002 / action + text

[neverstudied]

Who: Peter Venkman and you!
What: gambling and the consequences of hubris
Where: Celadon City
When: January 25th - February 1st
Warnings: non-graphic mentions of physical violence which occurs off-screen



[Waking up back in his own body again is both a blessing and a curse for Venkman.

On the one hand, hey, he's himself again! On the other hand, his boyfriends are fucking morons. And now he has to clean up after Egon's mistake... Or, ok, it's partially his own fault, too. He's the one who spent the previous week playing poker and infuriating the bikers and roughnecks. It's not Egon's fault that he woke up in Venkman's body at the wrong place, wrong time. So now Venkman's gotta set it right.

If you happen to be in Celadon on the 25th of January, you may notice Venkman on his way to the Celadon casino. He looks... way too serious for a man cradling an egg in his arms, as if he’s on his way to his own god damn funeral. He's also stalling, so if anyone so much as looks at him, he'll drag them into a conversation, like a small talk version of a Pokemon battle.

But inevitably, Venkman will reach the game corner. He has a plan, but whether or not it'll actually work is debatable. Step 1: Find the Roughneck. Step 2: Apologize and offer him back his Inkay, as well as one of the Inkay's eggs. Step 3: Run like hell if the guy is still inclined to knock his ass out. Step 4: Don't die.

He's really hoping it doesn't come down to Steps 3-4, since he still needs to finish earning enough coins to buy what he needs, and it'll be significantly harder if he gets put in a body cast by one of the regulars.

... And, uh. Hm.

Surprisingly, it doesn't come down to that? The roughneck is upset about the loss of his jacket (which, well, isn't quite as damaged as Venkman tells him it is. Venkman just wants to keep the jacket.), but is glad to have his Inkay back, and the egg? Hooooly shit, is he excited about the egg. The roughneck is quickly persuaded to let bygones be bygones, Venkman plays nice with him and the rest of the bikers, and that really, really should've been the end of it. A surprisingly anticlimactic but successful ending.

… Unfortunately, not only are Venkman's boyfriends idiots, but he's also an idiot. And with Egon and Ray finally planning to leave to Goldenrod, Venkman only has about a week to buy that Porygon.

So he spends the following week playing at the Game Corner far too much, making riskier calls and becoming more and more careless with his money and his actions. Goddamnit, he's gonna win this Pokemon if it's the last thing he does. And considering the way his new "friends" are looking at him, it may very well be.

But finally, on the 31st, he gets it. It took a lot of blood, sweat, tears, and money, but by god, he got the Porygon. And sure, most of the guys he's been playing poker with are getting sick of his attitude, and there's been grumbling amongst them about whether or not he's been cheating, but that’s fine, because He Got The Fucking Porygon.

And that should've been the end of it. And he should've finally left Celadon and gotten ready for the Magnet Train ride to Goldenrod, never to see these people again, getting away with his actions scot-free.

Unfortunately, Venkman decides, like a true gambler, to press his luck.

One last time.

And that is why, on the 1st of February, the following brief but succinct message appears on the network:]

soooooooooooooooooooo

turns out the pokemon center can double as a human hospital in a pinch

who knew!

... does anyone know if its alright to use warp pads with broken ribs

Comments

[pkemeter]

Using the warp pad should be fine--the way that it functions is that it first scans the user as a "template" for the warp pad you are being sent to, and thus your ribs would still be relatively

Oh

[There's a short pause.]

Are you alright?

[neverstudied]

i hurt like hell but apparently medicine in this universe is pretty advanced because im pretty sure i looked a lot worse last night; and now the nurses are already telling me i can leave tomorrow if i dont put too much strain on myself

which means this place either has really great healthcare or really bad healthcare; since i dont feel like shit it's probably the first one, unless they've just doped me up enough that i'll go along with whatever they tell me

[pkemeter]

How efficient.

[There's another long pause. Venkman might notice that Egon isn't...really verbose right now. Normally he'd go in about how the state healthcare of nonhumanoid creatures would reflect the healthcare of humans, but...]

I take it he was upset about the Inkay.

[neverstudied]

[Under most circumstances, Venkman is fine with dumping the blame on something stupid he's done on anyone other than himself.

But Egon was already worried enough about potentially getting Venkman hurt the other day, and he's not gonna let that stand. Especially since he's had a few hours of lying awake in a hospital bed to think about the last few days and where he went wrong.]

its not your fault, spengs

i gave him back the inkay days ago and he took it pretty well

this little disaster is on me

[pkemeter]

Oh

[Well, that's good to hear. Not..."good", but it's good to know he didn't fuck up and get his partner's ass kicked in the process.

Which means it's back to regular non-concerned Egon.]

Venkman, I thought I told you to stay safe. This is the exact opposite of what I stated.

If you need a few extra days to recover, we would understand. We greatly anticipate your arrival to Goldenrod.

