ohmyarceus | Test Drive Meme

The young man's response is an immediate wince. Followed, of course, by a nod. "...People don't...remember this place, if, or when they leave. I know Mr. Joestar at least had technically died just before arriving, so I at least hope wherever he went it's at least somewhere but..."

But if Joseph's grandmother said nothing, it's not her fault. That, at least, is the point.

He wonders to himself, what else he can say though. What else he can do, really. What he can...

".........you know, technically you're a grandparent yourself."

Nailed it.

"WHAT?"

Screw everything else they were talking about, now he's stuck on this. Of course, it makes sense, if a hundred years have passed, and he and Suzi Q are definitely going to have kids, then he must have grandchildren. But if this kid knows about them, then-

"Do I have grandkids here? How many, what are their names, do they like me?"

The energy he's bringing is making Rush nervous again, but at least the Charmander has realized he's no longer the focus of the chaotic energy. Rush has started slowly creeping closer to Joseph, willing to at least sit between the two of them and turn his head back and forth as they talk.

Oh, good! That was the best thing to get the topic rolling, wasn't it? Emporio can't help but muffle a laugh at the rapid questions, even glancing down at Rush with what he hopes is an encouraging look. Don't worry buddy, it looks like your trainer is just really high energy.

Still, he nods. Nods again. And ehhh...

"Well, he hasn't mentioned you much... ...but that might be because he's older than you are right now," he adds with a snort behind the hand. "You have a grandson, and a great-granddaughter. Hermana- that is...Jolyne, she's the one who left me the cottage. Your grandson though..."

Oh, hm.

"...He might be in town? ...He was going to travel with a friend of mine for a while, but he did say something about wanting to take a look at my boat..."

Rush returns the look, a little encouraged and a little sceptical. But he's calmed down considerably, and settled down to watch the incomprehensible drama happening.

Joseph's eyes are wide, and he takes all the new information in with rapt attention. His grandson, who's older than him... by 2025 he would be over 100, so that makes sense. And a great-granddaughter, who is old enough to own a house, so she must be around his own age (unless she's also experiencing some sort of time dilation). Meeting them both has shot right to the top of Joseph's to-do list, especially if his grandson is in town.

"Wellll, aren't you helpful! Thank you, Emporio, I would be lost without you." He does mean it, even though his tone makes it sound less than genuine. "Oh, right - you wouldn't happen to have his PokeGear information would you? And Jolyne's, of course."

Of course he managed to figure out the concept of a PokeGear before he figured out how to handle his Pokemon. It's technology, which is much easier to blunder your way through, and hand-held telephones seem like a logical improvement over the existing landlines back home.

"Hahah! It's my job now, so I better be!" He does not miss the implied shenanigans that come with asking for numbers.

He also does not hesitate to pull his pokegear out so that he can trade said numbers. "Heh- of course! Hermana might be in the middle of a fight whenever you call her, but she'll answer if she can. That or a rotom will do it, so you might want to be careful about timing that...she is married..."

And rotoms lack all sense of privacy-

"But here's hers, and here's Dr. Kujo's- though if I spot him coming over, I can just give you a heads up so that you can find him in person. You figured these things out pretty quick though, huh?"

From the tone, he's not surprised because of any technological disadvantages being perceived- it's more, pokegear are Weird.

My great-granddaughter is married already. The thought gets filed away, to chew on later when he has time to really consider it. So does the fact that Dr. Kujo doesn't share his last name - neither does Jolyne for that matter. That stirs something in him, a mixture of disappointment and curiosity. So this is his daughter's son, most likely - he isn't sure why, but he feels distinctly bothered by the whole thing. Maybe just from the worry that his family name is dying out.

"Sure, it's just a pocket telephone. Sooner or later we were bound to figure out how to get rid of all those pesky wires - the telephone itself works with radio waves, so it just needs enough electricity to power itself. I assume nowadays, batteries must be much smaller and stronger than they used to be."

He does copy down their information, and he's pretty happy to have his first few contacts be family members. If he can manage to get along with them, that will make the transition to this new world much easier.

Hell yeah she is, and to a hot girl at that. Get Ready.

He looks up though. "I guess that's true. I always found the shape a little weird...they're not really made to fit a person's hand..."

And that's probably a good point, they are certainly...Shaped. Anyway.

