PREP Highschool

[Ironsmith]

[Gaudia's Room]

That's what Khannie gets for having a great big pointy fox nose under all that shadow illusion.

Her sense of smell is great even when she doesn't want it to be.

Case in point? Like, right now. Khannie doesn't make any commentary as she gets closer, remembering what the others had said about Gaudia's lack of smell. Which... considering that she doesn't have a nose Khannie guesses that makes sense, right? Once they're both into the room and the door is closed Khannie lets out a long sigh and allows her disguise to slough off, the shadows retreating from her like a second skin and melding into any of the darkness around the room.

There.

An H-zoroark. The first time she hasn't been disguised in any way around Gaudia and her friends. Her clothing is no disguise, though. And it looks like she gave that giant red poof of long bristly fur that naturally grows around her shoulders a pretty hefty trim so her clothing actually fits well. She's like the opposite of Gaudia's room. Trimmed, cleaned, and smelling more of nicely scented shampoo than wild pokemon. Even what would normally be a wild mess of ghostly hair on her head is orderly and tied off with a purple ribbon. Nine tails twitch and fidget behind her as if they all had minds of their own. For some reason they clip right through her pants.

Probably some sort of ghost thing.

<Listen you don't have to talk using the watch if you don't want; there isn't anyone to listen in,> Khannie points out, reverting to pokemon noises now that she doesn't have her human disguise to speak through. It actually feels kind of nice when she can just let her guard down. When she doesn't even have to bother with ghost sounds to make herself understood.

Ugh.

She still feels like an idiot, though. Nodding off in class and causing her disguise to break. Absolutely dumb. She shouldn't have eaten so much turkey for lunch.

Anywho!

Room.

First?

Holy heck the smell.

Second?

Holy heck this place is a mess.

<Uh... do you want some help cleaning your room? No offense but this place is a dump,> Khannie observes, ever the diplomat.

[Gaudia's Room]

"...(Cleaning?)" Gaudia asks, before shrugging and giving a cheerful burble. "(What ever do you mean? We just got it all nice and comfortable!)" She reaches onto her belt and unlatches her pokeballs, popping them open to release the familiar gaggle of not-quite-animals again. Most of them immediately go for the toys, but two (Lola the Lopunny and Bits the Ralts) hop up onto the bed instead.

"(See? Nice and homey.)" Gaudia beams, letting out a happy little chirp.

[There Are Not Many Ways To Use The Number 14]

Micah shakes his head and smirks. "Ever since the Kuriboh card was released, Aikobaz."

Without further ado, he calls "Left-Hand Shark! Taste-test her face-down card!" The grimacing shark swims forward through the air and begins to take a chomp out of the targeted card.

[Certainly Less Than 14]

Aikobaz sighs and flips the card face-up; it's another Magician of Faith, but she expects this is going to go about as badly as it did the first time.

Or... will it?

Aikobaz looks at Micah's hand, then at the field, then up at his hand again. He's... he's out of ammo. There's only one monster he could possibly tribute to negate her Magician's effect, and he's attacking with it. If he does indeed get rid of it, that will leave him with one monster on the field, and no way to immediately get out another unless he gets a lucky draw. If she plays her cards right, she might be able to stall him out for the win. Alternatively, if he lets Magician of Faith go off, she can pull Raigeki from her graveyard and finally be rid of that godawful knight with all of its ridiculous effects.

"...Well?!" She demands, gesturing at him. "You going to stop me or not?"

[Gold]

[Smoother Than Sonata No. 14]

True, negating the Magician would leave Micah with only one monster on the field, but taking the Raigeki would leave him with no monsters on the field, a far worse position to be in. Therefore...

Micah nods. "Stop you, I will. I tribute Left-Hand Shark to have Nekroz of Areadbhair negate your Magician of Faith's effect." he says, as he removes the freshwater fiend from the Monster Zone right after it's done biting Magician of Faith.

[Rebonack]

[Gaudia's Room]

Khannie watches as Gaudia's partners disperse, tackling various toys or loafing on the bed nearby. The animal smell is really strong. As is the scent of all those berries and the smell of old berries from all the empty baskets. Khannie's no neat freak by any means, but she keeps her room tidy and her bed made. And this feels less like a room people are living in and more like a midden a bunch of animals are lounging around.

At least they don't poop on the floor or anything weird like that.

Because that's... a thing. That some pokemon do. Marking territory or whatever. A subject that Khannie is both well aware of and highly self conscious about. She had spent quite a bit of time finding cleaning agents and perfumes that can get zoroark smell out of stuff. As a result she's quite proud that she doesn't have that awful musky aroma all the time.

<Cleaning like you've got garbage on the floor,> Khannie replies, bending over to pick up one of the wrappers laying around. This is one of the times she's deeply thankful that the gene mod dad got her when she's little endured all the weirdness she's been through. Normally zoroarks have just got three stubby claws on their paws. She's got three longer, more delicate fingers AND thumb. With the massively reduced talon size she can't really SLASH like a zoroark normally could but she CAN pick things up easily.

And punch stuff.

She turns the wrapper over in her paws. What the heck is all this trash, anyway?

