[RP] Hoenn Enigma - Seeds of Secrets

[Neo Emolga]

Jonathan Bradshaw - Human
Abandoned City
Affected RPers: @Noblejanobii

So now I knew the truth about this place. Somehow, the Trick Master encountered Jirachi, a wish-granter, and this was the result. Now the Trick Master could play god with people in his basement, and no one outside of the Trick House even knew what was transpiring here.

"Here's an idea," I told Jirachi. "Just grant my wish of undoing this stupid place!"

<I can't. You would need to write on one of my wish tags, and in order for that to happen, I would need to meet with you personally. If I do that within the Trick House, the Trick Master will realize I am trying to work against him, and he has the power to stop it.>

Again, that psychotic prick was the source of everyone's problems.

Meanwhile, I looked up at the distortion wound or "glitch," whatever the hell that thing was. It was pretty brutal, and it seemed that unlike before, the damage was permanent. Something else seemed strange that brought me to another question.

"Isn't he just going to change everything up again like he did last time?" I asked Jirachi. "I tried to figure this nuthouse out the first time, and he just flipped out and made this place even worse."

<He had to resort to a backup version, an initially rejected draft variant of the Trick House "wonderland" he wanted to create. This isn't even complete and there are voids and gaps that have yet to be filled. Some were hastily filled with fragments of his anger, rage, and frustration when he destroyed the first variant to make the switch, but there were many parts that were left unfinished, and as a result, it isn't entirely stable. And unlike before, if something is destroyed here, the incompleteness of this rendition causes much greater damage, as... what happened when you caused that Goodra explosion. In his haste and anger to undo the mapping work you had done in the original variant, he didn't realize this. I knew what would happen after delving into his mind, but I kept it to myself. Especially after he essentially made me his prisoner.>

Well, that was still good to know. If we ripped this whole place apart, he would have nothing left to use and this place would be broken. From the sound of it, he could still create another, but it wasn't something that was done instantly. He could only erase it instantly, but not create a new variant immediately.

<You don't have much time. As we speak, he is working frantically to lay out the plans for a third rendition while trying to keep this one together. It is one of the main reasons you were able to return to being a human. The Trick Master was distracted and did not anticipate you being able to cause such significant damage in that Goodra state.>

"Still, is there anything you can do to help me?" I asked Jirachi. "My Pokémon are gone and I have no weapons at the moment."

<I can help guide you toward resources and devices that exist in this incomplete rendition that could be used against it. There is a risk, however...>

Great, couldn't wait to hear this one.

"And what's that?" I asked, preparing for all hell to break loose.

<The Trick Master's second wish was for me to be his forever, which was normally an impossible wish until he made it possible with his first one creating his own dreamworld with his own rules. The only reason why he hasn't intercepted this conversation is because he can't tap into the telepathy. He can barely hear you if he were even paying attention to you right now, and for all he knows, you're simply muttering to yourself and suffering from schizophrenia. It wouldn't be the first time someone has descended into madness in this place. But, thanks to the explosion you created and the disruption it caused, you've gone off his radar. For now, at least.>

"So what's going to happen to you?" I whispered back to Jirachi, trying to make it even less likely for the Trick Master to hear me.

<There is still the third and final wish I can make before... I ultimately lose my power forever. Because the Trick Master made it impossible for me to go to sleep again, it will be the last wish I can ever make. I... need someone to use up that last wish before he does. He is unstable, and he has made it clear he doesn't want to use the third wish unless the situation becomes truly dire. I have delved into his mind, he wants to save it for something truly overwhelming if he can. While doing more damage to the Trick House is the goal, I fear he still has one last resort even if we are successful.>

I sincerely hated the idea of him pulling off one last act of bullcrap to save his stupid dreamworld garbage.

"Here's the plan," I whispered as softly as I could for Jirachi, knowing I definitely didn't want that maggot to hear this, "when this place is falling apart, come to me and I'll use up that third wish. He won't have power to stop you from coming to me if this place is collapsing."

<It's perfect. But... I have a feeling that when this place collapses, it will be the end of me. That second wish... it was only possible because of his first wish, but when that wish becomes broken and the promise can no longer be kept, it will destroy me in the process.>

What the hell. Great, this just kept getting better and better. Still, regardless of the kind of cost this would result in, it still seemed like Jirachi wanted to go through with it. Meanwhile, I had no damn idea what I wanted to do with that third wish. The only stuff that came to mind all sounded like crap that could backfire in my face, but then again, I still had time to think about it.

As I got up to start on the campaign to rip this place apart even further, I couldn't help but feel like I wasn't alone...

[Noblejanobii]

Hemlock-Roserade Gijinka
Abandoned Town
Affected RP'ers: @Neo Emolga

Hemlock watched with interest as this man seemed to just be talking to himself. This was... odd, but in Hemlock's time as a statue, he has witnessed Fox doing the same thing. It seemed this man's time in the Trick House was starting to get to him. Hemlock was about to turn and walk away, deeming the man as a nonthreat, when Hemlock saw has distressed the man looked. Hemlock sighed and decided to observe a little more. When it seemed as if he had stopped talking, three foot tall Hemlock approached Jonathan.

"Good sir! You seem to be a in a bit of confusion! Say you, how is your mental state? Need I try and treat you with my aromatherapy or point you to a nearby landmark?"

[Neo Emolga]

Jonathan Bradshaw - Human
Abandoned City
Affected RPers: @Noblejanobii

I was going to need Jirachi's directions on this one. This place seemed pretty devoid of any Pokémon or weaponry, and I didn't exactly have much to use as a human without any kind of tools. In any case, I was sincerely hoping I wouldn't have to go through anything nearly as bad as that Goodra incident. I still hadn't gotten over what I had to go through for that.

"Good sir!" a voice suddenly called out behind me. "You seem to be a in a bit of confusion! Say you, how is your mental state? Need I try and treat you with my aromatherapy or point you to a nearby landmark?"

I quickly turned to see what looked like a half-human, half-Roserade standing three feet from the ground before me. Strange, I thought I was the only one around here, but apparently there were still a few others. In the meantime, he seemed totally unfazed that a whole bunch of buildings had completely collapsed not too far off from here. That seemed unusual.

I wasn't sure I could trust this guy, though. While Sonya helped me out, Tom betrayed me and that's what ended up causing the whole Trick House to undergo the more chaotic change. I wasn't about to pass judgment on this guy, but I wasn't exactly going to let my guard down either.

"I'm actually fine," I replied, wondering if he heard my muttering and was thinking I was nuts. "A little disoriented, but I think I'll find my way around. Say, what's your name anyway? How long have you been stuck down here?"

By now, I knew what to look for to tell if someone was lying. In the meantime, judging from the way this Roserade talked, it seemed like he had been like this for a while and was willing to accept his current fate permanently.

Meanwhile, I decided not to mention anything about Jirachi. I knew I could trust Sloane and Sonya with that if he happened to run into them again, but I wasn't about to spill the secrets to complete strangers I hadn't met before...

[Noblejanobii]

Hemlock- Roserade Gijinka
Abandoned Town
Affected RP'ers: @Neo Emolga

"I'm actually fine. A little disoriented, but I think I'll find my way around. Say, what's your name anyway? How long have you been stuck down here?"

Hemlock nodded. Good. The man was not under any mental strain that he was aware of. Hemlock could not tell of any signs of unnoticeable mental deterioration either, but if he and the man continued to speak or even chose to travel together, then he would be sure to keep the man under surveillance.

"My mistress called me Hemlock, and as it is the only name I have ever been given, it is the one I go by. I worry for her safety now though, as we were separated when the Trick House seemed to break apart. As for how long I have been here… I cannot truly say. The area that I was in prior to this was in a constant state of night, so it was nearly impossible for us to tell how much time had passed. On top of this, I was in the form of a statue, so my consciousness tended to come and go as it pleased due to my body no longer responding any of my thoughts. My mistress would probably be able to give you a better estimation than I, but if I had to make a guess, I would say a few months." Hemlock looked either way around the city and sighed. "Mistress, please be safe until I return to your side," he added in a whisper.

"And what about you, good sir? Have you a name? And how long as the horrors of the Trick House plagued you? Just by observing your actions now and comparing them to others I have witnessed, I would say not very long. But I am still adjusting to this new form, so the margin of error is quite large in this case."

[Neo Emolga]

Jonathan Bradshaw - Human
Abandoned City
Affected RPers: @Noblejanobii

The Roserade told me his name was Hemlock, and it sounded like he had been through his own unique flavor of hell while he had been here. He told me he had been stranded somewhere with no daylight, and before that, he had been stuck as some kind of statue. A lot of it reminded me of what Sonya had gone through. The sock puppet ordeal, in addition to the all the weird things she had been transformed into in the food court, were just a fraction of the freakouts this place was capable of unleashing.

He also mentioned something about his "Mistress." I wasn't sure who that was, but it could have been anyone for all I knew.

"And what about you, good sir?" Hemlock asked me. "Have you a name? And how long as the horrors of the Trick House plagued you? Just by observing your actions now and comparing them to others I have witnessed, I would say not very long. But I am still adjusting to this new form, so the margin of error is quite large in this case."

"Name's Jonathan," I told Hemlock, figuring even though the Trick Master knew that name, I was convinced he wasn't working through Hemlock here. "And I've been stuck here for about a month also. I've gotten caught in a few crappy transformations, but the last one... I managed to use it to cause some disruption, and it seems like the Trick House couldn't compensate for it, and I managed to become human again."

Now, the big question. Could I trust this guy enough with what Jirachi told me? Sure, me getting ambushed and blind-sided again was bad, but it wouldn't be nearly as bad if the Trick Master found out I had been contacted by Jirachi and figuring out Jirachi was trying to work against him through me.

I decided to hold off on it. I needed more time with Hemlock to see if he was really here to help. I figured we could start small and work our way up.

"Those building collapses over there," I told Hemlock, facing the direction where the Goodra explosion happened. "I'm responsible for that. It cut a wound into the Trick House's assimilated reality, but it's still not enough damage and we need to do more. If we're to bring this place down, we need to do as much damage as possible. It might just break us out of this assimilated reality."

If Hemlock was willing to help me with this, then I could definitely say he was not one of the Trick Master's cronies. He seemed like an okay guy right now, but so did Tom the Treecko, and that maggot was just one of the Trick Master's agents. And I had a feeling we hadn't seen the last of those freaks either.

Now, I just needed Jirachi to help guide me. I wasn't sure what Jirachi had in mind in terms of weapons and things that would help, but down here, I had to be ready for anything.

<I sense Hemlock is genuine. He's not one of Trick Master's agents. In the meantime, I can help you get something that should be helpful. There is a vending machine just a few paces to your right, about half a city block down. All you need to do is put in a four digit number and it will dispense something. Some things it creates are good, but most of them are bad. Unfortunately, as a human, you're vulnerable to attack and transformation, and if you plan on doing damage to this fabricated realm, you need to be ready to fight a lot of the Trick Master's servants. We have to force his hand.>

"I hear ya." I spoke softly in a whisper, trying to keep it between Jarichi and myself. "If it's better that I get transformed again, I need something that's fast, strong, and can take a beating. I don't know anything about setting bombs, and if possible, I want it to be something that can topple buildings. We need the disruption here to turn into a fatal wound."

<I think I might have just the thing...>

[Noblejanobii]

Hemlock-Roserade Gijinka
Abandoned Town
Affected RP'ers: @Neo Emolga

This man brought up an interesting proposal. He supposedly had been the one that blew up the factory. Hemlock cast a glance towards the factory. He had seen it blow up but decided it was nothing more than the Trick Master's madness. It seems this was not so.

"Intriguing," Hemlock mused. "This would be an ideal but laborious task. It would possibly free us, but the Trick Master would come after us with everything he had to impede our efforts. However, it would increase my chances of locating Mistress again." Hemlock shrugged and tapped his chin. After a minute he nodded. "All right, I shall aid in your efforts, if you will allow it."

[Neo Emolga]

Jonathan Bradshaw - Human > Giant Mega Ho-oh
Abandoned City
Affected RPers: @Vigilante Janobii


"Intriguing," Hemlock mused. "This would be an ideal but laborious task. It would possibly free us, but the Trick Master would come after us with everything he had to impede our efforts. However, it would increase my chances of locating Mistress again."

While he had a point, there was no other way out of this mess. Everything he threw at us would just have to be destroyed one way or another. From what Jirachi told me, he was not going to easily let this world go and fall apart.

"All right," Hemlock told me after shrugging and tapping his chin. "I shall aid in your efforts, if you will allow it."

"Anything you can do to destroy whatever he created has got to do something," I told him. "We might need to get creative. At least you have some Pokémon attacks you can use, but me... I've got to see what's around that I can use."

And there wasn't much. In the meantime, I went to go find that vending machine that Jirachi had mentioned earlier. After heading half a city block down, I managed to find it, only I wasn't sure what Jirachi had in mind.

<Put in 3184. Trust me, you'll like it and it's just what you asked for.>

I didn't hesitate. I simply pressed the buttons, and out came a small metal bottle with no marking or label as to what it did. I grabbed it and it felt like there was some liquid inside. I swore, if Jirachi wasn't guiding me here, it was easy to think this stuff could be laced with cyanide. Still, from the looks of it, it seemed like there was some kind of secret to whatever was in this bottle.

I screwed off the metal cap, and decided to smell the stuff. It didn't even smell like anything. Well, I decided there was only one way to find out if this was the real deal.

I drank down the whole thing, and it didn't even taste like anything in particular. It could have just been normal water for all I knew. I decided to take a few steps back away from the vending machine, knowing this was supposed to transform me into something.

<Get ready, this is going to feel... different for you.>

Different!?

It all happened so instantly. One moment, I was simply standing there as a human, and then just a few seconds later, I became giant. I had become some kind of massive, ultra-powerful bird with enormous rainbow wings, golden tail feathers, and felt like I was totally brimming with power and fury. Meanwhile, I must have been standing at least a hundred feet tall as some colossal titan of ferocious tenacity.

"WHAT IS... THIS!?" I exclaimed, almost in shock and awe.

<Good, it worked exactly as I had hoped. You've become the giant Mega Evolution of Ho-oh. It's the most amount of power I could give to you within close proximity. I just hope it will be enough against what the Trick Master is capable of unleashing. It's best you work as quickly as you can. Take down as much of the creations as possible. The Trick Master can't be allowed to create a third realm, or we might not get another chance at this.>

I quickly unleashed what could only be described as a Sacred Incineration attack... or at least that's what I decided to call it. I unleashed total, fiery mayhem from my mouth, spattering a large building with crushing, destructive fire. Most of the flames melted even the concrete and steel like it was nothing but butter being dumped into boiling lava. Within seconds, the building collapsed and dust was thrown into the air.

"This is just incredible," I spoke, almost enraptured by this amazing form.

<Don't celebrate just yet. He's already onto you. And... you're about to have company real soon...>

It then became very apparent there was a very good reason why Jirachi equipped me with something like this...

[Noblejanobii]

Dylan Thomas and Fox Oleander
Human and Mermaid
On their way to the abandoned city

It can only be described as strange when someone sees a giant bird burst from nothingness then take out a badly. Sadly, it surprised neither Fox nor Dylan. The two were still far away from the city, currently resting near a pond to let Dylan catch his breath. Despite being able to carry Sloane with ease, trying to carry a mermaid version of Fox was no simple task. Dylan was only human afterall. The two watched with mild amusement as the bird just completely torched a building.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say that was Jonathan," Dylan joked. Fox snorted, having been updated on Dylan's recent undergoings.

"Sounds like he's quite the blast," Fox retorted. She laughed as Dylan shivered and stuck out his tongue in disgust.

"Trust me, I won't be training any Goodras any time soon. If anything I might have to go to therapy after that one."

Hemlock-Roserade Gijinka
Abandoned City
Affected RPers: @Neo Emolga

Jonathan was most definitely insane. That much, Hemlock was sure of. But that wasn't necessarily something of malice. Hemlock had judged Jonathan a worthy companion for the time being and so he would stick to his promise of destruction. Hemlock ended up following Jonathan and watching in silence as, seemingly guided by an outside force, he punched in a specific number and downed a drink. Hemlock had to back up quite a bit as Jonathan was suddenly a version of Ho-oh Hemlock had never seen before. But its power was immense, of that much he was certain.

Hemlock quickly detected approached enemies and drew two leaf blades as his swords. A smirk adorned his face as Hemlock reviewed Jonathan's comments about his ability to use Pokemon moves. Oh how little he knew. Stomping his foot into the ground, Hemlock prepared to use petal dance combined with his leaf blades against whatever was coming.

