Arthur rushed out of the museum, the alarms were going off but he didn't care. Hell nobody seemed to, he ran in, demanded the armor from the display about him, and took it, Denali however was shocked!

"Arthur this is a terrible idea! You have no team, no moves, and most importantly, no resurrection! You just got back from the dead don't kill yourself again!"

"I'm surprised you're not arguing about the sword or the armor, considering it should be rusted and dull," Arthur commented.

Denali waved it off, "I keep the stuff in good condition with the Museum, that's not the important thing! You're not the Undying Knight anymore! You're just the Dead Knight!"

Arthur smirked, "I like that. I'm using that."

Denali groaned at this, "Come on... tell me you at least have obscura in human form?"

Arthur waved his hands and concentrated, not even a wisp, "No. As always, just me and my steel."

He was fine with this, truly he was, some men made use of powers, others did not. Arthur did understand Denali's concerns though, he had just recently come back from the dead... he technically still was as his body was a spirit inhabited sword, and here he was use some form of magic to resume his flesh body. However his pride prevented him from just taking the scarf off and attempting to use his new mon form... that and the fact that from what he had learned, he was likely to be caught in a pokeball.

16 stepped up, <I can fly us into the airship, though it skips a lot of the bosses.>

"I am no stranger to that, only a fool fights head on when he has the option to cut to the core instead, we were not directly targeted, let us use that."

Before Arthur could even get close, two robotic figures crashed down, one was a Alolan Sandslash in design, though tall and humanoid. The other was large and more clearly robotic, being a bright red, with black pouldrons with a green Omega symbol on them.

"Afraid we can't let you do that, Multiman needs time to make the world perfect and you're in the way," said Mecha.

"ALL NON COMPLIANT PERSONNEL WILL BE DESTROYED!" Omega proclaimed loudly, marching up to 16.

"Well, if you must be that way, have at you," Arthur responded drawing his sword.

Mecha laughed, "Really? Gonna fight me with a old sword?"

The answer came in the form of Arthur lunging at Mecha with it.

16 and Omega immediately started trading blows, it was a contest of strength at this point, who was the better built Juggernaut. Omega chose to use weaponry and moves while 16 just tanked them all, though it stung all together. 16 had a major advantage though, he wasn't a Porygon wearing a metal suit.

<Why do you fight for the man with the moustache?>

"I FIGHT FOR WHO IS STRONGEST! MULTIMAN IS THE STRONGEST AS HE IS CLOSE TO MERGING ALL UNIVERSES! SURRENDER!"

Omega released a barrage of rockets, ruining some of the area around them, 16 charged out of them, activating fury swipes and metal claws, tearing through Omega's arms to eliminate his source of weaponry. Omega's head started to spin in shock, 16 wasn't all dumb muscle, he was smart enough to identify every bird ever.

Also to know where to strike for maximum combat effectiveness on his target, but that's really less important than the bird bit.

Omega went down and 16 aimed the tech cannon, charging a blast, Omega was about to fight, but realized, this was the code he lived by. The strongest win in the end, Omega let out a sigh and leaned his head back, as 16 fired a electric tech blast into the body, blowing it open.

Out floated a red and black Porygon2, <Why did you not kill me?>

16 tilted his head, <I do not believe in murder, also while physically I can fight a bird, emotionally, imagine the toll.>

Omega blinked, <I lost to this guy?>

The fight between Mecha and Arthur was going differently, Arthur was using old equipment that wasn't as sharp as it used to be, and Mecha had a advanced body built for speed. Arthur barely dodged as Mecha fired a hyper beam from a chest mounted device in his body, "Are you seriously fighting with a sword?"

Mecha charged forward raising a fist for a attack, only for Arthur to bring his sword down upon the arm and slice the hand off, "Yes."

"What in Arceus's name?"

"I am Arthur Grant, you may call me the Undying Knight, the saviour of Kalos. Now... Kindly surrender."

