Title:           Hard Mode COMPLETE
Author:          doomed1
Pastebin link:   http://pastebin.com/Ubn1LHQH
First Edit:      Friday 17th of October 2014 04:12:45 AM CDT
Last Edit:       Last edit on: Friday 31st of October 2014 06:29:37 AM CDT

Friday at 7? Well, Vanille informed Viol that it was going to be 7am. The teenager yawned and stretched groggily as he entered into the common room at 9:15. Like hell he was going to wake up THAT early for a stupid game with that faggot and his stupid sister, but Viol figured he shouldn’t make them wait until noon when he usually wakes up (“I don’t want Vanille to stay mad at me”).
 
Teej and Vanille were already at the table setting things up, chewing on breakfast burritos and waffle bites that /ck/ had put out. “Alright, tell /co/nrad that the game’s put off for next week instead?” /ck/ asked as she finished putting down the plates she had made.
 
“Yeah, please” Teej responded. “I was working all week on putting this together, well… I kinda went overboard. Didn’t make the time to write up this week’s adventure.”
 
“Well, I hope you at least had enough time to eat healthily.” Be/ck/y smiled that motherly smile she always gets when she’s cooking for others.
 
Teej smiled sheepishly “Yeah well, thanks for bringing some food over the other night. Real lifesaver.”
 
“Just make sure you make it up to /co/nrad since he thought you were working up something crazy for him and the gang.” Be/ck/y waved as she walked through the door, passing Viol. “Oh Viol, there’s some food on the table if you want it, and have fun!”
 
Viol rolled his eyes but didn’t respond, instead walking into the room. “Well look who finally decided to wake up.” Vanille was less than pleased that Viol had slept in as late as he did. “You’re lucky it took some time to set up the table. We were just about to choose starters without you, too.”
 
“Starters? So Pokemon, right? We’re not playing your lame Gen II rules, are we?” Viol grumbled. He wasn’t completely awake yet, but it’s not like his mood would have been better had he been chipper. Probably more dismissive if anything.
 
“Nope. Set up a whole campaign based around Gen VI, just for you too. Had Vanille help me a bit with the rules even,” Teej explained as he got out some papers. Vanille beamed at being credited for the help. “We ran a test to make sure it all worked, based it off of Fate.”
 
“Fate? Isn’t that some faggot casual game?” Viol scoffed. “Vanille told me about it, seems like this’ll be babby’s first RPG, huh? Gaaaaaay.”
 
Rather than frown at Viol’s immediate disapproval, Teej smiled instead. He smiled one of those smiles that makes an experienced player nervous, The same smile Gary Gygax wore when he wrote the Tomb of Horrors. “Oh, I wouldn’t worry about that,” cooed Teej. “You see, this is a very special Pokemon RPG, complete with optional rules that Vanille told me about.”
 
While Viol was still ignorant to its source, he still wondered why Teej got smug all of a sudden. “What rules?”
 
“Nuzlocke.”
 
Viol narrowed his eyes and took a seat. Maybe this wasn’t going to be the casual babby-fest Viol thought it was “You said we were choosing starters?”
 
Teej smiled wider. Hook, line, and sinker. The lanky young man began to get into character, building up his best Pokemon Professor impression. “Welcome young trainers to the world of Pokemon! My name is Professor Aspen.”
 
“Pffft, Professor Ass-Pain.” Viol snickered. “Ow!”
 
Vanille had kicked him under the table. “Shuddup, faggot” And then turned to Teej. “Yes Professor?”
 
“Ahem” Teej cleared his throat and continued his impression. “This region of Imperia is inhabited by creatures we call Pokemon. Some people use Pokemon as pets, others use them for fights. People and Pokemon live and…”
 
“Gawd, where’s the skip button,” moaned Viol. “I’ve read this spiel a thousand times already.”
 
“So,” Teej said, still in character without missing a beat. “What did you say your names were?” He passes the two character sheets to Viol and Vanille from behind his screen. Stats were filled out in Vanille’s hand, but the name space, stunts, and aspects were empty.
 
