ITT: We Have All Become Pokémon

Foxfell Inn

PJ: "N-no, why would... that doesn't make any sense, Yalta..."

*My eyes widen as Eliot, in his unhinged state, begins to... melt?*

*(Oh god I broke him I broke Eliot I shouldn't have said anything fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck)

*No no no, can't lose composure. It wouldn't help anyone to go into a panic, especially now. I take a deep breath, hoping to keep cool, but my nerves get the better of me and I end up sounding shaky and hushed.*

PJ: "El, you're scaring me."

"I..."

[I stop, feeling utterly defeated.]

"...it only makes sense...if it's not that, then what can it be..."

[I begin drawing closer towards him again. My form continues to melt away, and it slowly starts to shift...not to any singular Pokemon, but a multitude of them.] "PJ," [I call to him, my voice unknowingly distorted and multiplied, even accompanied by a telepathic ping to him saying the same thing,] "you gotta help me...I need to know what this is...the voice...what is it..." [I'm crying, gasping for air...my mind, my entire being feels like it's in a million pieces, but one thing I know is that he can help me. He can help me understand what's going on with me...]

(As I have slept for the night, it felt almost dreamless. More of the peaceful rest without worrying about hearing my voice telling me to let go and slaughter en masse and bathe in their blood. It was true that I didn't hear that specifically, I heard something worse: screams of others. They echoed throughout the dark out of nowhere, as if I was blinded. Yet, the screams sounded too familiar, voices of companions and enemies new and old. A mix between terror, rage, sorrow, pain, it all filled the space and all directed at me. Even worse, I hear every one of them being reduced to gurgles and moans one by one. Then, there was only silence yet, footsteps replaced them, growing louder and louder with every step. Eventually, they too fell silent as my voice had snaked into my ear.)

   I do love how they scream and beg for mercy. It always brings a smile to my face. Admit it, it brings a smile to yours as well. That's not even going into what I did to them.   

(I tried to look behind me to see it in the eye, but my head refused, staring out to the cold abyss. I mustered up a few questions.) You... What did you do? Why are you still here? Where am I?

   Oh, but I'm afraid I can't answer all of them in time. The morning sun's rising and you don't wanna miss your target. How about a public execution right in front of all those dogs? It'll be a real picnic.   

(The sleep still continued long after his voice grew silent and nothing else was there to replace it. The dream slowly dissipated into nothing until I wake.)

edited 13th Feb '18 1:29:59 PM by Ore-O

Treasure Hunters' Camp

*Sarah actually shows visual surprise with the feedback of her hastily cobbled together Star Wars A New Hope mashup, not really expecting it to make much sense let alone take — further surprised she got away with just making a ton of stuff up about the world, but it's not like they'd be omnimaths or anything. Her shock take is brief, however, as the composes herself to say* Of course, given it's like a 1000 or so year old story, it's probably been warped beyond recognition... *with a smirk*

*pulling out a few berries from her Oran hoard, she finishes by asking* So, anyone else want to give it a try? *and then starts munching away*

edited 13th Feb '18 1:45:34 PM by sarysa

Treasure

Well...like I said before, I don't have any scary stories to tell. My parents never told me any... (Cam admits.)

Room 213

Snaptooth snickers in his sleep as he dreams about his giant head chomping down on the cursed old Poliwrath. Then he smiles fondly as the dream shifts to a different scene entirely...

Snaptooth's Dream

It was a tranquil landscape of snow-covered trees as two Feraligatrs watch their children play on a frozen lake from the shore, the night sky illuminated with an aurora.

The three Totodiles were skipping about and playing on the ice, shivering slightly from the cold but clearly have a fun time. One of them had a slightly darker coloration than the others and was gnawing on a piece of ice. His mother yelled at him.

Snaptooth's Mother: Snappy! Spit that out, you don't know where that ice has been!

Reluctantly, Snappy obeyed. Notably, the Totodile does not have the black marking on his snout as his future self does.

Then the children start laughing as they throw snowballs at each other. Their father chuckles at the sight.

Snaptooth's Father: Honey, I must say, I'm glad we moved here to start a family.

Snaptooth's Mother: Me too. I know our kind typically don't live in cold areas, but the scenery is so enchanting that I just had to move here! Hopefully the kids will be alright...

Snaptooth's Father: I wouldn't worry to much about it, we'll just have to adapt to this, that's all.

The two lean against other as they continue watching their kids with pride.

