Genesis
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Weekend Warrior
Player Character
Posts: 158
Trainer Class: 
Player Name: Shiloh Hayes
OOC Username: Haberdasher
Arena Points: 20
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Post by Genesis on Apr 23, 2023 11:01:40 GMT 9
A place you weren't supposed to explore, except the barriers were gone now. A rogue scientist asking for samples. The looming idea that something new could be found here, but at what cost?
This quest might as well have had Genesis' name on it.
Genesis thought long and hard before choosing his companion into the corrupted wilderness before settling on Potoooooooo. The Ponyta's flames might help chase away a bit of the darkness, his Tank class might be useful if it came down to actual battle taking place, he'd spent a little time with the Ponyta before so it wasn't as if he were entering the place with his only companion being an unknown entity...
...and, if the worst happened... well. Genesis could get another Ponyta. The same couldn't be said for some of his other team members. Hopefully it wouldn't come down to that, but only time would tell.
Standing at the edge of the Corruption Zone, it didn't look so bad, really. It didn't look like much of anything at all.
Which was of course part of what made it so odd, in this game that had developers carefully ensuring that every area had something to it, warmth or cold or breeze or blinding sun or vicious rain. But here there was... nothing. No weather. No landmarks. Just a few random shapes here and there, which weren't nearly as weird-looking as some glitches Genesis had seen, and in the Pokemon games no less. (Gen I, especially, had some wild glitches to play with, and Shiloh had exploited them for all they were worth.)
How bad could it be, really?
(Potoooooooo: 350/400 HP)
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Genesis
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Weekend Warrior
Player Character
Posts: 158
Trainer Class:
Player Name: Shiloh Hayes
OOC Username: Haberdasher
Arena Points: 20
|
Post by Genesis on May 9, 2023 10:22:09 GMT 9
Genesis stood in front of the threshold to the Corruption Zone for a moment, part trying to work up the courage to make their move (though they'd never admit as much to anybody who asked), part just taking in how the Corruption Zone appeared from just outside of it.
Deep breath in. Deep breath out.
And they started walking forward, deliberately but not too slowly, ready to face what the Corruption Zone had to offer them.
The first step was uneventful, as was the one after that, but-
Was it the third step, or the fourth, that led them to feel like the world was shifting underneath their feet, that caused that queasy sensation deep in their stomach?
Genesis stopped for a moment, and the world went back to normal, or normal for the Corruption Zone at any rate. Dark shapes flitting here and there, and they could swear something was hiding in the corners of their vision (unless it was just Potoooooooo's flames playing tricks on their eyes), but the earth beneath their feet was steady once again.
Was this vertigo? They felt vaguely dizzy, vaguely disoriented, so it would fit... except that they weren't even up that high.
Or. No, that wasn't accurate, was it? This area was near the top of a group of mountains, after all. So they were high up after all. They just had to trust that they wouldn't go hurtling back down the mountain, that the ground would keep holding them up.
That same ground that had felt like it was moving just a moment ago...
The queasy feeling in their stomach was back, but this time, Genesis was pretty sure it was just their anxiety turned physical, a product of their own mind rather than the bizarre world around them.
(Potoooooooo: 300/400 HP) |
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Genesis
•
Weekend Warrior
Player Character
Posts: 158
Trainer Class:
Player Name: Shiloh Hayes
OOC Username: Haberdasher
Arena Points: 20
|
Post by Genesis on May 13, 2023 11:13:51 GMT 9
The next few steps proved stable enough, at least. A small blessing.
Genesis had been trying to go straight forward--as best he could, anyway, when there was precious little in the way of lasting landmarks in the area to make it clear which direction was which--but when one of those strange two-dimensional shapes popped up only slightly out of his current path, Genesis didn't hesitate to step on it, curious to see what would happen.
Genesis hadn't been expecting a physical sensation when he made contact with the shape, but he felt one just the same. It was like the pins and needles sensation from when a limb fell asleep, passing rapidly upwards through his legs and into his entire body.
The shape blinked a violent shade of red three times before staying that same shade of red, and then after about three seconds, the shape blinked out of existence entirely, at the same moment that Genesis felt a jolt of pain pass through his body before the pins and needles sensation abruptly stopped.
