[Game Thread] Pokerole Mystery Dungeon: Primal Shadows

[Lord Windos]

Spoiler

Everyone sits on the floor in a circle as Marcus starts talking.



"Okay, so, I think you've probably figured it out by now, or at least have some kind of idea, but I used to be part of the Adventurer's Guild.  Honestly, I don't remember the exact circumstances that brought me there, other than the fact that I was picked up by Team Artificers.  They seemed nice enough at first, if a bit strange."



"They have this...odd interest in accessories and held items, and they often go on missions that involve gathering materials or knowledge for making them.  I don't really understand why, partially because I never met their actual Leader.  That strange Porygon 2 is the only leadership I ever interacted with, and they seemed to be getting orders from someone else..."



"...but getting back on topic, that was where I learned how to craft items.  Despite their oddities, that team knows their stuff about constructing things.  I was eager to learn more from them, hone my skills.  Crafting isn't just a job or hobby for me, it's a passion.  Made the ol' Marowlens set in my skull helmet myself back in those days.  That was back when I still had the entirety of my Thick Club..."



"Those jerks in Team Artificers!  They were using me!  Broke my Thick Club in two when they didn't need me any more, said it was for 'research that was for the benefit of pokemon kind'!  What a load of malarkey..."



"...but I'd realized they weren't all that honest too late.  They'd only recruited me so that they could lessen the danger that a particularly powerful Electric type pokemon was posing to them, all for the sake of obtaining some kind of...item or something."

"That pokemon we were looking for that had knowledge concerning that item...Team Artificers quickly lost interest in trying to negotiate with them, and it came to blows.  They weren't all that strong at first.  It was a Galvantula with a tendency to use Thunder, but my Lightning Rod soaked those hits up no problem.  But after we beat it...Chimical pushed it.  Pushed it hard to give up the item that the team had been looking for.  Threatened them when that didn't work.  After that...I'll never forget the look in that spider's eyes...that sheer resilience..."

"The next thing I knew, Galvantula was standing again, their entire body sparking with electricity far more intense than before.  They refused to give up, and they flew into a frenzy to protect themselves.  They weren't a reasonable pokemon any more...they'd gone Primal, given in to their base instincts to have one more shot at surviving, at achieving their goals."

"...I was KOed somehow in that fight.  I don't remember what happened, and I never found out what we were looking for exactly.  I only know that Team Artificers got it, and that they wanted part of my Thick Club to compliment it.  And Galvantula...well, they weren't exactly in the best condition, to put it mildly.  The team said it was in self defense, but...I don't think they tried very hard to undo what they caused..."

"I was fed up with Team Artificers after that.  Split off from the Guild to work independently.  I didn't want to be associated with a team like that.  That...that was too much.  I don't know what exactly they're trying to achieve, but...it seems kinda backwards to me to do it 'for the better of pokemon kind' if you're going to hurt other pokemon in the process."

"I see a little of me in all of you.  You woke up here without any memories and nobody to turn to, leaving you a bit vulnerable to the world at large.  I learned my lessons the hard way because of that.  I'd rather that others don't experience the same thing.  If you'd kept attacking Conkeldurr back there...well, he had little else to lose.  Pushed to his limits like that, I'm fairly confident that he would have turned Primal himself."



"And what Conkeldurr said about Machamp...I have a feeling that he's turned Primal somehow as well.  This behavior isn't normal for him...he's a good pokemon, but...if he's turned Primal..."



"...I suppose what I mean to say is be careful with who you trust and what you do.  Everyone's actions have consequences, both good and bad.  That's what I learned too late, and I want to make sure you all learn that far sooner than I did...I pursued knowledge for the sake of it at first, and look where it got me..."

Once Marcus begun his tale of his past woe with Team Artificer, and how it all shaped him to be the Pokemon he was to this day, Pyra listened with rapt attention at first, hanging off each and every one of his words. Then, as he got into the details of his story, the brimstone imp's interest became less and less eager and energetic, and far more thoughtful and pondering, her smile smoothing out to the point of being nearly invisible. By the end, she was just......staring at him, part way comprehending him yet somehow  lost by what he was trying and meaning to teach the group.

Throughout the entire story, however, not once did she display any sign of care, compassion, or true empathy for the bones craftsmon past plight.

Because she didn't have ANY of such feelings for them, despite of them practically pouring their heart out to everyone.


Or rather, perhaps in spite of it.

Pyra......she honestly didn't get what and why Marcus had problems with Team Artificer's state goal and methods, beyond them seemingly screwing him over in the end. Seemingly, because it was him that decided he no longer could tolerate them for some reason and abandoned the Team that gave him reason a purpose in Life over what appeared to be a slightly baffling divide in opinion and ideology. She could sorta understand why he'd be mad and bitter about his former teammates breaking his prized possession, as she would be rather miffed if somebody stole or vandalized her or her friends Items, but she just could not get why he had such an extreme reaction as he did over it. They must have had a good reason to do what they did, if they were to do such a thing, right? Even if they didn't, you were supposed to forgive, accept, and love your teammates that gave your purpose, and support them no matter what. That, and why he suddenly and inexplicably started to feel SOMETHING for that Galvantula, and how that apparently further spurred him onto to feel animosity towards his former Team and cut ties with them + the Guild.

