A Japan where reality is shattered, and Pokemon, Digimon, and Demons compete and coexist.

Demons possess fundamental powers of Creation, which allow them to bring forth new objects from nothingness. However, they can be changed and altered by Human beliefs. Not merely that, but Gods, or even Capital-G God, the Creator of the Universe, can be downgraded into Demons by those same Human beliefs, and there is a cottage industry engaged in doing just this so that Demons can be controlled by Human 'Summoners'. Today, most demons no longer live up to their reputations as gods due to a loss of faith resulting from the messy and/or conflicting mythologues forced upon them. However, that is not to say that they are powerless, nor that all of them suffer equally from humanity’s attempts at rewrites.

Pokemon originated from an attempt at making artificial Demons resistant to attempts to change them through belief. However, even they need energy from Human bonds to gain real power, which is why many of them, even Arceus, the first Pokemon, form friendships with Humans that they draw energy from; sometimes, however, weaker Pokemon can be disadvantaged by those friendships and abused.

The Digimon, meanwhile, are fully independent beings capable of human speech like Demons, drawing energy from Human relationships like Pokemon, but cannot be changed by just believing different things about them. In fact, as Digital Beings, they can reshape Demons as well as Humans can, which they use to transform Demons into Digimon. This is a terrifying development.

As for Humans? They are the real rulers of the Universe, yet subjugate each other with 'Mons as their tools. They want meaning and belonging from being part of a greater cause, yet do not want to accept that they have subjugated and altered every being that was once worth their worship. Now they make war with each other in a Japan similar yet different from our own, hoping to shape a new Reality where one set of beliefs is on top, hoping it would grant them satisfaction...

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Yes, a Pokemon + Digimon + Shin Megami Tensei RP that tries to meld the settings together. This will be an Open World RP, within reason, where you guys get to play in multiple places and have multiple plotlines with each other, maybe across multiple threads. However, there will be a lot of violence, including violence towards Pokemon, so do not expect this setting to be, well, child's play.

The Great Will, also called The Axiom, created Humanity, and gave it the power of Observation, which means that what Humanity collectively believes about Gods and other mythological beings becomes real. So as Humanity grew and evolved, they 'Observed' the supernatural landscape around them, reshaping them according to their changing beliefs and local cultures. Even YHVH, the foremost avatar of the Great Will/Axiom, the creator of the Universe, and the God of Law and Monotheism, was affected by the very power given to Humanity even as the latter praised and worshiped him.

In Japan, this had consequences, where, except in various areas of Kyushu Island, YHVH is transformed into an evil tyrant opposed by Lucifer, who according to most Japanese is the benevolent sort of rebel. This is generally not the case in other areas of the world, where it is seen as the reverse. Eventually, as the various nations of Humanity forged global connections and began to compare and contrast notes, they realized that they could create and control their Gods, and so experiments in creating their own, more consistent 'Monsters' were kick-started.

This resulted in Pokemon being born from alchemical experiments melding Demons and biological life in the Sengoku period (Oda Nobunaga fully united Japan in this timeline), and Digimon being born in Great Britain in the 1940s when computer technology was advancing at a rapid pace. Now, Demons, Pokemon, and Digimon are commonplace throughout the world, although Demons are more common in places where traditional beliefs are strong.

The consequences are that Japan and the rest of the world are more divided; Japan's Imperial Diet is almost as powerless as the Emperor, as entire cities and prefectures use the power of Pokemon, Digimon, and Demons to defy the central government's decrees. The country is in a low-level civil war, albeit one where the most powerful 'Rogue Regions' have made it clear that they'd unite against any obvious foreign interference.

And this, my dear Demon Summoner/Digimon Tamer/Pokemon Trainer, is where you come in.

Are you a warlord, using the power of Bishamonten to slaughter your foes?

Are you a corporate executive, masterminding the creation of new, stronger Digimon?

Or are you a Pokemon Trainer who's just using his Pokemon to farm?

...Maybe you're something else; we'll see - Either way, Japan is your oyster.

Magic exists in the world, and in Canon SMT, most Humans are incapable of it without aid from a magic item, demonic ancestry, or having a demonic magical item implanted into them like the Magatama. Needless to say, this rule is relaxed in this Roleplay, and you can be a Mage as well as a Pokemon Trainer, Digimon Tamer, and Demon Summoner, albeit with this limitation:

The Grand Restriction: More Powerful Magic, Less Powerful 'Mons

Magic feeds on the very same emotional energy that Pokemon, Digimon, and Demons depend on. If you use your Magic to cast a spell, you can't use that energy to fuel your 'Mon's powers. Being a Mage at all reduces your initial Team size to 5, with greater powers limiting your team size further. Depending on the power, they may limit the amount of ‘Mon you can effectively field at the same time, unless your character holds back on their powers. (and has powers that allow them to)

There are 4 main limitations to you and your team in this RP:

• Your starting magical capabilities and your starting team - 6
• The number of ‘Mon that can be tied to a single source of magic (you) without causing magical interference - 6
• The number of ‘Mon capable of simultaneous action within combat without causing magical interference - 3
• The power of the magic you and your ‘Mon are able to wield simultaneously - 4

Starting with the initial team limit, you and your team of ‘Mon must cost no more than 6 “points”:

• 1 point for your character having any magical capabilities that are even slightly relevant in a battle. This includes willpower abilities, such as SMT phys or gun skills.
  
