The Prost

Artoria stares up at the hand coming down. She tries to dodge, but she's not fast enough. Gawain is too far away to make it in time. Conjuring a protect field herself might be just as lethal.

A bitter voice calls out to Artoria, and she drops to a knee, one blade raised to her forehead.

You can't protect anyone. Not then, not now.

Artoria: <... I can.>

How? You're going to be crushed by a Master Hand.

Artoria: <I would have made it without your interference.>

No. You wouldn't have. And you'll die here, unable to protect anyone you care for.

Artoria: <... No. I won't let anyone die again.>

The voice gives a harsh laugh.

Is that so?

Artoria: <I'll be stronger. I'll be as strong as I need to be.>

Gawain vanishes mid-flight and Artoria gets another mask - a crown atop the visor of a knight's helm, draconic horn designs flared off to the sides.

Hah. Then do we have a contract?

Artoria: <An oath shall be sworn here!>

Suppressing a cry of pain, she slices her mask off.

Very well. I am thou, and thou art I. Seize the justice that you would make for yourself, and in that find the strength to defend your allies!

In a pillar of blue and white fire, Artoria stands, her simple cloak replaced with a much more complex outfit.

Beside her stands a grey and red Fomantis of roughly her height, the blades replaced with metagross-looking claws gripping a greatsword.

Artoria: <Uther... Protect us.>

Her Persona nods, and raises his blade, a dome of energy raising over them moments before the impact.

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

Cafe Sonata

Shadow follows the grunts slowly. His expression, rather than his usual playful grin when he battled, was an angry glare.

Shadow: You do realize Ghetsis is actually a sociopath, right? Or do you just not care he's manipulating you? I have friends who were in the original Team Plasma, and they told me about what happened after someone stopped Ghetsis' master plan. If you don't fit into Ghetsis' plan, he won't protect you, he'll throw you away the first time you're in his way! At least N legitimately cared about you guys, and the Pokemon! You guys badmouthing N makes it apparent you don't even have good intentions! And praising Ghetsis shows you've got neither the brains nor the guts to leave for someone who has a heart! At least Giovanni and such took good care of the grunts under their command!

Mischief: <Roasted! You guys could use a Rawst Berry about now!>

Shadow: ... Mischief, you just lessened the impact of my little rant. Anyway, Maverick! Psycho Cut on the Garbodor! And ready an X-Scissor for the Dark Types!

Heheheh

Stormchaser, AFD

Iona: <They weren't there when we got here, so probably not..>

<Hm? Foxberry?>

off the shits

Sootopolis city

-Cady is training with her team in her backyard. Suddenly, a Mawile jumps out of the bushes and runs towards her.-

???: <Caaaaaaaaaaaadyyyyyyy!>

Cady: Do I know you?

???: <Yeah! It's me! Cedy!>

Cady: From April fools day?

Cedy: <Yes! I was a Mawile but then I got turned into you! Now I'm a Mawile again!>

Cady: Why does this concern me?

Cedy: <I wanna join your team!>

Cady: Give me some time to think...

Cedy: <Lemme rephrase that. I am joining your team.>

-Before Cady can do anything, Cedy has ran over to Cady's backpack, that had been set on the ground earlier. She pulls out a pokeball, throws it in the air and jumps to hit it.-

-Wobble,-

-Wobble,-

-Wobble,-

-PING!-

gocha! Cedy was... caught?

Cady: Ooooookay.

Cecelia: <So, new teammate I guess.>

Zuzu: <Not like we had a choice in the matter.>

I used to plug my deviantart here but turns out the link was too long.

Cafe Sonata, outside

Gimbal narrowly dodges the belch, while returning fire at both the garbodor and the the alolan persian. This all while still being in Shutter's phone.

Gimbal, while happily electrocuting the alolan persian: BUUUUURN.

The two grunts could only watch in abject horror and bewilderment as their pokémon are beaten to a pulp. The psycho cut finally does in the garbodor, while the mightyena succumbs to the mach punch. The scrafty manages to dodge Charger's and Gimbal's attacks, but ends up in the path of Bullet's moon blast.

Plasma Grunt 1: But Fraaaaaank. They're making valid points.

Plasma Grunt A: Show some backbone, Dennis. These kids and that hipster will pay for this slander.

Plasma Grunt 1: But that explains why I didn't get my performance bonus for trolling that forum.

