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Old 11-04-2016, 07:32 PM   #1
Median Dia
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Swoobat The Hall of Floating Memories

"You want to learn more about me and my procession, huh?" the young woman inquires, tipping her witch's hat over her differently-colored eyes. "That's pretty easy- but I'm not going to tell you myself. We have a special room in this chapel just for this sort of thing. All you have to do is follow me." She looks slyly at you from under the rim of her hat. "So, do you trust me?"

Upon stating that you do, she leads you to a room in the back and opens the door. "Welcome to The Hall of Floating Memories! You'll find them hovering all about this place, as I'm sure you've noticed by now." Sure enough, the hall was filled with what appeared to be large, shimmering puzzle pieces, each one a different combination of three swirling colors. "All you have to do is touch one, and the memory in question will be projected into your mind. Come see me when you're done if you still have any questions!"

With that, she heads out of the room and closes the door, leaving you alone with the mysteries hovering all about you. Will you reach out and do as she said?

Note: This intro takes place in a currently non-existent Secret Base. Make of that what you will.


This is a compendium of stories based around Dichromatia Schmeltzer and those who surround her, be it an epic tale that doesn't take place in a Zone or a smaller misadventure at home. Feel free to take some time off and read these at your leisure!


The Mystery in the Woods
The team's return trip from picking up Butternut's new pokeball yields a rather unexpected development.

Ruins of a Name
A certain team member recounts the tale of how she got her name.

Who is Alpha?
A team meeting quickly devolves into something else entirely.

Agemo Era Uoy
Butternut finally gets the chance to confront Elenchos. Who will come out on top?

World of Empty Dreams
Not all who journey through dreamscapes meet a happy end.

A Shock From the Past
Amicae and Bell have a not-so-pleasant encounter in the streets.

Dance to Gentle Humming
A quick vacation inspires a little more than usual.

Last edited by Median Dia; 03-30-2020 at 02:51 AM.
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Old 11-04-2016, 07:40 PM   #2
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The Mystery in the Woods


“Come on, Louise! Just think of how great it oughta feel!”

“No way, Jose! It’s bad enough that I have two mouths, I really don’t need a third!”


“But you never know when we’ll need that kind of strength in our travels!”

“Doubt that’ll be happening anytime soon. You just want appease your power-grabbing tendencies!”

And so on, and so forth. Today’s topic of disparity just so happened to be the prospect of Mega Evolution, a sort of transformatory power that brought out the true battle potential of a pokemon- provided they could find a compatible stone. Apparently, such stones existed for the mawile species, though no such thing existed for tangela like Berue.

“Is it really that big a deal right now?” the young plant monster piped up. “Aren’t we just a beginning team?’

“Exactly!” Louise enthusiastically replied. “Even if we did go ahead and claim that power, we’re too inexperienced to actually make use of it!”

Chroma, on the other hand, was a lot less enthused. “Not you too…,” she moaned in disappointment. “Fine, I can’t win against the both of you… Wait, do you guys feel that?”

“You can’t possibly expect-” Louise began before coming to a halt herself. ”...What do you know. There is an off-kilter feel about the place.”

“It feels like a huge amount a psychic power was recently released here!” Evidently, the human’s excitement had rekindled itself to a whole new level. “Come on, girls, let’s see if we can find anything!”

~ ~ ~

Somewhere around 40 minutes later, the trio still hadn’t found anything. “Geez, just how strong was this thing?” the now frustrated girl suddenly exclaimed. “There’s no way we haven’t passed by the epicenter already!”

“And yet the feeling’s still getting stronger. I think my head’s starting to hurt…”

“That really doesn’t help any, Louise…”


“Can we please move away from here? I don’t exactly have the pixie’s resistance…” Berue was stumbling around the woods next to the path with most of her vines wrapped tightly around what can only be assumed to be her head. “If I take any more of this, I think I’m gonna- Ugwah?!”

“Are you alright, Berue?” came the immediate response as the others rushed over to where she was.

“I-I’m fine…” Berue stammered as as she picked herself up and turned to see what it was that she tripped over. “This girl, on the other hand… she could really use some help!”

“Oh, dear spirits! How the heck did this girl get here?!” Chroma yelled out. “She’s covered with cuts and burns, too! ...She does seem to be alive, though. Berue, is there anything you can do for her?”

The plant creature was already rummaging through the bag of herbs she had been carrying. “I-I think so. I didn’t think I’d ever be put to the test as an apothecary, though…” A few minutes later, she had created and administered a couple quick concoctions and was in the middles of giving a status report when the girl began to stir.

“Well, Berue, I have no idea what you’re saying, but I’d say you did a good job! Now then, how about we get some answers- I’ve figured out that the epicenter of this whole mess is about a meter away from where she’s laying, which means she’s likely the victim here!”

‘Now’ turned out to be 10 minutes later, which is how long it took the girl to regain consciousness. Chroma had picked the girl up and walked with her back, and her pokemon were thankful both to be moving away from the psionic torment and for the sight of their rescuee beginning to stir. “Ungh… W-where am I…?”


“Ah, you’re finally awake! We found you unconscious in the forest a while back, so we decided to bring you along to next city. You need some serious medical help…” Chroma explained, glad to hear the the girl’s voice. “Anyways, my name is Dichromatia Schmeltzer! What’s yours?”

