#river dialga

[askthetraveller]

"O-Oh no! Am i a big sibling now?! Aaah!! I'm not ready for that responsibility!!!"

[theredvaporeon]

River: C-can I see Uncle Xander? I missed them and I wanna show them how bigger i've gotten! It's loads!

I missed you too. You've been doing alright?

[bagelsbasement]

There is no lugia in this pic.

[quietmew]

They’re waiting for you to read to them. Hurry up.

@askthetraveller

[pokemenlovingmen]

Random selection of Pokeguys with this old classic:

Character: “I wasn’t that drunk last night!”

“You were flirting with S/O.”

Character: “So? He’s my boyfriend.”

“You asked him if he was single.”

“And then cried when he said he wasn’t.”

… you guys know the one I’m talking about right? A big fandom meme but I can’t find the og, if there even was a non fandom-affiliated og. This is probably really convoluted for a shitpost lmao I’m sorry, this is just silly goofiness to me while I wait for requests and the guys here were just kinda picked by who I thought would be the most fun to write.

Content warnings: alcohol consumption and drunkenness

Adaman

💎 — Emotionally devastated but trying so hard not to show it

💎 — Considering he was sloppy-ass drunk enough to ask you, HIS BOYFRIEND, if you were single that’s not really something he’s doing great at

💎 — “Oh nooo that’s so… I’m sorry… oh noooo you’re just so pretty :(“

💎 — He stares vacantly off into the distance, holding back tears while you stare at him and wonder how long it’s gonna take for him to realize.

💎 — It’s kinda pathetic so you give up the joke and tell him the truth, to which he ACTUALLY bursts into tears.

💎 — “Hweuuuhhh Mighty Dialga is truly gracious and kind to have blessed me with your love I’m so luckyyyyyyyyy”

💎 — Just leans against you and sobs for a while, while you pet his hair and try to console him and insist this is real life, and that you’re sorry about the trick. Mai and Irida, who are watching the whole thing, are NOT sorry you pulled this one because it’s fucking hysterical

Melli

💙 — WAILS

💙 — Cue incoherent sobbing into your shoulder about why Mighty Dialga hates him so much that it would torment him with the ethereal beauty that you are that he’s forbidden to have

💙 — If only they existed in Hisui, you might want to grab a velvet chaise for him to lay on and sob dramatically in a very theatrical pose

💙 — When you finally give up the joke and tell him that the person you’re dating is, in fact, him, it’s like you just clicked the off switch. I mean, the tears are definitely still flowing but he shuts up instantly and stares at you like you’ve grown a second head.

💙 — Then starts fanning his face, still clearly crying while trying to look all smug and confident.

💙 — “HMMMMMPH of course I knew that, only I would be worthy of your company anyway” (still visibly crying a river)

💙 — Clings to your side the entire night and also looks like a pathetic wet rat while he does it

Red

🔥 — :(

🔥 — visible despair

🔥 — sad shinji meme

🔥 — he just kind of. sulks. pouting very dramatically.

🔥 — I mean good for you and whoever you’re seeing but he’s very drunk and to him you’re like the hottest man on earth right now??

🔥 — Eventually you put your arm around him and hit him with the “Red honey, I was talking about you. You’re the other person I’m seeing.”

🔥 — …

🔥 — :,D

🔥 — prommy????

Ingo

⚫️ — INSTANT ugly crying but not for the reason you think actually.

⚫️ — “WAUUGH PLEASE FORGIVE MY RUDENESS I DIDN’T MEAN TO IMPOSE I AM SO IGNORANT PLEASE TELL YOUR SIGNIFICANT OTHER I’M SORRYYYYYY”

⚫️ — I mean yeah, he’s also upset you’re apparently not single but all he can think about is how much he must have offended you and AUGH you’re so handsome and sweet and he was so clueless please don’t take it personally he doesn’t really know what’s gotten into him!!!

⚫️ — Probably the one you have to drop the joke the fastest with because you were NOT expecting this reaction at all and between all the sobbing and shouting you’re starting to worry about when the last time he actually took a breath was.

⚫️ — You end up needing to rub his back and scream your own apologies to him because you were only joking, the person you were dating is HIM!

⚫️ — At this he’s now just crying for a different reason, because he’s so lucky and you’re so handsome and he doesn’t know what he did to deserve this.

⚫️ — He calms down pretty fast after that, but never mention that incident to him again

⚫️ — He already doesn’t drink much and remembering how dramatic and off kilter he was being that night just has him actually wanting to curl up in a hole and just. Live there.

Emmet

⚪️ — “Oh! Okay then!”

⚪️ — You’re a bit surprised by his unfazed reaction for being absolutely piss drunk, but after delivering that line he immediately pivots on his heel and speedwalks the hell away.

⚪️ — You call his name at first, and when he doesn’t respond and also looks DEAD SET on leaving whatever event you guys are at, you have to run after him calling his name all the while.

⚪️ — Drunk Emmet thought process: Dear lord, I’ve made a horrible mistake. I am extremely embarrassed. I’m going to immediately vacate the area and probably never come back.

⚪️ — You practically corner him because he is so, so fixated on leaving out of sheer embarrassment when you explain you were just messing with him and the person you’re already dating? That’s him.

⚪️ — By the look on his face, he practically needs one of those little buffering wheels above his head, because he is thinking HARD about this. His entire worldview has shattered. The earth has stopped turning. His wig is gone.

⚪️ — Eventually he just… climbs into your arms and lets you take him back to where you guys were. Both extremely embarrassed for a totally different reason now while simultaneously being in complete and total awe that sober him scored someone like you. Woah.

[highpriestofpalkism]

Also, if I may ask, how do you interpret the Creation Trio + Arceus as deities? In other words, do you think they're benevolent and merciful or wrathful and quick to anger? For instance, the story of the human and the sword in D/P/Pt indicates that while they will certainly intimidate, they seem hesitant to kill, even in retaliation. On the other hand, in PMD and the anime, they seem all too eager to eliminate humans because of perceived slights.

Now! This sure is a question, because I've basically created my set of headcanons for all of the Creation family throughout the years, since they're one of my the main objects of my brainrot DJHDGD

To me, they all act differently, and also situationally.

Dialga is the most cynical one. He is benevolent and enacts the role and purpose Arceus gave him fully, and he can show warmer emotions such as gratefulness when in the right situations (PMD2 being the biggest example), but, normally, in my opinion Dialga is neutral at best and has a certain disregard for mortals at worst, thinking of them as mere droplets of water in the vast river of time; thus, he often ignores them and their troubles, unless they do trouble him directly, unless reverence and worship is shown to him. He can also be very merciless.

Palkia is instead pretty emotional. He's the kindest and warmest of the three, and appreciates mortals as their own unique microcosms that should be respected as such, and he offers thankfulness to those who worship him. However he can also turn out to be very ruthless and instinctive in what he's doing, and he doesn't stand when his dominion is messed with by someone or something (PMD2), often harbouring to brute force. Despite his naturally kind nature, he can turn out to be as solemn as Dialga when the situation requires it.

Giratina despises mortals, be it Pokémon or humans. He sees them as the "perfect creations of his father" whom he wants to destroy as vengeance for what has been done to him: not only banished, but also forgotten by all. While probably the most brutal of the three, he is still very subtle most times, being deceptive and persuading to mortals as to use them as means for his own schemes (Volo). For short, in his eyes mortals are just a means to an end, so easily fooled and tricked.

Arceus, instead, is generally emotionally far from the mortal world, but they love their own creations and cares for them from the distance, as they watch over all (PMD2, Legends). They're not very prone to anger, but rather tends to resolve conflict with intricancies behind the scenes as to solve the universe's biggest problems. Regarding the mainline universe, they originally thought of Pokémon as the only creatures to inhabit this world, as humans were born as a "mistake of evolution"; but once the Ancient Hero of Hisuian mythos proved human dignity to them by challenging them in a friendly match, Arceus got that Pokémon and humans deserved equal respect, and even more did deserve the bond between them

I hope I haven't been too long with this DJDGDHDHDH, I know these are mostly headcanons and don't have much concrete proof in the games (be it DPPT, PLA or PMD), but I've grown to imagine them as their own characters, and with such personalities! I hope I answered your question in a satisfying way ♥️😭🙏

[xxlunadeaxx]

(A first) Meetings between Monarchs

(More than one Monarch AU)

The Ghost Child and The Lord of the Lost

(Inspiration, Vs. Giratina.)

“This Pokémon God is said to live in a world on the reverse side of ours, where common knowledge is distorted and strange. It was banished for its violence. It silently gazed upon the old world from the Distortion World. It appears in an ancient cemetery.”

Danny must have a hidden talent for annoying people because so far with every ghost he meets manages to start a fight with them.

W̴̨̪̥͑͗͐̎̈H̸̛̍̽̏��̟͕̻̿Ọ̵̥͎̬͉̍̕̚ͅ ̷̠̝̽̃D̵̨̯͔̈́̾͗̃̉A̷̜̟̼̞͖̹̎̀̓̌̉̃R̶̻͛̔̂̀͐Ĕ̷̪̖̗̏̿̀̂̒S̵̯͗͊̈͆͂̑̿ ̸̛͔̻̩̖̗́͒̚͜D̶̰̈Ḙ̸̛͖̊̃̿̑̀́F̵͙̼͉̩̱̽̌̀̑̀́Î̴͎̱͇̮͉͈̦̲L̷͚̙̳̋̽̿E̴̠͆̾̕ͅ ̴̡͉̘͓̰̮̞̍

T̶̤̪̜̏͑H̷̨̨̯̗͍̬́̍̒͛͘E̵͉͖͔͔̳̳̲͋̊͋̔̈́̿ ̵̩̥͇̉ͅĻ̴̭̖͙͔͍̼̹̑̎͘O̴̬̊͐͆̈́̀͊R̸̰̉̑̾̐D̸͖̖̼̫͙͇͒̽͝ ̸̨̞̜͕̙̃̾̀̽͜ͅO̵̫̥̤͋̾̂̍͛̈́̚̚F̸̘͂͋͊͝ ̷̯̪̀͊͊̓̓̍͂Ţ̴̏H̶̢̺̞̗̮̹͉͙̐͛͗̆͒͘̕Ę̴͍̻͒̈̿̾͂̄̎̔ ̵̞̟͖̼͍̘̬̈́̆͛̈́͛̚L̶̺̲̭͈̭̈̊̀̈͘Ò̷̢̧͇͍͔̃̽̚Ş̴̛̜̹T̴̛͓͕̣͕̺͊̕’̸̥̞͚̫͗ͅS̴͖͔̦͙̳̟̈̔͋ ̵̨̡̣̞̃͌͘͝R̷͓̬̀͌E̷̬̩͈̳̋̌͘͜͝Ḁ̴͉͔͈̈́́͋͑̀̂͝͝Ḻ̸̪͕͍͌M̷̡̼̝̩̜̤͒̏͂̈̃?̵̡͓͈͎̤̏̄̽̏̔͒̆̅

(Who dares defile the Lord of the Lost's Realm?)

Though pissing off a giant winged(?) snake on sight is new for him, both on record and experience.

He'd been flying around for what felt like hours in this oddly beautiful place that while looking similar to the Ghost Zone, was more connected with pathways and rivers that defied physics than just some floating islands. And wasn't just green.

He felt entranced while observing his surroundings with no sign of anything other living being or ghost before finally following his instincts to travel toward the direction where an aura of power radiated to him. He'd then found a large flat island that held some type of incredibly large ancient temple that looked thoroughly smashed to bits with the pillars crumbled to less than half mast, yet still had a floating ceiling off-center and some perfectly intact statues inside. The curious child that he is couldn’t resist getting a closer look, floating closer to one statue that looked almost like a dinosaur and was trice his height (sauropod-like). It stood on four sturdy legs, a long sturdy tail, and a long neck, with a crest on its head. It had horns and fangs that looked like armor rather than growing on it with some kind of fin/wing on its back, along with a sort of chest piece with a blue jewel that was the only color in this statue of gray stone.

