AQ - S.S. Trousselin

[HelloYellow17]

Wes was faltering. Novo could see it in his eyes, in his pained expression, as if he were lost in his own head. Novo lashed his tail up against his trainer’s leg in a feeble attempt to bring him back to reality. Now was not the time!

Wes glanced down at the opposing Umbreon, faltering slightly. If things really got bad, and his own partners were unable to do anything... he wouldn't be able to harm the Umbreon, regardless of whether they were trying to kill him. He'd never forgive himself if he dared harm a 'mon.

The split-second of hesitation was all he needed, Novo lunged forward, darting between the man’s two Pokémon, and sank his fangs deep into his leg.

There was a moment of hesitation over something, Nate couldn't see what, but that seemed like as good an opportunity as he was going to get. Trying to wheeze as quietly as possible, Nate stepped up behind the taller guy and swung the bottle at his head.

Wes stumbled backwards over yet another pool chair and cursed. He growled and tried to shove the spiraling thoughts from his head—he’d come here to get away from such thoughts, and he’d be damned if Neo or Novo got hurt because of him, because—

Everyone gets hurt because of you, the voice in his head jeered.

Shut up. Wes snarled and held his knife at the ready. He saw, for just a moment, that the other man hesitated, saw someone running up behind him with—a beer bottle? Well, it was better than nothing. And about damn time someone did something about this lunatic.

Wes rushed forward, brandishing his blade. There was no way out now but forward.

 

[IFBench]

"Um...I've never listened t-to them. I'm...n-not a very big m-music person," Gen said, glancing over towards the Milotic.

Not a very big person at all, in any sense. Maybe not even a person anymore.

Gen hugged Wallace tighter.

 

[HelloYellow17]

[[GOT SNIPED AAA]]

Malachai didn't seem so huge from a distance, with nothing beside him for scale. It was when he just kept getting bigger as he loomed closer than it started to sink in just how dangerous he might be. He was big enough to ride. Big enough to total a vehicle. Big enough to snap up a human being in his jaws.

When he landed, the air from his wings sent waves rippling through the pool.

"Hey, Mal."

<What do you need of me, girl?>

In most respects, he resembled a typical continental noivern, but for his dark scales and silver fur that seemed to mimic the night sky itself. More subtly, his craggy face was more expressive than one might expect.

"Thought I'd introduce you to my new friends, Gladion and Hazel. We could challenge them, don't you think?"

Malachai leaned close and sniffed at his master's companions.

<Good day, Gladion and Hazel. I am Malachai.>

…oh. That made things easier. He would take it.

The problem now was the man’s Pokémon. “Novo, keep them away! Subdue them if you can!”

Novo released his hold on the now unconscious man and spun to face his Pokémon. He deflected the Umbreon with a Protect, then gunned straight for the Espeon, dark energy pouring from his jaws.

 

[Dragonfree]

Oh. Well that sure explained why she’d jump to the superclone explanation right away. What were the odds?

It was hard to imagine anyone rescuing a clone and not getting a long story out of it. Fortunately, it didn’t seem like either of them would be needing to spill the full details at this time.

“My name’s Jade,” Jade replied, accepting the handshake.

Nine nodded to the two of them. “Nine.”

Jade wasn’t sure how long to hold the handshake, so it came as a relief when May was first to let go. “So, uh… to be honest, I don’t really know why I got invited. I’m just glad to have a bit of a break. We both need one,” she added, glancing at Nine.

Nine? She knew Pokémon names had to be words but just a number was a new one. Why not, she supposed.

"Well, if you've got a superclone, I guess that's pretty noteworthy. He's stronger than normal, right? Do they let you use him in any tournaments where you're from? Or somewhere else he might get noticed?" Clearly she at least wasn't exactly keeping him secret, if he regularly got mistaken for some kind of regional variant.

She leaned back against the railing, letting out a breath. She was talking to a girl with a superclone, on a weird dream-cruise that she probably shouldn't be on in the first place. Why was she here? She glanced again at the Pikachu. His eyes were different too, not the round and beady she was used to but something intense and piercing. She looked away again.

"I guess it is good to have a break," she muttered. So long as nobody brought up Tyranitar, anyway. So long as the world wasn't cheerfully ending while she was off who knows where lounging on a luxury ship, Mark probably panicking about where she'd gone. "What are you on break from?"

 

[Negrek]

Wes instantly crumpled to the floor, unconscious. The knife dropped from his hand, and it seemed his goggles had slipped off when he fell.

--

Nico yowled in shock, and whirled upon the newcomer.

