|5.5| [Action]

[wing_attack]

[Today is a good day. Not because of the weather, but because when Tobias wakes up, he's back in his old body. Not the human one, but the one that's become incredibly comfortable for him over the past few years.]

[You might catch him flying high above people, but he's more content to perch in a tree and watch as people go past. The local birds seem uncomfortable with him, but that's okay. He can't exactly use a Pokeball while like this anyway.]

[Eventually though he calms down and morphs to human (and puts on clothes) long enough to make a post.]

[Video]

[Tobias' cheeks are flushed with excitement, and he's grinning from ear to ear.]

They're back! I mean I'm back. I mean I can do it again. Is anyone else getting... uh... 'abilities' back? I'm kind of curious...

[Regal butts his head into the shot and Tobias jerks his head away to avoid getting a feathery mouthful.]

Sorry, Regal. I can't exactly ride you like that...

Comments

[Video]

[stitchedupbodyguard]

Abilities, huh?

[Veronica thought for a moment.] I guess that means everyone is getting their powers back, huh.

[Video]

[wing_attack]

Yeah. I wonder how long it'll last.

[Video]

[stitchedupbodyguard]

I hope it lasts forever.

[She doesn't want to go back to before, man.]

[Video]

[wing_attack]

Me too, but who knows in this place?

[Video]

[stitchedupbodyguard]

I guess... [Her expression saddened, and quickly scrunched up. It was likely a little childish to pout, but since when did you wake up and sudden get the chance to do everything you usually did but couldn't?

It would be a crime that she didn't take advantage of this.

She was going to be so angry when it was over.]

So, your abilities are back too? [A quizzical tilt of the head.] What are they?

[garbagechild]

<sub>[The truth is, a perfectly normal bird doesn't even catch Wrath's eye as he bounds through the countryside. He's looking for things like HIM, because Master ordered it. :Ib]

[However, he might well catch Tobias's eye, because what happens when you're looking for things in the middle of the wilderness? ... Well, just about anything, but specifically you probably find something you WEREN'T looking for.]

[... Even more specifically, he found an angry mother Ursaring. Who's like. Level 70.]</sub>

AH! GO AWAY!

<sub>[Wrath might be a Homunculus, but he's like.... level 40. And he's never fought a bear.]

[And now he's climbing straight up the tree that Tobias happens to be roosting in.]

[WHAT DO?]</sub>

[wing_attack]

[Oh geez. Tobias doesn't have his bag with him, because he doesn't have hands to work the Pokeballs with and he's not sure if his team will recognize him like this. But he does have the power of shouting.]

<Hey! You! Back off! Stop chasing him!>

[The Ursaring stares at him in confusion, and Tobias steadies himself internally. Can he control the morphing process enough? Only one way to find out. His wing melts into an arm, blades forming on it. He doesn't break eye contact with the Ursaring, though it backs up.]

<Yeah. That's what I thought. There's food over that way. Leave him alone.>

[garbagechild]

<sub>[.... An ARM just came out of that BIRD.]

[That is... that is some wild alchemy that even Wrath hadn't quite been prepared for, and he's the one who can phase his own body straight into the materials around him.]

[He stops, clinging to the bark like a squirrel, and just sort of STARES.]

[The Ursaring, meanwhile, is REALLY NOT SURE WHAT TO MAKE OF A BIRD SPROUTING AN ARM EITHER. That is some bullshit, you flying type. That is SOME BULLSHIT.]

[Slowly, it starts to make its way backwards down the tree. Okay, bird, if you want that kid, you can have him. :I]</sub>

[wing_attack]

[Once the Ursaring retreats, he demorphs his wing. Much better.]

<You okay?>

[Gotta check on the kid. Morphing doesn't usually go over well.]

[garbagechild]

<sub>[Fortunately, THIS KID'S SEEN SOME CRAZY SHIT IN HIS TIME.]

[The arm thing is WEIRD, but not 'I'm gonna start screaming and call the police' weird, which is probably the reaction Tobias is more used to getting.]

[So rather than FREAK OUT, Wrath clambers onto a branch and crouches there like a gargoyle, head tilted to one side.]</sub>

Are you a chimera?

[siberians]

[The benefit to Jake here, as it's turning out, is that Jake looks like an average kid. He's not an average kid (and hasn't been in what seems like an eternity), but they've all learned the hard way several times over that it's about what people see on the surface, not about what might really be there. People carry their secrets inside them, be they alien slugs or morphing powers or any other number of things ranging from the mundane to the horrific, but what they see is what makes the impression, and maybe what keeps you save even in a disorienting, uncertain situation.

A guy in jeans and a plain jacket, about the right age range for a trainer and wandering around with his hands in his pockets, isn't going to draw any attention in a place like this. That's what he's counting on.

He doesn't appear to have any Pokemon out with him at the moment, but his friendship with Marco has sufficiently encompassed all the pertinent information there, too, so he's doing fine for passing as a trainer in his own right. You wear the capsules on your belt, you avoid making eye contact with strange people, and you never trust the tall grass unless you're looking for a fight.

At the moment, Jake's not sure what exactly he is looking for, but it's fair to say that a fight probably isn't it.]

[wing_attack]

[Tobias is scouting overhead, and has managed to grab his bag to fly around with. Sure, he's not inconspicuous, but he doesn't really care about that much anymore. Not now.]

[But the person he spots down below is a surprise, and it's enough to make him drop his bag and have to dive to catch it. He lands on a tree nearby and calls out to him.]

