Celestic Town

Atrin: "Hey. Shouldn't be too far to Veilstone. Still, got enough supplies, just in case?"

Mimir bows his head to Desmond.

Canalave movie theater, past

After Roc leaves, there is some commotion from the ground near Kamon.

There rise little skeletal hands, barely noticeable at first. These hands are smoothly pushing something out of the ground as though lifting it out of water. That thing is an old-fashioned lamp on a stick.

A few of them are also waving cheerily at Tagg.

The lamp has a warm, inviting aura. Not in a creepy, lotus-eater way. It just has the vibe of something that a weary traveler would be very happy to see. Not threatening at all.

Except a shadowy figure is slowly coming into view by the lamp. It reaches one very long arm down for Kamon...

Canalave Theater, past

-An Aura blade construct close to but not touching the arm, its wielder weary and emotions raw-

Who are you?

Scouter: <Yes! The cheese and egg blend together rather well!>

Maggie: "...Yeah, must be something else in there or the general mixture that doesn't agree with me, wouldn't mind if you'd be down for making something with just cheese and Chansey eggs, though."

Scouter: <More for us, then!>

Desmond: Sure, yeah. Haven't really used a lot, so I'm fine. Should take, what, a day or two to reach?

he shrugs, before checking the Rotom Phone's map again. Morgan takes this time to stretch her appendage, rubbing her eye with it.

Morgan: <Oh... G'morning, Desmond, G'morning Atrin and Mimir.>

she waves towards the two.

Morgan: <Guess we're leaving?>

Celestic Town

Atrin: I'm in no hurry if there's anything you need or want to do. And the weather seems pretty good today, so should be fine.

Atrin looks around.

Atrin: It's peaceful here, I got to say.

Canalave movie theater, past

The hand attached to the arm - clad in dark cloth, like the rest of the materializing figure - pauses at Tagg's words. Then, quite fearlessly, it closes over Kamon's limp bicep. The grip isn't gentle, nor is it punishing.

The figure speaks in a dreadfully slow manner. It would be almost theatrical if not for the complete lack of inflection, like the voice of someone with a collapsed lung.

???: Kamon. Attend me.

Another figure, this one inhuman, is beginning to come into existence at its side.

??????: <I Think He Is Dead>

???: Not yet.

??????: <Well That Is Good Then>

???: Precisely the opposite.

The figure drags its gaze past Tagg. The floor around them is growing damp. Water seems to be leaking in from no discernable source. Piles of sand slide into view, cascading into each other and covering theater equipment.

???: (to Tagg, seemingly having come to a decision) ...You. Follow. Touch the lamp.

They collect Kamon's bleeding body - Doc's attempts have not really helped - and all three begin to dissipate.

Edited by Metanoia on May 13th 2023 at 12:53:53 PM

Canalave Theater, far past

I don't have a choice, now do I?

-Touches the lamp-

Somewhere in Sinnoh, around the same time

Chiyo: -Feels antsy for reasons she doesn't quite understand-

Stormchaser Kitchen, past

Boron: -To Maggie- Well, it's a thought at least.

Edited by rmctagg09 on May 13th 2023 at 1:12:01 PM

The Hamlet, The Crossroads

Oddly Jolly Man: Well I wish you luck retrieving the next piece of Unobtainium!

He gives a rather pointed look at one of the gateways away from this crossroads, one that seems a little bit crowded around the edges by trees and mushrooms.

Oddly Jolly Man: The weald is a little ornery, take care.

Glimwood Cabin

-Gale rolls her eyes, but given the smile it seems her look of frustration is in good nature. She grabs her bag and opens it up enough for the passenger-

Alright, get in. Just don't dive in too deep because it is not going to be easy to phish you back out.

Pokepark Dojo

Gale's Mystery Bird: <I haven't. Always thought it was a little too old-school to bother with? But hey if you're recommending I could give it a watch.>

-The bird preens a little bit-

Gale's Mystery Bird: <I wonder who gets billed for property damage in the park...>

Poképark Dojo

Hoops looks around. <Sorry. I meant to just stick my head through the window, and kind of forgot how big I am. And powerful. You can... you can bill me for this, I have the money for it.>

They try to pull their head out of the wall, and find that it's stuck. In order to get out they'll have to destroy more of the wall. <This is... shit, could someone give me a hand here?>

Sinnoh League

With BuBu beaten, Xaster considers his options. ToTo is already weakened and needs more rest, and most of the rest of his team have a type disadvantage. There's only really one choice.

"Go, RiRi," he says, releasing his Azumarill. His pokéball creates a spray of bubbles which glisten brightly as they catch the light, before all popping.

