Hammerlocke (Present)

Evelyn: It may take a few more days for that one to fade, but I assure you, all the other triggers are gone. For instance, "supervillainess."

-Beat-

Evelyn: See? Nothing happened. Now, as for Surtr... All I know is that Surtr was the name of a fire giant in [Norse] Mythology, and apparently, he's running rampant somewhere here in Hammerlocke...

-Beat-

Evelyn: I gotta admit, he's kinda stealthy for a fire giant...

Hammerlocke

"From what I've heard, apparently now he's just a Darmanitan. Probably one the size of a bedroom or something, but still a Darmanitan," Sunny amended.

"And he was never a fire giant - apparently he's some emperor from the same section of the multiverse people like Robin and Roy are from?"

Hammerlocke (Present)

Evelyn: Darmanitan, huh?

-Evelyn telekinetically lifts her Pokédex out of her pocket to check-

Evelyn's Pokédex: Darmanitan, the evolved form of Darumaka. Darmanitan has different forms and species depending on where they are found.

Darmanitan, Normal Standard Form. The Blazing Pokémon, and the Evolved form of Darumaka. A Fire type. Its internal fire burns at 2,500° F, making enough power that it can destroy a dump truck with one punch. When it has little energy left, it will transform into a stone statue and continue to fight using its mind.

Darmanitan, Normal Zen Mode. The Blazing Pokémon, and the Evolved form of Darumaka. A Fire and Psychic type. When wounded, it stops moving. It goes as still as stone to meditate, sharpening its mind and spirit. Through meditation, it calms its raging spirit and hones its psychic powers.

Darmanitan, Standard Galarian Form. The Zen Charm Pokémon, and the Evolved form of Galarian Darumaka. An Ice Type. On days when blizzards blow through, it comes down to where people live. It stashes food in the snowball on its head, taking it home for later. Though it has a gentle disposition, it's also very strong. It will quickly freeze the snowball on its head before going for a headbutt.

Darmanitan, Galarian Zen Mode. The Zen Charm Pokémon, and the Evolved form of Galarian Darumaka. An Ice and Fire Type. Darmanitan takes this form when enraged. Anger has reignited its atrophied flame sac. This Pokémon spews fire everywhere as it rampages indiscriminately. It won't stop spewing flames until its rage has settled, even if its body starts to melt.

Hammerlocke

Colton outstretched a hand to the 'dex, the volume button moving on its own and muting the 'dex.

"Yeah, I know about Darmanitan - I'm from Unova, Eve. D'I gots ta show mah roots by talkin' like dis until da point gets 'cross?" He asked, adopting his Castelian accent.

"I think she was looking it up for her own sake," Delilah clarified.

"... oh. Sorry. But either way, definitely Unovan Darmanitan - Roy was apparently sweating like mad in the elevator down to his chamber, and a Unovan Darmanitan chased them back before they could make a move."

"Honestly, they all just need more manpower," Delilah admitted. "And that's where we come in. But the thing about Surtr is that he can apparently bind people to serve him, so we have to balance manpower with discretion.

"So it's just us two - one able to support from the back, and another able to scout from the shadows."

To prove Sunny's point, a finger tapped on Eve's shoulder. If she turned to look, Colton would be standing behind her and the Unovan in front of her would vanish.

Hammerlocke (Present)

-Evelyn, despite knowing it's a trick, looks anyways.-

Evelyn: Huh? Who's there?

Edited by AnimeboyIanpower on Jun 4th 2020 at 2:33:24 PM

Hammerlocke

"That's the fun thing about illusions. By the time you catch me doing something, I've already done it.

"Yeah, playing with illusions is fun," another Colton added, this one to Eve's left. "Never mind how useful it is for combat.

"Which one's the real one? Good question, he doesn't know either." A third added, opposite the second Colton before all three turned into blackness and melded into one where the first Colton stood.

Turffield, Standing Stone of Water

Zoomer is caught off guard by Fyodor's charging before the command finished and doesn't react in time to dodge the Tackle. He's thrown backwards. He steadies himself with rapid flapping of his little wings.

Will: Hit him back with a Peck.

With a speed indicative of his name, Zoomer leaps forward and Pecks down on Fyodor.

Turffield Stadium, Watching Ian & Evelyn vs Milo

Fuka: Oof.

Suzie: Yeah. It's easy to forget how much a Double-Edge Sunny Day can be.

Fuka: I wonder if Cherrim will resist the Hypnosis.

