playthough From Everland to Reborn ~ A fairytale themed run [Last defeated: Amaria]

[Candy]

6 minutes ago, Corso said:

Didn't Aladdin have an Articuno?

Jasmine = Majin Bu

He does but he got his pokemon taken away prior to being thrown into a cell (I think Team Meteor usually does that or all those Gym leaders that get captured would also bust themselves out easily )

I forgot what Majin Buu was like other than being a pink blob that becomes ripped lmao

[Corso]

Elastic Tentacle | Dragon Ball Wiki | Fandom

[Evi Crystal]

2 hours ago, Corso said:

Elastic Tentacle | Dragon Ball Wiki | Fandom

Ah that one... Poor Krillin...

[Aphelli]

4 hours ago, Candy said:

He does but he got his pokemon taken away prior to being thrown into a cell (I think Team Meteor usually does that or all those Gym leaders that get captured would also bust themselves out easily )

Anna still has Nostra-the-obviously-Jirachi though, even when she’s kidnapped, and there’s no mention of Heather recovering her Pokemon (or the MC/Cain giving them back) even when she flies away afterwards on her Salamence. 
 

They don’t take your Pokemon either in Subseven Sanctum, and its priest knows how much more threatening you are than either Anna or Heather (or maybe not^^). 
 

But I agree that it makes more sense if Team Meteor had taken Aladdin and Aya’s mons. 
 

Spoiler

This is not only to tout my own horn

 

It looks like a new low for Jasmine. Since all the Defiance group has been slaughtered (or imprisoned? It’s been too long…) anyway, what realistic threat can Vanilla cause? Doesn’t Jasmine have better fish to fry? 
(also, I don’t remember why she’s so cruel to Aladdin specifically. When was the time he “sabotaged” her?) 

[Candy]

6 hours ago, Mindlack said:

Anna still has Nostra-the-obviously-Jirachi though, even when she’s kidnapped, and there’s no mention of Heather recovering her Pokemon (or the MC/Cain giving them back) even when she flies away afterwards on her Salamence. 
 

They don’t take your Pokemon either in Subseven Sanctum, and its priest knows how much more threatening you are than either Anna or Heather (or maybe not^^). 

Yeah I think it’s illogical for these Elite af trainers to keep their mons in their cells. Heather’s salamance could’ve meteor mashed the heck out of them metal bars. I guess one can say the bars are made of unbreakable material but I think it’s just as realistic as the kidnappers keeping their hostages’ Pokémon me thinks (just that in the latter, one needs to assume they get their Pokémon back during their escape lol).

 

6 hours ago, Mindlack said:

It looks like a new low for Jasmine. Since all the Defiance group has been slaughtered (or imprisoned? It’s been too long…) anyway, what realistic threat can Vanilla cause? Doesn’t Jasmine have better fish to fry? 
(also, I don’t remember why she’s so cruel to Aladdin specifically. When was the time he “sabotaged” her?) 

Jasmin has an obsession with Vanilla because she feels capturing and getting her properly tried would make her legendary somehow (because Vanilla was the one who got away, and the police and judiciary system all turned a blind eye to her obvious crime, so she’d be accomplishing something not even her father could do). There’s also a second reason why capturing Vanilla = ending the Defiance, but I think I’ll keep that a secret for when we reach the Everland arc

[Candy]

From Everland to Reborn ~ Episode 89

Behold the most filler episode (actually maybe there were other episodes with more episodes... I can't remember donut judge) ever! Enjoy anyway uwu

 

I exited Amaria’s Gym arena, and took a deep breath when the doors shut behind me. What a great deal of things had happened, and just when I’d thought I could take a break from the stressful events that happened in the desert. I wasn’t looking forward to what would come next... though I thought I couldn’t possibly be justified in complaining about it at this point. After all, in a way, I signed up for constant mental and emotional exhaustion when I got too involved with the people of this region. Great things must come with a great price tag.

I sighed and started walking around the pool of water in Amaria’s living room. Julia was still rocking on the waves, but was fully alert this time. When I entered her field of vision, she called me to bring me to a halt.

“Vanini! Did you battle Amy yet? How was it?”

She tried shifting her position to sit up, but the float wasn’t stable enough and she went overboard with a massive splash, before I could answer either of her questions. She came back up and complained some about how cold the water was. As she swam over to the edge of this makeshift pool, I told her that I had battled Amaria and won.

“That’s great, congrats!” she said, attempting to hug me while soaked head to toe, but I pushed her away.

“I’m leaving for Calcenon now. I’ll ask Candy to take me there,” I said.

“Oh yeah. You must be in a hurry. Your ex-lover was taken hostage, right?”

The latter part of her sentence winded me but I recovered in time to correct her misunderstanding.

“I am in a hurry,” I said. “But not because of that. For all I care, they can feed him to Lin’s Hydreigon. I’m in a hurry because I’ve been absent from Calcenon for too long, and don’t know how things are going there.”

“Sure, sure, whatever you say, Vanini.”

The grin on her face didn’t really synchronize with what she said, but I figured wasting time convincing her wasn’t going to be productive in any way.

“What will you do?” I asked.

“I’d love to go with you, but I’d like to keep an eye on Amy. I don’t think she’d like to be alone. So I’ll stay here. I think Rini is up there? Last time we saw each other, she said she was going there but IDK if she’s still there. Anyway do say hihi~ to her and the others for me.”

I nodded, bid my farewells and went away.

 

Pikachu and I walked over to Obsidia Ward to visit Candy’s shop. However, when we got there, the only person inside was Cookie, Candy’s husband. He greeted me politely and told me that Candy was helping DJ Arclight out, so he didn’t know when she’d come back. Apparently they were returning some pokemon that Team Meteor had stolen when they were posing as the Daycare couple. I remembered that incident rather well, since I had been the one to battle the impostors and free Candy from a warehouse so that she could return to her shop. 

Cookie served cookies and tea for me and told me to sit while I waited for their return. I asked him whether he didn’t have a flying pokemon that could take me up to Calcenon, but he gave me a negative. I asked him if I could borrow any such pokemon from among the ones he was taking care of as a Daycare, but he also refused because they took their safety too seriously to jeopardize it in any way. I understood, since the Daycare must’ve taken somewhat of a hit in their reputation when Team Meteor stole some of their pokemon, but that didn’t make me any less unhappy while I waited.

 

Candy and Arclight returned about half an hour after I arrived. I was cooling off my third cup of tea, when the entrance flung open and Candy shouted that she was home, as if she even needed to announce it.

“Vanilla! I’m soooo happy to see you. I was soooo worried when you left for the desert! I’m relieved that you’re well… albeit with skin peeling off here and there. The desert mustn’t have been very forgiving on your pale skin.”

“Yeah, the sun was harsher than I expected.”

“Did Archer and Julia return with you? They said they’d go after you, so I didn’t go fetch you myself.”

“Yeah. Though, in multiple instances, I felt like your dragon friend would’ve helped us a great deal had you come with us.”

“Hehe, that’s too bad. I’d have loved to have a vacation in Tourmaline Desert, but I can’t be absent from Sweet Dreams Pokehotel so often, or its dreams would be reduced to 50% sugar,” Candy laughed. “By the way, Vanilla. I have a huge favor to ask you, if you can spare an hour or so of your time.”

“I’m in a hurry, to be honest. I only came here to ask that you take me to Calcenon.”

“Please, please! I promise I’ll give you something super amazing, which will make the sacrifice totally worth it. Right Arc? You’d give her that?”

“That? What is it?” I asked.

Arclight laughed and almost told me what it was, but Candy stopped him.

“We’ll tell you what it is if you complete my favor. I swear on my name that you’ll not be disappointed, since it’ll aid you in becoming a stronger trainer.”

