Fading Aria [KtK RP Thread: Mission 2]

[Flyg0n]

"Good to see you again, Clink," Kimiko said. Then she paused, her words having proceeded before her brain. Why had she said that? Before anyone could question it, she pressed on, crossing her arms. "So, what exactly was Keldeo corrupted by? And do you have any reason to suspect Meloetta is afflicted by the same condition? What are we up against here?"

Clink observed the arrival of all the newcomers with nervous eagerness, the faint jingling of their keys punctuating their movements. So many new faces... hopefully this group would be as good as the last. The others had fought so valiantly and freed Keldeo, so Clink could only hope this method would continue to be successful.

Kimiko's voice stirred Clink out of their thoughts and into a more ceerful frame of mind. "Oh! Kimiko hello!" They danced through the air over to her and waved the tip of their keyring. "It is good to see you. Unfortunately I do not know yet what affected Keldeo... But I have been back to visit and he is recovering well." Clink cast a fretful glance toward the distant shape of the gate to Keldeo's Realm. Still intact. Clink settled and turned back to Kimiko.

"Some kind of powerful toxin was involved, it seems. A hero who helped free Keldeo knew much about poisons and said there was traces of something powerful within its horn. But the crystals interfering with the portals appear quite similar, so I think the affliction may be the same."

"How are we... meant to purge this corruption? Do we talk? Do we battle?"

Waving to the unfamiliar Houndoom, Clink nodded to Kimiko and floated over. "I am not sure, we may need to battle. Usually Meloetta is very kind and gentle. It is hard to picture them trying to cause harm or start a fight but..." the shudder that passed through their little body shook the keys. "I have no idea what she may do if corrupted. And what is your name, hero Houndoom?"

"Where do all of these keys come from? There must be thousands!"

"You know, I'm not entirely sure," Kupara said. She turned to Clink. "Where do they all come from? Surely you didn't collect them all yourself!"

Clink jingled sheepishly. "Some are gifts!" A few. "They're from all around the worlds. Souvenirs from interesting places or times. I do have... quite a bit of time. Not all of the doors they open are around of course, they're just for poterity now." Clink was not obsessed, they were... passionate was the word Xavian used.

 

[Shiny Phantump]

Melody felt lesserness return the moment they stepped though the gateway. It was hardly a welcome sensation, but she could still recall everything they needed to, and even sense the minds of the others. Sure, their psychic power was clearly dulled, the background noise of life force within the air's microbiome had fallen silent to her psionics. Her initial head count fell one short, having missed the presence of a Houndoom without the ability to distinguish between air and the nothingness which dark types appeared as.

They even had the firm sense that they could still transform, although it seemed a bad idea to prove it to themself. Although their genetic link to their own world had been cut off, they could make do with copying whatever (or rather, whoever) was around in this place. Everyone here seemed friendly enough that she had no reason to assume malice. More likely, it was a simple consequence of being cut off from the forces of her own world. The rules of other worlds were an alien thing to them: Yes, they were aware these things existed, Solgaleo and Lunala were members of their group by naturalization only, but they'd never personally stepped beyond the confines of their domains before.

Kupara's species was unknown to her, some sort of outsider in the vein of Alola's twin divinities. She absolutely knew of Meloetta, though, and this one did not seem the same as the one they knew unless she'd been keeping some considerable secrets from them. Were there other Mew out there, too? Perhaps even living somewhere among these gateways? Other Mewtwo? Surely not, for though they didn't grasp the nature of worlds outside their domain, they refused to imagine what had happened to them occurring with regularity.

She paused her music and moved her headphones from their place over her ears, down to their neck. It was her preference not to leave any more fingerprints on her own world anymore, but perhaps it was safer to do so in this place. Not that she was planning to tell people what she was, but it would be safe enough to talk and make acquaintances. The human population was a bit concerning: Three adults, three children. 'Course, everyone else'd be seeing four humans with her current transformation. Hopefully one of the adults was decent with kids.

 

[Negrek]

Shoving her hands into her pocket and slowly trotting forward, she waved unenthusiastically. "Sup. Rachel Leda here. Heard a Legend's in trouble or something? Meloetta... you mind giving us some hints of how they'd fight if it came down to a battle? I know they can switch types but do they have something like a general battle style?"

