ITT: We Have All Become Pokémon

Even though Autumn's still got a hold on me, I let go and manage to turn around. I pull in both the Alolan Vulpix and the Growlithe in for another hug. Not entirely sure why I bothered to hug the Growlithe, too. I mean, I don't need to explain why I'd hug Dana, but the other girl? Probably because she's crying. "… I'm so sorry."

L'Arachel Arena

Now'd be a good time ta do somethin', Bookworm, it's now or nevah! (Marsha tells me before running forward a little bit and firing what looks like either a Water Gun or a Scald.) It's a Scald.

(All right, maybe I should start by...showing her my war face like I did the first time we faced her? Did that actually do anything? I try to swallow my nervousness and glare at L'Arachel, letting out a snarl for good measure. (I can't believe that noise is coming out of my throat...)) Along with Intimidate activating, Dinah inadvertently uses Growl.

Foyer

(Still rather concerned, Gene circles around the Gardevoir and looks out the window to see who or what is out there. He's a bit surprised when he sees a lone Bulbasaur out there and not a bigger or stronger Pokémon.)

Hello? Are you in league with L'Arachel? (He asks.)

Throne Room

Now, hold on.

I pull myself up against the wall a bit and turn my attention full blown toward Sally-

Okay, I'd still like to know what happened with Eliot but this kid has piqued my interest.

What exactly does your mom do for a living?

Battlefield

Kevin looks down at the necklace around his neck. Actually, he's never exactly figured put what the hell this thing even is. Whatever, it would probably come into play later.

For now he fires away with a Water Gun.

"Huh?!" She's thrown even more with a hug given to her by the person she just fought minutes ago.

"N-No, it's okay! You just went through hell, I'm just... being moody for some reason. It's okay!" Whitney can't do much in return, being a quadruped.

L'Arachel's Manor, Throne Room

[Marlon's question catches me off guard a little. It is still me, he should know that...though I should probably simmer down this light. I do just that, feeling my body cool off a little.] "Claude's shield was still too big, so I...I made some adjustments. And then I had to take a pit stop, and I made a little Sketch along the way." [It should be coming up any minute now...though thinking on it, them potentially coming out at random or however they would could be...hnnn...]

[Koss says something next. Ignoring that harrowing thought for now, I answer,] "I, I know, I'm feelin' the wear a little..." [That ladder really didn't help.] "...but I'm kinda used to feeling like shit and still...going..." [Right. Sally.] "...from...competitions back home. Track?" [I shake my head.] "Anyway, I'll, I'll manage."

[I pull my bag from over my shoulder.] "Actually, could you keep this here with you? The strap's already mangled..." [It's then I realize again that I don't have the shawl anymore. Man, that thing was something else. It looked like some expensive thing you'd see on display at a Belk's, but it was yours for the price of one kidnapping. And PJ blowing a hole through it minute one...well, it gave it some more character. I do miss it a little, its silk or whatever laying against my fur...or scales, I guess. I hold out the bag for Koss to grab, or just drop it down if he doesn't]

Seeing that Eliot's mostly engaging with Koss, Woodruff brings his attention back over to Sally, waiting for her to answer Marlon's question to her.

Vs. L'Arachel

   Hohohohoho...we sure will...   , he said confidently to L'Arachel.

Oh well, it seems that decided to use a Discharge. When she did that, I tried to distance myself from her, so I wouldn't get hit from it. But man, Mila suddenly seemed to be in a really bad mood, didn't she? I was in a bad mood a while ago, heheh...

Since mostly everyone was going for special attacks, I also did: I fired at Psychic wave at the shiny Combee who are circling around L'Arry.

Edited by Theyja on Feb 20th 2019 at 6:41:40 PM

Manor, Foyer

Dana is also a bit taken aback when Nyquil goes in for the hug, but she doesn't resist. ".. You're fine now, it's okay.."

