Harry Dresden

[The feed clicks on with Harry in the Goldenrod Pokemon Center. He's obviously got the Gear propped up on something, as he sits back in a waiting-room chair to reveal a tiny Cyndaquil sleeping in his arms. He's silent for a moment, looking a bit uncomfortable.]

So... I woke up this morning and this little girl was hatching.

[A glance down at the sleeping Pokemon, almost like he's worried about breaking her.]

Do, ah, do baby Pokemon need any kind of special care? I mean like a liquid diet or anything?

Smoo-chu! Chum!

[A small hand waves over one side of the screen, revealing that Harry has his Smoochum playing cameraman today. Harry himself just glances up, looking sort of annoyed for a second.]

Thanks Lara, that's a HUGE help.

Three days wandering in the wilderness and I'm back to civilization.

[Harry's set up somewhere at the outskirts of Cherrygrove, right at the edge of Route 29. Lara can be seen in the background, rummaging through her trainer's backpack, occasionally tossing things out past her wiggling legs.]

Relatively, anyway. This road was pretty tame for supposedly rugged wilderness. And this city looks like it could probably fit into a couple blocks of Chicago. Without making room first. Maybe into ONE if they demolished what was already there.

Hoppi?
SMOO!

[Behind Harry, a curious-looking Hoppip floats over to Lara. The startled Smoochum ungracefully pops out of the bag, scattering a few of the items within as she spins to face the newcomer.]

[Harry, focused on the Gear, remains oblivious.]

I stuck around -New Bark Town, was it?- for a couple days before I left. Tried talking to some of the people. They didn't seem quite human. Only spoke a few sentences, didn't seem quite in touch with reality emotionally, that sort of thing. And that woman that-

[He breaks off for a moment, obviously not wanting to talk too much about 'Mom'.]

The woman who's probably seen too many of those 'Lifetime' movies.

Pi-pi?

[Lara stares down the inquisitive Hoppip for a moment, looking defensive. She abruptly jumps up, planting a solid Pound attack square in the grass Pokemon's face.]

CHU!
PI-I-IP-

Anyway, I've been thinking about it, and there seems to be two possible explanations. One is that these are actual people who've been put under a serious mind-whammy. Don't think that's it, though. Something this serious wouldn't leave them nearly as coherent as they are, not for long. Second is that they're constructs of some kind. Like... robots, I guess. Artificial recreations of humans, but whatever's controlling them can't get the more subtle stuff like conversation quite right.

[Lara is back to picking through the bag, wiggling back out and producing a Pokeball. She stands over the stunned Hoppip for a moment, ball held aloft, looking like a gladiator waiting for a signal from the emperor before delivering the final blow. ]

Smoo-CHU.

[She throws the Pokeball down at the Hoppip with more force than is strictly necessary, producing the familiar pop and whoosh of dematerialization. The ball lands on the ground with a soft click, wiggling a bit in the Hoppip's feeble struggles from within.]

So anyone else noticed anything? Seen any evidence that these people actually, you know, have to do biological stuff?

[The Pokeball lets out a 'ding' to mark a successful capture, falling still. The noise is apparently enough to catch Harry's attention, as he finally turns away from the Gear for a moment.]

Lara, quit playing around with that stuff, that bag's like a black hole.
Smoo-chu~
Fine, but if you get lost in there don't expect a search party.

So... I've been trying to catch any of these Shedinja things that've passed by, like the old guy said.

[Behind Harry, Lara the Smoochum floats past, clinging to a visibly-distressed Shedinja and happily wailing away with Pound. The attacks are doing precisely nothing, but she seems to be enjoying herself nonetheless. Perhaps a bit too much. Anyone that understands Pokéspeech can hear snatches of commentary from her more suited to professional wrestling than anything else.]

There've been three or four of them I've found, and-

[He notices Lara in the background, and looks annoyed.]

-sigh- Just watch this. Lara!

[The camera shifts and focuses on the oddly one-sided fight.]

Quit fooling around with that thing!

SMOO-CHUM!

[Acting like she's making an attack produced by twenty minutes of hoarse yelling and looking constipated, Lara delivers a Lick attack to the Shedinja. The ghostly bug shudders for a moment, then faints, hitting the ground and vanishing before the gear's camera can catch up. Lara dusts herself off, looking incredibly smug.]

Yeah. Somehow I don't think that's helping.

Smoo-chu.

( More behind the cut. )