“I’m Vann! The cool, suave trainer from across town!” the fairer Pallet twin beamed as she wrote it down on her sheet. “And before you ask, I’m a boy.” Viol just rolled his eyes.
 
“You’re playing a BOY? Gaaaaaaaaaaaaay” Viol mocked. “Man, I knew this was going to be casual, but Vanille, sorry ‘Vann’, haha, didn’t even come up with an original name! She just shortened hers. But playing a boy? You should go talk to /lgbt/ if you’re confused about that sorta thing.” Viol turned to Teej. “You’re seriously not gonna let her get away with cross-playing, are you?”
 
Teej just shrugged. “It’s her character. Male is hardly the weirdest gender I’ve seen someone bring to the table,” Teej explained, rolling his eyes at the special snowflakes he’s had to deal with in the past. Then he leaned in, adding smugly, “Besides, playing the opposite sex is probably one of the most challenging things to do right in a role-playing game.”
 
The smugness was lost on Viol though, who took it exactly as Teej wanted him to. ‘Like hell I’m going to be more casual than my super-casual sister,’ the thought to himself bitterly. “ALRIGHT! Well you know what? I’m gonna be playing a GIRL!” Viol defiantly pontificated, making sure to write the F in the biological sex box with as much effeminate flair as he could manage.
 
“Oho~?” Teej was succeeding masterfully in his bluff roll to hide his bemusement, but Vanille wasn’t even bothering. “And exactly what is this girl’s name, dear brother?”
 
“DICKS of course!” Was what Viol was about to say. But he did not. Viol remembered that it wasn’t a game of pokemon, and he didn’t want his sister and Teej to call him “DICKS” for the next Lugia knows how many hours. “Uh… um… uh… Viv-vick-Vio… Violet! My character’s name is Violet!” He scribbled it down.
 
“And you made fun of me for my original donut- squee!” Vanille squealed just a bit. Teej had reached under the table and put a hand on her leg to get her attention and softly shook his head. Vanille couldn’t tell if Teej had anticipated this and had something planned, or if he just didn’t want to scare Viol away from the table. “I-I mean, Cute name, bro!” Vanille recovered, forcing a smile.
 
“J-just watch, I’ll be the best female trainer ever! I’ll be the damned master of this Nuzlocke region!”
 
“That’s certainly the kind of enthusiasm I like to see in these parts!” exclaimed Teej, back as the professor. “Now, where were we, ah yes! This is my Grandson. You’ve both known him for a long time, and he’s always been something of a rival to you two. Now what was his na-”
 
“DICKS”
 
Before Teej could even finish his sentence, both Pallets spoke out in unison, cutting him off. “Yes, that’s right,” Professor Teej Aspen chuckled sensibly. “My Grandson, *pfft* Dicks.”
 
In a completely different voice, Teej continued. “G-grandpa, why the hell do you gotta go and use that name…” and back again to Aspen’s voice. “Now, now, Dicks, it’s a strong name. You’re here to choose your pokemon, which do you want?”
 
“What starter pokemon are there?” Viol asked as Teej described Dicks going over to the table first.
 
“You have the choice between Chespin, Fennekin, and Froakie, all pokemon also given out in neighboring Kalos.” And then back to Dicks’ voice “‘In that case, I’ll take Fennekin!’ The young lad reaches out and takes the pokeball in the middle.”
 
“Pfft, furry.”
 
“Alright, Vann, Violet, now you choose.”
 
“Froakie!” Viol shouts before his sister can get a word in edgewise.
 
“Hmmf, I wanted Chespin anyway.” Vanille describes picking up the ball containing Chespin and the friendship she can feel inside it from their coming adventure.
 
“Alright, guys” Teej continues in his Dicks voice. “I’m gonna get outta here and start my journey right away! I hope to see you guys on the road!”
 
“Not so fast! We’re gonna battle first, right? Let’s go, I wanna see what this punk is made of.”
 
“Well, alright. I was going to wait for your first fight out in the tall grass… Do you want in on this Vanille?” Teej went out of character as he pulled up a couple new pokedexes that /g/ reprogrammed for him expensively for this game.
 
“No, I’m okay with just watching.”
 
