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all of them, of course. i for one welcome our eviolite dunsparce overlords.

Hector had no way of knowing that he was an expert at juggling multiple tasks. He could not remember that he had captained a soccer team since he was a boy, or that he was a former drum major in his high school marching band. He couldn’t even recall that he had made his living as the head chef of an extremely busy California restaurant; that cooking six or seven dishes at once in the hundred-plus-degree heat of the kitchen was a normal Tuesday for him. All of that knowledge had been snatched from him by some mysterious unseen force that had decided to turn him into a Pokémon. The instinct and ability sharpened by those experiences, however, remained. A fragment of who he had been that stood in steadfast defiance of that unseen force. Hector was very grateful for that tiny fragment of self. The marching and the cadence he shouted to the others, the flame-hardened focus that allowed him to brute force his way through his inability to control his body, everything that he was relying on to forge ahead and keep going. All of it came from that little fragment that remained of his forgotten life. The only problem is… it doesn’t feel like me. Objectively Hector knew that made no sense at all. Those skills, that muscle-memory, all of it was his own. He had obviously trained all of it up at some point. And yet… it didn’t feel that way. “One… Two… Three!” Hector spoke only as the bulkier Falinks known as the Brass, but all six of the armored blobs pushed into the pillar. They were close to the edge of the stream now. “Spin it first,” he called. “We wanna push it straight across!” Hector realized as they rotated the pillar that he and the Clobbopus (he had given no name) were probably the majority of the muscle behind the movement. Does our typing give us some type of advantage? He was far from an authority on the stats of the video games. He knew Fighting-types typically had a high attack stat, but was it their typing or the stat itself that granted them their strength? That doesn’t really matter, he realized, pushing the question to the back of his mind. He had to focus on the task at hand. Said task took a turn for the worst at that moment. The front end of the pillar dipped into the stream before it could reach the other side. The current was too weak to drag it away, but there was still the threat of it completely falling in. Plus the Clobbopus had somehow gotten stuck to it and was dangling helplessly in the air. “Language,” Hector scolded. “Hang on! We’ll find a way to get you down!” That was easier said than done. Hector lunged into action but once again bumped into himself. Two of the troopers tumbled onto the ground from the impact. “Grr… Stupid…” Every moment that he struggled to do something as basic as walk added onto his frustration. Hector was a rather patient man but even he had his limit, and he was fast approaching it. Z. didn’t do a whole lot to alleviate the situation on their return either… though Hector had to give them credit, the puns were good. He caught himself when he realized he was chuckling. All six of the helmet-clad Pokémon shuddered softly, feathered plumes shaking with tiny bouts of laughter. “Not the time you two,” he scolded Z. and Noibat, but his voices lacked any weight. It took all his control to force himself to stop giggling. He supposed he ought to thank Z. for that when he got the chance. Just wish the laughs weren’t always at someone’s expense. Hector couldn’t stand a bully, and Z. had toed the line between mischievous and mean-spirited basically as long as he had known them. Hector had an easier time focusing than before. His head was clear of the small mountain of frustration that he had amassed since waking up. The Brass stepped forward while the troopers jolted to attention. “I’m gonna try to get up there. Watch out, ‘cause I don’t have a clue how this will work out!” he warned the others. Then Hector focused. He visualized what he wanted to do; he just wanted all six of him to jump at once. Six brows scrunched; six sets of eyes squeezed shut. Six pairs of very stout, stubby legs dug into the cobblestone, and then… six Falinks flew into the air with a gravity defying leap that shot them far above the pillar. “Whoa!” Hector’s shields swung wildly looking for purchase. Through sheer dumb luck, five of him landed on top of the pillar—the Brass and four troopers, though none of them were grouped and two of the troopers had landed helmet down, legs flailing in the air searching for ground that wasn’t there. The sixth and final trooper (which Hector had begun to refer to as Hector C) missed by the tiniest margin and landed in a heap beside Chester. His eyes had been replaced by swirling blue vortexes synonymous with being dizzy. Hector was completely disoriented. His head spun and it took everything he had in him just to keep the rest from falling off the pillar. "Urgh... everyone okay?"