Room 211

Jack's face had a look of confusion as his dream continues...

Jack's Dream

Jack was losing the game show, his health points at 3,000 while Darth Vader and Bowser were at 9,200 health points and 6,700 health points respectively.

He sighs as it become his turn again. He hopes his aim gets better at this stupid show...

Once Mila reaches the inn room, she pushes open the door and waits for Niles to follow in before closing it and pulling the book out of her bag. She flips between pages a bit before finding the one she's looking for and reading it out loud.

"Agility can best be thought of like a charged attack, though the energy stored up isn't released in a single burst of power. Instead, that energy is focused on movement and attention, which is why the user can't attack in the same turn that they use it. Coincidentally, for any reader who knows Quick Attack, the concept should be somewhat familiar."

Once she's finished reading, she puts the book down and looks over to the Cyndaquil.

"Hmm, does that make sense to you? If not I guess I can try to explain it myself..."

"Quick… Attack… is that how I moved so fast earlier? Hm… so, I have to… to…" I sigh and shake my head. "I dunno."

Foxfell Inn

*Any calmness I feigned before leaves me, overtaken by terror and anxiety. I don't know what to do, he's literally falling apart in front of me and a thousand voices at once are begging for mercy, some right inside my head, all of them his. My mind is racing too fast for me to think of anything that'd help, I can't even pull some kind of vague comfort out of my ass to buy time to think of actual words of support. I feel hopeless, I feel useless, yet at the same time I can't just back down and crawl under the bed. Not when my best friend needs me. Not when the love of my life needs me. Fighting the panic and fear as best as I can, I try to gather up whatever words I can to make this right. In spite of this, I still have a nervous rapidity about me as I speak.*

PJ: "I... don't know what it is, I d- I don't have an answer for this- for that, I mean, but, but..."

(Okay, off to a shitty start, but I've gotta keep going. I can make this work. I need to make this work.)

PJ: "...whatever it is, if it's a, some kind of outside entity or maybe it's just you or whatever it is..."

(Okay, saying that was a terrible idea, but I have to keep going and hope he didn't notice.)

PJ: "...that doesn't matter, I know that's- that it's not why we're here. We're not demons or, or heralds of destruction or... anything like that, and if we are, we've already proven that we're shit at that job, so y-you don't have to worry about that."

(I think I'm salvaging it, just a little more. Make him forget that you're beginning to hyperventilate, PJ, you've got this...)

PJ: "That voice is full of shit, you know? Whatever is... Whatever it is and wherever it's coming from, you don't need to listen to it, you can tell it to piss off, you... We can figure something out, okay? Are you still with me? Please?"

*I quiver a little, vulnerability showing through after that speech or whatever you want to call it. Do I have faith that what I just said might help? Honestly, I'm too frightened to say that I do, especially since I practically bullshitted my way through all of that. I do have hope, though. Hoping is the only thing I can do at this point especially with my confidence crumbling at the sight of Eliot's deterioration.*

As he drifted off to sleep, Noriaki was wrapped in a dream once again.

He recalls a time back as a human, where he stood in the foyer of a mansion with two other butlers and a familiar noblewoman present.

The noblewoman had with her an unfamiliar face: a young maid with straight, black hair. She was looking down shyly.

"I found yet another vassal", the noblewoman said, "She won't be doing quite as much multipurpose tasks as you three, but she should be able to help where she can."

"Also, she is... Similar, in mind, to you. You two may want to talk to each other a bit" she quietly whispered to Noriaki.

The noblewoman left the room, leaving the vassals all to themselves. Being used to their liege bringing in more... "Simple" help for the mansion under her wing, they simply bowed, gave basic greetings, and left.

Noriaki approached the new maid, extending his hand out a bit nervously.

"H-Hello there," he said, "I heard you are... Like me, according to my liege."

She looked a bit surprised, but takes his hand gently and shakes before responding, "Y-Yes, my mind, it just always felt... Tangled up, in many ways. As I grew older I felt it untangled somewhat, but it does still linger. I feel that I'm... Different from everyone else."

Noriaki nods with a smile and says, "I understand exactly what you mean. I never thought to encounter such a kindred spirit, honestly. Perhaps further conversation in the future to see what else we share should prove interesting. And I can promise you, your new liege will take very good care of you."

"Oh, yes... That sounds lovely. Thank you mister...?"

"Noriaki", he answered, "And what is your name, if I may inquire?"

The black-haired maid opened her mouth, but it was at this moment Noriaki awoke from his sleep, breathing heavily.

