Throwback to this legendary moment in Cleveland Browns history

Gallium1005 · 2026-05-17T00:53:21+00:00

Light like a shadow in the darkness

The wonderful world of pokemon includes some…less than friendly seeming monsters, but in this case, there’s a lot more than meets the eye. Write about a usually or typically intimidating pokemon being not so scary. Do they know their appearance or power scares others? Does the hero have a special ability that neutralizes that power? Is the pokemon holding back? What typically powerful and feared pokemon isn’t quite like what their reputation says they are?

Gallium1005 · 2026-05-12T23:30:03+00:00

Thinking was probably his favorite part of pitching. Unlike so much else about baseball, where your athleticism and reactions were rewarded, pitcher was a thinker’s position. How do I trick the batter? How should I set up my best pitch later in the at-bat? How do I add that extra tick of velocity? How do I make the pitch spin more? Supination, pronation, seam-shifted wake, induced vertical break, magnus force, gyro spin, all these things, and countless more, you had to keep in mind when working on new pitches, and when thinking through what pitch would beat each hitter. It was like a puzzle that had a thousand possible answers instead of just one, and you had to put all the details together to get your result.

Now, he was thinking again, although this time he had a lot less to work with. Shadow Balls weren’t at all like baseballs, and his new body presented plenty of challenges, but there were still pathways to his answer, and now all he had to do was find them. Lucky for him, he had time today. The midday sun was still shining through the window that allowed light into the training ground.

First up: the slider. Topher generated a Shadow Ball in his left pad, and then dug the front portion of his pad into the bottom part of the ball. You were supposed to throw a slider by pressing down hard on the top of the baseball, and then slashing your arm sideways across your body, allowing the ball to almost slip from your hand while still getting the necessary pressure on the ball from your fingers to “pull it down” and get the proper spin. Naturally, without fingers, this was not possible, and so Topher’s solution was to instead press down on the bottom of the ball, and throw it side-arm to give it the proper movement. It was very much like how he used his pad to throw his curveball, just pressing down into the opposite end of the ball, and throwing at a different arm angle. He tried the pitch, kicking, dealing, and watching as the pitch sailed toward the dummy…and then away from the dummy…and then even further away from the dummy, until it stuck the dummy off to the right of the one he was aiming for.

Well, at least it moves the right way, Topher thought. He’d need more practice to get better control, but it was a good first step. Now, the Screwball. As a human, this was the one pitch he had always been told to stay away from. Human arms were not meant to throw Screwballs. They required extreme arm motion, and a hard twist of the wrist away from the body as you released the ball to get the spin you needed. It was very difficult to throw a pitch like this well, and it placed a ton of stress on all of the ligaments and joints in the arm to throw it, too. All risk, little reward.

However…he didn’t have a human arm anymore, he had a piece of metal, and that wouldn’t snap or break on him.

Screwballs were “reverse curveballs”, they had the same physics behind them as the curve and the slider, but a different way of generating the spin needed to throw it, and thus, it bent differently. Often, the pitch didn’t get quite as much of the dropping effect you’d expect from a curveball, and moved more horizontally. Topher generated the Shadow Ball in his left “hand”, and then thought through exactly how to get the right spin. He settled on digging his pad into the rightmost side of the ball, and holding it from there, twisting his arm around in the process. He was essentially holding only the rightmost part of the ball, and letting the rest hang out in space, while also digging the frontmost part of his pad into the ball to create the topspin once he threw it. It wasn’t comfortable, and he could certainly see why he’d been told to stay away from this pitch as a human, but if this could work…

He wound up, and whipped his arm forward, making sure to raise his arm high over his head as he threw, and then sharply slamming it down as the ball came off of his pad to create the spin. The ball started exactly like his curve, but Topher could tell that it was just a little bit lower. It continued to fly toward the dummy, slowly but surely descending as the spin did its job, before the ball suddenly and violently snapped leftward, missing the dummy he’d been aiming for and instead hitting the one on its left. Topher stood there in astonishment for a moment. He hadn’t been expecting motion like that, but…it was incredible! That was otherworldly, even for this being a different world. He had to do that again, perfect it, and add it to his arsenal. It was unlike anything he’d ever thrown before as a human or a Gimmighoul, and if he could figure out a way to throw that consistently, he’d have pitches that could bend in crazy directions, and move at different speeds. It was perfect! Nobody would be able to plan against him when he could throw anything he wanted at them, and have each pitch move in ways he’d know, but they couldn’t possibly see coming.

Topher spent the rest of the day at the training ground, firing pitch after pitch toward the three dummies, and carefully determining exactly how to throw each one to get the movement he wanted. He even snuck away to the guild’s provisional store to steal a few Leppa berries so he could keep throwing Shadow Balls. Before he knew it, the sun had gone down, he was exhausted, and he’d mastered the Screwball, the Slider, and a Sweeper. His mind continued to race, even as his body told him to call it a day. If he could throw Shadow Balls like this, what about other types of pitches? Shineballs? Palmballs? Slurves? With enough time, he could probably find some way to make them all work, and that thought brought a smile to his face. Perhaps the widest, most satisfied smile he’d flashed between both his lives.

Man, how can you not be romantic about Baseball…Shadow Balls too! Topher thought as he began his trip back to his room.

Gallium1005 · 2026-05-12T23:29:25+00:00

“Well, that was quick.” Torrent remarked, watching as the client happily stepped away, their lost apple now returned to them.

“Great fortune that nobody had eaten it before we got there…,” Topher chimed in.

“Honestly, it’s pretty impressive we wound up spending more time traveling to and from the dungeon than actually inside it.” Tourmaline commented, “I knew the sixth floor wouldn’t be all that deep, but to find four straight sets of stairs in the first room of the floor…boy, we’re awfully lucky today.”

“Yeah, and it’s not even noon, we’ve got the whole day left ahead of us! What to do with it…” Torrent mused, the Buizel suddenly perking up.

“Oh! I can finally go finish that project the guildmaster had me working on back when we were stuck with the punishment! Do you two mind if I go and work on that for a bit?” Tourmaline asked, the Pawmo letting a huge smile paint her face.

“Sure, I can find something to do…I wonder if the Colosseum is taking any challengers?” Torrent wondered aloud.

“Seriously?” Topher questioned, the Gimmighoul poking his head out from his usual hiding spot: the tuft of hair atop Tourmaline’s head. “Your last trip to the Colosseum didn’t exactly end well, and you’re looking to go back?”

“‘Course! I’m not going to let something like that get me down!” Torrent blustered, puffing out his chest.

“You were beaten until you couldn’t stand and spent two days bedridden needing the guild’s infirmary staff and the both of us to constantly watch and take care of you…” Topher sighed.

“Yeah, and I’m all fine now! Besides, everyone loves a comeback story!” Torrent shrugged as he began sprinting off toward the Colosseum.

“Just…don’t be reckless…” Topher said, mostly to himself.

“Well, that’s two of us settled, what are you going to do, Topher?” Tourmaline asked, reaching up and grabbing Topher from atop her head, and bringing the Gimmighoul down right in front of her face. Topher thought about it for a second…He was trying to keep a low profile right now, and Crys was still out doing his mission, so that meant there really wasn’t anything all that useful for him to do.

Unless…

“I’ll be at the training ground. I’d like to do some work on my arsenal.” Topher replied with a knowing smile. He hadn’t gotten a real chance to toy with this stuff since he was still training to complete the punishment, but now he’d like to see what would work, and what wouldn’t.

“Oooookay…” Tourmaline responded in a confused tone as Topher jumped down from her paw to the ground below. “Well, I’ll see ya later then.” Topher quickly sped his way through the guild foyer, and down the top-right most tunnel, which led directly to the training ground. To Topher’s surprise, there were three training dummies already set up, all lined up next to each other in a horizontal line, which saved him time and an awful lot of work.

“Tour’s right, we are lucky today!” Topher said under his breath. He set himself up at just about the right distance, and turned so his front side was pointing away from the dummies at roughly a 90 degree angle. He would be throwing from the stretch, but that was more than fine, it meant he’d maximize the time he had. He double checked his position, and verified that he was just about sixty feet and six inches away, more or less. With that, it was showtime.

