Ersatz Alliance

An anthropomorphic Charizard wearing a pair of glasses, a turtleneck sweater, tweed blazer, and scarf roams around an aisle dedicated to clothing. Accompanying him is a dark-skinned young woman with wheatey-blond hair, who might be assumed to be the Charizard's trainer. Perched on the lady's shoulders is an archeops.

Stephanie: Well, aren't we looking dapper. And you said those [GQ] magazines were a waste of time.

Professor Hawthorn: <I take it that half the time you don't buy them because you want to help your father look spruce.>

Stephanie: I don't ask questions about the stuff under your bed, Conroy. What did mom see in you?

Professor Hawthorn: <A handsome, intelligent scientist with a successful early career... unlike those superficial dandies you think pass as dates.>

Stephanie: And those superficial dandies are going to make you the talk of next week's conference. You'll certainly turn heads for being the best dressed scientist there. And we can finally shake that nudist thing off.

Professor Hawthorn: <How did we ever go on without shopping in this place?>

Stephanie: Convenient, too. Pretty sweet that we were able to find it on a full moon. now we get to see how it looks on you as a Charizard. Though it was pretty weird that I had to carry my father in a pokéball

Professor Hawthorn: <If you think that's weird, the inside of a pokéball looked a lot like my bedroom. I like how it works. It gives you an environment you're comfortable with... and it knows I'm mentally human.>

Stephanie: Hey, other shoppers.

Edited by MasterJayAM on Jan 22nd 2019 at 5:21:45 PM

Ultra Ruin

Muddy: <I think an even worse tragedy's happened here than just that.>

-Moving into the right skyscraper, we see that it's home to a few posters, and a rusted sign further up ahead-

Poster #1: -Set sideways, seemingly depicting some sort of apparel shop- "Every day is a summer sale! Amazing fashion has never been more affordable!"

Poster #2: -Also set sideways, depicting a power plant- "Safe and secure! Let our power light up your lives!"

....

Oblivion Wing

-Gaia glances back at Rogue.-

Gaia: ...That could be useful.

Cerulean City, House

-The figure leers at Halis.-

???:    The only n-n-name that matters is mine. M-M-Metus. R-r-remember it.   

-They step back into the darkness, and as their Weezing's gas dissipates, Lucius and Halis find themselves in the front room of an abandoned house - devoid of furniture, but with a perfectly normal amount of doors.-

Lucius: I... that was... they w-weren't...

-He is still lying on the ground, trembling.-

Edited by Herbert40k on Apr 29th 2019 at 4:45:19 PM

erstatz alliance

-Cady and Cecelia had overheard some of the conversation-

Cady: Ok, I am very weirded out.

-they notice professor Hawthorn and Stephanie-

Cecelia: ~Other people right ahead! At least I think they are.~

Cady: Oh, hello there!

Rogue: ...Interesting. I recommend being more careful with who you give it to, considering you're speaking to someone with criminal history at this very moment, but I assure you I don't intend to carry out any more heists, so it's safe with me. Besides, I was planning on wiping the app when this job was over anyway.

Halis also lies on the ground, confused and honestly very concerned about this.

Halis: "...M-metus...?"

They try to get up, but can't, instead only able to sit upright at the moment, looking at Lucius.

Halis: "Lucius... d-did we just get into something we shouldn't have? I feel... worried. Very, very worried..."

Ersatz Alliance Menswear Section

Stephanie: Oh, hey there. Welcome. Weird place, huh. But it's the best place to get clothing for pokémon. I'm Stephanie Hawthorn, and this is my Charizard, Conroy.

Professor Hawthorn: <Smooth move, young lady. I bet this sort of tactic of avoiding unbelievable situations works all the time.>

erstatz alliance

Cecelia: ~So should I ignore the parts where you said about someone being someone else's father or what?~

Cady: Clothing for pokemon? Some of these look very much like human clothes. Oh, and my name is Cadence Lane.

