ITT: We Have All Become Pokémon

As the Bisharp stomped over to her downed enemy to finish him off, he attempted to counter with a double High-Jump Kick to her midsection, intending to right himself in the process, even if the bottoms of his legs were horrifically numb and twisted by this point.

The Bisharp, however, caught his ankles and squeezed them to elicit a rather nasty scream of pain, before tossing him into the air by said ankles. As he was coming back down to ground level, the Bisharp followed up with an Aerial Ace attack, jumping up and performing a mid-air Circle Kick◊ that sent the Blaziken rolling into the sides of the arena.

Nonetheless, he clambered back to his feet and used the wall as support, now limping and still spurting flames, determined to... figure something out. How the hell did he allow this to happen? Bash thought to himself. He was better than this, wasn't he? He promised he wouldn't be so hasty... no distractions! No thinking about...

Before he could even finish that line of thought, the Bisharp was right up in his face again. Amazingly, he was fast enough to pull off a quick backhand punch to her faceplate, knocking it off entirely, sending it flying towards the announcer's booth. The actual attack barely made her flinch, however, as it was a basic punch, unconnected to any anti-Steel discipline.

Bash attempted to follow that lucky backhand up with another Fire Punch, but she once again grabbed his wrist and began to grip it incredibly tightly. He tried the same thing with his other fist, and got the exact same result.

But flames were spurting from these wrists, and the pair of them struggles as they both visibly winced in pain; though the Bisharp's now-visible face seemed to make some token effort to hide said pain, even as tears were rolling down her eyes from the serious burns she was receiving. It wasn't long before they both started to screech from the agony.

Eventually, the Bisharp pulled back and delivered four Iron Headbutts to the Blaziken's cranium in quick succesion, the last one succeeding in dizzying him, making him let go and stumble back towards the wall like a drunkard. Before she could react, the Bisharp had to stop and nurse her charred hands, her blades almost showing signs of melting away.

She soon thundered up to him, but Bash still refused to give in, rather impotently pushing himself off the wall and grabbing his enemy by her midsection. Taking advantage of her uncompromised lower-body strength, the Bisharp grabbed hold of her weakened opponent by the torso and held him aloft, his legs resting on her shoulders. She then hopped off her feet, dropping to the floor and Powerbombing◊ Bash into that same floor, in a very painful demonstration of the Dark-Type attack ethos.

With that, Bash was effectively immobilised, unable to even move without difficulty. The Bisharp - 'La Cuchilla', or as she was more popularly known, Kapitani Khmalidze - got back to her feet and did a 'thumbs-down' gesture at her defeated enemy.

"Pointless..."

edited 10th Aug '17 1:58:11 PM by PresidentStalkeyes

(Cortez is woken up by the door to his room opening up again. It's Clementine.)

Heya, Cortez, you want to come out here and talk to Miss Rose real quick? She wants to get to kn-

(Before she can finish, Cortez has leapt off the bed and runs down the hallway.)

Cortez? Hey, come back!

(Not listening, Cortez climbs up onto Briar Rose's currently unoccupied desk, jumps off onto the floor and runs out the door before either Clementine or Briar Rose can catch him.)

Oh dear...

(Cortez runs out into the Bazaar in search of Maran...)

(Meanwhile, Maran, having since used a cup of hot water to return to his standard form, happens to be walking in the direction of the orphanage. They see each other.)

Bzz, boss! There you are!

(Cortez runs at full speed toward him.)

RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRR! (Cortez screams leaping into the air and onto Maran.) THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT! YOU AND YOUR STUPID NINETAILS FWIEND DID THIS TO ME! YOU TOOK EVERYTHING AWAY FROM ME AND LEFT ME TO ROT IN THAT CRAPPY ORPHANAGE!

Boss, calm down! Bzzz!! (Maran says, trying to keep Cortez from biting him.) Orphanage?

