Personality: High strung and pessimistic, with a habit of overthinking things and mind-gaming himself. He can come off as cynical, and he definitely is to an extent, though his doomsaying is more internal than external, and he's more of an obsessive planner than someone who blames or complains about a situation. He tends to treat the choices other people make as variables to predict and plan around, and prefers to live in the present or look towards the future, rather than dwell on the past. He's not quick to anger, and while he can be prickly and abrasive, any harsh words are usually said without malice, if not with outright endearment.
History: Damon's history is, by his own reckoning, utterly irrelevant and uninteresting. I mean, sure, he was orphaned at a young age, but he got adopted at a young age too, so it wasn't that big of a deal in the long run. He's met his biological parents, and has zero interest in kindling a relationship with them. His adoptive parents had a divorce a few years ago, but they're both loving, and he respects that they each had mismatched personalities where the other could not provide for their emotional needs. No drama, no bloodshed, just the cacophony and stench of a slightly sub-standard upbringing.
Perks: "You killed a guy? Dang. You already get rid of the body, or do you need some help with that?" Quirks: Hates the sun, authority figures, the smell of tobacco and the hours of 6 AM to 12 PM. Suffers from chronic insomnia, takes at least an hour in the shower every day, and is physically incapable of letting other people win a game against him on purpose.
On one hand, death. The cold, sucking agony of becoming a member of the living dead and shambling off alongside his friends. On the other, isolation, not so great a disaster were it not for the inevitability of their impending doom without his assistance. This was their last chance, and all his well made plans were at risk of being torn asunder like the tower of babel, with just as much ensuing confusion and division hence. Could he even help them given the sheer unfiltered weakness he would suffer? Was there a way to reduce their fall from grace by remote means? Probably not, given a certain someone's inability to grasp basic trigonometry, yet perhaps he could still-
"They serve coffee now."
Well, that solves that dilemma. "Fuck, alright, I'll be there in a minute."
Personality: High strung and pessimistic, with a habit of overthinking things and mind-gaming himself. He can come off as cynical, and he definitely is to an extent, though his doomsaying is more internal than external, and he's more of an obsessive planner than someone who blames or complains about a situation. He tends to treat the choices other people make as variables to predict and plan around, and prefers to live in the present or look towards the future, rather than dwell on the past. He's not quick to anger, and while he can be prickly and abrasive, any harsh words are usually said without malice, if not with outright endearment.
History: Damon's history is, by his own reckoning, utterly irrelevant and uninteresting. I mean, sure, he was orphaned at a young age, but he got adopted at a young age too, so it wasn't that big of a deal in the long run. He's met his biological parents, and has zero interest in kindling a relationship with them. His adoptive parents had a divorce a few years ago, but they're both loving, and he respects that they each had mismatched personalities where the other could not provide for their emotional needs. No drama, no bloodshed, just the cacophony and stench of a slightly sub-standard upbringing.
Perks: "You killed a guy? Dang. You already get rid of the body, or do you need some help with that?" Quirks: Hates the sun, authority figures, the smell of tobacco and the hours of 6 AM to 12 PM. Suffers from chronic insomnia, takes at least an hour in the shower every day, and is physically incapable of letting other people win a game against him on purpose.
On one hand, death. The cold, sucking agony of becoming a member of the living dead and shambling off alongside his friends. On the other, isolation, not so great a disaster were it not for the inevitability of their impending doom without his assistance. This was their last chance, and all his well made plans were at risk of being torn asunder like the tower of babel, with just as much ensuing confusion and division hence. Could he even help them given the sheer unfiltered weakness he would suffer? Was there a way to reduce their fall from grace by remote means? Probably not, given a certain someone's inability to grasp basic trigonometry, yet perhaps he could still-
"They serve coffee now."
Well, that solves that dilemma. "Fuck, alright, I'll be there in a minute."
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:
Soundbirdmon Stage: Rookie Type: Bird Attribute: Virus Elemental Affinity: Wind (Resists Earth, Weak to Electric, boosts Wind-element attacks) Manifested (Pokemon) Typing: Flying/Dark (x2 weak to Rock, Electric, Ice and Fairy, resists Ghost, Grass and Dark, immune to Ground and Psychic) Techniques:
Sound Finish - Soundbirdmon emits ultrasonic waves to immobilize the target. (Neutral, Exclusive to Soundbirdmon)
Giga Scream - Screams at max volume, sending out a shockwave. (Neutral)
Evil Eye - Fires cursed beams from the user’s eye. (Dark, Loaded from Eyesmon)
Shadow Bind - Uses shadows to bind and potentially control the enemy’s movements. (Loaded from Eyesmon: SM)
Manifested typings (for all digivolutions): Digimon Element - Pokemon Types - SMT Element Neutral - Normal or Steel - Physical Fire - Fire or Dragon - Fire Plant - Grass or Bug - Force Water - Ice - Ice Electric - Steel - Electric Wind - Flying or Poison - Force Earth - Rock or Ground Light - Psychic - Light Dark - Ghost or Dark - Dark Digivolutions: Eyesmon Stage: Champion Type: Demon Dragon Attribute: Virus Elemental Affinity: Dark (Resists Dark, Weak to Light, boosts Dark-element attacks) Manifested (Pokemon) Typing: Dark/Ghost (x2 weak to Fairy, resists Poison, immune to Normal, Fighting and Psychic) General Capabilities:
Capable of concealing itself within shadows.
Capable of splitting itself into numerous instances of Eyesmon: Scatter Mode, allowing it to gather data more efficiently.
The more data it accumulates, the stronger it becomes, and its power can surpass even that of Perfects depending on how much it has stored.
Techniques:
Evil Eye - Fires cursed beams from all of the user’s eyes. (Dark)
Illusion World - Transforms accumulated data into objects, using them both offensively and defensively. Can be used to create a digital subspace, dragging nearby enemies within. (Neutral, Exclusive to Eyesmon)
Shadow Bind - Uses shadows to bind and potentially control the enemy’s movements. (Loaded from Eyesmon: SM)
Eyesmon: Scatter Mode Stage: Champion Type: Demon Dragon Attribute: Virus Elemental Affinity: Dark (Resists Dark, Weak to Light, boosts Dark-element attacks) Manifested (Pokemon) Typing: Dark/Ghost (x2 weak to Fairy, resists Poison, immune to Normal, Fighting and Psychic) General Capabilities:
Capable of concealing itself within shadows.
Capable of combining with the other instances of Eyesmon: Scatter Mode to reform Eyesmon.
Techniques:
Evil Eye - Fires cursed beams from all of the user’s eyes. (Dark)
Shadow Bind - Uses shadows to bind and potentially control the enemy’s movements.
Shademon Stage: Champion Type: Unknown Attribute: Virus Manifested (Pokemon) Typing: Ghost/Dark (x2 weak to Fairy, resists Poison, immune to Normal, Fighting and Psychic) General Capabilities:
Capable of haunting the shadows of living things.
Feeds off of the despair of haunted individuals.
