Welcome to Gaia! ::

Crys would recoil as the song got played, snapping her back into her own self from being mind melded with Adrina. “Really? That’s not a bad song, but I get tired of hearing it every single time we do this thing. Oi… Also, you’re speaking too high still, it’s giving me that cringe feeling going through my body.”

“Yeah, I don’t understand how you control your voice as a Noivern hybrid, but you are definitely too high.” Sundaria pulled on her ear, not showing nearly as much issue with it as this reality’s counterpart, but wasn’t completely unphased either. “Anyways, though. What did you find out?”

“Right… They’re at the hospital. It would be easier if…” Crys looked hesitant, as if she wanted to do something, but wasn’t sure if it was a good idea.

“Just focus on the image in your head. I can come in and look at it, and that should have no repercussions. Maybe just easier to see.” She thought about what she just said, noting that it seemed almost too easy for the two Crystals to Synchronize. And then Crys apparently mind melded with Adrina, too, to an interesting effect, along with how the Noivern hybrid kicked her out… There had to be a way for that to be replicated.

Those thoughts would be put on the backburner, though, as the Espeon hybrid cleared her throat, giving Sundaria a look of impatient annoyance. With a nod, she’d close her eyes and put all of her focus on the image in Crys’ head, the echo of what they looked like. There was an Alomomola merhybrid, a Liligant merhybrid, and a Primarina merhybrid…though, that wasn’t too far off of the Pokemon at that point. There was also a… Zoroark? Huh. Weird Ultra Space things, she was going to chalk that up to. And the Ultra Space energy, radiation, however you wanted to think about it. It was there in spades. Sundaria opened her eyes and nodded again. “So, that’s what they looked like, and they were at the hospital?”

“Yes, and they were the only ones there that radiated that same kind of… energy that you do.” A small sigh could also be heard after that, relieved she didn’t have to go through yet another memory swap or other side effect of even attempting to pull psychic shenanigans with Sundaria. Maybe it was only the physical contact that made it react harshly? “I’m assuming you’re rushing off to find them?”

“Well, yeah, that was honestly the plan. None of you have to come with if you feel it too risky, I can probably manage on my own.”

“Well… That’s up to the boss.” Crys looked to Hop, wondering what the Sableye hybrid was planning on doing.

"...I...I don't know..." Kai answered after a long pause, after thinking on it she was unsure if she wanted to leave all this behind. Sure, he memories of her sisters and her past life were still trickling back in, had been for some time, but she had made plenty of new memories here as well, even a career. "I really enjoy being a nurse and...there are so many people here who need healing...what with the war..." She continued, looking away from Monique, finding it difficult to answer if she looked her in the face.

Sumi would perk up as well and rub their muzzle, trying to figure out how to answer as well. It was strange being well, their own individual...again? Felt like they used to be but they weren't sure. "I don't know? I feel happy, don't know why, but also I kinda feel like I...belong with you? I look at you and I feel a sense of...home? Belonging? I don't know how to describe it."

As they spoke Lykas would in time spot Monique and her 'crew' standing just outside the hospital with everyone else, the gathered crowd around them as people flocked to see what was happening at the hospital. Once Prince Lykas stepped out the talking and rubbernecking intensified, not only was there an explosion at the hospital but the prince was here too! Either way Lykas was free to approach the girls, getting to hear Kai talk about the 'war', the one the prince was familiar with. His father claims it was a pro-active one, to prevent their enemies from making a planned move first, but Lykas knew better. His family always dreamed of 'reclaiming' the right of the Gyaan, to rule over the whole ocean and only one kingdom stood a chance of resisting them, the Ryumi Kingdom with their powerful Kingdra hybrid queen. Lykas was even meant to marry her once, which is sort of how they got into this mess.

-----

Hop listened to Sundaria and Crys and once all eyes were on him he smiled wide. "Let's head out. Us Snagems have reasons to visit the city ourselves, don't we?" He said to Adrina and Crys. "I'll let the others know to follow but for now I think just us should be enough to crash the party, especially with our new friend here. What do you say, Sundaria? You ready to show us with a inter-dimensional feline can do to a dome?" He chuckled.

[Some time later.]

The quartet of Snagems, one of another reality, would find themselves standing on an undersea cliff over looking the domed city, capital of the Gyaan Kingdom, soon-to-be declared Gyaan Empire. Hop explained to Sundaria how the city works, how only nobility and those with royal approval are allowed to enter the city, let alone live there as the kingdom deigns it the 'holy city of the Gyaan', people with proper tails. Stub tails not allowed.

