Video 6: Show Me the Way to Go Home (Action for Azalea)

[justanexpression]

[Jack turns the feed on but doesn’t say anything right away, preoccupied with settling the pokemon he’s surrounded by this time. A Togepi sits in his lap, with a Meowth curled into a ball against his leg on one side, and a Buneary and Smeargle snuggled together on the other. All four of them look positively depressed and Jack, for once, doesn’t seem much better.

Spot the Swablu is on Jack’s shoulder as usual, doing her best to groom him all better and looking somewhat distressed herself that it’s not working.]

So... these guys showed up yesterday. I never actually got to meet them in person before, but the names are all right, and they seem to recognize me...

[The Meowth glances up when he pets her head but then returns to her ball.]

I guess this means they’re both really gone, now? That’s usually what it means when your friends’ pokemon suddenly show up in your computer, right?

[He runs a hand through his hair, accidentally undoing Spot’s work and making her whistle in frustration before pecking his fingers out of the way to start over. It gets him to smile, at least.]

Have you ever been surprised that you ended up missing someone you never thought you would?

Comments

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[justanexpression]

Easter is Bunny's holiday. It's a pretty big deal for him. He'd have been the best person to ask about it, but it's usually early enough in the spring that I can be there for it, too, so I know most of it.

[Some people mind, some people don't, and sometimes it's hard to tell the difference right away. Always better safe than sorry.]

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[medinin]

If you're willing to talk about it, I wouldn't mind hearing about it.

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[justanexpression]

[If this is trying to get his mind off things... it's working, and he appreciates it.

Even the various pokemon seem to perk up a bit at the promise of storytime.]

Yeah, I don't mind. Not sure where to start, though. It's one of the major mythic holidays where I'm from.

...Actually, it's a good thing Bunny's not here to hear me say that. I'd never live it down.

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[medinin]

"Mythic holidays"?

I'm not sure why you wouldn't live saying that down, but...

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[justanexpression]

...Right. Still hard to remember not everyplace has those. Where I'm from, there's myths. Like me, and Bunny, and Tooth. And sometimes myths are in charge of holidays, like Bunny with Easter and North, that's Santa Claus, with Christmas.

[Or the Groundhog, but... well, who could mention him with a straight face?]

And it's because there's this big feud between Christmas and Easter, right? About which one is more important? Even calling Easter a major holiday would make Bunny think he won.

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[medinin]

So you're...a story?

[ That's what a Myth is, right? Most of those holidays and names don't mean anything to her, really. Nor does the feud.

Though as far as feuds go, it sounds pretty peaceable. ]

So you actually think Christmas is a bigger deal?

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[justanexpression]

Well... sort of. [He glances away from the screen, tiny smile a bit wry, before he continues.] Obviously we're real, but to the kids we help, we're just stories, yeah. Like fairy tales.

[He shrugs for the rest.] Well, yeah, Christmas is a lot bigger. Don't get me wrong, Easter can be fun, but no kid is gonna pick hunting eggs over getting presents.

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[medinin]

So where you come from, stories aren't just stories.

[ Interesting. ]

...Haha, well, that's true enough. Though thinking about it, I expect hunting eggs might go over well at home. [ Because training applications. ]

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[justanexpression]

Some of them, anyway.

[His expression is curious as he tilts his head.] Why's that?

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[medinin]

It'd probably be easy to sell as training.

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[justanexpression]

...What kind of training do you get out of hunting eggs?

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[medinin]

If they're well-hidden, tracking skills, I'd think.

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[justanexpression]

[He hadn't thought of that, but now that he is...]

They can all run on their own until he tells 'em to stop and get ready, too, so that'd probably be even better.

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[medinin]

That would definitely be better. ...Actually, it's kind of exciting to think about.

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[justanexpression]

They're usually pretty colorful, too. I wonder if he could do... I don't know, camouflaged ones or something.

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[medinin]

That would definitely make it more of a challenge, if so! Though moving eggs already sounds pretty amazing, honestly.