[Nero looks tired, a bit grim, like he's been thinking too much. He's sitting on some crates in Cerulean, either just about to just having finished some heavy lifting. Beside him is Basilisk, still a houndour and still as icy and collected in temperament, his fur wet for reasons yet unexplained.]

Got the Cascade badge. This guy did a number on that Starmie.

[Ah, so that would be why. There's a spot of hesitation in Nero's voice when he glances at the Houndour: with Agnus here, the name, which seemed clever at the time, makes bile rise in his throat.]

Might cross Mt Moon to get to Pewter, haven't decided yet. Apparently it takes a while to get through. [It's strange for him to actively want to be away from Kyrie, so he's naturally hesitating. Flying back to Vermillion and then taking Diglett's Cave would be quicker, but...] Man, after all that trash I could use some time off, though. Dante, Trish--Miyuki said she wanted to head to Cinnabar and see the beach. You guys up for it? If you take the train to Saffron, I could meet you there once I'm done with this crap.

[There's some sound, so Nero flips the gear to show his new baby Deino. She's got her face rammed into her food bowl, little puff of a tail wiggling behind her, not unlike a dog. In fact, Basilisk leaps down to join her, and the little dragon easily dwarfs the pooch.] That's right, the egg hatched. How's yours doing, kid? [When Basilisk butts Deino's head out of the way and attacks her bowl, Nero doesn't intervene. None of his other pokemon are visible when he turns the gear back towards himself, presumably tucked away in their balls.]

Anyway. I got work to do.

[Click.]

[The feed opens on Buster, glowing. Red looks mildly annoyed, because her marvellous evolution wasn't video-taped. Buster himself is shuffling around, trying to avoid the camera.]

Come on, don't tell me you're getting shy now. I told Nanako she'd get to see.

[Hey, it's a big step in the life of a Bagon! What if his wings are too small? WHAT IF HIS TAIL IS FAT, GUYS. Red says something, probably offensive, which at least gets Buster to stop actively running away. If the bitch can do it, so can he, dammit.

Buster caves and lets the glow settle over him, hunching down as if to pounce. It's clear that under the light the great big cocoon of a shell his body has been hiding in is cracking and peeling, his form doubling, tripling in size—Nero and Red are forced to back up, and finally the wings unfurl, huge red arcs sailing overhead. Nero chuckles, a little breathless, pleased and impressed.

The glow fades, revealing...Buster, bigger, huge, badder, teeth the size of knives, yellow eyes the size of dinner plates and a great big set of horns on either side of his head. And wings. Wings more than big enough to fly on. The remains of his shell are now a hard casing that shields his underside, protecting his belly from threats below. (Also his tail is not fat. In fact, it is muscular and sexy. You know, if you like dragons in that way.)

Buster's first order of business (after checking himself out) is to roar in Red's face. FUCK YOU, BITCH!!!!!!!

Aww yeah, that felt good.]

Hey, not ba—hey!

[The 'gear goes tumbling as Buster then lunges for Nero, snagging his teeth in the young man's jacket and...yanking him up and over the Salamence's broad back. Attack his trainer? More like taking him for a test drive. Nero barely has time to regain his composure before Buster unceremoniously—kind of trips over his own wing okay, you can evolve and look badass but dignity is apparently not included in the package, and—takes off. The last sound is Nero's exhilarated whoop and Red's unhappy snort.

The 'gear lands in the grass and switches off.]