Cobalt Chaser

Star climbs into her ship.

"I dunno, do we need nicknames?"

Abandoned Thrifty Megamart

-The Haunter is Drill Pecked for hefty damage, then tries a Venoshock-

Route 15

Maggie: "...Well, guess that explains the big R among other things..."

Thornbite: <Oh, I'd been searching for a baby so my old boss could kill her on her 16th birthday. But I got sidetracked and died and ended up here and... guess I'm part of Queen Maggie's Army now.>

-Lyra's already in her ship by the time Silas gets down there. She grins.-

Lyra: ~Teleportation has its advantages.~

-She does her standard preflight check and launches off.-

Lyra: "This is Ly-do I need a codename? This is Red Hunter, reporting in!"

Yeah, that has a nice ring to it.

Shaun: "That's...weird."

-Another voice leaks through.-

???: "Damnit, Luxray! Again?"

Jessica: <Tha-that sounds like the guy who left me at the day care...>

-Jamie snuggles her.-

Route 15

<I am part of a army. Rossum's army, bioweapon division, we have many in hand. I do not fully understand why, but I know my mission is to capture Maggie and other members of the J-Team and PEFE,> 16 explained standing up, he turned to Maggie, <My handlers are not pleased with my desire to observe flying types.>

Thornbite: <Oh, hm. I... dunno what to think of that.>

Maggie: So... definitely be on guard with this guy, then.

"Why don't they like it?"

Route 15

<They claim it distracts from my mission and renders me a faulty operative. Apparently I am not supposed to have any personality at all.>

16 shrugged and continued to look about the world around him, <I question the need to capture the J-Team or PEFE.>

Maggie: "Eh. I mean, like, presumably the other people at Rossum have personalities and quirks so, if they're gonna argue that why not get rid of their own personalities first?"

"But, yeah, you said you don't know why you're doing it? They just said 'do this thing'?"

Route 15

<Currently my mission is to apprehend you. Others would follow later. They did not tell me, they programmed me. My core programming is commanding my very being to capture you.>

Lake of the Sun and Moone

Kurow: <You can hear things too?>

Egghead: <Most interesting...>

Locke: Mom... Dad... I'm coming!

-he rushes for the crack-

Gudrunn: Wait! My freinds are also through there!

-she rushes for it as well-

Route 16

(Near the Pokemon center, a Delphox, his face concealed by a bright red mask painted with a maniacal grin, paces back and forth in the same spot. It's not hard to notice him, both due to the ey-catching mask and the high, harsh, rasping psychic voice anyone getting too close will be bombarded with.)

Quirinus: ~...but no, apparently ruining my fucking meals isn't something they deserve to be punished for, no, just force Quirinus to go scampering around Alola with no fucking clue where he's going and let the bastard off scot fucking free! Wonderful fucking idea! I have such lovely fucking employers!~

(In his obvious frustration, he kicks a large boulder with all his might. His paw meets the rock with a painful-sounding whack, yet he seems completely unfazed.)

Maggie: "Ew, forcing actions."

At least it's not like the Yggdrasil experiments Pokefutures kept around where this guy actually seems to have free will.

"But, yeah, I dunno. I guess you could try and ask about why you're doing it. Like, I'm obviously gonna vote you not work with them, but why not treat you as an equal or something? At least try and give you a reason for stuff. Heck, do they give you a salary so you could go buy yourself some binocs or something?"

Shaun: "Wait!"

-He tries to tackle Locke. Thinking quickly, Jessica aims a Hypnosis at Gudrunn. Though all considered, it might've been better if they switched targets.-

Route 15

<I have asked before apparently. I am supposed to be autonomous to a point, I do not know of my purpose beyond capturing you, nor what will become of me.>

16 looked around the scenery and sighed, <Apparently time out ruins my programming. Perhaps you might know someone who could deal with this.>

"Yes good! Gain their trust!"

Maggie: "Eh, I can try asking... someone. I guess I'll see what she says. I dunno if it's in her area at all."

A trainer, drowning out the world somewhat with his headphones playing some ditty few even remember, was exiting the Pokemon Center around the same time the Delphox's foot contacted with the stone.

The whack was enough to break him out of his trance; it was that loud. In shock, Colton's headphones landed around his neck as he jumped in surprise.

"Oh my goodness, you alright?" The Unovan said, hunting down the source of the noise. He noticed the Delphox.

Lake of the Sun and Moon

-Locke is tackled out of the way by a combination of Shaun and Kurow-

-Gudrunn flumps asleep right in front of the crack-

-At her presence it starts glowing yet brighter-

Poni Island, seaside

-Ever is sitting on a dock, dangling his feet in the water, and feeding bread to a Dhelmise-

Pleth: <Aren't you not supposed to do that?>

Ever: No, that's ducks.

Pleth: <Ducks?>

Ever: You know, Ducklett, Psyduck. Ducks.

Pleth: <Do you ever wonder why they both have "duck" in their names?>

Ever: It's because they duck down underwater to grab food.

Pleth: <Oh.>

Ever: Yeah.

Pleth: <I guess that makes sense.>

Ever: It's not as weird, as, like, Girafarig.

Pleth: <No, that's because, like, it's spelled the same backwards and forwards.>

Ever: Yeah, but so are lots of things. Why Girafarig?

Pleth: <I feel like we've had this conversation.>

Ever: I feel more like I'm going to have it.

Pleth: <Huh...>

Ever: I've got another one for you. You're a Treecko, right?

