Choice, a Pokemon Shifters RP

hazeh · April 11, 2016

She was absentmindedly braiding the single gold strip of her hair when the woman with long dark hair spoke up. Cass looked toward her and smiled; this was Gaes, if she remembered correctly. Hopefully Gaes liked the sandwich Cass made her. "Something of that nature, I suppose. One way or another, we'll be having a good time," she answered with a wink and a cheeky grin. Since the only information any of them had to go on were the rules still echoing about in their minds, Cass had no qualms with falling into the line of thought that Team Helix must have been a sinister organization. The premise seemed entirely plausible, because something about sinister organizations just seemed terribly common for whatever reason, and Allison appeared to have similar deductions about the matter herself. Destroying the Helix research was one of their objectives, after all, but Cass found it quite endearing how...innocent Gaes's suggestion was.

The approach of the Deerling made Cassandra perk up again, and she smiled warmly down at the little caramel-colored Pokémon. "Of course I'll help," Cass said, though she glanced at Jasper with a smidge of curiosity. She'd thought he would have gotten food for himself while they were at the Pokémon center-- after all, he didn't seem to be the kind of guy that followed someone else's initiative. Perhaps that was why he refused to make himself anything to eat now, or maybe he just plain didn't like Cass. She'd gotten that vibe from him a few times already. "Do you know what he likes to eat?" Cass asked as she stood from the couch, turning her attention back to Garrett. "I doubt he'd answer if I asked him myself. I suppose I can just throw something together though and hope he isn't too picky. What can I get for you? A sandwich?"

Allison shifted from her seat on the sofa's arm. "Don't feed the deer meat, Cassandra. I saw some berries on the top shelf in the refrigerator," she remarked idly, sparing only a few seconds glance toward Cass and the Pokémon before letting her gaze wander back to the others congregated inside the messy house. The Joltik had nestled into the crook of her neck, draped by her ponytail of moon-colored hair, and she scratched his fluffy head with her finger while she watched.

Cass opened her mouth to say, 'it was a joke!' but then Anhew's soft voice caught her attention and she leaned over to pet the Deino and rub the spot she'd seen the Pokémon bump her head. Despite the fact that Anhew was a shifter, as evidenced by her knowledge of the rules, Cass couldn't help but offer physical touch as a comfort. It appeared to have worked before, and Cass was more than happy to provide affection to anyone who would accept it. "Apples? I'm sure we could find some of those around here. This gym leader guy has a bunch of stuff lying around, I bet an apple or two wouldn't be too difficult to find." She adjusted the ties of her thigh-high boots (which were a rather big pain in her backside, she realized quickly), tied back her hair, and sauntered back over to the kitchen. She mulled over her options for a moment and then grabbed some more food stuffs from the fridge and pantry before taking off her outer flannel and tying it ceremoniously around her waist.

"Allie? How's a salad sound for you?" Cass called, leaning over the counter to peer at her companion who remained on the arm of the couch. She swiped a loose piece of hair out of her eyes and smiled.

Allison felt her lip twitch at the nickname. "I don't care," she answered dismissively. After a pause, she sighed and added, "Just no tomatoes."

Cass nodded and set to work. She washed a tomato and placed it on the floor with some spinach leaves and berries in front of Garrett with a smile, and then rummaged around in the crisper for an apple. "Ah, here we go. Still fresh," Cass commented cheerfully as she drew out Anhew's treat from the fridge. Its skin was red and waxy, and shone under the lights of the kitchen once Cass rinsed it off. She dried it and offered it to Anew with a gentle, "An apple just for you, honey."

The salad for Allison didn't take long, though Cass felt slightly proud at the combination of vegetables she'd managed to whip together into a rather delectable dish, even if it didn't have tomatoes. She handed it to Allison (who accepted it with a glare instead of a "thank you") and looked to the others inside of Laren's house. "What about the rest of you, anyone hungry? Just let me know. This dude's got enough food for a small army, seems like. Ev, would you like anything?" She smiled over at the younger girl as she spoke, but then moved back toward the kitchen.

Now, the trick was figuring out what rabbit-egg-boy wanted. He was a water-type, maybe he liked fish? Or maybe he was a vegetarian, like Allison or Garrett. No, he was a human kid now, at least. Cass hummed to herself a tune she couldn't remember the name of as she threw together another sandwich. Ham, swiss, and mustard; a childhood classic. Or at least, that's what came to mind. Cass wrapped it in a paper towel and looked down at Garrett expectantly. "Do y'think he'd accept it from me? Or should you take it over to him?"

TehUltimateMage · April 12, 2016

Z was having a panic attack of a rather electric nature from whatever they saw in that computer, Rhapsody had informed him. Gaes went over to see if she could help, but Lambert thought it would be a better for him to stay behind in the lobby and not crowd the poor child. When they regrouped afterwards, he was told that the Gym Leader wouldn't be back for a few hours. With nothing better to do, he somehow managed to convince the Hydreigon to drill some battle tactics so they wouldn't have a disastrous repeat of 'not knowing which target to choose' which was a screwup on the part of all three of them. This time, they were marginally more prepared and the two other shifters were surprisingly cooperative.

So miracles were possible.

While Rhapsody and Z were off in the mountains and Gaes off to train her pink puff, Lambert finally decided on a suitable name for Murkrow: Qrow.

~

"No. This isn't normal and all." Lambert looked over the veritable sea of paper covering every horizontal surface and even the majority of the vertical ones through colorful sticky notes. He didn't have his memory, but he was sure that he had never seen a home this messy. He tried not to step on anything, but it was a near-impossible task.

Some muffled words reached his ears as he had one hand on a table to balance himself as he took a giant's step to the next patch of clear ground. "Look what I found!" shouted Qrow through a shiny object in his beak. The bird was standing proudly on a desk with his treasure.

"Put that back!" Lambert hissed. "That drawing compass is useless to us." What were they going to do, draw circles to ward off wild pokemon? Taking things from the Gym Leader's house would be considered stealing, even if the mess made it all too easy to make something go missing. Though, it was likely that the actual valuables in the (house like the replicas on display) would be noticed immediately if they were gone. The guy was a fossil fanatic, after all.

There were quite a few people in the room, and from how openly they were talking about their special abilities, it wasn't too much of a stretch to assume that all of them were shifters -- or pokemon they owned. "My name is Lambert, and I'm--" He stopped himself. "Just Lambert is fine." They didn't need to know. Rhapsody didn't need to know. The nickname "Ash Cannon" didn't even annoy Lambert anymore; instead it was replaced by a constant nagging about his pokemon form. At first he just wanted to keep to himself the fact that he was a literal ice ball, but the more the other man pried, the less he wanted to give him the satisfaction of finding out.