  • 2 points (instead) if your character’s magic isn’t pathetic, such as being able to cast a tier 2 SMT spell such as Agilao, or being able to cause some damage to harder/sturdier ‘Mon (e.g. steel pokemon) via punches or bullets.
  • 3 points if your character’s magic is actually quite strong, such as being able to cast a tier 3 SMT spell such as Agidyne or the utility to deal with most forms of attack or defense. It is around this point that your unarmed character tends to be more dangerous than a dude with a gun, but not so strong that a dude with a gun is a complete non-issue to them.
  • 4 points if your character’s magic tends to lean towards “They win if it is used successfully”, or if they are otherwise capable of affecting a particularly large area. At this point, your character’s abilities have strong effects, but even if they don't, they might belong here if there are few conventional (non-magical, non-’Mon) means of countering it.
  • 5 points If your character scrapes the limits of what is allowed; able to single-handedly cause large-scale catastrophes with their powers. The form that catastrophe takes need not be physical, or even a catastrophe, but the influence your character wields over the world puts the vast majority of ‘Mon to shame.
• 2 points per Ultra Beast, Paradox Pokemon, Sublegendary Pokemon, or Pokemon in the 600 club. (Which includes pseudo-legendary pokemon and Archaludon)
• 1 point for all other non-legendary, non-mythical pokemon
• 2 points for a digimon currently capable of digivolving into a mega form
• 2 points for digimon fusions (aka DNA Digivolutions, because they are just two digimon in a trenchcoat)
• 1 point for all other digimon
• 1 point for any grade 79 or lower (4 star or lower) demon in dx2
• 1 point for any demon with a grade of 50 or lower in a mainline SMT/Persona game.

This is solely for your character's initial team; your character can grow as a mage and your collection of 'Mon can expand beyond your initial selection. While special pokemon and high-grade demons aren't allowed on starting teams, your character can capture legendary or mythical pokemon, or high-grade demons within the RP. That being said, you are expected to take a bit more than a single post before achieving such developments for your character. Even if it’s for ordinary ‘Mon, they might as well be counted against your starting team's point limit if there’s nothing leading up to catching them.

The second and third limits - 6 'Mon per team and 3 'Mon in combat at once, are simple and largely self-explanatory. Too many 'Mon tied to one person leads to magical interference, which causes 'Mon attacks to fizzle out. If your character catches a seventh 'Mon, all 'Mon on their person will struggle to successfully execute attacks, and if they send out a fourth mon in battle, attempting to use all four 'Mon within a short period of time (i.e. Even if they abide by the magic limit below) will cause most if not all of their attacks to fizzle out.

The fourth and final numerical limit is to the amount of magic that can be expended at once. This limit is 4. Although this RP does not have turn-based combat, it can be useful to think of this limit as "per turn" when planning out how much done at once is too much. Depending on how powerful your character's abilities are, your abilities may cost more than 1 magic, and thus if you have 3 'Mon out, not all of them will be able to attack alongside or combo with such abilities. If your attacks are comparable to 'Mon attacks (See: Agidyne) they will generally cost 1 magic. If your ability tends to be comparable to unique and/or powerful 'Mon abilities, (such as Luster Candy) they will likely require 2 magic to use, even though ‘Mon only need 1 magic to use them. If the distinction is unclear, consider how teammates are balanced in Persona games (i.e. Dragon Hustle and Hyakka Ryouran are unique abilities) rather than how the main character is balanced. We'll be going case-by-case, so there may be exceptions to the rules. If your character lacks magical abilities, you can either look for other ways they can be useful in combat, such as looking up weaknesses with a Pokedex or enchanted Spyglass, or getting their hands on a magical gun.

For 'Mon, magic is generally consumed at a higher rate by:

• Z-moves (2 on the "turn" it is used)
• Mega Digimon (2 per "turn")
• Certain exceptionally powerful demons or pokemon, (Arceus, Mega/Primal Legendaries, Metatron, Lucifer, etc.) May require 2 magic per "turn". People will be notified if it becomes relevant in the plot.

Since Dynamaxing and Terastallization are region-specific, they will not be available within the RP.

Aura, Digisoul, and psychically-gifted humans exist and are subject to the same restrictions as Magic. Crests allow you to empower your Digimon as long as you feel the emotion or virtue associated with them. Good on you if you have the Crest of Hope, bad if you have the Crest of Envy.

Guns exist and are now legal in Japan, and can wound or kill a majority of Pokemon. With enough belief and willpower (the equivalent of the Gun Skill from various SMT games), they can harm Demons as well, although a Digimon is resistant to them unless the guns double as Anti-Data Energy Weapons (think the Yuggoth from Tamers). The grand majority of Guns in Japan are American and European Models, although Japan has cornered the market in Anti-Data Energy Weapons. Magical guns exist, and while a bit harder to come by, they can absorb the latent magic from their user, allowing them to fire off low-level spells even if the user is otherwise magically incapable.

