World Tree MUSH

    here have been flyers and newspaper ads for this event for a while now!, even grainy pictures of some of the pokemon and the premises involved. There were promises of prizes, exotic pokemon and a chance to test skills against skilled trainers from all over the world!.

    The premises were impressive, located quite near Quartz town, a large fairground with several tents, and even what seems like a combat arena (if a bit small in side) even some carnival games!. Fun for the family, and a chance to learn about Pokemon!.

    Luke certainly is one of the first to be there, since the event happened at his hometown, and he was both one of the trainers for the battles, and also just... fond of poking around at fairs. He was being flanked by a group of pokemon!, On his left side, there is a large orange, red and black bear (grizzly sized) carrying a small panda on it's head, and what seems like a pink plush bear near the back. The panda and the big fire bear seem happy to wave at folks, while the 'plush' seems to be softly grumbling each time some random kid goes 'aww cute' at it and reaching to try to pet. 

    On the left side, a trio of cats, An extremily round tiger, a black cat with a bell on it's tailtip, and a small cream kitten. They all seem far more friendly about people being curious about them!. For now, Luke remains near the main entrance, greeting the visitors.

    Uni enters the grounds, walking primly with her hands clasped behind her back. She very likely sticks out a bit, with the super dark ensemble and her piercing red eyes. She gives a wave to Luke who's the greeter, and his team of pokemon, looking them each over apraisingly. "And I thought Lowee was weird with its game series of satchel creatures." she comments idly, before sidling over to the trio of cats, offering her hand out for them to sniff before attempting to pet them. It's only polite, after all.

    One of these flyers has found its way into the hands of TANAKA THE FORBIDDEN ONE! Surely this can only bring ill tidings of death and despair, for the ASCENDANT OVERLORD OF ICE brings such tidings with him wherever he goes! Alas and alack, then, that he should find his way to this celebration, bringing his darkness and the Four Dark Devas of Destruction with him, to lay waste to the proceedings! And to gather to him more minions, in the form of these innocent Pokemon that populated this now-doomed world!

    ...For those of us who AREN'T suffering from eight-grader syndrome... Gundham found one of the flyers when he was exploring near a Vine and decided to come and see what it was all about. He'd heard about these 'Pokemon' before, but he'd never seen them, and didn't really know much about them. But they seemed to be animals, for the most part, so he figured he'd come and see.

    Of course he has the Devas with him; for now they're hiding in his scarf as they usually do. Gundham might stick out a little since he's wearing all dark colors, he's clearly wearing one colored contact lens, and he has a hackles-up 'get the hell away from me' presence to him.

Anna has been overworking herself getting ready for finals! Between that and a certain incident in space, Spiral has absolutely mandated some R&R, and so Anna has hitched a vine over to this particular pokemon world.

She's wandering around, smiling with interest as she takes in all the festivities. The golden-furred catlike form of Spiral is perched on her shoulder, looking around with interest; occasionally, her eyes flicker with pearlescent light. Must gather more data on trainer bonds!

    Luke was glad to stand at the entrance, after all, was an honor to be picked to be one of the contestants for the 'exhibition matches' and for the tiny tournament as well!. Also means he is in prime position to spot any potential familiar face, the trio of cats appreciating the 'ooohs' and attention they get from visitors, and most of the bears do the same, except for a certain pink one, that tries to hide away, grumbling at people calling it cute, mumbling something as it waddles to hide behind Luke. If anyone understood pokemon, they might hear him ramble about how he is not cute! he is fierce!.

    Of course, that was not the only entrance, and even just walking into the grounds one starts to run into a myriad of people, pokemon and different stands and carnival games. Gundham happens to pick the entrance leading to the gardens, where he can spot what seem like tiny green and white humanoids inspecting flowers, and what looks like a floating keychain 'supervising' the small critters. Not too far from the keychain, a pair of pink birds wearing what look white masks flutter around as well, adding to the already pleasant scents of the flowers with their own, special perfume. 

    Every time a kid or girl try to 'take' a flower, the small fairies and the bird move to politely 'shoo' the children away, they seem in charge of the garden!. As Gundham gets closer, he draws the attention of one of the masked birds, who flutters next to him, "Spritzee?" it asks, apparently curious about the 'intimidating' person.r
    Anna also gets some looks, even if most of the attention goes towards the small critter perched on her shoulder, "What pokemon is that?, it's really cute!" asks some, "Can I pet it?" ask some others. Luke is quick to notice poor Anna's struggle with the 'fans' and is quick to move ahead, giving his phamplets to the fire bear to hand around, "I'll be back in a second." he tells Agni, before approaching Anna, "Hey Anna!, nice to see you!" he calls, helping her move through the small crowd.

