Second Spell: Across Time. [Partially backdated.]

[behindblueskin]

Who: Keldor and...
Where: Hisui or Johto
When: The past or the present
Summary: Backdated stuff from the Hisui event and some current day things.
Rating: Unrated
Log:

Hisui #1: It'll be a few days yet before everything's fixed and people are sent back to their proper time, but before that happens, Keldor's making yet another attempt to catch one of the native Growlithes before time runs out.

The clock Keldor should be worrying about right now is the "day clock". It's already sunset, and that means the diurnal 'mons will soon be punching out while the night shift punches in. Already a flock of Zubats and a few Golbats are heading out with a big case of the munchies. Their Crobat leader hasn't arrived yet, but when it does, it's gonna notice Sakura and recognise her as a potential enemy.

Rocks will need to be deployed, but unfortunately for Keldor, there's a Voltorb amongst them, and when he grabs it, the result is predictable. It might even look like the taserings from Despicable Me 2, but we won't confirm that.

While he's recovering from the shock of a lifetime he might need assistance. First to drive off the 'bats thinking he's now been zapped into a lunchable, then to help him back to consciousness, and then hopefully to help him catch his Growlithe.

---

Hisui #2: One day and one electrocution later, it looks like Keldor's made a fast friend with the Voltorb he accidentally grabbed last night. He's not quite sure what to make of it, but the Voltorb doesn't seem inclined to want to leave [despite all efforts to shoo it away], so it looks like it's going to be part of the team for the foreseeable future.

---

Johto: It's good to be back, even if where he is isn't his original home. Ganpi, Fukiran, Gingko and Momiji are eager to get to know their new friends before Keldor's pokegear informs him that he's got one too many pokemon on-hand and the limit is six. As much as he'd really like to work on training Sakura and his second Growlithe, he did spend a lot of money trying to get Fukiran's egg, so he'll be kept while the other is sent to the box [as will Sakura].

Now that that's out of the way, it's time to get to work.

Everyone is behind on their training and they need to make up for lost time.

Comments

[crystalmaster]

[Radley is relieved when helps comes! He explains what happened and how Keldor is behaving now.]

[behindblueskin]

[He's getting a bit of an exam right now.]

Sounds like he took a bad shock. Any idea which pokemon did it?

[It could still be around.]

[crystalmaster]

Yeah, it was a Voltorb.

[Radley sounds a bit angry. He's still grappling with his memories of what happened to him. It infuriates him for someone else to wrongly suffer similarly.]

[behindblueskin]

Damn. And neither of us has anything with a type advantage over the native Voltorbs.

[Looks like the one that shocked Keldor will be allowed to roll off somewhere else for the time being.]

Must've been one that was reasonably high level to knock him out.

Well, let's get him back to camp.

[crystalmaster]

Let's. How bad do you think it hurt him?!

[Radley moves to help carry, if needed.]

[behindblueskin]

Well he's still breathing and his heartrate is returning to normal, so it didn't do too much damage.

[Wow this guy is bigger than they thought! Where the hell does he come from? Certainly doesn't look like he was 100% human back home.]

He just needs somewhere to lie down so he can regain full consciousness without hurting himself.

[crystalmaster]

... I hope that's all he needs. He was really out of it thinking he was back in his past.

[Radley is not convinced.

He stumbles when trying to help lift. Oh wow. This is not going to be easy....]

[behindblueskin]

[They grow them big in Anwat Gar. And even a half-Gar is gonna be sizeable (even if he's been humanised, some elements will remain), but it seems like the rescuers are managing. Slowly. But managing.]

Yeah, getting your brains scrambled can happen when pokemon use their attacks on you.

Especially—oof!—if you're not used to it.

[crystalmaster]

[Radley helps as best as he can.]

You're sure he'll be okay?! Electrocution usually means permanent injuries or death back home....

[behindblueskin]

Getting zapped, scorched, drenched, scratched and other such things is part of being a trainer.

[The anime's full of that kind of thing.]

But we'll still carry out a full examination to be sure.

[crystalmaster]

[Which is exactly why Radley doesn't want Electric or Fire types, fearing they would do that to him.]

Yeah, you should!

[He shudders at the memories of what he went through himself.]

[behindblueskin]

[They can start the examination, now that they've gotten Keldor to the appropriate tent that Sakura helpfully opens the door so no one has to drop the man they're carrying inside.]

Hmmm... Vitals seem to be good. A few burns from getting shocked, especially on the hand. That'll need bandaging. But everything else seems all right.

He gets zapped by a possibly level ten plus Voltorb, ends up half-conscious and loopy. Guy's made of some seriously hardy stock.

