Game Week of the Multiverse: Misdreavus' House (Lillie, Meggie, Odette)

[Fusion]

Lillie laughed. "I'd prefer anyone over him, really."

A bit of life returned to Kora again and he smiled. "Yeah, if I wasn't stuck with him, I'd have went for someone way more pleasant to around."

"I don't know if what happened to me was really unfair," she said, her tone rapidly sombering. "Up until yesterday, it was just the world operating like normal. Then, my being here was a disaster of my own making, so I can't call it unfair. Not unfair to me, at least. Perhaps to my mother."

Kora leaned down a bit, resting his elbows on the ground and his chin on his paws. "You're talking about you ending up here, right? Even if it was your fault or not, you can still call it unfair. It's not like you wanted any of this, right? That's, like, the definition of unfair."

 

[Shiny Phantump]

Lillie scoffed. "Just because I didn't want it doesn't mean it was unfair. It was a direct consequence of my own actions. I was warned it would happen, I ignored the warnings, it did happen. That's as far from unfair as you can get. It's natural consequences."

Is he about to give me the same speech Jesse did?

 

[Fusion]

Gods, if Kora had a coin every time he had to face the music of his actions after he was warned to not do that, he could buy several more dresses, and not any of that flimsy, cheap shit either. But, instead of dwelling on that and trying his paw at some long, boring speech that someone with smarts would give, Kora tried to help by, like, getting Lillie to talk. He was pretty sure Lee called then venting or something.

"Well... why did you do it, then?" Kora asked and blinked. "If I were to guess, you probably meant well. Nothin' but... good intentions..." his tone started to grew more somber as he spoke. "Didn't want to do anything wrong..." he shook his head, putting a stop to that tangent and trying to smile again. He's trying to help, not be sad. "Or... something like that."

 

[Shiny Phantump]

"I was angry with Mother. Thought I'd spite her. I did." She hates me now, that's for sure. Even though that orb might not have been her really talking, it doesn't take a magic orb to tell me it's what she thinks now.

Lillie sighed. "It's just that she turned out to be right. She was trying to protect me, and I didn't listen. Now I'm here, and the highly dangerous lifeform is gone. Could be anywhere. Worst case scenario, this happens to some innocent person, too. Except, in their case, it wouldn't be their fault."

 

[Fusion]

Wow, putting it like that, it sure sounds like Lillie fucked up for the sake of fucking up. Kora thought about mentioning how similar she sounded to him, but that would probably be an insult.

Scratch that, it just was and insult.

Shattered egos aside, Kora didn't fully believe this was entirely her fault, so he tried to push it. Gently. The thing he wasn't good at and probably shouldn't have tried but his mouth started speaking before he could not. "What did your mom do to, well, kinda start this whole mess?"

 

[Shiny Phantump]

"She was angry with me." Lillie puffed out her... cheeks? She kind of still had a face. "I was rude with her when she was trying to help me. She's trying... or was trying to raise me into someone capable, and I was fussy about it."

 

[Fusion]

She's trying... or was trying to raise me into someone capable, and I was fussy about it."

Kora winced again, and his expression fell. Another similar bit about them... His eyes lowered, and that near-lifeless look returned to him. “You mean, against your will... right? She was raising you to be someone you didn’t want to be, or something you didn't like? And she got upset with you when you didn’t like that?”

 

[Shiny Phantump]

"Well, she wanted me to be an adult. I can't just avoid that." Lillie sighed. "I know you want to me be in the right... and I appreciate it. But it's more complicated than that."

 

[Fusion]

"You and I can both preach about having complicated family problems, especially when it comes to what they want you to grow up into," Kora grumbled, then tittered a bit. "Parents are weird... and not all of them are really good at parenting. Either that or I've only ever met and heard of dumb parents."

"I might not know what's goin' on with you and your mom, but I've learned from Lee that you have the final say in what you become. Because apparently he used to be a normal wolf thingy and not an angry ghost wolf," Kora chuckled, then furrowed his brow. "...He's also fine with messing with people's heads to get whatever he needs, so like... only listen to half of what he has to say. Or don't. I'm not you," he snickered.

 

[Shiny Phantump]

Wow, that last bit was really... hard to parse. Aside from that Lee was indeed a jerk. "I don't think I'll take any advice from him on how to be a responsible person. Sounds like talking advice on being kind to Corsola from a Mareanie."

 

[Fusion]

"Or asking a Zangoose how to be all buddy buddy with a Seviper," Kora snickered. Thankfully, at the end of the day, you simply can't go wrong talking shit about Lee behind his back. Until he finds out, which he always does.

He flopped down onto his chest, now actually eye level with Lillie. It was hard not to stare, Mimikyu eyes were always so interesting with how simple they are. Like, it felt as if they were staring right back... Wild... Kora shook his head so he could try and focus again, saying, "Still... I don't think it's wrong for you to wanna be something your parents don't want you to be. I... still might not be alright to you, but I think you're pretty cool. For someone thrown into another world, and... dealing with me, you're a whole lot calmer than I thought."

 

[Shiny Phantump]

Lillie let out a humourless laugh. Good at keeping calm, am I? "Yes. Keeping an even keel something that I've been taught by Mother. Part of the reason I am as functional as I am. Would it be right of me to throw that away in favour of whatever kind of dysfunctional mess suits me?"

