Nah, add it if you think it's good enough. I'm probably just nitpicking.
Typechange Johto
- Thread starter E.I.G.
- Start date
-
- Tags
- pokemon sequel transformation
E.I.G.
Robo-Bird
- Pronouns
- It/They
It seems fine to me, works nicely for the type.
I guess the only possibility is to have it give multiple type options based on the Paradox pokemon in question.
Also the alternate option for the other S/V Legendary is now interesting me as a thing to exist as well.
Also the alternate option for the other S/V Legendary is now interesting me as a thing to exist as well.
Yeah, I had that thought as well, but I just can't think of what such an item would be. Miraidon Fuel or something?Turbine Fragment? Or something more general, like 'the Digitizer.' That would actually be a lot easier for uniting theme, cus you can just say 'Do the eyes look pixilated? It used the Digitizer.'
E.I.G.
Robo-Bird
- Pronouns
- It/They
I can see the issue, and the merit of that last option.
... I might just have to come up with a change to robot method, because I halfway wanted to use one before, and now it is a canon way for pokemon to be.
Yeah, now that I think about it, 'the Digitizer' seems something more likely to turn a Pokemon to a low-poly version of itself with the Normal type. Would actually love to see that, Pikachu-shaped Porygons and stuff.
It's worth remembering that the paradox pokemon's forms are echoes of commonplace appliances from their original time, like many pokemon are in the present influenced by the impact of modern day cities.
The robotic nature of paradox pokemon is, therefore, not really "mechanical" in the Cybertronian/Transformers open-up-a-maintenance-panel sense, but instead are "robotic" due to the metaphysical imprint of a robotic-dominant landscape of their distant future timeline.
How many generations of Tron bikes being commonplace appliances in that timeline for a pokemon to take on the form of one is a compelling question.
The robotic nature of paradox pokemon is, therefore, not really "mechanical" in the Cybertronian/Transformers open-up-a-maintenance-panel sense, but instead are "robotic" due to the metaphysical imprint of a robotic-dominant landscape of their distant future timeline.
How many generations of Tron bikes being commonplace appliances in that timeline for a pokemon to take on the form of one is a compelling question.
E.I.G.
Robo-Bird
- Pronouns
- It/They
That kind of happened quite a bit in DSS. The Box Administrator Porygon went for low-poly versions of quite a few things, and a couple of other low-poly pokemon existed there as well.
Is that explicitly stated? Because my first reaction is "why not both?"
In fact it is two flavors of "why not both", first the good old "why can't some be artificial pokemon?" and the other one "why would that stop them from being 'open-up-a-maintenance-panel sense'?", as both of those things seem like they are interesting takes.
A future natural pokemon that has openable insides that work with period tech seems fine to me, as well as a period artificial pokemon that is basically the same as natural ones.
Inspired by recent discussion.
Miraidon Tail Shedding
A relatively small piece of shed Miraidon skin from the tail will, if ingested by a Pokémon, confer upon that Pokémon the Steel or Electric typing until said skin fragment is fully digested. This typing is not random, and Pokémon of the same species will always become the same type. If the Pokémon is already a Steel- or Electric-type, then their other existing Type (if applicable) is overwritten with whichever Type they don't already have. The attendant physical transformations always seem to make the Pokémon look obviously artificial, often robotic.
Note that Miraidon tail sheddings are ferrous and frequently contain residual electric charge, and so most Pokémon may need significant cajoling and/or a very close bond with their Trainer before they consent to eating them.
Miraidon Tail Shedding
A relatively small piece of shed Miraidon skin from the tail will, if ingested by a Pokémon, confer upon that Pokémon the Steel or Electric typing until said skin fragment is fully digested. This typing is not random, and Pokémon of the same species will always become the same type. If the Pokémon is already a Steel- or Electric-type, then their other existing Type (if applicable) is overwritten with whichever Type they don't already have. The attendant physical transformations always seem to make the Pokémon look obviously artificial, often robotic.
Note that Miraidon tail sheddings are ferrous and frequently contain residual electric charge, and so most Pokémon may need significant cajoling and/or a very close bond with their Trainer before they consent to eating them.
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I'm not sure that there's any kind of canonical explanation for the specific forms, given the general feeling behind Paradox Pokémon is "time travel + Pokémon = Mysterious" with no real detailed information about them. But there's a huge feeling of "future must mean robotic" in the design. I certainly hope that Future Paradox Pokémon are evolved rather than built, but they could be seen either way.
Honestly, and I hate to say this because I do like the games, but it really feels like they got more than halfway through making Scarlet when someone said "wait, don't these games come in pairs? What do we do for other version? What's the opposite of Dinosaurs? Oh yeah, Robots!" Like, a lot of Miraidon's animations make very little sense for its biology, such as it "licking" people it likes despite no sign of a functioning tongue. Identical animations to Koraidon, who's motions make a lot more sense.
