Child's Play

[Shinigori V2]

"Goon!" Pepper replies.

It's uncertain if she's answering, or calling Enzo names.

[BrainWalker]

Max shakes his head and hops down off of Hovertank. He squats and offers Pepper a friendly hand.

"It's gonna be ok, Pepper. We're gonna find out what happened to Kid and get you two back together. But we need your help to do that. Can we count on you, girl?"

[Shinigori V2]

"Zig." Pepper nods.

[Animala]

"Well, at least I got some new attacks..." Lauren looked over her new abilities. "Tail Whip? Seriously?" She reached behind herself to grab the costume's tail and inspected it. "How is that supposed to hurt anyone?" As she released the tail, for just a moment she thought it twitched on its own. She looked over her shoulder and eyed it suspiciously.

It dangled there, just a costume tail.

"Oh, this is a good one!" Ambassador Leafshade said excitedly. "Lauren! Use your Quick Attack!"

Lauren suddenly broke into a grin. "Oh yeah! Just like back home!" She put one costumed foot forward, and slowly drew back her right arm dramatically. "Wunderkind...." She vanished into a blur of motion, delivering a vicious (if slightly padded) swift punt to the enemy rattata. "...SPEED STRIKE!"

[Shinigori V2]

The Rattata is punted!

It just so happens that level 5 Rattata are weak to that sort of thing.

Enemy Rattata fainted!

Louie and Lauren gain 54 EXP!

Trainers Sam and MbsdrLfshd earned 500 dollars!

...And just like that, combat is over. Lauren is free to return to her normal shape, and the first trainers of the game are soundly defeated.

[BrainWalker]

Max gives pepper an encouraging pat on the head and a little scratch behind the ears. "'Atta girl."

"Okay, so surf carried off all those bidoof, but also you, Kid, and the enemy trainer. We need to find where it took Kid. I know the whole thing was kind of whack, but did you maybe see where Kid was carried? Could you point us in the right direction, or maybe track her with odor sleuth? If not, don't worry about it. Now that we found you, we at least know what general direction to look in."

[Shinigori V2]

Pepper looks around, slightly confused. It seems that she can help, but can't be commanded to use any of her abilities by anyone other than Kid.

[Besyanteo]

Enzo looked a little put off at Pepper's apparently inability to help. Still, the Zigzagoon was a clue all on it's own, assuming it hadn't moved since it arrived here. That was a long shot, but hey. He tried to plot the aforementioned fan pattern on the landscape, based on where they had fought flea, and their current location.

[Shinigori V2]

"You guys are doing this all wrong." A girl's voice says from a nearby rock.

----

Endgame:

The four girls hit the crest of the hill, and see...

..Trainers. Trainers everywhere.

[ChristianC]

Alexis nodded with a slight frown, if Kid had gone missing maybe Flea'd get to her...

She was just about to say something when they passed the crest of the hill and she froze in her tracks, looking out at the ocean of trainers ahead of them.

Then, with a slight movement she cracked her neck, readjusted her parka and yelled down:

"Hey, LOSERS!" she paused long enough for the dramatic effect. "Which one of you want to be the first to get their ass handed to them?"

[Shinigori V2]

Endgame:

From the crst of the hill, the four girls see...Every single trainer turn their heads towards the girls at the same time.

Thirteen backpedals a few steps. "Alexis...I believe you've just challenged them. All of them. At the same time."

[ChristianC]

Alexis threw back her hood, letting her blueish-white hair fly out as she spun around her shoulder-bag, unzipping it and dropping all six of her monspheres in her hands.

"Only the winner gets to fight the Elite Four, you know." She gave Thirteen an almost manical grin as she looked down below.

[Shinigori V2]

"...There is at least thirty of them." Thirteen says. "Not to mention how many Monsters they all command."

[ChristianC]

"...Come on, you know we can beat them..." Alexis said with almost a whine, looking like she wanted to run down there. "We split, okay? Like... ten... each? Eight?"

[Shinigori V2]

Thirteen sighs, and reaches into a pocket of her jacket, pulling out three minimized Monspheres. "I would suggest you assist your companions in battle."

The spheres are...Unlike any from the game. They have a W emblazoned on the top, and a colorful pattern.

[ChristianC]

"What?" Alexis blinked, then looked quite surprised as Thirteen pulled out these three orbs. "What's inside those? Are those special balls...? I've never seen any like them!"

[Shinigori V2]

"Wunderspheres." Thirteen says. "Did you know your code is malleable? You could switch back and forth between a trainer and a battlemon, with the proper coding."

She took a ball in one hand, presenting it towards Alexis. "This is the coding."

[Besyanteo]

Enzo looked up, startled. Who could this new person be?! He was too shocked to speak right away, putting the ball firmly in her court unless Max did something first.

[Shinigori V2]

Midgame:

The new girl jumps off her rock from a sitting position. She's yuounger than the other two...Probably six or so. She looks like them- A cross between game trainer and Wunderkind. "Your friend was lost, but you have her Mon? You could get her back immediately if you wanted!"

[Kelne]

Well, this hadn't exactly gone according to plan. Emily hadn't even gotten as far as thinking about plans before Alexis managed to challenge everyone, but whatever plan she might have come up with, this wasn't it. Maybe she could talk the NPCs out of attacking, but the blasted things ran on some pretty simplistic programming. Sod it.

"Alright, everyone out," she said, snapping open her remaining monballs and addressing the troops, "We're taking the ones on the right. Blast attacks to start with, then concentrate your attacks on a single target until they're down." There ought to be plenty of packed targets to blast to begin with. Perhaps she'd even get lucky and catch a few trainers before they got their defenders in place.

Thirteen's comment registered. If she could join in the fight, that ought to help a bit. Definitely something to try.

[Shinigori V2]

Thirteen continues to hold the spheres out for anyone who might seem to want one.

[Besyanteo]

Well, that was unexpected. Their juniorkind had found them... and was now offering to teach them how the game worked to fix Enzo's screw up. It was humbling, now that he was done being startled and confused. He stood up straight and tried not to squeak when he answered:

"I, uhm... what do we do?"

[Shinigori V2]

"She's trained." The girl says, grinning and pointing at Pepper. "Throw a ball at her."

[Kelne]

With a remaining lull yet before battle was joined, Emily scooped up a Wundersphere with a murmured "thanks" and snapped it open. The ball promptly swallowed her with the typical burst of light. There was a brief interval, and then Emily was spat back out, looking at least somewhat different. Her jacket was now bright yellow, and her hair had changed colour to match and was now standing up on end.

"Huh." she said, taking in the changes, "I hope this doesn't mean I'm going to be stuck in a big glass jar..."

[Shinigori V2]

"I hope your change was comfortable." Thirteen says. "The shift can be jarring the first few times."

[Besyanteo]

He appeared nonplussed at the statement, but he reached for an empty monsphere. He'd never tried throwing one at another trainer's mons in game before because supposedly it didn't work. It would be a waste of a turn, so why do it? But, it certainly couldn't hurt. He tossed the ball at Pepper, who hopefully wouldn't repay the imposition with a bite in the face.

[ChristianC]

Alexis only spared the orb a few seconds before she nodded, throwing back her hair and picking up the sphere. It felt empty in her hand, but, who really cared about that? She pressed in the button and experienced a moment of vertigo as she was suddenly pulled into the sphere. Weird, whirling snowstorms surrounded her as her parka and backpack disappeared into nothingness, then so did the armor-parts of her suit until she was merely in the spandex... then the armor parts came on again, but thinner than usual, and then a thick robe-like outfit twirled around her, layer upon layer, deep red at the innermost, but becoming part white, part blueish towards the end, with an orange waist-cloth whirring around as her flowed out down her back, her already pale skin becoming snow-white and her lips blood-red, black flowing out from her scalp and turning her blueish-white hair oily black, as if it absorbed the light around it.

Then she was out again. The change hadn't been quite as severe as what had happened to Lauren, but anyone familiar with folklore could recognize she had been transformed into the Snow Woman, a mythical ghost that haunts the forests during the winter, luring careless wanderers deep into the forest and stealing the warmth of their bodies.

...Well, that would've perhaps been somewhat intimidating, if Alexis wasn't a shortie, and likewise had the waist-band tied with a big bow at the side of her kimono, and if the kimono wasn't a few sizes too big. She had to grip the edges of her sleeves to even have her hand showing.

"What?" She exclaimed pretty quietly as she looked down on herself. She looked like a human Froslass!

[Shinigori V2]

Thirteen casually tossed the last Wundersphere to Silvie. "Use it. Or not. It's up to you. Make your decision quickly, or else we shall be overwhelmed."

Her coat blustered in the wind again, as she surveyed the oncoming trainers. "There are no less than twenty-eight approaching. If you have attacks that can hit all comers, I would suggest you use them."

With a fluid motion, she pulls out six spheres, sending them all out at once, all six of her party appearing at the same time.

A Houndoom, flagged "Cerberus".
An Absol, Ooshun.
A Mamoswine, Alecto.
A Flygon, Clotho.
An Aggron, Atropos...

...And a Garchomp, Concord.

All her mons lean into the wind, howling at the oncoming trainers, as Thirteen takes a step back. "Engaging Paradox."

There's a bright flash of light, and as it clears, Thirteen is floating, a state they've seen her in more often than not. However, she's in her normal Wunderkind garb...With a breastplate matching the color of her boots, gloves, and wunderoos. She has a visor covering her face, a bright, red light shining behind the black plastic. And eight short swords...Or the blades thereof...Float silently behind her, seemingly part of her armor, but freefloating. Wings made of antigravity and blades. Thirteen is now classified as a Steel/Flying type.

"They will be here soon." She says calmly.

(I apologize for NOTHING.)

[Kelne]

Well, Thirteen certainly had the whole high-level thing down, by the looks. Rather than dwell on studying her or her mons, Emily directed her own mob to attack, leading off with as wide an electrical strike as she could manage.

[Animala]

"Yes!" Lauren put one hand on her hip. "That's the power of justice!" She held up her other hand in front of her, stared at it for a moment, then sighed. "Man, I can't even do the victory pose right without fingers..."

Ambassador Leafshade scampered over. "Well, it was...a powerup, right? I mean, you didn't have any other moves before...."

Lauren shrugged. "Yeah, I guess," she said unenthusiastically, "but it's kind of a lame hero form."

"You can change back now...and...I'm sorry about earlier." Ambassador Leafshade hung her head.

Lauren knelt down to hug the furret-turned-trainer. "I'm sorry, too. So..." Lauren paused thoughtfully. "You know, I never really figured out what they did to turn back in the show. It always just seemed to--"

Ambassador Leafshade shuddered as the hug, just for a moment became...strangely gooey. Those with a better vantage point could see Lauren's rattata costume be...absorbed into her, reforming as her wunderkind outfit, now in shades of purple.

"...oh." Lauren released Ambassador Leafshade, stood up and brushed herself off.

Ambassador Leafshade shivered. 'That was weird," she said to herself. She turned to the others. "So...what now?"

[Idran1701]

While Lauren and Leafshade make up, Sam heads up to the trainers just to see what they say - yeah, they're just NPCs, but if the Juniorkind came through here maybe it'll be different from usual or something. Once that's done, he looks back just in time to see Lauren get all gooey and change back.

"Um...so...Lauren, you're a Ditto now? And...what was all that stuff you said and stuff? What's all this hafta do with justice?" About to say something more to Janet on the side, he realizes she wasn't involved in the battle at all. Glancing around, he tries to spot her; hopefully she didn't go on ahead, he doesn't want them to get separated.

While Sam looks for Janet, Louie walks up to Leafshade, extending a wing. She showed quite the impressive performance in that fight, and it's important to acknowledge the skills of your allies. Quite the leadership potential there.

[Shinigori V2]

Janet is hanging back, but approaches Lauren. "Good job there. Are you okay, though? Feel alright? No weird..Uh..Side...effect?"

Meanwhile, the trainers approach Ambassador Leafshade and Sam. "Wow! What a neat Ditto!" one says kind of robotic. "I will trade you my Rattata for it!" The other says. "I've never seen one in that shape before!"

---

Midgame:

Enzo tosses his sphere...and Kid pops out of nowhere, batting the ball away with her hand. "No stealing!"

Kid takes a minute to notice she's somewhere else, standing up straight. "...Hey, guys. Where are we?"

[Besyanteo]

In lieu of answering, Enzo hugged Kid! ... and then almost immediately backed off and looked terribly embarrassed, turning to one side and trying to shrink into himself a bit.

"Uhm, still in the desert. I kind of hit you with Surf by accident. Sorry. I'm glad you're ok though."

[Shinigori V2]

"Psh." Kid says, waving her hand. "Accidents happen. I just don't have a water type...Let alone one out."

Pepper runs up, scampering up Kid's back and onto her head, like some sort of oversized Zigzagoon-skin cap.

[BrainWalker]

Max is reasonably surprised. Saguaro and Swellow seem to think that was a perfectly logical solution and aren't sure why Max is shaking his head.

"Wow. I can't believe that actually worked. The game tells you it doesn't work, so I never bothered to toss a sphere at a trained mon."

Max offers Kid a high-five "Anyway, good to have you back. Also," he adds, turning to the new girl, "I believe we've made a new acquaintance."

[ChristianC]

Alexis would've looked surprised, flabberghasted, dumb-founded, but something in her code made immediately bring the sleeve of her kimono up to cover her lower face, her eyes still showing her surprise.
"Oh my... Thirteen, would it be impolite of me to ask whether we shall be capable of such feats later?" She didn't seem to notice how Spooky, obviously tired of all these shenanigans, was picking out the monspheres, opening them one after another, but leaving Tuft's sphere where it was for now. Such a considerate Gengar he was.

From her spheres popped:

A misdreavus named "Peeka" which immediately did a little pirouette before zooming around Spooky's head at a speed somewhere around 88 miles per hour, obviously antsy after being inside the sphere for so long.
A weavile named "Boo" with a scar running across it's snout, a confident grin on its face.
A Shedinja named "Shadow" that just seemed to hover there, looking all calm and serene and shit. It shifted its eyes to the Peeka and gave off a sigh, upon which both Peeka and Spooky irked and quickly stood in line, looking a little nervous.
The Froslass didn't have a name, but she merely hovered just a bit from the rest of them, almost disappearing into the snow around her and giggling quietly for herself.

"We are ready." Alexis said calmly, looking down on the approaching trainers.

[Shinigori V2]

"I'm not sure what you mean." Thirteen says, bobbing in the air. "Do you mean, the ability to change yourself into a Battlemon? Or the attacks thereof?"
----

Midgame:

"Hi!" The girl says, standing up. "I'm Kate."

This is...Almost definitely the girl they're supposed to be looking for.

[ChristianC]

"What I mean is, and I do not imply to be rude, and apologize for my brazen words in advance, but..." she indicated vaguely with her sleeve the knife-wings and the flying and the armor and the doodads. "That does not look like... any battlemon I have seen myself."

[Shinigori V2]

"That's because I'm not." Thirteen says. "I am still myself. I'm not sure why you became...That."

[BrainWalker]

Max is a little surprised to have run into their target so soon. Just to be sure, he asks, "Kate Applebough, by chance?"