Asimov Party

Sunny and Roy both notice Ramona, but say nothing. They both share a knowing smirk, and Roy finds a way to break the ice.

"Do you hypothesize these creatures are enjoying themselves too much for their own good?" Roy asked, winking to Sunny, who needed a little bit to catch up.

"Indeed. Such brazen euphoria is not good for them. I have faith it will catch up to their wimpy bodies, and we will be able to resume within 6 "hours"," she said, feigning disgust at the word. "Such a confusing measurement of time."

"Why do we even have these disguises?" Roy asked. They removed the chokers, revealing Sunny as a Delphox and Roy as a Blaziken.

Asimov Party - Pent

Upon opening the wrapping paper Pent would find that he had also recieved a Prax Obscura: Second Edition, also signed, but this time it's signed by both "C. K. Rever" and "A. Hikari". He might notice a necklace snaking out from the pages. Attached to the necklace is a sterling silver "五" about as big as his fist.

Ammy held the rectangular box Pent had given her. She didn't open it, instead electing to see Pent's reaction first.

Asimov Party

-Pent takes a moment before he smiles and untangles the necklace from the book-

Huh, wasn't aware he'd finished transcribing it... And this..?

-He glances up at her and smiles broadly-

Thank you, it's really nice.

Asimov Party

"Thanks," Ammy blushed. "Picked it out myself. Quick warning, there's absolutely nothing special about it. No transformation, no latent psychic suggestions, nothing," she clarified.

"And he had a fair bit of help from us," she added, pointing to the book. "There's even a little something for psychics, aurics, and spectrals," she said. "That sort of help," she explained as she started tearing into the wrapping paper.

-"Ramonas pink eyes go wide at the sight before her. She lets out a loud eep and ducks under the counter."-

Ramona: Oh. My. Gosh. Pokemon are aliens! Pluss, they seem to be planning something, nefarious. It seems they have not noticed me yet, so I will stand by and observe their conversation.

-"Ramona sits back up and, "very stealthily", leans over with her camera."-

-"Her mons, Aya and Carrie, pretend not to know her."-

Asimov Party

Totally fine, it still looks really nice.

-Well, the box contains... A pair of pretty good quality headphones. Decently expensive, good sound quality-

-The problem, if there was one, was that they were made for humans. Only a minor problem of course, just structurally difficult for fox ears-

-Pent looks at the headphones and fights the urge to apologize immediately-

Asimov Party

"These look really cool, thanks," Ammy observed, sizing them up before trying them on. Or, tried to.

Ultimately she just rested them around her neck and muttered another quick "thanks".

Asimov Party - Bar

<These humans are too excitable for their own good,> Sunny observed. <What makes this day worth notice, worth exchanging parcels, worth any notice?>

<My hypothesis is they are celebrating something, but what I am uncertain,> Roy "deduced".

Asimov Party, Karaoke

-Lissa nods at Colton and leans back.-

Lissa: True that. Might as well kick back, relax, have a few drinks, and let everyone else embarrass themselves for once.

Ambiguous Location

-Sometime after the Asimov party, Ever may receive a text.-

Asimov Party

"Embarrass is subjective," Colton considered. "Some of the song choices have been really good. Emphasis on "some".

"I'm not bragging about my tastes," he defended.

Asimov Party

Sorry. Didn't notice while I was shopping...

-"Ramona continues to eavesdrop on the two Pokemon."-

Ramona, excited:Oh wow, this is amazing... I mean, I have no idea what they're saying, but it must be about interstellar diplomacy, or the possibility of destroying earth inorder to build a galactic Highway.

-"Carrie sighs and floats up to the two without Ramona seeing."-

Carrie, to Roy: <Hey, are you two really aliens or whatever?>

Asimov Party

<No.> Sunny and Roy stated simply in practiced unison.

<Your trainer just isn't stealthy. At all.> Roy observed.

Asimov - Pent n' Ammy

"It's fine," Amaterasu comforted, going full human and putting the headphones on her now human ears.

Carrie: <That's true. For a someone so short, she stands out like a nail in wood.>

-"As she says this, her pink haired trainer is leaning over to spy, occasionally talking to her camera. Eventually, her diet coke arrives. It has whipped cream."-

-"Ramona lets out a joyfull squee at the "cute" drink."-

Ramona: Ohmagosh, this sodas soooo charming 💖.