“My… name?” the girl inquired, her voice infused with genuine confusion. “What’s a name?

The trainer was aghast at such a question. “...You know, the thing people call you? Something that lets others know who you are?”

“Um, I don’t remember if I have one. I don’t really remember anything, now that I think about it…”

“Hmm… a burn-covered amnesiac in a forest that has suddenly been filled with a psionic air…” Chroma pondered, seriously perplexed by the absurdity of the situation. ”Just what is happening here?”

Surprisingly, Louise stepped up and pulled on her trainer’s sleeve, giving some sort of signal. “Do you know something, Louise?” she asked as she reached into her bag and procured a notebook and pencil.

The mawile nodded as she took the writing materials and started scribbling out a message, finally handing it back. “There’s an old Sinnoan legend about a pokemon capable of completely wiping one’s memories clean with just eye contact- and more recent sources suggest that it has woke up and joined a human’s party.”

“That would be Uxie, right? It sure would explain the energy around here, but… why would it be in these woods, of all places? And why are you,” Chroma looked at the girl as she continued. “So beat up? Most Psychic pokemon aren’t fond of using claws or fire, after all.”

The girl simply shook her head. “...I don’t know anything about that aside from the fact that it hurts...”

Chroma merely sighed as she put the notebook away. “Well, it’s no use trying to figure this out now. I guess I’ll just give you a name myself, then. Nice to meet you, Amicae!”

“Amicae… that’s kinda hard to say!” she complained.

“And so is Dichromatia, so most people just shorten it to ‘Chroma’. In the same vein, Amicae can be shortened to ‘Ami’.” Chroma patiently explained. “So, Ami, let’s get you to a hospital before those cuts of yours get infected!”

~ ~ ~

“I’m afraid she doesn’t appear on any files, either as a registered trainer of Fizzytopia or in and missing persons list worldwide,” reported a police clerk after Chroma and her pokemon got Ami into town. “The fact that we don’t have her original name to go off of doesn’t exactly help.”

“Ugh, more bad news just keeps coming, huh?” Chroma said, shaking her head. “The doctor just told that her burns are from houndoom fire. In other words, they’re never going to heal fully…”

“Houndoom fire? That’s odd,” the policeman replied, clearly connecting something in his mind. “There have been reports of criminal activity around these parts, with at least one of the members having a houndoom. Chances are, they were the ones responsible for this tragedy!”

“I see. I’ll have to leave capturing them to you guys- there’s no way I’d be able to take on one of those hellhounds with my current team.”

The officer looked a little disappointed by her words, but didn’t bother questioning it. Instead he asked a more prominent question: “What do you plan on doing with her?”

“I intend to take her with me. I was just on my way back home after picking something up,” she indicated to the pumpkin ball she had been holding the whole time, “and I can’t exactly leave her alone with no knowledge of the world. I can’t help but feel like this is in line with Uxie’s wishes, too- from what I can figure out, it hasn’t used this particular power in an extremely long time, so I believe it had taken pity on her and decided to help her get a truly new start. I would like to make sure that desire is fully realized!”

“...I really only understood about half of what you just said, but it sounds like a solid idea,” admitted the young man. “I’ll make sure to tell my superiors that everything has worked out on this end. We need to focus our efforts on catching these felons, after all!”

“Indeed you do. Well, I’d best go check up on her the- Ami’s got a whole new life ahead of her!”
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Old 12-06-2016, 11:02 AM   #3
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Ruins of a Name


Mawile in the wild are usually uncaring of their surroundings; if it wasn’t food, it wasn’t worth their time. There is an exception to every rule, however, and it sometimes isn’t a pretty existence for the black sheep.

Such was the case in a cluster of ruins in the middle of nowhere. A lone mawile took the time to examine the ornate patterns that could still be found in the walls, to wonder what they looked like before they fell victim to the inexorable passage of time. But that made her the subject of ridicule and torment from her peers, with frequent jeers and attempted tricks aimed in her direction. “You are thin, a pathetic wall-watcher who can’t even catch her own prey!” It was only natural that she’d be in a state of constant annoyance with such incessant nagging attempting to spoil her every waking moment! Yet she continued to stay in that place, seeing as she had nowhere else she could go…

To say that it was a straw that broke the camerupt’s back would be an understatement; no, the occurrence that finally forced the peculiarity away from home would be more aptly referred to as a large I-beam that fell out of the clutches a crane built to help build skyscrapers!

You see, there came a time when a group of humans arrived and set up camp outside the ruins. Apparently, they were an archeological team, or in other words, a group of people who dedicated their very lives to doing the very thing the mawile had been doing in hopes of learning something new about their world. Naturally, she was intrigued by them and endeavored to learn their techniques and know-how from the shadows while they were still around. Her kin, on the other hand, saw them as a potential source of exotic dinner.

There was a particularly shrimpy-looking male in the group, with thin brown hair and a slight limp to his walk. The other mawile immediately set their sights on him, and quickly made up a plan to bring him to his knobby knees and into their stomachs. Problem was, he seemed to always be with this bigger, stronger looking one who seemed like he’d have little trouble picking up and throwing objects his own not-insignificant weight. It took them an entire week to find their chance, but they most certainly seized it with all the might their massive jaws could muster!