He looked emotionally overwhelmed. He puts two wings over his own face and sighed heavily before collapsing back in to bed and trying to sleep again.

"Homura...", he whispered in quiet sorrow

Inn Room 211 - Jack's Dream

Jack and Bowser both decided that Darth Vader was the bigger threat as they nod to each other, working together to purposefully raise each other's health points as they bring down Darth Vader's. Soon enough Darth Vader's health points were the first to reach 0 and he fell through a trap door as he's eliminated.

Jack then puts his game face on, as now it's just him and Bowser now.

Inn Room 213

Snaptooth stops smiling as his dream shifts to an unsettling sensation...

Snaptooth's Dream

Snaptooth found himself in a black void with nothing around him in sight.

Snaptooth:   Wh-where am I? H-hello!? Is anyone there!?   

A shadowy figure with a single glowing blue eye showing warps in from the black void. Snaptooth gasped as he recognizes the Pokemon.

Snaptooth:   Are..are y-you really Darkrai!?   

Darkrai:   Does it matter if I am? In the dream world, no one can tell who you really are! But enough of that, you have a choice to make.   

The thing that may or may not be Darkrai summons three identical intricately-carved stone pillars with a square hole in the center of them that's perfectly lined up with each other, each pillar containing a different-colored stone in holes.

[Once more, I stop, though not out of confusion or defeat. I realize what has happened. I've done it again...made myself blind in desperation. I take a moment to "appreciate" the irony of this...with everything else feeling like it's falling apart, so does, well, so does my own body. It's kind of pathetic...]

[I pull back, or the bulk of me does. Was it really all just me? Was it my mind giving myself a reason in the void of one?]

"...I'm with you..." [I look away from PJ and towards one of the walls, or the bulk of me does, I still have pieces of my vision looking at him and the ceiling and the bed and the window...it's hurting to see...I was hoping this would never happen again...]

"...I'm...sorry...you had to see me like this..." [And...well, for everything else, too. No matter how much you stack it, this place just isn't good for me...]

"I think that's what it was, but I'm not sure. Well, I guess it can't hurt to try, right? If you mess up, it's not like it'll hurt anyone... I hope. When I did it I never really focused on it too hard, I just wanted to move really quickly... usually away from something."

Mila wonders for a moment if Niles will be able to learn Agility, though eventually she decides that she'll leave him to his practice if he wants to and curls up on the bed, not quite sleeping yet but trying to rest and not think about the matters that have been worrying her.

Treasure Hunters' Camp

Well, I mean...I derived mine from fiction. *Sarah admits to Cam, adding* Originality's a myth anyway...it's all rehash with the occasional epiphany adding something new...

*for a moment Sarah thinks she's got something to puff, given her pseudo-philosophical blather just then. She instead turns to Milo and nudges him a few times, before saying* So you have to have some kind of story...I know you're all taciturn and stuff, but you can't hold back the good stuff around a campfire, y'know?

Foxfell Inn

*A silent sigh escapes my mouth as Eliot calms down. By some miracle, it worked. I was worried I'd just make things worse without meaning to, but then again, I've got a penchant for thinking up worst-case scenarios.*

PJ: "I'm sorry you have to deal with all of this. You don't deserve it. I wish I could do something more..."

*I sit down on a pillow, my eyes drifting to the bed's comforter. It's surprisingly intact disregarding some wrinkling, I would've expected it to be ripped or covered in fluid, given that Eliot looks like a tinier Pokemon version of Azathoth. Speaking of which...*

PJ: "Well, regardless, I don't think you look too terrible." *I look back up at him.* "Or maybe I'm just saying that because you're not too hard to look at since I know you're still you in there. That being said, think you can uh... forgive me for saying this, but can you try pulling yourself together?"

*A mix between an exhale and a giggle escapes my mouth after that last sentence. It's bad form to laugh at one's own jokes, but I think we both could use the levity.*

-Milo rubs his paws together-

Gather round, everyone, for I have tales of terror to tell...

We were on a ship, me and my hearty crew, when suddenly, they kept finding Swinub! Swinub everywhere, and they kept multiplying! They ate everything, and were threatening to sink the ship!

We tried everything. Cutting off their food, tossing them overboard, playing loud, obnoxious violin music, but they kept coming back!

-he smirks-

Finally, I figured out how to get rid of them - I talked to a Beeheeyem crewmate and she teleported them all onto an enemy pirate ship, where they were no trouble at all!

edited 13th Feb '18 5:50:47 PM by Umbramatic

"...Well, that's one way to deal with that kind of problem."

