Jack loosened his tie a bit and sat down on one of the executive sofas in the Suite, "Excellent. Kitbash and Salem should be on their way soon, prep a debrief for us in Room 101."

Rodan poked Jack, who leaned his head back and then tossed out the pokeballs, the rest of his team manifesting, "Right right. We'll need to review who will be most capable for this mission."

Zatara stretched, ~Big show tonight?~

"Yep, we're in collections."

~Wow, must be pretty high up? Top 20?~

"No, Top 10. Lightwave."

~Oh no not the laser person...~

Jack sighed, "Yeah I don't wanna fight them either, but we're the top field agent in the Guild."

Silas turned to Gale, "You have the floor."

Roxy glared at the broken armor pieces, "We saw this stuff in Lycanrow... Tonio said something about ancient metagross and alakazam societies in her lecture. This stuff relates to it doesn't it?"

Arthur took a deep inhale, ancient societies, much like Victor said they kept popping up.

Arthur looked about the superstructure, "Quite the place you have here."

"Yes thank you," Victor said, "A travelling machine powered by ancient magics and sciences. Not as tidy as your slipgate but why leave your palace when you can make the palace move?"

Arthur nodded and looked to Hayden, and then to Victor, "I guess I can see why you got onto that whole "Become legends" thing."

"Hm?"

"Victor, we're not superhuman," Arthur said, "Why do you insist on getting involved in things?"

Victor grimaced, "I though you wanted me to get more involved?"

"I wanted you to get out of your castle and off the whole supervillain shtick. Could you actually do anything?"

Victor frowned, the gears of the castle began to move, "I command this entire structure, I have centuries of knowledge and ancient sciences... I could blot out the sun and make the sky rain blood, I could be a tyrant-"

"And yet you don't, and you haven't. If anything from what your team has told me, you're more often locked up," Arthur interrupted.

Victor paused, searching for words.

"You need help Victor. We're not saviors, a lot of your ideas show you don't even understand the problems themselves, I get wanting to help and that's good. But dial it back, I came back to relax and see where my family is, to see the world, not become some superhero," Arthur said, "Tell me... why do you want to get involved, at a rate that'll burn yourself out?"

Victor sighed, "You're not scared of me at all?"

"I am not."

Victor grumbled, Alucard staring at him, the noivern smiling for once, Victor spat out, "Fine. I'm trying to be active, I'm trying to do things before I'm afraid I can't do them anymore... And before you suggest therapy I'm-"

"I would never recommend you to them. They're a friend and a professional, my recommendation discounts you from going to them because you're not supposed to know anyone your clients knows. They're also readjusting their schedule and finding others to go to!" Arthur interrupted again, "Yveltal almighty..."

Victor stared at Arthur and slumped, "So... pull myself back?"

"Yes, we can't solve all the problems, not without burning ourselves out and honestly I'd rather be the Undying whatever again than deal with that," Arthur told him.

Victor summoned a throne from his castle and slouched into it, "Alright... so pull myself back?"

"Yeah, a little bit, let others handle their stuff. They know what's going on, if they ask for help, they ask for help," Arthur said, "We're not going anywhere so they have the option."

Alucard laughed, <Finally under control isn't he?>

Hayden just shot Alucard a look.

Wild Area, Distant Pool

Daydre almost relaxes.

Almost.

But as Megan continues the knot in her stomach grows larger and larger.

"Megan, it's-"

She wants to say "it's okay", but the words die in her mouth. Nothing about this is okay, Megan's clearly not okay-

The prospect of possibly having to drain someone grows the knot some more.

I.. I should be able to do it. I know that. But do I want to? Will I- no. If it helps her, I don't care what happens.

Daydre goes about returning all her mons save Friendo, who starts webbing up the battlefield again.

"EMPEROR.. Get ready."

She shoots the still confused Empoleon an "I'll explain later" look and he salutes in response.

Galar Beach, Past

"Yeah, I know she must've some of that stuff publically. And even if she didn't, the paparazzi might've sniffed some of it out anyway. But it's probably better to be careful than not."

She sighs.

"Not that I've really been careful this whole conversation, but let's ignore that."

off the shits

Polity, Gale Has The Floor

Well, to put it in the most reductive terms, dwarven spaceships.

-Gale's helmet eyes flicker a little as she puts the bronzy helmet the group found down on whatever the group is using as a table surface-

Okay I know that sounds crazy, let me explain. So back in our universe we have the Alakagross, which is a far-too-general term to describe a far-too-varied selection of feuding pre-Human societies comprised mostly of members of the Beldum and Abra lines. A majority of these precursor societies had the same aesthetic and technology despite potentially having different population compositions and regions: Grand subterranean halls made of worked stone filled with robotic servitors chiefly comprised of a specialized bronze-appearing alloy that is almost entirely impossible to destroy through conventional age-related processes. That apocalypse-proofing came in handy when they poked the wrong volcano and made the Legendaries decide to wipe out the entire range of Alakagoss civilizations and elevate humanity to top spot in the civ game. Naturally, because the universe has a sense of humor, most of what I said can also describe a generalized "dwarven" empire from a large video game franchise. Said franchise is also known for having both incredibly weird quasi-canonical lore and a robust modding community, which is where things start relating back to yaknow, spaceships.

-Gale stops to take a breath in her massive rambling-

Yeah so basically someone made a mod that decided some of those weird stories with dubious canonicity could be interpreted as saying the dwarves had managed to create spaceships and here we are with that I guess being utter truth in this universe!

-She flinches slightly and looks around-

What it means for us is that at some point an apocalypse-proof spaceship built by ancient Alakazams crash-landed on this planet and something that survived the crash was capable of inspiring or indoctrinating a fellow Alakazam into trying to I suppose bring back the 'glory' of the Alakar empires. Does uh... Does that sound like a solid theory..?

Saffron Hotel

-Much as he was when we paused this subplot, Kitbash is already here and ready to roll on the briefing. Presumably he has either been informed of where the 101 room is or has deduced it himself and broke in-

Kitbash: Yoooo, starting to feel like a reunion of the [Dubai] job gang don't it?

Lee House, Subwhere Observatory

-The laptop, having completed its chant, switches over to some video of the girl from the family portrait sitting in this exact same glass-dome room, staring out into the starless void-

Sarah Lee: Brandon says his machine can take me anywhere I want. As long as I'm the first one to do so. I am gonna do it, be a test pilot.

-The video briefly flickers to a scene of someone older who is probably supposed to resemble the girl standing on a white stone platform amid an endless cloudy sky before returning to Sarah in the observatory-

Sarah Lee: I want to go out and speak to the Astronaut! She seems nice, up there in the sky.

-Another flash in the video, this time showing a bookshelf in the lounge room downstairs. Whoever filmed it used a fisheye lens to give it an unusual effect-

Sarah Lee: I'm gonna go meet the Astronaut and we can travel together. I can be the second girl out there!

-The screen goes blank except for the words the laptop had been chanting earlier: Sarah Lee Has Gone To The Forest-

Lee House, The Forest

-The platform, hanging there in the air like white alabaster aught not to do, does not react to the thrown stone, remaining as stable and still as it was before. The group traversing further out on a trail of platforms seem to be on a course back to the portal you came in through, though it'll take them a minute-

It's clearly a case of backroom political albumizing.

Silas tapped his chin in thought, "Interesting... So Ziltoid described this universe as parallel to ours, similar but different."

"So entirely likely that they exist here," Roxy noted, looking over the materials, "Arthur you have some experience in extra-dimensional physics."

Arthur sighed, "Victor is the one with the knowledge, I do get it though. Certain worlds and timelines run along similar paths, the further out from an origin point the smaller the similarities become. Silas, you and Roxy visited a world unlike ours for your honeymoon right?"

