Mt. Moxie

[Chibi Pika]

"'War of the Legends,'" Jade repeated blankly. Why did that sound like a formal name or something? "I guess you could call it that? At least, we're trying to prevent the conflict between humans and Legendaries from turning into all-out war," she added with a nervous laugh. Another world, with other chosen trying to stop a different war... they were probably doing a much better job of it.

But then the conversation turned to talk of powers and everything felt weird again. Imagine if she'd got powers from Lugia. What would that even entail? Being able to fly?

"Powers? Uh... I mean, I guess we have a psychic link with our patrons, but that's about it," Jade replied awkwardly. A pause, and then, "Right, I should probably say that I'm chosen. My patron's Lugia." God, it felt weirdly liberating to be able to just say that and have it sound almost mundane.

Jade gave Spirit a puzzled glance. "You got powers from Entei?"

 

[Dragonfree]

Conflict between humans and... May shook her head. "Okay, no, we're talking about different things." Different war. Different chosen. Just... coincidentally both involved chosen ones.

So Jade was chosen by a legendary... to stop a war. More like Mark than like Spirit. This was weird. She looked Jade over again - like Mark, just sort of an awkward unassuming kid, only a girl, and a bit older. And like Mark, she was supposed to somehow stop a war, with some legendary talking in her head.

"It's an honor to meet Lugia's Chosen," Spirit said, in human, actually bowing to Jade (of course). "We, too, have been sent on a quest to stop a great war in our world. Entei chose me as the vessel to safeguard his soul and a portion of his powers until after the war. With his powers, I have the ability to phase out of this plane and return to it, much like a Ghost-type, as well as the ability to speak human."

"Yeah, that's... it's actually unrelated," May said. And how nuts was that - that she just happened to end up both traveling to Mark and being Spirit's trainer? A contrived coincidence if you ever saw one. Would Jade even believe her? "My... my friend got recruited to stop the war by Chaletwo. It's something that happens on a thousand-year-cycle where all the legendaries are going to go mad and kill each other, but he thinks we can stop it if they're all captured in balls when it's supposed to happen." Thinks. Was Jade's plan based on more than a legendary's speculation? "Meanwhile Entei wanted to insure himself, and picked Spirit to carry his soul and make sure he survives. But if we do manage to stop it, I guess that'll all be a moot point."

Spirit looked up, probably a bit affronted by that. But it was true. Either the world ended and Entei got to be resurrected somewhere from the rubble, or they stopped it and Entei would never have needed Spirit in the first place.

 

[Chibi Pika]

Chaletwo. Jade wasn't familiar with that legend, but the name made her think of Mewtwo. And... wow, okay, that legendary war was way different than the one Jade was mixed up in. Images of what happened in Viridian--buildings leveled by wind and fire and psychic force--only on an unimaginably higher scale with dozens more legends involved. Jade suppressed a shiver.

"You guys have to catch all the Legendaries?" she asked, running a hand through her hair. "That's... wow. I couldn't imagine trying to do that. It's sort of the opposite for us. We're trying to stop people from catching them and abusing their power." Ironic that May's war required catching all the Legendaries, which was the very thing causing all the problems back home.

"*Humans abusing Legendary power is the whole reason I exist,*" Nine cut in with a steely gaze "*They experimented on me to try to find a way to break the real Legendaries.*"

When Spirit bowed to her, Jade couldn't help feeling unbelievably awkward all of a sudden. Spirit sure made her quest sound important. By comparison, Jade just felt like some kid who had no idea what she was doing half the time. Not to mention Lugia's frequent reminders that fate wasn't real and Jade wasn't special.

"I guess having Entei's power would be helpful for stopping a disaster like that," Jade commented. Although... if she just needed to keep Entei safe until after the war... did that mean the war was bound to happen anyway, or...?

 

[Dragonfree]

"So it's Team Rocket that's out there trying to capture legendaries? And Lugia's having you try to stop them?" Jeez. Wasn't Team Rocket some sort of actual criminal gang? And in Jade's world they had the resources to capture legendaries and experiment on them...? "So it's just you and your team out there? Or are the other legendary-chosen over there also helping? Does Lugia actually help?" Unlike Chaletwo.

