005 | Violet City | Video / Action;

[nostabbing]

[So here's Parker "Alice", for once heralding from a different setting than the sights and sounds of Goldenrod City; given the generally purple background scenery, it's probably a fair bet that she's in Violet. Plus, the fact that she's standing a short distance away from the unmistakable architecture of the Violet Gym only serves to reinforce this fact.

Just as the highly offended look on her face only serves to reinforce the fact that something is decidedly bothering her.]

Okay, so if you want to fly, you need the DVD thingy to teach it to your Pokemon and the badge thingy because...you just do for some reason. But I don't have to teach Switch with the DVD thingy because he was born with it.

[As if on cue, an Aerodactyl cranes its big sinister head down into the frame to photobomb the video and nuzzle against her cheek; clearly delighted by this, she wastes no time in tilting her head and rewarding him with a kiss on the Aerodactyl approximation of the cheek.]

So that means I just need the badge thingy to fly, and you get those from the gym. But I did that and it didn't work.

[Technically, she did it about four times...with four different badges...none of which were technically hers...because all of them were lifted from the badge cases of victorious trainers as they left Falkner's gym...

...

Whoops.]

So what else do you have to do to go flying? 'Cause I — hang on. [Her attention abruptly diverts somewhere offscreen.] HEY! IS IT HATCHING?!

[A beat passes, presumably containing a reply rendered inaudible to the microphone from the distance. And evidently so, because when "Alice" looks back, her eyes are bright and she's alight with sudden enthusiasm.]

Gottagobye.

[And the feed switches off.]

Comments

[video]

[enjoymyatelier]

[...okay that catches his interest because what is that horseshit

if this happens to him...]

That's... completely bizarre. It really wouldn't surprise me if some of the badges are just poorly made and therefore defective... though it'd help if we knew how the things even worked in the first place.

Have you spoken to the leader about it?

[video]

[nostabbing]

[It takes a short while, but then she's back again to check her messages. HI, KAYNETH.

Also speaking to the leader about it sounds suspiciously like grifting, which...welp, there go the red flags.]

Uh, no. Not...yet. He was busy so I didn't get to.

[...That seems legit.]

[video]

[enjoymyatelier]

You probably should, if you get a chance... or, at the very least, examine it next to a functional badge. If there's some sort of defect, it should be brought to light so that whoever's responsible for it can make reparations.

[And be fired, because they had one job]

[video]

[nostabbing]

[Huh. Now there's a good point. Maybe they're somehow keyed to the first person to touch them or something, once they're handed out — like a biological imprint, maybe — and that's why other people can't use them?

Well, that means she'll just have to steal a fresh one right off the Gym Leader, won't she.]

...Right! Right, that's totally what I'm going to do. 'Cause they better get this fixed, and fast. It's not like it's my fault the dumb thing doesn't work.

[YEAH. Incite the masses!]

[video]

[enjoymyatelier]

Precisely. If mine turns out to be equally useless, I may just take it upon myself to travel back to Violet to let Falkner know exactly what I think of his gross negligence.

[but kayneth, your fiancee's the one who's good at complaining to customer service]

action; 1/3

[rapid_dash]

action; 2/3

[rapid_dash]

action; 3/3

[rapid_dash]

[Parker's in the background, making some post about the things she needs to teach some sort of move to one of her pokemon. Meanwhile, this redhead is sitting under the shade of a nearby tree, watching an egg with anticipation. Rude, his ever present partner, is naturally bearing witness to this event.]

[There's a crackling sound that comes from the egg suddenly, and Reno shouts to Parker, waving her over to get her attention. This is a great moment! He's hatched a couple eggs before, but it's always interesting to see them when they first come out of the shell. It takes the pokemon a few minutes to completely de-shell itself, and when it does, the newly hatched Girafarig looks up at the Turk and burps.

Ah, baby's first noise.

Of course, as Reno looks at the creature longer, he finds himself a bit confused by the anatomy.]

...Which end is the face?

action;

[nostabbing]

[Parker, meanwhile, is wasting no time booking it over to watch this hatching, and her Aerodactyl, Switchblade, isn't far behind. She misses most of the initial cracking and shifting, alas, but she's there when the head (heads?) first poke out, and promptly fascinated by what she sees.

It's a two-headed giraffe, how cool is that?]

I think they're both the face.

[She waggles her fingers at one end of the Girafarig, as if for emphasis.]

[VIDEO]

[diamondo]

I can't say anything 'bout the badges since I haven't exactly gotten my hands on any of 'em, but I've got a question for you anyway.

[Clearly this is of the utmost importance if Mondo felt the need to reply, right?]

The fuck kinda Pokémon is that? The giant pterodactyl thing? Better question: where can I get one?

[...Never mind, Mondo's being dumb as usual.]

[VIDEO]

[nostabbing]

[Switchblade, being a particularly clever fossilsaur, recognizes the word "pterodactyl" when he hears it (largely because Parker's said it enough around him for him to have associated it with himself by now), which promptly yields the reaction of OH BOY SOMEONE'S TALKING ABOUT HIM. So he's peering down to look at the camera again, and he is wearing a decidedly unpleasant expression as he does it — namely, because Switch is a Pokemon much like a desperately loyal feral beast, who unconditionally loves the shit out of Parker and hates everyone else.]

He's an Aerodactyl. Isn't that right, Switch. [NUZZLE NUZZLE.] I hatched him from an egg somebody gave me a couple months ago.

[VIDEO]

[diamondo]

[You know, that would be terrifying if Mondo was actually afraid of anything. But of course he isn't anything because he's strong!! Complexes aside, Mondo merely watches the creature in fascination.]

That's so fucking cool! So I'm guessing you've battled with him, right? Is he as powerful as he looks?

[VIDEO]

[nostabbing]

[NUZZLE NUZZLE NUZZLE.]

Yeah! He's great. And he was born with all of it, too; I barely had to teach him anything. He's a natural.

[video]

[captainash]

Did you drop your badge on the ground or something like that? Maybe they stop working if you damage them.

[Then again, they could stop working because the stars aren't aligned properly, for all he knows.]

[video]

[nostabbing]

I thought they were just little pieces of plastic or metal or whatever. They can break?

[ALARM.]

[video]

[captainash]

They're little pieces of an unknown material that somehow empower living creatures and allow them to display greater strength than usual. I'm surprised they even work in the first place.

[The ability to break would be normal, at this point.]

[video]

[nostabbing]

Well, I didn't drop it on the ground.

[Just lifted it out of someone else's pocket. Several times over.]

People have been saying I should go get the leader guy to give me a new one. Do you think he will, if this one's broken?

[video]

[usedfeatherdance]

Maybe you're too heavy.

[video]

[nostabbing]

Then how come fatter people than me can do it but I can't?

[video]

[usedfeatherdance]

Have they actually flown on the same Pokemon you're trying to ride?

[video]

[nostabbing]

No. But it's a dinosaur. He lifts stuff way heavier than me all the time.

[Video]

[thecalmone]

[Curious Elric is curious.]

My brother and I flew recently and I just got here, so there's no way that I have any badges yet. Maybe I should ask him how that worked for you miss?

[Video]

[nostabbing]

Yeah, maybe you should. 'Cause it's not working and it should be and I want to know why.

[Video]

[thecalmone]

Did they give you any special directions when they gave them to you? Maybe you missed a step. [Totally planning to get all the information before asking his brother anything, yep.]

[Video]

[nostabbing]

How many steps are there? Other people walk out of the gym and go flying. And I don't see anything on it you're supposed to activate or anything...