voidtreckerexpress | A NEW PLATFORM [INTRO POST JANUARY]

A NEW PLATFORM [INTRO POST JANUARY]

On the Train

Despite whatever Voidtreckers may have learned or how they feel about those revelations - or reminders - of the precariousness of their situation, the train flies ever onward.

"Good morning Voidtreckers, it is day one of the month of Poi. Points have been updated on the system."

With points updated, everyone can spend the morning shopping. Most people will be expecting the second announcement that comes a few hours later.

"Shortly arriving into a designated void platform. Exit from void in ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one. The weather is dry but there is a chill to the air and a strong breeze." A lurch and a jolt, and the windows fill with the fog that means they are at a platform.

The doors open. As usual, those who leave first notice nothing, walking silently, rucksacks on their backs, towards the barriers. Dairine, Okada Izō, Rapunzel, Satoru and Siebren; all pass across the platform, not looking back. And then they're gone, disappeared through the barriers and into the fog beyond.

But on the platform itself there are thirteen new faces. Wearing hoodies in all four colours and in various states of confusion.

For New Passengers

At first all they can see is steam billowing around them as they come to their senses. As their eyes adjust, they find themselves on a platform. The platform is long with a grassy mound behind them. It is blustery and the air is cold, they will be glad of those hoodies.

They are standing, in clothes that are not their own and a style they might not even recognise. They are carrying a rucksack on their back. For a moment it seems to just be them, alone on the foggy, windy platform; then the fog begins to fade and they realise they aren’t alone.

Thirteen figures, all facing the tracks, all dressed in cargo trousers and hoodies. Then there is a roaring sound and out of the fog arrives a train. Jet black with gold writing on the side. The Voidtrecker Express. There is a hiss as the doors slide open and out pours a strange assortment of people, over a hundred at least. Some are human, some are less so. Most are wearing the same hoodie in one of the four colours, red, orange, blue and purple, though some are sporting different clothes in a variety of styles.

Behind them, the doors close, and the train is cloaked in the same fog that hides the world beyond the platform.

The Train

After a short time, perhaps ten minutes or so, the fog clears and the doors hiss open again. Those from the train may encourage those on the platform to board. It’s not like there's anywhere else to go and even if there was, you feel a pull. A need to board, a feeling that staying on the platform would lead to something terrible. If that is not enough, there are plenty of people on the platform now, to encourage them onto the train.

Each ICP shows the same message and next to the screens there are stacks of leaflets written by those on the train, with further information (see
'Publications'). The store rooms have been restocked with fresh ingredients, with cans of corned beef lining the shelves.

For passengers that have bought items, these are also scattered around the luggage carriage in various suitcases and bags. Those from purple who go to find their prize will find a large box containing a gingerbread train for them to share. Plenty enough to go around, even for the largest team.

New passengers will find their ticket allows them into their cabins. In most rooms, the occupied beds are obvious, leaving the spotless, empty spaces for the newcomers. Room is tight but there are storage cubbies at the head of each bed, beds fold up and the bottom bunks double as benches for the small table. There is storage under those benches full of spare blankets and pillows.

Snow Time: Rock Garden

Winter seems to have followed from Osiga and nested in the rock garden. There's a chill that nips in the air and a light snow (real snow) fills the air. A thin cloudy haze at the top of the carriage seems the source. Yet the kaleidoscope of the void will assure that this is no timely world stop.

People might have seen it occurring the night before. Snow falling heavy before tapering off with an odd precision, leaving a heavy blanket over the carriage 'ground'. By morning of Platform Day, a miniature winter has descended, ripe for snowforts, snowballs, angels and snowmen.

It's not just the climate that's changed. Many statues and rock features are missing or moved. Digging below the snow reveals soil now frozen but providing a barrier between the bare floor of the carriage. Keen eyes will see changes are made with safety and available space in mind. The fountain has been emptied but the pond and streams are frozen solid, allowing intrepid spirits to try slide-skating over the surfaces without the risk of breaking through. The mosaics are still around, and enchantments are in place to protect paintings and paper decorations from damp. Any plants have been sent to sleep or taken to safety.

The benches are still around. Paths and bridges are covered with fresh snow, but, as the day goes on, it's trampled down and or scattered. Najaran's woodfolk may be glimpsed near Jingyi's shrine or hiding in the shadows of rocks and statues still present, perhaps even buried in the snow and peeking out. Shy around humans, though those with pointed ears or Hylian lineage may find an easier time interacting.

There are signs on both doors of the carriage warning of the change and mentioning the dressing carriage will have winter gear, and it does: with hats, scarves, gloves and ice skates in a variety of sizes. Dispensers with warm drinks such as coffee, hot chocolate and hot water for tea are available in the Games Carriage.

