Sojaveña Wilds Totally Normal Bulletin Board

[Namohysip]

The Wayfarers heard the news. Powehi had given his blessing for a greater, dark power--that the Wayfarers could now handle, apparently--and passed it over to Owen, who was already seeped in a deep darkness. And, somehow, he'd complied. Now he was tasked with passing that power onto the Wayfarers.

Reasonably, the team expected to find Owen waiting for them at Mewtwo's lair, and they'd all have to go through that old tradition of getting into capsules and get flown over to Giovanni's.

So, it came as a surprise when there was a quiet commotion at the Bulletin Crossroads, as it had now been called. Everyone had their eyes on a great, shadowy Charizard standing far from the place but clearly in view, waiting for something. Nobody dared approach...

 

[Ambyssin]

Nobody dared approach at first. But then Nova casually walked up to him. "Hey." He bobbed his head. "How's it going? Heard you got some important stuff to share."

 

[Butterfree]

Owen. The Charizard who'd almost killed him, twice. And Dave had thought he was supposed to be held at Mewtwo's lair, but now apparently he was just here.

He froze at first. Nova casually stepped right up to him; a screaming instinct in Dave's head waited for him to get punted into the sun.

"Hold on. Are you sane? Fully in control, down for a chat?" he managed to say.

 

[Weazel]

Well, imagine that. Archie'd come here for his pick of today's outlaw jobs, and lo and behold, an outlaw was already at the bulletin board waiting for them. Last he'd heard, Owen was in time out with the multiverse cops, so what was the Charizard doing here? Seemed he wasn't the only one wondering that, as Nova and Dave were also on the scene. The Dewott put a paw on one of his scalchops, and cautiously stepped over to join them.

"I take it you wouldn't be here if you weren't looking for some kind of attention," he said. "So, what's the story?"

 

[Chibi Pika]

Jade hadn't visited the bulletin board in a while. Between doing odd jobs for the rangers, part-time deliveries in Frontier Town, and all the hopping around Taleska searching for (and finding!) Brisa, and the expedition to the northern barrens, it'd just slipped her focus. There almost would've been something nostalgic about it... if not for the huge shadowy Charizard hanging around nearby.

(She could still see it in her mind, the faint outline of a gangly, feral Charmeleon, flame invisible against the pitch-black night, tearing through everyone in a rush of—)

Jade shook her head. None of that. Besides, Nova being here helped—he could block pretty much any attack at this point. And he didn't seem on-edge at all. So Jade resigned herself to sticking around, despite the voice in the back of her head telling her she didn't need to be here. Because that wasn't true—she was going to have to get the hang of calling on that darkness for the battles ahead. She didn't have a choice.

 

[Shiny Phantump]

Gladion wasn’t expecting Owen to be out here in the crossroads, but he wasn’t exactly a difficult person to identify at first glance. Sure, Gladion had never seen him before, but he wasn’t exactly easy to mix up with a normal Charizard.

Some of the of the other Wayfarers seemed pretty nervous, which made sense because he was aware there’d been a couple fights with the guy. One of them was the one led to Mhynt figuring out who he was, after all. But knowing there was reason for them to be concerned wasn’t the same as sharing in that concern. Gladion walked up to him without a second thought.

“S’up, you’re Owen? Name’s Gladion.”

 

[Tetra]

Koa dragged his paws, every step heavy as he forced himself to move towards the bulletin board. Towards the inevitable meeting with the dark Charizard. Fire. Claws in the dark, surrounded, alone. In all his visits to Mewtwo to see Drapion, he'd staunchly avoided the Charizard. Somehow, it was different now, different than fighting in the pit. Leave that to Grace and Mhynt; he didn't want to be in the same room. Back then it had been a necessity. This was different.

All he could think of was the last time he'd stood out here in the desert, confronted by shadow and fire and a dark dragon. The same sicknening feeling of being trapped lodged in Koa's throat. But the battle with Alex was drawing closer by the moment, and he needed to master whatever power Poehi was talking about. No choice.