<Jake?>

[siberians]

[He's not expecting the sudden thought-speak, but he's accustomed enough to it that he doesn't jump outright when there's abruptly a (fortunately familiar) voice in his head; instead, he finds an excuse to stop and look around, surreptitiously checking the sky and trees for its source instead.

Luckily, he's been doing a fair amount of looking around with a confused expression already lately, so once more isn't going to hurt anything.

No thought-speak while not in morph, unfortunately, but he knows Tobias has to be somewhere close enough to have him in sight with hawk eyes, and they've done this many, many times before. If it's safe to talk, he knows he'll get instructions of where to go, either for that or a safe place to morph. If it's not safe to talk, he'll get that, instead.

For the moment, then, it's just a waiting game to see what Tobias will do.]

[wing_attack]

[Right. He's new here. He doesn't know that people are pretty accepting, and that there's no Yeerks.]

<It's safe here. I haven't seen a Controller in months, and I've been checking. I'm to your right and up. You can talk to me, there's no one else around.>

[siberians]

[Right, up — ah, there he is. This is a strange world, all right, but some things never change.]

Tobias.

[It isn't exactly a question — he's well aware of who this is, obviously — but there's something slightly uncertain in it anyway, which is probably natural, considering.]

What do you mean, "months"?

[alonearisth]

[Right, um. Whereas Jake has been having no trouble blending in in this strange world, Ax is having the exact opposite problem. Showing up here was disorienting enough, but his first thought was to pick an earth mammal and morph for the time being. Lay low, and all that. But lo and behold if....absolutely nothing around here looks remotely like any earth creature he's seen yet. Which is...fine, but still strange.

And things had been going as fine as they could, until he had been attacked. A young human, not scared of him at all but rather enamored with him, immediately ordered his pet to attack him. It's a rather good thing that whatever this was- a strange, yellow creature- could teleport, or else his tail blade would have severed it from head to tail in an instant.

It didn't take him long to realize that this was an altercation he did not want to be involved in, promptly taking off into the forest as fast as he could with the trainer hot on his heels. It was easy enough to lose him, but that's also left the poor Andalite a nervous wreck. Even now he steps lightly, his tail quivering at the ready in an arc over his back as his stalk-eyes swivel, trying to see everything and be ready if- or when- he's attacked again.]

[wing_attack]

[A flash of blue - one he recognizes, and the sound of someone running through the forest. It's as loud as if it were right next to him like this, and he takes off through the forest.]

[Once the trainer is out of sight, he calls out to Ax.]

<Ax! Hold on, I'm here!>

[alonearisth]

< Tobias? Tobias, is that you? >

[Ax all but freezes when he hears that familiar voice in his head, his stalk eyes immediately swiveling up to search the sky for a bird soaring overhead.]

< I am not going anywhere, but you should hurry. I am being followed. >

[wing_attack]

[Tobias lands on a tree branch nearby, dropping his bag down to the ground.]

<Reach in there and grab the red and white ball that has a dent near the button, and press the button. The creature that's in there will keep us safe.>

[Even if Regal had been incredibly confused this morning, he should still listen. His voice is the same, at least.]

[alonearisth]

[Ax starts in spite of himself when the bag drops, not because he didn't see it, but because all of this excitement just has him that on edge. He bends down to pick up the bag and carefully pulls out the ball in question, the slits on his face flaring slightly when he sees it.]

< The human children here have been throwing these capsules at me. >

[His voice is both tense and unsure as he stares at the ball. He trusts Tobias, but why on earth have they been using these things? In an effort to capture him? It's been rubbing him the wrong way, and all he can think of is how the Yeerks must be involved.

Nevertheless, he does press the button after a moment.]

[action]

[sincereheart]

[ It's the end of November. Mimi had been waiting for the end of November with bated breath ever since Greed-san had told her that people from other worlds liked to show up around that time. So she's keeping an eye out for Palmon this morning, or any of her other friends. Just in case.

She doesn't see Palmon. What she does see is a bird. Which isn't too weird at first, except... it doesn't look like a Pokémon bird. Or a Digimon. It just looks like a normal, regular Earth bird. Like a hawk, maybe.

...Didn't Tobias-san say he used to be a hawk?

Well, stranger things have happened... ]

Um. [ She raises her voice as the bird flies closer. She feels a little dumb - okay, really dumb - talking to a bird, but if it is just a normal bird, it won't understand her anyway. No harm, no foul.

Heh. Fowl. ]

Tobias-san?

[wing_attack]

<Yeah.>

[He flutters over to her, looking up. He spreads his wings for her to see. Yep. A perfectly normal-looking hawk.]

[sincereheart]

Whoa!

[ Mimi steps back. Okay, so it's Tobias-san, but it's also a big wild bird, and she's not supposed to touch those! ]

Did you just talk to me in my head? Like that big llama Pokémon did before? [ She points excitedly at the side of her head to illustrate. ] That's so cool! Can you read my mind! Can you still turn into stuff or do you have to keep being a hawk? Can you turn into a Pokémon? Can you turn into me?!

[wing_attack]

[He folds his wings in, and tilts his head.]

<Yeah, it's in your head. I can't read your mind. I can turn into things, but only if I've touched them before. And I wouldn't turn into anything sentient unless I've gotten their permission first... and most Pokemon are too close to sentient for me to really be comfortable turning into them without their permission.>

[sincereheart]

Aww! [ Mimi pouts. ] That's so boring! Well, you have to at least turn into an animal so I can see! I mean, a different animal, of course! Do you have any gross diseases, since you're a wild animal and all? Can I touch you?

[ Mimi you're wearing gloves... ]