Pokeballs exist. The cities have the fancy teleportation tech from Shin Megami Tensei I and II. Bullet Trains Exist. Digivices exists. Holograms from the Digimon Ghost Game Anime exist. Name a piece of technology seen in a canon series and I and potential Co-GMs can decide if it's too strong.

Demons have weaknesses or resistances to 7 types: Phys, Fire, Ice, Wind, Lightning, Light, and Dark. Their attacks likewise fall under these types.

Pokemon have 18 different types: Normal, Fighting, Flying, Poison, Ground, Rock, Bug, Ghost, Steel, Fire, Water, Grass, Electric, Psychic, Ice, Dragon, Dark, and Fairy. Each Pokemon has 1-2 types that determine their weaknesses and resistances, and Pokemon attacks, with only a few rare exceptions, fall under one of these 18 types.

Digimon have 3 primary attributes: Vaccine, Data, and Virus. Vaccine Digimon have an advantage over Virus Digimon, which have an advantage over Data Digimon, which have an advantage over Vaccine Digimon. While Digimon may use elemental attacks, (as opposed to neutral attacks) they seldom interact with other Digimon in any special way, since Digimon are able to gradually change their affinities to elements via training. Doing so grants a resistance to the element beaten by their affinity, a slight power boost while wielding the element of their affinity, and a weakness to another corresponding element: Fire > Grass > Water > Fire, Electric > Wind > Earth > Electric, and Light > Dark > Light. Thus, a Digimon with a fire affinity resists grass but gains a weakness to water. Many Digimon without many elemental attacks simply choose to remain neutral.

By default, these three sets of matchups do not interact with each other, for they aren’t the same on a fundamental level. An Agi spell, for example, is a magical manifestation, while a Pokemon’s Ember is made up of flames grounded within the physical. Agumon’s Pepper Breath, meanwhile, is a digital attack, and a weakness to magical, physical, or digital fire does not translate to a weakness to other types of fire.

However, there is a technique usable by all three type of ‘Mon that allows them to modify the “frequency” of their attacks, thus allowing them to prey upon weaknesses. In doing so, the elements of one ‘Mon’s attacks change to match the elements of another type of ‘Mon. Due to the asynchronous nature of the transition, elements can correspond to different elements depending on the trainer. Perhaps the power of observation is involved, or ‘Mon were always capable of such a translation. While the underlying mechanics are uncertain, it is a vital technique for those who aim to battle using ‘Mon at the highest level.

It is worth noting, however, that there is a caveat for Demons and Digimon: A greater degree of physicality. Unlike Pokemon, who are unchanging beings, Demons and Digimon must change themselves, at least temporarily, to be able to launch attacks of different frequencies. While the incorporeality of Demons is generally hazardous for Digimon to emulate, and the predictability of Digimon likewise for Demons, the physicality of Pokemon is a valid middle ground for all ‘Mon. In order to modify the frequency of attacks, regardless of frequency, Digimon and Demons must “Manifest”, a process which can take hours for the inexperienced and minutes for experts, and takes just as long to reverse. In doing so, Digimon and Demons keep all of their previous weaknesses and resistances when dealing with others of their kind, but additionally gain new matchups that apply only to Pokemon and ‘Mon using their frequency.

So… what do I do?

First of all, keep in mind that many ‘Mon trainers have not mastered this technique. In fact, many of them are simply unaware of it, or give up on trying to learn it. Leaving it for later, if ever, is perfectly valid.

However, for those who wish to start with ‘Mon that have developed this technique already, or train ‘Mon to change attack frequencies in the future:

For Demons: Because their nature is unpredictable, Demons tend to have completely unique type matchups that do not match any particular Pokemon type. For each Demon, you may create a custom Pokemon type chart with weaknesses and resistances as you see fit, so long as you can justify it. If you’re feeling lazy, you can just choose a Pokemon type or types and copy their matchups. Your choices for this are subject to balancing by the mods, including balancing post-acceptance. Once you have a list of weaknesses and resistances for your Demon, you may select 1-3 Pokemon types for each SMT type that you can justify your Demon having access to. When using SMT attacks, you may treat them as the corresponding Pokemon type. You may also select 1 Digimon element. If an element (other than Neutral) is selected, select 1 SMT type that you can justify “matches” the Digimon element. When using SMT spells of the selected type, you can treat it as the chosen Digimon element.

For Pokemon: You may select SMT types you can justify your Pokemon having access to. Select 1-3 Pokemon types for each chosen SMT type that you can justify “matches” the SMT types, given your Pokemon’s physiology. While using Pokemon moves of those chosen types against Demons, you may treat your Pokemon move as the corresponding SMT type.
You may also select 1 Digimon element. If an element (other than Neutral) is selected, select 1-2 Pokemon types that you can justify “matches” the Digimon element. When using Pokemon moves of the selected type(s), you can treat it as the Digimon element.

