#unsure if it will come to US Pokémon centers | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

ribbononline · 3 years

Text

Wrote up the full summaries of how the games would play out in OR/AS admin AU, warning for a very long post under the cut! For a bunch of other general HC’s about the AU, check out this post!

Alpha Sapphire;

-The game remains the same all the way up until the visit to the oceanic museum. When confronted with the two grunts who serve as the battle there, they explain the plans of the team.

They mention that they want to expand the oceans for the good of Pokémon, for all live comes from the sea. One begins to mention how the boss explained to them to them how humans are corrupting it and how their team will undo that damage. The other grunt begins to agree, mentioning how this will be for the good of all Pokémon. They then ask you to let them take the parts to complete their mission. When the player shakes their head, the regular battle begins.

Once the grunts are defeated, Maxie enters the stage, glaring and yelling at them to leave if they can’t even defeat a mere child. Once they leave, he stands there for a moment in silence, before muttering ’’ ’Undoing the damage’? … ’The good of all Pokémon’? They don’t know what that means at all, the fools….“

He then walks up to you to glare at you and tell you off. He warns you that he will let you go for now, but that he won’t let you drag out ’the end to this’, and that if you try to get in their way again he’ll deal with you himself. After this, he and the rest of team Aqua leave the museum.

The entire time Maxie is on screen a Numel follows him around, and it will continue to do so any future times he appears. He will never use it in battle.

-The player encounters team Aqua again at Meteor Falls. Here they find Shelly and a grunt and the player battles Shelly, while their rival battles the grunt. After winning their respective battles, Shelly mentions their activity at Mt. Chimney. Due to their not being a rival team, they end up grabbing the meteorite from the professor without much trouble before heading off.

-At Mt. Chimney, since there is no opposing team, there are no battles happening with other members, merely the grunts standing guard and fighting anyone attempting to stop them.

After battling trough them, the player finds Shelly, Maxie and Archie all at the center of the volcano.

Here Shelly challenges the player like usual. After beating her, the player continues on to find Archie and Maxie standing around the machine attempting to transform the meteorite into a Mega Stone. Archie introduces himself to the player, laughing about how he’s already heard much about you and your habit of getting in the way of the team. Maxie remains mostly quiet throughout his speech, mainly just glaring at the player. Archie finishes his speech off saying he likes your spunk, but that he’s still the leader and this will have to be the end of your nonsense. After this, Maxie steps forward, saying you will be facing the both of them. At this point, the rival runs in, saying they will help you. Here the double battle against Archie and Maxie begins.

The player cannot win this battle. After getting defeated, Archie laughs and once again compliments you on your spirit, saying you’ll be able to go far with that attitude. Maxie merely shakes his head and once again tells you off, saying he warned you not to get in their way again.

Archie then goes back to finish transforming the meteorite with the machine, before Matt calls, letting them know about the orbs. He then decide to change their plans to head to Mt. Pyre instead, and gives you the meteorite. After this, Archie leaves with the rest of team Aqua, only Maxie staying behind a bit longer. When talking to him, he asks you how you could possibly hope to stop them when you can’t even defeat them without them using mega evolution. He then goes quiet for a moment, before saying that ‘It’s hopeless’ and leaving as well.

-The scene with Latias and Matt plays out the same as in the original game.

-At the Weather Institute, when Shelly has her crisis over if the goals of their team will result in disaster, she mentions Maxie having warned Archie about this possible outcome and wonders if he was right.

After this, she questions why if he knew what would happen to the world after they awaken the ancient Pokémon he’d continue to work with them. Being upset about both what she learned and about not being able to understand Maxies motivations, she battles the player. After losing she leaves the area, mentioning she is going to talk to Maxie at Mt. Pyre.

-At Mt. Pyre, the player encounters Shelly and Maxie arguing on the stairs leading up to the top.

She questions why he didn’t tell them all about the dangers Kyogre comes with before, and he tells her he tried but Archie never listened. When Shelly asks him why he then continued to support him, he goes quiet for a while. Eventually he explains that Archie still would have been able to awaken Kyogre even without his support and that the awakening of it would have been inevitable either way. He then mentions that if the world is going to end up flooded over no matter what he does, he rather stay with his partner until the end. Shelly yells at him saying he’s lost his mind and to let her talk to Archie. He blocks her way, and she ends up leaving.

After this, the player walks up to Maxie. He asks them what they heard of that conversation, and then laughs sadly, saying that it must be incomprehensible to a child. He tells them that soon enough this world will return to the beginning of all- and the end of all that is currently. He explains that he tried to talk Archie out of it for years, having warned him of the risks over and over. He then says Archie never listened to him at all and wonders if Archie knew all along. Stating that it doesn’t matter now anymore, for all of this will be over soon, he tells the player that they will never truly be able to stop Archie either- after all, neither could he. He says that all they will be able to do is prolong this by a couple of days, a week or two at most- and that he’s grown tired of having to work towards the end of the world. He wants things over with by now- thus, he cannot let you delay things. Here he challenges the player.

After the player wins, he seems shocked. After staring at them in surprise for a while, he realises the player might actually have a chance at stopping the team for good. Not wanting to get his hopes up yet, he instead leaves them with a challenge- next time they cross paths, if they are able to beat him and Archie in battle together, he will assist them in stopping team Aqua.

Finally, he gestures towards the Numel at his side, who he introduces as a Pokémon he’s been with since he was a child. He explains that he doesn’t want to put it in danger any longer and asks you to care for it. He gives you Numel (if the players party is full, it will go to a box instead). Numel is level 10, won’t gain exp, you cannot change it’s name and you cannot change it moveset. It carries a soothe bell, which cannot be taken from it. If the player attempts to do any of the above a message pops up saying ‚That seems rude to do…’

Maxie then heals your Pokémon, tells you to be safe, and leaves.

At the top, Archie and Matt are taking the orbs. Matt stalls the player while Archie leaves with the orb to get the submarine in Slateport.

-At Slateport, the player finds Archie, Maxie and Shelly. Shelly appears to be talking to Archie about the risks of their plans with him mostly being dismissive about it and telling her not to worry so much, mentioning him being sad she doesn’t understand his plans. Maxie is standing aside quietly. The player then interrupts them.

After Archie tells the player to head to their hideout in Lilycove, he and the two admins leave with the submarine.

-At the hideout, Matt stalls the player as usual while Archie and Maxie head to the Seafloor Cavern.

-At the Seafloor Cavern, Archie and Maxie await the player at the center. Archie congratulates them for following him all the way here, and mentions that he is finally about to obtain the ancient power of Kyogre to reset the world and undo all the damage humanity has done. After his speech, Maxie tells him they should take the player on together, using their full power- including mega evolution for Archie. Archie agrees, and the double battle against them begins.

After winning, both Archie and Maxie seem amazed. Archie congratulates you on being a proper hero, but tells you it means nothing and that he will awaken Kyogre anyhow. Maxie tells him to stop and once again explains the dangers, saying this won’t create the world he wants. Archie seems saddened by him refusing to stand by him in those final moments and says that the only one who he can truly depend on is Kyogre before awakening it.

Shelly enters the scene just in time to see it awaken after having come down there on her own with diving gear and dive on one of her own Pokémon. Both her and Maxie watch in horror as Kyogre awakens and leaves for the surface.

As Matt calls to let them to let them know the situation on the surface, both Maxie and Shelly yell at Archie that the world is doomed now, and leave together with the player, saying they will do whatever they can to help stop Kyogre.

Eventually, when they are all on the surface again, Maxie mentions that Kyogre is currently probably planning on heading towards the Cave of Origin and that they must follow it there to stop it. Shelly leaves to go recruit the members of team Aqua to help.

As Archie watches the rainfall around him, starting to realise this truly wasn’t what he wanted, Maxie calls to him, asking if he’ll help them stop Kyogre. Archie seems unsure at first, mentioning that he already screwed things up too much, but Maxie yells at him that he was the one always saying ‚the nonsense pirate stuff about how a captain should never abandon his ship’ and Archie ends up agreeing to come along.

Archie apologises to the player for letting things get so out of hand and asks them to come help them at Sootopolis. After this, Maxie steps forward as well, also offering his apologies for not helping the player and failing to recognise their potential until it was too late.

Archie mentions that team Aqua will need them both there to lead the charge on Kyogre in this chaos, and they both leave.

-At Sootopolis Archie, Maxie and Shelly are waiting. Shelly hands over the Aqua Suit to the player, apologising for making them do all the hard work, but as the strongest one there and the bearer of the Red Orb, the player is the only one who stands a chance against Kyogre.

When the player heads in to fight the legendary Pokémon, Maxie mentions that team Aqua is currently instructed to help all Pokémon and people and to protect them from the current disaster.

Archie remains quiet until the end, before begging the player to save them, and apologising again.

-After defeating/capturing Kyogre, the player heads to the surface again where Archie, Maxie and Shelly are watching the power flowing out of the Cave of Origin undo the damage from Kyogre’s flood. Maxie is talking to Archie, saying that he should have tried harder to stop him so they could have avoided all of this and apologises for giving up on his hope for the future. Archie thanks him for sticking by him through it all, and apologises for not listening to reason while he had the chance. He asks Maxie if he still wishes to stay with him even if he messed up so badly already. Maxie laughs, mentioning Archie will need someone there to help him pick up the pieces and restore the damage they’ve done.

Shelly steps into the conversation, saying that Archie will always be team Aqua’s leader and that they’re all there for him as his friends.

Archie then heads up to the player, thanks them for everything and hands them the blue orb. He tells them team Aqua will still be working towards a better world for Pokémon- but in a way that won’t damage anyone else. After that, he tells the player they’ll always be welcome at their base and he, Maxie and Shelly leave.

-If the player visits the Aqua base later with Numel in their party, it will return to Maxie. He thanks you for keeping it safe, and hands you the Cameruptite.

Omega Ruby;

-The game remains the same all the way up until the visit to the oceanic museum. Here, the two grunts who serve as the battle there challenge the player to try and get the parts from them. When they lose, they first get upset, and refuse to leave. Then Archie enters the stage, laughing, and tells them they should accept defeat with a little more honor. Sending the grunts off, he walks up to the player with a gentle smile, and congratulates them on being brave enough to stand up to them.

He then explains the goals of the team to the player. He mentions that they wish to expand the land for the good of humanity, allowing them to further grow and evolve. He goes quiet for a moment, before laughing again, and asking the player if they think that sounds like nonsense. He then shakes his head, and mentions that Maxie would be able to make it sound more convincing, before further explaining that Maxie is the teams leader.

He ends his talk with the player by telling them that he’s here to help Maxie and that if they continue to get in their way, he’ll have to get more serious about stopping them. After this, he leaves, taking all remaining Magma grunts with him.

-The player encounters team Magma again at Meteor Falls. Here they find Tabitha and a grunt and the player battles Tabitha, while their rival battles the grunt. After winning their respective battles, Tabitha mentions their activity at Mt. Chimney. Due to their not being a rival team, they end up grabbing the meteorite from the professor without much trouble before heading off.

-At Mt. Chimney, since there is no opposing team, there are no battles happening with other members, merely the grunts standing guard and fighting anyone attempting to stop them.

After battling trough them, the player finds Tabitha, Maxie and Archie all at the center of the volcano.

Here Tabitha challenges the player like usual. After beating him, the player continues on to find Archie and Maxie standing around the machine attempting to transform the meteorite into a Mega Stone.

Maxie introduces himself to the player, asking him who they might be. Archie interjects, mentioning that you were the child who caused trouble for the team back at the museum. Maxie seems amused, before deciding you seem worthy of the information of what they’re doing, and explaining the machine they wish to use on the Meteorite to the player. After this, he tells you that if you wish to challenge them, you will have to face both him and Archie here. However, if you wish to leave, he’ll let you go unharmed. The player doubles down, accepting his challenge. Here the double battle against Archie and Maxie begins.

The player cannot win this battle. After getting defeated, Maxie laughs, seeming fairly relaxed. He congratulates the player on their bravery, but warns them that it could get them into trouble if they keep poking their nose into team Magma’s business like this. Archie adds a ‚Sorry scamp, ya did yer best.’ of his own. Maxie then goes back to finish transforming the meteorite with the machine, before Courtney calls, letting them know about the orbs. He then decide to change their plans to head to Mt. Pyre instead, and gives you the meteorite. After this, Maxie leaves with the rest of team Magma, only Archie staying behind a bit longer. He stares at the player with a sad smile for a moment, before shaking his head and also leaving the area.

-The scene with Latios and Courtney plays out the same as in the original game.

-At the Weather Institute, Tabitha has his crisis over if the goals of their team will result in disaster. He mentions knowing Archie asked about a possible outcome like this once or twice, and says he needs to go to discuss this with him immediately.

Being upset about both what he learned and about worrying if Archie knew about this, he battles the player. After losing he leaves the area, mentioning he is going to talk to Archie at Mt. Pyre.

-At Mt. Pyre, the player encounters Tabitha arguing with Archie on the stairs leading up to the top.

Tabitha is questioning him why Archie isn’t more alarmed about the potential risks even though he says he believes Tabitha about them. Archie shakes his head, saying that he wants to trust Maxie.

Tabitha continues to try and argue, but when he gets no response he instead yells at Archie to let him talk to Maxie. Archie however blocks Tabithas way, and Tabitha ends up leaving.

After this, the player walks up to Archie. He asks them what they heard of that conversation and then laughs sadly, saying that it must seem weird to a wee scamp such as yourself.

He closes his eyes, thinking in silence for a moment. Then he opens them again, giving a sad smile to the player. He asks them what they would do, if the person they love the most is about to do something very stupid seeming to them- but they know it’s important to that person, and they know that person only has good intentions and only wants to help. He asks if they think that would be worth fighting against them and losing them over.

When the player doesn’t answer, he laughs again and apologising for asking such weird things. He tells them he wants to believe in Maxie, but that he knows the chances of it actually ending well are slim.

After thinking for a few moments longer, he apologises again, saying he still has a job to do and challenges the player.

After the player wins, he seems surprised, but relieved. He tells them that he’ll still be on Maxie’s side until the end, but that he wouldn’t mind the player trying to stop them, saying that’d it’d be reassuring to have someone strong such as yourself there if things truly were to go wrong. He then heals your Pokémon, tells you to be safe. and leaves.

At the top, Maxie and Courtney are taking the orbs. Courtney stalls the player while Maxie leaves with the orb to get the submarine.

-At Slateport, the player finds Maxie, Archie and Tabitha. Tabitha appears to be talking to Maxie about the risks of their plans with him mostly seeming annoyed, mentioning being upset at Tabitha questioning the good of their plans so late into things. Archie is quiet, looking down. The player then interrupts them.

After Maxie tells the player to head to their hideout in Lilycove, he and the two admins leave with the submarine.

-At the hideout, Courtney stalls the player as usual while Maxie and Archie head to the Seafloor Cavern.

-At the Seafloor Cavern, Maxie and Archie await the player at the center. Maxie laughs at seeing the player having followed them all the way here, albeit in a fairly calm tone. He tells them that now he finally has all pieces in place to raise Groudon and allow humanity to prosper and reach new heights. Smiling at the player, he tells them he’s glad to show them this moment in history and says their concern is unneeded.

When the player steps up to stop him anyhow, he mentions being a little saddened by their inability to understand his intentions, but that he will honor them with the best battle he can give instead, using their full power- including mega evolution for Maxie. Archie agrees, and the double battle against them begins.

After winning, Maxie and Archie seem amazed. Maxie seems a little distressed after, while Archie almost looks relieved. Maxie then says his ideals cannot be shaken this easily and that for the sake of humanity, he must continue on with reviving Groudon. Archie nods, apologising to the player that their victory didn’t mean much, but asking them to stand by just in case. He laughs, mentioning that that’s a fairly egotistical thing to ask of him considering he hasn’t helped the player at all, and once again says sorry. Tabitha enters the scene, dragging Shelly along, saying he asked a friend of Archie’s to help him get down here using the diving gear. He yells at Maxie to stop this, but is too late and Groudon awakens. He watches in Horror as Groudon leaves for the surface.

As Courtney calls to let them know the situation on the surface, Tabitha yells at Maxie and Archie that the world is doomed now, and asks the player to come with him to help stop Groudon. Archie stares at the ground, while Maxie seems devastated.

Eventually, when they are all on the surface again, Archie mentions that Groudon is currently probably planning on heading towards the Cave of Origin and that they must follow it there to stop it. Tabitha leaves to go recruit the members of team Magma to help.

As Maxie watches the sky burn, starting to realise this wasn’t the dream he had in mind at all, Archie calls to him, asking him what he wants to do now. Maxie seems unsure at first, mentioning that he already messed things up far too greatly. Archie walks up to him and puts his forehead against Maxie’s, saying that all they can do now is try their hardest to fix the mess they caused. After a moment in silence, Maxie agrees to come along. Archie turns to the player, giving another sad laugh, saying that he has been apologising to them a lot this journey, and that it seems like he’s going to have to again. Maxie stops him however, saying this is his responsibility and apologises to the player instead. He then turns to Archie and apologises to him as well, thanking him for not him.

Maxie then mentions that team Magma will need them both there to lead the attack on Groudon in this chaos, and they both leave.

-At Sootopolis Maxie, Archie and Tabitha are waiting. Tabitha hands over the Magma Suit to the player and mentions that their fate is in your hands now. Archie explains that while they’d rather not force this responsibility onto the player, as the strongest one there and the bearer of the Blue Orb, the player is the only one who stands a chance against Groudon.

When the player heads in to fight the legendary Pokémon, Archie mentions that team Magma is currently instructed to help all people and Pokémon and to protect them from the current disaster.

Maxie remains quiet, before addressing the player as child, apologising, and calling them trainer instead. He says that they have no other choice but to leave this to you and asks you to come back out alive.

-After defeating/capturing Groudon, the player heads to the surface again where Maxie, Archie and Tabitha are watching the power flowing out of the Cave of Origin undo the damage from Groudon’s drought. Archie is talking to Maxie, expressing how glad he is that they’re all safe again now. Maxie walks up to him and apologises for putting them into this danger in the first place. Archie the apologises for giving up on his hope for the future, saying that he should have tried harder to stop Maxie as well. Maxie asks if Archie still wishes to stay with him and give him a chance to start over, even after all the damage he’s caused. Archie smiles and pulls him into a hug, saying he will always be there and that they can pick up the pieces and restore the damage they’ve done together.

Tabitha steps into the conversation, saying that Maxie has committed unforgivable sins, putting all living things on this planet in danger. However, he also says that this is precisely why Maxie cannot give up now- if he wants to accept responsibility like an adult, he will need to work to make up for his faults. And that if he does, Tabitha and the rest of team Magma will continue to stand behind him to support him forever.

Maxie then heads up to the player, thanking them for everything and hands them the Red Orb. He tells them that team Magma will still be working towards a better world for humanity- but in a way that won’t damage anyone else. After that, he tells the player they’ll always be welcome at their base and he, Archie and Tabitha leave.

-If the player visits the Magma base later Archie will pull them aside. He mentions having found something he has been looking for for a long while- for the Pokémon he’s had since he was a child. He then says that he no longer feels like he can handle it responsibly and that this power is better off in the hands of the player and hands them the Sharpedonite.

#Magma Leader Maxie #aqua leader archie #pokemon oras #Hardenshipping #I KNOW ITS NOT AS OBVIOUS IN THE AS VERSION SINCE MAXIE IS A LOT MORE /HISS/ BUT THEY ARE VERY MUCH DATING IN BOTH OF THESE #aqua admin shelly #magma admin tabitha #ik theyre not in the pics but theyre there in the text #THIS ISNT LIKE. THE MOST WELL WRITTEN. I KNOW PLEASE DONT @ ME #I JUST WANTED TO WRITE OUT THE MAIN GAMES FOR MY SILLY AU #admin au #this was so long. oh my god #@ MY POOR FRIEND WHO I WAS SENDING THIS WHILE WRITING IT #TY FOR BEARING WITH ME . I AM SO SORRY #i was afraid the AS summary would end up significantly longer then the OR summary #cus maxie is a lot more wordy compared to archie who’s just. kinda sad and quiet in OR #but i think it actually evened out rlly well so wig

244 notes · View notes

teshamerkel · 3 years

Photo

Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Seekers of Soul

[Chapter 22] (30 Pages)

<< First | < Previous | Next >

Tobias and Nia meet a few new faces and explore Ghatha.

Nia only has to realize there’s a robbery happening right in front of her before she’s on her feet and ready to help, but it’s a different reason entirely that makes her take off after the thief and their pursuer in a desperate sprint.

She knows she heard that bird use the word “lizard” to describe Tobias—and that can only mean one thing.

Nia can barely keep up with the chase, eyes trained on the blue feathers of the bird as she races down crowded city streets, dodging carts and ducking under the legs of huge Pokemon. The bird is dangerously low to the ground as she chases after the thief, and for a moment Nia fears she’s going to lose sight of them both.

But then a vendor pulls into the street from around a corner, and the fluffy brown thief snags the corner of it, tripping. The bird is on him in an instant, screeching and pecking to keep him down. Nia pulls up short to the scene, panting, a little unsure of what to do. She thought she’d have to catch the thief herself, but...

“Give! Me! My! Money!” The bird shouts. “Or I’ll peck your eyes out!”

The thief kind of looks like a scruffy dog. His spiky, striped fur is bushed out in fear as he shoves a tiny sack away from himself, cowering and covering his eyes with his paws. Still, the bird doesn’t let up.

There’s a small crowd watching the spectacle, but a pained whimper from the thief finally gets Nia to move forward, palms out. “H-Hey, I think he learned his lesson—”

The bird stops her attack to land on the rescued pouch of money, whipping around to glare at Nia. “Did I ask for your opinion?”

