Zinnia's Multiverse Madness! (Roleplay, March 4-13)

[Fusion]

He frowned, supressing his annoyance. "Kora?"

Kora blinked, then tilted his head. It took him a moment or two to remember who this guy was. A bright, friendly grin was plastered on his face as soon as he did, and Kora bounded on over to his "friend." At least who he considered a friend. "It's Kora! I mean, Koa! It's been so long!" he chirped.

"What about you? What powers did you have?" Jean looked back at Vix. "I bet a Chandelure'd use fire, right? I can too!" She caught herself and winced. "Well, sort of."

Vix's flame shone brightly in her glass dome, and a proud, jagged grin cracked onto her face. "Oh, I could make people stronger, make everyone tankier, and create a giant bomb of energy!" she said, puffing out her "chest." "And I could also change into an entirely different Pokemon too, and he was crazy strong." She decided not to mention her ability to melt, since it wasn't all that amazing. What kind of hero is seen as cool for being a puddle half the time?

 

[IFBench]

Gen's ears pricked up, and he waddled towards the Chandelure. Something about that sounded familiar...wait, Saltriv had told him about a Chandelure with those powers, didn't they? After they woke up with Dill.

"Um...a-are you Vix?" Gen asked, wanting to make sure.

 

[Flyg0n]

Kora blinked, then tilted his head. It took him a moment or two to remember who this guy was. A bright, friendly grin was plastered on his face as soon as he did, and Kora bounded on over to his "friend." At least who he considered a friend. "It's Kora! I mean, Koa! It's been so long!" he chirped.

Despite his annoyance, it felt... good to see someone he knew. Could that mean-? He frantically looked around the area again, trying to search for any other familiar faces. A flash of a dark mane, or an ice white pelt? Nothing. But he did see a strangely familiar Chandelure. Was that Vix?

"Hey Kora," he said, smiling slightly.

 

[Dragonfree]

Kora blinked, then tilted his head. It took him a moment or two to remember who this guy was. A bright, friendly grin was plastered on his face as soon as he did, and Kora bounded on over to his "friend." At least who he considered a friend. "It's Kora! I mean, Koa! It's been so long!" he chirped.

Dave looked up. Kora was approaching a... teenage boy? Koa?

Vix's flame shone brightly in her glass dome, and a proud, jagged grin cracked onto her face. "Oh, I could make people stronger, make everyone tankier, and create a giant bomb of energy!" she said, puffing out her "chest." "And I could also change into an entirely different Pokemon too, and he was crazy strong." She decided not to mention her ability to melt, since it wasn't all that amazing. What kind of hero is seen as cool for being a puddle half the time?

Jean was still captivated by Vix. "Ooh! That's really cool! You could do basically everything!" Offensive and defensive support, energy bombs, transformations... "Were you the leader?"

Oh, good Christ. Dave did not want to imagine Vix as the leader of Team Spectrum. Surely Jean'd be fine here for a minute, right? With Vix...? No, who the fuck was he kidding, Vix had grabbed children and tried to take them to the fucking moon where they all got obliterated.

Keeping a close eye on Jean, he stepped in Koa's direction. "Koa? Team Spectrum Koa?"

 

[Venia Silente]

"Lyle. Lyle the Fleetfoot," the Quilava answered. "I... was kinda about to get some rest before I met the Bagon that all brought us here."

Lyle paused and curled his lip a moment, as some of the terminology that he'd been hearing struck him as odd.

"Though what is a 'theme park'? Aren't we in some sort of fair at the moment?" he asked. "I mean, it's probably the most empty fair that I've ever seen, but still."

Kalas and Tiana looked at each other and then they turned back to the Quilava.

"Well technically—" the Fearow started, before Tiana interrupted him.

"Uhm so they are different things? I... I have never been allowed outside of the city, some of these places feel like they'd be the samey to me." She pointed a wing up. "Besides the weird sky."

Kalas nodded. "We're used to more... rural fairs. I mean, I am. Anyway," he added, eyeing Lyle up and down, "how's you're the 'Fleetfoot'?"

Koa stepped through the portal, the world rushing into focus around him, until he could make out the familiar sight of an amusement park. Unable to help himself, he smiled a little. He'd been to one, once, when Blake took him to one in Unova. Something else had resurfaced as well. Old memories. Right, this wasn't his first multiverse trip...

He scanned the assembled pokemon. This group, seemed to have a fair deal of humans and pokemon alike. Well, might as well make the best of this strange excursion.

"Hey everyone," he said, giving a wave.

Tiana waved at the human and added a chirp as a greeting. "You a visitor too?"

Dave sighed. "Don't talk like a baby doesn't talk. No complex communication. Don't mind her, she just hasn't been to, uh, other universes before."

"It's so cool that you can, though!" she said brightly. "I've always wanted a talking Pokémon!"

