"Will you leave Chaldea?" Mash, the girl he had met earlier, asked Ritsuka. She was currently escorting him to his room after Olga kicked him out of the briefing.
Ritsuka took a moment to gather his thoughts; thanks to his livestream, he knew that trips to Antarctica were logistically challenging. It could be days, weeks, or even months before the next shipment of supplies arrives and could take him back home.
"I haven't decided yet."
[ShortShorts_QUEEN: What do you mean you haven't decided yet?!]
[Dude, they assaulted you, kidnapped you, sent you to one of the poles of your planet, called you a FUCKING TOOL, and then they had the gall to reject you for being tired and jetlagged?!! Fuck these guys! Go home!]
"Hmm, well, if you do decide to stay, you might still get a chance to help after the first mission." Ritsuka looked at Mash and noticed her eyes were a bit less dull than when they first met.
[ShortShorts_QUEEN: Again. Why should he!? ]
[[IliekQTthings: Gudao! For the love of all cute things in this world, LISTEN TO US. You don't owe these people anything! Go home!]
[Gudao go home. ]x 5000
[#GudaoGoHome. Let's make it trend, people!!]
"I hope so; while I don't know how you guys will accomplish the grand mission of 'preserving humanity's future," I'd still feel like a bum if I didn't help out in some way. Even if it means I have to be a janitor and clean some toilets while on my stay, then I will do it."
"You don't need to do that, senpai; you are still hired as a Master Candidate, so putting you to work as mere labor will be a waste."
Ritsuka released a sigh of dejection. "Man, there go my hopes and dreams of taking over Chaldea by becoming its head janitor. Oh well. Guess I'll have to climb the ranks the boring way."
Mash was taken aback by his words, then she couldn't hold back a giggle. "Pfft… what even is that? You can't become Director of Chaldea by cleaning toilets."
Seeing Mash smile and laugh at his antics made Ritsuka's stomach flutter. He felt his face getting warm, like he had a fever, but he didn't feel discomfort.
This was nice.
"You look really cute when you smile, Mash." Ritsuka told Mash with genuine sincerity in his voice. Mash, once again caught off guard by his words, suddenly looked away from him.
[Oh wow, get a room, you two. ]
[I mean, that IS where they are headed. ]
[Oh right… say, you don't think they'll actually… you know? ]
[PerfectlySaneHex: SHE BETTER NOT THAT'S MY MAN!! ]
[Hex, I don't really think it's a thing we will have, or should have, any control over. Though, I am a bit worried about Gudao's privacy. In the past, he could just stand up and walk to the bathroom while we waited for him to come back, but now… the camera is following him everywhere he goes… ]
[I like Gudao, but I don't think I can look at him the same way if we saw him taking a poop on the toilet or when he has to take a shower, which would require him to remove his clothes. ]
[Yeah,we got lucky with Romani's incident, as his lab coat covered most of his butt, but full-on nude Gudao in the shower with his junk hanging out for ALL of us to see? Yeah… Twitch mods are not going to be happy if they see that happen. ]
[PerfectlySaneHex: O//// v ////O ]
[Or when he inevitably ends up Cu-Boning Mash. ]
[PerfectlySaneHex: (ಠ益ಠ) ]
