bottlecaplogs | EMPORIO'S OCTOBER CATCH-ALL!

[It's a garden! Upon seeing Umemiya's request on the Quest Board, Emporio somehow isn't surprised to see that he was the first to get something up there among those from 'other worlds'. Not because of any problems, but rather it seems like Umemiya would be the someone to realize such a thing can be done at all.

Lots of common sense, that Umemiya. Emporio likes him.

At any rate, he signs up for that quest, and finds himself facing the next vital step.

Namely that he's never actually tended a garden. The cubone stands there, helmet-turned-backpack full of garden stuff, but he doesn't know how.] Hmmmm...

[Most other Pokemon are already busy at work...]

[ if it's any consolation to emporio, parvati doesn't know much either. she sort of gets the basic idea, but this is a woman whose diet has consisted almost entirely of hyper processed alien meat for all of her twenty-eight years. so she's also stood there with very little idea of what she's actually supposed to be doing.

she's surveyed the garden over at least, not recognising anything beyond the dirt. what are they using to fertilise this, she wonders? ]

You lost too?

[ she turns to the cubone next to her, head slightly tilted to the side. ]

[He would, given the chance, be forced to wonder- what is more (or less) healthy? Hyper processed alien meat, or Floridian prison leftovers? Hmmmm.

At any rate, the cubone taps his mitten hands together the way one would tap their fingers in an anxious beat. If he could, he'd probably be chewing his lip as well.] J...just a little...

I brought all the supplies that I remembered being mentioned in books, but now I don't know where to start. I...think the plants that grow here are mostly the same..?

[When he started talking he sounded confident.

By the end, it's pretty clear the kid is nervous.] W- we could probably start by grabbing some seed packets at least...

Not to put any pressure on you, but I'll follow your lead. Even if we're both pretty clueless, you seem more prepared. [ parvati is, of course, far more suited to being a grease monkey than she is being out in the garden. but she can't spend all of her time cooped up indoors (the few days she's been knocked off schedule from the whole ghost-type incident were enough, thank you), and this will be good for her. hopefully. ]

Though, uh, any plants you may be familiar with I am. Not. [ unless they suddenly start cultivating purpleberry orchards full of pollinators that kill on sight, of course. ]

[Oops, it's pressure! Though it's eased at least a little by Parvati's honesty. While he can't exactly guess at her career focus with just a look when they're Pokemon, that bit about the plants is at least...

Partly telling?

Enough that his curiosity overtakes his anxiety at least.] No? ...You're that sure? [he says with some surprise.]

What kinds of plants are you familiar with?

Nothin' anyone here's familiar with. I mean, I know of a few plants from Earth but that's not the same as seeing one for myself. [ the whole "living in the colony that's the furthest from earth" thing does that to you. ]

Unless you know about, uh, purpleberries. Like the ice cream. [ she rocks back and forth a little anxiously. she's not really expecting an answer that's anything along the lines of "yes". ]

Yeah, most of what I know about on plants came from books too... [he admits, assuming that books would be the info source for Parvati as well.] I only had ice cream after coming here though... ...and I can't say I've heard of purpleberries, sorry.

[It's honestly really lucky that there have been more than just one here who weren't from Earth though, or he'd take this very differently.]

Were you an alien, though? [the boy asks, unable to keep a bit of childish interest from peeking up.

He'll try not to be disappointed by the answer.]

[ a few books, but mostly computer databases. close enough. ] You only had ice cream after coming here? No way! You were missing out. [ granted, parvati had only had ice cream a few times because it just wasn't amongst the products spacer's choice offered. thank you, o mysterious stranger.

emporio's actual question makes her laugh a little though. ] Nope. Well, I guess it depends on how you define it. But not in the way you're thinking, I'm sure. I'm a human colonist.

Whenever the others got any, it melted long before I could get to it, [he happily explains, laughing a little in turn.]

Hmm? [He almost expects a bit about how the word alien gets thrown around with topics of immigration and the like- but his eyes widen when he hears the rest.] Colonist...

So you traveled to another planet then?? Or...no, you said you hadn't seen any earth plants in person, so you would have to either have been really young, or just born there...

That's amazing though! We've only ever gotten as far as the moon from where I am...

I was born on a planet called Monarch, but I was mostly raised on Terra Two. [ she explains it matter-of-factly. ] Halcyon's about ten years away from Earth at light-speed, give or take. My Captain's from Earth, actually.

[ while she's talking, she's begun to make a move towards finding the seeds. ] So you're from Earth too, huh? I feel like the odd one out, as the only person who used to be human who isn't. [ as far as she's aware, anyway. ]

[[OOC - Tadahhhh. We got a dinner invite... Also, lmk if you'd rather avoid any explicit spoilers! ]]

Uh-huh, [he says with a calm nod.] ...Though, the planet isn't really...