End-game Spoilers:
Honestly, and I hate to say this because I do like the games, but it really feels like they got more than halfway through making Scarlet when someone said "wait, don't these games come in pairs? What do we do for other version? What's the opposite of Dinosaurs? Oh yeah, Robots!" Like, a lot of Miraidon's animations make very little sense for its biology, such as it "licking" people it likes despite no sign of a functioning tongue. Identical animations to Koraidon, who's motions make a lot more sense.
End-game Spoilers:
There's also the ending of the game, involving the "Professor" going through the time machine, with the idea of it being a one-way trip. Makes perfect sense going to the ancient past where there's no way of recreating it… and not nearly as much when looking at Violet sending him to the future, where theoretically rebuilding the time machine should be even easier with more advanced technology.
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E.I.G.
Robo-Bird
- Pronouns
- It/They
That is a nice counterpart item.
I like the limitations there.
Hopefully we get more details eventually, even if the developers or anime people have to come up with them on the spot.
There is potential there, and I hope it isn't just pushed aside.
I hope things get properly expanded on, too. It just feels like Violet was an afterthought sometimes. A lot of the little details. Like the Scarlet Paradox names, which are more varied and creative, while the Violet ones are all "Iron [Thing]."
It's just frustrating, the whole story of the games is great, but Violet specifically just doesn't feel as integrated into it as Scarlet does.
It's just frustrating, the whole story of the games is great, but Violet specifically just doesn't feel as integrated into it as Scarlet does.
E.I.G.
Robo-Bird
- Pronouns
- It/They
Strangely enough I think I've seen more artwork in the Violet Paradox bot style than any sort of attempts at the more primal method.
So despite the simpler names the designs at least have taken off.
I'm pretty sure that it doesn't actually involve time travel, as much as theoretical what ifs manifestations. They are not future or past version of pokemon, they are paradoxical entities that only resemble other pokemon we know.
I mean, they can't even breed, and considering we already had pokemon from the distant past, as in fossil pokemon, they feel more like a filter overlay on already present pokemon- what would this look like if the world was robotic/primal?
I mean, they can't even breed, and considering we already had pokemon from the distant past, as in fossil pokemon, they feel more like a filter overlay on already present pokemon- what would this look like if the world was robotic/primal?
E.I.G.
Robo-Bird
- Pronouns
- It/They
I suppose that sounds possible as a way for it to be, although I admittedly do not have a Switch, let alone a copy of the new games.
It just seems like a slightly less fun option, and it isn't like pokemon hasn't had time travel before.
Points to keep in mind with paradox mon:
1. No breeding or evolving.
2. All of the dox Mon from a given version have the same ability.
3. Multiple instances of most of them can be found.
I suspect that they are affected by the phenomena that has drawn them into Paldea as we know it. I suspect these Mon have been significantly altered on some level by their trip through the time-space barriers, and that those who survive the trip are the ones who are able to adapt to channel the energies of the phenomena, but this comes at a cost to other things. So the overlay may also be due to selection bias in who survived the transition.
1. No breeding or evolving.
2. All of the dox Mon from a given version have the same ability.
3. Multiple instances of most of them can be found.
I suspect that they are affected by the phenomena that has drawn them into Paldea as we know it. I suspect these Mon have been significantly altered on some level by their trip through the time-space barriers, and that those who survive the trip are the ones who are able to adapt to channel the energies of the phenomena, but this comes at a cost to other things. So the overlay may also be due to selection bias in who survived the transition.
E.I.G.
Robo-Bird
- Pronouns
- It/They
That is possible, although we have seen pokemon that can't breed in games and have been shown with kids in the anime, so that isn't a perfect indicator.
It is an interesting space to speculate for the moment though.
Honestly, i think the 'no breeding' thing is more of a game mechanic than like. an actual ecology/biology thing. Cus like, Naganadel can't breed in-game either, but Poipole have to come from somewhere. Paradox mons seem very intentionally like Ultra Beasts 2.
Miraidon Shard
Happerry
Bat out of Hell
- Location
- Kanto
Miraidon Shard
A rare item caused as a side effect when a high powered Miraidon engages in battle and sheds a scale that ends up somehow trapping some of that Miraidon's vital energy within itself, these items are named due to their shining appearance, looking to the casual eye as if they were some sort of metal shard glowing with the energy they contain. While mostly harmless and merely cosmetic in day to day life, when used with an improperly buffered transportation system, or deliberately triggered with a properly designed transportation system, these items can be used as what is commonly known as a 'trade evolution catalyst' where they cause a robotic themed evolution upon the pokemon they have been tested with. Generally but not always pokemon will tend towards gaining either the Steel, Electric, or (less commonly) the Dragon types, but this is not a guarantee and is more of a trend then a hard rule.
WARNING : These Items are not Human Safe for use in teleportation systems. Do not carry these items in your own personal luggage when using teleportation utilizing transportation systems for travel. It is highly advised to also avoid using pokemon based teleportation systems for travel as well while carrying these items, and pokemon who know the move Teleport should avoid teleporting while carrying this item unless they are willing to risk triggering an evolutionary event. This Is A Critical Safety Warning. Innocent Whistling Sounds.
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E.I.G.
Robo-Bird
- Pronouns
- It/They
Nice use of transporter based evolution, I can tell that it is the perfect fit for this kind of change now that you've shown it here.