I was irritated by Candy’s roundabout shenanigans, but I couldn’t really turn a deaf ear to something that would strengthen me as a trainer. Perhaps I could spare an hour, since I had already been gone for almost 2 weeks already. What could change in an hour, realistically?

“Fine. What is the favor?”

Candy hopped on one leg and clapped once.

“I knew you couldn’t resist. I’d like you to help us return the stolen pokemon to their trainers. We’re almost done, but any help would be most welcome. We’re all pretty exhausted from running and flying around all day. Ah! Also, Rayquaza’s going to be too tired to fly all the way to Calcenon if he doesn’t get help, me thinks?”

“Sure, whatever. All I need to do is give the pokemon back to their trainers, correct? Do you know where the trainers are?”

“Yep! Arc, give her some of yours.”

Arclight opened his bag and took out five small ziplock bags that contained a small card and a pokeball each.

“These cards each say what pokemon is contained in the pokeball and information on their trainers,” he explained.

I took the bags and put them in my bag.

“Alright, I’m heading out. You better be back when I’m done,” I said and ran out of the house.

 

When I entered the Opal Ward, I stopped and sat on a bench to check the locations of the trainers I had to deliver to.

“Peridot, Jasper, Apophyll, and two from Lapis,” I read aloud. “That’s all over the place. Is an hour really going to be enough to complete this? I wish I had like 5 people I could split this job with.”

In any case, sitting on my ass would accomplish nothing, so I stood up from the bench. I was ready to head to Peridot, when I had an idea. If all we needed to do was deliver these to people, it really wasn’t necessary for the delivery person to be human.

“Pikachu,” I called and he jolted on my shoulder. “Would you help me out on this one?”

Pikachu hopped off my shoulder and looked up to me, but was silent. The disguise’s head was tilted to one side.

“I have to deliver these to some people around the city. If you could take these two and deliver them for me, we could finish up quicker. One is in Peridot Ward and the other in Jasper, so they should be relatively close to each other. I’ll take the remaining three, and will start with Apophyll because that’s the farthest one.”

Pikachu took the plastic bags and squeaked. I patted his head and we walked in opposite directions.

 

It had been a long while since I had navigated the city without Vanilla, and even longer since I had done it completely alone. Fortunately, the Wards she assigned me were two of the three I knew best, since I had traveled through them even before I met Zo. 

Since I was walking over from Opal Ward, I decided to look for the owner of a Jigglypuff in Peridot Ward first. I asked around for clues and directions, but the pokemon in the area didn’t know of this Santiago guy. Whoever he was, he mustn’t be someone that spent much time out in the open, I presumed.

I eventually found him in a dark alleyway, but I was at first hesitant to approach him. He was talking with a few others, all with shaved heads and big bodies like his, and from the few words I could understand, the topic of their conversation wasn’t very pleasant. Yet, I needed to finish my delivery so that Vanilla would be happy, so I approached them.

They were startled at my sudden appearance, as expected. It didn’t bother me, since I was already used to such reactions from other humans. 

I took out the card with the trainer’s name from the plastic bag, and showed it to them. Before most of them could finish reading the card, though, the one I was looking for quickly snatched it from my hand and pulled me over to a corner of the alleyway.

“Jigglypuff … f*ckin’ … pokemon. Don’t want … know about that … or … f*ckin’ make fun of me… Find some other person …? … I’ll go get … when we’re f*ckin’ done… Just f*ckin’ … tell me where.”

The gist was that he needed someone to keep his Jigglypuff for the time being for reasons I couldn’t really understand. I thought I could do this for him, but would need it written because I doubted I could communicate his message to another person. I looked around me and found a pen on the floor, so I picked it up and gave it to him so that he could write the command on the back of the card I had. He gladly did it, though he seemed to have trouble with spelling a few words. Once I had the card back, I placed it in the ziplock bag again and left the alleyway.

 

I thought that maybe I could ask the favor to the person in Jasper Ward, thereby killing two Pidgeys with one Geodude.

This time also, I wandered the Ward without knowing where I was supposed to find my target. However, this time the wandering took much less time. Jasper Ward was smaller than Peridot, and I had acquaintances in it.

When two such acquaintances, who had been talking to each other, saw me, they approached me quickly. One of them ran up to me and scooped me into her hands, while the other just jogged behind her. If my memory serves me well, they were Sandy and Maxwell, the two who helped my friends, Ynnie and Nina, reclaim part of their home.

“I have seen you … Pachirisu mimikyu … Vanilla’s?” Sandy said.

“I think his name is Pikachu,” said Maxwell.

“Pikachu!”

She twirled around twice before putting me down on the ground.

“What brings you here?” she asked, sitting on the ground to be almost on eye-level with me.

I took out my ziplock bags and handed her the one that I needed to deliver to someone in Jasper Ward. She read the card in it, and her face lit up.

“... Looking for Lillin? I know … follow me,” she said and stood up. Without missing a beat, she started jogging. I understood that she would guide me to the person, but keeping up with her speed was challenging for a small pokemon like me.

At last, we were in a building, and the trainer I needed to see was sitting in the lobby, reading a book.

“Excuse me, Lillin?”

“Oh no. What … Sandy?”

Lillin frowned when she saw Sandy come inside, but when she saw Maxwell enter behind me, that frown disappeared in an instant. She stood up from her chair, pushed Sandy out of the way and got way too close to him.

“Maxwell! How are you?” she asked. “... must be tired… Come up … coffee or tea?”

“Thank you, but I’ll pass.”

I pulled Sandy’s shirt to remind her what we were doing there.

“Lillin, this is for you,” she said and handed her the ziplock bag.

Lillin took the bag, but the frown reappeared on her face.

“Oh no… Why … Loudred … Goodbye fair sleep.”

Then, I handed her the other ziplock bag, with the card that had Santiago’s message written on. Lillin was confused at first, but once she read the message, she laughed maniacally. I got spooked by her sudden mood change and scurried to hide behind Sandy.

“Jigglypuff is mine now,” she said. “... All the nights … precious sleep … they’re mine! Mine!”

It appeared that Lillin intended to keep the Jigglypuff as her own to silence her Loudred. This, ironically, made me worry about Lillin’s safety rather than the Jigglypuff’s owner’s feelings. Santiago’s friends didn’t seem to be the understanding type… 

“You can’t keep … not yours,” Sandy scolded Lillin.

Lillin said that she knew that, and that she didn’t actually intend to keep it, but that she wanted us to get her something that would deal with Loudred’s noise so that she could let go of Jigglypuff. I had no clue what I could do, but I instructed Lillin in signs and futile squeals to write her message on the back of the card and to give it to me. Fortunately, Maxwell was better at understanding me than the other two were, and Lillin was also much more willing to listen to him rather than to Sandy or I, so he got what I needed on my behalf.

 

We returned to the corner that Maxwell had to keep standing in order to keep handing adverts.

“What should we do?” Sandy said, biting her thumb.

“Should … another pokemon?” Maxwell suggested. “Doesn’t … sing, it could be … sleep powder or grass whistle?”

“For Lillin, hypnosis would do best,” Sandy giggled.

As we were discussing potential pokemon to give Lillin, Vanilla showed up to check on me. She also frowned when she saw who I was with.

“How did it go, Pikachu?”

Since the situation had become slightly more complicated than I could explain with squeaks and jumps, Sandy and Maxwell did so on my behalf.

“So you need something to put her to sleep despite Loudred’s noise?” Vanilla summarized, and stroked her chin pensively. “You know, I think I have an idea that won’t involve looking for and capturing a pokemon that can learn sleep-inducing moves. Come Pikachu, let’s finish delivering the remaining pokemon together.”

Vanilla bent over so that I could run up to her shoulder. 

“See you in a bit, Vanilla and Pikachu,” Sandy said and waved at us.

