_{[This is what one might see if they are outside on April Fool's Day in the fine city of Goldenrod.]}

[When Heather set out from Violet, she did it with a vengeance-- making it to her destination in record time purely by force of will. .... Well, okay. Snake and Solid the Onix helped out a little too. But REGARDLESS, it looks like she made it just in time for the stormclouds to come rolling in.]

[Johto, you been PUNK'D.]

[By the time the lobby doors to the big hotel she had left about two months before slide open and Heather staggers inside, she's thoroughly drenched and gasping. Not even sprinting through the deluge (which had blown in fast, as deluges often do-- the last quarter-mile to Goldenrod had been a mad dash to try and beat the roiling sky. She hadn't made it.]

[Spluttering and dripping everywhere, Heather stumbles into the lobby, letting the doors slide shut behind her to be drummed on incessantly by the big fat raindrops.]

[Cujo, who looks surprisingly happy for a Fire type about being wet, prances in alongside her and proceeds (much to the disdain of the bellboy who had started over to her with the intention of offering her a towel, only to quickly change his mind when he saw what was about to happen) to SHAKE. OFF. EVERYWHERE. And with a coat as shaggy as his? Fur could hold half its weight in water. Once he's finished, he happily goes gambolling off across the lobby to re-investigate the potted plants that he hasn't seen in a month or two. SUP PLANTS.]

[Heather, meanwhile, is doing some shake-drying of her own, sluicing water off of her hair vigorously. BRRRRRRRR. The bellboy is crying on the inside.]
  
UGH!

When they say April showers bring May flowers, but I didn't expect it to hit on the first, on the DOT.... Cooj, if you 'mark' those potted plants and get us thrown out into the rain, I will leave you in a box on someone's doorstep.

_{[Now giving the dripping coat that she'd been using as an (ineffective) umbrella a shake (in the bellboy's mind, Heather's threat level went from amber to red) or two, she grabbed up the strap to her bag and started to drag it towards the thankfully-carpeted sitting area, leaving a big watery trail the whole way (WHY COULDN'T HE HAVE GONE ON TO BE A SPORTS ANNOUNCER LIKE HIS MOTHER WANTED INSTEAD OF BEING A BELLBOY SOB).]}

[Once there, Heather popped down into a squat on the carpet, whistling for Cujo while she rummaged in her pockets for the Pokeballs containing her companions.]

Boy, sure am glad I decided to take Alvaro with me... Sure hope these things are waterproof. _{[Fearing that shoving the orphaned Cubone into a BOX right off the bat would damage its fragile emotional state even MORE, Heather had opted to take him with her. Here's hoping that decision wouldn't bite her in the butt. At least Carousel had been box'd-- Heather had already witnessed the wonder that was a drenched Ponyta trying to re-ignite its mane and she wasn't sure her already-shot nerves could take the stress of watching a pony shed sparks everywhere.]}

Good, nobody fell outta my pocket-- hey, Claudy, c'mon, get outta there, I gotta check on my stuff...

_{[Tossing the bag's flap open, she ushers the damp, ruffled-looking owl out of the bag. Claudy picks her way delicately onto the carpet and fluffs up to about twice her size before starting to preen unconcernedly. Heather watches the display with a roll of her eyes.]}

Y'know, if you'd just go in the ball like a NORMAL Pokemon, that bag would've weighed like half as much. Probably would've been able to beat the rain if I hadn't had to lug YOU around, too... Man, my 'Gear better not be busted...

_{[She reached into the bag to fish around for the contraption in question-- ... and stops.]}

.... Claudy, what the fuck, did you cough up a pellet the size of GOD in here or--








.... Oh.





.... What the--





_{[The camera turns on. Its feed is focused first on Claudy's head. She's grooming something, but all that can be seen for the moment is her feathers as they bob up and down.]}


This.... this is an owl.