[Oh yeah, there's no saving Gudao from the ban hammer if he and Mash decide to spend the night at the daycare couple's house and the camera doesn't fade to black. Not that I'd blame him. Mash is rather gorgeous, and she seems to have a mutual affection towards him. Its not a matter of IF but WHEN, that is especially the case the longer Gudao stays in Chaldea. ]
[PerfectlySaneHex: Gudao… Please go home ╥﹏╥ ]
[Frisky1ntheFlowers: Well, you know what they say, you can't spell Smash without Mash. ]
[KicksYouIntheFace193: @Frisky1ntheFlowersyou stole my line. (ಠ_ಠ )]
[Frisky1ntheFlowers: you are 10,000 years too young to beat me in the ancient art of making crude innuendos towards and about innocent maidens. ]
[Electrical★Streamer_Iono(MOD): you're on thin ice @Frisky1ntheFlowers ]
[Frisky1ntheFlowers: psshh, I've been a professional thin ice skater for most of my life. I can even give you a private little show if you want to Iono-chan. ♡~(・ω< ✿) ]
< message deleted by moderator >
[Frisky1ntheFlowers has been timed out for 3 hours. ]
[IliekQTthings: :Vomit Emoji: ]
[Electrical★Streamer_Iono(MOD): Ugh. Gross. In your dreams. ]
[Frisky1ntheFlowers: Alright Iono chan, it's a date then ~ ]
[O_O ]x100
[Electrical★Streamer_Iono(MOD): @Frisky1ntheFlowers Wha the? Frisk?!! I timed you out!! ]
[Frisky1ntheFlowers: come now Iono-chan, Frisk isn't a very cute pet name. Mi amor. ]
< message deleted by moderator >
[Frisky1ntheFlowers has been timed out for 9 hours. ]
[Frisky1ntheFlowers: Gonna have to try better than that. ]
[Electrical★Streamer_Iono(MOD): PUTA MADRE!!! (╯°□°)╯︵ ┻━┻ ]
[Oh no. ]
[Iono is cursing in paldean!! Everyone run for your lives!!! ]
[IliekQTthings: don't give up Iono!!! BAN THE MOTHERFUCKER!! ]
[Electrical★Streamer_Iono(MOD): I'M BRINGING OUT THE TINKATON HAMMER!!
█▬▬ ＼(｀0´)／]
[Frisky1ntheFlowers: ꒰ঌ(˶ˆᗜˆ˵)໒꒱ ]
[Frisky1ntheFlowers has been banned. ]
[Is he gone? ]
[I think so. ]
[IliekQTthings: hip hip horray!! ]
[Electrical★Streamer_Iono(MOD): hip hip horray!! ]
[hip hip horray!! ] x100
[Frisky1ntheFlowers: hip hip horray!! ]
[Oh no… he's back. ]
[Bro… wtf… ]
[IliekQTthings: WHY WON'T YOU JUST DIE?!!!! ]
[Electrical★Streamer_Iono(MOD): Wha… but… HOW?!! ]
[Frisky1ntheFlowers: Magic.
∧＿∧
(｡･ω･｡)つ━☆・*.]
[IliekQTthings: IMPOSSIBRU!! ]
[The-Undefeatable: Is there a way to learn this power? ]
[Junior_Researcher:*eye rolls* Is the internet filled with nothing but charlatans? Magic isn't real! This guy somehow hacked Twitch and can undo timeouts and bans. ]
[Frisky1ntheFlowers: Do you guys… not know? ]
[Ecruteak_Gal: I Swear to Arceus, if you mention Vaporeon IN ANY WAY in your next comment. I swear I WILL FIND A WAY TO TRAVERSE SPACETIME AND STRANGLE YPIU!!]
[Yikes. Ecruteak_Gal made an obviously jarring spelling error and didn't immediately correct herself. ]
[If you value your life, stop dancing around the subject and get to the point ASAP Frisk. ]
]
[Frisky1ntheFlowers: Sorry but, I'm too lazy to type out the specifics, so I'll let Mash do the honors.]
[??? ]
"Wait… Magic is real?!"
Mash looked to Ritsuka, her eyelids slightly touching her forehead, exposing the surprise in her eyes.
"Do you really not know, senpai?"
[Ecruteak_Gal: Oh come on Mash! Not you too. ಥ╭╮ಥ ]
Ritsuka scratched the back of his head.
"I never got the pamphlet."
Mash gained a pensive look on her face before she came to a realization, "Oh… that's right. I forgot you were a public applicant. Of course you wouldn't be familiar with the moonlit world."