"I'm not sure 'help yourself' meant emptying the contents of his refrigerator." He was skeptical, though in the end his hunger got the better of him. "...but a sandwich would be nice."

~~~

"We done here? Let's go. Sine shifted back, unlike Chompers. On the way back to town, she herself found another pokeball in the grass. Was some absentminded kid dropping them?

~

Even though the dig site was completely unrelated to Team Helix, Sine agreed to go with Dunsparce-now-named-Driller. There was no particular hurry to their quest, and when they stepped off that elevator into the caves she was hit with a wave of familiarity.

No, not familiarity. Nostalgia? Especially when she saw the corner of something bright green within the ground. She knelt down to take a better look. With light touches she carefully removed the dirt and stone around it, and her expression brightened. A slight tug, and the Plate came loose.

"When the universe was created, its shards became this Plate."

Sine knew that the words were tied to specific memories, but all she could draw was a frustrating blank. She knew this thing and that this thing had something to do with pokemon myths, and that myths were somehow important to the person she used to be. There was just so much middle information she was missing! Noticing something pink near the first plate, she excavated its companion.

"The power of defeated giants infuses this Plate."

She was about to look around to see if the rest of the... set? would be buried around, but Chompers hadn't noticed that she had lagged behind. Bringing the plates with her, the young lady caught up in time to see him confront a blue pokemon with a long, slender neck, and rainbow eyebrows? The Tyrantrum thought it was familiar, so Sine made the connection that the Amaura was another fossil pokemon.

The Amaura looked wary and a little nervous, but raised its sails in an attempt to look a little bigger despite Chompers towering over it. Thinking that the other fossil wanted to hunt and that the smaller pokemon was to be his next snack, the Amaura prepared an Aurora Beam as it planned to run.

Sine thought this would be the perfect time to use that ball she picked up earlier. It would be another hand (or back?) to carry the two plates she had already found, and the 'mon would be a good companion for Chompers. She pat her pant pocket to make sure the pokeball was still there. First thing she had to do was prevent it from fleeing. "Hey, you, Rainbrows!" she shouted, waving her arms. "I can understand pokemon! I was wondering if we could talk!"

The Amaura's frills stopped glowing as the pokemon went from afraid to simply confused. The big dinosaur seemed to have a trainer, and they weren't actively seeking a battle. Considering the amount of trainers coming through in the hopes of catching rare fossil pokemon, that in itself was unusual. Curiosity got the better of it. "...Is what she saying true?" Amaura asked Chompers.

Edited April 12, 2016 by TehUltimateMage

HomeForFlowers · April 13, 2016

Garrett let out a relieved sigh as Cass eagerly agreed to help.

"Thank you," the Deerling said as she looked up gratefully at the shifter. "He's a bit hard to deal with." "A bit" was quite the understatement. Jasper was unpredictable and when Garrett could guess what step he was going to take next, it was always something dreadful. His insistence on not interacting with the other shifters was quite annoying. Of course, Garrett knew his immaturity would have to be plowed over sooner or later if he was ever going to regain his memories and it seemed like Garrett was tasked with getting him off of his feet and into the arms of his fellow shifters so to speak. When Cassandra asked what Jasper wanted to eat, Garret was caught off guard. "I, uh, have no idea," Garret said as she pawed the floor anxiously. "We only ate berries and such when we were traveling together. I'm not entirely sure what a sandwich is, but if humans eat it I think he'll be okay with it!"

Garrett opened her mouth to inquire as to what a sandwich consisted of, Ally gently told Cassandra to not feed Garrett any meat. The Deerling froze in place, ears lowered as she looked over at Allison before glancing up nervously at Cass. Garrett stifled a nervous giggle as Cass quickly mouthed "it was a joke" but soon found herself preoccupied by Anhew's squeak of pain. "Oh! Are you alright, darling?" Garrett said as she bounded over to the Deino and gave her a quick sniff to see if she was alright. For a shifter, Anhew seemed pretty reliant on her Pokemon. Garrett wasn't really sure what the rules were pertaining how long each shifter could stay in each form, if there were any rules, but she couldn't recall Jasper staying as an Azumarill for as long as Anhew stayed as a Deino. Maybe it was just easier for him to move around as a human than as an Azumarill, maybe, despite is constant whining, he was more comfortable as a human. Either way, Garrett was curious to see just what Anhew would look like as a human. Perhaps she'd be more careful as a human and wouldn't bump into so many objects. Garrett knew she would be much more at ease if Anhew wasn't so small and vulnerable.

After she was sure Anhew hadn't injured herself, Garrett turned around and was delighted to see that Cassandra had prepared her a small meal.

"Oh! Thank you!" she chimed happily as she trotted over to the lettuce and tomato and took a bite out of the red fruit. The tomato was surprisingly yet satisfyingly juicy which went wonderfully with the flavorful berries and wet, crispy lettuce. Garrett hadn't realized just how hungry she was until she found herself staring at the floor after she had wolfed down all of her meal. "Ah, I guess I was hungrier than I thought, " she said aloud as she looked up at Cass with a nervous grin. "Perhaps I should have eaten earlier." Much to Garrett's relief, Cass had prepared a sandwich (which was apparently a combination of a bunch of different food that Garrett didn't recognize) for Jasper but she was unsure if she should give it to him or not. Garrett clicked her tongue thoughtfully as her eyes drifted off towards Jasper. He, for the most part, had ignored the others in the room. When Lambert stepped forth and introduced himself, Jasper opened one eye and stared at him for a few good moments before closing his eyes again. Garrett frowned at that but, instead of going up and scolding him, she turned to face Cassandra. "Honestly, if he isn't willing to accept that sandwich from you, he doesn't deserve it," Garrett stated firmly. "Besides, he's being too close-minded for his own good. We, uh, had a bun run in with another shifter and now I can only assume he thinks all shifters are just as bad as her. I think it would be better for everyone if you or one of the shifters can him the sandwich to, you know, break the ice or something?"

Moonlight_Eevee · April 16, 2016

Anhew felt better as Cass tried to soothe her as she rubbed the spot she hit her head. Anhew then felt immediately guilty as Sweet Voice sniffed her. "I-I'm sorry for being such a nuisance," Anhew apologized. "But all Deino's are naturally blind. It's hard to navigate around nonmoving objects." She then sniffed the air as her stomach once again growled. She then turned as another voice spoke up. Lambert. "H-hi Lambert," Anhew said. "M-my name is Anhew." Well, at least one of them from the group was willing to introduce themselves. Anhew turned back to Cass as she heard her voice say something about an apple. She sniffed around before biting into an apple, which she devoured really quickly. "Thank you Miss Cass," Anhew thanked before yawning. She sat down as Sweet Voice and Cass talked about Jasper. "Ah," Anhew said. "What about me? Surely he must think I'm not like her?" She then sniffed the ground. "On secodn thought, is there another apple? I'm still hungry."

-----------------------------------------

Chompers came to a dead halt as he noticed the Amuara readying up for an attack. He did have to applaud the Amuara for standing its ground. Luckily, Sine came up and was willing to talk with it also. "Yes, it's true," Chompers replied. "Sorry if I approached you like that, I just wanted to talk. My name is Chompers, this is Sine and the Dunsparce is Driller." "Boss," Driller said as he came slithering up. "Can you hold still for five minutes!? Chompers blinked before he looked down at Driller. "What?" he asked. "Every time I turn around," Driller said. "You're always on the move!" "Sorry," Chompers muttered. "So who is this?" Driller asked. "It's an Amuara," Chompers replied. "Although, shouldn't you be in a herd?" Driller looked at the Amuara before looking up at Chompers. "Ah, you dropped the ball you had," Driller commented. Chompers immediately looked down at his claws to see that he indeed dropped the ball. Chompers then looked at Sine to see her carrying two things. "Oh! What do you have there?" he asked her.

ValidEmotions · April 18, 2016

More people were asking about Team Helix? Emil blinked, thinking. What did that mean? Shaking his head before he began to over-analyze the fact, he nodded. "Yes. I'll head over with you," he replied. As he did, the elevator made noise again, allowing a young girl to exit. She greeted the gym leader as her Litleo hopped out from behind her, approaching Nix.

"Tama?" Nix repeated, ears flicking. Shifting their attention to the female, their nose twitched. She smelt... Odd. Familiar but odd. Yet, Nix was certain they hadn't met this human before. Sitting, the Shinx scrubbed the side of their face, a curious realization rising. In the last two hours, only one other human had gone into the elevator and it certainly wasn't this girl. Similarly, the Purrloin never returned. Of course, the girl could have used the elevator before Emil and Nix even arrived at the gym and people could always take longer than two hours.

Except, the girl smelt like the Purrloin and the Purrloin smelt like the girl.

Glancing over at Emil, Nix could see that their trainer was also confused about the girl. The man didn't have a nose like them but it certainly didn't take long for the girl's attire to be recognized as strangely similar. Like Emil's clothing. "I'm Nix," the Shinx finally introduced, sounding vaguely bored. "How long have you two been here? You're covered in dirt."

~~~~

Finishing her sandwich quickly, Gaes gave Cass a smile. "The sandwich was delicious, thank you. What else can you make that's good?" she inquired, winking. That seemed to be something humans did when pleased, she guessed. At least, it's what Cass did and it interested the woman. Maybe she would try it out some more.

Lambert was shouting at Qrow, drawing her attention away from the Pyroar shifter. "A drawing compass? What's that?" she questioned, moving towards the pair. Reaching up, she plucked the metal contraption out of the Murkrow's talons, twisting the object around in her hands. It looked weird and held a pencil in one arm, the other ending in a point.

Shrugging, she lost interest and placed the object back onto the shelf. "So, uh, how long has everyone been like this?" Gaes asked. "I can't remember anything past yesterday."

PureDark006 · April 19, 2016

Pooch had absolutely refused to go inside the house. Something about a 'massive fire hazard'? Rhapsody hadn't really understood what she had said, just that she seemed scared to burn the whole place to a crisp if she so much as sneezed. So into her Poké Ball she went, the first time she returned since Kusba. Bugface didn't have any problems stepping in and settling herself under one of the tables so no one would trip on her, and was watching the other shifters and Pokémon curiously without saying anything. It sort of reminded him of a predator laying in wait, which was hilarious since she was big enough to gobble Pooch up without chewing.

"Oi Bugface, try not to eat anyone," he joked.

The Trapinch slowly blinked. "That would be extremely rude. I wasn't going to."

In any case, he had ended up standing near one of the windows, not really caring if he stepped on anything as he walked, and had spent his time watching how the other shifters interacted with everything around them. For example, judging by the guy laying down on that weird soft trunk thing and how Lambert had put Z over it back when they had fainted, Rhapsody was guessing those were for resting. Why were humans averse to sitting on the ground was beyond him though.

The Deino from before was there too, and being mommed by a Deerling. Rhapsody glanced at the duo as they ate, and then closed his eyes. Relaxing, listening. He could tell everyone's positions by their voices - could recognize who they were too. The soft breeze that entered through the window made some of the items rustle. The Deerling talked, her hoof making a repetitive sound against the floor as she pawed it. Rhapsody half expected to be able to hear everyone's breathing, but was reminded soon enough that human senses sucked. Still, while that world of darkness didn't feel familiar, it... didn't feel strange either.

