It couldn't possibly have been more ironic.
After countless ages of simply existing in a stasis where time had no meaning whatsoever, one would have expected that again being aware of the flow of time would be a blessing. To be able to process the days and weeks that passed, and be aware of how the world is progressing since then would seem like a gift.
There was an old phrase about gift horses, often worded to make references to Ponyta or Rapidash for some baffling reason. Actually, the phrase itself has always baffled Diablos. What precisely was a gift horse, and why was examining its oral cavity a bad thing?
Regardless of the adage's origin and meaning, the lack of understanding regarding either making it little more than a combination of words, it seemed that time was a cruel mistress. And yet another phrase to begin pondering. Why were only female authorities considered cruel? Why was time considered female? Then again, the Spiritomb had never actually met Dialga.
Astounding, the things he thought about when bored out of his mind.
It couldn't possibly have been more than twenty-four hours since those Pokemon had left the Chateau, and already boredom had set in this badly. He had already endured three months of isolation during the winter, broken only by brief forays into Force's body to experience ANYTHING but the isolation. Never so long that either he nor his Kirlia lover would notice anything amiss, and that was crucial to him. He had needed his trump card to remain intact and unsuspected until spring, and to sacrifice his only tether in pursuit of defeating monotony would have been atrociously foolhardy.
It was just his luck that his plan had been foiled within hours of actually attempting it. Even the memory of it brought churning frustration into his souls. He had been too reckless, so intent on aiding his situation that he had almost ruined himself. Had the Togetic and his comrades not returned, he would have been completely helpless, forced to endure the monotony of this attic for many more years.
Diablos scowled, the jagged mouth of his ghostly form contorting into a twisted version of itself. He needed to rely on others to an absurd degree, and this did not sit well with him. He would be more than happy to assist with their endeavors, but he hated the feeling of helplessness.
Worse, was that his tentative allies were now in a position to truly distrust him. He had offered Force his fragment as a sign of good will, admittedly withholding the secondary agenda from them, but who would ever agree to accept something if they knew he'd be able to directly influence them? It was nigh impossible to force a person to accept his power if they genuinely resisted it. It was his insurance method, for the Weavile had immediately voiced second thoughts after they had unsealed him, and he needed to keep some tether to the outside world if they chose to abandon him.
His recklessness had truly come back to bite him. His fragment was broken, his allies distrusted him, and he would need to work extra hard to ensure they didn't believe him to be plotting or operating against them. He had no such intentions. They were all he had.
Not even clear memories had the good grace to linger. He could tell his power was being restrained, but the full nature of his abilities somehow eluded him, hidden behind a veil of fogginess, or lost outright by the nature of the Void he had existed within. Was this part of the seals placed upon him? For that matter, who or what had sealed him originally? Why had they sealed him?
The lore that Kaito had referenced allegedly considered him to be a truly malicious being, drawn by the power of darkness within a person's heart. This much had to be partially true, for he did understand the nature of inner darkness. That must have been information very deep at his core, for it had not faded from his memories at all.
Interestingly, his allies had yet to ask him about the subject. He had originally expected them to have been fractions of some long-lost cult, seeking to revive his power, mistaking it for some form of an apocalypse. Yet the Pokemon he saw upon revival were nothing like that. Their hearts were not so tainted. They had all suffered in life, but they did not seek the world's destruction. Quite fortunate, as he saw no value in a ruined and decimated world.
So in the absence of his allies, Diablos had simply brooded, hoping that their lead would prove profitable. He had no leads of his own to pursue, and they would never trust him with giving them a fragment to pass to another. He couldn't blame them for that, what with how his first attempt had panned out.
Frustration again churned within his souls. He would have had a better chance of convincing them to assist him with the expansion of his consciousness had Cecilia not somehow stumbled upon his failure. That had been unexpected. Damn near everything in that situation had been unexpected. Force's amplified aura had sensed the potential of an incredibly powerful darkness, one of the strongest he had ever encountered. Although he had no memories to assess this statement by, his excitement at finding such a source had assured him of the fact. Yet to have shattered his soul fragment mid-transfer...he wasn't even able to confirm that the darkness was within Shadow. But who else could it have been? His parents' souls had been far too pure.
Dealing with the interruption had taken too long. Possessing another put an incredible strain on their energy levels, and with a broken soul fragment, the strain was even greater. He had managed to maintain the possession for only a few minutes, scarcely enough time to start a pursuit of his target before his hold on Force broke. Retrospectively, the time granted had been enough, and if Force had regained control in that clearing...that would have been very, very bad.
