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Namohysip

Dragon Enthusiast
Staff
Partners
  1. flygon
  2. charizard
  3. milotic
  4. zoroark-soda
  5. sceptile
  6. marowak
  7. jirachi
  8. meganium
In a world beyond worlds, the twisted dimensions converge to a single point. Calling spirits from across the Overworld, living, dead, and banished alike, these individuals are drawn here for two purposes: to relax… and to play Truth or Dare

(For more info, skip to the final scene)

<><><>​

Owen gasped for air, shooting into a sitting position. “Wh-what happened?” His head swiveled around frantically, only to see a field of grass on all sides. With a frantic yelp, he reflexively got onto his feet and clutched his tail.

The Charmander inspected the ground behind him, sighing in relief. No scorches, no burns, no spreading fire. Good. He had a bad habit of getting too excited in his sleep, causing his fire to blaze overnight. Still… how much did he oversleep?!

“Mom?” Owen called reflexively, eyes darting left and right. “Dad? Auntie Arcanine?” He gulped, slowly rising to his feet.

“Psst! Hey! Hey, kid!”

A cold chill ran up his spine. “Y-yes?” He looked back, but saw nobody. Then he spun forward and saw a Gengar.

Owen screamed and fell on his back again, but not before the Gengar picked him up. “Ahaha, look at you! Aw, sorry, kid; didn’t mean to scare you. Well, I kinda did. In my nature. The fear tastes good. Anyway!” He plopped Owen back on his feet. “Since you’re confused, are you lost, dead, or banished?”

“…I’m hoping I’m just lost.” Owen gulped, fidgeting with his claws. “A-and I’m not a kid!”

“Sure ya aren’t! Anyway, come on. Sounds like you need to get back to your world, and I know just the place. Hop on!” He leaned forward, motioning for Owen to climb on. Uneasily, the Charmander did just that, struggling to get a proper hold on Gengar’s wide frame.

His arms partially sank into his body. “S-sorry,” Owen said.

“Don’t worry, doesn’t hurt too much. Hold on tight! And don’t struggle or you actually will hurt me, alright?”

“G-got it.”

Owen braced himself for what he knew was coming. Moments later, Gengar sank into the ground in a purple shroud, and then a shadow, taking Owen with him.

<><><>​

It was surreal to swim through the ground on a ghost’s back, but Owen couldn’t deny that it was a bit pleasant once he got over how odd it felt. He felt like he could move, but he didn’t want to disturb Gengar’s concentration, whatever it was. He never felt so short before—and that was saying something, a Charmander among fully evolved Pokémon. But now, he was even shorter than the grass, looking up at the sky. He tried to breathe out a sigh, but he had no lungs. That gave him a brief feeling of panic, but he kept calm for Gengar’s sake.

Then, they popped out of the ground with Owen still on his back.

“There! How was that? Felt a bit of terror from you for a second, there; sorry about that. I guess it’s a bit disorienting the first time around. Anyway, welcome to Veritas City.”

Owen’s mouth hung open. He’d never seen anything like it before—a building that went countless stories high, practically scraping the clouds. No, that wasn’t the only one—quite a few of the buildings here went high into the sky, made from some strange, black material that glowed in the sunlight. Running along the ground were ethereal lines of cyan light, each one acting as a sort of director from one building to another. Yet despite the city, some things seemed familiar; the ground was still lush with grass, and the roads were wide. Trees grew in organized lines in the middle of the road, separating foot traffic.

“What is this place?” Owen said. “I’ve… never seem buildings so tall! We usually build downward…”

“It’s a city! Your world must have diverged a little, from what it sounds like.” Gengar motioned down the road. “There are more rural areas further back, and suburbs and natural pastures in between all over this spot. But I prefer the city.” He turned around. “Anyway, this place goes through a lot of whimsical redesigns whenever the community feels like it, so don’t freak out of buildings start looking different from day to day. But you won’t have to worry about that anyway if you want to head home.”

“Y-yeah—this is really cool! But… my parents are probably gonna be worried if I’m gone for too long.”

“Naah,” Gengar waved dismissively. “Veritas City is in a time sink. Moves really quickly inside. I forget the ratio, but for the most part, even if you stay here for days, it’ll only be a few seconds in your world. Maybe even instant, depending on how you go back. Live a little!” Gengar motioned for Owen to follow him inside. “I’ll show you the way back eventually. I want to show you something cool. If that bag on your side is anything to go by, you’re from a world of Pokémon, right?”

“Uh, yeah?” Owen said. “What do you mean?”

Gengar held Owen’s shoulder and spun him to the left. “Look at that,” he said, pointing at someone.

Owen tilted his head. “I’ve never seen a Pokémon like that before. It looks… sorta like a Gardevoir-Gallade, but the hair’s different. And, uh… are they southern? You know, over there, we have icy Ninetales.”

“That’s a human.”

Owen’s head turned to Gengar, then at the human, then at the Gengar again. “WHAT?”

“Pretty cool, eh?” Gengar’s smile grew even wider. “Yep, that’s what a human looks like. I dunno if they’ll be able to understand you in your world, but over here, talking to people from other realities seems to just… work. So, give it a shot!”

Owen took one step, but then grumbled. “Wait, no, I can’t get distracted. Listen, I—kinda really have to head back. Imagine all the stuff I can tell the others! I know that not a lot of time passed, but… still. I just want to be careful.”

Gengar shrugged. “Well, you won’t be able to tell others much. Most realities don’t let Overworld memories pass through when you return to your world. Messes with the natural flow, or something; most world creators make sure that doesn’t happen for that reason.”

“Oh. Well… if that’s the case, I think I’ll just go back. I don’t want to get my hopes up just to forget when I go back.”

“I mean, hey, you’ll eventually wind up in it again. One way or another.” Gengar said. “How the Overworld works. But whatever suits you. If you want to leave, I’ll take you there next.”

“Please—sorry. This place is really cool, but I feel like I shouldn’t spend too much time here. I was right in the middle of a mission.”

“Don’t worry about it. Alright, hop onto my back, little guy.”

Owen’s tail flared up. Gengar gave him an amused smile. “What, don’t like being called little?”

“I—I’m just a late evolver.”

“Sure ya are.”

<><><>​

They went from the city to an open field again; in the center of this field was a great colosseum that Owen could only see from the ground—due to being a shadow again. Gengar hopped out and set the Charmander down. “Here we are!” he said. “Welcome to the Veritas Obelisk.”

It was big enough to hold a grand duel between Pokémon with enough room both lengthwise and height wise for any sort of mid-range maneuver Owen could have imagined. In the center of the field was a great, pointed spire with strange markings written on it. When Owen squinted, the writing seemed legible, but it was too far away to read.

“What is this?” Owen said.

“Yo, Garro!”

Owen just realized that he wasn’t alone. It seemed that there were actually quite a few creatures—Pokémon, humans, and… Owen didn’t know what else—sitting at the seats of this colosseum, watching with a vague sense of interest. Most seemed more interested in one another, though.

The one calling seemed to be a human. “What’s going on? Brought some newcomer?”

“Just helping him around!” Garro, the Gengar, said. He spun to Owen. “Okay, so the rules are simple. The easy way out of this place is to approach this obelisk and take the paper inside. There might be an object that comes out with it, usually sealed in an extradimensional chest, but don’t worry about that unless it asks to open it or something. So! Just walk up, pull out the card, and read. Do what either side says, and the message will disappear. After that, you write a new message to replace it, and then slip it in.”

“Okay, okay…” Owen nodded. “That makes sense. I guess I’ll just read it.”

The Charmander got closer to the obelisk, but then realized that he had no idea where to actually go. He didn’t see a hole in it, or any kind of alcove… Now that he was closer, he saw that the strange writing on the obelisk were actually words and sentences.

“Hope for the lost.”

“Dream of the past.”

“Mike was here.”


Owen squinted, but then, upon touching the stone, it suddenly lit up. A square traced itself into the spire, revealing a hole that hadn’t been there before. Within it was a simple paper and a small chest no bigger than Owen’s head. “Huh.”

“Yeah, with how big everyone is, the opening appears wherever you touch it,” Garro said.

Owen nodded, flipping the paper over a few times. There were two sentences on either one.

“What is your least favorite Pokémon to battle?” Owen repeated to himself. “Huh, that’s sorta simple.” He turned it over. “Eat this whole Tamato Berry.” Owen glanced at the chest. He figured that’s what it would be. A thought crossed his mind. “Wait a second—this is just truth or dare!”

“Ahaaa! You got me!” Garro raised his stubby arms gleefully. “That’s the key to getting out, little guy! Answer a truth or do a dare, leave one behind for the next guy, and boom! Portal opens up.”

“That’s… that’s so weird!” Despite his words, Owen’s eyes lit up. “Who thought of this place? How did you make something do that?”

Garro shrugged. “Beats me. Anyway, I say you get going. Do one of ‘em! I’m gonna just watch.” And with that, he sank into the shadows.

Owen nodded. Tamato Berries were his personal favorite, so it felt almost like cheating to take that one. Besides, he knew it would be more entertaining if someone who didn’t like spicy foods tried it instead, especially if he had an audience. He figured that he’d just have to answer the truth instead. “Um, okay,” he said. “I’m gonna do the truth. I really like Tamato Berries, so I want to save that for someone else!”

Little grumbles of agreement from the audience answered him. It seemed like they were waiting for someone to take the berry for a while.

“So, um… a Pokémon that I don’t like to battle, huh?” he rubbed the back of his head in thought. “Probably Bagon.”

Confused hums from the audience.

“Bagon are Pokémon that often dream about flying and becoming full-fledged Dragons when they grow up. I’m… I mean, Charmander in general are the same way, when you think about it. And I guess we both get wings in the end… I don’t know.” Owen sighed. “I guess I get a little envious when I know that they get the Dragon part.” He laughed, shaking his head. “Petty, yeah. But I guess any Water Type would also give me a scare. With the tail and all.” He wagged it slightly, but then saw the message disappear from the paper.