Until now, he hadn't realized how much he had been depending on his sight. He must have been an Hydreigon for long enough to overwrite some of his instincts as Zweilous, then. Because he definitely still had Pokémon instincts, if the way he tried to use wings that weren't there when startled was any indication.

Ah, this was getting too complicated. No use thinking of a past that he couldn't remember, at least for now. Time to go get one of those sandwiches Cass was making.

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Laren turned when he heard his name, and saw the girl from this morning. Seemed she had been exploring the digging site, by the looks of her bursting pant pockets; that Leaf Stone that was poking out looked like it could get loose and fall any second to the ground. "Oh, hello! The Kabutos are safe and back where they belong. Poor things were starving after running around all morning," he explained.

"Hi! I'm Anoma!" the Anorith happily chirped at the Litleo. "Saw Zoey earlier. Helped with Kabuto! Zoey cool!"

"In any case, I've got guests waiting. If you wanted to challenge me or ask me anything, feel free to come with us," Laren said with a wave as he headed towards the exit, expecting the two trainers to follow but not waiting for them. The faster he got everything over with, the faster he could return and keep observing the Kabuto.

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Even before entering his house, Laren could guess there were a lot of people judging by the number of voices. He didn't expect eight of them though. Thank goodness the first floor was massive.

"Hello! Sorry to keep you waiting!" he greeted as he entered, speed not faltering even as he took irregular strides to avoid the mess on the ground. Accustomed enough to do so without even looking, he made his way towards one of the tables and left his now mostly-empty backpack on one of the chairs next to it, over a bunch of papers that were already there. "Oh, making sandwiches? Peanut butter and grape jelly for me, please!" he cheerfully added as he headed to an open cardboard box that was full with rolled up maps of different sizes.

He picked one and went back to the table, just noticing that he probably hadn't met most of the people there and should maybe explain why he was in a Gym Leader's house making himself at home. "Now, I think I'm seeing some new faces around, so to clarify, I'm the Gym Leader and this is my house."

"Mine too!" Anoma exclaimed, claws held together as if she was carrying something.

"Now that that's out of the way, my name is Laren and the Anorith here is Anoma. Are all of you here to ask about Helix?" he asked, looking between all the people and Pokémon gathered there.

Edited April 20, 2016 by Puredark006

Moonlight_Eevee · April 19, 2016

Zoey ignored as Nix and Tama as they talked. "Yes, that's my name," Tama said proudly. Tama grew nervous as the Shinx started sniffing. I'm Nix. How long have you two been here? You're covered in dirt." "Ah, we were down there for quite a while Nix," Tama replied, narrowing his eyes. Was this Nix one of these people who wanted to hurt Zoey? Zoey blinked and cocked her head at Laren. She kept hearing words that confused her. Gym leader, gym Rules. "What is a gym leader anyway?" Zoey asked him. She felt even more confused about what he said about any questions. Questions about what? "Come on Tama," Zoey said before she followed Laren.

----------------------------------------------------

Zoey tried not to wrinkle her nose in horror at the mess of the house. "Wow," Tama said. "What a mess!" She paused and frowned when she noticed Jasper lying down on one of the couches. She sniffed before following Laren to one of the tables. "Sandwiches?" Zoey asked. "I'll take a ham and cheese sandwich." She looked at Laren once again with curiosity. This gym leader business intrigued her. She could hear Tama once again introduce himself to new people. "Hi!" Tama said to this girl with really red hair with some gold strands and then a bold streak of gold down the center of her bangs that Zoey had noted in the living room. "My name's Tama and my trainer is Zoey and she's a really cool trainer." Part of Zoey was relieved that Tama wasn't blurting out she could turn into a Purrloin anymore.

-------------------------------------------------

Anhew pawed the ground. She forgot to greet another one called Gaes! Before Anhew could open her mouth, she felt something go on with her body once again. "Help!" Anhew squealed as she felt the transformation. she lifted a paws and noticed five long blunt claws on the front paws. There was something on her back paws that felt so weird. She inhaled sharply and tried to calm herself down. "W-what just happened?" Anhew asked nervously. She was still new to this and she was highly confused. Why had her claws split and now was replaced with five unhelpful claws? They certainly couldn't help her fight back if she needed to get into a battle. Thinking about it now, everything was so much longer then the Deino form.

She couldn't think for very long as she heard voices from before. It was Laren and Zoey from before. She looked back to where she last heard Jasper's voice. Was stuff going to go down between them? "S-Sweet Voice," Anhew muttered loud enough so only Sweet Voice could hear. "Is there going to be a...a fight?" She could hear Tama's voice introduce himself to Cass. Anhew couldn't help but feel nervous. From what it seemed like, Jasper and Zoey hated each other.

Edited April 19, 2016 by Raptor of Dragons

hazeh · April 20, 2016

Cass hummed at Gaes's question, smiling slightly in response to the other woman's returned wink. "Probably a lot of other things," she said, "Though there's not a whole lot else I can make with what this guy has in his kitchen." She waved the butter knife that was smeared with mustard for emphasis. Cass finished up a couple more sandwiches, just in case anyone else wanted some-- she nodded at Rhapsody and Lambert when they approached for one-- before leaning against the counter on one arm in thought. "Allison and I woke up about three days ago," she answered, lightly touching her chin as she mulled over the question. "Not much memory to go off of, unfortunately." She shook her head and shrugged.

Allison lifted a forkful of spinach to her mouth, but paused. "This Team Helix research that we're supposed to be looking for...Do any of you know much more about it? We questioned Laren earlier and he was rather...vague," she said, ignoring the Joltik on her shoulder when he buzzed at the mention of Team Helix.

Cass looked down at Garrett and Anhew again. "Would you like more?" she asked the Deerling, gesturing at the empty spot before the Pokémon where Garrett had scarfed down the salad. She clicked her tongue curiously as she delved back into the fridge for another apple. Unfortunately, there had only been one, and she shook her head sadly and said, "Sorry love, no more apples. I think there's another Oran berry though, if you'd like that." She washed it up just in case and offered it to the Deino. However, to her surprise, a white light began to shine from Anhew's form until the Pokémon's silhouette had morphed into one of a young girl. The light died away, leaving Anhew panicking on the ground by Cassandra's feet. Immediately, Cass dropped to her knees and placed her own hands over Anhew's. "Hey, shhh, don't worry," Cass murmured, petting the girl's head like she had when Anhew was a Deino. "You transformed, is all. You probably hit your limit for that form and changed back." Cass remembered trying to stay as a Pyroar for as long as possible on the second day of their travels, and held out for a max of three hours before finding herself human again in a bush. Allison held out for four. "You're safe with us, Anhew. It's okay."

Allison finished up her salad at a leisure pace. The girl, Anhew, seemed to be the youngest among them, and likely the most inexperienced with the transformation according to her reaction. Great. "Just keep her calm," Allison called, remembering the other teenager she'd come across in the Pokémon center that had a panic attack. The last thing they needed right now was another one of those.

The door opened, and the man Cassandra remembered as the gym leader came walking cheerfully inside. She nodded to him in greeting, and flashed him a thumbs up as she stood. "PB and J, coming up," she responded, smiling up at the Anorith. "Hello Anoma!" Cass dug through the pantry until she located the needs ingredients and quickly slathered them onto some bread for Laren. As she finished up, she grabbed Jasper's sandwich in one hand, handed Laren his with her other, and then maneuvered through the cluttered room until she reached the sofa Jasper was sprawled across. Garrett had said he was wary of others, which Cass could understand-- to an extent. The other shifter he met must have been a real nuisance. With a small smile, she held out the ham and cheese to him and said, "Here you are. I figured you must be hungry. I wasn't sure what you'd prefer, so I made something I thought maybe you might like."

Allison stood from her spot on the couch arm and inclined her head toward Laren. "Yes, that is correct," she said smoothly, folding her arms. She tilted her head slightly, almost with the air of an innocent schoolgirl, and added in a warmer tone that only just slightly suggested she wasn't genuine, "You could say we're fans of Pokémon research and would like to know as much about the leading organization in the scientific community." Though it wasn't technically a lie on her part-- that's at least what felt normal for her-- Allison assumed taking on a more positive façade to their questions would prove more fruitful than demanding answers with shady motives.

Cass glanced up when a new person walked in, a Litleo at her side. She pointed at the platter of sandwiches still left on the counter. "Help yourself!" she said with a smile, and then looked down at the feline that sauntered up to her. "Oh? Nice to meet you, Tama," she said, and the amusement in her voice was evident over the fact that she was speaking to a Litleo, of all Pokémon, "and your friend Zoey, too. What brings you and your trainer to Laren's house for?" Cass hadn't seen either of them in the Pokémon center, and wondered if Zoey's patterned outfit had anything to do with the other shifters in the room. As far as she knew, Zoey hadn't been around for the whole "hey we're all after Team Helix let's crash Laren's house" party, but her sudden appearance didn't seem very coincidental.