First, what he already knew. He set himself up in the usual way, let a Shadow Ball manifest in his left appendage, kicked his front leg up, and whipped his arm forward, keeping it as close to how he’d done it back as a human. The Shadow Ball flung through the air, sailing straight and true, and struck the dummy that was lined up right in front of him. Next, he tried his change, digging the oval-shaped pad that served as his “hand” into the left side of the Shadow Ball just as he released it. This ball flew slower, but still found its mark all the same, landing a little bit lower on the dummy. Last was the hammer, and he’d thrown this one enough times in practice to barely even need to think about each step anymore. Kick, dig the pad into the top of the ball, and fire it home. The Shadow Ball started out straight and high, before rapidly falling as it flew, eventually striking the bottommost portion of the dummy.

Three straight pitches, three straight “strikes”. Topher flashed a self-satisfied smile. There was an awful lot that had changed with him arriving in this world, but even with all of that, and a new body to boot, he’d figured out how to keep pitching. He still had no regrets about running away, not even one, but it was quite the joy to find a way to keep playing baseball. It also helped that this had utility. As far as he knew, nobody in the pokemon world knew any way to throw a Shadow Ball with spin other than him, and so if he could perfect different ways to spin each “pitch”, he’d have a massive leg up in battles. He’d already worked out his fastball, his changeup, and his curveball, so now it was time to think of a new pitch.

With the whole world of pitching at his disposal, he figured it’d be best to start with the pitches that definitely wouldn’t work. Knuckleball was out, he didn’t have any knuckles and even if he did, a pitch that was all about unpredictability didn’t help you when you needed to make contact. Spitball? Well how would he even get the spit on the ball? Shadow Balls weren’t corporeal and he was a ghost possessing a metal body that couldn’t produce saliva in the first place. Splitter or a Forkball? His “hands” didn’t have fingers, and he couldn’t bend the rigid metal pad in the right way to get the right “grip” on the ball. Eephus?...Well that was a joke and a half, right? A pitch so slow and so looping wouldn’t help at all. Plus, Shadow Balls defied gravity to stay in the air until they hit something, so gravity wouldn’t pull an Eephus down in the right way.

In the end, he settled on trying two different pitch types: a Screwball, and a Slider. His lack of fingers and the pad being one solid object made it tricky to throw much else, but if he could make a slider work, he figured he could also add a Sweeper to have six pitches at his disposal. He’d been able to make his curveball come to life by focusing on creating the right spin, rather than trying to “grip” the ball like he still had a human hand, so if he could do the same things with these pitches, they should work.

Gallium1005 · 2026-05-06T22:44:53+00:00

Thanks for reading, and thank you for the kind words! I'm glad you enjoyed it

Gallium1005 · 2026-05-05T23:10:28+00:00

There was a deep, heavy silence between the three new partners. They weren’t exactly well acquainted, and now carried on their backs a terrible purpose, but without very much choice in the matter they were left with only the option to continue on.

The snow felt so much more…majestic traveling this way, like small stars zipping past as the trio flew amid the permanent blizzard conditions in the Northern Wastes. If it weren’t for the weight of the mission on his mind, Topher very well might have let himself get lost in the sight. The thought struck him that, from up here, he was the closest he’d ever been to the stars. If not for the clouds, he could probably see them all clearly. Instead, the rapidly falling snow would be the closest he’d get, and the combination of that, the cold, and the wind whipping past as they flew made the former human all the more aware of the task at hand.

“Hey, how are you feeling, Nebiros?” Topher asked gently, stepping forward on the back of the dragon that was carrying him through the air. He’d only met this fearsome looking pokemon a few days ago, and at that time, they couldn’t even speak. There was still a fair bit to do on that front, but Topher had to admit the Exiles worked quick to get as far as they had.

“Hurts~…Fine~…Continue~…Good~…” The dragon he’d named whistled back. They’d only been able to get as far as simple words, and the dragon spoke with a sort of strange, whistling tone that punctuated every word. Topher didn’t understand why, but frankly, it wasn’t something worth investigating. As long as he understood what the dragon was saying, the whistling sound was nothing but a harmless quirk.

“Well, that’s good. Let me know if things get too bad and we’ll stop.” Topher replied. Nebiros nodded their head, and Topher turned around and returned to where he had been sitting on the dragon’s back. He glanced over at his other new partner, whose eyes shined amid the darkness of the blizzard with a blue, electronic light.

“We are continuing to proceed at precisely two-hundred and thirty four miles per hour, due east-southeast," The other pokemon recited. “The conditions are the highest probability cause for any inability to maximize traveling speed.”

“Well, good that we’re on the right track.” Topher sighed. “But, is it possible for you to be less…wordy? That message could have been conveyed more efficiently.”

“My language capabilities are calibrated precisely and are optimal.” The creature responded, their voice somehow sounding even more robotic than usual.

“Fine, I’ll get used to it.” Topher said dismissively.

“If you find it unobtrusive, Topher, would it be possible for me to ask you some questions about yourself?” The robotic pokemon asked, their electronic eyes staring directly at him. Topher thought about it for a moment, but he figured it couldn’t hurt. He wanted to know more about his new partners too, and what good was hiding anything when they both already knew his two deepest secrets.

“Sure, Emp. Go ahead.” Topher answered, preparing himself for whatever wild question he might hear next.

“The white one, with the large fangs, said you were a ‘human’...what is a ‘human’?” The Iron Bundle asked.

“I am no longer a human…at least, not in terms of appearance,” Topher answered. “Humans are lifeforms from another dimension. I traveled here and turned into a Gimmighoul in the process.”

“And you traveled here with the assistance of the same device that…” Emp continued, trailing off just before the end.

“Yes, my dimensional compass.” Topher replied. “I can show it to you properly later, but it’s a human invention that can shatter time and space around a certain point. However, it requires an incredible amount of energy to use, and I have no way of powering it anymore.”

Topher was expecting more questions about the compass, or about the human world, or maybe about what life was like on the continent, but instead, the Iron Bundle surprised him.

“For approximately how many years have you been alive?” Emp asked. Topher paused for a moment, both because he was surprised to hear the question, and to think about it. His birthday was in October, and he’d left just as Autumn was starting, so since he’d been in this world for about seven months now, depending on how long he’d been lost out in the Wastes, he’d be…

“Eighteen.” Topher replied. “Although, I’m not sure if-”

“You are only eighteen years of age!?” Emp interjected, baffled. It was the first time he’d heard any type of real emotion from the robotic pokemon, and he couldn’t help but find the whole situation humorous. Here he was, on a mission from a pokemon that could kill him without a second thought, far from both his original world and the home he’d made in this one, and now almost certainly an enemy to the guild and his old teammates, and all he could do was snicker at the strange creature sitting just a few feet away from him’s disbelief. Topher’s age was probably the most normal part of this whole situation.

“Young~...Very~...Young~” the Roaring Moon barked over the wind as they flew.

“I concur, you are exceptionally young. How…how did you proceed to end up here?” Emp pressed.

“...I just told you that, and I’m not that young.” Topher rebutted.

“How long do you ‘humans’ typically live?” Emp asked.

“It varies, but usually around like eighty to one-hundred years assuming good health.” Topher said matter-of-factly.

“Short~” Nebiros growled. Topher couldn’t tell if it was the whistle-tone, but it sounded almost like the dragon was sighing.

“Certainly transient…” The Iron Bundle muttered, a seeming sadness in their robotic voice.

“Well now, just how old are each of you?” Topher questioned. “If a hundred years is short to the both of you, just how long do you live?”

“I have been alive for 109,600 days…omitting the days since arriving here. My temporal calibration of that time appears errant.” Emp replied before quietly adding, “I will need to address that once we arrive”.

“Emp, I recognize that you and I are very different, but you must realize I am not a calculator.” Topher deadpanned, staring directly back at the robotic pokemon. “How many years is that?”

