IC Contact
WELCOME TO YOUR PRIVATE CHANNEL, NOBORI.
FOR SECURE COMMUNICATION, USE 17.128.903.472
*** NOBORI has joined 17.128.903.472
<NOBORI> Hello! This is Ingo!
<NOBORI> How may I help you?
FOR SECURE COMMUNICATION, USE 17.128.903.472
*** NOBORI has joined 17.128.903.472
<NOBORI> Hello! This is Ingo!
<NOBORI> How may I help you?

let's go to the zoo
It's perhaps all the better that Silvally is sort of worn out from several days of Adjustment; it won't let Gladion go anywhere without it (this is, literally, nominally, what a Pokeball is for), but it's content to not spend the day physically looming over his shoulder, meaning he and Ingo can head into town together the "normal" way.
Not that normal travel is a truly normal experience, as a monster - you get stared more than the average person - but, you know. And it's better, going as a group. Better in sort of the same way that being with Silvally has been (selfishly) better these past few days, giving him something, someone to focus on when otherwise he'd just be very conscious of being alone.
...But, hey! It's the zoo! Gladion's been here enough times to know where the maps are; he beelines for them to hand one off to Ingo.]
There are a few climate-controlled indoor facilities for small and tropical animals, and the larger ones live in the outdoor enclosures on this circuit.
no subject
But it's fine! Nothing unpleasant has happened during this particular walk or anything!
He takes the map, reading through it with interest. The concept of a zoo is a little strange, but less so than it would have been before he started going to the cat cafe. Animals are just...not Pokemon.]
Are there any lions or tigers? I spoke to another manticore who said that he is like a mixture between those two species! And also that they are not directly related to cats!
[Don't they seem like they should be in an evolutionary line together? Ah, well.]
no subject
Gladion ties his vines down somewhat when he's out and about. At home, they'd idly wind themselves around his body while he went about his business; here, he keeps a mostly-human silhouette, but the last foot or so of the tail-vine hanging in a loop at his hip still tries to grab and ungrab his pocket as he walks.]
They're more...related across a family tree, I think. Like Skitty to Glameow. But people will also call them "big cats", as if that's not vague. And it's only cats, too, as far as I know. There aren't "big dogs". Just wolves, and whatever's going on with all those breed-forms.
[christ.]
no subject
[He's certainly never heard a person refer to a cat's breed when discussing them. Just "cat"!
There's a number of birds flying and walking around the area, probably attracted by crowds of humans with food from the vendors near the zoo entrance. Despite them, Ingo's keeping his focus pretty much entirely on Gladion, only really glancing over if one happens to take flight very close by. Seems like hunting really does sate the instinct for a while.]
It's rather curious how few animals are considered appropriate companions. And not even any of the common local types!
[He sort of keeps expecting to see a kid with a squirrel or something, even knowing that isn't how it works.]
no subject
Supposedly pigeons are a domestic species that just went feral. Rats aren't, though. [He likes pigeons. They oscillate really quickly between seeming very stupid and doing things that are so clever it feels like having Pokemon hanging around.]
My education involved a lot of reading about interspecies dynamics in modern cities, and things like that. There's a lot that's similar. Like how the most common species are considered the least interesting, even without a barrier like this.
[Something kind of cosmically sad about the local rodents being overlooked AND just intrinsically less able to communicate.]
no subject
[Sounds dangerous. Sounds exciting! In a rare occasion, it's something about the future that Ingo finds himself eager to potentially witness! He's long since crossed that line himself, of course; his first partnership with Gligar was generally considered far too risky by others.
The pigeons, though...he frowns at those nearest the path. A domestic bird? They're a little bit like a Starly, or...oh. No. They're like Pidove. He's seen those before; they live in Unova. They're common there.]
That is rather sad! That they were partners with people once - or even pets! - and so very much not now!
no subject
[Definitely. And the world is definitely better for it. But at the same time - there sure are plenty of Pokemon that have suffered for being "interesting". And not just because of people like his mother.