[Well. Regardless of what canon says or doesn't say, he thinks the planet is gone.] I wonder if I could have figured out what planets those were by looking at textbooks...

There's a lot of theories about planets that would make habitable places to live, and a lot are named to a point, but it's still mostly numbers and categories...

...It is pretty common though huh, [he adds as he walks alongside the other. The seed pouches look pretty self-explanatory at least. Pouches with cute little drawings of the predicted veggie on them.] So far it seems more like any major differences between people's homes has been if someone could have special abilities or not.

[[ OOC: huzzah! That's cute for us. Also in terms of spoilers as long as it's nothing too nuts (that's a wild thing to say about Jojo's huh) I'm not bothered. Same to you for the record! ]]

[ parvati picks one of the pouches up and tests the weight in her hands. it's heavier than she thought it'd be, her old discs said they were pretty weightless. maybe this pouch just had a lot of seed. ]

Halcyon was pioneered by a bunch of corporations who bought the terraforming rights to the system. Brought a bunch of workers along for the ride, and that's how I came around. [ she peers into the pouch a little with her other hand -- she left her hammer on the ground a few paces away -- trying to see if she can count the number. predictably, she can't. ]

Special abilities like what? Slowing down time? [ emporio don't question how weirdly specific that is. don't worry about it! ]

Terraforming rights?

[He thinks about it for a minute and then-] ....Yeah, that makes sense. I can see stuff like that being handled commercially instead of by any other means...uh-

[HAHAHAHAH TIME YOU SAY TIME??? YOU SAY???

Imagine how bizarre that would-]

W...well, that's not far from what at least one person at home could do...

[.....he has to ask now....]

....Have you heard of Stands before..?

[IS...IS THE FUTURE REAL..??]

What. Like, the things you put stuff on? [ her head tilts to the side. ] I mean. We still have those. It's not like we can just make stuff float.

[ all that effort to make artificial gravity wouldve been wasted if that were the case-- ]

Oh, someone where you're from can do it too? I didn't realise it was that common.

[He can't tell if he's disappointed or not...

But, he does seem to default more to relief than anything else.] N- no... 'Stand' is the term for...I guess the best way to put it would be unique powers from where I used to live?

...Dr. Kujo's Stand could stop time, but that was just him as far as I know.

[no one tell him]

I guess hearing about slowed time resonated more than I expected...

Oh. I understand. Well, if it's any consolation: my Captain's the only one can do it and it only effects their perception of time, not anyone else's.

[ no funny music referencing superpowers here, just quests named after songs. ] They were frozen for a pretty long time and to my understanding that messsd up their brain pretty bad.

[A nod. It still sounds like a Stand power, but honestly someone could have the ability to turn the sky pink and it'd be a Stand power.]

That makes sense then. ...Especially the last part, [he adds with a grimace, before reaching to take another seed satchel.]

Why'd your captain have to do something like that anyway?

[ parvati's got a couple in her hands now, looking back at the garden. ] I think we should be good to go.

And to move to Halcyon. Heh. Granted, they were only supposed to be frozen for ten years, but the ship they were on had an accident so it actually ended up being sixty. [ she offers a shrug as if that's the most normal thing she's said this whole conversation. ]

What about this, uh... Dr Kujo, was it?

Edited (I forgot an entire sentence) 2025-10-14 14:48 (UTC)

Great! I guess...next we find what looks like an untended patch of dirt?

[That's probably the right thing. Yeah. This conversation feels more normal than gardening.] Oh...so it was an accident. Huh.

[Fascinating, he doesn't say aloud. That's probably not what you say about people who accidentally get frozen for sixty years.]

Well, I didn't know him that well, but he could stop time for...I think about 10 seconds? It might have been less. I would've been stopped too, so it's not really something I could actually count down.

Oh, wow. That sounds dangerous.

[ parvati trots over to a patch of dirt with no pokemon around, dropping to her nonexistent knees. ] For the Captain it's more like super fast reflexes. Once watched them drop a cup and catch it before I could blink. We're still moving and before I've even had a chance to notice they've knocked two bullets into the Marauder's back. Stuff like that.

[ she shakes her head. ] Anyway, what now?

It could be, but it could still be countered even so... [Emporio muses, going a bit quiet. After all, Dr. Kujo had been on his side. So the fact that it could be countered...

He shakes it off.] That's neat though. ...A bit familiar in a different way too, but that was a whole different ability...

[He idly wonders if the two things could be countered in the same way. Probably not? Probably not.

Plants, then. He looks over the bag of seeds.]

...At home, these would have instructions on them, but I don't see anything...so we'll uh. Probably have to guess how to plant these properly.

[ parvati opens her bag again. ] You just put 'em in the ground, don't you? Cover them with the dirt, water them sometimes?

[ see! not totally clueless! somewhat. ] I wouldn't be surprised if Umemiya put these together himself, actually.

Yeah, something like that. Some seeds need to go down pretty deep, and likewise, there are seeds that just rely on the rain...