[Yup. It seems that the Gar are pretty resilient. Keldor was once tossed like a ragdoll, then pounded into near-hamburger by no less than Beastman himself—who's practically built like a gorilla and is at least eight feet tall, 900 pounds and pure muscle—and managed to recover from that. What Keldor needs is a few hours' rest and he'll be okay.

His dreams might not be, but physically he'll be okay.]

[crystalmaster]

[Radley smiles at Sakura.

He sighs in relief at the report, but will likely remain wary until he really sees everything's okay.]

Great. I'll wait with him until he's okay.

[behindblueskin]

[Bandaging doesn't take very long, nor does it stir him to do much more than mutter something.]

We won't be far away if anything does go wrong.

I'm sure you'll give us a holler if he takes a turn for the worse.

[crystalmaster]

Oh, you bet.

[Radley knows he's not qualified to deal with serious medical things. He settles in a chair and Lily hops on his lap.]

[behindblueskin]

[It'll be a pretty peaceful wait, for the most part. Nothing much to do while waiting on Keldor to show a bit more life than he is, so if anyone grabs a book or plays a game or nods off, well...

As for Keldor, this might be the most at peace he's been since coming here. No bad dreams (yet). No Miro being a shitty father. No stepmother dying. No one tossing him out for something he didn't do. No one giving him a hard time for just being Gar. No one manipulating him for some nefarious purpose whilst pretending to be someone who understands what he's been through. It's pretty nice.

Just nice enough, perhaps, to last a couple hours before he starts mumbling again.

That means he's going to be okay if he's mumbling, right?]

[crystalmaster]

[Radley brushes Lily and talks to her for a while. When Keldor starts mumbling again, he starts and comes to attention.]

... Well, one thing's for sure. Even if you'll be okay, I'll feel all the more justified in avoiding Electric and Fire types....

[This experience has pretty much been his fears come true and validated. He sighs, hoping Keldor will become aware of his surroundings soon.]

[behindblueskin]

[It might not be distinct enough to make out the words, but the words don't need to be clear to know what he must be seeing that's prompting the mutterings. Memories. Old ones. Miro's endless stream of disapprovals. Amelia trying to console him. Randor making attempts at trying to understand how his half-brother feels after suffering yet more abuse from the populous he's supposed to rule over.

And somewhat newer ones. The battle with Marzo. Marzo jettisoning Miro into some unknown dimension. Amelia dying suddenly. Randor not even bothering to try to get to the bottom of things; just exiling his brother. Meeting and being mentored by Hordak. Finding the havoc staff and learning of Hordak's true identity.

They're familiar images.

It's the one where he finds himself being swarmed by a flock of Eternian bats that's new. Some of them are carrying ... something.

A skull.

It says only one thing to him when he can see it clearly.

"I am your future."]

...no...

...no, I do not...

[Sure looks like he's having a bad dream.]

[crystalmaster]

[Radley is haunted by the mutterings and what he gleans of them. A life filled with so much sadness.... And the full story must be so much darker and sadder than what he can tell from the mutterings.

He decides to try again to get through.]

Hey! This is all past now. It's not what's happening to you in the present day. You're with me now. You're with ... a friend....

[Is he being presumptuous? For his part, he does consider Keldor a friend.]

[behindblueskin]

[Poor Keldor. Canon has never been kind to him, which is sad, because he has so much potential and deserves so much better.

The skull says nothing; just gives a high-pitched cackle as it comes closer...]

...no... NO! STAY AWAY—

[He's bolt upright now, breathing hard. Wild-eyed.]

Where ... am I? [then confusedly] ...Radley?

[That was horrible. Especially because he's afraid that it was true; that it was a vision of the future.]

[crystalmaster]

[Radley jumps a mile. But the recognition of him at last fills him with such immense relief.]

Keldor?!

[He sighs and smiles.]

It's really good to see you awake. That Voltorb did a number on you.

[Lily warbles.]

[behindblueskin]

I feel like I have been punched, but by magic, not a hand.

[He scrubs his face for a moment, then notices the bandaging. Carefully, he moves it out of the way to see what has been covered up, and wishes he hadn't.

Ohhhh that's going to scar. He can see that much.]

[crystalmaster]

Yeah, you just proved I'm not crazy to not want Electric types.

[Radley winces at the burn.]

Fire types too.

I was worried you wouldn't be okay.

[behindblueskin]

I have sparred with many men, including R'quazz himself.

[The aforementioned Beastman.]

And came away with some bruising or fractured bone. And yes, even rendered unconscious.

That creature's attack. I can only liken it to being struck by R'quazz when he actually means to inflict damage.

[In other words it bloody fucking hurt.]

[crystalmaster]

[Radley grimaces.]

Yeah, I am never going near one of those if I can help it.

Aside from that, how do you feel?

[He's not sure whether to bring up all the mumblings and their content.]