98. [Action for Saffron City, backdated to Friday]

[foolishwren]

<sub>[It's funny, because these sorts of weekends have come to be ones that Heather dreads, clear memories or no. She doesn't remember much of them when they roll around, but she remembers enough, and usually what she remembers is bad.]

[So yeah, she's sort of been walking on eggshells, waiting for this to happen.]

[BUT... between all the craziness going down throughout November... bundling over to Kanto with the rest of her family to cheer Crow on during the Tournament, spending Thanksgiving in the packed-to-bursting household of a grumpy FBI agent and the enormously large family unit he seems to have somehow gathered (despite... being himself) ...]

[It drives weird dreamy weekends filled with amnesia and horror and the Koolaid Man bursting through the wall out of the mind, a little!]

[.... Which is why, yeah, uh, she's out taking Cooj for a nighttime walk on Friday night, and doesn't quite notice anything's up yet.]

[Or the pink bunny following her around.]</sub>





[OOC: Tags may be horrendously slow due to NaNo, but I had to hiatus-break at least a LITTLE for 4th Wall! Robbie the Rabbit will be lingering in the background of any given thread, but feel free to throw anything at Heather and not bother with the spooky pink bunny chillin over there.]

Comments

[adoptivemother]

[Someone else is out for a walk as well.]

[foolishwren]

<sub>[OHO.]

[Well, Heather doesn't quite notice that somebody just yet-- there's not TOO many people out tonight, but it IS a big city. Seeing other souls out and about on various nighttime errands isn't exactly unusual.]

[Fortunately, she is accompanied by a giant shaggy people-greeting machine.]

[Ears perking, Cujo first looks up, then lets out a deep WUFF, and goes barreling straight towards the unsuspecting Jodie.]</sub>

Wh-- Cooj! HEY!

[keychained]

[Sora's a less obvious follower — well, actually, he's outright barreling toward Heather in plain sight. ever since he popped up on this world again, and once he understood what was happening, he'd been trying to track down anybody he might know.]

[and by golly, he is going to tackle every single one of them in greeting. incoming!]

[foolishwren]

<sub>[... Running footsteps? ... Running BIG-SHOED footsteps?]

[A year or so ago, Heather might have suspected who it was. But it's been AWHILE since enthusiastic Sora greetings were a regular occurrence in her life.]

[So she doesn't even see it coming.]

[Until it happens.]</sub>

--OOF! _{[A heavy stumble, one that thankfully doesn't end with her faceplanting into the sidewalk.]}

[kingofbadchoices]

[Bobby doesn't see Heather or the creepy pink rabbit at first, but that's probably because he's doing some bizarre dance-march backwards down the sidewalk, presumably to the tune of the background music (or maybe not, you never really know with Bobby), looking up at the buildings.]

[The Mightyena trotting near his side, though, does notice them. Or rather, it notices Cujo, and immediately starts barking loudly and obnoxiously at the Growlithe. Bobby sort of twirls out of his march to be facing his new dog, holding his arms out from his sides in a 'really?' gesture.]

C'mon, again? Do you have to bark every time?

oh my god I'm dying BOBBY YOU AND YOUR WEIRD DANCE-WALK

[foolishwren]

<sub>[... Bobby. Bobby you gotta watch where you're going.]

[It's probably a good thing his Mightyena started barking, because otherwise, Cujo just might have run up and slammed straight into Bobby's butt and been completely unexpected, because what is facing the actual direction you are walking in.]

[But thanks to the larger dog's booming voice, Cujo at least has the good sense to stop, tilting his head to the side with his regular expression of affable stupidity stamped on his face.]

[FRIENDS? ARE THESE NEW FRIENDS? .... PROBABLY!!]

[He starts to lunge forward again, only for Heather to dive forward, herself, and throw her arms around his neck.]</sub>

Cooj, NO.

That dog does NOT want to be your buddy.

_{[Some days, her kingdom for a leash...]}

[darkenedgales]

[For Crow it was on the contrary -- the beginning of one of Those Weekends made itself known rather clearly with the birthmark on his right forearm firing up with red light right after the infamous white flash. God only knows why (quite literally), but it's not like it's a first and definitely not something Crow can't get used to (read: flat-out ignore for most part) again. Especially when there was another, much more interesting thing he found soon after.