Nia gulps, taking a step back. That beak looks sharp. “W-Well, no, but—“

There’s a scuffling sound, and when Nia and the bird look, the thief’s bushy tail is slipping back into the crowd.

“Oh, great!” The bird chirps with an agitated sweep of her wing. “Look, now he’s just gonna go rob some other poor shlub! I had it handled, y’know!”

Nia shrinks back. “S-Sorry, I just thought you might need help, a-and you said, uh—”

“Said what!? Spit it out!”

“Y-You called Tobias a lizard! Which means, um—“ Nia breaks off, glancing at the slowly dispersing crowd. Too many Pokémon are still listening in. Nia looks back to the bird desperately. “Well, that means you’re...like me. Right? Not a normal Pokémon?”

For a moment Nia fears she‘d heard wrong as the bird stares at her with narrowed eyes. But then she chirps, “What animal would you call me, then? If you’re really not a normal Pokémon.”

Nia slumps with relief. “A bird. I’m not sure what kind, though. Bluebird? You kinda look like a robin, just with different colors.”

The little bird’s eyes light up, all animosity gone in an instant. “You’re like me!” She flaps up to circle Nia, tweeting a chipper little melody. “I mean, I came to Ghatha expecting this, but still!”

The bird snatches up her stolen bag and nudges them both out of the way of the crowd and towards the doorway of a shop.

“So you really are?” The bird asks, leaning in close to whisper, “A human?”

Nia laughs, giddy with delight. The bird had been so aggressive just moments ago, but now she seems friendly as anything. And she’s human! Like Nia and Hazel!

“Yup!” Nia crouches to meet the bird’s height (and the riolu had thought she was tiny!) as she lowers her own voice. “So I’m guessing you’re here for the convention too, right?”

“Yeah! I got into town a few days ago.”

“We just got here today and—“ Nia cuts herself off, dread suddenly overtaking her excitement. “Oh no. I left Tobias in the plaza! Oh, he’s gonna kill me.” Nia straightens up to peer down the street, but there are too many Pokémon bustling around for her to tell if Tobias followed her. That is the way she came from, right?

“He was at the plaza? Wait, is he the orange lizard I ran into?”

“Yes!”

“Well, it shouldn’t be too hard to find him! We just gotta backtrack the way we came, right?”

Nia nods, hesitant to share the bird’s confidence. “I-I guess. But he’s going to be mad I ran off without him.”

The bird waves her off. “Eh, he can get over it. C’mon, we can look for him together!”

The bird loops the strings of her pouch around her little body, then lifts off the ground. With a chirp, she dives back into the crowd. Nia yelps and hurries to follow, eyeing the little bird worriedly as the two of them are immediately jostled. The bird is tiny even to Nia, and she’s worried about the little Pokémon being just as fragile as normal birds.

“Y-You can fly higher if you’d like,” Nia offers. “You don’t have to stay with me.”

The bird’s determined expression falters. “That’s okay. I’m uh. Not super keen on heights.”

Nia blinks, surprised. A bird that doesn’t like flying? That’s a new one. Well, not that she’s really one to talk. She could’ve woken up as a bird, too.

“What’s your name, by the way?” The bird chirps.

“Oh! It’s Nia!”

“Nia? Nice to meetcha! I’m Juniper, but just call me Junie. Did you pick your own name?”

Nia smiles. “Yeah. It felt like it was connected to my past somehow.”

Junie laughs, a melodic sound. “I just picked mine because it sounds nice!”

Nia giggles. As she opens her mouth to respond, she catches sight of Tobias fighting his way through the crowd. “Oh! Tobias!” She waves her arm.

He looks up, frowning at her and then Junie in turn. Once he reaches them, they all step to the side of the street to get out of the way, in front of a flower shop.

“What did I just say about getting separated?” Tobias snaps.

Junie pipes up before Nia can respond. “Oh, calm down, Dad! At least she tried to come help me!”

Uh-oh. Tobias glares down at Junie, lip curling. “At least I didn’t get robbed like an idiot.”

Junie calmly starts to preen her wing, not even looking at the angry charmander. “Hm. Takes one to know one, I suppose.”

“I could punt you into the Obsidian Sea you little—“

“Okay!” Nia squeaks, stepping between the two. Tobias glares at her but takes a step back. Junie looks like she is living for the drama, eyes sparkling and a cheeky smile playing at the corners of her beak.

Oh no.

“L-Let’s just get somewhere we can talk, okay?” Nia begs.

“Why?” Tobias growls, still shooting daggers at Junie.

“Uh, l-let’s just say that Junie is looking for the same thing we are.”

At that, Tobias finally looks at Nia, surprise on his face. It doesn’t take long to make it back to the small plaza with the fountain. Nia sits on the stone again, Junie hopping up next to her and Tobias standing at their side.

“So you’re here for the convention too?” Tobias asks, skeptical.

Junie matches his hushed tone, but nods excitedly. “I’ve been waiting for something like this for months! I knew I wasn’t the only one, but I couldn’t seem to track any other humans down. It’s all so hush-hush, y’know?”

“How long have you been here?” Nia asks.

“About half a year, I think?” Junie says, gazing thoughtfully up at the sky. “What about you two?”

“I’m not human,” Tobias snorts, as if the idea is ridiculous.

“And I’ve only been here a few weeks,” Nia says, shrugging. “We’re from the Lexym Guild.”

“Cool! Haven’t heard of it myself, but I don’t travel much,” Junie says, tilting her head in a way that’s distinctly avian.

Tobias gives Junie an almost offended look. “You’re a flying type. What do you mean you don’t travel?”

Junie smiles at him, sickly-sweet. “Some of us don’t live up to our types, hothead. Happy to see you’re following the script.”

Tobias narrows his eyes, a thin wisp of smoke drifting up from his nostrils. Nia shoots Junie a pleading look that the bird ignores.

“A-Anyways!” Nia interrupts with a clap of her hands. “Junie, do you know where the convention center is that we’ll be meeting at tomorrow?“

“Sure do!” Junie points behind them with a wing. “I found it yesterday. I was just going to check out some of the shops on the other end of town when that mutt ran me over.”

“Zigzagoon,” Tobias huffs. Nia stares at him for a moment before she realizes it’s a correction. Pokémon have such strange names.

“Would you mind showing us the way, then?” Nia asks, smiling down at Junie. “We were just gonna ask around, but this makes everything much easier!”

Junie hops to her feet. “Sure! This place is a maze, so stay close, all right?”

“We could’ve found it on our own,” Tobias huffs. Looks like he’s settling into one of his moods. Nia ignores the comment and gives the little bird a thumbs-up.

And with that they’re off, with Junie leading the way back through the crowd. Once they’re caught up in the flow, trailing behind a short elephant Pokémon, Junie hitches a ride on its rough, tire-like back. She winks at Nia’s surprise with a wingtip held up to her beak. The elephant must not even feel her weight, light as she is.

As they walk, Nia looks again at the buildings they pass, forming near-impenetrable walls on either side of the street. Businesses and shops are labeled by signs and wares in the windows, stacked high. She wonders whether the upper floors are something like apartments.

“I wonder if Junie would show us those shops she mentioned,” Nia comments idly to Tobias. “After we find the convention center.”

“You don’t have money to waste,” Tobias grumbles. “We still need to eat.”

“Doesn’t mean we can’t look!” Nia points out, trying to disarm his attitude with a cheery tone. “I’m curious about what kind of stuff they sell.”

The elephant Pokémon turns onto a small side street, and Junie hops off to stay on the main path with Nia and Tobias, fluttering forward again with the utmost confidence. Nia doesn’t know how long they walk, but the cobblestone underfoot is starting to wear sore on her paws when Junie finally chirps, “Almost there!”

Sure enough, the buildings are thinning out ahead, bright blue sky and warm sunlight replacing stone buildings and colorful paint jobs. Then, suddenly, it all opens up.

A cool, salty sea breeze blows against Nia’s face, and her jaw drops at the sight before them. “Oh, wow.”

The city has opened up into a huge plaza, the cobblestone bright and colorful underfoot. It’s clearly being prepared for something, a celebration or festival, maybe. Tents and booths sprawl throughout the space like an open marketplace, and colorful flags and banners crisscross the blue sky between them. Pokémon wander around, chatting happily and helping to assemble the structures or set up their wares. It’s strange seeing something so human-like in the Pokémon world, and Nia walks further into the plaza as if in a trance, trying to take it all in.

“Yeah, I guess there’s a big magic show happening somewhere around here tomorrow,” Junie chirps. “All the merchants are probably trying to take advantage of the crowd.”

“Oh! We heard about that!” Nia says. She shoots Tobias a hopeful look, remembering how he had perked up at the flygon’s mention of fire manipulation.

He sighs, but when he talks it sounds like more of an act than actual irritation. “We could probably go, since it’s cheap.”

Nia bounces in place before turning to Junie. “You wanna come with us? It’s after the convention tomorrow! And apparently the magicians are famous!”

Junie laugh. “How could I say no? You have literal puppy-dog eyes!”

Nia giggles, and Tobias shoots them both an exasperated look. As they wander across the plaza, she tries to explain the term to him.

“So it’s like saying someone has baby-doll eyes?” Tobias asks, looking torn between frustration and genuine curiosity.

Nia blinks at him, incredulous. “‘Baby-doll eyes?’”

“It’s a move, you idiots!” Tobias blushes as they stare at him, and it takes some of the bite out of his voice. “You make your eyes look really big and pitiful and it makes your opponent more reluctant to attack.”

“Huh.” Nia exchanges a baffled look with Junie. “I…guess that makes sense?”

“More sense than whatever weird stuff you talk about all the time,” Tobias grumbles.

“Whatever helps you sleep at night,” Junie responds.

Before a real argument can spark, Nia stops, staring at a huge building to the right of the plaza. “Whoa.”

It’s strangely...modern looking? In a seaside city of rough stone buildings stacked in layers like bedrock, all crooked angles and fast-paced whimsy, this building stands out as something...neater. More official, maybe. It’s large and impressive, with complex carvings and intricate structures built into its architecture.

“This is the convention center!” Junie says with a dramatic flourish of her wings. “Pretty snazzy, huh?”

“Do you think we can go in yet?” Nia asks.

“Sorry kiddos, afraid it’s closed today for preparations.”

Junie hops onto Nia’s shoulder to look towards the new voice.

The speaker is a large fox, with creamy white fur and a bundle of long tails trailing behind him. He has glittering red eyes, and a satchel sitting heavy on his back. A maroon scarf is tied around his neck, with a pretty emblem pinned to it. Nia isn’t sure if it’s just the creature’s foxy face or if his smile is as mischievous as it looks.

He’s beautiful, but Nia’s gaze flicks past him, to the Pokémon following a beat behind. The second newcomer floats along like a ghost, skin an inky black and eyes a ruby red, and his long arms hold a clipboard. He has a tail curled around a golden mask, and weirdly enough the features on the mask almost look...human?

Nia gasps as it clicks, bringing everyone’s attention to her. “You’re a yamask!”

There’s a moment of stunned silence, and Nia cringes, ears growing hot. What a way to make a first impression.

The yamask thankfully doesn’t seem offended, and Nia would almost say he looks pleasantly surprised. His voice is warm as he says, “Yes, I am. I take it you’re here for the convention tomorrow?”

“How’d you know?” Junie chirps.

The yamask’s easy smile grows. “I used to be human too, once. I can usually recognize fellow lost souls. My name is Will, by the way.”

He holds out a hand and Nia hurries to shake it, trying to make up for her rude first impression. She suppresses a shiver at how his skin feels cool and not totally solid, almost like condensed mist.

“I’m Nia,” She says, giving him an apologetic smile.

“Call me Junie!”

Tobias stays silent and narrows his eyes at Will. The yamask accepts it with a polite dip of his head.

“I’m Keegan,” the fox adds, stepping forward. “Not a human, though—just here to help out with preparations!”

“He is also the second in command at Ghatha’s guild,” Will adds, giving them a sly look. “Don’t let his modesty fool you.”

That catches Tobias’ attention.

Keegan laughs, holding a paw to his chest in mock offense. “Me? Modest? I must be slipping. I’m keeping the plaza under control, but Will’s the one who orchestrated this whole meetup in the first place.”

“Wait—you put this together?” Junie chirps. “The human meetup?��

Nia blinks, suddenly remembering her flyer from Afon’s Cap. “Oh. The will of the Humans movement!”

Will laughs, his smile turning a shade self-conscious. “I’m afraid my friend came up with that. He insisted it was clever wordplay.” Before anyone can respond to that, Will barrels on as if trying to escape his own embarrassment. “Are all three of you human?”

“I am, and Nia is!” Junie chirps. “Toby’s just tagging along. Do you think there’ll be a lot of other humans at the meetup tomorrow?”

Will nods. “I’ve actually met quite a few of them already! It’s encouraging to see such a large turnout. After working so many years to gather enough resources, it’s great to finally see our efforts make some actual progress.”

“Hang on—years? You’ve been here for years?” Junie shouts from Nia’s shoulder. The riolu winces and slaps her hands over her sensitive ears.

Will gives the bird a concerned look. “Yes? I’ve been working on founding this organization for the last three or four.”

Nia feels a tremble building in Junie’s talons as she suddenly falls silent. Oh. Did Junie…did she not know how long humans have been showing up here? Did she just assume this was a relatively new occurrence, and somehow no one ever told her? Nia is suddenly incredibly grateful that Maggie informed her about the humans’ decades-long conundrum the day they first met. She’d be a mess if she was in Junie’s position and hearing this for the first time.

“S-Sorry, I don’t think she, um…knew how long humans have been showing up here,” Nia says, putting her thoughts aside to address Will’s worried expression. “She’s only been here for half a year. I mean, I’ve only been here a month, but Maggie told me right away, s-so…”

“Really?” Keegan asks, ears flicking forward with interest. “You’ve only been here a month and you’re already Seekers?”

Nia blinks and Tobias suspiciously asks, “How did you know that?”

Keegan laughs. “Whoops! Rai always says my eyes are too sharp for my own good. I recognized your bag. It’s pretty standard for Lexym beginners.”

Nia lifts her arm to look at the plain brown satchel they were given when starting out. It’s a bit worn and ripped, but otherwise nondescript. Keegan must be really observant to have made that connection. No wonder he holds such a high position here in Ghatha.

“It’s just me and Nia on the team,” Tobias grumbles. “Feathers isn’t with us.”

Junie doesn’t respond to the jab, so Nia hesitates before gently prying the bird from her shoulder and shifting to hold her in her arms. She’s a bit too round to fit comfortably, but definitely light enough. After a moment of hesitation, the trembling bird turns to burrow her face into Nia’s fur.

“Are you sure she’s all right?” Will asks. He looks like he’s itching to reach out and comfort Junie himself.

“F-Fine,” Junie says, shaky voice muffled. “Just...Just give me a second.”

Nia strokes a hand across Junie’s soft feathers, hoping that the bird won’t get mad about it later like Tobias would.

Will shifts his gaze up to Nia, who for once is the more emotionally stable one. “There will be more information available tomorrow at the convention, in the form of public speakers and information booths. We’ve gathered research and accounts to try and sort out how this keeps happening, as well as theories that hypothesize why it’s happening at all. I’m hoping to get everyone on the same page so no one is left feeling so lost or alone.“

Nia feels something tense and tight in her uncoil at the words, and she gives the yamask a wobbly smile. “That sounds wonderful.”

“Yeah, you lot sure got it rough, getting dropped here without any warning,” Keegan says, tone light but oddly genuine. “Figured the least we could do here in Ghatha was host the meetup itself.”

“It’s still very much appreciated,” Will says, giving Keegan a warm smile. “I know the guildmaster wasn’t fond of the idea.”

“Eh, Rai’s just heard too many conspiracy theories coming in from the underground, lately. Old guy has to learn to chill about humans.”

“He doesn’t like humans?” Nia asks, a little alarmed despite herself. She shoots Will a concerned look, but the yamask doesn’t seem worried.

Keegan waves her off with a flick of his tails. “Nah, he’s usually fine with ‘em. Just a little more...suspicious than he was in the past. I think he’s just stressed. He really needs a vacation.”

“Actually,” Keegan continues, turning to Nia and Tobias. “Since you’re Seekers, feel free to come work on some missions through our branch of the guild if you‘re planning on sticking around Ghatha for a bit! Normally you have to go through a big administrative thing, but I can waive you through.”

Nia can’t help feeling unnerved about going to the guild where this Rai Pokémon is, but Keegan seems fine with humans if he’s so adamant about helping Will out...

She offers him a shaky smile. “S-Sure, if we stick around long enough. We aren’t planning to be here more than a couple of days, but we might take you up on that.”

Tobias snorts, and Nia hopes that Will and Keegan don’t hear it as the clear dismissal that it is.

“Will!”

Everyone turns to the voice. An adorable white pony Pokémon with a mane and tail like cotton candy is trotting up to the group, his hooves clicking against the cobblestone.

“Fidel!” Will greets. “How goes preparations?”

“Just have a few questions about layout for you and Keegan,” Fidel responds, a weary smile on his snout. “Have a minute?”

“Of course.” Will turns back to them. “I’m afraid we have to be going. But I’ll see you all tomorrow?”

Nia nods, and even Junie manages an affirmative sort of noise.

Will smiles. “Good. Rest up—it’ll be a big day.” The yamask turns to follow Fidel into the convention center.

“Let me know if you all need anything,” Keegan adds, following after Will with a cheery wave of his tails.

There’s a moment of silence save for the distant churn of waves and the lively activities of the plaza. Tobias and Nia speak at the same time.

“I don’t trust them.”

“That was the cutest Pokémon I’ve ever seen.”

They exchange a bewildered look.

“Don’t trust who?” Nia asks.

Tobias spreads his arms like it’s obvious. “Either of them! Will’s setting up this big thing and being all vague about it, and Keegan apparently works for someone with a thing against humans—while helping out Will! The human! You can’t tell me that isn’t suspicious.”

“You’re suspicious of everyone!” Nia scolds, frowning. “I thought they were both really nice.”

“You’d think a boulder about to smash in your face was nice.”

Junie snorts a quiet laugh into Nia’s chest, and she holds the bird out in front of her, offended. She thought Junie was on her side!

The bird still looks exhausted after her meltdown, but shrugs. “Sorry, it was funny. Besides, Toby needs a few wins.”

“Stop calling me that!” Tobias snarls.

“You’ve got it, Toby.”

“No fighting!” Nia says, trying to sound authoritative and failing miserably. She lifts Junie up over her head like a toy so Tobias can’t reach.

He gives Nia a dry look. “We’re the same height.”

Nia just stares back at him with wide eyes and a furrowed brow.

“Nia, who were you saying was cute?” Junie chirps, apparently switching targets. “I mean, you do you but I kind of got dad vibes from Will and Keegan seems older too but—wait, how old are you guys?”

“Do you ever shut up?” Tobias mumbles, rubbing at his temples.

“I meant Fidel!” Nia protests, bringing Junie back down to meet her gaze. “And n-not in like an interested way! I-I meant like, like a ‘My Little Pony’ kind of cute! Did you see him? He’s objectively adorable! His mane is made of cotton candy!”

Junie twitters a laugh. “Whatever you say.”

“Okay, you’ve lost carrying privileges,” Nia says.

Junie doesn’t move. Nia doesn’t drop her.

“You gonna...follow through on that?” Junie asks.

“U-Um. Well. Can you walk okay now?” Nia asks, afraid of the bird still being shaky on her feet. Er, wings?

Junie laughs, then struggles out of Nia’s hold. “You’re way too nice! I almost feel bad teasing you. Toby’s a much better target.”

“Hey!”

“Um. Sorry?” Nia offers, unsure.

Junie just laughs again and shakes her head. “So, where’re we going next?”

“‘We?’” Tobias growls.

“Yup! You’re stuck with me now!”

Nia sighs, giving Tobias a helpless shrug before turning back to Junie. “Well...you mentioned shopping at a market earlier? It looks like these shops are still setting up, so could we go there and look around?”

“Sure!” Junie chirps, flapping back into the air. “I’ll get us there in no time!”

Nia moves to follow her, glancing back to see a disgruntled Tobias tagging along behind them. Junie flies confidently ahead, and Nia can’t help marveling at the little bird. Junie bounced back so quickly from the revelation that humans have been stuck in this world for years. Nia was a mess when Hazel really drilled that lesson home for her.

Maybe Junie’s just stronger than Nia is.

__________________________________________________

“So you never answered me earlier,” Junie says, conversational as she hops around the table full of jewelry and gemstones.

The shopkeeper, a terrifying, navy-scaled dragon, is watching the little bird with open suspicion, and it’s making Nia nervous. Junie seems oblivious to it. Nia glances behind her hoping for backup, but Tobias is lingering at the stall they’d just left, where an array of musical instruments lay scattered across the counter for purchase.

For a moment, Nia pauses to watch him now that he’s alone. He’s sorting through the instruments with careful hands, face unreadable but somehow softer than usual. Huh. What’s he thinking about?

He lifts something like a ukulele to stare at it, gaze a million miles away. Nia kind of wishes Junie wasn’t here with them so she could try and talk to her partner about the reverence in his movements and the warmth in his eyes. Does he like music? She didn’t know that.

”Hellooo! Earth to Nia!”

“A-Answered you about what?” Nia asks, snapping back to reality and hurrying to focus on Junie. Hopefully the little bird didn’t notice Tobias’ expression. Nia could see Junie teasing him about it and it genuinely upsetting him.

“How old you are!”

“Oh.” Nia stops. “Uh, I think I’m about 18? Maybe? How old are you?”

“16!” Junie chirps, fluffing her feathers with pride. She glances over at Tobias. “How old is Mr. Grumpy Scales?”

“About my age, I think,” Nia answers, trying to remember what Maggie had told her. “Maybe a bit younger?”

Junie immediately hops off the table and flies over to Tobias, shouting, “Hey! Old man!”

