- Gem Mini -
The DSS Troubleshooter Lab was calmly quiet for the first time in months. Shawn tiredly reviewed what was hopefully the final documents he needed to cover his team's support of the Digidestined. Serperior was working through the backlog of Box related paperwork they had built up during the events. Gazimon was busy with his Dark Network rework, with A-0 directly helping to get the digital world control programs running at a DSS Administrator's level. Janice had her own documents on both the Digidestined issues and their actual job, with Metagross providing stoic assistance when they could.
Quagsire's team was a bit of a contrast, but they were still working on their actual job most of the time so it was mostly a case of them not even having that large backlog to go through. "So, you're going to still be tagging along with us then?" the amphibian pokemon asked Jack as the young Investigator arrived in the room.
"Looks like it," the Decidueye sighed. "My review of the other groups that have started up isn't looking too good. From the reports it looks like there was a brief time when a whole bunch of companies had the bright idea to 'test' digital world creation on old systems that they had lying around for one reason or another.
This statement attracted the horrified attention of the rest of the room. "Jack, please tell me they at least wiped the things first," A-0 said with a firm tone that clearly said how it expected a negative response.
"Some of them did, but half the reason most of this year's League got grabbed by people with new digital worlds is because of the hazardous digital life forms created by the ones that didn't," Jack admitted unhappily.
Further discussion was interrupted by a message from the front desk. "Shawn, your mom is here," Janice said quickly. "They've already sent her up."
"She's a Gym Leader now, right?" Gazimon asked cautiously at the nervous look that appeared on his trainer's face at that news.
"Still not sure how she managed that," Jack noted and started to take off his mask to become a human again. "I mean, she isn't too bad with pokemon all things considered, but I think she only actually went on her League run a year or so after we did."
"Leave it on, Jack," Strangle said to her trainer with a sigh. "My mom's somehow ended up sticking with Shawn's and it probably will be better if you understand her too."
The familiar sound of a person traveling quickly alongside a massive snake monster then approached the room, and an older woman with icy blue eyes entered with a harsh red eyed snake right beside her. "Shawn/Slasher, why the hell did I find out you somehow ended up a Legendary pokemon from a report instead of from you?" the pair demanded in a matching tone as soon as they caught sight of their sons.
The reaction of the room could easily be split into two groups. The larger group, those who did not grow up alongside Shawn and as a result did not really know his family, reacted with a touch of exasperation as they discovered where the pair got that habit from. The smaller group, consisting of the three children of the new arrivals, Janice, and Jack, looked at this display of unified speech with confused horror.
"Ah, well you see that's a bit of a story," Serperior started uneasily, despite still looking uncertain about how his mother had spoken in time with Shawn's.
"To be fair, I was only included in that later on," Shawn argued at the same time, in a somewhat uncommon display of the pair not going for the same reaction.
"Leader Gem Reading, it is good to see you again," Janice cut in as Serperior gave Shawn a harsh glare and both of the pair failed to find an excuse. "And it is good to hear from you too Mini," she said to Serperior and Strangle's mother. "Although admittedly the translator is something we added since your last visit." She critically looked at the pair. "I was under the impression that you both had only rarely interacted with each other before you started working together for the Dendro Gym."
"A two headed snake monster?" Gem Reading and Mini the Serperior asked once again speaking in unison, and most of the room nodded in response. "You two are actually different people," their mothers sighed together.
"Okay, this is really creepy. Mom, why do you need to say that?" Strangle asked with considerable unease, and that was not helped by how her brother and his trainer did not seem to be as confused by what was happening.
The two new arrivals did not look at each other, and in fact the longer everyone saw them next to each other the more unusual the way the two mothers interacted with each other became. "I was born/hatched the day I hatched/was born," the two of them said together, once more only speaking differently as far as the context of which of the two was saying something. "I have always had two bodies, but only ever had one mind," they continued. "I wasn't sure that I had not passed it down to the two of you."
"Ah," their sons said disappointedly. "We were afraid of that." Their sister on the other hand had gone totally pale. "I mean, you always seemed to know what I got up to when, uh. When you," Shawn attempted to continue. "Mom, how exactly do you describe what happens to one of you but not the other?"
"Generally by name," their mothers said together. "Things that happen to this body happen to 'Gem'," the human said alone. "And most of the actual interesting stuff I've done happens to 'Mini'," the Serperior specified.
"Well, this isn't the reason I expected for why Shawn tends to be bad about being human," Jack half joked to his Starter, and then actually realized that Strangle had not moved at all since getting her answer. "Strangle?"