[Hmmmmmmm.]

I think...

[He stares at his hand. Stares at Parvati's hand.

Emporio has realized a problem.]

....uh oh.

[Uh oh!]

"Uh-oh" what? [ her brow furrows as she glances between him and the small patch of dirt. ] There a bug on my face or something?

Oh-

N- No, nothing like that!! [He hurriedly protests, calming down after a moment.] It's just...

When I was a human, the idea was to poke your finger in the dirt and make a hole, for most seeds. That's what it seemed like anyway. But...

[He looks rather warily to Parvati.] ...lack of fingers aside, I'm a foot tall. The frame of reference for this feels entirely off...

Ah, well, I'm sure it can't be that complicated. Other Pokemon are doing it perfectly fine without em. [ she flexes her hands a little bit. ] Might just have to poke it in a little deeper or something.

P-Point, [he agrees nervously,] I guess I'm over thinking it...

Food just seems really important. I knew there were plants that could grow in the cold, [Emporio explains as he starts to carefully try making some holes,] But I've never actually seen anyone try to make a garden like this...

...And given how many of us have suddenly come into each of the guilds, they probably need whatever extra they can get.

[ this is an almost entirely foreign concept to parvati -- she's just glad they're not using corpses for fertiliser, even if that would be a resource efficient option. parvati's been nodding along and making holes with her fingers in the meantime. ]

Umemiya was pretty smart to call like this. I know there's some people making preserved food too -- maybe I could make a cannery next time I get the chance. Make food last longer that way. [ the only issue would be how to make the cans. but jars seemed to be a reasonable alternative, and she'd been wanting to try some fruit preserves anyhow. ] It's nice it's being thought about, though. Most folk were starving where I'm from.

You know how to can goods? [He asks as he works, glancing up.] ...I guess if we have enough metal, we could recreate cans...

...I'm not sure how good an idea it'll be though. Metals could leech a lot of stuff into the food if we're not careful about how we treat them, and they've already got jars...

[He can indeed confirm that jars are quite the reasonable alternative.

The cubone winces though, pausing from where he's making little holes in the dirt.] Oh...

...That...sucks.

[It feels like reality, but it still sucks...]

I mean, most canned food is at least 80% salt for a reason. [ food surviving the apocalypse thanks to that in her sister series is one thing, but food surviving long trips through space is another. ah, american diets. ] The folks here don't seem to eat enough meat to justify it, though. Meat's better for canning, and fish.

[ she offers a small shrug at emporio's reaction to her home's plight. ] I'm sure the Captain's got it all under control. Once they get everything worked out, things should be better for us. Them. [ she's almost too quick to correct herself, still staunchly focused on the task at hand. ] So you don't gotta worry. We've got plenty of food here, anyroad.

We definitely have salt at least?

[He's pretty sure they can harvest that directly from the Oran caves even.]

I think the meat eaters just keep it private? I know plenty of Pokemon who Definitely hunt...

[But it's not exactly...cool to show off, you know.]

We do though! And I'm looking forward to trying some of the stuff we've been putting in jars through winter...Honestly, being able to eat anything after warming it up has been pretty great! It always used to just be cold leftovers...

Cold leftovers? Blech. [ she playfully sticks out her tongue. ] Only thing thats best served cold is Purpleberry Munch.

[ parvati's not really judgemental of the whole hunting thing herself. people will be people even if they're pokemon, and pokemon've gotta eat the same as everyone else. plus the whole. corviknight thing. ] Hopefully this stuff'll taste real good when it's ready, too.

Phfhfhf...yup. The food wasn't really the best to start with, but it was at least food.

I'm looking forward to trying though...Members of Lum Guild get vouchers to use at the places in the town, but I kind of want to try cooking at some point.

That's neat. We get food provided in Oran, but I've been given some stuff around town by folk who needed things repaired. [ she's patting the top of her little dirt pile. ] I'm not any good at cooking, not really a thing where I'm from in the way most people see it. I helped on my ship sometimes but I can't say I made anything to phone home about.

Oh yeah- Sanji apparently cooks for everyone? [He was unclear on it, but it sounds right.] Or at the very least he helps...one cook can't be enough for the entire guild after all.

Cafeteria cooks are...okay at their jobs, [He muses in the meantime, steadily moving down the row as they continue their pattern of hole, seed, bury.] Mostly they just need to know how to put something on the stove and cook from frozen. I wasn't exactly supposed to be there though, so I couldn't see how any of it tasted fresh.

EMPORIO'S OCTOBER CATCH-ALL!

BRASSICA BONANZA - PARVATI

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We got results! Also, there are vague spoilers for Emporio's series as a small heads up here.

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this is not a turn I expected but I'm laughing REAL hard now

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crawls out of Z-A like `oh god what year is it`

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problem hint: most simple seed guides say 'poke a hole with your finger-'

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