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glories of the unconquered sun
Solar Ari in Pokémon
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Aril is walking through a forest. No two trees are alike, and there's a glittering fog around him which, were he mortal, would probably have turned him into a fourteen-limbed monkey-lizard by now. As it is, his form is inviolable, but it still kind of itches.

He begins to notice that something is wrong when the trees all start to look the same. Then there aren't even any trees. He looks around, wondering if he somehow got turned around and wandered back into the lands of Creation - but no, that would be stupid. He's an Exalt. Something's fucking with him.

He's never really given a shit about survivalism, being a warrior of the Unconquered Sun, but he's still an Exalt; he will not be thwarted by something as simple as not knowing something. He looks and listens for signs of civilization within a few miles.

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He appears to be on a small island, with rock-studded ocean all around and a couple of whirlpools. There's a cave entrance a little ways up the rocky beach.

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Well then.

Lacking many other options (he can swim more or less forever, but what if he's facing West and he literally has to? sounds like a bad plan), he'll check out the cave.

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There are bats in the cave! They fly at his head, shrieking "zuzuzu!".

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He swats one, pulling the blow such that he'll injure it but not kill the poor dumb thing. (Why does it not have eyes? Why is it making such clearly audible phonemes? Who knows, who cares.)

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That one goes "Baaaaat!" and clears out; the rest seem undeterred.

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Irritating. (How does it know that it's a bat???)

A brilliant sunburst flares to life on his forehead and he seems to double in size, coruscating with golden flame. The bats are abruptly aware that they are facing something beyond their very comprehension, something that holds within itself the glory of the Unconquered Sun, and that it would behoove them to flee.

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Now they all clear out, and he can proceed down the cave unbothered by anything except occasional slippery frozen puddles.

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Slippery frozen puddles: not a problem. He doesn't even notice them, actually, his feet just grip them as they would normal terrain.

He wonders idly if he's still in the Wyld. This cave seems kind of boring for it, but those fucked-up bats were certainly fucked-up. Ultimately inconclusive.

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Up ahead is an underground lake, or possibly a bit of ocean intruding into the island. Something is moving around in there.

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Ooh.

Aril considers conjuring his twin Grimcleavers, but ultimately decides against it. It's been days since he could just beat something. Instead, he leaps into the lake, his heavy orichalcum plate vanishing off his otherwise nude form as he does so, and opens his eyes to examine whatever beast lies within.

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The beast is a twenty-foot-long dragon-serpent-thing!

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YES.

Aril stares the serpent directly in the eyes and bares his teeth, the mark of the Sun still burning on his forehead. (He's not going to make the first move, that'd be mean. But anything that big has to be aggressively territorial. That's how it works.)

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It's aggressively territorial, all right! Four sharp fangs are coming his way, at the front of a column of solid muscle.

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And Aril darts backwards through the water, evading by a hair's breadth.

He doesn't want to kill this thing, at least not before he gets a decent fight out of it. So instead of invoking a Fire and Stones Strike or Heaven Thunder Hammer, he merely slams his fist into its massive, square jaw with the force of ten lesser men.

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It reels back, but seems neither surprised nor deterred by how strong he is for his size. The head comes at him again, and the tail comes around from the side.

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EEE IT'S STRONG!

He's gotta see how bad this thing can fuck him up. He evades the teeth again (bleeding seems like not a great idea) but tanks the tail shot. How's the power on that?

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It's like getting hit by a small bus, if busses hung out in sea caves and had spikes on the end!

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THIS FISH FUCKING RULES, Aril notes as he careens into the wall of the grotto. Also, he may have cracked a rib.

He speeds back towards it and launches a Heaven Thunder Hammer at its jaw. It's only fair.

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It's better at whacking than dodging, and gets blasted across the cave and into the wall. It's dazed for a second or two, then shakes itself and comes back at him, slightly slower.

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Aril observes the serpent tiring and decides to wrap this up.

Fire and Stones Strike is generally overkill on anything that isn't at least a minor god. However, he's made some observations about this creature, and he's pretty sure he's got its number. He gathers a precisely calculated amount of Essence into his fist and releases it in a sweeping haymaker. Naptime.

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Naptime. The dragon-serpent says "Gyar . . ." and switches from attacking to drifting semiconsciously in the water.

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...he kind of wants to keep this thing now. It was fun.

He should've invested some Essence into animal handling charms when he had some going spare, that'd guarantee him a new pet. Well, whatever, he's got Glorious Solar Healing, hopefully it'll appreciate not being beaten up anymore. His brow shines as he invokes Wound-Mending Care Technique, then channels Instant Treatment Methodology. He and the serpent both flare with golden light as its bruises fade away. The light around the serpent fades quickly once it's healed; the light around Aril stays.

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The dragon-serpent seems pleasantly surprised by this development! It investigates its apparent source by swimming in a circle around Aril, staring at him with red slit-pupiled eyes. One of its blue face-tendrils nearly brushes against his leg.

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He gently strokes the creature's face as it passes by. "You're a good serpent, aren't you? Do you want to come with me? We can destroy our enemies together."

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"Rados!" says the creature, bumping its enormous head against Aril's hand in an oddly catlike manner.

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That sounds affirmative to Aril! He scritches it behind the fins.

"Never really had a pet before. Unless Elin counts, I guess. He'd know what to do with you, I bet. I don't even know what I'm going to call you."

He considers. "I'll call you Daana'd. Kind of heretical, but I'm Anathema, so who gives a shit. How d'you like that? Daana'd?"

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Daana'd leans into the scritches. "Raa!"

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“Excellent.”

He leaps out of the water onto Daana’d’s back, water falling from his body as he moves through the air. He stands on her back and conjures his riding leathers onto his body from the Elsewhere, then sits down, his legs straddling her neck.

He attempts to invoke Sometimes Horses Fly Technique, only to find that Daana’d can already fly. “Full of surprises, huh?”

Well, if she can fly she can presumably breathe air; that’s one more charm he doesn’t need. So he urges her upward and forward, out of the water and out of the cave. 

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She gets the hang of what he means pretty quickly, and manages to get them both out of the cave without whacking either of their heads on the entrance, which is pretty impressive.

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He pats her in congratulation for this feat, then takes her up vertically until he can see signs of civilization on the horizon, or failing that, at least a major landmass.

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There's a major landmass in the direction he might or might not recognize as north! It has clear signs of habitation on it.

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Excellent! He takes a downward angle and heads towards the signs of habitation, riding his magnificent serpent. (He's not really thinking too hard about the reaction people may have to a demigod riding a giant flying snake-dragon approaching their community. Syl and Elin always handled the interfacing with normal people.)

(Also, speaking of his magnificent serpent, he's got to meditate for a while to develop his Essence and pick up some animal handling charms soon. Friendship With Animals Approach, at the very least.)