Nia mourns how quickly the soft, unguarded look on Tobias’ face shifts to a sneer. She’d better go defuse this.

“I’m barely older than you!” Tobias snaps.

“Well how was I supposed to know that when you act like a crotchety old geezer!”

“Lord help me,” Nia mumbles.

The two of them have been bickering nonstop for over an hour now, and Nia’s getting to the point where she isn’t even phased by Tobias’ snarled threats. Still, Nia wishes Junie would just…calm down. For two seconds. She really likes the little bird, but she doesn’t enjoy her provoking her temperamental partner.

“Junie, for my own sanity please lay off on teasing Tobias,” Nia whines.

“Better listen to her if you wanna keep your feathers,” Tobias threatens.

Junie looks like she has a sharp retort ready, a gleam in her eye, but she pulls back when she sees Nia’s exhaustion.

“You’re lucky your partner’s a sweetheart,” Junie says instead to Tobias.

“Why? Because she’d try to stop me from murdering you?”

“Because I’d gladly tease you all day otherwise! You’re too fun.”

Tobias’ eyes narrow so Nia lifts the bird into her arms, far too tired to worry about personal boundaries. “H-Hey, how about we find some food soon? It’s almost evening.”

For once, Tobias and Junie agree on something, so the three of them navigate through the rest of the marketplace and find a cheap little diner tucked away between a bank and a fabrics shop. After following the stone staircase down to a lantern-lit tavern, they take a seat at a wooden booth in the corner built for smaller Pokémon like them.

Looking at the paper menu, Nia has no clue what half of the meals even are, and Junie seems equally clueless. In the end, Nia just decides on ordering a quiche of some sort with some berries and nuts she knows she likes.

After they pay, Junie eyes the red bandana wrapped around Nia’s arm. “So I know you said you’re a Seeker, but how exactly did that happen? Gotta be honest, Nia, you don’t seem like much of a fighter.”

“She could kick your tail,” Tobias grumbles from where he’s sitting with his head tilted back and eyes shut. Nia’s not sure whether that was a compliment towards her or if he’s just trying to insult Junie. Probably the latter.

Junie tweets a laugh. “I weigh like two pounds—I’m sure she could!”

Nia smiles, rubbing at her scar through the bandana. “I-I mean, you were pretty terrifying taking down that thief. I can fight a little bit, but I’m not a big fan of it unless we’re sparring and nobody actually gets hurt.”

Junie tilts her head thoughtfully. “Huh. Well, how did you two become a team, then?” The words ‘when your partner wants to fight everything’ go unsaid.

Nia hesitates, unsure how to sum up the circumstances that led to Nia saving Tobias’ life and convincing him to team up with her.

Luckily, Tobias pipes up, cracking open an eye. “She needed a way to look into leads about humans and I needed a partner to become an official Seekers team. We already knew each other so it just worked out.”

Junie makes a thoughtful noise in her throat but doesn’t answer, and Nia wonders what Junie really thinks when she isn’t talking.

“S-So what do you do, Junie?” Nia asks. “Since you’ve been here a little while now.”

Junie shrugs and looks down to trace the cracks and whorls of the tabletop with her eyes, voice a notch quieter than usual. “Well…I woke up near a little town called Stonebrook, so I’ve just been hanging around there, mostly. It’s like a two day journey south of here? Real sleepy little place, real quiet. I make a living doing odds and ends around town and finding wild berries to sell.”

The description is strangely...quaint. Nia honestly can’t imagine Junie living somewhere so quiet and doing something so normal. Not that the little bird sounds super excited about it or anything, but Nia can’t help being surprised when even she thinks it sounds boring—although any quiet life would seem uneventful after being dragged into life-risking adventures in mystery dungeons.

Tobias must think the same, because he arches a brow at Junie. “Really?”

Junie puffs up, looking genuinely bothered for the first time. “And what’s that supposed to mean?”

Tobias grins, clearly thrilled to finally get a rise out of her. “Just can’t imagine a nosy little pest like you living the quiet life.”

“N-Not that it’s a bad thing!” Nia adds.

Junie glares at Tobias. “Look, I don’t have a lot options, okay? It’s not like I have anyone I know or anywhere else I could go, especially when I can’t fly and I’m like a foot tall and I could get crushed on accident!”

Tobias doesn’t respond to the outburst aside from a lazy, unimpressed blink. Nia is a bit more worried. She lays a comforting hand on Junie’s back, like she did earlier, but the little bird turns on her.

“Stop that! I don’t want your pity!”

Nia yanks her hand back, ears pinning flat to her skull.

“Hey!” Tobias snaps, slamming his hands down on the table. “If you don’t want pity then stop acting like a whiny little kid!”

“I am a kid!” Junie shoots back, bordering on a shout. Nia casts a nervous look over Junie’s back to where the other patrons and workers are looking at their table. Uh-oh. Nerves churn in Nia’s gut.

The little bird takes a shaky breath, voice and eyes lowering. “Look, I didn’t ask to be brought here. I...I hate heights and I hate being so little and I don’t know anyone or anything and I just...I don’t like feeling so helpless and trapped all the time. I don’t know if I want to go back to the human world, but now I don’t know if I’ll even get a choice!”

Okay, wow, there is a lot to unpack there. Nia isn’t sure where to start, but that last bit makes her think of the scent of pecha berry tea and Hazel’s soothing paws.

“H-Hey,” Nia starts, quiet. “Is this about what Will said today? About how long he’s been here?”

Junie doesn’t respond, but Nia can see the way her feathers start to tremble again.

“I...I was lucky,” Nia admits after a moment of hesitation. “I got a heads-up about the whole situation a while ago. Honestly, you’re handling it a lot better than I did! I was a mess. Crying all over the place.”

There’s the slightest quirk of a smile on Junie’s beak. Nia smiles too.

“I know it’s scary, to think about how long humans have already been here, and how that means it’s going to be...really hard, finding a way back. But that’s what Will’s working on, right? He seemed pretty optimistic about it! All we can do is trust him to look into it and hope for the best.”

Nia doesn’t know where the comforting words are coming from. Maybe from the reassurances she’s told herself hundreds of times since waking up in this world.

Nia thinks of Hazel’s warm smile and adds, “And we’ve got each other, right?”

At that, Junie finally looks up. It’s upsetting, seeing tears swimming in the feisty little bird’s eyes.

“I get scared too,” Nia says. “About...uh. A lot of things, really. And I can’t imagine being a flying type, but I get how terrifying it is to not know anyone, or what you’re doing, or what anything is. But I have people who help me with that! I’ve got Maggie and my friends at the guild and Tobias to help me figure out what to do and what to learn so I can stay safe.”

Nia stumbles over the charmander’s name, not sure how he’ll react to being brought into this, but a quick glance shows that he’s watching Nia talk with a weirdly unreadable expression. He’s frowning, but it looks more like he’s focused, rather than anything negative.

“A-Are the people in your town nice?” Nia asks.

Junie sniffs and nods, wiping at her tears with a wing. “Yeah. I don’t really talk to them about anything serious, but they’re fine.”

“Have you tried asking them to help you figure stuff out?”

Junie hesitates. “No, I haven’t. Are you not...y’know, scared to ask for help? If you feel as helpless as I do?”

“Oh, I’m terrified!” Nia laughs. “Like all the time. But...like humans, most Pokémon seem to want to do good. They want to help. You should really try talking to them, seeing what they know and what they’re willing to teach you. Maybe try training if you can find someone to instruct you, to help you feel stronger, too. I’ve been learning a lot from books, but other Pokemon definitely help a lot!”

Junie’s looking at Nia with a thoughtful expression. Then she shakes her head, and the ghost of a smile comes to her beak. ”Maybe you’re right. I just...it’s hard to be that open, y’know? I feel weak enough in this body, but to let myself be so open about my emotions, too...”

“It’s hard,” Nia agrees, voice soft. Her feelings still get hurt all the time and it sucks. “But you can’t do this alone. None of us can. You have to have someone you can trust.”

“I trust you,” Junie responds, immediate and sure.

Nia pulls back, surprised and touched all at once.

Junie laughs at her expression. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to get all mushy!” Then her laughter dies down. “And I’m sorry for snapping at you. You’re a really good person. You don’t deserve that.”

Nia waves her off and tilts her head towards Tobias. “Don’t worry about it. I’m used to it.”

It’s meant to be a lighthearted quip, but instead Junie’s expression darkens, and she shoots Tobias a glare. A real glare, so obviously different from the playfighting the bird’s been instigating all day. Tobias glares back.

“A joke!” Nia yelps. “That was a joke! Please don’t fight again!”

Junie’s eyes narrow, but she huffs and turns back to Nia. “Fine.”

Nia breathes a sigh of relief. She knows she didn’t touch on all of Junie’s problems—

(The little bird doesn’t know if she wants to go back to the human world? Why would she not want to go back?)

—but Junie seems to be stabilizing and the argument has been averted for now, so Nia will take it as a win.

“Food!” A red and white bear Pokémon announces, stumbling over to their table with trays lined along his arms.

Nia watches with wide eyes as the Pokémon dips and sways like an inflatable tube man outside of a car dealership, staggering forward like he’s absolutely trashed. The food, however, stays firmly balanced on the plates, and once the dishes are placed on the table, the Pokémon bows and stumbles back towards the kitchen like nothing strange just happened.

Junie looks as baffled by the cheery, drunken bear as her. Nia shoots Tobias a look, but he’s just dragging his plate closer to him like this is a regular occurrence. Nia shakes her head and chalks the incident up to her ever-growing chart of incredibly weird Pokemon behavior. Maybe she can ask Xander or Andyn about it when she gets home.

Nia stops in the middle of grabbing her utensils.

Home? Is she thinking of the Lexym guild as home now?

She thinks of Maggie and her friends, of her little alcove with Tobias that smells like herbs and moss. She thinks of blue crystals and the creaking of wood, and she realizes there’s a sort of familiar warmth to the thought. Nia’s not entirely comfortable with that (her home isn’t here, isn’t even in this world), but...maybe she can have two homes? A temporary home, here, with Tobias and the guild, and her actual home in the human world.

But what about when Will does figure out how to return, and she has to leave this home behind?

Something aches in Nia’s chest at the thought of no more vines smoothing back the fur on Nia’s head. No more Andyn and Ezra play wrestling, or Xander’s team destressing by playing games in their quarters. No more Val making her feel confident and strong, no more Tobias dragging her into magical, dangerous, beautiful dungeons, and no more of the rewarding snorts of amusement that she manages to get from him sometimes.

She knew she’d be upset if she got attached. She’d even confided in Avery about it, told them that she wasn’t planning on getting attached to the Pokémon here. But that’s just what she’s doing, isn’t she? And that’s what she just recommended Junie do, too.

Was that the right thing to say?

Nia’s mind is saying no, but in her heart she knows she would have completely lost it by now if she didn’t have the support and affection of her friends. She needs them right now, to get through this and to be brave enough to figure everything out. But that’s only going to make it worse when she has to return to the human world and leave them all behind, isn’t it?

“Nia? You okay?”

Nia snaps out of her thoughts at Junie’s voice, and blinks hard once she realizes her vision is blurry. Even Tobias is watching her. They’ve both already dug into their meals, and Nia hasn’t even touched hers.

She hurries to grab her fork, laughing a noise that’s a little too sharp to be normal, and says, “S-Sorry! Spaced out for a bit. I’m fine!”

Junie looks concerned, but what’s Nia supposed to do, pile her own concerns onto Junie ten minutes after the little bird had her own breakdown? And it’s not like Tobias wants to hear it. So Nia digs into her quiche, pleased to find that it might just be the best meal she’s had since arriving in this world. She shoves her worries away the best she can and lets the food improve her mood.

“So Will said there’s gonna be informational booths and stuff at the conference tomorrow,” Nia says once she swallows, trying to sound excited. “What do you think they’ll be about?”

Junie’s concern melts into her own excitement. “I hope they talk about Pokemon types! I’m still trying to figure all of that out. Like, apparently I’m a flying type or whatever. Why the heck does that give me an advantage over grass type Pokemon? Like, fire types having an advantage makes sense--fire burns grass. But flying types? What am I gonna do, flap the grass to death?”

Nia laughs, a bit more real this time, and starts explaining what little knowledge she’s gathered about type advantages, as well as some mnemonic devices she came up with to help remember the typing matchups. Like making study tips for a test!

Tobias jumps in to make jabs and insults throughout, but Nia can’t help feeling that something’s off about him. She swears she feels him looking at her, stare burning into the side of her head, but when she turns to meet it he’s always looking away, at his food or around the restaurant.

Finally, she catches his eye, and frowns with the slightest tilt of her head. Junie’s rambling on about how much molting stinks, so Nia mouths, You okay?

She’s not expecting a response other than an eye roll, so she’s surprised when Tobias looks back at her. Really looks, like he’s considering his answer. Eventually, he gives her a short nod before going back to his food, quieter than usual.

Nia frowns as she drags her attention back to the conversation with Junie, mind still trying to focus on two things at once.

That was...odd. For Tobias, at least.

#pmd #pokemon mystery dungeon #pokemon #riolu #charmander #rookidee #pmd seekers of soul #tesha draws #tesha writes

134 notes · View notes

reversemoon255 · 3 years

Photo

(From September 2020 to February 2021, I worked on a Pokémon themed Dungeons and Dragons campaign for a few friends. We didn’t get very far, but I put a significant amount of work into the world, story, and several Pokémon that would appear throughout, including an original set of starters. I want to to leave some record of my work, so I thought I’d write a few summary posts. And while I designed these Pokémon, their fantastic art was done by @extyrannomon on Twitter. I highly recommend you check them out.)

Dungeons 'n' Dragonites - Phase 1: Hello Stelopy City

Our story starts in Stelopy City, located in the Wellou Region. We get a brief introduction from DJ Tomomitsu, a radio host, before each player got their own brief story segments. Our first player was Ethan, as aspiring chef, who lived on campus at his high school. Ethan was approached by one of his dorm mates with a favor (to get him out of the building), as well as having an attractive girl meandering around the kitchen (if he wished to try flaunting his culinary skills). He would then get to choose to either finish up his side-quest or go to the local fisher's market, with him transitioning between those locations taking him to the area where he would meet his starter Pokémon:

"As you enter the alleyway, the walls are covered floor-to-ceiling in moss that seem to appear as soon as the shadows overtake the sunlight. The farther you walk, the more weeds you see popping through the cracks. Once you reach the half-way point, you come to a small open space. With the sunlight now flickering down through the plants brave enough to venture off the verdant walls, the entire area shines a bright, emerald green. In the center of this area is a decently sized fountain. It's no longer flowing, but there's a decent amount of rain water filling it up close to the brim. As you approach it, even through the murky iridescent waters, you can see a thick, fuzzy amount of lichen growing all throughout the inside of the basin. As you pass by the fountain, you hear an audible sploosh. Do you turn around? (Y/N)"

There he would meet the first of our new Starter, the Grass-Type Flymph. I kept it secret that I was doing original Starters. Part of my personal excitement in planning everything was the eventual reveal of these designs I had created. Kept me going when things started feeling like a grind.

Our second player, Johnny, started off at home, woken by his father asking him to run an errand. After being able to talk to his family a bit, he proceeded to a somewhat beaten-up house on the edge of the Pokémon-overrun abandoned district where he would receive some boat parts before leaving and the sidewalk underneath him collapses. Stumbling around the abandoned subway tunnels for a bit, he would run into our second Starter, the Fire-Type Calfyre.

Johnny's player wanted to become an entertainer, which didn't give me a lot to work session one, so a lot of his opener was focused on expanding the world and giving everyone an idea of areas they would be exploring later.

Third was Orion who had a quiet morning at home before being provoked via text messages from his siblings to chase down a mysterious "Wailord in a Top Hat." This pursuit would also lead him to the fisher's market and the nearby docks, where, after just catching sight of his quarry, he would encounter the Water-Starter Squisque.

Orion's player wanted a lot of his story to be based on his relationship with his father, so most of his opening was based on reinforcing his family dynamic. Not home, everyone’s busy, focus on work. This particular Saturday was strange in that Orion didn’t have anything going on.

Our last player was Arthur, who also lived on campus. While our other three players started their segments in bed, Arthur was playing lacrosse. After having an opportunity to show off (or fail), he would be told by a friend that he had upset his girlfriend that morning (kitchen girl from Ethan's story), and needed Arthur to pick up her favorite dessert while he attempted to woo her for the rest of the day. After doing so (while being given a chance to explore some of the local stores) he encountered a hungry Houndoom who proceeds to chase him up a fire escape. Once up there he encountered our final Starter, the Fairy-Type Utaw.

After each player met their Starters, they would have a brief tutorial battle against three Pokémon they were advantageous against before running into each other, and were subsequently arrested for "stealing" Pokémon, which would cap session one.

=====

Let's talk design. Stelopy City is loosely based on Chicago, is a portmanteau of "Steel Canopy," and Wellou is a joke on Illinois. The vast majority of the campaign was to take place in this location. Most of my players had very busy schedules (so busy it took us three sessions to get through the above opener), so DJ Tomomitsu was a way for me to easily start each session with a list of things to do (side-quests), and they as a group could decide which they were the most interested in based on time. Tomomitsu himself was based on DJ Sagara from Kamen Rider Gaim, with Tomomitsu being the name of the actor who played him.

As for the starters, I tried to stick to the reoccurring themes we’ve seen over the past 8 Generations. Flymph's name is a portmanteau of Dragonfly, Errol Flynn, and Nymph (the larval form of a Dragonfly). He's meant to be a special attacker, but, like an early DND Wizard, doesn't have access to a lot of them so he brandishes his sword-like arms to intimidate his foes instead. His diet consists entirely of lichens, algae, and similar flora, storing them in his transparent stomach pouches, and can be seen sunbathing in the water, belly up, feeding the plant matter the sunlight they need to grow. He also does not like Bug-Types, and isn’t Bug himself because of Grass/Bug’s myriad of weaknesses (for balancing), plus he changes Types after his first evolution. The theme of Grass Starters is extinction, which won’t become clear until his final evolution, but you may be able to guess how he relates.

Fire Starters are themed after the Chinese Zodiac, and of the remaining four yet to be used (including Snake, Ram, and Horse), I went with Ox. Calfyre's name is a play on Calf and Fire, and is meant to play like a Barbarian. When it comes to personality he's very timid and unsure of himself like a first-time DND player might be acting in a group. Unlike most Fire-Types, Calfyre lacks a Flame Sac. Instead, his spiral horns are filled with a freon-like liquid that, when swirled, rapidly absorbs energy from the air, which he uses for attacks. This chills the air around him, and makes him one of the few Fire-Types that are cold to the touch. Which sucks, because he’s a snugly sleeper.

Water Starters are usually themed after a weapon or character class. This usually shows in the later evolutions, but it's pretty obvious Squisque (a portmanteau of Squirt, Squire, and Bisque) is themed off a lance and shield. He's a paladin in both role and personality, charging in at the slightest sign of trouble, even if there isn't any real danger. It's the typical non-nuanced idea of what people think when they hear "Paladin." He was to a degree supposed to play a catalyst role, charging into situations the players may not want to in order to force them into helping people or combat if need be. He was also the first design I settled on, being based on an old Kaijin idea I had of a lobster-knight using its asymmetrical claws as different medieval weapons.

Utaw is unique, not just in that he was a fourth or Fairy Starter, but in conception. I was only supposed to have three players, but ended up with four. As such, his design is responsive to the others. Why a dinosaur? Because I had a mammal, crustacean, and bug, was unsure if I wanted a bird or reptile, and decided to meet half-way. Why is he Fairy? Because it has very little interaction with Fire, Water, and Grass, while still having defined weaknesses and resistances to certain types. (Also, this player wanted a Dragon-Type.) He’s based on a Utahraptor, hence the name, and is misspelled to include “Claw” or “Caw.” He’s meant to play team Bard, and uses sound moves. As for personality, he's a bit of a birdbrain who enjoys fighting. Not maliciously; it’s just fun, again acting like a new DND player who’s more interested in combat than role playing.

The idea with the personalities was that each Pokémon was supposed to start out like a rookie DND player on their first campaign. Not knowing how to play their class, being uncomfortable acting in front of a group, leaning too hard into your role without bending, or just fighting everything you see without diplomacy. It felt like a fun extra layer to each of these Pokémon that tied them just as much into the DND side of things as the Pokémon.

=====

Back to our story, after being briefly detained (mostly as an excuse to give the players time to introduce themselves to each other, something my DMs have struggled with), they meet Professor(-in-training) Bianca. The four Pokémon had been found by Silph Co., and had decided to donate them to the Unovan Pokémon Research Lab. However, after seeing the Pokémon interacting with these people, Bianca decides to give them up instead. "Pokémon should be with people," after all.

I had three side quests set up following this (after they all go to the DMV to get their Trainer's licenses). The first was a general "there's wild Pokémon here" quest where they could train and catch things. There was a sale at the mall where they could get some cheap held items and have their first trainer battle, and an event at the fisher's market where they could win some free items and would lead into their first dungeon.

The dungeon was what I was hoping they would pick, and would have them chase a group of Poipole through a warehouse, with them having different battles if they chose to enter from the front or the back. After defeating them, the Poipole would be sucked through a spontaneously generating Ultra Wormhole, with a high enough perception check revealing a strange laugh, or on a 20 have them catch a glimpse of a grey Charizard O_O

From there it was a matter of coming up with (or possibly recycling unused) side-quests until we reached the point where the Starters were about to evolve. I had a few things planned; introductions to a few reoccurring NPCs, a field trip to the local museum where they would be able to catch a Yamask (and possibly learn something about the origins of their Starters), and a raid battle against a group of Onix who would recur through the campaign.

