victory_road | Video; Suicune no swiping

[The video switches onto very shaky, jerky footage of the inside of a tent, and then a tentflap being pushed aside with very indistinct muttering in the background.

Outside, the early light of dawn is grey in a persistent drizzle. The gear (still not completely steady) looks out over a reasonably neat camp. Smokey the Ursaring would be pleased. Their old XO would only assign twenty laps. All in all, a very normal scene.

Apart from the legendary pokemon standing in the middle of camp like it does this sort of thing every day. That is a little not normal.

Have you ever seen Suicune? Have you ever seen Suicune steal a tea kettle? You have now.

The large blue legendary pokemon lowers its muzzle to nose at the kettle, before clamping its sharp teeth around it and lifting it up.]

Ah! No! No, no.

[It drops the kettle again, staring straight into the gear. For a moment everything seems to go still, even the sound of the rain drizzling down coming to a stop. It's a moment that seems to stretch, perilously thin and then suddenly it snaps, like a bubble bursting, and Suicune bends down to clamp its teeth around the tea kettle again and then it is off with a great leap, the rain suddenly coming down again with a roar.]

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You're sure it wasn't just a shiny Arcanine?

[Jean won't be convinced until he sees the video, but now that he knows there's photographic evidence, he'll stop questioning Armin until he's had a chance to see it.]

You want me to draw a paw print?

[Jean looks doubtfully down at the muddy print.]

Can I at least have some coffeeeeee... dammit!

[No, Jean, you cannot have some coffee first, as you no longer have a kettle. Jean straightens up and whistles; Fat Ice Dog comes bounding over, and Jean carefully positions him close to the paw print and then sits on him, crossing one ankle over his other knee.]

I can protect it while you go get an umbrella. So the book doesn't get wet.

Edited 2017-08-16 14:40 (UTC)

Positive. It was much sleeker with a long purple mane and a strange... horn like crest here.

[Armin gestures to his forehead, trying to indicate the size of Suicune's oval head crest.]

And it's important we record as much information as possible. If we know what its paw prints look like, we could compare them to other unknown paw prints.

[The pokedex contains such information for a reason! Besides, Armin has grown up reading his grandfather's encyclopaedias. This sort of information was always noted about every animal that had an entry.

He pushes up, not even bothering to wipe the mud off his knees.]

Let me grab one.

[Later he will be very grateful to Jean for helping him out, and without any coffee either, but right now, most of his attention is on sating his endless curiosity.

Thankfully, he always keeps his tent quite neat (though it looks like someone very recently went through his stuff like a mini hurricane) so he quickly returns with an umbrella, already unfolding it.]

[While Armin is getting an umbrella, Jean makes himself comfortable on Fat Ice Dog; the Spheal doesn't mind being sat on, fortunately, and when Burrito comes toddling over to join them, Jean picks the ruined book off his back and uses it to shield the paw print from the driving rain. Why, oh why, couldn't this have happened on a day when it wasn't pouring down rain? And why couldn't the dumb legendary not take their kettle?]

Thanks.

[Once Armin has the umbrella in place, Jean gives Burrito the book back--he straightens up a little, pleased to be an end table, and starts chatting with Fat Ice Dog--and opens Armin's journal to the first blank page. He starts sketching, looking back and forth between the paw print and the page, and adds a little commentary under the drawing when he's done: stupid asshole stole the kettle so no coffee LEGENDARIES SUCK]

[Armin pushes up onto his toes to peer over Jean's shoulder while he works.]

Jean, you can't mean that. These creatures are absolutely incredible. It might just have been curious about our kettle.

If it's so incredible, it should've known what a kettle is and not taken ours.

[Jean does, reluctantly, scrub out the offending words with his eraser.]

How's that?

We can just buy a new one when we get to town.

[In, you know, a week or something. Surely they haven't all grown that dependent on coffee and tea just yet.

Maybe.

Hopefully.]

Thank you.

Welcome.

[Yeaaaah, when they're in town again...]

I think I'll take Rocky into town today, since a certain someone splashed all over my book.

[A certain someone? You surely don't mean this charming little Spheal, do you? Surely not!]

I'll pick up a new kettle there.

All right.

[The word comes very absently.

For once Armin lacks any interest in books. Yes, yes, call the press, the police, maybe the hospital. His mind is just buzzing with what he just saw, and the fact that Jean's paperback suffered an untimely, watery death is very low on the list of things he cares about now.]

Before you go, you should watch my recording.

[Just so any doubts he has left about the amazing thing Armin just saw are put to rest. No, it wasn't a shiny arcanine. It was Suicune and it was real and right here.]

[Jean does a double take when Armin isn't immediately interested in going to the book store, and for the first time, he starts to wonder about what Armin really saw. Maybe it actually was a legendary...]

Yeah, let me see.

[He leans in over Armin's shoulder to watch the video, and Jean's eyes slowly widen and his jaw drops as he watches it.]

Holy shit.

[That... that sure was a thing. That stole their kettle.]

See!

[He won't say he told you so, but also, he did tell you so.]

Isn't it incredible? Just think, we are some of the few people alive who have ever seen this pokemon. Who have even come close enough to film it even.

That's amazing!

[Jean will never doubt you again, Armin. At least not when it comes to legendary Pokemon.]

It's a legendary, and it goes around stealing trash!

[... okay, maybe not appropriately reverent, but hey, at least he believes Armin now?]

Do you want me to draw it for you?

[How about Jean just doesn't doubt him in general.]

Would you? Then, please. You are much better at it than I am.

[Armin's art skills haven't improved much over the nearly a year he has been here. Maybe he should get a pokemon capable of drawing like Jean has.

Not that he probably wants to see Polo's version of Suicune.]

I'm not sure if we can say it stole it though. He don't exactly know its motives. Does a legendary pokemon even understand the concept of ownership?

[The vast majority of the time, Jean doesn't! But Armin will have to forgive him for being a little skeptical when he's been rousted early and not had his customary cup of coffee yet.]

Beats me. You should probably ask Dr. Ford about that.

[Jean reaches over Armin's shoulder to play the video again, this time paying more attention to the Pokemon's form.]

Huh... it's like a dog, but not really. Not really at all.

Can I take this back to my tent and watch it a few more times, so I can draw it better?

Sure, I don't mind.

[Armin hands over his gear. It is only logical Jean needs a bit of time to draw something out, right.

And now that his excitement is slowly... not disappearing exactly, but evening out, he is also starting to notice his own wet and muddy state.]

I should probably... clean up a bit.

[Jean takes the gear and cradles it to his chest, along with Armin's journal. He rolls his eyes when Armin finally realizes what a mess he is, but it's good natured.]

You'd be even worse if I hadn't thrown that coat over you.

[He'd comment on Armin's bedhead, but that would be the pot calling the kettle black.]

Go get dried off or you're going to get sick.

Video; Suicune no swiping

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