-"She happly starts to drink... While still attempting to be stealthy."-

Carrie: <....Yeah, she's kind of dorky I guess. Sorry for her ruining your time.>

-"Aya and Carrie bow in apology to Roy and Sunny."-

Asimov Party

W-well at least they're perfectly functional.

-He attempts a smile-

Thanks.

Asimov Party

<Hey, don't apologize,> Sunny started. <Roy and I have been looking for any excuse to not sit in silence,> she said. <And feigning something for her stream? That's been fun.>

Roy gestured to Sunny to show he agreed.

Asimov Party - Pent

Amaterasu didn't really know what to say.

-"Carrie gives the two a small smile."-

Carrie: <That's good to hear. Thank you for giving her a good videom.>

Aya, depressed: <yeah, but she doesn't really have many followers anyways. And a lot of them can be... Kinda gross or mean.>

Carrie: <Way to be positive.>

Stormchaser, A Long Long Time Ago

The battle hasn't exactly going in Ama's favor, to put it lightly. She and the two foxes have been backed into Daydre's room. Ama goes to prepare an attack, when suddenly she falters. A small trickle of blood drips out of her nose.

Hellebore: <!!!> -Supports Ama as she stumbles-

Ama: ".. Thank you."

(To Daydre, Still Unconscious) "I don't like doing this, but if it's you, I don't care.." -She grabs Daydre again, hand coated in Obscura. But this time it's.. Different. It looks almost like something's coming out of Daydre.-

Daydre jerks awake, the sensation of whatever's happening snapping her back to consciousness. It almost feels like the life is getting drained out of her. It seems fate's smiled upon her, though, as she's landed near her belt. She presses the release on one of her Pokeballs, and Ama gets a Mawile to the ribs. That definitely makes her let go, and she stumbles back.

Mr. Bitey: <Uhh... I don't care if you're also Daydre! I'm not letting you hurt yourself! Geez, talking about this is real weird..>

Ama: "Tsk-"

Ama looks mildly disappointed, but before she can do anything else Hellebore shouts "WE'RE GOING!" in probably the loudest voice either of the Daydres have ever heard her use, wraps her tails around Ama and Alstroemeria, and teleports out.




.. After a long silence Daydre says, hoarsely, "What the fuck."

Edited by Daydre on Dec 30th 2018 at 1:26:05 PM

Ambiguous Location

Ever's Box

Cross: —No, think about it.

Narrow: <I am thinking about it. I would like not to be.>

Cross: <I'm a plant, right? And I can stab things.>

Letter: <But that doesn't make you green wood. The rules are clear, and besides you're pink.>

-Cross rolls her eyes-

Cross: <It's semantics! I'm cellulose; I'm sharp. And Ever even named me Cross. It's like I'm made to hunt vampires.>

Narrow: -shakes their head-

Letter: <You can't hunt vampires. It's impermissible.>

Cross: <You're impermissible!>

-Letter gasps. Twice-

Letter: -pointing a blade at Cross- <Rescind that at once!>

Cross: -pointing a claw at Letter- <I don't know what that means!>

Narrow: -long sigh-

Whew, got it in before 2019. Hope this isn't too bad of a first post back.

Hoen Battle Frontier

"Ranger Jameson, you all set?"

There was no response to Scott's Poke-Nav, for several seconds. He leaned against his car and sighed. Then, he started hearing a buzzing, which evolved into tapping and string shrieking. Like music, being played at a distance.

He looked ahead of the Battle Frontier docking pier, and his frown cleared. He could see a boat, red and with the Ranger Union logo emblazoned on the side, coming towards the dock. It moved steadily, and he could see the various denizens of the boat as they grew closer. Above the bilge sat a Bronzong, levitating several pebbles around it in a bluish glow. They ebbed and flowed in patterns reminiscent of a circus performance. They somehow kept swirling around the Blaziken sitting in front of the Bronzong, meditating while wearing what seemed to be a blue bowtie. On the lower deck, a Skarmory was curled up like a cat, being pet by a Golurk. But the music was growing louder, the closer the boat came to the dock. Scott's eyes were focused right at the boat's bow. There stood a woman, her combat booted left foot planted on the railing. Her arms, clad in a red leather jacket, held an electric guitar, one that she was playing with great energy and fury. The music, previously just a buzz in Scott's ears, was now filling the air with purpose and volcanic passion.