Son of a bitch!

He, along with Merian, lunged at the guy.

Hell. That had actually been easier than Nate was expecting. Nate stared down dumbly at the guy who'd crumpled at his feet. He should probably do something about the kn--

Then the pokémon struck. Nate landed on his back with enough force that he saw stars, an umbreon snarling on his chest. The air felt thick, and any second now he just knew he was going to get popped by some kind of psychic attack.

Something huge and dark exploded out of the shadows next to him, slamming a shoulder into the umbreon. "Back off!" Mightyena snarled.

 

[Phoenixsong]

What the fuck. What the fuck. Charizard was out of his chair and snarling, the girl's espeon was preparing some kind of attack, one of the guys over there was chasing the other one with a knife, what the fuck? Who let a maniac with a butterfly knife on the ship? Why was any of this happening? Where was the ship's goddamn captain, or security, or anything?

I don't understand how you seem so defiant about it, unless you're like... a really poor impersonator who didn't actually do their research properly... which sounds a little ridiculous." She glanced once again at the pair of black haired women, and another thought came to her. "Or maybe you're not the Blue I know, but just... a different Blue.

"A different me? A— how can there be more than one of a person? Okay, sure, I'm not the only person named 'Blue' in the world, but same last name, same friend's name, same grandfather, same almost everything except for a starter and apparently some kind of ten-year time displacement? You're gonna have to forgive me if I have a hard time believing that there's just magically a second, slightly-off version of me kicking around somewhere, or hiding, or whatever you said."

The knife chase was heading in their direction, because of course it fucking was. Further off, at the bar proper, something else was happening between these two sisters and a huge aggron, which, wow, okay, that didn't look normal. Were those even sisters? Was that other one even a human, or some kind of jumped-up ditto, or...? Before he could finish processing that someone charged forward and smashed a glass bottle into the knife maniac, knocking the goggles clear off his face and sending him sprawling to the deck and fuck, this was all happening so fast, was it just him or did the knife maniac just look like a huge version of the guy he'd been chasing? What the fuck?

If there were... two of them, but not exactly the same, but... was there actually another version of him, somewhere on this ship? How? Everything had been totally goddamn normal until he'd stepped through that...

...portal.

Hm.

Hadn't she said...

Where I come from, it's all fairly common knowledge.

"...where exactly do you come from? How did you get here?"

He wanted to stop, to ask more questions, but the knife maniac's pokémon had just rounded on the bottle guy and something huge and black had gone flying at them and you know what, fuck this, there would be time to unpack this weird portal bullshit later.

He jumped out of his chair and ran for the railing at the edge of the deck. Damn but they were far from the surface of the water... but it should still reach if he...

Blue whistled, sharp and loud. The chaos on the deck probably made it impossible to hear up there, but something else did. He reached down, straining over the edge of the railing, then straightened up and tossed the poké ball into the middle of the deck.

White light exploded from the point of impact, stretching up until it towered over everyone on the deck, over the level of the deck above. They could hear the roar shaking through them before the light even finished fading, feel the ship list forward noticeably under the sudden weight before it settled again. Gyarados whipped his long tail around and slammed it down, aiming between the struggling humans and pokémon to keep them apart.

"Everybody shut the fuck up!" Blue shouted.

 

[HelloYellow17]

Hell. That had actually been easier than Nate was expecting. Nate stared down dumbly at the guy who'd crumpled at his feet. He should probably do something about the kn--

Then the pokémon struck. Nate landed on his back with enough force that he saw stars, an umbreon snarling on his chest. The air felt thick, and any second now he just knew he was going to get popped by some kind of psychic attack.

Something huge and dark exploded out of the shadows next to him, slamming a shoulder into the umbreon. "Back off!" Mightyena snarled.

Wes dove around the skirmishing Pokémon and grabbed the man’s knife. Good. Now if he had something to tie him up with—

A yell caught his attention. The shorter man who had come to his aid was flat on his back, staring down the other Umbreon, with a snarling Mightyena at his side. Wes cursed again under his breath; he’d rather not use his knife on a Pokémon if he could avoid it…

“Neo!” he called, “where the hell are—”

He stopped dead. The dark-clad man’s face, now that he was able to get a good look, was finally registering in his brain. He looked…like…no. No, that wasn’t possible.

Slowly, Wes pulled the bandana from his face and went numb with shock. He jerked away as though he had been burned, tripping over backwards, unable to take his eyes off the man’s face—his face, but it wasn’t his, but it was—

This wasn’t—this couldn’t—this didn’t make any se—

A blinding flash of light and an ear-splitting roar shattered his thoughts. And possibly his eardrums. Wes raised his head and saw a massive Gyarados towering over them all.