Kiran · April 21, 2016

Laren’s house was amazing.

There was so much stuff, she didn’t know where to start taking it all in. Overflowing bookcases were everywhere, covered with sheets of paper, sketches, maps, drawing supplies, pencils, strange models- not to mention the books themselves. It was overwhelming, if in a good way. She was sure that she’d be able to spend months there without getting bored.

Still, she was reluctant to venture further into the house, and hovered near the entrance. Cassandra obviously had no such restrictions (had she already found the fridge? It was actually impressive, given how camouflaged it was with post-it notes). This did much to assuage her worries, but it still felt like she would be intruding. Not to mention, some of the paper stacks looked like they’d fall over if she so much as breathed on them. She couldn’t exactly stand around forever, though, so she drifted towards an appealing-looking stack of papers. The contents were far too complicated for her and the writing was difficult to decipher, but she’d have to learn something by reading “Notes on Helix and Dome Fossil Distribution in Northwestern Lamorak”.

Before she could get very far, she heard her name and jerked her head upwards. “Oh!” After so long with only berries to eat, she’d managed to ignore her hunger. Now that she was reminded of food, she realized that she was starving. Careful to make sure that she left the papers exactly they had been, she moved closer to the kitchen. “Food would, food would be lovely. Anything’s good, really, especially if it’s not too spicy. If there’s anything I can do to help…?” Glancing around, she chewed lightly on the end of her thumb. The number of people in the house had certainly increased. She hoped that the noise level would go down a bit once introductions were through and everyone had food, because it was getting to be quite loud.

On the plus side, she was able to pick up an important piece of information: she wasn’t the only one with amnesia. It had been something that had worried her, as no one else had mentioned it. Well, the ‘rules’ had, but she didn’t know if everyone had the same ones. There was some variance in times of awakening as well. This was all so complicated. Maybe if they had some sort of spreadsheet, they’d be able to figure out a pattern. Typings, rarity, time/date of awakening, evolutionary stage, region of highest population…

She was broken out of her thoughts by Anhew’s sudden glowing. Startled, she tensed and took a step back. Anhew must have been so scared, and the fear was affecting Ev too. Oh, why was she so useless? Cassandra seemed to know what she was doing, so why didn’t she know how to help? It didn’t help that Laren took that moment to arrive. She could feel a headache building, along with the anxiety that came with being overwhelmed. Couldn’t everything just stop for just a moment so she could catch up?

Ev felt a flash of alarm as Cassandra left. What if Anhew was still scared, or had questions? She couldn’t just be left alone like that! Ev kneeled in front of her to line up their heights better. “I’m Ev, remember me? I’m really sorry if things are confusing right now. Are you doing alright?”

PureDark006 · April 22, 2016

"Hi Cassandra! Hi Allison! Hi Garret!" Anoma happily chirped, greeting the ones she had met before. "Where Jasper Anhew?" She curiously asked the Deerling, feather-like extremities rustling.

"Ah, thank you!" Laren gratefully accepted his sandwich with a smile, and wasted no time in taking a bite. He had been so busy today he was just realizing now he had skipped lunch. Ah well, Anoma had eaten all of the leftover Pokémon snacks back at the lab, so she'd be okay until dinner. He'd just get something from a vending machine later if he remembered.

He took a good look around as he ate. He didn't see Chompers or his trainer around, but the women he had talked to before were there; the white-haired one with rocker clothes was on a couch, and the runner one with the fire-like hair was standing by the second couch where she was offering a sandwich to a man with a white-dotted blue jacket. The brown deer from this morning was in the kitchen, with a short girl wearing a pointed hat who was looking mildly lost, an orange-haired teen kneeling in front of her. Siblings, perhaps, or maybe traveling partners. To the side was a a man with wild-looking blue hair snacking on yet another sandwich. On the opposite side of the room, by one of the shelves, was a woman with a yellow dress and black hair, and a man that looked older than Laren with a spiked jacket. There was a pink and blue bird perching by the shelf near them, and another bird, this one black, on the desk in front. And under the desk was one of those orange bug-like Pokémon he sometimes saw around the mountain.

Counting the two trainers that followed him from the Gym, their Pokémon, himself, and Anoma, that made eleven humans and seven Pokémon scattered all around the first floor. He couldn't remember his house ever being this full with guests.

The white-haired woman he had met before talked then, as he finished his sandwich. "Well, the most important thing to know is that they're named after the DNA double helix, and not after the Helix fossil. Can you believe no one corrected me for nearly half a year? Turns out the project I was working on was the only fossil-related one. No wonder they let me lead it right after I joined," he complained, hands on hips as he shook with head. "I left after that, didn't see much use in staying if I couldn't work on what I wanted. I still have the uniform though, Anoma likes to wear the goggles."

"Yup yup!"

"In any case, I said I'd show you how to get to the abandoned building, right?" Laren placed the map he was carrying on the table, unrolling it and holding it in place with the two closest somewhat-heavy items (two of the whiteboard's erasers for one side, and a small box full of writing utensils for the other). He took a pencil and circled the town mark with 'Vertia' written in small black letters underneath, his traces strong enough to be visible but light enough to not leave marks if erased. "This is where we are. And this here," he said as he circled another town mark to the north, "is Taismog Town. Once you reach Taismog, you go through the forest to the east and a bit north, and the building I worked at should be around there." He was making a dotted line from Taismog through the green that symbolized the forest, and drew an 'X' as he said the last word. "The forest is incredibly dense, but if you have a Flying-type or can climb trees well you should be able to see the building and orient yourselves. There's no road so you might be wandering for a while otherwise. I suggest taking something to mark your trail, or maybe ask the Gym Leader for help, he should be used to navigating the forest. Back when I was a member we used Natus with Teleport, but I returned mine when I left."

He moved the pencil back to Vertia, speaking as he drew more lines and circles over the roads as he started to explain. "Now, there are two ways to go there from here. The first is through the mountain and its caves. It's full of wild Pokémon and very easy to get lost, so only do this if you're familiar with caves. If you make it through, there's an unnamed route there that goes north and connects with Route 75. Keep following it north and you'll get to Taismog. All in all, it takes four days; it's the fastest and most direct way to get there."

"Now, the second way is taking Route 90, which goes northwest around the mountain. Follow it for a bit more than a day until you need to cross a river - that's when the route starts going directly west. From there, you'd need to go through wild territory for a while if you don't want to take a week-long detour. Keep going north for two days or so and you'll reach a village called Lifferoad. There's not much there, but you can use the chance to rest at the Pokémon Center and get more supplies. Head through Route 76 to the northeast and it eventually leads to Taismog. If you've got strong Pokémon with you, you should be fine, but otherwise I don't suggest taking on anything on the wilds. There are no stops before reaching Lifferoad so you might get exhausted too fast if all you do is battle the local fauna. If you keep a steady pace, you should make it in around six days."

He paused, and then circled another town mark, one of the biggest on the map. "There's another way, however, by taking Route 89 and going south through Route 12 until you reach Fastfall City. If you talk to the Gym Leader there, she might give you a lift and leave you right in Taismog. From here it's less than two days to Fastfall, and the ride should be even faster. But you'd be relying on the Leader for the ride, and if she can't help you'd need to come all the way back here and pick one of the other roads. Fastfall is one of the biggest cities in Lamorak though, so there's plenty to do in case you have to wait; I can't think of anything you wouldn't find over there."

He put the pencil back into the box and clapped his hands together. "Now, any questions?"

Edited April 24, 2016 by Puredark006

TehUltimateMage · April 22, 2016

"What, these?" asked Sine while she was questioned on the plates. She figured they did kind of look like colored rectangular rocks. "They're some artifacts that I feel are important." She glanced at the Iron Ball at Chompers' feet. "Looks like you found an Iron Ball. Those things will just slow you down with how they weigh a ton, but I guess it might be useful if you can throw it..."

"...Didn't you want to talk to me? Yeah, I'm an Amaura," the pokemon echoed, calling to have the attention redirected to it now that there was no immediate threat. "I don't really have a herd; there's not enough of us." The group of three was rather curious. The trainer wore clothes of a strange pattern and could talk to pokemon, and her two companions were a friendly but kind of clumsy Tyrantrum and a Dunsparce. "Momma got caught a while ago since there's always trainers 'round these parts looking for treasure and rare pokemon. There's a lot of fossils down here, after all. I take it that's your trainer?"

"No, no," Sine interrupted. "We're just partners on a super important mission. Dunsparce is Chomper's pokemon, and I don't actually own anything myself."

"A pokemon owning other pokemon? What kind of backwards world has the outside become?"

Sine didn't really want to explain. "I'll tell you if you join us." The wild pokemon seemed to hesitate. "Please?" she added.

