<KITTEN!> Sprigatito cries, nearly falling off his trainer’s shoulder in his excitement at both the snacks and the sight of his best friend. He climbs down Kazuki’s arm, pricking the man’s skin with his claws, before jumping off it like a springboard and scurrying straight for Kitten and the berries, fully intending to barrel into both.

Behind him is what appears to be a Meowth, who had been walking on the ground rather than catching a ride on their trainer. The new cat approaches curiously and cautiously, unsure of how to act in front of the unfamiliar pokemon.

Kazuki doesn't appear particularly bothered by the claws, and in fact, prefers them there over his face. He follows his cats with long, lazy strides, watching Verai with a growing smile. When he gets close enough, he drops down to crouch in front of the man, reaching forwards to pluck one of the berries from his lap.

“I leave you alone for a bit and you’re already becoming a monk?” He chuckles, popping the berry into his mouth. “Could’ve just called, Ver.”

TRADE COMPLETE!

TORCHIC & MEOWTH have been exchanged!

Verai Kazuki

"You can't do that." He said, with all the air of someone who knew the rules. Which he himself did not. "The ownership gets blocked, or something." Was that true? Who knows. That's what Bria said.

Sure enough, know that Kazuki had agreed- by way of... not outright saying "no," he supposed- the trade screen flicks up, along with the little loading gif, before the trade is processed. As it was going to close, though, Verai's field of view seemed to spark, flickering brightly before fading like nothing had even happened. "What-" Verai hissed, then glaring at Kazuki like he was responsible for it. "What was that?"

Verai glanced over at Sprigatito's cry, looking at the berry, that... simply hung there, like a snapshot. Verai blinked, and it refused to fall, even as Kitten sprung for it, and missed. "What's going on?" He asked, quiet now.

There was then a call, breaking across the silent woods. It was a braying roar, between bear and bull, echoing against trees. Kitten, even, had gone quiet, running back to Verai's side as something stepped into view, well in the distance- but not far enough.

It was a deer- Or, it was supposed to be. It flickered and sparked, legs not quite attaching to body, head misplaced from where it was a frame ago. It stared down, between the gaps of the trees, at the pair of men, with far too many unblinking eyes.