Mash started to fidget with her fingers. "But, I don't think we have enough time to cover the intricacies of how the mystical side of the world works in our walk, so I will have to give you the SparkNotes version of it, if that's ok with you, senpai."
[Is she being serious?]
[She's got to be pulling our leg isn't she? I mean, magic can't really be real… can it? ]
[I don't know… Gudao was adamant when he claimed pokemon were not native to his world. Yet he was caught completely offguard when we met Fou for the first time. His world clearly has more stuff going on in the background than it seems, so I'm willing to believe.]
"Sure. Go ahead, I'm all ears." So far she has been really nice and helpful towards him when he has no idea what he's doing, so she gained enough of his trust to hear her out.
"Very well, so… to start, the correct term is not magic, but rather magecraft. True Magic is a completely separate thing."
Suddenly, Mash's tone of voice became much more serious. Her lips pressed in what seemed like worry. "Incidentally, senpai, please refrain from using magic and magecraft interchangeably while roaming the halls of Chaldea."
He raised an inquisitive brow at her statement, "And why is that?"
"Most, if not all the older noble families of mages are sticklers for terminology; a lot of them would take offense to your ignorance."
He searched her face; seeing the genuine concern and seriousness in her voice stopped him from making light of the situation. He gave her a nod. "I got it. I'll be careful."
Mash sighed in relief, then she straightened her back, her steps a bit more confident as she raised a finger in a pose that reminded him of one of his high school teachers.
"In any case, Magecraft. In simple layman's terms, it is the ability for a person to recreate science via supernatural means."
"I see…"
[That makes no sense!]
His vague answer didn't trip Mash up as she decided to try a different approach. "Are you familiar with the scientific method, Senpai?"
"Oh yeah, I remember." How could he forget? He has been dealing with scientists badgering him about details of his world for years now.
"If I recall correctly, the scientific method is a method of procedure that allows scientists to understand the universe by following a set of steps." Ritsuka showed Mash his closed hand and, one by one, began to list off the steps that came to him by unfurling his fingers.
"Ask a question, develop a hypothesis or prediction, test the prediction, analyze the results, and record the results for and against the hypothesis. If the results do not align with the hypothesis, you form a new hypothesis and restart the experiment, rinse and repeat, and finally you can come to a conclusion."
[Mighty1Oak: Correct, although the method can be modified depending on the chosen field of science one decides to pursue. ]
Mash blinked in surprise at Ritsuka, completely taken aback by the detailed response. He felt a sting of pain in his heart seeing Mash look at him this way.
Ritsuka scratched his head. "Erm… So how does this relate to magecraft again?"
His question brought Mash back to her senses. "Ah, right! Apologies for my rudeness, senpai. Yes, you are correct. Now, while magecraft works similarly, the key difference that separates science from magecraft is that magecraft allows its practitioners to skip or outright ignore the steps scientists need to come to the same conclusion."
[B-but how?!! ]
[Huh? ] / [What? ] x10,000
[Junior_Researcher: Lol. That was such a funny joke! For a second there I thought you were being serious. ]
"In order for Magecraft to achieve these conclusions, it utilizes a fundamental rule of our universe that we call Mystery to fill in the gaps. And when I say mystery, I mean what I said. Mystery holds meaning because it's a mystery. If you come to understand it, it's no longer a mystery."
[IliekQTthings: Mash-tan is so cute when she goes into tutor mode.]
[My head hurts… ]
[Junior_Researcher: Wait… you're serious? Cheh, and here I was thinking you'd say something intelligent. You're nothing but a fraud polluting our beautiful world of facts and logic with falsehoods! ]
"Take the spell Gradiation Air for example: it's a type of magecraft that, by using magical energy to fuel the spell, allows a user to materialize an object from nothing by purely using their imagination."
[Junior_Researcher: TAUROS SHIT! ]
"I wish I could show you a physical example, but I can't really use any spells at the moment."
[Junior_Researcher: Excuses. Nothing but excuses! It's always the same story with you so-called magicians!]