"Having Entei's power is indeed very fortunate," Spirit said. "We have had to battle most of the legendary Pokémon to subdue them before we could capture them."

The way Jade commented on it all sounded very casual, but it was hard not to wonder what she really thought. A legendary chosen one trying to prevent people from capturing legendaries, meeting a legendary chosen one trying to forcibly capture them all. Jade and Nine only had their word that they were even doing it to save the world. She glanced at Nine, wondered what he was thinking.

 

[Chibi Pika]

Jade shook her head. "It's not just me and my team, no. My friends got involved in it before me. Some of them are chosen, others are just... helping out because they can." Was that sort of the situation May was in? She'd said her friend got recruited, not her...

Jade paused, fidgeting a bit with her watch. "Lugia and I, we... don't always see eye to eye, I guess. But we're getting better at working together in battle. We've helped each other." The Hoenn mission may have been a disaster, but they'd had each other's back, and everyone had gotten out alive at least.

Spirit had said they'd had to battle most of the Legendary Pokemon. They'd been doing this for a while, huh.

"So you've actually caught some of them, then?" Jade asked. It was a strange feeling, that catching Legendaries could be associated with something like hope. Maybe May and her friend would actually prevent their war.

"*If the Legendaries are going to die unless they're captured, they should capture themselves,*" Nine said bluntly. But even so, Jade suspected that it wasn't that simple.

 

[Dragonfree]

May grimaced. "Yeah, Mark's been trying the diplomacy thing but most of the legendaries aren't having it."

So Lugia did work with her in battle. That was something.

"We've caught several, yeah," she went on, sighing. "And there were several other trainers recruited before us who are still going. Right now all that's left is the Waraider herd and Mew. So one set of eight legendaries that we have to somehow capture at the same time, and then Mew who's been eluding everyone this whole time and also definitely knows more than he's letting on about all this, and Chaletwo's in some kind of heavy denial about it."

Spirit's gaze lingered on Jade. "What is Lugia like?" she asked softly. "You work together?"

 

[Chibi Pika]

Nine looked down, obviously troubled. Jade wanted to find it weird that the Legendaries weren't willing to be caught if it was literally a matter of life or death, but then... could she really say that it wouldn't be the same with some of the legends that she knew back home?

"I guess if they have no way of knowing that the humans trying to catch them could really be trusted..." Jade said in a low voice.

"*They wouldn't need to,*" Nine muttered.

"Well... at least it sounds like you're close," Jade said, trying to make her voice sound optimistic. "Eight Legendaries at the same time sounds like a huge pain"--just beating one Legendary sounded like a huge pain--"but I guess if you've got a bunch of trainers, and also any Legendaries on your side like this Chaletwo guy?" Maybe it was doable. And well... they'd gotten that far, right?

Jade became aware of the fact that Spirit was staring up at her. "Uh, Lugia is..." She rubbed the back of her head, vaguely feeling the urge to make being chosen sound cooler. The Ninetales sounded so earnest. "Lugia is sort of... difficult. We didn't really get along at first. But we've been getting better. I think I'm starting to understand them more." It also helped that she'd also started to stand up for herself more, too.

 

[Dragonfree]

"Well... Chaletwo doesn't really help much. He mostly sits in a ball and tries to tell everyone what to do. Insists he can't be seen and he needs to conserve his power for emergencies and whatnot. Wish we did have a legendary to help with the actual fighting." She paused. "He kept insisting for a long time that we absolutely can't tell them why we need to capture them, because Mew insisted none of them could know, but then Mew went and told a couple of them so now he's all for it but he still won't come out and help. He's just... kind of a coward, honestly."

Spirit listened intently to Jade's words; the girl's awkwardness was palpable. "So Lugia stays by your side? Fights alongside you?"

