Poppin' Arms Guild ~ Main Lobby

[unrepentantAuthor]

Brisa and Curio arrived from the crossroads, Brisa far more bewildered than Curio over the scale of the settlement.

Toffee the corviknight gave them a short introduction to the various amenities and arrangements, and Brisa followed along, tracing mnemonic symbols with her tail on the floor as she did.

"Okay... So I guess we gotta take our nameplates and find some livin' quarters," said Brisa, feeling her stomach descend into the ground as she did.

Rooming with Curio. That was the issue, of course. They'd shared the hidden quarters for a month, but Brisa had only spent the night there half the time, and that was before all this... blushing. Maybe it was best they didn't room. But what if Curio took offence. Maybe Curio would suggest it first. But that would just make Brisa more flustered than ever. What was best?! She didn't know.

 

[Chibi Pika]

Starr was sprawled out on one of the beanbag chairs in the main lobby. She'd heard that they'd be assigned dorms soon, so she was just killing some time browsing her phone until then. Or at least, trying to... if she weren't dealing with a splitting headache that definitely had nothing to do with the fact that she'd chucked that damn "useless lump" in the trash outside the instant Chip had explained what it really was. What it contained. A shade. And apparently everyone was just... okay with this? Not just okay, apparently some of them had been worried about the shades being uncomfortable?? It felt like she'd set foot in the fucking Twilight Zone.

And as if it wasn't bad enough that half the team thought it was a good idea to keep nightmare shadow demons that turned you into a monster as pets, the fucking things had to be psychic too? No. Screw that. That was just asking for disaster, and anyone who couldn't see that was a goddamn moron.

Anyone approaching the guild building would see a small rock tapping against the glass on the automatic front door, as if it were trying to get in.

 

[Namohysip]

It was the morning after, and several members of Team Spectrum had taken the liberty of familiarizing themselves with their new homes. With all of that taken care of, however, Maple had sent for everyone who could to gather up at the lobby to go over an important address. Team Spectrum, eclectic as they were, probably were not able to gather together effectively unless the world was in some kind of danger, so she did not have high hopes... But she could at least try.

Maple waited until the crowd was large enough and, assuming Diyem or the others would catch the stragglers up later, began.

"Hello, everyone. For those who are not completely aware, this is a meeting to discuss... Well. Us. The God Squad, as you call us."

"You mean the team name I made up," Soda pointed out, raising a claw.

Indeed, all of the God Squad was present. Truffle stood nearby with Leg hiding behind his feathery form, in his shadow. Potluck sat happily next to Maple,, his tail-fin wagging. And of course, there was Soda, with the massive Snorlax, Flesh, behind him.

"I suppose before I open with the main address," Maple said, "How much are you all aware of already? What more do you need to know?"

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

A meaningful glance. Leaving immediately. God Squad knew more than they were letting on.

Brisa found a seat in the lobby to put her thoughts together, her tail tuft sweeping across the floor in regular patterns as she tried to keep information together in her head. There were multiple dark forces. Maple's team, in pursuit of darkness from one world to the next. Humans, moving deliberately between worlds? (Did humans always transform when entering worlds like hers?) Bahamut had mentioned Eternatus, the world-ender, and its pursuit of worlds across space. There were any number of Dark Matter entities. Any number of Team Rockets. Any number of unknowns.

The multiverse was turning out to be a terrifying place.

Brisa grit her teeth and started taking notes on her badge. (Thanks for the tutorial, Curio.) She'd figure something out if she could just organise the information right...

She looked up from her work and saw Dave passing by. Dave?

"Dave? Hey there! You got a minute?"

 

[Namohysip]

After the initial few days of panic and action, few new events arose over the next couple of weeks within Destiny Village and Cibus as a whole. Diyem continued searching for sources of distortion and other potential dangers; Arceus called upon as many Legends as he could find to come back to Destiny Village for protection. A few, however, needed to remain at their posts to guard their landmarks. Dialga had to remain behind on Temporal Tower to keep the landmass afloat; a destabilizing presence there could cause it to crash down to the Sea of Wonders below. Giratina remained behind in the Reverse World to keep distortions from leaking out into the material plane; after all, the Reverse World was where Dungeon distortions were displaced to shrink down.

Rayquaza, Groudon, and Kyogre were still missing; the same was true for both Ho-Oh and the three legendary beasts that worked below them. It seemed fairly clear that they would be of some risk later, if not discovered. Meanwhile, Xerneas had to remain in the Tree of Life to continue guarding it; while its original purpose of keeping the planet in place had apparently been retired, it was still a large repository of power, and that in the wrong hands could also spell disaster.