The end of Phase 1 would come about with another dungeon. In the middle of the night, Ethan and Arthur would be awoken by their Pokémon to a group of Durant having busted through the floor of the dorm and raiding their kitchen. Easily driving them off, their Pokémon would encourage them to pursue. Later, full party in toe, the four of them would explore the Duranthill. There would be a number of possible encounters, but only one mandatory fight before reaching the depths. In said encounter, while being surrounded by a group of Durant, they would receive unexpected help from this Pokémon:

With some interpretation, they would discover that this Princess Durant was afraid for the sake of her colony. A new queen had taken up residence there, and was commanding the Durant to attack the surface and steal food for her. With additional party member in toe, they would descend further with better direction, eventually discovering the lair of the Queen Durant...

#Pokemon #Dungeons and Dragons #DND #DND Homebrew #durant

9 notes · View notes

silver-lily-louise · 3 years

Text

The Power That’s Inside

(ao3 link)

Square filled: Chairman Meow Ship: Malec Rating: General Audiences Tags: Fluff, Moving In Together, Alternate Universe - Pokémon Fusion Created for @shadowhunterbingo

Summary: ‘Well hello there,’ he says softly, slowing down his blinks and glancing away. ‘Aren’t you a pretty kitty. What are you doing in our box of towels, hmm?’ The Meowth, of course, doesn’t give a response, just remains stock-still. On the day Magnus and Alexander move in together, Magnus finds an unexpected visitor in one of their boxes.

~oOo~

Alec comes into the living room, his arms flexing with the weight of the huge box he’s carrying, and Magnus grins. ‘I must say – this is going far better than when I moved into my old apartment. It’s so useful, having a nice strong man to help with the boxes this time around,’ he says, pretending to fan himself. Alec sets the box down on the coffee table – the last available space that isn’t a walkway – and raises an eyebrow. ‘Because you’re so frail,’ he points out, gesturing vaguely – presumably, at the triceps on display, now that Magnus has rid himself of all layers but his sleeveless undershirt. Moving house is hard work, after all. But Magnus just shrugs, undeterred, stepping aside lightly as Lila carries a floating array of silverware through to the kitchen. ‘That’s by the by, Alexander,’ he insists. ‘One of the perks of dating a firefighter is the right to ogle, surely?’

Alec rolls his eyes at that, but his expression turns fond, his gaze not leaving Magnus even as he pushes the box forward for Shadow and Elsa to start clawing away the packing tape. ‘Maybe later. For now, could you go get that last box from the front yard? I wanna start setting up the electronics.’ ‘All right – be careful,’ Magnus says, slipping his overshirt back on for a minute as he heads out. ‘Always am,’ Alec calls after him.

The sun is behind the house, now, and Magnus is glad for the extra layer as he steps out into the shade and is hit by a determined breeze. The box he’s after is just to the left of the front door, and he squats down to reach out for it - And promptly falls on his butt in surprise as it hisses at him.

Cautious, now, he gingerly extends a hand and opens one of the top flaps; large, shiny eyes meet his, and the small glint of gold just above them clues him in even before he opens the box the rest of the way. ‘Well hello there,’ he says softly, slowing down his blinks and glancing away. ‘Aren’t you a pretty kitty. What are you doing in our box of towels, hmm?’ The Meowth, of course, doesn’t give a response, just remains stock-still. When Magnus chances a look back, he has to contain a frown – this little guy doesn’t look well enough to be a neighbour’s Pokémon; he’s all unkempt, patchy fur and too-visible ribs. He considers it, for a moment, and then holds out the back of his hand for the Meowth to sniff, letting out a small sigh of relief when he receives a small miaow instead of another hiss, or even a bite. ‘There you go, sweetheart. I’m not that scary, am I?’ He shifts backwards slowly, getting to his feet only once he’s a respectful distance away. ‘Now, don’t you go anywhere. I’ll go get you something to eat, and then we’ll go about seeing where you belong.’

***

Unsurprisingly, once the Meowth is fed and sleepy and consenting to being carried, a quick trip to the neighbours’ houses and then to the local Pokémon Center reveals that he doesn’t have a human home. And from what Magnus knows about wild Meowth packs, he doubts he has one of those, either – those packs take excellent care of each other, on the whole. ‘Though they are fairly insular, too,’ he explains, sitting on the couch next to Alexander, the Meowth still in his arms. ‘They’re unlikely to accept a new member. Typically, the only exception is when two whole groups will merge together during the breeding season and then split off, dividing up into two or three new ones; but an individual stranger will simply be shut out, or even injured –‘ ‘Magnus,’ Alec interrupts gently, a knowing look on his face. ‘You’re saying you want to keep him, right?’

It’s not really a question – Alec knows him too well by now to have any doubts, most likely – but Magnus nods anyway. ‘He’s all on his own, Alexander,’ he says quietly. ‘And he won’t thrive in a shelter, not with how young and skittish he is. He needs dedicated socialisation, and it ought to be with someone he already trusts included in the process.’ ‘Like you,’ Alec surmises. Magnus nods again. ‘Like me. Is that okay?’ he checks, a little unsure. They’ve quite literally only just moved in together, and another Pokémon in the house means another responsibility -

But to Magnus’ relief, Alec says, ‘Of course.’ He looks down at his lap, where Elsa is now curled up asleep, her curiosity about the Meowth apparently having dwindled somewhat over the past hour. ‘Sometimes we don’t do the choosing,’ he murmurs. ‘Sometimes it’s them.’ He looks up a moment later, his pensive expression gone in favour of a relaxed smile. ‘He’s gonna need a name, though. Any thoughts?’ Magnus smiles widely. ‘I have the perfect name, in fact.’ He turns a little in his seat, facing Alec properly. ‘Darling, allow me to formally introduce you to Chairman.’ Alec frowns. ‘Chairman?’ ‘That’s right,’ Magnus says. ‘Chairman Meowth.’

As expected, Alexander’s face falls, and he groans. ‘I’m sorry I asked.’ Magnus just laughs, reaching out and squeezing his long-suffering boyfriend’s hand in commiseration. Between them, Elsa continues to snore, and the Chairman purrs.

~oOo~

#malec #malec fic #shadowhunters #shadowhunters fanfiction #shtv #shs #pkmn #mine #shadowhunterbingo #...yes this means chairman mao existed in the pokemon universe #then again that's not a surprise as it's entirely possible the pokemon universe is post-apocalyptic #so saying 'chairman mao' might be like us saying 'tutankhamun'#ancient but still known? idk. go with it i couldn't resist the pun in this universe aha

21 notes · View notes

authorialarcanist · 3 years

Text

Gracidea Blossom Chapter 4: Trouble Clef

(Pokémon Diamond, Pearl, & Platinum x Little Busters!)

Mirror Links: AO3, Pokécommunity, Spacebattles

---

Previous - Next

---

“…And that’s how we ran out of Pokéballs.” Kyousuke’s face is buried in his hands as he recounts Rin’s training. “Rin, you really are a legendary no-con.”

“Shut up! I don’t want a title like that!” Rin hisses at him over her bread.

After Masato and Kengo’s battle and Rin’s throwing practice wrapped up, the Little Busters have decided to pause for lunch before heading into Mt. Coronet. Although the tunnels leading from one side of the mountain to the other are reasonably well-traversed, it’s still always best to be prepared before heading in. Terra and Sly are sleeping beside Riki on a boulder, while Lennon is curled up in Rin’s lap nibbling on a berry.

“If you want to talk about no control, look at these idiots!” She glares at Kengo, who looks away.

“I tried to stop them when they went past the first knockout, honest…” Riki sighs. As usual for Masato and Kengo, ‘first elimination’ had morphed into an all-out battle until both of their teams had been totally wiped out.

Masato finally snaps under the pressure. “Look, I get it, okay? I got carried away! I’m sorry!”

“Well, I guess it’s alright,” Kyousuke says. “We won’t be able to count on Masato and Kengo in the mountain, but that just means Riki and Rin get to take point!”

“W-w-what?” Riki waves his hands in front of him, trying to get Kyousuke to slow down a moment. “What do you mean, we’ll take point? There’s no way Rin and I are ready!”

Kyousuke shakes his head. “I can step in if any of the wild Pokémon are too strong for you to handle, but the two of you won’t get stronger if I do everything for you.”

Unsure of how to reply to that, Riki just focuses on eating his bread. He’s not sure where all of this talk about strength keeps coming from. He doesn’t care about getting stronger; he just wants to stay with his friends.

“Hey, Kyousuke!” Masato pipes up. “Didn’t you pack any cutlets?”

“What sort of trip do you think this is?” Kyousuke gestures at his backpack. “Does this bag look like it could hold a cooler to you?”

“Come on! How are we supposed to build any muscle without protein?” Masato gestures at Riki. “His training’s gonna be meaningless without giving his body the right building blocks!”

“I’ve got jerky, Masato. That’s the best you’re going to get.” Kyousuke pulls a sealed bag out of his backpack and tosses it to Masato, who catches it with a resigned sigh.

He’s about to pull out a piece of jerky when Kengo snatches his wrist. “Weren’t you talking about how Riki needs protein?”

“Ugh…” Masato stops for a minute, seemingly at war with himself, before finally giving up and thrusting the bag at Riki with both hands. “Fine! Riki, take my hard-earned jerky before I change my mind!”

Riki waves his hands in a placating gesture. “Why don’t we just split it evenly between the five of us?”

Masato gasps. “Of course! Riki, you’re a genius!”

“No,” Rin says, “you’re just an idiot.”

“Riki, you’ll defend me, won’t you?” Masato looks at Riki hopefully, but Riki’s face contorts sheepishly as he tries to think of any way to contradict the accusation. The pause stretches on to a minute before Masato buries his face in his hands and groans. “Noooo! Not even Riki’s on my sideeee!”

Kengo bonks him lightly on the head with his wooden sword. “If you don’t want to be called an idiot, you should try not being one.”

Kyousuke’s voice is neutral as he speaks up from behind his own lunch. “Oh? Riki, could you remind me whose idea started that Pokémon battle, again?”

“Gkh—” Kengo chokes on his tongue, and after failing to come up with a retort, hangs his head in shame.

“I do believe that makes me the winner here,” Kyousuke chuckles. He reaches over to snag the jerky from Masato.

Rin snatches it out from under his nose. “Says the one who watched that show and then spent a month trying to get Masuda to hit ground types with Thunderbolt.”

“You promised you wouldn’t tell!”

“Give that back! I need protein to live! Proteeeiiiiin!” Masato dives at the jerky, earning a startled high-kick for his troubles as Rin scrambles away. Riki looks on as his friends scuffle, a fond smile on his face.

“Riki, back me up! I’ll give you half of my jerky if we win!” Masato’s hand reaches out to grab Riki and pull him into the fray.

“Woah!” Riki staggers into Kyousuke with a startled cry, and then it’s every man for himself.

——

Once the group has finished recovering, Kyousuke stands up. “Alright then, team. We’re not far from the cave entrance now, so we should make sure we’re prepared for the wild Pokémon inside Mt. Coronet. Rin!” He points to his sister suddenly, startling her. “What do you think we should do to get through safely?”

“Hm…” She thinks for a moment. “You go in front of us to take care of the Pokémon there, Masato guards from the right, Kengo takes care of the left, and you go behind us to take care of the Pokémon there.”

“Amazing!” Kyousuke responds with a shocked expression. “Have I always had these incredible powers of duplication? And when did Masato and Kengo’s Pokémon get healed?”

“I’m sure she meant something deeply meaningful by it…” Riki chuckles sheepishly.

Rin just hisses in response.

“Anyways, that won’t work. Riki, keeping in mind there’s only one of me and that Masato and Kengo are out of usable Pokémon, what do you think?”

“Well… I guess, I could go in front to defend against any land-based Pokémon, while Rin and Lennon keep an eye out for Zubat? I think Ember is the only attack either of us has that would be able to hit a Pokémon in the air.”

Kyousuke nods. “That sounds good to me. I’ll follow behind, and take over if any evolved Pokémon show up.”

Riki looks around, making sure that everybody is ready with backpacks secured and trash packed away. “Then… I guess it’s time for us to move? I’ll keep Terra in front for now, so… Sly, return!” After withdrawing his Bonsly, he turns to Kyousuke for confirmation.

Kyousuke nods. “That’s right. The entrance should be just a short ways further west. We should be able to reach Oreburgh by nightfall.”

He’s not wrong about the cave entrance; once the group is moving again, it takes them under an hour to reach and cross one more bridge from their island to the other side of the river. Riki boggles for a moment at the water far below them, reflecting the misty grey of the sky, and then they’re across the bridge and facing a steep mountainside. In front of them, a jagged entrance has been carved into the rock, leading into the mountain.

“Is everybody ready?” Kyousuke meets Riki’s eyes for a moment, waiting for his small nod before moving on to glance at each of the others in turn. “Once we’re inside the cave, we won’t be able to rest until we’ve reached the other side.”

Masato and Kengo give their assent, and then everybody turns to Rin. She shrinks back, but after a moment she gives a hesitant nod.

“Very well, then! Mission Start!” At Kyousuke’s shout, Riki gathers his courage and steps into the tunnel.

The caves inside Mt. Coronet are brighter than one would expect. Light filters in through the cave entrances and from openings higher in the mountain wall, casting the interior in a dusky half-light. Calm pools of water reflect this faint twinkling from where they lie scattered through the interior. Zubat and Golbat flutter overhead as Riki leads the way into the mountain, and some drop closer to examine the new arrivals. Occasionally a Zubat decides that the group must be prey and swoops in to attack them, but each time one does, Lennon scares it off with a few Embers.

Partway through the cave, the group finds their path blocked by an array of fallen boulders. Riki tries to see if they could slip between them, but between the rocks in front of them and a long pool of water limiting them to a narrow path, there’s no way forward.

Riki turns to Kyousuke beseechingly. “Could you have your Pokémon use Rock Smash?”

“Hm.” Kyousuke examines the blocked path. “I could.”

“That’s great! Okay, let’s go!” Riki turns to move forward, then stops when he realizes Kyousuke isn’t following. “…Kyousuke?”

“Yes?”

“Could you please have your Pokémon use Rock Smash.”

“Yes, I could.”

They stand there for a minute, Kyousuke making no signs of movement.

Finally, Riki speaks up again. “…Will you have your Pokémon clear the way?”

“No,” Kyousuke says, “I don’t think I will.”

“Kyousuke…” Riki glares at him balefully.

“There’s a detour through the middle of the cave. We can take that. It’ll be good experience!”

“Kyousuke, this is the main travel path through Mt. Coronet! As the Champion, shouldn’t you clear the way?”

Kyousuke thinks for a moment. “Hm. That’s probably true. I’ll have to come back and open the path once we’re through.”

Riki gives up. “Ugh… Alright, which way is the detour…?”

At that, Rin shouts incredulously. “You’re going along with him?”

“What else can we do when he’s made up his mind like this?” Riki sighs, and turns around to follow the detour Kyousuke points out. The group skirts around the nearest pool, making their way north until the water at their side gives way to more land, and turns west to find the ramping body of rock that dominates the center of the cave. Long ago, somebody carved stairs into the formation, creating an alternate path for trainers who need it. Several Geodude are sleeping on the stairway, and they wake up when Riki and Terra draw near.

The Turtwig fights them off, but its tackles take a while to weaken them through their tough, rocky skin. At the end of the battle, Terra is a little unsteady on its feet, so Riki sprays it down with some potion and then withdraws it to let Sly take the lead.

The group climbs up the rough stairs to the top of the rock formation, where a flat path has been carved through the jutting rock. Right in the middle of the path, however, is a small pile of sleeping pink Pokémon. They’re round, with stubby limbs and pointed, brown-tipped ears. Riki can make out a sworl of fur on the forehead of one that’s facing him, and a large curled tail beneath two tiny wings on the back of another.

“What do we do? I didn’t see another detour we could take,” Riki whispers.

“They’re just Clefairy, but… I’d feel bad waking them up just for your training. We should be able to sneak past them,” Kyousuke replies.

“Mm. So… we just need to be quiet and work our way around the edge of the path?” Rin’s voice is also hushed.

“Yeah. Just be careful, and we’ll get by.”

“What are you guys whispering about?” Masato pipes up from the back of the group, his voice raised to cross the distance.

Riki shushes him, gesturing wildly at the sleeping Clefairy, and for a moment the whole group holds their breath, waiting to see if they’ll wake up. After a moment, they let out a sigh of relief as one as the Clefairy don’t seem to have woken up.

Rin whirls on Masato. “WHAT WERE YOU THINKING, YOU IDIOT?” Her shout echoes all over the cave for a moment before she catches on and covers her own mouth in shock.

“Oh, no…” Riki slowly turns from where his gaze had followed Rin. The Clefairy, now roused, don’t seem to be pleased at their intrustion. Riki’s eyes move higher as one in particular rises from the middle of the pile, reaching a full height of just over four feet. This Pokémon’s body is larger and more oblong than the Clefairy, and pointed, pink fairy wings flutter out from its back. This is a Clefable, the evolved form of Clefairy.

“Oh, I’m an idiot, am I? Which one of us actually woke them up?” Masato’s voice drips with vindication as he needles Rin.

“I— Shut up! It’s still your fault!”

“Guys, they’re coming at us!” Riki’s voice wavers as he takes a step back from the Clefable. “Maybe you could argue later?”

“R, right! Lennon, Scratch to the right!” Rin finally comes to Riki’s support and her Litten jumps into the fray, raking its claws across the nearest approaching Clefairy.

“Sly! Use Flail on the one on the left!” The Bonsly, already closer to the wild Pokémon, begins to thrash about and rams into any Clefairy that try to get past it.

Still, the Clefable advances angrily. It’s strong enough to hardly notice when Sly’s flailing knocks into its leg, just lightly kicking out to send the Rock-Type tumbling away. The first thing to make it pause is a flash of sound and red light as a Pokéball lands in front of it and bursts open.

“Go, Chaplin!” Kyousuke’s voice rings out over the sound of battle, and the light resolves into a thin section of tree trunk, standing on two legs. Oblong yellow splotches track up its torso to where a branchlike arm sticks out on each side, each tipped with three green spheres. Further up, at the top of the body, are two beady eyes and a wide mouth stretched into a dopey grin. Above the face, one last small branch sticks straight up from the top of the Pokémon’s body, splitting into what look like two cut-off twigs. This is a Sudowoodo, the second stage of Bonsly.

“Use Head Smash!” Kyousuke shouts a command, and with an excited wiggle, Chaplin lowers its head and rams into the Clefable at full force. Even though the impact looks like it should snap off the twigs on top, instead of bending they stay perfectly rigid. Like Bonsly, Sudowoodo aren’t real trees - just Rock-types mimicking them. The Clefable reels away from the impact, dazed.

Riki’s attention snaps back to his own part of the battle. Sly, too, seems to have stopped its assault for a moment to watch its evolved form. A Clefairy takes advantage of its distraction to assail it with a barrage of slaps, but Sly’s rocky skin renders the attack largely ineffective. At a shouted command from Riki, the Bonsly returns the favor, smacking its rocky head down at the Clefairy’s skull. The Clefairy topples backwards and another takes its place. Sly is beginning to be overwhelmed, and Riki can see that Rin isn’t doing much better on the other side of Kyousuke. She’s withdrawn Lennon and has her Chingling squeezing an opponent with its tendrils instead, but more Clefairy are piling past their companion to attack Santa.

“Ah crap CHAPLIN GET BACK!” Kyousuke’s shout draws Riki’s attention to him, and Riki sees Chaplin leap backwards from the Clefable now hovering a short ways above it. The Clefable’s wings push back and it smashes into the ground with a devastating punch, clipping the retreating Chaplin and sending it tumbling head-over-heels. Kyousuke’s Pokémon is stronger than the wild Clefable, but a super-effective move as powerful as Meteor Mash still has to hurt.

Meteor Mash… wait, that’s it! At his sudden thought, Riki shouts a new command to his Bonsly. “Use Copycat!” Sly goes still for a moment, some mysterious instinct freezing the Clefable’s attack in its memory. The Clefairy swarming it seem to sense something, but they back off too late to avoid the hammer-blow from the Bonsly’s head as it imitates the Meteor Mash. Several Clefairy skid away, too weak to fight, and a boulder that happened to be too close splits apart. One fragment of stone bounces into the air like a pop fly, and Riki watches it as it stalls for a moment at the peak of its flight. Sly is standing straighter after the last attack, power surging through it, so maybe it’s ready for… “Sly! Rock Throw!” The chunk of boulder comes down, directly above Sly, and at the last minute the Bonsly swings its head into the rock, sending it flying with a *crack.* The projectile slams into one of the Clefairy attacking Santa, and Rin shoots Riki a thankful nod.

At that moment, Kyousuke’s Sudowoodo stomps the ground, and several chunks of rock fall from the ceiling directly at the wild Clefable. Although it attempts to hover out of the way, the attack is too wide, and it has no choice but to be entombed in a prison of stone. “Well done, Chaplin!” Kyousuke bends down to rub the Pokémon’s rocky head, indicating that he’s helped enough.

Deciding to let Sly rest, Riki throws Terra’s Pokéball past Kyousuke so the Turtwig can help Rin clean up the last of her opponents. A couple minutes later, all of the Clefairy have given up their assault, and the friends resume walking before the Clefable can break out.

They make it to the end of the raised path, and after climbing back to the ground level they sit down next to a pool of water to catch their breath.

Riki pulls out his water bottle and takes a drink, the cool water refreshing his parched throat. He swallows and says, “So how did we do?”

“Not bad,” Kyousuke replies. “The two of you were able to handle yourselves, aside from the one that was far outside your level.”

Kengo nods. “Things like that use of Copycat were just what I meant about recognizing how to use your Pokémon’s strengths. And Rin, acting to restrain and block your opponents was also a good idea - if you’d had one more person who could support you, or if you were comfortable commanding two Pokémon at once in a double battle, you could have taken advantage of the openings you created.”

