<sub>[The feed, as per usual when it comes to Heather's Gym Battles, opens from a low vantage point. It's become somewhat tradition for Heather to hand the 'Gear off to one of her able-handed Pokemon so that they can film while she's engaged in the battle.]

[Alessa the Absol is in front, bristling in anticipation of the battle, and Heather, looking more polished than usual but still rougher around the edges than is probably considered appropriate for a big event like this, stands beside her.]



[Above, the golden glass windows mark the gym they're standing in as Saffron.]

[After the 'establishing shot' of Heather and Alessa, the camera jostles around instead to get a more complete view of the arena, with Sabrina now visible on the other end. She's apparently in the middle of giving her usual pre-battle spiel; the nobility of the Psychic type, a brief and succinct history of the Saffron Gym and how it knocked the Dojo next-door well off the playing field...]

[But she cuts herself off with a very knowing look mere seconds before Heather interrupts her with a flat:]</sub>

Yeah, yeah.

Let's just get this over with.


_{[Sabrina nods obligingly (though not without a patronizing 'I knew you were going to do that' smile-- and her Espeon moves into the center of the field along with Alessa.]}


( Trainers take your positions! )


<sub>[The battle's over. There's a smattering of applause and stuff, a loud mechanical voice coming from the general area of the scoreboard and announcing the battle's victor, the usual. Cujo, pleased as punch with himself, has galloped back over to Heather for praise and attention.]

[... But Heather's clapped a hand to her temple, briefly gritting her teeth and shaking her head like it's full of flies. Cujo stops in his tracks and tilts his head in confusion, but it only lasts a second before Heather, ignoring the greetings of those who came to watch her battle, whips around to face the distant Sabrina again.]</sub>


Oh, is THAT how this is gonna be?

Real mature.

You think you can scare me with that psychic shit?

_{[Sabrina, who was still looking somewhat smug despite her loss (apparently at whatever little mental 'parting gift' she'd just sent to Heather), lifts a brow. With a shake of the head, she calls out, calmly:]}

You clearly came here with something to prove, Miss Mason.

_{[Lower jaw jutting out, Heather glares sourly at the Gym Leader.]}

Yeah. And I proved it.

Let's go, Cooj.

_{[She's already started to turn away when Sabrina speaks again.]}

I don't believe you have. And neither do you.



<sub>[... And then the camera jostles as the cameramon hastily switches it off, apparently anticipating something that may not go particularly well, since Heather has whirled around once more and is marching angrily across the arena towards Sabrina.]



[When the camera comes back on about ten minutes later, it's Heather's face. She still looks somewhat angry, but at least she's calm as she checks the footage.]</sub>

Man, screw that noise.

I got the badge, I'm outta here.

Sayonara, Saffron City.




[ooc: To those physically present in the Gym, Heather engaged in a rather heated conversation with Sabrina during the time that the 'Gear was off, but no punches were thrown or anything.]

_{[Before anything else, Heather's voice: a little husky and hoarse-sounding, but otherwise high-spirited.]}

Hey.

Hey guys.

Watch this.

<sub>[Is she aware of the strange outbreaks and Team Rocket threats all over the news? Yes. Yes, she is. Should she be spending her time being concerned about this? Probably.]

[But she has much better things to do with her time.]

[Like film Wren the Murkrow skittering across the top of the coffee table in their Ecruteak Inn room with a tiny plastic battleaxe toy in her beak, where she proceeds to bull over a GeoDude (tm) superhero action figure with a viciousness appropriate for the battlefield. Which is what is being broadcast, of course.]

[What follows is a series of cuts showing her triumph over various other toys (pretty obviously grabbed from a discount bin in some shop somewhere), including Armaldo Schwarzenegger and Darmanitanman ("The Meditation Sensation!") and even a figurine of Barnaby the Shiny Charizard.]

[In several of the shots, Heather's other Pokemon are visible-- Arty the Furret looking on in contempt and Cheryl the Eevee watching in utter fascination over the edge of the table. At one point, the fuzzy baby Joltik she'd hatched a few months back skitters onto the scene, eager to help, but is promptly chased off the table again by the axe-wielding Murkrow, who apparently is a Lone Warrior who needs no assistance.]

[The whole time, Heather is humming ominous theme-music and jiggling the camera in that classic 'found footage' way.]

[Eventually she turns the camera on herself to address the surely-enthralled audience solemnly. Her face is oddly flushed, strangely... although perhaps not, given the summer heat.]</sub>

This has been a Public Services Announcement: my bird is an unstoppable killing machine. Nowhere is safe.

Keep your children in at ni-- oh noooo.

<sub>[As though on cue, the vaguely football-shaped black bird had come wriggling onto the screen again, clambering up Heather's arm to determinedly butt the side of her face with the toy axe. >:(!!!!]

[There's some 'fighting' and then the camera goes blank.]


[END FEED]</sub>



[ACTION]

<sub>[With Wren successfully wrestled off into doing something else, Heather shuts the 'Gear and sets it aside, slumping back in her chair with a sigh. Even in shorts and the skimpiest top she owns, it's miserably hot. Enough to sort of make her head pound. She doesn't get it. She remembers the fading summer heat last September being pretty well-managed by all the whirring fans in the Inn...]

[Twisting around, she drapes herself over the back of the chair, poking her tongue out discontently.]</sub>


Guys.

Guuuuuys.

Aren't you just dying in here? This heat is gross.

<sub>[The TV's on over in the corner. They're talking about the outbreak-- about all the people coming down with mysterious fevers.]

[But that's somewhere else. It can't touch any of them. .... Right?]</sub>

_{[Before the video shows anything, there's some shuffling sounds, and then the tell-tale noise of a cardboard package being ripped open. Then, Heather's voice, muffled at first, speaks up.]}


... Again?

