During an interview regarding their approach to the animated/machinimated web series [Red vs. Blue] (commonly shortened to [RvB]), one of the creators mentioned that their general approach was taking a look at everything and playing around with what kind of jokes or stories they could create based around them. From a gameplay perspective, an alien device would become recognized as a weapon, but from a story telling perspective, the setting of their series was far enough into the future that they could play it off as a 'high tech medical device'.
That's something I try to keep in mind whenever I mess around with canon. The Ghost typing are generally super distinct from the rest of the species in their universe, be it their intangibility, spectral abilities, or otherwise. As I continued to think about it, drawing out different threads of what I could use or just letting my mind run wild, I came upon the idea that Ghosts are an entirely different species/collective entirely, especially in terms of moral guidelines. In this other dimension where they come into being like waking from an unrememberable dream and all they have is an unexplainable hunger and longer, what kind of behaviors might erupt from that? For those that end up remembering their past life (if they even have one), what sort of morals might start to influence them, if at all?
Its things like that I can run wild with for a couple days. Whether or not I can properly pull those ideas into a story, that's for future me to deal with.
Caitlyn claimed it was because she was a Ghost. That her emotions had long since disappeared and any semblance of emotion she showed beyond sadistic glee was just a facsimile borne from her observations of the living.
Celèste believed that her heart- her sense of empathy- had been locked away by the eternity she had spent wandering the Spirit Realm, slowly being forged into the being she was today.
The truth? Killing was an act made as easily as the living breathed. To tear away their mortal coil and expose the life essence burning within; to torment them until their mind shattered; to inflict sensation upon sensation until their nerves frayed from the stimulation and left them in a paralytic state.
It was not something she lamented though. In the Spirit Realm, kindness and concern were traits that got you consumed. Even among the living, to meet a fellow Ghost- a true one- you needed to maintain a level of aloofness, lest you provide a fatal opening.
To be a Ghost was a lonely existence. A life condemned to solitude and distrust.
And yet...
It was in the hands of her Spiritual Sisters that she felt the most safe. Their life energies cycling through her, it was only the most violent aspects of their beings that she drained away. Energy freely given, a meal so enriching it surpassed any feast. And scattered among the memories, these fragmented nightmares-that-never-would, small offerings of love. Acceptance.
A tacit acknowledgement that despite their differences in morals, they would always be there for the other.
She hoped that if she still Existed when her Sisters passed on, she would be able to greet their new form.
...and that if that chance was missed, and instead another were to occur, that she would not have to Consume them.
/ - /
Alex wasn't at all surprised when June stepped into the debriefing room (though he knew for a fact this specific layout was for interrogation), looking for all the world as if they were merely sharing office space rather than what this actually was. Together they quietly scratched away at their paperwork, June sipping at her coffee every so often. It was only as he started signing off on his reports that she spoke up.
"Brass isn't happy about how you handled this."
"When I'm involved, they're never happy."
She flipped to the next page, scanning a few lines before responding. "So what happened?" She gestured her coffee towards him. "From your lips. I'll go over the reports and footage later, before things get scrubbed."
"Project GO's sensors picked up abnormal movement. Tuesday sent me the 'unnatural' files once it all got compiled. Sometime in the last four weeks, three other beedrill achieved a permanent Mega state." As expected, June showed no outward response. When her eyes continued to read over the same line three times, he said nothing. "After informing Bugsy that his position as one of Johto's Pillars was in a questionable spot, I made my way into Ilex Forest, using the area I found those kids in when I first came across Pinnacle as a landing area. Were it not for the previous event, I wouldn't have gone out and taken care of the situation, but since his showing against me was extremely lacking I made the decision to handle it on my own rather than allow a liability to take care of it."