"The Foxverse," Silas said, "That's what we call it colloquially, timeframe is different."

"Yes that'd be an example of a world that runs in a similar branch to ours but is very different," Arthur explained.

~So, Tiedrich probably got a little too into the ancient alakazam society and decided screw non psychics?~

"It's how a lot of supremacy movements go," Silas noted, recalling the decadence that supposedly was Team Flare.

Roxy sighed, "We still got more ground to cover."

"Right," the Mando said, turning to the tunnel ahead, "We're on the way."

The team marched further in, Silas pondering mentally what this all meant, there were still details missing, the answer seemed to clean. True the simplest answer was usually the most likely... but life always found a way to complicate things.

Further into the tunnel, they came across another outpost, it was simple, even had a heating unit, Bishop reported in, "Rads are at an all time low here. We're far enough under that the radiation can't penetrate the dirt, we seem to be in the subway transit system now."

Another holographic recorder, "So... anyone want to press it?" Silas asked.

The Drones continued to scan the area, when their proximity alarm went off... something just moved.

Silas and Roxy awoke, another day ahead of them. Roxy crawled out of bed and pulled her scarf off. "See you for breakfast," She said, rubbing the still curled in bed Silas, his scarf still around his neck.

When it came to the 'itch', Silas was always a bit slower to get out of bed, so she stepped off to go have her shower and head to the lounge.

Silas got up, stretched and yawned, he got out of bed and walked off to the shower, taking his scarf off. A few minutes he stepped out and pulled the scarf back on, grabbing his poncho he marched off into the Wing's Lounge.

---

<Morning,> Silas said to everyone as he stepped in, <What's for breakfast Tae?>

Everyone in the area blinked and stared at Silas, <What?> He asked.

~Silas why are you still in pokeform?~ Hacks asked plainly.

<Wow no wasting time, is there a problem with me being a Lucario?> He asked, a smug smirk appearing on his face, <After all you quite frequently say I need to try it out more.>

Hacks spluttered a bit before saying, ~Yeah! Usually we have to tie the scarf around your neck first!~

<And today I decided I want to be a Lucario, not a big deal,> Silas commented.

Roxy smirked a little bit and sipped her morning coffee... she didn't know why she liked it so much it was bitter and unpleasant but she still drank it.

<It's a big deal because usually we have to really force you into it,> Amber pointed out.

Silas nodded, <Right, you all agree you usually have to force it upon me right?>

The mon team nodded, Roxy thought about what he just said... and frowned a little bit, "Oh..."

~Yeah, usually you don't want to be one.~

<Yeah, because as you all admitted, you usually force it upon me. I never asked or decided, you just all decided that it was time for that,> Silas answered.

Hacks raised a paw to protest... when his own words hit him, ~...oh...~

<None of you ever thought to maybe... I dunno... ask me?> Silas countered, <Like maybe if I had the option and was allowed to decide for myself I'd say yes? The worst I can say is no, the form is here to stay that's for certain.>

Everyone looked a little guilty, Silas sighed, <I get that you all just want me to try being in your world. But ask, seriously just ask. I actually kind of like being this way at times, tail is still weird though.>

Roxy sighed, pulled her scarf on and cuddled up next to Silas, who was a little confused, <Uh... you don't need to be mon as well...>

<I know,> She responded, nuzzling into his neck, <I choose to be, besides a day of mons only no humans allowed sounds fun.>

Silas smiled, <Right... Bishop what's the agenda for today?>

"A quick pickup at the Island Captain, then a delivery to Persephone. Cargo and food supplies for the crew up there," Bishop answered.

Silas sighed, <Okay some time spent as a human.>

Wild Area — The Dam Breaks

Spectrum: <WAIT!>

-The action economy for this is a bit muddled, so bear with me.-

-Spectrum was, functionally, holding her action. Preparing for Molybdenum to make a move.-

-The move in question was a panic-infused grab for Ever's hand, in an effort to escape via Phantom Force.-

-The held action was a decreased-priority attack. So wherever in the initiative, so to speak, that it occurs is the end of the round. But there's two rounds it could have taken place in, depending.-

-And some events have already been written, but how in-flux is the narrative, precisely?-

-That's not for this narrator to decide; it's up to that one.-

-Point is, whether it's at Molybdenum, or the Dreepy Swarm, or the fae-aligned Ever, or simply at empty space? Spectrum takes a swing to knock something or someone out of place.-

SPECTRUM USED DRAGON TAIL!

-Kai is a lot slower on the draw. They're still dealing with a number of facets of battle fogging their mind, not the least of which being an actual active combatant instead of a sideline tactician, and also consciously bleeding out. So it takes all of Megan's breakdown for them to realize where exactly she's going with it.-

Kai: ...Oh no.

-It takes some Auric manipulation on their own body, letting some misty blue and coleus-crimson fern-leaf fractals trail out of their wounds, but they force themself to stand up, wincing a bit as they let their Auric sense take priority over their standard senses.-

Kai: You're... really bright, Meg. Like a supernova. And it's really loud.

-They do hear Tagg, and process the meaning he's getting at, but doesn't directly respond, instead glancing at Daydre briefly.-

Kai: ...I know that hesitation. There'll be a lot of baggage to unpack later, won't there?

-And then they go, rushing at Megan to attempt to siphon off some of the burning star that is her Aura.-

Faction Offices — May 11

-Kai just grins widely as Alice demonstrates, though they do slump a little bit when she elaborates on her abilities-

Kai: Oh, aww. Got my hopes up. But it is still super cool, and who knows, maybe it'll get to that point?

-They pause-

-And they get the expression of a Kai who is clearly about to overthink the logistics of something-

Kai: Though, you can teleport your clothes — they're not all Obscura fabric, are they? Wait, are they? Or did you just discorporate normal fabric? Does it work with other items? What happens if you do it on a living entity? Maybe it just takes a bit of practice with equally complex objects to put it all back together correctly. And would it take the other person's soul along for the ride? Hopefully it doesn't end up with a transmutation error. Wait, you're a ghost, you of all people should be able to make sure the soul stays where it's supposed to. But...

Edited by BittersweetNSour on Jun 13th 2021 at 6:37:29 AM

Wild Area, Distant Pool - Fight^2

-from where Vee blasted him, Hiro swears-

Hiro:    NO!   

-and sees—Spectrum's strike, as it turns out, hitting all three of them!-

(-plus...however many Dreepy-)

Vegan(?): ^...oh.

(-they were on the way out already, so this just...accelerates the process, really-)

Molybdenum and Ever-yone with her were forced out!

(-this leaves her, naturally, in no position to respond to Tagg's threat-)

Vegan(?): -judder- _{I can't use this at all.}

Venom!Vee: <<Fuck.>>

-if Megan's a star going critical, Vee's its magnetic field—driving streamers of plasma in great loops away from their friends-

-...but as in stars, the energy surges back into her-

Venom!Vee: <<Need...somewhere to put it all…>>

-the Magic Room's faded, by now—Vee's Shell Bell around Megan's neck is saturated and then some, cracking at the seams-

-the broken shards of the Z-Crystal hover around her, too bright to look at—pouring mildly Ultra-irradiated water like faucets-

-Megan's armor—isn't serving as armor so much as a glorified life sink, cracked through and glowing like a molten planetoid-

-and it's not enough-

Venom!Vee: -juggling a dozen tasks and then some- <<Fuck.>>

-her particles scour Megan's circulatory system, her respiratory—anywhere she can reach, searching for empty vacuoles or underused subsystems—any place, anywhere she can buy a little more time before the whole of her Trainer shuts down-

---

-crack-

---

-...and finds it, in nodes trailing up her spine-

-she reaches out, and finds the way locked and barred-

---

-Hiro, having boggled at Victini's appearance rather more internally—springs to attention, contributing Reshiram's guarded fire to the Victory Star-

   Empowered Warrior Skill: True Strike!   

