ITT: We Have All Become Pokémon

Foyer

(I take one of the Berries Gerome brought and eat it. There has to be some way I can make sure Noriaki and everyone else is alright...)

(...)

(Dinah, you dunce, you can just dig down to them like you just did! Perhaps you can even make a path for them back up! ...Well, Noriaki and the others could simply fly them back up. In any case, I begin to dig—)

(Oh no, what about Sally? I haven't checked on her since this fight started! Oh no...I have so many I want to make sure are alright...!! I quickly dig my way back to the back hallway that we came in from first. Checking on Sally shouldn't take long and then I can quickly dig down to the lower floor where everyone else is.)

(I emerge not far from her.) Sally? Are you alright? (I whisper to her.)

Whew...! (Back in the foyer, Marsha is relieved that someone is coming to Marlon's aid. While L'Arachel is distracted, she flings another piece of rubble at her.)

(Meanwhile, Dodie grimaces as L'Arachel fires the Hyper Beam at Mila. Gene regains his senses and fires another Flamethrower at L'Arachel.)

Foyer

And now the real aid comes. Neph and being able to cut, Gerome for having Leftovers and Berries. I dart my eyes over to the inbound Scolipede, trying to grunt out what I need through the adrenaline (and pain).

P-please. Just get this piece of pillar out of my leg so Koss can help me further.

Figuring he's helped square away the first aid problem Kevin heads back into the fray and fires a Water Gun at L'Arachel.

Edited by Team42Larson on Jun 30th 2020 at 9:40:13 AM

L'Arachel's Manor — Foyer

Woodruff pokes his head up upon hearing they need something Cut. It still pains him to see Marlon's leg gored out like that...

"I suppose..." He pushes himself up onto his paws. "...I could help out..." He walks over towards Marlon, the grimace on his face growing bolder as he nears the Gallade's injured leg.

[Bracing myself on my staff, I try and get my hand situated under the shield—]

[I hear footsteps behind me. A burst of fear expedites my picking up the shield, and I swivel around with it and staff in hand to find...]

"...Autumn." [I feel her try to move me away from the epicenter. As much as she can try to bring me out, I can't bring myself to move much more than a couple steps...]

Foyer

Whomever actually goes to cut it, be it Neph or Woodruff, would find that thankfully despite doing a number to Marlon's leg, the piece of pillar isn't that hard to cut out. The big trade off, though, is that it's roughly 1.5 inches in diameter from end to end, and would take a small bit of effort to grab hold. Otherwise, no major troubles should ensue in cutting.

Edited by Team42Larson on Feb 9th 2019 at 4:22:53 AM

He starts hyperventilating. "St-Stop, I don't wanna…" He groans, speaking in a low growl. The Quilava begins squirming in his seat. "Don't…!" His voice is afflicted with some recognizable emotion, as opposed to the mostly monotonous drone (excluding occasional fits of anger, that is) from before.

L'arachel's Manor, Foyer

"Arright, y'all do that, ah'll hold it tight. Treat it like it's rooted ta the groun'."

Koss shifts his focus, and Marlon would likely feel the weight lift off of his chest and centralize itself around his injured leg, holding everything where it stands like his leg is completely frozen. It takes Koss a fair amount of concentration and effort to do this without causing further by jolting the object, so he can't pay much attention to the others coming to help, but at least they have that luxury.

Mila is considerably less lucky, as her evasive maneuvers to prevent herself from being grabbed by the first attack leave her mid-leap when the Hyper Beam approaches. Before she can process anything, Mila is thrown back against a wall and all she can feel is her entire body screaming at her in pain as she slumps down and struggles to keep consciousness. After a few moments, even that fails, and she can feel her thoughts slipping away into a deep sleep. Though she's not sure why, she feels like her body is working its hardest to keep her going.