“For gods’ sakes,” he muttered weakly, “just eat me already and get this nightmare over with.”

 

[Inkedust]

Dusana had seen enough. She'd been covering her ears in her paws, shivering as she looked for the little bulbasaur who got lost in the shuffle.

A few scans of the room revealed Vera situated on a small table trying and failing to get any attention for a fight.

With a deep, reluctant sigh, the shadow pointed at the bar as she memorised the path ahead.

Dusana used Poltergeist!

The lights went out and the sound of shattering glass could be heard throughout the room. All of it was muffled by the sounds of a tiny, angry bulbasaur being taken away from the fight.

 

[IFBench]

"I h-haven't been to college yet...haven't e-even finished high school," Gen said, looking down. "N-now I don't know i-if I ever will."

 

[Panoramic_Vacuum]

Steven watched the two trainers leave the bar, his gaze lingering a bit longer on the girl with the shadow doppelganger. The encounter left him rattled. Just what was that? And why had it oozed such incredible malice? He'd met trainers who whipped themselves into a frenzy for a battle, but this was different...

He'd only stepped in in the first place because it was clear that this supposed battle wasn't a mutual agreement. The dark-haired girl's demeanor was more reluctant than anything, but the Pidgey had attacked anyway, and without his trainer no less. Yet the shadow version of her had wanted the battle with such fervor he worried for the fate of that Pidgey if things had continued unchecked.

He closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose.

This was supposed to be a festival to celebrate trainers and their partners. It hadn't even been a day and they were already squabbling. He shook his head. Maybe squabble was too tame of a word.

At least Aggron had calmed down once everyone left, plopping the Pidgey down in front of his trainer before making his way back to Steven's side. It only took one glimpse of the annoyed look on his trainer's face for the steel type to huff out a laugh. Who was the grumpy one now?

But the relief was short lived as the sounds of a other skirmish echoed across the ship's deck. Aggron perked up, glancing out toward the pool area with interest. Steven ran a hand down the side of his face.

"You've got to be kidding me," he muttered, as a dark pulse flashed by the bar's windows.

Mercifully, it seemed as if he wasn't the only one tired of all these unsolicited battles.

White light exploded from the point of impact, stretching up until it towered over everyone on the deck, over the level of the deck above. They could hear the roar shaking through them before the light even finished fading, feel the ship list forward noticeably under the sudden weight before it settled again. The gyarados whipped its long tail around and slammed it down, aiming between the struggling humans and pokémon to hold them apart.

"Everybody shut the fuck up!" Blue shouted.

Steven had just reached the door of the bar in time to see a massive Gyarados tail crash into the deck. And it belonged to...

"Blue?" Steven nearly laughed aloud, before turning to Aggron in a private tone. "I wonder what timeline he's from? This is the first responsible thing I've ever seen him do."

 

[Sinderella]

Odette, once more, didn't know where she was going. She was merely walking just to walk--to get away from the commotion, the chase, and whatever the fuck else was happening. She just needed to be alone to collect her thoughts, to get her head on straight, to get Odile away from everything.

It wasn't long before she rushed past the dance club. A cursory glance showed it was empty, and walking inside proved that true. No Pokemon, no humans, no staff of sort. Nobody liked dancing apparently. It was only there that she finally let go of Odile.


"̸G̷o̶o̶d̴ ̵g̵r̵i̷e̶f̶,̸ ̸y̷o̵u̷ ̷h̵a̴v̴e̴ ̶a̸ ̴s̴t̶r̸o̴n̶g̷ ̴g̴r̸i̸p̴,̷"̵ Odile whined, rubbing her wrist, where Odette's nails had dug into her skin. It didn't hurt, but she figured she'd make it known. However, it took a while for Odette to respond. Even Enora was being uncharacteristically quiet, grooming herself in a corner.

"̴W̸h̷a̸t̷,̸ ̸n̸o̷t̷h̶i̸n̸g̵ ̴t̴o̶-̵-̸"̵

"I'm so stupid."

She'd never been a crier, and she stuck to that. Even after everything that had happened in the past couple years, she'd barely shed tears. She wasn't sure if it was the drink, or the sensory overload, or the realization that this trip wasn't what she thought it was, but the damned things were prickling the corners of her eyes and she couldn't do anything to stop them.

