[ the gear records a warmly lit room at the Goldenrod inn. it's a bit dim, just a rich buttery light coming from a lone lamp by the bed, but the viewer will have no trouble making out the picture. Tavros has just wheeled across the room in his chair and opened the window, making the curtains flutter in the chilly breeze. he doesn't seem to mind, though, and after looking outside for a long time he smiles and siiiii~ghs, then turns and reaches for the pokegear.

instead of pointing it at himself, he points it out the window ("Look!"), up at the sky. so many stars! millions and millions of bright stars on a beautiful black sky. from behind the camera, Tavros giggles quietly. ]

Which star do you think is the second one, uhh, to the right? The one that goes straight on 'till morning? It's sort of hard to tell. There's so many.

[ after a long moment Tavros sets the gear down next to him on the window sill and puts his chin in his hand, staring almost... longingly out at the night sky. ]

I heard that this "Christmas" holiday that humans have for celebrating involves receiving a visit from an individual that can make wishes happen, and I was sort of wondering if that's true. Because I have a wish that I've been wishing for very, very hard and I think now is as good a time as any for the granting of it to take place! Since, uhh, there is a particular occasion for it, that is. Maybe just, uhh... if the Claws-human could just send Pupa Pan to do the wish-giving for him instead, that would be okay with me. That would be really nice.

[ he cups his chin in both hands and smiles to himself. ]

That would be the nicest thing ever.

[ time for another episode of Bull in the Big City! he's on horseback today (Rapidashback, to be specific), and is headed in the general direction of the department store! but on his way, a query for the pokegear: ]

Citizens of Johto, hi, or, uhh, good morning, I guess it is... I was wondering a thing and I was hoping that maybe there would be another someone, or perhaps multiple someones, who would be possibly capable of helping me with the thing I was wondering about. It worked pretty well the last time I asked, so, uhh, anyway, I guess I should probably ask it now. The thing that I'm wondering is that I recently received an advisement to attempt battling the leader of the Gym establishment here, uhh, in Goldenrod City, which is where I am right now, still, but I don't know if that's a thing that I could do, because I heard that the Gym places are pretty formidable. So I guess I was thinking that maybe I could effectively make myself open to suggestions on how a way would be to tackle such a task in a successful manner.

[ smiles a little! smiling is always good when you want something, right? nobody wants to help an unfriendly person. ]

Yes, so, anyway, thanks in advance for the potential answers regarding that.

[ and for anyone in the area, you may feel free to run into the local campeador apparent at any given time! you might just witness him having a little difficulty managing his shopping bags while riding a horse, and part of that might be because - wait. is that a Diglett inside one of the bags? weird. 8| ]

[ once again (as usual?), Tavros is in distress. the angle of the video is kind of odd, as if it's being taken from the floor, and... that's because it is. Tavros is on the ground, and the camera is pointing at his wheelchair, which should be empty since he's not in it, but... ]



[ WHAT THE HELL. ]

Uhh. Is anyone else seeing the thing that I'm seeing, right now... because I'm a little bit confused about the logistics of this thing that I'm looking at, which is, I guess, this dirt monster that is on my four-wheel device, but, uhh... I don't know how it got there. And it won't go away so that I can get up, so I'm sort of having a problem with a lot of things right now.

[ Dig! this little bastard ain't moving, no sirree. behind the camera, Tavros makes a disgruntled sort of noise, and some passersby can be heard making commentary and giggling in the background, which... makes Tavros kind of whine a second time. ]

Diglett, you're being rude, a little bit. You don't even have legs, uhh, for being paralyzed. Please move!

