Reverse World ~ Downsideup City

[Namohysip]

At the edge, or perhaps the center, of the Reverse World is a three-dimensional archipelago of hollowed-out rocks and other formations. Within each one were several small settlements and homes that only the Reverse inhabitants truly understood how to differentiate. There were no roads and no streets here; the hardy Pokemon of the Reverse World leapt from one island to the other, following gravity wells and other unseen forces to land as they preferred.

Down, up, left, right, it didn't really matter here. The residents apparently had a sixth sense for which way was... each direction, but it rarely made any sense. It was a logic only they could follow.

In the outskirts, where the archipelago thinned, smaller, residential islands floated.

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Brisa and Starr had been taken from the rocky outcrops to some other patch of land. Something warm and fuzzy covered them. It was too thin to be anything alive, and it felt very warm, though that may have been due to being over them for so long.

Hot breath puffed over Starr's face; a great Salamence stared down at her, blinking curiously. His breaths were low and rumbling, though he didn't seem to do anything else...

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

Brisa roused herself first. Maybe Starr was hit harder by the use of her Radiance, maybe Brisa was simply more robust. In any case, she let the human-litten rest.

Her tactical mind flickered into sputtering life to assess her situation. She was... warm. Her sliced-up paw had been bandaged. The dragon before them was waiting patiently for them to recover, and beyond him, there lay a landscape that threatened to make her head spin. She looked this draconic stranger in the eye and saw no malice. It took her a moment to construct an appropriate greeting.

"Well met," she said to the dragon, thickly. "I am Shinx Brisket, and this is Litten Anise. I take it you saved us, for which I am grateful. We are strangers to your land, and hope to return to our friends in Treasure Town, Cibus, with urgency. How d'you do?"

She couldn't help but glance back to Starr. She was still breathing, okay, good. Even if she never looked Brisa in the eye again after this, at least they'd escaped that pit together. That was enough.

 

[Namohysip]

"Brisket? Anise?" Salamence tilted his head, an odd youthfulness in his voice. "Those are weird names."

He pulled away from Starr and lumbered over to Brisa, bowing respectfully. "I'm doing good, ma'am. I was more worried about you! I saw you guys fighting by an empty island and thought you were in some kind of trouble. I brought you right back to--"

"Pebble, are they awake?" called a tiny voice, and soon after, a Bagon came walking inside.

"Mom!" Pebble, the Salamence, lumbered over to the Bagon and nodded. "Look! They're awake! And they have funny names!"

"Pebble, be nice." The little Bagon waggled a hand at Pebble, then smiled at Brisa. "Hello. Are you feeling alright? My name is Boulder. I hope my son wasn't bothering you at all. Ah, would you like some mud at all, Shinx?"

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

Brisa smiled dryly. More nonsense it was. That was alright. Unlimited nonsense was better than starving to death in a dark hole with someone who hated her. (Did Starr hate her? She didn't fucking know anymore.)

"I'm sure feelin' better, Ma'am. Your son saved our lives, for which I'm sorely grateful. Our real names are Brisa and Starr, but we've been going by aliases in Cibus due to some difficulties in translatin' our language."

She sat back and let her eyes droop for a moment and her shoulders rest. Bed rest. She'd be back on goddamn bed rest again after this.

"I hope you'll humour me, Ma'am, seein' as we're not from this world. What's 'mud' and why might we want some?"

 

[Namohysip]

"Brisa and Starr, hm? Now those are even stranger names if I'd ever heard one. Well, in any case... not from here? How odd! Well, mud's good for you. Not good for Pebble, of course, but good for a Shinx and a Litten. I thought you'd appreciate it, and we have some laying around. Or maybe a dirt bath? Would you like some?"

Pebble had left the room. "She can roll around in the garden!" he called back.

"Are you hungry, dear?" Boulder asked Brisa.

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

Brisa nodded without hesitation. "Yes, Ma'am, we haven't eaten in some days. I appreciate your hospitality. And, ah, do call me Shinx if that's less discomfitin'. Or would a name like... 'Breccia' help me fit in around here?"

Mud? Mud. Either it meant something different here, or it had different properties, or shinx and litten had different properties here. This was too much to worry about for her bruised mind, but the sheer absurdity kept a weak smile on her face.