As he drew closer, he spotted the rest of the Wayfarers and Archie, and the knot in his chest loosened slightly. He sidled quietly up to the group and stood next to Archie, opting to say nothing.

 

[Cresselia92]

Well, it sure felt weird to be back to the desert after spending so many days in the mountains and big city. A fact that both his mountain Sneasel body and human mind had yet to fully process.

Regardless, that was no time to internally gripe and complain. Someone needed to tell them something important about that darned egomaniacal hydra and Silver didn’t want to miss the opportunity. Any extra information was valuable information, after all.

Soon, he heard nearby murmurs and chatter, and he began walking toward the ruckus, noticing many of his fellow Wayfarers.

Hm. There’s quite the gathering over there…

Only when he got close enough he realized who the others were talking to, and his eyes widened subtly. The memories of the battle with the frenzied Charizard in that ominous hellscape rushed back into the now-Sneasel’s mind. Was he the ‘someone’ who had the vital information about Alexander and the other thing?

That… definitely would make a lot of sense, but still…

“Wh-Owen? You’re here?” he asked, baffled, his gaze sharper than his claws. “…Huh. What brings you in this place? I guess you didn’t want to simply flex your wings, did you?”

 

[Namohysip]

The Shadow Charizard remained tense as they approached. Nova earned a stiff nod but little else at first. The careful stares, the cautious stances so many of them had... Grace in particular would recognize that he was probably still thinking about how he could kill each and every one of them.

"...I'm... not in control," Owen first admitted. When he moved his arm, the team would see that not only was it slow, but that there seemed to be a psychic aura limiting its movement. Off to the side, Red was hiding behind a rock--out of public eye--focused on Owen's body. "But... I need to do this... I need to help. Just... for once, I want to be a help..."

 

[Butterfree]

Dave noticed the Mew as Owen spoke, strained. Was he keeping him in check somehow?

"All right. All right, it sounds like you can help. Powehi said you could help us with a new power? And is there anything at all you can tell us about Alexander that would help in fighting him?"

Red had better not lose his grip on him, if even he didn't feel in control.

 

[Namohysip]

Owen hesitated again. He glanced at them all, then finally downward.

Mhynt was keeping herself scarce near the back. She couldn't look directly at him, and apparently the reverse was also true.

"Yeah. This."

This time, Red allowed him to raise an arm. In his palm, there was a strange, tiny galaxy of dark stars suspended within a hollow, semi-opaque sphere, like a snow globe of ash.

"It's... supposed to awaken powers within you. You can handle Shadows now... right? Then it'll be easy... But for Alexander, I..." There was a flash of fear in his eyes. "If... if I say anything... what if he..."

 

[Cresselia92]

Silver stared at the unusual thingamajig in Owen’s claws, mildly fascinated by the swirling miniature cosmos, then at Owen. The cautious frown turned into one of sympathy — he knew well how it felt like to be threatened by someone much bigger than you, who wouldn’t hesitate to punish you harshly or much worse if you crossed them. There was a big reason he hated family meetings with her…

A soft “tch” escaped the now-Sneasel’s lips, followed by him crossing his arms defiantly.

“Hmph. That Alexander scumbag won’t be able to do anything to you if we get him outta the count and outta everyone’s way,” said Silver, his smirk and posture radiating smugness. “Of course, our chances of making him taste the dust would be higher if we got some pointers. Y’know, dastardly tricks and stuff we might expect from him.”

 

[Ambyssin]

"What if he... what?" Nova tilted his head. "Take a breath. Use your head. You seem to be, uh, battle smart or whatever." His crest expanded and constricted. "If Alexander could've done something to you while you were separated, don't you think he would've already? Like, y'know, certainly tried something while Grace wasn't around to calm you down."

He stretched a hind leg out. Still acting casual. It wasn't just a gesture. Unlike the other Wayfarers, he recognized the state Owen was him. Because that was his state back home.

"Already found what you were protecting in the Quarry," he continued. "Clever to hide it under that big ass meteor."

 

[Namohysip]

Owen took steady breaths at Nova's command, then considered Silver's words again. At first, he seemed to have rejected it, but a combination of assurance and logic helped him reconsider. There was 'reason' in those eyes. A great improvement from before...

"Okay," he said quietly. "I... I don't... it's hard to think. What do you need... what do you need to know?" He set the orb of dark lights on the ground. It hovered there, unbothered by wind and gravity. It swirled a little faster. Perhaps it was activating, or building up to confer its power.

 

[Chibi Pika]

Jade's eyes drifted from Owen.. to Red hiding a ways away, obviously maintaining some kind of powerful psychic hold... and then back to Owen. The strained tension in every movement... she couldn't help seeing the parallels. Razors, straining against the Rockets' control, just barely lucid enough to realize the threat that he posed. Choosing to end it—

Jade shook her head. Not helpful.

It was the first time she'd been there to hear Owen speak. It made it easier to see him as... not that.

Jade took a deep breath, eyeing the ball of Shadow. "I think we're ready to handle it, yeah."

 

[Ambyssin]

What do you need... what do you need to know?

Asking specifically about fighting Alexander was a double-edged sword. On the one hand, it would probably appeal to whatever lizard brain Owen still had. On the other, it could steer him down the path of thinking a Wayfarer loss was inevitable.

But they had to get the information. So, Nova needed to come up with a reasonable question.

"Let's talk... techniques," Nova said, keeping his tone even. "How does Alexander like to fight?"

 

[Namohysip]

Owen nodded at Jade, focusing on the sphere for now. His negative thoughts must have helped get the catalyst started, as it was spinning faster... and darkening the immediate two feet around it. No actual activation yet, though.

Nova's question, oddly, calmed Owen. His black flame shrank to something reasonable. Any Charizard expert would find that Owen's talk about battle had a self-soothing effect.

"He attacks a lot faster than anyone I've seen," Owen said quietly. "It's like he can split his efforts into his smaller heads. They get an extra hit or two in, more than others who only have one head. One blasts people with attacks from far away. Another one bits with all kinds of elements up close. His main head, though... That's where the real danger is.

"He'll try to corrupt you. Usually whoever has his attention. But I think... Radiance helps stop that? But then, well, you're Radiant, and Shadows hurt them... But there's no winning against Alexander with corruption. Because he has a special technique--a Shadow attack that's... strong against other Shadows. It's what he used on me if I tried to defy him..." Unconsciously, he scratched at his chest. "...So no matter what, he has something to hurt you badly."

Owen rubbed his head. He seemed to be getting a headache, stressing himself out as he relived... something. He didn't seem done talking about what Alexander could do, but recalling it all made his flame crackle again despite the initial calm.

Acquired info:
Alexander has 6 actions per turn: two are dedicated to a weaker ranged and melee attack.
Alexander can directly raise Shadow corruption of a target, usually a target with the highest aggro. Radiance and natural corruption resistance can reduce this.
Alexander has a technique that's Super Effective against Shadow Pokemon.

 

[Ambyssin]

Well that sounded... unpleasant. Maybe a smaller question. Since Nova imagined the others would start peppering Owen with questions shortly.

"Anyone every try to... go for the smaller heads? Y'know, try and take 'em out of the fight?"

 

[Namohysip]

Owen thought about it. "...I... yes. I think there were a few times. I think if you manage to disable them, he won't be able to recover that arm. Not in the middle of battle, at least. In fact, you should probably focus on that anyway. He blocks with his arms the most often.

"But knowing him, it'll make him... more savage. He'll get less cautious and attack harder..."

Information acquired:
Alexander has three health bars. Once he loses one for the first time, a corresponding arm loses battle functionality for the rest of battle.
However, that will likely make him more aggressive and less defensive...

 

[Magyk]

Grace was quietly listening, keeping herself closer to Owen as a form of reassurance. She wasn't quite sure how close they actually were, but... a familiar face might help him stay calm? She wished it was Mhynt in her place instead, she felt that the two of them needed to talk. Before...

She shook her head. No. There was still time to find something.

"So... he's still weak to Radiance, then?" she asked, tapping a paw to her chin. "Shouldn't we have some kind of... Radiant blessing, then? What's more Shadows going to do...?"