Dr. Grant looked over at the new being... only to be distracted by Travis suddenly vanishing. "The fu-"

The lab exploded.

"Aaaah," a voice whispered in Travis's ear. "I'm... sorry for the fAct that you've been pulled herE. But... I need you to wait for the time being. Things are changing."

It let out a soft scoff, a pair of glowing green eyes appeared before Travis. "Don't worry, you'll be out... eventually."

Silas blinked and opened his eyes, he felt nauseous. Hacks was still here, that's good. "You alive?"

~Unfortunately. Arceus my head hurts!~

"Yeah I feel you there... Maggie you okay?"

He stood up and looked over himself, back in his trusty mando armor, the test chamber a broken mess. Was that real? Did he really just... experience the life of an alternate him?

Hearthome PMC

-Kai giggles, and kisses Brie, before a thoughtful expression crosses their face.-

Kai: Hey, we've never had a proper Pokemon battle before, just the two of us, have we? It's always been us teaming up against something else. Spectrum's personal quest aside, we should change that, shouldn't we? Especially if you're planning on taking on the League.

Hearthome Contest Hall Exterior

-Dew makes a somewhat befuddled face at DARKNESS💀DEVIL's choice of names for what seem like a perfectly standard Double Kick. Unfortunately for her, it's distracting enough that she does get struck by the attack, sending her staggering.-

Dew: <Gah!>

Alyssa: Don't let it get you down! Our fight for justice can't be halted so easily! Let your blade strike—

Dew: <You better not be about to give my attacks some sort of ridiculous name.>

Alyssa: ...uh, Aqua Jet.

-Dew sweeps around Pungiglione, seamitar surging with water, and gives a series of quick jabs before making a quick retreat.-

Jubilife Hall

"Are illusions legal?"

"Only if they're from your Pokemon. Sorry, sir," the receptionist said, looking up at Kendall as he handed in the form.

He sighed. "Figures." He shook his head, turning around. "Gonna have to figure out what seals work for the routine." he sighed, leaning against the wall, reaching to adjust the jacket he wasn't wearing and cursing under his breath.

Kanto Route 8

Kendall and Kamui begrudgingly follow, with no other leads and a question of what a Torkoal is doing in Kanto only crossing their minds for a moment.

???

...nice…?

I mean, yeah! I'm totally nice! I'm the nicest! And sweetest!

-acrid smoke pours from her ears-

-aloud- ~I am a proficient gaslighter, moonlighting gatekeeper, and the last time a boy called me a "girlboss" I ate his brain.~

-it ceases-

-tentative- ~"Stepping out with you" is proving the highlight of my d—that actually is one of the more comforting things I've been told.~

-no smoke-

~I mean, as far as I can remember.~''

~I haven't died yet.~

-businesslike- ~Yes, it's excruciating. Supposedly, its metaphysical basis is the role of fire to illuminate—to the point where it's overwhelming. My eyes and ears are practically unusable. Your Dunsparce are being very helpful, hearing you. They're fundamentally honest. Are you not affected?~

-as she patters on, she feeds fairly practiced—if not quite lab-standard—nuggets of transcribed experience steadily to PEFE!Every's mind, leaking veracity-

~Something is pounding between my ears, hmmm, between the frontal and occipital lobes. Banging…like fists…against titanium. The exact sensation. Nothing intrudes on my mind from within—I would know—but there is pressure exerted on it. The distorting power is coming from me, but not directed by my ego. It's disconcerting.~

-despite being on fire, at the request for information, she's assumed a passive posture, hands behind her back-

-musing- ~It's getting brighter, but the pain is waning—it's distinct from the sensation of third-degree burns, at the instant the nerves are destroyed. It's feeding on something other than me. I'm giving this report.~

-it's said one's life flashes before their eyes under the right circumstances-

-this one's put significant effort into this not being the case-

-but with the adrenaline, thoughts come unbound…-

It's    is gay if it's science.   

   You won't.   

~There aren't any real psychological effects, [[evil:I think, aside from those incited normally by being on fire. It does seem to be localized primarily around my head, and my…hands.~

-the locket around her neck dangles, shine reflecting off it-

Hammerlocke Stadium

Grohl: <Simple! You use your braids to swing me towards Duraludon, and I'll hit him with a Thunder Punch!>

Wyndon Stadium (vs. Hoops)

(Kim grimaces, realizing that Jas knows Dig— and then spies an opportunity.)

Kim: "Grohl! Hit her with a Shock Wave!"

(Grohl is knocked backwards from the Dig attack, but manages to get back up onto his feet.)