YES! EVERYONE THOUGHT I WAS A HOMEWESS KID AND PUT ME IN THERE! I'VE WOST EVERYTHING SINCE YOU AND THAT NINETAILS TURNED ME INTO A KID!

Well, you did kind of bring it upon yourself... (Maran points out. Then he notices the tear stains running down Cortez's face.) Bzzz....were you...crying?

SHUT UP! I WAS NOT!

Yes...yes you were. I can still see those stains on your face.

(Cortez tries to deny it again, but can't think of another excuse. Defeated, he hangs his head.) Yeah, well...so what if I was cryin'? I was cryin' cause I don't have an inn, a council position, or any friends anymore. Not when I'm a baby like this...why do you even care? I figured you'd just be glad I was outta your life or somethin', not out lookin' for me.

Well, it's too dangerous around here for a kid to be out on hizzz own, bzzz, especially with that diseazzze everyone's talking about going around. You may be 43 on the inside, but you're...what, five or six on the outside? (says Maran.) I just wanted to make sure you were somewhere where you would be well off in your new form.

I'll be well off when I'm big again and have my inn, my friends, and my money back. But I know that isn't going to happen. I'm doomed to just be a perpetual snot-nosed brat who will never be able to do anything, own anything, or be anything! What makes you think you can change that? Why do you even care what happens to me? I figured you would be glad to finally get me out of your life like ya always wanted to.

But boss-

NO! Go away! I don't need your help! Just leave me be and I'll go off into the great unknown and wander around until I either drop dead or get killed or eaten by some uncivilized Pokémon.

BZZ YOU ARE NOT DOING THAT! Come on! (Maran scoops Cortez up and begins flying back to the arena...)

"...y-yea." [Looking at the Pawniarm with a degree of uneasiness as I squeeze between him and the door, I walk into the center of the room and almost recoil from this pungent smell, one that hits me like a brick.]

"Good lord, what is that?" [It smells like garbage... I look around for a source of the smell, eyeing the room where some commotion is coming from. I freeze: there's definitely more of those guys in there, and we should be safe, but...should we go inside?]

Back inside the room, the Pawniard leader pries open the floorboard, and underneath, he finds...

The Private? Tied up and tossed into a corner in the crawlspace beneath the floorboards, wriggling about and trying to say something.

Without thinking, the leader immediately rushed over to him and freed him from his bounds, and he started yelling:

"THAT... MUK! THERE WAS A MUK... AND IT TURNED INTO... INTO ME!"

Hearing this, the Pawniards still up above turned to give a collection of incredibly suspicious glances at the creature who they thought was the Private, the youngest member of the team. Said 'Private' instead started to look very sheepish indeed.

"Uh... um... well, uh... s-see, the thing is... GYAH!" he suddenly yelped as he chose to run; releasing his weight from the floorboard and thus sending it thumping back down, trapping the leader under the floor.

The 'Private' ran past the other Pawniards, without stopping to even think... and in doing so, bumped straight into an invisible observer in the middle of the room, sending him flat on his behind.

"WHAT?! N-NO!!" he yelled in disbelief, as the other Pawniards rushed in and dogpiled him.

*I look at Belladonna, my brow furrowed. Truth be told, as much as I'd like to just sit and stew in my anger, part of me is relieved to see her. It almost feels odd, as though I'd be livid if it were anyone but her had come to see me. Even still, my rage still hasn't entirely subsided, and this is apparent in how standoffish I am in my initial reply.*

PJ: "I'm fine, Bella, really."

Belladonna: "Somehow I doubt this. Is there anything I can do for you?"

PJ: "No, what does it even matter? Why do you care?"

Belladonna: "Why shouldn't I care? You're my friend, Paddy. The best I could ask for. After Milklett was wiped out, I didn't have anyone else. My coworkers at the diner, sure, they're alright, but none of them really know me and I don't really know any of them. Then the day came when you showed up, and you... You actually sought me out! I didn't think anyone would be interested in me enough to actually seek me out, but you came along and I... I had someone again who cared for me."

