Stormchaser

-Kai immediately retracts their hand.-

Kai: O-oh, ah, sorry. No need to explain, I'll just not do it again.

-hands in pockets-

Kai: Anyway, the point still stands. Both about people looking out for you, and for me talking to the Stormchaser.

In an enshrouded location, a Malamar and Granbull are present.

Malamar: <Hm. He said he'd be here by now...>

Granbull: <Should I go ping him or something, boss? Or try and threaten him?>

Malamar: <Nah, last time you did that he went all 'Slayer of the Fairies' on us. He's sure acting pompous for something that happened years ago at this point.>

Granbull: <...Not sure you're the best person to be making that claim, boss.>

Malamar: <...Hmph. Well I suppose you've got a bit of a mind of your own since everything. Of course, the fact that you stuck around despite that is still welcome.>

Granbull: <Hey, no problem, boss! Least if things go awry I'm here to help make them be->

And around now a Garchomp bursts through the floor.

Garchomp: <Apologies, that took longer than expected.>

He holds up a scroll of paper, stabbed through with his claw.

<But I got it!>

The Malamar squints and retrieves it from the claw, unfurling it and squinting.

Malamar: <...I trust you didn't stab through anywhere important, Finn.>

Finn: <Hey, you know me, Teacher, I'm careful about this stuff.>

Angelica: <Uh... should I turn on the lights or something so you can read, boss?>

Teacher: <No! It'll disrupt the atmosphere!>

Angelica: <But *can* you read like that?>

Teacher: <...>

-to Finn- <You've got better low light vision than me, can you read it?>

Finn: <Already read it, got the supposed location of one half of the sword as expected. Still looking for the second half but should be able to do plenty with this one as is.>

Teacher: <Excellent! My rise to power will come once again!>

Angelica: <And even if this works out like the previous attempts to rise to power, I'm still here with you, boss!>

Teacher: <...I am not sure how to feel about the placement of that but it is nonetheless appreciated, Angelica.>

Angelica beams as Finn smirks at the plan and rubs his claws together.

Edited by CorvusAtrox on Mar 10th 2023 at 8:03:07 AM

Stormchaser, Neodymium's Room

Ever: Hold your fire, I just need to pick up my laptop.

Neodymium: Oh, that? Your password is very weak, I cracked it in ten minutes.

Ever: ...Right. See anything interesting?

Neodymium: Yeah, what's My Little Bli—

Ever: Anyway, how are you adjusting?

Neodymium: ...I'm being held prisoner in a non-Euclidean space. Not that that really means anything. Most spaces are.

Ever: Yeah, yeah. But aside from that. Are you feeling a detachment from the School's motivations and goals yet?

Neodymium: ...Do you know how long the School has been operating? How long we've been the guiding hand of humanity?

Ever: So we're just abandoning the pretense that you're not telling us anything, I see.

Neodymium: We've been operating for millennia and you think we're going to stop because of some wannabe Luddites?

Ever: Huh. That's many times longer than unrelated Technotronic hit Pump Up The Jam has been out.

Ever: Pump up the jam, pump it up

While your feet are stompin'

And the jam is pumpin'

Look ahead, the crowd is jumpin'

Pump it up a little more

Get the party going on the dance floor

See, 'cause that's where the party's at

And you'll find out if you do that

I don't want a place to stay

Get your booty on the floor tonight

Make my day

I don't want a place to stay

Get your booty on the floor—

Ever: But if you study your history, the Luddites weren't arbitrarily opposed to technology. Their concerns were humanitarian— they were worried that new technology would be used to exploit labor. I think the comparison is rather apt, don't you?

Poke Park

Eva: ~I dunno! There's got to be some way for it to interface with their nervous system or something! But then it'd have to work from within water...~

They float around in circles for a bit.

Eva: ~...Or I guess you could be boring and put a steering wheel in the tank, seeing as they'd probably be able to use one with their bandages.~

Floraroma Meadow

Mog: "That was clo-"

Woman: "That was AWESOME!"

Budew: -regaining his composure a bit too quickly- <That was nothing for the great Narcissus!>

Woman:' "And guess what guys?"

