Reversal Mountain

Beep-O: <Only one way to find out...>

-the group heads in further-

Contact Me!

The Prost

Skeith:Did we get him...?

-Headtilt-

The Prost

Des looks down at the mass of shadow.

"...I ain't gonna poke it."

Reversal Mountain

"Huh, you guys mobilize quickly. Not packing anythin' worse than those peashooters of yours, are ya?"

Debbid:<Bwah bwah bwah!>

"Your accent and cadence is so weird. Ate those things even mutually exclusive?"

GIVE ME YOUR FACE

The Prost

Saber: <...>

She looks to Director, her Persona keeping an eye on Shadow!Jerry.

Reversal Mountain

Rin: "Unfortunately, yeah, looks that way."

She tosses out Archer, who draws his bow.

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

Unova, Somewhere

Said man would see a Meganium followed by a Tropius and Amaura, all three running along happily.

"One may feel fear in the face of danger so long as one banishes fear when danger actually arrives"

Outside hotel adjacent to Haina desert

Armando: Flowers, yes, mortals appreciate them. I don't understand why, seeing as they invariably die and rot away. But I shall acquire some and return!

He glanced back and saw Ophidia staring at nothing.

Armando: Odd. One would think she would spend her free time researching some useless subject like berry mixtures. Something's up.

Her gaze seemed to meet his. Or was it the distance? He couldn't tell, but he felt something... odd. Warmth? Of the emotional variety, of course.

Armando: No, that's not it. I have no right to feel good. My very sustenance is immoral... There's evil left to vanquish. Even now, nearby, there are beeches where—Oh yes, flowers.

He quickly found a small sum, and, careful not to burn them, levitated back to the hotel.

Hotel adjacent to Haina desert

Armando: <I believe these should be sufficient reparations for the wrong I've done you.>

Haina desert

Silversmith was weary for lack of water, and disturbed by his still new understanding of pokemon. He began to regret the haste with which he allowed himself to be led into this harsh wasteland. With difficulty he remained civil.

Silversmith, agitated: "Congratulations on your new catch. Again. Where are we going?"

Jubilife Prost

"Is this the part where we grab the treasure?" Rage and Love asked.

Reversal Mountain

Colton, Helmsman and Kazuma huddled around each other, facing away from each other.

[Insert Unoriginal Stinger Here]

Unova Somewhere

-Daev was a little confused at the small procession of long-necked beasts just running along across his path so he decided to investigate. By approaching them. With no weapons. And no giant snake ally to back him up-

Reversal Mountain

Well if it's a mech it'll probably be just large enough to be manageable. That's usually how boss fights go.

It's clearly a case of backroom political albumizing.

Unova, Somewhere

Said three sauropods soon enough noticed the man and his Aron companion - and the lack of a giant snake - most importantly, they noticed his outfit, promting them to get closer to him.

Meganium: <Fellow adventurer~!>

Tropius: <Hello~!>

Amaura: <Finally another adventurer~>

"One may feel fear in the face of danger so long as one banishes fear when danger actually arrives"

Haina Hotel

Ophidia takes the flowers and smells them. She gently infuses them with a small amount of Grass Type energy and weaves them into a floral ring, gushing all the while.

Ophidia: <Oh, flowers! Such beauty... And as a Grass Type I can preserve them if I let them have water... How sweet of you to give them to me!> -fidgets as she feels the warmth in her face, lost for words- <Oh, I... You're sssssssso... Sssssssweet...>

It had happened. She had nothing to say. Her literally forked tongue was metaphorically tied. And she was so flustered she'd started hissing as well. So she gently placed the floral wreath she made around her neck, in the Alolan style. She simply gazed into his eyes, hissing once to take in his scent. As could be expected, he smelled like wax and fire. She wasn't sure what she expected. Incense, maybe.

(She was, of course, oblivious to the fact that he was doing all this as restitution for upsetting her earlier.)

Haina Desert

They arrived at the Ruins of Abundance and were unable to enter due to several large boulders blocking the path.

Shadow: There are rocks in our way!

Crush: <Of course! Tapu Bulu would rather most humans leave him alone.>

Scout: <AND THESE ARE BOULDERS, NOT MERE ROCKS.>

Shadow: And you didn't tell us about them earlier because...?

Crush: <I did not tell you because I saw no reason and you did not ask.>

Shadow: Of course. Lead us back, if you will.

Crush: <Yes my liege! Just follow us!>

The group starts heading back to the hotel.

Shadow: -somewhat whiny- I really wanted to see the Island Guardian too...