Dana's body is a little cold, but I guess that's to be expected. The Growlithe, however, feels pretty warm. I can't actually tell if I'm feeling warmer or colder…
I can't tell if it's mainly hot or cold, but I can tell that it hurts.
And just like that, I gradually start remembering what my dream was. My heart rate accelerates and I unintentionally give the two girls a light push. I quickly snake my way out of Autumn's grasp and start scittering away from the three of them.

[Apotheosis]

The swarm's ranks do take considerable damage from Mila's sudden Discharge. Some of their numbers positioned themselves forward to take the frontal brunt of the attack as to not allow too much to spread to the main swarm or L'Arachel herself, although a stray bolt does still manage to hit the empress, who found herself a bit distraught by Dinah's Intimidate and Growl.

The Water Guns from Marsha and Kevin knock a few Combee down, already incapacitated, but the swarm's formation seems stricter this time.

The red Combee circling L'Arachel are hit by the Psychic wave, leaving them stunned for just a moment as one of them is pierced by a sudden arrow, falling back.

Noriaki was walking around the edge of the platform, preparing another shot.

"Not the bee I was aiming for, but that still works, I suppose", the Decidueye scoffed.

L'Arachel growled lightly and sent a fist-shaped cluster of Combee to knock Noriaki off, but Montresor swooped in quickly and pulled him away before tossing his comrade upwards.

Noriaki soared above the massive swarm and dropped a salvo of Razor Leaves. They certainly did damage, but the Decidueye shook his head.

"They are quite numerous and densely packed... It may be better for me to focus on wquality over quantity for my attacks."

L'Arachel, annoyed by the fight's start, called upon the four red Combee around her and a sizeable portion of the rest of the swarm. They formed together in circles and summoned two cyclones made from the dark energy L'Arachel's previous attacks were made from, sending them both spiraling forward.

Vs. L'Arachel

(Taking the time to find an opening in her attacks, I nodded to Eliza. When she moved the swarm to use a wind-like attack, we both went opposite ways to avoid it, with me taking flight on the right and her left. Uncoiling her whip, she lashed out at the Vespiquen's face, hoping to distract her. Time for something big. As soon as the 'queen' turns her back to me, I nosedived and pulled up just before I hit the ground. With momentum and extra damage, I charged straight for her.)

(Noting that the two had taken to attacking the one behind the swarm, Arsene decided to focus on the swarm itself. Taking care to dial his attacks back a bit, he fired off a Hydro Pump to thin their numbers.)

(Meanwhile, Zelda focused on the wind attack, with her throwing an Air Cutter in an attempt to counteract it.)

The Apotheosis

Ugh...her swarm is so annoying...

I went out of the shadow cyclones' ways.

I need get rid of at least one good portion of it. I launched a Confuse Ray at the shadow-cyclone casting portion of the swarm.

L'Arachel Arena

OOF! (Cole tanks one of the cyclones and fires a Flamethrower, despite it seriously taking a bit out of him.)

Of course you hit one of my friends first! Eat this!! (Dodie flings a Sludge Bomb at L'Arachel much like before.)

(Before I even know what's going on, Marsha suddenly grabs me and pulls me away. I see that one of the dark masses probably would have hit me.)

Oh, thank you, Marsha. (I say, gratefully.)

Anytime, Bookworm. (Marsha says.) Now figure out a way ta hit her with somethin' otha den yer Ground moves!

But what can I use? The only other moves I know at this point are all Dark...and even then that's only Crunch.... (I wonder out loud.)

(Marsha uses Scald again as I try to think of something, anything I could do.)

L'arachel's Manor, Foyer

Any comfort Autumn may have gleaned from this dies as Nyquil starts to run away again, and it takes all the willpower Autumn has not to rush after him. She still approaches, though, trying to read his body language and understand why he retreated. Everything is still so shaky and tenuous, all she wants is something she can rely on.

"What's wrong, Niles?"

L'arachel's Manor, Combat

Mila dodges around the cyclones of Combee, trying to predict their movements and getting several painful scratches for her mistakes. Seeing that the swarm is still going strong after her attack, Mila reconsiders her options. She doesn't want to hurt them more than necessary, and it seems like her ability to paralyze them is lacking. Instead, as she dodges, Mila starts building up energy within herself once more and watches for an opening. Any time there's a gap in L'arachel's swarm, not necessarily facing the Raichu. Any space where she can land another bolt of electricity, and she'll make it count. After all, despite the healing she can tell her level of charge is running low. She'll maybe be able to get one more good hit in before it's gone.

