To the person who asked: I have no idea what the 'Carl the Jumper' subset of rules are, and therefore, I most likely won't bother. I'll look it up anyway…
After-Midnight Edit (this chapter still technically came out on the 29th, for anyone who cares): Ah, the fanfiction you're referring to appears to be over a hundred chapters and eight hundred thousand words long. Thanks for the inadvertent recommendation, but the sheer amount of time it would take for me to go through this whole thing before I make the next Chapter is unreasonable, so I'll just take a moment to address something only vaguely related to your question: I don't know how any of that author's 'Perk/Flaw carry-over' rules differ from the norm, but the SI will be approaching things from his perspective as to what is or isn't worth purchasing, and given how subjective 'metagaming' is (as is the nature of all things JumpChain and CYOA), even if he gets an 'overpowered' combination of Perks and/or Items, there's no guarantee he'll use them in the way that makes the most sense to you. He is, after all, a fictional character based on 'how I believe that I would react to being placed in these circumstances', not 'exactly how I (the author) would want them to act'. Keeping yourself separated from the character you're writing, even if only tangentially, is important. How else can you occasionally throw them under a bus, or against a brick wall?
Also, I've updated the character tags to include Lugia and Marshadow, since they'll be consistently appearing going forwards, for anyone who cares.
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 (2500)
-Day 2588-
God, I'm so fucking annoyed with myself. The Time Flute might not look any different from any other flute, but there was only one flute in the whole top of the windmill! I really should have just double-checked… but it didn't make any sense, and it still doesn't. There's only supposed to be three of the bastard things, how is there a fourth in place of one that already got taken years ago?! I… really can't come to the conclusion that there isn't some self-aware Benefactor interfering right now, but who, and why, and-well, the how is probably well beyond my current comprehension, but… what, exactly, makes them want Lugia purified so quickly? The battle I promised Tate and Liza for their Badge? My discomfort with keeping a Shadow Pokemon on me for long periods of time? 'Are they not entertained'? Or are they just screwing with me, because they feel like it?
Whatever. I was finally back in Agate Forest, uncomfortably early in the morning and at the Relic Stone, with the Time Flute. Now… to meet the Agate Celebi for what might be the first time, from his perspective.
Time travel, I reflected as I recreated the in-game tune with the Time Flute (made easy with only a day of practice, thank you Savant) first try, was a convoluted, unappealing mess.
And then, a green glow formed in the air above the Relic Stone, and a Celebi flashed into existence, thoughtspeaking in English. [-nother one? Who is it this time?]
[Greetings for the second time, Agate Celebi.] I started, showing some respect because that was never a bad idea. [I met you in Ilex forest five days ago while asking the local Celebi if she knew a way for me to contact you, but I suspect this is the first time you have met me?]
[Yeah, never seen you before in my life, bud.] He shrugged, raising his head and looking into a sudden green glow just in front of his face. [But I can see when I met you, so I'll head back there later. What did you need me for, and where'd you find my Flute?]
[The same group who made the last batch of Shadow Pokemon, Cipher, succeeded in capturing and corrupting a Lugia on a much deeper and more fundamental level. You said that you'd succeeded in purifying her to some extent, but ultimately I'd just need to keep her with me for a while and hope it wears off in due time.] I recounted the relevant story with relevant emphasis. [The Time Flute I only located because you told me, that I told you, 'the one in the top of Pyrite Town's windmill was hidden in a big pile of junk'.]
[Oh, great, paradoxical statements.] He huffed. [I don't suppose you already knew it was there before that meeting happened?]
[I knew that there was one there previously, but I assumed that the hero who called you three times to purify the Legendary Beasts a few years ago had already taken it. And yes, you already smugged at me over it, can we focus on the issue at hand?] I huffed in exasperation at the look on his face. Egotistical little onion fairy.
[Fine.] He rolled his eyes. [Give me a look at her, I'll see what I can do.]