 

[Namohysip]

"Breccia... that's a lovely name." Boulder nodded. "Though, I don't understand. If you haven't eaten in so long, why are you denying a good meal?" She sighed, shaking her head. "You must be from a very polite world. I'll get you some food. Is that okay?" She was already heading out.

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

"I am very hungry," answered Brisa, quietly, not sure whether her nod or her 'yes' or both had been taken for its opposite meaning. This was gonna give her such a headache.

She waited until Boulder left to lay down and rub her face with her paws. Gods. Fuck. She just wanted to be back in Cibus. She wanted to see a friendly face. Not Curio, not until she was feeling well again. Astrid... she wasn't sure about. How would Astrid react to what had happened? Owen, maybe. He'd had that gentleness to him when she'd embarrassed herself in the Bluff, and she could look at him without her heart fucking aching. Goddamn it was going to be good to kick the shit out of each other again.

She looked back at Starr, still asleep. What were things going to be like between them, now? Probably Starr would still give her shit as usual. Or even more shit that usual, who fucking knew? Maybe from now on Brisa could manage to tolerate that. That would be something.

 

[Namohysip]

"Ohh, I see. I must have misheard you, I'm sorry. Goodness, I hope I'm not getting old already!" The Bagon laughed. She spoke while in the kitchen in the other room, which was giving off an odd odor. "Ahh, to be young with wings again..."

Pebble had flown off somewhere, likely to play with his friends again, or whatever these inhabitants did in their strange world.

"Here. I'll give you something light first. If you haven't eaten for so long, a light meal would be better, right?"

Boulder returned with a tray of berries balanced on her head, which she gently placed in front of Brisa. It held Oren Berries, dark Pechas that oozed a dubiously bile-yellow fluid, and a purple... lump of something. "I'll be back with your full meal later," she said. "Would some bread do?"

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

Brisa swallowed hard. Politeness was important. You didn't turn down hospitality. She glanced at Starr's sleeping form again, and decided that food poisoning could probably finish the litten off.

"Thank you for this, Ma'am," she said with care, "but I fear our bodies work differently to yours, what with comin' from a different world. Orens are, ah, toxic to us, and while I gotta wonder if orans are toxic to you by the same token, I , um. Can't help but ask if you know where we might find some...?"

Dread rose in her gut. Not mundane dread about pain and mortality, no. This was worse. This was the dread of offending a sweet old lady whose hospitality she had accepted. She tensed in anticipation of Boulder's face falling, and the agony that she would feel. This could be how she died.

 

[Namohysip]

"Orans... You eat those?" Boulder looked horrified, and then glanced down at the plate of food. "Goodness... Your world sounds completely backwards! Literally! Hmm. I'm not really sure what we can do here, but... Ohh, you certainly wouldn't be able to last here if you're eating poison to survive!" Boulder looked back. "I suppose you came here by some strange circumstance. You might need to see Giratina."

"Giratina?" Pebble asked, looking into their home with a head tilt. "Wasn't She flying around a few days ago looking for something? She seemed really in a rush..."

"Oh, she was, wasn't she?" Boulder said. "Now that you mention it... she said that if we ever found some strange Pokemon, we would have to send them down so they could return home. Oh!" She spun around. "Why, that must be you! Come! I know just how to help you! So sorry for the trouble. Are you afraid of falling?"

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

"That must be us!" exclaimed Brisa, desperate relief bleeding back into her voice. "We should hurry back. Oh, fallin'? I got no trouble with heights. As for my- my, uh. My friend, I have no idea, but she might as well remain unconscious for the trip. I hope your son won't mind carrying her."

She glanced at Starr again, unsure if she should wake her companion. Yeah, companion, not 'friend.' Starr wasn't gonna like her just because they'd kept each other alive. That was the bare minimum, right? Yeah. If Starr came to, Brisa would just have to explain their situation and get another earful about how stupid she was. No, it was best not to wake Starr.

Brisa's stomach clenched in anticipation of vertigo, but she stood, and waited to be shown out.

 

[Namohysip]

It took some time to prepare, but eventually Brisa and Starr were brought to the outside of their home--which turned out to be a stone-made building much like the other floating islands. They went to the edge of the island, which had a sheer abyss below it, though that was the same for all directions.

Pebble had both of them on his back, and he stretched his wings.

"Don't be a stranger, now!" Boulder called, waving. "Hope to see you again!"

Pebble then lifted off, making sure Brisa had Starr secured on his back. He took a few wingbeats forward...

