A Backwards Grin (Pokemon) (Mawile SI)
- Thread starter Flairina
- Start date
PaarSiivOnikaan
Resting on a pile of books
- Location
- Germany
I think she is trying out if people can understand her, with not much success.
There is something important to consider: we know that she would be considered valuable, but does she?
There is also the possibility that her (Dark? Fairy?) nature is exacerbating an existing personality trait, or flat out adding new ones.
I imagine if Mawile had a self-defeating personality as a human, warped by pokemon instincts, it could result in how we saw her reject the very thing she has been seeking this whole time.
Remember, she was willing to deal with Paul, if only briefly, in the name of her goal, and now she can't stomach the reward she sought?
I imagine if Mawile had a self-defeating personality as a human, warped by pokemon instincts, it could result in how we saw her reject the very thing she has been seeking this whole time.
Remember, she was willing to deal with Paul, if only briefly, in the name of her goal, and now she can't stomach the reward she sought?
- Location
- USA
Flairina
Least Omnipotent Goddess
- Location
- The next infinity over
...I uh... read that as an encouragement to eat children at first.
Mawile!me isn't having a lot of luck just in general, honestly. But maybe that will change sometime soon...?
There is a distinct possibility. I'd say that I'm the kind of person who, so long as I know how to move forward on an issue, tends to stay focused on it until it's resolved — but if I find myself roadblocked for long enough, or lose sight of said way forward, I either end up letting that issue languish for far too long, agonizing over it all the while, or completely fall apart.
...as this fic's update schedule rather neatly demonstrates. ^^;
Mawile!me already seems to be stuck going on a journey, whether I like it or not.
I mean, if Mawile!me does happen to encounter Team Rocket, I will at least be fairly sure that Ash and co are in the vicinity, so I wouldn't exactly say no to running into them.
Interesting thought! However...
...yeeeeeah, sign language would likely be even harder to figure out than human speech for a Mawile, and far less useful in most of the situations one would want one or the other. Not to mention, even ignoring the above, it's doubtful Mawile!me's hands are dexterous enough for something requiring as much fine articulation as sign language — I did mention them kind of hurting after writing so much last night, after all.
What?! No, not now! I haven't even seen him in fic again yet! Σ(っ °Д °; )っ
Those are high compliments indeed. (*^_^*) Thank you very much for gracing my thread with them!
Hey, I already arguably embraced that! I just want more options available to me, because as seen in this chapter, cuteness on its own is by no means foolproof!
Wouldn't expect you to remember her; she was only briefly mentioned in the AN of the last interlude. As I said, "formerly exiled from the narrative".
A proposition Mawile!me may very well consider, should that Sneasel do something like this again.
...that would be an awful hard sell, given none of them seem willing to even let me close. ^^;
Astute observation. Won't give specifics, but you aren't wrong...
Glad you like her! Mawile!me is honestly of similar split opinions at the moment, so we think similarly.
Not gonna give specifics of Mawile!me's "level" or the like, but it bears repeating/reminding that strength is more relative in the world of the show than that of the games. Free of the constraints of turn based combat, accuracy ratings, or levels of acceptable force, fighting with the right strategy can be way, way more important than one's technical "power level".
Erm, Mawile!me isn't trying to talk to anyone right now — I'd like to be able to, but at the moment I just need food. My saying "Hi" at the food stand was just to get attention, and was spoken in normal Poke-speech — "human" speech by a Pokemon will be signified in this story by tildes (~) around the words.
Also, I was less worried about being kicked out of the center so much as kicked out of the city, because then I can't actually wait anywhere that I know that Ash and company will be. Which was the whole point of waiting here to begin with.
To wit:
Getting myself "employed" basically traps me in one place, and means basically just making peace with the whole "stuck as a Mawile" thing. Mawile!me only even went to the Center in the first place to foist Chimchar off on the nurses, and given the amount of "interest" I accidentally generated while there, combined with the assumed possibilities postulated above, I'm not particularly keen on returning at the moment.
Won't deny that's possible, but, reward? "Reject what I was seeking"? The goal with Paul was initially "bear this until he reaches a city so I don't just go wandering aimlessly back into the wilderness", and changed to "meet up with Ash at the nearest gym so I can hitch a ride to the nearest legendary encounter" as soon as I stole Paul's map (dex) and got away from him. Jubilife was always just a waypoint, and while the Pokemon Center is likely gonna look real tempting again come nightfall, getting access to its amenities wasn't at all the actual purpose of going there — bear in mind, had the city turned out to actually have a gym, Mawile!me's basic plan was to camp out near the doors and watch for anyone going in until the person I was waiting for (Ash) showed up.