(Oh. So that's why she seems so concerned about me all the time. I... I knew we were friends, but I didn't think I meant this much to her...)

*I take flight and look at her at eye level. I know she's a vector for Viral Aggression and I shouldn't trust her, but something about this seems too genuine to write off.*

PJ: "Bella..."

Belladonna: "I know, I know, you're still worried about the tournament, but I promise it'll be okay."

PJ: "No, no it won't! Not while we could still spread VA to everyone!"

Belladonna: "We? What, you still think I'm infected? Paddy, you know where you're getting this information from, right? You said it yourself, that Jani's not right in the head, what makes you think you can trust her over me?"

PJ: "Well... Even if she's wrong, and you don't have it, I still do, I could be putting people's lives on the line here, just like Finley said."

Belladonna: "And you'd trust that witch too? Even after she spat such venom at you? Given the things she said, I don't know if it's worth trying to please her."

*At this point, I could definitely tell that something was off. There was no doubt that she had it out for Jani and Finley, but at the same time, I couldn't get myself to break off the conversation.*

PJ: "W-why not?"

Belladonna: "Well, it's clear that she has something against me for whatever reason, and I fear her opinion of you may be souring as well. Why else would she get so angry at you for one simple fight? A legally-sanctioned one, no less? Unless, of course... She's a pacifist, isn't she?"

PJ: "Yeah, I was too. What of it?"

*Disappointedly, Belladonna sighs.*

Belladonna: "Even worse. You know what that sort of mentality is here, right? It's weak. Conflict is an inevitability, Paddy, and if one lacks the stomach for it they won't get anywhere. I know firsthand that VA is a horrible affliction and I can't bear to think of how you struggle with it, but at the same time, if it's what helped you shake off your pacifism, perhaps there's some spark of good in it."

   (She does have a point... I mean, Finley's nice and all, but her total aversion to violence really grates on me. I know I shouldn't be agreeing with someone who says that VA is a good thing, but...)   

PJ: "Maybe..."

*Belladonna moves in closer to me, holding my hands. Even though Bella's smiling warmly with this look of hope in her eyes like she's trying to comfort me, there's this sense of dread within me telling me to abort. Despite this, I remain outwardly calm, perhaps more so than I'd like.*

Belladonna: "Look, don't worry about what she thinks or what any of your friends think. Everything will be fine, Paddy. Let's both keep fighting, and if anyone tries to stop either of us, we won't let them. Even if we need to use force, we'll do whatever it takes to stay in. Besides, I have something in mind for the two of us once it's all over."

*At my core, I know staying in the tournament is a bad idea, but the way she's presenting it makes it seem alright.*

PJ: "That sounds good to me. Promise me one thing though."

Belladonna: "Certainly."

PJ: "I know you said we shouldn't hesitate to use force, but... I don't want my friends to get injured. Not too badly, at least."

Belladonna: "I'm sorry, but I can't promise you anything. Especially not in regards to... Oh, never mind, I can certainly try for your sake."

PJ: "No. Trying isn't enough Bella, I need to know that-"

*Then, out of nowhere, she kisses me.*

*As she locks lips with me, I'm both terrified and confused. Everything she's done up until now suddenly takes on a new meaning. She didn't even ask, she forced herself onto me. I stare at her, mortified and far too close for comfort, and my mind races thinking of what she's doing and what she's going to do. The possibility, no, near certainty that she's a vector only makes this worse. And yet suddenly, it all starts to slip away. My dread, doubt, confusion, objections, and not comfortably, as though I'm accepting what's going on, but forcibly, like I'm being unnaturally numbed to it. I try to resist, but soon that fades too. The moment Bella releases me from our kiss, I feel different. I look at her, and I'm not worried, even though I should be. I'm at ease when I should be tenser than before. And I like it, even if I know deep down somewhere inside me that I shouldn't.*

Belladonna: "Oh, I'm sorry, maybe it's a bit early to seal our deal like this."

