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

Entry tags:

.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

[North is in fact a giant and must be stopped.]

Roxas and Vivi. Nice to meet both of you. Usually I've got Delta Two out and about, but she's still napping off our hike, so...

[He takes out a Pokéball and releases his freshly caught little Shinx. She shakes herself and eyes Roxas and Dedenne. She may hardly come a foot off the ground, but somehow, she still gives the impression that she's looking down her nose at them.]

This little lady is Empress. Empress, behave.

[Hey! North is a nice giant!

He nods. Delta Two doesn't sound like any Pokémon he knows. When Roxas sees the Shinx, he perks up.]

Oh! I have one of those!

[He looks down and stares before turning left and right.]

Belle! Where'd you go?!

[Something the size of a Shinx came scrambling from another aisle, sounding like its own private stampede, with the foot coordination of a duck when running. Suffice to say that this Shinx tumbles and rolls, stopping by her trainers feet. NO ONE SAW THAT.]

[Empress bristles immediately. Is that--is that another Shinx? Another girl Shinx?

Well, there goes her Rivalry. But York bends down and scoops her up before his little level two baby can make a fool of herself in front of everybody.]

Easy, now, E. They're just saying hi.

[She makes a fitful little hissing sound, but by now, she's learned she can't take York on. She settles for letting herself be cradled in the crook of his arm and staring down haughtily at the other Shinx. Hmph.]

Sorry. Just caught her yesterday, so she's still a little...wild.

[Once Belle had recovered, she just stares at the other Shinx. It's good that Empress was picked up. Belle is a higher level, and would make kitty chow out of her.

Not that Roxas would let her.]

That's okay. They're all a little like that at first. Belle here tried to eat Vivi till he shocked her out of fright. She protects him when he runs around on the ground now.

[Oh! He digs around in his back and pulls out a pink poffin.]

Wanna try feeding her this? Feeding them treats helps make them friendlier faster.

[Well, Empress at least looks interested in the Poffin, if somewhat uncertain, when York checks. He considers--he's pretty sure you're not supposed to feed animals anything that looks like a cookie, back on Earth--but, you know, why would this little part of this universe be logical when nothing else is?]

Okay, sure. Can't hurt.

[He offers the Poffin to Empress who, daintily at first, goes to sniff at it, then takes a nibble, then chews happily enough at it, getting crumbs all over her face.]

Aw, hey, she likes it! Thanks, man. Where do I get those?

[It's a nice to see Empress like it so much.]

You can buy poffins here. I'm stuck buying them will I find a way to make my own. Oh, and you have to be careful of the colors! Pink is sweet, red is spicy, blue is dry, green is bitter, and yellow is sour. There's mild ones, but apparently those are hard to make.

[Roxas pulls out a blue one for Vivi, who as tiny as he is, is almost dwarfed by the treat. The little mouse doesn't seem too bothered as he eats it.]

Each Pokémon likes a different flavor depending on their nature, so that's important to think about.

[Breeder talk.]

What kind of Pokémon would like bitter treats? Sounds gross as hell, dude.

[Says the man who would replace his blood with black coffee any day. Empress licks crumbs off her face and makes a seemingly agreeable sound, though her newness to human-made treats means her taste isn't exactly developed. York helps wipe schmutz off her face with his thumb.]

Apparently the ones that like bitter treats are really smart...

[He prefers sweet himself. If eating ice cream whatever the weather, whatever the time, would be any indication.]

Belle will eat anything as long as it's food. My other two are really picky about what they like.

[Once Vivi is done eating, he cleans himself before climbing back onto his trainers head and hiding in his hair to sleep.]

My friend Rin told me that feeding them too much human food can make them really sick.

That makes sense. It's the same with animals on Earth, anyway.

[He rubs his chin.]

I kind of imagine it depends on the Pokémon, though. Man, I can't believe that so many creatures with such different physiology are still so interbreedable...

Earth?

[YOU DON'T KNOW THE HALF OF IT.

Roxas has seen people complain about all sorts of what would seem like impossible to breed pairings making eggs.]

The book just says it's something called egg groups. When you know the egg groups between the ones you want to breed, it just goes from there. And then you get eggs. I-I don't want to wind up with a lot of eggs, so I'll try and be careful when I breed them...

Yeah, you know, I read what the book says, but it still doesn't make a lick of sense. But, what can you do.

[He returns to petting Empress. As fussy as she is, she at least likes the attention.]

Anyway, Earth is where I'm from. Originally, at least. Been a while since I last got to visit.

Really? I've already got egg groups mapped out for all of my Pokémon. I've got two compatibles ones right now... but they don't seem to like each other...

[Which is a shame. The world needs more Swablu's.]

I don't think I've ever been to Earth. Been to a lot of other worlds, but none with that name.

I figure my girls are both a little young yet to be worrying about eggs.

[Also, he still hasn't told Carolina he's been registered as a Breeder and not a Trainer. Because he knows. He knows she's going to tease him. Carolina's sense of humor is a beautiful, wonderful, terrible thing, and he likes it best when it's pointed at other people and away from him.]

Oh yeah? You do a lot of rock-hopping?

Sky, my Altaria, was my starter when I came here the first time. And Saix, my Rufflet, was mine before I left, too. They're the ones I want to breed together. I don't get how age has to do with breeding, though...

[Please forgive him. Roxas is naive when it comes to things like what the act of breeding actually is. He just knows that eggs show up.]

Rock-hopping? No, we always used dark portals to go from world to world.

[Oh man, is this kid that young? He doesn't look that young. York is going to sidestep this conversation byyyy not having it all, yup.]

Dark...portals.

[Right.]

Gotta say, that's a new one for me. Spaceships are pretty much the way to go where I'm from.

[You're talking to a kid who is technically only one year old. :D He'll say he's fifteen.]

Spaceships? That's so cool... But doesn't that take a long time?

It's not so bad. Cryo helps for the real long jumps, but mostly we had training in between missions anyway.

Cryo is where they freeze you, right? How doesn't that kill you?

I don't really understand the science part of it, I just know that it works.

...Usually.

... do I want to ask?

Nothing's perfect.

[That's... now he's reminded that he just came from a time in his world where he's pretty sure he just killed his best friend. Thinking about death has him bummed out now.]

I know.

[Aw, man. What did he do? Why is this planet full of sad kids? Fuck, where's North when you need him to be the world's nicest not-dad, York isn't cut out for this nurturing stuff, he doesn't even know what he said.]

...Well, nobody's perfect, either. Even the military scientists who design those things. Error...'S just one of those things that make us human.

['Makes us human'?]

I wasn't human till I got here. But I know I've made a lot of mistakes. That's normal, right? Even animals make mistakes.

[Belle nudges her trainers leg. No being sad. Roxas looks down and smiles at her.]

As long as you don't repeat them, everything works out.

'Wasn't human till...'

[Oh man, is this like the bird kid again?]

Huh, okay. That explains a couple things. So this place just makes people human?

.001 Δ [Video/Action for Cherrygrove]

[Action]

[Action]

[Action]

[Action]

[Action]

[Action]

[Action]

[Action]

[Action]

[Action]

[Action]

[Action]

[Action]

[Action]

[Action]

[Action]

[Action]

[Action]

[Action]

[Action]

[Action]

[Action]

[Action]

[Action]

[Action]

[Action]

[Action]

[Action]

[Action]

[Action]

[Action]

[Action]

[Action]

[Action]

[Action]

[Action]

[Action]

[Action]