Astrid Hofferson

[Astrid is in Ecruteak, and she looks...puzzled. She's frowning at her gear absently as she starts to talk.]

Okay. So, I've learned to deal with a lot here, really. Riding on the back of a giant bird, eggs that hatch into dogs, animals that get 'knocked out' instead of killed.

Ghost masks that make you think you're other people and no I am never going to talk about that.

Ghosts in general. I caught a ghost! He looks like a furry floating dark thing that grins. Which is weird. It's all weird.

But I think...this sort of wins.

[She turns the camera away now, to where her Wailmer is sitting on the ground looking gigantic and very happy. He sort of wiggles at the camera in what might be an attempt at a tail wag.]

He hatched from an egg that I could hold in my hands. Egg to that. He's HUGE. [And back to Astrid.] The 'Ball Whale Pokemon.' Seriously? And the strangest thing? Someone mailed me the egg. Anonymously. Someone looked at this and thought 'I'm going to give this whale thing to the viking girl.'

[She just shakes her head.]

I think I'm gonna name him 'Ball.'

[Astrid is sitting somewhere in Violet City when she turns her camera on, leaning her back against a wall. Her Axew is seated next to her, holding a pokemon egg between his legs as her Sentret sits on his head, chittering at everyone who walks by.]

[She's apparently added a new member to her team, as there is a rather tiny Shinx sitting in her lap. The little blue pokemon is gnawing on Astrid's thumb, her eyes intent, even as Astrid uses her other hand to rubs her fur between her ears. The teen doesn't even seem to realize she's doing it, her attention on the camera itself. She looks...frustrated.]

Okay, I know this place is pretty big, but how long does it actually take to get to Ecruteak from Violet?

[When you've spent your whole life in one village, distances can be a bit hard to wrap your head around.]

I need to get there. It's kind of an emergancy.

[She hesitates, her eyes narrowing as she studies the gear for a moment.]

Right. Someone told me I can use this to talk to just one person? Instead of...well, everybody. ...Can't figure out how, though. So, if anyone can let me know? I'm trying to reach a kid named Hiccup again.

[When the camera turns on, it’s upside down, and shows a lovely pair of fur lined brown boots sitting on the ground, folded beneath a red leather skirt covered in…are those spikes? They certainly look like spikes. The camera shakes a few times, and then violently shifts to the left as though someone smacked it. And then there is a sigh.]

This can’t be right.

[The voice is female, and frustrated, and after a moment the camera moves wildly again, as it lifts up into the air, showing an image from above of a blonde teenager sitting on the grass somewhere, leaning her back against a tree, and there is a green pokemon curled up on the ground next to her chewing intently on what might be a rock. She looks like she’s about to throw the pokegear away, even make a little growl of frustration, but she happens to glance up at the last second and see that the screen is actually doing something.]

[She brings it back down, frowning at it (still upside down) as she taps the screen with her thumb a few times and finally turns it the right side over. After a few more seconds of poking and prodding, and a few more of pushing her Pokemon out of the way when it becomes a bit too curious about what’s on the shiny machine, she slumps down where she’s sitting and just stares at the screen.]

Okay. That guy. That professor said I can use this to talk to people. Other people, I mean, besides…everyone in this town…people who also woke up in a weird house with a little creature following them around, I mean.

[Some of her anger might be showing through there.]

So, hello. Hi. Whatever. I’m Astrid. I need- [She cuts off as the Axew suddenly pokes his head back into view again, and there’s more shuffling as she pushes him back off-screen.] Sit. Stay. Right there. Good boy.

Anyway. Other than some stuff that didn’t make any sense, all I know is I’ve got this guy following me around and something about training and collecting and…look, it doesn’t matter. I just need to know where Stormfly, my dragon, is…and my axe…and how to get home.

In that order. Thanks.

[Some more fumbling and after about fifteen seconds of a lovely shot of the palm of her hand, Astrid manages to turn the device off.]