ER: HOENN EDITION

FT. Andrea Vaneau

"Yup. Yu-huh. Correct." He confirmed each time.

Best that she was as well aware as possible, if she was going to continue joining them on the battlefield. Rocket would eventually put her on its shitlist, if it hadn't already.

"No way to know. Perhaps." He wanted to say it seemed like an overreaction and a half, but then, they weren't dealing with a normal human being, good or bad.

Whoever they were, Doug knew for a fact that they were not new to killing. Their brief encounter told him that much. Perhaps Necrozma chose an avatar as unhinged as it itself was perceived by them.

He was so distracted thinking about it that he just responded on automatic to her.

"Don't think so; last time I operated on an avatar they looked human enough."

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TL;DR:

ER: HOENN EDITION

FT. Andrea Vaneau

"'Fraid I can't say." He said, winking at her.

Unfortunately for Andrea, he wasn't distracted enough for that question.

"Patient confidentiality. You understand." Hopefully, because he wasn't all that interested in explaining medical ethics to the young dragon to be.

Still... he cocked his head, looking at Andrea curiously.

"What's gotcha so curious?" He didn't suspect her, but all these questions about avatars could've been seen as suspicious by more unhinged members of the league.

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TL;DR:

ER: HOENN EDITION

FT. Andrea Vaneau

"... Was... Was the sandwich... good?" He asked after a moment, so flabbergasted he couldn't think of anything else to say.

While not his first meeting with Andrea, it was the first time he had become privy to her... life long goals.

By golly, a human, turning into a pokemon.

...

"You know." He said after a moment, brows furrowing as he went into deep thought, cupping his chin.

As part of his re-studies upon... 'returning' from Galar, he had immersed himself into both the formative literature (as a refresher) and the research literature (to fill in whatever gaps Uxie might've missed).

"There's a theory out there that humans might actually be just another pokemon species." He said, rubbing his chin. "It's mostly based on historic accounts as well myth, but I've seen more than a few papers attempt at taking a more scientific crack at it."

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TL;DR:

ER: HOENN EDITION

FT. Andrea Vaneau

"SEVENTY-FIVE?" He gawked, mouth wide in outrage. "A WISH SANDWICH?"

Bah! She probably didn't even ask for anything specific! Poor Jirachi probably had to come up with some sort of Platonic ideal of a sandwich on the spot!

Speaking of nonsense, though...

Doug just snorted and laughed, leaning his head onto his fist before smiling at her.

"May I be a sophist for a bit? I'm on break, so... may as well have fun, yah?"

He didn't care one way or another, but he was always willing to argue just to be a dick for argument's sake.

He held up a finger.

"I could argue humans do have moves. Unique abilities, too." He said.

He held up a finger once again, counting.

"We're the only creatures on this sweet earth that sweat the way we do. It makes our stamina recovery greater than any other in the world." He said. "Some say that, before the advent of the pokeball, it was this that allowed us to essentially run down stronger, faster, tougher prey into submission, as well as get the heck outta dodge when things got tough."

It was an ability that many claimed had been key to humanity's survival and development during the eras prior to the pokeball.

Finger number two.

"We have the greatest capacity for synergy, teamwork and communication amongst all species on Earth." Passimians wished they could get done half as much as humans did with half the people and a quarter of the time. Less if pokemon under human instruction became involved.

Finger number three.

"Technology— humans are unique in not just in their intelligence, but in the way their creativity meshes with that intelligence. We ain't the only creatures that create and iterate— but I think it's fair to say at this point that we do it better than anything else. Even though some pokemon trump us in sheer IQ, by a lot in some cases, they can't seem to marshal it for creative purposes to near the same effectiveness as a human with a fraction of their IQ can."

Alakazam and Oranguru came to mind.

"Consider this: If being 'sturdy', or having a powerful stench, or being oblivious can be an ability, why not any of these?"

Even if one assumed an ability needed to be useful in combat (ignoring the many abilities out there that weren't), humans had turned their intelligence into the barrel of a gun, and the edge of a spear before that.

Humans were more than capable than tangling with other pokemon— if not as individuals, then certainly as a species.

"And— We can tackle. We can scratch, and bite. We can punch, kick, headbutt, slam, karate chop, low sweep—" He listed off each one from top of his head, raising a finger for each. "We can use tools to slash or achieve other effects, too. If Farfetch'd and Tinkaton can do it, then our own arbitrary taxonomy should allow for us to do it as well. No?"

A Tinkaton couldn't use Megaton hammer without the aformentioned hammer, and neither Farfetch'd nor Sirfetch'd could slash without their leek, either. Both tools that they could lose and need to replace.

He paused. There was more he could say, but this was just for fun.

"Yer thoughts, Ms. Avenau?" He asked, leaning back on his seat.

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TL;DR:

ER: HOENN EDITION

FT. Andrea Vaneau

Doug smiled as he watched her reconsider.

"What I just did was more or less just poke holes into yer earlier logic." He said, winking. "Ya don't have to fully switch yer stance— but it's good to be curious, ain't it?"

The mark of true intellectual honesty wasn't in accepting everything that came, but in being willing to consider it, think about it, look into it, and perhaps come to a more complete understanding of a subject or issue.

"A historian, though..." Doug said, crossing his arms thoughtfully. "Honestly, I dunno if any of them would be specialized in human evolution."

Perhaps it would be better to send her to one of the professors...? Then again, both women were terribly busy...

Wait. He did know a... museum curator~.

"... Is the name Yuina Higashi familiar to you, Ms. Vaneau?" He asked her casually, giving her a toothy smile.

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TL;DR:

ER: HOENN EDITION

FT. Andrea Vaneau

"She's more of a Museum expert, but... she does specialize in ancient pokemon." He said, before tipping his hat to her, winking. "And no prob, Ms. Andrea. Say Hi to Ms. Yuina for me, won't cha?"

They saw each other often enough, but he wanted Yuina Higashi to know he was the one who sent Andrea her way.

Rising up from his seat, he stretched his arms with a grunt briefly, before nodding her way.

"Welp! My break's all done. Gotta get back on the ground. Yer free to rest as long as ya need. I'll get the paperwork sortied out." He said, turning towards the door. He tipped his hat Chomper's way with a grin, before moving to leave.

"Don't do anythin' reckless if possible, but if ya do— I'm usually in Mauville, but ya can request me by name on any hospital and they'll know." He said, before waving. "See ya around."

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