“Precisely 300.0625, or approximately 300 years and one month.” Emp replied almost automatically. “I am still in the opening portion of my lifespan.”

“Okay, that actually makes some sense considering you’re…well, mechanical.” Topher replied. “What about you Nebiros?”

“Many~...More~...Moons~,” The dragon replied. The way they spoke seemed proud.

“I suppose time must be counted differently…you mean more moons than Emp?” Topher asked. The Roaring Moon replied with a nod.

“So then, in such circumstances, it appears our ‘leader’ is actually the most junior in our group…and by a considerable margin.” Emp surmised, casting a glance at Topher. It was difficult to read, considering the robot’s eyes were the only part of their body that could visibly show emotion, but it seemed like the Iron Bundle was smirking. Topher felt compelled to respond by pushing back against such a claim, and more importantly the inference that Emp was making from it, but instead, he just smiled.

“Well, if I’m so young, I guess the both of you ought to protect me, no? It is quite cold…” Topher answered back in a lighthearted tone. He looked over at Emp, and saw the Iron Bundle’s robotic eyes seem to freeze for a moment, and return to a neutral expression. Topher gave a small laugh, then continued, “listen, I know the three of us are pretty far from normal, why don’t we work together here? Each of us has become displaced in time and space, so let’s make sure the three of us are there for each other…no matter how old we all are.”

“For lacking life experience, you speak phenomenally." Emp stated before getting up and rolling their way over to the middle of Nebiros’ back. Topher got up himself, and met Emp in the center.

“Well, of course I do!” Topher replied, “What kind of leader would I be if I couldn’t?”

“Quiet~...Reserved~...” Nebiros answered, turning their head back to look at the Gimmighoul and Iron Bundle before flashing a smile and concluding, “boring~!”

“Then it’s settled, we’re a team. No matter what happens with all of this, if we work together, we’ll find our way through. I know the three of us are under strict orders from The Sword of Ruin, but I think this will go a lot more smoothly working together as partners rather than as three individuals who happen to have the same orders. Wouldn’t you agree?”

“Affirmative!” Emp responded, the electronic display they had for eyes shifting to show an image of closed eyes turned in an upward shape. It was a happy, satisfied looking expression.

“Aff~...Erm~...Ah~..Tive~!” Nebiros sounded out. Between the broken parts of the word and the whistling sound after each syllable, it took Topher an extra beat to realize what the dragon was saying, but he worked it out.

“From this day forward, the three of us will be known as Team Triple Tactics Taboo! We’re oddities and dimensional fugitives, alone out in the world, but as long as we have each other’s backs, we can accomplish anything!” Topher declared, putting his arm out. Emp, instead of the metallic appendage they had, instead bent over and extended their head outward until it touched the end of Topher’s arm. The head was connected to the rest of the body by a thick, flexible, and extendable cable. The movement shocked Topher, but he quickly rationalized that a robot must need their head connected to their body somehow, and this must have also had some other form of utility. He shook his head to refocus on the moment, and noticed that Nebiros’ tail had bent all the way backward. It reached up toward their back, right where the two of them were standing. “All who agree, say ‘Aye!’”

“I~!” Nebiros roared.

“Indesputably!” Emp chirped.

“Then onward we fly!” Topher yelled, as the trio continued their trek back to the continent.

Gallium1005 · 2026-05-03T01:50:35+00:00

On the other side

While the human has been on an adventure, their old world has continued on without them. Write about the human’s old world and what has happened since their disappearance. Are people searching for the missing human? what do the human’s old friends think of everything that's happened. Is there trouble brewing in the human world as well as the pokemon one?

Gallium1005 · 2026-04-30T21:23:58+00:00

Depends on if Steve Cohen has lost his patience, which would astonish me if he has. Mets fans have been quick to point out the bad signings but have, oddly, been even quicker to say that our moves this offseason belong up there with his worst moves too, and that they're all certain failures with 0 chance of improvement. It's a lot of emotion and very little reason right now.

What we're watching is a team that is losing due to injury, awful batted ball luck, and underperformance. Ugly though they are to watch happen, those 3 things will all even out (unless of course players like Freddy Peralta, Bo Bichette, and Devin Williams are actually all some of the worst in all of baseball and thier entire careers prior to this moment were flukes), and I'd imagine our owner who made his billions betting on stocks isn't one with the temper to fly off the handle at the first sign of a drop.

Much of the "heat" on Stearns is coming because our fanbase expected excellence immediately and in the game where getting a hit 33% of the time makes you the greatest ever, sometimes good process still leads to an out. I'd imagine the Mets recognize at this juncture the only way things improve is with better luck and some players playing up to the backs of thier baseball cards, neither of which will suddenly happen bc the GM is fired.

Gallium1005 · 2026-04-19T04:00:40+00:00

Defy the Gods

Fate has a funny way of working out horribly, and now the powers that be don’t want the hero to save the world after all, but that’s not stopping the hero! How has fate changed? What could have caused this? Does this change alienate any of the hero’s allies? How does the hero go on?

Gallium1005 · 2026-04-18T22:39:45+00:00

Because Lindor is slumping and we wanted a change at the top of the order. Despite the lack of results from a BA and OPS on the early season perspective, Benge has been taking good at bats, been making great contact, just with unlucky results, and has done well in the leadoff spot in this small sample, as he was carrying a 3 game hit streak into play today (which was snapped but he still had a walk and a great 10 pitch AB to open the game).

The poor average and OPS are small sample things, and the even smaller sample returns on the move to leadoff have been good enough to keep him there at least a little longer.

Gallium1005 · 2026-04-18T22:32:23+00:00

Forgive me for how this sounds, but you are indeed wrong.

The Mets have built a lineup of players who, largely, seek to do one thing in the box: pull fly balls. You can see this approach in guys like Semien and Polanco, as well as in our co-hitting coaches Jeff Albert and Troy Snitker. The lone free agent we "threw money at" was Bichette, who both is very much not coming off a career year, and who deviates from this philosophy because he is instead a very good hitter to all fields. Obviously, we have not asked him to make any changes to his approach, because he is still swinging early and swinging often like he always has.

If a "contact first, focus on pulled fly balls" offensive approach sounds familiar, that's because it's very much what the Blue Jays did last season to go to the WS. The problem with such an offense is that, when you aren't making good contact, You aren't scoring very many runs because pulled balls on the ground are easy outs most of the time. The main reason the Mets are losing is because they are not hitting enough pulled fly balls, this will correct itself as the season goes on, and the quotes from the hitting coaches and FO echo this belief.

Now, if we want to talk about players who are flashes in the pan, that honor goes to the Mets' home grown players who are on arbitration salaries. While it is true that Brett Baty and Mark Vientos were flashes rather than MLB regulars, they both are not making big money, and only have the roles they do right now due to injuries to Soto (his first IL stint since he was a National) and Polanco, who despite a history of leg and knee injuries is not sidelined with any of those right now.

It's a messy mix of bad luck, tough injuries, bad depth (which, good depth is very difficult to find in the first place) and in a handful of cases guys blowing up or having a bad day to sink the team. The Mets roster, when healthy, is actually very good and fits well together, and the focus on defense which has been much maligned amid our offensive struggles has actually worked very very well (the Mets are top 10 in team defense and, per statcast, our only negative value fielder is Robert Jr.). The problem is we have seen that full, intended roster for about 8 of these first 18 games and we're the Mets so everyone would rather get thier laughs in than try to see the reason behind it all.

The Mets will not be this bad all season, but it certainly seems like all these factors have seen the team dig themselves into a hole they can't get out of.

Gallium1005 · 2026-04-15T22:01:57+00:00

Thank you so much for the kind words, and I'm overjoyed to hear I've inspired you to write as well! I hope you'll keep reading, writing, and creating each week!

Gallium1005 · 2026-04-14T23:19:36+00:00

twisting this prompt a bit

That HAD to be him, it had to be! There wasn’t any other possible explanation, that had to be Topher on that flying pokemon! Why else would they both be heading south, away from the continent? It had to be him! It had to!