-she has picked up a human to mon armband-

Edited by QuantumMelody29 on Jan 22nd 2019 at 9:27:06 AM

Foxverse, Past

-The ship that /Duck/ was (let's charitably call it) piloting comes in for a landing. The ship shudders for a moment before the top pops and the robot frame clambers out-

/Rabbit/: Forgot to put the seatbelt on. So I guess we're just sorta going to Realistic Space Wars this thing?

Oblivion Wing

>Currently engaging with the code miss, might retool some of this for the Kodlak.

-The cosplayer who is clearly Pent nods and stows her phone-

So we've got a hacking tool and decoy emitters. Surprised more raids don't come with fancy toys.

Edited by Pentigan on Jan 22nd 2019 at 8:40:51 PM

Ersatz Alliance

Stephanie: And likewise my archeops, Chris.

Chris: <You know, if you didn't open your mouth that little secret wouldn't have gotten out. Some scientific genius you are.>

Professor Hawthorn: <I can eat you, you know.>

Chris: <But you won't, Connie. You won't.>

Stephanie: Well, yeah. I can understand Pokémon and yes, what he says is true. Conroy isn't always a charizard and is, in fact, my father. That question comes up often, but just so we're clear, he was human when he and my mom had... you know... me.

Professor Hawthorn: <It is the full moon tonight, after all. Lycanthropy. Long story. And you two, I'm pretty sure they overheard us.>

Stephanie: But yeah. We buy his clothes here specifically because otherwise he ends up being completely naked somewhere when this happens. The "streaking scientist forgets to do crunches again" videos were of him.

Professor Hawthorn: <Please stop. Is this payback for when I drove you at prom and somehow you ended up embarrassing yourself and blamed me for it?>

Stephanie: No, but it could be.

Edited by MasterJayAM on Jan 22nd 2019 at 5:44:07 PM

Ultra Ruin

Montanari: <Ahh...>

Channah: -trails after Tagg and co., only sparing glances at the signs in favor of the more dramatic dilapidated buildings-

erstatz alliance

Cady: I saw that video on a try not to laugh challenge.

Cecelia: ~Not that that's a problem. Being a weremon must be hard.~

Cady: Yeah.

-a short, pale girl with Gourgeist hair is walking slowly past, eating a bag of pokemon food as if it were crisps-

Cady: You do get some strange people here. Like, pokemon food is for pokemon!

Edited by QuantumMelody29 on Jan 22nd 2019 at 9:58:46 AM

Ultra Ruin

Guzzlord Suit: That poster, I found it buried in the rubble and decided to put it up. They're kinda rare since most of them got burned by my grandparents' generation. Whenever I brought up the power plant, the adults didn't seem to want to hear it, but it always seemed hopeful to me.

.....

-We then approach a rusted sign-

Sign: ..oli... ...ity Ha... "Servi... ... ...ity's... ...need..."

Guzzlord Suit: Oh, that sign's from a much earlier era. I wish I knew what it said, but between time and the rust I have no idea.

-Monotonously-

Actually, I do know what it should say. "Hau'oli City Hall - "Serving the city's every need!"

-Collapsing to my knees-

So it's here then... This place, we knew it was an Earth, but it's a future Hau'oli.

Muddy: <I guess it's not all that "happy" anymore, huh?>

Edited by rmctagg09 on Feb 23rd 2021 at 4:33:17 AM

Oblivion Wing

-Gaia nods at Rogue.-

Gaia: We'll take your word for it.

Cerulean City, House

Lucius: Th-th-they... I c-couldn't...

-He doesn't seem to be terribly responsive at the moment. Might be a good idea to get him to the Center, or a hospital.-

Halis gets up, trying to shake off any pent-up stress from that incident, helping Lucius up and trying to get them to the Center since that was closer.

Halis: "..."

Halis doesn't say anything, worried that this is somehow their fault. It's clearly visible on their face that they're thinking this.

