Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-26006155-20181229180615/@comment-32182236-20190127024557

So, you found situations that DON'T rely on it being the Pacifist Ending, thereby eliminating Flowey from the equation! Good job!

But, I still think there's a more plausible explanation. So, let's take a look, shall we?

First off, let's take a look at the sequential number. You're assuming the monsters use the same numbering system as humans do, which is a MASSIVE assumption when you consider all the monsters live in the Underground, and there are only 5 main areas in the entire Underground, which is all just one mountain. There aren't NEARLY as many monsters as there are humans, so numbers wouldn't be so huge. In fact, they might even just be 4 digits in total-The first being the area (Ruins, Snowdin, Waterfall, Hotland, New Home), and the second being the rest of the number.

So Papyrus would really only need to try 5000 numbers, not 10^10. That's FAR more feasible, especially considering he's, well, Papyrus. (Yes, 5000, not 10000. We already know there's only 5 areas, so 5 of the possibilities of the first digit can be eliminated.)

Actually, given that Toriel's phone number was in the Ruins, we KNOW it was in the first area number. So that means Papyrus only needed to go through 1000 numbers at most! (Averaging 500). Even MORE feasible!

Now, we know Sans and Toriel chatted by the door. They were good friends, even if they never met face-to-face. Maybe they DID exchange phone numbers! Toriel makes it clear Sans mentioned having a brother, Papyrus. ("This must be your brother, Papyrus!"-Toriel) As a result, we know more went on than just Sans and Toriel telling jokes by the door-Sans left out parts of the story. So maybe they exchanged these numbers at some point. (The door could have been used instead of the phone because they're telling knock-knock jokes. So the door becomes part of the joke.)

Or, of course, they got each other's numbers AFTER the promise, but still BEFORE Frisk fell.

I still attribute the key already being on Frisk's chain to Sans' timey wimey magic. I cite again the time when Sans freezes time at Grillby's to explain echo flowers to Frisk.