ghostytrainer | prank #41

Current Location: cerulean inn

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prank #41 | video

[When the feed clicks on, it's to a close up shot of a Shedinja floating inside what appears to be a hotel room. The ghost is just staring blankly at the screen, neither moving nor giving any other sort of indication that it's alive or that it really had any reason for apparently deciding to turn the gear on.]

[Just. Staring.]

[It's probably kind of unnerving and the worst part is that this goes on for a good twenty minutes before something else finally happens.]

Ugh, Phoebe did you hide my gear somewhere again? It was cute and kind of funny like the first maybe...three times? But that's really starting to wear off, sorry to say. Jeez, where is everyone it's like a gravey--

[John's voice can be heard in the background, and just as he wonders to himself where all his Pokémon went, his feet can be seen in the background behind the Shedinja. He sighs.]

Well that explains where everyone went at least. [The neon green argyle sock-clad feet approach the bug ghost and the camera.] Exos, what are you doing over here...oh. Ugh, not you too! Jesus what does a guy have to do, I swear... [The camera jostles as John, still mumbling to himself, picks the 'gear up. He redirects the camera to his own face, looking a little exasperated.]

Sorry about that. Exos is...well okay I have no idea what the fuck he was trying to accomplish there, if anything at all. But since this is already on, may as well make some kind of point here I guess. Umm, let's see...

Tell me about your favorite type of Pokémon. Or your favorite species, anything like that. Feel free to gush about your team and the things you have accomplished together, I don't mind. It's actually kind of fun to hear what other people have to say about their companions.

Here, I will even go first. Ghost types are my favorite and thanks to Bro Strider, I recently finished my collection of grim, grinning ghosts. I now have at least one of every ghost-type evolutionary line. My favorite species is Haunter. Mostly for nostalgia reasons but Haunters have the added benefit of just being pretty awesome in general.

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Before I answer your question, would you mind telling me about that little darling that was on the screen? I don't think I've ever seen a Pokémon like it.

[It looked like a bug, but there was something...ghostly about it. Clearly that meant she needed it.]

Oh, Exos? Yeah, you should... probably be glad that you haven't seen one, to be honest. At least a wild one. Anyway... [He coaxes the Shedinja to float up higher so that it appears on the screen again. It's still staring blankly, once again failing to give any sort of indication that it's even alive.]

Exos is a Shedinja which is... technically an evolution of Nincada but it has probably one of the weirdest evolution methods out there, to be honest. See, when Nincada evolves into Ninjask, sometimes the shell it leaves behind reanimates itself and you wind up with a Shedinja in addition to the Ninjask. See the little wing looking things? [He taps at the protrusions from Exos's back.] They aren't really wings, they're from where the Ninjask burst out of the back of its shell when it evolved.

While Ninjask is pure bug type, Shedinja picks up ghost typing by virtue of basically being a bug-zombie. It also gains an ability that is completely unique to its species called Wonder Guard. Basically, it makes Shedinja completely invulnerable to any attack that isn't its weakness. So if someone hit it with say...Solar Beam? Absolutely nothing would happen. But a fire type move as weak as Ember would knock it out in only one shot and something like Overheat would just be flat out overkill.

[Wow that was...a lot to take in. She got the gist of it, sure, but somethings went over her head. Not that she's going to let that be obvious.]

It certainly does seem like a type of Pokémon I would be interested in! Although...you mentioned something about how I should be glad I never saw one. Is there any particular reason why you said that?

[There are a few topics that one should really never bring up in front of John. One is movies, and the other is ghost types. Because you will never hear the end of his passionate nerd rambles.]

Last time they appeared in the wild, they ended up draining people's souls. Trainer-raised ones don't do it for some reason, but looking into the hole in a wild one's back is a one-way ticket to some kind of crazy fucked up dreamworld. Your body is left behind as an empty shell until somebody finds the Shedinja that took you and takes it out.

[Blink. Blink.]

...you can't be serious.

Hey, I love jokes as much as the next guy and I am basically the master of pranks. But there are some things that even I won't joke about. Look it up in the Pokédex if you don't believe me.

Have you ever seen this happen to someone else? Because this sounds pretty out there to moi.

[His expression hardens somewhat at that.]