Heheheh

Prost, Past

-Director looks around and it should be apparent to everyone his guard is still very much up, although he looking at Shadow Jerry.-

Mona: -to the group at large- <I think we've beaten his powered form for now. But if the shadow stays here, he'll be able eventually restore himself and we'll be at square one again.>

Director: And we know what happens if we flat destroy his shadow...

-to Susan- You are the one he's fixated on. You have the best chance to convince him to give up.

The Moon - April 1st

-The two Personas clash into each other, the corrupted Izanagi and the ultimate Orpheus both refusing to yield.-

-But something shifts in the battle. Elizabeth begins walking towards her Shadow.-

Shadow!Elizabeth: "Stͭoͦp iͥtͭ! Stͭaͣy baͣcͨk!"

-The Shadow self raises her gun and fires at Elizabeth. Bullets harmlessly bury themselves in the ground as Liz continues to walk.-

Elizabeth: "Do it, Orpheus Telos!"

-The Clefairy takes his harp and whacks the red and black Zeraora in the face with it, yanking away the god's sword. Orpheus drives the blade into Magatsu-Izanagi's chest, destroying him. Orpheus Telos then flies straight at Shadow!Elizabrth, blade aimed forward -

And cuts her down, into Elizabeth's arms. Orpheus nods once and disappears.-

Shadow!Elizabeth: "..."

-He wide, golden eyes stare at the ground, her lifeless body held in Elizabeth's arms.-

Elizabeth: "It's alright. I'm here for you. I shouldn't have ignored you. That doesn't solve anything. And...I need to work on myself. My issues in life. I always take the blame for stuff...or I guess we do...since you are me,.after all."

-The Shadow suddenly hugs back, tears rolling down her face.-

Shadow!Elizabeth: "Tiͥmͫeͤ's aͣlmͫoͦstͭ uͧp. Buͧtͭ...tͭhͪaͣnk yoͦuͧ. Neͤxͯtͭ tͭiͥmͫeͤ yoͦuͧ aͣrͬeͤ iͥn neͤeͤdͩ, cͨaͣll uͧpoͦn mͫeͤ, aͣndͩ yoͦuͧrͬ tͭrͬuͧeͤ seͤlf wiͥll aͣppeͤaͣrͬ."

-She presses a small card into Elizabeth's hand as clocks hit twelve back on [Earth].-

---

Elizabeth's Room, Stormchaser - April 2nd, 00:02

-Elizabeth opens her eyes. Did she succeed? Was that all just a dream?-

-The tarot card in her hand says otherwise. Liz studies the picture and Kalosian carefully.-

LA PAPESSE

"Dang that sure is totally poggers my good bitch"

The Prost

-As the fight winds down Susan needs to think. She leaves her mask off, Eris floating in the air beside her as she silently tries to find the right words. And then... She finds them. With a deep breath she starts the walk up the stands again-

Susan: <This... This is just a delusion, this theater, those puppets... You've thought yourself a master of fame, the one who pulls the strings but you know what?>

-And then she says four words, ones that might get a rise out of something far away and deep down...-

Susan: <You have no control.>

-The Theater flickers and the walls close in a little-

Susan: <I don't dance on your strings and I don't think anyone else in your little black book would either. But what you've tried to do, that just can't stand. And I think somewhere in here you know that?>

-Jerry West doesn't reply-

Susan: <I think you know what you've got to do.>

-The walls of the Theater shudder again and within the flickers you can see the washed-out appearance of the bar it once was. This Palace is unstable-

Somewhere in Unova

-The adventurer man just kinda looks dumbfounded with the three trying to get closer to him and he just has no idea how to react, mostly because he doesn't know what they're saying-

-But the small copper quadruped in his arms does-

Copper Aron: <Adventurer?>

Daev: Uh... Hello..?

Edited by Pentigan on Apr 6th 2019 at 9:24:03 PM

It's clearly a case of backroom political albumizing.

Unova, Somewhere

The three Pokémon came to a halt close to the adventurer, all smiling brightly, visibly happy to have met another adventurer

Amaura: <Yes~!>

Meganium: <Because we are~>

Tropius: <The best and bravest~>

Amaura: <Adventure team~>

All: <The Super Sauropod Siblings~!>

"One may feel fear in the face of danger so long as one banishes fear when danger actually arrives"

-Rose tenses up and looks around.-

Rose: Uh, hate to interrupt, but I think we're about to get kicked out, and I dunno about you, but I don't want to find out what happens if we're here when it happens.