 

“I was able to deliver 2 out of the remaining 3,” I explained as I pedaled Archer’s bike. “The last one appears to belong to a kid who just recently got kidnapped. That’s my luck.”

I passed the Peridot, Opal and Obsidia Wards. From Coral Ward, I sent out Kame to get me to Apophyll.

“We’re going back to Apophyll. The girl I delivered a Makuhita to had these terrible noise-cancelling headphones. I’m thinking maybe I could buy them from her. After a year of battling in this region, money is one thing I have in surplus.”

I reached the beach and quickly headed to Apophyll academy. The girl was still listening to music in her room, reading a magazine. As I expected, she didn’t react to the sound of the door being opened or to me calling her by name. Only by shaking her by the arm, did she notice that I was once again in her room.

“Oh, it’s you again. What’s up?”

“I’d like to buy off your headphones. How does ₱30,000 sound to you?”

“What? Wait, wait. My headphones aren’t for sale. Besides, I don’t need that much money! Don’t you know we, who walk the path of zen, are minimalists?”

“Then, why don’t you minimize your possessions by giving me your headphones?”

The girl frowned at this, but apparently gave it some thought, because this was what she said next: “I think there’s something I’d be willing to trade them for, and I think you’d be able to get me it, realistically speaking.”

She narrowed her eyes and her smile was nothing short of creepy when she said that. I wondered whether this was my cue to leave her alone and go along with Sandy and Maxwell’s plan to capture a pokemon for Lillin.

“I’d like an autograph from this specimen of a man!” she said, pointing to a huge picture of Arclight which occupied two full pages of the magazine she was reading. “I tune into his show all the time. I was so psyched just from talking with him on the phone when he told me about my Makuhita, you have no idea!”

She shut the magazine and jumped while holding it close to her chest.

“Alright, alright. I’ll ask if he can do me that favor.”

I took a couple of quick steps backward, so that I wouldn’t be within her reach.

“You will? I’m so psyched! I’ll be waiting for you, while listening to a recording of his 2008 live performance.”

 

I quickly headed back to Obsidia Ward. By then, it had already been 50 minutes since I started Candy’s task, but unfortunately I didn’t think I’d be done in the next 10 minutes.

“You’re back! Are you done?” Candy asked, and I replied with a negative.

“I need to sort 2 more and I’ll be done,” I said. “For now, I need Arclight’s autograph.”

“What’s up with that? I didn’t know you were a fan of his?”

Arclight also looked at me with a suggestive smile. I blushed at their obvious misunderstanding.

“Don’t be idiots. It’s not for me, it’s for one of… ack, forget that. Just give me your autograph.”

“Haha, it’s no problem at all,” Arclight said.

“You don’t need to be shy, Vanilla,” Candy smirked and poked my shoulder teasingly.

This is the last time I ever agree to one of Candy’s last-minute favors, I decided in my heart.

 

I went back to Apophyll and gave the autograph to the girl. She was in so much awe that she said almost nothing to me and voluntarily handed me her headphones. Now that the headphones were disconnected from the source, the music sounded from the speakers. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration if I said that I could feel the whole room vibrating to each beat of music. I left that room with barely a semblance of eardrums, and made my way to Jasper Ward to hand the headphones to their new owner.

 

Sandy and Maxwell were still chatting in a corner when I came back. They were glad to find that I managed to trade my time, pride and eardrums for some noise-cancelling headphones. I asked them to guide me to Lillin, and to our surprise, we found all the people and pokemon in the lobby fast asleep, while Jigglypuff sulked by herself.

“Lillin, wake up,” Sandy shook her.

“Mhm… Is it you, Maxwell?”

Sandy and my glares intersected on Maxwell’s face.

“Y-yeah, it’s me,” he said, blushing. “Just wake up, will you?”

Lillin slowly woke up and smiled when she saw that he was, indeed, there. 

“I’ve brought noise-cancelling headphones. Now you’ll agree to return the jigglypuff back to her owner, right?” I said.

Lillin laughed and said that she wasn’t going to keep jigglypuff anyways, since she wouldn’t steal a pokemon when hers had been stolen. However, she gladly accepted the headphones from me.

“I’m glad everything is sorted out now,” Sandy said, taking Maxwell’s hand and forcibly highfiving it.

“... I think I need to sort out one last thing,” said Lillin to Sandy, with a face that would scare the devil himself.

I hurried out of the building, for I had neither the time nor the patience to get caught in the crossfire.

 

“Now we have one more pokemon to return. Let’s find out where the little kid was kidnapped to, teach a lesson to those skinheads that kidnapped him, and give his pokemon back.”

Something I said appeared to resonate with Pikachu. He hopped off my shoulder and started running, occasionally looking back at me to make sure I was following him.

“Where are we going?”

The place he guided me to was one of the alleyways that way back, when I had first set foot in the region, had reminded me of my secret base in the Underworld. In here, there was a group of skinheads, talking in a low voice. 

Without an ounce of hesitation, Pikachu walked up to one of them and pulled on his shirt.

“Oh lil guy, you’re f*ckin’ back. Come ‘ere,” he said and ran over to a spot closer to the entrance where I was. He was spooked when he saw me, either because he didn’t expect anyone to be there or because he thought I was a ghost, but regained composure quickly.

“What’re you doin’ here, lass? This ain’t no place for f*ckin’ kids like you.”

“I’m that Mimikyu’s trainer,” I said.

“Ah! Then you f*ckin’ know about Jigglypuff?”

I nodded.

“That changes a great f*ckin’ deal of things, don’t it? Come ‘ere too.”

He waved his hand beckoning me to get closer, which I did. When I was close enough for him to hear me whisper, I told him where his Jigglypuff was. I omitted all the extra nonsense we had to deal with, since that was irrelevant for him.

“You’re my hero, dawg. Tell me anythin’. What the f*ck do you need? I’ll do anything in my f*ckin’ power to help you out.”

At first, I couldn’t think of anything I needed help with, but Pikachu pulled on my dress and I started to piece together the real reason he had brought me to see this man. Skinheads… Could there be such a coincidence?

“I’m looking for a kidnapped boy. Do you happen to be involved, and if so, know where to find him?”

“Ugh you’re lookin’ for that f*ckin’ kid? Look, it’s real complicated, but I guess I can f*ckin’ tell you where to find him so you see for yourself,” he said. “The lil’ f*cker’s held up on the roof of one of the buildings in the f*ckin’ Onyx Ward.”

“What? Why? What is there to complicate about kidnapping a kid?”

“Well lass, I can’t tell you or I’ll get in f*ckin’ trouble. Just be prepared to get your pokemon wrecked.”

“How about I just call the cops on you all? What do you say to that?”

“Oh no no, c’mon. If you bring the cops over there, you’ll just force them to f*ckin’ relocate as soon as they see ‘em comin’. Trust me. Go there alone and as undercover as possible.”

 

Though I didn’t get a particularly good feeling about this, by this time I was tired of dealing with people’s eccentricities and was stressed by every minute that passed that I wasn’t on my way to Calcenon, so I decided to follow dude’s advice to go search for the kid alone. 

Fortunately, the search didn’t take long because there were a limited number of buildings with rooftops that were accessible to the public. On the third building I visited, I found what I was looking for.

There were several skinheads who all collectively looked at me when I opened the door to the rooftop garden. I saw the kid sitting with hands and feet tied. For a young person his age, say about 8 or 9 years old, I commended him for looking quite collected.

“Have you come to f*ckin’ pay off the ransom, lass?” one of the skinheads asked me.

“No. I’ve come here to take the kid back to his home.”

“Like we’d let you do that. Guys.”