“Huh, and a truth to replace it,” Owen said. “Hmm… Whoever’s next… Think of someone really important to you. When see them again… what do you want to tell them?” He nodded, watching the question etch itself into the magical paper. It flew back into the obelisk along with the strange box, sealing itself shut. The spire flashed, creating a portal right in front of Owen.

“So cool…!” He waved at the others, hoping he’d return someday, and hopped inside, returning to Kilo.

<><><>​

Welcome to Veritas City, the Dimension of Truth or Dare! Here, your characters can appear, linger, and leave for as long as you want. All they have to do to leave is answer the given Truth or perform the given Dare within Veritas Colosseum to complete the request; after that, they can return to their world immediately (if you want!) or linger behind to comment or interact with other characters within Veritas City.

This is meant to be a semi-structured, semi-freeform roleplay environment where characters are free to come and go as they want, so there is close to zero investment in having a character here for longer than one post, if wanted, but there is still room for them to linger around if wanted, and interact with others as they see fit.

The primary purpose of this topic is for character development and fun.
Don’t forget the main purpose of participating!

In Veritas City, it is impossible to die, and all injuries are temporary. Anything that happens in Veritas, stays in Veritas, in other words. It also allows for some lighthearted fun in otherwise dangerous situations, depending on the dare. How long the injuries last is up to the writer.

The Veritas Obelisk can change its appearance, the environment, and create relevant objects to the convenience of the writer. This is for convenience, and so the dares are not limited by physics or practicality.

Excessively cruel entries are discouraged, though if you arrange with another participant for them to do a specific dare that may go against this rule, feel free. If both the giving and receiving party of a command are fine with it, there is no fault. Coordinating privately with others on a dare they might want to do is fine; this is more so a dare or truth does not discourage others from participating for a long time until someone finally bites.

You can bring more than one character, but you're only required to answer one truth or dare no matter how many you bring. Characters from the same reality can return together so long as at least one truth or dare is fulfilled.

Keep all submissions “Teen” or below. Excessive or extreme violence, “mature content,” and the like may not be enjoyable for everyone, and it is best to keep the subject matter less on that side, and some types of content are against general forums rules to begin with. All fanfiction and roleplaying rules still apply.

If you want to pick up a command, first make a very short “Dibs: truth” or “Dibs: dare” post. Specify how much time you need to write out and complete the truth or dare, but it can be no longer than a day, and is preferred to be within an hour or two. Afterward, you can edit in your actual post, or otherwise delete and submit your answer, in order to complete the command and replace it with another. If you take too long, your “dibs” post will be deleted, and someone else can call dibs instead.

Side-interactions between characters that decided to linger in Veritas City are fine as long as they do not interfere with the truth or dare in Veritas Colosseum. If these side-interactions become excessive, I may make a separate sister-topic to house them.

This is highly experimental, so rules may be created, modified, or eliminated as we break this in and feel for what works and what doens't.

And finally…

Always end your ToD posts with the updated commands, as so:


Truth: “Think of somebody really important to you. When you see them again, what would you tell them?”

Dare: “Eat this Tamato Berry.” [Object: Extremely spicy and fresh Tamato Berry]
 
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NebulaDreams

Ace Trainer
Partners
  1. luxray
  2. hypno
Dibs: dare.

Will be using Curio from The Curious and the Shiny as my guinea pig. Hope to post within the hour.
 

NebulaDreams

Ace Trainer
Partners
  1. luxray
  2. hypno
Curio woke up and found herself in a coliseum, where both humans and Pokemon roamed. They didn't walk as trainer and pet, but rather, as equals, and this, she found rather odd. It was a welcome change, for sure, but still odd. She stood up and looked around. The coliseum was big enough to house a lot of Pokemon battles, and yet, none were taking place at the moment. Aside from the differently shaped people and Pokemon walking past, the only noteworthy thing in that arena was a pointed spire, which was her first point of interest. On the way there, she caught sight of a Gengar who emerged from the shadows nearby, and went over to him. She could tell he frequented the arena, so it was good to ask him first.

"Hey," she said, drawing the Gengar's attention to her. "Where the hell am I?"

The Gengar glanced at her metal arm, undoubtedly weirded out by it, then flashed a cat-like grin and made eye contact with the Lucario. "Ha, another newbie! Well, you're in Veritas City, and if I turn on my tour guide mode for a sec here, you've turned up in the 'Truth or Dare Dimension'! Enjoy your stay! Or don't; either way's fine."

"Truth or Dare Dimen--" she started, then stopped, scowling. "Are you freaking kiddin' me? I can't take a piss without bein' called into another dimension anymore!"

"So, this ain't your first time, huh?"

"No, duh." She growled, rubbing her head. "Jeez, I haven't survived this long just to be the universe's chew toy or somethin'." Curio turned back to Gengar. "Hey, what's your face?"

"Garro." He snorted. "And what about my face?"

"It's freakin' me out, but whatever. I guess I gotta do this truth or dare crap first, then be booted back to my crummy homeworld, huh?"

"I mean, no one's forcing ya to if your world's that crappy."

"Ugh, whatever, I've got stuff to settle back there." She looked at the obelisk, which was marked with doodles, sharpied on graffiti and slips of paper, and grinned. "I might as well own it while I'm here."

"That's the spirit." Garro chuckled. "Not that kind of spirit. Well, knock yerself out!" He disappeared into the shadows again, leaving Curio to look at the truth or dare.

'Truth: “Think of somebody really important to you. When you see them again, what would you tell them?”

Dare: “Eat this Tamato Berry.”'

She looked to where Garro was, only to see he disappeared. Shame. It would've been nice to talk to someone, just so she wasn't talking to herself.

"I'm still here, lurking from the shadows, yanno," he said in an echoing voice.

"Sweet. Okay, cosmic forces. I choose dare. Do your worst."

A Tamato Berry materialised out of thin air, and she caught it in her paw. She inspected it: firm, but radiating a very powerful aura. Not that inanimate objects had auras, but it seemed this wasn't the run of the mill Tamato berry: this was the real deal. The ultra spicy one. She liked spicy stuff, but hadn't really gone out of her way to try the really hot ones. Nevertheless, Curio opened her maw and chowed down, gulping it down in one fell swoop.

"You seriously ate the whole thing in one go," Garro's voice said.

"Shut up," she said. "How else was I supposed to--"

Tears welled up, and she started panting, letting the spiciness wash over her like a wave. At first, it was just a feeling of discomfort as she stood there, breathing in and out. Then, it coursed through her body, filling it with an unbelievable warmth like her blood had turned into lava. At that point, Curio fell to the floor, crawling into a fetal position. She swore she saw her life flashing before her eyes. Not quite digging up the really painful memories, but her journey from Sinnoh to Kalos, to this interdimensional bullcrap.

"Oh, screw this," she croaked. "What idiot legendary thought this was-- urgh!"

Curio coughed, choking on her words.

"Quit your moaning," Garro said, "I had my money on truth."

"Shut up. Urgh, this is too much! Jeez! Water! Milk! Something, anything!" She sat up, enduring the pain long enough to sift through her bag of curiosities. Hopefully, she had something in there that hadn't gone off. To her relief, there was a carton of Moomoo Milk, just one day before its expiry date. Good thing she stole from that Pokestore a week beforehand. Carelessly, Curio glugged the whole thing down, spilling some of it on her fur coat, but felt instant relief as the liquid soothed her throat. It was still unbearably hot, but much less so. Finally, she could stand up and talk normally, but not without clearing her throat first.

"That's one nice moustache," Garro said.

"Shut up," Curio said, wiping away her milky stubble. "Well, that sucked. At least I get to choose a dare, huh?"

"It's your call, Fullmetal Lucario."

"Ugh, why does everyone call me that? Whatever."

She took the marker and wrote on the slip of paper, whose dare side had now turned blank. A portal opened behind her, and she looked at it once before turning back to the Obelisk to write something else down on that wall of graffiti.

'You stink, Owen.'

Smiling, Curio ran through the portal, back to her homeworld to another day of interview sessions with Tony.

Truth: “Think of somebody really important to you. When you see them again, what would you tell them?”

Dare: 'Run around the coliseum and pretend to be someone you're not. If you're a Pokemon who can't stand up, pretend to be a human and walk on your hindlegs or something. Talk to other humans if you can. Pay the bills or something. You could even pretend to be a trainer. If you're already a human, crawl on all fours and pretend to be a wild Pokemon. Bark at random strangers. Mark your territory. Try your best to fight like a Pokemon. I can't say I'll be here to see it, but I'm sure it's a hoot. I'll be laughing from the other side anyway. Smell you later, losers.'

(OOC: Posts DON'T need to be this long, of course. Just starting straight with the truth/dare fulfilment is fine.)
 
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Namohysip

Dragon Enthusiast
Staff
Partners
  1. flygon
  2. charizard
  3. milotic
  4. zoroark-soda
  5. sceptile
  6. marowak
  7. jirachi
  8. meganium
(The following is an example of a post that achieves the minimum requirements of a truth or dare post while still being of quality. Not everything has to be a longpost, as Nebula said above! All that's required is fulfilling the dare. This one turned out to be a bit long because of how involved it is, but truths can be as simple as answering it and being on your way.)

"Hm. So this is where Owen wound up."

Hecto had been exploring the mysterious landscape for a while, now, though he did not find anything suspect nor troublesome about the location that he could tell. So, instead, the canine-Zygarde, with a bit of apprehension, entered the presumed centerpiece of this strange city, Veritas Colosseum.

He had been informed of how it all worked and went right for the obelisk, tapping his paw on the front.

Truth: “Think of somebody really important to you. When you see them again, what would you tell them?”