Thankfully, everybody else was more or less accounted for.

Darkwhite was not seen anywhere for long. There were hearsay instances of a strange looking Mew around the world, but she never stayed in one place long enough to get anything useful. Shades, too, were rounded up in scattered locations seemingly at random, with no rhyme nor reason to their appearances.

And so, aside from volunteer scouting around the world and returning to the Destiny Village dorms by evening, a strange little routine had formed once again among the team. Tense equilibrium as Palkia's whereabouts remained unknown. Dialga and Giratina, who shared a strong bond with him, could sense that he was still alive, but little more. Even Arceus was unable to locate him.

That tense peace shattered in an instant when the skies above the Sea of Wonders turned into a crimson vortex. A world-tearing rumble shook the horizon, its sound faintly reaching all the way to Destiny Village like a distant thunderclap.

[Maple > Team Spectrum]: Guild lobby, now. Gather everyone. Darkwhite made her move.

 

[Namohysip]

<><><>​

After the grave encounter with Rayquaza and Lucario on the Isle of Light, the team regrouped and dispersed as necessary to get along with their usual duties and obligations. Several of them, however, remained with Maple to discuss what had happened in detail. Those who left would get a summary later.

"The world that Maple comes from," Truffle began, "is a world a lot like Cibus. Same towns, same famous Pokemon... Yes, there are subtle differences, but by an large, Cibus and Telum were essentially twin universes. The language is slightly different, a bit of accents here and there, but quite a lot was similar enough that you could mistake one for the other. Even the humans who had come to their worlds became the same species... albeit their personalities and backgrounds, from what we've observed, were slightly different."

"But that world was destroyed, right?" Owen said, trying to be delicate. "As in, well... if that really was Shield..."

"I see no way it can't be Shield, as unbelievable as it may be," Truffle said. "He explicitly mentioned Maple's world by name. Yet... how is such a thing possible?" He looked down. "I was not alive for it, but Maple's world was destroyed by Dark Matter ages ago. Generations upon generations ago. Even if Shield somehow survived, he would have died of age long ago..."

 

[Namohysip]

<><><>
​

The days passed unceremoniously aside from a few chance encounters with Darkwhite and others. Buffet was still busy searching for leads in the aether, and Bean was unable to find anything else, according to him. Everything was a bit too short notice. But despite that, one thing was true, and when ten days after that encounter with Shield passed, Maple called for everyone to gather in the guild hall once more.

This one was not a difficult arrangement. Half the team had been counting the days, in fact. Maple stood before the crowd and nodded, saying, "Shield is currently at the Great Canyon, but he is on the opposite side that he had specified. He is likely waiting for us to appear."

"And you're able to bring us over?" asked Truffle. "Maple, I understand you are still... recovering."

"I am good enough for this trip," Maple assured him. "I trust you are all prepared? Are there any questions before we leave?"

 

[Negrek]

<><><>​

Nate felt a little better after leaving Destiny Tower. The winter air outside was crisp, and a light snow was falling. Rocky walked along with head tipped back, trying to catch snowflakes on his incorporeal tongue. Snowflakes fizzed off Owen's tail-flame, but the charmeleon didn't appear to notice or mind, leading the way through Destiny Village with Silver's team tramping along behind, purposeful--no gawking at the city sights for them.

It occurred to Nate that he didn't really know where they ought to go to find Silver. It sounded like he wasn't planning to hang around in the Guild's library anymore, so... the Colosseum, maybe? Or his room with Bahamut? Nate frowned when Owen's turns began to lead them quite obviously towards the Guild headquarters, but whatever, it was a good guess, anyway. And it would only be a quick visit.

Inside was warm and bustling as always. Winded from running to keep up with a group of fucking evolved pokémon, it took Nate a moment to ask, "You know where Silver's rooming? Or do we gotta ask?"

 

[Namohysip]

Toffee hummed peacefully to herself, looking through her badge for the latest news from The Ideal View. The feature presentation this time was an article about one of Team Spectrum's own, Saltriv, and seemed to be focused mostly on how they and all the rest of Team Spectrum had fought Rayquaza. In an interview, Rayquaza claimed that while he still was uncertain about their patron's true power, he saw that the hearts of his subjects were in the right place.

Then a hole ripped through the lobby's center, and out tumbled Maple, Soda, Owen, Cabot, and so many others, with a medium-sized Ho-Oh to cover them after the hole closed.