[ Dig! (nope.) ]

[ Tavros is not feeling festive or interested in capturing beasts. he has not felt like this for several days. and after spending these several days by himself, thinking Deep Thoughts, he has finally emerged to speak on the communicator regarding them, opting for video despite how much harder actually talking is versus typing. he just gives the camera a long look, fumbling for words, before speaking. ]

Uhh, so, there's a matter which has, I guess, come to my attention, recently, and I was thinking about it a lot, and wondering some things, that I couldn't really figure out an answer to, so, I guess what I was wondering is if anyone that's, uhh, here, could maybe help me with the figuring out, that I mentioned, regarding this topic. ...which is that I was wondering about... uh. Individuals who, previously, as in, before they got here, to Johto, when they were at the place they originated from, that were in a state of being, uhh. Not. Alive, anymore.

[ a pause, frowning thoughtfully. ]

It's probably sort of obvious that they're not in that state of un-alive, like I said, now, but, I was wondering if maybe they knew about it when they got here, or... uhh, well, I don't really know exactly, what I'm asking for, I just. It's kind of bothering me, I guess.

[ he starts to say something else but ultimately decides he's staggered through his sentences enough and fumbles uncomfortably with the 'gear before turning it off. ]

[ behold, Goldenrod. your new campeador has arrived! Tavros has been on the fly—or, uh, the bull ride—for weeks, with the express purpose of hastening to Goldenrod. of course, the reason this took almost a month and not, y'know, a week or two, is because he got lost. a lot. lost, and held up by wild Pokemon that he had to direct his amazing team of three underleveled Pokemon to battle, with near-disastrous results, and other various paraplegic shenanigans that I would be heartless to describe here, but which may or may not involve the total destruction of his wheelchair somewhere along the way.

so, as grand as it may seem to ride into a big city on the back of a giant hoofbeast, it really becomes less impressive when you take in the weather-beaten and fatigue-stricken appearance of both steed and rider. ]

We did it, Rufio! Unless I'm reading the map wrong, uhh, again, which is a thing that's completely possible, since it happened so many times before, but assuming I'm not, which I don't think I am, for once...

[ his Tauros gives a snort of impatience. Would you get to the point, already? ]

Right, sorry. Anyway, I think this is Goldenrod. It's gotta be, just, based on its appearance, which resembles the descriptions that were given to me, before.

[ clip clop clip clop... clip... clop... Rufio is beginning to slow down. his legs are trembling. Tavros leans down and pats his neck consolingly. ]

It sure is big, isn't it...

[ ...and then he promptly passes out and falls off of his trusty steed sideways, just in time for said trusty steed to collapse over the other way. bull pileup on aisle four. ]


[ ooc: assume replies to responses on the 'gear come after he wakes up \o\ ]

Oh, cool, I think I got it, there we go...

[ the camera spins around, initially pointing off at a random wall of the Cherrygrove Pokemon Center, but soon shows Tavros, looking a bit worse for wear, but seated in a proper wheelchair. it looks quite comfy. you know, as comfy as wheelchairs get, anyway. ]

So, I finally got to, uhh, this new place, with the help of my new friend, which I decided to call Rufio, by the way, since it seemed like a good name for a hoofbeast that, uhh, is pretty brave, as it turns out.

[ he smiles a little, pointing the camera at the aforementioned Tauros, standing outside and looking in through the window. he snorts agitatedly when he realizes he's being watched, just barely audible on the Pokegear. ]

Also, I got a new four wheel device, which is good, because I don't think Rufio liked carrying me around, and it was also kind of dangerous, and I kept falling off, so, it took a long time to get places. There was a lot of, I guess, tribulation, but ultimately, it turned out okay, and I captured a feather creature, in one of those multi-colored capsules that I had in my bag, so that was pretty cool, too. [ turns the camera his way again, looking just a little sheepish. ]

But, to get back to the thing that I wanted to say, before I started, uhh, saying other things, is that I was going to ask, what's a good place to stay for longer than just a little bit? Like, maybe, a new hive that I could live in, or borrow, I guess. I don't really know how that's, uhh, supposed to work. Anyway, I kind of like this one place that I mentioned being at now, but I don't want to, really, impose on the hospitality here...

[ trails off for a moment and then rounds off that half-finished thought with an awkward shrug. ]

That's all, uhh, I guess, for now.