Cynthia doesn't wait for Xaster to move first. "Use Dark Pulse!" she says.

Xaster is ready for this, however. "Use Bounce!" RiRi uses his tail to bounce himself into the air, avoiding the attack from Spiritomb.

Cynthia raises an eyebrow. "Impressive. Azumarill usually aren't very fast."

"Contest training," Xaster explains. "We learned to use RiRi's tail to increase his speed. Now, use Aqua Tail!"

Water begins to swirl around RiRi's tail and he flips in the air and flies towards Spiritomb. The attack slams into it hard enough that the stone floor beneath the key stone is cracked. The spirits retreat inside, and the rock lies motionless.

"Spiritomb is unable to battle," the referee announces.

Cynthia recalls her pokémon and purses her lips. That Azumarill is stronger than she expected. She selects her next pokéball. "Milotic," she says. "Come out!" She throws out the tender pokémon. It is immediately beset by a burn as the Flame Orb that it is holding sends flames rippling over its body. Then its scales glisten from the light of the flames as its Marvel Scale ability activates.

Xaster grimaces. "I looked this up. They just raised their defenses without doing anything."

"And there's more," Cynthia says. "Use Aqua Ring." Milotic begins to dance, and water begins to circle her body, soothing her burns with water.

"Now its health will keep recovering," Xaster realises, remembering when RiRi used that same move. "Well, for now, use Aqua Tail!" RiRi rushes forwards, his tail once again covering with water. He swings the tail at Milotic and hits her in the face, but she barely seems to feel the attack.

"Ice Beam!" Cynthia commands. Milotic fires a beam of crackling cold at RiRi. He tries to dodge it, but his foot is caught and he is held in place. "Now, Scald!" The ice changes to boiling water which strikes RiRi and knocks him backwards.

Xaster frowns. "Use Bounce!" RiRi uses his tail to once again begin bouncing around the battlefield, building up speed as he goes.

"Trying to get in our blind spot?" Cynthia asks. "Well, it won't work! Ice Beam on the ground!" Milotic directs its Ice Beam onto the ground, covering it in thick ice. When RiRi tries to bounce he loses his balance and skids, crashing into a wall.

"Dang," Xaster says. "Return, RiRi." He recalls his pokémon and selects another ball. "ChuChu, I need you next!" He brings out his Raichu. Since it surfs on its tail, it avoids the slippery ground and can fly in a circle around the edge of the ring.

"Now, use Trailblaze!" Xaster calls. ChuChu goes into a dive, and slams into Milotic before darting away. "Trailblaze again!" Moving faster this time, ChuChu dives again and hits Milotic on the back. "Trailblaze!" Xaster calls again. Faster than before, ChuChu lands an attack on Milotic. None of them seems to do much damage, however.

"So that's your plan?" Cynthia asks. "Use Trailblaze to raise your speed so we can't touch you? Milotic, look up and use Scald!" Milotic points her mouth upwards and releases a Scald attack, creating a fountain of boiling water. When ChuChu comes in for another strike, the boiling water lands on his skin and burns him. Flames ripple over him as he suddenly becomes burned by the attack.

"I guess that's as fast as we'll get," Xaster says. "In that case, use Electro Ball!" ChuChu begins to charge an orb of electricity.

"I see," Cynthia says. "Since Electro Ball increases in power the faster you are, you use Trailblaze for more speed. But -" she points at ChuChu. "You can't aim accurately without stopping. Milotic, use Ice Beam!"

Milotic launches a beam of ice towards ChuChu. At the same time, ChuChu releases the charged attack, which is bigger than it is. The attacks meet in mid-air, but then Ice Beam begins to be pushed back by the size of the Electro Ball. It slams into Milotic, knocking her to the ground.

"Yes!" Xaster yells. ChuChu flies over and they high five. "Now, use Surf and finish this!" ChuChu flies forwards, water following him and attaching to his board as he closes in on Milotic.

"I wouldn't be so confident," Cynthia warns. "Milotic, use Recover!" Milotic cries out in defiance as energy surges through its body. It dodges ChuChu's attack, then wraps its body around it, holding it in place. ChuChu tries to struggle, but its burn damages it and interrupts its efforts.

"Use Ice Beam," Cynthia commands. Still holding ChuChu, Milotic blasts him with ice. By the time she lets go, ChuChu is encased deep within a block of ice, unmoving.

Ersatz Alliance

-Logan steeples their fingers, pressing them together in front of their lips-

...keep it child-friendly—

I know.