“That’s what she said.” Viol snarked. “Let’s get this show on the road.”
 
Teej explained the process of battling, what the stats on the trainer meant, but that most of the fighting would be done with the custom system he set up for the pokemon. The shift system was replaced with an HP system based on attack and pokemon level, though the shift system was still used to determine creating advantages, status effects, and wounds after HP was drained (“Not everyone plays for keepsies,” Teej explained). Stats were determined with a lower numerical statblock, but then in order to use those stats for attacking, overcoming, and creating advantage, you had to determine one of up to four attacks. Defensive stats were capable of being rolled on their own. Future attacks were explained and shown for future advancement in the pokedexes. All pretty straight-forward and simple.
 
“Alright, I just have to drain his HP, right?” Viol said as he grasped a fistful of fudge-dice. Like all first battles, it ended up mostly being a slapfest, Viol using his fate points early to help him succeed. At least until Teej decided to create an advantage instead of constantly just throwing scratch, he used Tail Whip. “Seriously man? Using a non-damaging attack in the starter match? Froakie’s gonna use Pound again.”
 
Roll, damage, and then Dicks’ turn. “Fennekin is going to use scratch, roll your defense.” Viol rolled abysmally, all negatives, and Teej’s dice rolled spot on, good enough for a critical hit with the free invoke from Tail Whip! “And with the Tail Whip invoke, you take…” Teej rolled a couple more fudge dice to determine damage… “Enough to put Froakie in the red. I’ll waive any consequences from the shift since it was your first time with the system, but Dicks wins!
 
Teej shifted back to the rival’s voice. “‘Haha, maybe you’re not ready for Pokemon just yet, Violet. You should go back and play with your dollies.’ Good first try, your Froakie gets… three experience for the fight.” Teej types into the laptop next to him and Viol’s pokedex beeps with the updated experience.
 
“W-what? How!” Viol cried out.
 
“Relax, Viol, it’s just a game. Teej knows it better than you so of course he’s going to win.”
 
“No, I mean how do I get anything for that? I LOST.” Viol crossed his arms. “Your system is bullshit.”
 
Teej just shrugged. “It’s not a game with hard win or lose states. You might have lost this match, but that will change things down the line. Maybe Dicks will be a lot lazier as a trainer since he beat you, maybe he would have become a greater challenge down the road if you had beaten him. Maybe instead of just being your rival, he’ll try to become your friend instead since he feels bad if he hurt your feelings.”
 
“That’s lame. Rivals can’t be your friends, you’ll have to fight them eventually no matter what.”
 
Again, Teej just shrugged. “Well, that burned through a few hours, just like I thought. I’m gonna go the bathroom and see what we can scare up for food.”
 
As soon as the door closed behind him, Vanille smirked and turned towards her brother. “So, what’dyou think, ~Violet~”
 
Viol however, hasn’t really done much of anything, just staring cross-armed at Teej’s GM screen. “I think… I wanna see what that faggot’s got behind his screen.”
 
***
 
/tg/ came out of the bathroom, but instead of going straight back to the common room, he took a detour to /co/ and /ck/’s place to see if she wanted to make lunch yet. Teej knocked at the door marked /co/ck/. Forever he could swear they got together for just that reason. /co/ answered. “Hey, Teej, what’s up?”
 
“Hey, /co/nrad. Playing got us all worked up for lunch. Be/ck/y around?”
 
“Yeah, sure, abandon me and the gang, but come for my wife. You’re not trying to steal her away are you.”
 
Teej rolled his eyes. “You know as well as me, bro, that ship sailed a loooong time ago.”
 
“Not the only one for you eith-.” /co/nrad realized just then that spaghetti was starting to fall out of his pockets. He’s gotta stop letting /mlp/ do the laundry. “Just messing with ya Teej. By the way, where are the /vp/ twins? Woulda thought they follow you everywhere.”
 
“Nah, they’re waiting in the common room,” Teej responded, grateful for the change of subject while /co/ went to get /ck/ and change his pants.
 
“You left them by their lonesome? Man, you don’t even let US alone with your notes. Hell, I’d just be worried they’d get into a fight.”
 
