Fading Aria [KtK RP Thread: Mission 2]

[Negrek]

Across the multiverse, a call goes out. It isn't a proper voice, but more of an idea whispering at the back of listeners' minds: *Help me.*

There will be a journey to somewhere far-off--perhaps a world unlike anything the listener can even imagine. There will be danger, and struggle, but the hope to accomplish something great. And there is the assurance, too, of safe return, whatever the outcome might be.

For those who agree, whose spirits stretch towards the unknown speaker's call, a portal will appear. Concentric rings of energy suspended in midair, and on the far side...

On the far side of the portal, the travelers would find soft, sunset skies, trees growing in impossible, whimsical shapes, and keys as far as the eye could see. All kinds of keys: heavy old iron keys, crudely beaten into shape; tiny silver keys, for the locks on diaries or jewelry boxes; sturdy angular keys, the kind handed out en masse to apartment dwellers; all of them heaped into great piles, an innumerable mass of them stretching out to every horizon.

For most of the visitors, it was a place like nothing they'd ever seen before. For one or two, though, it felt strangely familiar, etched into memories that were just now beginning to reawaken.

Here and there deep purple crystals speared up through the layer of keys, a strange dark miasma leaching out of them to stain the nearby landscape. Each one appeared to bear a keyhole trapped deep inside.

Lounging at the base of one of the key-piles nearby was a turtle-like pokémon constructed entirely of crystal, its deep purple scales gleaming even in the dim light. A second pokémon like a living keyring floated near the turtle's head,

"Oh, look, Clink!" the turtle said to the klefki. "Here they come." She inclined her head to the group of travelers. "!emocleW Welcome, everyone, to the Gatekeepers' Realm! Thank you so much for answering our call.

"I am known as Kupara, and my friend here is Clink! He protects the domains that branch off from this place. Many of the legends have their own pockets of reality to rest in and shape to their desires when they aren't attending to the mortal world. "

Kupara inclined her head towards one of the dark crystals growing nearby. "Not long ago, these crystals began to appear, sealing away the legends' domains. Clink and I were able to gain access to Keldeo's realm, and with the help of heroes summoned just like you, we managed to set his domain right. Keldeo himself had become corrupted by some outside force, and we fear what might have happened to the other legends we haven't been able to contact."

The keen-eyed might be able to see that the keyhole in the crystal near Kupara was shaped like a music note. "This is the gateway to Meloetta's realm. Clink has been trying to find a way through the crystal for weeks, and he's confident now that he'll be able to send us through. He'll be taking as many of you as are willing into Meloetta's domain to find her and purge the corruption seeping through her realm.

"We hope you'll be able to help us find Meloetta and help her shed her corruption, if it's needed. I imagine you need a bit of time to rest and orient yourself after your journey, though. Please, while Clink attunes Meloetta's gateway to your spirits, take a little time to get to know one another. Get accustomed to your new body, if you have one. And feel free to ask Clink and I any questions you might have!"

@canisaries @Inkedust @Nekodatta @Mirage @Hanafuda @System Error @Seren @ShiniGojira

 

[System Error]

A young, short boy walks into the world, carrying a Great Ball and a somewhat forlorn expression. His face is one that the resident Pokemon would find familiar: chestnut-colored hair and soft red eyes, even if they're a little downcast at the moment. The humans here would see he's clearly dressed for bed: clad in flannel green pajama bottoms and a long-sleeved shirt that matches. Evidently, it didn't stop him from coming here to lend a hand.

"Hey," Nori Carino says, wiping an eye. "Couldn't sleep, and your portal thing showed up in my shower for some reason." That was weird. He thought it seemed familiar for some reason, but couldn't place it until he came through. "So here I am again." He softly smiles and nods.

He takes some of his fellow arrivees, and the smile fades. No one familiar, at least not yet. Someone his age, at least. But for now, he had to focus. He steps forward. "So okay, what's a Meloetta? What kind of types do they have?" he begins by asking the obvious questions. To him at least. Know your enemy.

 

[Negrek]

Kupara bobbed her head. "Ah, yes! Very practical! Meloetta is a legend who loves music and dance. They have two forms they can switch between at will. One is normal and fighting, and the other is normal and psychic."

 

[Hanafuda]

From the city streets to a grassy field with piles of keys littered everywhere. It was a jarring change. Like a lucid dream. Definitely nothing that would be considered a common sight.

Joey walked in with his hands held behind his head. The look of amazement in the Floatzel's face betrayed the carefree posture he tried to make as he entered through the portal. He really should have brought in the rest of the gang for this, it was awesome.