Thank you for your detailed feedback. I'm glad you've been enjoying the story, if not so much the more recent bits. Most of the problems you've pointed out in regards to them are ones I'm already fully aware of — hell, they're a good portion of why this chapter (and essentially everything since Chapter 13 for that matter) took forever to come out in the first place. They've been pointed out before, and even had they not been, I assure you, I've been crushingly aware of the issues with my current plan long before I released this. I just haven't been able to figure out a better way to have events both advance in a way that will still let the long-term plot make sense, and fit Mawile!me's personality/intentions, so I ran with it anyways.
...that being said, I find I can't help but agree with many of the concerns that have been leveled at this fic of late, yours included. This specific "day" of the story was always where my planning grew somewhat weak, and I get the feeling that in my desire to simply release something, I may have ultimately walked the plot and narrative down the wrong path, which I've ultimately spent the last five days feeling rather miserable about. Much as I'd hate to do so after I've already released the latest chapter (especially considering half the point of doing so was just to get me to stop editing it to here and back/allow me to move forward), I'm considering rewriting it. Maybe part of 16, too. I'm not actually committing to that at this moment, but the thought has been weighing rather heavily on my mind of late. X﹏X
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chrisleech
The Finder of Things Left Behind
- Location
- Jacksonville, Florida
I think that you wouldn't actually want to be on Ash's team. The real person that you want to be caught by is Brock. The same access to Legendary encounters(at least for the series), a great cook, and he won't force you to battle all the time.
Or just not be captured at all. I mean, it wouldn't be the first time that they pretty much just put up with a tagalong. The Jigglypuff was notable for being a bit of a menace, and generally disliked, but they still probably would have fed it if it had asked...
Edifier
Trusted within thoughts.
- Location
- Court of Moon Wizards
Has it been established that the world looks like the cartoon... or is that quest doomed to failure by the reality of the world looking different and the inability to recognize due to that?
I suppose the trusty Pikachu saves the plan.
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Pretty much. I mean, they have already met Ash and his Team. Like, maybe it was a completely different person, there wasn't all that much time to examine things and it was not exactly the calmest of moments, but it certainly seemed as such. It is maybe possible that she failed to recall the face, and should there be another encounter, and Ash were wearing something other than his standard outfit, that he might go unrecognised, but that would require that Ash change his outfit. Like, sure, Ash has changed his outfit a lot more than some fictional characters, but, well... not exactly a large risk...
Burned_Cookie
Very tired girl.
- Location
- Plato´s cave.
- Pronouns
- She/Her/It/Its
The real risk of becoming his mon are the never ending arcs about friendship and love.
This is great, but it could use more Tinkaton 
At least have the dignity to declare the story officially dead instead of teasing us with impossibilities!
At least have the dignity to declare the story officially dead instead of teasing us with impossibilities!
What does this even mean? She JUST posted a chapter, the story isn't dead. Just because she's thinking of rewriting some chapters because she didn't like them as much as she thought doesn't mean that the story is ending. Nothing is impossible unless you say it's impossible, and when you say it is impossible you've lost hope. Have some trust in the writer!
Flairina
Least Omnipotent Goddess
- Location
- The next infinity over
At least have the dignity to declare the story officially dead instead of teasing us with impossibilities!
...it's not? I was only talking about Chapters 16 and 17, if you read closer. Thankfully, with some help from some friends to pull me back together, I've managed to retool my plans for the rest of the Jubilife arc into something that feels considerably more streamlined, without requiring rewriting anything (well, bar some stuff I'd already written in advance for future chapters, but nothing I'd already released). As such, Chapters 16 and 17 will likely be remaining as is, and hopefully the ones to come will feel considerably less "ambling" than the last two evidently did.
Evonix
Aspiring Lovecraft antagonist.
- Location
- Canada to 2 sigmas
What's this a crossover with?
