crouching_sin | [Video]

I'm not sure which is more alarming: the fact that it has that face, or the fact that it attacked you with that face.

It was biting a lot of things, honestly. Me, my Scyther, rocks... I have no idea why.

Where did it go?

I'm not sure. It ran off further away from Goldenrod, but I figured I should get this bite looked at.

I can see why.

Did you try to catch the thing, or did it just attack you?

[He's not sure why you'd want it, aside from the fact that it looks weird, but.]

Edited (Chi should not do tags at 3 in the morning) 2015-10-20 06:59 (UTC)

I did try to catch it, but it wouldn't stay in the ball.

Maybe it isn't a Pokemon at all, if that's the case. Perhaps a combination of that and bad luck.

Maybe, but if so I don't know what it could be.

And you say your Scyther couldn't stop it, either?

[He's been seeing the posts on the Network, and so far it doesn't seem like anyone has had any luck avoiding these things.]

No. There was little if any visible effect. Perhaps it's a new sort of type? Or maybe it's simply a dual type that I didn't recognize...

Either is possible. Though, if it was enraged, I doubt that force alone would be enough to stop it.

Probably. It did seem to resemble a Gengar in some way, so perhaps it can become insubstantial as well.

Maybe if you're lucky it won't decide it wants to come back for seconds.

[He says, as someone who hasn't run into one of these things yet but will very likely do so immediately after saying this.]

I can keep Legion on lookout. If it's anything like a Gengar it'll have a hard time contending with him.

Is this the only creature like this you have seen? ...not counting the very many displayed on the Network at the moment.

So far, but I don't doubt that there's more.

[Hm. Well now he's actually tempted to look outside to see if he can catch a glimpse of something, which he'll no doubt regret later.]

Only time will tell how long they hang around, I suppose.

Your valiant opponent looks very... impressive.

[Ash has a cut on his left cheek, but other than that he looks more amused than damaged.]

Indeed. What did you have the misfortune of encountering?

It was... I have trouble describing it. It was like a small Metagross grabbed a giant Caterpie, skinned it, and used it as a disguise by welding it to its flesh. Not the prettiest of sights.

Eugh. That sounds... disgusting. Though it seems like something that could be driven off with a liberal application of fire.

Funny you should say that. Dark Hound is a firm believer of purification by fire, especially when the creature to be purified has already gotten in a good hit or two.

Oh, good. Hopefully it won't come back.

Unlikely. But I'd bet it has cousins, and so does yours. Or... horrifying half-siblings, at the very least.

Ugh. Why now, though? This isn't normal, given the reactions I've seen on the network, and my Pokedex couldn't pull anything up.

Who knows? It's October. My fourth one here, and all of them have been strange at best. Maybe the month is cursed.

Is it? Hm. Interesting. I wonder why that is. What happened the last times?

Yamask possessions, creepy castle, two brand new criminal organizations. Can't get much more diverse.

Interesting. I guess we'll just have to see where this goes, won't we?

Maybe they'll end up outnumbering us after a few days, and then they'll eat us all and take over the region.

Sounds a like the Lockdown. If that happens I at least know where to start.

Is 'purification by fire' a good first step under those conditions?

Well, it doesn't generally hurt... as long as the thing's not resistant to fire.

I'm decent enough at remembering type weaknesses; I shouldn't make that kind of rookie mistake, unless one of those creatures has a particularly treacherous appearance.

It might, but I have no real idea. We'll have to experiment, I suppose.

Experimenting strategies on the fly against opponents who would think nothing of maiming me. I love that part.

[...He actually sounds sincere about that, somehow.]

At least it's interesting?

Everything is interesting, in this world. Misshapen monsters are unnecessary.

True, but at least they're things that haven't been documented before.

I'm sure people will get over the novelty quickly enough.

Probably. But the act of documenting them should be fun, at least.

It'll make for interesting stories to tell next month's newcomers, that's for certain.

True. It depends who shows up.

I can't think of anyone from my world who wouldn't appreciate the tale, or at least stare at me for a few seconds before declaring the whole story a lie.

Well, I know Loki would appreciate it, but I'm not sure who else might.

There has to be a potential audience for it. Even if they might not admit it in public.

Oh, of course. There's always a potential audience for everything. Hell, I've seen people livestreaming paint drying.

Edited 2015-11-03 23:15 (UTC)

...That's such a waste of bandwidth, time, and brain cells.

I agree, but people are stupid.

That sort of stupidity doesn't harm others, at least, but that's its only quality.

True. As long as it doesn't get in the way of what I need to do, I guess it doesn't matter.

How pragmatic. But who knows? Maybe one person watching paint dry at the wrong time will ruin your work.

And if that happens, there'll be hell to pay, so I'll deal with that hiccup when I come to it.

Don<t be too harsh, now. People desperate enough to watch paint dry are in enough pain as it is.

Well that's just the cutest damn unholy amalgamation I've ever seen.

Hence why I took the picture. It's better than some of the others I've seen.

What'd it even do? Doesn't exactly look out for blood.

