スター☆キャッチャー

     Not human? ❝Neither are you.❞ Blunt and not a proper answer. It provides the wanted information though. This is how you handle annoying people, right? You don’t play nice.      He also hasn’t previously bothered with an introduction because it was unimportant, but they are interested in who he is, so… The perfect opportunity to introduce himself properly being his typical grandiose self. Arms outswept (new gesture. he likes it.)  but no bow. You don’t show deference to those below you.

     ❝I am Dialga, Guardian of Time.❞ You can practically hear the capitals in his smug tone. Arms fall back to his sides he kneels once more, trying to come as close to eye-level with the student as possible. A confused head tilt follows. ❝You are unknown to me. What has Arceus changed you from?❞ They’re a pokemon, that he’s sure of. But which?      One more question lingers from previous words; what universe they’ve come from. Dialga only knows of two; the one Arceus first created and the parallel one Giratina was banished to. This student must surely be lying or mistaken. Only his sibling and torturer reside in that other world. But does he dare ask? Introduction for introduction will balance them out. If he asks for more he will owe more…      He’ll suck it up just this once, needing to know if Palkia has done something rash while he’s been away. 

     The glare returns for several reasons, not least of which being frustration at his own confusion. ❝And what other universe?❞ 

To have someone pick out that he wasn’t human -- now that was a first. Had the way he worded things give him away? Or was it a stab in the dark, and purely an assumption? Regardless, if thing being wasn’t human, than he had no reason to deny it himself.

But, to think that the other being was Dialga, the being who... who, well...

Well....?

“I don’t want to ruin your moment,” Dyna mumbles, “But where I’m from, Dialga’s a textbook deity. We don’t worship you under our main pantheon.” In fact, he’s sure that if it wasn’t for his bookworm tendencies, the name would have flown over his head. “Seeing this pamphlet, and now this, proves that you’re from another universe....or, perhaps from a different part of Iwama’s timeline.”

It’s all hypothetical, but it’s the best that Dyna has given the information he knows. Where are your manners though? A big legendary just gave you a welcoming gesture, why don’t you introduce yourself?

“...where I’m from, I was a Latios,” He hardly voices it -- he’s never revealed information like this so openly; “But since I hid among humans, I’m more accustomed to the name Dyna? I don’t have a fancy title, but I’ve seen us be referred to as angels before...”

     This student, possible legendary or not, is really starting to get on his nerves. A low rumbling emanates from him; the beginnings of an angry roar that hopefully won’t need to happen. But if they speak one more word out of line…       ❝Don’t assume you know anything about me.❞ Fine, so they don’t recognize him. It’s fine. But some respect would be appreciated. Dialga is so much more than this secondary duty given to him. ❝I use the term mortal because they are.❞       Red eyes glance at the title of the book the student is holding, then he swiftly stalks off back to his desk at which he awkwardly bends over to grab something the way he’s used to. Seconds later he returns with a paper hanging from his mouth and releases it to float down in the student’s general direction.

     ❝If you’re interested enough to attempt thievery of teaching materials then see me after my lessons.❞ The paper is a copy of his lecture schedule showing that his subject, PokéMythology, is frequently the last time-slot for this room. Once the student has looked at the paper Dialga holds out an arm, using his entire hand to stiffly make a beckoning motion. ❝Now return the book.❞

Dyna lifts an eyebrow at the teacher’s little charade he brought on. So he was really an immortal? The way he spoke it made it seem like he was telling the truth, but couldn’t he just a be a good liar? Ah, he wished he could pry into the mind of this ‘god’ right now...

“....?” Wait just a moment. The paper given to him, that was...

Without question, he takes the pamphlet, scanning the contents. When Dialga asks for the book back, Dyna gives him a curt, “Yeah, yeah, here, sure,” returning the book in the bookcase where it belongs.

Once he finally gets a through read of the paper, he squints his eyes at the teacher, then focuses on the paper. “Well, ok, you caught my interest now.” He confirms, “This is a class I’d be happy to discuss matters in, though I wonder how much this lore matches with the universe I’ve come from.”

