JumpChain - The Never-Ending Journey

by HateWate

When anyone who knows what JumpChain is thinks about a Jumper, most think about a being with power beyond compare, always ready to earn their Planeswalker Spark but usually being held back by 'one more' setting and the prospect of being a godlike interloper. Few ever wonder what the journey to REACH that point is like. It's not quite as glamorous as it sounds, let me tell you...

16. Pokemon (Generic) - Day 2931 (Midday)

To whoever complained about some 'real life politics' being mentioned in-story: I'm… reasonably confident I've never done so before, or at least not to the extent you need to complain about it. More importantly, there are some people who need it hammered into their heads before they get the message, and a single bolded section that obviously talks about vaccinations, at the end of the Author's Note at the end of the chapter, can just as easily be skipped or ignored. Not like I'd put fic-relevant information there, would I?

Frankly, that was more for my extremely-small local Australian view-base. At least you (presumable) Americans have a vaccine, with which you can end the constant lockdowns.

And if this is meant to be an indictment of previous passing mentions of things like the 45th American administration, well, there's only so many things I can say about in-Universe eerie parallels before I have to draw them out, and this is coming from someone who (in-Universe) never even witnessed the January Sixth Insurrection, so it's not like I spend a significant amount of time pissing and moaning about politics occurring halfway around the real-life world, it's just relevant in the immediate sense. It wouldn't be true to the SI's character not to reminisce about how their home is wildly different from the reality of a Generic Pokemon setting, and if people don't like being compared to whatever-the-fuck I compare them too, probably 'bad guys' in the majority, then maybe they shouldn't act so similarly that you'd laugh if it was presented in a propagandised cartoon format.

'sides, it's not like the American Democrats are automatically better, nor have I expressed that opinion. I wouldn't care at all, if you hadn't paid off our government to build so many 'secret' military bases out in the ass-end of Central Australia. You think Pine Gap's never been used, not even once, to antagonise our much-closer (and therefore more dangerous to us) Chinese neighbours? You don't need to be Republican to agree to do messed-up shit in other countries, look at Hillary Clinton for fuck's sake.

And if you don't want me to talk about these things? Maybe make a reasonable suggestion that this isn't the place for it, when it's in the fic proper, and not send me a very-obviously angry comment IN FULL CAPS that directly connects real life politics to why the world sucks. I never made that connection, and you've got a new president now, haven't you? How many years do I have to wait before it becomes acceptable for me to so much as mention the actions of the previous one, from the opposite ends of the earth?

And for future reference, America has signed a lot of suss military contracts with us, since the turn of the millennium: anti-bases,org/map-of-us-bases-in-australia/

To the second reviewer: the Worm fic never got published because I have several of them, and no idea what to write after the first 5-10 chapters. The series itself is heavily restricted to Brockton Bay, except when it goes to a very small number of other American cities and Gold Morning, so even though I have half-a-dozen of them with over 5k words between the different CYOA's (easily located here: threads/worm-cyoa-all-versions.558034/, with quite a few new additions in the last few months, barring the Lewd and Lewd 2 PP variants on neocities), my 'minimum publishing requirement', they're either not very good or too similar despite being from 'different' CYOA's. Also, they tend to be 'choppy' where certain plot-relevant segments are written before or after other plot-relevant segments, and when I inevitably 'catch up' to my 'old' writing, I have to make a number of edits to 'line it back up' with the rest of the fic.

I'm also working on a bunch of 'short' JumpChain's I'll mention in the Author's Notes, purely for inspiration's sake…

To the third reviewer: I don't try to keep up with any of the JumpChain communities, there's too many with different ways of doing things and different cultures, so thank you for bringing this to my attention. There are certainly a few parallels and a lot of potential for combination, but I feel the need to return to the initial point I made when I brought up the Life Experience Supplement: the 'intended' method of completing a JumpChain is to only have 1000cp, and to focus on the actions taken in each Jump and how they influence the future of the Jumper. Drawbacks give you more, but often come with hefty penalties, because you're not meant to have access to almost all of each Document's options at once. I do it because there's little reason not to, gaining a strong Biokinetic power and going to, say, Dragon Ball to copy Frieza's genetic potential and Majin Buu's comical survivability, is an auto-win for almost any setting that isn't explicitly Xianxia or doesn't have conceptual abilities. So the idea of 'balance' doesn't really come into it, but the more Supplements you add, the greater the chance you pick a mostly-normal Jump Document with a reasonable plethora of options, and realise that you suddenly literally cannot spend all of your Points. That, is when you hit the 'point of no return' in my opinion, and while the Milestone Reward Supplement is pretty much the perfect complement to the Life Experience Supplement, there's a point where breaking the game makes it not very fun to play anymore. See: trading level 100 Pokemon into a fresh game. "Boring as shit, next game."-AVGN, Batman Part 1.

In that same way, I'll eventually have entire Jumps where the SI only goes to them for 'one chapter' because there's nothing that can oppose their overarching plans and no real threats, where my greatest challenge will be mentally adding another decade-plus of age to them in my head, 'but in-character, it's worth it for Perks X, Y and Z'. See a similar problem I've noticed in Blackshadow111 (the creator of the second Generic Worm Fanfiction Jump)'s JumpChain story (now abandoned?), where he stacks together something like fifty-plus Jumps in the one setting, and gets to the point where some of the Jumps' contents are completely-meaningless challenges. Or the whole thing gets so convoluted that the Author loses track of where he's going, what he's writing and how he should progress the story, but that's more specifically a problem he made for himself with a set-up like that.

Also, the MR Supplement has a similar 'one big issue' to my Supplement: if you want to access the most broken parts of it, or go to certain Jumps to take lots of options, the only way to afford them is to first go to other Jumps wherein the number of options you want is lesser, which stifles and delays certain builds in an arbitrary way. Likewise, the LE Supplement doesn't co-operate with Jumps like Elfen Lied, where the 'best' Origin requires so many Points that you have to invest heavily in Drawbacks, and then both live with them in-character for ten whole years, and also survive the next ten years while you build up to your 'full potential' at a rate of roughly 100cp-per-three-months/season. If Elfen Lied was your first Jump with LE, then you have a Catch-22: either take some severe Drawbacks to be a Diclonius, or be a very-squishy Human who could stumble into a random child's invisible murder-limbs at any time. That's what I consider the 'trade-off' to be: 'early-game' weakness for 'late-game' power. It also gives you something to keep in mind when writing as a point of reference for your Jumper's motivations and immediate considerations within the Jump itself, especially when most Jumps 'start' at the same time the setting's plot does, and only wind down in the aftermath. In that way, it's like a challenge with a huge reward for future Jumps: more Perks and Items to take into them, but in the immediate sense, you really don't want to screw yourself into a dangerous setting with bugger-all powers, a long 'build-up' time, and a dangerous/all-encompassing plot that's happening right fucking now.

So while the MR Supplement is interesting, and deliberately combining the two to examine their 'synergy' would also be intriguing, the LE Supplement is already 'overpowered' enough that I really don't want to add anything else to this Chain (especially not another Supplement that magnifies the effectiveness of the first by covering the 'intentional blind spots' it leaves), because I think it would take away some of the 'uniqueness' of the Jump, and turn it into a power fantasy too quickly. Most of the Perks from a low-power jump like Quicksilver's Pokemon Jump won't severely impact, say, the Dragon Ball Jump, but they make the climb to 'access' it more rewarding both powerfully and emotionally.

