Your flexibility check was passed.
§
You don't experience any blackout at all; rather, when you are burned to death, you feel yourself pulled from your surroundings and into a golden liquid. You feel yourself being pushed through it, and see Kyler pushed off in another direction.
You see it coming, a grassy area with no people around, a road running through it. You have control over your body to land however you wish or begin performing an action before you arrive, as long as it doesn't involve interacting with the area.
You arrive how it is you wish to arrive, feeling temperate sunlight of perhaps seventy five degrees. The road stretches behind you and in front of you; in front of you it turns to the left, and behind to what would also be left if you were facing that direction.
I arrive standing up. I bend my neck to the side, cricking it, and say, "Ow."
I'll head to my stuff first, unless there is some reason I can't.
Nope, and it isn't a far journey; it's more toward the direction behind you. You find a small village not far from where you started; it is a fairly modern looking place with paved roads and cars.
An older man, perhaps in his early to mid fifties, is looking at your things without touching them, scratching his scruffy chin.
"Ah, there they are! Damn teleportation mishaps!" I exclaim happily and begin to walk to collect my things, waving distractedly at the scruffy man as I approach.
"Teleportation?" The man is looking at you quizically. "Are you a Pokémon trainer?"
He has greying hair and a white lab coat.
Come to think of it, he might look somewhat familiar to you.
Jesus Christ, this joke never EVER gets old, does it?
My character looks at him, surprised for a moment.When I regain my equilibrium, I say:
"No. That I am not."
I think: Oh crud...If I am going to be in a Pokemon world, I better BECOME one pretty snappily...is this guy Professor Oak?
"I'd like to be, though. Pokemon are great friends to have!" I smile at him as I say this.
He responds, "Oh, yes, Pokémon make wonderful friends. I've actually just given out a Charmander, Bulbasaur, and Squirtle to some new trainers, and they've begun their journey to the Pokémon league."
He looks pleased with himself.
"But, you spoke of teleportation. Do you have some means of teleporting without a Pokémon?"
"Why yes, yes i have. Unfortunately, it's one way. It's a long story, perhaps for another time." I thumb my nose at him and smile mysteriously.
"So, who did you give out the Pokemon to?"
Okay, time for another gambit. The teleport gambit didn't go so well. "Wait a minute...you look familiar. Are you Professor Oak?"
As your teleportation was unrelated to Pokémon, he seems significantly less interested in it.
He tells you their names. "They each show a lot of promise!"
"Why, yes, yes I am. Have you come here to meet me, young man?"
oh good, I didn't want to explain scriff :)
"Mmm, no, but it's an honor nonetheless. I'm still getting my bearings and figuring out where I ended up. I've heard about you, though. You are a true Pokemon expert, and an uncommonly skilled trainer in your heyday. I've also heard that you want to make a Pokemon encyclopedia, is that true? Knowing what all the kinds of Pokemon are would be outstanding!"
Hah, having played Pokemon for years, the potential for manipulation is awesome so long as I keep my cool and don't attack these questions like a sledgehammer :P. I am actually being rather unsubtle regardless, but oh well.
No worries, Professor Stuart Oak's name is reknowned, and he is a little arrogant, if you ask me; he does come by it honestly, though.
§
He responds to you, "Yes, in fact, I have already begun work on my Pokédex!"
He looks excited, then seems to have a thought. "Are you interested in becoming a Pokémon trainer... oh dear, did you tell me your name? I seem to have forgotten what it was."
"I'm Brock!" I say confidently, then thrust my hand forward much like the poke-trainers on the show do, thumb up, smiling intensely. "Nice to meet you!"
"Brock, eh? Something seems oddly familiar about that name."
Silence for a moment but for the sound of the wind blowing through the grass.
"At any rate, I may have one Pokémon left, but I'm not sure if it would be a good idea for you to use it."
"Yeah, I get that a lot."
"Not a good idea? Why is that?"
"Well, it can be a little stubborn at times." He seems reluctant.
"Is that right? Well, stubborn is A-OK in my book. I'm more worried about whether or not it has a real personality FLAW, such as being cruel or brutish. I myself am horrendously stubborn."
"Oh, no; just stubborn. Well, if you insist," he walks back to his lab; I'm assuming you're gathering your things and going there.
He leads you to a table which has three empty indentations in the surface about the size of pokéballs, and he pushes a button on the underside of the table. A pokéball rises in the center of the table, and he takes it and opens it.
A flash of red light comes from within the pokéball, and a familiar-looking mouse-type pokémon is at your feet.
"Pikachu," it says with emphasis on the ah while raising its arm in greeting.
"Its name is Pikachu," Oak tells you as if that wasn't blatantly obvious.
"Hi there!" I say. I have always liked Pikachu; it's my favorite Pokemon. I beam at Pikachu, knowing full well I am likely to be eloctrocuted more than once for the next few days as I try to befriend him (male IS the gender of the Pikachu Oak had, right?).
"I'm going to be heading on an extended trip. I want to see the world and meet new people, and become a Pokemon trainer. Problem is, I need a companion to come with me, or it will be lonely, not to mention dangerous. Want to come along?" I say directly to Pikachu in all seriousness. As I say this, I take his Pokebal and shut it, then set it off to the side. I don't like them.
If pikachu does not seem averse to me, I will reach out slowly toward him, and pet him.
I find it curious you are having me take Ash's place rather than finding a way to make me take Brock's place over in pewter city.