_{[The camera shifts away from the Noctowl and over to the bag, giving a nice view of the inside of Heather's bag (partially emptied so that her stuff could dry. Littering the bottom of the bag are crushed fragments of eggshell.]}

Owls lay eggs.


_{[And then... then the camera zooms out a little, and moves back over to Claudy-- who can now be seen in full, contentedly preening a damp, squeaking little Eevee with ears about the same size as its body.]}


That is not a baby owl.


_{[The camera turns around, onto a confused and slightly-disturbed-looking Heather. Her hair is still plastered wetly down around her face.]}

I... I think I was just pranked by Mother Nature.

<sub>[Things have been oddly silent on Heather's end of the line over the past day or so. She hasn't been responding much to other transmissions, or even to private messages. Right after all that chaos, too-- you'd think that given she WORKED at the Goldenrod Department Store, she'd be on the network constantly with all kinds of 'This is CRAZY, you guys'-style transmissions about Evil Bitch-Supervisor of Death bullying all the Officer Jennies for not stopping the robbery or how there was a soda machine with a fist-shaped hole clean through it or something. But no-- nothing.]

[And her friends at the hotel may have noticed that she didn't wind up coming back to her room that night.]

[When the feed does come on, it's a little more obvious as to why.]



[What? Heather in a POKEMON CENTER? Could she be...? ... Nah. She's obviously not in there for herself, although both of her arms are heavily bandaged and a few nasty-looking, angry red scratches are peeking over the edge of the gauze.]

[But she's sitting hunched on the floor by one of the recovery-ward beds for Pokemon, her vest lying in cushioning pile behind her and a battered-looking Cujo asleep by her side. She looks tired... even more tired than she's been otherwise, lately, which was saying something. And judging by the way she kept glancing up at the Pokeballs encased in the incubatory healing device sitting gently on the cot next to where she's sitting, her Pokemon are the real reason she's in here.]


[The camera shakes, then bobbles a little closer, and Heather finally notices. She turns her head to the camera, frowning at first, but then a wry, half-amused smile quirks her mouth slightly.]</sub>

Was wondering where you were, y'little weirdo.

_{[She leans over and reaches out, grabbing the camera and tugging it with some difficulty away from whatever's holding it]}

You must be worried if you're not chewing on it... the other guys are fine. Relax.

_{[The mystery-filmer is revealed as the fat little Totodile toddles over and tries to wedge itself into Heather's lap. She rolls her eyes and lets out a gusty sigh but lets her legs slide down so that there's more room. Now that the camera's on her, though, she frowns a little at the sight of the little red 'Record' light, but then shrugs. Oh well. While she's on...]}


So, uh, police.

The hell were you last night?

I could've used the help.

<sub>[Her tone makes it obvious that working with the cops isn't exactly the first thing on her agenda, but there you go.]

[She doesn't need to say that a lot of people got hurt-- the rest of the network probably already knows that, it's had to have been all over the news by now.]</sub>


Anyway...

_{[She goes quiet again, rubbing the back of her head. Scritch. She... doesn't feel as talkative as usual.]}


... Oh yeah. Last thing. Joker.

_{[Reaching out next to her, she picks a handful of something that chinks and glitters in the low light. A bunch of coins! She grins.]}


Think you dropped these, Bozo.

Great job.




( Aaaand for those who might have been around the aftermath of Joker's getaway last night... )


_{[ooc: Feel free to action if your character was injured during/after the robbery and they'd be in the Pokemon Center too!]}

<sub>[There's a brief snapshot view of Heather's hotel room as the camera swings around-- the bed doesn't look slept in (although it is rumpled), her possessions are haphazardly on the floor by the wall-- as though they'd been tossed there and then nudged distractedly out of the way instead of picked up, and for once Cujo, who is lying on his belly over by the bathroom door, doesn't look like his usual derpily happy self. His cream-dotted doggy brows are peaked and his snout is on the floor between his paws. He's looking over in the direction of the camera worriedly.]

