Daichi: A short break from coming up with new chapter ideas… and however long to execute them. Seems like a decent schedule to me!
BlackGatomon: I found your stash of soda. Maybe try something sustainable with an actual sleep schedule?
Daichi: Well. I tried, at least?
Verity: We don't own this stuff beyond Satoko. Which is good, because she'd use the increase in Reality-Crafting power to create a caffeine vault. I really wish I was joking here.
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The green snake yawned and stretched out on the pillow. "I never thought I'd say this, but Lady Nemesis really is helpful."
"You're the one that told me she was redundant in the first place," Ken Amada replied, stashing the money he'd gotten from blasting those blobs with light. Inaccurate, ineffective, and yet the best alternative he had to lightning. Just because he could turn into a Pikachu didn't make it a good idea, especially since it would subject him to a severe height disadvantage.
It was great for never having to charge anything, though. And he needed to be stingy with resources, especially after Paradise had been hit by that meteor fragment. Everything had changed after Paradise was hit by that meteor fragment. When he was seven.
Saving a world at five generally did not lead to a normal mental state, which was probably why he'd unlocked his Persona so young. Or maybe it was the fact that all the knowledge required to be a functional adult Pokemon had been uploaded onto his brain at once. He didn't know, especially since there wasn't any way to repeat the process.
Not that it would help if he did. While he had eventual life goals and such, he had no clue how to get there, and currently all they could do was figure things out through trial, error, and near death experiences. "We can't keep doing this." Least of which because the people in charge of the dorm were starting to notice the missing coffee.
No, it didn't matter to him that he was physically a kid. He had all the practical information required to be an adult, his body just needed to catch up with him. And, at some point, he needed to track down Hydreigon to ask why any of this was a good idea.
"Yeah, we don't find enough Void Shadows to make it worth it, do we? They're even weaker than they were in the Voidlands!" They both shuddered at the reminder of how, exactly, Ken had learned to freely summon his Persona. They could be excused for kicking his world-walking power into overdrive to abandon planet as soon as they were saved. Even if their time there was relatively painless compared to some of the horror stories.
"Not like we have an alternative," He mused. Perhaps he could have returned Meiko to her own world by now, but nothing seemed to be horribly destabilized. The Void Shadows were apparently native to this world, actually, which brought up so many questions.
"Actually… the snakes have been talking. They say there's someone who talks to dogs out there. Maybe we could work off of that?" Well, anything would be better than the rut they were currently stuck in, wouldn't it?
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Satoko was firmly of the opinion that homework was evil. It wasn't that she minded the work itself, it was the fact that she believed work done for school should remain in school.
At least the weather was good, so she could stay outside. She'd hated rainy days back at her last school, because they'd forced her to stay indoors so her things wouldn't be ruined. It wasn't all bad, sometimes her friends would come over, but she felt she belonged outside. Something that age and evolution only increased.
For a given definition of age, anyway. She wasn't sure how to count it, other than the fact that her birthday was the week before and she was apparently older than she looked, with the wits to match it. At least, when it came to human stuff. In Pokemon terms, she was still a kid in almost every way, fully evolved or not.
It confused people. It even confused her, at times. But it worked, and it meant she could complete her homework almost effortlessly while still being able to relate to her same-age friends, for a given definition of age.
"So, I'm pretty sure Minako-senpai has a secret boyfriend," She stated, returning her now complete math to her bag.
"What makes you think that?" Souji asked, not looking up from the assigned reading.
"Well, she doesn't eat dinner with the rest of us unless we're going to Tartarus," She started. "She never tells us where she goes in the afternoon when it's not with one of us or a club. There's another Persona User in town that she's apparently on good terms with but never introduced us to. And Koromaru saw them making out behind this shrine last week."
"You know, you could have started with that last one," Souji pointed out, not even asking how she could talk to the dog. Likely because he'd become accustomed to her weirdness.
Satoko shrugged. "Yeah, but not everyone believes me when I start with that last part. Of course, they don't know I can talk to animals, but that's not the point."
"You can talk to animals?" A female voice piped up. Snivy, from the sounds of it. Satoko glanced around to see the Pokemon in question standing on the path.
"You know, I don't think I've ever come here and had a normal day," She commented. "It's not even Koromaru this time."
'You're not questioning why there's a Snivy in this world?' Anubis asked.
'Well, I'm here, aren't I?'
'This is your home world.'
'Not according to what I consciously remember, it isn't!' She replied. And, really, it worked either way. If she could go to the Pokemon world, why couldn't a Snivy come to the human one? It made sense to her.
"Meiko! I told you not to wander off! These people don't know about Pokemon, they can't understand you!" A boy, younger than Satoko and Souji, ran up the path. Satoko blinked. She wasn't sure why he was substituting one language for another, but then, she had the advantage of having properly learned both.
"You speak Pikachu?" She asked in surprise. "I thought I was the only one."
The boy laughed and glanced aside. "I get that sometimes. Ken Amada, formerly of Post Town and the Pokemon Paradise, at least until they got hit by a meteor. Long story there. Apparently Rayquaza didn't care about it so long as it didn't hit his tower." That name sounded familiar… wait…
"Hydreigon told me about you. You're the one that killed that really powerful Shadow, right? The Bittercold?" She grinned, senses locking onto his aura. "You even have a Persona! Oh, I'm Satoko Taraki from Serene Village. The one that fought Dark Matter. It's great to meet someone else like me."
Souji blinked. "I think I lost you guys."
"It's about how I learned to use my powers. Don't worry about it." The silver-haired boy nodded and turned back to his homework.
"I told you that lead was worth pursuing!" The Snivy- Meiko, that was her name- grinned. "And you didn't listen to me!" Ken sighed.
"Don't mind her. She's been like this since the meteor strike. But why are you comparing the Bittercold to Void Shadows?" The area around his hand sparked, and Satoko reminded herself that her powers were not limited only to her Pokemon form, though it seemed Ken's Persona was helping him channel that power in his human state.
"Well, they're basically the same thing, aren't they? It's just that the Bittercold and Dark Matter were powerful enough to manifest in the physical world. At least, given what I've observed so far. The older Persona Users might know more, but if they do, they're not telling me."
"Don't you work with them?" Souji asked.
"I think it's because I'm the youngest. Why do you think I'm not telling them about all the people I find who have Personas? If they won't tell me everything that's going on, they can recruit by themselves." Maybe a little cynical, but she could afford to be that now.
Meiko blinked. "Okay, Ken has the excuse of having been provided all the knowledge he needed to survive as a Pokemon, why are you so smart? You're a Fighting Type!"
"Brains and power are not mutually-exclusive," Satoko replied. "And I may or may not have been an adult at some point. I'm not entirely sure."
They didn't get a lot more work done that day.
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Daichi: This one… sort of got away from me. I'm not even sure what happened here, but given my… company… I'll assume it's at least decipherable.
Verity: Satoko met Ken and Meiko. They proceeded to lose track of time chattering about being Pokemon. The New Game Plus players aren't as subtle as they think they are.
Daichi: ...Yeah, sure, let's use this. Better than nothing, at least.