SECOND RIDE ✦ VIDEO / ACTION [ROUTE 31]

[diamondo]

Okay, so I've got a question.

[Mondo is seated in the grass, a sleeping Deino resting on his legs. Occasionally a soft snore can be heard. Mondo looks a little tired, but otherwise no worse for the wear despite the near-constant travel. It's pretty easy when you're riding a giant, flying sea serpent, after all.]

What do you do with a teething Pokémon?

[...Well clearly we have a winner today.]

Tory just hatched and already she's biting everything in sight. I guess it wouldn't be so bad if she didn't come with all her teeth.

[He holds up a hand, covered in bandages from the wrist to his fingers. The bandaging job is pretty bad, but it's kind of hard to take care of that when you're right handed and your right hand is injured.]

Bastard hatched from the egg and promptly bit me. I swear I'd throw her in the box if I was in the city.

[Yep, he totally would. Because it's not like he has a soft spot for her or anything, nope. Definitely not. Ignore the fact that she's sleeping on his legs and rolling around a bit trying to get comfy.]

Should I just shove a gag in her mouth and hope for the best or what? I don't know jackshit about raising dragons; do they all do this?

[If that's the case then he's never getting another one. Never.]

And here I thought raising Pokémon would be easy...

[With that said, he motions for the cameramon to cut the feed.

Of course, for anyone in the area, Mondo can be found flopped in the grass with the baby dragon sleeping on him. She seems to have migrated north and is now happily sleeping on his stomach, leaving him trapped beneath her. Oh well, at least she's not too heavy.]

Comments

[nasa_dreams]

At least it's not your head.

audio

[blacklynx]

Chew toys. The department store sells a lot of different ones.

[diamondo]

Yeah, thank god she's not-- Wait, have you had this shit happen to you before?

video forever!

[diamondo]

Huh, seriously? I guess that makes perfect sense! I'll have to check that shit out next time I'm in town.

[action]

[ardent]

[...well, after a while you're going to get Ishimaru, wondering where in the good hell his brother has vanished to today; he's not exactly good at approaching like a normal person - he's still a bit too loud for that, especially on the routes where there are no solid roads and it's just a lot of crashing through the underbrush, so at least he's not going to be too startling.

That said, he doesn't seem too inclined to try to deal with Captain Bitey over there - he doesn't recognize the species but poking sleeping dragons just does not strike him as a very smart idea - and as such he's content to just...kind of lean down, bracing his hands on his legs and looking sort of amused.

no but really why this]

Hopefully the new one hasn't defeated you already, kyoudai!

audio forever here~

[blacklynx]

I guess owning Pokémon is the same as owning a pet, in some sense.

Though not all the baby Pokémon are like that.

[diamondo]

You try taking on a little terror like her!

[But that's said in a joking tone; despite being used as a pillow, Mondo's in a pretty good mood. He tries to sit up and earns a growl for his efforts, so instead he simply folds his arms behind his head in an attempt to get comfortable. He's not going anywhere any time soon.]

I'd introduce you two, but I don't think she wants to get up anytime soon.

[diamondo]

That's a good way of thinking of it! I guess I've been more concerned with treating her like a baby.

[Thus the comment about gagging it?? What the hell, Mondo.]

Oh yeah? You've had experience with some of 'em, I'm guessing?

[ardent]

...that aggressive, then?

[Good...grief, what have you gotten yourself into.]

[diamondo]

[Mondo moves to wave his bandaged hand at Ishimaru.]

Guess you could say that. She decided I'd make a great chew toy right after hatching.

[blacklynx]

... no, it's definitely nothing like that. I mean, they don't need their mothers from the very beginning or anything.

[Ikuto wondered the same thing. Please don't let Mondo babysit anyone.]

Well, I've had four eggs so far. The only teething Pokémon I had was a Shinx, which is pretty understandable since they're like kittens...

[diamondo]

Oh yeah, that would make sense! My brother has a Shinx, but he caught his in the wild. What were the other Pokémon you hatched?

[ardent]

[Ishimaru's expression tightens sharply at that, and he twitches a little before he seems to find something to say. He's never been good at voicing concern for people, and now really isn't an exception; then again, he doubts Mondo would want him to openly worry very much, anyway - he'd just insist that he could take care of himself, wouldn't he?

Mnngh.]

Thankfully we're close to the city by now, so you can have that dealt with properly - for the time being, at least let me deal with it, as that isn't going to work for very long!

