-Corrin blinks, and smiles brightly at seeing Luciana.-

Corrin: Hello! I should have known you would be involved with this!

Tsukiko: -looking at Zeke- <Oh wow, poor guy. Think he'll be okay?>

Geo Soc Wrap Party

Once the awkwardness started to dissipate, Tommy started speaking again.

Tommy: You two still have a few rough patches.

Shutter: Kind of an underestimation there, Mr. Positive.

Galen: Look [Pleasantville], I appreciate the offer and all but if it had to come to that, I'd rather be homeless.

Tommy: Let's just move this forward. Gavin, give him the box.

Galen: What box?

Shutter: This box.

Shutter hands his little brother a nondescript box.

Galen: I don't follow.

Shutter: Open it.

Galen: Is this some sort of revenge prank for the time I sent Abby to spray your backpack with an absurd amount of pollen.

Tommy: If it was, I would be giving you the box.

Galen opens it. inside was an even smaller box with a removable transparent plastic cover. It was an early 2000s Gligarman action figure. From the looks of it, it almost looks new. His eyes glowed in disbelief.

Shutter: I tried looking for the exact same toy you had, but apparently, even Mr. Parker from the Johto office said they no longer made that.

Galen saw one telltale mark. It was a few scribbles he left on the foot... or so it seems

Galen: But... but how did you—

Shutter: It's your old one.

Galen: But I left that one at ho— how?

Shutter: I had grandpa swipe it when you weren't looking and then I sent it to a professional collectibles restorer. I mean, you and grandpa had 'im patched up good, but I figured that it could be even better.

Aurabolts Meeting Room

Taipan: Yeah, Murphy, that's like several orders of magnitude of cringe. Just like that one Business Outsider article about teen slang.

Murphy: You never let me do anything fun.

Taipan: I let you play Fortnite on the Switch in my bedroom!

Murphy: Eh, all I managed to beat was this Kalosian teenager and this one moody Orange Islands guy who didn't even appreciate my reproduction of Lycanrow Castle.

Taipan: Murphy.

Murphy: That isn't very cash money of you.

Taipan: You've been reading the Best Berry website again, haven't you?

Murphy: Well, you told me to see what Henry had been up to—

Geo Soc Offices, A Week Ago

Penelope: Thank you. Please wait here for a few minutes and our interviewer will be right with you. We have plenty of back issues, free access to our website and [YouTube] channel.

Magical Girl Recruitment Posters

The poster has an address in Jubilife, along with "inquire within."

Jubilife City

Luciana: "I wasn't really intending to do all the recruitment... stuff in the middle of the street yet here we are."

She looks over at Zeke.

Luciana: "Probably. Or you gave him a terminal existential crisis."

She snaps back to Corrin. "Um - involved in what, exactly?"

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

Oblivion Wing

I remain unconvinced but I guess we can take the intended route...

-She shrugs and half-manifests a knife for a moment before dispelling it-

So, newbie, actual powers or just tech?

It's clearly a case of backroom political albumizing.

The GM House

-Deziree yawns as she sets down her tools. She gets up, stretching her back. She heads out into the hallway.-

-Ludmilla and her new Shinx go barreling down the hallway, at max speed. Deziree ducks back into her workshop as they go past.-

-Deziree continues on to the kitchen, grabs a muffin, and heads onto the porch to watch the sun set.-

-She sits down on a hammock Dune put up a while back.-

-She takes a bite of the muffin as she starts to smell something.-

Deziree: ... Ozone?

---

-Cun Annwn perks his head up. He sniffs.-

-Lightning air. Ozone, yeah, that's what Galvani called it.-

-He pads over to the workshop. What is she working on?-

-The workshop is empty. The smell isn't coming from there.-

-Then where is it coming from?-

-The hairs on his hackles raise up.-

-Something is wrong.-

-Cun bolts to the front door.-

---

[01001001 01100100 01100101 01101110 01110100 01101001 01100110 01111001 01101001 01101110 01100111]

[01001001 01100100 01100101 01101110 01110100 01101001 01100110 01111001 01101001 01101110 01100111]

[01001000 01010101 01001110 01010100 01000101 01010010 00100000 01010101 01001110 01001001 01010100 00100000 01010011 01010100 01000001 01001110 01000100 01000010 01011001]

...