The House of Gyaan has always had oppressive tendencies but this new king has turned it up to eleven, erecting this dome made by Reflect and Light Screen slaves to tighten control on his people and declaring war on the other kingdoms to oppress them as well and rule the world's oceans. Apparently stub tails were always looked down on but it wasn't until the new king did they kicked out of all cities at the risk of execution. All of this would sound familiar to Sundaria no doubt as she recalls a certain red head with 'flair' that tried similar in her reality.

"So that's the gist of it. We Snagems have been working to crack the dome and at least make things more difficult for the 'Chosen of Kyogre', as he calls himself. Dude has people thinking he's god-like himself. If we destroy the dome maybe we can make them rethink that." He grinned. "Plus why should they be safe from the Sea Monsters he unleashed? That dome is what keeps them away and out." Hop added. Sea Monsters? The dome drives them away too? Focusing more on the dome, now that she is closer, Sundaria could feel it, the cool almost blissful energy of the dome, it felt a lot like an...Immunizer. Was there Shadow Pokemon here? And what does the king have to do with them?

Lykas would indeed find Monique relatively quickly, swimming over to her the moment he saw her, freezing for an instant when he saw that she had a third companion now and hearing their conversation as he approached, felt as if he might be intruding. However, when the conversation turned to the topic of the water, he jumped into motion again, closing the distance to join them. "I'm so glad to see you're all feeling better!" He greeted them as he arrived. "About the war... You don't need to feel obligated to help us out. If I heard what I think I did, you know each other and you didn't come from here, right?"" He directed the question to Kai before turning back to Monique.

"Yeah... This is the kingdom of Gyaan, ruled by my family for generations as far back as anyone can remember."

"Lying b*****d!" Came a cry from the onlookers that had begun gawking more at him than anything else.

"Ignore that... My father is the king and has been pushing to achieve a long-held desire of our ancestors: complete rule of the ocean." He explained.

"What are you even doing here?! You're not wanted!"

The merboy sighed as he continued. "I strongly disagree with that goal, to the point I refused to be married off to the queen of the Ryumi kingdom and that..."

Sterling approached from behind Lykas at this point, crimson eyes giving him a sympathetic look. "That is why we are currently at war. The Ryumi queen believes Lykas is now her property by royal decree of the king and is fighting to take him. Despite the kings attitude, he has been trying to protect his son and honor his desire not be wed."

"And we both know now that was a ruse specifically so they would attack us first and justify my father's crusade." Lykas snapped, clenching both his fists as well as his teeth as he did. "My father truly wouldn't have cared if she had fed me to her guards on our honeymoon if I had agreed to the marriage." Clearly he had strong feelings on this topic but the people of the kingdom didn't seem to like him for some reason.

"I am sorry to intervene in your conversation but if you are friends of my young lord, might we go somewhere more private so the common folk can live their lives in peace while we continue this conversation?" Sterling asked, attempting to position himself between Lykas and the worst of the heckling from the onlookers as he spoke.

Monique's conversation with Lykas soon proved to go off the rails. She was fast realizing that the rulers here were not popular. King with low approval ratings ruling a society under a dome? Did I just take an Ultra Space ferry ride back to New Po? She looked around nervously. Unlike back home, though, this king's problems were products of international relations, one of those disciplines that by her time was as useless as air travel or meteorology. Seems the whole idea of "marry your prince off to the Ryumi to curry their favor" had backfired nastily. Somehow, the idea of a ravishing Kingdra queen wouldn't leave her head. Is it because I could...breed with her? Primarina hormones?

She looked up, sighing as Sterling urged Lykas to move on. It felt weird to be back under a dome. She'd gotten used to seeing a sky without lattice or covering or anything else, she realized as air bubbles idly floated from her mouth. Suddenly, she saw something pink in the sky, turning her head, her hair swishing in the current as whatever it was neared the dome...

CRASH!

The pink object collided with the dome and sent it cracking, pieces suddenly sinking to the seafloor and dissipating, not before stirring up the water. A mass panic surged through the populace as people swam to the nearest place possible. Everyone was moving if they could.

Monique held Kasumi and Kaimana with her fins, pulling as tight as she could. The crush of merpeople produced water hammer effects and pressure surges in the narrow hallways of the already damaged hospital. Monique, unfamiliar with her fins, almost lost a grip on Kaimana twice—a particularly dire circumstance because Kai was the only one who seemed to know anywhere to go. It was paralyzing.

Normally, Monique was the one who would be on the move, investigating. She went into Flower City the day the Dome was breached. But all she could think about—besides the trauma of a very similar event unfolding—was her sisters. She'd come this far. There was no way in the world, oh tapu, that she was letting go. Even if it meant being marooned. She was not about to let fate pull her away again. Not another dome collapse. Not again.