    Yahiko wanders... a lot. In his perpetual quest to get home, he just picks worlds and tries to find out as much as he can. Sometimes this takes him to Japan, and sometimes to... stranger places. Like this one with the odd animals.

    Being dressed in a typical samurai kimono with a shinai and a wrapped blade pretty odd, but hey, 'wnandering Samurai' is basically his MO now. Though the weirdness of the creatures has him paying attention to what people are calling them, and he looks up when he hears Luke. A lot of strange people about, as it turns out, but he so far doesn't know how odd Tanaka's uh.... tendencies are, so he's waving to Luke. "Huh, I remember you."

    Gundham actually pauses in the main entrance, to send a sympathetic look to the pink bear. Yeah, he understands that. So few people understand how DAMNED and CURSED he is, and they still try to socialize with him. Never knowing that they're taking their LIVES into their own hands!

    Of course Gundham would pick the garden entrance. It's more natural-looking, and he'd probably gone into that one in the vain hope that there wouldn't be as many -- (shudder) -- PEOPLE. That hope however, is indeed in vain. Well, as long as they leave him alone, he decides, and heads in.

    And immediately he stops at the tiny white humanoid things on flowers. One of his eyes twitches. What... the hell are these things?! Are these Pokemon? Plants? He does approach the creatures... and the floating, sentient keychain -- yeah, this is a fever dream, isn't it? -- to try to examine them visually.

    He's not wanting to take a flower, so there's that. No shooing of the Overlord of Ice will be necessary. However, he does raise a hand slightly, startled, at the approach of the incredibly PINK creature. "...What?" he voices, as the creature seems to be addressing him.

Anna blinks in surprise. "Huh ...?" She has a slightly androgynous voice. (She's been working on it!)

Spiral sputters. "I'm not a pokemon!" she says. "I'm a visitor just like Anna here!"

They are both very grateful for Luke's ... interference. Anna laughs nervously. "Hi, Luke!" she says. "Wow, how's it been going with you?" She follows Luke back to his gaggle of pokemon.

When Yahiko speaks up, she and Spiral both turn to face him, each of them trying to remember where they've seen him before.

    To Yahiko's credit, it is somewhat japanese looking, if perhaps a bit too modern for him. Some people compliment the teen on his garb, and oen or two wonder where he obtained such a well made kimono, or those cool looking swords!. There is even the mention of costume, but it is mostly a conversation between a couple teens. Luke certainly is happy to keep company to Anna, chuckling as some of the nearby kids pull away at Spiral's outburst, one of the apologizing, the other just taking a picture on what seems like a cellphone, exclaiming, "Cool.". Luke grins and shakes his head, "I'm sorry... I figure most people might think Spiral here is some kind of rare pokemon." he explains as he tries to placate the annoyed creature. "Doing well, been busy helping set this up, and eager to do the tournament later today...." he tells Anna, before Yahiko speaks!. 

     Luke turns towards Yahiko as well, a momentary pause before he seems to recognize the young swordsman, "I think I remember you!, Yahiko was it?", at that point the massive fire bear glances their way and waves towards Yahiko, recognizing the boy as well. On the pokemon side, the smaller of Luke's cats climbs on the poor boy's side to try to mimic Spiral, perching on his shoulder and mewling a greeting. 

    The Spritzee just hovers near Gundham for a moment, vocalizing again, more of that rather pleasant scent hitting the air, maybe a bit annoying for something with a more sensitive nose, enough to cause sneezing maybe!, while the other pokemon of the garden resume tending to it. The bird seems to ponder and politely points Gundham towards the grounds, more precisely a small area filled with small pokemon, mostly different rodents and similarly sized creatures, perhaps scenting the critters hidden in Gundham's scarf and kind of thinking they might belong there. Down the path there is a Mr. Mime making a display with some very convincing invisible walls.

    It takes Yahiko a moment. He remembers Luke, but placing where he was is harder. At last, he snaps his fingers and points, "Right, the animated swordsman! I remember now. Good to see you're healthy." He grins, and also gives a small bow toward one of those who complimented him. He's had it for a while, but Athena's craftswomanship in repairing it has definitely helped a lot.

