[Video, backdated to late morning]

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[A smiling, grey-haired man in a labcoat appears on the screen.] Hello! [He waves.] I've been growing these berries since Christmas, and now I've got more than I know what to do with! [To show what he's talking about, he shows a basket full of colorful fruits to the camera.]

Even my Pokemon can't eat this many before they start going bad, and I know there are a few more Pokemon around here, so I'm giving some of them away. Please come by [*insert his location here*] if you want some. You can plant them to grow more, give them to the Pokemon as-is, or I can show you how to blend them into Pokemon food. If you bring your Pokemon along, I can give it a check-up too!

That's all. Thank you for your time. [He gives a polite bow before the video ends.]

((There are also a few flyers around the apartments with basically the same information, though it's notable that they are handmade instead of printed. In large, bold letters (more for the sake of legibility than bad handwriting) they state "Free Berries For Pokemon", with drawings of a few different kinds of berries underneath in a neat row, and his address is below that.))

Comments

[Action] @ Professor Oak's Apt if that is okay!

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[Diarmuid doesn't waste any time answering Professor Oak's video after seeing it. Instead, he bundles up himself and his horsea in their winter gear (including the scarves that Professor Oak gave them) and heads over to the man's apartment. It is still too cold for Lir to go swim in the lake to get food, so Diarmuid is definitely interested in getting some berries. Maybe he can even learn how to grow them too!

When he arrives at Professor Oak's he knocks on the door and then calls out in a cheerful voice.]

Professor Oak! Dragonite! It's me, Diarmuid. And Lir! Can we come in?

We can also do this prose-style if it's easier

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[It takes only a few moments for Sam to make it to the door, and he opens it, smiling when he spots Diarmuid and reaching out to pet Lir.]

Diarmuid, Lir, good to see you! Yes, please come in. [He steps back, holding the door open for the two. When Diarmuid comes inside, he might also spot a little face shyly gazing at him from around a corner.]

I am good either way, so feel free to pick whichever for your next tag and I will follow!

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Thank you!

[Diarmuid flashes a wide smile at Professor Oak and Lir trumpets happily at being petted. Once the doorway is clear, Diarmuid slips inside. He is about to ask about the berries when he spots the shy little pokemon watching them. He turns back to Professor Oak with wide, excited eyes.]

Who's that? It's not Dragonite!

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"Oh?" Sam looks around and spots it. "Oh, Bulbasaur! Come say hello." He crouches down and beckons the Pokemon, who reluctantly creeps forward to join them. He gently pets the bulb on its back while addressing Diarmuid again.

"Bulbasaur showed up at Christmas, along with the berries. Back home, one of my jobs is to give Pokemon to new trainers, and Bulbasaur is one of those Pokemon." Bulbasaur curiously looks at the new faces, especially interested in Horsea -- it hasn't seen many other Pokemon in the city.

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"Bulbasaur... I bet you are a grass type, aren't you?" Diarmuid settles onto the floor so he is on level with the Pokemon. More importantly, when he settles Lir into his lap, that puts the Horsea on level with Bulbasaur too. Since Lir has not seen many other Pokemon either, he also is very curious and makes a soft questioning sound at the other Pokemon.

"We can all be friends, right, Bulbasaur? We both would really like to be your friend!"

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Their excitement, however, seems to intimidate Bulbasaur, who tries to crawl into Sam's lap.

"They're not going to hurt you, Bulbasaur," he chuckles gently, pulling Bulbasaur away from his lap. "It's alright, Bulbasaur is just shy. They probably haven't been getting enough socialization. You can pet them, if you want." As frightened around strangers as Bulbasaur is, at least Sam's trained it well enough that it won't be violent or try to run away.

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"Oh!" Diarmuid reigns in his enthusiasm when he realizes it is scaring the shy Pokemon and Lir does the same. Instead of reaching out to pet Bulbasaur right away, though, Diarmuid just holds out his hand so Bulbasaur can smell it. "Not everyone can make friends easily. It is okay. Take your time, Little One. We will wait."

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Bulbasaur carefully sniffs Diarmuid's hand, then a vine comes out from somewhere under its bulb to gently poke at and touch both the boy and Pokemon.

"Bulbasaur's vines are like its hands," Sam explains. "It's how they examine things. See, Bulbasaur? Friends." Bulbasaur nods slowly, making a quiet 'hello' in Pokemon language at Lir.

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Lir answers back quietly. As if the horsea understands how shy Bulbasaur is, he doesn't do his usual greeting bubble. He just bobs his head happily instead. Diarmuid smiles softly at Lir, so glad that his partner is being so perceptive.

"It's nice to meet you Bulbasaur. You can examine me all you want! Just be careful. I am ticklish!"