I like it, threadmark.
Earthen Contagion
E.I.G.
Robo-Bird
- Pronouns
- It/They
--- Earthen Contagion ---
"Okay, so we are going to need more of this stuff for later if we like it. Dad hasn't started his own work on it yet, and the way we got the first batch wasn't exactly a normal set of layers. Although I probably will use that again to grow more berries later," Alexa explained the next day, more for Lily than her own team or even William's team. Although the Witch looked a bit confused at that explanation. "The name we are going with is 'Earthen Contagion' unless we find another name for the stuff. It appears to be a thin watery clay, and from basic metaphysical scans it should result in a non-permanent change."
"You have a metaphysical scanner," Lily pointed out. "You are expecting to have enough unknown things to need a metaphysical scanner to try and work out durations."
"I have added a metaphysical scanner that is the same kind my dad was already using because he worked out the right settings to get that information," Alexa clarified. "Knowing if an unknown or poorly documented change is permanent or not is critical to asking for volunteers."
They had moved a good ways down the route before stopping again, and while they were a good way off the main path they still were close enough to the city that a handful of other trainers were watching them from other good camp spots nearby. Kingler and Rhydon were both in their typical altered forms, but Charizard, Bellossom, and Heracross were all in what counted as their natural forms. Bellossom was still Grass/Electric instead of just Grass, but she was also plant instead of lizard for the moment.
Alexa was back to human, which was a bit strange given she had expected to be a Vespikiln for at least a few more days given more layer testing to drag it out, and Lily had ended the spell that made the Witch into a Typhlosion for the moment as well. "So I want to start off with trying it on myself," Alexa admitted. "Hopefully if there is somewhere this existed before we can recognize the human form."
"Not that we can be sure that tells us the stuff existed before," Charizard pointed out, and Alexa flinched a bit at his changed voice from the recharged translator gem. "Mephagic and Toxin Contagion are both known things, but the stuff we found first doesn't actually list them together most of the time."
"Humans changed into pokemon with this sort of thing are always notable, but the stuff that changes them is usually rare and hard to tell apart from the kind of abilities such pokemon have," Lily pointed carefully. "Vipercury for example aren't really known as either of those. Vespikiln are about the only case I know of where it is obvious, and that's because they hunt with their Chitin Powder."
Alexa had suspected that about Vespikiln, but did not really want to think about it. "Well, it might be familiar enough to give an idea," she suggested. "Also it will be easier if I don't have to worry about changing myself, and either way that will be the result of trying it myself."
"It would be easier to avoid needing a translator of it if you do change," William pointed out.
"Layers," Alexa said along with Charizard and probably the rest of her team. The others at least said something at the same time. "If it doesn't work I can try it over another form."
The nearby trainers were now openly staring as Charizard got the Pokedex ready again, Kingler got ready to use Contagion Cure just in case, and Alexa got out the separated vials of the new substance. She didn't really want the audience, but also didn't have a good enough reason to tell them to them go away. She felt it shouldn't be too bad to have some other trainers watch as long as they didn't interfere.
The mostly-liquid clay felt cool as it touched Alexa's skin, but a different kind of cool to a Fire type change, and not what she had expected at all. Her body didn't become quite as thin and mobile as when her Vespikiln form uses Mercury Contagion, but she did lose form instantly and the result was still more liquid than solid. Her body was vaguely salamander shaped in the new default she reformed into, with a short snout, a relatively slender body, a good sized tail, and separated fingers and toes that move easily even without melting them into new shapes. The color of the clay part was the same dark tan as the Contagion, but with spots of water that was almost purple in color that pooled randomly on the surface.
The big issue though was that Alexa could feel every living thing around her, and in a way that was clearly different from herself at the moment. The ground beneath her felt more like a suggestion than something solid and stable. Her gloves now had brown and pale purple glowing symbols. "Um, Ground/Ghost?" she said to Charizard and looked up to see the reactions.
"Spectslurry," Lily said with a pale worried face. "A ghost story. Salamander shaped earth spirits that turn anyone they find into clay statues or worse. Sometimes the targets are living statues, sometimes they are stuck unable to move on their own until cured."
"Looks like that might be the ability," Charizard said without the worry and with concentration on the Pokedex. "Metaphysical scanner is reporting advanced paralysis, which isn't the worst but I think you said that is what that moss stuff does too?"
"Yeah," Alexa confirmed, reassured by the details. "Contagion Cure will probably work on it then, but we might need to test that."
"I hate how the number of Legendary adjacent pokemon I've met keeps going up," William said slowly. "Chesnaught, got more bad news," he added as he let out his Starter.
"What- Oh no not again," the armored pokemon sighed. "You found another one? Wasn't getting me back bad enough the first time? Goodra is still holding that over me."
"Okay, so you have been Ground typed before too?" Alexa had to ask at that. It was starting to look like William had more experience with type changes than he had thought. "Also it is me, this is what the new stuff does to humans."
"Do I need to worry about being made into a pot?" Chesnaught carefully asked. "Because the crazy clay ghost threatened to make me into, well I kind of hope it was just one pot."
