The Fifth Circle

[ACTION]

<sub>[It's a normal day in the Goldenrod Rocket HQ.]

[Folks are lining up before breakfast to turn in their weekly finds, be they caught or stolen.]

[Among them is Wrath, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed despite the early hour. His sleep schedule is erratic at best and seemingly nonexistent at worst, but he never seems wanting for energy. He is brimming with excitement, practically bobbling in place as he waits in the line with a Pokeball clutched in his hands. He can't wait to get to the front of the line and proudly show off his brand new Abra, caught after hour upon hour of hunting through the long, itchy grass on the far outskirts of the city after receiving a helpful suggestion from Frank Archer. This morning is going to be a good morning!]

[Also among them is Rocket Grunt Carl, who can usually be found sitting by himself in the cafeteria because no one wants to deal with his snobbery and self-titled "meme lord" status. He is smirking broadly and tossing his Pokeball from hand to hand.]

[They are standing next to each other.]</sub>



( CLICK FOR COMIC )

[VIDEO]

<sub>[It's very rare that Wrath addresses the camera directly without shaking it all over the place, and it's even rarer that he actually stages a shot.]

[But today he has.]

[He places the camera down on one of the cafeteria tables-- it's in the base, but there's nobody really around, and it could be ANY food-court type cafeteria really. He plops down facing the camera and stares straight into it.]</sub>

Envy.

Envy, look.

<sub>[And then he lifts a gelatinous pink blob onto the table, where it quivers gently before blowing an enormous raspberry and spontaneously growing a large amount of long, spiky green hair. Then it turns into a ball with a crude, cartoony approximation of Envy's face on it, and rolls in a couple of circles, making snide squeaking noises.]

[Chest puffed out, Wrath folds his arms and delivers the smuggest damn smirk that an eight-year-old can muster.]</sub>

You jelly?

[Video]

<sub>[Victims of motion sickness beware, because there's about to be a good two minutes of jerky, dizzying footage of the floor, the ceiling, an upside-down bed, and what appears to be the foot of a small child. The telltale sounds of hands grappling with a PokeGear are what dominate the audio feed, but murmuring in the background are what sound like deep, rumbling growls and a youthful, high-pitched voice-- probably belonging to the owner of that foot.]

[And then all at once the camera stops and gives everybody a great view of a pair of nostrils and, somewhere above them, a slightly more pleasant-to-behold pair of bright blue eyes.]</sub>

--ink... I think it's a toy.

But not the kind you chase.

The other kind.

Um.

A puzzle.

_{[The screen jitters again-- now it's mostly tangled black hair on the screen, and a bony shoulder poking out a shirt that's way too big for it. Behind it is an expanse of leathery-looking flesh probably belonging to whatever's doing all that growling.]}

Ahuh... yeah, it's definitely a puzzle. I can tell 'cause it's got a lot of buttons.

_{[A chorus of deafening beeps sound as the kid promptly sets about trying to solve the puzzle by PRESSING EVERYTHING until the PokeGear is gently removed from his grasp by a set of bulky, blunt-clawed hands. And then, at a proper angle for the first time in this entire broadcast, a Kangaskhan's face appears in front of the screen, rumbling softly in greeting. She knows what a PokeGear is for! ... But then almost immediately a pair of pale little hands pop over the Pokemon's shoulder and try to grab the camera back.]}

No, no, I wanna solve it! I wanna solve the puzzle! Please? Please! Pl-- whoa!

_{[Standing all the way up, the Kangaskhan holds the camera in front of her and starts to plod across the small, undecorated dormlike room they're in, presumably towards the door, and presumably with her pint-sized trainer dangling from the 'puzzle'. Aaaand after some jostling, the feed cuts.]}


[Action for Rockets]

<sub>[In a building full of sneaky people, another sneaky person doesn't really stand out unless they're particularly bad at sneaking.]

[It just so happens that Wrath is not exactly the best at this.]

[Give him trees or bushes and sure, he can creep around like a good little let's-not-run-into-this-thing-in-the-dark. But all these winding hallways are slightly more alien territory, and there's only so many ways you can hide behind a corner without getting spotted. Especially when your GIANT KANGASKHAN STARTER KEEPS ON MARCHING STRAIGHT DOWN THE HALL LIKE SHE DOESN'T EVEN CARE IF THEY'RE SPOTTED.]</sub>

Mama!

_{[This flustered hiss comes from behind an open door, where Wrath had ducked upon seeing a couple of much-taller Rocket Grunts go strolling past. Now he's peeking out, expression somewhere between frustrated and oh my god WHAT ARE YOU DOING AAAA]}

Don't do that, they'll see you!

<sub>[HE DOESN'T KNOW WHO THESE PEOPLE ARE. Only that they're humans, and they're wearing uniforms. Uniforms that are drastically different from the ones he's used to seeing, of course, but he's had precisely one (1) significant experience with dudes in uniforms, and it was a really bad one. MIGHT AS WELL NOT TAKE CHANCES.]

[The Kangaskhan, however, has other plans. She's marching towards the Mess Hall and seems a little exasperated that her trainer isn't following her. :I HUMANS.]</sub>