princelyspirit | Duel 03 // Video // Route 36... sort of

[Well, this is strange. Instead of a clear video, the feed presents a distorted color bar, accompanied by a garbled whines covered with static. The lines squeeze and dilate as a voice cuts through the noise, and the colors begin to adjust and morph into actual images]

-good? Alright!

[A blurry image of a girl comes on the screen, and once the video grows clear, those watching can see a shot of Utena standing somewhere at Route 36. Strange - the trees in the video are fuller than they are now, and their leaves brighter and more colorful, too; the foliage looks closer to the way it did early in October. An old video, perhaps?

[Either way, Utena beams at the camera, one hand on her hip, and something small and metallic in the other - the camera would have to zoom in to get a better look at it]

Okay, so... it took a while, but I've- excuse me, I mean we finally beat our first gym. And that's not the only thing that's new, either. Just take a look at these guys!

[There's silence as she stands still, and after a second, her smile falters and she quickly waves her hand to the left. The camera jerks immediately towards a group of pokemon - a proud Rapidash waving his fiery mane in the air, a smug Graveler flexing his rocky arms towards an aloof Pideot, and a shy Beedrill hovering just a ways from them.]

Okay, got it Miki? Great! [clears her throat] Like I was saying, I got these guys to evolve, too. Most of them toughened up for Falkner, except for Kakuna- [is that...is that beedrill hovering lower now? Utena begins to speak quickly, in an attempt to yank her foot out of her mouth] But! We were able to get some training time in with her, too, and she was a great help out in the woods. We couldn't have done it without her.

[and she's hovering higher again! Utena breathes a sigh of relief, and rummages for her map off camera]

Anyway, now that that's taken care of, we can go on to the next town. It should take a couple days, but...hmn? What is it, Pon-...Rapidash?

[The camera follows Rapidash as it trots towards Utena, its ears perked up. Utena blinks, her head tilted in confusion, before her eyes widen and she shakes her head]

No. Nooo no no no no. No way, Rapidash. I'm not taking you over to the next town!

[And his ears and tails droop down. That hurts, Utena! She looks a bit guilty, but she tries to hold her resolve]

...look, it's not... [sighs] It's not that you're slow, but-

[And his ears droop even further, before he nudges her side. Ultimate guilt trip]

...okay, fine. We'll go for one ride around the woods, all right? [Rapidash's ears perk up!] But just one, you got it?

Raises his head proudly, while Utena whistles for Graveler. Once he rolls over, Rapidash stays still, and Utena braces herself against his back while the rock pokemon gives her a boost up. Soon enough, she's swung her legs over her mount, ready to ride. She gives a small, nervous smile as she strokes the side of his neck]

Happy now? Ra! Okay, okay... now, let's just take it slow and eeeaaaaah!

[Utena's words transform into an undignified scream as Rapidash bolts off, becoming a white and red blur on the camera. The {Pdgeot takes off after them, followed quickly by the Beedrill, and Miki the Pachirisu chitters at Graveler from behind the gear before the feed goes off]

[OOC: Basically, instead of a backdated post, Utena's gear glitched out and showed an old, embarrassing, unposted video from back in October. tl;dr, you really, really shouldn't try to ride a Rapidash bareback. She's over in Goldenrod now, and any replies will be from long after her misadventure]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Twilight? Why are you-

[Oh, that's right, the video. Utena cringes for a moment, before she shakes her head]

It's okay, it's okay, I'm fine, really - if you're worried about the video, that was ages ago. And besides, it's way worse than it looks. Rapidash just got a little carried away with himself, that's all.

Wait, it was-

[She pauses a moment, frowns, and goes back to rewatch the video. About five seconds in, she actually notices the state the trees are in, and promptly facepalms at herself.]

I can't believe I missed that.

Don't worry about it - it's pretty easy to miss, right? I mean, it's not like there's a date on these things or anything. Besides, I think anyone would be worried if they saw a video like that...

[shakes her head]

Anyway, sorry for making you worry over nothing. To be honest, I didn't even know that video was still around - I still don't know how it got posted to the network.

Well, I would have probably noticed the state of the trees if it weren't for the fact that I was, well... distracted.

[A fair enough explanation, really. And if it sounds a bit defensive, it's mostly just because she hates to make an idiot out of herself.]

I'm just glad you're okay. Being flung off a galloping rapidash does not sound like a good time to me.

[winces]

Trust me, it isn't. I was almost-

[Aaand as soon as she says that, she realizes just how bad it sounds. Time to backtrack!]

Not that I was hurt or anything - really, everything turned out fine. I admit, it was kind of scary, but my Pokemon made sure that it didn't get too bad.

[Is just... going to ignore the fact that it was one of her pokemon that got her into this mess]

Edited 2012-11-22 06:33 (UTC)

[She will politely do the same thing, since it does seem like her Rapidash wasn't intending to endanger her.]

I guess in a situation like that, you just have to trust your Pokemon to know what they're doing. I just hope he doesn't have an attitude like Rainbow Dash...

Yeah - I mean, we're fighting together so much, that you sort of have to trust them. But, who's Rainbow Dash? Is she one of your Pokemon?

No, a close friend from home. Her name came to mind because basically I was worried about a Pokemon who might get themselves or their trainer into trouble without realizing it until it was too late. An accident can be worse than something intentional, after all...

[She stops, and shakes her head.] But I'm sure you've got things under control. You've certainly had enough time sense that video was made, right?

Oh, definitely. He's still a bit... enthusiastic, but he's more careful, now. [Not by much, but a little bit helps, right?]

But, if your friend was the first person you thought of- [shakes her head] No offense, but she sounds like a real handful.

She's an athlete with an enormous ego, a hair-trigger temper, and a seemingly pathological inability to think before she acts.

But she's also quite literally the most loyal friend I know, and extremely caring. Just don't tell her I said so. She'll think I'm calling her mushy.

[laughs a bit]

She sounds kind of like someone I know, only minus the athlete part. Or the "loyal friend" part, to be honest.

[But...she did drop by with Miki and Juri, didn't she? Maybe that does count for something. Utena goes silent for a moment, before she realizes that her thoughts drifted. Okay, back to reality now]

...anyway, she sounds pretty wild. She didn't get you and your friends into too much trouble, did she?

Honestly? Not much more than we tend to get into just by virtue of where we live. Ponyville is weird.

Though she did sometimes escalate the situation. Something you should probably keep in mind, don't kick a dragon in the face. Under just about any circumstances.

[And there was also that time she was showing off way too much being the town's hero, but Twilight refuses to count that on the grounds that she really was just trying to help.]

Duel 03 // Video // Route 36... sort of

[Video]

[Video]

[Video]

[Video]

[Video]

[Video]

[Video]

[Video]

[Video]

[Video]

[Video]

[Video]