Fascinating.
Even more fascinating was that a moment later, Genesis noticed a triad of similar shapes appear nearby--one to his left, one to his right, and one directly in front of him--and while he never saw them move, exactly, he could swear they were inching closer and closer to him with every step he took further into the Corruption Zone...
(Potoooooooo: 250/400 HP) |
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Genesis
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Weekend Warrior
Player Character
Posts: 158
Trainer Class:
Player Name: Shiloh Hayes
OOC Username: Haberdasher
Arena Points: 20
|
Post by Genesis on May 18, 2023 10:50:53 GMT 9
Genesis wasn't going to let a tantalizing observation like that stay as just a feeling, however. He was here to study this realm, after all. Why settle for anything less than the scientific method in action?
Genesis stood still for a moment, and between his lack of motion and the utter stillness of the environment around him, it felt a little like the world itself was holding its breath.
One step forward, locking eyes on the shape directly ahead of him.
Genesis never saw it move, exactly, but in the blink of an eye, the shape grew closer as his foot pressed against the hard, rocky ground beneath him. A glance at each side confirmed that the other two shapes had done the same in the interim. It was hard to be sure in an area so lacking in landmarks, but Genesis was almost positive that the shapes moved significantly more than he himself had--it had been only one small step for him, but it had been one giant leap for the shapes as they moved what looked to be a few feet closer.
The sensible thing to do would be to retreat, of course. There were shapes to the front and to the sides, but the path behind Genesis was still clear, as Potoooooooo made clear by hiding behind Genesis and shaking in a way that made the shadows cast by the Ponyta's flames dance all the faster.
But Genesis didn't come here to be sensible, now, did he? No, being sensible would have meant not entering the Corruption Zone, not taking on this quest in the first place, sticking to the already-explored parts of the map. Boring.
Instead, Genesis took another step forward, and another, his steps growing smaller and more calculated each time... until, with a little careful planning, the shapes were right where he had hoped they would end up, just within arms' reach.
Potoooooooo really needed to stop shaking like that. That useless movement was awfully distracting, and Genesis had science to perform, after all!
(Potoooooooo: 200/400 HP) |
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Genesis
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Weekend Warrior
Player Character
Posts: 158
Trainer Class:
Player Name: Shiloh Hayes
OOC Username: Haberdasher
Arena Points: 20
|
Post by Genesis on Jun 6, 2023 11:03:47 GMT 9
All it took was reaching out one hand, and...
Oh. That was... that was a weird sensation. And not a pleasant one, either.
And... was it a trick of the light, or was their hand changing colors, the peach tones turning to a lifeless gray?
The three shapes started converging into one, and Genesis acted fast, taking a bottle they had kept with them for just such an occasion and waving it through the corrupted shape. (Using their right hand, the one that hadn't reached out to touch the shape in the first place. Though in hindsight, they probably shouldn't have used their dominant hand for that in the first place...) It didn't look like it should do anything, really, but sure enough, the bottle got some sort of... black, moving goop stuck to its bottom.
It took Genesis longer than it should have to put the stopper on the bottle, though, and when they looked up... well. They really should have been watching the shape(s) more closely.
It was definitely all one shape now, the three having fully merged into one. The combination seemed to have ironed out some of the spikes that had been protruding so violently from the shapes before, turning it into a long, round... worm thing? That left black ooze, ichor perhaps, on the ground as it wiggled here and there?
Oh, and it was towered over Genesis now, though the shapes that made it up had been only about their own size.
It still didn't have any clear features, just a solid mass of utter darkness, but somehow, Genesis could swear he felt its eyes on him just the same.
Genesis gulped and looked back at Potoooooooo, who was shaking even more violently than before. Maybe the Ponyta had a reason to be scared after all...
(Potoooooooo: 150/400 HP) |
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Genesis
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Weekend Warrior
Player Character
Posts: 158
Trainer Class:
Player Name: Shiloh Hayes
OOC Username: Haberdasher
Arena Points: 20
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Post by Genesis on Jun 9, 2023 8:43:18 GMT 9
Genesis saw the corrupted worm... Pokemon... thing... turn towards the bottle in which they had captured a small portion of the corrupted being's essence, and even as Genesis scrambled to put the bottle away somewhere safe, the corrupted Pokemon let out a very un-worm-like roar, one that made the very earth under their feet shake.
