I CAME IN LIKE A POKEBALL

[these_balls]

Who: ANYONE AND EVERYONE
Where: ANYWHERE AND EVERYWHERE
When: May 29 - June 1
Summary: GET IN HERE AND MINGLE
Rating: BUT PLEASE MARK YOUR THREAD CONTENT ACCORDINGLY
Log:

"" (Watch on YouTube)

There's something strange, a sudden change
Around, all across the sky;
A change of scene as The Machine
Goes wild, and no one knows why

Everyone will say it's a great display
And we brought it for you
Cynthia and Lance set off Nukes From France™
Now you know what to do:

WE'RE KICKING OFF A ROUTE FOURTH WALL
BRING EVERY JOURNAL, ONE AND ALL
HAVE A PARTY, BREAK DOWN ALL THE WALLS
'Cause it's our game's anni-ver-er-sa-ry
And we're, so ha-a-a-ppy!

Remember to drop a link to your thread here!

Comments

Lightning Farron | FFXIII | Any Johto Route

[soggypastry]

a
[Amidst all the strangeness and new people is a face that may be familiar to some, framed by a tumble of pink curls. She's standing with her face into the wind, eyes closed as a Rapidash grazes nearby, flames flickering in the breeze. Perhaps strangely, she's calm. Almost too calm, as if this is normal and she's used to appearing in strange places without warning. Maybe she is. The look on her face certainly seems to say so.

It's the look that says she's come home after a long time away, and it's not going anywhere anytime soon.]

b
[Later, once Odin's had his fill, she's moved on somewhere else...only to run right into a wild Pokémon. Now there's a smirk on her face, and a pair of Lucario dancing and leaping circles around the poor creature while a Pikachu cheers from her shoulder. As much as random "Pika Pika!" can be cheers, anyway. This is really just normal for her. Nothing to see her.]

whatevs kupo

[hipstermark]

[BUT THEN SUDDENLY.

It's a wild Vanille, who stumbles right up to Lightning - a familiar Yamask dancing around her.]

It's one of those times, isn't it?

[Why else would her brand... because, well? Vanille didn't have any time pass for her.]

[soggypastry]

[For her part, Lightning just shrugs. Odin's tail gives a flick in greeting, but he continues to graze as Lightning looks at her not-sister.]

Seems that way. We may be here a while. [Three day gaps in her memory...but not big enough to cover the vague recollection of the last time they were both in this mess.] Stay close, alright?

[hipstermark]

[...She will. She'll stay close, because...]
I feel sort-of strange. Like... time's passed without me?
[you know more about this world
you must have answers, not!sis :T]
It doesn't really matter, though! As soon as this is over, we can just go back to normal! Right, Lucy?
[Lucy has a sad look in her eyes, though. She knows.]

[soggypastry]

[Lucy gets a half-sympathetic look; it's hard to know some of this stuff. It weighs on you. Lightning's eyes flick down, seeing the very tip of an arrow on Vanille's leg, before she sighs.]

I think that's because we left. [she looks at Odin, peacefull grazing, and closes her eyes.] The weather's changed too much. We must have lost months by now.

[hipstermark]

[...They left? That didn't sound right... she had just been sleeping next to Fang last night. But it was warmer...

Vanille have a little huff, as she stamped the ground slightly.]
But-- I don't feel like I've aged a day! I can't have left...
[She doesn't want to have left. But that's Fate, isn't it? It's something so hard to fight... and she wasn't even trying. Her expression, though dire, has a little flicker of curiosity.]
...Did you leave, too?

[soggypastry]

[Odin snorts at her stamp, raising his head to look in their direction. Oh, what's the problem now?]

Yeah. I think so. [A deep breath, then:] Last I knew? It was December and we were both in Olivine. This isn't Olivine.

[Or December. It's too warm for that. So either they lost a few months or Johto's in a warm spell. Heck if she knows either way.]

a

[saxsongs]

[Oh boy, the day where everyone jumped around was here again. At least he wasn't thrown back to Whirl Islands or anything this time. Instead he's somewhere around Route 34 and...

Is that really... yeah, no mistaking it. So that's why he had those two Pokémon with him as well, even if he didn't personally choose them.

He let's Thundaga and Chasse out of their balls so they can go greet Lightning first and then follows them quietly behind them. Don't mind his face being a little roughened up if you notice him, too.]

[soggypastry]

[Well those are familiar faces! Thundaga gives a snort and races past her former trainer, kicking up dirt and a breeze in the short moment before Odin gives chase after her with a horsey squeal, the two of them having fun and pretty much ignoring Lightning.

Chasse, however, heads straight for her and wraps her in a bear hug, lifting her off the ground and pinning her arms to her sides. Someone is very happy to see a familiar face, and even when he puts her back down he doesn't wander far, probably the happiest he's been in months...though Lightning herself seems a bit wary, looking in Ren's direction.]

What happened to you?

[oh, she noticed that roughness. She noticed and she doesn't like it, hence the frown on her face. What have you been getting up to, man?]

[saxsongs]

[Ren's happy to see that the Pokémon are happier when seeing their trainer. It's been a bit hard, especially with Chasse, to get them feel like home.

At the comment he shakes his head.]

It's nice to see you too, Miss Farron. [After months, this is how you greet him? Geez.] I ran into some... trouble. It's not that bad.

[soggypastry]

[Yes that is how she greets him. Odin's having more luck as Thundaga lets him nuzzle her--who knows how long they'll have. may as well be niceish--but Chasse...well. He's a heavy bear. Lightning gives him a good shove...though all that does is make him turn, one giant arm still looped around her shoulders. No, he's not letting her go anytime soon! Even if this world rips her away, he's going with her!

Or, you know, going to try.]

What sort of trouble? Did Team Rocket come after you again?

[Ren she knows your track record don't even try and say it's not that bad!]

[saxsongs]

[Good luck, Chasse. Good luck.

Ren looks rather sheepish. There's still no fooling Lightning, huh?]

Well... more than that actually. I spent a month as their guest because... well, to put it simply: I'm an idiot.

[Like you didn't know that already.]

[soggypastry]

[No fooling her, and no escaping the flat look that takes over her face. Some things never change, do they?]

What did you do this time? Give someone another tour they didn't approve of?

[No comment on the idiot bit. She knew that one a long time ago.]

[saxsongs]

[Well, she hasn't heard yet that he's evolved from an idiot to a big idiot... at least according to a few of his friends.]

Oh, repeating the same mistakes is not like me.

So hopefully I'll never ever be blackmailed into turning myself in again.

[So he kind of went in without a fight. Haha... ha...]

[soggypastry]

[That earns him a few seconds of absolutely stunned silence. She knew he was an idiot before she left, but to hear that evolved into such a bigger idiot...the stunned look falls away into a deep frown.]

You did what?

[Did you learn nothing from her (terrible) example of not giving up without a fight? Really?]

[saxsongs]

[Someone clearly forgot to press B. There's a nervous laughter before he'll just... explain.]

Two of my ex-colleagues threatened to tell the people in Team Rocket that my fiancee had been keeping me safe - as she was from Team Rocket as well. So instead of making it impossible for her to remove the microchip from her starter, I gave her a chance to do so by sacrificing myself.

The result was a month in jail, losing some of my Pokémon, getting dumped on Whirl Islands, being roughened up and having a mad fiancee.

a

[impulsives]

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHH!

[ Light better watch out, there's another new arrival coming, and this time, it's from the sky rather than appearing out of nowhere. The voice sounds loud, as if a speaker is blaring this out. Which is true. But what said speaker is attached to...

Well uh.

Have... a giant robot falling through the sky. ]

[soggypastry]

[It's hard to miss that voice, let alone where it's coming from, and Lightning scrambles away. Odin turns tail and bolts with a horsey squeal that's both annoyance and fear at the same time, though he's able to keep his feet beneath him whenever the robot lands.

Lightning, on the other hand, stumbles and falls back onto her rear end, staring up at the thing with wide eyes.]

What the hell?

[impulsives]

[ It took a while for the dust to settle, but Lightning can definitely hear some punching of metal components, as well as several angry yelling. ]

Stupid. Fucking. Thing. You're supposed to have unlimited power! NOT STALLING IN MID-AIR AND CRASHLANDING IN THE MIDDLE OF A FIELD!

[ Now that she's nearer, it's becoming quite obvious just who this yelling person is from how he's swearing too. ]

[soggypastry]

[Extremely obvious. The shock snaps away, replaced by anger and annoyance of her own as she pushes herself back to her feet, taking a running leap at the robot. It's got a cockpit somewhere and she's got half a mind to tear him out of it.]

Asuka! Get out here!

[Maybe he shouldn't. She hasn't sounded that angry in a Long time.]

[impulsives]

[ Oh.

The beating stopped, and a while of silence occurred before the yelling continues, this time directed to the woman that's clearly on the giant robot right now. ]

Give me one damn good reason for it!

[soggypastry]

Because you nearly landed on me!

[And Odin! Says the horse whinnying loudly, if that noise somehow gets past all the metal and glass between him and Shinn. He'll just be standing over here. You know. Away from Trainer's wrath.

Also Lightning's climbing over everything she can reach on the robot, searching for a way to get into the cockpit. Really, Shinn, you should come out before she comes in. It'll be easier than way.]

[impulsives]

[ With all the banging he's hearing right now, it's only a short while before she actually does good on her unspoken threat if he does not open his cockpit hatch in time. And he'd rather not explain the cause of the damage to this thing when he gets back to his world anyways.

So he opens the cockpit hatch, and peeks out from it.

Steeling himself for something that might be happening soon enough. ]

[soggypastry]

[Ah! There he is. She scrambles up to cling to the nearest metal outcropping that'll put her at eye level with him, her own eyes narrowed and flashing in anger. He's always been an idiot, but this...oh, this is a whole new level.]

What. The hell. Happened?

[No seriously what happened? That explanation better be good!]

[impulsives]

Would you believe me if I said that my giant robot's nuclear engine, for some reason or another, stalled in mid-air when I got back to this world via the stupid monthly thing that causes memory blackout?

[ Yeah, probably not. ]