The Stormchaser

Siobhan very definitely has heart eyes.

Siobhan: "-Omigosh~"

Vi glances at her. "Compose yourself, there might be fighting."

"Correction there is fighting."

Siobhan: "Thatmighthavebeenaterribleideabutomigoshsheoutmonologuedhim"

Vi: -grips Siobhan's shoulder's.- "Compose. Yourself. You're an astronaut and have too many dragonmons for your own good, not some blubbering twelve-year-old fangirl."

She glances out the window. "We're under attack now."

Siobhan: "Right! Crystal. Since Doctor Tagg won't say it, all systems, full power! We're the closest thing to the crystal and thus have the best chance to destroy it!"

Tyrannotitan Kurodil

Artoria looks up at the crystal, which she immediately regrets as she's slammed into a wall and back into the red.

<... Ngh.>

Mira goes to heal her, before being KO'd.

Mordred slams another aerial ace into the Tyrannotitan, heedless of the fact that she's currently running on adrenalin, willpower, and angery.

F!Robin: "Alright... it's not a Wind tome, but..."

She pulls out a book.

"Thoron!"

Edited by Izshta on Aug 28th 2018 at 8:43:23 AM

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

Pokefutures HQ, Leslie(?)'s Office

PEFE!Every: So. You're in charge here now?

Leslie(?): (ignoring her) Now that you are here, you will be made useful.

PEFE!Every: Now you sound like my mother.

Leslie(?): Your evident knowledge of your universe's facility will assist our next strike team. You will be outfitted with a Drive to enhance your combat capabilities, as you are limited in this regard.

PEFE!Every: The me from this universe died before you could get one of those things in her neck. What makes you think I'll let it happen?

Leslie(?): You are older. More intelligent.

-she steeples her fingers-

Most importantly, however, you are my daughter. I expect your obedience.

PEFE!Every: You're about half a year too late, then.

-Leslie(?)'s expression doesn't change in the slightest, but the air pressure in the room increases tangibly. PEFE!Every winces as Leslie(?) leans forward slightly-

Leslie(?): Pardon?

PEFE!Every: You never asked me what happened to you in my timeline.

Leslie(?): I obtained all relevant information from your mind. If you imagined that I would be bothered to hear that one of my counterparts perished, you are incorrect. I have gone so far as to kill my counterparts, in some cases.

PEFE!Every: I think you missed the point, somewhat.

-she meets Leslie(?)'s eyes-

I am no longer scared of you.

Dunsparce didn't stop being a thing or anything.

Lumiose, past

-slightly prior to Multiman going off the deep end, Nino and Jaffar regroup with Channah, who while still green at least looks like she's not going to vomit anymore-

Nino: Channah! A man just flew off on a bird Pokémon, with two of the enemy soldiers! I don't know where they're going, though.

Channah: -stares blankly at her- Uh, okay.

Nino: Should we give chase?

Channah: -shrugs- ...Probably not? Why are you asking me?

Nino: Um, it doesn't look like anyone's in charge here, so...

Channah: -blinks- Oh. Right. Child soldier. Welp, if we see him again we'll do something, but not right now.

-suddenly OP boss attacks-

Jaffar: -is instantly knocked out by Schrodinger's 5-PP Move-

Hale: -likewise KO'd-

Nino: Eeek! -recalls Jaffar and hides behind Gelidus' frozen bulk with Channah, trying to deflect attacks with her own offensive spells-

Channah: -recalls Hale and sends out Mari, who sets up an Aqua Ring to help her soak up attacks headed their way, all the while muttering obscenities under her breath- Fffffucking hell, just get it over with already...

Edited by Metanoia on Aug 28th 2018 at 11:50:24 AM

There is no disdain in nature, there is no humiliation.

Pokefutures HQ, Leslie(?)'s Office

-the air pressure in the room increases again. PEFE!Every...giggles-

Leslie(?): Hm. You seem to be experiencing nitrogen narcosis.

PEFE!Every: (snickering) Yeah. Probably.

Makes this easier though~

We already went through this whole thing, right? You saw all of it, but I guess you really didn't get it. The other you already broke all the levers she had over me, and you're not about to fix them in the time it takes for my cousins to come get me.

Leslie(?): Your cousins will not reach you.

-PEFE!Every bursts out laughing, slumping across the desk. Leslie(?) seems somewhat taken aback-

PEFE!Every: You know, the last time you said that, I believed you, but at least you put some work into making me think it!

-she cackles-

Dr. Tagg and Echo and Ever all came for me then, and they fought something stronger than any of your augmented soldiers to do it!

Leslie(?): Be quiet.

PEFE!Every: Under no circumstances.

Leslie(?): You will accept a Drive. You will work on our behalf.

PEFE!Every: I can state with perfect scientific objectivity and using only evidence-based induction that I will do no such thing!