"Uhh... I dunno. She tells us where we're going, and does stuff there! Mommy has a lot of nice things."

As Sally clamors on, thankfully oblivious to the combat nearby, Koss grabs Eliot's pack with psychic force and brings it over to him, tucking it under his chin and folding his paws on top of it both to keep it safe and give him a better way to rest. He's not sure Eliot is making the right decision, but if he couldn't convince Woodruff of something like that without making a grave error, how would he manage that with someone he hardly knew, relatively speaking?

"If ya change yer mind, nobody here's goin' anywhere fast. 'Cept maybe Woodruff, if ya tempt him with a swim."

"Swimming? Oh, I like swimming! I can go underwater and breathe, but it feels really weird..."

Throne Room

Obviously I'd have known that this was still Eliot, but I was just confused about why he looked a bit bigger.

The more I listen to this kid's life story I grow a bit more offput by the new information I get fed. Again, while I only have base level knowledge from Genna and Harold about what the Gorebyss does, this kid would seem as if she is in fact a victim of hers. But how did she get here? Why would this lone Clamperl be separated from a pack of possibly hundreds? The answers to these questions I might never get answers to. I formulate my next question, not involving my private speculations. I find myself slipping once again into the accent that seemed to rub off onto me.

Is she rich? If she gives yas a lot of nice things then she has ta be in some kind of profession that could allow that ta happen. Guess it's hard being among several children?

Battlefield

The fuck is-

Kevin has to drop down and roll away from the incoming cyclones of Combee coming right at him. Rolling back up, he forces himself back up and fires away with an Ice Beam.

Edited by Team42Larson on Feb 22nd 2019 at 8:54:02 AM

L'Arachel's Manor, Throne Room

"...man, should've went swimmin' at Becchel," Woodruff laments. "Maybe when this all blows over, me 'n my folks could head down there again. Not like I got much in Silversand I need to get back to." Woodruff catches Sally's comment about swimming being weird...it's a little hard for him to buy that a Water-type would find it weird to swim, but Sally seems...more sheltered than most, she's got that vibe.

"Right...I...just wanna be able to help is all..." [With a nod and a smile, I wave to the others before casting off, running for the staircase where I hear clashing and bashing...and buzzing...]

L'Arachel's Manor, Makeshift Room

"...oh, my, god..." [I see dark cyclones tear through the room as I draw closer, and nearing the threshold, I'm a little glad I was lucky enough not to catch it. Standing in the threshold for now, I rear my head back, purple flares escaping my mouth, before I fire the raging blast straight for L'Arachel. Dragon Rage Then, I rush for her, pulling my staff back as if ready to strike at any moment.]

L'Arachel Arena

(Come on, Dinah, think! How can you use Crunch? I look between our current position and L'Arachel. I cannot use the move all the way back here. To have to use it, I would have to go over to L'Arachel and directly use it on her.... An idea comes into my mind. What if I DID go over there to use Crunch? But if I go over there I may die just as I almost did back in the foyer when I thought I could help by making the ceiling collapse! I want to live through this and see Benji and Lucy again and see Sally returned to her mother! I can't!)

(Then another thought, nay, a realization hits me...if I don't do something, then none of us will see each other again anyway, except as one of many nameless Combee slaves under L'Arachel and unable to recognize each other. We'll just be Combee 1, Combee 2, Combee 3....I have been wanting to protect Lucy and make sure she doesn't have to go through the same experiences I did, but if nothing changes now, she won't have any experiences to go through good or bad!)

(That settles it...I must do this so Lucy, Benji, and Sally can live to see another day as their normal selves. I turn to Marsha.)

Marsha, I want you to throw me at L'Arachel so I can use Crunch. (I tell her.)

Dinah, are ya crazy? (She tells me.) How are ya even gonna get back heres?

