divinitea | 1 ♣ [TEXT/ACTION FOR GOLDENROD CITY + ACTION FOR THE ROCKET BASE]

ACTION

[Having grown tired of the sparseness of her room, Celes has taken it upon herself to investigate her new surroundings - in her regular clothes, of course. She's walking slowly, peering around the halls and taking in everything she can, eyes flicking back and forth suspiciously, as if expecting something to pop out at any moment.]

How mysterious....

[Behind her, a Gothita and Vulpix are pattering along, doing their best to keep up with their new trainer, despite the fact that she's ignoring them. The Gothita appears to be doing worse than the Vulpix (having tiny legs will do that to you), but she struggles furiously on, watching her trainer with wide, reverent eyes.

Feel free to interrupt Celes' wanderings if you happen to spot her - she'd be grateful for the information. Maybe.]

TEXT/ACTION

[It's later in the day, and Celes has managed to find her way out of the Rocket Base and into the heart of Goldenrod City. She's currently seated at a table outside a rather quaint cafe, sipping from a cup and idly flicking through the feed on her Pokegear. Seated opposite her, sharing the chair, are her two Pokemon, eagerly watching both their trainer and the small cake sitting in front of her. Celes hasn't touched her food, but is onto her second pot of tea, murmuring to herself.]

...it's perfect....just how I like it.

[Her appetite hasn't really kicked in since she awoke in her room in the Rocket base, so with a slightly repulsed look she roughly cuts the cake into two pieces with her fork and pushes the plate over to her Pokemon. They fall on it in grateful desperation. However-

Do try to have some decorum.

[Celes' words are calm and even, but her Pokemon immediately freeze and start to eat slowly, any traces of their prior frantic feeding completely gone. Her Gothita even attempts to use the fork.

Having dealt with her Pokemon, Celes goes right back to ignoring them and instead focuses on her Pokegear, placing her teacup neatly back in the saucer.

She's spent most of her day gathering what information she can from the citizens around Goldenrod and her fellow Rocket members - now it's time to see if this 'feed' works as well as she's heard.]

I have a few questions that I would appreciate answers to, should any of you be able to help.

1) Are any of you familiar with a place called Hope's Peak Academy?

2) What can you tell me about 'Gothita' and 'Vulpix'?

3) What exactly is Team Rocket's purpose? Should I fear them?

Thank you very much for your time.

- Celestia Ludenberg

[Those aren't her only questions - by far - but at the moment they're the most pressing. If she finds someone helpful she'll pick their brain, anyway.

For now, her tea is waiting.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Unfortunately he knows a couple of her dead classmates. But at least he can still be useful beyond that? Look at all this info he's willing to share. He'll basically walk her step by step through the whole Pokémon process if he has to.]

[Thank god for naive, nice guy protags am I right?]

1. naegi, ishimaru, chihiro, and asahina!

[And technically Mondo, but he hasn't quite made the connection there yet. Ishimaru never did mention the name of his best bro.]

2. you just take care of her, basically. pokemon are kind of similar to regular earth animals but much smarter and also magic. like vulpix, for instance, can breathe fire. they all have a range of different abilities, it just depends on the species in question.

and evolving is something that happens to them during the process of raising and training them. not all of them will do it, but a fair few do and it just means that they get bigger and stronger, basically. i'll have to run to the center to get her, but i could show you my ninetales if you would like.

3. well if you stay with your friends that will probably increase you chances of not getting hurt/robbed, i would think. but there's really no special way to avoid them. chances are though, you will only run into them a couple of times. they're active, sure, but not particularly like... out there, i guess? in over two years here i have really only had a handful of run-ins with them, personally.

[John you sound lovely and ~~gullible~~ exactly the sort of person she needs right now - it's very appreciated! ^_^

...it's also a good thing she's actually spoken to those dead classmates before you rocked up or this would've gotten uncomfortable very fast]

1) Goodness, there are a few of us here! How comforting. Do you know where they are?

2) What exactly is a 'Ninetales'? How do I make Beatrice - sorry, my Vulpix - breath fire? Is she dangerous?

3) That's comforting; I've merely overheard a few people discussing them and I wanted to ensure I wasn't going to be in any danger. Is robbing people all they really do?

Thank you very much for all of your help!

[Gullible is pretty much John's middle name. He likes to think he's wised up a little bit, but really he hasn't. The guy is just too damn trusting for his own good.]

[Why else would he be putting on his shoes now to head over to the center so that he can get his Ninetales and have visuals to explain the fundamentals of Pokémon to a complete stranger?]

1. uhh... violet i think? i spoke to ishimaru a few days ago and that was the bg music playing on his end. so unless they've left since then, they should still be there.

