video, backdated to March 5

[telewarped]

Hey, losers. This has definitely been one of the months I've had so far, but now I'm officially bored to death.

[There is a general air of malaise permeating this message, even if the voice of the Pokémon sending it—a gray-toned Mimikyu, currently stationed in what appears to be one of the Oran guild's dens—sounds casual and calm enough.]

At least one of you has to have a decent rec for how to kill time around here you can give me... Or just tag yourself. Whatever.

[At the words tag yourself, an image takes shape in your mind. It's astonishingly clear and will remain present in your head until your connection to this particular Grumpearl is broken.]

Later.

Comments

[outbounds]

[ uh-huh, mmhmm, okay, yup there's a Pokémon like that— it sure seems like he understands all the examples— ]

Got it! Now revoking: Sigilyph's bird license! Togekiss amongst others may also be in dubious standing.

[ behold, a man, ]

[truthdecided]

Hmm... Togekiss has some slightly avian attributes, but they're really not distinct enough. No beak or talons, and it certainly resembles more of a fae creature. As for Sigilyph, wings do not a bird make. It's much too abstract to even remotely fit.

[Even if this is in jest, Akechi is Akechi. He will educate and take this seriously.]

[outbounds]

Too abstrrract, huh? Going to have to argue with a lot of people on that one, hehe! Sigilyph is officially classed as an Avianoid Pokemon! It is also part of the Flying grouping of breeding groups. Which is filled with birds. ... And some bats and revived fossils with wings. But mostly, your birds. Even if they are not flying type.

[ and yes the offspring are viable. you get some fun things out of it too, lineage wise, shoutout to his Galvantula with Cross Poison,

(the fact that a lot of those images are in a battle context, meanwhile there's a feeling of immense fondness for the Archeops in the last...) ]

Togekiss, hmm. A little more leeway. It has been part of the Fairy egg group since before it was actually reclassified as a Fairy type. Fairy/Flying in both egg group and type, actually.

[truthdecided]

[...

What.]

Birds and bats can breed.

[Excuse you? His mind flashes through different earth birds and bats, with this overwhelming ripple of confusion.]

But... one is a bird and the other is a mammal. Their anatomy shouldn't even be compatible! Not to mention, one of those so-called bats looked like a dragon.

[outbounds]

Hm? Noivern? Sure. That is true. But it evolves from Noi-bat, not Noi-dragon. And their type is Flying/Dragon.

Things can be both!

[ also yeah birds and bats can breed, but the flying egg group makes plenty of sense, just like how the bug one does. wait until you hear about what complete nonsense the field egg group gets up to, Akechi. ]

[truthdecided]

That still doesn't explain the anatomical discrepancies. Most birds have cloacae. Mammals decidedly do not.

[He'll spare Emmet any diagrams of animal anatomy, of course. That's not something you just send to someone unprompted.]

[outbounds]

Of course.

That is why Celebi drops off the eggs for them from the future after they're done playing with each other.

[truthdecided]

You have to be bullshitting me. There is absolutely no way.

[Even Pokémon logic has limits, damn it!]

[outbounds]

Hehe. You got me. That one is just folklore. For some reason it does keep coming up whenever you try to look for information about the spirit of the forest, though.

[ don't ask him why he's been thinking about it lately, actually. ]

Everything else I said is true, though!

[truthdecided]

But that makes no sense! Bats are mammals who reproduce through live birth. Birds lay eggs.

[He's not going to outright ask how their reproduction works, but there's just the slightest hint of agitation to his words.]

[outbounds]

...... Huh?

All Pokémon lay eggs. Except for the ones who don't. The ones for whom there is no known documentation on record of them reproducing at all.

[ live birth, like a human...? ]

[truthdecided]

[...

Give him a minute, Emmet.]

So you're saying that even mammals lay eggs.

[Images flash through his mind of feline Pokémon, like Liepard and Litten, other assorted mammals, like Mightyena and even Zoroark.]

That would make them all monotremes, but that still doesn't explain...

[But then, he mentioned egg groups.]

You mean to tell me that, scientifically speaking, bats are considered genetic relatives to birds.

[outbounds]

Close enough for eggs, anyway. Compatibility wise. Don't think there is enough crossover for all that many unique or interesting egg moves though. At least I haven't heard of that many birds picking up sound moves from a -bat parent. Might depend on how strong actually.

[ a couple things get stuff like Supersonic, maybe, it's even learned naturally for some,

but it's what, just the Swellow line, and he thinks maybe Chatot or Toucannon that gets Boomburst via Noivern...? Scrappy Boomburst is a thing some trainers like to bring to the battle lines, and Chatot would just make sense given how well they can mimic sounds and cries. ]

[truthdecided]

I may have to research this further...

