ratherbelocky | .001 Δ [Video/Action for Cherrygrove]

[The feed flips on to show a man holding a brush in one hand and a young Shinx in his lap. Both of them appear to have been freshly bathed, with the damp Shinx swaddled in one of Cherrygrove Inn's warm, fluffy towels. When all of her wriggling and protesting comes to naught, she just lies there in her towel burrito and seethes. York, on the other hand, has found that shops in this world do, apparently, sell hair product for humans, and he couldn't be happier. He's fixed his hair for the first time in days. Life is wonderful.

Not that vanity's necessarily the reason he hasn't introduced himself to the PokéConnect community at large yet. It's just. You know. Coincidence.]

Good morning, people. And Pokémon, too, of course, can't forget you guys. For those of you I haven't spoken to yet, I'm York, I'm one of your more recent unwitting transplants to sunny Johto. Or, well, partially cloudy Johto, anyway. How about that weather, huh?

[The temperature has dropped literally twenty degrees in the five days since he got here, oh my god, why. Being caught out on the road in yesterday's rainstorm sucked. Now he's warm and dry and comfortable in a clean shirt a couple sizes too big for him (and he's not exactly a small man). Really, what could be better than being alive here and now?

He rubs the Shinx's fur drier, unwraps her, and then holds her still before she can escape so he can brush the tangles out. She mewls fussily, but his hands are steady, and eventually she relaxes--if mutinously--into the attention. He chuckles a little.]

But okay, I'm not actually here to make small talk. I got a question for you folks.

[He turns the PokéGear with the back of his brush to show another Pokémon, an Elgyem, bundled up in a blanket on the bed, fast asleep.]

Can someone tell me more about Psychic Pokémon? [He goes back to brushing.] I get that they read minds--Delta Two there communicates with me all the time--but she doesn't use words so it's hard to get more...complicated ideas across, sometimes. I was wondering, can you train them to talk? Or do other things? These guys are obviously a lot more intelligent than the animals back on my Earth, so I guess you could say I'm curious about what they can do.

[The Shinx's eyes are half-closed now as York brushes away. Someone's a sleepy baby.]

'Preciate your time. Over and out.

((Action also available for Cherrygrove, where he can be found at the inn or browsing the PokéMart stock.))

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[It's Carolina's turn to look just a little incredulous-- but no, this is York. The tone isn't too surprising. She can't help but smile almost coyly, biting her lip and hiding her face by focusing on D-2 instead.

Things might be strange right now, but it looks like some things... Don't change.]

Of course. She's a smart girl. And a sleepy one, apparently.

Hey, no wonder. Brave little thing worked hard all week trying to keep up with us and Stripes.

[Freelancer training is not for everyone. Least of all wimpy special sweepers like Elgyem.]

She's earned a rest. Maybe we can work out a different training regimen for her later, after I get some more intel on Psychic types.

She's diligent. I'm impressed. Wash would be all about her.

[She can't help but think of him and the other reds and blues when she's near these strange little aliens.]

We'll let her take it easy for a while.

Yeah.

[He's so proud, it's so good, to hear the caring back in Carolina's voice instead of the driven desperation.]

Though I'm not sure Wash would give Two more than a second glance once he saw how many cat-looking things are around. He still have his furballs?

No idea. Can you believe he hasn't mentioned them?

Then again, he's been busy watching all of Caboose's pets lately.

[She still can almost not believe that Wash took the [spoiler] from [spoiler] for Caboose.]

[He crosses his ankles up on the bed again, settling in comfortably.]

That sounds like a story. I was under the impression that mostly he was busy watching Caboose.

[Come on. The weather's cloudy, they've done their chores, she's got a sleepy baby in her arms and no war to wage. She can sit down and regale him with more of her adventures, right?]

[...Well, she'd be lying if she said the image of York waiting for her isn't inviting. And to make matters worse, Stripes decides to jump up onto the bed and lay his head on York's leg. He wags his tail, looking imploringly at Carolina.

Rolling her eyes, Carolina submits, sitting down and positioning D-2 comfortably in her lap.]

Church and I had chores to do on Chorus, and while we were gone, apparently Caboose found a dog.

It, of course, just also happened to be a Mantis.

[Empress, of course, refuses to be left on the floor by herself. The bed's just a wee bit high to jump; the edge hits her about her middle and she clings for a second before dragging herself up to lie across York's ankles.

York just waits for a moment and then laughs, low and easy.]

How is Wash still alive. How are any of them still alive.

Somehow, they manage well together. They're... Pretty admirable as a team.

[She watches Empress struggle and then settle down, chuckling a little. Her own low tone warms up enough to match York's.]

You'd be so surprised to see him, now. He's gotten... Unpredictable, in some ways.

Our Wash? You know, I'm not sure how to picture that.

[He can tell from Carolina's voice that it's not a bad thing, but... The last time he'd talked to Washington, the guy had been nervous about his upcoming AI implantation, and, well.

They both know how that went.]

I imagine he has to be, with friends like the Reds and Blues.

[Really, York, they are SUCH TROUBLE.

But almost as if she can tell what's on York's mind, she mentions--]

Still, in some ways... He's the same old Wash. Screamed like a baby during a mission when he thought I was gonna drop him.

[He laughs. He can practically hear Wash now, even after all these years.]

Did you? Drop him, I mean.

[They've all jumped off 110-story skyscrapers with her, surely he would have been fine, Freelancers are hard to kill (and yet ninety-six percent of them are dead).]

Oh, no, of course not. There were stalactites at the bottom of the canyon, he really would have died.

[She waves it off with a gesture of her hand.]

Besides, our target was practically attached to him.

That does sound like Wash. That guy's luck, seriously.

[Is it A-rank or E-rank? We will never understand.

(Actually sure we will, it's obviously E-rank and he's just got an S-rank battle continuation ability to compensate for it. Wash is a Lancer. A FREELANCER.)]

It's good to hear that he's doing okay. You and him both.

He's... certainly doing better, at least.

[She's not sure how the sim soldiers do for his blood pressure, but, you know. Whatever.]

Who knows. You might even be proud of him.

[She certainly is.]

Maybe. I'll reserve judgment till I see him again.

[As if, though. York's always been proud of Wash, for all his ungentle ribbing. York was proud of all of them. York was proud of Project Freelancer.

He's always been a prideful guy.]

For now, I'll settle for being proud of the ones I got here.

.001 Δ [Video/Action for Cherrygrove]

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