Third 👻 Story [Video/Action for Violet]

[hashtagafreakingghost]

[VIDEO / 3/12]

[At a little desk in a Violet City hotel, Ashley sits in front of a lot of...papers. Many papers, a notebook? Whatever's written on them can't be distinguished from the angle, but oh goodness, it looks like there sure is a lot of it! She looks a lot more put-together than the last time she was on video on the network, that's for sure. Probably helps that there's a Zubat poking up behind her shoulder, like he's holding on with his wings from behind, and it's a surprisingly peaceful image? Really, the girl who'd arrived here in hysterics is completely zen with giving a no-eyed bat a piggyback, something works well in this world.]

Hi. [...you don't have to-] I've, um, more or less... I've started training a lot, for my first gym battle, and it occurred to me that there are some Pokémon here that've got unconventional evolution styles. Since no one's an expert on everything and I'd have no idea where to start looking for one, I wanted to put this out to poll. I don't want to mess up and make it so they can't evolve right, especially since- Arwen, c'mere, don't do that-

[She bends down, dips off-screen (with a skitter from her Zubat) and then pops back up, with an excited little Eevee in her grasp, one who leans forward and sniffs at the camera.] Okay, sure, girl. Since I've heard Eevee have a lot of forms.

[A small Vee! as Ashley pulls the girl away. The view moves from Eevee-nose to one of her notes, one that appears to be a small...not-good doodle of an Eevee, with multiple arrows. ...It honestly looks like one for each type, um. Only one has a doodle at the end, which is mostly just a not-good Eevee with ribbons for its ears: Ashley's rendition of a Sylveon, with a little scribble of + puffs??.] I had a conversation with someone on how to get a Sylveon, but I'm not sure on the specifics- or how many forms Eevee has, or what causes them to evolve into each of them!

[Her finger rubs against the PokéGear's lens for a brief moment, leaving a faint print as she sets it back hastily so it's pointed back at her face. Her Eevee has since grown bored and hopped off, it appears.]

I don't want to...to train her without knowing what strategies to use. At least for evolution. And then I realized I don't know anything about the rest of mine either.

[What a god awful long preamble, Ash, do you ever shut up, God-
Looking several shades of awkward now that she's been talking for...awhile, she clears her throat and shifts her shoulders, meaning her Zubat almost falls off.]

S-so! Besides Eevee's...everything. I made up a list of my Pokémon, and, if any of them have special conditions or something besides simple training to help them evolve to their next form!

[And now the view's back to her notes, but a different set- it is indeed her roster, just a list of names; Litwick, Espurr, Happiny, Stantler, Zubat and so on. Not a very long list of species, thankfully.] I already know about Espurr's unique case, but for the rest I'm clueless, and the handbook didn't mention hardly anything about evolution.

[...this is because she wants to study isn't it, jesus christ ashley really]

Any information or just tips for evolution training would be very appreciated. Thanks for your time!


[ACTION FOR VIOLET / FRONTDATED TO 3/13]

[Training. Holy heck has this girl been training a lot. Towards the start of the day, you'll catch her with her Pokémon (Litwick, Luxio, Espurr, Zubat, Munna, and a very shy Snorunt) out of their balls, either on her way to or at Sprout Tower. ...Which is a fun place to be. Isn't it. All those freaking ghosts, and-

Naw, she's calm, she's cool. Feel free to run into her during this point, where she's likely training her Luxio or her shaking Snorunt, or maybe her Zubat.

...There is one point in the day, however.

Toward the end, when most of her Pokémon are all in their balls, save for her Zubat who's piggybacking on her shoulders.

Where this horrible shriek just echoes throughout the Tower, and holy crap she sure can run, can't she, down from the second floor and out the damn door, what the heck is she even running from-

Whatever it is, she's very distressed! Naturally. Because she wouldn't be Ashley if she wasn't.]

Comments

[quadrangle]

Uh.