PJ: "No. No, we're fine."

(No, we're not fine! I never agreed to this! I don't even like you like that, why... why...)

Belladonna: "Excellent! So you don't object?"

PJ: "Not at all, Bella."

*Bella smiles. Under any other circumstance I would be horribly unsettled, but now I feel quite the opposite. I want to question what she did to me with that kiss, but I can't bring myself to for even a moment. Despite all the red flags, it doesn't feel wrong, even though it really should.*

Belladonna: "Wonderful! The next round's tomorrow so we should have plenty of time to get ready. Although... You still haven't recovered from your match, have you?"

*This is true. All this time, I was so preoccupied that I paid little attention to the bruises Iris gave me during our fight.*

PJ: "I suppose I haven't. Really should get that patched up, shouldn't I?"

Belladonna: "Posthaste! Let's go see what can be done about this, shall we?"

*I nod, and we both take off, leaving the alley together. I'm not sure what Bella has in mind for after the tournament, but I do know that I'll be willing to provide all the help she needs.*

*Birch is out at the moment, Elm delivers the final commentary alone* Quite the type-mismatched upset on the part of La Cuchilla. Despite being at a crippling innate disadvantage on all fronts, superior skill and speed has clearly won the day. We'll be taking a brief recess before continuing. Take it away, Swoop!

*even Elm can't help but cut her own Hyper Voice to ask one of the Pawniards locally* (She isn't actually going to go through with this, is she? These are just amateurs...citizens are going to notice and we'll end up taking all the heat.)

A Pawniard soon rushes up to the announcer's booth to answer the question posed; he replied, curtly,

"About your question. She's testing them... and there's nothing in Merq's contract that says she can't. That's all I can say, madame."

edited 10th Aug '17 2:44:01 PM by PresidentStalkeyes

Mila is about to go into the other room, but before she can act she hears a commotion and a panicked Pawniard runs into her and is piled up on by several others. Mila looks over to Eliot, not sure what to do.

"What now? From the shouting... do you think it could be a Ditto? Which would mean that Fan... ? That could be her!"

"You don't get it, though. He's gone! How can we fix this? Every time he leaves, you know something bad is going to happen. IT ALWAYS DOES!" She can't cry again...

"Ironic, isn't it? Usually I'm the one giving the pep-talks..."

(I think over what Fin said.)

We might still be able to save him. But, I can't help but feel as if somehow Bella will continue to mess with us...

edited 10th Aug '17 3:22:01 PM by Team42Larson

"She's a monster... Alright. Let's go." Finley begins moving out the alley. "I want to find PJ and apologize."

edited 10th Aug '17 3:34:18 PM by BaconZorp

Yeah, let's go. He couldn't have gone too far.

*Elm can only sigh, clearly herself frustrated by the Pawniarmy's behavior, but she is far better than her partner at hiding it*

*meanwhile, a triage is set up in the contender's area of the arena. Water and fire mons work together, boiling water in a large chamber pot to maintain a continuous supply of sterile water. There are only two nurses on staff, given this service is exclusive for contestants, and they are handling the higher-than-expected load given that Iris, Larry, and Jani are all present*

*luckily, Jani's treatment is more or less wrapping up. She didn't really sustain major injuries during the battle, but a nurse is finally seeing to her bandages from the Perigo incident and cleaning up her cuts from that two day old barfight*

You're pretty lucky that those nasty bite wounds have more or less healed up. They will leave small scars, but given their "pointed" nature, your fur should cover them nicely. It'll be a great reminder of your foolishness when you're much, much older! *the skilled, world-weary Togekiss nurse tells her* Those scratches should heal fully...you're young, so be thankful for that.

*Jani replies* That's a relief...what about Larry? I had no idea a little earthquake could do that much...he's so sturdy...

