Thundercrash

☬ Pokemon Insurgence ☬ {{ Always Accepting }} ☬

@sMoKe A pleasure.

I actually haven't watched much of Futurama. It's an inside joke I have with some friends I used to RP with.

☬ Pokemon Insurgence ☬ {{ Always Accepting }} ☬

@Lyghtbringer Our interactions will be interesting then. Shade is mostly a realist tempered by hatred. Or she's a reasonable extremist. She could fall either way.

☬ Pokemon Insurgence ☬ {{ Always Accepting }} ☬

@A Tattooed Girl Yeah, she's kinda grouchy. She has her reasons though.

☬ Pokemon Insurgence ☬ {{ Always Accepting }} ☬

Shade

When the air became dimmer and colder, Shade became even more guarded than she already was. There were only a few Pokemon that she knew of who could have such an effect, and with most of those acting hastily was a good way to end up dead. The fact that most Pokemon had little to no conception of good or bad had little bearing on how dangerous they could be.

She looked around warily, trying to locate the source of the change and hoping that the others would take the hint and not do anything stupid that might provoke the new arrival. When a patch of ground darkened and smiled at her with crimson eyes, she froze. Gengar. Of all the Spectral Ones that she could have encountered, this one was the least desirable on account of their capricious temperaments. Gengar were notoriously difficult to predict, especially wild ones, and their moods could change by the second; one moment harmless and playful pranksters, the next persistent and cruel tormentors.

Still, this was not the first time that Shade had dealt with Ghosts, and she made no effort to conceal her consternation. Much like many Psychic types, with whom they shared a number of similarities, Ghosts were very sensitive to emotions, and if Gengar's had any consistency it was that their actions often were to provoke responses. It was a delicate line to walk. Maintain a stoic face, and the Gengar might be impressed at the display of self-control, or insulted at how little its efforts were thought of. Show fear, and it might leave having gotten what it desired, or it might persist in its games.

For her part, Shade chose a middle ground; as the Shadow Pokemon rose up out of the ground to float in front of her, she allowed it to see that it had indeed succeeded in frightening her, but now that she was aware of its presence, that fear would not control her. She also lowered her rifle a little and bent her head, murmuring, ”Welcome, honoured Spectre. May the night’s embrace aid you in your wanderings.”

The Gengar's smile faltered, apparently surprised at her words. Its leering eyes narrowed, as though it suspected a trick of some sort. When none was forthcoming, it abruptly sniggered and lunged forward, swiping its broad tongue up her face, knocking her hood back and leaving her a sticky mess. Slightly stunned by the wholly unexpected tongue-bath, Shade could only watch as the Gengar dissolved into air, still sniggering at her, its crimson eyes the last to vanish.

... Thanks?

A shrill shout startled her back to reality. Clearly feminine, but far enough away that the words were indistinct, the voice’s owner had already vanished as Shade looked about for it. Still, it did serve as a good reminder that they were all still very near to enemy territory. Best to deal with things here quickly and move on, it was doubtful that the exploding trucks had gone unnoticed. Even if they had, once the trucks failed to report in, and the plumes of smoke were seen, somebody would put two and two together and come investigating. Shade wanted to be long gone by that time.

"I'm not a soldier. I simply stole this garb off of a dead one in hopes to get through some of the camps I had to travel through a few miles back. If you don't believe me, travel back south-east about 4 miles and you'll find the massive campsite full of the lot. I got no quarrel with ya'! So if you wouldn't mind, let me go and we can speak in a more formal manner."

The uniformed man’s words did make her pause though. Over the past few years, Shade had been no stranger to looting Regime corpses. Things like ammunition were difficult to come by in the wild, even when limiting her bullets to soldiers. His reasoning was somewhat sound as well, back north you dressed for the weather, or the weather would kill you as quickly as any gun. If he was telling the truth about the camp though (she'd come out of the northeast), why was he still wearing the uniform? Only Regime soldiers wore them, and impersonating one was almost as bad as having an unlicensed Pokemon. Plus, he was lucky that she hadn't already shot him.

As she thought about it, she ignored the other boy entirely. Shade had no interest in dealing with naive morons who still deluded themselves into thinking that the Regime could be reasoned with. It didn't want to be reasoned with; the only thing the Regime cared to understand was exploiting Pokemon and murdering anyone who disagreed with them. You were either with the Regime, or you were against them, there was no middle ground. She make those rules, the Regime did, and anyone who made the choice to side with the Regime (and they always had a choice) would get no mercy from her. That was the reality of war, he'd see that soon enough.

”... Come’re Razor.” The Sneasel’s little ears twitched at her words, and he leaped back up into the trees, easily making his way back to her. Her gun, however, remained firmly trained on the uniformed man. ”Wearing that is a good way to get shot, by somebody.” Her eyes narrowed. ”And I don't trust anybody who keeps it around with them. If you're really not with them, then prove it.” She gestured to him as he turned around, the tone of her voice indicated just how serious her next words were. ”I want to see you burn it. Until then, you'll excuse me if I keep you where I can see you.”

@A Tattooed Girl@Lyghtbringer

☬ Pokemon Insurgence ☬ {{ Always Accepting }} ☬

@Dusksong I made a person who hates the Regime. You made someone who is Regime. I make no apologies XD

@A Tattooed Girl I admit that I've been a fan of the games since I was really little, so I might know a thing or two, but nothing that anyone couldn't garner from Bulbapedia. Still, I'll do my best to help things along.

