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 Posted: Fri Aug 12, 2022 5:36 pm
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Crystal cleared her throat nervously as Reno asked his questions. "Ehehe... Just Alola." She scratched behind her ear quickly, flicking said ear before continuing. "Poni Island, specifically. The Altar of the Sunne. Or Moone. Whichever it's known by in this reality. The Altar and Lake are never constant between realities. Just that if one's the Sunne, the other's Moone." She shrugged, waving her hand dismissively. "The name isn't too terribly important. As long as the altar is there and not a complete ruin. I did say soon, this wasn't an immediate thing. And it's probably one of the easiest places to open a controlled Ultra Wormhole. The Altar as well as the ruins on the lake on Ula'Ula Island were each dedicated to Lunala and Solgaleo, and are two places that are closely linked to Ultra Space as a result. Makes it easier in general to open Wormholes, and they're.... more likely to be stable and not spontaneously suck in people. Or Pokémon." The hybrid sat her hands in front of her and looked up, looking slightly sheepish and attempting to look innocent. "Anyways... but yeah, I'd like to, and the journals have all of the notes I've taken of all... two-hundred seventy something realities I've jumped into. Maybe if we went, we could duck into another reality to ask another Blizz that question, Aden," she'd ask, a mischievous grin on her face as she teased the pseudo time lord.
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Posted: Mon Aug 15, 2022 3:58 pm
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I had finally got done with training in the training room, and I had to admit, that was more of a vacation than…well, the vacation. Between the questionable practices by those who ran Galar plus the attempt on my life, I really needed some reprieve. Torchic, Mudkip, Cubchoo, Vulpix, and Zigzagoon had done pretty well today, though rough around the edges. It was to be expected, but hey, it was progress. Getting to work with my other team without much stress into trying to hurry getting to each one was pretty good too now that I didn’t really have anything pressing on my plate, like Lysandre and Ein. Other notable things though was working with Telia and her Fairy type capabilities. I…honestly need to figure out how to go about that better. Fairy type was one that I was still relatively unfamiliar with, much to my dismay, and trying to get Telia a new trick or two with such a type was a headache. I got to also interact with a couple that I haven’t really gotten to train with in some time, those such as Golduck and Sigilyph. Golduck honestly thought for a while there I’d forgotten about him. Not the case, honestly, but it was just a similar case to the young ones in the entourage. So many Pokémon and biases are kind of hard to keep in check, especially when it comes down to the missions Snagem in general goes out on.
With the promise to get back with them in the very near future after all said and done in the training room, I figure it was high time to find my way back to my room. As I made my way in, I noticed Freth there on the bed, she looked as if she tried to take a nap, but failed miserably for some unknown reason. Though now that I am thinking about it… “Everything alright there, Freth?” I asked.
“Yea, why?” Freth replied.
“I’ve started to notice you haven’t been out and about the headquarters lately. You’ve been in here.” I said. “You’re usually more sociable instead of shut in. In fact, the most I’ve heard of you being out of here apart from running to the shower was the mission you went out on recently. Still not too thrilled about your changes?” I asked.
“No, no…nothing’s wrong. I mean, yea, still upset about this, but I’m trying not to let it get to me, now. I mean, there’s no sense in it. It isn’t like it’s going to change anything.” Freth said.
“Smooth.” The voice from within spoke to her. Freth managed to refrain from reacting. “You’re hiding from anyone that has the distinct possibility of reading you. Or more specifically, me. Not that would really matter too much anyways.”
“How…was your training session in the training room?” Freth asked
“Pretty good. I got a lot to make up for with a good few Pokémon, though. Hopefully I can be better about that in the future.” I said.
“One of your Pokémon said something?” Freth asked.
“Golduck was the main one.”
“I have told you before-“
“Yea, yea, I know. I’m trying to be better about it now. In the meantime, though…I think I’m about ready for food.” I looked towards Freth, then reached over, grabbing her hand, giving her a gentle tug. “Come on.”
“Wha?”
“Come on, let’s go to the kitchen.” I said.
“I really don’t want anything.”
“Come on, its getting late in the evening, now.” I said.