At the top of her lungs, she let out a singular, distinctly Primarina, beautiful cry. Distracted by the volume of people and water moving, by reliving her own trauma in an unfamiliar land, the sheriff of New Po might notice something was missing.

Namely, a certain Dark-type hybrid with the ability Illusion.

***

Silently, something moved through the water on pure instinct, up then down, following the magenta blur that had crashed into town. It navigated the unstable currents, not looking down to see the frenzy that had erupted, making its way to the impact zone.

Maybe the Starmie would notice the Veluza they saw as they prepared to fight Sundaria. Maybe they wouldn't. But if they tried to get a read, they would notice something odd—they couldn't. Because it wasn't exactly a Veluza.

She was a Zoroark, and she was not going to stand by and let herself be marooned.

Sundaria coughed as she landed, especially since she landed on her chest. Kind of hard to land on your feet when they’ve merged into a tail. She’d push herself off of the ground enough to bring her chest off of the ground, noting the spiraling Starmie hybrid with a lance. “I might be made of metal, but we’re not chancing it.” Noting the odd gray and purple fish Pokemon aiming for the starfish hybrid as well, for whatever reason, she focused psychic energy underneath her, allowing it to explode out violently once the guard was close. This, hopefully, would have two benefits. First, it would hopefully knock back the Royal Guard out of the spin. Secondly, and the intended initial effect, she herself would be blasted up into the airwater, actually giving her some sort of rapid movement(minding that she had very little control after the launch) without the lightboard.

Speaking of the lightboard, Crys would hold on for dear life as the lightboard began to move of seeming its own accord. At least, she would until she saw where it was heading. “One of you lot… Alright then.” Getting her feet under her, the Espeon hybrid would jump off of the lightboard and began to assault the guard with a barrage of Shadow Balls, throwing one after the other as she made her way down to the ocean floor.

The three sisters remained firm, Monique holding the other two and letting out a song-like cry which began to form a protective bubble around them as Monique instinctively used Protect in a very Primarina fashion. The panicking people would bounce off the bubble and any debris that might have begun to float down would bounce off as well. Monique's love and desire to protect her sisters was profound, part of her very soul and it manifested in the physical world on its own in this moment.

The citizens that didn't immediately flee from Aria's horrible cry would listen to Prince Lykas with great intent and without any second consideration they immediately began to flee for the nearest shelter as order. And while Lykas was right, they did not belong in this world, it was easier said than done to return to theirs. There was only one person who could get them back home and that was a certain feline, wherever she was. Hopefully the prince would be safe as he charged directly towards whatever destroyed the dome.

-----

Sundaria would shoot upward through the water as the same blast of Psychic energy that sent her up sent the Starmie guard flying away from her in the opposite direction, her little move going off without a hitch. As the Starmie began to come to a floating stop a barrage of Shadow Ball began to rain down on him, the guard forced to the sea floor, pinned to the bottom as the Shadow Balls kept coming.

As the first guard was assaulted another would arrive on the scene coming up from behind Crys, launching a hexagon shaped sheet of hard light at her with Power Gem, the fast moving construct pushing her a ways before exploding into a shower of sharp bits of Rock based hard light fragments. With Crys attacked the first guard would find reprieve and float back upright and get right to work as he attempted to put Crys down while the opportunity presented itself and fired an Ice Beam at her from their palm, aiming to freeze her solid. Three more Starmie hybrid guards were fast approaching the scene, coming into view for Crys and Sundaria. Not only was her aquatic counterpart about to become an ice sculpture but they were quickly being outnumbered, Sundaria needed to do something and fast.

"Got one! Kekeke!" Hop declared as he pounced on the Power Gem using Starmie hybrid, sinking his claws into the guard's chest gem from behind, his claws extended and glowing from Shadow Claw. "I figured I owe it to you to not get swarmed after you helped us out. After this guys are cleaned up I'm joining the rest of my team in raiding the palace." Hop explained as the Starmie hybrid flailed around, screeching in pain as he tried to get Hop off of him. "Watch out, we got more coming." Hop said as he noticed the incoming three guards, all three Rapid Spinning for them spear first.

As for the prince and Sterling they would arrive in time to see Sundaria, Crys, and Hop scrapping with two Royal Guards and three more were descending upon them, about to skewer them.

-----

Aria song, while it did clear out the streets, had grabbed the attention of another, someone who was not instilled with fear by the same but instead curiosity...and they were coming to satiate it.