To be a true hero, kid, is a dying art

[as much as Sora loves bugs, and as he would have liked to leave Goldenrod to beat up certain bugs for a certain gym badge, this kid appearing on the network this afternoon is in Serious Battle Mode- a mode he hasn't been in ever since he got here and finally had a chance to relax.]

It's just one thing after another... Hey! How is everybody holding up? No serious injuries, right? If you're somewhere around Goldenrod and you need help, lemme know. I'll come get you.

[a pause.] Is anybody else out there trying to fight these things? They need to be kept as far away from the pokecenters as possible so people can still get in.

[Sora shakes his head. he may or may not have been on the receiving end of a Yanma attack earlier, and quite frankly he found it worse than taking a wing to the face from a Wyvern. not something he wants to experience again, nor does he want anybody else experiencing it. luckily he's armed and ready for the next battle he's about to run headfirst into: a carved Keyblade! a single pokeball! ... a pair of earplugs! Sora that is not a good weapon at all.]

I'm gonna try one more idea. Stay safe you guys!

[closed captioning and consideration for this video feed is brought to you by a certain camera-Teddy-- though really, Teddy is more providing commentary than he is relaying the conversation, chirping in whenever he sees fit. a studio audience, if you will. Sora is right outside the pokécenter in Goldenrod, crouched down on one knee so that he's face-to-face with a Poliwag. a Poliwag who's standing up straight and proudly bearing a fedora atop his head. ... and a paper beard across his face.]

[it gets better.]

Y'know, you're getting really good at solving mysteries, Douglas! But this one's gonna stump you for weeks, promise. You'll be so stumped you won't even know what hit you. [a squeak from Teddy, which sounds an awful lot like an "ooooh." "OH NO TRAINER DIDN'T."]

I call it "The Case of the Missing Bow Tie." Or, the case Puddles would be really mad at me if he knew about... Because someone's stolen his bow tie! ["OH THE HORROR, NOT THE BOW TIE! Hey Trainer, I'm totally going to tell Puddles on you."]

Luckily, though, I've managed to scrape together a clue that may help us find the perpetrator. I need for you to find me a treasure chest that doesn't have any kind of lid or keyhole on it. Think you can do that?

[Teddiursa makes a noise that sort of implies that he thinks Trainer is crazy-- what would you do with a treasure chest that you can't open?-- but Douglas stands on his tippy toes and squeaks in determination! he can do this, Trainer! he has a namesake to live up to!]

[that said, if one's wandering about Goldenrod, he or she may bump into Sora as he follows his sleuthing Poliwag around town, along with a teddy bear gleefully taping the whole thing.]

[if one is brave enough to venture outside in the cold and snow and ice and onto Route 34 today, he or she may notice a feral child just outside the entrance to Goldenrod-- Johto's very own Mowgli is sitting cross-legged off to the side, hunched over with his arms wrapped tightly around himself. surprisingly enough, snow is pretty chilly when one lacks a winter coat.]

[it's not out of not owning one, however; Sora's coat is actually laid out on the ground in front of him. no... wait, it's haphazardly draped across about the top third of a Dratini, who is curled up with his head resting on Trainer's lap. the coat isn't much, but it's all Sora's got.]

C'mon... We're maybe ten minutes away from the Center. You can do it! We've made it this far together, right?

[a pitiful whine from the Dratini. Sora's momentarily defeated expression is obscured by his hair, and by the fact that he's staring down at the ground. though it's probably equally pitiful, that defeat hardens into steel determination-- he and Pokémon hadn't trudged around out in who-knows-where for two weeks, and finally back onto the route to wind up freezing to death now.]

All right. [his voice is unsteady, but warm.] I think you've pulled more than your own weight lately... I'll keep going for the both of us. Okay? Hold still; I'll carry you.

[... how Sora intends to pick up and carry what is essentially a 6-foot giant worm is questionable, but dangit, he's going to try-- once he picks himself up and actually gets going, anyway. good thing Dratinis are on the light side for their length.]

