Game Week of the Multiverse: Overlook Hill & Top Plaza

[IFBench]

Rustle, rustle.

Crackle, crackle.

Crinkle, crinkle.

Wind swept across the area, taking fallen autumn leaves with it. Reds, yellows, oranges and browns were scattered around, an arrangement of fall surrounding the group that had suddenly appeared atop the hill.

Partially obscured by the leaves was a dirt path, leading down the hill on two sides. On one side, the path could be seen leading into a forest full of trees with still-green leaves. Beyond the forest, the sun was rising, bathing the sky in oranges, yellows, and purples, and dying the sheets of clouds above in those colors.

On the other side of the hill, the path lead down into a forest of trees fully embracing the autumn season, coated in leaves the same colors of those around the group. Within the forest, a large opening in the trees could be spotted, containing what looked to be a small town covered in fog. Figures could be seen traveling down paths, into and out of buildings, but they were too far away to be made out, and the veil of fog wasn't helping matters. One thing was clear, though: The figures didn't look to be human.

Neither was the group that had appeared here. At least, not anymore for some of them.

 

[Equitial]

Morgan was falling. They gripped hard to the bench, squeezing their eyes shut. All around them echoed rumbles and cavernous shrieks; air rushed past their ears. They pressed their face against the bench's cold metal surface but --

A crash and an impact. Morgan went flying.

They cried out, tumbling through the air. Their eyes flew open and a brightness all but blinded them, illuminating their blurry surroundings. They gasped, flailing their arms as if to somehow get purchase and -- somehow, they did.

Their fall halted. They quivered in the air. They gasped, and somehow the vibrations came back to their ears and they could see.

They froze. They fell again, but only a few feet to the grassy ground. Around them everything was still foggy, but the snapshot from their instinctive gasp remained in their mind. They rolled over on a grassy clearing, surrounded by trees with trembling leaves. They felt the ground beneath their... wings? Body? Their throat clicked again, projecting a crisp image of the ground, every blade of grass sharp and clear.

"Ahhhh!!!" A high-pitched voice followed by a light thump. Morgan whirled their head, farther than it should normally be able to turn. "What -- what's happening?!"

Morgan's new sense showed the speaker clearly, a thrashing swablu all tangled in a long strip of fabric. Though the shape in front of them was unfamiliar, somehow something about her voice still reverberated.

"...Amanda?" Morgan squeaked through their new throat.

The swablu stilled, twisting to look at Morgan. "Wh -- Morgan! Oh, oh ---" She jumped in her fabric bonds, leaping right into Morgan.

"Oh thank goodness!!!"

 

[Shiny Phantump]

Lillie's hat fluttered down and covered her face... and the rest of her.

Funnily enough, she found she could still see. Perhaps the sunlight was just filtering through the hat?

She then noticed a few things: Her had was touching the ground, and she was a shadowy mass that was distinctly not human. She screamed.

The cry that came from her mouth was familiar, too. A kind of shrill noise that could almost be mistaken for laughter. A she'd heard from the parts of the Paradise where they worked with... Mimikyu.

This must be a nightmare... This had to be a nightmare...

---

Nearby, an ice vulpix hopped up to her feet. She looked around in awe. There were so many people here... it was a bit overwhelming.

 

[Ambyssin]

Oh, was this where his assignment had taken him? Odd. Nero's boss hadn't mentioned there being other people involved. He really hoped he wasn't getting punked. Still, soft grass and fog. Could be a relaxing combination. Green and purple lines overtook the white of his mechanical parts. A yawn escaped his beak. Nero lay down on the grass and curled up into a ball.

 

[Flyg0n]

Koa opened his eyes, then blinked several times. He was laying on grass, surrounded by brightly colored objects... no, not objects, leaves. Where was he? Groaning, he started to sit up, then cried out. Or rather, roared. Instead of hands, he saw gray claws. Tottering awkwardly, he glanced around in a panic, first all around, then down at himself. Instead of a human body, he saw gray scales and small foreclaws. His head felt strangely large and heavy and was that a... a tail???

What in the name of Mew was going on!?

"AHHHHH!" His voice came out like a guttural roar of sorts. He spun around, his new tail swishing behind him. Was he a... a Cranidos? But how?... last he recalled, he'd been just stopped Team Blackout, then something had showed up and... Everything after was a blank.

Around him, he spotted other figures, pokemon like him. "What going on?" he cried.

 

[Ambyssin]

Nero poked one mechanical eye open. "Hey, if you're going to try and teach yourself Hyper Voice, could you do it somewhere else? World-jumping really messes with my circadian rhythm."

 

[Flyg0n]

Koa spun to stare at the pokemon that had spoken to him. If it was even a Pokemon. He'd never seen anything like it before. It looked like some kind of quadruped, but none of its features were remotely recognizable. "Who... what are you?"

 

[Ambyssin]

"Silvally." Nero's cheek-bolts rotated in their sockets. He opened his other eye. Both turned a dusty gray, much like the cranidos' scales. It occurred to him that it might be important to keep his employer's information under wraps. That was part of the job, after all. "You can call me Nero, I guess."

 

[Shiny Phantump]

Lillie pressed her face against the edge of her hat, trying to see through the fabric. To no avail, she couldn't see anything. She dared not lift her hat, in case any of the owners of the voices she heard saw her.

"H-Hello? Does anyone know what's going on."