Turffield Stadium, VS Milo

-Milo's Bellossom gets caught off guard by the intensity of Mothra's Flamethrower. Meanwhile, Milo's Cherrim sees Simon's pendulum and follows it back and forth with her eyes.-

Cherrim: <Ooooohhh... Shiiiiinyyyyy...>

Simon: <That's right, little Cherrim. Focus on the shiny pendulum and relax... Your body feels light as a feather... and your eyelids are getting heavy...>

-Cherrim stands perfectly still, staring intently at Simon's coin, completely mesmerized by its shininess.-

Milo: Gah... Bellossom! Brush it off and use SolarBeam! Cherrim, snap out of it and use S-

-Milo's Cherrim goes starry-eyed as the sunlight reflects off of Simon's coin, then lunges at Simon to grab it.-

Cherrim: <Want!>

Milo: Cherrim, get back here!

-Milo's Cherrim grabs onto Simon's coin, startling Simon greatly.-

Simon: <Gah! L-Let go of it! I need that coin to hunt for d-dreams...>

Cherrim: -holding onto the coin for dear life- <Sparkly coin, shiny coin...>

-Simon tries to shake Cherrim off of the coin, but Cherrim's death-grip on the coin is made apparent.-

-Bellossom brushes off the soot and concentrates on charging up another blast of sunlight.-

Hammerlock (Present)

-Evelyn looks around, and sees that she is surrounded by Coltons. She spins around, trying to find the real one...-

-...only to find herself dizzy as all get-out.-

Edited by AnimeboyIanpower on Jun 4th 2020 at 3:39:03 PM

Turffield, Standing Stone of Water

Zoomer would notice Fyodor still flapping in the air, proud that he had hit him, so, he wass taken just as off guard as zoomer had been before, crashing to the ground from being pecked like that, there, he shook himself, flapping his wings again

Fyodor: <Am still in!>

Alyesha: "Good, back in the fight then, give Zoomer a taste of his own medicien and go for the Peck~!"

Fyodor grinned (as much as you could do with a beak anyway), flapping higher and then trying to peck Zoomer

Hammerlocke

Before Eve can spin herself out, Delilah places a hand on her shoulder. Her eyes glow faintly with Hypnosis, but it's a subdued variant, almost like Yawn in that she just wants to have Eve relax.

"He's just messing with you," she said gently. "Breathe... breathe..."

Edited by AbsentCoder on Jun 4th 2020 at 12:40:09 PM

Hammerlocke

-Evelyn's spinning is stopped and she locks eyes with Delilah, her breathing stabilized, starting to become relaxed, almost sleepy.-

Evelyn: Thanks, I needed that.

Hammerlocke

Delilah closes her eyes and nods, the glow gone when she opens them. "I'm sorry about my trainer, he just likes to screw with people when he gets the chance."

"Yeah, I should have dialed it back, but I think I get the message across. Sorry," he apologized.

Stormchaser, past

Baal: <Madam, she made herself upset, in ways that I am honor-bound not to tell you. Mr. Beckett and I have nothing to do with it.>

A Pub, Wedgehurst, a night before the above exchange

Galen and Tommy are out drinking. It was the first time in a long time that they've managed to meet each other. This was probably Galen's first time drinking.

Galen, kinda red faced: I'm telling you, dude. Just because he goes out of his way to fix a toy he broke doesn't automatically fix everything wrong he did to me as a kid. I mean, I appreciate it and all, and I'm sure it was hard and expensive to do. But I can't even play with it anymore.

Tommy: It is still a step in the right direction.

Galen: It is, don't get me wrong, but that's not gonna fix the lifetime of sibling rivalry that emerged between me and that big bully. He never had to work for anything in his life! Mom and dad showered him with all these expensive toys and gadgets that I had to earn by doing well at school. And he doesn't even appreciate any of them. Every time he gets something, he's weirdly upset like some spoiled brat who didn't get the right toy at Christmas.

Tommy: You are aware that they usually give him stuff when they bail on visiting him, right?

Galen: That's what everyone keeps saying. Cry me a river. If there's anything I could say makes me different from Gavin is that I never needed mom and dad's help for anything. And I am okay with that.

He finishes his beer bottle.

Galen: You sure you don't want one?

Tommy: That's enough drinking for me.

Galen: Look, I'm not as mad at Gavin as I was before. Don't get me wrong. We've gotten along better than we ever did. But don't think for one minute we're going to go all chummy all of a sudden.

Tommy: And that's enough beer for you. Let's go look for a café. Get you sobered up. You can ride Corkie if you want.

Galen: I'll tell you when I've had enough.