When he looked at the writing underneath the statue, Danny noticed that a plate was knocked off and broken beneath the statue that seemed to hold Ancient Greek lettering, not that he could read it in its state. Carved into the base of the statue held large lettering Danny never saw before, though could still read with no training (thanks to ghost logic).

Dialga, Sibling?

Danny turned around and checked another statue across from the Dialga Sibling statue, this one was bipedal and also looked like a dinosaur to Danny. (Theropod-like) It had two sturdy legs and a powerful tail, gauntlet-looking arms with round plates on its shoulders, a long slightly bent neck, and a head that also had tusks/fang armor and a pointed crest at its crown. Two wings/fins protrude from the statue's back that fanned its shoulders, and again the only color on it was the two pink circle gems on the round shoulder plates for each side.

Once again the plate underneath was removed, though this one was whole and set to the side, the lettering was unintelligible with being so rubbed away. Danny traced the carved words that replaced the plate, almost feeling something from them.

Palkia, Sibling.

While these were interesting, the true interest was in the even larger statue to the back of this temple. It was another quadruped like the first, but not as stocky. It looked like a regal horse with its slim legs and neck, wavy-looking tail and mane(?) that sticks up away from its head between pointed ears/horns, and a cross mixed with a wheel on its round stomach. It doesn't have any jewels on it like the others, but it's lined with gold in between all the cracks in the statue. Like it was smashed to bits but then glued together with gold.

Danny ducked as suddenly the resembling a centaur statue exploded, but it didn't reach him as it only flew out a foot before halting, and slowly melding together again. Odd, but he didn't focus on it for his eye caught on the carved words on the podium.

Original, Creator, Almighty.

The last word was carved messily with jagged lines, and Danny could feel something like anger from it - maybe grief.

Liar

Unsettled by the negative feeling of the unstable statue, which did explode again and reformed slowly, Danny backed away to the middle of the temple. Where was that feeling of power he was following earlier? There was only lingering emotions from the statues but he was right on top of the power...

He looked up.

And saw a mural etched into the floating ceiling above him, winding around where the stubs of pillars were, was a dark painting of a snake-like shadow with dull red eyes looking at him. Danny shuddered a little while huffing a small laugh, closing his eyes with a small smirk. A (half)ghost scared of a painting? How ironic.

Something splattered.

And Danny opened his eyes to see the red eyes start to peel away from the mural, starting to glow brightly as the abyss black dripped around him, oozing from six reaching tentacles that pierced the ground and caged him beneath the shadow as it lowered closer, and closer.

Danny stood there as the eyes appraised him, and a red mouth just as bright as the eyes split beneath the two, and a multitude of voices spilled out.

W̴̨̪̥͑͗͐̎̈H̸̛̟͕̻̍̽̏̿̚Ọ̵̥͎̬͉̍̕̚ͅ ̷̠̝̽̃D̵̨̯͔̈́̾͗̃̉A̷̜̟̼̞͖̹̎̀̓̌̉̃R̶̻͛̔̂̀͐Ĕ̷̪̖̗̏̿̀̂̒S̵̯͗͊̈͆͂̑̿ ̸̛͔̻̩̖̗́͒̚͜D̶̰̈Ḙ̸̛͖̊̃̿̑̀́F̵͙̼͉̩̱̽̌̀̑̀́Î̴͎̱͇̮͉͈̦̲L̷͚̙̳̋̽̿E̴̠͆̾̕ͅ

̴̡͉̘͓̰̮̞̍T̶̤̪̜̏͑H̷̨̨̯̗͍̬́̍̒͛͘E̵͉͖͔͔̳̳̲͋̊͋̔̈́̿ ̵̩̥͇̉ͅĻ̴̭̖͙͔͍̼̹̑̎͘O̴̬̊͐͆̈́̀͊R̸̰̉̑̾̐D̸͖̖̼̫͙͇͒̽͝ ̸̨̞̜͕̙̃̾̀̽͜ͅO̵̫̥̤͋̾̂̍͛̈́̚̚F̸̘͂͋͊͝ ̷̯̪̀͊͊̓̓̍͂Ţ̴̏H̶̢̺̞̗̮̹͉͙̐͛͗̆͒͘̕Ę̴͍̻͒̈̿̾͂̄̎̔ ̵̞̟͖̼͍̘̬̈́̆͛̈́͛̚L̶̺̲̭͈̭̈̊̀̈͘Ò̷̢̧͇͍͔̃̽̚Ş̴̛̜̹T̴̛͓͕̣͕̺͊̕’̸̥̞͚̫͗ͅS̴͖͔̦͙̳̟̈̔͋ ̵̨̡̣̞̃͌͘͝R̷͓̬̀͌E̷̬̩͈̳̋̌͘͜͝Ḁ̴͉͔͈̈́́͋͑̀̂͝͝Ḻ̸̪͕͍͌M̷̡̼̝̩̜̤͒̏͂̈̃?̵̡͓͈͎̤̏̄̽̏̔͒̆̅

The voice(s) was angry and accusing, and Danny had a feeling of deja vu when he opened his first door in the Ghost zone. He just trespassed on a very powerful being's territory and had no excuse other than curiosity and being lost. Still, Danny stood his ground, took a breath (to ground himself not to breathe), and tried to use manners that Jazz always said wouldn't hurt.

"Danny Phantom." He couldn't get any other words out to even attempt to be polite, the pressure around him was immense and seemed to close in on his throat, but he got his intent across.

And also couldn't hide some emotion.

'Lost, Guardian, searching for help, protector of the weak, fledgling, unwilling hero'

The shadow seemed to pause, its writhing body slowing from a lashing like a vengeful cat's tail to an interested hunter (why did that example seem worse?). The dripping stopped, and the inky blackness around him drew back to the tentacles stabbed into the ground. The mouth was still open wide, and the eyes still glowed, but the shadow was gaining solidity. The 'face' drew closer until Danny could nearly touch it, the mouth longer than his whole height as it seemed to mock him. No voice reached him, but Danny felt its intent and emotions like he can with other ghosts, and he could feel it being pushed directly at him purposefully.

'Suspicion, Curiosity, Verify'

A̵̰̣̘̘͍̭̖ͫr͔̯̪̗̭͔̻͚ͦ̈ͭ͞e̥̻̹̪̭̣ͭ̑̀ ̺̦ͦ̄ͧ͜y̱̮͈ͩ͘o̵̼̘̓ͯ͗u̢͎̖͙ͤ̊ ̳̤̤̪͖̐̄̇͞t̤̮̭͔̙̦̆͛̀r̫͓̤͎̣̩̘ͨͣͦ͠u͖͕͖͎͚̹͌͢ţ̖̞͗͌̒h̭͔̞͇̃̔͟f̅͊͌͏͙̬̘u̡̫̰̰̰̜̞ͥl̘̹̦͚̰̥̻͆̿ͫ͝?̴͓̬̦͒̽ͅͅ

(Are you truthful?)

It rumbled.

And Danny, tired after stressing over homework and test, fighting the fruitloop, flying for hours, and his core screaming danger danger danger;

Punched the shadow right between its eyes.

Uh-oh

[teamconductors]

Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Lost Tracks of Time, Chapter 29

Summary: Ingo and Emmet return to Unova.

Author’s note: I intended this chapter to kinda-sorta follow Ingo’s perspective (to contrast with last chapter sorta-following Emmet), but that did not pan out.

I once again feel the need to apologize to the Nimbasa Trio. And apologize in general. I’m sorry.

Mild/implied body horror ahead! I thought I was done with needing the content warnings. I was not.

Thank you @furiouskettle!

(Shippers DNI)

Emmet woke up at Lady Sneasler’s Seat. He slept on a pile of hay and leaves across the cave from the nest of Lady Sneasler’s kits. Though Emmet got accustomed to a Sneasel’s toxins thanks to Ingo, he still got poisoned from handling them. He wanted to avoid waking up sick again because a baby Sneasel cuddled up to the weird new human.

Next to Emmet were the first two pokemon he caught in Hisui: Shinx and Porygon. He caught Shinx immediately after Ingo taught him the back-strike technique for catching pokemon. He found Porygon when he saw a space-time distortion and charged in full speed ahead. The only reason Emmet exited with a Porygon without fainting was because Ingo literally pulled him out.

Emmet sat up and stretched his arms. Based on the faint lighting past the Seat entrance, the sun just began rising over Mt. Coronet. He put on his coat, which he used as a blanket. Ingo was gone, but Emmet used the time to see if his determination stayed with his through the night. Was it time to depart from Hisui?

“Good morning, Emmet,” Ingo said. He kept his voice as low as he could, but a couple Sneasels stirred from his greeting. He carried handfuls of twice-spiced radishes and sitrus berries. “I apologize for the lackluster sleeping arrangements, but I hope you got enough rest to begin our morning checks?”

Emmet nodded.

“Is something the matter? Did you hurt your back?” Ingo asked. “I suppose sleeping on hay is not comfortable for us as humans – human-shaped, rather.”

“…I am Emmet. I am… ready to take the new route,” Emmet said.

“A new route?”

Emmet looked serious. “…I want to go to our origin. I want to go to Unova.”

Ingo almost smiled. “Very well! According to Dialga and Palkia, we should be able to leave this station and return with no time difference. After we refuel, let us go test if that is the case!”

“Thanks, Ingo.”

Once they finished breakfast, the two left the cave and pondered over what the nearest reflective surface could be. Lady Sneasler’s Seat was in Primeval Grotto, so they determined that the bay of Fabled Spring River would be closest. Since it was early morning, the Gyradoses were not awake to stir up trouble, and the wild Nosepasses and Probopasses would not witness them defying the rules of time and space.

Ingo crouched to look at the water’s surface. “The river is running… Will this be reflective enough for our purposes?”

“We can find out.” Emmet took out the Rail Spike of Time. He crouched next to Ingo and placed the pointed end of the spike in the water.

“This does not feel like a good idea, but alright. Full speed ahead!” Ingo stood up and stepped back. He took out the Spike Maul of Space, waited for the handle to change to the right size, and swung down on the spike.

Against all common sense, when the hammer struck the spike, the spike remained in place as though it stood on a solid surface. A single ripple spread out from the spike, calming the surface of the bay into one large reflective body. The gems on the tools glowed bright. The reflection faded from the pink and orange sky to the dark swirling Distortion World, specifically showing the same island Ingo and Emmet entered Hisui from.

“Excellent! Bravo! That exceeded my expectations!” Ingo said. “Shall we depart?”

“Follow the rules and drive safely! We are headed for victory!” Emmet said.

“ALL ABOARD!” Ingo and Emmet, with their tools in hand, jumped into the bay.

***

Ingo and Emmet jumped out of the same waterfall. Because they jumped into the portal, they flew a fair distance and skidded on the island ground, getting pinkish-red dirt on their clothes.

“Welcome back,” Giratina said, having watched from above them. “How long were you there?”

“Four days and 15 hours,” Emmet said.

“Wow. For me, you two were only gone for a few seconds!” Giratina said. “Alright, where do you wanna go now?”

“If I may ask, we would like to travel along the route to Unova,” Ingo said.

“I can do just that.” Giratina started to fly down to grab the twins, but they stopped. “Oh, hold on. I can just do this.”

From out of the corners of the twins’ visions came two shadow hands. One arm wrapped around one twin and placed them onto Giratina’s back.

“Bravo! Thank you, Giratina!” Ingo said.

“Yeah, yeah. Let’s get you to where you need to be.” Knowing that Ingo and Emmet held on, Giratina flew off through the Distortion World once more.

“Giratina, may we ask you to return our appearances to our younger selves?” Ingo asked.

The Almighty pokemon nodded. “Yeah, close your eyes and hold on.” They knew that the twins listened to their command, so they began the process. “This reminds me, you two saw each other transform into Sneasels back when I was forced to attack you, right? I cannot believe Arceus let you remember that – no, wait, I’m not surprised at all. Arceus is an idiot.”

Ingo tried to respond, but to his surprise and horror, he literally could not speak. His heartbeat sped to the pace of a locomotive as he tried to rationalize the change. By the time Ingo realized it was likely intentional on Giratina’s part, the nausea associated with the transformation faded. Ingo and Emmet opened their eyes, satisfied with being shaped like Subway Masters once more.

