barring emergencies

[the_very_best]

Bella's not sure where she has wandered. She thought she was about to walk into a shop, but this appears to be an unattended bar. With none of the windows associated with the shop she thought she was entering. It could be an elaborate psychic assault of some kind, but it doesn't feel very... assault-y... and she was in the middle of a town and doesn't think any humans want to sic their 'mon on her. It's strange. She approaches the bar, looking around warily, hand hovering near her belt.

with Max (Benedict)

with Earth and Lightning (kappa)

with Ann and Sabrina (kuuskytkolme)

Comments

[can_i_help]

Sabrina carefully picks up the napkin between her thumb and forefinger.

She reads it aloud.

[the_very_best]

I didn't mean to startle you, says a new napkin.

[can_i_help]

This time Sabrina doesn't jump, she merely drops the napkin she was holding.

She exchanges one look with her sister, picks up the other napkin and reads it.

[can_i_stay]

"Who is 'I'?" Ann says slowly.

[the_very_best]

I'm the bar.

"You're a talking bar."

Insofar as writing is talking, yes.

"Riiiiight."

Can I interest any of you in a beverage? First one's free.

[can_i_help]

"No, let's instead get back to the part where you're a talking bar. I-I don't even know where to start. Where did you come from, how do you make stuff appear out of thin air? Where did the door go, how can we get back?"

[alicornucopia]

Unfortunately, I don't have a perfect memory and can't tell you anything about how I began to exist. I have always been able to make things appear and it comes very naturally to me. Your door will reappear in time but neither you nor I can control how much time.

[can_i_help]

"Well, isn't that convenient."

The next thing she addresses to Ann. "Do you want to take free food from a mysterious thing or person who calls itself bar that may or may not have locked us here?"

[can_i_stay]

"Well, when you put it like that, of course not."

She motions towards the stranger. "How about you... I don't think you've told us your name yet? Are you going to take up the offer?"

[the_very_best]

"My name's Bella. I don't know, I'm already here without knowing how I could have gotten here or having any way to find out besides asking the bar questions, I'm not sure how taking a drink would make anything worse. Not really thirsty enough to try it yet though."

[can_i_stay]

"Charmed to meet you. I'm Ann and this," she says and points to the other girl, "is my sister Sabrina. You don't know how you got here either? Hey Bar, do you have something to do with that?"

[the_very_best]

I do not control the door. I do apologize on the establishment's behalf if it has inconvenienced you, but I am unable to complain to the management.

"I'm not even that much inconvenienced, just kind of perplexed," says Bella. "My first thought was it was some kind of psychic 'mon attack, but it really doesn't seem like it."

[can_i_stay]

"Psychic what? You keep using that strange jargon, I have no clue what you're actually talking about."

[the_very_best]

"Do you... not... okay, this is a weird magic bar, maybe you're from somewhere... weird. This is a Pokémon." She bounces one of her red-and-white balls off the ground; in a flash of red light there appears a creature.

"Shao?" asks the creature.

Bella scritches it on the head.

[can_i_help]

Both of the girls stare at the creature.

Sabrina is the first one to speak. "Well. That's like nothing I've ever seen. What is that and where did you get it from?"

[the_very_best]

"She's a Mienshao, it's a kind of Pokémon. Her name is Juu. I have five others of different kinds. I got one from my mom and the others I caught or traded."

[can_i_stay]

"Okay, but where did you catch them?"

[can_i_help]

"And what's a Pokémon?"

[the_very_best]

"Just - out in the wild. Wherever, except usually not in the middle of cities. Pokémon are creatures that can move around but aren't humans."

[can_i_stay]

"You just described animals. Okay, humans are a subset of animals, but you just described animals."

She looks around in bewilderment. "Bar! You seem to have at least some kind of explanation for everything. What is going on in here?"

[the_very_best]

Pokémon have several properties in common with each other that do not apply to conventional animals. Bella's world does not have any population of conventional animals except to the extent that humans count.

"What's an... animal?"

An animal is like a Pokémon except that they typically come in a wider variety of species, have a much smaller lower bound on their size, do not evolve in the way you are accustomed to Pokémon doing, are weaker and more fragile, usually do not respond as well to training by humans, cannot go into Pokéballs or PC storage, and usually do not produce anything you would recognize as an "attack".

[can_i_help]

"Just... How do you not know what an animal is? Bar? And Bella's world? Does she have her own personal world or something?"

[the_very_best]

Many other people also live in her world, but you do not. Her world does not contain animals as you understand them.

"So that explains why you were confused before about Pokéballs..."

[can_i_help]

"So you mean like parallel universes or something?"

A smile spreads on her face.

[can_i_stay]

Ann rolls her eyes and looks at Bella.

"So if you don't have animals, do you eat those Pokémon things? How animal-like... come to think of it, you don't have any idea what's animal-like. How different are Pokémon from humans?"