[Dude… Chill…]
"It's alright Mash, you don't have to push yourself for my sake. I'm ok with just explanations."
[Junior_Researcher: Well I'm not! ]
[This Researcher guy is really starting to piss me off.]
[Top-Hat-PSY: @Junior_ResearcherStop being a stick in the mud and just accept the magic!! ]
[Junior_Researcher: NEVER!! ]
[MalasadaMayhem: @ Top-Hat-PSYThe dude has lived under a rock the past 3 years and barely joined our community yesterday, just let him live in denial, trust me, it's not worth the energy. ]
"So if you want to, say, create a wooden statue, a magecraft practitioner only needs to visualize the image of what they want, then channel their magical energy and project a copy of the image in their head as a physical object into the real world.
Ritsuka widened his brows in disbelief, "How is that not considered magic?!"
"Because, you can also create the same statue using a block of wood, a hammer and chisel and some arts and crafts knowledge."
[Mighty1Oak: Ah, I see. So that must mean Magic, Apologies, True Magic, is the power to recreate phenomena which is impossible to replicate through mundane means. Simply Fascinating. ]
[Junior_Researcher: Professor Oak. Please do not tell me you believe this Emboar-wash D: ]
[Mighty1Oak: Mr. Junior Researcher, as someone who studies science, you should always keep an open mind to the possibilities of the multiverse. If you close yourself off, you will only stagnate and regress as a researcher rather than bring out your full potential as a scientist. ]
[Junior_Researcher: I.. But… ]
[MalasadaMayhem: Yes! Finally someone managed to humble him! Thank you professor! ]
[Mighty1Oak: Hold your horses bucko, I didn't say we should accept everything young Mash has been presenting us at face value. This kind of revelation is still barely a few minutes old to our world, a far cry from the amount of experiments and testing such claims need to be verified and understood… if what she is claiming is real. ]
[But didn't she say that not understanding this stuff is what allows it to work? ]
[Mighty1Oak: Hmm… that is quite the dilemma… Well, let's hear her out a bit more, this is another world after all. For all we know, the moon could actually be made of cheese here! ]
"Another thing to note senpai, projections like the statue we talked about are seen as an inconsistency by the natural world, Thus the world will erase it after a certain amount of time has passed. So if you want the projection to last longer, you need to have a more vivid imagination and visualization before you project the image."
"So if I got this right, I can make an item spawn from my imagination, and after a while it will go poof after its timer hits zero?"
For the first time since the lecture started, Mash looked confused. After a moment of silence she responded, "In very, very simple terms, yes senpai, the items go poof."
"Huh. Cool. "
"Yes it is. Now, in order to use magecraft, you must have these things called Magic Circuits. They are metaphysical organs that come from the soul and connect the spiritual and the physical realm, in other words, your body. And you're in luck, I can actually show physical proof of what I am saying."
Mash pulled up her sleeve, exposing pale, but silky smooth skin.
[What is she doing? ]
Suddenly, intricate glowing blue patterns that resembled computer circuits climbed up from her elbow up until they reached the tip of her fingers.
"Woah…"
[ (⚆ᗝ⚆) ] x1,000
[Souls are REAL?!!! ]
[I KNEW IT! ]
[Mighty1Oak: Remarkable!! Simply remarkable!! ]
[@Junior_Researcher Try and explain that with your science! ]
[Junior_Researcher: Obviously, it means that, if what she claims about "magecraft" holds water, then Earth and our world discovered the same or a similar type of energy, but are referring to it using different terminologies. Like Mash has shown, these "magicians" have adapted a means to channel their equivalent to Type Energy through the special organs in their bodies similar to pokemon, to perform their special moves. However, that doesn't mean it's connected to the soul like she claims.