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Oh, it isn't, really. This is shitpost on that other site grown out of control. While I'm here, I forgot to go back and answer this:
I have no idea. Probably not! My original idea for Missy's arc was a meditation on powerlessness and childhood, as she was stuck in increasingly supporting roles; she grew, but the stakes and the competition grew faster. Frustration with herself would war with frustration with others for being dense idiots who refused to learn their own, emotional, lessons to her satisfaction. Like everyone else, she struggles to be a good person, patient and forbearing, and the story ends when she chooses her moment to act, her moment to abandon patience and kindness for the sake of justice. This involves evolving on purpose and turning herself over to Lambert for the power boost necessary to tear his operation to pieces from within, eventually telekinetically trapping him in his own dismantled desk as if it were a coffin and teleporting him to the graveyard of all the pokemon his operation has killed over the years. She's the one who rescues the Legendary at the heart of the story's premise, and of course, the human dinguses are the ones who mess it all up at the very end to satisfy the demands of plot. On the run, they'd be better served by a criminal Kadabra who can act effectively in the short term.
I had a lot of ideas for how to continue to initial story, but the details hinged on watching enough of the show to get the details right. Flairina was right that the GTS doesn't appear in the anime. That's one of the few things I checked on the wiki (that and the name of the closest Fisherman with six magikarp) before writing it. And yeah, I'm never watching that show again, sorry.
Evonix
Aspiring Lovecraft antagonist.
- Location
- Canada to 2 sigmas
Don't watch the show, make shit up, call it AU if anyone tries to call you out on it.
Aranfan
Team Plasma Grunt
Oof, poor flairwile. She really needs to get over her fear of the pokecenter so she can get another notepad and set up a translation service or something so she can buy that travel pack.
Edit: nvm, just saw the post explaining. She should still get a notepad tho.
Edit: nvm, just saw the post explaining. She should still get a notepad tho.
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- Location
- Colorado, USA
- Pronouns
- They/Them/Comrade
On the topic of meeting up with Ash, she should be able to just go to the pokecenter and get them to send him a message? One of their jobs is helping lost pokemon find their trainers, and while this isn't exactly that, it should be close enough for government work. XD
pingas plight
-Most cunning scientific fuck-up in all of Mobius
YOINK!
Scurries like a gremlin back to Robotropolis to dine like royalty.
- Location
- Oregon, USA
*The Wild Patron Fled*
Dang it! I thought that was supposed to make them less likely to flee!
The safari zone mechanic is way too complicated!
Winged One
Not the Simurgh
- Location
- definitely the ground
- Pronouns
- They/Them/It
Because that didn't bite Flairwhile in the ass the last time....I uh... read that as an encouragement to eat children at first.
Also, murder is extra-wrong when you do it to children. Forgot Flair wasn't a normal person for a second there.
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Omake: Interrobang (Pokenya + Hyphen X-over)
AN: Crossover with my own fic, Pokenya, and Hyphen within the Backslash continuum.
Interrobang 1
In the depths outside of space and time where eldritch gods lay dead, dreaming their dead dreams, a pair of legendary beings sneeze in their sleep crash a universe.
---
"Again!" Z yelled, annoyed at the error message on display. "What is going on?"
"Looks like Palkia and Dialga wanted to add in some more into our group," J piped up, pulling up the ?????????? stat sheet that froze everything.
"Why are they so concerned about this group that they keep giving it more to work with?" M asked.
"I don't care!" Z yelled. "Just find out what they are supposed to be! F and D, get ready to install whatever module we need for them."
"Found it!" H said. He looked it over, visibly wincing. "Woo boy, is it a doozy."
"Auch," B said in agreement. "It seems to be a multilayered Marshadow. It looks like they're sapient; what do we do about that?"
"We already have a whole section of code dedicated to sapient Pokemon," C said. "We can utilize that module and build up the rest from there within the shell of a Marshadow sub-module."
"Damn Palkia and Dialga," Z muttered. "I bet those pompous bastards over in AN-1M-3 never have to deal with this crap. Well, everyone, let's get to work! I want this up and running now!"
"'AYE!'"
---
I was no longer where I was supposed to be. I was piled up against a wall with Ginger and several random pokémon in what appeared to be a hotel room.
"What the fuck?" the harsh tone of a young girl exclaimed as she scrambled off a nearby bed.
Slowly, I detangled myself from the pile, cooly meeting the furious glare of the red-clad teenager in front of me.
"Who the fuck are you?" she shouted, fists raised as if ready to personally throw hands. "What the fuck are you doing barging into our room like that?"
I gave the foul mouthed girl a glare, though my mask seemed to reduce the effectiveness of the sentiment. "Language, young lady," I said. I didn't put up with such crass language in my classroom for over a century, I wasn't going to let a young girl use such language casually here either. "My name is Tanya, and I did not barge into your room."