-Sends out a Petilil with unusually colored eyes-

"I found a shiny! Almost missed it, Shiny Petilil are kind of subtle... I'm gonna call her Ivy!"

Lilligant: -eyes sparkling- <More humans...>

Mog: "...A what?"

-Chiyo may notice in addition to being Shiny the P Petilil's feet nubs are longer than normal and her leaves are thicker-

School Panichouse

-Charlie takes the Mystical Fire and yelps in response-

Justice: "Quick, get the deep freeze on those plants!"

Charlie: <Time to stop this floral show Sorry Dratinii...>

-Ice Beams a coating of ice on all the plants-

Thieves' Hideout

Flamel: <Hm? You'd think they'dve been added earlier...>

Autumn Mountain

-Near the edge of the lake, those scouting eventually find a large quantity of canned Veluza-

-Atop the cans is an origami Aipom-

Olivia: <Oh, it's a monkey! Hi monkey!>

-The Origami Aipom shrieks and runs off-

<...Must be shy.>

Bobby: <...I think we should follow it.>

Risky's Conspiracy Room

Jade: "...So this is the guy?"

Risky: "One Akira. School assassin.Uses his powers to erasetraces he's ever been at a crime scene. But me and my Pokemon found what little leftovers he leaves of covering up his evidence... At the crime scene of my uncle's murder.

Jade: ...You must have been really determined to find him.

Risky:: "I had to be My uncle... Was the only person in my family who accepted I was trans. I had to avenge his death.

-her voice and face finally start showing some emotion. Sadness-

Jade: "Oh. I'm... So sorry."

Risky: "No need to be sorry. We need to bring this guy to justice... Or else do it ourselves."

Jade: -nods- "Then what do we do right now?"

'Risky: "I found a lead to where he might show up next. Here's the plan..."

-she and Jade start whispering to each other-

Floaroma Meadow

Chiyo: -Looking at Ivy- She looks kinda... funny, and not just because she's shiny.

-To the woman-

But I don't think we ever got your name.

Autumn Mountain, past

Ann: -Confused- Canned Veluza?

-Origami Aipom-

Wait, come back!

-She starts chasing after it-

School wherehouse

Dratini: <Sooooorrryyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!!!>

The Dratini screams and desperately tries to escape its forcibly elongated tail as it freezes over, to no avail. Magnesium looks on regretfully as more branches approach from the doorway. Robin cuts through some frozen over vines.

Robin: ~I can get us out of here if we can get rid of whatever's stopping me from teleporting!~

Asclepius pauses to go yell at Magnesium again. Some of the vines carry a couple vials of something to Magnesium.

Asclepius: Magnesium! Go get your Breloom so we can Spore these guys! Or something out of your "secret" poison stash or something! Stop just standing there!

Magnesium: Sorry... I can't feel with my vines. Can't tell what's what. This isn't the right one...

He passes the vial to a more thorny vine, which wraps itself around a non-frozen end of the Dratini's tail/roots. Within a few seconds, the Dratini stops wailing and slumps on the ground.

Asclepius: Why is noone doing anything about these guys?! Panacea! Shadow Ball! Hygieia! Metal Sound!

The Kingambit makes a metallic scraping noise, continuing to glare at Robin. The Hatterene shoots a blob of obscura at the group. Magnesium sighs and extends another vine to go grab his pokemon. He also sends another vial of something towards Justice.

Magnesium: Use this if you get out of here and they don't wake up after an hour.

Mitchell: What the? Is there a cannery here, too?

Oliver: <Hold that thought, Professor! That suspicious Aipom is fleeing the scene!>

Oliver slides in hot pursuit of the origami Aipom.

Mitchell: Hey, wait for me!

Mitchell follows, grabbing a can of Veluza for posterity.

Breathing in and out to control himself, Mitchell turns to Talbain. <I certainly hope so,> he says, <since things like this will probably keep happening.> He pauses, as something in the back of his mind twitches. <Have we met before?> he asks.

Meanwhile, Christine nods agreeably to Eva's comments. <I'll trust your judgement here,> she says, bowing respectfully. <This magic humans call "technology" is still very mysterious to me.>

Floraroma Meadow

Woman: Oh! I'm Bromelia Vyne, aspiring gym leader! You guys?"

