9AM
*BEEP*
Joshua checks the Pokenav, his own coordinates dispyed alongside Ace's, and a top down view of a map being slowly filled out.
He managed to jailbreak his own Pokenav, adding the coordinate feature to the mapping.
Joshua says HE did it, but in reality it just kind of… did it by itself?
It bugged out for a moment, he almost thought he somehow managed to break something he's had for less than an hour.
But no, it turned back on, and now its function somehow carried over to the Pokenav.
“This pce makes no sense” He grumbles.
He's on a boat, the motor purrs behind him as he cruises on the open water. It was criminally easy to build a boat, his ancestors are probably weeping in envy right now.
A chest behind him keeps all of his stuff, the essentials, really. He supposes that it's a shame he never really got to USE the obsidian bunker, but why would he be upset at not getting attacked?
Looking back, he can see the now empty crop farms. He harvested everything, and grabbed whatever he could.
His eyes pull away from his base, there's a strange… sadness. It's not his home, but it's a pce HE built, his sanctuary. To leave it all behind is just…
No.
Steeling himself, he turns back to the sea.
Then back down at the coordinates.
This is going to take all day.
Knowing Ace (what little he did know), they'd probably get a kick out of inconveniencing him like this.
(“A Pokemon did this'”)
Jophiel speaks.
Joshua blinks, looking at her pokeball, she's too rge for the boat, so his only “passenger” is Gabriel at the moment. Uriel decided to stay in her ball too, which he doesn't bme her.
“What?”
(“It has the… give me a moment, please. The ‘Type-Energy’ lingering around it. It's not one I'm familiar with”)
Joshua focuses his attention on the link, specifically through Jophiel's senses.
Huh.
Would you look at that.
Sensing Type-Energy and being able to perceive it as a human must be a massive boon for a Trainer. Because he's able to see the “behavior” that different types have.
It's a bit difficult to put into words, but each Type-Energy has its own “behavior” and expression of how it works. And because Joshua is able to actually see it, it lets him cheat a little.
Whenever a Pokemon does a move, it will convert its ‘neutral energy’ (vitality) into the desired Type-Energy, which it will then form into a move. How easy a Pokemon is able to do this is dependent on their own type, which they obviously have an affinity towards.
Psychic is calm, curious, and tends to linger. It likes connections, and careful observation.
Fire, which isn't her type. Is energetic, destructive, and aggressive, but warm like a campfire.
Fairy is… weird. It's pyful, but enigmatic. It seems to follow rules but only the rules it sets for itself. It's like as a kid during those “I have a shield that blocks everything!” “Nuh uh I went back in time”, imagine that as actual energy.
And this type is…
Erratic, it touches and reaches anything it can, but only for a moment. It's fast, but loud. It's destructive but not in behavior, but in how it comes and goes.
Electric type.
“Did Uriel do this?” It's a silly question to ask, but Uriel is the only one who could even produce electric type energy.
(“...no, I don't believe so”)
“So there's an electric type pokemon just… out there?”
(“Would not be the strangest thing we have encountered”)
Joshua just hums a response.
Jophiel feels hesitant, he can see her mentally go over a few things before her voice comes back.
(“Do you… wish to talk about it?”)
“There's not much to say, love”
(“You had to bury so many, and you hate it”)
He does.
He really, really does.
(“There was nothing you could have done”)
“I know”
The funeral was short. Stone gravestones with no names, as most of them had names he couldn't find.
(“Then why do you feel so upset?”)
Joshua sighs.
“You already know the answer to that, Joey. I know you know”
Every fw, every stray thought. None is hidden to her, and none is hidden from him.
(“The answer isn't for me, Beloved”)
Inhale.
Exhale.
“It… feels wrong, to leave them in a pce like this” He begins. Looking at Gabriel, she's distracted by the fish she sees in the water.
“A grave is a resting pce, it is supposed to be honored, protected, sacred. You don't bury a soldier in a nd ripped in war, you bury him at his home, where he should rest”
Inhale.
Exhale.
“I could not bring them home. Their families will never know their fate, and even in death they will never find a way back where they belong”
His eyes linger back to her ball.
“I buried them in Hell, Jophiel”
(“...”)
(“Do you regret it?”)
Compared to the alternative? Of leaving them there? Not giving them a proper send off?
“No”
And that was that.
…
2PM.