Grohl: <R-right!>

(He promptly releases a blue burst of electricity from his body towards Jas.)

Turffield Stadium Stands

Ananpi: <I-is that even legal, chuu~?> ^note  Of course it is! Anything can happen on the battlefield, chuu~! (beat) <Yeah, I guess it is~!>

Ingrid: "...you guess it's what?"

Ananpi: <Legal.>

Circhester Schoolkid Hunting Trip

(Oliver's eyes eventually close, and he falls asleep.)

Maggie, still in the HEV suit, shakes er head.

Maggie: "Whew... okay, That was something... Yeah, I'm okay... Where's Travis?"

Scouter: <That was a mess! Suppose we'll have that to look forward to if we deal with any more of those! Wish Foudre had given us more of a heads up!>

Jublife, Tagg Zone

Horatio: "...Riiiiiight. Could you at least tell me about these strangers like me?"

Garchomp: <...Now it's stuck in my head.>

Jublife, Mitchell Zone

Jade: Should be... Over this way...

Aros: <It does seem to be rare in this universe...>

Jublife, Contest Zone

Justice: "Oh! Hello! Are you another competitor?"

Kanto Route 8

-The gang comes across a temple with Groudon's face carved into the entrance, as well as several indentations-

-There are various turtle Pokemon and Humans nearby-

Jubilife Contest Hall

The woman in the straw hat seems to recognize Ian. She approaches him.

"You. I have something for you."

Unidentified Location:

"Who the hell are you? What is this place? Were you the one who made all those portals?" Travis would ask, instinctively barraging the mysterious pokemon with a small questionnaire despite the fact it was extremely unlikely any of these questions would actually be answered. Tricky would growl with a strong sense of mistrust toward the stranger, both hoping Travis would give her the order to attack the Beheeyem and also having no idea just how powerful they actually were. Travis would try to turn and face the mysterious mon, only to realize that he was gradually losing the ability to move, and in the distance could have sworn he heard a distant buzzing noise growing louder by the second.

Hammerlocke Stadium, VS Raihan

Hatty: <Good thinking!>

Evelyn: Hatty, use Max Darkness!

Me: Piku-chan, use G-Max Volt Crash!

-Hatty surrounds her braids (and Grohl) in a dark aura of violence and swings them, launching a wave of dark energy in the direction of Raihan's Duraludon, throwing Grohl at them. Piku-chan discharges electrical energy from his body, firing a bolt of lighting into the storm of Dynamax Energy, dropping three lightning bolts on Raihan's Duraludon. The dark wave of energy traps the G-Max Duraludon in a cage of shadows...-

-...which then explodes.-

Wyndon Stadium, VS Hoops

Me: Raru, use Thunderbolt on Jas!

Evelyn: Now!

-Simon turns his whole body to face Grohl and Jas. The momentum of the movement caused Simon's pendulum to begin swaying back and forth. Raru surrounds himself in electrical energy and fires a bolt of lightning at Jas.-

Turffield, Emilie VS Milo

Emilie: Now! Time to show them what you're made of!

-Levy assumes first position, blades at the ready.-

Emilie: Lævateinn! USE GUILLOTINE!

-Levy, upon receiving the order, glares at Milo's Tsareena. The blades on her arms glow crimson, like blood, and become razor-sharp, extending to a great length. She starts a run and then jumps high into the air, putting her blades together in the form of a blood-red crescent moon.-

Emilie: BLOOD MOON DROP!

-Levy then brings the blades down upon Tsareena.-

9999

Circhester, School Hunting Trip

-The violet glow fades from Platinum's eyes as Oliver slips completely under. She then picks the mesmerized Schoolkid up by the scruff of his sun and clouds T-shirt and holds him aloft like a baby Skitty and turns around to face Vana and Radon.-

Platinum: And voila! One hostage, perfectly packaged and hypnotized for your convenience.

-Radon gives Platinum a round of applause, like a henchman^* Radon: Oh no... you did NOT just tell me to hench! applauding a supervillain who just elaborated on their master plan.-

Jubilife Contest Hall

-Ian notices the woman in the straw hat approaching him, wondering what she wants.-

Me: Um, okay? What do you want to show me?

Kanto Route 8

-Ian and Evelyn take note of the statue of Groudon and the turtle club near to it.-

Evelyn and I: Are? Dare da?^* Huh? Who's that Pokémon?

-Ian and Evelyn check their Pokédexes.-

Ian and Evelyn's Pokédexes: Groudon, the Continent Pokémon. A Ground type Legendary Pokémon. Groudon has long been described in mythology as the Pokémon that raised lands and expanded continents. This Pokémon took to sleep after a cataclysmic battle with Kyogre. Given the power of the Red Orb, it can Primal Revert, where it gains the power of Fire.