[neverstudied]

hey i wasnt exactly trying to get myself in the hospital :-/

i just kind of made a few errors in judgement.

and no way spengs. I am not gonna hang around a hospital any longer than i have to and you know that. im gonna see you two in a couple days and the state of my ribs is not stopping me

[At this point Venkman would probably drag himself from his deathbed to get on that train to Goldenrod. And not just because it's a train.]

[pkemeter]

Yes, making a few errors in judgement seems to be a common occurrence for you.

[He loves you.]

At least inform Ray before you arrive. You will probably injure yourself again if he hugs you with his full strength--and he will.

I am excited to show you what research I have accomplished so far. I have made strides with Faraday and understanding her existence. I believe Kölliker has also expressed her enthusiasm for seeing you in person.

[ghoststanning]

[What the fuck.]

How come I'm the only one who hasn't fucked themselves over here???

[You guys ok???]

[neverstudied]

aww dont feel left out ray

im sure you'll get hurt eventually

[Helpful.]

[ghoststanning]

[Way to tempt fate there, Venkman. Bet you're really gonna regret saying that once Ray falls into a coma and then breaks his leg.]

>:-(

But seriously are you okay?? We're still on our way to Goldenrod so we can't check up on you but broken ribs sound really serious. :-(

[neverstudied]

[Which comes first, the coma or the broken leg?]

ill be fine, Ray- already told Spengs that the healthcare here is great, i already feel a hell of a lot better than i did when i first came in.

just try not to hug me too hard when i see you again i dont want to puncture a lung

[dreamsofahero]

The warp pads will cause you no harm in and of themselves. The greater concern is whether you ought to be moving at all in that condition.

[neverstudied]

ehhhh ive had worse days and worse hospital stays

hey the hospital said im cleared to go soon and ive got a date with a magnet train in a few days that i am not gonna miss

[dreamsofahero]

In that case it should be no trouble beyond the usual effects should you use them too many times in a row. Though I imagine you may want to take care in general.

[neverstudied]

yea dont worry im not planning to get in another fistfight anytime soon

im getting out of this city and off of this continent and chilling with my partners asap

[dreamsofahero]

Now, that sounds like there's quite the story you have there...

[neverstudied]

which part? the fistfight that put me in a hospital or the fact that i'm finally about to meet up with Egon and Ray?

... probably the fistfight. its a long story and the gist of it is that at least the other guy looks like shit, too

[dreamsofahero]

But you know, usually fights in this world are settled with Pokémon rather than fists. Was there a particular reason to go about it otherwise?

text;

[unabates]

Well, good to know it can double as a human hospital.

How'd you manage to get hurt?

[ jack doesn't assume this is anything other than an accident so far. ]

[neverstudied]

i got jumped in an alleyway and he decided a pokemon battle wasn't enough to settle differences

[Leaving out the very important detail that he provoked the other guy first.]

we did ALSO have a pokemon battle but i wasn't paying much attention to it because i was trying not to get hit in the head. pretty sure i won that part though

[unabates]

[ listen, if you can't skew details to make yourself sound like the innocent victim, what is the fun. jack has no reason not to take him at face value~ ]

... Where was this? Just so I know where to avoid in the future.

Congratulations on winning the Pokemon battle, I guess. Sounds like your ribs paid the price though. How's the health care?

[neverstudied]

[Venkman is totally the innocent victim here for getting cocky and not quitting while he was ahead. What do u mean]

Celadon city. place is great dont get me wrong just be careful who you play poker with

pretty good all things considered. apparently i'm cleared to leave pretty soon and i dont hurt all that bad right now

then again "right now" im lying in a hospital cot and i havent actually tried walking all that much

[unabates]

[ oh absolutely the most innocent, no doubt here. ]

Noted.

[ noted in the sense that if there's gambling and people getting beaten up, he might, well, be skulking around there in a month. ]

And you're probably on the good drugs, or whatever passes for that here.

Just take it easy, champ. Broken ribs can get nasty fast.

[neverstudied]

[All things considered, it took Venkman significantly less than a month to start gambling here, himself. But he's been playing poker since he could tell the difference between a spade and a club as a child. And he was motivated by being gay.]

not to worry, its not my first rodeo with this kind of injury. i was a fraternity jock in college before i dedicated my life to science and the pursuit of getting covered in ectoplasm every day

plus ghostbusting causes some nasty injuries. at least im not covered in slime or trying to explain a ghost bullet wound to a doctor

venkman: i'm gay. jack: oh worm (i love the valday presents tho i peeked)

[unabates]

[ jack has little interest in gambling, and more interest in seeing who's beating up people who are. forcibly-ex-vigilante and all that. gay is the best motivation, though. ]

I went into the military right out of high school - so I can relate. Doesn't mean you shouldn't take it careful though.

... Ghost bullets? You were fighting ghosts with ghost guns?