With that cue, a couple of skinheads stepped forward and engaged me in battle. Honestly, they weren’t very good battlers. Sure, they had large and powerful pokemon that they may or may not have stolen, but their teamwork was visibly all over the place. The pokemon sometimes didn’t obey their orders and attacked their allies. Needless to say, I won the first double battle. Two more double battles ensued, but I also won them thanks to their disorganization.

When all the skinheads were out of pokemon they could use, they fell silent like they didn’t know what to say or do anymore.

“You really are useless,” said a voice that at first confused me, because it seemed to be coming from in front of me, but I saw no one it could belong to.

Until I realized that it was the kid speaking.

“I’ll have to deal with this myself,” he said.

“What are you talking about? Really, kid. I just came here looking for you so I could return something that belongs to you. But what kind of messed up business have you gotten into?”

“Shut up. Your peabrain wouldn’t understand anything. Just battle me, lose and go cry somewhere else.”

Without even really understanding why I had to waste even more time battling the kid, we engaged in battle. The youngster actually surprised me by having more coordination and strategy than any of the adults that surrounded him. It was evident that those pokemon were actually his, and had a solid bond between them and their trainer. What he lacked, of course, was experience, but that was only an advantage I could boast for having lived twice as long as he had. In the end, I won the battle, and the kid screamed and kicked with frustration.

“Stupid adults, always trying to get in the way,” he said. “But you never do anything to actually help! You just take whatever is there to take, without a single thought to the consequences of it. I quit. I’m just gonna go home.”

The kid fired everyone on the spot, and heard no complaints from the skinheads before rushing out of the rooftop garden.

“Wait.”

I ran after him, and caught him just before he accessed Obsidia Ward.

“What do you want? Don’t you have anything better to do?” he shouted. “Thanks to you I’ve failed to make my uncle pay for convincing me to leave my precious pokemon in the SDP. My pokemon was stolen and all of it is his fault. I hate adults like him and you who think they know better, but they’re just ignorant of how dumb they are!”

“Calm down, and shut up because your incessant shouting is really hurting my damaged eardrums.”

Instead of explaining anything else, I handed him the ziplock bag with his pokemon. I figured, from what he was implying in all of his whining, that this pokemon getting stolen had been the cause of the drama.

The kid pouted and received the ziplock bag. He read the card and immediately opened the bag to take out the pokeball and release the pokemon inside.

“Vanillite! How did you…?” He looked at me with awe, but then lowered his gaze. “Uh. So some adults can do good things. Fine. I’ll see if I can be someone that does good things too.”

The boy wrapped an arm around his pokemon and waved at me before running in the direction of the Lapis Ward.

“Good things, huh?” I said.

 

Finally done with all the deliveries, I returned to Candy’s shop. The whole thing took just shy of 2 hours, but the reward was arguably worth the struggle.

“Thanks for your help. I hope you’ll find a good use for this,” said Arclight when he handed me a bracelet.

“What is it?” I said, initially feeling scammed.

“It’s a Mega-Z bracelet. If you have a mega stone or a Z crystal, you can give those to your pokemon and it’ll allow you to mega-evolve them or use the powerful Z moves in battle.”

“Alright. I guess I’ll learn about it more when I use them in battle,” I said. “Candy. You’re ready to fly me to Calcenon now?”

“Of course!”

Candy sipped the last bit of her tea and stood up from the table.

As everyone moved around the shop and Candy was about to pass me to go outside, I stopped her. There was something that wasn’t urgent to ask, but figured it was a harmless question anyway so it didn’t hurt to dissipate my curiosity.

“Er, Candy. This might seem to come out of nowhere, but you wouldn’t be lying about your familial background, would you?”

“What? My familial background? You mean who my parents are?”

“Just tell me the truth. I swear I will not tell anyone if you’d rather maintain secrecy.”

Even though I didn’t believe the contents of a mysterious book, which was supposedly written by a prophet, to be grounded in reality or to really be narrating the life of my cousin, I couldn’t deny that I wanted to confirm that the book was a sham whenever I had a chance to talk with Candy again. After all, I had to admit that Candy meeting most, if not all, of the characteristics described in that book- being a young Everish woman who traveled to Reborn, perhaps having quite a few features that resembled her father, and also having a cousin, me, who was close to her- was odd, to say the least.

Candy was surprised, indeed, to be asked a question I knew the answer to, but she responded to it anyway with utmost patience.

“I don’t really care to keep it a secret. I’m just surprised you’re asking me this, because I’ll have to disappoint you if you expect me to say something you don’t already know. My mother’s side of the family is Leiderhosen and my dad’s is Hatter, known for being descendants of the mad hatter. As you know, my mom is your dad’s younger sister, the youngest of 4 siblings. My dad moved to Everland, after years of feeling like he didn’t belong in his family. I mean, he is a goofball but not mad enough to mix with his siblings or close family in Wonderland. I hear my parents caused quite the controversy when they decided to marry, because a member of the Everland nobility marrying a regular foreigner from Wonderland of all places, was unheard of. I love both my mom and dad, though, so I’m really glad that they could marry despite all that.”

As she had said, nothing she said was news to me, so I ventured just one last question to seal the topic: “No connection to the Queen, by any chance?”

Candy laughed at this question.

“My my, what’s gotten into you? Did someone spread lies about me? I’m not royalty at all! We sure are nobles politically close to the Queen, but nothing ties us to her by bloodline.”

“No, no one is spreading lies. I just wanted to confirm what I already knew, that was all.”

“You’re so funny, Vanilla. Shall we go to Calcenon now?”

“Yeah. Thanks.”

With my mind in relative peace, I exited the Daycare with Candy and climbed onto Rayquaza.

Little did I know then, that my peace would soon be completely undone once I reached my destination.

 

VANILLA RATES: REBORN CHARACTERS

Spoiler

• Arclight (+1): 6/10 Gave me a mega-Z bracelet

 

QUICK LINK TO NEXT EPISODE

[Logan_the_balalaika]

12 hours ago, Candy said:

“Then, why don’t you minimize your possessions by giving me your headphones?”

I laughed at this more than I should have. Good one, edgelord.

 

12 hours ago, Candy said:

After all, in a way, I signed up for constant mental and emotional exhaustion when I got too involved with the people of this region.

Pretty much sums up the Reborn Experience™.

[Evi Crystal]

16 hours ago, Candy said:

Little did I know then, that my peace would soon be completely undone once I reached my destination.

And here we gooooooo.

 

Good Luck Vani, hope you'll have some sanity left after that one

[SilverAngelus]

Pikachu POV? I'm all for it!

[Corso]

18 hours ago, Candy said:

What could change in an hour, realistically?

Wow I don't know what is going to happen but this is the least subtle foreshadowing I've ever read.

 

18 hours ago, Candy said:

They were glad to find that I managed to trade my time, pride and eardrums for some noise-cancelling headphones.

I felt this one

 

18 hours ago, Candy said:

“My my, what’s gotten into you? Did someone spread lies about me? I’m not royalty at all! We sure are nobles politically close to the Queen, but nothing ties us to her by bloodline.”

So are you telling us you're a prince(ss) too?  

[Candy]

2 minutes ago, Corso said:

Wow I don't know what is going to happen but this is the least subtle foreshadowing I've ever read.

I literally foreshadowed the same thing twice (the one you mentioned and at the end of the chapter) lmao Now, it'll be disappointing af if I don't pull something shocking to justify so much overt foreshadowing

4 minutes ago, Corso said:

So are you telling us you're a prince(ss) too?  

I ain't tellin', but I am 

[Corso]

The plot twist is...

Spoiler

... there is no plot twist! 

 

[J-Awesome_One]

Idk how I didn't see you updated this yesterday. Anyways, that was a fun episode to read! I figured it was the mega-z ring sidequest. Still, I enjoyed it.