"Oh? And what pray tell do you fucking call that?" The girl asked, pointing to where Ginger was getting up from some other pokémon I had not seen before.
I considered the question. The transition had been rather abrupt, but I'd seen enough strangeness in my many lifetimes to make a reasonable assumption. "If I was to hazard a guess... an interdimensional transference coinciding with a rather unfortunate timing of excitement mixed with exasperation."
She stared at me, fury momentarily replaced with a baffled squint. "What?"
"Me and Ginger got transported here against our will while we were running."
"And where did you get transported from?" Another girl asked, her voice sounding...peculiar. I ignored her and her question for the moment and strode over to the window. Looking into the skyscape, a very different, very unfamiliar city greeted me.
"I would say a different world is most likely, but Pewter City specifically." I answered, still examining the buildings. Aside from the Pokecenters and Pokemarts, none of the visible signage or storefronts seemed recognizable, and I'm sure I would have remembered a city containing the two towers that dominated the skyline.
"Pewter City? You're from Kanto?" The crude girl asked.
"Yes, but I will need to make a call to see if it is the same one I was just in," I said, turning around and getting a better look at who was in the room. The angry one in red was obviously the crude one. The other one stiffened up as I looked her over. She had green hair and red eyes, and was wrapped up entirely in towels like some sort of terry cotton mummy.
Something about her was setting my senses on edge, and not just my aesthetic ones.
The girl in red glared at me again. "Well, shorty, feel free to get the hell out of our room and make your call."
"Astra, she's in the same boat we were in not long ago. The same as I still am!" Another spoke up, mixed in with the distinctive sound of a pokémon saying their own name. Looking at the one who spoke, I saw it was some sort of yellow doll looking pokémon with hakama looking legs and a massive black ponytail. A ponytail that looked like it was grinning at me.
"Oh, you also crossed dimensions?" I asked.
The doll turned towards me with wide eyes. "You can understand me?"
"Huh?" The rude girl asked, looking between me and the doll-like pokemon. "Who are you talking to?"
"Her, obviously," I said, rolling my eyes. "Maybe if you cleaned out your ears and listened more than you swore you could learn to understand the basics of a civil conversation."
"Why you little," the girl got up, looking rather angry. Hmm, she seemed to have a rather short temper.
"May! No!" The other girl said, standing up and grabbing the other girl's shoulder to stop her.
She said it, but her lips did not match the movements. Looking closer, her stiffening again under my gaze, I noticed a few other details I hadn't before. Like how I hadn't noticed her face's coloration, or lack thereof. Or that her hair was entirely in front of her face, but not blocking her eyes in a manner human hair does not grow. Or that her hands moved like she was wearing mittens.
Clever. Very clever. Layering a field to be less noticeable on top of an illusion. Which meant... she was also a pokémon. One that clearly needed help if I was able to see through her disguise within half a minute while distracted. Though, maybe it was unfair of anyone to expect them to account for my centuries of experience with zero warning.
"Might I suggest a mask?" I asked.
"You calling me ugly now?" The rude girl, May, snarled, taking another step towards me.
"Not you," I said, brushing aside the threat. "Astra, was it? Your illusion is good, but the face is a rather hard thing to get right. Using a mask would greatly decrease the complexity needed if you're affecting your entire face and not just using a little bit as a form of makeup."
"Huh? The hell are you- illusions?" May asked, turning to Astra, who was wide eyed and opened mouthed.
"Wh—I—how?" she stammered, shocked.
"Hey, hang on now-" the doll spoke up.
"The telepathy was the first clue that something was unusual about you," I answered, assuming my teaching posture. "That, combined with your mouth not syncing up with the words I was hearing made me take a closer look. I realized I hadn't taken in your appearance like I normally would, which told me you had layered on a SEP field around yourself, but those only work until someone focuses on you specifically. And once I did, I noticed how your hair was in front of your face in a way human bangs do not hang, you are far too pale even for someone who has albinism, and you move your hand as though you are wearing a mitten."
"Wait, what?" May asked, looking between the two of us. "Astra, what the hell is she talking about?"
Astra had gone several shades paler, an impressive feat considering she was already stark-white to begin with, and backed away, looking scared. The doll Pokemon just sighed and put its hands over its face.
