[Game] Lord Windos' PokeRole Adventure: Celadon City Vandel

[Dragonstrike]

Slowly, Reiner pulls himself together.  He has to be strong now, for both of them.

"So you do remember a little of what happened...yes, you should be dead...but you're not.  Not now.  You have Archie and his Shiny Ninetales, Kyubi, to blame for that first part, and Mew to thank for the second.  The problem is...there's side effects.  Mew's not at her full power, so she had to use the life of a Doduo I had recently acquired to revive you...and now there's a few Doduo like traits evident in you, both physical and emotional it seems...I...don't know if there's any other way I can tell you all that...I ticked off Archie something terrible when I confronted him, and he took out his anger on you when he couldn't beat me...I'm sorry for putting you through that, Emily...this shouldn't have involved you so much...I should have come straight to you...but Archie is no fool...he might have eventually gotten to you anyways...he's one of the Sterlings, so he had more than enough resources to hunt you down whenever he desired to if you had disappeared on him...and if that's the case...I'm just glad I managed to find you in time...enough to reverse most of what he'd done..."

He has to pause there, let it all sink in.  It's a lot of information...

[Lord Windos]

Emily quietly listened to your explaination, and looks at you funny when you explain the Doduofication of her, but you can see that accepts it from your empathy, implicitly trusting your word. "I'm part Doduo now? That explains the weird Flying feeling I have now....and liking the smell of blood too, I guess. What....Doduo traits do you see in me right now, mister? I'm...I'm nervous, but curious too..." The girl looks a bit eager now to learn of her 'changes' , but then everything else you said finally clicked into place, and the grim reality of what just occurred to her happened. She grew quiet and despondent, clutching you tighter as she tried her hardest not to cry from the memories rushing back in....

"Yes....I died. Smeargle died too, and Wigglytuff got burned badly by Ninetales, so I had to recall him....I tried to escape into the allies, like I used to do when the kids at school tried to bully me...but he tracked me down and....and shot me...... I'm alive, though....an impossiblitiy...yet you brought me back with the...with the help of Mew? This...this is so confusing, mister, but I...I believe you. I...don't blame you for what happened, mister, so don't be sad....You did nothing wrong....that monster did. Your Pokémon was hurt by him....just like....just like.... *Sniff* I....have to be tough. If I'm alive, I can still make it through this all. Maybe...maybe with your help, mister? And...and Mew's? They...they helped me already, so they don't have too....,but I'd like to get to know them better..."

She tried her best to smile for you and Mew, but it soon fell apart when another horrible thought crossed her mind, this one almost sending her straight into tears! "If....if that mean cunt that....that killed me because of a grudge against you for getting back my stuff......will he go after my parent as well now? I don't think he knows my mom and dad, but if I start just....just come back and he s...ss..see me again...he'll want to be thorough that time. I...I....don't want them to be hurt by him.....but I don't have anywhere else to go. What....what do I do, mister? What CAN I do, against someone like that? *Sniff Sniff* "

[Dragonstrike]

"Well, aside from the personality quirks you've been commenting about, there's only two, subtle physical traits I immediately see.  Your eyes are more bird-like, and your fingernails, and maybe your toenails as well, are more like claws.  Fairly easy to hide traits, but I don't know if you'll develop any more or if those will recede over time, nor does Mew."

He hugs her tighter as well when she comments on what she remembers again..."I'm sorry, Emily...I know what you're probably thinking, but...I said I was only in time to mostly reverse what Archie had done for a reason...by the time I got here, Smeargle was too far gone to save him...Mew estimates you'd only been dead for a half hour or so when we found you.  Your soul was still lingering, and your body hadn't begun decomposing yet...Smeargle was gone for too long, I'm afraid...we will help you through this, though.  I promise you that.  And if Wigglytuff is badly burned, you need to send him out now.  I have three Full Heals, one Potion, and a Sitrus Berry still.  We don't need you losing your other friend over this..."

And at her comment about Archie...

"I don't think Archie will come after you again.  Not unless he somehow figures out you're not dead by some miracle.  He'd burned away and cleaned up almost all of the obvious blood trails, left already by the time I got here, and he has no idea I have the aid of Mew, so he's more than likely to think that he got away with the deed.  I don't even know if he'll bother with remembering your name, and the League is already likely to be on his case for the lethal damage he'd caused to my Arbok and the Heliolisk he'd abandoned.  I think you're safe for at least a short while.  If he finds you again, it would be nothing but a terrible coincidence."