"The parties involved were four separate beedrill colonies within the forbidden portions of Ilex Forest, alongside a single scyther colony that had several scizor among their ranks. I left Celèste, Caitlyn, and Emerl to handle the greater battle while Umbral scouted a path into enemy territory." Interpol regulation demanded that he refer to pokémon operatives by their species. Interpol regulation could bend over and suck itself off. "While observing enemy movement, Caitlyn realized that the amount of coordination they were showing required the aid of a Trainer. Pinnacle's hive had the sole benefit of having several formerly Trainer owned members so their innate tactics had an excuse, but the others?" He shook his head. "Ordinarily I would have simply left him with the local Rangers to process, but as Megas were involved…"
June set her paperwork down and rubbed her head. "Yes… Four permanent Megas among the beedrill line." She stared at him, her expression unchanging. In business-June terms, it meant she was wondering what she was allowed to tell him. "Without risking a crisis, we're unable to learn how Pinnacle achieved the form-" Alex snorted at the implication- "but as for the two your team subdued, from what we could gather it seems that they were fed fragments of beedrillite. Over time and with an external source, they were forced into the evolution." June leaned forward. "Were it not for your actions, it was likely they would have suffered a meltdown similar to the scizor line. Congratulations on preventing a forest fire."
Alex stared down at his papers. Unsaid was the fact that he had missed additional actors. "Interpol want me doing anything?"
"Other than a return to your previous orders, no. We'll handle things from here, so unless another development happens, you can return to your day to day."
He nodded, quickly finishing off the last signature.
June set down her pen, clasping her hands together and schooling her features. "Moonlight. Be careful about the actions you take in the coming days. There's a picture being painted right now and it's drawing a lot of eyes towards KanJoh."
/ - /
A massive, winged form shot through the snowstorm, knocking its more bulbous companion to the ground. Another pass, though this one missed; a jagged stream of red recalling the target. Two, similar, segmented beams fired out in rapid succession, the snowstorm becoming worse a moment later. Alex flicked through the camera angles, reversing the footage and slowing it down to get a proper look at everything.
Third sub-vortices formed at a slower rate; fourth core should be achievable by this point in time, he jotted down. A jet of flame tore through one of the cores, the other two racing to cover the collapsing maelstrom. He felt bad for the eelektross, he truly did. Both the trainer's claydol and lopunny had been taken out earlier in the match, and under the dense cloud of Hail, Thunders had difficulty getting anywhere near their targets. The team had a good showing at the start when they were first going up against Teitei and a significantly holding back Spike, but once Holly hit the field and eradicated the swirling clouds above with dual cyclones of pounding ice, it had all gone downhill from there.
Massive chunks of ice formed from nothingness, lights streaking towards the still-shivering toxicroak from multiple angles. Moving in practiced motions, the Poison-Fighting shattered each jagged piece fired at it, only to get sent flying head over heels and far out of the zone of hail.
"Ribs!" The toxicroak's trainer ran over to the prone pokémon, hands trembling as they took in the injuries. A fractured foot and undoubtedly numerous breaks within the rib cage, let alone any sort of internal injuries. Holly's Wood Hammer may have had the type disadvantage against Ribs, but the sheer force the abomasnow was able to bring to bear was nothing to scoff at. The gale abated to little more than a tinkling of hail, before that too, turned to a gentle snowfall. Stepping through the white covered battlefield of jagged and cratered stone, Hilda gracefully made her way closer, the only piece of weather protection on her being a pair of goggles.
He flicked through the cameras, settling on dancing back and forth between two angles.
"There's no shame in stopping at the feet of the Champion." Her smile brightened, the pride she felt for the other trainer mixed with her own. "You made it through the Elite 4, and you're still in your first year of being part of the Master's division! It's something to be proud of, no matter which way you look at it." She held out a hand. "Take a few months off to recover and train. I'll be looking forward to seeing how you've grown this time next year."
Arden still had two more pokémon. On Hilda's side, she had lost only Teitei and Finnia, the former having been used to lure Arden into a false sense of security and the latter granting Hilda the chance to scout out the non-water type moves Arden was forced to used against a pokémon with Water Absorb; which, it turned out, to be everything. The utilization of Rain Dance was only meant to enhance the three heavy hitters of his team, not to empower their strikes (other than the eelektross' Thunder). This wasn't some mere gym battle though. This was an attempt for the title of Champion of Unova. 'Impressive' would not be enough, only 'The Last One Standing'. And in that regard…
Alex paused the footage. After every Challenge, Hilda would spend time talking to her pokémon, personally applying a few sprays of Hyper or even Max potion to their wounds and giving gentle massages to those who had worked the hardest. Her expressions were laid bare to the world at these times, and the moments after the battle was one of the few times the Champions would ever be so open within the Plateau's halls. In the moments between her administrations, the tiredness in her eyes returned. The moments before she started moving again, a hesitation beyond mere insecurities.