Edited by AnimeboyIanpower on Mar 11th 2022 at 12:14:22 PM

Mitchell continues to follow in Jade's path. He assumes the girl knows the way to the Pokemon Center, or at least knows what it looks like. At least, that's what he hopes.

As for Gav, he's curious about what Aros just said. <This universe?>, he asked. <As in, you and your Boss are from another one?>

Wyndon Stadium, past

Hoops: Jas, dodge!

Jas is fast, and as time goes on she keeps getting faster. However, outrunning two sources of lightning at once is a different beast altogether, especially as the Shock Wave seems determined to catch her she can't seem to shake it. Things get worse when the Thunderbolt clips her, and she has to quickly pull up before she hits the ground and takes another attack.

Hoops: Shit... use X-Scissor on Simon!

Jas flies as fast as she can towards Simon, covering the distance in a little more time than what is usually necessary to blink. She raises her claws and slashes them across Simon, then flies upwards to allow the Shock Wave that is following her to hit this new target.

School Hunting Trip

Vana sighs.

Vana: Cool, you have your mind slave. Are we going to get on with this, or are you going to make him put on a dress and speak like an Oranguru, or can we get on with the task at hand?

School Hunting Trip

Platinum: Vana, first of all: He is not my "mind slave". My hypnosis is only strong enough to put my victims into a sleeping trance. I cannot do anything beyond that. Second: He is not my "mind slave". He is our hostage. And we will use him to lure out my sister.

School Hunting Trip

Vana: Yeah, I know. Arceus, you can't make jokes without people assuming you're being serious. The point is, can we just get this over with? Let's use this kid as a hostage, and get this family reunion going. Then I'll check through her memories, she decides what she wants to do with her life, and we all go home.

She sighs.

Vana: (muttering) Why couldn't we have just hit someone with a truck?

Hammerlocke Stadium

(And sure enough, Grohl is sent forward, charging up a Thunder Punch— and then he hits the Gigantamax Duraludon in the face with it. By this point, the audience is at the last line of the chorus of "The Pretender".)

Wyndon Stadium (vs. Hoops)

(Grohl looks up and notices the Shock Wave heading towards Simon.)

Grohl: <Simon! Look out!>

(He jumps in front of Simon to shield him, and then releases out another Shock Wave towards Jas.)

Turffield City Stands

Ananpi: <OHHHHHHHHHHH—!!! AND THAT'S A ONE-HIT KNOCKOUT, CHUU~!>

Ingrid: "Well, that was certainly impressive."

Ananpi: <Yep!>

Circhester

(Mito and Uefo immediately gasp in horror upon seeing this, and float forward immediately.)

Mito: <W-what did you do to him?!>

Uefo: Ω♠♫ ■é∞:≈≥:√ →Ω≥: √♠♫... ≈☣≥:√ √é≥:√é é∞:▓☣◙! ■♦∞:♫☣... ^note  I beg of you... don't hurt him! Please...

Kanto Route 8

(Kim and Braker look at each other.)

Kim: "A Groudon...?"

Braker: "Turtle mons...?"

Jubilife Contest Hall

"Dad liked you. He wanted you to have this."

She hands him a Tarot card. It becomes clear that this woman is Lita.

"Odd to see you here. Are you becoming a Coordinator?"

School Hunting Trip

Platinum: Do you want to be known as "Vanadium: Queen of Vehicular Manslaughter"? I didn't think so. Now. If there's anything I know about my sister is that like me, she is a sucker for pretty lights and colors. Radon? You and I have a signal flare to make.

-Platinum surrounds her other hand in a silver psychic light, whereas Radon surrounds his hand in fire. The two Schoolkids approach each other, until Platinum hears Mito and Uefo, and she turns around.-

Platinum: Oh, relax... I won't hurt him. He's too important.

Hammerlocke Stadium, VS Raihan

-The Thunder Punch does a considerable amount of damage to Raihan's Duraludon.-

Raihan: Not bad! Now, Duraludon! Use G-Max Depletion!

-Raihan's Duraludon surrounds itself in a violet swirl of wind and dragon energy which the Alloy Pokémon unleashes on Grohl, Piku-chan and Hatty, creating a Power Point limit for Hatty's Brutal Swing, Piku-chan's Thunderbolt and Grohl's Thunder Punch before draining 2 PP away from those moves.-

Wyndon Stadium, VS Hoops

-Simon is pushed back when he gets hit by Jas' X-Scissor, then he notices the Shock Wave heading his way. Almost on instinct, he raises his hand, blasting the Shock Wave with a Psyshock to redirect it, sending the blast, now dyed pink by the psychic energy of Simon's attack up into the air.-

Turffield Stadium, Emilie VS Milo

-Milo's Tsareena falls to her knees, unconscious.-

Referee: TSAREENA IS UNABLE TO BATTLE!