The crystals with the dark aura were a big standout. Keyholes leading to different places... Had he heard that one before? Maybe. But first order of business, intros.

"Yo, yo!" The Floatzel spread his arms open as he sported a cocky smirk. "It's Jo-Jo!" He crossed his arms over his chest, sharp fin blades poking out, while he tilted his head to one side. Depending on how this dimension worked, either his words were variations of 'Floatzel' or everyone, including the humans, were able to understand him perfectly.

 

[Seren]

Strange portals with echoing cries for help popping up in her dreams were becoming something of a common occurrence for Kimiko. She'd investigated every time, but for the life of her could not recall what she'd discovered when she'd woken up the next morning. That in itself was worrying to some degree... the fact that she continued to answer mysterious distress calls in her sleep made her wonder just how badly she was losing it.

Nevertheless, she stepped through her portal with anxious curiosity. She had no way of knowing if the vast stretch of land filled to the brim with floating keyholes was something she'd encountered before, but if so, she could only imagine she had the same wide-eyed curiosity on her face then, too.

In the course of examining her surroundings, she also discovered that she wasn't alone; no one she recognized among those nearby, however. She did find, however, have a single pokeball in her hand; green, but missing the dents and chipped paint that would identify it as Olivia's. Way to go, Dream Me, she thought. One whole pokeball. Lessons learned = zero. She let the ball drop anyway, releasing the lilligant that had attached itself to her not too long ago.

Further away, some pokemon sat, as if waiting for them; one, a very pretty blue turtle-like creature she could not identify, shimmering as though made entirely of crystal, and the other... Kimiko wasn't sure she'd ever come across a klefki in person before, but something contrary to everything else in this place, this one felt familiar.

"!emocleW Welcome, everyone, to the Gatekeepers' Realm! Thank you so much for answering our call.

The blue turtle wasted little time launching into an explanation as to what they were here for. Straight to the point. Kimiko liked him. (Her? It? Kimiko couldn't really tell what Kupara identified as.) Apparently, this was a 'pokemon can talk' dream.

"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?"

 

[canisaries]

Ichiro's first theory was that someone had managed to smuggle a psychotropic into the prison, which had then through a series of wacky coincidences ended up in his supper where he'd ingested it, and that's why he was in an acid trip dimension now. His second theory was that this was a dream. That made more sense.

Nevertheless, he'd heard the call, and eager to see anything at all outside the same building he'd been in for years, he'd taken the chance. Upon stepping through the portal, his body had changed from that of a human to a... houndoom. It surely would have made him elated in his younger years to be a true predator complete with 'fangs and claws', but now it brought up uncomfortable questions.

Is this really what I am? Can it really not be changed?

No. A houndoom was just a houndoom. Samson had a houndoom, too, and surely that was the cuddliest houndoom known to man. Ichiro could be... cuddly, too.

Either way... listening to the strange crystal-turtle - Kupara and the klefki, then seeing all the other arrivals, Ichiro was reminded of another possibility for his current situation - that this was one of those multiverse adventures he'd been in a few of years ago. He grimaced at the idea. What if someone from back then comes here and remembers the old me? That's gonna be embarrassing.

He cleared his throat, supposing he should enter the conversation. "How are we... meant to purge this corruption? Do we talk? Do we battle?" He didn't know how well he could battle when he'd been a pokémon for all of two minutes. Maybe it would come to him through instincts.

He just hoped it wouldn't be those instincts.

 

[System Error]

"Ah, yes! Very practical! Meloetta is a legend who loves music and dance. They have two forms they can switch between at will. One is normal and fighting, and the other is normal and psychic."

Nori nods a little less emphatically than he normally would given past experience. "It's like I said, know your enemy. Since," And with this he turns to the group. "We might end up fighting. Well, I guess I picked the right Pokemon." He sort of just grabbed Demon's Poke Ball since he didn't want to disturb Pachi and he didn't trust his Pawniard.

"Jojo?!" Nori suddenly turns as the Floatzel announces himself. His eyes widen for a moment, then he freezes. He lowers his head then shakes it. "Oh, sorry. Guess you're another Jojo. And I, wait, right. The other one hated that name. Never mind, never mind." Weird coincidence.

But one person catches his attention. The boy hurries a few steps toward Kimiko. "Oh! I guess you're familiar with them too. But I didn't see you here last time, which was the first time, I think. But it wouldn't be the first time someone was familiar with Klink. So uh." He stops and turns away, rubbing the nape of his neck. Where was he even going with his thoughts just now? He waves his palms. "Sorry, sorry, mind's frazzled."