Mog: "...Mog."

School AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA house

Justice: "Uh, okay?"

-Charlie keeps blastin' ice-

Autumn Mountain

-As the gang heads after the Aipom, Bobby suddenly stops and rolls over to a ridge-

Bobby: <Guys! I think I'm about to make a new memory!>

Poké Park

Hoops listens to Eva's discussion of their potential movement. They try to roll their eyes and discover that this is impossible as a Magikarp. <Oh, it got worse.>

Mount Lanakila

The Alolan Sandslash rushes forwards, claws outstretched at the threat. Whitt dodges to the side casually, then steps back as Alolan Ninetails releases a Blizzard attack in his direction.

The Ninetails keeps attacking, creating a storm of ice that envelopes Whitt. Sandslash takes the opportunity to attack and uses Icicle Crash, sending large pieces of ice flying at Whitt. There is the sound of an impact, and the two pokémon look satisfied at one another.

"Sorry." From within the cloud of ice shards, there is a flash of two purple eyes. The mist clears to reveal Whitt, completely unharmed. "But the cold never bothered me anyway."

<Really?> Beira asks.

Sandslash takes a nervous step back, but then charges at Whitt using a powerful Metal Claw attack. Whitt's coat explodes at Horus moves on his back, his swords flying into Whitt's hands. He blocks the attack with one hand, then with the other slashes across Sandslash's chest. The pokémon falls unconscious.

Ninetails growls angrily, and prepares a Moonblast attack. Whitt shakes his head. "Too late. Sorry." Ninetails realises that it is standing in a circle of shadow that wasn't there before, just as Morrigan rises from the ground. A moment later it too is unconscious.

Whitt sighs. "Too easy." He collects the fur from Ninetails, and some of Sandslash's armour, placing them in specimen tubes that Gabriel gave him. "I think that's the entire list for this area. Maybe we should -"

He jumps to the side just in time for the bandages to slam into the snow where he'd been standing moments before. As they retract, he looks onto the rock close to him.

"I've heard of you," he said. "You're the one that fought old Gabey. Imagine the look on his face when he learns I beat you and he didn't."

Hoops looks down on Whitt. Their expression is unreadable, because only their red eyes are visible behind bandages that wrap around their entire face. They retract slightly, revealing the mouth and letting them talk. "You hurt someone I care for," they say. "So now I'll send you to hell."

Floaroma Town, past

Chiyo: I'm Chiyo.

-Smiling-

It's nice to meet you Bromelia.

Autumn Mountain, past

Ann: -Looking over at the ridge- Hopefully it's not the last one...

School dangerhouse

Robin cuts themself free and charges at the Kingambit with a Sacred Sword. Before they can hit it, the Hatterene throws them across the warehouse with Psychic before being KO'd herself by the ice attacks.

Asclepius: Dammit dammit dammit!

He withdraws Panacea and turns to Magnesium.

Asclepius: You got anything useful yet?!

Magnesium: Yes, I think I've found Morel.

Asclepius: Took you long enough. Let's slice these morons into so many pieces even I wouldn't be able to put them back together if I wanted to. Aceso! Give us a hand!

Asclepius sends out a Comfey, who wraps herself around the Kingambit. Magnesium pulls in an odd looking Sawsbuck with contorted antlers that display a mishmash of all four seasonal forms. Asclepius facepalms.

Magnesium: Sorry, wrong one. Hebe, Megahorn... Get rid of the Mr Rime I guess...

Asclepius: You need more enthusiasm! Hygieia, let's skewer that trainer! Iron Head!

The Kingambit charges blade-first towards Justice. The Sawsbuck launches herself towards Chjarlie.

Meanwhile at the templar medbay...

The Spore has worn off, and Templar 1 is rudely awoken by the commotion.

Templar 1: ...What the hell...?

They try and get up to go help but still have that pesky small hole in them which hurts when they move too much.

Templar 1: Dammit...

Instead, they try and reach for their phone.