For Digimon: Because they are made up of lines of code, Digimon do not push the envelope during their manifestation. For each Digimon, you may select 1-2 Pokemon types. While manifested, Digimon are treated as Pokemon with those types, having the same weaknesses and resistances as them. Once your Digimon has a type, you may select 1-2 Pokemon Types for each Digimon Type, and 1 SMT Type for each Digimon Type. Your Digimon is able to treat their Digital attacks as the corresponding Pokemon or SMT Types. Because of their versatility and how little it offers them, some Digimon don’t bother learning to translate their Neutral attacks into other types.

While many Demons and Digimon have equivalencies that only make sense for them, a general guide is provided below to help players decide how to treat types of one frequency as types of another:

Name: Daena Riordan (Day-na Rye-ur-den)

Age: 22

Powers:

• Beatdown - Light to Heavy physical damage; the more HP Daena has, the stronger the attack.
• Energy Shower - Cures Confusion/Fear/Despair/Rage/Brainwash for all allies. A well-practiced skill she could use in her sleep. (metaphorically) Didn't even realize she was using magic to do it at first. Visually subtle and usable on entire crowds, though she might have trouble with stadiums and she can't use it through broadcasts.
• Soothing Melody - Daena begins singing, humming, or whistling a random song stuck in her head. Gradually restores a small amount of HP for all allies, for a while. The song gets stuck in everyone's head afterwards.
• Taunt - Daena employs the power of trash talk. The target is unable to use non-attacking moves.
• Taunt - Daena employs the power of trash talk, but more personal this time. The target's offenses are drastically increased, but their defenses are also drastically decreased.
• Taunting Aura - All it takes is one smug smirk. Makes enemies likely to target Daena for a while.
• Counter - Chance to counter enemy physical attacks, turning their attack against them.
• Null Confuse - Renders Daena immune to confusion. She dances with a Spinda on the regular, after all.

Daena is capable of developing her abilities as a mage further, though it will take time for her to do so.

Weakness: Dark magic

Bio: After graduating high school and deciding college wasn't for her, Daena coasted for a while. She and Spin were part of a dance troupe, but after they got eliminated on a certain reality competition show, the drive to continue just wasn't there for most of her friends, and the group ended up disbanding. They stayed friends, but after a year and a half, she (and Spin) were the only ones who were still dancing regularly, even if just as a hobby. Some of them went off to college, others focused on their jobs and careers, but Daena refused to give up on dancing professionally.

After trying out various forms of gig work, She found relatively steady employment as a go-go dancer. It was fun and a surprisingly good workout, although Spin wasn't allowed to dance in most places, and never twice in the same place. She made plenty of friends among the other dancers, had a couple of short-lived and ill-advised relationships, and the bartenders often gave the dancers free drinks. (The legal drinking age in Australia is 18 after all) She thought it was great, but her parents hated it, which eventually led them to helping her rent out a space to use as a dance studio. After a bit of local advertising, her dance classes (plus calisthenics classes on the side) saw a fair amount of success. She was paying back her parents for their financial help while also making a tidy profit. A couple of her old friends even visit her studio every so often, performing their old routines with her.

For Daena's 21st birthday, her parents decided they should all go on vacation in Hawai'i. She was hesitant to pause her studio's classes, but they reminded her that they never got to celebrate her studio's success. Plus, she's always loved Spin ever since she caught her in her high school years, and Spin had a bit of internet fame in her own right as a Pokemon that loved to dance. Even if it was wobbly dancing, she could learn routines and coordinate with Daena, who, in turn, could improvise and compensate when needed. They suggested that she could see a lot of rare and unique Pokemon on the islands, so she packed some pokeballs, just in case one caught her eye. Her parents expected her to catch an Oricorio or something, and while she did run into some on their tour of the islands, she didn't vibe with the snooty birds. Instead, she saw him while she was hiking on Kaua'i: big, cute, majestic, and very fruity. It was love at first sight. It is perhaps not advisable to hug wild Pokemon, but she couldn't help but think he was cuddly, and, as she will remind her parents every time they bring it up, she was right! He is cuddly! Also, the impromptu flight while dangling around its neck like a necklace was exhilarating. The view from up in the sky was amazing. Besides, Tropius - Trops for short, couldn't shake her off if he tried, and he did. It's not like she was lacking in upper-body strength, so a little loop-de-loop just gave her more leverage to climb up onto its back. From there there was little Trops could do but give in. And by give in, of course, I mean land so as to avoid plummeting to the Earth like Satan falling from Heaven, then do battle with the insane woman and the Spinda who seemed to be upset it wasn't let out of its pokeball while in mid-air.

Thus, an eternal bond was forged.

Her parents gave her an earful when they regrouped, but after getting Trops healed up she spent most of the remainder of the trip flying around on him, because she could fly around on a Pokemon now. While her parents had reservations about owning such a large Pokemon, they couldn't bring themselves to say anything about it because of how enamored she was with Trops. Despite their initial encounter NOT being an instance of cuddling, as they will remind her every time it is brought up, Trops is, in fact, cuddly.

