Searching Far and Wide

[intricate_engineer]

Glen was creating a prototype for a new gate design. It was meant to be affordable and provide quick transport between individual homes. She tests several objects and a rat and everything seems to be working.

She steps through. Instead of finding herself in the room next door, she finds herself standing on a sidewalk in an empty city. The buildings are tall and perfect, colorless with doorways far too tall for any human. The roads have no straight lines and twist in on themselves. There is no life or sound.
Glen tries to stay calm. She begins to walk along the road, randomly opening doors and exploring buildings that are as silent as the rest of the world.

She opens a door that she hopes will lead onto a roof and is instead met with warmth, and soft noise, and color.

Comments

[intricate_engineer]

"They're inside? I'm impressed. That's some advanced tech."

[the_very_best]

"Pokémon can be stored as information."

[intricate_engineer]

"Why are you carrying them with you? Are they your pets?"

[the_very_best]

"Uh... some people keep Pokémon as pets but mine are a field and battle team."

[intricate_engineer]

"I think I'm missing something. Can I see?"

[the_very_best]

"Sure." She tosses a ball to the ground. It pops open, releases a flash of red light, and returns to her hand; the light resolves into a unicorn with fire for its mane and tail. Bella reaches unhesitatingly into the fire mane and scritches.

[intricate_engineer]

"Can I?" Glen asks, reaching out her hand, but not yet touching the Pokemon.

[the_very_best]

"Avoid the fire, she doesn't know you yet, but she'll probably let you pet her nose."

[intricate_engineer]

Glen gently runs her hand down the Pokémon's nose.
"Would the fire burn me?"

[the_very_best]

"Yeah, it depends on whether she trusts you or not."

"Dash," says the fire unicorn, tolerating nosepetting.

[intricate_engineer]

"She can alter physics? Or maybe she's magic?"

[the_very_best]

"...she's a Rapidash... It's not conventional to call Pokémon abilities magic."

[intricate_engineer]

"Maybe not by your world's standards, but in most worlds that's not possible. You're world might be entirely unique. Are Pokémon generally loyal to humans?"

[the_very_best]

"No, you have to train them. And there's a limit per person how many you can be actively working with, tops out at six - you can get a little farther with some really tame ones or herd 'mon but for applications like mine it's six."

[intricate_engineer]

"What do you do with them?"

[the_very_best]

"Fend off wild ones. Compete in guild tournaments and stuff."

[intricate_engineer]

"Do wild ones attack frequently enough that it's a problem?"

[the_very_best]

"Yeah. You can go outside in a town without a 'mon if you have to but it's still not totally safe, they can't keep everything out and something can decide it doesn't like your face, so most everybody keeps at least one 'mon of their own. And if you leave a town you need at least one or two."

[intricate_engineer]

"Why do they attack? What happens if you can't defend yourself?"

[the_very_best]

"Uh, a lot of 'mon are just kind of naturally combative? And they're all stronger than people. By a lot. Even the little ones, even the ones without any attacks that don't involve physically flinging themselves at you. If one attacks you and you don't have your own Pokémon on hand and it doesn't turn out to be skittish and run away of its own accord you're probably gonna die."

[intricate_engineer]

"That doesn't make any sense. What possible advantage could their be for being that aggressive?"

[the_very_best]

"They get better at fighting if they do it a lot. It's kind of pointless for them to do it to humans but they fight in the wild all the time, if they didn't they'd lose out on territory and food and stuff."

[intricate_engineer]

"In the wild, does the loser usually die?"

[the_very_best]

"No, no, just gets knocked out for a while. Pokémon almost never actually kill each other unless it's one of the ones that eats another kind."

[intricate_engineer]

"Huh. I guess I can see how that would evolve, but it's very strange."