Chapel Matryoshka

It's sunset.

You might be religious. You're probably not; let's face it, the reigning opinion of this land is that the Almighty Gods are just pokémon. Awesome, rare, fantastic pokémon, but, in the end, pokémon just like all the others. Is this true? Dunno. It apparently didn't stop whoever made this little church you've happened upon.

It's a spindly thing, all stained glass and curving iron. It sits on a little hill, looking almost like an angular, benevolent spider with a double door. You decide to approach, I don't know exactly why. Maybe you are religious, and tired of your halfhearted little prayers on the road. Or maybe (you're walking up the steps) you're interested in the architecture. More likely you want to find any rare pokémon and, failing that, steal a chair. You dirty thief, you.

The door is in front of you now. It's black iron, but so much of the door is dominated by colorful glass that you don't really notice that first aspect. This is the case with much of the outside of the building; the hundreds of windowpanes, not neon or rainbow or even really specifically pastel in color, nevertheless cover the modest chapel with a flowing, subtle range of colors, spread over a multitude of little scenes featuring pokémon-human harmony. It's quite enchanting, rather like a hand-drawn, glass picture-book that's been splayed across a house of worship. Or something. Don't break it.

You tentatively (or brazenly, or nakedly, whatever) open the chapel doors. The slide, not all that smoothly, but with the small amount of frictionlessness that can be expected from most decent doors. They close behind you with a little click and a swirl of dust sent up around you. Do you have allergies? Well, it might not be much of a problem, as the dust is only very lightly spread about, and only really seems to have settled on the little pews up front and the many candles about.

You might consider lighting said candles, but it's not particularly necessary right now. The setting sun glares through the higher-up windows and sets what is very nearly an orange spotlight on– what's this now? At the very front of the small chapel, arranged in a square, are four stained-glass panes. Starting from the bottom left and going clockwise:

One is a sharp blue, and it reflects very little; despite being glass, it doesn't show much besides the bloated, navy designs inscribed upon it.
The next is umber and, while more reflective than the last, gives only murky reflections; its tan images wrap around each other in a mass.
After that comes one the same sunset-orange as the current lighting; its reflections are blindingly white and often obscure the writhing yellow characters upon it from your view.
The last glass pane is white, and reflects things with surprising clarity; through these, one can see swirled yellow shapes.

You have to get closer to see anymore, but go ahead and leave if you want!

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Welcome to the Chapel Matryoshka. Gods know what you'll find, but they won't tell. So go and find out yourself!

Rules:
◘ You must roleplay in order to get anywhere in this zone. I may ignore you completely or kill you spectacularly if you don't.
◘ Posts don't need to be long, but quality is key. Don't just type 'I look for rare pokémon'.
◘ Relatedly, I'll be responding in second-person. You can use whatever tense you want, but keep this in mind.
◘ You may take a single pokémon with you.
◘ Currently, this zone is free-of-charge.

Have fun.

(Sweet Jesus I hope I don't die. I'll bring my Crobat along for this one.)

A traveling Trainer, desperate for a place to sleep, found the chapel. He decided it was better than nothing, and entered. He then noticed the strange glass panes at the back.

Rubbing his chin, the boy wandered closer to the panes. "What could they mean?" The panes had an almost hypnotizing quality. Upon closer study, he comes to the conclusion this place is worshiping Arceus. Or Kyogre. Feeling watched, he takes out a Crobat and stays alert.

*end scene*

Squirtle

Nothing happens. Probably because you haven't done much, but if that's you're strategy then more power to you! Your crobat studies his reflection in a mirror curiously.

Feeling paranoid, the boy orders his bat Pokémon to Supersonic the area, just as a shadow zooms past him. "Forget the Supersonic, Aerial Ace that... whatever it is!"

Squirtle

Your crobat, the fast little devil, swoops at the shadow, slicing through it and the air around it with equal ferocity. As it falls to the ground, your assailant appears to be... a scroll? It's torn by your crobat's attack to the point of near-illegibility, but you can see the words 'DEUS', 'CROSSROAD DIRT' and something that could either be 'BALLAST' or 'BALANCE'.

(Please don't make things happen like that? I can generally compensate for it but ideally you should only be in control of your own actions, that of your pokémon, etc.)

[This actually looks interesting. This is my first time in the Safari Zone, so I might need hand holding. I'll take my charmander, Cato, along.]