"Would it help to compare to a wild Froslass?" Lily noted in a somewhat poor attempt at consolation. "Because they are compared fairly commonly."
"I do not think I like being compared to a Froslass at all," Alexa admitted. "Although this one doesn't seem too bad so far, and I'm not going to be fighting myself." Wild Froslass were the really dangerous ones. The kind that could and would leave you as a frozen statue.
"You aren't eating the life of everyone around you, so we've had worse before," Charizard pointed out. "We just need to not think too much about the whole Ghost type thing."
"Most Ghost types we've properly met were born like that," Kingler pointed out, but this was news to Alexa. "Admittedly we didn't actually 'properly meet' that many, but it is fairly common to be born Ghost typed."
"Three examples out of five is technically 'most'," Charizard huffed. "Still, a type is a type." Her Starter doesn't sound entirely confident. "How about we move onto the rest of us? So far it has only given the secondary type to humans without a primary. Well, maybe after you go over the details of this scan a bit more."
---
The results were reassuring in firmer way. Alexa could work out that the issues with long term Wisp's Breath weren't here. She wasn't going to get stuck as a Ghost type even if she used this form for days at a time. "Well, I think I will need a bit more than just instinct to make an illusion form with this one," she said as her Pokedex was transferred to William while she used the new Contagion on Charizard. Lily seemed to just be quietly observing at this point.
"You do at least have the Ghost type to help," William pointed out as he frowned at the device's display. "That one is good at them. You'd be surprised what Golurk can pull off."
"Although our team does need to go through an extra set of checks for official matches to use those. That means Golurk doesn't use it for actual battles much," Chesnaught clarified. "That is a big downside of your trainer having such an obvious ability to throw off a match."
Alexa smiled at that detail and after a moment spent getting William up to speed with the exact recording settings they wanted she moved on to using the substance on her Starter. She was being very careful to use Earthen Contagion that they had let set properly instead of any fresh from her changed body. Chesnaught's past encounter gave an idea what fresh might do instead, and that would only be a chance to see if Contagion Cure worked in that situation.
She dripped the new Contagion onto Charizard's shoulder. His body immediately began to convert to clay, but the coloration did not change so it was likely the others could not see it as easily. That held true until it hit his tail tip, where his flame solidified into an amusing looking clay recreation of flames. Thankfully Charizard moved to look at the earthen flames easily, and gave a sigh. His leather gloves and band changed markings to a mixture of either hills or sand dunes with the typical clouds.
"Huh, that's interesting," Charizard noted, and then the clay that made him up thinned notably into a runny slurry that lost a lot of the Charizard shape. Then he firmed up to be even more dry and solid than he started for a moment before he returned to the consistency and shape he had started with. "I think we found what your mom was looking for in an Acid Armor education."
"Okay, let me try that one," Bellossom requested. "I want to see if it works out as well as Mercury Contagion for that."
"I'm going to need layers for it," Rhydon complained. "This looks like a good option to learn Acid Armor better, and because of my natural types I'm going to need layers."
"Still don't know if it works on all of us yet either," Kingler pointed out. "Well, it probably works on Chesnaught, but it doesn't sound like she would like to try."
"Long as I can still move it will be better than last time, but I would rather not," the other Starter present complained. For some reason the Grass/Fighting type did not sound confident about being able to miss out.
"Can't change the colors, or at least not easily," Charizard commented, and Alexa looked back over to see her Starter was in a Charizard colored Rhydon shape. He clearly softened to return to a more normal shape. "Not going to bother with anything specific with this one."
"Seriously, let me try this one next," Bellossom reminded everyone. "Mercury Contagion is alright but this one looks less fluid all the time, and I'm interested in that."
"Let me turn back first," Charizard requested. "This isn't bad, but not my first choice for holding stuff either. My claws are softer than they look right now without concentration."
The main delay for that was showing William how to set up another recording session for the reversal change. "I don't think I fully realized that you had a full research Pokedex instead of just a data collector," William said after the brief explanation. "Mine can't even handle the memory modules this one needs, let alone the advanced sensors you are using."
"You would be surprised what you can pull off with them," Alexa noted with a laugh. "Dad had this a while before I got it for this League. Let's get both reversals then move on to the rest of the team that wants to try."
She was far enough from Charizard when he got splashed with Contagion Cure that she only really noticed his tail flame bursting into flames instead of clay again. Mostly because she had wanted to avoid getting splashed herself just yet, as she wanted a good scan of herself too and that would be ready after Charizard took the Pokedex again.
Then it was her turn. Kingler helped her with a splash that had her back to human, but Alexa found she stumbled a bit as that happened. "Wait, was I floating?" she asked and moved to change back again.
"Maybe? You were on the ground, but that doesn't mean you weren't making yourself float to stay up more easily," Charizard commented. "You did look more liquid than I ended up, so that form might have needed that."