One of them lured him away from the group with anguished cries a feigned injury, hoping to earn the human’s sympathy. When he fell for the ploy, the fiend quickly chomped down on his arm and called it’s brethren to come out of their hiding places. The poor thing never stood a chance, and quickly went down under a flurry of excited iron pixies. The wall-watcher hadn’t been aware of the plot however, and only got to the scene as her kin started to dig into the surprise seconds- apparently, they had broken the pokeballs he was carrying. The sight of the apathetic massacre disgusted her tremendously, prompting her to run off and warn the rest of the team about the tragedy that had occurred.

The next few hours were a chaotic blur. The other mawile had left very little of the human they had attacked, with shreds of blood-soaked cloth and paper apparently being all that remained. The rest of the team quickly packed their equipment and left- they couldn’t afford to lose anyone else in their expedition. The wall-watcher fled the scene as well, seeing as her new emotions did little to improve her opinion of her kin. Besides, she needed to find the archaeologists again- she had found the plaque the victim was always wearing attached to his white jacket after they had left. Was there any significance in it to them…?

~ ~ ~

Weeks had passed since the mawile had left the ruins, and she found no sign of the humans she was looking for. She did find, however, a young human female under attack from an angry gible. It took her little effort to fend off the land-shark’s attack and keeping this human from meeting the other one’s fate, but the travels with little food had taken their toll on her. She collapsed before her resuee with little of the grace associated with the Fairy typing.

“Ah, it’s moving! I think it’s finally waking up, momma!” The wall-watcher opened her eyes drowsily and was met with the cheerful face of the female she had saved. “Thank you for saving me back there! I really don’t know what I would’ve done without your help!” Her purple and pink eyes glittered with genuine relief and sincerity, two emotions the mawile had never witnessed before. Somehow, that made her feel some relief of her own.

“Oh, before I forget…” the human dug out the plaque from the pouch in the side of her leg. “I believe this is yours. Right, Louise Smith, Archaeology Intern?”
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Old 12-31-2016, 02:21 PM   #4
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Who is Alpha?


“Okay, I believe we can all guess why we have all gathered here tonight,” began Louise, swinging a poorly-made gavel against her head to produce a metallic ringing sound. Her Grass-typed team mates both nodded, giving the mawile her cue to move on. “Good. As you both know, Chroma has recently added a young inkay to our Procession. Due to the nature of this particular species, it falls on us to be the role models we never wanted to be. So…” she threw aside the gavel, causing it burst into splinters against a tree for added dramatic effect. “We need to come with some sort plan to make sure he doesn’t grow up to be obsessed with world domination or some other such nonsense!”

“Is that really possible?” asked Butternut skeptically. “Every time I try to, er, confront him, he just flashes up a storm and darts off. I don’t know what his deal is or why I don’t chase him!”

The tangela narrowed her eyes at the pumkasaur’s words. “Butternut… you haven’t been trying to bully Elen, have you?”

“Of course not! I was just, uh…” he fidgeted as he tried to find believable-sounding words. “Um, showing! I was just tryin’ to show him what to expect ‘round here! Honest!”

“About as honest as a weavile in a swblu’s nest!” Louise shot back. “You’re gonna need much better lies than that to fool a slowpoke!”

“Okay, okay! I get yer point!” he exclaimed, clearly backpedaling a bit. “I just don’t get why he flies off or talks backwards!”

“The first one is simple: Elenchos believes that you, as his senior in life, are stronger than him and as such, having a ‘fight’ reaction would not do him any favors,” Berue explained, without hesitation. “As for his backwards speech… well, let’s just say that he’s an odd case.”

“In other words, he’s scared of me, right?” Butternut waited a few seconds for Berue to nod, only to be left hanging. “Okay, fine. Can’t really blame ‘im, though. I am pretty strong!”

“No, not really,” Louise’s words pierced the air. “Not even by your kind’s standards.”

“E-excuse me?” Butternut stuttered, clearly having been taken off-guard.

The mawile took a step towards him. “Let me put it like this: You. Are. Weak.”

“What was that, ya toothy freak?!” the off-color pokemon shouted as procured a blade of Grass and went to blow it as a Whistle. But his opponent was already moving, and any sleep-inducing effect that would’ve occurred became swallowed up in a haze of pink Mist that seemed to warp the Terrain itself. “What the heck is that?!”

“My point,” the Deceiver pokemon without a hint of deceit in her voice. “You cannot touch me. You barely pose a threat to Berue. Even Nadie could rend you limb from limb if he ever felt threatened by you.” She glared, Intimidating the younger pokemon immensely. “What makes you think you have what it takes to be the alpha?” She paused, then spat an Incinerate attack just shy of the pumkasaur’s front feet. “You don’t. And frankly, it’s unlikely that you ever will. With Chroma’s plans, this place is going to be crowded with Psychic-Types- pokemon that have a natural advantage against you. You will almost always be the weakest link, and the sooner you come to terms with that, the better. You are dismissed!”

Butternut backed up a couple steps before turning around and running off with tears streaming down his face. “That was pretty harsh,” Berue piped up as her fellow plant monster disappeared from view. “What exactly was your goal with that show, Louise?”