Dare: 'Run around the coliseum and pretend to be someone you're not. If you're a Pokemon who can't stand up, pretend to be a human and walk on your hind legs or something. Talk to other humans if you can. Pay the bills or something. You could even pretend to be a trainer. If you're already a human, crawl on all fours and pretend to be a wild Pokemon. Bark at random strangers. Mark your territory. Try your best to fight like a Pokemon. I can't say I'll be here to see it, but I'm sure it's a hoot. I'll be laughing from the other side anyway. Smell you later, losers.'

Hecto's eyes rapidly dimmed and brightened, as if blinking. Onlookers watched curiously. "I could easily pick the truth," he said to himself, "but I suppose that would be less interesting of me. I see the person important to me every day. I will choose the dare once I, mrm, understand it..."

After reading it over several times, Hecto figured that he would have to behave like a human. He knew what humans were, though he hadn't seen one in an incredibly long time. His memory was a bit foggy, but he had a good idea of what they were and how they behaved.

With a wobbly stance, Hecto stood on his hind legs, his forelegs struggling to keep balance. His tail wagged haphazardly in an attempt to retain his center of gravity, but the only real result was a hop along the perimeter of the field. A clumsy hop. "Michael, that was a very good presentation," Hecto said to a random passerby whose name was not Michael. "You will be getting a raise for that one, yes. And Timothy, I hope I can see that report tomorrow."

Hecto hopped halfway around the field, his eyes completely dark as if to ignore how awful this strange experience was. Him, a human? He could barely walk like one. Perhaps if he had all of his cells together, he could walk as a biped, but this was absurd.

And then a Growlithe pranced toward him, panting happily. He dropped a tennis ball on the ground. "Arf!"

Hecto stopped his hopping and stared. "...You're mocking me."

Growlithe smirked.

A dare was a dare. Hecto struggled to lean forward and pick the ball up. "F-fetch," he said, tossing it.

The Growlithe ran after it, yipping and howling to the others. "He actually did it, guys!" He laughed hysterically.

Hecto finally made it back to the obelisk, seeing the previous dare's writing fade. He had a lot of time to think about the other one thanks to his long hopping, and quickly replaced it.

He went on all fours with relief, but didn't go to the portal. He could leave when he needed to. He wanted to investigate this strange city further, and remained in the strange dimensions, leaving the coliseum. He could leave as he wanted, now, by approaching the obelisk again. But for now? He was... curious about what others would show up.

Truth: “Think of somebody really important to you. When you see them again, what would you tell them?”

Dare: "Kiss your closest friend on the lips or equivalent body part. If your closest friend is also a mate or is married to you, kiss your second closest friend instead." (Object: Dimensional portal. Summons the person in question. Individuals from the same reality can leave together without having to perform an extra truth or dare.)
 

Umbramatic

The Ghost Lord
Location
The Yangverse
Pronouns
Any
Partners
  1. reshiram
  2. zygarde
Claiming dare. Will post later
 

Umbramatic

The Ghost Lord
Location
The Yangverse
Pronouns
Any
Partners
  1. reshiram
  2. zygarde
Two women in Aura Guardian gear are here, looking at the truth and dare written on the slip of paper before them. For reference, the first, Polly, looks like this, while the second, Carol, looks like this.

"We're in the weird part of the multiverse again aren't we?" said Carol.

"Well, this Truth Or Dare game is apparently the only way to get out," said Polly.

She reads it out loud.

Truth: “Think of somebody really important to you. When you see them again, what would you tell them?”

Dare: "Kiss your closest friend on the lips or equivalent body part. If your closest friend is also a mate or is married to you, kiss your second closest friend instead." (Object: Dimensional portal. Summons the person in question. Individuals from the same reality can leave together without having to perform an extra truth or dare.)

"Well it's simple!" said Carol.

"True enough," said Polly. "But which do we do... I guess-"

She is interrupted by Carol kissing her on the lips. Momentarily stunned, she kisses back a bit before breaking away.

"What the hell! I was gonna do the truth!"

"I already knew the truth would be about a certain someone. Besides, you're hot enough." Carol winked.

Polly sighed as the portal opened. "Fine, thanks for the compliment, but enough flirting, our job is done here. Lets's go."

She stepped through the portal. Carol giggled and headed through the portal as well, but not before replacing the dare.

Truth: “Think of somebody really important to you. When you see them again, what would you tell them?”

Dare: "Dress in something ridiculous yet fabulous and show yourself off." OBJECT: Schrodinger's Items Of Clothing.
 

DawningWinds

Ace Trainer
Partners
  1. hawlucha
Roman looked around the Colosseum, then at the paper. The dare was beyond his willingness, even Tep, his Pignite, wouldn't do it. The truth question- that would be hard to force himself to answer. There was only one answer to the question, though.

"Truth," Roman said. "My sister. I would tell her how sorry I am. I never should have left. And I would tell her that no matter how many lives I save, it'll never make up for the fact that I couldn't save hers." He forced himself to hold back tears when he thought of it. That truth was a lot worse for him t

It was hard for him to admit that, but it wasn't like he had a choice. A truth for the next visitor...

Roman walked towards the portal, losing his hold over his emotions for just a moment, a single tear hitting the ground as he left.

Truth: “If you could go back and avoid one mistake you made, what would it be?”

Dare: "Dress in something ridiculous yet fabulous and show yourself off." OBJECT: Schrodinger's Items Of Clothing
 

canisaries

you should've known the price of evil
Location
Stovokor
Pronouns
she/her
Partners
  1. inkay-shirlee
  2. houndoom-elliot
  3. yamask-joanna
  4. shuppet
  5. deerling-andre
Eevee Keith (pre-Dragony)

It sure felt like a dream. If the nice gengar hadn’t told him that it wasn’t, Keith wouldn’t have known the difference. Even now, he wasn’t sure.

Tall black buildings, ethereal cyan lights, lush grass. It was definitely an improvement over the slushy, muddy Pelton where Keith’s last memory before this had taken place. It felt nice to have dry but fresh grass beneath his paws again as he padded onward, following the footsteps of the gengar.

On the streets walked all sorts of pokémon, species from all around the world, lots of which he’d never even seen before. And yes, among these were ones Keith treasured most of all - dragons! Towering haxorus with tusks sharp as razors, fierce garchomp with rough-skinned fins and spikes, even little bagon with skulls tough as rock. Keith’s paws itched to touch and feel them all, even if he’d surely end up with cuts. But the gengar had insisted Keith should first come to the colosseum, whatever that was, and after that he could meet all the dragons he wanted.

As they finally arrived at the colosseum and walked in through a great arch, Keith could see a huge arena with a big spire in the middle. It was like a tower, but seemed to have no doors, only scribblings all over its sides. What a strange structure. What was it for? Wasn’t it in the way? Keith supposed the field wasn’t for kickball or any other sport. It had to be something else.

He looked around. There sure were lots of people watching. All their eyes seemed to be on Keith, or at least turning towards him. What did they expect from him? Was he in the wrong place? The eevee shrank a bit. Was it really smart to just go with this stranger? Wh-what if this was some kind of creepy ritual he’d been roped into?

“Hey, don’t be scared,” shouted the gengar, startling Keith. The ghost had reached the spire, and now he gestured to it. “This is all just for fun, nothin’ serious. Come on over here and I’ll tell you how this thing works!”

Keith hesitated, but figured it was better to get whatever this was over with. He skittered to the gengar, who began explaining the rules. As it turned out, all Keith had to do was play one round of truth or dare, the prompts of which were on a paper within the spire. The eevee tapped a wall with a paw and, as promised, a hole large enough to walk into carved itself within the structure. Inside was a chest, and on the chest lay a piece of paper.

“Umm, okay, let’s see...” Keith mumbled to himself as he entered and nabbed the paper. “If you could go back and avoid one mistake you made, what would it be?

He flipped the paper and read the other prompt. Dress in something ridiculous? No, he didn’t want to be ridiculed. He had enough of that at school… though telling the truth could also get him laughed at. He winced.

With encouraging thoughts of the awesome dragons he’d get to meet afterwards, however, he gathered enough courage to proceed. He chose the truth, thought through his answer and then, cleared his throat.

“U-um… hi,” he got out. “M-my name is Eevee Keith, and I-I’m gonna take the truth… and stuff...”

Under the silent staring of the audience, his limbs trembled, threatening to give collapse beneath him. What was he even doing here? He wasn’t good at public speaking at all… unless it was something he really cared about, like dragons.

He glanced at the gengar who’d now returned to the edge of the field, but the ghost only gave a thumbs-up. Keith gulped and continued.

“The question was that, um, ‘if you could go back and avoid one mistake you made, what would it be’, and my answer would be...”

He cleared his throat again. “This one time, when I was younger, there was a really bad storm. Everyone in my school was let go early so they could make it home before it got worse… but I was, um, elsewhere when the teachers told all that. So I wandered about in the empty school until I realized everyone had left, and I started going home. To put shortly what happened next, I got caught in the storm and thought I was gonna die, but then out of nowhere, Rayquaza showed up! And he saved me! And he stopped the storm too! But the only one who saw was me… and everyone I told either didn’t believe me or said that he was probably trying to eat me instead and I just got lucky.”

Keith fiddled with his paws. “S-so I guess I wish I’d paid more attention at school that day or just realized by myself that I should have stayed there until the storm died down. I mean, if I got to really fix the situation, though, I would’ve gotten some proof. So people didn’t think I was a liar or someone who can’t tell imagination from reality...”

With the silence that followed, Keith shivered, worrying he’d made some mistake. In just a few seconds, however, singular claps arose from the audience, inducing more until the noise could be considered proper applause. Hesitant applause without much passion, perhaps, but sufficient enough.

