[Video|Action for Goldenrod City]

[memoryborn]

[ The feed starts off shaky and wonky and upside down, but it pays witness to a Scizor smashing in the face of a familiar Miltank with one of his pincers. Whitney's scream of outrage and near bloody murder drowns out the poor Miltank's whimper as it sags to the ground, knocked out with a single hit. The camera rights itself and purposefully zooms in on Whitney's red face - it looks like she's been sobbing for quite a while now. She points an accusing finger at her challenger. ]

I can't believe you! You're evil! Evil fraternal twins bullying me with overpowered Pokemon!

I'm sorry. I know things have been busy with those fossils running around, but as it seems to be over and we've been holding off for a while--

Waaaaaaaaaaaahhh!

Will you stop it?

[The camera turns to the other person in the Gym. Ilya stamps her foot and looks quite firmly irritated. Outraged, in fact.]

What kind of conduct is this? You call yourself a lady? You're a disgrace!

Illya, we don't need to aggravate her any further--

Meanies! Evil, the both of you! Here! Take your stupid badge!

[ Despite the huge display of shaking and crying Whitney is showing, she manages to chuck the tiny badge over Xion's Scizor and smack the thing squarely against Xion's forehead. She continues to cry, but this act prompts a roar from the holder of the Gear (which sounds much like a Hydreigon's roar) and her Scizor's wings to furiously flutter. ]

Ow!

Xion! Are you hurt?

[Ilya reaches up to check on Xion's forehead, and after a couple moments of satisfying herself that she's not bleeding from one of the pointy ends, turns back to Whitney.]

How dare you! I have a mind to... to...

[She seems to fail at figuring out what exactly she intends to do to Whitney, just standing there with her fists clenched and her eyes narrowed. At her side, a looming Dusclops glares with its one red eye.]

It's fine, Illya! It's nothing. [ As she says this, she's pulling on her hood to hide the little mark while bending down to pick up her badge. ] Let's go... Wait. Tiamat? Wait!

[ The feed is suddenly flying towards and behind Whitney. There's a Hydreigon head seen before it opens a mouth and bites down on poor girl's butt.

The shriek is almost ear shattering. ]

Eeeeeek! Owowowowowow! [ She swats angrily at the Hydreigon, who flies high up and stares down with the Gear. Then she gasps, looking back up at Tiamat then at Xion. ] It's you! You again?! You're the trainer whose Deino bit me in the butt!

I apologized!

[Ilya is desperately trying to reign in her laughter, but it's not... really working all that well. Meanwhile, her Dusclops is opening its mouth...

Oops, there's a second ear piercing scream.]

Ow ow ow! Orpheus, that was not a challenge to a screaming competition!

Illya, let's just go! We might get arrested at this rate!

[ Tug, tug. Everyone's just screaming and crying and yelling... while Tiamat just laughs her dark Hydreigon laugh above. ]

But I still don't have my badge...

[She does, however, reluctantly allow herself to get pulled away.]

Orpheus! Hepheastus! Come!

[With a roar and a groan, the Aggron and the Dusclops obediently begin following their trainer away from the increasingly frantic gym leader.]

Tiamat! --And please stop recording!

[ Xion realizes belatedly. At the call, Tiamat swoops over while obeying orders and cutting the feed after that. ]


[ Audio that happens half an our later: ]

Whitney's still the same. [ No kidding. Beat. ] If anyone plans to challenge her sometime soon, um... please be careful.

[ And then another audio message filtered to Minato and the Ninja Team: ]

I hope you guys have been okay from the fossil Pokemon attack. I think I'm going to travel with Illya for a bit. She wanted to visit Ecruteak for some information. If you guys need help, though, we could both travel back to you guys whenever we can.

And... sorry I've been quiet. A lot of things have been happening. Stay safe.

[ ooc: Badges approved for both! Whitney and Illya. ]

Comments

[video]

[dressofheaven]

Threat to one's eyes? What do you-

[The mental image of the badge going a bit lower abruptly enters her mind. Her eyes widen and she grimaces.]

Oh I didn't even think of that. That makes it even worse!

[video]

[paladinlost]

It might not help much, but I doubt Whitney thought of it either. Otherwise, her aim would have been more precise.

[video]

[dressofheaven]

Do you really think she would have done something like that deliberately?

[Because honestly, that idea's a little scary.]

[video]

[paladinlost]

I would like to hope not, but her attitude has been this unstable for three years. That cannot be healthy for her mind.

[video]

[dressofheaven]

Maybe she's just... stuck in that state of mind, somehow.

[video]

[paladinlost]

...It could be that they're all stuck in their current states of mind. There has been some... strangeness with the way locals act, before.

[video]

[dressofheaven]

What, exactly, do you mean?

[video]

[paladinlost]

...Almost four years ago, there was a short period where this whole world looked different. Sounded, acted different. All the locals would only repeat a single sentence or two, over and over again. Even our Pokémon lost all traces of any individual personalities.

[video]

[dressofheaven]

What... [She takes a brief moment to process that.] You mean they became like... automatons? Golems?

["Robots" doesn't really enter into her vocabulary, but the idea is more or less the same.]

[video]

[paladinlost]

They were not metallic enough to be automatons or rocky enough to be golems, but they had about as much intelligence and individuality. It was more than a little alarming.

[video]

[dressofheaven]

Do you know what caused it? Was it a Pokemon?

[video] ...I just realized I wrote four years instead of three, silly me.

[paladinlost]

I've no idea. We also all received a message telling us to leave, but it might not have come from whatever was responsible.

[video] It's cool, I kinda mentally replaced it.

[dressofheaven]

[Well that's mildly terrifying.]

Then it could happen again?

[video]

[paladinlost]

Perhaps, but I find that unlikely. That event had some details in common with that strangeness in June, yet this time the locals stayed perfectly normal.

[video]

[dressofheaven]

That week... was very odd.

[It's an extreme understatement, but she just doesn't know what else to say about it.]

[video]

[paladinlost]

So odd it was almost nostalgic. Did those strange Pokémon can much trouble where you were at the time?

[video]

[dressofheaven]

Yes, but I mostly stayed inside and avoided it. Not that it was a perfect plan, but it worked out okay.

[video]

[paladinlost]

That was the best solution, as far as I could tell at the time. It's a shame it did not work for the fossils.

[video]

[dressofheaven]

Oh I didn't really have that option for the fossils. I had to track Xion down.

[video]

[paladinlost]

Was she out there fighting them?

[video]

[dressofheaven]

If you know her, that shouldn't surprise you.

[video]

[paladinlost]

It does not at all, amusingly enough. Perhaps I've learned to accept that I'm surrounded by impulsive and heroic people.

[video]

[dressofheaven]

That's a terrible combination. [And she should know.]

... Is "self-sacrificing" part of that too? Or does that just fall under heroic?

[video]

[paladinlost]

I'd say so. I've seen plenty of people that were heroic yet not self-sacrificing, but never the opposite.

[video]

[dressofheaven]

Most of the "heroes" I've known were would-be martyrs on top of it. You're lucky to have known a few who were otherwise.