Pewter Center

<Tell me,> Amaterasu started, softly speaking. <Do you at all remember your humanity? Any... Pokémon you've trained? Your career? Your upbringing?>

Halis starts talking in their sleep.

Halis: <...Humanity? Mmm... had a friend... but, haven't I always been like this...?>

Whatever's happened to them runs fairly deep by this point, it seems. You'd probably be able to restore their personality, but memories would take a long time to get back at this rate.

Pewter Center

<Tell me about this friend,> Ammy asked. <Where did you meet them? Did you do anything together? Are you still friends?>

Halis: <...Lucius. Lucius helped me learn about everyone... he's been so nice to me, even when he wasn't nice to himself...>

Halis seems a bit sad when mentioning that last part, but otherwise just trails off into silence again.

Pewter Center

<And how does that make you feel?> Ammy asked. <Lucius being hard on himself, I mean,> she clarified. <Does it make you feel concerned for your friend?>

Halis: <...Yes. I just want him to be happy with himself, instead of worrying about his past... shouldn't we all be allowed to live how we want to...?>

They're shivering a bit. It seems like this topic is bothering them somehow.

Pewter City

Amaterasu pauses. She spends a few seconds mulling over her next question before speaking up, wording her question carefully. <... If you were truly human by birth, would you want to stay as Lucius' Buneary?>

Halis: <...Even if I was, yes. I'm... honestly not good at staying motivated on my own. Having someone to help guide me like this, it's nice... it's something I never had before, never thought I would have. The structure of it... keeps me focused on what I should do, rather than just what I want.>

They stop talking, although it feels like they might've said more. Maybe asking again later when they're awake would yield a lengthier answer?

Pewter Center

Colton and Ammy stared at Halis' sleeping form, somewhat surprised at his answer.

<Awaken,> Ammy demanded. <no longer entranced, remembering everything that happened.>

Edited by AbsentCoder on Feb 22nd 2019 at 1:56:09 AM

Halis awakens as instructed, though a bit sleepy still.

Halis: <...Uhh...>

They seem a bit embarrassed.

Halis: <So... uh, heheh, I'm guessing you heard all of that?>

At least they're not being angsty anymore.

Pewter City

"<No judgment,>" Colton and Ammy chorused.

<But, I just want to ask again. If you were human by birth, would you still want to be Lucius' Pokemon?> Ammy asked, lying down on her chest.

Apollo: ~That, you, whh?~

Halis: <Well, yeah! I wouldn't have started with it if I didn't know what I was getting into, after all... and he did warn me quite a bit beforehand, so it's not like I didn't have any forewarning or choice in the matter. Besides... if helping him helps me and him at the same time, then I'm all for it. I like being able to help when I can.>

They look at the scarf.

Halis: <And, yeah... it does seem like the "Vow" thing is actually really potent, though I suppose you might not've seen it used like this before.>

They put it back on.

Halis: <So... if you want to take notes on that, to share with others the knowledge, then please feel free to do so.>

Pewter Center

"Notes on the Vow locking people into Pokemon form?" Colton asked. "Or notes on the Spiral Stone?

"Because I'm hesitant to take notes on either. You're the one example I really have, and the Spiral Stone is something I don't even want to talk about, except with other Minds of Crystal," he explained as Amaterasu returned herself.

Kanto Route 6

Caddy and his mons were still chasing the Spearow.

Caddicarus: GIVE ME MY PHONE!

The Spearow eventually landed on a rather familiar tree branch, and it tossed Caddy's phone a bit higher.

Caddy quickly captured his mons before climbing up the tree. And guess where he ended up?

Ersatz Alliance

Caddy ended up coming through...

Caddicarus: A coat rack? How did this happen?

He only realised he was in a shop when he came out of the rack and picked up his phone.

Halis: <Uh... the first thing. You'd probably find others that can talk about it, but that stone... let's just pretend it doesn't exist until we know exactly what it is. Better than letting some creep learn about it and steal it from you, anyway.>

Halis hops onto a nearby chair, sitting down.

Halis: <But yeah, if you have any other questions, you can ask me. Sorry about all of that stuff earlier, by the way, not sure what happened there. Guess stuff got like... scrambled in my brain.>

Pewter Center

"So we can say for certain the Vow won't lock someone into Pokéform if said transformed human is a human that has put the Pokemon that captured them under the Vow," Colton started. "But a random human capturing a transformed Pokemon will lock them into Pokemon form, evidenced by Halis," Colton considered.

<What other caveats could there be?> Amaterasu asked.

"... Human captures Pokemon captures human-turned-Pokemon," Colton considered. "We know that Pokemon can capture Pokemon, but is there a chain of command?"

<How'd we even test that?> Amaterasu asked.

Vermilion City

Me: <Hey Milagros! Think we should change back?>

Vermilion City

Milagros: <I mean, you can if you want. I'm staying like this for now.>

Vermilion City

Me: <Okay...>

-I take off the Magical Scarf and put it back in my Key Items Pocket-

DE-HENSHI~N!!

Halis: <Hm... well, there's always Aran, who was my "starter" as people call it, but I think I put her in my PC storage. Hang on...>

Halis goes over to the PC, touching some buttons and bringing over a Pokeball that releases Aran.

Aran: <Hey, woah woah woah, what's going on here!? Who're you?>

Halis: <Aran... it's me, Halis.>

Aran: <Oh, sorry... didn't recognize you. Weren't you a Sandshrew or somesuch before?>

Halis: <Long story, but uh, not anymore. Anyway, do you know how this "chain of command" works between us now that I'm someone else's mon?>

Aran: <...Hadn't thought about it like that before. That's odd. I guess I can listen to you, still, but we're more or less just equals in my eyes now instead of how it was before. You're not better than me, and vice versa. I don't gotta listen.>

Halis: <Huh... interesting. Alright, you can go back now.>

Aran: <Fair enough. It's more comfy in there anyway, but let me know if you need me still.>

Halis: <Don't worry, I will.>

Aran goes back into her ball and Halis returns it to the PC, going back over and sitting back down at the chair.

Halis: <Well, there's your answer, I guess. That's just Aran, though, she's always been fair to me. It might not be that way for everymon.>

Pewter Center

Colton paused, processing what he heard until he spoke up.

"So rather than it being a chain of command, there's just one superior and their followers. Like, if they captured someone who had captured pokemon, the captured human’s captured pokemon would then become the captor’s Pokemon?"

He shrugged. "I can see it."

Halis: <Like I said, though... probably best not to assume things based off just me, but it is a good thing to keep in mind when you find other people to talk to about it. Anything else you want to know, though? I'm all ears... well, not literally, but close enough, right?>

Halis is being far, far more reasonable than how they were acting earlier.

Pewter Center

"I'm still hesitant to ask, but you're not under Ammy's or the Spiral Stone's influence, but... do you have your memories of humanity back?"

Halis: <Memories? Yes... but, that's the past at the moment. This is who I'm choosing to be now. I might go back at some point later, but that's not in my immediate future, I feel. I hope you understand and that this doesn't inconvenience you in any way.>