He’s already met someone who’s known of pokemon, but not of the land he hails from -- was this teacher the same? Or different? And if he called himself an immortal, could this teacher be...?

     It’s been extremely slow going but Dialga is managing to get his act together bit by bit. If he’d opened the paper message sooner he would have known his presence was expected at this establishment, but such is the problem with new limbs. Those in charge didn’t seem to mind however which was nice. Saved him the trouble of having to change their minds on the matter.      So for the short time he’s been here he stays longer than required each day to get a better understanding of the place. He’s been told to share what he knows of his family and those like him. Simple but some learning of his own is required to be perfect.      Thus he remains in the assigned learning room later than required today. All those learning have returned to their homes and he stays behind to read ahead for his next lesson, also practicing use of his new limbs by shakily taking notes on the chalkboard. His handwriting is awful.      Footsteps mean nothing when the building is full of them, but the sight of clothing nearby that is not his makes him turn. A small person is trying to remove a book from a shelf.

     And here comes the death glare from a god. Nice going. ❝No you’re not.❞ Did they honestly think an excuse like that was going to work? This is his room (it’s shared between lecturers but don’t tell him that) and they think they can just take from it as they please?      Wait. Something about this person feels… different. They aren’t like the rest of the mortals he’s encountered. Dialga doesn’t want to get his hopes up but perhaps Arceus has done to another what they did to him.      Long and newly confident strides quickly take him to the shelf where he kneels to get a closer look at the almost-thief. The pink brings to mind Palkia but this is not his beloved sibling. ❝Who are you? Only older mortals are allowed on this floor.❞ Despite the seemingly innocent line of questioning the time god still looks royally pissed off as he stares the intruder down, hoping to frighten the information out of them.

Well, shoot! If Dyna can’t bluff that he’s a lost child, what’s the use of this small, weak limbed body!? A loud sigh escapes him -- he didn’t realize how long he’d be holding his breath -- as he returns a stare of his own back. Nothing hostile, no, but it’s clear that this isn’t the first time he’s been stared at by a god (human formed or otherwise).

“...alright, you got me there.” He admits. “I’m a student, but I’m on the lower floors. It’s nice down there, but they teach a lot of things I already know? That’s why I’m up here.” He hasn’t returned the book just yet -- maybe he could make a run with it now? No, the latter was way too tall, Dyna’s sure that they’d catch up in a heartbeat.

He withdraws on giving a name for now.

“Mortal though? Seriously?” He can’t help but chuckle. “You’re just a teacher, there’s no need to put yourself on a pedestal like that. ‘People’ or ‘students’ work just fine.”

Dyna had been adjusting to the nature of this city. learning the habits that the residents commonly took on. With each day, he finds himself fitting in -- and thus, blending in -- with the peaceful society consisting of humans and sheep.

It’s strange that he still hasn’t seen any sight of the god that whisked Sascha and himself here, but for all it’s worth, he’s glad that he hasn’t seen that crafty pokemon’s face. Yes, that was on thing he could do without for a bit longer.

Today marked another day of school. Learning was something that he and his trainer differed with; Sascha would always skip or find ways to beat the boredom the classroom gave. But Dyna enjoyed the potential to learn, and never skipped a class. And, even if many of the knowledge taught here was familiar to him, there were applications to that knowledge that differed from the land he came from.

Still...he couldn't help but want to know what some of the advanced courses were like.

Thus, once his classes ended, he tried to take a peek at some of the classrooms in the higher floors. Even if their classes were over, if he could spot some of the textbooks that the classroom were using, he could easily find it at the libr-....

Hold up. Why do that when you could steal-...ahem, borrow the book right now? Silently, Dyna slips into a classroom, heading to the bookshelf, but... someone spots him, just as he puts a hand on the book in question.The teacher, perhaps?

“....” Well, someone needed to practice being stealthy more! How was he going to cover up that he was trying to steal? “I...” He searches for an answer. “...I don’t know where I am, I’m...lost.”

Some people are fun to mess with even if they’re not Ash. He can be so dense and easily riled up. He snickered slightly at his reaction.

“That’s true too,” Gary realized. He has a point about this as well. “Well, if I know, those guys can’t spell for a grammar. I mean, their response to my later was gross and even in sheep drool.”