The existence of souls has always been a controversial subject, and the consensus among the scientific community is split half and half on the likelihood of them existing. I sit on the nonbelievers side btw. ]
[MalasadaMayhem: Don't worry, we believe you. ]
[Then what about ghost typez?! ]
[Junior_Researcher: I'm not your preschool teacher, go look it up yourself. ]
[MalasadaMayhem: It's like talking to a brick wall I swear. ]
Completely unaware of the arguments in chat, Mash continued her lecture, "A practitioner of Magecraft is known as a magus, magi is the plural term. There are also various other classifications that are used to identify what most mundane people inaccurately refer to as 'Wizards' or 'magicians.' Again. For your own safety please do not use these terms loosely senpai."
Ritsuka was a bit transfixed by the sight, but he quickly responded in affirmation.
Slowly, the glowing magic circuits went back down her elbow. Mash let out a sigh of relief.
"By the way, how come I haven't heard of this stuff before?" Ritsuka asked, a wonder and excitement in his voice.
"To expand upon my previous crude explanation of Mystery, the more science understands the natural world, the more mystery declines and the weaker magecraft becomes. The same principle applies to normal people learning about magecraft as well.
If too many people learn about the supernatural, then performing magecraft will become difficult, and in the worst case scenario, it will be rendered useless."
[Wait, there are over 50,000 people watching right now, does that mean that now that we know it exists… does that mean we just killed magecraft? ]
[Oops?]
[That's too bad. It looked really cool.]
[That is a very glaring weakness. How were they able to prevent security cameras and normal everyday people from taking out their phones to record them doing their magic? ]
[Frisky1ntheFlowers: There's no need to worry, you people don't count. You're all foreigners whose only influence in our World Line is via Gudao. So long as you guys behave and don't cause any trouble, all should be well. ]
[??? ]
[How do you know these things Frisk? ]
[Frisky1ntheFlowers: @ The-UndefeatableNot from a Twitch mod. ]
[The-Undefeatable: ??? Oh, I see what you mean. Why did you take this long to respond to me? ]
[@Frisky1ntheFlowers Don't ignore me asshole! ]
"To prevent the decline of magecraft, various magi families in the past formed organizations like the Clocktower in London to ensure the secrecy of magecraft as an art to maintain it, by any means necessary. "
"Oh."
"Yes oh, which is why you need to be careful who you talk to about the moonlit world senpai. To be a magus is to walk with death, you'd be dragging innocent people into danger for trying to reveal these secrets."
[That's blatant Evil Team territory.]
[Now the matching uniforms and the fancy letter "C" they have plastered everywhere make sense. ]
[Did Gudao join a Magical Evil Team?!! D: ]
[Gudao has fallen to the dark side… ]
[Good thing they deemed him worthless eh? He can avoid getting dragged into their misconduct and live out his normal life in piece.]
[*peace ]
[Yeah… but that will only happen if he decides to go home. And seeing how infatuated he is with Mash… I don't think that's gonna happen anytime soon.]
"Don't worry Mash, you can count on me!"
Mash nods at him then smiles, "While I would love to continue the lesson, we are out of time. Your room is just around the corner so that will be all for today. "
[Huh, that was quick. ]
[No wait! I must know more!]
[Hmmm, I still don't get it but the trick she did was really cool! ]
[Geez. And this is just a simple explanation. Just how complicated is this magecraft stuff anyway? ]
"Well in that case Mash, thank you so much for explaining this stuff to me. I really appreciate it."
"N-no it was nothing. While I received a formal education in all forms of magecraft, I still pale in comparison as a tutor. "
[Mighty1Oak: Do not worry young Mash. You did a wonderful job of explaining a complex topic in the limited time you had. ]
[Junior_Researcher: But professor, we can't verify if what she is saying is true or not. ]
[Mighty1Oak: Regardless, she was clear and confident in her presentation of what she could. That is a merit all on its own. Be sure to let her know Gudao, the ladies love when you give genuine compliments. ]
"Don't say that. You did well. "
Mash's cheeks redden in embarrassment and she looked away from him again, "T-thank you senpai… "
Mash for some unknown reason, abruptly stopped walking. Ritsuka stopped a little ahead of her, then when he saw her looking out the window, he followed her gaze to see what could have drawn her attention away.