-Victini's flame burns a pure, hot white—outlining every aspect of the unfolding tableau in stark detail-

   All allies' next attack receives Sure Hit!   

-an existential degree, really-

-Kai (and maybe Daydre) would be able to grab onto her here—she's barely moving, wrapped in web-

-but the all-too-familiar sensation of being Drained, piece by piece, triggers something in Vee-

-—a memory of clawing and dying and drowning, the reflex to inhale unfamiliar and unwelcome—-

-which Megan's panic-addled mind latches onto in a hurry-

Vee used Bubble Drain!

Venom!Vee: <<Wh—no! Fuck!!>>

-driven by the fuel Megan swallowed—the field in a sphere around her goes monochrome, the thinner of Friendo's nearer threads crumbling to ash-

-it fights Kai's (and maybe Daydre's) pull with its own, a much stronger set of teeth in a mouth trembling in terror-

Heal Block's duration lapsed!

-the blue in Megan's veins goes neon-

Megan's HP: 4050%! ⬆️

Hiro: -wordlessly sends out his Emboar and Arcanine to supplement Tagg's Pokémon-

Vegan(?): -beset by enemies from all sides, fallback memory- Need...to strengthen the storm...

-what storm?-

Vegan(?): -bitten-off, tearful—to the world at large- FIGHT.

-...-

-...the sounds of battle ring from the Dens-

-Friendo doesn't feel any tugs on their web strings? of the sort they'd find if anyone were emerging from the Dens-

Sophie's Maractus fainted!

-if anything, they just hear...-

Sean's Torkoal fainted!

William's Mudbray fainted!

-that-

-echoing from the mouths-

Oscar's Hawlucha fainted!

-soon drowned out by the dark fountaining into the cloudless sky-

The storm raging below you is growing stronger!

Pollen: -too-certain- <I've gotcha.>

-fluttering over a prone Thespi, Pollen calls to the power pressed into the turf—calls it back up, directs it out-

Nature Power became Water Spout!

-identifies the greatest threat—and aims at Victini and anyone near them—ripe for Arc, Oracle, EMPEROR-

Hiro: ...oh, that's enough.

-he consciously turns away from the thought of where his enemy could've gone with his friend, resigning himself to another long search-

Hiro: -inhale- Megan, come back to us. See us as we are.

-and blows the Yellow Flute—a sound like    the death of Confusion   -

-and Megan screams-

Hiro: …!

-as nearly unredacted memories of the past month flood her mind with    perfect clarity   -

Hiro: -quietly- ...shit.

-and to the sound of    clarity distilled   , Vee finds a way-

Venom!Vee: -gasp- <<There!>>

-another line of nodes, trailing in a little-used offshoot circuit down Megan's leg-

-unlike the others, impenetrable and smooth like glass, these open easily to her touch—she breaks the lock, shoves the bar aside and shunts a river of power down the channel, and moves to put out other fires-

---

-the dam breaks-

---

-externally, Megan stiffens-

Vegan(?): O h .

-the Wonder Room's Dream Mist goes stark and cold-

Vegan(?): T h a t ' s w h e r e t h o s e m e m o r i e s a r e .

Hiro: ...no.

Megan is opening the Negative Gates!

Venom!Vee: -regretting everything (for the fifth time in as many seconds)- <<Megan, WAIT—>>

-there's a point at which it's become clear-

-she doesn't know what to do with this newfound power-

-whatever she intended to steal from Molybdenum remained where it was—-

Megan used Assist!

-so naturally, she cheats-

-and you can see the instant her Aura decides to be Psychic-

Pippy's Agility!

-in mind-

Frank's Psychic Fangs!

-in arm-

Pollen's Trick!

-in hand-

-thrown back in a haze of memory—racing mind only driving her deeper-

-searching for any substantial defense, she hauls an Iron Ball from her pocket and swings it blindly, clublike, about her-

-and clutching for familiarity—Tagg's Bag weighs heavy—that orb is replaced with another, infinitely more dangerous-

Blue Orb: -pulses-

-and that tremendous reserve of Aura finally finds a container to hold it-

Vegan(?): -whisper, half-absent- Rise.

(-what she's doing to it doesn't feel…remotely like a summoning, it's the wrong Orb for it-)

-vampiric speed in someone unaltered by the actual condition of vampirism is...not immaterial-

-blood vessels burst along her arm, her neck—blood leaks from her mouth-

-and the blood sublimates into the streams of Aura, tingeing the flow red-

-forms into knives, hovering around her head like a halo, twisted-

-and the Blue Orb starts to sink into her hand-

-Megan's burning up-

Unova, Driftveil Drawbridge

-Scramble shunts them to the site of Molybdenum's first breakup- u_u

-Spectrum's blow sends them tumbling ass-over-teakettle down the drawbridge slope-

Molybdenum: Oof!

-let's perhaps...catch up with them later?- :o

Edited by Asterisk395 on Jun 13th 2021 at 1:41:26 PM

No mind to think. No will to break.

Wyndon Stadium, Ian VS Daisuke

Daisuke: Blasty, use Hydro Pump!

Me: Oshawittle, you use your Hydro Pump!

-Blasty aims his cannons at Oshawittle, who jumps back and takes a deep breath. The two of them unleash powerful surges of water at each other which meet in the middle and push both Pokémon backwards and creates a beam struggle, but with water.-

Wyndon Stadium, Stands

Evelyn: Woo! Water fight!

Hatty: <Water fight! Water fight!>

Circhester

-Yuki watches the battle intently, preparing to make a call.-

Lee House, The Forest

-Ian and Evelyn look around them with star-spangled eyes full of wonder as they stand close together on a platform of alabaster hovering in the sky.-

Me: Wooow!

Evelyn: Sugoi deshou!^* Amazing!

Piku-chan: <Is this the forest?>

Hatty: <Doesn't look like any forest I've ever seen.>

Me: Sore wa mada utsukushīdesu.^* It's still beautiful.

Evelyn: Hai. Utsukushī desu yo.^* Yes, it sure is beautiful.

Me: Shall we explore further?

Evelyn: Of course. But this time, you go first.

-Ian laughs as he and Evelyn jump from platform to platform, Piku-chan and Hatty holding on tight.-

[Imperial] Hotel

-And Speak of the Devil, Salem arrives at the room, with a slightly bemused look on his face, as if he just got time off but was immediately called to a job.-

Salem: Alright, chief. I'm here. Did you know that Lady Malacostra's armor was not properly insulated against psionic energy? I really oughta work on that. So, what is it you truly desire?

♪Show me the wisdom of the world... Tell me the secrets of the heart... and the sweet~ mysteries~ of love~...

Wild Area,

-Sensing the sudden change in Megan's Aura, one that I've only witnessed while dealing with Constantin-

Vee, what did you do?

-And the obviously evil sword-

Like, shit man.

Cobalt: <This is quite the conundrum you've summoned us for, Tagg.>

Yeah, but it's nothing we haven't faced before.

-Looking at the Blue Orb getting absorbed into Megan's hand-

Well it would appear summoning Groudon to bail us out is no longer an option.

Cobalt: <How do you want to do this?>

-Grasping some ofuda as Cobalt removes the Iron Ball-

I'd kinda like to see this in Molybdenum's face right now.

Very carefully. First, the sword!

Cobalt: -Immediately telekinetically hurls the Iron Ball at Vee's tail in an attempt to knock it loose as I throw a sealing ofuda at the eye-

Lucani: -Uses Thunder Wave on Vegan to hold them in place-

Hydreigon: -Fires off a Flamethrower at Pollen-

Victini: -Immediately counters the Water Spout with an Energy Ball before it can hit-

-Throws some more sealing ofuda at Vegan, aiming for the legs and where the Blue Orb is being absorbed-

Kai, Daydre, those talismans are merely to prepare, you're gonna need to calm her down enough so I can get close enough to do the proper sealing!