May could've laughed. Imagine if Entei would fight alongside Spirit. Instead he'd disappeared into his soul gems and left Spirit to figure out how to ensure his survival on her own. Imagine any legendary actually risking their neck, for anything.

 

[Chibi Pika]

Jade tilted her head. "He... spends all his time in a Poké ball?" Another irony--her world's Legendaries practically had a phobia of the dang things. Still, the idea of having to fight Legendaries and not even getting any help from your supposed ally... yeah, that didn't sound fun.

Spirit was still just so eager to know more, and Jade didn't want to shatter that illusion of human and legend bravely fighting as one, or whatever the Ninetales was imagining. And part of her felt vaguely uncomfortable with making her patron sound too bad, anyway. But... no. There wasn't any point in dancing around it. Lugia had been a coward. And she'd been angry when it left her to deal with the Rockets at Indigo alone.

"Well, Lugia is supposed to fight alongside me anyway, but I can't really say that there haven't been times when it bailed because things got too dicey," Jade mumbled, unable to keep the irritation from seeping into her voice. It felt dangerous to say. She half expected Lugia to suddenly protest in the back of her head after days of not being able to make contact.

It also felt freeing to say it outright, to actually acknowledge it. But at the same time, it wasn't the full truth either.

Jade took a deep breath. "Lugia also risked its life to save me from Rayquaza, so I can't say it's been all bad. I sort of... got better about standing up for myself too. I guess it's complicated. We haven't been doing this for very long."

 

[Dragonfree]

May raised her eyebrows. "I guess the legendaries in both our worlds kind of suck, huh."

Spirit's head snapped around. "The legendary Pokémon protect the world!" she said firmly. "They're important for all of us. Lugia saved her life!"

May took a deep breath. "I'm just saying they're... they're all trying to save themselves, okay? Maybe they're trying to save the world too, but for the most part, the legendaries we've met? They're looking out for themselves and their own interests first. And we're along for the ride, on their terms, because in the end we want to save the world too, and we need them to do it."

 

[Chibi Pika]

Jade winced. She hadn't meant to make the situation at home sound that bad. But maybe May was just trying to explain the reality of things in her world. Spirit seemed to have other ideas, but...

Jade exhaled slowly. "Well, in my case, I was already involved with the Rocket stuff. So even just having a Legendary for protection some of the time is better than nothing. My friend--Mew's chosen--they've been together a lot longer, and they're a lot more in-sync. Lugia and I have been training, and... I think we'll get better at it." She hoped that didn't sound hopelessly naive. The recent training really had been helping.

"So like... do none of the Legendaries fight alongside you?" Jade asked, frowning. "How do they expect you to, I don't know... get anything done?" It did make it pretty dang impressive that May and her friends had gotten this far, at least.

 

[Dragonfree]

Just casually friends with Mew's chosen. Jade's world's Mew was apparently more 'in-sync' with its chosen one. Hard to imagine their Mew being in sync with anyone, the way Chaletwo described it.

"Well, when you catch legendaries unwillingly, you're not exactly going to ask them for a favor afterwards, are you?" May counted off on her fingers. "There were three dragons Chaletwo created who are just generally nuts. Entei and Suicune both did this whole thing of transferring their souls into gems, so they couldn't help if they wanted to. Then three more dragons, one of whom nearly dropped Mark in the ocean and then lied to us to send us off on a six-week wild goose chase and the other of whom are also nuts. Then their brothers who were sort of down for diplomacy until they realized we'd gone to their sisters first." She spread her arms. "Now it's eight unicorns who have to be caught at the same time or something terrible might happen, and Chaletwo says they're pretty nuts too and they're probably not going to respond to diplomacy either. Then after that there's going to be Mew, but by that point we're not going to need another legendary to battle it." She paused. "I guess we bumped into Mewtwo as well. He was okay, and he agreed to catch himself in a ball before it happens, but if he actually came with us to help it could cause some sort of time paradox, so that's out."