Kupara tapped a claw against the ground pensively. "I'm afraid I've never seen Meloetta battle myself. But from what I've heard... When they're in their singing form, they attack with their voice! That probably means a lot of special attacks from a distance. When they switch to their dancing form, they're much more hands-on."

Clink jingled sheepishly. "Some are gifts!" A few. "They're from all around the worlds. Souvenirs from interesting places or times. I do have... quite a bit of time. Not all of the doors they open are around of course, they're just for poterity now." Clink was not obsessed, they were... passionate was the word Xavian used.

Kupara's eyes sparkled. "Oh, then you must have visited even more worlds than I realized! !didnelpS You'll have to tell me their stories sometime!"

 

[Mirage]

« Hey.» he said as a greeting, voice almost raspy, as if he was not used to talking much. Which was basically the truth, since he had been alone most of his life, fending for himself.

« Are you.... a wild Pokémon, by chance? You're not here with your trainer?» he asked in a low hiss, his three tails brushing the ground.

The Vulpix looked like the complete opposite of what one would usually picture thinking of his species: the usually glossy and luxurious red fur was marked by thin scars over his back, his front paws and over his left eye which had a slightly milky coloration. The fur that would usually curl up beautifully on a Vulpix's forehead was an unkempt mess, hanging over his eyes in wild locks, too short to be properly brushed.

"Oh hi!" Fennel said, his tail giving a few friendly wags. He winced in sympathy at the Vulpix's state - he'd lived on the streets himself from time to time, and the messy fur and scars brought back memories he'd tried his best to forget.

A trainer? His eyes widened - that must be what those weird tall creatures were called! Trainers, he'd have to remember that.

"No, I don't have a 'trainer', I'm here on my own. But I'm not a wild Pokémon either!" He tried to brush the dirt out of his fur... he must look filthy if he's being mistaken for a feral.

"I'm a thie-collector," he said, quickly catching himself. "I'm just here to help out. My name's Fennel - and you're Inari, right?" He held out a paw, and hoped he'd gotten the name right from what he overheard earlier.

Clink jingled sheepishly. "Some are gifts!" A few. "They're from all around the worlds. Souvenirs from interesting places or times. I do have... quite a bit of time. Not all of the doors they open are around of course, they're just for poterity now." Clink was not obsessed, they were... passionate was the word Xavian used.

"Q-quite a bit of time!?" Fennel choked out. That was one heck of an understatement. It must've taken... years? Decades? Longer!? to gather this many. Fennel's own hoard was a tiny fraction of what was here, and this Klefki is saying they all came from different places and times. It really was impressive!

"There's so many... how do you keep track of which lock each key goes into?" Fennel asked, tilting his head.

 

[ShiniGojira]

Friends..." Ichiro mumbled to himself... Gods, I haven't made a friend in years. Could I really achieve it now, with these people?

...Do I want to? They seem...

Ichiro shook the thought. No. I'm supposed to be nice these days. That means I can't judge people like that. So I should...

He suppressed his old pride and forced a smile. "I... hope so too."

He then thought about how his face felt and realized that it was twisting in a very unnatural way, which probably made him appear extremely eerie and offputting. He elected to drop the smile-in-name-only and looked away bashfully.

The smile on Luni's face strained slightly as she let out a quiet chuckle. The Houndoom seemed friendly if a bit creepy.

"I'm Luni. It's nice to meet you... uh, Ichiro, was it?" She ignored the look her trainer was giving her. "I heard you say that you were originally human? I imagine it must be pretty daunting having to get used to such a different form. Were you a trainer too like my friend here?"

Kupara tapped a claw against the ground pensively. "I'm afraid I've never seen Meloetta battle myself. But from what I've heard... When they're in their singing form, they attack with their voice! That probably means a lot of special attacks from a distance. When they switch to their dancing form, they're much more hands-on."

Rachel hid a groan as she watched her partner act friendly with the spooky talking Pokémon. That thing looked like he was about to tear off Luni's face for a moment there but there was little she could do to persuade Luni once she had her mind set on something.

Hearing the turtle Legend(?)'s answer, Rachel shrugged. "Yeah, I guess that's obvious enough."