Hopefully he'd be able to focus. If not, at least the Demon would be able to handle the fighting on her own.

He looed back up. Well, he was qualified to answer the question. "I was here before." He nods. "And well. We don't know what things caused it, unless they did research in the meantime." He emphasizes the plural, then looks over at their briefly hosts. "But we do know poison's involved in some way. Keldeo was acting like a tryhard edgelord, and he lost his sense of justice."

At least it didn't sound like he was in for another water-filled place. He clutches at himself for a second, but shakes it off.

 

[Mirage]

The pink and purple haze from the portal suddenly cleared, and there was the ground again! ...10 feet below. Flailing as though he might somehow swim through the air, Fennel faceplanted into the dirt. With a groan, he picked himself up and shook the dirt off. The sky had turned to sunset, and there were trees growing... in the shape of keys?

Had he really hit his head that hard???

His ears twitched at a faint commotion in the distance. Scurrying over, there was a group of people in front of the largest pile of keys he had ever seen - Pokemon of all different types and sorts, and some other tall, thin, weird creatures that weren't very familiar. But they all seemed friendly enough!

"I am known as Kupara, and my friend here is Clink! He protects the domains that branch off from this place. Many of the legends have their own pockets of reality to rest in and shape to their desires when they aren't attending to the mortal world. "

Kupara inclined her head towards one of the dark crystals growing nearby. "Not long ago, these crystals began to appear, sealing away the legends' domains. Clink and I were able to gain access to Keldeo's realm, and with the help of heroes summoned just like you, we managed to set his domain right. Keldeo himself had become corrupted by some outside force, and we fear what might have happened to the other legends we haven't been able to contact."

The keen-eyed might be able to see that the keyhole in the crystal near Kupara was shaped like a music note. "This is the gateway to Meloetta's realm. Clink has been trying to find a way through the crystal for weeks, and he's confident now that he'll be able to send us through. He'll be taking as many of you as are willing into Meloetta's domain to find her and purge the corruption seeping through her realm.

"We hope you'll be able to help us find Meloetta and help her shed her corruption, if it's needed. I imagine you need a bit of time to rest and orient yourself after your journey, though. Please, while Clink attunes Meloetta's gateway to your spirits, take a little time to get to know one another. Get accustomed to your new body, if you have one. And feel free to ask Clink and I any questions you might have!"

"Nice to meet you, Kupara and Clink!" he beamed. "Where do all of these keys come from? There must be thousands!"

 

[Nekodatta]

When that portal had opened up in the middle of the street late at night, Raiki's first thought had been.

"That's weird. Didn't think I had drunk that much-"

Just before that, he had something quietly whisper into his mind. A single word, a cry for help. And instinctually, he had answered.

He wasn't sure what he had expected to happen. Surely not a portal opening up in midair. But he had stepped through it, after the assurance that they would be brought back.

He blinked with his one good eye at finding himself in a brightly colored landscape straight out of a fairytale.
Or an acid trip, he supposed.

A moment later, however, his body registered something he was not used to anymore: he felt the small weight of several Poke' Ball attached to his belt missing. In a panic, he looked down. A single Poké Ball, a white Premier Ball to be exact.

Where were Yoichi, Amanozako and the others?

Was he really stuck here with the one Pokémon he was still unfamiliar with and that seemed to despise humans in general?

Great.

He let out a sigh; nothing he could do about that. He looked around, finding a couple of other people seemed to have already arrived. All were at least a good couple of decades younger than him.

Just to make things even more uncomfortable, he hoped they wouldn't start using some weird slang that left him feeling like that one "how do you do, fellow kids?" guy.

And then a Klefki and another Pokémon started to speak. And then that Floatzel too. And the Houndoom with the stylish long fur locks. And the... Mincinno? Cincinno? He always forgot which was which.

Raiki stood silent for a long moment; maybe, in another occasion, he would have started to ask questions.

"Did that Pokémon just speak?"

Things like that. But it was technically four in the morning for him, and he had just finished his shift as bouncer at a local bar. Great job. He just had to glare at people. Occasionally you even got to punch a guy and get paid for it.

So the only thing Raiki did was calmly take out his pack of cigarettes and lighting himself a smoke.

He also let his Vulpix out, throwing a sideways glance at the Pokémon.

« Are you going to start to speak, too?» he asked.

Inari simply hissed at him and looked away, his three white tipped tails twitching nervously.

Mmm. Well, even if he could, there was no guarantee that the Pokémon wanted to speak to him.

So. They had to free "Meloetta". Not the legendary he was most familiar with - he was more knowledgeable about Johto's legends-, but there could have been much worse legends to choose from. Like one of the way too many dragons. He shivered; the left half of his face suddenly felt prickly.

All around, the other people and... well, Pokémon, that had been summoned were starting to introduce themselves. Maybe it was better to do the same.

He took a couple of steps forward.

« Name's Raiki. Raiki Hirose.» he introduced himself with a slight bow, in the Johto and Kanto style of greeting.

Then he pointed with his cigarette towards the Vulpix, still behind him.

« And that one's Inari. From what I'm hearing, this isn't the first time this has happened for... some of you?»

 

[canisaries]

Ichiro eyed the new arrival, Raiki, and his vulpix companion. He felt a slight twinge of annoyance at now being morphologically closer to the animal that couldn't speak than the human on two legs. Why did the old me even fantasize about this? This isn't badass, this is just awkward.

He supposed he should introduce himself, though, if that was going around. "I'm Ichiro. I was human just a minute ago, but now I'm this. And I haven't been here before, unlike some others, but I've been to some similar places." Playing party games. Also turning into a giant worm and trying to eat people. Yeah, he'd leave those parts out.

He contemplated whether to add something. To make a better first impression. This was the first time in a long, long time he'd be able to make acquaintances who weren't aware of his past, so he should try and make it work as well as he could - unless he wanted to be the pariah yet again.

"It'll be fine," he then said. "This is just a brief excursion to another world. You'll be back to your own world before you know it."

 

[Negrek]

[[ Just as an FYI, Tetra's playing Clink, so if your character is interacting with him rather than Kupara, she's who'll be writing your response! I didn't miss/ignore you. ]]

Kupara raised a paw and waved cheerfully to the gathered onlookers. "Hello, Jo-Jo! And Raiki and Ichiro! !olleH Hello!" She bobbed her head cheefully. "And Nori I've met already, of course! Welcome back."

It was only natural that the new arrivals would have questions. Kupara settled back in her nest of keys, thinking.

"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?"

Kupara bowed her head. "It's as Nori says. We don't know, and Keldeo himself doesn't remember. There was some kind of poison, but not one that matched any pokémon we know of. We've studied these crystals, but we haven't been able to figure out their origin, either. Any clues you might find in Meloetta's realm would be immeasurably helpful to us."

He cleared his throat, supposing he should enter the conversation. "How are we... meant to purge this corruption? Do we talk? Do we battle?" He didn't know how well he could battle when he'd been a pokémon for all of two minutes. Maybe it would come to him through instincts.

"It's hard to say." Kupara tipped her head to the side, looking thoughtful. "We've only seen one example so far. When the last group of heroes saved Keldeo, they did it by ending his desire to fight, his... evloser. Resolve. That meant talking with him, but weakening him with attacks, too. Perhaps Meloetta will be the same."

Her eyes sparkled. "Perhaps talking would be a good place to begin. But if words aren't enough, well... All pokémon understand battling!"

"Nice to meet you, Kupara and Clink!" he beamed. "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!"

 

[ShiniGojira]

Logically speaking, if a portal appeared in the dead of the night, followed quickly by a voice speaking into your head. One would expect you to be distrustful and cautious around said strange happenings.

Rachel would be in the right to completely ignore said suspicious voice and mysterious portal. However, her starter had things to say about leaving such an innocent sounding and desperate cry for help.

So there she was, walking through said portal, arms raised in preparation for a fight while her Ralts merely rolled her eyes at the girl's caution before stepping forward.

Light, colours, strangers and keys, lots and lots of keys.

Such a sight wowed the girl into silence, she'd never seen something quite this... odd.

Tearing her eyes from the view, Rachel glanced at the gathered group of people and... talking Pokémon? What the hell?

"Ooh, Rachel. Look! People to meet!" The little Ralts waved her hand in greeting before turning to her trainer with a smile. "Go on, say 'Hi'. Make some friends before we go on this epic adventure!"

The words injected into her mind gave Rachel pause and she grimaced. Ugh... do I have to?

The Ralts' smile was as firm as her nod.

"Fine," Rachel murmured, eying the ones most likely to be a problem. That strange talking Houndoom who said he was a human(?) and the adult man.

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?"

Meanwhile, Luni did her little own wave along with a twirl of her robe and spoke. "Hi, everyone! It's so nice to meet you all! I hope we can all be great friends!"