“To get him to think about his role on this team. Every pokemon has their limits, both on a species-by-species level and on an individual level. As a Poison-Type surrounded by Psychics, Butternut is going to feel his limits more potently than most.” She sat down so that she was almost at eye-level with Berue and gazed out into the pink fog. “By putting that little show back there, I’ve given him two choices: accept that he isn’t as strong as he thinks he is and back down, or tackle his limitations head-on and defeat me, someone who isn’t even trying to meet her own limits. And this land the humans call ‘Fizzzytopia’ has proven time and time again that such limits can be overcome.”

“That’s not all this is about, is it?” came the inevitable inquiry. “You’re not going to give him a clean fight, are you?”

“That’s right! I don’t plan to make it easy for him at all. He’s gotta recognize that there are some pretty devious tricks among the pokemon we’ll be living with,” Louise gave a devious grin. “Besides, I have to embrace my own species in some manner, don’t I?”
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Old 05-23-2017, 12:07 PM   #5
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Agemo Era Uoy


The mostly peaceful land of Fizzytopia was undergoing its daily transitions. The diurnal critters were headed to sleep, the nocturnal ones were crawling out of their nests, and the murkrow, banette, and hypno continued about their less-than-kosher business as if nothing was changing at all.

At least, that was how things were going in most places. A certain campsite in the middle of nowhere had other shenanigans at play.

“There you are, Squid Face!” proclaimed Butternut, a member of a rare breed of bulbasaur. “I’ve got a challenge for you!”

“Sseug em tel… Niaga em thgif ot yrt annaw uoy?”

“Aaaargh! Can’t ya just chat like a normal person?!”

The inkay cocked his head slightly. “Ti that si? Esufer tsum I neht. Hceasp lamrom ym si siht!”

Butternut groaned in frustration. “No, that wasn’t it…” He shook his head a bit before putting on a determined expression. “Elenchos, I challenge you to a battle. I refuse to let you run from me any longer!”

“…Enif. Noos emit yna pots annog re’uoy ekil ton s’ti.”

“And I’m gonna win, too!” the pumpkasaur Growled out. He then moved immediately into a String Shot attack, catching the Revolving Pokemon off-guard and enveloping him if sticky white threads. With the inkay so weakened restrained from the get-go, this’ll be a bree-

“That gniod terger annog er’uoy, ho!” the devious message popped into Butternut’s head as the ball of silk suddenly charged at him head on at… even greater speeds than before? It shouldn’t be possible, and yet the pair of tentacles suddenly Constricting Butternut’s face said otherwise. A sudden wave of pin seared through his body, and another, and another, as Elen relentlessly hit him with one super-effective Peck after another. The assault grew gradually grew both slower and weaker, and Butternut took the opportunity to Tackle his adversary into the ground and leap away, strands of thread ripping apart between the two. He took a couple deep breaths and dared to open his eyes, but the inkay seemed to have… disappeared?

The pumpkasaur looked around wildly, desperate to catch some sort of glimpse of the flashing pokemon, but not even a small blink of light appeared. He could hear Elenchos’ heavy breathing, and the devious giggles that occasionally bubbled through it, but both sounds seemed to come from everywhere at once! Seeing no other option, he swung a Vine Whip wide… and hit some sort of pane of violet energy that Reflected much of the impact.

“Gotcha!” the pumpkasaur swung another Vine Whip to the other side of the pane… which met the same fate as the first. It didn’t matter, though- Butternut could now see the dark-green form of his opponent and charged at it. He’d give the Camouflaging squid a Tackle to remember!

Elen dropped his Reflect screens when he noticed the larger form barreling towards him and took a deep breath. Rather than summon another protective barrier as expected, however, the inkay did something far more insidious… and incendiary. Red-hot Flames spewed out his beak as if they were Thrown, guided towards their destination by the target’s own limbs. The pain Butternut had felt from the pecks he’d received earlier had definitely hurt, but those were isolated to his head. The flames seared his entire body, charring his skin and dispersing his inertia. He collapsed just before Elen, who proclaimed “Niw I!” as consciousness fled his mined…

~ ~ ~

Butternut awoke to a soothing sensation. IT spread across his body in a deliberate fashion from multiple points running small circles. “Nnngh… What are you doing…?”

“I’m applying an ointment of aloe and rawst berry to help you recover from those burns,” replied Berue’s voice plainly. “I haven’t found a way to brew this as a potion proper, so this will have to do. I hope you don’t mind?”

“Nah, it feels actually feels pretty good,” he answered earnestly. “…I’m not gonna wind up like the other human, am I?”

“Not if I’m doing this correctly,” she stated matter-of-factly. Berue’s voice changed tones as she changed the topic. “I take it you now understand the truth in what Louise said the other day?”

Butternut sighed in discomfort. “…Yeah. Dat didn’t go accordin’ to plan…”

“You had a plan?”

“…Not really…”

“There’s your problem. As a general rule, Psychic, Dark, and Ghost-Typed pokemon are the craftiest, and Elenchos’ has two of those types. You can’t run in blindly against something like that.”

“Isn’t Nadie a Psychic-Type?” the pumkasaur pondered. “He… doesn’t seem to be all dat crafty…”

“It’s a general rule, not a law,” the tangelo calmy retorted. “Just as the general rule for Grass-Types is that they’re patient and calm, and yet you seem to be pretty hot-headed.”