Good fucking God. "Jean. They're people, not pets."

Kalas craned his neck as he turned to take a look at Jean. "A-ha, sure... so Pokémon in your universe are not like us?"

Tiana's feathers bristled at the idea of being considered a potential pet, and she idly preened herself as she eyed Jean. "I'm fine on my own, but thanks for the... high regard? I guess."

Kalas worked up some courage and walked up to Jean to ask. "So, you don't look exactly like the Pokémon I know. Are the others in your world like you, too?"

 

[Sinderella]

"Um...my name is Gen. I'm a b-boy. I..."

He trailed off. He briefly considered saying that he was human, though decided against it.

Furrowing his brow, Dorien placed a hand on his hip.

“I believe the term you want is ‘male.’ ‘Boy’ implies that you’re a human, and you’re a Pokemon.”

“It’s…it’s the same thing,” Odette said dejectedly.

“No, no. The connotations are different.” He paused for a while, then looked back down at Gen. “Also, why do you keep stammering like you’re scared? Nothing bad has happened.” Yet.

His eyes widened as he realized what he said. “Ohhh, wait. Do you have like…a problem? Like, medical problem? Oh. Woops.” A frown. “Then I probably shouldn’t be talking about it. Oh dear.”

He turned back to the group, freezing as he saw a woman he recognized well. So, she did come. A smile quickly rose to his face, though it faded a bit as he noticed she had company. It'd be harder to attack her like that... but he'd find a way.

He pocketed his hands and approached her. "Well, well, well, if it isn't Odette. Who's your boyfriend?"

Gods, Odette wanted to smack him. “Dorien, just—“

She saw movement from the corner of her eye, and with a slight turn of her head, she saw the man in the red shirt moving toward them. Now that he was facing them, she could see that that smiling face was indeed far too familiar. She glared, before turning her head.

“Motherfucker,” she raged under her breath.

Dorien shot a look at her. “What? What’s—“

He was cut off by Red speaking as he approached. Dorien looked him up and down before pursing his lips. He knew Odette? How on Earth?

Another gross, yet welcome feeling enveloped his chest. How many men were going to keep eyeing his pre—woman? His woman.

Odette didn’t look at Red at first, instead glaring at a nearby bumper car ride. After a long pause, she sighed deeply. “Bonjour Scarlet,” she said sarcastically. That was when she finally looked at him. “What, no tendrils this time?”

Her glare hardened when he mentioned Dorien, and for a second, she wanted to pretend she had no clue what he was talking about. But, Dorien picked up the slack.

“I’m Dorien,” he said quizzically. “And you are? Scarlet?”

 

[IFBench]

“I believe the term you want is ‘male.’ ‘Boy’ implies that you’re a human, and you’re a Pokemon.”

“It’s…it’s the same thing,” Odette said dejectedly.

Gen whimpered, clutching tighter onto his reunion cape. He wasn't supposed to be a Pokemon. He was supposed to be human.

 

[Fusion]

Jean was still captivated by Vix. "Ooh! That's really cool! You could do basically everything!" Offensive and defensive support, energy bombs, transformations... "Were you the leader?"

Vix's look of pride seemed to double, or perhaps even triple? If one looked at her carefully, they could probably see her head actually inflating from all this praise. She totally forgot how great it felt to be looked up to, and obviously if she bragged about being the leader, she'd be looked up to even more. It's not like anyone here could fact check her... Other than Dave, and if Kora was to be taken seriously, also Koa.

...Maybe if Vix tried to sound humble about it, they wouldn't get on her case? "Well yeah, but I didn't wanna put myself above anyone else so I decided to take a more supportive role. Let everyone else get their chance in the spotlight from time to time." That was pretty much the truth too, therefore, it wasn't a total lie and Vix could continue to be praised with a clear conscious. Everybody wins!

"Hey Kora," he said, smiling slightly.

"Howdy howdy! I'm surprised you guys got to remember me!" Kora snickered, realizing he towered over Koa and sitting on the floor. "What've you been up to since all that Cibus shtuff? Did you get younger too? You looked a whole lot older when you were spiky and zappy... and mostly blue."

 

[IFBench]

Well yeah

Gen's eyes widened. "Y-you were the leader?" That was definitely not something Saltriv told him.

Wait, he should still make sure. "Um...did y-you meet someone named S-Saltriv?"

 

[Flyg0n]

Tiana waved at the human and added a chirp as a greeting. "You a visitor too?"

"Something like that, I guess," he said amicably. "Name's Koa, by the way." No reason not to just go by that, here. No one would remember him later.

"Howdy howdy! I'm surprised you guys got to remember me!" Kora snickered, realizing he towered over Koa and sitting on the floor. "What've you been up to since all that Cibus shtuff? Did you get younger too? You looked a whole lot older when you were spiky and zappy... and mostly blue."