2. give me five minutes and i'll get back to you on this one.

3. uhh... no it's not all they do. or well, more like theft is their ultimate goal and they sometimes pull some very elaborate heists to pull this goal off. like, once they hijacked the magnet train and they've exploded a few buildings before. centers and gyms, mostly. and i am like 90% certain that they once infected all of us with a mutative virus. but that was just that one time, it hasn't happened again since. probably because it was such a disaster the first go-round and also it might have been an accident in the first place? we just don't know for sure.

[....good lord, John, you really are way too nice

But hey, not that she's complaining!]

1) Ah, I spoke to Ishimaru-kun earlier, and he did mention being in Violet City. Apparently quite a few of my classmates are there at present - one should be coming to collect me shortly.

[If not they will soon be hearing from her ^_^ and it will not be pretty]

2) I anticipate this!

3) Goodness! They certainly sound rather formidable. I shall have to ensure I stay away from them.

[Which will be somewhat difficult considering she's part of the Team, but she's willing to give it her best shot! Or not.]

What is your name, kind stranger?

[It's a good ten minutes before John finally responds.]

it's john! john egbert.
haha, sorry i should have done that sooner shouldn't i?
since you gave me your name right off the bat.
anyway...

[At that, he switches the feed over to video. Wow what a nerd. Anyway, he's somewhere just outside of Fuchsia, his Pokégear levitating in the air in front of him. At his side sits a Ninetales, calmly staring up at the camera. John offers a wave.]

Hiya! Sorry about how long that took, I thought it might be better to get a little out of the way so I could show you some of this stuff. Anyway, this is Luda! [The Ninetales tosses her head back a little. She's so glamorous, you have no idea.] If you give your Vulpix a fire stone, this is what they will turn into.

[Celes switches her own feed to video once John pops up - all this typing isn't good for her nails, anyway. However will she cope if she chips one?

She's obviously pleased with the sight of the Ninetales; her reaction is almost genuine!

...almost...]

Ah, what a beautiful creature! So you're saying that my Beatrice can turn into that?

[She needs to upgrade ASAP tbh - she would look even classier than usual with one of those things beside her...]

I shall have to endeavor to get my hands on one of these 'fire stones'. Thank you very much for sharing her with me, Egbert-san. She breathes fire, then?

[Wow you sure are one of those Gothic Lollygag types, aren't you, Celes? Gothic Lollipop?]

[Whatever it's called, anyway. You're totally one of those. John spends a moment staring before realizing that he was in the middle of a conversation/demonstration and gets back to the point.]

Oh, err, yes! Yes she can. Though I would wait a little while before actually triggering the transformation, if I were you. Unfortunately, once it evolves, Ninetales can no longer learn any moves. So, from a battle perspective, it's better to wait until Vulpix knows its entire moveset. Otherwise, you're going to be stuck with a fox that only knows the most basic moves and it really won't be good for battles.

But if you are not into that aspect of things, then it doesn't really matter when you evolve her. And you can find fire stones, along with all the other evolutionary items, at the department stores in either Goldenrod or Celdaon.

As for the fire breathing thi... okay no, before we do that I have to know... how do you do that to your hair?

[This is clearly the most pressing issue at the moment. He's also completely serious about it. Your hair is intense, Celes. He would not be surprised to learn that you are a super high school level hair stylist or something.]

[Feel free to stare - she's aware of how fantastic she looks, after all~]

I suppose I could wait, but it will be difficult. Beatrice doesn't look like she'll be much use on the battlefield anyway.

[Behind her, her Vulpix slumps down to the ground. That was way harsh, Tai...]

As for my hair...

It's naturally like this. I simply pin it up.

Uh huh. [The eyebrow quirk seems to indicate that he doesn't believe her. He might be kind of gullible but come on now.] Well it looks nice so kudos to your hair and its natural ability to take the form and shape of twin drills, I suppose. Anyway...

[He turns his attention to his Ninetales, taking a few steps away from her.]

Luda, would you mind showing Miss Ludenberg here a Fire Spin, please?

[With an affirmative yip, the fox hops gracefully to her feet and tosses her head before shooting a tight spiral of flames into the air from her mouth.]

See? Now if there was actually a target for her to be aiming at, they'd get stuck in that twister for a while and wouldn't be able to retaliate.

[But instead, it just dissipates into the air as Luda closes her mouth finally. She sits back down, happily allowing John to scratch her behind the ears.]

1 ♣ [TEXT/ACTION FOR GOLDENROD CITY + ACTION FOR THE ROCKET BASE]

Re: text;

text;

text;

text;

text ==> video;

video

video

video 1/2

video 2/2

video