“Also, don’t I deserve an apology? After all, you were the one who woke them up,” Masato says.

“S-shut up!” Rin glares at him. “I wouldn’t have shouted at you if you hadn’t been loud, it’s still your fault!”

“Come on, Rin! Just one ‘I’m sorry’ can’t be so hard, can it?” Masato grins, approaching Rin as he teases her. “It’s not like I’m asking you to go around saying you think my training routine is the coolest—”

“Like hell!” Rin freezes for a moment, and then bolts away.

“Wah - Rin, come back! Don’t leave the group!” Riki stumbles to his feet and chases after her, trying to keep her in his sights. He follows her down a straight path through the cave, and their surroundings grow gradually brighter. Riki barely has time to register that they’re nearing the exit before Rin skids out of control in front of him. A moment later he also steps on several hard, round somethings, and loses his own footing. For a moment he glimpses something purple jumping out of the way, and then he crashes into Rin and the two tumble to the ground.

“Oww…” Riki extricates himself from the tangle of limbs and rubs his head. After a moment, he feels at the ground beneath him and picks up a small glass bead. “A marble…?” Confused, he looks up and meets a pair of blue eyes.

Their owner cocks her head before speaking in a jovial tone. “Wow, you two surprised me! Why were you running like that in a dark cave? That’s dangerous, you know!” She’s a girl in a white shirt and checkered skirt, as well as a pair of striped knee socks. Her magenta hair is tied into a side-ponytail with four round, pink hair ornaments.

“What I’d like to know is how these marbles got here. We could have gotten seriously hurt!” Riki’s head is still sore, and he glances around him in search of a possible explanation. The only person around seems to be the girl.

“…You shouldn’t run in caves,” she repeats, her tone not changing in the slightest.

“…Did you put these marbles here?”

“…Running in caves is dangerous!”

“More dangerous than spilling marbles everywhere?”

“…Well, who did what isn’t important!” The girl waves a hand dismissively.

“Wh- the culprit doesn’t get to decide that!” Riki climbs to his feet, careful not to rest his weight on any of the hazards. Looking down, Rin seems unharmed, although she’s still dazed from the crash. “Come on, you should clean these up!” He turns away from the girl and starts gathering up marbles.

The girl doesn’t budge. “Where are you going?”

Riki glances back, confused.

“Our eyes met. You can’t do anything until we’ve had a Pokémon battle!” She grins, gesturing from her eyes to his with her left hand.

“Seriously? Nobody actually follows that rule,” Riki chokes out through mounting exasperation.

“Actually, you should do it.” Suddenly, Kyousuke speaks from behind him.

“Gah!” Riki jumps, slipping on a marble again and falling on his rear. “Kyousuke, how the heck did you catch up so fast?”

“I’m nimble. What matters is, this is a perfect opportunity to get some more practice in! Hey,” he calls to the girl, “How many badges do you have?”

“I’m the proud owner of one badge!” She looks extraordinarily proud of herself for someone who just caused a high-speed pileup.

“One badge versus no badges, that should be within an acceptable range of strength. Riki, your mission is to battle her!”

“Ugh…” Riki glares at the girl halfheartedly. “Fine. But if I win, you’re not going to get out of cleaning this up!”

She just shoots him a smug look in return. She holds out a Pokéball in her left hand and presses a button in the center, causing it to shoot out a beam of red light. The beam ends in a pool of water opposite the cave entrance, and expands into the shape of a small jellyfish, with a bulbous top and a flared bottom. When the light clears, it reveals a light blue body with a beak and two beady eyes just sticking out of the water line. Higher up, the bulb is decorated with three clear red domes. A small one faces front in the middle of what one might call the Pokémon’s ‘forehead,’ while the other two are larger and set near the top on either side of the Pokémon. The Tentacool looks around for a moment before the girl shouts “Soap, I choose you,” and it snaps to attention.

“Go, Terra!” Riki throws a Pokéball, and his Turtwig pops out just by the water’s edge. He doesn’t give a command yet, glancing at the girl instead. “…If we’re going to battle, we should at least know each other’s names. I’m—”

“Riki, right. I heard the other boy.” The girl smirks. “My name’s Haruka! And — Poison Sting! — You’ve left yourself open!”

#Little Busters!#Pokemon #fanfiction #Naoe Riki #Natsume Kyousuke #Natsume Rin #Miyazawa Kengo #Inohara Masato #Saigusa Haruka #Sinnoh #Gracidea Blossom

2 notes · View notes

restingdomface · 4 years

Text

So in a fit of brilliance I’ve decided the two posts tagged ‘coffee date au’ are set in the same universe where Lan Xichen and Nie Mingjue agree to go on a date (they’re college buddies) but then suddenly they both show up slightly panicked and with a kid each (LXC doesn’t have a mom, and their dad is really agoraphobic since she died, and uncle is teaching a class rn, but NMJ still can’t convince his dad he should get a nanny for the kid and he’s having flashbacks to all the dangerous shit he chewed on as a kid and all the knives A-Sang could get his sticky hands on in their house, he swears he’s babyproofed like ten times now) and now it’s fate. Absolute love at first date and even if they break up they know damn well they’re gonna be sticking together for the sake of giving these kids some ounce of stability in their lives, and it’s actually kinda nice.

Anyways. One day when the kids are like six they meet Meng Yao, currently picking up like two kids from the daycare center (twins, his youngest siblings, now MXY cause he’s not born yet, but he’ll show up later) and they’re calling him brother and he’s fussing over them like a parent and then he looks at LXC and NMJ and they’re all ‘oh no he’s cute’ and invite a very stressed out looking Meng Yao (he has like twice as many classes as any sane person and he’s passing all of them with very high grades but he hasn’t slept in a while) to their weekly cafe date where they go to a nice little cafe off campus and buy a stupid amount of coffee and then spend the day playing with the kids cause LXC and NMJ never got played with as kids either, and MY isn’t really sure how to turn them down (they fukin hawt but also he’s on a scholarship and has basically no money that’s not going to keep the kids fed and clothed and he’s not really willing to spend it on frivolous things like dates) so he reluctantly ends up going, and it’s nice and they’re both basically rich boys who don’t make him pay and the kids make friends.

By the time they meet Jiang Chang and Wei Wuxian, the boys are both 10 and now Meng Yao is juggling two seven year olds and a one year old infant and tbh it’s actually Jin Zixuan who tracks him down when he finds out his father has been apparently dumping his bastard children on his first bastard son and Meng Yao looks TERRIFIED because he’s always been threatened that he’s not allowed to talk to his fathers only legitimate son and that if he does his father will cut off all contact entirely but leave him with the kids. Jin Guangshan has been keeping a tight leash on his finances, paying for his housing and stuff and food for the kids, but even then it’s barely enough and his boyfriends know that any sort of date or fun activity needs to be paid for by them or he can’t go at all because their father is terrible and just wants to abuse a poor kid who just made the mistake of agreeing to give his half siblings a better life.

Anyways. LXC and NMJ aren’t there yet or they likely would have threatened (lol LXC can’t threaten, he might try to deescalate the situation tho) Jin Zixuan, but they’re still not to the cafe yet and Meng Yao was in the middle of giving Mo Xuanyu a bottle and he’s basically stuck there, and he’s tired and the espresso hasn’t kicked in yet and JZX is saying something but MY isn’t paying attention.

Until the cafe doors open and two arguing ten year olds come barreling through, arguing about Pokémon or something and pulling each other’s hair. And JZX just sorta. Sighs.

He turns around to look at the kids with a disapproving frown. ‘A-Cheng, don’t pull A-Ying’s hair. Where did your sister get off to?’

Obviously, their older sister, JZX’s fiancé, was supposed to be keeping an eye on her terrible two, but A-Ying said she found a pretty hair pin in the store down the street and they got bored waiting for her and the shop owner scolded them for touching things, but then A-Cheng said A-Ying was the one touching stuff!! And now they’re arguing and pulling hair again and JZX has to get up and gently lead them both over to the table by the hand, getting them both settled down and asking what they want to drink.

This is so fucking surreal, Meng Yao almost forgets he has a fussy baby in his arms demanding attention until a slobbery little hand smacks him in the face and he goes back to gentle cooing at the little thing while giving him his bottle.

‘Oh! Is that A-Yu? Zi-gege said we were looking for A-Yu today! Can we play with him?’

Meng Yao isn’t sure what to do as the kids devolve from questions into arguing again. The twins are giving them funny looks, and since the boys were lead to the table, have finally abanonded their pretty drawings (they were drawing Yao-gege and also ErGe and DaGe too but they hadn’t gotten around to A-Zhan and A-Sang yet) to come back over to the table with Meng Yao and their new baby brother.

The two terrors stop arguing. A-Ying looks excitable. ‘I’m A-Ying! This is A-Cheng! Who are you?’

The twins look up at Meng Yao nervously, and he smiles at them gently, not knowing what else to do here.

Is Jin Zixuan here to take Xuanyu with him? He really hopes not. He isn’t sure what he and the girls would do to lose their new little brother. Things were tight around the house, just barely getting by with what they had, but Yao couldn’t lose him.

The first little girl, closest to Yao’s hand holding the bottle smiles. ‘I’m A-Ju, and this is my sister, A-Su.’

Su was a confident little one, but she had Yao’s tendency to watch people too critically before attempting to say anything. Ju tended to be more open.

JZX comes back and stands behind the boys after he’s given them a couple sandwiches and milky tea, and just stares at the two girls that he hadn’t realized were with Meng Yao, and his features went from hopeful to dashed quite fast.

The door to the cafe opened up and Meng Yao looked up to see NMJ and LXC coming in with a new woman that he didn’t recognize, but the boys across from him got excited to see immediately, shouting out for their jiejie. Meng Yao just sat back, feeling a little sick, entirely unsure what to do now.

The kids are playing together. A-Zhan is staring at A-Ying in a way that suggests he can’t figure the boy out, and A-Ying won’t stop poking at him like he’s some sort of toy. A-Zhan, for his favor, seems content to let him. A-Sang, as usual, abandoned all of them to draw with the twins.

Admittedly, Meng Yao might have been holding the baby a little bit tight when he finally agreed to go to a private table with JZX, but he hadn’t really calmed down from the request until JZX said NMJ could come with, and it takes a gentle hand putting pressure on his neck until he lets up the tense way he’s holding little Xuanyu at Mingjue’s guidance.

He can’t do this. They can’t do this. He’s had Xuanyu for almost six months now, he’s /bonded/ with the little termite. He’s watched the baby’s first steps, holding onto the couch as he tried to climb up to be with his sisters. He’s cut back on work hours.

Their father suggested he cut back on work all together. That comment had solidified it for Meng Yao in a way that nothing ever did before. Their father wanted him truly captive and reliant on his benevolence.

Zixuan, for his part, looks genuinely sorry. ‘I never came here to worry you. I don’t know what you /think/ I’m here for, but I promise I have only the best intentions, and I don’t want to take Xuanyu away.’

Meng Yao goes even more tense if possible, and his voice is shaking. ‘Don’t... don’t /want/. Do you /intend/?’

Zixuan makes a horrified little noise, shaking his head. ‘No no no, of course not. Not that either I promise.’

Meng Yao nearly sagged in place, tiredly turning the fussing child in his arms so he could gently bounce him, letting Xuanyu hold onto his thumb while Meng Yao forced himself to relax.

Zixuan sounded so desperately sad when he spoke again, and Yao could see tears in his eyes. ‘I’m... I’m so sorry he did this to you. I didn’t even know about the girls till they showed up.’

Meng Yao nodded a little, unsure what to say beyond a shrug. ‘If I had been less young, less naive, maybe I wouldn’t have so eagerly agreed just so he would have a reason to stay in my life. That doesn’t mean I won’t do whatever I have to to keep them.’

Zixuan nodded. ‘Of course, I would never want to do that. Listen, I didn’t know about the girls, or even if you wanted to keep Xuanyu, so I didn’t bring the paperwork with me, but I do know a way to get you out of all of... /this/.’

Meng Yao’s brows furrowed. ‘This?’

Xuanyu nodded slowly. ‘Father still pays for everything for you. Apartment, utilities, bills, all that goes through him. I, as his heir, have access to all those records. It’s supposed to be mother’s job, but she refuses to touch anything that has to do with fathers... illegitimate kids.’

Meng Yao doesn’t think he’s ever met someone who would talk so frankly about all this. It was oddly refreshing. Even NMJ and LXC didn’t want to admit their father had dug him a financial grave and was slowly burying him alive with the kids.

He frowned. ‘I can’t even move in with Mingjue or Xichen because he’s a raging homophobe who thinks I’ll corrupt the kids that he cares so little for he doesn’t even properly give us enough to survive off of.’

Zixuan looked honestly distressed at that. ‘Oh. Fuck that’s worse than I hoped for. I’m so sorry.’

Meng Yao sighed, moving to look out the window. He shrugged. ‘It’s not like I’m /forbidden/ from having a job. It’s just harder with three kids. Mingjue and Xichen have been helping out for years, he just doesn’t know it because he doesn’t realize that banks aren’t the only way to keep track of finances now days.’

Mingjue tolled his eyes, his thumb moving gently against Meng Yao’s neck. ‘It’s like the old man doesn’t even realize PayPal exists.’

Zixuan snorted. ‘He really doesn’t. That takes care of half of what I’m here for. Even if he was giving you enough that you didn’t have to worry about food or bills, I would still be here to give you the access info to an account I set up for you last week. When the papers are signed, the only thing anyone but you will be able to do is put in the money. No one but you can close the account or take anything out.’

Meng Yao looked at him in shock. ‘Why would you do that?’

Zixuan made a stressed out angry noise, nose wrinkling in the same way Yao’s did when he was mad. ‘Because, I’ve seen his finances. What he’s giving you barely counts as pocket change to his bloated rich ass. I could drop a five million on you right now to ask you to move away and never come back and he wouldn’t even /notice/ because that’s how little that amount would be to him. He wouldn’t even realize you four had left until he realized he couldn’t find any of you.’

Meng Yao considered it for a moment. ‘Why /dont/ you do that?’

Zixuan’s expression was pure distaste. ‘Because I don’t have any reason whatsoever to hate any of you. I feel terrible that you made the mistake of being fathers newest whipping dog, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to pity you. You’re in a bad position, and I’m here to help you out of it. But I’m also not going to leave you without financial support. You may want to keep the kids, but these weren’t your mistakes to begin with, and father has been punishing you for years for it.’

Mingjue snorted, sitting back with his arms crossed. ‘You really don’t like your dad, do you kid?’

Zixuan shook his head. ‘Not particularly, no. Other than the bank account, I can convince father to give over full custody of the kids to you. No possible way to get any of them back.’

Meng Yao blinked at his half brother, sitting up straighter again, looking at him in shock. ‘How would you do that?’

Zixuan shrugs. ‘He’s not the only manipulative one in the family. I could get him to panic and drop custody entirely.’

And so that’s the story about how Meng Yao had a coffeeshop romance and also ended up with some kids out of it. Later on he and Mingjue and Xichen all move in together in a huge new house with all the kids and they’re. Happy.

#the grandmaster of demonic cultivation #the untamed #mdzs #lan xichen #twin jades of lan #nie brothers #nie mingjue #jin zixuan #mo xuanyu #lol yeah one of the girls is su lol fuck ages #coffee date au #lol wwx and jc come over regularly to play now its really cute #theyre always arguing its adorable yanli loves her baby terrors #age change #lol fuck jgs hes terrible and abusive #meng yao

83 notes · View notes

aufanficfanatic · 4 years

Text

BNHA Pokémon AU Part 1: Kirishima Eijirou

I. ROCKRUFF --------

It was a different world these days. Brock didn't want to sound like an old man—he was only thirty, after all—but it seemed like the world had been a lot smaller back in his youth. One region, one Pokédex with 150 slots to fill, and everyone gushing over a simple boxy computer that could store Pokémon for the first time. Now, there were multiple regional dexes, and WiFi towers everywhere, and every year technology seemed to get simultaneously more and less complicated. Somehow.

Brock sighed, shaking snow out of his spiky brown hair as he emerged from Rock Tunnel, his Onix slithering by his side with a satisfied air about him. He should be satisfied, Brock thought with fondness. There had been a lot of ice-types in the Tunnel, obviously having migrated down from the mountain peaks due to the winter season, and his Onix had handled himself well. Better than Brock himself, who was still shivering. "G-great workout, Onix! Y-you're really starting to limber up-p," he encouraged through clattering teeth. Onix rumbled in pleasure.

Gym Leader and Pokémon crunched through the snow as they made their way to Brock's destination, smiling at the people who recognized Pewter's famous gym leader—and here was another sign of the ever-expanding world. Used to be, Route 9 was a hiker's dream—one lonely Pokémon Center, and nothing but trails and wild Pokémon wherever else you looked. And then the Power Plant was built, and the area became an important centre of Kanto energy production. A rugged but quaint little town sprang up around the Pokémon Center, supporting the Power Plant workers and their families. It had swallowed up a lot of Route 10 and pushed a lot of wild Pokémon further up the mountain. Still, the people here really seemed to live respectfully and cleanly, building places for Pokémon to gather and maintain a community garden full of berry trees.

On the outskirts of town, a little further into the wild area of Route 9, lay another landmark, and the reason for Brock's visit: Rockruff Ranch. Brock stared up at the torii gate that marked the entrance into the large property, declaring its name with a little diamond motif that matched the collar on a Rockruff. He felt apprehensive, unsure of what he would find here.

Listen, he understood what it meant, having open communication in an expanding world. People and Pokémon alike were moving, resettling, flying and surfing their way into every corner of the globe—and it was fine. It was a part of life in the new age. But a Kanto breeder trying to specialize in an Alolan Pokémon ...? Brock could be forgiven if he had some misgivings. He'd been a Pokémon Breeder in the past and would be again someday. Kanto may have a temperate climate, but it was a far cry from the sunny paradise that was Alola. Also, rock-type Pokémon had a special place in his heart. He would lose respect for himself as a gym leader if he didn't make sure all the Rockruffs here were happy and healthy.

Determination overtaking the apprehension, Brock motioned to his Onix and moved forward into the ranch. The house was set back a ways from the gate, but the land here was well-manicured and open, and Brock could see the entirety of the property stretched out before him. There was the house, with the area around it fenced-in. There was a building behind the house that looked like a re-purposed stable. A large swimming hole in the front of the property was iced over with the winter temperatures. Trees dotted the land, berry and non-berry.

It came from behind one of those trees, and it came swiftly and without mercy. "PLLEEFFBB," Brock sputtered as the snowball nailed him right in the face, covering him in white powder.

"Supa 'ffective!" Shouted a tiny voice, accompanied by an equally-tiny bark. A small boy tumbled out from behind the tree, dressed warmly in snow pants and boots, a rats-nest of black hair sticking out of his woolly hat. A little brown Pokémon loped beside the boy, Brock's first sighting of a Rockruff—and he nearly sputtered again as he took in the sight of it.

It had four little paw-boots, and it was wearing an obviously hand-knitted sweater, and it was the cutest damn thing Brock had ever seen in his life.

"Hey, Mista! You're s'posed to faint because it was supa 'ffective! Like this!" The boy called as he ran up to Brock, and then turned to his little Rockruff puppy. "Riot, supa 'ffective!" And Brock had the utter delight of watching both toddler and puppy collapse in the snow in a fake faint.

Laughing, Brock crouched down and said to the giggling boy, "Very impressive! You'll make a great trainer someday. What's your name, kid?"

"I'm Eijirou! And this is Riot! Are you here for a Rockruff? They're really cool and great!" He leapt up from the snow, grabbing Brock's hand and starting to dragging him towards the house. "Riot is my Rockruff! Kaa-san gave him to me for my birthday! I'm five now! He's my best friend! My very own Pokémon!" Brock really got the feeling that the kid mostly communicated through exclamations.

In front of them, the door to the house opened, and a willowy woman stepped onto the porch. "Eij, time for you and Riot to come in—oh! Hello, sir. Can I help you?"

"Mama, look! I found a cust'mer! He wants a Rockruff!" Brock smiled through his confusion. Mama ... not Kaa-san? And the woman didn't look Kantoan at all. She hadn't recognized Brock, either. Was she foreign? She did have a slight accent ... but Brock didn't travel enough to other regions to place it.

"Yes, hello. My name is Brock, I'm the rock-type Gym Leader in Pewter City. I hope you don't mind my dropping in unannounced, but I'd heard about your breedery, and I wanted to see it for myself."

The woman's eyes widened in surprise, but she didn't look upset or uncomfortable by his presence. Instead, she smiled brightly, turning her head to shout back into the house, "Maiko, come to the door, please! We have a visitor!" She then walked down the steps, going over to Brock to shake his hand—definitely not Kantoan, Johtoan, or Alolan then. Such a tactile greeting suggested she was perhaps an Unovan or a Galarian. "It's such a pleasure to have you here, Mr Brock. My partner and I would be delighted to give you a tour of our humble breedery," she said, her grip firm and sure on Brock's hand. The little boy latched onto the woman's legs, having lost interest in the conversation, and instead begged to stay outside for a little longer.

Another woman stepped out of the house, this one clearly the mother of the little boy wrapped around the foreigner, as they shared the same black hair and cat-like red eyes. This woman was indeed Kantoan, as she gasped the moment she caught sight of the famous Rock leader. "Brock-sama! What a wonderful surprise!" From behind her, a beautiful orange-and-white Pokémon trotted out the door and down the steps, clearly very friendly and unafraid of strangers as it sniffed curiously at Brock's Onix. Luckily, Onix was used to being around unfamiliar Pokémon, so he just slithered in a playful circle and lowered his head to greet the other.

"What a beautiful Pokémon. Is that the evolved form of Rockruff? I'm not too familiar with Alolan Pokémon—I don't travel much," Brock admitted.

