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Team Playmates' Interdimensional Space-Time Q&A
3 years ago
Jamie taps the mic. "Uh, hello? Can they hear me? Yes? Okay good. Ahem. Hi, we're-"
"We're Team Playmates!" Snivy says. "Welcome to our Q&A!"
"Right. So, Dialga and Palkia told us that you've been watching our adventures. Somehow."
"Which is really cool! And creepy!"
"So they asked if we wanted to do this... space-time Q&A? Apparently you can ask any version of us from any time or... parallel universe? So you can ask our past and future selves questions."
"You can even ask versions of ourselves from different universes, like ones where I'm a human!"
"And one where I'm a... shapeshifting vampire?"
"Lucky. I wish I could have an alternate reality shapeshifting vampire self."
"I mean, maybe if I bit you? Whatever, let's just see what questions the 'readers' have for us."
(So I got really into pokemon ask-blogs, and I decided to make a journal where you can ask questions and get in-character answers. You can ask any version of Jamie or Snivy from any story, including Friends Through Fire if you want. You can specify the character, story, and chapter of when you want to ask. Something like: "(Childish Harmony, Chapter 4) Hey Snivy, what's your favorite color?" If you don't specify, I'll default to post-epilogue Childish Harmony Jamie and Snivy.
This journal will stay open indefinitely, so feel free to ask questions whenever! Or just chat with the characters. This is pretty much just an excuse to write micro-stories for Jamie and Snivy.
Also: A copy of this is up on AO3, in case you want to ask anonymously: https://archiveofourown.org/works/35857951 )
"We're Team Playmates!" Snivy says. "Welcome to our Q&A!"
"Right. So, Dialga and Palkia told us that you've been watching our adventures. Somehow."
"Which is really cool! And creepy!"
"So they asked if we wanted to do this... space-time Q&A? Apparently you can ask any version of us from any time or... parallel universe? So you can ask our past and future selves questions."
"You can even ask versions of ourselves from different universes, like ones where I'm a human!"
"And one where I'm a... shapeshifting vampire?"
"Lucky. I wish I could have an alternate reality shapeshifting vampire self."
"I mean, maybe if I bit you? Whatever, let's just see what questions the 'readers' have for us."
(So I got really into pokemon ask-blogs, and I decided to make a journal where you can ask questions and get in-character answers. You can ask any version of Jamie or Snivy from any story, including Friends Through Fire if you want. You can specify the character, story, and chapter of when you want to ask. Something like: "(Childish Harmony, Chapter 4) Hey Snivy, what's your favorite color?" If you don't specify, I'll default to post-epilogue Childish Harmony Jamie and Snivy.
This journal will stay open indefinitely, so feel free to ask questions whenever! Or just chat with the characters. This is pretty much just an excuse to write micro-stories for Jamie and Snivy.
Also: A copy of this is up on AO3, in case you want to ask anonymously: https://archiveofourown.org/works/35857951 )
"Then one day, after Jamie went back to their world, I had some money from a little exploration job. I saw some crayons in a store, and I realized I don't care about what my family likes anymore. So now I draw monsters and superheroes! And also really cool pokemon like Gyarados."
"Ralts still has... episodes, when they're reminded of their past. They're getting therapy though, so they're learning to manage it better. I actually ended up taking them to their therapist when Mightyena and Lilligant were busy one time, and I kinda... accidentally stumbled into a therapy session of my own? And uh, wow, it turns out I have a lot of emotional baggage related to my family! So that's... fun.
"Anyway, Ralts is still recovering, but they're happy. They have people they enjoy being around, people who help them, people they trust. And when you have people like that in your life, things get better." Snivy smiles and looks toward Jamie. "A lot better."
"But ditto? Ditto copy the DNA of a pokemon to reconstruct it from the inside out. Heck, sometimes they get everything EXCEPT the appearance right. Ditto are masters at copying the abilities of pokemon, which changelings can copy the appearance. Inside vs outside, function vs form.
"So long story short, no, I couldn't use a ditto's transform ability. I'm not even sure I could properly copy a ditto; they're pretty much all insides, no outsides, not much of a form to copy. They're like a living blob of pure pokemon biology, and that's the one thing I can't have."
"Anyway, after all my adventures, I have a connection to pokemon that's much stronger than mere curiosity. Naturally, I have a favorite now: Grass-types. Obviously. I want to know as much about my best friend as possible, so I've been focusing on studying everything I can about the Snivy line and grass-types. It's pretty funny knowing more about Snivy's biology than Snivy themself! Of course, I've also been learning more about my own species, but I've just become obsessed with grass-types now! Such an incredible mix between plant and animal, they're so cool!"