<sub>[She sounds surprised. ... Unpleasantly so.]

[The 'Gear is tugged out of her pocket at that point, its view wavering and then settling on the torn-open box she apparently just received by Dragonite delivery, in the Ecruteak inn lobby. The Dragonite in question is already slinging its mailbag over its shoulder and lumbering out the door, visible over the edge of the box.]

[Much like one of Heather's posts from earlier in the month, inside the box sits a single Pokeball. She had pulled out the 'Gear to check the Trainer ID, and doesn't realize it's on yet. There's some clacking noises as she thumbs the buttons a little distractedly... and then she gets her answer.]</sub>

... God dammit...

<sub>[Her voice had gone from surprised to resigned in a surprisingly short amount of time, but then, given the number of friends of hers disappearing lately... that's hardly surprising. And in this case, it's one that's hitting her a little harder than she might have previously thought. Of all the presences in Johto she hadn't even begun to think might up and poof out of existence one day... and this is one that she'd still had so many questions for.]

[That little praying mantis soul skittering down the streets in my head... that really WAS him, wasn't it.]

[She heaves a sigh and her hand appears, reaching into the box to take the ball out.]</sub>

Might as well see who I got...

_{[She presses the button with her thumb and triggers the obligatory flash of white light...]}


.... What the-- ... aw, HELL.

<sub>[Wow. From surprised, to resigned, to.... indignant?]

[The dazzling light fades after a second or two, and shows....]</sub>

GENGKI--GEN GENGAR GAR GARRHH GURRH!

_{[... A Gengar that, if it were speaking English, would surely be cussing everyone and their grandmothers out in language so foul it would make a sailor blush. Heather is already recoiling from it, groaning out loud. Of course. Of course he'd leave her... THAT.]}

God dammit... of all the-- HEY. Hey, GHOST... thing.

_{[Slightly the Gengar, who had clearly been cooped up in that ball for quite some time during transit and is now in the foulest of moods and wondering where the hell L is, turns his red-eyed glare on Heather, and the 'Gear. >8( WHAT!]}

Look, Ryuzaki's ... ghost thing, I know you're probably pissed, but me and ghosts? Don't get along. So if you're gonna-- ... I dunno, be part of my team or whatever, I'd better not get any of that funny business from you, all right?

<sub>[She remembers the angry messages scrawled all over L's hotel-room walls, okay?]

[Needless to say, the ghost Pokemon merely scrunches his face up in response. Who's THIS bitch?! He raises both stubby paw-hands and proceeds to flip off his new trainer without so much as a how-do-you-do. Heather (still not visible-- the 'Gear is dangling idly in her hand by her side) just huffs.]</sub>

Now, see, that? You can do THAT all you want. Just don't touch my stuff, or my roomies, or do any of your freaky-ass ghost shit, okay? ... Okay. Great. Ugh...

_{[She starts to turn away. Better go upstairs and brace Henry for the fact that there was now going to be a GHOST hanging around on occasio-- askhg';JGA;LDFKJG';S WHAFUCK--]}

( And then there was chaos. )


K;LJSDG;FHJDL;G


DFSGJLFGH;H

GSGGG


JHHJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJ





_{[ooc: Responses will come either... mid-fight or after things have settled down. Ecruteak-goers, feel free to experience the wonder that is a teenage girl rolling around on the floor and trying to punch a ghost.]}

<sub>[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--]</sub>

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!

<sub>[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...]</sub>

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.]}

<sub>[You know when you wake up and you feel like there's a leaden weight sitting on your chest, stopping you from moving? Most of the time when that happens, it's because of sleep paralysis. Somewhat less of the time, it's a close encounter of the third kind. ... This time, however, it's a very large Furret curled up neatly in the middle of Heather's chest, taking advantage of the fact that her trainer both produces heat and is stationary and comfortable, AND of the fact that there is currently a brief moment in which nobody is looking over in this direction to shoo her away.]

[... Except that Heather's not going to be stationary much longer.]

[The first thing that happens that disrupts the vacant, sleeping stupor of Heather's face is a wince and a scrunched nose, because fluffy Furret tails are not the best things to have brushing up against your nostrils when you're coming out of a deep sleep.]</sub>

Nhngngnh...

<sub>[Ffffh what was-- what. Oh, ow. Opening eyes that haven't seen light in a good seven days kind of hurts. And trying to talk through a throat that hasn't made a single noise kind of hurts too, which is why all that Heather manages at first is a sort of croak.]

[But that croak is enough to get SOMEBODY'S attention.]

[From the foot of the bed, Cujo snorts into wakefulness from where he's been faithfully sleeping on his trainer's ankles. With a deep wuff, he surges to his feet and joyfully clambers over the blanketed body, stepping on Arty and causing her to vacate her perch atop Heather's chest with an indignant hiss, until he's standing over her with a great big doggy smile and a paw on either side of her.]

[Heather squints up at him, scrunching up her face. On one hand, the sight of those floppy orange ears and big black nose is one for sore eyes, but on the other... oh god does she not want to see a dog right now after the kinds of dreams she'd been having...]

[Coughing and lifting her arms weakly, she tries to shove him away long enough for her to get her bearings.]</sub>

Cooj, gimme some spac-- acklPHTHG OFF.

_{[No force in this world or any other could stop Cujo from greeting his favorite human being's return to wakefulness with lots of licking. Startled into a slightly more awake state, Heather makes a still-sleepy noise of disgust and shoves feebly at the Growlithe, scooting away.]}

Dammit, mutt, I mean i--

<sub>[Turns out, trying to slip out of bed after not moving for a week? Hurts, too. WHOMP. Face, meet hotel room floor. And possibly part of Henry's sleeping bag.]