Keith sighed in relief. He took a step towards the exits, but the gengar there raised a palm and pointed behind him. “R-right, the next prompt,” Keith mumbled in shame and turned around. The paper on the chest had become blank on the truth side, and a strange black-and-white stick had appeared beside it. Seeing no familiar writing utensils, Keith picked up the stick and studied it. He found that the black end could be removed, revealing a pen-like end within. He brought it closer to his face to study it further, but a vile scent changed his mind. What kind of ink was that? More like stink. Keith grinned at the stupid pun as he thought of the next prompt.

Have you ever been bullied, and how?” he spoke aloud and wrote the words as best as he could. He frowned at the scrawly letters - but suddenly, they rectified themselves. Keith wasn't pleased that his writing was so bad that it needed an external fix to be properly legible, but was glad that the next person wouldn't have to struggle with reading the message.

He returned the pen-stick to the hole and stepped back, letting the niche close up and render the spire's wall solid once more. He turned to the gengar and this time received confirmation that it was okay to leave. Eager to get away from the crowd's eyes, he hurried to the entrance.

"You did good, kid," the gengar said as they left the colosseum.

Keith's tail began to wag. "So I get to meet the dragons now?"

"Ya sure do! Have fun. And when you wanna leave, just come back to --"

The eevee had already run off, sparkles in his eyes.

The gengar waved a hand. "Eh, he'll figure it out."

---

Truth: “Have you ever been bullied, and how?”

Dare: "Dress in something ridiculous yet fabulous and show yourself off." OBJECT: Schrödinger's Items Of Clothing
 

myuma

I still think about y%#'()_*{\\"'&36)%("'$&''&(15y
Pronouns
she/her
Author's Note: This is a pretty loose interpretation of "Schrodinger's Items of Clothing".

---

The moment Mirage stepped into the entry gate, a blue, flickering holographic cage surrounded him and stopped him from moving.

"Welcome to Veritas City," an automated voice said. "You may feel disorientated; even scared. Do not fret. You may choose to speak the truth, or select a dare. Upon the completion of your task, you will automatically be returned to your world."

Two small panels appeared in front of the Aggron, hovering near his head. Small lines scrolling across the screen told him this was part of the hologram, too. As sceptical as he felt about this Veritas City business, this seemed to be the only way to get back to May in time for the Ever Grande League.

Truth: Have yke3lou ever beedf54l5n bullied, ad snd hofkw?
Dare: Ddkress in somethdbsking ridiculoudfhjss yet faku4klbuloldus and show yofnj ke self off. OB5AT: S4OkdlsDHIfmGFNRAR'S ItEGEY O5 CGDKFDM!KS


"Uh... this seems to be broken," Mirage said, squinting at the message. But no matter how many times he tried to explain that something had gone wrong, the hologram played the same automated message again. He slammed his fist on the panels in frustration. It remained as serenely blue as ever, but:

"You have chosen dare. Dress in something ridiculous yet fabulous and show yourself off. Your designated object is Schrodinger's Items of Clothing. Have fun and be brave, Mirage of Hoenn."

"What!?" roared Aggron. "I didn't agree to this! Stop!" The hologram gave him a sudden push and once again he was face-to-face with the earth, although this time, there were creatures surrounding him, a mixture of Pokemon and humans. He was in a clean, modern-looking plaza lined by shops, markets and gardens; at the centre was a large ring in which a crowd was cheering as an unfortunate young boy was chased by a Garchomp. Mirage winced as it raised a large claw and swiped just as the boy darted out of reach.

It couldn't be helped - he would have to fulfill the stupid dare to get out of here. Now, what would count as ridiculous and fabulous? There weren't many clothes shops around the plaza, and all of them seemed to be selling prim tuxedos which would never fit his body. Soon he spotted a small stand selling perfectly Aggron-sized tutus. A coincidence, yes, but Mirage was thankful that he didn't need to spend too long searching. After paying for the largest, fluffiest on he could find, he slipped it on, prayed that he would be teleported out the instant he embarrassed himself, and walked back to the center of the plaza.

"I'm wearing a tutu!" he shouted. A few passersby glanced over in surprise as he did a pirouette, or rather, hopped in a circle standing on one foot. "I'm a big scary Aggron wearing a tutu and doing ballet! Look! Look at me!" He spun on his toes and the world blurred before him.

"You're not wearing anything!" someone shouted.

"Yes I am!" Aggron shouted, now daintily stepping forward on the tips of his toes, arms poised like a Beautifly. "I'm wearing a tutu!" He felt it flutter against his legs as he ran over to his next victim, an old man sitting on a bench nearby.

"Look here, you, I'm gonna dance and you're gonna watch. I'm an Aggron wearing a fluffy pink tutu," Mirage snapped.

The old man looked up in surprise. "What? You're not wearing a tutu..."

"I am! Why is everyone saying that? Well, never mind-" Mirage took a few steps back, imagined an orchestra was playing in the background, and drew a deep breath. One, two, three... Mirage twirled across the floor, spinning on his metallic toes. The tutu flashed before his eyes.

"Congratulations, Mirage," a voice said in his hear mid-pirouette. Mirage immediately recognised it as the automated voice from the gate. "The clothes that were given to you slowly fall apart if a stranger observes them. That is why they are called Schrodinger's Clothes." He looked down and saw a few tiny scraps of elastic and pink, the remnants of the tutu, melt into thin air as the old man watched in confusion.

"Thank you for your participation."

And Mirage himself vanished from Veritas City.

---

Truth: Have you ever been bullied, and how?
Dare: Face your biggest fear by duelling it in the coliseum. Object: Half of a broken spear
 

Namohysip

Dragon Enthusiast
Staff
Partners
  1. flygon
  2. charizard
  3. milotic
  4. zoroark-soda
  5. sceptile
  6. marowak
  7. jirachi
  8. meganium
"Now, this is a fascinating place," an Alakazam remarked, stepping into the coliseum. "So, the only way out is to perform a dare? Or a truth, I suppose, hmm..." The audience in the stands watched curiously.

"Hey, Nevren!" someone shouted from the left.

"Ah?" He turned, spotting a bright-eyed Charmander near the front row. "Owen? Why in the world...?"

"I decided to stay for a little bit! This place is awesome!"

"Well, I'm terribly sorry," Nevren said, pacing toward the central pillar, "but I don't think I feel the same way. I'll simply announce one of these truths or perform one of these dares, and, hrm..."

"Have I ever been bullied, and how... or face my biggest fear in a duel, with--"

A half-broken spear slid out of the pillar and clattered to the ground.

"Ah."

He could easily say that he hadn't been bullied all that much, if ever--or he forgot--but that would be boring. That only really left one option. "Well, dare it is," he said, reaching down to grab the spear.

The instant he did, the pillar disappeared, the papers dissolved into nothing, and he felt a horrible presence tingle the back of his neck. His mustache twitched; his spoons floated beside him, figuring that he would have to use the spear properly to at least give a good show. But what exactly would he be facing? He had never actually considered what he feared. Did he have fears? Perhaps trivial ones, such as losing a good wand, or breaking some Guild equipment. Ah! Failure, perhaps failure to invent, to progress, to advance the world one gizmo at a time?

That was possible, all of it, but how exactly would it manifest? As an abstract concept to battle? That would be interesting.

In advance, Nevren filled out a small paper to replace the dare and placed it on the ground, where it disappeared conveniently.

Nevren turned around to face his fear...

...It was a Goodra, or at least, he thought it was. Most of its body was collapsed into the ground and black like tar and sludge. Its arms dangled limply, dripping more black sludge, and its hollow, empty eyes stared at Nevren. A blank smile spread thickly across the Goodra's face.

"Ahh." Nevren nodded, the grip around his spear tightening. "Well, that's simple enough. A rotted corpse of Kilo's leader. Symbolic. The ruin of the world. The collapse of society? Could that all happen simply due to the--"

"Hugs..."

Nevren regretted his decision immediately.

It shambled toward him, its legs semisolid things beneath the melted mass of rot, moving like a young girl in a dress that was several times too large, the frills dragging not only behind her but under her feet. Frills made of slime, of course. Without realizing it, Nevren was taking hesitant steps back, only vaguely aware of the cheering of Owen from the sidelines that he could handle it.

The rotten thing spoke slowly, every word dripping heavily from its throat. "Nev-Nev... Hug meeeee..."

Nevren's eyes flashed with Psychic power, twisting Goodra's body remotely. His body distorted and spattered all over, but it didn't stop his advance. Nevren's heart rate was starting to pick up the pace. They were closer. Nevren could smell the rot. It took every ounce of willpower he had not to flee right then.

The spear. He could still use the spear. He pointed it at Goodra and squeezed tight, then let go. A Psychic blast jammed the spear into Goodra's throat. Its hollow smile spread even wider; the spear rotted away, absorbed into its body to become part of it. And then the Goodra continued forward.

"Huuugggg meeeeee..."

Nevren's eyes flashed again, even stronger than before, slicing and dicing the Goodra into several chunky pieces. Black sludge flew in all directions, littering the ground--nothing of Goodra remained recognizable for what it used to be.

Nevren breathed a sigh of relief, his first true emote of the day, perhaps the week? He wasn't sure. Still, what an ordeal. "Frightful indeed," Nevren said.

"Huguguguguguguguggggg..."

They were all speaking. Every single one had become tiny, black blobs with eyes that somehow glowed even darker than the rest of their body. And suddenly, Nevren was surrounded by them. He stepped back, onto one, and it giggled happily. Nevren jerked his foot forward, kicking it away; a Psychic blast scrambled a few of them, but then, with gleeful cheers, they all lunged at him.

He didn't stand a chance. Every inch of him was covered in black, rotten slime until all that remained was his right hand grasping at the air above, and the very end of his left mustache. They squelched around him, giggling into his ears, hugs, hugs, hugs! Hugs... forever...