"I thought this was going to be a moment; where I could go on about this shit without anybody looking at me like I'm gonna fucking eat them, or without you finding something to grate on," she said, gesturing to Odile, "or without something bad happening." She sniffled and defiantly wiped her eye, but the tears were ruthless. "But no. This is just another one of those stupid multiverse games where I have to be reminded once more that I'm a monster, and that I'm tethered to one, and that there is nothing I can do about it. No matter what, there's always going to be a problem. I have no business being Alola's champion, and Kukui fucking knows that."

She pressed her back against the wall and slid down until her head fell between her knees.


Enora rushed over and nuzzled her head into Odette's leg. No, this is what she was afraid of. She wished she could have gotten them out of there sooner...

"No, don't say that. You're just overloaded and tired."


Odile was suddenly unsure of what to do. Her normal urge to cause rage was quickly being replaced by something more heavy. It felt like a bowling ball in her stomach, and she didn't like it. When had she eaten a bowling ball?

"̴Y̶-̸y̸e̷a̸h̶,̵ ̶d̵o̸n̵'̶t̸ ̵c̴r̵y̴!̶ ̴D̸o̶n̶'̶t̷ ̸c̵r̶y̵!̷ ̵I̸'̸l̷l̶ ̷g̸o̴ ̸s̶a̶y̶ ̵s̴o̸r̴r̵y̴!̸ ̴I̸ ̵w̸i̶l̵l̶ ̴N̵O̵T̶ ̸c̴a̸u̴s̷e̸ ̶p̶r̷o̶b̷l̷e̷m̶s̷ ̴o̴n̴ ̶p̴u̷r̴p̷o̴s̷e̷ ̶f̵o̴r̴ ̷t̶h̶e̴ ̴r̶e̷s̷t̷ ̸o̶f̴ ̸t̸h̶e̸ ̸d̵a̴y̴.̵ ̵Y̵e̶a̵h̷.̶ ̸I̵ ̷p̴r̴o̶m̶i̶s̸e̵.̵"̸ ̴She waited for a response and didn't get one. That feeling was getting worse. Maybe she had to go to the bathroom?

"̴P̴l̶e̷a̴s̶e̷ ̶d̸o̶n̵'̵t̴ ̸c̵r̷y̶.̶ ̸I̸ ̵f̴e̶e̴l̷ ̷b̶o̵w̷l̵i̷n̷g̶ ̴b̷a̸l̷l̷s̷.̶"̷


"I'm not crying, I'm just sweating," Odette said defiantly as she aggressively wiped more moisture from her eyes. "Apologizing doesn't make a difference. They're still going to be scared of you." A pause. "Me." Another. She sniffled and shook her head. "Us."



Odile started shaking her head and kneeled down next to her vessel, arms flapping because she was quite literally at a loss of what to do with them. "̶N̶-̷n̷o̷,̸ ̶d̸o̶n̵'̸t̴ ̵s̸a̵y̶ ̶t̷h̶a̸t̴.̵ ̸I̴'̶M̵ ̴t̷h̷e̴ ̴s̸c̷a̵r̶y̵ ̸o̴n̵e̴.̷ ̸Y̷O̷U̸'̵R̸E̸ ̷t̵h̷e̸ ̴c̵u̵t̶e̸ ̷l̶i̷t̸t̷l̷e̷ ̷s̴h̵o̸r̷t̵ ̷g̵i̶r̴l̸ ̷e̴v̴e̶r̴y̸o̷n̵e̵ ̴t̷h̷i̶n̶k̷s̶ ̶i̷s̶ ̶f̴i̶v̵e̷ ̶y̶e̴a̶r̶s̷ ̶o̷l̴d̷.̸ ̵Y̴o̴u̸ ̶w̶e̵r̴e̵ ̴k̴e̴e̵p̷i̵n̴g̴ ̴c̴o̷o̷l̴ ̶u̵n̵t̷i̵l̸ ̴I̶ ̷m̵a̵d̴e̵ ̶a̴ ̶m̶o̶v̸e̵.̸ ̴T̸h̴-̷t̷h̴e̷y̷'̷r̶e̶ ̴s̴c̶a̴r̵e̶d̸ ̴o̴f̸ ̷m̸e̵!̴ ̷N̸o̵t̷ ̴y̴o̶u̶!̶"̶

Odette crying was weird. This was weird. She wanted it to stop, but she figured if she said that, that would only make it worse. But, she'd never, ever, ever felt like this before, and Odette was the only one who made it happen, and it felt bad. So bad that she couldn't be upset about it.