“Done,” Giratina said. “Once you’re done doing your first visits, we need to start teaching you how to do this.”

Ingo hummed, partially to help him think and partially to check that his voice returned. “Giratina, I apologize in advance for derailing the conversation, but if the difference in time between us departing and returning is mere seconds, and we ask you to journey between each stop like a train, wouldn’t you be constantly flying around your world?”

“Yeah, you’re right. But I do owe my life to you two,” Giratina said.

While Emmet was listening to the conversation his brother had with Giratina, he continued to mull over his words for Elesa. Saying sorry wouldn’t be enough. Even if his train of thought wasn’t on the right track back at Spear Pillar, he still didn’t act like a proper conductor. He had to tell Elesa. He needed to say that he really did care. She might never forgive him, but at least the weight would be off his soul.

“Okay, have it your way,” Giratina said in response to something Ingo said. “I’ll figure out something later. We’re here!”

The group arrived at their destination. The island itself was smaller compared to the island with the window into Hisui. The island’s waterfall was likewise thinner, appearing more like a curtain than a roaring tower of water, but the top of the falls faded into the black void.

Once Ingo and Emmet stepped off Giratina’s back, they got a better view of the glimpse into time the waterfall had.

“I am Emmet. I am verrrry surprised!” Emmet’s voice almost matched the excitement he felt. His hands shook strongly enough to turn into flapping from joy.  

“Giratina, you found a direct line to Gear Station! Bravo!” Ingo clapped for Giratina’s achievement.

“Oh, is that where it is? I just found the most obvious portal,” Giratina said.  

“It’s been…” Ingo’s eyes widened. “Emmet, I haven’t stepped foot in Gear Station in years!”

“We can fix that.” Emmet pointed to the waterfall. “Next stop: Gear Station. All aboard!”

“All aboard!” Ingo took off to the water. Emmet caught up to him, and the twins jumped through the portal in unison.

***

The reason that they knew the portal was at Gear Station was because of the aerial eye view of the main entrance. Neither twin thought about why the portal showed that image. Ingo and Emmet jumped out of one of the glass planes that made up the large window above the entrance of Gear Station.

The smell hit Ingo all at once. Gear Station was a well-used hub for travelers and smelled like it, but to him, it was a sign of how much work they do to transport passengers to their destinations. Tears welled in his eyes, not only from the smell of home but also him realizing he and Emmet were falling.

Several onlookers and passersby, many of whom just wanted to go home after a long day, witnessed the disappeared Ingo and Emmet emerge from a window. No glass shards followed them. It was as though they came from the light itself bouncing off the window. There were gasps and screams as they fell, as their height should have resulted in a couple broken limbs at best. Instead, the two Subway Masters flipped and landed on their feet, no worse for wear.

“I am Emmet. That was… interesting…” Emmet’s sentence trailed off as he and Ingo realized several people and pokemon began surrounding them.

Ingo had to think. Their plan for this era was to feign ignorance and act as though they didn’t remember anything from where they went. Any other claim could be cross-referenced and likely expose their cover. He and Emmet would need to lie more blatantly than either desired, but it was all they could think of.

Ingo saluted the people. “Good day, everyone! Are we at Gear Station? I’m not sure how we arrived here, but I am glad we are here!”

Chaos ensured. Amongst the cacophony of noise were concerns of safety, camera snaps from Rotom phones, and prying questions. Gear Station’s architecture emphasized the noise into near-unbearable levels. The two of them coming from the quieter, less populated Hisui region made the sounds feel louder. Ingo suppressed his instinct to cover his ears out of politeness.

Before Ingo could even begin to answer questions as some of the Gear Station employees arrived, a pokemon with a familiar aura approached the station entrance.

“My Ch-!” Ingo could not finish his exclamation before his own pokemon ran into him.

Chandelure wrapped their arms around Ingo’s torso, trapping him in a ring of metal. They buried their head in Ingo’s chest. The flames billowed directly in Ingo’s face, but he was unharmed. Chandelure cried tears of fire onto his coat, but they did not burn the material, thanks to Anthe’s modifications.  

“I am glad to be back at this station as well,” Ingo said. He petted Chandelure’s head as he tried to find any visual different between this Chandelure and the Chandelure that lived for hundreds of years in the future. The clearest different was this Chandelure’s flames possessing a sharper hue.

With Ingo and Chandelure drawing the crowd’s attention, Emmet looked up at the window they came from. The image of the Distortion World, still visible past the Nimbasa City night sky, faded until it was gone. He heard no comments from others about the image, so hopefully no one else noticed that.

Ingo and Emmet eventually got to the terminal for the Super Multi line for some peace. The area was blocked off with barriers to prevent entry while the Battle Subways were shut down.

“And now we have a moment to rest,” Ingo said. He sat down on a bench, and Emmet joined him. “I cannot remember the last time talking with guests and Gear Stations team members have been that exhausting! Usually, I take pride in hosting guests…”

“That was not as bad as I thought,” Emmet said. “But there is a major delay in our operations.”

“You are referring to the window to the Di-“ Ingo interrupted his own sentence when he remembered that Chandelure still hugged his torso. “My Chandelure, will you please release me and allow Emmet and I to talk in private?”

Chandelure shook their head, still clinging tightly to their trainer’s chest. He had been gone for two months. They didn’t want to let go yet.

“I know what you are talking about, Ingo. Yes. It should still be there. We can use Quick Attack to climb up the wall and strike the rail spike, but it is not that easy.”

“Hm… How can we do that without arising suspicions? Even if we carry out the mission at a time where Gear Station is mostly empty, the odd guest or security personnel could see us! And that is to say nothing of the security cameras…”

“This is not going to be easy.”

“Not this first time, but after we complete the journey, we will be able to depart from any location of our choosing! But yes, this is a troubling conundrum…”

“We should return to our origin,” Emmet said. His hands shook as soon as he finished saying that. He wanted to see his pokemon so badly, and his brother already got a head start.

“Yes! We can find a solution after we reunite with our teams. Let us depart with haste! All aboard!” Ingo said, pointing to the direction of the Gear Station entrance and the ground.

***

Ingo and Emmet walked to the outskirts of Nimbasa City to get to their house. They tried to minimize the amount of attention they could gather by going through lesser populated paths. The walk also allowed them to refamiliarize themselves with Nimbasa City and the world where pokemon and humans lived together.

“I don’t see outward any signs of disrepair,” Ingo said once they got to their house. Chandelure still hugged Ingo’s torso. “Are you ready, Emmet?”

Emmet nodded. “I am Emmet. I am ready.”

Ingo approached the front door and knocked. “Hello? Is there anyone present at this station?”  

After a moment with no response, the front door opened. Eelektross’ eyes were wide as he stared at Ingo and Emmet. Unlike his future self, he was of normal size and barely had to hunch over to meet Emmet’s eye level.

“Is it… really you? Are you… real?” Eelektross asked. The twins barely heard his voice.

“I am Emmet. You are my Eelektross.” Emmet held his hand out, expecting his pokemon to hold it like his future version did.

Instead, Eelektross dove forward to wrap around Emmet. Because Eelektross was of normal length and Emmet was not a small Sneasel, Eelektross only had to wrap around his trainer a couple times to engulf him. Eelektross further wrapped his arms around him, mirroring how Chandelure hugged Ingo.

“You’re back…!” Eelektross spoke next to his trainer’s ear.

“You are clingier than I remember,” Emmet said. He did return the hug with some back rubbing.

A dozen Joltiks crawled out from crevices in the living room shadows. “It’s them?” “It’s Emmet!” “Ingo is back!” “Tickets please!” The Joltiks scattered in the direction of the backyard training grounds.

“Perhaps we should go inside before we have a pileup outside our house,” Ingo said.

Ingo recalled how Emmet described their living room. When he and Elesa lived together to keep up with Emmet’s health, there were letters and flowers and gifts scattered about with no regard to organization. Now, the letters sat on a side table in neat stacks. Vases were either empty or housing old but living flowers. The table was cleared of most items, save for a few special letters and a mug once filled with coffee. The clean areas were only undermined by some cardboard boxes filled with used tissues and remnants of pokemon food.

“Elesa did this,” Emmet said. There were significantly more letters and flowers than when he was last there. Why did she take the time to clean up the living room?

Ingo and Emmet both heard the voices of their pokemon outside.

“We are about to enter a rush hour! My Chandelure, while I am quite pleased to see you once more, may I ask you to clear the station for the others?” Ingo asked.

Chandelure shook their head.

“Chandelure, please make some room…” Eelektross said as he let go of Emmet.

Ingo petted his pokemon’s head one last time before they slowly let go of him and floated to the side.

Several pokemon stampeded into the living room from the backyard. Ingo found himself tackled by Haxorus, Garbodor, Durant, and Crustle. A small sea of Joltiks piled onto Emmet, followed by Galvantula, Archeops, and Durant. The only reason the Klinklang twins didn’t join in was because they could literally crush their trainers.

“You’re back! You’re back!” Haxorus said. The rage nestled in her body had melted away.

“I was wondering why Chandelure ran so fast,” Crustle said.

“What a pleasant welcome!” Ingo said.

“Where have you been?! And what happened at Spear Pillar?” Archeops asked.

Excadrill wanted to join in on the pile, but he sniffed the air and halted. “…Are we sure that’s them, guys? They don’t smell right.”

Ingo’s heart twinged. This was what Emmet was afraid of, right?

“Excadrill, I get being scared, but it’s them! They’re back!” Garbodor said.

“No! I don’t think it is!” Excadrill showed off his claws.

“Haxorus, what happened to your horns?” Ingo asked. He brought his hand up to feel Haxorus’ broken horn.

“Well, you know…” Haxorus laughed with nervousness as she felt the edge of her horn. “That’s what happens when you’re not strong enough to carry your trainers…”

“Do you feel bad for what happened the day I left?” Ingo asked. Emmet said that Haxorus kept training herself nonstop when Arceus took him. “I always say to move to greater heights and to improve yourself! But please do not be harsh on yourself for your previous state. You did what you could, am I correct?”

Haxorus smiled. “You’re right, Ingo. Thank you.”

Excadrill fiddled with his claws. “Haxorus, I know you can smell them. Durant, you too! This has to be a trick! It has to be!”

Ingo kneeled to see Excadrill at eyelevel. “You did your best as well, my Excadrill. Please do not punish yourself too harshly.” He scratched under Excadrill’s chin and around his neck.

Excadrill’s adamance about the twins’ identities wavered. Ingo knew exactly where he liked to be scratched.

“Hey, what happened at Mt. Coronet? I don’t remember a thing since Emmet went up the stairs…” Galvantula asked.

“I wanna know, too, but do you think they know what we’re asking?” Archeops asked.

“Sorry for our delay in return,” Emmet said, addressing all their pokemon. “We have no clue as to what station we visited. But it feels like we have been gone for a while. Now we are back!”

“After a few days of rest, we can reopen the Battle Subway and resume our schedule!” Ingo said.

“I am… so happy…!” Eelektross said.

“I’m here…” a voice said from the other side of the closed front door. The door opened.

The pokemon got off Ingo and Emmet and cleared the living room. Emmet’s hands shook. Their most anticipated terminal was here.

The guest was Elesa. Normally, she wore some amount of color in her outfits – she liked to be an electrifying presence, she said in the past. She now wore a black longcoat and black boots. Apart from her signature headphones, no color was present in her outfit.

She stopped walking in when she saw Ingo and Emmet.

“Good day, Elesa! I am so happy to see you!” Ingo said.

“Hi… I am Emmet.” He only took nervous glances at Elesa.

Elesa’s hands tightened into fists. “It’s as I thought. I heard people say that Ingo and Emmet were back. I wanted to believe them, so I came back to their place. But you… You’re not them.”

“Elesa, what are you talking about?” Ingo’s frown expressed his concern along with his words for once.

She put her foot down. “Stop pretending! I know what my friends look like. What are you, a couple of Zoroarks?!”