Everything went dark...

The nightmare faded, leaving Nevren unconscious on the ground. A portal appeared beneath him, returning him to his home world. All that remained was the dare he had given at the start...

"Nevren's scared of hugs?" Owen said from the stands, frowning. "Weird..."

Truth: Have you ever been bullied, and how?
Dare: Think about two people that you despise, and then say one thing you like about them each.
 

NebulaDreams

Ace Trainer
Partners
  1. luxray
  2. hypno
Warning: Contains mild spoilers for The Curious and the Shiny, but nothing major that would ruin a reader's enjoyment. This is just for character development.

---


In the coliseum again. Great. Curio wound up in that temporal space once more, a space which occupied a realm beyond the rules of her world. This was another Truth or Dare scenario. She didn't know if there was a god, but whoever stuck her there, she knew, for certain, was a huge dick. Thankfully, the Lucario spotted a familiar face from one of her other inter-dimensional travels: Owen, the Charmander with the peculiar aura. It was only nice to pay him a little visit.

"Yo!" Curio said, waving her paw up to him as she approached the front row of the bleachers. She looked to the rest of the audience as well. "Who watches this crap?"

"Oh, um, I do, I guess," Owen said, twiddling his claws. "I guess it's nice to be outside of my world for once. There's too much going on at Kilo at the moment."

One look at his aura told her all she needed to know. "Alright, I get it." She brushed a bit of dust off of her metal arm. "No point in dwellin' here, I guess. Might as well tear off the band-aid."

So, Curio did, and the pillar said thus:

'Truth: Have you ever been bullied, and how?
Dare: Think about two people that you despise, and then say one thing you like about them each. '

Huh. Well, she was bullied, but she mostly took it in her stride and it was only a mild annoyance at best. So it would've been too easy just to tell the truth. The dare, however, well... she had some scores to settle and she needed some sort of closure for what happened. She hadn't seen those two people for half of her life, including one she hadn't seen since her early childhood. So... would they just appear out of nowhere, or did she just have to say it to herself?

The first person she thought of was her father, Liam. The bond they shared was small, but it didn't last long. He was the reason she escaped. As much as saying that name to herself made her sick to her stomach, she still hadn't solved the puzzle of his past, the pieces long since scattered in the various boxes of his mind. And yet, for everything he had done, he had fed her curiosity as well, that manifold curiosity of the world she longed to explore as a Riolu.

Liam materialised out of thin air, appearing before the ring. While Curio hadn't seen him in over 10 years, she couldn't mistake that aura or that permanently scowling face of his, except with more lines across it. He had aged somewhat.

Her metal arm twitched. She resisted the urge to clock him across the jaw with her iron fist, just for this moment. Once he noticed Curio, he whispered her name and fell to his knees. "I-is that you? W-what is that-- that thing?"

"Never mind, Li--, I mean, Dad." She sighed, pulling her metal arm behind her back. "I wanna make something clear to you: I hate your guts. You spent all that time sulking while you could've been with me and my bros. You did all of that, only to leave them behind in the end." She stepped forward, clenching her paw. "Do you know how much you screwed up their lives by running away?"

"Y-yes." He clutched himself for comfort. "I couldn't bear it; the pain I caused them. The guilt was killing me."

"You could've made it up to them. But oh well, that's in the past." Another sigh. She released her grip on her paw. "I do wanna say something, though. Without you, I wouldn't have gotten where I am now. I wouldn't have gone to see the world for myself. And even if you didn't mean it, with everything you brought back to the island from your trainer, I did have a good childhood. I would've just been a feral if I had lived with different parents to you and Mom. So, you were smart." Were, but she didn't repeat that last part.

Liam sniffled, but before he could've basked in that moment, poof! He vanished, leaving Curio alone once more. She didn't know how she felt about that one, but the next one was a bit more fresh in her mind: her former trainer.

She appeared, revealing a younger figure with long, brown hair and protective trainer gear. So she had grown somewhat, though whether or not she had changed, she didn't know. The trainer stepped forward, putting her hands on her hips as she gazed at Curio.

"Uh, hey," she said. Her aura didn't seem malicious, though it still reflected some sort of anger for what happened. "I take it I'm here for some reason, though I swore we'd never see each other again."

"Well hello to you too." Curio snorted. "Yeah, I know. I wouldn't pee on you if a Charmander lit you on fire." She looked to Owen for that one.

"You're still hung up on that, aren't you?" The trainer sighed, rubbing one of her Pokeballs at her belt. "Look, I've moved past that now. I was young and stupid. I didn't know what I was getting into when I took you in, and I made a lot of mistakes. You had different needs than what I thought about most Pokemon."

"I had the same needs as you, dipshit." Curio scowled. "How hard was that to understand, even as a teen?"

"I dunno!" She held her gloved palms out. "I dunno what I was expecting, but certainly not that! If I had any idea my Pokemon wanted to do something other than train, then I would've refused you when you came up to me! I felt sorry for you, but you really took the piss back there!"

"Oh, really? By finding the whole training thing pointless?"

"No, with everything else you did! I took you up and I didn't hear one word of thanks for feeding you or anything! You didn't even need a trainer to show you the ropes; you wanted a safety net, someone to mooch off of. Like a basement dwelling--"

"Shut up. I'm not having this." Curio resisted the urge to turn away, no matter how much she wanted to avoid her past. She forced a smile. "But I do wanna thank you, though."

The trainer tilted her head. "You do?"

"Yeah. You did what you could in taking me on, and you did care. I do remember the times we had fun together, since, you know, you weren't a boring person to be with. Even the training sessions were fun when we worked in a team with all of your other Pokemon there. How are they doing, anyway?"

"Fine," she shrugged. "Well, for what it's worth, I did take into stock what you said about them. They did grow and evolve with your help, just, a bit too late for you to see."

"Yeah, yeah. So, there, that was all I wanted to say. You did give a shit and weren't just leaving me on my own." Curio rubbed her metal arm again. "Still doesn't change the effect you had on me. I haven't been with another trainer since."

"Well, maybe that's for the best. You honestly don't belong with one." She stepped back, clicking her tongue. "Well, I don't mean that as an insult or anything. Don't let any trainer own you, if that's the way you want to live. I just ask that you be yourself."

And poof! She vanished too. Great, Curio had more than she could bear for one day. So she wrote something quickly on the pillar and left through the portal.

Truth: Have you ever been bullied, and how?
Dare: Kiss a stranger in the coliseum and tell them why you love them.
 

Persephone

Infinite Screms
Pronouns
her/hers
Partners
  1. mawile
  2. vulpix-alola
Contains minor spoilers for Broken Things.

The air is different. Too cool, too dry, a slight taste of dust. When you take a step forward you find that the floor is hard and the space you’re in is empty. No wind. Stadium? Courtyard? Crater?

Your bracelet sears your skin and memories surface. Resurface. An inter-dimensional (or maybe just inter-regional) kidnapping that had been more annoying than anything. You had forgotten. You know why.

“Ah fuck didn’t think I’d see you again.”

The voice is off in a memorably wrong way. Sometimes polished. Overly polished, perhaps. But the sounds are all slightly warped and there are slight metallic clicks whenever the jaws close. Formal education and a non-human mouth. You immediately ratchet up your mental defenses, whether or not they’d even work against an aura user.

“Hello to you, too.”

“...Curio, right?”

Tiny little shards of feeling slip right through your walls. “So you do remember.”

Damn her. She doesn’t get to look through you. No one does. No one else has. Not since...

“Right. You have issues. Welcome to the fucking club.” Your face twists into a snarl and she keeps barreling on. “Anyway, welcome to the Truth or Dare Coliseum. Answer a question or do some shit then sit and wait for the next person. Probably just be a few hours. Maybe two months. Then you’ll be off on your way.”

Two mon—


Truth: Have you ever been bullied, and how?
Dare: Kiss a stranger in the coliseum and tell them why you love them.

You blink. What were you thinking. Where’s

Truth or Dare

You hold your breath and listen. It doesn’t sound like there are listeners here. Or strangers. Of course, this place is almost certainly laced with magic.

Truth sounds like a nightmare. Disclosing things to the full universe with your own voice. But dare... You’d rather your first kiss be something more meaningful.

“Truth.” The word echoes. There’s no answer. Right. Keep going. “I think there was some when I was very little? I forget most of it. Then Alice came along. No one bullies a dragon’s sister.” Not for long, anyway.

The Coliseum doesn’t feel satisfied.

“Didn’t mean I had friends,” you mutter. “I had my interests and everyone else has theirs. Especially after I got held back the second time.”

Silence. If anyone physical was watching you would have heard them by now. Makes it easier. And harder.

“Still have... Had family. Human and Pokémon.”

Oh. Right.

“I guess Kekoa bullied me? He wasn’t that effective but I think he was trying.”

You don’t feel the eyes of the Coliseum on you anymore. It takes a little effort but you eventually find your way to the bleachers and slouch down.


Truth: When and how will the world end? How do you feel about it? Will you try and stop it?
Dare: Kiss a stranger in the coliseum and tell them why you love them.
 

The Walrein

Vicinal Dragging for the Truth
Partners
  1. gulpin
  2. kricketot
  3. bulbasaur
“-know exactly what to...” Spinda trailed off and looked around in confusion. The place he was in now was not the place he had begun that sentence in! Granted, Spinda was used to finding himself in places with no memory how he’d got there, but it had never happened quite so suddenly before.

Gone was the daycare with its old brick buildings, scraggly grass and rusting chain link fence, replaced by a field of endless tall grass. Gone was the orange glow of the rising sun and the layer of graying clouds overhead, replaced by a clear blue sky with sunlight shining down from directly overhead. Not gone, however, was Spinda’s conversational partner, Braixen, who was now tightly clutching his stick and whimpering softly.