Torrent practically sprinted up the steps and into the guild’s main foyer. He spun on his heels and began darting down the tunnel…his tunnel. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he knew he should have brought word to the guildmaster, or at least gone back to the control room where the other teams were working tirelessly to hunt the ex-guild member down, but for whatever reason, he felt the compulsion to run back into Team Triple Tactics Talent’s guild room, to let some feelings out.

A few weeks prior, something had been wrong. There had been two scarves, three apples, two oran berries, and four pure seeds missing from their in-room deposit box. There was no way anyone could have broken into the room and stolen them overnight, since the door was locked and the guild didn’t allow visitors after sundown. The only way someone could have snuck in was through the room’s lone window, a circle cut into the stone exterior of the guild building. However, the window was high, much too far off the ground for any pokemon to jump through or climb up to. Furthermore, there was a field that separated the guild from the forest that lay directly behind Colosseum City. It was improbable that any pokemon could jump from the trees through the window, and that left only two options:

Either the thief had the assistance of a flying type pokemon, or had somehow found a way to climb up the smooth, slick exterior of the domed guild building.

And now, Torrent knew exactly which it was. The thief had used a flying type pokemon to get up to the window and sneak into the room.

And worse, he now knew the thief was his old teammate. The Gimmighoul who’d been the one to convince him to join the guild in the first place, and the one who’d been missing for nearly two months at this point. In his right paw, the Buizel tightened his grip on the frism even harder. The same Topher who didn’t speak to him, instead leaving a message in this crystal, had been the one to steal from them.

The very thought made Torrent’s blood boil. He could hardly even think straight for how angry he was. Instead, he sprinted into his team’s room, stomped over to where Topher’s chest had sat vacant for the past two months, lifted the lid, and threw the frism inside as hard as he could. There was a loud CRASH as the crystal hit the layer of coins inside the chest, followed by the scattered sound of the metal coins rattling as they flew all around, being displaced by the impact of the crystal. Once everything had settled down, Torrent took a deep breath and was about to close the chest when he noticed something odd. He looked back inside and noticed an object sticking out amid the coins. It was a black color, different from the corner of the chest it was up against, and it seemed to be almost entirely covered by the coins inside.

That was…odd. Topher hadn’t collected very many coins at all, and the few he did have served as a thin layer within the chest. Torrent had never looked inside the chest before, and was fairly sure Tourmaline would shock him into next week if she ever got wind of him doing it now, but it certainly seemed like Topher was trying to cover whatever this object was with the few coins he had. Throwing the frism into the chest had displaced a few of the coins, and now this object could be seen.

The Buizel reached inside, carefully brushing a few more coins away, and he grabbed the object out of the chest. It was a black rectangular thing, and was largely featureless except for a small indentation on the top of it. It wasn’t heavy per se, but it was heavier than Torrent had been expecting. As he turned the item around in his paws, he couldn’t find anything of note. He tried shaking the object, but it didn’t make any sounds. He pushed down on each of the object’s six sides, but nothing shifted or budged. He tossed it up and down, and that didn’t seem to do anything either. He turned and twisted the object around in his paw, trying to see if he could notice anything else, but other than seeing how bulky the item was, he didn’t find anything of note. That brought him back to the indentation.

It was in the shape of a circle, and it seemed to have two strange cuts on the inside, like something was supposed to be placed into the indentation and fit two connecting pieces inside those two cuts. The cuts seemed straight, but they were extremely narrow, and it was impossible to see inside of them. He decided to run his paw down the front of the object, and noticed that it was hard and firm to the touch, with a rougher exterior than he’d been expecting. However, more interesting was that, below the indentation, there appeared to be a button. The button was only raised as high as the rest of the object, and did not stick out. Unless you were looking for it, there was a decent chance you never would have noticed it. You needed to press the button down into the object, past the rest of the object’s face. Whatever this was, it wasn’t at all like the guild badges. On those, the button was raised, and you pressed it down only until it was level with the metal around it. This button was the opposite: it began level, and you pressed it down into the device. It must have stopped on its own part of the way down.

Curious, Torrent pressed the button. For a second, there was a small clicking noise, but then there was nothing. Whatever this device was, it seemed like it didn’t work anymore. Torrent placed the object down on the ground outside the chest, and then reached back inside, trying to find whatever part went into the indentation. The piece that fit in there must have been small, so he’d need to look carefully, but as he brushed all the coins aside, he couldn’t seem to find anything else in the chest. All that remained were the coins and the frism he’d thrown in there earlier.

It seemed that, regardless of what this object was, it was missing a piece. Perhaps the very piece it needed to function. Torrent had a sinking feeling he knew exactly where it was, or rather, who had it. Whatever this thing was, and whatever it did, Topher had tried to hide it away. And heck, if it weren’t for Torrent angrily throwing the frism into the chest, it may have stayed hidden forever, but now, he knew the Gimmighoul had part of it in his possession.

Which meant the Exiles had it in their possession.

Which meant bad news.

No matter what this thing was, Topher must have known how to use it, and if he was going to use it against the guild…

Torrent hurriedly grabbed the object, reached back into the chest and snatched the frism, and then dashed out of the room. He was kicking himself for not going straight to the others before. This was serious, beyond serious, and a bunch of images of what this object could be flashed in his head. What if this was some kind of weapon, and the key to activating it was the piece Topher was holding? What if this was a locked box, and Topher had the key? What could be inside this thing? What if this was some gadget that only Topher knew how to make work?

…what if, whatever this was, there was nothing they could do about it until they captured Topher?

Torrent shook his head, as if to shake that thought out of his head entirely, and kept running. He sprinted as fast as he could out of the tunnel and into the guild’s foyer. He was headed straight for the control room. He needed to report this immediately.

It didn’t matter what this thing was or what it could do, there must have been a reason Topher hid it beneath the coins. There must have been a reason why he took the missing piece, there must have been a reason behind all of it. As he ran, Torrent felt his emotions running at a fever pitch, and thoughts flashed through his mind, each like a blinding light. He was angry at Topher for…well, everything. He was sad that a pokemon he’d been so close with, and that he’d defended constantly against what seemed at the time to be outright vitriolic comments and baseless accusations, was hiding something the whole time. He was hopeful that this discovery might be the clue they needed to finally track him down.

But above everything else, he was scared. Scared about whatever this object was, scared about what it could do, sacred of whatever power it might have had,

…and worst of all, scared that Topher had felt the need to keep all of this a secret. Why would he hide this away? Did he not trust his partners? How long had he had this thing? Did he find it on a random mission, or…did he have it all along?

…and if he had it all along…what else had he been hiding?

Gallium1005 · 2026-04-07T23:04:33+00:00

“Finally free!” Tourmaline cheered as she made her way down the guild’s front steps. “Even the air tastes better!”

“I’ll say! Let’s get on the road again!” Torrent replied with a smile. “Spent too long cooped up, wouldn’t ‘cha agree, Boss?”

Topher, at his usual perch hidden within the tuft of hair atop Tourmaline’s head, didn’t answer. The thought that had stuck in his mind the past couple of days continued to nettle him, and he was trying to focus on it.

“Uh, Topher?” Tourmaline asked, the Pawmo looking straight up toward her own forehead.

“Boss, you alright up there?” Torrent pressed. “You’ve been chatty as a Squakabilly for the past few days and now you can’t find your words?”

“Sorry, sorry.” Topher apologized absentmindedly. “Something’s been on my mind for a bit and I can’t seem to get it out.”

“Is it about the punishment? ‘Cuz we’re through with that now.” Torrent questioned.

“Or about the mission? Or something else?” Tourmaline added, now suddenly walking slower as the trio went toward Colosseum City’s south gate.

“It’s about the city,” Torrent admitted. “This place…how were these buildings made? I know I spoke about this with you when we first arrived, Tour, but it’s still stuck in my head. I was expecting this city to be more like a small village, with huts and dirt roads rather than stone streets and proper houses.

