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It took longer than Z. expected to cross the stream, but, in fairness, the dog paddle (Zorua paddle?) wasn’t the most efficient stroke in the first place, better for minimizing noise and keeping one’s head above the water than speed. It turned out fortuitously, though, as both of those factors allowed Z. to at least listen to what was going on behind them, attaching names to voices even if they couldn’t see who said what, hearing everyone’s updates on the scant little information they knew, and actually getting a little amused at hearing Appletun -- or Chester or whatever he called himself -- waddling after Z. enraged that they might try and actually do something. “Wonderful,” Z. grunted as they paddled onwards, giving little heed to Chester’s actual orders. “Our hard-working mods are here to save the day.” When they reached the other side, they took a breather and added, “Well, ’mod’ singular, I guess. One of you is just an ex-mod. Really, you’re both ex-mods now that we’re here, now that I think about it. So that’s even more of a reason not to listen to you.” Z. pulled themselves back up out of the water, shook themselves dry (it really did feel like an uncannily natural thing to do), and turned back around. There were more of them gathered over by the now-opposite shore than they expected if they were being honest with themselves. It made sense, of course -- nobody had suggested anything better -- but still. And yet, suddenly, as more and more started to gather up again, hesitation started to ripple through the crowd. “Definitely shouldn’t go in the cave by yourself,” the Noibat had said. Cross the Cubone was unsure following the stream was even the right way to go. The worst, though, was Hector, who, even after saying Z. was in the right, still argued that they were wrong. “I suggest taking the path of least resistance,” he said. “I don’t want to risk swimming. “Any objections?” “Yeah,” Z. said. “A couple, actually. First of all, I’m already over here, so your ‘path of least resistance’ shit can go do exactly what shit does as far as I’m concerned. I already said I wasn’t turning around, too, so that’s double the reason. Second, I mean, I count at least two of you over there who it doesn’t matter which way you end up going -- not like a Rotom or a Noibat’s gonna have to swim. Honestly, it really just sounds like a you problem. “But that’s just set dressing. Accoutrements, if you will. My biggest complaint is that this water’s the only clue we’ve got, and it’s pointing this way. This ruin we’re trapped in… If the spring was made this way, I figure it was with a purpose, and it’ll flow out of here. If not, if it’s just a spring that welled up afterwards, I mean, the water’s gotta go somewhere. Even an idiot could figure that out. “So yeah, if this sends me and whoever decides to come with the wrong way, sucks, but then at least we’ll know. Knowledge is what we’re short on right now, and it’s not like we can get any more lost than we already are.” Z. turned back around and faced the unknown passage out of the cavernous ruin, but one final thought struck them and they looked back over their shoulder. “And the ‘don’t go alone’ thing, that’s for you to solve. You don’t want me by myself? Better learn how to swim.”

Hands Rated E for Everyone

Sensory overload was already a recurring phenomenon to Hector in his new body. Seven scattered introductions followed his own, most of the names sounding weirdly familiar to him, though the one that stood out the most was the Zorua who shouted at him to “shut up, shut up, shut up!” at the top of their lungs. The memories associated with the name they provided—Zeta, better known as Channel Zeta—were both very clear and very, very tiresome. I lost count of how many times they got brought up in the mod forum. I guess they stir the pot just as much in person. It was strange. His memories of Zeta’s forum shenanigans were perfectly clear, but when he tried to recall anything unrelated to the forum his brain was blanketed by a dense fog that blotted out his mind. "What do we do now? Is there a way out across that water?" "And how're we supposed to know? Doesn't seem like any of us know anything does it?" Some protective paternal instinct possessed Hector. The Brass puffed up to his full height and the five troopers around him snapped to attention; six sets of blue eyes narrowed to ice chips, all fixed on the Clobbopus. “Hey! Don’t talk to him like that,” he said, but the Clobbopus had already turned to leave. Hector sighed and turned his attention to the Cubone. “I’m sure he didn’t mean anything by that, Cross. None of us have any more answers than you do, sorry to say, but we’re gonna figure it out, alright? Just stick close to us.” Hector wished that he could offer him more reassurance. Cross sounded young, scared, and desperate for the guidance of an adult. It struck a chord in him for some reason. …Do I have kids? Younger cousins? Siblings? It was infuriating not knowing who he was. He shook his head softly to rattle the troubled thoughts away, but the fact that six heads shook instead of one was a grim reminder of where he was. “Come on, lets go catch up with the others. Maybe we can use me and the crew here to make a land bridge across the river, eh? Heheheh.” Walking turned out to be a struggle that Hector had not anticipated. When he started to move forward, all six of him stepped toward the same spot at once, causing them to hit each other head on and tumble to the ground. “Sorry. Just gimme one second to get the hang of this and we’ll head over Cross.” How hard can walking possibly be? I do it all the time… I think. It took him a few more tries and another headache, but Hector eventually figured out that the best manner to walk was in a single file line with the Brass standing in front of the troopers. “Sorry about that. To the river, take two, lets go.” Things went smoother that time. Marching felt natural and came easily to him; he wasn’t sure if he had experience marching as a human or if it was natural instinct as a Fanks. It was exactly what he did though, waddling over to the river where a small crowd was just starting to gather. Zeta was paddling across the river in spite of Chester’s valiant attempt to nag them back to the ledge, and the Clobbopus had found his way over as well. Hector took a deep breath before he spoke. Focus on the big guy. Just… focus on the big guy. “Hey! Hold off a minute Zeta. Hear me out before you run off on your own,” he said, the troopers fanning out behind him as he did. “Man… you’re as much of a hurricane as I remember. Good to know some stuff never changes,” his voice softened and the troopers at his back sagged and started to fade. The Brass seemed to grow more animated as the rest stilled; little blue dots grew to blazing blue orbs that scanned the room. “Is everyone awake now? Got some foggy memory? Good. We only know a couple of things right now. First is that we’re somehow all Pokémon. Second is that we were all members of NCM or YCM—at least from what I’ve heard so far. Third is kinda shaky, ‘cause I can only go off of my own knowledge, but… I can only remember stuff directly related to the forums.” Hector broke off, panting. His shiny helmet was beaded with sweat. “Sorry. Taking a lot longer than you would think to adjust to the new body. Anyways, like I said, I barely know anything not related to NCM. I know my name. I know I’m a human. Aside from all of that… nothing. Any of you guys doing any better?” He paused and waited for people to respond before continuing. “Right. So we’re all in about the same boat. For now we really should stick together, but sitting around won’t do us any good. Sorry Chester but Zeta has the right idea. We need to start trying to get moving and figure out where we are. I suggest we take the path of least resistance though… which doesn’t involve crossing the river. I can barely walk in this body as is.” He shuddered. All five troopers suddenly came to life and stood back at attention. “I don’t wanna risk swimming.” He forced himself to focus. “Anyways, any objections?”

1st +10 Duo/Harmonised unit is done. Now will I ever actually +10 Est? Probably not, I have other 4* units I have all the available merges for to do first.