Marowak Dojo ~ Hidden Quarters

[Tanuki]

Bored. Beyond belief. It had been hours. Or minutes. Maybe ten seconds? Time melded together until one truth became completely apparent: he needed to get out of here. House arrest be darned, he needed sun. Air. He was suffocating down here.

Obstacles stood in his way, however. Three, to be specific. Two of his own were right there with him, and Soda stood as his watch. Although, perhaps they weren’t nearly in his way as he assumed. In fact, they could be his ticket out.

He sauntered over to the mew, unnatural smugness on his mug. “A mew, huh?” He scanned him over, looking unimpressed as he could manage. “Rumor has it your kind can transform. Fancy a wager?” He felt like he was speaking a different language, but decided not to break his act.

 

[Umbramatic]

"Huh? Oh hey! A Zangoose! You don't really see those back home! Oh, can I still transform? The Glitch Charizard said I won't have all of my moves at first..."

He scrunched his face until with a pop he was a Morpeko.

"Sweet, I can still do it! What doya need?"

 

[Fusion]

This was gonna be interesting. Zane already proved himself as the most "ingenious" member of the team, and this time Vix was going to see it firsthand. How fortunate.

"I really wanna see where this goes," Vix snickered, floating in to hear what Zane was planning.

 

[Tanuki]

Perfect, he thought to himself. Sense stopped him moments before bragging to Diyem now that something finally went his way.

He kept his demeanor unchanged, unimpressed. “Oh, you can only imitate species?” He clicked his tongue, looking over his paws. “Y’know, that zoroark out there? He can make himself look like other peop—pokémon. Perfectly.”

He glanced at Vix, letting half his genuine smile through. “How’s about a bet? I‘d wager my next paycheck that you can’t fool him. Vix’ll go with you to ref, since I obviously can’t.” While they kept Soda busy, he’d make his escape. “Sound like a plan—deal?”

 

[Fusion]

Vix didn't know they were getting paid, must've been something she missed when she went to bed early. Yeah, that's what happened, and definitely not some other, outside force. More importantly, was that thing Zane said before the money.

"I didn't know Zoroark's can do that? I thought they were just, strong and reckless." She stopped herself before she added an entire paragraph of adjectives. Vix returned her own smile and said, "Whatever, I'd just be glad meeting another one! And I guess watching someone try to fool one would be pretty fun, so I'll take you up on that offer."

It was very likely that this was not gonna go the way Zane wanted. He was gonna need someone to bail him out when this turns south, and Vix decided it would probably be her in the end.

 

[Umbramatic]

"A paycheck? Is that money? I can buy toys with that! You're on!""

He turned into a Zoroark. Who disguised himself as Zane. Then approached the other Zoroark.

":Excuze moi, hon hon hon?"

 

[Namohysip]

Soda had been wandering the halls on his usual patrol, mostly because Truffle told him, when he'd been approached just down the hall from Zane's.

"Yep," Soda said, stopping in the middle of the hall. "What's up?" Arms crossed, he looked the disguised Mew over.

 

[Fusion]

Vix was unsure she was seeing things correctly. That certainly looked like a Zoroark, with the black fur and red claws, but... there's no way that mop of hair was natural, right? It was about as big as Soda himself, for fuck's sake.

"A-Are you... actually a Zoroark?" Vix asked, taking a closer look. He was shorter than she thought too, was this like a kid or something? "You look way different than what I thought..." She floated around Soda, respecting his space while still looking over him a few times. She was mindful enough to not look like a creep at least.

 

[Umbramatic]

"I must say, do you have... Cheese? There is no proper food in my room!" Mithos mimicked an exaggerated scoff.

 

[Namohysip]

"Cheese is over in the main living quarters," Soda replied, motioning behind him. "You can go ahead and get it." He eyed Vix next, squinting. "...What's it to you?"

 

[Fusion]

"Cheese is over in the main living quarters," Soda replied, motioning behind him. "You can go ahead and get it." He eyed Vix next, squinting. "...What's it to you?"

"I-I don't mean nothing by it, you just... don't look like this other Zoroark I know," Vix backed off a bit. "The mane difference is your hair, his is incredibly short, and yours looks... honestly more fitting, now that I think about it."