“Blizzard, seriously, I don’t-“
“Oh, this will be good.” The bounty hunter spoke again, bemused by the prospect.
“Come on, Freth, this is probably the most time we’ve had, and I’m willing to fix something for the both of us. I mean, why not?”
“Sure, Sure, go with him. Be a couple, show yourself to the world.”
“Blizzard, stop!” she said, pulling her hand back.
The notion caught me a little off guard, but more so was a little irritating. “Okay, I’m starting to think something is up. What’s going on?”
“Nothing. Is going on. I just don’t feel like going out.” Freth said.
“Why?” I asked, staring at her, nearly demanding an answer. Freth unfortunately was caught compromised. She didn’t have an answer, even so much as a half-truth that she could work around to make believable. And she couldn’t say anyone about her resident in her mind space. There was only going to be so long that she was going to skulk and sneak about the headquarters for whatever she needed before it started to raise more eyebrows apart from the one facing her. I reached back down and started to pull at her gently again. “Please?”
Freth sighed, silently praying that no one was around for someone to pick up on her unwanted guest. “Alright.” She said getting up and getting off the bed.
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Posted: Tue Aug 16, 2022 4:20 am
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It was at this point that despite his best efforts, Alola was still a region Aden wasn't as familiar with as he'd like. At least, not enough to know much about the Altar or its ruins. Not that this seemed to bug him much; if anything, it served to fuel the flames of adventure that little bit more. "Would make sense to stick to a place that probably wouldn't cause issues and not displace anyone in reality. Though, uh, you sound like you speak from more than a couple of unfortunate experiences-" He did want to remark further on the innocent look Crystal was giving, but his brain was too busy breaking at the revelation that she'd gone to nearly some 300 realities at this point.
"...I'm sorry, did you say over two-hundred seventy?" It was hard to say if it was the revelation that broke him, or the fact that he'd long lost count when it came to any timeline hopping and doubted the number was all that high overall. "I mean, I guess at least one of that many Blizzes would know something, but also we'd probably just end up in that frozen wasteland reality you mentioned at some point and last I checked, me and the cold still have a kinda complicated relationship. So maybe let's not and say we did...?" |
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Posted: Wed Aug 17, 2022 8:03 pm
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Posted: Fri Aug 19, 2022 5:59 pm
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I guided Freth into the kitchen, allowing her to sit down at the table as I made my way to the fridge. "So, what will it be, huh? What are you up for?"
"I...don't know. I haven't...really thought about it at all. Been preoccupied."
"With what?" I asked as I started to sort through the fridge.
"Oh...everything really. Seemed like everything happened all at once." she'd reply.
"Guess can't argue with that." I said. I then pulled away from the fridge for a moment. "Oh, speaking of, I think I'm getting kinda better." I charged an ice beam in the palm of my hand. "Not taking too much effort to make them anymore. Though, I can just about feel myself getting out of shape though. God, freakin' woman..."
"Good to know that he still has feelings for me." the bounty hunter said. "And the more he recovers, the worst it'll be to try taking him out." Freth grimaced for a second, knowing good and well the assailant was going to grade on her nerves every second of the way.
"What's wrong?" I spoke up again, taking note to Freth apparently writhing in her chair.
"Just...something that came to mind." Freth said.
"What?"
"I..." Freth had to think of something fast; she couldn't let it loose just yet. "I was just reminded that I have no idea as to how anything with me works now. Its like back when I became a hybrid to begin with years ago. And...you might not be able to help me with that now." Freth said.
"Yeaaah, that does pretty much suck." I said. "Though maybe someone here could help you...I don't know. Let me think..." I turned back around, starting to rummage through the fridge. "I doubt Aden. It was a bit of a headache getting him to where he was to begin with and ultimately he took my approach a bit as to applying what little he has in big ways. I mean, he basically turned a Psychic attack into cestus gloves, in a sense. Not too sure if he still does that or not..."
"He has to be joking. Is he serious? He's actually serious? Psychic attacks are not supposed to work like that!" The bounty hunter protested. "No wonder he has a hard time against psychics. He doesn't under understand the first thing about them! Though...I guess that was to my benefit at the time." Freth rolled her eyes.