"Looks like you're giving me no choice in the matter... But I would rather that I'd gone out with a battle instead of a civil discussion, but since nothing about you seems to be normal in--" Sine's pokeball collided with the tiny blue dinosaur's head and sucked the pokemon inside before it could even finish complaining.

Sine didn't dare blink as the ball shook.

One,

two,

and the pokemon burst out, indignant. Drat, so close! Her impatience was punished once again, and the young lady didn't have any more chances and turned around, dejected. Perhaps she could afford more pokeballs if she sold the plates, but not until she was done with them.

The Amaura's sails were back up and it once again assumed a defensive posture, ready to run. "...Your partner's kind of a terrible person," it told Chompers, "But I'll honor your wish to talk if she doesn't pull that stunt again. What did you want to ask?"

Edited April 26, 2016 by TehUltimateMage

HomeForFlowers · April 23, 2016

If it wasn't obvious that the shifters were a ragtag group before, it sure was now. Although Jasper had confined himself to a couch in the corner of the room, he could not help the sheer amount of shifters in the room. They were all chatting amongst themselves, laughing together and simply enjoying the presence of one another. It was a little irritating to be perfectly honest. Jasper didn't exactly dislike the fact that everyone else in the room was having a grand time. A life without any joy or amusement would be very dull. He was more annoyed in the sense that he would have preferred to take a nap on the couch without having ten or so people and their Pokemon screeching at the top of their lungs. Having so many people standing in one house as they all all collectively waited for Laren to get home wasn't a good idea to start with. Allowing said people to talk loudly amongst themselves and eat whatever they could find was an even worse idea (although Jasper wasn't necessarily against the latter.)

The gym leader probably shouldn't have gave them access to the refrigerator. Cassandra had probably emptied it halfway with all the sandwiches she was making. Garrett, much to Jasper's dismay, seemed to be busying herself with trying to acquire him something to eat. He would never admit he appreciated the fact that she was trying to help. Had Jasper not captured her with one of the many pokeballs he threw at her a few days prior, he imagined that she would have ditched him within the first hour. Still, all the gratitude in the world wouldn't stop Jasper from loathing Garrett's bossy persona and her insistence on staying out of fights. As her trainer, she'd have to listen to him eventually. Although, personally, Jasper wouldn't mind fighting her battles for her. After all, fighting those Kabutos was the most fun Jasper had had all day.

Garrett, after getting her fill from the fridge, began to trek back over to Jasper. Before she could make it to her trainer however, Anhew suddenly began to glow as a great bright light overtook her form. Her body grew and her silhouette turned into that of a human. The light dispersed into the air, leaving a very confused girl in its wake. Garrett let out a small yelp of surprise and took a step back as she stared wide eyed at the girl who sat in Anhew's place. It didn't take long for the girl's soft plea for help to convince Garrett that yes, the girl was Anhew and yes, she needed the Deerling's help. "Oh, no darling, everything will be alright!" Garrett assured Anhew as she marched up to the young girl and gently brushed her head against her arm. "Of course there aren't going to be any fights, why would you ask that?" With all the commotion in the house, Garrett didn't hear the front door open. When she saw who walked in the front door, Garrett let out a resigned sigh. "Oh," she said plainly. "It's her."

Jasper, who was on the other side of the house, didn't notice Zoey walk inside initially. He had closed his eyes once more and was laying on the couch. He was hoping that the sheer force of his anger alone would put him to sleep. He was certainly tired enough to sleep, but his body would not allow him to do so. It wasn't until he heard a cheery voice pipe up beside him did Jasper give up on his endeavor to nap for an hour or two. He sighed and opened his eyes, blinking up curiously at Cassandra who was holding out a sandwich for him. For a moment, Jasper did nothing. He stared blankly at the sandwich, looked up at Cassandra, and then looked back at the sandwich. Did she make him a sandwich out of the goodness of her heart, or did someone put her up to it. Jasper had a sneaking suspicion that Garrett might have been behind it, but considering the fact that Cassandra had been walking around giving everyone food, maybe Garrett hadn't been the reason, or the only reason at least, that Cassandra decided to give him food. Cautiously taking the sandwich from her hand, Jasper gave Cass an appreciate nod. "Thanks for the food," he said warily as she glanced up at her. "I, uh, guess."

As Jasper began to unwrap his sandwich and take a bite (he was surprised to find it was moist and flavorful), he suddenly realized that the room had gotten a little bit fuller. Laren had finally arrived much to everyone's relief. Jasper just might have been glad to see Laren come in if Zoey had reared her head in first. Of course she, of all people, would manage to find her way into the house. Out of all the shifters in the house, the only one Jasper knew somewhat well also happened to be the one he loathed the most out of the bunch. Despite his instantly soured mood however, Jasper figured he could just ignore Zoey for the most part. If he felt like teasing her or informing everyone else in the room that she'd sell their pokemon in a heartbeat, he would do so without hesitation. Otherwise, she meant nothing to him. Garrett, who Anoma had quickly greeted, replied in kind with a hearty tone.

"Oh, uh, Jasper and Anhew are in their Pokeballs," she lied casually as she tried not to look over at Jasper or Anhew. "If you ever want to talk to them though, I'm sure I can try to convince our trainer to let them out!" Jasper, who had barely heard the conversation, raised an inquisitive eyebrow but could say nothing before Laren began to talk about Helix. Jasper munched on his sandwich, savoring its taste as Laren began to draw on a map on the table. Jasper had to stand himself up and move closer to get a better look of what Laren was drawing. Once the gym leader had fully explained all the routes to the abandoned building, Jasper had finished his sandwich. He had licked his fingers clean for good measure and threw his wrapper away before standing still, his arms folded across his chest as he pondered which route he should take. All three routes sounded promising. The prospect of fighting was always enjoyable but heading into a big city was also exciting. The sheer amount of other trainers and Pokemon you could meet in a big city was staggering and just thinking about all the battles he could participate in made Jasper giddy; however, there was the chance that the city wouldn't meet Jasper's expectations and he'd just end up fighting more mewling weaklings who could barely take an Aqua Jet to the face.

"What sort of Pokemon should we expect to find in the caves?" Jasper inquired as he looked at Laren expectedly. "And what about Route 76? What makes fighting Pokemon on that route so dangerous?" Hopefully there was more than just Zubat in the caves. The last thing Jasper wanted was to decide to head into the caves only to find out it was occupied by a horde of the blind blue rats.

PureDark006 · April 24, 2016

"No need! Glad they safe!" Anoma had chirped when Garrett answered her question.

"Let's see, you'd find mostly the typical cave dwellers, like Rock and Ground types. Those blue bats and the ones that look like a flying cotton ball seem to be the most frequent inhabitants, but I've also seen an Onix or two," Laren clarified to the blue-haired man. "And Route 76 is pretty normal. I said not to pick fights not because of the route, but because of the wilds you'd need to cross between Route 90 and 76. The only stop where you can rest is at Lifferoad, so unless you have healing items with you, the constant battles would be too much to handle. Not to mention it's one of those spots people use as training ground, so as you get near Route 76 you might run into a trainer or two who'd want to pick a fight."

Edited April 24, 2016 by Puredark006

Moonlight_Eevee · April 26, 2016

Chompers seemed a bit intrigued at the two artifacts Sine had found before he looked down at his feet to see the heavy ball he picked up a few seconds ago. Iron ball, Sine had called it. From what it seemed like, the iron ball seemed rather useless. He then turned his attention to the Amaura. It doesn't have a herd!? Well, it would make sense in this strange world and it really didn't matter to Chompers that its mother was caught. “I take it that's your trainer?” Chompers took a nervous step back as the Amaura asked him that. “I-I uh…” Chompers stuttered nervously. Luckily for him, Sine had intervened as Driller looked up at him. “You okay?” he asked with concern. “I-I’m fine,” Chompers responded as Amaura and Sine talked. “It’s true, I do own Driller.” “Nothing about these two are normal,” Driller said. “Trust me. Besides, I volunteered to go with Chompers.” As the Amaura was in the middle of a sentence, Sine hit the Amuara with a Pokeball. “Why you do that?” Chompers asked. “Um...maybe because she wanted a Pokemon?” Driller questioned. “But what if it escapes Sine? What would you do then?”

Driller's question was soon answered by the Amaura escaping the ball. "Sorry about that," Chompers apologized for Sine. He had to think for a moment. What did he want to ask this little Pokémon? "Are you willing to come with us? I mean, I could battle you, but I can probably overpower you so Driller might have to fight you and I really don't know how to do all that." "Trust me when I say these two are far from normal," Driller said, drilling his tail into the earth. Chompers took that moment to look down to see rope peeking out. "What's that?" Chompers asked, picking it up. "Thanks for the offer, but I'd rather decline," the Amaura said. "Fair enough," Chompers said, holding the rope as the Amaura turned and walked away. "I wish you well." With that Chompers turned and noticed Sine's mood. "Hey, you'll get a Pokémon next time." He lowered himself to get eye level with her.

