victory_road | [Video] 2nd Book

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[Video] 2nd Book

[The feed clicks on to what appears to be a single bedroom in a Pokemon Centre. There's a bit of a ruckus going on in the background - a Shinx, Litleo, Meowth, Glameow and Purrloin are all fighting over food, bedding, pretty much everything. A Solosis seems to be trying to keep the peace but failing miserably. Hermione is in the foreground, looking a little frazzled.]

I think Goldenrod may have a...well...feline problem, for want of a better word. Two I found on the outskirts of Goldenrod rummaging through my backpack because they were starving, and the other three were fighting each other over food from a garbage can near the centre. I couldn't just leave them like that, the poor things. They were all just so hungry and looked terrible.

*CRASH*

[Anyone watching the feed is probably seeing that the 'poor things' just knocked the trash can over, and the television is teetering ominously on its stand as Solosis tries to right it. Hermione whips her head around quickly.]

Meowth I told you not to fight with Glameow and Purrloin! And don't get me started on you two![She points a pair of fingers at the Shinx and Litleo, who just ignore her.]

[She's not a crazy cat lady...she's really not...they were just so darn cute though! How could she NOT help them?!?]

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I suggest a spray bottle.

It works really well on the Incineroars. Probably might work on smaller cats, too.

[Says the guy with a tiny Meowth of his own draped over his neck.]

I'm not sure that would go down so well. I already have scratches on my hands and legs - I don't relish the thought of any of them unleashing an elemental attack of any kind in retaliation.

I'm hoping I can train them in some capacity though, so at least they'll be able to survive on their own if that's what they want. Do you have any other advice as a fellow Meowth owner?

Would they really do that to you?

[Or maybe he's just been blessed with tolerant cats.]

I'm not sure judging anything by Luna's standards is fair. She's been bred to be pretty calm.

[She's a therapy cat.] I've had a Litten, though. Long as I took her out to train against something, she was pretty happy.

[As if in response to his question, Shinx and Litleo, who have been brawling for the past ten minutes, proceed to shred the heck out of the bedding in their rumble.]

That is it! Back to the balls while I clean up this mess!

[Despite hating putting pokemon in their balls, Hermione is exasperated with their constant fighting and has to do something to break up the fighting. Maybe she'd have to get them out one at a time for a talk. She turns back to the screen with a sigh.]

That's not a bad idea. I've got a few other pokemon travelling with me who enjoy battling. Perhaps they'll wear them out and teach them some discipline...

I didn't know you could breed a calm pokemon? Is that really a thing?

Good call. Use it like a time-out if you have to. It also helps if you have something a lot bigger to use the size advantage with.

[Like his Aggron.]

Anything that's guaranteed to be stronger than they are. I've used my Aggron as backup when I've had to.

[He glances down at Luna, who just yawns, and stretches out her paws. Kneading sleepily at his shoulder.]

It is. She's... supposed to help out when someone needs calm themselves.

Yes, with these guys I think I'll have to. Honestly they remind me of a few friends at home. [A few redheaded friends.]

I don't really have anything bigger than they are, but I certainly have a couple who are stronger, like my Snover and Flaffy. Plus they have a couple useful abilities that could help keep them in line.

I still think I'll have to get them out only one or two at a time just to stop the in-house fighting.

[The pokemon nature topic is interesting to Hermione, and she pulls a notebook out to take a few notes.]

Oh that's quite useful. Are there other temperaments that pokemon can have?

Boy, I know that feeling.

[Looking at you, Blue. Even though you're not here.]

That could work. Long as they know you've got to respect it -- and therefore you. And if it's any consolation, from what I can tell, being in the balls isn't as bad as it seems like to us.

[He idly scratches at his Meowth's ears.]

There's a lot. But she's the only one I have who was bred for anything specific. Like Kuro -- my Aggron -- he's a lot more patient than other Aggrons I've seen.

Respect certainly is a big deal for pokemon from what I can see. It's similar to at home - many animals like dogs refuse to obey their owners unless they respect them.

