Welcome to Gaia! ::

"Let's just say, at least in my timeline, this guy has a pretty sinister way of scheming but...."
Tee trails off from his sentence as he tries to recall the events of his past but on bits and pieces come through. As if some of his memories were fading in and out while in this world.

Hearing Crystals words as well as taking I Nascour's plan of acting made Tee start to second guess whether he may have been looking at the situation wrong. However he wouldn't hesitate to act if Nascour would happen to try anything egregious.
"I won't hesitate to do what needs to be done."
Tee replied turning torwards the stone and Nascour.
"I'm not letting you out of my sights. I'll accept." He warns as he raises his hand.

Reno didn't waste time touching the funny rock. Doing incredibly risky things on the offhand chance he'd survive was something that had gotten him through life so far way better than could be expected so why screw with the system? And as his hand drew close, a spark would leap off of the stone and give a bright flash before Reno was sent flying away with a yelp. But that flash packed so much power, so much might. He could feel it coursing through him, changing him already. Sure, that was probably a bad sign for where he had come from and what happened right after he had been dragged here, but he could reap the rewards with only some of the mental trauma for once in his life. Jolting upright from off the ground, Reno would look around the other gathered Snagems before shouting, "That was incredible! Ain't nevah felt somethin' like that before! 'Uge power and incredible speed! I'm invincible!" Throwing his fist up in triumph, Reno would finally get to see what his new incredible input of power had caused.

Mostly because his arm, even at full extension, was still easily within his eyesight and covered in black carapace. And as he gingerly put the limb to use getting himself back to his feet, he found he still had to stare up a ways to reach everyone else's eyes. Only Tristen seemed to be at an easy height to look at. Slowly lowering his gaze to actually analyse his body, Reno found a massive ruff of white fluff now around his neck and a pair of orange-red horns sticking out of it. And once he managed to peer past the fluff, he could finally see it.

He was child-sized, at best.

"Wot?" was all Reno could say as he looked at his newly earned height and reach.

Compared to Keiko's rather easy transition, others seem to be affected more heavily. Reno shrunk, Tristen grew, others changed in surprising ways. "Guess I got off kinda li-ow!" There was a sharp pain all over her body for a split second that faded immediately, followed by a really good, if kinda weird feeling after. That one faded quickly as well, but Keiko felt she had to shake her head to get the thoughts it brought with it out of her head, and as she did so, she felt some weird weight hanging off her head. She reached back and grabbed something furry... wait, that was her ear, wasn't it? Confused, she looked down at her hands. Brown fur, pink tufts around her wrists, and... the hell? Were those hers? Sheesh, she'd somehow gotten SIGNIFICANTLY curvier than she... used to? No, she knew this. That b***h Lovrina kidnapped her and turned her into a hybrid. But didn't she escape Lovrina? No, no she didn't. Or, well, she did, but not until after she had turned. Like hell she was going to let a bunch of strange men - Lovrina's followers, probably - do something likje THAT to her, no matter what her body wanted. She'd given up on men since Bruce, and was firmly on the girls' team since shortly before she joined Snagem.

Her head started to hurt as she tried to figure out which of her memories were hers. She'd taken her memories for granted a second ago, or at least it FELT like a second ago, but now she felt like she had to sort things out in her head. Though the more she tried, the harder it was, and the more her head hurt, so she eventually shrugged off the idea of even trying to sort her memories out. "Wait, what's going on?" she asked, trying to ignore the headache she was suffering from. She noticed Reno again, and was tempted to hug him since he was so cute, but she had a feeling he wouldn't like that, so she focused on trying to get the facts straight by asking the crowd. "My memories are kinda all over the place," she attempted to explain before holding her forehead with her right hand. That headache wasn't getting any lighter...

Crystal looked at the others showing up, giving a small smile to Tristen when he came forward. Closing her eyes, she lowered her hand after a moment, noting that she didn’t feel terribly different herself after gaining its blessing. Was it a fluke? Or was she never supposed to age much after this? Was this Nascour just a really good actor? Missing the fact that she now had a fifth Pokéball where she originally had four, she opened her eyes to view that most everyone else had some sort of change. Keiko mentioned her memories had changed, Tristen had a rapid age up, and Monique… split into two? Weird. And then-