The rest of her vacation went much as could be expected. They toured all the islands, she found a very cool rock near Kilauea that sparkled in just about every color ever, and then they flew home. Then disaster struck.

Daena's father lost his job. Daena's mother fell ill. Daena's father was given a shady job offer, then abruptly went missing. Her dance studio's popularity began to wither overnight, and she closed it, going back to go-go dancing to help pay for her mother's medical bills, only it wasn't as fun anymore. When she talked about her situation with one of her friends, they mentioned that it was weird that her bad luck only started when she got back from Hawai'i, recalling a similar story they had heard from another person. Her friend laughed it off, saying it might have just been their sunburn, and while Daena outwardly agreed, something about the timing did seem weird. After one google search she had her answer: Pele's curse.

Legend has it, a twentieth-century park ranger, angry at the number of rocks that were being taken from the islands by visitors, said that Pele would curse them with bad luck should they take anything from the islands. Except, it wasn't a legend. To say nothing of the tangible effects the curse has on tourists, Demons were known to exist, causing societal upheavals in Japan and lesser mischief the world over. Pele, goddess of volcanoes and other things, had to be real, and also to blame. She grabbed the sparkly rock and booked a plane ticket back to Hawai'i island.

The standard solution to Pele's curse was simple: Mail whatever you took back to the islands. However, Daena did not want Pele's forgiveness. Daena wanted revenge. That's why, with Spin and Trops by her side, she flew straight to Kilauea's caldera, well past designated safe areas, just so she could throw the sparkly rock in with enough force that it shattered on impact against the partially hardened lava. She then proceeded to scare away some Slugma as she screamed out how much of a "punk-ass bitch" Pele is.

Not about to take the insult lying down, Pele showed herself, and after it was established that Daena couldn't speak Hawaiian, Pele called her an "insolent" child. Daena responded by saying she would shove her "insole" up Pele's "end". At this point Trops was scared, but Spin was perfectly ready to throw down with a god. They began to fight, and despite the burns, the two of them managed to give Pele a run for her money, confusing her with Teeter Dance before Daena punched her in the face. Eventually Pele had had enough, and with her homefield advantage, she threatened to make the volcano erupt. Daena told her to do it, unafraid. She could always fly away on Trops, but mostly her anger and anguish drowned out her sense of self-preservation. She told Pele of how her family suffered from her curse, and while Pele, a goddess of passion, could empathize, she blamed Daena for her foolish greed. Daena responded by yelling that it was a single stupid rock, and that they were standing amidst sparkly volcanic rocks as far as the eye could see. Pele conceded the point, but pointed out that if there weren't consequences, millions of humans would take and take until there was nothing left.

"Oh, I'm sorry I didn't treat these stupid rocks as more valuable than human lives like you! Why don't you sneeze into the ocean and make a billion more, since you care so much about them!?"

"You are testing my patience, child."

"And you broke mine! My everything! Dad's gone, mom's sick, and my dance studio's being used for fucking ballerina lessons! And for what!? A stupid rock I didn't know I couldn't take!?"

Daena couldn't take it anymore. She started to cry, right there next to the caldera. Pele looked on in a mixture of guilt and annoyance, which shifted over time away from the latter and further to the former as Daena kept letting out her emotions. Trops came out of hiding to join Spin in helplessly trying to comfort her. After a few minutes of ugly crying, Pele, with great reluctance, decided to take pity on Daena. She would not only lift the curse, but help undo the effects of the curse on Daena's life. Daena, hearing this, demanded Pele promise this, and she did, in exchange for Daena promising to learn and teach hula dancing. One of Pele's many epithets is the goddess of hula, after all, and foreign influences as well as tourism had not been kind to the preservation of Hawaiian culture. Pele curtly taught Daena how to summon her to Australia solely so Pele could avoid the plane ride there, and from there it was a rather simple matter for Pele. Daena's mother's illness had gone away as soon as the curse was lifted, and her father was easy to find afterward. Getting Daena's dance studio back was trickier, though, since Daena vetoed Pele's plan to scare them away with a supposed toxic gas leak using real vog. As they mulled over the problem, time passed. At some point, Pele was appalled at how lax of a trainer Daena was, at least on Trops. He was a bit too big and not quite graceful enough to dance with her and Spin, so he was mostly left to do as he pleased. Daena asked why she would train Trops, and Pele simply asked why she had such a cumbersome Pokemon around if not to be a Pokemon trainer. Daena responded by saying that there was simply more of Trops to love, but though Daena would never admit it, even to herself, Pele did raise a valid point. They had a sizeable backyard, and Trops could be let indoors to an extent, but he didn't have much space to maneuver. A housepet Trops was not, and though Daena remained adamant that it could work out, Pele proposed an alternate solution to her financial problems: Instead of trying to get her dance studio back (sharing the space was not an option after it had been painted pastel pink) or continuing to dance in nightclubs, (Pele thought it "demeaning" because she hates fun) she could become a Pokemon trainer. Pele would even deign to offer her assistance in the matter, a move that was not at all a ploy to gather faith and increase her own power. Nope, no sirree.