Early the next day, the snow will be gone and the gardens returned to how they once were.

Departure

A second horn sounds to encourage any stragglers taking advantage of the fresh air, and the doors slide shut. Veteran passengers know what will happen next, but they may wish to brief their new companions.

The train sets off, the fog obscuring the view again as it picks up speed.

"Welcome aboard, passengers of the Voidtrecker Express." A female-coded artificial sounding voice echoes throughout the train. "Please take the time to read the passenger information displayed on the Information and Communication points and familiarise yourself with the layout and emergency exits."

The train begins to tilt, leaving the ground and rising up into the fog-filled sky.

"Entrance into Voidspace imminent. New passengers are advised to remain seated. Entry into Voidspace in ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one."

A shudder, a jolt, a lurch to the left. A flash of light, colourful and blinding. As quick as it happens it is done. The train seems to steady itself. The fog from the windows is gone now, replaced with a kaleidoscope of ever-changing colours.

Welcome to the Void!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Leia couldn't fail to notice the young woman and her Pokémon huddled up in the corner on and near one of the benches, and could guess what had happened, even if she'd been rather distracted on the platform. Thus, appropriately dressed in winter gear and followed by her Espeon- who was also wearing a warm coat to make up for her own very short fur's lack of insulation-, she approached with two cups of hot cocoa in hand hoping to join her.

"You look like you could use some non-furry company," she said gently. "And probably some hot chocolate."

"Ah... Sure?" Eva blinks up at Leia, while her pokemon barely glance at the espeon. Yet she's already reaching out for one of the hot chocolates, mind working on automatic as it sinks deep into the comfort that it's an older lady here, now. That, while Liea might not understand all the intricacies of Arkean life, it means Eva can talk and not worry about things like 'what a boy might think of a lady having a breakdown'.

She knows, distantly, that no one, especially her male friends, would think her weak or blame her. Yet Arkean culture and society runs strong right now.

"Um. Your pokemon won't need the coat if you stay here. Dancer and 'Nona run hot, so..."

She doesn't want the espeon to overheat.

Said Espeon looked a bit skeptical of that statement. Were you sure of that, human? But once Leia had handed Eva one of the two hot chocolates, Mirorbright let her remove her coat. She then immediately moved in close to the other Pokémon to take advantage of their promised warmth.

Leia sat down on the bench next to Eva, laying Mirrorbright's coat down next to herself on the opposite side. "It's too bad I don't have Nova here yet," she said. "He's my Flareon. He's bit of a shy little thing around new people, but once he gets to know someone, he's very warm, both metaphorically and literally."

Of course she's sure! Both Dancer and 'Nona are very, very warm. Not as warm as can get, but still warm enough to be living heaters.

That said, Eva has no idea what a 'Flareon' is, and so with a sheepish grin, she produces her 'Dex and opens it up to an image search of all known pokemon. "I can't say I know what a 'flareon' is outside an English name for a pokemon?" She thinks, anyway. "Um. Can you point it out here?"

Leia smiled. "To save a bit of searching, it's the Fire-type evolution of Eevee," she said. "Mostly red and gold colored, with a very fluffy tail. Nova likes to try and hide behind his when he's feeling shy."

"Oh! A būsutā, then." Eva nods, knowing exactly the pokemon Leia means now. "That honestly sounds really cute -the tail hiding thing-, and I'd like to meet him if you ever get him. I can't say any of the ones in my life do that, though I don't know many, and one was a giant birdshit like its owner and another..."

She trails off a bit. Less that it's a bad memory and more, even ten years after the fact, she still has Feelings about how Erin gained her flareon.

"It is," Leia said. "He's the one I plan to get next, actually, once I have the points, so you'll likely get your chance; I want to give him time to get used to things on the train. After him though I'm undecided as to which to bring in next, if any."

"When it comes to Pokemon, Eevee evolutions are something of a specialty of mine, so I had one of each. I also acquired two Dragonairs- the middle stage of the Dragon-types native to Kanto- later, but bringing them here would be problematic for a number of reasons."

"Great, I look forward to meeting him then." It's also a reminder that she should start saving her points again- she does want to get Tanknator whenever she can. That Leia has one of each earns a raised eyebrow before Eva remembers she probably means one of each of the officially recognised lines. "You'd likely get on well with Eripi or Maika-chan, too, then. They both have various ībui lines and would probably talk your ears off about them."

The dragons, though. Eva frowns, but given the few details she has... "Hakuryū? Are they Blue and white, and average about 13 feet?"

Edited 2022-01-31 05:17 (UTC)

One of each type, yes. "I'd like that, if they ever turned up here," Leia said. "I may have acquired my Pokémon- and knowledge about them- in a bit of a roundabout way, but I do enjoy having people I can talk to about them."