"They do a lot more than just call people though, so have fun finding those features!" Emporio cheers. "Part of the battery in these is actually kinetic- the technology here is... ...Honestly it's amazing. It's way beyond what I think the world would've actually come up with by 2025; and it's a little easier to take a guess at that having come from 2012 initially," he laughs quietly. "But they have teleporters, most of the energy is solar... ...I mean, even the gym's yard would have been impossible anywhere else!"

He says that like it's impressive. Maybe it is???

Joseph's eyes widen with excitement, and he grins as he clicks through a few other apps on his PokeGear just to inspect it.

"Teleporters, and solar energy... Technology all seems to move so fast these days. Just within my grandmother's lifetime we went from horse-drawn carriages to automobiles and fighter jets, and I can only imagine how mush things will change within my lifetime- well, I guess I don't have to imagine now. Hmm... I wonder if that means I could power the batteries with Hamon."

He does try. And the Hamon energy just.. doesn't happen. He knows he's breathing right, but the more he tries the more naked he feels. It feels like something integral to him is missing, more sharply than his actual missing limb.

"...Well. That's disappointing." And shocking, and terrifying, but it's important to look cool and composed in front of other people.

"Hamon?"

Not a clue what that is, other than evidently sun related but- uh.

"...Oh. ...Is that like a Stand?" No wait fuck-

"Sorry, like a superpower? About twice a year we can get access to those kinds of things again but..." Emporio just shakes his head. "...Whatever doesn't quite fit with the laws of reality here, it doesn't make it through."

What is a Stand, he's about to ask, although Emporio sort of covers that for him. And it actually is a bit of an ego boost - Superman is a very new concept for him, and he likes being compared to the Man of Steel.

"Sort of - it's life energy that flows through the body of its users. Similar to the Chinese concept of Qi. Hamon also comes from an eastern martial art, called Sendo...." He pauses, sort of stumbling past the new world information for something that feels more important. "...Do Dr. Kujo and Jolyne not talk about Hamon?"

To that, Emporio shakes his head.

"We were all more concerned with Stands during our time." And to be fair they had very good reasons for that. "If it's similar to Qi though... ...hmmm...I wonder if Stands might be related. I don't know much about the theory behind it, I learned mostly by observation in this case, but... ...Stands are essentially built on a person's will to live. So...."

So, maybe related? Maybe related.

"To be honest, I don't know much about the theory of Hamon either."

He's sure his mentors talked about it - a lot - but it also didn't matter. He was doing the motions correctly and he had death to avoid, and he figured he had plenty of time to figure out why it works later.

"I think you may be right, though. That makes them both life forces in a way... although I'll still be a little disappointed if neither of them practice Sendo."

He'll be very disappointed. At them, and not his future self.

The teen shrugs.

And then stares.

"Wouldn't that be something you controlled? Your...future self, at least?"

Emporio is right, but. Joseph isn't trying to hear that. He just shrugs dismissively.

"Well, I'd be the first one to know that you can't force someone to learn something they're not interested in. I'm sure I put plenty of..."

...

"...I'm sure I did as much as I..."

...

"...Look, we don't have to talk about this."

Well. With a somewhat pained smile, he just shrugs. "...Just try not to judge anyone too hard either way, ok?"

...

"Including yourself. I can't say I know much about family systems, so on, but... ...Well, in the books and movies at least, everyone seems to do their best. So if it never happened...there was probably a good reason. And for now at least, you're here."

"That's.. very kind of you." For once, he actually sounds genuine, even if it also sounds like he's forcing himself to say it out loud. "I can't say books and movies are always an accurate view, but I do know my own family were always doing the best they could. Even if I didn't agree with how it affected me."

He still has a lot of unresolved feelings toward his grandmother and his mother, now that the dust has settled. He hasn't really had a chance to speak to them since his near-death experience. But he does think he knows enough about humans in general to get a sense for why they kept as much information from him as they did, and maybe there were good reasons for him to keep things from his family as well.

But that is definitely enough stewing on that for now. He's been silent for a whole five seconds, and that won't do.

"Say... you're from the same world as me, right? You called Jolyne your hermana, and knew about Stands... have you also met me, back home?"

Emporio shifts somewhat uncomforatably. His upbringing isn't a topic he's been ashamed of exactly, but it's at least one he knows to be something that brings all moods down, and for that matter makes everything incredibly awkward. "I...didn't really have the greatest influences growing up before this place," he admits in defense of his movie and book reference, only to grimace more as Joseph asks his more intense question. "...I..."

He panics, a little. "I mean, I'm pretty sure you're still around..! No one said you were...Gone or anything, I just..."