[And then there's Crookshanks who just did whatever he wanted regardless....]

Oh are Aggrons usually more temperamental?

[She's taking quick notes in her notebook.]

Is there a way to tell a nature of a pokemon?

Right. And these guys are a lot closer to human than a lot of people seem to give them credit for. Not all of them... but most.

[They all have very distinct personalities, for sure. Just look at Jean's Electrode.]

Or territorial. Kuro's always been pretty mellow ... except where I'm concerned. He gets defensive of me.

[With good reason.]

Maybe the 'Dex could help? If not, there's bound to be a person native to this place who could tell you.

Oh yes most definitely. It seems that they can understand human speech extremely well, and they certainly display their individuality in...interesting or quirky ways. [Looking at you, Umbra!]

Perhaps you're right and it's about territory. After all, living on the streets means that you need to do what you can to survive. I guess it will take some time before they realise they don't have to fight over territory, at least while they're with me.

Oh, why didn't I think of that?

[Hermiome pulls out her pokedex and points it at each of the balls in succession, reading the reports aloud.]

Let's see... Rash, Hardy, Brave, Bold and Sassy. Oh dear that's not a great combination. No wonder they're all fighting with each other. Do you think I can bribe them to behave with food?

Yeah, yeah, they do. A couple of mine are... very individualist. Very much so.

[Haunter and Blue. Haunter and Blue.]

It might help to explain it to them. Even if it's just one by one. At least that way, they won't be all out at once.

[He nods. Trying not to grimace when she reads off the natures.]

It's worth a try. Don't count anything out until you give it a shot.

[Hermione sighs.]

My Misdreavus loves to pull my hair or spook wild pokemon. Half the pokemon fights we get into are because of her.

And that's a good idea. If I spend equal amounts of time with each as well, hopefully none of them will get jealous either.

I guess I'll just have to see what works. Trial and error. Plus if I can figure out their favourite foods, that might help me as well.

I should put together a schedule and chart so I can track their individual progress....

You've been extremely helpful! Thank you Mr... Er... ?

I'm sorry to hear that. My Gengar isn't... anything that extreme. It's just dramatic.

[Very much so.]

You can do it. Just give yourself time to work through it, try not to get discouraged. Something's bound to work.

[Time to be encouraging!]

Sorry -- I'm Shiro.

Dramatic? In what way?

Thank you for your encouragement, I'll do my best. I'm not one to give up, and Goldenrod has a lot of resources I can access which will help immensely.

I'm Hermione Granger. Pleasure to meet you Shiro.

[He just... sighs... as a Gengar literally pops out of the wall behind him, in a shower of confetti. It spins on one foot, bowing to the camera, and the young lady on the video feed.]

[Shiro looks tired.]

Like that.

[It's always like that.]

But, good. Glad to hear it. These guys take a lot of work but ... they're worth it. Absolutely worth it.

You too.

[Hermione blinks at the display and then bursts out laughing.]

I'm...so...sorry...[She's trying to talk while still laughing.]

That was not what I expected when you said dramatic. Your Gengar and my Misdreavus would get one swimmingly.

[She suddenly looks concerned.]

We'd better make sure they never meet. That could be disastrous for everyone.

[Haunter meanwhile applauds. This is exactly the kind of reaction it was going for. It loves making people laugh!!]

Yeah, when we met, it let Kuro charge right through it, and then pretended to die.

[Shiro's life is ridiculous.]

I don't think I've ever seen a Misdreavus. What are they like?

That's certainly one way to get attention. I guess he just loves to have fun?

Oh they're pretty similar to a Haunter. Dark ethereal body but with tendrils that look like hair. Hang on, let me show you.

[Hermione types a few buttons on her pokegear, and sends Shiro a previously taken photo of her Misdreavus pulling a face at the camera. Because that's what she did every single time.]

Oh, it loves the attention, all right. But it's... it's been good. Couldn't get anything done without it.