He considered himself quite fortunate that they hadn't chosen to disassociate themselves entirely after that confrontation yesterday. They needed his power, despite not understanding it fully, and he needed them far more. The only leads they had involved two sets of Ruins. Kaito had mentioned rumors of odd activity in the Johto Ruins of Alph, but this meant nothing to Diablos. If it did have some significance to himself, he had no idea why. No memories to draw upon to illuminate himself to the reasons. They had noted that his Keystone fragments had been within Sinnoh, but if someone was truly trying to keep him sealed permanently, why not scatter the Keystone pieces across the world? That seemed far more permanent a solution.
Unless...the Keystone base HAD been somewhere else. No one seemed to know why he was currently in the attic of the Chateau. Judging by the objects scattered around them, and Diablos had more than enough time to memorize them, this was a storage chamber of old objects of varying value. Had the mansion's previous owner been a collector of rare objects, and had obtained the Keystone from a different part of the world?
Answers were not particularly forthcoming. And if both the Johto and Sinnoh Ruins did have a connection to his seals, why had they only come to life after the first seal had been broken?
Unless...
Diablos frowned thoughtfully. If he was going to try to keep something permanently sealed away, the best way to do it would be to make the lock's key inaccessible. If one needed a specific key to get behind a door, then the key should be behind the door also, so that only people already on that side can affect the lock.
So...what if the seals could only be undone with his power? So long as his power was sealed, those seals could not be broken, and that was why the Ruins resonated with his revival...the locks recognized that the key was available.
Tsk, not like this would aid him much if it was true. The inability to move from his Keystone seemed to confirm his private theory. Something had gone through a lot of effort to prevent him from regaining his power. If his power was needed to undo further seals, then being physically prevented from reaching the locks without assistance was another impediment. How much had the ones who sealed him known about his powers and nature? Was everything happening now part of some overreaching contingency plan in case he ever was sought out and unsealed?
Or maybe the Ruins of Alph were crucial and the Solaceon Ruins were not. Diablos would probably never have suspected to explore Johto Ruins if he was revived in Sinnoh, and therefore the information of the Ruins acting strangely would never have come to his attention. Unfortunately, he had no contact with Johto. His allies were the only Pokemon that had come to the Chateau since his revival, so he had been prevented from passing more of his fragments. Until he could move again, he required Pokemon to come to him, or he needed a different criteria fulfilled.
Diablos closed his eyes, focusing his attention outwards, outside of the attic entirely, extending across Sinnoh. He could feel them...for even when broken apart, his soul fragments contained considerable power. They were a piece of himself, a portion of a far greater whole. No matter how distant they were from him, they could not disappear from his mind's eye.
His mental radar quickly detected the soul fragment within Force. It resounded clearly, pinpointing the Riolu's location with ease. Three months of being bonded with the aura Pokemon made him stick out quite clearly, despite the fractured soul involved. It took only slightly longer for the other piece to return his call. It may have bonded improperly, but it was still a piece of a piece of himself, and he could locate it with no effort. Shadow was just outside Solaceon Town.
"Lovely," Diablos murmured to himself. Force's fragment resonated once again, and Diablos' mouth curled into a grin. They weren't far from one another. Not yet within range, but soon...if Force was heading to the Solaceon Ruins, they would definitely be in range there. Such good fortune. This would simplify matters greatly.
If the Riolu was going to search the Ruins, and the Spiritomb was correct in believing his power was necessary to locate or break the seal there (assuming one existed), then being in range of Shadow's fragment would allow Diablos to find it himself, rather than rely on Force or Lin stumbling upon it.
However, he'd have to be careful. Taking over Force's consciousness again after being called out on his previous use would definitely hurt his chances of remaining on good terms with his allies. He could not be reckless about this one. He would simply observe from the back of the Riolu's mind, and nudge him in the right directions. There was still the chance Shadow would move out of range again, and then he'd have to bide his time again.
And if there was some way to force a meeting between the fragments...that would be ideal. He would be able to grant Force's desire to remove the fragment, and get Shadow's body and mind in the bargain. If nothing else, he would regain the ability to act independantly of factors he couldn't control.
A buzzing of static nearby broke the Spiritomb from his thoughts, and he cast the offending box a look. Kaito had puzzled over the device after their first meeting, but left seemingly without learning anything. Technology was never one of Diablos' strong suits. He understood the basic concepts, but details slipped past him, and considering he had no idea what the device actually was suggested to him that it had come into the world sometime during his sealed existence.