“Nah, they’re good kids. I’m sure they’ll be fine.”
 
 
“Stop, Viol! It’s against the rules!” Vanille was getting very upset at Viol looking through Teej’s notes on the other side of the screen.
 
“Nope, it’s not. I know the rules of Nuzlocke, and there’s only two.” Viol was holding his sister off with one hand while shuffling through his notes with another. “Man, this is all babby-tier anyway for the first couple of gyms. He even drew up ‘random encounters’. That’s not even random!”
 
“Viol, I mean it, if you don’t stop, I’ll… I’ll tell Teej!” Vanille stopped trying to get her brother away from behind the screen. Viol had probably seen enough by this point anyway. “Then he won’t let you play with us anymore!”
 
For a moment Viol responded shocked, almost afraid, but quickly regained his composure as he sneered back, “You won’t if you don’t want me to tell him about a certain collection you have~”
 
Vanille locked up, turning red. “Y-your bluffing!” She huffed. “Be-besides, you said he had that kind of c-collection too…” The shade of crimson on Vanille’s face grew deeper.
 
“Yeah, but they were the normal ones. Heck, he’ll probably just say he was holding onto them for /d/ or something. But yours, there’s no doubt whose they are.”
 
Vanille didn’t even bother speaking up in her defense. She just went back to her seat and sat down, a mix of embarrassment, shame, and guilt on her face, like she was about to cry. Viol cut deep there, maybe a little deeper than he intended. He did his best to ignore it as he went over Teej’s stat trees and trainers. “Alright, I think I get this. It’s just a simplified version of Gen I’s stats mechanics. There aren’t even any IVs!” He shot a look over to Vanille. She was working on regaining her composure, Staring at her knees and controlling her breathing. “R-right, well I think I know enough to be able to have fun now.”
 
“It’s not fun if you cheat.” Vanille mumbled as Viol rearranged the papers so Teej wouldn’t notice and sat down.
 
Before Viol could respond, the door from the kitchen opened and in walked Teej, /co/nrad, and Be/ck/y, carrying in sandwiches. “See? Toldya they’d be fine.” Teej walked in, plate of meatbread sandwiches in hand. “Sorry I took so long, but we figured you guys would be hungry.”
 
Vanille swallowed down her anxiety and pulled up her old smile. “Hey everyone! Thanks Teej! They look great!”
 
“Haha, well Be/ck/y did most of the work, me and /co/nrad helped.”
 
“Whatever,” Viol rolled his eyes. “Did you at least bring some SODA POP this time?”
 
Teej pulled the can out of his back-pocket and tossed it to Viol. “Right here.” And then pulled a second can and handed it to Vanille “And LEMONADE for the young lady, right?”
 
“Th-thanks Teej!” Vanille brightened up at the lanky GM remembering her favorite soft drink and popped it open.
 
“So this is what you’ve been working on for the last week,” /co/ said looking over Teej’s GM set-up.
 
“Hey, /co/nrad, no peeking, I’m planning on giving you guys a trial run of it after the current arc” Teej went over and rearranged what he saw out of place, thinking it was all /co/’s doing.
 
“Awww, we have to learn ANOTHER system?”
 
“Relax, it’s just Fate. We’ve played it before, and you and /m/ keep saying you want better rewards for your insane stunts.”
 
“Right, right, I see how it is. You wanna give your little Girlfriend a boost by giving her sneak peek, right~?” /co/nrad teased.
 
Both Teej and Vanille turned red, but before they could stutter anything out, Viol came first. “Shutup, maskfag. Why the hell are you thinking there’s something there? We’re going with Teej because we wouldn’t get to go otherwise.”
 
“Oh~, you sure that’s how your sister feels? What if she wants to do something with him?” /ck/ intervened ruffling Viol’s hair.
 
“/tg/ won’t, if he knows what’s good for him,” the male twin grumbled.
 
“W-well, let’s eat, shall we?” Teej said, trying to break the tension. He exchanged some nervous glances with Vanille, who shared the look, but with a bit of added exasperation.
 
They moved to the couches and eating continued in quiet awkwardness. “S-so Viol, what’re going to fill in for your aspects?” Vanille asked, trying not to turn a meatball parm into a spaghetti sandwich.
 