"Come on, Eliot, we have to—"

Autumn's attempts to drag the Salazzle to safety stop when she sees L'arachel attack Mila and she finds herself immediately rushing back over, moving as fast as she can to try to recover Mila from where she'd fallen. Eliot can still move, still get to safety on his own, but she— Autumn can't let this happen. She struggles to lift up the Raichu, pulling the unconscious body into her grasp and looking back over to the Vespiquen in fear. She knows that there's no hope of reason, but all she can do is try to appeal to her anyways.

" Please, she can't— she's unconscious, don't do anything else to her."

As Dinah resurfaces where Sally should have been hiding, she would find that the Clamperl was nowhere to be found. However, considering the corridor only leads in two directions and one is right back to the foyer, determining which way she must've gone whether by her own free will or not isn't exactly a difficult task.

Foyer

Yeeowch...! (Dodie grimaces as Mila is thrown back.) She okay? (She shouts in her's and Autumn's direction.)

Outside the foyer

(Where'd she go WHEREDSHEGOWHEREDSHEGO???) Sally...? (I spring out of the hole I made in the floor.)

Sally? SALLY?? (Oh no, I should have stayed back here with her! Where is she? Well, she certainly can't be in the foyer where everyone is still fighting L'Arachel...she must have gone back up the hallway.)

(Forgetting about Noriaki and the others entirely, I run back up the hallway, making sure to leave no stone unturned as I search for Sally.)

Ballroom

I think he's waking up! (Cole says to the others still around Nyquil.)

Edited by kablammin45 on Feb 9th 2019 at 9:33:41 AM

Ballroom

Dana jumps to attention and readies the berry she was given.

Unfortunately, Cole would be incorrect. Despite the speech and movement, Nyquil doesn't seem like he'll be waking up fairly soon. But, even though he's still sleeping, he falls out of his chair. "Ngh, no...!" He grunts. His body forces itself to its feet. "D-Don't... don't make me do this...!" His legs tremble, but he starts shakily walking towards the ballroom exit. "Stop... Why won't you stop...?!" He groans, almost as if he's begging. He trips on his own feet and falls over again. "Gah...!" However, he stands once more and continues trudging. All without opening his eyes.

Edited by shrubBird on Feb 9th 2019 at 1:05:41 PM

[Fatal Bloom]

"Alright, let me see what I can do", said Nephenee before using Cut as directed.

A few Combee take the initiative to try and shield L'Arachel, but their self-directed formation is weak and is washed away by the Water Gun as the Flamethrower and Rock throw hit the Vespiquen dead-on.

The Draco Meteor also manages to make a direct hit from the back.

As the dust settles from all the hard blows, L'Arachel is standing in the same exact spot, her head hanging to the side from the harsh impacts. She has clearly sustained a great deal of damage with visible injuries.

"   Hm... Perhaps Hyper Beam was a bit superfluous   ", she contemplated out loud, "   Rather impressive, my growing recklessness and excitement along with your growing desperation and aggro combined to hurt me quite a bit.   "

The noblewoman looked down to Autumn as she returned to a normal position. Her menacing red eyes held an image of the Braixen's reflection.

"   ... Ohoho~   "

"   Making requests from me nicely now, Princess? I must say... The mere sight of this makes me want to oblige. But it is not out of honoring your wishes entirely that I pull the curtains of this act, no...   ", the Vespiquen said, bringing a hand under her own mouth, "   This display of power was rather satisfying to me, so I think I will allow you have this small intermission before I move on and claim everything as my own.   "

She suddenly was in the air above again, the swarm surrounding her in a circle. Some of them were already beginning to patch up the damage she received.

"   Take a visit to my throne room once you feel prepared for your front row seat to the world's empress taking her place. Do be sure to take anyone who would be interested in attending.   "

And with that, she and her swarm fluttered out of the foyer, through the large hallway that led to deeper within the manor.

[The Pit]

Hikari nodded and scurried over to Grigori, quickly holding her claws to him, and doled out a surge of Heal Pulse.