"Ah! Oh--oh, what?! You're back?!"

 

[Namohysip]

<><><>
​

"This is short notice, but I am glad that you were all able to gather," Maple said, though at this point the team had grown large enough that some of Team Spectum's extended forces had to stand outside. "We will be leaving for an abandoned laboratory on the Air Continent, where Team drumstick has been spotted guarding a Radiant Machine, similar to the one you had dismantled before. However, I fear that they may be hostile or unreasonable when we approach. Giovanni is also there. We will need to be fast. Are there any questions before we go?"

 

[Dragonfree]

<><><><><>​

Dave entered the guild with Mia on his heels, looking around for the big light-lion. He hadn't interacted with Bahamut all that much since that time he'd been thrown at him, but well - if ever it was good to have some sort of big legendary light-dragon on your team, it was when another big legendary light-dragon was preparing to blow up the world.

He hadn't gotten nearly enough sleep, and now this shit. He'd slipped over for a glass at the X-Eye Cauldron, and it helped, a bit, but not enough. He'd been told Bahamut was at the infirmary, but then when he got there they said he was already gone, in good health. Cool. Great.

Luckily he wouldn't have to run around town any further; Bahamut was lounging in the lobby. "Hey," he said, approaching. "Can we talk?"

 

[Ambyssin]

After leaving the meeting, Bahamut headed back to the guild. There were things he needed to do to prepare. Items to purchase. Aural tweaks. That kind of stuff. But, frankly, he wasn't sure how the city was functioning. Was anything even open? Arceus might've known, but Bahamut wasn't going to stick around while Owen Seven tried to use his world's logic to come up with ideas that would get the team killed. They had a plan. It was time to execute the plan.

He just needed to find someone working at the guild. They'd know what shops were open for sure.

 

[Chibi Pika]

It had been a long, long day. Even though the team had known all along how much time they had before the inevitable showdown with Joule, the days still dragged like mud. First there'd been the tournament to look forward to, but then after that, it was hard to get too invested in anything with the mission looming literally overhead. Any and all distractions were welcome.

Starr walked in through the guild's main entrance, her bag stuffed full of purchases after spending most of the day shop browsing. A lot of it had been supplies for the fight but at least some of it was for herself...

 

[Ambyssin]

Someone was kind enough to get Bahamut a towel-- well, several towels. It was odd. This body type was supposed to be more ethereal in nature, yet it was more on the solid side. And the drab gray color. Well, he supposed it compensated his typical demeanor.

He was busy rubbing his crystalline beak and wondering how things had managed to get so shitty so quickly. Had he taken the group's success for granted? That was frightening to think about.

 

[Namohysip]

<><><>​

One night, lonelier and quieter than usual with the absence of so many of Team Spectrum, Shield stepped out of his dorms in a hurry, his aura sensors twitching upward like a canine hunting down a scent. With little care, he rushed through the halls and into the main Guild lobby, where the night guards gave him a curious look, but otherwise said nothing. They took mental notes of his movements regardless.

 

[Namohysip]

"All right," Maple said, nodding toward the others. "Thank you everyone... or those who showed up... to our daily briefing. Once again, the scouts are working on finding Giovanni, but no actual readings have come in just yet from Chip's Mewtwo detection system, and the Mist Continent's general events have not changed significantly. Sword is still being spotted worldwide but interactions are anywhere between benign to bothersome, but not necessarily dangerous. Ecosystems are being disrupted due to wild Pokemon relocating away from their Dungeon habitats, but we are working on relocation processes... None of that really matters for Team Spectrum just yet. And so. . . "

Maple went on, as was the routine in the mornings, of prompting everyone on things that S'more was doing with Poppin' Arms, what Team Spectrum could do for small side missions for those who had the time to rescue, and other extra investigations. So far, no big fights had broken out--for better or worse--and it was a smooth recovery period for those who had been revived or newly summoned. Joule was still crystalline, but was in a better and better mood by the day. That cheer usually seen in Millijoule was starting to appear in Joule's tone.

But near the end of Maple's briefing, her badge made a buzzing noise, and she pulled it out, looking surprised. She usually turned her badge to a conditional do not disturb. Only very important calls were allowed through, from a special number.

Ever since the impersonation incident, Maple only took messages from this line as voice and calls. "Hello?" Maple said, nodding apologetically to the team.

"We found Giovanni," came S'more's voice.