Galar Beach, past

-Neutral-

Understandable.

Edited by rmctagg09 on Jun 13th 2021 at 11:20:25 AM

Eating a Vanilluxe will give you frostbite.

Wyndon Stadium

Elton: <YAY! Wa'er fight!>

Kim: "Indeed. I bet on Oshawittle."

Elton: <I do too!>

Hammerlocke Banquet

(Kim smiles, putting away the PokeBalls, before seconds later taking out her notebook and a pen. Paul goes over to her, slightly curious.)

Paul: <I assume you're taking notes?>

Kim: (not even looking up) "Personality profiles, yes."

(She promptly writes:)

NEW POKEMON CAUGHT: JOHN THE ORBEETLE. LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, I PRESENT TO YOU COLTON KENDALL REVER IF HE WAS AN AURIC. BASED ON WHAT I'VE SEEN OF HIM, JOHN IS JUST AS SNARKY AND SARCASTIC AS HIS NAMESAKE BEATLE, AND JUST AS EASILY PRONE TO OUTBURSTS. HE USES THE PHRASE "BLOODY HELL" A LOT, WHICH I'M SURE DAVE WOULD BE HAPPY WITH. INCIDENTALLY, HE ALSO HAS A BIT OF AN EGO ABOUT HIM, AND IS ALSO THREE TIMES TALLER THAN A REGULAR ORBEETLE. I CERTAINLY HOPE HE IS NOT CAPABLE OF GIGANTAMAXING. HE ALSO SEEMS TO LOVE MONTY PYTHON. I LIKE HIM ALREADY.

NEW POKEMON CAUGHT: GEORGE THE CENTISKORCH. RELATIVELY QUIET AND UNASSUMING, FROM WHAT I'VE SEEN. I'VE NOTICED THAT HE TENDS TO BE MUCH MORE TALKATIVE AROUND OTHER BEATLEMONS— I.E. PAUL, JOHN, AND RINGO— THAN WITH ANYONE ELSE. WITH ANYONE ELSE, HE EITHER USES ONE-WORD SNIPPETS OR SENTENCE FRAGMENTS. USUALLY THE FORMER. I'VE ALSO NOTICED THAT HE TENDS TO BE RATHER ANALYTICAL ABOUT CERTAIN THINGS, AND ALSO ACTS AS A BIT OF A MINDER FOR JOHN. IN SHORT... YEAH, HE'S BARRETT AS A CENTISKORCH. ALSO GEORGE HARRISON.

NEW POKEMON CAUGHT: RINGO THE SHINY JOLTIK. CUTEST POKEMON I'VE EVER MET, AND HE'LL GET EVEN CUTER WHEN HE EVOLVES. PLUCKY AS ALL GET OUT, AND NEVER GIVES UP NO MATTER THE CIRCUMSTANCES. HE IS APPARENTLY EAGER TO LEARN ELECTROWEB AND APPEARS TO BE TWO INCHES SHORTER THAN A REGULAR JOLTIK. I WONDER HOW HE'LL TURN OUT AS A GALVANTULA. ALSO HE'S GAVROCHE AS A POKEMON. COMPLETE WITH COCKNEY ACCENT. ELTON AND STRUMMER ARE GOING TO HAVE AN ABSOLUTE FIELD DAY.

(Eventually, she puts the notebook away and turns to face Paul.)

Kim: "Alright, that is it. I believe I've had a fairly good time at this banquet, to say the least, but I think we should head off to Circhester now. What do you think?"

Paul: <Sounds like a great idea to me. We can maybe see if we can use George during it. But, y'know, only if he wants to— I wouldn't— y'know, I wouldn't want to force him to do it.>

Kim: "Yes, using George would be a good idea."

(She returns all of her other Pokemon, then turns to face Ian and Evelyn.)

Kim: "Alright Ian and Evelyn. The bugs have been caught, so... I believe that fairly soon you and I should get going to Circhester."

Circhester Battle

(Sinatra is thrown back a bit by the Slash attack, but manages to stay on his feet, glaring over at Romea the entire time.)

Sinatra: <Nice move... but you're gonna pay for that! I bet you won't survive this one!>

Romea: <Heh! Bet on it all you want! What's the move?!>

Kim: "I'll show you what the move is! Sinatra... think you can show off that new TM move I taught you in the interim?"

Sinatra: <Gladly!>

Braker: "A TM move...? That is certainly interesting..."

Kim: "Hm. Sinatra, use Brick Break!"

Romea: (stunned) <He knows WHAT?!>

Sinatra: (laughing) <Heh! Get a load of this!>

(He jumps up into the air, and his paw glows yellow, before he jumps back down again and karate chops Romea with it, knocking her backwards for supereffective damage.)

(Sinatra smirks, and Romea falls to the floor, but eventually manages to get back up again, though looking slightly more worse for the wear.)

Braker: "Romea! Can you still fight?"

Romea: <Yeah... I'm good.> (She turns to face Sinatra.) <That was pretty impressive, I'll admit.>

Sinatra: <Thank you~!>

Romea: <But it still wasn't good enough!> (Her body promptly starts glowing in an orange light, as do her claws.) <Time for me to end you!>

(Sinatra and Kim's eyes grow wide as they both recognize the move.)

Sinatra: <No way!>

Kim: "That's..."

Romea: <That's right, you little ferret! IT'S REVENGE!>

Kim: (grimaces) "Sinatra! Dodge!"

(Romea promptly charges forward, and Sinatra attempts to get out of the way— but Romea is faster, and soon Sinatra finds himself staring Romea in the face.)

Romea: <I don't think so!>

Sinatra: <W-what?! H-how in the world did you...?!>

Braker: (smirking) "Now!"

(And Romea promptly charges at Sinatra, leaving behind a trail of orange.)

(Sinatra stands there for a moment— and then all of a sudden collapses to the floor. Seconds later a cloud of smoke goes up, and when it fades, Sinatra is on his side with swirls in his eyes. Kim and Braker blink in utter disbelief, and Romea smirks.)

Sinatra: (weakly) <You win...>

Kim: "Wow."

Braker: "I had no idea that Romea was that powerful..."

Kim: (to herself) Romea, Strider, and Kiloana should seriously meet...

Lee House

(Walter and Braker promptly notice Ian and Evelyn up ahead— and so does Cuddles. As soon as he sees them, his eyes light up.)

Cuddles: (happily, jumping off of Braker's shoulder) <Wait for meeee~!>

(He starts jumping from platform to platform. Braker and Walter, meanwhile, turn to face each other.)

Walter: <Shall we?>

Braker: "Be my guest."

(And they, too, start walking across the platforms.)

Kalos Grasslands

(Eventually, Braker, Walter, and Cuddles make it to the grasslands of the Kalos region.)

Braker: "Well, here we are."

Cuddles: <Ooh~! What Pokemon will be here? I want to give them all huggies~!>

Walter: <I'm not sure, Cuddles, but I have a feeling we will find out eventually.>

Cuddles: <Yaaaaay~>

(Braker chuckles a bit— and then all of a sudden hears something coming from near him. He blinks for a few moments, trying to process the sound— and he realizes soon afterwards that it's a Pokemon, humming to themselves. Confused, he turns to face Walter and Cuddles.)

Braker: "Do either of you hear that?"

Walter: <I certainly do.>

Cuddles: <I think it's a Pokemon!>

Braker: "It has to be." (then, taking out his video camera) "Let's wait for it to come out..."