She nodded to the description of Dragonairs. "Yes, those are the ones, though Roseate is pink instead of blue. Their size is one of the main reasons I won't be bringing them here; they'd never be comfortable in confined quarters like this, and I doubt any one else wants to be tripping over their tails any time they're out of their balls. The other reason is that they're a mated pair; it would be cruel to separate them, so they'd need to be brought on together if they were brought on at all, and that would be quite a lot of points."

"Well, I can tell you a bit about Eripi's Sen'i if you want?" Painful topic or not, it was a distraction from reality.

"And you can tell me about your dragons. If one's pink, that's from Hōen, right?"

"That sounds like a plan," Leia said, taking a sip of her hot chocolate. The Pokémon might be warm, but their cocoa wouldn't be for long if they didn't drink it. "And no, both of them are from Kanto. Or at least their species is; I acquired them as adults, so I couldn't vouch for where they were hatched. Roseate is just a rare color variant; they're called 'shiny' Pokémon though I'm not certain why, since they aren't actually any shinier than ones with more standard coloring. He is very handsome and attention-grabbing though, and he's entirely aware of it."

"Now... I take it that Sen'i is also an Eevee evolution? Is that the name of its species, or the name of the individual Pokémon?"

"Shinies give off a faint sparkle when released- to do with genetics related to the coat/skin. Pink means it probably hatched in Hoenn, though it would depend on the shade, as most regions do differ. But if they were adults when you caught them -and congrats on taming them; that's no easy feat- they probably hatched in the wild."

Probably, but Eva's not getting into the Breeding Industry or the mills known as Shiny Farms.

She'd rather focus on something that doesn't Upset her.

"Sen'i is Eripi's Starter. Maturing her into a-a būsutā," here, Eva's voice cracks with emotion, and the next words speak of an unspeakable sacrilege; a violation of the worst sort, deeper than anything Leia could ever conceive of. "Her mother forced it."

A breath, less to gather thoughts and more a chance to focus as she pulls up the sprites of eevee and all its myriad of 'Shinies'. "She was cheap; an unwanted thing. The Motora farm didn't know they had something people have murdered for."

She taps the solid grey sprite. "We... Eripi learned by her third badge -Sakaki-san knew on sight-, but by then..."

Another breath. Just voicing any of this is... hard. "It was too late to halt."

"I didn't catch them myself, but given that they were in the care of the Unova branch of the Pokémon Rangers before they were offered to me, them being hatched in the wild is still a distinct possibility," Leia said. "The fact that I could, though, was actually why they were offered to me specifically; the Rangers needed someone with a strong enough will to handle them both at once, and I suddenly had a great deal more free time on my hands due to a change in circumstances. In return for my help, I'm allowed to distribute roughly half of their eggs to deserving trainers as I see fit; the other half go towards a breeding program meant to help boost declining numbers in the wild in certain regions." Dragons were rare enough to begin with in most places, so declining numbers were troubling. And something the version of her from that world had been looking into, if she recalled correctly.

"And the origin of the term shiny is interesting. Though I wonder what such Pokémon were called before the use of Pokéballs became commonplace, if it's something that's really only obvious when they're released?" After all, there had to have been a time when that was the case, since the balls were clearly a man-made invention.

But she was distracted from her musings as Eva explained about Sen'i. The emotions behind her story were obvious, and would have been even without her Force sensitivity. She wasn't especially clear on the details of the scenario though. "Forced it how?", she asked. "And what was too late to halt?" It sounded dire, whatever it was, and her tone reflected her understanding of that, even if she still needed some clarification.

Rather than answer any of the first things, there's a bod. She's heard it and will come back to it, but...

With a swallow, Eva flips the dex to another set of images, this time showcasing the slow maturation of an eevee into a jolteon. It's very much like looking at timelapse photos of a lioncub into a male lion several years older.

"Battling speeds maturity up. It's a quirk of biology related to infinity energy; not my area of study. Anyway, Ms. Sakuran... Eripi is her daughter. She-"

Breath in, out. Relate it as facts. "She swapped out the everstone for a firestone painted to hide what it was. Such a thing is easy to miss when competitive battling, which Eripi was doing at the time. She really wanted three badges in four months, so her pokemon's growth was a reflection of that. Everyone knows ībui will grow into a different pokemon depending on factors and by the time the changes are noticed, it's too late to reverse."

Another breath. "Mum took her to court for property violation, and Erpi pressed charges."

Though, from Eva's voice, those charges almost didn't happen.

Leia nodded thoughtfully at the images. "Pokémon evolution in your world seems to work a bit differently than what I'm familiar with," she said. "It's a sudden change, not a gradual maturing, and rather difficult to miss."