To her, the Cubone ultimately brought almost everything negative about his departure from Team Artificer upon himself for his nearly nonsensical and abrupt 'change of heart' (if that is the right term....) , making himself an enemy and pariah of his ex-teammates and The Guild , burning his bridges and forcing him to start from scratch. All because he could no longer agree with his Team's methodology and ideals for. Some. Reason.

And now, due her group being associated with him due to their chance meeting, they were being dragged into that mess of his own making. They suffered, were suffering, and perhaps would continue to suffer from his choices and the stigma it brought him from Team Artificer, should anything be done not to correct this problem non explosively or resentfully. And, given what she understood and learned about her beloved friends, and what she just seen from Kogeki's impassioned outburst and pledge, almost assuredly primed them to cause conflict and cause friction with the Team and others like them for the unforeseeable future and mire them further in there baffling and dangerous 'ideas' they had about Non Team Members/Close Friends to Team. 

For absolutely no good reason whatsoever, save for gratitude for the guidance he gave and the favor they owed him still. No good reason at all, save that he thought it was the right and correct thing to do, and tried to get everyone on board with his line of.....anti-logic.

Upon realizing and drawing that conclusion was when Pyra stopped smiling and started starting at him, thinking hard about WHAT he was trying (and to her, failing) to teach them and get some sense of understanding out of it all. Because at that point she was getting very frustrated with him and his own brand of moralization, and she didn't want to do anything too sudden, least she fully set off her friends and Confuse them all over this and her recent spats with them. She had enough of that, thank you very much.

From what she had gathered, she could only come up with three 'good' things : He wanted to protect and safeguard her group in some way by sharing this story and his own Insights on it, he want to paint and tar Team Artificer and those like them as 'bad' and pull them away from being/doing anything like them, and he simply and honestly felt that he was doing good by her and her friends by sharing his personal story. 

She hardly to begin to comprehend what sort of good he was trying to do by them beyond self interest and further reinforcing his own 'ideas' or rightness, so she didn't dwell on that reason for very long.

Team Artificer's methods, overall attitude, and goals didn't strike her as bad - in fact, she actually found it all to be entirely sensible and logical, if not good in its own way - and such thinking could probably benefit herself and the Team in their quest ahead to defeat The Darkness. If not, then T.A. certainly could've been ignored and the group could do things their own way without any meddlesome influence trying to unduly shake things up. So that reason was put to bed with the other.

No, the only reason that made any sense to her and the conclusions she had drawn was the first one: Marcus was trying to protect and guide the group to what he though of was the best and most good way possible. To not let them suffer his fate, and become in some way 'better' by emulating his 'ideas' and making almost everyone further doubling down on the nonsense idea-feelings for Non Friends. 

If that was the case (and it most likely was), he was not doing a very good job of it in the she demon's opinion. His and such thinking would only serve to cause more harm than good outside of needless reinforcement of a good public image/relations with Non-Hostile Non-Friends for her cherished companions, and she could already see the signs of such plaguing the group.

She realized that such harm was mainly due to her thoughts-ideas-thinking clashing with nearly everyone else (save Kogeki, and occasionally Kee). Had realized it for quite some time, even if she never fully actualized it as a full thought until now. If she just accepted such and similar thinking and made it her own, even only outwardly and superficially, then she imagines a LOT of the problems she's been having would go away.

It was such a simple solution. It would be so easy.

A simple, easy solution she wouldn't take. Not because she thought it to be wrong, but because she could not and would not support anything she couldn't gain some full understanding from UNLESS it was one of her friends OR if it would end up causing harm/harmful problems for everyone she cared about. To do so would be foolishly blind, something she refused to be of her own conscious volition. She could hardly understand half of what Marcus was trying to convey to the group, and what parts she thought she did were either things she entirely disagreed with or found to be flawed, biased, and needlessly provocatory, so she wouldn't do it. No matter how much problems it would solve between her and the group, no matter what it would cost her. 

That was that.

When Pyra finally processed and fully gathered her thoughts and opinions, her face hardened in twin with her resolve, and she looked poised to share her findings with her friends and Marcus. 

But she didn't. Because as she did so, she first looked at everyone first. Dax, angry, frustrated, and thoroughly fed up and in a state of agitated distress. Kogeki, wrathful yet newly resolved to fight back against what he perceived to be unjust and foul, to stay with the group and in the Guild he loathed to do so. Karen, quiet, meek, and sweet, yet also tense and sympathetic to what had been told, and always so worried, afraid, and disappointed in her own 'failings' . Kee, that lovable rouge....who knew what he was thinking, which way he'd end up blowing in the wind?  And Marcus, misguided, foolish, and potentially a grave detriment to her team, yet he seemed so earnest and sincere in his desire to help and nurture the group, despite having no good or sensible reason to do so.

Pyra looked at them all....and she just deflated. She frowned, a mixture of frustration, abject misery, and a sort of understanding screwing her features, before she looked away from everyone and decided to keep quiet for the time being.

She knew what she thought-believed was important, and that it must be shared with everyone to enlighten them of the bigger picture.....but she also knew that most would not like or accept it. It would only cause trouble, further division between herself and the rest, and set herself that much farther apart from her beloved friends. That, and though she was not pleased with Marcus with his story or his own choices therein and thereof, she didn't want to crush his spirits or make a enemy out of him. Because, misguide and incomprehensible as it may be, he just wants to help her and everyone in his own way. She couldn't fault that pure intention, even if she could find one for nearly everything else.

For now, until such a thing no longer had to be.....ignorance would be bliss, for her treasured friends and Marcus, no matter how much it ate her up so bitterly.