ITT: We are all Pokémon Trainers

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Ersatz Alliance, past

Ersatz!Channah: (beams) Yaay~ Girls' clothes are over this way. And uh, if you're still at all interested in things like this - (wiggles the Trilby) we've got our ever-popular [Canadian] Tuxedo brand (motions to an aisle filled with clothes, jewelry, and accessories made entirely out of blue jean material), and, of course -

As she chatters on, she happens to guide them past a row of mysterious, if dusty-looking armbands, slightly hidden behind a display of mannequins in visually-glitching men's wear.

Ersatz Alliance

(Ingrid looks around at all of the clothes in front of her in wonder.)

Ingrid: "This is wonderful! I can't wait to try things on! Hang on, let me get a shirt..."

(She walks over to get a shirt— only to notice the dusty armbands and the glitching mannequins.)

Ingrid: "Oh...?"

(And then she turns to face Ersatz!Channah.)

Ingrid: "E-excuse me... I don't mean to interrupt, but..." (She points at the armbands.) "What are those?"

(Ananpi notices them, too.)

Ananpi: (to himself) <Ooh~! Weird armband thingies, chuu~>

Ersatz Alliance, past

The Ersatz version of Channah appears to not be paying attention, as she's distracted by her own monologue about the increasingly bizarre fashion selection.

Channah: (to Ingrid) ...Quick, take one while she's not looking! so I can take advantage of the scene to shoplift something else!

Ersatz Alliance

(Ingrid nods.)

Ingrid: "W-will do." (then, thinking to herself) Those look very mysterious... maybe a bit too mysterious...

(She reaches over and takes one, but doesn't put it on.)

Silas had to admit, Kendall had a point.

"Still, I want it to be on my terms, not the Rampant Pory's," Silas noted.

There was a sudden jerk and then, "Captain we have docked with the Stormchaser."

Silas sighed once more.

Stormchaser, today

Ersatz Alliance, past

Ersatz!Channah: (Loss Prevention Senses activated) ...Hey!

Channah: (freezes)

Ersatz!Channah: (smiling brightly) I see you found our - (notices the armband) - Eugh, not those things. Ugly little 90s-esque non-functioning bracelets. Really? Is that what you wanna try on?

Channah: ...Yeah, that's right.

Ersatz!Channah: Eh, whatever. Some people just don't have a sense of style.

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Stormchaser

Trace the Shatterer? Templar, definitely, guess that answers if they're a runaway. Willing to help others they don't know so potentially capable of being reasoned with, but definitely has a ruthless side as seen with this Templar and Aislinn...

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Wyndon Alleyway - August 21

-By this point, the Sandstorm (well, granite-storm) and the cloying darkness still filling the alleyway make it almost impossible to see anything beyond a few feet ahead. Spectrum's flames seem to have hit Sloth, judging by the angered roar from somewhere within the dust, but it's hard to tell.-

-It's definitely not ideal battlefield conditions, that's for sure - but it is ideal if you're a narrator trying to focus on a few individual moments! So let's do that.-

-For starters, there's Alice, who is slightly disoriented and very drained as a result of attempting a pretty significant Aura Transfer - and in that state, Brie slips free from Belladonna's Grassy Terrain.-

Alice: Brie, don't- damn it...!

-At Brie's orders, Calamity's razor-sharp crystals rain down on Rogue - only to be swallowed up by an inky black portal that seems to open mere inches away from their destination.-

Livius: Uh-uh. This pawn's served me well so far, you won't be damaging them on my watch. Unless you want an upgrade from Extra Crispy to Nuclear Shadow, that is.

-Almost like a ghost, he steps out of the maelstrom around him, standing between Kai and Rogue and turning to scowl at the former.-

Livius: Speaking of which, did you really think sticking a gun in their face was gonna work? As much fun as it would be to watch you do something you'd regret for the rest of your short little life, we all know you don't have the balls to pull the trigger. You won't do it for me, the highest grade of villain in your eyes, let alone some poor ensorcelled fool in a costume. You killing Carmilla was a fluke. An irreplicable result, only possible because that old hag was blinded by ego and complacency. So why don't we drop the act, hmm?

Stormchaser

Okay, Ynos.

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Wyndon Alleyway — Aug 21

-Regardless of whatever's going on in the rest of the battle, let's focus on one moment in particular.-

-Rogue winces just before the cluster of crystals gets blocked, but doesn't let down their guard as they're guarded in kind. (Well, for lack of a better term than "in kind".)-

Rogue: ...

-Aside from her barely-controllable shaking, Kai stands stock still as Livius steps in between herself and Rogue. She keeps the gun trained exactly as it was, both hands holding it in what little bit of theoretical gun-handling basics she knows. She's quiet for a moment.-

Kai: ...Their— their Aura was blocked a-anyway. But yours isn't, Cain.