"How about something simple..." I said. "Grilled club?"
"Sure."
"You like yours with garden on it, though, right?"
"Yea." Freth said, the ache coming back to what feels like her wings tired once again to try to get some feeling back into them again.
"That's...something else I noticed...why do you do that? You've been doing that a lot?"
"Doing what?"
"Flap your wings a bit like that. Its like you sat on them wrong or something."
"Oh...I don't know...its been that way since I got changed." Freth said. "I really don't know why."
"You asked Doc?"
"Not really. Isn't that much of an issue." It was one of those eyebrow raising moments again out of me. "Seriously, they're fine."
"Alright..." I said, making my way down the kitchen to the stove to rummage out for the right pans.
"I was wondering why you were doing that too. You don't really know, do you?" Freth looked back towards the fridge, seeing what was supposed to be her reflection on the polished metal surface, it was instead the bounty hunter sitting where Freth was supposed to be in the reflection. She stood up from the chair in the reflection and walked around the table image, her wings folded in front of her as opposed to how Freth had her wings, up and back behind her as she always had. Freth couldn't respond, only thing she could do was to watch the image there. "I guess I never really realized it either until now." Freth continued to expect some sort of an answer, if albeit one that would come with a snide remark or two. "...what, you want me to say? Maybe I can help. You know what I want." Freth glared at the fridge image; kill just for that kind of an answer? This woman is out of her mind. "The longer you stall, the worse things will be. There will be a time where as you are, you won't be able to stand up to him, and doom this world. I don't know how many times I need to repeat that." Freth was wishing she would stop repeating herself; ever holding her tongue to prevent some sort of outburst that would give her situation away.
Freth turned away once she heard the large pan hit the stove and I started to start trying to fry the various meats and throw several slices of bread in a nearby toaster. Freth then just turned in her seat, trying not to look the bounty hunter square in the eyes. "How cute, you're trying to ignore me now. Not feeling all that comfortable being out here in the kitchen, either, are you? Never mind the fact that you weren't really all that better off in your room either." Freth's eyes turned back towards the reflection on the fridge. "I know I told you, any empathic enough psychic can hear me if they were close enough. You honestly think a door would stop that?" she asked. "While you are at it, do you wish to go rummage these drawers for tin foil?" Freth looked a bit distraught. "I don't know why that comes to you as any surprise. I'd figured you would have figured that out at least. In fact, I'm kind of wondering how many people already know that I'm here. Refresh my memory, how many psychics are in Team Snagem by chance? I kind of wonder how many had paid any attention every time they walked past your room when we have our 'delighful' conversations in private."
Freth shot up out of the chair, the sound of the chair squealing as it was quickly, forcefully pushed behind her as she stood up. I looked back. "What's wrong now?"
"I...need to go to the rest room."
"Okay?" Staring at her, confused. I knew something was up now, but I had no idea as to what. Freth wasn't talking about something and I wasn't sure how to get it out of her. Usually I'd be trusting of Freth as I always have, but something had been getting the better of her ever since she left the med lab post change.
Freth quickly walked off out of the kitchen and back down the halls. If there was anything, she was heading to the restroom...she had to make things look somewhat believable.
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Posted: Sat Aug 20, 2022 3:41 pm
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As Freth turned the corner and started down the hallway something mentally triggered for her, and likely the guest in her mind as well. Someone was approaching, which wasn't surprising in a place like this that had plenty of people coming and going, however this particular individual might be problematic to run into, especially one on one with no other interruptions or distractions. No doubt did they sense Freth as well, which was exactly the problem. Funny thing about Psychics, they were like radio towers to each other.
"Claydoool..." Moaned Claydol as it turned the corner from the other end of the hallway, now floating in place at the other end as it appeared to stare down Freth, lazily rotating in place so that each eye got a good look at her, examining her perhaps. It didn't pick up that quick, did it?