-Milo calls Tsareena back to her Poké Ball.-

Milo: That was quite impressive, Emilie. I'll give you that!

-Milo prepares his third Poké Ball.-

Milo: Now, let's see you try that against my ELDEGOSS!

-Milo throws the Poké Ball into the air, and from it, in a beam of light, jumps Eldegoss.-

Jubilife City, Contest Hall

-Ian accepts the Tarot Card.-

Me: Well, I'd figure it's worth trying out. Nice to meet you again, Lita.

Hearthome PMC

Brie: That...is true!

...Huh.

That'd be cool to rectify sometime. I'm, uh, not really that great at the whole League battle, one-on-one thing.

???

-PEFE!Every pats Molybdenum's head in a mechanical way-

PEFE!Every: Alright then.

-she smiles slightly-

Oh, I don't think I'm affected. Hiro's my friend, he's unlikely to hurt me.

Anyway...

My guess is it's linked to Hiro's obscuric abilities, then— if your parietal lobe is affected, it suggests to me that the flame is replacing the missing sensation of pain with a self-generated one.

-hmmm hmm-

Well, there will be room to hypothesize at a later date. Let's resolve this for now. This may sting— one, two—

-she snaps her fingers, and Xeno appears-

-while Molybdenum's nerves are deadened, she stabs her with a syringe. No sense wasting perfectly good painlessness-

PEFE!Every: You'll be perfectly fine in a moment.

-as she and Rotary ready and apply essence of Ditto-

Hearthome PMC

-Kai grins-

Kai: Always time to get in practice, then.

-The grin fades slightly.-

Kai: ...though, I've noticed it's getting... harder, to keep to the League's limits. I still manage to keep things copacetic at the Battle Crypt, but... after having to fight for our lives so many times, that urge to do whatever it takes keeps gnawing at me. You know?

Macraul Safehouse

EMPEROR <It is the circle of life! Not morbid at all my sandy compatriot! One day we will all be returned to the dust from whence we came so that we may start anew!>

... There is irony in the fact he's saying this to a revived sandcastle, of all things.

EMPEROR, thankfully, did learn to read during his time with Daydre all those years ago. He squints at the screen a bit before answering.

EMPEROR: <Megan says she is fine and is asking if Daydre is okay!>

He looks over at Daydre, who is presumably some measure of more okay than the last time Megan saw her.

EMPEROR: <... Someone else will have to answer this, as I do not have thumbs!>

<Sylvie, could you->

Sylvie takes the phone wordlessly and starts typing before EMPEROR can finish his thought.

EMPEROR pokes her before she can type anything else out. She looks lightly offended, but sends what she has.

EMPEROR: <Now that I'm thinking about it, how did she send this if her phone is here! How are you even expecting to be able to respond!>

Sylvie: (huffing) <Don't underestimate my power!>

EMPEROR: <And this Seer's Clearing. It's...?>

Morata's Mansion, Leaving

Aislinn gives Thespi a look of one who's not sure what to make of the mon in front of her.

It's not like she's a stranger to narrative structure, or the Hero's Journey, or just general common story tropes, but having it applied to her life feels... wrong, somehow. She's not the hero of this story. Sure she might be on a righteous high from reclaiming her family legacy, but does that make her..? Maybe she should stop thinking about this.

Aislinn: "... Like I said. It's a little too soon for me to be thinking about kids anyway. Somehow I didn't even imagine getting this far..."

Her thoughts, unbidden (or somewhat bidden, I guess), return to Jacqueline.

Aislinn: "I already dragged her into enough of my mess. I'm always worrying her. I guess it'll be good if I don't need to worry her anymore."

Aislinn: "I can't just... choose not to watch over it. I don't want it to fall into the wrong hands. I don't want to destroy it. What if it..."

The lingering air of "what if it's needed?" hangs over her words.

Aislinn: ".. Though I guess I shouldn't hope for that. I shouldn't wish that on anyone."

She bites her thumb.

Aislinn: "What would my life even look like if I? No, thinking about that is pointless."

.. Mostly because the answer is "a lot like Daydre's". J-team aside, what Aislinn assumes of Daydre's life is.. normalcy. Normal for the world they live in, anyway. No need to evade mask hunters. No split between parents, over a legacy too heavy to carry. No death of her mother before her time.