“Why does everyone think we are Zoroarks?” Emmet asked Ingo.

“...Fine. If you won’t drop the disguises…” Elesa pulled out a pokeball from her pocket. “Then my shining pokemon and I will make you!” She threw the pokeball and sent out Zebstrika.

Zebstrika took one look at Ingo and Emmet and gasped. “You’re back?!”

“My Zebstrika, use Volt Tackle!” Elesa held her arm out and swept it for emphasis.

Ingo held out his arm in front of Emmet. “Elesa, Zebstrika, please halt! We are not Zoroarks!”

Zebstrika sniffed the two. “They… kinda smell like them. Are you really Ingo and Emmet?”

“My Zebstrika, why are you hesitating? Isn’t it obvious?” Elesa asked. “There is no way this is Ingo and Emmet! Ingo vanished off the face of the earth, and Emmet is dead!”

Ingo turned to look at Emmet. Emmet froze. He could barely see his brother breathe.

“I don’t know, Elesa…” Zebstrika backed away from the twins but kept her eyes on them.

“Zebstrika, we saw Emmet die! He walked into the sky and never came back down! Not even his pokemon knew what happened! He’s… gone.” Elesa’s hands shook. “And now there’s some pokemon here wearing their faces and giving people false hope!”

“Elesa, please…” Ingo stepped forward. “You are an important passenger for us. I apologize for disappearing, and I know Emmet is, too… No, wait. I shouldn’t speak for him here. Emmet, what would you like to say to Elesa?”

Emmet’s smile stretched from one ear to another. He held his hands together much like when he talked to guests. He was completely frozen. His plan to talk to Elesa had completely broken apart. He knew that leaving her at Spear Pillar was not a wise decision as a conductor, but she believed he died. She believed he died.

Ingo placed a hand on Emmet’s shoulder. “Emmet, I’m here for you.”

Elesa stared down Ingo and Emmet. Despite her intense gut feeling that something was wrong with these apparitions of her friends, another part of her said it was them. Ingo and Emmet said that they always return to their station at the end, so why not now? Elesa was a person who made people’s dreams into reality. What if, this time, her dream became the reality?

But she didn’t want hope. She and Emmet had hope that they would find Ingo, and Emmet marched straight into heaven instead. She reported that Emmet went missing and that she was the last person to see him. The detectives and international police reassured her to finding her friends, but days upon days passed. She understood why Emmet turned to his own devices about finding his brother. She heard some people suspect her of Emmet’s disappearance. That hurt.

But her spark was gone. She tried to throw herself into her roles as a gym leader and model, but her battles and words and poses felt hollow. The gym leaders, especially Skyla, tried to comfort her and get her electrifying self back, but the attempts bore no fruit. Her pokemon tried the same, and they were the closest to succeeding. But her best friends were gone.

“Stop this nonsense! My darling Zebstrika, if you can't do it...” Elesa had to prove if her instinct was right. She recalled Zebstrika into her pokeball. She then grabbed the nearest thing she could find – an empty mug from the table – and brandished it as a weapon. “I’ll destroy the Prankster illusion myself!”

“Elesa, please stop!” Ingo completely stood in front of Emmet. Either of them wouldn’t suffer lasting damage from the attack, but he still didn’t want his brother to get hurt by their friend.

“I.. I am…!” Emmet’s entire body shook. He covered his mouth with both hands. He wanted to throw up. He wanted to vomit out the words he had been practicing for days. His legs gave out, and he hunched forward while still holding his mouth. Despite the obvious sorrow consuming him, his face still smiled beneath his hands.

“Emmet!” Ingo dropped to the floor. He placed an arm around Emmet’s shoulders. “It’s going to be okay. This is not an express train ride. Take your time.”

Elesa stared at the twins and realized what she was doing. She placed the mug back on the table and crouched down. She watched tears squeeze through his closed eyes. “…Emmet?” she asked softly.

Emmet nodded.

“And Ingo?” Elesa’s voice got quieter.

“I truly apologize for our delay of our return,” Ingo said.

“No, please don’t give me hope.” She rubbed her eye with a single finger and flicked off the tears. “Just end this cruel prank!”

“This is not a prank!” Emmet finally said. Before he knew it, he sprung forward to hug Elesa. His hands dug into her back.

That was it. Elesa finally allowed herself to shed tears. She hugged Emmet back so hard that he might snap like a twig. Then again, he hugged back with almost the same force.

Ingo placed a hand on Elesa’s shoulder. He wanted to join them, but he knew how this was important for Emmet. “I am truly glad to see you again, Elesa. Both of us are.”

“You guys can be real jerks sometimes. People thought I went crazy. I thought I was crazy!” Elesa said. “…I’m sorry for almost hitting you.”

“I am… sorry, too…” Emmet couldn’t speak above a whisper.

“I believe you. Emmet… listen. I can’t forgive you for what happened at Spear Pillar. I can’t forgive all the stuff that happened… But I don’t think I can stay mad at you forever,” Elesa said.

Emmet nodded. He understood not being forgiven. He wasn’t sure it was deserved anyway. He just needed to tell Elesa he was sorry and that she was a great friend, even if he couldn’t outright say it.

Ingo, satisfied with what happened, stood back up. “Elesa, Emmet, why don’t we-?”

Ingo’s train of thought derailed when he looked down at Emmet and Elesa again. He covered his mouth to supress his gasp.

“Ingo? Is something wrong?” Elesa asked as she turned to face him.

Emmet tried to ask the same question, but no words came out of his mouth. His voice was gone.

Ingo’s mind raced to find a way to isolate himself and Emmet. “Elesa, unfortunately it appears that Emmet and I must make an immediate departure!” He grabbed Emmet by his forearm and dragged him to standing position.

Elesa stood and turned toward the twins, who were running up the stairway to the second floor. “Where do you think you’re going?!”

“I apologize, Elesa, but this is an urgent situation, and we will return once it is resolved!” Ingo ran to Emmet’s bedroom with his brother in tow. He slammed the door behind them.

Ingo looked around his brother’s room. Between the unkempt bedsheets, full trashcan of wrappers, and scattered books and papers of several nights of research, he finally saw the results of Emmet’s time in emotional solitude.

“Emmet, please remain calm. Look at your hands,” Ingo said.

Emmet nodded and held up his hands – or rather, he held up his arms to look at where his hands should be. His hands were gone. Emmet raised his arm to shake his coat sleeve up and see if anything was there. When he got his answer, he let his sleeves hang like when he wore the coat as a Sneasel.

Ingo took a deep breath. “Are you able to talk?”

Emmet gave his brother an awkward smile and shook his head.

Ingo frowned harder. “It’s as I feared. I noticed during our transformations that we become unable to speak. Emmet, I have no idea as to the cause, but I think you’re transforming!”

Emmet couldn’t hide his fear even if he wanted to. Familiar nausea crept up on him. He silently pleaded to Ingo for help, but when he looked at his brother, he saw something bad. Emmet’s eyes widened. Emmet pointed to Ingo’s head with his arm.

“Is something wrong with me?” Ingo asked.  He then noticed that his vision darkened in one eye.

Emmet nodded. The dizziness associated with the transformation was worse than in the past. With his legs straight, he fell forward, and the process overtook him.

Ingo darted to Emmet’s closet. He knew his brother had a full-length mirror to properly inspect his uniform everyday before they travelled to work. Ingo’s cap had slid down his head and covered his eye and part of his face. He took off the cap. He didn’t like what he saw.

“Am I…” Ingo lost his voice in the middle of his sentence. The dizziness made him fall, and the transformation overcame Ingo as well.  

***

Several pokemon stormed up the stairs and gathered outside Emmet’s bedroom. Chandelure and Eelektross led Haxorus, Excadrill, Archeops, Garbodor, Durant, Galvantula, and Crustle up the started. Several Joltiks hanged out on the walls and ceilings. Ingo was never a quiet person, but the walls muffled his exact words. He sounded in distress.

Elesa followed the pokemon and knocked on Emmet’s door. “Emmet! Ingo!” After waiting a moment for a response, she knocked hard enough to jiggle the door. “Guys!”

“They’re not answering?” Garbodor asked.

“Something has to be really wrong. At the very least, Ingo would respond instead of ignoring us,” Crustle said.

“Ingo! Emmet!” Elesa knocked on the door. “If you don’t open up, I’m coming in! Your pokemon are here, too. If something is wrong, you can’t keep us all in the dark!”

“Does anyone else have a bad feeling?” Galvantula asked.

“You mean the one I had the entire time?” Excadrill asked.  

“They have to be okay…” Eelektross said.  “…Right?”

“THAT’S IT!” Elesa turned the doorknob and swung the door open.

Elesa and the twins’ pokemon saw what was inside Emmet’s room. Eelektross gasped and embraced Archeops and Durant. Excadrill jumped into drill formation to shield his eyes. Haxorus, Garbodor, Crustle, and Galvantula backed up to the wall opposite of the hall, trying to get away from the sight.

Elesa closed the door at a Slowpoke’s pace out fear of getting the… beings’ attention. She laid her back against the door and slowly slid down as her knees buckled. Chandelure floated above her and stared at the door like they could still observe what happened inside.

“I was right… It really wasn’t them…” Elesa curled her legs up to her chest. Those weren’t Ingo and Emmet, but they weren’t Zoroarks either. She had no idea what she saw. Was she sleeping? Was she having another nightmare?

“What did we just see?!” Durant asked.

“I can’t believe Excadrill was right,” Crustle said.

“I really wish I wasn’t,” Excadrill said, his voice slightly muffled from his drill formation covering his head.

“I… should’ve known…” Eelektross began to crush Archeops and Durant from his hug. “Emmet is my best friend… I should have known this was a fake!”

Garbodor rubbed Eelektross’ back as a sort-of gesture of comfort. “It’s okay, please don’t be hard on yourself.”

“So… what do we do with the pretenders?” Galvantula asked.

“Let’s battle them! I can finally test my sharpened horns!” Haxorus said.

“Okay, but what type are they? Dark? Maybe poison?” Galvantula asked.

“Assuming they’re pokemon…” Archeops said.

Tears dripped onto Elesa’s knees. “Why is this happening? I just want my friends back.”

Galvantula crawled over to Elesa and grazed her leg with her conical feet. Elesa interpreted the gesture as a beg for pets, which she obliged with. Galvantula’s fur sparked and tingled her fingers, but she was accustomed to the sensation from raising electric-type pokemon and loved it. Galvantula knew this, thus why she approached Elesa.

“Why do I feel like we’re missing something?” Archeops asked.

“…Chandelure, why are you so… calm?” Eelektross asked. After he asked the question, the rest of the pokemon present turned to Chandelure, who still stared and floated less than an inch away from the door.

“Why are we Sneasels again?!” “Ingo” said from the room.

All the pokemon turned their attention toward the voice. Excadrill loosened up back to standing position, and Eelektross dropped Archeops and Durant. The voice sounded like Ingo, but he spoke their language. He spoke like a pokemon.

“This is a trainwreck,” “Emmet” said.

Elesa lifted her head and slowly turned behind her. Those were the noises of pokemon – Sneasels, based on what the word they kept repeating – but their voices were uncanny. If she asked Ingo and Emmet to imitate a Sneasel, they would sound like that.

“No, perhaps this is salvageable. If the portal is still present at Gear Station, we can contact Giratina to get our human shapes back!” Despite the optimistic claim, “Ingo” did not sound confident. “This is… quite a delay for us, but once we get our bodies back to human-shape, we can resume our duties as Subway Masters. Though I must admit, it might be difficult to explain our impromptu departure to our friends…”

“They saw us, Ingo,” Emmet said.

There was a pause.

“Please tell me you are making a bad joke,” Ingo said in a lower tone than normal for him.

“I am Emmet. I am serious. You didn’t hear the knocking and the door open and close?”

“…They actually saw the transformation process… Your assessment of this being a trainwreck is correct. We drastically broke the rules. Our friends are never going to trust us again!” Ingo’s voice began to break. “This is all because of my insistence of making this journey! I apologize deeply, Emmet! This is all my fault.”