[Because, without Haunter, he wouldn't have been able to sleep. Ever.]

[But he pauses, to look at the image. And laughs.]

Yeah, she looks like she'd get along with it.

[ Nekote was watching from the distance. This was embarassing. Felines, acting in such a manner. And one was a Purrloin too! This particular Purrloin wasn't going to participate in this tom-foolery.

On the other hand, the girl was distracted... He slinks forward on all fours, carefully dipping a paw into the bag. Surely there was something for Nekote in here, whether she knew it or not! ]

Luckily Cyto was keeping an eye on everything, and spotted the sneaky additional Purrloin rifling through Hermione's bag while she wasn't looking.

"SOL!" He unleashed a quick Light Screen to block the pokemon from the bag. He was a pretty patient pokemon by but Arceus these cats were wearing him thin.

"Sol lol so!" he burbled angrily at it.

Nekote fluffs as he's forced back by the sudden Light Screen. Really?! Can't a cat get some nibbles? He sits back, licking one paw as if this was supposed to have happened, before looking up at Cyto with an icy stare...

Then he dramatically yowls, falling to his side. His ears are back, paw up and out to block the Solosis feebly. How.. How could you do this to a hungry Purrloin..? Attack him like this? So cruel.. Et tu, Cyto?

Cyto isn't convinced as he studies the Purrloin's antics. It's not like this Purrloin looks starved. In fact, it looks the picture of health. Cyto narrows his eyes at the feline. He was ready to give it a good boot in the rear with a Rollout.

However, knowing Hermione, she wouldn't turn a "hungry" pokemon away, and she probably wouldn't be impressed to see him joining the fray. Cyto rolls his eyes, resigning himself to this ridiculous charade as he uses Snatch to grab an additional bag of pokemon food from Hermione's stash and offers it to the fluffy actor. Hopefully that would shut one of these cats up at least.

The pain, the horror, the terror!! A back of a paw was draped over Nekote's eyes. This, this is what death was. A terrible, cold approach of starvations and-- Oh, free food.

He plucks the bag away from Cyto, turning to dart away. A Froakie hops down the road towards him and he tosses the bag to her. She looks at it, a little confused. Why was Nekote bringing her food?

Fushimi rounds the corner after Aoi, hands in his pockets. He pauses, looking down at the bag of food and the proud Purrloin.

"...If you were hungry you could just ask for food."

Nekote stands up on his bag legs, brushing himself off then shrugging. Why not steal it though?

Man, you better be careful. They'll evolve before you know it, and two of em get massive when they do! [ Ash was looking very casual, even as he's sharing the sofa with a lionness - his Pyroar, Mufusa. ]

Mufusa here was a Litleo when I caught her. And they don't have like, a middle stage either; it's just Litleo, then bam! [ Unlike the cubs Hermoine was scolding, Mufusa was looking both regal and well behaved. She purred as Ash reached over and pet her, scritching behind her ears. ] Shinx's end up about the same size, but I don't have one of those myself.

[Hermione sighs, rubbing her forehead with one hand.]

I was hoping that perhaps if I taught them how to care for themselves, or even work as a group, then I might be able to let them go when they're capable, possibly before they evolved.

If that's what they want to do of course. Otherwise I'm really going to have to look into renting a permanent residence with some land. I really hate the idea of leaving my pokemon in a computer.

Mufasa certainly looks a lot better behaved than the pride behind me.

Mufusa's always been really chill. I actually got her when there was this weird rush of lions in the area. So for some reason, it was like there were Luxrays and Pyroars and all their pre-evolutions hanging out in the cities. Caused a bit of a panic but I know I wasn't the only one to catch one.

I mean, you could try. But other than lions, cats are pretty solitary I'm pretty sure. So you might be fighting an uphill battle with some of them about it. But as for getting a place, I'm at my own abode right now! It's waaaay cheaper than anything I would've been able to afford at home, and there's plenty of room for all my Pokemon. You just gotta put aside the time and do some work for it.

