Delivery to Motoko, Merc.
The package arrived while Motoko was wrist's deep inside her Tachikoma. She was trying to fit into this neat little widget she got. Although, it was just oddly shaped enough to need to reposition the powerpack. Which made longer wires necessary. Which let her move the motherboard there…
No, focus. Package hit the desk.
It was large. As wide and tall and long as the width of a netdeck. It was made of cardboard, with funny tape with honeycomb's with wings on it. It had a piece of paper stuck to the top, scribbled on it was Motoko's name, address and postcode. And by its side was a drawing of two half-spheres, surrounding a smaller circle.
Carefully, she took a knife and slit the seams, the tape was nice, and she wanted to unwrap the gift properly.
She opened it. Inside there was a smaller box.
She opened it. Inside there was a smaller box.
She opened it. She opened it. She opened it.
Surrounded by increasingly damaged cardboard, packing paper, and loose bits of tape, Motoko fumed.
In front of her, there was a tiny box. Sized for a Pokéball. Unlike its greater counterparts, it was sleek and black. Leather and fibreboard made professional in its decoration. It had no tape, only a seam pressed together by magnets.
On top another paper slip was taped down.
It read. "Hiya Motoko! Vicky here. I've found someone who wants to be your friend! He evolves through a Dusk Stone, and I'll send it over in a while. Once he's stronger. And I do expect you to make him stronger. Laters!"
Motoko sighed, discarded the paper, and opened the box.
A Luxury Ball awaited her. Placed on a soft velvet pillow sewn to the bottom. There was also a user manual folded and stuffed in between pillow and box, but Motoko ignored it.
Motoko smiled at it, and clicked the button.
A ghastly face erupted from the white flash. It waggled its tongue at her, it distorted its features at her, it made hideous, gremlin like laughter at her.
Motoko flinched, invoked Cool, and then grabbed it's jagged nose.
"Mis mis mis mis mis!" Misdreavus whined, his nose was not for touching! It was for scaring!
Motoko waggled his nose from side to side, "No, stop."
"Mis-drea-vus," Misdreavus said, syllables enunciated precisely, petulantly.
Motoko sniffed, then smiled, and hugged Misdreavus close. "Heh, y' got me good."
Misdreavus giggled where he lay. Then struggled out to float at a distance, "Misdrea," he greeted her.
"Hello Misdreavus," greeted Motoko, and she lifted her hand to point to herself, "I'm Motoko. Do you want to be my Pokémon?"
Misdreavus listened politely, then nodded.
"I- I want to make it clear." Motoko said, "I work as a mercenary. I've killed before, I will likely, kill again. Are you sure you want to be my Pokémon? That'll mean you'll likely end up killing something as well."
Misdreavus looked to the side in thought for a single moment, then nodded. He was still smiling, and didn't actually care about that.
"No, I'm serious," Motoko did care, "You should really think about it– I want you to be absolutely sur- ehr?"
Motoko stopped speaking, she blinked. Misdreavus had just disappeared into mist! His form turned hazy, and indistinct and then thin air. And she had but one moment to react before a big, fat, wet tongue licked her ear.
She flailed to the side, nearly fell out of her chair, and turned a gimlet eye to Misdreavus, who was laughing.
"Oh; You're a prankster, aren't you?" Motoko spoke darkly, "Well, if you start something, you better expect someone to finish it. Friend."
She giggled herself, and Misdreavus looked a little worried.
"Now come on, I'm thirsty." Motoko said, cheerful, "Let's get you something as well, hm?"
She walked out of her room, cardboard and paper kicked out of the way. Misdreavus followed along, daintily like a falling leaf.
Jun was there, just stepping into the corridor, he brushed his collar, looked towards Motoko, and said, "Hey Motoko, done laughing creepily? Also I think we need to increase the amount of soundpr- WHAT THE HELL IS THAT."
"What, never seen a ghost before?" Misdreavus giggled, and stuck his tongue out at Jun as they passed.
"No no no, just you hold on a minute!" Jun yelled, flustered. Motoko and Misdreavus turned around.
"Jun-nii? I don't see what there is to hold on about?"
"The- the thing, there, right behind you! Just floating!" Jun seemed agitated by something.
"Excuse you! Idiot Jun-nii, Misdreavus is not a thing."
"What is it th-"
"He." Motoko said, sternly. Not aggressive, but disappointed. Misdreavus nodded sagely.
"What is he, then!?" Jun ran a hand through his hair, composure drawn taut.
"A ghost, Jun-nii, as I said." She shared a look with Misdreavus, as if they were confirming they both were looking at a foolish person.
Someone help me, they're in sync. Jun thought, "But, Ghost's aren't real?"
Motoko gestured to Misdreavus, who cartwheeled in place. "I suppose Misdreavus doesn't exist either. And he's just a shared hallucination, then."
Jun started a sentence. He stopped. He started another. He stopped. He spoke somewhat faintly. "Ghosts are real."
"Now you're getting it, he's Misdreavus. He's my friend now." And Motoko turned around, and kept walking away.
She opened the fridge, frowned at the burritos, and pushed through them.
(Have they… increased? Are they multiplying? Breeding like slime molds?)
(Or perhaps, like fungi. When one reaches full maturity, full rancidness, it bursts, and releases little burrito spores that grow into baby burritos.)
She pulled out the big bottle of soda, grabbed two cups from the cupboard, and turned around.
Jun and Misdreavus were having a staring contest. She broke them off with the bottle's thunk. Misdreavus blinked first, and sent a scathing glare at the smug Jun.