Butternut huffed. “Well, excuse me for not bein’ normal.”

A few seconds of awkward silence passed before Berue spoke again. “They have high hopes for you, you know. Chroma and Louise both.”

“Ya right,” the younger pokemon muttered. “The tyrannical pixie’s made it clear what she thinks of me…”

“What she thinks of the current you, that is.” Berue pulled a couple objects out of her satchel. “I probably shouldn’t be doing this, but… here.” She passed the items- a Pumpkin Ball and a TM Incinerate- to lie beside her patient. “You can use those if you wish. Feel free to call me over if your burns start acting up.” With her work done, the tangela gathered up her stuff and wandered away.

Butternut peered at the two objects that were laid before him and smiled. “Thanks, Berue…”

~ ~ ~

*Butternut was placed inside the Pumpkin Ball!*
*Butternut learned TM Incinerate!*
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Old 06-08-2017, 01:41 PM   #6
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Nothing says that there’s something unusual about a place quite like a traversable rainbow. The Cloud Gardens had one as well, but the one in the Dream World’s version felt far more… appropriate. Then again, Dicromatia had never been to the Gardens, so maybe her opinion was a little skewed. “Yep, Ami would probably like this place!” she exclaimed, her voice betraying her excitement yet again.

‘I’m not sure if I like this whole walking on refracted sunlight business, myself…’ muttered the mawile trailing behind her, who was still carefully placing every step she took. ‘The sooner we hit solid ground, the better!’

“Oh, don’t be such a dour one, Louise. I doubt this path continues on for-“ a sudden change in scenery caused Chroma’s words to stumble a bit. “-ever. Looks like we’ve reached are destination!”

Louise dashed toward the end of the Rainbow Road, too eager to reach a more obviously stable foothold to notice how… nonsensical her new location was at first. ‘I swear, I’m gonna figure out to hover one of these days! …What the heck? What kind of road ends off inside of a building?’

Chroma shrugged as she stepped off of the Rainbow Road herself, which shimmered and disappeared from behind her. They were standing in a dilapidated hallway with yellow-beige wallpaper that was peeling off in some places. The doors and furniture looked as if they may have been fancy at one point in time, but untold ages of collecting mildew and dust had rendered them unfit for even being sold at a pawn shop. The most poignant aspect of it all was the eerie atmosphere- the constant sensation of loss that filled the place made it quite clear that this was now the realm of spirits. “Hmmm, with a little redecoration, this place would have a nice and homey feel…”

Louise was already by the massive pair of doors that would clearly open up to the central hall. ‘You must be one of the few remotely sane people who would say that. And even that’s debatable.’ She shoved the portal open, revealing a large, empty room full of dust clouds, brittle plush chairs, and a single sleeping abra. Louise was not amused. ‘…Really, a standard Victorian? If you’re gonna make a quasi-real mansion in a dreamscape, at least try to be more imaginative with it!’ Her yells awoke the abra, who instantly warped away in panic.

“Guess we’re not taking him with us.” Chroma looked around the room, taking mental notes as to the locations of any potential exits. “The primary goal is to find the Tree of Dreams, right? Logically, that means we need to go outside.” Her mawile gave an agitated huff in response and followed the mystic toward the front doors. The room itself seemed to warp itself whenever they approached, however, putting them back in the center of the hall. “This old trick? Huh, I guess we have to this the illogical way!” Chroma caught a menorah that was trying to smack upside the head and used to point towards one the doors on the left-most side of the room. “Let’s try that one!”

‘Fiiine…’ Louise was clearly not enjoying the excursion at all- and even those levels managed to drop when she opened the door. ‘What in Arceus’ name?!’ Before her was not a hallway, or kitchen, or any other sort of room one would expect, but a void of swirling colors that occasionally coalesced into items, non-living and otherwise.

“Um, I don’t think we were supposed to this,” Chroma said plainly. “Is the Dream World trying to say that we don’t have a whole lot of creativity or something?”

‘That would explain the uninteresting of the architecture, unfortunately,’ the Deceiver Pokemon groaned. ‘Let’s just… try another door or something…’ She closed this door and opened the one three places down. ‘This one looks like it’s solid.’ The hallway it opened into was pretty plain, but there. ‘Can we please hurry through this ordeal now? I really don’t like the feel of this place at all…’

Chroma took a deep breath. “I agree. Something about that room… well, we should get moving!” She broke out in a run, keeping one hand on her hat at all times. “If we keep moving, this mansion should give way to the Tree on its own accord!”

Door after door flew past the pair as they dashed through the halls, with the occasional solosis or spoink diving out of their way. Maybe it was just their haste, but the Manor itself seemed to be awfully repetitive… Yet another thing Chroma was certain wasn’t supposed to happen. The loud snuffling noise coming from around the corner? This is a haunted area, so it’s probably supposed to be he-“

Suddenly, it all made sense to her. Well, most of it, anyway. Chroma slowed to a walk while motioning for Louise to do the same, and peeked around the bend. Sure enough, there was rotund creature with a body divided in two in terms of color -its top was yellow while its bottom was brown- standing at the edge of another chasm. It seemed to be happily snorting up… the very fabric the place was made from, unraveling every bit into a faint cloud of violet. “Oh, no you don’t!” The human charged the surprised drowzee and shoved it into the void it had created. “Looks like we’ve both made mistakes,” she proclaimed as she turned her back on the agonized wails of the spaghettifying Hypnosis Pokemon. “Hopefully mine won’t be as fatal.”

