[Judging by the dim light, it's well into sunset by now and John's laying on a lounge chair on what can only be the deck of the S.S. Anne. On his chest lays a small Dunsparce, wearing a tiny and absolutely adorable light blue party hat. John's idly petting its back, eliciting a few content sighs from the little snake every now and again.]

I know we have a starter appreciation day, but there's nothing quite like the anniversary of your arrival to get you thinking about the Pokémon that started it all. Like really think about them, I mean. Not just kind of acknowledging that they were your first Pokémon.

Or maybe I am just sentimental, who knows. But I really think there's something kind of special about starters. Even if there doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason as to why you were paired up together. Either way, Colonel Sassacre here and I have been together three years as of today. [The Dunsparce flitters his wings a little, maybe giving the camera the smallest of smiles.] Though it feels like it's been way longer than that, honestly. Time flies when you're having fun, right?

[He beams at the camera.]

So tell me about your starters. What was yours? What sort of things have you done together? I dunno, just brag about them if you want. Or we can just talk about whatever, you know I am honestly not too picky. There's just only so long I can appreciate complete silence, personally. But this chair is way too comfy and the breeze feels way too nice to go back inside.

[He's feeling chatty again, apparently. And also lazy. Though what else is new on either of those fronts, really?]

On that note, if you haven't done the elite battle with Blue or Claire to get your S.S. Anne pass, I highly recommend doing so. Just saying. Totally worth it.

[The feed clicks on to an extreme close up of a Lopunny's face. She blinks a few times then giggles quietly and presses a finger to her mouth before picking the pokegear up.]

[She takes a quick trip down one of the hallways, the image on the screen jostling everywhere as she half skips, half bounces to her destination: a closed door. There is absolutely nothing remarkable about this door. Though there is a voice coming from the other side of it!]

--ood, Mythtique, perf--- no! Dammit! Do my eyeth looks like dotth to you?!

[The door pushes open to reveal...two Johns? Yes. There are definitely two Johns in the room: one with his back to the door, facing his giggling, dot-eyed copy. Or...well he WAS facing a giggling, dot-eyed copy. After about 10 seconds though, the other John starts to glow and change shape.]

[He becomes...]

[My god.]

[HE BECOMES...]

[A ditto.]

Ugh. It'th not funny, Mythtique! Come on, thtop laughing!

[It takes the blob a minute or so, but eventually it does as asked.]

Okay...let'th try thith again. But get my eyeth right thith time, okay? That wathn't funny the firtht time you did it and it definitely wathn't the third time!

[The ditto snickers but does as told, glowing once more before turning into John. All traces of skin discoloration and stripes are gone, as are his horns. His fangs, though not gone entirely, have shrunk enough that he could probably fit them in his mouth were it not for his overbite. Those, along with his cat-like pupils and blue lips, are the only remaining traces of the outbreak from a couple of months ago.]

Hehehehe! Perfect! Now we jutht need to focuth on teaching you how to tal-- who are you waving at?

[About midway through John's comment, the ditto finally noticed Casey in the doorway and had begun waving happily at both the bunny and the camera. John turns to look at the doorway, frowning and moving towards the doorway once he realizes what his Lopunny is doing.]

Cathey! Turn that off, thith ith highly thecre--

[The feed cuts off.]

((ooc: if you don't want me to type the lisp out, just let me know. Obviously, he'll still be using it ic'ly but if it's annoying/hard/whatever to read, I can easily cut it out for you.)

[So it's what...2 in the morning? Yeah, some retarded time like that. Very, very late at night when people (especially growing thirteen year old boys) should be asleep and dreaming and definitely not in the middle of patches of grass right outside of Goldenrod City.]

[Unfortunately, that's where John is tonight. Why? Because his Eevee somehow just knew that tonight was the night for evolution. So that meant that they had to go outside and train RIGHT. NOW.]

[And so they did. Or well...Lestat did. John just tried his hardest not to fall back asleep.]

[At some point all of Lestat's hard work paid off, because when the feed clicks on it's to a very excited John sitting in the middle of the grass hugging an extremely wriggly and irritable-looking Umbreon.]

I knew you liked me! I knew it! Haha, you can't hide it from me anymore, Lestat. You couldn't have evolved unless I made you hap--EEOOOWW!!!

[Seems Lestat decided that that was enough gushing out of the boy for one night and that the perfect way to get him to shut up was to sink his teeth into the boy's left shoulder. Hard.]

[The feed clicks off as Casey abandons the 'gear in favor of pulling the two apart.]

[A video feed clicks on revealing a picture of...the ground. A pair of bright red sneakers with flames on the side are also visible peeking out from under a pair of dark jeans. A Dunsparce crawls into frame and stares(?) up at the camera curiously(?).]

Okay I think this is on...uhm. Hi everyone! It's John, and I finally made it to Cherrygrove! Aradia showed me how to use the video function, so this time you can actually see me instead of me typing all this out. Isn't that great!?

[A Pidgey joins the Dunsparce on frame, also looking up at the camera with a look that can only be described as exasperated. Clearly it does not approve of this utter failure of a video.]

Yeah, this is great. Except...I don't really have much to say. The trip was pretty much uneventful. I caught a Pidgey though! I named him Tripp after Matthew McConaughey's character in Failure to Launch. You know, because he's a bird. Failure to Launch. Bird. Get it? Haha! Come over here Tripp so they can see you. Come on.

[The Pidgey gives John (who is still off-screen except for his shoes) an 'are you serious look' and doesn't move.]

Okay well it looks like he's feeling kind of camera shy right now. Same with Colonel Sassacre...what are you both doing down there anyway? Okay well whatever, that's really all I have to say at the moment. Vriska if you're still in Cherrygrove I guess I'll meet you at the inn or something. You did wait for me, right? Right?!

[The video feed clicks off.]