-she giggles, grinning wildly-

Hey, maybe it was Dad who was the manipulator? You should go get him, maybe he'll have better luck—

-Leslie(?) stands up, slamming her hands on the desk-

-the pressure in the room snaps back to normal-

-very quickly-

Dunsparce didn't stop being a thing or anything.

-Echo watches as Multiman breaks out the big guns, literally and figuratively.-

Echo: I do hate being publicized.

-She descends into the airship.-

Echo: All right, he's revealed his hand fully. We need a plan of attack, but I suspect a plan of escape may be more important in this circumstance. There is only so much a ragtag volunteer team can do against this, especially unprepared.

-After some route navigation, Kai and Onabarrak manage to catch up with Myra.-

Myradex: Hey, easy with that!

-Who is currently being pestered by none other than a shiny Murkrow.-

Murkrow: <Quite the expensive-looking piece of technology you've got there, isn't it?>

Myradex: Yes, and it's also my body so I'm not giving it to you!

Murkrow: <Oh, of course not, it means nothing to me on its own.>

Kai: ...Hey. Stop that.

-The Murkrow in question looks up curiously at Kai.-

Murkrow: <Ah, so would you happen to be the one responsible for this?>

Kai: "This"? What, getting the Dex for Myra?

Murkrow: <Yes, yes, that. I must say, you don't look like you have much to your name...>

Kai: ...Excuse me?

Murkrow: <But, if you somehow managed to procure one of these, you must have some semblance of value to you.>

Kai: ...I'm worth plenty. Listen, I want to introduce you to someone, would you be willing to come with me to do that?

Onabarrak: <"Introduce"? Seriously?>

Kai: Yes, introduce.

Murkrow: <Is that so? What payment might you have to prove you deserve to associate with someone of my stature?>

-Kai twitches slightly.-

Kai: ...Payment. What would you want? How much, let's put it that way?

Murkrow: <A simple monetary quantity cannot suffice! You should offer something tangible. Surely you can produce something worth my time.>

Kai: ...

-Kai groans and starts digging through their bag.-

Kai: I can't believe even rich birds are colossal snobs.

-They dig out a rather ornate necklace.-

Kai: Here. I was gonna give this to Brie because she'd look cute in it but since that's the best I brought with me apparently it's going to you instead.

Murkrow: -perks up- <Ah! That's wonderful. A piece procured for a pretty penny, and yet has sentimental value to it as well.>

-He snatches it out of Kai's hand, donning it immediately.-

Murkrow: <Mine now~>

-Kai grumbles.-

Kai: I'm sure you'll appreciate the sheer level of decadence Carmilla lives in, in that case. Come on.

-Knock, knock.-

Edited by BittersweetNSour on Aug 28th 2018 at 11:59:32 AM

Pokefutures HQ, Leslie(?)'s Office

-PEFE!Every looks startled for a moment. Like...well, like she's suddenly not quite getting enough oxygen-

-and then she convulses once and collapses out of the chair, twitching on the floor-

Leslie(?): Decompression sickness. Common among divers and climbers.

PEFE!Every: I know what decompr—

-apparently, talking is sufficiently painful that she stops, focusing instead on slowly moving her limbs-

Leslie(?): Generally described as excruciatingly painful, with consequences that can be permanent.

-PEFE!Every doesn't respond. There's not a lot of reason to-

Inflicting pain. Her last resort to quell rebellion. Broke me then. It won't now.

Options. Attempt combat with Pokemon. Unlikely to pan out, but in the event that I have a moment, could attempt to teleport away. Unfortunately cannot determine identity of Drive, and she could be able to use Imprison or Taunt to prevent escape. Failure would draw attention to Pokemon, who would undoubtedly be processed thereafter. Unacceptable risk.

Ignore pain and run.

-...-

No. Impossible until I've recovered.

Wait and stall. Unappealing...but workable. In the meantime...

Leslie(?): Never bring up my husband again. Do you understand?

-her composure cracks for the first time, her face twisting with rage-

Possible weak point? It's seeming increasingly likely that he died in the attempt to integrate a Drive into his nervous system, and evidently this is a sensitive issue. ...Unfortunately, I have no idea how to exploit it outside of making her angrier. Which seems like a bad idea at this juncture.

-it takes Leslie(?) almost a minute, but her features smooth out, and she sits back down, fixing her suit-

Leslie(?): I apologize for my outburst. Take your time to recover. We will continue our talk then.

Yep. That's my mom.

Dunsparce didn't stop being a thing or anything.

Stormchaser

-As the Stormchaser's most powerful guns start firing upon the crystal-

I'd agree, but we at least need to deny Multiman as many resources as possible for Round 2, and our friends are too close to those things to shoot at them without risking damage to the city.

...Should I get them to start falling back to the outskirts so we can get them out of here then? No matter what Multiman says if this continues massive damage to Lumiose is inevitable.

Eating a Vanilluxe will give you frostbite.

