Poppin' Arms ~ Dorm Lounge

[Persephone]

“Probably? The ones that create ghosts? Sorry, I can’t see it...”

 

[Negrek]

Right. Blind. Jesus, he was an asshole. "Uh, yeah," Nate said. "I dunno about ghosts, but the shades seem to like them pretty well. But you've gotta watch out, they set up some kind of psychic link to you, and once they do you can't get rid of them. Not a good idea if you're going to be weirded out by them all being in your head."

He set the stone down on the floor in case the deino wanted to... sniff it? Roll it around with her nose or something. Fuck. He should have paid more attention to how she was getting around earlier.

 

[Persephone]

“Oh, I’m fine with things being in my head. I was psychic back home. Had a twin.” It was okay. She could say that. Either he’d be back when she evolved, or the stone would revive him. The others were talking in hushed tones about whether their shades were really the people they knew, but they’d shared a mind. She had more of him catalogued than any of the others ever knew about their familiars. “We kind of shared brains sometimes.”

 

[Negrek]

"Holy shit, a psychic? Like, a real psychic, can move stuff with your mind and shit? Like Sabrina?" Sabrina... was fucking creepy. So he very much hoped not. "Well, I guess if you're used to sharing brains, you're all ready to evolve into zweilous, right? That's gotta be pretty badass."

Well, maybe. How the fuck would that even... work? Would you just be... normal somehow? Like maybe one of the heads was actually empty? Or would the deino develop some kind of split personality? Or creepier yet... What if, like, the second head was totally new? Like some other person you just woke up and found yourself stapled to one day.

Shit was fucked up. He was pretty sure a hydreigon's hand-heads weren't properly intelligent, but zweilous were just fucking weird.

 

[Persephone]

“Oh, I could never move stuff. Just talk to people silently, even if we spoke different languages.” She reached down and sniffed for the lump. It smelled like alcohol. Strange. She hadn’t heard that before. “Oh! And I can’t wait to evolve! I knew a hydreigon back home, and I saw what she could do~“

She reached down to pick up the rock with her mouth, just to make sure that it was real. That she was on track to things being right again. She gripped it and tasted the faint taste of cider. Odd, but irrelevant. She had it! So! Close!

Energy flowed into her and she dropped the rock in shock, just as she started to grow. Despite the unpleasant (but not painful) sensations, she would have laughed if she could still control her body.

It faded. Had it worked? Was he here? She turned to face her second head. “Hi! Are you-“

It flopped down to the ground. She waited. And waiter. The head didn’t get back up.

 

[Negrek]

"Oh, shit, yeah, hydreigon are fucking awesome," Nate said wistfully. "Wish I could have seen one in person sometime, but obviously you don't get none in Kanto very--" He was interrupted by the thud of the shade-stone when it fell from the deino's mouth. She was glowing. And growing.

Fucking seriously? How many pokémon were going to up and fucking evolve right in front of his face? Nate scowled, but when one of the now-zweilous' heads flopped over and stayed that way, annoyance rapidly curdled into horror. Oh, shit. Did something go wrong? Was this what happened when a creature of darkness or whatever the fuck tried to evolve and there wasn't a soul to fill the second head or some shit?

And... And she was just fucking standing there. What the fuck was he supposed to do? Like, poke the other head. Try to lift it... up? Jesus.

Nate cleared his throat. "Um, are you... okay?"

Oh, yeah, that was great. Real fucking smooth. She was definitely fine, with one of her heads lying there like it was fucking dead.

 

[Persephone]

This was fine. This was fine. She was fine. This was okay. She was okay. Maybe he couldn’t be in this body because he was in in stone. Then he could have a body of his own when this was all over.

She gently reached down and picked the head up before moving it onto her back. She made sure to place it like she curled her neck back when she was sleeping. The head never resisted, or gave any other signs it was alive beyond a steady inhale and exhale.