<And these old baskets, too. They smell gross you should probably wash the old ones out or-> she lifts the stack of baskets to reveal the one on the bottom and any fermenting berry juice it may contain. That'll probably pull a pretty disgusted look from the zoroark. <-or maybe burn them.>

She could help with that part! Good ol' fire punch.

<Look, Gaudia, if you wanna pose as a human you've gotta live more like one, too. That means keeping stuff clean, otherwise humans are gunna start noticing the smell.>

Though maybe if she stinks enough people won't look more closely and see through her terrible disguise?

[Ironsmith]

[Smoother Than Sonata No. 14]

True, negating the Magician would leave Micah with only one monster on the field, but taking the Raigeki would leave him with no monsters on the field, a far worse position to be in. Therefore...

Micah nods. "Stop you, I will. I tribute Left-Hand Shark to have Nekroz of Areadbhair negate your Magician of Faith's effect." he says, as he removes the freshwater fiend from the Monster Zone right after it's done biting Magician of Faith.

[I Don't Have A Clever Quip]

"Figures." Aikobaz mutters as her disappointed-looking magician vanishes off the field. "Fine, then. Anything else?"

Well. That was... probably the worse of two outcomes for her. But she can work with it. She only needs to stall him out for three more rounds before she just wins, no questions asked. Surely she can do that?

[Gaudia's Room]

Khannie watches as Gaudia's partners disperse, tackling various toys or loafing on the bed nearby. The animal smell is really strong. As is the scent of all those berries and the smell of old berries from all the empty baskets. Khannie's no neat freak by any means, but she keeps her room tidy and her bed made. And this feels less like a room people are living in and more like a midden a bunch of animals are lounging around.

At least they don't poop on the floor or anything weird like that.

Because that's... a thing. That some pokemon do. Marking territory or whatever. A subject that Khannie is both well aware of and highly self conscious about. She had spent quite a bit of time finding cleaning agents and perfumes that can get zoroark smell out of stuff. As a result she's quite proud that she doesn't have that awful musky aroma all the time.

<Cleaning like you've got garbage on the floor,> Khannie replies, bending over to pick up one of the wrappers laying around. This is one of the times she's deeply thankful that the gene mod dad got her when she's little endured all the weirdness she's been through. Normally zoroarks have just got three stubby claws on their paws. She's got three longer, more delicate fingers AND thumb. With the massively reduced talon size she can't really SLASH like a zoroark normally could but she CAN pick things up easily.

And punch stuff.

She turns the wrapper over in her paws. What the heck is all this trash, anyway?

<And these old baskets, too. They smell gross you should probably wash the old ones out or-> she lifts the stack of baskets to reveal the one on the bottom and any fermenting berry juice it may contain. That'll probably pull a pretty disgusted look from the zoroark. <-or maybe burn them.>

She could help with that part! Good ol' fire punch.

<Look, Gaudia, if you wanna pose as a human you've gotta live more like one, too. That means keeping stuff clean, otherwise humans are gunna start noticing the smell.>

Though maybe if she stinks enough people won't look more closely and see through her terrible disguise?

[Gaudia's Room]

Phew! Khannie's going to wish she'd never touched those baskets. Not only does the smell of month-old berry juice attack her snout the moment she lifts the baskets, she's going to find that Gaudia's growing a life form down there somewhere. Yech.

"(See? I keep telling you, this place is gross.)" Lola interjects, while the ralts behind her runs a hairbrush over her ears. "(Believe me now?)"

"(Come on, it's not so bad.)" Objects a contented-looking pelliper, who just finished assembling a nest from microwavable poffin wrappers. "(We're not all as picky about smells as you are, Lola.)"

"(That's because you can't smell them, dear.)" The roserade interjects, giving Khannie a long-suffering smile. "(Miss Valarm raises an excellent point regardless. Cozy though it may be for us, this room doesn't resemble a human's, in most senses. If Gaudia invites anyone else up here, it could blow her cover. Or if she forgets to shower one day. Or if she leaves the door open.)"

"(She'll look gross, anyway.)" The gengar points out. "(This isn't a good look if she wants to make more friends, regardless of whether they think she's human.)"

"(Still don't see the point.)" The rhydon rumbles, stretching himself out by the bed. "(She's a pokemon, like us. Why not just be honest about it?)"

"(Because that's working so great for Khannie.)" Lola snarks.

[Rebonack]

[Gaudia's Room]

Oh heck that's vile. Khannie pulls a pretty disgusted face and quickly sets the basket down as she's suddenly deeply concerned about washing her paws.

<Yeah that's growing mold. Not the pokemon kind, either. These things DEFINITELY need to get thrown out,> Khannie says, glaring at the baskets as if they had said something insulting about her dad. <Yeah I know not all pokemon can smell well but humans... can a little? Enough to notice something is up. I could smell the rotten fruit stink all the way down the hall so someone else probably has, too.>

Which could get Gaudia in trouble, human disguise or not.

Khannie begins searching the room for anything remotely resembling a garbage bag. And while doing so replies to the commentary.

