griptape | two hours of muttering and rambling | video

[In a dimly lit room there are three bowls full of berries. The quality of recording is not that great but their basic shapes are more or less visible.

With a loud swii, Furball the Swinub enters the scene. He starts with the leftmost bowl and swiftly empties it. It doesn't take much time for all berries to disappear in the piglet's stomach. He lets out a satisfied sound, followed by a few displeased cries of Pokemon which aren't visible on the recording.

That's when something else appears on screen and Swinub gets picked up. It's Shinji himself. He gets close enough to the Pokégear so the electronic light from the device shines on his face. He doesn't seem to care or even notice that it makes him look quite creepy.]

The furball keeps doing this no matter how many times I tell him to stop. Is it normal for his species or is he just a bad person? Well, probably not a person since he's a Pokémon, but that doesn't really matter in this contest... Or am I not feeding him well enough? Is it because he's a growing boy?

[Muttering about something quietly, Shinji shifts the Pokégear so the other side of the room would show. Two Pokémon that weren't seen before, a Murkrow and a Petilil are there, not particularly happy about their dinner being eaten by the Swinub]

These two hatched a few days ago and I haven't been able to feed them well because the furball is always getting in the way. I'm also running rather low on cash and I don't know how much longer I'd be able to support them. I probably should have waited before taking responsibility for more Pokémon... at least until the furball starts to behave.

[He starts to mutter about social services that will come to take his Pokémon away but stops himself soon enough.]

Is there any way to make some money besides battling? I don't think the furball is strong enough for these yet and the other two are just babies...

[Private to Spike]

[Shinji puts the Pokégear closer to his new Pokémon so Spike can get a good look.]

Like I promised, letting you know that they hatched. A Murkrow and a Petilil unless I've been lied to... Sorry for not letting you know earlier, the furball has been keeping me busy.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

You can get a job and earn some cash that way. You just have to agree to stay in town until the job's up. Five days at best.

[He's never owned a Swinub but.]

Could just be the species. Some pokes eat more than the others, they usually get really big if they're like that. It's like they're prepping for it.

A job? That sounds reasonable... as long as it's a normal job, is it? I wouldn't want to sign a contract that actually has some small print i wouldn't notice and end up in a strip club or some place like this... Any kind of job you would recommend that doesn't end in a strip club? [He pauses.] Oh well, I guess I wouldn't mind working in a strip club, just not as a performer... although I would prefer another job.

[Get big, huh? Shinji glances at his Pokemon. Swinub lets out an innocent swii.]

Hey, how big do you think he can eventually get?

Not a clue how big that guy gets. You can look it up and see.

[Going to just...deal with the rest now.]

...There are no strip clubs here. Most jobs are working at the pokemon centers, shops where trainers come through to get supplies, stuff like that. You usually have to stay for a few days then you can head on your way.

[Strip clubs. Why.]

[Shinji's mind jumps to weird places, that's why.]

Pokemon centers and shops sound safe enough, thank you... Do you think it would be hard to get a job there without much work experience? I haven't really had any besides a café during a school festival.

This world is centered around giving your kids an animal that could eat them or fry their face off, and kicking them out at age ten to engage in brutal cock fighting rings. To achieve the status of capturing all the wildlife and beating all their opponents into the dirt. Pretty sure you won't have a problem getting a job.

You might have to just feed them separately. You could try putting the Swinub back in the pokeball while you feed the others. But if he's eating that much it might be because his species needs it.

[...right. Putting Swinub in the Pokeball when the other Pokemon are eating. Can you believe he hasn't thought of that yet?]

Hey, that might actually work, thank you... I'll try it. I am told that he might be eating so much because his species turns into something big later on. Do you think it might be the case?

[Shinji's Pokemon knowledge isn't the greatest yet so he has no idea what Swinub evolves into.]

I'm pretty sure they evolve into Mamoswine, so yeah they get pretty big. Close to 300 kg, I think.

But evolution is kind of strange, he's not really going to grow gradually into that size. They just evolve suddenly.

[Not sure what he was expecting but probably not 300kg of a Pokemon]

Thanks for the warning, I really appreciate it... will the furball give me a warning as well? I wouldn't want it to become big when I'll be carrying him or something like that... Getting crushed by a heavy Pokemon is not a death I would choose for myself.

He evolves into another pokemon first, that's probably smaller? I'm sorry, I can't really remember what the first evolution is called since I haven't raised one myself.

They kind of glow before they evolve, so you'll have a bit of a warning either way.

Huh, so all the loser teams really are starting to show up here.

[That's Niou, always a charmer. He lives to be a helpful, kind friend to everyone he meets.

Or, you know, a pain in the ass.]

Edited 2013-05-18 05:05 (UTC)

[Of all the people he could met here... Well, could have been worse. Could have been that Kirihara who hurt Tachibana-san, but this guy isn't much better, it seems...]

Who are you calling "loser", you hardly even know me and you didn't have enough experience with our team to even form any kind of legit opinion, not that you know anything about us...

[Shinji tilts his head and starts muttering but it's hard to understand any words besides "entitled" and "Rikkai".

[This guy is just weird, and that's saying something, considering who Niou's run into during the course of his tennis career.]

Hey, if you lose, you're a loser. Don't get mad about facts.

[He spends a minute listening to the muttering before giving up. It's nothing he hasn't heard before in one form or another; stuff like that gets said when your club makes a habit of giving merciless beat downs any challengers.]

If you're gonna make such a fuss about it, you can always try to beat me.

[Why was this guy talking to him. Why was he talking to this guy.]

Sure, you might have won, but don't think that just because you happen to have tennis skills, you are automatically better at everything else. There are plenty of fields where it might not be as easy for you as you think.

[He briefly wonders how strong Niou's Pokemon might be. He couldn't have arrived in Johto that long ago, right?]

Yeah, but tennis is the only thing that matters. I'm not gonna go around bragging about being the world's best mumbler.

[But now that he's given the guy an appropriately hard time, he'll ease off a little. Rival teams they may be, but he does feel some solidarity since they're from the same world. He can be a little friendly; it's not like the guy's from Hyoutei, after all.]

How long've you been stuck here, anyway? And do you have a name or do I need to make one up?

Edited 2013-05-31 20:22 (UTC)

two hours of muttering and rambling | video | action for Cherrygrove city

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