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The people in the nearest town seem only mildly surprised by the flying snake-dragon! There are plenty of open spaces in the town where he can land, too.

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He lands in an appropriate parking space and hops off of Daana'd's back.

"Hello!" he says to the nearest human. "Would you happen to know where I can stable my serpent?"

(He looks mostly human, to the naked eye. "Mostly" is a key word here - his eyes are catlike and a faintly luminous, unnatural blue, and he has floppy golden-furred dog ears and a small tail poking out from the back of his tunic. Also, he's almost seven feet tall, and so unbelievably beautiful that he doesn't look like he exists in the same universe as the things around him.)

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The nearest human looks at him, puzzled, and says something question-sounding in a foreign language, then tentatively points at a red-roofed building a little way down the street and says something statement-sounding but uncertain.

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Ah, this is some manner of sun-forsaken backwater. Aril opens his mind to divine knowledge, flaring with golden light as he invokes Excellent Emissary's Tongue...

and it fizzles, because he's only heard eleven words of this language and he's not actually that good at this charm. Shit.

Caste mark shining on his forehead, he shrugs apologetically to the bystander and heads into the red-roofed building, leaving Daana'd parked where she is.

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The passerby looks back and forth between him and Daana'd as he was off, and says something deeply confused-sounding. Inside the red-roofed building is a counter with a machine on it, and behind the counter a smiling woman whose pink hair is styled in a way that blurs the line between "hairdo" and "architecture".

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Aril smiles brilliantly at the woman behind the counter, says "I don't speak your dialect" demonstratively, then invokes Poetic Expression Style to convey through intricate charades that he needs some way to contain a very large friendly animal while he explores her fair city.

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The woman takes a red-and-white plastic sphere about the size of an orange off her belt and points at it, then grabs a pen and memo pad from under the counter and sketches a map from this building to another one a block or two away. She does some more gesturing with the plastic sphere, conveying that he can obtain one at the building indicated on the map.

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"Thanks!" he says brightly.

He goes to the other building. It does not look like a stable. There's stuff on shelves, like a merchant's stall expanded into a whole building. So he's to buy one of these spheres, and... do what with it? Is it enchanted to send a creature Elsewhere, to be retrieved at his convenience?

Seeing an entire shelf of the things, Aril whistles under his breath. If it's true, he was definitely wrong about this place being a backwater.

He picks one up and brings it to the shopkeep, then retrieves an intricately etched copper coin from Elsewhere and lays it on the counter. Fair trade? (Probably not, one siu is kind of a pitiful amount of money, but he's been surprised by what peasants will accept before.)

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The proprietor offers him a handful of pieces of paper for the coin, and indicates that the ball costs four times as much paper as that.

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Oh! How convenient. Three more siu appear between his fingers, and he hands them over.

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Then he can have a sphere! The shopkeeper smiles and puts the coins in a drawer behind the counter next to a lump of gold, a gorgeous piece of coral, and some shiny pearls.

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Aril takes his sphere, flashes a bright smile to the shopkeeper, and exits the shop to check on Daana’d. Has she been behaving herself in his absence?

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She is engaged in combat with a yellow mouse the size of a cat; they appear to be evenly matched. Possibly this is because the mouse can shoot lightning out of its face. A teenage girl is standing just far enough back not to get hit, egging the mouse on.

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...well, that’s moderately fucked up. (Why would an elemental take the form of a mouse - no, no, this place is fucky, that’s been well established.) Aril’s not about to interfere in an honest duel, though. He takes Daana’d’s side, cheering her on. “Go on, Daana’d! Show that rat what you can do!”

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Daana’d seems to find his cheering encouraging, and presses the attack; eventually the mouse flops over panting. The teenager points another of those spheres at it, and it turns into a beam of light and is absorbed inside. Then she turns to Aril and asks an incomprehensible question.

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Elsewhere pocket it is! This place is insane.

Aril- pats Daana'd first, that's important. Good girl, destroy your enemies. Then he points his own sphere at her and... intends very strongly to store her within? He's decent at mental actions like that, First Age artifacts tend to have a thought-based interface.

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Nothing happens.

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Oh, this is just embarrassing. He's going to have to ask for help from a little girl.

He's had enough exposure to the language by now to make a better go at Excellent Emissary's Tongue. His caste mark burns on his forehead, and it finally clicks. He turns to the girl and says, in his native Old Realm, "I'm sorry, I've never used one of these - I tamed Daana'd here myself. How does it function?"

His words, though incomprehensible, ring with meaning. She probably wouldn't be able to pinpoint which word means what, but she knows exactly what he said.

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She grins. "You made friends without the psychic link from the ball helping? That is so cool! But of course you want to be able to digitize it so you can go through doors and use the Pokemon Center and stuff. Just throw the ball at it and you should be good!"

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He tosses the ball at Daana'd experimentally.

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It hits her side, bounces off, the floats in the air and absorbs her as a beam of light before falling to the ground. It vibrates for several seconds, then goes *click*. 

"Great job!" says the girl. "Now you can just press the button on the front to let your Gyarados out, and press it again to re-digitize it."

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"Thanks!" he says brightly. "And where would I go to heal her?"

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"Wow, you really are foreign, I thought Pokemon Centers looked the same everywhere. That building, with the red roof, or anywhere like it. Just give the Pokeball to the nurse."

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"I am extremely foreign," he agrees. "Thank you again."

Then he enters the Pokemon center and, as indicated, hands his Pokeball to the nurse. "Hello again," he says politely.

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"Caught one already, then? Nice!" She puts it in the machine, which goes beep for a while and then goes ding. "Your Pokemon has been restored to full health. Come again anytime!"

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...for free? Universal healthcare is not a concept Aril has encountered before. On the other hand, if that healing artifact is as easy to use as it looks, it makes sense. Speaking of which, what the fuck. Is this what the First Age was like? No, not enough orichalcum on everything.

"Where can I find out more about how the artifacts of this realm work?" he asks.

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"Hmmm . . . Aether Corp is is Saffron City, and they work on inventing new kinds of Pokeballs and such. Cinnabar Labs is doing some cool things, though not with Pokeballs in particular. There's also independent scientists like Bill and Professor Persimmon who you could talk to."

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He nods. "You wouldn't happen to have a map of your region that I could study for a bit, would you?"

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"Sure, no problem!" She pulls a little device with a screen and buttons out of a pocket and shows him a map.

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He studies the map for a moment. "So, Cinnabar Labs would be the closest of those places to us? And they're... near a volcano?"

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"Yup! We're here, in Fuchsia City, and Cinnabar Island is a quick flight west." She points. "West is that way, incidentally."

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Yes, thank you lady, Aril totally didn't know which way was west. 