    Then the cat is imitating Spiral, and he laughs, looking at Anna again. "And I think we've met you. You're a fast runner, if I'm right. Nice to see you safe." It isn't clear if he can see Spiral or not, though, because the cat-mon looks pretty cute just doing that. "So Luke, wasn't it? Is this your world? Looks pretty popular." He nods toward where Gundham is... getting along well.

    Gundham tilts his head at the pink avian-like Pokemon. It's apparently not enough like a bird for him to understand it. But when the Spritzee points in a direction to usher him along, he nods. "...Thank you." Even if he can't understand it, it's not a human, so it gets some respect. Better than that, he doesn't give it his usual 'I AM TANAKA THE FORBIDDEN ONE' spiel. Which is good because everybody would hear it and then eyes would end up rolling.

    Also because he's busy rubbing his nose. What is that SMELL?! It's not that it's unpleasant, it's just... incredibly strong. And he's trying really hard not to sneeze. Because THE ASCENDANT OVERLORD OF ICE DOES NOT SNEEZE.

    Though yes, he does head in the direction of the rodent Pokemon. At the same time, perhaps smelling other rodents in the area, a rather rotund, golden-colored hamster pokes its head out of Gundham's scarf and squeaks. If one were inclined to listen to animals' tone of voice, one might hear a question in it.

    "...Yes, mostly likely," Gundham murmurs quietly, as if in answer to the question. "They aren't like you four. They're something else." The golden hamster squeaks again, another question. "Perhaps."

    He pauses, then, to look in the direction of Yahiko, Luke, and Anna. He almost seems surprised to find them there, and a frisson of surprise rattles his expression. Though in the next moment, he hides that, drawing his expression into that hard 'I AM EVIL' look. That's right. He's evil. Scary. He might EAT YOU if you talk to him!

    ...And all of that spoiled by the jolly looking, rotund hamster perched on his shoulder.

Spiral sighs theatrically. "... Maybe I should just shapeshift into a Meowth or something ..."

Anna smiles. "A talking Meowth?" She shrugs. "Well, good to see you're doing well!"

Spiral is in fully-visible mode, and Yahiko is his own world's "equivalent" of the magical warriors regardless, so of course he can see her. Anna chuckles and nods. "Oh right, you were there when those pirates attacked!" she says. "Yeah, I've upgraded myself from 'running really fast' to 'full-fledged magical warrior' since then. I'm Anna, and this is Spiral!"

Spiral murmurs, "And also upgraded her recklessness." She happens to glance over at Gundham at that moment, and her eyes flicker with that pearlescent light again as she gauges his abilities. (At this point she's gotten sufficiently used to the "gibberish" to be able to form actual conclusions about what she sees.) Huh ... kind of different from the pokemon trainers, with actual magic of his own besides. Must be another outworlder. She makes no outward comment, however, and turns back to the conversation.

    Luke chuckles a bit a the mention of pokemon, "Well, as long as you remain quiet, I am sure you might pass without notice, if you did something like that." he offers to Spiral, reaching to pet the insistent cream furred kitten on his shoulder, it looks almost normal, except for the round coin that seems 'stuck' on it's forehead. He nods a few times, "Yeah! I helped stop that thing... well, Agni did." he says, waving a hand towards the fire bear who huffs and stands tall for a moment, as if posing.

    Some people look back at Gundham as he speaks to his scarf... and the most adorable little hamster ever!, but they keep their polite distance, since it seems his 'evil' aura seems to mostly work at convincing most strangets to keep away. That is not to say some of the rodents nearby didn't spot him, or the chubby critter, one of them, a particularly rolly polly kind of critter scurries a bit closer, wanting a better look of the stranger and the odd 'animal' on that shoulder!. 

    Of course, the first thing to spot Gundham's approach was the kitten on his shoulder, who perks its ears and proceeds to groom its forehead after mewling in greeting to the two, Luke glancing around to greet the other outworlder, he seems familiar for some reason... Still, the boy waves one hand, "Hello." he says in a friendly way, noticing the adorable hamster, he can't be that bad if he has such a cute hamster!.

    "Hello there," Gundham greets the gray rodent. He doesn't regard the round little rodent Pokemon with the same kind of intensity that he regards other people. In fact, he actually regards it with a notable degree of friendliness, apparently having decided right away he likes the critter. He also kind of relaxes a little, the line of his shoulders not quite so tense.

    ...Until Luke speaks, of course! He looks like a deer caught in headlights for a moment! But then he turns in Luke's direction, crossing his arms over his chest. "Greetings," he offers to Luke -- and by extension the people standing with him -- with a bluster to his words that he didn't have a moment ago.