She realized belatedly that she hadn't actually explained why they wouldn't need a legendary to fight Mew. "The legendaries are growing weaker in my world. It's a whole thing, part of why the war is happening in the first place. That's one of Chaletwo's reasons for staying in the ball."

Spirit was looking up at Jade again in awed fascination. "So you train together with Lugia, and your friend with Mew, until you understand one another completely." She nodded, gaze still fixed on her. "How did Lugia choose you? Were you tested?"

 

[Chibi Pika]

Jade stared blankly. That was... a lot to take in. A bunch of Legendaries that she'd never heard of and all of them were nuts? Also, she hadn't really pieced together until now that Spirit 'safeguarding Entei's soul' meant he literally wasn't around anymore. So he'd just... picked Spirit and then left her alone? No wonder she was dying to know what it was like working with Lugia.

"There wasn't really a test, no," Jade admitted. "I got picked because I'd already fought to protect some of the Legendaries in the past. So I guess that whole mess was sort of my test, in a way." She paused, rubbing her arm. "There was a big deal about how it had to be my choice, I guess. Like I had to really mean it."

'When you catch legendaries unwillingly, you're not exactly going to ask them for a favor afterwards, are you?'

shadow hanging over Viridian. piercing blue eyes, staring into her soul. psychic fury, tearing her apart.

No. None of that. Not now.

Nine's ears had pricked at the mention of Mewtwo. "*I haven't gotten to talk with our Mewtwo yet,*" he said, his eyes alert. "*What did he do after he escaped from humans? Are there other experiments like him? Like me?*"

 

[Hanafuda]

As Seb was walking back towards his dorm, he saw Mt. Moxie in the distance. “Hm. That looks like a nice place to go to.” He turned towards Zack, who was perched on his shoulder, with a smile. “Not today, but how about you? You haven’t flown much at all, right? Well, outside our room, anyway—that place is big. Wanna have some fun up there? You know, to stretch your wings.”

The Pidgeotto smiled in anticipation. True, he didn’t fly much outside now that he thought about it. Without hesitation, he leapt away and flapped his wings, flying towards the mountain. Jack soon followed with his leek grasped in his beak.

“I’ll see you guys back in our room!” Seb exclaimed with a wave before continuing on his way.

“Aw yeah!” Zack shouted with excitement, the wind brushing up against his face. His crest waved around as he flew. “Finally we’re doin’ some epic flyin’!”

“Yeah!” Jack exclaimed beside him. “Ith refreshing!”

“Nothin’ beats the feelin’ of freedom when you’re flyin’, eh? The wind on your face, your wings touchin’ the clouds, the world below ya…” Zack looked up with sparkling eyes. “It’s even better with the sunset.”

“Or thunrithe,” Jack added with a slight chuckle.

“Heh, yeah, that too.”

The birds enjoyed their flight as they surveyed the land below. Perhaps there was something interesting to see.

[[Zack and Jack used Foresight!]]
@Flyg0n

 

[Dragonfree]

"Your choice," Spirit murmured.

Other experiments. May took a sharp breath. "Well, in our world Mewtwo was created, what, twenty-seven years ago? I think at first he was creating other clones or something, and then freed them, and since then he's just been wandering the world. But now there's..." She swallowed. "There's a guy, Rick Lancaster?" For a second she wondered if Jade would know of him, but no -- even if their worlds did have all the same people, Jade's world was decades behind. Rick must be a baby in her world, or not even born yet.

There was a bitter taste in her mouth. "A gym leader in Ouen," she continued hastily. "He's doing what the Rockets did, creating superclones, and has some kind of mind-control technology to control them. He made one of Mewtwo. And regular Pokémon as well. The authorities let him get away with it because the Mewtwo superclone can hypnotize people."

In her peripheral vision, Spirit, who had been gazing wide-eyed at Jade, looked back up at her trainer. May kept her gaze on Nine, clenching her fingers.

 

[Chibi Pika]

Jade glanced uneasily down at Nine. The Pikachu said nothing, staring downward with a quiet, smoldering anger. It was nuts... one guy, doing all that?