"My healing is very potent", she explained, "I will heal you as well, do not worry. And..."

As the Fragrance Pokemon moved on to use Heal Pulse on Eliza as well, she seemed concerned over something and asked, "... You are Noriaki's... Friends, are you not? Did you see where he feel to? I did not fall very hard... I think he may have tossed me to safer ground as he fell. I am grateful for that, but it makes me fear for him."

Edited by Konkfan7 on Feb 10th 2019 at 5:47:18 AM

Foyer

Neph's efforts to cut do in fact slash away at the pillar enough for Koss to get to work in wrapping the wound fully.

L'Arachel is giving us a damn break. Finally...

Guh.....

I breathe a sigh of relief as the piece of pillar finally gets (mostly) driven out of my leg thanks to Neph using Cut to help Koss really start to get to work on helping me.

The fuck are we gonna do? She again handed our asses to us again and now she's preparing to deliver one hell of a final stand...

Meanwhile, Kevin thinks much the same but keeps to himself for now. Anyone can approach him, though.

Edited by Team42Larson on Feb 11th 2019 at 9:12:54 AM

Ballroom

Looks like I spoke too soon... (Cole says. He follows Nyquil and gently lifts him up off the ground.) Hey, are you okay?

Foyer

(With the battle over for the time being, Gene and Dodie hurry over to Mila and Autumn.)

Man, what a trooper that Mila is, huh? (Dodie remarks.) Just kept going until that last Hyper Beam.

Do we have any Berries or anything else to give her? (Gene asks.)

(Marsha, meanwhile, kicks in L'Arachel's direction after passing by them and turns her attention to Marlon.)

Reckon we're just gonna hafta get ready ta go after her and kick her buggy butt again. Ya comin' along okay, Marly? (She asks Marlon, sitting down.)

Hallway

(...The buzzing is getting louder...did L'Archel send some of the Combees after me? I spin around.)

(It's an entire battalion of Combees AND L'ARACHEL IS WITH THEM!! I feel my heart stop as I see her approaching. Why won't my legs move? Why can't I move? MOVE, DINAH, MOVE!!)

(I finally force myself to begin frantically digging into the floor again, but I know I'm already too late to escape before they reach me.)

L'Arachel's Manor: Foyer

Of course, she like a roaming legendary: she can't stop fucking moving! Goddamnit.

I calmed down and listened to what the others had to say...

   Umm...what about the others...the ones who fell in that pit? Should we leave them and track down L'Arachel?   , I asked, confused, to the others, while I was looking at it.

Ballroom

Dana jumps to attention and runs over to Cole.

"Niles?"

The Pit

(When my wounds have been patched up, I grabbed my glasses and put them on my face. When I looked at who gave them, my pain had practically melted away, physically and mentally. Thank god. She's still alive. Then, I grew worried for another one of us, as Hikari noted.)

(Eliza looked at the Aromatisse and around the area.) Yes, we are. And I'm afraid we haven't. (She inspected the area around them for any holes or crevasses he would have ended up in. Then, she looked at me and spoke.) Forgot to say thank you for saving me.

(My heart felt soothed by the sound of her voice. All these feelings. It felt as though a part of me came back to life. I had to reply back. Just like Mila said, like Nori said.) Y-you're welcome... You've probably forgotten my name after all this.

(She held my wing and from her, I sensed some warmth. Peace even.) I still remember, Grigori. (I almost wanted to embrace her right on the spot. Just forget about the pain and enjoy this moment, even if it lasts as long as one. Almost by instinct, I committed, not willing to throw away this chance. To my surprise, she returned the favor. It might have lasted a few seconds, but it felt so long the last time this happened. Yet, we had to let go. After all, we have someone else to save. I looked around the cavern, trying to call out.) Nori! Where are you? (I just hoped he's still alive.)

