Sojaveña Wilds Totally Normal Bulletin Board

[Shiny Phantump]

Gladion's heart dropped into his stomach. He couldn't hear Mew, but he could infer from context what was being discussed.

He didn't really feel comfortable getting involved with this kind of ball tech when he didn't understand it in the first place. Sure, he knew of the concept and recognized the look of one, but Nova's experience made it sound different... And... Well, he felt like he was giving up some control of himself to Mew. Which he was, but without knowing why he was here, he also couldn't help but question if it was worth it.

But Nova trusted it after being in one, and he trusted... he... It was fine.

"Are they using telepathy or something? I can't hear anything. But if I have to get in one of those, then... I don't know how much these are worth here, so I don't know how much of a request this is, but I'd... feel a lot better if I could get rid of or keep it afterwards. At least if I don't fully understand what it can do, given it's different from what I'm familiar with."

 

[Tetra]

Koa ignored Nova's comment, deciding not to point out that Mew was important, even here, and meeting him was special. Instead he focused on Mew, trying to understand what he wanted. His gaze shifted between Mhynt and Mew. Go with Mew? In the pokeball? Mew wanted them to join him? I could join a legendary!

He very nearly immediately jumped at the chance to be caught and go with Mew before he stopped himself. Think before you act. He had no idea where or how long he'd be gone. And he'd made committments here, sort of. Wouldn't that be like abandoning the team? There was still the matter of the Covenant and the rangers and the shadows and everything else.

Torn in two, he glanced at the others before looking at Mew. "How long would we be gone for?" he asked. "And where?"

 

[Ambyssin]

Though Nova knew Koa was addressing Mew, he still said, "I'm prepared to leave for as long as I need to get rid of this thing."

 

[Phoenixsong]

The way Mhynt had described Nova's poké ball, it sounded pretty close to what Leaf knew back home. The way some of the folks at the meeting had reacted, whatever they were used to was apparently a lot more concerning. Even if the ball Mew had given Nova was entirely harmless, if anyone was gonna find a way to flip it around to Completely Screwed Up, it was probably those Coven people. They had to know where the ball had come from, and what Mew—and the board's "real owner", because running a dang request board sure was a thing that needed this much secrecy—were planning to do with it.

She looked between Nova and Mhynt and then the others. The treecko and the (first) graydian seemed to be getting something out of the conversation that the rest of them weren't, but neither looked worried or anything. Was Nova... hopeful, even? Probably impossible to tell with that guy, at least like as long as he was like this. If those two were confident that it would really help him, then... it would.

(And heck, she'd always wondered what the inside of one of these things was like.)

"If you're okay with it," she said, both to the graydian and to Mew, "then it's no problem. This is important, right?"

 

[Namohysip]

Mhynt remained apprehensive. "Will this... at all control us? Manipulate us?" She had no idea. But being pushed into something that small and carried around felt... demeaning. She was putting a lot of trust in this Mew...

But he was Mew. And she could sense no ill intent from him--only an intense desire to help.

"You can't tell?" Mhynt asked Gladion. "I simply... know. Maybe it's instinctual, but I do not sense any ill will from Mew whatsoever. And no psychic trickery. I'm sensitive to that sort of thing."

Or was she? As a more mundane Treecko, now, what if her senses were less keen?

Mew shook his head toward Koa, then glanced at Mhynt when it seemed Koa could not understand his vibe.

"Mew... seems to be saying that we won't be gone for long at all. The others probably won't even worry about us." Mhynt hummed, crossing her arms. "Now that I think about it, we told the others--well, I did--that I would be going here with Nova. So, if we disappeared for too long, their Bulletin Board would be at risk of a deeper inquiry. We have some leverage here... Perhaps it is safe."

Mew beamed and flew toward the bag again, producing several Poke Balls. He eyed all of them but then turned his attention in particular to Jade, who he must have interpreted as quietly scrutinizing the one-sided conversation.

 

[Chibi Pika]

Jade had seen Mew before, when they'd first discovered who was changing the board through psychic means. But part of her still was surprised to see Mew here again, now, and that the previous time hadn't been some kind of dream.

It wasn't the same Mew she knew back home. It wasn't. And yet she really wanted to believe that Mew meant well. Nova and Mhynt seemed to think Mew was trustworthy, and they were always so serious...

(Koa's reaction was exactly what she'd expected.)

"...You mean, for us to see the real Bulletin Board runner, we have to be carried that way? ...Because it's convenient, I suppose. That makes sense..."

Jade paused, eyeing the Pokeballs. She hadn't been sure what to make of the fact that Pokeballs existed here, when Nova had revealed his at the team meeting. It seemed like the sort of thing that would only have come about from human intervention. (Was the one running the board human?)

Pokeballs were... useful. Both for travel, and for protection--putting a total pause on injury had literally saved Swift's life. And yet, seeing them here was still strangely unnerving. The idea of being able to go into one was weird and foreign. (Aros would have probably said she was being a wimp.)

"You, uh, you think it's safe?" Jade repeated. Mhynt didn't exactly seem like the hasty, unthinking sort. And now Mew was looking at her, and she really wanted to believe him. "I... guess I should probably come along."

 

[Tetra]

A legendary- a saint- a saint wants to catch me?!

"I'll go," Koa declared quickly. "If we won't be gone long then I'm willing." How could he possibly refuse? The chance of a lifetime. His gaze shifted between the others, particularly Jade and Leaf. He hoped they would agree to come. He'd feel better if he had a few familiar faces around.

A part of him couldn't help but feel slightly disappointed and envious of the others ability to seemingly understand Mew. At least knowing it wasn't just him quelled any dark thoughts that wanted to crop up. But what made them different? Perhaps it was a pokemon thing... Nova and Mhynt were both pokemon, he was pretty sure. Could he learn to understand Mew eventually, the way he could with his team back home?
Maybe then he could learn more about what was going on here...

 

[Namohysip]

"...I don't know if it in itself is safe," Mhynt said, "but it sounds like we have enough leverage here that if they are not safe, it would be in Mew's best interest to not utilize those unsafe tactics regardless. We would be too large a group for it to be hidden away, and they will need that board for strategic reasons still. If I wanted to make a calculated risk here... I think it is worth taking the dive."

She nodded. This seemed well-reasoned. And she suspected whoever was running this was very meticulous and calculated about it, for how it ran so nicely and rose so quickly. They wouldn't do anything irrational... hopefully.

But that's why it was a risk at all, calculated or otherwise.

"Go on. Ball me," Mhynt said.

Mew smiled nervously.

"What? Capture? They call it Captu--" The ball struck her forehead and she poured into it. It wiggled a little... and then settled with a gentle click!

Mew held the next ball, tossing it at anyone who accepted the offer.

 

[Ambyssin]

Nova drew an unown F in the sand for Mhynt’s incomplete thought, then pressed his foreleg on it to pay respects.

 

[Tetra]

Koa stepped confidently forward, before glancing over his shoulder at Leaf and Jade. "Good luck I guess, either way. Hopefully we can learn something from this."

It was hard to feel anything less than overpowering excitement, even in the face of the other's hesitations. Did this make Mew like his trainer? (Did Mew like him? Could he befriend Mew? Should he try and invite Mew to hang out sometime or was that too ridiculous? What did a saint do in their spare time?)

He paused briefly to lock eyes with Mew. "I trust you. But I also have friends here who need me. So if anything... Try to bring me back soon please." Hopefully that wasn't too demanding of him...

 

[Phoenixsong]

She returned Koa's look with a reassuring smile, then nodded at Mew. "As long as we've got an easy way back when we need it, then I'm ready when you are!" And if he didn't, then oh well, they'd figure something out. It'd still be preferable to having to deal with... whatever the hell that'd been, before. All that mattered at the moment was that the ones the legendary was actually talking to weren't getting any fishy vibes, and as far as she could tell neither was she. So all set, then!

(...weren't the psychic kind of ponyta supposed to be able to sense... intentions, or something like that? Eh. Something to figure out later, maybe, if she remembered, sure.)

 

[Chibi Pika]

Jade watched Mhynt disappear into the wooden Pokeball. And then, quieting the part of her brain that couldn’t help thinking what if it got stolen, what if she couldn’t figure out how to release, aaaaaa, Jade took a deep breath and reached a paw out to Mew.

 

[Shiny Phantump]

Gladion took a deep breath. He'd seen how Nova could get in and out, and that it had helped him. The idea still made him uncomfortable but at some point he was going to have to trust someone and this was about as safe a starting point as he could hope.