Hotel adjacent to Haina desert

Armando had a bevy of new feelings to sort out himself. Emotions usually alien to him were now felt in abundance upon gazing into Ophidia's eyes. Was that...Happy? Joy? Pride? A hint of romance? ...A small blush of his own? His innards growing even less consistent? No, it couldn't be... He didn't deserve happy. He didn't even know happy. For all he knew, this was mind control making its due course. He flashed back to Cortez keeping his eyes closed around Ophidia. Yes, she was blushing! And not saying anything! Surely this was to devote more effort to capturing him. His emotions were clearly lying to him. Why else would he feel good? With difficulty he suppressed any trace of positive emotions and recoiled, shielding his eyes.

Armando: <I make right the wrong I once did in full, twice, and this is how you repay me? Meaningless flattery in order to control me too?! Am I another Maverick, to be a slave, a servant? Am I but another pawn in your chess game? No, I refuse! I shall have the intelligence Maverick didn't and avert my eyes! Cortez was right.>

He turned his back to Ophidia, distraught at having been so close to a good feeling. No, it was better this way, he assured himself. Ghosts should suffer. He recalled Shield. Yes, every ounce of self denial and suffering was only to preserve his abilities to defeat menaces like those. He certainly didn't regret this. No, sir.

Haina desert entrance

Silversmith: "Oh darn, we couldn't stay longer. Guess I'm just gonna have to be able to fill up my water bottle. I'll pop into the hotel room, you guys need anything? When I get back, where do you wanna go?"

The Prost

Christina: <I'd suggest we head outside. Now.>

"Dang that sure is totally poggers my good bitch"

Haina Hotel

At first, Ophidia looked visibly wounded, and stammered and hissed briefly in confusion and emotional distress before grasping what Armando said. After a moment, she started telling herself it wouldn't work anyway. They were biologically incompatible. They would've made a poor couple. Of course, she wasn't as good at deceiving herself as she would have liked. Just because a couple couldn't have children, or lacked an interest in it, didn't prevent love. She also knew why Armando came to the conclusion he did. Logically, just as she logically knew his conclusion made sense. But it didn't make it hurt any less. 'Am I really that untrustworthy?' she asked herself. She silently turned away, not able to respond, trying to keep her eyes from watering again. 'It's not something for him to get in trouble for. It's a completely understandable response.' She finally admitted to herself 'But being an understandable reaction doesn't make it hurt less.' She made a mental note to defend the ghostly candle when Cortez got back, if she couldn't hide it by then.

Haina Desert

Shadow sighed.

Shadow: We might as well. Let's head back.

Haina Hotel

The group arrives back at the hotel. Shadow sees Ophidia and Armando.

Shadow: Okay, I'll bite. What happened between the two of you? You both seem upset about something.

Heheheh

Hotel adjacent to Haina desert

Cortez, who was deployed at this point, was astounded.

Cortez: <Did you seriously mess up apologizing?>

Armando: <No! I did fantastically! She tried to attract me!>

Cortez, who had long since forgotten about Ophidia's attracting shenanigans, looked at Ophidia.

Cortez: <She doesn't look like she's using attract to me.>

Cortez closed his eyes, just to be sure.

Armando: <See? You agree with me.>

Cortez, eyes closed: <Even if she was, you didn't have to do whatever you did to make her cry!>

Armando: <I didn't do anything!>

Cortez, eyes closed: <Really. Sure. You did nothing.>

Armando: <Ok, I accused her of being a chessmaster. Oh no. So insulting.>

Cortez, eyes closed: <Only you could be even more of a jerk while apologizing than—>

Silversmith had got his long awaited drink of water and interrupted.

Silversmith: "Alright, break it up. What's going on?"

Armando: <Cortez won't shut up about how much of a so called "jerk" I am, when all i'm doing is protecting my free will!>

Silversmith: "Well, you are a douche."

Armando: <What the hell, man?>

Silversmith: "I've had enough. Let's just go. We're in Alola, we can deal with this later. For now, we have fun. Will you be coming with us this time?"

Armando: <Absolutely. *glares at Ophidia* *Stops glaring and stares at floor*>

Silversmith: "Shadow, what do you think? Where shall we go next?"

Edited by arishipshape on Apr 6th 2019 at 9:45:06 AM

Haina Hotel

Ophidia grabs Cortez when Silversmith interrupts. She quietly pulls him away and starts speaking in an almost robotic fashion.