Motoko poured two cups, one for her, one for Misdreavus.
She drank hers as Misdreavus checked his. He sniffed it. Licked the surface. And when he decided to drink, he did not do so by lifting the cup with some ghostly power.
He instead stuck his head inside the cup. It squished like a cats. The beads around his neck clinked against the cup's rim.
Jun snorted. Opened the fridge himself, and grabbed an inedible burrito XXL.
"So," Jun said, waving it around like a stick. And it practically was one. "Misdreavus. Am I going to see more of them wondering around? Spooking big brothers?"
Motoko hummed, "Nnnno. Misdreavus is the only one here." She looked to the side, and did not see Misdreavus pull his head free of the cup. He made a 'bleh' face, which only Jun saw.
He smiled slightly, opened the burrito wrapper to draw Misdreavus's attention, and offered it to him. Misdreavus drifted closer.
Motoko turned back, and immediately felt sorrow, shame, and overwhelming rage. "No, Misdreavus, that's a burrito XXL. It tastes terrible, stop looking so interested, stop it!" She did not whine, she did not pout.
Jun smirked, "I see Misdreavus has impeccable taste. Go on buddy, it's good for you!"
Misdreavus sniffed it once, then looked upwards to Jun. He started drifting upwards.
"I- No don't pay attention to Jun-nii either. He's extremely lame."
Misdreavus continued to drift upwards.
"Ah, Misdreavus, you want to come closer? I accept! Be as close as you li-GLUH!" That was Jun recoiling, a fat, wet, tongue slapping across his face. Slime stuck to his cheek, and spit dripped on his nose.
Misdreavus laughed loud, feylike, and darted down to snatch Jun's burrito from his hands.
Jun grumbled, tried to swipe it back, failed, looked at Mokoto, and left for a towel. Motoko looked on in horror.
Not at Juns defilement mind, but at Misdreavus swallowing the burrito whole. Wrapper and all.
Misdreavus burped, then laughed at Motoko's face.
"Right. No more snacking. Lets go back, 'kay?" Motoko left the soda on the counter, her cup unfinished, and she staggered-more-then-walked back to her room.
"I think I'm going to be sick," she mumbled under her breath. Misdreavus's giggles intensified, his hearing clearly sharp.
She entered her room, and stood in a pile of paper and cardboard. "… Right, need to clean this. Ah, Misdreavus, wanna help?"
Misdreavus drifted closer. "Misdreavus?"
"Just put all of this in the bin here," she pulled out a wire-mesh bin under her desk.
With two hands (and the ephemeral font of Misdreavus's ghostly power) it took little effort to clean up quickly. And Motoko and Misdreavus were facing each other again. One seated, one floating.
"Hey, Misdreavus, so. You've met my brother. Did you like him?"
Misdreavus nodded. "Mis!"
"That's good! Um. I'll introduce you to my friends tomorrow, and I suppose, Night City more as well. But right now I'm just going to work on my Tachikoma," she rapped the still open robot. "And then-"
Then, just then, startlingly then, another rent in reality appeared, eye-searing in its violence. Another box spat out, and hit the floor with a thunk. Misdreavus spun head over neck in shock, and disappeared into Motoko's shadows. It had the SLDF logo on it.
Motoko looked at it like it was heaven sent. It was a crate, metallic, thick, with a little thermometer on the side. It was a portable freezer.
It was filled with food, prepackaged rations and unwrapped specimens fresh from hydroponics.
On the top, a quick doodle of Victoria Eisen-Blume was on top, she was smiling and she had her fingers in a 'V'.
A second after, another crate appeared. It had a portable stove inside, and numerous pots and pans. Motoko cheered at that.
"Drea?"
Fin.
Fun fact! You can tell I pay less attention to Ghost in the City because of the mischaracterisation I've done to both Jun and Motoko!
The justification for the Ghost type Pokémon is that Ghosts don't need to eat food, and are able to subsist off of whatever attracts them to graveyards. I think. The reason why that matters is because Vicky loves Pokémon, and will not subject any Pokémon to the trash that is CP2077 culinary culture. As to why that Pokémon in particular? I narrowed it down to two, Misdreavus, and Gastly. Two ghosts within easy reach of Vicky. Then I flipped a coin.
Oh, and.
Misdreavus
Male
Ability Levitate
Personality Impish +Def - SpAtk
Traded by Vicky from Viridian City.
An inhabitant from Mt. Silver. This Misdreavus came to Vicky's attention when he had the audacity to scare her, while she was next to her Dragonite. Very few Pokémon in Johto have that courage. Not with Dragonite's reputation.
Vicky befriended Misdreavus, but after some time together, she noticed that he found her sheer joy rather, exhausting. And found that the people she surrounded herself with were not particularly inclined to being scared.
So he did the reasonable thing, and talked to Vicky about it. She asked if he was willing to become a friend's Pokémon. One a lot like her, but in a place more lethal, one where people were more skittish, as a survival mechanism. He agreed.
He's very new to Night City, but he's liking it already! There's so many people to scare, and they all provide such delicious fear!
His Trainers brother is also extremely cool, and the 'burritos' taste good. His enjoyment of both is only partially derived from his Trainers exaggerated disgust.
I would do one for IBC, but the threads closed, and it's been so long that I have no idea what Eisen-Blume's got. But if I did, she would get an album from Motoko, personally made. Your choice whether its a hype piece, nostalgia hit, or an emotional wrecking hammer to hit Eisen-Blume with that catharsis.