It's not like putting down her burden would just give her those things, though.

Despite what she's said, Aislinn is thinking about it.

She doesn't want to be, but she is.

Ceal and Tripod's abrupt departure shake her out of whatever thoughts she's having.

Aislinn: "..."

She opens the door to the exit.

Edited by Daydre on Mar 7th 2022 at 1:11:30 PM

Outside Morata's Mansion, November 1st, 2021

-Presumably spotting Avery and co unconscious on the ground-

Okay, now that this stuff is mostly taken care of, I can just have Xatu take us from here to the Union Room in no time.

Chiyo: -Looking up to roughly the floor where Ynos' room is- How much can we call this a success?

Well, in terms of our primary objectives we've secured the mask, and also the other more illicit portions of her collection. Unfortunately getting Ynos out has been deferred for now, and a portion of our number was seriously injured when we got separated.

-Sighs before cracking a wry smile-

Though, I did leave Morata a bit of a present for when she checks on her safe.

Kanto Route 8, past

Ann: -Looking at the temple- When did this get here?

Jubilife, past

-To Horatio-

Mainly former Team members like yourself, we've had a number of those over the years.

Jubilife, evening

-Skipping stones across a canal as our mons mill about-

...So where are we going to start searching for Zee and Chloe?

Chiyo: -Also skipping stones- Soon enough. Like I've mentioned before, they both stay on the fringes of society, far more than Abe and I. Zee, last we talked when she just so happened to visit "civilization" I believe she's currently living north of the Battle Zone, off the grid. Admittedly it might've been smarter for me to do the same, but I like cities too much to do that full-time.

And Chloe?

Chiyo: -Sitting with her head on her knees- She's a drifter, constantly moving around like a Whimsicott or Jumpluff sent aloft. It's hard to get a hold of her, both metaphorically and literally. But luckily for us her path's led her to the Sinnoh region from what Abe's been able to figure out.

-Looking up-

We're making ourselves a bigger target by meeting up like this, but if it finally means taking down the School, it's a risk that's worth taking.

-Sitting next to Chiyo-

I've only fought an actual Templar once, and that was with most of the J-Team there Plus we got... interrupted., how soon do you think we have before that Adelinde woman starts targeting us in particular directly?

Chiyo: -Looking up towards the sky- Probably as soon as they find out about us, she's likely chomping at the bit to get another shot at eliminating me.

-Sighs-

Part of me still hopes I can try convincing her otherwise even though logically she's far more invested in the system than our mutual ally is just by virtue of being around longer, so her suddenly deciding to change is extremely unlikely.

-Uncertain-

I don't know, does that seem dumb to you Tagg? I'm sure my Batchmates wouldn't exactly agree with me, even less than they would about our ally or Templars in general.

I'd prefer not to burden you more than I already have...

-Takes a couple seconds before answering-

Well, as you know, some of my friends have been... not exactly the greatest people in the past. Being basically a theocratic despot, trying to turn everyone into tang, serving as an assassin for hire, among others, but they've all become better people than they were when I first met them. So I don't think it's dumb to hope this can be solved without having to maim or put people into the ground. And the stuff I said back in December, that hasn't changed.

Chiyo: -Smiling- Thanks Tagg.

-Suddenly standing up-

We should probably head back to the Center, your partner's probably getting antsy, and it's pretty late.

-Also standing-

Yeah. Guys, we're heading out.

-And so they depart-

Edited by rmctagg09 on Jul 9th 2022 at 4:10:23 AM

Jubilife Contest Hall

"Good. I'm looking forward to trouncing everybody here."

If Ian has a look at the tarot card he'll find out it's Death in Reverse.

"So, what else is new with you?"

Jubilife Contest Hall

-Ian looks semi-nervously at the Inverted Death card. He shows it to Evelyn, who chuckles slightly.-

Evelyn: -telepathically to Ian- ~You got off easy, Ian... The Death card represents change. Be glad you didn't get The Tower in Reverse...~

Me: -telepathically to Evelyn- ~Yeah, that's a yikes.~

Me: -to Lita- Oh, not much. I just caught a Budew on Route 204. Also, just wondering... Did you participate in the Galar Gym Challenge?

Jubilife Contest Hall

"No, I was too busy having this happen to me..."

She raises the brim of her hat little, revealing an eyepatch over her left eye.

"The last two years have been a time."

Jubilife Contest Hall

Me: Yowza! I hope you're okay.

Piku-chan: <On that note, how's Des?>