"̵W̸e̴ ̵c̷a̷n̷ ̵s̶t̷i̶l̵l̵ ̶d̴o̷ ̴g̶o̶o̸d̸ ̴t̶h̴i̴n̴g̵s̸.̶ ̴I̸ ̶d̵o̸n̴'̵t̷ ̷c̷a̴r̷e̷ ̴h̵o̵w̴ ̸b̵o̵r̷i̷n̶g̵ ̵t̶h̴e̴y̷ ̶a̴r̸e̸.̴ ̸W̷-̸w̷e̷'̸l̴l̵.̷.̴.̴w̸e̵'̷l̶l̴ ̴h̸a̴v̷e̵ ̵a̵ ̸g̸o̴o̸d̷ ̴t̸r̸i̵p̷,̶ ̸a̴n̸d̸ ̶I̶'̷l̸l̵ ̸b̸e̴ ̶g̶o̶o̴d̸.̸ ̸J̵u̸s̴t̴ ̸s̴t̷o̷p̶ ̷c̴r̶y̷i̶n̴g̴,̶ ̸p̸l̴e̴a̶s̶e̴.̷"̴

She wanted to stop there, but her next set of words came out impulsively.

̴"̷A̴n̵d̶ ̸d̵o̷n̶'̷t̷ ̶m̸a̶k̴e̸ ̴m̴e̸ ̴w̴a̸t̵c̸h̶ ̴F̸r̶i̷e̴n̶d̵s̶.̷ ̵S̷m̸e̵l̷l̷y̸ ̶C̷a̷t̸ ̸i̵s̸ ̴s̴t̸i̵l̸l̶ ̴s̵t̸u̵c̸k̵ ̸i̷n̶ ̵m̷y̵ ̵f̵u̵c̸k̶i̴n̵g̸ ̸h̷e̸a̸d̴.̴"̶

And the next.

"̷B̸e̶s̸i̴d̴e̶s̴,̶ ̷t̶h̶e̷y̷ ̸s̷t̵a̵r̷t̸e̵d̵ ̸a̶l̵l̸ ̴o̷f̸ ̴t̶h̵a̸t̶.̴ ̷I̶ ̸w̵a̷s̸ ̸j̶u̵s̴t̴ ̸t̴h̷e̴r̵e̸ ̵t̴r̸y̴i̸n̷g̷ ̸t̵o̷ ̶d̶e̶f̸e̸n̵d̴ ̷y̸o̷u̸.̴"̵ She palmed her cheeks. "̶D̶o̵n̴'̵t̸ ̷c̴r̶y̷.̵ ̸Y̸o̷u̴'̸r̶e̶ ̵g̵o̸o̸d̴,̷ ̵I̵'̶m̶ ̴b̵a̴d̸.̴ ̴T̴o̶g̷e̷t̷h̵e̶r̶ ̸w̴e̸'̸r̶e̴ ̵n̸e̵u̸t̸r̶a̸l̴ ̵a̶n̸d̵ ̷n̴o̸b̵o̴d̶y̶ ̶c̷a̴n̷ ̶b̷e̸ ̶s̴c̵a̸r̶e̵d̸ ̶o̷f̶ ̶n̵e̴u̵t̷r̴a̵l̸,̴ ̴r̷i̶g̴h̴t̸?̴"̸ She laughed nervously. "Y̵o̵u̶'̸r̶e̶ ̴o̶n̷l̵y̵ ̸a̶n̴g̴r̶y̶ ̷a̵l̷l̸ ̴t̵h̶e̴ ̴t̸i̴m̵e̸ ̶b̴e̸c̵a̴u̶s̴e̶ ̵o̸f̸ ̸m̷e̷.̴ ̴S̵o̴ ̶y̶o̶u̸'̶r̷e̴ ̵f̸i̸n̶e̴.̸ ̵"

"Odile, please stop talking."

All fell silent for a while. The only sound that traveled around them was the music blasting in the speakers.


"I guess, technically, those birds started that fight," Odette finally said, sniffling through her words. "And that other guy made the comment that initially got me mad."

She shot a look at Odile. "But you didn't need to go all Ju-On on everyone. That was unnecessary."