“Please brake. I wanted us to come here, just like you.”

Something strange sparked in Elesa’s heart. If the pretenders wanted to keep tricking her into thinking they’re Ingo and Emmet, why would they sound like Sneasels? Why did they sound so heartbroken?

“While that is true, Emmet, it was my desire to return that led us here. I take full responsibility… for hurting our loved ones. I apologize, Emmet. I don’t know how we can fix… any of this.”

Chandelure couldn’t take it anymore. They did not know Psychic, but they turned the door handle with their available powers and blasted the door open with Shadow Ball. Since Elesa still sat and leaned on the door, she fell backwards to the floor.  

Elesa recovered from the fall and looked up. There were no remnants of the horror show that Elesa and the pokemon saw. Two Sneasels stood inside Emmet’s bedroom. One was an ordinary Sneasel while the other possessed an unfamiliar color scheme (possibly a shiny Sneasel?). The first Sneasel wore Emmet’s coat and cap – in fact, the same one “Emmet” wore, based on the dirt and scuffs at the tailcoat. The purple and white Sneasel wore “Ingo’s” excessively damaged coat and cap.

Chandelure scooped Ingo into a hug. It was like the one they gave to him back when they first reunited.

“Chandelure?! What are you doing…?” Eelektross asked as he ran into the room after his partner. Galvantula, Archeops, Haxorus and Garbodor followed. Durant, Crustle, and Excadrill kept their distance.

Ingo was swung around like a rag doll as the realization washed over him. “Did you all hear that?!”

“Pretty much,” Garbodor said.

“So… are you Ingo?” Archeops asked, looking at the white Sneasel.

Ingo’s heartrate skyrocketed as he fully processed that their pokemon and Elesa were seeing them in their Sneasel shapes. His hands began to tremble as he brought them up to cover his face. “Everyone, please… There is… There is…” He couldn’t immediately piece together any semblance of an explanation for their condition without mentioning time travel or Arceus or them almost dying twice (thrice, in Ingo’s case). It was bad enough they heard him mention Giratina.

Elesa still sat on her knees. She stared at the normal-colored Sneasel. As a model, Elesa developed a good eye for clothes and appearances. It was likely why she felt so strongly that Ingo and Emmet looked wrong, even if she could not place exactly why she felt that. But now, something about the way these Sneasels moved – how the normal-colored one’s hands shook and kept on a wide smile, how the shiny one barely made expressions but spoke with intense emotion in his voice – was eerily familiar.

“I am Emmet. I am Emmet.” Emmet’s smile was so wide that his face cramped from trying to keep it up. The fur around his eyes dampened as he cried once more. In the entire weeks that Emmet spent to prepare for meeting their pokemon and Elesa, he tried to imagine the worst-case scenario. This was not close to what he imagined. Emmet wrung his shaking hands. He had no plan. He had no script or spiel. He just fell back on a comfortable phrase, secretly begging that Elesa could understand him through the pokemon speech. “I am Emmet. I am Emmet, Elesa… I am…”

Elesa fully stood up to get a closer look at the Sneasel Chandelure held.

Ingo looked into Elesa’s eyes. He was still being cuddled by Chandelure. “Elesa, we know how strange this all appears, especially if you did witness part of the transformation. I apologize for keeping this information from you.” He turned his head. “I say the same to you, our pokemon. I am truly sorry.”

Eelektross approached Emmet and held him up with both hands like a stuffed toy. The Sneasel continued muttering Emmet’s favorite phrase. “…Why do I want to believe you?”

“…Oh, now I know why." He looked over to Chandelure and Ingo. That Sneasel was having a crisis, and Eelektross could tell from the way his gaze is drawn to his friend’s flames that they wanted to use their hypnotic power to calm down the Sneasel. "Chandelure, you knew the truth the whole time… right?”

Chandelure nodded.

“Knew the truth?!” Crustle asked as he entered the room to get a closer look at the Sneasels.

“So… this is Ingo and Emmet?!” Archeops asked.

“How are they so sure?” Durant asked.

“…Oh! Chandelure ran away earlier to meet with “Ingo” and came back here with him,” Garbodor said. “But if these two were imposters…”

“…Then Chandelure wouldn’t be acting this friendly!” Haxorus said. “I get it now! It really is you!”

“You believe us?” Emmet asked.

“…Yeah. I really wish Chandelure would talk to us sometimes. Could have saved us a lot of trouble!” Excadrill said. “…Sorry for doubting you.”

“No, it is completely understandable, Excadrill,” Ingo said. His heart couldn’t slow down, despite the complete turnaround in attitude of this pokemon. After all, there was still their dear friend Elesa.

Though Elesa could not hear the exact words the pokemon said, Elesa closed her eyes to better think. After a few moments of silence, Elesa started to giggle. She tried to stop, but she only laughed harder and harder until her stomach cramped.

“What’s so funny?” Emmet asked, pointing to Elesa and the ground. The familiar pose was not lost on the rest of the group.

“I think I’m in shock! The entire time we were talking, Ingo and Emmet, it felt like you two were hiding something,” Elesa said. She put held her chin in her hand as she talked. “Now I see why. You two…”

Ingo and Emmet waited for Elesa to complete her thought.

“…are super cute as Sneasels!” Elesa said with a big grin.

“What,” Emmet said at the same time Ingo asked, “Excuse me?”

Elesa started laughing again. “This is so weird in the best way possible! Well, seeing the horror show wasn’t fun. I don’t know what was up with all the… goo, but that was involved in you two looking like this now, right?”

“That is correct,” Ingo said. Emmet nodded to better communicate their answer.

“That’s electrifying! I’ve heard of some models who get their clothes sewn onto them, but this is a whole new level!” Elesa put up Emmet similar to how Eelektross did. “Look at you, Emmet! You’re so small! I wanna put you in a little outfit and show you on stage!”

“Please stop trying to recruit us as models,” Ingo said.

Elesa placed Emmet down to pick up Ingo. “And you, too!”

“What Elesa said! They are really cute!” Haxorus pinched Ingo’s cheeks. “You’re so fluffy!”

“Please exercise some caution, Haxorus,” Ingo said. The way she pinched his cheek hurt.

“...Sorry, I just realized this is probably weird for you guys…” Elesa set down Ingo next to Emmet. “I just… wanted my dream of us reuniting to come true, but I could never have imagined this.”

Emmet found a couple of tears running down his face. “I am happy, Elesa.”

Ingo smiled. “As am I.”

“Are we really going to not talk about the things we saw…?” Durant asked.

“…Looks like it. It might be better to just… pretend we didn’t see… any of that…” Eelektross said.

“I am fine with that plan,” Crustle said.

“Okay, but why are you Sneasels?” Archeops asked.

“And why Sneasels? Of all pokemon?” Galvantula asked.

“Was… there a particular species of pokemon you would expect us to turn into?” Ingo asked.

Several Joltiks, who watched from the ceiling both in the hallway and in the bedroom, provided some answers. “Zoroarks!” “Reshiram and Zekrom!” “Kecleons!” “Plusle and Minun!”

“…Those are weird suggestions,” Emmet said.

“No weirder than you being Sneasels!”Garbodor laughed.  

“Hey, so you looked like your human selves a moment ago, but now you’re Sneasels for some reason. Can you turn back to being humans?” Elesa asked. Her question caught the attention of the other pokemon as well.

Emmet shrugged. “Yes, but there is an extended delay.”

“There is a route we can take to contact to the pokemon that helped us-“ Ingo’s explanation was cut off.

“Giratina, right?” Excadrill asked.

“…Perhaps,” Ingo said. “But we cannot contact them at this precise moment. Our tracks are disconnected right now, but we will try to resolve the delay as soon as we can. Emmet and I did get sidetracked by talking to everyone here, but that was time well-spent.”

“…Wait! Ingo, I have an idea,” Emmet said, flapping his coat sleeves about. He gestured Ingo over and whispered in his ear, holding one hand up to shield his mouth.

“Emmet, that’s brilliant!” Ingo said after his brother finished saying his idea. He and Emmet both threw of identical bronze bracelets, and only Ingo threw off a white watch.

“All aboard!” Emmet picked up the Rail Spike of Time and threw off his coat and cap. He marched out of his bedroom with his arms and legs swinging straight.

“Everyone, please remain at this station! Emmet and I will return momentarily!” Ingo grabbed the Spike Maul of Space, threw off his own uniform, and followed Emmet.

“Hey! Do you really think I’ll let you go on your own again?!” Elesa grabbed the coats and caps, carrying them with one arm. She then ran after the two Sneasels.

***

After the end of the night, a lone man sat outside Gear Station. He heard that the Subway Masters came back and caused a large commotion at their station, but by the time he arrived, the station was closed, and no one was around, save for some straggling employees.

He took off his backpack and sat on a bench, observing the view of the main street traffic. Spotlights from the nearby amusement park stretched and dissipated into the dark sky. Humans screamed in terror mingled with delight.

Two Sneasels – one teal and red, the other white and purple – ran to the station. The former carried a large nail while the latter carried a hammer. The man turned to see what they were going to do with such destructive tools.

The Sneaslers climbed up on the outside of the station to the center of the giant window piece. They prepared the tools to seemingly break the window, but when they swung, nothing happened. He may be far away observing the scene, but the man figured he should have seen and heard glass shatter.

With their apparent prank failing, the two Sneasels jumped off the building and ran away into the shadows of the city.

A minute later, a pretty woman ran toward Gear Station. The coats she held looked familiar. She yelled for an unknown friend and ran in the direction the Sneasels went, possibly chasing them.

The man smiled and let out a chuckle. If he was younger, he would’ve chased after them, too. Instead, the man just said, “Huh. Interesting.”

***

Ingo and Emmet ran in the direction of their house, but they kept running and entered Route 16. The route lacked the trainers that hanged about during the day, and the only pokemon roaming at that time of night would be Liepards, who kept to themselves. The brisk early-winter air kept them full of energy.

They ran into the trees while avoiding Lostlorn Forest. Once comfortable that no humans or pokemon were nearby, the twins’ run slowed to a walk.

“Do you see anything reflective?” Ingo asked.

“Not yet,” Emmet said.

Elesa caught up to her Sneasel friends. Moonlight reflected off the sweat on her skin. “Listen, I love a late-night jog, but I would’ve appreciated it if you kept pace with me!”

“Please forgive us, Elesa,” Ingo said with a bow. “But Emmet and I wanted to go a place where others are extremely unlikely to cross paths with us during our rendezvous.”

“There is a puddle,” Emmet said. He pointed to a nearly puddle, which froze over from the inescapable chill.

“Excellent! That should work for our purposes.” Ingo turned to Elesa and held out a hand. Emmet copied him. “Pardon us, Elesa. May we have our uniforms?”

“…Oh, you want the clothes?” Elesa handed the twins their respective coats and hats. “You’re lucky I remembered to grab them after you left!”

“Yes! Thank you, Elesa!” Ingo said.

Elesa smiled. She still couldn’t understand exactly what her friends were saying, but she knew that they appreciated the gesture.

Ingo and Emmet, with their uniforms once again on, stood in front of the puddle. Indeed, it had a thin layer of ice that could barely reflect the moonlight and depict the leaves.

“That’s a rail spike and spike hammer, right? Wanna show me what they do?” Elesa asked. She surprised herself with remembering the proper terms for those tools. She retained more information from Ingo’s infodumps than she expected!

“…Can we show her what they do?” Ingo asked Emmet.

“We already broke several rules. Let’s not break anymore,” Emmet said.

Ingo and Emmet nodded to each other. They tried to push Elesa away – but because they were Sneasel-shaped, they only succeeded with nudging her legs a little.

“What, you want me to go away?” Elesa asked.

“Just for a moment! We cannot have guests in the station for this operation!” Ingo said.

“Please trust us,” Emmet said. He had to admit, though, they didn’t really give her a reason to trust them.

“Okay, okay… I’ll go.” Elesa begrudgingly took a short walk away from her friends, hiding behind one of the trees.

