fairy_tale_trainer | 0 The Fool

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0 The Fool

[A young girl with blond hair is on the screen, looking rather scared,] Is this working? Can someone tell me how to get home? I need to get back there now! [She takes a deep breath, raising her chin and looking more determined,] My family needs me right now. I don't know what kind of place this is, but I need to go back.
[There's a small cry from off screen,] Eevee!

[Mary picks the little creature up,] I don't know what kind of animal this is, how this device even works, or where I am. Would someone please explain? I truly need to get home.

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Actually, you've missed the shared dream by about a month. This is, for the forseeable future, your current reality.

[...That came out more direct than he wanted.]

...But this world is not so bad. The Pokémon are wonderful, helpfulness is a common trait among the locals, we are often joined by loved ones from home, and we are returned to our rightful place in time the moment we leave.

So I don't have to worry about my family falling to pieces because I go missing too?

You don't, I promise. You could spend a year here, and for them it'd be no more than a thousandth of a second. You could grow fifty centimetres in the meantime, but you'd look the same back home.

[Mary sighs in relief,] I can only take your word on it at this point. [Loneliness is starting to affect her. She doesn't really have anyone here. Or anything. All she can do is stay strong and try to make the best of things.]

My word is born from many years of testimonies, I assure you. Certain people have been brought here and returned home and brought here again more than once; they were able to tell us what happens to our worlds during our stays here.

[He's strongly hoping that this little fact is more reassuring than alarming, but he wouldn't be surprised if it wasn't.]

[At first it looks like she's going to get upset, but for some reason she seems to calm down. She figures even if she spends years here, if no time passes at home, then it wouldn't be so bad. At least not once she makes some friends.]

So some people can spend years here?

[He nods.]

The earliest arrivals will soon have been here for five years, though there are very few left these days. Most are returned home within a year or two, some even within weeks.

[TO think that someone had been here for half her life span.... It seemed like so long she could barely fathom it.] That is a long, long time.

...It is indeed. But those who have been here for so long have become used to it years ago, even if they wish they could see their homes again.

[There's... not quite sadness in his voice, but something that resembles melancholy.]

You must miss your home, mister.

I do, with every single day that passes. But the friendships I've found here have worth greater than any world can hold. That is this land's greatest gift to us.

You speak beautifully, mister.

Why, thank you. My old tutors would be touched to hear your words.

They must have been much better than mine!

They bored me to tears half the time and spent far too many hours on lessons I believed I'd never need again. Is that not how they all are?

Yes! Oh, I despise my piano lessons, and I already know at least half of what they are trying to teach me! And sometimes I even catch them getting some of it wrong!

How can anyone without minimal competence be allowed to teach? Surely your world has talented tutors who could truly improve your musical education?

Well, that may be my fault in part. I have a tendency to scare off my tutors.

...Not by turning them into frogs, I hope. A few black mages in training tried that once, and it did not end well.

[Mary laughs brightly,]Not at all! I don't think that could be done in my world, though I suppose it would be just as strange as some things I've seen.

Things that you've seen in your own world, or that you've seen since you activated your Pokégear?

In my own world. Most people would have no idea about some things, but I saw the results of some strange magic. I could always very accurately read fortunes and see spirits myself.

Those are both rare and powerful gifts. Did you scare your tutors away with stories from spirits?

No, I just wasn't afraid to point out their flaws.

...You'd think adults would be able to accept constructive criticism.

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[video] This game's older than I thought!

[video] Started in 2010. Feels like yesterday!

[video] Time flies!

[video] Thanks for that, Dialga.

[video] lol

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