The worry is fairly clear for both of them, now...

"I don't know what you might be able to do to prevent him from finding you other than leave Celadon or go into hiding before he finds out you're alive somehow.  There's two decisions to make here: To avoid encountering Archie again, you can either disappear or flee.  I can help you with disappearing, and stay in contact with you more easily if that's what you decide to do.  Or you can flee the city entirely, maybe even with your parents.  And that brings us to the second choice: do we involve your parents in this?  They have a right to know what happened, but if we tell them, I need to explain why you look a little different now...which involves telling them about Mew, who I need to keep secret.  If we don't tell them, both them and Mew will be safer, but they'll be worried about where you've gone, and likely very, very sad since you probably won't see them again for a long time...you could also stay here and try to continue a normal life, but that comes with its own set of risks and problems since everyone here knows you and the Sterlings live right next door in Saffron City...you don't have to decide right now, though.  I'll answer any other questions you have first.  But we need to at least make a decision on that second question before we leave these alleys behind."

[Lord Windos]

Emily head tilted down at the realization that her other friend was gone forever, like she almost was but a few moments ago, and she went silent for a few minutes as she processed everything you said. She glanced at her nails, now noticing that they had transformed into talons, and her eyes briefly sparked with wonder at the change, but that too was swallowed up by the dark gloominess she was experience now. Finally, she nodded to your request, and released Wigglytuff, which looked....horrible, to put it blunty.

Almost his entire body had been blacked by severe burns, and it was wobbling back and forth in place in pain and disorientation. Parts of its skin where still smoldering, which you quickly put out with a Full Heal, and you tried feeding the Sitrus Berry to him to start the healing process, but they pushed you gently away at the offer. You and him both knew that the medical supplies you had available were not nearly enough to treat all that Lethal Damage, and he didn't want them to be wasted on himself. He closed his own eyes, and went to sleep, his body faintly glowing as his injuries were starting to close up; looks like its using Rest to try and keep himself stable long enough for proper medical attention.

The once perky happy girl, still thinking over her the choices that had been presented to her, was interrupted in her thoughts when footsteps caused you and her to flitch from the unexpected sound, and both of you turned towards the direction you heard them in, tense and ready to violently react. *Plod Plod Plod...* Soon enough, a familiar shape emerged from the darkness, took one look at the bloody but still very much alive Emily, at the body injured Wigglytuff, and then at you and your assorted Pokémon that were out and about, guarding the perimeter of the area. They stared for a couple of seconds at the scene in front of them, before they flatly asked: "Whet tha bludy fock happened here." Mew, recognizing the Merchant to your surprise, looked somewhat relieved and annoyed to see them here simultaneously , and said to them: 'Hi, Lilith. I see the years have treated you well, since we last meet.' "Seme cen be seid of yue, Pixie Sticks. Still causing trouble fer everyune yue meet, like elweys? 'Yes and no. I've been up to mischief early on in the Festival, but then I meet up with Reiner here, and one thing lead to another, and I'm his Pokémon now. No matter how much humorous situation I set up, life always seems to be the funniest individual, huh?' "Dun't Ai knuw it, Pixie Sticks. Dun
t Ai knuw it.'

What.

[Dragonstrike]

Reiner almost laughs.  Almost.  If it weren't for how grim the situation was, he would have.

"Well, I guess that's not overly surprising, thinking about it.  No introductions needed for you two, I guess.  Merchant, if you have some supplies to spare, could you patch up the poor Wigglytuff's wounds?  Emily here's been through a lot today, and I don't think a trip to the Pokemon Center is going to help matters any...I'll fill you in on what happened in a moment."

He looks back towards Emily.  "Emily, meet the Merchant.  Or Lilith, I guess.  Seems she's really in the know if she knows the Mythical Mew personally on top of being a nearly unrivaled traveling shopkeep.  You going to be okay?  I know it's a lot to take in...truth be told, I'm barely able to hold myself together right now...but know that I'm here for you regardless.  Take as much time as you need.  I know just how hard it is to lose so much, so quickly..."

[Lord Windos]

"Ai du, of curse. Cust yue tha Max Potion I'm guing tu use on them, but Ai cen fix them op right end pruper. I'm eh biz person , first end furmust, Reiner....eh, whut tha heck. This one will be on tha huse , stranga, fer doing tha impussible end begging little uld Pixie Sticks fer yourself!" 'I do have a name like you, Lilith, so I would be happy if you used it for a change' "Hehahehahe, yue still hevn't peid me beck fer tha demeges you cuzed tha first time we meet, su tha neme steys, Pixie Sticks. Pretty fonny seeing a Legendary hyped on my supply of Cocaine, thugh! Hehahehahe!!! 'Urggh.....don't remind me of that. I still get the shakes by thinking of that insidious substance, *Brrr...*' " 'Sides, Ai thught yue seid tu me thet yue didn't like being edressed ur treeted like eh 'God Like Being' , su all I'm doing is simply fulluwing yuer request, Pixie Sticks, hehahehahe!" 'Urgggh....nice to see that you haven't changed in the years we last meet, as always....'

After injecting Wigglytuff with the Max Potion, all its injuries were almost instantly regenerated by the high strength chemicals of the medicine, leaving it in a state that, if you didn't see the burns that covered his body before, you would be hard pressed to find anything wrong with them now. Emily, for their part, was estatic that their still sleeping Pokémon was all better, and hugged you even more tightly, suddenly now threatening to crush your ribs with the force! Looks like you can add enhanced strength to the changes to her.... "I'm....I'm going to be okay, mister. Thanks to you, to Mew, and to that funny friend of yours..." "Wut, I'm funny? Never knew it myself!" 'Suush, Lilith, they are having a moment right now, you'll get the chance to talk later with Reiner.' "Spoilsport" "....Me and my Wigglytuff are all better! Its...its a lot to take in, mister, and I feel like this is all a strange dream....and that I will wake up in that cold, dark place again.... But I'm here, with you.... I don't...I don't know what you did that caused all this mister, but don't blame you. You've been....so nice to me since we meet, helping me out and encouraging me, and now you saved me..... All you have done is help me, and save my life! Your...your my hero , mister. My hero...."

Emily, no longer able to hold the flood of negativity in her, let it all out on you as she bawled into your chest. She cried and cried and cried, holding onto you like her life depended on it. You were her anchor, her rock, and she was relieved you were here to comfort here in this time of great need. Life....its a precious thing, isn't it?

[Dragonstrike]

Reiner gives her a moment.  Life certainly is a precious thing...as are hopes and dreams...he knew both first hand, after all...and she called him a hero...he didn't think he deserved such praise after everything he'd done in the past...but it did feel nice...

"It'll be okay, Emily.  I'll make sure you get out of this okay, somehow.  I was once a lot like you, you know.  Young, hopeful, full of dreams and promise...and then it all went downhill...one mistake, and I'd lost almost everything...I've come back from that brink, though.  I wasn't going to let one setback stop me.  And you'll do the same, I'm sure.  We've both lost a lot, but it's those losses and failures that make us stronger in the end...that, and the support of our friends, even when family can't or won't be there for you for some reason.  I know I wouldn't be here today were it not for Kingdra and Weavile, after all, even if our antics were what caused us to almost lose everything in the first place...so you hold on to Wigglytuff.  You make new friends, like that Porygon you've been saving up for.  You rebuild those supports that will keep you from falling apart.  It might seem like a dream now, but you don't want to keep trying to wake yourself every day for the rest of your life...if you have any questions or need support, any at all, just let me know.  I'll say it as many times as I need to.  I don't want you to experience the difficulties that I had to endure...particularly if it's partially because of a mistake I made...nobody deserves to have their hopes and dreams crushed like that.  I don't care what anyone else thinks about that statement, it's the truth.  Everyone deserves a chance to be happy.  You become an artist.  A Gym Leader.  Maybe even both, like Burgh.  You keep striving for those goals you want to reach, and I'll help you get there in any way I can, on my honor as a Dragon Tamer with the Blessing of Mew..."