“Ass-what?” Viol asked in annoyed confusion.
 
“Aspects,” Teej continued. “They’re character descriptions you can use to affect the story by using a Fate point. You have to have one called a high-concept that describes what kind of a person your character is, a Trouble that describes a negative trait your character has, and -”
 
“Yeah, yeah, Vanille gave me a .pdf some rules like that.” Viol interrupted and waved Teej off. “So it can be ANYTHING?”
 
“Well, yeah, but I have to approve it. A good aspect will have upsides and downsides, You need up-sides if you want to use your fate points, but you need downsides if you want more Fate points to affect use in the first place.”
 
“Well that’s pretty lame. Why be so fucking vague? It’s better if you have hard numbers you can crunch. All that vagueness makes it harder to win.”
 
Teej opened his mouth to respond but Vanille beat him to it. “Winning doesn’t matter!” Viol looked at Vanille like she had just spoken a terrible blasphemy against the Emprah, and he was Commissar Fuklaw. “I mean, in this game,” she clarified. “The point is playing together and having fun!”
 
Viol just scoffed, “What’s the point of having fun if you’re not winning? Not like you would know anything about that.”
 
Teej and Vanille were ready for more awkward silence, but /ck/ spoke up unexpectedly. “Oh grow a pair, kid. That kind of attitude is why bratty kids don’t eat anything but pizza and donuts. Teej worked his ass off to make something for you to try out and enjoy. If you’re just gonna go into it with that attitude, you can go hungry and Teej and Vanille can have fun on their own for all I care.” Be/ck/y put down her plate and looked Viol square in the eyes. “The least you can do is give it a try, or what are you, a pussy? Can’t take a little spice in your chili?” Be/ck/y popped the last bit of her sandwich into her mouth and got up.
 
“C’mon, /co/nrad, I’ve got to get those spaghetti stains out of your pants.”
 
“R-right.” /co/ could swear he felt another meatball roll out somewhere.
 
“Sorry that you prepped all that game and Viol won’t even take a bite, Teej.” Be/ck/y calls back, followed closely by /co/nrad, noodles slipping.
 
“It’s fine, we’ll figure something out…” Teej called back. Despite /ck/ calling out what seemed like a fruitless endeavor, Teej smiled anyway, glad of her speaking up. It’s what he always liked about Be/ck/y, after the cooking of course.
 
“Well, if it’s true, I guess we can clean up and-”
 
“NO!” Viol shot up in his seat and quickly relaxed. “I-I mean, no, it’s not true…”
 
“Oho~? What’s this?” Vanille had her first real smug look of the day. “Is my darling little brother saying he wants to give roleplaying a try~?”
 
“Sh-shut up, Vanille, y-you’re only a hundred steps older than me, don’t talk down to me like that. I ain’t no pussy. I’m gonna give it a try, and no one’s gonna tell me I didn’t.” Viol turns to Teej, a new fire in his eye. “S-so, can I try again?”
 
Teej didn’t say anything at first. He just went over to his bag, took out a few miniatures and set them up on the battle map. “Only if you’re ready for the most intense Pokemon Adventure you’ve ever had.”
 
Vanille leaned over and whispered something to her brother. “For a second there I thought he was going to say something like ‘dare you enter my magical realm’ or some shit.”
 
“Yeah, you wish.” Viol whispered back.
 
“S-sorta…”
 
***
 
“Alright, now roll your capture.” The crackle of fudge dice could be heard behind Teej’s screen for the pokemon’s desire to be free from Viol’s pokeball.
 
-, 0, -, -.
 
“Sorry, Viol, that’s a failure. The Azurill-”
 
“Wait! I never invoked that boost on the success with style against that bug trainer,” Viol countered quickly, snatching his dice back up.
 
“But ‘don’t mess with me’ had specifically to do with your pokemon overcoming Scary Face.” Teej was a bit skeptical. They had actually played a good five hours and managed to get past the first two gyms already, and without any losses either. Teej was impressed with how fast Viol had picked up the system, even adapting to the narrative elements of Fate RPG, if only to give him a mechanical edge.
 
“Oh, c’mon, I already succeeded that intimidation pass to make the Azurill not run away,” Viol protested back.
 
“Alright, alright,” the GM said, backing off. “You won’t succeed with a +2 though, so reroll?” He didn’t want to get into rules arguing, and this was about having fun. In fact, Teej noted, Viol had been doing a little TOO well. He was ready for every encounter thrown at him. Even managed to squeak out a victory against the main villains before the second gym. Team Chaos was supposed to get to the verge of killing one of his pokemon before the town gym leader, Fuklaw, got to jump in and save them.
 
“Of course.” And Viol gave it another shot, dice clicking on the hard surface.
 
0, +, 0, +.
 
“And that’s good enough. Success, Violet now has a brand new Azurill!”
 
“So, ~Violet~,” Vanille swooned, in character of course. “What’re gonna name him?”
 
“How d’you know it’s a boy, Vann,” Viol quipped back in IC himself. Vanille had been very good at getting Viol to react and play in character, even if the character was literally a gender-swapped Viol, though she seemed to take a backseat in the battles and things, from what Teej saw. “Azurills have like a 75% female ratio, duh.”
 
As if on cue, Teej took out a pyramid shaped die and threw it on the table, a 1 at the top from where it landed. “Well, seems like Violet beat the odds, the Azurill is a boy! Good call Vanille. You’re being more reliable than my dice.”
 
“Thanks~.” Vanille blushed and shifted in her seat. She and Teej had been playing footsie under the table on and off since lunch, and she took the opportunity to start up again.
 
“Hmmm… How about Blue Balls?” Viol said as he kicked up under the table, breaking up his sister’s little flirting session with the GM. “I mean, he’s blue and round, right?” He eyed them both coyly, ‘Jeeze,’ he thought, ‘What casuals, rubbing up on each other like that... and leaving me out of it...’ That last part Viol twitched and shoved into the back of his head. Waaaaay to gay.
 
“R-right, Blue Balls it is.” Teej forced a chuckle, finding the reason for his broken concentration embarrassing, irony of the name not lost.
 
“So where are going next?” Vanille asked, shooting a glare at her brother.
 
Looking up from his notes, Teej falls right back into step, describing the hill on the grasslands they’re climbing. “Now as you crest the hill, you see your destination, the City of Hodorium. It’s tall spires in the distance, it’s the largest city in Imperia, holding the well renowned Steel gym! Wat do?”
 
“Well we go heal our Pokemon first, duh.” Viol snarked.
 
“Of course, of course. You walk through the ‘Steel City’ as it’s called in Imperia. The bui-”
 
“Oreburgh City is Steel City, dumbass. There can’t be two.” Viol interrupts, air of smugness about him. “Did you really do your research?”
 
“As I was saying,” Teej continues, “The Steel City, known for its great steel structures, and you can see why, every building is a tribute to utilitarianism. Not terribly interesting in shape, but the way the light reflects off the skyscrapers gives it its own beauty. Asking any local will point you to the Companion district. A bustling city market, dedicated to Pokemon and their trainers. You can see several shops you might want to browse, with the Pokemon center in a massive building in the middle of it all.”
 
Vanille listens intently, eyes bright with the excitement “Oooo, I might wanna go shopping for a bit first!”
 
“Sure thing,” After playing around with his laptop, a store menu came up on the pokedex. “Figure out what catches your fancy and roll resources.”
 
“C’mon, we can do this AFTER we get the pokemon healed,” Viol insisted.
 
“Why the rush, Viol?” It’s true, Teej was planning a surprise encounter with their rival DICKS while they shopped. Viol just hasn’t fallen for any of his curveballs yet. It was supposed to be a challenge for Viol, but the young trainer was just waltzing through it.
 
“Yeah, Violet, we can go get the pokemon healed up later. It’s a town, there’s no random encounters around the corner,” Vanille scoffed in character.
 
“Yeah, well what about Team Chaos, Vann, they showed up in Angryville.”
 