Phantom stares at the large black chapel. Ominous. That's the word for it, she thought. It stood black and menacing. A cold wind blew, and Phantom braced herself against the chill. Creepy or not, it was shelter, and it was better than freezing to death.

She opened the doors, wincing as the heavy doors creaked against their own weight. It took a moment, but soon her eyes adjusted to the inside of the chapel. Still shivering, Phantom took a Pokéball from her belt, and tossed it into the floor in front of her, releasing a Charmander. The Charmander's tail lit the room somewhat. In the new light Phantom could see sparse candles spread around the room. "Cato, can you light those for me?" The fire Pokémon hummed in response as it used a small stream of flame to light the candles in the room, illuminating the area with flickering candlelight.

Phantom

The chapel might be offended by your judgement, but it doesn't show it. Yet.

Light glints and refracts in new and horrid astounding ways as the candles flicker to reluctant life. Occasionally, the dust particles on each one catches alight in a spark and a tiny crackle. Your charmander seems mildly hypnotized by the dancing flames, and with a grunt manages to reshape his tailflame to more closely match that of a candle. The more obvious attraction, however, are the four glass rectangles towards the front; between the setting sun and the candles, they're positively blazing with patterns from the stained glass; the blue, brown, orange, and white panes are coated with distorted images of idyllic farmland and, occasionally, more imposing figures.

[Hmmm, sparkly]

"Cato stay close," Phantom half whispers as the light reflecting off the strange glass like fixtures before her. She doesn't notice if the fire Pokémon edges closer or not, the glass has her transfixed.

She walks to the mirrors and stands in front of them. She sees... shapes... images. Slowly, she reaches a hand out before her, groping the empty air. Her heart beats faster. Is she scared? Nervous? Excited? What are these things? Curiousity had gotten the better of her, it seems. She was drawn to it, like a moth to a flame.

Flame? Orange, she muttered to herself. She glanced at her charmander beside her, and got an idea. She stepped away from the pane, shaking away whatever cobwebs were left in her head. "Cato," she said quickly, pointing at the orange pane but keeping her distance, "use Flamethrower on the orange pane!"

She had no idea if it would have any effect, but it was worth a try.

Phantom

Cato follows you, but continues to look about at the flames he's created. As you both take the small steps down to be at level with the panes, he bumps into your ankle in his distraction. He perks up and brings his tail upwards, worried that you or someone else will get angry if he sets the wooden part of the floor on fire in his neglecting state. He gives you an odd look as you command him to attack the pretty orange thing–

As he fully takes in the sight of the flame-colored glass, he seems to waver for a moment before focusing, as if all the blood had rushed from his head suddenly. After a split second of this, however, he complies, spitting a relatively thing, but very hot, tongue of flame at the glass.

It passes through without interference from, or indeed without leaving a mark on, the glass. Judging by the lack of dangerous spreading flames on the things behind it, nothing seems to have come out through the back.

[Dammit.]

What the shit? Phantom cursed as she basically watched as burst of flame failed set the room afire.

Which could have honestly been a good or bad thing, she wasn't positive on which.

Cato was lookig at her like she was insane. "What?" she asked the fire lizard. "Got any better ideas?"

After checking to make sure her jaw was actually still hinged she scratched her head. What the hell is it? A portal? Maybe? Well, I guess I should go through the strange glowing thing. It sounded promising... She could also of course just leave.

But what would be the fun in that?

"C'mon buddy," she said giving Cato a small smile, "let's go do something we probably shouldn't." She stood directly in front of the orange panel. She sort of felt silly, but they were the only ones there....

Right?

Then she stepped forward, hoping she wouldn't smack into the glass.

Phantom

Must be a strange feeling, walking straight towards a supremely solid object. I wouldn't know, I've never tried it. Your foot is the part of you that sails towards the very fragile, easily broken, amazingly intricate work of art that stands before it.

Ever pass a hand through an open flame, quickly? It's like that, only all over. It licks against you as you stumble through the glass panel, first your foot, your body, and then your second foot. Whatever you step on (you can't see, your face is inside the glass right now) is crunchy but hard; when you tumble out of the other side, you can see that the ground, for dozens of feet around you, is made of broken black glass and what looks like charcoal. Your charmander, looking panicked, comes sailing out of the panel behind you, which looks mostly identical to what you just came through. He snorts in surprise and then relief when he sees you.

And then he turns smoky black. He doesn't seem to notice.