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Posted: Sat Aug 20, 2022 4:01 pm
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SubonicXP As Freth turned the corner and started down the hallway something mentally triggered for her, and likely the guest in her mind as well. Someone was approaching, which wasn't surprising in a place like this that had plenty of people coming and going, however this particular individual might be problematic to run into, especially one on one with no other interruptions or distractions. No doubt did they sense Freth as well, which was exactly the problem. Funny thing about Psychics, they were like radio towers to each other. "Claydoool..." Moaned Claydol as it turned the corner from the other end of the hallway, now floating in place at the other end as it appeared to stare down Freth, lazily rotating in place so that each eye got a good look at her, examining her perhaps. It didn't pick up that quick, did it?
As she continued down the hallways at a relatively fast pace only to abruptly stop; her eyes going a bit wide at it. Not often that she'd see this Pokemon, and when she does, its usually to mass transport a bunch of people to their mission destination. She did not need to see this thing now. "Oh look, a Claydol." the bounty hunter spoke up, having to hold back laughing at the whole ordeal now.
"I noticed..." Freth said, silently, teeth near gritting as she said so. Her mind was going at warp speed; last she thought, Claydol was more telekinetic as opposed to empathic, but then, apparently as she started to learn, all psychics are empathic to some degree, even if it was just basic mind reading. However, if she got this Claydol's attention, she wondered what else was going on. Or why this thing is even here. "Claydol, what are you doing?" Freth simply asked, trying to play it cool. Albeit futilely.
"Probably got drawn to you. Or rather. Us." the hunter replied. "Not too happy to see this guy, honestly. That's the Claydol that you got to take Blizzard out of our fight, isn't it? My...maybe if I do ever find my way out of here, I should see if I can't pop this open like a babushka doll and see if I can't find inside the thing why the hell it decided to butt in on command! Then again, I guess I shouldn't expect too much from a Pokemon created by primitives several millenia ago!"
"You are such a ray of sunshine, aren't you?" Freth then silently asked.
"Oh would have figured at the very least they'd develop foresight about the problems at hand over the years. I don't ask for much."
Unfortunately, regardless of the assailants reservations about the mental state of a Claydol, Freth had other issues...specifically as to what the hell to do with this thing. The jig was up for certain if Claydol was left to its devices and she couldn't necessarily leave it alone. "Uh...Claydol...are you...hearing...all of that?" Freth then asked. |
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Posted: Sat Aug 20, 2022 5:04 pm
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Posted: Sat Aug 20, 2022 5:48 pm
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Freth quickly looked around about her, seeing the room distort within the cube and then the sirens blaring shortly there after. "Wait what!? Claydol! What are you-" Before she could even react, she gets blasted with the Psybeam, and while it didn't really hurt that much, probably attributed to her newfound typing, it did knock her off her feet, falling in a near slow motion onto the ground.
"Well, now you're in it. Maybe you should have stayed in the bedroom after all."
"Not now." Freth growled out, pushing herself back up off the ground. She then went to reach over to her side, then had a realization. She had none of her Pokeballs on her. They were also back in the bedroom, including, but not limited to the one which contained Absol. "Claydol, stand down! I do not need this today!"
With the alarms going off, I perked up at the stove as I was trying to grill various meats on the stove, hearing GRAYs call out about an intruder. "Now what?" I would then ask, obviously to no one. I moved the frying pan aside off the heat then started to go off towards where the alert was made.
Freth knew in the meantime that this has gotten out of hand and she didn't have a way out of this. Run all she liked in the headquarters, this definitely got the attention of virtually everyone in the headquarters, psychic type or no. "Any excuses you got this time to anyone? The Claydol knows at the very least and even if you clam up, all it'd take is for it to tell someone for it to go widespread." Freth was dead to rights and she was left in a situation where she didn't know what to do...well, other than try to wade out of the Trick Room. |
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Posted: Sat Aug 20, 2022 6:00 pm
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Much as Aden wanted to retort... Reno was kind of right. Any other time, even the idea of extreme cold wouldn't have made him back down, though he'd certainly regret it after the fact. It was his mind giving him thoughts he wasn't keen on entertaining after the conversation. The possibility of why that reality was a frozen wasteland, though the much more likely outcome was some other unrelated event.