 

[canisaries]

"It's hard to say." Kupara tipped her head to the side, looking thoughtful. "We've only seen one example so far. When the last group of heroes saved Keldeo, they did it by ending his desire to fight, his... evloser. Resolve. That meant talking with him, but weakening him with attacks, too. Perhaps Meloetta will be the same."

Her eyes sparkled. "Perhaps talking would be a good place to begin. But if words aren't enough, well... All pokémon understand battling!"

"Hmm, I see. Thanks." This was clearly one of those more battle-focused worlds... maybe he could think back to the time he'd been a trainer himself. Or maybe not. He didn't want to have some kind of episode about it now that he was supposed to be a useful part of a team.

Meanwhile, Luni did her little own wave along with a twirl of her robe and spoke. "Hi, everyone! It's so nice to meet you all! I hope we can all be great friends!"

"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.

 

[MegaAbsolOfDespair]

Suddenly, a young boy wanders out of the strange forest of keys that surround him. He quickly notices the group of pokemon gathered here and begins to speak in an excited tone:

"Hi everyone! Nice to meet you! What is this place? Who are you all?" He quickly begins nearly bombarding the group with questions of curiosity and intrigue.

 

[System Error]

"And Nori I've met already, of course! Welcome back."

"Happy to be back," Nori replies with a smile. Right, introductions. He was sort of introduced there. He takes a deep breath to steady himselfthen turns to the group, smiling a little at the Japanese bow on behalf of Raiki. it looked like there were customs that were the same across worlds. He gives a very slight one of his own to everyone. "My name is Nori Carino. I'm a Pokemon Rehabilitator in my world."

He keeps periodically looking around to see if any familiar faces would come in. But it's just new ones. He hangs his head very vaguely, then remembers, there's solace. There's people his age. Who, aren't guaranteed to be friendly with him. Even if he hadn't been trained to read people and Pokemon, Rachel's body language was super obvious even before she started talking. Guarded, and seemingly pulled into this. He wasn't in a good state of mind, but he was still of sound enough mind to figure: maybe bad to approach. At least her Pokemon was friendly. He modestly waves back at them.

The chestnut-haired boy almost answers her question. Then he doesn't, looking to Clink and Kupara. It seemed obvious enough to him Meloetta would implement song and dance into battle. But maybe he was wrong. And well, Keldeo was supposed to be honorable and got corrupted. So could they really say?

Nori then answers the blond boy's question in simple terms. He was about to ask if he was listening, then remembers, he wasn't here for introductions. "It's a world of Legendary Pokemon. We need to save Meloetta from corruption. Hard to say what she's like now," he sort of answers Rachel's, subtly.

 

[MegaAbsolOfDespair]

Nori then answers the blond boy's question in simple terms. He was about to ask if he was listening, then remembers, he wasn't here for introductions. "It's a world of Legendary Pokemon. We need to save Meloetta from corruption. Hard to say what she's like now," he sort of answers Rachel's, subtly.

He looks at the chestnut-haired boy, who seems to be roughly the same age as him. At the mention of legendary pokemon, he becomes excited. "A world... of Legendary Pokemon?! That's awesome! I love learning new stuff about Legendary Pokemon!"

His childlike excitement fades slightly as he remembers that he should actually greet the others and introduce himself. "By the way, the name's Volo! Nice to meet you all!"

 

[Nekodatta]

He idly listened to the conversation around him as he kept smoking his cigarette, passively absorbing information.

« Are we... even sure there will be a battle? »

Meloetta, from the description, didn't really strike him as the battle-enthusiast type. Not that he would know.

He looked at Inari for a short moment; he didn't have him for long, and the Vulpix was still very much wary around humans. In the event of a battle, he wasn't even sure he would listen to him.
He really would have felt much better if someone else from his team had come with him.

My name is Nori Carino. I'm a Pokemon Rehabilitator in my world."

The words of one of the teenagers attracted his attention.

« A Pokémon Rehabilitator, you say?» he asked, turning slightly towards Nori, eye narrowing in interest.

Not a figure he was familiar with, but from what the name implied, it sounded... interesting.

« Can I ask you more about what that's like?»
---
In the meanwhile, Inari nervously looked around. There were too many humans for his liking - and even one Pokémon that said they were human just a short while ago!
He couldn't trust them. He couldn't trust anybody here- except, maybe...
There were also a couple other Pokémon, Pokémon that seemed to have arrived here alone.
He eyed the Floatzel with suspicion as he scurried forward, head and tails held low, almost as if he expected an attack to suddenly come from the water type, giving him a wide berth and circling around most humans until he approached the Mincinno.
« 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.

@Mirage