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Finally, Bulbasaur crawls a little away from Sam, and rubs its head against Diarmuid's hand. It's not sure about "friends" yet, but it's fairly sure that these new people are not going to hurt it.

Confident that Bulbasaur won't be so scared of them anymore, Sam goes to stand up, bracing himself against the wall to help pull himself up.

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When Bulbasaur is finally brave enough to rub his head against Diarmuid's hand, the boy makes soft happy and encouraging sounds. Lir joins in by starting to talk to him. They are friendly and simple questions. He doesn't want to scare the other pokemon again, after all!

After a moment, Diarmuid turns toward Professor Oak and notices that he is having a hard time getting up, "Are you okay? Do you need some help?"

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Bulbasaur isn't very talkative, but it's friendly enough with the other Pokemon. Meanwhile, Sam shakes his head gently, now on his feet.

"No, I'm alright. I don't bend as well as I used to, that's all." Given Diarmuid's size, he's not sure how much help he could offer, anyway. "So what brings you here, my boy? Just a visit?" Did he tell Diarmuid his address? He doesn't remember.

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He might not be able to do much because of his size, but Diarmuid would try. That counts, right?

"Oh, yes!" Diarmuid gives Bulbasaur one last friendly pat and then pulls himself to his feet, "I saw a poster! A poster about berries! It said you had extra berries Pokemon can eat? I wanted to ask if I could have some for Lir." He holds the horsea out, "Plus it's about time he had a check up again. I thought this was as good a time as any!"

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"Oh, yes, that! Of course. Come and see them, and we can pick out some Lir will like." Sam accepts the Horsea, cuddling him to his chest. "They're just over here, in the kitchen." If Diarmuid follows him to the kitchen, he'll find that several boxes and baskets of various berries have all but taken over the kitchen table.

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"Wow..." Diarmuid's eyes get extremely wide when he catches sight of the table. Carefully, he pulls a chair out so he can climb up on it and take a better look at the berries, "Do you know which ones Lir will like or is it one of those things where he needs to try them first?" The boy pauses a moment to look over at Professor Oak and Lir, "It is hard to grow them? I would like to try and grow them too so Lir can have them all the time!"

No more worries about running out of Pokemon food in the winter then!

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Sam's a bit worried when Diarmuid does that -- he doesn't want the boy to fall over -- but it looks like he's being careful, so he can relax somewhat.

"It helps if you know what kind of flavors Lir already likes, but we can try different ones too. Given the shape of his mouth, I think we'll have to mash them up." He chuckles a bit before answering Diarmuid's other question.

"They're not hard to grow, no. Just plant them and water them two or three times a day, then pluck off the berries when they're ready. I've been growing them in pots, so weeds aren't a problem, but if you plant them in the ground you'll have to pick the weeds too."

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"Pots will probably be a good idea for me. I don't want to mess with weeds!" The boy giggles, "I will just have to make sure I remember to water them! Lir will help me, won't you Lir?" Diarmuid turns toward Lir who makes an affirmative sound in return.

Once he turns from Lir back toward the berries, Diarmuid carefully picks up one from the bowl, "I don't know which are which, but I know that Lir likes sweet things and doesn't like bitter ones. Not at all! He will spit out anything bitter!"

The trumpeting sound that Lir makes only supports Diarmuid's words.

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"If he doesn't like bitter ones, here." Sam adjusts his hold on the Pokemon so that he's holding him with one arm, then steps forward and sorts out some of the berries from the others. "Those are the bitter ones, so we don't have to bother with those."

"If you want to grow them inside, then you could leave them by an open window once they bloom. They self-pollinate, so it's not something you have to worry about, but I'm sure the bees would appreciate it."

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"Self-pollinate?" Diarmuid doesn't know what that means, but he does like the idea of helping bees, "Bees make honey and I like honey a lot. I will definitely put them in the window to make the bees happy then!"

His attention turns back to the berries that Professor Oak has sorted out, "So, are some of them sweet then? You said something about mushing them up, so can they be mixed to make sweet? Hey! Can humans eat these?"

Of course, he had to ask that sometime. It's what curious little boys do!

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"Pollination is how plants reproduce. If the flowers are never pollinated, usually by insects or the wind, they'll never turn into fruit. But these can do that by themselves, although there's not much genetic variety that way."

Sam sorts out some of the other berries. "These are the sweet ones. They can be mixed with others to make something that's more than one flavor, and you could try overpowering the bitter with the sweet, but Lir will probably still taste it." He chuckles at Diarmuid's final question -- he knew someone would ask that eventually.

"You can, but they're not very tasty or nourishing for humans. They're best for Pokemon. You can try one if you want, though, they're clean." He picks out a smaller round blue berry, covered in dimples, with a nipple-like protusion where it came off the stem.