Louise rolled her eyes. ‘Must you always be so dramatic? Anyway, now that that mystery’s solved, we should get moving again.’

“Wait.” Chroma held a hand up to its respective ear. “Hear that? That’s a shuppet screaming in torment- not something you here on the regular.” The human took a few steps back and ran through the chasm, using the reconstituting floor bits as footholds. “I have a feeling our destination’s this way!” She didn’t mention the possibility that the Tree might no longer exist by the time they got to it. “If I’m right in thinking that these dream eaters are conjuring more of their kind up like I did, then we really need to hurry!”

‘That’s it, I’m definitely learning how to levitate when this is done!’ the fey grumbled as she followed her trainer’s footsteps. She let out a breath when reached stable ground, then shook her head. ‘Let’s beat these cretins to the Tree already!’

The pair hurried through hall after repetitious hall, the Manor’s intended vibe paling in comparison to the horror the ever-increasing drowzee population was inflicting on the place. While they couldn’t help but wonder if the creatures were dreaming each other into existence deliberately, neither bothered to let their thoughts dwell on that possibility. All that mattered was leaving the place behind, preferably while saving a life. At this point, Chroma was willing to take any pokemon into reality with them, as long as it wasn’t an Arceus-forsaken dream eater!

Finally, the suffocating passageways of the Haunted Manor gave way to a large clearing- one with a downright massive tree with chains of lavender flowers taking up most of the space. Even this hallowed place wasn’t free from the scourge, however, with chunks of realty (including the blue sky itself) missing and a few drowzee closing in on a group of fearful pokemon trying to both protect themselves and wake up their friends that the Hypnosis Pokemon had put to sleep. “Louise, go help them. Buy us enough time for me to complete the ritual.”

‘Really? A ritual?’ The mawile shook her head before concentrating an orb of raw Fairy energy into her palm and slamming it into the ground. A thick pink Mist spread swiftly across the Terrain, immediately halting a drowzee’s attempt at using Hypnosis on a solosis. ‘Just be quick about it!’

“Right.” The human took a deep breath to calm her nerves. “Oh, spirits that govern the folks that sleep…”

The wild pokemon saw an opportunity and chose to strike while their assaulters were confused as to why their hypnosis was having no affect anymore. An abra bombarded one with orbs of spectral Power it had kept Hidden from the world, a ralts Snuck its Shadow behind another, a solosis created a Screen of Light around them all…

“…I present to you a question that many an ancient has sought the answer to…”

Louise rushed up to an enemy and Punched it square in the face. 'Now I’m feeling a bit Powered-Up,' she declared with a smirk before ramming her Head into it with the force of a heavy Iron beam, sending it flying away.

“…What happens when it is the Dream that wakes, and the sleeper that fades into memory?”

At this point, the drowzee realized they were outmatched and began to retreat- they hadn’t expected the tables to turn on them, yet alone as swiftly as they did. One squealed as a couple Hidden Power attacks and an Incinerate (curtesy of Louise) hit it, but it continued to back away with its brethren in spite of its injuries…

“I, Dichromatia Schmeltzer, hereby request that you grant one of these dreams genuine li-“ A sudden tremor, accompanied by a flash of searing light broke her concentration. Where the group of drowzee once gathered now stood a gigantic hypno, which immediately swept its free hand towards the wild pokemon- there was no saving them now. “Louise, forget them and grab a Dream Berry!”

‘But I don’t want-‘

“Just do it! I don’t want to see what will happen if we stick around any longer!”

‘Oh, all right! I’ll take one for the team!’ The mawile rushed towards the great tree as the hypno chucked its catch into its mouth. ‘Oh, geez, did it really just do that?’ She tried her best scurry up the bark as best she could despite her awkward leg shape and managed to get onto a branch before the hypno realized that it missed something. ‘Come on…’ she muttered as she tried to reach for one of pink berries hidden among the flower chains… but the world had other plans. With a might roar, the beast grabbed hold of the great tree and uprooted it, dislodging Louis from her perch in its branches and causing her to miss her target completely.

The impact of the abomination’s dinner choices was immediate and devastating. The once blue sky gave way for the swirling void that had riddled the Haunted Manor so thoroughly, the earth swiftly crumbled apart and faded away into the oblivion, and the other areas of the Dream World could be seen doing exactly the same in the distance. One cannot simply dislodge the center of a universe and not expect dire consequences.

“I guess I’m not going to be able to ask for a refund, huh?” Chroma said dryly. Then everything faded to black…

~ ~ ~
Chroma woke up with a start. Morning sunlight filtered through her tent’s screen and the starly were squabbling with each other in the distance. The scent of sweet oatmeal wafted through the light breeze that was passing through the forest, likely carrying red and orange leaves with it. She sat up, shielding her eyes against the sun. “Did that really happen…?” She patted the back of her head, and sure enough a layer of dust came up on her hand. It wasn’t pink and fluffy like it used to be, however. Rather, it was a dull grey and brittle to the touch. “…Guess so. Wait.” She sprang up and darted out of the tent in a panic. “Louise!”

