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 Posted: Sat Jul 30, 2022 7:10 pm
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Monique was with Castform when she started sensing the presence of nearby Dark-type Pokémon, tracing it to Sub's office.
By the time she made it down there, though, not only was there a lingering stench, but pink paint had been splattered on the walls, the door was taken off, and there was a floating human-form Pokémon wearing one of Sub's outfits.
Gardevoir. Psychic/Fairy. The Embrace Pokémon. It will try to guard its...
Monique tuned out the rest of GRAY's auto-identification feature and tried to figure out what had happened. She was just familiar enough with Snagem to put together that something was wrong. And, atop a disturbed pile of plushies, was a Dark-type Pokémon she did not know at all.
Skuntank. Poison/Dark. The Skunk Pokémon. It sprays a vile-smelling fluid...
That's putting it mildly, Monique thought, hoping to get a read on what exactly was disturbing this Pokémon too.
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Posted: Sat Jul 30, 2022 7:13 pm
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Posted: Sat Jul 30, 2022 7:14 pm
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SubonicXP "Sub? Hm...let me think...I...don't know! Or maybe I do. Iuno! Hehe~" Gardy proclaimed in their minds with a coy and playful voice. Tamerlane would approach Cera and give her a nudge, growling at her and say something to her in Pokespeech. Something about forgetting about the plushies, perhaps the implication that they weren't hers anymore. Apparently Tamerlane has taken to Gardy, fondly. Gardy then turned her attention to Darts, her eyes lighting up as he gushed over her redecorating, matching his feigned energy with her own sincere joy as she clapped her hands together in excitement. "You do!? Yay! I worked reeeaaally hard on it! Poe didn't like it so I sent him away too. Party pooper. But I'm glad you like it! Still needs a few more touches, don't you think? Got any ideas? Maybe glitter! Oh oh! What about some ribbons!?" She rambled on.
Tristen would stare dumbfounded at Gardy, convinced she had a hand to play in this now, and with her not talking as to where Sub was at, this put him at a loss as to what to do. What got Tristen even more off-guard was the fact that Darts was humoring Gardy, complementing her workmanship...or lack thereof, rather. What was Darts doing here? Why encourage her? A thought then occurred to the Manetric hybrid...was this bait? He could only wait in silence as the chaos unfolded between Darts and Gardy. |
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Posted: Sat Jul 30, 2022 7:17 pm
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"Sorry," was all I heard from Rala before I felt her energy dissipate. I looked beside me and jumped back when I saw her form get ripped apart by Acid Spray. That had to be an energy clone left behind by Double Team. Sure enough, there were a bunch of them around, now. I just had to hope Morella couldn't tell her apart from her energy doubles by smell.
Especially with the reeking mess the melted double left on the floor. I had to get some distance from it. It stank to high heaven!
Once I was a good enough distance from it for the smell to not affect me as much, I looked around, and realized one of the clones was not behaving the same as the others. It had a mark on its arm, and it was holding its arm beneath the mark. That must have been Rala, and it looked like she must not have been able to dodge the spray entirely. Then I remembered something. Rala had three weaknesses - Poison, Ghost, and Steel. Not only was Skuntank Poison, it was also Dark, which meant her Psychic attacks, which she more proficient with than her Fairy-type moves, wouldn't have any effect. Moreover, Skuntank being Poison/Dark, Rala's Fairy-type moves wouldn't be super-effective.
With a sigh, I recalled Rala, and her energy double dissipated as I did so. I had to quickly let someone out of their ball, though I was a bit too careless and wound up being surprised with who came out.
"Bodor!" Odo cheered, happy to get a chance to fight for me again.
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Posted: Sat Jul 30, 2022 7:19 pm
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SubonicXP "Sub? Hm...let me think...I...don't know! Or maybe I do. Iuno! Hehe~" Gardy proclaimed in their minds with a coy and playful voice. Tamerlane would approach Cera and give her a nudge, growling at her and say something to her in Pokespeech. Something about forgetting about the plushies, perhaps the implication that they weren't hers anymore. Apparently Tamerlane has taken to Gardy, fondly. Gardy then turned her attention to Darts, her eyes lighting up as he gushed over her redecorating, matching his feigned energy with her own sincere joy as she clapped her hands together in excitement. "You do!? Yay! I worked reeeaaally hard on it! Poe didn't like it so I sent him away too. Party pooper. But I'm glad you like it! Still needs a few more touches, don't you think? Got any ideas? Maybe glitter! Oh oh! What about some ribbons!?" She rambled on.