"Screw you! Multiman has this! You can't seriously think that you can bea-"

Arthur charged forward and took Mecha off guard during his comment, driving the sword through the body, "Rule number 1, don't gloat."

A PorygonZ floated out, <Welp... that didn't work out.>

"Your problem was too much talking. Not enough moves," Arthur said pushing the body off his sword before stabbing it in the head, "you got overconfident and paid the price."

Mecha sighed, <Well this is just great... We see some action and we suck at it.>

<To be fair we've mostly been fighting Grunts,> Omega responded.

Stormchaser

-To Siobhan-

Siobhan, nice to see you again, it's been a while since that mess with Loki.

-Sitting down-

Well, guess we're going, once Echo gets her word in, of course.

Eating a Vanilluxe will give you frostbite.

Aboard the Saint Anne II, Earlier in the afternoon

-Ren and Cambria were on the Sun deck-

Cambria: Ever get the feeling we're missing something big?

Ren: Occasionally. I expect we'll hear about a raid in the next couple of weeks.

Lumiose City

-Just keep running, some day soon you're gonna get where you need to be-

Duck, get searching I need to know what these Outsiders might be weak to!

/Duck/: >Working on it

Good.

-He reaches into his bag. Blades out, time to ignite-

It's clearly a case of backroom political albumizing.

-Echo thinks, only briefly acknowledging Siobhan as she shows up.-

Echo: That just might work. The airship itself is probably a good piece of bait, seeing as it's Zrone's personal bastardization of Multiman's own designs. If he recognizes it, he may want to know who plagiarized him.

-She crosses her arms.-

Echo: I suppose my mask was bound to come off to them eventually.

-Kai and Onabarrak have been on the prowl, searching the route for any sign of unusual Murkrow activity.-

Kai: ...This marks... what, nine hours searching?

Onabarrak: <At least. Perhaps you should stop to eat?>

Kai: If we stop to eat, that's that much time wasted without looking for anything.

Onabarrak: <Correction. You need to eat. You neglected to do so when we set out this morning.>

Kai: This is more important, Ona. We have a deadline, the sort where "dead" will be literal if I don't meet it.

Onabarrak: <Hunger pangs are only going to detract from your search.>

Kai: Oh, yeah? When's the last time you ate, huh?

Onabarrak: <One, I'm dead already, sustenance isn't a requirement for me like it is for you. Two, this morning.>

-Kai stares.-

Kai: ...You did???

Onabarrak: <I can still enjoy a damn sandwich if I want to, now that I have a human form to return to.>

Kai: ...I—

Onabarrak: <Eat, damn it. We're going to find food.>

-He goes human, takes Kai by the arm, and trudges toward Laverre City.-

Lumiose

-It should be noted normal super-effective attacks are shrugged off by these boss Pokemon-

---

-Absolute Virtue shakes off the mons clinging to it and sends out Tri Attacks, hoping to freeze, paralyze, and burn Group 1-

---

-Biolizard simply shrugs off most of Group 2's hits and lets out a Sludge Wave from its cybernetics-

---

-Omega sends out a Psychic shockwave at every J-Teamer and mon in Group 3-

---

-Tyrannotitan roars in defiance at its wounds then hits Group 4 with a sweeping Iron Tail-

---

Group 5 now has to deal with an enraged [OCTOPATH SPOILERS] firing Flash Cannons from its gaping maw-

---

-Ruby Weapon is hit hard by the Aqua Jet, but attempts to slice at Corrin with an X-Scissor-

---

-The flicker of the Mobius Airship is vaugely visible outside the city-

Edited by Umbramatic on Aug 28th 2018 at 1:05:12 PM

Contact Me!

Battle of Lumiose, Stormchaser

No fucking wonder Zrone knew how to break it, wherever the fuck he is now.

-To Echo, as the Stormchaser takes off in the direction of the Mobius airship-

I know, which is why I wanted to ask you before I just went ahead and did this, this ship plus both of our presences make as you said the greatest bait.

