Re: Cinnabon Isle Arc

[Isabelle]

Down in the pits, Buggy and Bubble man regrouped with team Mugiwara and they were met with overwhelming reception. Luffy was loud and obnoxious as ever as he yelled praises for the two, much to red-nose’s aggravation. Lopunny congratulated the two sweetly, while even Slowking gave them an impressed look despite his previous misgiving with the clown. Luffy pulled everyone in with one large stretched out hug, squishing them all together in one large pile which were met with groans from a good number of the group.

“Yeah! Let’s celebrate with finding some meat!” Yelled the straw hatted one. However Chief Emboar was quick to storm in.

“Hold on Strawhat!” He yelled. “You’re still our prisoner. Don’t even think of leaving this place!”

“Chief Emboar, may I interrupt?” Began Slowking. “These humans have well earned some R&R. They’ve participated in your competition, they’ve served part of Luffy’s punishment, I think some time at the fair is well due.”

“Well... I...” He began is response, but was quickly cut off as Slowking continued.

“Not to mention, what would the crowd, who are taking quite a liking to the team, think if you didn’t throw them a bone every now and then?”

Emboar was a taken aback by the cold hard logic of the royal advisor. Taking a moment to process this information, he finally gave his response.

“Well... Ok, you can have this shore-leave. But only with supervision.” He signals to several Pignite guards that were originally just loafing around. “Stick with this group, make sure they stay out of trouble. Got that?”

The guards nod while the Chief take off past them, squealing angrily under his breath over the fact that he just got served by the royal advisor.

“Well, you heard him. Go have some fun.”

Luffy’s smile spreads a mile wide, to the point of being infectious. He loops his arms around Buggy and Lopunny.

“Let’s find some meat!!” He yelled as he dashed out of the pit and out of the building. The pignite guards and the rest of Team Mugiwara barely can keep up with the lightning fast strawhat.


By the time everyone caught up with Luffy, Lopunny, and Buggy, he was in front of one of the stalls, scarfing down loads and loads of oddly shaped meat. Lopunny stands timidly beside him with a comical sweat drop running down her face. Buggy is still recovering from his head spinning. The Diggersby is getting more and more frustrated.

“Save some for everyone else you loaf!” the obese rabbit yelled, slapping Luffy several times with a spatula to no avail. The guards all grab onto the rubber man and attempt to pull him away from the stall. Soon, buggy straighten up and joins in the tug.

“Let up you flashy ass! You want to get us in trouble again!” Yelled red nose.

In all the commotion, Lopunny noticed across from the stall stood a strange Pokemon draped in a trench coat. She slowly makes her way to the mysterious mon. Upon noticing the bunny’s attention, he pulls out a plastic bag carrying a bright red fish swimming in circles in a small body of water.

“For a measly 100 om, I can sell this exotic water type pokemon.” he said in a raspy voice. “You can’t find it anywhere else. Are you interested little lady?”

She gave the fish a long look over. While she liked it’s beautiful colors, she wouldn’t know where to keep it even if she had bought it. Before she could respond however, Luffy suddenly appeared behind her, causing her to jolt, startled.

“Woah! Fish! Is it tasty!” Yelled the strawhat.

The mysterious pokemon was kind of surprised by the human’s response. He knew about sushi, but he didn’t think people ate the fish while it was still alive.

“Well, if you want to eat it, I don’t have any complaint with whatever you want to do it once you’ve bought it.”

“That’s a magikarp.” Stated Slowking plainly. “It’s actually quite common. It eventually evolves to become Garados, one of the sea dragons that protect the oceans around the island.”

“Woah! Sea king I fought on the way in was originally one of those things?” Luffy said excitedly while pointing at the fish.

“Yep, however, until then, it is quite useless.” He said to Luffy, but then turns to the mysterious Pokemon. “By the way, do you have a license to sell at this festival?”

“Oh umm...” The stranger suddenly took off in a random direction. One of the guards break from the group to chase after him.

Luffy is left scratching his head at the strange Pokemon’s behavior, but is suddenly bopped over the head by Buggy, who only just now caught up with him after he knocked over the whole group to rush over to the magikarp.

“You flashy idiot!” Yelled the clown.

[Michael]

Michael couldn’t help but take some time off from their original goal of finding Charmander’s parents to watch the next fight. One fight later Michael was pumped, throwing his free hand in the air and cheering with the crowd behind him when Team Mugiwara stood victorious once again.

Charmander on the other hand wasn’t really that into it. Fighting wasn’t really something he enjoyed watching, so he anxiously looked around for anything else to distract him. Was that a butterfly? Wow, would you look at that!

He would’ve scrambled after it but Michael held onto him and made sure such a thing didn’t happen, unfortunately yet fortunately for Charmander.

After the fight was over Michael huffed in disappointment. The fight was over, time to get back to responsibility. He looked down at Charmander for the necessary motivation, and turned confidently around once he’d remembered what he was doing this for.

“Alright Charmander, let’s get back to looking for your parents shall we?” Michael said to the little fire type, who simply nodded in response while looking wherever he pleased.

Michael looked solely through the stands, trying to find anybody who resembled the small pokémon in his arms.