"I do feel the need to warn you," I switched to verbal speech as I pulled out her Master Ball. "I can't guarantee that I can control her. She was unnaturally calm when I released her at Ilex Forest a few days ago, and you didn't mention her going berserk or anything when we spoke, but I still feel the need to mention that possibility out loud." Then I tossed her Pokeball off to the side with telekinetically-guided accuracy, and sent her out a careful six meters away. Given that she was five meters tall, it seemed like a good idea to not risk getting flattened if she decided to stretch her wings out, or rolled over onto me because she really was that dead inside.
And as before, she slouched in the same relaxed position, seemingly-unconcerned or simply unaware of us standing next to her. [Oh… oh.] He started. [I kinda guessed that she might have some marks, maybe even a few scars if they inflicted some really deep injuries on her, but physical mutation… I can't even imagine what they did to her to cause that.]
"I can, and trust me, you're probably better off not thinking too hard about it." Not like I hadn't seen plenty of messed up shit in my last life, like Mortal Kombat X-Rays. "I doubt there was much, if any, physical abuse involved. The experiments were focused on 'perfecting' a Shadow Pokemon, which probably means 'closing the door to her heart' on an absolute level to the point where she no longer feels anything. It would explain her complete lack of response to anyone near her, and since Riley helped me Aura Purge away any form of mind control, she probably just isn't receiving the emotional impetus to do anything. If she were hungry, her survival instinct would probably push her to eat, but other than that… well, I couldn't test the effects if I wanted to, because she no longer recognises orders without the brainwashing, and I'm really uncomfortable about trying to control her. She's had enough trauma to last a lifetime, and she'll probably suffer after-effects for her whole life at this rate, I don't want to risk adding anything else onto her issues."
[And I'm very glad to hear that, 'cos I really don't want to report this to Dialga and ask them for help. The Creation Trio aren't exactly known for being tactful.] He flew on top of the Relic Stone, then paused. [Wait, did you know that they existed before I said that out loud?]
"I have gone through just about every single publically-available book in every library in Japan, and multiple accounts of Arceus creating the universe with two or three helpers came up, though accounts conflict on whether there were two or three. I can just, not pass on your correction if it's going to create a problem for you?" I suggested, confused.
[Please don't.] He sighed. [Bringing Legendaries into the public eye has never ended well, and most of the others I know aren't interested in human contact to begin with. Sharing information creates interest, which leads to individuals trying to contact us, which leads to trainers trying to fight or outright catch us. And while most know that catching us is an exercise in pointlessness, since we can release ourselves and aren't obligated to serve and protect just because someone threw a lucky Pokeball at us, it's still never worth it.]
"Message received. Now, would you kindly…?" Then he started glowing. Barely above his natural sheen at first, but once I switched a single eye over to Aura Sight, I could see every tree in range slowly transferring their 'natural', inherently 'pure' Aura into the Relic Stone. Unlike the animation in the Games, this was vastly-more impressive, especially when I could see Celebi tapping the entire forest's life force towards him, the Aura from the trees behind Lugia flowing over her… to no perceptible effect. Even without the mind control, she still radiated a seemingly-flawless 'skin-tight force field' of emptiness, but when the concentrated 'orb' of Aura was lifted out of the Relic Stone's center and 'poured' down her head and neck, it caused the dark purple colouration to start corroding, sending lines of black running down her body as she visibly twitched and shocked into alertness.
Then the 'animation' from the games played: the Aura radiated outwards until it formed a translucent sphere surrounding her whole body, adding a sort of 'atomic nucleus' at its peak as three opaque bright-green orbs formed ring systems that chipped away at her discoloration; then the sphere abruptly contracted in a way I can only describe like one of those 'four-dimensional shapes', the 'inwards' pressure forcing her shadowy aura 'outwards' until the two spheres met and shattered, leaving behind the three ring systems that quickly dissipated in a bright burst of color-and a 'normal' Lugia who jerked forwards and keeled over onto her knees and… wing-fingers or whatever you want to call them, staring at the ground and gasping for air, pupils dilated and in clearly-distressed shock. Celebi was pale-yellow, and breathing only slightly less harshly from where he was slumped.
Unexpected, but not unpredictable. [Hey.] I sent her, causing her to pause in her freakout for a crucial moment as she tried to parse the new input. [You're okay.] Then she jerked her head to me, where I was sitting cross-legged and non-threateningly on the ground. [It's okay. You're free, you're safe, and the people who hurt you can never do it again.]