Edited by rmctagg09 on Aug 29th 2018 at 3:45:52 PM

Eating a Vanilluxe will give you frostbite.

Pokefutures HQ, Corridors

-still walking-

-heading down steps, climbing down elevator shafts, and occasionally just making uncomfortable leaps-

Ever: It's rather rude of Pokefutures not to put any modules here. It's as if they don't want us bypassing whatever guard stations they've got set up to keep people out.

Brie: Imagine that.

Ever: I don't have to. The evidence is right there.

-...-

Brie: You sure you're alright?

Ever: I'm fine. Or...I will be, anyway. Till then, I'll just be a little...spooky.

Brie: That doesn't sound as cool as you think.

Ever: Shush. Yes it does.

Muninn: <It doesn't.>

-Brie rolls her eyes-

Amanita: Uh, hey, you two?

Brie: What's up?

Amanita: I think someone's coming.

-not that anyone was exactly relaxed, but the mood shifts. Amanita pulls PEFE!Every back, despite the other girl's mumbled protest. Brie and Ever, meanwhile, catch up to them, Brie taking point with a fighting stance as Calamity readies themself over her head, and Ever slinking off to one side, doing their best to take cover in the shadows (materially aided by an inky Night Shade from Glimmer)-

Amanita: Brie, you sure that's smart? It didn't exactly go well last time you fought these guys.

Brie: You said there's one person?

Amanita: Uh, I didn't, but there is.

Brie: I can deal with one person.

Ever: (drily) Besides. That was last time.

-the footsteps get louder, until the others can't miss them-

-a young man rounds the corner-

-he's-

-there's not really time to describe him, because almost the instant he turns the corner, he accelerates, past what should be possible, darting at Brie. Calamity dives for him, and just...misses. Completely-

Calamity: <Hey! Stand still and let me break some bones!>

-with a step, the man is past Calamity. He leaps into the air, launching a kick at Brie's head, and his foot erupts with Aura-

Dunsparce didn't stop being a thing or anything.

Lumiose, The Tyrannotitan

Artoria: <... Ice, it's ice... Wind! Ignore normal type match-ups, hit it with flying-type moves!>

She chains another swords dance into an Aerial Ace, while Mordred does the same.

Sigurd, meanwhile, charges at the incoming Iron Tail, slamming a protect barrier into it in a (mostly successful) effort to protect the rest of the group.

The Stormchaser

Siobhan: "Well, if the fact that they brought an airship is any consideration, I think they might have anticipated this."

"Or they're just really good at preemptively taking bait."

Vi: "That's... called anticipating."

Edited by Izshta on Aug 28th 2018 at 12:49:59 PM

All are significantly abnormal in a normal world... All are significantly normal in an abnormal world.

Pokefutures HQ, corridor

-the aura winks out-

-the man's foot collides with Brie's raised arm. She rolls with the impact, grabbing his leg and casually tossing him to the ground. As he starts to move, Thorn holds out a flower, and vines sprout up, holding him in place-

Thorn: <Give me a reason.>

Brie: Let's not give anybody any reasons, please.

Calamity: <But I wannaaaaaa...>

-Thorn sighs-

Amanita: Does he have one of those implants?

Ever: Yep.

-the Night Shade fades away, and Ever pushes off from the wall, sidling over-

-on their shoulder, Muninn's eyes (the real ones) are shrouded in shadows-

-and an identical shadowy flicker is streaming from behind the man's neck-

Brie: ...Embargo?

Ever: Hell yeah. (to the man) Never bring tech to a Pokemon fight. (to Brie) Was that a better line?

Brie: No. Not really.

-the two are cut off from what was probably a lovely argument-to-be by an annoyed grunt from the man-

Man: You have Pokemon? How do you have Pokemon?

Ever: It's a mystery!

Amanita: We're from another universe.

-Ever sighs lightly-

Man: How'd you get here, then?

Amanita: How'd we...Oh, yeah, you can't see the sky.

