garbagechild | 004. [Video/Action for Rocket HQ]

_{[There are plenty of newborn Pokemon that enter the world squalling or cooing.]

[This one entered with a whole lot of growling and then nearly took somebody's finger off.]

[The little Deino on the screen, which happens to have a faintly-sparkling green coat rather than the customary blue, is yanking and worrying at the end of one of the scarves that its trainer had received for Christmas as well as the egg it had just hatched from. It's been in the world outside its eggshell for about five minutes and it's already filled with fury at the fact that this long soft thing exists in its general vicinity.]

[Wrath is thrilled.]

[He turns to the camera (which is presumably held by his Kangaskhan) proudly, apparently unconcerned that the tiny dino-dragon is nearly tugging the scarf right off of him.]}

The rock turned into a sparkling animal!

Her name is Mad.

Mad likes to bite.

_{[... A little like her trainer, actually. They also share the same hairdo aesthetic. This is clearly a match made in heaven.]}

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[Thankfully, Rideaux is able to catch up and grab Deva before he's able to do any damage. He holds the snarling and snapping Deino by the scruff of his neck, lightly shaking him with anger.]

What did we spend weeks training in order to avoid? Situations like this. Honestly, you are beyond hope.

[He then kind of realizes that he should probably say something to the kid and his own Deino.

...]

He didn't get at either of you, did he?

_{[Wrath shakes his head and watches in fascination, not bothering to hold back his OWN bristling dragon baby... but as angry as she is, she's just a hatchling, and isn't quite ready to go biting the ankles of fully-grown men yet.]}

Yours is blue.

Do they come in all different colors?

[Good on Mad- it's...probably not in her best interest to bite at Rideaux's ankles, for everyone involved really.

It's when Wrath points it out that Rideaux makes note of the clear color differences between Deva and Mad. Huh...that's interesting.]

I've seen three others of these things, and they've all been blue. I've never heard of a green one before- it would be truly unfortunate if yours had an illness or something.

[...SAYS THE DOCTOR.

He's fairly sure he knows what's going on here, though. But he's curious to see how the kid reacts.]

_{[Indeed it isn't. The avocado-green dinosaur scuttles behind her pint-sized trainer and pokes her head out, still baring her teeth.]

[Wrath, on the other hand, goes from looking earnest and generally perky, to stricken in the space of two seconds.]}

Illness?

Pokemon can get sick?

[...Oh wow, this is getting even better.]

Of course they can. Why do you think Pokemon Centers exist? They don't only treat injured Pokemon- sometimes our little monsters fall ill too.

_{[Rideaux you're awful]}

I-- I didn't know-- from germs? Can they get sick from germs?

_{[Because oh no. He had LOTS of germs. Ralph had told him so. What if he was making his Pokemon sick???]}

[THAT'S NOT A FALSE STATEMENT...]

Of course. That's how some illnesses are born, by the spread of harmful bacteria. Though I don't believe that is what your Deino is suffering from. I don't hear about too many viral infections that cause complete color change.

No, I believe this is something much different.

[...He's going to come clean and just tell the kid soon but he's enjoying this way too much at the moment.]

_{[YOU SADIST.]

[Fortunately for Rideaux, Wrath has literally no Bullshit Radar to speak of, so he doesn't even remotely suspect that he's being messed with.]}

Wh-- then... then what's wrong with her?

Is she gonna be okay?

Will Mad be okay?

[Rideaux makes another glance at Mad, then to the still-snapping Deva in his hand. The look on his face is grim, like he's about to deliver some devastating news.

...but then he just smiles. Well, it's more of a smirk than a smile, but it's still a positive thing either way.]

She'll be fine. Her color is probably just a rare difference rather than anything harmful. I have a Pokemon who is a color he's not supposed to be too, and he's fine.

[...he's honestly really amused at how well that went.]

_{[For a second, Wrath continues to look sort of panicky.]

[Then it fades into relief.]}

--She'll be fine?

She'll be fine!

_{[Oh happy day!]

[.... WAIT A MINUTE.]}

--Then why'd you say you thought she was sick?!

[Okay, now it's definitely a smug as hell smirk on his face. He may have even chuckled a bit for added effect of how much of a jerk he is.]

Because I can't just rule out the possibility. I did say it's probably not harmful, but you never know.

[It's at this point that he plops the thoroughly-shaken Deva back on the ground. He's behaving well enough at this point, though he's still snorting and growling a bit. He doesn't have much time to do that though because Rideaux recalls him back into his Pokeball shortly after.]

I'd watch her just to be safe, but I wouldn't fear the worst.

_{[Okay, now that Wrath isn't worrying for the life of HIS CHILD, he's picking up a little more on that 'smug asshole' vibe. His mouth curls into a small frown.]

[The shiny Deino, meanwhile, scoots behind Wrath and peeks out, still snorting and baring her teeth.]}

Well, I won't then, I guess.

[Oh, what's this now? Is that a little bit of discontent he's witnessing?

He's so hurt, really. But he is watching that Deino closely, just in case.]

Good. I would hate to have an actual illness go untreated if it did actually crop up.

[He sounds totally concerned.]

_{[Reaching around, Wrath scoops up the baby dragon and squeezes her protectively, scowling.]}

I don't think she's sick.

004. [Video/Action for Rocket HQ]

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