Breathing deep as he reigns in his tangents, his words, everything beyond his control, Emporio swallows. "...Before coming here, I knew Jolyne for three months, which we spent in the same building. She was 19. I... ...I was 11, at least until near the end."

There is a finality to that word. 'End'. He presses on.

"...I grew up, hiding inside Green Dolphin Penitentiary. That was where I met her. She couldn't have introduced me no matter how hard she tried."

The longer Emporio talks, the more Joseph's expression starts to soften. Spending your childhood hiding inside a prison... it's so far removed from his own experience, he can only speculate on how it would feel, but it must have been rough. And Jolyne must have had a rough time too, if she ended up in prison at 19.

Something nags at the back of his mind, somewhere along the lines of guilt, although he isn't really sure why.

"That's okay... I must have been pretty old. It wouldn't be very surprising if I wasn't around." Especially with how careless he tends to be - it's pure luck that he's going to make it to 19 in the first place. "At least, I'm hoping there isn't a good reason no one talked about me."

With Joseph calming down and lowering his energy, Rush has finally moved to sit down next to him. Joseph mindlessly reaches down to pet him, not seeming to actually notice that he's doing so. (He does notice, but he's afraid of jinxing it, just like he's afraid to press on what exactly the 'end' means.)

"During my time with Hermana at least, she was more preoccupied with saving her dad," he offers to her defense.

"After that...well, after that we were here, and at differing times- Dr. Kujo wasn't here until I was fifteen. Hermana had already married by then, and Mr. Joestar had come and gone on top of that."

Thinking about that, actually, he frowns. "...which probably means Dr. Kujo was just depressed, actually..."

That's probably a good excuse not to talk about relatives. Probably. And hey, no sense in cursing a good thing, so he'll keep the talk going. "...Would you want to know much about your older self?"

Joseph has to give that some honest thought. How much does he want to know? If everyone from home knows him as an old man, maybe he should have some information to work with... but on the other hand, he's already starting to get the feeling that he won't like what he hears.

"Maybe it's best to hear it from- Jotaro, was his name, right? I mean... he would know me best, out of the three of you."

He does file away the knowledge that Jotaro might have been depressed. Or might still be. He knows the word, although he can't say he has much experience with it. Definitely not something to bring up during a first meeting, but it might be a good thing to prod at some point.

Edited 2025-04-06 16:49 (UTC)

"Absolutely!" That just makes sense, particularly with how estranged Jolyne was from her dad to begin with. ...Not that he adds that part. "And he should be dropping in any day now as it is, like I said."

"I'm sure I'll run into him - if not, I can always call him."

Correction: Joseph will definitely go hunting for him if they don't run into each other naturally, but he knows how to make it look like a coincidence.

"In the meantime - I am still curious about you." He tries to pick Rush up, gets hissed at, and lets go of him immediately. "Er- so, how old are you now? You look about my age, so you must have been here for a while, right?"

He's still carefully dancing around the 'end' subject.

"He'll be hard to miss at least, you both look pretty similar." Like, same size similar.

Oh, anyway-

"Mn? Oh, yeah...a long while actually. It's part of what led me to build my Gym the way I did, lots of time to see people arrive in the middle of December without a tent," he notes.

Ahem. "Anyway- uh, 17. I'm 17 right now. Probably? ...Probably, it was hard to...guess, back where I was..."

"Right." Yeah, there was probably no good way to check his birthday in prison. Great topic choice, Jojo. "Well- if it helps, I think we're in a different month than it was back home, so I'm not sure when to put my birthday either. But I know I'm 18, at least for now."

It's not actually a huge jump. It was early June back home, and it's late March now. But he's doing his best to relate to someone who has had a clearly worse go of things.

"Well, I'm sure you know a lot about the Pokemon world, then. I mean, spending almost a third of your life here and all. I hope you don't mind me leaning on you for help while I get my bearings. And, er- if you know where to get more of whatever that food was you gave Rush, I'd greatly appreciate it."

Given Emporio's shrug, he's not too bushed about it. "We're in the start of April, so possibly? I was close enough to the month it had been for me when I arrived here that I just kept the birthday I came up with...I'd say worst case, just stick with what's easy to remember?"

He does grin a bit, though. "Heh, seems we're pretty close in age though huh? ...And well, it's like I said, this place is here for a reason right? Not much in the way of places to stay, but I can make some room in my boat for that. It's better to leave fully prepared than not at all I think."

...

Heh. "...And as for the poffins...you can actually learn to make those, if you want."

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