How much of that had been simply an individual wanting to say to the future - "I was here. I existed."?
That had been for "normal" history, another world, another time.
Here things were a little different.
Merlin meant "Black Hair" in an old language. His hair had turned gradually from that thick black to gray over the years, and what a long period that had been. Ambrosius had been his birth name, Patronus his name in Rome, Myr'lln had been a name given him in the lands of the fae, Blackhair his calling name in the lands of Ireland. He'd been born in the lands of the far North, and the tale was that the things he'd done in his early career had granted him a lifespan that had spanned millenia. He'd traveled through India and searched for Enlightenment. He'd visited the Shang Dynasty in China. He'd travelled through the villas of the intelligensia of the Renaissance.
His identity as "Professor Oak" was merely the newest guise, though he'd always been a scientist.
This far flung future world of 1929 was vastly different from the buildings of his youth. The repercussions of the Great War were going to obviously be around for awhile. It was just that so many things looked just plain silly to someone who didn't grow up in this time.
He also knew that this was all a false world. A virtual reality. It was his sixth such world.
The last one had been fairly boring. He'd set himself up as a freighter captain, a familiar role, and travelled around. Other than the occasional attack from one of Them chancing across him, there hadn't been much of interest going on. Everything had seemed to revolve around martial artists and that just had never been one of his interests. He had the basic skills, it came in handy when one was in a pre-industrial setting, but had never pursued it beyond that. Fortunately he'd found one of the rabbit-holes and had just had to wait for its activation.
Now here he was, ready again. If you knew what to look for, you could figure out where the unactivated rabbit holes were. When the main hole was activated, these secondaries would also activate. Go through at that time and you retained your gender and your memory of the past universe. Otherwise the first would change and the second would be lost. You also retained odd talents from one universe to the next, more or less. Such as his longevity and control over when he'd appear in the next universe.
Professor Oak checked the clock. Another half hour for the individuals to gather. Having been around this minor little village since the Great War, he continued to refine the technology that had sprung up around the various summons. The old styles of the summons (gems, coins, cards) had been revised once again and now it was these "pokeballs" that allowed for the pokegirl to exist in this world but to maintain her presence for extended periods.
Ah, here was the first candidate. Ash. Well, that was... ASH?! Ash who never awoke before nine if he could help it? Ash the perpetually late? Ash - whom he had suspected was actually a girl he'd known as "Osaka" in a previous lifetime? Was it three or four down the road?
Well, this might be interesting after all.
Ash looked over the farm and the set of towers that made up the Oak Farm & Research Center.
Here is where his journey would begin, and he'd be able to take control of this life.
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(Posted Thu, 25 Aug 2005 21:32)
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