SEVENTH RIDE ✦ VIDEO

[diamondo]

[Guess who woke up inside the Team Rocket base today? Guess who's apparently been gone for at least a month? And guess who's currently staring at the camera like it's the source of all his problems?

If you guessed Mondo then congratulations!]

Okay, what the hell happened? Apparently I can't even go to fucking sleep without something stupid going down. Did I get sent home?

[He rests his elbow on his knee and then places his chin on his hand. It's apparent that Mondo is still in the base - to those who recognize the base, that is - and it looks like he only just got up. Somehow or other his hair is completely unaffected. Don't question it.]

I don't really give a fuck either way, but I've got a major problem.

[He reaches out offscreen to grab something that makes a high-pitched shrieking sound. It's revealed to be a Scraggy who is trying vainly to get Mondo to let go. Those of you who know the biker gang leader might remember that he had a really bitchy Scrafty at one point. ...Yeah.]

Ryder's de-evolved. Unevolved? What-the-fuck-ever. She's not a Scrafty anymore. And she's fucking level thirty. She was level 100 last time I checked! Does this shit happen here? I've never heard of it happening. So what the fuck's going on?

[He finally lets her go and she scurries offscreen. Mondo resettles and while he still looks annoyed, his tone is at least a bit more conversational.]

...So what did I miss anyway?

Comments

[ardent]

[...oh my god.

It takes Ishimaru a moment to form a thought that...well, isn't "oh my god", plain and simple. He stares at the device, playing and replaying the message he's been staring at like he's pretty sure there's something wrong with it; it takes him perhaps a bit too long to realize that he should reply to it, that he should say something, and after a moment of surging forward so abruptly to do that that he nearly manages to drop the device he manages to get the video function turned on.

He seems far more alive than he did when Mondo left this place; his gaze is more focused, and he looks...a bit less tired, anyway. Like he's actually been handling himself. It's more the result of Naegi handling him, but let's not split hairs right now.]

Kyoudai?

[He still seems vaguely unsure of what's going on; at the same time, at least he's addressing the device properly.]

You got sent home. A while ago - a few weeks.

[...]

A-At any rate, it's good to see you back here!

[There we go.]

[diamondo]

Ah, hey, kyoudai!

[And just like that, the anger melts away like butter and Mondo's grinning at the device as though he wasn't previously about to cuss out everyone in the entire region for... whatever the hell happened.

...Someone's going to have to tell him eventually that those moodswings are creepy as hell.]

Oh shit, so that's what happened? I don't remember going home though. How the fuck does that work? And why didn't I just get knocked out like you did?

[He seems more curious than angry, however, and his position relaxes as he shrugs the questions off. He doesn't expect Ishimaru to have any answers either.]

It's good to see you too! ...Even though it's been like, a fucking day since I last saw you, but you know what I mean.

...locked from here out

[ardent]

[It's good of him to shrug off those questions, really, because otherwise Ishimaru would just kind of...stress about not having the answers. Because that's what he does more often than not, and he doesn't need the stress right now.

However, for the time being, just let him lock the conversation down because wow, um.]

...Did you wake up in Goldenrod again?

[diamondo]

[Mondo takes note of the locking, but he doesn't bother to question it. It's made plain just what Ishimaru is asking anyway.]

Yeah. Same room I originally woke up in and everything. ...Well, I think it's the same room, but maybe these rooms all look similar...

[...herp.]

Well, that's not really important. Where are you? Still at the house?

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[superordinary]

[ ...Oh lord. Naegi starts up a video response the second he finishes watching Mondo's post, not bothering to adjust the awkward angle of the camera because he's that much in a hurry. He's smiling from ear to ear and it's clear as day how happy he is to see his classmate again. ]

Oowada-kun! Welcome back! Um, you've missed about a month.

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[diamondo]

Hey, Naegi!

[Mondo calms down almost immediately, giving his classmate a grin and relaxing back against the wall, shoving his hands in his pockets.]

...A month, huh? Anything interesting happen while I was gone?

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[superordinary]

Um, a bunch of Bloobers showed up last month -- apparently they're some sort of unidentified Pokémon? The Pokédex didn't have any information on them at all and the locals didn't seem to know anything about them either. They're really slimy and kind of resemble slugs.

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[diamondo]

...Bloobers?

[That sounds kind of familiar. Is it from a video game?]