[A few minutes later, presumably after proving sufficiently to her father that she's not DEAD, the feed clicks on, revealing a very, very bedraggled Heather who looks like she went a week WITHOUT sleeping instead of spending the whole time unconscious.]</sub>

Mornin'.... what'd I miss?



_{[ooc: Because the nightmare threads will likely affect CR pretty strongly, I'll tag them as long as anybody wants/it takes them to be finished! I'm also fine with discussing their outcomes, though, if anyone needs a conclusion right away.]}

<sub>[It's been chaos. Once everybody realized that... no, what people were falling into were not the once-just-as-scary-but-now-almost-mundane comas that usually took hold of certain people for a week at a time, there had understandably been more than a little panic-- but then Professor Oak's announcement came in.]

[For Heather, it was a relief. So Pokemon were causing it. That didn't exactly make the situation itself any more ideal, but at least they knew. And when 'Monsters did it' was the explanation, well... Heather (understandably) considered this to be exactly the kind of problem she was good at handling.]

[About half an hour after Oak's announcement goes out, a mass text from Heather will pop up on everyone's 'Gears.]</sub>

So most of you have probably seen that announcement about the bug things stealing peoples' souls. If you haven't, I guess this is a heads up.

Since I DOUBT the police will be doing anything about this... it's probably best we all try and catch as many of these stupid things as possible. I'm sure everybody has friends who're vegetables right now because of them.

I'm in Olivine City-- if anyone in the area wants to help me and Dad stomp these things and get some peoples' souls back in the process, it'd be appreciated. Meet us in front of the Center.

-Heather
<sub>[And it's quite a few hours later before anything from Heather shows up on the network again-- presumably after a long afternoon of cautiously catching as many Shedinja as she (and anyone else who decides to help out-- be they natives or fellow foreigners) can, without falling victim to the soul-sucking holes on their backs. When the feed DOES blip on, the scene is steeped in dim green light-- it's evening and the PokeGear's owner appears to be carefully moving low to the ground in a forested place. There's faint sounds of other people around-- she's not the only one in the woods trying to catch the bugs, but she does seem to be the only one in the area.]

[She speaks in a hushed tone after fumbling around with the camera a little bit.]</sub>

Hey, guys ... uh, great work so far.

I'm in the woods just north of Olivine and there's a few hiding around here-- if any of you guys need to contact me, just text me-- I don't want any sudden noises scaring the crap out of them and giving me a nice, soul-sucky view of their back ends as they flee in terror.

_{[And with that, she hits the mute button on her 'Gear to silence her speakers-- still transmitting sound from her end, though. She turns slightly to address the snowy-white creature just beside her-- it's Alessa, her Absol-- now much bigger than when she first hatched back in December. She doesn't look particularly happy (but then, does she ever?)-- her coat is bristling, her scarlet eyes are round and wide, and she's hunched defensively, almost like she's trying to disappear into the forest floor, despite her bright coat making it impossible.]}

Sorry, girl... Cooj and Carousel've been at this all day, and you're the only one I have left who's good against ghosts... <sub>[Heather was no type expert, but she'd taken a quick glance at the Pokedex before going out on the bug hunt and figured-- well hey, it should work, right? The Growlithe and Ponyta duo had stomped these things fairly thoroughly, and fire was good against the bugs, right?]

[Alessa replied with a small, unsettled growl-- but Heather's attention was snagged by something popping up on her screen.]</sub>

( You have received a text from DAD! )


_{[Rolling her eyes with an amused grin, she closes the text message and turns her attention back to their target-- a glint of gold and pearl glimmering faintly from the bushes off to the side. She lifts one arm up at eye level in case it's facing away from her and she needs to quickly cover her eyes-- then grins when she sees that it's facing the right away, drifting vacantly a few inches above the ground.]}

Okay, 'Lessa... when I say 'Go', you hit it with Dark Pulse, all right?

...

... Alessa?

_{[Frowning, she turns to look over her shoulder-- because the only reply she received was that low, buzzing growl that the Absol only ever gave off when something very, very bad was about to happen.]}


... Alessa, are you-- ... oh, fuck--

<sub>[She had been staring at a Shedinja off to the side-- and in her distraction, hadn't noticed the ones drifting vaguely down from above-- not at her, not at her Pokemon-- just wafting downwards and spinning gently in place, the same way an ornament on a string might-- except ornaments don't usually suck out your soul.]

[Heather's eyelids were already shutting, her arm rising to shield them .... but it's too late.]

[The screen careens sickeningly as the 'Gear falls from her hand to the forest floor with a soft thump-- followed by the heavy thud of a body collapsing directly behind it.]

[The rest of the feed, until it times out-- is dominated by the distressed squalls of the Absol.]</sub>






[ooc: Video (or action, if people are stumbling across vegetable!Heather) replies will largely be answered by Alessa-- also, since Heather spent most of the day actively working with other people to capture Shedinja, feel free to set action replies earlier in the afternoon if your character might have been one of the ones going bug-hunting with Heather!]

[OOC: As usual, please feel free to skip over my long-ass prose! As usual, I apologize heartily for the spam but I couldn't let an occasion like this pass entirely without getting all sappy and BAWWW over it. Action is open to anybody in Olivine City!
also I used something from an ooc prose thing I wrote awhile ago so if some of this sounds familiar, YOU KNOW WHY]


~*~


There were a lot of things that really set this place apart from Goldenrod City.

One was the smell of the ocean. Goldenrod was a beach city, yes-- but somewhere in the middle of the smell of exhaust (nowhere near as bad as a city back home, though-- this place seemed obsessively eco-friendly for the most part), hot-lunch carts, and the sharp sweetness of the bursts of golden-colored blooms that overflowed from every park and balcony-garden, that deep, rich ocean smell was lost when you weren't right next to the damn thing.