Lumiose

Following Lissa’s advice, Colton tries to relax, but there’s a slight problem.

Colton’s Mindscape

“I knew it!” Insecurity announced. “I knew we should have stayed the hell away, stayed in our room, stayed sleepin’!”

“What’s done is done,” Smartass and Realism chorused.

“And it’s nice to get outside, do something,” Talbain said.

“Be valued,” Ambition added, apropos of nothing.

Inferiority politely raised his hand and spoke up. “She really looks like she has a better grasp on this,” he got out. “We should probably leave this to her and whoever she’s with. You saw how we fared.”

“No,” Otaku and Ambition chorused.

“We’re in no shape to keep going,” Realism countered, halting their momentum flat. They sat back down with a sigh of “duly noted”.

“Maybe once we find somewhere to recuperate,” Strategist started, “we can talk it out with everyone else, get their opinion on the matter, and go from there?” He finished.

Everyone agreed with that, save for Inferiority.

“Oh we’re here.”

Reality

The Unovan tried to rest with his eyes open, barely able to put his headphones on.

Roy, Lucario and Mae all also materialized, the latter two trying to get close to their trainer and Roy resting on a claw, grabbing the choker with his other, reverting to humanity and resting against the wall.

“We had no other options,” Colton said, strained, placing a hand on the Sword of Seals’ sheath.

Roy looked absolutely repulsed.

<I’m with Roy,> Lucario agreed.

[Insert Unoriginal Stinger Here]

-let's get back to some action-

Pokefutures HQ, Deep

Nick used Magical Leaf!

-Ever and Leah crash to the ground, rolling in different directions. Ever rolls back to their feet, Leah doesn't-

Ah...crap.

Ever: Holy shit.

Nick: There. Problem—

Ever: Embargo.

Muninn: <Right!>

-Muninn's eyes glow, and shadows start to coalesce around Nick, who waves a hand-

Nick used Magic Coat!

-and a bubble of light appears, the shadows bouncing back towards Muninn, where they cling like tar-

Muninn: <...Crap.>

Nick: —solved.

-Nick waves his other hand, and Muninn is batted off to one side-

Muninn's Disguise was busted!

Ever: (releasing a mon) Hey! Nobody punts the Mimikyu but—

Pleth: <Me!>

Ever: Frenzy Plant!

Pleth: <Wow, the soil here sucks. Good thing I'm awesome.>

-she drives her claws into the ground, and the area for twenty feet around Nick cracks as vines start to sprout-

Nick: Not so fast!

Bang!

-he's suddenly up in the air-

-with Pleth right next to him-

Pleth used Pursuit!

Pleth: <Who says you can't L-cancel in real life?>

-and she plants a kick in his face-

-Drive or no, Nick is basically a squishy human, and a kick in the head from a Sceptile sends him dropping like a stone, fortunately into the comfortable bed of vines created by Pleth's abortive Frenzy Plant, where he lies stunned. Pleth herself drops gracefully, making a perfect three-point landing-

Pleth: <...Hell on the knees.>

Ever: Nice work anyway.

Leah: Ow...

Ever: ...Right. Shit.

Dunsparce didn't stop being a thing or anything.

Lumiose

-Cue collective "oh shit".-

---

Biolizard

-Haku goes down as he always imagined - shielding Elizabeth.-

-No wait he's still breathing.-

-But unconcious.-

That power...

-She recalls Haku.-

Naganadel: Elizabeth, retreat. I like you alive.

Elizabeth: "But-"

Naganadel: I will be fine. Go.

-Elizabeth hesitates before nodding and running away.-

Naganadel: I have been holding back. But now lives of my friends are at stake. I would gladly give mine up - but not to you.

-Naganadel eerily twitches. A vine snakes up to his sunglasses and tosses them away, revealing the sunken eyeless pits, the fangs inside glimmering in the light.-

Naganadel: Have at you!

-He rushes at Biolizard, vines a flurry of movement as he launches whatever he can grab at the Quagsire.-

---

Omega

-There goes Eclipse, Nero...and Isbrand.-

-The former two faint while the latter crashes into a building thanks to Omega.-

Beowulf: <Aahhh!>

-He curls into a ball, clutching his own head. The sheer intensity of the anger he feels is enough to incapacitate him.-

Shaun: "NO ONE HURTS MY DAUGHTER. YOU HEAR ME? I DON'T GIVE A DAMN IF YOU'RE MOTHERFUCKING ARCEUS HIMSELF, I WILL    END YOU, BITCH!   "

-Shaun's harness disappears as he uses a chain to launch himself airborne.-

-Obscura wings extend from his back, and dozens of spectral arrows surround him.-

Shaun used Sinister Arrow Raid!

---

Tyrannotitan

-Both Fluffles and her daughter faint shielding their trainers.-

Kaiiseii: "Mama...can we win this?"

Jessica: "I'm sure as hell not losing."