“Yeahh, here’s another problem. Those guys are too busy defendin’ this city and its peace. We can both try but I doubt we’ll get a positive response about this.”

Gross and covered in drool? It made sense if it was from the sheep that often delivered it, but...well, that’s certainly some imagery there!

“If you don’t think sending a letter will help, then perhaps finding answers will simply have to go into our own hands.” He’d probably try to send a letter soon -- best not to leave the hanging -- but if what Gary said were to be true, solving this mystery would need to start with researching on their own.

“I think it’ll be best to look into other places...” He comments mainly to himself. “You have a job to do, correct? I’ll leave you to it, and we can talk again sometime.”

“Hmm…”

He pondered, trying to think of things that could be similar between the two. He was still surprised that apparently people in the city came from different worlds. Though, the mystery of it all somewhat excited him as well. Many questions and thoughts raced through his mind as he thought about the world Dyna came from, though, he couldn’t be bothered to say each and every one of them.

“Is it alright if I ask you some… specific questions about your world?”

He didn’t bother to wait for an answer as he began to question Dyna.

“Umm… are there… gods in your world?”

As he asked his first question, he held his breath for a moment.

Dyna had no qualms about being asked questions. After all, if he wanted information from Doppio, then he’d need to exchange some of his own, correct? A fair trade, information for information.

However, he doesn’t expect the first question to...hit him that hard.

“...gods, huh.” He speaks the word anxiously, gathering his thoughts before devising an answer to the question before him. “There are gods, yes.”

His eyes glance off, fixating at a random spot. “Our world was founded under two gods; Kyogre, who ruled the seas, and Groudon, who ruled the land. But that world -- my world -- grew imbalanced when Kyogre was slain protecting our world.” The day of fire, Dyna knew it as.

“Aside from those two, we have minor deities who can influence vegetation, leap through time, bring forth seasons...but many of them died through that day. I don’t know how many of them survived.” Most of them didn’t, he knew this very well.

“And if I knew, I wouldn’t care or probably I’m just joking around.” He noted, as one of his trademark grins formed on his face. He’s used to sarcasm and wit that maybe by being nice isn’t in his category but, a true neutral? He can see himself in that alignment.

Sometimes, being a goody-two shoes sucks. 

“You do have a point in that,” Gary admitted, “But it’s odd how we seem to understand sheep language. The text books are written in a new language but it’s odd, how we are able to fully understand them too. Somehow, I can understand what you’re getting at.”

Truth be told, Gary’s face glowered at the pretense of fun. “Fun? It was never fun when you’re kidnapped one day from home, and your pokemon was stolen away from you? If it makes us feel any better, I did wrote a really mean letter to the ‘servants’ of this city when I arrived here.” He airquoted at the last part. “If anythin’, I have high expectations for Aries and Stella too. Don’t get me wrong but I’ll believe them when I see it rather than writing letters to those two.”

He was...joking? Oh, his head was so puzzled by all of this. Why were humans so difficult to understand sometimes? His mind was spinning, that’s for sure!

So, to gain some stable ground, he tries to focus on one topic, mulling over what Gary had said to him. “Of course not, that’s hardly something I’d coin as fun.” He comments, waving a hand dismissively. “But, the reasoning still stands the same; to the servants, they think it’s a way for us to have fun. That means, aside from the cruelties of keeping pokemon away...I don’t think they mean any ill harm.”

Call it intuition, but why did he have the feeling that he wasn’t the only dragon in the city? Dragon turned human that is, but if this hunch was true...

“This is the smallest device I’ve ever seen,” He muses, holding the mini...mini?  TV in his hands. “Maybe I can sell it for some cash....” Or, he could give it to Sascha. No, better yet...

Ah, so it seemed he wasn’t a tamer, after all. Doppio wasn’t disappointed, though, the smaller boy seemed interested in what he had to say so he supposed it couldn’t hurt too bad to tell him, even if there was a chance Dyna wouldn’t believe him,

“Ah, I’ll tell you about them then.”

He simply stated and walked with the other boy.