-there is a crossroads in their mind-

-on the left path, they introduce her to punk fashion and come back a week later to find she's impaled Ever on her spikes-

-on the other, they introduce this extremely driven child to the kind of social jockeying that fucks up normal girls her age-

Logan: ...you know, they say with confidence you can make anything fashionable?

Retail Worker: -dead-voiced- Ma'ams, if you're looking for tactical sartory, we stock it in aisle five. Logan: -holds up a they/them sign-

Retail Worker: -still dead- My mistake.

Wobbuffet: Wobbuffet!

-notably, this Ersatz employee has an unnaturally unassuming presence, purple eyes, and looks like a complete and total douchenozzle-

Edited by Asterisk395 on May 14th 2023 at 1:11:04 PM

Ersatz Alliance

Neodymium: Anything...

-she takes out a sketchpad-

-the Stormchaser put it in her room. She's been enjoying making art that's more permanent than lasers-

-retail worker-

Didit: <Oh, shit.>

Neodymium: -points- Truant!

Unova Courthouse

-Jared squints at the Updated Autopsy Report™

"...So they fought with the murderer and the fire happened around the same time... what are you trying to prove with this again dude?"

Crown City

-Risky IMMEDIATELY sends out a Galarian Slowbro, who trains its "gun" on any sign of movement-

-Jade sends out Jet the Floatzel—

Jet: <Got a slippery one on our hands huh? No match for me!>

Paldea Templar Lab

Victor: <Yes! We can definitely both help you!>

Autumn Mountain

-The efforts of the Falinks prevail and the door opens.-

'Olivia: <Awesome! Now we can get in the temple!>

-Bobby rolls off to the side. Olivia looks over with concern-

Olivia: <Bobby? Aren't you coming with us?>

Bobby: <Who me? I'm wiped from all that adventuring yeah. Not afraid to go into a dark, dank, dangerous dungeon. Say hi to the Water Vellumental for me. It sounds wet and horrible.>

Olivia: <Okay... then?>

-and she enters, the others will probably follow-

Canalave movie theater, past

The world whites out upon contact with the lamp.

???, outside of time

Music is Hunter's Dream by Ryan Amon

When vision returns, Tagg is greeted with this. A lamp identical to the other one lies at his feet, glowing placidly.

On the ground, more hands pop up. This time, the rest of several small, desiccated skeletal beings◊ follow it. Incongruously, they're wearing certain hats backwards. One takes its hat off and waves it.

As one, they point up the steps to the door, which sits ajar. Fresh blood spatters trail the path. Besides a particularly large bloodstain sits a life-size doll of a pretty, pale woman in an extremely vintage Galarian dress, slumped and lifeless.

Edited by Metanoia on May 14th 2023 at 6:18:49 AM

???

-Looking around-

Arceus, this is like the dream I had with the Schoolkid and his kid the other day.

-Seeing the doll-

Is that?

???

The doll does absolutely nothing.

On further inspection, its face is unfamiliar. It does have a bloody wound at the neck. Someone has tied on a ribbon to staunch the bleeding.

Castelia City, Hill

Whenm the steam explosion obscured everything, Alyesha alongside Matvey and Katyusha stared on the battlefield in a mix of cautious optimism and an evergrowing fear of who it would be that the steam revealed.

Then, when Vasilissa got catapulted out of the mist, Alyesha's side broke out in cheers, with Alyesha and Matvey both bro-fisting each-other before simply glomping as they waited for the mist to go... how they managed to do so despite Matvey's rather obvious lack of any anatomy that would be condusive to bro-fisting - or just doing anything (apart from maybe patting someone with the flat-side of his scythes) that did cause any injuries - would likely stay a mystery.

Regardless of that though, with the battlefield now being somewhat clear once more, Semyon was visible standing in the rain, the marks on the ground showing that, even with him being firmly grounded, Semyon had been pushed backwards quite a lot by the steam explosion in front of him. The anchor was already panting from the damage he had sustained so far, yet, also visibly proud to have made it until now.

Semyon: <Told ye... me old bones... are still... capable>

He managed to proclaim in between pants, slowly beginning to hover above the ground once more just as Edmond entered the battlefield.

Sonya meanwhile shook her head (followed by her entire body, almost seeming like a dog shaking the water off after being in the rain) to regain her bearings, a very obvious grin on her face.

Sonya: <See? Told ya I'm more than just curious~>

She proudly proclaimed just in time for a warning cry courtesy of Semyon as Edmond went in to attack her in the mist.

The moment she heard the warning, Sonya spun around, thus at least evading one of the arms, though, the other hit her square on the head, slamming the tiny Dreepy into the ground. And, though she managed to float up once more, she had been rather obviously pushed to the brink by this attack.