Monsters swing back and forth between "frightening" and "interesting", too. And that's not philosophy, that's just an everyday observation. An every-week conversation. So...hm.]
Is it weird to imagine that there are Pokemon like that in the future? So...habituated to living with humans that they can actually be abandoned.
no subject
[A question that's an answer in itself: yes, that's a very strange thought! Ingo tucks his map into a pocket - he's got their route down, and anyway there's signs - and folds his arms behind his back as he walks. His wings shift a little.]
My own companions...those of other trainers I know. We are like family! It would feel very much like an abandonment, if I were to... [Well. Do what he's done, in fact.] But...none of them were raised by humans. Perhaps within a generation or two such things will happen, but for now, the nearest anyone has come is the way Wardens help with their Nobles' young. Any Pokemon I know could survive perfectly well on their own again, if put to it. Indeed, I am the one who would truly have difficulty, if we were all to suddenly part!
[In Hisui. He's having difficulties here, but mostly of an entirely different sort.]
Is that...something that happens?
no subject
[Which is also not unlike the animals here, actually. He's had an exchange with Leo about that, even - how many of them are meant to be somewhere that hasn't existed in...however long it's been since the Fog did what she did.]
no subject
[Ingo's quiet for a moment, thoughtful. Emmet mentioned that the Aether Foundation takes donations to help Pokemon. He'd assumed they were sick or injured, but...he has a sudden certainty that at least some were just abandoned. Is that what comes of a future where people and Pokemon live more closely together?
Maybe he should have known. If it all gets bigger, as one day it will, it won't always be just two or three people helping new trainers find suitable partners, one-on-one, case by case. Anyone could come by a Pokemon, and not everyone ought to.
But it must still be worth it. Surely it's still better than the fear and enmity he's seen?]
Yes, there has been much more travel lately. Not out of Hisui, so much, but the Galaxy Team attracts new recruits from many other regions! We've all known for some time that we were reaching a breaking point - things were going to change very much, if they were permitted to stay. The Clans were on the verge of driving them out several times! I am glad it never came to that.
no subject
[Suddenly wondering if there was something going on in Johto specifically that was driving a bunch of people off, or if that's just a coincidence.
Guess they'll probably never find out.]
My family doesn't have relatives there or anything. We're recent arrivals, with the Foundation.
[His tone isn't going anywhere in particular, but there is always a little...like...a little awkwardness inherent to the subject.]
no subject
[He says it casually enough, with just a bit of a furrowed brow. Ingo's long since grown used to the voids in his own head - these days, the strangeness comes from realizing all the things he's gotten so used to not knowing that he hasn't even thought to ask Emmet.]
Perhaps I should not be speaking as a native-born Hisuian! But I do not know how to do anything else. [With the truth, he supposes he's from even farther off than most of the Galaxy Team. And of course, he doesn't resemble the rest of the clan much. But it's been years since that seemed to matter to anyone.] Ah, but that is strange! I wonder what caused it all to happen at once like that?
no subject
no subject
[Ingo pauses, frowning. He's not entirely sure where that came from!]
Or...so I...believe? That sounds right to me now that I have said it, but...as always, it is probably best to confirm with Emmet!
no subject
I'll believe it.
[Of course he spontaneously recovers train trivia. That makes sense. Gladion is grinning, for the moment.
(Now approaching the tiger!)]
no subject
And, oh! There is the tiger! It seems to be a popular animal, but it's easy enough for two monsters to make their way through the crowds to a position where they can easily see into the exhibit. Ingo raises his eyebrows. Of all the animals he's seen, the tiger is the one which most looks as if it could be a Pokemon.]