It took Bellossom replying to remind her that Charizard could just speak now, mostly because she could not understand her Grass/Electric type. "Let me change again first," Alexa requested and quickly liquefied herself into fluid clay again. With a deliberate move she pushed herself off the ground. Then she began to flail in mid air as she could not quite control the movement yet and ended up quite a bit higher than she expected. Soon she found herself looking at the group while upside down in the air next to them.
"Not so easy is it?" Kingler laughed.
"No, it isn't," Alexa complained and allowed herself to simply splash against the ground. "Alright, Bellossom's turn," Alexa said as she reformed to cut off the slight laughter at the sight.
Bellossom was even harder to tell the change with than Charizard, with the texture and slight stiffness of the now Ground/Electric type pokemon's clay leaves being all that revealed the change. The green, orange, and yellow of the clay was an interesting set of colors. "Huh. This might be something that is useful for making nice colored pots," Bellossom noted, and then cringed. "Oh, sorry Chesnaught."
"I am coming to terms with this," William's Starter complained.
Bellossom then reshaped herself into a mimic of her reptile form. "Yeah, this is a nice- Oh the colors don't quite match," the currently clay pokemon sighed. Bellossom then started to try and shift where the colored patches of her body were.
"Yeah, this is alright but I think it will take more practice to get good at that with," Charizard agreed. "Who wants to go next?"
"Can I get back to my layered forms?" Heracross asked. "The clay stuff reminded me I'm a Bug type again, and I kind of want to go back to being a bat pokemon again." Alexa nodded, and then considered how she probably should turn back instead of any attempts to use another clay as this kind of clay.
---
"How exactly did I agree to try this?" Chesnaught questioned, with a glance to Alexa's very wary team, and then back at her own currently clay limbs. The Legendary group had been fairly against it given her past experience.
"I distinctly recall you saying you would ask the next Spectslurry we saw if you could be living clay to learn Acid Armor," Goodra firmly declared. The Dragon type had some mystical ability of his own, which had been key to turning her back from a clay statue. Something about how knowing Acid Armor helped with the metaphysical affects.
"I was being sarcastic," Chesnaught pointed out as she tried to not think about how her limbs were only moving the same way as normal because she wasn't trying to move them other ways. "William, help. This isn't as bad as before." It honestly wasn't too uncomfortable, as she could if anything move more than normal instead of less.
"Are you asking for help because it isn't bad?" her trainer questioned darkly.
"I'm asking for help because it is not bad, and that scares me greatly," Chesnaught confirmed, and very carefully let her legs soften. This didn't work quite right, and she ended up a large puddle of clay instead.
"You are not ready for only melting a bit of yourself at a time yet," Goodra said in a tone that implied this was something they would work on, which Chesnaught did not look forward to.
"This is not how I expected any of this to turn out," the Witch Lily sighed. "Alright, I think I will stick with you guys until you get to your next city. If only to have an idea of the kind of things that are being unleashed on the region." Chesnaught then realized a bit unhappily that the Witch did not in fact understand their conversation, and instead was just saying that about the melting thing.
"Well, an extra curse breaker sounds fine to have," Goodra commented with a glare to remind her why exactly the sarcastic comment had been serious enough to still count. She had said it to the Acid Armor expert after he had fixed her after all.
Chesnaught pulled herself back up again, which was not as bad as being inanimate despite feeling stranger. "Right. So, do I need to stay like this longer?" she asked.
"I say you don't," William strongly said mostly to Goodra. "Not unless you want to. Like how we aren't testing if Alexa can do the inanimate one on our team."
Chesnaught considered that. "I'm worried enough about things, I'll stick with this long enough to be able to just melt my legs," she allowed. "With how this League is going I half expect us to find an Acid Armor TM somewhere, and I want to be used to this sooner rather than later."
"Chesnaught, even I know they aren't going to be able to make one of those," Goodra complained. "That one is allowed to stay sarcastic."
"Anyone who could use one would already be able to just learn it, wouldn't they?" Rhydon questioned practically, if not for the fact that every one of Alexa's team had demonstrated the ability before Chesnaught's own attempt.
"That's the nice way of asking why that is even a topic?" Charizard clarified, and Chesnaught sighed. Alexa's team had not liked the idea of her trying given her unease.
"I commonly have my teammates agree to unlikely situations where they would learn Acid Armor from me," Goodra answered for her. "I'm honestly quite happy, if a bit confused, with finally getting to cash in a few of those."
---
[Author's Note]
... I may have a preferred type of transformation. Well, anyway there is another form for Alexa. In case it has not been apparent the human based changes have been somewhat horror/ghost story monster themed overall. Typically of the "monster that takes humans to become new monsters" variety, but with some added side implications as well.
"Okay, so we are going to need more of this stuff for later if we like it. Dad hasn't started his own work on it yet, and the way we got the first batch wasn't exactly a normal set of layers. Although I probably will use that again to grow more berries later," Alexa explained the next day, more for Lily than her own team or even William's team. Although the Witch looked a bit confused at that explanation. "The name we are going with is 'Earthen Contagion' unless we find another name for the stuff. It appears to be a thin watery clay, and from basic metaphysical scans it should result in a non-permanent change."
"You have a metaphysical scanner," Lily pointed out. "You are expecting to have enough unknown things to need a metaphysical scanner to try and work out durations."