Brie: The important bit is, we're here. If we let you go, are you going to attack us?

Man: ...No.

Amanita: He's a bad liar.

Muninn: <It's a common consequence of being able to read emotions.>

Thorn: <How would you know?>

Muninn: <...I see news travels slowly.>

Thorn: <My trainer is terribly out of the loop.>

Amanita: Hey now.

Man: Are you...talking to your pets?

-any answer anyone might give is interrupted by PEFE!Every literally lunging at him, pulling a scalpel from her pocket. Amanita catches her, yanking her back-

Man: ...Y-you know, if you kill me, you won't be able to get any information about how to get further into the facility.

PEFE!Every: We don't need it. I could navigate this facility blindfolded.

Man: ... (to Amanita) Please don't let her kill me.

Amanita: Doing my best.

Dunsparce didn't stop being a thing or anything.

Pidgeot Express, Advent of the Battle of Lumiose

Shutter sends a hard drive full of data over the local Pidgeot Express. He had previously backed it up through the cloud, but this seemed so much faster to access. Gimbal was in his smartphone.

Shutter and Gimbal then notice a commotion outside the building, something that the Pidgeot express clerks were also strangely drawn to, and probably check out too if they weren't busy. A few decided to go on break to check out the event transpiring outside, ignoring how their manager cursed things out in Kalosian.

The duo followed suit, turning their attention to ominous screens.

Gimbal: You didn't leave any of our vitals at the Stormchaser, did you.
Shutter: Of course not. Passport, company credit card, extra shirt, wallet, Lucille, a bunch of other stuff, and some of the important documents Tommy left behind—where is that kid?
Gimbal: I'm way ahead of you.
Shutter: Book him the soonest flight out of here.

Shutter releases Scout—still wearing the Pokecam on her back—and Charger, and turns on a monitor in his tablet.

Shutter: Folks, this is it. This is what we came here to document. Scout, wide shot of those floating TV screens. Charger, cover me in case of goons and warn me of approaching stampedes. Gimbal, once you've knocked some sense into that kid, follow my lead.

Gimbal: Roger wilco. And Shutter.
Shutter: What is it, DP?
Gimbal: Don't do anything crazy without me.
Shutter: Not without my creative partner, I won't. Think we can win a Golden Growlithe and that Noadkoko D'Or?
Gimbal, possessing a floating Lucille: <I'm way ahead of you, Chief!>

Pokemon Center, Advent of the Battle of Lumiose

Tommy leaves the outside of the Northern Pokemon Center at Lumiose City, followed by a spinarak with a bandaged foot.

Tommy: You sure you're gonna be alright?
Tobi: <Of course! Now then. City in Panic.>
Tommy: Big TV screens everywhere. Blowhard supervillain bragging about his next conquests and the destruction of the J-Team. Tall order, don't you think?
Tobi: <Sort of. Someone needs to stop those thugs from terrorizing the populace.>
Tommy: I've the Gendarmerie and Interpol on speed dial. Officer Jenny and Detective Shun will probably need assistance in crowd control. And if things get iffy.
Tobi: <Aranos and Arachna-Guy will be there.>
Tommy: Only if the situation gets dire. We may be popular with the CCPD, but that's because we knew how to take out the thugs and rogues in the Big Cloud. The last thing we need is Interpol and the Kalosian Gendarme thinking that we're liabilities.

Edited by MasterJayAM on Dec 17th 2019 at 7:30:18 PM

Pokefutures HQ, halls

Muninn: <Hmm. As entertaining as it is watching this creature squirm, Embargo won't hold up forever. We should kill him.>

Brie: Ever, tell your Mimikyu no murder.

Ever: He does make a compelling point.

Man: Wh-what?

Glimmer: <All life ends eventually.>

Ever: ...But nah. Amanita?

Amanita: Right. Phobos?

Phobos: <I hate doing this...>

-Amanita's shadow rises up, wrapping around the man's head. There's a sound like a sigh, and he goes limp in the vines as Phobos withdraws, looking rather sick-

Phobos: <Ugh...fear tastes fine, but taking everything like that...>

Glimmer: <How picky.>

Ever: (curiously) <What's it like?>

Brie: Sí, esto no es tenebroso...

Ever: Pardon?

Brie: (innocently) Nothing.

Phobos: <...Have you ever had bad stew?>

Ever: Ugh.

Amanita: How long do we have?

Phobos: <Few hours.>

Ever: Best combo.

-Phobos makes a face-

Brie: Hypnosis is unreliable at best in any serious situation.

Ever: Sure, if you don't know how to use it.

-Brie rolls her eyes-

Ever: Anyway, Dream Eater makes up for it.

Amanita: Actually anyway, we should keep going. If we're running into guards or whatever the deal with that guy was, that means we might be getting close.

Ever: Fair enough.

Amanita: Pef, you good to keep leading?

-PEFE!Every, with some difficulty, tears herself away from the sleeping man-

PEFE!Every: ...Right. Let's go.

Dunsparce didn't stop being a thing or anything.

Fancy Hotel Room, Alto Mare, past

Reynard: So, crystal heist, huh. Now, back in the bad old days, I got into the wrong crowd and acted as a runner for the mafia in my teens. Broke my mama's heart when she found out. Of course, daddy would've given me a strict talking had he been alive at the time. But, as you know, while I may have had the skills for this once a funny time, that was literally seventy years ago back when I was young and handsome and in incredible shape. But enough boring lectures from an old foxy grandpa. What's this crystal thingamajig you're after? I may be able to pull a few strings if you know what I mean?

Pokefutures HQ, downwards path

-more walking-

-is this boring anyone else? It's boring me-

Don't editorialize.

-It was a fight scene devoid of purpose! We could have just skipped to actually reaching the overall plot!-

It conveyed some important information!

-okay, whatever-

Just...get back to it, alright?

-take it away, dialogue-

Ever: Are you alright? Aura or no, that was a pretty hard kick.

-Brie laughs nervously-

Brie: I've gotten worse. Honestly, I was pretty sure that I was going to be down an arm for that fight. ...Pretty sure I could have made that throw anyway.

Ever: Sure.

Brie: Nice trick with the Embargo, by the way.

Ever: You're only saying that because it worked.

Brie: ...How sure were you?

Ever: Like, 80%.

-...-

Brie: You have got to learn how to fight properly.

Ever: Eh.

-meanwhile, another conversation is taking place-

Amanita: Are you alright?

PEFE!Every: Huh?

Amanita: I'm not going to flatter myself that I'm a lot of help here. I know what I'm going, but I don't have your brain, I'm not as good as Brie in a fight, I'm not as...uh, diagonal as Ever...but unlike all of you, I'm actually pretty together. Which means I can tell when someone isn't, and you're not. What's going on?

PEFE!Every: It makes me sick.

Amanita: This world? Yeah, I hate it too.

PEFE!Every: It's not just that. This is...this could be me. If I hadn't gotten lost, if I hadn't found the Dunsparce under HQ, if someone else had found me besides Dr. Tagg. I could see myself figuring out these Drives, putting them to work, figuring the scientific progress was worth the cost in lives.

Amanita: I have a hard time imagining that.

PEFE!Every: I don't. And, well...There's another me in here, maybe.

-her voice sounds a little hollow-

I may not have to imagine.

Dunsparce didn't stop being a thing or anything.

Lumiose City

Talbain was frozen, Lucario was paralyzed and Mae was burnt.

<Oh, like that’s gonna stop me when I already have nothing to lose?!> she challenged, Guts activating.

Roy came out from his fire pillar, claws ready to rake as Mae bit into Absolute Virtue with fangs on fire, for no reason other than irony.

Lucario eventually managed to get himself powering through his paralysis, a pure glob of pitch aimed for the Dragon’s face. Doubtless it’d hurt him more than it’d hurt AV, but that didn’t stop him from trying.

[Insert Unoriginal Stinger Here]

Pokefutures HQ, corridor

-see? They're talking. It's important-

Brie: I'm serious.

Ever: It's not the best time for a serious conversation.

Glimmer: <It's true.>

-Ever's second shadow glows and flickers briefly-

Calamity: <I prefer to inspire emotion. Specifically awe.>

Glimmer: <Too sour.>

Brie: Well, at least think about it

. It puts you at risk if you can't hold up in a straight fight.

Ever: First of all, just because I wouldn't go toe-to-toe with you or Amanita doesn't mean I can't take care of myself.

Brie: Deflecting.

Ever: ...Second of all, I've been in more straight fights than I care to think about. It's not exactly my thing.

Muninn: <Well, you fought me twice, and you didn't do too badly.>

Ever: ...I killed you the second time.

Muninn: <Like I said.>

Ever: Anyway, I'm talking about other fights.

Brie: ...Is this something to do with the reason for Glimmer?

Ever: Yes.

-...-

Ever: I'm a problem-solver, not a fighter. Rule of mine. And I'd appreciate dropping the subject.

-Brie blinks a couple times-

Brie: You're not usually that direct.

Ever: I'm not usually so sure.

-they offer Brie a tired smile-

Ever: I'll be alright. Cross my heart. Let's just focus on getting home.

-meanwhile-

Amanita: You're a good person, Pef. You wouldn't do this.

PEFE!Every: Am I? Wouldn't I? It's something I don't often think about, but I've drifted towards the shadier aspects of my profession more than once. This isn't so far-fetched.

Amanita: ...I guess I'll just hope we don't find the you from this universe.

PEFE!Every: I don't know. If she did go along with this, I'd very much like to find her.

Amanita: ...Well, I'm going to hope we don't.

Dunsparce didn't stop being a thing or anything.

Stormchaser

-To Siobhan and Vi-

Either way, some traps have to be sprung.

Eating a Vanilluxe will give you frostbite.

Pokefutures HQ, downwards path

-they're still walking-

-holy shit, how much exposition do we need-

Brie: So, what's our plan when we do get there?

Amanita: Get through whoever's in the way, find whatever they're using to move between universes, get back home? Maybe some sabotage if we can do that without stranding ourselves. Right?

PEFE!Every: Right.

Ever: Sounds good to me.

Brie: ...Okay, but counterpoint. Shouldn't we try and help out a little first?

Ever: Oh, what?

Brie: You saw what it was like outside the dome. The world's dying.

PEFE!Every: Because they killed it.

Brie: (agitatedly) Some people killed it. Unless humans are extinct too outside of Pokefutures, there are people just trying to survive it. If we can, we shouldn't just abandon them.

Ever: Doesn't your organization have some kind of non-interference clause?

Brie: What? No, we're pretty much encouraged to interfere.

Ever: -sighs-

Amanita: We'll...see what we can do.

-PEFE!Every grunts-

Brie: That's all I ask.

-...-

Amanita: Let's try and not have any more serious discussions until we get there, alright?

Ever: We'll see what we can do.

-Amanita kicks them in the shin-

Dunsparce didn't stop being a thing or anything.

We interrupt this boss rush to wrap up some wedding shenanigans!

Reception

Merlin: It has to do with the Macraul Estate. If you have some way to assist my main squad going in there I'm all ears.

Contact Me!

Echo: I'm for it. Let's do this.

---

-The X-Scissor connects, but the Feral Dragon takes the hit a lot better than Corrin's usual Hakamo-o form would.-

-She snarls, and lets out a piercing roar that causes hurricane-force walls of water to rip around her.-

Corrin used Torrential Roar!

Pokefutures HQ, downward path

Amanita: So, uh, how are we planning to get in?

Brie: Uh.

Amanita: Right, yeah. Pef—

PEFE!Every: I hate that that has caught on, just so we're all clear.

Ever: You're welcome.

Amanita: —she said nobody would bother locking the hatch, and she was right. But that means nobody would be expected to come from outside of wherever people are holed up.

-there's a long pause-

-a really long pause-

-a long, uncomfortable pause-

PEFE!Every: Fuck.

Brie: ...Okay, okay. What if we teleported deeper in? Somewhere people wouldn't be. Every?

PEFE!Every: There's a problem with that, though. There needs to be some sort of anchor for a teleport. A place, a person...but we don't know anyone here but each other, and everything in HQ shifts constantly. There wouldn't be any way to target the teleport...

...Unless...

Brie: Unless?

PEFE!Every: Unless we teleport directly to the underground.

Brie: ...Oh.

PEFE!Every: The underground may have been expanded, but it's unlikely anything would be missing. We could skip to there, and we'd stand out less trying to get into other populated areas.

Brie: Nice.

PEFE!Every: ...Unless there was a cave-in in this timeline.

Brie: Every.

PEFE!Every: Or a tunnel got blocked off.

Brie: Maybe let's just go before you talk us all out of it.

PEFE!Every: ...Yes.

-she sends out Rotary-

Rotary: <Oh, hey, HQ. Also, hi Brie. How's Kai?>

Brie: ... -flushes- They're alright.

PEFE!Every: We're not in the real HQ. It's another reality, the same one those agents came from before Christmas.

Rotary: <...Oh. Yikes.>

PEFE!Every: We need to teleport to Kyogre's cave in the Underground. Can you take us?

Rotary: <Yes. Not the mons, though.>

Ever: Would a Litwick be a problem?

-Rotary blinks-

Rotary: <...I suppose not, being as she's not corporeal. And tiny.>

Glimmer: <Shame.>

Rotary: <...You scare me.>

Glimmer: <Good.>

-Brie and Amanita, meanwhile, recall their Pokemon-

Brie: We'll be defenseless for a second after we come out of the teleport. Rotary, can you fight at all?

Rotary: <...Uh.>

PEFE!Every: No.

Rotary: <Yeah. That.>

Brie: ...Then we'll have to move fast. Everyone ready?

Amanita: Yep.

Ever: Yep.

PEFE!Every: -nods- Rotary?

Rotary: <Hands on, everyone.>

Click!

Pokefutures Underground, Kyogre's Cavern

Click!

-the Complex appears by the underground lake...-

-and find themselves in what appears to be the middle of a small town-

-surrounded by a number of staring people-

Dunsparce didn't stop being a thing or anything.

Pokefutures Underground, Kyogre's Cavern?

Ever: ...Hello!

-the people watching don't react for a moment. Then, a woman steps forward-

Staring Woman: You have a Pokemon.

Ever: Lots, yeah.

Staring Woman: ...How?

Ever: Well, we're not from here.

Staring Woman: ...Where are you from?

Ever: Not here. I just said that.

-a man steps up next to the woman-

Man: Are you going to explain yourself? Should I call the police?

-the woman glares at him-

Ever: (nervously) That would be wholly an overreaction. We're, uh...here to help.

Man: ...Help with what?

Ever: ...Need anything?

PEFE!Every: If you turn this into a fetch quest, I'll kill you.

Man: ...Not really.

-he looks somewhat sheepishly at the people around him, as if trying to figure out when exactly the situation deteriorated. Ever takes the time to do the same. Aside from the man and woman, there are about a dozen people watching, and they seem to be organized much like the average vaguely curious population of a small town-

Ever: In that case, maybe you can help us. We're a little lost. Where are we, exactly?

Man: Excus—

Woman: You're in Wellspring Town.

Ever: Glad to see naming standards have survived the end of the world. Wellspring, huh? Is this lake a reservoir or something?

Woman: ...Jeez, you're really not from around here?

Ever: That's correct.

Woman: Wellspring Lake, it's one of the few remaining sources of clean water. They say Kyogre used to live here.

PEFE!Every: They're right.

Ever: How long have you been here?

Woman: ...Uh. Four, five years? We came here during the evacuation of Angela.

Ever: ...Well. (to the man) Same for you?

Man: I'm from Hoenn.

Ever: Hoenn got cleared out too? Sounds like the world's pretty fucked, huh?

-several people watching cover the ears of children. Brie nudges Ever in the ribs-

Ever: ...Anyway, that's what we're here to help with. That work?

-Brie gives them a smug look. They roll their eyes-

Man: ...Uh, I don't know why I would believe you, but sure, I guess.

Ever: Great! So, uh...who's in charge around here? Like, here as in this whole complex. How would we get to them?

Man: ...Podrail?

PEFE!Every: You repurposed modules as a public transit system?

Ever: Alright, thank you for your help! Look forward to reading about us in history books~

Man: What?

Ever: (to the Memito Complex) We should go.

-and they do, rather hurriedly, before anyone can shake off their confusion-

Dunsparce didn't stop being a thing or anything.

Courtyard, Past

Shutter shudders at the thought of his grandfather getting into yet another iffy deal with the fae. He'd tell himself not to worry about it, but his father wouldn't let him over the phone.

Shutter: Yeah, I get it dad. How am I supposed to know when he'll arrive at Kalos? Uh huh. Uh huh.

Meanwhile, Tommy sees a limp and very angry Shinji hitting the pavement with a thud. Although he had not activated harden, he was still rather fortunate that much of the hits were taken by his shell—the dents on his exoskeleton were unmistakeable for the vain kabuto. One place it did hit close to the underbelly seemed to be the source of the limping, making Tommy wonder if it's still possible to get any hits on M-7.

Tommy: Of all the times to forget to harden.
Shinji: <I was using harden. You don't become a undisputed rulers of Earth until the Permian by being a dummy, after all.>
Tommy: Still, you're not gonna land anything on that Malamar if you keep defaulting to harden.
Shinji, still limping: <Well, fine.>
Tommy: Wait.

Tommy looked at the Malamar. Intelligent and resilient, M-7 was the main obstacle in the battle. As much as Shinji would hate to admit it, he was very much outclassed and the possibility of victory is unlikely. He also didn't need to be a psychic to know what Shinji prefers to do at his opponent.

Tommy: Shinji. Get him wet. Really wet.

If kabuto could sigh, he would. Resigned to his trainer's instruction, Shinji fires a water jet squarely in M-7's face.

-Butterscotch was lucky before, but not so much this time-

-he's immediately taken down by the Tri Attack-

Mezzo: Dammit. What is this thing?

-Yukikaze attempts to freeze the incoming Sludge Wave, but gets swamped by it-

-Giri avoids it by clinging to the beast's head-

Giri: <Eeeee!>

Pianis: Wait, hold on, didn't someone use Wide Guard?

Yukikaze: <I don't care.>

Pianis: Okay, try Ice Beaming it again. Giri, you just uh... keep doing what you're doing.

Do not fear power... fear those who wield it.

Pokefutures HQ, A Podrail

-guess who's currently dealing with the bold adventure of public transit?-

Ever: You know, it's nice that money still holds up here.

PEFE!Every: The divergence point between our universes is only...what, 8, 9 years ago? There's no reason it wouldn't. Anyway, Pokefutures was always fairly capitalist.

Ever: Alright, alright, make your trenchant economic points later.

Amanita: Maybe keep your voices down, you two.

-she gives a meaningful glance to the other passengers on the train, who look some combination of fascinated and concerned-

Ever: OPSEC is a conspiracy perpetuated by people who want their plans kept secret.

Brie: That's just anyone sensible.

Ever: Ruling me out.

Brie: ... -sighs-

-the pod begins to slow-

Ever: Uh, is this where we're going?

-and then stops, and opens, revealing a pair of people dressed in rather familiar uniforms-

Ever: ...

Brie: This is why we don't talk about our plans!

Ever: At least we're getting somewhere.

Dunsparce didn't stop being a thing or anything.