"The authorities can't really do anything about the Rockets in our world," Jade admitted, glancing away. "I thought they might, but I guess it's too much trouble for them."

"*That's why we're fighting them,*" Nine cut in sharply, turning back towards May. "*Our Legendaries are fighting them too. Isn't anyone going to stop that human in your world?*" A few sparks leapt from his feathers, hitting the ground.

"I... doubt their Legendaries can. If they're getting weaker," Jade said hesitantly. That was without getting into if they'd even care. If they were as self-interested as May said, would it even matter so long as it was clones getting mind-controlled and not them?

"*Someone should,*" Nine replied, shaking his head roughly. "*If he's just going to keep making more clones and controlling them. It's sick.*"

 

[Dragonfree]

Nine's reaction was immediate. May took an instinctive step back as sparks flew off him, her mouth dry. "Look, I don't know. We're a bit busy with the saving the world thing at the moment."

Wild hair and bloodshot eyes, a raw voice: I'll fucking kill you.

"After they recover their full power, I'm sure the legendary Pokémon will do something," Spirit said firmly.

"Yeah. Probably." Like erasing his memory. "Either way it's not... it's not like we can do anything about him."

 

[Chibi Pika]

Jade swallowed. "Right, yeah. I guess you've got more immediate concerns. And if the Legendaries are going to get their power back, then... well, I figure Mewtwo at least would want to help." Even if the other legends didn't care, he would, right?

Nine considered that, relaxing slightly. "*Yeah. Mewtwo could stop him.*" Jade wasn't too sure what Nine was imagining 'stopping him' would entail, and it wasn't much of her business anyway.

Jade had a feeling that he was holding back from saying more things, and her suspicion was confirmed when he took that moment to leap up the rocky ledges along the trail until he was well above them.

"I guess we probably should get back to searching," Jade said awkwardly. "I'll let you know if we find anything." She wasn't exactly sure how or when--maybe if they ran into each other back at the dorms.

 

[Dragonfree]

May exhaled, unclenching her fists. "Yeah. Us too."

Spirit bowed again. "Thank you for telling us of your world," she said. "I hope we will meet again."

May raised a hand quickly. "See you around."

She hastened her step back down the mountain, Spirit following absent-mindedly by her side.

<><><><><>​

 

[Flyg0n]

As Seb was walking back towards his dorm, he saw Mt. Moxie in the distance. “Hm. That looks like a nice place to go to.” He turned towards Zack, who was perched on his shoulder, with a smile. “Not today, but how about you? You haven’t flown much at all, right? Well, outside our room, anyway—that place is big. Wanna have some fun up there? You know, to stretch your wings.”

The Pidgeotto smiled in anticipation. True, he didn’t fly much outside now that he thought about it. Without hesitation, he leapt away and flapped his wings, flying towards the mountain. Jack soon followed with his leek grasped in his beak.

“I’ll see you guys back in our room!” Seb exclaimed with a wave before continuing on his way.

“Aw yeah!” Zack shouted with excitement, the wind brushing up against his face. His crest waved around as he flew. “Finally we’re doin’ some epic flyin’!”

“Yeah!” Jack exclaimed beside him. “Ith refreshing!”

“Nothin’ beats the feelin’ of freedom when you’re flyin’, eh? The wind on your face, your wings touchin’ the clouds, the world below ya…” Zack looked up with sparkling eyes. “It’s even better with the sunset.”

“Or thunrithe,” Jack added with a slight chuckle.

“Heh, yeah, that too.”

The birds enjoyed their flight as they surveyed the land below. Perhaps there was something interesting to see.

[[Zack and Jack used Foresight!]]
@Flyg0n

The area around the mountain seemed quiet enough, all things considered. A few trainers could be seen around. The distant crimson wings could be seen of Caden's Salamence. Him and Regalia seem to be flying together, Toby on Regalias back.
Below, Blair can be spotted under the shade of a tree, seemingly talking to her pokemon.

All in all nothing seems specifically strange or out of place.