|5.5| [Action]

[wing_attack]

[Today is a good day. Not because of the weather, but because when Tobias wakes up, he's back in his old body. Not the human one, but the one that's become incredibly comfortable for him over the past few years.]

[You might catch him flying high above people, but he's more content to perch in a tree and watch as people go past. The local birds seem uncomfortable with him, but that's okay. He can't exactly use a Pokeball while like this anyway.]

[Eventually though he calms down and morphs to human (and puts on clothes) long enough to make a post.]

[Video]

[Tobias' cheeks are flushed with excitement, and he's grinning from ear to ear.]

They're back! I mean I'm back. I mean I can do it again. Is anyone else getting... uh... 'abilities' back? I'm kind of curious...

[Regal butts his head into the shot and Tobias jerks his head away to avoid getting a feathery mouthful.]

Sorry, Regal. I can't exactly ride you like that...

Comments

[siberians]

[The benefit to Jake here, as it's turning out, is that Jake looks like an average kid. He's not an average kid (and hasn't been in what seems like an eternity), but they've all learned the hard way several times over that it's about what people see on the surface, not about what might really be there. People carry their secrets inside them, be they alien slugs or morphing powers or any other number of things ranging from the mundane to the horrific, but what they see is what makes the impression, and maybe what keeps you save even in a disorienting, uncertain situation.

A guy in jeans and a plain jacket, about the right age range for a trainer and wandering around with his hands in his pockets, isn't going to draw any attention in a place like this. That's what he's counting on.

He doesn't appear to have any Pokemon out with him at the moment, but his friendship with Marco has sufficiently encompassed all the pertinent information there, too, so he's doing fine for passing as a trainer in his own right. You wear the capsules on your belt, you avoid making eye contact with strange people, and you never trust the tall grass unless you're looking for a fight.

At the moment, Jake's not sure what exactly he is looking for, but it's fair to say that a fight probably isn't it.]

[wing_attack]

[Tobias is scouting overhead, and has managed to grab his bag to fly around with. Sure, he's not inconspicuous, but he doesn't really care about that much anymore. Not now.]

[But the person he spots down below is a surprise, and it's enough to make him drop his bag and have to dive to catch it. He lands on a tree nearby and calls out to him.]

<Jake?>

[siberians]

[He's not expecting the sudden thought-speak, but he's accustomed enough to it that he doesn't jump outright when there's abruptly a (fortunately familiar) voice in his head; instead, he finds an excuse to stop and look around, surreptitiously checking the sky and trees for its source instead.

Luckily, he's been doing a fair amount of looking around with a confused expression already lately, so once more isn't going to hurt anything.

No thought-speak while not in morph, unfortunately, but he knows Tobias has to be somewhere close enough to have him in sight with hawk eyes, and they've done this many, many times before. If it's safe to talk, he knows he'll get instructions of where to go, either for that or a safe place to morph. If it's not safe to talk, he'll get that, instead.

For the moment, then, it's just a waiting game to see what Tobias will do.]

[wing_attack]

[Right. He's new here. He doesn't know that people are pretty accepting, and that there's no Yeerks.]

<It's safe here. I haven't seen a Controller in months, and I've been checking. I'm to your right and up. You can talk to me, there's no one else around.>

[siberians]

[Right, up — ah, there he is. This is a strange world, all right, but some things never change.]

Tobias.

[It isn't exactly a question — he's well aware of who this is, obviously — but there's something slightly uncertain in it anyway, which is probably natural, considering.]

What do you mean, "months"?

[wing_attack]

<I meant what I said. Time stands still at home for you when you're here - or people show up from different times. No one's really sure. I've been here since August, and it's November now.>

[siberians]

"Here" being...inside a video game?

[Which seems to narrow down the possibilities to:

1) parallel universe
2) virtual reality
3) somebody's dreaming
4) dammit, Ellimist

None of which are particularly encouraging.]

What's the situation? No Controllers, but any other alien activity?

[wing_attack]

<Apparently. And no other alien activity... other than the other people who have been brought here. Some are from worlds pretty different to our own, but that doesn't mean that they're hostile. I mean, there's some people who are jerks, but that doesn't make them evil or something.>

[Mostly. There was that guy who set up the bombs, but... most people seem nice, at least.]

[siberians]

...Brought here. Any sign of one of our all-powerful friends?

[...Using the term loosely.]

[wing_attack]

<If it's the Ellimist, I haven't seen him show up. There's a lot of powerful Pokemon, but the one I asked who might have the power to do it said he didn't. So I don't have a clue, but I'm not exactly a Pokemon expert.>

[siberians]

What about the others? Any sign of them?

[Marco, Rachel. Cassie. He hasn't noticed anyone being missing for months, including Tobias, but if the time displacement is true, then that's an explanation right there.]

[wing_attack]

<No. Not yet, at least.>

[He's not bringing up that he named Pokemon after them until he has to, okay.]

[siberians]

So it's just you and me for right now.

[All right. This isn't...great, but we'll get it figured out. Sure. All right.]

...You want some help with that bag?

[wing_attack]

<If that's okay.>

[He doesn't want to ask a favor for nothing, but... that's what friends are for.]

<I didn't exactly plan on a lack of fingers today.>

[siberians]

Yeah, all right.

[And over he goes to retrieve it, because opposable thumbs are awesome.]

...What do you mean, "today"? You haven't had fingers since...

[wing_attack]

<Like I said, it's been months since I saw you. Everyone nonhuman here usually gets turned human. I don't know why things are different today.>

[siberians]

...So we're dealing with something really powerful here.

[Great. Just great.]

[wing_attack]

<Yep. But... aside from that, it's been pretty nice here. And one of my Pokemon evolved and learned Fly, so at least I can be in the air sometimes.>

[It's not the same, but it helps.]

[siberians]

Yeah.

[This is gonna bug him for a long time, though, because things are just not adding up.]

Who gains from doing all this? No Kandrona, no Yeerks...but if there's time displacement in play, then it's not like anyone brought here is ever noticeably gone. So why...?

[wing_attack]

<I don't know that anyone does. As for why... no idea. This place makes your head hurt if you think about it too much as is, and trying to think of that kind of stuff makes it worse.>

[It's not that he ignores it. It's just that... okay, yeah. He ignores it as much as he can, because he's not been able to find out any kind of solid answer to it at all.]