Destiny Colosseum ~ Training Rooms

[Namohysip]

"I am," Owen said, "but, well, er, it's complicated, but my world still has some ties to humanity, in a way. I know of them from that and a few other things... I mean, look at me. Do I seem like a normal Charizard anymore?"

 

[Dragonfree]

"No," she said. "But you look mostly like a Mega Charizard X."

 

[Namohysip]

"I-is that the term?" Owen asked, bringing a claw to his chin. "Wow, that's..."

"Don't say it."

"That's so cool! And that's--that's the official designation, right? Mega? X? All with my species name? So I'm Mega Owen X?"

"You've made a terrible mistake," Wishkeeper told Mia.

 

[Dragonfree]

Mia squinted at him. "There's a type of rock that reacts with some Pokémon and makes them stronger. Why is it a mistake?"

 

[Namohysip]

Wishkeeper eyed Owen, whose eyes were practically sparkling. "...I now have to deal with my dominant half raving about this 'cool new title' he apparently has. Bahamut was right. I've become a child."

"Ohh, it's just a little levity!" Owen couldn't stop grinning. "Besides, doesn't it sound cool? And I'm not as much of a freak anymore, either!"

"Mrm, I suppose that much is true..."

 

[Dragonfree]

Mia frowned. Did they just mean the name? Was there something special about the name Mega Charizard X? Why were they both being weird about it?

"Why are you not as much of a freak?"

 

[Namohysip]

"Because now there's something to call what I look like instead of just not knowing what it is at all," Owen said. "When you give something a name, it feels a little more familiar. Like you can understand it more, because society has enough knowledge that they can recognize it as something."

 

[Dragonfree]

Mia nodded slowly. That made some sense. There was a name for Mega Charizard X because it wasn't just one Charizard who was different from others. People knew things that applied to all Mega Charizard X. That could be helpful. Like if you were sick, then if there were other other Mega Charizard X people would know how to treat them. Would that be any different than normal Charizard, though?

"I have likes and dislikes," she said after a moment. "I'm just not afraid."

 

[Namohysip]

"What are things you like?" Owen asked. "Do you know why you like them? Sometimes I don't know. They're just things I enjoy. Well, maybe if I think about it, I can find the reason."

 

[Dragonfree]

"I like fighting, and meat, and hotdogs, and talking with Dave, and math, and learning how things work," Mia said. "I like it when things make sense. But there doesn't need to be a reason for liking something. If I want something I want it. It doesn't matter why."

 

[Namohysip]

Owen raised a scaly brow-ridge at the mention of talking with Dave. Out of everything, that seemed to stick out to him. Still, Mia probably wouldn't have much insight over that aside from the fact that things made sense. "Have you ever wondered why anyway?" Owen asked. "I guess, with how often my head can be manipulated, I've become really... insightful about that. If I can understand why I want something, then I can be more sure that it was really something from me, and not from someone else."

 

[Dragonfree]

Owen was saying again that he kept being made to want things he didn't want. He could just go on wanting the new thing, but he also wanted to not want things he didn't originally want. Maybe that did make some sense.

"I like fighting and meat because I think like a Scyther. Pokémon in my universe like to fight, and Scyther are predators. Hotdogs are an evolutionary superstimulus. They're made of meat and fat and salt in a way where the brain likes them even more than the food it evolved to like. I like it when I know how things work and they make sense because then I can predict how they'll work in the future and know better how to get what I want. I like math because it always makes sense and builds on itself and never talks about anything weird."

She paused for a moment, frowning. "I like Dave because he makes more sense than most people. If I ask him about something I don't understand he can usually explain it. But he doesn't always make sense, especially since we got to Cibus. It's weird. I want him to go back to normal."

 

[Namohysip]

Owen was leaning forward, fascinated. Yes, it all made a lot of sense. It was very methodical, and perhaps that was a good thing. Mia had a handle of what she preferred, and she didn't seem all that distressed by how concrete it all was. Maybe some people liked being concrete, too. Dave, though...

"Dave is in a world that's completely unlike the one your memories are from," Owen said, trying to use concrete terms. "And he must also be stressed because he knows he'll have to return, too. He's in a position that he doesn't like. He has battle instincts, too, which he isn't used to, and I don't know if he likes it because they used to not be his instincts. It would be like if you suddenly stopped liking fighting."

 

[Dragonfree]

Was that it? Mia cocked her head. Maybe. Maybe if he went back he'd be normal. But then he'd also be gone.

"I don't want him to leave," she said, frowning. "I didn't like it when he was in the Voidlands."

 

[Namohysip]

"Your sister, Cal, feels the same way about me. And I don't like it either." Owen sighed, wondering how they'd grapple with that. "But when we came here in the first place, we knew it was going to be temporary. We didn't expect to be leaving anything behind..."

 

[Dragonfree]

Mia nodded slowly. "Dave wants to go back. He wouldn't like being here forever. But I like Cibus. This body is better and everyone here likes fighting."

 

[Namohysip]

Owen nodded. "That means you and Cal are going to have to be ready to say goodbye to us," he said. "We might see you again someday, but 'someday' could be centuries from now. We might be totally different people in how we behave... both you and us. So, it will basically be goodbye." And when Owen finally said that, there was a sudden, deep pit in his throat that he tried to hide.

 

[Dragonfree]

Mia frowned. What was he talking about? "Why would we see each other centuries from now and be different people?"

 

[Namohysip]

"It's a figure of speech," Owen explained. "I don't really know for Dave, since I don't know how his world works, but for Cal and I... Well. Back home, I don't age the way normal Pokemon do, so I'll probably be alive for a long, long time." Assuming things work out. "You and Cal are probably the same way, being part Dark Matter, part Eternatus, part... a bunch of other things. When you don't see someone for that long, they change. So, in a way, it's like meeting someone totally different."

 

[Dragonfree]

"Dave is just a normal human. He will probably be dead in thirty or forty years. Maybe less. He drinks a lot and that lowers life expectancy."

Would she live for centuries? That was interesting. The other her aged faster than a normal human, so she would probably have died early too, even if she wasn't shot. "But maybe I can meet you after a few centuries."