Poppin' Arms ~ Dorm Lounge

[Cresselia92]

"Who are you all?" they asked, as they stretched their autumn-red leaf.

Icetales perked up at hearing the new voice, before beaming a friendly smile to the new entry. “Oh, greetings there, new comrade. I am Icetales, a humble ice Vulpix like any other,” he greeted, bowing with respect. “Much pleased to make thy acquaintance.”

Petram emulated “daddy” by leaning forward, and Icetales chuckled in amusement.

“Good chap, Petram, good chap,” he said with a grin, then he redirected his attention to the Chikorita. “And what is thy name, good fellow?”

 

[IFBench]

Saltriv waved with their leaf at everyone who greeted them. "Nice to meet you all! I'm Saltriv!" they said with a smile, before turning towards Owen.

"What happened?" Saltriv asked, tilting their head slightly as they relaxed their leaf. They had barely any idea what was going on when they were ushered here. And what was with all these living stones? They were so cool!

 

[Ambyssin]

"No. This bloody enchanted rock feels like it's going to burn through my—" Bahamut stopped. "Wait, do I even have flesh? Or am I just a metal cat?" He tapped his forepaws together. "Seems like met— ow!"

A sizzle echoed through the room. Bahamut slammed his hand against the stone, only to yank it away as smoke rose off his crystalline palm. "Someone get that blasted Chip fellow on the line. This thing's going to self-destruct or something."

 

[Navar]

Icetales perked up at hearing the new voice, before beaming a friendly smile to the new entry. “Oh, greetings there, new comrade. I am Icetales, a humble ice Vulpix like any other,” he greeted, bowing with respect. “Much pleased to greet thee.”

Petram emulated “daddy” by leaning forward, and Icetales chuckled in amusement.

“Good chap, Petram, good chap,” he said with a grin, then he redirected his attention to the Chikorita. “And what is thy name, good fellow?”

Making friends was something the Marshtomp really hoped he could do. Saving the world too, but hopefully make friends along the way. He smiled to Icetales.

"Heya!" Shiron waved to the Vulpix. "Hope you're doing well!"

 

[Disco]

Mellow looked up from her corner at the sudden commotion. Wait- what? The rock was going to self destruct? She looked down at her own anxiously and watched it for any signs of strange behavior.

It rolled in another circle before coming to a stop, as if it was looking up at her. A staredown ensued between the two of them.

 

[Chibi Pika]

Starr followed along with Balm's instructions, slowly working off the dull pain that had followed after the previous day's mission. Pokemon healing, man. No matter how many times she's been banged up and mangled in this body, it still blew her mind to see what she could bounce back from. Would be kind of a shame to lose that once she went back to being human.

Her new form had taken some getting used to. Well, not as much of an adjustment as turning into a cat in the first place, but her proportions had changed wildly, with long, slender hind legs and bulky, heavily-muscled forelegs. Her balance had felt way off for the first few hours, but that was mostly subsiding by now.

Everyone had their rocks out with them. Starr had decided to not put very much thought into that. They weren't hurting anyone; they could do what they wanted. It didn't mean she had to care about hers.

Alongside her, Bob was rocking back and forth in a rough approximation of her movements. She still wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

 

[Cresselia92]

"Heya!" Shiron waved to the Vulpix. "Hope you're doing well!"

Icetales grinned at the Marshtomp. "That I am, good sir! Or, well..." he glanced at the fresh scratches he still had all over his body, "as well as we can get, I would say." He shrugged. "But, well, battle scars are to be expected, I reckon. Anyway, welcome aboard to the both of you. If you need anything, just let any of us know, alright? We are a swell company!"

"What happened?"

Icetales narrowed slightly his eyes. "Well, Sir Saltriv -- can I call thee Sir, yes? Anyway, let us just say that... plenty had happened in these days, and we recently survived a scuffle with an eldritch fusion of the creation gods of time, space and black matter, and... well, we met a daemonic Mew or something that has been a grievance for us, accompanied by a giant and twisted version of a Mew who kidnapped one of our allies' friends." He rubbed his chin with a paw. "At least, this is the short version of--"

But then, Petram started bumping into Icetales's forepaw, getting his attention.

"Oh? What is wrong, Petram?" he asked, looking at the rock with concern. He saw the rock was shifting uncomfortably on the spot, before motioning toward Bahamut. Icetales followed the direction and frowned when he noticed the events unfolding. "Sir Bahamut! W-what did thee do?"

 

[Namohysip]

"Uh--"

By now, everyone had stopped what they were doing on their stretches to stare at Bahamut and his stone. Owen held out his hands like a routine and Shady hopped onto them to get a better look forward.

"B-Bahamut? What's... maybe you should... step away from the stone?" He looked worriedly at Shady, who seemed to be staring back at him. Now that Owen thought about it, Shady was getting pretty excited, too. Much more energetic and lively and restless than before. Could that mean...?

Balm was already mumbling into his badge, calling for someone to arrive in case things got dicey.

 

[Navar]

Icetales grinned at the Marshtomp. "That I am, good sir! Or, well..." he glanced at the fresh scratches he still had all over his body, "as well as we can get, I would say." He shrugged. "But, well, battle scars are to be expected, I reckon. Anyway, welcome aboard to the both of you. If you need anything, just let any of us know, alright? We are a swell company!"

Everyone there was so nice, it was a good decision to accept the call, it seemed.

"You can just call me Shiron! It's fine and thanks!" the Marshtomp heard the commotion next to Bahamuth and turned his face around with a gasp, looking a little worried.

