The present. It was a choice she would have made for herself too, ceteris paribus. Mina was a person molded by her past, yes, but she was not someone to constantly reflect on it. Though, admittedly, she could hold a grudge if she felt actually hurt. But it was not on her mind all the time. Neither was the future, either. While she took steps towards a better one for herself at times, that was mostly just so she could have a better present, then. Enjoying that was her foremost goal. Thus, it was the one she was drawn towards the most by emotions.
[break][break]
And, well, by Elaine and her Luxray, of course. It was odd, being pulled away like this by someone who at least seemingly cared. That was sort of rare. Usually, she just tended to follow the crowd, move along with the others. Whilst not exactly hiding herself, she was not one to take the lead of a bigger group, or, most of the time, form strong bonds with individual members of it. Usually, she kept most people in it on roughly the same level.[break][break]
Hence, this was kind of different. But it was nice. Especially in a crazy place like this. Following all the time was not completely her style, but she did not mind following someone who knew what they were doing, like Elaine.
[break][break]
Or, well, someone who could pretend to do so well. At some point, the differences became negligible. For the time being, Mina was simply glad to not be alone, even as they were pursued by those reflections, further isolating her by not having an equal there. However, they soon arrived at something else demanding her attention.
A grand battle took place near the terminal they sought. And her first impression of it was…familiarity. Never before had she seen these Pokemon so clearly, so directly. But it felt like Slateport. Something was there, some connection.
[break][break]
It was not possible to put a finger on it. But she just shook her head, trying to re-focus her mind. Zarude and Elaine at her side, along with an assortment of others who at this point fused into a mass she could not decipher right under her mental fingertips, they had to get there. “Right. Donphan seems like it. Let’s just do our best to try and get there without losing anything else,” she noted, nodding towards Zarude and Elaine. “Just Power Whip any nearby Unown, try to not get hit, try to get to the terminal. All else is secondary.”
[break][break]

+ still some internal struggle, agrees to input donny, tries to go to the terminal with zarude and Elaine Highland

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

What does it feel like to be pared down to the core, to the frequently irrational base notions of a human mind that are so often buffeted by a soft jacket of compassion and empathy? It’s a raw, red nerve, a string under constant tension, like a stomach full of hot oil that threatens to leap up and burn those nearby.

Guillermo walks to the sixth terminal, the one labeled ‘future’, not pausing to care about those who came before or behind him. Hands in his pockets, it’s more of an angry stomp than a true walk-- when you don’t have empathy you stop really giving a shit about other people, and that includes what they think about you.

He is passed, he realizes with a delayed click, like a lightbulb down a long circuit, that he’s passed by the same blue-haired dumbass that got the question wrong and fucked everything up for them, to begin with. Maybe if mint frost had a fucking brain they wouldn’t have had to fight Zacian and Zamazenta and a rampaging train and then maybe Alexei Ivanov wouldn’t have gotten messed up and maybe--- maybe--

--he pressed the heels of his hands into his eyes with a groan. He felt like a miswired engine: something kept trying to click (a pilot light struggling to live in the deep recesses of his mind) but it would just spark and flare out again, and it was making him nauseous.

Meanwhile, back in (what villain!Memo would lovingly dub as Loserland, if he could feel love) Zuza can tell that something is wrong with Guillermo, but she can’t tell what. She just knows, in her heart of hearts, that he wouldn’t just act like this, out of the blue. She’d been with him for almost ten years, now. She kept her neck pressed against Alex, catching him in the slight cup of her shoulder, and going slow so as not to lose him. She hung back and kept pace with the sightless man and Kaida, knowing that, in the end, Memo-- the true Guillermo-- would want them to be kept safe at all costs.

Once again, the world begins to change and warp, and Guillermo has to cup one hand over his right eye to stop from falling over; he really did not feel well. With his next step, the ground beneath him shifts, the scrape of his shoes over the silver silt like a sigh. The air is as dry as his mouth. He makes himself take another step and his boot scrapes a thin film of soot off what appears to be the curve of a human skull, sloughing like a second skin.

“What the shit?” he stumbles back, unbalanced weight stepping on something hard, something that snaps with a sickening sound. His stomach lurches and he has to cover his mouth, not in horror (who gave a fuck about these sad sack dead people?) but from nausea. A human hand, bent at an impossible angle, protrudes up from the ash, like a macabre parade wave.

He hesitates long enough in that sprawl of cinder-covered corpses for Zuza, Kaida, and Alex to catch up, somehow. His eyes flick up from whatever dead body he’s standing on just in time to see one of the first meteorites to go burning through the atmosphere in the distance, hot trail a red gash in the bruise-purple night.

