1; Video

[usedlightscreen]

[The only sound for a moment is the knock of the gear being tapped against something semi-hard, and similarly the only thing in focus is a white eggshell with the corners of red and blue shapes.

Also the sound of the 'Gear being chewed on. Omnomnomnom.]

Are you getting into trouble already, you little scamp?

[The voice is deep, warm, and affectionate.]

That's not food, here, let me trade you-

[The feed is a little smeared on one corner, and the camera unknowingly focuses on a large, pale hand offering one of the donuts rice balls that Mom packs standard in her bento to a very small Togepi, who takes it in its little hands and shoves the whole thing into its mouth at once. The voice laughs offscreen, and the camera gets a closeup of his green overalls as he untucks his purple t-shirt to wipe the drool off the corner.

It's then that he notices that the camera's on, and finally brings his face into focus.]

...Sorry about that, I hope he didn't bother anybody.

Comments

[video]

[usedlightscreen]

Well, I think we're planning on traveling around for a while, but... Settling down sounds nice. Eventually, anyway.

[video]

[usedlightscreen]

Just North. My dad was Mr. Dakota.

[He was not, you massive troll.]

You know, war, death, suffering. Occasional risk of floating adrift into the cold vacuum of space. How's the past?

[Action]

[secondplacing]

Actually, yes. A boy named Roxas was rather helpful about it.

He said the first gym is run by a man named Falkner in Violet city. That's right after Cherrygrove.

[COME ON BOYS YOU'RE TOO SLOW.]

We'll have time to train for it on the way.

[Action]

[ratherbelocky]

[A snort, and he claps North's arm once (again, gently: baby on board). Because of course Carolina's going to go ahead and make that decision for them. It's fine. They can figure out what they actually want to do later. For now, they've got marching orders.]

Man. You think we could pick up a car in Cherrygrove? I could go for a car right about now. Dibs on driver.

[Video]

[usedlightscreen]

[hahaha well get those pompoms ready girl because it's complicated]

Fighting is overrated.

[Says the space soldier.]

Our armor could do things like that, back home; we all had a special enhancement, in addition to the stuff that came standard. Mine was a shield, my buddy's was healing. Things like that save more lives than guns do.

[audio]

[usedlightscreen]

[...Oh]

Well, yes.

[Video]

[usedlightscreen]

Ah... Yeah, it's been too long since I've been planetside to see the changing of the seasons. When I was a kid I loved all the different colors.

[Video]

[usedlightscreen]

[Togepi hides shyly, but North returns the smile.]

So he really is just a baby, then.

[Video]

[seasaltkey]

I've never been to a world with fall or winter...

[All he knows is spring and summer. He blinks at part of that sentence.]

Planetside?

video

[usedlightscreen]

It seems like he's a little camera-shy. I don't think he meant to turn it on.

[His tone is warm and fatherly, fond already of the tiny little egg-baby entrusted to his care.]

video

[failnought]

[ Her smile only grows a little more, and she has to be reminded of someone else... but he's not here, and thinking on that too much will only lead to sadness. ]

Just really curious? Snow was like that, too, when I first arrived here.

[Action]

[usedlightscreen]

[North for one is happy to be taking orders again. It keeps his thoughts away from the darker paths it would undoubtedly be on if he was left to his own devices.]

Somehow I doubt this place has a real market for cars. You might be able to find one of these guys that's about the same size of one.

[Action]

[secondplacing]

Don't worry. We'll do a bit of collecting on the way.

Besides, York, looks like you haven't been keeping up drills for the past few years.

[Just gonna whack him gently in the arm.]

It'll do you both some good. Let's figure out what our plans are for the night.

[Video]

[usedlightscreen]

Let's hope it's a beautiful one, everyone should see one magnificent fall in their lives.

[...Oh, right.]

Well, it's been a few years since I've been on earth, and there's not many other places that have the same seasons.

[Video]

[seasaltkey]

I've been to a lot of worlds, but they were all either in spring or summer. Summer, mostly. Like Agrabah. But it's a desert, so it's probably always summer there. Not a lot of them had trees...

[So...]

You've been to different worlds, too? How'd you get to them?

[Not in the same sense, Roxas.]

[Action]

[ratherbelocky]

[Excuse you, Carolina, he was penniless and starving on the streets, he can't help it if he lost some muscle tone. Have a mock hurt look.]

You know, for that, North rides shotgun in my future PokéCar. Or steed. But there's nowhere to stay here, right? I guess it's the old "sleeping bag on the side of the road" song and dance again.

video

[usedlightscreen]

Snow? Oh, is that what you named the one you started with?

[Video]

[wing_attack]

Pretty much. I have a friend who has a later evolution of Togepi. They're pretty nice to have around.

[audio]

[stonebones]

I'm sorry! It's just... You don't act new. I mean, you're very calm.

[And very calming to listen to, yikes.]

[Video]

[dangerousidol]

[she's never thought about it like that.]

So... my powers are fine the way they are? I just don't want to feel like they need to defend me all the time. My friends should be more focused on the battles!

[video]

[paladinlost]

You'll have plenty of time to think about it, unless you fall in love with Cherrygrove and refuse to leave. Each city is worth visiting once, and there are hundreds of Pokémon species to meet along the way.

video

[failnought]

Yeah. He was a Piplup when I got him, but now-- [ and an Empoleon comes into view ] --he evolved a pretty long time ago.

[video]

[lieutenantantichrist]

He must have had a hell of a sense of humor.

[Blake is not a troll. He's merely someone who tends to antagonize people into an emotional response. Totally different.]

Politics, murder, crime, shitty weather. About the same. You have any flying cars yet?

[usedlightscreen]

No flying cars; why reinvent the wheel when the old model still works just fine?

[Considering he's not really going for any kind of response, it is different.]

We do have jetpacks and gravity boots, though.

[lieutenantantichrist]

[Blake gives him a look.] Cause it'd be a car that flies.

[Isn't that the entire point of the future?

He tilts his head and ehhs. Not as good, but he'll accept it. He flips a page over in his notebook.] Any priors?