Super Tag Hide-and-Seek (part 3)

Azelf ends up in the human world.

"Well, whaddaya say?" Mew said as she waved to some children staring at them. "I say we totally blend in well!"

Diancie, meanwhile, wasn't as accepting of the stares. "I- I don't know... we seem to be gathering attention either ways..."

Magearna nodded. "...unpleasant..." she whispered. In a humanized form, somehow she seemed to be capable of speech. Just one reason she preferred the human body, she supposed.

The creator of the game rolled her eyes. "Nonsense, nonsense. Nonsense! It's all fun and fine, relax."

Celebi grimaced. "I'm still not sure about this, Mew..." she informed. "Feeling everyone look at us for no reason is still unnerving..."

Near them, Uxie was conversing with some adults. The group immediately froze and turned to the blonde, who bowed as she thanked the adults and walked back to them.

"...Uxie, what the hell!" Celebi exclaimed. "W-what if the humans-"

"It seems there's no need to worry," the blonde said. "Whilst they do recognize our humanized appearances isn't natural, they seem to think we are doing something they call... 'cosplaying'," she said. "It is apparently the tradition of dressing up as something else that that individual isn't, not to mock or insult the target, but to be a sign of respect or enjoyment. Something amongst those lines."

"Dressing up...?" Diancie repeated.

Uxie nodded. "Yes, it is quite fascinating. I shall add this to my knowledge. Perhaps Pokémon could one day partake in this tradition as well. Humans sure come up with interesting things."

Their green-haired friend raised an eyebrow. "So they're fine with our... 'cosplaying', but why're we still gathering attention?" she asked.

"It seems that our 'cosplaying'- in their eyes- is extremely talented and looks realistic to them. Also, it isn't a special day for them, so the reason as to our 'cosplaying' perplexes them."

"So in the end we still stand out!" Celebi exclaimed.

Mew laughed. "Eh, who cares? We can have fun before Azelf comes and find us!"

Magearna raised her hand. "...know?"

"What?"

Unable to comprehend, Mew watched as Magearna whispered into Uxie's ears.

The blonde turned to the pink-haired girl. "She is concerned whether Azelf would know what region we are on."

"Yeah, it's not like we left any hints we'd be going to Sinnoh," Celebi began, "or, you know... the real world."

"S-speaking of which," Diancie said, "how might we... um, return to Arceus' mansion dimension...?"

Mew shrugged. "I figured we could just get Hoopa to warp us back."

Celebi was now confused. "...how do we tell them though?"

The New Species Pokémon didn't seem amused. "By telling her, duh! What's with you today, Celebi?"

"Yeah, but-"

"Oh look! A berry stand!" Mew exclaimed, pointing to a nearby vendor offering berries to the citizens. "Let's go get some!"

Everyone hesitantly followed, as Celebi sighed. How do we tell her in the first place, stupid...

Azelf blushed as she stared at her new appearance in the mirror.

She had somehow flown onto a region called Kalos, apparently. She was almost spotted by someone in her Pokémon form, so she quickly hid herself and turned into her human form to properly mix with the population, although she received some glances every now and then. Of course, it wasn't like she could control her transformation- people definitely wondered whether her tails were real, she knew.

The place she somehow entered was called Lumiose City, apparently.

And when she walked past one random building, some woman called out to her and dragged her in.

This and that happened, and somehow her hair was... not so different from before, but they definitely did something to her hair.

She blinked. Did I always look this... good? she wondered. On first sight, it might not have seemed any different from her old human appearance, but her hair now seemed neater. "Is... is that all?" she whispered to herself, but her stylist heard her and chuckled.

"Why don't you turn your head to the side?"

Azelf blinked again, but did so. She glanced from the corner of her eyes at the mirror, and was shocked. What now lied at the plain backside of her head was a single ponytail.

She liked it.

"...i-it's cute," Azelf whispered.

The stylist chuckled. "That's wonderful to hear! Are you new to Lumiose City?"

Why's she questioning me now...? Azelf nodded. "I-I've never been to, um, Kalos before, actually... I'm new here."

"Oh my! Is that so?"

She nodded again. "A-and, um, I might have used all my money in getting here, so... I, uh, don't have any." That was a lie of course. But she saw a poster at the entrance that listed prices- Azelf knew she wouldn't be able to pay for any, because she didn't have any in the first place. What was the humans' currency called again? Something... Pokédollar...?

