Video;

[ibalsamina]

[The Grumpearl projects an image: a long-furred Yungoos seated primly on a wooden Canopy platform. Her grin is restrained, showing only a sliver of her sharp fangs, and her surroundings are awash with color: the greens of lush foliage and the vibrant blossoms of various flowers, both growing naturally in the trees and collected for display around the edges of the platform.]

Hello, everyone. I hope you are all faring well, in spite of the extraordinary circumstances. I am still familiarizing myself with this "Grumpearl" device, so I also hope you can forgive me for any technical difficulties that may arise.

[Observing her in this moment, it's hard to imagine that there even could be any such technical difficulties. She is perfectly framed and her thoughts are silent—almost eerily so. Try as she might to make it all seem effortless, it seems she is trying very hard, in fact, to keep them focused and to herself. Not a single stray thought allowed.]

My name is Lusamine Mendel, and I was very recently recruited into the Cheri Guild. Although I am still new to this world, I intend to do everything I can to be of assistance to you all. If there is ever anything I might be able to help you with, please do not hesitate to ask.

[The dark green gem fastened around her neck gleams as she tilts her head.]

Now, I have a simple question for recent arrivals and longtime residents of Bottlecap Bay alike, if you wouldn't mind indulging me. What is the last thing you recall happening before you were transported into this world?

Comments

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[outbounds]

What I do. What I say. Always the same.

[ The mental voice is crisply enunciated, even-keeled. ]

Follow the rules. Safe driving! Follow the schedules. Everyone smile! Check safety. Everything’s ready!

Aim for victory! All aboard!

[ In other words, he was doing his job as per usual. Schedules have to be followed and the trains have to keep running, and all. ]

[ibalsamina]

I'm not quite sure I follow. Were you... on a train?

[Safe driving, schedules, all aboard...?]

[outbounds]

Running it, yes. Same as I always do. No obstructions on the tracks, Pokémon or otherwise, no disruptions from any unruly passengers.

Nothing out of the ordinary, until nothing was ordinary. Pain, complete and consuming. And then emptiness, that wanted us to give up and fall into it. That voice I think we all heard, one way or another.

And then we all ended up in the ocean in the middle of a storm as Pokémon.

[ibalsamina]

Ah, so you were a train driver, then. That must have come as quite a shock! My own arrival here was not entirely pleasant, but I was at the very least on dry land...

You're sure you don't recall anything out of the ordinary before the pain? [A pause.] Did you see any unusual lights, by any chance?

[outbounds]

Not localized to inside the train car where I was. If by chance they were outside in the tunnels, and large enough to encompass the train, then.

Well. Then we are missing seven cars and the people who were inside them. So that would be verrrry concerning!

[ So that's probably a no to unusual lights being in the subway before all that happened. ]

[ibalsamina]

I should say so.

[Hmm...]

What was your intended destination, on this last trip?

[outbounds]

Northbound towards Nimbasa from Castelia.

[ Ergo, if she's familiar with Unova's cities at all, and specifically their relative sizes and populations... it is quite the busy line.

At the very least, since he was awaiting a challenger, that means he was not, in fact, the one driving the train at the time. ]