<People treat pokemon different. Or some will, anyway. Like my close friends? They know about me and they don't care. If people think you're human it makes first impressions easier. Do you guys even have garbage bags?> she asks, digging around in nooks that look like they might contain what she needs. <Anyway doing disguises comes naturally to me. Human illusion means I can do human talk easy. And if word spreads because I nodded off in history class then... I dunno I don't think I'll do anything different. I actually LIKE being human.>

[Recaiden]

[Introductory Collisions]

Totally sure that we're talking about a kid?

What if they're a squid?

"Oh, good, getting turned into a lizard sucks," Khannie says. It's a good thing they're both on the same page with that one. "I guess understanding life is a pretty cool thing. I don't really know a lot about that stuff, though. But there are lots of different sorts of heroes who are good at different stuff."

Different stuff is important.

And then questions about heroing?

Khannie strikes a very heroic pose!
"Yeah! Totally! I've already got some hero experience so obviously I'm going to be a hero protagonist!"
Also?
"I think Sirius might be snoozing? Maybe he'll wake up later."

This raises an important question.

Could she turn people into lizards?

Komodo is like a dragon which is like a lizard, and if it's some sort of Mad Biology standby, she had better figure it out, right? It could be an important thing for an independent protagonist to know!

"What. He-ro-ism-ing. ?. Have. You. Done. ?"

She's going to have to work extra-hard to get caught up if her rival has been a teen hero for a while now!

Vix gives the watch one more dubious look.
"O-kay. I'll. Meet. Si-ri-us. Next. Time."

[Rebonack]

[Introductory Collisions]

Could she?

That seems like a pretty vital question to answer.

The next question to answer is you CAN turn someone into a lizard is if you SHOULD turn someone into a lizard. And... maybe you should ask WHY you would want to turn someone into a lizard.

Khannie helpfully adds, "Oh and Komodo wasn't just trying to turn people into lizards. She was trying to figure out how to give people super-fast lizard regeneration. Like how a lizard can grow a tail back? Except with legs."

That's some important contextual information.

Anyway!

Heroing.

Khannie needs to pause and think about that for a bit. What things can she talk about without giving away too much?

"I used to be a magical girl but that had some really bad side effects so I found a way to break that contract," Khannie reports. "And I stopped some evil schemes and some Witches that were trying to eat people. But mostly it's stopping super villains and making sure thugs aren't bugging people. Oh! And Sirius and I stopped some evil digimon from doing..."

She wrinkles her nose a bit.

"I'm not sure what he was doing but it seemed bad. Freezing people inside purple crystals?"

Freezing people in purple isn't very nice.

[Gullara]

"Can't... really say I had that problem, y'know? Family life back home's pretty regimented, and there was a lot of pressure on me from early on. There's still pressure, here, but... not as much, and it's easier to get away from it." Being the destined heir of a warlord who conquered a quarter of the world results in quite a bit of pressure and danger from those whose territory was conquered the first time around.

[Snek Lunch]

"Oh? What kind of pressure do you mean? I mean, in both cases." Natharia inquires. Honestly she's just interested in the lives of who are presumably normal kids, as she's certainly came to realize her own situation was anything but.

[Ironsmith]

[Gaudia's Room]

Oh heck that's vile. Khannie pulls a pretty disgusted face and quickly sets the basket down as she's suddenly deeply concerned about washing her paws.

<Yeah that's growing mold. Not the pokemon kind, either. These things DEFINITELY need to get thrown out,> Khannie says, glaring at the baskets as if they had said something insulting about her dad. <Yeah I know not all pokemon can smell well but humans... can a little? Enough to notice something is up. I could smell the rotten fruit stink all the way down the hall so someone else probably has, too.>

Which could get Gaudia in trouble, human disguise or not.

Khannie begins searching the room for anything remotely resembling a garbage bag. And while doing so replies to the commentary.

<People treat pokemon different. Or some will, anyway. Like my close friends? They know about me and they don't care. If people think you're human it makes first impressions easier. Do you guys even have garbage bags?> she asks, digging around in nooks that look like they might contain what she needs. <Anyway doing disguises comes naturally to me. Human illusion means I can do human talk easy. And if word spreads because I nodded off in history class then... I dunno I don't think I'll do anything different. I actually LIKE being human.>

[Gaudia'a Room]

"(You shouldn't have to.)" Gaudia offers, lifting the pile of baskets so she can take it... somewhere. Khannie just said to throw it away, she's really not sure where. "(I mean, you and I, we're students here like anyone else, right? Who cares if we're human or pokemon or... or whatever?)"

"(Oh, get off your prancing ponyta.)" Lola scoffs. "(For once, you're running into people that aren't treating you like you're Arceus's second coming and you don't like it. Boo-hoo.)" The lopunny runs her paws over her ears and lets out a satisfied little sigh. "(Oooh, that's nice. Thanks, Bits.)"

The ralts flashes a little thumbs-up as Gaudia gives the lopunny an offended glare. "(Okay, I know you've had a chip on your shoulder, but-)"

"(Please.)" The lopunny stands and kicks a couple of wrappers aside. "(We don't even look at each other as the same, don't you go shooting your mouth off about how bitterly unfair your life is because people are just so mean about things that aren't quite human.)" Lola raises a paw in Khannie's direction. "(Life's not fair. Some of us get to be trainers, and some of us get to be attack animals. You don't like it? Tough skitty.)"

