Game Week of the Multiverse: Overlook Hill & Top Plaza

[Ambyssin]

Nero managed to avoid flinching again. "It's too early to jump to conclusions like that, buddy." He tried crouching down to be closer to eye level with the houndoom. "But it's also too early to start thinking about how to get everyone back home. I know it's frightening, but we'll come up with something. Just not right this second."

 

[Luxray1000]

"R-right, right" the Houndoom nodded, sitting down and taking several deep breaths. "C'mon..." he muttered to himself. "Not the first time I've wound up in unknown territory..." After a moment, he stood up again. "I'm sorry..." he said, grimacing. "I'm okay now."

And then, "I didn't introduce myself, did I? My name is Dusk."

 

[Shiny Phantump]

Gladion fell back onto his belly. Something was obscuring his vision, but he could see what looked like an unmasked Null looking at him. Had his partner gotten her helmet off?

No, this Null introduced himself as 'Nero.' Had someone thawed one of the other two?

"Who are you? You look like... someone I know. Sort of." Without a helmet.

The thought of helmets, combined with his own obscured vision, led him to realize exactly what felt so strange about him. This isn't my body... Why am I a Null now? Where is my body? Did the wormhole... switch us?

A whimper echoed out from beneath this helmet.

 

[Ambyssin]

Sure, Nero couldn't see a facial expression with the mask. But he knew the body language. He'd lived it. Frightened. Confused. "That's... not your usual body, is it?" Nero whispered.

Mew had escaped Nero's grasp and rested on a psychic bubble. They floated up to Dusk and scratched him behind one of his horns.

"I'll bet Ultra Space mutated you." He sighed and shook his head. To think the radiation was chaotic enough to make a Beast Killer. If Seraph were here, she would've flipped several lids and the kitchen table. "I'm sorry you have to deal with that. Changing forms is... difficult. And that helmet must be painful."

The pink in his mechanical parts glowed. He leaned forward, pressing his crest to the other silvally's helmet. Nero pushed soothing psychic ripples forward.

 

[Luxray1000]

Noticing the Mew, Dusk almost forgot his situation. His mouth dropped open and for a moment he couldn't even speak, simply standing there and letting the Mew scratch him. "...I must be dreaming" he eventually managed to say. "Are... are you the real Mew?"

 

[Ambyssin]

"Mew!" They fell inside their bubble and bounced off the ground, then popped back up on top of it.

 

[Luxray1000]

Dusk looked at Nero helplessly. "Is this... I'm sorry, I'm just a bit overwhelmed here. I might need a moment to sit down properly. Is there anywhere I could go to do that?"

 

[Shiny Phantump]

"That's... not your usual body, is it?"

"N-no. It isn't. I'm supposed to be a human, but my partner was a Type: Null and she entered the wormhole with me."

The calming energy helped take the edge off his stress. He took a deep breath and tried to focus on what to do next. "Is there anything I should do right now? Or, yeah, is there just somewhere to sit down? I need to... process this."

 

[Ambyssin]

Interesting. So there was a world with humans that also had Beast Killers. It was a bit surprising, but Nero brushed it aside. He still didn't even know what humans truly looked like. And it sounded like this guy gave it a similar name as he had when his mask was on. Much to think about, for sure.

"Some of the others went toward that plaza." Nero pointed a talon behind him, though it was tough to make out anything in the fog. "Err... well, it's hard not to see the stores once you're down the hill." He glanced at the other silvally. "It doesn't exactly sound like you want to be around other people though."

 

[Luxray1000]

"Th-thank you" Dusk gave Nero a courteous nod and then walked off in the direction the Silvally indicated. His head was spinning. A new world, mythical Pokemon just casually appearing, and his own world left behind. His team. His family. Possibly with no way of getting back. He wasn't quite sure how he'd handle this.

 

[Shiny Phantump]

"Some of the others went toward that plaza." Nero pointed a talon behind him, though it was tough to make out anything in the fog. "Err... well, it's hard not to see the stores once you're down the hill." He glanced at the other silvally. "It doesn't exactly sound like you want to be around other people though."

"I don't know. They've seen you, right? And... it's not like I can run off and hide in the woods for the rest of my life." He stopped, taking a moment to consider if that was true. Maybe he could just disappear, it wasn't like there was anyone here who would miss him.

He realized that, in his new body, he wouldn't be able to stay on his own. I'm going to need someone else to feed me. Great. This just gets better and better.

He'd never thought much of having to feed Rose, nor did she seem to care, but now that it was going to be him in that position it felt quite degrading.

"Yeah, one way or another, I'm going to have to get used to it. I just..." Maybe he could avoid attracting too much attention, at least for a while longer. He wanted neither to be alone, nor to have to deal with being around other people. He'd have to get used to one or the other.

 

[Ambyssin]

"Actually, I've been avoiding the town. Dashing fast enough to avoid people seeing me." He rubbed his forelegs together. Nero's pink shifted to blue for a second, before arriving at a striped mix. "Perhaps people wouldn't be as put-off if they saw two of us? Like a pair or something. And I know what you're going through, so I can help with the, uh, adjustment."

 

[Shiny Phantump]

"Oh. Fair enough."

Would people think better of them if they were together? If nothing else, it would split the scrutiny between them.

"Sure. That sounds alright. Was there anywhere you wanted to go? I'd go with you."

 

[IFBench]

The Empoleon, Pahelia, stepped forwards towards the two, holding the bag they and Apoyime found with both flippers. "You don't really need to hide, you know? You don't seem that weird."

The Sceptile, Apoyime, simply nodded.

 

[Ambyssin]

"Sorry. Force of habit." Sweat drops ran down the back of Nero's head. "If it's not the appearance, it's usually the powers that scare most folks."

Mew plopped down on Nero's back and poked at one of the gemstones in his tail. He looked back at them with a look that read, "Do you mind?" To which they only nodded that, yes, they did mind.

 

[Shiny Phantump]

Gladion winced as the bag was brought close to him. It smelled, and whatever that smell was, he was having a visceral reaction to it. Adrenaline hit his brain, and his muscles tensed. He held a foretalon against his helmet.

His voice stuck in his throat. "What is in that bag? Where did you get that?"

 

[IFBench]

...now that he thought about it, the bag did smell really odd...

Pahelia sat the bag down, and Apoyime walked over to look through it. "We found it on top of the hill when we checked to see if anyone else had arrived there," Pahelia said, as Apoyime pulled out multiple labeled bottles, one of which had the name "Lillie" written on it.

 

[Shiny Phantump]

The contents of the bag were definitely human. One of the bottles was for human medication.

Without asking, Gladion took it from Apoyime and scrutinized the label. It was bottle of lorazepam, with the prescription being made out to... Lillie Mohn.

If she'd had this bag on her while stealing Cosmog, the thing he was smelling could be Cosmog. The UB's scent (or radiation or whatever) setting off some sort of Null instinct. Fuck, he had a Null brain now...

He managed to put his thoughts into a question. "This bag, where did you find it? Do you know who it belongs to?"

 

[Ambyssin]

"Oh, huh. There was a mimikyu in our group who said she used to be human before showing up here." Nero's eyes flickered with recognition. "I take it you two know each other?"

 

[Shiny Phantump]

Gladion grumbled. "Used to, anyways. We haven't seen each other in years. It's a long story. Maybe... another time." Another place. Not in public.