Motostoke Stadium

Hoops frowns. "Mount Coronet... that's in Sinnoh, right? And sorry, what's a glitch? When did this happen?"

Orre, Brimstone Casino

-Following behind the others is a young woman in what appears to be secretarial attire - heels, black stockings, a pencil skirt that seems a couple of inches too short and a blouse with a couple of buttons too many undone. Her dark hair is done up in a neat bun, there is a prominent beauty mark near her lips, and sharp grey eyes look over the glasses perched on the end of her nose. When she speaks, there is the faintest trace of a [Russian] accent to her voice.-

Sofia Volkova: Yes, you should find reservations for all of us on your list. Unfortunately. As much as I would rather be attending to far more important work, someone has to keep this party in check. Steer them away from any behaviour that might be... unbecoming of them.

-She flashes a glance at Henry before tapping something into her PDA.-

Edited by Herbert40k on Dec 1st 2020 at 1:26:04 PM

Motostoke Stadim

Pirika: <You are correct in that Mt. Coronet is in Sinnoh, as that is where Tamamo-no-Mae and her trainer, a state onmyoji, were assigned. As for what a glitch is... I shall allow Ian to answer that question.>

Me: -nervously- Th-Thank you, Pirika. Anyways... A glitch is an anomalous being, not of the natural Pokémon world. The J-Team has had a fair share of experience in fighting glitches.

Evelyn: That's right. Just last year, Ian and I fought a massive glitch with reality-bending powers, known as "The Fanatic", who was the physical manifestation of fandom toxicity.

Pirika: <As for the battle between the Glitch and the onmyoji and her Ninetales, Tamamo-no-Mae, that was around 400 years ago.>

Edited by AnimeboyIanpower on Dec 1st 2020 at 9:25:41 AM

PEFE HQ Hallways

-Diane flaps away from Dynaman as he's downed, turning in the air to face Neowarrior and the Swarm... just in time for them to swarm at her.-

Diane: <Hrk—!>

-She falters in the air, and though she doesn't completely seize up, the electricity coursing through her does disorient her enough to lose control of her momentum, colliding with the wall again.-

Diane: <...This is— ow— going to make mid-battle banter harder— >

Skye: Oh, motherfucker.

-As the module up ahead starts to dislodge itself, Skye quickly switches back to bird mode, immediately shedding a few metal feathers in an effort to fly easier.-

-(Unfortunately, this isn't VKS, so there's no fancy transformation sequence, though one of the abandoned feathers does conveniently embed itself in a discarded Croagunk Cola can, so she can at least say she fulfilled the product placement.)-

A Pokemon Center in Galar

-It's one of those "Kai can't sleep" nights.-

-The usual fare, really. Memories echoing in her head, seeing the shadows on the wall and doing her best to remind herself that they're just from the furniture. Mostly unsuccessfully.-

-The helmet of Rogue on the table across the room doesn't really help. She just left it there after whatever her costumed escapades were for the day, and promptly forgot about it until she was already half asleep.-

-And now she's not at all asleep and it's getting really frustrating.-

-Groggily, she gets up and trudge over to the table, picking up the helmet and just... staring at it for a moment.-

Kai: ...What a life we've had the past couple years, huh?

-She flicks a switch, and the helmet turns on, Toxicroak-esque eyes glowing yellow behind the screen, emotionless. She sits down with it, looking at it face to face.-

Kai: Now we're both awake.

-After a moment, she sticks a hand inside the helmet, manipulating sensors to haphazardly trigger the mask's expressions, and mumbles as if practicing a ventriloquism act.-

Rogue: It's meeeeeee, Kaiiiiiii. The sum of all your feeeeeeeeears. Treeeeeeeemble.

Kai: Oh nooooo, how could this be?

-She chuckles mirthlessly.-

Kai: You've got me talking to myself now. Clever trick, Yorick.

Rogue: But it is youuuuu who is tricking youuuuuuu.

Kai: ...Heh. Yeah. I end up causing an awful lot of my own problems, don't I?

-She sighs, slumping.-

Kai: And now where are we? You had your little redemption arc, and then you left. And now, you're playing the heel again, eh? Not like we've been particularly viable for the Aurabolts' latest missions, if we can't hope to possibly show our face. You are the costume, I can't just make new ones willy-nilly.