That wasn't the case here.

In fact, as she hiked up the steep, old-timey flagstone streets of Olivine, the ocean was practically the only thing there every time she inhaled. Maybe it was because she'd just been down by the docks, but she didn't think so. No, she was pretty sure the whole city just smelled like this. Kinda liked it, in fact. Reminded her a little of home. She hadn't lived on the beach-line, but you could hop on the subway and get to the coast in perhaps an hour, tops-- that had been one of the few vacationy places that her father had been willing to take her when she was little. Lots of fond, sunny memories... Not that those rocky old Maine beaches had anything on the one she'd just walked up from.

"Hurry it up, drooly, or we'll miss the whole thing," she called over her shoulder, kicking a foot to dislodge some of the beach's contents from where it had gotten trapped between the sandal's sole and her own, sending a small cascade of the silky sand onto the already-sandy street-- that was the other thing about beach cities-- didn't quite matter how far up you got from sea-level. In the same way you could expect glitter to make its way all around the building if even one sixth grader decided they wanted their science poster to be sparkly, there was no escape from sand in a beach town.

From further down the street behind her, the damp Growlithe she'd addressed ceased his curious sniffing of a pot of sleeping Oddishes on somebody's doorstep, and broke up into a gallop to catch up with his trainer... Whereupon he slowed into a trot and proceeded to shake wet sand all over her.

"ACKplth! Cujo!"

When the spray stopped, she put her arms down and shot the dog a glare, only to be met with his usual expression of contentment as his tongue lolled out and his shaggy tail wavered back and forth.

A year ago, Heather would have turned away and grumbled foul things under her breath-- or even shoved him away with her foot-- only BARELY gently enough to not call it a kick.

Instead, she was only able to keep the glare up for a few seconds before it melted into an gentle eye-roll as she turned away, continuing to climb the steep streets on legs that last summer would have burned unpleasantly at all this uphill walking but now hardly noticed. "C'mon, you mangy mutt..."

A lot could change in a year.

A few blocks blocks higher saw the pair pause again as Heather halted on a tight corner, turning to survey the horizon. They'd made pretty good time, all things considered-- especially since they'd been all the way down on the beach just ten minutes before.

"I guess we're high enough..."

Another thing that set Olivine City apart from Goldenrod was how close everything was.

Sure, in that shiny golden city, everything was new-- tall, sleek buildings and shiny windows and great big alleys all in between. Here, as Heather mused, biting back a strained noise as she clambered onto a wheelbarrow in one of the narrow, weedy little yards to peer into the dark, dusty windows of a nearby house, everything was closer together. There were more bumps and hand-holds to grab to carry yourself up off the streets with-- it felt older. More familiar. Sort of like Johto itself did, now. Or maybe... maybe that was just her. She was okay with that.

After a few seconds of squinting, Heather nodded, then hung grimly onto the rough stone edge of the sill as she nudged the wheelbarrow out of the way with one foot and dangled before dropping back to solid ground with a sandy scrape and a grunt.

"Okay, no one's home-- c'mon, Cooj, hup!"

It would occur to her, later, that returning him to his ball and just climbing up herself, might have been easier. But as difficult as it was to have a big, wriggly (and wet) animal the size of a young St. Bernard hop into your arms without your legs buckling, for some reason, she couldn't quite bring herself to mind.

"OOF-- starting tomorrow, I'm puttin' you on a diet, fatass-- HEY, you're really not helping, here! Cut it out or I'll find an axe n'give you a makeover to look like the dogs from back home!" The words were threatening, and the tone would have been, too, if she hadn't been desperately (but somewhat unsuccessfully) trying to muffle the involuntary giggles that came with having a big sloppy canine tongue assaulting any part of her face and neck it could reach. A year ago, it would've sent her nerves into a panic-- but, well, we've already covered what can happen in a year's worth of time.

Stumbling over to a rock wall towards the back of the tiny yard, Heather shoved the squirming dog up onto it with some difficulty (as well as a disgusted "BLEAGH" noise as she tried to wipe some of the slobber off of her face with one shoulder), then proceeded to climb up behind him, herself.

Note to self, sandals: not the best climbing footwear ever.

Once she'd hauled herself upright, arms out for balance, she took another look at the skyline, pausing to catch her breath.

"Whew ... okay, we still got time. C'mon, boy."

A wobbly fence, a few broken shingles, and more than one canine backslide later, Heather crouched at their destination, reaching out with one hand to tug Cujo up beside her and sucking on a scraped finger with the other.

"Okay, I gotcha-- waitasec, you're slip-- nah, okay, you got it. Good boy."

( Read more under the cut! )

 _{[Johto had gotten a brief taste of summer, but it looked like they were subject to belated April showers for awhile longer...]}

[Normally Heather wouldn't mind so much-- being cooped up did make her a little stir-crazy, but it just meant the sun's next appearance would be all the more satisfying-- but she'd kind of wanted to, y'know, keep showing her dad the NEW WORLD they were currently inhabiting. Oh well. Stuck in the hotel for the time being, it looks like.]

[Besides, she's... got another matter to think about right now.] 

Bet you'd get along with Butch...

_{[She pats the enormous pink hide of the drowsy Slowbro lying on the carpeted floor next to her absent-mindedly, watching the rain trickle down the window. On one of the plush seats scattered in various locations around the lobby, Godzilla sprawls, looking a little sulky-- sulkier than usual, even. But then, it's nothing new for him to be a little petulant.]}

[As for Heather, she looks sort of thoughtful, and a little melancholy, when she addresses the network. The rain today is ... somehow appropriate.]

Hey, so...