–

“Tamers are, umm…, basically people who have the ability to be partners with these creatures called Digimon, which is short for Digital Monsters! Digimon live in this amazing world called the Digital world which is basically like the Internet except a separate world!”

Doppio explained as he walked along. He thought for a moment on how to explain his rather ‘interesting’ situation with Digimon before speaking again.

“I’m not a tamer but due to some… special circumstances I’ve been to the Digital world multiple times and I’ve met a Tamer and their Digimon partner before.”

The purple-haired boy felt a bit embarrassed, recounting the certain Tamer in question before clearing his throat and pausing. It had occurred to him that all this information might be a bit too much to take in at once for poor Dyna. After all, the scarf wearing boy seemed to be a child. Doppio stayed quiet and looked down at the other in anticipation of any questions or comments.

Dyna would listen to Doppio’s explanation with little comment -- he wanted to hear the whole tale! However, he does quickly ask to halt the conversation as he dips into his apartment, dropping off the goods with a curt, “Got them, going to be out. Call me if you need me.”

He was probably going to get an earful from Sascha when he returned again, but for now, she had to be content enough with the food he got her, right? Welp, he’ll just have to find out later.

Returning his attention back to Doppio, he allows the latter to continue, and once he’s done, Dyna nods firmly.

“...interesting.” He remarks. “From where I come from, humans and creatures, we call them Pokemon, live on the same plane. Abet with some exceptions, there wasn’t a need to traverse to other places, and we’ve never had to jump into a network.....” The term Internet and network were still a bit fuzzy in concept -- there were devices from where he came from that had this ability, but it wasn’t nearly as complex as Stella City’s computers and the like!

But all and all, it seemed that Dyna could catch on very quickly. For someone who looked so young, he was deceptively intelligent! “That said, tamers do remind me of trainers. They too bond with creatures, be it for sport, for friendship, for assistance....we work together to help one another. I wonder, could there be other similarities?”

Shaking Dyna’s hand, he felt a tad bit better about his situation. He was relieved to know there were some helpful and seemingly kind people around in this place. At the very least, it might hurt to make some friends while he was here, but perhaps that was too forward of thinking.

“Thanks! I’d appreciate it!”

He responded.

He took another look at the pink boy and suddenly something came to his mind instantaneously.

“Um… Dyna, this might be a weird question but by any chance, are you a tamer?”

Maybe he was way off the mark, Doppio didn’t exactly expect the child to know what he was talking about but it didn’t hurt to ask, did it? The thought of other tamers, and even better, other digimon in Stella city gave him some hope to finding answers as well as getting more help with getting out of the city.

A tamer? The comment comes off from seemingly nowhere -- a weird question indeed! -- but the term intrigues the smaller boy. He can also conclude from this that this person probably wasn’t from a world with pokemon, but...

Assumptions, assumptions. He needed to ask, not keep thinking about the matter to himself! Bringing himself down from the sea of thoughts, Dyna prepares a proper response.

Now, it was the purple-haired boy’s turn to listen intently. Once the smaller boy’s explanation was done, he groaned, holding his hand to his face in irritation.

“God… out of all the things that could happen…”

He stayed quiet for a moment, thinking of what to do next before clearing his throat and piping up with a new question.

“Not to change the subject or anything but I realized I haven’t introduced myself, um, I’m Doppio! what might your name be?”

Ah, there it was again, another smile by the gogglehead, this time though, it was a slightly more genuine one. He held out a hand for a handshake and waited in expectation.

Oh, it was worst case scenario -- not only did the stranger not know what happened, he seemed really upset!! Super upset! Dyna lets him stew his thoughts uninterrupted, only replying once the stranger’s prompted him a question.

“Oh it’s...Dyna.” He responds, careful to put out his own hand and carefuller about shaking Doppio’s. Social interaction was never his forte; sure he’s talked to a lot of people in his time, but greetings and such? It’s a lot harder than simply exchanging information.

“Doppio, was it..?” He rhetorically asks, “If you need any assistance getting around, I know the place pretty well.” Enough that he’s able to do some midday snack shopping, anyway. “Outside of that, I can’t say I’m much help. No one’s been able to get out of the city, but the sheep here are remarkably kind about the services here.”