Templar Safehouse, Orre

-Angelica looks down at her gauntlet. Another safehouse safety alert? Not her concern. She turns it off with a flick of her wrist.-

-Another alert pings. Jeez, what now?-

Dr. Jae-Heon: [Angelica. We have news for you.]

Angelica: It's not another stupid safehouse alert, is it?

Dr. Jae-Heon: [... No. You have a brother.]

Angelica: A brother?

Dr. Jae-Heon: [His name is Argalia. He was designed to compliment your skill set, to... "resonate" with you. With everyone, really.]

Angelica: I'm not sure if I understand.

Dr. Jae-Heon: [Think of him as... the guitarist to your singer. The horse to your cart. A compliment to your skill set in every way.]

Angelica: But the essence of tyranny is to be the one on top, right? Not two?

Dr. Jae-Heon: [Oh, he isn't going to be your equal. He will be your enforcer. Your third and fourth hand, and your second pair of eyes.]

Angelica: Oh... I see, now.

Dr. Jae-Heon: [He will be ready for deployment after his training and conditioning are complete. We will update you when ready.]

Angelica: I'll be waiting eagerly!

-The connection cuts.-

-Angela looks over. One of the Templar Sergeants was within listening distance down the hall.-

Angelica:

-The Templar twitches.-

Sergeant: It... is law...

-Angelica nods to herself, a self-satisfied smile on her face, as she skips back to her room.-

Kaisei keeps his eyes for where the paper Aipom is headed and listens to Bobby.

Kaisei: "Hmm, whatcha got? Anything to do with this Aipom or the canned Veluza?"

Orre, Battle Academy Grounds

Strontium: ~...~

Ama: "..."

The two of them are sitting on a bench somewhere on school grounds. Since there was no enmity between them when Strontium was dropped off, they were allowed to meet again without much difficulty.

Strontium: "Are you... mad at me?"

You could probably cut the tension with shears.

Ama: "What? Why would I be mad at you?"

Strontium: "We've been... sitting in silence for the past ten minutes..."

Ama: "..."

Ama: "I don't really have a rebuttal to that. I'm not mad at you though, don't worry."

Strontium: "Oh... okay..."

Her expression is carefully nonchalant. But she knows she's going to worry anyway.

Strontium: "I've... been getting good grades..?"

Ama: "Huh? Oh no, I don't really care about that. Have you been having fun? The grades are secondary."

Okay that breaks Strontium's facade a little. Good grades are secondary? How could that be?

Ama: "Well, I guess, grades do matter but only as a measure of whether you're learning. You are learning right?"

Strontium: -"I... think... so..?"

Ama: "That's good."

She crosses her arms and looks out into the distance.

Strontium isn't entirely sure how to take that.

Ama: "You're... using your telepathy less?"

Strontium: "It's... harder... but I think the people here... don't like me prodding around in their brains...."

Ama: "Huh. I suppose that's not too surprising."

Strontium: "Mmhmm...."

I would describe the ensuing silence but it would likely be very boring. Instead, here is this video:

https://youtu.be/AEM_J2G2urI

....

.........

You could fill a book with the things Strontium wants to say, or doesn't think she can say, or doesn't know she wants to say. Instead, what she does say is this.

Strontium: "If you... could name me... What would you name me?"

Ama looks taken aback.

Ama: "... Hm. I..."

Several emotions cross her face and mind.

Ama: "I don't know. I guess... I would have to think about it? Is this a time sensitive question?"

Strontium: "No... Just curious."

Strontium: "You don't... Have to answer, if you don't want to..."

Ama: "No, I'll answer. Just... give me a bit, okay?"

Strontium nods.

Mitchell nearly goes over the ridge.

Mitchell: Whoa, nelly, that's too close!

Oliver: -dragging Mitchell back to safety- <Focus, Professor, lest you meet [Humpty Dumpty]'s fate!>

-to Bobby- <A memory? Of what, precisely?>

The Hamlet, The Farmhouse

Mmmmnope, nothing looks different through the jar. Thankfully the only absent door is the elevator, the front door of the building is perfectly visible and physically present.