It still took maybe half a minute of her staring at me, as I used my peripheral Aura vision to see Celebi meditating and… channelling the remaining Aura of the forest first into himself to replenish the energy his ritual took and restoring his natural color, then into the Relic Stone where it seemed to be naturally spreading back into the ground (though I didn't get a great look at it, being that my attention had to be directed elsewhere), before Lugia's pupils finished dilating back to an only-slightly freaked out expression and her breathing, though not getting any lighter, slowed to a more reasonable pace. […] It still took her a moment to build up the mental fortitude to project her thoughts. [You… caught me.]
"And now you're okay. Okay?" I repeated out loud.
[Okay. Okay, I'm… I-I'm okay, now.] She shifted her focus away, cautiously scanning her surroundings with clear recognition in her eyes, then turned to face the center of the stone dais we were both perched on and looked to an almost-fully recolored Celebi with 'audible' concern in her thoughtspeech. [Celebi, are you alright?]
[I'm fine. Could ask you the same.] His speech was a little stilted, presumably from focusing on the forest's aura. [You feelin' better now, Lugia?]
[Much.] She leaned up and slowly stretched her wings out, clearly exulting in her newfound freedom, despite her lingering trauma. [I… th-thank you. Both of you.]
"You're welcome." I gave her a soft, genuine smile. "Are you injured, or in any pain, or need anything right away?"
She didn't seem to know what to say, until she abruptly twitched, grimaced, and I picked up a faint vibration from her abdomen. [-aUm, d-do you have any food?]
"Plenty of Berries at the very least." I set down my backpack and tossed out a few of my hundred Hondew's for her to start on while I looked through what else I had. And now that I felt more confident that Lugia wasn't going to have an episode, "And while I'm at it, you can come out now, Evan." I tossed out her Poke Ball.
[Finally!] She huffed, getting a flicker of interest from Lugia before she clearly forced herself to dismiss her as a threat. [You better have some Ganlon's for me too.]
[Of course.] I rolled my eyes and paused, switching back and forth between 'languages'. "Celebi, you want to get in on this too?"
[Sure, got any Leppa's?] He requested, probably looking for a pick-me-up.
"Plenty." And then, while tossing those out, I noticed a faint shifting from around my belt. Of course, I hadn't forgotten about you, mysterious shadow-hider. But I suppose now's as good a time as any, as I tossed out their Master Ball. "And it seems there's someone else feeling a little pecki-shhh…"
I took a moment to rethink my preconceptions as not a Darkrai, but a four-foot Marshadow found itself deposited on the stone floor, flipping from disoriented to frozen in shock as three other pairs of eyes landed on our newest diner. "…not gonna lie," I broke the silence as I pulled out a decently-large Watmel Berry and telekinetically split in half with a quiet crack. "I thought you were the Darkrai Riley mentioned he'd met, and you were only stalking me because I 'felt' like an outsider." Then I levitated a plastic spoon into each half and laid one down next to him. "Still, it seems everyone else wants breakfast, so I'll hold off on the questions for a bit. Dig in, Marshadow."
Then I ignored him, levitating over some more Watmel Berries to Lugia, and after about a minute of the rest of us paying more attention to chewing our way through my Berries (Lugia especially decimating my Watmel stockpile, but I was too busy sucking out the bubbly juices of half-a-dozen Passho Berries and loving every second of the local Passionfruit's not having crunchy-ass seeds in them to care), he finally bit the bullet and started quietly working his way through his 'melon'.
And that was how my 'first' meeting with three unique Legendaries went: silently (or not, with how Lugia crunched up her Berries whole) stuffing ourselves with local fruit.
Half an hour later, having finished the impromptu banquet and assured Celebi that I'd take care of his co-worker (and mentioning how he had helped/would help me meet them), I announced my plans and returned both of them, Evan quickly teleported us all to Treasure Beach in the Sevii Islands (an archipelago to the south of Kanto), and I sent them both back out. Lugia wasted no time in diving into the sea, occasionally bursting back out with a triumphant crooning before smashing back in, while Evan curled up on my lap for 'sorry-for-putting-you-in-the-ball' scritches, and Marshadow hid behind the palm tree I was laying against. When he wasn't peeking around to watch Lugia's occasional surfacing, anyway.