Purely off the top of my head: If you want a 'balanced' Supplement of Points, try adding up the total prices of 'one instance' of every undiscounted and compatible option in the Document, prioritising the most expensive ones and possibly subtracting all of the Drawbacks or just the total amount of Points you can get from Drawbacks, and divide it by ten. Then award that number of Points on top of what you start with, or on a yearly basis of some sort. For Quicksilver's Pokemon Jump, you get (Insertion+Origin+Starter+Perks+Items-Drawbacks) or 100+300+550+4300+3400-600=8050/10=~800cp. Add on Discounts and Drawbacks, you're looking at 1000+800+500+600=~2300-2900cp worth of options. And in Documents that are vastly larger like Dark Souls' and Xianxia's, you're looking at a meatier increase, which is available either from the get-go or over a short period of time. More complex, but it better emphasizes the freedom of making your own build from the beginning of both each Jump and your Chain itself.

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Pokemon: Hoenn; City Life50 (Fortree); Actual Starter: Eevee (Shiny50); Freerunning; Swarmed+100 (100)

Priority: Physical Fitness100; Survival Training100; Master Ball*3100; HM Collection50; Rebreather50; Psionics300; Savant600; Blend In300; Egg Move4 (Flail, Wish, Stored Power, Synchronoise)200; Combat Training100; Aura600; Champ In The Making300 (2800)

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-Day 2931, Midday-

I will admit, seeing Zekrom emerge from the Dark Stone once I'd passed on my info to Looker, teleported to the top of Dragonspiral Tower, and reunited with N to 'trade' Stones? Was a lot more awe-inspiring than some mere in-game cutscene. The Dark Stone first started 'sucking in' the surrounding misty Aura, producing a 'black light' distortion ring visible to the naked eye as it did so, then abruptly hit critical mass and paused for a moment, the air growing heavy with static. Then the air pressure also spiked, a vacuum forming as the Dark Stone started spinning and almost became a tornado, before it was overlapped by a massive purple orb whose edges were completely opaque for a few moments, showing only a rapidly-growing black outline as an audible heartbeat rang out across the roof.

And just as the weather phenomena calmed for a moment, Zekrom blew the orb away from themself and slammed forcefully onto the floor, the impact shaking the entire tower as they let out their signature Cry. Then their tail 'span up' and they pulsed out a continuous sphere of energy, that included firing lightning bolts out through what was left of the tower's roof, which in turn cleared the sky of what few clouds had previously drifted above us.

Despite the seemingly-dangerous display, Zekrom radiated a certain 'absolute confidence' that couldn't be put into words, emphasizing how safe we both were. And then he spoke.

"Finally, after centuries of slumber, I have returned to Unova!" I think we both winced at the volume he used, though thankfully he toned it down a little as he continued. "My Chosen summoner, name thyself."

"I… I am Natural Harmonia Gropius, mighty Zekrom," N forced out despite his abrupt fervor. "but my friends call me 'N', and I would extend the same courtesy to you."

"As you should!" He 'chuckled' somewhere between good-naturedly and bombastically. "I am the god of Ideals, N. To have awoken me is to show great promise, and a desire to make your wildest dreams of a perfect world into reality! Have you aroused me for such a reason, Natural Harmonia Gropius?"

By some miracle, probably religious ecstasy, N did not get his train of thought disrupted by the rather, archaic term Zekrom had used in his last question. Maybe it was a more acceptable use of the word 'aroused' back in the day? "Indeed, Zekrom! I wish to save Unova's Pokemon from unworthy trainers and their abuse of technology!"

"…well, that feels a little excessive." I cut in, drawing both their attentions. "Not that people aren't jerks from time to time, but the PC system doesn't have that much to do with it."

"…ah, your Aura stirs our memory." Wait, really? "Ah, we recall our resting ground being moved far across the land some time ago, and you… you hold a great deal of idealism yourself, though your ideals have long been tempered by cynicism. Perhaps you were unable to summon us, or raced our Chosen and lost?"

"Not quite, fortunately." Wouldn't that have sucked. "As a native of the Hoenn region of Japan, I was unfamiliar with Unova's legends and, after witnessing the Aura overflowing from your Dark Stone, felt it must be a dangerous artefact best kept from the hands of those unworthy of handling it. Only after meeting N and learning of his intentions did I feel confident in returning your Stone to a native American." Oh, please don't let that be interpreted as some sort of racism against the Native American Indians.

He didn't seem to recognise the unintentional reference, and N seemed too caught-up in his own little world to even pay attention. "And you also recovered the White Stone of my counterpart from the heavily-defended Relic Castle, by coincidence? I find that rather hard to believe."

"…Relic Castle is a crumbling ruin that hasn't been inhabited in centuries, mighty Zekrom." I corrected his wildly out-of-date knowledge. "I actually found the White Stone first, in a display case in Nacrene Museum after having been recovered from Relic Castle by archaeologists, and only found your Dark Stone while I was touring Unova before defeating the local Elite Four. Dragonspiral Tower is hardly an inconspicuous landmark, and while I didn't know the significance of the two Stones, they were obviously powerful artefacts."

"…truly?" He seemed taken aback by that. "It didn't feel as though my slumber had lasted so long, but… I suppose, humans are certainly good at destroying each others' houses and creating new territories. N, how long has it been since I have last walked these lands?"

"America's formation was roughly four hundred years ago, the War for independence from British control was roughly two hundred and fifty years ago, and the Civil War to abolish slavery was roughly one hundred and fifty years ago, Zekrom." He struggled to pull himself out of his visions and gave a brief summary of America's history post-colonization.

"A hundred and fifty years…" Zekrom mused to themselves. "I suppose much has changed in that short time. Even from Dragonspiral Tower, I can see several cities of gleaming metal and glass on the horizon. I suppose the culture has likewise drifted from the standard I knew?"

"I… am not sure I'm qualified to discuss cultural drift at my age, Zekrom." N pointed out. "I can tell you that the Confederacy, after its defeat, is now best exemplified by the Republican political party, which opposes the Democratic political party in our federal and national elections. Beyond that, the country hasn't changed much culturally. We're still known for playing baseball, cooking hotdogs and baking Leppa pies, pickup trucks and blue jeans, and a football team in every state."

That last one almost short-circuited me. "You actually listen to Blue Yodel, or-?"

"Of course not, but my teachers wanted to make sure I knew everything there was to being 'American'. How else am I supposed to present myself as a worthy ruler of the region, and one day the entirety of the Americas? And how do you know where that reference comes from?" He gave me a raised eyebrow right back.

"Looked up 'American sayings' on the internet once. And I'm pretty sure all of the things we just mentioned are from well after the eighteen-fifties."

"Indeed, I recognise none of those 'colloquial' terms. But I remain confident that the rights to 'life, liberty and estate' remain steadfast in my great land." Zekrom picked the obvious choices, though it took me a moment to recall that 'the pursuit of happiness' was not a constitutional thing here, thank you Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin.

"Indeed they do, Zekrom, though it's on those exact points that N and I are having a disagreement." I progressed the conversation onwards.

"Oh? And what exactly, my Chosen, is the nature of this 'disagreement'?" He… raised an eyebrow, which looked a little silly on such an otherwise 'Legendary' Pokemon.

N took a moment's respite to psych himself up. "In your time, Pokemon could be caught and held in Pokeballs created through the expensive and complicated refinement of Apricorns. But in the modern age, not only can Pokeballs can be mass-produced and sold for… the equivalent of maybe ten-to-fifteen cents, which leads the common man to devalue an incredibly-potent technology, but the introduction of the Personal Computer network and its distribution through PokeCenters, allows the modern-day trainer to capture and hold more than six Pokemon at a time, holding hundreds or even thousands if the owner has the money to spend on more storage space. While I no longer hold the inconsistent belief that Trainers are almost-universally abusive to their Pokemon, I was nevertheless raised with several who were and wish to prevent this from happening in the future. The 'emptying' and removal of the PC network is a good start, but I believe that merely having easy access to Pokeballs has created a society who no longer truly value their Pokemon as companions, as opposed to 'tools' that can be called forth at a moment's notice and 'discarded' until they are next useful to their 'owner'. In order to outlaw the usage of Pokeballs, and force Trainers to take a more active role in caring for their Pokemon, I need both the political and universal power of one of Unova's Legendary Dragons, and I believe absolutely that I am trying to make the world a better place."