-She points it a couple feet to the right of where Livius is shielding Rogue, and pulls the trigger.-

Edited by BittersweetNSour on Sep 29th 2021 at 10:45:31 AM

Cassander's Castle

The fists made impact. There wasn't a lot of dust (the floors were impeccably clean) but the force still managed to rattle the surrounding environs. The two were now locked, with neither being able to budge much.

The force stuns Igor. He was stopped in his tracks by a child several times smaller than the form he's taken. He was heaving hard to try and push, but the child seemed to match him well. Heck, it dawns on him that this was a miracle his current form wasn't injured by the resulting recoil. Or something.

As familiar as he was with human forms and the moves of powerful pokémon, he wasn't exactly well versed in physics. How any of this works is outside his wheelhouse.

He stands up, wiggles his arms around, and transforms back into a rather disheveled, exhausted looking human.

Igor: He's made his point, doc. Kid's strong. Very strong. Ach, my aching pseudopods.

Cassander: You're quitting? You appeared evenly matched.

Igor: Exactly. We're just gonna wear each other out if I don't transform into something else. And I'm not fighting him mano e mano as a man-o, if you know what I mean.

Cassander: Quite. I've seen enough. A promising performance. Igor you are free to take a break for the next two hours.

Igor nods and moves away from the hall, likely to his quarters. Cassander turns to Dr. Azala with a contented grin on his face. The specimen was exactly how Azala and her colleagues described him. Of course, he wasn't about to test the jumping thing indoors.

Cassander: Impressive. And this is just a clinical match. Igor was not instructed to do anything other than try to overpower him. Krypton should be ready for field testing soon.

He stabs one of the other dishes in the table, chops.

Cassander: Down here we spend a lot of time hunting for Mamoswine that roam the grounds. Ferocious creatures; they don't go down without a fight, but go so well with a delicious herb gravy. The schoolchild currently under my supervision has boar hunting as his main training. Perhaps he'll soon apply his strength strategically.

Such a strategic ubermensch would be a force to be reckoned with.

Ersatz Alliance

(Ingrid pauses.)

Ingrid: "W-well... actually, I was just going to buy this and try it on later, but if you insist..."

(She slips it onto her wrist— and the second she does, she suddenly finds herself surrounded by a bright blue light, along with white particles of light that are meant to resemble snowflakes. The light promptly gets brighter and brighter, and Ingrid looks around herself in confusion and shock.)

Ingrid: "W-what's happening to me...?!"

(Eventually, she is lifted up off of the ground, and eventually becomes encased in a ball of light. In front of her, for a split second, Japanese characters suddenly appear, reading:)

ユキハミ (YUKIHAMI)

(And then, just as quickly, they vanish. Ingrid squints through the light as it blinds her vision, trying to see what the katakana were.)

Ingrid: "What was that...?!"

(And then her human body gets Thanos-snapped. Ananpi, who by this point has jumped off of Ingrid's shoulder, stares up at his Trainer in awe as her body explodes into particles, swirl around for a bit, then seconds later reform themselves— into the body of a Snom. Soon afterwards, the blue light fades, and Ingrid- now a Snom, with the armband stuck around her body for obvious reasons- falls to the floor.)

Snom!Ingrid: (beat) <AAAAAHHHH-!>

(She hits the floor, and lands, a bit dizzy.)

Snom!Ingrid: <Owwww... what happened...?>

(Beat.)

Snom!Ingrid: <Wait... why does everything around me look so big?>

(beat, she notices Ananpi, who is staring down at her)

Snom!Ingrid: <A-Ananpi...! You're... you're huge!>

(Ananpi, meanwhile, squeals upon seeing Ingrid's new form, and goes up to her and pets her with his pedipalp.)

Ananpi: <AAAAAHHHH~! You're so small and adorable~! I love you already, chuu~>

(Ingrid, meanwhile, chuckles.)

Ingrid: <W-why thanks, Ananpi, but I didn't—> (She pauses.) <Wait a minute... I- I can understand you! W-why can I suddenly understand you?! W-what's going on?!>

Wyndon Alleyway - August 21

Livius: FUCK!

-The illusion of Livius in front of Rogue fades as the real Livius, standing a few feet to the side, staggers backwards clutching a bleeding gunshot wound to the shoulder.-

Livius: ...You know what? Fuck this. We've made our point, we're done here. And you better be with me on the way out, Rogue, 'cause you know exactly what happens if you try and end our contract early.

-He withdraws Sloth, then looks up at Kai with a contorted snarl.-

Livius: As for you, Mx. Kai? This isn't the end. I have all of eternity to bring you low. You, and everyone you've ever cared about, and everyone who shares your blood. I am a patient man, and the one thing I have in abundance is time.

-No sooner has he said this than a Cofagrigus bursts out of the shadows behind him, having emerged from his Phantom Force.-

Mephisto: <Uhehehehehe! Mistress wouldn't be pleased with her little pogchamp, oh no!>

Livius: Wait, what did you- listen, I'm the one in charge now, not her, so shut that yammering lid of yours and-!

Mephisto: <Too late, too late!    Bad boys have to leave the party early~   >

-His lid slams shut around Livius, and he withdraws, the two vanishing into the shadows.-

-With that, the storm of granite shards begins to fade and the shadows withdraw, bringing the rest of the alley back into view. Kneeling in one impressively red-stained part of it is Kahlia, still bleeding quite profusely from her thigh wound.-

-She grips a section of her costume in her teeth and tries to tear off strips for bandages - alas, it seems like she's played herself, as the fabric is simply too sturdy for that. After a few attempts, she gives up and stoops to grab her mask off of the floor, tying its strap around her thigh to act as a tourniquet.-

-It's at this point that she becomes aware of the existence of others in her peripheral vision, and gives a dazed smile.-

Kahlia: Heeeeeey! We really showed him, huh...?

-She slumps against the opposite wall.-

Stormchaser, Chiyo Zone

Jade: Uh, I'm Jade Arens.

???: Risky Nettle. Your eyes are a very distinctive shade of purple.

Wyndon Stadium

-Emma recoils, but scowls and Psychics again-

Kalos Forest

-The tree falls over, creating a path into the rest of the forest-

Olivia: <...I'm not sure that was how that was meant to be solved but. It's solved! That's good!>

Kalos Forest, August 31st

Makoto: -Runs across the tree bridge, followed by her trainer-

Stormchaser, yesterday

Chiyo: -To Risky- Interesting name, did you choose it? And yeah I get that a lot.

-To both-

So what brings you two aboard?

Stormchaser, today

Ironic they got killed by a "failure" then.

Wyndon, Alleyway

Brie: Ensorcelled?

-she points, lets out a high-pitched, warbling whistle-

Calamity: <Aww, I hate this move.>

-nevertheless, they let out a whistle of their own, glimmering lights spraying out towards Rogue-

Lee House

-Gale took a deep breath and shook her head-

It'll take too long to assemble them all. We need to do this thing realside...

-She slips through the open door leading backstage-

Kalos Forest

Eh, maybe we were supposed to give it a solid wallop with the Thousand-Fold Arms. Regardless, onwards!

Wyndon Stadium

-Gale takes a moment to reverse and flip up the collar of her cloak, revealing a white frill resembling a crown-

Beyond this world, there is a force of empathy that connects humans and their partner Pokemon! By that power I have been gifted, I bring you forth!

-She pulls a crystalline Pokeball from her belt and flashes the eyes of her helmet yellow-

Tyrantanoth Rex, mutate!

-Despite the different wording, it appears what she does is just a normal Dynamax, letting out the enlarged dinomon who promptly shakes the stadium with a roar. Gale does a little spin and laugh as she revels in the sound-

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Wyndon Alleyway — Aug 21

-Rogue winces at Calamity's Confuse Ray, shielding where their eyes probably are behind their helmet.-

Rogue: Ah, gods damn it—

-They glance over at Kai, who is still staring exactly where Livius disappeared from — as if expecting him to appear again, ready to fire again if necessary.-

Rogue: ...Fuck this. Sucks to be you guys.

-And they duck into the shadows, promptly disappearing.-

-It's quiet for a moment.-

-Kai doesn't seem to react to any of the various injuries around them.-

Kai: ...Avada. P-please. Take us back to— to the Stormchaser.

-And thus:-

Stormchaser — Union Room — Aug 21

-Everyone left in the alleyway finds themselves here.-

-Kai lowers the gun, and takes her finger away from the trigger, but doesn't let go of it, nor stop staring out the Union Room's main door silently, trembling.-

Edited by BittersweetNSour on Sep 30th 2021 at 10:38:38 AM

Wyndon Stadium, September 16th

It's been a odd group of mons thus far apart from the Inteleon, but it's what I'd expect from them. The Falinks numbering the same amount as an actual [Roman] contubernium with a funny Monese accent, and this Tyrantrum with an odd Aura. Will have to ask them what they've been up to once we're done here.

-As the Dynamaxed Tyrantanoth Rex looms-

Using it that early? They're afraid, but I could tell that already. Hmm, Hendrix is definitely on the back foot here, but I don't feel like Dynamaxing or switching out yet.

Hendrix, you feel like staying in?

Hendrix: <Yeah!>

Alright then Hendrix, use Toxic!

Hendrix: -Strums his chest to a certain beat before spitting out some gunk at Tyrantanoth Rex-

Stormchaser, today

I should probably ask Chiyo about this when I'm done here, as least to eliminate the possibility of this being her Batch's Osmium...