Deciding to just stay back and observe–

She felt a little psychic kick to her leg. Knowing the culprit, she rolled her eyes when she saw Luni giving her a side-eye.

Fine fine. Talking time.

Her eyes wandered a bit. Two cute little Pokémon talking to each other, although one seemed... to be in a rough shape. Her heart winced but she didn't make a move, that Vulpix looked distrustful of her and she didn't want to make things worse. So that left the boys or...

Oh hey, that new girl looks cool.

"Yo." She wandered over to the woman in the hoodie and raised a hand in greeting. "What's your name? Can't help but notice that you're the only human here without a Pokémon. What's up with that?"

 

[Shiny Phantump]

Oh hey, that new girl looks cool.

"Yo." She wandered over to the woman in the hoodie and raised a hand in greeting. "What's your name? Can't help but notice that you're the only human here without a Pokémon. What's up with that?"

The kid was sharp, that was a detail they'd missed. Plus, she was older than the literal preteens running around, which was nice. Old enough that they wouldn't feel like they were stuck on babysitting duty interacting with this one. They raised one hand back in a reflection of the greeting.

"Hey. Name's Melody. You can call me Mel, if you prefer." One of the people at the Cinnabar Music Festival called them that and it seemed like a nice nickname, one that this human persona might plausibly use in her day-to-day life if she had one.

It made sense that the other— that all the humans had partners. They were all summoned with the expectation that they would be doing battle. Sure, that would be no problem for Mew, but only an idiot would throw an unarmed human with no partner at the problem. This posed a problem for her current presentation as an unarmed human with no partner. Oh well. Nothing a bit of improvisation and half-truth couldn't fix.

"Not a trainer, myself. Just a psychic. Pretty good one, at least. I've gotta figure that's why I'm here."

Suggesting that was all 'Mel' knew about why she was here should protect them from any follow-up questions, unless the kid had an interest in psychics. A good chance to pass from being observed back into being an observer.

"Who're you? And I like the jacket, by the way." (It was true. Kid had a good sense of style.)

 

[MegaAbsolOfDespair]

Ichiro had not paid much attention to the new arrival before, but his name made him flinch.

Volo...? That Volo? Could it really be...

No, he could just as well be another Celestican from the past. There was probably more than one Celestican named Volo before the famous one. Still, I should find out more about this kid...

"Hey, you," Ichiro said to the boy, approaching him. "Are you Celestican?" That seemed like the best question to start this conversation with.

"Well, I was born as a Celestican, but I was raised by the Ginkgo Guild! They're like a new family to me!" He responds, not understanding why the pokemon's attitude would suddenly switch. In general, his focus was currently more on why the pokemon was talking to him. He hadn't seen a pokemon that looked like that before, and he could only assume it was some kind of weird looking Arcanine.

Nori simply laughs a little. "Not really a religious type myself. But I have a priestess friend, and I had to study about some. Though I can't say I've heard of Meloetta until today."

Volo? He supposes his parents were a fan of literature. It wouldn't be the first time he met someone like that. Or maybe it was just a big coincidence. "It's nice to meet you, Volo. I'm Nori. Nori Carino."

"Same, I've never really heard of Meloetta before, but I have heard of a lot of other ones! Either way, it's nice to meet you too, Nori!" He says, wanting to do a handshake with Nori as a sign of friendship even if they had just met.

 

[ShiniGojira]

The kid was sharp, that was a detail they'd missed. Plus, she was older than the literal preteens running around, which was nice. Old enough that they wouldn't feel like they were stuck on babysitting duty interacting with this one. They raised one hand back in a reflection of the greeting.

"Hey. Name's Melody. You can call me Mel, if you prefer." One of the people at the Cinnabar Music Festival called them that and it seemed like a nice nickname, one that this human persona might plausibly use in her day-to-day life if she had one.

Rachel nodded to Mel's introduction. Cool girl with a nice name. The casual greeting helped smoothened some of Rachel's tension even if she was still eying the woman a little suspiciously.

It made sense that the other— that all the humans had partners. They were all summoned with the expectation that they would be doing battle. Sure, that would be no problem for Mew, but only an idiot would throw an unarmed human with no partner at the problem. This posed a problem for her current presentation as an unarmed human with no partner. Oh well. Nothing a bit of improvisation and half-truth couldn't fix.

