Backdated to the 9th

[all_onis_are_true]

[PRIVATE; TO BANZU]

Hey, Mr. Banzu? I got the egg you wanted. Did you want to meet outside the Breeding Center to get it?

[OPEN; ACTION]

[Outside the Breeding Center, Guertena seems none the worse for wear for his brief paternity leave, back to painting thankfully water-soluable murals all over the place. Hiroshi sits, holding the egg in his lap and marveling over it. Strange how there's still no real indication of how or why Pokemon get eggs...[

Careful, Guertena. You know how the guards get if you're too ostentatious about that.

[Guertena snorts. He got 99 problems and guards ain't one. He does paint one on the wall however.]

Comments

[wordsidk]

[ After being yanked over to where he sits, Ib pulls her arm out of the link with Mary's. She thinks about what he tells them before responding. ]

Where? [ The painting, if they could find it, it might help with their search. ]

[portraitor]

Yeah, tell us where you saw that painting, and anything else you know about it!

[It almost sounds more like a demand rather than a request coming from her, but it's pretty obvious that this seems like a very important matter to the two of them, especially Mary here, who is looking up at them expectantly...]

[all_onis_are_true]

[What is WITH these two? Hiroshi wonders if they just REALLY like art for some reason.]

I think just at the art museum in the Entertainment District. They had some exhibit on more obscure painters or something.

[wordsidk]

[ They're just really interested in one particular artist. ]

[ Maybe if they talked to someone at the art museum they could learn more.
Ib doesn't say anything. She just glaces at Mary to see if she's thinking the same thing. ]

[portraitor]

Oh! [She turns to Ib, eyes wide with excitement.] Ib, let's go there and check it out! Maybe they know where to look for him!

[Ah, but she hasn't forgotten about Hiroshi and Guertena the Smergle yet, as she turns back towards them. Mary occasionally forgets to thank people for their help in her haste, (sometimes Ib might thank someone in Mary's stead if she forgets to do so) but this time she's honestly very grateful, for a moment actually remembering her manners.]

Thank you for telling us about the painting, Mister!

[all_onis_are_true]

You're welcome, but... why is that name so important?

[Genuinely clueless here.]

[wordsidk]

[ Good job remembering your manners, Mary. Ib is proud of you. She gives quick smile and nod before turning back to Hiroshi. ]

Yes, thanks.

[ As for why... she doesn't want to explain because it should be Mary's decision to tell other people. So she simply says, ] We're looking for him.

[portraitor]

Yeah, it's really important that we find him, okay? So if there's anything else you know, you have to tell us!

[Mary, he's a stranger, he doesn't have to do anything...]

[all_onis_are_true]

[...some sort of art groupies?]

I think the curator of the museum would probably be able to tell you more than I would ever be able to. I am not much of an art historian.

[wordsidk]

Thank you anyway. Sorry if we bothered you.

[ This would be a good time to excuse themselves... ]

[portraitor]

[Probably. Mary is already reaching out to potentially link her arm around her sister's again before she speaks to Hiroshi.]

It was nice meeting you, Mister. And you too, Guertena--your art is really pretty! [She points, indicating the murals that the Pokemon was painting on the walls when the girls interrupted them.]

[all_onis_are_true]

[Guertena rubs the back of his head, in an "aw shucks" fashion.]

No trouble at all, really.