Tommy: You've had enough.

Beat.

Tommy: Well, if I'm going to be your surrogate big brother, I might as well start acting like it.

Galen: Yeah. You ever get sick of getting dragged into our family drama like the middle kid we never had? But don't think of it as complaining; you're like the second coolest guy I know and I'd choose you over Gavin any day.

Tommy: I never had biological siblings. Honestly it just feels good to be included.

Galen: Speaking of biological families, shouldn't Gimbal be with you or something?

Tommy: Yeah, she's at the 'Chaser.

After paying, the two stand up. Galen is clearly not capable of moving in a straight line. Tommy called out Corkie and placed the drunk teenager on the gogoat.

[Dubai]

Ma'at enters the computer system at the Forward Fronts office space. She begins to feel her way through the system and search for ways to bypass. Fortunately, one of the employees was dumb enough to fall for her social engineering ploy; she had harvested just enough credentials to get in.

But given how difficult Pokefutures assets were to breach in the first place, this was starting to feel way too easy. She paused, looking out for any security protocol she might need to disable.

Wild Area, Outside Hammerlocke

The blonde slumped down on the ground.

"Oh Arceus. I'm home."

She pulled down one of her sleeves to reveal a device embedded in her arm.

"Stupid temperamental machine. Is the J-Team around?"

Stow-On-Side

Don't worry I'm good at getting peace and quiet where I can find it.

Hammerlocke, Tactics Discussion

Cool. Do you all want me to walk in with you lot? He'll probably try and turn it as a 'haha, watch how your allies betray you' thing but honestly getting him to fall into stereotypes is a good thing, makes him predictable.

-Phone in the pocket, pen behind the ear, red slate... In the back of her shirt, weird-

Actually if you could get him to fall into Typical Villain Patterns, that might be a big advantage for you guys.

Wild Area

Yes. But the fact that you immediately want to talk to them implies there's a problem. People don't just pop into existence and ask to talk to the J-Team if there isn't a problem.

-She quirks an eyebrow at the device-

I'm guessing that's how you got here?

Wild Area

"Oh yeah. This thing. It's called the Fourth Wall Manipulator. Let's you travel through the multiverse. I think it'd be fitting if I spoke to someone from the J-Team. They're experts in these matters."

She picked herself up and dusted herself off.

"Oh, I'm Tesse by the way. You got any food?"

Wild Area

Fourth— Okay that sounds incredibly familiar. Thankfully I do have some curry on the cook and I'm kind of an expert on the multiverse.

-She pops a smile and starts walking back towards camp-

So uh... Where'd ya get that thing? It sounds really nice to have, always wanted to travel like that.

Wild Area

Tesse suddenly stepped right in front of Gale.

"No. Hard no. Trust me. This thing is literally killing me."

She stepped back.

"Sorry. It has a mind of its own so you could wind up anywhere. Curry you said?"

Wild Area

-Gale looks concerned for a few good moments-

Right, yes. Curry's kind of the done thing in Galar. Which is where we are.

-She mutters something about luck under her breath before sighing-

Wild Area

Tesse's stomach growls.

"Sorry I'm a bit hungry. What was your name again?"

Hammerlocke (Present)

Evelyn: That's okay. I'm just wondering, do you think you can teach me how to use illusions?

Wild Area

-Gale takes a seat by the fire and resumes tending to the meal. Maxwell decides not to go back to sparring and instead take a break-

Gale Knight. Actual first-name-last-name, not a 'oh she's a knight and has wind powers we'll call her Gale Knight' thing. I'm not even a knight, unfortunately.

-She carefully portions out a bit of curry in a bowl and hands it over-

So, what's up with the multiverse that you want to talk about?

Hammerlocke, Eve

"Unless you got darkness powahz," Delilah said, pointing to her trainer as his hand lit up with a black flame. "No dice."

Hammerlocke, Surtr Plan

"So he has an ego. Excellent. That pride will send him after a stronger target, at which point we can subdue his troops and then collapse on him," Roy considered.

"... right?"

Hammerlocke, Present

Evelyn: I have Psychic Powers... if that helps?

-Evelyn raises her hand, trying to levitate Colton...-

Wild Area

Tesse scarfed down the food, the tapped her now empty bowl with her spoon.

"More please. You're pretty good, Gale"

She wiped her mouth with her sleeve.

"So, when you travel to other universes you have to pass through this kind of border space. I call it the 'cheese zone' because the multiverse is kind of like a giant block of swiss cheese where the holes are the different universes. Are you with me so far?"