"Not a trainer, myself. Just a psychic. Pretty good one, at least. I've gotta figure that's why I'm here."

Suggesting that was all 'Mel' knew about why she was here should protect them from any follow-up questions, unless the kid had an interest in psychics. A good chance to pass from being observed back into being an observer.

"Who're you? And I like the jacket, by the way." (It was true. Kid had a good sense of style.)

She blinked.

"You're a psychic too?" Rachel blurted out before recoiling as her mind caught up to her words.

Crap... The girl sighed, shaking her head. The damage was done so there wasn't any point in hiding it anymore.

She opened her mouth before closing it.

Actually...

A chill ran down her spine.

She hasn't realised this until now but she couldn't feel the emotions radiating from this girl, nor from anyone else. How did–did this place remove her psychic attunement?

Okay, don't panic... That Houndoom did say this was a temporary excursion so hopefully she'd get them back when all this was over. Hopefully.

Although...

She glanced back at Melody. How were her psychic powers still available?

Coughing into her hand and acting like she hasn't just been staring at the woman for several seconds. She gave Mel a curious smile, hiding her nerves with practiced ease. "Name's Rachel Leda. You can call me Rachel." She extended a hand. "It's nice meeting a fellow psychic. But if I may ask, how come you still have your powers? My abilities are all... just gone right now. So mind indulging this girl's curiosity? 'cause I find it weird that the only other lone human here without a Pokémon partner had been turned into a Pokémon and yet, you're... not."

 

[System Error]

"Not a trainer, myself. Just a psychic. Pretty good one, at least. I've gotta figure that's why I'm here."

Nori is good at picking up on things, even half-tired and distracted. He'd only given this newcomer Melody a passing glance at first and initially thought she just didn't have her Pokemon out like he did - or Volo. Not a trainer though? He eyes her for a few seconds. That was strange, maybe even suspect from how she tried to deflect. Even that warrior cavewoman last time had a Pokemon despite being able to fight with a spear. But he didn't feel like questioning her. At least, not right now.

"Same, I've never really heard of Meloetta before, but I have heard of a lot of other ones! Either way, it's nice to meet you too, Nori!" He says, wanting to do a handshake with Nori as a sign of friendship even if they had just met.

Speaking of Volo, he is all too happy to accept the handshake, giving a firm one. "The pleasure's mine," he replies. This was nice! Even if there were no familiar faces, he was already off to a better start than before! "Let's both do our part to save Meloetta! Um." Wait, did he bring a Pokemon? May as well ask. "So what Pokemon did you bring? I uh, guess I should show mine."

He closes his eyes. The Demon Nidorina, once considered a dangerous Pokemon. Not an official assignment, but effectively what led to them. "Well, Nori," he mumbles as he clutches the Great Ball in both hands. He releases it, grasping it in his left. "You really should let her out and explain this to her before heading in."

He gives the Great Ball a gentle toss. What appears is nominally a Nidorina, but she's evidently a special specimen. This one is huge, but doesn't appear to be a mere giant. Her body is significantly spikier than a normal Nidorina: three rows of sharp spikes run down her back. Her claws are a bit longer, and for a moment, pull further out of her body. Hell, she looks like she could cut something with her ears. To punctuate it, she actually has a horn that any Nidoking would be envious of, and two fangs showing on either side.

That's just half the story though. She is initially in a warrior's stance; while raw power levels are equalized to an extent here, she evidently has skill to wield it. Moments after getting her bearings and realizing the situation, she begins snarling and looking around alertly for any threats, like a wild beast. She eventually focuses on her trainer, standing tall and baring her teeth to express displeasure. "Carino! Where is this? What did you do this time?" She has a rough tone.

"Relax! Relax!" Nori frantically waves a palm while tightening his grip on the capsule. Nope, still can't understand his Pokemon's words - but other Pokemon certainly could and maybe even other people. But he knew her enough to understand her anyway. "It's okay, it's fine, Demon! I've been here before with Pachi! This is a weird world we were called to to help save a legendary Pokemon from corruption! We may have to fight it! I just grabbed you because Pachi was sleeping and Pawniard's...Pawniard."

The Demon rolls her eyes. "I should've known you wanted to help someone. I was sleeping too, you know." The Pokemon growls, but it quickly turns into a twisted snicker. "But if we're up against a so-called god, I'm in. It'll be a good fight. And I'd love to knock one down a peg or two." She nods her approval. Having no love lost for the heavens and the chance to get stronger. Perfect.

The boy sighs, putting a hand over his heart as he pockets the ball. Part of his was worried she'd be too pissed to cooperate. But it was fine. "Sorry if she, um. But she's fine, trust me! You'll see!" He gives a thumbs up.

The Demon stomps off and eyes each of the Pokemon. "Need to warm up. Take it you're here for the same reason? If any of you think you can keep up, join me. No moves, just our bodies." Without waiting for anyone, she stretches, then starts practicing lunging with all parts of her body. It's aggressive, yet precise and controlled. Nearly graceful in a strange way.

 

[canisaries]

Waving to the unfamiliar Houndoom, Clink nodded to Kimiko and floated over. "I am not sure, we may need to battle. Usually Meloetta is very kind and gentle. It is hard to picture them trying to cause harm or start a fight but..." the shudder that passed through their little body shook the keys. "I have no idea what she may do if corrupted. And what is your name, hero Houndoom?"

"It's Ichiro," Ichiro said. The klefki must not have heard him before...

The smile on Luni's face strained slightly as she let out a quiet chuckle. The Houndoom seemed friendly if a bit creepy.

"I'm Luni. It's nice to meet you... uh, Ichiro, was it?" She ignored the look her trainer was giving her. "I heard you say that you were originally human? I imagine it must be pretty daunting having to get used to such a different form. Were you a trainer too like my friend here?"

The ralts spoke in another language, yet Ichiro could understand. It had to be because he was a pokémon now, even if things didn't work this way in his own world. "Uh, yeah, this body is certainly... new," Ichiro replied. "As for being a trainer.... once. I was a trainer once. But that was a very long time ago, in a very different kind of situation."

"Well, I was born as a Celestican, but I was raised by the Ginkgo Guild! They're like a new family to me!" He responds, not understanding why the pokemon's attitude would suddenly switch. In general, his focus was currently more on why the pokemon was talking to him. He hadn't seen a pokemon that looked like that before, and he could only assume it was some kind of weird looking Arcanine.

Ichiro drew in a breath. So this was the historical Volo. Ichiro would not be telling him what was in his future. Or maybe this was a Volo from a different timeline? One where things turned out better for him? Ichiro couldn't know. And it wasn't as if he needed to know.

"I see," he simply said in response.

 

[Nekodatta]

Nori nods emphatically. "So there's a lot of dangerous Pokemon out there. Like, really bad ones who are a threat to those around them." He glances away for a second. "But well, there's moral problems with putting them down, and it's not like catching them and being nice will work on everything. Sometimes even care facilities don't want to touch them. So that's where a Pokemon Rehabilitator comes in. We--" He pauses. "Um, I'm the only one right now. But basically, I take Pokemon no one else can or will and help them reform. Or at least, find them a place to belong. Like--"

"It's not like catching them and being nice will work on everything"
Yeah, he knew something about that. Raiki took a drag from the cigarette, slowly exhaling the smoke out of the corners of his mouth, thinking.

« Sounds like we have some similar ideas, even if we work with completely different Pokémon. In a way, you could say I do the opposite. I raise Pokémon that would have difficulty surviving in the wild, like... like that one. » he commented, nodding towards the small figure of the Vulpix.

« He was not born in the wild. He was hatched from a Pokémon breeder... then, I assume, dumped into the wild because... I don't know. His fur wasn't beautiful enough? He wasn't born knowing a certain move? A certain ability? He wasn't shiny? Basically, abandoned just for being a completely normal Vulpix.»

Something flashed in his one eye for just a moment as he spoke, a glint of rage as he grit his teeth around the cigarette, his free hand coiling into a fist for a moment. If he ever found the guy that had done that...

But that wasn't important right now.
« That's how I found him; Injured on a route. I took him in, but... he doesn't trust humans. Especially other Pokémon Breeders. Not that I blame him. » he added with a shrug. He wouldn't either, in his position.