"Just going back to my regular life. I... welll you know, I just ended up forgetting everything." He shrugged. "I'm the same age I always was. I think." He had no idea how time on Cibus worked, or if he'd aged. Something else about Kora's words made him pause. "You guys? Is there more of us? Other than Vix?" he added glancing in her direction. He didn't see anyone else he knew.

 

[The Walrein]

"Well, my mom is a human who got turned into a Zoroark. And my dad was just a... well not regular ol' Lucario, but he wasn't a human at least," Kora explained, crossing his arms and tilting his head from side to side, thoughtful. "So, yeah, Half-Human. A Halfbreed as some people call me, and I'm kind of uh... unique kinda creature too. Not because I'm a halfbreed, that's probably the most normal thing about me, hehe!"

Hmm. This was an odd definition of half-human, although perhaps it made more sense in the Zoroark's world - could Pokemon inherit abilities from their parent's previous bodies there? Pandelume simply nodded wordlessly.

"We do have Gastly and Klink. Can't say we have the specifics concepts you're using, but Pokémon can use moves, yeah. Power to manipulate their bodies and environment and channel energy in ways only Pokémon can do, that we can measure but still can't replicate artificially. Science has never detected anything like a 'soul'. What do you mean by 'soul-affecting' abilities - like, psychic shit? Because over in my world that all just works via the brain. Squishy neural network that experiences consciousness all by itself."

"You have Gastly and Klink? Interesting. If they truly don't have souls, I cannot think what gives them any cognition at all, their species lacking brains as well. Perhaps their anima structure dictates their behavior, which I presume must be extremely simple. Ah - I should explain my terminology. Luminescence is the energy that fuels all moves and abilities, as well as the functions of magic items. The anima structure is the sum total of all a Pokemon's anima organs - consisting of a luminescence collector, luminescence pool, and anima scripts, which are... spiritual machines which have some specific effect whenever luminescence is channeled through them, similar to a windmill grinding grain when wind turns its blades. Soul-affecting abilities consist of telepathy, hypnosis, many ghost-type moves such as confuse ray, many fairy-type moves which alter emotions - generally, anything which has an effect on the cognition of an ensouled being, but which has no effect on animals."

Pandelume swayed slightly as they thought about the stranger things Dave had told them. "It is strange that psychic abilities in your world are - mediated through excrement, if I understand correctly? Perhaps even stranger that they affect the brain - psychics must be extremely powerful in your world, to be able to alter things they cannot see with such great precision to as to have any effect on the brain other than destroying it. I am surprised that your world's community-of-truth-seeking-scholars" (that was what 'science' translated to for Pandelume) " has never found any evidence of souls. If humans in your world had souls, surely it would be easy to notice. Do you never have memories of your previous life? Do you not find it odd that your higher cognition is unaffected by toxins, brain damage, or lack of sleep?"

 

[Shiny Phantump]

“I believe the term you want is ‘male.’ ‘Boy’ implies that you’re a human, and you’re a Pokemon.”

Lusamine sneered at the rich boy. "Male actually implies the scientific context in which we normally talk about nonhuman sexes. Boy means a male child, which describes this Oshawott correctly. Since you clearly don't have scientific bone in your body, there's no need for you to use our terminology."

Linden began edging away from Lusamine. This really wasn't a fight he wanted to pick. By engineered coincidence, this brought him closer to Dave and Jean, the latter of whom he was really trying not to stare at... with a limited degree of success. He couldn't help his curiosity.

 

[Fusion]

Gen's eyes widened. "Y-you were the leader?" That was definitely not something Saltriv told him.

Wait, he should still make sure. "Um...did y-you meet someone named S-Saltriv?"

For a second there, Vix thought she had miraculously gained another fan... but looking at this lil guy, Vix could have sworn she had seen him before. "Saltriv? Yeah, how could I forget them! We worked together on a garden, hung out a bunch, were roommates... I think I was also kinda hoping that I'd get to see them again if I came here. And everyone else too, hehe..." she crossed her arms, thinking more, then her flame flickered in realization. "Aren't you... Gen? Saltriv's friend?"

"Just going back to my regular life. I... welll you know, I just ended up forgetting everything." He shrugged. "I'm the same age I always was. I think." He had no idea how time on Cibus worked, or if he'd aged. Something else about Kora's words made him pause. "You guys? Is there more of us? Other than Vix?" he added glancing in her direction. He didn't see anyone else he knew.

"Well, Dave's right there! I guess it makes sense you didn't recognize him, he looks a whole lot less fluffy than on Cibus, hehe!" Kora snickered, presenting the Dave in question like a fancy trophy on a flashy display. "I shoulda sensed the both of you at first, but I guess my aura sense is off or something. Now I get all the fun of seeing you both first instead of just knowing I guess!"

