strideways | > Dave: Be the pied piper.

[ Oh, look! A blurry thumb! The 'Gear is fumbled for a moment — looks like someone's having trouble holding onto it, or aiming it the right direction, at any rate.

When the camera steadies, the cameraman finally comes into view.

It's a bird! No, it's a... bunch of birds! It's... a really bad scarecrow?

Actually, it's Dave Strider. Guess who left his bird swag on?

Dave is almost literally covered in Murkrows. They're clinging to his clothes, perched all over his arms and his head and shoulders, sitting on his feet.... One of them, nestled in beneath his jaw on the right side, as cloooose as she can get, is wearing an orange ribbon around her neck. She looks like she's sulking. ]

Caught one of those dog Pokémon lurking around — Houndour, I guess. They're Fire- and Dark-type.

[ He's apparently determined to pretend the crows aren't even fucking there, because when one of them pecks at the 'Gear, he just moves it aside slightly and continues in the same tone of voice. ]

Was battling with my Gyarados, but I actually had to break out Tock to knock out a couple of them before I found one that wasn't level Fuck You, Strider. We're probably lucky they're not aggressive.

[ The ribboned Murkrow on his shoulder suddenly puffs herself up and lashes out at her neighbour, scattering a few crows for all of twenty seconds. They settle back down, with Dave's Murkrow looking unhappier than ever.

A few crows are lifted in front of the camera as he raises his left arm. If you're watching closely, he reaches up to scratch lightly at his Murkrow's talon. ]

And I'm pretty sure I saw a Gengar earlier. Those weren't around here before.

[ This is effectively a query: anyone know what's going on?

Before he can actually ask, though (if he was even going to), a bird on his left shoulder makes a grab for his shades. Dave jerks his head away, and his own Murkrow snatches at the sunglasses from the opposite side.

The 'Gear clatters to the ground, landing faceup and with an excellent, if fleeting, view of a crow flying off, an orange ribbon around her neck and a pair of sunglasses in one claw. A moment later, a hand covers the camera completely, and the feed shuts off. ]

[ Feel free to approach; he's near the north edge of Goldenrod. Just don't expect him to be very friendly — or look you in the eye. ]

cool
almost moved there once but plans fell through
still wanna visit someday
hear it gets ungodly hot in the summer
my kinda place

the great state of texas
gets pretty hot here too i guess

not long
heard something about epic blizzards and floods though

yeah
not the biggest fan of rain or snow
or basically weather at all i guess

pretty much
besides
not a fan of cold shit in general
so rain and snow are both outlawed in the kingdom of strider

oh yeah
the king of irony
his royal majesty dave fucking strider
everything the light touches is my kingdom
did i forget to mention that part

thats cash
i am one majestic motherfucker
dave mufasa strider at your service

no baby striders here
luxio is as small as ive got
seems appropriate though
and i think we can agree ive got zazu covered

[ The feed clicks back on in response to her question, but the camera isn't on Dave. It's focused on the ground, where a Pokéball drops, bounces once and releases, in a flash, an energetic little lion. She peers up into the 'Gear, and her pleased rumbling becomes quickly audible.

Dave speaks from behind the 'Gear. ]

Apropos, right? A little big, though.

[Midori squeals happily.] Oh, she's cute! [And here's some giggling.] And that's about as appropriate as we're gonna get, huh?~

Yeah, I'd say so.

[ Dave reaches into view to scratch the Luxio behind the ears, and she cants her head happily into his hand. ]

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