The follow-up question seemed to shock the serpent out of her terrified silence. "That's not possible," she said rather loudly, but also a bit too desperately. "You can't, you- That isn't a thing, it can't be a thing," she continued a bit hysterically.
"Strangle?" Serperior asked with considerable concern, which was mirrored by the rest of their family's expressions. Then he paled a bit himself. "Wait, is this about your fire thing back when we were little?"
"It was just my imagination," she insisted in a way that clearly struck her mother as Gem and Mini both froze at that statement. "It had to have been just my imagination."
Jack took a deep breath as he looked between his desperate Starter, and his belt full of arguably undead pokemon. "What was just your imagination?" he asked cautiously.
"I. I thought about being a Salandit, a wild one, when I was really little," the snake pokemon said as she curled tightly on herself. "It. It started when I hatched, both times. The Salandit me was always hungry, because it was wild, and didn't have much chance to learn anything but the basics of living before-" She cut off sharply and shivered. "It was a sudden freeze, and both of me went to sleep. The next morning there was only one of me."
"She all but stopped talking about using fire after we were about a year and a half old," her brother quietly noted. "I don't bring it up because she always got sad when I tried."
Their mother's two bodies were now as pale as Strangle had been just before. "I didn't even consider it could happen until Shawn was born," she admitted faintly. "He acted so much like Slasher that I worried that it was possible to have the ages not match."
"Trying not to think too hard about how we definitely have different dads," Shawn grumbled, but it was clear he was not comfortable with the sudden revelation. Then looked very worried. "We do have different dads, right?"
"Our dad didn't even like mom," Strangle said, and she actually sounded a bit better with the minor distraction. "I'd much rather get yours. Salandit me didn't even know my parents there," she added a bit faintly and looked to her trainer. Then she visibly stopped as her eyes reached the part Ghost type. "No. No, it doesn't count Jack!"
"I'm pretty sure that counts at least as much as me or Flygon," her trainer said sympathetically. "On the bright side it means we probably don't have to worry about anything else happening to you so you fit."
"Even Crusher has a couple weird Ghost quirks," Strangle quickly argued.
"I'm pretty sure you did actually light me on fire that one time," her brother said nervously. "You know, during the week after you stopped talking about it, so it was extra strange."
"Serperior can't normally learn Fire type moves?" Jack asked as if that was a valid concern.
"We can learn Sunny Day just fine, and that's a good starting point," Strangle insisted. "I can't even do anything more than that at a combat level, and you should know how easy it is for us to learn Poison stuff, Slasher."
"It might be because of your other self," her mothers noted with both bodies, still looking very shaken by the idea. "I can do at least some Grass type moves," her human body then said alone. "And that's why I let Shawn learn some self defense moves from his uncle's Blaziken." The two bodies then blinked in unison. "Should we contact him again about helping Strangle learn Fire moves too?"
"We are not messing around with stuff about how I might have partially died as a kid," the subject of that question said, now clearly past the point of denying that possible aspect of her past.
"Oh! That's why you feel weird," Giratina suddenly said, with the result of Gem and Mini jumping at the sudden appearance of a Legendary pokemon. "It didn't quite feel right to be a past life, but you definitely had the spirit of another pokemon with you." The massive six legged monster was half out of a shadow right behind the two of them.
"I know that it is a Ghost thing," Janice rather sharply complained. "But could you try and not surprise any of our guests that don't know you're here? I do not want to have to explain a creator god's presence to customers again."
"Oh, apologies," the Legendary said to Gem and Mini, somehow managing to look both of her bodies in the eye at once. Then he turned to look at Strangle, who clearly did not want the focus of such a powerful pokemon regarding this topic. "I actually have a couple of options for you if you want some of it back. It wouldn't be the same, death is a major change, but it would be a restoration." He then turned to look at Crusher's pokeball. "I don't get to help with that very often, and I have things I've done that I want to try and make up for."
Almost the entire room looked at him with some confusion. "Hate to say it big guy, but I don't think any of us have any idea what you've actually done," Gazimon said dryly.
"Well, I know a couple of things," Grant noted. "But I can't really say I was that good a pokemon back then either." The Armaldo saying that was honestly more than enough to explain the issue to everyone.
"I have met humans before," Giratina complained about how long ago the fossil pokemon's statement implied it was since he last traveled the world. "Anyway, now that the serious tone is ruined, I have two things I can think of offhand. The first is I go grab that Mew I had look over your brothers." The Ghost/Dragon blinked. "Huh, actually both of them are your brothers." Shawn gave him a halfhearted glare. "That Mew should be able to work out how to teach you to transform. There is a sort of, uh, actually I think I probably should let an actual shapeshifter explain anything to make sure I don't get it wrong."