The clopping of hooves fill the empty air, muffled by shifting sand.
*BEEP*
Coordinates checked, he's still going in the right direction.
This will truly… take all day.
He rides Jophiel. Her wings curled slightly at his knees to get more support.
It's a desert, just mounds of sand that swirl and loom over the ndscape.
He can see the end of it, though. Where the biome ends and what looks to be a jungle begins.
This world is strange.
It's… not hot, despite the sands.
Just the same mild chill, and occasional breeze that feels like a breath of something horrible.
Uriel killed her first mob today, he's proud of her. She's improving really quickly. The zebra doesn't need to be carried anymore, but she still likes the attention.
Stripe Horse and White Horse don't have much in common, with one being a sweetheart and somewhat timid, and the other being exceptionally violent yet somehow elegant.
Uriel likes Jophiel, and from the link, the vice versa is true. Cute.
He wonders if her “stats” (if those even reflect here) will continue to rise as long as she continues killing mobs. It happened with Jophiel, and if he can recall Blitzle's evolution happens much earlier than Ponyta's.
Joshua has her kill some of the mobs along the way.
Unlike Jophiel’s rather sadistic glee-
(“That is not true”)
-Uriel acts like a knight, standing tall (as tall as her whopping 2ft could take her) with a sort of feigned discipline and chivalry.
“Cutie”
“Bl-Blitzle!” She denies.
She is a PROTECTOR, and she takes her job SERIOUSLY.
That is until he scratches the spot between her ears.
Then suddenly she's just Uriel, leaning against his hand.
(“Beloved”)
Joshua moves his other hand to her automatically.
(“Thank you”)
Needy.
…
3PM.
Jungle.
It's quiet.
No bugs, no birds. An overhang of tall, dense trees obscure the sky.
Jophiel's hooves are unimpeded by the terrain, but he notes with mild amazement that the pnts and shrubbery seem to… lean away from her hooves as she walks, creating a path for her. She walks with a strange precision, and he wonders if this is a psychic thing or if it somehow has to do with the fur on her fetlocks.
[Joshua, I have a question!]
“Go ahead”
Might as well pass the time.
[Have you ever had a girlfriend?]
Rather basic question, but if they want to know then okay.
“Never had one”
Jophiel's ears twitches. She's not being subtle, not when he could feel her attention being focused on what he’s saying, and the strange relief when he finished.
[Really?]
[Huh. Neat]
[Updating the wiki…]
“Yup”
[So if a girl came up to you saying she was interested… what would you do?]
He responds instantly.
“I'd turn around and immediately book it”
Now that seems to throw off a bit.
[...why?]
[What?]
[Oh this is a culture thing]
[Lol]
Time to spread some gospel.
“If an even mildly attractive woman came up to me in public, it's either I'm on camera and I'm about to be pranked, I'm about to be jumped and robbed, or one of her friends dared her to do it”
[StevenStoneOffical: That's… specific, Joshua. Has that happened to you?]
“Me personally? No. But it happened enough to be careful about it”
[How do you talk to women in public then?]
“You don't, straight up. Remember, the people on… that WERE on my world were super individualistic where I'm from. If someone comes up to you, they want something, that's the general idea”
Unless you count those small towns.
He hums to himself, leaning back slightly on Jophiel’s back. Taking a deep breath, he lets his thoughts flow.
“Sexual assault was also a big problem… on both sides, now that I think about it. Women would falsely accuse men of sexual assault and ruin their lives and get off scott free, which is already bad enough, but it also completely ruined any credibility of any women who were ACTUALLY assaulted, and now they can't report it because the trust behind it was ruined. That leads to men who SHOULD have gotten locked up now roaming the streets looking for another victim. It was pretty messed up on all sides”
There's silence for a bit.
[StevenStoneOffical: Wow.]
“You all don't have that problem?”
[IonoZone: No…? (；ω；｀*) ]
[That's messed up Joshua, but this is kinda interesting]
[Morbid curiosity wins again]
[And this was just… normal?]
“I don't know about ‘normal’, but it was common enough that I'm pretty sure a LOT of people were worried about it. So yeah, we don't talk to each other that much”
[Sounds lonely]
“Meh”
Like routine, he feels a wave of affection through the link.
"Yeah me too, Love”
[Was your entire world like this?]
The ‘was’ catches his eye for a bit longer than he'd like.
“No. There was still good things. I know I'm presenting the pce as some evil fuck-you world, but it was just… fwed. It's just that it's easier to compin than to compliment”
Fuck, he shouldn't be so easy to curse. He's trying to curb that habit.
[What did you like?]
“...I went to the Grand Canyon once. It was nice”
…
5PM.
Still in the jungle.
Uriel was hungry.
Stripe Horse, gluttonous beast.
They stopped to eat, taking refuge in a cave for a bit.
A scream is heard in the trees.
Their heads turn to Joshua’a cross.
Nothing.
Well okay then.
…
6PM.
[Can Joey fly?]
“She can”
[Why isn't she doing it?]
“Because Gabriel can't”
“I wish I could!”
He's kinda gd she can't.
Joshua checks the coordinates.
Almost there…
…
8PM.
That's a fucking city.
Joshua stares up at the sight in front of him.
A whole, entire city.
Basic, no distinguishing features to tell where it is. But the tall, windowed buildings reminds him of New York, but he knows it's not.
Paved road and long train lines just… cut off, at the border of whatever random scope the Nightmare World set. Moonlight reflects off of the old abandoned cityscape.
Not a soul in sight.
It's…
Holy fuck is this surreal.
[Wow…]
[A whole city this time?]
[This look familiar to anyone?]
[Nope]
[Nada]
[This isn't one of ours, Josh]
Something in his brain really doesn't like seeing an empty city.
He checks the coordinates.
*BEEP*
It's close by.
He's… excited? Maybe a little worried.
A part of him still wonders if Ace is even real, the rest wonder of they are still alive.
Either way, this means he's nearing the portal.
He feels… certain, about this.
Guided.
By that warm feeling in his soul.
What was the purpose of this? What was he meant to do?
Why did God lead him here? Not here to the city, but HERE. In this WORLD.
A mission? What could he do?
God send him here, why?
He thinks back to the words Palkia said.
“...echoes of a memory… remnants of forsaken worlds…”
Looking back up at the sky, he sees the lifeless moon.
“A fracture…”
He comes to a realization.
“This pce is a wound” His eyes widen.
There's a feeling deep inside, bouncing like an excited puppy as he follows this train of thought.
His mind is racing, an idea coming together but every part of his being is screaming that it's right.
“It doesn't create anything, it hasn't been ‘generating’ at all. It's all just fake…”
The buildings, the people, this city.
There hasn't been a single piece of originality in this pce.
This pce doesn't have history, it doesn't have life.
“It just takes from other worlds, it's crumbs. It's not SAVING it's SCAVENGING”
It's not a Dove, its a Vulture.
Remnants of worlds forsaken.
The st of destroyed worlds, taken at a whim, outside of God's grace as demons roam.
“But why me?”
Why him?
What part does he have in God's pn?
Why is everything leading him here? If God wanted him to leave then why was he SENT HERE in the FIRST PLACE?
He churns through his mind, his chest burning but it's not even uncomfortable. Like he's on the cusp of uncovering something great.
The system, the stream, the Pokemon. The melding of worlds into this bubbling cauldron of death and despair.
But… why… him?
Then. Something clicks.
Memories of his time as a vet, working as an intern at the San Diego Zoo
An old lion was brought in from another zoo.
The thing was aggressive, sickness left it shivering and bald. Worms left untreated devoured it's brain to the point where it was more instinct than animal.
He was told to put it down. It was too far gone, it was attacking the other animals and the staff.
The other zoo couldn't do it, some kind of legal wall that kept them from putting it down.
So it was sent there.
To him.
It was the first time he killed something, and it kept him up for days.
It's the same.
Joshua is a Veternarian.
He wasn't sent to the Nightmare World.
It… was sent to him.
To be put down.
Because the ‘other zoo’ can't.
“...”
Joshua is frozen, he looks up, eyes moving slowly behind him, and for the briefest moments…
He sees a rainbow.
The promise.
But not his promise.
It hits him, his breath hitches.
Then, he looks down, ivory white fur jostles beneath his hands.
White.
Like much else, the symbolism isnt lost to him.
“Behold… a pale horse: and his name that sat on him...”
Inhale.
Exhale.
Inhale…
“...was Death…”
[ Virtue of the Dove With Seven Names increased ]
[THRESHOLD REACHED]
[DIVINE INTERVENTION ENABLED]