Genesis felt something impact their body and jumped a little before angling their head to see that it was just Potoooooooo, who had headbutted him, evidently intimidated by the corrupted creature.
Part of Genesis wanted to stay, to learn more. Out of the corner of their eye they thought they saw a tall, gleaming tower in the distance, and they longed to learn more about it.
Then the worm thing inched closer, and Genesis decided that after all, discretion was the better part of valor.
They had their sample. They had their first-hand experience with corruption in the flesh, as it were. And there was nothing stopping them from coming back here another time if they wanted to learn more. They could investigate that tower, if it was a tower, and whatever else the Corruption Zone held for them, at another time. Hopefully a time when a pitch-black corruption creature wasn't standing over them so menacingly.
(Potoooooooo: 100/400 HP) |
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Genesis
•
Weekend Warrior
Player Character
Posts: 158
Trainer Class:
Player Name: Shiloh Hayes
OOC Username: Haberdasher
Arena Points: 20
|
Post by Genesis on Jun 9, 2023 8:49:22 GMT 9
Genesis turned back, towards where Potoooooooo stood obediently behind him, and ran.
Or tried to, anyway.
The first few footsteps went smoothly enough, but then... it felt like the air got heavier, somehow, like it went from being literally just thin air to something much more dense. Water, maybe. Or molasses.
No, water was the more apt comparison, Genesis decided. They were still able to maneuver through the air even after it turned so wrong, just... slowly, carefully, with the air pushing against them every step of the way, fighting their every movement.
Potoooooooo had no better luck, Genesis saw at a glance, the Ponyta appearing to walk almost in slow motion, though the terror in the Pokemon's eyes spoke to wanting a faster kind of flight, wanting to gallop away from his opponents.
Genesis hesitated to breathe for a long, suspenseful moment before giving in and taking a deep breath, not sure what the action would do when the air refused to cooperate with them anymore.
They were able to breathe in the air, thankfully, and they could practically feel the oxygen rushing into their body... but they also felt a pit settling into their stomach, a heavy weight that now resisted not just his passing through but his very presence.
And that was before they looked back at the corrupted creature behind them...
(Potoooooooo: 50/400 HP) |
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Genesis
•
Weekend Warrior
Player Character
Posts: 158
Trainer Class:
Player Name: Shiloh Hayes
OOC Username: Haberdasher
Arena Points: 20
|
Post by Genesis on Jun 9, 2023 9:00:47 GMT 9
Genesis hadn't heard the creature moving, hadn't heard anything but their own heavy breathing and their Ponyta struggling beside them, but the corrupted creature had gained on them, only inches away from them.
Genesis tried even harder to run, but, well, maybe molasses was the better comparison now, as putting everything they had into getting away only succeeded in moving some small fraction of a fraction of an inch at best, while the creature glided through the air as though it took no effort at all.
As Genesis tried not to hyperventilate, tried to remind themself that this was just a game and what mattered was the knowledge they had gained and not what happened to them afterwards, they saw that their whole left arm, the one that had touched the creature before, had gone an eerie, lifeless gray, like the color had been entirely leeched out of it... and as they watched, the gray took over more and more of their character's form, moving from their shoulder down to their chest, even when what was showing was clothing rather than bare skin.
And though Genesis was positive that they hadn't meant to do it, hadn't decided on the action themself, they saw that lifeless gray arm reaching out to the corrupted creature, poised under what might have been its neck, in an oddly gentle and delicate pose...
Genesis was frozen in place as their hand brushed against the creature, softly, almost sweetly, though the action sent electric shocks through their entire body.
The corrupted creature shot them something that might, if one were feeling generous, be called a smile, albeit a smile with very large, very pointy teeth.
Then, out of nowhere, Potoooooooo darted forth and collided with the two of them, and Genesis was pushed to the ground, and all they could see was the pitch black body of the corrupted Pokemon...
And soon enough, the darkness enveloped them all.
(Potoooooooo: 0/400 HP) EDA|vs781-201-20 |
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