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"Oh! Okay..." Diarmuid isn't quite sure if he understands, but if that is how things work, that is how things work. It sounds kind of like magic...of a sort. That is good enough for him.

"He will. I know he will. It is better not to trick him..." The way the boy says it and shakes his head almost makes it seem like he has tried before and failed. Probably messily too. Better not to make another mess just to prove what he already knows.

When he is offered the berry, Diarmuid looks at it for several moments before popping it into his mouth. Just as Professor Oak mentioned, it doesn't taste like much, "Yes, Lir can have them. Is my tongue blue now?" The boy giggles and then sticks out his tongue. That might be the only saving grace of the berry when it comes to humans. If it stains well...

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"No, sorry." Sam seems amused by that. "There are some that turn your mouth dark purple, but I don't have any of those." There are also some incredibly spicy ones, but he's kind of glad he doesn't have any of those either. Still holding Lir with one arm, he gets out a large bowl from a cabinet.

"If you want to give some to Lir here, try using this. They're a bit big for a mortar and pestle."

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"Okay!" Diarmuid settles the bowl down after taking it and then drops a berry into it. Fortunately, he doesn't seem to upset that his mouth wasn't dyed blue. He pauses then and looks up at Professor Oak, "Should I start with just one berry? Or should I use more than one? I have seen people grind stuff up before. They usually start small and work their way up!"

He doesn't know the names 'mortar' and 'pestle.' However, he does recognize what they do because he has seen things like them used.

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"Oh? In that case, whatever you think is best." Sam hands Diarmuid a wooden spoon from a drawer, to help with the mashing and also stirring. "Adding some water should help, and it'll be easier for Lir to eat it too."

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"Thank you!" Diarmuid takes the spoon and then drops a berry into the bowl. It doesn't take him long to get it mashed up and add a few more to it. Once he has six or so berries mashed up, he grabs a little water to add to it. That done, he grins and throws up his hands, "There! Ready to try! Right?"

Lir makes an excited sound. Obviously, he thinks it looks good at least!

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"Are the pieces small enough?" Sam leans over to take a look, then nods and hands Lir over to his trainer. "Yes, that looks fine. You can always make them smaller if you need to."

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"Yay!" Diarmuid takes Lir back from Sam and then carefully settles the Horsea in his lap supported by one arm. The other arm holds the spoon which he uses to scoop up some of the berries, "I feed it to him from the spoon, right?"

I had to google "how do seahorses eat" for this thread haha

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"Just hold him where he can suck it up with his mouth. That's how they eat, they suck up the water with their mouth and they get to eat whatever happens to be in it."

LOL! Oh, RP. The things we end up googling for you...

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"Oh! And that is why we add water!" Diarmuid nods and then brings the spoon right up to Lir's mouth. The pokemon makes an excited noise and then sucks up what is in the spoon. Another excited noise follows and he looks expectantly at Diarmuid.

"He likes it! And he wants more!" The boy giggles and then proceeds to get another spoonful for his friend.

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"Then I'll get you a basket or something to carry some berries home in, how about that? And when Lir is finished eating I can give him his check-up." He reaches out to pet the Horsea on the head briefly before going back to the table and rearranging things so that he has an empty container for Diarmuid.

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Lir makes a happy sound when he is patted, but is very quickly distracted again when Diarmuid brings up another spoonful for him to eat, "Since it is sweet, I can't give him too much or else he will get sick. But a little as a treat is good and if I try mixing other berries, then maybe we will find something that is just as good, only not so sweet to eat more often."

While Lir is finishing yet another spoonful, Diarmuid gives Professor Oak a bit smile, "Thank you so much for helping me! And Lir!"

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"Of course, I'm always happy to help you two." He empties one of the baskets, and then starts filling it up again, making sure to avoid the bitter ones and double up on the sweet ones. Once he's done, he puts down the basket for Diarmuid. "It's alright if I run a bath for him? I'm sure he'd be more comfortable during his check-up if he has something to swim in."

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"Sure! He will like that!" As Diarmuid speaks, Lir pauses eating and makes a happy trumpeting sound. He then returns to eating his berries. The boy laughs and then, brings up one more spoonful of the berries, "Just about done eating here. Do you want me to bring him into the bathroom when I am done?"

Notif troubles, so this is late :<

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"That would be good, thank you. Yell if you need anything." He goes to leave, giving the room one last glance before disappearing down the hall. Soon, there's a sound of water running, but meanwhile a familiar face appears near the doorway. It looks like Bulbasaur has found them again.

No worries!

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Diarmuid is just giving Lir the last spoonful of berries when he notices Bulbasaur out of the corner of his eyes. He smiles and waves the shy pokemon over, "Do you like berries too, Bulbasaur? I can give you some once I know what you like. Sweet maybe? Or sour? What do you prefer?"