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?

[ardent]

...We're just returning from Blackthorn, actually. Naegi-kun took me there - I couldn't stay in the house after...

[He trails off for a moment; it's clear that this isn't going to be a good topic, hang on.]

We'll be back before long, anyway! Tomorrow, most likely, if not tonight.

[diamondo]

Oh, so you've been to the hot springs.

[He's a bit disappointed that he didn't get to go with Ishimaru, but he understands why Ishimaru needed to get out of the house, and that destination seems like a good one. He shrugs it off easily though.]

Yeah? Well, I'll definitely be there when you guys get back! Like hell I'm staying in this fucking place.

[ardent]

I didn't think you would - either way, Alice-san should still be there! She's training the Eevees for me while I'm gone.

[Like this explains everything.]

Make sure they don't steal food, by the way; there was a miscommunication about what they should be taught and what they shouldn't!

video;

[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.

[diamondo]

A miscommunication...?

[Well that sounds like something stupid happened.]

Do I even want to know what happened?

video;

[diamondo]

...Bloobers?

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

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

[ardent]

...Alice-san was trying to make them smarter.

video;

[superordinary]

Wait a sec-- [ He reaches over to pick up the PokéGear before heading over to the bathroom, holding the Gear so the video shows the bathtub. A tiny little Goomy is currently chilling in it, looking incredibly zen and at peace with the world. ]

They're kind of weak and training one is kind of a challenge. I don't even know what type it is.

[diamondo]

[...oh no]

What did she do?

video;

[diamondo]

Oh wow, yeah that does look pretty uh... slimy...

[But it's also kind of cute!]

So what happened? They just showed up all over the place for no fucking reason?

[ardent]

Well, she was trying to train them to do things, and it accidentally turned into teaching them how to steal sandwiches - but she said she's fixing it, and I believe her!

[...it's still not exactly addressing the problem of how this happened, but you know what, some things are just better left as noodle incidents, apparently.]

She said they're doing well with the drill formations and things, though!

[diamondo]

How did that even happen...? Y'know, I probably don't want to know.

[Noodle incident indeed.]

...So why are you training 'em like little soldiers, exactly? I guess it'd be convenient to have them all actually sit at the same time so they're not... swarming all the fuck over, but otherwise...?

[ardent]

Well, what else am I supposed to do with them?

[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]

...Train them? Like, get them to level up so they're not all really weak?

[diamondo]

[SAIONJI]

No, I'm definitely not dead...

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

[ardent]

Yes, of course! But we can't do that all the time - and besides, they need something to do that isn't swarming people and pestering Celes-kun!

[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]

...Well, I think it's kind of amusing when they annoy Celes...

[But that's not the point!]

I guess you're right though, they're not cut out for training non-stop.

[...Oh well!]

So what did I miss while I was gone? Anything interesting? You seem to be doing better, at least! I... I'm sorry I wasn't here to help. I mean, it's not like I wanted to leave or anything like that, but it still feels pretty shitty to have disappeared when you were... hurting like that.