It looked at first to be simply a box with a transparent side, but that side displayed color and light, but everything was distorted and muffled, and sometimes made irritating sounds like buzzing or popping. It was easy to ignore most of the time, but Kaito's bafflement seemed to be that it was somehow functional without power. Diablos hadn't cared enough to examine it, and neither he nor the box were capable of moving on its...
Wait...
Did it just move?
Diablos blinked, staring intently at the box. Another buzzing of static sounded, but the device didn't move. Yet it was distinctly in a different location than it had been moments earlier. Unless the boredom he was experiencing had gone as far as causing his mind to hallucinate things for the sake of entertainment.
He gazed upon the unmoving device for what felt like hours, but it gave no further indication that anything was amiss. Yet he could sense something regardless, so slight he may not have noticed had he not spotted the earlier movement. His jagged smile curled upwards, and he spoke to the air.
"I know you're there. Come on out, don't be shy."
There was no response, but this didn't bother the Spiritomb in the slightest. The amusing thing was that if no one was actually there, then it didn't matter that he said anything out loud. And if there was, well...that was the whole point.
Another minute ticked by, and Diablos sighed. "Seriously, come out. I can feel your presence, you may as well show me who you are."
Again, there was no response, but Diablos narrowed his eyes. He legitimately couldn't do anything if there was something within the device. He had tried several times during the winter to conjure up typical ghostly abilities like Shadow Ball or Dark Pulse, but found there to be a block of some sort in place. It seemed that all his powers were sealed except for the abilities relating to his souls.
Finally, after an excruciatingly long pause, the box rattled noticeably, and something emerged from within it. Diablos blinked, observing the creature as it untangled itself from the solid object. It had a bright orange body surrounded by a noticeable, pale blue membrane around its main body that seemed to glow with curious energy. Its only appendages were two arms shaped into lightning bolts, making them seem unwieldy, if not incapable, of being used as normal arms.
The orange creature hovered in the air, but was facing away from Diablos, seemingly oblivious to the Spiritomb's gaze. Diablos could see from his vantage point that the device the creature had extracted itself from had gone blank, no longer displaying the fuzzy images or static, but lay there as if the life had been sucked out of it.
"Excuse me," Diablos said, and the creature whirled around, its distinct blue eyes widening in surprise. "Have you been in that thing for long?" the Spiritomb wondered.
"Yup," the creature replied with a small smile, peering at Diablos with great interest. "Have YOU been there for long?"
"At least three months," Diablos confirmed, mildly amused by the look of confusion on the other Pokemon's face. Admittedly, he had at times withdrawn into his Keystone and was not conscious of any possible movement from the device, but it still seemed unlikely that every time it had materialized, they had missed one another.
"Time flies when you're watching reality shows, I guess," the creature lamented. Seeing Diablos' blank look, it smiled widely, showing a surprising number of teeth. "It's one of my hobbies."
"What's a reality show?" Diablos asked blandly. He didn't actually care, but he appreciated the basic ability of understanding people when they talked, and he had a hunch this sort of thing was going to happen a lot.
"It's a program where humans enter a game or competition that pushes them out of their comfort zone and they have to cooperate with one another as a team to beat another team, but there's usually a bunch of-"
Diablos tuned out at this point in the conversation, but kept his attention on the odd Pokemon to at least give the impression he was listening. By occasionally making a sort of verbal noise whenever the Pokemon paused for breath, the rest of the explanation proceeded smoothly.
"...pretty intense!" the Pokemon finished. "What's your favorite kind of show?"
Diablos fought the urge to sigh. He silently reminded himself to remain civil. At the very least, the creature could be useful company during the absence of other allies, and perhaps they could even find some way they could benefit one another.
"I've been a bit...out of the loop," Diablos said carefully. It was an honest response that was aiming to not reveal just how ignorant he was of the subject. "Your...program thing doesn't function when you're inside."
"It doesn't function when I'm not inside, either," the creature pointed out helpfully, gesturing a lightning bolt arm towards the inactive box. "So, I guess I should name my pets, huh?"
"I...what?" Diablos asked, taken aback by the comment, as well as the playfully intrigued expression the other Pokemon was wearing.
"Oh, I've lived here for a looooong time. I've been here since before the old ghost clan moved in a while back. And then they moved out. Yeah, got kind of quiet after that. Sometimes a member of the Eterna Hive crawls in here for a bit. I bet that's why we have so many spider webs hanging around."
"My apologies, but what was the thing about naming?" Diablos asked.
"Right! So because I own the place, all guests are kind of my pets. Or guests, but I like pets more. Still need attention and stuff, but less strain on me to entertain them. Vet bills get kind of pricey, though...would you believe what they charge people who don't have insurance? It's robbery! Dilapidated mansion robbery, I tell you."
The Spiritomb was beginning to suspect that the odd Pokemon had possibly the worst attention span of anything he had ever seen in recent memory. Which wasn't saying a lot, what with his foggy recollection, but it should have.
"So...you want to name me? Because I have one already. It's Diablos."
"That sounds eerie. Makes me think of demons and stuff. You watch the Spanish Channel?"
"What exactly ARE you?" Diablos asked, finally losing enough patience to just ask for the Pokemon to identify itself rather than hope the conversation would actually stay on the subject of names.
"My species? I'm a Rotom. It's 'motor' spelled backwards, which says a lot because we can totally possess electronics and such. Even make them work when they totally shouldn't. Sort of like what I've been doing with the television. And then I can defy physics and piggyback off satellite cable even though the TV isn't even connected to-"
"Do YOU have a name?" Diablos asked, growing increasingly annoyed by how often the subject kept shifting.
The Rotom paused, then seemed surprised. "Huh...nope, guess not! I should probably try to come up with something, so we can do a formal introduction! Hmm...maybe something related to my TV. Like...TV! Or HDTV."
"I'm not going to call you a bunch of random letters," Diablos deadpanned.
"They're not random! They stand for- wait...ooh, call me Plasma! Because I'm made of plasma and there's a type of television known as a Plasma TV!"
"Fine," Diablos said. He wasn't even going to try to debate the validity of a name with the over-excitable electric ghost thing.
"Okay, now the intro! Wish some theme music or something was playing...maybe next time. Hi Diablos, I'm Plasma, nice to meet you!" the Rotom stated, extending one of its lightning bolt arms cordially, as if expecting the Spiritomb to shake it.
"I don't have arms. Or hands. And I suspect it would hurt to touch you," the Spiritomb noted seriously.
"Oh come on, I only caused ONE person to pass out from contact and suddenly no one wants to shake anymore," Plasma complained.
"I don't have limbs," Diablos insisted.
"And it totally ruins the joy buzzer pranks," Plasma lamented. "Have you tried tricking people into shaking a joy buzzer and they instead run from the room? It's like they see it coming."
The mental imagery of the Rotom's statement alone got Diablos to smirk, his previous annoyance fading. There was something contagious about the electric Pokemon's mood and comments. It wasn't excessively chipper to the point of grating, but there was some amusement purely from how openly it spoke and how it moved onto tangents without missing a beat. Frustrating to interact with when seeking specific details, but certainly superior to being bored out of his mind.
"So aside from your...television, how do you keep entertained?" Diablos asked. If the Rotom really had lived here for an extremely long time, then it surely had to have other means of entertainment than just the box, although he simultaneously couldn't rule out that possibility.
"Sometimes I surf the radio stations, too. That can be fun," Plasma answered. "Though I get such a crummy connection in Sinnoh. Jubilife is focusing too much on TV programs and not enough on the good old stuff like epic radio music, and the signals get all crossed and distorted. And then I may as well just hijack the Goldenrod Radio Tower's signal. And sometimes they play crummy tunes, so then I may as well just hijack the stations themselves and play good stuff for an hour or two before they reset the system on me. Ah, the joys of mastering Pokestar Hacking techniques."
"I'm going to assume everything you just said either makes sense, or is supposed to be impossible," Diablos said. On second thought, he'd probably make that assumption every time the Rotom babbled about technology.
"It's not impossible, it just needs me to possess the electronics and bounce my data across-"
Diablos blinked. "Wait...you possess electronics?" he asked. Plasma looked at the Spiritomb oddly.
"Yeah...it's a Rotom thing."
"Interesting...so we're very similar in a way. Both get some extra control and leverage by possessing things. I wonder...do you physically travel to Johto when you take command of their...radio?"
"I dunno, maybe? It's not like the radio's connected to the GPS," Plasma replied. "Although I suppose if I also connected their mainframe to a satellite, I could-"
"Please don't get into that right now. I wonder if you could do me a small favor...just to test out our capabilities to an extent," the Spiritomb murmured, his yellow eyes glinting.
"Sure, what's up?" Plasma asked, regarding Diablos with interest.
"I want to give you this..." Diablos said, and one of his green and yellow soul orbs emerged from the rest of his gaseous body, glowing faintly in the dim lighting. "And then I want you to try to access one of your...technology things. You don't have to do anything specific, I just want to know if it'll work."
"Ooh, possessing an electronics possessor? Cool idea!" Plasma said, his own tone curious and excited. "Sure, let's do it!"
Diablos smiled, a genuine smile lacking any implied malice. "I hoped you'd find that acceptable."