(Oh no, she's right. How will I get back here to everyone else? I look around until I see Dodie, the Grass-type...

She has vines... (I tell Marsha.) Maybe she could wrap a vine around my waist and pull me back just as quickly once I land a hit on L'Arachel?

(Marsha rubs her head.) Well...it'd give yas a way back at least, but we'd hafta be quick about it before L'Arachump snatches yas. I hope you know what yas are doin', Bookworm.

(I hope so as well. Hopefully this time I won't needlessly put myself in mortal danger like I did when I tried to drop the ceiling without thinking through my actions at all. We move towards Dodie.) Eh? What's up?

Please tie a vine around my waist, Dodie, and be ready to pull me back to you. (I tell her.)

Uh, why? I'll do it, but why? (She asks as she starts to do so. I feel myself shudder a bit as the vine wrapping tightly around my waist reminds me of my horrible Victreebel nightmares.)

Uh, I'm kinda gonna fling her at L'Arachump so she can get a hit on her. (Marsha says.)

What?? (Dodie seems shocked.) Uh, whatever you say. I'm gonna be ready...

(I feel Marsha lift me up off the ground. I suddenly feel very nervous as I look ahead at L'Arachel and her many Combees. I hope this plan is more of a success than my last one...)

Ready? (Marsha asks.)

(I put my arms and legs against myself and straighten my tail out as much as I can.) R-Ready...

(And all at once I find myself sailing through the air towards L'Arachel. I clench my eyes shut and open my mouth.)

(She uses Crunch as soon as she hits something/someone, regardless of if it actually is L'Arachel or not.)

Throne Room

I casually toss a glance down the hallway and into the somewhat limited glimpse of the fight from our position, where I see, wait, is that Dinah actually flying in for an attack?

Holy shit, since when did she gain the courage ta do that?

I toss my head back toward those around me, waiting for a response from Sally but perhaps any other reactions to what I seemed to have just witnessed as well.

Edited by Team42Larson on Feb 22nd 2019 at 7:07:55 AM

"I-I'm sorry… I don't… I don't want to h-hurt-" I don't bother completing that thought and just lie down a few feet away. Using Extrasensory, I pull the Berry that Dana gave me earlier towards me and rest it under my paw.

Manor Foyer

Dana is even more confused as Nyquil suddenly pushes her away again. She steps forward, as if to approach, but then seems to rethink and steps back again. ... He probably needed his space.

[Apotheosis]

The Shadow Storm is undeterred by anything thrown at it, still raging forward and out.

A portion of the swarm that came to manifest the Shadow Storm is hit by the Confuse Ray and tumbles to the ground, dazed. As they fall, Cole's Flamethrower manages to singe and knock out half of their cluster.

The Hydro Pump and Scald continue beating away at the ominous main mass of Combee, still spiraling around and upward, still hoisting L'Arachel on her throne in the air.

The four red Combee still surrounding L'Arachel form in to a makeshift shield to catch the Sludge Bomb and flip it back right in Dodie's general direction. The Vespiquen tilts herself with her throne out of the way of the Dragon Rage, although her halfhearted attempt of a dodge does allow her to get hit by the side of the blast of purple flames. As she does this, the Ice Beam manages to catch her off guard and freezes her lower-right half.

"   Contemptible vermin...   ", she growled, completely failing to take notice of Dinah incoming and Mila looking for an opening.

Achilles and Hector do take note of this, and gather together a huge cluster of stone from the ground and launch them in a massive Stone Edge barrage to poke as many holes in any sort of formation blocking them from the queen herself. The red Combee end up being distracted trying to deflect these stones.

Dinah's sudden daring attempt results in a successful Crunch on to L'Arachel's shoulder area. The Vespiquen glares directly in to her eyes with her own red, glowing ones, full of animosity.

"   You lowborn...!   ", before L'Arachel could even react, Dinah was already being pulled back. A few Combee had attempted to try and bite away at Dodie's vine, but Montresor was quick to come to their aid and deliver a flurry of quick slashes to keep them away, precise enough to not hit the vine itself.