[...]

Purely for curiosity's sake. I've no interest in eggs, not to mention a distinct lack of interest in the opposite sex.

[That's a lot of words to say that he's gay, but bear with him.]

[outbounds]

I do not know if they would have that kind of information in the archives here. Or if they do, then how extensive it is.

[ all things considered, even in the 'modern' world Emmet comes from, they only really started studying it properly relatively recently in the grand scheme of things. here, wherever and whenever it is, definitely seems to be more behind the times... but maybe it's different for Pokémon who have built a city like this, and they might have it all written down somewhere? ]

But I am Emmet, and admittedly I have also not exactly gone looking for it. Good luck to you if you do.

[truthdecided]

Would they not need to know these things to operate the clinic? The biological differences of needs between Pokémon seem rather pertinent to such a diverse population.

[Though, given the sort of world Emmet hails from, his skepticism still makes sense...]

Granted, the level of technology is still far behind what I'm accustomed to, so the science could still be primitive by comparison.

[outbounds]

[ the mental impression of a shrug? yes, the diverse population, that's a neat thing that's come up before. ]

The population of this place. It is a lot more diverse than the wild populations you would usually find back home. So many different species in one place, all intermingling with each other, it does not usually happen in the wild.

[ he can't imagine that even if the native fauna of say, route 4 were building secret settlements in very, verrrry secret locations, they'd have extensive documentation of cross-species compatibility and things to possibly note in any potential offspring from such pairings... maybe he's underestimating them but hm. hmmmm! ]

That is why I am not sure! This place is like and unlike where I come from. It might be like you said. That such a diverse population then would lead to that kind of information being kept, for uses such as the clinic here.

[ but how in-depth, who knows! does akechi want to do an internship or something under Dr. Denne to find out-- ]

[truthdecided]

There's also the mere fact that the Pokémon here are socially comparable to humans. They run businesses, they've built this city... The mere fact that they have archives of any sort speaks to their social and cultural evolution.

[After all, spoken language came before the written word, and there's plenty of evidence that they've passed that threshold.

Images of cave paintings flicker by with his thoughts, followed by humans telling stories around a fire and ancient hieroglyphs in some sort of tomb.

Mere concepts rather than tangible examples, of course.]

Egg groups aside, there's undoubtedly a wealth of culture and history tucked away in the archives. That, I think, is even more worthwhile.

[outbounds]

[ This conversational segue is fine enough, and Emmet will roll with the rerouting. It's a good springboard for the thought that's been off and on coming to him as of late. ]

Culture and history. Right. That reminds me. This place is pretty well established. Yup. But the maps are limited. Very limited. Verrrrry interestingly so.

[ Like, he gets that it might not have been a priority if they focused on building up the town first, but also, hmm. ]

Sure. The forest beyond the city is strange. It is difficult to navigate.

But all the Pokémon here had to get here somehow. Somewhen. It is difficult to believe all of these different Pokémon were already just here by the bay. So I wonder where they might have come from, and why those aren't marked on any of the maps.

[ Maybe a side effect of how the forest does its best to confuse those who travel through it? That depends on if the forest has always been like that, huh. Well, there are a lot of potential answers, maybe. Knowing which they could be; well, lots of questions, fewer answers. ]

[truthdecided]

[Hmm... Interesting, but he can't exactly dispute that point.

Images of the forest, overgrown and with its rage-inducing mushrooms pass through his thoughts.]

Now that you mention it, the lack of proper maps is rather strange, especially when combined with the diversity of Pokémon present here. Not all of them fit what you'd associate with cavernous, forested, and seaside habitats.

[outbounds]

[ Huh, Rage Powder mushrooms? (Are there Anoongus in the part of the forest Akechi explored?) They didn't run into those when they went; what the Rookidee catches brief flashes of in response is a thick haze of fog, the confusing notion of going in straight lines only to somehow end up looping around anyway, and also the ground crumbling away beneath one's paws.

Not that Emmet seems to be bothered by the recollection, at least not obviously, as the emotion projected steadily through the Grumpearl's connection remains a general, vague cheerfulness (if tinged by the only slightly reined in amount of restless energy that Shoka's already noted). ]

Not in the least! It would make a little more sense if we knew of other settlements and there was regular travel between them. But if there is then we do not know about it.

And they definitely seemed surprised when we showed up in the storm. So that is probably not it either.

[ And it doesn't seem like the surroundings here are host to a significant number of Pokémon you wouldn't reasonably expect to call them home? The case of the mysterious biodiversity of PMDland. ]