I don't know if anyone else here really... uh, knew him, but... James S-- .... Sunderland disappeared sometime pretty recently. He left a bunch of his Pokemon behind... um... I guess if anyone knew him and uh... wants to take care of one of 'em...

_{[She gives Pinky-- ugh, Pinky, what a lame name... she won't change it, out of respect for James, but maybe she'll call him something a little less... doofy. Pink, maybe. Like Pink Floyd!-- another pat on the head. The big Pokemon rumbles sleepily.]}

[Meanwhile, Godzilla glares over from behind Heather in a generally surly manner. He's been getting shunted aside in favor of all these new Pokemon lately and he doesn't like it. AND he's hungry AND his head is kinda hurting AND he's bored and wants attention. >8( He lets out a huff, which goes unnoticed by Heather, who continues talking.]

Anyway, he and his wife are both gone now. He didn't... talk a whole lot, so I guess it's probably safe to say not many people knew hi-- cut it out, Zilla, I'm doin' something.

_{[The Totodile, which had been pawing slightly at the hem of her vest, withdraws with a surly expression. HMPH.]}

But yeah.

James's gone.

Otherwise... uh, how about this weather, huh?

_{[Godzilla lets out a squeaky snarl, covering his ear-holes with a wince. UGH. Everything is making him so MAD right now. Especially the fact that he's being blown off! His trainer is so MEAN!]}

[So mean.]


[It happens very quickly. There's a flash of ivory teeth as the strong-jawed crocodile Pokemon suddenly surges out of his seat and clamps his jaws down with an awful snap around Heather's bare elbow.]

[The girl's face goes from casual to shocked in the space of a split second before the 'Gear goes flying.]

YEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGHHH---!






_{[ooc: Action replies can either be in the Goldenrod hotel lobby or in the Pokemon Center ten or fifteen minutes after the broadcast!]}

<sub>[It's probably been a week and a half or so since anybody's heard a whole lot from Heather's end of the line-- given the recent turn of events, coupled with catching up on things with her father, she just hasn't been talking much.]

[But if anyone missed the sound of yet another ranty teenager on the 'Gear network, well, today their wishes and hopes will be realized.]

[A crackle of interference precedes her voice, and in the background there's the steady rumble of a Steelix making headway on a dirt path.]</sub>


Heeeey Johto, what's crackin'?

Totally fell off the face of the planet for a bit there.

Anyway, for those who care, Goldenrod just came into sight over the hill, so Dad and I'll be strolling into town within a couple hours, probably.

I'll be lookin' for a few of you as soon as we get checked in and stuff-- you guys know who you are. _{[She's lookin' at you, Kaito. Dinner plans aside, she still needs to give him that hug.]}

And uh-- Snake, you still in the hotel? I'll heal Solid up at the Center first if you want me to, but otherwise, I'm sure he'll be glad to see his Trainer. Sorry the trip wound up takin' so long.

Anyway, uh-- ... see you guys in a few hours.

... Feel free to call me up and chat, though, the road's dusty and it's a real bore to look at for hours on end.




_{[ooc: For Action, feel free to encounter Heather in the hotel lobby or Pokemon Center healin' up her monsters after arriving.]}

_{[It's cold today. You know that miserable part of winter that comes in the last stretch before spring? It's not that somehow-festive, powdery cold with deep blue nights and busy-but-cheerful days buzzing with anticipation that stretch through December... It's not even the fresh, new whiteness of January.]}

[It's that dismal, perpetual grayness that fogs up February. You know the kind. The days are dark, the streets are full of slush, and the sidewalks are covered in black ice. It's just as cold as December, but it's somehow worse because at least in December you've got that tingly holiday feeling to keep you warm. February, on the other hand, has nothing to look forward to and it lasts forever.]

[Everybody hates February.]

[But when the feed clicks on, it's NOT outside-- it's already in the brightly-lit gym of Goldenrod City, and the camera is.... roughly at knee-level, and conveniently pointed straight at what appears to be a Miltank udder. Because that's how tall Godzilla is and lol what is that thing it's funny-lookin' and he's apparently not aware that UDDERS ARE NOT WHAT PEOPLE WANT TO LOOK AT.]

[In the background, there's a sound that should be VERY familiar now to anyone who's been watching the network recently--]
   
BWUUHHHHUHUHUHUHAAWHWHHHH! AHAWWWHHUH, y-ou-- you-- you meanie! Y-youhuhuh can't-- you just-- .... y-you're always so MEAN!  
 
_{[The camera's shifting and Whitney's white-shoed feet are pacing back and forth fitfully as she cries.]}

[Heather's voice cuts in from somewhere above. It's even and level-headed, but there's an underlying quiver that anyone who's known Heather for any length of time will recognize as being a sign that she is physically restraining herself from strangling somebody.]

Look-- lady-- ... girl-- thing, during that battle, I deliberately refrained from being mean because every friggin' time I come in here, you're fucking CRYING EVERYWHERE.

I KNOW! I r-ruh-remember you, y-you always c-come in here to w-watch your MEAN FRIENDS and then y-you c-call me a BABY!

... Well, you are!

Y-YOU'RE SO MEAN TO ME, J-JU-JUST G-GO AWUH-WAY!!!"

I CAN'T, you haven't given me the freakin' badge-- AND WILL YOU STOP CRYING?!

AAAWWHHHHUHUHUHUHUHHHHHHHHH....!!!

Oh, for fuck's sa--

_{[The feed jitters to a soundless halt around that point-- Godzilla hit a wrong button and muted the sound. However, as the minutes pass, it looks like Whitney's calming down-- consoled by her girlfriends and probably a (VERY) grudging effort on Heather's part. As this happens, the camera shifts around occasionally-- showing a battered-looking but serene Honey, an irate Arty licking at two big flat sections of her fur (during the battle, she was a Rollout Victim (tm)), and Cujo, as derpy as ever.]}

[And then, the sound comes back on-- what's this? Heather sounds even pissier than she was when Whitney was crying!]