(Snivy stands in the background, blushing at the praise)
"The real reason is... it's the place where I started to like Mudkip. At first, Jamie was just company; it was nice to not be alone, and having a partner my age was also great. And of course, I enjoyed the fact that I was way better than them at everything. But in the Enchanted Forest... When I pulled that stupid stunt to get the liechi berries, and I felt like a total idiot-jerk, Jamie reached out and comforted me, even though they got hurt because of me. And then after that we played that awesome game of water tag! And Jamie THANKED me for playing around with them! I was happy to have Jamie around before, but after Enchanted Forest... I really cared about them...
"Oh yeah! 2nd place goes to this cave dungeon we found after Jamie got back. I'm not sure if you've heard of it, it's called the Violet Void? It had these awesome gravity-swap crystals so you can walk around on the ceiling, it was AWESOME! It's a really fun and happy place! I get the feeling that nothing dark or serious or bad could ever happen there. It's probably a perfect place for little kids!"
lol this version of Snivy lives in blissful ignorance"I really hated it at first, how the things I enjoyed as a mudkip weren't the same when I got back. But now, I've grown to love my different bodies. As a mudkip, I can swim, play in the rain and mud, use cool pokemon moves, and do dumb risky stuff with a more durable body. As a human, I can run, dance, and grab things! With FINGERS! You never realize how great fingers are until you've lost them. Switching bodies has stopped being awkward, and started being a refreshing change of pace, letting me do things I couldn't before.
"So yeah, I only like swimming as a mudkip. And that's fine by me."
"Rock music. Back before I met Snivy, my life was pretty calm, orderly, and boring, everything happening how it was supposed to. The intensity, the emotion, the rebellion of rock was such a shocking difference from my life that I was enraptured. Of course, I didn't dare let anyone find out that I liked rock of all genres. I probably would've dropped dead from shame and embarrassment.
"Ironically, now that I'm more secure in my feelings and desires, I wouldn't be ashamed to be caught listening to rock music... if I actually listened to it much anymore. I have enough intensity and emotion in my life now, in both human and pokemon worlds, so I've drifted toward more relaxed songs. It's still nice to listen to my old favorites, but it just doesn't make me feel the way it used to. I guess I just... don't really need it anymore."
"But it was also the place where I really started enjoying mystery dungeons. Meeting Treecko and having my curiosity validated was so nice, and- Oh yeah, they also called me by name! THAT felt good. Being called by my (at the time) real name made me feel like, even with this different body, I'm still me. Anyway, it was nice to have someone to indulge in my curiosity with. And hey, Snivy finally started being nice too!
"Second place goes to Cloud Palace. It was... rough. But necessary. We needed to finally have that talk, and thanks to it, we're better friends now than we could've been without it. Never underestimate the value of communication."
Sincerely, a person who totally isn't involved with law enforcement.
"W-what? Crimes? Oh, you must be mistaken! Me and my partner Zoe here haven't committed any crimes! Ever. In our whole lives."
"Indeed! Martha and I have NOT committed an extensive list of crimes. Including but not limited to..."
"Breaking and entering."
"Burglary."
"Petty theft."
"Shoplifting."
"Assault and battery."
"Kidnapping."
"Vandalism."
"Motor vehicle theft."
"Reckless driving."
"Driving without a license."
"Vehicular mansl- no, wait, the dude survived."
"Identity fraud."
"Invasion of privacy."
"Impersonation."
"Gross violation of gender roles."
"And most of all, we have never, not EVER in our lives committed any or all forms of espionage. ESPECIALLY not against the government."
"Uh, y-yeah. We're totally girls! Just like that show Totally Spies. Except we aren't spies. We're girls. And I'm, uh, absolutely NOT a boy. Probably. I think."
"ANYWAY, we have some, uh, waitress business to attend to. In the back room. If you'll excuse us..."
"Yeah, orans are great, gotta agree there. But personally, I prefer liechi berries!"
"You would choose the violence berry."
"It's not just violence, it's STRENGTH! But even so, liechi berries are only my 2nd favorite. Recently, I found something even better: Lansat berries! They only last long enough for a single hit, but they pack one heck of a punch!"
"It's true; the first time Snivy tried one, they knocked down a tree. My 2nd place goes to the Persim berry; it calms your mind, clearing away distractions and helping you focus. Not usually helpful in combat, but that calmness and peace is so nice..."
Snivy stands in horrified silence. "... Mudkip could you stop giving fun facts please?"