-She holds the helmet Hamlet-style again, pausing as if to consider her words.-

Kai: A mask of many faces thou may be... but wherefore, none of which can breathe and feel? A charming rogue... nay, villain, we call thee. Beyond the glass, what villain lay conceal'd? A villain, chance, who comes to villains' aid, then lo, this villain, heroes' aegis sought? Or... chance, a villain hid 'twixt accolades, to jump from role to role and ne'er be caught? Or chance again, one with a noble heart... and yet hath made two further hearts be still. Yet, two more leave thine cleft in equal parts, so chance, the past left not thine future ill?

-She sighs, setting the helmet down.-

Kai: ...Not dusk, but dawn. Time does not stop, recall... so in the past, my heart should never fall.

-There's a moment of quiet again, with a silent gaze between Kai and the active helmet... before she rests a hand on it to tip it back, imitating a moving jaw.-

Rogue: Watch out, Shakespeare, there's a new bard in Galar.

Kai: Gods, did I really just rattle off a sleep deprived sonnet?

Rogue: You need to do something with yourself, Kai. You need an adventuuuuuuuuuuure.

Kai: ...

-She groans, and flips the switch back off on the helmet before pushing it under the table.-

Kai: Maybe later. Maybe tomorrow. Tomorrow and tomorrow and... okay maybe not that play.

-She sighs, and flops back into bed.-

Edited by BittersweetNSour on Dec 1st 2020 at 12:17:29 PM

Lilycove City Shoreline

Tricky is surprised the glomping, yipping a bit and unable to move. Yeah sure whatever, just get off me please! Tricky begs, still not quite used to this gesture. While she grew to like the S3, she came to saw them as adoptive younger siblings who frequently seemed to be at risk of putting themselves in trouble. Once the S3 got off her and started running around Travis, she immediately took the opportunity to quickly recover and noticed the sand being kicked up by the 3 mons running around him.

"Woah who the—? What do you guys want now?!" Travis asked, having learned to recognize this behavior as an elaborate form of excited begging. As he sat up, he noticed Tricky barking at him while occasionally pointing toward the sand castle. If he actually understood what she was saying, Travis would have heard Tricky say, They want you to help build this sand castle over here. You know they're not going to stop running unless you do.

"That's a neat little sand castle you guys have been making. Is this what you wanted to show me?" He then asks, finally getting up and walking toward the sand castle to examine it up close.

Motostoke Stadium

Hoops holds up a hand to Pirika, in a motion that says to be quiet. "Hang on, Ian, Evs, you've mentioned the J-team before. Is that what they - or, you, I guess - do? Fight those glitch things? More importantly, shouldn't the general public know about glitches? They sound pretty dangerous."

Motostoke

-A Beat and a half goes by as Ian and Evelyn look at each other with concern.-

Me: Well, Hoops... If the general public knew about the glitches that the J-Team has faced, and the glitch that Tamamo-sama's trainer bound to a rock, the most likely response would probably be full-blown panic.

Evelyn: Right. Imagine if you were on the front lines, face-to-face with something you didn't comprehend. How would you react?

Edited by AnimeboyIanpower on Dec 2nd 2020 at 2:50:46 PM

Motostoke Stadium

Hoops hesitates before replying. "Something I couldn't comprehend... if I were facing it down, I would be scared. Terrified, even. So scared that I don't think I would be able to move, if it's as powerful as you say."

They look towards the stadium, then down at Kit. "But, if I've learned one thing to day, it's that I can face my fears. So, in answer to your question, I think I would fight back."

Kit looks at his trainer in surprise before speaking. <Right. I'm scared most of the time, but if it's to save so many people then I would fight as well.>

Outside of Motostoke

(Kim doesn't react; she is still writing down notes.)

Motostoke

Pirika: <What they said.>

Me: Now, why don't you continue the story for them, Pirika?

Pirika: <I most certainly will. Now, the glitch that Lady Tamamo and her trainer were tasked with binding had powerful personal combat powers and was capable of creating smaller, unintelligent copies of itself. However, the most dangerous of this glitch's powers is the ability to assimilate innocent people. Meaning, it could use its powers to possess people and make them, against their will, carry out its plan to drown the world in darkness.>

Motostoke Stadium

<That's horrible> Kit says.