Kirishima Maiko smiled, beckoning Brock towards the house. "Yes, that's one of the forms Lycanroc can take. Please, come inside, let me show you."

"Kaa-san, can Riot and I stay out a bit longer? We gotta train s'more!" Eijirou left his mama and went to Maiko, tugging on her dress cutely. Brock didn't quite understand the relationship between the two women, and why Eijirou called them both mother, but that wasn't his business and wasn't why he'd come.

"I could really use your help showing off all our Rockruffs, Ei. What do you say? Will you be Brock-sama's tour guide?"

The little boy cheered and immediately grabbed Brock's hand. "I'll show you! Come on!"

As it turns out, the little five-year-old did make an excellent tour guide, and Rockruff Ranch lived up to all Brock's high standards and then some. Each Rockruff was showered with love, attention, and training. The differing climate was taken into consideration for the little ones, who had winter wear for the snow until they grew to level 10 and were strong enough to thrive in the Kantoan weather. The Lycanrocs apparently came in three forms depending on the time of day they evolved. While there were plenty of midday and midnight forms wandering around (separated from each other due to their conflicting natures), only Kirishima Maiko's Lycanroc was that beautiful orange-and-white dusk form. "The dusk form is hardest to get, as there is a much smaller window of time for the Rockruff to evolve," Maiko explained while Brock used a brush to spoil her relaxed Lycanroc. "My late husband ... he planned her evolution so carefully, down to the second." Her smile was fond and bittersweet. "He loved Lycanroc so much. This was his dream, you know, opening a Rockruff breedery and showing all of Kanto how great Rockruffs are."

Well, that solved part of the mystery. Brock set down the brush and bowed to Maiko. "I'm sorry for your loss. But you honour him greatly with Rockruff Ranch. I'll admit I came here because I had reservations about it—but I'm so glad to be able to admit that I was wrong, and this is one of the best breederies I've ever seen."

Maiko's eyes were wet as she smiled at him and bowed back. "Your praise means everything to me. Thank you, Brock-sama."

Brock stood up, having seen and heard all he needed to make this declaration: "From this moment on, you have the full weight of the Pewter Rock Gym and my status as a Rock-Type master behind you. I would like to publically endorse this breedery if you don't mind. Do you have any advertisements or posters I could hang in the Gym lobby?"

After copious rounds of tears, thank-you's, and overly-affectionate hugs from canine Pokémon and toddlers, Brock finally made his way back outside and down the long drive out of the ranch. "You're always welcome, Mr Brock," the willowy woman said as she walked him out. She was still a little bit of a mystery to Brock, though he had found out that her name was Ann, and she was Unovan. "I hope you'll come back soon, and get a Rockruff puppy of your own. They really are the best Pokémon," she said with a grin.

Brock grinned back. "There's no way I won't want a Rockruff, after what I've seen today. And the same goes for you—the Pewter Gym will welcome you anytime. When Eijirou-kun is older, I'd be honoured to help him become a Pokémon trainer, if that's what he wants."

Ann took his hand in both of hers, another overly-tactile Unovan gesture. "You're too kind. We may take you up on that offer—Eijirou's father was a trainer, and it's all our boy has wanted since we told him. We want that life for him, as well—it's important to Maiko, for Eijirou to have some way to feel connected to Haku."

Brock hesitated, desperately curious but unwilling to cross any lines. Perhaps it was the fact that Ann was Unovan, and therefore less sensitive than the average Kantoan, that allowed his tongue to loosen. "May I ask ... what happened to Eijirou's father?"

Ann was quiet for a moment, choosing her words carefully. "It happens sometimes, right? As much as Pokémon are capable of deep love and loyalty, they are still wild creatures when they're out in the world. It happened in a split second in the mountains, too fast for his Pokémon or anyone else to react—one badly startled Geodude at the wrong time, a tackle to send Haku stumbling in the wrong place, and he was gone. One-hundred feet, straight down."

Oh, Arceus. Brock's heart hurt for this family, cobbled together with such pain and loss. And yet ... there was so much love, too. Love for Eijirou, love for all the Rockruffs, and passion for a lost man's dream made a reality.

He shook Ann's hand, initiating the contact himself for once. "Thank you for telling me. I will be in contact to discuss ways the Pewter Gym can help support your ranch. And I'll be back in person again soon, count on it!" With another heartfelt goodbye, Brock and Onix made their way back through the newly-christened Rocktown and to Rock Tunnel, intending to make it back to Pewter City by nightfall.

It was a different world these days. But Brock couldn't help but think that the differences were all for the better.

#bnha fanfiction #bnha pokemon au #kirishima eijiro #brock #rockruff #bnha #an origin story #of sorts #bnha in the pokemon universe #eventual kiribaku #if i write any more #but i had fun with this!#Kirishima is hard and cute #which obviously everyone gives him rock type pokemon in these #and rock ruff is perfect because Kirishima is a literal puppy #fanfic

19 notes · View notes

ziggyzackaryzigzagoon · 4 years

Text

Personal World Building - Pokeballs

In the world of Pokémon, Pokéballs are one of the most iconic devices with many mysterious qualities. Their beginnings becoming of fruit being fitted with devices, their ability to capture pokémon of almost enormous sizes, and their presence helping the world of pokémon in many ways. Despite their importance to the world of pokémon, not every world with pokémon uses them. Usually, a world of only pokémon may rely heavily on magic or pokémon moves rather than the advances of technology. Other times a world may see Pokéballs as a hindrance of freedom and actively shun them or may make them merely decorations. Though what if I told you of a world of pokémon that relied on Pokéballs similar to humans. A world of anthropomorphic pokémon who use Pokéballs to better help their way of life.

The History of Pokéballs

In the beginning, Pokéballs began in many different forms that were often lost to time and history. Though one iteration that changed the way pokémon lived forever were the early Pokéballs made from Apricorns, tough fruits with skin too hard to eat normally. The Johto region grew these fruits which soon became the shell for a special device that would be used to catch pokémon. It might seem odd a carved out fruit would be the earliest version of Pokéballs many recognize, but this version of the iconic device still seeks use today. As these early devices captured pokémon in a safe manner, they were heavily used and regulated by authorities in order to handle dangerous and aggressive pokémon such as Primeape. As pokémon come in many different shapes and sizes, the process of restraining one was rather difficult without risking the harm of others around or the officers themselves.

As Pokéballs have been around for hundreds of years, their use in Johto was the main spark of interest that led to pokémon starting to take notice to them. A lot of pokémon were very skeptical of Pokéballs at first as it was still early in its lifespan and had merely been used by officers. It also didn’t help the number of flaws that plagued early Pokéballs, such as the seal meant to keep pokémon from escaping often failing or pokémon having no proper means of escape unless released by an outside force. Though as the years went by interest grew more and more until it was noted Pokéballs would begin being mass-produced. It took quite a few years before Pokéballs officially made it to store shelves due to the many problems Apricorn Pokéballs had, but these newer models sought to fix these problems.

One of the main reasons many pokémon found interest in Pokéballs was thanks to the portability the devices allowed. Seeing pokémon of larger sizes and strength being put in a handheld ball made for a lot of use for pokémon who weren’t exactly the best to carry around. It also allowed methods of transportation that aren’t always possible, such as pokémon being transported through the sky or underwater without a problem. Of course not every pokémon was on board with Pokéballs as it had been long enough to where a group who disliked them began. However, as the years went on, the technology showed just how strong Pokéballs could be and led to them being a staple in the way pokémon lived. Had it not been for the many experiments made using Pokéballs, things such as Pokémon Centers or certain evolutions would’ve never been found out.

The Many Functions of Pokéballs

Explaining the technology behind a Pokéball can be very difficult at times due to the many changes that were made to accommodate the ever-growing nuances of the world. Though the mechanics for how the Pokéball works have been quite consistent throughout the years. When an unregistered Pokéball hits a pokémon with enough force, they’re converted into a form of energy and pulled inside before being captured. As it takes a moment before the Pokéball registers and marks a pokémon, it often takes 3 shakes before the Pokéball has completed the process. Now the pokémon can freely leave and return to their Pokéball as they please with the ability to still listen in on what’s happening outside of the Pokéball.

Those who experience the inside of a Pokéball often know the environment inside is tailor-made to the pokémon for the most comfort. This feature had been constructed to help discourage escape from earlier Pokéballs as restraining a pokémon who doesn’t want to be there is a big concern. Though this feature inadvertently ended up causing public interest to grow rapidly as a makeshift calm space is quite powerful for pokémon who aren’t exactly the easiest to control. It further helps pokémon who need time to recover or heal as being in an environment that encourages the pokémon to recover and relax is important after a long battle.

While this feature is not found on basic level Pokéballs, pressing the button found on a Pokéball will shrink it into a much smaller size. Due to the major risks, this could have if the Pokéball ends up in the body, only Pokéballs given to those responsible have this function. This feature is mostly meant to carry a group in Pokéballs without the concern of the party size being too large for travel. Often this has lead to one pokémon, often considering themselves the group’s leader, carrying their team around while they relax in their own Pokéballs. It isn’t strange to see one pokémon walking alone to the next destination while still having their friends in tow who are resting safely in their Pokéball.

A feature that is often forgotten from time to time is the marking feature, generally meant to prevent a pokémon from using a Pokéball for capture purposes. Once a pokémon has been registered in a Pokéball, they cannot be caught in another unless the mark has been removed. The difficulty of the process depends on if the pokémon still has their Pokéball as there is a function built in to deregister a pokémon from a Pokéball. This system was implemented early on due to the growing concern of criminals using Pokéballs with the intent to capture pokémon. While that fear hasn’t been quelled due to incidents such as Team Rocket, many measures have been made since to reduce the chances.

Pokéball Variation & Catch Chance

While capturing a pokémon is simple, ensuring the capture is different depending on the status of the pokémon. Many early uses of the Pokéball led to stronger pokémon breaking free before the capture can be done, mostly as a result of not being weakened. A pokémon was only guaranteed captured in a Pokéball once the ball had shaken three times and a blue flash from the center showed the capture succeeded. This has led to the popularity of the “3 count” for when a pokémon is being captured as it’s a short enough window where the pokémon could try and escape. Though there is often a rare case where some pokémon may only require one shake before they’re captured. Even to this day, it’s unsure what leads to this change from 1 to 3 shakes but many have dubbed this a “Critical Capture” when it occurs.

Back when Pokéballs were being made with Apricorns, a total of 7 Pokéballs were made corresponding with each color Apricorn. These early models had the benefit of a better catch chance depending on the pokémon or situation in question with the most common being Green, Black, and Red Apricorns which are recognized as Friend, Heavy, and Level balls to this day. Once the technology of Pokéballs began to change, and the mass production of these devices was shortly underway, newer Pokéballs were made to work better for officer use and potentially public use. Ultra Balls were stronger at catching pokémon all around which made them recognizable as police Pokéballs, Master Balls were made as a last resort Pokéball if a pokémon was too dangerous to catch or battle such as destructive legendaries, and common ones such as Great Balls and the now-iconic red & white Poke Ball started the spark of the public picking them up.

To this day the total number of Pokéballs has climbed from a small 7 to nearly 27, with more being custom made by events, wealthy pokémon, or artistic pokémon passionate in giving Pokéballs a new look. One Pokéball had also been developed to help against a new potential threat found in alola. Pokéball collecting has even become a thing for some as they take it upon themselves to try and receive every Pokéball, though due to the Ultra and Master balls being exclusive to authorities they often have to settle for replicas. These replicas were made to ensure if public interest grew too large, there would not be complaints if someone wanted a Pokéball that looked like an ultra ball or master ball. As the main selling point of multiple Pokéballs is often the colors and styles they come in, it helps to cover the worry of pokémon wanting the real deal.

Poke Ball - The most iconic and prominent Pokéball. Massed produced and found almost everywhere, but can be broken with ease if a catch fails.

Great Ball - A Pokéball that has better durability and unique features, but is only given to those who are responsible. Only slightly more expensive than regular poke balls.

Ultra Ball - One of the strongest Pokéballs used to capture an uncooperative pokémon. Are only handled by authorities, but replicas do exist that use the great ball’s mechanics.

Master Ball - Can capture a pokémon regardless of circumstance, but is almost never seen unless a situation is dire. Replicas for this are quite popular, but still use the great ball’s mechanics.

Safari Ball - Fun little Pokéballs often used for games and throwing practice. They have no mark feature and little capture power, but make for fun tag matches.

Fast Ball - Originally Created from White Apricorns, this Pokéball’s unique weight made it a useful pokémon to be launched at high speeds. Often used against pokémon who are overall fast or quick to run away.

Level Ball - Originally created with Red Apricorns, these Pokéballs have mostly been built for pokémon who are new to being captured. A great introduction to understanding how a Pokéball works both inside and out.

Lure Ball - Originally created with Blue Apricorns, these Pokéballs focused heavily on catching pokémon caught from a fishing pole for sport or competition. These used to be placed at the end of the pole until pokémon began breaking the line early.

Heavy Ball - Originally created from Black Apricorns, these devices focused on catching heavier pokémon. The unique design makes it difficult to break without a lot of force, but also makes it heavier than other Pokéballs.

Love Ball - Originally created from Pink Apricorns, these Pokéballs were often used more as engagement items thanks to the unique shape and often being recognized for “catching the hearts” of others.

Friend Ball - Originally created from Green Apricorns, these Pokéballs were used as a sign of friendship having made pokémon pretty friendly. Used the most against aggressive pokémon that were difficult to control.

Moon Ball - Originally created from Yellow Apricorns, these Pokéballs work better on pokémon who evolve with a moon stone. It’s not as popular nowadays for capture purposes as the number of potential pokémon don’t work, but they still make for great designs.

Sport Ball - Pokéballs used in sporting events should a pokémon not have a Pokéball. The mark is there to help recognize it from other Pokéballs should someone try and take them.

Net Ball - A Pokéball that helps in catching bug or water type pokémon. Predates the creation of the dive ball as most pokémon caused trouble on land more than water.

Nest Ball - A Pokéball used for weaker pokémon similar to the level ball. They’re sometimes used as a first-time Pokéball for children due to the name and colors.

Repeat Ball - A Pokéball that works better on pokémon who have been caught multiple times in a short duration. Has only found uses in cases such as battles that focus around pokeballs.

Timer Ball - A Pokéball that is often fitted with a timer function to automatically release the pokémon after a set amount of time has passed. Is often paired with a device’s alarm function.

Luxury Ball - A very popular, yet expensive, Pokéball that is very cozy and extremely nice to almost live in. Just one can cost almost 3,000 poke, but is fortunately built similar to a great ball.

Premier Ball - A version of the standard Pokéball with a unique color style and release effect. Often given as a reward for buying Pokéballs in bulk and is quite the collector’s item.

Dive Ball - A Pokéball that works very well if the pokémon lives underwater. It requires some skill to properly throw underwater, but has since been paired with a device that shoots the Pokéball underwater. Has become quite popular when it comes to replicas.

Dusk Ball - A Pokéball that works well in darker areas such as at night or in caves. Often glows in the dark while captured, allowing an easy method of finding it.

Heal Ball - A Pokéball common in medical use for how quickly it can heal a pokémon upon it entering it. Lacks the marking system similar to most public Pokéballs in order to ensure a pokémon can be healed.

Quick Ball - The faster the Pokéball is thrown, the higher chance it has to catch a pokémon. You may see this thrown out at the start an opportunity presents itself.

Cherish Ball - A Pokéball that is gifted to pokémon on special occasions similar to the premier ball, but is built similar to a great ball

Park Ball - Another version of the Safari Ball, though lacks the mark feature. Often used more for Daycares for handling certain kids.

Dream Ball - A Pokéball that mysteriously found itself inside the realm of dream, allowing pokémon to be transported back to the real world using them.

Beast Ball - A strange Pokéball designed to capture only Ultra Beasts, being very terrible otherwise. Has been made when Ultra Beasts began invading Alola.

Pokéballs in Authority Use

After Team Rocket had shown just how Pokéballs could be exploited to use pokémon for their own stunts, many measures were taken to ensure Pokéballs couldn’t be used in such a wrongful manner during the early years of Pokéballs being standardized. The biggest of these measures being specialized signals that can be sent to any unregistered Pokéball in an area. While it is still unsure why it only works on Pokéballs that are considered unregistered, part of this may have to do with the concern that comes with attempting to move or carry a pokémon that isn’t exactly safe to do so. While this signal does affect police officer’s Pokéballs, as this signal is used by them it’s easy to turn it off. One pokémon had even used this device when preventing authorities from stopping a rampaging legendary. However, Master Balls ignore these signals and are handled by the best pokémon out there.

As a Pokéball requires a steady aim and use, officers who aren’t exactly the strongest at throwing can use specialized devices that can launch a Pokéball hard enough to land the mark. It will certainly hurt, but ensures the pokémon will struggle to run from it or attempt to hit it while in motion. The most common of these are used against pokémon in the air or who are running away as the speed the ball travels in can often ensure a nice hit. It also helps if the pokémon is not the easiest to approach due to every pokémon having different moves and abilities that can make them very dangerous. This device also has a variation meant for underwater use as a Pokéball being thrown underwater is quite slow, requiring a bit of force to collide with the pokémon in time before it is hit back.

In order to help users of the Pokéballs, both customers and officers alike, a system was implemented called the “PokéBall Management System” which would allow officers to send pokémon directly to a station using certain devices. This was mainly implemented to ensure fast and safe transportation with little risk of the pokémon trying anything during the departure. The most recent device made for this system would allow officers to immediately send a pokémon to the station from their car or bike. If multiple pokémon had to be captured, this system could help clear a group of criminals in no time. While all of these features of the system sound cool for the officer side, for the public it simply allowed for constant updates of the environments that a pokémon may enjoy. As the constant discovery and study of pokémon changed how pokémon live, it helps to be prepared to welcome newly discovered pokémon with open arms.

Pokéballs in the Home Setting

Pokéballs have found a lot of popularity in home environments during the early years of becoming standardized. The idea of a small personal space that could be carried from one area to another seemed useful, but realizing the inside could be customized to the pokémon’s needs made the public interest grow. To this day many pokémon rely on Pokéballs as “personal space getaways” with the benefit that another pokémon could carry them around if they so wish. While inside a Pokéball, the pokémon is still conscious of the outside world and can sometimes use this to speak to pokémon through telepathy. It is hard to enjoy Pokéballs as a quiet space since there is little way of blocking out sounds, but at least it’s an option.

As it was important to show the power of Pokéballs, one of the popular methods taken has been pokémon centers. As Pokémon come in many different forms and sizes, properly healing one can be a rather difficult and lengthy matter. Not every method of healing works for every pokémon, especially those who are made of dangerous materials such as lava or poison. To use Pokéballs to ensure a fast and surefire method of healing a pokémon, regardless of their size or shape, sparked a change in how pokémon lived. Pokémon centers soon became rest points for traveling or battling pokémon, often as if a pokémon had fainted they could restore them. Pokémon Centers also popularized the importance of Heal Balls, unique Pokéballs that heal the pokémon upon entering. This Pokéball is used normally whether there is an emergency or not as it often ensures the pokémon will be healed upon leaving it.

There have been other attempts to allow Pokéballs to have such a strong impact, the biggest of which being a transportation system. While this system doesn’t have an official name yet, many call the process “Link Space” and have used it for testing purposes. It helped show just how effective turning a pokémon into a form of energy allowed for safe travel from one area to the next, but there was more to this than immediately expected. Some pokémon who tested the device would come out the other end having evolved, oftentimes in a way no one expected, Pokémon Research was amazed naturally and while the system didn’t turn out as they had hoped, this discovery saw lots of pokémon interested in evolving through this method.

While Pokéballs have helped changed the world throughout the years, not everyone is so accepting of the devices. The original use being for police officers has often made some pokémon skeptical and others to immediately despise them, thinking they’ve been made to take advantage of them. Officers did not create Pokéballs, but was instead created by a pokémon who looked to try and help the world with his devices. As hard as some pokémon try to defend Pokéballs and try and cure the fears surrounding them, history has shown just how dangerous they can sometimes be.

Pokéballs in the Competitive Scene

In order to “catch” a pokémon, three factors are important to consider before throwing. The health of the Pokémon, the type of PokéBall, and any status the pokémon may have. As 2 of the 3 are common in battles, there are often versions of pokémon battles where capturing is an incentive to defeat the opposing side. It’s thanks to many Pokéballs allowing pokémon inside to freely escape after capture that has allowed it to be used in these cases. One such rule set that includes Pokéballs encourages each team to capture three pokémon from the opposing team. When a pokémon is caught they’re out of play for the remainder of the match. If a team captures 3 of the 6 opposing pokémon that side would win.

Outside of battles, Pokéballs have made an impact in pokémon contests thanks to the many potential entrances that can be done with one. When a pokémon is released from a Pokéball, each Pokéball will have their own unique effect to accompany it. As Pokémon Contests rely heavily on pokémon entrances as part of judging, unique modifications became available for Pokéballs. These modifications came in the form of Ball Capsules and Seals which would change the effects that were created when a pokémon left the Pokéball. This allowed for many unique degrees of flair to be added so long as the Pokéball was compatible. As the popularity was short-lived, the only Pokéball it works for are standard Pokéballs and Premier Balls

The most recent use of Pokéballs in a competitive aspect has been the advent of Dynamax in Galar. With the Dynamax energy, pokémon can force a Pokéball to grow in size and use it to capture Dynamax pokémon or release a pokémon as a Dynamax one. While this method does prevent the pokémon from Dynamaxing for too long, this method is helpful in preventing items from breaking or clothes from tearing. Many wardrobe malfunctions are prone to happen when done without the use of a Pokéball, and could even lead to the Dynamax band breaking. As a result, you may see pokémon appoint one of their own as the leader who will help Dynamax the other when the time comes.