Between fights many pokémon were up and about themselves, some leaving for whatever reason they may have or simply stretching their legs before the next match. As Michael casually walked through them he noticed a large amount of eyes looking his way, confused and curious, much to Michael’s dismay. ‘Just keep going… You’re not doing anything anyone else isn't, you’re fine’ he reassured himself mentally.

From their perspective it was perfectly reasonable to be confused about some random human walking around like he owned the place, holding a young pokémon in his arms as if they were his own child.
Eventually, after making one full round around the stands neither Michael nor Charmander had found anyone who might be Charmander’s parents. At about that time one of the curious onlookers decided to approach the odd pair.

“Um… Excuse me?” a feminine voice sounded just behind them. Turning around curiously, Michael found the voice was actually directed at them! The speaker in question was a small canine like pokémon with black fur and rings of yellow wrapped around their ears and tail, another yellow ring sitting smack dab in the middle of their forehead.

“What is… This whole thing that’s going on here?” The pokémon vaguely described, waving a paw in Michael and Charmander’s general direction.

“…Could you be more specific please?” Michael asked as politely as he could, blushing as he wondered what on earth he did wrong. Was it the way he dressed? Was he out of place? Then again, nobody else here was wearing any clothes at all… If it came to that, there was no way he was giving up his clothes.

“No, uh… Just… what’s going on with you and that Charmander?” The umbreon stated in a much more helpful level of detail.

“Oh! Oh, ok. Well…” Michael took a moment to choose his words carefully. One thing was for sure: he couldn’t mention how he’d gotten them both lost at sea. That was the most irresponsible thing he’d ever done in his entire life and nobody could ever know. ”I’m trying to help him find his parents. If found him out by the beach alone, so I’m helping him find his way home. I hoped his parents would be here.”
“What? Really?” The umbreon responded, not quite trusting the human’s story. Looking to get the truth straight from the source she looked up at Charmander, asking him in a motherly tone “Is this human telling the truth? Don’t worry, you can tell me” and leaning in to listen to his response.

The umbreon was obviously good with kids, as Charmander trusted her immediately. “Yup!” He happily responded. “We’re gonna find my mama and papa!”

The umbreon was taken back by how much trust Charmander had put into this human. Not only that, but when she looked up she caught a smile on the human’s face. Not one of malicious intent, but of happiness at seeing the young pokémon so positive.

Some nearby pokémon were taken back as well, eyes widened and some with their mouth’s agape. Maybe they were wrong about humans… This human, and Team Mugiwara… They were paving the way for a change in the eyes of the pokémon of Cinnabon Island. No wait, I mean Cinnabar. It’s Cinnabar, not Cinnabon. Cinnabar Island.

“So you really are… Wow.” The umbreon said in near disbelief. “I-Is there any way I could help?”
Before Michael could respond, another pokémon nearby suddenly butted in.

“I could help! Have you put anything on the dataverse about it? I could do that!” This new pokémon was an aipom, waving around their dataverse device eager to help.

“I haven’t actually. …What is that exactly?” Michael asked, unfortunately uneducated in such things due to his unwise decision of not asking any questions early on.

“The dataverse? You don’t know what the dataverse is? Well, friend, allow me to educated you…” The aipom then went into a very lengthy explanation of absolutely everything about the dataverse, from features to celebrities that made Michael feel as if he were caught in an unending informative limbo which he would never escape.

“Alright, you miss anything? Want me to say that all again?”

“No no, no please, I’m good!” Michael hurriedly said. “Let’s go ahead and post that thing.” He had actually missed most of what the aipom has said, but didn't want to sit through all that again. He'd figure it out on his own later.

“Ok then, smile for the camera!~” The aipom took a photo of Charmander, then after a few taps on their phone shouted “There, all done!”

“Thanks.” Michael said with a grateful smile, a little disconcerted by the large crowd that had somehow formed around him without him noticing. They all seemed very curious about their situation, trying to get good looks at Charmander and him without getting too awkwardly close. A few even took pictures.

“Alright, well… Think I’m gonna go look around at that festival you were all talking about.” Michael says, mostly wanting to get away from the crowd. “I’ll get a dataverse thing to keep you all updated. See you all around!”

And with that Michael headed off, Charmander looking back and waving as he said “Bye bye!” to the crowd, some waving back and smiling, a couple curious pokémon managing to sneak along unnoticed just so they could see where this would go.

A short walk later led the two into yet more crowds of pokémon, walking around, shopping at stalls, and conversing with friends.

Hoping no more curious pokémon would approach him and make him go through everything he’d just gone through again Michael merged seamlessly with the crowd, only a few eyes turning to look at them before going about their business.

While wandering and looking around he spotted a large crowd, all gathered around what Michael managed to make out as the entirety of Team Mugiwara! They seemed to be having a problem with the straw hat one eating too much meat or something, and the clown one and a few pokémon he didn't recognize were futilely attempting to pull him away from it.

After taking a moment to look through the crowd and again finding nothing, Michael decided to head off and try to find a dataverse device to purchase so he could actually see how people responded to Aipom’s message.

He managed to pick himself up a Pikachu themed one, complete with a stylus for easier touch screen use. According to the pokémon selling it, it even had an art program! Neat!

He took a moment to fiddle around with it, doodling, checking out twitter, blogs, videos, and even some things he will forever regret reading before looking for Aipom’s twitter post.

He had a surprisingly large following, and many people and pokémon alike had already responded to it. Most were people just replying “oh no!” or “that’s terrible! Poor thing” among other things, but others were just downright horrible. Out of all of these however, Michael was able to pick up one that lead to some legitimate progress. A claimed friend of Charmander’s family, she stated that the entire family had been missing for nearly a week now.

Missing. For a week.

Things just got a bit more complicated.

[Monkey D. Luffy]

Blee-da-bweep deet!

Blee-da-bweep deet!

Blee-da-bweep deet!

"Ah? Wuzzat? Anyone else hear that?" Straw Hat queried, gobbling remnants of scarcely-chewed meat down his elastic gullet. Extending a gloved digit, Bubble Man pointed at his daffy cohort's cardigan. Probing his crum-glittered garments, the rubber pirate brandished a mobile dataverse device. In that very instance, a legion of flatscreen monitors scattered about the bazaar flickered alight, a shadow-veiled unknown seated with his back to the camera.

Click!

"Oi, Luffy here! Who is it?" The young buccaneer declared after tapping the confirmation key blinking upon the console's central hub. There was ill reply from the opposing line aside from deafened atonal fuzz, soliciting Luffy to lightly bat the screen with his knuckle, assuming the apparatus defective. Moments thereafter, the partition sprung to life with a visual display mimicking that of all encircling telecasts.

* * * * * *

"Are you a Prime? Enticed by survival games? Do you enjoy blood-soaked, carnage-laden, bomb-bustling island retreats? Come one, come all, but come only those blessed with a death wish. Think you wield what it takes to persevere against impossible odds? Do you? Are you irrefutably certain?"

"If the answer is yes, then I herald you into the critically acclaimed, no-holds-barred campaign of havoc and betrayal. Sounds too good to be true, right?! I assure you this is no hoax, nor a chummy competition to test your mettle."

~DANTE'S ABYSS~

"Recognize the name? If so, you've no doubt already made your decision one way or another, based upon panic-induced fear of failure or the avidity of moxie-fueled triumph! We've no tolerance for dastardly do-gooders or meek pantywaists who're soft around the edges. If the mere notion of termination makes you wet your nickers, stay your pansy ass home."

FAME. GLORY. RICHES. CONQUEST. DRAMA. ERUDITION.

"Whatever your fancy, surely a victorious fate shall lavish you in whichever recompense you seek. Some participate for spoils, others for information only high level big-wigs can acquire, and then there're those whom simply crave the thrill of the hunt."

"Ask yourself, first and foremost, does what you desire warrant a life-risking gamble? I'm willing to bet it does! If you concur, search out any of our myriad registry tents located near you. I look forward to your attendance!"

* * * * * *

Bzzzt.

In unison, the screens dimmed to black, no doubt marooning viewers trapped within a fuddled state of ambivalence, spattered by unstifled quandaries. "The flashy hell was that?!" Buggy sprung the question vexing everyone in proximity, throwing both hands out to emphasize his duress. "That cheeky bastard really expects a turnout from some shady broadcast? You'd have to be a total idiot to partic–"

"YOSHHH!! LET'S GO THERE!!" Luffy thunderously interjected, frantically scanning the area for an aforementioned enrollment booth. Spotting a distinctively haughty marquee, he prepped to jet forth toward the prospecting attendant, however the rubber pirate's imbecilic elation was quelled by a hearty bonk to the head.

"Can it, rubber brain! Your idiocy is boundless, I swear! We know next to nothing of this flashy event and ya' just want to storm into some fishy island like moths to a flame?! We got other engagements to consider!" An irate Red Nose comically scolded with repeated, albeit ineffectual conks to the captain's dome. Though his tirade was hampered by an embracing palm to the shoulder.

"It's futile, you know better than any other when he's made up his mind it's impossible to talk him out of it, sensibly or otherwise," Bubble Man counseled, sighing deeply. His swashbuckling time with the group thus far had proven fruitful; the aquabot surmised it better to just go with the flow, wherever the tide may wash them.

"B-but Luffy, the festival! We vowed to compete as a team did we not? Surely you don't want to abandon everything we've accomplished? And in case you forgot, Emboar would never just let us 'up and at 'em' to some far-off land . . ." Lopunny petitioned in blighted hopes of Straw Hat thinking rationally, clasping both mitts at her chest to pantomime prayer.

"Loplop is right, Lulu! Let's all calm down and pretend we never even saw that message, 'kay?" Flabébé appended the crew's incessant pleading, perched upon the youth's cherished headwear. Even the socially reticent Kilaka poked her noggin' out from Buggy's cap to snarl in protest.

"You guys . . . you heard what the mystery man said, right?" Luffy urged to quash the onslaught of gripe n' grouse. "Information. We can all, just maybe, find answers. What is this loopy world? Why the heck were we all brought here? Most importantly, what the frick happened to my damn crew?!" Straw Hat reproached with inquisition, sharpening both eyes with liberal resolve that pierced his comrades' hearts.

Caressing his chin, Slowking hypothesized an expansive moment while the others squabbled amongst themselves. Arriving at infallible credence, the royal advisor stepped forward, jolting the crew at attention. "Enough bellyaching, you louts. Rubberneck poses a point of reason, for once, that mustn't be cast to the wayside. Even considering my copious knowledge, I've yet to stumble upon merited affirmation regarding this wondrous macrocosm. A sparse occasion such as this may provide significant cognizance."

"Kahaha, see? I've got this! Everyone else stay here and continue without me, I'll come back in time to finish the competition, and then we'll see where the wind takes us!" Straw Hat ordained, stroking a saddened Flabébé on the chin as solace. While hesitant, the gang couldn't help but agree with Slowking's consultation, unanimously conceding with a reluctant nod.

"Splendid, it is settled. Be warned, Luffy, as this event will surely attract miscreants of the most dangerous kind. If you harbor any hopes of survival, come closer," The shell-crowned Pokemon gestured with an inviting wave. Ever curios, Straw Hat complied, trekking over to close the distance as Slowking stepped behind the rubber pirate and swiftly struck him at the rear of his neck with a shimmering paw.

Fwip!

"Oi! What was that helmet head?! Don't just . . . Wha? I . . . feel fuzzy . . . You, what'd you do?" Suddenly Luffy's visage flushed with a spectrum of saturated energy, thickening the surrounding air as luminous omnilium gushed through his bulging veins before ultimately subsiding.

Clearing his throat, the pink psionic offered a lengthy exposé, "By eroding the sealed 'cork' of your neural network via psionic stimulation, I've awakened a lattice of abilities held dormant by untapped Omnilium. I believe you referred to it earlier as "Haki." You should now possess the efficacy to . . . invoke. . . awwwnnn . . ."

Thwack!

"Wake up bafoon!" Buggy comically swatted the crowned narcoleptic across the back of his conch, whom alarmingly snapped back from a brief slumber and purged an audible fart in shock. ". . . You filthy bastard."

Sated by mutual agreement and galvanized spirit, Luffy shuffled over to the gaudy sign-up tent after parting from the group with pleasant graces. This would make for the second instance in a matter of days that the pirate captain brashly enlisted in a random, potentially perilous endeavor.

Peering around the corner of a scantily-lit corridor, Zoroark scouted from the shadows. Acting out espionage in secrecy, he loosed a menacing snarl sprinkled with zeal.

Kekekeke, a fortuitous opportunity has presented itself. Fortunate for me, unlucky for you, little homo-sapien, the lupine pokemon chuckled with bated breath as he gazed into an extravagant bottle housing eerily clouded, ebony fluid. Tearing away the restrictive layers of your mind was a bonehead move on that shithead advisor's part, but I'll be sure to thank him for it later.

Flicking away the cap with a clawed finger, Zoroark tilted it bottom-side-up, allowing the murky ooze to spill out upon the ground, congregating into a pool of bizarre goop as black as diablo's feces. Unbeknownst to Straw Hat, it slimily crept over near the youth's planted sandals and snaked up his rubbery legs.

There, I've done as requested sir Delphox. Finding a suitable candidate for the leeching fragment of Darkrai's essence to possess is a confirmed success. Kekeke, now we wait . . .

"Well hello there, young man!" A perky female welcomed with balmy pitch, wielding a clipboard in front of her globular bust. "First thing's first. By signing these documents, you rescind the company from any and all harm that may, and by the looks of it, will befall you during proceeding events. I just need your name and a few personal details about yourself! Teehee!" Handing off a thicket of papers, the bootylicious pencil-pusher dawdled quietly with bogus hospitality. Shrugging apathetically, Luffy scribbled down what he assumed to make sense.

After dotting his last line, the woman escorted him into the ritzy tent, beyond which hovered a radiant eddy of dazzling light held afloat by an encompassing golden frame. Taking one last moment to turn and wave farewell to his nakama, Luffy leapt through, unfazed by the mystery of what may await him on the other side . . .

[Isabelle]

As Lopunny watched her commander run for the Dante’s Abyss registration booth, she began to spiral bit in depression. She was finally getting used to this group and they were only down by one. She knew he said he’d be back but she couldn’t help feeling a bit doubtful. She looked towards her companions, and started to wonder if they would all start disappearing too. Maybe they’d drift away from her, much as her trainer did.

Her imagination sparked and soon the scene played out in her head. One by one, her teammates left her side. She saw Buggy turn away in disgust and walk away. Bubbleman had such sorrow in his eyes as he left, as if he was disappointed at her weakness. Slowking on the other didn’t even look like he cared, just pretended not to notice her. She was suddenly alone, kneeling in the dirt, sobbing to herself quietly. Soon, the crowd of pedestrians swallowed her crew, an entire town of Lopunnies.

Then it suddenly hit her.

“This… this is Mimilop!” She yelled in disbelief, looking at the crowds swarming around her. Lopunnies in business suits, Lopunnies in dresses, some were gossiping, some were shopping, some were talking on their cell phones. “This is the town of Mimilop! When did I enter the Astral Realm?”

Suddenly, the sun was blocked out. She turned to look and a dark shadow was hovering over her, one with a familiar wicked and cruel smile and blood red eyes. She was frozen in terror as its form enveloped her, and those eyes closed in, ever piercing into the very essence of her soul. As the light left her, she could only whimper out the beast’s name.

“Gengar…” Her voice trailed off into silence.


---


“Hey! Long ears! Wake up!” Her eyes fluttered open, her vision began to focus. She felt the dirt pressing against her back, telling her that she had fallen over in light of her vision. Eventually, the visage of her clown companion blurred out into existence in front of her. Her face was went with tears, which became much more apparent as sense eventually came back to her. Suddenly, the face of Slowking appeared in her sight.

“You took a nasty fall there. What happened?” The king asked.

Lopunny thought hard on what to tell them. She feared that if she told them the truth, that a ghost of someone she slain in the Omniverse was haunting her nightmares, they’d think she was crazy. She thought up the best lie she could muster at that moment.

“I was feeling light headed and I guess I passed out.” She nearly slapped herself with how bad that lie was.

Bubbleman moved into view and grabbed onto her delicate arms, lifting her to her feet.

“You don’t have to tell us what happened if you don’t want to.” Bubble Man stated calmly, but a little concerned. “But I hope you would trust us enough tell us eventually. We only worry of your safety.”

Lopunny looked away in shame. She couldn’t bring herself to discuss it just yet.

“It’s not that I don’t trust you, I just… I’ll tell you some other time, I’m a bit mixed up inside right now.” Bubbleman nodded in response. “I should go take a walk alone. I need to get my head straight.”

“Alright Lopunny. Feel free to come to us if you need anything.” Bubbleman responded in comfort.

The bunny girl wandered off in a random direction, her head tilted down to look more towards the dirt than what was ahead. The group watched her for a bit as she walked away, still somewhat concerned. One of the guards turned to another.

“Shouldn’t one of us follow her?” He asked.
“Eh, I don’t care.” Stated the other.

[Michael]

Michael clicked off the Pikachu themed dataverse device and pocketed it, shocked into momentary silence. Missing for a week. He hadn’t really given any thought to… Something like this happening. He definitely wasn’t mentally prepared. He pushed it to the back of his mind though. Worrying about the problem getting bigger; MUCH bigger in fact, wasn’t going to solve it. It’s not like he could just give up!
Michael took in a deep breath and sighed, calming himself down. Charmander, sensing Michael’s poorly hidden anxiety, buried his face in Michael’s coat in an attempt to escape the negative feelings hovering around them.

Noticing this, Michael attempted to reassure Charmander and let him know that everything was alright. Charmander didn’t seem like he completely bought it, but calmed down and looked up to Michael anyways.

“There we go.” Michael said mostly to himself, smiling at the little pokémon in his arms. Charmander smiled back.

Now… Where to start looking now, Michael thought to himself. The most obvious place to start looking was Charmander himself, it occurred to him. There was a good chance he was there when… whatever happened ended up happening. Recalling previous events where Charmander burst into tears whenever he tried to pry too much, Michael almost let a frown leak out as he wondered how he’d go about getting the information they needed.

Going by his gut, Michael walked over to a less crowded area of the festival and sat down on a convenient bench, Charmander looking up to him in curiosity and wondering what they were doing.
“Charmander…” Michael put as delicately as he could “I know you don’t like thinking about… What happened with you and your parents, but please understand that it’s very important what happened then.”

Charmander’s expression saddened. Either he knew where this was going, or he didn’t like even thinking about thinking of what happened.

“Charmander, please… I need you to tell me what happened to you, and to your parents.” His question was as general as he could make it, as really he had no idea what to ask about specifically. Hopefully what Charmander could tell him would be enough to go off of.

From Michael’s perspective it was almost as if the little fire type understood. He looked away and seemed lost in thought, eyes idly glancing around at their surroundings, although the crestfallen gaze still lingered there.

Charmander had decided to try his best to recount what had happened, but as he tried to recall those events it proved to be easier said than done for the little pokémon. The memories were too painful, so he avoided them, yet he knew he had to remember them so he went back to try again and only to flee from the pain the memories induced.

Eventually he felt he had to say something, but realized he’d forgotten the initial question. He gave a random related answer in hopes that it would be what Michael was looking for, fighting back tears from his not so cheerful trip down memory lane.

“Th- The one who was other pokémon, the big one with claws… He- I-…” He whimpered, and Michael decided that was good enough.

“That’s fine Charmander, you can stop now.” Michael said, full of guilt at making the little kid relive what were definitely some harrowing memories.

Charmander clung to Michael’s chest, tears falling but without any sobs accompanying them. Michael held him close as he got up from the bench, believing and hoping that he had enough information to go on. He definitely didn’t want to do that again.

So, Big claws, is also other pokémon. His first guess is shapeshifter. Shapeshifter with big claws. Might not actually have big claws in their base form, so pretty much just shapeshifter.

Progress!

[Isabelle]

Lopunny was walking solemnly alone. She knew the best course of action was to find Medicham and tell him that Gengar was still haunting her. He’d probably have the best words to say right now, probably one that would comfort her. However, she didn’t want that comfort right now. She wore her depression on her sleeve, it didn’t necessarily feel good, but her suffering helped make her feel a bit more complete.

Yeah, “completeness” is a feeling she’s been lacking in for a long time. She wished she could blame it all on the Omniverse, but she knew this has been going on a lot longer. Her feelings betray her. She felt bad at her own selfishness on top of everything too.

So she continued her walk of shame and misery, oblivious of the happy and excited pokemon passing by her on a regular basis. Eventually, she walked to a more vacant part of the fair. The booths out here were mostly empty, with the only ones standing being dirty junkie carnival games that were most likely rigged. The seclusion of the area gave her relief, thinking her own sorrows would bring harm to the ones around her.

However, being away from the crowds was the last thing that was going to help her now.

“My, aren’t you a pretty one?”

She shot her head in the direction of the voice. It was a purple creature standing on two legs, a red cone on top of his head. He was clanking his giant claws together, grinning evilly at her. The look on his face gave her shivers. She wasn’t sure if the chill in the air was out of fear or if it was his special ability.

“Who are you?” She asked nervously.

“Name’s Weavile.” He said, two figures appearing beside him. One was a pointy-eared creature with gemstone eyes, and the other was giant skunk with a body length tail. “And meet my crew, Sableye and Skuntank”

The two nodded in unison, as if agreeing with every word their leader was saying. Lopunny started to feel unsafe around these three. Adrenaline pumped as her feelings of grief were quickly replaced by her need to survive.

“I think I’ll be going now.” She said, she motioned to dash in the opposite direction, but Weavile stepped in her way.

“Where do you think you’re going?” He said, as Skuntank and Sableye positioned themselves behind her, the latter gave off a wicked laugh. “Stay with us, we could make some beautiful music together. Afterall, we’re in the same egg groups.”

She didn’t quite know what that meant, but she didn’t like the way these three were closing in on her. With a kick of her feet, she dash passed the Weavile so fast that he barely even saw her move. Before he knew it, she was behind him.

“Uh yeah, please don’t surround me like that, I’m not good with crowds to begin with…” She said, laughing awkwardly. “And not sure what you want to do with me, but not interested…”

Weavile was completely thrown off by this. He was out of words for what he had just seen. Instead, he rushes at her, claws extended, reaching for her throat. She didn’t need her senses to see such an obvious attack coming, dodged out of the way and delivered a kick into the back of his head, planting him face first into the ground.

“Why are you doing this? Why… I don’t get you..” She said, baffled at the clawed one’s actions.

“What’s going on here?” A voice rang out above the group. The three gangsters looked up towards the figure, and upon seeing her, they scuttled to run off, terror in their eyes from the person they just spotted. Lopunny looked up at the person quickly approaching her. She recognized her as a Gardevoir, but she didn’t look like any Gardevoir she had ever seen. Her skirt was really short, as if she were wearing the human equivalent of a mini-skirt. She was wearing a tank top with a logo on it that read “Guu’d vs. Evil.” She even had a tattoo on her left shoulder that depicted a riolu with the letters “BFF” inscribed under it

Lopunny felt that chill down her spine again. She tried to speak, but a lump was in her throat. Thankfully, the Gardevoir was quick to break the ice herself.

“They won’t bother you anymore.” She said. “Not that you didn’t have it handled, I just thought I’d save you the trouble.”

She tried so hard to say something, but she couldn’t conjure the words.

“Well, let’s get you out of this part of fair, this is no place for a bunny. Even one as tough as you!”

[Michael]

After a bit of thinking, Michael decided on his next plan of action. First, look through the festival again. If anyone had particularly big claws, he’d point them out to Charmander, and see if they were the one. If not, they’d continue onwards. If the festival proved fruitless, they’d do another look through the coliseum itself. Michael got the feeling they’d have to explore more than just the stands this time, and just hoped it wouldn’t be too hard when they get to that point. If they couldn’t find their shapeshifter there either, then… Michael would make another plan at that point. That is, if they don’t get caught lurking around in areas they’re not allowed.

…Or he could just explain the situation to the guards, the thought suddenly occurs to Michael. Yeah, that’s actually a much better plan of action. With Charmander in hand, Michael stands up to go find a guard so that the people who’re meant to deal with these kinds of things could do their jobs.

“Oh, you there!” A voice suddenly sounded from behind the pair, and Michael turned to find a pink, egg shaped pokémon hurrying towards them. Michael recognized her as the coliseum’s head… nurse thing from his quick adventure through the dataverse not too long ago. He didn’t quite remember the term.

“I believe I recognize you from Aipom’s twitter post. Am I correct?” Mostly confused, Michael nodded. He didn’t see any reason not to trust her yet, seeing as she was a head nurse probably and all. Though why she would be running around out here and not helping patch up injured coliseum fighters eluded him.

“Splendid! Come with me, then. We at the coliseum can take over from here; you needn’t trouble yourself any longer.”

“Oh, thank you.” Blissey held out her arms as if expecting him to hand Charmander over, but for now he passively refused. He began walking to signal his intent, and the three of them started towards… wherever Blissey was taking them. Michael wasn’t really sure where the coliseum was, but he assumed that’s where they were headed.

A while of walking later, Michael felt a little uneasy. He knew he felt unnecessarily uneasy at times, he remembered that for some reason, but reasoned as long as he didn’t act like an idiot there was no reason he couldn’t raise his guard a little. He kept his outward demeanor as casual as he could while bracing himself for any unexpected situations, eyes flitting about in case anything suspicious was going on nearby.

Wait… It suddenly occurred to Michael that Blissey had vanished. How had he not noticed tha-?
THUD.

One well-placed hit to the back of the skull was all it took to send Michael to the ground, unconscious. Charmander fell from his arms, whimpering from the sudden, painful meeting with the stone floor.

Rolling over, the child stared right up into the face that haunted his nightmares chuckling in amusement. Before Charmander could get out a scream a clawed paw clamped over his mouth, the other roughly yanking him from the ground.

“Kekeke… Stupid humans; so easy to fool, so easy defeat.” Zoroark cackled as he stole the small orange bundle away into the shadows, muffled screams soon vanishing into silence.

Michael lay very unconscious on the cold ground far from the crowds of the festival, left behind like forgotten trash.

He wasn’t going to be happy when he woke up.

[Isabelle]

The Gardevoir held tightly on Lopunny’s paw as she guided her towards a more populated part of the fair. The bunny couldn’t help but feel a bit more congested. It didn’t feel quite like fear, maybe some sort of intense nervousness. Either way, her overwhelming emotions kept her from objecting. Even to the point that event he precense of others was the least of her concerns right now.

Eventually, they were back where the booths were well maintained and the main crowds had congregated. The Gardevoir turned towards he and gained eye contact. The bunny could feel herself burning out at her glare.

“You’re all good. Much safer down here!”

“T-thank you” she spat out. “I-I mean, you saved me from those bad guys. They seemed to want to hurt me for some reason.”

“Oh, I’m pretty sure they were planning to do more that hurt you.” She said bluntly. Lopunny recoiled in surprise as he mind raced to piece together what were those pokemon planning to do. She got nothing. “But no need to thank me. Like I said, you had the situation handled anyways.”

The bunny stepped aside and bowed politely.

“My name is Lopunny.”

“That’s your species. What’s your name?” The Gardevoir said confrontationally. The bunny, taken aback, responds.

“I don’t have any other name but Lopunny.”

“Well that won’t do! You’re more than just a Lopunny now, you need a name!”

“I um…” She wracked her brain, thinking hard. She remembered, someone once called her something. A young ninja boy not to long ago gave her a name. She peeked over and saw that her company was waiting patiently with a smile on her face. Thoughts were bouncing around in her head as she struggled to remember. Suddenly, it came to her. “Lola! My name is Lola.”

“Well, Lola, you can call me Grace!” She reaches out a flimsy hand and shakes one of her paws. “It’s to pleasure to meet you.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet your too, Grace.”

“Ah, I see you two have met.”

Lopunny was shocked to find that her master, Medicham, was standing amongst them. She wasn’t sure how he managed to sneak up to them without her noticing. Grace, however, was not phased by the sudden intrusion.

“Ah, Medicham. I’m guessing the young one is the student you were talking about before.” Grace said casually. “Kind of figured I had stumbled onto her.”

“I’m older than master…” Lopunny said under her breath to deaf ears.

“As sharp as ever.” He said, jovially moving to also shake Grace’s hand. Lola decided some follow up questions were in order.

“How do you know Grace, master?” She asked, but the Gardevoir interrupted before he could answer.

“Master? Thought you don’t require your students to call you that anymore.” She said, giggling. Medicham shot Grace a glance that could kill.

“I don’t, in fact, I taught against it. Doesn’t stop her from trying.” Give Grace one more glare as she continued to laugh, then quickly shifting his attention to Lopunny. “Grace is rather famous amongst the Pokemon in the Omniverse. She’s know as the Pokemon Ronin.”

“The Pokemon Ronin?” Lopunny inquired, but Grace was quick to pick up the explanation.

“In my original universe I made a willing choice never to call a human my master. Even as all my friends eventually got caught, I moved on, working against the system and then learning from it. It’s lonely, but rewarding. That’s how I got my title.”

“Wow.” The bunny’s eyes shimmered at the concept. “I couldn’t understand what that’s like, I was hatched into captivity.”

“But you do know.” Medicham butted in. “You felt what it’s like when you first came to the Omniverse.”

“Oh… umm…” He got her there.

[Monkey D. Luffy]

Early that morning, as the glaring sphere crept over the horizon, it was announced that the festival would experience a brief intermission. Such was necessary in order to mend the damaged barricades of the arena, compliments of Luffy's earth-shattering blitz on Hariyama. The daftly daffy captain displayed an uncanny level of strength one could never foresee a sprig of a man might possess.

Drawing a crowd to the dainty competitive gymnasium fixed just to the colosseum's flank, a Junior Division of feisty little tykes was established as a special treat to compensate.

Jetting things off in the first match was the adorably vigorous Timburr flitting toe-to-toe with the preciously tenacious Oshawot. The petit punch-off was timely, yet entertaining. Timburr's coveted log clashed against Oshawott's razor-edged scalchop, shattering both in the fender-bender of spirits. The pint-sized pugilists thus resorted to fisticuffs, wearing one another down, devoid signs of submission.

Channeling everything they had left into a single blow of finality, the duo charged in.

Kafwam!

With a flash, the fiery match snuffed out. Both valiant juniors lye limp against the soot. Deemed a double knock-out, the two were unable to continue, and were accordingly eliminated. Wrought with heightened spirits, the crowd anticipated the participants that follow, as they had quite a duke to measure up to.

******

"Ta' hell with that flashy gummy monkey! Jumping ship and leaving us to deal with crap he started in the first damn place!" Buggy groaned and groused with incessant bellyaching as the gang slogged away from the junior division's peewee colosseum fixed upon the main arena's flank.

With their elected leader off to pursue his own, arguably selfish endeavors, the team morale was at an all time low now that Lopunny had forsaken them and skedaddled off.

"Plug your flapper already, red nose," Slowking crudely interjected, having listened to the star clown's tirade for long enough. "Sir Monkey vowed to return to us, and as his comrade one would assume you garnered faith in the young man.

"Ergh! Shaddap conch head! Only reason I'm traveling with that rubber brain is for lack of options right now!" The star clown miffed in retort, shaking a fist at the advisor. " . . . AND WHAT WAS THAT ABOUT MY NOSE?!"

B-brrrrm, B-brrrm!

B-brrrrm, B-brrrm!

Their catty engagement was corked as a resounding blowhorn bellowed out from the residential district, soliciting an alarmed Slowking to snap his attention toward the source.

"H-hey, what the heck does that sound mean?" Bubble Man requested, mimicking the psionic pokemon's motion. Floating to the group's forefront, Flabébe washed over with a twinge of marvel. Her eyes glued to the cerulean sky above, the flower-drifting tyke plunged into a state of shock. Beaming rays of sunlight regressed into casting shadows from what could only be described as a prolific mass gliding over the township.

"Unprecedented . . . to venture down from the noble kingdom. This moment has not transgressed in over a decade!" The advisor murmured beneath bated breath, provoking his companions to hazard further investigation. Taking a closer look, Buggy noted that it was not simply a hovering mass, but a hoard of dozens of dragons!

"It's . . . it's the . . . " Flabébe struggled to formulate words with nervously rattling lips.

Slowking lowered his countenance into a sharpened visage.

"It's the Royal King and Queen of Cinnabar Island!"

Requires sever editing, will be done very soon.

[Michael]

Michael groaned in pain and discomfort as consciousness began to return to him, a dull throbbing making itself known where he was struck in the back of the head. He pulled himself up to his knees, momentarily confused. He couldn’t quite recall what’d just happened to him. Then he realized something important.

Charmander wasn’t there.

“Charmander?” He called out at first; then again he called out for Charmander, growing louder as the truth became obvious to him.

“Oh no… Oh god no…” Michael had messed up. He messed up bad. Now Charmander was gone, taken to god knows where where god knows what’s going to happen to him. The implications of this hit him like a tidal wave of guilt and worry, quite nearly making him fall to the ground again.

“No… I can’t just wallow here… I need to do something about this.” Michael thought aloud to himself, urging himself back up to his feet. But… what could he do?

Oh yeah. Tell the authorities.

Michael took a few deep breaths, calming himself down and focusing on the task at hand before setting off back to the festival to find some guards.

Then, the horns signaling the arrival of royalty sounded off, urging Michael and many others to turn to the sky. Citizen’s mouths were agape in awe of what they never thought they’d see. Michael found himself awestruck as well, though not for the sight of royalty a human would normally never have the chance to ever witness. The horde of dragons that accompanied said royalty were more than enough to get Michael open mouthed and staring at the ensemble.

Michael did not stay to gape for long though; he had important things to be doing. Shaking his head Michael turned from the royal escort and continued on his way to hopefully some guards.

As he continued walking and not finding any security forces, Michael began to notice just how awe struck the pokémon of the festival were. Not one had turned to look at him strangely as they had been prone to do under most circumstances, and by their expressions one might assume they were looking upon a god descending from the heavens.

Michael stopped walking. A sense that he may be causing disrespect to these obviously powerful figures joining alongside the urge to find a guard or two, and Michael was conflicted. Stay and avoid disrespecting these obviously important pokémon, or keep on the trail to find charmander?

Thinking the word charmander was all it took for Michael to choose. Michael hardened his expression and set off again, determined to see his goal through. He continued on with a sense of fear at what these unknown powers might think of him, but that didn’t matter. Charmander mattered. His family mattered.

…Then, out of nowhere, a slimy hand lunged out and grabbed Michael’s arm, halting his movement. Surprise and mild disgust jolted through Michael’s body like a sudden shock, breaking him from his determined movement to an uncertain destination. He turned around, facing a tall, round bodied two legged slug esque dragon like pokémon who looked at Michael as if he were insane.

“What do you think you’re doing??? The King and Queen of Cinnabar Island itself are coming!”
Michael, caught off guard, wasn’t quick enough to actually say anything but stutter in response before the goodra continued on.

“You need to bow!!! Bow, bow quick, here they come!” The goodra herself had bowed down as she finished talking, her voice gradually lowering to a shouting whisper, quickly forcing Michael’s head down with her until he was at a kneeling position. He got one good look at the crowed around them and they had already cleared an open path for the apparent royalty to land, and they’d already bowed while he and the goodra were talking. Considering how much Michael realized he wasn’t paying attention, they might have already even bowed before then.

At that point Michael ran out of time to think about anything else; the King and Queen of Cinnabar Island had arrived.