Plasma Grunt A: Dennis, stop being a wimp and own these libs. The nerve of that dude, dissing us like that and then putting that crime lord Giovanni above us. I bet they're in the pockets of the mafia.

Shutter: By God's holy paperwork you people are dense.

Edward: <These two criminals. They believe willingly in the lies of other people and refuse to relent even as these two much younger humans spell out the truth in front of them. Seriously, what even is the human psyche.>

Shutter's mind: <Believe me, if I knew how to defuse dimwits like these I'd have become a psych major. If I had a nickel for every time I had to fact check>

Edward: <You should have been.>

Shutter/Edward: Okay, these two have been telling you the truth of your situation and yet here you are, a bunch of turds in the wind, stinking up the place for that tepig's anus you call a leader.

Plasma Grunt A: Hey, take that back—

Shutter: Edward, finish them off. You two, cut off their path of escape.

A muk emerges from the ground surrounding Shutter, which immediately attack the already incapacitated pokémon. The muk moves lock step with Shutter, who walks toward them. His eyes are normal-ish again.

Gimbal: The cops will be here in about two or so minutes.

Edited by MasterJayAM on Oct 27th 2020 at 4:32:35 PM

Vermilion Gym, VS Lt. Surge

Me: He may be small, but I assure you, Raru's a lean, mean, psychic-power wielding machine!

Raru: <Hey! I am NOT mean!>

Me: Sorry, Raru... I wanted to show Lt. Surge just how powerful you are...

Raru: <It's okay. And you can do that by initiating an effective PK attack and starting this fight!>

Me: Quite right, Raru! Let's go! Use Confusion!

-Raru's eyes glow a bright blue as a psychic force surrounds Lt. Surge's Manectric, lifting him into the air-

Manectric: <Hold on, what are you doing?! Put me down!>

Raru: <Okay.>

-Raru then drops Manectric, face-first on the arena.>

Lt. Surge: You're Ralts' psychic powers are strong! Now let's see how he reacts to external stimuli! Manectric! Use Shock Wave!

-Manectric surrounds himself with electrical energy and fires a powerful burst of lightning at Raru-

Me: Raru! Stand your ground!

Raru: <Right!>

-Raru digs his... er... feet? into the ground and places his hands out in front of him-

-The Shock Wave hits Raru and most of the electricity is absorbed into the ground-

Lt. Surge: <Clever thinking, kid!>

Me: I thought it might work... Now, Raru! Show him what you can do! Use Shadow Sneak!

-A shadowy aura surrounds Raru and he punches the ground!-

♪Show me the wisdom of the world... Tell me the secrets of the heart... and the sweet~ mysteries~ of love~...

Cafe Sonata

Shadow pauses for a drink before calling Maverick back.

Shadow: You did well, pal, but I can tell you're worn out. I'll let you rest a while. -scritches Maverick-

Maverick: <Mmm...>

Mischief churrs as she cuddles into Shadow.

Shadow: I'd finish this, but my friends are utterly exhausted. I'll let you guys handle it.

Heheheh

Café Sonata

Silversmith: "The mafia!? Tell me, Plasma grunts, who is the better man? The man that says "I'm gonna steal your pokemon!" and steals your pokemon? Or the man that says "I'm gonna liberate pokemon!" and steals your pokemon? Even mafia scum is better than your team, for they do what they say. Shadow, fear not! I need the battle experience anyways. Let's see, paths of escape... Bullet, are you slippery?"

Silver Bullet: <...I think so?>

Silversmith: "Spread yourself out on that sidewalk over there. Those plasmad fools wont know what hit em. Cortez, spore those that would run!"

Armando: <...Plasmad? Really?>

Silversmith: "Well, yea, mad is another word for insane, no?"

Armando: <That's a stretch. What should I do?>

Silversmith: "Uhhhhh... How mad would you be if I said confuse ray?"

Armando: <Confuse ray confuse ray confuse ray! I have other moves you know!>

Silversmith: "But our foes are always better at dealing themselves damage than you are!"

Armando: <Name one time confuse ray worked.>

Silversmith: "...Good point. I guess you can just enjoy the carnage."

Apartment

Watching Martin faint dead away stirred something in Colton. He returned Roy and grabbed his Sun Stone, transforming.

The Lycanroc began to nuzzle Martin in the hopes he'd wake up.

