ohmyarceus | SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER TEST DRIVE MEME

_{[The jab makes Bertolt jump, but it's more out of surprise than from any aches. It even gets him to gawk for a minute, then he quickly clears it with a gentle shake of his head.

Annie always has been a mystery to him.]}

I've had a few of mine get nippy, but I haven't had too much trouble with wild ones.

_{[Most of his injuries from his own Pokemon have been from young ones, or ones who didn't know their own strength. Bertolt couldn't exactly fault them for things like that.]}

Usually, though I've got mine with me most of the time. A-And I haven't had to worry about anyone snooping through my stuff, so we'd be okay I think.

[ IIt's the gawking that she uses as a measure to guess his bruising isn't that bad. Therefore, there will be no mercy.

She proceeds to act like none of that happened. She has the answer she was looking for, and he's fine. Minus all the things which are not actually fine, so... physically sound. Who knows what to do about the rest. ]

Is that really the primary goal around here? Raising little monsters?

[ Her tone is supremely dry, because if that's the case, aren't they technically well suited for it. It's the one and only parenting model she knows, after all. You were born for this mission. Raising little monsters, then telling them to come back home. ]

You think. [ She says this like she's a breath away from a sigh; then she does sigh, tapping her thumb on the screen. She looks up, frowning. ] Is it possible to have any of these registered to someone else?

[ ............................. she grimaces. ]

Or would you say people are helpful enough here that they'd send messages to friends when you've managed to misplace your [ she hefts the device ] means of contacting them otherwise?

[ Please forgive someone who has had zero chill time. ]

That's what I've been doing. And... It's a little embarrassing to say, but I've also been doing a lot of cooking. Baking, in particular.

_{[Basically he's been trying to do everything he never would've gotten to do back in their world. He gets a chance to live, and while Bertolt doesn't know if the Curse of Ymir applies here, it's something he'll deal with when he gets there. He's almost nineteen by the standards of this world, so he still has... What, five years? Give or take?

He'll cross that bridge when he gets closer.]}

I think they'd turn it in to the police or one of the Pokecenters before doing that, and then they'd either send us a new one or contact us.

_{[His brows furrow as he thinks about it and finds himself worrying at his lower lip. as he thinks.]} I don't believe we'd have to worry about any of the locals stealing them from us at the very least.

[ If they're lucky enough to be left here for a standard lifetime, maybe being stripped of their powers will have already broken the curse. If not, it's still more time than... Bertolt had. Probably than any of them had.

She blinks, but doesn't deride what he's been doing. It sounds normal. Normal is a luxury, and for that much, she's glad if he finds pleasure in these things. Facing down the question of What To Do is something she's never had to do in this context: what to do without titan shifting, without the stupidity of outside ideals guiding her way. Just a promise to get home alive, and no way to deliver on or guarantee it.

So, monster raising. ]

No, it's not that. [ She gives a small shake of her head because she agrees, it's not something she's expressly worried about. ] I mean asking a local to send a message to each other through their own thing.

[ She patiently stares up at Bertolt sideways. Pretending they'd lost their device, needing to send a message, and sending a short one out. Why is she even concerned with subterfuge. She sits on most what she learns unless it's relevant to what's going on, anyway, and what in the world can she learn here that's useful to anyone or anything? ]

It's just a thought. If needed.

O-Oh, uh...

_{[Bertolt stares at the Pokegear with a slightly dumbfounded expression, and it's clearly something he's never thought about before. That's... Actually ingenious and he can't help the slightly bashful smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.]}

I... suppose? I can't see why they wouldn't refuse. They've all been incredibly helpful for the most part so they might not think twice about that. That's really smart, Annie.

_{[They've offered the off-worlders places to stay in their homes before in a pinch, so they might not bat an eye if they were asked to make a quick emergency call or send a message to someone.]}

T-There's also an anonymous feature too on the public network if all else fails, but I haven't tried it on someone's mailbox yet.

... And you've been here two years?

[ She's giving him the flattest stare, which isn't fair, but also, she's not impressed. There might be no need for these measures, but having the knowledge of what one might need just in case seems so elementary she's just...

... boggled. Like the whole damn world they're in boggles her, aside from sending young kids out on the road unattended. That was the most familiar part of it all. She kind of glosses over terminology, grasping what she hopes is the overall idea of what he's saying. ]

An anonymous feature meaning you tell the public who can see this network a message without your name attached, which would only be helpful if... [ here she pointedly looks up at him again ] ... you had a code to signal it as significant to another party.

Just about.

_{[Which is something he'd like to see increase at this point - if he doesn't have anything back home, this may as well be Bertolt's new one. He could live a free life and while his father, Reiner, and the other warriors aren't here, it's still a life.]}

We could use a word, but we might want to use something that either nobody would know about, or would be really common but also something we know to look out for. _{[What that could be, he doesn't know.]} After that we could schedule a meeting or slip away to talk over these.