Me, I was trying to meditate and succeeding in shrugging off the jetlag with well-practiced ease. Early-ish morning in America was late sunset in Japan, after all, though I had a feeling that Marshadow was fine with having plenty of shade to hide in, which is part of the reason I'd picked this location. The next Perks I was planning on taking, Mechanic and Technician in probably that order, should allow me to remove their registration to two of my Master Balls and hopefully switch them to Luxury Balls (which were expensive as hell, but quite frankly, I was planning on doing the same for Evan, and I wasn't going to ignore them in the process), so even if he chose to run away, it wouldn't be a huge loss.
But frankly, I doubted that was going to happen. Not that I was worried about them leaving before I set some boundaries and returning to stalking me. The mere fact that I now knew roughly what to look for, meant that I could detect their partially-solid body with only moderate difficulty, and they had no way to block my Aura Sight, so if worst came to worst, all I'd need to do is keep their Master Ball on hand, and get used to wearing an eye patch until I successfully returned them.
No, the real reason is that they didn't flee or (openly) freak out when I let them out, despite having plenty of time to prepare for escape. So clearly, they wanted or were at least willing to stay for a short period, even if it was just to explain themselves (and probably refute my hopefully-wild accusation of stalking me), which was all I wanted to know. If one thing led to another and they wanted to be my Pokemon, the same way I hoped Lugia would, then so much the better, but I wasn't going to press that on them.
I will not seek out my destiny. It will come to me, one way or another.
Then Lugia, after what had to be a good forty-five minutes, finally shot out of the surf like a living cruise missile and slammed onto the beach close enough that I had to throw up a telekinetic pulse to blow back the sand. When the dust cleared, she was staring at me with a mix of fragile mania and frantic relief that confirmed to me that she was still a ways away from being 'okay', wings unfolded and drooping with exertion, but at least she'd confirmed for herself that this wasn't some kind of trick.
[Finally!] Then a much stronger telekinetic force scooped me and Evan off the ground (complete with her yowl of surprise), and I had to throw up an Aura Barrier to keep Lugia from crushing me against her chest, her wings wrapping around us and blocking out the light. [Oh my god, I missed this so much, you have no idea, thank y-]
"Oi!" She froze at my tone, and I went for something gentler instead. "Ease up, you're crushing us."
[O-oh, wait,] She promptly dropped us to the beach, both of us catching ourselves without spraying sand anywhere with well-practiced ease, and lowered her head to look us over. [I-I'm so sorry, I swe-]
"It's fine," I cut her off in English, walking over and gently putting my arms somewhat-awkwardly around her head. "it's okay, you just got a bit overwhelmed. I'm not mad at you, Lugia. Just relax a little, and slow down your breathing." It took almost half a minute for her to stop almost-hyperventilating, at which point I stepped away. "Better?"
[Better.] She mumbled, still stiff but at least calmed down. [Sorry… Jason and Evan, r-right?]
"Yeah, we should probably have a round of introductions in a moment. You okay, Evan?"
[I'm fine.] She huffed. [Warn me next time, you scared the hell outta me.]
She slumped a bit more at that. [S-sorry…]
[It's fine.] She rolled her eyes and took her lowered head as an opportunity to rub her cheek against Lugia's. [Welcome to the team/clan, I guess.]
Not quite sure which of the two words/meanings she was going for there, but Lugia seemed a bit trepid either way, if her […] of unspoken intent was any indication. "We can discuss that in a moment. Come and sit with us, back by that tree."
Once we were all seated (and Lugia look weird sitting upright with their tails sticking out), I turned my head towards the trees slightly-angled shadow. "Marshadow." Noticeable twitch. "I'm not going to force you to stay with me any more than I will Lugia, but we do need to talk, and I want this to be face-to-face."