[Insert Unoriginal Stinger Here]

Silas took off his scarf and set Martin down on the couch, he woke up a few minutes later.

"WHAT?! WHAT?!"

"Calm down, believe me now."

"You- but I- how- love, hate clouds?! What?!"

"Long story but in short I've seen some shit!"

Martin frowned, "Oh what next?"

"Well Arthur is back from the dead and he likes me very much."

Martin stared, "Arthur... Undying Knight Arthur. The OG to get into trouble that is the Grant family... Arthur."

"Yep."

Martin blinked, "hooooooooooooow?"

Martin's Apartment

<Oh yeah,> The Lycanroc started before he grabbed his Sun Stone again and turned human. "I remember him! We met up in Lumiose before he came back for good, right?"

Stormchaser, AFD

Sunny and Roy wore expressions of confusion while Koyasa started to fall asleep in Sunny's arms.

[Insert Unoriginal Stinger Here]

Vermilion Gym, VS Lt. Surge

-A shadowy Ralts appears right behind Manectric and punches him in the back-

Manectric: <YIPE!>

Lt. Surge: That was quite a move, kid! Havin' your Ralts sneak up on my Manectric like that!

Now I'll show ya a real show of strength! Manectric! Use Giga Impact!

-Manectric charges at Raru and a powerful aura surrounds him-

Me: GIGA IMPACT?! Raru! Quick! Use Hypnosis!

Raru: -looks back at me and nods- <Right!>

-Raru turns to face Manectric, and raises his arms-

-Raru's eyes begin to glow a bright pink as he sends a soothing wave of energy in the direction of Lt. Surge's Manectric-

-Raru waves his cute little hands in circles as his eyes glow-

Raru: <You are getting sleeepyyy... geeeeetting sleeeeeeeepyyyyyy...>

-Manectric's gaze locks on to Raru's-

♪Show me the wisdom of the world... Tell me the secrets of the heart... and the sweet~ mysteries~ of love~...

Martin just stared at Colton, Silas nodded, "Yeah. The original Grant to get into major trouble. This is why I don't get why you're so shocked by this Martin."

Martin grumbled, "So... what, you can turn into a pokemon on command?"

"Nah, need a magic artifact to do that."

"Grant any powers?"

"No, and even if it did, how many of the Grants are empowered?"

Martin thought back, "fair point."

~It also grants him understanding. Wanna try?~ Hacks asked.

Martin shook his head, "Nooooo... I've got enough on my plate without being able to understand the pokemon on campus."

Martin's Apartment

"Your loss," Colton decided, shrugging. "But I'm just speaking as someone who used to moonlight and now does it full-time, being able to understand the Pokemon you care for is invaluable.

"Also, powers? Sure, he might not have any, but you've got a Zorua on your shoulder," he said, pointing at said shoulder, where said Zorua appeared without anyone noticing.

It was actually an illusory double of Minerva but it'd fade away the moment Martin noticed.

[Insert Unoriginal Stinger Here]

Martin saw the illusion for a moment, "Obscuric huh?"

"There are a surprising number of them in the J-Team," Silas commented.

~As for understanding, I get that, it's not for everyone and some people prefer to try other ways.~

"Okay so... Jackal."

"Who else would it be?"

Martin stared at the robot arm, "Can that thing even feel?"

"Yep, bumped my own elbow off of a table hard when I first tried it out, it has a funny bone."

"Ouch!"

Cafe Sonata, exterior, a day ago

Plasma Grunt 1, kind of frozen in place because of all the muk gunk: I don't think we can get away from this Frank.

Plasma Grunt A: Aw, come on. Done in by a bunch of kids and a middle-aged hipster?

Shutter/Edward: Who you calling middle-aged?!

Plasma Grunt A: Shall we cut our losses and make a run for it?

Plasma Grunt 1: Agreed.

The two grunts summon back their pokémon only to promptly slip all over the muk gunk.

Martin's Apartment

Colton winced at the mention of a funny bone. "Well, if nothing else, it'll be harder for you to ignore damage to it?" He offered.

[Insert Unoriginal Stinger Here]

Café Sonata exterior, yesterday

Silversmith: "Hah! How the evil suffer!"

Armando: <...Relishing in suffering isn't exactly... noble.>

Silversmith: "But they won't listen to me. I gave them a chance to repent. Now they rightfully get their just desserts!"