“Maw-wile…” came an annoyed reply from the edge of the clearing. Chroma heaved a sigh of relief- she really wasn’t sure if her pokemon had survived the tragedy as well.

“Is something wrong, Chroma?” asked Amicae, who was tending to their breakfast at the fire.

“Yeah… I may have just spent $30 to accidentally destroy a plane of existence.”

“That’s pretty cheap,” the younger girl replied nonchalantly. “Most stories imply that people spend millions or even billions to do that on purpose!”

Chroma raised an agitated eyebrow. “You don’t seem to taking this seriously at all.”

“Well, Nadie suddenly became more aware of the world around him overnight!” Ami answered with a slight giggle. “Oh, and Berue’s Regenerative abilities have improved as well. It’s almost as if a miracle’s happened!”
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Old 06-21-2017, 07:14 AM   #7
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A Shock From the Past


Cities always seemed to attract more trouble than the wilderness did, and that was saying something. Amicae Schmeltzer silently cursed herself as she ran into an alleyway, only to hit a dead end. Who the heck put a fence here, anyway?

“Looks like you’ve hit the end of the road, lassie,” her pursuer stated with an ominous chuckle. “Quite literally, it would seem!”

Ami turned to face the man in all black, her back against the fence. “So it seems. But I won’t give up without a fight, creep!” In a single, fluid motion, she grabbed a pokeball from her bag and hurled it, unleashing the water-laden insect within. Bell, help me out here!”

“Oh? I’m not sure how someone marked like yourself managed to survive long enough to get replacement pokemon, but it looks like I’ll have some fun here after all!” The man pulled a dusk ball from his hoodie's pocket and calmly pressed the center button. “Mightyena, fry it!”

A large black and grey canine burst from his hand in a burst of thick darkness, its Fangs already crackling with electricity to deliver a Thunderous bite to the tiny dewpider standing between it and its master’s prey. Bell tried to scurry away from the clearly dangerous attack, but inevitably failed to avoid the the super-effective blow. Ami winced as he let out a pained scream, unable to contemplate how much agony her pokemon must be in.

“That’s one runt out of the way,” the thug sneered as his pokemon tossed hers against a wall. “You wouldn’t happen have any more meatshields, or can I go ahead and do what should’ve been done a long time ago?” His mightyena took an Intimidating step toward her to punctuate his question. ...And let out a surprised yelp as it was suddenly swarmed by countless energy constructs.

“Really shouldn’t discount him quite yet,” Ami shot back as Bell shakily stood up, his a mixture of pain and determination. “Let’s get’em while distracted by the Infestation!”

Bell squeaked as his trainer drug her arms through the air, a mysterious light enveloping her. “What the hell is that?!” The man’s shrill exclamation pierced the air, his voice cracking stupendously “Mightyena, get yer ass in gear already!”

But Ami had already swung her right arm sharply, sending the energy that surrounded her into her pokemon instead. Immediately, Bell spewed enough silk to completely engulf even this creature more than ten times his own size and swung- hard. The pale sphere gouged wide gashes in the walls of the nearby buildings until it was finally sent flying into the sky. As if to add some sort of finishing touch to the whole process, Bell sheathed his front arms in lime-green energy and leapt right at the incapacitated hyena and cleaved through its silken prison and watched the ensuing explosion from where he latched into the wall on the other side.

The beast's’ master could only stand flabbergasted by the Savage Spin-Out as his pokemon finally landed with an audible thud. “I, uh… what?! How was my mightyena just beaten by a water type?!” He quickly regained his composure and recalled his fallen minion, simultaneously grabbing another sphere from his stash. “I doubt that move will work so well against this one!” he shouted as he called upon the winged form of a murkrow. “Now, finish it off with a Wing Attack!”

“That’s quite enough.” Everyone hesitated as the newcomer’s words resonated through the tense air and a shadow passed over the thug’s head. The murkrow let out a panicked squack as a sudden weight Bounced on top of it, unable to maintain its course under the sudden weight of a combusken. “Now then, will you come peacefully into custody, or do I have to rob you of your pokemon first?”

The newcomer was a silver-haired fellow, looking about Ami’s age and decked out in a good few technological contraptions. He tapped the one strapped to his left arm to punctuate his question, his red eyes boring into his quarry with absolute certainty. “I’m sure you have a good guess what this piece is, now that I’ve given you the hint.”

The man in black clearly didn’t take that very well. “...Custody, huh? What makes you think you can throw me in a locker while threatening to snag away my pokes?”

“I think levying your charge of attempted murder far outweighs any threat on my end. You’re probably going to lose them soon, anyway.”

“Why, you! Ima get you, to-” his rebuttal was cut short by a Blast of Focused energy from behind, the combusken clearly having taken initiative on the matter. The murkrow tried to squirm out of her grasp, only to get stomped on in response.”...Ken.”

Ami recalled her injured dewpider and bowed to her savior. “Thank you for helping me out there, mister!”

“Think nothing of it,” he replied as he started to tie up his query. “But of all things you could’ve done, Sky, how the hell did you wind up being marked by this dumb gang?”

Ami couldn’t help but be surprised by the name drop. “Huh? Do you know me?”

“You’re kind of hard for me to miss, even without those burns.” He looked at her with a sly smile as a screen of some sort slid over his left eye. “Besides, I don’t know anybody else with a bright red aura!”

