[TEXT-- PUBLIC]

General announcement here


I don't really know what kinds of contacts Dad kept here but for anyone who knew him, Harry Mason is gone. His stuff was mostly left to me and one other person so I guess that's really all there is to say about it.

Later.

-Heather


[ACTION-- MAHOGANY TOWN]



<sub>[Heather's always mostly let her Pokemon run free-- or at least the more reliable ones-- when the gang is bunkered down at a hotel somewhere. After all, not everybody gets to come along when they're between cities, so time spent outside of the box by default takes place mostly within walking distance of a Pokemon Center.]

[Today there can be a small cluster of Pokemon seen by the entrance of the Mahogany Inn. A Manectric, unusually subdued for anyone who knows her, gently licking the head of a Pikachu. The electric mouse has a slightly crumpled sheet of paper in her paws, and behind her, a Noctowl shelters a small, rotund Hoothoot with one wing while peering over the Pikachu's shoulder.]

[While it's little more than coos and soft canine whuffles to most ears, any Pokemon or person with a sensitive ear can probably pick up the quiet muttering coming from the group.]</sub>

It's okay, Hazel. My trainer went away too but New Trainer always takes good care of me. She even shares her lunches.

I-I know...

Just think though, now we can play all the time. I know we're sad, but that will be fun, right?

Now is not the time to be talking about playing, Tricia. Have some tact.


Okay, okay...


W-... where is Mr. Trainer's daughter, a-anyway? She just left after seeing the letter...

Up on the roof. Sunny is with her, so she will be fine... Probably. Come, we should go collect the others. She... will come down when she's ready.






[Tricia the Manectric, Hazel the Pikachu, Claudy the Noctowl]

<sub>[The Noctowl's exasperation and general disapproval pretty much radiates off the screen.]

[It's a nice day in one of the small parks that are scattered on the outskirts of Mahogany (before it turns into forested, mountainous terrain, anyway), and this video broadcast from the 'Gear of one Heather Mason is showing a pair of Murkrow out to corrupt an innocent young Eevee. ... Or, you know, they just want to play and Claudy is living up to her reputation by being an old bag and not letting them. Could be either. Or both.]

[There's a lot of bright glinting going on, though-- which can be attributed to the shimmery pink Murkrow next to Wren. She's a newer addition to the team, apparently.]

[And the inter-generational bird drama unfolding on the screen seems to be a backdrop to why Heater's really filming, given that her voice cuts in with a question entirely unrelated to what's going on.]</sub>

So hey guys, been awhile since I posted anything, n'I've been feeling kinda sappy and nostalgic and crap.

I know there aren't too many people around anymore who got here when I did, but pretty sure unless you got here last week, we've all had at least one person go poof on us.

So, uh, let's have this be a thing where you tell me something about someone you knew who isn't here anymore. Bonus points for funny. Or you could like... I dunno. Talk about a Pokemon they left you or something.

_{[The camera lingers briefly over the pink Murkrow, who is happily chattering away at the Noctowl, oblivious to the fact that she's being filmed. ... Maybe the request isn't so unrelated, after all.]}

<sub>[So something happened that morning. Something ... owly.]

[What, exactly, do you do when you suddenly find yourself in possession of way more fluffy spherical owls than anyone would know what to do with?]

[... TRY AND MAKE SOME MONEY OFF OF THEM, OF COURSE!]

[Anyone in Olivine City, whether they've settled down with a house or are just staying there temporarily, may witness a rather odd sight on this sunny Saturday afternoon.]

[A teenage girl and a scruffy twenty-something man, toting bold-printed signs and... what seems to be a large red wagon full of Hoothoots]

[Behind them, a rambunctious oversized Growlithe, and-- a little further back-- a middle-aged fellow in a brown coat (despite the summer heat), toting a Togepi and a Pichu and keeping his distance, because it's totally uncool for a parent to walk right next to the kids while they're trick-or-treating (although either he or one of the Pokemon would seem to be filming them surreptitiously with the 'Gear on and off, judging by the snippets of Hoothoot Sale Adventures occasionally popping up on the network).]