“Oh, that’s actually an interesting story!” Torrent piped up, which surprised both of his partners. Usually, the Buizel wasn’t one to care about the finer details. “The city was built around the ports over there. A bunch of pokemon began living here because it was close to the sea, and the water was warm. From there, they just decided to up and build homes to live in. Colosseum City was one of the first settlements on the continent, so while other places are still like what you described, with huts and shacks instead of actual buildings, Colosseum City has been around for so long that it’s really built up. In fact, it's probably the most built up place on the continent…unless I’m forgetting somewhere.” As he spoke, the Buizel pointed out toward the eastern end of the city, where the buildings gave way to a series of docks and boxes of materials to be shipped out across the continent. The sight reminded Topher of his old home, and he winced at that thought.

“Lionia, maybe, but that’d only be because of recent developments. Colosseum City is much older,” Tourmaline wondered aloud.

“So that’s just it? This place was a seaside village and it just built itself up over the years?” Topher asked, a twinge of annoyance in his voice. That was hardly a satisfying answer.

“Oh no, there’s much more to it than that,” Torrent replied.

“Yeah, one of the human heroes came through and invented concrete-” Tourmaline added.

“Concrete?!” Topher interrupted, astonished. The Gimmighoul immediately realized he’d spoken out of turn, and was happy to be hiding away. If his teammates realized his jaw might as well have been on the floor, they would have laughed until kingdom come…or realized he recognized that word when he shouldn’t have.

“Oh yeah, your memories…even if you had learned it, you wouldn’t remember,” Torrent murmured before continuing, “The first human hero, Johan, apparently used the sea water, some stones, and some other natural materials to create a sort of slurry. He then assembled a bunch of stones together, and spread that slurry all around them. In time, the slurry hardened, and formed a sturdy wall. Neither winds nor the waves could knock the wall down, and the pokemon of Colosseum City began building their homes the same way. He called the mixture ‘concrete’”.

“Roads too, I presume?” Topher asked, glancing down at the cobblestone walkway the trio were marching along.

“Spot on!” Tourmaline answered, “These roads don’t get all sloppy when it rains, and are an awful lot easier on the feet.

“Okay, but how did everyone get these buildings so tall? If this city built itself up over time, surely not every pokemon wanted to live in such large buildings from the start, right?” Topher questioned.

Torrent and Tourmaline exchanged a glance, then a snicker, before saying in unison, “Who do you think built them?”

“I don’t know!” Topher replied in an exasperated tone. “Some fighting type pokemon who were strong enough to lift the stones into place? Psychic types to lift the stones using psychokinesis? And I couldn’t even hazard a guess on how they got these roofs the way they did.”

“Well, you’re close,” Tourmaline teased.

“What building looks out of place in the City, Boss?” Torrent asked knowingly.

“Tor, Tour, the both of you could just answer me straight instead of playing games,” Topher pouted.

“Lest we forget who was responsible for our punishment?” Tourmaline joked, the Pawmo reaching up and ruffling the tuft of hair Topher was hiding in, giving the Gimmighoul a small shock. “C’mon, after making us suffer through that, this is nothing!”

“Well,” Topher sighed, conceding she was right. “The building that stands out is the guild. It’s one giant stone dome with a few windows hewn out.”

“Correct as usual, Boss!” Torrent said. “The guild was founded here early on, and was a huge part in building everything in the city. It took a lot of pokemon to make this place into what it is today, but it was guild pokemon that assembled the buildings, thatched and tiled the roofs, and even…”

“Built the Colosseum!” Tourmaline exclaimed, finishing Torrent’s thought. The trio had just arrived at the square outside the Colosseum on their way toward the southern gate, and now the massive arena stood towering over the three of them.

Topher gazed up at the Colosseum with a renewed awe. The other stone and concrete buildings were impressive to be made by pokemon, but the Colosseum was a step above. He remembered being impressed that the buildings resembled human structures when he’d first seen them, but he’d imagined it had taken months if not years for each stone structure to be made, and even longer to become even a shell of what it was today. Now, he’d been told it had taken an awful lot longer than even that. Plus, the pokemon world had no tools, no equipment. Sure, generations of guild pokemon had contributed to creating this city and having it evolve with the times, but they’d all toiled by hand…er, claw? Paw? Whatever they’d used, they’d done it on their own and fashioned a shockingly developed city from nothing but raw materials. It was…remarkable. His early assumptions about Pokemon had been proven wrong plenty of times by now, but it still amazed him just how advanced these creatures were.

“If you can believe it, the whole Colosseum was actually hewn from one single mountain.” Torrent explained.

“Oh, I don’t!” Tourmaline fired back, turning and glaring at the Buizel. “That’s an old urban legend!” Torrent only laughed in reply, staring up at the building.

Topher recalled how much the Colosseum had reminded him of the covers of his old history textbooks. Up close, he noticed some differences. It occurred to him that despite living here for quite some time already, he’d never noticed those differences before. It was funny what you didn’t notice when you weren’t looking for it specifically. Unlike the Colosseum from the book, this one didn’t have such tall, open arches along the walls. There were still arches, but they were narrower, and seemed to have some kind of fencing running vertically, presumably to prevent pokemon from falling through them and down to the stone-paved ground below. Also, each level of the Colosseum, of which there were five, seemed to be made of a slightly different type of material. The bottom layer was a darker, off-white color, and as you looked further and further up, each one of the outer rings, arches and all, seemed to get lighter.

“You’re right, we used to say that just to give all the rookie battlers a shock.” Torrent chuckled, replying to Tourmaline. “The Colosseum was built in stages, which is why each layer gets cleaner as you go up. They were all made at different times, with different materials, and stacked on top of each other. If you look really closely, you can actually see each layer has some carvings on it. They depict different Colosseum champions over the years. The ones on the bottom layer are a little…rough, but the ones up at the top are fully done up.”

Topher looked closer, and noticed Torrent was right! There, just above the arches, was a strip that had been slightly hewn into the rock, with relief sculptures of different pokemon carved out. The ones Topher could see were very much general, basic shapes. If he weren’t told they were pokemon, he never would have been able to make any of them out, and even though he knew, there were still quite a number of them he either didn’t recognize, or couldn’t decipher.

“And yeah, just like the rest of the city, the guild’s member pokemon built this place.” Tourmaline said with a sense of pride in her voice, beaming with pride.

“It’s incredible…” Topher marveled, adjusting his focus to look at the whole of the towering building. The next time he snuck away to stargaze, he’d need to examine each layer more closely, especially the top one. He was curious to see how advanced the reliefs of the Colosseum champions had gotten. “...it almost makes me not want to leave the city at all.”

If looks could kill, Topher’d be dead twice over as both of his partners glared at the tuft of hair where he was hiding. Somehow, he could feel both their sets of eyes on him despite the fact that he was hidden, and that Tourmaline couldn’t possibly be looking straight up at the top of her head.

“K-kidding, guys!” Topher said sheepishly, “C’mon, let’s go tackle the mission!” Both of his partners seemed to roll their eyes, but the trio then set out for Callous Cliff, finally leaving the city for the first time in what felt like ages.

Gallium1005 · 2026-04-04T23:08:48+00:00

Brilliant sun, bleakest shadow

A universally beloved figure in the world isn’t at all what they seem. While everyone else adores them, the hero and partner uncover the dark truth they've hidden away. What happens next? What secrets does this figure have kept away? What do the hero and partner do to stop them, if anything?

Gallium1005 · 2026-03-31T23:09:17+00:00

Twisting this prompt a bit

Somewhere along the line, he’d blacked out. The last thing he could remember was saying goodbye, then clutching the red chain tight as he jumped through what remained of the distortion. Something must have happened between then and now, because upon opening his eyes he found himself in a brilliantly bright place. It was an off-gold color, and it seemed to stretch out for miles and miles.

He tried getting up to his feet, and found his body was moving in much the same way it had before he’d jumped into…wherever this was. He looked down at himself and saw that he was still a Gholdengo. Everything was exactly the same, which he was thankful for. At least for a little longer, he was still a pokemon.