“Can you take me to the infirmary? I want to get this checked out.” Cuicatl tried to keep panic from bleeding into her voice. She wasn’t sure if she succeeded or not.

 

[Negrek]

Nate tried not to stare while the zweilous picked up her comatose head and settled it on her back. Not that it would have mattered if he stared because, you know, blind. Fuck. That really wasn't what he needed to be focusing on right now. That really--

"Uh!" He started when the zweilous spoke up again. "Uh, yeah! I saw a sign for the infirmary back by the stairs. I can take you there, sure." He held the door open for the zweilous, then awkwardly brushed past her to take the lead, doing his absolute best not to jostle the comatose head. It was hard to lead the zweilous along when she could easily outpace him--Nate was basically running down the corridor to try and stay ahead. Which was fine, he'd have to be reining himself in to not be running because good Christ what the fuck, but he couldn't tell if the zweilous was freaking out, too, or she just usually moved that fast. She hadn't sounded that worried earlier, but who the hell wouldn't be?

Jesus fuck, what if she just completely collapsed or something? He'd be totally fucked then. Not like he could carry her or nothing. Nate pushed himself to jog a little faster, breathing hard and hoping desperately for the stairway to appear. Hopefully this damn infirmary didn't prove too fucking hard to find.

<><><><>​

 

[Torchic]

Cino wasn't sure why he still felt like this. He had been trying to get himself back into fighting, but the mindset was hindering him from doing so.

And the voice, of course. Fuck that thing.

He was sitting in the lounge while the party was in full swing. Somehow, he didn't feel like celebrating with the others.

The last couple days, his ultra stone felt weird. It had moved by itself for a while now, but now it also did something different: it talked to him. Telepathically. Cino thought he was going crazy, but no. It really talked to him. It sounded like it had missed Cino.

The most bizarre thing about this stone was that something came out of it very recently. Three gray feathers on top of its head, as gray as the rest of its body. Talons clacked on the floor as the monochrome Pokemon walked around.

This has got to be the strangest thing that had happened to him.

"So your name is Tary?"

"Mhm! But why didn't you recognise me, Cino?" His voice was like a child's, playful and high pitched. "We were best friends! We still are best friends, right?"

He was a friend of Cino? He never met this Torchic in his life, and yet his monochrome buddy claimed to know Cino from back home. "Uh... yeah, yeah... we are." He laughed nervously. "Tary."

 

[Namohysip]

"I must say, that's a weird one," S'more commented, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. The Marshadow paced along, occasionally glancing at his badge for updates on the situation in the Sand Continent. "Typically these Shades manifest as someone familiar to the host, or some aspect of them. Apparently even that Calorie Shade is familiar to Owen... though he never elaborated on why. Hm. But this one... No recollection at all, Cino?"

 

[Torchic]

He shook his head. "None at all. I never met this Torchic in my life."

Tary seemed to be disappointed and surprised at the same time. He took a step nearer to Cino. "But, but we used to play every day! We played all kinds of games together! And you say you never did any of this with me? What about when I showed you this shiny rock I found? You acted weird after that..."

"I did what? Shiny rock? Tary, I'm sorry, but I can't remember anything of what you talked about. What kind of shiny rock?"

"The red one that looked like a triangle."

 

[Namohysip]

S'more paused. "Shiny, triangular rock?" he asked. "Why, that sounds quite a bit like... mm. Well. It may be a mere coincidence, really." Different worlds made for different rules, after all. There was no telling what it could have truly been.

 

[Torchic]

"Triangular rock...?" Cino repeated. Had they really found such a peculiar formed rock? He tried thinking about it real hard, but nothing came of it. The Torchic might as well be fabricating stories of events that had never happened. Cino shook his head. "I don't..."

"Cino..."

The Minccino looked around the room, trying to find an answer to his apparent memory loss. His eyes focused on the Marshadow checking his badge again. "S'more...?" He tried to get his attention. "Is there any way for me getting my memories back? I don't- I don't know anything about this Torchic here. You said that those shades were linked to our memories, right? So... why do I not remember anything about him?"