Thieves Hideout

-Pent shrugs and gets out his own phone to do the necessary adding. Shift, on the other hand, tries to squidge enough to retrieve Susan's phone but is promptly reprimanded-

Susan: Okay, I really should get going before your stand-in here makes a scene.

Glimwood Cabin

-Gale waits until she's fully outside the cabin to answer to her friend's prodding-

Oh I'm going to look up flea markets in cities with defunct railways. Yaknow, see if we can make an 'on-line marketplace' physically rather than having to hope there's an online retailer who will take this thing as trade-in.

-She sets the PC(?) on the porch and gets out her phone. Which is when a certain pre-existing Banette in Gale's orbit decides to make her presence known-

Angela: <Who's the new toy?>

-Gale almost fumbles the phone-

Oh, hey Angie. He's uh... A hopefully temporary visitor, not a new team member. Just gonna turn his luck around and get him his own place.

Angela: <Is he another kid?>

No! Uh. At least I hope not. I think he had a job before he died, theoretically.

Autumn Mountain

-Gale hangs back from the edge, trying to situate herself within the closest shadow within earshot-

You lot really should be careful, that Aipom could be anywhere!

Pokepark

-The Adjustments do a lot to reduce the odor and edge fuzziness and when all's said and done there's a perfectly ordinary Murkow with a singular red eye standing around-

Mystery Bird: <It is a little difficult to get the details down when you can't actually see what needs adjusting. Regardless, am I coming through clear enough?>

Stylus looked the Murkrow over. <I'd say you are, you're clear enough now. Welcome on board.>

Oliver however. <Oh don't worry about it, this is just to get you past the front gates, there are water paths in the park for aquatic mons like you,> he said picking Hoops up and plopping them into the Tank.

Ribbon shook her head and took the lead. <Alrighty~! Enough time wasting, into the park! Allons-y!>

She stepped through the front gates, and lead the party in, the park was (from their currently shortened perspective) gigantic. Pokemon everywhere, as far as the eye could see.

Stylus smiled a bit... and then frowned. <Just hit me that this place would be a fantastic mark for the Hunter's Gui->

<No, none of that. We're on break, no work talk here!> Ribbon said giving him a bit of a slap. Stylus blinked, and then nodded, he let out an exhale and smiled once more.

<Right... Right got distracted.>

Whatever he is, he's not a normal banette for certain. The Pen noted. The way he distorts and bugs about... like he's made of glitch material. Think something talked to him?

The Pen looked in the cabin and saw Spamton sitting on a chair, head slumped, the colourful lenses of his glasses replaced with old TV static.

Actually, think you might want to send a text or something to your friends over this? Or the ?PC? at least, one of them might know something.

The Stormchaser

A woman dressed in a blue uniform is poking around the halls. Given that the Stormchaser isn't turning her around, she doesn't have any ill intent. But when did she get here?

Mount Lanakila, Hoops vs Whitt

Both combatants move at the same time, releasing all of their chosen pokémon from their balls. Hoops has Sno, Sud, Bis, Cof, and Led. In addition to Beira, Morrigan, and Horus, who were already out of their balls, Whitt releases Khione and Ullr.

Immediately, Horus's blades fly into Whitt's hands and he runs at Hoops. Hoops dodges backwards, and Bis intercepts the blades, stopping Whitt in his tracks. Morrigan sinks into the ground, hoping to attack Hoops from behind, but as she enters the shadows she finds Cof there waiting for her, hundreds of black arms outstretched and ready.

<Sorry, but you only visit this domain.>

Khione raises her hands and creates a blizzard that makes it difficult for most of the combatants to see. She aims to make it larger, but she is struck in the chest by an Air Slash from Led, and faces her down.

<That will be your last mistake, insect> she says.

Led huffs. <I've fought tougher.>

Back to Hoops and Whitt, Hoops is fighting in tandem with Bis, attacking with their bandages which Whitt consistently slices away almost as fast as they regrow, then dodging behind Bis whenever Whitt retaliates so that she can deflect Horus's swords. Ullr tries to attack from the side with an Ice Shard, but Sud appears in front of them and knocks them away with Hammer Arm. Ullr retaliates with an Aurora Beam that pushes her into the snow.