Which is why Heather might hear a quiet buzz of some working machinery -- not exactly an engine she's probably used to, but close enough -- close behind and a few moments later, a vehicle stops next to her, complete with Crow in helmet and all.]

Yo! [A mock salute goes here!] Wanna take a ride?

[foolishwren]

<sub>[Motorcycles aren't OVERLY uncommon in Johto-- she's seen her fair share of biker gangs during her travels, after all. Battled more than a few, too!]

[... But needless to say, Crow's face is not the one she's expecting to see when she looks over to see who hailed her.]

[Her brows shoot up in surprise.]</sub>

--Dude, Crow?!

Where'd you...

_{[... GET that?]}

[eaglescout]

<sub>[He was walking down the street as well, but in the opposite direction, meaning he's just about to walk past her; he's not paying a whole lot of attention to be honest, is still just trying to land a little in the fact that this place is ... well, even a thing.]

[He still didn't get any good answers.]

[And while he does veer to the side to leave room for the girl and the dog, he also can't help to notice the ... that can't really be called a bunny, can it, that's following them.]

[So he comes to a stop. And stares at it with a deep frown.]</sub>

[foolishwren]

<sub>[The girl and the dog carry on their way-- not too far, they have to stop and wait for a crosswalk light to come on before they can head across the street.]

[But in the meantime, the strange pink rabbit stops moving when they do. And stands there.]

[After awhile, it turns its head to look.]

[STRAIGHT.]

[AT.]

[COOPER.]

[It lifts one dirty plush hand and gives a little wave.]</sub>

[show_my_cannons]

[You know what, since this is 4th Wall Weekend and all, one moment he was stomping down the beach, the next... he's in the middle of a city.]

[In the middle of a street.]

[How did that happen.]

[Momentary confusion aside, there is a much more pressing matter to concern himself with. Namely, the blonde.]

Heather.

[foolishwren]

<sub>[... Yeah, giant, earth-shaking mechanical footsteps aren't something she's used to hearing in Pokemon-land.]

[It's a good thing she's met Ironhide in his natural body before, because otherwise she'd run away cursing and screaming.]

[Instead? She looks up (way, way up) at him with a giant, sunny grin.]

[That time of year? That time of year.]</sub>

How's the weather up there, ol' man?

[screamingintherain]

[If there's one thing to be said for this... wherever this is... it's that it's not raining. Randomly appearing in a strange town has a perk, apparently.]

[Hold up, Heather, some scraggly, damp stranger is trying to get your attention.]

[Because that's always a good plan.]

Hey... this is going to sound... weird. But.

Where am I?

[foolishwren]

<sub>[THAT'S ONE PERK. No fog either, although Murphy fortunately didn't have to deal with as much of the fog during his ordeal.]

[In any case, Heather looks up at the sound of being addressed.]

[... A newbie? A newbie HERE? ... Well, it's not UNHEARD of for people to show up somewhere other than New Bark.]</sub>

... Actually it's not that weird at all.

Lemme guess, you just showed up here, right?

[goodlording]

[Giles has noticed a lot of things, like the fact that he has no idea where the bloody hell he is, and the fact that there's a girl over there, and she might be able to help—




Is she walking with a tiger?]

[foolishwren]

<sub>[If it's a tiger, it's a pretty damn weird-lookin' one.]

[... And also, it happens to be coming towards him at a high, slobbery velocity, so apparently it's pretty badly trained, too.]</sub>

Aw--god DAMMIT, COOJ!

GET BACK HERE!

[walkwithbob]

<sub>[There's no lead-up this time. He'll just be standing there the next time she turns a corner (although there might have been something telling her to NOT do that, to stay away, in hindsight), grinning in a way that shows his teeth - but there's more tension in it, more anger than his usual glee at tormenting the girl.]

[But she'll only find that if she looks close enough, and she might not want to.]

[He's right there, after all. Right there.]

[And they both remember their last meeting.]</sub>

[foolishwren]

<sub>[... Urges not to turn the corner...]

[It's funny, because it should be something she pays attention to, this time of year.]

[But the truth is that she's had those ever since that horrific night in Silent Hill three years ago. And even more of them since last May.]

[So she doesn't listen to it, and she turns the corner.]