"I have added a metaphysical scanner that is the same kind my dad was already using because he worked out the right settings to get that information," Alexa clarified. "Knowing if an unknown or poorly documented change is permanent or not is critical to asking for volunteers."
They had moved a good ways down the route before stopping again, and while they were a good way off the main path they still were close enough to the city that a handful of other trainers were watching them from other good camp spots nearby. Kingler and Rhydon were both in their typical altered forms, but Charizard, Bellossom, and Heracross were all in what counted as their natural forms. Bellossom was still Grass/Electric instead of just Grass, but she was also plant instead of lizard for the moment.
Alexa was back to human, which was a bit strange given she had expected to be a Vespikiln for at least a few more days given more layer testing to drag it out, and Lily had ended the spell that made the Witch into a Typhlosion for the moment as well. "So I want to start off with trying it on myself," Alexa admitted. "Hopefully if there is somewhere this existed before we can recognize the human form."
"Not that we can be sure that tells us the stuff existed before," Charizard pointed out, and Alexa flinched a bit at his changed voice from the recharged translator gem. "Mephagic and Toxin Contagion are both known things, but the stuff we found first doesn't actually list them together most of the time."
"Humans changed into pokemon with this sort of thing are always notable, but the stuff that changes them is usually rare and hard to tell apart from the kind of abilities such pokemon have," Lily pointed carefully. "Vipercury for example aren't really known as either of those. Vespikiln are about the only case I know of where it is obvious, and that's because they hunt with their Chitin Powder."
Alexa had suspected that about Vespikiln, but did not really want to think about it. "Well, it might be familiar enough to give an idea," she suggested. "Also it will be easier if I don't have to worry about changing myself, and either way that will be the result of trying it myself."
"It would be easier to avoid needing a translator of it if you do change," William pointed out.
"Layers," Alexa said along with Charizard and probably the rest of her team. The others at least said something at the same time. "If it doesn't work I can try it over another form."
The nearby trainers were now openly staring as Charizard got the Pokedex ready again, Kingler got ready to use Contagion Cure just in case, and Alexa got out the separated vials of the new substance. She didn't really want the audience, but also didn't have a good enough reason to tell them to them go away. She felt it shouldn't be too bad to have some other trainers watch as long as they didn't interfere.
The mostly-liquid clay felt cool as it touched Alexa's skin, but a different kind of cool to a Fire type change, and not what she had expected at all. Her body didn't become quite as thin and mobile as when her Vespikiln form uses Mercury Contagion, but she did lose form instantly and the result was still more liquid than solid. Her body was vaguely salamander shaped in the new default she reformed into, with a short snout, a relatively slender body, a good sized tail, and separated fingers and toes that move easily even without melting them into new shapes. The color of the clay part was the same dark tan as the Contagion, but with spots of water that was almost purple in color that pooled randomly on the surface.
The big issue though was that Alexa could feel every living thing around her, and in a way that was clearly different from herself at the moment. The ground beneath her felt more like a suggestion than something solid and stable. Her gloves now had brown and pale purple glowing symbols. "Um, Ground/Ghost?" she said to Charizard and looked up to see the reactions.
"Spectslurry," Lily said with a pale worried face. "A ghost story. Salamander shaped earth spirits that turn anyone they find into clay statues or worse. Sometimes the targets are living statues, sometimes they are stuck unable to move on their own until cured."
"Looks like that might be the ability," Charizard said without the worry and with concentration on the Pokedex. "Metaphysical scanner is reporting advanced paralysis, which isn't the worst but I think you said that is what that moss stuff does too?"
"Yeah," Alexa confirmed, reassured by the details. "Contagion Cure will probably work on it then, but we might need to test that."
"I hate how the number of Legendary adjacent pokemon I've met keeps going up," William said slowly. "Chesnaught, got more bad news," he added as he let out his Starter.
"What- Oh no not again," the armored pokemon sighed. "You found another one? Wasn't getting me back bad enough the first time? Goodra is still holding that over me."
"Okay, so you have been Ground typed before too?" Alexa had to ask at that. It was starting to look like William had more experience with type changes than he had thought. "Also it is me, this is what the new stuff does to humans."
"Do I need to worry about being made into a pot?" Chesnaught carefully asked. "Because the crazy clay ghost threatened to make me into, well I kind of hope it was just one pot."
"Would it help to compare to a wild Froslass?" Lily noted in a somewhat poor attempt at consolation. "Because they are compared fairly commonly."
"I do not think I like being compared to a Froslass at all," Alexa admitted. "Although this one doesn't seem too bad so far, and I'm not going to be fighting myself." Wild Froslass were the really dangerous ones. The kind that could and would leave you as a frozen statue.
"You aren't eating the life of everyone around you, so we've had worse before," Charizard pointed out. "We just need to not think too much about the whole Ghost type thing."
"Most Ghost types we've properly met were born like that," Kingler pointed out, but this was news to Alexa. "Admittedly we didn't actually 'properly meet' that many, but it is fairly common to be born Ghost typed."