"Maybe it'd have been more impressive if you drew it out more, tried to suck us in. I mean, it's potentially terrifying, but..."

Treasure

Yeah, I think HB's right. (Cam nods.) I didn't find myself gettin' too scared by that.

[I end up laughing along with him, even if it's a weird eldritch-sounding laugh.] "Yea, I...think I could manage that..." [I am feeling relatively better, I'd say, but I'm still kicking myself over what I'd cobbled up in my mind for myself...and that doesn't take away the worry. Going from a false answer to no answer at all isn't comforting in the slightest, no matter how delicately you phrase it.]

[I settle on a form in my mind...just regular old Eliot Dover, no bells or whistles or other forms. Eventually, I muster up the effort to pull all my disparate parts and pieces back together, my form very slowly coalescing into something like a Smeargle, though not quite there yet. I take a moment to catch my breath, closing my eyes.]

"...y...you said I wasn't hard t'look at...even as...y'know...a blob-thing?"

Foxfell Inn

PJ: "I mean, for a Lovecraftian amalgam, yeah, I could stomach it. Why?"

(Shit, is he catching on? I really am way too obvious about my feelings, aren't I?)

*I attempt to brush off my concerns regarding my possible transparency by introducing another train of thought.*

PJ: "...If you're having second thoughts and you're thinking of staying like that, I have several questions. Most of them about how you function biologically in that state."

[I'm still trying to catch my breath...my malformed arms, even if they're probably semi-reinforced with the structure or musculature of any number of stronger Pokemon, are struggling to keep me upright. I let out a big old yawn...well, I guess I kinda did what I told myself I was gonna do, Transform one last time to tucker myself out, but...this wasn't really what I had in mind.]

"...maybe for the night...but I'll...get myself back to normal in the morning..." [I just fall back down on the bed, not even really bothering to tuck myself in, short guttural groans escaping me as I get myself situated.]

edited 13th Feb '18 6:47:53 PM by BlackMageAnolis

Foxfell Inn

PJ: "I mean, that doesn't exactly look comfortable. I can go grab a midnight snack for you if you need it. Or maybe..."

*I look at my hand and clench it into a fist, some stray sparks crackling through it before I relax my muscles.*

PJ: "Yep, looks like I have a surplus. Think you can soak up an electrical charge like this, or no?"

[I prop myself up a little, my fatigue continuing to give way to general drowsiness. I'm honestly fine either way, I kinda just need sleep now, but I decide to let him help me.]

"Just...be careful...take it...take it slow, a'guess." [Can you do that kind of thing slow? Last I checked, electricity doesn't exactly work like a drip feed.]

"Goodnight, Ma…" I say softly. Hm… I really wanna try it out now. I watch as Mila lies down and wait. I dunno if she's asleep yet, but… "Hey, Mama?" I whisper. "I'm gonna go… get some water." I tiptoe to the door, carefully open it, step out, and shut it as gently as possible. I'm not good at thinking ahead, so I forgot to bring a key with me. I make my way towards the exit of the inn, taking a breath of fresh air as I get out. Now… I just need to figure this out… "Think about… moving faster…"

Foxfell Inn

PJ: "No need to worry, I'll be as careful as possible. You have my word. Now then, could I apply the logic behind Pollen Puff to electricity, or should I... Hm..."

*For a few moments, I ponder the proper way to go about this.*

(I can't see things going well if I try to replicate Pollen Puff 1:1 as an Electric move, so I'll have to think of another way. Maybe I could try to be an organic defibrillator? Or... wait, Parabolic Charge is that health-siphoning move the Helioptile line has, how would that work in reverse? I hardly even know how to use Thundershock, should I even be doing this? ...Eh, fuck it.)

*I place my hands on Eliot gingerly and steady my breathing.*

PJ: "Alright, electricity is most often used for hurting, but now we shall see if it can be used for healing like in our world. Even if this doesn't work, well... I think I saw a Jolteon quill or two on you earlier, maybe you've still got enough of that DNA in you to replicate Volt Absorb? Not gonna find out unless I get this out of the way, of course, here goes."

*I steel myself and take in a deep breath. However, before sending any jolts through El, I can't help myself from saying one of those standard medical personnel lines.*

PJ: "Clear."

*With that, I loose my first jolt. Time to see if my little shock therapy actually works.*