[And then stops. And slowly backs up.]</sub>

/trollface

[savethebullshit]

[Anne is heading down the sidewalk with her hands shoved into her pockets, not entirely sure about anything anymore. As far as these surroundings, she'll deal with those later. Right now she's more focused on getting some answers.

Putting on some speed, she coasts down the sidewalk fast enough to catch up with the blonde girl walking that bizarre looking dog]

Excuse me.

[it's a little strange to think that something like "excuse me" can sound abrasive, but it does in this case]

SCREAMING

[foolishwren]

<sub>[... Yeah, wow, Anne, EXCUSE YOU.]

[Heather looks up, quirking a brow.]

[The first thing she sees?]

[The uniform.]

[And you can bet that pretty much colors everything else about her initial impression of Anne.]</sub>

.... Cccccccaaaaan I help you?

_{[At her side, the freakish dog lets out a cheerful but gruff bark.]}

and then tears were had

[thinkimsuperman]

[Douglas isn't really sure how he ended up back in Johto, or why. It was confusing the first time, and it's confusing now. One minute he was falling asleep under a load of paperwork in his living room chair, and the next he was here. He's been wandering the streets trying to figure out where he is, because it's certainly not a familiar area. All of that, somehow, takes a backseat when he sees a familiar face, and he can't help but smile.

There's a sense of warm nostalgia about seeing her, and he crosses the street and sidles up beside her without saying a word briefly, just happy to see her again]

Hey, kiddo. Long time no see.

SCREAMING EVEN -MORE-

[foolishwren]

<sub>[If nothing else, the sight of that stupid dog should at least tell him what world he's in, even if the city is unfamiliar.]

[Needless to say, out of all the voices she's expecting to hear, his is not one of them.]

[She starts in surprise, head whipping around-- but instead of shock, a huge smile is blooming onto her face.]</sub>

Douglas!

_{[Did you want a hug, Douglas? BECAUSE YOU'RE GETTING ONE.]}

[getthehorns]

Heather, do you know you have a stalker?

[ Says the parked car ]

[foolishwren]

<sub>[... Okay yeah so, a parked car informing her of a stalker?]

[Her first assumption is that it IS the stalker.]

[Which is probably evidenced by the way she jumps, skitters sideways away from him, and then pauses in the middle of the sidewalk to give him the biggest side-eye ever. Complete with nervously glancing around to see if other people heard to determine whether or not she's going crazy.]

[Is it someone... IN the car?]

[Or-- ... wait.]

[Ironhide warned her about parked cars once.]</sub>

... Hello?

[exeggutorhead]

[Envy's crouched lightly on top of one of those light posts, looking around and hoping he doesn't glitch randomly away again for at least a little while. He spots Heather, but before he can wave and call down to her, he also sees that...]

[....well, that creepy giant rabbit following after her what the hell. When she draws level with the light post, he jumps down to land on his feet next to her. He looks more happy than creeped out by the rabbit, though; it's good to see her in person.]

Hey, Heather!

[HE CAN WARN HER ABOUT THE RABBIT IN A SECOND.]

[foolishwren]

<sub>[whJEEZUSCHRIST.]

[Heather can't help but startle backwards, because WHOA THAT WAS SUDDEN. Cujo lets out a loud bark and immediately starts to jump all over Envy.]</sub>

--Holy shit, Envy, give a girl some WARNING before you do that!

[rodeopony]

[Clip-clop, clip-clop!]

[There's a Ponyta loose in the city, somewhere. Heather and Cujo can probably hear it in the distance.]

[Clip-clop, clip-clop!]

[Getting closer. Whatever creature is running, it's coming in full tilt, but the steps seem too close together for a Ponyta.]

[Clip-clop, clip-clop!]

[How close is it now? A block or two?

Hang tight, Heather. Something's coming for you.]

[foolishwren]

<sub>[A loose Ponyta? Yeah, that's actually what she assumes it is, at first. Even rolls her eyes a little, because man, how irresponsible do you have to be to let a PONYTA loose in the city? Sheesh.]

[... And then it gets closer. And closer. ... And closer?]

[Jeez.]

[Heather returns Cujo to his Pokeball because the last thing she wants is for him to go chasing after something that can give him a diamond-hard kick in the head, and then looks around.]

[???]</sub>