"Three examples out of five is technically 'most'," Charizard huffed. "Still, a type is a type." Her Starter doesn't sound entirely confident. "How about we move onto the rest of us? So far it has only given the secondary type to humans without a primary. Well, maybe after you go over the details of this scan a bit more."
---
The results were reassuring in firmer way. Alexa could work out that the issues with long term Wisp's Breath weren't here. She wasn't going to get stuck as a Ghost type even if she used this form for days at a time. "Well, I think I will need a bit more than just instinct to make an illusion form with this one," she said as her Pokedex was transferred to William while she used the new Contagion on Charizard. Lily seemed to just be quietly observing at this point.
"You do at least have the Ghost type to help," William pointed out as he frowned at the device's display. "That one is good at them. You'd be surprised what Golurk can pull off."
"Although our team does need to go through an extra set of checks for official matches to use those. That means Golurk doesn't use it for actual battles much," Chesnaught clarified. "That is a big downside of your trainer having such an obvious ability to throw off a match."
Alexa smiled at that detail and after a moment spent getting William up to speed with the exact recording settings they wanted she moved on to using the substance on her Starter. She was being very careful to use Earthen Contagion that they had let set properly instead of any fresh from her changed body. Chesnaught's past encounter gave an idea what fresh might do instead, and that would only be a chance to see if Contagion Cure worked in that situation.
She dripped the new Contagion onto Charizard's shoulder. His body immediately began to convert to clay, but the coloration did not change so it was likely the others could not see it as easily. That held true until it hit his tail tip, where his flame solidified into an amusing looking clay recreation of flames. Thankfully Charizard moved to look at the earthen flames easily, and gave a sigh. His leather gloves and band changed markings to a mixture of either hills or sand dunes with the typical clouds.
"Huh, that's interesting," Charizard noted, and then the clay that made him up thinned notably into a runny slurry that lost a lot of the Charizard shape. Then he firmed up to be even more dry and solid than he started for a moment before he returned to the consistency and shape he had started with. "I think we found what your mom was looking for in an Acid Armor education."
"Okay, let me try that one," Bellossom requested. "I want to see if it works out as well as Mercury Contagion for that."
"I'm going to need layers for it," Rhydon complained. "This looks like a good option to learn Acid Armor better, and because of my natural types I'm going to need layers."
"Still don't know if it works on all of us yet either," Kingler pointed out. "Well, it probably works on Chesnaught, but it doesn't sound like she would like to try."
"Long as I can still move it will be better than last time, but I would rather not," the other Starter present complained. For some reason the Grass/Fighting type did not sound confident about being able to miss out.
"Can't change the colors, or at least not easily," Charizard commented, and Alexa looked back over to see her Starter was in a Charizard colored Rhydon shape. He clearly softened to return to a more normal shape. "Not going to bother with anything specific with this one."
"Seriously, let me try this one next," Bellossom reminded everyone. "Mercury Contagion is alright but this one looks less fluid all the time, and I'm interested in that."
"Let me turn back first," Charizard requested. "This isn't bad, but not my first choice for holding stuff either. My claws are softer than they look right now without concentration."
The main delay for that was showing William how to set up another recording session for the reversal change. "I don't think I fully realized that you had a full research Pokedex instead of just a data collector," William said after the brief explanation. "Mine can't even handle the memory modules this one needs, let alone the advanced sensors you are using."
"You would be surprised what you can pull off with them," Alexa noted with a laugh. "Dad had this a while before I got it for this League. Let's get both reversals then move on to the rest of the team that wants to try."
She was far enough from Charizard when he got splashed with Contagion Cure that she only really noticed his tail flame bursting into flames instead of clay again. Mostly because she had wanted to avoid getting splashed herself just yet, as she wanted a good scan of herself too and that would be ready after Charizard took the Pokedex again.
Then it was her turn. Kingler helped her with a splash that had her back to human, but Alexa found she stumbled a bit as that happened. "Wait, was I floating?" she asked and moved to change back again.
"Maybe? You were on the ground, but that doesn't mean you weren't making yourself float to stay up more easily," Charizard commented. "You did look more liquid than I ended up, so that form might have needed that."
It took Bellossom replying to remind her that Charizard could just speak now, mostly because she could not understand her Grass/Electric type. "Let me change again first," Alexa requested and quickly liquefied herself into fluid clay again. With a deliberate move she pushed herself off the ground. Then she began to flail in mid air as she could not quite control the movement yet and ended up quite a bit higher than she expected. Soon she found herself looking at the group while upside down in the air next to them.
"Not so easy is it?" Kingler laughed.
"No, it isn't," Alexa complained and allowed herself to simply splash against the ground. "Alright, Bellossom's turn," Alexa said as she reformed to cut off the slight laughter at the sight.
Bellossom was even harder to tell the change with than Charizard, with the texture and slight stiffness of the now Ground/Electric type pokemon's clay leaves being all that revealed the change. The green, orange, and yellow of the clay was an interesting set of colors. "Huh. This might be something that is useful for making nice colored pots," Bellossom noted, and then cringed. "Oh, sorry Chesnaught."