#Pokemon #Anthro #Pokemorph #Pokeballs #Story #World Building #Personal #ZiggyZackaryZigzagoon

4 notes · View notes

rockynfriends · 5 years

Text

Football.

This story was (is) a birthday gift for @incaseofart, featuring their Ampharos Fugue and what happens when he and Rocky meet strange visitors. If you haven’t checked out their work, give it a look! They’re a wonderful person AND artist!

____

“Rocky? Are you sure this is a good idea?”

“Sure! You just have to give it a little extra push at the end of the throw!”

Fugue looks down at the oval-like ball in his grip skeptically. When Rocky had suggested they play a game together, he hadn’t expected that game to be football. He especially hadn’t expected there to be a helmet that fit him. And most of all, he hadn’t expected Rocky to run ahead 400 feet and tell him to throw the ball to him.

“This is definitely one of the stranger things Rocky has wanted us to do together,” he murmurs, looking at the Pikachu who is hopping about expectantly.

For a moment the Ampharos winces, thinking about the size of the ball in comparison to the size of the recipient.

“Either I miss him, crush him, or by some miracle throw it at a perfect arc that doesn’t clobber him upon receipt,” Fugue mutters under his breath. “Seeing as how the last one is not probable…”

He looks at Rocky, then a few feet to the left of him, pulls back, and lets the ball fly.

Rocky notices the ball is going off-course and scrambles towards it. Fugue, meanwhile, watches, relieved that Rocky won’t reach it in time. Then the wind picks up. With surprise that quickly becomes consternation, and then horror, the Ampharos watches the ball drift back to Rocky, and then…

WHAM!

…

When the Pikachu comes to, he sees Fugue leaning over him. Vague sounds can be heard coming from the panicked electric-type’s mouth, but it takes a few moments before they come through with clarity.

“Rocky?! Speak to me!”

The Pikachu shakes his head a bit, then half-smiles. “Hey, Fugue.”

The resulting sigh of relief is quickly followed with a flurry of questions.

“Are you okay? Any broken bones? Can you move? Do you need a hand getting up?”

Rocky raises a paw to try and calm his friend. “I’m fine, thanks. I’ve taken much bigger hits in the head than that.”

Fugue is hardly consoled by this knowledge, as evidenced by the frown only becoming a bit larger.

“I’m sorry, Rocky, I—”

“No, no,” says the Pikachu, sitting up and chuckling. “It’s not your fault. I wanted to try something new and it looks like I’m not quite cut out for this!”

“We’re not,” replies Fugue.

“Sure, but we gave it a good try and now we know.”

“Are you sure you’re okay?”

Rocky nods very slowly, testing his joints and smiling. “Nothing really hurt. Just got the wind knocked out of me.”

Fugue shakes his head. “I’m glad nothing else was knocked out of you.”

The Pikachu chuckles, before suddenly pausing and looking up.

“What is it?”

“I’m seeing stars.”

For a moment Fugue is alarmed all over again, but he follows Rocky’s eyes and is stunned upon looking up to see a darkening sky filled with beacons of light.

“How…did…it become night…in less than ten minutes?” the Ampharos stammers.

“I don’t know…but if you see it too then I know it wasn’t the football,” Rocky chuckles.

Fugue nods, a little dumbstruck, before peering back up at the lights.

“Are they getting closer?” he asks quietly.

“It would seem so,” replies Rocky with a degree of nervousness in his voice.

The lights continue their approach, getting ever closer. Rocky and Fugue look at each other, unsure whether to prepare to fight or run for it – and then – zap!

The two awaken to find themselves in a gigantic white, empty chamber. It’s quiet, and the Pokémon are sitting back to back. They seem to be alone.

“Okay…” Fugue murmurs. “This is…troubling.”

Rocky gets to his feet. “Any idea where we are?”

The Ampharos shakes his head ruefully. “I couldn’t tell you. I don’t remember anything after those lights.”

“Me neither,” replies Rocky quietly. “I think we’ve been kidnapped.”

“But why?” asks Fugue. “Who’d want to kidnap us?”

“I’d say Team Rocket, but…this isn’t their style.”

The two are interrupted suddenly by the opening of a previously invisible door, and a shadowy figure enters. Rocky takes a battle stance, Fugue does the same -- but as the figure steps into the light both are disarmed by the appearance of their visitor.

It’s an Ampharos…but not like Fugue…or for that matter, much like Deneb or any other Ampharos they’ve met. It kind of looks like an Ampharos that had its colors run through a negative photo processor. The tail is missing the quintessential orb, which is instead located at the center of the neck, and the flipper like arms are complemented with four claw like appendages, a pair on either side. What is perhaps most striking, however, is their visitor’s pleasant smile!

“⭿△🢫🢫◄↓🡘→▽⭳ ⭮🡙↗🢐↘🡙🡘 🡙← ⭯►🢧🢪△🢧🡘◄ ⮌🡘🢫⭸ ⮆ 🢪🡙 ↑🡙▲🢫 ◢🡙► 🢧△🢫 🡘🡙◄ ◄🡙🡙 ▽◄🢧△◄↙🢫🢪 🢨◢ ◢🡙►△ ▽►🢪🢪🢫🡘 △🢫↙🡙🢩🢧◄↓🡙🡘⭠“

Fugue and Rocky exchange another look. Fugue steps forward and clears his throat.

“Uh…hello…are you addressing us? I’m afraid we don’t understand your…er…dialect.”

“⮸🡙► 🢧△🢫 🡘🡙◄ ◄△🢧↓🡘🢫🢪 ↓🡘 ◄↑🢫 ▽▲🢫🢫🢩↑ 🡙← ◄↑🢫 ↙↓→↑◄ ⭮🡙↗🢫↘🡙🡘 🡙← ◄↑🢫 ⭾🡙►△◄↑ ⭯►🢧🢪△🢧🡘◄⭳ 🢧△🢫 ◢🡙►⮧ ⌃↑🢧◄ ↓▽ ↓🡘🢪🢫🢫🢪 🢧 🢩↑🢧↙↙🢫🡘→🢫⭸ ⭮🢫△↑🢧▲▽ ◢🡙►△ 🢩🡙↘▲🢧🡘↓🡙🡘 🢩🢧🡘 🢨🢫 ↘🢧🢪🢫 ►▽🢫←►↙⭸“

The unusual Ampharos steps past Fugue and towards Rocky, who for a moment peers at the approaching alien creature with apparent anxiety. This is quickly interrupted, however, when the Ampharos places the two flippers around Rocky’s ears. The Pikachu goes bolt upright for a moment. His eyes fog over and he steadies himself. Then he turns and smiles at Fugue – only his smile is more like the Ampharos’s earlier grin. The alien Ampharos, for their part, has gone rather still.

“Ah, so this is your method of speech!” says Rocky, in a voice not quite his own.

“What have you done to him?” asks Fugue, stunned initially, but now both frightened and angry.

“Peace,” Rocky says quickly. “I have not harmed your companion. He is stored safely within the body I traded for his own. See?”

The alien Ampharos begins to stir, and then suddenly lets out a cry of surprise.

“⮆⭩↘ 🢧🡘 ⮑↘▲↑🢧△🡙▽⭠ ⮑🡘 🢧↙↓🢫🡘 ⮑↘▲↑🢧△🡙▽⭠ ⭾►→►🢫⭳ ⮆⭩↘ 🢧🡘 🢫🡘◄↓△🢫↙◢ 🢪↓←←🢫△🢫🡘◄ ⭮🡙↗🢫↘🡙🡘⭠“

Initially, the other Ampharos looks rather panicked, but they slowly calm down and Rocky – or what should be Rocky – smiles again.

“I wished to speak with you in a language you’d understand. His brain suits the purpose.”

“First I want some answers!” Fugue retorts, more than a little angrily. “Who are you, and where do you get off kidnapping us and then stealing my friend’s body?!”

“My name is Altimus, from the Ampharan Empire, and it’s a temporary trade!” replies the Pikachu pleasantly. “Rather than upload our language into a new brain to be installed into you, I thought it best to negotiate in your own tongue first!”

At this, Fugue looks a little queasy, but he steadies himself. “Okay. Well, you have my attention. What do you want?”

Altimus laughs, before gesturing to the other Pokémon to follow him. They exit the large room and find themselves in a dark hallway.

“You were not aware that Pokémon like us exist. Am I correct?”

“Yeah,” Fugue replies, on one hand starting to become interested in this discovery of an alien ship, but on the other hand still very concerned for not only his own safety, but that of his friend, who is klutzing along behind them in his unfamiliar body.

“⮸🡙► 🢩🢧🡘 ▽🢧←🢫↙◢ 🢩🡙🡘🢩↙►🢪🢫 ◄↑🢧◄⭳ ◢🢫▽⭠”

Altimus smiles. “You’re a quick learner. Most Pokémon I switch brains with need at least a day to learn how to speak.”

“Listen…” Fugue says slowly. “I don’t mean to be rude. I’m sure that where you’re from it’s not always…weird, to swipe your guests out of thin air and swap bodies with them, but where I come from…that’s not just a faux pas, it’s grounds for calling the military.”

“I suppose I have been a bit rough in my handling. I’ll ‘cut to the chase,’ as you like to say. The empire needs a new governor. We’re looking to expand into this galaxy and we need someone who understands local politics. As you mentioned, it’s not polite in this quadrant to pick up folks without warning and swap bodies with them. Your knowledge of this area would be invaluable in helping us establish a good foundation for our societal expansion!”

The Alien-Rocky has by now tripped over his own feet three times.

“⮆ ↑🢧◁🢫 🡘🡙 ↓🢪🢫🢧 ↑🡙▷ ◢🡙► ↘🢧🡘🢧→🢫 ◄🡙 🢨🢧↙🢧🡘🢩🢫 🡙🡘 ◄↑🢫▽🢫 ←🢫🢫◄⭠”

“Lots of practice,” replies the Pikachu with a chuckle. “But anyway, initial thoughts, Ampharos of Quadrant One?”

“My name is Fugue. And I’m going to have to decline.”

“Oh…but you haven’t even had a chance to evaluate the perks! After all, we’re not asking for volunteer service. You’ll have full access to our cultural records, extensive scientific research, political power – the best of everything the Ampharan have to offer!”

Altimus flips a switch, and suddenly the lights in the area go on, showing vast open spaces on either side of the hall where other Ampharan are working, studying, and…even playing. It’s an impressive display – an entire culture in a single hallway. Rocky is fascinated, even in his foreign frame. Fugue watches for a little, blown away by the idea that such a similar species has done all this – but then he has a question.

“Why me?”

“The records we gathered from preliminary surveys indicate you are an Ampharos of excellent repute and character. Even the Pikachu whose body I now possess is a character reference for you. Our society is built on character – only those deemed worthy of leadership are asked to this role, and we like to hire from outside.”

Fugue nods. “I see. Well…in that light, the offer isn’t as bad but – I still have a serious problem with you turning my friend into your microphone.”

“As I said, it was most expedient.”

“Sure, but – it’s still…well, anyway, my answer stands. I’m going to have to decline.”

The Pikachu looks rather disappointed. “We came a fair distance so I could ask. Are you sure you can’t at least sleep on it?”

Fugue shakes his head. “I’m pretty happy with my family and friends and life here. Although…if I don’t take the job – perhaps you have someone else who will?”

“I doubt it,” replies Altimus ruefully. “We don’t believe in warlike invasions or anything like that, so without a proper representative we can’t exactly move in, and we didn’t have other candidates in mind.”

Fugue shakes his head. “Well, I’m sorry, in a way, that my refusal creates this many logistical issues, but I’m glad that you’re not a warlike culture, and that you won’t hold it against me.”

“Okay, but could you imagine what it would mean if we were? Think about it – the lot of us can swap bodies. That would be utterly disastrous for warfare. You’d never know who the enemy was. Totally impractical.”

Despite still having trouble balancing, the Ampharan that is Rocky cracks up at this last remark.

“Tell you what,” says Fugue thoughtfully. “I don’t want your time down here to be a total waste, so I’ll teach you a tradition from our quadrant, provided you give my friend his body back right away.”

“Hm…” the Pikachu strokes his chin. “It’s a nice body – got a lot of hidden potential – oh don’t give me that look. I promised I’d return it and I always keep my word. Now then…”

He wanders back over to the Ampharan, which has fallen down for the umpteenth time, and places a paw on both ears.

“Whoa…” Rocky shakes his head. “That was surreal. Oh, hey Fugue!”

“I cannot properly describe how happy I am to see you, Rocky,” Fugue smiles, hugging his friend briefly.

“Well, technically it seems I never left,” chuckles the Pikachu, looking over at their alien companion.

“I do appreciate you letting me learn your method of speech,” says Altimus in a surprisingly natural voice.

“And I, yours!” Rocky laughs. “Too bad no one will ever have a clue what I’m saying when I use it.”

“Okay,” replies the Ampharan. “Now what is this tradition you wish to show me?”

“Do you have a lot of others you can call on short notice?” Fugue smiles.

…

Later that night, the Ampharos and Pikachu make their way down the path, laughing as they go.

“You and I may be no good at football, but they were terrible!” Rocky is somewhat teary-eyed.

“It’s true,” Fugue replies, giggling. “I think the additional limbs make it that much harder.”

“Yeah. You know, aside from zapping us into their ship and borrowing my brain, they weren’t too bad! I’m sorta bummed we won’t see them anymore,” Rocky murmurs.

“Well, it was nice to meet them aside from those things, but I’m just glad they didn’t insist on making me one of their political leaders.”

“I bet you would have done a good job, but I’m glad you stayed with us too,” Rocky smiles, hugging his friend from the side.

“Ah, you know me, Rocky. My home is where my family and friends are.”

“So…if I move to outer space…”

“Don’t even think about it.”

“I mean…I already know the language!”

They both laugh and continue their walk home. Overhead, the sky begins to darken, this time naturally, and as the sun dips over the horizon the flying craft follows, disguising itself in the light.

…

“Fugue would have been an excellent leader,” Altimus says with some regret. “But…I think maybe he really is needed more right here.”

As the Ampharan muses, the whistle signals them back to the field.

“For now…let’s see if I can finish a pass without getting…how did he put it? Oh, right. Sacked!”

…

“Thanks for hanging out with me, Fugue.”

“Any time, Rocky. You know I enjoy our time together.”

“Rockets, aliens, my own brain – is there anything you haven’t saved me from yet?”

“Zombie apocalypse?”

“No, no, that’s on my reserved list. I have to save YOU from that one.”

Fugue laughs. “Whatever you say.”

“Ice cream, then? My treat!”

“Absolutely!”

“Hey…wait…” Rocky frowns.

“What is it?” asks Fugue, concerned.

“We left my football on the ship!”

#fugue #rocky #pokemon #pikachu #ampharos #*x-files theme*

5 notes · View notes

pokemon-legends-and-legacies · 5 years

Text

Fankid Musings - Cypress

Ah Cy. The eldest Benga/Iris fankid. He’s been an interesting one over the years in terms of development. Initially he was a version of the fankid who is currently Laurel (though without a twin to keep him grounded). Then I became inspired by @pkmn-thenextgeneration‘s character Harper who was raised by wild dragons and implemented my own take on the idea with him. Over time, I built up his story, thinking about how he came to be abandoned or left behind in the first place that he had to be raised by pokémon, and from these musings I came up with the idea of his parents being a forbidden human/supernatural being couple who eloped and lived a happy life travelling the world with their baby son, until tragedy struck. This idea stuck with me though. I wanted to develop these characters more and I had just struck them completely from the story with my current state of things. Cypress had no relationship or memories with them, so even trying to bring one or both back later on would prove rather challenging, simply because Cy had no desire to meet them and never longed to know them, simply happy with the families he already had.

So we come to the present. I have now grown attached enough to two OCs I made to be dead parents that I changed Cy’s entire backstory to give them more room to shine. (I also wanted to try and explore a different background for him, rather than simply have a very similar scenario to something another great blog has already come up with.) Thus, the current (very cliche but I know what I like) story is that Cypress is the result of a love affair between Khuzaimah, a young man dissatisfied with his life and wanting more, and Nasir, an old, arcane being who’s lived so long he’s forgotten most of his past, even his own name. They met by chance, but their romance blossomed quickly, Khuzaimah eventually convincing his lover to elope with him. They go to Almia first, which is where they soon have their only child, Cypress, named after the trees under which they first confessed their love (and used as a meeting spot many times afterwards). Khuzaimah had cast off his clan name after eloping, so the couple picked out a new surname, Vallas, since they loved to dance together. After Cypress’s birth and once he was old enough to travel, the couple decided to move on, wanting to see the world. Cypress grew up never staying put in one place for long, so he developed an open and playful personality, knowing that he had to make friends fast since he’d be moving on soon enough. Despite this, he loved his little family and their lifestyle, always being able to see new places and meet new people.

When they are staying in Opelucid, Unova however, around when Cypress is 10-11 years old, things go terribly wrong. One day, when Cypress comes home from playing, his parents are gone. They had said that they would be back from shopping when he came home, but they still hadn’t returned even after Cy waited hours for them. Scared and unsure of what to do, Cypress recalls his parents telling him to go to the local pokémon center if anything ever happened, as it made for an easy meeting point. When he arrives and tells the Nurse Joy there his story, she lets him stay the night there. In the morning, he’s escorted home by a Jenny, but their temporary house is still abandoned. At this point, a missing persons case is sent out, and the authorities now have to find a place for Cypress to stay until his parents can be found, the Center not being the best place for a child to stay for what could be days on end. Enter Benga. He had met Khuzaimah a few times in the past, the two being friendly, so he offered to take Cypress in for the time being. Iris is a bit stressed at the idea of having another child to look after when they’ve already got Acacia and baby twins on top of her work as Champion, but she would never turn out a child in need of shelter, who is missing his parents and needs love and comfort. So, Cypress stays with the Pendragon-Redwood family for days... then weeks.... then months... then finally a year has passed and there is still no trace of his parents. At this point, with Cy’s permission, Iris and Benga decide to take full custody of him as his foster parents and, as the years go by with no updates, they eventually adopt him when he’s around 15 years old.

There’s a lot more to Cy’s story, how he investigates his parents’ disappearance as an adult and finds out just how much they were hiding from him... his involvement in the main plot... and much more, but this post is long enough as it is! I’m very excited about all the new developments this story has been going through behind the scenes and wanted to share a little bit.

#updates #Cypress #Khuzaimah #Nasir #Iris #Benga #Acacia #DragonHeartShipping #ramblings #long

5 notes · View notes

365daysofsasuhina · 5 years

Text

[ 365 Days of SasuHina || Day Eighty-Eight: Rebellion ] [ Uchiha Sasuke, Uchiha Itachi, Hyūga Hinata, Hyūga Neji, Uchiha Fugaku ] [ SasuHina ] [ Verse: Catch ‘Em All ] [ AO3 Link ]

Standing at the eastern entrance to Fuschia, a now twelve-year-old Sasuke keeps vigilant watch, a hand at his brow as he squints against the morning sun. She should be here any time, now…!

“Any sign of her yet?”

Jumping in surprise, Sasuke spins around to find Itachi walking up behind him. “Aniki? I thought you were training with otōsan this morning?”

“He had something come up.”

“Eh?”

“The professor’s here. I thought it rude to listen in, so I thought I’d come check on you.”

In spite of his next words, Sasuke pouts. “I’m not a kid, aniki - I’ve been a registered trainer for two years, now!”

“And you’re still my little brother.” Itachi gives a small, sly smile. “Why is it you clamor for my attention any other time, but when I give it, you’re suddenly opposed?”

“I like it when we get to train, or catch pokémon! You’re just trying to babysit me!” Arms fold, giving his elder brother a look. “Why don’t you go hang out in the Safari Zone, huh? You sure spend an awful lot of free time in there…”

Itachi’s expression cools, and a hint of color tinges the bridge of his nose. “...it’s good research. There’s a lot of rare pokémon in there.”

“That’s not all that’s in there, is it…?”

“If you’re so keen to be rid of me, then perhaps I’ll go do just that.”

“Fine!”

Snorting, Itachi manages to ruffle Sasuke’s hair before turning to leave, chuckling at his brother’s squawk of indignation. “I’ll see you later.”

Muttering under his breath and trying to smooth his hair (and...really only making it worse), Sasuke harrumphs and turns back around, watching the road.

It’s been over six years since he met Hinata in Cerulean when his father took him and his brother up with him on business. Since then, they’ve used his Pidgey (now a Pidgeotto) to send mail back and forth as often as possible to stay in touch.

As far as Sasuke is concerned, she’s pretty much his best friend.

And now, she’s finally getting to visit in person!

Her elder cousin Neji is on his pokémon journey, and is heading to Fuchsia to challenge Sasuke’s father Fugaku for the Soul Badge. And he promised to be her guide (and protector) on the routes down to Fuschia.

Normally someone twelve years old could probably handle the journey alone...but Hinata’s father, Hiashi, still refuses to let her have a pokémon of her own.

Sasuke, however...has planned a little rebellion.

He knows well from his own explorations that, with a good enough rod, one can catch a Goldeen to the west on Route Eighteen. And with a late mother who once ran the water-type gym of Cerulean, what better pokémon could be better for Hinata’s first?

Hiashi might get angry, but darn it, Sasuke can’t stand knowing she’s missing out on having bonds with pokémon! He loves his own team to pieces - he wants Hinata to get that same chance.

Lost in his thinking, he jolts as movement catches his eye. Down the road, two figures finally come into view.

Is it them?

“Sasuke-kuuun!”

Brightening, Sasuke grins. “Hinata-chaaan!” Breaking into a run, he crosses the distance as Hinata does the same, meeting in the middle as they both skid to a stop.

For a moment, they linger in an awkward hesitation. Should they...shake hands? High five? Or…?

