Forgive my weakness and forgive my sins

[One tiny and sad advantage to having gone through this whole circus eight times is that at some point, nothing can surprise you anymore. Not even waking up on a park bench in Goldenrod with a Goldeen in your arms, a Magikarp tangled in your hair and a Finneon almost kissing you.

...Okay, so maybe that particular situation does surprise Cecil a little. Juste a little.

But certainly not enough to stop him from taking care of his weekly grocery shopping at the Department Store. Even if he's still wearing his pyjamas, his hair is messy, his make-up is nowhere to be seen and he has three fish in his shopping basket. He doesn't care about such silly details.

He does, however, care enough to greet the poor confused or not-so-confused people that surround him. The local biannual madness is no reason to be rude, after all.]

[The feed first shows a messy room, where a disheveled white-haired man sits at a table and writes furiously. He is surrounded by trinkets of all sorts and books on various subjects, and he does not appear to realize that someone is using his Pokégear.

The camera then turns toward the ground, where a Bayleef is delicately placing a Fire Stone. The Pokégear is placed in front of it, and a Clefairy looks at it for a few seconds before nodding at an unseen Pokémon. Said Pokémon enters the picture, looking at the Fire Stone for a few seconds before touching it. It makes him glow brightly.]

What the- Flare?

[But by the time Cecil turns around and comes closer, Flare the Growlithe is no more. Instead, Flare the Arcanine stands proudly, dwarfing the rest of the Pokémon in the room. He howls once, twice, before walking up to his trainer and licking his face gently.]

...Thank you...

[The feed times out a few minutes later.]

[Many objects are piling up in front of the Pokégear: food reserves, drinks, Potions of all kinds, enough Ice Heals to last a month, Pokéballs... Could someone be insane enough to brave the tempest?]

Squall, Suzuki, I'm leaving for Goldenrod; I need to buy a few items. Would you like me to bring you back anything? Oh, and Squall, a young lady was looking for you.

[Rosie appears, bearing a few Escape Ropes. She dumps them next to the pile before looking around for gloves.]

I'll try to defeat the Gym leader during my stay. Light, Firion, Bartz, Zidane, Miss Lenna, we could meet up at the Sudowoodo after that.

[But already he's paying more attention to his supplies than to his Pokégear. Avenger sighs and turns it off.]