[hey there, Johto! it's New Year's Eve, and as such the network is receiving a video feed from Father Time himself-- who knows where the hobbling little bearded old man came from, but he's currently curled up warm and toasty leaning up against the inn at Goldenrod, with his hat and his windbreaker and his scarf and his Girafarig blanket and-- wait. it's just Sora.]

[it appears he's wearing as many Christmas presents as he could pile on today (yes, the beard was a Christmas present. it's long and gray and glorious and one of these days he'll notice the stuffed pidgey in there, too). and when he starts speaking, it sounds like Father Time is having a really difficult... time... keeping a straight face.]

... My egg exploded into a dinosaur! See? [the feed turns to reveal a very tiny Tropius-- even though she's just a baby, it's pretty obvious that she's on the small side... probably around knee height to Trainer. the Tropius squeaks in greeting and flaps a leaf like she's trying to wave.]

The pokédex said that these guys start to grow their favorite fruit around their necks because it's the only thing they eat. Sooo, I was wondering... Has anybody seen a star-shaped fruit around? I already checked the stores here, but no luck.

[around 4 or so this morning, Sora had been lying in his bed in the pokécenter, awake, not very comfortable, and bored out of his mind. not a whole lot was going on over the network, and Sora didn't want to wake Hope or Rise or Puddles or anybody else nearby. there were, however, two people he had no problem bothering: Riku got a smattering of text messages full of bad puns-- hey, he needed to practice them on someone! right? but shortly after he sent Kairi a text asking if she was awake, and where she was, a new message popped up on his pokégear screen:]

error: this number is no longer in use.

[... and that's when he silently swung his legs over the side of his bed and grabbed a few things-- including his pokémon asleep in their balls and his notebook-- and for the first time this entire week, Sora creeped out of his room and successfully snuck out of the Goldenrod Pokécenter.]

[first things first-- Sora lurched his way over to the closest vending machine and picked up two bottles of soda. he... made an honest effort to chug them, but wound up dumping the contents of the second bottle into a nearby sewer. it wasn't the soda he was interested in, anyway. next, he walked over to the radio tower-- he couldn't really see the ocean over the fence nearby, but he could hear it... seems no matter where you go, the ocean always sounds the same. he sat down, leaning against both the radio tower and a newly hatched Dratini for support, and began writing.]

( ooc cut: letter to Kairi )

[when the video feed clicks on later that morning, the sun's out in full force by the radio tower. the sound cuts in right in the middle of Sora saying something.]

--tini, could you throw this in the ocean for me?

[the Dratini nods, and wraps its tail around the neck of a bottle with a note carefully rolled up inside. with a grunt, it chucks the bottle right over the fence, and both Sora and Pokémon watch as it soars, then plunks right in the ocean. please don't berate them for littering.]

Thanks. I-- [and Sora turns, noticing Bell pointing his gear at him and recording. he still hasn't actually been out and about Goldenrod wearing something other than his pajamas, but he at least thought to put on some shoes and a jacket this time. he steps a little closer, looking down at the 'gear and Bell-- he's smiling genuinely, but there's definitely a tinge of sadness somewhere in there.]

Morning, you guys! I kind of have an odd question. Have you ever been on a date before? I think we're going to set Puddles up with Whitney's Girafarig today.

[as with any other resident of Johto, Sora is drawn out of sleep by that giant flash of light and what sounded almost like the earth cracking open-- all things considered? this is entirely possible. so he clambers out of bed-- Bell is the only one of his Pokémon who sleeps out of the ball, so he grabs her along with his 'gear, too. not that he notices his other Pokémon are mysteriously missing-- and practically stumbles out of the inn in Violet to check out what the heck just happened.]

[except he's not in Violet. he's in Goldenrod.]

What the--

[so Sora's now standing in the middle of the street, barefoot and in his pajamas-- they're blue with little Totodiles. don't judge-- and holding one little Togepi in his arms. looks like it's just the two of them for now.]

[after a few minutes of stunned silence, Sora finally thinks to turn on the video feed.]

Hey! Is everybody okay?