------------------------

Zoey didn't respond to Anoma’s question, but luckily Garrett responded. She then before grabbing a sandwich the red haired lady had made prior before watching Laren as he explained the different routes leading up to Taismog. She didn't fancy the idea of going through a cave system or fighting wild Pokemon that seemed to be powerful. Then it left the last route, Routes 89 and 12 into Fastfall City. She perked up as Laren mentioned a gym there. “Ahem,” Zoey said, clearing her throat after taking a bite of her sandwich. “What is a gym leader anyway?” Why am I suddenly interested in knowing what a gym leader is anyway? Zoey asked herself as she bit into her sandwich again. She then looked back to Tama to find him chatting it away with the red haired lady before looking back to Laren. “Well…” Tama stuttered. He looked over to Zoey who seemed preoccupied with Laren. He blinked up at this strange lady. “Can you trans-” Tama blinked, staring up at this lady. Something about her clothing and hair made it scream that she was… “Are you a Pyroar!?” He asked in shock, it was loud but not loud enough for Laren and Anoma to hear. “My mom is a Pyroar! Well, she was my mom until I met Zoey.” He wagged his tail as he nuzzled the lady’s leg. “It's nice to meet you! We're here to learn about an organization known as Team Helix...I think. Although, I think my trainer is more interested in learning what a gym leader is more then anything. She really seems to be into being rich as well. We found this huge nugget of gold in a dig site and she seemed to have cash signs forming in her eyes. Why am I even talking about this? Oh wait, I love talking to people. Especially people who can transform. I'll be quiet now.” Tama coughed nervously before padding back a little. He still thought it was cool to talk to humans, but the more people who realized that certain humans could talk to him, the more possible danger his trainer would be in.

-------------------------------

Anhew could feel relief course through her as Cass grabbed her seemingly useless paws. “T-transformed?” Anhew asked. So, was she no longer a Deino? “I want to know what the deal is with these...paws. They feel so useless.” She then felt Sweet Voice press her head against one of her front legs as they both tried to calm her down. “T-thank you.” She listens to Cass as she got up to make Laren a PB&J sandwich? She blinked before Ev stepped forward. “Yeah, I remember you,” Anhew replied, speaking loudly so only Ev could hear. “You that bird on the...counter. Flentchinder if I remember correctly. But your voice was higher pitched back then. If I transformed back, would that make me...er…” Anhew had to think for a moment. “How would I walk in this form? Do I stand on all four of my paws or what?” Anhew felt her head starting to hurt due all the confusion going on. She could hear Laren’s voice admist the small chaos. He was saying something about routes. She looked over in his direction as he mentioned a mountain and some caves. Route 75 Anhew thought. If Cass and Sweet Voice don't mind, I really want to go through there. But then there's a problem. Sweet Voice has to go with Jasper, so that's a problem. Unless…maybe I can convince him to either to come with us or lend Sweet Voice to Cass. She was relieved that Jasper hadn't tried to pick a fight with Zoey and that she had kept her distance. “Sweet Voice, can we go through the cave?” Anhew asked. It was then she heard Tama make the comparison with Cass being a Pyroar. For one who is young, he made that comparison right Anhew thought before Tama couldn't shut up, luckily, he did be quiet.

Edited April 26, 2016 by Raptor of Dragons

PureDark006 · April 26, 2016

"Ah, you don't know what a Gym Leader is? Mm, I'm not good at explaining those things..." Laren mused, tapping his chin as he thought, the movement copied by Anoma. "We're the highest authority in each town, so we're kind of like mayors. We're also in charge of protecting our towns and can make arrests, so we're kind of like the police too. But we're most widely known for being part of the Pokémon League challenge." He made a pause here, and reasoned that if she didn't know what a Gym Leader was, she probably was a visitor from a League-less region and wouldn't know what that was either. "Basically, there's a certain number of Gym Leaders on each region. Here in Lamorak, we're eighteen, and each of us specializes in a different type of Pokémon. Mine is supposedly Rock, for example, though I only really train fossils. But all fossils are part Rock-type so the point is moot, although last time we looked into the relation of-"

"Laren! Focus!" Anoma whined, bouncing a bit.

"Sorry, sorry. Where was I? Oh, right, the League. Long story short, trainers can challenge us to Pokémon battles. If they win, they get a TM, prize money, and a small trinket called a Badge. If you collect all the Badges of a region, you can challenge the Elite Four, who are widely considered to be the strongest trainers of that region. And if you win against them, you can battle the Champion, who is the leader of the Pokémon League and the strongest of them all. It's considered a big deal in competitive battling, and most trainers like to use the number of Badges they have as an indicator of how strong they are."

hazeh · April 26, 2016

Joltik waved its tiny forelegs at Anoma while Allison mulled over the map that Laren scribbled over. She had wanted to ask to see the uniform, since neither she nor Cassandra knew what Team Helix looked like. But then the gym leader began to ramble about the different routes, and she filed the question away for later. She was still wary of giving away too much information that might lead to suspicion, and it wouldn't do any of them any good if Laren reported a group of odd individuals trying to track down his old organization.

Allison dismissed Laren's last suggestion immediately. They didn't have the time to go through an entire different city, banking on the risk that the gym leader there may be able to lend her assistance. As much as they might have needed money, Allison was certain that they couldn't afford the kind of set back with having to reroute. She held a finger to her lip in thought. The boy, Jasper, spoke up about the other routes that Allison was considering. She and Cassandra didn't have any pokemon-- she didn't count Joltik, whom she was sure hadn't seen more than three battles in his life-- so waltzing into wild pokemon territory was also another risk. Though, Cassandra had become rather decent with battling in the times she'd spent practicing in her Pyroar form, so it wasn't too much of a stretch to think that they could pose as a trainer and pokemon respectively. Going through a cave didn't seem terribly safe, either. The prospect of coming across other trainers was alluring, if only for the fact that winning would grant them some semblance of an income. Yet that route would take at least six days, if not more. Allison frowned.

Cassandra gave a soft laugh as the Litleo rubbed against her leg. "Well, I'm sure your mom was a better Pyroar than I am," she said, scratching behind his ear. She lowered her voice after glancing at Laren, though thankfully the gym leader appeared too preoccupied with marking his map. "Your trainer must be like me, then, if you know what Team Helix is," Cass whispered. When the Pokemon backed away slightly, she nodded. That was smart, given their company. They had to be careful who they talked in front of.

"You mentioned earlier that you had some extra maps. Would you mind if we took one for our journey?" Allison asked Laren, motioning toward the map spread over the table with her hand. She pursed her lips and looked over at Cassandra, who was relocating herself back over by Anhew. "Cassandra, I think we should take the first route. It's the most reliable."

Cass paused where she was crouched down by Anhew and Ev again, her hand on the Deino-girl's shoulders. She looked up at Allison in surprise. "Isn't that the one with the cave? We can't go through that one. You and I don't have any supplies or money, and it's too dangerous for the kids."

Allison sighed with thinly veiled exasperation. "We have other means, Cassandra," she said pointedly, rubbing at her temples with one hand. "And I thought we agreed to go along together, not with an entourage of teenagers."

"I'm not going to just leave them to fend for themselves," Cass answered. Though her voice was calm, she felt a flush of heat rise at the thought of abandoning any of them. "We can go through Fastfall City and ask for the gym leader's help there. It's the safest, and possibly the fastest if it works out. We might even make some money."

"Possibly is the key word, Cassandra," Allison shot back, tapping her fingers impatiently on the table's surface. "And if we're stuck there? We have nothing. We lose several days worth of progress if that gym leader is occupied. We can't afford that kind of mistake."

Cass's grip tightened slightly over Anhew, and her body angled to nearly cover Ev as well, as if shielding them from some danger. The protectiveness that she exuded was not lost on Allison, who sighed again. "If you want to risk yourself in a cave, that's fine," Cass said, "but don't expect me to follow. I won't put them into harm's way to satisfy your haste."

Allison stared at Cass, who stared right back. They remained in tense silence for a long moment.

"Fine," Allison said, her bright blue eyes hard and almost a perfect replica of Cassandra's. She gestured toward the two girls Cass was crouched beside. "Let's ask them what they want to do. You're not their mother, so don't make the error of making their decisions for them. Anhew, Evelyn?" Her gaze switched to the two girls. "Which direction do you want to go in?"

Cass scowled, but then turned toward Ev and said softly, "Don't feel pressured to go a certain way. I'll go with you, if you want me to, no matter which one you choose. Okay? Same for you, Anhew." A moment later, Anhew spoke up to Garrett-- whom Cass noticed Anhew referred to as 'Sweet Voice,' which was terribly adorable-- and requested the cave route. Cass nodded. If Jasper was going, then Anhew would have Garrett and would be protected, especially if Allison was dead set on going through the cave as well. But if Evelyn wasn't comfortable with that, then Cass had no problem splitting from her travel companion.

Edited April 26, 2016 by Shiny Hazard Sign

PureDark006 · April 27, 2016

"You mentioned earlier that you had some extra maps. Would you mind if we took one for our journey?"