Immediately, Team Spectrum rose up, ready to go. Maple nodded and said back, "Okay, we'll send Team Spectrum there imme--"

"He's already been defeated."

 

[Cresselia92]

<><><><>​

Icetales and Keo’Keo were strolling through the main lobby, with their tails filled with books. The real fox had gotten plenty of material to study in order to learn how to be stealthier during the investigations, and for once his Shadow didn’t seem to mind this sudden desire to broaden their knowledge. More stealth also meant being able to hunt more effectively, which was always a plus.

“So, we will need to check on this Sir Chip someday…” pondered Icetales, as he brought a book in front of his muzzle — How to Investigate, Volume 1. “We do not know yet who the spies might be, so we ought to hunt them down as fast as we can.”

Keo’Keo growled. “Indeed! Knowing that there are filthy spies around makes me so restless! Who knows what they could pull off!”

“Who knows, indeed,” replied Icetales, before letting out a sigh and closing his book. Then, he perked up when he saw a familiar shape. “Hm? Who was that?”

Keo’Keo tilted his head and followed the real fox’s gaze. Waddling casually around the place was… an ice Vulpix? Or what that a Ninetales, even? He couldn’t tell from that distance.

“Greetings!” chirped Icetales, wagging his tails. “Art thou looking for something or someone? I could assist thee.”

 

[Fusion]

After she actually had a chance to process everything going on, Vix realized that, yeah, she was doing a whole lot more than she thought. It was odd that she wasn't really tired, but being a chandelier that was wax sometimes probably had something to do with that. Not a whole lot of her that could get traditionally tired.

On the other hand, her Shadow was half awake. Vix basically dragged it behind her. Not that it really weighed anything, but it was still inconvenient. Probably. Not at all. "Lazy jerk..."

"I wanted to fuckin' sleep, so I'm sleepin'," he Shadow huffed.

"Then we'll take a break. We're already at the Guild, we can spare some time to rest. For going to our dorms so we can go home and rest," Vix rolled her eyes. Unfortunately for her Shadow, Vix spotted a friend and immediately threw out the notion of resting. "Oh, hey Cynthian!" she said, floating over to the plant.

"Uhhhggggggg..."

 

[Namohysip]

Despite the fact that their technically-largest member was not with them, the Poppin' Arms Guild Lobby felt horribly crowded just then. Diyem took the liberty of calling for everyone that he could for an emergency meeting. And so, almost everyone had gathered, whether they'd fallen asleep or not. There was Truffle and Leg; Potluck and Joule; the elites of Poppin' Arms; on a video from one of the devices, there was Pop and Cola in some undisclosed location. Cola kept yipping for Pop to lower the camera so he could see what was happening before finally settling on standing on top of Pop's head.

All of Team Spectrum gathered up. Additionally, some of the Legends had also come, namely Reshiram, Zekrom, and somehow Kyurem. Buffet was in the corner, looking suspiciously at Xerneas, who was still looking not himself and very much like some mockery of Eien. And, finally, Diyem himself.

It was... strange to make this briefing without Maple. Her absence was immediately noticed, and Potluck in particular was shifting nervously, wondering where she was. Joule only smiled and said she was just getting a few things ready for the debriefing.

Chip was quietly buzzing in the corner, held by Reshiram. He was still weak from what had happened the day before, but he was looking much better. Poffin also took the liberty of setting up some video relays for the false S'more, Giovanni, and Silver in their cells, after Diyem called for them being relevant to the discussion.

Because, now, it was time to lay everything on the table. It seemed that their encounter in the Tree had made a lot of things much clearer.

The last of who Diyem had summoned were starting to shuffle in. Maple, of course, was not coming, and even Joule was starting to look quietly worried. His whole body was dimmer than usual.

 

[Namohysip]

The lobby was starting to feel... cramped.

Joule was there, having come in from another portal after leaving Maple. He was holding an odd, shadowy orb in his wings, but otherwise said nothing. He occasionally pet it like a baby Litten. Nobody asked.

Then there was Maple, large as ever, looking a little Shadowed but otherwise stable, standing in the front of the room to address the others.

Next to her was Diyem, and now that they had a good look at both of them, while the limb count was different, their general body shape was... similar. It was a little uncanny.

And then, of course, there was Owen and the other larger members of the team--it was perhaps a miracle that Bahamut, too, hadn't been there to further occupy the strained lobby space.

"I would like to... apologize to everyone for the trouble I'd put you through to save me," Maple opened once everyone was settled.