Oh! It looks as though you mixed an Arcanine and a Luxray! I would have taken it for a fire-type, if I saw it anywhere else!
no subject
The zoo has still not stopped being kind of novel, as a concept. Like, yeah, zoos and parks and gardens where rare Pokemon just live for viewing exist, Gladion's been to a few, but they're not usually this...general? This controlled? This casual? The vibe just isn't the same.]
no subject
[It often takes him a moment to place the names of Pokemon that aren't native to Hisui, but he can usually do it! As a professional trainer, he supposes it behooved him to be familiar with many different kinds of Pokemon!
Now that he's really looking at an animal in an exhibit, the entire concept of a zoo is really hitting him in earnest. The tiger is sleeping, apparently perfectly content, and the enclosure seems both large and natural enough to be comfortable for it. Ingo expected all of that, of course; Gladion wouldn't patronize an establishment that treated its animals cruelly! It's just that there's really nothing like this in Hisui at all. He can't imagine anyone there even coming up with the idea for one!]
Are there...zoos like this, in the future? We do not have any such thing, of course - though I suppose some of the townsfolk in Jubilife like to watch Pokemon in the pastures!
no subject
[Once again, there's a conversational door into Perilous Territory! Once again, Gladion turns it over in his hands and thinks, okay, maybe this isn't such a huge deal.]
The conservatory at Aether Paradise was open to the public. That was kind of like this, where you stayed up on walkways instead of walking right through the habitats. But most of the Pokemon there rotated through, since they were still actually wild, just being rehabilitated. Mostly, people see rare Pokemon in person if they're with a trainer, I think.
no subject
There are likely such people anyway. But at least they wouldn't be able to openly set up shop as a tourist attraction.]
Rather like the pastures that way, then! Most of the Pokemon who live there were captured for study, for the Pokedex. The Survey Corps will train with them for a while, and I suppose they also take that opportunity to study us in their own way! So few Pokemon in the area have trained with people before, after all, so they have no way of knowing what it might be like! Some of them choose to stay with a person they've grown fond of, and others depart for the wilds again after a time!
[Ingo's trained a few of those, who were very interested in competition if not in a permanent residence. He doesn't begrudge their going; even a temporary partnership can bring about opportunities for many new and exciting battles! They're probably out there terrorizing their wild rivals though.]
I quite enjoyed the aquarium here in Bavan! I've taken a ride with Lord Basculegion once or twice, but it was a...rather alarming experience. I find I prefer dry land.
no subject
[Whereas there are plenty of people here right now!]
no subject
[He certainly doesn't seem frazzled by the number of people here at the zoo, like he would have been in the early months! It's mostly a good thing! But also a tiny bit discouraging, because Ingo knows that part of it is the wide berth people tend to give him since his changes. Even now, despite how popular the tiger exhibit is, he could easily spread his wings without hitting anyone.
He doesn't, of course. That'd be very inconsiderate! Instead, he reads the little "tiger facts!" plaque in front of the railing.]
Ah...they are the largest in the cat family! Their territories are usually...elsewhere, I suppose.
[He doesn't recognize any of these place names, really! And, oh, they mark their territory by scratching and scent marking. Ingo flashes back to his urges to claw and rub on everything around their house!]
no subject
I don't think any of the big cats live wild in Ryslig.
no subject
I have not heard of any who do! They say strange creatures live in the depths of the woods, where there is lingering fog, but I do not imagine those are natural animals. In any case, I have never seen anything out there larger than a deer!
[Not that he's been making a habit of venturing very deep inside. Ingo's not eager to run into those fog pockets himself. But he's gone up the trees nearer the house pretty often; the desire to be tall doesn't strike him as an instinct that needs to be suppressed because he's always rather liked heights.]
no subject
[thinking about the katt and that groundhog. God knows what other kinds of Unauthorized Fucking Creatures are roaming around out there, conveniently undocumented and excluded from everyone's assurances that "oh no animals definitely don't breathe fire". He should probably expand his research to mythical animals, if things like that are going to keep happening.
The tiger, in the course of doing its tiger things, bats a big rubber ball into its pool and jumps in after it, splashing and rolling and gnawing at its toy...]
(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)
(no subject)