“Very well!” Ingo turned around the Spike Maul of Space in his hands. He changed his stance to prepare for the strike. Likewise, Emmet placed the tip of the Rail Spike of Time on the ice. Without a word, Ingo struck the spike. The gems on the spike and hammer shined, beaming pink, yellow, and blue lights onto the tree trunks. The faint reflection on the puddle was replaced with the clear image of the Distortion World.

“Whoa! That was dazzling!” Elesa said.

“She saw it,” Emmet said.

“Elesa, your curiosity is often appreciated, but not today.” Ingo turned to the portal “Giratina, please report to the station!”

“Please report to the portal,” Emmet said.

After a second, Giratina flew toward the connecting waterfall. They noted that the twins’ voices only had slight differences between their human-shaped and Sneasel-shaped selves, and they noted they sounded more like the latter. This was immediately explained upon reaching the waterfall. The first thing they noticed was Ingo and Emmet not being shaped like humans.

“Whoa! That’s Giratina, right?” Elesa asked. “How did you two meet Giratina?”

Giratina’s gaze darted between the two Not Sneasels and the human, unsure of which to mention first. Instead, they settled for a third option: a simple “…What the fuck?”

“Huh, didn’t expect a legendary pokemon to cuss,” Elesa said.

“Greetings, Giratina…” Ingo tipped his cap to the Almighty pokemon. “You probably have a number of questions!”

“She can hear you?” Emmet asked.

“Telepathy. Ingo and Emmet, I have a couple of questions. One: why are you two Sneasel-shaped? Two: who is this human?” Giratina asked. Ingo expected Giratina to be angry, but they did not sound angry at all. On second thought, though, that might be worse.

“I’m Elesa. I’m a gym leader and a model, and most importantly these two’s friends. Are you the reason my friends are Sneasels, Giratina?” Elesa asked.

Ingo wanted to bow to Giratina, but because they were talking through a puddle, he was already hunched over. “Please forgive us, Giratina! When we met with our pokemon and Elesa, whom we deeply wanted to meet again, we transformed back into Sneasels in front of them! It was completely unexpected, and even when we tried to hide ourselves, they still saw it.”

Giratina looked to Elesa. “You SAW it? That’s unfortunate. Also, can you understand what Ingo and Emmet are saying?”

“No. I mean, I get the feeling that I know what they’re saying because we’ve been friends for long enough,” Elesa said.

“...Alright. Let me fix the language barrier,” Giratina said.

Ingo and Emmet both felt tickles in their throats. Emmet held his hands to his throat, while Ingo tried to cough. It faded as soon as it started.

“Done. You two, say something,” Giratina said.

“That was unpleasant,” Emmet said.

“Oh! Emmet, I heard that!” Elesa said.

“Elesa can understand what we say now?” Ingo asked.

“Sort of. I changed your vocal cords into the ones from your human-shape,” Giratina said. “Don’t worry, I’ll get you back to your full human shape after I get an explanation as to… Okay, how the hell did you two transform back into Sneasels involuntarily?!”

“I have no idea!” Emmet said.

“Let me retrace our route. We arrived at Gear Station, Chandelure found us, we travelled to our house, we reunited with our pokemon, we met with Elesa…” Ingo hummed. “And I noticed Emmet beginning to transform while he and Elesa hugged.”

“Ingo did start to transform after I did…” Emmet said. Ingo covered Emmet’s mouth.

“I need to think about this.” Giratina chuckled. “What is with you two and doing impossible things?”

“Is it that impossible?” Ingo asked.

“I didn’t think it was possible to transform without intending to! Well, I know my transformation is tied to which realm I’m in, but that’s not the case for you two!” Giratina laughed.

“Um.” Elesa figured that Ingo and Emmet went on some wild adventures since they were able to become… unspeakable horrors and also Sneasels, but hearing a legendary pokemon talk about it was surreal to witness. “When you’re back to being human, can you explain to me where the heck you guys have been?”

“…Are we allowed to talk about it?” Ingo said.

“You brought Elesa to our little meeting and you’re asking me for permission?” Giratina asked.

“Yes,” Emmet said.

“…Listen. The stuff about your bodies should be kept a secret only because I don’t want you two to end up on a dissection table – or worse, shunned for being different,” Giratina said, their gaze turned to the side away from the Nimbasa Trio.

“Been there, done that,” Emmet said.

“So, hiding the Not Human or Sneasel thing isn’t as critical as hiding… the other things. Unless they know about it, too?” Giratina glared at Ingo and Emmet.

“There’s other secret things?” Elesa asked, raising her eyebrow at Giratina. “What can be worse than whatever is going on with all this?” She gestured to Ingo and Emmet vaguely, referring to their bodies.

“…We will arrive at that station if we are permitted to,” Ingo said. “For now, do we need to fully reenter your station for you to transform us back?”

“Yep. Also, once we finish this business, I need to start teaching you how to control the transformations. This can’t happen again!” Giratina’s wings twitched with their audible frustration.

“Agreed!” Ingo and Emmet said.

“We will be a short round-trip, Elesa! We will return,” Ingo said.

“You better,” Elesa said.

“All aboard!” Ingo and Emmet said together.

Emmet jumped into the puddle, and to Elesa’s surprise, he was fully submerged. Ingo followed suit and disappeared into a body of water that should have only come up to their feet. She had no idea why she was surprised. She looked back into the puddle.

“Don’t look,” Giratina said with a strange smile. A set of shadowy hands blocked the image of the pokemon as though they didn’t trust Elesa to follow the command.

Elesa closed to eyes to help her think. When Emmet showed her the book with the picture of Ingo, he stood next to a pokemon that somewhat resembled what he looked like now. Was that related? And those cracks… She had never seen a Sneasel with a damaged gemstone like they had. What happened?

“Done,” Giratina said. The shadows that hid the human’s view of their realm were gone.

“That was lightning fast!” Elesa said.

“Yeah. The transformation is faster when it’s controlled,” Giratina said.

“All aboard again!” Ingo and Emmet said together from the other side of the portal.

First Ingo was launched out of the puddle portal. Emmet quickly followed suit. They flew high enough to graze some tree branches, but they landed safely on two feet. Elesa gasped from the sight; they both looked human again.

“Hey! You’re back!” Elesa hugged both her friends.

“I am Emmet. We have returned,” Emmet said.

“Thank you for your patience, Elesa,” Ingo said. “I must admit, I didn’t expect you to identify us when you saw us as Sneasels.”

“I surprised myself, too. Maybe I just know you two too well… Or it’s something from my years of modeling and paying attention to appearances. One of those two,” Elesa said.

“I think I figured out why this all happened,” Giratina said. “You two managed to crack your gems from sheer stress, right? Which I don’t know how you did that when you’re not psychic pokemon.”

“Where are you conducting us?” Ingo asked.

“My point is: you two were both really stressed for this meeting, right? Emmet, I think the stress you had was so extreme that, when you relaxed after they accepted you, you body relaxed with you and caused the transformation,” Giratina said.

“…Oh” was all Emmet could say to that.

“As for you, Ingo… Well, besides the stress and relief, you saw Emmet start to transform. I guess that was enough stress for you to meltdown.” Giratina shrugged – or did a movement with their wings that resembled a shrug.

“Oh, so it’s my fault…” Though Elesa intended the statement to be a joke, her sentence came out gloomier than she expected.

“Elesa! You are not at fault for what happened to us,” Ingo said. “You are our valued friend and passenger. I would take this trainline again if it meant being with you again.”

“Ideally without revealing our inner workings, but yes. Without a doubt, I agree,” Emmet said.

Elesa smiled brightly. “Thanks, guys. You know how to bring my spark back.”

***

Though Ingo and Emmet quickly got their human-shaped bodies back, they could not return to their routine as Subway Masters straight away. The detectives in charge of finding the twins wanted to know where they went, if they were kidnapped, if they were harmed, and if a pokemon was responsible. As per their plan, Ingo and Emmet claimed complete memory loss of the events. The detectives also suggested to get them checked by a doctor, but they declined.

At Gear Station, the mechanics needed to check that all the trains specially designed for battles were still in good condition. The pokemon trainers needed time to prepare their teams once more. Ingo wanted to return to work as soon as possible, but Emmet had to get him to take their time. After months of being on high alert, they had a chance to relax – not even being in Hisui was relaxing due to the constant barrage of hostile pokemon.

And, of course, Ingo and Emmet wanted to spend more time with their pokemon and Elesa. They still needed to decide how to explain the Sneasel transformation and connection to Giratina without mentioning time travel. At least the others were willing to be patient with the explanation.

As for Giratina, they followed through on their promise. They began teaching Ingo and Emmet how to voluntarily transform their bodies. The twins had to start small – changing their hands, for example. It would take a while to learn, but Giratina had more than enough confidence in the impossible twins.

The day before the Battle Subway would open again, a doorbell rang through the twins’ house.

“Approaching the front door!” Emmet said as he marched with straight arms and legs.

Emmet opened the front door. Standing in front of him was an unfamiliar man. His long blond hair was tied back yet still covered his left eye. The man looked no different than anyone who would visit Gear Station to travel to their destination, yet something about the man felt… wrong. In fact, something had to be very wrong if Emmet got this feeling from someone.

Emmet saluted to the guest. “I am Emmet. How can I help you?”

“Hi, Emmet! I lent you a book a while ago, and I would like it back please.” The stranger spoke with a tone that reminded Emmet of his own, in terms of formality and courtesy.

“A book? I don’t recall borrowing a book from you.”

“Like I said, I lent it to you. It was called Land of the Sinnoh: The Hisui Region.”

Emmet’s smile nearly slipped off his face, but he forced it to grow wider instead. “You gave me the book?” His mind took off and began building steam. The strange book came from nowhere, providing proof of where Ingo was. It drove Emmet to climb Mt. Coronet and challenge Arceus. The book led to reuniting with Ingo, going to the future to meet Sneasler and Eelektross and Chandelure, and saving a legendary pokemon, allowing him and Ingo to return to their primary origin. Elesa said it neither came from Lenora nor Cheren, so she did not want to trust it. They never found out who sent it – until now, that was.

“I am Emmet. Who are you?” He tried to remain calm, but he could not hide how his hands shook, even when he held them together.

“Emmet, is everything well?” Ingo said from upstairs, overhearing his brother’s tone. He walked into the hallway above the living room but stopped at the top of the stairs when he saw the guest’s face. Ingo audibly gasped. "Emmet, that's Volo!"

[ask-the-phox-gang]

[]^[] < Question relating to [(=)413/(=)612]: []^[] < What do each of the lands look like visually?

non formatted version:

[]^[] < Question relating to [(=)413/(=)612]: []^[] < What do each of the lands look like visually?

It'll probably take me a while to edit together pictures of all the lands, so instead I'll describe them in text before I do so, as well as to give myself something to work off of.

Alopex's land is the Land of Xanthic Paint and Eels. The name was specifically chosen to be an anagram, and bears no connection to Alopex's Time aspect. (LoXPaE -> aLoPEX) "Xanthic" means yellow, so this planet, ironically for a Fire type, is covered in lakes of yellow paint. The eponymous eels have adapted to their new habitat, and are the consorts of the planet. As the Time player of the session, Alopex's planet also houses the Scratch Construct: a really fuck-huge sundial located exactly at the center of the largest lake on the planet. Alopex's denizen is Dialga.

Gelphox's land is the Land of Prisms and Frogs. All Space players get a Land of (something) and Frogs, save for Calliope, who never got a planet because of Caliborn. The planet's surface is a huge swamp, with mud that's about knee-deep (waist deep for Gelphox, because he has short legs). All across the planet are tall, triangular prisms that reflect and refract the light of Skaia, focusing it into a network of beams that surround the planet. The consorts of the planet are gelatinous cubes that have an unusual hobby of plugging themselves into the ground and pretending to be prisms themselves. The Forge on LOPAF is a geyser, with the biggest prism of them all plugging it up. Dialga's power is the only way to shatter the prism and allow the Forge to be used to launch the Genesis Frog. (Genesis Froakie?) Gelphox's denizen is Palkia.