[That's all the viewer gets, though, because the camera turns on Heather as soon as she's got a good grip on the 'Gear.]

[There's rings under her eyes and she's just in a tank-top-- fairly obvious she hasn't slept yet. Her stare has a kind of angry energy to it despite her obvious exhaustion, though, and her voice is hoarse and flat in tone, like she spent the whole night yelling. Which she probably had.]</sub>


If there's someone in Goldenrod who wants to do a practice battle, hit me up. I'll be on that town green by that Slowbroco business building.

Don't come if you're not packing some power. I'm not going to play nice and I'd rather blow off steam on something or someone who can take it.

_{[And then she throws her bag's strap across her shoulder and hits disconnect.]}




[Audio, to Liquid.]

Liquid.

If you're there and aren't busy with something, can-- ... can we just-- fight?

I... I need to blow off some steam.

If not, that's okay, I'll figure something out.

....

I guess.

Yeah.

_click

<sub>[Guess who suddenly has a LOT more free time after being forcibly given less hours at the department store? Turns out lying about your age to get a full-time job is only funny as long as you're getting away with it. She's not complaining too much, though. Now that the initial post-poverty 'Oh my god I have to get money immediately so that I am not depending on others to feed me I MUST RECLAIM MY INDEPENDENCE' panic has passed, she's actually remembered why she always hated working long shifts anyway. This meant less time spend in the company of the Psycho Bitchmonster of Despair.]

[The video pops on with her in her room, viciously re-ruffling her hair with one hand to return it to its usual flyaway state after it'd been trapped under that stupid clerk hat all day.]</sub>

'Sup, Johto.

So uh, I had a question, actually.

You know those blue crocodiles? Um-- Totodile, I guess they're called?

What... exactly are they supposed to eat after they've hatched? I mean, I sort of assumed that 'meat' would be on the menu, but 'Zilla here's kind of been eating... well. Everything.

_{[Turning the camera away from her face, she pointed it over to the window where, in a patch of sunlight, a happily-snoozing baby Totodile was curled among the remains of something that had once been one of Heather's boots. A short distance away, the other boot lay carelessly discarded with a large chomp taken out of the heel.]}

Is.... is this normal?

_{And should I be pumping his stomach?}





Text to Liquid

hey Liquid I gotta ask you something

Are you in your room?

regardless I am going to come and knock obnoxiously on the door in maybe ten minutes so BE PREPARED

_{[Backdated to earlier on Friday morning, close to noon.]}



[Text to Otacon and Liquid.]

I'm running ahead a bit

Gotta meet somebody.

I don't think there's far left to go though so if I don't see you before we get there I'll catch up with you in the city ok?

peace out



[Text to Kaito]
Hey, how far've you gotten??

I can see POLLUTION over the treetops which means I've gotta be getting close-- hope I didn't pass you yet.




_{[That overcast gray sky overhead is somehow oppressive, even on the video feed. Yet, Heather looks cheerful. Maybe she doesn't notice it-- it IS rather... tame on the surface in comparison to the ghastly fog that had come rolling in on silent feet before the hallucinations had set in about a month ago... Not to mention this weird overcast state is more or less the norm a lot of the time where Heather comes from. Or maybe it's just that she's happy to be on the road again-- it's the first time she's made a transmission of her own since leaving Azalea. Not to mention now that Minnie's safe, the trip has a bit less urgency to it.]}

Man, I don't know about anybody else, but I'm sure glad that frosty air is gone...


Anyway, uh-- guys, I had a question.

What kinds of Pokemon are around here? Hal caught one of those... teleporting bald fox things, but I haven't seen much of anything else. _{Except for the bugs in my sleeping bag at night... [THANKS SNAKE YOU REALLY HELPED HER SLEEP SOUNDLY.]}


It's kinda been awhile since I've caught anything, and while I am gonna be getting the rest of my guys back soon, Cooj is getting uh... sorta tired.