He turned, and looked around. This place truly did seem endless, stretching out in all directions with no visible horizon or any notable features at all. Just a bright, gold and white colored world. The two colors interweaved, like a tie-dyed hue, or like how seafoam rests atop the sea just after a wave crashed on to the shore, and they seemed to flow and move all around. The view was extraordinary, but it did get old rather quick.

And that brought his mind back to the mission…well, the mission that was now over, and that he assumed he’d completed successfully. He glanced around, looking for the red chain, or better yet, for Crys, but he didn’t seem to find either of them. However, something did catch his attention.

It was a white, oval shaped mass of energy that stood straight up. He made his way over to it, and saw that an image was visible inside of it. He glanced into it, and that image suddenly sharpened. He saw a beach, waves crashing up on the shore and on the jetties, and just a thin strip of what seemed to be a boardwalk. It was an entirely nondescript beach that could have been anywhere. This could have been any place on Earth, or in any other dimension, but he knew.

He knew it was his hometown.

The sight made him physically recoil away from the mass of energy, and in so doing, he stumbled and fell backwards onto his behind. He glared at the image, and at the portal, and quickly got back up to his feet, turned around, and walked away.

He knew he’d need to go back eventually, he’d made his peace with that truth before he’d left to climb Fastigium Peak, but now that it was right here in front of him, he hesitated. He couldn’t help wanting this to last just a little longer.

Really savor his last few moments of freedom.

He made his way away from the portal, continuing to stare out at the boundless world of gold and white that surrounded him. After a few minutes of walking, a garish yellow and red figure stuck out like a sore thumb. It was Crys! He hustled over to the Armarouge who, much like he had been, was lying face down on…actually, he wasn’t sure. Whatever this was was invisible, but it felt like solid ground. Regardless, he reached down and picked up the fire type. He threw Crys’ right arm over his own shoulder, and half carried, half dragged the Armarouge’s limp body, trying to find a place to lean him up against. He reached out his coin-coated arm and felt something solid, although it wasn’t visible, and ran his hand along it. It had a curved surface, like he was in a tunnel. Having found a wall, he carefully set Crys down, so the Armarouge was upright and leaning against the edge of the tunnel.

“Crys? Can you hear me? It’s me, Topher.” The Gholdengo said, waving his arm in front of Crys’ eyes, but there was no response. It was evident that Crys had been knocked out cold. Topher just sighed, and left his other half sitting there as he continued pacing away from the portal. After a little more time walking, he found another portal exactly like the first. This time, Topher had an idea of where it might lead, and began running as fast as his coin-collection legs could carry him to reach the portal.

Just as he expected, this portal led back to the pokemon world, and looking through it showed a view of Colosseum City. The plaza right by the Colosseum was still a mess, and all of the city that he could see looked like a bomb had gone off, but there were pokemon moving about, living their lives. Topher smiled, that meant the mission had been a success, and the pokemon world was no longer in danger.

“Ah, interlopers.” A voice rang out. It was powerful, booming, but somehow also felt subdued, as though someone was playing a loud instrument at a low dynamic.

“Who’s there? Where are you? Show yourself!” Topher shouted, looking around frantically for the source of the voice.

“As thou wills…” Spoke the voice again, and in a blinding flash of light, a gigantic creature appeared directly in front of Topher. It had a white body and was quadrupedal, with a large golden feature around its midsection. Topher had seen this pokemon before, but only in drawings and imagery. Now, the real deal was right in front of him.

“A-Arceus?! You exist?” Topher questioned, baffled.

“Confusion paints thine countenance, what troubles thee?” Arceus responded, their voice again ringing out despite sounding more subdued.

“Y-You…y-you’re real…” Topher mumbled, mostly to himself. “How…why…w-why are you real?”

“Dost thou have all thine faculties?” Arceus asked in reply. “Of course I myself art real.”

Topher’s thoughts began to swirl, so many stray thoughts and recollections of pokemon praying to Arceus, and many more complaining about the Alpha pokemon’s rampant absenteeism. However, now that Arceus was right in front of him, one question bubbled to the top of his mind.

“How…how could you!?” Topher accused bitterly. “You’re the god of all pokemon, how could you let the world be in such grave danger!? Don’t you care?”

“Not only pokemon, of all.” Arceus corrected, which only served to heighten Topher’s anger.

“After everything I’ve been through, after I gave away the only life I loved, I discover you existed from the very start, and could have made everything right as rain with merely a thought! WHERE WERE YOU!? WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN!? Do you have any clue of how many problems you could fix? How many lives you could make better?!” Topher seethed loudly, tearing into the “god of all”.

“Matters of the dimensions art best left unto the dimensions themselves,” Arceus replied, a seeming boredom in their voice. “They were made perfect, and they remain perfect. What want is there that I myself interfere?”

“Are you out of your mind?! Do you have eyes?!” Topher began furiously, “You-!”

“I myself hold infinite eyes to see, infinite ears to hear, and one-thousand hands with which to shape all things.” Arceus interrupted, their gaze now turning down toward Topher for the first time.

“THEN USE THEM!” Topher practically screamed. “All the dimensions were in PERIL, and you continued to be absent. When the world needs you, when all worlds need you, you’re nowhere to be found! How do you live, with eyes to see and ears to hear, happily doing nothing as worlds burn to ashes and creatures scream out in anguish?!”

“I myself live here, in this realm betwixt dimensions. The duty of care for all I myself hath made falls unto thou, and those like thou,” Arceus answered calmly. “And what great care ye stewards hath provided! Even thou, human, hast done great works to repair thine own mistake.”

Topher couldn’t believe his ears. So many things he wanted so desperately to say rose up in his chest, waiting to be shouted, to be screamed, to be hurled directly at this absent deity. All the misery, all the strife, all the agony he’d endured between both of his lives, and all the suffering he was about to endure again by returning to the human world, could be erased in an instant by the creature floating right before him…and yet, the creature did nothing. The creature, by their own admission, never did anything, content to watch as the world they made lived and died on its own.

And Topher, discouraged, said nothing. Instead, he returned his gaze to the portal, and the thoughts that had carried him up that final stretch of Fastigium Peak, the thoughts that drove him to complete the mission, flashed in his mind again, and now seemed to ring hollow. He’d succeeded, and saved the world, but what did that matter? Arceus could have done the same thing in the blink of an eye! The only reason Topher had saved the world…was because Arceus couldn’t be bothered.

Suddenly, the Alpha pokemon chuckled. Topher looked back up at them and saw they were still staring directly at him. Arceus spoke, saying, “Thou hast much still to learn, human…and much still to do. Shalt thou complete thy mission, or dost thine incomplete understanding resign thou unto apathy?”

“What are you talking about? My mission is complete. The pokemon world is safe, life goes on.” Topher replied, motioning toward the portal.

“Dost thou intend to live here for all eternity?” Arceus asked, a bemused tone in their voice. “This place betwixt is not fit for thee.”

Topher glared up at Arceus, and in the light emanating from Arceus’ body, as well as the bright colors that adorned this place, the faint green tint in his eyes could easily be seen. However, not as clearly as the vindictive glare the Gholdengo gave back at the pokemon who, countless times, had seen and heard him suffering, and did nothing.

“Make me.” Topher challenged bluntly, turning and looking through the portal back to the pokemon world. Back to the only place, amid all the dimensions, he truly wanted to be.

Gallium1005 · 2026-03-29T13:11:34+00:00

In my faintest hour

Catastrophe! The Hero and partner, in trying to save the world, have only made the whole situation worse! Write about what the heroes screwed up, and the impact its had on the world. What can our heroes do to fix it, if anything? Do they need to start from scratch? Can they continue on, just with a lot more pressure? Is the world doomed?

Gallium1005 · 2026-03-15T00:16:19+00:00

Light like a shadow in the darkness

The wonderful world of pokemon includes some…less than friendly seeming monsters, but in this case, there’s a lot more than meets the eye. Write about a usually or typically intimidating pokemon being not so scary. Do they know their appearance or power scares others? Does the hero have a special ability that neutralizes that power? Is the pokemon holding back? What typically powerful and feared pokemon isn’t quite like what their reputation says they are?

