sunpendant | Four | Video/Action for Goldenrod

Four | Video/Action for Goldenrod

[Action]

[Originally, Raven planned her trip to Goldenrod to take longer. It started out that way. She wanted to take in the sights, so to speak, now that winter wasn’t trying to kill her and there might be more monsters about. Then that announcement came over the gear and things changed. Anyone along the Sudowoodo Area would have seen her storming toward Goldenrod at a pace that took effort to maintain, feeling under the weather as she is. A worried Swablu chirps atop her head for most of the way.

And now she’s here. The big city. She was supposed to tell Ondorus when she was coming, but she’s too wrapped up in finding…something. Information? The person who would do terrible things like that? Oh, she’d love the second one.

She succeeds in neither, managing only to wind up hopelessly lost on the streets that circle the department store. It’s a tall building and a nice landmark…unless you have no idea where to go from there. He wasn’t kidding when he said it was like nothing he’d ever seen before, was he?]

[Video]

How do I get to the “breeding center” from here? [Raven’s face and the top of the tower are in camera view. She looks irritated and pale and tired.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Yeah. I think so.

...I'll be about...twenty minutes. Wait there.

[he will try his goddamn hardest to not get lost...]

Just tell me how to get there and I'll walk.

[None of this fussing around business. She has important things to find out about.]

It's...do you have a map of the city on hand?

I have a map of this country.

[Unless the gear can produce her a city map.]

Does the store have one?

It...might.

[....wow this is pathetic]

If they don't, ask someone at the counter for directions to the Pokemon Center. They'll have maps there.

[It's not pathetic at all, Raven is the model of self-sufficiency! There's a lag in her response.]

I have a map. ...It's on here?

It should be. "Breeding center and foster home".

Oh. [Give her a bit] Mmh. It's right there.

[But she will get lost again and Hayate is probably going to end up bringing her there.]

[aaand ondorus will be hanging around in the lobby when she comes in. he's off shift, but obviously wasn't going to head home before she showed up.]

[She still looks tired. The first thing she notices is the lack of horn, but why bring attention to it? Instead, she pulls out her gear and approaches him, clearly thinking there's a more important matter at hand than her comfort levels.]

Did you see this?

Welcome, Raven. [he says as he stands up, with a smile. But - now she's showing him something? What is-

....

His face darkens as he recognizes the content of the post.]

Yes.

[...might this have something to do with her rapid travel to Goldenrod...?]

How do I find them?

[For a moment he just blinks.

And then his expression shifts again, into something worried and uncomfortable.]

Team Rocket is far too dangerous for anyone but the most powerful of Pokemon and their trainers to confront, especially the individual who committed this villainy. That aside, I haven't the first clue where that video was taken.

I don't care. They can't stay in those cages and he's hurting them.

He would kill you and nothing would be gained. [Yes, he knows, it's completely awful.]

[You know, she kinda liked you, Ondorus, until you started unilaterally shooting her down like this.]

You should care. You're a monster, too.

[whooaaa whoa whoa whoa why is their first meeting going like thiiis]

I care more than I could reasonably express. But neither I nor the Pokemon I rely on are strong enough yet to face down a member of Team Rocket on our own.

[Ondorus isn't getting visibly riled up, but he looks a little hurt at the accusation.]

They're not just one person with a twisted agenda. They're an army, and they hide away in fortresses. To even begin to impede them takes planning and coordination and far more strength and skill than you or I possess.

[Raven is about to argue back when drowsy but insistent chirping pipes in from her left shoulder. Melody was obscured by the hair until now; she flaps her cotton wings enough to hover in the air around Raven's face, obviously scolding her like a nestling.

Well, it's obvious when one is a bird, anyway. They may not speak each other's language, but the message is pretty clear. Raven's shoulders slump.

Of course he wouldn't understand why it's so important to her. It's not like he knows.]

Fine.

[...nggh. That's not how that was supposed to go.]

I'm sorry.

[The mood is wrecked. It's clearly up to a Xatu to salvage it. Olivia comes trotting in from another room, oblivious to what just transpired. She coos to herself and looks in Ondorus' direction - then she slows down as she notices Raven, and tucks her wings in against her chest in a proper posture.]

Good afternoon, welcome! You're Raven and Melody, aren't you?

[...wait, something is off about the atmosphere in here...]

[Something is definitely off. It's one thing if Ondorus has no idea how to find "Team Rocket", or someone with them who knows about this despicable behavior. It's another thing entirely to imply that he does know and doesn't think it would be wise to tell her.

She's stewing. Breathing hard, too. When she addresses the new greenish bird it's sharp.]

Hey.

[Melody is much more polite and will make their introductions for them.]

[Olivia looks slightly affronted at Raven's tone, trying to brush it off by ruffling her wings a little. She shuffles her feet and listens to Melody, glancing at Raven a few times.]

You know, I didn't think you'd get here so early. You're coming to the house, right? I might go back. [She looks over at Ondorus, who is very determinedly staying quiet and mulling something over.] Ondorus? Oh, what happened? The Xatu looks back at Raven and Melody, "sounding" a little displeased.]

It's not important. [This is so very obviously a lie. Raven shakes her head like that makes it less noticeable, shifting a little from foot to foot.]

I thought you lived here.

The Center and the boarding house don't occupy the same building. It's a short walk away. [Meanwhile, Olivia looks a little poofy with barely-restrained indignation, though she's not going to say anything outright. What a questionable individual you are, Raven...she's got her eye on you.]

[Olivia is in luck! Raven speaks bird. She holds her gear screen toward the Xatu instead, looking sincere.]

I want to help them.

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