My Name Is Cryptid

So, I write, and a lot of what I write happens to be whump! I did this by accident when I was a kid, and at this point it’s on purpose, because I enjoy it. And I hope you will enjoy it too!

Anyway, I’m Cryptid. I am [REDACTED] years old, I live in [ERROR: Location Not Found], and I do have another identity, though I will probably not mix my blogs much- if you managed to find me from my main, hello! Depending on what characters I’m hyperfixated on, you might be able to find my main if I start posting about them here. So uh. Please don’t judge me haha!

Anyway, before you follow:

I will block you if:

You dislike lady whump and yell at me about it. My characters come in a range of gender identities, so it will probably come up eventually! And I am not great at tagging, I will try to tag but low key I’m awful about it so uh. Sorry in advance!

You are looking for drama. I don’t want to be dragged into any fights! If I’ve done something upsetting, please let me know and I will try to fix it. I’m not perfect, I make mistakes, and I may have beliefs that aren’t right, or be ignorant by accident. But I can assure you I don’t mean to hurt anyone, I’m just a guy on the internet writing stuff.

You are ableist, homophobic, transphobic, or otherwise bigoted. I happen to fit into quite a few marginalized groups! So. I can and will use the block button, and I will report if I need to to keep myself safe. You have been warned!

Anyway, I hope you enjoy my content! For any who don’t already know this, I do not condone any actions taken by any whumpers in here. I do this because I like to tear my favorite characters to pieces and put them back together again- because they are FICTIONAL. This doesn’t hurt anyone, and I don’t WANT to hurt anyone. I just want to put my little guys through the wringer.

I Am Not Consistent Warning

It’s really not that bad at first. It hurts to bend it, but they can still support weight on it. And they can’t rest it for too long anyway, they have places to be and they don’t have a car, so they walk on it. It doesn’t hurt that much, they’ll leave it alone.

It hurts to bend it, and it’s starting to hurt worse and worse. But they ignore it. They have other things to do, and doctors cost too much. They are starting to get worried though, so they start biking places instead of walking. Biking’s faster, and it’ll hopefully take some of the stress off, right?

Well, now their knee really hurts. They’re limping when they walk. Their entire leg hurts because of how they’ve been favoring it. Their joints aren’t great on the best of days, but this is just ridiculous.

So they go to see a doctor.

They’ve torn their fucking meniscus. Fuck. Well, now what are they supposed to do? They have stuff to do! They don’t have time to be hurt!

Warnings: Ana expresses grief through anger (she doesn’t hurt anyone ofc but she angy), Keyo is in the middle of a pretty bad autistic shutdown over this (hi! The author is actually autistic! Putting that there just in case.), I guess the main warning here is grief over a nasty friendship breakup (the friend tried to kill them). Emotional hurt/comfort

Day 8: Bloodshot

“I can’t believe he would do this!” Ana fumes, pacing back and forth. “I mean, seriously! Who does he think he is!? We trusted him!”

Keyo hums. They haven’t moved from their bed, hidden under their Pokémon. They haven’t really done much but stare at the ceiling, tears slipping down their face.

They’d trusted Volo the most out of the three of them, after all. They’d considered him an older brother, and the betrayal hit them hard.

“And I thought he trusted us too!” Ana steams, kicking at the floor. “It makes no sense! Why would he tell us about that thing he had with that girl and then up and betray us!?”

“Didn’t you say he got quiet after telling you guys that?” Cheri asks. “Maybe he was trying to distance himself by that point?”

Ana freezes. “Oh gods, you’re right,” she says. “..UGH! I HATE him!!!”

Keyo flinches at the sound, and Ana grimaces, whispering a quick “Sorry.”

“Hm.”

“..it just..” She sighs, sitting down, tears pricking at the corners of her eyes. “It doesn’t make sense, it’s.. It’s not fair.”

Cheri frowns as he watches the two. I wish you guys would’ve listened to me. “..I’m sorry,” he murmurs, moving to pull them both close.

“He made sure we had a place to stay when Kamado kicked us out, and we talked about so much- was all of it just fake?” Ana asks.

Cheri frowns and doesn’t give an answer.

He doesn’t know.

Be strong, for them. They need you. Step up.

Cheri pulls them closer. “..at least he gave us a chance to stop him,” he murmurs.

Ana nods, hiding her face in his shoulder. “..I hate him,” she whispers, tears quickly staining Cheri’s sleeve.

Keyo doesn’t say anything, barely moves at all, letting Cheri hold them close. They close their bloodshot eyes, letting out a quiet, shaky sigh.

The three hold onto each other, grief and rage consuming two of them.

“..how did you know?” Ana asks.

Cheri shrugs. “Intuition, I guess? I got really good at figuring out if people are bad people when I evolved,” he murmurs.

Ana nods. “..Next time, we’re listening,” she mumbles.

Anyway, Cheri and his siblings beloved. Also Volo and his Pokémon beloved.

Warnings: Cheri’s not having a good time with the fact he killed someone, guilt, his siblings don’t like Volo (they trust his judgement though), Volo’s pokemon know and understand what happened to him :( (I have no clue what to highlight here or any better way to put it sorry)

Day 7: Hesitation

The Meeting Arc Part 3

~~~~~

It’s been a couple days, and Volo’s been in and out of sleep.

The attack had done a lot of damage. Attacks from any sort of legendary or mythical Pokémon are not something you want to get hit with, even if you’re able to take a few, and Volo is definitely not. He’s a squishy human with a fragile body, and he’s incredibly lucky the.. burn.. poison.. dark attack that pulled all the energy out of where it hit hadn’t gone too deep.

There’s another problem. As much damage as it did to his body, the attack was much more of an attack on Volo’s spirit than anything.

He had managed to pull through with his spirit intact, thank Arceus for that. The theory is that, despite it being a powerful attack by a powerful Pokémon, it hadn’t been unleashed at full power, so Volo had managed to avoid some of the worst effects. But he’s still had to get a lot of rest- his energy had been sapped, and that’s on top of healing from the injury, so he’s been asleep more often than not.

Thankfuly, he’s stable, just exhausted. So the day after they had their chat, Volo got himself on some less mind-altering pain meds. He had forgotten most of the conversation, and the two had mutually silently agreed that Cheri wasn’t going to tell him what had happened and he wasn’t going to ask. When they both were sure Volo would be okay, Cheri got himself reasonably healed by a kind blissey so he wouldn’t have to deal with a Pokémon center that would ask questions or hospital care that isn’t built for him. Then he went to the Pokémon center to pick up their Pokémon, he dropped Volo’s off at the hospital with enough food to last a few days just in case, he stopped by his house to shower, and then he went straight to work in Hearthome City.

He’s.. not really looking forward to it, but he’s got to get home again after work, too.

His siblings will be home, and they need to know about Volo.

Because as much as his instincts say the man is harmless now, as much as he feels he can trust the man, to the point where he wants to protect him..

He wasn’t the only one Volo hurt. In fact, he’d sensed something was off about Volo from the beginning back then, had braced for it, and he was barely hurt at all, where his siblings had both been completely betrayed. So it’s up to them, what happens from here.

And..

They also need to know that Cheri had killed someone.

It’ll come out at some point. Better sooner, rather than later.

“You’re quiet today!” His current client says. He’s not entirely sure who she is, she’s relatively new, but he does talk to most of his clients, so he’s not too surprised she’s realized something’s off. “Sneasel got your tongue?”

“What?” Cheri looks up from doing her eyeliner, then grins. “Oh! No, sorry. I just don’t have much to talk about today.”

That’s a lie, but honestly, what is he supposed to say?

I have a LOT to talk about.

I KILLED a man.

But if I say anything, I’ll get in a HUGE shitstorm.

I’m not 10. I can’t just say I was trying to save the world and have that be all I have to do, no. They’ll investigate much further than they would have if I was ten.

If I’m lucky, they won’t figure out my life’s a lie, they won’t lock me up, and maybe they’ll even drop the charges.

But that’s if I’m REALLY damn lucky.

“Alright! It’s just.. Well.. You seem like you need someone to talk to.”

Cheri puts on a grin as best as he can. “I’m good! Just focusing really hard.” He finishes her makeup. “You’re good to go.”

“Oh- Okay!” Once she’s checked his handiwork in the mirror, she heads out, glancing back with concern. Cheri grins, and she leaves.

As soon as she’s gone, Cheri sighs, slumping in his chair and hiding his face in his hands.

Volo said I wouldn’t have to worry, said it would be taken care of. By who? His secret club?

Speaking of which, what’s with them, anyway? Are they time travelers? They’re probably time travelers, yeah, Volo said they’d bring the legendaries back to different places in time..

If he’s with a group, why’d they send him to deal with Eclipse alone?

Did they know he would get hurt?

Did they care?

..Do they know about the scars I heard the nurses whispering about in the hospital halls..? Maybe those are only rumors, but every rumor has some truth to it somewhere, right?

Cheri frowns, lounging back in his seat and staring up at the ceiling tiles. He’s been painting them over time, making this place his own. His gaze drifts to a tile covered in sunflowers.

..He’s so different. I don’t really know what he was like in Hisui, didn’t hang around much when he was with my siblings.

But I DO know he wasn’t.. well.. like THIS.

He can’t help but think about how Volo flinches at every touch. How in the past, he’d seen his siblings sneak up behind and jump on the guy, and Volo would just laugh, barely any flinch, no ingrained fear at all.

He thinks about how Volo kept insisting it was deserved. The way Volo shrank away from Eclipse, making himself as small as he could.

And yet Volo had considered letting Eclipse take him. Had almost agreed to it.

And Cheri frowns as he thinks about what could have happened if he hadn’t been there.

..That night at the hospital plays again in his mind.

Volo, the man who had always been so confident in himself and his goals, the man who hadn’t been afraid to go against the world, and Cheri had come to admire for that- he had broken down. Had crumpled in Cheri’s arms and sobbed.

Volo, who had once thought himself fit to be god, was now filled with self hatred.

And Cheri can’t help but wonder if it was just Eclipse who caused it, or if the entire club Volo’s in has been like that.

Because if they’re a club of time travelers who bring misplaced legendaries back, if they really sent Volo to protect Arceus from Eclipse..

Maybe they’re a club of time travelers who protect the legendaries, or even timespace in general. Which would explain why Volo’s met them, because he was a threat to the world, and people like that would be interested in someone like him.

It doesn’t explain why Volo’s joined with them now, though. And it doesn’t really explain anything about Volo and Eclipse.

Eclipse was kicked from the club because of whatever he had done to Volo. So maybe the club does have Volo’s best interests in mind, but it wouldn’t hurt to ask the guy-

Wait. Shit. He still has to check with his siblings to see if it’s okay to let Volo stick around.

As much as he’s worried about the guy, his siblings come first. They’re a team, have been from the beginning, and he doesn’t want to bring anyone around them that they don’t want around.

Cheri sighs, putting his supplies away and waving at his receptionist as he heads out.

He walks home on autopilot, mentally putting together what he’s going to say.

Volo’s back. He’s changed. I went with him on a trip to protect Arceus, and I killed a man. He’s in the hospital, I’m worried about him, and if you two are okay with it, I want to keep him around, make sure he’s okay. Something really bad happened to him, and he’s a better person now, but he’s hurt. He’s back, but he’s not evil, not coming after Arceus, and I know he isn’t manipulating me, I didn’t sense anything weird, he’s safe, but he himself is not safe because someone hurt him and he thinks he deserves to be hurt-

Ugh. Is that too much?

..He shakes his head.

..god. I am NOT looking forward to tonight.

He swings by a fast food place to grab some stuff for dinner to sweeten the deal. He hasn’t seen his siblings in a few days, after all- they’ll be confused and worried, especially since he missed his day to make dinner.

He gets home before them, setting the dinner out and sitting in his place at the table, picking at his food and waiting.

Alone with his thoughts for the millionth time today.

Blood dripping on the stone ground.

He takes a bite of his burger to distract himself, letting its taste fill his mouth.

No sauces, no extra ingredients, just meat and bread, he doesn’t feel like getting sick for the next few days. He’s already spent enough time away from work, and that’s just something he does NOT need right now.

Closing his eyes and taking a few deep breaths, he lets the burger’s scent fill his nose, ignoring the lingering metallic scent that he just can’t seem to get to leave. Trying to ignore the shrieks that just won’t stop echoing in his mind.

But the man just keeps screaming, agony spilling into the air in waves, blood on the cave walls, on the floor, sticking to Cheri’s skin..

Cheri takes another bite of his burger, though it’s half hearted. He isn’t hungry at all.

With a frustrated sigh, he checks the time, weighing the pros and cons of getting in the shower a second time. They’ll be home soon.. It isn’t worth it, I’ll take a shower AFTER I talk to them.

..Will they still care for me..? Cheri frowns down at his hands on the table. Will they fear me? Probably.

I.. I didn’t know I could kill. Well, I knew I could, I know what I am, but..

I didn’t know I, as a person, can..

He buries his face in his hands.

Breathe. Just breathe.

He stays like that until he hears the door open.

“-and anyway, he’s an adult, he’ll be fine. Maybe we should check and see if Arceus needed him for something?”

“..Would've sent all three,” Keyo murmurs.

“Maybe, but even so, it’d still be good to check-” Ana stops in her tracks as she gets to the kitchen. “Cheri! Oh, thank the gods- Where have you been? You didn’t say anything, you didn’t answer our texts!”

“You guys were texting me??” Cheri checks his pockets in a panic, pulling out his arc phone-

And shit.

It’s on silent. 43 missed messages. 7 missed calls.

“….I am. So sorry. Look, there’s a lot I need to tell you guys-”

“You haven’t slept,” Keyo murmurs, wiping makeup away from his eye.

Cheri grimaces, looking away. “..no. I haven’t in a while. And I can’t just yet, uh..” Deep breaths. In through the nose. Out through the mouth. After a moment, he looks up at the two, frowning a little deeper. “You’ll.. want to sit for this.”

Ana and Keyo glance at each other with concern before sitting down, eyes trained on Cheri.

Waiting for him to explain.

“Okay, so..” Cheri lets out a long sigh through his nose, clasping his hands together in front of him and staring at them. He opens his mouth to speak, then frowns.

Should I really tell them this?

They might never look at me the same again. We’re siblings, but even still, I KILLED someone.

If I tell them, will they fear me? Hate me?

And what about Volo? I already know they don’t like him. I already know what their reactions will be. It might not be safe for him, if I tell them what happened, and I don’t want him to have to leave to who knows where because of them, but..

Well.. They’re my SIBLINGS. And they deserve to know.

So Cheri takes a deep breath. “..I’m just gonna come out with it. Volo’s back, and I killed a man. A different man. Not him.”

They both freeze. Ana blinks a few times. “You what?”

“Volo’s back..” Keyo murmurs, turning away.

Cheri keeps his gaze on his hands clasped together. Doesn’t reach out with his magic, scared of what he’ll find. “..so. I met Volo on the train. The stop was close to the mountain, and he was headed up it to protect Arceus from someone named Eclipse-”

“He what!!??”

“Protect..?”

“Yeah. Protect. So, uh..” Cheri grimaces. “I made him take me with him. He really is different, he uh.. He apologized. But we get to the top of the mountain, and we go to that cave, the one where Beni attacked us? And we wait there, and then this guy jumps out of a portal. He’s shorter than me, but he’s like.. muscular, and he’s got all this crazy tech, right?” The other two nod. “So, he tosses these.. like.. Bright yellow pokeballs. They open, but not like a normal Pokeball, these yellow wires were still wrapped around the legendaries- and he had a bunch of legendaries, Volo said they were from different times- oh, did I mention this guy has this aura of malice? Like. He was ready to hurt someone. He was excited to.” Cheri shakes his head, pushing away the memory and glancing up to make sure they’re still listening.

He can’t tell if their expressions are concern for him or fear of him. He looks back to his hands, eyebrows furrowing, frowning a little deeper.

“..Volo and I got separated in the fight. But, uh.. What happened was, he told me he got pinned against the wall with psychic power, and then he got blasted by Galarian Moltres- oh, I forgot to mention, he is terrified of this Eclipse guy. He shrank back when he saw him. And before the fight, Eclipse was, uh.. trying to take him. I think he was going to torture him or something, the way his aura felt, the way Volo was reacting, he.. said something about Volo redeeming himself? Anyway-” Cheri shakes his head, going quiet.

“..so.. You.. killed Eclipse..?” Ana asks.

“..it’s a blur,” Cheri admits. “Um.. Volo got hit with that attack, and he screamed and there was agony in the air and I was trying to break the bracelet that controlled the Pokeball psychic device things- uh, he was controlling the legendaries with psychic devices that were the yellow pokeballs- anyway, I was trying to break it, but Mesprit hit me with a panic attack, and..” Cheri shakes his head. “I don’t know,” he whispers, staring harder at his hands. “There was so much blood, his- I think I tore his arm off, I..”

Ana and Keyo glance at each other. Ana gets up and leaves- and then she comes back with a shovel.

“In the cave on the way to Cloudcap?” Keyo asks, taking Cheri’s hands in theirs. “We’ll fix this.”

Cheri looks up, finally reaching out-

And oh. Yeah. That’s concern, and maybe a little fear, but mostly understanding, and..

He’s not sure why he expected anything else. Right. We’re a team, no matter what.

He nods. “Volo said I wouldn’t have to worry about it, but.. Thanks, guys.”

Keyo nods. “If you’re sure,” they murmur, leaning on Cheri’s shoulder. Cheri leans back, letting his eyes slip closed. Okay. It’s okay. We’re okay.

“Speaking of Volo..” Ana raises the shovel. “I’ve got half a mind to fucking whack the guy. Where is he?”

Cheri shakes his head. “Hospital- just.. Let him apologize, let him talk for a little bit- listen, he’s different. He’s better, but- Eclipse did something to him, it’s pretty bad.”

“..what’d he do..?” Keyo asks, head tilted to the side.

“I don’t know,” Cheri mutters. “I didn’t look. Didn’t want to invade his privacy, but- I do know Eclipse hurt him, he flinches when people touch him.”

Ana and Keyo glance at each other again, and Ana frowns a little deeper, then sighs, setting down the shovel.

“..he wants to apologize to you guys.”

Keyo looks up, a question in their eyes.

“Yeah, he apologized to me already, it was genuine, too.”

Ana and Keyo glance at each other again, then both nod. “..okay. How’s this gonna work? I’m not sure any of us are comfortable with him knowing where we live, so.”

Cheri nods. “He’s not supposed to leave the hospital until he gets his energy back anyway. So, tomorrow, let’s head to the hospital, we’ll meet up with him, and you all can talk. Is that okay?”

“Yeah,” Keyo murmurs, looking away.

Ana thinks it over for a minute, crossing her arms, tapping her fingers against them. She’s frowning, staring at the ground. “..I’m not gonna be nice to him,” she warns.

“I don’t expect you to. Just don’t hurt him.” He’s had enough of that.

Ana nods. “..anyway..” She frowns a little deeper, looking up. “Eclipse. You said he had a really bad aura, and Volo was protecting Arceus from him?”

“Is he dangerous? Why did Arceus need protection?” Keyo asks.

Cheri shakes his head. “He should be dead now, so not a threat anymore, but he’s a time traveler, so who knows. Anyway, he had the Red Chain, and control of the Lake Spirits.”

Ana’s face morphs into concern. “Did he pull a Team Galactic to get it from them?”

“Probably,” Cheri says. “Volo’s club or group or.. whatever should be able to get them all home, probably already have, so there’s that, at least.”

Keyo tilts their head to the side. “Club?”

“Yeah- so. I’m pretty sure he’s running with a group of time travelers right now? It’s my best guess to explain.. everything about him right now.”

“Well, it makes sense how he’s here, then..” Ana hums in curiosity. “I wonder how that happened? I mean, I.. really can’t see him getting into something like that unless it would get him closer to Arceus.”

Cheri shrugs. “I haven’t figured it out yet. But considering the fact he runs with a group like that and helped with Eclipse, I don't think he’s after Arceus anymore- He himself said he wasn’t, actually, and I didn’t sense a lie.”

“..huh..” Keyo frowns in thought. “Eclipse was also a time traveler? Was he part of the group?”

“Apparently he was kicked out when the group figured out he was doing.. whatever it was to Volo. So.”

“So he decided to attack Arceus and Volo came to stop him, but not to attack Arceus himself?” Ana shakes her head. “That doesn’t make any sense. Well- I guess I could see it if it was a race to get to Arceus first, maybe?”

Cheri shakes his head. “Volo seriously wasn’t in this for Arceus at all.” He frowns, looking down at the table. “I’m.. pretty sure it was some sort of suicide mission, actually.”

Both turn to stare at him. Shock, surprise.

Concern.

“Wait, seriously? Him?” Ana asks, leaning forwards.

“Yeah,” Cheri murmurs. “I don’t know. He was just.. so..” Cheri shakes his head, eyebrows furrowing. “..I think if I hadn’t been there, he would have just.. Let Eclipse take him. To Arceus knows where, to do Arceus knows what.” He shakes his head. “..He’s noticably different. Just trust me on this- when you get there, you guys will be able to tell.”

Keyo frowns, nodding. “..how long has he been in the hospital..?”

“Since the day I’ve been gone. He might be in there for a little while longer, he’s regaining his energy- oh, it’s the Eterna City hospital, by the way.” Cheri stands up. “Speaking of him, I’m going to take a shower and get back to him.” I don’t trust the time traveler group, and I don’t want to come back to a corpse- or worse.

His siblings give him weird looks.

“..are.. you two friends now?” Keyo asks.

“Well.. No? I don’t know.” Cheri shakes his head. “We’re the same. You know? And.. He’s not being untrustworthy, he’s not trying anything, and I just-”

“Hey.” Ana puts a hand on his shoulder. “If you feel like you can trust him, then.. We’ll trust your judgement.” Then she grins. “I’m still not gonna be nice though.”

Cheri grins back. “That’s fair, don’t worry, I don’t expect you guys to.” Then he looks over at Keyo, frowning a little.

They’re fidgeting pretty bad. “..just.. Please tell us if he ever lies,” they murmur.

“I will,” Cheri murmurs back, moving forward to press his forehead against theirs. “Thanks for trusting me.”

They nod, pressing back. “..We’ll come by tomorrow.”

“Alright.” Cheri grins. “I’m gonna take a shower, I’ll see you guys tomorrow, alright?”

“Okay! Stay safe!” Ana calls from where she’s digging around in the closet.

Keyo nods. “Call us if something happens,” they murmur. “Have a good shower.”

“I will.” Cheri waves at them both, then heads upstairs for a shower.

And once he’s scrubbed himself clean yet again, he heads to the store, then back to the hospital.

Volo’s asleep when Cheri arrives, his Pokémon piled on top of him. It doesn’t look very comfortable, but his Togekiss is protecting the injury from having any pressure on it, and they’re all sleeping soundly.

Luca- Volo’s Lucario- looks up as Cheri enters, pushing a pulse of welcoming towards him. Cheri pushes friendliness back, sitting by the bed and handing Luca a treat. “..what happened to your trainer?” Cheri asks. Quietly, not wanting to wake the others.

Luca frowns, looking away for a moment in thought, then back to Cheri.

Pushing forward a few things.

Hopelessness. Fear- no, terror. And pain. SO MUCH pain.

Cheri frowns. “..and Eclipse did this?”

Luca nods, then pushes forward rage. Malice. That same aura Cheri had felt earlier.

Cheri shudders slightly, the hair on the back of his neck standing on end. “Right..” He pushes worry. Concern.

Luca looks back at Volo with a frown and pushes it back, along with fear.

“..He’ll be alright,” Cheri murmurs, turning to look at Volo.

..huh. He looks really peaceful right now.

The bottom half of Volo’s face is hidden under the blanket, the left side hidden by his hair, and Cheri huffs a little laugh. He seems so comfortable, nearly completely covered by blanket and Pokémon.

It’s.. almost cute, actually.

..yeah. He’s burying that thought deep in the back of his mind. Not going to look into it.

Resting his head on the side of the bed, Cheri lets out a quiet sigh, watching Toge move up and down with Volo’s breathing.

There were some pin feathers she couldn’t reach on her earlier. She wouldn’t let anyone touch her to fix them.. Looks like Volo must have preened them out when he was awake.

A bit of pollen floats over, and Cheri looks up. Hemlock is staring him down, rose-like hands held up threateningly.

“I’m not here to hurt him, or any of you,” Cheri murmurs, pulling a treat for plant types out of his bag and holding it out. “Here. See? I’m a friend.”

The Roserade stares for a moment, then slowly reaches forward, glaring him down the whole time. Snatching the treat, Hemlock quickly moves back, taking a bite.

It’s better than yesterday, so there’s that. The roserade had chased him out of the room, practically screaming what would be obscenities if he could talk with a protective fury. Which is fair. Cheri had attacked his trainer the last time they’d met. In Hisui, anyway. The reunion a few days ago didn’t really count, they’d all had bigger problems to deal with.

Thankfully, Volo’s other Pokémon had been able to calm him down before he ended up getting them all thrown out.

Hemlock keeps staring at Cheri now, but doesn’t disturb Cheri, nibbling on the treat a little more.

Cheri’s pretty sure he won’t attack him.

He lets Sylvie out of his ball just in case. The sylveon blinks up at him, curling up in his lap with a yawn, and he sighs, leaning back in his chair.

And after a few minutes with no hostility, he finally lets himself drift off to sleep.

~~~~~

Anyway. We’re focusing on Cheri for a change! This is probably a few years before Cheri meets Volo again, and a few months after getting back home from Hisui. He’s like 17-18 here, and as his body is maturing, so are his abilities. Which is VERY not fun when one of them is the ability to feel exactly what others are feeling and he doesn’t know how to turn it off. Poor guy :(

Warnings: lashing out at loved ones, emotional hurt/no comfort (despite people being there who very much want to provide comfort), caretaker makes it worse?? Sort of??? Also whumpee being scared to leave their room, not sure if that needs a warning but. Yeah I’m gonna warn on that anyway

6: Dizziness

Ana’s at the door again. “Cheri? You okay in there?”

Concern filters through the air, filling his head, and he lets out a low groan, burying his face under the blanket. “Leave me alone.”

“Please, just tell us what’s wrong.”

Another two sets of feelings joins the mix.

Worry, concern, fear, merging together, and he curls up tighter.

“We want to help,” Keyo murmurs, Sprigs meowing through the door in agreement. “Please let us help.”

So much worry is flooding him and he doesn’t know how to stop it.

The ability is both old and new. Ever since evolving, he had gotten better at reading people, better at understanding their intentions. He’d thought it was intuition at first.

But now he knows.

It was an ability, one that hadn’t yet fully matured.

He still hasn’t fully mastered it yet. Other people’s feelings crash through his body, and he wants to scream.

“You want to help? I’ll tell you what’ll help- go away!! And take Sprigs with you!”

He doesn’t want to be so harsh.

But he’s scared.

Being overwhelmed with his own emotions can mess with his head, knock him off balance, to the point where his other abilities will lash out even if he doesn’t want them to. He’s not sure if it’ll happen with other people’s feelings too.

He’s scared.

Pain, emotional pain as he dismisses the others so harshly, and he chokes back a sob.

He feels so much. He feels so much. It’s dizzying, feeling so many sets of feelings aside from his own.

“..I’m leaving food at the door,” Ana says. “Please come out and tell us what’s wrong when you can.”

And after a few moments, they leave, the intensity of the feelings leaving with them.

But he’s still crying.

Please come back. I just want things to be normal.

They can’t be normal. I can’t turn it off.

I’m so alone, so alone, it’s my own fault, I don’t want to be alone-

I can’t subject them to this. I don’t want to hurt them, I’m so terrified of hurting them.

He curls up tighter, squeezing the pillow to his chest.

Anyway, this one’s very environmental. I feel like the timespace distortions in PLA could have been a LOT more horrifying, and I’m here to deliver! Warnings: animal attack (again), uuuuhh what do you call this.. time and space are being bent and torn around him and it is some sort of cosmic horror or something idk what that term means exactly I just know it’s what comes to mind, but uuuh yeah this one’s kinda tame actually.

All of mine so far have been pretty tame, let’s be honest. I promise I can write other stuff we just haven’t gotten to the Good Stuff I Have Planned yet

Day 5: Reckless

Takes place some time after the battle atop Mount Coronet. (After day 4 of this event, far before day 3, which happened before days 1 and 2)

~~~~~

Volo should have known this would happen when a strange energy started to fill the air. He should’ve known this would happen when sparks started to fly.

He thought he had more time before it did, thought he could pick a few more berries from this tree and run.

He should’ve known better than to test his fate, especially in a distortion that he had indirectly caused. Arceus has a sense of humor, after all, and Volo is no stranger to the cruelty that fate seems to love to bring him.

Scents from past and future flow into the air, and he can hardly breathe, stumbling as the ground morphs and shifts under him. One moment, he’s standing on the grassy hill, and the next, a structure he doesn’t understand appears out of nowhere, trapping him inside.

He scrambles his way out a window and brings his fingers to his mouth, whistling as loud as he can.

But Toge doesn’t come. She can’t hear him in the storm.

I could die here.

The realization sends chills down his spine.

He’s been confronted by his own mortality plenty of times in his life. It’d be a surprise to hear someone hasn’t, really, in a world as dangerous, as cruel as this one. Wild Pokémon attacks that aren’t immediately deadly can still be incredibly dangerous later, after all, and there’s a myriad of other dangers in this world.

Volo happens to be particularly good at getting himself into bad situations, and fate has always seemed to be especially cruel to him. He’s faced death plenty of times.

But it’s never felt so close.

He could run from murderers and wild Pokémon. He managed to strike a deal with Giratina when they met, he learned everything he could forage so he would never starve, he had even escaped the wrath of a particularly powerful zoroark, which is an impressive feat, considering the fact that even the normal zoro put plenty of people on the death toll.

But he can’t run from this. Not when he can’t breathe and the ground itself doesn’t seem to work as it should, flickering in and out of existence at the drop of a hat.

He curses himself for his stupidity as a terrified steelix shrieks, a sound like boulders tumbling down a mountain. It’s moving too quickly to see where it’s going, barreling straight towards Volo.

He just manages to dodge out of the way, ducking and rolling behind a tree- but an electric attack hits him, and he shrieks as his whole body jolts from it, falling to his knees.

It’s hard to move, he’s shaking, his muscles are spasming.

He can’t run.

Paralyzed.

I’m going to die here.

Something falls into his hands, a strange device. Some sort of bracelet, with a thick, flat face.

It lights up as he touches it.

He frantically presses back against the tree as an alpha raichu steps forward, holding the strange device up.

He’s about to move to throw it in desperation-

And then something he touches on it creates a shield of pink and blue energy, surrounding him just as the raichu tries to hit him with a Thunder.

He can breathe.

Volo scrambles to his feet, catching his breath. “Is this- some sort of shield..?” It moves with him as he walks- no? It’s moving with the device.

He scoops it off the ground, shaking his limbs out to try to get the rest of the electric attack out of his system, and he sprints towards the outside of the distortion, carrying the device with him. The ground materializes beneath his feet, holding steady even as it breaks around him, and he thanks fate for finally giving him something good.

Some attack hits the shield, and he yelps as he’s thrown, but he isn’t hurt by anything except his own bad landing. Scrambling back to his feet, he runs the rest of the way out, jumping through to the outside of the bubble of distorted land just as the timespace storm starts to swirl.

Terrified pokemon shriek as they’re swept into it. Volo nearly throws up as he sees human remains inside, swirling with the rest.

And, in a flash, all of it is gone, leaving no sign of what just happened but specks of shimmering pink dust, floating softly to the ground.

He’s in a cold sweat, shaking as he stares at where he was almost swept away. The trio would RUN INTO these. For FUN, to collect the things inside.

What the HELL is wrong with them!?

He takes a few shaky breaths, collapsing to his hands and knees. The device makes a clicking sound as it wraps around his hand, but he pays it no mind for now.

Okay.

Okay, I’m okay. I’m alive. I’m okay.

..I have nobody to blame for that except myself. I shouldn’t have stayed when the storm started to gather. And for what, a few handfuls more of berries? That wasn’t worth the risk!

He stares at the strange device, which has moved to his wrist. There’s numbers on the front, though he’s not sure what they’re for.

It’s a miracle I made it out. And it’s because of this wondrous device..

It’s locked itself around his wrist somehow. He can’t see the locking mechanism- it looks like a clean band, aside from the face. The only sign as to its origin is some strange lettering on the side, though he doesn’t really recognize the characters. He knows he’s seen them somewhere before, though.

With some experimentation, he figures out he can move the device up and down his arm, but he can’t take it off. It’s comfortable no matter where it is, fitting perfectly to his skin, but it won’t go over his hand, despite obviously having the capability of doing so.

Fascinating..

Okay, he’ll deal with that later. He stands, making his way back to the little camp he’s set up.

He’s still feeling a little stiff with the after effects of a fairly mild electric attack paralysis, but he’s not too hurt- he must’ve not been hit too bad, thankfully.

Volo sits at camp, dumping out his bag and counting the supplies he’s managed to gather.

If he finds a way to preserve the food, what he has gathered today will be enough for a few days. So the progress towards what he and his Pokémon need to survive the winter is slow, but it is progressing.

The extra berries he grabbed are enough for two extra meals for Toge, so there’s that, at least.

Was it worth the risk? No, not in the slightest. Not when he can easily gather that safely.

But does it make him feel a little better about it?

Absolutely.

He looks up as a shadow falls over him, quickly moving to catch Toge as she flies into his chest. “Hey!”

She squeaks happily, shaking her bag- and that’s the sound of a bunch of apricorns. He can also see the leaves of a few different edible plants and medicinal herbs sticking out.

Volo smiles, cuddling her close. “Thank you, sweetheart,” he murmurs, burying his face in her feathers with a quiet sigh. “I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

~~~

PARADOX DETECTED

Anyway.

I should probably mention my interpretation of Volo isn’t immortal, he’s just a ball of spite towards the god that abandoned him and he will become a ghost type to make sure Arceus never gets peace if he has to.

Warnings: I don’t like Cogita, uh.. aftermath of Pokemon battle gone wrong? They’re okay (I don’t like killing off characters) but yeah, they were outmatched REALLY badly, so. Animal injury. Also animal attack aftermath (not super bad just exists).

Day 4: Swaying

Volo feels.. empty.

His one chance at reaching his goal was snatched away in an instant by outsiders who had no business poking their noses in this. Giratina’s gone- which is his own fault, he had lashed out at them unfairly.

And to top it all off, all his Pokémon were hurt pretty badly in that fight. They had been outnumbered and outmatched, and by the time Volo had the chance to pull his Pokémon out of that fight, they had already given all the fight they had.

He hadn’t made it out unscathed, either. Apparently, Cheri is a zoroark, and he’s also blessed by Arceus, which explains a LOT.

So Volo has a huge set of gashes in his arm that he’s only just managed to wrap tightly enough to stop the bleeding, he’s light headed and he’s almost fallen over a few times in the trek down the mountain, his Pokémon are all hurt pretty badly, and they don’t have a place to stay.

He doesn’t want to go to Cogita. She’s been getting worse as time goes on, and he’s already feeling terrible enough without her quips about.. well..

His entire existence, really.

But he’s sure everyone will know about what happened by the time he gets down the mountain- the siblings had taken off on various flying Pokémon in three different directions. So that takes out both the clans and town, and the Guild, too, since he’s fairly sure Ginter is in town today and will hear of this.

It’s a good thing he had thought to grab his discarded bag. He can at least find a cave or something of the sort, heal his Pokémon, and then..

And then what? There’s nothing else for him here.

Volo takes a deep breath, pushing through the spots in his vision. I don’t care how long it takes.

It could take decades, or even centuries.

I WILL find a way to make this work.

I just need to do more research.

Clouds are starting to gather, threatening rain, and Volo looks up, frowning. It wouldn’t be good to be caught in this, it’s going to be a cold night and he doesn’t want to get sick.. Well. Better hurry, then.

He finds his way to the nearest clear spot, setting down his bag and getting his tent set up as quickly as he can. He has to take time to rest every few minutes, leaning against the nearest tree and catching his breath.

Gods. I’m so cold..

I’ll have to find a Blissey later..

..There HAS to be a way to fix this, right? I’m beaten, but I’m not dead. Giratina’s gone, but there’s other ways to capture a god. I don’t need Giratina’s help, I don’t need anyone, I-

Toge jumps out of her ball, weakly squeaking, and Volo feels his heart drop as he rushes to her side.

“Hey, precious girl,” he murmurs, gently brushing a few of her disheveled feathers back into place. They’re stained with blood and dark-type energy, and he frowns. “Are you okay?”

Another quiet squeak.

“Don’t worry, I’m going to fix this.” He sighs, getting to work finishing setting up the tent. He ignores how standing is starting to put spots in his vision, he needs to get this done before they all get soaked.

It takes a while, and little drops of rain are starting to fall, but once the tent is up, he helps her limp her way inside, letting the others out of their pokeballs too.

They’re all hurt. Luca’s burnt in a few different places from fire and electricity, and Volo’s going to guess he’s lucky if nothing’s broken, with how savagely the bird Pokémon attacked him. Trouble’s shivering, far too cold for a fire type, the rocks in her mane cracked by water and ice. Shark is covered in shimmering wounds, most left by a sylveon. Dried leaf-like skin is flaking off Hemlock, who is burnt even worse than Luca is- even Spiritomb is flickering. Their keystone is, thankfully, intact, but there’s not much power in their disc.

That’s not even mentioning the scratches and bites covering their bodies.

Arceus, I can understand sending people who could defeat me in battle, but why send such strong opponents? Why so many?

This isn’t just a defeat, it’s cruelty.

Luca and Toge are the only ones awake. Luca stands, taking a moment to catch his balance before staggering to Volo’s side. Volo holds his arms open as the lucario falls into him, and he feels a rush of guilt as he pulls him close.

“I’m sorry,” Volo murmurs. “I- I shouldn’t have made you all part of this, I..” He sighs, hiding his face in his free hand. “Gods, I am such a fool. I should have realized those three were sent by Arceus, had Their divine blessing.”

Toge squeaks, pushing her way under his arm and resting there, and Volo sighs, staring at the ground.

I really am a joke in Arceus’s eyes, aren’t I? They didn’t even send an adult to deal with me. They sent children.

Sure, they are good battlers, but even so, they’re still CHILDREN.

Perhaps the fact they were sent was a testament to their strength.

Or maybe it only proves how little Arceus really thinks of me.

Volo starts digging through his bag, pulling out bandages, potions, and revives. Whatever the case, I have more important things to worry about right now. Like making sure my Pokémon survive this.

He starts quickly treating the wounds that need the most immediate attention. He doesn’t have a lot of potions on him, but thankfully, he has enough to fix the majority of the worst damage, and he does that before waking the ones who are still knocked out. Then he gets to work bandaging the rest.

I’m glad I thought to stock up on bandages the last time I got a chance to.

A sudden chill brushes through him, and he unpins his shoulder cape, quickly pulling on his merchant outfit. He might hate the job, but at least the clothes are warm.

It doesn’t help much, but his arms are covered and he’s a little warmer.

He lets out a quiet sigh. “..How are you all doing? Is it cold?”

Most of his Pokémon seem okay now, if maybe a little lightheaded, but Shark and Hemlock are both pretty cold, and they look at him with pleading eyes.

“Right. Here.” Volo holds out their Pokeballs, and the garchomp and roserade hurry to jump in. Tucking those to his chest to hopefully keep them warm, Volo sighs, pulling the other four close.

..I’m going to fix this. We all deserve a better world, and damn what Arceus does, I’m going to find a way to make it.

I’ll find a way to do it if it kills me.

~~~~~

Warnings: ngl I have No Idea what to tag this one.

Whumpee having Issues, that are only being exacerbated by whumper, who isn’t hurting him physically quite yet but he sure isn’t good for Whumpee’s mental or emotional state. Emotional hurt no comfort I guess is what this is. You know when you look back at something really shitty you did and go “…oooohh no.” Yeah it’s that, that’s what this is

Anyway uh. I’m not super happy with how it turned out, this scene is supposed to come in between some other stuff whenever I actually pull everything together, BUT!!!! At least the first draft is written! So I can edit it and string it together with other stuff later!

But yeah, the context this needs is by this point, he’s aware that what he was trying (subjugate Arceus and rewrite history) was never going to work out, and he’s been a little aimless since then, not sure he has a purpose. And this is him kinda finding one!

(Poor guy has a traumatization arc at the same time as his redemption arc 😔 wish him luck he’s gonna need it)

Day 3: Shame

“GIRATINA!! STRIKE THEM DOWN!!!”

Volo sighs as he watches it play out. Again, again.

Four teenagers, twenty four Pokémon, and two gods; one present, one absent.

One teenager blinded by a dream of a world without suffering, the other three fighting for the right to exist.

Six Pokémon against eighteen, and then the playing field is leveled by the help of a god, but still the three teenagers won.

Three siblings, one angry, one upset, one cynical, watching as their flute changes into one that can summon Arceus, and one teenager, alone in the world, angry at the god he’d worshipped for abandoning him in every single time of need. Angry at the god who had helped him for failing.

He had lashed out, and now he was completely and utterly alone.

Three siblings finding their way back to the home they had protected while one teenager grieves the life he never got to live. Three siblings chasing their dreams and meeting their goals while one teenager is lost, stuck with nowhere else to go but away. But he can’t go away, because Hisui is his home. His broken, pain-filled home, full of the memories of his people.

They have everything, and he is left alone.

Three siblings growing up and becoming champions of their region, one teenager finding a strange device and traveling to another time.

To another dimension.

Would things have been different, had I not done all this? Would I have more than just myself, my Pokémon, and Eclipse to rely on?

He scrolls back in time.

Three siblings and one teenager meeting for the first time. A Pokémon battle, and two of the siblings became fast friends with the teenager.

And a few months later, he betrays them for nothing but a chance at a plan that never would have worked in the first place.

“GIRATINA!! STRIKE THEM DOWN!!!”

..He turns his holocomputer off and lays in bed, staring up at the ceiling.

..maybe Eclipse is right. I deserve to hurt for what I put those three through.

We were all teenagers, but I was older. They were 15. I was an adult. I should’ve known better- I tried to KILL them.

And my actions indirectly killed so many more..

He lets his eyes slip closed.

..I’m lucky I have Eclipse. At least he won’t hurt me, despite the fact that I deserve it. Not like so many of the others in this place would.

..I wonder if things would be different, had I called it all off.

I wish I could go back and stop it. But that would only create a paradox involving the Agency itself. It would only make everything worse, might actually break reality as a whole..

He rolls over, curling up on his side and hiding in the plush blankets.

..Maybe, if I hadn’t been born, the world would be better off.

Thousands dead, tens of thousands hurt, and SO MANY displaced throughout time and space.. All because of a dream that could never have worked.

I need to help them. It’s my fault they’re lost, after all.

I can’t bring back the dead.