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TAG WITH @kyle

POSTED ON Oct 11, 2024 5:05:49 GMT

he was the doppelganger.

people have already likened him to a person whose appearance and name, among other things, perfectly mirror his. surprisingly, it was him that tarnishes their shared identity, having replaced the top champion and a hero of the region with whatever word he can use to describe himself.

when compared, it seemed that he held the malicious intent between the two variations for shirking duties that the greater good is in need of. it doesn't help that he was the one that exists in this plane after his equivalent disappeared, effectively placing him as the imperfect substitute.

kyle only thrives since the people around him loved their version of kyle that they're willing to take a flawed duplicate of a phantom for the legacy of it.

doubt festers. it had always been in his nature.

fear grips his heart as he finds another of him in the midst of nowhere. uncertainty plagues his thinking, causing him to tense up in the presence of another kyle. he remains confused, unable to judge an accurate reaction.

when he speaks, he understands why he is getting the undeserved treatment and why people cling to what has passed.

"would kyle really care?"

reassurance feels weird. there is a contradiction between the music that supports his place in this world and the identity crisis that further pushes the agenda of self-doubt from a single encounter.

the question rings again in his head, prodding an answer.

"i... i guess not."

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aero

dog boy

he/him

october 24

verdanturf

asexual

private investigator

champion

2240 height

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TAG WITH @kyle

POSTED ON Oct 11, 2024 5:07:08 GMT

he felt uneasy, all while he sees himself act rather carefree about the situation.

saying his nerves have calmed down was a stretch. he had moved from being frozen in fear to evaluating a fight or flight response. his heart remains beating fast, all while chanting a mantra in his head that all will be well.

he sees him raise a hand and point a finger to his pocket, where his phone had been. though it was met with skepticism, kyle complies nonetheless.

"take the camera..."

without taking his eyes away from the doppelganger, kyle follows the instructions. fingers swipe in a coordinated manner, navigating blindly through screens and squares for the right app.

"...and check."

with his hands shaking, he slowly raises the device on his hand. his eyes switch to the screen. what he sees is a smile from his own image. the genuine documentation of the unknown, unblemished by the tricks of the mind, was the solution he needed.

like clockwork, realization was the oil that greased up the gears of the machine.

"i'm not a hallucination. you're fine," the echo comforts him.

kyle's arm drops to his side before his weight pulls him down to the ground. he sits in the middle of the wilderness, bewilderment causing a loss of words.

"how do i explain this...? um, i'm more of a manifestation of what was once was from a natural phenomenon." he snaps his fingers, trying to get the attention of the slumped kyle. "i took your place, not the other way around. are you getting me?"

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played by

aero

dog boy

he/him

october 24

verdanturf

asexual

private investigator

champion

2240 height

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part of

TAG WITH @kyle

POSTED ON Oct 11, 2024 5:08:17 GMT

he was the doppelganger.

words from another kyle affirmed it. he feels empty while simultaneously feeling whole. anxious, but relieved. confused, but lucid. there is no clear adjective to describe him, but self-contradicting statements about himself all reach an equilibrium.

"no, but i don't think it matters."

he sees himself smile.

kyle watches him casually fall to his back, only to be caught by a sudden appearance of a pokemon of legends from johto. billowing lavender mane flows with the win, providing as a cushion for the specter.

"you're already here. can't you just take my place? people want you, not me."

a chuckle as a response can only be interpreted as mockery, but a snap of a finger from the other and he feels all the weight in his heart drop. like the crisp sound of a chime, he is left with clarity.

with the fear of the future is tamed, the envy of his supposed past quelled, the grudge from self-depreciation forgotten and hatred of himself set free, the world is seen in a new light.

"i don't like being in this position."

underneath the swath of stars, the two sit on the ground. silence lingers for a bit as precious moments burn. this faithful encounter wasn't meant to be had, but the world can only print from what has already been saved in its memory.

in an effort to make the best use of the opportunity, kyle makes assumptions based on what little statement had been said. his logic jumps from one fact to another-- and should the other apparition truly be him, connections will be made without confusion.

"then what am i? why do i exist when..." he makes gestures with his hands, which end up pointing to his other self. "...when you're supposed to be-"

the suicune catches his attention and stops his flow of words.

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aero

dog boy

he/him

october 24

verdanturf

asexual

private investigator

champion

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TAG WITH @kyle

POSTED ON Oct 11, 2024 5:09:40 GMT

an anomaly.

that's what they are. it wasn't just him, nor was it just the other him. it was both of them simultaneously as one.

"you don't need to remember all of these. it's not like they're useful information that you can act on. it might even be better if you forget everything that happened just now."

it's only then that kyle notices the thick layer of mist that surrounds them. he wasn't sure if this was the suicune's doing, or if supernatural forces are at play.

"who you think you really are isn't really indicative of your identity. at the same time, you're also more kyle than i will ever be. i-it's a complicated thing."

answers only turn into more questions. as more statements from the specter are explained, doors to what most people would deem as fictional are opened. the completionist in kyle aim to unravel every corner of a dungeon.

the raised eyebrow, accompanied by a confident smirk, appears in his doppelganger's expression. he knows what goes on his own mind, and so does his counterpart.

"the emergent. that's who you're talking to."

the suicune raises itself, subsequently pushing the top champion back to his feet. he offers a hand, which the private investigator takes, and brings both of them up from the ground.

"but he should be gone," he says. "he isn't supposed to be perceived."

a knife of ice is presented to him. the blade is pointed towards the one with suicune, offering the hilt to the fragment that was meant to be a remnant of what was once great.

"you will be involved again whether you like it or not, there's no doubt about that, but before anything else, you should know it's just inevitable. you've already been branded anyways."

there is silence as he takes the blade.

"that's why we made it a decision to game the system ourselves. we got caught this time, but your presence means it's not exactly a failure."

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played by

aero

dog boy

he/him

october 24

verdanturf

asexual

private investigator

champion

2240 height

Join my dream it's just the right time, woah

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part of

TAG WITH @kyle

POSTED ON Oct 11, 2024 5:11:09 GMT

the expiration of the lives of three pokemon during a massive fire many years ago had been undone on the whim with a simple wish. reformation that was celebrated for so long it was regarded as a legend worth praising to the heavens was equivalent to what can only be considered as a defamation of nature.

time shifts perspective. like ashes of a great flame, kyle stood as a remembrance of what had been done. before him was a mirage of the dying ember, ever so expectant of the law to take in effect while simultaneously skirting on the edge to test its limits.

with a plunge of the illusory shiv against flesh, kyle suddenly appears alone in the middle of the field as if nothing happened.

pixels and static took the place of their figures the moment their stay on this plane ended, from the mist, to the weapon on his hand, and to the suicune that aided him.

he thinks that perhaps the better choice was to, indeed, forget about everything that happened. he came here looking for ghosts and got more than what he bargained for. there's nothing to prove that what he experienced was the truth, or if it was the lingering paranoia materialized to voice out statements he pushed to the back of his mind.

to think he'd reach to this conclusion from following urban legends was unimaginable, but at the same time, not entirely unexplainable. hoenn had always been like this, and clarity only made things more difficult to digest.

at the very least, he gets a glimpse of what the ghost people saw in him: someone confident and carefree that can be approached easily, all while amassing enough respect through his title as the top champion.

he was the doppelganger.