-ok, I don't care if you have a really good hairstylist, I am not here for a haircut. I don't care that I have split ends and I don't care that my roots are showing. I am here because you won't give me my freakin' badge.

WELL. I just thought that I'd offer some advice because you clearly were raised in an environment where nobody taught you how to take care of your own personal hygie--

_{[Heather's voice is tinged with absolute disbelief.]} I am not-- I'm not even listening to this. This is bullshit.

You're friends with that girl with the gorgeous pigtails! How could you possibly be friends with her and still have such an atrocious haircu--

For friggin'-- MY HAIR IS NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS. Give. Me. The badge. Or I will--

_{[She pauses, probably looking over her shoulder-- quite a few of her friends showed up to watch and, being much better people that she is, several of them are probably giving her VERY MEANINGFUL GLANCES RIGHT ABOUT NOW. With a deep sigh, she evidently turns back to Whitney.]}

Okay. Look. I'm sorry that I'm a huge mean asshole with awful hair. Now, will you please give me the badge?

_{[Whitney brightens up visibly on the camera and completely ignores the badge request.]}

So you admit it? YAY! Anyway, like I was saying about my stylist, he's great with hopeless cases, and seriously, I don't think you'll be able to find anyone else who can handle your hopeless case, I mean, seriously, it's that hopeless, no offense or anything, it's not like it's your fault, and--

I'd go to your stylist... _{[Heather's voice is dangerously low.]} ... if I wanted to look like a tool.

<sub>[Whitney falls silent. Her expression is that of a well-meaning but tactless teenage girl who was only trying to help. The camera zooms in on her face slowly. Her eyes... are welling up with tears again.]



... oh motherf--</sub>



[TEXT to Phoenix and Snake, sent hastily as she's coming off the battlefield-- both are in the stands.]

Dave, Phoenix-- you guys okay with leaving tomorrow?

Im packed.




_{[OOC: Action for anyone who went to see Heather battle! She probably asked several of her closest friends if they'd like to come, considering she was about to leave Goldenrod for a spell.}
For the watchers, the battle was intense and fairly close, but Heather stuck it out in the end. Honey's Stun Spore was integral.]

_{[Well, they say that the holiday spirit shows up in the most unusual of places...]}

( On the first day of Christmas, my supervisor gave to me... )

_{[And with that little mind-screw out of the way, the supervisor Psycho Bitchmonster of Death turns away and skulks malevolently off down the aisle.]}

... well, that was surreal, but...


<sub>[LIKE HELL SHE'S GONNA STICK AROUND HERE! Goldenrod City, look out. Heather is gonna go out and appreciate some SNOW, dammit. Shoving the rest of the boxes hastily into what little space was left on the shelf, Heather climbs down from the ladder and just-- ... DASHES.]

[Tugging a Pokeball out of her pocket, she lets Cujo out (because she'd more or less been expressly forbidden from having him out with her while she worked, because apparently it was bad marketing for Growlithes to try and eat the toothpaste display, but at the same time, ever since the Glitch Incident, she wasn't too keen on leaving him in her room while she worked...).]

[As usual, the Growlithe instantly bounds alongside her, tongue flapping out of his mouth happily as he frolics. OH BOY, WHAT ARE WE GONNA DO TODAY.]</sub>

C'mon, Cooj, let's head to that Underground place-- I can finish grabbing gifts for people and we can get some of those hot candy chestnut things that are probably bad for you but that I let you have anyway because I'm a terrible own-- .... HEY! W- ... where're you going?!

_{[In the middle of listening raptly to Heather's barely-started monologue, Cujo had just... suddenly turned tail in a flurry of creamy fur and gone TEARING off in the opposite direction, leaving Heather with no audience except for his rapidly-disappearing hind end.]}

...


H-HEY! Get-- get BACK here, you mutt--!!

<sub>[SHIT SHIT SHIT IF HE DESTROYED SOMETHING SHE PROBABLY WOULDN'T BE GETTING THE DAY OFF ANYMORE BECAUSE SHE'D BE IN HUGE TROUBLE SHIT FUCK CRAP.]

[Cursing, Heather THROWS herself after the dog, narrowly dodging several customers and more than a few coworkers carrying heavy displays. A tallish construction worker is forced to do a near-pirouette just to avoid clocking her on the head with one of the ladders he's carrying. Heather shouts apologetically over her shoulder as she passes.]</sub>

SORRY, SHAWN.

_{[Cujo, meanwhile, is on a MISSION. For what? Heather has no idea. But SOMETHING. Because she's fairly sure she has NEVER seen him run with this kind of determination before, EVER. She's only just barely staying on his trail-- he's running too fast for her to catch up with. Occasionally she gets glimpses of him up ahead, but JEEZ is it hard to struggle through this crow-- ... wait. Wait. Oh shit, he's-- ... is he going for that guy with the--....?]}

Cooj, NO!

<sub>[Too late, the man carrying a large crate marked 'DELICATE CONTENTS' turns. Too late, the expression of abject horror appears on his face. Too late, he opens his mouth to cry out.]

[And then eighty pounds or so of excited dog careens into him, knocking him, several displays, and the contents of the crate all over the place.]

[Heather comes skidding to a halt in front of the wreckage, face frozen in a mildly horrified grimace.]

[MISTLETOE.]

[MISTLETOE EVERYWHERE.]

[And in the middle of the enormous pile that spilled out of the crate is Cujo, rolling around on his back and making loud snorfle noises, ears splayed out on either side of his head like dumb-looking little wings. His tail is casting sprigs of the spiky-leafed little plant everywhere with each enthusiastic wag.]</sub>

... Cujo.