Daena needed some time to think on it. She didn't think herself much of a fighter, although that was one thing Pele disagreed with and would sing her praises on, probably just because she got beaten by her. (Even if it wasn't an all-out fight) Eventually Daena agreed to give it a shot, even doing a bit of planning on what her full team would look like. Because Pele obviously specialized in fire magic and Trops was strongest under the sun, (the sitrus berries he produces were pretty good) she figured she should go for a sun team. The Drought ability would be great for that, but Ninetales struck her as too much of a frou-frou, noise-pointed-skywards type of Pokemon, judging based on appearances, and she had enough of fiery divas with just Pele, thanks. Torkoal was her preferred option, but Pele rejected the idea of another fire type at all, claiming she could provide all the fire the team needed. That left... uh... She didn't know, actually. Weren't all Drought Pokemon fire type?

Pele rejected the notion that there wasn't a random Pokemon out there that could make it sunnier better than most Pokemon. She even tried to make Tropius do it, and while she managed to teach it Sunny Day, she wasn't having any luck changing its ability.

A little bit more research pointed Daena towards Divine Powers, a research organization known for producing creatures with strange and/or unusual properties. The only thing was that they were based in Japan. Daena's always been good with languages, so that was no problem for her. She just didn't bother to learn something as useless as Hawaiian, a fact she stated out loud to Pele. She had to apologize to her parents for scorching their backyard before departing for Japan, and her parents in turn made her apologize to Pele. Who's training who here?

Pele's helped her a lot as a trainer - to the point where Pele's practically as much of a trainer to Spin and Trops as she is.

Faction: Currently unaligned.

Team of Mons:

Name: Etzel Ashford

Age: 19

Powers: Has developed a resistance to his digimon’s abilities, and can usually resist abilities similar to them:

• Capable of maintaining his sense of self and control of his body while possessed. Can keep a possessor trapped within his body, for a time.
• Capable of seeing through most illusions. He can see through even physical transformations and magically manifested objects by detecting the magical traces, although it takes some scrutiny to do so.

Weakness: Light magic.

Bio: Etzel’s mother suffered from willfully undiagnosed bipolar disorder, and her management of her symptoms was less than admirable. Etzel’s father may or may not have had narcissistic personality disorder, similarly unaddressed, and was an uncaring if not callous husband and father. Between an abusive mom and a neglectful dad, Etzel grew to hate his life. Thus, one day, while walking home from high school, he came across a shadowy, many-eyed creature, and the first thing he thought to do was walk towards it. Perhaps he had a deathwish, or perhaps he simply wanted to sate his curiosity, and lacked any sense of self-preservation. He didn’t know at the time that it was being chased, nor why it appeared specifically to him - he certainly wasn’t the only one who walked home from school, and wasn’t the only one it could have crept up on. Regardless, the creature slid into his shadow before sharing a long, silent conversation with Etzel. He merely stared at his own shadow, and his shadow stared back up at him. And so, when digimon-tamers; law enforcement officers came by and asked him if he saw anything, he simply responded that he hadn’t.

As he continued past the officers, a persistent chill crept up his spine. It wasn’t cold, but it still made the hair on his arms stand on end. It was a bit unnecessary, he thought. Thus, at the door of his house, he stopped, turned his body to face his shadow, and reached for it.

Etzel murdered his mother that day. Not of his own volition - no, he had Shademon to thank for that, though it’s not as though he tried to stop it. It’s not as if he hadn’t considered doing exactly the same with his own two hands - controlled by himself, that is. It’s not as if it wasn’t so, so peaceful afterwards, nor as if he wasn’t filled with an overwhelming sense of relief that his mother was gone. It’s not as if he didn’t want his mother to die. It’s not.

Maybe his father came home to find the body and called the cops on him. Maybe his father just never came home before someone noticed she was gone. Either way, it didn’t take too long before police arrived at the Ashford household and took Etzel away. He didn’t resist, and neither did Shademon, if it knew what was happening.

Etzel spent close to a year in a juvenile detention center, hiding Shademon and, as he later found out, its alternate digivolution, Eyesmon, within his shadow the whole while. After killing his mother, he went nonverbal throughout his arrest and incarceration. It wasn’t an act of rebellion per se, so much as being unable to muster the will to speak. For as much as killing his mother brought him a sense of freedom, even behind bars, he didn’t have the faintest idea what to do with it.