[Candy]

2 hours ago, J-Awesome_One said:

Idk how I didn't see you updated this yesterday. Anyways, that was a fun episode to read! I figured it was the mega-z ring sidequest. Still, I enjoyed it.

Glad you enjoyed the read~ When I emphasized that Vanini got ahold of a megastone, I kinda needed to make an episode where she actually got a mega bracelet :p You can expect her to use it sometime in the coming, intense af, battle(s). Afaik she has 2 pokemon that can mega-evolve so that'll be fun to change it up.

[Aphelli]

On 9/20/2021 at 12:57 AM, Candy said:

“My my, what’s gotten into you? Did someone spread lies about me? I’m not royalty at all! We sure are nobles politically close to the Queen, but nothing ties us to her by bloodline.”

 

This sounds a little bit awkward. Is Candy hiding something?

 

(for both the character and the author, I think the answer is a resounding yes).

 

On 9/20/2021 at 12:57 AM, Candy said:

Little did I know then, that my peace would soon be completely undone once I reached my destination.

 

I mean, can you really call it foreshadowing now? This is more "fore-spotlight-shining". Although I'm ashamed that I missed the first line for what it was. I think that was because it was literally true in all but the most insane situations (which, as Vanilla noticed, is exactly the case).

 

On 9/20/2021 at 9:34 PM, Candy said:

Now, it'll be disappointing af if I don't pull something shocking to justify so much overt foreshadowing

Well, it's Hypno time, isn't it? And it's going to be really horrific, isn't it?

(or it could awaken suppressed memories... which sounds just as frightening).

And Jasmine, of course.

Oh dear.

 

I have a question about something earlier, while we're speaking of princesses: you said earlier on that there's a specific reason why ending Vanilla would end the Defiance for good, which (I guess) might be related to Vanilla's actual lineage. But revolutionary groups (especially of the downtrodden) hardly ever care for blue blood, don't they? They would just choose another leader with approximating charisma and/or guts (hopefully less vulnerable to Jasmine-instigated manipulation), no?

[Candy]

6 hours ago, Mindlack said:

(for both the character and the author, I think the answer is a resounding yes).

Big SUS energy :amogus:

6 hours ago, Mindlack said:

I have a question about something earlier, while we're speaking of princesses: you said earlier on that there's a specific reason why ending Vanilla would end the Defiance for good, which (I guess) might be related to Vanilla's actual lineage. But revolutionary groups (especially of the downtrodden) hardly ever care for blue blood, don't they? They would just choose another leader with approximating charisma and/or guts (hopefully less vulnerable to Jasmine-instigated manipulation), no?

I don't remember saying that if Vanini is over the Defiance is over too, but if I said that, it's a lie.

What I might or might not have said is that Vanilla is someone that represents a unison of the Overworld (due to growing up as a noble there) and the Underworld (due to her albinism which should've sent her to the Underworld as soon as she was born), which means she's an entity that the Defiance will probably never encounter again. I might be misremembering, but in Wolfie's diary, she confesses that she would've liked to be the leader instead of Vanilla, but King (her predecessor) insisted on choosing Vanilla because she could move the masses just because of who she was (unlike Wolfie, who was always supposed to be in the Overworld, is a "visitor" in the Underworld, and isn't even a noble).

Tl;dr Vanilla being the face of the Defiance is "romantic" to the people of the Underworld, which might help recruit more loyal people to the Defiance (especially the part of it that actually wants to over throw the government, instead of just causing chaos to make their lives easier (you might remember that flashback when Vanilla and Aladdin went to a just-for-the-chaos Defiance group to negotiate so that they joined them, which was not a one-time event)). Moreover, it would create a "compelling story" when/if she succeeds in a Coup d'etat (aka unison wins against the tyranny of the Overworld). The Defiance could still exist without Vanini but she's definitely a one-in-a-million chance for them.

[Aphelli]

On 9/3/2021 at 7:35 AM, Candy said:

There’s also a second reason why capturing Vanilla = ending the Defiance, but I think I’ll keep that a secret for when we reach the Everland arc

 

1 hour ago, Candy said:

I don't remember saying that if Vanini is over the Defiance is over too, but if I said that, it's a lie.

 

Rule One: Candy lies? 

Or the situation allows for both quotes to be true, which is very particular indeed... 

 

I can definitely understand why Vanilla, as a dweller of both worlds (and someone who narrowly avoided being abandoned in the Underworld), can be a very good leader for the Defiance. Still, I really need to re-read the Everland-related chapters, because I forgot a lot of it...  

[Candy]

5 minutes ago, Mindlack said:

Rule One: Candy lies? 

Or the situation allows for both quotes to be true, which is very particular indeed... 

I think I was too liberal with the word "ending" lol I think past-me used it as a way to say that if Vanini is captured, the Defiance will have a big sink in their motivation, or maybe something else that I'm not thinking of in the present. I wonder what secret past-me wanted to keep for the Everland arc, cause evidently it was something I was excited about 

8 minutes ago, Mindlack said:

I can definitely understand why Vanilla, as a dweller of both worlds (and someone who narrowly avoided being abandoned in the Underworld), can be a very good leader for the Defiance. Still, I really need to re-read the Everland-related chapters, because I forgot a lot of it...  

Prior to diving into the Everland arc, if I remember to, I'll do a summary of that stuff. Since the Everland-related content was mostly told in flashbacks and referenced in dialogue, it's difficult to keep up with them me thinks.

But if you'd still want to read them anyway, I think side chapters F-J, Ep 39, Wolfie's diary in Ep 68, and the infamous From Everland to Reborn book in Silver's room are pretty much all that I can think of that have stuff about Everland (apart from the sporadic mentions with lil details all along the story). Part of side chapter G, Ep 39 and Wolfie's diary pretty much tell the same story, but (I think) it's interesting to see the same event being told from the perspective of 3 different characters that knew/felt different things. However, even if you don't read any of those and totally forgot even what Everland is, I think you'll still be able to follow the Everland arc just fine, since I always put a link to episodes that are pertinent to sentences that references them.

It might not be standard for any kind of writer to be this way, but I'm more the type that laughs sadistically as I throw a whole lot of very obvious hints in y'all's face, thinking "the truth is literally in there if you'd just piece it together"  but would still be happy if y'all piece it together and are like "wow the story played out just as I predicted lol". 

[Aphelli]

Okay, that makes a little more sense, thanks for the precise sources. 

 

I mean, I do remember what Everland basically is, but I'm a little fuzzy on the details. Even now, after refreshing my memory, I'm not sure if Vanilla's status would have been enough to save her from the Underworld due to her albinism, or if already hints at something more. Of course, the chapter on Vanilla's parents is both interesting and tantalizing, but I suppose I haven't read it carefully enough to make a good enough guess. And I don't know how useful the little mentions along the story are useful for theorycrafting.

 

Oh well. I'm not very good at guessing where stories go anyway. 

 

23 hours ago, Candy said:

It might not be standard for any kind of writer to be this way, but I'm more the type that laughs sadistically as I throw a whole lot of very obvious hints in y'all's face, thinking "the truth is literally in there if you'd just piece it together"  but would still be happy if y'all piece it together and are like "wow the story played out just as I predicted lol". 

 

There's something called the "illusion of transparency", which basically states that what is a very obvious hint to a writer is far less clear-cut to a reader. So it's possible that these hints are not that easy to pick up on. But I'm confident that when you spell it out, I'll feel stupid for not piecing it together sooner. 