I also find it amusing that Multiverser is a game where you can metagame (in a fashion) without being scolded. I KNOW this scenario, so my character does too, so I already know about the world. of course, I never know when you will throw a curveball into the equation, so it isn't always, but still.
Please. Have you take Brock's place? That would be far too predictable; there's a adjective I wouldn't want ascribed to me. Besides, how could I expect you to crush madly on every woman you meet? Also, don't expect to follow the Pokémon storyline, though I'd bet your character is thinking along those lines. In other words, yes, you met Oak, yes, he gave you a Pikachu; no, that does not necessarily mean you are taking Ash's place in the story. It just means that Pikachu is a favorite (though not my absolute favorite; honestly, I more favor Scizor and Lucario), and easily recognizable; there's also the established fact in the universe that Oak had a Pikachu.
Metagaming is fine, of course, in the situation where you say, "Wow, I know about this world." The only thing that isn't fine is if you were to say, "Okay, Multiverser mechanics work this way, and my character is going to take advantage of the fact that I know that."
§
How would you know the gender? Are you presuming?
"Chu," Pikachu responds, turning his head away. (In English, it is proper to use the masculine pronoun if you do not know the gender.)
He watches from the corner of his eye as you close the Pokéball and put it to the side.
Do you feel he seems averse to you?
His body language suggest shyness OR aversion, but I don't have the benefit of hearing the pitch of his voice. I'll go for it and hope.
"What do you say, Pikachu?" I say, and reach out, as described above.
According to canon, Pokemon can't be visually identified in that fashion, but can be identified with ba simple test. I presume Oak would know, as it is his Pikachu. But then, they didn't know how Pokemon breed yet. Oh well, it was an idle thought.
Oak said, "It's name is Pikachu"; not a good indicator of gender; unless you're asking him, you couldn't really know.
"Pika-chuuuu!" Pikachu shocks you painfully before you can pull your hand away.
"Aaaaaah!"
I pull my hand back, turn back to Oak, and say:
"Ouch. Am I to take that as a no? I certainly won't take him along if he doesn't want to go, unlike some trainers I have heard of."
Oak responds to you, "She just needs to have some time to get used to you. As I said, she's quite a stubborn Pikachu."
"Oh. I see. So, why is it you have been giving away your Pokemon anyway, Professor? You don't train anymore? Too busy with your studies?"
He answers you, "I've got much too much going on to train Pokémon; many trainers can spread out and see more Pokémon than I could ever see by myself. Logistically, it makes more sense for me to stay here and oversee work on the Pokédex.
"Hmm. So...what can you tell me about this Pokedex? How does it work? I think I can probably help out with your identification endeavor, since I intend to be traveling anyway."
Oak responds to you, "It's quite simple, really. You capture a Pokémon and train it, and the Pokédex gathers data on it as you train it. I'll certainly give you a model, considering that you'll be a Pokémon trainer, and the more trainers who have one, the more information we'll be able to garner."
"Neat! Well, before I go...Where do you think I should go first? I'm not too familiar with the area."
I look over and smile at Pikachu. This little mouse will be quite a pain (literally...ouch!), but if she really is just like Ash's Pikachu, then she will be a wonderful companion once she trusts me.
"It's entirely up to you," Oak tells you. "I would suggest venturing north to Viridian City and challenging the Gym Leader there for an Earth Badge and beginning your quest to battle the Elite Four, but the path you choose is entirely up to you."
Pikachu is watching you when you look over at her again, but she turns her head away with a stubborn, "Chu."
"Sounds good Professor."
I pick up Pikachu's Pokeball and pocket it, but I don't put her in it. I don't like the idea of putting creatures in such itty-bitty living space. Reminds me of Djinni.
"So, Professor, where is the Pokedex at? What info have you already collected, and what info do you still need that you know of?"
Doublepost
He hands you a Pokédex, and responds to your questioning, "It wouldn't be sensible for me to tell you everything in the Pokédex, and if I knew what wasn't in it, I would put it in."
"Not necessarily. If there were a Pokemon you knew of but have not as yet been able to study it closely enough to gather the info TO put in it, that would be a good target. By your first statement, I take it your research is already well under way, and you have lot of data already?"
"Yes, we have very much data on very many Pokémon, but this is a huge world we live in, Brock; there's always more to learn about Pokémon," Oak smiles.
I spend a moment examining the Pokedex, then say: "Naturally. Well, I guess there is no time like the present to get going. Unless there was something else, Professor?" After his response, assuming he had nothing else he wanted to discuss, I will say to Pikachu:
"In the ball or out?" and pull out the Pokeball, a questioning look on my face, then watch her reaction closely.
Oak has nothing else to tell you or give you.
"Pi," she responds, laying her ears back. It's probably a negative answer about the Pokéball.
I put the Pokeball away, then attempt to pick up Pikachu and set her on my shoulder, expecting to be zapped.
She does not zap you this time. However, she doesn't seem particularly enthused, either.
Ah, well, that's better than I expected.
"Where can I get some Pokemon food around here, Professor? For that matter, where can I get some food for me, too?"
Oak says, "I see, you don't have such things, or any money." He nods, looking deep in thought.
One of his assistants brings a backpack for you; inside it are a bedroll, a tent, a lighter, some tinder, and several packages of rations divided into those for Pokémon and those for humans.
"Consider it a thank you gift," Oak smiles.