Her shadowy form was quivering. She felt like her heart should be racing, but... she didn't have a heart anymore. She tried to take deep breaths to calm herself, but she had no lungs, no need for fresh air.

 

[Ambyssin]

"You're being attacked by a vicious hat?" Nero shrugged.

 

[Flyg0n]

"Silvally." Nero's cheek-bolts rotated in their sockets. He opened his other eye. Both turned a dusty gray, much like the cranidos' scales. It occurred to him that it might be important to keep his employer's information under wraps. That was part of the job, after all. "You can call me Nero, I guess."

Koa stared back and forth between the two pokemon, still mostly fixated on 'Nero', as he'd called himself. The other appeared to be... an oversized hat? His gaze turned back to Nero. Sure his knowledge of pokemon wasn't encyclopedic but he felt sure he would have remembered something like this. Silvally? "What's a Silvally?" He stared at the hat again. "Wand what are you?"

Part of him still remained in disbelief of his situation. Somehow he'd been turned into a pokemon and deposited in this random place, far from his team and Kitto. Where were they? And were they ok? As an afterthought, he added, "And does anyone know where we are?"

So many unanswered questions.

 

[Ambyssin]

"What's a silvally? I'm a silvally." Nero chuckled. What a silly question. Though really he was just tiptoeing around saying anything he shouldn't. "Though, I'm guessing you actually want me to say I'm made from science."

"Fuck yeah, science!" A much deeper voice crackled like it was coming from speakers. Hopefully, Nero could just play that off.

 

[Shiny Phantump]

"You're being attacked by a vicious hat?" Nero shrugged.

"No! Don't touch the hat! I... I think I'm a Mimikyu. I don't want to hurt anyone by accident."

She reflexively turned to look around, but unsurprisingly saw nothing but more hat. "Is there a bag here? A tote bag?"

Nearby her was indeed such a bag. It contained repels, various medicines, and a lack of any Cosmog whatsoever.

 

[Flyg0n]

"What's a silvally? I'm a silvally." Nero chuckled. What a silly question. Though really he was just tiptoeing around saying anything he shouldn't. "Though, I'm guessing you actually want me to say I'm made from science."

"Fuck yeah, science!" A much deeper voice crackled like it was coming from speakers. Hopefully, Nero could just play that off.

Koa cocked his head. Science? So he had to be some kind of... created pokemon. Which wasn't unheard of. "Oh wow." A second voice seemed to crackle out of nowhere, and he glanced around, then back at Silvally. Had that come from him? He guessed anything was possible, if Nero really was created. "Do you know where we are or whats going on?"

 

[Ambyssin]

Best to play dumb in these situations. But not too dumb. "We probably got dragged through Ultra Wormholes and wound up in this place. Ultra Space can mutate people," he looked at Miss Talking Hat, "so if you weren't always a mimikyu, radiation exposure could explain your transformation. Though it's strange you didn't get any sort of cloth to cover up your ectoplasm. And I left my sewing kit at home. Pity."

He didn't really own a sewing kit, but some levity never hurt.

 

[Shiny Phantump]

Oh. Oh no.

Nebby was all that had been left behind when Father had disappeared. Was it Nebby's fault? Did they do that to him?

And if so, then that light that had come from her bag... Nebby had done the same to her. She'd succumbed to the same fate as her father. Mother had been right. She was right to keep Nebby locked away, where they couldn't hurt anyone. She'd broken Mother's trust... and now Mother had no family left at all.

It was her fault... She'd done this to herself...

 

[Fusion]

An inky-black sphere descended from the clouds, popping a few hundred feet above the ground. Black wisps rained down, alongside a mass of red and black. It crashed into the dirt, leaving a small crater. The black of the mass fizzled away, leaving a red bush.

The bush shook and rustled, then suddenly hopped off the ground. A dazed Zoroark wobbled back and forth, groaning softly. "I think I stuck the landing, hehe..." he muttered.

His mane rustled again, and a black muzzle poked out. The muzzle was connected to an equally black figure, who stepped from the mane. It shook it's body, flashing ink-black aura off of it to reveal a tall Lycanroc. "About as much as I expected from you," the wolf said, cracking his neck. "I believe we're the last to arrive?"

"Probably," the Zoroark held his head between his paws and shook it. "So much for a shortcut..."

 

[Flyg0n]

Koa stared at the sudden arrival of a Zoroark and some kind of bipedal canine pokemon he didn't recognize. Between that, the talking hat and Nero's explanation of Ultra Wormholes and Ultra Space he felt like he was having a huge headache. All he wanted to do was bang his head against a wall- hold on. A wild inspiration struck and he ran towards a nearby tree as fast as he could, shocked at the strength in his legs. As he approached, he lowered his head and - CRACK!

The tree shook and leaves fell. He backed off, noting a sizable crack running up the tree. His head didn't even hurt. Was this what it felt like to be a pokemon? Sick!

He trotted back towards the others, his thoughts still running wildly, then plopped down awkwardly. Having a tail made everything much weirder. But he still wasn't any closer to understanding where he was or how to get back.

 

[Ambyssin]

Nero frowned. "Jeez, what did that poor tree ever do to you?"

 

[Flyg0n]

"You don't get it. I'm a pokemon!" he said, his statement both perplexed and incredulous. He stared at his claws again. This was all really real and not some convoluted dream. He'd had his share of weird dreams, but this wasn't one. He couldn't help but wonder what other powers he could wield.