 

(and I've got plans to exploit it myself... )

[Candy]

From Everland to Reborn ~ Episode 90

Geez it been a whale, ain't it? Y'all can blame Genshin Impact for it. My days since September have been 90% spent going to lab and playing Genshin and watching Genshin-related vids, so I didn't have time to enter the zen mode needed to imagine Vanini's story 

Here's a short summary of what happened in the previous episodes so y'all ain't super lost:

Spoiler

• Taka died, Vanini kind of blames herself for it but also isn't entirely sure she could've done anything cause Lin is superhuman but also she was right there and could've stopped Tania from killing impulsively too.
• Vanini goes fight Amaria cause she needs her badge, but it turns into a sh*tshow when Amaria low key tries to drown Vanini who got no swimming skills. Fortunately her knight in dull armor apparently saved her but also she is forced to witness how Tania breaks Amaria's heart a second time. Julia stays by Amaria's side to make sure she's safe.
• Vanini goes to Candy to ask for a ride to Calcenon, but Candy's like "yay an extra pair of hands! help me return some pokemans to their trainers and my guy Arklight will give you a lovely mega-ring" so Vanini's like "ok" and she team works with Pikachu and some other NPCs to accomplish the job. Now Vanini has a mega ring and a medichamite but not a blastoisite yet.
• Vanini and Candy go to Calcenon atop Rayquaza <- this is where we are

 

From up in the skies, we could see how badly the fight had been going. Even though I assumed the two dragon tamers must have worked day and night to deflect PULSE Clawitzer’s attacks, the few missed attempts had accumulated over the days to damage the city to a pitiful state.

Once on the ground, we noticed an increase in police officers since the last time I had been there, which didn’t really suit the eerie absence of the general public. The Pokemon Center’s nurse told us that a few days ago, Charlotte had ordered an evacuation of all Calcenon citizens except first responders and critical personnel, for their safety. I thought this was a logical idea, so I didn’t question it.

Candy escorted me until the base of operations, the Belrose siblings’ home.

“Say hi to them from me. I’ll be mostly going between the Daycare and the Grand Hall to help Victoria manage everything. I know I’m not the brightest, but I’ll still do my best to be useful to this region I love so much. And I hope you all can bring an end to all this fighting soon,” Candy said, and with a despondent tone added: “For Ame’s and the sake of everyone who’s sacrificed a lot already.”

Her last sentence reminded me that I had yet to tell her about Taka’s sacrifice, but I didn’t feel like this was the appropriate time to talk about that… or rather, that I was the person fit to talk about it in the first place.

“Yeah. That is my wish too,” I replied with fake enthusiasm.

Candy smiled at me and soon was gone with Rayquaza. I watched her silhouette until it wasn’t visible anymore, and then entered the house.

 

“What part of ‘we have to act now’ don’t you understand, mate?” were the first words that greeted me.

The lobby was empty, save for Florinia and Hardy, who, if I wasn’t mistaken, were in the middle of arguing about something. They both looked my way when they heard me entering. Hardy initially looked as though he’d seen a ghost- a welcome that I was quite used to already- but once the initial shock faded, he greeted me with more warmth that I could have expected from someone I barely knew. Florinia, as always, didn’t even twitch her pokerface. 

“Yo Vanilla! You’ve returned. You couldn’t have chosen a better timing to do so,” he said. “I’m sure you’ll back me up once we tell you what’s up.”

Hardy pulled me next to a chair and sat himself on the sofa to, together with Florinia, bring me up to speed with the situation on this side of the region. I looked at the chair with puzzlement, unable to keep up with Hardy’s rhythm.

“Wait, shouldn’t we call everyone back so that we can talk about plans? They’re still in the dark even about the fact that I’ve returned.”

Hardy looked at Florinia with an awkward expression, but this wasn’t reciprocated by the latter.

“Truth be told,” Hardy said, clearing his throat. “This is everyone.”

It took me a few seconds to process what he said.

“This is… everyone? Everyone, as in everyone?”

“Yeah. Uh, yeah.”

I felt my whole body go cold. I had indeed worried that Team Meteor was kidnapping our allies, but I had never expected them to have succeeded in kidnapping 7 more people in such a short time.

“We don’t quite know the details either, but it’s been on-going since Laura disappeared. The twins, then Shelly, then Cain and Feather, even Saphira. We haven’t seen Charlotte for, what, an hour now? Even though we asked her to stay, she insisted on searching for Laura and Saphira. I’m not sure that she’ll come back.”

Hearing Shelly’s name among those affected made me slump onto the chair. 

“We actually didn’t know if you’d come back, either,” Hardy said. “We thought you had also disappeared like the rest of ‘em, since you hadn’t come back in so long.”

I didn’t reply. 

“We need to act now. Sis here found the location that the sleeping signal appears to be originating from. If we go there, we can rock those Meteors’ worlds. If they’re behind our friends disappearin’, we can demand that they be returned to us.”

“Proposed procedure remains haphazardly inefficient. Current force in Calcenon has been diminished in number to a total of 3. Abandonment of the city may increase the risk of Team Meteor invasion to a substantial degree. As such, reckless enthusiasm without proper strategy will only pre-determine the outcome to failure.”

“Yeah you said that before, but the fact is that we’re the only ones left that can do something to save our pals. We’ve got to check that place out ASAP. Vanilla, you agree, right?”

However, my mind had gone astray in my thoughts, so much that I hadn’t heard most of the conversation. Something had been welling up inside of me, while they talked. My Defiance group, Wolfie, Aladdin, Ame, Taka, Cain, Charlotte and Shelly flashed before my eyes. Then, when I remembered Lin… and her indolent expression when she saw Ame’s limp body, and her detached voice when she made sure Taka was killed… I felt as though I forgot how to breathe. I gasped for air a few times but the fog in my head didn’t feel any clearer.

“Vanilla, are you alright, mate? Rini, we need to lie her down on the couch.”

I felt their grasp on both my arms as they pulled me up from the chair and gently laid me down on the couch they had been sitting on. Lying down made it slightly easier to breathe, but I still had to take deep breaths every now and then or I felt like I wasn’t breathing enough. I allowed the strength to leave my limbs, and for a moment I thought this might be how one feels just before dying. Only the weight of Pikachu sitting on my stomach reminded me that I was still alive.

 

When I woke up, my head hurt a little, but at least my breathing had returned to normal. I remained for some time on the couch, trying to remember how I had ended up there. When I did, though, I almost couldn’t believe it. How could I have fallen to such a depth that I could actually pass out from… what, fear? Distress? Just thinking about it threatened to decompose my breathing again, so I tried to calm myself before I made any more of a fool out of myself. 

Yet, I couldn’t stay on the sofa forever. I had already lost precious time passing out, when any minute, any second, could mark the death of one of the missing people. Even though dying would be a kinder punishment than having to see Hardy and Florinia after the spectacle, I sat myself up and called upon them. 

“Ah you’re feeling better, mate? You had us worried,” Hardy said when he saw me sitting up.

“Yeah, I’m fine. I’m sorry that I caused you trouble.”

“Not at all. We’re the ones who should be sorry. You ain’t even from Reborn and you’ve done so much for us already. Yet we can’t even give you a proper and deserved break.”

“I’m fine. I don’t need a break,” I insisted. “Tell me about the signal again. I couldn’t hear it well when you told me the first time, but I’m in a better state to hear you now.”

“Are you sure? Mate, no offense, but to me, it looks like you’re just bottling up your feelings to act strong,” he said, and sat next to me. “Relax. No one’s judging you here. I know y’all were friends, and I know, personally, how it feels to have someone you care for be kidnapped.”

Hardy looked me in the eye. I didn’t have much interaction with him till now, but I had very recently spent a significant duration with his bitter elder sister and… well, dead elder brother, so I couldn’t help myself from comparing him to them. I concluded all of them were different from each other, but all had some sort of defect. Hardy’s, I judged, was being too perceptive for his own good.

“I’m only exhausted, that’s all. I’m tired of losing… I guess, friends. I’m tired of feeling like I’m navigating a dark cave, trusting that there’s an exit somewhere, but all I do is take one step forward and two backward.”