_{[... Not that it, you know, showed. He was still romping merrily in and out of the frame as Heather walked. But it was true enough, now that she was going ahead by herself and the Growlithe had to do all the battling on his own, the traveling without aid of Pokemon Center was making him a little less enthusiastic about chasing things off.]}

I don't even think I have any Pokeballs, but ... any recommendations?

I'm open to anything.





.... Except those things.

_{[The turns the camera around to point at a small gaggle of mostly-concealed Jigglypuff in the grass that have seemingly been following her.]}

There is a reason I have not tried to catch you, Weird Round Pink Things.


Go away.


_{[End feed.]}










[Text to Minnie-- PRIVATE.]
Hey Minnie

How you doing?

Are you somewhere safe now?

<sub>[ooc: Backdated to earlier on the 14th.]


[When the PokeGear comes on, all it shows at first is a dizzying view of the dirt and pebble as Heather walks, fiddling with the grip on the device until she can hold it up to show the slightly-pudgy Growlithe trotting alongside her, pink tongue lolling out.]</sub>

Okay, Cooj.

As of twenty minutes from now, we are officially free.

No more warrant, no more hiding out, no more nothing. Our slates will be wiped clean. What do you say to that?


WOOF!

Truer words never spoken.


<sub>[There, the motion suddenly stopped and the camera swiveled around and upwards to show that they had arrived at their destination. Cue worm's-eye view of the front facade of the Azalea Town Gym, crowned with a nice blue sky. Heather couldn't have asked for a better morning for her warrant to expire.]

[... Except that it apparently wasn't expired yet? ... Wait, then why was she in town? ..... Oh no. Heather. No.]</sub>


All right, ladies and gents, it's time for me to blow this popsicle stand and get outta here. But first, there's oooone last thing I gotta do.

_{[The camera turned back down to Cujo, whose tail was waggling furiously.]}

All right, Cooj. What's our strategy?


WOOF!

That's right, be badass mofos. Are we gonna pull that strategy off?

WUFF WOOF!

Damn right we're gonna pull it off. The rest of the guys might not be with us right now, but you and me can handle it. Let's do this!

Now say hi to all the beautiful men and women out here who might be watching this.

_{[Cujo responded with another resounding WOOF, punctuating it with a little hop of the front legs and flop of his overgrown mane.]}

That's my good boy.

Now let's kick some ass.

<sub>[The doors opened.]





[Bugsy was a pretty chill dude. Which wasn't too surprising, because... c'mon. Bugs. There was something just sort of relaxing about the concept of a boy and his dog giant killer praying mantis relaxing together on a nice bright morning with sunlight shining in through the big Gym windows.]

[Too bad he wouldn't be able to relax for long.]

[The camera jiggled insistently from where Heather was keeping it propped on her shoulder. She threw out one pointing arm in a cliche I CHALLENGE YOU pose. Because... let's be honest. You all know you've wanted to do that at least once in your life.]</sub>


Hey! Hey you!


_{[Bugsy looked up from his book and sized her up with a slightly exasperated look on his face. She couldn't much blame him. It was probably near his lunch break. He looked her up and down, then paused, one brow arching.]}

... Aren't you one of the people the police put a warning out about a couple weeks ago?


_{[Heather paused. UM.]}

Uhhh.... for the sake of this conversation, no.


_{[... Bugsy glanced at the big clock on the wall-- one of those stadium ones that every Gym had.]}

... Uh. _{[Awkward smile.]} ... You do know those warrants expire in about twenty minutes, right?

Yeah, but... where's the fun in waiting?

_{[... Bugsy considered this, then smiled in a half-amused, half-"... really?" fashion as he got up, brushing grass off the seat of his shorts.]}

You want to battle me, then?

_{[Heather grinned a toothy grin that wasn't visible on-camera, but you could hear it plain and clear in her voice.]}

Well I'm sure not here as a tourist!

WOOF!

... And neither is he. _{[She jerked the camera at Cujo.]}

All right, but... don't blame me if someone with a police badge walks in here during the battle...