Making up their minds for the both of them, Hinata takes a leap (literally and figuratively) and latches onto Sasuke in a tight hug. “I’ve m-missed you…!”

Stumbling back half a step, Sasuke balks, flushing pink before carefully bringing up arms to return the hold. “I...I’ve missed you too.”

“Oh! That reminds me!” Letting go, she slings her backpack off her back, rummaging under the flap before drawing something out.

Sasuke’s eyes go wide.

“I brought them back! I thought it’s h-high time they got to go home. They’ve kept me company for a long time…”

Softening with a small smile, Sasuke accepts the Bulbasaur plush. “...they look just the same as when I gave them to you…”

“I’ve been very c-careful with them! I didn’t want them to get dirty, o-or torn.”

After a moment, Sasuke glances aside, looking a little sheepish. “I, er...I guess I’m a little old for pokédolls, but...I’ll take them home later. Could you…?”

Hinata just giggles, agreeing and - for now - putting the doll back in her pack..

Seeing Neji still a ways behind, Sasuke then leans in conspiratorially. “Besides...I’m gonna get you something better than a plush to take home with you…!”

Blinking large eyes, it takes Hinata a second...and then they go wide. “B-but -?!”

“Shh!” Standing back upright, Sasuke looks to her cousin. “You’re Neji, right? Uchiha Sasuke.”

“Hinata-sama has told me all about you,” is Neji’s stiff reply.

“Yeah? Same.”

The boys seem to size each other up before Hinata tugs on Neji’s arm. “N-ne, we better get to the gym. Didn’t you want to talk to the leader before it got too late in the day…?”

Still looking haughty, Neji nonetheless softens when he glances to his cousin. “...yes, that’s true.”

“I’ll take you,” Sasuke offers, brushing aside the cool introduction. Neji’s not who he wants to see, anyway.

“Thank you.”

The trio make their way across town to the gym, where Fugaku is just finishing up talks with the pokémon professor. Glancing to them, Fugaku gives a rugged grin. “I’ll send you an email later, professor. Have a safe flight home.”

“I will!”

Once the floor is cleared, Fugaku folds his arms. “So...here for the challenge?”

Neji steps forward. “...yes sir. And, if you’re willing, some training.”

A curious brow perks. “Hm...well, we’ll see how you fare. But first...you’ll have to find your way to me. And, past my trainers!”

As one, the half dozen prequel trainers emerge, and arrange themselves.

Neji frowns. “Find my way…?”

“There’s unseeable walls,” Sasuke boasts, grinning. “And to get to the leader, you’ll have to navigate them, and the trainers. It won’t be easy…!”

There’s a cool glance over, then a determined look as Neji faces his goal. “...very well.”

“Neji-nīsan...would it be all right if - if I go with Sasuke-kun now?”

“You don’t want to watch my battle…?”

Hinata hesitates. “I...I do…”

“We’ll be back in a few,” Sasuke promises. “Besides, you’ve got other trainers to face first, remember? Do that first - I’m sure we’ll have plenty of time to spare...if you even make it that far.”

“...all right then. But you must keep Hinata-sama safe.”

“Of course.”

Permission given, the two watch as Neji takes tentative steps forward before heading back out the door.

“Did you mean what I think you meant earlier?” Hinata quickly demands, looking to Sasuke eagerly.

“I’m gonna catch you a pokémon.”

“...but...my father -”

“Doesn’t have to know! Hinata...a pokémon is a friend - one that grows with you! It’s not fair that your father is keeping that from you.” Sasuke gives her a stern look. “It’ll be a water type - you can go out north of town sometimes and let them swim around! He doesn’t have to know - not until you’re old enough to put your foot down and do what you wanna do! You’re old enough to be a trainer if you want. He can’t stop you!”

“Yes he can!”

“Then you can just run away! Back here, and stay with us,” Sasuke sniffs, clearly thinking it’s a foolproof plan. “My brother knows someone in the Safari Zone - she can teach you! Maybe even give you some work in the park! And you could stay at my house, or we could go on our own adventure! Aniki’s gonna be the next gym leader, so I can do whatever I want, too!”

Hinata looks a bit awed. “I...guess, maybe…”

“Well, first: let’s go get you a pokémon! I know just what one to get!” Taking her hand, Sasuke tugs Hinata out toward the west end of town, and out into Route Eighteen. “There’s a pond out here where you can find ‘em!”

They slow to a stop at the water’s edge, and Sasuke takes his rod out of his bag, snapping the pole together and baiting the line. “Okay...I’ll have to battle them to weaken them first. You stay over there!”

“O-okay!”

Once he’s sure Hinata’s out of harm’s way, Sasuke casts his line...and waits.

Fishing, of course, is a game of patience. There’s a few nibbles first, and then he pulls up a Krabby...not what he’s looking for. And then, finally, he hooks the right one!

“Whoa!”

Up with a splash comes a Goldeen!

Eyes round, Hinata watches as Sasuke calls on his Pidgeotto, battling with Wing and Quick Attacks.

“All right! Pokéball, go!”

With a toss, Sasuke lands the throw dead center, and the Goldeen vanishes. The ball wiggles...wriggles...and then, goes still!

“Yeahhh, I got it!”

Jogging up as Sasuke retrieves the ball, Hinata balks as he hands it to her. “Go on, throw it!”

“Um…” Looking unsure, Hinata eventually gives it a try. Out pops Goldeen into the water, looking up to their new trainer.

“...wow…!”

“Wanna name ‘em?”

“I...I don’t know! I’m not really, um...prepared…”

“That’s okay, you can do it later.” Sasuke shows her how to retrieve them, and then offers, “Just keep the ball in your bag - don’t show it to anybody!”

“I won’t!”

Together they jog back to the gym, just in time to see Neji approach the leader. His pokémon look a bit worse for wear.

“You can do it!” Hinata calls, drawing his gaze and earning a tired smile.

Fugaku releases his own team, and though it’s close...in the end, Neji can’t quite muster it. His last party member faints, and he falls to his knees.

“...I…”

Recalling his own, Fugaku eyes the boy critically. “...you know...you show great promise, my boy. Your strategizing is top-notch, especially for one your age. I think…” He glances up to his son and Hinata. “...it would be good for the two of you to spend a little time in Fuchsia. Hinata can enjoy herself a bit longer, and you and I can do a little training.”

That lifts Neji’s head, eyes wide. “...really?”

“Think you’ll make it worth my while?”

“Y...yes, sir!”

“Then we’ve got ourselves a deal.”

The two Hyūga join the Uchiha family for dinner, agreeing to stay a few more days than planned as Hinata sends her father a message.

Seated beside his brother, Itachi leans in. “So...how did it go?”

“Good. I got just what I wanted.”

“I’m glad. You’ll have to help her get started training tomorrow while Neji is busy.”

“What about you?”

“Oh, I might stop and help...depends on how busy the Safari Zone is,” Itachi replies, smirking as Sasuke pouts.

“Tch…whatever.”

Gosh this ended up longer (and later) than I intended! So this is a sequel that goes back alllll the way to day eighteen, where Hinata and Sasuke met in Cerulean City! I've wanted to do a follow-up to it for a long time, and this prompt seemed to fit well! Goodness only knows how Hiashi's going to react to all of this, but...well, Sasuke seems to think he's got it all figured out. Should be fine, right? ...riiiiight. Anyway, it's super late, I need to get to bed! Thanks for reading!

#sasuhina #uchiha sasuke #uchiha itachi #hyūga hinata #hyūga neji #uchiha fugaku #catch 'em all [ au ]#365daysofsasuhina

15 notes · View notes

blacktribbles · 5 years

Text

Peaches 🍑 &

Anime Dreams ⭐️

I don’t think many people dream of growing up and living in the same city their entire life. Not being able to see different things outside their own world and limiting their world view. Unfortunately it happens, maybe far too often to count. I hoped and prayed that would never happen to me; as I got older and began to travel a bit more I began to realize how much I love the area I’m in, how much I love the Greater Philadelphia area. However, I promised myself that there are a few cities in the US that I MUST travel to and get a feel for, for when I eventually do leave the area that raised me (inevitable due to future career wants). One of those cities was Atlanta Georgia, and what better reason to go to the state where the players play, and people ride out like everyday, than to go to Momocon and celebrate a special birthday with some friends.

The crew that was riding with me were My homie Mike (aka the Wizard Tribble), his girlfriend Gabe (Director, Producer, and 1 half of the horror podcast “The Ghouls Next Door) and my girlfriend Kat (Producer and the other half of “The Ghouls Next Door). We flew in early Friday morning and hit the ground running when we landed in Atlanta. Things moved quickly in the airport. It was wide open, thoroughly organized with no real confusion, which I was not used to from the Philadelphia airport where pigeons would just sit and claim their spot to a seat right beside you in the airport. There was also this air of safety that honestly rubbed my Philadelphian grit in an odd way but I was very appreciative it was noticed. First time in a new city, the first thing anyone wants is some confirmation of safety.

Once we stepped outside, leaving the comfort of the ATL airport that safeguarded us with AC, we were blessed by the loving and excessive sun. Back home in PA the weather consistently flip flops, unsure of what season it wants to be throughout the day let alone the week. Here in Georgia though, in the city of Atlanta, it was bright and sunny all day and week long with a high of 95 and low of about 63 at night. It felt wonderful knowing that there was going to be a steady weather condition to prepare for. The sun was kissing my skin, invoking the power of my melanin–while burning some of my friends. They enjoyed it all the same luckily.

We arrived early to ATL, early enough to call a ride to the nearby diner to get some good southern breakfast in our systems. From the airport to the diner it felt like we were being taken on a small ATL tour. Passing by us was beautiful scenery, birds chirping, healthy, luscious green trees–adding a perfect amount of nature to the populated urban jungle. The letters GT were everywhere for Georgia Tech. A university that seemed to just keep expanding its territory wherever we roamed. The architecture of the city was sleek, not overly futuristic but reminiscent of Philly. It was modern with some buildings taking a design chance on aesthetics; adding in solar panels, wide open glass roof structures, inverted and curved buildings, the chances taken weren’t over the top and did just enough to stand out. Definitely caught my eye.

We finally arrived at a diner close to where we stayed—Silver Skillet Diner, a place that has hosted the likes of Samuel L. Jackson, and Dave Chappelle to name a few. It’s here that my friends and I are able to take Atlanta in more and notice that yep, this may not be Texas but things sure are thiccer (Yes with 2 C’s) down here in the south. We ordered our meals, with everyone of us making sure to get a bowl of grits–mine as a side to my chicken and waffles. Which, were so crispy yet tender. Only made better by the soft waffles and the sticky sweet syrup to combo it all together perfectly. We finish up and pay our bill. Finally we head to our Airbnb.

We get there and are blown away at the place. Nice balcony, modern furniture with a TV in every room, kitchen is dope and has a beautiful island for us to eat at and lean on. The bathrooms are HUGE and the bedrooms are perfectly fitted for 2. To top it off we had access to a summer lounge area that led to a nice pool and fitness center. Place was so good we had to take a instagram video of it. We were in prime location. Downtown Atlanta, right next to the expressway, walking distance from markets and other restaurants, clothing chains and if we didn’t want to walk we could scooter around wherever we wanted to. Yes, I said scooter around. Not like kick push scooter but motorized. Rideshare companies like Lyft & Uber have motorized scooters you can take by going through the same process as you would by ordering a driver except it’s cheaper and you scan a QRcode to activate the scooter. When you’re finished using it, you hop off, pay and just leave it. Drivers come around later in the day and pick up said scooters and recharge them for later use. It was the strangest but coolest thing to see. Definitely had too much fun bending coroners whipping the scooters like I was in rocket power.

After unpacking and taking more IG photos of our Airbnb, it was time to hit the scene and check out the hype around Momocon. What started out as just a “pick up my badge and go” operation turned into a full storm of fun and adventure. When we arrived at Momocon we took it like any other convention and didn’t pay it much attention, the jaded-ness of being a frequent convention goer showing. That is until we got our badges. We got them, so finally we had access to everything the convention had to offer. We rushed the escalators and slid down the rails to do so again until we reached the convention floor. The choices laid out before were the vendors alley, or the gaming hall. We chose the gaming hall for day one.

A concert of echoing laser sounds, dance taps, sirens, alarms, and winning shouts filled the floor and us with it, enveloped in its energy joined the fray. Game after game we played. Putting our bid to even win some the next day. New friends were made, cosplays were stellar, and I got to chill with one of my favorite Pokémon–Blastoise.

We caught wind of a very rare concert happening that night. One my close friend and I have been dying to see. It was the Bytes & Beats Nujabes Tribute concert featuring the NPC Collective, Richie Branson, Asheru, And our favorites–Substantial and Shing02. If you know anything about great anime then you know about Samurai Champloo. An anime that still stylistically, artistically, and musically, holds up and stands the test of time. Those who watched Samurai Champloo leave with a spirit of hypeness and angsty rebellion. That is if they’re the Mugen type. Those like myself who align more like Jin, feel the counter balance energy of flow. The subtle and instinctual vibrations of being in one's element–just riding the current. One of the biggest things to enjoy about Samurai Champloo is its music. Samurai Champloo had a lot of its music crafted by a Japanese DJ named Nujabes. In my eyes, Nujabes is a god among DJ’s. Shoot, a whole generation of young adults and older can thank him for all the music that inspired if not created the genre of chill-hop & lo-fi.

It was the type of music that could soothe the savage beast, could bring you to this place of perfect concentration like you took the limitless pill. The Beats Nujabes crafted was the type of music that makes you think of the perfect weekend drive by sunset cruising the city blocks or mountain roads or the plains of the countryside–windows down with your one arm doing the free flowing roller coaster motion. That feel good–I’m alive vibe. Then topped with the lyrical stylings of artists like Substantial and Shing02, enhanced everything passed the stratosphere and takes the listener to this otherworldly plain of profound worldly views and humbleness. Even with the uptempo joints it felt like every artist that blessed the track, and Nujabes blessing the beat, it just spoke humble confidence. In short, Nujabes was that dude!

Nujabes collaborated with many artists, but the two that he collaborated with and stood out the most were Substantial and Shing02. He worked on joint albums with both (that are historic for chill-hop culture and must listens) but it was with Shing02 specifically that the two together blessed anime fans worldwide as they collaborated on the intro theme song to Samurai Champloo–Battle Cry. A song so enigmatic that just the utterance of its name begins to make my head bop in rhythmic hip hop fashion. Needless to say, we were going to that damn concert!

It was Friday night, we were in Atlanta, we were looking fly, it’s our first time ever at Momocon and quite possibly our first and only time at this Nujabes tribute concert. We were gonna make sure we had a great fucking time. We did everything possible to make sure we got up close and personal to the stage. I may have stuff-armed a person or two….We made sure to take in all the ambience and to not miss a single beat nor lyric felt or heard. We expected greatness and would be damned if we didn’t have a chance to bear witness to it up close and personal.

The concert began and we were taken to a land of hip hop joy, geek excellence, and a dream fulfilled. The concert started at 11pm and didn’t end till about 3am. For those who waited and held out to the very end like my friends and I were treated to a very special rendition of Battle Cry. A new version with verses from every artist that graced the stage prior, and instrumental solos. This shit was absolutely BONKERS and I LOVED every single moment of it. I’ll add, it was made even better that after the show, the artists came out and interacted with the fans. A humble group of men for sure.

Friday was a blockbuster hit in our books. What happened on Saturday though put everything over the top.

Saturday was special. It was Kat’s birthday and all of us were doing our first ever group cosplay. We decided a while back that we’d do the teen titans in casual attire. This was based off the popular artwork of Gabriel Picolo. So, for me that meant I got to embody a character that I along with many others believe I emulate–Cyborg. I dawned the cybernetic blue and steel grey and white face paint, put on a DC Comics Cyborg shirt to rep him even harder, and topped it off with a colorful playstation jacket. Your man was looking fresh out here. To round out our cast of titans was Kat as Raven, Mike as Robin/Nightwing and Gabe as Starfire. Our rule was if we see a Beast Boy, we adopt him for a family photo; and sure enough we did.

We bursted into Momocon towards the backend of a DC vs Marvel Photoshoot. We got a couple pictures taken there then dispersed to get our own in front of the Momocon banner. That’s when it began to happen. It started off quietly by a singular person, then it built into a loud murmur from everyone I see, then it finally erupts into a loud “DOPE COSPLAY CYBORG” from groups of people. Wherever we went I was getting noticed, our team and group cosplay was getting noticed. I don’t think we ever knew it would become such a big deal. I know I didn’t at the time until it was pointed out to me that, every teen titans cosplay done by a group is ALWAYS lacking a Cyborg; everyone but ours. It was a moment that really struck home for me. It began to make more sense as the day progressed. Little kids were coming up to me saying “BOOYAH!” and singing the teen titans theme song. People loved us, they wanted our pictures, put us in videos, stopped what they were doing just to chat with us. It was major. It without a shadow of a doubt drove home the message to me that representation matters. I know some out there will say it’s not super important but after Momocon, after seeing little black boys and girls smile with joy and sing teen titans with me, after they get excited by the utterance of the word booyah by another black character, that families start showing me off to their kid cosplayers and other adult cosplayers of color pause everything because they NEED to take a photo with you...you just can’t ignore how important that is. To be able to see yourself as a hero. To see oneself as greater than for once, when most of–if not all of society says you can only fit into these certain boxes. To see someone else that looks like you in a positive light; that’s all it takes to break a negative cycle, that’s all it takes to create another hero. For a small moment in time, I was inspiring to those around me; and I hope that the sliver of inspiration that I sparked stays ignited in those I met. I know it surely will with me.

But I digress.

Beyond the massive success of our group cosplay, beyond the elation and fun had for Kat’s birthday, the icing on the cake was being able to meet a famous cosplayer by the name of KieraPlease. This was after an intense dance dance revolution session in which I sat and recorded video and got exhausted looking at everyone else go. It was pure happenstance, which resulted into pure happiness when we finally met. I don’t get starstruck often but I must say, words failed me for our brief interaction. I saw her, saw my friends, and shot my shot at a possible chat and photo opportunity for us all. I took the shot and it went in (KOBE!!). After the picture she hugged us all and had a nice conversation with the Ghouls (Kat & Gabe) which I’m sure made their day if the hug didn’t already. It’s great to note that as a team, we have this cosplay thing down well. When a pro says you got it, you freaking got it! More so, it was better to finally meet someone your used to seeing on a cellphone or laptop screen. A living breathing tangible person, who quite honestly is living her best life fully and truly can be looked at as a symbol of positivity; a role model even. Just like that, day two was in the books.

So, I think I brought you along far enough on my experience in ATL. Detailing 2 key days. Now let me change things up on you a bit and give you my overall thoughts of Atlanta and Momocon as a whole.

Atlanta itself is a hotbed of culture. On the weekend we went, that weekend alone had a bevy of major events happening all weekend long. There was Momocon, Caribbean festival and parade, a food festival, and Stone Mountain fireworks and light show to name a few. As one of our lyft drivers said, ATL is a hotbed of culture because it is made up of a lot of different cultures and people from around the US. Atlanta has its own swagger but it is the culmination of others that has shaped the way it is today. Atlanta is a Transplant City. Many people are moving to Atlanta because of the opportunities that present itself. From music, TV, movies, overall entertainment and broadcasting, the warm weather, the great food, the architecture, the various modes of transportation (ONE TIME FOR THE SCOOTERS), the cheaper housing, and generally you get more out of your earned dollar; why people move there makes sense. And like all major cities Atlanta has its issues, shoot the state of Georgia alone is a bit problematic depending on where you slide politically. But my time spent there will be one for the history books. It’s definitely a place worth traveling to again. Next time I go, I’ll be sure to do more exploring. I didn’t get a chance to travel the halls of Cartoon Network (IF ANYONE ONE IN THE HR DEPARTMENT IS READING THIS, HIRE ME PLEASE) so that’s reason enough for me to go back. That and I didn’t get to try some of Hattie B’s Nashville hot chicken or the slutty vegan sandwich. There’s always next time though.

As for Momocon….IN-FREAKING-CREDIBLE! Momocon has that extra something. That nudge to taking it up one more notch to make it great. No, it is not as big as DragonCon and maybe it won’t get the same recognition or acclaim but Momocon is a phenomenal con. Momocon brought me back to 2014, when I first started going to conventions. My first one at the time was Otakon and to this day I don’t think any other con will hold as special of a spot in my heart as Otakon. But Momocon, Momocon was dangerously close to taking that spot. Which lets me know and hopefully you, the reader, now that it’s just that damn good! The crowd size of the convention is comparable to say the Greater Philadelphia comic con. Meaning there’s a large crowd and over a thousand things to do but you never have to fear about missing out on something. You can and will get to everything you want if you have patience. The event staff from security to the PR and press team were absolutely amazing. All were easy to talk to and informative, helpful and never overbearing. What truly made Momocon as great as it is in my eyes, is that it at its core it remained an anime and gaming convention. It wasn’t a comic convention with anime sections, it was an anime and gaming convention that accepted comic lovers just as much as it did its anime and gaming fans. Anime and gaming is my bread and butter, it’s what got me into this geeky, blerd, pop-culture world I exist in currently. Momocon stayed true to that core value. The sheer fact they had Substantial and Shing02 performing live in concert said more than enough for me. Momocon you are in fact, a real one.

Atlanta….I’ll be back in the future. Whether that be for work or pleasure, or hell maybe to be a transplant myself and live there. All this kid from the burbs of Philly has to say left is…

Peace up, A-Town down.

Much love,

– Isaiah Luck aka Broku

Assistant Producer

Black Tribbles

#blacktribbles #tribblenation #geekculture #entertainment #anime #popculture #comics #blerds #tribbledelphia #marvel #dc comics #momocon2019 #momocon #atlanta #blog #blog post

5 notes · View notes