He eyed the Great Ball that Nori was showing him, then the teenager.

« ... anyway, I think you can be proud of yourself. It sounds like a noble objective. »

So young, and he was already making such a difference in the world.
Not like him-

A trainer? His eyes widened - that must be what those weird tall creatures were called! Trainers, he'd have to remember that.

"No, I don't have a 'trainer', I'm here on my own. But I'm not a wild Pokémon either!" He tried to brush the dirt out of his fur... he must look filthy if he's being mistaken for a feral.

"I'm a thie-collector," he said, quickly catching himself. "I'm just here to help out. My name's Fennel - and you're Inari, right?" He held out a paw, and hoped he'd gotten the name right from what he overheard earlier.

Inari flicked his ears, not quite sure he understood what the other Pokémon was saying.

« That makes no sense.» he said, blunt.

« If you don't have a trainer, then you're a wild Pokémon. You either live with humans in cities or you live out in the wild. There are no other possibilities-» he said.

I wished there were, at least. He stared coldly at the paw Fennel had hold out, hoping for a handshake - a custom that, as far as he knew, was human-. He took a step back, wrinkling his nose in suspicion. Was he actually a trained Pokémon? Was he also human just a couple moments before? Were they just messing with him?

« Yes... but that's just the name he gave me. » he answered in the end, not moving to reciprocate the handshake.

The Demon stomps off and eyes each of the Pokemon. "Need to warm up. Take it you're here for the same reason? If any of you think you can keep up, join me. No moves, just our bodies."

The Vulpix observed the Nidorina, caught between fear and interest. She was obviously strong, he could feel it. She surely didn't have any problems surviving... in any other situation, he would have run away from her as fast as he could.
But... it was true that they had been called here to fight, most probably.
He didn't want to be caught unprepared against anything they would have to face.

« ... very well.» he said, moving a couple of steps to approach the Demon, not before giving a questioning glance to Fennel. Would he join them?

He looked at her stance for a short moment, then copied it as best as he could, his three tails splaying out behind him: he had neither horns nor spikes, and he was much more comfortable attacking from afar with long distance attacks... but he lunged forward, practicing a couple of swipes and bites, snarling.

 

[MegaAbsolOfDespair]

Speaking of Volo, he is all too happy to accept the handshake, giving a firm one. "The pleasure's mine," he replies. This was nice! Even if there were no familiar faces, he was already off to a better start than before! "Let's both do our part to save Meloetta! Um." Wait, did he bring a Pokemon? May as well ask. "So what Pokemon did you bring? I uh, guess I should show mine."

"I've got my own pokemon too!" He takes an old-fashioned pokeball from his backpack, sending out a Togepi. "This is Lux, she's my companion!" The Togepi tries to hide behind him, scared at the sight of strangers. Noticing her fear, he continues: "Yeah... she's gets easily scared by anyone but me."

He gives the Great Ball a gentle toss. What appears is nominally a Nidorina, but she's evidently a special specimen. This one is huge, but doesn't appear to be a mere giant. Her body is significantly spikier than a normal Nidorina: three rows of sharp spikes run down her back. Her claws are a bit longer, and for a moment, pull further out of her body. Hell, she looks like she could cut something with her ears. To punctuate it, she actually has a horn that any Nidoking would be envious of, and two fangs showing on either side.

"Whoah, that's a cool pokemon!" He looks in awe at the pokemon referred to by Nori as 'Demon'. Demon didn't look like any pokemon he'd seen back in Hisui, but that didn't stop him from finding her a mix of awesome and terrifying.

 

[ShiniGojira]

The ralts spoke in another language, yet Ichiro could understand. It had to be because he was a pokémon now, even if things didn't work this way in his own world. "Uh, yeah, this body is certainly... new," Ichiro replied. "As for being a trainer.... once. I was a trainer once. But that was a very long time ago, in a very different kind of situation."

"Sounds like quite the story," Luni said, nodding to herself. "Were you a battler? A coordinator? Or perhaps a breeder? My trainer and I had gotten two badges a couple months back although we've been looking to try something new this upcoming year."

The Demon stomps off and eyes each of the Pokemon. "Need to warm up. Take it you're here for the same reason? If any of you think you can keep up, join me. No moves, just our bodies." Without waiting for anyone, she stretches, then starts practicing lunging with all parts of her body. It's aggressive, yet precise and controlled. Nearly graceful in a strange way.

« ... very well.» he said, moving a couple of steps to approach the Demon, not before giving a questioning glance to Fennel. Would he join them?

He looked at her stance for a short moment, then copied it as best as he could, his three tails splaying out behind him: he had neither horns nor spikes, and he was much more comfortable attacking from afar with long distance attacks... but he lunged forward, practicing a couple of swipes and bites, snarling.

The Demon was a bit crass but warming up was a splendid idea.

Luni turned her head back to the Houndoom. "Perhaps you should join them? Get yourself acquainted with your new form?"

She placed a hand against her chest, addressing the Demon. "I, for one, will be fine watching you all. A Ralts such as myself needn't much physical activity to utilise my full strength."

 

[canisaries]

"Sounds like quite the story," Luni said, nodding to herself. "Were you a battler? A coordinator? Or perhaps a breeder? My trainer and I had gotten two badges a couple months back although we've been looking to try something new this upcoming year."

"Battler," Ichiro said. "Though I wasn't the one..."

He trailed off. That would take a lot of explaining, and he wasn't itching to take a trip down that memory lane. "Sorry. Forget it. I'd rather not talk about it..."

The Demon was a bit crass but warming up was a splendid idea.

Luni turned her head back to the Houndoom. "Perhaps you should join them? Get yourself acquainted with your new form?"

She placed a hand against her chest, addressing the Demon. "I, for one, will be fine watching you all. A Ralts such as myself needn't much physical activity to utilise my full strength."

Ichiro looked over at the nidorina and hummed. He didn't want to get jabbed by those spikes, but he supposed that he should warm up if he wanted to be useful. To be liked. Appreciated. What a concept.

No moves was a tall ask, but maybe he'd be quick enough to dodge. He had to have some fighting technique still buried deep in his muscle memory, right? Then again, these muscles were different...

"You know what? Sure," he said. "If I remember right, you can't die in these things anyway."

He stepped closer towards the nidorina, though was still a good distance away. "Do we take turns or all battle at the same time? Are there teams, and if so, who against whom?"

 

[Shiny Phantump]

"You're a psychic too?"

"Name's Rachel Leda. You can call me Rachel." She extended a hand. "It's nice meeting a fellow psychic. But if I may ask, how come you still have your powers? My abilities are all... just gone right now. So mind indulging this girl's curiosity? 'cause I find it weird that the only other lone human here without a Pokémon partner had been turned into a Pokémon and yet, you're... not."

Melody shook the girl's hand. "A pleasure, Rachel."

Unfortunately, the formality wasn't quite true: Rachel had presented her with every possible complication. (They still liked the kid, it wasn't her fault Mel was lying through their teeth. If anything, it spoke to Rachel's acumen.) One of the humans here had… Huh. Looking around, they didn't see any ghosts, which was where 'human who turned into a pokemon' narratives usually emerged from. They'd seen a couple other edge cases over the centuries, but certainly not enough that 'Mel' would know about any.

"Hard for me to explain why I haven't turned into a 'mon. It's only the one person who has, would be a lot easier to figure out why they did and work backwards. Who is it? I should ask 'em later."

That much was true. She actually didn't know the reason anything like that would have happened.

The psychic powers were trickier to explain. She'd assumed her own were dulled by the fact he had left her domain, but no, Rachel had had taken a hit to hers too, enough that they were either gone, or weak enough that she they may as well have been. (The loss to their own power had absolutely been large enough that an equivilant loss of power would make a human psychic weaker than the psionic background noise of air.) But the second they engaged in anything requiring them to use their remaining power it'd become clear that they were still operating with a much deeper pool of psychic energy than even a highly gifted human, so she couldn't admit she'd taken a huge blow to her power too.

Things would be easiest if she could claim a different subtype of psychic talent than Rachel did. And although Rachel hadn't specified what kinds of abilities she had, Melody could still guess one that she didn't. If they were right to guess that Rachel had noticed her missing psionics in those few seconds of staring blankly at them (presumably trying to prove they were psychic too) then she wasn't telekinetic. They'd met plenty of telekinetic humans, and the way their non-psychic minds tended to cope with telekinesis was by binding it to their existing locomotion, stapling the activation of it onto the movement of an existing limb. Rachel hadn't moved when trying to demonstrate her powers, and that was the only tell she needed.

"I mean, I was just assuming that I can still—"

Like a common stage magician, Mel took her right hand and snapped her fingers and left the index finger pointing down towards the dirt. A small pellet of violet light fired from her fingertip, only making it about a centimeters into the dirt before running out of power and fizzing out.

"Yep, I'm still good." She shrugged. "Go figure. What kind of psychic are you? Might be the difference. You read people?" (Safest guess there ever was. Telekinesis and healing were more or less the only types of psionic that couldn't be pushed into the 'reading people' box if you tried hard enough.) "We're all from different worlds. Maybe it's, like, file format incompatibilities." (Trying to actually put songs onto her MP3 player had been a nightmare, they'd had to get one of the libraians to help her work the computer. They were not a computer person. Should probably figure that out at some point, seemed like that particular piece of tech wasn't going anywhere for a while, even on the timescale of an immortal.)

 

[ShiniGojira]

Hard for me to explain why I haven't turned into a 'mon. It's only the one person who has, would be a lot easier to figure out why they did and work backwards. Who is it? I should ask 'em later."

"That Houndoom over there. Talks like they'd done this whole world travelling thing multiple times before," Rachel answered before humming in thought. "But you do have a point about it just being that one guy..."

Still, it wasn't just a coincidence that Mel was the only human that didn't have a Pokémon partner, was it? Maybe Mel did get turned into a Pokémon but hadn't realised yet? Could that even happen?

Yep, I'm still good." She shrugged. "Go figure. What kind of psychic are you? Might be the difference. You read people?" (Safest guess there ever was. Telekinesis and healing were more or less the only types of psionic that couldn't be pushed into the 'reading people' box if you tried hard enough.)

"I dabbled a bit into everything, telekinesis, telepathy, teleportation although they're not... exactly what most psychics would call 'good' but they're usable enough," Rachel said. "I'm mostly proficient in empathy. It's... honestly eerie how quiet everything feels. It almost feels like my attempts at divination but without the whole 'certain doom' bit."

She let out a dark chuckle. Figured this whole situation would make her remember her little sister's fate...

 

[Shiny Phantump]

"I dabbled a bit into everything, telekinesis, telepathy, teleportation although they're not... exactly what most psychics would call 'good' but they're usable enough," Rachel said. "I'm mostly proficient in empathy. It's... honestly eerie how quiet everything feels. It almost feels like my attempts at divination but without the whole 'certain doom' bit."

Safest guess there ever was? Ha. Kid was ticking boxes off the psychic specialization checklist like it was a damn grocery list. They'd never seen a human teleport unassisted before, must be more psychic energy kicking around in human bloodlines in her world. Made enough sense, neither they nor anyone else in their family were really giving out those gifts to humans anymore.

If none of those powers were working then their 'theory' was dead in the water. Oh well. Maybe this person is Mew in disguise wasn't the kind of question people usually asked themselves, so hopefully Rachel'd just brush it off as a little bit weird.

"One hell of a range, colour me impressed. Would've been nice to have access to that whole suite, but oh well... You know, from where I'm standing there's only one other human without a partner who something weird happened to, and one other psychic who something weird happened to. Looks to me like I'm the most normal one in the room here."

(She was, in fact, not the most normal one in the room.)

"But, hey, if it's any consolation I'd say that not having the certain doom bit counts for a lot."

So the kid— So Rachel had forseen some kind of doom before trying to see the future. Tough break, whether it'd come to pass already or it was looming over her still. Explained why she seemed to be the 'grew up quickly' type. Nothing in the future was every really written in stone, but it could still certainly be something beyond the scope of what one human kid could deal with.

"Whatever we do find out there, I got your back. You're gonna be alright."

Maybe it was tipping her hand a little, promising that while appearing to be nothing more than human with a few party tricks. Hopefully it'd just lend to her mystique a little. They liked having a little bit of mystique anyway.