"As an actual shapeshifter I firmly agree with that suggestion," A-0 called out. "The list of things you can hurt yourself trying is far longer than the list of safe ways to explain things." The confused looks this earned it got a huff from the digital pokemon. "Just because I don't like shapeshifting doesn't mean I can't do it."
"Wait, I'm part you guys, does that mean I have to worry about learning shapeshifting too?" Gazimon asked with some unease at the prospect himself.
"We can figure that out after my sister properly checks you out for having deliberately crippled yourself," the Porygon-2 replied unhappily.
"Can I give the other option now?" Giratina asked to cut off that interruption. "It is the one I can definitely do something about now." He turned to look at Strangle, who seemed to have returned to her more typical annoyance in light of the Legendary pokemon's offers. "Your spirit still has a fairly clear split where it once controlled two bodies, and it is still strong enough to have both. I can make a new form for that other part of your spirit so you are two creatures at once again. With the right kind of help we might even be able to remake something closer to your old other form," he finished explaining with a look towards A-0.
Jack however seemed to realize something rather critical about the entire topic. "Wait, you can control multiple bodies at once," the Decidueye mask possessing his own body said with only a hint of annoyance. "Should we have been worried about you accidentally possessing people," he complained more than asked.
About half the room looked at him with unease, in particular his Starter who paired that look with a glare that told him she thought he was an idiot. "Do you have a problem with that sort of thing?" Giratina asked. "I had thought you weren't that inconvenienced by not being able to both possess a body and use your original at the same time. I might be able to help with giving you a bit more power to do both at once as well."
Mini the Serperior followed the group as they moved to the monitor array to better discuss the god's options, while she had Gem Reading hold back with her sons so they could speak more privately about the secondary reason she had come here. "So, since the two of you aren't quite as surprised as you could be," she started. "Why didn't you two tell me you had both became a Legendary pokemon?"
Her sons looked a lot more serious now that the others were farther away and no longer close enough to clearly hear them. They still checked the rest of the group, and she had Mini check too since her serpentine body was with that group. "Legendary pokemon don't become Legendary without a reason for that power," Shawn started quietly. "We have two possible ones, the nice one that everyone is saying right now is that we're protectors of digital worlds."
"The reason we think though," Serperior said, and then the two of them looked at each other in the way that they always did. Gem-Mini felt that had always been the best evidence they were different people, she almost never had the need to look at herself.
"We've heard a story," they said together, still quiet and nervous. "Once there was a powerful bird pokemon. They were one of the protectors of their flock." The two of them looked over at the rest of the group. "This bird in particular was the one brave and strong enough to fight off the local Electric type pokemon."
She recognized the story now. "They fought those Electric types until they could easily withstand their attacks. Then a great storm came that threatened the entire forest, and the bird pokemon flew up to challenge it. The devastating thunder of the storm got caught in their wings, trapped and unable to harm the inhabitants of the forest, but changing the bird into something else in the process. They became the very thing they had fought against with such dedication, an Electric type, one with Legendary power," Gem finished for her sons, now well aware of the point of this story. "One of the myths about how Zapdos came to be."
"'A' Zapdos, and from what we've heard that one might actually be true," Serperior noted. "Our Basirablemon form is the strongest corruption we have ever seen. Likely as a result of both our repeated exposure to them for our work and the use of a virus based method to achieve that form."
"You're sure that it is the same as your foes?" she asked her clearly worried sons to find out what they believed.
"It is a trivial task to turn our caustic toxins into a liquid that instead transforms the victim into a Poison type that would be at minimum under our influence," her possibly still human son replied sadly. "Thorns from our plant aspect would be able to do similar with a Grass typed result. On top of that we automatically corrupt any area we arrive at, requiring considerable cleanup afterward."
"In the story Zapdos still protected his flock afterwards," she noted, although she fully understood not wanting to reveal something about yourself. "Have you told any of them?"
"Gazimon knows, and we're fairly sure A-0 has figured it out," they said together morosely. "We're mostly waiting for Delta 2 to go over enough of her scans to piece it together."
So far Mini had only been listening as her daughter and Jack both discussed possible options with of all pokemon Giratina himself. That helped to let her focus entirely on this discussion, but needing to split her focus had given her trouble all her life. "Did you know your sister was like me before?" Gem asked quietly, after nodding to show she understood their reasoning.