Hardy’s shoulders dropped as he let out a relieved sigh. He placed a hand on my shoulder.

“Thanks for your honesty. I promise, we will start taking two forward and one backward soon. First we gotta get our friends back, cause, contrary to what you say, they ain’t lost until we see it.”

I nodded.

“Count me in.”

 

Despite her reservations, Florinia told us all she had found out about the sleeping signal while I was away. Nothing she said indicated that we would find our friends in that location between Agate and Calcenon cities, but when I asked her whether she had found any way in which we could enter Labradorra instead, she replied with a negative. As such, our choices were limited to dealing with the sleeping signal, in the hopes that we might find some clues about how the Team Meteor grunts manage to exit and re-enter the forcefield. I hated the plan, but it beat staying in Calcenon with my arms crossed.

When we departed, the sun had long settled. Florinia suggested that we at least postpone the expedition until the next day, but Hardy was determined- or even stubborn- enough for the both of us, and wouldn’t acquiesce the advice. I wasn’t really sure of it, but I thought his determination might be fueled by his wish to rescue Aya as soon as possible. At least, some things he said while we shopped in preparation for our trip seemed to imply that. 

With a compass at hand, we headed east, in the direction of Agate City. 

The distance wasn’t expected to be that long, but due to mountainous terrain and the low temperatures, reaching the suspicious area would still take us some time and energy. 

“Have you gotten any communication from Team Meteor since I left?” I asked Hardy as we walked through the forest of Route 4. 

“Uhh. Not really, no.”

“Huh? Haven’t they threatened us to give the jewelry in exchange for the hostages?”

“I’ll be honest. I spent most of my time indoors taking care of the kids and helping out Rini in whatever she needed. There was a time when I helped guide people out of Calcenon when they decided to evacuate the city, I guess, but I didn’t have much time to be talkin’ with them Meteors if they ever came down for a chat. So if anyone coulda talked with ‘em, I’d say it was either Saphira or Feather who spent all their time out in the skies or on land pretty much. But they never really mentioned any of the sort to me, even when the twins disappeared and Feather herself went missing. Not that I’d say Saphira was particularly interested in talkin’ to me.”

That sounded weird to me. If they were taking all these people hostage, why wouldn’t they use that to force our hand? If Hardy was right, then that would mean Jasmine used the hostage card even before Team Meteor did, back in Tourmaline Desert.

Now that I think about it… why didn’t she say that all these other people had been captured too? Why only say that Aladdin had been captured, when she could’ve added more reason to lure me out?

“Why'd you ask?” Hardy asked me.

“I only thought it strange that they wouldn’t threaten us, that is all. Perhaps I’m thinking too much. We should focus on the sleeping signal now, and worry about the rest later.” 

I said this, but in my mind I was beginning to suspect that the Team Meteor admins in Labradorra were, for one reason or another, unaware of the kidnappings yet. Could it be possible that the hostages weren’t with them in Labradorra? That would suggest that a third party was responsible for the kidnappings. I couldn’t think of an enemy that wasn’t somehow tied to Team Meteor. And, neither could I trust that my deduction was correct.

 

The climb was exhausting and cold, but that wasn’t news to me. I had experienced sub-zero temperatures for the first time a while back, when Shelly and I went to Ametrine City. 

Um, is it your first time s-stepping on snow? I remembered her asking with wonder in her eyes. 

The recollection of that and other few moments when we could share small details of ourselves, despite always being busy either dealing with Team Meteor or the mad doctor, made me feel somewhat melancholic.

Hardy told me that the order of disappearance was: the twins, then Shelly, then Heather and Cain, then Saphira and lastly Charlotte. When I heard this, I thought it made sense. I didn’t doubt for an instant that Shelly would have gone searching for the twins way too deep into the forest, until she fell prey to whoever was doing the kidnapping. At the same time, I couldn’t help wishing that she hadn’t been that brave. 

“She has changed a great deal by spending time with you,” Cal had said to me. That was his impression after he witnessed Shelly battling his brother atop of Ametrine Mountain.

I knew I was partially, or maybe wholly, responsible for encouraging her to be proactive and to protect instead of waiting to be protected. But in this case, that came to bite me in the ass. I might’ve meant well, but that wouldn’t even serve as consolation if she was hurt, or even died, as a result of my interference.

“Vanilla, that’s not the way, pal. We have to cross one more hill and we should be there.”

Hardy’s sudden caution made my heart jump, and I slipped on the snow. He rushed over to help me get up and told me to be more careful on my step.

 

We eventually made it to a suspicious area. I call it suspicious, because up until that point, all we saw were trees and snow and a few bodies of water, but suddenly we found ourselves in a flat open space that had been artificially cleared of trees and other obstacles. Moreover, there were multiple rows of glass windows on the ground, which somehow didn’t have any snow on top. We walked slowly, at the edge of said space, so that if there were Team Meteor grunts, they wouldn’t see us. As we walked, we found a small hut.

“Do you feel that?” I asked Hardy.

“Feel what?”

“I think it’s getting a little warmer, as we get closer to the building.”

“Huh, now that you mention it, maybe. I’m not sure.”

Once we were behind the building, we agreed that we would have to inspect the interior. Interestingly, we saw no Team Meteor grunts in our surroundings, but we couldn’t be sure they wouldn’t be awaiting us inside the hut… just like they had when we broke into the fake Devon Corp building.

“Have your pokemon ready, and send them out right as we enter,” I said. 

We moved swiftly to the front of the building. The front had a double door, but only one of them had a handle, so they could only be opened one at a time.

“Send out Gigalith and make him stand closer to that door,” I whispered to Hardy and pointed at the door that didn’t have a handle. 

I judged that if only one of the doors opened, there would be less grunts to fight at once, in case there were multiple of them waiting inside. 

I held the handle and mouthed a countdown until I would open the door.

I opened the door very quickly and sent out Aladdin and Kame, but when we looked inside, there was nobody at all.

“Eh? Is this not the place then?” Hardy sighed and raised both his hands in resignation.

“We can’t be sure until we thoroughly check the perimeter,” I said. “Let’s see if there isn’t a hidden trapdoor or something. Team Meteor has pulled those types of stunts before.”

Hardy agreed and we started searching. First we checked all the walls, in case they could be displaced like the one leading to a hidden passage in the hut in Azurine Island. We found none.

Next, we searched the outside. There was a metallic plate in the front of the building, which I didn’t pay much attention to when my mind was busy preparing to storm the place half an hour ago. Hardy suggested we remove it since it wasn’t bolted in or anything. We could easily lift it and see what was hidden underneath.

“Devon,” Hardy read.

Looking at those words painted on the hut made the blood rush from my face. 

I knew I would be fighting Team Meteor to deactivate the sleeping signal, but I had expected it to go as it did when we stormed the Peridot factories, or even their base in Tanzan Mountain. Just barge in, and finish the job with brute force. 

Yet, the word ‘Devon’ was so strongly linked in my mind to Lin, that I feared she would be here. Even now, she might be watching us, laughing at our helplessness from the comfort of her office. I didn’t feel prepared to face her again, not after the mental and emotional torture she inflicted, both in Obsidia and Tourmaline Desert. The faces of two people, whose deaths I couldn’t prevent, flashed in the back of my mind. Just thinking of what public execution she could be planning this time around made me shudder.

“Is something the matter?”

I looked at Hardy, and remembered that with all the rush since I arrived at Calcenon, I hadn’t gotten a chance to tell him or anyone about the Obsidia Devon building, or Lin, or even about his sister.

“Hardy, I believe you must have heard of Ame passing away,” I said and cleared my throat.

“Yeah, it was in the news a while back. Victoria is the name of the new league coordinator, aite? What about it?”