She looked his mane up and down again. "How do you manage all of that?"

 

[Namohysip]

"Lots of shampoo," Soda said, rolling his eyes. "Nah, it's actually pretty easy to maintain this. Getting rid of most of the gunk is just clipping off my bangle, sending some Dark energy through it, and then clipping it back on. Maybe some water if it's really bad."

Then, he looked to "Zane" and said, "So, you gonna get that cheese?"

 

[Fusion]

"That's... a lot more simple than I thought," Vix chuckled. Was she doing something again? She might've forgotten. "So, like... is it true you can make yourself look like other Pokemon? My friend back home definitely doesn't do that. The only Pokemon I know that can do that is Mew, but that's only from stories I heard. Oh, and the one that was here..."

Oh, wait, fuck...

"I think..." Surely, he didn't notice. Probably. For Zane's sake.

 

[Tanuki]

Zane listened in as best he could out of sight. Unfortunately, that meant he couldn't listen in much. He definitely heard words—cheese?—so he decided the coast was clear. Quick as camouflage and discrete as a rabbit, he made way for the exit. From sparse glances behind what cover he could find, Soda at least seemed distracted.

That mattered less and less to him. Freedom filled his vision. Sunlight. Air. He went for the door as fast as possible while still keeping up with his (attempt at) stealth.

 

[Namohysip]

"Oh, really?" Soda asked, tilting his head. "I guess there are a few Pokemon who can disguise themselves as others. Zoroark's definitely one of them. Not sure what's up with your friends that they can't, but then again..." He shrugged. "Different worlds."

Zane's escape was a lot easier than it should have been. He was already at the doorway, which swung open without his need--after all, it had been opened by Soda to come in. Yet, on the other side of the door...

...Was Soda talking with Vix and Mithos.

"Yeah, to be honest," Soda said, "I don't really know how any individual world works that you guys are from. You guys should probably be careful for a while, too. Never know if something's just different."

 

[Umbramatic]

"Ah, yes, but what kinds of u fromage do you have?" Mithos had heard Kalosians before. That's what they sounded like right?

 

[Fusion]

"Oh, really?" Soda asked, tilting his head. "I guess there are a few Pokemon who can disguise themselves as others. Zoroark's definitely one of them. Not sure what's up with your friends that they can't, but then again..." He shrugged. "Different worlds."

Zane's escape was a lot easier than it should have been. He was already at the doorway, which swung open without his need--after all, it had been opened by Soda to come in. Yet, on the other side of the door...

...Was Soda talking with Vix and Mithos.

"Yeah, to be honest," Soda said, "I don't really know how any individual world works that you guys are from. You guys should probably be careful for a while, too. Never know if something's just different."

"Noted. This is my first time travelling between worlds, and I thought I was already prepared for it. The one thing I wasn't prepared for was giant fish, surprisingly," Vix said, chuckling. "I was told that things might be different, but I didn't think too much of it at first."

Vix was also trying to keep track of what Mithos was doing, but the talk of cheese might have made Vix hungry. Even if she wasn't that much of a fan of cheese.

"I really wish I had some charcoal. Maybe I can find a berry or two somewhere." She looked up at Soda. "Where'd you say the food was again?"

 

[Tanuki]

Zane skid to a halt the moment the door opened itself. His feet froze to the ground when he saw through it, barely managing a few steps back. He shot a glance back only to see the other side same conversation in front of him.

Haunted. Definitely haunted. The place was haunted. With ghosts in the picture, he quickly forgot his plan as it turned entirely irrelevant. One, two, three cautious steps forward and he threw the door closed. He looked behind him to check if the group remained and cracked the door open just enough to peek one eye through.

 

[Namohysip]

Staring back at Zane on the other side was Zane, same expression, same pose, same everything, for only a split second. And then it disappeared.

"Food's over at the main quarters. I mean, there's still a lot of food in the secret room that Zane's supposed to be in." Soda shrugged. "Speaking of which, where is he, anyway?" Despite the fact that Mithos was right there as Zane, Soda looked behind him. "Oh, there he is. Yo, Zane! You sure you want to be heading out? You'll have all your pals on your ass immediately, you know."

 

[Umbramatic]

"Oh hi Zane! How's the plan goi-"

He paused.

"...Oh."