Okay-- OKAY, OKAY, hang on, I got it!

All right, get back.

<sub>[The sound of big reptilian feet plodding backwards through wet sand can be heard as the camera shows a wobbly view of.... Sunny the Togekiss standing on an appropriately sunny Cianwood beach. The water's lapping at the shore, the sky is bright blue, it's totally beautiful.]

[A PERFECT day to test out the new, hard-earned skill gotten from beating Chuck in a furious fist-fight (and some obligatory after-battle arm-wrestling): Fly.]

[Perched precariously on the back of the big white marshmallow-bird is Heather, kneeling and holding onto the thick white plumage with both hands. She's got a determined expression.]</sub>

Okay. Let's give it a try. I-- no, Dad, it's gonna be FINE, that's why I'm practicing on the BEACH, remember? Sand is soft!

OKAY.

Ready, girl?

Let's-- oh shit aw HELL--

<sub>[With some gentle but powerful WHOMPS, the Togekiss had begun to serenely flap its pillowy wings and take off. ... Without Heather, because Heather has no idea how the hell to ride a flying thing and was promptly jostled off by the wing motion.]

[Touching down again, Sunny trills and lovingly sits upon the face-down Heather like any caring bird mother might with a stupid bird baby that crash-landed after trying to fly.]</sub>

... Okay.

This could take a little practice.

Hey, 'Zilla, you got the 'Gear?

This stuff NEEDS to be documented.

<sub>[That's the first thing that can be heard over the feed. When the camera first comes on, a pair of large, familiar reptilian red eyes are blinking down at it. Is it recording...? Oh, okay, recording! Good.]

[Then it zooms out a little, enough to show-- HEY! That's not the Totodile that last hijacked the 'Gear!]

[With newly black-rimmed eyes, a proud red crest, and a new ultra-manly thickened jaw, it would seem that the bratty little Totodile who'd last been seen moping on the network over whether or not he was a good Pokemon... had finally evolved, after a whole year of wanting to stay 'the baby' of the gang. What prompted his choice to finally start growing up?]

[Well, that's a story that'll have to wait till later, because he lets out a satisfied snort at the sight of the red recording light, and then turns it away from himself-- only for the screen to IMMEDIATELY be filled with a grotesquely-detailed rubber Mightyena mask, snarling and sporting a wild mane of black hair over the top!]</sub>

RAAAARRLLGGHHBLAAARG!

<sub>[... Oh wait. The black hair is just Heather.]

[She yanks the mask off, grinning widely.]</sub>

I can't even handle all these epically cheesy costumes, man. Some things really ARE universal.

<sub>[The camera shifts a little-- it's from a much higher vantage-point than normal now, considering all the previous times the camera-croc's been the one filming, it's been from a vantage point on the FLOOR unless he was able to persuade Honey the Butterfree to carry him-- and it becomes apparent that they're in a costume store. There's rack after rack of jumbled costumes everywhere-- looks like it's already been pretty thoroughly ransacked by local kids, but there's still plenty of stuff left. It's just... everywhere.]

[Hanging the mask back up, Heather bends down to start picking through the other odds and ends, which range from cheesy and cheap-looking to actually fairly interesting.]</sub>

Maybe this time around, we'll actually get to ENJOY the holiday instead of spend the whole time running away from rips in the fabric of space and time...



_{[OOC: Action for anybody in Ecruteak, obviously! Feel free to assume your character is already in the shop, Heather will gladly harass them to try on stupid costume crap with her. Also feel free to address the camera-croc.]}

<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.]

<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>[The feed blips on and jostles around a bit before centering on Heather's face. It's bright-- the sun's already beating down full-force and it's obvious even from the video that it's hot as heck. She's not wearing her vest, just the sleeveless orange half-shirt thing that she found in her backpack. She wears that kind of stuff all the time so it was less offensive to her tomboy mentality than the ridiculous buttshorts.]

[She... is grinning like a fiend, positively glowing with enthusiasm. Some safety glasses she must have found somewhere in the back of the Center are perched on her hair, and she seems to have some kind of rope coiled around her arm. It seems that whatever she couldn't find for sale in the Pokemart, she liberated from a janitorial closet somewhere in the Center. Heather's kind of an opportunist.]

[She raises her hand-- it's wearing one of those goofy pink rubber gloves included in everyone's backpack. ... She kind of looks like a mad scientist of the 'middleschool science class lab' variety. She has to work with what she's got.]</sub>

Hello, ladies and gentlemen!

Today I am going to perform an experiment. I'm sure a lot of you know about that big Beedrill swarm on Route Whatever. I figure none of us wanna get stuck here in Cherrygrove for yet another week, so I'm gonna try science.

_{[The screen angles downwards-- next to her feet, there's a couple of very fishy-looking containers. Bleach, some kind of ammonia-based... something or other, and a plastic bucket with a lid. And rope. A lot of rope.]}

As you all can see, I've gathered a few everyday, household items. If any of you out there were like me as kids, you realized that the contents of the cupboard under the sink had the destructive capacity of ... uh, something really destructive. ... And if you were anything like me, that cupboard spent most of its time locked to keep you away from it.

_{[There's a pause...and then the camera angles back up onto Heather's face again.]}

Anyway! In past experiences, I've used all this crap to make emergency insecticide. Now, I'm pretty sure these things can't die.... but at the very least, this stuff should be enough to pack a punch. So.

_{[She slips the glasses down over her eyes and gives a big thumbs-up to the camera.]}

See you in the aftermath!

.... OH! Oh man, wait, one last thing.

_{[The screen angles back downwards. To show off her BITCHIN' SWEET BLUE BIRDCATCHER PANTS THAT SHE STOLE WON FROM VAATI.]} Aw yeah! I have pants now. I can do anything.

This is gonna be awesome.