"Oh, that is a shame. But that's alright!" The stylist poked her in the cheek with a smile. "For a cute thing like you, I'd be glad to let you off this time for free!"

Azelf smiled. "T-thank you," she said. Getting up, she bowed to the stylist and waved as she exited the shop. "N-next time I come I promise to pay!"

If I ever come back, that is... she thought.

Then, stretching her body, she looked around. This Lumiose City sure was a nice place... perhaps there are lots of hiding places available here too. She should note that.

...crap! The humanized girl's eyes widened. "T-that's right! Mew and the others!" She tensed her eyes and looked left and right, hoping to spot any sight of a floating pink critter or her other friends. "...I hope they're not publicly in their Pokémon forms," she muttered.

The girl started running towards who knows where, not even sure herself where she would end up. Taking a few corners, she ended up in an alleyway.

"...nope, not here."

She turned around and began running again. A few seconds later, she ended up in another alleyway.

Azelf frowned. "...this is a lot harder than I thought." But I can't give up! she thought.

After all, she was the embodiment of willpower. She will never give up!

...wait, that's not the big issue here. The girl shivered as she wondered if Arceus would punish them for this small game.

She ran out the alleyway and continued looking.

Again, after few more seconds, she ended up in yet another alleyway.

"...how big is this place!?" she exclaimed. Time was probably running out, so she began panicking. She could only hope that Hoopa was doing a good job distracting Arceus, if their creator wanted to see any of them at all right now.

Hoopa skidded to a halt in front of a familiar humanized Pokémon with long grey hair. "W-wah!"

Arceus blinked, before smiling and petting the Mischief Pokémon. "Hello, Hoopa. Nice day today, isn't it?" she asked.

She nodded nervously. "U-um... yeah. Really nice day." Then she snickered out of habit. "Nice for a prank, heh..."

Their now-goddess rolled her eyes. "Anyways. Are you used to your human form yet?"

Now Hoopa blinked. "Uh... I guess so." It seems Arceus wasn't looking for any of the currently missing group. This might be easier than I thought.

"Also, have you seen Mew? I need to talk to her today about something..."

Uh oh.

Azelf sighed as she slid down against the walls of the umpteenth alleyway she found herself in. She was about to lose hope in this stupid game of Mew's, but at least she could rest easy guessing that Hoopa probably wouldn't have any trouble distracting Arceus. After all, it wasn't like there would be anything their creator would need to consult Mew or the others for, right? Yeah.

Oblivious to cruel fate, she looked up at the sky. "Damn it, Mew. How would I even know where you guys went to...?"

The bluenette gritted her teeth, a small amount of frustration seeping through.

As if I can just teleport to all regions and... wait. She widened her eyes. Teleport... to... oh.

Azelf got up suddenly. "T-that's right! I can teleport to all other regions and check each of them!" she exclaimed.

Beat of silence.

Then she slid down again, sighing. "Yeah, right... even Mew can teleport," she muttered. That was indeed true- even if she managed to teleport to a region the group were on, it wasn't like Mew couldn't get away. After all:

Mew laughed. "...but even if you find a hiding person, they can keep playing until you tag them!"

Azelf blinked again. "Uh... okay then."

She sighed. In hindsight, she probably should've protested against such idea itself, but she hadn't ever played a human game before. The girl had been excited, without considering the trouble they could possibly get into.

Azelf looked up again. "...Uxie, where the heck are you...?" she muttered.

"Did you call?"

The bluenette blinked. She turned her head sideways. A familiar blonde with two tails stood in front of her, smiling with her iconic closed eyes. "...huh."

Uxie chuckled. "No, you're not dreaming, Azelf."

Azelf slowly got up. "...Uxie? What're... what... why are you...?"

"I was worried you wouldn't know where to start, so I teleported myself here to see how you were doing," Uxie said. "Mew is at Sinnoh with the others. She's enjoying herself to some fruits at some food stall, and having fun dancing as a performance to get currency as payment, I suppose."

"...h-hey, isn't that just gathering attention to them!?" Azelf exclaimed.

Her blonde counterpart smiled. "No, apparently the humans believe we are doing something called 'cosplaying', which is a tradition in which they dress up as something else that they are not, out of respect or admiration."