"...fine, you've got me. I'm letting my mind get away from me. I can't deny that I wouldn't want to see some of these other realities somehow, though a lot of it's still to help Crystal get her journals."
Right as he finished that remark, though, GRAY's alert would come through his SNAG and put the conversation on hold. "Crap, how- We can talk about this a little later, come on!" He hurriedly ran back inside, rushing to get to the hallway in question- though as he drew near, he would have to remember to slow his movements to account for Trick Room's effects. |
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Posted: Sat Aug 20, 2022 6:06 pm
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“Yeah, two-hundred and seventy. I’m about… if we’re including everything pre-Ultra Space, I’m edging close to five hundred years old. I might not have kept track of years after a point, especially when you don’t enter a reality at the same point you’ve left another. Though, I almost certainly avoid it. Once I’ve been to one, I’ve been able to kind of remember its position somehow and not mix it up with another one.” Crystal then turned her head to Reno, suddenly feeling her age when she noticed Reno’s excitement. She should have known better, trying to keep Reno from doing anything potentially hazardous to one’s health was as easy as keeping a Poliwag dry. Not. The only thing her mouth would emit in Reno’s direction was a sigh, more wondering when the pestering would begin to go out on an adventure from him. Not that she couldn’t have those moments herself, just… Her look only intensified when Aden admitted he was in the same boat overall.
Her thought train would be interrupted by the blaring of GRAY on the SNAG, blinking as she turned to look at her back. “Wait, huh? We’ve been outside this entire time, how is there an intruder?” She’d quickly get up and reorient herself, darting into HQ without another word. There were some massive questions flying in her head currently.
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Posted: Sun Aug 21, 2022 10:23 am
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Posted: Sun Aug 21, 2022 10:51 am
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Claydol would be unmoved by Freth's pleas and for good reason too. She sounded like Freth but she did not look like Freth, did not have the energy signature of Freth, and to top it off she did not have the mind of Freth, at least not alone. Though brief Claydol had witnessed the bounty hunter that attempted to take Blizzard down, in fact it was the one that snatched the Articuno hybrid to safety, and it only took those few moments for Claydol to acknowledge and remember the threat the inter-dimensional hybrid presented. So when Claydol poked around in Freth's head, for but a second, and saw the same mind there as back in Galar it was confirmation enough to it that this was not Freth, but an imposter that sounded like her and nothing else.
"Doool!" While Claydol was not a battle ready Pokemon, simply trained in assistance skills, it did have one powerful move in its repertoire that all Claydol possessed, a skill granted to them upon evolution from Baltoy, something much more powerful than that pathetic Psybeam. Charging up a massive amount of energy in the 'horn' on top of its head Claydol would float up higher and turn its body so that it was horizontal with the floor with the horn pointed at Freth. Now a large ball of whitish energy form at the tip of the horn Claydol would ready its Hyper Beam and if not stopped would promptly fire it off at this murderous intruder. There would be no mercy for would-be assassins.
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Posted: Sun Aug 21, 2022 5:14 pm
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Posted: Sun Aug 21, 2022 8:16 pm
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"That's what I want to know. We would've seen them if they tried to waltz in, and one of us should've felt their presence if they took almost any other route," Aden remarked, finally arriving just in time to see Claydol readying a Hyper Beam and a hybrid he didn't recognize. She didn't have an energy signature of anyone familiar either, but he could feel something familiar mentally... but he could swear he felt more than one presence that he couldn't account for with the headcount he did in response.
Still, intruder or not, attacking first and asking questions later didn't seem like the best of ideas. Whoever or whatever Freth was now- even if Aden didn't exactly know that yet- she didn't feel hostile. Or at least one of the presences did.
"Crystal, get between them in case we can't stop the attack! Move slow, though. Pretty sure Claydol's gone and used Trick Room, so you'll waste less time than if you try to run." Out of them, Crystal seemed sturdier than him and Reno, hopefully she could take a Hyper Beam if it came to it. "Claydol, could you or GRAY explain anything that's leading to, yanno, this? They don't feel like anyone hostile, intruder or not, and I'd be a little hesitant to just up and attack..." |
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