Before his first year in the detention center had passed, Shademon took control of Etzel’s body once again to conduct an escape. Etzel, once again, let it, not feeling inclined one way or the other. Shademon: Etzel ver. continued to commit crimes, hijacking a vehicle and severely injuring the driver before driving away. Several miles away, it proceeded to rob cash and supplies from a store before finding a room to put Etzel in for the night and splitting into Eyesmon: Scatter Mode. The next morning it covertly stole some Pokeballs and a hidden machine for Fly, then directed Etzel towards a patch of wilderness and made a screeching noise to attract what appeared to be a living roast chicken burnt black over most of its body. It had wings of flames and fought Eyesmon valiantly, though ultimately fell prey to a barrage of ocular lasers and Pokeballs. Once caught, Eyesmon merged with Etzel once again, they taught the newly caught pokemon Fly, then they sent it out and flew off towards the most lawless, crime-ridden part of Japan: Osaka. Once there, Shademon switched to Eyesmon and split into Scatter Mode again as it began to analyze the city, leaving Etzel to wander with just one of the pieces of Eyesmon.

It was as he was wandering the city that he spoke to Eyesmon for the first time in almost a year.

“Are you hungry?”

Eyesmon seemed to hear him, but did not respond.

“I am.”

He wandered over to a random shopping center food court, had a meal with the leftover stolen money, then proceeded to wander the mall until finding a store that sold digivices.

Eyesmon hissed at them, though Etzel ignored it, going in and buying one.

When he walked back out with a digivice in hand, Eyesmon used Shadow Bind to restrict his arm. Etzel simply shook his head before passing the digivice to his other hand and tossing it towards Eyesmon.

Eyesmon caught it, a subconscious reflex it apparently shared with humans, then made a face that looked like it had just bitten into a lemon.

“Take a look.”

Eyesmon begrudgingly began to operate the digivice, though once it started, it became engrossed. Like many digivices, this one was sold alongside a Digi-egg, which, as they tend to do, hatched shortly into a cute little Tukaimon.

What intrigued Eyesmon was the technique loading feature, that allowed Tukaimon’s techniques to be shared amongst its digivolutions. There were some other benefits, such as being able to gain strength from Etzel’s emotions, though those were less appealing since its Shademon form could already feed off of his despair - the very reason it appeared before Etzel the day they met.

Ultimately it was only after Eyesmon recombined at the end of the day that a decision was made. Before then, at Etzel’s prompting, Eyesmon handed back the digivice and they went to a park for Tukaimon and the flying roast chicken to properly meet him and each other. While merged, Etzel could easily gleam Shademon and Eyesmon’s names, and Tukaimon’s name was labeled on his digivice, but if Eyesmon knew what the Pokemon was called, it didn’t deign to say, so he had to make up a name for it.

“How about I call you Morgan?”

Its flaming crest and overall color scheme made him think of witches for some reason, so he went with the name of the witch from Arthurian legend. It was only shortly after he explained the name’s origin and Moltres agreed to the name that a passerby exclaimed, “IS THAT A MOLTRES!?”

Ah well. The name stuck, and with the name of Morgan’s species, he was able to do a bit more research on it later that night, finding out that it was quite young for its species, and contrary to appearances, it was neither a fire type, nor capable of using fire-type attacks. For the time being, however, the man challenged Etzel to a Pokemon battle, which he accepted, and while he had overestimated Morgan’s ability to take on what appeared to be sentient ice cream, Tukaimon was able to finish it off, resulting in a win.

Tukaimon was adorable, though contrary to its appearances, a complete menace. It was quick to violence, and took great pleasure in harassing Eyesmon: SM. For some reason it behaved when Morgan cawed at it though, and by extension Etzel was generally able to handle it.

After getting Morgan healed, and as the day finally came to a close, Eyesmon reconvened with its other pieces and agreed to be registered to the digivice, while making it explicitly clear what their relationship was with its scratchy croaking voice:

“YOU HOLD NO DOMINION.”

Etzel didn’t say anything in response. After they found out that the most powerful skills of both Eyesmon and Shademon couldn’t be loaded, the digimon was rather disappointed. Then, Etzel forced it to revert to its Soundbirdmon form, to which it screeched much more loudly than before. Still not an attack, yet, though it looked ready to do so.

“Finally, I get to see you.”

With that, he placed the digivice on a table where Soundbirdmon could access it and went to sleep.

The next morning, he found that he had fused with Shademon again in his sleep. Shademon, however, had not been able to rouse him, nor unfuse to do so. In fact, it wasn’t able to control its body at all anymore. Etzel had control, even in his sleep, and for some reason, Shademon couldn’t even unfuse. It was trapped.

Etzel, seeing this development, realized his dreams had inadvertently caused him to seize control of their body. He had never bothered trying up until that point, and didn’t have a reason to remain fused either, so he simply unfused and ignored the circumstances of Shademon trying to take control.

“Any plans for today, Soundbird?”

“...”

“Then why don’t we go train for today? My ability to direct Morgan and Tukai myself is still lacking.”

“...”

They returned to the park, with Morgan and Tukaimon battling each other. As with most rookie digimon, it didn’t take too much combat experience before Tukaimon digivolved into Saberdramon, another burnt roast chicken. Morgan seemed to approve, which made Tukaimon happy.

Soundbirdmon, hiding in Etzel’s shadow via one of its digivolutions, refused to participate. Inwardly, however, it was jealous at the rapid progress Tukaimon was making, and its pride would only allow it to think it a result of an unfair advantage: the digivice.

