[centre] [h3][b][u] ~The Battle of Wits: Elsabeth vs Glenn~[/u][/b][/h3] Oh God, why did she agree to do this? In a brown, soundproof room reeking of smoke and alcohol, a young woman sat in a rather sturdy black leather chair. She was leaning over a long mahogany desk, pouring over her hastily written notes. One hand was shaking, making the paper she was holding rather difficult. The other was firmly planted against her brow. Her face had a rather unpleasant look to it. Meet Elsabeth Monroe, one of the newer broadcast personalities here in Goldenrod. While she didn’t have the largest fanbase, many tuned in every day to hear her thoughts on the ‘PokeProblem’ as it was sometimes called. Of course, she was all about finding a solution, a way to live peacefully together! After all, they had done so for so very long. Her mother was a trainer back in the day, and constantly told her amazing stories of her travels. And little Delcatty wouldn’t hurt a fly! So that’s probably why the network had decided to push her in a little cage with the monster across the desk. Glenn Anderson. A slimy bastard if there ever was one. The heavyset man sat laid back against the high backing of his sleek, brown rolling chair, not a worry in the world. He was just chatting up some of the production guys, seemingly not even remotely interested in this whole thing. Oh how she very much disliked that shark’s smile and those god-awful looking sunglasses. She wanted to just reach across the table and slap him right. Maybe slap that hideous goatee off his his chin. Maybe then he could cover up that stupid bal- [i]“Alright, get ready people. Going live in just a few!”[/i] Elsabeth shot up, dropping her paper onto the others. The set boss was finishing up last minute prepwork. Glenn shot her a look over the top of his glasses, but only for a moment. He finished up with the production folks and returned to the table. He grabbed a small black box, unlatched something, and pulled out one of the biggest cigars Elsabeth had ever seen. Then he cut and lit it. And it stunk. She wrinkled her nose, trying to breathe through her mouth. She hastily grabbed her papers, sorted them, and put them back down. God, it was taking forever. She grabbed her mug and took a gulp of coffee. She had barely noticed the shark’s grin widen before it was too late. [b] “Heya folks, Glenn Anderson here. You’re listening to the ‘Anderson Hour’. Thanks for tuning in. Pokemon - so called ‘friends’ just a decade ago, now the cause of daily horror for good honest people who’re just trying to make a living. I’m joined today by Miss Elsabeth Monroe of the ‘Goldenrod Report’. Say hi to the folks listening at home, Ms. Monroe?”[/b] BASTARD. Slimy no-good, worthless, piece of- Elsabeth swallowed her coffee quickly, ignoring her throat protesting the burn. She opened her mouth to speak but no words left her. Because of that low-life, she was going to look like an idiot. GAH! Stupidstupidstupid. She never should have agreed, should have just walked out of the Chief’s office and- [u]“Hey, Glenn, glad to be here.”[/u] Not yet, Glenny. You don’t beat Elsabeth with a cheap trick like that. Glenn’s smile weakened for just a moment, but he simply took a drag and continued. [b]“Super. Now Ms. Monroe here is an advocate for stronger Human-Pokemon relationships and lowering the licensing age, is that correct.” [/b] She didn’t like this. Where was he going? [u] “Yes, that’s right. Pokemon aren’t the problem, Glenn. There are laws th-” [/u] [b]“ Laws she says. So then, you’re suggesting that we let these monsters around our kids. These wild, destructive BEASTS around our children. Do you really think that they won’t hurt our children because of these ‘laws’? Did those LAWS stop the Tauros that gored the Olivine City resident this morning? A resident, I might add, that not only had a perfectly valid pokemon license, but was even traveling in a group despite being well passed the mandatory age for such. Did that Tauros stop when it saw him pull out that card, Ms. Monroe?[/b] Glenn grinned. Elsabeth didn’t. What was he talking about? She hadn’t gotten anything about that. They weren’t in the notes. This wasn’t what they were supposed to talk about. What the hell? What the hell? Whatthehell?!! Alright. Stop. Cool down, Elsa, babe. You can do this. You’ve got this. You can DO IT. Take down this fat fu- [u] “No, but-” [/u] The bastard interrupted her once again. [b] “‘Buts’ won’t bring that man back or provide for his family who suddenly find their main breadwinner gone. I’ll ask again: Did those laws stop that Tauros from maiming that man?” [/b] Elsabeth shot flaming daggers at the man. She rarely disliked people, but this man was pure scum. A poison. She held her gaze on him, unsure of where he was looking due to those damned sunglasses. She waited for what felt like forever. Then took another drink of her coffee, sighed, and cast her gaze down. This was going to be the most horribly painful hour of her laugh. [u]“No…”[/u] --- [h3][b][u][color=f7941d]~Avery Grant~[/color][/u][/b][/h3] [b]“-op when it saw him pull out that card, Ms. Monroe?”[/b] [u]“No…”[/u] A young man, who appeared to be sleeping soundly on the soft grass under the tall tree, slowly moved to silence the radio app. He liked listening to some tunes while he relaxed. Unfortunately, it was that time of the day when music gave way to a windbag. The guy listened from time to time, always happy to hear what was happening in the world, but sometimes he couldn’t stomach listening to the host. This seemed like one of those days. The lad rose to a sitting position, chasing away the remaining slumber sadly. He could have sat in that shade all day. It felt good. He still had the sun on his skin, but he wasn’t sweating. And the breeze… AHH it was going to be a good day. Maybe he would go for a walk. He could go down around the forest, maybe catch sight of some of the Sentret out on 29. Wait. Was he supposed to do something today? There was napping...but he already did that. Then...no, napping was pretty much all he had planned. Oh well. Probably wasn’t that important. He pulled out an old notepad from his pocket, along with a pen, and flipped it open. He passed a few pages full of scribbles, doodles, the occasional note, a crudely drawn map of the town, a to-do list, then finally a blank page. Well, mostly blank. It had something written at the top. [quote] FUTURE AVERY, BE AT ELM’S [u]TODAY[/u] YOURS TRULY, PAST AVERY [/quote] Oh. Oh yeah, that was today, wasn’t it. He was going to… OH SNAP! The lad apparently named Avery shot up to his feet, dropping the pen and pad in the process. He bent, picking up both and slamming them into his pockets. Today was the day! How could he have forgot?! He was so excited the night before! He grabbed the backpack he had been using as a pillow. A little smile crawled its way to his face. That’d explain why he had so much stuff well, stuffed into his pack. Good call, Avery of Days Past. Now he just had to… Had to go to… Elm’s Lab. But… The boy stepped away from the shade of the tree letting the sun pull him into a loving embrace. He stood right on the path to Elm’s front door. He hadn’t chosen to nap in Elm’s yard for any responsible reason. He just really liked the tree. Really comfy tree, honest. He kept trying to convince Little Alfy of this, but no good. Oh well. He liked Alfy pretty well. He was good kid. Wicked smart to boot. Much smarter than Avery was, at least. He was going to make an awesome professor one day. Avery stretched, smiling to himself. Awesome colleague, that is. Wait. Avery. This is Brain. When did that note say to be there? Avery finished stretching and crossed his arms, searching himself. Today. But Avery, WHEN today? Huh. Good question, Brain. But Avery didn’t know. Avery of Days Past apparently didn’t either. Guess there was just one thing to do: He’d have to ask Elm himself. So the lad approached the door and gave it a quick knock, not a worry in the world. If he was early, good. If he was late, well, he’d deal with that later. For now, he was going to meet his new friends. [/centre]