Despite also being visibly uncertain, they willingly stepped out of the tree's shadow and sat next to me, head slightly-lowered in what I think is shame? Better find out why. "Alright, introductions. My name's Jason Townsend, and my Espeon goes by Evan. Do either of you have names, or do you just use your species' names?"
[It's just Lugia for me.] "No."
Then it occurred to me that Marshadow was neither Japanese nor psychic, so whether or not he could communicate with all of us at once was up in the air. "Alright. Marshadow, do you know how to speak Japanese?"
"No." He repeated with a quiet, young-teenager semi-masculine tone. "Pokemon and Hawaiian, and some English. Not Japanese."
"Alright, me and Lugia know English, and I can translate for Evan or you can repeat yourself in Pokemon, so please stick to English for now." And now for the important part. Better project this to all three of them at once. [Before anything else comes up, I want to make it clear that I'm not going to force either of you to join my 'team/clan'. Being part of my team doesn't mean you have to fight, and there are a lot of benefits you'll have access to that just about any other Pokemon won't, but the choice is yours. If you don't want to have anything to do with humans, that's fine too. Even if you do want to join, but you have some sort of 'legendary duties' to attend to, I'm happy to make arrangements to help you perform them while still being 'my' Pokemon. Because 'my' Pokemon are family, and you'll have just as much say in what you do and how you live as I do. Understand?]
Neither of them seemed to know what to say for several seconds. "…you don't want us to fight?" Marshadow broke the silence.
[Not unless you want to fight.] I clarified. [Evan likes fighting, and it's easier to feed us with money than just by farming Berries, so I let her fight and I help her learn new Moves and anything else I can to support her. If you don't want to fight, well, barring extraordinary circumstances like being attacked by another villainous team trying to kidnap you, I'm not going to ask you to fight and you shouldn't have to fight, excepting the aforementioned criminal activity.]
"Then what's the point of being 'your' Pokemon?" He flatly challenged me, recognizing my quotes and building a bit of fire in his eyes.
[Due to a series of circumstances outside of my control,] I started the cliff notes explanation of JumpChain. [Every ten years, I find myself transposed to a different setting, usually through reincarnation, where I spend a decade acquiring valuable skills and items before my next transposition occurs. In my first world, I went to sleep at twenty-five years old and woke up as a fifteen year old with that many new years of memories retroactively added to my own. Since then, I've developed a superhuman physique, psychic powers, Aura control, and increased brain power, among other things like gaining three Master Balls, and a Rebreather that supplies fresh air regardless of where I am, even in space.] I took a moment to let that sink in, as I spun up an Aura Sphere in one hand and pulled a roughly-same-size stone out of Lugia's impact crater to levitate over my other. [And given that the rest of the abilities I will gain before my decade is up are related to knowledge and don't have physical tells, I don't have any more proof other than the twin powers I already have. But given how rare Aura is, and that I couldn't find any records of an Aura Adept also possessing psychic powers until now…]
"Never heard of that before." Marshadow shrugged, mildly interested. "But that doesn't prove anything. Are you going somewhere with this?"
[Every time I'm sent to another world, I get more powers and more opportunity to build on pre-existing powers. The worlds I'm going to be sent to include settings like Dragon Ball, where individuals can grow strong enough to shatter moons by the halfway mark, and Dragon Ball FighterZ includes the Super continuity where gods merely trading blows can threaten the stability of an entire universe.] Thank god for every Nintendo console and the entirety of their game libraries existing in this universe, even if the logic required for other video game companies to exist but the only platforms being Window's and Nintendo's creations was a bit unlikely. But hey, the Video Game Crashes of 1977 and 1983 (or their historical equivalents) must have hit hard in this world. [If you follow me to these worlds, you will also gain access to the core of these abilities, even if it does take years of training to reach the same level. And there are plenty of worlds along the way with conceptual powers and incredible technology that match or even exceed those levels.]
"…tempting." He admitted. "But where do we fit into this grand scheme?"
[I'm guaranteed a team of six Pokemon who will be effectively immortal: your Pokeballs normally reside in a pocket universe that only I can interact with, if you faint or take any damage above fainting you're sent back into your 'ball, and you fully heal in eight hours and don't age beyond your prime.] Pretty sure that was all of the basics of that particular 'Companion subcategory'. [Otherwise, you can be Followers who stay at a static level of power and are mostly along for emotional and business support, or you can be one of several Companions who directly benefit from and can purchase various 'Perks' and 'Items' to keep roughly on par with me. I can always use someone I trust at my back and frankly, I'd rather take Legendary Pokemon not for your strength, but for your maturity. There's no realistic way you won't eventually be introduced into human society, and I'd rather have more experienced allies than freshly-hatched babes I'd be solely responsible for raising in a potentially-dangerous environment.]
"Glad to hear it. I'm still not convinced, and you say there's no way to convince me, but if you can bring me along with you, sure." He decided, with finality.
[…huh. That simple?] I questioned his easy acceptance.
"I like martial arts, I like learning martial arts, and places like Dragon Ball are so heavily focused on them, there has to be something unique for me to learn." He shrugged, surprisingly laidback about the whole thing. "Whether or not you're telling the truth doesn't matter. If you aren't, nothing changes. If you are, then sure, I don't have any responsibilities in Alola. And if this can make me that powerful, and comes in the form of martial arts training, then I might as well. Not sure if Lugia could take that deal, though."
He flicked his eyes to her and I did the same, seeing barely-present panic starting to well up, and I cut it off ASAP. [Responsibilities are only important while you're on this world. Once I leave it, time will be effectively frozen from everyone else's perspectives until I succeed, fail or give up, at which point either the multiverse will be available to me or we'll all be returned home the moment we left to do whatever we please, retaining all the powers we developed along the way.]
"So you'd come back to this world with us, or…?" He questioned.
[I don't know the specifics. I'm hoping that successfully surviving this first world will be enough for whoever's in charge to give me a sign they exist, and then I can ask them several questions I have on my mind. Either way, it's not going to come up for a few more years, unless Unova's Team Plasma turn out to be vastly more competent and/or dangerous than the rest of the Teams I've fought so far, which I… really can't see happening.] I admitted. [And assuming things go the way I expect them too, I'll be running into them in about eight month's time. You interested in kicking some bad guy ass?]
"Sure, I'm always up for a decent fight." He straightened his back and puffed out his chest slightly, giving off a tiny bit of arrogance, but honestly, how can I tell this early?
[Then we can sort out a meet-up time and place once we're done here. But first,] I turned to the conspicuously-quiet sea monster next to us. [Lugia, you've been silent this whole time. Do you have any opinions to share, or…?]
[…I'm, not sure what to say.] She finally decided on. [I have duties to carry out… I need to contact my subordinate Trio and make sure they've been… maintaining Orre's seasons appropriately…] She sighed. […and to apologize for failing to protect them.]
Ah, fuck. Maybe putting it into perspective would help? [Did you actually have a chance against the force that caught you?]
[Maybe not.] She shrank into herself. [There were, s-so many of them… I could have fled, or used my surroundings to hide, or whittled away at them from a distance. But I didn't. I panicked, and my inexperience…] She trailed off for a moment, hints of trauma flickering behind her eyes. […cost s-so many other Pokemon. I don't… I don't want to be alone, for a while.] She confessed, sounding both vulnerable and much younger than I'd expected given Marshadow's apparent maturity. [I don't even know if I can face the Birds, after-]
[Hey.] I reached out and gave her the telekinetic equivalent of a hug around her chest. [You didn't go along with this willingly. You fought, and you lost, but you tried. If you want to visit whatever counts as a workplace for you, sort out your duties for a few months, and rest with me and Evan until you feel better, you can and I won't ask anything of you. After what you've been through, you clearly need some form of emotional support while you finish recovering, and it's not a weakness or some mark against you for wanting it.]
[…are you, trying to hug me with your telekinesis?] She snapped out of her funk and right into amusement. [After ten minutes ago?]
[You need the hug much more than I do.] I countered, something else occurring to me. [Out of curiousity, how old are you two?]
"I was born in seventeen-ninety-five, the same year that Kamehameha the First, the 'guardian' of the local god of war at the time, founded his dynasty." That… puts it into perspective, I guess. But how does maturity translate when you're a Ghost-type, or a Legendary? "Don't know the exact date, never bothered to find out."
[Same here, I was born in nineteen-twelve when Orre was declared a standalone American state. Kyogre noticed that the planet's currents were slowly being altered by humanity's rising shipping, and-] She abruptly halted her 'preening', and continued in a less-confident tone. […and my parents weren't very interested in having a child just to monitor and realign America's ocean currents every so often, but when Kyogre tells you to do something, you don't really get to say no.]
…fuck, I'm going to have to broach the topic of parental neglect later, aren't I? [You sound, like, fifteen and… I don't know, like a thirty-year old enlightened monk? Do you age or mature way differently from Humans and other Pokemon?]
I finally got Evan to look up, an affronted expression at my apparent invasion of their privacy, but they didn't seem to mind. "By the standards of other Pokemon, I feel about a tenth of my equivalent age. I can't tell you how it is for non-Ghost Legendaries, though."
[More like a fifth for me. Only barely out of my teens, just enough to know how much my job sucks.] Definitely a hint of pouting, there. [I only need to check up on the currents every few months and make sure there's no 'significant deviation', though what Kyogre meant exactly kinda flew over my head. Other than that, I just kinda… do my own thing, I guess. Gotta admit, I wouldn't mind spending the next few months in-between work with some company that isn't constantly in awe of me for a change.]
[To be fair,] Evan finally spoke up. [I was expecting both of you to be… I don't know, regal? Commanding? But you're both pretty chill, honestly. Not that it's a bad thing to be approachable, but it's pretty weird to see two living forces of nature acting like regular Pokemon, while causally talking about controlling the world's ocean currents.]
[…I mean… that's normal for me.] Lugia weakly protested. [I've never met another Legendary who has a 'royal temperament'… except maybe Ho-Oh, but it's hard to tell if he's showing off or trying to hit on me with really old-fashioned and out-of-touch pickup lines.]
That got an outright snort out of Evan, despite her earlier reticence-slash-reverence. [Yeah, you'll do fine with us.]
[Then welcome to the family, for however long it lasts.] I smiled and gave one of her 'fingers' a squeeze with her mind, getting a slightly-fragile smile in return.
[H-happy to be here.] She mumbled back, tail twitching in what I think was just pins-and-needles, because if her tail actually wagged when she got happy, that would be the most unexpectedly adorable trait for a five-meter tall aquatic/flying kaiju-cum-lesser god of the sea currents to have.
I let the comfortable silence stretch on for a few more seconds, amusing myself in seeing Evan hemming and hawing over whether or not she should copy me, and Marshadow looking a mix of lost and embarrassed just from being party to this. And speaking of which, [Alright, I had to get up really damn early this morning, so I'd like to go home and work the excess jetlag out of my system, but there are two things I need to sort out first. For starters, Marshadow,] I turned to him. [is there any easy way for me to get in contact with you? A place you like to hang out, or a phone I can send a text to or leave a voice mail on? I know you're not likely to have access to a phone, but if I don't know how to get in touch with you, you're probably going to miss out on the Unova shitshow in eight months' time…]
"Mount Tensei in Kanto's Raizen Mountain Range. It's where I train most often, the Pokemon are strong and there are enough of them to keep away nosy trainers." He seemed to realise, the moment he said that out loud, the response he was going to invite.
[Good to hear. And speaking of 'nosy',] I gave him a Look. [You will announce yourself in the future, understand?]
"It-was-one-time!" He squeaked out loud, then froze and buried his face in his hands. Cute, and an important reminder of his relative age, but not enough to-
Wait, 'one' time? [I'm not exactly going to thrash you for it, Marshadow, but I highly doubt it was 'one' time. Unless you're referring to that smarmy comment I made in front of both Celebi's, about you watching me masturbate?] I can't lie, I was smirking in amusement at his mortification, despite my own discomfort. Evan, on the other hand, didn't seem to know what to make of whatever was going on, and Lugia was burning bright-red. Careful Pokemon, you're all letting your complete lack of 'experience' show.
"You had a schedule." He almost-but-not-quite whined. "You never deviated from it before, how was I supposed to know?"
[You weren't 'supposed to know', because I didn't know you were there.] I paused for a moment to let my point sink in. [That is why we have doors to be knocked on. And while I do have a 'schedule' for practicing my Tai Chi, it's not inflexible and I'm a young adult male with no girlfriend. Another one of those wonderful experiences you'll have yourself when you inevitably get inserted into a setting as a human with the same hormones as any other, and for that reason alone I'll leave this topic where it is, but if you want to watch me in the future, either let me know you're here or leave a note if I'm not. It's not hard to avoid those kinds of mistakes, and I won't be amused if it happens again.]
"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up." He grumbled without heat as he 'flickered' to his feet, sand falling off him due to his sudden intangibility. "Anything else?"
[I was considering giving you your Master Ball to safeguard as a sign of trust, but given what happened only a scant few weeks ago, I'd rather not tempt fate. And frankly, taking up your Held Item slot for something that gives no advantage and could be stolen with Moves like Thief and Trick is just begging for something to go wrong. Besides which, I feel like keeping your 'ball on my person is more secure out of sheer anonymity, since no-one else can capture you now. Unless you really want to keep it yourself?] I offered.
"No." He immediately answered. "Risky, and unnecessary. You're a hero, I trust you not to abuse your power over me."
A hero…? I, huh. I guess I am, aren't I. [Then I'll come look for you around the first week of next year. Take care of yourself, Marshadow.]
"You too." And in a flash of barely-trackable movement, he was gone. Goddamn, even my enhanced reflexes can't keep up with him?
Ah well, that's not important right now. I wanna go to bed already, and judging from Evan's progressive droopiness, the lack of sunlight's starting to hit her pretty hard too. [Lugia, it seems we're both exhausted and need to return home to rest. Can you put off your duties until tomorrow?]
[Eh, the currents hadn't changed much the last time I saw them, I doubt they're in desperate need of maintenance.] She shrugged, seemingly-unconcerned.
[Good to hear.] I started reaching for my belt, then paused. [Before I return you, are you actually okay with being in a Pokeball?]
The look on her face suggested her answer was going to be complicated. [I don't… really want to, but… If it's to make Teleporting easier like earlier, that's alright, but… I don't want to be constrained by anything for more than a few minutes, for a good long while. But at the same time, I don't want to sleep alone. You know?]
[Yeah, I get that.] The traces of wariness in her posture that she hadn't fully shrugged off yet, and likely wouldn't for a long time and for good reason, told me everything I needed to know. But asking her upfront seemed the more honest path. [I don't know how much of the last three weeks you remember, but we're living out of a somewhat-cramped Secret Base in a heavily-secluded natural alcove, so we don't have to worry much about anyone intruding on us, but you're not going to fit inside unless you're in your 'ball. If you're interested, I can look at setting up some form of outdoor shelter for you in a few days, but for the time being, you'll have to make do. Are you okay with that?]
[Yeah, that's fine. I don't think I need a shelter outside, the 'ball should be fine for sleeping.] She still seemed a little dubious, but at least she was mentally-flexible enough to try it.
[Well, we'll see how you do.] I promptly returned her and turned my attention back to our mode of transportation. [Evan, you ready?]
[Yeah. Let's go back to bed.] She gave herself a quick shake awake and focused as I laid my hand on her flank, and we left the beach for home.
AN: Technically a day late for this chapter, but even if it is a little late and this chapter was kicking my ass as much as my messed-up sleep schedule from last week, I'd like it to be at least close to my previous one-chapter-per-week schedule, and this is 'close enough' by my fanfiction standards. Seriously, establishing Lugia as cheerfully-nervous rather than nervously-cheerful (given the whole PTSD thing), and Marshadow as 'laconic and focused, but relatively inexperienced', was a pain in the ass. And now I'm looking at going into online schooling and finishing my Cert IV in Accountancy, which I'm being told seven years later I failed a single unit on, which is now replaced by three other Units for a Cert IV in Accountancy and Bookkeeping, so if that pops up, you'll have to live with sporadic or simply-nonexistent updates for a few two-month periods. But we'll see what happens.
