[Audio]

[original_is_best]

M.E. 722-IV-15th
1-Lasdia-21st
This is Chief Besithia. After some investigation it has come to my attention that medical services are limited here. Considering the lack of biological life present previous to our arrival, it's of no great surprise that hospitals weren't a priority. There are limited supplies as well.

Thus, I would like to offer my medical services. I would charge a nominal fee to cover the cost of supplies.

I have over a decade's worth of experience out in the field and have had dealt with everything from mild to critical injuries. I often had to work with limited supplies or in substandard conditions and was commended for my work.

Though our world was limited to humans, based on my extensive experience I believe I would be proficient in adapting my knowledge to work with other races as well.

I'm also an adept engineer, in case anyone happens to have mechanical parts or be wholly mechanical.

I can be reached anytime through this tablet.

Comments

[original_is_best]

[Honestly, it was more impressive to Verstael. Better than someone who was intimidated by intelligence. He listened quietly, pondering Will's explanation.]

In retrospect, perhaps it makes the most sense. One of the main reasons humans evolved to be as advanced as we are is competition.

It's not the only reason, mind you. Consumption of meat and opposable thumbs are two others. However, if all we strove to do was fill our bellies and sleep peacefully we would be more than capable of doing that. It's the thirst to outperform others that drove us to progress.

If Pokémon have this same drive it could explain the underlying reasoning for their superior intelligence in comparison to the average animal. It would be interesting to see the steps of their individual evolutions and compare them to our own.

[twistedempathy]

[Heh. If a competitive nature, opposable thumbs, and consumption of meat were the only things that had elevated humanity in their world, what was different in his? Plenty of Pokémon species had those distinctions, too. What if the dominant species had ended up the Machop line or something? Now that would be wild.....

Still, something about his wording clearly means something entirely different to Will than it does to Verstael.]

How would watching a Pokémon and an animal evolve tell you anything except how strong they've gotten?

[original_is_best]

You could compare things such as the bone structure of their ancestors to their current structure.

For example, on my world the earliest human remains were found in the Piztala region, which is where my home, Niflheim, is currently located. By comparing the remains to modern humans, we can determine things like a change in height or a larger cranium. The skulls of our ancient ancestors used to have larger mandibles and smaller craniums. We can see remnants of that in our wisdom teeth - often people have no space for the extra teeth but grow them anyway. This is because our jaws once had more space for them.

Based one that we can deduce how we evolved over thousands of millennia.

If we were able to study the ancient remains of a current species of Pokémon we could do much the same and see how and approximately when they developed different attributes. We might even be able to form theories about why a certain species suddenly began to change. A change in the environment, for instance.

[twistedempathy]

Oh--species evolution..... I don't know much about that. It seems interesting though? They're doing pretty amazing work on fossils and genetics in Cinnabar Island; I took a look at their museum a while ago.

I wonder how closely that sort of thing matches up for humans on other worlds? We can't be that different, right?

[original_is_best]

Was there another form of evolution you were thinking of?

I would love to take a closer look at humans from different worlds. By all appearances we seem quite alike, but how far do the similarities go? Having the same species be dominant on so many worlds brings up new questions of why we would all evolve the same way. Or, if we're as even from separate worlds as we might have first believed.

[twistedempathy]

I guess you'll get a chance to if people come to you to get patched up! Hopefully they won't need help for anything too serious.

There's evolving as a species, and evolving as an individual--you know, just one Pokémon or animal moving on to the next form they can take? Maybe it's called something different for animals.

[original_is_best]

I'm not sure I follow. The next form they can take?

All that brings to mind is perhaps an insect emerging from a cocoon.

[twistedempathy]

Right, just like that! Some Bug types have cocoon stages in their evolutionary chain, but it's not just them. Most species have two or three stages.

Deja was a Natu until she grew strong enough to evolve into a Xatu--it's a total transformation, they turn into energy and take their new form when they're ready.

[original_is_best]

All Pokémon have such stages? But not all make cocoons. How long does it take?

[twistedempathy]

Well--not all, but most? It usually only takes a few seconds.

[original_is_best]

Seconds?

I can safely say that none of our animals transform in such a manner. Even our insects in a cocoon can take from one to three weeks to emerge.

Are any of your Pokémon going to go through this stage soon?

[twistedempathy]

That's a pretty long time..... Seems like it'd leave them pretty vulnerable.

Most of my Pokémon are fully evolved already, sorry. The few that aren't need special circumstances for it, not just growing stronger--there are different ways to do it, after all.

[Have a little smile, as he reaches out to give the Flareon tummy rubs.]

Like this little girl. She needed a Fire Stone to become what she is now.