    And if Luke thought the one hamster was cute? Three more tiny little hamsters poke their heads out of various points at his scarf. One of which looks like it's even still asleep.

    Huh. Yahiko is eying Gundham now. That guy looks pretty shifty, but if he isn't causing trouble Yahiko can't really shake him down for answers. Well, he also might just look that way. It's not like Sanosuke looked like a square-jawed heroic type either. "Huh. Hello."

    Well, Yahiko rubs his head sheepishly. "Upgraded? You were already almost the fastest person I'd ever seen back home." Almost? Well there was that one kid. "I can't imagine how fast and strong you are now. That's great to hear!"

    Then Yahiko nods, "Yeah, that was a bit of a mess. I just hope nothing like that happens again. Anyway, these are pretty interesting creatures. I've never seen anything like them until I ran into you."

Spiral shrugs. "Well, I was mostly being facetious about the possibility, I guess. I don't actually want to be mistaken for one?"

Anna smiles at Yahiko and Luke. "Sounds like you've had plenty of adventures," she says dryly. She shrugs. "And yeah. I prefer to save it for special occasions, and I don't feel like joining in the tournament here, so ... maybe I can show you my new form some other time." Her recklessness vanishes when she doesn't have anyone to protect.

Anna blinks at Gundham's general ... well, intensity. Still, though, she just nods to him in greeting. "Hey."

    The Togedemaru chirps amiably and waves one paw as Gundham greets it, turning its attention tot he chubby hamster and waving at it, clearly intrigued about the critter perched on the man's shoulder!. It goes as far as walk right next to Gundham, chirping again.

    lLuke (plus kitten) both look at the tense Gundham, with the collective gaze turning to the other hamsters coming into view, so cute!, "If you like creatures like that there is a small petting zoo with pokemon that are similar to them." he offere politely, "There are snacks too, some seeds and berries." he adds, wanting to help people have fun at this place!. 

    Luke finally returns to talk a bit more with Yahiko and Anna, listening curiously, and nodding a few times, "I heard that before, I mean I do think they are great as well, but didn't realize it was such an uncommon thing in other worlds." he says, petting the kitten on his shoulder, who casually stretches. There is some movement near Gundham, as another of Luke's pokemon gets curious, a large black cat with what looks like a bell on it's tail casually moving closer to the large human, eyes moving between him and the trio of small pokemon, flicking it's tail and causing a steady chiming noise.

    Uhoh. The mortals have seen him, he notes mentally, as Yahiko seems to be eyeing him and Anna greets him. Should he chance going over there? Well, he does have some questions, and there is one mortal that he saw at the gates -- that one seems to be a guide of sorts. (That would be Luke.) SO! He heads over to where Luke, Anna, and Yahiko are talking. Though he does indeed invite the round gray rodent Pokemon to accompany him as he heads in that direction, if it's allowed to do so.

    Of course the rotund golden hamster on his shoulder greets the gray Pokemon cheerily! He's a jolly sort. There's a girl up there, though, who is fine with the gray rodent's presence... but this is THEIR human. Another male hamster seems to size the Pokemon up. And the sleepy one... sleeps on. But greets the Pokemon nonetheless!

    Though the cat might have an easier time, since... well. Cat, rodents -- the Devas aren't nearly so brash at the black bell-cat. Gundham will offer... feline behavior to the cat. He looks at the black cat and slowly closes his eyes, leaving them closed for a moment before opening them again. That, in cat language, is the closest thing to a hug they can offer.

    Whether accompanied by Pokemon or not, Gundham will eventually make it over to where Luke, Anna, and Yahiko are. He seems to hesitate a moment, but then just sort of... well, he opens the conversation with, "I would ask questions of this one." He means Luke. Though he does look at Spiral as well -- definitely not a feline species he's seen before...

    Gundham's attitude makes Yahiko... smile? No, it isn't a /friendly/ smile, just one laced with memory. He watches for a long moment when the youth's imperious attitude says all that, and mutters, "Now THAT reminds me of home..." He doesn't move closer though, giving Gundham his space. There /is/ something about him, after all... no need to aggravate him if he needn't.

    Luke and Anna innstead for now, then. "Adventures... yeah something like that. I hope to not have as many but I still haven't found home, so I'll probably run into more. I guess if people get helped, that's good enough right? You're a good kid, Luke, try not to get killed." There's no mockery in that... Luke is barely younger than Yahiko was when he started getting into life and death struggles.

Anna nods to Luke and Yahiko. "It really depends on the world, I guess," she says. "My version of Earth ... well, like ..."

Spiral interjects, "Most worlds simply aren't as safe as this one." She shrugs. "Even in someplace like the Mushroom Kingdom, you need to be ... kind of a cut above the rest, I suppose, to go on adventures like that."

Anna smiles. "I'm glad I am, especially now!"

But she bristles slightly at Gundham's whole ... attitude. There's just something about him that rubs her the wrong way. She just looks between him and Luke, looking ready to interrupt if things get ... unpleasant.

    The small round, gray pokemon is apparently free to do as it pleases!, it even clambers on Gundham's shoulder if allowed, greeting the other rodents cheerfully with happy, if quiet chirps, not wanting to disturb the sleeping creature. He seems curious on the golden, rotund one, a friendly critter he is, quite a happy group!. The cat pokemon is quite satisfied by the greeting as well, the chiming of that bell shifting faintly as it continues to sway behind it, returning to slow blink, showing trust as well, and nodding as he 'guards' Gundham on their way to Luke.

    Luke seems a bit curious about the concern shown by Yahiko and Anna, blinking a bit and shaking his head, "It's fine, I know how to take care of myself." he says. If either the bear of the biggest of the cats were within earshot, they might roll their eyes at that. "I am careful!" he says softly

    Luke then smiles and nods a few times towards Gundham, not seeing much reason to distrust the visitor just yet, "Sure, I can do my best to answer any questions you have."

    Yahiko seems to have the right of it there; Gundham seems to... almost relax a little across his shoulders when he's not further approached. Though, if it makes Anna feel any better, Gundham is keeping a good bit of space between himself and Luke, so it seems unlikely he's going to attack or otherwise try to hurt the Pokemon trainer. That would be a dumb idea anyway, with most of Luke's Pokemon out and around him -- perhaps he realizes that?

    The fat gold hamster, seems fine with this company, and chitters happily to the gray Pokemon. Though the female hamster retreats into the scarf again with a squeak! And the other male that's not sleeping basically does the hamster equivalent of 'put 'em up, put 'em up'. Not to fight, mind, but sort of like... fighter greetings, if that makes sense. Shoulder bump. The thing two mutual fighters do to assure their mutual understanding of the principls of fight. Needless to say Gundham is fine with the Pokemon's company as well.

    He does look to Yahiko and Anna before speaking up, though. Acceptance? Assurance they're not going to attack him? But, well. Finally he asks, "You are a Beastmaster as well? I would like to know what manner of beasts these are."

    It is REALLY HARD to look scary when you have a fat gray mouse snuggling your shoulder. And Gundham is... not managing it. He's TRYING. But just. No. There are some things one cannot look tough or scary in the face of. This is one of them.

    "I know you can, and it sounds like Anna here can too," Yahiko agrees. At least he's broken the flinch he used to get when using names so familiar-like. Westerners are weird. "But there are dangers all around out there, I guess. Just be careful..."

    Like that Gundham guy. It looks cute, but it COULD be a vicious monster on his shoulder! Or just... an awkward guy with a cute pet. Hard to say. He seems to just want directions though, so Yahiko relaxes and gestures. "Okay, let me take a look at some of these other... pokemon. I'll just be over there if you need me. Oh! Yahiko Myojin, by the way, in case you didn't catch it." He grins. "I'm going to just look around for a bit."

Anna smiles and nods. "I know you can! It's just ... safer here to get to that point, I think."

Spiral murmurs, "Not that that's stopped some people I could mention."

Ignoring Spiral, Anna raises an eyebrow at Gundham's attitude. "'Beastmaster' is one way of putting it," she interjects dryly. Still, she relaxes, and doesn't press the issue further. She really can't take the "threat" seriously in those circumstances, no. But she does give Yahiko a goodbye wave, and says, "See you later!"

    The silver pokemon seems quite glad to 'converse' with the other hamsters, or trying to!, if he can 'comunicate' he talks about the festival, the food and the friendly people constantly tossing snacks at him and the other pokemon. The friendly 'put 'em up' greeting gets teh round chubby pokemon to show off a bit, the smooth fur standing on end for a moment, looking fairly spiky!, metal spikes!, before relaxing, replying the gesture happily.

    The question from Gundham takes a moment to properly parse, before Luke nods slowly, "I think that is a good term, I... catch these pokemon, or rather, they agree to come with me, and I train them to be stronger and help me any way they can." he says softly, "These are pokemon, the specific species are... well, I can tell you the names of course, the one in your shoulder is a Togedemaru, it's actually one from the area that just... kinda invited itself to the festival, but since it is a friendly one, we have no issue with that, the cat next to you is one of mine, Bellboyant.". He pauses to smile to Yahiko, "I promise I will take care of myself, you have fun in the grounds." he says softly. Anna gets a polite nod, perhaps used of 'older' people worrying about him being safe.

    Gundham sends a look at Yahiko as he departs. And he... actually speaks directly to him! "Be ever mindful; these creatures may be small, but if they are anything like my Four Dark Devas of Destruction, their ferocity belies their small size and unassuming looks."

    Anna's words get a nod. "Since my world has been woven into this World Tree, I have been attempting to learn more of the beasts of other worlds, to learn their strengths and weaknesses. Perhaps the Devas may have companions. But if not, the knowledge is still valuable to me."

    The rodent going SPIKEY gets a look from Gundham. It's about halfway between 'whoa that was awesome' and 'holy crap what the hell'. And the golden hamster hunkers down at this! Then he looks at the more fighty hamster and squeaks. It's along the lines of 'don't provoke him, he might poke bossman!'.

    Unfortunately, it seems a great deal of what Gundham says has to be parsed and translated. He listens to Luke explain; he looks to the Togedemaru, and then the Bellboyant, when each is indicated. "Ah, I see. You do not dominate the beasts? You instead form contracts with them?" he asks. "You seem to have several such companions... do their contracts mark your soul? Does a contract with so many take its toll?"

Anna opens her mouth to say something else to Luke --

"Settle down, Anna," says Spiral, "he's faced down a level 3 and a level 4 Curse Phantom and come out ahead."

Anna clamps her mouth shut and grins.

And then she just bursts out laughing at the phrase 'Four Dark Devas of Destruction.' She staggers back slightly, and Spiral worriedly floats off her shoulder. The subsequent comments about contracts cause her to laugh even more. She tries to stop it, and ends up coughing. "Oh my gods that ... ahahahaha!" Her voice sounds slightly weirder for a moment, she manages to get herself back under control. "Ugh, sorry, sorry!" She shakes her head. She's still grinning, though.

    Luke listens and smiles, "Well, it's more like, the creature decides you are a worthy... master and a friend, and it then decides to follow and obey your commands, there is no real contract signed, they are all my friends, I know they would do a lot for me, and I'd do a lot to keep them happy and safe as well." eh says, before he grumbles, "Even if some other trainers treat their pokemon like tools, and actually abuse and try to force them." she says. To his credit, he didn't react to the 'nickname' to the hamsters, even if he smiles a bit more widely. "So you train and became friends with them?" he asks, looking at the 'devas', "You listen to them and they listen to you, and you share a deep bond, right?, that's similar to how I feel with my pokemon."

    Gundham visibly bristles at the laughter from Anna. He seems to shake a little, just for a moment... and then goes back to being tense. Like. SUPER tense, like he was before he'd come over. But instead of getting mad, he merely notes, "Laugh if you will. It is always the first to laugh that is also the first to die, when the Devas unleash their wrath." It didn't sound like an overt threat, mind -- it was spoken too quietly and easily.

    Though that said, his left arm IS completely bandaged up. Maybe that's due to the Devas 'unleashing their wrath'. Whirlwind rodent teeth from four hamsters is probably a pretty unpleasant thing to suffer, even if it's not the literal end of the world.

    Luke's explanation draws his attention again, and Gundham seems to relax just ever so slightly. Just enough of the forced fierceness leaves his expression for it to be visible. "I see," he notes. The mention of people who use their Pokemon like tools draws an HONESTLY dark frown. Here he actually looks displeased rather than 'fake evil'. "There are such fiends as that in your world as well. Perhaps it is endemic to mortals as a whole." Notably he speaks as though he himself was NOT a mortal.

    As for training the Devas? Gundham nods. "They serve me, and in return I see to it that all their needs are met," he replies. "I can understand their speech in ways mortal beings cannot." Whup, there he goes again. The subject of the Pokemon gets a thoughtful 'hrm'. "That does seem very much like my bond with the Devas," he admits.

Anna takes a few deep breaths to recover herself, with Spiral just looking annoyed that she just had an outburst like that.

The golden catlike creature turns back to Gundham. "There's good and bad people in every world, I suppose," she says. "If there's something that can be used for good or for evil, people will engage with it one way or the other."

At all this talk about 'mortals', her eyes flicker again. Nothing that seems to indicate immortality, and he's definitely human ...