[Rebonack]

[Gaudia'a Room]

<Well YOU have a team so people will probably treat you like a trainer, yeah?> Khannie says as she removes the basket that DOES still have good berries in it. Some of them smell really good and it makes her kind of revolted and hate herself a little. Probably not healthy, but she's still trying to grapple with this stuff. Just think about what it was like when she really WAS human. In the end all those problems and bad feelings weren't because she was a pokemon it was because she was herself. Changing species doesn't make those things go away. <So even if someone figures out what you are they're still probably just gunna want to pokemon battle with you. Like basically any other trainer. But I'm NOT a trainer so people will probably make pokemon jokes or ask me to be on their team or something stupid. I can deal with it. And I've got a No-Catch chip so legal pokeballs don't even work on me.>

She does, however, still have to worry about illegal pokeballs. The sort criminal teams use. She remembers hearing about a team like that when she was just a little kid and first got to the Nexus but that was a REALLY long time ago. Khannie hasn't ever run into people like that and she's pretty sure even if she did she would be fine.

Because they would have to beat her up before they could even try and Khannie doesn't lose.

And oh hey then there's an argument!

Fun.

<If you don't like it you don't just give up. I actually GOT to be human for a while 'cuz of this magical contract thing but I found out it was going to kill me. So, what, I just say life isn't fair and that's it? Heck no. I figured out how to break the contract with the help of my friends. Sure that means I'm a pokemon again but I'm still ALIVE.>

A beat.

<Uh, or sort of alive. I guess? Since I'm ghost-type. I mean, ghosts are usually dead people or whatever, right? All the ones at the Glog campsite are,> she says, sounding a bit uncertain. She glances over at Casper for his input since he's the only other ghost-type in the room. <But whatever. This is the NEXUS if you don't want to be an attack animal then what the heck is stopping you from being something else? Gaudia's going to be a nurse and nothing's stopping her.>

Khannie sets the GOOD basket of berries down before scooting over to a nearby window. She pokes her head out and glances around and- Oh score! Dumpster directly below! And someone left the lid open, too. <Hey over here. See the big box thing down there? Drop the rotten baskets into that. That's a dumpster trash goes in there.>

Without any real hesitation she begins gathering up the wrappers and other trash scattered around the room.

[Earl of Purple]

Snek Lunch

"Well, here you've got tests, exams, and homework, y'know? Pressure to succeed academically, and do well in classes. Back home, there's pressure to live up to a prophecy." Aigothurz pauses, as he considers whether he should continue. "I come here to try and be, y'know, a usual child, and not the prophesied heir to an empire spanning a quarter of a world, especially since that empire doesn't exactly exist right now." Aigothurz is destined to recreate it, which is not something many people are happy with. Most of the petty kings and states that have sprung up since the fall of the Bloodplunder Empire, for example, don't have as happy memories of the period as the nomads of the Whispering Sea.

[Ironsmith]

[Gaudia's Room]

clunk!

clatter!

"Hey! Watch it!"

"...(Not all at once, you daft pidgey!)" Lola scolds, as Gaudia steps away from the window, face turning red. "(Ugh. You really think a girl with a brain like that is going to be a nurse? You really want her to be?)"

"(Hey, hey! Ease up, Lo. She's still new to this.)"

"(How much experience do you need to use a freaking dumpster?)" The Lopunny shakes her head and steps up next to Khannie, putting a paw on her shoulder. "(Look, hon. I like you. You remind me of a younger Ron, the one I met as a buneary. But optimism only takes you so far. And sometimes it doesn't take you anywhere at all.)" She shakes her head. "(Set your expectations too high and you're only going to be disappointed. And in a building full of trainers, 'too high' isn't going to be very high at all. Better to accept that now before it gives you any more grief.)"


[Hallways] (Open Scene)

"Hmm-hm-hmm~" Hums a very peculiar-looking girl as she walks down the hall, holding a set of flashcards in her hands and flicking through to the next one. "That wasn't so bad. What's next- oh, whistling."

That could be a problem. The girl in question is studying for a test later that day, in Remedial Humanity. It's a practical exam, testing students' abilities to do small but humanizing things like hum, skip, speak with an accent (not their own, that's too easy), roll coins down their fingers, and, of course, whistle.

Which Tahara can't do very well, since she doesn't really have proper lips.

"...You know what? We'll come back to that one." The trash witch flicks through the cards to the next test item. "Oh. That's an easy one."

Her card reads "firm handshake".

Tahara can do a handshake. But she sort of needs a partner for that.

Hmm... where can she find a volunteer around here that's willing to touch a swarm of roaches and the trash they've collected?

[Rebonack]

[Gaudia's Room]

<Geeze, cut her some slack!> Khannie huffs at the rabbit pokemon, squaring up her shoulders and clenching her paws in that unmistakable 'getting ready to fight' sort of way. The zoroark seems to catch it pretty quickly, though. Closes her eyes. Takes a breath. And her ghost hair settles back down to acting like regular hair instead of beginning to drift in a spooky manner like it always does when she starts getting upset.

