compnetwork | 1st Pokeball - An Unwelcome Prank

The camera feed snaps on suddenly, revealing a creature somewhat like a fox staring directly into it before winking and placing a finger to its lips. It snaps to attention as a young-sounding voice calls out from behind it.

"Okay, Zoroark, time for rehearsal! Today it's Brycen-Man, okay?"

The outline of the fox-like creature - Zoroark? - shimmers and distorts, resolving into a strangely-dressed man. It walks away from the camera and takes up a stance across from a young girl in an equally outlandish outfit, who clears her throat before drawing herself up and pointing directly at the masked man the fox turned into.

"Hold it! The Messenger of Truth and Ideals, Riolu Girl, is here! Stop right there, Brycen-Man! I cannot allow your mischief!"

The masked man laughs at this. He snickers so hard, in fact, that the illusion drops, leaving Riolu Girl staring at him, completely unsure of what's so funny. Still snickering, the fox points at the video feed with one finger, the masked girl looking in that direction. Her eyes wide behind her mask, she scrambles for the table the COMP is resting on.

"AAAA! That's not funny, Zoroark!"

Staring directly into the video feed, she starts babbling frantically.

"You didn't see that! NOBODY SAW THAT. THERE WAS NOTHING TO SEE."

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[ Well that was . . . certainly an interesting sight. Though for Lucy, "interesting" equates to "secondhand embarrassing," so it's not really much of a win for Kotoha. ]

Aren't you a little too old to be playing stupid games like that?

[ Lucy, you're just jealous because you never got to do anything like that. ]

On the one hand, she saw her rehearsing. On the other, Kotoha WILL NOT STAND FOR YOUR SLANDER.

"Hey! Okay, I admit that the Brycen-Man trilogy was kind of niche, but it still has fans! And Mr. Deeoh is planning on releasing a remastered Blu-Ray edition soon!"

[wut]

...What are you even doing. What was it - Konoka?

A moment of silence goes by, and the look on her face doesn't even change. The only visible change is her eyebrow ticking upward just a hint, and her frown grows deeper.

"Are you serious..."

"Geeze, it's Kotoha, Ko-to-ha!"

Kotoha takes the mask off and pouts a little.

"And I was rehearsing. You know. Because I'm an actress?"

Kotoka, right.

[She's either trolling or honestly doesn't care what her name is. Or maybe a little of Column A and a little of Column B.]

So your movies are rehearsed in front of a live studio audience? Isn't that a little unorthodox?

Kotoha reaches up and removes her mask.

"No, I'm Kotoha."

She gives a little grin at the incredibly lame joke before continuing.

"But, you know, just because Pokewood Studios doesn't exist here, that doesn't make me any less of an actress, you know? It's like anything else - if you want to keep your skills sharp, you have to practice."

She throws an annoyed glance off-camera in the direction of Zoroark.

"Even if someone is too busy playing PRANKS to help out..."

[Despite what was just shown, Miyako's more interested in the girl's creature than the content.]

...What kind of creature is it?

"Not normally, but Zoroark thinks he's a comedian."

A slight pause.

"For someone so cute, you sure aren't interested in people, huh?"

Her eyes narrow slightly, not quite a wince but perhaps close, as if that joke was actually physically painful. She only just barely suppresses the urge to sigh, and her attempt isn't that effective since she sighs anyway.

"I doubt that creature being focused would help."

Kotoha's already removed her mask, but at this question she practically preens - for a Trainer, interest in their pokemon is the greatest icebreaker!

"Oh, he's a Zoroark! I received him as a gift from Rood of the Seven Sages."

With that, she casts a sly glance over to where Zoroark is still snickering.

"Of course, at the time he was still a little baby Zorua..."

That does it - Zoroark stops snickering to scowl at Kotoha.

"Hey hey hey - he's not a creature, he's a pokemon. A Zoroark, if you want to be specific."

A slight pause.

"Hey wait, what's that supposed to mean!?"

I fail to see what my appearance has to do with something like that.

A pokemon? She would call it ridiculous and cartoonish if it wasn't a legitimate creature in front of her. Well, in front of the screen, but semantics. The frown on her face tilts upward just a little bit at the corners at that pause and subsequent question. She was wondering how long it might take her to pick up on it.

"It means you don't realize you're embarrassing yourself."

Kotoha shrugs.

"I dunno, I just meet so many people that don't notice how attractive they are that it's starting to bug me a little. Physical beauty is a top commodity in show business, after all!"

"Of course I realized it! That wasn't supposed to be recorded, after all!"

Kotoha crosses her arms over her chest and grumbles.

"Or are you trying to say there's something inherently embarrassing about being a professional actress?"

And without missing a beat at all:

"When you're basically a talking monkey dancing on stage, yeah."

[So this girl is a type of demon tamer? But hm, need to ask more questions.]

Are Zorua and Zoroark demons?

[With all of her studies and knowing about demons, Miyako can say the species names somewhat easily. They're foreign on her tongue, but after hearing Kotoha's pronunciations, she picked it up.]

Kotoha snorts at that.

"Excuse you, I happen to be an amazing dancing monkey."

A sly smirk.

"In fact, call me the Monkey Queen! This is a royal command!"

She manages to keep her face straight after saying that for thirty seconds.

"No, they're Pokemon. Completely different thing."

A slight pause.

"Oh, and my name's Kotoha. What's yours?"

This marks the first time she's ever called someone something similar to a primate and had them react positively in response. For a good few seconds, she doesn't know what to say. She can only stand there and stare at the feed with a look of disbelief.

"...right."

Miyako Hotsuin.

[Pokemon, huh?]

What are the differences between Pokemon and demons?

"Well, from what I've seen, Pokemon are actual biological creatures."

A slight pause.

"Occasionally very strange biological creatures, yes, but they exist in the world in a way most of the demons I've seen so far...don't."

YOU CAN'T STOP THE OPTIMISM TRAIN

CHOO CHOO

Anyway, Kotoha smiles happily and poses a question.

"Say, what's your name, anyway?"

Demons differ from common animals by their basic, biological make-up.

[Spiritually and other things that would take too long to explain.]

How do they exist in your world?

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1st Pokeball - An Unwelcome Prank

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