Day 39 - [Video]

[babel_hacker]

[Now that’s a familiar face. For anyone that’s been paying attention, Atsuro wasn't seen on the network for a while, which is usually odd even with distractions. He looks at his PokeGear, the young man looking a bit baffled if anything.]

So, guys. Just verify this for me. Today is September 18th, right? And not August 27th? ‘cuz last I check, it was still August. I don’t know if it’s just me, the dates got changed or the world got hit by a fast forward button.

[A pause, before he continues. Behind him is a Jumpluff drifting around, going up a little higher when the Pokemon Center’s doors open and the breeze flows inside.]

And I’m pretty sure I was about to leave for Cerulean from Pewter. But somehow, I’m over at Cinnabar Island’s Pokemon Center the next moment.

[His mind is buzzing with various ideas, speculations based on his theories he made about this world. A world that literally works on video game physics, a virtual reality simulation aimed to train Pokemon for an army (his personal favourite theory, yet to be proven)...

Some kind of "glitch"?]

So I could’ve gotten hit by a random teleportation, but I need an explanation for going from August to September. I know I didn’t go into those comas, since my Pokemon can back that up. Or I went home and returned, because my roster’s numbers is still the same.

[As Atsuro talks, or rather speaking his thoughts out loud, his Jumpluff landed on his hat wearing head and shake her cotton-like spores like a cheerleader. The screen shake a little when Atsuro set down his PokeGear, freeing his hands to reach up and take her off his head.]

If you have any possible ideas, let me know.

(OOC: To explain away Atsuro’s absence, he got hit by the Glitch Technique.)

Comments

[Video]

[the_tv_is_a_lie]

[Have a familiar face, Atsuro; he checks the date on his Gear for a sec before returning to the feed.]

It's September 18th, yes. And I wish I had a clue, but I got here recently.

[Video]

[babel_hacker]

[Atsuro was about to say thanks, and chat with the person. But he immediately recognise the voice and face from the screen. He sounds a little younger, but there's no mistaking it.]

...Souji? [His eyes widen in surprise, before he try to regain his composure.] I mean, thanks. Maybe it's another strange thing this world toss at us.

[Video]

[the_tv_is_a_lie]

[A nod -- don't wear it out, Atsubro. :|] Possibly.

Any particular theories you have for what caused it? I'm curious.

[Video]

[babel_hacker]

Barring being exposed to a strange Pokemon's technique, I'm thinking something related to how we're brought into this world. Since we're currently living here right now, it's possibly related to it.

[And he'll keep away from the existential thing right now, which will bring up the nature of this world and how they're existing here.]

video;

[superordinary]

...That's weird. [ Gosh, Naegi, you sure are helpful today. ]

video;

[babel_hacker]

[No worries, Atsuro can blathers enough.]

Yep, it is. I was kinda hoping for similiar cases. I know we have that situation a while back with the strange "glitches". Either there's a repeat, it's happening on a smaller scale or this was an isolated case.

video;

[superordinary]

If there's been any similar cases, I haven't heard of them. It being a glitch sounds plausible, but what could have caused it?

video;

[babel_hacker]

Whatever brought us into this world? Science gone wrong? Or even a powerful legendary Pokemon's powers caused it, considering the scale on what they can do to the land.

[Voice]

[uncagedforjustamoment]

[Look who isn't bothering to turn on his video.

Oh right, you can't look, because voice.]

You mean to say you simply stopped existing in August and then started existing again in September, with no memory of how this happened or the experience itself?

[Video]

[babel_hacker]

[And look who's keeping the video on over at his end.

Oh wait.]

I think that's more or less how it happened. Unless there's other details about it we didn't know.

[Voice]

[uncagedforjustamoment]

[Oh.

Oh.]

...Irregular. You weren't exposed to any pokemon techniques just before or after this, were you?

[Video]

[babel_hacker]

[Yep.

Atsuro shake his head.]

Nope. Even while training my Pokemon, none of the techniques they're working on should affect us on that level. If they do, many other trainers would've experience something similiar and we have more frequent cases.

[voice]

[uncagedforjustamoment]

[...No, he's unused to this world...but still, he's sure that's unusual and disturbing even here.]