“Ame died on a mission when our allies in Reborn City tried to mount a surprise attack on Team Meteor at their secret headquarters. That secret headquarters was the Devon corp building in Obsidia Ward.”

Hardy raised both of his brows and slowly nodded.

“I see. So this building must be theirs. We’re in the right place then.”

“We are, but we are also in great danger,” I said, as calmly as possible. “It’s best we go back and discuss a new plan with Florinia, given this new information.”

“And waste another day? We can’t afford it.”

“I don’t want to, either. But we might make things worse if we barge in without a plan.” I insisted. “You just don’t understand the gravity of the situation, because you haven’t seen what I have seen.”

Yes, I might sound like a coward, but I believe nothing was clouding my judgment when I said that. I couldn’t feign confidence when my actions might determine someone’s survival- I had learned that the hard way too many a time. I would much rather deal with 5 Jasmines at once, than with Lin. At least Jasmine is human, albeit with some add-ons, and thus can only operate under the laws of physics. With Lin… I couldn’t even be sure she was human.

“Go back if you want. I’ll stay here and find a way in. I’m not afraid of anything that Team Meteor might throw at me. Even if I die, I prefer that to a lifetime of regretting not doing the most I could today.”

Hardy turned and I watched his back as he walked to survey the area.

I clenched my fist as my brain rushed to decide what to do. At this point, I wished nothing more than to follow Hardy, fight and deactivate the sleeping signal, so that we could try to search our friends next. Had I been myself from months ago, I might’ve fancied myself strong enough to improvise even if things went off the rails, just like Hardy felt right now.

Yet, a thought was pinning my feet to the snowy ground: the thought that I might find Lin holding Shelly as her new victim-to-be. The loss of Ame shocked me, and the loss of Taka made me feel a great deal of despair and helplessness, but I couldn’t even begin to imagine how I would retain my sanity if I lost her. I didn’t want to experience yet another loss that I would have to cope with by denying it even happened.

 

While I made up my mind, I heard the sound of glass shattering. I saw that Hardy had managed to break one of the small glass windows on the ground.

“Wait,” I said as I ran to where he was crouching. “Wait, you don’t mean to go down there.”
“Yes I do. I got lucky. I tried breaking the windows with Gigalith, but them other windows are so hard. I’m not sure what they’re made out of. This one must’ve been damaged or somethin’.”

If this was Lin’s doing, I thought. This could be exactly what she wants us to think.

“It’s a trap. That’s the most obvious trap ever. We should find a different entrance.”

Saying that, though, made me question whether Lin might’ve known I would think this way. I felt as though I was already in the trap.

“It might be, sure, but we don’t got any other way to get in as far as I could find. I’m gonna gamble.”

I wanted to stop him, but before I could say another word, Hardy waved his hand and descended the square hole.

I didn’t go after him. I didn’t have the luxury to gamble this time around. I couldn’t afford a careless mistake, which might get me imprisoned together with our allies. Neither could I risk upsetting Lin into killing the hostages, if she had them near her. Any of those possibilities would pretty much mean game-set in the context of the war against Team Meteor. If Hardy and I got imprisoned, who would come to save us? Florinia couldn’t manage by herself. Titania? Amaria? … Julia? I think it would be best not to depend on anyone in this case.

“Pikachu, let’s go. We have to check those unbreakable windows. If there’s no hope of breaking them, we must find the entrance Team Meteor used,” I said, then sighed. “Come on, we’ve got not a minute to lose.”

 

Also wtf I come back to this almost-dead thread and find out it's got 100k+ views? Who has this thread set as their browser homepage 

 

VANILLA RATES: REBORN CHARACTERS

Spoiler

• Hardy (+1): 6/10 he's giving his best to this mission, even though he can be rasher than me at times

 

QUICK LINK TO NEXT EPISODE

[CURIE]

Awesome, there's at least two other "fanfic playthroughs" that aren't dead.  I've started my own in the time you've been gone and in case it's not obvious from the way mine's structured, what with the characters having their own colored text, yours was a big inspiration.

 

Freakin' view count though... way to make me feel inadequate lmao

[Candy]

17 minutes ago, CURIE said:

Awesome, there's at least two other "fanfic playthroughs" that aren't dead.  I've started my own in the time you've been gone and in case it's not obvious from the way mine's structured, what with the characters having their own colored text, yours was a big inspiration.

 

Freakin' view count though... way to make me feel inadequate lmao

thx for the comment! I skimmed through the Team Showcase threads and saw yours :) I only read like half the first chapter, but it seems fun and I liked the changes you made to the story so far. The mod is also pretty neat. I'm not tech savvy at all, so it's amazing how peeps can do stuff like magic haha I can't promise I'll read more because I've promised a lot and often not been able to fulfill that cause I'm just that terrible of a reader  Mindlack and EviCrystal can prolly rant about me on that 

 

My playthrough/story has been on-going for like 4 years so it's not that surprising that it'd have amassed that many views lol I was more surprised by the fact that the view count kept increasing even though I didn't update since last september  Tbh I have my suspicion that the view counter is broken or something cause it's just big sus 

[Aphelli]

Yay, Vanilla is back!

And someone is finally exercising some well-needed caution. I fully expect that it won’t be enough, but just trying is worth many points. 

I suppose that Vanilla’s main problem is still standing – no matter what she prepares, there’s nothing she can do if Lin inside holds Shelly hostage against Vanilla’s surrender? 
 

On 4/11/2022 at 5:47 AM, Candy said:

I can't promise I'll read more because I've promised a lot and often not been able to fulfill that cause I'm just that terrible of a reader  Mindlack and EviCrystal can prolly rant about me on that 

 

I guess I could, but what would this accomplish? Besides, I appreciate your goodwill and your comments a lot. I like comments. 

 

On 4/11/2022 at 5:47 AM, Candy said:

My playthrough/story has been on-going for like 4 years so it's not that surprising that it'd have amassed that many views

It’s definitely true but I think your view count is pretty high even then. 

 

On 4/11/2022 at 5:47 AM, Candy said:

I was more surprised by the fact that the view count kept increasing even though I didn't update since last september  Tbh I have my suspicion that the view counter is broken or something cause it's just big sus 

I wondered about something like this too at some point. Then I learnt that two thirds of overall Internet traffic was just bots. I wonder what the proportion is here, or how much they trigger the counter? 

[Candy]

4 hours ago, Mindlack said:

And someone is finally exercising some well-needed caution. I fully expect that it won’t be enough, but just trying is worth many points. 

Poor Vanini. She her neurons have differentiated into muscle cells xD Just that when she's with Hardy, he's even more do-now-think-later type than her, so she looks more strategic 

 

5 hours ago, Mindlack said:

I wondered about something like this too at some point. Then I learnt that two thirds of overall Internet traffic was just bots. I wonder what the proportion is here, or how much they trigger the counter? 

Aha! Bots like to read fanfics when they ain't spamming ads or spreading sus mails 

[Corso]

Uh somehow I completely missed the last episode, must have been because I was at a conference. Anyway, I apologize.

 

Nice episode, but at this point you've surpassed the end of E17 and I can't tell what's Reborn story and what is FEtR story. But I'm going to play E19 once the finalest version is realeased, so I'll catch up eventually. By the way, if someone knows about good and/or complete walkthroughs, please let me know (I'm not looking for puzzle solutions, more for checklists and lists of sidequests and tips like "make sure to have a blue moon ice cream before leaving old Reborn")

 

So, who's Feather? [1]

Also, I'm quite impressed by Vanilla's weakness. I have played the good route so I haven't witnessed Taka's death in first person, but I see this event has been a heavy character development moment.

 

References

[1] 

On 4/11/2022 at 4:52 AM, Candy said:

Feather herself went missing