Her gaze froze when her eyes landed where Reno had stood, tail straightening out and the tips twitching. In his place was something smaller. Fluffier. More chitinous. And very much bug coded. While Crystal had plenty of skips going on in her head as she registered a new Bug Pokémon, her body was moving on its own, a hand going into her bag to pull out… a giant mallet. No, it wasn’t a sledge hammer. It was a giant wooden mallet, easily the size of her, if not bigger. And it was currently being aimed straight at the newly hybridized Reno. As the hammer began to come down, her brain finally began to catch up to her, stopping the downward swing uncomfortably close to her new friend. “...Found what I was looking for earlier. One thing, at least.” Looking between everyone, she would calmly, if not with an amount of embarrassment, would pull out a different storage sphere and place the giant hammer into it, stuffing it into her pocket. Clearing her throat, she’d look around again, though not focusing on anything. “We can do this. We can work with a bug hybrid….”

Tee looked around as others began to show change, rapidly age, being...split in two?
"What in the-" He was cut off when sudden sharp razor-like pains raced all across his body. He held himself in agony, letting out muffled yells while trying to not thrash around from the pain he was enduring. The fur all across his body grew as the skin underneath fully darkened to the natural colors of an Absol. Three lines slowly started to emerge across his right eye as they resembled a rather severe wound.

Catching his breath from what felt like an eternity, the physical pain began to subside but tears ran down his face. Not from just the pain.
The memories of who he would have been and what was around him than began to flood his mind.
Memories played like old VHS tapes in his head showcasing his newfound abilities, various pokeballs on both sides of his belt, and a bracelet like device with a black orb inside was around his left wrist.
He.flexed his left hand an arm trying to get used to the device.
"If what I know now of this thing.....this should be interesting...."
He.quietly said under his breath.

Keiko followed the group (not the weird creepy dude at the front, the WHOLE group) wondering what else she was forgetting, or just now remembering as they walked. Nascour was right, though - it wasn't coming quickly any more. Just bits and pieces over time. Soon enough, she gave up thinking about that and just followed. Until she got bored. But that was shortly before she got told to look behind her.

The Celadon Department Store. It was a fun place to visit sometimes. See all the people coming to shop, eavesdrop on the odd conversation or two, help whoever she could, never spent a cent herself because she was always broke. It didn't help that she never got any jobs that took her there. Though, to be fair, the Carrie Delivery Service was small-time. Not the sort of org a multi-billion-Pokedollar company would rely on to move product for them. The place looked... well, that it had seen better days, what with one of its walls clipping into THE OCEAN. That they were all walking on. Yeah, not that crazy, given where they were. Disregarding that notion, she looked up to the ceiling, and thought it looked nice. Plain by human standards, but she was sure some Flying-type Pokemon would enjoy a perch like that. Maybe some Pidgeot. A Swellow family, perhaps? Or maybe even-

"Feeeaaar!"

Oh, crap.

"Someone was thinking or birds, weren't they?"

Oh craaaaaap!

Panicking, Keiko grabbed an object from one of her pockets and lobbed it. Wait, not her pocket. It was hanging off her be-

"MAUUUUUU~!"

...was that an Amaura? Wait, that was HER Amaura! It was Aura, the Pokemon she revived from a fossil! ...and then never used in battle because she was trying to focus on her own strength as a hybrid. Whoops. "Hey, I know you've never been in a fight before, but I kinda really need your help? Could you use an Ice or Rock move? It'd be a real help!" Keiko pleaded with Aura, who just gave her an annoyed look. "Oh, right, y-you need to know which one," Keiko realized aloud. It had been a while since she'd... huh. Didn't Lovrina take all of her Pokemon from her? How did... wait, no, that was month's ago, right? That doesn't make... no, no. Now isn't the time for this. Aura needed instruction. "Uhhhhhhhhh... Rock Throw?" Keiko asked more than ordered. She never checked what moves Aura could use before, and it wasn't exactly safe to hold her SNAG out to check its Pokedex feature.