Where was the exact spot you passed over? And at what time and day did it happen?

[video]

[babel_hacker]

Near Pewter's western entrance in the morning on a Tuesday.

[With his sheer confusion over this situation, it's easy for Atsuro to remember some of the info.

[video]

[paladinlost]

People finding themselves moved in time and location does happen, sometimes, but it's much rarer than comas. Can your team remember anything about those days?

[video]

[babel_hacker]

They don't remember anything, so about the same as I do.

[Speaking of Pokemon, asking his boxed roster wouldn't offer anything new. He did check on their information and reconfirmed they're still registered under his name.]

[video]

[paladinlost]

Could it be that you were almost sent home, but that it did not quite work properly?

[Unlikely, but any idea is possible at that point.]

[video]

[babel_hacker]

...I don't know if that idea's better or worse.

[Since he's been stuck here for over two years, and not once did he went back. The idea of possibly going home, but didn't for some reason, made him think of the important battle he's taken from.

It's that feeling of being away from doing something half-finished, magnified by a lot.]

[video]

[paladinlost]

...I'm quite certain it can be both at the same time.

[Ah, that feeling he could understand, considering his... state when he was taken.]

[video]

[babel_hacker]

Yeah... But I wouldn't mind going home to finish things off. I guess this world changed its mind and want to keep me around a little longer.

[He just need like, half an hour to finish everything, one hour top.]

[voice]

[ortion]

Interesting... This is the second case of a large time loss within a month. This time with a jump in location as well.

[Dist then realizes he's thinking out loud and clears his throat.]

While this has not happened to me personally, you are not the only one who has experienced this strange time gap. The perplexing part to me is the fact that neither case was a coma or return trip home. While we have all experienced a loss of a few days every six months, it is rare to lose weeks at a time.

[video]

[babel_hacker]

So I'm not the first...

[Which makes him feel a little better, but also more curious about this loss of time.]

That's what I figured, since I know this doesn't match up with the usual suspects. I have my theories about the cause behind this, but I want more info to confirm or deny them.

[Glitch? Return home gone horribly off-track? Missingno descended down on him from above?]

[voice]

[ortion]

The most common hypothesis is that a Legendary Pokemon is involved somehow, though that seems to be the defeat reaction to anything that cannot immediately be explained.

[Of course deities of some sort are the only possibility when you can't explain something. How ridiculous.]

Honestly, people need to stop being so impatient and actually work for a proper solution.

[He sighs angrily.]

But I digress. What particular theories do you have in mind? It would be useful to compare notes in a case like this.

[video]

[babel_hacker]

I don't mind if it's a Legendary Pokemon, as long we get some sort of proof. [Granted, blaming the deities is more likely in his world. As much as some people would like to blame it on them.] What they got for them are the Legendaries' powers and mythology behind them as their basis.

[But very understandable.]

It's mainly two different theories, if you get down to it.

[Did someone ask for Atsuro's Speculation Hour?]

The first one is directly tied to the nature of this world. My theory is that this world is a virtual reality simulation for training. Since it's virtual, it goes to show it can have glitches. I might've got caught up in a "glitch" and somehow got out. If the purpose of this VR is for training, it's better not to lose "players" like us by accident, so whoever maintains this fixed it. Or not if I glitched back here.

Otherwise, this is a real world that runs on its own physics and laws. Since if this is a VR, I doubt they'll leave someone stuck without a good reason.

[He pauses at this point, in case this man have any questions or counterpoints.]

[voice]

[ortion]

Virtual reality...

[Dist lets that roll off his tongue as he considers that theory. He had not once considered it since that sort of thing doesn't exist in his home world, but this boy's reasoning explains the time lapses well enough. A technical glitch certainly could cause such a thing to happen. However...]

My only concern with that idea is why would the people behind such a program need people from other worlds to participate in order to test it? That is an awful amount of trouble to go through for such a thing. Not only would they need to develop a highly-functioning virtual reality world, they would also need a way to connect all of us. That would require bringing this technology to many different worlds or creating a device to transport us all to a single location.

That said, your second hypothesis seems the more likely of the two. Though there certainly has to be a reason for it to happen. Some sort of trigger...