“I knew it! I knew that vortex was going to do something like this! ...but we didn’t even touch it! We just looked at it! How could it have done something like this?” he moaned.

“Huh, I think we teleported,” Spinda said. “Not sure if that portal-whatsit had anything to do with it, though. It was probably… hmm… Grumpig doesn’t know teleport… Espeon doesn’t know teleport… ah, I’ve got it! It must have been Clefairy, using metronome while standing right behind us! Maybe she was trying to call up a move to deal with that portal, and she hit us with some sort of teleport beam!”

“Um, I’m pretty sure Clefairy wasn’t anywhere near us, and er, even if she was, can’t you only teleport about a hundred yards at most, normally? We must be miles away from the daycare!”

Spinda pondered this as he clutched his chin. “Well, this isn’t a normal teleport move we’re talking about. This is a special metronome-only teleporting beam, which can be used on Pokemon not standing anywhere near you and can transport Pokemon far greather distances than a normal teleport!”

Braixen sighed. “Well, regardless of how we got here, what are we going to do?” he asked.

“Hmm, that’s a tricky one!” Spinda replied, and sat down to think for a moment. “Let’s see… given where the sun is now, we must have teleported east from the daycare. Which means… we simply have to walk west to get back there!”

“Wait, the sun is- AHHHHH! I didn’t notice that!” Braixen yelped. “Spinda! If the sun’s moved that much, we must be thousands of miles away! We’ll never get back by walking!”

“Or, maybe Clefairy’s teleport beam just moved us forward in time a few hours, and we’re still really close to the daycare!” Spinda said, unfazed. “Although, if that’s the case, I suppose that we could’ve also teleported west and gone forward in time a lot longer! Oh well, I’m sure that if we just start walking in some direction, we’ll be sure to come across something soon enough!” And with that, he got to his feet again and began to implement said plan, albeit the ‘walking’ part of it more so than the ‘in a certain consistent direction’ part.

“Um, are you sure, Spinda? The time travel bit seems even less likely than-” Braixen started, than trailed off as he watched Spinda wobble away, oblivious. “Ohhh, I knew I shouldn’t have gone anywhere near that vortex...” he mumbled, and began to follow the teetering panda.

***​

Time passed. The duo walked on and on, lost in an endless field of grass without any landmarks in sight. Curiously, neither of the two ever grew even the slightest bit tired, and even stranger, the sun never seemed to shift from its central position in the sky, a fact that had Braixen growing more and more alarmed the longer the phenomenon persisted. Finally, he came to a halt. “Um, Spinda, is it just me, or has the sun not changed position at all in the last several hours?”

Spinda also stopped, and looked upwards. “Huh, I guess we must be on the north pole, then!” he proclaimed.

“Wha- what?!” Braixen spluttered, nearly dropping his stick in surprise.

“See, in summer, the sun is always directly over head at the North Pole!” Spinda explained. “Therefore, since it’s currently summer, and the sun isn’t moving, it follows that-”

“But- but there’s no snow, or ice, or walreins, or, or anything you’d expect to see at the North Pole!”

Spinda rubbed his chin, considering this fact. “Must be because it’s an El Niño year!” he declared, to Braixen’s further astonishment. Seeing that the fox had no coherent reply to this, only more spluttering, he continued: “Hmm, this is quite the spot of good luck! Now that we know where we are, we know exactly which direction we need to go to get back to the daycare! Namely, south! And, since we’re at the North Pole, any direction we go has to be south! Why, my plan to start walking at a random bearing seems even more brilliant now!”

“We’re doomed, we’re doomed, we’re doomed...” Braixen muttered, sinking to the ground.

“Seems you two are a bit lost,” a voice said from behind him. Surprised, he whirled around to see a grinning purple gengar looking back at him.

“Aaahhhh!” Braixen scrambled backwards, and stood cowering behind Spinda, who simply blinked in confusion.

“We’re not lost! See, I was just explaining that-”

“Yeah, you’re lost,” the ghost cut in. “This isn’t the North Pole. The whole concept of ‘north’ is kinda fuzzy around here, to be honest.”

“Then, where are we?” Spinda asked.

“Veritas City outskirts. Come on, I’ll explain on the way to the colosseum. Just over this way,” he said, and motioned for the two to follow him.

“Oh, okay!” Spinda said, and began to follow.

“W-wait! Aren’t – uh, aren’t you a ghost!?” Braixen cried. Garro the gengar turned back towards him.

“Yeah, so?” he asked, raising a ghostly eyebrow to the point where it floated off his forehead.

“Oh, um, sorry if that was rude...” Braixen squeaked. “But, um, is it really safe, for, you know, you to be out in the open like this?” he asked.

“Why wouldn’t it be?”

“Because, uh, you-know-who hunts down and k-, kills every ghost they can find?” Braixen said.

“That’s just a myth!” Spinda interjected with a dismissive paw wave. “No, what actually happens to ghosts who stay in the public eye too long is sudden discorporation syndrome! Trust me, I’m a doctor!”

“I dunno what either of you’re talking about, but it sounds like you must come from a real messed-up world,” Garro said. “Ghost-type Pokemon are perfectly safe around here.”

“Wait, is this a whole different world?” Braixen asked, aghast.

“Pretty much! But don’t worry, it’s really not hard to get back where you came from. Look, there’s the tip of the Veritas Obelisk over there...”

***​

After Braixen got over his reluctance, the two followed the gengar over to the tower that was now just barely visible over the edge of the horizon, and learned how the truth or dare system worked. Seeing no reason to dally, Spinda walked right up to the obelisk and withdrew the card from it. He stared down at the unfamiliar writing on it, and watched in astonishment as the letters shifted and morphed into characters he understood.

“Hmm… it looks like our choices are to either explain how the world ends, or to kiss a stranger here and tell them why I love them. Seems like another tricky one...” the panda mused.

“Um, I’m not sure how we’re expected to know how the world ends, or to be in love with some random human or Pokemon here...” Braixen muttered.

“Oh, well, come to think of it, I do know how the world will end!” Spinda declared, drawing himself up to his full height and beaming at the scattered crowd around them.

“You- you do?” Braixen asked, bewildered.

“Sure! See, here’s the thing: The Pokemon hatching rate just keeps getting lower and lower every year, so if that trend keeps up, eventually, Pokemon will go extinct! That’ll be a problem for the humans, because, you see, Pokemon are the only creatures who can cause P2 phenomena – that is, the ability to create energy from nothing! In P1, energy can’t be created – it just sort of gets moved around and spread out,” Spinda said, making vague paw gestures. “So, eventually, after the sun runs out of gas and stops burning, in about, hmmm, ten million years I think, the humans won’t have any source of energy left and they’ll all freeze to death! In fact, the whole universe will freeze to death, because all the other stars out there will probably run out of gas at around the same time! So, that’s the when and the how covered! As for how I feel about it, well, not a lot to be honest, because it’s so far away! But I am trying to stop it!” he declared, and began to strut about the edge of the arena.

“You see, I’m going to medical school! Or, I mean, I went to medical school, and-” Spinda stopped, confused. He certainly remembered having been at medical school, but all of his most recent memories were of being at the Pokemon daycare. ...actually what was he doing at the daycare? Had he graduated? No, that didn’t seem right...

Spinda cleared his throat and continued. “I mean, I’m currently on vacation from medical school, but when I get back I’m going to become the world’s best doctor, and I’m going to figure out what’s wrong with the Pokemon eggs that’s making them not hatch! Then, I’ll cure whatever’s wrong with them, the hatching rate will go back up and Pokemon won’t go extinct, and we’ll never run out of energy! So there!”

“Um… I’m not sure you can really do that...” Braixen mumbled.

For just a moment, Braixen thought he could see a flicker of genuine hurt cross Spinda’s face, but then the panda was back to his unflappable self. “Really? Why not?” Spinda asked.

“Because it isn’t, um, some kind of medical problem with the eggs that’s preventing them from hatching. It’s that there’s not enough souls left for all of them anymore.”

“Not enough souls? What do you mean?”

Braixen sighed. “This is kind of awkward to ask, but… do you know what happens to Pokemon after they die?” It was a topic he thought about frequently, but other Pokemon never seemed to be interested in the question for some reason.

“Of course! We bury them!” Spinda replied.

“No, I mean, what happens to their souls?” Braixen asked.

Spinda thought a bit longer. “Huh, I guess they just reincarnate! That’s what everyone says, right?”

“Well, um, the problem is that they don’t always just reincarnate… See, when you die, Mew judges your soul. If she thinks you were good in life, she gives your soul to Ho-Oh, who takes it back down to the world to get reincarnated. But, er, if she doesn’t think you were good… that is, if she thinks you were evil… she gives it to, uh, you-know-who instead, and he destroys it. The problem is, no one can be good forever… so eventually, after every Pokemon reincarnates enough times, one life they’ll end up doing something bad enough that Mew will judge them evil, and they’ll be destroyed. Evidently, Xerneas isn’t making souls fast enough to replace the ones getting lost, I guess because she’s tired of watching them get destroyed, and of course eggs can’t hatch without a soul, so that’s why fewer and fewer hatch each year. And um, I guess eventually there just won’t be any Pokemon anymore, and the gods will probably just destroy the world then instead of waiting for the sun to stop burning.”

Spinda frowned. “No, no, no, I’m getting it backwards! I mean, you’re getting it backwards! Eggs don’t hatch because they get ensouled, eggs draw in souls because they’re ready to hatch! But because of whatever problem is going on with eggs, most of them just never get ready to hatch, which means there’s an increasing number of unbodied souls piling up! That’s why ghosts started to appear two thousand years ago!”

“Um, but haven’t humans looked at eggs and they can’t figure out any difference between ones that go on to hatch and ones that don’t? That seems more consistent with my model,” Braixen pointed out.