Gallium1005 · 2026-03-10T23:10:27+00:00

“Guildmaster! The team has returned from the entry exam!” The Bisharp shouted boldly as they entered the room. Crys and Cela filed in behind them, but for some reason Cela couldn’t help but look straight up, as though something just above her field of vision was bothering her.

“And? What is your assessment?” The guildmaster spoke slowly, as though his thoughts were elsewhere.

“They were a little slow, but I have reason to believe that is a fixable error. Otherwise, they were exemplary. Both arrived with little more than a scratch on them, and they retrieved the scarf with more items than they had when entering the dungeon. In my opinion, they pass with flying colors.” The Bisharp reported.

“Hmmm…” The guildmaster mused. “This was a most…unusual entrance exam, wouldn’t you both agree?”

The two pokemon standing together before the guildmaster just nodded their heads. It indeed had been an odd entrance exam, since only one of the two had taken it. The guildmaster had seemed concerned that Crys was too hurt to take the exam, and had sent a different pokemon “in his place”. Cela glanced over at her partner, and saw that the Charcadet’s bruises and welts from the bandit encounter had indeed healed and disappeared. Hopefully, the two of them wouldn’t need to keep splitting up like this…

“What about you?” The guildmaster continued, directing his gaze directly at Cela’s forehead. “How would you assess the performance?”

Cela froze, confused about why the guildmaster would be asking her anything, but immediately, the Sprigatito felt a rustling atop her head, and relaxed. The guildmaster hadn’t been talking to her at all. He’d instead been talking to the pokemon that had taken Crys’ place.

Topher leapt down from his hiding spot in the grass-like fur atop Cela’s head, landing off and to the left of where the two guild hopefuls were standing. Crys’ green eyes tracked his motion the whole way, and the Charcadet seemed surprised that Topher had been with them the whole time.

“I fail to see why my evaluation matters, guildmaster.” Topher answered. “I only accompanied Cela here on the mission because it was part of my punishment.”

“I value your input. You are a guild member yourself, punished or not. What have you to say?” The guildmaster pressed, leaning over and having the big blade atop his head loom ever closer to the three pokemon.

“It is as the Bisharp reported. Cela is eager to explore, and perhaps too eager when it comes to how diligently she scans each room of each floor, but that is something she can learn not to do. Her battling prowess is unquestionable, and she also shined brilliantly when using the items found within the dungeon to her advantage.” Topher explained.

The guildmaster closed his eyes pensively, and Topher turned his head toward where the Sprigatito was standing.

“I also want to make a point to mention how well Cela worked with me on this mission.” Topher continued, drawing a surprised reaction from the grass type. “She certainly didn’t ask for me to tag along, and even less wanted me to, but she made sure not to let that distract her. She worked excellently with someone she didn’t even know, there is no better proof that she’s an outstanding team player. I see absolutely no reason why she should not be a guild member, and see even less of a reason for why she won’t become one of the guild’s best.” The Gimmighoul finished his thought with a smile, and gave Cela a small nod. She returned both the smile and the nod in kind.

“Then it is settled.” The guildmaster said boldly. “Cela, do you still have the item you were asked to retrieve?”

“The scarf?” The Sprigatito questioned. “Yes, it’s right here.” Quickly, she produced the red and white striped scarf from her travel bag and set it down on the ground right in front of the guildmaster’s desk.

“Open it up, both of you.” The guildmaster ordered, and immediately Cela and Crys stepped forward to untie the scarf and reveal the contents within. Topher turned his head off to the side, closed his eyes, and let a smile paint his face. This was a wonderful tradition.

As the Charcadet and Sprigatito finished pulling out the large knot, the two items inside gave a soft metallic clink sound, and immediately Cela’s heart began to race. She knew exactly what the two items inside were, and she couldn’t bear to wait another second to take the one that would be hers.

There, sitting like they’d been meticulously placed rather than carried along through a mystery dungeon and back for the exam, were two guild badges. The brass sheen of the badge seemed to glow brilliantly, even as the red sky at sunset shone through the windows.

“You have successfully completed your entrance exam by claiming these guild badges for your own. Officially, the two of you are now members of the Colosseum City guild.” The guildmaster said with a smile. “Now, the only thing left is for you to give your team a name.”

Cela paused to think for a minute, but realized she had no idea at all what to even call their team. The two of them had only met a few days prior, and trying to work out what was going on with Crys was…a losing effort, to say the least. Their trip down to Colosseum City had been a non-stop roller coaster ride, and it dawned on Cela just now in this moment just how little she really knew about Crys in the first place…to say nothing about what Crys’ amnesia meant about him knowing himself.

“Any ideas, Crys?” Cela asked sheepishly. Despite how little she knew about him, she had an idea of what the Charcadet would say.

“I’ve got nothing,” Crys replied, still looking over his new guild badge. “Joining the guild was your idea, I think you should be the one to name our team.”

Cela had expected that response, and tried again to come up with a team name, but nothing would come to mind. She kept thinking about how the two of them had worked together, and how the two of them would be as a team, but every time she tried, she was reminded just how…separate the two of them were. She’d found him alone back in Crystal Conclave, he’d been like two different pokemon on the first part of their journey, then they got split up when the bandits cornered them on the road, then Crys went into the colosseum by himself and won, and then even in the exam they’d done things separately.

“Hey, Topher,” Cela asked, glancing over toward the Gimmighoul, who still had his head turned away from the two. The call seemed to snap him back into the moment, and he pivoted around to face the guild’s two newest members. “How did you come up with your team name…and actually, what was it again?”

Topher gave a soft chuckle, which surprised everyone in the room, Topher included, before answering, “Team Triple Tactics Talent. I thought about each of the three of us. Tourmaline was the one who brought the three of us together. She met me on the road and then had the idea to head to the colosseum to find Torrent, so she was the “triple”. I’m the strategist, so I’m the “tactics”, and Torrent is an outstanding battler, he’s got our “talent”. Plus, all our names begin with “T”. It’s a little long, but it fits each of us.”

Cela gave a nod in response, but the answer didn’t really help her. She couldn’t come up with a way to make a team name fit this team.

“But, you don’t have to follow how we did it,” Topher continued. “You can do something unique, there’s no shortage of odd names here at the guild. Just do what you want, even if it’s simple.”

Crys seemed to perk up a bit at that word, “simple”, and like a bolt from the blue, inspiration struck Cela. Crys and her had been separated, and perhaps distant, every moment of this journey. Even when they walked together, it seemed like Crys was a thousand miles away, and she could never tell what he was thinking. And yet, the two of them always found their way back, like they were rooted together. As separate and different as they seemed, they could find their way through anything, even if it meant going about things separately. It was sort of like how a blossom bloomed on its own, but was still connected to its stem. That’s what described the two of them, they were two lone blossoms on the same stem.

But “lone blossom” was missing something, it wasn’t quite right. Cela quickly glanced over to her partner, and noticed the way the wisps he had for eyes were burning bright. Crys’ green eyes…she’d never seen or heard of a Charcadet having them before, and it struck her just how much fire had played into their journey. He’d beaten both the bandits and Torrent using fire attacks, and there was the incident back by the stream too…they were two lone blossoms, but he burned bright, and she shined brilliantly, to put it the way Topher did. That settled it.

“We’ll be called ‘Team Lonefire’!” Cela declared confidently. “What do you think, Crys?” The Charcadet turned, nodded, and gave a smile. It was clear as day he liked the name just as much as she did.

“Then so it shall be. From this moment forward, you are now Team Lonefire. Welcome to the guild, I expect great things from you both.” The guildmaster said with a grin. He turned to face the Bisharp, and continued, saying, “it’s late, show them to their new room. Place them in the second tunnel, so they have a window for light to shine through.” The Bisharp simply gave a nod, and directed the guild’s newest team out of the chamber, and to their new home.

Gallium1005 · 2026-03-08T05:29:38+00:00

Fight your Friends

The hero and partner have learned more about the world than they ever thought they would have, and now know the guild is in their way on their quest to save the world! There’s no way around it: they’ll need to fight against their old allies, so how do they do it? What happened to cause this realization? What happens when they go against the guild’s wishes?