[01010100 01000001 01010010 01000111 01000101 01010100 00100000 01000011 01001111 01001110 01000110 01001001 01010010 01001101 01000101 01000100]

---

-Deziree notices an odd shimmer in the sunset. It was cool today - why would there be heat distortion in front of just that part of the sun?-

---

[01000010 01000101 01000111 01001001 01001110 00100000 01010100 01000001 01010010 01000111 01000101 01010100 00100000 01000011 01001111 01001100 01001100 01000101 01000011 01010100 01001001 01001111 01001110]

-A shimmer passes by as a massive shimmering metal claw grabs Deziree by the waste.-

-Just as quickly, a massive ball of fur and protective instincts slams into the side of the cloaked robot, sending it tumbling.-

[01010100 01001000 01010010 01000101 01000001 01010100 00100000 01000100 01000101 01010100 01000101 01000011 01010100 01000101 01000100]

-Deziree flails in confused terror as the barely visible robot holds its grasp.-

-Cun jumps in time to avoid a swing from a second cloak droid, destroying the hammock. The Stoutland lets out a massive howl, and the entire household comes to life as resting Pokemon are stirred.-

[01010011 01010100 01000101 01000001 01001100 01010100 01001000 00100000 01000011 01001111 01001101 01010000 01010010 01001111 01001101 01001001 01010011 01000101 01000100]

-The first robot tries flying off, but is hit by an Ice Beam from Garuda, who was patrolling the area below the cliff.-

-The second robot finds itself pinned by a massive Arcanine as her and a Lycanroc both hone in on the scent of his optical cloak's ozone field. They swiftly tear it apart without mercy, the cloaking field flickering before dying entirely.-

-The first robot barely dodges a crippling Brave Bird from a shining pink Crobat, weighed down by both his cargo and his partially cooled thrusters.-

-Garuda aims to fire another Ice Beam before a third assailant grabs him and throws him, sending the Sigilyph tumbling.-

-Deziree cries out before the a sudden, familiar feeling overcomes the rallying Pokemon, and the robot, with Deziree in tow, disappears into a wormhole.-

-The wormhole, and the accompanying discomfort, disappear just as quickly.-

-A whole new level of discomfort overtakes the garrison of Pokemon as they realize just what happened...-

-And just who they have to explain the whole situation to.-

Stormchaser

"Hm......." Daydre puts her hand on her chin.

Jubilife

And now she's here! ...With the help of Sylvie, granted, but she's here. She knocks on the door(?).

... I think this is the right place.

off the shits

Stormchaser-Much Earlier

Lita was milling about. She may be approached.

Edited by PhilosopherStones on Jun 12th 2019 at 5:27:05 AM

GIVE ME YOUR FACE

Corrin: The magical girl thing! Tamamo's daughter found me and asked me to join!

Tsukiko: <I have a name you know!>

-She flicks her tails.-

Wing - Conference Room

-Phantom doesn't reply to Olivia and instead slouches forward in his seat, head on the table.-

Spectre: *to Olivia* <You. I like you.>

"Dang that sure is totally poggers my good bitch"

The GM House

Dune: ...

-Dune sits on the stool, his hands clasped in front of his face.-

-You could cut the tension in the room with a knife.-

-Twitch and Vinegar, who had been scrapyard diving, are particularly somber. Though the fact that their boss is gone and the boss's husband looks like he's gonna grab a rifle and head up to the top of a book repository makes that understandable.-

Dune: ... What can you tell me about the wreckage.-

-Vinegar nudges Twitch. Twitch nudges back and Vinegar ups it to punching her in the shoulder. Twitch gives up, rubbing her arm.-

Twitch: Well, uh, it's... it's not standard design. Can't even ID the metal it's made out of. It looks like bronze, but it's so high up on the Moh's scale that I don't have anything to compare it to, and the internal component are... bizarre. From what we can tell left over after Ludmilla's dogs tore the thing apart, it uses a combination of clockwork and incredibly intricate crystalline circuit boards.