The ship docked right in front of a smirking Scott, who offered his hand to the woman stepping off."Well well, Ranger Marie Jameson, I didn't know your security also came with live entertainment."

Marie pushed her hair back and smiled before shaking the hand. Auburn with a new streak of grey in the fringe, cut in a bob to let her intense hazel eyes shine brighter."If I'm playing the guitar, it usually means I'm bored. If you're letting me play around you, it means I'm either doing too good of a job, or you've basically bankrolled a vacation for me." She shook his hand with her glove-clad one.

Scott guffawed."Security around these parts is tight enough as is, so consider it a summer job where you can even take part in the rides...as you've already mentioned your interest in. Pray tell, why would a Ranger want to take on the Frontier?"

Marie gazed ahead, as far as she could. The horizon of the island glittered with the Frontier Bases. They were in one of those. She just had to get to them."Someone I want to see again."

Scott nodded."We all have our reasons. That's not a bad one at all." He gestured towards the open shotgun seat of his car. Marie held up a gloved hand in polite refusal."Nah, I got this. Gotta be one with my mons if I'm gonna take on this Frontier in my 'down time', don't I?" She winked at the Skarmory, who was yawning and unfurling their wings, while she was returning the others to their Poke Balls."Top Gun, hit me."

Scott grinned, and said, "Now you're getting into the spirit of things." As he got in the car, he thought to himself "Well, this certainly could be an interesting development."

<THANK ARCEUS!> Top Gun roared, as Marie got on her back.<I was getting soooo antsy!> Marie held on tight, her hair billowing around her as Top Gun's wings flapped harder and harder, before she shot off after Scott’s sports mobile like a comet. Marie laughed out loud, her voice getting lost to the winds in the speed of the movement. She doesn't care. In her mind, she focused on the image of her family, her mons, her friends. Locke, with his pirate’s beard and fencing blade in hand. The trailing image of Ray on her motorbike. And, even long-lost family, Sarah. Sarah's face, on the poster she saw for the Frontier Brains, over the name Kai. The pull she felt, the desire to find out what happened, it was all coming back as she flew higher and faster, overlooking the glorious Battle Frontier.

"IM COMING, FRONTIER! AND SARAH, YOU BEST GET READY TOO!” She bellowed, as hard as she could, and Top Gun cackled underneath her. <I missed you.>

Asimov Party

-Pent makes some silent noncommittal gesture of just sorta not having anything to say-

New Year's Eve, Castelia City

-It was a cold night, but to those in their jackets and Christmas sweaters down in the square it there really wasn't anywhere in the world they'd rather be-

-Which really also applies to the purposely-ordinary-looking brunette and her girlfriend that occasionally flickered with the snowfall-

-The year had been kind to the two, a year of song and comfort and the warm shine of only-the-best-bits fame-

-As the night dragged closer to the last wisps of the year, they both wished for more of the same-

-Wishes are strange things, sometimes they don't come true. Sometimes they do. Wasn't up to the two girls to decide that-

New Year's Eve, Kalos

She couldn't help but laugh in her own head. Another year down and despite getting so close so often she couldn't quite kill him. That annoyed her ticking owl, just this terrible waste of time when time was something they didn't have to waste.

If her will was her own, she wouldn't care.

But purpose drove her, a singular purpose that caused her to laugh in her own head. As the year ticked away she wished for an ending; her task, herself, her father, anything because it all was in some way what she was here for.

But wishes are for djinn, the wrong kind of demon...

New Year's Eve, Somewhere warm

Shift: <Mate, mate don't do it. I can tell and you don't have the lyrics for this.>

-Pent looked between the currently-Machoke-shaped Ditto and the glass of late-season eggnog in Pent's own hand. He was in the state of being addled by both the lateness of the night and an evening of mild drinks-

#Raise a glass to the forwuvuh~...#

-He stopped and chuckled at the glare from Shift and the digital eyeroll from his laptop-

/Duck/: >You are definitely not the right person to take the Laurens role sir.

Shift: <There isn't even four of us.>

Yeah but it's late and we're friends yeah? Also frick it I've had a rough year.