He furrowed his brows when all he saw was the raging snowstorm outside.
"Everything ok Mash?"
Mash didn't respond to him at first, due to how transfixed she was but after a moment, she gave a response.
"You can't see the sky from here. "
He couldn't help but blink his eyes in confusion at her statement. This was not something he had been expecting from Mash, but he decided to just roll with it.
"Hmm, well, we are stationed in Antarctica. Snow storms are rather common here, so I guess it would be hard to see the blue sky at all over here. "
"Hn… " Mash barely paid him any mind as she stared longingly at the cloudy, snowy sky.
[Is she ok? ]
[Dunno. ]
[She kind of reminds me of my mom's Furfrou whenever she goes on a long vacation. ]
"Ah. I'm so sorry Senpai! I got lost in my thoughts! I'll take you to your room!! " the girl said while bowing her head in apology. Wait… why is she bowing her head like she is japanese?
Putting those thoughts aside, he said, "It's ok. Just lead the way. "
✦✧✦
"Would you like another pocky?"
Ritsuka looked down at the offered box that the fluffy-looking doctor, Romani Archaman, was offering to him. There weren't many sticks left in the box, and Ritsuka, being who he was, did not want to take advantage of the man's generosity since he already ate a few.
"Thanks, Doctor, but I'm good for now."
Romani shrugged, completely unbothered by his refusal, "Suit yourself. More for me~" He took out a stick from the box, took a bite of the chocolate end, then took a sip of his drink.
Romani let out a satisfied exhale that strongly smelled of coffee.
It's hard to believe that he was pleasantly hanging out with a man who he had literally caught with his pants down just a short while ago.
Life is strange sometimes.
Anyway, Romani had mentioned that he had also been kicked out of the briefing by Olga. With nowhere else to go, he had decided to crash here, in his room, because it had been unoccupied for so long until he arrived.
Currently, they were having a serious discussion about a very important subject.
"Anyways, you were saying?" Ritsuka asked, leaning a bit into his chair.
"Hmmm? Oh, right. Ugh, it's so annoying! I know it's called "Infinite Tsukuyomi, but can't Toei just get started on canon already?!" Romani complained to him, not that he blamed him since it was a valid point he had made.
"Yeah, it has been a while since Filler Hell started. Personally, if I were you, I'd just give in and read the manga already. You might not live long enough to see the end of the anime." Ritsuka was being completely serious.
"And as I said, I already do a lot of reading at work! I much prefer watching the anime with cool visuals, music and sound effects over reading a book! But it sucks since I am at the mercy of the greed of anime companies wanting to make bank on stretching out the story beyond what is necessary."
For those wondering, yes, they were discussing Naruto filler arcs. The reason why they were even in this topic of conversation was because Ritsuka had asked Romani about where the people who dropped him off had left his original clothes. The company uniform was nice, but that Madara Uchiha shirt was his favorite!
Romani understood how he felt and told him that his old clothes should have been washed, dried, and hung in the closet provided in his room. Sure enough, when he opened his closet, he was met with the sight of his trusty old shirt. What surprised him, however, was that it no longer faded or felt old; in fact, it looked exactly like when he had just bought it from Hot Topic years ago.
It was then that Romani noticed his awesome shirt design and recognized the character on the front of the shirt. He looked excited to see it and started fanboying about how cool the character, Madara Uchiha, was.
From there they just started to go into a lengthy discussion about Naruto.
Chat, unfortunately, could not follow their conversation since he never bothered to show Naruto to them aside from clips. Currently, Naruto Shippuden is in its 20th season. The original Naruto anime has 154 episodes, while Shippuden has more than double that number of episodes long. He was NOT going to subject chat to marathoning Naruto from part 1 all the way to up to the current episode of Shippuden.