Cirrus's land is the Land of Bridges and Downdrafts. You know how whenever a pet dies, we say it "crossed the rainbow bridge?" And how in Norse mythology, there's a rainbow bridge connecting Earth and Asgard? That's what the bridges on LOBAD are. The terrain on LOBAD is covered in mountains and rivers, with rainbow bridges crossing over the rivers, ascending to the peaks of the mountains. Due to an unusual quirk regarding the composition of the atmosphere, the sky always seems dusky, yet Skaian light reflected off of the meteors in the Veil is able to pass through, giving it a sky that looks almost perpetually covered in a band of stars. Aurorae are common on LOBAD and often cover the entire planet, rather than just the poles. Another quirk of the atmosphere is that atmospheric pressure fluctuates far more than normal, causing powerful vertical downdrafts to form often. Despite the sky being mostly dark, the ground is lit up by the faint glow of the hitodama consorts that pepper the landscape, growing more plentiful as one approaches the peak of the tallest mountain, where Cirrus's quest bed stands. Their denizen is Miraidon.

Kasi and Akesi are kind of an interesting case, due to their dual nature. They have two separate dream selves, Kasi being on Prospit and Akesi on Derse, yet both of them share a single planet: the Land of Berries and Vitriol. The planet itself seems almost like two planets that got smashed together, with its equator cleanly dividing the two halves. The northern hemisphere of LOBAV is a densely wooded area, packed to the brim with acres upon acres of fruit trees as far as the eye can see. The southern hemisphere, on the other hand, is a desolate, almost hellish wasteland, with the ground cracked and barren due to the toxic vitriol that trickles through the earth instead of groundwater. The poles of the planet host two separate quest beds: Kasi's on the north pole, and Akesi's on the south. The planet also notably has two denizens: Xerneas is Kasi's denizen, while Koraidon is Akesi's denizen.

Topaz is... surprisingly not a Rage player, although I might retcon her to be one. Her planet is the Land of Veins and Foresight. The "veins" refer to crystal veins that run through the planet's crust, poking out sporadically. The planet has been subject to mining operations by the consorts, and as such, it's also criss-crossed by a vast, elaborate network of mining tunnels, leading ever deeper into the planet's depths. On the surface, the sky is polluted and yellow, like that of Venus, but one can find their way through these tunnels by using the psychic trails that snake their way through the tunnels, all leading back to the denizen of the planet: Lugia.

Lastly, Clarion. Her planet is the Land of Brine and Ophanim. The planet itself is surrounded by five rings evocative of its namesake angel. It's a planet entirely covered in water, although land-dwelling players visiting get a bubble around their bodies to prevent them from drowning. The cities of the planet are populated by the consorts, the titular ophanim, who have designed them with alien geometries that only they can comprehend. In the palace of the largest of these cities lives the denizen, Zekrom.

[j-ellyfish]

Do you think pokemon are immortal as long as you bring them to pokemon center?

Sadly, no. As early as Gen1, it is established that Pokémon can die since the Pokémon Tower exists in Lavender Town and it's a 7-floors-tall cemetery. Fun fact: my first game as a kid was Silver (Johto and apparently Paldea - unless the DLC will change this - are the only two regions lacking a cemetery area), but my second one was Blue. When I reached Lavender Town I felt sick and traumatized because I had no idea Pokémon could actually die T-T Like yes Gen2 Lavender has a cemetery too but I don't think I had reached the post-game in Silver yet when I started playing Blue.

But I digress.

When Pokémon fight in battles, at least in legally allowed ones, they are never at risk of dying. It's sort of like a contact sport and each battle is like a round, so when the Pokémon faints/is out of energy it simply means they're too tired to keep fighting safely. Pokémon Centers are like an 8-hours-sleep concentrated in a few seconds. Pokémon gain back their energies the same way an athlete does after a match.

Pokémon can be killed, and this is the case for Cubone's mother in the events that preceed your adventure in the Kanto-based games. Team Rocket is plainly stated to have killed Marowak because she tried to protect her baby, which they wanted to steal. Many Pokédex entries also state how some Pokémon may endanger their life or even die under certain circumstances, for instance: • Charmander dies when the flame on the tip of its tail goes out. • Primeape can die of anger - this is referenced in Gen9 with its new evolution Annihilape, which gains the Ghost Type (implying that the player's Primeape actually died upon evolution). • Lapras was said to have become almost extinct due to poaching. However, in Gen7 games it's said that so many regulations were made to preserve this Pokémon that now there is an overabundance of them and waters with too many Lapras face a decreasing population of Fish Pokémon (which are then implied to be eaten by Lapras). • Spoink dies if it stops bouncing, because its heart doesn't beat on its own but is activated by the bouncing movement. • Most Basculin die when attempting to go upstream in rivers (and their souls are absorbed by the one Basculin that makes it, which then evolves into Basculegion).

Fossil Pokémon in general are implied to have died in various Prehistoric ages since they have become fossils and only brought back thanks to science.

It's unclear what the life span of each Pokémon species is, but I guess they're pretty longevous in general, as long as nothing bad happens to them. Also, while it's unclear, maybe most Ghost Pokémon are immortal, especially with cases of Pokémon that the Pokédex describes as being the reincarnated form of something or someone else (ie: Phantump being the souls of children who died of starvation in forests, Yamask being the spirits of dead humans from an ancient civilization, Greavard and Houndstone being the reincarnation of other dead dog Pokémon) ... And, I suppose, some Legendary Pokémon like Groudon/Kyogre/Rayquaza, Palkia/Dialga/Arceus/Giratina, the Regis, the Galarian Wolves and Calyrex, Diancie, the Tapus, Xerneas/Yveltal/Zygarde, etc ... are immortal. Not all of them though. Some Legendary Pokémon are implied to be considered "Legendary" just because they're extremely rare. Latios and Latias are among those, and Latios canonically died in the Pokémon Heroes movie ...Even though I'd consider the anime and movies only semi-canon and not fully. The Legendary Beasts (Entei, Raikou and Suicune) might be immortal if we're talking specifically about the ones Ho-Oh revived from the Brass Tower, but other Beasts are probably mortal.

[galactic-knightmare]

A couple moments from me and my bff/adopted twin when we were rewatching pokemon movies earlier today. (Arceus and the jewel of life specifically)

Put under the cut so it doesn’t take up anyone’s dash

*”those are our watermelons!””we were cooling them down at the river”*

Me : -pauses- okay who the FUCK cools down watermelons?! THEIR WATERMELONS. THEIR NOT ON FIRE

Twin : take them out of the water and they just combust

Me : It makes NO SENSE

Twin : what are they trying to do, make WATER watermelons

*Dialga and Giratina start fighting*

Twin : its dialgas turn to get his ass beat

(We had just finished watching rise of darkrai)

*also said during the battle*

Twin : Giratina's the most reasonable, considering their PokeSatan

Me : Giratina's never even been antagonistic, even in the games. PLA was mostly Volo

Twin : *-noises of agreement-*

*Plot explanation about the dimensions*

Me : So Dialga and Palkia are fighting cause their rooms smashed into each other. That's fair

Twin : Don't you just hate it when your room smashes into your siblings room?

*arceus talking at anytime during the movie*

Me : oh god its so bad

Twin : he doesn’t sound even remotely like a god

We both wind up dissolving into laughter whenever he speaks

*Arceus shows up for the first time*

Twin : DADS BACK WITH THE MILK

Me : *-wheezes-*

Twin : HE GOT THE MILK *-laughs-*

Me : yeah he did. Only took him. Couple thousand years *-continues wheezing-*

*arceus beating up giratina, palkia, and dialga*

Twin : child abuse

Me : I- I MEAN. I GUESS

*At some point during an Arceus scene(I think...)*

Twin : Giratina really is just the tired older sibling Me : yeah he kinda is. Dad just left him to babysit his siblings for a thousand years while he went and took a nap Twin : thats just basic Dad behavior

*Arceus leaving in the past after being 'betrayed'*

Twin : He's gotta go get the milk Me : -snickers- yeah. gotta take a thousand year nap to get that milk.

*Ash and co. get captured* Me : ah yes, just yeet the children in jail. that makes sense.

*Arceus leaving at the end of the movie*

Me : and there he goes, leaving Giratina to babysit their younger siblings again.

Twin : he's gonna get more milk.

Me : probably for another thousand years.

...so as anyone can probably tell, Giratina is one of our favorites LMAO

There was a lot more shit said that dissolved into laughter, but I can't quite remember it now, so eh XD

[askthetraveller]

Apologies if we didn't want some big extravagant celebration of our union.. but..

I'm so happy you're a part of our family..

[dgyum]

"O Great King of all that resides in the Reverse World , the fairest judge among all the gods, proud among the Creation gods and pre-eminent in all lands, the great Son of the Almighty Sinnoh, exalted among the Great Princes,the magnanimous lord of Ghosts is sharedly second mightiest among the great gods -- he makes their verdicts final. The lesser gods crawl before his august word whose course he does not change even one iota; they dare not proceed against his command. He does what he wills by his own action, and no one knows but his equals and great Sinnoh how it will occur. he refines the great divine powers, he holds a shepherd's crook, and he is the spirits magnificent pre-eminent one. he is a huge shackle clamping down upon the gods of the Land. His great awesomeness covers the great mountain and levels the roads.

At his loud cries, the gods of the Land become scared. His roaring makes the land spirits tremble like a solitary reed. At his rumbling, they hide all together. Without Giratina great Palkia makes no decisions, and Dialga determines no destinies. Who opposes the master who raises his head and is supreme over the creatures of corruption? Whenever he's enraged, cities become corrupted mounds and haunted places, and shrines become waste land without any life. When his wrath makes people tremble, the burning sensation and the distress he causes are like Darkrai ensnaring a man.

he stirs confusion and chaos against those who are disobedient to him, It is his right to spread distortion and alleviate the journey to the Spirit World, untiring, strapping on his sandals. When he touches cities there is despair, a south wind which has covered all the Land, the Lord of the Grave harnesses a still reflection to travel wherever he needs to be, he cuts to pieces him who shows no respect.

His wrath is ruin upon all realms, a devastating tear in space-time which no one can withstand. A great watercourse, swiftly he abases those whom he despises. The master of Antimatter , a hummingbird who lets no one escape, creator and lord of Gravity Is he,  Giratina, a falcon preying on the gods, Giratina rips to pieces the spacious cattle-pens. The fields of the city which the lord of all the spirits  has looked at in anger are reduced to crumbling glitched messes terribile of countenance he performs a song. This song makes fantasy that which isn't in its established plan, Whoever eats the offerings of food and milk to the lord of the dead will not last. Gall will give a burning pain to those he gives it to eat, It Will be like ashes in their mouth while in his joyful heart he performs the song of death on the plain. he performs the song of his heart. he washes his weapons with blood and gore from all beings great and small.

On the open plain light flees from him and reality shortly after corrupts irreversibily. Humbling huge mountains as if they were piles of litter, he immobilises those about to be judged , you are magnificent in your course.

The great ferryman of the river which leads to the spring of the suicides  feared your precinct and was frightened of your dwelling-place. He let you take a seat in the dwelling-place of the Nightmare King and then feared you no more, saying: "I will hand over to you the august royal rites and the great divine rites."

109-114The lesser gods kissed the earth and prostrated themselves. The high mountain land, the land of cornelian and lapis lazuli, bowed down before you, but Stark Mountain did not bow down before you and did not greet you. Shattering it in your anger, as desired, you smashed it like a storm. Lord, pre-eminent through the power of Almighty Sinnoh

At your angry glare what is bright darkens; you turn brightest places into darkness. When the time had come you destroyed the place you had in your thoughts, you made the place tremble. Nothing can be compared to your purposes who can oppose your great deeds? You are the unbribable judge, among the numerous people. The invocation of your name fills the mountains,

182-196Your understanding of man's nature Is second best amogst all the gods You alone are magnificent. When you raise your eyes they pay heed to you, they wait for your word. The Land gods stand praying in the place where you dwell. May your praise not cease! Where is your name not magnificent

My lord, let me proclaim your magnificence in all lands, and your glory! Let me praise your ways and greatness! Who rivals you in strength amongst the gods of the Reverse World? Who can compare with your divine rites? May great Sinnoh, whom you love, say for you "It is enough!". May the great gods calm your mood. May the lapis lazuli dais, be fit for kingship, such as yours May your magnificent dwelling place say to you: "Be seated". May your pure bed say to you: "Relax".