And then flipped, thwacking both of them with his tail, as he sent the pair freefalling through the abyss.

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

Brisa grit her teeth hard enough to hurt, and clung tight to Starr. Just a little more bullshit left, and they'd be home. Not long now. Home soon. Home soon.

'Home.'

Cibus wasn't home.

It wasn't Starr's home. Or Astrid's. Or Curio's.

Or hers.

She told herself she just wanted to be back there for the mission, for some good food, for a chance to make things right. That Cibus was the natural destination for now, but not forever. It was no more her home than this inverted plane they now hurtled through. But she was lying to herself, and she knew it. She'd feel this way again in days to come...

...if it weren't for that she'd forget all of this anyway.

Home soon.

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[Namohysip]

The world felt like it didn't know what up and down was anymore. From a portal in the sky, God Squad and Team Spectrum tumbled through and landed on a floating island just in the outskirts of Downsideup City. But why did Maple send them here...? What was--

"No..." Maple shakily got to her feet. "...N...No! JOULE!"

The team got their bearings. But what they saw, as the light faded...

There were two figures. One was a lot like Bahamut, but the colors were all wrong... And in front of that creature, hatching from a cocoon of black-white light...

Spoiler: It can't be...

The Blacklight Dragon has appeared!

The Blacklight Dragon used Scary Face on Zane, Astrid, and Celeste!
Zane: -2 Speed
Astrid: Dodged!
Celeste: Dodged!
The Blacklight Dragon used Spacial Rend on Zane, Astrid, and Cabot!
Zane: 79
Astrid: A grazing CRITICAL 22
Cabot: Dodged!
The Blacklight Dragon used Photon Geyser on Zane, Astrid, and Cabot.
Zane: 63
Astrid: 27
Cabot: Dodged!

The Blacklight Dragon used Blacklight Creation! It gained +2 Valor!

Blacklight Dragon: 15000

Joule: 99,999

Joule is too far away to strike!

We're in the Reverse World! Type matchups are inverted!

But Maple ignored it. She jumped off of the creature's back and went straight for the Necrozma, blade forming once more.

"Shit," Soda cursed. "You guys deal with Arceus' conjoined twins! Triplets, whatever! Maple's gonna get Joule!" At least, that was the plan.

 

[Ambyssin]

Bahamut was willing to overlook getting dragged through a portal against his will when he couldn't make portals.

He was willing to overlook the hideously-colored doppelganger showing up to crash the party.

He was willing to overlook the sense that things were off with this realm. Off in the sense that his aura felt completely inverted.

He was even willing to overlook the absolute eyesore that was this fusion daemon.

But it was using Photon Geyser.

His light.

His attack.

His. Fucking. Attack.

That he couldn't even use because of Diyem's stupid ass-backwards spirit rebuilding nonsense.

"I fucking hate god-dragons."

 

[Tanuki]

Zane simply wanted to roll over and nap, but the universe decided that meant he wanted to spin and tumble across the world while space itself collapsed around him. Great. Now, he had to wake up from his nap. Utterly diabolical.

He pushed himself up to his knees, saw the dragon, and made the strategic decision to curl up into the fetal position. “What are ya, scared?”

“Yes,” Zane answered.

Zane’s shadow loomed over him, its gaze soaked in disgust. “Oh, come on. You already died! What’s the worst it can do to you?”

“Kill me.”

His shadow rubbed the bridge of its nose. “Doesn’t that piss you off!? Don’t you wanna beat that abomination’s head in for smacking you around like a ragdoll?”

Zane gave his response very little thought. “I could, but I could also lay here and let it not do that.”

“For the love of—” the shadow’s grit teeth suddenly turned into a wide smile. “All right, you wanna play ball?” Before Zane could ask for some clarification, his shadow took three steps back and, with a running start, kicked Zane directly towards the amalgam.

Zane shouted more expletives than he knew until his shadow formed around him just in time to plant his claws in the dragon’s leg. Zane used Shadow Boxer!

Red overlapped blue overlapped red, as if his form needed a pair of 3D goggles to comprehend. Zane’s claws ripped out and tore into the dragon with jabs, uppercuts, bobs, precisely one weave, and a leap out of the line of fire. “Come on, ain’t y’all siblings?!” When the hell did you get a southern accent? “Don’t y’all know goin’side y’own siblin’ ain’t right?”
Zane wanted to bury his head in his claws, but his shadow was too busy using them to beg for the amalgam to attack. I’m going to murder you if we make it out of this alive.