The good news is: The cracks haven't spread beyond his steel plating. The bad news, we'll have to call a specialist who knows how to safely weld Steel pokémon. He'll have a long, difficult recovery after that. *to which Jani can only sigh and say* He didn't deserve this...he really was a nice guy, just wanted to play to the crowds... *now that Jani thinks of it, that Heavy Slam probably would've just knocked her underground...out cold but she'd probably have taken it well*

Mmmhmm. *the Togekiss adopts an accusatory tone* Frankly, there's something I need to ask you. What are you doing here? *the nurse asks, which can only leave Jani stunned* From what the staff told me about your match, you obviously didn't have a clue what you're doing. Then once you finally do find your opponent's weakness, you take things way too far. You aren't a child — you should have learned to control yourself long ago. Certainly before coming here!

*Jani can only utter an* I— *being effectively left speechless. with Bash being carted into triage, the Togekiss nurse flies over to his aid, leaving Jani to think about what she's done*

[Seeing the Pawniarm collide with Mila leaves me stunned for a moment—after all this time spent working out of the mechanics of this place, seeing that happened just looked wrong—but I quickly shake the thought out of my head. Actually, no...we could use this!]

"Fan or not, just start attacking them!" [I look down to the Pawniarm being attacked—the pungent scent got stronger as they moved closer, so smelly dude = friend—then looking around the room for a—aha! I reach my hand for a dirty plate laying on a nearby table and it passes through as I grab it. Then, quickly approaching the scuffle again, I bring it up and smack one of the hostile Pawniarms with it.]

"Whoa— wait a— fine!"

Mila panics for a moment, before realizing that they have little choice, especially as Eliot is already attacking. Reluctantly, Mila tries to generate electricity from her cheek pouches. However, it doesn't seem to be going anywhere.

I can't fight from here! I have to go back, but then they'd see me! Wait... Eliot managed to do it piece by piece, I wonder if I can?

Mila focuses once more, before grabbing onto the Pawniard on top of the pile and bringing her face right up to its. Moments later, she feels the chill of metal against her cheek, and takes that as her cue to release the shock, letting it flow freely through the pile of conductive material.

The soldier struck on the head with a plate shrugs it off, being made of metal and all; however, it did convince him to get off his target and turn around, ready to stab at something, only to find... nothing.

"Hostile dete- what?! ...Who's there?! Show yourself!" he said.

As he said this, the leader got off their target as well, leaving the other three to hold 'him' down. "...What the hell are you doing, Corporal?!"

"Sir, someone smashed a plate over my head, sir!"

"Who?!"

"I don't know! Sir!"

As they were busy with this, one of the Pawniards holding their target down suddenly felt a rather nasty static shock, enough to throw him off the pile with a "HNNNGGGYEGH!"

"Just what the fuck is happening?! Where'd that come from?!" the leader said, pointing at the downed soldier, who was still conscious but seemed paralysed, only being able to twitch slightly as static sparks came off him.

edited 10th Aug '17 4:12:42 PM by PresidentStalkeyes

[Running off to another part of the room, making sure to keep my hand out of sight, I realize a straight shot for the head won't do any good, and, seeing how Mila had already downed one of the soldiers with an electric move, I remember that she had given me one to use myself...but I don't know if I should. When I was popping Discharges off, it was pretty random where they ended up going, and Mila's version was basically that but all at once and all around her...I may accidentally risk hitting her with it if I tried.]

[Grabbing a coffee mug, one that's still somewhat full as I learn when some coffee spills out onto the floor, I run up to the Corporal guy and fling the mug into his face, almost running into Mila again as I slow down.]

"Hey, watch it! We just need to get the others off of Fan so we can get away!"

Plus, I doubt she appreciates the property damage.