Capable of possessing humans it is haunting, forcibly triggering dark digifusion with them into a new, unique form. (e.g. Shademon: Etzel ver.) With most humans, Shademon assumes control of the gestalt entity, though if the possessed human has a strong enough soul, they may take back control and force Shademon out. While fused, Shademon typically wreathes the human in shadows, which substitutes their clothes and hangs off their legs, creating shadowy limbs near their feet that are capable of reaching out to strike. Shademon’s original body extends out of their back like a single, many-eyed wing. Control over their shared body is a fluid matter, and thus Shademon will conserve energy by allowing the human to control their body if it believes them to be cooperative with its goals. Likewise, it is possible to bide one’s time and fight Shademon for control at key moments to prevent it from doing things. However, a continuous losing struggle against Shademon results in mutual weakening. The human becomes an unwilling passenger within their own body, only able to take any action when Shademon tires from battle (since it never sleeps) or when its attention slips, the same way one may take their hands off a steering wheel while stopped at a red light. Likewise, while capable of continuous possession, this arrangement will increase Shademon’s fatigue, causing it to exhaust itself quicker in battle.
Techniques:
Free Death Fall - Traps the target within an illusion of them being knocked to the ground up to 10,000 times. Time passes faster within the illusion, allowing them to experience all of it over several seconds. (Dark)
Kill Me - Manipulates nearby ‘mon to assault the target. Requires Shademon to haunt a target’s shadow or possess the target. (Exclusive to Shademon)
Evil Eye - Fires cursed beams from all of the user’s eyes. (Dark, Loaded from Eyesmon)
Shadow Bind - Uses shadows to bind and potentially control the enemy’s movements. (Loaded from Eyesmon: SM)
Morgan the Galarian Moltres Type: Dark/Flying (x2 weak to Rock, Electric, Ice and Fairy, resists Ghost, Grass and Dark, immune to Ground and Psychic) Ability: Berserk - Every time the Pokemon’s HP falls below half, its special attack is raised one stage. Moves:
Ancient Power - The user attacks with primeval energy materialized as rocks. 10% Chance of increasing all of the user’s stats at once. (Rock, 60 Power)
Fly - Fly high up into the air, becoming invulnerable to most attacks, then swoop down to attack. (Flying, 90 Power, a 2-turn move)
Gust - Launch a gust of wind at the target. (Flying, 40 Power)
Payback - The user stores power, then attacks. If the user attacks after the target uses a move, the power is doubled. (Dark, 50 Power)
Wing Attack - The target is struck with wings spread wide. (Flying, 60 Power)
Agility - The user relaxes and lightens their body, sharply increasing their speed.
Safeguard - The user creates a protective field for a while that prevents status conditions from being inflicted on the user or their allies.
Reiko Kashima SMT Weaknesses and Resistances: Manifested (Pokemon) weaknesses and resistances: Knows the following skills:
Eiha - Light dark damage
Legshot - Light physical damage. Lowers the target’s agility.
Arms Master - Halves the stamina cost of physical skills.
Assassin - Strengthens single-target attacks by 10%
Bloody Glee - Increases chance of a critical hit.
Dark Boost - Strengthens dark attacks by 25%
Dark Pierce - Dark Attacks bypass resistances and immunities, dealing neutral damage.
Null Curse - Immune to the “curse” status effect.
You’re Next - If Reiko knocks out an enemy with a single-target attack, and that enemy is revived, they will come back as a pathetically weak version of Reiko Kashima. (This change is purely physical) The transformation wears off after about a day, or when the original Reiko deigns to reverse it.
Manifested typings: SMT Attack - Pokemon Types - Digimon Elements Physical - Normal or Fighting - Neutral Fire - Fire - Fire Ice - Ice - Water Force - Poison - Wind Electric - Steel - Electric Light - Psychic or Fairy - Light Dark - Ghost or Dark - Dark Digital Conversion: Treats Dark Spells as Dark Attacks.
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:
Pele SMT Weaknesses and Resistances: Manifested (Pokemon) weaknesses and resistances: Knows the following skills:
Agilao - Medium fire damage
Maragion - Medium fire damage to all foes
Eiha - Light curse damage
Pierce Armor - Light physical damage. Lower's the target's defenses.
Blood Ritual - Maximizes the user's attack, defense and agility, but reduces HP to 1.
Fire Break - Reduces 1 foe’s fire resistance to neutral.
Fire Boost - Strengthens fire attacks by 25%
Burn Boost - Increases the chance of inflicting burns.
Manifested typings: SMT Attack - Pokemon Types - Digimon Elements Physical - Rock or Ground - Earth Fire - Fire - Fire Ice - Steel - Water Force - Flying or Poison - Wind Electric - Electric - Electric Light - Psychic or Fairy - Light Dark - Dark, Ghost or Poison - Dark
Spinda. "Spin" for short. Gender: ♀ Type: Normal (weak to Fighting, immune to Ghost) Ability: Contrary - Increases and decreases to Spinda's stats (buffs and debuffs) have the opposite effect. Moves:
Brick Break - A swift chop attack. Destroys any barriers in the way, such as Light Screen, Reflect, Aurora Veil, Tetrakarn and Makarakarn. Cannot hit through immunities. (Fighting, 75 Power)
Dizzy Punch - A rhythmic punch with a 20% chance of confusing the target. (Normal, 70 Power)
Fake Out - An extremely fast attack with a 100% chance to cause the target to flinch. Only works immediately after entering combat. (Normal, 40 Power)
Feint Attack - The user draws close, then throws a sucker punch. Hits without fail. (Dark, 60 Power)
Psybeam - Fire a peculiar ray at the target. 10% chance to confuse the target. (Psychic, 65 Power)
Rapid Spin - A spin attack that frees the user of any binding effects or leech seed. Also clears the user's side of the field from any field hazards. (Normal, 50 power)
Copycat - The user mimics the move used immediately before it. Fails if no other move has been used yet.
Encore - Gives the target an encore, compelling them to use whatever move they used last exclusively, for a while.
Hypnosis - Employs hypnotic suggestion to put the target to sleep.
Teeter Dance - Performs a wobbly dance that confuses all enemies and allies.
Psych Up - Resets the user's stat changes and copies all of the target's stat changes onto the user. Fails if the target has none. (Does not interact with the Contrary ability)
Spotlight - Calls down a magical spotlight on the target, making them the center of attention and forcing all attacks from the target's enemies to be redirected to the target. Fast startup and overrides similar moves (e.g. Follow Me, Rage Power) and abilities. (e.g. Storm Drain, Lightning Rod)
Typing Frequencies: Pokemon Type - SMT Type - Digimon Elements Normal - Phys - Neutral Fighting - Phys - Neutral Flying - Force - Wind Poison - Dark - Dark Ground - Phys - Earth Rock - Phys - Earth Bug - Force - Plant Ghost - Dark - Dark Steel - Phys - Earth Fire - Fire - Fire Water - Ice - Water Grass - Force - Plant Electric - Electric - Electric Psychic - Light - Light Ice - Ice - Water Dragon - Fire - Fire Dark - Dark - Dark Fairy - Light - Light
Tropius. "Trops" for short. Gender: ♂ Type: Grass/Flying (x4 weak to ice, x2 weak to Flying, Poison, Rock and Fire, resists Fighting and Water, 1/4x resists Grass, immune to Ground) Ability: Harvest - After consuming a berry, there is a 50% chance of creating another berry of the same type at the end of each "turn". The chance becomes 100% under harsh sunlight. Item: Sitrus Berry - If the holder falls below 50% of their maximum health, they will consume it and restore 25% of their maximum HP. (Activates immediately)
Fly - Fly high up into the air, becoming invulnerable to most attacks, then swoop down to attack. (Flying, 90 Power, a 2-turn move)
Gust - Launch a gust of wind at the target. (Flying, 40 Power)
Stomp - The target is stomped on by a big foot. 30% Chance to cause the target to flinch. If the target has used the move Minimize, the damage is doubled and the attack will never miss. (Normal, 65 Power)
Magical Leaf - Scatters colorful leaves that chase the target. Never misses. (Grass, 60 Power)
Growth - The user's body grows all at once. Increases Attack and Special Attack. Sharply Increases them instead in Harsh Sunlight.