 

[IFBench]

Saltriv frowned a bit at being called sir. That felt uncomfortable.

"Could you call me Mx instead? I'm nonbina-" they stopped and gasped, as they saw what was happening with the large Pokemon they didn't recognize. That looked bad!

 

[SparklingEspeon]

The rock was just content to sit there forever, so Tricky decided to go do something more fitting of her time. She trotted over to where a group of pokemon had congregated around a newcomer Tricky hadn't seen before. Sparing a quick glance of jealousy at everymon else's active rocks, she squeezed through a few legs and promptly butted herself into the conversation. Then something else caught her attention: One of the stones was a bit too active, and causing that giant metal cat thing a good deal of distress.

"...Glad I don't have that one," Tricky mumbled sardonically. She then looked at the rock that was bouncing relentlessly on Owen's head. "Doesn't that hurt?"

 

[Persephone]

Cuicatl stretched out.

She had no idea what she was supposed to be doing since she couldn't see the instructions, but stretching her legs until they hurt and holding them there seemed like the right thing to do. Her teammates were talking about their rock collections. To be honest, she barely understood that either. It seemed like they were tied to their shadow selves, but Cuicatl had no desire to meet hers or carry it around. She'd sooner throw the rock down a well and hope it never bothered anyone again.

 

[Ambyssin]

Bahamut's core and eyes reddened. "Why is everyone so quick to assume something malicious when I'm involved?" He stomped a forepaw on the ground. "I haven't done anything to the stone other than keep it on my person and—"

A high-pitched squawk echoed from Bahamut's back. His red eyes turned white and his yellow-orange body flashed as his hackles raised and a low mewl rang out. "What the devil—"

The stone levitated off Bahamut's back. Squelches, schlurps, and schlorps sounded above Bahamut. He couldn't back away, because he was already up against the wall. If this was Diyem or Arceus' idea of a joke it was far from funny.

But it quickly became apparent this was no joke. Black goo formed around the glowing stone, semisolidifying into an egg shape. Three purple, luminescent spikes popped out the top, with the middle one being largest.

Bahamut's eyes went purple to match the purple eyes and smile that popped up on what was supposed to be his stone. "No... no, it can't be."

"BUT IT IS, BABYYYYY!"

A small black torso popped out the base of the egg, alongside two nubby arms, legs, and a small, luminescent tail that matched the eyes.

"Free at last! Free at last! Thank Pop almighty I'm free at last!" The definitely-not-a-stone-anymore newcomer spun around at high speeds. He shot glowing purple goo from his head's top needle, raining it down on Bahamut's teammates. "Whoo!" He floated to eye level with Bahamut. "You have no idea how stuffy it was in there." He paused. "Actually, no, wait, you do. How long did you spend in a crystal-coma again? One century? Two?" He shrugged. "Eh, what does it matter?"

Bahamut jaw slackened. "Y... you're..."

"Aww, c'mon, Baha Blast. Is that any way to treat your ol' poipole friend?" He flipped upside down. "Ah, now there's a big ol' smile!"

Bahamut abruptly turned away from Poipole. "I would like to submit my resignation from the team, effective immediately." He was ready to bolt out of the room.

 

[Persephone]

"I would like to submit my resignation from the team, effective immediately." He was ready to bolt out of the room.

"What? No! You're the only other dragon..."

 

[Navar]

Shiron couldn't proprely know what was going on, taking the goo off his body as soon as possible. That was... weird to say the least. No. That world couldn't convey whatever that scene was.

"What the fuck?" was all he could think.

 

[Ambyssin]

"Whoa, whoa! Not true!" Poipole zipped over to Cuicatl. "I'll have you know that if I make myself all big and naganadely... I become the fiercest dragon in all the cosm—"

Bahamut clamped a hand over Poipole's mouth. He squirmed against Bahamut's grasp. "Unless someone has an immediate answer for this witchcraft, I'm taking my leave."

Poipole raised a black, stubby arm.

"Not you!" Bahamut barked.

 

[Namohysip]

"I'm calling for everyone now," Balm told Bahamut. "Stay here--we don't know what just happened, but that thing's colors are like a Shade's, but... different."

"Right, and we can see him, too," Cepa added. "How did it...?"

Owen stared in awe, then looked at Shady. "And how about you?" he asked. "Are you gonna... manifest soon?"

Shady hopped eagerly.

 

[Ambyssin]

"Aww, look at you!" Poipole escaped Bahamut's grip and zoomed over to Owen. "Using big-boy SAT words. How adorable!" He noogied Owen's forehead.

"Please, Diyem, just strike me down now."

 

[Disco]

Mellow watched in shock and confusion as the stone in front of her began to transform into a Charmander, just like her. Except it wasn't her. The purple eyes and the grey-white flame, not to mention the twilight black scales to match her pearly stomach...

She swallowed and reached out. The other Charmander did too.

"Raven...?", Mellow whispered. A smile came to the other Charmander's face, but she shook her head sadly. Mellow seemed to sag a bit at that, but it made sense. She had come here alone. This clearly wasn't Diyem's doing. Mellow looked out at the others and their stones-turned-...something else entirely.

...It was a good thing she'd built her own hut. It was about to get really cramped in the dorms the others stayed in.

 

[Namohysip]

"I'm--okay, come on, do I seriously look like a kid?!"

"Kinda."

Owen stopped. What was that? He heard a voice that was new to him. Where could that have...?

He looked down. No, the stone was still there, Shady, just sitting around and rolling occasionally. But he knew he heard a voice somewhere.