//mission 5// [video/action] Goldenrod City

[cardboard_boss]

[As the feed snaps on there is a bit of commotion coming from in front of the camera. Pieces of egg shell lay littered on the floor and a rather strange shaped Pokémon pops it head around to press against the Poke Gear's camera.]

-hey! Get out of there. What the hell are you anyway?

[Snake removed the pumpkin-shaped Pokémon from the screen and finds it bouncing up his metallic arm to sit atop his right shoulder. What the hell?-]

You some kind of weird pumpkin? Either that or I accidentally ate a hallucinogenic berry. What the hell is going on? I get given a weird shiny pumpkin as a Pokémon.

[Yeah. He's staring at it from his shoulder, just as his Espurr, Ocelot, tries to jump up and swat it with his claws. Not good. Now, the Pumpkaboo makes a strange crying noise and whips out a leaf to smack Ocelot in the face. Ouch.]

Hey, you two, cut it out! No fighting. Ocelot, bad kitty.

[The old soldier scorns his cat, who is now ignoring his master entirely, cleaning himself and giving Snake an expression which says "I don't care." Snake is up to his eyes with strange and disobedient Pokémon. He had to train them better than this, surely?]

Could do with a drink in this place. Goldenrod is pretty big. There's got to be some good bars around here somewhere. Anyone good with cats? I'm not so good at training cats as I am dogs.

[Maybe a cat-sitter? If there even was one. A Pokémon Day Care might be just the thing. Didn't he see one back on his journey from Ecruteak? Huh? Could be an idea to dump Ocelot there to get some training. It had been quite a long journey down from Ecruteak after the ghost event and now the old soldier could do with a rest.]

Comments

[video]

[paladinlost]

Ah, yes, that last batch of eggs was indeed full of shiny Pokémon. I suppose this means your Pumpkaboo is your first? They're uncommon, but as strong as any other Pokémon and often quite bautiful.

[That's... not the clearest explanation, is it.]

[cardboard_boss]

Hey, Cecil.

[He's glad to see you, buddy. So many strange Pokémon and you're the guy to ask about egg Pokémon.]

Yeah. My first shiny Pokémon. It looks like a pumpkin and makes some odd noises. Is that normal?

[paladinlost]

It is. Pumpkaboos are both Ghost- and Grass-typed, as can be expected from a haunted fruit. They come in various sizes, and they serve as excellent decorations for Halloween. ...Though their cries do sound odd, I admit.

[Even if they don't reach Kricketune's level of oddness.]

[cardboard_boss]

Right.

[So, this thing was a ghost too? Great. As long as it didn't conjure up the Burning Man as an image he should be ok. It seemed friendly enough, it was just how it got on with his Espurr which was the problem.]

Do you know what it evolves into?

[paladinlost]

It becomes a Goo... Gour... It's on the tip of my tongue, but I cannot remember the name. It resembles a longer vegetable, though the type and general appearance remain the same.

[cardboard_boss]

[Snake had a look through the PokeDex feature of the Gear and brought up the evolution for his pumpkin Pokémon. What the hell? It looked even more weird once it got bigger.]

Gourgeist. Looks like a long pumpkin thing with a face. Damn creepy.

[paladinlost]

That is to be expected from a Ghost-type. They do have a reputation to maintain, after all.

[He doesn't seem particularly bothered by the description, though.]

[cardboard_boss]

A reputation of scaring people half to death?

[Because that's what he's been through regarding ghost Pokémon so far.]

Have you got any ghost Pokémon?

[paladinlost]

That, and mischief. Expect your pumpkin to disappear in the shadows and hide your spoons.

[Unless that's just an Avenger thing.]

I'm raising seven, yes. Though I'm very lucky; most are relatively well-behaved.

[cardboard_boss]

[Great. So, he might disappear on him? Snake sighed. Why did he have to have a ghost Pokémon egg?]

Seven? Damn. None of yours hide things?

[paladinlost]

Avenger did so all the time, back when I first caught him. He's... settled down since then, you could say. Mostly.

[Now that he thinks about it, where is that Gyarados bookmark...?]

[cardboard_boss]

Avenger? Which one is that?

[Also, that's a pretty awesome name for a Pokémon.]

[paladinlost]

My Banette. His strength is surprising, for a creature that resembles a haunted stuffed doll. Though I do sometimes regret teaching him electric attacks.

[cardboard_boss]

[Snake pulled out his Dex to take a look at what a Banette was. Ok, so it looked like that. They all looked pretty weird.]

A stuffed doll, huh? Yeah, I can see the resemblance. Pretty creepy.

[paladinlost]

Especially when a whole swarm of them is working together with other species to give everyone days-long nightmares and hallucinations.

[Catching him was probably a side effect of all that sleep deprivation, in retrospect.]

[cardboard_boss]

A swarm? Damn. Wouldn't want to face a whole swarm of those.

[That would just be damn freaky.]

[paladinlost]

It was a very unpleasant experience, especially when considering our general lack of experience at the time. But we survived, and we learned to tame them.

[Somewhat.]

[cardboard_boss]

Yeah, sounds it. I'd rather take one Pokémon on at a time than a whole swarm.

[Bitten to death? No thanks.]

[paladinlost]

You can also aim for a middle ground with a double or triple battle, but angry wild Pokémon are rarely polite enough to offer them as an option.

video;

[modulatingphases]

Looks like you're gonna have to keep those two separated.

[He feels for Ocelot, honestly. Getting smacked in the face by a leaf is both painful and undignified.]

[cardboard_boss]

Yeah. Never thought a cat and a pumpkin would fight so much. [Since he had a dog Pokémon too. Wouldn't they fight more?]

I was thinking of Pokémon Day Care. Do you know if they help train Pokémon too?

action

[thatwasours]

[the Phantom had named the Espurr 'Ocelot' weeks ago, and Kaz had yet to stop cracking a smile every time the name was uttered. they'd talked about one of them naming a cat Pokemon 'Ocelot', but he's pretty sure that they'd had entirely different reasons in mind during that conversation.]

Why don't you trade Ocelot to me for awhile? I'll break him for you-- I doubt he'll be half as bad as Havoc.

What's this about hallucinogens?

[cardboard_boss]

[Why hadn't he thought of that? Giving Ocelot to Kaz, so the guy could train him. A good idea.]

Break him? Sure. Can't hurt to put some discipline into him. [He was about to say if the real Ocelot was here he could have trained it up but thought against the idea. Kaz and Ocelot weren't exactly buddies.]

That? Just a few berries that can cause hallucinogenic effects.

[thatwasours]

I'll do that then.

Really? Which ones? I know belladonna can have effects like that, I wonder if it's related.

[cardboard_boss]

Thanks, Kaz.

[He knew that the other man would take good care of Ocelot, even though he might have some cruel fun with overusing the name somewhat.]

Uh, the blue ones? Jack told me about them and what they can do to you. It could be related to belladonna. I have no idea. Maybe there are special Pokémon plants in this world.

[thatwasours]

Probably. Let me know if you see any more, I'd like to take a look at them.

[read: attempt to distill them into poison]

[cardboard_boss]

Will do. [He gave Kaz a firm nod.]

Thinking of making the berries into something? [He had to ask.]

[thatwasours]

Not particularly, just wanted to see them. I hear people make them into candy for Pokemon, though.

[...the Phantom's happy here, living a peaceful life away from battle. and Kaz isn't about the destroy that with talk of making non-Pokemon weapons, in case he ever needs one.]

[cardboard_boss]

Candies, huh?

[He could understand that. Why not make them into Poke treats for Pokémon? Snake might give his Pokémon some when they've learned something new like a move or a tough battle tactic.]

Sort of like doggy treats for DD.