Ersatz Alliance

Professor Hawthorn: <You get used to the weirdness. I find myself eating that stuff as a human shortly after a full moon. Transformation inertia is the worst.>

Stephanie: We've managed to cope. Thankfully we managed to find this store and this funny man who I'm pretty sure is a mew helped hook up my dad with his first transforming suit.

Professor Hawthorn: <Apparently, the forums say this sort of thing is kind of abnormal, which kind of makes sense because of how I turned into one. I was part of this research team from this one company back in 2002. They were up to something funny in those labs, and I got into a little mess with one of the charizards they were experimenting on. They were tampering with... something... and it was enough to bork the whole lycanthropy process. I quit that shady company before they could catch wind of me.>

Stephanie: And he's also spent a lot of time in that one forum. He's known there as "the professor." And he is. He usually works with extinct critters like Chris' species.

Professor Hawthorn: <Those f—kers eventually closed down. Good riddance.>

Stephanie: So Cadence. What brings you to Ersatz Alliance?

Edited by MasterJayAM on Jan 22nd 2019 at 6:38:19 PM

Ultra Ruin

Channah: Nope. Not in either sense of the term. -comes over and sits down cross-legged in front of Tagg- Well, this kinda sucks. You okay?

Ultra Ruin

-To Channah-

I guess I will be, eventually. If I had to give a theory, I'd have to say that the state of this world has something to do with something going wrong with that plant. There's a decent chance that Guzzlord were involved in some fashion, either the cause, or coming into being from some existing mon species as a result.

I don't know how this happened, but I guess most of the legendaries must've abandoned the planet as well, the ones that didn't die anyway.

Oblivion Wing

Having borrowed her trainer's phone, Amaterasu felt it buzz. She pulled it out, eyeing the POS with contemplation.

Jupiter Orbit

"Yeah, our own trainer drilled into us how important promises are to him," Roy started.

<So, score one for Silas, eh?> Koyasa asked, looking at Horizon crossing the finish.

Falconan Space

"My two bits worth?" Colton started, disembarking from his noticeably scathed but still space-worthy craft. "These Dross people had only prepared for battles. These guys seem to actively want a full blown war.

"Let's give 'em one," he growled, brandishing his pistol. "Let's begin feeding the sickness."

Edited by AbsentCoder on Jan 22nd 2019 at 2:59:41 AM

Ultra Ruin

Channah: -shrugs- I mean, that sounds reasonable. Your explanation, not the uh, legendaries pissing off. I'd think about talking to the Guzzlords if they weren't - possibly hostile like Suit Guy kind of said. Except for Mr. Glutton, whoever that is.

Ultra Ruin

I think they might've meant "they" in more the singular sense.

-Standing up-

This world is dying, and once the Guzzlord finally run out of stuff to eat, they'll die off too. Possibly eating themselves into extinction. Beats me what'll happen next, maybe it'll completely die, or maybe Earth's wayward children will return en masse to reclaim it.

-Some loud crunching can be heard from outside-

Ultra Ruin

Channah: Yeah, if this place were alive I'd say it should be euthanized. No point wasting more energy on it, even to reclaim whatever trash is left. -cronch- Er.

Ultra Ruin

-Groans-

Ugh, I sound like Cyrus right no-Cronch-

-Peers around the corner to see what appears to be a Guzzlord with a scar over its right bottom eye-

Guzzlord: -Devouring some metal slag- {Consume, consume everything!}

-It then starts immediately stomping over in our direction-

Ultra Ruin

Channah: -stares- Gotta say I'm not really in the mood to be consumed tonight. The vibe's just off.

Montanari: <It's smaller than I thought it would be.>

Channah: I know, right? -to Tagg- Are we running or what?

Ultra Ruin

-To Channah-

I don't think it's gonna give us that option, and I'd rather not lead it back to the guy.

Muddy: <So what are we gonna do? Kill it?>

If need be, yes.

Guzzlord: -Just stands there... menancingly, and hungrily-

-Steps out-

Come and get me, you wouldn't be the first Grumpig I've gutted.

Guzzlord: -Roars-