Leech Seed - Launch seeds at the target that sprout into grasping vines on contact. Drains the target's HP over time, healing the user by the same amount.
Sunny Day - Sunlight intensifies in the area for a while. Fire moves are strengthened while Water moves are weakened.
Sweet Scent - Sharply lowers the evasiveness of all enemies. Can be used outside of battle to attract wild 'mon.
Tailwind - The user creates a turbulent whirlwind that doubles the speed of the user and all allies. (Field effect; not a buff)
Whirlwind - Blows the target away. Can be used to run from battles. If used against a trainer with additional 'mon, it forces the targeted 'mon out and forces another 'mon in. Never misses, but slow startup.
Wide Guard - The user forms a short-lived wall of energy made up of a hexagonal tessellation that protects themself and their allies from wide-ranging attacks. Fast startup, but does not stop single-target attacks at all.
Spirit Photography - The ability to channel magic into lenses to see beings and forces otherwise invisible (or otherwise incomprehensible) to the naked eye. Works with just about any solid transparent material and allows for pictures to be taken of anything revealed. Requires a bit of manual tuning to focus on different aspects, though it allows Alcaeus to see ghosts without being blinded by high concentrations of ambient mana or vice versa.
Bullet Photography - The ability to capture active instances of magic using cameras, thereby erasing them. Works on spells in motion, including non-physical attacks of pokemon, digimon, demons and humans. Requires charging the camera for half a dozen seconds before each shot. Charge time for the next shot is halved if he captures the caster of a spell in the same photo as the spell. Not capable of stripping objects of enchantments or siphoning magic out of pokemon, digimon, demons, people, objects, or areas. Not capable of interrupting spellcasting. Can't actually erase a physical bullet.
Knows the following "spells":
Purify - Sends out a sparkling projectile that cures the target of any status ailment. If it successfully cures a status condition, Alcaeus heals himself.
Flatter - Causes unnatural confusion within the target by complimenting them. The sentiments of the compliment are magically understood regardless of language barriers. Also buffs the target's magical capabilities. Alcaeus insists the compliment is just a verbal component.
Swagger - Causes unnatural confusion within the target via dismissive gestures such as a scoff or bored sigh. The gesture can be verbal; if so, the sentiment is magically understood. Increases the target's physical attack.
Future spell learnset, listed in (loosely) planned order:
Tarunda - Lowers the target's attack for a while.
Dia - Small heal
Safeguard - Protects all allies from status conditions for a while.
Recarmdra - User dies. All allies who have died recently are revived.
Media - Small heal to all allies
Light Screen - Erects a wall of light to suppress magic damage for a while.
Reflect - Erects a wall of light to suppress physical damage for a while.
Diarama - Medium heal
Sukukaja - Increases the target's speed for a while.
Kouha - Small light damage
Dekunda - Removes all debuffs from all allies
Amrita Shower - Cures all allies of all ailments
Mediarama - Medium heal to all allies
Matarunda - Lowers the attack of all enemies for a while.
Garu - Small force damage.
Diarahan - Large heal
Hex - Ghostly attack that fires purple wisps at a target. Deals double damage if the target has a status ailment.
Recarm - Revives target with some HP.
Mediarahan - Large heal to all allies
Masukukaja - Increases the speed of all allies for a while.
Kouga - Medium light damage
This list is non-exhaustive but I intend to go through it slowly. I may or may not pick up speed as I get to the parts of the list that are just a matter of progression.
Weakness: Ice magic.
Bio: After graduating from the university of Hawai'i with a degree in theobiology and discovering his nascent magical potential while doing volunteer work throwing beached Pyukumuku back into the sea, Caeus decided to become a pokemon trainer. It seemed logical to do so at the time; It would look better on his resume compared to just being a lab assistant if he becomes an academic theobiologist, and he could use a pokemon companion for field work. To that end, the first thing Caeus did was to purchase a MAGAMI-brand Digivice, which came with a starter Digiegg, thinking it cheaper to catch a wild pokemon with its help rather than looking into pokemon breeding or even adoption fees. Considering his pickiness, maybe it would have been if he had gotten a less fancy digivice model, but he liked the digivolution management features and its ability to load abilities onto other digivolutions. Eventually the Digiegg hatched, and after caring for Nyokimon and later Monimon, it eventually digivolved into Monmon, and he was ready to capture a wild pokemon. The reason he was willing to wait so long, of course, was that he wasn't satisfied with the pokemon he could find around him. Even after digivolving into Monmon and visiting some hiking trails full of pokemon, nothing there caught his eye. Perhaps he was unfairly comparing them all to the adorable Pyukumuku he had been familiar with, but since he had learned to recreate their purify ability, and since both he and Pyukumuku were generally incapable of direct combat, he thought taking one along with him would lead to an imbalanced team. At the least, he got to take plenty of wildlife photos, some of which he managed to sell to a local magazine after it caught the eye of one of his friends. Eventually he made a habit out of doing that, and for a while that's all he did. It was during this time that he found that he had a somewhat unique affinity for camera lenses. It certainly didn't hurt to have as a photographer.
It was during a visit to the uninhabited islands further down the archipelago that he had a chance encounter with the rainbow serpent of Australian mythology. Although perhaps far from home, it is, after all, the rainbow itself, and Hawai'i has plenty of those to go around. Moist air from the ocean loses temperature as it rises over mountains, generating rainclouds from the precipitation, causing Hawai'i's mountains to be some of the wettest places in the world. Hell, there's a rainbow on every license plate. It might as well be Yurlungur's home away from home. Although, since Yurlungur tends to avoid populated areas, Caeus had no way of knowing this. All he knew is that there was a cool-looking pool of rainbow water to take pictures of.
Yurlungur isn't known to be a particularly wrathful deity, though like any sleeping snake, it's not exactly wise to disturb. What, you're going to find a glowing rainbow pool and not touch it? The stick he used to test it didn't disintegrate, so that means it's safe to touch, right? It's not like he drank it. No, it's none of your business if he was thinking about drinking it or not.
"wHa'DdYa ThInK yA dOiN'!?"
In awe at the beautiful serpent floating before him and the fact that, yes, it actually talks like that, all he could think to do was what he's been training to do for the past few months.
He took a picture of it before it was too late.
"EeHEEEEE!"
With an annoyed screech, it attacked, and Monmon, still quite young and inexperienced, couldn't hope to defend him against Yurlungur. Bullet Photography, as useful as it was, took too long to charge up against repeated attacks, and he couldn't defend Monmon just by erasing bullets, much less defeat Yurlungur in the process. Caeus did manage to slow Yurlungur down; at first he tried to reason with it, which mainly didn't work, which turned into begging and flattery, which surprisingly did work, at least for a while. Eventually, however, Monmon was defeated, and, at least wanting to guarantee her safety, he tried to send her, along with the pictures of Yurlungur, over to the magazine publishers via email. Unfortunately, his digivice didn't seem to have that feature, but since the email was already written up in the heat of the moment, an idea came to him. He sent the images, then warned Yurlungur that, were he to be killed now, people would know that Yurlungur did it. Its multicolored faces would be all over the news, sensationalized as a violent deity, which in turn meant that it wouldn't know peace, whether because it was seen as a danger or because the news forced it to change its very nature.