He hummed in thought as he clipped the moments, pulling them over to a specific folder. Technically speaking, it was incredibly unorthodox what he was doing, but Unova entrusted him with a great many things that normally required a specific title for. Ensuring that her Elites were at their best was just one of those duties, and if doing so meant needing access to the Plateau's cameras? Well, looking the other way was an act they were more than used to at this point. Something was plaguing one of his Champions, and with nearly six months of being back in Unova, it had to be more than some minor irritation. No, this-
Alex raised a brow at the caller ID on the phone screen. ✻Snowflake✻, and beneath it, Hilda from two years ago grinned at him, winking and with her pointer and middle finger framing her open eye. "Hello, Miss Mendez."
"Good evening, Mister Collens," she responded in kind, a teasing lilt against his more serious intonation.
"Is everything okay?"
"Umm, yes? Why wouldn't it be?"
"I'm not sure, Champion. Perhaps I might be simply imagining things though. Might you grace me with your presence by helping me sort things out?" Hilda fell silent for several moments. It was only after he heard a sliding door open and close that she began speaking again.
"How can I help?" She asked bemusedly.
"There's someone I've been asked to keep an eye on. Somebody I've previously looked over on and off for several months. In that time, I came to learn a great many things about them. Their ticks. Their habits. How they celebrate. How they deal with frustration." He opened up a handful of images, each depicting the same pose from different moments in time. "How they try to deliberate on something that's eating away at them."
"...Alex, can we not do this right now?"
"Hilda."
"Please, just drop it!" He heard the sound of what was undoubtedly her hand slapping against her mouth. Quietly, as in apology to those she might have disturbed, "There's nothing wrong. I just-" She fell silent once more. "Can I borrow Celèste for a little while?
He said nothing for several minutes, waiting to see if she would crack. When all he received was the whispering of the wind and her own shuffling to fight off the chill, he sighed. "How long will you need her for? I can send her over tomorrow, but I'm currently in an instructor role, and my students are going to need her expertise around the end of the month."
"Two weeks might be enough." The lingering vexation tainted her voice, a small quiver that barely made it through the phone. "There was some things I noticed the past few days that are bugging me, and I wanna get her advice on the matters."
"If you need her more than that, let me know. We can work things out."
"I know. Thank you, Alex."
"Hilda…" The silence dragged on, the words dying in his mouth. "You know I'm proud of you, right?" A sharp inhale. "Even if we haven't seen each other in years, I still keep tabs on you. Your progress through Hoenn and Alola; the results of your training with Beira; your exhibition matches with the rest of the Thirteen Pillars, and your rest days travelling on the Battle Subway. I'm still keeping an eye on you, and even through all your 'missteps', all those losses that we both know aren't real losses, I'm still proud of you." He wasn't sure if the shaky breathes he heard were tears, or just the beginnings of them.
"A-Arceus, I call you daddy as a joke one time and suddenly you keep thinking it's okay to act like one!"
"Invoking the Gods now, are we?" He smirked. "Shall I call Mother and tell her that you need cheering up?"
"No, no! We can keep this friendly! There's no need to be bringing in other people into this because we are calm, and professional, and-"
Alex laughed. Even when the neighbor next door started banging angrily on the wall, he didn't stop until Hilda joined in as well, cursing his name and denying that there was any sort of humor in the situation. "Promise me you won't hold it against Celèste if she uses your team as assistants in figuring out a few moves and we'll call it even."
Hilda muttered something softly, a breath of wind obscuring the words.
"Hm?"
"I said I won't. Good night, Alex."
"Good night, Champion."