SPOILER: Click to show

{cw flashing image, glitch text}

"W̶̛̭͔̒͛̈͝h̷̡̛͓͖̪̱̰͇̥͙͖̫̟̒͊̎̉̄̿͗̎͐̑͂̐̆̚͘ͅͅͅͅa̶̡̧̡̛̜̹͚͎͔̟̙̓̂̾͗̿̂̌̈̕͝t̴̢̛͓̲͓͉͍̙̼͍̅ͅ ̵̧̨̣͔̤̘̤̬͈̦͎̭̖̕t̷̤̣̭͓͐̆̍͘̚h̸̢̲͍̠̒͛̒́̌̐̀e̷̛̲̪̰̩̩̰̮̣̍͑̾͂͂̄͒̽͒̓̌͝͝ͅ ̷̞̳̘̣͇̻͍̥̹̱̮̤͗̅̈́̈́͒f̴̢̯̭̣̅̆̎̂͒̊́̒̈́̅͜͝u̷̢̯͙̝͊͆̃̀̓͛̄͌̾͋̓̄̚̕̚͝͝c̷̡͖͕̞̰̳͖̍͛̓͘͘k̶͈͖̣̬̆͌̾̒͌͒̒͒͊̍̏̓͛̕ ̶̧̼̳̖̭̲̻̝̙̺͓̠̖̏̒̽̀̇̒̑̈́́̍i̴͈͔̻̮͉̇͘͠s̵̳̾͋ ̶̦̳̘̞͈̥̻̹̀͌̇̓͂̾̏̓̎̾̾͜͠t̷̖̰̗͖̹̭̲̳̞̬̝̰͔͇̃͊̋̏͛̽̄̈́̊̚ͅͅh̶̩̯̳̬͍͍̣̞̪́̽̉́̏͑̒̎̌á̷̛̤̰̗͖̭̪̤̼̤̝̻̤̘̞̞̌̏͑͗̈́͌͐͑ṯ̵̱̟̼̭͉͉̮͓̥̙͔̘̩̥̝̀͊?̸̫͐̾̅͛̃", Verai asked, taking an uncharacteristic step backwards. The deer, likewise, took a step forward. W̴̠̭̦̺̗̹̟̰̬̥̪̥̺͈̙͙̜͈̻̣͉̿ę̵̢͙̜͙̦̟̮͚͓̲͓͍̄̀̀͛͆͠ ̵̡̱͖̟̤̖̇̾͑͑n̴̡̧̧̨̛͕̖̖̘̰͉̭̖̦͓͍̬͖̏͆̀̆̂̄̾͂̏̂͆͂̐̕͝e̴̛̪̱̺̮͐̿̒̿͑̉̒̑ȅ̵̛͙̻̗̰̫̣̫̩͑̋͛͋̈́̒̾̎̊̾̆̍̊̐̕ͅd̷̡̖͕̯͇͇͇͓̩̳͙̥̻̭̼͔̜̯͂̌̈́̈́͆̓͐̓̄͊͑͐̔̕͜͝͝ ̴̧̡̨̛̼͈̗̹̩̻̗̹̭̭͉͚̖̮͙̳̐̈̿̅͒͆͗̅̓̄̓̿̔̓̿̀͑͜͜͠t̷̛̫͓̮̫̋͑̊̿̾̈́͊͝͠o̷̰͚͍̗̺̖͖͕̼̐͛̆̒͛̆̈̆̀̀̏͊͒̃͠ ̶͈̤̼͖̻̝͐͋̾͒̀̍́͝g̴̛̪͇̳̿̓̔͑́͗͛̈́͌̐̏̇̚̚͠͠͝͠o̶̢̺̮̙͙̘̻̬̩͕̗̦̱̝͍͓̲̒̐́͆̀̑͛̓̒̉͗̅̓.̵̡͙͈̫̠̆͐͛͆͋͒͝ His voice was nearly unintelligible for the distortion ripping through the air. "W̶̢̡̨͎̖̯̙̲͊͂͌ͅę̴̡̝̟̜̟͚͙̼̲̳̣̗͓̄͝ͅͅ ̷̢̢̬̞̱̣̥͕̪͔̗̦̫̩͐̇͜ņ̴̧̮̘̬̦͓͎̱̭̖̫̙̲̳̇̃̄̇̅̓̈́̓̾͌͒̀e̵̡̢̛̛̫̙̳̞̣̲̤̯̞̘̰̫̠͓͆̇̃̇̈́̿͋̒̏͘͝e̵͖̤̙̬̯̅̀̓̿͆̃̚͝ͅd̶̛̗̝̆̎͂͌̋̈́͋͐̾̔̄̕̚̕ ̸͇͇̪̖̺̭̳͇̲̠͘t̷͈̞̪̬͓́̌̔̓̋̀͒̐͜ͅợ̵̧̹̮̱̖͉̟̘͎̮̲͖̾͋̽͂̀͊͛̉͌̎͊̎̚͘̕͜-̸̯̞͖͔͍̘̝̣̝̞̅̒̊̽̽̋̈̆̈́̑̋̾̕͜͝"

"-go!" He finally forced out, scooping up Kitten and whistling for Kitty, who started bounding after him. The deer continued to follow.

His chest hurt, ribs curling tighter and tigher as he ran, throat burning. He didn't dare look back, or even dare swallow. Kitten is clamped tight against him, face pressed into his chest, eyes squished shut. Kitty had caught up enough to cling to his leg, only faintly wailing in distress. Something was rising, a crackling below his hearing, something he could rather feel instead, pressing as if to cave in his skull.