"I am coming to terms with this," William's Starter complained.
Bellossom then reshaped herself into a mimic of her reptile form. "Yeah, this is a nice- Oh the colors don't quite match," the currently clay pokemon sighed. Bellossom then started to try and shift where the colored patches of her body were.
"Yeah, this is alright but I think it will take more practice to get good at that with," Charizard agreed. "Who wants to go next?"
"Can I get back to my layered forms?" Heracross asked. "The clay stuff reminded me I'm a Bug type again, and I kind of want to go back to being a bat pokemon again." Alexa nodded, and then considered how she probably should turn back instead of any attempts to use another clay as this kind of clay.
---
"How exactly did I agree to try this?" Chesnaught questioned, with a glance to Alexa's very wary team, and then back at her own currently clay limbs. The Legendary group had been fairly against it given her past experience.
"I distinctly recall you saying you would ask the next Spectslurry we saw if you could be living clay to learn Acid Armor," Goodra firmly declared. The Dragon type had some mystical ability of his own, which had been key to turning her back from a clay statue. Something about how knowing Acid Armor helped with the metaphysical affects.
"I was being sarcastic," Chesnaught pointed out as she tried to not think about how her limbs were only moving the same way as normal because she wasn't trying to move them other ways. "William, help. This isn't as bad as before." It honestly wasn't too uncomfortable, as she could if anything move more than normal instead of less.
"Are you asking for help because it isn't bad?" her trainer questioned darkly.
"I'm asking for help because it is not bad, and that scares me greatly," Chesnaught confirmed, and very carefully let her legs soften. This didn't work quite right, and she ended up a large puddle of clay instead.
"You are not ready for only melting a bit of yourself at a time yet," Goodra said in a tone that implied this was something they would work on, which Chesnaught did not look forward to.
"This is not how I expected any of this to turn out," the Witch Lily sighed. "Alright, I think I will stick with you guys until you get to your next city. If only to have an idea of the kind of things that are being unleashed on the region." Chesnaught then realized a bit unhappily that the Witch did not in fact understand their conversation, and instead was just saying that about the melting thing.
"Well, an extra curse breaker sounds fine to have," Goodra commented with a glare to remind her why exactly the sarcastic comment had been serious enough to still count. She had said it to the Acid Armor expert after he had fixed her after all.
Chesnaught pulled herself back up again, which was not as bad as being inanimate despite feeling stranger. "Right. So, do I need to stay like this longer?" she asked.
"I say you don't," William strongly said mostly to Goodra. "Not unless you want to. Like how we aren't testing if Alexa can do the inanimate one on our team."
Chesnaught considered that. "I'm worried enough about things, I'll stick with this long enough to be able to just melt my legs," she allowed. "With how this League is going I half expect us to find an Acid Armor TM somewhere, and I want to be used to this sooner rather than later."
"Chesnaught, even I know they aren't going to be able to make one of those," Goodra complained. "That one is allowed to stay sarcastic."
"Anyone who could use one would already be able to just learn it, wouldn't they?" Rhydon questioned practically, if not for the fact that every one of Alexa's team had demonstrated the ability before Chesnaught's own attempt.
"That's the nice way of asking why that is even a topic?" Charizard clarified, and Chesnaught sighed. Alexa's team had not liked the idea of her trying given her unease.
"I commonly have my teammates agree to unlikely situations where they would learn Acid Armor from me," Goodra answered for her. "I'm honestly quite happy, if a bit confused, with finally getting to cash in a few of those."
---
[Author's Note]
... I may have a preferred type of transformation. Well, anyway there is another form for Alexa. In case it has not been apparent the human based changes have been somewhat horror/ghost story monster themed overall. Typically of the "monster that takes humans to become new monsters" variety, but with some added side implications as well.
- Location
- Alabama
Flux Steel, a mysterious alloy left behind in areas Dialga has appeared. Since it's time-aligned it can alter one to either a more futuristic or retrospective form, depending on which charge it has. Using it is more difficult given the energy doesn't seep out. You need a machine to extract the energy. Or just break it somehow, which is much harder. May or not be a useful item for making resurrection machine parts.
E.I.G.
Robo-Bird
- Pronouns
- It/They
Oh that is a nice one. A combination of the Steel type and Time theme of the Legendary pokemon to make a mechanical change as a possible end result.
Definitely getting added to the list.
E.I.G.
Robo-Bird
- Pronouns
- It/They
Special Legendary rage-modes are something I hope is keep stable instead of getting constant new methods. I know they already have both Primal and Origin so far as alternates that have been used like that, but the latter made the most sense for Giratina as just a limitation of universes, and the former worked well as the rage-mode. That is one thing I've heard about Legends Arceus that I am somewhat disappointed by.
Primal Reversion is a bit interesting, since Kyogre and Groundon both have it too. Makes me wonder if that bit of info will ever reappear in Pokemon games.
It is nice to see so many different takes on powerups for pokemon, but them being one region and then gone is a touch annoying.
A Technical Machine, no. Given this is in the same world as DSS, an Adaption Machine should be showing up soon, however.
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