Your great deeds are unparallelled, your magnificence is praised! your praise is sweet." Said Taylor i smiled remembering teaching her this hymn for when she wants to reach out to me as Giratina incarnate i responded dramatically sensing that beside her there was someone else probably Emma having managed to avert the series of events that started the bullying, unfortunately Emma began to be frequently assaulted by wild Pokemon appeared suddently out of Ultra Wormholes all over the world plus sightings of Legendary Avatars and i absolutely had to bring Taylor to Temporal Tower and be successfully Marked by Dialga the weaver of destinies, the mirror they recited the hymn in the direction of rippled like water, fog filled the room, an heavy pressure fell upon them, then i stepped forth from the mirror covered head to toe in undulating clothing fit for a king made of shadows and wearing a crown of impossible geometries and crystal madness, my eyes crimson. I turned towards Taylor and yup at her right was Emma both where wearing black with bands covered in gold plates to cover the sides of the hood, and to top it all off their hoodies back had gold filigree, i sighed from interrogating Taylor i learnt Emma had an encounter with Meloetta and was Marked by the granter of artistic inspiration and she was seeking help for her abilities i looked Emma in the eyes and spoke in the tongue of dragons which Is also the tongue of gods unto her shaking her to her core causing her to cry and vent letting out bottled up emotions, after she finished we started training her abilities doing so until sundown of the next day before i returned to the Distortion World i left them a letter from Annette

[kemonododo]

OK, Legends Arceus Headcanon time!

I personally don’t believe Arceus is god, yes I am a Pokemon athiest, I think it was a very strong Pokemon with control over the fabric of the universe (meaning it could manipulate space, time, and gravity), but it was mortal like all life and eventually died. Its spirit lives on though and even split into multiple forms. Palkia, Dialga, and Giratina are those pieces of Arceus reborn, with only the noncorporeal remains of Arceus still part of the original, which is why we never actually meet it in the game. The Arceus you fight and capture at the end is directly stated to just be a “piece” of the true Arceus, aka exactly what I think the other “god” Pokemon of the region are.

I actually have evidence to support this! The first is the easiest, all three of those Pokemon have “Origin” forms which take design elements from Arceus. In fact, if you mush all three of their origin forms together you get the silhouette of Arceus. I think this is meant to show that they began as Arceus and took their modern shapes over time.

(From Centroleaks on Twitter)

Second involves a lot of lore digging, Legends Arceus is chocked to the brim with lore that’s easy to miss. 

We know that the Diamond and Pearl clan used to be one tribe when they first arrived in Hisui, that they worship the same god (that they both call Sinnoh) but disagree on what powers the god controls and so split into separate clans. The Diamond clan says time, the Pearl clan says space. What if their confusion is based on what their ancestors actually saw? 

We know the very oldest inhabitants of Hisui (possibly the Jade Clan given the color of Cognita’s tent and that “Hisui” means jade) were the ancestors of Cognita and Volo, who seem to be the only two people who actually know about Arceus in the form that we know it as today. Cognita is also hinted at as the author of the old poems we find as collectables were she talks about mourning the death of the Pokemon she outlived, and she also wears a black dress evoking funeral attire.

"I set the bones of Pokémon adrift upon the river. "I let my memories flow on, adrift upon the river. "And to the ocean they will flow, perhaps around the world to go. "How many bones in days now gone have I now set adrift from me? "How many bones in days to come will I yet set adrift to sea? "While every gift with which I part takes a sliver of my heart."

"Once it shone upon us all, with all the warmth of welcome sun. "But now we weep, to grief we fall, starved of light now it has gone. "And some they go, despair withal, in search of it they reel and run. "They quit their hearths, abandon hall, and leave our lands to be undone. "And when they're gone beyond recall, this land will be a home to none. This land will only ever be a home to Pokémon."

"O you, who at the world's far-off end dwell, I know your wish—it is my wish as well. "My own beloved is now gone from me, departed to a place I cannot reach. "My old companions have left me behind, their faces faded into days gone by. "Still to my breast I clutch this hopeless dream, a futile wish for us once more to meet. "O you, who at the world's far-off end dwell, I know your wish—it is my wish as well. "But ours are cold and endless winter days, warmed only by memories locked away."

Several poems make reference to the Jade Clan disappearing and the Pokemon that she watched die which is heavy with her sadness and mourning. What if the characters all represent what happened? Cognita represents Arceus, the oldest and the original with a feeling of mourning and death. The Diamond Clan and Pearl Clan represents Dialga and Palkia, split from what was once whole and now at war with each other. And Volo represents Giratina, descended from Arceus like he is from the original tribe, but who uses the knowledge and power he gained for evil.

I’m not confident enough in this theory to flaunt it as undeniably true, it’s just my own hypothesis, but I think it’s more interesting than just Pokémon Christianity.

[nemesis-is-my-middle-name]

I can explain Dialga and Palkia's types! In the mythology of many ancient cultures, the world is depicted as coming from a vast Primordial Ocean-and Space is often associated with ocean travel in certain media. Meanwhile, a lot of clocks use crystals to tell time-and tuning forks, like what Dialga's head-spikes resemble, were used in clocks.

[ Anonymous: (Alternatively, Palkia is a Water-type and Dialga a Steel-type because those Types are what their Domains NEED instead of what they are. Time is fluid, but it needs structure and stability. Meanwhile, space has stability, but it needs a certain elasticity and flexibility.) (I'm not sure, though, since space is ALREADY flexible and fluid, as it can be bent by basically anything-heck, gravity is just the way spacetime warps and folds around celestial bodies. But it is still a decent explanation.)

Anonymous: (Also, Time is weirdly rigid in reality. We know space can be warped and twisted, but we can't change the past, we can only go forward, and Time is only slowed by gravity-and even then, it only stops in the face of black holes, which we don't really understand that much about.) (Of course, GameFreak could have just gone with the "Cosmic Ocean/Crystals and Clockwork" explanation for the Spacetime duo, which works very well from a mythological standpoint.)

Anonymous: (Sorry for rambling, but I've had A Lot of thoughts about the Spacetime dragons and their types-more than is probably healthy.)]

the Swift Nemesis Vibe Checker™ pronounces these vibes INVALID, sorry. this one only works from a mythological standpoint if you get EXTREMELY picky about which myths you’re looking at.

like first off, water’s most prominent symbolic meaning, broadly speaking, is that of change and rebirth. things that can’t happen without... y’know... the passage of time. moreover, dialga’s pokedex entries consistently make reference to “the flow of time” being dialga’s primary influence on the world, reinforcing the connection between time and river. laventon’s dex even specifically SAYS “The birth of Dialga was what caused the vast river of time to begin flowing in our world.“ time, in pokemon, is symbolically associated with the concept of rivers/flowing water. in addition, dialga’s powers over time consist of warping and bending it, so the “time is rigid”/”dialga’s power comes from holding time rigid” doesn’t really hold up either.

on the flipside, steel. does not represent crystals i don’t know why bulbapedia says this so confidently it’s like very obviously not true. steel represents... metal. steel. rock is for crystals. see: carbink and diancie, the crystal onix. and it’s not like dialga is The Clock Pokémon, it’s The Temporal Pokémon, those are Different Things. the best argument for dialga being steel is actually the existence of the time gears, but like, those don’t even exist in the main series, so they don’t outweigh all the dex entries for me. and basing dialga’s typing on its physical design and not its purpose doesn’t feel right, like, one of those had to have come after the other, right.

on palkia’s side, just for. point of clarification. there’s a BIG difference between “space as a physics concept” and “outer space, like things that Aren’t Earth.” if we are discussing Outer Space, that can be an ocean, but the type most strongly associated with both space and spatial manipulation is psychic. solrock and lunatone, the cosmog line, cresselia, elgyem, hoopa, gardevoir, etc etc. things that can manipulate space, or are from outer space, are generally psychic typed. so really palkia should be dragon/psychic but that’s kind of uninspired. and the lake trio are already psychic bc of the association with human spirit, so that type is Taken. so if we take away psychic, what’s left?

well, going back to dex entries, i would actually like to propose an entirely new option: flying. “huh?” you say, and “bear with me,” i say. if we’re nixing the psychic connection due to the lake trio already taking psychic, the only other possible symbols/powers the dex makes reference to is 1) “space becomes more stable with Palkia’s every breath.“ and 2) “The birth of Palkia was what caused the walls of our world to disappear, creating a sky that spans for infinity.” so we can argue there’s an association with air, breath, and the boundless sky for palkia, and nothing fits that better than flying. there’s also the more tenuous connection of flying with traversal and speed, which suits for a pokemon that spans all of space.

the only point against it is that rayquaza is dragon/flying, but lunala and hoopa, and celebi and tapu bulu, there is precedent for legendaries sharing a type, and palkia and rayquaza would have the order reversed (palkia being flying/dragon while rayquaza is dragon/flying).

this has been my impromptu essay about the Correct Types For The Creation Trio, thank you for coming

[dndpantheons]

Gods of Hisui/Sinnoh (Part 1)

The Lake Guardians

#480 Uxie

“A Pokémon feared but also respected for stealing away the memories of evildoers. I have found records that suggest Uxie holds dominion over knowledge.”

Uxie is known as “The Being of Knowledge,” and it’s said that it’s emergence granted humans the intelligence to solve problems and improve their lives. Though usually a benevolent force, it’s rumored that it punishes evildoers by opening it’s eyes and stealing their memories.

#481 Mesprit

“Known as the Being of Emotion. In legend, this Pokémon was feared, as any who showed disrespect would have their emotions thrown into disarray.”

Mesprit is known as “The Being of Emotion,” and it’s believed that when it first flew, humanity learned sorrow, pain, and joy. It’s believed it’s spirit is untethered to it’s body, exploring the world while it slumbers at the bottom of Lake Verity.

#482 Azelf

“The dreaded Being of Willpower. Legends tell of this Pokémon manipulating the will of its adversaries and turning them into puppets of its own.”

Azelf is known as “The Being of Willpower,” granting people the determination to act, or stripping the willpower from it’s adversaries. Some believe that the Lake Guardians were born out of the same egg, and were tasked by Arceus to to keep the world in balance.

The Creation Deities

#483 Dialga

“This Pokémon is revered as a deity in Hisuian legend. The birth of Dialga was what caused the vast river of time to begin flowing in our world.”

Dialga is a legendary pokémon, and the ancient deity of time. It’s said that time began flowing when it was born, and that time is controlled by it’s heart beats. Clans have argued whether Dialga is the true manifestation of “the Almighty Sinnoh,“ or if that title belongs to Palkia.

#484 Palkia

“This Pokémon is feared as a deity in Hisuian legend. The birth of Palkia was what caused the walls of our world to disappear, creating a sky that spans for infinity.”

Palkia is a legendary pokémon, and the ancient deity of space. It’s birth is said to have replaced the walls of our world with an endless sky. It’s believed it can distort space to transport itself anywhere, and lives in a dimension parallel to ours.

#487 Giratina

“There is one Hisuian verse that tells of a powerful light creating a deep shadow. I imagine that this deep shadow is Giratina.”

Giratina is a legendary pokémon, and is believed to be the shadow caused by Arceus’ light. It was created with Dialga and Palkia, but it’s violent and rebellious nature led to it being cast into the Distortion World, an opposite reflection of our world. There it’s believed that Giratina is silently watching our world.

#493 Arceus

“It is the heavenly fount from which pours the light that shines across Hisui. Its luminance guides and protects all Pokémon. Hisuian mythology states that Arceus is the creator of all things.”

Arceus is known as “The Original One,” and the creator of all things. It’s said that it was born before the universe existed, and it used it’s thousand arms to shape all of creation. Seen as a protector, it’s holy light is said to guide all pokémon.