Have mercy on me, Oh Lord, a sinner Wipe away my transgressions, and let me be reborn anew in your glory Help me turn away from sin and move towards your eternal light. Lord, perhaps I am weak of faith, but I need some reassurance that your light shines here as well. I am asking for your help tomorrow The tasks I am meant to perform are slowly becoming clear to me. Zadkiel and Sandalphon were quiet even after Melissa left Mauvache’s room and returned to the apartment. It was only that night in her dreams that they even spoke again. They did not bother to manifest. Instead, Melissa found herself alone on a beach, kneeling on the shore doodling in the sand with her finger, and the conversation was punctuated by the waves crashing in. “Did you get to hear anything in there?” Melissa asked. No, was the reply. We did not spend our time idly, however. We have been working on the task you assigned to us, and we found new questions to explore in future meetings -- if Mauvache permits such things. “I- okay,” Melissa stopped drawing and watched as a wave came in to take all her progress away. The answer shouldn’t have surprised her, but she had still been hoping for something, like… Well, “coherent” was the wrong word. Especially after coming back from Mauvache, the angels’ response was direct and comprehensible. It was so to the point, actually, that Melissa was pretty sure there was a deeper meaning they were hiding behind it all the same, though instead of trying to dig in, she instead followed the path of least resistance. “What else did you want to ask her?” We wanted to ask if there was something similar to ADMIN on Prana. The response physically knocked Melissa back and she just managed to catch herself, ending up in some sort of reclined position, propped up by her hands, arms rigid. “Do you want to be rid of me?” Far from it. There are several reasons why we do not, even putting aside your initial kindness to us. We desire to know because it simply interested us. If something like that existed, it would be interesting to study. We similarly wanted to know if there was a way to access the assembly code of your watch or any other sort of documentation. It is true that we dismissed it as primitive, but that does not mean it is not interesting. Melissa nodded, but the answer still wasn’t quite satisfying to her. The angels hadn’t provided any actual reasons, for example, save the one that they were already disregarding. Worse still, the source of her discomfort was coming into clear focus. With all these conversations they’d had over the past few days, it was weird that she hadn’t noticed it already, really, but maybe her mind had been elsewhere, or maybe her encounter with Mauvache, as she thought earlier, really put things into sharp focus. “Am I anthropomorphizing you too much?” she said. “Or… angelicizing? I don’t know if that’s a word. But is that a problem I’m having? That I keep thinking you’re something you’re not? It’s only been a few days and ‘the voices in my head’ and ‘my angels’ got interchangeable real quick.” We chose these forms based on forms already in your mind. “Sure, but I have expectations of what angels are like also,” Melissa said, “and while you’ve been my glorious protectors on more than one occasion, you don’t always act the part. I’m just saying I don’t think you have to change that. I’m wondering if that’s a me problem.” Another wave swept the shore, and while Melissa pulled her hands back in front of her and returned to a neutral posture, the voices said, We have endeavored to be courteous guests. “And I want to be a courteous host!” Melissa shot back. “I mean, I guess that was why I wanted you to talk more outside of these dreams you’ve been giving me. You’re just as lost as I am, after all. I don’t know if Mauvache is going to want to see us again anytime soon after I talked her ear off about the sacraments I can’t do, but I can try to find you the things you need. I can try to make you more comfortable.” She reached out with a finger and drew an arc in the sand. “I don’t know if you’ve probed my memories enough to find this, but this is an old shibboleth of my faith. If the person you’re meeting with sees this and does the same, it means they’re among friends. It was necessary when it was created -- it’s just symbolic now -- but I would like to put it to you as well.” Slowly, the image of Zadkiel materialized before her, and, with its leg, added a mirror of Melissa’s arc, completing the ichthys fish. As soon as it was completed, a wave came in and wiped it away, though Melissa could still see a faint outline where it had once been. “Tomorrow, if we have time, we can start looking for these things you want,” she said. “Or anything else.” Thank you, the voices said, and Melissa’s dream slowly faded away into the void of sleep.“Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth. Avoid godless chatter, because those who indulge in it will become more and more ungodly.” -2 Timothy 2:15-16 (NIV)Melissa went downstairs still in pyjamas and immediately wished she hadn’t. Fen had gotten their first (that wasn’t the worrisome part) and had let in whoever had been ringing the doorbell waking everyone up. From the look of the new occupant’s demeanor and classic notebook that was drier than the rest of her person, it was clear they were some sort of reporter and, if she got her way, was bound to try and interview every occupant of the building, even probably the Slakoth if she thought it could talk (that was). She nearly threw herself into the laundry room to stay out of sight, but just managed to avoid such theatrics, and walked in instead. You seemed to do okay with that photographer, is this any different? “I didn’t have to talk to the photographer, and they also got me about as far away as you could get from whatever was happening in that clothing store,” Melissa hissed. “And did you see how close she got to Fen? I don’t want that, especially this early in the morning.” Would you rather us speak to the reporter in your stead? A wave of realization hit Melissa as she realized that it wasn’t so different from the photographer at all. That was right, she wasn’t in this alone anymore. “Only if you’re willing,” she said. “And maybe she’ll leave after talking to Fen. So I’ll call on you if she approaches?” With that sorted, Melissa came back out of the laundry room and made her way over to the rec room to check on the Slakoth. Breakfast would be after that. Or maybe someone else was already making it. If that were true, Melissa just hoped it wouldn’t be spicy.

Her first reaction was simply, to nod along, which looked an awful lot like the Orb was simply floating there, suspended, but there was the added intricacy of the fact that the orange ball in the center was, in fact, moving up and down along to the Zorua’s words. “Mh-hm!” She agreed with them, jittering slightly with the noise as they absentmindedly floated alongside them as she opened her eyes back up, intent to listen to their philosophy as they looked for something else in the ruins. It wasn’t until they finished, having stated that it was time for them to get moving, that Es felt the need to open her mouth again. It was an interesting discussion to hold, given that it was proving to be true. The more she tried to force herself to focus on it, to learn how to move around, to float, the more she felt it was… Difficult. It wasn’t right. She couldn’t get herself to figure it out by simply trying to practice moving, focusing on it every inch of the way. No; while that got results, it wasn’t right. That was clear, given the fact that as soon as she began to focus on it she came to a sudden start. Meanwhile, when she let it slip from her mind, it was… Easy. She could follow, she could move, and she was fast. Erratic, spastic, maybe. But she moved, and it was right. She wasn’t sure how she knew, but she clearly saw it in her mind's-eye, so to speak. She moved the way she was supposed to, when she wasn’t paying attention. “Ex-----” She paused, jumping forwards with a sudden line of plasma, before seemingly being pulled backwards. “-Actly! Practice does nothing if rushed, y’know? Felt like a better idea t-t-t-to leave them to figure it out at their own pace so they figured it out right, y’know?” She explained, thinking out loud as she repeated the same question, her actual movement turning to a sudden jump forwards in a “Z” pattern, before returning to her position beside the Zorua, as she got caught on the voiceless alveolar stop. “...Though, I hope I figure out how to stop that gl-gl-gl-glitch sooner, rather than later.” She’d make a joke at her own expense, the plasma coming to a sudden stop, no longer halting, as she repeated the [gl] sounds. Oh, they had made it. The darkness hadn’t stretched on near as long as she expected it to; though, that solved any problems of having to potentially hold any further idle-conversation while she needed to figure out the source of her new vocal-tic. This left her standing… Or… Floating beside the Zorua, as they came to the new room. What looked to her like a little keep, a little castle with a moat - though she wasn’t sure where this description had come to her from - was nestled perfectly in the center of the room. The only really exciting part of the formation was the center of it, a door with a large-keyhole. The rest of it, while interesting in its own way, didn’t seem to be… Really useful for progress. “You said it.” Was the Rotom’s only response to their fast-friend’s frustration, as they both approached the door. The door was large, as was the keyhole, though the first thought that came to her mind wasn’t exactly the smartest solution, given that she had no idea if she could actually fit in the keyhole. The Zorua had come to a similar conclusion. “...Nnnope. I think I’m the… Uh…” She paused, plasma coming to a sudden halt as the two, translucent wings bent unnaturally to point inwards towards herself, before returning to their normal ‘flapping’ idle-state. “Orb. And it’s, unfortunately, quite tangible, if what I felt when I woke up is anything to go by. Sorry,” she’d give a slight ‘shrug’, as the Zorua began walking back; trailing behind them all the while, dutifully taking up the rear. They got back to the group faster than they had left, at least, she thought; that’s what it felt like, at least, to her. It was a reasonable amount of time, at least. That much she could tell easily, as they reached the river, across the pond from where everyone had woken up. It was only as she came to this conclusion though, that she also came to the conclusion that… Her grasp of time was… Off, wasn’t it? It had to be. After all, she had no idea how long they had been walking before they reached here the first time, nor this time. Shouldn’t she have had some frame of reference? Had it been minutes? Hours? Days? Yet nothing really came to mind. Why was that? That didn’t make a lick of sense. Yet it also felt natural, like… It’s what she was used to. Why did she feel like she was used to wasting her time? Like wasting her time was the only way she got through everything before? “Geez…How much freetime do you have, anyways? You seem almost omnipresent anytime your field is brought up here, Matter_Shaper…” Why did that thought, or rather question, keep coming to as she tried to figure out why she felt this way about time? It was only then, as the Zorua leapt to the pillar, and went about berating someone on the other side, that her own introspection was brought to a sudden end. “Ah! Right, we’re here.” She murmured as she once again took stock of her location; above the water, watching the scene unfold from the side of the pillar falling into the water. Though she knew she would be useless to actually moving the Pillar, she couldn’t help but feel like the others weren’t exactly doing their best job at helping, as she came to float to the side of the Pillar, finally able to see the full picture; including the person hanging off the side of the Pillar that was in the air. “...You know, when I said you needed t-t-t-t-to practice, strength-training isn’t exactly what I had in mind.” Es called out, plasma suddenly stopping-and-starting with each repeated consonant. “But hey, if you wait to let go until it’s got more momentum, it could fling you over!” She continued, not even bothering to go over the mental-math to see if the physics of that would even actually work out. “...Though, it’s not like that would matter, given that there’s nnnnowhere to go in that direction.” She explained with a bit of an exasperated sigh.

Raki shrugged with a smile "Wouldn't be here if you hadn't rescued us before. And yes." He placed a hand on Garinphasia's neck as she received Gunther and Timmy's praise. He supposed that the comment on not having eaten Timmy also counted as a compliment? Kind of? "Yes she is." Especially since she appeared to have been satisfied with her staring contest. And on the other group's side, the girl had ceased her challenge as well. 'And thank the Goddess they have.' In exchange, she soon began to stare at him. Oh well, can't win 'em all. "Naow… whaddaya says to us all gittin' back to the village? Ah gots sum things to tell Missus Mene. You too, Raki. Ahm thinkin' ye shoold come along this time. I donts want tae leave ye oot 'ere by yerself if'n one of those pair o'baddies comes back." "Oh, oh well let's take you - escort you! there. Especially if there are baddies out. Baddies are no good but we're really good at fighting baddies, mhm, mhm." "Yeah, I suppose..." The boy turned in the direction of the village. He had sneaked around to not be seen until a moment ago, but he had just revealed himself to a bunch more people, there wasn't much point in continuing to hide. "Wait a moment. You mentioned a pair of, er, baddies? What is that all about? Is there someone else out here we should be worried about?" "Uh, yeah." He turned towards Timmy, meaning to ask him... though, thinking about it, the whole reason he sneaked into the village was to find someone whom he could tell what happened. Phai wasn't Amas, but Timmy just told him he could trust her, and if these people were the ones that managed to break the transformation, maybe they could have found it useful. "We can explain while we return, I think? Phasia, follow us, but remain hidden unless I call for you, I don't want to cause panic." The wyvern showed no immediate reaction to his words, but as he turned towards the village, she didn't move to follow, limiting herself to keeping her gaze on his back. "So, me and Timmy were there at the quarry, back to being humans and all." He pointed roughly to the place near the quarry where they were hiding. "And we heard those two guys discussing, I think their names are Hanikap and... Platelets? Pilates? Er... how was the name?" "Anyway, It was mostly Hanikap telling stuff that happened in a secret passage or something to... to that other one. He answered, I think, but I couldn't for my life repeat you what he was saying, something about moving forward plans... probably." He turned towards the others "Anyway, Polases then went away, and I tried to sneak into the village to find someone to tell about it. I, ahem, didn't manage to, so I was coming back when I found you all there."