-He takes a gulp from the cup of nog-

Shift: <Yeah but most of that was just you having an existential crisis over cosplay.>

/Duck/: >Diminishing the importance of the Hyul adventure, all the things about Mobius and any number of other trials and tribulations.

Yeahman! Besides now I've got the costume so I can do stuff with it.

Shift: <I don't know whether I should be happy you're not abandoning something you spent effort on or cringing because it implies you are going to go around trying to sword stuff in high heels during raids.>

/Duck/: Not all adventures are raids, maybe there'll be something where hack and slash is even encouraged?

Heh, I wish.

-Wishes are interesting things. Sometimes you have to work to make them happen-

Kai: So, uh... how are you feeling?

Diane: Ever have an itch you just can't scratch?

-Kai, Alyssa, Skye, and Diane are all gathered in the lobby, now that Diane's shoulder is well on its way to healing after everything past it got removed.-

Skye: Are you talking phantom pain, or you just can't reach because you'd usually use your right arm to reach it?

Diane: Uh, little bit of both? There's one spot on my back...

-Skye scratches Diane's back for a bit.-

Diane: Oof, yeah, that helps. Thanks, babe.

Skye: No problem.

Alyssa: You had a backup arm prepared, right?

Diane: Several. Somehow I knew this day would come, I just thought it would be the result of getting drunker than I expected in less reliable company.

-The other three stare at her.-

Diane: What? I just called you all reliable company!

Kai: That's not...

-They sigh. Diane leans in to offer comfort, momentarily forgetting that the arm she'd usually sidehug with is AWOL.-

Diane: Kai, I promise this isn't your fault. We all went into this knowing there was a risk of being found out, and it's certainly not your fault they ripped off our entire goddamn wall. That's just them being assholes.

Kai: I know, I know. I just...

Diane: Kai. I promise. I'll be fine.

-Kai is quiet, unreadable. Diane sighs.-

Diane: Alyssa, Skye, help me out? Kai needs a better hug than I can give.

-Kai squeaks as they suddenly receive two and a half hugs at the same time.-

Kai: ...Help. Can't. Move arms. To return hug.

Diane: I will hold back a very easy arm joke for your sake.

Asimov Party, Karaoke

-Lissa shrugs at Colton.-

Lissa: Hey, far be it from me to shit on anyone's choice of playlist. I'm not a music person, but it's been pretty good as far as I'm concerned. It's just that karaoke is inherently embarrassing. It's basically a form of public humiliation, and it just wouldn't be any fun if it wasn't. It's singing in the shower, except you've got an audience and three drinks sizzling away in your brainpan.

Ambiguous Location

Sinnoh Resort Area

-Lucius is indeed waiting here, cooling his heels by the pool. He's gotten all dressed up for the occasion - by which I mean he's wearing a shirt instead of a sweater.-

Asimov Party

"Sh... should I bounce? Yeah I think I'm gonna bounce," Ammy decided before she started the walk balk to the bar.

Meanwhile

"It's also kinda an opportunity to put your heart on your sleeves," Colton defended. "And flaunt-slash-share your tastes in music.

"Like, we're being stupid, but so is everyone else," he reasoned.

Accumula Town, 7:00 PM

A 20-something was seen wandering through the streets, adjusting the backpack on his shoulders as he approached a door. He took a few deep breaths and pounded on the door with a fist. When the door didn't open for a bit he found himself starting to turn around, only the pause when the door opened behind him.

A Deerling in a blue scarf leaped onto Colton, almost knocking him down due to being caught off guard. Hesitantly, he removed the scarf to reveal his mother, arms around his neck. Upon her noticing she wasn't a Pokemon anymore, she released the hug and shifted uncomfortably while another man, late 40's, entered the doorway.

"Colton," he acknowledged bitterly.

"Dad," Colton returned with the same bitterness.

"Come in," Colton's mother allowed, gesturing for the both of them to follow her. "I'm rather surprised you’re here for New Year's," she said as she sat down. "I assumed you wanted to do your own thing without us weighing you down."

"Hey, don't beat yourself up like that," Colton defended. "It’s mostly Micah you can blame," he started. "But honestly, with games getting Christmas Rushed at my job, the last thing I need is migraines exacerbated," he reasoned. "No offense."