The creature brayed again, and it simply was, not growing or quieting but just existing, no matter how they ran. The grove shifted around them, growing brighter, growing slower. Fruit and berries hang thick from trees. A leaf slowly falls and stills, locked in place. Verai does not think to move around it- and the leaf slices through his arm for his trouble.

He swore, grabbing at the gash- only for something to snap up in his face-

SPOILER: Click to show

{cw flashing image}

He squinted, trying to figure out how to get it away with everything freaking out- The pop-up vanished, and a tree warped in front of him, Verai quickly jerking to the side-

Right to where the tree had been. His feet found nothing, and he fell, barely able to grab onto the edge of where the autumn ground cut out, just a looming pit of off-blue-grey below. The cats freaked out, Kitten shooting onto the grass, Kitty clawing her way up Verai's back to safety. "Fuck-"

The deer caught them both in its lamplight eyes, slowly putting down one leg, and starting to reach another forward.

Verai tried to dig himself into the earth further, but whenever he tried the dirt under his fingers slowly gave way to simply nothing, the bytes dissolving as they reached the air. He felt Kazuki grab him, trying to haul him up, and Verai tried to assist as much as he could without fear of pulling Kaz down with him.

The leaves froze, their trajectory and gravity simply erased. The creature kept its gaze on them, leg finally, jerkily, finding place on the ground, body snapping to meet it. It looked down at the pile of cats, mouth going slack, opening in an impossible and macabre display. And, with a rough bellow, it roared, the world around the noise distorting and warpinng, cats thrown backwards, trees sliding in and out of place-

And gaps in the geometry, enlargening.

Verai felt the ground give way under his arms, reflexively grabbing at the nearest solid- Kazuki's shoulder. They fell, wind whipping until even that faded away- and he slammed hard onto the ground, feeling Kazuki and the cats landing alongside. He groaned weakly, and simply laid there, slowly opening his eyes to the sky.

The edges were a sky blue, perfect and unblemished, and laid overtop was a dark brown-grey. He stared at it, trying to parse it, slowly coming to realize what he was looking at was the ground, but from beneath. Tree roots and burrows were visible, the underground parts of the far-off settlement, the deep roots of the metal spires in the Steppes.

All very much far above them.

The area of tree roots seemed to warp, pixelating and glitching, before it all seemed to snap and... presumably go back to normal. "Kazuki," He rasped, reaching over to shove the other man, eyes still fixed upwards.

Verai finally looked around, at the ominous room around them. The items hovering, strangely. The walls, repeating themselves. "What is all of this?" He asked, voice torn between curiosity, concern, and anger. It was bizarre, some kind of strange back warehouse. Why wasn't there a ceiling? Why was half of it floating? He squinted, glaring at everything as if something more ominous would creep from an endless hallway.

Kitten slowly lifted themselves off the floor, stumbling dizzily. <Did.... are we....... did we win?> Kitty was simply laying on the floor, sprawled sidelong. Verai looked up, again, trying to see if there was anything- stairs, a ladder, anything. The only things that reached down were sprawling caves likes dark fingers, the distant roots of trees.

None of this was making sense- it wasn't real. Like Kazuki, albeit more slowly, Verai moved through the menus. Settings. Log out. Reload. Quit. Anything- Nothing reacted to him. There was a dread, growing deep- This was not a frightening place, and there was technically food and water- though it sat, ominously, at chest height- and the deer-creature was no longer in sight. But...

"We need to find a way out of here," Verai said, excelling at stating the obvious, and started walking. There were rows and rows of doors, and he grabbed the handle to one and threw it open.

The room opened to- the inside of a tent, canvas keeping the rain at bay. There was a faded poster on the wall, though it said "placeholder" isntead of showing any of the creatures. The filing cabinet was set firmly and awkwardly into the corner, instead of at a more natural angle, with the desk and chairs likewise set... strangely, as if they were only able to be set in specific places. As soon as he crossed the threshold, the sounds of wind and rain struck him- which vanished as soon as he crossed again. "How is this possible?"