"   ... Gained a sudden surge of resolve, eh?   "

Notte, at this point, had rolled forward, directly in to the sides of one of the cyclones, allow it to painfully lift him up. As he allowed himself to be launched in to the air, the Bisharp spun towards L'Arachel.

"May this prove where my loyalty now lies!", he exclaimed as he tried to deliver a swinging kick to his ex-mistress's face. His metal foot was met with a blade that blocked his attack, but he was prepared for this, as he pulled out an Iron Ball and unleashed a close-range Fling that smashed against the Vespqiquen's head.

In a hurry to retaliate, she was suddenly smacked by Eliza's Vine Whip and turned to the one who had launched the attack, but that on top of Notte and Dinah disrupting her position left her open to Grigori diving straight in to her with Brave Bird, causing her to drop down with ehr throne from all the damage.

The swarm hurriedly caught the throne before it hit the ground.

Rising up once again, still off-guard from Mila's vigilance for an opening, the monarch smashed her fist against the part of her that was frozen, scattering small shards of ice around herself and yelling in anger, "   Why do you not just give up this optimistic vision of yours? My pain, Montresor's growing paranoia, Noriaki's loneliness and loss, Nyquil's feelings of inadequacy, many others... They are all wretched tales, are they not?   "

"What point are you trying to make, L'Arachel?", Noriaki inquired, landing closer to the rest of the group and throwing a Leaf Blade at her.

"   The world is a wretched place!   ", she spewed angrily, catching the Leaf Blade between her fingers and snapping it in half, "   It allowed itself to be the stage that these wretched tales came alive on!   "

"You are a part of that wretched world", Montresor retorted, busy driving his pins in to the miasma of Combee and slashing away at their numbers.

"   Yes...! That is exactly it!   ", the Vespiquen snarled, holding a mass of shadowy energy in her hand that she threw into the ground, where it surged out and aimed to erupt from under the group individually, "   I am another monster, another abomination of this world's creation, that does not deserve saving in the same way the world does not.   "

L'Arachel's voice and eyes drop a bit with that last sentence.

"... L'Arachel..."

Edited by Konkfan7 on Feb 22nd 2019 at 10:34:14 AM

L'arachel's Manor, Fight

Mila waits and watches, restraining herself until L'arachel falls to the ground. Even then, something tells her to pause, wait until she readies her next attack. Once it's thrown to the ground, Mila moves fast. She can see it snaking out towards them, and it's in that moment that she realizes her plan. Crouching down and building up a burst of energy in her legs, Mila shoots forth past the attack and launches into L'arachel's back with a Volt Tackle, grabbing on to her back and hoping that the homing will work against her, damaging her with her own malice. Still, the Volt Tackle rips at Mila, putting undue stress on the wounds that had only just been healed.

"At least we're... making it better..."

"It's okay! It's like having a lot of friends... you guys have a lot of friends!"

Sally continues chattering on, but suddenly pauses as her thought process loops back around and she remembers something from earlier. She stares intently at Woodruff again, pouting slightly as she comments towards the Furret.

"Hey, you never said if you had brothers and sisters! Not fair."

"Heh... she's gotcha there, ain't she?"

L'arachel's Manor, Foyer

"What do you mean, Niles? You won't hurt us..."

Autumn keeps her tone soft, though the fear creeping in makes that difficult. Noting that Dana is keeping her distance and thinking it a good idea, Autumn sits down a few feet away from Nyquil to give him space, and tries to think of something to help her pass the time without going into a nervous panic.

"... Hey, Whitney? Can we talk a bit?"

Whitney looks away from Nyquil, looking to Autumn. She wipes any remaining tears from her eyes with a sniffle, still not too sure why she's even crying.

"Hm? Is something wrong?"

L'Arachel Arena

(Upon landing and biting down as hard as I can, I open my eyes and realize to my shock that I did actually land on L'Arachel. I look straight into her eyes as I do so and see just how angry she is that my idea worked. Before I can do or say anything else, however, Dodie is already pulling me back.)