"Alright. Let's get this over with."

...and then, soft, gentle nothingness...

He'd been picturing— without really thinking about it— that being conscious inside a ball would be a suffocating claustrophobia, the being packed into such a small space, even incorporeally, would feel like being trapped. He couldn't have been much further off the mark. Being able to simply exist without having to deal with being bound to flesh and blood felt like a release... He almost wanted to keep the ball. He did want to.

I could get used to this...

 

[Namohysip]

Mew grinned and, one by one, captured all of them. In one moment they were standing in the arid environment of Frontier Town's outskirts, and in another, they were curled up and then seemingly bodiless in a quiet, cool space. Or was it warm? Or nothing?

Whatever it was, there was a natural, instinctual tug to stay put. A natural knowledge that this place was safe and protected from the outside environment. They could still see the outside world in a vague, blurry sense, more sensitive to bodies than objects. They could still hear, to some extent. And perhaps it was a phantom sensation, but those with keen senses for smell also had phantom sensations of that, too. Blurry, sleepy echoes of what had once been vivid.

One by one, Mew placed their capsules in his bag, which he then slung over his neck.

And off he went, flying away in a direction the team could not see...

<><><>​

 

[Shiny Phantump]

Gladion found himself driven to the bulletin board once again. This time, it was because Nova was there. The more he’s heard the other Null talking during the meeting with Mew and Mewtwo, the more he realized things were… more different between them than he’d initially realized. That meant it was time to get over his discomfort and talk.

“Hey, Nova, I was wanting if you had time to discuss… stuff, I guess.”

 

[Ambyssin]

Nova was in the area. Not right by the board or around the pitched tents. More on the outskirts. But, of course Gladion would have no problem locating his fellow null.

"That's one tier higher than discussing things." Nova slowly pushed himself up from lying on his belly. His belly's white fur had dirt caked on it. Had he actually slept on the ground the whole night? "Fire away."

 

[Shiny Phantump]

Nova looked like a bit of a mess. Seemed like the other Null had a different definition of ‘camping out’ than Gladion did.

“Well… The more I hear about different versions of our species, the more I’m feeling out of my depth. Sounds like you know about some of the things that don’t happen in mine. If the reverse is true, you can ask about mine too.”

Gladion exhaled. “Honestly, now that I’m asking, I’m not sure where to start. I’ve gathered you don’t need a helmet back home to be healthy. Does the type changing… work? Do you not need an RKS System for it?”

 

[Ambyssin]

"RKS System," Nova repeated. "No, I have that." He looked down at his forelegs, however. "Or... had? Legitimately no idea if our bodies would have it. But that was what my creator called my central processor."

He tilted his head slightly. "My cheeks were, uh, disc drives? One was the type driver. It let me shift between types at will." Nova looked skyward. "She'd even mused about making a second version that would allow me to be multiple types at once, but every test she ran on the code caused the RKS System to encounter fatal errors."

His gray eyes dulled. "The other drive was for my memory banks. What let me think for myself, unlike all the others."

 

[Shiny Phantump]

Gladion tried not to act too surprised. “Huh. Alright. Guess it’s still disks then. That was a later addition where I’m from and it caused complications, I’d thought a working system would be more likely not to use it. But if we have helmets here, I expect we have one here too. Seems to be a throughline across worlds. I should also ask… If I’m not bothering you, I guess, I don’t want to just be drilling into you. Unless you’re also interested in figuring things out. But… Another difference is how biological we were. The electronics being part of the plan at all were a later design design. It sounded like you didn’t have any biological components, and…”

Gladion let out an apologetic sigh. “That… That version of… of me. Um. Was he doing it that way? That part’s not even important really, it’s just that if there’s even more distance between us in that way… It’d be nice to know that too…”

 

[Ambyssin]

"Purely mechanical? No." Nova pawed at the ground. "I was the only biosynthetic unit. A mechanical framework with biologic parts molded to it. Designed to make me adaptable. Perfect for keeping the peace."

He shook his head. "The others were mass-produced. All mechanical. You were the latest in a long line of people who produced them from my creator. But they were meant to be expendable." Nova looked away. "They all head Explosion built in to them for once they weren't of use anymore."