 

[IFBench]

"Aren't you... Gen? Saltriv's friend?"

"Y-yeah, I am," Gen said. Did Saltriv tell her about him? He wondered what they said about him.

 

[Fusion]

"Y-yeah, I am," Gen said. Did Saltriv tell her about him? He wondered what they said about him.

Well how about that, he was just as adorably shy as Vix vaguely remembered. "Well, hey, I'm Vix. I dunno if Saltriv said anything about me, or even remembers, but I do remember them talking pretty good about you. I could have... sworn I met you before, too. Maybe? I don't really know."

 

[Sinderella]

Lusamine sneered at the rich boy. "Male actually implies the scientific context in which we normally talk about nonhuman sexes. Boy means a male child, which describes this Oshawott correctly. Since you clearly don't have scientific bone in your body, there's no need for you to use our terminology."

Dorien stared at Lusamine like she had several heads. “Repeat that first sentence you just said. Nonhuman sexes. Pokemon are nonhuman. That’s all I was getting at. I wasn’t regarding you so maybe keep to yourself, yeah?”

"Odette?"

Another fucking person calling her name? First Red, now…a woman with purple hair? Well, it was more welcome than Dorien or Red talking to her, so she’d accept it for now. Though, she couldn’t help but be a little bummed it wasn’t a certain plant girl she’d met at the last game…

“Oui?” she replied. “Can I help you?”

 

[Spiteful Murkrow]

Kalas and Tiana looked at each other and then they turned back to the Quilava.

"Well technically—" the Fearow started, before Tiana interrupted him.

"Uhm so they are different things? I... I have never been allowed outside of the city, some of these places feel like they'd be the samey to me." She pointed a wing up. "Besides the weird sky."

Kalas nodded. "We're used to more... rural fairs. I mean, I am. Anyway," he added, eyeing Lyle up and down, "how's you're the 'Fleetfoot'?"

"I mean, I guess this is a fair. It's just that the ones I've seen usually don't have all these machines in them," Lyle said. "I think I've seen something like the wheel before, but it was much smaller and made of wood."

Lyle hesitated a moment after Tiana asked about him being known as a 'Fleetfoot'. He... didn't know how wise it was to be getting too open about his past. But this was a whole different world, assuming that he wasn't just asleep and dreaming in his burrow. So what was the harm?

"As for the 'Fleetfoot' thing, it's my Beiname," the Quilava explained. "The thing that others know me for that helps me stand out in a crowd normally."

The Quilava dropped to all fours, and sprang back and forth in place a few times before giving a small smile back with a hint of pride.

"Always been quick on my feet, so 'Fleetfoot' is what wound up sticking for me," he explained. "I take it that's not common where you're from?"

The Quilava cast an aside glance over at the Floatzel in the golden scarf. He'd also found the mention of a 'theme park' to be strange, so...

"How about you, Floatzel? Stuff like this isn't around in your world?" he asked. "And do you have a more proper name than that to work with? It'd definitely be a lot less stuffy than going with something like Herr Bojelin. Makes me sound too much like my dad."

 

[Flyg0n]

"Well, Dave's right there! I guess it makes sense you didn't recognize him, he looks a whole lot less fluffy than on Cibus, hehe!" Kora snickered, presenting the Dave in question like a fancy trophy on a flashy display. "I shoulda sensed the both of you at first, but I guess my aura sense is off or something. Now I get all the fun of seeing you both first instead of just knowing I guess!"

"Dave's here?" Koa exclaimed. He turned, eyes wide, to see not a Mightyena, but a scruffy human man. Of course. Dave had told him he'd come from a human world, of course he wouldn't be here as a Mightyena. It felt oddly jarring to see the mon he'd known for almost a year, now a human.

But somehow, the shape didn't matter. It was Dave. A grin broke out across his face. "Dave!" he called. He started towards him, unable to retrain his excitement.

 

[Shiny Phantump]

Repeat that first sentence you just said. Nonhuman sexes. Pokemon are nonhuman. That’s all I was getting at. I wasn’t regarding you so maybe keep to yourself, yeah?

"We generally refer to nonhumans with medicalized terminology, since that's the only context it matters. You are also quite chronically male, but those of us with good sense would refer to neither you nor anyone else here in that way."

 

[canisaries]

“Bonjour Scarlet,” she said sarcastically.

Red made a strong effort not to turn the color mentioned.

“I’m Dorien,” he said quizzically. “And you are? Scarlet?”

'I'm the guy who's gonna kill your girlfriend right in front of you' came to mind as a response, but not only was that only wishful thinking, it'd put the guy on high alert, and nicking that blood would become all the more difficult.

"Red, actually", he said instead, then spent a little longer eyeing up the boyfriend. "Nice bod, dude."