Aura looked at Keiko, then to the quickly approaching Fearow, then back to Keiko with a raised eyebrow. "Yeah, I guess a single-target move isn't a good idea. Do you know any moves that can hit more than one Pokemon at a time?" Keiko asked. Aura looked up as if to think for a moment, then turned around and breathed out tiny ice particles that quickly expanded into Icy Wind, aimed right at the oncoming horde of hostile Pokemon. "Ooh, Icy Wind! That's great, thanks!" Keiko cheered. Aura tuned back to her trainer and smiled. It was only then that Keiko realized that it wasn't actually using Pokespeak. Did resurrecting it from a fossil mean that it was a newborn? Ooh, that thought made her feel worse. Making a Pokemon that had never fought before fight was bad enough. She was quick to hop off that train of thought as she realized the leader of the Flying-type pack was closing in on her baby Pokemon with Drill Peck. Not wanting to reward Aura's loyalty with sudden and immense pain, Keiko performed half of a front-flip, spread her legs open, and executed a Triple Axel above Aura, catching the lead Fearow in the beak and turning his head into an Iceblock. She then landed on her hands about six inches in front of an awestruck Amaura, who she promptly recalled back to her ball. "Sorry, but I really don't want you to get hurt," Keiko pleaded as she put Aura back on her... belt?

Oh great, her Pokeballs weren't where they were supposed to be on her belt. She had no way of knowing who was in what. Finding an empty spot in her belt, she attached Aura's ball, grabbed another one at random, and let it fly. The Sliggoo within cheered at its being allowed to taste fresh-ish air for the first time in a long while. Keiko couldn't help but facepalm once she realized which Pokemon she'd let out. "Ugh, not you!" she groaned, remembering immediately the time that Daedra had gotten into her wardrobe. How many times did she have to insist to this brat that clothes were NOT FOOD!? She heard a body it the 'ground' before she looked up and realized that particular Fearow had been Thunterbolt'd by a now rather grumpy Sliggoo. "Okay, I'm very sorry for saying that and would be really, really grateful if you would please keep doing that," Keiko said flatly, shocked and surprised by Daedra's show of power. (That's more like it,) she'd heard a voice say. As she tried to figure out where that came from, she saw Daedra smile, turn around, and Rock Tomb a Fearow to the ground. Oh, right, that was Daedra's voice. Keiko had been able to understand Pokespeak ever since she became a hybrid. How'd she forget she can do that?

She had about a second to ponder that before she felt a sharp pain on her forehead. Yup, that was a Fearow's beak. Daedra was getting it worse, with several Fearow pecking away at her. In frustration, the Sliggoo let out a Blizzard that surrounded it. This did a good job of clearing Fearows out of her immediate area, either by fainting or fleeing of the enemy, but it also hit Keiko. And herself. And unlike her trainer, she was WEAK to Ice. "Well, that didn't last long," Keiko huffed as she shook the ice out of her fur and recalled the now fainted Sliggo. "Thank you, though," she'd add before putting Daedra back on her belt. She then looked up, saw that there were still WAY too many Fearow to deal with. "Screw it," she sighed before getting on all fours and booking it, using Agility to boost her way out of the battlefiled and into the nearby massive shopping mall. This earned her a few beaks to the back, but she eventually got out of there. Thankfully, none of those beaks found her ears. Or her tail, for that matter.

Once inside the Department Store, Keiko dropped the energy her body was holding via Agility and gasped for air, working hard to regain her breath. "That was too close," she said as her breath calmed. She let Aura out and hugged the poor thing, and started regretting it right away as the Ice-type Pokemon was cold to the touch, surprising nobody in particular. "Man, it's a good thing I've got fur, now. I probably wouldn't be able to hug you at all, otherwise," she said. Though she was addressing her Amaura, she was mostly talking to herself. As the other Snagems piled in, she continued folloiwing them. She held Aura for a bit longer, recalling her as the cold from her body was starting to seep through her fur. The walk from there was pretty uneventful until Nascour spoke up. Vitamins? Weren't those worthless by his own admission? So not only was this guy weird and creepy, he was also kind of a jerk. Greeeaat.

The water underfoot was squishy but solid, like walking on a waterbed. The two women, deeply familiar to each other yet also completely alien, walked side by side, trying to let their doubts about things not come to them.

"I've been under the Dome... This is nothin'," human Monique remarked to her traveling companion. "Took out King Faba. I can do this."

Zoroark Monique raised an eyebrow. "...You did what now?"

"Took out a tyrant."

"Good for you, girl," Zoroark Monique commented, glad to see someone had the courage to get rid of King Faba.

"So, what's this Snagem thing? Seems everyone else here is tied to it. You recognized someone?"

"Well... Sort of. They seem to be all... versions of my teammates. You see, in my world the Dome failed during an Ultra Beast invasion." Human Monique gasped. "We died to the Smog."

Human Monique shook her head. "The Dome is a looot to maintain. Learned that after taking over. It's been up 30 years now.... Or at least it was," she remarked, recalling Nascour's remark.

"And I got sent 49 years in the past, turned into a Zoroark hybrid and joined Snagem, because they took me in. Got to rescue Kasumi and Kaimana from other worlds, meet Tapu Fini..." A reverent nod of the head. "Try and keep my new world from needing a Dome." The Vulpix that had briefly been on Monique's shoulder chased after like a pet... Oh yeah, that's what Kiki was.

"Oh wow..." The mention of her sisters took Human Monique a bit by surprise. "Kasumi's doing a little better, but she's still a bit frail... You know how she is. Kaimana has been researching cleaning up the seas."

Chatting took their mind off the monotonous walk and helped the two of them understand each other a bit better.

***

As the two stepped onto the roof of the Celadon Department Store, human Monique could only marvel at seeing a piece of the past.

"Feeeear!" Birds included; after all, there weren't many places to fly in Flower City, and there wasn't much of an environment for flying birds in the rest of the Dome. It was time to fight.

"Frost Breath!" Vulpix could do something, but she wasn't a battler. Zoroark Monique reached into her bag and pulled out the one containing... her Lycanroc. She must have subconsciously been thinking type matchups. "Stone Edge! Let's go!" Sharp stones radiated from its ruff in hopes of striking some of the advancing Fearow from below.

Human Monique had a Pokémon out too now, though not one by type matchup. It was a Salazzle, but before she could call for a move, Tristen's Galvantula had taken care of the situation a bit differently. Of course an Electric specialist would be better equipped for this. The remaining Snagems and their Pokémon stampeded for the door to get off the roof and into the stairwell.

"Too bad we can't slide down a pole, girl..." Human Monique was just as flirty with her background as Zoroark Monique, if not moreso. Being a queen gives you confidence, I guess, she thought. The team fanned out on 5F as the wave of Snagems spread onto the salesfloor.

Reno got to see the mallet coming towards him in glorious, multi-spectrum HD thanks to the fancy fresh eyes he had just gained in the process of his new hybridization. And he had absolutely no idea of how to react to any of this. How the hell did she pull that thing out? Where had it come from? Why him? When the thing halted and normal proceedings began again, Reno would be stuck staring at where the bludgeon had been before letting an ear-bleeding scream like that mallet had been used to crush his foot in an old cartoon. After a few moments, the much smaller hybrid would stop as he attempted to gather what little of his wits he had left. Soon, he would doing his best to try and keep up with the even-paced walking the others were doing, having to almost be running full tilt to do so.

Man, at this size and speed, he was basically a fun buggy snack for any big birds.

Which is precisely when he heard the cry of a Fearow and the mention of someone thinking about birds. "Oh bloody hell. Why'd it 'ave ta be now!?" Reno called out, looking towards his bag where his Pokeballs were.

A bag that was now distinctly missing with his sudden change in form. And as he looked up, he could see he was already losing ground as the others began to throw together their own methods to fight off the Fearow swarm and taking off towards the stairs down into the building. "Oi! Don't forget about me!" Reno called out, attempting to reach one of his stubby hands out towards the Arcanine he could see already making for the door. And watching with awe as a web shot out of the wrist of his extended hand, anchoring itself to the Arcanine's flank. Reno wouldn't even have time to wonder before the string snapped taut, immediately dragging him behind the Arcanine like a kite as the speed of the Pokemon and his current light weight met physics.

Screaming once again as he was left at the mercy of physics, one lone Fearow would dare to come through the myriad of attacks and other deterrents from the other Snagems for the easy snack that was Reno. Changing pitch in his screaming, Reno would extend his free hand and another String Shot fired out of his wrist, slamming a mass of webbing that connected one of the Fearow's wings to its body in a way that it definitely was not supposed to. The sudden hitch in the flapping would send the large Pokemon swerving to the side around them as it could no longer steer well enough to keep on target for Reno,

His ride would end as the Arcanine was recalled, forcing Reno to quickly scramble past the much taller Tristen into the interior of the mall. Nearly falling down the stairs in his rush, Reno would find himself staring at Nascour's browsing with...what could be presumed to be an offended look on his new features. "What the 'ell? Not gonna 'elp us out when yer the one who wanted ta start this 'ole thing?" Reno said, attempting to force himself into the front of the group this time. He was not going to be left behind the next time a sudden rush started.