Beira tries to jump on Hoops, mouth open. Sno bursts from the snow, arms outstretched. For an instant she glows blue as her body more than doubles in size, then as a fully grown Abomasnow she catches Beira's open mouth and slams her to the ground.

Led struggles to find Khione, as her Snow Cloak makes her hard to find in the Blizzard. She gets hit by a Shadow Ball from behind, then another one from her front. As she's about to be hit by another, Sud is suddenly there taking the hit. This gives her time to use Light Screen, and the next Shadow Ball bounces off harmlessly.

Frustrated, Khione takes her anger out on Bis, using Will O'Wisp to double her over in pain. Whitt uses this opportunity to slash twice at Hoops, missing with the first but slicing their shirt open with the other.

Hoops roars in frustration, and their eyes glow a brighter red. Whitt looks happy at the reaction, before bandages burst from the snow around his legs and ensnare him. He tries to hack away, but Horus holds him back so that he doesn't hurt his own legs.

"Damn it!" Whitt shouts. He reaches into his pocket. "Beira, heads up!" He throws the white object towards Beira, who swallows it. She also begins to glow and grow as she evolves, before catching Sno's Wood Hammer attack in her now giant Cetitan mouth. <Don't you dare> she says in a much deeper voice. She uses Ice Spinner, and slams Sno hard into the side of the mountain.

Whitt finally manages to free himself, and lunges forwards. Bis is there again and she blocks his attack, but Beira tackles her now that she's no longer dealing with Sno, and knocks her down. Just before he reaches Hoops, the snow between them explodes upwards as Cof and Morrigan emerge from the shadows. Cof throws Morrigan's battered body on the ground and looks back at Hoops. <All in a day's work, eh?>

Whitt steps back, breathing heavily. This fight is harder than he thought it'd be, but Hoops hasn't seen everything yet. He just needs to buy himself time.

"You're fighting so hard!" he taunts. "I must have really upset you! What, did you really care that much about that guy?"

Hoops doesn't answer, so Whitt shrugs. "I wonder why you care so much about him. If it was me, and I was stuck babysitting someone that weak, I don't think I could stand it. At the School, if you're weak then you have no place. Maybe that's why you J-Team guys can't do anything to us."

Hoops' mouth opens. Whitt notices with some trepidation as the bandages slide away that the inside of their mouth is beginning to look decayed, with their teeth looking more and more like fangs. "I will tear you limb from limb." They run forwards, a nightmare of bandages.

Whitt grins. "Morrigan!" he takes the crystal that he obtained a few months ago. "Mega Evolve!"

Hoops stops in their tracks. "What?"

Lines of energy connect Whitt and Morrigan. She is enveloped in a rainbow cocoon, and emerges as her more powerful Mega Banette form.

"We have things like this at the School," Whitt taunts. "Now, come here and let me crush you!"

With a series of screams, the brawl resumes.

Battle Academy, Time-Lock

Angela: ... I understand the position to use a device outside of your understanding so long as it benefits your ultimate, long-term goal, but the possibility that the device itself has been influenced by an outside force should never be discounted.

-Binah glances at Angela over her shoulder.-

Bong-Bong: Ma'am. You did not know.

-Angela holds up a hand.-

Angela: I am not the topic of conversation at the moment. I am merely sharing my experience.

-Bong-Bong bows his head.-

Stormchaser

That woman is here once again. She's scavenged some supplies from various conveniently placed closets and set up a stand. She seems to be selling... items. Not items you'd find in a store nowadays— things like dark jars of liquid and little blue pouches marked with kinda scribbly looking smiley faces and herbal remedies wrapped in paper.

???: "Might as well, since I'm stuck here."

She says to herself.

???: "Gotta make the most of things while I'm.. lost, I guess."

???: "Wonder why this place feels so familiar."

She ponders the ceiling through her Hisuian Zoroark mask, then adjusts her apron.

???: "Well, I'm not gonna worry about it! Gotta... think positive!"

.... She says to no one in particular.