-Dune's nostrils flair.-

Dune: Alakagross tech.

-Twitch and Vinegar look at each other.-

Twitch: You, uh, would know more about that then us.

Dune: ... And there's someone else who knows more than I would.

-Dune stands up and stomps off.-

---

-Mobius sits quietly in the lab. He didn't need to be psychic, let alone have eight brains, to know what was coming.-

-Dune slams the door open so hard one of the hinges flies off.-

Dune: You know where these robots came from.

Mobius: ... Yes. I do.

Dune: Where?

-Mobius is quiet for a time, as the tension in Dune's neck muscles tightens by the second.-

Mobius: From the place of one of my greatest shames.

Dune: Where?

-Dune's tone was considerably more flat as his eye twitches.-

Mobius: A place known as the Walking Mountain. Please, sit. This will take some time to explain, and you do not want to walk into this war uninformed, and do not doubt, what this was, is a declaration of war. One that I would ask you to not turn down even if you were not so personally invested.

Jubilife City

Floette: Look at you... You got here fast...

Me: I've been learning my way through Ersatz Alliance...

Piku-chan: -finishes my sentence- <...as difficult as that may be...>

Floette: <Well, aren't you two the little go-getter team? Come now... I know this place that you're gonna LOVE!>

-Floette flies off-

-Piku-chan and I follow Floette-

Floette: <First time in Jubilife?>

Me: Yeah, actually...

Floette: <I can tell... You were looking around, almost mesmerized by the pretty lights...>

Me: Yeah... Ha ha...

Floette: <Well, here we are...>

-Floette stops and in front of us is a Night Club at the exact address that Floette had given us-

Me: When you said we were gonna love this place, you weren't kidding...

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

Jubilife, Streets

Luciana stops.

She pulls out her phone.

She gives Corrin a customer service smile.

Luciana: "Well then! Welcome aboard!"

Her expression returns to neutral.

"Well, uh, I suppose follow me? We can get things worked out... not in the middle of the street."

She goes and pokes Zeke.

Zeke: "Wh- where - what - oh. It's just you, my fated rival."

Luciana: "We're going."

Zeke: "Aha!"

Jubilife, Night Club.

The woman in the dark purple suit opens the door.

???: "Yes?"

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

Jubilife

"Oh, uh, hi there. I'm here about the help wanted thing? The one with the picture of the fox lady on it?"

off the shits

Aurabolts Conference Room of Minimalist Style and Substance

Taipan, to Baba Yaga: My name's Taipan. Pleased to meet your acquaintance. This peculiar porygon is Murphy, though why he hasn't taken a superhero name is beyond me. I mean, if Dr. Tagg finds out—

Murphy: Find out what? That you've been slacking off your accountant duties to fight crime?

Taipan: I do not slack off my accounting duties. PEFE is still solvent and I do have a staff under me. Plus, someone's got to catalog this stuff after the raid's done.

Geo Soc Wrap Party

Galen: You fixed Gligarman. I don't know what to say.

Edward, inside Shutter: <Now this is more like it. It was a good thing the real Gligarman himself referred us to that artisan. Your past evils have been atoned.>

Shutter's mind: <He's still annoying.>

Edited by MasterJayAM on Jun 12th 2019 at 10:34:41 PM

Jubilife, Outside the Nightclub

-I look over and see that I am not alone-

Me: -whispers to Floette- Looks like I'm not alone...

Floette: -whispers back- Of course you're not the only one... We need all the help we can get to fight evil and protect this world...

Me: -whispers to Floette- So who's the lady in the suit?

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

Jubilife City

-Lucius shrugs at Luciana.-

Lucius: Okay, that's fair, but... still. I know it's more art than science, but you've got to be careful when you're summoning people.