"̵Y̶o̴u̸'̴r̵e̷ ̷t̸o̴t̴a̸l̵l̵y̶ ̵r̷i̵g̷h̵t̶!̴ ̷I̵ ̶a̸m̴ ̴s̵o̵r̷r̶y̵ ̴f̷o̴r̴ ̵c̸a̵u̴s̵i̴n̶g̵ ̵p̵r̴o̶b̶l̶e̸m̶s̸ ̴o̶n̵ ̸p̶u̶r̵p̶o̸s̷e̶,̸ ̷a̸n̸d̵ ̷I̴ ̴w̷i̸l̵l̸ ̷n̷o̶t̴ ̵c̷a̴u̸s̵e̶ ̵a̶n̵y̷ ̷m̶o̴r̶e̵ ̷p̵r̶o̷b̴l̶e̶m̴s̷ ̸o̸n̶ ̷p̴u̸r̴p̶o̸s̴e̷ ̶f̵o̸r̵ ̸t̷h̶e̵ ̴r̴e̷s̴t̵ ̶o̴f̵ ̴t̴h̵e̴ ̸d̸a̸y̴.̷"̷


"What about tomorrow?"


"̴W̵e̶l̷l̶ ̸l̴e̸t̶'̸s̴ ̵n̷o̶t̵ ̴g̴e̴t̶ ̸a̴h̷e̵a̸d̵ ̶o̶f̷ ̸o̵u̵r̵s̴e̴l̶v̸e̶s̷,̷ ̸Ev̶e̷r̸y̵o̵n̵e̷ ̷k̴n̷o̶w̸s̷ ̵I̶ ̸e̷x̴i̶s̵t̴ ̷s̵o̸ ̵I̴ ̵m̸i̴g̷h̷t̸ ̸a̷s̷ ̶w̸e̷l̴l̷ ̶f̵u̸c̴k̵ ̵a̸r̸o̶u̴n̴d̶.̵"̶

 

[IFBench]

Oh.

Oh no.

He'd never told Wallace he was human, did he?

How'd he explain it now? What if Wallace got mad at him, and he lost one of his only friends here? What if he didn't believe him?

Gen began to tremble, and his breathing grew rapid once more. His grip on Wallace loosened slightly.

 

[IFBench]

Crap, he'd given himself away!

Though...maybe it wouldn't be so bad. Maybe...

"Um...I...I..."

Gen took a deep breath, and said, "I used t-to be human."

"...p-please don't get m-mad at me."

 

[IFBench]

"Um...I d-didn't think they could...until it happened t-to me," Gen said, letting out a sigh of relief. He wasn't mad. He wasn't mad.

 

[IFBench]

"Um...s-sure," Gen said, his breathing slowing down.

 

[AbraPunk]

Novo released his hold on the now unconscious man and spun to face his Pokémon. He deflected the Umbreon with a Protect, then gunned straight for the Espeon, dark energy pouring from his jaws.

Nico suddenly found himself skidding across the deck, having been rammed into by the other man's Umbreon.

He leapt to his feet quickly and retaliated, clawing and biting wherever he could.

Then the pokémon struck. Nate landed on his back with enough force that he saw stars, an umbreon snarling on his chest. The air felt thick, and any second now he just knew he was going to get popped by some kind of psychic attack.

Something huge and dark exploded out of the shadows next to him, slamming a shoulder into the umbreon. "Back off!" Mightyena snarled.

Merian was launched off the guy with the bottle by a large Mightyena. He flopped awkwardly onto his side and struggled to get up after that. He'd be damned if he went down without a fight, though--

They could hear the roar shaking through them before the light even finished fading, feel the ship list forward noticeably under the sudden weight before it settled again. Gyarados whipped his long tail around and slammed it down, aiming between the struggling humans and pokémon to keep them apart.

With everyone else distracted, both Nico and Merian rushed over to Wes' unconscious body. The two of them stood protectively over him, snarling, daring anyone to get closer.

--

Merian was breathing heavily, though he tried his best to be intimidating.

"If only Kane was here, this would be so much easier... and maybe none of this would be happening."

--

Nico flicked his ear and glanced over.

"Perhaps. As it is, we will protect Wes with everything we have. Even our lives."

Merian nodded, legs trembling, ears flat.

"If we die here... then damn it, at least we'll go down fighting."

 

[IFBench]

"Well, sometimes I look in the mirror an' don' recognize the face staring back. Who is that person? Wha' are they? Gym Leader? Champion? Water type trainer? Hoennjin? Sootopolitan? Man? Person? I jus'... all I see in that mirror is an empty void. An' if the two people who created tha' human saw wha' they see an' had seen... would they still love the human they created?"

Gen hugged Wallace with renewed vigor, tears welling up in his eyes once more.

"I...I feel th-the same way about myself," he said.

 

[HelloYellow17]

“Brrr?”

Wes jumped at the sound and suddenly registered that Novo was at his side, trilling softly in concern. Without a word, Wes looped an arm around him and pulled him in close, taking deep breaths and trying to focus on the softness of Novo’s fur above all else.