In what can only be described as a mercurial happenstance of karmatic chance, Memo gets stuck out in the wilderness under the falling stars; denied protection from Kaida’s Araquanid’s Wide Guard and Gabe’s Protect, he makes a mad dash for the only other source of cover: Greyson Connors’s Comfey’s Hospitality shield.

Whether he makes it or not is up to his own athleticism and desire to live.

PNWCbvCb

t l ; d r
- memo is still sans his compassion and since it makes up such a large part of his personality his body is. rejecting his current ethos.
- makes it to terminal six and steps on some dead people.
- when the meteors start falling he gets stuck between Kaida and Alex's protective sphere and Greysons and tries to make a dash for Comfey's Hospitality dome.
- zuza the galarian rapidash is still with Alex and Kaida.
- wow i didn't mean for this to get so purple. *australian voice* how about get fucked, mate

Alexei Ivanov Kaida Adachi Greyson Connors

☉

feeling a total loss of control was never something lulu had been good at. to feel as though her fate had potentially been decided by whatever kyle lopez had entered into the terminal was almost maddening—but she had to collect herself. gather the information from the chaos around her. soak it in.[break][break]

the present.[break][break]

this was what was happening to their home. hoping her porygon was recording was hardly enough, and keeping it safe was crucial.[break][break]

”stop!” [break][break]

she grabbed for it and held it protectively close. phones were dangerous, but no clones were stepping out of pokémon. they were getting deleted whole—but she apparently had body parts to spare.[break][break]

taking a chance on it, she allowed the porygon to peek out from her arms as she continued towards the generator, trying her best to dodge from unonwn’s hidden powers, and hoping Eris Halla was still staying close. knowing the girl, though, she was likely as ever to try something crazy…[break][break]

”record as much of this as you can,” she commanded down to her digital dog.[break][break]

if they made it to the other side, she’d continue to hold the porygon, wary of others as she approached the generator. finding the riddle successfully solved, despite her rage, was more than a relief considering the helplessness she’d felt. being without her patron made her feel powerless.[break][break]

they had to get out, somehow—allowed, or by force. but how?

I8gU8FYU

[attr="class","ooc"]

tldr:[break]
• lulu grabs her porygon and holds it close to act as a human shield[break]
• attempts to ensure porygon is recording if it can[break]
• hopefully makes it to the generator?[break]

[attr="class","pkspr pkmn-poipole"][attr="class","pkspr pkmn-alakazam"][attr="class","pkspr pkmn-porygon-z"]

he's being so direct, and so.. cruel, and vulgar. was he always like this? [break][break]

she tries to rake through her memory, trying to find reason for him to be treating her like this (it's what she's done with many people, in the past. it's what she'd do when she stats to think that she's done something wrong; when she's starting to think that she's the problem). of course, nothing will come up. that's because this has never happened to her before, even with the lapses of herself in her own memory. what was she thinking? "i-i'm r-really sorry.." her voice is weak, and if you looked, you'd think she was crying from how harsh he suddenly became. she'll hold herself back for the situation, though.[break][break]

the world around them shifts as they progress, and if she stares too hard she'll start to feel nauseous again. what comes after them is space, vast and wide. it's dark, but there are a few things around the area. it's so foreign to her, but it reminds her of the night sky - starless and cold as it is. [break][break]

she's only snapped out of it when the stars begin to form, countless upon countless upon countless. she's taken aback, pulling at the pokeball closest to herself. the unown begin to fire, aimlessly - violently - and out comes a white pokemon she doesn't recognize. she looks at her trainer, confused, but wendy is more pre-occupied with the pokemon. then the command comes from her lips so naturally, and easily, it's like she never forget - though maybe it's the muscle memory compensating for the panicked brain. "carci, mirror coat!" she commands the ghostly pokemon, whose body glows with blue, hoping to reflect any blows coming to her trainer's way. [break][break]

she only had a moment to look at the terminal, and thankfully she's seen and taken care of enough pokemon to be able to recognize it; a magmar. it was obvious based on the texture of the arms. "t-try to hold on, okay?" she hesitantly calls out to the cursola, who's already prepared herself. meanwhile, the trainer is quick to go to the terminal, typing in "magmar" as her final response. [break][break]

she doesn't want to leave Leonidas Stone, his pokemon, and her... what was it again?

[break][break]

3mDz42|C

---

[break]
𓆙 she's crying a lil bit because wendy's sensitive
[break]𓆙 thoroughly put off by the unown then eggs and the ceature
[break]𓆙 CURSOLA uses MIRROR COAT to reflect the HIDDEN POWER
[break]𓆙 it's a magmar i'm betting my life on this (i'm not actually)

cyberchase conundrum

☉