-He follows behind her.-

Oblivion Wing, Council Room

-Gaia sighs at Murphy's remarks and slumps forward, her visor hitting the table with a dull clonk, but she immediately sits back up at the mention of Henry, Best Berry and PEFE.-

Gaia: Perhaps we shouldn't be bandying about those particular names at this particular moment? We have a job to do, and if you really want this business to remain under the table, then announcing it to all and sundry seems rather counterproductive.

Edited by Herbert40k on Jun 12th 2019 at 2:24:36 PM

Trans rights are human rights. JK Rowling preaches hate. If you sit at a table with five bigots and say nothing, there are now six bigots.

"To get us back on track," Jackal commented, "We'll be arriving at level 10 and jumping out, the situation is so unusual I find myself unable to focus on our typical methods. Keep your teams ready, weapons drawn, and we'll move as a team, whatever is there is bound to be twisted so we keep together."

Fox grinned, "Sounds like fun."

"We'll be arriving shortly, any other questions while we have time?" Jackal asked.

Jubilife, Nightclub

???: "Follow me."

Her eyes dart to Ian.

"I am Lady Tamamo's assistant."

She gives a small wave to indicate the two should follow her, and walks back into the building.

Oblivion Wing

Skadi: "No questions."

Edited by Izshta on Jun 12th 2019 at 6:00:18 AM

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

Jubilife Nightclub

Daydre follows.

Am I old enough to go to nightclubs?.. Probably not, but it's not like I'm coming here to drink right?

off the shits

???

-Deziree shouts and kicks the robot the whole way through the wormhole, her indignant rage overcoming her scientific wonder at the mysteries of the dimensional doorway.-

-The robot, for it's part, drops the cloak as soon as it's into the portal, showing intricately filigreed bronze-like metal, a lean torso, two massive clawed arms, a trio of thruster modules on the bottom, and a three-eyed headpiece with a sloping metal covering over it similar to a roller blade racer's helmet.-

-It makes no comment as Deziree continues to attack it's outer frame to little avail.-

Deziree: IF I COULD REACH MY SWORD I'D CUT YOU IN HALF YOU STUPID PIECE OF JUNK! LET ME GO THIS INSTANT!

-The robot ignores the commands as the three optical sensors focus on a single point ahead.-

Deziree: I WILL SLICE YOU UP! I'LL TURN YOU INTO SLAG!

-The robot leaves portal, and signals to the Central Unit that it has arrived at destination with the target.-

Deziree: I SAID STOP!

-The robot, despite itself, comes to a stop.-

Deziree: LET ME GO!

-The robot lets Deziree go.-

-This causes Deziree to start plummeting downwards towards the ground below.-

Deziree: WAIT WHAT?!

-A passing bucket catches Deziree, and she lets out a low groan as she pulls herself up and looks around.-

-And oh boy is there a lot to look at.-

-A massive chamber - maybe a cavern - covered entirely in carved-out buildings and facilities, in every direction. A massive pillar, intricately carved with what appear to be macro-scale circuit boards, towers through the middle of the massive cavern. A blue, almost LED light pulses from the halfway point of the pillar outward, filling the entire chamber with some facsimile of daylight. It's not that Deziree notices that the chamber is far more tall than it is wide, as her eyes follow the paths of wired trams and buckets carrying supplies and material from one side to the other, one of which she is riding inside of at that very moment, and then she notices them.-

-Magnemites. Dozens. Hundreds. Thousands. Everywhere. Flying through windows and between scaffolding. And on the walkways, Lairon carrying loads of boxes and crates, all metal of course. That's another realization - the entire city is made of inorganic material. That's what it is - a city, inside a massive cavern of some kind. Active and working. A steam pipe nearby releases pressure, the bucket line jerking but continuing on it's way. A Pawniard runs by a nearby walkway in a panic, carrying a satchel that clanks with the sound of heavy metal or stone plates.-

-Deziree ducks inside of the bucket to avoid being spotted. Seeing a human would not be a good thing in a city filled with nothing but Pokemon.-