“Well, obviously they just haven’t been looking hard enough, and besides, I haven’t had a chance to look at the eggs yet!” Spinda huffed. “Also, humans are typically a lot more evil than Pokemon, but there’s obviously not a shortage of their souls – their birth rate keeps going up and up! Because there’s a specific medical condition that affects eggs but not live births!”

“Um, that’s just because there’s a different god who judges the souls of humans, and he’s more forgiving than Mew-” Braixen started, before remembering all the Great Dyings throughout history and quickly amending to “-or, er, not really, but his style is more to judge humans while they’re still alive, I think, and, um, he hasn’t been doing much of it recently...”

“You can explain anything if you keep coming up with new gods!” Spinda scoffed. “So in your theory, where do ghosts come from?”

“Ghosts are, um, just souls who managed to escape from you-know-who when they were given to him to be destroyed, but since they weren’t really reincarnated by Ho-Oh properly, they became ghosts instead of normal Pokemon. Not sure why it only started happening two-thousand years ago… my best theory is that maybe you-know-who, um, got into a fight with Mew, and started disagreeing with her that certain souls should be destroyed, and started letting them escape on purpose, sometimes… and he only reluctantly goes down to find them and destroy them later, when Mew orders him to…”

“Well, I think we can test this!” Spinda declared, and located Garro again, who was chatting with another inter-dimensional drifter in the stands, having long since gotten bored of the panda’s droning speech. He tried to tap him on the shoulder, but his paw simply phased through his body. The gengar chuckled and flipped upside down, facing Spinda as he hovered in midair.

“What’s up?”

“Ahem. When you died and became a ghost, were you judged by Mew and given to some god or other to be destroyed?”

The ghost rolled his eyes. “Is this about that argument you’re having with that Braixen? I’m sure the rules for your world are different than the ones for mine, so I can’t really help you there.”

“Well, just answer this: Have you ever seen any Pokemon eggs before?” Spinda asked.

“Yeah, of course.”

“And,” Spinda continued, a tone of smug certainty in his voice, “did you ever feel like you were about to get sucked into one before?”

“What? No!”

“There, you see?” Spinda said, turning back to Braixen, who’d climbed into the stands after him. “Obviously if your theory was correct and there wasn’t anything wrong with the eggs, and a spirit being nearby was the trigger for them to hatch, ghosts would be getting pulled into eggs and hatched all the time!”

“Spinda, he just said that the rules were different where he came from!” Braixen protested. “And that’s not what my theory predicts would happen at all!”

“Look, there’s the exit portal over there, so obviously something one of you two said must have been good enough to answer the question!” Garra pointed out.

“Oh, huh, you’re right! I guess we can go home now!” Spinda said, and made his way to the portal.

“Just remember to write a new truth to answer down on that card!” Garra yelled down after him.

“Um, I guess you should write something really easy to be nice to anyone who comes after us?” Braixen said.

“Hmm…. No, I think whoever comes next should get to have as good an intellectual work-out as we did! So I’ll write this...” Spinda said, and scribbled something down on the (now blank) side of the notecard using a pencil that had conveniently materialized nearby.

“Alright, fine. Let’s just get out of here…” Braixen said, and with that, the two departed Veritas City.

Truth: What’s the most important problem in your world, and if you aren’t working on it, why not?
Dare: Kiss a stranger in the coliseum and tell them why you love them.
 
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Namohysip

Dragon Enthusiast
Staff
Partners
  1. flygon
  2. charizard
  3. milotic
  4. zoroark-soda
  5. sceptile
  6. marowak
  7. jirachi
  8. meganium
A wet plap occasionally punctuated the murmuring buzz of the coliseum. Eventually, he came into view: a Goodra, green eyes beaming with curiosity. "Wow!" he said. "This place is beautiful! And there are so many Pokemon, too!"

"H-Heart of Hearts Anam?" Owen called, leaning forward from the stands. The Charmander squinted to get a better look. Yes, it was indeed his leader... "Hey, um, Charizard--that's the leader I was telling you about!"

Sitting next to Owen was an expressionless Charizard. Owen didn't know who he was, but he was a Charizard, and that's what mattered. It was odd that he had a black flame, though. Wasn't really sure why that was going on. Still, he was friendly! In that he didn't actively tell Owen to go away. He also didn't acknowledge him very much...

"Oh, hi, Owen!" Anam waved, sending purple slime in all directions. Various Pokemon in the crowd winced and put down their snacks. "Um, Mister Garro, what was this place supposed to be, again?"

"Eh? Just go to that obelisk and do one of the dares or truths and you can get going," the Gengar said, shrugging. "Don't sweat it."

"It's okay, I'll slime it!"

Garro shuddered when Anam wasn't looking.

"Hmmm..." He looked through the truth, then the dare. And as much as he wanted to talk about the biggest problems in the world and how he was doing his best to solve them, that dare was simply something he couldn't give up! "Kiss a stranger in the coliseum and tell them why you love them..."

The audience gasped. Garro conveniently disappeared. Owen was too late on the uptake, and Anam locked eyes with him. "W-wait! Wait! It said stranger, and I know you!"

"Aw, I know that!" the Goodra said, grinning. "But what about him?" He pointed at Charizard.

"...Excuse me?" Charizard said, though his face still did not emote very much.

"I wanna kiss you for the dare!"

"No."

"Aw, c'mon, I gotta complete it, don't I?" Anam giggled, purple slime falling off of him with each ripple of his lavender body.

"It is part of the dare," Owen said, looking up at Charizard. "You should do it! I promise, Anam is very friendly!"

"I know." Charizard's muzzle creased into a small snarl. But by now, the audience was staring at him, and a flash of betrayal crossed Charizard's eyes. "Fine."

Owen grinned, but said nothing. It was mostly out of relief that he didn't have to learn what Anam was like when kissing someone; he was all slime, wasn't he? How did that even work? Did he just... solidify his mouth to form a tongue?

The imagery was too great; Owen set down his berry pie, staring into a far-off point of nothing.

With a few powerful wing beats, Charizard landed in the arena and stared at Anam. "Go on."

"Yay! A kiss, a kiss!" Anam closed his eyes and puckered his lips, which stuck outward cartoonishly.

Nothing happened; Charizard wasn't going to humor something like that. The black flame on his tail crackled with dark mist. Anam opened one eye and puckered his face even more, to the point where his face threatened to collapse into itself.

"I hate you," Charizard said, his glare intensifying. "Why did you pick me, of everyone in the crowd?"

"You were next to Owen!"

"Is that all?"

"Well, no. You also seemed to be in a bad mood. Maybe I can help!"

"This will only make it worse."

Charizard's voice had an ethereal echo to it--one that startled Owen enough to look left and right. "Uhh--wh-what was that?" he asked.

"Aww, just one kiss! For the crowd, for the dare?" Anam, unfazed, fluttered his eyelids rapidly, each one making a wet squishing noise.

The ground trembled; small rocks rose in the air. And then, finally, Charizard stepped forward, screwed his eyes shut, and leaned forward.

Muah~

A string of slime connected Anam's lips to Charizard's snout, even after he pulled away.

"There!" Anam said, grinning. "Feeling better?"

"I wish for nothing but suffering."

Charizard suddenly exploded in a flurry of black flames, leaving nothing but a shadowy scorch mark behind, By the time Anam was done covering his eyes, he looked around to see that the entire crowd--well, most of them--had gone. Owen was still there, as well as a few other multi-dimensional visitors who had decided to stay behind, but the rest of the crowd... vanished.

"...Huh. We must've been kissing for a while!" Anam laughed nervously, wobbling to the obelisk to hastily scribble down a dare. The portal opened, and Anam stepped through.

Owen, nearly alone on his side of the arena, gulped and looked around. "Hello?"

Truth: What’s the most important problem in your world, and if you aren’t working on it, why not?
Dare: Hug a friend for 50 seconds without any explanation!

The dimension is mysteriously lonely... Only a few others from different worlds remain in the audience.
 
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Tanuki

Friend of All Chu
Location
Rhyme City
Pronouns
He/him/his
"We're lost," Zane said. A bold claim, to be sure, but the three consecutive trees with claw marks at approximately the height of his head and size of his own helped bolster his claim.

Jolt, the pikachu perched on the zangoose's shoulder, remained unconvinced. "No, see," he pointed to the map, "if we take a right here, there should be a big B."

This was the last straw. No, the first three times they'd passed this same place were the last straws. He was on his fourth last straw at this point, so he grabbed the map with one hand and held Jolt's mouth shut with the other. He couldn't even muster anger. This was his fault. Trusting Jolt with directions was like trusting a fire with dynamite except significantly more dangerous. "This. Is a wrapper. From the food. We bought at Kecleon's."

Jolt had no defense. Even if he had one, the two seconds his mouth was free from Zane's claws before being implanted into the ground were not enough time for a convincing argument. Luckily, one seemed to materialize for him while he hacked the dirt out of his lungs. "Look! Where here!"

Zane barely knew where here was at this point, and the sudden manifestation of a coliseum shattered any preconceptions he'd had up to that point. He didn't have time to question it before Jolt headed in. "Wait, you idiot!" He ran behind, struggling to keep up. He couldn't see through the entrance until he'd entered. Conveniently, Jolt had stopped right exactly there, sending Zane tumbling over.

Zane pushed himself back up, not even flinching when Jolt reclaimed his place on his shoulder. Their entrance was met with applause of the sparse audience. An empty coliseum in the middle of nowhere was creepy. Inhabited? Unnerving. Sparse? The stuff of nightmares. The smart move would be leaving, but this place was no doubt cursed, so that wasn't an option. "Isn't this place cool?" Jolt cheered.

Zane didn't dignify that with an answer. Pedestal in the middle. This place was pretty self-explanatory. He went over and picked up both strips of paper. Reading them made him want to punch a wall. “Truth or—“ Deep breaths. At least they were both pretty simple.