Mount Lanakila, Hoops vs Whitt

Mega-Morrigan quickly proves to be far stronger than her base form. Her Shadow Claw attacks knock both Sud and Bis aside in moments, and she comes at Hoops. Led hits her from above with an Air Slash that makes her retreat briefly, but then Whit takes her place in the attack. Horus begins to use Fury Cutter as he swings wildly, cutting through several of Hoops' bandages.

<Hoops!> Led yells.

"I'm okay!" Hoops assures her. "They'll regrow." Indeed, it takes just a few seconds before they have the same number of bandages as before. They use them to grab Ullr and attempt to slam them into the mountainside, but Ullr flash-freezes them and they shatter.

Sno slams his fist into the mountain and uses Avalanche. Chunks of rock and snow dislodge from the mountain and barrel towards Whitt and Morrigan. Whitt braces himself, but Beira gets in the way and acts as a shield, the snow and rock parting around his massive body. However, Whitt is trapped within a pocket of snow on all sides. From the sides of his prison, Cof's black arms creep across the ground towards him.

Khione emerges from the wall and uses Will O'Wisp to banish the arms, the heat from the flames also creating an escape route for Whitt. He spins and uses Horus's Night Slash to fend off Bis, before Morrigan hits her with a Curse that begins to sap her energy. Morrigan then turns her attention to Sno, and uses Pain Split to recover some of her own energy. Before she can continue with her interruptions, Sud appears as if from nowhere and hits her with Head Smash, sending her flying into the snow.

Ullr uses Ice Beam, aiming at Hoops' back. However, Led gets in the way and uses Light Screen to protect them both. She retaliates with Bug Buzz, which does very little damage but stuns Ullr for a moment.

Khione moves again, appearing out of the blizzard behind Led and using a Shadow Ball to throw her to the ground. Bis tries to rise to go to her defense, but the Curse from Morrigan doubles her over and makes her vulnerable to an Ice Spinner attack from Beira. She is thrown to a snow drift, and struggles to rise.

Hoops looks around at their pokémon, all taking heavy damage. If I don't turn this around soon, we're doomed they think. Their bandages return to the shape of an arm, and they angle the Z-Ring on their wrist. "Cof!"

Cof nods, and extends two of his dark arms to match Hoops' as they each cross their arms in front of them. Hoops raises their hands as though imitating a monster in a game, and flows the Z-Power of Alola flow through them.

Whitt sees what's happening. "Shit! Horus!" He raises the two swords in front of him, creating a barrier that he hopes will defend him.

The power passes from Hoops to Cof, who glows yellow. "Never Ending Nightmare!" They yell.

Everything goes black. Whitt looks around, seeing that all of his pokémon bar Horus are gone, having not been allowed into this space. In front of him is Hoops, and above them is the body of Cof, with the coffin closed. He seems to be a lynchpin for this entire world of darkness.

Hoops raises their hands, and the darkness moves with them. Hands made of darkness rise from the ground and grasp at Whitt. He slashes at them with Horus, but even though they dissolve into shadow they reform almost as quickly. This is bad. There are too many for him to hold off, and he can't attempt to drain Hoops' life force unless he gets close.

A hand grabs his wrist, then the other. Whitt tries to fight them off, but his arms are bound. More hands grab him, along his arms and legs, one even clasping over his mouth. They lift him into the air as he struggles vainly.

"You thought you'd won?" Hoops asks. "You thought you could defeat me because your School told me you could? You never had power beyond what they gave you. That's no strength at all." They raise their hand to deal the finishing blow.

Whitt closes his eyes, and feels something in front of him. All at once the hands disappear from his body, and he opens his eyes to see Morrigan standing in front of him.

<Sorry I'm late> she says.

Hoops glares at them. "This isn't possible. Nothing should be able to enter our Z-move."

<I reject that premise> Morrigan says. She lunges forwards with claws outstretched, going for Cof. Hoops' bandages wrap around her and begin to tear on impact, but they succeed in pulling her away.

But then Whitt follows her, raising his swords. "I am not inferior!" he screams, and slashes at Cof.