[Neo Emolga]

Jonathan Bradshaw - Giant Mega Ho-oh
Abandoned City
Affected RPers: @Alphys

He was onto us. And he was not about to let his Trick Realm, or whatever he insisted this was, crumble apart.

"You're going to wish you hadn't done that."

The first of the Trick Masters monsters was some ungodly huge shadow mega evolution of what had to be an Aerodactyl. Following it had to be some kind of high-tech military gunships that looked like they belonged in an era that wasn't supposed to happen until fifty years later.

"ELIMINATE THE FUGITIVES."

That was it. They might as well have been robots. It then occurred to me that frying and blowing these guys up was of no consequence. They weren't actually real, alive, or had souls. They were simply the Trick Master's creation and were little more than illusions in physical form.

I decided to attack the gunship swarm first, even though I could tell they thought I was going to challenge the Aerodactyl first. I knew what they were planning on doing, but their swarm and surround tactic wasn't going to work.

I unleashed a massive Firestorm attack, spraying a good lot of them with flames and heat. Tongues of fire and embers were sprayed everywhere and whatever gunships weren't blown up in midair was bathed in flames and were sent flying out of control.

<He's stalling for time. You need to keep destroying as much of the Trick Realm as possible. Don't let these distract you too much.>

"I gotcha," I muttered.

The Aerodactyl charged while the surviving gunships tried to comprehend what just happened to their incinerated allies. I flew upward and unleashed a Devastation Fireball at the monster Aerodactyl, but he flew out of the way. That, however, didn't bode well for the city as the sphere of flames crashed into a skyscraper and sent massive, consuming flames in all directions. Several buildings collapsed and turned into dust while fires raged out of control.

The gunships tried a last ditch effort to surround me, but I protected myself with a Flame Barrier, which shielded me from the laser cannon fire. Meanwhile, anything that touched it was rapidly burnt and melted into goop.

The Aerodactyl slammed into me, sending both of us crashing into a nearby office building, which completely flattened it. Again, I noticed distortions that broke the realty of the Trick Realm. It was like a computer simulation breaking and collapsing, but it was still managing to survive the damage.

The crash was painful, but as the Aerodactyl tried to lunge for my throat. I sprung forward and used my powerful beak like hedge clippers, right on his neck. I bit down hard, hard enough to tear all the way through and decapitate the Aerodactyl, causing his head to lifelessly roll off and tumble on the pile of rubble that was created from the building collision.

I quickly got back up, knowing there was still a lot of stuff to destroy. But at least we were making progress.

In the air, I saw the Trick Master called into two more adversaries, a giant-sized Mega Charizard X and a similar-sized Mega Pidgeot. Meanwhile, there were more military forces. I knew he wouldn't run out of these goons, so I had to focus more on destroying the environment more than these cookie cutter clowns that would never stop coming.

[Noblejanobii]

Hemlock-Roserade Gijinka
Abandoned City
Affected Rpers: @Neo Emolga

Hemlock quickly saw there was not much he could do in the current situation. Everything was much bigger than him and he trusted that Jonathan could handle it. Right now, he would focus on part two of the mission, destroy anything and everything. Throwing his leaf blades into the air, Hemlock spun and released a large petal dance attack into the nearby buildings. It didn't do much but that wasn't Hemlock's main attack. He just had to wait out the petal dances. Releasing several more attacks, Hemlock felt the state of confusion set in, but did his best to suppress it. He couldn't let that distract him now.

Hemlock dashed off to another part of the city from Jonathan and formed several seed bombs into his hands. Biting the tips to light them, Hemlock began to toss multiple seed bombs into nearby buildings as well as sparing a few at the airships above. Hemlock had to stop and take cover after a bit, the fatigue getting to him. He cringed as his confusion began to warp his surroundings greatly, causing him disorientation. Humans always wondered why pokemon acted like they did in a confused state, but the reason they always hit themselves is because confusion was a hell you didn't want to enter.

Hemlock felt the ground shake as his seed bombs went off and his confusion state faded for the time being. Hemlock stood shakily and began to run again, littering the place with as many seed bombs as possible.