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[Not exactly a proxy war, as she feared when she spoke with Ingo. But it could as well have been, and that detail was lost over centuries.]

Was that the last time your gods on involved in mortal business? [A beat.] Not that you gotta know the answer, I'm just curious as to how different things are here compared to your home!

Edited 2022-12-25 16:45 (UTC)

[Ah.]

In politics, as far as I know, yeah. They didn't intervene when the monarchy fell, and as long as their laws and sacred grounds aren't violated, they don't restrict land development or anything. On the other hand, island business still involves everyone else. They still choose people to appear to, or give things to.

[He steps forward and taps the rail, with the pictures of the four kahuna.] If anyone knew just how much the tapu care, personally, about "mortal business", it'd be them. I just know what I've read, mostly.

[That's a lie but it's not a huge lie because his own experience with them has been more or less in line with the reading.]

Tapu Koko [pointing at the yellow painting] is famously curious. There are plenty of little stories about it appearing in front of someone's cousin's mother for an instant, on a whim. They hold festivals for it with tournaments because it likes to spectate battles.

[sports for gods!]

Oh, that's a sweetheart. [A yellow friend that enjoys sport events. Hopefully the fans behave themselves in its presence!] They got their own personalities, even if they're not around much. It's a shame most folks sees someone not minglin' with the crowd and think there's not much goin' on, but it sounds like your people get your gods.

[And those that are lucky enough to communicate with the Tapu would know them better. Triffany would describe it both as a high-level priest being privy to the closely-guarded lore and as a friend making the effort to know the standoffish guy.]

Wonder if that's what the Day and Night gods were like. Forces of existence, that is, although their creation of humans does make them as un-neutral as possible...

[...Calling Tapu Koko "a sweetheart" is probably perfectly valid but Gladion finds it kinda disorienting anyways.]

They are Pokemon. [speaking of which, wrt the local deities:] That's something that throws me for a loop about the Fog god - the way people talk like she doesn't actually have a body. Like a...

[...]

In our world, that is a...concept we have, in stories. Shapeless, all-powerful entities. But I've never heard of that kind of god ever being proven to exist. Not like all the spirits and deities and legends that turn out to be real Pokemon, or always were.

[thinks about Day and Night.

Also looks over his shoulder at Triffany.]

Is that your goal? Understanding the gods' war better?

[There's a lot of metaphysical concepts that Triffany still doesn't understand. Archaeology looks at solid facts and written history, not esoteric concepts. There are no dead people or gods to talk to. Ryslig has been a challenge for her so far, and it seems that the Fog God is similarly new for Gladion.]

I suppose so. Why wouldn't I wanna understand the events that lead up to...all this? [She waves a hand at the door leading out of this exhibit.]

[He shrugs, because that's a way better answer than saying he Provisionally Suspected Her of Nebulous Motives and/or Schemes.]

In that case, I'll hold onto the second fairy tale for later. After we look at something else.

[With that: let's head to the second wing of the exhibit. Ignore the ominous DIMENSIONAL RESEARCH IN PROGRESS door for now. This side is...way more self-explanatory and museum-like. And concrete. Photos! Artifacts! Explanations! Go nuts, Triffany. Gladion's going to trail along behind her for a minute or two to see if she has any immediate questions. If she wants to do a full sweep first instead, he'll go sit down on the Silvally statue platform to wait.]

[What a curious sign! Triffany has so many questions about its presence, but that might lead to another two hours of questions, and she's already talked with Dr. Robotnik about his thoughts on dimensional portals. Gladion is safe from her prying. She focuses on the "Living with Pokemon" section for ten minutes - images of a world where two intelligent species coexist in harmony.]

Gosh, humans and monsters, humans and Pokemon...they were created to live together, even if they were made by different gods. Wish Ryslig could've protected its own population like you did...

[Her thoughts have her wander towards the section on current challenges.] And of course, no society is free of any conflict or greed. Even in my own world, we got invasive animals and misuse of land going on, not to mention the-

war? [She recalls asking Ingo about the use of Pokemon in proxy wars, which he replied in the negative, but the abuse of Pokemon as soldiers sure sounds like they're being treated as tools.]

[Wish Ryslig could've - yeah, that's his bugbear. He leans on statue-Silvally's leg and listens.

War?]

Modern times are a lot more peaceful than just a few centuries ago. War between regions and nations isn't as common.

[He turns to see what she's looking at - oh. That one.]

...We have petty crime, just like here. And common Pokemon can be a lot more threatening than a knife or gun.

[So there's that. But that signboard had something about "ideological conflicts", right? So it's talking about more than just Pokemon being used to mug people.]

There's also...this can't be too different from anywhere else. People want things to go their way, they'll break things to get it. [Not war! Just antisocial activities, terrorism and government takeovers and the like!] If Pokemon will listen to you, you can go as far as they'll take you. [Turns back around.] And if they won't - plenty of people look for ways around that. Raise them from the egg to be loyal. Regular old coercion, same as with humans. Threaten them with other Pokemon. Or find technological methods.

[Which he'd rather not go into because those not existing is a good thing actually!]

I guess I'd be afraid of a Muk over a knife, that's for sure. [Though she wonders if the Muk, capable of having his own thoughts, would act more like a lackey than a weapon.] You've seen a lot of this happen where you're from?

[She folds her hands together.] Oh, I'm just wondering because...it's a completely different way of looking at things, compared to how I usually make my theories about the past. The stuff we dig up doesn't say much on their own, but you gotta make assumptions in order to piece together the full picture. I'm sure I still don't really get how life changes when you grow up with all these possibilities around ya.

Makes sense. [Like, having been hanging around Ingo, the first part parses. And the second - that's what each weird little revelation he has about life in Ryslig, without Pokemon, feels like. He's living it.

Anyways.] Alola's pretty peaceful, but you hear things from overseas. Criminal syndicates funding shady technologists. Sending Pokemon berserk and siccing them on...I don't know, people, to make an example of them? [He's 15. The "things you hear from overseas" are kind of limited when you only occasionally listen to the news and don't have an enormous amount of context.

There's Team Skull, who definitely caused trouble with and sometimes for Pokemon, but...not really in the way that the sign is describing. They stole to live, but their Pokemon were just their Pokemon, as far as he ever knew. Even taking over Po Town was just...maybe that counts, but thinking of that just makes a weird weight manifest in his chest. It's over for them; let it go.

Which just leaves Aether. Mother, and Faba. Silvally, and Cosmog.

...Not right now.]

Edited 2023-01-03 22:52 (UTC)

[Maybe let's not drop all the horrors that humans are capable of onto a teenager.]

Violent crime as usual, across universes and time. It just exists differently when Pokemon are involved. [One set of arms shrug.]

And this? [She waves a third arm towards the Statue.] Is that one of the gods of Alola?

No, uh. [He'd already resolved to just tell the truth here if she asked; he will Not downplay Silvally! That's a resolution. Still, he "uh"s it because it's just that little bit awkward.] That's my partner, Silvally. The one "personal touch" this place has, I guess.

[He got off so easy in terms of voyeuristic bullshit, compared to some of the other stuff in here.]

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relinking for ease kinda the way you unlike and relike a tumblr post to unearth it...

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