Yurlungur paused, then laughed, then called Caeus a "lItTlE rIpPeR". Upon asking for clarification, it said it was "fAiR dInKuM" and then asked why Caeus was "pOkIn' 'RoUnD mE bIlLaBoNg". Solely inferring from context, he explained that he was a photographer, and got into his line of work while looking for interesting species of pokemon to catch. Yurlungur then said an incomprehensible string of phrases that sounded vaguely insulting ("yA jUsT a DrOnGo FoLloWiNg FuRpHy FeR bLoOdY gAlAh!") before straightforwardly offering to come along with him. A wildlife photographer was perfect for boosting its reputation and literally showing off its colors. Plus, if Yurlungur followed him around a bit, Caeus wouldn't be able to spread any untoward rumors about it.
It went much as Yurlungur planned, appearing in magazine after magazine, and it enjoyed some time in the limelight. It grew stronger with its greater notoriety, though it became a bit more mellow and airheaded as a side effect due to the comparisons made between its morphology and toothless snakes. It also stopped using as much Australian lingo, perhaps because it had to be translated to the target audiences, who in turn began to disregard its speech quirks. Over time, its relationship with Caeus also became known within the business. Although not exactly regarded as a combat savant, having a minor deity at his beck and call while also being a magician and a digimon tamer made him a relatively ideal candidate for investigative journalism regarding the situation over in Japan. He wasn't fluent, but his conversational Japanese was actually pretty usable, so after some time spent brushing up on it and training - during which, Monmon acquired its first Champion Digivolution - he set off. Maybe he'd have better luck looking for a pokemon over in Japan.
Faction: Works under a subsidiary of the Zaibatsu, though he is unaware of this fact.
Yurlungur SMT Weaknesses and Resistances: Manifested (Pokemon) weaknesses and resistances: Knows the following skills:
Mahashibaboo - Chance of inflicting paralysis to all foes.
Brain Jack - Chance of inflicting brainwash to all foes.
Venom Breath - Chance of inflicting poison to all foes.
Samarecarm - Revives one ally with full HP.
Mediara - Medium heal to all allies
Bufula - Medium ice damage
Mabufula - Medium ice damage to all foes
Mazio - Light electric damage to all foes
Manifested typings: SMT Type - Pokemon Types Physical - Normal Fire - Dragon Ice - Water or Ice Force - Grass Electric - Electric or Bug Light - Psychic or Fairy Dark - Ghost or Poison Digital Conversion: Treats ice spells as water attacks.
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:
Pele SMT Weaknesses and Resistances: Manifested (Pokemon) weaknesses and resistances: Knows the following skills:
Agilao - Medium fire damage
Maragion - Medium fire damage to all foes
Eiha - Light curse damage
Pierce Armor - Light physical damage. Lower's the target's defenses.
Blood Ritual - Maximizes the user's attack, defense and agility, but reduces HP to 1.
Fire Break - Reduces 1 foe’s fire resistance to neutral.
Fire Boost - Strengthens fire attacks by 25%
Burn Boost - Increases the chance of inflicting burns.
Manifested typings: SMT Type - Pokemon Types Physical - Rock or Ground Fire - Fire Ice - Steel Force - Flying or Poison Electric - Electric Light - Psychic or Fairy Dark - Dark, Ghost or Poison Digital conversion: Treats fire spells as fire attacks.
Spinda. "Spin" for short. Gender: ♀ Type: Normal (weak to Fighting, immune to Ghost) Ability: Contrary - Increases and decreases to Spinda's stats (buffs and debuffs) have the opposite effect. Moves:
Brick Break - A swift chop attack. Destroys any barriers in the way, such as Light Screen, Reflect, Aurora Veil, Tetrakarn and Makarakarn. Cannot hit through immunities. (Fighting, 75 Power)
Dizzy Punch - A rhythmic punch with a 20% chance of confusing the target. (Normal, 70 Power)
Fake Out - An extremely fast attack with a 100% chance to cause the target to flinch. Only works immediately after entering combat. (Normal, 40 Power)
Feint Attack - The user draws close, then throws a sucker punch. Hits without fail. (Dark, 60 Power)
Psybeam - Fire a peculiar ray at the target. 10% chance to confuse the target. (Psychic, 65 Power)
Rapid Spin - A spin attack that frees the user of any binding effects or leech seed. Also clears the user's side of the field from any field hazards. (Normal, 50 power)
Copycat - The user mimics the move used immediately before it. Fails if no other move has been used yet.
Encore - Gives the target an encore, compelling them to use whatever move they used last exclusively, for a while.
Hypnosis - Employs hypnotic suggestion to put the target to sleep.
Teeter Dance - Performs a wobbly dance that confuses all enemies and allies.
Psych Up - Resets the user's stat changes and copies all of the target's stat changes onto the user. Fails if the target has none. (Does not interact with the Contrary ability)
Spotlight - Calls down a magical spotlight on the target, making them the center of attention and forcing all attacks from the target's enemies to be redirected to the target. Fast startup and overrides similar moves (e.g. Follow Me, Rage Power) and abilities. (e.g. Storm Drain, Lightning Rod)
Typing Frequencies: Pokemon Type - SMT Type Normal - Phys Fighting - Phys Flying - Force Poison - Dark Ground - Phys Rock - Phys Bug - Force Ghost - Dark Steel - Phys Fire - Fire Water - Ice Grass - Force Electric - Electric Psychic - Light Ice - Ice Dragon - Fire Dark - Dark Fairy - Light Digital Conversion: Treats Normal moves as Neutral attacks.
Tropius. "Trops" for short. Gender: ♂ Type: Grass/Flying (x4 weak to ice, x2 weak to Flying, Poison, Rock and Fire, resists Fighting and Water, 1/4x resists Grass, immune to Ground) Ability: Harvest - After consuming a berry, there is a 50% chance of creating another berry of the same type at the end of each "turn". The chance becomes 100% under harsh sunlight. Item: Sitrus Berry - If the holder falls below 50% of their maximum health, they will consume it and restore 25% of their maximum HP. (Activates immediately)
Fly - Fly high up into the air, becoming invulnerable to most attacks, then swoop down to attack. (Flying, 90 Power, a 2-turn move)
Gust - Launch a gust of wind at the target. (Flying, 40 Power)
Stomp - The target is stomped on by a big foot. 30% Chance to cause the target to flinch. If the target has used the move Minimize, the damage is doubled and the attack will never miss. (Normal, 65 Power)
Magical Leaf - Scatters colorful leaves that chase the target. Never misses. (Grass, 60 Power)
Growth - The user's body grows all at once. Increases Attack and Special Attack. Sharply Increases them instead in Harsh Sunlight.
Leech Seed - Launch seeds at the target that sprout into grasping vines on contact. Drains the target's HP over time, healing the user by the same amount.
Sunny Day - Sunlight intensifies in the area for a while. Fire moves are strengthened while Water moves are weakened.
Sweet Scent - Sharply lowers the evasiveness of all enemies. Can be used outside of battle to attract wild 'mon.