Cortez: <We didn't get dessert!>

Silversmith: "When I go back to clean up the sludge bomb I used, you can finish your dessert."

Edited by arishipshape on Apr 3rd 2019 at 3:05:30 PM

The Bwah Bunker

-Beep-O is supervising the base when he receives a voice message-

Beep-O: Yes? Who is it?

Leeya: It's the Enforcers! We've located a hole in Gunny's defenses!

Beep-O: Really? Where at?

Gina: Hold on, let me send you the coordinates...

-Some coordinates pop up on the main screen of the Bwah Bunker-

Beep-O: <Got it! I'll message the Bwahliance right away!>

Sora: Hurry it up! We want our girlfriend back!

-Beep-O sends a message-

Beep-O: <Hmm, for this operation we'll need some new recruits...>

-He forwards the message to select other J-Teamers with a brief explanation-

Contact Me!

Kanto, Somewhere

Des is napping on some route when suddenly text message from Rabbids.

"...wha?...hell with it."

And he's off.

Reversal Mountain

And he's here!

"What the hell is this?"

Edited by PhilosopherStones on Apr 3rd 2019 at 12:45:34 PM

GIVE ME YOUR FACE

Reversal Mountain

Colton toted Pot Shot in one hand.

Kazuma balanced Facepalm Over Two in his hands.

Helmsman toted Category 5 in his hands.

"Time to fulfill my promise," Colton decided, looking to his starter-turned-human, who nodded.

[Insert Unoriginal Stinger Here]

Kanto Field, AFD

-Sneaking through the grass as the Guardians scuttle along-

Hopefully Channah's having a much better day than I'm having...

Reversal Mountain

-Ann and co are here-

Eating a Vanilluxe will give you frostbite.

Cafe Sonata

Shutter, friendly voice: Great job, you two. That's two fewer grunts making a mess of the city.

Gimbal, to Silversmith: Hey, you're that kid from the museum. I thought I recognized the speech with a lot of big words.

The CCPD arrive and pick up the two grunts. Most of the beat cops were wondering exactly how so much slime came to the area in the first place.

Officer Jenny: Okay, you three. Fortunately you managed to minimize the damage and the owners of the cafe are grateful for your efforts. Do not worry about the cleanup; we know a few who can handle it from here.

Vermilion Gym, VS Lt. Surge

-Manectric's eyes glaze over as he stares deeper into Raru's eyes-

-The Giga Impact aura dissipates and the sleepy Manectric trips on his own feet and starts barreling towards Raru-

Raru: -upon realizing what he just did becomes panicked- <Wait... Oh no no no no no... Sit boy, sit... heel... AAAAAH!>

-The hypnotized Manectric bowls over Raru before falling asleep-

Raru: -somewhat dizzied by the hit- <Good boy...>

♪Show me the wisdom of the world... Tell me the secrets of the heart... and the sweet~ mysteries~ of love~...

Castelia, AFD

-As the blue-clad Nobu swipes at the offending Malboro #41, severing the tip of one of the its many tentacles.-

-The five other Malboros look at #41.-

Malboro #41: Hit it, buds!

-The six Malboros start singing as the breathe on the Nobus-

Mor Dhona, AFD

-Ren has procured armor and bows for Cambria, Aria, and Oscar. And a suit and staff for himself.-

-Unfortunately, he owes Rowena a crystal.-

-Fortunately, they don't have to look too hard for a good one, as Ren discovered he can sense the density and type of energy within a crystal-

-Unfortunately, the location was near the Crystal Tower and thus, the party had to wade through sooo many gigas.-

-Fortunately, those things die pretty quickly under concentrated fire.-

-So using his new found ability, Ren located a high density thunder-aspected crystal for Rowena. Ren also had found an unusual crystal from a formation that Ren speculated had grown from the tower itself, as it seemed to be omni-aspected, since Ren could detect so many different elemental affinities he wasn't able to truly gauge a singular dominate aspect.-

-Ren returned the Thunder crystal to Rowena and apparently not only paid off his tab, but left him with a sizable balance.-

The GM House, Today

-Ren and Rio approach waiting for the various security systems in place to identify them as friends and not try to subdue them with extreme prejudice.-

-Although the fact that Ren is holding a metal cylinder that can't properly block the unique energy that the contents are positively exuding - as well as the fact the energy signatures should be pretty unfamiliar to begin with - might get Dezi's attention.-