Saltriv looked up at Kimiko as she began stroking their leaf. What was she doing? That...that felt really nice, actually!
As their tail began to wag, the shadowy wisps began to die back down, and they asked, "What are you doing? It feels really good!"
At that question, Saltriv's eyes widened, and they looked down. No, the wisps were back! They were almost gone, but they were still present.
"I-I'm ok!" the Chikorita said, pressing their leaf back against Kimiko's hand.
Just stay calm. Stay calm. Focus on that really nice sensation.
Soon, the wisps disappeared entirely, and Saltriv began smiling brightly at the stroking.
"I've been in lots of fights!" Saltriv said, extending a vine to grab a vial without leaving Kimiko's side. "I've even fought and rescued a Shadow Pokemon already, with my teammates' help!"
They began drinking the vial, before a white glow enveloped them, completely obscuring them from view. The glow began growing, and the shape underneath began twisting and morphing. Once the glow was as tall as Odette, it dissipated, revealing the now-Meganium underneath.
However, they looked odd for a Meganium. Instead of antennae, they still had their autumn-red leaf, their petals were a similar color, and their skin was a pale yellow-green color.
Saltriv looked down at themselves in awe, tapping various parts of themselves with vines to see if this was real, and it was.
"I...I evolved!" Saltriv exclaimed.
Kimiko smiled as she stroked the little chikorita; it definitely seemed to calm down a bit, at the very least. "You rescued a shadow pokemon, have you? That's really impressive!" At the same time, though, it made her worry... those shadowy wisps... could Saltriv be a shadow and not realize it? Shadow pokemon were said to be more aggressive, though... and there was really nothing threatening about this cute little thing at all. What could that all mean?
While she pondered it, Saltriv drank a potion in response to her prompt (in fact, she was pleased to see, most of the participants had to drink on that one!). She flinched backwards as Saltriv's form changed - skipping the bayleef stage completely and forming into a full-sized meganium!
"Wow, if you don't mind me saying, you're quite the cute meganium!" she cooed. She didn't have the heart to remind Saltriv that once the party was over and everyone was sent home, it would probably revert back to the chikorita stage. Let the little guy have some fun, she figured.
"Never have I ever..." She wasn't sure what to say. Nothing too weird, nor so normal nobody would care. "danced?"
"Well... I skipped two rounds, I guess I have to own up to this one..." She wasn't sure how much her trotting around stage while she sung was considered dancing, but she'd seen worse. She held her hand out and waited for someone to hand her a potion, not willing to select one herself. The concoction was a bright shining silver and looked like mercury. Without looking up, she asked, "...this is
safe to consume, right?" Then, without waiting for an answer, chugged it.
Somewhere behind her, a metal screeching echoed,
NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!
Immediately, the liquid burned her mouth and throat. She spent the next several minutes coughing and trying to suck in cooler air; when that was finished, she realized that nothing else had happened. In fact, now that the only side effect seemed to be watery eyes, she recognized the taste.
This silver liquid gives the drinker nothing. It is in fact a type of tea. Slightly magical to keep it fresh and hot. for 1d6 minutes.
Not only had the drink not caused any ill effects, but she found she was no longer being harassed by metallic furniture voices. "Oh thank god," she said, breathing a sigh of relief. Now if only she could find some water...
"Oh, that's a good one," she said. "Never have I ever kissed a girl."
Not that she opposed the idea, but this one was easy for her, unless kissing her little sister on the forehead counted, and the promp's context made it pretty clear that this was not the intended meaning. "I've only been with one person, and I've been with him for almost a decade, so... this one's a no for me."
Again, thank the gods.
Again, Altair handwaved the intense reaction to Selene's current predicament. "She'll be fine," he said, a little louder this time, though he refused to elaborate on why he felt so certain about that fact.
Altair tried to ignore the question, keep quiet and wait for this to pass, but then he felt his mouth had begun to burn, a burning that would only get worse and worse if he didn't just spit it out already. If he needed air, he certainly would've been gasping for it now. Altair shot Ghaspius an intense glare and would've given him a certain one-fingered gesture if he had the hands for it.
"Place where I'm being kept... Between realms." His voice sounded strained and wheezy. "Makes it easier... to travel anywhere so..." Altair tried to bite back the words, but it was too little, too late, they kept spilling out of him. "I can play games... to entertain Yveltal." At this point, he was panting but at least the burning had subsided. He looked back to Ghaspius and growled. "When I say I want to keep things secret, I fucking mean it."
While Kimiko overhead Altair's outburst, she got something else entirely out of it. She glanced over towards Selene, who at some point had turned into some sort of spirit due to one of her potions. "I mean, I don't think the... yveltal?"
Wait if he's entertaining yveltal that would mean he is not yveltal, so... what is he?? She shook her head and settled for pointing at Altair instead. "I don't think it can lie right now. I think one of his potions must have been some sort of truth syrum. So if he says you'll be okay, and he can't lie... I mean, you'll probably be fine?"
“I mean…I specialize in Ghost-types as it is. A Mismagius would probably make a great addition to my team anyway.”
Well, that explained why she had subconsciously kept her distance from Odette (well, okay, it was an entirely conscious decision not to chase her and Odile down when the pokemon took off...) and all but confirmed to her that her now-clone-with-red-eyes God of Wrath was at least part ghost, didn't it? She made note to keep away; thankfully, she seemed to be far too occupied with Selene.
He sighed, then looking back at everyone with diffidence. "I... guess it's my turn. Never have I ever..." he pondered for a moment, but decided it was best to lay things out on the table, "...Had good parents to look up to."
Oh, this one was a tricky subject... and a touchy one.
"I don't even remember my mother," she said quietly. "But I guess dad was a good parent, before he..." She sighed.
Not. Now. "Oh, just give me a damn potion."
In her outstretched hand, a bottle of blue liquid appeared. She sniffed it; this one didn't seem to have a scent. But then, the more normal-looking ones so far had the more unusual effects... She raised her bottle in toast and said, "this one's for you, dad," before downing the contents.
It was cooler than the tea, at least, and did help to soothe her sore throat, but again, she couldn't feel any ill effects.
There is no way in any hell that I could be this
lucky. She shook her arms out a bit and bounced on the heel of her feet for a moment, but still felt nothing. She looked up at the group - and saw none of them. The only one she could make out was Rekker, and she was terrified of him. Ghosts? Pah. She could handle ghosts, but that
furry fire hazard had better keep to himself. At least Radar could destroy him in a fight if it came to that.
A blue potion with a subtle taste gives the power of a hatred of fire.