That didn’t change its mind, though. It would never allow another dominion over itself again.

Thus, as they decided to return for the day, it rushed Etzel along before he could use the public bathroom at the park. Then, before they could get back, it told Etzel to make a detour instead, towards a different public bathroom instead of just going back. It was obviously suspicious, but Etzel, lacking both fear and a sense of self-preservation, decided to follow along. The bathroom had no urinals, so Etzel entered a stall. As he was relieving himself, the voice of a young woman sounded out from outside the stall, asking Etzel where her legs were.

Sounded like a puzzle. Maybe there was a specific answer she was looking for, though she didn’t respond when he answered “within the eyes of my shadow.”

When he exited the stall, no one was there. Quite rude for her to be intruding upon the men’s room, though he supposed he didn’t feel much in the way of shame either considering he’s been semi-naked in public before because of Shademon’s fusion taking away his clothes.

With the haunting a failure, Soundbirdmon decided to digivolve into Eyesmon and take matters into its own hands. Its goal was originally to cripple Etzel using Reiko Kashima’s tendency to chop legs off, or even leverage his life if she went for bisection, solidifying it as the dominant party within their partnership and fusion. Since neither happened, it planned to give up on keeping the loaded techniques. Morgan and Tukaimon listened to him over Eyesmon at this point, and that made them unacceptable companions in its eyes. Of course, it still didn’t want to give up power. Even a sliver of it.

Thus, when Etzel stepped out of the public restroom, he entered a fake digital subspace. A replica of the area and a prison to keep him trapped for as long as Eyesmon could get away with. Etzel simply returned to the hotel, now a fake, and went to sleep. When he woke back up, the first thing he did was tell Tukaimon to digivolve to Saberdramon and torch the hotel room.

Although impressively rendered, he had been merged with Shademon long enough to know how the digital subspace worked. It took him all night to begin seeing the differences in common objects, not that he needed to do so to be able to know he was in an illusion, since Soundbirdmon was inexplicably absent since he left the public restroom last night.

Riding out of the building atop Morgan, he began to survey the area. Eyesmon, of course, was there within the digital subspace, and could see his every move. The walls had eyes, because the whole space was created by Eyesmon, and while it had wanted to keep Etzel and his ‘mon pacified for longer to keep the loaded techniques, it had been merged with Etzel long enough to know he would be able to break out after a while if left unchecked.

With the facade broken, a massive version of Eyesmon appeared, towering above its surroundings, and roared at Etzel, demanding in broken whispers and hushed screams for dominion over Etzel’s body, rather than the other way around. Etzel didn’t give the kaiju of a digimon an answer, finding what he was looking for, and coming to land in front of a clothing store with big display windows.

Looking within, one could see a small collection of female mannequins donning fashionable outfits. Etzel called out to the empty air:

“Are these your legs?”

“No. They aren’t.”

Although he was unsure she would follow him, he found it a pleasant surprise that she did. A floating ghost holding a severed leg appeared - Reiko Kashima, the urban legend he had met within that bathroom.

“A shame. I thought Eyesmon could create anything.”

Etzel turned to look at Eyesmon who was listening and accordingly giving him approximately 100 giant stink-eyes.

“A clever ruse, to rope me into this. You’ll pay for it, of course.”

“With interest, provided you acknowledge that this was mere coincidence.”

“Fine. Just your misfortune, then.”

With that, Reiko swung her free hand, bisecting Etzel before turning to fight Eyesmon. It wasn’t as easy to fight Eyesmon as it was for her to cut Etzel in half, but Etzel directed Morgan and Saberdramon to assist, and the three of them managed to defeat Eyesmon.

Etzel, of course, doesn’t know how they won, since he was bleeding out on digital pavement and going into shock. Ultimately, they managed to defeat Eyesmon before his imminent demise in the digital world caught up to his body within the real world, and Etzel awoke to a new set of police officers arresting him. They had responded to a report of a drunk teenager passed out in front of a public restroom, but recognized him since he was a wanted criminal.

Contrary to expectations, while he was detained, he was never arrested and sent back to juvie, nor tried as an adult and sent to jail. He never went to a courtroom at all, and he was let free the next day by a police officer who made no comment on the matter. Rather, he was simply released in front of a shady gentleman who had a proposition of sorts for him.

Ultimately, Etzel accepted the man’s offer: He would fight as directed to take down YHVH and those working with the god. Etzel didn’t lie when he proclaimed his hatred for gods that sought to control humanity, just to gain the trust of the man, though he couldn’t help but find the irony of the situation amusing.

With Etzel’s inscrutable nonchalance, Soundbirdmon was content to pretend his one-’mon coup never happened. With Reiko sticking around Etzel for some reason, it didn’t like its chances if it tried to vie for dominance again. Morgan, Tukaimon and even Reiko seemed to only get stronger the more combat Etzel ended up seeing, and Soundbirdmon had to either participate or risk falling behind them.

Being under his dominion is not... unacceptable, yet.

Faction: Currently works with the Ring of Gaea.

Team of Mons: