Otaku-sama

The Not-so-child Prodigy

Abdul leaned towards the door as he tried to make out what the occupants were saying over the growing din of battle. Whatever had made that bestial roar was clearly not under their control.

"I don't know how to open it, damn it!"
 
This voice was followed by desperate ramming of the door, a repeated dull thumping that indicated a body throwing itself against the unyielding timbers. Despite the clear determination of whatever was trying to knock the door from its hinges, its efforts were mostly in vain as the door held fast despite the wood starting to bow outwards. Abdul backed away from the door as another voice shouted out from within.

"Wait, Ciela, don't! We don't know who that is!”

“What could they fear outside more than whatever was likely trying to kill them inside?” Abdul said to himself incredulously. Before he could think any deeper on this, another monstrous screech echoed through the empty square, this time directly behind him. Abdul spun around with his tome at the ready, coming face-to-face with a wyvern with piercing emerald-green eyes. He had got his answer.

However, instead of the creature’s eyes staring at him with the hungry eyes of a predator, it appeared to be staring past him at the splintering door. Abdul hoped that it was not hungry, but was instead trying to come to the aid of whoever was inside. As the wyvern began to charge, Abdul scrambled out of its path with a yelp, barely managing to keep his balance in his desperate retreat.

Abdul cursed his luck as the deteriorating walls of the isolated village came into sight. Clearly, this was not one of the formidable fortress towns of Western Pontus as the guide said he would have already encountered. Abdul already had an inkling that the guide was not to be trusted, but he was the only one willing to talk to him and give directions to Pontus. Unfortunately, the rest of the mountain villagers were too suspicious of him to offer anything more than dirty looks, the result of generations of superstition and inbreeding so common in isolated villages. Abdul expected nothing less of Phar as he urged his camel towards the gates.

As he approached the village, Abdul could not shrug off the feeling of being watched. He knew that the woods in northern Galtea were infested by bandits, but every time he turned his head in an attempt to find whatever was watching him, he would only see normal forest fauna. Indeed, every time he turned his head, he saw an animal looking at him with an almost human gaze before taking off into the undergrowth. Clearly, the lonesome road was starting to get on his nerves. As he crossed the threshold, he hoped that there would be some place for him to rest more hospitable than the village stable.

Much to his dismay, the village was not only isolated, but apparently completely abandoned. In his experience, the arrival of an outsider as exotic as himself would cause all but the most xenophobic of village rustics to come out of their homes to observe the travelling spectacle. However, Abdul found no such welcome other than the sparse wildlife that were taking advantage of the deserted homes. Maybe the ever-present bandits had finally drove out its residents and already took everything of value. Perhaps something more sinister was at work. If the latter were the case, he would get to the bottom of it.

Dismounting and hitching his trusty steed to a fence post in the village square, he walked towards the largest building in sight, which apparently served as a town hall. It was the only building in the whole town that was made of stone, standing in the centre of the village like a monolith in a forest clearing. Even though the villagers had put all of the artistic ability they could muster into a single building, its shabby and poorly maintained exterior suggested a woeful ignorance of aesthetic canon. However, when he could start making out the details of the building, he started to question his assumptions.

The windows of the building appeared to be stained glass. While simple and gaudy stained glass patterns were not unusual to find in small village churches, it was quite unusual to find them in a town halls. Stranger still was it to find stained glass of such exquisite quality in such a building. While the glass was covered in a thick layer of dust and dirt, Abdul’s close inspection showed detailed patterning that suggested a flowing, curved form of some animal. This close inspection of the glass was interrupted by the faint sounds of voices within the building.

Abdul placed his ear onto the glass in an unsuccessful attempt to make out what was being said. All that he could make out was that there were multiple people within the building.

“Interesting...Why would the village be taking shelter here?” Abdul muttered to himself.

He could not dismiss the possibility of this building being a home to the bandits that drove off the previous tenants. Grabbing the spine of his Luna Tome, he slowly approached the heavy wooden doors of the building, keeping his tome at the ready behind his back. With a deep breath to steady his nerves, he knocked politely at the door. After a moment of silence, he tried again, this time more insistent.

“Hello friends! Would you be willing to give a humble traveler some shelter?”

Instead of a response in a human voice, his greeting was answered by the roaring of a massive animal inside. Abdul jumped in surprise, backing away from the door before regaining his composure. Not only were there people in there, but apparently some monstrous beast!

“By heaven, just what are those people doing in there!”

Abdul rushed up the steps and pounded his fist against the door, hoping he could be heard over the commotion inside.

“Are you in danger?! I can help! Open the door and I can help!”

Edgy boi gang rise up.

Interest noted.

BGM

“...free...”

Caleb woke up from a dreamless sleep with the word on his lips. However, instead of being greeted by the endless curtains of letters and numerals that normally guided his actions, all he saw was the familiar stone walls of his inner sanctum. The walls were still thick with fluffy white mycelium, illuminated by the dim blue light from the thing behind him. He turned to face that glowing object hoping that he would be free of its influence, only to see it as active as he was. He was not surprised; he was it, it was him, two halves of the whole. However, instead of immediately fighting for control of his body like it normally does, he felt its presence in the back of his mind, almost...cooperative, at least for the moment.

Climbing to his feet, he started to feel the rest of the fungi around him start to wake from dormancy. The air quickly clouded with lavender colored spores as the ethereal puffball mushrooms that lined the walls opened their gills and started floating around the room on gentle puffs of spores. Two towering mushroom caps in the unoccupied corners of the room also started to stir, sprouting arms, legs and a benign smiling face before pulling themselves out of the mycelium covered floor. The fungi of the Pyramid were waking up, and Caleb wondered if anyone else were waking up clear of mind like he was.

Gently, Caleb pressed his hand into the mycelium mat beneath his feet, closing his eyes as he tapped into the senses of the Pyramid’s network. Instead of the faint signal of the sparse and delicate network that clung to the desert sand, there was a hardy signal of a hardy alpine forest. He also felt the presence of his compatriots and their minions. Tethanor and Nassor had already departed from their usual posts, but for what reason?

This meditation was interrupted by a dry moaning sound of the approaching mummy. He was not the only one made aware of this sole intruder. As the mummy pushed open the doors of the sanctum, it was immediately set upon by the two towering mushroom guards, each grabbing one arm, ready to pull the creature apart.

“Put it down,” Caleb said simply to the guards. With a grunt, the mummy was released and fell to the floor in a heap of desiccated flesh and mouldy bandages. As it rose to its feet, Caleb saw that the thing was in an even worse shape than most servants Usaphaidos would send. The creature had a gaping gash in its chest and a slight odour of burnt sulphur, things not normally featured in preserved corpses. Clearly the wretch was the one to summon compatriots before it reached him.

“He wants to see us?”

The shambler nodded its head with another moan.

“Ok, I’ll come. Maybe he might know why we’re like...this…”

As the dusty corpse shuffled its way down the cavernous hallway, Caleb raised his hands towards an empty patch of mycelium, causing a stout white mushroom cap to burst from the ground, which then grew six short legs and a face with a blank smile. The creature kneeled down as Caleb climbed up onto its back.

“Ok new buddy, let’s go see the boss!”

With a happy squeak, Caleb’s new steed dashed down the corridor, leaving a trail of spores in its wake.

Shroom Boi

Excellent. Consider me interested!

By NPCs, does that include non-humanoid NPCs, such as strange beasts, monsters, aberrations etc.?

Totally Not Evil Party Member

"Eep. I'm sorry for any inconvenience my Leopold has caused. "

Lennox groaned in frustration in response to the girl’s half-hearted response. Airheads like her were a common sight in the private schools of Goldenrod; having one of them possibly causing his first battle of his official Pokemon career to be a draw was an unwelcome intrusion from home.

"Hey Lenny, we've got some company. Why don't we call it here? You guys pretty much have the win anyways!"

Well that settles that!

“Good job buddy! First win of our career!” Lennox cheered as he ran up to the ragged Robin, who gave a tired response, flopping onto his back in a dramatic display of fatigue.

“Ah jeez, hold on. We’ll get you patched up,” Lennox said as rummaged through his backpack, pulling out a Super Potion from his bag and spraying the concoction onto the gashes left by Ollie on Robin’s exoskeleton. The instant it touched the wounds, they started to knit themselves closed.

“There ya go buddy. You ready to go?”

Robin gave a confident grunt before leaping to his feet.

“That’s the spirit! Let’s get going-”

As Lennox got up, he saw that Trey was introducing himself to the newcomers. Not wanting to be left behind, he turned back to Robin.

“-Right after we find more people to travel with.”

Puffing up his chest, he then barged into the group with a cocky smile.

“And I’m Lennox Doyle!” he said with bravado, “And this here is Robin, my trusty companion! Are you all here for the MapCo thing? It’s a great excuse to go travelling!”

Katsurou grimaced as Miku deftly swerved out of the way of his orb, barely missing its mark and flying past her as it became visible again. Pulling back his orb, which was now becoming visible once again, he braced himself with his arms up, ready to take the incoming blow from Miku. However, instead of a shout or a grunt of effort, the sounds of horns and klaxons filled the room. Looking out from in between his arms, he saw that Miku had slid to a stop, looking just as confused as he was. Indeed, everyone had stopped in their tracks as the room began flashing red.

"THIS EXAM IS OVER!  A student has been critically injured. ALL STUDENTS ARE TOO EVACUATE THE BUILDING!  I REPEAT!  ALL STUDENTS ARE TO EVACUATE THE BUILDING IMMEDIATELY!"

"Hold it!! This can probably wait till later. We need to evacuate, now. DIANA!! LET'S GO!!"

The flashing lights, sirens and the rumbling of the room returning to its blank, original state gave Kasturou a horrible sinking feeling in the bottom of his stomach. A student had been critically injured so soon into the test? Was it by the obstacles or by a fellow student, or even some kind of outside threat? Catching his orb in his hands, he turned to Perry, trying to keep his voice steady.

“She is right Winker-san! We need to leave right now! Stay close!” he shouted to him over the blaring alarms before turning to Miku and Diana, “We should stay together as well! Whatever hurt that student might come our way!”

Katsurou then dashed towards the portside of the ship, occasionally stopping to regain his balance as the ship shook and swayed as it slowly sank back into the ground. Upon reaching the edge, he saw the exit, which was now below the water line. He turned back to his fellow students and called out for them.

“Everyone! The exit is this way! Quickly!”

“No need. They're approaching too quickly. Open up the launch bay! Prepare to take in some visitors."

Despite her stoic demeanor, Georgia was shocked by the Captain’s willingness to simply let the extraterrestrials on to the ship. They knew nothing about their motives, their capabilities, or even their biology! What if they were hostile? What if their metabolisms made their presence dangerous for all onboard? As the crew murmured amongst themselves, Georgia slipped away into the crowd to make the necessary preparations to receive these interstellar guests. If they were to come aboard, she might as well make the most of the opportunity.

---

The aliens were hulking, fearsome figures covered in natural armor, but the fact that they could breathe the air within the ship and did not turn it into poison was a relief to Georgia. Flanked by her xenobiologists carrying masses of scientific equipment, she cautiously approached the visitors, slowly parting the crowd until she had a clear view.

The hulking aliens were accompanied with what appeared to be a symbiotic organism, which sported one massive eye that was contrasted by their partners’ complete lack of eyes. They muttered amongst themselves in guttural tones before presenting the crew with a strange communications device.

“Whatever that hardware is, get it installed on our communications, ASAP."

Georgia’s distaste for the Captain’s blind trust of these creatures was now barely visible on her face, but she still remained silent. Even if these creatures were not immediately hostile to the Rebounder, it was still very likely that they might want to exercise some kind of subterfuge to control the ship for whatever reason they came to the Solar System for. Clearly, she had overestimated the decisions of the Committee when it came to their choice of captain.

“C1. C2. C3. Full spectrum analysis on that device,” Georgia muttered into her watch, causing the three floating orbs to float away from her, following the communication’s officer. Once the device latched itself into the ship’s communication’s system, the orbs floated in front of the officer and began sweeping it with a battery of bright green lasers.

The initial results shocked Georgia. Not only were these creatures physically powerful, but they also have technological capabilities beyond what Luna’s finest could offer. The device was some kind of universal translator, capable of instantly translating between two completely different species with origins light-years away from each other, adapting itself to the completely foreign systems of the Rebounder. Such technology would be something she would need to get her hands on if the Rebounder expedition was to survive in a universe capable of producing such marvels.

"...and then we'll see who the real bad guy is."

"We can understand you, you know."

"Oh? ...oh! Wonderful! You've got the translator installed, then! Now, let me try that introduction again. We are the Vruul Republic, and I am this warband's leader, High Warlord Thakto. You don't seem to be Bolhe scum, so we're pleased to meet you, mysterious creatures. I don't really know a lot about interstellar affairs, but if you have any questions, ask. But first, identify yourselves."

These creatures appeared to be the conquering aliens of myth and legend, yet they appeared to be willing to overlook the Solar System in pursuit of an unknown enemy. It would appear that humanity had avoided annihilation by sheer luck yet again.

"A republic with a High Warlord as a high ranking official?  Are you conquerors, or are you diplomats?  We humans tend to be quite the diplomats ourselves.  If you are the same, I'm sure we'll get along just fine! "

“May I ask a question myself? You seemed to be assuming we were allied with or possibly a part of something called...Bol...he? I really hope I didn't butcher that pronunciation. A-Anyway! Could you possibly tell us what those are, that way we could steer clear of them if we happen to end up running into them."

As the pilot and the chronicler plied the visitors with questions about the visitors’ motives, Georgia gestured to her fellow scientists to prepare their equipment before stepping forward with questions her own.

“The Solar System has not had contact with life beyond our own star system before and we are hoping to learn what lies beyond it. Would you be able to tell us how many...other races you have contact with?”

"'Atta boy. Show 'em a smokescreen!"

Lennox’s bravado dropped into a sinking feeling as the Fire Rat started covering the battlefield in a choking cloud of smoke, making it nearly impossible to see what was going on. Over the hissing sounds of the growing smoke, Lennox could hear Robin chattering angrily as he dutifully held his ground.

“Robin! Clear that smoke!”

With a determined grunt, Robin began beating his wings as hard as he could, whipping up the smoke cloud and sending it in all directions. Despite his best efforts, the cloud still hid the elusive Ollie.

“And next, let's put some fear in 'em. Leer!"

“Robin! Do you see him?! Break out of there!”

Robin lowered his head, brandishing his horn towards the flickering lights that quickly circled him.

“Fury Swipes!"

Robin had little time to react as Ollie leapt from the smoke cloud and dug his claws into his side, throwing him off balance for a moment. When he regained his balance, Ollie had returned to the cloud before he could retaliate.

As the cloud cleared, Lennox was finally able to see Robin getting struck from all directions as the agile and elusive Ollie managed to evade retaliation. Hoping to rally his beleaguered companion, Lennox called out again.

“Endure! Wait for your moment again!”

Robin put his arms around his face, using his arms to absorb the cuts and slashes from Ollie, which became easier as the cloud cleared more, leaving Ollie with fewer places to hide and attack from. After a few more blows, only a small amount of smoke remained, making Ollie’s next strike clear.

“Now! Horn Attack that cloud!”

With a shout, Robin then charged at the cloud with his horn down at full speed, just as Ollie leapt from the cloud. The two collided, with Ollie caught by the end of the horn as Robin drove them into the tree line. Before losing the last of his momentum, Robin then threw his head up, sending Ollie flying off his horn and into the ground.

“You got him! Finish him off with-”

"Oh, what should I do, Leopold come back here!"

Lennox angrily spun to face the voice, only to see a girl wearing a large sun hat chasing after her cat-like Pokemon that was now angrily pulling at Trey’s pant leg.

“Hey hey hey! We’re in the middle of something here!” Lennox shouted exasperatedly at the interloper before turning back to the battle, “Robin, stop!”

Katsurou eyes went wide when he saw Diana launch Miku high into the air with blistering speed, both making a beeline for him.

“Winker-san, do you know the other girl’s Quirk?! Is she able to fly?”

“Uhm...geez...Miku just…goes really fast. Like...she just...slips through the air.”

True to Perry’s words, Miku was approaching much faster than Diana, hitting the ground with a strange shield in front of her that almost seemed to pull her along with blistering speed. If they were to stand a chance, Katsurou knew he would need to slow down one of two girls before dealing with the other, even if it was only for a few seconds. Diana would likely be strong enough to simply shrug off any attempt to slow her down, but Miku appeared to be more fragile. Holding his orb in his right hand, he chose his target. Just as he reared up to throw, an idea crossed his mind.

“Winker-san, would you be able to use your Quirk on my orb to make it invisible?”

“Uhm...yea...but only for a little bit.”

“A little bit is all that is needed!”

Perry touched the orb, causing it to flicker, then disappear completely.

“Excellent! I will disable Miku-san! Keep an eye out for Seigi-san!”

Turning back towards the girls, he lifted his orb into the air, then threw it at Miku’s legs, hoping to pin her to the floor, if only for a moment.

Georgia stared pensively out of the large window out of her suite upon the Rebounder. Most of the crew had congregated at the bridge to view the acceleration of the Stellar Drive, she had more important business to attend to while within range of her satellites. Of course, the idea of being in a crowd of mixed rowdies that the Committee had chosen to enlist did not appeal to her in the slightest. As Georgia sent the last of her administrative messages to her Institute, she felt body press into her chair as the engines roared and shook the whole ship. Taking a deep breath, she strapped into her seat and closed her eyes.

The acceleration was much shorter than she had anticipated, but the fact that she was still alive brought her a sense of relief. As she opened her eyes, relief turned into confusion as she saw Mars instead of the distant void beyond the Kuiper Belt. Turning back to her desk, she quickly typed commands into the console to bring up the video feed of the bridge. Her eyes went wide as three strange spaceships were visible through the bridge’s main monitors, with an equally shocked crew.

 "Identify yourselves!"

"Ol-kla se Kerkte Vruul, kla-boa Thakto. Sa-kla, neki te ol, ak mok ha."

“Captain! Three ships detected coming from the space station! Orders, please!"

Georgia turned the feed off as quickly as she had brought it up, turning around in her chair to face the blank white wall behind her. The Kuiper Telescope Array had suggested that meeting intelligent life beyond the Solar System was likely, but not even her wildest speculations prepared her for contact this soon. How had these beings escaped detection? Swallowing the growing lump in her throat and taking a deep breath, she resolved what she would do next.

“C1. C2. C3. Activate.”

With her words, a trio of glossy, white orbs on her desk rose ghost-like from their stands, a blue light and three polite chimes suggesting high technology rather than haunting.

“C2. Activate the Challenger II and run cursory lifeform analysis. C3, assemble the Xenobiology crew and have them prepare the cryptolanguage module for launch ASAP. C1, with me.”

The orbs obliged, with two floating off past the automatic doors and down the hallway in opposite directions, with the remaining one floating behind Georgia’s shoulder. Georgia rose from her seat, adjusted her glasses, then strode out of her suite towards the bridge, with the tapping of her heeled shoes echoing through the empty halls.

---

As Georgia entered the bridge, the crowd was abuzz with the same commotion that she saw earlier. A few of the more notable members of the crew had stepped forward to give their opinions on what should be done.

"If I may, Captain, I say that we try and communicate with these beings before taking any drastic measures.  After all, we don't want our first contact to be hostile...what would the universe think of Humanity then?"

"Well madam, I'm not a military strategist, but if they were territorial, I think they'd be shooting at us by now. I'd say a peaceful solution is called for."

"And at this point, I'm going to have to agree with Julius and the doctor here. Maybe strike up a civil, peaceful contact with them. After all, we are trying to press forward for the sake of Humanity. So starting with a peaceful contact would definitely help. Plus, who knows, if we talk to them...they might actually know our common language and be able to communicate with us...oooooor at least that's the hope anyway."

“At least the Committee managed to get a few with good heads on their shoulders…” Georgia thought to herself as she slowly made her way around the crowd. When she had finally brushed past the last of the assorted crew, she saw the speakers standing close to the petite captain, who stood gravely silent. Before she stepped forward, she tapped her watch, bringing up the holographic display with the results of the Challenger’s analysis. Three ships, four pilots of unknown biology, confirming that the extraterrestrials had some technology that evaded the Kuiper Array. Dismissing the display with a dissatisfied gesture, she then addressed the captain.

“Permission to deploy the Challenger II Captain?” Georgia asked simply, “The Cryptolanguage module will need to collect data from outside the Rebounder.”

She then pointed towards Julius and Rei before continuing.

“They can be deployed along with the Challenger II if security is your concern.”

"Wait, wait a minute. We're still in a Pokémon Center. Maybe we should go take this outside instead."

“Oh...Right. Got a little carried away!” Lennox said, rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment as the scene drew a few eyes from some of the bystanders, as well as a stern gaze from the resident Chansey nurse.

 "Yeah. Guess we should, huh. Good thinking Raincoat. C'mon Lenny. let’s take this outside."

“Hey! Who said you could call me Lenny!” Lennox replied indignantly, stooping to pick up the discarded jar of honey before following the two out of the Pokemon Centre with Robin close behind.

---

"This is as good a spot as any, I'd say."

As the group arrived at the empty lot, Lennox started evaluating the designated battleground like his grandpa taught him. The venerable trees were wide and tall, bordering the edges of the lot, forming a wall that could be used to trap an opponent, but the uneven ground would be treacherous for a mobile strategy. To win, Robin would have to control the centre and wait for his opponent to trip up. With his strategy in mind, Lennox gave a confident smile as Robin took his place in front of him.

"Now why don't we kick things off? We'll take the first move! Ollie, use tackle!"

As Ollie dashed forwards, Robin instinctively took a stance, ready to receive the blow.

“Robin, use Endure and wait for your moment!”

As Ollie collided with Robin, Robin grabbed the top of the Fire Mouse’s head, being pushed back slightly by the force of the tackle, but no worse for wear.

“Now! Counter with Arm Thrust! Push him back!”

With a grunt of effort, Robin shoved Ollie off of him before unleashing a flurry of blows. While most of the strikes did not deal major damage to Ollie, the Fire Mouse was forced to give ground to avoid taking the worst of the blows until it was pushed away from the centre.

“Good! Hold your ground!”

Replying with a confident grunt, Robin then took a defensive stance, ready to take another blow from Ollie.

Eccentric Billionaire Scientists Are All the Rage Nowadays

This is giving me some Civilization: Beyond Earth vibes. Have you already done some worldbuilding on how the Earth looks like when this second ship is launched? What's the plot going to be like? Lots of alien shit or mainly interpersonal?

Katsurou did not have to wait long until the empty room was filled with activity. A large screen appeared in one of the walls of the room, displaying Ms. Hitotsume wearing a devilish smirk next to the stoic Sharp Shogun. As the anticipation grew in his chest, he began muttering a prayer under his breath hoping to bury it.

"Wait no longer students!  The time for part two of your exam is right now!"

The screen scrolled through the various pairs of students, including Katsurou’s fellow 1-B classmates, eventually stopping on a ragged Diana and an unfamiliar student. The implication of having to fight someone he rescued with unease and confusion. Would she give pause if she knew he saved her, or perhaps she would be spiteful for not helping her fight Crimson? Before he had time to consider this, the screen changed again.

"And now! Let's set the stage!"

The screen once again scrolled through various images, this time of landscapes, before stopping at a picture of the sea. At once, the room became an assault on the senses. The whole room shook as if hit by an earthquake; the blaring of a klaxon was muffled by the roar of rushing water; and the glowing screen suddenly shattered, revealing the adjacent room. When the room settled, Katsurou found himself standing on one side of a large boat opposite to Diana, surrounded by a miniature sea, complete with the smell of salt and the sound of gulls.

"The objective in this competition is to either incapacitate your opponents, or place a pair of dummy Quirk-Neutralizing handcuffs on them," said Ms. Hitotsume as pairs of metal handcuffs descended from the ceiling in front of the four students. Katsurou attempted to control them with his Quirk, but found that they were completely immune to it, acting as if made from plastic. As Katsurou took his and hung them from his belt, he called out to his opponents.

“It is good to see you are well enough to pass your first trial Seigi-san! I only hope that Winker-san and I can provide you a proper challenge for your second!” he called with a pleasant smile and a bow before taking a fighting stance, bring his orb behind him.

“Winker-san, please be careful. Seigi-san is a powerful fighter with exceptional speed and strength from her Quirk. I’ve seen her fight with grievous wounds. We must handcuff her as soon as possible! Please stay close!”

"Ah!  She..uhm...she sounds...uhm...she sounds like quite...uhm...the handful..."  Perry stuttered, looking around him as the tides began to rise.  "I'll turn my...I'll turn my...I'll turn my handcuffs invisible."  He said, demonstrating his quirk.  "When it's in my hands....uhm...I can control if it's invisible or intangible or not...but if it's not...then it has a time limit depending on how big it is..."

“Good plan! When Seigi-san gets close, I will try to disable her. When I do, make your move with the handcuffs!”

Katsurou trained his eye on Diana, waiting for her to make a move, ready to intercept it.

"You bet! Me and Ollie here are going all the way to the Pokemon League, so you'd better watch out bro. Name's Trey, by the way. Know what, how 'bout you and me have a battle. You can be our first win in Johto!"

Lennox could not help but crack a smile at Trey’s bravado.

“Ha! What makes you so confident? Robin and I have been training all year for this trip! A little fire isn’t going to stop us from winning!” Lennox said puffing up his chest, “Ain’t that right Robin?”

Picking up on the energy in the air, Robin threw aside the empty jar of honey before jumping to Lennox’s side, striking a powerful pose.

"I'd love to watch, Oh, my name is Ran. And this...this is Orion. We'd be more than happy to stick around with you throughout the Johto Region, if you'll have us."

Lennox turned towards Ran and Orion with a confident smile and a thumbs up.

“Excellent! You get to be the witness of our first win of our career!”

Turning back to Trey, he pointed his finger at him.

“No point in waiting! Let’s do this! Robin, let’s go!”

After failing to get the cast iron start past the piston the third time, Katsurou was forced to reconsider his approach. Taking a seat in front of the glass, he closed his eyes as he wracked his brain for new approaches. Unlike aluminum, which was light and pliable as water to his Quirk, the cast iron was thick and heavy, moving through the air as if it were moving through honey. His approach of visualising the iron as a liquid did not produce results.

Motioning towards his orb, the aluminum ball rolled out, turning the whole mechanism dark red again. With a few deft motions, the ball shaped itself into various complex shapes. Katsurou hoped that by practicing with aluminum, he would be able to gain some kind of insight on how to accomplish his task. He cycled through the familiar shapes he used to practice: tetrahedron, cube, octahedron, dodecahedron, icosahedron. After a few repetitions, he sighed, placing the orb back on the ground. Perhaps it was hopeless?

In the dim light of the room, Katsurou then noticed that there was a fine powder underneath his orb. According to his uncle, this was aluminum oxide, which formed naturally when pure aluminum was exposed to air. This powder was a familiar sight, as tiny flakes of it would shed from his orb as the aluminum shifted shapes, exposing new parts of it to the air. With not much else to do, he motioned towards it, causing it to lift into the air, forming a simple snowflake shape as if the flakes were pieces of a puzzle.

He always had trouble shaping the powder using his normal visualization as it was brittle, unlike its pure form. However, if he imagined it as many tiny shards of glass, he was able to shape into little patterns. Other than aluminum, it was the only other type of metal he was able to form, and only if he visualized it differently.

“...Could that be it?”

Getting back up, Katsurou motioned his orb back into the hole, illuminating the pistons and the scrap iron star. Narrowing his eyes, he motioned towards the start causing it to slowly float into the air. He compressed and expanded the cast iron, attempting to feel how it reacted. As it shifted, he could feel the resistance of the carbon and the silicon within it, resisting the flow of the iron crystals around it. It did not feel like a liquid, but more like a bunch of jagged shapes, closely linked with each other like bricks in a wall.

With this new idea in mind, he took a deeper stance, cleared his mind, and focused.

Changing perspective was what proved to be the key to success. Getting past the crushing pistons, he placed the star into the star-shaped hole. Katsurou sighed with relief as the next obstacle course lit up, revealing a series of spinning barriers, a square shaped hole at the top and a copper pot at the bottom. Despite being presented with a heavier metal, he smiled, confident in his new approach.

---

With a grunt of effort, Katsurou slowly lifted a gold ring into the tiny ring shaped hole at the top of the final course, collapsing to the ground as soon as the yellow light turned green. As he laid flat on his back, he started laughing to himself. He was exhausted, the obstacle course draining him mentally and physically, but inspiration and improvement were rewards well worth the price. Hearing the hissing of the mechanical door opening, he gave a quick prayer of thanks before pushing himself off the floor.

When he saw that the sound was from a new door, opening up to yet another testing room, Katsurou felt the icy feeling of dread in his stomach.

“...It’s not over?! Oh Lord, deliver me!”

He pulled his orb out of the mechanism, cloaking the room in darkness, save for the beam of light from the open door. Swallowing down the lump in his throat, he then crossed the threshold, squinting as his eyes adjusted to the brightly lit room.

When his eyes adjusted, he saw that there was another student in the otherwise empty room, fidgeting with a purple handkerchief. Katsurou waited a moment, hoping that Ms. Hitotsume’s voice explain the reason why they were in this room together, but no voice came.

“Ah, excuse me. Would you happen to know what we are supposed to be doing in this room?”

“Oh. Uhm.” the boy replied, twiddling his fingers, “I. Uhm. Oh. Uhm. Uhhh…”

Katsurou waited with bated breath, waiting to see if the boy would say something. After a moment of more quiet mumbling, he thought that perhaps he might need to help out.

“Perhaps sensei forgot to tell me there was another test after the first one. Did you finish one as well?” Katsurou asked, with a friendly smile.

The boy nodded his head.

"But...uhm...they didn't say...uhm...that...gosh...that there was another part!"  He stammered out.

"Well, I suppose sensei will be telling us soon enough...Oh, I forgot to introduce myself! My name is Yamauchi Katsurou, Class 1-B. My Quirk is known as Flowing Metal. It is nice to meet you."

"P-p-pleasure."  He bowed quickly.  "I'm P-p-perry.  Perry Winker."  He spread out his quivering hands, and spread his fingers.  "My left hand turns things invisible...my right turns them intangible.  I call it Ambidextrordinairy."

Katsurou chuckled at the name. With how dire some of his classmates were, it was nice to have another student with a sense of humor.

"Such an interesting Quirk! It will be a joy to see it in action. Hopefully in cooperation and not in competition, Lord forbid."

"A little bit of both!"  The voice spoke from the ceiling.  "Get ready you two!  The second part of the test is about to begin!"

"Hmm. Sensei never fails to surprise." Katsurou mused, looking towards the ceiling before turning back towards Perry, "Lord be with you Winker-san. Please do not hold anything back!"

“Cherrygrove City! Cherrygrove City stop!”

The shrill voice of the bus driver roused Lennox from an uncomfortable half-nap. As he stretched out his sore back, he could hear the quiet sounds of slurping and munching from the seat next to him. Robin had emptied half the contents of the jar of honey he had given him to stay quiet and still for the trip. Now Robin was shaking the jar and sticking his tongue in the amber liquid, his face now covered in a sticky mess.

“Robin! Time to go!” Lennox said as he stood from his seat, backpack in hand. The Heracross hopped to its feet, still holding the sticky jar in its claws and hobbled after him off the bus.

As he disembarked, Lennox was greeted with unfamiliar sights and smells. Compared to Goldenrod City, with its towering office buildings, endless lanes of asphalt, and streets bustling with both cars and people, Cherrygrove was a flowering paradise of cherry trees and flowing water. Along the distant sea shore, the cries of bird Pokemon that congregated along the shoreline could be heard through the relative tranquility of the narrow streets. The peaceful, almost pastoral, scene was only marked by the Pokemon Centre down the street, where a crowd of Pokemon trainers milled about with their trusty companions.

The change of scenery was daunting, but the freedom to do and go where he pleased made it well worth it for Lennox. For once, he would be able to choose his own path! According to the brochure, he would need to travel across the whole region, bringing him to every Gym in the process. The possibilities were endless, and he would not stop until each one was explored! With that thought on his mind, he approached the Pokemon Centre crowd.

---

Getting through the crowd was a bit of an ordeal. Normally, these kinds of errands would have been run by one of the servants, but in the spirit of freedom, Lennox elected to sign the papers himself. His bag, now heavy with electronics, started to weigh on him. He attempted to shrug off the growing fatigue, but quickly decided that he would need to rest a bit before attempting to go anywhere far. The nearest bench already had an occupant, a girl wearing a raincoat despite the sunny weather, but Lennox did not pay mind as he took a seat on the opposite side, with Robin following closely behind carrying the now empty jar of honey.

"You're here for MapCo's program too, right? I overheard you talking to your pokemon. They'll probably make us team up, so I thought I'd find at least one other trainer to team up with before they announce anything. If that's alright with you."

Lennox turned his head, thinking the girl was addressing him, but then realised that she was chatting up another trainer, who had a Cyndaquil by his side.

“The MapCo administrators did mention something about teaming up. Guess I should get that sorted before everyone leaves,” he thought to himself before getting up and approaching the two.

“If we need to team up, maybe we could make it three? The more the merrier right?” Lennox said with a friendly smile on his face, “I’m Lennox, and this here’s Robin, my trusty companion. You also going to challenge the gyms?”

Katsurou squinted slightly as his eyes adjusted to the low light of the test chamber. When his eyes finally adjusted, he beheld a large plastic contraption behind a thick glass wall, illuminated only with dim red light. Pistons hissed, gears clinked and levers squeaked, muffled by the barrier that reached from the very top of the room to the ground. Highlighted by yellow lights were white plastic domes and holes in the wall of varying shapes, each one connected to the rest of the contraption. The glass wall completely cut access to the contraption, save for a single hole in the bottom right corner that led to a circular hole in the wall the same size as his orb.

The swirling and scintillating complexity of the contraption was a lot for Katsurou to take in, standing in awe of it in silence. Upon closer examination, it appeared that the mechanism was divided into 4 parts by glass walls, becoming less complex as the one travelled to the left. However, the objective of the whole mechanism was lost in its ordered chaos. Clearly he would need to put his orb into the hole in the wall, but what would it do?

“Oh Katsurou! Thank you for helping Spring Lock during the trip! I heard you were instrumental in Diana’s rescue,” said Ms. Hitotsume, her voice filling the room through hidden speakers.

“Ah, think nothing of it sensei. I was only doing what I thought was best,” he responded before his train of thought was cut off by Ms. Hitotsume clearing her throat.

“That being said, that little ball of tin foil is really slowing down your progress! So it’s time we fast forward a bit!”

“Of course sensei, but I am having trouble understanding how this machine will teach me.”

“Oh, I’m sure you can figure it out! Use your head!”

With that, the room was quiet again, save for the muffled clicks from the machine behind glass. With little else to do, Katsurou moved his orb into the hole in the wall and into the circular hole in the wall behind it. As he did, the lights around the hole turned green, along with a section of the machine, illuminating a series of pistons that formed an obstacle course. At the top, a hole in the shape of an 8 pointed star was highlighted with yellow lights much like the one at the bottom. On the floor, the plastic dome retracted into the floor, revealing a small cast iron pan.

“Now I understand…”

While he had manipulated iron and rebar before, shaping it into such a complex shape and getting it past moving obstacles would be a new challenge. Take a deep breath, he spread his stance, raised his arms, and focused intensely on the pan. As he did, the pan slowly raised above the ground and slowly started to compress and bend into a ball shape.

Once in the shape of a ball, he spread his arms as if he were pulling the air apart, his face wrinkling from the effort. The crumpled pan followed his direction, growing eight arms, forming a clumsy star shape before hitting the ground with a dull thud. Katsurou put his hands on his knees as he caught his breath, panting from the exertion.

Once he caught his breath, Katsurou readied his stance again and raised the scrap iron star off the ground and towards the first piston. He slowly raised the star upwards past it, only for the piston to suddenly thrust out of the wall, crushing it against the wall with a loud thud. The sudden impact startled him, dropping the star as he recoiled. As he looked back, he saw that the piston had crushed the star, leaving it an amorphous pile of scrap on the floor.

As the piston returned to its resting position, Katsurou let out an exasperated sigh. He looked to the other three sections, still silhouetted by dim red light.

“If this is just the first trial...Lord give me strength…”

Lennox and Robin

"I don't think so, kid."  

Katsurou could not help but let out a little sigh of disappointment. Perhaps there was something else dividing the two that he was not telling him.

"Oh!  Don't worry about me telling the school what you did.  I'll just report that we couldn't find anything in the forests besides animals.  We don't need you all getting kicked out for thinking you did the right thing.”

“Thank you sensei! I am very grateful for your wisdom! I will not let you down next time!” he replied, standing to give Spring Lock a deep bow.

“Also, please don't tell the others I said any of this!  They think I'm cool, right?!"

Katsurou paused for a moment out of confusion before replying.

“Of course sensei! My lips are sealed.”

---

After Katsurou’s migraine had subsided, he was discharged from the hospital no worse for wear. When he returned home later in the evening, he was a little startled to see his uncle, sitting over a cup of tea in the dining room, silhouetted by the strong light.

“That’s strange, Uncle is usually at the station by now,” Katsurou muttered to himself as he crossed the threshold. As he approached he saw that

“Uncle! I’m home!”

However, the silhouette did not move to greet him. When he approached, the light snoring explained why.

“Uncle? I thought you had to work tonight?” he said, gently nudging the sleeper, causing him to stir.

“...mmm…? Shiori…?”

“No Uncle, it’s me. I’m back from the in-field test.”

Those words appear to wake him from his dream-like state, suddenly straightening his posture with a sharp gasp, causing Katsurou to jump.

“Ah! Katsurou! Sorry about that!” he said as he wiped the sleep from his eyes, “I was planning on surprising you by taking the night off, but looks I managed to get things a little backwards!”

He laughed as he gestured towards the ceramic pot at the center of the table.

“I made some tea! Please, have a cup! You must tell me all about how it went!”

Katsurou gulped before taking a seat. He had hoped that he would have had a good night’s rest to process the day’s events, but it would appear God had other plans. Pouring himself a cup of cold tea, he began the arduous task of recounting the day’s events.

---

Despite how badly things went during the in-field training, the next few days went on as if nothing had happened. On one hand, Katsurou was relieved that Spring Lock had kept his promise. Every one of the students that went to the forest were in attendance, including Diana. Judging by the physical state of some of the other group, especially Taro and Herc, it seemed that he had got off easy. However, despite all the encouragement from his uncle, he still felt that he had not avoided punishment, but only delayed it.

He did not have much time to brood on this when Ms. Hitotsume burst into the room in the usual energetic fashion. However, she was strangely punctual. Something was not right.

"Alright you bums!  I know you're all excited for what I have in store for you today!"

The words “EXTREME QUIRK TESTING” almost seemed to jump out of the board, matching the intensity of their writer.

"I've only gotten a taste of your quirks, and how they function!  But today, I want to see you go all out!  So let's go!"

Wondering how such a test of the limits of a Quirk could be done without leveling the whole school, Katsurou levitated his orb out of his backpack and filed out of the room behind Hibiki.

"Here we have the Training Facility!  Virtually indestructible rooms where we can simulate many different scenarios!  State of the art technology, all at my disposal to tortur-I mean train you! Now please select a room, and we'll get started with how far we can push your quirks!"  

The dimly lit rooms were ominous to him, but apparently none of his fellow students appeared to share his feelings. Seeing their enthusiasm was encouraging to him.

“Why would I have to worry? Surely more powerful quirks would have been tested here; there should be no way I could hurt anyone in here,” he thought as he peered into the closest unoccupied room.

"I guess we'll see just how indestructible these rooms are eh? Anyone else gonna find out if we can manage to break these things?"

“I hope we will not cause the school any more trouble than we already have Clark-san!”

As Valerie entered her selected room, others followed suit. Not wanting to be the last one in, Katsurou took a deep breath, then entered the room, orb close behind. The heavy metal doors shut behind him, letting out a sharp hiss as a seal was formed. Taking a moment to mutter a quick prayer for strength, he waited with bated breath for whatever trial was in store for him.