~ ~ ~

“...I see.” The stranger, Silic by name, muttered curiously as Ami explained what had happened to her since she lost her memory. They had already dropped off the unwanted criminal at the police station and were currently sitting at the cafe section of the local Pokemon Center. “It’s a bit odd that your amnesia kicked in so long after what happened before we first met, though. You were so hysterical at the time we couldn’t get you to say your own name.”

“I was that bad?” Ami- Sky?- inquired “Guess I did some growing up at some point.”

“You’re no longer crying about noodles, that’s for sure!”

“...Noodles?” She asked confusedly. That was an odd thing to suddenly bring up.

“Don’t worry about it.” Silic’s tone then became much more serious.”You wouldn’t happen to have Cumulo with you, would you?”

Ami thought briefly to see if the name rang any bells. “No? I don’t even know who that is…”

“I thought as much.” Silic sighed as he took his hat off and place it reverently over his heart. “Maybe that lively little swablu have a happier existence on the other side…” A small beep emanated from one of his contraptions, prompting him to put the hat back on. “Well, as nice at was to see you again, I really have to go. This murderous group isn’t going to catch itself!”

“Wait, you’re hunting them down?” Ami asked as she stood up with him. “Let me help!”

“Unfortunately, I don’t believe you’re ready for that yet. Not unless you have another trump card?”

He had a point. If she had to use a Z-move against a peon, then she really wasn’t combat ready yet. “I… don’t”

The young man sighed. “I thought as much. Well, now that I know what you’ve been up to, you’ll be easier for me to locate if needed. See you later, my friend!”

“... Bye.”

“Actually…” He stopped after a couple steps, strands of his hair blowing somewhat dramatically in the air conditioning. “There is a place where you could be useful. There are two gangs there, likely weakened by now by their constant fighting each other and the other trainers that have come to liberate it from them already. If you really want a taste of combating organized crime…” He turned to face his old friend once again. “Go to Bedlam Ridge.”
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Old 03-30-2020, 02:33 AM   #8
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Dance to Gentle Humming
A story originally intended as RP for this event.

'You want us to teach you?'

Patel nodded, his enthusiasm aglow in his eyes plenty clearly for the pair of marowak before him to see.

'Ain't'cha gonna leave the islands real soon, though?' the second marowak asked, trying to think his way through the situation they suddenly found themselves in. 'Besides, Akala and I just finished our last performance for the evening, so I don't think we really have the energy left to teach you even a basic dance.'

Patel shook his head this time. 'U-um, don't worry about that part so much. I've done a lot of dancing on my own already.'

'Is that so?' the first marowak- Akala, apparently- replied, his wry amusement practically dripping from his voice. 'Then you're hoping to learn something more along the lines of the soul-kindling ritual, then? Mele here's got more experience with that sort of stuff than I do.'

"Mele" snorted with laughter in response. 'Aye, there's a family secret I ain't up for sharing! Besides, I don't see a spirit anywhere around this kid. Do you?'

'Not at all, friend, not at all!'

Patel's shoulders drooped disappointedly as he realized what the seniors were doing. 'O-oh. Sorry to intru-'

'Have you two numbskulls gone blind?!' the scratchy voice of an elderly marowak pierced the air, interrupting the cubone's attempted apology. 'There's a perfectly suitable- and willing, I might add- spirit among us already!'

Mele immediately tried to defend himself from the newcomer's verbal assault. B-but ma'am, that one isn't even a maro-

'Bah! You're thinkin' like an Alolan in a situation that requires a more worldly point of view!' She thrust her bone accusatorily between her youngers. 'Whether they were marowak or altaria in life doesn't make even an ounce of difference so long as their willing to fuel the defense of their loved ones, and this poor soul's been wallowing in their inability to protect their Trainer in their current form for years! And just look at the human in question- the poor lass' skin is in tatters!'

Akala rolled his eyes in annoyance. 'Okay, fine, but what's got to do with the kid?'

'You really are daft, aren't you two?' The old lady's distaste was practically palpable. 'While all of the other tourists were watching our performances as a spectacle, this one's eyes were following our every movement, studying the steps with all of the eagerness to learn of a newly hatched pup! He has managed to develop a passion for our culture despite being foreign to this land, and shows some of the greatest potential I've seen in years! And you two were gonna turn him down just because he wasn't born on the Tapu's sacred soil? Disgraceful! Utterly disgraceful!'

She turned away from her partners to address the topic of discussion, with a softer look on her face and tone in her voice. 'Those fools might not be willing to help you with the soul-kindling ritual, but I'm willing to do it in their stead. I must warn you, though, you will both be irreversibly changed by this process. Is that all right with you, young ones?'

Patel's eyes widened with renewed excitement. 'Yes it is! At least with me, anyway.'

'Excellent. I am sure that you'll do us proud once you return to the lands you call home. Now then, let us begin before the humans finish getting their business taken care of!'

~ ~ ~

*What? Patel is evolving!


...Congratulations! Your Patel evolved into Marowak!*
*Patel learned Swords Dance!*
*Patel learned Screech!*
*Patel learned Flame Wheel!*
*Patel learned Fire Spin!*
*Patel learned Hex!*
*Patel learned Will-o-Wisp!*
*Patel learned Shadow Bone!*
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