Dumb. Hasty. Stupid pokemon brain. Not everything has to be fight.

<This is a protagonist school. If Gaudia didn't have the potential to do something cool she wouldn't be here. Simple. She just needs to believe in herself,> Khannie insists. And then, as an aside. <And having friends who believe in her would help, too. Just sayin'.>

So far, in Khannie's experience, everyone at this school is amazing somehow. It's honestly pretty inspiring. So she doesn't see any reason to sell Gaudia short if she made it in.

Which now brings us to Khannie looking at the paw on her shoulder which is kind of weird since she's taller than the lopunny by more than a foot.

<If you think optimism's the only thing I've got going it's because you've only known me a couple days,> Khannie retorts, brushing the paw off her shoulder. <I'm not just some random wild pokemon jumping kids wandering around in tall grass. I don't give two beans over whether some trainer here decides to take a shot at me or not. They try it and they'll get themselves wrecked. Besides, they can't without breaking the law. Catching a chipped pokemon is illegal.>

Khannie gives a snort and crosses her arms.

<Even if by some miracle a trainer did manage to bag me they wouldn't be long for this world. I have friends. I have a family. They would come looking for me. So nah, I'm going to keep setting my aim high, thanks. If some dork in short shorts wants to try disappointing me by shoving me in a pokeball that'll be their mistake.>

A beat. The zoroark looks at the lopunny a little closer, as if considering something.

<But... you aren't talking about me really, are you? I mean you are, but that's not where this is coming from. You want what Gaudia's got, but you don't think you can do it. I think you're too scared to even try."

Oooh that was probably a pretty hasty thing to say.

[Ironsmith]

[Gaudia's Room]

Khannie probably won't even see it coming. There's so little time between the words coming out of her mouth and the lopunny paw shooting toward her mouth at mach 10, with all the practiced precision of someone who has thrown that exact punch thousands of times over a long and illustrious career of hitting things with her fists. Backed up by an impressive amount of lean muscle, and apparently good fighting instincts, as it comes out with arcs of lightning curling around her fist, bypassing Khannie's normal immunity to face-punching.

"(Whoa!)" "(Hey!)" "(Too far!)" "(Not cool, Lo.)"

"(Use your words, honeybunny.)" The ralts advises, gently stroking Lola's shin (it's about as far up as he can reach).

Lola sighs and steps back, but whether she actually gets a chance to take that advice depends on a few things. Like if the punch connected, if it set off Khannie's pokemon brain, or if she's still conscious afterwards.

[Rebonack]

[Gaudia's Room]

The tricky thing about seeing it coming is that you don't always need to. Especially if you know it's coming. If you know you're being an idiot and saying stuff that will probably goad a pokemon into attacking you because heck if that was something SHE was being told by someone she would feel the impulse to deck them.

She's already moving when the punch hits her square in the jaw and she absolutely does not just stand there and take it like a pokemon typically will. Get hit dead on. Respond in kind. Back and forth it goes. No, Khannie doesn't really roll that way. Instead, she rolls with it. With that same sort of fluid, impossible speed she leans back with the punch, softening it to a love tap that leaves her fur standing on end hilariously thanks to the electric charge.

That would have really hurt if she just ate it.

Instead her jaw just feels a little sore.

No big deal.

Her dumb pokemon brain is yelling at her to retaliate in kind but, thank goodness, she manages to resist the impulse this time around. The instinct to FIGHT is incredibly strong but this is something she's had at least SOME opportunity to temper over the years. She opens and closes her mouth a few times, holding it with one paw. Yeah, nothing feels broken.

<Well look at me now,> Khannie says, gesturing to herself with her free paw. <You've frizzed my fur up. Jerk.>

It's very true.

Her fur HAS been frizzed up.

It looks really silly.

Especially her hair. It has managed to escape from her ribbon and is now a giant spherical poof. In spite of the silliness it is pretty clear that Khannie's body is tensed in that way of a pokemon being restrained from unleashing unspeakable violence. Typically this would be thanks to their trainer telling them to cool it. If Lola throws another punch Khannie is less likely to sandbag it.

[Ironsmith]

[Gaudia's Room]

"(Then maybe you shouldn't go accusing anyone who doesn't agree with you of being a coward.)" The lopunny retorts, snout raised indignantly. "(Especially when you're dealing with someone far more experienced than you. How's that saying go again? 'Fools rush in where...' where...)" She clacks her claws together irritably. "(No, really, help me out here.)"

"(Iunno.)"

"Hmph." Lola shakes her head. "(Well, never mind, then. You want to get an 'I told you so' at a later date? Fine.)" She yawns and stretches, collapsing backward onto the bed. "(Don't come crying to me.)"

[Rebonack]

[Gaudia's Room]

Khannie retorts with a shrug and begins dragging her filed claws through her hair, trying to get the unruly mane tamed enough that she can tie it off again. She doesn't press the issue, just stoops down to pick up her ribbon and starts working at getting everything in place once more. She doesn't comment on the whole experienced thing. More experienced with what? Fighting other pokemon?

Maybe.

She's had plenty of experience with that. Khannie was by no means weak when her father found her and brought her home. And she's only gotten stronger since then. Fighting pokemon. Fighting horrible bio-mechanical things. Fighting creepy monster-goblin things. Fighting super villains and their flunkies. Fighting Witches. Fighting weird squid-faced brain suckers. Fighting digimon. Fighting to get stronger. Fighting to grow. Fighting to survive.

That's just a pokemon's lot in life, isn't it?

Fighting for everything.

Maybe that's why she likes the idea of being human. It's a respite from the violence.

Hair once again tied back, Khannie stuffs her pawful of wrappers in her pocket. She'll throw those away later.

<I won't,> Khannie assures Lola before turning to the others and heaves a sigh. <So, uh, I actually had some questions for you Casper? I haven't ever met another ghost-type who can actually talk. Or was inclined to talk. Or whatever. Since I evolved into ghost-type.>

She waves off any potential objection to that with, <Regional form things are dumb I dunno.>

The implication there being from dark-type to ghost/normal.

[Recaiden]

[Introductory Collisions]

Could she?

That seems like a pretty vital question to answer.

The next question to answer is you CAN turn someone into a lizard is if you SHOULD turn someone into a lizard. And... maybe you should ask WHY you would want to turn someone into a lizard.

Khannie helpfully adds, "Oh and Komodo wasn't just trying to turn people into lizards. She was trying to figure out how to give people super-fast lizard regeneration. Like how a lizard can grow a tail back? Except with legs."

That's some important contextual information.

Anyway!

Heroing.

Khannie needs to pause and think about that for a bit. What things can she talk about without giving away too much?

"I used to be a magical girl but that had some really bad side effects so I found a way to break that contract," Khannie reports. "And I stopped some evil schemes and some Witches that were trying to eat people. But mostly it's stopping super villains and making sure thugs aren't bugging people. Oh! And Sirius and I stopped some evil digimon from doing..."

She wrinkles her nose a bit.

"I'm not sure what he was doing but it seemed bad. Freezing people inside purple crystals?"

Freezing people in purple isn't very nice.

No, those questions don't seem so important.
'Could we' is the question for scientists.
'Should we' can be left for the philosophers, or the government.

As for why? Just look at a lizard. Imagine. Question answered.

"Grow. A. Tail. Back."
"Yes. I. Know. I. Could. Do. That. Could-n't. I. ?." The thing about lizards is that they're cold-blooded, which is a lot to deal with. But super-fast regeneration is a whole other thing.

An achievable thing? Maybe.

Never had the reason to do it though. She's pretty attached to her legs. And not just in the literal sense.

"Pur-ple. Crys-tals. From. In-side. A. Watch. ?."
That sounds exciting at least, though it's hard to see what's so evil about it.

[Earl of Purple]

Hallways

There's a person who might be willing to shake hands with Tahara! Possibly more than one. The first is a girl, probably human- or at least, she looks to be so- about fourteen, with very pale skin, purple hair shaved close on the left and hanging over to conceal her right eye, and wearing a frilly black dress and long lace gloves. Hanging at her waist is a curved nimcha. She's speaking to someone, possibly Mary. "I don't care that it's an odd thing to ask, somebody's stolen Synthia's war-face. It's a bronze, with a face on it. Yeah, she does have an actual face, two at least. This one's snarling, with three eyes, sticking out a really long barbed tongue and it has tusks, it's quite gnarly. Keep an eye out, we got practice later and it's weird but Synthia's driving does get worse if she's not wearing it. Someone's gotta know where it is, it's an awkward thing to hide."

[Rebonack]

[Introductory Collisions]

There are lots of questions that are deeply important to some and utterly unimportant to others.

Regardless!

"But you'd need to have a tail. Or some other thing that gets chopped off. Dunno if many people would be okay with that experiment," Khannie muses. Obviously you just need to find someone who is already missing a limb.

"Oh, the other digimon wasn't in a watch. They can kind of... materialize? Out into the world? I guess? Something about digital fog, the Professor explained it in my Dangers of the Digital World class. This weird fog forms and digimon can just kinda pop out of it. And Sirius isn't in my watch all the time he can come out. Honestly I think it works kinda like pokeballs."

Because clearly everyone knows about pokemon.

[bc56]

Hallways
"I'll keep an eye out, but it's easy to hide something like that. All you need to do is put it somewhere where other people won't see it." Also, Synthia gives Mary the creeps, but the demon princess is too polite to mention that to Synthia's friend. She's just wearing her uniform, nothing fancy.

[Recaiden]

[Introductory Collisions]

There are lots of questions that are deeply important to some and utterly unimportant to others.

Regardless!

"But you'd need to have a tail. Or some other thing that gets chopped off. Dunno if many people would be okay with that experiment," Khannie muses. Obviously you just need to find someone who is already missing a limb.

"Oh, the other digimon wasn't in a watch. They can kind of... materialize? Out into the world? I guess? Something about digital fog, the Professor explained it in my Dangers of the Digital World class. This weird fog forms and digimon can just kinda pop out of it. And Sirius isn't in my watch all the time he can come out. Honestly I think it works kinda like pokeballs."

Because clearly everyone knows about pokemon.

Vix's tail waves nervously underneath the cloak.

