003 | Mahogany Town | Everything;

[worktodo]

[So Johto, have you ever been treated to the sight of a happy baby Togepi up close and personal? Well, if not, today you're going to have that pleasure as this video comes on; trilling quietly but cheerfully, Egghead the Togepi has somehow found his way up onto the surface where Albert last abandoned his Gear and is now happily amusing himself by poking at the buttons. Hence, the video that follows is sporadic and clipped in parts; sometimes the video cuts out entirely and switches to audio, while at other times there are large chunks missing that come interspersed with gibberish text.

When the video is on, however, the network at large is treated to the sight of Egghead peering merrily into the camera, surrounded in the periphery by an assortment of items that comprise Albert's work over the past month — stacks of paper covered in neat but cramped handwriting, small plastic bags with what appear to be samples of berries, powders, leaf clippings, mushrooms, bits of fur, and other assorted snippets inside, an open box of latex gloves, and half a pack of cigarettes.

However, there appears to be some commotion going on in the background, providing a decidedly odd soundtrack to Egghead's playing. Some of it is the recognizably nervous woofing of a Poochyena who is pretty sure her trainer wouldn't be happy to discover Egghead's antics; most of it, however, is Albert's rapid and acerbic tone itself.]

—best we're going to get in this damn — I'll duct-tape you to that table, Thing, if you don't quit trying to make a speedy getaway. What do you think you are, the Harry Houdini of coconut crabs? All right, now where's th—

[The video cuts, and then—]

dddddddddfifffffffffioooooooooo

[And a minute later, the video resumes—]

—nna do you first to keep him still, and then you're the follow-up to put him to sleep, got it? ...Hey, don't give me that look, princess, Cooper told you to behave and I'm not exactly thrilled to be depending on a five-foot owl and an electric mutt for this, either.

[Abruptly, the video cuts out, but the audio continues.]

Okay, now I just need — Dummy, you better not be touching anything, if I have to sterilize you again I'm go—

[And then—]

afdsfafdfdfdfdfdffffffdfsssefwees

[A while later, the video resumes—]

—kay. Now listen, it'll be just like you practiced. Don't start thinking too much, got it? Calm, confident hand. ...Scythe blade. Whatever.

All right. Gandhina, take Egghead and get out of he—what are you doing? Leave that alo—

[And with one last half-pitiful, half-guilty whimper from Gandhina, the feed closes for the final time.]


[OOC: Responses from Albert will come ICly a while after this post, once Thing's emergency tochukaso removal surgery has concluded. Because what happens to a Paras when it evolves is just plain scary, man. Also, Tricia the Manectric and Holmes the Noctowl, referenced herein, were borrowed with Coop-mun's permission!]

Comments

Video

[dreamsofahero]

*...what did he just watch....*

Ah... it seems one of your pokemon has been playing with your things...

Video

[worktodo]

[Presumably, a Togepi at play amid a bunch of stacks of papers. Nothing strange about that, right?]

Yeah, I got that, thanks.

Re: Video

[dreamsofahero]

*there is that, although one has to wonder about all that background noise... :|a*

It certainly sounded as though you had quite the commotion to deal with in general.

Video

[worktodo]

It's a lot quieter when they're dead. Oh, and having a set of facilities that aren't cobbled together from furniture straight out of the Dark Ages usually helps, too.

Re: Video

[dreamsofahero]

*....he's hoping you mean "dead" figuratively there*

"Dark Ages"?

Video

[worktodo]

[Yeah, about that. Whee, autopsies.]

Oh, don't tell me you're another Viking or fairy princess or pony personified.

Re: Video

[dreamsofahero]

Ah.... no?

*he's just a king from a world of gods and magic...*

Video

[worktodo]

Just ignorant of history, then?

...orz I keep forgetting to mention he still has visible horns from the powers event

[dreamsofahero]

Hardly. Presumably from a different world than yours, however.

really all it would do is get albert mocking him about it so it might be for the best

[worktodo]

Ah. Right. Of course. One of the mystical parallel universe true believers.

well THEY'RE THERE but Sion tries to ignore that. and often his swablu sits on his head anyway

[dreamsofahero]

You've been brought to a world not your own yourself, yet you refuse to believe there are still others?

[worktodo]

Well, I believe that you sure think there are.

[dreamsofahero]

*.....wow you are stubbornly dense, aren't you? probably not even worth attempting to be logical with, in that case...*

You still haven't explained what these so-called "Dark Ages" of yours are.

[enjoymyatelier]

[...what... is this...

...is this science...?]

...Perhaps you ought to keep your Pokemon in its Pokeball when you're working. Believe me, I've had difficulties with this sort of thing before.

[worktodo]

[YOU BETTER BELIEVE IT'S SCIENCE. Just ask him about his science. Just ask.]

Half-hatched egg or not, I'm not about to be responsible for cramming the thing into something the size of a particularly large jawbreaker.

[Translation: USING A POKEBALL MEANS GIVING IN TO THE MAN.]

[enjoymyatelier]

[oh, don't worry.

he will.]

...You haven't been doing that at all? How have you been managing?

[worktodo]

[EXCELLENT.]

Managing what? The dog knows how to heel, the bug and the egg are about the size of a shoebox apiece, and the giant mantis just hatched.

[enjoymyatelier]

[...but animals though]

...well, if they're behaving themselves I suppose it's not a problem.

What were you doing while all that was going on, anyway?

[worktodo]

[FREE RANGE IS THE ONLY ACCEPTABLE ANSWER.]

Rescuing a bug from eventual mummification, death, and possession at the hands of an apparently sentient parasitic mushroom. All in a day's work in this godforsaken boondocks.

[enjoymyatelier]

[...oh

huh]

A Paras, correct? It should be interesting to see the effects of that, given that from what I've gathered the parasitic mushrooms seem to contribute to their abilities. At least initially, anyway.

[worktodo]

[Well, y'know, he might as well get a video recording of this for his own files, anyway. BRB heading over to get a shot of a de-mushroomed Paras, its back neatly and lovingly wrapped in bandages, still asleep and duct-taped to the makeshift operating table.

Nearby, a Scyther is hovering. Not hovering like midair hovering, but like worried mother hovering.]

Some trade-off. Can you think of any cosmic power worth letting someone possess you and walk you around like a marionette?

[enjoymyatelier]

[He'll lean in a bit closer to the screen to get a better look, because science]

Oh, no, of course not. There's a reason I'm not interested in catching one of these. I'm really wondering if it will learn any new skills to compensate for the absence of the mushrooms.

[why hasn't this been made into a divergent evolution path yet, Gamefreak]

[worktodo]

[Poor Thing has had a very traumatic day. On the upside, he's free of the parasites that would someday mummify and possess him. ...Until they grow back, that is.]

That'd be a lot of moxie to see out of one little bug, wouldn't it?

[Not that he's disapproving. Frankly Albert would be pretty okay with Thing pulling himself up by his figurative bootstraps and making his own way in the world now that he's free of his former negative influences. Like hell he's gonna show it, though.]

[enjoymyatelier]

Really, it depends on how well it can function without them to begin with-though, given that it's not unheard of for proper animals to adapt to that kind of change, it may turn out fairly well.

[...really, he doesn't give too much about the thing's well-being, he just wants to see the results of this...]

[worktodo]

If it keeps him from life as a zombie, I'm willing to call it good. The only reason I haven't let him go back into the wild before now is I doubt he'd survive if I did.

[SPOILERS: HE KIND OF SECRETLY LIKES HIS LITTLE BUG. SHHH.]