"Sure! I'll go fetch some," Laren offered. His Pokémon seemed to like biting and drawing over the new ones, so he always had spares. He slightly wondered how the white-haired woman and her group arrived at the center of Lamorak without one, but shrugged it off, deciding it wouldn't be impossible by checking the maps all Pokémon Centers had.

While the two women discussed their options, he went towards the box with all the rolled maps, and picked one for each group without even checking them. He had some maps that also showed the myriad of islands around, but the extra information was completely useless for getting to Taismog and would only make the needed routes look smaller and more difficult to make out, so he got ones that he knew showed solely the main island.

"Here are the maps!" he cheerfully said, not noticing the sudden tenseness between the traveling companions even though Anoma lowered her feathers and tail. "You can pick a pencil or marker from the desk and copy the directions on these if you'd like."

Edited April 27, 2016 by Puredark006

HomeForFlowers · April 30, 2016

"Ah," Jasper said simply as he slumped his shoulders in disappointment. While the constant fighting between Route 90 and 76 sounded exciting, the way Laren phrased himself made it seem like the battles would only be hard because of the non-stop fighting and not because any of the wild Pokemon were particularly strong. The cave wasn't any better as Laren had confirmed Jasper's worries of it being filled to the brim with the same weak Pokemon that always occupied caves. An Onix might provide a challenge but Jasper wasn't sure he had the patience to search for one. Jasper sighed in resignation. None of the routes were particularity attractive to him and he didn't care enough about any of the other shifters to go out of his way and follow whatever route they wanted to take just so he could enjoy their company. He was at a stalemate and a very frustrating one at that. Speaking of trainers he didn't like, Jasper couldn't help but softly chuckle to himself as Tama approached Cassandra and began to ramble on about Zoey. He found the part where Tama said, "She really seems to be into being rich as well," particularly amusing if not somewhat dispiriting. At least if Zoey was too busy ogling over gold nuggets, whatever those were, she wouldn't have to time to snatch up other people's Pokemon and sell them to Arceus knew where. It was comforting to know that Zoey's antics would quickly be revealed by her chatterbox of a partner.

Despite his indifference on picking a route, Jasper could not help but feel a tinge of annoyance as Anhew asked Garrett if they could go through the cave. While Jasper didn't particularly adore Garrett, he was her trainer and she stuck with him. Before he could correct Anhew, in a low enough voice so Laren wouldn't get on his case, on the matter, Garrett did so for him.

"Oh hun," she said softly with a gentle smile. "I'd love to go with you, but that's not my decision." Garrett turned around and gave stared up at Jasper with a knowing look before turning looking back at Anhew with a softened expression. Jasper bit his lip irritably as he glanced away Garrett. Sure, he didn't have a strong preference regarding which route he took, but being pressured to pick a certain route by a small Deerling wasn't exactly pleasant. After the little back and forth Cassandra and Allison had, Jasper figured that he'd have to deal with at least Allison as well, if not Cassandra and Evelyn, if he picked he first route. Despite his agitation at the feeling that he was being pressured into doing the first route by Garrett, Jasper didn't feel strongly enough to suggest a different route.

"Eh, I guess I'll be heading down the first route," Jasper announced as he nonchalantly rubbed the nape of his neck. Garrett hummed pleasantly at Jasper's response, evidently pleased at his decision. All the routes sounded boring in Jasper's mind but if Garrett was adamant on sticking with Anhew, he wasn't going to oppose her. At least, not yet. From the corner of his eye, Jasper saw Laren bring out a bundle of maps for everyone to pick up. Seeing as Allison was the one who requested the maps in the first place and, unless the situation changed, she was going to be his supposed traveling companion, Jasper made no move to pick up one of the maps. After all, he didn't know how to use a pencil or how to read a map. He'd probably end up tearing the parchment in half in frustration as opposed to copying down the directions correctly.

Edited April 30, 2016 by Doctortear

TehUltimateMage · May 2, 2016

"Fastfall, is it?" Lambert repeated between a bite of his sandwich. "Sounds like the home of a flying-type specialist. Might as well challenge the leader while we're on our way through." He opened the left side of his jacket and flashed the pale orange moon of the Midnight badge he'd won at the last town, hinting at his goal. "How does the big city sound, Gaes?"

(Fastfall wasn't a very reassuring name for an airport, though, and if his hunch was right they'd get to Taismog after an air ride of dubious safety.)

"If you're interested in gym battles," he told the young woman with the purple hair, "feel free to come and spectate." And, hopefully, it wouldn't be a disaster like the last time. Lambert had confidence in his knowledge that confusion wouldn't be an issue this time, because rock types tended to focus on defense. Sandstorms were a very real possibility but the stinging sand would not affect Gaes due to her steel typing.

Then again, he focused on fossils. Most of the ancient pokemon were mysteries to him, but he did know that in addition to rock, they tended to vary in type. Lileep, for instance, wouldn't be vulnerable to Water because it was part Grass.

Laren returned with the maps. It was smart of Allison to have asked for them (he himself would have not thought about it until too late). Most of the shifters who used to be pokemon probably couldn't make heads or tails of the words on it, but it was an infinitely useful tool for him. He copied down with a heavier hand the scribbles, using one of the provided pencils. He had to take a second one, because Qrow thought the first one was interesting enough to snatch away.

"Hygre says hi," Lambert cut in, and put his intentions in clear, explicit words. "I'm here for a challenge. I assume you need a bit of time to prepare?"

Edited May 5, 2016 by TehUltimateMage

octopi · May 2, 2016

Laren's house was... well, Z supposed they weren't much of an authority on the insides of humans' homes, but it surprised them, to say the least. Carefully perched atop the sea of paper were more people than they'd expected; apparently Allison had quite a few travel companions. They floated there, stunned, until Rhapsody returned Pooch to her Pokeball and pushed past them, at which point they reluctantly followed. They inserted themself into an empty space on a nearby shelf, squishing in beside what seemed to be a miniature anatomical model of an Aurorus, and observed.

Introductions went around, but they could barely hear and remember all the new names, let alone give their own. Was everyone here a shifter? Their question was soon answered when the Deino glowed and turned into a human, and no one reacted with much surprise. Once again, the game had proven to have more players than they'd previously thought. They twitched nervously, trying to take in and analyze all the different conversations at once, their brain pausing for several seconds on the growing pile of sandwiches, and then Laren was here with two more new people in tow and -

Stop.

They turned off all their external sensors. If they kept going at that rate, their collision detection was going to glitch, and that wouldn't be pleasant in a place as messy as this. Whether this was an effect of the game or not, and whether they liked it or not - they didn't have enough processing power to remain in control of the situation all the time. The panic attack had shown that quite clearly. At this point, it would be impractical to handle every piece of information at once.

If I just listen - and only to the information - that should work.

Turning everything back on but still leaving their eyes closed, they pulled up a memo and started taking notes. The darkness brought with it a strange sense of clarity; though the background noise was still there, it was easier to distinguish from the relevant. Laren, on the other hand, seemed to have an uncanny inability to hear it at all - probably lucky, considering someone was talking about their transformation quite openly. Either way, it seemed they were going to pay Fastfall a visit, unless Rhapsody had any objections.

Opening their eyes, they wriggled their way out of the shelf and floated closer to the table. "Fighting, actually," they mumbled at Lambert as they passed him, then turned to face the Gym Leader. Another wave of nausea passed through them as they made eye contact, but they forced themself not to look away. "E-ex-excuse me. If you don't mind - me asking, er... about the uniform." They'd seen the logo on Helix's website, but a clearer method of identification could come in handy. "Is it... mandatory? For all members, to wear, I mean. And c-could we possibly take a look at it?"

Moonlight_Eevee · May 2, 2016

Zoey listened with interest and watched as the guy from earlier flash a badge. She raised a curious eyebrow before turning back to Laren. "So, what happens if you beat the champion?" Zoey asked, excitedly. "Do you become the champion yourself?" She then turned to the same guy who flashed his badge. "I suppose so," Zoey replied. "Do you guys have any supplies with you?" Zoey frowned to herself. Why was she so interested in helping these people and learning about gyms? "Do you think I can watch the battle when it happens?" She looked down to see Tama sitting by her feet. "That lady is nice, she gave me a head rub!" he said to her. She looked over to the red head to notice her worrying about the kids.

"I'm sure they can handle themselves," Zoey said. "If it comes down to it, we can always buy them a Pokeball and get them a Pokémon to defend them." That nagging feeling came back. Why did she care so freaking much?

------------------------------

Anhew listened to Sweet Voice as she told her it wasn't her decision. "I-I know," Anhew said. "I don't even know why I asked." She waited for Jasper's response with a 'Eh, I guess I'll be heading down the first route'. She sighed in relief before she rubbed her head against Sweet Voice's leg. "Thank you." She was still waiting for a response with Ev, but she guessed that could wait. She still had no idea how to walk in this form so she guessed sitting would be the best policy for now. She looked up nervously when Zoey started talking to Cass about Pokémon and Pokeballs. "What are Pokeballs?" Anhew asked, trying to make sense of the word. To her, that was an entire new word to her.

