ohmyarceus | Test Drive Meme - January & February edition

“That is a good question. As far as I am aware, this world is not referred to as Earth by the locals, but it is pretty much inhabitable with tons of life,” Harry admits to Sol, “And yes, that’s what the creatures in this world are called. These guys are practically everywhere: on the city streets, in forests, in the water, at the beach, living in mountains - this world is full of many of them.”

As for the arrival part, he thought long and hard before responding back, “Well unfortunately, that is the hardest thing to find the answer for. Nobody knows exactly how did they got here: one moment they might be doing something urgent at home, and the next thing they know, they just appeared in here all the sudden. It is a blink and you miss scenario that is pretty hard to explain.”

Eventually he then proceeds to introducing himself, “Nice to meet you, Sol. My name is Harry. And this big fluffy dog I was riding on earlier is Godric.”

“Arca-Nine! Arcanine,” the Hisuian Arcanine happily barks.

Not Earth. His eyes widened slightly. But there were humans. He searched his memory and found- nothing. No sense of deja vu, no vague idea of having met this person or seen this planet before, not one single fleeting premonition-

He'd never experienced this, before. Wait.

Wait.

"I've been isekai'd." His voice came out in a hushed whisper, awe creeping in, an infectious laugh bubbling out- "Oh my god. This is impossible. Okay! Okay. This is amazing." Oh, but Dys would be heartbroken. But on the other hand, he couldn't help the excitement that was making him half vibrate off the ground. "Harry and Godric. Hang on," he looked down at the now... slightly-confused-looking white furball. "You're with me. Is this like a familiar? Are you magic?"

“In a way, they do act a lot like familiars, they are just more capable in fighting in Pokémon battles and being more sentient than an average animal or familiar,” Harry replies happily, eager to find some similarities between familiars and Pokémon.

When Sol manages to ask if he is magical, this literally peaks Harry’s interest very well, “Well, I’m glad that you asked. I’m actually a wizard back in my world and we do practise magic extensively. Though it seems that whatever magic or power anyone has from their worlds, these abilities get somewhat reduced in strength in here. And that means I can’t perform my magic as intended.”

He had, in fact, been talking to his absol- who, in defiance of tradition, had stubbornly refused to spout pearls of wisdom or offer up some sort of contract. Mostly she'd looked... very lost and slightly overwhelmed. He made a note. Introvert! Fair enough, displays of affection to be performed quietly. He looked up at Harry, though, tapping his chin. "So you're a wizard. But not allowed to do magic, so that's lame. Er. Not that you're lame, just that special things like that not being allowed by the rules is just lame. You... mentioned fighting, though. Is this place particularly dangerous? I don't see any walls or fortifications."

“Yeah, it is a shame everyone is not allowed to use our special abilities in this world unless something weird does happen to this world. My guess is that this world believes that our Pokémon’s powers are enough somehow,” he admits to him, wishing that he could keep his magic in this world so badly but has to deal with having no magic at all.

“Probably, if you count running into wild Pokémon as dangerous. One of my friends has told me about how perilous going through a mountain can be, especially with Mount Mortar. Plenty of Zubats and other tough Pokémon make that place their home.”

"Oh!" He seemed immediately relieved. "Well, most animals I've ever met are perfectly reasonable, you really just have to understand how they work. Except non-social apex predators. They... just tend to be ornery. You know? Especially if they're bigger than you. Still, can't be too hard to avoid getting into a fight."

Actually... Hm. "I'd ask if there was a holonet around here, but I seriously doubt my OS would be compatible with-" He paused, staring at his left hand. That... was suspiciously bare. "Nnnnevermind. I seem to be missing an implant. But there's no wound or anything, how..." Curiouser and curiouser. "This place is so weird. I don't suppose there's a handy tome of ancient knowledge, or at least a computer I can have a look at? Not that I don't love the idea of figuring things out on my own, I at least owe my new..." he faltered, glancing down at the white-furred critter by his side. "What are you called, anyway- a proper diet and care."

Edited 2023-01-04 22:40 (UTC)

“Yeah, those apex predators can be difficult to avoid. I think I must have lost count of the many times trying to avoid them a lot by now. Though one of my Pokémon, Sirius, really enjoys trying to fight them just to prove that he can be as strong as they are and that got me scared for his safety a lot for weeks.”

Harry still literally feels chills every time he thinks about Sirius’ attempts to fight the bigger wild Pokémon. That Houndoom does get into a lot of trouble just wanting to fight at times, though he has since pulled back on the urge a lot in recent times.

“Well, there are plenty of books, maps, guides and online resources for you to look into whenever you need to learn more about taking care of your Pokémon. Even Trainers need to look after the team before or after rounds of battles. But this gadget is the one anyone can use at anytime,” Harry brings out his PokéGear from his backpack to show to Sol as he speaks.

Sirius? Like the star. Oh, that was pretty. Potential aggressive tendencies, that was something to be concerned about, and... battles. Hm.

"Oh! A computer. Looks a bit dated, but I can work with retro. Where would I get one of those?"

“Usually a Pokémon Professor distributes them to new Trainers or, in our case, they are often found in the rucksacks that the ‘Mum’ lady gives to us,” Harry explains it in depth to the new Trainer, “If the one you get isn’t up to your liking, I’m pretty sure that the Goldenrod City department store could be selling some other models for you to choose from.”

"Really. Hang on." Remove backpack, open, inspect contents. Underwear in their size- weird, toiletries, nice, boxed lunch- oddly sweet? Couple of books. And- aha!

They removed the item in question, weighing it in one hand. "Not my favorite color, but since my other option is missing... also- you got that too? Who is that lady, she answered none of my questions and it's also. Deeply hilarious that she thinks she's my mom, my mom's ripped. I don't think that lady's ever held a shovel in her life."