_{[The Growlithe rolls over and looks up at Heather happily, tongue lolling out of his mouth. Like this picture except with mistletoe and a Growlithe.]}

Cujo-- you are-- you friggin'--



WHAT IS THAT RACKET OVER THERE!?


...S-shit!

_{[Heather urgently reaches down to grab the dog with some difficulty around his pudgy middle and haul him out of the pile.]}

We gotta get outta h-- ACK! Dammit, STOP! Cujo, STOP, you idiot! Come ON!

<sub>[Attempting to shove him back down and stop him from CLIMBING her to try and eat her hair in his spastic joy, Heather turned and ran from the scene of the crime, with a mistletoe-covered Cujo in tow.]

[... And if she'd taken a moment to stop and assess the situation better, she might have noticed that in the struggle, a fairly sizeable sprig of mistletoe was stuck right on top of her head.]

[Oops.]





[ooc: Heather will be running around town doing various Heather things like shopping for gifts, sticking it to the man, and frightening small children. Aaaand unless someone points it out to her... she's probably not gonna realize she's got the kissing equivalent of a 'KICK ME' sign. Feel free to encounter her anywhere in the city! Cujo will also be happy to dispense ~*~DOGGY KISSES~*~ to anyone too close to any of that mistletoe.]

[HAVE FUN.]</sub>

_{(she's in too much of a hurry to make the text private to any of the individuals she's searching for-- and it's not as if they're the only ones. They're just.... the most urgent. Most of her friends can take care of themselves, she knows, but... these two...)}


Harry, James WHERE ARE YOU???
please reply

and if your'e on the ground, get somewhere hihg up
DON'T TOUCH THIS STUFF

-Heather


<sub>[The typos? Not a result of a careless hand-- Heather's RUNNING while she texts that, and more than a little frantic. Spelling mistakes be damned!]

[With the weird, ringing rush of the advancing crystals roaring in her ears, getting herself to safety is both the first AND last thing on Heather's mind-- she wants to know what the hell is causing this, and how to STOP it, and whether or not some particular people are safe, but she can't do that from the ground unless she wants to wind up looking like a blue-raspberry popsicle person, which is not exactly Point 1 on her agenda. Arty was originally running with her (she didn't trust Cujo not to like... try and LICK it or something), but as the crystallization got thicker and thicker, Heather had wisely decided maybe her critters would be better off in their Pokeballs. Others have probably seen her dashing through the street, occasionally pausing to dispense with some helpful hollered advice or offer someone a hand out of a tight situation-- which..... uh. Which she's sort of in right now.]</sub>

F-- ... god damn it.

<sub>[Breathing heavily, Heather skids to a halt so fast that her boots left trails of dark rubber on the pavement. Maybe it would have been a better idea to go around the outskirts of the town rather than run right into the most heavily-hit edges, but she'd been hunting for a fire escape or-- SOMETHING to get up above the range above the rapidly-expanding mineral sea, and had ducked into a narrow little alley when she'd realized she'd gotten herself into a tight spot, with rivulets of the crystal trickling in on all sides of her.]

[Aaaaand what did she find in that ill-chosen escape route?]

[A dead end. And some trash cans. But mostly a dead end.]</sub>

... Well that's helpful.

_{[This was uttered in a hiss as she whipped around to look over her shoulder-- the blue gunk was already building up around the edges of the alley entrance and even starting to flow into it, blocking her way out. Well, Heather, this is what you get for charging into things without a plan... as usual...]}

Never again... god, is this Monday? Shit like this only ever happens on Mondays. I fucking hate Mondays.

_{[No Heather, it's Wednesday and you're talking to yourself again.]}

... Oh fuckfuckfuck--!

<sub>[Of course the crystal was starting to creep in after her. It wasn't enough to trap her in an alleyway, it had to come join the party. Muttering a steady stream of incredibly impolite words under her breath (and this time, she didn't care if Harry was somehow listening in, this was justified), Heather shoved the 'Gear in her hands into her back pocket and clambered up onto one of the trash cans, which wobbled dangerously-- ... until crystal started to creep up its base and helpfully fused it to the ground.]

[Great.]

[Panting, Heather looked around hastily. There had to be something she could use in here, had to, she'd been in more than one situation like this before... she'd gotten away from that awful advancing red mist in the Borley Haunted Mansion and that was much quicker than this! C'mon, c'mon..... AHA! A fire escape, jutting out from the side of one of the buildings she was trapped between. ...... Way too high up for her to jump to. .... Shit.]

[A thread of crystal made contact with the side of her boot with a hiss and she jerked it away with a barely-concealed yelp, hopping perilously to another one of the cans, arms thrown out on either side of her to keep balance.]

[Okay, there wasn't any TIME to ponder an escape route. She had to get to that fire escape and she had to get to it now. Heather gritted her teeth. Okay. It had been awhile since she'd done any of this. More than two months, actually. But-- ... screw that, it had to be kind of like riding a bike, right? She couldn't have lost her touch this soon.]

[The metal lid under her feet crackled as glassy diamond flowed over it and hardened.]</sub>

... Only one way to find out.

<sub>[Drawing in a quick breath, Heather leaped off the can and at the opposing brick wall, hoping to dear god that her boots had enough traction to pull this off.]

[WHUNK-THUD! Boot made contact, and then she shoved off-- YES!]



[Anyone who happened to be watching, either from the rooftops she was trying to get onto or somehow from the mouth of the alley, would be able to witness Heather literally scrambling up between two sheer (but narrowly placed) walls, shoving off of each and bouncing between them like a very gangly ping-pong ball. It wasn't too far a distance to the naked eye, but to someone actually trying to scale it, it was a different story-- her momentum had JUST about run out when she felt her fingers close around the rusty edge of the fire escape.]</sub>

YEAH! -- ... mph!