Pleth: <Um, no, I'm a Sceptile.>

Ever: Yeah, but you were a Treecko.

Pleth: <That's generally how it works.>

Ever: Okay, so. I get the tree bit, but what's a 'cko?

Pleth: <...I dunno. It's the noise we make.>

Ever: You make a lot of noises. Why choose that one to name you after arbitrarily?

Pleth: <Uh...>

Ever: Right?

-Muninn scoots up next to Ever, is Dragon Pulsed by Pleth, and hops into Ever's lap-

Ever: -skritching Muninn- What's up?

Pleth: <Oh, come on. He does not deserve pets.>

Ever: Everyone deserves pets, Pleth.

Muninn: <Ever.>

Ever: Muninn.

Muninn: <What is the fourth wall?>

Ever: ...What, like, the metanarrative device used in—

Muninn: <No, I know what it means! I ran a book club, you know.>

Ever: I didn't know, actually.

Muninn: <I had a lot of hobbies.>

Ever: Including brainwashing?

Muninn: <That was more of a vocation.>

Pleth: <Breaking hearts? Manipulation?>

Muninn: <Those were hobbies. Did I ever tell you the time I got an entire tribe of Cubone to off each other?>

Ever: No, and I'd prefer you never did.

Muninn: <It's a great story.>

-Ever shakes his head-

Muninn: <It's not a great story?>

Ever: ...N-no.

Muninn: <Well, fine.>

Ever: ...Actually you know what tell me later.

Pleth: <Ever Memito!>

Ever: He got me hooked!

-Pleth huffs-

Muninn: <Anyway, I know what the fourth wall is as a concept, but I keep hearing people refer to it as if it were relevant to me.>

Ever: Ohhhh. Oh boy.

Muninn: <What?>

Ever: Okay, so you know the hypothesis that our universe is, itself, a narrative, and we are characters made to believe that we're real?

Muninn: <Right.>

Ever: Well, my Altaria, whom you have met and attempted to kill—

Muninn: <Salamence? She seems nice.>

Ever: She is, generally. Anyway, she and a few other mons I know subscribe to that viewpoint, and seem to have found ways of somehow interacting with it to achieve things that, uh...fundamentally should not be possible.

Muninn: <That doesn't make any sense.>

Ever: That's true.

Muninn: <I don't buy it. Give me an example.>

Ever: Well, like, do you ever feel like you're missing something?

Muninn: <Flight? Revenge? A corporeal form?>

Ever: I mean, yeah, but, like...something important.

Pleth: <ICE BURN>

-Ever and Pleth high-five, before Ever turns back to Muninn-

Ever: Like, something's going on in the world, but we're just sitting here dangling our legs in the water and chilling?

Muninn: <Well, now that you mention it, yes...>

-suddenly, Custard dashes up, nearly knocking Ever into the water-

Muninn: <Oh, you're still alive?>

Custard: <Hey!>

Ever: Be nice.

Muninn: <...Sorry.>

-Custard sits on her haunches-

Custard: <Cross and Estoc got into a fight and I think they attracted an Exeggutor and it kidnapped them and we should probably do something about it.>

Ever: ...Okay then. Uh, Pleth...?

Pleth: -sighs- <On it.>

-she vanishes, Ever turns back to Muninn-

Muninn: <Have you ever been tested for psychic abilities?>

Ever: For my money, it's just standard Trainer intuition. If you can't hear your team, they're getting up to mischief. But anyway, my point is that while, on the microcosmic scale, my feeling that something was going on was referring to the antics of our bug friends, Salamence would probably suggest that our dialogue on the matter was in fact in reference to an event on a far larger, and more widespread, scale.

Muninn: <...You live in a very strange world, Ever.>

Ever: Welcome to it, Muninn.

Route 16

(Hearing a voice, Quirinus whips round, giving Colton a good view of the huge, toothy smile and peeling paint of his mask.)

Quirinus: ~The fuck does it matter to you, kid?~

(Even though Colton has done nothing to him, the rough voice sounds genuinely furious. It's as if Colton's mere presence is somehow insulting to him.)

"Woah, hold on for a moment," Colton stammered, backing up from the angry pyrokinetic vulpine.

"We've barely gotten to speak and you already sound like you want my head. Is something wrong, or do you think you might just need a Potion or something?" He offered.

He just couldn't get his eyes off of that strange mask; why did they have it?

Jessica: <Hot damn I'm good.>

-She and Jamie try to bite onto Gudrunn's dress and drag her back.-

edited 31st Jul '17 7:52:51 PM by SwiftSeraph

Route 16

(Quirinus snorts.)

Quirinus: ~Potion? Hah. Ain't no Potion strong enough to fix what happened to me.~

(He reflexively raises a paw to his mask, holding it there as though trying to cover his face.)

Quirinus: ~But. Again. The fuck is it to you? It's your fucking species who left me like this, and you think an offer of your pathetic kiddie medicine is gonna curry you any favours?~

edited 31st Jul '17 7:05:33 PM by Uilleam

-A Punk Guy Trainer is wandering around, stopping when he sees the commotion with Colton and Quirinius, unsure what to do-

"I don't expect to get any of that from someone as bitter as you; but dang it all, I wanna do it anyway." Colton stated bluntly.

"Unless you plan on keeping up that demeanor. I'll get my own Fire-type to pin you to the damned ground if it means I can confirm that you didn't break anything."

Route 15

<Thank you,> 16 said, sending a message to Maggie's phone, <That is my number, feel free to call.>

16 then proceeded to march off.