"Huh." Azelf blinked. Well, at least now she knew where the others were. "...anyways, seriously, we gotta get back to Arceus' mansion dimension thing! It'd be bad if she found out we came to play around randomly like this!"

Uxie scratched her head. "Yeah, I considered that. Mew isn't listening to Celebi's remarks at all though, despite the obvious problem that lingers."

"And you didn't try to convince Mew?" the willpower embodiment asked.

"Well... teehee. It seemed fun."

Azelf grimaced. "Uxie, you're... ugh." She sighed and tapped the blonde's shoulder. "...whatever."

"...I guess I've been caught," the knowledge embodiment commented.

"Huh?"

"You tagged me."

"...sheesh, let's go tag everyone else," Azelf finally said. She wasn't going to quit now that they were probably in trouble- she might as well as win this thing.

Uxie nodded, content. "Glad that you're motivated for the game again. Shall we get going?"

"Sure." The two promptly reverted to their Pokémon form and flew off, the blue guardian following the yellow guardian's lead towards a different region. "(...wait, we can just teleport to Canalave City.)"

"(...I suppose so,)" Uxie said.

"(...)" The two then disappeared in a flash.

"And there you have it!" Mew cheered. "Another dance by yours truly!"

The audience clapped and began throwing Pokédollars at the group.

Celebi winced as a coin hit her. "O-ow... I don't like this..."

"Well suck it up! We need to pay for the fruits that we couldn't pay for!" Mew exclaimed.

Diancie whimpered. "Y-you're the one who ate them though..."

An old man standing behind a stall scratched his head. "U-um, ladies, I think that's enough. You've done so many dances that the money you got is worth more than how much you ate," he said to the humanized Mew. "Of course, it's probably your costume that they liked, since personally I think you were terrible at dancing..." he added under his breath, and luckily nobody heard him.

Mew stared at him. "Oh."

"...yeah."

She kept staring at him. Then she smiled. "Then I guess I'll take some more then."

He groaned. "Lady, can't you leave these fruits for other people to buy...?"

"Nope! They're good and fun!"

Celebi raised an eyebrow. "What the heck's a 'fun' fruit...?"

"Oh, no you don't!" a new voice exclaimed. Mew was close to biting another fruit, but her hand paused as she turned her head sideways.

Uxie stood alongside an extremely pissed Azelf, both in their humanized forms. "Ooooh! You finally found us!" Mew exclaimed. "...now to the 'catch' part."

"Hey, wai-" Azelf began, but it was too late as Mew suddenly sprinted towards the opposite direction, taking the fruit with her. "...you ass!"

"...she forgot to pay for that Oran Berry as well..." the man mumbled.

Celebi sighed and handed him all the coins they had gathered from Mew's stupid public dancing stunt. "H-here you go, keep them all."

"Are you sure? Don't you want cha-"

"See you, mister!" Celebi exclaimed and, together with Azelf, began chasing after the pink-haired girl.

Uxie stared at the trace of dust clouds they left, Magearna and Diancie besides her. "...shall we follow?"

"...o-oh, uh, sure!" Diancie exclaimed. She walked after the disappearing duo, hoping not to be bothered by anymore humans.

"..." Magearna didn't say anything.

Uxie stared. "...you're still not used to your human body, am I right?" she asked. The Artificial Pokémon nodded, blushing slightly. Uxie smiled. "Here, take my hand."

"...thank... you."

Meanwhile, up ahead, Mew ran across a bridge. "Ha! Catch me if you can!" she said in a sing-song tone.

"Watch out!" Azelf shouted.

"Whaaaaat?"

Azelf frantically pointed in front. "In! Front! Of! You!"

Mew turned around. "Whoa!" She quickly jumped sideways as she almost crashed into a person. "Sorry!" she yelled and continued running.

The man simply scratched his head and continued walking across.

Azelf groaned. "Damn it, why is she always like this...?"

Celebi sighed. "Trust me, I know how you feel."

The two maneuvered their way through the small crowd of people and continued their chase. Mew eventually ran through what seemed like an extremely small building at the exit of the city. The two followed suit, leaving the city and entering an area labeled 'Route 218' by a sign.

Mew snickered. "Let's see if you can catch up with this!" she said and lept towards a body of water.

"M-Mew!" both chasing girls exclaimed.

The pink-haired girl then... tiptoed her way across the water.

They stared. "...t-that idiot! What if-"

"A-Azelf, it's okay! Nobody's around!" Celebi exclaimed as she looked around. "We're safe... for now."

"Arceus damn it, she's a pain!" Azelf sighed but grinned. "But if no one's around, then I guess it's my turn!" She quickly reverted into her Pokémon form. "(Get ready to lose, you ass!)"

"A-Azelf!?" Celebi shrieked. True to her words, however, still nobody were around to see the sight.

Mew turned around and frowned. "Hey! What if someone sees you!?" she shouted at the embodiment of willpower.

"(Like hell you should be saying that!)" Azelf exclaimed. it flew at a pace faster than Mew's water-hopping, and before the pink-haired girl could reach land again, Azelf tapped her... no, it smashed into Mew's back. "(Gah! G-got you!)"

The playful girl pouted. "Aaahh. There goes my victory," she muttered.

Azelf panted. "(This isn't fun at all...)" it muttered. "(Now can we head back?)"

Mew shook her head.

"(What... why the hell not!?)"

She snickered. "You still haven't tagged the others."

Azelf raised an eyebrow. I could probably lie... "(I tagged them before chasing you,)" it said.

The pink-haired girl sighed. "You shouldn't lie like that, Azelf... I know you've only tagged Uxie."

"(...how did...?)" Azelf decided it shouldn't question Mew's mind any further. After all, it would rather keep its opinion of Mew as an idiot. A mischievous one. Breathing in, it glowed white and transformed into its human form again. She stretched her arms. "Fine, if you say so," she said and rolled her eyes.

The two then used their psychic powers to levitated themselves back to the side where Celebi was at.

"Azelf! Good job!" the green-haired girl said. "Now let's-"

Azelf tapped her.

"...?" She stared at the blue-haired lake guardian, confused.

"Tagged. You're out now," Azelf said.

Celebi was unamused. "Really?"

"Mew wants me to finish," her friend replied.

Sighing, Celebi raised her hand. "Alright, I lost."

"Good, now let's get to the others." As she said that, she spotted Diancie slowly running towards them. It looked almost more like strolling than running, but she supposed the Jewel Pokémon was trying her best. "You okay, Diancie?"

Diancie panted. "I'm... o-okay..." she wheezed.

Azelf smiled. "That's good. Anyways..." She then tapped the second pink-haired girl on the head. "Aaaaand you're out."

"H-huh?" The Kalos Pokémon blinked. "W-we were still playing...?"

At that remark, Mew pouted. "Really, Diancie? How could you even think that, while you were having so much fun?"

"You just made her dance though..." Celebi muttered.

Then, Uxie and Magearna soon showed up, hand in hand.

Azelf stared. "..."

"...what?" Uxie asked.

"...nothing." The blue-haired lake guardian tapped Magearna on the shoulder. "...out."

Magearna tilted her head in confusion.

"Mew's wishes." Then Azelf turned to Mew, doing a soft karate chop on her head. "And now I've tagged everyone. Happy?"

"Now it's time for rou-"

"No!" Azelf and Celebi both yelled.

The New Species Pokémon pouted again. "Killjoys..."

Celebi rubbed her chin. "Okay, so now to our next problem."

"W-what's the problem?" Diancie asked.

The Time Travel Pokémon sighed. "How we're going to contact Hoopa."

Everyone in the group exchanged glances. "...oh," Mew whispered. Then they all turned to stare at Mew. "...oooohhh. Haha. Well... I guess I didn't plan that."

"...you're kidding, right?" Celebi asked. "You're not telling me that you dragged us into this world without any plans of heading back, right?"

"W-well, what's the problem? When Arceus realizes, she'll get us all back-"

"And in trouble, you buffoon!" Azelf interrupted.

"...I'm a cat."

Azelf pulled her own hair, frustrated. "Gaaaah. I'd kill you so hard right now, Mew, I would! But... urgh!"

Celebi felt like consoling the lake guardian.

Then Uxie raised her hand. "Pardon me, I believe I've figured out a way to return to Arceus' mansion dimension."

All heads turned to her. "Y-you did?" Diancie asked.

"That's right."

Azelf gulped. "What's the way?"

Uxie smiled. "Well, if my knowledge serves me correctly, it involves a cave the humans like to call... Turnback Cave."

Notes: