The land remains, the land endures

[stormkingofshepherds]

Arrival, Part 1

Anyone walking out on Stardust Beach might be surprised to see someone new, a young man with brown hair lying facedown in the sand, groaning. A Carnivine hovers over him worriedly, drifting back and forth in what looks like the equivalent of pacing. Finally, he turns over, looking up at her.

"Ugh, Macy...where are we?"

"Vine..." She sounds just as confused as he is.

Arrival, Part 2

Meanwhile, Turnbloom Gym now has a young teen hanging around outside, face pressed against the glass as they observe the gym interior. They're holding a carved walking stick that seems way too tall for them. After a bit, they try to wave down a passerby.

"Hey! Do you know where we are? And have you seen my dad?"

(Responses will come from loudvoiceloudbabybird!)

Comments

[loudvoiceloudbabybird]

Um, only a little? [They look a bit sheepish.] The last time there was a whole region no one knew about it was because Zygarde was manipulating everyone's memories, but people weren't randomly getting teleported there either.

[domeinion]

De -- [She stops and scratches her head.] Why would it do that? Then again, I suppose it isn't out of its purview... I haven't seen any signs of Zygarde, but I don't have personal experience with it, either. There are powerful Pokémon who will sometimes appear for a little bit, do something, and leave, though.

[loudvoiceloudbabybird]

Really? Which Legendaries have shown up here before? [They tilt their head, birdlike.]

[domeinion]

[Alice claps her hands.] I arrived here during a fall festival they hold here called Harvesting Bonds, and while I couldn't confirm it myself, there were reported sightings of something that had to be Calyrex. A few weeks after Helixmas, Articuno appeared before a large group, and it blanketed all of Ohritori Island in snow! After that, around Feast of the Sail, we had an incident with a Manaphy swapping people's bodies, and on Children's Day, there was a reported Eternatus sighting just before it released Galar particles and Pokémon everywhere started to Dynamax!

cw: references to the Legendaries Lost backstory

[loudvoiceloudbabybird]

[Brinda tilts their head, sounding unfamiliar with some of the names, before their eyes widen at one of them.]

Ar-articuno? But they were killed by the God-Hunters, alongside the other Legendary Birds! Everyone saw it! Did-did they get revived as well?

[For the first time, Brinda feels uncertain. They have some knowledge of how to act as a Legendary, but so much more of them is tied up in having been raised by Nathaniel. What if Articuno is disappointed in what they've become?]

[domeinion]

The Godslayers didn't -- [She pauses. Rubs her forehead.] Right. Different worlds, different outcomes. Things might get a little confusing in that aspect. For instance, I don't know if you've heard of the fossil gods, and they're important figures where I come from. And these God-Hunters are probably different from the Godslayers I'm aware of.

[loudvoiceloudbabybird]

[Brinda blinks slightly, looking confused.] ...different worlds?

[domeinion]

Wait, did I not start with that? Maybe the simplified explanation was too simplified. All right. The spacetime phenomenon that surrounds the Ultern region pulls people in through the stream from other dimensions, places, and times, which is known here as drifting. You'll often encounter people from circumstances very alien to yours, people similar to those you know, or even other versions of yourself.

[loudvoiceloudbabybird]

Oh... [They look shocked at this. Sometimes Nathaniel talks about what might have happened if he hadn't rushed into things, or if the God-Hunters hadn't managed to rise to power like they did. They didn't expect those possibilities to actually become true.] I was kind of wondering why everything seemed so stable here. This...this is a time where the God-Hunters never succeeded, isn't it?

[Wow, they have kind of Complicated Feelings about that. This should be good news, yet at the same time...what would have become of them and Nathaniel, in this case?]

[domeinion]

Or where they never existed, or followed a different path entirely. And because of this region's status as a spatial-temporal nexus, you'll find people from all sorts of worlds.

[The weird Masquerain buzzes curiously. Who is this kid, they seem different. Are they randomized?]

Oh, right, did we forget introductions? My name is Alice Smith, and this is Hyperbug. As you can see, we're a little nonstandard.

[loudvoiceloudbabybird]

[They're totally normal! Well, for a Zapdos at least. Definitely on the abnormal side for a human.]

I'm Brinda! [A pause.] Brinda Berger! [It'd be weird not to use a last name here, right? They look closer at the duo at the mention of being "nonstandard."]

Oh! Those...those aren't just something he's wearing, they're part of him?

[domeinion]

[Hyperbug buzzes in the affirmative and waves a little cannon leg.]

It's true! He's always been like that. The truth is, the place we're from, our timeline, was scrambled and altered with a device called a Randomizer. It's been repaired now, but we haven't. This is just how we are.

[It's how they have to be, but she's not going to depress the poor kid.]

It isn't really a secret, since it would be exceedingly hard to cover up.

[loudvoiceloudbabybird]

Oh...so he's the only one of his kind? It's not like the new variant Pokemon the Smith was making? That sounds pretty lonely, but at least you have each other! [A pause.] I guess you might not know the Smith? He's the one who actually creates new Pokemon species.

[domeinion]

We don't have a god like that where I'm from, but I don't think you'd know Lord Dome or the others I know, either. No one else seems to. [Alice adjusts her glasses.] It's true, there used to be more randomized people and Pokémon, but mostly just me and mine plus a few others who aren't here. People here seem to understand, though. If there's anything uncommon about you, you won't be the only one.

[loudvoiceloudbabybird]

[They look a little flustered.] Oh, well...I don't think there's anything particularly unusual about me specifically. I guess some of my other teammates might be a bit more special.

[There's a pause before they quickly try to change the subject.] Um...those Godslayers you mentioned...they didn't succeed at their goal, did they?

[domeinion]

...It's a long story.

[And she wasn't there personally -- she hadn't even been alive, it was the original world -- but she'll try.]

They did, technically. Despite the name, they didn't attack them all, only those who tried to force them onto a path they couldn't meet, culminating in Helix and his Chosen Six. From what I've gathered, despite the destruction, it was meant to save the world, and it did. But they didn't stay gone. There was a time -- technically the same time, because the Randomizer had gone off 100 years in the future and then reset the world, scrambling it in the process, and so because the world was reset and yet some elements had carried over in an altered state, the timeline we're working with was started from an earlier point, but I digress! -- known as the return of the gods, where a host gathered a great many of them in their new incarnations to help repair the world and join with everyone else working to stop the person responsible.

I'm greatly simplifying, but did I cover enough?

[loudvoiceloudbabybird]

[That's...a lot to take in, obviously. Even just the idea of deliberate god-killers being the ones to save the world. When Alice brings that up, they fidget slightly, looking concerned.]

I think I kind of get it...but does tha tmean the Godslayers considered heroes for what they did? Even if it wasn't permanent, surely you can't just kill off a bunch of gods and expect nothing bad to happen to the world! Unless they all had really specific portfolios?

[domeinion]

They're not considered much of anything these days. I think that's how he likes it. The world had gone way out of balance as it was, and anyone with that much expectation on them... I wasn't there personally, but what happened between them changed a lot. Caused an upheaval it took a long time to settle down from. The forces behind them were reborn -- every so often you'd find an avatar of chaos, for example. That's where I learned it all from.

From what I see, well... it's not that killing or subjugating gods is in itself good. I couldn't say that in my position. I've dealt with some people who thought it was and threw the world into disarray for their selfish wishes. But at that time, in that place, it was the only thing that could be done to undo what was coming.

Things get exceedingly complicated from there and I'm sure you wouldn't believe me regardless, but I can tell you one thing I know for sure, even if it's difficult to. Beyond space and time, they still exist. Both sides, both teams, and both leaders. Even though their timeline was undone and rewritten, they managed to revive, and they met each other again, without anything at stake this time. It's thanks to the force that guided both of them to their destinies and the stream between worlds and times. And I think, if anything happened again, they wouldn't fight each other this time.

Was that simple enough? I know I tend to go overboard with my explanations, especially when it comes to inter-universal physics and timeline study.

[loudvoiceloudbabybird]

[This is a lot for Brinda's tiny bird brain to process. Listening to all this, they're just really glad they aren't one of the legendaries in charge of the more metaphysical aspects of the world. Because sorting all that out sounds like a lot of work.]

I...think it does? It sounds like the world you know works a lot differently from the one I know...but I really like what you said about them managing to revive in the end. It sounds kind of like how everyone thought the God-Hunters had permanently killed a bunch of legendaries, but one by one Quan's Hope are bringing them back...

[As one of the first Legendaries brought back and one of the closest emotionally, they do like that part of the story.]

[domeinion]

Who are they? [She looks over to him and adjusts her glasses.] I presume a group with some manner of power over death, or at least over the nature of reality, but how? Oh, I suppose I shouldn't assume you know everything, but it's fascinating to hear about. And important, in case something happens.

[loudvoiceloudbabybird]

Oh, um, nothing that big! Most of them were just ordinary Trainers who wanted to help fix things, and they had all sorts of ways to revive the Legendaries. They figured out what was disrupting their cycle of reincarnation, and were able to find various loopholes around that disruption. Like using fossils of previous Legendary incarnations combined with an advanced version of the fossil revival process! Or having a Ghost-type anchor the Legendary's soul.

[domeinion]

Oh, I see! I still think that sounds extraordinary, but the kind of thing you'll usually find. And you also had holy fossils? I used to think that was a constant in every world, but the fossil gods seem very uncommon in the worlds represented here.

[loudvoiceloudbabybird]

Yeah, they did a lot of good work. My dad's part of them! Did I mention that yet?

The fossil gods? I'm not sure that's quite the same thing, since the fossils didn't have any power on their own until the scientists actually started doing their science stuff to them.

[domeinion]

Oh, the fossil gods aren't always -- regardless! So that's why you were worried and looking for your dad earlier. I'm sure he must be capable, but if he's here, he must be worrying for you too. I'll help you look. What should I know about him?

[loudvoiceloudbabybird]

Well, he's about this tall, with brown eyes and dark brown hair. [They lift a hand to helpfully indicate Nathaniel's height.] And if he doesn't have his walking stick with him, he'll probably have Macy-that's his Carnivine-by him. And, well, he's got burns all over the left side of his face. [Their voice gets softer when they bring up that last bit.]