"Don't worry, it's all just hypothetical. There's no way a pokemon could get fire powers without a way to regulate them. Even in breeding between pokemon, the child of a fire-type always inherits its parent's ability to regulate the organ, even when it doesn't inherit the organ itself. A pokemon would need to somehow gain fire powers artificially, and that's just impossible!"
"Well on the one hand, bug-types, so that's scary. But... they have so many legs. Why? What do they need all those legs for?"
"I'm pretty sure it's to handle webs."
"What secrets do their legs hold?!"
"Webs. They hold webs."
"Heck, when I'm old I won't have ANY legs! What could these pokemon possibly hope to achieve with so many legs?!?"
"... Anyway, arachnid pokemon are really interesting. Specifically the spiders. You know, because of the webs. They can do some really fascinating things with those webs! I really wonder what it would feel like, being a spider pokemon."
"Mudkip you already have FOUR legs! What could you possibly want with more?"
"Well if you're that opposed to it, I'd also like to be a bird pokemon."
"GAAH, that's worse! Why do you wanna be my predator, huh? You wanna EAT me or something?!"
"... Which water-types? Mudkip? MUDKIP WHICH WATER-TYPES?!?"
I will accept it staying snivy as an answer, just know that that answer would be kinda boring.
"Uh, Snivy? You didn't read the whole question."
"Oh, whoops, let's see... BORING?! I-I'm not boring! YOU'RE boring! I can have a weird nonsense name too! It'd be, uh... Shazmik! Ha! That's a human name, right Jamie?"
"... You know, you could choose a name that has a meaning. Some humans do that, like 'Hope', or 'Summer'."
"Oh, like a nickname. Hmm... How about..." Snivy grins. "Breeze. Because I'm 'like a leaf tumbling through the air, dragged along by the breeze of your whims. Going this way and that, up and down, and on those rare times when you finally settle, you always let yourself get swept up again. You never put down roots, never stay where you're supposed to, always just aimlessly drifting.' Heh, a pretty accurate description, right? Well guess what losers, I LIKE being a breeze! How do you like me now?!"
But yeah, Breeze sounds good too.
I will call a grass type in my pokemon fic Shazmik, and you absolutely can not stop me"Apparently, whatever glitch in the Gate dragged me to the pokemon world only took me, leaving a pile of clothes in my bed as a terrifying surprise for my parents. And when I went back, it was... extremely awkward. And yes, I did indeed just appear in the middle of nowhere. Fortunately, it wasn't too hard to find civilization, but like I said, awkward. Everything worked out in the end, though."
"One time I found an oran berry on the ground, and I was staring at it, trying to figure out if it was really the wrong color, or if it was just the light playing tricks... Then Snivy walks over, gulps it down immediately, and falls over with a stomach ache. If the guardians really did create the mystery dungeons, they're total jerks for making Lookalike Items."
"But some people believe in something even more powerful than the legendary pokemon. A creature that controls destiny, and can reshape reality just by thinking. A creature called 'The Author'. I didn't see any author when I met with the legendary pokemon, so I don't think it exists."
"But there are some things that are really hard to accommodate. Pokemon like Slugma can accidentally catch things on fire, and aquatic pokemon like Magikarp can't live outside water. But that's okay; in the volcanic areas where Slugma live, things are made of non-flammable materials, and pokemon like Magikarp have their own underwater cities! I visit the underwater cities sometimes, but Snivy can't come with me.
"It's difficult to have such diversity, but everything works out in the end; carrying things can be difficult without hands, but I have friends and tools to help me. And even for pokemon that are literally made of lava, everyone has somewhere they belong."
"Did someone say clothes?!" Snivy interrupts. "GAH, I hate clothes! My parents would always make me dress up for holidays and weddings and stuff. I don't know how anyone can stand having all that cloth rubbing against them, clothes are so uncomfortable and restrictive! Anyone who wears clothes is an arrogant, self-important, pretentious jerk!"
"... What about that Ludicolo dancer you liked?"
"That wasn't clothing, that was a costume. It's completely different."
"Anyway, as I was saying, most pokemon only wear clothing for special occasions, or sometimes as job uniforms. With how many different shapes and sizes pokemon can have, most clothes are custom-made, not mass produced. Pokemon also wear practical things like coats for staying warm in winter, or rain jackets. There's also accessories like scarves and hats, which are more common.
"The style of clothes varies a lot between different places, but it's usually very fancy and decorative. It can range from very formal to very extravagant. But, uh, since people don't wear clothes often, they aren't usually very comfortable or durable. They prioritize style over practicality, but because of that, there are some really beautiful and unique clothes and costumes in this world. And with such variety in style and shape, fashion shows are incredible!"
"Counter argument: Marshmallows."
"... Fair point."
"To answer your question, we use matches. I'm in charge of starting and handling the fire, because Snivy is... not fond of fire. I'm surprisingly good at handling fire. Maybe I was a fire-type in my previous life or something. It's nice to have a campfire when it gets cold at night, and marshmallows and s'mores are delicious! It's especially good for Snivy, since they get cold easily."
"I like tag!" Snivy says. "It's fast and exciting!"
"And because you always win?"
"As if you play fair in I Spy! You always use weird words like 'cumulus' or 'magnolia'."
"Okay, how about we settle this in a game that's fair for both of us?"
"Melee sparring?"
"Melee sparring."
"I don't have fingers," Jamie says. "Even back in the human world, I don't really like rock-paper-scissors. I prefer games of skill, so the random guessing of rock-paper-scissors isn't very fun."
"I agree with Snivy here. Doing dumb stuff and getting dirty without a care in the world, it's how I was when I was little. Then I grew up, and I wanted to be mature. Wanted people to see me as an adult, not some dumb little kid. 'Shame' is a good word to describe it. Snivy really helped me to care less about all that, even if I'm still more mellow than I was when I was little... Oh! Also those 'Book Buneary' educational computer games! I just replayed one back home, and it was a trip down memory lane!"
"The rooms are human architecture, so maybe it's something like Team Magma; humans using the power of the Guardians but not being able to control it, creating a lifeless, empty labyrinth. Maybe the Guardians made it themselves, as a mockery of human civilization, or as an experiment that failed and became twisted. Or maybe it's an abandoned building that came to life on its own, trapping people by moving its rooms and changing its layout. The mystery is the creepiest part about it..."
"In the human world, my diet is nothing special. But I have recently switched to a vegetarian diet because... well, eating meat kinda feels like cannibalism now. I could never eat Snivy!"
"But something really scary about this is how it might encourage poaching. A shinx losing one tooth in a battle isn't a big deal, but if someone hunted a shinx and harvested ALL its teeth to make technical machines or to sell them... I hope the Paldea region has good laws to prevent poaching. Obviously I never liked seeing pokemon get injured, but now that I spend half my time being pokemon, I can't tolerate people treating them like tools or beasts!"
"No, you're not a poison-type... Well, I guess you might, if you have an Arbok or something as a grandparent..."
Snivy chomps down on their arm, pauses for a moment... and then falls face-down on the ground. "... pecha berries..."
"... Huh. Right, so, venom can sometimes be passed down genetically, but having poison-type ancestry doesn't make you resistant to poison at all. So if, for example, you have a venomous grass-type, you need to make sure they don't hurt themself."
"pecha berries..."
"Yes, and keep lots of pecha berries around."
"Which is TOTALLY UNFAIR by the way!"
"Anyway, the Guardians help me travel between worlds personally, so there's no way I could even try to bring someone else with me. I'm sure they could easily bring other humans and pokemon from here to the pokemon world if they wanted to, but they don't."
"They basically don't have any limits! They can fly around as a tranquill, become a solid rock geodude, and they can even copy a kecleon's color-changing thing!"
"That's... Well, it's true that I can do a lot. I never did much experimenting with my abilities; if someone happened to catch me shifting, it would've been a disaster. But now that we're in Pokemon Square, Breeze has been pestering me to try all sorts of things with my shapeshifting, things that I didn't even know I could do. But there are limits, like mass; my body only has so much matter, and I can't just make more, so I'll always be the same weight. I could shapeshift into a wailord, but I'd be a really tiny wailord. The second limit is that changeling shapeshifting is closer to a disguise than a transformation, so I can't copy abilities that are unique to a pokemon's biology; I could make myself look like a slugma, but I can't actually make my body as hot as lava."
"But what about how you can breathe fire as a charmeleon, and spit water as a marshtomp?"
"That's because changelings can learn lots of different moves, regardless of form. The only reason not to breathe fire as a marshtomp is that it would give away the disguise. Though our moves aren't as strong as when pokemon use them, and we can't learn powerful moves like hydro pump or earthquake."
"Okay, but what about when you copied a kecleon's color-changing?"
"I told you, that was just my regular shapeshifting."
"Oh yeah."
How do you two feel about how Pokemon Legends said Pokemon can shrink, and there isn’t anything that contradicts that statement yet?
Tl;dr, did you two know you can shrink, just not on command?