Then?
She says something terrible.
"What. Are. Po-ke-balls. ?."

See, she's kind of been out of touch for a while. And her own journey towards protagonisthood didn't involve turning into and out of a pokemon, so...they're one of the many mysteries of the nexus.

[Rebonack]

[Introductory Collisions]

Oh hey she's got a tail.

How did Khannie miss that?

Probably got distracted by the mysterious cloak. Those are both mysterious and attention grabbing.

Regardless, Khannie starts walking again since she's got her next class to get to and she can't dawdle TOO long. "Oh heck pokeballs. Uuh... They're these machines for catching pokemon, right? I've seen people using 'em before but I dunno how they really work. You throw one at a pokemon that's weak enough and it opens up and they just sorta get pulled inside in this flash of light? Then you can let the pokemon out again later and they'll fight for you."

She takes a quick look around and spots NO pokemon trainer students in the immediate area.

That's a shame.

Someone probably knows how they work.

"It probably doesn't matter unless being a pokemon trainer is your thing."

[Gullara]

Snek Lunch

"Well, here you've got tests, exams, and homework, y'know? Pressure to succeed academically, and do well in classes. Back home, there's pressure to live up to a prophecy." Aigothurz pauses, as he considers whether he should continue. "I come here to try and be, y'know, a usual child, and not the prophesied heir to an empire spanning a quarter of a world, especially since that empire doesn't exactly exist right now." Aigothurz is destined to recreate it, which is not something many people are happy with. Most of the petty kings and states that have sprung up since the fall of the Bloodplunder Empire, for example, don't have as happy memories of the period as the nomads of the Whispering Sea.

[Snek Lunch]

Natharia blinks in surprise. "Huh." That seems like a lot. "I guess I can see that being tough, especially if it's not really a thing you can, uh, actually do?" Natharia shrugs uncertainly. "We've got something in common, though. I also want some normalcy."

[Earl of Purple]

Snek Lunch

"Well, with the exception of the glasses and snakes, I'd say you've probably had a decent start at it. Everyone at this school's exceptional in some way, or has some grand destiny lined up. It's the nature of the place, it's why we got offered a spot. Most of the time it's just exceedingly good at some sport or other, but not always. My grandma's lodger comes here, and she's an exiled empress." And sort-of a step-cousin, as they're living under the same roof and cared for by the same person when they aren't in school.

[Ironsmith]

[Gaudia's Room]

Khannie retorts with a shrug and begins dragging her filed claws through her hair, trying to get the unruly mane tamed enough that she can tie it off again. She doesn't press the issue, just stoops down to pick up her ribbon and starts working at getting everything in place once more. She doesn't comment on the whole experienced thing. More experienced with what? Fighting other pokemon?

Maybe.

She's had plenty of experience with that. Khannie was by no means weak when her father found her and brought her home. And she's only gotten stronger since then. Fighting pokemon. Fighting horrible bio-mechanical things. Fighting creepy monster-goblin things. Fighting super villains and their flunkies. Fighting Witches. Fighting weird squid-faced brain suckers. Fighting digimon. Fighting to get stronger. Fighting to grow. Fighting to survive.

That's just a pokemon's lot in life, isn't it?

Fighting for everything.

Maybe that's why she likes the idea of being human. It's a respite from the violence.

Hair once again tied back, Khannie stuffs her pawful of wrappers in her pocket. She'll throw those away later.

<I won't,> Khannie assures Lola before turning to the others and heaves a sigh. <So, uh, I actually had some questions for you Casper? I haven't ever met another ghost-type who can actually talk. Or was inclined to talk. Or whatever. Since I evolved into ghost-type.>

She waves off any potential objection to that with, <Regional form things are dumb I dunno.>

The implication there being from dark-type to ghost/normal.

[Gaudia's Room]

"(...Wait, really? Never met another one ever?)" The gengar gives a little shrug and a cackle. "(I guess I shouldn't be so surprised. Most of us don't really like talking that much. Got nothing to say, really.)"

"(Arceus knows that's changed.)" Lola deadpans, face still buried in her pillow.

"(Ha! No kidding.)" Casper concedes, letting out another cackle. "(Yeah, getting out of the chateau does change one's priorities enough that you start caring enough to talk to people. You start to need more out of people than a laugh, you know? And they need more out of you. Not as carefree as the old days, but... worth it, I'd say.)"

Hallways

There's a person who might be willing to shake hands with Tahara! Possibly more than one. The first is a girl, probably human- or at least, she looks to be so- about fourteen, with very pale skin, purple hair shaved close on the left and hanging over to conceal her right eye, and wearing a frilly black dress and long lace gloves. Hanging at her waist is a curved nimcha. She's speaking to someone, possibly Mary. "I don't care that it's an odd thing to ask, somebody's stolen Synthia's war-face. It's a bronze, with a face on it. Yeah, she does have an actual face, two at least. This one's snarling, with three eyes, sticking out a really long barbed tongue and it has tusks, it's quite gnarly. Keep an eye out, we got practice later and it's weird but Synthia's driving does get worse if she's not wearing it. Someone's gotta know where it is, it's an awkward thing to hide."