[... Or in this case, being the best little owl salesmen ever. Even if Henry doesn't particularly look like he wants to be there. Still, the little parade almost looks like it needs some kind of ridiculous owl-selling theme music.]

[Throughout the day, if anyone has a residence in Olivine, they may have THIS show up on their doorstep:]


[... And the girl will glance over at her companion, see that he's not planning on speaking up, and then clear her throat loudly.]</sub>

HEY there, good sir and-or madam!

Would you like to buy an owl?




[ooc: Anyone over the network is free to purchase their own adorable roly-poly spherical owl for 500P! It's assumed that any left will be sold to people here and there in Olivine. Except for the derpiest two. Heather has special recipients in mind for those.]

  
_{[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>[There's a whole lot of jostling noises before the 'Gear, turned on in the hubbub, tumbles out of a small pile of clothes and lands on the bed, showing a jumble of items and ... general junk that Heather's allowed to accumulate in the hotel room.]

[There's a few crumpled paychecks, unfolded clothing, spare Potions and Pokeballs, and more than a few of the Christmas gifts that she'd gotten from her friends (all the candies and sweets, however, are long gone. Because if Heather didn't eat them, Honey the Butterfree was more than happy to pick up the slack.)]

[Is she... doing some early spring cleaning or what?]</sub>

Where-- ... is it? Dammit...

_{[Her voice, though slightly muffled on account of a small Girafarig plush pressed against the 'Gear's speakers, is clearly audible from somewhere off-camera. There's some sounds of stuff being shuffled or thrown about.]}

I swore I just put it d-- NO, Cujo, don't touch that! I said NO. Leave it alo-- good boy.

Okay, now where is that-- AHA.

_{[The 'Gear is plucked up out of the pile of odds and ends and the camera shows Heather's face briefly. She frowns a little bit at the sight of the red 'recording' light, but shrugs a little bit and lets her arm fall slack, giving everyone a nice, motion-blurred view of her jean leg. She seems a little harried-- too busy to care enough to turn it off.]}

Okay, I think that's just about everything-- Zilla, take that out of your mouth or I'll drop-kick you and you'll choke on it. Just gotta-- _{[Rummaging sounds.]}-- find a way to fit everything in... _{[Wait a moment, is she... packing? Since when was Heather leaving Goldenrod??]}

I think with the new bag, I should be able to-- ....


... CLAUDY. Get OUT of-- ....Claudy, NO-- aw, hell. Claudy...

<sub>[... There's a brief, resigned pause, and then Heather brings up the 'Gear to eye-level to show the network just what it is she's looking at.]

[Anybody remember Claudy's oh-so-endearing choice of habitat back when she was a cute little Hoothoot who could fit into small spaces? Anybody remember how that adorable (and very inconvenient) habit had disappeared once she had evolved into something as tall as Heather's torso? Juudai, remember how you gave her that great big RK9 sports bag for Christmas?]</sub>

_{[When the camera comes on, Heather is looking half-asleep, and very confused. It's daybreak and the sky is still pale overhead.]}

Uh.... Hey, Rise? If you get this, I got a question for ya...

<sub>[Because Rise is her buddy and she's the first person Heather remembers actually hatching something.]

[The camera turns to show a very strange object sitting at the foot of Heather's sleeping bag:]</sub>


This was... totally just... there when I woke up this morning. It definitely wasn't there last night. I haven't seen one like it before, either... I thought maybe Claudy laid it or something, but it's like... bigger than she is.

_{[Heather isn't the only one confused by the egg's presence, either-- the infamous Hoothoot, not hiding in Heather's pack like normal at the moment, is curiously investigating the egg and doing what appears to be a mildly-alarmed dance involving a lot of head-bobbing and moving from foot to foot (but minus the shitty music). The egg is, indeed, bigger than she is.]}

Any clue what it is?

... Or how it got here?