"No, we get it," Micah, Colton’s father, allowed. "Even if it's just the three of us, with all these people celebrating, it does get really loud and hard to sleep, despite the noise complaints."

"We've just taken to doing what we always do every night. A lack of fanfare is a really good tone setter for the year," Colton explained.

"... grim." Colton's father observed.

"Shut up, Micah," Colton mother started. "He gets it from you."

"Really, Harriet? You wanna start an argument now?"

Mindscape

"Okay, really?!" Strategist and Otaku complained.

"There was barely any prompting!" Smartass realized.

"Money says they’re drunk, or at least buzzed," Programmer said, to which Talbain agreed.

"You'd think they'd endeavor to set a better example," Ambition sighed.

Reality

Colton facepalmed.

The windows' glass shook in its frames, the alcohol on the table was knocked over, the sofa and loveseat reared back like it was an amusement park ride, and winds radiated outwards that blew Harriet’s faded blonde hair over the couch seat.

"Has this been happening ever since I left to stop Plasma?" Colton asked, darkness radiating from him. "Or has this been happening ever since I've been born?"

Harriet and Micah alike both looked at Colton's exuding darkness with a sense of paranoia before Harriet found her voice. "We plead the fifth."

<See?> Sylveon asked from the infinite backpack, poking her head out and looking at the elder Revers. <This is why he never looked back. He was a squatter in his own house, a bum the owners barely acknowledged.>

"Thank you, Sylveon," Colton allowed, scratching behind her ears. "I guess it's too late to recover from such an elementary blunder, but, if nothing else, you still have a successful son."

Micah sighed. "She's right, your Sylveon. I mean, we’ve been trying to get our way back into your life, and I don't know how successful we've been."

"Oh, you mean the plushie? Yeah, sorry I never said thanks. Got it on a shelf somewhere at home," Colton explained.

The awkward silence permeated the room for a few seconds before Sylveon coughed.

<So why is it Colton shares his middle name with a Legendary Pokémon?> Sylveon asked.

"Oh, that's a bit of a story," Micah started. "The tradition started is only so new, having started with my grandfather."

"Barney?" Colton asked. "Shame he died before I was born."

Alola, 1944

Barney Rever was not having a pleasant vacation. He was told Alola was some sort of tourist trap, not some tropical blunder filled with so much rain and humidity he’d probably have to throw out his jacket when he got home.

BOOM!

And now there's thunder, so he couldn't even take shelter under the trees. Joyous.

He desperately scrambled for a cave or something to hide in, but he was surrounded on all sides by trees as he ran towards somewhere safe. The lightning was getting closer.

And then for some reason, it flashed right behind him.

He looked at where the lightning had struck and saw a very strange Pokemon. It was some black and yellow bipedal feline with blue highlights, electricity crackling around its paws. It looked at them, smirked lightly and then caught sight of Barney.

"Zeraora raor," it said indignantly before it ran off. Barney escaped the trees not soon after and was able to wait out the storm in a cave.

Present Day, Accumula Town

"He was incredibly grateful to the Pokémon - Zeraora - for saving his life that day. He looked up the creature in the Malie library and found out all sorts of information on the Legendaries and Mythicals.

"When he was married to your great-grandmother Ashe and had your grandfather he was really insistent on naming him after Alola's Mythicals. Hence, named after Marshadow and Zeraora, Marcel Zachariah Rever was christened."

"As Marcel's future wife was Kalosian, they named me after Kalosian legendaries and mythicals. Kinda. I was named after Diancie's rock typing and a common name Xerneas has been theorized to use should it adopt a human facade."

"And I was named after Keldeo and Kyurem?" Colton hypothesized. "Yeah, that makes sense."

"Kyurem?" Harriet asked. "I mean, they both start with "K", but that's all the similarities! We couldn't come up with anything, so we just picked a name that sounded cool. How did you derive "Kendall" from Kyurem?"

"Because they also use an alias whenever they turn human. Granted, very few can understand what they say, but I'm fortunate enough to be one of those people, so, yay me," he finished, flatly.

"Arceus' unholy flank. Bullet dodged," Micah breathed.