Ophidia: <He tried, he really did. He came to a completely logical conclusion based on what he knew of me. It's absolutely understandable. He believed I was using Attract earlier, so he asked if I simply viewed him as another pawn and- Are you ever going to look me in the eye? Am I really considered so untrusssssssstworthy?!>

Ophidia's eyes started watering. She coughed briefly from embarrassment at hissing, as well as to try and clear her throat and mind. 'They really don't trust me... But why would they? I'm quite literally a manipulative snake, even if I've never outright lied to them. To think not lying was a slight point of pride for me...' She turned away, and noticed her Pokeball sitting on the bed. It was a tempting place of safety right now. In most situations, she wouldn't run from her problems because it didn't work, but right now it was either that or curl up in a ball.

Meanwhile, Shadow managed to drag his attention away from the Pokemon in time to answer a question from Silversmith.

Shadow: Hmm? Oh, how about a beach. We can find a Water Pokemon for you there! At least, I'd assume so. Then we can visit the ice-capped Mt Lanakila! But first, we need to deal with... -gestures at the Pokemon- This. Whatever happened clearly upset them.

Edited by darknessdawn on Apr 6th 2019 at 7:03:33 AM

Heheheh

Hotel adjacent to Haina desert

Cortez was at a loss for words. His better nature took over and he opened his eyes. He patted Ophidia’s head and looked at Silversmith, with a small look of panic. He got himself together and looked Ophidia in the eyes.

Cortez: <...I’ll trust you. What am I doing what am I doing>

Armando did the candle equivalent of a facepalm. But instead of the usual pity he felt when he saw Cortez do something stupid, he felt something else. ...Jealosy? Nooo, it couldn’t be.

Silversmith: “Fine. *sigh* *looks around room in paranoia* ... Where did she get that wreath?”

Haina Hotel

Ophidia locked up at being looked directly in the eye. She blushed shyly at the head pat (something all Snivy line members enjoyed), but remained silent. This time she was the one to break off her gaze. Her normal innate confidence was shattered by the situation. Cortez distrusting her earlier she ignored, considering him beneath her and too dumb to know better anyway. But if Armando was having trust issues too...

Ophidia: <...>

She'd all but gone mute. She hissed briefly to smell, but went utterly silent after. She couldn't even look anyone in the eyes, instead averting her gaze.

Shadow: It looks like something's up with Ophidia in particular. I like the floral lei she has though. It's adorable.

Ophidia went an acute shade of red. She manages to mumble something.

Ophidia: -mumbling- <... Armando gathered them... For his apology...>

Heheheh

Hotel adjacent to Haina desert

Silversmith: "Armando apologized? Run for your lives, the world is ending!"

Armando: <Ha ha.>

Silversmith: "What could possibly have induced you to such desperate measures?"

Armando: <Recall café Sonata.>

Silversmith: "One of my finest hours."

Armando: <Not the grunt fight! When I floated in!>

Silversmith: "Yea, you laughed your... everything off."

Armando: <Yes! And I felt guilty! I wanted to make it up to her!>

Silversmith: "...Care to make up for the comments at Mt moon?"

Armando: <No! You deserved those!>

Cortez, thoroughly surprised Armando actually followed through, chimed in.

Cortez: <Then what happened?>

Armando: <I made her coffee! I composed a soliloquy! I even gathered flowers! And then she tried to attract me! She backstabbed me!>

Silversmith: "...Ophidia, did you try to attract him?"

Armando: <And why are you mad?!>

Cortez, whispering: <Jerk>

Haina Hotel

Ophidia didn't want to lie, but she didn't want to get Armando in trouble either. Her voice lowered more.

Ophidia: <No, I didn't. But from the way he blushed when our eyesssss locked, I can't blame him for thinking I did. He sssssaw how Maverick acted when I used Attract earlier. It'ssss an understandable conclusion, whether correct or not. After all, we're biologically incompatible, we shouldn't find one another appealing, ssssssso...>

What happened? A moment ago she could barely speak, now she can't shut up, AND she was hissing constantly! Why was this getting to her so badly?! She finally clamped her mouth shut, more red than green.

Shadow tilted his head, as did Mischief. Her tail twitched slightly. Then Mischief grins wide.

Mischief: <I think OPHIDIA'S Infatuated, for real though!>

Ophidia looked down. Was that really it? It made no sense. Armando was a Litwick. She was a Snivy. A candle and a snake. It was either laughable or pathetic. But maybe Mischief was right. Her heart pounded so hard she felt she'd explode every time she looked at Armando.

Then Shadow started humming 'You've Got The Ways Of A Woman In Love'. That didn't help any with how Ophidia felt. She went even redder somehow.

Heheheh

We brought the house down, guys D:

Director: Grab the treasure! Lets get out of here!

-Ren runs over to the stage to help carry the giant gold slab-