"Do you know anything about the character of their volcano spirit? Is it easily angered, do they have a sacrifice arrangement, that sort of thing."

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"Whatever you're doing for translation is running into trouble . . . are you suggesting there's a legendary Pokemon on Cinnabar Island? I've never heard of one being seen there."

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"...well, the map said there was a volcano there, right? Can't have volcanoes without volcano spirits."

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"There's definitely a volcano, but it hasn't erupted in ages, and if there are any spirits in it they're very quiet ones. Do you think you'll go looking for them?"

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"Ah, so it's in hibernation. I don't need to find it, I just wanted to do some meditation in the caldera and I didn't want to offend it without cause. If it's hibernating then there's not much danger of that."

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"Sounds good! What's meditation like, and why do you want to do it in the caldera?"

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Hmm. No one has reacted so far to the extremely obvious signs of him being Anathema, but maybe he should keep this particular card a bit closer to his chest anyway. "Meditation is... peaceful," he chooses to say, instead of 'meditation helps me better channel the might of the Unconquered Sun'. "The caldera... well, that's a personal thing. I like doing things in dangerous ways, in dangerous places. Even meditation. It's sort of a paradox." (Also, close proximity to the burning blood of Gaia helps him better channel the might of the Unconquered Sun.)

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"Okay," says the woman. "Have fun!"

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"I expect I will! Thank you for all your help."

Aril considers his next move as he exits the building. He'll go to Cinnabar Island and do his best Syl impression to get an overview of these people's bizarre, miraculous technology. No, wait, before he does that he'll meditate in the caldera so he can develop those little scraps of extra Integral Essence he's been keeping around into a few animal handling charms. (Syl always told him to keep some Integral Essence free instead of just funneling it all into his Personal Essence pool, and who's laughing now? It's Syl. Syl is right about everything.) After he's done that, he'll do his marvelous Syl impression and learn all about their tech, maybe find out some more about these "legendary Pokemon", and then find a way back to his Circle.

This decided, he lets Daana'd out of her ball, hops on her back, and flies west. (It's that way.)

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His flight takes him along the coast for a bit, then out over the ocean, over some tiny islands that probably include the one where he first landed, and finally over an island with an impressively tall volcano. As he circles closer, the island also proves to have several buildings on it, including duplicates of the red-roofed Pokemon Center and blue-roofed general store. There's also one that looks like it might be an auditorium of some sort, and one that might be a lab.

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He spirals down into the caldera, finds a decent place to sit, and re-balls Daana'd.

It's hot as Hell in here. Good. He renews his Hardship-Surviving Mendicant Spirit, crosses his legs, and rises slowly into the air.

The faint golden glow around him increases, first to a flame, then to a radiance, then to a pillar of golden light that emerges from the mouth of the volcano and can be seen for miles. In that pillar of golden light, Aril sits, manipulating the fundamental forces of reality so that he can make a giant snake better at being a giant snake.

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He's quite a sight! People from all over the island start walking up the mountain to investigate.

If he's paying attention, he might hear a distant chuckle, faint enough that it isn't clear if he's imagining it.

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Regrettably, his meditation is too deep for him to notice anything that isn't an immediate threat to his life and/or limb.

His meditation will, if nothing threatens his life, last for just over two weeks.

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A couple of trainers send fire types into the caldera to check if he's okay, but nobody quite dares to pull him out. By the time he comes out of meditation, they've all gone home, but someone has set up some scientific instruments on the edge of the caldera.

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Their instruments will indicate that the light is mostly similar to very intense sunlight, just at an odd wavelength. It's not dangerous, though it may cause mild sunburn on prolonged exposure, and it bleaches cloth placed in the pillar itself.

Aril unfolds his legs and touches down on the ledge he claimed, his anima fading to a mere glow. He stretches with a series of dangerous-sounding cracks, then releases Daana'd and invokes Friendship With Animals Approach.

"Hello, Daana'd!"

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"Rado!" says Daana'd, by which she means, "Hello!"

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"I'm going to make you the smartest Gyarados ever," Aril promises. "Do you want that?"

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"Gyara! Gyarados!" This means, "I trust you, and I want everything that could possibly make me better at fighting."

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"Daana'd, you are a woman after my own heart. This is going to take a little while; do you want to get out of the volcano while we do it?"

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"Dos!" ("Sure, anywhere's good. Climb aboard.")

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Aril does so! He leads them to a spot on the seaward side of the volcano, then begins the ritual.

It's a bit less involved than the meditation was; it only takes five hours, and the enormous pillar of radiant Solar energy only appears for a few minutes towards the end, then fades back into a blaze of glorious golden light around Aril's body.

Daana'd, who previously had the intellect of a normal Pokémon or a six-year-old human child, finds herself elevated. It's a strange thing, to suddenly go from a childlike intellect to the full intelligence of a human adult. There's none of the time to adjust that comes with natural maturation; it's a process of hours rather than years. By the end of those five hours, Daana'd has more space in her head, her thoughts are quicker and clearer, and there's a vague sense that she could think about things more complicated than just fighting and food.

She doesn't have to, though. She's still a Pokémon, so fighting and food are probably more interesting than cerebral pursuits. Another thing that hasn't changed: Aril is great. He's so great.

"How do you feel?"

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"Gyarados!" ("I feel . . . really alive! It's weird, but in a good way.")

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“That’s what I like to hear! You’ll keep gaining intelligence for the next week or so, then I can start to work on your physical power. We’re fully bonded now, so I’m going to make you better in every way I can.”

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"More physical power sounds awesome! What does 'fully bonded' mean?" (She's still talking by remixing syllables of her name, but the narration has stopped caring enough to provide those and is now providing only the translation.)

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“My Essence, the core of my being, is now threaded through yours, and vice versa. The Solar Essence would improve and empower you even without the ritual, that being how Solar Essence works, but I can accelerate the process with some effort.”

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"I don't understand Solar Essence, but if it makes me more powerful I guess I like it. Let's go somewhere with other Pokemon, I want to try fighting now that I'm like this."

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Great idea. We can head back into the volcano, I’m sure there’s something worthy there. Do you want to take it on solo, or should we work as a team?”

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"I've never fought as part of a team before! It could be fun."

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“It could! Let’s go find something to fight, then.”

He hops back onto his newly sapient steed and heads back into the volcano. This time, instead of lighting on a rock immediately, he heads into the inner cave systems. (There are always cave systems.) What new beasts await him?

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There's a beautiful unicorn with a mane and tail made of rippling red flames! It wants to fight.

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Oh hell yes. What is that, some kind of dragonblooded horse? With a spike coming out of its head? This place is so fucked up, he loves it.

Aril won’t spend any motes on this fight unless it seems to be getting way out of hand. This limitation in mind, he launches a flying dragon kick at the horse’s face.

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The unicorn is knocked back by the kick, but rears up and brings rock-hard hooves down on Aril's shoulders.

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Daana'd joins in with a blast of water from her mouth, which flashes into steam and seems to seriously phase their opponent.

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Aril feels his collarbone crack and winces. That’s going to be unpleasant for a few hours. Still, he has Ox-Body Technique for a reason.

"Nice!" he says of the blast of water. Then he punches the horse three times, right hand then left then right again. And he prepares to actually dodge next time it tries to hit him.

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His punches aren't as effective as the water jet, but they do seem to be wearing the unicorn down. Daana'd bites it on the flank, Aril dodges its horn, and Daana'd gets kicked in the side by the back hooves. This thing is pointy at six different ends.

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It's novel, underperforming in combat. But then, he's not a water dragon fighting a fire horse. There are certain natural advantages in play here.

Even so, the might of the Unconquered Sun courses through his body and soul. It shouldn't take the two of them very long to beat the absolute hell out of a horse, even a Dragonblooded one. Aril just keeps fighting.

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And indeed, the horse does not take very long to become too exhausted to fight anymore.

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Aril's curious. He checks if its mane is really hot.

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Yup, it's hot! Hotter than your typical wood fire, even, if he can discriminate that finely with his hand as a thermometer.

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He's a Solar, he can do anything he wants.

Well, a fire horse would be cool if he were a Terrestrial, but he's not, Sol Invictus be praised. "Wanna find out if there's anything else in here?" he asks Daana'd.

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Daana'd is totally down for another fight! How about against that sphere of rock with arms and legs and a head lumbering around farther into the cave?

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Sure thing! Some kind of minor elemental, huh.

...Aril runs up and punts it like a medicine ball. He's strong enough that, while it doesn't go flying, it is knocked back and up a few feet before crashing to the ground.

He feels his metatarsal crack as he kicks a rock the size of a small pony at full force. He doesn't care, that was hilarious.

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Shortly after crashing, it levitates itself in the air about a foot, then crashes down again with enough force to make the floor of the tunnel visibly ripple. Daana'd was already having trouble maneuvering in the cramped space; now she gets flung against a wall. Aril likewise loses his footing for at least a moment.

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For a brief moment, he does. In fact he's tossed bodily into the air. He lands well, though, and elects to punch the thing in the face. (Probably softer? It looks softer, at least.)

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It's rock everywhere, but slightly more yielding rock in the face area. It gets punched, and retaliates by making rocks rain down from the ceiling on Aril and Daana'd.

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Aril catches the largest of the rocks falling towards him and uses it to shield himself from the other rocks. He then overhands it at the creature with earth-shattering force.

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Earth-shattering is right! The creature goes backwards into a wall, which cracks under the impact. Then it slumps to the ground and skulks away, defeated.

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Aril goes to check on Daana'd. "You alright, girl?"

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Daana'd is shaking off the dirt she got semi-buried in. "I'm alright, but kind of tired. Not super used to fighting on land yet. I've got maybe one or two more fights like that in me. Or a bunch of the fire horse."

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"Let's have one more, then, and we can go get you healed at the Pokécenter in town."

He looks around. Anything really cool in this volcano?

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There's a series of rocks, attached to each other in an unclear manner, that turns out to also be a giant snake!

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...this is too good.

"Daana'd, do you want a new friend?"

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Daana'd wants to grapple! The rock snake also wants to grapple! They look like a bowl of spaghetti. (Daana'd is kind of getting the worst of it.)

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Hmm. Aril disapproves of Daana'd getting the worst of it, but he can't really join the fray while they're entangled like that. He cheers her on, ready to call her back if she starts flagging.

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Daana'd won't give up while her friend is cheering her on! Eventually she has the rock snake in a very complicated pin.

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Aril feels that this is an appropriate time for him to apply Touch of Blissful Release and for their new friend to take a nap.

"Daana'd, let's take Pasiap here with us. I need to buy another capture orb for him, but in the meantime, do you think you can carry me and him at the same time?"

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"I'll be slower, but I can manage. It would go better if I was healed."

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"Of course."

Wound-mending Care Technique, Instant Treatment Methodology, syrup-thick golden sunlight pours through him into Daana'd and she's miraculously healed. Then he slings Pasiap over his shoulder (how is a thirty-foot stone serpent so light?) and climbs onto Daana'd.

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"Ahhh, that's much better. Now it will be no trouble at all." Daana'd undulates out of the cave system, mindful of her burdens' heads, then takes to the sky again. "Where shall we go?"

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"The building with the... blue roof," Aril recalls. "The place where I got your ball in Fuchsia looked like that."

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So she swoops down into the city and alights outside the blue-roofed building. Not being built to the scale of human cities, she's blocking the entrance a bit.

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Aril puts her back in her ball, then goes into the Pokémart, dragging an unconscious thirty-foot rock snake behind him. 

He picks a ball off the shelf and brings it up to the counter, four siu in his other hand. He drops the coins on the counter and presses the ball to Pasiap’s stony hide. 

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The Pokeball does not seem to know what to do with an unconscious entity and, not being a very  creative piece of plastic, defaults to nothing.

"It's no good trying to catch one that's already fainted, silly!" says the shopkeeper, who has seen weirder events but not very often.

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"...okay."

He withdraws Touch of Blissful Release, and Pasiap's opiate trance abruptly ends. As soon as he stirs, Aril tosses the ball against the serpent's forehead.

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Ker-digitize! Vibrate vibrate vibrate *bing*.

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"Thanks," Aril tells the shopkeep, then slips the sphere into the pocket opposite Daana'd's.

He stops by the Pokécenter and approaches... Nurse Joy? How did she get here?

"Hello again," he says, offering up his dragonballs for more socialized healthcare.

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"I don't believe we've met," says Nurse Joy. "You've probably mistaken me for one of my sisters. Pleased to meet you, mister or ms . . . ?" She takes his balls and does the thing while she says this.

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"Aril Kalen. Male. I apologize, Miss..."

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"Nurse Joy," she says, handing his Pokeballs back. "Our parents decided Joy was the best name for their daughters, and didn't want to give any of us any name but the best one possible!"

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"I... see."

He would also have been willing to accept "people in this region are referred to by family name," but that... works? (It's objectively insane, actually, but he was raised by a Raksha, so what does he know.)

"Thank you!" He takes his dragons back and stages a tactical retreat.

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Now he's outside again, and can take in the sights, like the lab and the gym and the handful of houses and the people and creatures milling around.

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First things first: he releases the stone serpent from its sphere and invokes Friendship with Animals Technique, rubbing its head behind the fin. "Hey there, Pasiap."

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"Hello," says Pasiap. Then he looks up at the sky and adds, "Whoa."

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"It's cool, right? The sky. Maybe extra cool because you've lived your entire life in a cave."

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"It's really really big!"

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"It's super big!"

He looks around. Anybody look interested in a fight? He wants to see what Pasiap can do when he's not just wrestling another giant snake.

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Well, there's the big building with "Cinnabar Gym" written on it; he can see through the glass facade that there are some people and creatures hanging out in there. 

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Cool! He burns a few motes on Sagacious Reading of Intent to learn what "Cinnabar Gym" means. Apparently it's a place where you take your spirits and dragons and such for duels!

"I'm gonna put you back in your ball and we're gonna see if anybody in that gym wants to fight, okay?"

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"Sure thing, dude!"

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Back in the ball with Pasiap, then. He strolls into the gym. "Anyone here up for a battle against a giant stone snake?"

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The area near the entrance is screened off from the rest of the gym by a sliding door.

"Rock is a good type to be challenging this gym with!" says a bespectacled man standing near the entrance with a book.

Then a speaker on the door starts up. "Pokémon Quiz! Get it right and the door opens to the next room! Get it wrong and face a trainer! If you want to conserve your Pokémon for the Gym Leader... Then get it right! Here we go! . . . Does Caterpie evolve into Metapod?"

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"I have not the faintest idea. And I came here for a duel, so." He lets Pasiap out preemptively.

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The door buzzes and opens; the guy behind it lets out a dog that's clearly ripping off the concept of tigers but looking really cool about it.

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Cute! "Show 'em what you can do, Pasiap!"

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Pasiap can do quite a lot to that dog! He makes short work of it.

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Yes, because he is a very good serpent. Aril scritches him behind the fin some more.

 

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Fin scritches!? Awesome!! 

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The other trainer also has a small red fox and an enormous white fox, both with extravagantly forked tails.

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Well, Pasiap doesn't seem tired yet, and he can probably handle some forest creatures even if they do have fire powers like that tigerdog did. Ari sends him back out.

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Pasiap makes short work of both foxes--they mostly rely on shooting fire, and he doesn't seem to mind having fire shot at him.

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Good serpent, best friend. Well actually Daana'd is best friend, but Pasiap is a friend and boy regardless.

"Do I have to stay to fight your leader now, or can I duel him after I have some lunch? It's been several weeks since the last time I ate, I keep getting distracted."

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"You have to either get a question right or beat a trainer six times total before you face Blaine, but you can leave and come back in between if you want. Also, uh, I'm pretty sure people need to eat more than once every several weeks."

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"Maybe you do. I'm off to get lunch."

Aril sets off in search of food. He's actually pretty Goddamn hungry; meditation only sustains the body as long as it's going on, and he has not in fact eaten in weeks. ...he should probably acquire currency first. That's a distraction, but a necessary one. He goes to the Pokémart and offers the cashier a koku, which is probably the prettiest form of currency he has on him. Printed on mulberry paper shot through with purple and gold silk threads that form a pattern of flying cranes, the koku bears an image of a black-and-green print of eagles nesting on the Imperial Mountain. On the reverse is written, in intricately calligraphed High Realm script, “In the Scarlet Empress’s name, one-eighth of an obol of jade.”

He suspects this is more valuable as an art object than the siu was.

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That is a very valuable art object! He can have five thousand local currency units (P$) for it. If he looked in any restaurant windows on the way to the Pokémart, he'll know he can get a good meal for twenty.

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"Great! Oh, um, weird question, what do Pokémon eat and do you sell it here?"

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"What kind of weird foreign . . . never mind. Wild Pokemon eat plants and rocks and stuff, if you're training them you'll want to get them Pokemon chow, you can get it for free at Pokemon centers. Make sure to get the right kind for their type, different types need different nutrients."

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"Thanks!"

He heads to the Pokécenter, gets Pasiap and Daana'd fed, goes to a restaurant, consumes two meals and a dessert, and returns to the gym. "I'm back!"

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Pasiap and Daana'd appreciate the food! They eat surprisingly little for their size, which still comes out to eating massive amounts, but the Pokemon centers know this happens and buy food in bulk.

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The gym lets Aril into the second room from the door, and the speaker asks, "Are there nine certified Pokemon League Badges?"

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“Could not possibly tell you.”

Daana’d, your turn. 

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Daana'd completely trounces the next trainer's set of three fire types. The next few doors want to know if the Poliwag evolutionary line has four Pokemon, if electric moves are effective against ground Pokemon, and if Pokemon of the same species and level are identical.

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“No idea, but they sound adorable.”

“I wouldn’t know.”

“Of course not! All the beings and beasts of Creation are uniquely blessed.”

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He has to fight two more trainers, then gets to skip number 5 because that was the right answer. The last question is whether TM 28 contains Tombstone.

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"I have no idea what most of those words mean."

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That's okay, all he has to know is whether to clobber the last non-Blaine trainer with Daana'd or Pasiap. Or both; he's got two Pokemon.

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Hey, if the rules allow it then a double battle's fine by him. He can see how Daana'd and Pasiap collaborate.

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The other trainer was expecting to go one at a time, but he's fine with both at once. He still loses hard.

Now Aril can face Blaine! He might want to heal again first, but he can probably power through without, at the risk of exhausting one of his Pokemon.

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Yeah, he takes a quick trip to the Pokécenter. Blaine's team will be fresh, he's just evening the playing field.

Then he returns. "I'm ready for Blaine!"

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And Blaine is ready for him! 

. . . Actually, no he's not. Daana'd and Pasiap use their water and stone powers to great advantage against Blaine's fire types, not to mention their enchanted intelligence. With Aril cheering them on, they win a glorious victory. 

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Aril bows to Blaine anyway; there's no sense being rude. "A good battle."

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"Likewise! In recognition of your triumph, I present you with this Volcano Badge!" He hands Aril a shiny red and gold circular trinket with a pin on the back to attach it to his clothing.

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That is... adorable. Aril pins the badge to his belt. "You certainly seem to know a lot about these Pokémon," he comments.

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"Of course! I've been training Pokémon practically my whole life! I especially love the power and beauty of fire types; there's a lot more subtlety to fire than most people think."

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"Nice! I've just been fighting them as I go and collecting whichever ones look coolest. Like Daana'd and Pasiap, here. ...well, whichever ones look coolest and that I can give appropriately heretical names, anyway, I've been going with this Elemental Dragons theme and I kind of don't want to break it at this point."

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"I'm not familiar with whatever religion you're committing heresy in--I'm First Church of Arceus--but those are some cool species and some cool names! Neither of yours are actually a dragon type, though. Easy mistake to make if you don't check the Pokédex entry."

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“Ah. Is ‘type’ a scientific term for something? I’m not from this world, I’m missing some apparently very basic knowledge.”

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"Another world, huh? That's a new one! So, types are the way Pokémon are categorized, it's based on which attacks they're most resistant and vulnerable to. Attacks have types too, see, and they match up like this." He pulls a portable device similar to Nurse Joy's out of his pocket and pulls up a chart, which he shows to Aril.

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Aril looks it over. "Mostly seems to make sense. So, Pokémon are sort of... defined by combat, huh."

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"Yeah, I suppose you could put it like that. Fighting is what Pokémon spend more time doing than anything else, and it's the thing they're way better at than humans are."

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“Huh. Natural aptitudes, then, like with Castes.”

He turns to Daana’d. “So even though you’re as smart as I am, now, you still probably like fighting better than, say, math. Not that I like math particularly... fine arts, then. Unless you’d like to see some art. Would you?”

(Aril is somewhat distractible.)

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"I like fighting very much! What is art?"

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“Oh, of course you wouldn’t know - art is when people make things to be beautiful. Like...”

Aril sings a few bars of a Northern folk song popular a few centuries ago. His voice is rich and glorious, filling the room. His feet tap as if he wants to dance along to it, but considering Blaine, he rules against it; the undying love of an elderly human is not something he needs in his life.

”Like that,” he says after he’s done. “Only you look at it, and usually it isn’t as good.”

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"That was very nice, but not as good as a good fight."

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"You're a good singer!" says Blaine. "How come you talk to your Pokémon so much?"

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“Oh, sorry, I’m completely excluding you - she says she does like fighting a lot, she didn’t know what art was before I showed her, and that she likes music, but it’s not as good as fighting.”

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"You can understand your Pokémon? If you really can and you're sure you're not just imagining it, you should go to Aether Corp. They've been trying to invent better ways to communicate with Pokémon for years."

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“I’m very sure I’m not imagining it, but my method isn’t likely to generalize. I guess you might be able to replicate it with sorcery? But I don’t get the feeling you have sorcery here, and teaching it to people sounds unutterably tedious.”

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"If we have this 'sorcery' I've never heard of it. Ah well, it's good that someone can understand their Pokémon, even if it can't be made to work for everybody. Say, I don't suppose you could understand my Pokémon?"

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“Sure I could. Is there something you want me to say to them?”

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"That's great! Can you ask them if there's anything they want from me, or want to tell me, that they haven't been able to communicate? They understand me a lot better than I understand them, I think." He lets out his Ninetales, his Rapidash, and his Arcanine.

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"Hey guys. I can understand when you talk; is there anything you want to tell Blaine that you haven't been able to tell him?"

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The Arcanine says she really likes fighting flying types, and that she loves Blaine very much. The Rapidash likes being ridden around really fast even though he's super tired afterwards, and also he loves Blaine a whole lot. The Ninetales can't think of anything to ask for, but definitely wants Blaine to know she loves him.

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Aril conveys all of this. "It's nice that they love you so much. Are Pokémon always like that? Because Daana'd is."

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Blaine smiles. "If you love your Pokémon, and take good care of them, and help them learn and grow, they'll love you back." He pets all of his (the Rapidash's flaming mane doesn't seem to bother him), and tells them by name what good boys and girls they are, and puts them back in their Pokèballs.

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"Good! Oh, by the way - where is this Aether Corp you mentioned? I might make a visit."

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"Saffron City. I can show you on a map, if you want."

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"Yes, please."

Once Saffron City has been pointed out to him, Aril will bid Blaine farewell, re-ball his serpents, and make his way over to Cinnabar Labs. He's got some technology to figure out.

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Cinnabar Labs is an elegant building full of lab-coated men and women in glass-walled rooms. They're doing complicated things to machinery, moving tiny quantities of liquid between tiny containers, etc. One of them sets a timer going, leans back in her seat, and notices Aril. "Oh, hello! What brings you here?"

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"Hello! I'm actually trying to learn, well, everything. Specifically about Pokéballs and those healing machines they have in the Pokécenters, but also about the things people keep in their pockets that do a variety of things, and if there's anything else I'm missing then that too. I'm from very far away, and we don't have any of those things."

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"Hmm! If you want a proper education you should enroll in a school, but if you just want to learn how to use those things I can give you the short version. Or you can buy a Pokétech and I can show you how to use the encyclopedia function, that will probably have everything you want to know and then some."

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"Oh, an encyclopedia function sounds like exactly what I'm looking for. Would I find a Pokétech at the Pokémart, is everything, uh, centralized like that?"

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"I don't know if all Pokemarts have them, but the one here does. It's just up the street." Probably-unnecessary pointing.

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Aril goes to make the purchase, prepared with another koku in case his almost five thousand P$ aren't enough.

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It's enough; the refurbished Pokétechs they have are good as new and only P$2500. 

When Aril exits the shop, there's a cluster of people in all-red outfits hanging around behind the lab building. They have their heads together and are muttering to each other in a very suspicious manner.

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How very suspicious. Aril listens in, without indicating in any way that he is doing so.

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They are saying suspicious things! Apparently they want to steal some seismograph data from the lab here and use it to locate . . . Something. They don't refer to it directly, but it's clearly a big deal.

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Aril approaches them. "Hey! I can probably help you get the data you need if you tell me what you're looking for."

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Upon realizing he's there, they all startle away from each other, but calm down a bit on hearing his offer of help. They exchange a couple rounds of nervous glances, then one of them says, "We're looking for the center of the little earthquakes that happen occasionally. For where they're coming from." Then another one glares at him and he shuts up.

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Aril does not need Eye of the Unconquered Sun to see that this is bullshit. 

“I’m not a cop, man. I just want to know that I’m not helping you break one of the Elemental Poles or something.”

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More sketchy glances, then a different one says, "We really are looking for earthquake data. We want to find a legendary Pokémon that's been sleeping underground somewhere." (She's telling the truth.)

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“Oh, cool! What’re you going to do when you find it?”

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"It's more about what it's going to do, really," says one, before another one stomps on his foot.

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"...okay, seriously though, what are you going to do with it, I'm not helping you enslave a tectonic spirit or bring about the apocalypse or something."

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"What? No. Groudon is the legendary Pokémon of the land, it's going to make the continent bigger."

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“...is it not big enough?”

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"Who cares? There's gonna be a legendary Pokémon raising land outta the sea! How is that not obviously the coolest?!"

"Keep your voice down!"

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"Have you considered that this is very stupid."

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"Stupidly awesome, maybe."

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"Rrrright. This sounds like a disaster on every possible level, and you do seem incompetent but not enough that I'm not worried about you actually accomplishing your stupid goals. So I'm going to have to stop you."

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"Hey!" One of them throws a Pokéball; a Wheezing comes out. "Let's settle this!"

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Aril punches it in the face. "Ew."

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It starts spewing green gas at him! A normal human would be choking on it.

"Uh." says the one who threw it. "Aren't you gonna Pokémon battle?"

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Aril coughs a couple of times. "Is that what we're supposed to do? Okay."

He retrieves Pasiap from his sphere and pushes the button. "Fuck 'em up, Pasiap."

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Pasiap: fucks 'em up. In fact, he fucks up all eight Pokémon the four goons can send against him. They digitize their tired combatants and scram.

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Aril returns to the researcher in the lab. "Sorry about the delay, there were some people in red outfits planning to steal your seismic data so they could wake up a Legendary Pokémon for unclear but very stupid reasons."

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"Goodness! Well, I hope the police or somebody stops them; we haven't had that sort of trouble in a very long time. Now, you wanted an introduction to Pokétechs?"

Lessons ensue. Aril's Pokétech can access maps, an encyclopedia, and a phone network he can use to talk to anybody he's exchanged numbers with. He can also take notes on it.

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That is one hell of an artifact.

Aril sees if the encyclopedia has any information on a) how the Pokétech itself functions, b) who those red-garbed strangers were, or c) where he is in relation to the Scarlet Empire.

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The Pokétech is a general-purpose computer with an interface and form factor optimized for use by Pokémon trainers! This may kick off a wikiwalk if he's not careful.

Poketech knows nothing of the Scarlet Empire, but it does know of the Kanto, Johto, and Hoenn regions. It also knows that criminal gangs are a thing, and that their projects are occasionally hazardous to the public above and beyond the more mundane ones' penchant for theft and property damage. It doesn't know about any gang that wears all red and wants to expand the continent, though.

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Aril is capable of wikiwalking very quickly, on account of him being a Solar. It's not long before he's familiar with the basic concepts of computing, and he definitely intends to explore the non-basics before too long.

No knowledge of the Scarlet Empire confirms some things he'd already suspected. He's definitely far from home, and he's probably not going to get back unless he does it himself.

"Criminal gangs are a problem here, huh? Who usually takes care of them when they get out of line?"

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"Hmm?" The scientist had gone back to her experiment during the wikiwalk. "Oh, yes, every few years some bunch of scoundrels tries to cause trouble. Usually the cops keep them from acting too openly, then someone comes along and exposes them fully, or just interferes with whatever they were trying to do until they give up."

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"Huh. Back home it's usually the Imperial army that deals with cults and gangs. Unless some Exalt takes them on themselves. Which, granted, is most of the time."

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"We do technically have an army, but they mostly do stuff like rescue people who get lost in the mountains or have their boats capsized by wailords or whatever. And I guess if the government of Johto went crazy and they invaded us they'd deal with that. What are Exalt?"

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“Humans empowered by the primordial forces of the world. There are Solars, the Lawgivers of Creation; Lunars, the Hunters of the Wyld; and Sidereals, the Administrators of Heaven. There are also the Dragon-Blooded, but they’re Imperialist leeches for the most part. I’m a Solar, in case you couldn’t tell.” A gleaming sun-disc flashes on his forehead. 

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"Cool! Some say the primordial forces of our world are embodied as legendary Pokémon, but even if they exist nobody's observed them well enough to get a clear scientific understanding of what that would even mean."

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"I keep hearing about these Legendary Pokémon... those hooligans were trying to find Groudon using your seismic data. Has your data actually revealed anything unusual that might indicate Groudon's location?"

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"I'm a biologist, but some of my colleagues in Geology have been seeing very interesting things lately. They aren't going to jump to conclusions, of course, but the data is certainly consistent with the Groudon hypothesis among others."

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"Is the hypothesis that the creature is waking up, or merely that this is an unusually active period of sleep? Because in my experience, an ancient god-spirit waking up and causing earthquakes in the process is rarely good news."

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"The hypothesis is just that it's there, at this point. If it turns out to be waking up, there might be a government project to dig out an earthquake-dampening buffer zone around it. Or just evacuate the nearest cities, depending on how much time we have. But again, it could be a regular seismic event, with no Pokémon involved."

There's a gentle vibration, like a truck going by outside. The liquid in one of the bottles on the workbench ripples once.

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...Aril suspects that this is not a regular seismic event. He also suspects that these scientists have a deficiency of dramatic thinking.

"May I take a look at the data myself? I'm not an expert, per se, but I'm a quick study, and I'd like to see if anything leaps out at me."

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"You'd have to ask one of the geologists, but I can't think why not. They're one floor up from here, elevators are at that end of the building. Try Dr. Matoran's office; he's probably in and generally a patient explainer."

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Aril thanks the biologist modestly, then makes his way up to Dr. Matoran's office and knocks on the door.

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"Come in!" The voice that rumbles through the door is so deep it might itself be made of rocks, but the man on the other side is all human, with a long white beard and coke-bottle glasses and a good amount of muscle despite his age.

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Aril enters! "Hello! Dr. Matoran, right? I'm Aril Kalen, and I'm interested in examining the data that led to the Groudon Hypothesis."

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"Hmmm! Always good to see a young 'un interested in the sciences." He starts putting the slew of papers on his desk in order, or at least a different slew. "Now, mind you, we can't be sure it's actually a Pokémon down there, and it's a mistake to jump to conclusions without enough data. But," and here he gets a twinkle in his eye, "I certainly hope it is one!"

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Aril doesn't bother actually looking at the studies; he doesn't speak the language they're written in, it'd be a waste of time.

Instead, he invokes Discerning Savant's Eye and makes a show of perusing the data. Theoretically, this charm is just supposed to let you see the author's intent. But he's learned over the years that if he focuses his Essence just so and invokes an Excellency of Lore, he can instead understand what the writing itself is saying. So he's left with, one, a stronger grasp of the tectonic activity around the Kanto and Hoenn regions than he has any real need for, and two, a bone-deep knowledge that the source of the earthquakes is -

He blinks. "Sorry," he interrupts, "but is that cavern actually called Terra Cave?"

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"Hmmm? Oh, yes. It's a bit silly, but it's been called that for--well, barely a moment geologically, but long enough that nobody can be bothered to come up with a better name. Are you following the notation alright? I know not everywhere uses the same one."

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"Yes, I'm following it quite well. Have you considered-"

Aril outlines the train of thought that would have led him to his conclusions, had it been a train of thought and not literal divine inspiration. It involves a good deal of mathematics designed to simulate sleep patterns, combined with a great deal of mathematics designed to simulate the path of a creature being carried along on underground lava flows. It also leads directly to the conclusion that, every once in a very long while, Groudon surfaces in Terra Cave.