Breathe. Breathe. He just had to breathe.

Novo pricked his ears forward and chirped at something over Wes’ shoulder; he turned and saw Neo bounding back over, with a girl and another Espeon at his heels. So, he’d tried to call for backup. To be honest, Wes wasn’t sure what was going on anymore, anyway. Was that brown-haired guy going to sic his Gyarados on all of them now?

Gods. Forget what he’d said to himself earlier. He needed a damn drink.

Neo pressed in close to Wes’ other side, chirping in rapid succession. “Spi? Spi? Spiiii?”

“Yeah, we’re—we’re okay, Neo.” Dammit, Wes hated that he was shaking so much. Had he always been this pathetic?

Nico suddenly found himself skidding across the deck, having been rammed into by the other man's Umbreon.

He leapt to his feet quickly and retaliated, clawing and biting wherever he could.



Merian was launched off the guy with the bottle by a large Mightyena. He flopped awkwardly onto his side and struggled to get up after that. He'd be damned if he went down without a fight, though--



With everyone else distracted, both Nico and Merian rushed over to Wes' unconscious body. The two of them stood protectively over him, snarling, daring anyone to get closer.

--

Merian was breathing heavily, though he tried his best to be intimidating.

"If only Kane was here, this would be so much easier... and maybe none of this would be happening."

--

Nico flicked his ear and glanced over.

"Perhaps. As it is, we will protect Wes with everything we have. Even our lives."

Merian nodded, legs trembling, ears flat.

"If we die here... then damn it, at least we'll go down fighting."

Wes turned his attention to the source of the growls. He saw the man’s Espeon and Umbreon crouching over their trainer protectively, growling at everyone around them. Something about the sight felt both unnerving and touching at the same time.

“Look, I’ve got nothing against you,” he told them hoarsely. “Just keep your psychotic trainer away from me and we won’t have a problem.”

 

[Chibi Pika]

"Well, if you've got a superclone, I guess that's pretty noteworthy. He's stronger than normal, right? Do they let you use him in any tournaments where you're from? Or somewhere else he might get noticed?" Clearly she at least wasn't exactly keeping him secret, if he regularly got mistaken for some kind of regional variant.

Jade rubbed her arm. “Well, we’ve done a few gym matches without any problem. I… guess we could probably do a tournament—not like the League would know what he is. But that’s a bit too high-profile for us.”

That left the obvious question of why. She could have just said that tournaments weren’t her thing, but now May would obviously be wondering.

“*The humans who made me aren’t too happy with either of us,*” Nine explained.

“Thaaat’s… sort of why we need a break,” Jade added. “We’ve had a lot of… stressful battles with some shady people lately.”

God, this probably all sounded weird and fake to anyone who didn’t live through it every day. Then again, if May was the sort to spot a hybrid on sight, maybe it wasn’t so weird for her.

 

[Sinderella]

Odette considered Odile's words. While she knew they were meant to be somewhat funny, there was actually a point to be made there. Since this was just another multiverse fest, there was much less of a point to try to keep things on the down low. Granted, even when she thought this was just a standard conference she wanted to keep things subtle, but being that it was now clear that there were very suspicious parties running amuck, from different worlds no less, she supposed having Odile out for even slight intimidation would keep them away from her. Even if they weren't, how Odile said "causing problems on purpose."

However, she did hope she still had a chance to steer the narrative. That she wasn't bad; that nothing was scary. Well. Not scary when things were calm and Odile was feeling guilty, apparently. But, perhaps she'd have a better time with it if Odile just...remained out. No creepy surprise jack-in-the-box reveals with her body. Gods knew Odile looked spooky enough as it was.

"I suppose you're right. In a weird twisted way. We'll let the undesirable parties continue being scared of you."


"̸A̸n̵d̵ ̷I̷ ̴c̷a̸n̴ ̷c̸a̷u̸s̶e̸ ̵p̶r̸o̶b̷l̸e̵m̵s̷ ̷f̵o̴r̶ ̶t̷h̴e̸m̶ ̴o̵n̸ ̶p̴u̴r̶p̶o̴s̶e̷ ̷a̶n̴o̶t̶h̶e̶r̴ ̴d̶a̸y̴!̶"̵

Enora gave a sigh of relief as the tension drained from the room. Odette wasn't crying anymore, Odile was looking significantly less likely to commit a homicide, and everything was starting to feel good again.

"Well," she breathed. "I'm glad we could take some time to get our heads back on straight."