I did. My fiancée and several of my friends were all drained, as well as many other people I didn't know. Why would I make this up? Why would anyone make something like this up?

Because stories like that aren't always real. People will say whatever they want for attention. Is this honestly that surprising?

Okay well I guess that can be true in some cases. But it's definitely not in this one, I assure you. That's a pretty terrible thing to make up just for some attention, don't you think?

And like I said, the Pokédex can back me up on this one, as well as the people who were here in June two years ago.

While I doubt that machine is accurate all of the time, I'm not about to argue something that has been proven right.

[She shrugs.]

Either way, you told me what I wanted to know, so I suppose I can answer your question. Favorite type and species, yes?

[John's still a little huffy but the fact that she believes him (or at least says she does) is enough to get him to calm back down.]

Mmm, yeah. Or just anything about Pokémon in general that you feel like talking about. I just figured that was a good place to start.

I'm still a bit new here, but so far I'd have to say my favorite type is Bug. I think a lot of them are absolutely gorgeous, especially Vespiquen in particular. She also happens to be my personal favorite, if you were curious.

[Which, of course you were. It's Barby, everyone should be curious about what she likes and what she doesn't. Clearly.]

Vespiquen is...the big queen bee thing that kinda looks like it's wearing a ball gown, right? Hehe, I'm not really all that familiar with bugs beyond some of the more common ones.

Yes, that's right. In fact, I have one on me right now. Victoria darling, could you come here for a moment?

[Barely a few seconds later, the massive bee hovers over towards her trainer with the camera now focusing on her. She even strikes a pose befitting on a model...guess who taught her that.]

Isn't she beautiful?

[John can't help but giggle a bit at Victoria's posing]

Yes, though admittedly it's a little weird to think of a bug as beautiful. But there is an elegance to her that even somebody like me can appreciate. Though she's a lot bigger than I was expecting, holy crap.

Really glad bees never got that big on Earth except for in science fiction stories.

[She clearly doesn't look too happy at the giggling, raising one of its claws in warning. In response, Barby tries to comfort it.]

Don't worry about him, dear. I doubt he meant anything by it.

[She turns back to John.]

While Victoria is indeed elegant, she also has feelings and she doesn't take kindly to someone giggling at her. I expect an apology.

[Yeah, she's completely serious right now.]

Ah what? [He places his hands up in front of him, despite the fact that he's not actually in any danger physically.]

No I wasn't...okay I guess in a way I was kind of laughing at her but it wasn't a bad thing, I swear. It was a good laugh. Just the way she posed like that it's sort of...I guess cute in a way? I don't really know how to put it. My Froslass does something similar and it just tickles me every time.

[Pokémon are weird and endearing, especially girl ones for whatever reason. Probably because John is even weirder.]

I promise I wasn't trying to offend you, Victoria, I'm sorry. You are very pretty, beautiful really. Truly a queen bee in every sense of the word.

[His Froslass gets huffy when he laughs too, but flattery is always the key to getting her to calm back down...it's kind of scary how well she's managed to train her master.]

See, I told you he didn't mean anything by it.

[While that may be so, Victoria looks a bit skeptical. Even after the apology she's still a bit huffy, but she warms up to John pretty quickly once he compliments her. Seems like this Vespiquen isn't so different from John's Froslass after all...

Barby turns her attention back to John after giving her Pokémon a small pat on the head.]

Looks like she forgave you. Isn't that right, darling?

[To confirm, Victoria nods her head before flying offscreen. Probably to go look at herself in the mirror. Again.]

Anyway, I don't believe either of us introduced ourselves. My name's Barby.

Hehe, good. I like to avoid having people hate me and that goes double for Pokémon, especially giant bees. Somehow that just...strikes me as the sort of thing you don't want to piss off.

[He chuckles.]

My bad though, I'm John Egbert. It's nice to meet you, Barby.

I wouldn't recommend it, no. Victoria has quite the fierce temper.

[Kind of like her trainer...]

And it's nice to meet you too, John. Shame things started off a bit...rocky.

Eheh, yeah. But water under the bridge now, right?

[He's certainly no longer mad about the whole Shedinja thing. In fact he already sort of forgot that he was even irritated about that in the first place.]

So bugs...have you been to any of the forests or the National Park yet?

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prank #41 | video

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