[diamondo]

[Mondo frowns at that. He's not the best at reading people, but he's gotten pretty good at figuring out what bothers Ishimaru for the most part. He's not surprised that this is bothering him, and for a moment Mondo wonders if it would have been better to attempt to hide the injury.]

It's not that bad, kyoudai. Just a couple of cuts, no big deal. 'Sides, I know how to take care of it myself. You don't need to worry about it, alright?

[It's clear that he's trying to comfort Ishimaru as opposed to driving him away or trying to insist that he doesn't need help. If Ishimaru really wants to help, he'll let him, but he really doesn't see this as a big deal.]

[blacklynx]

Eevee, Ponyta and Munna. I was worried that the Eevee might have the same habits, but he was well-behaved.

[diamondo]

That sounds good; I've been considering getting an Eevee, but I wouldn't know what to evolve it into. There are way too many options! What about yours? Has it evolved yet?

[ardent]

[.... >B| ]

Kyoudai, are you right-handed or not?

[blacklynx]

It was a tough choice, but I decided to go with and element I didn't have... so he's a Vaporeon now.

[diamondo]

[...................]

Oh c'mon, it's really not that bad...!

[...is that an answer, because he think it might be.]

[ardent]

[siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiigh.]

As I thought!

[So! If no one minds, he will just be joining you in the grass and looking at you expectantly, because if you think he's going anywhere now then you have another thought coming to you. Let's see it, man.]

[diamondo]

[Mondo groans, but he's kind of pinned to the ground by a certain sleeping babymon, so there's really no escaping. Not like Ishimaru would let him escape anyway, but that's not the point. Mondo begins removing the bandages, wincing a little once he finally gets to the small, jagged marks running across his palm and the back of his hand. It looks like the baby dragon simply bit down hard on his hand when he went to pet her or something like that. The marks have stopped bleeding and they're fairly shallow cuts, but they still look like they hurt.]

There. Happy?

[He sounds a bit sullen, but he offers his hand to Ishimaru anyway.]

action

[readapts]

[It's nice to have a little break from travelling; even better when they get to the next city... Chihiro's little coterie of pokémon (because he can't bear to keep them in their pokéballs any longer than necessary) is absent, just his Joltik perched in his hair.

But in his taking full advantage of the chance to stretch his legs, he sees that hair Mondo, flopped in the grass. So, after a hesitation, he approaches quietly, just in case, calling out in an undertone.]

Oowada-kun? Are you sleeping?

[Or is he just a dragon pillow...]

[ardent]

[Oh, come on, what are you thinking he'd do to prevent escape otherwise? Chase you down and tackle you? I mean, yes, he'd probably shout at you quite a bit, but...

That said, he flinches a bit at those cuts before his attention darts away, focusing on what he's supposed to do about it as he replies to Mondo's words.]

Not particularly! At least it's not too bad, though...

[...it's a bit hard to tell whether he's actually in a mood or if the sarcasm just didn't register; most signs point toward the latter, though.

He's never really been used to carrying stuff on him, but he's been becoming a bit more accustomed to keeping that satchel with various healing items in it close to him at all times when he's training, as opposed to leaving it with their larger items once they'd settled on somewhere to stay on the route for the time being. Thankfully most of his first aid equipment hadn't been used recently, as there hadn't been a need; at the same time, he'd definitely required it early on.]

I haven't handled too many medical things; all of my experiences with it have been here. We had a separate committee for that at the school I attended before; because I've never really had to deal with it, I'm not very good with it yet.

[It's stated as a blunt fact, rather than an excuse or explanation; just...making some very awkward conversation while preparing antiseptic - and pretty much as a completely unintentional testament to that, you are getting no warning before it's applied, hopefully you won't mind the sting, uh.]

[diamondo]

Ah, hey, Fujisaki!

[He'd recognize that voice anywhere. Mondo moves in an attempt to prop himself up on his elbows. He earns a growl for his efforts and rolls his eyes.]

I'm kinda stuck here for the time being. Sorry 'bout that. What's up with you?

[Hopefully not being used by your Pokémon...]

[diamondo]

[Mondo sighs at that; he's not surprised that the sarcasm didn't register, but at least Ishimaru is quick to move on past that. He listens to his friend's explanation, not really paying attention, and then the antiseptic is applied.]

Fuck! Would it kill you to warn a guy? Shit, that stings!

[At least he doesn't pull away, but the shouting has clearly woken up the baby dragon, who manages to look supremely pissed. She daintily hops off her trainer and goes to make a little nest in the bushes over there. She still seems to be glaring at him, but it's kind of hard to tell since she doesn't have any eyes. Oh well, at least she's off him.]