A Pokemon Parable

Emeric and Chad shared a look, before Chad began writing again. A long, winding paragraph, including the roughest sketch of a design the lab had likely ever seen, including that one time the CEO’s grandchild came to visit. The sketch itself was of a roughly rectangular object, with an assortment of buttons covering the entire alphabet, and some functions with odd symbols. The paragraph itself was even more detailed, discussing the function of the device, and how to use it. Emeric was jotting down ideas on his own notepad as Chad continued to outline the idea. Madeline simply watched as she was trying to adapt to the massive shift in her worldview just a few minutes prior.

“It's basically a device to type out words and sentences, and then say them aloud. Not sure if you have hologram or touchscreen tech yet, but this is the most old-school design I can come up with.” Chad’s explanation was pointless, as neither of the two could understand him, but sometimes people do weird things simply as a mental relaxant. There was a soft silence, as both adults stood in contemplation.

“Emeric, I've given you the benefit of the doubt the past month, because you said you were having troubles at home.” Madeline began, taking a seat in her chair as she formulated her thoughts. “Yet you kept up with your work and even beat several deadlines. But this- What is going on? How did you seemingly manage to not only find a pokemon from another continent, but one which could even work here?” Her voice was tense and elevated, an octave short of shouting. “And now, it somehow has an idea to potentially bridge the human-pokemon communication barrier in a way easily scalable. I'm sorry but we can't just sit on this,” she says, as she lifts the desk phone from its cradle.

“Madeline wait, don't-” is all Eric can manage to get out before she freezes like a statue.

“Oh, shit.” Two words were all that Chad could get out, now that the oppressive atmosphere had settled on his shoulders. He and Eric shared a worried glance, as the duo attempted to communicate in a way that wouldn't cause further issues.

Eric, with a curt nod at Chad, turned his attention to Maddy. “Yea, that's the idea, but mainly this was a solution we came up with to help Stanley. You see, he's non-verbal and doesn't talk, but I can tell from his body language and gestures that he's trying to. I theorize that a device like this, while having potential widespread applications, could be a way to allow others to hold a conversation with individuals like him.” Eric explained the concept, having changed a few previous details to adjust with the conversation's participants.

<”Oh Eric, that's right, I forgot about your son. The poor boy must be scared, being trapped in a body unable to do what he tells it to.” Maddy responded, her face displaying empathy and compassion for the unfortunate father. “I believe we can make something like this, but why does it have buttons instead of a holographic panel?” she asked.>

Eric shifted uneasily, “Well a holopanel would be expensive, and harder to justify or hide in our research budget. I don't think upper management would just let us have free access to cutting edge-” Eric paused, as he heard the door open, the three turning to see a man in a fancy suit standing in the doorway.

<”Heya Eric, Maddy! Guess it's your lucky day! The Advanced R&D lab just got an excess shipment of equipment they don't need, and I figured my favorite team deserved a chance to shine. I brought you a box of some of their excess parts, figured you might get creative and have an idea to impress the board next quarter.” The man explained, as he carried the large cardboard box to the nearest cleared surface and set it down. “Good luck, and let's see what cool ideas you two have been sitting on, eh?” Maddy donned a smile and waved enthusiastically, “Thank you Mister Burger, we'll wow your socks off!”>

The mysterious man was gone as quick as he came, as both Chad and Eric glared at the veritable gift from the heavens. Eric gently opened the flaps of the box, finding all kinds of components, most of which were at least a generation newer than what he had been working with.

<”Oh wow, look at all this,” Maddy began, as she dug into the blessed bounty, “They even included a few holo emitters!”>

“Ok,” Chad began, pausing to choose his words carefully, “it is wonderful that a manager somehow wandered in at the right moment with the cool tech we needed, but I worry about making such drastically influential moves like that.” He gently picked up a metal cylinder with some wires hanging off, inspecting it. “I don't even know what any of these are, or do.”

Eric, having come to grips with the new situation, assembled the same collection of parts and carried them to his workstation, motioning for Chad to slide a chair over. “Might as well have you watch what I'm doing. Have you ever built any electronics before?” Chad, having climbed the chair to stand on, placed his left hand in the air, palm opened down, and gently rotated his wrist in a repetitive motion back and forth. “I do not know what that gesture means, but I am going to interpret it as neither yes or no.” Eric then proceeded to explain each component of the device, what they did, and how much better they were than anything he had been working with.

Ruminating, Chad lay immobile on the bed for several minutes, before he grunted and left the bedroom. Emeric was already sitting on the living room couch waiting, his frayed nerves on full display. Chad simply walked over and sat next to the poor man, before grabbing a piece of paper and writing out a series of questions. Emeric took his time, before exhaling the breath he had been holding for who knows how long. “Yes, that's the first time anything like that has happened. No, she won't remember; her memory of the day has already been overwritten.” He explained, pausing before the next question.

Emeric placed the paper back on the table, “Chad, at this point it has become clear to me that the rules are flexible, and anything goes. I am unsure whether anything we choose to do will be undone, or when, or why.” He leaned forward to steeple his hands, elbows resting on his knees. “I just find myself thankful we didn’t finish the device in a day. I have no idea how such a thing will impact His plans,” he admitted, a melancholic strain evident upon his pained frown. The duo sat in silence, neither wanting to broach much further on the topic.

Chad, opting for a change of pace, took a clean sheet of paper, and began writing out a list. “Story Milestones”, “Stanley Communicator”, “Learn Ember from Calem’s mom and her Pokemon”, pausing after the third item.

“Oh you mean Grace? That makes sense, though Adrienne might be better to help set that one up. I haven’t interacted with her as much as she has,” Emeric chimed in, having read the second line on the to-do list. “I’ll bring it up with her tomorrow, and we’ll try to work up a plan to encourage Calem and Stanley to get some time together at their cottage.”

Nodding, Chad put an empty checkbox next to item two, then continued. “Stanley Grades” was his third item, as his lips pursed from the extremely sour concept. Chad pondered a bit, before finalizing the fourth list item, “Sales Pitch - 5 other Pokemon”. This catches Emeric off-guard, before he has his own two-Poke for the discussion.

“Are you assuming that He doesn’t have a plan for them joining you?” He questions, leading to Chad scratching his head while bobbing the pencil up and down.

Oh, no he had zero plans, that was more of my department. Trust me, they’ll join you, and they can be quite the rapscallions.

Chad shakes his head, then scratches off item four, “Guess that solves that then.”

“Why did you cross that off? You think it’s pre-planned?” Emeric questioned, clearly not having heard my soothing voice just a scant second earlier. Chad, remembering his powers of the Protagonist, nodded his head in agreement, and with a spark of inspiration added a new item; ‘Who are the local crime gang, and how to deal with them?’ This simple question led to a surge in panic as Emeric rapidly stood up, “Wait, crime gang?!”

Chad, that also will not be an issue. I’m going to rewind a few seconds now, but those three items are enough to start the journey.

Chad glanced down at the list with four items, one crossed off, as Emeric leaned back from his seated position. “Looks pretty straightforward then. You can work on number two relatively soon, item one we’ll iterate over time, and long-term you can do your best on item three,” he summarized, grateful that the duo could manage to simplify the solution to their problem so succinctly. With a hint of pride, Emeric carried the checklist over and pinned it to the refrigerator with a cute Sylveon head magnet.

“I still doubt The Voice is going to approve of any of this,” Chad sighed, expressing his concern.

They won’t, but their plan would’ve kept us in Vaniville Town past chapter 100, so too bad.