-Then she realizes that she, too, is a Pokemon.-

*BZZZZZZZZZAP!*

-Galvani the Magnezone floats out of the bucket, trying to fly as casually as she can while also taking in as much of the steam foundries, tram crossways, and practical but artful architecture as she could.-

-She also noticed that, for some reason, none of the Magnemite flew anywhere around the pulsing artificial sun pillar in the center.-

-A voice shocks her out of her reverie. She blinks back to the present.-

Magnemite A: <IT'S A RULER!>

-A what?-

-A ruler? Like a yardstick?-

Magnemite B: <EVERYONE BOW! WE ARE NOT WORTHY!>

-Galvani looks over and, to her shock, the entire smelting workshop she was flying near - from the Lairon and Aron workers to what she could only assume were Magnemite artisans - had their faces firmly planted to the floor. The outcry of "A RULER!" was passed along the nearby catwalks to other parts of the complex and soon Pokemon on five floors up, five floors down, and five hundred meters across were bowing to her presence.-

-Galvani's brain slipped the clutch a little, and after a quick moment of absolute shock just had one thing to say.-

Galvani: <At ease.>

-The Magnemite and Aron all looked around in confusion.-

-Galvani, sensing keenly the awkwardness of the moment, just nods and continues on her way, leaving the poor Steel-Types to parse just what they were told.-

-Unfortunately, an entire sector ceasing production happens to be just a big enough problem for a trio of floating triclops robots to investigate.-

-One comes up behind Galvani while stealthed and proceeds to ring her bell so hard the nearby Magnemite all flinch.-

[01010100 01000001 01010010 01000111 01000101 01010100 00100000 01010010 01000101 01000001 01000011 01010001 01010101 01001001 01010010 01000101 01000100]

Oblivion Wing

-Nightingale's visor flashes red at the terrible opsec-

Please stop giving the currently unproven potential ally all of your personal information.

-She changes the eyes to white circles and gets up from the meeting table-

I'm going to go meditate before we arrive.

Stormchaser

-Someone has taped a printout of the Kyubey "contract?" reaction image to the side of the poster-

-Pent is probably still around, but wondering two things:-

-1. Where's his phone and wallet?-

-2. Who put that meme up?-

Jubilife

-Pent has turned up-

-He's been using his phone to find the destination from the poster-

It's clearly a case of backroom political albumizing.

Outskirts of Orre, Small Town

A burly man walked into a room at an inn. A man in a black duster was there, sorting through various objects on a bed.

"So, y'know this stuff is gonna cut into your final paycheck, yeah? We hired you to protect the town while the sheriff was gone."

The man was inspecting a shotgun.

???:"Trust me, this will be worth it. You got those other things I asked for?"

The man handed him a Hello Skitty fannypack.

"This was...all I could find."

???:"...that's perfect. Thank you. The other thing?"

A long, tube-like object under a sheet was produced. The mystery man looked underneath it and smiled.

???: "Surprised you have one of these. This one was actually used in the [Vietnam] War?"

The burly man nodded. Satisfied the mystery man started gearing up.

GIVE ME YOUR FACE

Corrin: Understandable! Lead the way!

-Rogue taps at the table impatiently.-

Rogue: Yeah, no, I'm gonna have to agree, this is not the opsec I was hoping for when I joined this group myself. Things to work on, I guess.

Jubilife, Outside the Nightclub

-Ian follows Mrs. Tamamo's assistant into the Nightclub-

Me: -whispers to Floette- Mrs. Tamamo?

Floette: Yep. My employer.

Fox's Wedding

-Piku-chan and I look around as we step through the doors into the night club-

Me: Wow!

Floette: You like? Mrs. Tamamo runs this place.

me: Cool. I wonder... will we get to meet her?

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

Wing - Council Room

Vulpecula: "Why do you think I'm wearing the helmet and running the voice modulator?"

Phantom: "Wait, you got a voice modulator?"

"Dang that sure is totally poggers my good bitch"