Cera was about to sigh at Darts' response, but upon seeing Gardy's reaction, maybe trying to ask directly wasn't the best idea after all. She guessed it would make sense for a Fairy-type to be not much for the direct approach. Maybe, just maybe, playing along will get the answers everyone sought. "We're trying to find that- I'm sorry, did you say ribbons?" She asked, her answer to Deo broken by the mention of ribbons for more decoration. |
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Posted: Sat Jul 30, 2022 10:07 pm
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Crystal gave Reno a long, tired stare, interrupted by the arrival of Aden. “Ah, hi there Aden. Of all the subjects, though….” She closed her eyes and let out a long sigh, throwing her head back. “We probably should have seen something like this coming though. For your reference, Aden, the Ziton’s an ephemeral… existence, we’ll go with, that devours other powerful minds and adds their power to itself.” A shudder would run through the hybrid’s spine, collecting herself afterwards before continuing. “I don’t ever want to experience that again, either… Anyways. Reno can probably elaborate further.” Her gaze shifted from Aden to said psychic channeller, her eyes narrowing slightly. “As for what you asked,” she replied wearily, letting out another smaller sigh. Her gaze then looked down to her hands, counting on her fingers before returning her gaze to him. “Not often. Three times, tops. And we tried my damnedest to try to keep as far away as possible each time. What do you want to know, though?” |
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Posted: Sat Jul 30, 2022 11:20 pm
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Reno gave a solemn nod to Crystal as she elaborated on her encounters with the Ziton. But he couldn't leave it at that, not when it seemed like he could get more. "I know it might be hard to do so, but think back. How did the thing act each time you found it again? Was it similar to how it was when we all encountered it? Did it seem like it was hunting for a specific entity?" Reno's inquiry continued on unabated, his focus finally breaking when Aden's presence finally registered in the corner of his eye. "Oh. Right. Sorry Aden. I can give a more detailed explanation of the thing." Taking in a deep breath and gripping onto the shoulder of his artificial arm, Reno fought to keep his emotions under control. "The Ziton is the grandiose name of an amalgam of minds, all brought to heel underneath the psychic control of the first Psychic channeler. Its main goal is the collection of psychic power to try and.....do something for its long dead master. Whether that's pulling them to our time, assuming their original position in the world, or something else, I don't know. It was originally content to be divided, with the Sage's mind remaining as a trap for Psychic channelers to go and commune with, preying on any fears, doubts, or other mental hang ups to let him assume control. That left the main amalgam to simply roam and attempt to capture whatever psychics it happened to catch the scent of."
Reno's eyes would begin to dull, fingers drumming against his artificial shoulder. "I...might have found that amalgam a long time ago. Thought it was just me going crazy from isolation at the time. Ended up doing some.....heavy damages upstairs to me. Then ended up meeting the Sage on my last training mission and managed to....well, I thought I had taken care of the problem before the World Tournament, when it decided to take over Crystal and attempt to subsume her by force." Sharply shaking his head, Reno would turn to look to his two companions. He was just about to get into the real conspiracy theory part of this whole thing and that mess of a thought process could never quite add up in his head without more evidence to work from. He'd shared the doubt before with others, but this seemed like not the right time to raise it. "So at this point, after it got dumped into Ultra Space, I'm hoping to get some reassurance that it won't be able to latch onto someone or something to let it wreak whatever havoc it has planned." |
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Posted: Sun Jul 31, 2022 4:00 am
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"If it's too rough of a subject, you don't need to elaborate," Aden spoke up in a hurry, noting the apprehension in the air from the topic in question. His remark would come too late, though, and the rabbit hole that was the Ziton was being explained one way or another. He could've sworn there was a sudden chill in the air as he listened, his blood running cold and wishing he hadn't been so caught up dealing with that Alcremie hybrid during that day. In some respects, though, he felt maybe it was also a sort of blessing in disguise. If only to lessen the "casualties."
It wouldn't take a psychic to read that he pieced things together pretty quick in terms of just how much of a threat that... thing was. Or how many could've easily been at risk all too easily. It took a bit for him to stop looking like he'd taken a poorly planned trip to Lavender Town at night. Though hearing the bit about encountering it other times beyond the one he knew anything about finally snapped him out of it long enough to raise one question.