Tailwind - The user creates a turbulent whirlwind that doubles the speed of the user and all allies. (Field effect; not a buff)
Whirlwind - Blows the target away. Can be used to run from battles. If used against a trainer with additional 'mon, it forces the targeted 'mon out and forces another 'mon in. Never misses, but slow startup.
Wide Guard - The user forms a short-lived wall of energy made up of a hexagonal tessellation that protects themself and their allies from wide-ranging attacks. Fast startup, but does not stop single-target attacks at all.
Spirit Photography - The ability to channel magic into lenses to see beings and forces otherwise invisible (or otherwise incomprehensible) to the naked eye. Works with just about any solid transparent material and allows for pictures to be taken of anything revealed. Requires a bit of manual tuning to focus on different aspects, though it allows Alcaeus to see ghosts without being blinded by high concentrations of ambient mana or vice versa.
Bullet Photography - The ability to capture active instances of magic using cameras, thereby erasing them. Works on spells in motion, including non-physical attacks of pokemon, digimon, demons and humans. Requires charging the camera for half a dozen seconds before each shot. Charge time for the next shot is halved if he captures the caster of a spell in the same photo as the spell. Not capable of stripping objects of enchantments or siphoning magic out of pokemon, digimon, demons, people, objects, or areas. Not capable of interrupting spellcasting. Can't actually erase a physical bullet.
Knows the following "spells":
Purify - Sends out a sparkling projectile that cures the target of any status ailment. If it successfully cures a status condition, Alcaeus heals himself.
Flatter - Causes unnatural confusion within the target by complimenting them. The sentiments of the compliment are magically understood regardless of language barriers. Also buffs the target's magical capabilities. Alcaeus insists the compliment is just a verbal component.
Swagger - Causes unnatural confusion within the target via dismissive gestures such as a scoff or bored sigh. The gesture can be verbal; if so, the sentiment is magically understood. Increases the target's physical attack.
Future spell learnset, listed in (loosely) planned order:
Tarunda - Lowers the target's attack for a while.
Dia - Small heal
Safeguard - Protects all allies from status conditions for a while.
Recarmdra - User dies. All allies who have died recently are revived.
Media - Small heal to all allies
Light Screen - Erects a wall of light to suppress magic damage for a while.
Reflect - Erects a wall of light to suppress physical damage for a while.
Diarama - Medium heal
Sukukaja - Increases the target's speed for a while.
Kouha - Small light damage
Dekunda - Removes all debuffs from all allies
Amrita Shower - Cures all allies of all ailments
Mediarama - Medium heal to all allies
Matarunda - Lowers the attack of all enemies for a while.
Boom Bubble - Fires a sphere of compressed air at a target.
Diarahan - Large heal
Hex - Ghostly attack that fires purple wisps at a target. Deals double damage if the target has a status ailment.
Recarm - Revives target with some HP.
Mediarahan - Large heal to all allies
Masukukaja - Increases the speed of all allies for a while.
Kouga - Medium light damage
This list is non-exhaustive but I intend to go through it slowly. I may or may not pick up speed as I get to the parts of the list that are just a matter of progression.
Weaknesses: Ice magic. In terms of SMT stats, low Strength and Vitality.
Bio: After graduating from the university of Hawai'i with a degree in theobiology and discovering his nascent magical potential while doing volunteer work throwing beached Pyukumuku back into the sea, Caeus decided to become a pokemon trainer. It seemed logical to do so at the time; It would look better on his resume compared to just being a lab assistant if he becomes an academic theobiologist, and he could use a pokemon companion for field work. To that end, the first thing Caeus did was to purchase a MAGAMI-brand Digivice, which came with a starter Digiegg, thinking it cheaper to catch a wild pokemon with its help rather than looking into pokemon breeding or even adoption fees. Considering his pickiness, maybe it would have been if he had gotten a less fancy digivice model, but he liked the digivolution management features and its ability to load abilities onto other digivolutions. Eventually the Digiegg hatched, and after caring for Nyokimon and later Monimon, it eventually digivolved into Monmon, and he was ready to capture a wild pokemon. The reason he was willing to wait so long, of course, was that he wasn't satisfied with the pokemon he could find around him. Even after digivolving into Monmon and visiting some hiking trails full of pokemon, nothing there caught his eye. Perhaps he was unfairly comparing them all to the adorable Pyukumuku he had been familiar with, but since he had learned to recreate their purify ability, and since both he and Pyukumuku were generally incapable of direct combat, he thought taking one along with him would lead to an imbalanced team. At the least, he got to take plenty of wildlife photos, some of which he managed to sell to a local magazine after it caught the eye of one of his friends. Eventually he made a habit out of doing that, and for a while that's all he did. It was during this time that he found that he had a somewhat unique affinity for camera lenses. It certainly didn't hurt to have as a photographer.
It was during a visit to the uninhabited islands further down the archipelago that he had a chance encounter with the rainbow serpent of Australian mythology. Although perhaps far from home, it is, after all, the rainbow itself, and Hawai'i has plenty of those to go around. Moist air from the ocean loses temperature as it rises over mountains, generating rainclouds from the precipitation, causing Hawai'i's mountains to be some of the wettest places in the world. Hell, there's a rainbow on every license plate. It might as well be Yurlungur's home away from home. Although, since Yurlungur tends to avoid populated areas, Caeus had no way of knowing this. All he knew is that there was a cool-looking pool of rainbow water to take pictures of.
Yurlungur isn't known to be a particularly wrathful deity, though like any sleeping snake, it's not exactly wise to disturb. What, you're going to find a glowing rainbow pool and not touch it? The stick he used to test it didn't disintegrate, so that means it's safe to touch, right? It's not like he drank it. No, it's none of your business if he was thinking about drinking it or not.
"wHa'DdYa ThInK yA dOiN'!?"
In awe at the beautiful serpent floating before him and the fact that, yes, it actually talks like that, all he could think to do was what he's been training to do for the past few months.
He took a picture of it before it was too late.
"EeHEEEEE!"
With an annoyed screech, it attacked, and Monmon, still quite young and inexperienced, couldn't hope to defend him against Yurlungur. Bullet Photography, as useful as it was, took too long to charge up against repeated attacks, and he couldn't defend Monmon just by erasing bullets, much less defeat Yurlungur in the process. Caeus did manage to slow Yurlungur down; at first he tried to reason with it, which mainly didn't work, which turned into begging and flattery, which surprisingly did work, at least for a while. Eventually, however, Monmon was defeated, and, at least wanting to guarantee her safety, he tried to send her, along with the pictures of Yurlungur, over to the magazine publishers via email. Unfortunately, his digivice didn't seem to have that feature, but since the email was already written up in the heat of the moment, an idea came to him. He sent the images, then warned Yurlungur that, were he to be killed now, people would know that Yurlungur did it. Its multicolored faces would be all over the news, sensationalized as a violent deity, which in turn meant that it wouldn't know peace, whether because it was seen as a danger or because the news forced it to change its very nature.
