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belly drum

Summary:

You remember this video camera. You had it when you were young.

Work Text:

[The camera is old, the lens covered in dust. You're a little surprised when it turns on, as you had thought for sure the batteries would have corroded by now. It turns on, though, and you start to look through the gallery. Most of the photos are blurry pictures of your old family Growlithe (Arcanine, now) and photos your mother took of you upon your request. Looking through it, you find a video, and decide to hit play.]

[The camera starts pointed down at the ground, which is extremely muddy, and al the surrounding leaves are shiny, wet. It either had just rained or was actively raining, you couldn't quite tell. There's the sound of shuffling as the camera adjusts, and it quickly shifts to point at a pond.]

"Here, we see Poliwhirl in it's natural habitat."

[You smile, hearing the voice. A child doing their best impression of a documentarian. The grip on the camera is shaky, but not too shaky that you can't see the subject of the child's fascination- a Poliwhirl, poking it's head out of the water.]

"It, uhm, it normally has a bunch of Poliwags around it, but I think it's alone right now. The Poliwags are probably playing somewhere else."

[The Poliwhirl is staring up at the child. As it raises a bit more, the spiral on it's stomach becomes more visible.]

"My dad was telling me about them- he likes water types. He was telling me that the spiral on it's stomach can put people to sleep, but I don't feel very tired when I look at it. Poliwhirl are very tough, they- see, they have gloves, like boxers. They can go in the ring."

[This is absolutely not true, and you struggle to remember where the child could have even gotten this information. The camera moves around a bit as the child seems to survey the surrounding area, and the lens zooms in on the rocks close to the water.]

"It evolves into a Poliwrath when it holds a water stone, but I don't really know if that's true, because there's a ton of stones in the water, and this one is perfectly fine. Should I take it out? Dad said they need the water but I see them on land sometimes. If there's a ton of rocks, wouldn't that hurt to walk on?"

[The child seems to have dropped their documentarian impression and is instead just talking to the camera now.]

"Also, aren't there usually other Pokemon around? What if it gets into a fight with them? Dad said they eat Yanma, but that seems pretty unfair to the Yanma. And how does it eat? I don't see a mouth. Is the spiral connected to it's mouth? Hold on."

[This child has never been more confused. The camera moves down to the ground, and the red edge of a Pokedex can barely be seen off to the side. After a second of this, the child lets out a frustrated noise, and the camera shifts back to the Poliwhirl, who is now back underwater, slightly less visible than before.]

"The Pokedex just says it eats bugs. It doesn't say how it eats."

[After another second, the camera shifts back down to the ground, slightly angled, and yelling can be heard in the distance.]

"Okay, mom!"

[The child walks a few steps back before the video stops.]