MEANWHILE IN THE HASSLEMON INTERWEBS...

ZL: Hey... did you guyss jusst hear that?

RM: YEAH, I—SUrE—DID. I—THINK—IT'S—A—POKEmON, BUT—I—CAN'T—rEALLY—BE—SUrE. PrOBABLY—SOmETHING—STUPID.

RM: ...HOLY—CrAP—I'm—TALKING—TO—JULES. WELL—THIS—IS—GrEAT.

ZL: It ssure iss! :P

RM: JULES!! THAT—WAS—SArCASm!

ZL: :P

MC: i definiTeLy heaRd iT TOO

MC: i'm nOT suRe whaT iT is buT i have a feeLing we'Re gOing TO find OuT

Kalos Grasslands

(Braker, Walter, and Cuddles stand there in anticipation as the tall grass in front of them shakes a bit— and then all of a sudden—)

???: <W-whoa...!>

(A giant crash. Seconds later, a Pokemon stumbles out of the tall grass and lands on the floor— a Shiny Mr. Mime. He lands on the floor, a bit off, before eventually standing back up.)

Shiny Mr. Mime: <W-whoa... what just happened? I think I might have stepped on something...>

(Cuddles frantically runs over to him.)

Cuddles: <A-are you okay?!>

Shiny Mr. Mime: <W-wha...? Oh! Oh, yes, I'm fine! I just had a little stumble, that's all. It happens.>

Cuddles: <That's good.> (and then he notices and his eyes bug out of his skull) <Wait a second... Y-YOU'RE A—>

Shiny Mr. Mime: <Yes indeedy!>

Cuddles: <EEEEEEE~> (He turns to face Braker and Walter, excited.) <Lenny! Walter! Look~! It's a SHINY~!>

Walter: <So it would appear. This is certainly an interesting find, Braker.>

Braker: "Indeed it is."

MEANWHILE IN THE HASSLEMON INTERWEBS...

ZL: ...

MC: ...

RM: ...

RM: ArE. YOU. KIDDING—mE?!

ZL: A SSHINY?! BRAKER FOUND A SSHINY?! THISS ISS SSO EXCCITING!

MC: weLL

MC: i can ceRTainLy say i'm inTRigued

Kalos Grasslands

Braker: (smirking to himself) Kim and Colton are going to flip. Their. Lids.

Hi, I’m oghond, and I’m a Rushaholic. Sorry if I annoy you unintentionally. 😅

Wild Area, Distant Pool

Arc: <Mom? You appear to have a sword in your face.>

Oracle: <What is with everyone and swords? Is this just what normally happens here and I happened to catch a year and a half of things being normal?>

Arc: <I think pretty much, yeah.>

Oracle: <...Well, damn.>

-he folds his claws together-

<If Ever were here, they might have something to say about technique giving way to raw power. Personally, I'm kind of more inclined to be scared of raw power—>

Arc: <We should really do something.>

Oracle: <...I guess!>

-he sniffles-

-catching his tears in his palms, and lobbing them at Vegan-

Oracle used Tearful Look!

Arc: <Mom? Uh, sorry about this if it doesn't work out.>

-he drives his flippers into the ground, the soaked earth splattering upwards-

-as he pits his hydrokinesis directly against Vee's, attempting to loosen her grip on Dáinsleif-

Arc used Whirlpool!

Driftveil Bridge

Ever: Can't say I expected to end up in Driftveil.

Though I do get it.

-and then they're falling as well-

-first things first, their arm's back in realspace-

-their phone too, but that's a secondary concern-

-their arm's already pretty useless for the time being-

-so they stretch it out, digging it into the bridge to slow their tumble, leaving behind a streak of pink light like an incandescent motorcycle accident-

-still hitting the ground fairly hard-

Ever: -not moving- So I think we can all agree that could have gone better, right?

Alice's Office, May 11

Brie: That is, in fact, really cool. Wow.

-she applauds a little-

Edited by memyselfandI2 on Jun 13th 2021 at 9:26:18 AM

Dunsparce didn't stop being a thing or anything.

Lee House Observatory

"… wait, what would an aspiring astronaut be doing in a forest? Should I retrieve her?" Curious he picked the laptop up, attempting to navigate its contents and power through the warning.

Lee House Forest

The disorientation too much for Katsuragi he was forced to adopt his Runerigus form, floating behind Kamui as she walked down the path.

[Insert Unoriginal Stinger Here]

Jack smirked and slicked his hair back, "Big job for both of you. Technically you're working collections tonight... well I am but since you're involved."

He lead them into the Room 101 and shut the door, the noise dampening kicked in as a holoprojector kicked to life displaying Vali Hotel, "This is the target of the day. Tell me, are either of you two familiar with the location?"

The Reapers with their lowered defenses are struck and stagger, Knight clasps his hands together and begins to chant, "Kaaaaa-meeeee, Haaaaaaaa-meeeeee, HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!"

A brilliant blue beam flew from his hands, striking the reapers. Down they went, Jackal exhaled as Knight seemed to vent steam, "Okay... defenses are down."

He stood up, "That was... easier than expected. Reapers are supposed to be tough right? What's Daniel here up to?"

Pyrite Town, Faction Offices - May 11

-Alice smiles at Kai.-

Alice: Kai, darling, you're overthinking things. It's quite endearing, and I will admit that knowing exactly what the checks and balances happen to be is immensely useful, but you might be hoping for too much in trying to apply a set of consistent rules to literal magic. I can however confirm that to the best of my knowledge, I am in fact still in possession of my own soul.

-Her focus returns to Brie.-

Alice: Why thank you. I'm not accustomed to having an audience, so I'm glad that it proved an enjoyable display.

-She hesitates for a moment. Then she leans forward to place a peck of a kiss on the back of Brie's neck, before immediately withdrawing.-

Alice: ...I rather desperately hope I wasn't overstepping any boundaries there.

Trans rights are human rights. JK Rowling preaches hate. If you sit at a table with five bigots and say nothing, there are now six bigots.

Kalos Grasslands

Shiny Mr. Mime: <So! What brings you here today?>

Walter: <Well... we came here to investigate a rogue Greninja in Lumiose City.>

Shiny Mr. Mime: <Oh, yeah! The Greninja that stole 200 people from the Galar region and hid them in the Lumiose Museum? Yeah, I heard about that!>

Braker: (intrigued) "Really? How did you?"

Shiny Mr. Mime: <A few of my friends in the Reflection Cave told me!>

Braker: "You have friends in the Reflection Cave?"

Shiny Mr. Mime: <Yep! ...they're Woobats.>

Walter: <That explains it.>

Cuddles: <So~! Hello there! My name's Cuddles~! Would you like a hug?>

Shiny Mr. Mime: (excited) <Hugs?> (he lights up) <I love hugs!>

Cuddles: <Yay! Me too~!>

(He approaches the Shiny Mr. Mime and engulfs him in a hug, snuggling and nuzzling him. The Mr. Mime hugs him back.)

Shiny Mr. Mime: <Awww! You're the snugglist Galvantula I've ever met!>

Cuddles: <Awww, thank you~!> (beat) <Wait, "snugglist"?>

Walter: <I think he means to say "snuggliest".>

Cuddles: <Oh! Okay!>

(While Cuddles is hugging the Shiny Mr. Mime, he turns to face Braker.)

Shiny Mr. Mime: <So... what happened to that Greninja?>

Braker: "Well... we investigated, and..."

(He holds up a PokeBall. The Shiny Mr. Mime gasps in delight.)

Shiny Mr. Mime: <You caught him? Whoa...!>

Braker: "Indeed I did."

Shiny Mr. Mime: <Can I meet him?>

Braker: (smirking) "I don't see why not." (he throws the PokeBall) "Serkis, you're on the air!"

(The ball opens, and in a flash, Serkis appears, landing on the ground in his signature Three-Point Landing. He looks up— and then blinks.)

Serkis: <On the air...? Are we going live?>

Braker: "No, you've just been sent out."

Serkis: <I see...>

(The Shiny Mr. Mime, meanwhile, is ecstatic.)

Shiny Mr. Mime: <Whoa...! He's so cool!>

(He starts walking over to the Greninja in delight.)

Shiny Mr. Mime: <Hello there!>

Serkis: <Ah, hello there. You must be the Shiny Mr. Mime. I'm delighted to meet you.>

(He extends his webbed hand/foot out to shake. The Mr. Mime happily takes it— and a joy buzzer suddenly goes off, causing the Mr. Mime to laugh uncontrollably.)

Shiny Mr. Mime: <Heeheeeee~! You fell for it~!>

Serkis: <...>

(Walter smirks slightly, and Cuddles giggles. Braker, meanwhile, just blinks in shock.)

Braker: "How long did you have that concealed in there? And for that matter, why couldn't Cuddles feel it?"

Shiny Mr. Mime: <Hours! Also electricity.>

Braker: "Ah, yes, of course." (He turns to face Serkis.) "Serkis? Are you okay?"

Serkis: <...>

Braker: "Serkis?"

Serkis: <O-oh! Um... yes, I am fine. That was... rather hilarious.>

Shiny Mr. Mime: (bows)

Serkis: <A-anyways... you seem rather enjoyable. I'd be willing to have you join our team if you so desire.>

Cuddles: <A new friend~! YAAAAAAY!>

Shiny Mr. Mime: <Join your team? I-I'd love to!>

Serkis: <Excellent. But before that...> (He looks towards the Shiny Mr. Mime with a look of determination on his face.) <I say we battle.>

Braker: "A battle? Well, that certainly seems appropriate. Very well, then." (He turns to face the Shiny Mr. Mime.) "I hope you're ready for this."

Shiny Mr. Mime: (determined) <As I'll ever be!>

Hi, I’m oghond, and I’m a Rushaholic. Sorry if I annoy you unintentionally. 😅

Faction Offices, May 11

Kai: Maybe so, but you can bet I'm gonna overanalyze the logistics anyway. I gotta do the thing, Alice.

-She grins-

Kai: But it's a relief that nothing's getting messed up with your soul with this trick. I'm rather fond of the one you've got—

-neck peck-

-Kai's eyes widen, and they put a hand to their mouth in a moment of shock-

-they're still grinning behind their hand, but they are ready to try to help if things get awkward-

Kai: ...

-They briefly shoot a dangerous "don't you dare make any commentary" look at Lissa-

Edited by BittersweetNSour on Jun 14th 2021 at 3:36:23 PM

Mercury stepped in, and looked to the man at the table, several tools and weapons laid out before him, "Hey. You called?"

"Yeah the payment went through, here we have your Medium tools," Silas responded, "I made several to help get around the rules of your powers."

Mercury stepped over and picked up the sword, he felt the hairs on his skin stand, and saw thin wisps of energy go from his hand to the blade, "Whoa..."

Silas nodded, "Yep. Everything here is an attuned medium, the revolver there is to help you with the projectile problem, your sword here can ignite or summon other effects."

Mercury grinned, "Well then, be ready to get to facing weird no problem... wait what are those?" he asked pointing at several robot hands.

"Replacement arms, I thought about the whole factor of rules, and so made you swappable replacements that do different things. Different "rules" for each of them to follow."

Mercury picked up the set, one was blue and had yellow tipped fingers, another was black with red fins, the last one was a white and red one with blue fingers. He stared at them, "Huh... what do they do?"

"Read the provided manual," Silas said handing him a booklet, "Hope you got a good surgeon to help you install the port housing. You'll be able to swap these on the fly."

Mercury smirked, "Well that's go- wait did you say surgeon? You're not installing these?"

Silas blinked, "No? Why would I? I'm not a surgeon I'm an engineer. I don't wanna cut your arm open to install the contact port, I don't trust myself there."

Mercury stared at Silas, "The hell? You could have told me that!"

"You'll be fine," Silas said waving him off, "Plenty of surgeons around, oh and got one more for you."

He tossed Mercury another hand, Mercury looked it over, it was softer to the touch and resembled a human limb... somewhat, there were seams that made it clear it was a prosthetic. Seems he had a standard hand, "That'll help you get through the day to day."

Mercury sighed, "Great... Well, thanks I guess."

"You're welcome," Silas responded, "What do we even call you beyond Mercury?"

Mercury leaned against a wall and gave it some thought, "Rory. Call me Rory," he answered.

Galar Mountains

With Emer pocketing her thermos again, Alyesha grinned, turning around towards the mountain.

Alyesha: "Well then, the first few hundred meters will be easy~ Simply a nice long walk, so, all the more time to chit-chat~"

Krasnaya meanwhile, with her tries at looking imposing having thoroughly failed, simply murmured a thank you for the pats before walking over towards Alyesha, hopping onto her shoulder once more.

With Krasnaya now on her, Alyesha began hheir climb after shortly adjusting her backpack.

Alyesha: "So, what brings you here, Emer~?"

Alyesha asked, waiting for Emer to catch up so they could walk side by side. Emer would notice that the path really was only a slightly rising dirt-path for as far as she could see anyway.

Edited by Sergey_Smirnov on Jun 14th 2021 at 11:50:25 AM

"One may feel fear in the face of danger so long as one banishes fear when danger actually arrives"

Kalos Grasslands

(Braker nods.)

Braker: "Alright, then. Serkis, use Dark Pulse!"

(Serkis wordlessly nods, forming a ball of dark energy in between his webbed hands. Seconds later, he releases it out at the Shiny Mr. Mime with a slew of dark energy, hitting the Shiny Mr. Mime before throwing him back a bit.)

(The Shiny Mr. Mime pauses for a bit before shaking himself off.)

Shiny Mr. Mime: <Wow...! You're really strong! No wonder he caught you!>

Serkis: <Ah. Thank you.>

Shiny Mr. Mime: <But even so...! I'm going to make this fight really fun!>

Serkis: <Oh? I can't wait to see what you do.>

Shiny Mr. Mime: <Here goes nothing!>

(He frantically moves his hands around, and within seconds they glow blue. Moments later, a blue transparent cube appears around Serkis and the Shiny Mr. Mime. Serkis' eyes widen in shock as he recognizes the move.)

Serkis: <Is that...?>

Shiny Mr. Mime: <Yep! It's Trick Room! Told ya it'd be fun~!>

Walter: <Well. This battle just got really interesting.>

Cuddles: <Oh no... T-this means...>

Serkis: <It's fine, Cuddles.> (He smirks.) <I still have a plan.>

Shiny Mr. Mime: <Oh?>

(Braker pauses for a few moments— and then snaps his fingers as it comes to him.)

Braker: "Ah! Of course! Serkis, use Water Shuriken!"

(Once again, Serkis wordlessly nods, before jumping up into the air and releasing five Water Shurikens directly at the Shiny Mr. Mime, once again hitting him.)

Shiny Mr. Mime: <Ooh~! Something tells me you're having fun, too!>

(He giggles a bit— then suddenly his fist starts glowing with electrical energy.)

Shiny Mr. Mime: <Not for long, though...!>

Serkis: <You're kidding...>

Braker: "Serkis! Try and dodge it!"

(Serkis nods, attempting to dodge... but the Thunder Punch still hits, knocking back Serkis.)

(Serkis is thrown to the back of the Trick Room, but manages to stand back up.)

Braker: "Excellent! Now, Serkis... finish him off! Use Shadow Sneak!"

(Serkis nods— and seconds later a copy of his shadow emerges from the ground. The Shiny Mr. Mime looks around for a few moments— and then all of a sudden the shadow hits him in the back, knocking him down.)

Shiny Mr. Mime: <W-whoa...!>

(There is a pause, and then all of a sudden the Shiny Mr. Mime falls to the ground, and the Trick Room flashes before disappearing.)

(From the sideline, Cuddles happily cheers.)

Cuddles: <Alright~! Lenny won~!>

Walter: <Using priority moves to bypass Trick Room. A very impressive strategy, Braker; I must admit.>

Braker: "Oh, no. Serkis was the one who came up with the strategy."

(Serkis pauses for a few moments before blushing.)

Serkis: <O-oh... yes... why... um, thank you, Braker.>

(Braker nods.)

Hi, I’m oghond, and I’m a Rushaholic. Sorry if I annoy you unintentionally. 😅

Wild Area, Distant Pool

Daydre's hesitation is burned away by Megan's scream. She clenches her fists.

(To Tagg) "R-right."

She sprints towards Vegan, vaguely registering the memories on display around her as she does. A wave of mixed emotions rises in her mind, but she mentally beats them back with a stick so she can keep moving.

Diving headlong into the monochrome zone, Daydre wraps her arms around Megan in a weird sort of grapple-hug and starts trying to reverse engineer the feeling she got when she was drained herself.

In the attempt, Daydre recalls a memory of her own.

PEFE Medbay, An Unimportant Day

Daydre: "... How do you drain people, anyway?"

Ama: "Why the hell would I tell you that?"

Daydre: "So I know what to avoid? I don't know. I guess I just don't understand how you'd actually like.. Suck it out."

Ama: (mildly irritated) "It's not something you can just do by accident, there needs to be intent. You're connecting the aura flows of you and whoever you're touching, grabbing hold of the whole system to make sure everything goes to you instead-"

She stops, sighs, realizes what she's doing, and affixes Daydre with a stare.

Ama: "You already know I can find you. If you become a vampire after everything I've told you, I'm going to make sure I kill you this time. Draining may feel good, at first. But you and I both know the eventual endpoint of that."

Daydre: "..."

Back to the Present

Whatever Daydre's feeling right now, it's not good.

Somehow, Daydre does feel the flow start to reverse into her. It's not strong at first, but it's noticeable.

Vee's not the only one with a reflexive bad reaction to being drained.

As soon as Daydre feels pushback, something deep inside her starts screaming "no no NO NO" again, and redoubles its efforts to pull out whatever aura it can.

She doesn't even seem aware of it, but Daydre has started muttering things under her breath.

"Megan please st- it's oka- please I don't want to lose you-"

Friendo looks at their web strings, rather concerned. All of this is a little out of their paygrade, but fuck it, they've been called on to help. So they help. Whipping around silk at high speeds, they slash at Pollen in an X motion.

With the Water Spout neutralized, EMPEROR looks around to see where he can help. Vee and the evil looking sword seem fairly important, so he focuses there. He hangs back slightly as Vee commands, but if the sword makes any moves independent of Vee he'll try to meet it with a Steel Wing.

Galar Beach, Past

"... But yeah, there's my baggage. You got anything you need to get off your chest? You've been nice enough to listen to me, so I may as well offer the same courtesy to you."

Studio Palace

"Maybe he just wanted to buy time? Or he can only summon weak Reaper facsimiles." Daze shrugs.

"Or maybe both."

off the shits

Studio Palace

-At some point or another, Lioness ran off because holy shit Reapers-

-Only to realize that no, this wasn't like the games because of course it wasn't and everyone else stuck around to fight-

-...Also these Reapers were nerfed?-

Lioness: Er...Now what though? If he calls more, even if they're weakened, Can any of us do a blast like that again?

Wyndon Stadium, Ian VS Daisuke

-Oshawittle pushes Blasty back with immense force using his Hydro Pump.-

Me: Alright! Now, use Ice Beam!

Daisuke: Blasty, you use YOUR Ice Beam!

-Oshawittle then takes a breath and fires a beam of subzero energy at Blasty, who aims his cannons at Oshawittle and fire two subzero energy beams at Oshawittle. The three ice beams meet in the middle and push against each other with exactly the same amount of force.

Wyndon Stadium Stands

Evelyn: Oshawittle's power is definitely considerable...

Hatty: <It can match Blasty's power without having to really try...>

Evelyn: I wonder what the outcome will be...

Wyndon Stadium, Ian VS Daisuke

-The ice beam struggle continues, and Oshawittle and Blasty are not going to let up one bit...-

Hammerlocke Banquet

Evelyn: Congratulations, Kim!

Hatty: <The Beatlemon team is finally complete!>

Lee House, Forest

-Ian and Evelyn smile and laugh as they hop from platform to platform without a care in the world.-

Me: Whee, this is fun!

Evelyn: Sure is, Ian! Watch this!

-Evelyn pushes off of the air with her foot, giving her extra height as she lands on another alabaster platform.-

Evelyn: Ta-da~♪!

Me: Sugoi! I wanna do that!

Evelyn: It's actually quite simple. All you have to do is push off of the air with your foot and the psychic energy released will give you extra height.

Me: Like this?

-Ian jumps off of a platform, then pushes off of the air with his foot, releasing a pulse of psychic energy that gives him extra height, allowing him to land on the same platform Evelyn landed on.-

Evelyn: Yeah! That's how you do it.

Ian learned the Double Jump!

Circhester

-Yuki is caught off-guard by Romea's Revenge attack, and proceeds to make the call.-

Yuki: <Sinatra is unable to battle! Romea wins!>

[Imperial] Hotel

Salem: Can't say I am... Why are we raiding the joint?

Anistar City, Emilie's House

-A shriek fills the air of the Kalosian city, and from the open window of Emilie's house, it echoes through the streets, likely reaching Olympia's keen senses. A girl dressed in a pink tutu and ballet shoes searches her room frantically, like an exam student scrambling to finish the problems on an exam until the last moments before the chime. It is abundantly clear that she lost something important to her.-

Emilie: -extremely panicked- Where is it? WHERE IS IT?! MON DIEU! C'EST PARTI!!!^* My God, it's GONE!

Gus: <Emilie? Is everything okay?>

Emilie: NON! Everything is NOT OKAY! I can't believe I lost it! I couldn't have lost it! I remember having it with me!!

Gus: <"It" being your sanity, right?>

-Levy then proceeds to slap Gus across the face.-

Levy: <Gus! You're not helping!>

Gus: <What? I'm just trying to lighten the mood... The kitten needs a little levity after what happened last time...>

Levy: <But that's the thing, Gus! She doesn't remember what happened last time, and it was during last time that she lost her sabre!>

Gus: <I get it, I get it... But that's the problem. She doesn't remember what happened last time. We do.>

-Gus' belt of flame begins to glow brighter as his rage builds.-

Growltiger: <When I get my hands on that fire-fingered felon of the fell, I'll make her pay for the crimes of her and the rest of her raffish crew!>

Levy: <Funny you should say that, Growltiger, considering...>

-Gus immediately calms down.-

Gus: <The irony of that statement has not escaped me, Levy...>

Emilie: Urgh... My room couldn't be THAT messy!

Palace of the Maiden's Heart

Joybringer: I assume that's the last of the Reapers...

-Joybringer moves over to give Banshee headpats for a job well done.-

Joybringer: You did a great job, Banshee. Return for now.

-Joybringer taps the area of his mask, calling Banshee back. He then takes the mask off and a burst of flames surrounds him. From this burst of flames re-appears Cu Chulainn.-

Joybringer: Now, where could he be?

♪Show me the wisdom of the world... Tell me the secrets of the heart... and the sweet~ mysteries~ of love~...