While it was tempting to see what their reactions to various concepts from the show, he doesn't want to ruin the experience of Naruto for them if the time came when their worlds fully connect like some people were predicting.
He had made a lengthy checklist of what earth shows, movies and anime he would show the pokemon world on stream, but there was honestly too much to cover and so little time to cover it. Showing any full-length shōnen anime would actually be detrimental to his stream's goal to educate the masses about his world. It also didn't help that Naruto loved to mix filler with canon, so he would be forced to watch stuff he didn't like and it would kill Chat's enjoyment.
Shorter anime series and cartoons were his go-to. He could cover so much more ground in terms of earth culture that way, but he always tried his best to reserve the best of the best just for chat.
He felt a paw hit his cheek, and his hand automatically went to pet Fou's fluffy ears again.
Oh yeah, apparently Fou knows teleport.
Chat had freaked out about that fact when they saw Fou just appear on his shoulder during his and Romani's Dub vs. Sub debate.
Ritsuka had not been paying much attention to chat, as he genuinely found a friend in Romani and really liked having some familiarity after the ordeal he had just gone through.
He still occasionally checked Chat to make sure they were behaving. He was rather surprised that chat was still debating about whether Fou was a psychic type, a dual type, or if he was not a psychic type at all and could just learn psychic-type moves.
He took a moment to look at the clock on the wall. Oh wow, they've been at it for half an hour. Fou really is popular, isn't he?
"Are you listening, Ritsuka?"
"Oh, sorry, Romani, got distracted by the floof."
Romani sighed, "Actually, I apologize. I went on a bit of a rant there. We just met, and you have been very accommodating towards me. Let's change the subject, shall we? Do you like anything else besides Naruto? Any games?"
"Hmm," Ritsuka took a moment to ponder; he was starting to feel bad for leaving Chat out of their conversation. So to make sure they won't get bored just sitting and watching him talk anime with a fellow fan, he said the one thing that he knew would attract his viewer's attention like bees to a pot of honey: "Well, I like Pokémon."
Hearing his response, Romani's smile widened in childlike wonder and nostalgia.
"Woah, really?!! You're a fan of Pokémon too? Nice. So, who's your favorite Pokémon?"
Chat, after having ignored their conversation for the past 20 minutes, finally decided to become engaged in what they were saying once Pokémon got involved.
All according to keikaku.
[It's-ALWAYS-Pikachu: It's Pikachu ]
[We know.]
[Romani was asking Gudao @It's-ALWAYS-Pikachu. Not you.]
"Vanillite." And suddenly, the good mood of the conversation soured as he saw the disgust in Romani's face.
It was at this moment, Ritsuka realized he probably should have lied.
"Seriously? Why?"
[Gible_Archeologist: *narrows eyes* What is THAT supposed to mean?]
Ritsuka was actually a bit offended at his statement but held himself back from making a snappy comment at him.
"It's cute. And I like his little stubby ice nubs".
"It's an ice cream cone, Ritsuka."
[I don't think I like this guy anymore. ]
"Well, who's your favorite Pokémon, then?"
"Charizard. You can never go wrong with the OG. It's much cooler than some ice cream cone. "
[The-Undefeatable: Ey! A fellow Charizard fan! ]
[Gible_Archeologist: @ The-Undefeatable >:( ]
[The-Undefeatable: Oh uh, I mean, it's so cool you like charizard but you shouldn't put down other pokemon for it. ]
Ritsuka made a face, "its not very nice to talk smack about someone's favorite pokemon to their face Romani. "
Romani scratched his fluffy hair, "Hmm, I suppose you are right. Sorry. "
Ritsuka sighed, "apology accepted now-"
"At least it's not Trubbish."
[ShortShorts_QUEEN: Hey! Leave Mr. Trubbs alone!! ]
[Gible_Archeologist: Yeah!! He did nothing wrong! He just wants to teach the boys and girls of the world to love all Pokémon no matter what they look or smell like!! ]
Oh right, Mr. Trubb and friends. He had forgotten that was a popular kids show in their world. From what chat mentioned, it sounded like a mishmash of Sesame Street, Barney and Mr. Rodger's neighborhood, and it was equally iconic in its own right in the Pokémon world.