 

[Fusion]

"You don't have to throw everything your mom teaches you away. Some of the stuff my dad did are some of the things I use as a... hero..." he hissed that last word, then shrugged. He also decided not to mention that whatever his dad did was a literal part of him that he couldn't remove even if he wanted to. And he really did.

"Being calm is important for anyone, but one good thing, or several good things, doesn't mean you should live the way someone else says you should. That's like... forcing yourself to be a baker because a baker taught you to be patient," Kora snickered, proud that he managed to pull of a metaphor so flawlessly.

Surely, his point would have gotten across in a humorous and and clever way, with no room for misunderstandings! He'd probably even earn some brownie points with Lillie for being so dang smart!

 

[Shiny Phantump]

Lillie paused. "I guess."

She stopped to think for a moment. She felt like that didn't apply to her. "But my Mother wasn't raising me to be baker or a hero. It was the kind of thing you need to learn from a young age. And it was important. Someone had to do it, and my, uhh, brother... he left it to me. Now that he's not around, there's not much choice left as to who will do it."

 

[Fusion]

Kora silently choked, feeling some part of him crack. Did humans not have metaphors? He thought it was great! He even put, like, all his brainpower into making it...

"I-I'm not saying... I didn't mean you're literally being told to be a baker..." Kora tittered.

He took a short moment to collect the pieces of what was probably his shattered ego, then tried to keep this vent thing going. "I'm saying that you can learn what you want from your mom, and be whoever you want to be anyway. You're Lillie, aren't you? Not your mom."

 

[Shiny Phantump]

"We have a responsibility," Lillie recited. "She doesn't just put pressure on me for her own sadistic pleasure. It's just the world I was born into. I guess in worlds like this one or yours, anyone can run off and do whatever they please. In my world, I have a duty."

Maybe I'd just be better off staying here, even if-

Oh no. That was an uncomfortable thought...

 

[Fusion]

Kora hummed, taking that in for a moment. He shut his eyes and inhaled. "Responsibility... isn't something new to me or my world. I'm a hero because it's my responsibility to be one, my destiny. My mom is one, my dad was one... and because he wanted me to follow in the hero footsteps, my dad gave me things that... sealed the deal for me. Without giving me a choice..."

"But, I'm not the same hero they wanted me to be, if you can even call me one. My parents worked for Arceus, but I'm sure as hell not. I'm my kinda hero, not theirs," he said, opening his eyes slowly. " I know humans and Pokemon aren't the same, we have magic powers, humans have... not that, but I don't think they're all that different

Kora then shrugged. "But what do I know? I've only ever met humans that were turned into Pokemon. And I honestly don't blame any of them for wanting to stay Pokemon. Being human sounds kinda... I dunno... chokey? Chokenating... Suff-Suffer..." his face scrunched up as he tried to get the word right. It just wasn't coming to him for some reason. "S-Suf-oh-cate-ing? Suffocating, yeah."

Great, now his inspirational nonsense is just nonsense...

 

[Shiny Phantump]

I'm a hero because it's my responsibility to be one, my destiny. My mom is one, my dad was one... and because he wanted me to follow in the hero footsteps, my dad gave me things that... sealed the deal for me. Without giving me a choice...

"I see," Lillie murmured, trying not to think too hard about how familiar that felt to her. Her father hadn't been like that, at least.

Kora then shrugged. "But what do I know? I've only ever met humans that were turned into Pokemon. And I honestly don't blame any of them for wanting to stay Pokemon. Being human sounds kinda... I dunno... chokey? Chokenating... Suff-Suffer..." his face scrunched up as he tried to get the word right. It just wasn't coming to him for some reason. "S-Suf-oh-cate-ing? Suffocating, yeah."

"They... choose to stay? Have any of them... told you why?" No. Don't think like that. You'd be stuck as a Mimikyu. Imagine trying to live the rest of your life like that. Picture trying to settle down, have family or any other normal things. That's why I need to go back.

She cleared her throat, or at least made the noise that would be throat-clearing if she had one. "I'm surprised. Most humans are fine. Many of whom are born into worse positions than I am. It's just that I can't seem to accept my life like they can. It... might just be that my head is wired up incorrectly."

 

[Fusion]

"They... choose to stay? Have any of them... told you why?"

Kora tilted his head from side to side as he thought it over. "Hmm... A lotta 'em gained a some sorta status in my world and that went right to their heads, but most of the ones I know stayed because their human lives were... borderline awful. Some of them left lives they said were worthless, others were... not fine, as humans, others found the place the belonged, and a bunch were just sick of being human."

He chose not to mention the ones that had died in their previous lives, not wanting to risk souring the mood further.

She cleared her throat, or at least made the noise that would be throat-clearing if she had one. "I'm surprised. Most humans are fine. Many of whom are born into worse positions than I am. It's just that I can't seem to accept my life like they can. It... might just be that my head is wired up incorrectly."

"Since when did being different mean you were incorrect?" Kora raised a brow. He would have given himself as an example but, well... that might only prove her point. "Maybe you just haven't found what you're supposed to be yet, mother be damned. You say it's your life but it sounds like your mother's instead."

 

[Shiny Phantump]

"I struggle to be a functional member of society. Yes, my mother wants me to be functional." Lillie grumbled, not sure if she was irritated with Kora or herself. "But that's because she cares about me, not because she's taken over my life."