Hmm...perhaps that explains why there have been so many around the city. Is it a migration situation, or maybe a mating congregation?

I'm sure I can work something out. Even if they don't work together as long as they aren't fighting all the time.

[Hermione never really even considered the possibility of a more permanent residence. She was hoping that it wouldn't be an extended stay, but as the days turned into weeks...she sighed, looking forlorn.]

I was hoping I'd be back home by now. It's quite expensive living in London, and there really isn't land available. Perhaps I'll have to look into it more. At least if I have something set up, it's a place for my pokemon to roam free of the balls, and if my friends ever arrive, it's somewhere they can stay.

It happened once and then never again. Otherwise people would have been prepared for big cats turning up in the cities.

Man, you don't need to tell me about the cost of living in London. [ It's his city. But he grins. ]

But this place ain't London. I work part-time and I've gotten this place to live in! It's in a city called Olivine, and my place is right by the beach. It's like, 9000P a month. And the Pokemon Centres are always hiring, so you could help out tired or hurt Pokemon, since you're all for looking after them.

Strange, I wonder what caused it then? Perhaps they were spooked or driven from their home.

Oh you're from London as well? That's amazing! I didn't realise we had that in common too.

I've been working part time in the Goldenrod Pokemon Centre, which has really helped me out financially. I've been busy in the library, so I'm not quite ready to leave just yet. It would be good to visit all the cities' libraries before I find a permanent place though - there's just so much to learn about this place.

The beach does sound nice though... Perhaps I can visit you when I travel through Olivine?

A different London to yours but seems they're not all that different really. just, the stuff around them is. Oh, there's certain places around Johto with better resources than others...I've heard that Bell Tower, over in Ecruteak, has a bunch of ancient texts about legendary Pokemon. But you gotta sweet-talk the monks who run the place to see em. Oh, and there's a place called the Ruins of Alph, they're really interesting if you want to see more history.

And yeah! Just drop me a message before you come by. Not all of my Pokemon are as well behaved as Mufusa, so I'll need to remind them of their manners. [ Or put them in their balls. On cue one of his many troublemakers, a shiny Umbreon, walked into the video, tilting it's head at Hermione. ]

[Hermione's eyes sparkle at the thought of examining some of the ancient texts. The things she could learn! What an opportunity!]

That sounds wonderful! I'm sure I can convince the monks to let me read them. I can't wait to see what they say and what I can learn from them.

I'll certainly let you know when I'm in the area. Are you often at home, or do you travel a lot?

[She notices the Umbreon observing her.]

Oh aren't you pretty? You must be one of the Eevee evolutions. I've read all about them. It's so fascinating the variety of evolutions they can go through.

I've been here for a while. But I'm thinking of going on a trip soonish, like next month. There's some places I haven't been, and some badges I wanna get.

Ah yeah, this is Macavity! [ He shifted, patting his thigh to welcome him up. Macavity took the invitation with a happy cry, jumping onto his lap and curling up with him. ] I got him from this egg that just appeared in my bag one day. Turns out he's this thing called 'shiny Pokemon'. So, some Pokemon end up differently coloured to the rest of their species, and Macavity was like that! I dunno what colour an Umbreon normally is, but as an Eevee he was silver. Usually they're brown!

Oh you're a trainer? I assume I'm meant to be a breeder given the information I received when I arrived, although I feel like something like that shouldn't be forced.

[She studies Macavity, jotting down a few notes.]

I see. I did find it strange that each species were so exact in their colours. Usually you'd expect some variation in colour, but it's interesting that it's so rare. She is stunning though.

[Hermione sighs.]

I'd love to have an Eevee line. All their evolutions are just so cute, not to mention the whole genetic study side of their evolution. They're so different from other species.

Sorry to say I don't know whereabouts you find them in the wild. I've only ever seen them on sale from people who'd bred 'em. But from what I know, you can never force a Pokemon to breed. More often than not I've found people just get surprised with eggs when their Pokemon decide they feel like it.