-She recalls Fluffles and defiantly stares at the Tyranitar. Her ears flick.-

Jessica: "Go find Isbrand. She needs help."

-Kaiiseii opens his mouth in protest but nods, recalling Fluffles II as he shifts into Leafeon forme.-

Jessica: "Guess it's time for the aces up my sleeve."

-She sends out Cereza and Cheshire.-

Cereza: <Finally. Come, Cheshire, let us discard these toys.>

-She tosses a smooth pebble away and suddenly undergoes a Magical Girl transformation sequence into a Delphox.-

-Cheshire does likewise, evolving into a Pyroar(M).-

Cereza: <To battle, then?>

---

[Octopath Spoilers]

Gabrielle: <Mon dieu...>

Zelel: We must retreat. Current forces are not strong enough. Aurora?

Aurora: <Sure thing, Zellie. A' righ' y'all, let's go.>

Blip!

---

Stormchaser

-Six bodies are dumped near the bridge.-

"Dang that sure is totally poggers my good bitch"

Pokefutures HQ, Deep

Ever: Are you okay?!

Leah: Obviously...not.

-the Magical Leaves vanished as soon as Nick went unconscious, of course, so there are...a lot of injuries-

Ever: Well, that's...bad.

-they press their hands to two of the worse-looking ones, their left hand hissing with pink sparks. Ever winces-

Glimmer: (from Ever's shadow) <She's dying.>

Ever: ...Where did you come from?

Glimmer: <I was hiding while everything was all loud.>

<She doesn't have long. I can taste it.>

Ever: We're trying to avoid that being true. Merle, grab Breeze's ball?

Merle: <You couldn't have done that before you had your hands full?>

-nevertheless, she snags it from Ever's belt, sending out Breeze-

Breeze: <Hey!>

Ever: Heal Pulse.

Breeze: <You look alright.>

Ever: Well, it's for her.

Breeze: <Weren't you just trying to kill each other?>

Ever: We've changed our minds since. Well, I have. She probably has, now that I'm saving her life.

Leah: You sort of...got me shot.

Ever: Only in the literal sense. Breeze?

Breeze: <Oh, right!>

-he shines a light on the injuries from the Magical Leaf, which start to heal up-

<Hmmm hmmm...fortunately, they mostly missed anything vital, and they're pretty much just nasty cuts. Ever, move your hands.>

-they do, and Breeze finishes healing-

Breeze: <Well, that was fun. Should we all go back to killing each other?>

Ever: Breeze wants to know if we're going to go back to killing each other.

Glimmer: <If you aren't, I'm just going to hide until we get out of here. I don't like this universe.>

Ever: You should probably hide anyway.

Glimmer: <Alright.>

-Ever's second shadow fades away-

Leah: ...We can probably call a truce for a minute or two.

Ever: Generous of you considering you're outnumbered.

Dunsparce didn't stop being a thing or anything.

Carmilla's Estate, Yesterday.

The door eeks open, but instead of no-one being there - the Oricorio from the other day is at the door instead. Though Sensu form this time instead of of Baile.

Oricorio: -Narrowing her eyes- <Oh. It's you.>

The bird hmphs.

Oricorio: <Took you long enough? Or have you come to admit your failure to the Mistress?>

I'm having to learn to pay the price

Pokefutures HQ, Deep

-Ever's mons regather, Pleth finishing binding Nick down while Muninn trundles over-

Muninn: <That was...unpleasant.>

Ever: And yet you are unharmed.

-Leah sits up, looking between the two-

Leah: You can, uh...you can talk to Pokemon.

Ever: Anyone can talk to Pokemon. I can, sometimes regrettably, understand them.

Leah: ...Do you usually argue with them so much?

Ever: No, this is unusually tame.

Breeze: <We are in a combat situation.>

Ever: Speaking of, go use Dream Eater on the unconscious guy? I don't want him waking up until we're out of here.

Breeze: <Ooh. I wonder what supersoldiers dream about...maybe just being normal guys?>

-he floats off to find out-

Ever: ...So.

Leah: Not that I'm complaining, but why haven't you killed me yet? You were only too happy to use me as a human shield.

Ever: I didn't exactly expect him to try and kill you. I sort of figured he'd knock you out with Psychic and I could deal with him then.

Leah: I imagine he was trying to shoot through me to get you.

Ever: Clearly didn't work out for him.

-they cough-

Anyway, the reason I haven't killed you, aside from the fact that I'm generally opposed to that sort of thing—

Leah: Human shield.

Ever: I really didn't think he'd try and kill you.

Leah: Even still!

Ever: The reason is that I need your help getting my cousin back.

Leah: ...Why on earth would I help you?

Ever: I'm literally holding every available card. You're using a Drive based on a Froslass, right? They don't get Magic Coat, so if you try and pull something, Muninn will stop your Drive from working and we'll deal with you then.

Merle: And by deal, we mean deal.

