ohmyarceus | Test Drive Meme

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."

"That's very kind of you - and I'd love to take you up on it. I'll try my best to be a good house- or, boat-guest."

This, at least, is very genuine. Lisa Lisa has definitely kicked his ass into keeping his laundry off the floor and his dishes in the sink (although actually washing either of them is a different issue).

"And I'd love to learn how to make poffins, although... I don't know much about cooking in general, to be honest. But if it makes Rush more comfortable, I think it's worth the effort."

"Hehehe! I can show you where it is once I'm done here then! Or, mostly done anyway. I need to fly out to the end of the course later, so that I can be there for the challenger..."

Ahh, but before that. "Hmm...well, now that you're here, there's probably no better time? Uh, in general I mean. Once you're on the road, you'll have to cook for yourself after all- the towns are all days of travel apart, and even 'instant' meals need some input..."

"There are Pokemon big enough to fly on?"

At least he assumes Emporio can't just do that.

Even more importantly, his eyes light up at the mention of instant meals. He gets the sense that he's about to discover something wonderful about the future.

"Right, right... when you say 'instant meals', what exactly does that mean? Not meals in a can, I assume."

"Oh yeah! Plenty, actually."

So many.

"Your charmander should eventually get that big even- once he becomes a Charizard, that is. I can-"

Can, what? Whatever it is, Emporio cuts short, blinking at Joseph for a moment.

"....oh huh...that's right, 1938 would be..." He furrows his brows, thinking it over. "Yeah, cans were about as good as that got. ...Hehe. I guess I get to show you what an MRE is then!" he cheers, "...but for real, you don't want to rely on those, it's pretty much the same as relying on meals in a can..."

The gears have to turn for a while, but he settles into the best guess he can manage. "What, like war rations?"

It sounds about right - they are for traveling and cooking on the go, after all. And it does make the idea of instant meals a lot less exciting. He'd been hoping for something more along the lines of 'instant burger, just add water'.

"Oh, well... I guess I'll have to cook either way. At least if I can get Rush to cooperate, I won't have to carry a camp stove around."

"Oh huh, good guess." He's a bit impressed.

"Yeah- Meals-Ready to-Eat. They're a good bit better than the cans but uh..." He gives a bit of a laugh. "Still not there. Frozen dinners will probably be more exciting, but for obvious reasons, you really can't bring those reliably on the road," he laughs, moving to get his coat and things off the front counter.

"Up to you what we do first, as long as I get back here in time to fly out though; I can show you the camp food before or after showing you where I live."

And, by extension, where he'll be sleeping tonight.

Frozen dinners also sound like an exciting option, but definitely not while he's traveling. Maybe he'll be able to bring some back to the house-boat, while he's bumming off of Emporio.

"Let's see the camp food first - you've piqued my curiosity."

And Rush's - the Charmander had started perking up at the talk of more food, and now seems surprisingly willing to follow them around. He ends up climbing up Joseph's leg to get up to his shoulder, which doesn't hurt (much) but makes Joseph wince when one of his clawed feet digs into the bare skin on his lower back.

"Hehe, alright! That's an easy walk in that case- we're right in the store already after all."

Indeed, all the displays are...well, around them. So Emporio just gestures to them as he moves for the shelves with the food stock. "I keep a basic stock here; the idea isn't to make profits or sales or anything, it's about making sure people can be prepared heading out. That way, if they see a tent or something they like from another store they're not completely out of pocket, heh..."

Anyway, the food shelves! "Here we are! There's MREs as you can see," and he does hold out one such pack. "They're pretty self explanitory- there's instructions on the packs, everything's included...honestly, they're probably easier to throw together than some of the other stuff we stock," Emporio laughs.

And they do of course stock other things- obvious snack type protein bars aside, there's at least a few 'just add water' type meals- rice, ramen, biscuits and gravy...yum.

"A lot of it is freeze-dried, so it lasts...pretty much as long as you need, albeit with a cost."

The Cost is the Flavor.

Joseph takes one of the MREs and starts reading the instructions on the back, absolutely fascinated by it. They're much lighter than canned food, and have a lot more variety... even if they don't taste amazing, the effort required is worth that price.

"Freeze-drying? That's... incredible. If you can get rid of all the water content, then you don't have to carry around that extra weight..."

He holds one of the packets of freeze-dried food up for Rush to sniff. Which is a mistake, because Rush immediately bites it and rips the bag open so he can investigate the food (by eating it).

Test Drive Meme - Spring 2025

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