The Wrecked Foyer

(Damn. Even after that, she's just healing it off? What in Arceus' name is this bee made out of? Even without the burnout, he won't be able to overtax her healing and that attack just sealed the deal. If this were any situation, he'd just cut his losses and left while she was still distracted. Too late now. And then, she left. Arsene thought to himself, what do we do now? All they can do is lick their wounds while they still can. He kept to himself as well, trying to recuperate from the fight. He looked down below to see her with that Decidueye and Aromatisse, the former two on their feet.)

(The swarm above Zelda dispersed, L'Arachel along with them. She flew above, carrying the Aegislash with her. Along the way, she looked at the group, relieved that none of them have perished. The buzzing of the Combee as well as the acoustics of the cave had drowned out what came from up top. Worriedly, she questioned the group.) What's happening now?

(Claude came to, seeing the destroyed foyer and the confused and dejected faces of their group. He wondered what happened before he was placed on solid ground, berries being sent to him by Zelda.)

L'arachel's Manor, Foyer

Koss continues work on the bandaging, moving carefully to not jostle the area while he passes the bandages around it. He works on in silence until everything seems stable, and ties off the wrapping at the lower end with a tight knot. With that handled, Koss finally tries to take in his surroundings again to determine the next step.

"Even wit' this, ah'd prefer if ya weren't movin', but ah can't carry ya. We ain't got a stretcher, neither."

Autumn simply stares at the bouncers, trying to process everything that's just occurred. Her body feels heavy under the weight she's carrying, but she refuses to let go of Mila for even a moment. Not after all this.

"I... don't know. I can feel her breathing, but I just want to get her out of here."

Autumn looks around for a way to exit, before noticing that some of the other groups had rejoined them. Her worries remind her of their other goal, and she shouts out to them in hopes of at least some relief of her fears.

"Niles! Where is he? Did you find him?"

Mila remains unconscious, her breathing growing deeper and more regular.

L'arachel's Manor, Halls

As Dinah digs down, she might be able to hear a voice far away from her calling out, echoing through the manor.

"Mommy? Where are you? I wanna go home!"

Foyer

Well, it could always be worse...

I tell Marsha. And thusly the bandages go on. Physical, mind you. Mentally....perhaps not. Koss is telling me that I really should not be moving the leg...but...I feel like I have to help everyone else finally stamp out L'Arachel. Yet all the same, I also feel like listening to the advice of someone who probably knows far more about things like this than I do should be the way to go.

Well, okay...if Marsha can carry me forward.

To which I turn to Marsha.

When we get up to whatever throne room she's hiding in either get me out of the way completely or in a position to snipe her with ranged moves.

Kevin approaches Rainmaker.

Uh, dude..while three of them can fly, they might not be in a best position to get out of their own accord..

Regardless he then turns the others, offering some speculation about Niles.

He's probably still with some of the group who went after him...regardless, in whatever shape we're in...we have to be ready for her. Before this I've never been in serious fights like this but I just know she isn't in any mood to mess around.

Edited by Team42Larson on Feb 11th 2019 at 3:21:09 PM

As soon as he's picked from the ground, he immediately begins to squirm, trying to escape. "A-Agh! Le-Lemme go!" He grunts. "Ngh... Why are you doing this?!" It seems that, whatever it is that he sees, is several times more turbulent than the actual happenings of the ballroom. "STOOOOOP!!" Suddenly, a gust of hot air is blasted out from his body. It's not hot enough to do any kind of real damage, but it is still uncomfortably warm, almost like a powered-down Heat Wave. Cole will probably take the brunt of it, with Dana and Whitney receiving a warm breeze at most.

Edited by shrubBird on Feb 11th 2019 at 3:41:54 PM

[Halls]

L'Arachel and her Combee swarm buzz overheard, hauling themselves directly past Dinah further in to the manor, not even seeming to take note of the Krokorok.

[Foyer]

Gerome speaks up, "Really, all it looks like we can do is try and regroup before going after her."

The two beetles came closer, both out of their Mega Forms.