The gogglehead gave a flustered look, how did he manage to get knocked down so easily by a child? It occurred to him that it might have been another side effect of his current form but surely, he wouldn’t have been this weak, right? He regained his composure for a moment and nodded at the other boy.

“U-Umm… yeah! I’m okay!”

He gave a flimsy smile and picked up his letter from the ground. Looking down at it to make sure it didn’t get too dirty, he dusted it off and looked back at Dyna.

“By any chance, are you also a new person to this town, er… I mean, did you, by any chance, also somehow get magically transported here?”

After fumbling with his words, he decided to just turn his paper around and showed it to the pink haired boy.

“Cause… I got this letter from this weird sheep and…”

His words trailed off, hoping the kid would know what he meant.

At first, the boy listens quietly to the other’s explanation. Magically being transported, a letter, and sheep? It sounded all too familiar.

Though....there was one difference here, wasn’t it? Much like the few other humans he found in the city...

“...you didn’t come here intentionally, did you?” he inquires; that was the one big difference -- he (alongside Sascha) knew how they got here. So why were there others appearing like this? So randomly? So suddenly?

He gives the letter one more glance. “Coming here by whim seems to be how this city functions. You wouldn’t be the only one.” Let’s at least answer this poor soul’s questions! “People appear here, and this city doesn’t seem ill mannered, but....no one seems to know how to get out. At least, not for now.”

@collectingstars

The boy looked over at the buildings that passed him by, what an… interesting place, to say the least. He was still a tad bit angered at his current situation but he supposed there wasn’t much to do about it now. 

Doppio looked back down to the letter he carried in his hands, deep in thought. It was the same letter he had obtained when he first awoke in the city but he didn’t want to get rid of it just yet, in case it held some answers about the strange city.

While he stared at the paper, he hadn’t realized he didn’t know where he was going until…

Thud!

Doppio flinched as he bumped into the other person, falling onto the ground, the letter flying from his hands onto the ground.

“Er, sorry about that! I’m new to this place and I didn’t see where I was going and–”

He hastily said as he got up and held out a hand to the other person before he got a good look at them.

“A…a kid…?”

More candy? He swears that Sascha’s stomach is a bottomless pit, but with a sigh, he had taken on the task of getting her some sweets. Purchasing them isn’t hard -- and hey, maybe he even stuck a few in his jacket while the sheep at the cashier wasn’t looking -- leaving the trip home as the only thing left to do.

He sighs again. Gods, he missed being able to fly home. This was going to take forever!! Regardless, he trudges towards his apartment, double checking that he’s got everything accounted for. Chocolate? check. lollipops? Of course-

Ooph. What just hit him? Before he searches for the answer, it comes to him, panicking and yelping and yelling in his ears.

“H..hey! It’s, it’s ok.” He tries to assure the stranger that he’s perfectly ok, taking his hand without too much hesitation. “You’re new? Are you holding up ok here?” If the stranger was this bent out of shape from simply bumping into another person, Dyna couldn’t help but feel a little worried about them.

“Hehe, I get it a lot including from gramps.” Gary was pleased to know some of his original personality hasn’t changed much. Some people can be a pest, others not so much. He was glad that powers doesn’t work for him in this world, to say the least.

“You seem to know a lot of science, kid. I appreciate that.” He said in an amused tone. “But I get ya. Now that I thought about it, we understand each other because we may be speaking in sheep language.  By cultural instinct, I guess since we’re part of this city. Heck, if Aries and Stella are so ‘great’, then they should know that we’re not weapons to begin with. Either that, they just want us to have a good time.” Sometimes, looks can be deceiving if Aries and Stella really did make their official appearance, he has a lot to stay.

“You...understand that’s not a compliment, right.” God Dyna, he knows, of course he does! He’s playing you like a fool, get with the program! Still, it’s surprising how quickly his perception of this person did a whole 180. Sure, Sascha was a criminal, but at least she was honest.

He’s take questionable morals any day.

“Reading’s a good pastime.” He comments; “you can never be too informed. It’s especially important with new worlds. Sure, this one seems to pull people from all over, but if it’s a world where you’re the only outsider, adapting is important.”