She didn't elaborate any further at the moment though, letting Eva continue her story. She could see how the deception Eripi's mother had perpetrated could be considered a severe violation of trust, and possibly even a situation that could prompt a civil suit. She was less clear on why it was apparently a criminal offense, since so far as she knew, the use of an evolution stone didn't harm the Pokémon at all. Though maybe that was different in Eva's world too?

"The use of the Fire Stone didn't harm Sen'i, did it?", she asked. "I know the ones I'm familiar with don't cause any harm, but given the apparent differences..." Best to be sure, before discussing her own Eevee-lutions much further.

"What I don't understand is why her mother would do something like that. What in the world would motivate her to do something that's not only considered morally reprehensible, but also might subject her to criminal charges if caught? Because frankly I fail to see how it would benefit her that much, if at all."

"So like our games or cartoons often portray it as, then," Eva says with a nod and grin. "Which is mostly to teach kids what the different stages look like, which can be crucial for some species."

Yet for all the light-hearted words at the start, Eva sighs. "Starters are sacred. They mark the stage when we are considered mature enough to be given a pokemon and allowed into the wilds on our own, to make the perilous Journey into maturity and the start of our own lives, to prove we can survive in a world of very literal monsters. Your Starter is for life; you don't box or release or sell them, ever. What Ms. Sakuran did is a- an unspeakable sacrilege; a violation of the worst sort, deeper than anything you could ever conceive of. It's- hard to explain just how important they are."

As she speaks, she curls around Princess. Dancer coos softly while 'Nona noses her. It helps, a little, but it doesn't change that Tanknator, big lug she was was, wasn't here. Not yet. Maybe not ever.

Her voice is flatter than flat. "Ms. Sakuran thought she'd the right to control Eripi's life in everything, even down to the way Eripi wanted her Starter to grow. It's a living reminder of that violation. But... Eripi still loves Sen'i just as dearly, maybe even more so." A sigh and sad smile. "I wish I could be as strong and good as her, you know?"

Leia nodded solemnly. Mirrorbright moved away from the warmth of the other Pokémon long enough to butt her head gently against her trainer's leg, giving a purring trill; Leia smiled a bit sadly and gently rubbed her Espeon's head in turn. Mirrorbright then turned and butted her head against Eva's leg with similar gentleness in a show of solidarity before sitting back down where she could take advantage of the Fire-type warmth. If and when Eva put Princess down, though, he would find himself being gently groomed by a rather sandpapery Espeon tongue.

"Believe it or not, I understand better than you might think," Leia said. "Though the circumstances are unrelated to Pokémon, and a bit to complicated to go into here." At least if the didn't want to completely derail the conversation, which they didn't. "It's good to know that Sen'i didn't come to harm though, and that her mother's actions didn't damage Eripi's relationship with her Pokémon. I hope that justice was done in the end?"

"Also? Don't sell yourself short. You're a brave, good-hearted young woman in your own right, and your Pokémon reflect that."

Eva won't put Princess down; not when he's easily the most huggable right now of her original team. Nona is here, yes, but the fox is too big to hug.

"Okay," Eva says, trying - visibly trying- and failing to believe that Leia could ever understand. It's nothing to do with Leia and everything to do with the culture Eva grew up in, with the internalised thought that, true or not, ultimately the Starter is a reflection of the Trainer.

"It was. Eripi was granted emancipation." Eva glances away before blinking guilelessly at the older woman. "The next winter was really harsh and there were a few deaths."

The Force will show Eva as innocent as she appears. Yet, she's not; she knows damn well what happened to Ms. Sakuran wasn't an accident. But also: this is a woman practised at deception, given the Fluffy Situation back home.

"Sure?" At least she's agreeing-ish to the assessment now. At least.

She would have to put him down eventually. And Mirrorbright was patient. And the idea of a starter reflecting their trainer wasn't especially far off when it came to Leia and her Espeon, despite their unusual circumstances, though the degree to which it was broadly true likely varied as widely as the people and Pokémon did.

"Good for Eripi," Leia said. "Though the results of the harsh winter were unfortunate." There was the slightest pause before the last word, indicating that Leia was also aware that Ms. Sakuran's death was likely no accident. She didn't believe that Eva was directly involved, but she also knew that the young woman was no fool, and that the cover up- if there had even been one in such a situation- had likely been fairly flimsy.

"I'm sure," she said with certainty, offering a small smile. "Apparently whatever world a version of me is from, I tend to have an eye for talent and skill. And in most cases, a good network of information and contacts."

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

A NEW PLATFORM [INTRO POST JANUARY]

Re: Eva | OTA

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject