Welcome to Gaia! ::

The pair roam over the room, removing tarps from the machines. Darts coughs, waving his hand in front of his face to ward off the dust, and looks at Ogerpon enviously with her green mask blocking the majority of the particles. On the other hand, while the gambler was able to sweep tarps off the equipment easily with his lanky frame, the embattled diminutive warrior had to really get her legs churning to be able to drag the cloth off of some of them. But between both sets of efforts, pretty soon they were able to get a better vision of what was going on here. Well, one of them was anyway.

"It's a Battle Sim arena." Darts explained to his ward as he approached one of the revealed consoles, sitting down with another burst of dust on the old-fashioned office chair as he puts his golden digits to work on the keyboard, clacking a couple of commands into it. The Under had been famous for these types of things in a seedy gambling fashion, and it wasn't his first time being exposed to them. This one seemed to be built in a similar fashion to the ones in Realgam back in the day, maybe even to mirror it.

Four of the pieces of equipment they had unearthed formed a circular outline in the center of the room, each of them lighting up one after another as the Snagem provided power to them with the antique console. Once the fourth one was lit more lights would travel down to circle the perimeter of the area they indicated, a half-hearted whir coming from the dust-choked fans in whatever equipment was running after a long hiatus.

"Piyo pon poyo?" How about in plain Pokespeak, Just Darts? She grunts, not intrigued in the slightest by flashing lights or machinery. A year in the modern world had somewhat flipped Ogerpon's sensibility on technology. She still had the ability to be shocked and wow'ed by the new age marvels she had never encountered that the pair ran across but there was a falsity to the new-age technoworld that rubbed the Pokemon the wrong way. Seeing people trade experiences in the real world for one behind a screen had jaded her, and as a result she ended up just as suspicious of strange technology as she was of strangers.

Frowning beneath his crest, Darts searches around himself for a couple of seconds before discovering what he was looking for. Another antique, by modern standards, stack of hard carrying cases underneath the console containing another treasure trove of antiques inside them. Compact discs, or Battle CDs if you're feeling gnarly, as the kids say.

He flicks one open with his thumb, carefully nabbing just the edges of the never-utilized-anymore dead media container, pressing a button on the desk to allow a little tray to emerge with a whir to receive its prize and then close with a self-satisfied hum.

There's a couple of seconds of pregnant silence before two figures wink into existence inside the circular arena, startling Ogerpon as she leaps back, growling lightly behind The Teal Mask while taking an aggresive stance until she realizes they're just projections of light.

The virtual Salamence roars its defiance to the room at large, but wherever the speakers were they must be busted or disconnected as nothing came out. Nonplussed, its opponent Metagross shifted back and forth on its quadruped metal legs, awaiting some kind of a command from an invisible trainer.

"These," Darts explains finally, scooting the chair back to get up and come take a closer look alongside his apprentice. "Are Battle CDs. They used to be the technological wonder of the time to give Pokemon Trainers realistic battle experience. Not that they worked much...." He admits with a little shrug.

Ogerpon flips the mask up to scrutinize the projection, her golden eyes reflecting the light of the holograms as she gets close, standing at the feet of the false Salamence. "Ponyo." She declares finally, after a minute, with a snort. These are garbage.

I tried desperately to ignore the sounds of voices that threatened to rob me of my slumber that morning. My body was still sore and I was trying to sleep the pain away. Though a different sound woke me up entirely, one I didn't recognize at first. I sat up to find Keiko leaning in a wall and hugging her legs. She didn't look happy, but she didn't feel very sad, either. Her emotional state was a bit of a mystery to me, actually. With Rala in HQ, I could be somewhat assured that the girls were being taken care of more than I could trust SWIPE to do, but without her by my side, my ability to sense emotions was dulled significantly. I could only assume that the reason I still had the ability at all was because I had Brunor with me. I could only guess that because he and Rala share the same evolutionary line, he was able to prop the ability up somehow? It didn't make perfect sense, but I highly doubted that the Betyl Stone could prop up that ability on its own, sans Rala's influence. I shook that train of thought out of my head, deciding that I should focus on Keiko for now.

"Are you alri-"

That sound interrupted me again, and now that I was awake, I could place it. It was Keiko's stomach grumbling. I'd just woken up, but in a couple of hours I'd undoubtedly start feeling hungry, myself. But there couldn't be any doubt that Keiko was seriously suffering for want of food, considering how much energy she burned getting here at full speed With an understanding smile, I grabbed one of her hands, trying to comfort her in some way. "Sub's no doubt sent someone out for provisions, so food is coming," I said. A fact she no doubt already knew, but there wasn't much I could do for her at the moment but try to comfort her.

"He did. Dunno when they'll be back, but I can wait," she responded. Opening up with her words let me get a better sense of her emotional state - an advantage I wouldn't need normally. There was a sadness there, but it was weirdly mixed with frustration. I had a weird feeling of deja-vu from it, but with this sense of mine dulled, I couldn't quite place it. That's when I got a closer look at her face and noticed the tell-tale signs that she'd been crying. Picking myself up, I moved in to hug her, but she held me back with a hand "I'm fine. Or I will be when the food gets here, anyway. Don't worry about me." As I leaned back, realization dawned on me like a ton of bricks.

Keiko only ever had one reason for refusing my embrace.

I stood up and adjusted my outfit. "I'll go see if there's some way I can help around the base. Get well soon, okay?" I said, wishing there was more I could do for her. As I walked away, I caught a glimpse of her hding her face behind her knees from the corner of my eye. I focused on that for a little too long and almost ran into Absinthe as a result.

"WATCH WHERE THE ~!~ YOU'RE GOING, ~!~HOLE!" she screamed at me, her emotional state full of rage. I carefully walked around her and she scoffed before continuing doing push-ups. I could only assume she was suffering the same affliction that Keiko was. I'd heard that it tends to occur in groups Why Absinthe was pushing herself during that was beyond me, but I tried not to think about it as I headed out to the main area. It was then that I noticed a listing of small tasks that needed to be done around the base. I looked through them before making up my mind and heading to the roof.

"I agree, we've all been through a lot today," Sol added. "Plus it'll give time for things to calm down, lest you two decide to try and weave your way through whatever's left of the chaos Aqua and Magma provided... talk about strange bedfelllows. Even if sleep's impossible, some rest is better than none at all."

Cera would give a reluctant nod, unable to deny that it'd be safer to wait a bit first. "First thing like Sub said, then. As for the money... well, I'm not up for another pandemic and having to board a rocket just to pay for food and amenities, so we'll probably have to just steal it..."

"Regardless, that'll be your and Monique's thing to tackle. We do what we need to get through this and survive, that goes for all of you. For now, we rest and make the most of we we have."

"If anything... maybe I can have a look at the garden tomorrow? If it's overgrown, it should be hard to see and maybe I can do something about the Taillow," Amaranth added, finding herself a cot to sit on. The cushioning barely qualified as such and added no real comfort to speak of. Alongside everyone else in here, sleep would surely be difficult.

Sol and Cera would see to a couple of other cots in the meantime, the Mew looking towards the Sharpedo that was keeping silent since the earlier scene.

"You should rest too. There should be a chance to let you out of here if that's what you want." She'd curl up without much more thought. She wouldn't be surprised if she didn't wake up, but if that happened, it was what it was. The thought of literally chewing Cera up certainly crossed his mind again, but even with her letting her guard down as she chose to, the very one to drive him away from his trainer was also the best chance he had of reuniting with him... did she mean her words earlier?

---


The next morning would come earlier than any of them would like, hunger and exhaustion still rearing their heads. Cera would be quick to leave into the lobby and go towards the PC, wanting to assess one thing with a reluctant sigh. "...mew, mewmew, mew mew mewmewmew, mew..." Pichu. Smoliv. Lapras. The Houndoom she'd captured and caught. "...even Hugo and Kiri..." She looked down as she simply moved away from the PC, distraught about the end result of the debacle in Boyleland. Sharpedo would look at her, seemingly demanding answers. "Other friends. They were taken. Come on, we need to go."

Without another word, she'd make sure her transformation was seen, wanting to leave out any surprises. She'd make a point to keep out any hybrid traits, even straying from anything that might clue SWIPE in about her true identity. Unfortunately, her hair would still be pink, done up in a ponytail and taking the appearance of a young adult as she smoothed out a skirt. "Sorry, Monique, I'm ready now," she spoke up, even her voice taking a slightly deeper tone. "Don't think they'll notice anything with a form like this..."

"That works well," Cera remarked with a nod, focusing for a moment to make a backpack materialize as another part of the transformation. It'd look the part if nothing else. "Anyways... going through the front's probably not a good idea. We don't know how many from SWIPE's going to patrol the area, and it'll compromise everyone going out that way. If we follow the path that we used to get in here, I think we'll be able to get back into the route in a way they won't notice? At least if they do, there won't be anything for most of them to suspect."

Reno would visibly take a few deep breathes as Crystal's words washed over him, his mind doing the last few crazed connections it needed to for fully broadening out what exactly everything meant. Giving a few moments after Crystal finished, he finally spoke up. "Alright. Thanks to your insightful conversation, we can draw a few....unique conclusions. First off, Rome is not part of me. He came with the Ziton and ended up in my head after Snowpoint. Which....leads to the next one: the Ziton has managed some way to go back in time. I was already vaguely thinking that was true but I desperately wanted to be wrong. Most likely, its doing this through Ultra Space after how it got away in Galar. And..." Giving himself a breath, he would jump towards his next point. No need to hide what exactly he had drawn from the available information. "And if it can do that and sees me as a problem, that would explain the absolute absence of any psychic Renos across universes and the general lack on top of that. But....it was trying to get the Dark One or....reform it or whatever. Why....wouldn't it just jump back and do that?"

Shaking his head, the psychic would be quick to return to looking to Crystal. "That last part isn't as important. All that matters is it is somewhat restrained, even with Mister Mushroom somehow able to make it do things. I will say that you have crushed one small thing I had been imagining. Thought I had gotten the Stellar Lock knowledge by omniscience when I was with Sol and Aile." Looking towards the admittedly dingy ceiling, he would shake his head before adding, "Guess I have one corkboard to burn when we get back to HQ. Hard to start a religion for being the all-knowing one when you aren't all-knowing."

Three days after their arrival at Trainer Hill...

The Snagems have been at their 'new' HQ for the last three days, doing their best to clean it up and make it at least somewhat hospitable, with varying degrees of success. While the building has become better, cleaner, the same couldn't be said for two of the Snagems. Freth was still unconscious and according to Doc Stoja still under the healing influence of her potion which according to the doctor she could come to as early as tomorrow or as late as four days from now. Lykas was no better, still largely sleeping as his body fought off the Fire energy, occasionally coming to just long enough to get proper sips of water and not just relying on the buckets of water they put his appendages in so that it might absorb it. As for the other Snagems they were largely okay, if not a few still bruised from their clash with SWIPE.

"In a shocking turn of events the Hoenn government has withdrawn from the Indigo Alliance Accord." The newscaster declared from the old CRT set they managed to find, the broadcast received thanks to the even more ancient set of rabbit ears they found. "The Secretary of State has accused the alliance's joint policing division, the Superpowered Warfare Interception Police and Extradition, or SWIPE for short, of taking too extreme measures in their policing activities and have endangered the life and property of innocent citizens as seen in Mauville City days ago. Yesterday Hoenn diplomats joined their former compatriots of the alliance in a meeting, demanding the replacement of SWIPE's Chief Enforcer, Looker Handsome, blaming him for how they handled the arrest of the notorious Team Snagem escapees. The majority of the alliance stood behind Looker and SWIPE's actions with some instead blaming Hoenn for giving Team Snagem sanctuary for so many years, emboldening the mercenary group. It was after much back and forth that Hoenn diplomats stormed out with the Secret of State officially declaring the region's withdrawal from the accords. The reaction from other regions has been-" The newscaster would go on for a while longer, detailing how the other regions were displeased with Hoenn's decision and promising that Team Snagem would be brought to justice with or without the regional government's help.

Sub was seated on the ground across from the old boob tube dropped up on a milk crate watching the new cast, the group having made a little living room like area in the lobby. After a long while of watching the man would stand up, letting out a heavy sigh once it was over and a commercial for Skitty Mix played. Taking the remote they found with the TV Sub would turn it off, not wanting to see anymore. "Well, I guess that explains one thing, that being why they haven't dropped WHITE on our heads yet." Sub said to himself, then looking around to see who all was here.

"What a mess," I huffed. Keiko and I were watching alongside sub, the former having recovered from the problems she was having recently. "What did we even do to warrant all this?" she asked, as she was still out of the loop. I didn't have a clue, though Blizz seemed pretty convinced they were framing us. I never got interviewed, so I had no reason not to believe him, though at this point I just wanted the nonsense to stop so I could see my biological daughters again. Leaving them in HQ seemed like the right move at the time, but as time passed it felt more and more like a mistake. The same went for Rala at this rate, but at least someone was watching them that they knew they could trust...

My eyes narrowed at Sub as his tone of voice changed, a slight head tilt as he phrased his question the way he did. “Where…are you going with this? Sub, I swear to God, we already are in a precarious situation, I would prefer not to make it any worse and give what few allies we have any second thoughts about helping us.” I said to him.