It bites, apparently.

...Did...did it even have teeth?

It felt like it did, but I didn't exactly stick around to do a medical examination.

Well, I mean if--

[WHAM. From out of frame comes what appears to be a Blaziken's foot in black feathers, directly into Lancer's face.]

[Excuse him just a moment.]

[Um.]

What just happened?

LITTLE BUSY HANG ON A SECOND!

[In the resulting chaos, Naoya might see whatever this is bound and determined to beat the everloving shit out of Lancer.]

Do you... do you need help?

NO, EVERYTHING'S FINE

[An angry shiny Altaria chased off the bird...dog...thing, Lancer himself scratched up and disheveled when he picked up the Pokegear again.]

...the hell was that thing?

A very messed up Mightyena?

What, that wasn't a Blaziken?

[Yes.]

It... looked like a mix of both, maybe?

Glad you're finding some amusement out of this.

You have to find some humor in life.

Even when you're hurt?

Why not?

Did you get treated for your injury?

I went to the Pokemon Center, yes.

Glad to hear it. It wasn't poisonous, right?

I don't think so, but it's hard to tell.

Keep an eye out on if you start feeling odd. Even if they look harmless, there's no telling what these things are capable of.

I will. I wouldn't be surprised if they do carry some sort of disease. I'm sure this isn't normal.

Define "normal" here.

Normal and/or expected for this place.

Well... It is October.

I hear that stranger things than normal are normal for this place around this time.

That's Johto for you.

Hopefully it'll get sorted out by the end of the month.

And if not... we'll have more new Pokemon to study.

Like those hordes of Pokemon from last year, right?

I don't think I was here for that, but I imagine so.

I guess, if we think about how little we actually know about this world, it's not surprising to be surprised by strange Pokemon like this.

Probably. It just means that we have more to document.

Looking forward to it?

Edited 2015-11-04 22:52 (UTC)

Of course! I enjoy learning new things.

Maybe you'll be able to teach those Professors a thing or two then.

I don't doubt that. It's the matter of finding them that might be a problem.

Edited 2015-11-07 03:38 (UTC)

They don't seem to reliably travel in similar groups, do they?

No, they don't. It makes it more interesting though, I think.

More of a challenge, or more interesting for learning?

Why not both?

Fair enough. Good luck with it, then.

[Riku covers his mouth, snickering.]

...Okay, on one hand, at least it looks mostly like a Gengar. On the other hand, it looks a bit too happy.

Agreed. And while Gengar usually have smiles on their faces from what I've seen, it's not like... that.

Nah. Their smiles are the kind you'd expect in nightmares, with their glowing red eyes and their sick laughter. The Pokédex info on them's... pretty dark, honestly.

Oh, I know. I've got a Gastly, and I looked up the information on it first before I got one.

Good move. Still can't vouch for how much of it is true, but I'm hoping yours doesn't go around licking people at random.

That's... kinda a thing with Phantom.

I'll... make sure to keep that in mind.

I'd say to be careful about this guy, but... Man, how's it even behaving right now? I know most ghosts tend to be pranksters, but if it's part Oddish...

[Well, that changes things. Granted, none of the fusions he's encountered have been particularly docile.]

I figured it was some sort of a grass type. That's part of why I went to the Pokemon Center - I wanted to check for poison or something else. It ran off after it attacked me.

Edited 2015-11-07 17:56 (UTC)

Huh. Well, maybe it was scared. These things... don't seem all that stable. Then again, it's not like Pokémon have fused before.

I bet it's either a glitch, or some scientist had way too much time on their hands.

Maybe. I can't think how anyone would do this intentionally, though. Not this seamlessly, at least.

Hmm... Tough call. I remember something similar happening before, where a bunch of us got hit with mutations and wound up gaining superpowers, but that was different. I could see Team Rocket pulling a stunt like this, but you're right, and it probably wouldn't be this seamless without outside help.

Guess MISSINGNO.'s another option. Last time they came around, this whole place started glitching out.

MISSINGNO.? What's that?

Basically, a living glitch. Looks like a blob of messed up pixels. Tends to make the whole place wig out... One time everything became all pixelated, and this creepy music played on an endless loop.

Things got... weird.

... Interesting. That sounds like something I'd like to see.

Heh, in that case...

[Give him a second. He's digging through his archive posts.

After a few moments, he attaches a video, dated back several years.]

Nothing like visual evidence, right? Words can only say so much.

Hm. It's like when the Cathedral of Shadows program malfunctions, but worse, since it doesn't stay localized to itself.

Wait, what program are you talking about? Some kinda game? Virtual reality?

[He's an outsider, so this is news to him. Do pardon the puzzled expression while he rubs at his neck.]

Mm... I devised a way to turn certain creatures from a world bordering my own into data. I then figured out how to fuse two or more of those creatures into a new, more powerful creature using a program called the Cathedral of Shadows.

It... usually works, but as with all things it has a failure rate. Not a large one, but the possibility is still there. Sometimes you get... odd things.

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