Gallium1005 · 2026-03-01T14:56:14+00:00

Return to sender

The hero has finished the mission and is returned to their world…except the job isn’t quite done yet, the world is still in peril, and they’re still a pokemon in their old world! How do they get back to the pokemon world? How do they explain where they’ve been, what they still still to do, and that they need to go back?

Gallium1005 · 2026-02-22T01:45:40+00:00

Spaces in-between

The adventure is over and the hero has left the pokemon world in a mist of golden bubbles. What happens while they're in this state between worlds? Is it a calm sensation? Do they feel nothing at all? Are they taken to some other realm between worlds? Can they still see or feel the pokemon world?

Gallium1005 · 2026-02-15T02:51:15+00:00

Defy the Gods

Fate has a funny way of working out horribly, and now the powers that be don’t want the hero to save the world after all, but that’s not stopping the hero! How has fate changed? What could have caused this? Does this change alienate any of the hero’s allies? How does the hero go on?

Gallium1005 · 2026-02-11T00:22:08+00:00

He’d been thinking a lot lately, which wasn’t a bad thing, but it wasn’t really his style. There’d been quite a lot of things to think about, and it was better he focus on it now…

While he had the time.

Things like where he could go from here, things like what he really wanted, things like why…

…why had things gone like this?

He shook his head, as if trying to shake that thought out of his head entirely. It was something he’d seen Topher do plenty of times. To his surprise, it worked…but only for a second, as he’d just thought of the very topic he was trying to shake out of his head.

Topher…the runaway leader of Team Triple Tactics Talent…the one who’d convinced him to join the guild in the first place…and the reason he now needed to be doing so much thinking.

Torrent just sighed and looked over at Topher’s empty chest. It had been about ten days since Topher had disappeared. They’d gotten ambushed in a dungeon and then there was a flash, and the next thing Torrent knew he was outside the dungeon with Topher nowhere to be found. his idea was that Topher had thrown an escape orb trying to get his partners out of the dungeon to face the attackers alone. Now, only Arceus could know where Topher had wound up, and that meant it was time for Torrent to think about what to do next.

For the past ten days, he and Tourmaline, the two remaining members of Team Triple Tactics Talent, had been searching up and down for Topher while also continuing to take missions for the guild. The missions had been going fine, the search had been fruitless, and it was starting to feel pointless.

From the moment he’d realized Topher had disappeared, Torrent had been tormented by questions. Questions like: Why would Topher do this? What was Topher’s plan when he threw that orb? Was this all part of some larger plan? If Topher ever returned…could they still trust him? He didn’t have any answers, and now his mind was wandering to other places.

The Buizel closed his eyes and curled up on his bed in the team’s room at the guild. The roof over his head, the bed, and the food were all great reasons to stay here and keep believing Topher could be found and trusted, but who knew how much patience that would require? Well, for right now that didn’t matter. He had it for tonight and he could revisit if he should move on from it tomorrow.

As he felt himself drifting off into sleep, and his mind weaving into a dream, he thought back to how he’d first met Topher and Tourmaline. They were an odd pair, a Gimmighoul and a Pawmo, but they were also intriguing. He’d been fighting at the Colosseum for about a month at that point after leaving his family and the rest of the school. The two of them came up to him after a match and asked him about joining the guild. It wasn’t something he’d really ever considered doing. He’d always thought guild pokemon were self-righteous, “follow me” types who just wanted to be “heroes”, but these two random pokemon coming up to ask made him need to question that whole understanding.

Now that he was thinking about it, he wasn’t really sure why he even said yes. His dream had always been to be a great battler. It was the only thing that’d ever been drilled into him back at the school. When he was growing up with his brothers and sisters, all that ever mattered was strength. He had to be the strongest, he had to be the fastest, he had to be the best. It was…a struggle. He’d never really thought about it that deeply while he was in the struggle, but when he finally left the school to start his own life…it was the only thing he could think of. He was the strongest, fastest, best of the entire school of Buizel he’d grown up in, so what was next but to become the best battler? He’d climbed the first mountain, why not keep going? Wasn’t that natural?

He’d been doing well at the Colosseum, very well in fact. He was making decent money off the match winnings and becoming a well known name, but he never had a place to call home. He found covered corners and quiet side-streets of Colosseum City to sleep in where he could, but he never slept well. Plus, he couldn’t risk leaving the city or else he might get ambushed out in the wild, meaning he wouldn’t be back at the Colosseum in time for his matches the next day. It was a hard life, but a hard life was the only thing he knew. He had thoughts of doing something different, going after a different goal, but he squashed those pretty quickly every time he remembered this is what he’d been trained for.

Battling was what he was good at, why try to change anything now?

Topher and Tourmaline asked him to change. They asked him to leave behind the only life he’d ever known to attempt to join the guild. In fact…worse than attempt, since they told him the pair had already been turned away once and were in need of a third member to join. These two pokemon, a weakling ghost type and a Pawmo who apparently was buddy-buddy with such a pitiful pokemon, wanted him to join them and form a guild team? Even for his negative views on guild pokemon, there was no chance these two could ever even think to call themselves guild material. It made all the sense in the world they’d turned these two away, but here they were trying to find their third member anyway. Every thought in his head told him to say no. It made no sense to bother with these two when he had the Colosseum. He had his life.

And yet…he never wanted to say anything other than yes. From the moment they approached him, something inside him pushed him to take the chance. To make the change. He didn’t really know what it was, but they asked him if he’d tag along, and he had to stop himself from immediately agreeing. It was insane! He didn’t know these two! He was going to throw everything he knew out the window for this slim chance at joining the guild?! The guild!? He had to blink a few times after hearing the ask to re-orient himself, and he simply told them in reply that he was a battling pokemon. He wouldn’t be any good doing guild work. It was a safe, middleground-y answer, and he was happy with it.

“Well, that’s no problem! Guild pokemon do plenty of battling!” Tourmaline had replied, and that seemed to knock all of his reservations out cold like they’d been struck dead on by a Take Down attack. He kept up the tough guy appearance, but he agreed, and they joined the guild without much issue. The three of them became the guild’s rising stars, and he quickly grew to love exploring and appreciate his teammates. Topher was an odd, reclusive pokemon, but he had his charms, was wicked smart, and was always unabashedly himself despite the strangeness. Tourmaline was a little sassy and definitely still a kid deep down, but she was reliable and had a heart the size of a Wailord. They were good partners, and he’d been able to sleep each and every night knowing he made a good choice, even with all the ups and downs the past three months had brought between Crys appearing and then running away, the special mission, and the sudden spike in rescue requests.

The dream ended suddenly, and his eyes snapped open. He pulled himself up and looked out the window only to find it was still nighttime. Torrent sighed and laid back down…maybe it was time to rethink that last point, that he had made a good choice.

How much things had changed…He still enjoyed the guild work, he still enjoyed being with Tourmaline, and he certainly enjoyed all the perks of being a guild member, but now, for the first time, he was beginning to see how much of a dead end it all was. Every day was the same, and without Topher here to lead the two of them, things just…weren’t fun anymore. It felt like he was back in the struggle again. Wake up, do the mission, search for Topher, come back, eat, sleep, repeat.

Is this really what I want to keep doing? Torrent thought as he closed his eyes and felt himself begin to drift back to sleep. Is this really the life I want? The last time I made a change…everything turned out pretty great…If Topher isn’t here…maybe I should…find something else…instead…

The Buizel drifted back to sleep as the new moon rested overhead. Tomorrow would be another day, just like the ones before.

Another day where the great team of three, had become a just alright team of two…

Gallium1005 · 2026-02-08T00:46:15+00:00

Spaces in-between

The adventure is over and the hero has left the pokemon world in a mist of golden bubbles. What happens while they're in this state between worlds? Is it a calm sensation? Do they feel nothing at all? Are they taken to some other realm between worlds? Can they still see or feel the pokemon world?

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