Seeing his chat suddenly turn into a hornet's nest, he tried his best to defuse the situation, "C-come on, Trubbish isn't that bad. "
Romani gave him a flat look of disappointment. "Ritsuka, I am really enjoying our budding friendship, so please do not nip it by defending the literal bag of garbage as good game character design."
Dammit, he's got a point.
[Arg!!! I wanna be mad at him but I keep forgetting people in Gudao's world don't see pokemon as real!!]
[For someone who complains a lot about being bullied, he sure likes to bulli things doesn't he?]
Before Romani could continue to piss off chat any longer, their conversation is interrupted by ringing on Romani's wristband.
"Excuse me Ritsuka, I have to take this. " He pushed a few buttons and the holographic image popped out of his band. Ritsuka has seen this tech used a few times, but he can never get over how cool it looked.
The familiar voice of Lev Lainur came on,
"Romani. We're going to start the Rayshift soon. Your presence is needed.
The A Team's in perfect condition, but B team on down is less experienced and they are displaying some slight abnormalities, likely anxiety. "
"Hey Lev, I'll be right over, just give me a minute."
"Yeah, hurry up, will you? If you're in the infirmary, then you can get here in two minutes."
[IliekQTthings: snitch on the Trubbs hater Gudao! ]
"This isn't the infirmary, is it?"
"Whoa… " he looked at Ritsuka while placing a finger on his lips, "Please don't mention that… It's going to take five minutes from here no matter what… Well, I think they'll forgive me for being a little late. A team has no issues anyway. "
[0ffDoodyJoy:Honestly, how did this man even graduate Medical school with such a bad work ethic?! ]
[That guy… Gudao, can we really trust that Lev Lainur guy? ]
[Gudao: What do you mean? ]
[That Lev is giving me bad vibes… I don't know how to describe it but he feels… unnatural. ]
[Gudao: ok…? I'll ask. ]
[Just be careful… ask in a roundabout way to not draw suspicion. ]
"Hey, uh, Romani? That guy, Lev Lainur was it, who is he? I don't think I had the chance to ask last time I saw him."
"Lev? Oh, he's the mage who helped the founder of our organization by creating the Near-Future Observation Lens, Sheba. It's a telescope used to observe that pseudo-planet, Chaldeas. "
[Oh great, more new words that we have no idea what they mean. ]
Seeing the constipated expression on Ritsuka's face caused Romani to let out a nervous chuckle, "looks like you really have no idea huh? Don't worry, I'll be sure to have someone bring you some books to read about our side of the world at your leisure. Trust me, the longer you go without understanding this stuff, the more confused and vulnerable you will be to the few bad actors who prowl these halls. "
[Scary.]
[So Chaldea is an Evil team theory confirmed then?]
[Not yet. We still don't know if they like to steal people's pokemon in this world. So we will have to wait and see. ]
"Well, long story short, It's pointless for an ordinary doctor like me to be with them, but if I'm summoned I must go. " Romani got up from Ritsuka's bed.
"Thanks for chatting with me, Ritsuka! When you get settled in, come by the infirmary. Next time I'll treat you to a yummy cake."
Ritsuka blinked, now there was darkness, the only thing Ritsuka could see was the glowing square of his chatbox and the camera floating nearby.
[Who turned out the lights?!!]
[Power outage?]
[The storm likely took down something important. ]
"What's this? The lights are out. Did something-"
A loud explosion knocks both Romani and Ritsuka off their feet and into the ground.
The dark room became illuminated in an ominous red glow, while an alarm blared at full volume.
What the hell was happening?!
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New Chat members shown in chapter:
0ffDoodyJoy: If its wasn't obvious, this is an off duty pokemon nurse from the Joy Clan.