On the side, Alyesha watched rather worried when she heard Semyon's cry, hoping Sonya would be able to evade - or at least endure - his attack.

Moments after, Sonya slowly floated out of the mist finally.

Sonya: <I-I'm... I'm alright, yes... I'm alright>

Semyon: <Yer not, matey... yer did brilliant... but, yer might want ta rest>

Alyesha, apparently, shared Semyon's view, getting out Sonya's ball.

Alyesha: "Semyon, cover Sonya's retreat, keep Edmond off of her with Liquidation, and Sonya, come back for the time being, Katyusha will take your place"

And so, as Semyon's chain once more got enveloped in water right before Semyon got in between Sonya and Edmond, swinging his chain at him.

Sonya used that time to float to the side of the field, waiting on the inside of it for Alyesha to kneel down and hold out her ball before bumping her nose against it. And so, just as Vasilissa had before, now Sonya went to rest (albeit in her case with the option of returning to the battle if need be).

All the while, Katyusha sprang down from Matvey, clacking her pincers happily now that it was her time to shine.

Autumn Mountain, past

-Ann follows-

???

-Looking at the ribbon-

Seems rather pointless really.

Isaac stepped carefully, Deckard and Moriarty by his sides. "He could come from any direction..."

<Hey... look over here!> A voice rang out, as Jet was suddenly attacked by a Flash Cannon, as out of nowhere manifested a Metang.

"Cardiac, of course it's Cardiac."

Gabriel looked over his custom Pod Fighter, the designs were stolen certainly but vastly improved in his eyes. "Is everything prepared?" he asked one of his workers.

"Yes sir, the pods are loaded, your new N-Gas is ready. You need merely to find a target and use it sir, we haven't exactly had a proper test run yet."

Gabriel rubbed his chin in thought, whom to target? Maybe one of the runaways, but that necessitated finding them... maybe the meddlesome cosplayer... or his family. Easier to find, especially as that armor of his was clearly esoteric in origin, easier to track.

Or maybe good old Mercury... yes if Gabriel could grab that little bastard then that would be fantastic. "He was always useless as an obscuric anyways."

"Sir!" Another menial shouted, running in. "Activity in Area Five!"

Gabriel turned his attention and smiled. "Tell me, what do our spies see?"

"A man and a woman, the man seems to have a Lucario wearing a grey scarf with him, apparently they left from a large aircraft that landed not too long ago."

"Very good..." Gabriel muttered, before climbing into his pod fighter. "Tell Victor I'm out to take our new weapon for a test run!"

The hanger doors open, the Pod detached and roared out, Gabriel bent on getting his pound of flesh.

???

One of the little skeletons tries to nudge Tagg in the shin, and points up the steps.

Then it does a hula-like dance.

???

...

-Goes further up the steps-

???, outside of time

As Tagg ascends, something comes out of the building and nearly runs into him. It's a Dragapult.

Female Dragapult: <Did You Get Lost> (tilts her head) <Come Inside> (floats back in)

???

Lost? Like the Paths? No, it doesn't feel like those places, but there's definitely the feeling of Death around here. A Spirit World subplane like the Mantellan Crux perhaps?

-Follows behind the Dragapult-

Edited by rmctagg09 on May 14th 2023 at 10:42:55 AM

???, outside of time

CW: Medical grossness?

The inside looks pretty gloomy◊, no surprises here.

??????: (calling out) <The Nightmare Did Not Consume Him>

Laid out on an antique gurney, as lifeless-looking as the doll outside, is Kamon. His sharp dress shirt has been cut away to reveal his stomach, which is torn open in a state of severe visceral glory. It's not bleeding, just glistening. The wound is as static as a photo, not worsening or improving. Someone has stuck an IV in his thigh. The connected, cloudy jar is full of questionable-looking blood. At least his eyes are peacefully closed.

The Dragapult eyes Kamon unpleasantly, and floats on.

???: At this juncture. It cannot.

Across the room, beneath a wall bristling with weapons, stands the figure from before, fully-realized. It's a tall, abnormally thin man in a kickass tricorn hat, examining the table before him. His left arm is longer than the other by a few inches.

He turns around◊. Beneath the hat, Kamon's eyes, framed by teal tresses, behold Tagg. Instead of bearing that lively glint, however, these are empty and almost unfocused.

???: I am Maxim, son of Laeti. You, child, have my gratitude.

...He doesn't really sound grateful. More bored than anything.

???

Kamon's the same as he was after Channah...

-To Maxim-

What is this place exactly? Who are you, truly?

Edited by rmctagg09 on May 14th 2023 at 11:47:34 AM