Hmm, I seemed to have made a mistake. "You have been sharing a room with her and never noticed your friend?" I asked May, shaking my head. "What a horrible roommate you must be."
"Hey!" she yelled, looking more offended at that than my ostensible break-in. "I'm not a horrible roommate! Tell her Astra! I'm great!"
Astra declined to comment, preferring to shake like a leaf in a storm.
"Prove it," I say, grinning behind my mask.
"What? How?"
"Tell your friend that you accept her, even if she isn't human."
She squinted at me, bewildered. "What? Why would I need to do that?"
"Because you are the only human in the room."
I take off my mask and look up at the much taller girl, my face contorted into a mask of contempt.
May takes a step back in shock before turning to Astra.
Astra stares at me in utter shock before her eyes unfocus slightly. Slowly, the towels begin to drop and Astra's form is revealed as her illusion dissipates. "Yeah. Okay. Sure. I'm not human either. Can I wake up now?" she asks, sounding thoroughly out of it.
"What? You…huh!?" May grabbed her head as she tried to grapple with the reveal. "You!" she pointed at me, accusingly. "Why the fuck!? Augh, what the hell is going on here!? Screw this shit, I need some air!"
May marched over to the hotel door. I sank into the shadows and came out in front of her, between her and the door. "If you need a moment, you can go to the bathroom, but I cannot let you leave until this is discussed."
"Oh? And you are going to stop me, Pipsqueak?" May threatened, looming over me and apparently completely unphased at me rising from the floor like a horror movie monster.
I pulled upon the miasma of death that infused my very being from dying multiple times and all the deaths I had caused to form a deadly orb above my outstretched hand. A ball that wailed with the cries of the deceased.
"Yes," I say calmly. "If I must. I do not know if you understand the seriousness of the situation and your behavior so far leads me to having doubts."
I had seen many students in my time with attitudes similar to May's. Anti-establishment, let it all burn types that did not take anything seriously. That would leak secrets… similarly to what I had fumbled my way into doing.
The two of us stared down the other. May broke first, looking back at where Astra and our pokemon were staring at us before huffing and took her seat at the table where an empty pizza box sat. The doll pokémon's eyes remained similarly locked on me, an unreadable expression on its face, but it said nothing. I let the orb slowly dissipate.
"So, is someone going to explain to me what the fuck is going on?" May asked, crossing her arms.
"In a moment, yes," I acknowledged. "But what is happening is not important right now. What is important right now is making it clear that you are not allowed to tell anyone about me or Astra without our express permission first. It is not your secret to tell."
"Well, you did a wonderful job revealing her secret yourself," the doll pokémon huffed.
I felt myself flush in embarrassment. "I didn't mean to!" I said, turning to the doll. "You would think after a few decades of doing theater, including some improv work, I would be able to tell when someone is actually hiding something! But no, I just learned how to play to the back of the theater."
May coughed to get the attention back to her. "I...still don't know what the hell is going on, but I promise not to tell, or whatever."
"Really?" Astra asked in a small telepathic voice, having recovered from her dissociative break.
"Sure," she said, blankly. "Not like I care that you've been lying to me about being a pokémon this whole time or anything. Or that talking pokemon actually exist. Or that one is my best friend. No big deal at all. 's fine."
May made a peculiar, scrunched face, and then devolved into horrified realization. Her head dropped into her hands with an audible groan. "For fuck's sake, my best friend is a Pokemon. Those jackasses in school were right. Is my life a cartoon? Holy shit."
May continued to have an existential crisis by closely examining her palms. Astra stared at her, looking conflicted, before deciding to take her friend's statements at face value.
"Thank you May!" Astra practically yelled as she hugged her friend, tears rolling down her cheeks. May yelped in shock as Astra nearly knocked her off the chair, then hesitantly hugged the girl back, a complicated expression on her face.
With that out of the way, I felt a nudge as Ginger tried to get my attention.
"Odd?"
I placed a hand on the top of her head. "I'm sorry Ginger, but I'll have to give you a rain check on that treat. I don't even know if I can access my money here or if it is any good even if I can." I grabbed her ball off of my belt. "But I won't forget."
Looking back at the two friends hugging... well, Astra was still hugging; May was now trying to get out of the embrace, looking embarrassed about the whole thing. I took off my backpack and began digging in it, soon pulling out my old mask. It was rough, plain, bare wood, but it should do for now.
"Astra, here," I said, holding out the mask for the girl to take.
"Huh? What's this?" she asked, letting go of May to accept the mask.
"It is my old mask. I want you to have it since I don't need it anymore; my current one suits my purposes well enough and this one is still usable."
May looked me over, seeing what I was wearing with a raised eyebrow. "And what did you wear before that?"
I pulled out my old robe and hat and tossed them on real quick to show off the vaguely witch look I used to have. May looked between the two of us as she seemed to make more connections in her head now that she knew Astra and I were pokémon. "Astra, we are going shopping tomorrow."
"Why?"
"Because your outfit fucking sucks balls. It is literally just a single roll of cloth you wrap yourself in like a damned Dusclops."
"It's what?" I ask, almost unable to believe May's statement.
The doll-like pokemon proffers a small pile of newly-cleaned black cloth on the table. Astra demonstrates by telekinetically wrapping the long, uniform bolt of uncut cloth around herself until only her hands and face are visible. She then dons a straw sunhat.
I stare at her. Sure, her face is much more obscured now, and her previous display of illusions now made more sense, but...
"You were trying to hide, right?" I check.
May and the doll burst into laughter. Astra turns pink with anger and embarrassment.
"It's not that bad!" she protests, very incorrectly. "It was the best we had!"
I pause, then lean forward intently.
"And what do you mean," I say, slowly. "by 'we'?"
Astra turns white again, and gulps.
Interrobang 1
In the depths outside of space and time where eldritch gods lay dead, dreaming their dead dreams, a pair of legendary beings sneeze in their sleep crash a universe.
---
"Again!" Z yelled, annoyed at the error message on display. "What is going on?"
"Looks like Palkia and Dialga wanted to add in some more into our group," J piped up, pulling up the ?????????? stat sheet that froze everything.
"Why are they so concerned about this group that they keep giving it more to work with?" M asked.
"I don't care!" Z yelled. "Just find out what they are supposed to be! F and D, get ready to install whatever module we need for them."
"Found it!" H said. He looked it over, visibly wincing. "Woo boy, is it a doozy."
"Auch," B said in agreement. "It seems to be a multilayered Marshadow. It looks like they're sapient; what do we do about that?"
"We already have a whole section of code dedicated to sapient Pokemon," C said. "We can utilize that module and build up the rest from there within the shell of a Marshadow sub-module."
"Damn Palkia and Dialga," Z muttered. "I bet those pompous bastards over in AN-1M-3 never have to deal with this crap. Well, everyone, let's get to work! I want this up and running now!"
"'AYE!'"
---
I was no longer where I was supposed to be. I was piled up against a wall with Ginger and several random pokémon in what appeared to be a hotel room.
"What the fuck?" the harsh tone of a young girl exclaimed as she scrambled off a nearby bed.
Slowly, I detangled myself from the pile, cooly meeting the furious glare of the red-clad teenager in front of me.
"Who the fuck are you?" she shouted, fists raised as if ready to personally throw hands. "What the fuck are you doing barging into our room like that?"
I gave the foul mouthed girl a glare, though my mask seemed to reduce the effectiveness of the sentiment. "Language, young lady," I said. I didn't put up with such crass language in my classroom for over a century, I wasn't going to let a young girl use such language casually here either. "My name is Tanya, and I did not barge into your room."
"Oh? And what pray tell do you fucking call that?" The girl asked, pointing to where Ginger was getting up from some other pokémon I had not seen before.
I considered the question. The transition had been rather abrupt, but I'd seen enough strangeness in my many lifetimes to make a reasonable assumption. "If I was to hazard a guess... an interdimensional transference coinciding with a rather unfortunate timing of excitement mixed with exasperation."
She stared at me, fury momentarily replaced with a baffled squint. "What?"
"Me and Ginger got transported here against our will while we were running."
"And where did you get transported from?" Another girl asked, her voice sounding...peculiar. I ignored her and her question for the moment and strode over to the window. Looking into the skyscape, a very different, very unfamiliar city greeted me.
"I would say a different world is most likely, but Pewter City specifically." I answered, still examining the buildings. Aside from the Pokecenters and Pokemarts, none of the visible signage or storefronts seemed recognizable, and I'm sure I would have remembered a city containing the two towers that dominated the skyline.
"Pewter City? You're from Kanto?" The crude girl asked.
"Yes, but I will need to make a call to see if it is the same one I was just in," I said, turning around and getting a better look at who was in the room. The angry one in red was obviously the crude one. The other one stiffened up as I looked her over. She had green hair and red eyes, and was wrapped up entirely in towels like some sort of terry cotton mummy.
Something about her was setting my senses on edge, and not just my aesthetic ones.
The girl in red glared at me again. "Well, shorty, feel free to get the hell out of our room and make your call."
"Astra, she's in the same boat we were in not long ago. The same as I still am!" Another spoke up, mixed in with the distinctive sound of a pokémon saying their own name. Looking at the one who spoke, I saw it was some sort of yellow doll looking pokémon with hakama looking legs and a massive black ponytail. A ponytail that looked like it was grinning at me.
"Oh, you also crossed dimensions?" I asked.
The doll turned towards me with wide eyes. "You can understand me?"
"Huh?" The rude girl asked, looking between me and the doll-like pokemon. "Who are you talking to?"
"Her, obviously," I said, rolling my eyes. "Maybe if you cleaned out your ears and listened more than you swore you could learn to understand the basics of a civil conversation."
"Why you little," the girl got up, looking rather angry. Hmm, she seemed to have a rather short temper.
"May! No!" The other girl said, standing up and grabbing the other girl's shoulder to stop her.
She said it, but her lips did not match the movements. Looking closer, her stiffening again under my gaze, I noticed a few other details I hadn't before. Like how I hadn't noticed her face's coloration, or lack thereof. Or that her hair was entirely in front of her face, but not blocking her eyes in a manner human hair does not grow. Or that her hands moved like she was wearing mittens.
Clever. Very clever. Layering a field to be less noticeable on top of an illusion. Which meant... she was also a pokémon. One that clearly needed help if I was able to see through her disguise within half a minute while distracted. Though, maybe it was unfair of anyone to expect them to account for my centuries of experience with zero warning.
"Might I suggest a mask?" I asked.
"You calling me ugly now?" The rude girl, May, snarled, taking another step towards me.
"Not you," I said, brushing aside the threat. "Astra, was it? Your illusion is good, but the face is a rather hard thing to get right. Using a mask would greatly decrease the complexity needed if you're affecting your entire face and not just using a little bit as a form of makeup."
"Huh? The hell are you- illusions?" May asked, turning to Astra, who was wide eyed and opened mouthed.
"Wh—I—how?" she stammered, shocked.
"Hey, hang on now-" the doll spoke up.
"The telepathy was the first clue that something was unusual about you," I answered, assuming my teaching posture. "That, combined with your mouth not syncing up with the words I was hearing made me take a closer look. I realized I hadn't taken in your appearance like I normally would, which told me you had layered on a SEP field around yourself, but those only work until someone focuses on you specifically. And once I did, I noticed how your hair was in front of your face in a way human bangs do not hang, you are far too pale even for someone who has albinism, and you move your hand as though you are wearing a mitten."
"Wait, what?" May asked, looking between the two of us. "Astra, what the hell is she talking about?"
Astra had gone several shades paler, an impressive feat considering she was already stark-white to begin with, and backed away, looking scared. The doll Pokemon just sighed and put its hands over its face.
Hmm, I seemed to have made a mistake. "You have been sharing a room with her and never noticed your friend?" I asked May, shaking my head. "What a horrible roommate you must be."
"Hey!" she yelled, looking more offended at that than my ostensible break-in. "I'm not a horrible roommate! Tell her Astra! I'm great!"
Astra declined to comment, preferring to shake like a leaf in a storm.
"Prove it," I say, grinning behind my mask.
"What? How?"
"Tell your friend that you accept her, even if she isn't human."
She squinted at me, bewildered. "What? Why would I need to do that?"
"Because you are the only human in the room."
I take off my mask and look up at the much taller girl, my face contorted into a mask of contempt.
May takes a step back in shock before turning to Astra.
Astra stares at me in utter shock before her eyes unfocus slightly. Slowly, the towels begin to drop and Astra's form is revealed as her illusion dissipates. "Yeah. Okay. Sure. I'm not human either. Can I wake up now?" she asks, sounding thoroughly out of it.
"What? You…huh!?" May grabbed her head as she tried to grapple with the reveal. "You!" she pointed at me, accusingly. "Why the fuck!? Augh, what the hell is going on here!? Screw this shit, I need some air!"
May marched over to the hotel door. I sank into the shadows and came out in front of her, between her and the door. "If you need a moment, you can go to the bathroom, but I cannot let you leave until this is discussed."
"Oh? And you are going to stop me, Pipsqueak?" May threatened, looming over me and apparently completely unphased at me rising from the floor like a horror movie monster.
I pulled upon the miasma of death that infused my very being from dying multiple times and all the deaths I had caused to form a deadly orb above my outstretched hand. A ball that wailed with the cries of the deceased.
"Yes," I say calmly. "If I must. I do not know if you understand the seriousness of the situation and your behavior so far leads me to having doubts."
I had seen many students in my time with attitudes similar to May's. Anti-establishment, let it all burn types that did not take anything seriously. That would leak secrets… similarly to what I had fumbled my way into doing.
The two of us stared down the other. May broke first, looking back at where Astra and our pokemon were staring at us before huffing and took her seat at the table where an empty pizza box sat. The doll pokémon's eyes remained similarly locked on me, an unreadable expression on its face, but it said nothing. I let the orb slowly dissipate.
"So, is someone going to explain to me what the fuck is going on?" May asked, crossing her arms.
"In a moment, yes," I acknowledged. "But what is happening is not important right now. What is important right now is making it clear that you are not allowed to tell anyone about me or Astra without our express permission first. It is not your secret to tell."
"Well, you did a wonderful job revealing her secret yourself," the doll pokémon huffed.
I felt myself flush in embarrassment. "I didn't mean to!" I said, turning to the doll. "You would think after a few decades of doing theater, including some improv work, I would be able to tell when someone is actually hiding something! But no, I just learned how to play to the back of the theater."
May coughed to get the attention back to her. "I...still don't know what the hell is going on, but I promise not to tell, or whatever."
"Really?" Astra asked in a small telepathic voice, having recovered from her dissociative break.
"Sure," she said, blankly. "Not like I care that you've been lying to me about being a pokémon this whole time or anything. Or that talking pokemon actually exist. Or that one is my best friend. No big deal at all. 's fine."
May made a peculiar, scrunched face, and then devolved into horrified realization. Her head dropped into her hands with an audible groan. "For fuck's sake, my best friend is a Pokemon. Those jackasses in school were right. Is my life a cartoon? Holy shit."
May continued to have an existential crisis by closely examining her palms. Astra stared at her, looking conflicted, before deciding to take her friend's statements at face value.
"Thank you May!" Astra practically yelled as she hugged her friend, tears rolling down her cheeks. May yelped in shock as Astra nearly knocked her off the chair, then hesitantly hugged the girl back, a complicated expression on her face.
With that out of the way, I felt a nudge as Ginger tried to get my attention.
"Odd?"
I placed a hand on the top of her head. "I'm sorry Ginger, but I'll have to give you a rain check on that treat. I don't even know if I can access my money here or if it is any good even if I can." I grabbed her ball off of my belt. "But I won't forget."
Looking back at the two friends hugging... well, Astra was still hugging; May was now trying to get out of the embrace, looking embarrassed about the whole thing. I took off my backpack and began digging in it, soon pulling out my old mask. It was rough, plain, bare wood, but it should do for now.
"Astra, here," I said, holding out the mask for the girl to take.
"Huh? What's this?" she asked, letting go of May to accept the mask.
"It is my old mask. I want you to have it since I don't need it anymore; my current one suits my purposes well enough and this one is still usable."
May looked me over, seeing what I was wearing with a raised eyebrow. "And what did you wear before that?"
I pulled out my old robe and hat and tossed them on real quick to show off the vaguely witch look I used to have. May looked between the two of us as she seemed to make more connections in her head now that she knew Astra and I were pokémon. "Astra, we are going shopping tomorrow."
"Why?"
"Because your outfit fucking sucks balls. It is literally just a single roll of cloth you wrap yourself in like a damned Dusclops."
"It's what?" I ask, almost unable to believe May's statement.
The doll-like pokemon proffers a small pile of newly-cleaned black cloth on the table. Astra demonstrates by telekinetically wrapping the long, uniform bolt of uncut cloth around herself until only her hands and face are visible. She then dons a straw sunhat.
I stare at her. Sure, her face is much more obscured now, and her previous display of illusions now made more sense, but...
"You were trying to hide, right?" I check.
May and the doll burst into laughter. Astra turns pink with anger and embarrassment.
"It's not that bad!" she protests, very incorrectly. "It was the best we had!"
I pause, then lean forward intently.
"And what do you mean," I say, slowly. "by 'we'?"
Astra turns white again, and gulps.