"I think that's actually why it's called that," he says thoughtfully. "Not that I'm an anthropologist, or anything, but it does seem like the regular appearance of a godlike Pokémon of earth in a given cave might lead to that cave being given a name related to that phenomenon, no?"

He pauses. "Also, model says it's surfacing again in... about a week. Shit."

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Dr. Matoran visibly enjoys hearing this explanation! "I would want to consult a biologist to be sure of the things you say about sleep phases, and I don't know how much of that would apply to a legendary anyway, but extrapolating this data does put the source of the tremors under Terra Cave a week from now. If the cave system goes deeper than we thought . . . yes, I must concur with both your logic and your expletive. Nothing is certain, but the risk is too great not to act. I'll be calling the Elite Four about this. And crediting you, of course." For all the seriousness of his words, he sounds rather happy.

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Aril bows. "I'm glad I wasn't off-track. Who are the Elite Four?"

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"World famous, or so I thought. They're champion Pokémon trainers, which means they're experts on all things Pokémon and have extremely strong and well-trained teams. If there's an emergency involving Pokémon and the local emergency response folks can't handle it, they're who you call."

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"I'm from very, very far away. That sounds entirely reasonable, though I worry that Groudon might overpower normal Pokémon... perhaps I should be there as backup."

Also, he really wants to fight Groudon. 

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"You think your team can succeed where the elite four might fail? I'm skeptical, but I'm hardly going to stop you. I'll be there myself, standing well back with a video camera." The excitement in his voice suggests he and the proverbial reasonable person have different ideas of "well back".

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"Oh, not my team. I love Daana'd and Pasiap dearly, but I doubt they could stand against the local equivalent of an Elemental Dragon - or possibly a Yozi, I'm not sure how the primordial forces of this world stack up against my own. But it is my job to do exactly that-" he taps his Caste Mark, still sparkling from his research project "-so I should attend."

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"Well, now I'm unutterably curious about the details of your abilities. Though of course I'll understand if you say they aren't my business."

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"I'm a Solar, and something of a jack-of-all-trades. It's harder to describe what I can't do than what I can. Though my generalization means I'm not as good at most things as a more focused example of the breed - I'd like to have my Circle here to help out, they usually help shore up some of my shortcomings. But I'm still a Solar; I can cut a mountain in half, I've killed gods, and I can certainly take down an overblown elemental spirit."

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"Goodness! That all sounds extremely exciting, though I hope killing anybody isn't a regular occurrence. I would love to see a demonstration, though not one with . . . unfortunate effects on the landscape."

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"If you just want a demonstration of the powers..."

Aril flares a few motes of peripheral Essence. A golden lion's head burns over his own, and he's surrounded by golden light. His face is as hard to look directly at as the midday sun, and his presence fills the room. He himself seems larger than life, as if he's somehow grown to (even more) superhuman size without, actually, changing his physical dimensions.

The lion's head, the aversion, and the illusion of size fade after a few seconds. The brilliant light remains.

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"Fascinating!" Rumbles Dr. Matoran, once he's caught his breath. "If you had shown that to any of the biologists downstairs I expect they would all have followed you into my office like a trail of Pysducklings, asking you questions until you told them to go away." He chuckles at his own mental image.

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"Perhaps I'll give them a demonstration, then! I'll have to do something to fill my time before our appointment with the cave."

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"I'm sure they'd appreciate it greatly! You're welcome to do that while I'm on the phone with the Elite Four, or you can wait around here if you prefer." He takes out his pocket device and starts dialing.

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Aril heads downstairs and back to the biologist, still glowing.

"Dr. Matoran tells me you might be interested in my abilities as a Solar. Also, I realized I never actually got your name."

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"I certainly am! And I'm Annette Karana. If you told me your name I'm afraid it's gone right out of my head."

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"Aril Kalen; my pleasure. My powers- well, I demonstrated to Dr. Matoran the basic expression of anima-" he repeats the display with the lion's head and the sunlight "-and many other things are within my power but I confess I don't really know what would be of interest to a biologist, he just said you'd be interested."

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"Well, how much do you know about how your powers work? Did you start out human and become a Solar, or were you born one? Are your powers a specific set of things, like Pokémon attacks, or more freeform?"

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"I was born a perfectly normal human, and like all Solars I ascended with a great act of heroism, in my case killing a raksha who had been kidnapping children from nearby villages. My powers are mostly expressed through specific Charms, which I have to learn by expending Integral Essence, which I gain through further acts of heroism. This leads to a predictable life cycle for most Solars, which I mostly adhere to except I'm better at it because I keep not dying."

He remembers something. "Oh, I knew I was forgetting something - one of my Charms lets me talk to Pokémon. Supposedly Aether Corp is going to be more interested in that, but it's probably worth mentioning."

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Annette is scribbling notes on a new page of her lab book. "What Charms do you know? What is Integral Essence and how does heroism produce it and what happens if you run out? Congratulations on the heroism by the way. The Solar lifecycle, is that escalating acts of heroism until you try something too dangerous and it kills you? And can you talk to my Vaporeon?" Her hand goes to the single Pokéball on her belt.

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"Too many to list, but notably I can cut mountains in half, fluently speak languages I never actually learned - such as this one - and cause people to fall in love with me through dance. Integral Essence is a physical manifestation of the approval of the Unconquered Sun, heroism produces it because the Unconquered Sun likes heroism, and nothing happens if you run out you just have to do some more heroics. Thank you. Yes. Also yes."

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"Causing people to fall in love with you through dance sounds . . . troublesome. But the other things are amazing! When you speak a language you don't know, whose vocabulary do you get? Do you learn it as a one-time thing or does it change every time you talk to a different speaker? If you went to Johto would your accent change?"

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"I've never had any complaints. When I speak a language I don't know, I'm actually speaking my own language, and it's translated by the grace of the Unconquered Sun. I don't actually know about the accent; I believe it's based on who I'm talking to, but I'm not sure."

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"That seems plausible; your accent sounds local to me." She lets her Vaporeon out of its ball; it weaves between her legs and nuzzles her ankles. "Awww, who's a good Biscuit? You are!" Annette says, reaching down to pet its head.

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"Hello Biscuit!" Aril says. "I can understand when you talk; is there anything you'd like to say to your trainer?"

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Biscuit wants treats! Does Aril have any? He knows Annette has some. Annette is the best, she has treats and headpats and a good lap for sleeping on, and when they're in the place that smells like her instead of the very clean-smelling place they're in now she has the ribbon on a stick!

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Aril has no treats, but he has headpats. "He doesn't have anything in particular to communicate, but he loves you very much. That's sort of the default for Pokémon, I think."

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Annette smiles and scoops Biscuit into her arms. "They're such good creatures. Some individuals and some species are more standoffish than others, but if you take good care of them they'll take care of you." Biscuit licks her face and she giggles.