Accumula Revā no uchi, 8:00

"And that's how I got a book test-ran. It's not in widespread syndication yet. There's a hundred copies or so in small-scale bookstores I had to pay for the production of myself," Colton explained. "If nothing else, I might luck out with a few royalty checks," he finished. "I, uh, brought a copy for you guys to keep. Merry Christmas," Colton allowed, setting said book down on the coffee table.

Accumula Town 8:30

"It’s been nice catching up, but I really gotta bounce."

A couple of hugs and some half-hearted goodbyes later, and Colton stepped out the door, down one copy of the Second Edition.

Edited by AbsentCoder on Dec 31st 2018 at 11:22:22 AM

Sinnoh Resort Area

-Ever, who was not in the area when Lucius got there, climbs out of the pool (a somewhat awkward endeavor, as their left arm is still under repairs), and takes a seat next to Lucius as a Jellicent pops out of them, drawing away the water and leaving Ever entirely dry-

Drift: <Frillish?>

Ever: Entrances are important.

-they pat the Jellicent's head and recall them, before turning to Lucius.

Hey. ^_^

Asimov Party, Karaoke

Lissa: Exactly. You get it. You're a smart guy, Colton, and that goes a long way towards impressing a dumbass like me.

-She takes a swig of... is this her third drink? Fourth? Someone should really be counting.-

Sinnoh Resort Area

-Lucius blinks at Ever's unexpected entrance, before bursting out laughing.-

Lucius: I agree, entrances are important. Believe it or not, Levi did something similar on our first... I guess you'd call it a date. That was before I knew about the whole Kyogre thing.

-He goes quiet for a few seconds.-

Lucius: ...Y'know, I honestly didn't think past this point.

Nathan watched the match go as Sarah made some tea, Silas hadn't come home for New Years, he had sent a call saying he'd be busy with some stuff for Asimov. Sarah understood, he was a busy young man and she was proud of her son, he even seemed a bit more emotive, though she had told Hacks to keep a close eye on Silas. Still the house felt a little emptier without him, Sarah sat down next to Nathan and sipped her tea, another year gone by.

The doorbell rang and the two looked at each other, Nathan answered it and was shocked to see a tall man with silver hair standing there.

"Hello, you must be Nathan, and over there must be your wife Sarah," the man said with a honest smile, "It's a pleasure to meet you two at last. My name is Arthur, Arthur Grant."

Nathan didn't know what to say at first, and just let Arthur in, it took a half hour to explain everything that had happened and even then they still weren't sure what to say.

Arthur quietly sipped his tea, "So, I'm here to stay for the Holidays, that alright?"

Sarah smiled a bit, "Well, it's always nice to have family over. You're free to stay."

Arthur smiled back and bowed a bit, "Thank you."

Silas stared down at the Earth, the new year about to ring in, a lot had happened, especially to him. He sat back in his chair and turned off the Astrometric's view, leaving him sitting in the sealed room again. A small smile appeared on his face as he ran his metal hand through his hair, the thing was one of the most advanced prosthetics on the planet and it didn't even feel like a replacement left arm anymore.

Still, something had happened that had his mind wandering, and the source of said event had walked into the room.

"Hey Silas," "Hello Ribbon."

Roxy frowned a bit, "Come on, it's Roxane, or Roxy, Roxy preferably it has so muc-"

"Roxy..."

Roxy stopped, "Oh there we go. So, everything alright?"

"Not really," Silas admitted, "I can't stop thinking about the stuff you said at the party... and the kiss."

Roxy grinned, "Come on it was a mistletoe thing, no need to get hung up."

"No I mean the part about you liking me, along with your insistence on staying human."

Roxy pulled up a chair and sat down next to Silas, "Well I mean it. It's not like you're hard to like, plus I still want to go on adventures and see things and I know you will-"

"So is it purely for that?"

Roxy started to get it, "Well... Silas you should know that this kind of stuff isn't easy."

Silas frowned a bit, "So... what do we do then?"

Roxy smiled a bit, "We could go for a little trial run, I know that just because your left arm is metal your heart isn't some unfeeling clock. You're also a sciency guy who likes to experiment and see things... what do you say? Care to give it a shot?"

Silas gave it some thought, "... O...kay.... I guess, we could try."

Roxy smiled and kissed him, Silas's brain froze again for a moment and then, "I'm gonna have to get used to that."