Tary felt uneasy being still called a shade. "I'm not one of those anymore, Cino. Don't call me that please..."

 

[Namohysip]

S'more frowned. This Shade had taken on a very powerful identity, despite Cino having no recollection of it. He should probably mention this to Chip and the others later.

"Hmm, memory recollection," he said. "I do believe we have a means to restore some of that, if you like. If it's possible. It probably wasn't suppressed by any Blacklight matters like what happened to Owen when you all had first arrived, so perhaps it is merely... within, somewhere."

 

[Torchic]

"So you think it's still here, but locked away, or something?" Cino tilted his head. "Because this had to be before I got sent here. If I try to remember back before I went out exploring, it's mostly a blank, or very blurry. The most I remember are my parents, of course, and our village, as I grew up in there my whole life up to this point." Cino sighed. "But as to what had happened or what I had done exactly, that's where it's a blank."

Tary whimpered all of a sudden. Cino curiously glanced towards him. It was like Cino had just insulted the Torchic.

"Is something wrong, Tary? What happened?"

He took a while to answer, looked at the ground beneath Cino and back at him a couple times. Was Tary thinking about something? "It's alright... I'm fine."

"Ok..."

 

[Namohysip]

S'more frowned. Things were certainly not fine. But it also wasn't his place, and he doubted he had the time to look into this right then. With a nod, he said, "Be sure to approach someone if you find something new. Would you like me to set you up with a memory specialist, by chance? We have a few of those here in Destiny Village, you see..."

 

[Torchic]

Cino nodded. "That would be appreciated." He sighed. "I can't believe the human back home has to live with this terrible condition. It's kind of scary, to be honest. You don't even realize you have memory loss or not, you know? Until someone told you something you were supposed to remember." Cino stood up. "You know what I mean-"

Tary suddenly stood in front of Cino, blocking his path to S'more, unsure what to say if Cino asked him what his deal was.

"Tary?" The Torchic managed to mimic Cino's side stepping perfectly. "What- what are you doing?"

"I can't let you go."

"Why? Don't you want me to remember you?"

Tary continued to look stern, but also trembled a little. "You will stay here."

"Tary, what-"

He pushed Cino back to his seat. "Don't go. Please."

Cino was getting annoyed. "Tary, he's not gonna hurt me. He'll help me remember you, and anything else that might be-"

Tary stomped his foot. "No. Don't go."

Cino looked pleadingly towards S'more.

 

[Namohysip]

S'more, conflicted, glanced between the Shade and host. "I imagine Tari has your best interest in mind," he said, "...but it is also worth noting that, whatever he may be afraid of, that is far and away from Cibus. From what I understand, you are just yourself here. And, simply put..." S'more frowned. "This would be the best time to encounter something that may be dangerous, if the time is right."

 

[Torchic]

"Oh, yeah. It showed itself already, though. Though it was shortly after arriving here where it happened. I was with Nate, the Mudkip. He helped me calm down and the thing has been quiet ever since. I think Nate said it was a... Deoxys?"

"It's- it's heeere?" Tary panicked. "It followed you?! You didn't just imagine it being here, right? Cino?"

"No. Even Nate saw it. So it had to be real. It followed me. Or at least it managed to merge with my mind?" Cino wasn't sure how to properly describe it. Maybe the Blacklight did something to Cino?

"Maybe... the Deoxys made me forget?"

 

[Namohysip]

S'more tilted his head. "Pretty sure we'd sense a Deoxys," he said. "Hmm, that's quite odd. But it's more likely that some aspect of Deoxys formed in the back of your mind, and that's how it 'followed' you here. Deoxys is not literally here... The one from your world, at least... Hmm. But the Blacklight can likely make it manifest as it had before." S'more's eyes lit up slightly. "Perhaps, similar to Owen, you can take advantage of that manifestation."