"Wait. You've seen it since all that? Do you think it's the same one or there's multiple or...? Space and dimensions aren't quite my strong suit, and I'm not gonna pretend like I totally understand this whole amalgram hivemind thing when I'm just fully learning of it." |
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Posted: Sun Jul 31, 2022 8:51 am
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Posted: Sun Jul 31, 2022 9:47 am
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The lioness closed her eyes, thinking about each of the times she encountered the Ziton on her travels. “We… I don’t think that any of them were the same one. They felt the same, yet different, just like each other version of familiar people w- I came across on my travels.” She rubbed her temples as she spoke, trying to catch herself when she finally started noticing her speech pattern was changing. With a deep breath, Crystal continued on. “Searching for a specific entity? Maybe. Don’t know who it might have been, though. Behaviors seemed similar to this Ziton, though. And they all seemed… Weaker, I suppose.” Her hands were balled up into fists now as they rested on her legs, her gaze solely on them. Her face would look pretty neutral in emotion, but her ears, laying flat against her head now, would give away how she felt about all of this in an instant. “We’re- I’m not sure it hasn’t already done so, or has just managed to travel through opened Ultra Wormholes to travel around. I can see either one happening, and time either doesn’t exist at all in there, or works in totally different ways to the realities, so, theoretically…. That thing has all the time in the world and resources to achieve its goals. If it did leave this reality with me, that is.”
She then turned to Aden, a small, bemused grin showing up on her face. “And well, it’s probably a good thing that I have never been able to show up in a new reality when I’ve wanted to then, considering the situation. Standard space is simple enough, though, wide open, cold as all get out, and has other planets that may or may not be habitable. Ultra Space, though… Ultra Space is weird. I don’t think that I have the best explanation, nor do I completely understand it myself. One could think of it maybe like a lattice that the threads of time can actually weave themselves onto? I don’t know. I just know there’s some Pokemon can run through it naturally and jump from reality to reality. And I’m now one of those beings.” She shrugged, relaxing a bit. “... I really should get my journals off of that rock in Ultra Space,” the hybrid mused to herself, tilting her head as she thought about that. “Knowing my luck, though, I go to grab them, come back and it’ll have been fifty years. Like nearly half a millenium took like a day, apparently,” she muttered at the end, clearly annoyed now. |
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Posted: Sun Jul 31, 2022 2:50 pm
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While Monique watched from the sidelines and had GRAY identify these new creatures for her she would discover a black feather on the ground just outside Sub's office. Upon closer examination she would note that the feather was very familiar, in fact it looked just like the feathers of a particular bird she was just recently acquainted with.
-----
"Thanks! Please enjoy the place!" Gardy responded to Deo with pride. "Yes, ribbons! I found a whole bunch of them that were twisted up like flowers or something and straightened them out. Look much better now!" Gardy answered Cera. She would then spot Tristen and note his silence, looking over at 'her' plushies and pulled one off with Psychic, telekinetically tossing an Elekid one at his head, thinking he might enjoy it. Before she had a chance to make a smart quip in response to the flight of the plushie Darts spoke up and inquired about Sub and Poe.
"He'll see it when he gets back, silly. In fact, should be back sooner now that I sent Poe to him! Poe is a meanie but he's really good at battling! So see, I helped!" Gardy giggled. What did she mean by all that? Back sooner with Poe's help and something to do with battling? Something didn't sound right about that. "Now what do you guys think? Kanto or Johto badges to decorate this vest? I found both sets just laying around in some rooms!"
"Never!" A muffled sound could be heard coming from Sub's desk, Gardy glancing down at it with wide eyes before meeting the gaze of Darts and smiling. "More more!" It continued.
-----
"Skuuun!" Morella hissed at Odo as he first appeared, arching her back as she prepared to attack, the mix of both of their putrid stenches filling the living quarters and beyond rapidly. Just as Morella was about to launch her attack she took a deep breath and her eyes went wide. Relaxing her body she stared at Odo, at first with a confused look, then one of interest, and finally almost seemed happy. "Skuntank..." She cooed as she walked up to Odo and rubbed up against him.
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Posted: Sun Jul 31, 2022 3:16 pm
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Posted: Sun Jul 31, 2022 3:20 pm
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"Garbo!" Odo cheered, happy to have made a new friend. I couldn't help but smirk at that, but the truth was I was surprised Morella's demeanor took a 180 like that. While Odo was hugging his new friend, I had Rala communicate with him telepathically, which lead to him asking Morella in Pokespeak if she'd seen her trainer around anywhere.
Meanwhile, because Gardy's telepathy is normally mind-crushingly loud, I could hear her from here. Seems like somebody took some creative liberties with Sub's office. That's three of his Pokemon doing whatever they please, which only further begged the question of where the man himself was. One thing was certain, though. Keiko and I... we really DID pick a bad time to come back home. That said, once we found Sub, things should settle down enough for us to show off our little bundle. That thought got cut off as I unintentionally inhaled. I was used to Odo's scent, but the way it mixed with Morella's only amplified its nastiness. I had to hold my breath to avoid puking.
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