“I can also tell you, Sol, that she is not my mum either. She doesn’t seem to give anyone any answers to whatever questions we might have before escorting most folks out of the house, and that can be annoying to go through,” Harry admits, “Although I barely managed to avoid her getting me out of the house because I actually first arrived in an old place called Hisui first before coming to Jotho.”

“Arc?”

He then takes a deep breath before finally speaking, “Long story short, someone had messed with a time machine, sending many people into the past and into Hisui, and we spent a month and a few weeks trying to find parts and doing errands in the region before we could return to Jotho. And that caused her house to be crowded as soon as everyone came back.”

"A time machine."

This was, possibly, one of the few times when the inclusion of time travel somehow made everything make more sense. Sol interally catalogued this as 'Wormhole Stuff' and filed it away for later. "Okay, but if everyone comes in the same way, to the same lady's house, why keep up the notion that she's everyone's mother- there's no way that makes sense, I mean it's so transparently false." They frowned, fiddling with the little computer and pulling up the screen. Hm. Screen interface, was that plastic casing? Weird.

Let's see... Pokédex? Made sense. An Index for Pokémon, right? White fur, bladed horn...

Helpfully, she bumped her head against their leg. "Hm?"

"Absol."

Sol blinked. "Absol?"

"Absol."

Tentatively, they entered the name. Absol. What came up was a flood of information. Dark type(?). Disaster Pokémon(??). Abilities included Pressure or Super Luck(???). And looking into those unveiled so much other stuff.

"Holy shit," they breathed. Moves? What were moves?? Quick Attack, Leer, Double Team- what were moves. Battling. Pokémon League. Gyms(????). Okay, it was like a sport. That made more sense and was way less concerning, but-

No. More important information. Absol. Disaster Pokémon. Why is it called that? Visions of future disaster? You and me both, little friend. Diet and care. Long fur, sheds in spring, need brush and comb. Diet: facultative carnivore, which was... distasteful, but they couldn't expect her to starve. He'd need to think of a name, if she- and it was she, probably, they could see the hallmarks.

They realized, too late, they were doing the thing again, lost in information overload while someone else was present. "Hm? Ah, crap, sorry. Er... I appear to have a collection of funny little bits of paper with numbers on. Is that... what, some kind of currency?"

“Honestly, I have no idea of how that works too. She is this anomaly that is going to be hard to explain about in depth,” Harry sighs, not sure what to make of this Mum lady who keeps insisting that she is everyone’s mother for some reason.

When he sees Sol’s Pokédex opening the Pokédex, he could able to learn about their starter Pokémon. An Absol, he has never seen one personally besides reading up on them before until now. So that is fun to know.

Then the topic soon shifts into money, he goes into ecplaining about Pokédollars, “Oh, those pieces of paper? They are called Pokédollars. They are the main currency of this world that people use to pay for things.”

"Oh, but paper? Why, though."

Dark-type. What did that even mean? That cascaded into a whole other mess of information about type effectiveness and type energy and type variants within regions and there was an awful lot of information about how good these creatures were at fighting other creatures.

"I know I'm asking a lot of questions, you're being great about it."

“Hey, it is absolutely okay to ask a lot of questions. It can be very confusing to take it all in during the first few weeks or months of being in this world and not everyone is going to know or master everything in one sitting, so help is very much appreciated,” Harry reassures them.

Godric meanwhile is patiently listening to the conversation while sticking his tongue out in a very bemused way.

Powerful urge to pet that pupper. This was a very serious temptation. Something about dogs, they blamed Rex.

"Honestly, the least confusing thing you've mentioned so far is the time travel. I feel like maybe that says more about me than this place, though." So, to do list, acquire food for... dog. Absol. They'd have to experiment to see what she liked. Also name Absol. They glanced back. "Don't suppose you come with a name pre-installed?"

"Sol."

"Nope, that one's mine, you can't have it." Ah, jokes. Dad would be proud. "So, Harry. Cool scar, there a fun story to go with that? Or at least an entertaining encounter with a table corner that can be shamelessly embellished into one?"

(cw: parental death and murder)
Oh Harry hasn’t heard about people commenting on that scar of his on his forehead in so long. He wasn't so sure about speaking much of it to anyone else in this world until now. Should he tell Sol that it was the result of surviving the deadly Killing Curse as an infant?

Needless to say, he did decided to speak out, “Um actually, how I got this particular scar had a really terrifying tale that comes with it. Someone tried to go after me and my parents one Halloween night when I was a baby.”

“He managed to kill my parents despite their efforts to protect me and he was going to end my life too when the spell meant to end a person’s life bounced back thanks to my Mum’s sacrificial protection and it weakened him greatly. I survived that horrible night but it left me this scar as a reminder of that tragic event.”

On the plus side, the way the color drained from their face was probably amusing. "Oh, shit. I am so sorry."

Their parents were alive. Both of them. But they remembered too well the dreams- the memories- of watching Mom collapse in the fields, her normally- muscular body so much thinner than it should have been, of watching Dad wheezing with every breath, fungal growths sprouting from every orifice- and of others, gone before their time.

They'd never meant to bring up such a painful moment. "Well. Now that I've... put my foot entirely in my mouth."

“Oh no, it’s fine, very fine,” Harry tries not to cry as he trembles a bit, “That was several years ago. And as for the man who tried to get rid of me, he is now gone for good and he won’t hurt more people ever again.”

He is feeling very conflicted about mentioning being a Horcrux or even the fact that Voldemort was so obsessed in taking over the wizarding world, but he doesn’t want to traumatize poor Sol and their Absol at this time.

Test Drive Meme - January & February edition

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