[ He casually pet Macavity as they talked. ]

Like I'll let ya know if Macavity ever has any eggs, but I can't promise if that'd happen or when if it does. Hell, I got two Pokemon that I'm pretty sure are gay together, so I ain't gonna be expecting any eggs from them anytime soon.

And rightly so! [Hermione nods vigorously in conviction.] No one should force another person or species to breed. It's just cruel. I understand that preservation of a species is important, but it should still be as natural an occurrence as possible.

[Hermione lights up at the offer.]

Oh that would be wonderful! Only if it happens of course.

[She frowns slightly in thought.]

None of my pokemon have produced eggs yet, thankfully. I haven't set up a permanent residence, so having eggs while travelling would be challenging.

[ Ash raised an eyebrow ] Look, you ain't gotta tell me it's cruel. I know it's cruel, cos I got a heart and all that. And I've got Pokemon that have come from some fucked up situations so, yeah, I know how they can be hurt from abuse.

[ The idea of her having eggs on the road made Ash hum. ] Luckily I ain't had that happen yet. Me and Noctis, we found our Pokemon had eggs together after we had our own place. Dunno if they waited for that or not. You'd need to ask the other breeders about that, it's probably happened to one of them before.

Oh there's cat type Pokemon all over the city. Usually not in such dire straights - and be warned, many of them know full well how to tug on human heartstrings - but they're terribly common. All of my cats I acquired here in Goldenrod.

Oh I'm sure they're not that manipulative...

It does beg the question about why there is such a concentration of wild ones in one city though. That's probably the reason why these guys are all so hungry - there's just not enough food to go around when they're forced to forage. It must create problems for other wildlife and the residents here as well.

[Cue a crazy cat lady.]

Sounds to me like more trainers just need to appreciate the little cuties.

Or the Pokemon Center needs to like...set some food out.

I think you're right! If everyone adopted at least one, that would reduce the wild population in the city immensely, as well as reduce the likelihood of starvation and disease.

Hmm... I might mention it to Nurse Joy. Hopefully they're able to help. I mean, it is a form of prevention - if they're fed and happy, then there's less likelihood that they'll need medical assistance down the track, reducing the pressure and resources used at the Pokemon Centre. Really, it's just a logical step to take.

And it's not as though it's that much trouble to really take care of a pokemon. Hell most people handle six at a time without too much trouble.

Yeah talk to Nurse Joy for sure, maybe even the Officer Jennys in the area. I know the cops usually prefer dog types for their work but in my experience there are some tasks that a cat is just better suited for.

(Though her experience tends to be breaking the law but oh well.]

It wouldn't have been enough to feed them and be on your way, I suppose?

Unfortunately it's not as simple as that. The same situation would just arise again the following day or in the following weeks.

Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.

I'm hoping that if I can teach them to look after themselves in the wild, they won't need to scavenge for scraps in city bins.

I suppose, though did you actually catch them, or just take them all to the pokemon center with you? If you've caught them, you may need to keep them apart in their pokeballs at first while working with one or two at a time. It may not be ideal, but that way you can be sure both that all are safe and that all receive the attention they need when it's their turn.

Wow, there are a lot more cat Pokemon than I remember! [And he's been trying to study his Pokedex more these days!] And you got them all at once? That's a handful!

[Kazuki's pokemon all trickled in slowly, so they had time to get used to him and each other.]

Whenever I get a new Pokemon, my Furret Maestra helps me get them up to speed. Do you have any motherly Pokemon like that? Maybe they could get everyone in line!

Oh, those.

Yeah, you have to fight those if you want to get anything good out there.

_{[He says this EXTREMELY casually. Almost dismissively.]

[Wrath may have in fact physically fought the alleycats of Goldenrod City on more than one occasion.]}

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[Video] 2nd Book

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[Action] Someone in town too!!

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[Action] OMG I died laughing XD

[Action] Melodramatic cat

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