[TEXT]-- locked to Otacon, Kaito, Rise, Snake, Phoenix, and Cybil-- (who Heather doesn't realize is gone yet oops)]

Hey, if you're there, answer ASAP

It's important.



[VIDEO]


<sub>[Dad's here.]


[Dad's here.]


[Dad is here and it's for real.]

[Heather knows because she went to sleep that night after talking what felt like forever-- almost positive that in the morning she'd wake up and that video message would be gone entirely, just a figment cooked up from her tired, bug-fried imagination and a whole lot of wishful thinking-- ... but nope. There it was.]

[Which of course meant that there was still a distinct possibility that she'd just gone CRAZY.]

[But hey. One good way to find out if THAT was true or not: Post stupid Pokemon videos to the network! If reality had indeed warped, maybe the responses she'd get would all be from Lovecraftian monstrosities and Picasso paintings instead of the fine people of Johto.]</sub>


Haha, oh my god, you guys. Look at this.


<sub>[The feed shakily settles on an intense drama unfolding on the floor of Heather's room.]

[The little surprise-Eevee who hatched on April Fool's Day is lying on her back on the floor, just waving her tiny, stubby legs and occasionally rolling back and forth fruitlessly-- her enormous, completely-floppy ears puddled on the floor on either side of her, apparently heavy enough to prevent her from rolling over and getting to her feet entirely. She's not making any complaining sounds, or even looking particularly distressed. Just... quietly flailing and tipping back and forth.]

[When the camera turns on, it's with Godzilla the Totodile approaching. Maybe to help her up?]

[... Nope.]</sub>



I think he's jealous because this thing's been getting way more attention than him-- ohp-- look at that. He's jeaaalous!

_{[The little crocodile Pokemon had turned to face the screen, reptilian lips pouched in an angry pout.]}

Sorry, 'Zilla. I call it like I see it. You-- no, don't you shake your head at me. You're practically turnin' green right now.

Keep this up and you'll look like a normal alliga-- hey, where're you going?

_{[The camera shifts to follow Zilla as he waddles angrily off to the other side of the room to sulk underneath the bed. Heather calls after him.]}


Y'know your face will stick like that if you leave it too long!


Hahah....






.....



... He's probably gonna eat all my pants.

<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.