foolishwren | 73. [Video/Action] Afternoon

_{[What tiiiiiiiiiiime is it?]

[.... GYM BATTLE TIME!]

[The feed, as often is the case whenever Heather actually films one of her battles, seems manned by the resident camera-crocodile, and airborne thanks to Honey the ever-patient Butterfree (although not quite as airborne as it was back in Violet City during the victory over Falkner-- Godzilla isn't exactly a little baby anymore...]

[Nonetheless, the fight is filled with the usual combo of snippy one-liners from Heather and NON-STOP ACTION, because man, if it's gonna be broadcast, might as well make it showy! The first half of the battle is largely dominated by Cujo-- but when Jasmine sends out her monstrous Steelix, Heather recalls the pup and turns briefly to the camera to smugly reassure the viewers--]}

Cooj totally has this, but it wouldn't be fair to let him have ALL the fun, y'know?

_{[With a knowing grin, she promptly hucks a different ball onto the field-- releasing a dainty Ponyta.]}

GET 'em, Carousel!

_{[For something that had been a gangly little foal around Christmas, Carousel's done a lot of growing-- which is PARTICULARLY evident in the fight that she proceeds to put up against the metal snake's attacks, prancing and leaping to avoid most of the blows-- Heather had clearly been training her quite a bit during the month or so she'd been in Olivine by now.]

[Although, something a little odd-- which could of course be because of Zilla's filming, the Totodile doesn't exactly have the steadiest hands (claws?) when it comes to holding the camera... but... did Carousel suddenly get quite a bit BIGGER as she came leaping over the Steelix's flaming coils...?]}

_{[... HUH. Well, whaddya know. What lucky timing!]

[As the Steelix comes crashing down to the Gym's sandy floor, rolling feebly to put out the flames, the audience is treated to a very artistic sideways view of the a set of long, snowy legs trotting over to their trainer, who is looking surprisingly NOT triumphant over her victory. In fact, she looks kinda... shell-shocked. Aaaand then the camera swings away again to show the defeated Gym Leader, who fortunately handles these sorts of things a LOT more gracefully than You-Know-Who in Goldenrod...]}

My goodness...

_{[The camera shuffles a short distance away so it can get a good view of both trainers-- Zilla wants to give people the FULL EXPERIENCE, after all!]}

That was a quite exciting battle... Did you know your Ponyta was about to evolve?

Um...

_{[Shooting the now-Thoroughbred-sized animal beside her an unsure look, Heather startles sideways slightly when the Rapidash stretches her neck out to nose at the side of her face. Shuffling a step or two to the side, she pats Carousel's nose distractedly, more with the intention of pushing her gently away than anything else.]}

No...

Well! What a... lucky coincidence! ... I'm sure you would have done fine anyway, though... your Pokemon are quite the little spitfires! Please, um... take the Mineralbadge. You've earned it!

Thanks--!

_{[Too distracted to even snicker at the unintentional pun, Heather sloooowly steps away from the fiery unicorn and starts to head across the sand towards the camera to claim her prize-- which is where the feed cuts out.]}

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Ah.

[He's not going to question that. After all... he has his own issues about things. Probably not as well-founded as hers, but still. If that's the reason, that's the reason.]

... You did well. Very well.

Bad associations, s'all.

_{[She could light matches and campfires, and even handle an overgrown puppy who sent licks of flame into the air every time he sneezed, but that jittery, tense feeling when she looked at a crackling fire never disappears entirely.]

[But his praise gets a smile out of her anyway.]}

Thanks.

I've been practicing.

Understood.

[He won't ask. At least, unless she indicates she wants him to. He's a private guy, too.]

Yeah. It shows. [A pause.] What was that thing?

Which thing?

The horse or the giant-ass snake?

The... ass snake.

[Yes, Heather, he just said that.]

_{[... Okay, well-- he is talking to an adolescent human being here. Which means he's just gonna have to be patient while she bursts into snickers over the fact that he just said the words 'ass snake'.]}

THAT was-- pfffhthtsnrrrk-- a Steelix.

S'what your Napalm'll turn into eventually.

[He just... looks at her. Clearly, waiting for the gigglefit to subside.]

...

I prefer the creature as she is now. Not... flammable.

Well, y'don't have to evolve her... anyway, flammable-ness aside, they're really strong.

My friend Snake lent me his for awhile to make traveling go quicker-- defensively, they're like... invincible.

... 'Cept for fire. And some other types.

And Napalm has no such weakness.

[He hasn't tried to fight her against any water types yet.]

She will be just as strong.

_{[Oho. Heather grins. She HAS been here an entire year, after all... long enough to know a couple fun facts that he doesn't.]}

... Never tried to fight a grass type with her yet, huh?

... No.

She refused to.

_{[There's a reason for thaaaaat...]}

That's 'cause she's smart.

Or just stubborn.

Nah, there's a reason. Believe me.

Being stubborn is a reason.

[And he would know.]

Yeah, but she's also being stubborn for a reason.

And that is.

[No, it's not a question.]

_{[Oh, the look of glee that accompanies that universal "I know something you don't know~" feeling...]}

Double-weakness to Grass and Water types.

... She is made of rock. How can she be weak?

Hey, I don't question the logic of it. I just know that's how it works here.

Anyway, when those things evolve to Steelix, the Water weakness is still there, but not as bad, and the Grass weakness goes away entirely. Not a bad trade-off, to be honest.

_{[... And literally the ONLY reason she knows these things is because her friend's Onix, 'Solid', evolved when he lent him to her for a trip and she actually did her homework for once to see what she'd be in for on the road.]}

That logic is stupid.

[He scowls again, thinking about this.]

And then she becomes flammable. No. I prefer her like this.

[Because, really, Ironhide and something that can catch fire is probably not a good combination.]

Suit yourself, but don't cry to me when she gets whooped by a Wooper.

_{[... And by 'cry to me' she pretty much meant 'grumble at' because... yeah. She's not honestly sure that Ironhide actually has tear ducts.]}

I doubt that would happen.

[OH IRONHIDE, IF ONLY YOU KNEW.]

_{[And all he'll get in response to THAT is a great big cheshire-grin.]

[YEAH, IRONHIDE. IF ONLY.]}

73. [Video/Action] Afternoon

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