The area around you is dark and dryly hot. You get the feeling that the land around you if relatively flat, but you can't much tell. There's one glowing coal off quite a ways away, about a half-minute's steady walk from you.

"Uh, Cato," Phantom says slowly, still trying to understand what the fuck just happened. "You've got... something... all over... you know what forget it."

Maybe he's a shiny now? He looked fine, for now.

She stares at the glowing coal ahead. She walks towards it, and taking a hankerchief from her pocket she reaches to pick it up.

Phantom

The coal unwraps herself and seizes onto your finger, hot to the point of almost hurting. The darumaka grins up at you (they always grin, don't they?) and nibbles your finger with a bit of revenge in her eyes.

Meanwhile, you charmander has been looking amazedly at his little hands. He glints occasionally as he rubs his tiny black scales. He seems to leave a trail of orange-white coal behind him, but he doesn't seem to care.

[Seriously is confused at what the monkey is going on at this point]

"OW!" Phantom curses as she pulls back her hand. "Why you little piece of-" she stops and notices her partner scratching his scales. She steps back, hoping the offending biter of a Pokémon decides to leave her alone. "Cato what is going on with you?" She reaches out to touch her Pokémon.

[don't catch]

Phantom

The darumaka drops from your hand and shuffles surreptitiously to your ankle. It clings there and rubs its teeth endearingly. At your touch, Cato glows blaringly white for a hundredth of a second before suddenly being replaced by a charizard.

A shiny charizard. Oh yeah.

[I get to keep him right? What the fuck did I roll to get that?]

At this point Phantom is pretty sure her jaw has become permenantly unhinged. "Cato," she says, dumbfounded, "you got taller... and black-er... and grew wings..." She pokes him making sure he's really there... and really a fucking shiny charizard.

Then she looks down at the small darumaka attached to her leg. "I take it you want to come with me?" she sighs. She reaches deep into her side bag and pulls out an unused pokéball, and holds it out, inviting the little creature to join her team.

(Umm no I should have said something but no? You'll get something and this is indicative of that but oh wow very sorry [sorry sorry sorry sorry])

As Cato swoops about uncertainly in his new form, the darumaka raises an eyebrow at the device and shoots teensy-tiny embers at it experimentally, seemingly confused. It then burrows into your sock, forming a small warm lump.

As Cato hovers experimentally past you, the light shifts and hits him just right; for a moment, you can see a curled-up charmander inside, looking like a baby curled up in a charizard-shaped womb.

[Haha, I figured. But just imagine a trainer seeing that. lol... and a fetus charmander for some reason is a rather disturbing image]

Win some you lose some, Phantom thought sadly as she saw Cato's unevolved form beneath this very epic... hallucination? She let Cato have his fun with his newly found wings and she turned her attention to the Pokémon that was currently using her sock as a burrow. She grabbed the little creature out, and lightly tossed the pokéball at it, hoping it would get the picture to go inside.

[how the hell can a darumaka fit in my sock? Aren't they like two feet tall and weigh like 80 pounds?]

(I'm probably going to die. I'll bring Elvis, my Golem. [PC is in my signature.])

A bored young male Trainer was walking down a dirt path, when he sees the abandon chapel. Out of pure boredom and curiosity, he wandered inside. The Trainer picked a random pokeball from his belt and threw it. Dear Arceus, he thought, as he realized that the pokeball belonged to his Golem. "Fine," he says, "Just don't deal too much damage."

Elvis looked at him dissapointedly, but soon turned away and started staring intentively at the glass.

(Not much happened.)

Blastoise Fortooate said:

Squirtle

Your crobat, the fast little devil, swoops at the shadow, slicing through it and the air around it with equal ferocity. As it falls to the ground, your assailant appears to be... a scroll? It's torn by your crobat's attack to the point of near-illegibility, but you can see the words 'DEUS', 'CROSSROAD DIRT' and something that could either be 'BALLAST' or 'BALANCE'.

(Please don't make things happen like that? I can generally compensate for it but ideally you should only be in control of your own actions, that of your pokémon, etc.)

Click to expand...

(Sorry, I really didn't know what to do)

"Hm, Deus means god... Balance. Godly Balance, maybe? But what to make of Crossroad dirt? Maybe a 'Godly Ballast of Crossroad dirt?' It could be making a reference to Kyogre, since he is the balance of the dirt, specifically earth, god Groudon. I'll just keep the scroll close". The boy promptly took out a match, and started lighting a few candles to see if anything happened.