"̸W̴e̴l̸l̸,̸ ̵I̵ ̴c̴a̵n̸ ̸t̷a̷k̵e̷ ̴m̵i̴n̸e̶ ̵o̶f̸f̸ ̶i̵f̷ ̵y̵o̷u̸ ̴r̵e̶a̶l̶l̵y̶-̶-̷"̴


"No thank you, Odile. Keep your head on, please."

That got a laugh out of Odette, and Enora flashed a smile. Good. Of the rare states to see her human, smiling was much better than crying.

"Would you like to go back to the room now? I'm sure you're in need of a nap."


Odile opened her mouth to respond, but noticed that Odile's eyes had lit up. She hesitated, before asking. "What?"


"̷B̴e̶f̶o̵r̷e̵ ̴w̵e̸ ̷d̴o̶ ̷t̸h̶a̴t̴,̸ ̶c̴a̸n̶ ̵w̶e̸ ̶P̶L̴E̷E̷E̵E̴A̷A̶A̸A̸S̶S̷E̷E̴E̸E̴E̶ ̶g̴o̶ ̵s̴e̶e̵ ̵t̸h̶e̴ ̴s̵l̵i̸d̷e̵?̴ ̶P̷r̷e̷t̷t̴y̸ ̷p̸l̴e̷a̶s̵e̶ ̵w̴i̸t̸h̸ ̴l̴i̷m̴b̶s̴ ̴o̷n̶ ̴t̸o̴p̵?̴"̷


Once more, Odette hesitated. She exchanged a questioning look with Enora, as if asking for her permission.

Enora took a while to consider it. Really, she just wanted to corral these two in a room for a while to make doubly sure they had leveled out,. But...

"...maybe fresh air could work for us, too. As long as we're careful."

***​

Well, that was a horrible idea.

As the three of them sauntered onto the deck, it was clear that the shit had hit the fan even worse out here. Multiple Pokemon were out, people were battling, and GOOD GODS, that was a big Noivern.


"I-- I don't even--"


Odile suddenly gasped loudly as she beheld the glorious water slide next to the pool. "̵O̸d̶e̵t̸t̶e̷ ̷L̸O̵O̷K̸.̷ ̵L̸O̸O̷K̸ ̸A̴T̴ ̷T̴H̴E̸ ̵S̵L̶I̸D̶E̸.̷ ̶T̵h̷e̸ ̷S̵L̶I̴D̴E̷.̷ ̷I̷T̴'̶S̴ ̴S̸O̴ ̷B̸E̸A̶U̴T̸I̸F̷U̸L̷.̶"̵ She was practically jumping in her spot as she looked back and forth between Odette and the structure, pointing at it like a child would gesture to a cute Lillipup, or a colorful painting. ̸"̶L̷O̴O̸K̸,̷ ̴L̵O̸O̴K̴,̴ ̸D̸O̸ ̸Y̷O̵U̵ ̵S̷E̷E̶ ̸I̸T̷?̷ ̴L̶O̵O̴K̷ ̷H̵O̶W̸ ̵N̷I̵C̵E̵ ̶I̷T̸ ̸I̷S̷.̵"̷


"Yeah, I guess it's nice but--"

She started to gesture to the carnage before them, but decided against it. Odile had said wouldn't cause problems, and even with a blatant battle occurring before her, she was more concerned with the slide. Odette would take that.

"Whhhyyyyyy don't you go ride it, and I'll plant my ass right here," she said.


"̷Y̸O̸U̶ ̵M̶E̶A̷N̶ ̵I̴T̶?̷ ̶W̶I̸T̸H̶ ̴M̷Y̴ ̶C̵L̴O̵T̴H̶E̶S̶ ̷O̵N̸?̴"̴


"Only if you don't break anything..."


Odette peered down at Enora for a beat, before shrugging. "Sure. Why not. We came all the way up here for you."


"̶L̴E̷T̸'̷S̸ ̷F̸U̶U̸U̸U̴U̶U̸C̸C̸C̵K̸K̴I̵I̷I̴I̴I̴N̴N̴N̶G̴G̸G̵G̸G̶G̸ G̵O̷O̷O̸O̷O̴O̶O̶O̶O̷O̶O̵O̴O̸O̷O̷O̴O̷O̴O̶O̸O̷O̸O̷O̷O̷O̴O̷O̵O̵O̴O̸O̵O̶O̸O̵O̷O̸O̵O̶O̷O̶O̶O̴O̴O̸O̵O̸O̷O̸O̸O̸O̸O̷!̵"̵ She bounded off for the slide as she hollered.