Wyndon Stadium

Elton: <Another one?!>

Kim: "I bet Oshawittle wins again."

Elton: <I bet you're right!>

Hammerlocke Banquet

Kim: "Indeed it is. And now... I need to go and talk to Braker."

(With that said, she goes over to Braker and Walter. Cuddles, meanwhile, has finished snuggling up against the dragons and is back on Braker's shoulder.) }}

Kim: "Braker? Walter? Cuddles?"

(They turn to face her.)

Braker: "Ah, hello, Kim."

Cuddles: <Hello~! Those two dragons over there are very nice!>

Kim: "Yes, they are. Well. I just caught three brand-new Pokemon, so... I believe it is time that we depart from the banquet."

Braker: "You caught three new Pokemon?"

Cuddles: <Yay~! What were they?>

Kim: "An Orbeetle, a Centiskorch, and a Shiny Joltik."

Cuddles: <A SHINY JOLTIK?!>

Walter: <Cuddles, please don't get too excited.>

Cuddles: <O-oh! Sorry...>

Walter: <I will admit, though, that is a very interesting find.> (He turns to face Braker.) <I have an idea. After this banquet is over, how about we go to the Wild Area to catch some new Pokemon and film a broadcast?>

Braker: "Well... I have been wanting to fill my team up with more Pokemon recently. Very well, then. That sounds like a good idea."

Cuddles: <Yaaaaay~> (and then it hits him) <Hey, wait a second! We can't leave just yet!>

Braker: "Oh? Why not?"

Cuddles: <We never did our karaoke session!>

Braker: "Oh, that's right..." (to Kim) "Please inform Ian and Evelyn of this. We'll be doing one karaoke session before we go."

Kim: (nods) "Very well, then." (she turns to face Ian and Evelyn) "Ian? Evelyn? Braker's going to be doing some karaoke; would you like to watch?"

Circhester Battle

(Kim looks over at Sinatra, before returning him to his PokeBall.)

Kim: "You did great, Sinatra. I suppose I'll need to train you up a bit more." (She puts his PokeBall back, then turns to Romea.) "Well, Romea, I must say, you did an incredible job." (then, taking out another PokeBall) "But I'm still not going to hold anything back! Red alert, Strummer!"

(She throws the PokeBall, and in a flash, Strummer the Amped Toxtricity appears, glaring over at Romea.)

Strummer: <Oi! Who's this, then?>

Kim: "This is Romea. That's her Trainer, Leonard Braker."

Strummer: <Ah! Pleased ta meetcha!>

Romea: <Same. By the way, nice try, Kim. I'm immune to getting poisoned.>

Strummer: <Yeah, but some'in tells me you're not ta THIS!>

(And with that said, he jumps up in front of Romea and nuzzles up against her, paralyzing her.)

Romea: (grimacing) <Y-you...!>

(Strummer smirks.)

Braker: "Well, we're not going to let a little paralysis stop us now, are we? Romea, use Crush Claw!"

Romea: <How's about THIS, you paralyzer?!>

(She promptly jumps up into the air, her claws glowing in a bright red aura. Seconds later, she smashes them down onto Strummer, knocking him back a bit.)

(Strummer, however, refuses to go down, and pushes himself back up.)

Strummer: <Oi... you're pre'y good, eh?>

(Strummer starts smirking, and all of a sudden the bumps on his chest start glowing a bright white. He strums them, and all of a sudden a barrage of sound waves emerge from them, aiming directly towards Romea.)

Strummer: <WELL, 'OW'S ABOUT THIS?>

NEW MOVE LEARNED

STRUMMER THE AMPED TOXTRICITY: BOOMBURST

(The sudden Boomburst attack catches Romea off-guard, and while she struggles to fight, she soon finds herself being thrown backwards, eventually landing on the ground. A cloud of smoke goes up, and when it fades, Romea is on the ground with swirls in her eyes.)

Romea: (weakly) <Dang, you're good...>

(Strummer turns to face Kim, and they both nod at each other in earnest.)

Studio Palace

The Consultant: "Yes... where is Hetfield?" (then, to herself) And why am I suddenly getting reminded of Metallica?

Kalos Grasslands

(Eventually, after a bit, the Shiny Mr. Mime stands back up, a bit weakly, but still with a huge smile on his face.)

Shiny Mr. Mime: <Whoa...! It's just like I thought! You guys really are awesome! Well, a deal's a deal and a Vow's a Vow. Go on and catch me~!>

Braker: (taking out a PokeBall) "Very well, then!" (and then he stops) "Wait a second... do you have a name by any chance?"

Shiny Mr. Mime: <A name...?>

(He pauses for a few moments, then lights up immediately as a name soon comes to him.)

Shiny Mr. Mime: <Got it! Call me Panto!>

Braker: "Ah. As in pantomime. Fitting. Alright, then!" (he throws the ball) "Welcome aboard, Panto!"

(The PokeBall lands on top of Panto's head, and within seconds he goes inside. The ball then lands on the ground and shakes three times— before the center goes yellow.)

Serkis: <I believe that is a successful capture, Braker!>

Braker: (picking up the ball) "Indeed it is."

(Seconds later, he takes out his Pokedex to scan his new friend, and very soon information comes up:)

SPECIES: MR. MIME (SHINY)

NAME: PANTO

GENDER: MALE

NATURE: IMPISH

ABILITY: FILTER

MOVESET: TRICK ROOM, BATON PASS, PSYCHIC, DAZZLING GLEAM, THUNDER PUNCH

HASSLEMON HANDLE NAME DECIDED

practicalJoker (PJ)

Braker: (smirking, putting away his dex) "Of course."

Serkis: <I must say, Braker, that battle was loads of fun.>

Braker: "Indeed it was, and I'm very eager to use my new friend in battle. Trick Room and Filter are going to be incredible."

Walter: <I have a feeling that they are.>

Cuddles: <I'm so happy we have a new friend~!>

Braker: "Me too, Cuddles."

MEANWHILE IN THE HASSLEMON INTERWEBS...

practicalJoker joined the chat

PJ: HeLlO ThErE~! Is ThErE AnYoNe ElSe HeRe ToDaY?

ZL: Wait a ssecond... are you that Sshiny Mr. Mime?

PJ: ThAt'S Me! My NaMe'S PaNtO!

RM: HOLY—CrAP! BrAKER—ACTUALLY—CAUGHT—YOU?!

PJ: He SuRe DiD! So, WhAt ArE YoUr NaMeS?

ZL: I'm Juless! The Zzangoosse iss my friend Romea!

PJ: WaIt... ArE YoU A SeViPeR?!

ZL: Yep! :P

PJ: WoW! YoU'rE FrIeNdS WiTh A ZaNgOoSe?! ThAt'S CoOl!

RM: WE—ArE—NOT—FrIENDS—JULES!!

ZL: :P

PJ: I LiKe YoU GuYs AlReAdY!

Hi, I’m oghond, and I’m a Rushaholic. Sorry if I annoy you unintentionally. 😅

Studio Palace

-As the Reapers disappear-

You and Daze are right, it's far easier than I was expecting, assuming they were real perhaps summoning them comes with a cost to power, at least for him.

-Starts moving forward-

Galar Beach, past

-To Jacqueline-

If I were to do that we'd be here all night and into the morning.

Edited by rmctagg09 on Jun 16th 2021 at 3:19:18 PM

Eating a Vanilluxe will give you frostbite.

Galar Beach, Past

"I got time."

".. Okay, not infinite time, but I don't have anywhere to be tomorrow. Plus now that you've said all that you got me curious."

Edited by Daydre on Jun 15th 2021 at 5:25:26 AM

off the shits

Galar Beach, past

-To Jacqueline-

Perhaps another time.

Eating a Vanilluxe will give you frostbite.