“Don’t worry, I’ve got us covered.” Zane and his shadow brought their arms in front of themselves, two flashes of light creating a blue and then a red shield around them, just translucent enough to turn all light that passed through a Deep Purple. Zane(?) used Protect X2!

“Whew,” his shadow gasped. “It sure is tough not being a sniveling coward! Glad I’ve got Pop’s blessing on my side!” As if by divine intervention, an icy cool can of Pop Star popped into Zanes’s hand(s?). He cracked it open, the invigorating snap emanating throughout the battlefield moments before it went vertical over Zanes’s mouth, pouring its divine contents down into the blessed vessel.

“Aaaahhh,” Zane sighed. “Absolutely heavenly.”

 

[Disco]

Mellow groaned from where she had fallen. They had won. Or they should have won. But now they were somewhere else, and everything felt so backwards and mixed up...

But more importantly, there was something that should have been impossible in front of them. But these were Legends- nothing was impossible with them. So now they had to face a creature that was all three of the maintainers of time, space, and beyond. Wonderful. She glanced up at Maple. ...Something Palkia had said, and the way he'd acted, when Maple had taken him out...

It bothered her.

She was supposed to be something that she clearly wasn't.

Mellow watched her rush off to face the strange Pokémon that looked like Bahamut used to look. Some kind of Legendary, and just as corrupted as the three they just fought. Whatever. They could do this without her. Plus the so-called "God Squad" could actually help them now. The Charmander turned to give her full attention to their opponent and got ready to lend the rest of the team a hand.

 

[Shiny Phantump]

I used to think this place was like being in a storybook. Now, if it were a storybook, I’d be complaining that it had become absurdly over-the-top... and yet here I stand...

 

[Namohysip]

Dauntless wasn't the most appropriate term, but it was the closest thing the team had to discuss things. They had no choice but to keep fighting, after all. And they had to figure out any sense of strength that these Legends had.

Curio's dual Radiant Fists dealt 90 damage total and reduced its defense by 1!
Owen's Small Blast Seed dealt 50 damage!
Zane's Shadow Boxer dealt 12 damage!
Celeste's double Assurance dealt a total of 140 damage!
Astrid's three Iron Thorns dealt a total of 198 damage!
Brisa's double Wild Charge dealt 246 damage, taking 24 damage in recoil! Her Iron Thorn dealt an extra 45!
Starr's double Shadow Claws dealt 136 damage
Cabot's double Iron Tail dealt 520 damage!

"O-okay," Owen said slowly, looking between them all. "It... it seems like he's really strong. We might need to concentrate all our attacking power at once just to get it to stumble!"

"Gah, get ready! It looks mad!" Soda called.

The Blacklight Dragon used Gravity! Gravity around the Blacklight Dragon got really intense!
The Blacklight Dragon used Photon Geyser on Zane, Astrid, and Celeste!
Zane: Protect!
Astrid: Dodged!
Celeste: Dodged!
The Blacklight Dragon used Roar of Time on Zane, Astrid, and Bahamut!
Zane: Protect!
Astrid: 107
Bahamut: Dodged!
The Blacklight Dragon used Surf!
Astrid: 18
Bahamut: Grazing 22
Brisa: 35
Cabot: Dodged!
Celeste: 26
Curio: 45
Dave: 13
Mellow: 11
Owen: Protect!
Starr: Grazing 22
Vix: 18
Zane: CRITICAL 32

Celeste's Riposte countered the Blacklight Dragon for a total of 168 damage!

The Blacklight Dragon's intense Pressure is putting a lot of fighters off balance...

Meanwhile, Maple was jumping from island to island, sometimes using her portals to warp from place to place before making huge leaps toward Joule in the middle of the sky. She conjured her blade and slashed through him, merciless.

Maple's Blinding Blade dealt 1195 damage!

But the moment she went flying past him for another island, Joule opened his mouth and fired a concentrated, ultra-fast beam of light into Maple's back. Her shrill cry split the air, far louder than it should have been.

Joule's Blinding Ion dealt 4737 damage to Maple!

"Maple!" Soda shouted, but his only reply was a grunt when Maple slammed hard into one of the islands, leaving a small crater.

Blacklight Dragon: 13,494

Joule: 98,804