[Why does it still catch him off guard when Ashley is nice to him? Goddammit.]

I mean, yeah, okay. [A sudden wince.] I'd do the same for you for romance novels, but you probably know more human ones than I do anyway.

[And troll titles are. Jesus. Troll titles. Does he want to get into that right now or leave it for later.]

[hashtagafreakingghost]

[Little smile! She's none the wiser, because if it involves her she's goddamn oblivious.]

Don't worry, I mostly only seek out fantasy and sometimes mystery. If I stumble upon a good romance novel I'll read it, but it's most fun for me when it's all a big mishmash of genre. Romantic subplots in big epics, all that.

[quadrangle]

So there'll be a lot of those in the list?

[Yes, he sounds hopeful. Boy loves his romance.]

[hashtagafreakingghost]

Ohh, of course! My favorite one, the Lord of the Rings trilogy- it's got this great love story between a former immortal elf and a human, and there's all this history in the side-stories- Arwen is so cool, I named my Eevee after her. But she gets to do better things in the movies, if I can ever find them...

[quadrangle]

The Lord of the—oh, I remember that one. Yeah, Dave had a copy. [lol continuity] I think he's been looking for the movies and shit, too. We can let you know when we find them? And Arwen's great, but I—

[Uh. Fuck. Should he. Goddammit, no, he'll just say it. Avoiding eye contact, though.]

Frodo and Sam? Textbook moirallegiance.

[hashtagafreakingghost]

[!!! OH YAY KARKAT HAS READ HER FAVORITE SERIES it is clear that Ashley is beyond ecstatic good god]

Really? Oh. My. God. That is so obvious, how could I not see it- thank you, that's so- that's such a-- they really are, aren't they? Oh and- yes, please, even a Pokémon world version, I just have to get a fix, because they're so good!

[quadrangle]

[... Okay, he's smiling. Ashley's enthusiasm is sort of infectious, shut up.]

They are. You're welcome.

[That might have been more believably condescending if he could make his damn face stop doing the thing, but fuck it.]

We'll keep you updated. It shouldn't be too hard to find; Dave's working in a bookstore and all.

[hashtagafreakingghost]

[What a nice smile Karkat has; she won't tell him, of course.]

He told me as much, yeah. I'd love to have that kind of job...but I'm just...filing information.

[quadrangle]

[Karkat's smile turns wry, then fades. At least it was nice while it lasted?]

You too? Yeah, I—ugh. I didn't want a job that would... you know.

[A job that would involve being around too many people. Humans. Whatever.

He snorts.]

Not like I really have any fucking skills this place could use anyway, unless they need someone to make computer viruses. Or systematically fuck everything up, I guess.

[hashtagafreakingghost]

I don't think you...

[Ashley trails off; an awkward kind of forced smile plants itself on her lips. Discussing this sort of thing... She shouldn't do that with him, right?]

I didn't really want to...be around other people too. I can only write. So...in the meantime, I just got the easiest thing. Battles help, though. When I win them.

[quadrangle]

[... Oh, fuck, he'd actually just said that. At least Ashley isn't pursuing the subject because goddamn, what the hell.]

Uh—yeah, I guess.

[He stifles a grimace.]

I should battle more, too, but. [Wow he does not want to explain why breeding anything is a problem.] Seems kind of fucking annoying.

[Please suggest another topic, he's dying.]

[hashtagafreakingghost]

[Is it okay if we just take a swerve on this topic.]

It was at first? But Agatha and Arwen and Nala- and even Bram, they all seem to like it a lot. I guess I just look at it as exercise for them?

Plus, well- I have some...help right now, but once I start traveling by myself, I have to be able to hold my own.

[quadrangle]

[GOD, FINE.]

Yeah, but it takes fucking forever. Shouldn't they have like, fuck, I don't know, a quest or some shit that'll give you a level boost? Or some rare NPC or mob that spawns who'll drop or sell an item that does that? It's a fucking video game. Who even has the time to do all that grinding, we have jobs!

