if it ain't broke; break it

[ Hello Johto + Kanto. Meet Roller, who has somehow gotten his hands on Cliff's 'gear. The Darmanitan stares into the camera, fogging up the glass every once and a while as he exhales. ]



[ Charming, isn't he? What a smile.

Thankfully, after a few seconds of letting his pokémon get up close and personal with the network, the camera jostles as Cliff snatches the 'gear away. ]

Gimme that. Are you tryin' to scare people?

[ More jostling, as the camera turns to face Cliff. He's inside of a Pokémon Center, the back of Ironhide's head visible over his shoulder as the elder Autobot deals with the nurse at the counter. ]

Well, I guess this is as good a time as any to share that we're in Olivine now. Hey Rikku, wanna meet us at the Center? We're just about done here, anyway.

[ Cliff fumbles with the 'Gear a bit before it clicks on. You all get treated to a too-close close up of his frowning face ] Fragging human tech. No wonder Ratchet-- oh, there we go.

[ the camera pulls back to a more reasonable distance. Cliff is still frowning, but he looks more confused than angry ]

I got a lot of questions, because one minute there I am pounding faceplate, and the next I've got some human woman calling herself my maker and kicking me out of her house all at once. I also have this--- [ a pair of horns butt their way onto the screen as Cliff's Tauros gives him a light headbutt. Cliff shoves him away ] I was getting to you!

I have this bull thing- a Tauros, right?- and Ironhide's got an... Onix. Bigaft rock monster. What... do we do with them? What do we do in general?

[ There's a bit of a pause, and his expression softens some. ]

... Also, uh. I'm kinda wondering if any of my friends are here. Arcee, Bumblebee, Bulkhead, Ratchet... Optimus. If you're out there, it's me... Cliffjumper. A familiar face would be nice about now.

Not that the old timer isn't great company, but you know.