What do they look like? Are they any good at battling?

[konpeitoqueen]

Big Bro Oowada, you're back!

[Have a cute little loli smile at you. Aw, how sweet, Saionji-]

I thought you were dead!

[SAIONJI]

[diamondo]

[SAIONJI]

No, I'm definitely not dead...

[What does he even do with that...]

[konpeitoqueen]

Well, yeah, I can see that.

[Though, Oowada coming back so fast might mean... Big Bro Hinata might come back soon?] I heard people sometimes leave for a long, long time, though. So it's basically a M.I.A. forever, which isn't that far from death.

Do you see anyone else who arrived?

[diamondo]

...Ah, yeah, that's... a pretty good point...

[He shakes it off though, shrugging a bit at Saionji's question.]

Nah, but I haven't really looked around yet. Did anyone else go missing while I was out?

[video]

[rarestcandy]

[The call is coming from...inside the base!

CUE CREEPY HORROR MUSIC. Or, you know, not. Because it's just a tiny girl.]

Try coming back to one of your pokemon being level five, guy. [The Zubat chirrups, clearly embarrassed, and tangles herself even more into Vanellope's hair.] An' Wheelie and Licorice just poofed into the void.

[video]

[diamondo]

Ah, shi-- seriously?

[WHOA THAT'S A KID let's try not cussing in front of the kid even though he said "fuck" a few too many times on the post, that's not important.]

So you lost yours too? That sucks. I mean, you can catch others like 'em, but they'll never be the same. Oh, but I think I heard that someone found their Pokémon in the Breeding Center once, so who knows, maybe they ended up there?

[video]

[rarestcandy]

[They certainly weren't the expletives she was used to -- not sugar-based or an annoying bleepblurp -- but she was onto you, man.]

Breeding Center, huh? [She'd seen the building... But Vanellope had never actually set foot inside of it. She should probably do that, this time around. It was a place that the "good guys" went to, right?] Maybe. Though I guess I wouldn't mind so much if Wheelie wasn't there. He was kinda a Lemon Head, y'get me? Real sour -- like super, mega sour. Mountain of sour.

Booger Bat's the one I'd be worried about, if she weren't around.

[video]

[diamondo]

[...what interesting names...]

Well, if you really like the species you can always catch another one. But yeah, check the Breeding Center and see if they got hold of any of yours from last time! I should probably do that too... Oh, and if you were friends with anyone here last time they might've gotten your Pokémon!

twerks in here

[shslasshat]

[GUESS WHO MANAGED TO BEAT YOUR ASS BACK HERE BY A COUPLE WEEKS. Togami was here, Oowada is a loser.

Oh, well good, his starter wasn't the only one who got bumped down. ...not that he's going to admit that.]

It appears as though your true ineptitude is showing at last. I hadn't thought it possible to mismanage one of these creatures so poorly that they revert to a previous biological state, but then I shouldn't be surprised that you've managed to sink to a new low.

[He's not in a good mood lately, don't mind him.]

And just what rock did you happen to crawl out from underneath this time?

GET OUT

[diamondo]

[Oh great, just who he wanted to see some asshole with a really punchable face. You're lucky he's still in the Rocket base, Togami.]

Fuck off, I didn't fucking do anything to her! It's not my fault this fucking place sent me back home!

twerking intensifies

[shslasshat]

[hey why don't you pick on someone smaller than you that seems to be your specialty--

Well now that's interesting.]

Do you recall if any time passed between your departure and your return?

[pathogenics]

...So, you have returned to this place. I, Gundam Tanaka, welcome you back to this plane!

[diamondo]

Ah, hey, it's good to see you again.

[You're still weird, Gundam... But at least you're familiar!]

[pathogenics]

You've just arrived again?

[He could say the same about you, frosty the snowman with your corncob hair.]

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[lullabytes]

Ah, you're back. Welcome back, Oowada-senpai...

That's the Goldenrod music, right? You made good time.

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[diamondo]

[oh shit she's gonna find out isn't she]

Haha, yeah, I did...

[SWEATS NERVOUSLY]

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[lullabytes]

That's good...you're still in time. So, on the fourteenth, please be sure to still be in Goldenrod...if that's okay.

[ MAYBE SOMEDAY, BUT CURRENTLY SHE IS FOCUSED ON SOMETHING ELSE. ]