Yurlungur paused, then laughed, then called Caeus a "lItTlE rIpPeR". Upon asking for clarification, it said it was "fAiR dInKuM" and then asked why Caeus was "pOkIn' 'RoUnD mE bIlLaBoNg". Solely inferring from context, he explained that he was a photographer, and got into his line of work while looking for interesting species of pokemon to catch. Yurlungur then said an incomprehensible string of phrases that sounded vaguely insulting ("yA jUsT a DrOnGo FoLloWiNg FuRpHy FeR bLoOdY gAlAh!") before straightforwardly offering to come along with him. A wildlife photographer was perfect for boosting its reputation and literally showing off its colors. Plus, if Yurlungur followed him around a bit, Caeus wouldn't be able to spread any untoward rumors about it.
It went much as Yurlungur planned, and it enjoyed some time in the limelight. Its relationship with Caeus also became known within the business. Although not exactly regarded as a combat savant, having a minor deity at his beck and call while also being a magician and a digimon tamer made him a relatively ideal candidate for investigative journalism regarding the situation over in Japan. He wasn't fluent, but his conversational Japanese was actually pretty usable, so after some time spent brushing up on it and training - during which, Monmon acquired its first Champion Digivolution - he set off. Maybe he'd have better luck looking for a pokemon over in Japan.
Yurlungur Weaknesses and Resistances: Weak to Fire and Dark. Resists Electric, nulls Ice, drains Water. Statline: High Vitality. Above-average Agility and Luck. Low Strength and Magic. Knows the following skills:
Mahashibaboo - Chance of inflicting paralysis to all foes.
Brain Jack - Chance of inflicting brainwash to all foes.
Venom Breath - Chance of inflicting poison to all foes.
One of the law enforcement officers ran after him, telling him that he cannot escape. He ignores the officer, making his apparently very successful escape as he clears the alley's gate without getting shot and continues towards and up the back of the lot, over to the next street.
It's pseudo-residential, with buildings that show clear signs of habitation standing right next to small businesses and at least one residential home with a housefront stall. A small sign in front of it advertises it as an electronic shop that does, in fact, do TV repairs.
He ignored it, running down the street towards their neighbor, who happened to have left a small table out, which was perfect to use to jump up off of and onto some corrugated metal roofing. He didn't like the stability of the roof under his feet, so he continued on to the next building, which he only belatedly realized from the parking lot on the opposite side was the Balibago Barangay Hall. He's not sure how he ended up on the rooftop of a city hall by pure accident, but hey, he's got a sizeable lead on the cops because of the gate in the alleyway and the high wall at the back of the lot. Maybe he could use this. Not a lot of better places for stereotypical acts of terrorism, no?
In any case, he first has to stall out the flying guy with red hair. He can hear the wind rippling closer and closer from the guy's Noble Arm behind him, so he sets his hostage down onto his feet, taking care not to accidentally cut him with any of the floating knives pointed at him. He turns to face the guy as he approaches, then remembers that he should avoid looking directly at his strangely, eerily familiar face. Not for the first time today, Jason is glad he decided to wear a mask to work, even if it is hopelessly tacky.
The dancing of the flames within the crackling fire was transfixing. It was perfect for letting his mind wander up and away from the world, away from his inevitable conversation with Deuel. The fire seemed to stretch and bend just like his thoughts, clawing towards the heavens whose twinkling stars grew closer and closer before reaching down to match. It wasn't a particularly unusual sight, though it was unusual that he was seeing it when he had gotten plenty of sleep last night. He took another long drink of his Red Bull as the fingers of the fire and the stars interlocked, forming a fiery gate to hell that seemed to shamble forward, bending and twisting from its position on the campfire and in the heavens. It reached towards him, blurred around him, enveloped him in its warmth, until it had engulfed him completely.
The hallucination then got brighter and brighter, bright enough to sear his eyes, and he shut them, only for the brightness to burn through his thin human eyelids. He blocked out the light with his hands, but it did nothing to shut out the light. This wasn't just a hallucination, though what it could possibly be, he couldn't fathom. Then, all at once, the light was gone, and he blinked his eyes open to find himself in a forest with all of his friends.
“Uh… Is everyone ok? And… what just happened?”
"We are in a forest. With magical creatures."
Deuel seems to assume they've been isekai'd, and while the hallucinogenic fever dream immediately preceding their arrival here does lend credence to his theory, it's not exactly a theory grounded in reality. Then again, what else could it be? Mildly hallucinogenic knockout gas followed by an aborted abduction doesn't explain why they all arrived perfectly alert without any memories of the interim, and he can't think of a better mundane explanation. Already entering the realm of fantasy, spatial dislocation would explain it, but does not necessitate ending up in another world. He supposes Deuel didn't specify that they did, and the man's a bit of a dandy, so he could just be assuming based on the popular trope. In that case, there should be botanical and/or zoological differences to be found to prove the hypothesis, though he's never bothered devoting time to learning about the subtle differences in different arboreal species and there weren't any obviously extraterrestrial insects buzzing about; just some perfectly normal-looking black ants. Perhaps they could find differences in the constellations? He memorized enough of them for navigation (part of his excessive research on wilderness survival) and would be able to tell the difference. Even with no astronomical knowledge, the others might be able to just because they were looking up at them before they arrived, except it's the middle of the day now, and even if it's a fantasy world, it could just as easily be a parallel Earth. For that matter, they are just as likely to have been displaced in time, though seeing as how they're in a forest, the future is less likely than the past, which would match with typical medieval isekai settings. Whether back in time or in another world, it would likely fall on them to bring technological progress back, and until then, they'd have no access to modern conveniences like-
Like caffeine.
No caffeine.
In the entire world, possibly. Different plants means no guarantee of coffee or cocoa or guarana or whatever the fuck and there's no guarantee this world has any replacements. He could try synthesizing caffeine, but he can't remember the chemicals involved, much less the steps. He thinks Theobromine is involved somehow? It's not nearly enough to work off of, and he can't imagine spending weeks, much less months or years raw dogging life without it.
He's got a hand on his forehead, trying to keep from freaking out, because there's still hope - they could just be in another time or place, but then Deuel pulls him out of his thoughts with a question.
"Niles, are you okay? I hope you don't think I'm presuming, but are you worried about your parents?"
No, Deuel. He almost laughs, because his parents were probably the farthest thing from his mind before now. Shame to have wasted their 18 years of investment with a sudden disappearance-
"If so, there's a nonzero chance that time here might be out of sync with time on earth and we can come back at the same time we left. But if not, well, we can just say that we got kidnapped or something when we do come back, and if we all get our stories straight, they'll believe us. Either way, let's both focus on surviving this situation, okay?"
At that, Niles does let out a laugh, though when Deuel gives him a questioning look, he simply shakes his head, saying, "it's nothing."
His parents will assume he left without warning. Will likely find a replacement to pass the company onto - maybe adopt if they really want to keep it in the family, though he's not sure how much they care about that as long as they stay on the company's payroll. He has a month or two before his parents realize he's gone, maybe 3 months given their big business trip in Tokyo, but they will probably seek him out before their next trip given his college plans and his lack of response if they text or call in the interim. He's 18, so by all likelihood they'll assume he just ran away, and since it's within his right to, when they can't find him, they'll probably just give up. They'll probably move on, thinking that he hates them.
That's his time limit.
Soon, a motherfucking talking Ermine arrives to properly introduce them to the situation, seemingly confirming the isekai theory.
"You see, your friend is the Chosen One and you guys have been tasked with serving as his 'adventuring party' to save our world under our leadership!"
Ah.
Hah.
He decides to slip away behind the surrounding trees as the others, especially Deuel, are distracted by Deuel's transformation.
He walks away slowly, at first, because he doesn't want to make noise that could draw the attention of the others, but once some distance has been made, he picks up speed until he's running. No, until he's sprinting - as fast and as far away as he can manage.
Adventuring party of the chosen one? What a joke. Him? Right before he's about to step all over the chosen one's feelings? Might as well destroy the whole damn planet now. The overlap between their respective skillsets makes him easily the least useful to Deuel anyway. He's not sure about the others, but Deuel could easily spark a technological revolution with or without him. From a purely practical, cost-benefit analysis standpoint, he's nothing but a detriment, and any clerical, moral or practical support he could offer after the fact pales in comparison to the damage he could do to them all as a group.
A darker thought occur to him - that they're all dancing to the tune of some kind of cosmic narrative, and that his role in the story is either as Deuel's designated love interest or perhaps his tragic motivator. A living, breathing, Death by Origin Story trope, or perhaps it's the I Let Gwen Stacy Die trope. Would depend on how long he actually goes on living, he supposes - a funny thought to have while tumbling down a steep hill after tripping on an exposed wooden tree root.
He doesn't think he's particularly hurt by the time he reaches the bottom, not that he cares to devote much attention to such things, given his swirling thoughts, but he does find himself just laying there, on the ground, covered in dirt and small bruises, thinking. Even within the framework of a narrative, there can be no offscreen happily ever after with him, and he's not willing to take that away from Deuel. It feels selfish to even entertain the idea of getting to that point, because what divine fucking neanderthal thinks they have the providence to use him to manipulate Deuel's love life? Any of their love lives? 'Designated love interests' and any divine being that insists on them can kiss his ass, just the same as anyone who tries to tell him its his fate to die just so Deuel and the others can have some cliché 'You did everything you could', 'I should have been better' bullshit.
It was a pointless mental tangent anyway. At worst, isekai tropes tend to include prophecies, not entire meta narratives. Still, rejecting it clears his head enough to notice an approaching worm of some sort, emerging from the ground near him.
He gets up, trying to avoid letting the slimy blind creature touch him, only to realize that, upon closer inspection, it's not covered in slime. In fact, it seems to be covered in small scales, and, looking more closely, he could see the occasional flick of a forked tongue out of an extremely round face.
He's seen these before - it's a blind snake, though he's never seen one quite as large as this. He extends a hand, gently, to pick the creature up. The differences in this world's fauna kind of pale in comparison to a talking stoat directly stating that they've crossed worlds, in terms of confirmation of their situation, but sue him, it's an novel animal and he's curious.
He feels a gentle surge of sorts when he touches the snake, though he couldn't say what of. It felt like getting zapped, except harmlessly, and the snake doesn't seem spooked, unlike how he might expect an earthen blind snake to be. Soon it's nuzzling into his hand, slithering up and around his palm, and it allows him to lift it up for closer inspection.
It occurs to him that a snake in a fantasy world might be more dangerous than its earthen equivalent, though from its relative diminutiveness, he can't imagine it to pose much of a threat, even if it had venom. (blind snakes don't) It seemed to have the same jaw as a blind snake, which couldn't open absurdly wide like bigger snakes, and was likely indicative of a lack of fangs. Blind snakes wouldn't even be able to penetrate human skin with their teeth, and this one seemed no different. The little thing only got more adorable the closer he looked at it, as it seemed to hide its face shyly - behind his own hand, as he focused his attention on it.
He resumes his walk, snake coiling around his hand, as he idly tries to puzzle out what he felt earlier. The sensation was muted now, but still there, like a beautiful song playing off in the distance. He tries to focus on the music, to reach out to it, and it responds, flowing into and around him, wrapping him up within it until he finds himself standing there, in the middle of the forest, wearing an ornate brown and gold outfit. Distantly, he recognizes that he's just undergone much the same transformation Deuel had, and while it casts doubt on the stoat's claims, it doesn't change that such a transformation is indicative of the fantastical. They were therefore brought here for some type of purpose, perhaps even a prophecy, and he neither had the desire to go along with such things nor thought his presence would benefit the pursuit of such goals anyway. He could perhaps help from the sidelines in the future, if needed, but going back to have that delayed conversation with Deuel is the last thing he wants right now.
Instead, he turns his attention to his new abilities - He can feel the Earth's thrum beneath him, around him, and before he knows it, he finds himself inadvertently sinking into grass-hardened dirt as if it were memory foam. Comfy, but... ugh, dirt.
Then, a thought occurs to him. He stands up straight, and directs his newfound power against his senses. Every speck of dirt, every small stain on his clothes, both old and magically new, lights up like beacons before him, and with a hesitant, tentative thought, he finds himself able to pull the stuff off of him like a god damn psychic. After a little exploratory fooling around, he finds he now has telekinetic control over dirt, stone, and even the metal that makes up his phone. An attempt at technomancy would have to wait until he had something more expendable to work with, but gaining fancy magic powers is nothing short of exhilarating.
He tries to do some minor limit testing - taking the dirt and crushing it together into a sedimentary rock. Shooting the rock at a nearby tree. (and not getting hit by it as it ricochets off) Then he tries to extend his tremor sense outward, only to notice that there's some kind of structure nearby. His friends don't seem to be in range, and it doesn't seem like civilization anyway. Curious, he decides to make his way towards it.
Sullivan's Irish Pub, Balibago, Angeles City - 10/18/2022, 20:50 UTC+8
"I have aerokinesis precise enough to rip off your breath from your lungs. Do not test me."
Highly doubtful considering he hasn't attempted to knock him out with it yet, and even if he tried, his regeneration and blood manipulation can compensate. Jason hasn't bothered testing how long he could do such a thing, but that could be a pretty good avenue of future training.
"You've already killed civilians; by the laws of war..."
Technically speaking, that's an unfair accusation. Attacked them? Sure. Set in motion misunderstandings leading to untimely deaths? Plenty. However, the only instance where he's been directly 'responsible' for the death of a civilian was the woman with the stab wound, at least during his deployment here. He's not even sure she's dead yet. The civilians he killed within the pub can be justified in the eyes of society, if not the law, since he is under duress; he would have stopped at infection had he not taken a bullet to the leg, but since he had been temporarily impaired, his life had been under imminent threat. Killing those people could therefore be considered an act of self-defense, since his choice to do it had been purely utilitarian in nature.
...He still didn't want to deny the accusation. He can't be certain about the woman, since he didn't know whether she has yet succumbed to blood loss, and splitting hairs on killing a civilian versus civilians and the circumstances surrounding qualifiers to such statements wouldn't accomplish anything anyway.
There's a dull thrum in the back of his head when he thinks about what he's done to that woman in particular. He supposes it was rather selfish, using her as a personal litmus test.
Ugh... he's letting his thoughts wander again.
"Do not make your situation any worse; if you surrender now, arrangements can be made in exchange for the survival of the remaining civilians; even more for curing the infection you caused..."
He barks out a laugh. Then he lets go of the man he's been holding hostage, letting his Hemokinesis hold the knife against his throat. "Hand me an empty bottle. Your cheapest drink, if you've got nothing empty."
He ignores the sound of a flare going up outside as the man shakily complies, standing up - within view of the gunman outside, though he can't imagine they'd take the shot through the infected civilians clogging up the pub's entrance, nor risk extraction of the remaining uninfected when the man is currently between the floating knife at his neck and Jason, who happens to be armed with a large ball of stolen blood. The man returns with a mostly empty bottle of San Pellegrino, looking pale as a sheet. He supposes that's to be expected given the bedlam going on at the back of the pub - a cacophony of crying and misdirected violence as they all panic out of their minds.