"It is," Hoops agrees. "But I assume it didn't succeed?"

Motostoke

Pirika: <Well... about that... For 400 years, give or take, the glitch had slept, remaining bound to the stone near Mt. Coronet. However, just last year, around June, the bindings left by Lady Tamamo's trainer weakened to a point where the glitch could escape. The glitch can take on several forms, but it currently manifests in a form similar to a Mismagius.>

Evelyn: Mismagius?

-Evelyn checks her Pokédex-

Evelyn's Pokédex: Mismagius, the Magical Pokémon, and the evolved form of Misdreavus. A Ghost type. It can appear from out of nowhere and its cries sound like magical incantations. Some of the spells Mismagius casts can cause awful headaches or terrifying visions that torment others, while other spells are helpful. Mismagius have been known to cast spells to make people fall in love, so some people search for this Pokémon as if their life depended on it.

Pirika: <This glitch has taken for itself the name "Seimei", though Lady Tamamo refers to this glitch as "Yamata-no-Orochi", due to its preference of a more serpentine form.>

Me: What Pirika means is that this glitch is currently on the loose somewhere in the world, plotting to drown the world in darkness and get rid of Tamamo-no-Mae.

Outside of Motostoke Gym

Kim: (still taking down notes) "Oh dear."

Motostoke Stadium

Hoops' face goes pale. "That... sounds like a problem. Like a serious problem."

<Why are you telling us about this?> Kit adds.

Motostoke

Pirika: <Simple, because...>

-Ian quickly interrupts Pirika by making random, unintelligible noises and faceplanting all over the place. Piku-chan facepalms in response to seeing this.-

Piku-chan: -painfully- <It almost hurts to watch, and yet I cannot look away...>

Outside of Motostoke Stadium

(Kim and Geddy instantly notice this, with the former looking up from her notes.)

Kim: "Ian...?"

Geddy: <Are you alright...?!>

Motostoke

Me: -sigh- I didn't want you to have to find this out...

-Ian faceplants.-

Me: -muffled- Tell them, Pirika...

Pirika: -trying not to laugh after Ian made himself look like an idiot- <If you insist...>

Outside of Motostoke Stadium

Kim: "Well. This just got interesting."

Geddy: <Oh? W-what is it? I hope it's not anything bad...>

Motostoke Stadium

"Ian, I realise it might be hard for you to say, and I understand if you don't want to tell us, but you really need to tell us what this is because it sounds important," Hoops says, forgetting how to people.

<Has this happened before?> Kit asks Evelyn.

Motostoke

Evelyn: -to Hoops and Kit- Now that you mention, there was that ONE time back in Slumbering Weald, around the time we met, that Ian got all flustered... But I don't think it was ever anything quite like this...

Hatty: <Kim, remember the time you met that Shiny Metang?>

Motostoke Stadium

Hoops strokes their chin thoughtfully. "I don't think I remember that. Wait, was that when I was a Magikarp? I don't remember a lot from that time."

<You were a Magikarp?> Kit asks.

Hoops pauses as though embarrassed before replying. "Yes."

Outside of Motostoke Stadium

Kim: "Yes, I do remember meeting them— her. Her, sorry. I automatically associate any genderless Pokemon with they/them pronouns."

Motostoke Stadium

Hatty: <That Shiny Metang turned out to have been a girl named Eva.>

Evelyn: Yeah... She did. Did you hear her say anything before Ian got all flustered?

Outside of Motostoke

Kim: "I... honestly do not remember much."

Motostoke

Pirika: <As for why I'm telling you all this, it's simple. The glitches that "Yamata-no-Orochi"/"Seimei" produces, as Lady Tamamo learned the hard way, enjoy leaving their hosts to die if one uses weapons on them. However, anything based on aura seems to be anathema to them, and makes them unable to leave their 'hosts.' So, to fight the glitch monsters, Lady Tamamo had gathered a small group of trainers and given them the task of fighting the forces of darkness for justice and love.>

Edited by AnimeboyIanpower on Dec 2nd 2020 at 6:49:53 AM