be pretty confused, too.

Seems like that's the case for most people. Kinda funny, to be honest. You don't see nearly as many people making Olivine their home base, or Saffron, or even Violet City.

But I guess Goldenrod is in the middle of everything, and it's got more going for it than some of the other cities.

[That, and the hardships of adventures aren't for everyone. Some people are probably happy settling down and living an easygoing life.]

Heh, but you've got a good outlook. To be honest, I've been so stuck on the differences between us that I guess I haven't looked deeper. I keep getting caught up on the lack of weapons, the lack of cars, the way they handle serious threats... and I guess that's not fair of me. I mean, I'm the outsider, not them.

I've spent a fair amount of time in Olivine and Saffron. They're pretty nice, to be honest. Not bad places to settle down.

But yeah. Something about Goldenrod. Maybe it's just got the best of both-- right on the ocean, like Olivine, but with that real big-city feel, like Saffron. I dunno. It just feels like home, y'know?

_{[Truth be told, she's spent a lot of time in Violet, as well, but fuck that place. She hates Violet City.]

[She can't help but chuckle a little at Riku's conclusion, though.]}

Heh, yeah, well I mean... I won't lie. I don't really like how they handle things here, either-- especially the cops. But the thing is, I didn't like cops back home, and they weren't particularly effective about the things that mattered, either.. So really, how different is it?

Geez, and how bad were they by comparison?

[The cops, that is. Given how peaceful Destiny Islands is, it's always... interesting to hear about problematic law enforcement.]

Not gonna lie, the view from Goldenrod's rooftops is pretty sweet, but I feel like if I lived there, it'd lose its novelty. Some places are better in small doses, you know?

Just as useless on the important things, but a hell of a lot better at hurting people who didn't do anything wrong.

_{[She may have grown up a lot since her days as a needlessly-rebellious delinquent, but she's never forgotten having to watch her own father being treated like a criminal for protecting her from a home invader.]}

I get what you mean-- there's definitely times I get that old wanderlust. But I never really had a solid place to call home before, and I guess this city is kinda the closest thing to it I've found so far.

...Great. We talking guns? Batons? False accusations?

[He's not an expert in law enforcement, but he's genre savvy enough to take a few guesses. Helps that he liked reading a lot back home, and suspenseful stories tended to grab him in a vice.]

Heh, guess that's Celadon for me. Not sure why I chose to set up shop there, to tell you the truth, but it's nice to have a home base between aimless flights around Kanto.

A lot of the latter, with some fists thrown in.

_{[It probably wasn't quite as violent as she remembers it being, actually. But any terrified four-year-old watching her daddy get stuffed into the back of a police car after getting handcuffed isn't about to be reasonable and down-to-earth about it.]}

But yeah, probably.

I've never been to Celadon, though.

It's... mmm, west of Saffron, isn't it?

_{[She knows Johto a lot better than she knows Kanto...]}

Great. They just gotta take it to the extreme, huh?

[He should be grateful he's never crossed a police officer. Even on the chance that the cops here are tamer, it hardly sounds like a pleasant experience.]

Yep, just a short trip west. Two days on foot, couple hours if you fly. Saffron's kinda stuck between a couple of cities, so it's a pretty convenient spot for the trains.

_{[Heather's grudge against the police runs deep. Even aside from the incident in her childhood, they'd never done her any favors when it came to dealing with all the horrors of Silent Hill.]}

I'll have to pay it a visit sometime, whenever I do wind up going over to Kanto next-- I guess I gotta at some point, now that I've gotten all the Johto badges.

I'm amazed you've held off for this long. I mean, there's so much out there to explore, and after a while, Johto becomes kinda... predictable, I guess.

[He shrugs his shoulders.]

But maybe that's just my wanderlust talking. It's pretty dumb. There's two huge regions to explore, and I still want more.

Aheheh, yeeeaaah... I had other shit going on, I guess.

It's not dumb, though.

Some people just can't put down roots, they gotta keep moving.

I think maybe I'm just not one of those people, or at least not all the time.

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67 - video;

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[Video] sorry about the delay-- was at a con this past week

[Video] NO WORRIES I know how cons can be! XD

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