Some part of that seemed to absolutely bewilder Zekrom. "That, does indeed sound like positive change I would support. I presume that Trainers in this day and age do not fight with their entire armies of captured Pokemon?"

"The traditional limitation of six still applies in Pokemon battles, and while none of us have a 'complete' technical understanding of the PC system, Pokemon do not experience time or age while being 'stored' as data." I tried to address as much as I could with a blanket statement. "My understanding is that N wants to specifically focus on the mistreatment of Pokemon, which I tacitly support, but the organisation his 'teachers' has created to serve him, Team Plasma, has a well-earned reputation of being no better than the average civilian on the lowest levels of membership. Even with his understanding that Team Plasma needs refining, I believe that his end goal requires means that are too draconian for the average Unovan or American to willingly accept, especially with the progressive loss of respect for 'the old gods' exchanged for dispassionate scientific study. I foresee a conflict, possibly a second Civil War, which I am confident will be politicised and blown out of proportion, solely because his objective is one that is preferred by, or will directly benefit, one side of the modern political parties in the extreme. And before that, I see many Trainers forced to heart-breakingly release Pokemon that they can no longer afford to financially support."

"Valid concerns. And yet, I find myself in agreement with my Chosen. Organisations can be restructured, and wars have been fought for far less than the protection of the innocent." Zekrom countered. Kind of missing the point that no-one really 'wins' in a war, but… well, he's the 'god of idealism', so he could probably be treated as the 'god of shonen' too, as far as his opinions were likely to lay. "Are there any other arguments you wish to make against N's plan?"

"Other than him not having actually made a 'plan' yet, and relying almost exclusively on your influence to 'somehow' achieve his goals? And the fact that the only reason he even got to use your Dark Stone, after a foreigner grabbed it to keep it out of the wrong hands, is because they had a change of heart? The region of Unova contains a human population close to twenty million, and no matter how powerful you might be, I don't think that you alone will be able to effectively police the entire state, let alone the entire country. Especially when international crime groups will threaten to import Pokeballs and miniature self-contained PC systems, to try and circumvent the new laws that N presumably seeks to enact. Or the impact of losing Pokeballs and their ease of care for some Pokemon like Water-types and heavy-eaters like Munchlax." I added some more immediately-relevant information.

"…well, the latter is merely another problem that can be addressed, even if it is difficult to do so or forces some Trainers to move to towns with large open water sources. Such sacrifices are the core of idealism!" He countered. "The number of humans living in Unova is, admittedly, a rather more significant issue, but there exist methods of building up power and redistributing it through intermediaries. I am hardly the only Legendary in this country, and with my power and his conviction, we can parley with the other gods and seek an alliance with those who are sympathetic to our cause. It may take many of us to cover the entire country, but if the human population has increased so greatly, I have no doubt that the number of other Legendaries has also increased. The Swords of Justice would certainly hold interest in preventing the abuse of Pokemon by their Trainers."

"And that's all well and good, in fact I hadn't even thought of 'gathering more Legendaries' myself, but those plans are coming from you. If you've got the brains and the brawn, what reason do you even have to serve N?" The fucking Look he shot me, somewhere between utter disbelief that I'd even question that, and slowly-growing horror at the realisation that I had a good point, was responded to with a raised eyebrow of my own. Buddy, if you can't accept criticism this sensible, you'll never make it as a politician, let alone a king.

"Such things are outside of my interests." Zekrom responded with a strange tone of finality. "I wish for a Trainer who can not only make me stronger, but also accomplish an ideal goal through their own determination and willpower. To that end, I will provide them with counsel should they wish for my advice, but my expectations are for my Chosen to prove their ideals worthy, not to demonstrate immediate political capability. Such wisdom is difficult to find and will come naturally with time and experience."

"…so it's more about your Chosen's willingness to accomplish something 'great' and see their task through to the end, than it is about the task itself?"

"Correct. I would only serve a Trainer with immensely-strong ideals, and the conviction to express their ideals and make them reality! That, is my purpose."

…didn't seem to be anything else I could say about that. "…fair enough, I… don't think there's anything else I have left to ask. Though, if I may request a battle from the both of you?"

"…you still believe you have even the slightest chance of victory against Zekrom? Even after seeing him in the flesh?" N shook his head, in a way that just radiated condescension, and left a bad taste in my mouth. Fine then, I thought it would come to this no matter what. Better to close out this plot the 'definitive' way: with a good old-fashioned dramatic showdown. "Very well. Zekrom! My fellow Trainer claims to be the Chosen of a foreign Legendary, and wishes to test our resolve. Will you aid me in proving our will superior?"

"Absolutely!" He… you could call that a chortle, I suppose. "There's no better way to resolve such a conflict than an honourable duel. What propose you, challenger?"

"A one-on-one fight between both of you, untrained by your Chosen as you both are." That seemed believable enough. "Do you have a suitable battlefield, chellengee?"

The slightly-unstable grin confirmed to me that he was going to play along, but oh fuckin' boy this was starting to seem like a dodgy plan.

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Compared to Zekrom's manifestation, the destruction of Champion Alder's arena to make way for N's previously-subterranean Castle was almost mundane.

Almost, except for the sheer size of it and the 'weirdness' of how they'd done it without breaking the buildings. Does it have pneumatic lifts underneath it to provide the upwards momentum? How do the roofs and supports take the weight of all that rock without breaking?

Actually, I don't know why I'm even thinking that question, because I really don't care as much as I should. There was a shitload of pressure on me right now, and vastly worse, my only lever was a Pokemon I had no training with and barely a positive relationship to rely upon. Even with my cheatsy preparations, I could very well lose this battle, which...

Well, I wasn't worried about me being the one who dies as a result, but nothing's set in stone and all that. And it would be pretty embarrassing to lose here…

"Y'know, even though Alder's (by some miracle) not in right now, there's no way you haven't alerted him and the entire Elite Four, and the Sage I ran into wasn't exactly a great battler. Do you have a plan to keep them out of our fight, or…?"

"The entirety of Team Plasma is here to delay them. We shouldn't even need half an hour, but I'm sure we'll have that much extra for me to administer a Full Restore to Zekrom."

"So you weren't kidding when you told the peanut gallery," I gave a vague nod in the direction of the five remaining Sages trailing behind us, locked in a conversation made of excited whispers and definitely not missing my smarmy crack, "that you're fully committed to your path 'when' you win?"

"My entire life has led up to this moment, Jason." The mixture of giddy elation in his voice, and faintly-hidden fear in his eyes, told me everything I needed to know. "Maybe there have been some roadblocks, a few ups-and-downs most recently, but finally, everything is as it should be."

"…for now." I allowed. "You're not scared about what I told you, that I'm worried someone will employ some more lethal methods even if you beat me here?"

"Oh, I'm terrified." He freely admitted in the same tone, drawing the attention of the Sages without realising it. "But it's not like every publically-dissenting speaker gets shot for it, and even if they did, Zekrom will avenge me and the Sages will carry on where I left off. And I'm willing to die for my cause. Wouldn't you, be?" He lamely stumbled over the last bit of his proclamation, obviously straining to keep up his facade of 'everything' not being a problem for him.