Hallways
"I'll keep an eye out, but it's easy to hide something like that. All you need to do is put it somewhere where other people won't see it." Also, Synthia gives Mary the creeps, but the demon princess is too polite to mention that to Synthia's friend. She's just wearing her uniform, nothing fancy.

[Hallways]

"You mean like in a dumpster?" Tahara quips, sliding into view and throwing her arm around Mary. "No good there, I'm afraid. Nothing of note there except a couple of rotting wicker baskets." She turns toward the other girl and taps a finger to her chin. "Wait, you did say your friend lost her war face today, right? There's not a chance someone stashed it and it got taken away in the interim, is there? That would be just the wor- (oh, sorry, my arm's wandering off)." The trash witch stops talking for a moment to re-construct her arm, which had dissolved into a swarm of roaches and was running down the demon princess's back a moment ago. "Sorry. Been having a hard time keeping it together lately. Must be because I'm so far from my junkyard. Makes it difficult to focus." She smiles and holds out a hand to each of the two girls. "Name's Tahara. Good to meet you."

[Rebonack]

[Gaudia's Room]

<Really,> Khannie confirms. She doesn't feel like just standing around awkwardly OR joining Lola on the bed so instead she makes a grasping motion with one of her paws. Shadows peel away from inanimate objects nearby and congeal together into-!

A stool!

She hops up on top of her tentatively real illusion.

<The only other ghost-type I've really met was this mismagius who always shows up around Spooktober and pranks people. She never really had anything to say, just messed with everyone,> Khannie recounts.

Though, to be honest, that sounds an awful lot like most ghost-types in general.

<But, uh, this might sound kinda dumb but are ghost-types alive? Because I've been not ghost-type before and it feels totally different. Like before I could feel stuff inside me. Blood gooshing around and my stomach making noises and things. But now I just feel really... still. And cold.>

That's actually pretty notable. When Khannie was touched by Lola the rabbit pokemon likely noticed that Khannie feels like stuffing one's hand in a snow drift. The sort of cold that leads people to die of exposure.

[Ironsmith]

[Gaudia's Room]

"(Of course we're alive. We're having this conversation, aren't we?)" Casper chuckles. "(Yeah, yeah, I know, I know, that's not real convincing. But consider that we can still eat, we can still make eggs (not that I'd ask you, you're not my type), and we still think, feel, and act like living creatures in most senses. Medicine still works on us just fine. We're just... differently composed from what most would consider normal.)" The ghost-type pokemon grins and wags his finger. "(It's really not any different from Slugma being alive despite being made of magma, or Magnemites being alive despite being machines.)" He cackles and hops up onto Gaudia's desk, landing with a little pirouette. "(Course, how we got to be the way we are wouldn't lead you to think that. We're still called ghost-types for a reason. But it's just a label; I'm as much a living, breathing creature as anyone else in this room. And so are you, for that matter.):

[Earl of Purple]

Hallways

"I know, I'm just trying to get as many eyes out and looking for this thing as possible. Somebody knows something, Synthia's the least likely person I can think of to misplace something accidentally. She's very regimented in where she puts things." Which is why the magical girl once thought it funny to put a springed spider under something on Synthia's desk so it'd move and make her jump when Synthia moved the thing on top of it... except Synthia's immediate reaction was to unfold her knife and stab it. Which has put a bit of a damper on further pranks, until such time as Synthia gets a sense of humour installed.

"Dumpster'd be good, and... thanks for tipping us off on that. It'll save us a rather gross look later. And yeah, that's our current thought, someone's nabbed it and stashed it. Hi, Tahara. I'm Fred. Not my real name, but don't bother using it I won't listen." Her actual name is Olivette, and she doesn't like it much. She also has no qualms in shaking Tahara's buggy junk-hand, though doesn't squeeze too hard because she doesn't want to crush any of the cockroaches or pull anything off.

[Rebonack]

[Gaudia's Room]

<There are some actual GHOST ghosts over at Glog and I've managed to get a few words out of them before but they're not...> Khannie pauses, wrinkling her nose. <They aren't all there. If that makes sense? Like most of 'em is missing. Some of 'em eat, sort of. It's just weird and confusing. Like okay I can eat regular food right but I need life energy or whatever, too. I'm definitely way different now.>

That goes without saying.

Maybe that's why this is so odd for Khannie? Going from normal to ghost/normal is a pretty weird jump.

<And... I mean, I guess we're made of different stuff. Not all ghost types are all misty, though. Like I am and so are you but some are still pretty solid.>

She thinks on that a little further and concludes with a huff.

<Honestly pokemon are all pretty weird. Some of us are just EXTRA weird.>

That's hard to argue with.

Though the question of how they GOT like they are is another matter completely.

<The contract thing I made to get my wish? Normally when that's over it turns the girl into this crazy despair ghost that eats people. I know what spooky zoroarks in the wild are mostly like and yeah crazy despair ghost sounds about right. I think the main reason why I didn't totally loose it is because I've got friends and family that love me. I think, maybe, that's what all ghost-types need to keep it together.>

So.

Casper's take?

They're alive. Or at least close enough. That's probably fine, right?

Khannie is about to speak further but then there comes a knock at the door.