I remembered that I actually had someone to fight for! (I shout back at L'Arachel as I am pulled away. Several someones, actually. My voice is shaking so hard, both from my nervousness and the shock that I landed that Crunch on her.)

(Marsha manages to intercept the Sludge Bomb the Elite Combees reflected with a Protect while Dodie reels the Krokorok back in.)

Dang, Dinah, I didn't think dat would work! (Marsha tells me as she pulls me back up to her, Dodie, and Cole.)

Neither did I... (I say as I stand back to my feet, still stunned that the idea worked. I suppose I did give it much more thought than when I went in the ceiling...)

Heads up!! (Dodie shouts. Marsha abruptly grabs me and presses us both against Dodie's side as some other attack of L'Arachel's hits us. It had to have been like the attacks L'Arachel and her company have been using going by how sore it leaves me afterwards.)

Oy, what are you even talkin' about, witch? (I hear Dodie call out to L'Arachel. What did L'Arachel say? I wasn't paying attention...I look over to L'Arachel where I see Mila is now attacking her again.)

Edited by kablammin45 on Feb 22nd 2019 at 10:43:15 AM

Vs. L'Arachel

(Reeling from the impact, I flew close to Eliza. Yeah, that's gonna hurt the in morning. Not as much as did her though. Oh, now she wants to rant about how unfair her life is? Alright, here's my rebuttal. I didn't care who would respond, I just let those words fall out.) I'll admit, I was a piece of shit back at my world. I killed for money, even when I had enough to keep a roof over my head. And yeah, I did so in pretty brutal ways that would make even the most stoic shudder. I even have a split personality telling me to give in to my primal instincts, nearly every day! I'm a monster, just like you. Unlike you, I'm not only willing, but I'm trying to change. I'm retiring the monster because I found a few people that gave me the one thing that I've lost: a reason to live. Without these people, you're more hollow than any puppet ever will be.

(Following up on what I said, Eliza sends her retort to the queen, not even realizing, or caring, that she invokes her own mother's mannerisms.) Our world isn't perfect, nor will it ever be, with or without you running around. The lands dangerous, the villains cruel, and even the ones above would rather stay at their domains than do anything. But it's our world and it's the only one we have, and that alone makes it worth saving! (She barely reacted when I lifted her up, continuing her indictment.) Enslaving, controlling, even slaughtering? No savior with their salt would ever think to do these vile acts, let alone resort to them! You never cared, you only controlled! You're no savior, you're just a tyrant! A sad excuse of one, but a tyrant nonetheless.

(When she raised her hand for an attack, we reached the wall. Nodding to each other, I threw Eliza feet first into the wall and planted my talons alongside hers. When L'Arachel dropped her hand, we leaped forward and reorient ourselves to strike at her, foot first.)

(Arsene noticed the combined attack and steeled himself for the wave. Bracing himself to a nearby wall, he kept his aim to the Comber swarm and fired another Hydro Pump. The wounds, once again reopened, but he still kept his aim.)

(Being knocked around by the wind she fruitlessly blew against, Zelda was pushed back, the fight taking its toll. As the cyclone weakened, she moved up away from the Vespiquen's attack. to attack the swarm on their own turf, this time sending few Aura Spheres at them, aiming for their wings.)

The Apotheosis

I frowned as L'Arachel started to monologue about how the world is bad and shit. I rolled my eyes.

   Well...that just means you're a cowardly dumbass!   , I said venomously,    Of course this world won't be roses, love, friendship and happiness!   , I spoke, a bit irritated,    I learned that fact a year ago, when I first appeared in this world...   , I looked somber,    I learned that even the most outwardly kind people can be the most twisted inwardly...   , I looked down,    But I know that becoming as evil as you were won't do shit to this generally twisted and shitty world...   , I said with venom, as I glared at the Vespiquen,    You wanted to change this shitty world...but, as a consequence, you became the shit that drove it forwards...   , I said as I slowly approached L'Arachel,    That's just how it usually is on this bitch of an earth...   , I concluded venomously.

Edited by Theyja on Feb 22nd 2019 at 6:30:21 PM