| Rio POV |
"So…" I start, tilting my head. "That black stone Brendan gave you — still got it?"
Grovyle blinks slowly. The purple flame at the tip of her tail flickers, dimming like someone turned the gas down.
"No," she says. "It's gone."
"Gone gone? Like 'dropped it in a ravine,' or 'sold it to a suspicious Gengar' gone?"
"I don't know, at first it didn't do much," she says softly. "Then only a couple hours later i was on the ground with the stone nowhere to be seen."
Oh.
I nod, scratching the back of my head. "Figures. Nothing involving glowing rocks is ever simple. Was it something like an evolution item? Fire stone but vile?"
She doesn't laugh. Just offers a ghost of a shrug, the purple light dancing quietly in her wake.
"I didn't know what it was," she murmurs. "Only that… he said it would help. That I had to be stronger. Then he left when he noticed nothing was changing."
That one hits a little deeper than I expect.
"…Yeah," I mutter. "Sounds about right."
I get up, brushing dust off my fur. She watches me go, silently. Calm. Unmoving. Like she's already made peace with everything.
Lucky her.
[New Quest Unlocked: Missing Lead]
Objective:
Find Brendan and whoever supplied him with the Xenolith.
Optional Objective:
Snag another Xenolith for yourself.
Rewards:
+1000 EXP
+3 IV Points
+1 Rare Item
+1 Random Breathing style
Well, lucky me! Isn't that just perfect? It's not like I needed another reason to do this, but extra freebies are appreciated! And I get a Breathing style? meaning that Senior Brother Lucario will embark on his cultivation journey, or, I get cool VFX sword techniques, either way, I need a new sword...
Several scanners start whirling as I step out, back into the hall where the others are waiting.
May looks up immediately, juice pouch halfway to her mouth. Kirlia's right beside her, eyes narrowing slightly, already scanning me for signs of ghost fire possession or emotional instability. Again.
Oak, Rowan, and Birch?
All three look at me like I just stepped out of a haunted mansion carrying a cursed doll and humming nursery rhymes.
"…What?" I say.
No one answers.
Kirlia walks over and nudges my paw like I'm a stray Meowth she's reluctantly adopting back. "You smell like unstable evolution and regret," she mutters.
"You too," I shoot back. "Wait, I meant that affectionately."
"It's not contagious," I mutter "She's stable," I add, glancing at the group. "Seriously. Chill. She's weirdly calm. Makes me uncomfortable."
May raises an eyebrow. "So… she's not gonna melt the floor with X-energy?"
"I mean, I don't think so? She seemed more of a ghost type now, but I wouldn't rule the possibility out."
Birch scribbles something down. Probably something about alternate evolutions.
Oak still doesn't stop staring. Rowan stands behind a portable Light Screen.
"…You guys know I'm literally immune to this, right?" I wave a paw. "And also still the guy who saved Trishout from going full Godzilla last week?"
Kirlia pats my side supportively.
Then zaps my tail.
"Just making sure you're still you," she says sweetly.
I sigh.
"Well, then now that the creepy energy is out of the way, could someone here explain what all this Ultra space stuff is?" I turn towards Professor birch, pulling out the Beastite I got a while back.
Birch blinks.
Then slowly, very slowly, sets his coffee down like he just realized it's not nearly strong enough for this.
"Right... I did some research and apparently that is NOT a Z-stone."
Oak straightens his glasses. "That's a Beastite. A genuine Ultra Beast resonator, boosting all Z-energy activity in the immediate area, so it technically is a Z-stone, it can do the same work as one at least. And, unsurprisingly, they're not supposed to exist in this universe naturally due to their unstable nature."
"Well, I exist in this universe, and frankly I'm not supposed to either," I mutter.
Kirlia nods in agreement.
May deadpans, "We should start handing out membership cards at this point."
Birch pinches the bridge of his nose like it's all too much. "Okay. Short version: Ultra Space is a collection of alternate dimensions. Chaotic. Unstable. Constantly shifting. The creatures that live there — the Ultra Beasts — operate on entirely different biological rules. X-energy is believed to originate from there or from the rifts caused by careless interactions with it."
He gestures to the Beastite. "That stone? It's attuned to those energies. If it reacted to you, then either you're compatible…"
"Or?" I ask.
He looks like he'd rather not say it.
"...Or you're a walking tear in dimensional integrity."
I blink.
"I prefer 'interdimensional spice.'"
"Reality doesn't."
"I do," May says, sipping her juice. "Makes our problems seem smaller."
Oak sighs. "You're all going to break the known multiverse. I can feel it in my bones."
"Already broke it once," I mumble.
Kirlia zaps my tail again.
"OUCH! That one hurt! Do I have to get a ground typing to stop you from doing that?!"
And I get zapped again. Great this is my life now.
"If you want to know more about the ultra space and it's Pokémon, then you shout pay Professor Burnet a visit. She's the real expert on the relationship between the our universe and other dimensions."
"Then why isn't she here?" You would think an alien virus energy thingy would have drawn her attention...
Rowan chuckles under his breath, clearly enjoying my slow descent into electrotherapy conditioning.
"She's based in Alola," he says. "And very busy. Apparently there was some… incident involving time rifts, wormholes, and a flying mantis Pokémon that talks in riddles. Typical Tuesday stuff, really."
Oak nods solemnly like this is completely normal.
Birch, on the other hand, shrugs. "We did send her an invitation to the conference, but she's got a backlog of extradimensional nonsense already. Something about a Necrozma worship cult this week. Said she'd fit you in between interviews with Solgaleo."
"Oh great," I mutter. "So I'm just another bullet point on the universal 'Please Fix This' list."
Kirlia gently pats my side.
Then zaps me.
"…Okay, what was that one for?!"
"You're spiraling again," she says sweetly.
I sigh. "What? I'm not allowed to monologue anymore?. I just found out I'm basically a cosmic loophole with an interdimensional plague plague to take care of."
Rowan coughs politely. "If it helps, the scan also confirmed that your cursed energy does seem to repel X-energy. So you might actually be the only viable countermeasure we have."
May finally manages to catch the rampaging Rotom and stuff him into her bag in between a flurry of curses and slurs, we really should limit his access to the pokenet... "Ah yes, our ace in the hole is a sarcastic Lucario held together by trauma and protein bars."
"And suplexes!" I chime in.
She slurps hers louder. "Those too."
Kirlia floats up a bit, horn glowing, expression mildly pouty. "Then… we're going to Alola?"
Birch rubs the back of his head. "Eventually. First we'd like to stabilize the spread of X-energy before it infects anything else. Especially if there's more of those stones out there."
Oak flips a page in his clipboard. "And you, Rio, may want to start preparing for more exposure. If what we've seen so far is true, it's only going to get messier."
"Oh good," I deadpan. "I love mess. Mess is my entire aesthetic. My soul is basically a cluttered room with emotional damage and a few motivational posters."
Another zap, I swear I'm about to hunt down Groudon to use as a shield...
"Alright, alright, I'll go with the flow," I sigh. "But if we're heading into Ultra Space later, I'm packing snacks. And a Honedge."
May tilts her head. "Why a Honedge?"
"To peel fruits, why else?"
Word Count: 1331
Just finished Borderlands 2, Started playing 3, Anything I need to look out for?
MC: Nothing much, just that you're gay if you don't pick Moze.
Zane reminds me of my boy Mirage, so fuck your opinion :)