victory_road | [ANONYMOUS Text] / Action for Route 29

[TEXT, approximately midday on July 1st]

how t

how to stop hed from hurting

resons hwy hed myte b hurting human

dose hed hurting mean deth (for humane)

_{[WHAT'S UP NETWORK, it seems someone has gotten their wires crossed and is trying to use the PsyDuckDuckGo searchbar but keeps posting messages by accident.]

[Help. Help them.]}

____

[ACTION for Route 29]

_{[With a gritted-teeth groan, Wrath sets aside the PokeGear and presses both hands to his temples.]

[He's been walking west from New Bark with his new Pokemon partner for about five hours. And while his memories of once being human here are growing clearer by the minute, he doesn't remember it ever being quite like this. His head is throbbing and the heat is unbearable.]

[And there's no air-conditioned buildings or shady storefronts to duck into like there always had been in the Goldenrod City (or "the yellow town", as he always used to think of it).]

[At least there's trees, which is what he's finally opted for now that the sun is high in the sky and the thought of taking another step is about as appealing as sticking his head in a wasp's nest. Laying spread-eagled on the grass under the shade of a big maple is at least cooler... but it hasn't stopped the banging pains in his head.]

[Sitting next to him is both the (thus far unexplored) complimentary rucksack from "Mom", and his starter: a little Cubone, who's been watching him a little worriedly. Said Cubone is the one who pulled the PokeGear out of a pocket on the backpack and helpfully pointed out the internet search engine (prior to being assigned to his very! first! trainer!!!!! (exciting!) he had been cared for by Elm's various lab assistants, and had seen them look things up online for research regularly!), but it didn't seem like the search had been fruitful.]}

"Bone?"

_{[Wrath cracks open one eye, grimacing-- his partner has started to rummage through the backpack, pulling out packets of trailmix and holding them up expectantly.]

[But he doesn't feel hungry-- he feels gross. :(]}

You can have it...

_{[He's just gonna fold an arm over his face and lay there like a corpse for a bit.]

[IDIOT DOESN'T EVEN KNOW HE'S JUST DEHYDRATED.]}

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

_{[The boy shakes his head.]}

There were some bottles in the bag, but...

I think they're just soap.

_{[Also it had taken Radley asking him if he had any surprise to prompt him to look in the bag in the first place.]

[In his first stint in this world, his entire head would have been in that bag before anybody could stop him.]}

[ Beetlejuice's expression can only be described as dumbfounded. Who the fuck sent anybody--much less a kid--out onto that dustbowl of a trail without water? Was this place TRYING to kill them? ]

Wow, that really blows, kid. Try makin' another post, see if somebody can send a bird your way. That's what I'd do.

_{[MAYBE THEY DIDN'T EXPECT THE HEAT WAVE... or maybe there's a juicebox or something that he missed.]}

Send a bird?

I...

_{[There's a pause in which Wrath bites his lip, a tinge of worry entering his expression. He'd turned on the video because Beetlejuice wasn't someone he recognized... but something about the prospect of potentially encountering other people is...]

[Well, there's a reason he left New Bark so fast.]

[Even if he isn't dead anymore, he's supposed to be.]

[And there's a sense of wrongness lingering over everything that comes close to making him think about that too much.]}

I don't know.

[ Beetlejuice, who has never done anything wrong ever, tilts his head in confusion. ]

Wha'dya mean? You don't want someone to send you water? Or, jeez, I dunno, medical attention?

I...

_{[He kind of grimaces.]}

I'm not... good... with others.

_{[If you count the text message convos he's been having, he has probably said more words total in the past hour than he has in the past two years.]}

You and me both, kid. But from the looks of it, you got a choice. Get some kinda help or turn into a skeleton.

_{[Wrath sucks his lips inward, not meeting the eyes of the man on the screen. When he does speak, it's in a reluctant grumble.]}

Well, it would take awhile for me to turn all the way into a skeleton.

_{[He may or may not have watched one or two things decompose in real time back in his world.]

[There was fuck else to do when you were a depressed undead abomination by yourself in the woods and knew nothing but being in a prolonged state of perpetual existential crisis.]}

Yeah, sure, but do you wanna be awake during all that?

... No.

_{[He admits this after a pause.]

[And he doesn't actually want to be a skeleton either.]

[He can't die now, he has a team-mate to watch out for.]}

But I don't... want to see anyone.

'east not until I get to Cherrygrove.

M'... bad at talking.

_{[And throughout this, his voice has certainly been rusty enough to back that up.]}

Edited 2024-07-04 03:32 (UTC)

[ Beetlejuice's mild frustration melts away. His frown works itself to one side of his face as he looks down at the bedraggled kid on his Poke'gear screen. He has to give him a break. He also wishes he had that flying Pokemon Louie was breeding for him.]

[It's a strange new feeling for him--wanting to help someone and not being able to. What gives?]

I'm sorry, kid.

_{[HAHAHA, EXPERIENCE EMPATHY, NERD.]}

Don't need t'apologize... s'not your fault.

_{[He really doesn't wanna make another, on-purpose post to ask for help. He can't put the why into words, he just doesn't.]

[Slowly, he looks over to the Cubone who has been halfway visible in the frame, sitting next to him and looking concerned this whole time.]}

... If I do die again... you have to make sure and consume me for sustenance before I turn all the way into a skeleton.

_{[The Cubone stares. And then, after a moment, folds his tiny little arms.]

[He is not going to do that.]}

Edited 2024-07-06 07:11 (UTC)

[ANONYMOUS Text] / Action for Route 29

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