For a moment nothing happens. Then the world of darkness implodes upon everyone inside it, before exploding outwards in a blast of force. Whitt is thrown into a bank of snow, and opens his eyes in time to see Morrigan be stripped of her mega form as she is knocked out by the explosion. Hoops also watches as Cof falls, also unconscious from the force of Whitt's attack.

Whitt laughs and tries to raise his swords, but they feel heavy in his hands. He realises that Horus has also been knocked out, which means these are little more than hunks of metal now.

Both combatants are breathing heavily as they stare at each other. Their remaining pokemon continue to battle around them. Bis is brought low by continuous attacks from Ullr. Sud and Sno struggle to hold back Beira. Led's Air Slash forces Khione to hide in the storm. It's whoever moves first.

Hoops is quickest. Their bandages wrap around Whitt's legs first, then around his neck. They tighten and he struggles to breathe. Hoops pulls them closer.

"You've lost," Hoops says, clearly barely standing themself. "Once I'm done with you, I'll come for the rest of you."

The rest of you... Whitt struggles to breathe, but the words strike a chord. This human... no, whatever they are at this point. How dare they declare themself to be above us.

His eyes snap open. The usual purple vanishes as they are covered with a thin layer of ice that makes them appear white. He feels a surge in his chest, and the snow and ice around him seem to explode. Hoops is thrown away. Whitt feels his leg break, but continues with... whatever he's doing. The blizzard gets worse, and soon even the ice types lose their vision. But the wind is strong, and the snow and ice are blown away quick enough.

Hoops' face is revealed first, the bandages pulling away and they grimace in pain and rage. They're pinned to the side of the mountain by three long spikes of ice, two through the torso and one through the leg.

Meanwhile, Whitt hangs on the the edge of a cliff. One leg hangs useless while the other scrambles for purchase on the slippery rock. He falls, but then Beira is there and the fall turns into more of a slide. The other pokémon follow close behind.

<We're retreating> Khione says, as they continue down the mountain. <Your body can't take more of this.>

Above them, Sud and Bis break the ice spears, allowing Hoops to fall forwards into Sno's arms. They'll heal soon enough, but it still hurts.

"Holy fuck," they mutter. "All that for a draw."

<Where to?> Led asks.

Hoops shivers. "Somewhere warm, I think."

Floraroma Town

Bromelia: "Nice to meet you both! Well I oughta get going. Gotta put my two new mons through Gym training!"

-she heads off-

Mog: "Now what was the one I caught in self-defense...?"

-She sends it out-

-It is a Rowlet, which hisses-

-While not Shiny Chiyo will notice this one is funny looking too -its feathers are shaggier and more reddish—

Mog: ..."What."

School Scream O Visionhouse

-Charlie jumps to take both attacks and is K Oed-

Justice: "...Oh no."

-Sends out Tsukuyomi-

Tsukuyomi: <Absurd! You think we'll let up here?"

-Unleashes another Bug Buzz-

Textspace

Thieves' Hideout

Flamel: <I do wish there was something we could do... But I'll have to keep a lookout.>

Autumn Mountain

-Up ahead is... a temple?-

Bobby: <Check out that view! And that water shrine-y place. If I were some kind of water spirit I'd totally vibe there.>

Olivia: <Wait... Water Spirit... Water Legendary... That must be where the Water Vellumental is!"

Bobby: <So me and that Aipom led us on the right track!>

Outside The Stormchaser

-Locke is packing things when Owen approaches-

Owen: "Hey Locke! What are you packing up for?"

Locke: "Oh, uh, I was going on a trip to Paldea. For reasons.

Owen: "Gasp! I am also planning a trip to Paldea for reasons! Got some programs installed in Paldean computers but I need this avatar there in person!"

Locke: ...Did you say "gasp" out lou-

???: "Did somebody say Paldea?"

-Merlin is suddenly just There when he wasn't before-

"I was going there as well!"

Locke: ...Huh. We all want the same thing.

Owen: "...Funny that."

-silence-

Merlin: "...We should rope the J-Team or at least the rest of your crew into it."

Owen: "Excellent!"

Locke: -sigh- "I begrudgingly agree, And we need a new name for said crew....

Edited by Umbramatic on Mar 17th 2023 at 8:58:27 AM