Heh, like that'd happen... <sub>[What reason would the police have to come into a Gym, pshaw.]

[Bugsy reached to his bag and withdrew a Pokeball, weighing it briefly in his hand before hurling it high in the air.]</sub>

SCIZOR! Swords Dance!


<sub>[Sunlight from the windows glinted off of the chitinous red exoskeleton of the giant mantis as it emerged from the Pokeball, wings buzzing with the hum equivalent of a hundred bees' nests. Blades flashing, it dove.]

[But guess who did her research this time around?]</sub>

CUJO! FLAMETHROWER!

( That CRUSHING, CRASHING, ATOM-SMASHING, WHITE-HOT thing's INVINCIBLE! Oh oh owh! )

( Five minutes later... )

<sub>[It's a little before sun-up-- that weird hour of the morning where the sky is still dark but just starting to brighten in a thin, pale line at the horizon. Of course, where Heather was, that horizon was hidden by the trees, so it's... still mostly dark.]

[She's sitting up in her sleeping bag with a couple of blankets around her shoulders, next to the camp's fire, which had mostly burnt down to ash speckled with a few tiny, stubborn embers. They stood out against the general grayness of the clearing 'Camp Otacon' resided in. Said grayness was only emphasized by the layers of frost coating the earth and grass. It was well into October now, so... unsurprisingly, the weather had been getting colder.]

[Heather was not sure she liked this, though thankfully she's in possession of a living heater in the form of a now-distinctly-potbellied dog (Camp Otacon had been treating him well. Especially because though she'd never admit to being such a softie, she'd been giving him more treats than normal out of pure guilt over the whole 'I thought you were a double-head and also I was kind of a jerk to you in general anyway' thing), who was curled behind her and serving as a backrest.]</sub>

So hey, guys. I have a question.

_{[Her words were accompanied by puffs of steam from her breath. It's c-c-cold this morning without the sunlight.]}

What happens when our warrants expire?

_{[A couple of people had asked her this before, but she'd never had too specific an answer to give them.]}

I heard we're like... basically off with a smack on the wrist and not much else, but... _{[She pauses, sucking her lips inward a little and fiddling with that stubborn eye-bandage. She's gotta be able to get rid of that thing soon, right?]} ... That seems pretty lenient for a bunch of "dangerous fugitives". _{[She's quoting Officer Jenny directly from that announcement, and there's suspicion in her tone. SCREW THE COPS, THEY'RE NEVER HONEST, RIGHT? THIS HAS TO BE A TRICK.]}

<sub>[Beep beep! What's that, Lassie? An incoming message?! Oh, looks like it's coming from one Hal 'Otacon' Emmerich's PokeGear! How lovely. What does the nerd have to say toda-- .... HEY, THAT'S NOT OTACON!]

[The screen blips into life on a face that's bruised, scraped, and... freckled?]

[Once its owner is sure the thing is on, she withdraws-- making herself a little easier to identify. Sheepish smile and all.]



[Behind her appears to be a standard little camp set up in the woods-- nothing... really fancy. But she's not the only one there-- somewhere behind her, there's.... some shirtless guy wandering around and his indistinct bitching about something or other can be heard.]

[The mat-furred, sleepy Growlithe in her lap just looks content to be there, although it's obvious he's had it as rough as his owner.]</sub>

So. Uh.


_{[Her voice is a painful-sounding croak-- hardly more than a shadow of what it is normally.]}

Apparently I'm a wanted criminal.

... Anyone know what I did? ... Was it awesome?

I love that mugshot. It's so majestic.

<sub>[Yeah, she's making light of it, but her heart's not... really into it. Though it's sort of hard to tell the difference between that and the plain old exhaustion that's obviously leaking into her every movement and word.]