"I just hope that Aromatisse lady knows Heal Pulse, Arceus knows we all could use some rounds of that", said Hector, with Achilles leaning on him.

"Making sure we're all alright and ready to move takes priority before going to face that crazy Vespiquen again", said Nephenee, "I just KNOW she's gonna be building more power or some crap like that while we keep her waiting, but we really need to pick ourselves up before anything..."

[The Pit]

After healing Grigori, Hikari wastes no time going to heal Eliza as well.

Grigori's call is met only by the subtle sound of a halfhearted groan.

"... We should see about getting to them quickly."

Once Eliza was healed enough, Hikari wasted no time beginning to run down the rocky path created by the rubble and debris.

Eventually going down, Noriaki would be seen leaned down in the middle of the pit's base where all the flowing water gathered in a shallow pool. Assorted rubble decorated the Decidueye's surroundings.

Montresor was off to the side, facing the wall in a similar defeated-looking potion. Notte was watching from the side with concern on his face.

Foyer

Sure thing, Marly! (Marsha says, hefting Marlon up to his feet.)

(She looks around at everyone and soon realizes something.) ...Uh...where's da Bookworm?

Ballroom

(Startled, Cole nearly drops Nyquil straight down onto the ground, but doesn't and simply falls backwards onto his rump. Fortunately, that didn't hurt him as much as it could have, but still...something is clearly very wrong.)

Hey, maybe we should see if they found Hikari. (He tells the others.) Now while he's still asleep...

Hallway

(I feel as though hours are passing as L'Arachel pass by over me like I'm not even there. I was so certain that I was history...)

(Now that they're gone, I can go back to searching for—SALLY! That was her! Where is she now? I return to running down the hallway in search of her.)

Sally? Can you hear me? Where are you?! (I call.)

Exerting himself like that, all rowdy and wriggly, when his body isn't in the best condition causes hom more pain, especially in his chest. "Urgh…!" He coughs and sputters a little, the kicking and squirming finally ending. He catches his breath before whimpering, "P-Please… no more… I just… wanna go home…"

L'Arachel's Manor: Foyer

   Ah...okay, I guess...   , I said quietly to the Blastoise.

I gave Marsha a confused look.    The...Bookworm...?   , I asked, confused.

Edited by Theyja on Feb 11th 2019 at 6:27:59 PM

Foyer

I get helped to my feet by Marsha, which probably isn't the best thing all things considered but I grab hold of one of her shoulders and prop my bad leg up so I'm not putting pressure onto it while still getting carried along and up to our next fight. I groan in pain as I get myself set and stable.

Dinah? She slipped out I'm pretty sure to find that Clamperl kid we found while trying to rescue Hikari..why? I really don't know.

Pretty sure that's her nickname for Dinah.

Kevin asides to Rainmaker before looking back down in the pit. He doesn't know where they are in there, but he's gonna yell down to get their attention.

Hey! You guys okay down there? Need help getting back up here?

Edited by Team42Larson on Jun 30th 2020 at 9:41:06 AM

L'Arachel's Manor: Foyer

   Of fucking course it's the Krokorok lady...   , I muttered to myself, annoyed.

   But yeah! Just as Marlie said, Dinah went to search for that Clamperl child! I don't think so it'll take a while to find her!   , I informed the others.

The Pit

(Without another word, we followed her to see the three, some of whom are lying around. No blood in the water. That's a good sign. I approached him with a wing to help him up. When I heard from one of them outside, I replied.) Nothing our little lady won't fix up! Looks like some sort of sewer system, but I'm not sure!

(Meanwhile, Eliza approaches the Bisharp, looking around the scenery.) What is this place?

Foyer

(Claude eventually raised himself and made his way towards the shield, his ward looking at him with concern. The old Mock Kelp looked at the kitchen where they emerged from, knowing who's back there, waiting for them. For now, all they can do is lick their wounds.)