☬ Pokemon Insurgence ☬ {{ Always Accepting }} ☬

@Dusksong This literally the first time I've noticed it.

☬ Pokemon Insurgence ☬ {{ Always Accepting }} ☬

@A Tattooed Girl And apparently I am Co-GM now?

☬ Pokemon Insurgence ☬ {{ Always Accepting }} ☬

@Lyghtbringer I am working on a post as we speak. It will be rather lengthy.

☬ Pokemon Insurgence ☬ {{ Always Accepting }} ☬

@Lyghtbringer I've been waiting to see if @A Tattooed Girl was going to have Jackson talk first, decide how he was going to handle this situation.

The House of Powers

Stasya Volkov

Session room: Kara, Cafeteria: @wolverbells@SheriffLlama

“Фокус. (Focus.)”

Stasya sat cross-legged on the floor, her eyes closed as she took slow, deep breaths through her nose and released them from her mouth.

“Расслабьтесь. Пусть ваш ум будет пустым. (Relax. Let your mind be empty.)”

In, and out. In, and out. Every thought that threatened to intrude was accepted and dismissed. She was an island amidst a lake.

“Сконцентрируйтесь на вашем теле. Исследуйте каждый дюйм со своими мыслями, от концов ваши волосы на ногти пальцев ног. (Concentrate on your body. Explore every inch of it with your thoughts, from the ends of your hair down to the nails of your toes.)”

Picturing herself in her mind’s eye, Stasya travelled through herself, starting up in her head and flowing down into her torso, her arms, her legs. No part was missed or left out, all was explored. She remembered the fear of her first days at the facility, then anger of when she learned that Lyra had been taken away, because of “complications” with her condition. She remembered the itching sensation that those feelings brought, when her body would shift on its own.

“Представьте себе изменения вы хотите сделать. Смотрите это произошло, от начала до конца. Прими это. (Picture the change you want to make. See it happen, from start to finish. Embrace it.)”

She travelled back up to her head, focusing on her eyes. She thought about their colour, like the sky on a clear winter’s day. Fixating on that image, she made the sun set, watching the sky turn a flaming yellow, orange and red, then dim to a deep, dark purple. She pictured her eyes being that same color, changing her mental image of herself to match, her brow furrowing slightly. The itching sensation she remembered returned, making her eyes water beneath her eyelids.

“Теперь откройте глаза. Смотрите изменения становятся реальностью. (Now, open your eyes. See the change become reality.)”

Stasya opened her eyes. In the mirror before her, a naked teenage girl stared back at her, identical in every respect, right down to the dark purple, almost black irises, and she smiled.

In the chair behind her, Kara clapped her hands, smiling proudly at her. “Вы сделали это снова! Поздравляю, Стася! (You’ve done it again! Congratulations, Stasya!)” She glanced at her tablet, tapping once at the screen before making a note. “На этот раз вы взяли пятнадцать минут, улучшение по сравнению с предыдущей восемнадцать. Ваша практика начинает приносить свои плоды. (This time you took fifteen minutes, an improvement over your previous eighteen. Your practice is starting to pay off.)”

Giving herself a shy but still proud smile, Stasya reached for the small pile of neatly folded clothing beside her as she wiped the tears from her eyes. After the first few attempts at trying to see if she could consciously shift herself, Kara had suggested that she try being naked during their private sessions, as a way to make her be more aware of her body, and avoid any damage to her clothing in case she changed uncontrollably. At first, Stasya had been extremely resistant to the idea, and it had taken Kara three entire sessions to convince her to try it. Even after, she’d been very uncomfortable exposing herself in that way, and not at all convinced that it would help.

Now, she still wasn’t sure if it was helping, but she was used to it enough that she was somewhat comfortable. And she admitted that Kara was probably right about one thing: if and when they moved on to trying bigger changes, taking clothing out of the equation would just simplify things. Of course, she still remained clothed during the group sessions, and Kara hadn’t ever brought up the idea, but the possibility still lingered at the back of Stasya’s mind. She wasn’t sure if it was something that she would be able to do or not, especially knowing that the boys would all probably look at her. Just the thought made her scales come back.

Finishing dressing herself, Stasya stood up and dipped her head towards her coach. “Thank you,” she answered slowly, the words thick on her tongue. That was the other change that they had made during the last couple of sessions: to help speed up her learning and comprehension of English, Stasya was not allowed to use Russian at all when she was with Kara, and when she was with the other teens she was to use English as much as possible. It was a rule that Stasya was finding almost as difficult to follow as the no-clothing rule, but one that she was much more willing to stick to. The sooner she could communicate without the translator in her ear, the better.

Smiling in appreciation, Kara closed the notes on her tablet. “Похоже, это все на сегодня. Почему бы тебе не пойти и получить некоторый завтрак, и я буду видеть вас завтра. Я уверен, что Ирина и Авель ждут вас. (Looks like that's it for today. Why don't you go and get some breakfast, and I'll see you tomorrow. I'm sure Irina and Abel are waiting for you.)”

The comment reminded Stasya that she was indeed hungry. After the first couple of days, Kara had changed the schedule of their individual sessions so that they were the first thing that Stasya did in the “morning”, or at least what the researchers chose to define as morning. She hadn’t had a chance to eat anything yet. “Good bye,” she said as she let the session room.

Making her way down the hall to the cafeteria, she grabbed herself some cereal, taking note of who appeared to be awake and who was still waking up as she sat down next to Irina. “Hel-lo, Irina. Abel. Sleep, good?” Her brow furrowed again, sure that she hadn’t gotten that sentence correct.