"Mrs. Vital moved in after grandma died," Shawn solemnly noted, and Gem froze at the reminder of the strange way that woman acted around her since her own mother's death.
"It runs along the female line?" she sharply asked, and then groaned with both of her bodies because this meant it was possibly a family tradition at this point to not explain things to your daughter.
"And doesn't care which of the two it started from," Serperior said without meeting her eyes. "She also seemed to think that it went to the two of us instead."
"It was really confusing to get half a conversation at a time and only be able to piece the whole thing together when Serp learned to write," Shawn added.
"How long has Slasher known how to write?" Gem asked because she did not remember teaching her pokemon children that, or at least the two that started out as pokemon, and had actually thought that had been a sign that Slasher was Shawn too.
Her sons both looked at each other again. "He learned before I did, I just figured out reading first," her mostly human offspring admitted. "I'll admit, he might have helped me cheat a bit on homework back then."
"This is why nobody could tell for sure that the two of you are different people," she sighed, and it honestly was the actual reason. The pair had done so much together from the moment her serpentine son had hatched that she had been sure that the two of them simply had the luck to be in one place at a time.
Her sons, however, both looked at her a bit blankly for telling them that, and then back at each other once more with another of the wordless conversations that were both a sign they weren't one person and strange enough to still make her wonder.
Strangle looked over at her mother briefly when the other Serperior groaned aloud. It probably was something to do with her brothers, who had not followed them along with Shawn's mother. Who was also her mother. That stung because it meant that the older serpent's comments about her being switched with Shawn at birth now meant her mother had felt she should have been born human instead. Perhaps thinking that it would have been better for both sides of a split life to share the exact same parents.
It wasn't a good thought, but she now had a clear idea why her mother had been more concerned with her brother and his trainer than her. Strangle was well versed in revenge for that kind of thing by this point, so she was half considering Giratina's offer of once again being two pokemon at once just to drive that bit of unpleasant truth in to her mother.
"Are you okay?" Jack suddenly asked her, but in a tone that told her that her thoughts were showing on her face. "I know this is a tough topic." The bird pokemon flicked his eyes towards her mother. "And I think it is something we should consider for a bit before deciding on anything."
"You didn't think I was only going to try this today did you?" Giratina asked dryly. "We aren't talking about anyone who just died here, or is barely hanging on. You two could wait years before you had to worry about this sort of thing. Centuries for you, Jack. I'll do it today if you really want it and DSS can make you something else to live in, but there's no rush."
"Jack has too many Grass types," Strangle said now that she was thinking about that side of things. "And I have somewhat missed being able to just stick around home. I think I've fought all I want to as a Serperior, so maybe I should try and be a Salandit again." There was a part of her that was far too excited about that, and she didn't like how that part felt sort of like it was waking up from a cold day.
"Okay, you just sort of lit up the same way your mom, specifically Mini, has been a bit down since you told her about this issue," her trainer suddenly said with a look that was far too focused to be natural, and she remembered with a start that he was a Ghost type too. That meant he might actually be able to make out whatever the Legendary pokemon was seeing about her.
"I don't think I've actually seen this situation before," Giratina noted sounding rather interested. "Mini, have you felt impulses related to just one of your bodies before as well?"
"I'm not quite sure how to answer that," the older Serperior said somewhat confused. "I mean, that's what bodies do, isn't it?"
"Strangle, I think I actually understand what your mom just said," Jack said as everyone spent a moment contemplating the idea of being able to even tell if that was a thing. "That's honestly the biggest problem I've had when I'm on someone else, their bodies have all these things that are just a little different even though I turn them into a Decidueye."
At that moment Strangle realized that she had not yet explained her trainer's full situation to her mother.
"Am I really that bad of a mother that you three don't ever want to tell me anything?" Gem asked as Jack began to demonstrate how he had been turned into a mask.
"I think our lives are just so weird that we hope they calm down a bit before we have to tell you," her sons said together, and she sighed at how bad they were at being clearly different people.
"Despite this oddness you still just seem normal to us," her serpent son specified. "It doesn't seem right to worry you about this sort of thing."
"I've got enough people saying I'm not human without revealing your situation," Shawn added.
"Our latest Champion has shown everyone that pokemon can be, and locally often are, Champion material," she informed her sons, and then looked over at A-0 who had been discussing the details of giving Strangle another second body in order to glare twice as much at it. "I've had some issues explaining why I'm the new Gym Leader back home, and since that's already out there I'm planning on just telling everyone."
"You mean even more people are going to think we're the same person," her sons complained.