[... Meanwhile, in the background, Liquid has noticed that the camera's on and has started flexing his manly man-muscles at it in true Photobomb fashion. Heather doesn't notice yet.]</sub>

Uh... anyway... I'm not... sure how long I was gone, and my 'Gear is uh... pretty thoroughly broken-- Hal's off in town getting stuff to repair it with, so... if anyone... like, tried to contact me, m'sorry, I probably didn't get it...


I uh... really hope everyone's all right.

_{[She probably doesn't need to clarify that she's talking about that fog. Now that she knows what had happened wasn't real, and that others had experienced their OWN nightmares... well, let's just say she's really hoping she didn't knock anyone's skull in. ... And the question "DID I knock anyone's skull in?" is implied at the end of her statement.]}

......

_{[And around that time, her Heather Senses pick up on Liquid's trolling behind her, so she reaches out to turn the camera off while looking over her shoulder.]}


Liquid, get the fuck out.

_{[End feed.]}




[Locked to Kaito and Rise]

[Another video feed, a little later than the first one, but not by too long. Otacon apparently was able to fix the 'Gear enough that Heather could receive those two messages that had been waiting a good week and a half to be received by this point.]

[And... judging by her hardly-disguised guilty expression, she's more than feeling the weight of guilt for worrying her friends. Especially since she saw Rise just the previous day and hadn't... even known how ... candid a message she'd left days before.]

[After a couple seconds, she breaks into a sheepish, crooked grin.]

Uh... hey, guys...


... I got your messages...



[Locked to Harry, James, and Mary]

<sub>[This one's in text, because she knows good and well that James at the very least will be freaking out over how she looked in that video feed, and she's not sure she can take his quiet concerned expressions.]

[But she can't avoid sending this-- if she saw Silent Hill in that fog, then she's... pretty sure that they'd have seen something similar. ... Well, she's not sure about Mary, actually, but given the connection... better safe than sorry.]</sub>

are you guys alright

(typing is hard, sorry for no caps)_

-heather

<sub>[Heather's been scarce. There are a few reasons for this. One, she's sort of embarrassed about having her butt totally kicked by Falkner, and two... she's also kind of totally broke, and doesn't dare try to stay in the Pokemon Center now that she can't afford the hotel. So it's camping ahoy on the outskirts of Violet for her! Needless to say, she's been a bit broody.]

[When the camera comes on, it's dark and she's got a fire going, the flickering shadows lending the solemn look on her face a little gravitas. She notices this right off the bat and wrinkles her nose to dispel the whole 'there is obviously something wrong and I have been sitting here being angsty and weird for a week' look.]</sub>

Sup, guys.

It's all muggy out here and I don't feel like sleeping. I can't be the only one, so...

_{[She doesn't feel like rambling this time. There's too much on her mind. So she just cuts to the chase.]}

What was everybody doing right before they wound up here in this friggin' place?

_{[She somewhat conspicuously doesn't offer up her own answer, but adds, with a grin that's not too genuine but looks like it is (which is what counts, after all)--]}

Bonus points if it was something super embarrassing like being in the shower or something.

_{[It's brief. Heather turns the camera on directed at her face-- she's holding up her broken-ass umbrella to shield herself from the drizzle. James and Harry cannot be seen, but their voices are in the background.]}

Finally got back.

As usual, the heat breaks as soon as we get somewhere with air conditioning... and it starts to rain as soon as I walk into Violet. S'deja vu all over again.

We'd better not get another flood.

Anyway, m'back. Sorry for taking forever. _{[If she wasn't so tired and miserable, she'd have made some kind of quip about James being the one to slow them all down, but she doesn't have the oomph.]}

Gonna crash in the inn, I think.

Be nice to see y'all again.

_{[There's more than a few people she meant to address specifically, but upon thinking it over, she decides napping is a better choice for the moment. So the camera flicks off.]}


Private Text to Otacon:

I'm back. Does Liquid know Snake is here yet? Is everyone okay?




_{[ooc: Just figured I'd get one last post in before I left. See you guys, I'll be in contact!]}