He takes the bottle, uses a little blood to clean out the insides, removing all of the sparkling water, then discards the liquid in the sink. He takes a bit more blood, fills the bottle up, then turns it into the Panacea.
He creates another two knives to cover all angles, then positions them around his hostage's neck. It takes a bit of concentration to keep them the right distance away to keep from cutting the man as he moves and breathes, but he already has to divert focus to him in order to keep the other infected off, so it's not much worse.
He calls out to the gunman as he tests his mostly healed leg with a stomp against the ground. "Coming out. Attack, and I can't guarantee this hostage's safety." He couldn't even if the gunman didn't attack, and safety was relative to begin with, though he had no intention of harming the man, (at least not meaningfully) and at a certain point, language simply does not play nice with specificity. If he specified he had no intention of harming the man at all, he'd also have to specify for how long, and 'until I escape' probably wouldn't go over well, especially if they took it to mean he wanted to harm the man afterwards. What if he's a particularly ornery hostage with a hidden Noble Arm? People never think their commitments through.
In any case, the gunman didn't feel it prudent to take blind shots through the counter, so he doubted he'd actually risk the hostage even if he had something to say to the contrary. He stood up, finally showing himself from over the counter, and directed the man to stand up with him. He had the man lead the way to make it easier to multitask his concentration, but instead of walking towards the back of the pub near the hysterical infected to go around the counter, the man decided to clamber over it. Fair enough, not even Jason was safe from them, even if none of them could realistically harm him.
They walked out in front of the pub, gently pushing the forlorn looking civilians who had been eyeing the gunman out of the way when his hostage didn't feel confident in doing so. Jason floated the Panacea bottle over beside him.
There, Jason finally came close enough to get a good look at the gunman. He had flown down to get a better angle on the pub, but was still hovering out of reach of the infected. His features were effeminate, and his hair was a nostalgic shade of strawberry red...
He averted his eyes before his ghosts had time to come back and haunt him. Hopefully the mask did a good job of hiding where he was looking. It certainly helped hide whatever face he was making. He mentally shook it off.
"If you wanted the cure, all you had to do was ask." The San Pellegrino bottle filled with Panacea floated on beside him. He really didn't mind giving away the cure; it's not like it could be kept effective for long, and curing the zombies wouldn't constitute a failure state. In fact, it would help hide the inherent time limit of his viruses. The exterior of the bottle just so happened to be covered in a thin layer of the apathy virus, but since it was mostly dried and impossible to discern from the bottle's contents, the gunman didn't need to know that.
He handed the bottle over to the hostage, being sure to keep the virus on the bottle from infecting the man. It would help hide the virus and prove the Panacea was real. "Why don't you demonstrate it? Pick one of the infected and make them drink. Here, I'll remove my protection to make it easier to see the effect-"
All at once, every lonely infected took their eyes off of Amadeo to stare at the man in their midst. He flinched, and Jason let the back of the man's neck touch one of the knives. "You're safe. Relax. They're annoying, but harmless."
The man was soon smothered by the strangers who had started grabbing and holding onto him for dear life. It was better that he didn't make contact with the infected to prove the cure's authenticity, though he wouldn't deny avoiding that was a major factor in his decision to do it this way.
The man, visibly very uncomfortable with all the people and the knives around him, uncapped the bottle and pressed it against the nearest man's lips. "Drink." Jason commanded, since the hostage didn't seem composed enough to give the order himself. The infected man, irrationally trusting the object of his obsession, complied, and, after a few seconds, began to grow confused, not entirely sure why he was hugging the pub's bartender. He backed away from his first hostage, and Jason stepped forward to put an arm around the man. It was an overly friendly gesture - hopefully indicating his lack of intent to harm to the gunman. Technically, all of the infected were his hostages, though it seemed that they weren't recognized as such until they were cured. "Hello, healthy hostage two." He pulled another knife from his back - a butterfly knife, just to play with using his free hand. It felt rude to point it at the new hostage right off the bat, though the knife tricks and his grip on the man's shoulder had him plenty intimidated. He let his protection on hostage 1 come back up, and the lonely infected slowly began peeling themselves off of him, returning their focus to the gunman.
He took the bottle from the first hostage's grip, using his Hemokinesis, lifting it up to the man's lips. "You might want to take a drink yourself." The man wasn't actually infected - he had enough control to do that much, but he was covered in the sweat of the other infected, and he didn't particularly see the point to letting the man become infected when they inevitably parted ways. The Panacea wasn't by any means a permanent cure, though unless he deliberately messed with the virus strains, it could prevent reinfection in cases like these.
The man hesitantly complied, taking a sip, then made a disgusted face. He finally spoke for the first time since he was taken hostage, "Tastes like blood."
A shocking revelation. Who would have thought that blood tasted like blood. "I've been working on that." he comments offhandedly, because he has, even if it hadn't been because of the Panacea. He doesn't look back at the gunman - didn't like his face, but he turned to address him nonetheless. "The bottle contains the cure. It works on the zombies and all of the infected here." There. No room for ambiguity. It should be clear he meant it when he said that all the gunman had to do was ask.
Just then, a riot police squad pulled up, leaving their vehicle only for the attention of all of the lonely infected to turn away from Amadeo and towards them.
"Attention! This is the police! Surrender now, and there will be no further trouble!"
The infected hesitated, but still began drawing towards the newcomers as they erected a shield wall. Unfortunate, how often police seemed to shoot first and ask questions later, though he supposes that trait isn't unique to the police. One of the members held an old Roman shield, too ornate and incongruous to be anything but a Noble Arm. He held it up above him - a barrier perhaps? Not likely a threat, then. He addresses the gunman without taking his eyes off of the riot police. "You mentioned something about killing civilians earlier?" It'd be quite ironic if they began opening fire. He shook his head. "Nevermind. Well, here, you wanted the cure, right?"
Jason takes the bottle from his hostage and uses his considerable strength to throw the bottle up, aiming it over rooftops, at an angle from his escape route so that he could potentially take the gunman captive if things went well but divergent enough that he could avoid the gunman if things didn't. He took off at the same time, not particularly caring if the riot police opened fire considering the crowd of infected he had as cover and the two hostages he was dragging along. He carried the second over one shoulder, letting the butterfly knife float next to his head, while the other felt the gentle press of a knife on the back of his neck until he followed, forced into a route that put him in the way of any incoming bullets or Noble Arm projectiles. Jason ran back towards the alleyway, turning the corner into it, then ran up to the gate and simply jumped it, kicking off the wall and over it. It left him vulnerable to gunfire if anyone had an angle from outside the alleyway, but the gunman should hopefully be busy, and hostage 1 could continue providing cover from the other side of the gate after landing.
The back of the alleyway led to a small square lot, which would let him break line of sight to the alleyway. Upon arrival, he'd pulled the knives around hostage 1's neck away, up, then towards him, releasing his hostage without meaningful harm, as promised. He'd then reposition the knives around hostage 2, reducing the man's struggling, but mainly just to save himself the trouble of making more.
The lot rests at a lower elevation than the street at the back of it, but it wasn't too high for him to leap up and climb over, and from there, he could get try getting lost within the semi-residential backstreets.
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