Muninn: <That was implied.>

Merle: <She can't understand you, so your snark is going completely unacknowledged.>

Leah: ...Okay, so I'm stuck with you for now. What stops me from leading you right into a patrol to be killed?

Ever: Nothing really. I'm banking on us becoming friends before you get the chance.

Muninn: <That seems unwise.>

Leah: That seems unwise.

Merle: Two out of two villains agree.

Leah: Hey! I'm not a— oh my god I'm talking to a Pokemon again.

Ever: It will probably not be the last time. Which brings me to my real point. Aside from your career choice, which, I'm just gonna clear the air, I find fundamentally pretty despicable, you actually seem...okay. Like you might actually have a soul somewhere in there. Sure, you've got a lot of epistemology to break, but you didn't let Nick take our Pokemon to be harvested for parts—

Merle: <What.>

Ever: —which makes me wonder if maybe you're not super happy with the status quo around here. So, here's my offer. You help me get back my cousin, and we fix your universe. Deal?

-they hold out their hand-

-Leah stares at them, thoroughly flabbergasted. Several seconds pass-

Leah: You're not wrong. Things here...suck. If you can make it better...

-she takes Ever's hand-

...You have yourself a deal.

-they shake, and Ever grins-

Ever: Alright! Awkward rescue mission/bonding exercise, commence!

Leah: What.

Muninn: (deadpan) <Enjoy your last precious moments of not being friends.>

Leah: ...What did the Mimikyu say?

Ever: (expression unchanging) Ignore him.

Dunsparce didn't stop being a thing or anything.

The Battle of Lumiose

-Lissa blinks at Colton.-

Lissa: Wait, what? That doesn't mean we're not going to take cover, you dolt, it means you just can't blame me if we're eviscerated when we do!

-She grabs hold of his jacket and roly-polies a couple of times until they make it through the door that Alice emerged through, her landing on top of him.-

Lissa: Look, if you wanna, you can just run out there and get crushed by some rainbow meteor if you want. As fun as it sounds, though, my job is to make sure berks like you stay outta trouble in the face of that thing... I'm guessing your claws getcha into trouble just fine, though.

Trans rights are human rights. JK Rowling preaches hate. If you sit at a table with five bigots and say nothing, there are now six bigots.

Pokefutures HQ, Deep

Ever: Okay, so, which way do we need to, like...go?

Leah: Your cousin...that was the woman who killed the team we sent to raid your version of Pokefutures, huh?

Ever: Well, uh...we don't actually have Pokefutures. But otherwise, yes.

Leah: Then...we probably need to talk to the boss.

Ever: The boss?

Leah: Her name's Mary. She's terrifying. She's not actually in charge of the complex, but she's in charge of the Drives, so it comes out about the same.

Muninn: <Usually does.>

Ever: Eep.

Leah: Yeah, uh...I don't want to let you down or anything, but if your cousin's with her...I don't think you're getting her back.

Ever: Hm. We'll agree to disagree for now. Can you get me to her without running into people looking for me?

Leah: ...I'd really rather not.

Ever: And yet here we all are.

-Leah sighs, and holds out a hand, a staircase of ice starting to form-

Leah: Fine. We made a deal, I'll get you there. I'll get us around the patrols, I'll hide us from psychic scanners and all that. But I want a couple things on record. I'm pretty sure this is a suicide mission, you nearly got me killed and I'm not forgetting that, and we're definitely not—

Pokefutures, hallways, a few minutes later

Leah: —Friends?

Ever: It's been off-air for years.

Leah: Yeah...the spinoff caught on and then we had a sequel series with the kids.

Ever: Wow. This really is the darkest timeline.

Leah: The missing ozone layer didn't tip you off?

Ever: You guys got the Unbelievables sequel in 2013, and Abnormal ended in season five like it was supposed to. Six of one, really.

Leah: ...Was that a Friends reference?

Ever: ... (nervously) I hope not.

---

Sometime later

Ever: So. Large swathes of the planet are submerged. The rays of the sun are too powerful for people to go aboveground during the day. Most people live underground for a large percentage of their lives, only going up at night.

Leah: Uh, yeah. I mean, obviously the coastal cities had to find other options, but that's pretty much what anyone living inland did. Why?

Ever: I assume that the Homestuck memes have come thick and fast.

Muninn: <You don't think that's a little insensitive?>

Leah: ...Homestuck?

Muninn: <...Oh my Arceus.>

-Ever blinks-

-does a little math, regarding the fall of Pokefutures and the launching of Homestuck-

Ever: ...Can I stay here?

-Leah sighs-

---

Ever: That was a fun, if nervewracking, podrail ride.

Leah: The podrails are probably the best thing about this place. I've loved them since I was a kid.

-...-

Ever: So, uh.

Leah: Uh?

Ever: Why are you working for Pokefutures? Don't get me wrong or anything, but you seem fundamentally not soulless enough to have a sapient lifeform embedded in your spinal cord.

Leah: ...

-she looks down-

Muninn: <Yeah. We've all been there.>

Merle: <Uh, neither Ever nor I have.>

Leah: Honestly, it...I spent most of my teenage years in Angela, once Pokefutures really started getting big. It just...never occurred to me that Pokemon might be as capable of thought as humans.

Muninn: <Again, significantly more capable.>

Leah: I needed money, this was an easy job, I took it. It bothered me a little bit, but...I guess not as much as it should have.

Ever: I guess I can't totally blame you.

Merle: I kinda can.

Ever: That's what happens when you let a destructive megacorp enact rampant capitalism across the entire planet, I suppose.

Leah: I was 12.

Ever: Fair enough.

---

Ever: Hey, weird question.

Leah: Shoot.

Ever: Why haven't you taken off your helmet? Not that I don't trust you, but I don't really, and I like knowing who I'm talking to.

Leah: ...Helmet hair?

Ever: ...You don't have to tell me if it's personal.

Leah: ...I just forgot, honestly.

Ever: Hmm. Muninn, she doesn't have anything in there, does she?

Muninn: <There's a camera, but it broke during the fall. Embargo doesn't work on it anymore.>

Ever: ...Huh. Well, if we're being honest you can probably keep it on. It'll be useful if we get into a fight.

Leah: I wasn't lying about the helmet hair. It stays on.

---

Leah: My turn for a weird question?

Ever: Go.

Leah: You said I seemed like the one who might be more sympathetic to trying to help you, or change things around here.

Ever: Uh, a little, yeah.

Leah: And then you said, like, a lot of stuff implying you'd been, like...straight up analyzing me before we got to the lab.

Ever: Oh?

Leah: And before that, when we were fighting in the Underground, I just happened to be the one who ended up conscious at the end, and Nick, who was decidedly unsympathetic to you and who thinks the status quo is the best thing since bread that didn't need to be sliced because it was fine as is, is out cold for a few hours.

Ever: ...So he is.

Leah: ....Did you plan all that?

Ever: That would be awfully clever, wouldn't it? Doesn't sound like me.

-Leah stares suspiciously-

-Ever just smiles sweetly-

Leah: ...Okay.

---

-Ever is texting Amanita and Brie during a lull in the conversation to ensure that they're not under attack-

Leah: So...you don't have Pokefutures? What do you have?

Ever: Uh, it's called PEFE. No idea what that stands for. My cousin works there, it's why she was around to stop it when you guys tried to raid our world for Pokemon.

-Ever narrows their eyes-

You haven't been on similar raids, have you?

Leah: ...Uh, no. I've never been out of this universe.

Ever: Muninn. Merle. She telling the truth?

Muninn: <Hmm...>

Merle: <Breathing rate and other body language suggests yes.>

Muninn: <I was going to say I don't care. But that works too.>

-Ever relaxes-

Leah: ...Your Pokemon. Did they vouch for me?

Ever: Yep.

Leah: You...really trust them, huh?

Ever: Exceptionally.

Leah: Wow.

---

-Ever and Leah are bent double, laughing wildly-

Ever: That's the worst joke I've ever heard.

Leah: I know!

Muninn: <This is what passes for memetics among humans. How depressing.>

Merle: <You've got a good Latii meme?>

Muninn: <Your brain literally could not withstand one.>

Ever: Okay, okay, my turn. So, a couple years ago—

Troy: There you are.

Dunsparce didn't stop being a thing or anything.

The Stormchaser

Vi: "Well given that I left a letter of resignation, I'm going to hazard a guess my authorization has been revoked, so aside from my limited combat utility I don't think I'll be of much help. Worst comes to absolute worst Aurelius can teleport, but that'd mean abandoning this ship."

Siobhan: "I don't think that'll be necessary. As long as we don't have to take the brunt of all of those things' attacks, the Stormchaser will hold for a while."

Vi: "Than a fighting retreat would probably be best. If anyone down there can still fight."

Siobhan: "They sure seem to still be focused on things down there, so probably."

"... Could you fly close enough to hit it with pokemon moves?"

Vi: "There's not much in the way of point defense, but even as non-lethal as they are designed to be, the fall would kill you."

Siobhan: "... Right, bad plan."

Suddenly, incoming teleportation

Vi whirls around, a gauntlet sparking with electricity forming from the (probably quite literal, given her former job at Mobius) hammerspace of her coatsleeve.

Vi: "Hopefully that's someone too injured to continue fighting and not an enemy boarding party."

She steps towards the door to the bridge, hand with the gauntlet extended, other arm bracing for stability.

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

Lumiose Alleyway

“Seriously, you’re feeling it the most,” Roy observed, placing a hand on Colton’s tender muscles and watching him wince.

Mindscape

“What idiot wants to keep picking fights they know they can’t win?!” Talbain and Strategist asked.

“You,” Otaku said simply.

Reality

<It doesn’t help much that she has a much better grasp of the situation,> Lucario added.