Mila looks back at the pile, and considers her next moves. There's still two more on top of her, and just paralyzing them leaves a good chance that they'll be stuck there. On the other hand, she can't exactly move them out of the way— or can she? They ran into her well enough, so maybe physical contact could still work. Mila moves back, and crouches down as she tries to wrap herself in electricity. The move seems familiar, though she doesn't recall ever using it before. Moments later, she finds herself charging towards the pile, attempting to topple it with a well-placed Volt Tackle. Those not in the Phantom Force realm might notice a Raichu's scalp appear as well as her cheek pouches from earlier.

A mug of coffee - still hot, surprisingly - seemingly appears from thin air and gets flung into the corporal's face, the sheer heat stinging considerably.

"WYAAAAAAAAAAEEEEEEEEEEE" he shrieked as clamped his eyes shut stumbled onto the floor, trying this best not to stab himself as he tried to wipe it off with his blade-arms.

"HA!" the leader Pawniard chose to react quickly, seeing the mug appear; he jumped roughly where the mug had come from, performing a downward Slash attack. However, he missed his mark, lodging his blade-arm in the floor. "I knew it, they're fucking invisible! ...Don't just stand there, you two, get them!"

The two of them hesitated, looking rather reluctantly at each other, as they were the ones in charge of holding the down the false Pawniard, after all. However, one of them - it seemed to the Private, the one who had been impersonated - managed to catch something weird just... floating in the air above them. Something orange?

The Private dived out the way, leaving his comrade to take the full brunt of the Volt Tackle; he was sent careening into the wall behind them, crashing into it, leaving a smoking, sparking mini-crater there as he was practically embedded into the wall, paralysed. "Nahhhh!" he exclaimed as he tackled the fake Pawniard onto the floor, who attempted to get back up and escape.

edited 10th Aug '17 4:38:13 PM by PresidentStalkeyes

(As we begin to search for PJ I decide to start up a conversation with Fin.)

Say Fin, ever hear of the idea that stopping the source of a disease can help cure it?

*this intermission was longer than the last, and Birch has finally returned to his station. Birch and Elm both had to reactivate their hyper voices, drink their berry mixes, and do a little "testing" before getting things going again*

With that out of the way, let's get to the second half more or less of the first round of the Hardcheese Amateur Tournament! *clearly his enthusiasm has waned since watching a contestant get brutalized so* Our next contender: An Arcanine from Wild Ridge, give it up for...SHAO KAHN!!

*pause for applause*

Her challenger is not only a Lucario, but is yet another pirate captain, which is quite remarkable as we are nowhere near any ports. Give your grimiest landlubber welcomes for: Pirate Lord Jack Spearow!!

edited 10th Aug '17 4:46:40 PM by sarysa

[Oh, whoops.] "R-right!" [Let's not get caught up too much into this fight; besides, with those steely blades and without the element of surprise, I think we'd be toast. I run towards the friendly Pawniarm, and extending another hand out into the normal world, I move in and try and pry the guy who just tackled them off.]

"That was my idea for a while." She starts. "We saw before that beating up the vector would free those who the vector infected. So maybe we have to find the people who infected the vectors."

Finley thinks on who they know are vectors. "It's just so infuriating that there's one right near us at all times, and nobody's done anything about it."

Mila shakes her head and takes a moment to regain her bearings. Damn, that hurt. Of course, once she notices the Pawniard by the wall, she realizes that she was the lucky one in that exchange.

Oh, no. I didn't mean for it to be that bad... but no time. We have to get going!

Mila rushes back to the center of the room, and helps Eliot by trying to jostle the last Pawniard off of Fan. No special electricity or anything, just as much force as her Raichu body could muster. Small points of contact were beginning to reappear, but she found that she could still push without having to return fully. Something to do with not having transferred fully in the first place?

*Voxno-V posits to Finley and Marlon* I am not quite certain that "beating up" a vector will be sufficient. If you recall, Yamaropu fell to his own attack only after returning to his senses. Dras-Il had also informed me that she was quite conscious after she had returned to hers.