[ He'd been here two years and hadn't thought of this? She wishes that told her more about how necessary such measures were, but with Bertolt (and Reiner), she can't make that assumption. That people have lives here has... been presenting evidence, clearly, but that's another thing she's not yet fully absorbed. (Good on you, Bertolt. Annie has no real idea how to manage claiming a life of her own, but it's good that he has, and does. Important, even. Despite what they are, and everything they've done.)

Staring back down at her Pokedex, she narrows her eyes, then sighs. ]

I've been craving berry pie.

[ She looks up at him and quirks up an eyebrow. No, she is not saying she actually is craving berry pie. ]

Or any other food here or from home that makes sense. People have cravings all the time.

I've been trying my hand at a chocolate lingonberry one.

_{[At first he's serious, but as the last word leaves his mouth he catches the little quirk of her brow and he rubs at the back of his neck with his free hand. It's become so commonplace to suggest the coffee shop that Jean runs to people that it's hard to stop.]}

There's... a shop that sells it if you don't mind waiting.

_{[Nobody said coming up with a good code was easy, right? It's a start.]}

W-We could keep switching the craving up, but keep the reply more or less the same. To, uh... Avoid the same thing over and over from other people.

[ She keeps her brow quirked. She's half tempted to look at the arcanine to see if he picked up on what she meant faster than Bertolt. Who knows. Pokemon are meant to be somewhat intelligent, right?

What she does get out of this is he's actually making pies. Which, well, if she weren't running on ... wait. ]

... Does anyone sell donuts here?

[ It's off track, so she forces her thoughts away from over-sugary indulgences. ]

And are you saying you make pies there or are trying to replicate ones made there?

[ Still not entirely relevant, but it's just off center enough she's curious about it. ]

Is there a particular city that has some of everything? Someplace where you could find any craving.

_{[If she did, she'd find the Arcanine staring intently at a leaf falling from a tree above and going cross-eyed when it inevitably lands on his nose. He has his moments of intelligence, but he's not always the brightest crayon in the box when he's left to his own devices.

Bless his furry heart for doing his best.]}

But, uh... Yeah. To all of it. Goldenrod is one of the bigger towns and it has more than you could imagine - think Sina, or the parts of Marley we couldn't go to, and multiply that by however much you want. There's also another town called Celadon that's more or less the same, but they sell different things. I'm a little more partial to Goldenrod though - I started wanting to try baking because of this little coffee shop near the edge of town.

_{[Bertolt makes a note to himself to drop by it again when he's over there. The owners were sweet on his Arcanine when he was just a tiny Growlithe, and even sweeter on the Houndour he had picked up in town after he found the poor thing scared out of its mind.]}

Jean and I also sell donuts in his shop. I haven't been able to perfect them yet, but people seem to like them a lot with the coffee Jean makes. _{[Sometimes they come out misshapen so only the good ones get sold, but it just means that they get to keep the weirder ones and eat those themselves.]} I've been trying to make pies too. The lingonberry was, uh... We could use that as our code, but I've also been trying to make them to sell. I found the recipe in a book someone gave me last year.

_{[Part of him is tempted to show pictures of the shop and everything they've made, but... He could do that later once she's settled in.]}

Goldenrod has just about anything you could ever want, I think. Clothes, food, entertainment, you name it. A-And the best part is we can all afford it.

[ There's the Arcanine, letting... a leaf fall on his nose. There will be no help from the overgrown fuzzlord corner.

She listens to everything as he speaks. Goldenrod sounds like it'll work for the sake of a common response; easier if it's one he's partial to, as it'd be characteristic for him to mention anything related to said city.

Also, Jean owns a shop, Bertolt bakes for it, and he hasn't perfected donuts. The fact he makes them at all is compelling; now's a great time to learn she has a sweet tooth, though her only real acknowledgement is a nod and noncommittal sound as he keeps speaking.

(It's nice to know fresh donuts are something obtainable in this place.)

Beyond that... ]

It's that simple to find work here? [ And a pause followed by a smaller frown. ] I haven't heard about who or what governs the area—who's in charge of printing the money? Or the treasury?

[ No, first, finish the task she was on. She holds up a hand, interrupting her own thoughts and forestalling any answer. ]

Goldenrod can be part of the answer.

SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER TEST DRIVE MEME

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why is this annie's contribution, how to take advantage of the nice natives now that you're here

she's always been the smarter one of the trio, gotta keep the dumb boys in line

with great power comes great responsibility, right? right??? okay probably not

making any of the warriors have responsibilities totally won't backfire

it's not like they're a bunch of child soldiers with death timers on them

who would be crazy enough to stick a group like that with a job, anyway?

who indeed? /we stare at the camera a la the office