Kiran · May 3, 2016

Ev bit her lip as she listened to Laren’s speech. None of the routes sounded very doable, and she didn't think she wanted to go at all. It would be so much better to stay back for a few days and do research. Unless someone else knew something that she didn't, they were running off with no idea of what was going on. Whatever it was… thinking about it made her uneasy. Something must have given them the ability to transform, and she had no idea what it could be. The memory-wiping part could have been possible, if some old Sinnoh rumors were to be believed, but the rest? Besides, destroying Team Helix's research seemed like bad, selfish thing. She had no idea what the research was, but unless Team Helix was evil, their research would most like help humanity. They seemed like a pretty normal lab, disregarding the ‘Team’ name thing.

There wasn't must . She didn’t want to get separated from the others she had arrived with. Cassandra and Allison were both older and seemed to know what they were doing, and Anhew needed help. Aside from that, going to the base would have to provide some kind of answer. It wasn't like they needed to destroy anything once they got there.

Oh, the poor girl. She didn’t know how to walk? “Oh, uh.” How was she supposed to explain something like walking? “No, you need to balance on your back legs. It’s sort of like, when a bird pokemon walks?” Ev stood back up, extended an arm with her elbow bent, and used her other hand to guide Anhew’s to rest on her’s lower arm. “Here, can you lean on this…? Please be careful, it’ll, it’ll probably be really difficult if you aren’t used to it.” The physical contact and need to keep one of her arms from being curled around her body wasn’t fun, but she needed to make sure that Anhew didn’t fall. Her voice had been quiet already, but she lowered it further. “And, uh. Yeah. I was that Fletchinder, sorry, I didn’t, didn’t mean to lie. Please, explanations can wait for later.”

She shrank back a bit and averted her gaze as the attention turned to her. They expected her input now? She’d barely had time to think about it! Her words were slow and halted often as she tried to piece her thoughts together. “Well, I- the caves? They seem okay to me, really! But, don’t mind my opinions! It’s just. If we have maps, it should be alright, right? And, uh, I really don’t want to bother a gym leader, they’re probably really busy with all of their, gym stuff.”

Oh. That probably hadn't made any sense at all. It was so pathetic, really, how she couldn’t even communicate simple concepts like where she wanted to go. She wished she could go run and hide, or focus her attention on copying the maps, but she couldn’t with Anhew leaning on her arm. Inhale, exhale. Why did anyone even bother talking to her? She had no pokemon, and her only form of defense was turning into a frail Fire/Flying type. She wouldn’t have been able to last half a second again a Rock-type (inhale), and the very word ‘cave’ increased her heart rate and she didn’t even know why. Exhale.

PureDark006 · May 3, 2016

By then, Laren had cleared one of the chairs, the stack of papers that had been residing there now placed on the table next to the map, and was sitting down in a slightly hunched position, ankle over his knee and arms crossed and resting on his raised knee. The older man with the natural scowl had meanwhile taken a second to show the Badge pinned to the inside of his jacket. "Ah, the moon covered by the black cloud". The Midnight Badge, if he remembered correctly. He couldn't recall if it went from white to dark red or from dark red to white, but that one wasn't Level 1.

His suspicion was confirmed when the man mentioned Hygre. "Ah, how's she been? Last time I saw her she still had trouble controlling her new baby black fox. Though that species tends to be problematic no matter the age. Let me tell you, it's extremely eerie when they all come out at the same time and decide to play Hall of Mirrors with unsuspecting passer-byes," he commented with a small chuckle.

"I like Zorua! Fun to play with!" Anoma added with a chirp.

Laren wasn't surprised when the man next mentioned a challenge. Though he wanted to return to the labs, he needed to give priority to his Gym Leader duties, and that included never turning down a challenger without a really good excuse. "I'd just need a couple of minutes to ask everyone who wants to participate, and text Matthew. What kind of battle do you want? For someone with less that four Badges I'd say to pick Level 1, but judging by the color of that Midnight Badge, you're stronger than that."

"Laren! Explain!" Anoma whined, poking her trainer with a claw and pointing at Zoey.

It took Laren a second to get what Anoma was trying to say, and he turned to the purple-haired teen. "Ah, sorry, you don't know about Gym battles, do you? Challengers have the right to pick the kind of battle they want; Single, Double, Triple, Rotation, or Multi. That last one allows up to three trainers to battle us at the same time, and they all get their own prize if they win. We also have difficulty levels from one to five; the higher the level, the stronger our Pokémon."

"Now, if you beat the Champion, you get prize money and a medal, and the right to call yourself one of the strongest trainers. You can take the title for yourself too, but it's optional, and you need the approval of the current Champion and all members of the E4. The job basically gives you control of the whole region, so they can't have just anyone having it."

Now it was the pink bird's turn to ask questions. If he wasn't accustomed to talking for long periods of time, he'd be getting a water bottle already. "Ah, kind of. The standard uniform is issued to everyone, but it's only mandatory for those working outside the labs, like the grunts. If you work inside, you get the most stereotypical white coat imaginable. I think admins have their own uniforms though..."

It was only then that he noticed he had actually understood what the bird had said. Wait, had it spoken English? The only Pokémon he knew capable of doing that were Dittos, those musical birds that never shut up, and the black foxes Hygre loved to train. Now that he was staring at it, though, it looked kind of familiar.

"Now that I notice, is this a Pori?" He asked, poking it on the bill as Anoma chirped 'Porygon!' repeatedly. "It's smoother than the ones I've seen. And did they always have that horn?"

TehUltimateMage · May 5, 2016

"It's alright," Sine said, though she had a disappointed tone of voice. That pokemon looked pretty rare, too, as opposed to the Geodudes and Zubats she had spotted around. "I just got a little too excited." The light came back into her eyes when he inquired about the plates. "The strange thing is, I find this writing really familiar. I don't know where I've seen it before, but I've definitely seen something like this before."

With no more pokeballs, Sine spent the rest of the time digging in the hopes of finding more artefacts. The act felt soothing to her, like she could have done it for hours on end. She found two Revives in the earth and a strange shining clay different from the material around it, but no more of those plates. She did, however, find a smooth stone that looked like it had a foggy interior of dark smoke. An evolution stone, which might fetch a high price in certain circles (from the top of her head, she knew it evolved Murkrow and Misdreavus).

She didn't want to leave the plates behind, but without a bag it became a bit much to carry. Even while wandering through the forest, she found it a little frustrating that the clothes she woke up lacked decent pockets, and at the time she found herself frequently reaching for her hip for something that wasn't there.

The revives got shoved into one pant pocket with the Light Clay and the Dusk Stone went into the other. Pockets were full already. She'd have to use her cape as an improvised carrying sling again.

"Did you find anything interesting?" the young lady asked Chompers as they were on their way back out. "Other than the plates," she lifted the stones over her head, "I got an evolution stone and some weird clay, but none of us can use them."

~~~

No sooner had he made the flying assumption did Z correct him on the gym type. Fighting, said the Porygon. (A Porygon? So that's what Z's species was. He'd never heard anything like it. Able to travel into computers and phones and whatnot. Adding speaking english to its abilities, and he started to wonder what else could they do?)

"Her pokemon have been causing mischief from what I assume is the usual," Lambert answered. He put a few fingers to his forehead. "Zorua's been a real problem when we passed by."

"I usually do doubles." He had thought about what difficulty to challenge at. The level 2 pokemon at the dark gym were all small, with Nuzleaf being a stage one evolution. With the type advantage, it might be worth taking the risk. The potential difficulty they might encounter at Fastfall's Fighting Gym also factored into his decision. "Level three."

"I heard the Level 2 battle against Hygre was a total disaster," Murkrow added helpfully.

~

Right before the meeting was adjourned, he addressed Allison. "Thanks for taking care of the kid, by the way. I'll be taking the Fastfall route, so let's keep in touch." He handed her one of the two cell phones Zorua had given them, since everyone in the room was a shifter anyway, and she looked much more trustworthy than the purple haired girl he'd bumped into earlier. "There's a lot of junk contacts in there, but I listed my number under PHONE 1."

Edited May 5, 2016 by TehUltimateMage

octopi · May 5, 2016

The Gym Leader responded, and Z was pondering if they should nod or something when the man decided to poke them. They emitted a burst of garbled static in surprise and scooted backward out of his reach. What was that? They were beginning to think that maybe speaking up wasn't the best of ideas.

"Porygon-Z, actually," they clarified after Lambert finished speaking. "An evolution... the final evolution of Porygon. The Up-grade... er..." They trailed off, unsure how to explain polygon count to a fossil specialist, before realizing they had absolutely no need to do so in the first place. "Um." They slid down through the air, putting the table between themself and Laren.

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