[original_is_best]

I could always go over the life cycle in detail if you wish. Though I certainly didn't specialize in insects, I know enough about them to at least give a solid explanation.

That's a shame. I would like to document the phenomenon.
She needed a Fire Stone? [He paused to compare in his mind what that could be equivalent to.] I can't think of anything that sounds like that on my world. How does it work?

[twistedempathy]

It sounds enough like what I know that it's probably similar, just..... more dragged out, it sounds like?

[Have a wibbly wobbly hand gesture.]

Fire Stone is a kind of--I guess it's closer to a crystal than normal rocks? But it gives off an elemental radiation that some Pokémon are really sensitive to. If the piece is big enough, they'll evolve just by touching it.

It's hard to find big deposits of those, so elemental stone can be kind of expensive. Even the bits too small to use for evolution end up jewelry and whatnot.

[original_is_best]

Perhaps. Given some time I could put together some diagrams. They do not turn into life energy - rather, they go through metamorphosis.

A stone filled with power... Yes, we have things like that back home in various forms. If I consider them to be akin to elemental deposits crossed with plasmodium, this could make some sense. Can you predict how they will react to the stones?

[twistedempathy]

It's just species-based, there's no guesswork to it unless you're dealing with something completely undiscovered. What's Plasmodium?

[original_is_best]

Plasmodia is the source of the plague that has infected our world. There is a mutant strain that, once it attaches itself to a creature, alters its physiology and behavior to the extent that it is unidentifiable from its original self.

The transformation you speak of would seem to be more desirable to the average person.

[twistedempathy]

Ick. No kidding! It's not a sickness, it's just a natural part of their lives and biologies. Nobody really knows why some species need them to evolve, they just do. It's hard to think of any times evolution is a bad thing.....

[Well..... okay. Paras has a pretty unfortunate evolution. But that's about it.]

[original_is_best]

It may be that a sudden exposure to energy can trigger a change much like hormones do for humans. Even if they already had the same type of energy within them, a change in that balance could produce something different.

All life on your planet consists or humans or pokémon, correct?

[twistedempathy]

I guess so..... most species use a stone of their own type, unless they're a special case like Eevee.

[Have a shrug as he stretches out on the bed, taking his tablet with him.]

Pretty much. There are viruses and bacteria, of course, and plants--but the line between plants and Pokémon can get blurry, once Grass-types start getting involved.

[original_is_best]

I think I may have an explanation of animals for you, then.

It's only speculation, but my guess would be that animals are more closely related to humans than pokémon. While pokémon are beings based off of energy, animals go through a growing process much like we do. It's lengthy and there are sometimes changes very similar to our own. For example, when a male hits puberty, which I'm sure you're familiar with, it would be much like a male cat that also produces more testosterone once he hits a certain age.

Animals often grow to maturity faster than humans, but it is not instantaneous as it would be with a pokémon. Does that make more sense?

Now, why is Eevee a special case?

[twistedempathy]

It isn't like Pokémon don't grow? They mature just like people and animals do, it's just that they also evolve, on top of it. And some people think humans might have Infinity Energy, too--that maybe even people could evolve, but just don't know how.

It's all just a lot of speculation, though. Nobody can prove anything either way, so maybe we really are a lot closer to animals instead.

[Have a crooked grin; that's the sort of stuff that ranges all over the map, from conspiracy theories, to religion and philosophy, to fringe scientific study, to diehard Black Belt, Channeler, and Psychic rhetoric. All interesting food for thought, maybe, but nothing concrete. Maybe even nothing to take seriously.]

Eevee have really unstable DNA. They can adapt to a lot of different conditions, so they can turn into all sorts of things--instead of a normal evolutionary chain with only one possible new shape to take, theirs branches all over the place.

[Will points the camera at the Flareon again, who sniffs at the screen.]

Stones can do it, but so can spending time in different environments, and even bonding emotionally with their trainers.

[original_is_best]

So their path isn't linear like the others?

[Sometimes it was good to reiterate and make sure he had things right.]

I see. What else can an Eevee become?

[twistedempathy]

Mmhmm! I realize none of the names would probably mean anything to you without pictures or something, but.....

Well, to make it simple? Eevee just start out as Normal types, with no real affinity at all. You can use those elemental stones to evolve them into Fire, Water, and Electric types. They can evolve into Grass and Ice types, if you train in the right kinds of environments. And bonding with them can make them evolve into Psychic, Dark, or Fairy types.

There could be more, even--those are just the evolutions I know are documented. They're full of potential!

[original_is_best]

Fascinating. I would like to acquire one of these Eevees.

Can they be exposed to more than one element at once?