"Fuck no." I snorted in blatant disagreement. "I'd never trust anyone to get my last will and testament right, and even if I did, I'm no martyr. I'm not willing to throw my life away for a cause this massive, this subjective, and leave it in the hands of others to 'follow the example' left by my corpse. But if you do…" I trailed off, watching his steps stumble a little bit as he carefully avoided looking even remotely in my direction for the rest of my words. "Well, I'm just going to have to hope I can stop you first, aren't I? Or maybe 'save' you?"

"Hah, I don't need saving!" He tried and failed to imitate Zekrom's certainty. "And while I appreciate the sentiment, I have nothing to fear with Zekrom at my side!"

"…I won't think any less of you for admitting that you're freaking out right now, you know." I verbally nudged him under my breath.

"!-" That seemed to catch him off guard, though I'm not sure whether it was my words or my tone. "…a little bit, I suppose. I don't know who you have up your sleeve, a Victini maybe? And…" He trailed off for a moment and we took the last staircase in silence, until he broke it. "It is a little nerve-wracking to be thrust into the spotlight so quickly... but, this is what I was raised for, and I can't imagine anything being any different. Even having a 'rival' who keeps telling me what I need to hear, rather than just what I want to be told, or silently leaving me to march unsuspecting to my doom, has been kinda nice. But, all things must come to an end."

We strolled through the arch towards his throne and the arena before it, while the Sages lined up behind us to watch and prevent anyone else from interfering. "This world, and Unova especially, is full of 'shades of grey', people doing things that they know are wrong or not ideal, and yet accepting them as 'normal' and 'acceptable', when in truth they are the opposite!" He spun to face me. "With the power of Zekrom at my side, I will purify the morality of America and divide wrong and right back into black and white! Trainers will no longer be allowed to enslave Pokemon to fulfil their own responsibilities, or force them to battle to stoke their own fragile egos. Zekrom! Come forth!"

How he heard N, I wasn't entirely sure, but the next thirty seconds was essentially a recreation of the Pokemon Black cutscene: Zekrom smashed through the outer wall (and N's throne, which in hindsight was taking a bit of piss. And probably quite a few dollars of repairwork too…), landed in the center of the arena, and with a roar of challenge, generated a massive pulse of electrical plasma down into the ground, flash-drying the pool of water around the arena (which would have actually been a somewhat-intelligent safe guard, in hindsight) without burning or melting it in a blatant denial of physics.

I promptly pulled out a Luxury Ball from my belt, and sent out Marshadow. A much less fanciful affair, but the anticipation was practically radiating off of him, so who was I to delay the inevitable fight? …inevitable as soon as Zekrom stopped guffawing, having paused his growling intimidatingly for a moment to peer at his opponent, and seemingly not being able to take him seriously. N just stared, not seeming to recognise his species. Their losses, I wasn't going to give them any time to fuck around.

I promptly crossed my arms down my chest, swung them upwards and outwards down to my sides, then stuck them out in front of my chest (one on top of the other and wrists together), and proceeded to make a series of punching motions (fully retracting my elbows with each one), finishing with a lunging-forward punch and a roar of "Z-Close Combat!".

Marshadow, flickering green but not quite reaching his 'Zenith' just yet, proceeded to volley out at least a dozen fist-and-foot-shaped blasts of fighting energy in time with a blinding barrage of punches and kicks, all of which slammed into a briefly-frozen-up Zekrom and proceeded to push him back far enough that N had to dash out of the way, culminating in Marshadow taking advantage of the dust cloud to roar "All-Out-", cross the distance between them in a flash, and cry "-Pummeling!" as he smashed a final blow into Zekrom's chest that sent them both flying through what was left of N's throne, and blasted his larger foe straight back out of the now-slightly-bigger hole he'd made his entrance through.

"Arrogance, is unbefitting of one of us." Marshadow added to the still air with a hint of smugness, as he used the recoil to land fist-first in his original position. In fact, his fist was on top of a Marshadium-Z I'd slipped over there while N was too busy seeing a Z-Move in action for the first time, as a matter of fact, but neither of them needed to know that.

"…wh, what the hell…?" N faintly muttered in the back, as the otherwise-uninvolved Evan let out a faint snort of amusement from beside me.

"Agreed, so keep your head in the game." I tersely responded, as Zekrom promptly shot back in and smashed into the dais like a lightning bolt, crackling with electricity.

And Zekrom was pissed. "…I suppose, in fairness, that I was asking for that," He admitted, despite visibly wincing and fuming at being caught unawares by his own hubris, "but that was still a dirty move, and your harmless appearance will not lead me to underestimate you a second time, Marshadow."

"Good, it was insulting enough-to begin with!" Marshadow shot back, abruptly leaping forward into his melee range and under Zekrom's guard, and the battle for Unova continued.

[The website's CloudFlare refuses to let me edit this fic for no apparent reason, so this is as close as I can do to a page break right now.]

Unfortunately, as I'd expected, the battle was a bit more complex than getting in one good first attack, massively powerful though Z-Close Combat was (exceeding V-Create, in fact):

Zekrom was a massive opponent in relation to the child-size Marshadow, but both of them were fairly close to each other in terms of 'Stats', so all that size did was get in the way and give Marshadow the chance to show off their agility. On the other hand, Marshadow was outright inferior to Zekrom in both Attacking capability and Physical Defense, and had no Special Moves to fight Zekrom at range or take advantage of Zekrom's slightly-lower Special Defense. In a way, it could be seen as a David vs Goliath scenario… if David had been a superhumanly-strong and fast centennial Martial Artist ghost, and Goliath was a Lightning/Plasma Dragon. So it's actually, kind of a similar scale of 'unfairness' if you take that statement at face value and don't think about the 'Pokemon' bit too hard.

Either way, there were three major factors that swayed the abruptly-short battle in Zekrom's favor:

Not only did Marshadow have no ranged attacks, Zekrom could effectively shroud his entire body in a 'lightning shield' thanks to his sheer power output, which prevented Marshadow from phasing directly through him, and hiding in the floor or the surrounding columns meant giving up the initiative and momentum he was trying to build. Also, while Marshadow had experience fighting Mixed Attackers larger than himself and wild Togedemaru, and Zekrom clearly had experience fighting Physical Attackers smaller than himself despite his lengthy hibernation, Marshadow didn't have any Moves that could bypass the shock he'd receive from making contact with Zekrom in his state. And on top of all that, while Zekrom's speed was technically lower than Marshadow's, his point-to-point burst speed was deceptively high for a Pokemon that big. Even when Marshadow started losing his momentum and tried to switch to a defensive strategy of hiding 'in' the floor, Zekrom was more than willing to smash it up to catch him. Even with a few psychic 'snapshots' from me showing where he was in relation to Zekrom, and where Zekrom was looking and aiming his next Attack, there wasn't much he could do in his current state. And as the tide of battle turned against him and he tried to execute a second Sucker Punch in the form of a rising uppercut exploding out of the floor, Zekrom simply sprayed a wide cone of Dragon Breath in his general vicinity and tagged him with an unnatural yellow crackling that locked his body up before he could connect, signifying the end of the fight.

Well, almost. Marshadow knew Counter after all, so while the Bolt Strike shoulder-tackle that Zekrom followed up with smashed him all the way off the right side of the platform, Marshadow promptly blasted him all the way back into the left side wall as he flopped down into a puddle, on the verge of fainting and the Paralysis taking its toll on him. If he'd accepted the tiniest bit of training, learned Aura Sphere or Will O' Wisp, this could have ended very differently.

Zekrom, on the other hand, pulled himself out of the new crater he'd formed and awkwardly shoved himself across the gap and back onto the thoroughly-ruined platform. He was clearly exhausted, but he was still standing and capable of (slowly) walking over to look down on Marshadow's immobile form. Bollocks, I'd taken the liberty of silently firing a Cheri Berry down each side of the arena during the fight, but I couldn't levitate it to him while Zekrom was watching, that would give the game away.

Fortunately, Zekrom was still the bombastic type, and with his enemy thoroughly defeated, he turned away to look at me and boast. "Hah!" I was already moving the Berry to Marshadow, who- "Your friend fights with passion, Chosen," -knocked it away with… his Marshadium-Z gem. On the one hand, god damn I hate working with 'honor before sense' types, but on the other, he clearly wanted to finish this fight without any more 'unfair' advantages… even though I'd already contributed the aura for a Z-Move and was about to do so again. "But that alone could never bridge the gap between us!"

I promptly raised my hands to my forehead, sent Marshadow a [Then get behind him, now!], and repeated the first half of my movements from earlier with haste. "Not alone, no." It would be a strain, but I'd pushed myself to develop my aura and I had a superhuman physique to draw upon. And with that, rather than making a series of punching motions, I instead crouched with my hands out in front of my sides like a cat, then sort of 'wavered' them up to in front of my eyes, and abruptly released my aura as I pulled them apart and diagonally down like a stereotypical 'peekaboo' ghost. "Z-Spectral Thief!" Not until the shadow that burst out from my feet passed under Zekrom and into Marshadow, as he forcibly pulled himself diagonally-upward 'through' the arena to intercept and receive it, did I allow myself to slump to my left knee and counter with a tired, triumphant chuckle.

Zekrom, having not learned the lesson well enough, didn't turn to follow the shadow immediately. By the time he realised it wasn't an attack of some sort, his attention was split between pre-emptively hopping into the air to survey the situation, and N unhelpfully distracting him by calling out "behind you!" as he witnessed Marshadow going into Zenith Mode out of the corner of his eye. By then, it was too late to even start turning his body around to face him properly.

A second wave of punches rained down on Zekrom, this time seven into his back while Marshadow emphasised them with "Soul-Stea-ling-Se-ven-Star-Stri-", which forced him to stumble forward into the middle of the arena in his weakened state, and Marshadow promptly somersaulted into the air and launched himself diagonally-downwards into and through the constellation pattern his blows had formed, shouting out a "-kah!" as he burst out of Zekrom's chest and slid past the center of the dais, losing his fancy flaming look to the telltale electrical-crackling of Paralysis, as the build-up of ghostly energy suddenly erupted and blasted Zekrom straight through the roof and halfway into the next floor's ceiling.

"I said, that arrogance, is unbefitting of one of us." He quietly added, mirroring my kneeling position, as the chunk of tiling Zekrom was buried in started creaking and abruptly surrendered to gravity, his unconscious body tearing loose as his tail dragged him out to smash back-first into the now-thoroughly wrecked arena. Yeah, he's not getting back up.

"Tol'ja you'd need to trade out your Z-Crystal." I teased Marshadow as I Tricked him a new Cheri Berry to munch through, my psychic powers being mostly unaffected by my physical condition. "That, Zekrom, is why, you never celebrate, until the fight is over. And this, N," I turned to face him, ignoring his dumbstruck and horrified expression as I surreptitiously palmed a Timer Ball, "is why you need to use Pokeballs."

And with that, in front of the 'King' of Team Plasma and his five remaining 'Sages', I caught Zekrom and rolled the barely-rocking Pokeball over to my feet, pulling it into my hand as it settled down and confirmed the capture. Then I threw it at N in the stunned silence, and he barely caught it as it bounced off his chest. "Like it or not, they're here to stay."

No-one seemed to know what to say, so I took the opportunity to kneel down and administer a Max Potion to Marshadow while I had the opportunity. Healing items might not be instant like in the video games, but he'd be back to full health in a few minutes either way, and while I wouldn't ask him to fight any other Pokemon, luck favors the prepared.

"…well," Ghetsis finally stepped in and opened his mouth, followed by his cronies. "that was quite an unexpected outcome, but fortunately, not a wholly unanticipated one."

Yeah fucking right. "Oh? This isn't a total defeat, but it's not far off. Weren't you expecting your 'king' to win?"

"Indeed we were." He confirmed, visibly annoyed but not freaking out like I would have expected. "but given your success against our lower ranks, it was entirely possible you had something up your sleeve for this occasion. And what a trick it was," he nodded his head, "using two different Z-Moves against an opponent that has no way to use even one."

"Well, if he doesn't have access to a Z-Ring or even know what a Z-Crystal is, given that they're commonplace in the Alola region which is still within the bounds of America, that seems like a 'you' fuck-up." I countered with a raised eyebrow. "Given that you were supposed to be teaching him about all the threats he could face, and all that. I certainly didn't hear any of our audience speaking out against us when we were using them, and there was no agreement not to use them beforehand."

"Now, that's hardly an excuse, is it?" He scoffed right back. "This was supposed to be a fair fight between two Legendaries, with minimal input from their trainers, and the only way your Marshadow could have used a Z-Move of two differing types, is if you somehow swapped his held crystal during the battle."

"…and?" I waited for two solid seconds as no rebuttal was issued. "What, do you expect me to be utterly confounded that you managed to use basic logic? Not only were there, once again, no rules explicitly established before the fight, this is a battle to prevent Unova from being annexed, and possibly a second American civil war in the process. Even if I was inclined to fight fair, and I'm absolutely not, the challenges N would have faced far exceed someone who can use two Z-Moves in a single fight. You think his opposition won't pump their Pokemon full of X-Items before challenging him to try and discredit him? Or that a sniper won't blow his brains out if he gets too uppity?"

"Wait." N finally forced himself out of his shock. "You cheated…?"

"Sort of, but it's debatable." I shrugged. "I could've just telepathically ordered Marshadow to use Z-Close Combat again as soon as Zekrom turned away from me, and he'd have gone down all the same. Using multiple Z-Moves in a battle is also not, surprisingly, illegal by standard battling rules. You're not supposed to be able to do so, but I'm an Aura Adept with a nigh-superhuman physique, so it's not impossible. And I didn't use X-Items, or train Marshadow, or even give him an extremely-helpful TM that you would have no evidence that he couldn't learn naturally, like Aura Sphere or Will O' Wisp, which both would have destroyed Zekrom's lightning-shield trick. Instead, I fuelled my David with the strength of my own conviction, and toppled your Goliath with it. That was the theme of this battle, after all. It's not my fault that an American seeking to overthrow their American government, doesn't have a common American weapon that originated in one of America's territories."

"Nevertheless," Ghetsis broke in. "despite your magnanimous decision to return Zekrom to our king, I'm sorry to say that we can't accept the outcome of this battle."

"Well I'm not reviving him for round two, so get a referee if you care so much." I snorted, preparing myself. "Frankly, I'm surprised you're not more upset at him."

"Why would we be? N has had no chance to train with Zekrom or teach him anything new that the modern day could have provided him." That's… actually a good point. "The only mistake he made was to accept your challenge without knowing what your Pokemon's capabilities were, and expecting for the battle to be so straightforward. For that, I applaud you." And here comes the rub. "That being said, you have proven that you are too dangerous to l-uh?"

I promptly pulled all of their Pokeballs out of their clothes, putting holes into a few pockets in the process. "Predictable. 'Too dangerous to let me live', right?"

"Wh-what the hell do you think you're doing?!" He snapped at me, suddenly forgetting the caution he'd displayed earlier as his cohorts started sweating intensely.

"Arresting you." I pulled out and unfurled a plastic bag from my backpack, and promptly dumped all their still-sealed Pokeballs in it. "I might be physically tired, but my mind isn't."

"Arrest? Hah! Under what grounds?" He challenged me. Is he having his breakdown only a little later than scheduled, or does he have something up his sleeve?

"According to Looker, you're wanted internationally for various high crimes and misdemeanours."

"And none of those occurred within the boundaries of America. You have no power to arrest us here!"

"Not if I was an undercover cop, no." I cheerfully agreed. "Agent Bourne, IPF." That took the wind out of his sails. "You have the right to remain silent, you have the right to a lawyer," And then he went and dropped a… smoke bomb? No, wait, that's a seventh Pokeball. Huh, someone who's not a complete idiot- "if you can't afford one, a public attorney will be provided to you-" …ah. That appears to be a Genesect. Or maybe the Genesect? Well, it's not Kyurem, and that's all that matters to me… but what the hell's that 'not-very-cassette-looking' object installed on its still-as-a-statue-body's back? Red and yellow… some combination of 'Flame' and 'Shock', it has to be. "-and you know N's right there, don't you?"

"As if that matters!" He snarled at me, almost at breaking point. "You will return our Pokemon at once, and you will only have yours taken from you, or you will die where you stand."

"!-wait-father?!" N gaped at him, and was promptly overruled. Even the other Sages looked a bit hesitant at this turn of events.

"Silence, boy! Send out your Pokemon, now." He commanded with a dangerous tone. Am I going to have to intervene here?

"Wh-no!" He burst out, drawing everyone's attention. "I'm not going to kill him! What the hell are you doing?"

"What you couldn't, you good-for-nothing failure!" He turned on him. And here comes the rant. "Years, we've spent moulding you into the perfect successor, the perfect puppet for us to rule the world through you! Years, we spent agreeing to your terms, to take control of Unova peacefully. And after all this time, after you have failed to fulfil your end of the bargain, you would defy us?! After all we have done for you? Then you mean nothing to us, and we will go ahead with our original plans, and take this world by storm!"

"…with what?" I snorted, bringing the attention away from the stricken N as I focused on getting a grip on his body and belongings. "A single Genesect, and a disobedient Zekrom?"

"As if we need anything else to scare the weak-willed masses into submission!" He ranted on, slowly gathering himself. "All we needed was a single one of the Brothers' Dragons! Just one! And to think, all that time we spent on creating the perfect vessel, empty of everything but the ideals we instilled in him, just to awaken Zekrom… and it was all for nothing. Truly, this warped, defective freak without a heart was a waste of time! Time we should have put into science, rather than belief! Over a decade of manipulation for one useless boy, and the resurrection and upgrading of a fossil Pokemon in a matter of years?! …I can't believe I chose to shut that project down for him. But now? There will be no more time wasted on peace, and manipulation. Unova will kneel to Team Plasma, whether they prostrate themselves out of religious awe, or fear!" He paused. "Sages! Take the boy's Pokemon! Use-"

Even as someone said "No", I was already in motion, making an exaggerated jump that levitated me and my starter slightly off the ground and towards N at speed. Then I gently set both of us down in front of him. "Evan, guard him." I added without a second thought.

"-them to-!" Watching Ghetsis freeze, then slowly turn to find out who the speaker was, was honestly kinda funny.

"No, I will not." Rood calmly repeated himself, starting to walk in our direction. "My place is beside my king, not standing against him."

"You…" Ghetsis didn't even seem to know how to respond to this turn of events. He found the words a few seconds later, when two others stepped forward. "…Giallo? Bronius?"

"The Pokémon of Team Plasma should fight for their Trainers." Bronius quietly answered.

"The legend of Unova is about Pokémon and people working together to build a new world." Giallo agreed. "Team Plasma changed me, but it cannot change the world. Not like this."

Ghetsis' last 'attendant' followed almost immediately. Several seconds passed before he quietly named him. "…Ryoku."

"…Zinzolin, I believe, is loyal to you." He spoke up as he walked. "And Gorm, undoubtedly, believes in Lord N. But my loyalties lie with the Sages. I can't say I mind being deceived by you all that much, but if the dream is over, then I would rather cling on to what little makes us 'complete', than throw it all away for the sake of your personal ambitions."

It wasn't until the other four Sages crossed the room to stand behind me and in front of N, that Ghetsis finally started making noise again. Unexpectedly, the chuckle didn't develop into sobbing or mad laughter. He remained surprisingly calm. "You know, I thought if I was ever betrayed like this, that I would be much angrier about it, but…" He trailed off for a moment. "The Sages were brought together by me, for the sake of raising him. Our purpose has already expired, and without him… I no longer need to worry about equals. Only those beneath me." He raised his eyes to meet mine, seeming almost excited. "Yes, I quite like the feeling of abandoning all this discussion and diplomacy. From now on, Team Plasma will be free of second thoughts, of debate and compromise. Only my will, and my iron fist, shall guide my organisation."

"Y'know, most people go on a Pokemon journey when they want to shirk their responsibilities." I snickered right back, making him blink in astonishment at the realisation. "But they don't always go so well, and while I'm lucky to be blessed with one that did, it's had plenty of stressful run-ins with 'bad guys' like you. For instance: your scientifically-enhanced Legendary? Already been done, and while Cipher were equally as despotic as you, they were also much more successful. You think your Genesect can do better?"

"Hah! Genesect isn't just a scientifically-enhanced Legendary!" He pulled himself back into the game. "Genesect is merely the beginning of what my Team Plasma can do with fossils! Not just cyborgization, but mass reproduction too! And while the operation may have been shut down, the samples we used are still being stored in secret bases than only I know of. Even if your weakened Marshadow does somehow defeat my Genesect, it is ultimately meaningless."

"Unless I kill you." I let the abrupt silence drag on for a couple of seconds as every human in the room stared at me. "What? He was threatening to kill me a minute ago, and he basically just admitted intent to commit sedition. I seriously doubt the local authorities would care if an 'accident' happened in the middle of a major fight."

"And your Marshadow has the means and will to follow such an order." Ghetsis called my bluff. Fortunately, I wanted him too.

"I doubt it, and I wouldn't give him such an order to begin with." I confirmed. "If I had to kill you, I'd just telekinetically shove you out that giant hole in the middle of a big clash and say that the air pressure blew you off your feet, or some equally-difficult-to-disprove statement. But more importantly…" I reached into my pocket. "Accidents do happen, and every single one of you seem to have made the false assumption, that Marshadow was the one who counselled me to give the Dark Stone to N for Zekrom's freedom. Lugia, Skiablast!"

I wasted no time giving the order as I threw her Luxury Ball in the air, sending her a private [Show time.] in the process, and even as Ghetsis barked at Genesect who suddenly sprang into motion from it's eerily-still state, her Pokeball released an equally-frozen Lugia into the air, wings crossed over her face and chest as she levitated into the air, and as Genesect used its 'mount' to launch two Techno Buster blasts at her, one Fire-typed and one Electric, Lugia's feathers darkened and the spikes on her head lengthened.

Then she screamed to the heavens, pulsing out a flickering shadowy Aura and shaking the whole damn building as the Techno Buster shots impacted her to minimal effect, and lowered her head to reveal glowing red eyes and a quickly-charging morass of Shadow-typed energy. She didn't have much connection to being a Shadow Pokemon anymore, but performing a warped variant of her Signature Move that stress made easier to perform? We might have succeeding in helping her overcome some of the trauma, but some things stay with you and trauma has a tendency to linger and flare up, especially under pressure. Against Genesect's follow-up Techno Buster 'double-element laser', her Skiablast super-effectively knifed through it and blunted most of it from reaching her, smashing her opponent into the ground and grinding it through most of the floor, back through the archway.

It actually unbalanced me as well as everyone else, the shockwave shoving Ghetsis across the floor and forcing everyone on my side to brace themselves. But that was partly because I was trying very hard to make sure something didn't get sent flying, and got pulled straight to me. "…that…" Ghetsis forced himself into a sitting position to survey the battlefield and his Genesect, struggling to rise as it was. "…what terrifying power. I recall Cipher's leadership suddenly surrendered to the police after failing an attack on a transport ship?"

"They made the same mistake as N: they'd modified their 'weapon of mass destruction' so much that her former Pokeball no longer registered her. And who else was I going to try and use a Master Ball on?" [You okay, Lugia?] I added to her separately as I awaited his response.

[…fine.] She took a moment to shrug off the 'empty-focus' state that came with dipping back into her Shadow 'forme'. [I'm fine. Do I have-to… hit the Genesect a-gain?]

[Probably not, but be ready to follow up with an Aeroblast if they try to rush you.] I tried to reassure her, focussing back Ghetsis' half of our verbal exchange. "I suppose an agent of the IPF would be in the right place to do just that." He grumbled, then turned on his fallen Pokemon. "Get up, Genesect! You're not done after one attack!"

"Apparently not," I raised my hand as it-as they pushed themself to their feet, awkwardly swinging their elbow above their head to dislodge the smoking device from their back, where it landed in the moat and detonated into a crackling fireball that radiated quite some heat, "but you've made a similar mistake." I promptly activated Genesect's Nest Ball and Returned it, them being too shocked and injured to try and dodge the laser from the Pokeball. "You really should pick up any empty Pokeballs you drop, they're usually pretty important." And then, in the next brief period of silence from which I could see his eyes twitching, I sent the 'alert' signal to the minds a floor below us, trusting in the local officers Looker had gathered to raid the castle, to have successfully penetrated the defences by now and defeated the lesser members. [Multiple defectors, last enemy disarmed. Move in!]

"…how utterly infuriating you can be." He audibly growled at me. Then the doors burst open behind me, and the police started pouring in. "Oh, predictable."

"Unovan National Guard, hands above your heads, now!" Wait, national guard? Shit, Looker got some big guns for this one. They hadn't even faltered at the extremely-conspicuous Lugia above my head, as the Sages and N complied in mild panic. Nice to see professionals at work.

"So." I gave Ghetsis a much-less-playful look. "Are you going down the easy way, or the hard way?"

"…no, I will not." He decided to himself, more than addressing anyone in particular. "My Shadows remain loyal to me above all others. I will not be chained for long."

With that, he raised his hands above his head. And just like that, it was anti-climactically all over bar the shouting. But hey, I wasn't going to complain in my state.

[The website's CloudFlare refuses to let me edit this fic for no apparent reason, so this is as close as I can do to a page break right now.]

AN: So after another two-month gap, I've successfully completed the first of three Units to close out my Cert IV. And more importantly, the others can be done at my own pace, not relying on other people for Zoom meetings or having to space out my time on when we can record together to submit the mandatory assessments. Thank Christ for that!

Not that I'm not taking another Unit until January at the very least, that one was stressful enough and I want to get my writing back on track. Only need to publish nine more chapters in the next six weeks to make it 25 Chapters/Year, so that's… not going to happen for this story, but a big part of the slowdown has also been the Writer's Block of characterisation and getting bogged down in the setting. Of course, I'm looking for the same thing to happen for some parts of the next Jump too, but the third one's likely going to be a good ole' fast forward, and the fourth will be even quicker. As it is, there's only one slightly-longer chapter left until the 'intermission' and the next Jump.

I'll look at putting up a few chapters from other stories I'm working on. Maybe, I'm not promising anything for now. At least this chapter is closer to the length of two?

And just so we're clear? I'm not going to apologize for this not coming out in the two-week 'deadline' I suggested was possible, or the two-month 'deadline' my last chapter had. I'm not even going to apologize for procrastinating for the last six weeks on top of the two month 'deadline', because I really did need a break from the stress of school. But I will admit that I could have gotten this out a lot earlier, and I now understand why fanfiction writers can take months at a time to upload new chapters when real life hits them. Even when you have the exact scenes you want to write in your head, it's not always a fast or smooth transition, even when you have a PC to rearrange and format text on-the-go.

And when you add in schoolwork, chores, gardening on a two-acre property with a pair of 70's-parents, one medical issue after another, and often waking up and just not having the motivation to write for this fanfic on that day, as opposed to all the other stories you do want to write for, things can get pretty out of hand.

PS: Just realised I wrote Reshiram as being on top of Dragonspiral Tower in Chapter Eight, but I'm a bit too lazy right now to go back and edit everything, so you'll have to live with it for a while. I'll probably do a big revision of these sorts of things when I'm done with Pokemon (after the 3rd/4th Jump), but we'll have to wait and see.

13/November: And now I have a family emergency on my hands, so as usual, don't expect any more uploads for some time. Maybe they'll come, maybe not, we'll see.

[The website's CloudFlare refuses to let me edit this fic for no apparent reason, so this is as close as I can do to a page break right now.]

Notes on the other stories I have written/am writing below:

JumpChain: Roped Together is a concept I'm using for short & sweet JumpChain's that run along a simple theme (Fire Emblem, FromSoftware, Zombie settings, QQ's Jumps, etc). Here's a quick list of what I've already put together, and one or two 'cut content' plans:

One based on Zombie 'Apocalypse' settings, which despite not being the first story or even JumpChain I wrote for, is (in the multiversal 'canon' of my stories) the first 'Jason' to complete their JumpChain and the 'oldest' amongst them all, even if they're vastly less powerful than most. But hey, he has a Shaolin Spade, and they're cool, I guess.

One based on Bethesda properties (Fallout, Elder Scrolls, even the Terminator Jump because they actually did a game for the series according to Wikipedia).

One based on settings where the protagonist is customisable by the player (Pokemon Mystery Dungeon, Mass Effect) or not very well defined (Undertale).

Several based on standalone concepts in the DC Universe (Lantern Rings, Batman, Justice League, Magic, etc).

One based on each of the Digimon, Dragon Ball, Exalted, Final Fantasy, Fire Emblem, Pokemon, and Warhammer 40,000 'series' of Jumps'.

One based on Jumps/settings featuring: 'life is a video game' elements (The Gamer, obviously); the protagonist being Isekai'd (starting with the LIAB Gauntlet, then SoulsBorne, Dog Days and Zero no Tsukaima); settings containing Kaiju/giant monsters (Godzilla, Gamera, Power Rangers, etc); settings whose recorded mediums include 'Live-Action' adaptations (Animorphs, Star Trek, etc); settings whose recorded mediums are limited to 'Movies' (Hancock, Lucy, maybe Jumper even though those three Jumps are all made by the same person); settings which don't have Fantasy or Sci-Fi elements (modern-day Spy Thrillers with believable gadgets, historical Medieval Drama's with no magic, etc. The 'weakest' Jumper by far, but the strongest out the gate setting-wise with the Body Mod Supplement); settings originating from Real-Time Strategy games (Age of Mythology, Supreme Commander); settings that use Video Game Sandboxes (Prototype, Infamous, Spider-Man 2/that Hulk game… well, a lot of licensed properties are doing it these days); 'small' superhero settings (Worm/Ward, Sidekicks, Empowered); settings containing Time Loops (JoJo, Marvel Future Fight, Time Braid, that one really good Mother of Learning fic on FictionPress by nobody103 that somehow doesn't have a Jump yet); and Xianxia settings (Dragon Ball, Coiling Dragon, Desolate Era, etc).

A derivative where the protagonist goes only to Isekai Jumps where they can get 'summoned' between them, and isn't even sure whether or not they're on a JumpChain or just getting tossed around by a ROB every decade. (Not sure where to take this, because overt JumpChain mechanics like Warehouse and Companions destroy the 'mystery'…)

One based on 'Fanfiction' Jumps (With This Ring, The Games We Play, This Bites, and anything good/infamous enough to get a Jump is worth reading, hint-hint), using the 'original' Jumps whose settings were used as Supplements. With the existence of multiple Jumps using the same 'base Jump' setting (especially taking the NSFW ones into account), you can houserule a thousand CP with every visit, and basically gather as much as by using Life Experience or the UDS over the course of a few visits.

One based on QQ's Lewd Jumps, using 'original property Jumps' as Supplements where fan-made Doujinshi and video games are concerned. Ironically, has little-to-no lewd content: between starting in Mogeko Castle and the three available Pokemon Jumps involving… questionable consent, the SI quickly turns their efforts (with Yonaka and the Katawa Shoujo cast's approval) to doing the not-shit thing and saving anyone liable to end up in those sorts of situations (see ShindoL's Emergence as a prime example), which quickly balloons into planet-wide operations in the case of settings like Kuroinu and [REDACTED, just use your imagination]. Thank Christ someone added a Dragon Ball Jump that can be used to take the original as a Supplement, ain't nobody fucking with a Goku-expy. But before that came out, it was all about the metagaming and Good Karma buildup. A heartwarming and relatively-innocent tale of white knighting (relatively, because we all know where saving Yonaka-neechan and healing Katawa Shoujo's cast ends up going). The hard part is using the Life Experience Supplement on the NSFW Jumps, and realising half of them don't have any options to make you explicitly 'stronger', and the other half are 50+ pages because some people are really dedicated to the lewding of everything good and wholesome (or just fetishistic enough).

Oh, and one made of one-shots/disconnected stories, based on how I would react if I'd visited a given Jump having completed every other Jump in existence. Either cracky, or so bullshit-broken that you end up with a One-Punch Man story about feeling unfulfilled or worn out, despite fixing/saving lives and making this one last Jump a better place.

I've also done a tiny 'SI' bit on: the standalone Conduit, Magical Realm and Blood Magic CYOA's; trying to world-build for that one 'VaultKeeper' Joke Jump; a One Piece SI with anti-water powers from other properties (InFamous, Prototype, etc) but that was hard to balance; four 'Days' of an SI in the 'Digimon: Infamy' Quest (another really good fic everyone should go and read) but it kinda petered out due to all the Calc getting complicated and needing super-strong focus on that one setting for a lengthy period of time; a Kingdom Hearts fic where the Destiny Island Trio visit other properties with Keyblades but intentionally had no over-arching plot; a Naruto fic where SI!Sasuke awakens the Mangekyo in Wave due to Naruto 'sacrificing' (but not really) himself in a reversal of canon; a different Naruto fic focussing on a Gaara!SI that never went anywhere; two NGE fics as SI!Diemay and SI!Shinji but what the fuck do you do with that premise (that's fresh/original); a RWBY SI with Blacklight powers which is waiting on the series' conclusion; a bunch of ideas for Sense8 plot-devices across other settings; SI fics for Slightly Damned and Twokinds (which are also good webcomics worth reading); a completely-normal Human!SI in MLP:FIM who tries to power-game even though that's the opposite of how magic works there; an MLP:FIM Changeling!SI who kinda just plodded along in my notes before I realised I also didn't know where to take that idea (except maybe a casual escort service or polygamous relationship, where he provides the physical love in exchange for the energy he needs to survive); I've done a 5k chapter on a Minecraft Multicross (using 20w14∞ as the inspiration) which would probably become a Quest if it was ever published, where the readers vote on a forum on where to go and what to do (probably involving Zombie Curing) and is currently slated to 'start' with Girls' Last Tour; a multiversal!SI Time Loop that never left the planning stage; a totally-generic (/s) Undertale!SI; another Undertale!SI who explores the Undeground's morality (but could ultimately just cameo as a few 'What-If' oneshots in the former); a Warcraft!SI who runs off 'Warcraft 3 Hero Levelling/Skills/Spells' logic; and a shitload of differently-themed Worm CYOA SI's with different approaches based on their capabilities.

Special mention: a Wormfic whose Taylor!SI uses all five of the then-made Worm Jumps (Base, Scooby Gamers and the three Generic Worm Fanfiction Jumps) and shares consciousness and the five powersets between five different Earth-Bet's, based on: the 'Forgot My Phone' Drawback; 'Comic-Level Worm' by MortiferSB; 'Manager' by Seraviel (subject to change, no significant deviation from 'canon'); 'The Crisis Of Taylor Hebert' by TheDivineDemon; and a 'canon' Earth-Bet that the Buffy Gang are going to drop into post-Canberra (and get a hell of a wake-up call, because Scooby Gamers treats Earth-Bet a bit differently than it canonically is); a similar fic (post-Blackshadow111 Jump update) that has a not-Reincarnating SI in a single Earth-Bet instead (location undecided, maybe a Crisis Crossover?); and a more-developed Wormfic starting at Khepri's 'death' with all seven Worm Jumps (including the Worm Gauntlet and the Ward Jump), to basically reincarnate as the QA Shard and build themselves as a Case-70-esque Titan way earlier than Dauntless.

All three would focus on the 'giving people magic' idea, but that runs parallel to the WormV3 idea of 'give everyone Disciplines', so there would be a lot of overlap. And, frankly, I'm a bit lacking in the creativity department. I'd probably need a professional editor/creative consultant like Toriyama when he was writing Dragon Ball to get anywhere, and I'm not exactly going to be making money to pay them with by writing fanfiction. So like everything else I have yet to hit inspiration for, it's on hold until further notice.

11/October: Between writing the above and posting this, I started drafting a KonoSuba SI with an Ability Stand that replicates the Abilities of the 'main character' Stands (Hermit Purple, Star Platinum, Crazy Diamond, Gold Experience, Stone Free, Tusk, and Soft & Wet/'Killion' Queen), but can't project them and has no 'presence' of its own (like Khnum or Achtung), except for Hermit Purple and Stone Free due to the way they function. And I'm actively working on a Rising Of The Shield Hero SI who happens to be a Blacklight Prototype.

1/November: Shield Hero fic's going decently, doing a JC:RT for 'Small' Superhero/Supervillain Settings (like MHA, Worm, City Of Heroes, Infamous, Jumper, Animorphs, etc.) that doesn't have access to DC or Marvel, and has to make do with Supergod and Empowered instead (wanted to say Spinnerette, but there's no Jump for that Web Comic yet, bollocks), and got back into Bloons Monkey City after I realised that with the death of Flash, the Mobile/Steam version is all that's left (though it is a bit lacking in comparison, ironically).

2/November: I've also just came up with a new Rope, one based on 'Musou' settings (anything where a single person fights an army by themselves, ala Tecmo Koei's portfolio, or Demon Chaos' 65,535 mission, or Kingdom Hearts 2's Thousand Heartless battle, etc), starting with Doom/3/(2016)/Eternal.

12/November: Planning out a companion fic to this one, 'The Hard-Core Journey', fuelled by my desire to have a Jump not be laden down with OC Pokemon Companions. Named less for explicit difficulty, and more for how much more complicated things are when you don't have a safety net of often-OP Pokemon at your beck and call.

Date of Chapter 16 Upload/final Edit: 2021, November 16th.