[Lord Windos]

Emily cries began to wane away as you soothe her fears, her deepest worries by opening up to her. Just a tad, and a bit vague on the details, but it was more than enough to start to calm her down. She always felt a connection to you, ever since the two of you bonded over her artwork that fateful Sunday Evening, but after hearing your story...she began to feel even more depressed. Not because of her plight, but yours. Slowly, she pull her head off your chest, and her face was now absolutely smeared with tears, blood, snot, creating rather disguisting mess. She weakly smiled at you, trying her best to cheer you up. "Thank you, mister. I...can do this. I...can still accomplish my dreams, and become the best artist in Kanto. I'll make new friends, overcome all obsitcales, and improve my skills endlessly! My dream...my dream will come true, because of you... If you did something this magical....then I believe your dreams can come true, mister. You have your friends to help you, the strength to accomplish the impossible, and have a caring, unbreakable heart, despite the bad things that happened to you... Mister...I believe you can do anything. Maybe...maybe one day I can help you too, and be a hero just like you..."

All the emotional drain, revival, and revelation were finally taking their toll on the little girl. She let out a sleepy yawn, before she closed her eyes and snuggled into you lap, feeling safe and protected in this cruel world. Like a warm fire, you shield her from the cold elements of nature, and help provide her the means for her salvation. A great responsibility suddenly weighs on your shoulders, and you realize that, as much as she is beholden to you now, the reverse can be said to be true too. Just how will affect both of your futures, you wonder....

Noticing that your conversation was over, The Merchant (or Lilith, you suppose) walks over to you and crouches down by your side, looking very subdued from her previous jolly mood she possessed. "Well, thet wes eh touching scene, Reiner," they said, patting your should in their own gesture of support, before they launched into their own line of questioning. "But it reelly hasn't enswered eny of my questiuns, nur mede this bludy mess any clearer tu me. This luks pretty bed tu en outsider, end if Ai didn't knuw eny better, I'd be pomping question out of yue with my SPAS-12 Shotgun in yuer gut duing tha talking. Ai wuld eppreciete this metter being mede...unambiguous. As fer that Porygon she wents....I cen git it fer her fer $75000 Poke, helf tha price thuse Rocket buddies of yuers wuld uffer fer it. Dun't tell yuer buss abut this, thugh. Well, yue cen, but Ai don't want yue to git intu trouble because of this, hehahehahe!"

[Dragonstrike]

"Hehe...you accept Rocket Game Corner coins as payment, then?  She has about $120,000 worth of them that I had to get back for her.  I can pull a few strings if you can't, probably.  Get her a Porygon for only 6500 coins or so, maybe a little less, if she puts in the work to earn that last little bit of cash she needs to meet that amount, which I'm sure she will.  I'm sure the boss could be fairly pliable in that regard.  As for what happened..."

He sighs.  This wasn't going to be a pretty explanation...

"She got shaken down by Archie Sterling.  He called her artwork trash, then took all the valuables she had on hand as his prize money when she lost the battle she challenged him to as payment for all that hard work she'd put into the drawing of his Ninetales.  I pursued him, and caught up before he cashed in the coins and whatever cash he had on hand to obtain that Porygon she'd been saving up for.  He was understandably ticked when Weavile used Embargo on him, but we had a rather civil discussion about the situation...until I refused to return the money.  He could keep the items, but I was keeping the money as the prize for the battle I'd inevitably win, since I already knew beforehand that my team had all sorts of advantages against his since we'd both revealed all of the pokemon we'd be using already.  And so he challenged me to a 'fair' battle for the spoils in anger.  I still had his items confiscated, thankfully, though they're of no use to me in their current state since they're ID locked.  His Shiny Ninetales, Kyubi, is an absolute terror.  Nearly burned through half my team after Rhyxemplar, which we evolved from one of Giovanni's Rhydon thanks to that Body Armor the boss purchased from you earlier, botched what should have been an easy to land Horn Drill.  But that's not the part that made him mad.  He could deal with the Horn Drill by using Disable.

"You see, since I encountered Mew, I've gained some...rather strange traits.  Among them, I'm now an empath all of a sudden.  I had stalled for time and analyzed just how loyal and happy his three pokemon were.  Kyubi...was a little TOO loyal, to be frank.  The Heliolisk he used was average.  And the Coatlith, Yggdrasil...he was completely unhappy with his most recent master.  So I used that against him to turn the battle in my favor after Heliolisk was KOed and left to almost burn to death by his callous trainer.  Unfortunately, he completely obliterated Yggdrasil with a gun he had hidden on his person, but with only one target left to face, Arbok, Kingdra, and I made a complete fool of his abilities as a trainer.

"And as a result, since he couldn't beat me...he took it out on Emily, who he knew couldn't beat his Ninetales, and who I had expressed obvious concern for.  He teleported away from me, healed up, then got to Emily before I did...he shot her in the shoulder back at her usual spot underneath a tree just outside town.  She tried to defend herself, but Wigglytuff was badly burned, as you saw...so she withdrew him and ran with her Smeargle into the alleys...where Archie promptly cornered them and killed them both...I think that's everything that happened between my battle with him and when I went to find her...that was almost an hour ago.  Smeargle is a little ways down the alley from here, slumped against the wall, with a bullet hole in his chest.

"Were it not for Mew, I don't think I would have found her in time...Archie had covered his tracks for the most part, but he'd left very obvious burn marks and a small spot of blood by the tree that Weavile and Felicia were able to sniff out.  Mew used her psychic power to reveal the blood trails that had all been either cleaned up or burned away by that blasted Ninetales...and I immediately followed them...and found Smeargle dead, followed by Emily a short distance away...partially because I'd ticked Archie off...Mew, while not at full strength, was able to revive her though.  She'd only been shot about a half hour before I found her, so Mew was able to trade the life of a Doduo I'd recently obtained for hers...so in short, I tried to help her, screwed up quite badly and made an enemy of the wrong person, and he's now sworn revenge against me just for making a fool of him...though he's going to find that he's not the only dangerous one with resources aplenty..."  That last part is rather spiteful sounding.

[Lord Windos]

The Merchant shrugs at your comment about the currency being Coins, completely unfazed by that fact. "One currency is gud es enuther fer me, Reiner. Ai cen jost easily trede these tu eh gambling addict, and git my muney's wurth . Ur I culd use them and cleen huse et tha Rocket Casino ; Ai em very gud et pleying thuse slot machines of yuers, hehahehahe. Give me helf thuse Coins ($60000), and I cen get her a Porygon by tonight. The girl deserve thet expendency, fer huw moch shit she has been put through today. As fer thet mess..." Suddenly, they were straightened up and off the ground, faster than you can blink, and you could see their eyes grow hard as diamonds. They spat to the side, before slugging the brick wall next to them, causing large, thick cracks to radiate from the impact and pieces of stone to crumble and fall. Lilith removed her fist from the impact zone, with it being completely unscratched or bruised from the force of the blow. You also notice their finger nails were green today. Altogether, yikes.

"Archie Sterling.... that's the sorry piece of work's name was, was it?" they said, their trademark accent gone from their tone of voice, and instead replaced by a cold steeliness that sent shivers down your spine. "First they bully a little girl and practically steal her hard earned savings, then challenge and threaten the life of my most valuable customer because they couldn't handle the fact he gained the upper hand fairly. He then killed one of his own loyal Pokémon out of spite, instead of recalling them or trying to reason with them, and leaves his other to die burning, one of the painful, horrid ways possible to croak. The bastard, his ego still smarting from the arse kicking you rightfully gave him, then decided that, if he can't win a fair fight with you, then he would get even by killing Emily and her Pokémon here? Overly, a first class , grade S waste of energy. " they say, hissing the last sentence out with all the contempt they could muster. Which, judging by how much Mew, who had chosen to remain silent for the time being, flitched from the latent emotion, it was quite a lot!

"I hate criminals like that. Ones with no honor, no sense of restrait, common decency, or even some guidelines of behavior dictating their actions. Just a morally bankrupt rich manchild that think he can get away with doing anything he wants, if he has enough cash and power to silence his critics altogether. One that, on top of those already deplorable qualities, he's a no good snake - no offense, Arbok - that , instead of settling his score like a proper villain, goes out and become a child killer. All just to soothe his ego, and make him feel better. Fortunately, Emily has some very good friends that are extremely resourceful in their respective occupations. I think that, now that you have you done your part in dealing with that rich bastard and rescuing this little one," Lilith said, cracking their knuckles to punctuation their remark, "Then how about I help out with this? I can unlock those items of the bastard's for $500 Poke each, half of what I usually offer to my other customers. I'll also hunt them down myself, and bring them to you so that you can...express the full range of emotions you are bottling up. I'll need some capital to get started on this, as I'm going to need to close up shop for a day and fully prepare to bring them in. That fox of thier's sounds like trouble, so I need to order some special equipment to deal with them properly. Altogether...I say it will take the other half of the girl's Coins to cover the cost. What do you say, Reiner? "