[Part time jobs? And romcoms? And sitting in the cafe where Dave works and reading all the romance novels and okay fine he's just looking for a shortcut, he has learned nothing.]

[hashtagafreakingghost]

That would be nice, wouldn't it? [Sigh.] But I guess it's one of those games where level grinding is the point. Growing with your partners, balancing your team- and it works well enough in games, I guess, but in real life application, since battling can't simply sustain you- that's what throws it all off!

[Ashley shrugs.]

Like, in the games, you only had to pay for items relating to your Pokémon. Here, we have hotels and food to buy, transportation to worry about. Clothes- it's a completely different animal, and it's just different. It's not the kind of video game any of us are used to.

[y'all should've played jrpgs man]

[quadrangle]

Exactly. It's fucking ridiculous. At least in Sgrub, we had our own hives to sleep in. These "hotels" are all bullshit.

[And who the fuck even moved around that much, do actual adults do it? Karkat doesn't think so, but then since this world is full of humans, any knowledge he has on the subject is probably wrong anyway.]

Don't get me wrong, I'd rather deal with this than the shit we had before, but it's still goddamn annoying.

[hashtagafreakingghost]

Feh, you got a big ol' same from me. No way would I take the- all the things on that mountain over PokéWorld, but it's so-so-so frustrating! Hotels are a human thing, but like- it's like we're constantly in transit, you know?

[...She frowns and reaches up to rub the back of her head- Bram assumes it's for a pet and nuzzles into the hand. Oops.]

Not like I want to...set down roots here, but...some free lodging would be nice.

[quadrangle]

I think there are houses available for rent, but they're for a month at a time. Fuck, we almost have been here for a month, but I think we're going to be moving again eventually? It's a pain in the ass.

[And he actually wouldn't mind settling in, probably, but there's no way he could fucking afford it on his own. Maybe if their whole group decided to stay, it could work, but also ha ha no, he is not staying in the same hive as some of these people. Ugh, that fucking swear jar.]

[hashtagafreakingghost]

There's the other problem. [She sighs.] We're expected to travel around, right? Collect all these badges and do all this amazing stuff- like everyone's just supposed to take to travel. And, I mean, the badges apparently get us discounts and all these cool things, so why wouldn't we- it's pushing people into it, all this adventure.

[Just, crosses her arms.]

I hate video games that railroad.

[quadrangle]

[... He's trying very, very hard not to think about doomed timelines right now. It's not working so well.]

Yeah, that shit's always annoying.

[Now can they have a new subject?]

You said you wanted a Sylveon?

[hashtagafreakingghost]

[Oh, well, if he's gonna change it himself-]

Yeah. I...saw one and just...love the idea of them. And Arwen's all for it.

[quadrangle]

[He's still not an expert on Pokémon by any means, but he's pretty sure Sylveon is the fairy type...? A fairy type named Arwen, what the hell, Ashley.]

You're a fucking nerd.

[This is obviously 100% what he'd been thinking, there's no chance he's being misleading at all.]

[hashtagafreakingghost]

[What an unexpected comment. Ashley flushes and gawks for a second.]

I- s-so?

[quadrangle]

[... THERE ARE SO MANY THINGS HE COULD SAY.]

Nothing. You just—

[—reminded me of someone. Several someones. Many someones. Fuck.]

You and your fucking fairy elves. Whatever, fine, make her a Sylveon.

[hashtagafreakingghost]

[She doesn't...quite understand what's wrong. Or know if she should be offended? She isn't, in any case. Okay. Just clears her throat.]

I mean... Have you seen them? They're just s- oof! [Arwen's jumped on her lap; she knows she's being talked about.] Hey there, girl.

[quadrangle]

[—okay, he's smiling a little. Wait what no, no he's not. Hahaha, why would he ever smile, shut up.]

Where do you catch those?