Mindscape

“We’re not going to be able to do this!” Insecurity said simply.

Inferiority spoke up after raising his hand. “Where’s my vote?”

“Oh, you’d just go along with the majority and you’d likely break if we asked you to vote first,” Smartass summarized.

“This won’t solve anything, likely, but it’ll feel good,” Realism observed.

Reality

<Seriously! Helmsman, Sunny and possibly even Caliburn would be better suited for this!> Mae considered.

That tore it.

Colton facepalmed.

From where he sat, hurricane - force winds panned out from the alleyway, causing Lucario, Mae and Roy alike to lose their balance, nearly causing Roy to drop the Sword of Seals.

The wind carried on, rustling the trees kilometres beyond the outskirts and causing birdmons’ flight patterns to go completely haywire for a few minutes.

[Insert Unoriginal Stinger Here]

Echo: As much as we can. First priority is getting them out of the city, second is making sure nobody on the team gets killed. Then we can worry about cutting down their resources, if possible.

Kai: (Why do the absolute worst birds have to associate with this woman? And why did I agree to contribute?)

-They clear their throat.-

Kai: I'd say it was a success.

-They hold up a Luxury Ball.-

Kai: Is the mistress here at the moment?

Clay Cave, Emergency Shelter 3:

"Oh I'm sure they were trying to steal everyone's Pokemon, but I suspect they were only able to brainwash newly caught mons," The leader of the group suggested before Mark asked in a roundabout way, "So we've got the cops on the way to try and deal with these Radical Psychics, did you tell them where they were specifically so they'd be more helpful?"

"We don't know why, but they refuse leave the Mistralton Cave. Hope the cops brought plenty of flashlights with them," The group's leader answered without really paying attention to Mark's intention behind his question before one of the workers remarked, "Unless those guys could see in the dark, I'll bet they left lights or torches behind...course if they left torches, they're probably burned out by now,"

"Like they'd be stupid enough to leave behind lights for other people to follow them, they probably kept lights to themselves," Another worker chimed in with Mark thinking to himself So they went out of their way to ensure we were separated from them...Even so, I doubt these guys are just going to let us out if we ask politely...but maybe it's worth a shot...

"Alright, I think I've been in here long enough, do you guys mind letting us out?" Mark asked before one of the workers replied, "Are you in any way stupid? There's no way we're letting kids like you get killed out there! Besides, we'd be leaving ourselves open for another swarm!"

"We've handled ourselves in more dangerous situations, I thought you'd have figured that out by now. I think we'll be fine heading back the way we came," Mark stated.

"Yeah no, I don't buy it. You were talking about how we need to take action, and now all of a sudden you want to head home? You're just trying to take on those psychics yourself, and I refuse to be held accountable if they hurt you guys in any way. I doubt they'll just let you run away after beating all your pokemon!" The group leader called out, which was enough to infuriate Mark.

"Hey dumbass, I'm not some 10-year-old who just got their pikachu yesterday! As I've told you before, I've beaten two different champions, various gym leaders, several of which were psychics, whom weren't anything close to special I might add, and if that's not enough I've survived getting jumped by cycle gangs! I've been doing this shit for years, and I'm always looking for a stronger opponent to make myself better! I take all my fights seriously, I don't expect this shit to be easy, and if I fail it won't be because I didn't give it my all!" He then said with unrestrained annoyance.

"Get angry with me all you want, I'm not getting sued by your parents because you got hur—-" The man then tried to say before Mark interrupted, "Don't...talk...about...my PARENTS! What the fuck do I have to do to prove myself? Battle you, some random people, hell everyone here?! Actually screw that idea before you decide to go through with it! Hajime and I both have the type advantage, and you guys would be left without any way to protect yourselves if the swarm somehow gets through. Just let us through, and we won't bother you again...I mean it!"

There was a long, uncomfortable pause with anger on both sides before the man finally grumbled, "...Fine, go...but don't say I didn't warn you...and before you leave, don't come back." Mark refused to respond, simply leaving once the emergency doors finally opened. Before he was out of sight, out of earshot and out of mind, one of the workers would say over the intercom, "And if you guys are in trouble, we'll pretend we had no idea you were here!"

Living The Fever Dream

Pokefutures HQ, hallways

-Ever and Leah stop laughing very quickly. Troy is standing at the end of the hallway, flanked by a full 36 agents, in full uniforms including helmet-

Ever: ...Got distracted?

Leah: A little.

Ever: Forgot to hide our presence from psychics?

Leah: Maybe a bit.

Ever: ...Ah well. Heya, Troy.

Troy: Where are the others?

-before Ever can say anything, Troy nods-

Ever: ...Ah, shit.

Troy: (to the other agents) Squad 14. Stay here, deal with them. The rest of you, the remaining two intruders are still in the portal room. We're going to go secure that.

Ever: Well really there's no need for—

Sizzle!

Ever: Fuck.

Agent: Hey. Leah, is that you?

Leah: ...

Agent: You got taken hostage somehow? Don't worry. We'll deal with this one.

-Ever purses their lips-

-...-

-...-

Leah: ...Not exactly.

Leah used Hail!

Dunsparce didn't stop being a thing or anything.

Stormchaser

-To Vi-

They're not threats, don't worry about it.

Where to go, I'm pretty sure that thing would just chase us everywhere...

-To Echo-

You're right.

-Looking outside at the battlefield-

Trojan, dial everyone's phones.

-The phones of assorted J-Teamers may start hearing a message-

Everyone fall back to the Stormchaser, we're leaving immediately we cannot risk sustained conflict at this point!

Edited by rmctagg09 on Jun 24th 2020 at 3:25:48 PM

Eating a Vanilluxe will give you frostbite.

Pokefutures HQ, Portal Room

Brie: ....So, like, do you think Ever just dealt with everyo—

Sizzle!

Amanita: I do not.

-Troy and his squads are here now, between the portal and the door-

-the enormous spread of the entry hazards set up by Thorn and Calamity means that, as was probably obvious, a number of them appear trapped within. As might be predicted, this isn't pleasant-

Troy: Hi. We're here to—

Kara: Look out!

Troy: Look out? Look out for—

...What's that?

-what that is is a massive tube of ice, making a giant funnel with the portal-

-with Amanita, Brie, their mons, and the currently-hostage scientists well off to one side-

Amanita: That is our contigency plan.

Brie: Good luck!

-she presses the portal switch button on the remote, and once again the portal gushes with water-

-which of course is now focused through an ice funnel-

-something something pressure-

Amanita and Brie's combined teams, and a portal, worked together to use Hydro Vortex!

Dunsparce didn't stop being a thing or anything.

Fortis: Oh my gosh oh my gosh! Minty, grab her!

-a Braviary swoops down and picks up the unconscious Mezzo-

-Pianis is swept up by a Skarmory, while Yukikaze is now in the talons of a Staraptor-

-Giri is also clinging to said Staraptor-

Aeropolis: <Ow ow ow! Hey, I'm trying to fly here!>

Pianis: What?

Xaldin: <We're retreating. Leader's orders.>

Pianis: Disappointing. I thought I was doing pretty well against that thing.

-all the birds deposit their cargo on here-

Fortis: Okay! We got them! Who needs to be picked up next?

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

Pokefutures HQ, Portal room

-Troy teleports out of the way, obviously-

-the rest of his team aren't so lucky, and the horizontal geyser (or lieser) smashes into them. Protect barriers can only do so much, and they're swept off their feet, and not in the fun way-

-well, unless being shoved through a field of sharp rocks and poisonous caltrops is your thing-

-we're not judging-

Amanita: Nice!

Brie: That was a good plan! Let me just close this...

Remote: Error. Lifeforms detected in portal area.

Brie: Huh?

Amanita: Uh, Brie? We don't want to flood the place.

Brie: Just a second! It says there's a lifeform in the—

-a massive claw forces its way out of the portal-

Brie: ...Portal area.

-the claw is followed by a comparatively massive Crawdaunt-

-and the portal finally switches away from the water dimension-

Amanita: ...Oh my god.

Crawdaunt: (in a low, rumbling tone, deep enough that it's felt rather than heard) <Where am I...?>

-the Pokefutures agents not knocked out by the lieser are starting to pick themselves up-

Crawdaunt: <Humans...?>

Brie: (to Amanita) We should hide.

Amanita: I'm in favor.

Crawdaunt: <This world...will know the beauty of the oceans.>

-he raises a claw-

Agent: Ugh...cheap shot. But it takes more than that to—

Giant Crawdaunt used Crabhammer!

Brie: ... (weakly) It's not a bug, it's a—

Ares: <Dark-type, yeah.>

Dunsparce didn't stop being a thing or anything.

Lumiose

Channah: -hears the message- Tedious, thy name is Quagsire. C'mon. -returns her mons, sends out Lo and climbs on, helping Nino up as they avoid another attack-

Nino: -as they take off- Whooaa, this is so much faster than a pegasus or a wyvern!

Lo: <289 kilometers per hour at peak diving speed.>

Channah: Which we're not doing because otherwise I am going to throw up again.

Lo: <Suit yourself.> -flies off to the Stormchaser-

Stormchaser

-they land on the airship in no time-

Channah: -in response to Fortis- Not us.

Nino: -to Lo- Thanks so much, mistress Lo! Oh, where's Uncle Legault? I bet he slept through the whole thing... But - I should stay for further orders, right?

Lo: <Mistress?>

Channah: Probably doesn't know how to address an intelligent flying mount. -to Nino- Just uh, stick with us for now. He'll find you if he needs to.

Nino: -nods- Okay!

There is no disdain in nature, there is no humiliation.