_{[Letting out a hoarse, barky laugh of triumph, Heather swung her legs and hauled herself onto the rickety contraption, chancing a glance behind her at the crystal that was pooling into the place she'd just been like molten lava. Cue a great big adrenaline-fueled grin.]}

HAH. You thought you had me, but NO. I am a wall-climbing CHAMPION.

You probably can't think, anyway. Because you're stupid. Blue is a STUPID color for lava to be. Stupid lava.

<sub>[And yes, she was giving it the finger. That really helps, Heather.]

[The giddiness faded after a second or two and then Heather hauled herself upright. Okay. Srs bsns time now. With a resounding clank-clank-clank, she made her way up the fire escape. As soon as her feet were on solid brick up there, she'd get her bearings. Could see a lot more from up there, anyway.]

[Time for some rooftop hopping. Anyone else up there?]</sub>

_{[SUNLIGHT! Sweet, blessed sunlight! Not a cloud to be seen! And what was once waist-deep water is... puddles! Yeah, fuckin' puddles! This is awesome! The sky is the first thing that the screen shows as Heather practically EXPLODES out the Pokemon Center's doors. She can't leave town quite yet-- there's still some stuff she needs to do and, well, frankly, her Pokemon haven't trained in more than a WEEK so they could stand a little more leveling up before she goes ANYWHERE, but... STILL! FREEDOM! NO MORE STUFFY NURSES! NO MORE GETTING YELLED AT FOR BUILDING FORTS/STARTING FIGHTS/USING EQUIPMENT THE WAY IT'S NOT SUPPOSED TO BE USED PUT THAT DOWN IMMEDIATELY!]}

YEAH!!

I am NEVER SETTING FOOT IN THAT BUILDING AGAIN.

EVER.

<sub>[Swiveling around, the camera shows Heather's face-- she's grinning like a fiend and looks a whole lot less miserable than the last time she actually made any transmissions. Headaches and fevers kind of blew and she'd spent most of the week curled up in a chair with blankets and tea, feeling too restless to enjoy the stay in the crowded Center but too sick to brave the flooding and find somewhere else to stay.]

[Barking can be heard-- Cujo is running in circles in the mud, accompanied by his compatriots, plus a small Poliwag, and minus a Magikarp. Heather finally gave in and put that thing in its ball.]</sub>

Heather Mason is back in action! Along with her troops-- _{[The camera shakes.]}. ... okay never mind they're running around too much for me to focus on them, but-- yeah um. .... _{[Back to her face.]}

YEAH!

So, uh-- Liquid! I'm comin' to meet you if you can get out of the Tower-- _{[She doesn't know about the GIANT PLANT OF DEATH yet.]}-- and I expect you to remember what we talked about and keep that promise. It's VERY IMPORTANT. _{[SERIOUS EXPRESSION.]}

Other than that, gonna go run around in the wilderness!

SEE YA.

<sub>[End transmission.]




[OOC: Feel free to action if your character is in Violet City or its surrounding wilderness, or wants to run into Heather outside Sprout Tower later.]</sub>

_{[The entry is dated as having been sent out the previous evening, roughly when she said she'd be reporting back to begin with.]}

[Despite Heather's best efforts, her Pokegear got pretty wet in the adventure, so video and voice is out.]


[There's nothing in the transmission but a picture:
Heather, along with three others-- Kay, Luke, and Rhode-- all of them looking wet (three guesses as to where THEY were for the past few hours!), exhausted, and bedraggled, but nonetheless relieved, are among the milling crowd in Violet City's brightly-lit Pokemon Center, which as expected has been packed to the brim with relief efforts and people seeking shelter. Heather has a towel around her shoulders and is presumably holding up the Pokegear to snap the photo. She's wearing a weary grin and doing the classic thumbs-up gesture with her free hand.]

[Along with the photo, there's a caption:]

_{[So someone used about five rounds' worth of Sweet Scent, apparently (this event and its epic consequences were posted in the log comm), and it resulted in, among other things, a FLOOD OF SENTRETS filling Route 29. And how is ol' Heather dealing with this sudden disruption of her gloomy-ass day?]}

"ARGH--FFCKGJHS!! Ffftpp! GEDDOWN!"

<sub>[The screen shows rapidly-passing scenery of the more uphill portions of Route 29. Over logs and rocks, around trees, splattering rain, and not to mention the poor Pokegear and its owner are repeatedly getting thwapped by leafy branches. Every so often, a fleeting glimpse of a stripy Sentret butt can be seen, skittering at full-tilt ahead of Heather.

Sound-wise? A whole lot of barking (from somewhere behind) and audible keyboard-spasm noises from Heather herself every time she smacks into a branch.

The people in charge of this whole game want her to catch a Pokemon? Fine. She's gonna catch a Pokemon.



The poor Pokegear finally falls out of whatever pocket it was dangling from and hits the ground, mud obscuring part of the screen.

Sounds of a struggle, and then, from over the edge of a small ridge, Heather straightens up triumphantly, a Pokeball clutched in her fist. She's covered in mud and appears to have a bloody nose.]</sub>



"HA!"




<sub>[And then she immediately disappears from view again, apparently worn out from the effort it took to apparently wrestle the Sentret into a ball by herself. Apparently siccing her Pokemon on wild ones is too much effort for Heather. Or she's just a stupid kid. Either or.

Snuffling sounds are heard, and a very happy mud-covered Growlithe face appears on the screen.

The rest of the transmission is just a big sloppy pink tongue licking the screen for five minutes until the moisture from the mud and rain makes the Pokegear fizzle out.]</sub>