Jolt had hopped off Zane’s shoulder to stand on the pedestal, lips puckered as if to whistle innocently while he played with the fabric in back of his hoodie. In fact, he thought he was whistling, as he’d only seen drawings of the technique.

Zane glared at him. He’d read the dare. Jolt met his gaze with poorly faked surprise. “Yes?” he asked, putting his arms out in a position conspicuously ready for a hug.

In. Out. Jolt had mistaken a crumpled up fast food wrapper for a map to get them here; he didn’t deserve the satisfaction. “My biggest problem,” Zane began, “is the world is falling apart at the seams, every legendary is too busy rampaging to do anything but make things worse, and nobody knows why.”

Zane let out a deep breath. The crowd didn’t seem particularly entranced, as if this was a fairly common story. “And I’m not doing anything to save it because I don’t know how. Even if I did, that stupid voice decided to give me the most useless body possible. In a world where rats can call lightning and birds can breath fire, I have these.”

He swiped his claws uselessly through the air as a demonstration. He could’ve gone on about having a child as his partner, but Jolt already looked down. Hopefully he was just disappointed he didn’t get a hug. Zane rolled his eyes and pulled him into half of one with his right before nudging him up onto his shoulder.

The paper was blank now, so he scratched in a replacement truth that was technically legible. “What’d you write?” Jolt asked, trying to sneak a peek. Zane scratched behind Jolt’s ears and headed out instead of answering. “I’ll lead the way home!”

“No you won’t,” Zane said, pulling out an actual map this time.

Truth: What is wrong with your friends, and why do you deal with that?
Dare: Hug a friend for 50 seconds without any explanation!
 

SparklingEspeon

Back on Her Bullshit
Staff
Location
a Terrace of Indeterminate Location in Snowbelle
Pronouns
She/Her
Partners
  1. espurr
  2. fennekin
  3. zoroark
Slowly coming to. Espurr awoke wearily, glancing around in confusion. She was dizzy and addled, but even in that state she could tell that this was not the second floor of Lush Forest. Which she knew for a fact she and Tricky had just been trekking through in search of something.

What that thing was, now... And then Espurr realized her mistake. Had it ever been specified past 'you'll know when you find it'? Now she was beginning to piece things back together. That crazy whimsicott lady had offered them 'a reward beyond their dreams' inside the dungeon, and had been extremely vague in just about every other department as well. Tricky had been satisfied with that. Espurr was not. She remembered questioning the whimsicott, but Tricky had pulled her away towards the dungeon, and then...

...Tricky. Where was Tricky? Espurr quickly sat up, looking around. Right next to her - just behind her, in fact - Tricky slowly picked herself up fromm the ground, looking just as thrown as Espurr.

"...Huh?" she asked disorientedly. "What... happened?"

"We aren't in the dungeon anymore." Espurr quickly got to her feet. "Just.... be on guard. What do you see?"

Espurr saw a large coliseum that stood all around them. They were currently the only ones inside of it, which she found rather creepy. But they weren't alone; she felt it in the air. Espurr looked around, bracing herself for battle.

"What's that?" Tricky asked, not sounding disoriented or frightened in the least. Espurr spun around, looking at exactly the same spot of air that Tricky was, but she saw nothing.

"I don't see anything," she said.

"But don't you see it?" Tricky asked, like it was a matter-of-fact thing and anyone in the whole wide world could see it: Emblazoned upon the sky was a singular sentence.

Truth: What is wrong with your friends, and why do you deal with that?

Tricky looked up at the words in confusion.

"I don't have a problem with my friends..." she murmured in hurt confusion to herself.

"What was that?" Espurr asked, looking back towards Tricky once again.

"O-oh. Nothing," Tricky said. Espurr quickly returned her eyes towards looking around.

"Don't forget to tell me if you see anything," she said. Tricky nodded, but then she looked up at the sky again. She didn't think Espurr would believe her...

She looked back up at the emblazoned words upon the sky again, only to notice that they had once again changed:

Dare: Hug a friend for 50 seconds without any explanation!

Tricky's tail wagged in delight. She could do that.

Espurr had been so busy looking for threats in front of her that she hadn't even considered the notion that the biggest threat would come from behind. She was suddenly caught off guard as, without warning, Tricky suddenly hugged her.

"Tricky- what are you doing?" Espurr asked, shocked.

"Can't I just hug a friend?" Tricky asked cheerfully.

And that was the point when Espurr finally gave up trying to understand Tricky and just went with the flow.

Truth: What is wrong with your friends, and why do you deal with that?
Dare: Stuff fifteen oran berries in your mouth and don't swallow.
 
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windskull

Bidoof Fan
Staff
Partners
  1. sneasel-nip
  2. bidoof
  3. absol
  4. kirlia
  5. windskull-bidoof
  6. little-guy-windskull
  7. purugly
  8. mawile
  9. manectric
Toshi was lost. Hopelessly, hopelessly lost. This was supposed to be a short trip up to the springs north of the village. Just a chance to relax and get away from everything! But somehow, he lost sight of the river. Now day had turned to night, and he found himself lost in the dusky woods. Common sense told him he needed to find someplace to shelter for the night, or else risk being attacked by a nocturnal predator. But the land was flat, the undergrowth was sparse, and part of him feared he had somehow stumbled into an undiscovered mystery dungeon.

But just as he began to give in to despair, he noticed a spot of light in the distance. That... that didn't seem normal. Did someone set off a luminous orb? Adjusting his path slightly, he began to make his way towards the light, caution in his every pawstep. Soon the trees began to thin out, and the light began to grow more distinct. It wasn't a single light, but dozens - maybe even hundreds! Lights shone in the window of huge structures, far bigger than any he had seen back home. Was this a town? And if so, how did he reach it? The nearest town was several days' journey south, and he was certain he had gone west.

Between him and the town was another huge structure, which he did not know the purpose of. But at this time of night, shelter was shelter, and he elected to stop there.

Despite his concerns on how he'd ended up here, Toshi couldn't help but relax slightly as he reached civilization. Not many pokemon were out at this time of night; as he went through the entryway, he passed by a couple of murkrow chatting to each other - something about a goodra and a zangoose, or something - and not much else. There was one interesting sight: a tall, lanky pokemon with spindly arms and legs that he couldn't put a name to. They reminded him a bit of an infernape, but without the fire. No tail, either.

The inner part of the structure was like nothing he'd ever seen. A few pokemon were hanging out in seats around the central clearing, which he found himself walking into. And at the center was a huge, carved stone that stretched high into the sky. Hesitantly, he made his way towards it, pausing when he spotted a fennekin and espurr nearby.

"Ah, hey, hello?" he called out, but they either didn't hear him or were too distracted to respond, leaving him to walk up to the stone on his own.

Various runes were etched on the surface. At first, they seemed unfamiliar. But mysteriously, as he looked them over, their meaning seemed to appear in his mind.

"...You stink... Owen?" He muttered in confusion. He didn't know who or what an Owen was, but he assumed it was just graffiti. As he continued to look over the structure, he managed to work out the rules. To go home, he had to perform a truth or dare. He pressed his nose up to the stone revealing the two pieces of paper and their options.

Truth: What is wrong with your friends, and why do you deal with that?
Dare: Stuff fifteen oran berries in your mouth and don't swallow.

"I'm not sure I could fit fifteen oran berries in my mouth," he mumbled as he looked over the paper. "So... I guess it's truth, then."

He looked up to the handful of spectators that were around at this time of night and cleared his throat. "Ah, hello everyone. My name is Toshi, and I'm here to... I guess tell you what's with my friends, and why I just deal with that?" Geeze, when he put it that way, it sounded a bit mean. Maybe he should have taken the dare after all. Too late now.

"Well... First I guess there's Shimmer, this kirlia that's crushing on me. That's fine and all but... it's almost an obsession and it's kind of creepy! I wish I was brave enough to put my foot down instead of letting others do it for me but... I'm not. And besides... I guess it's kind of just... I can't tell if she's sincere or if she's just playing some sort of game. I guess that's another thing wrong with her. Heh... If she wasn't so obsessive, I guess I would like the attention. But I just don't care about her in that way. Besides. As much as it gets creepy at times, I know why she, um, imprinted so hard on me, I guess. I just wish I could find a way to help her understand that I'd be alright with being friends, if she'd just take things seriously, you know?"

That turned into a bit of a rant. Apparently none of the audience knew what to say to that mess.

"Oh, um, I guess while I'm at it, I could talk about her friend, Muse. She's nice, but she's a total pushover for Shimmer. I think that's why she hasn't put her foot down about Shimmer's... crush. Maybe I'll talk to her about it one day. If she would talk to her, maybe Shimmer would calm down a bit, at least. Shim can be a bit dismissive at times, but she really respects Muse."

A deep breath. "I guess the last one I should talk about is... my sister. She's stubborn, and can be a bit loud-mouthed and rude about her opinions. And I really wish she wouldn't be so mean about things sometimes! But... I think it has to do with what happened to our grandfather. See... oh, that's a story for another time I guess. The point is, I understand why she's that way, and I don't want to try and force her to change, but... I wish she would be a bit more considerate at times."

As he stopped to catch his breath, a small portal opened up at the edge of his vision. He squeaked in alarm before realizing what it was. "O-oh, I guess that means I fulfilled it. I guess before I go I should... is there some ink here?"

The obelisk then proceeded to provide him with ink, something that was rather surprising. He quickly scrawled out a note on the now-blank truth slip before leaving them behind, stepping towards the portal.

But as he got close...

I guess it wouldn't hurt to stick around and watch for a little bit. At least till morning, right?

--

Truth: If you had the chance to meet someone who has inspired you, would you? If so, what would you say to them? If not, why don't you want to meet them?
Dare: Stuff fifteen oran berries in your mouth and don't swallow.
 
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