“We were investigating something! We already had our pokemon healed before we went into that warehouse anyway!” Vanille pouted a bit. She knew her brother was metagaming based on what he had sneaked a peak of, but she was getting sick of it.
 
Viol picked up the hint. Things were already tense enough from the rules-lawyering, and by any other GM’s account, Teej was being outright lenient. “F-fine, let’s just make it quick.”
 
“You enter a clothing store that specializes in trainer clothing, you see anything you like?”
 
“Ooo, this Commissar Cloak gives you a +1 to your initiative roll, but the fedora and trenchcoat combo give your pokemon Dark type resistances.” Vanille browsed through the selection on the pokedex, reading the short descriptions, taking her time, but also considering what would look best on her character.
 
“Oh just hurry up already…” Viol whined as he nervously eyed Teej casually rolling some dice and taking notes.
 
“Well why don’t you pick something too?” Vanille pouted back. “You don’t rush customization.”
 
“Fiiiiiiine, jeeze… I guess I could get a floofy skirt.”
 
“Wait, aren’t you still wearing that punk vest from Angryville?” Vanille eyed her brother.
 
“Yeah, why?”
 
“Those two things TOTALLY do not go together.”
 
“What, the skirt reduces critical hit chance, and the vest lets me give some damage if my defense roll was good enough.”
 
“No, I mean, look at them, that vest is bright orange, and the skirt is like mauve or something.”
 
“I think it would look cute,” Teej piped up in a familiar voice. “Your friendly rival Dicks walks up to the two of you. ‘Fancy meeting you guys here’”
 
“Oh shit…” mumbled Viol as he dove back into his pokedex.
 
“Dicks! What’re you doing here?”
 
“‘Same thing as you are, Vann, shopping! But please don’t call me that in public’ he says cheerily, but then turning Violet. ‘So Violet, what’re you doing there?’”
 
Viol looked up from his pokedex, not even bothering to get in character. “What does it look like, I’m rearranging my pokemon so I can beat him.”
 
“‘You mean me?’” Teej continued as Dicks. “‘Haha, I don’t even have my pokemon on me, they’re getting patched up at the pokemon center.’ He even turns to show you his belt is empty.’”
 
“W-wait, you said, I mean, it, I mean…” It slowly dawned on Viol that there wasn’t going to be a fight. “I mean of course not, this is a store! Why would we fight here.”
 
“‘Haha, I like that spunk! I’m glad you’re in good spirits, Violet. How’s your Froakie doing?’ He asks in a friendly way.”
 
“Teej c’mon, you already know Frank is a Froga-”
 
“But Dicks doesn’t know, dumbass,” Vanille snarked back. “C’mon, ya gotta respond in character.”
 
“Ugh, but that’s just so gaaaaay,” Viol groaned. “Why do I have to act all nice with him anyway, he’s the rival.”
 
“You don’t have to act nicely, Viol, that’s your choice. I’m just saying that he’s acting nice with you.” Teej considered for a moment. “If you want to know more, roll your rapport.”
 
“I don’t get what good that’ll do…” The fudge dice clattered. “So that’s a 3, wha’do I get?”
 
“Alright, success with condition. He seems to be stepping on eggshells, like he’s doing his best to make a good impression.”
 
“Oh, I get it, faggot wants to get on my good side so he can get a leg up against me. Well then I tell him to mind his own business and get out of our face if he doesn’t want to get his ass kicked.
 
“He seems a bit taken aback by your sudden aggression, but seems to have expected it nonetheless. ‘Hey, sorry, no need to get too uppity. Anyway, since I’m here, I should tell ya that the Gym Leader, Ollianus changed up his lineup. He’s still Steel, but it’s tougher. Not that I had any trouble.’ Your rival proudly displays the badge on his lapel, a steel gear with a concentric steel pokeball.”
 
Viol looked unnerved for a second. “So what is it?”
 
“Dicks just smiles, ‘What would be the fun if I told you? I just wanted to save you the trouble if you heard anything.’” Instead of just describing it, Teej leans out from behind his screen and puts his hand on Viol’s shoulder, looking the younger dead in the eyes. “‘But I know you can beat him if you try.’”
 
For once, Viol was speechless, at least for a moment. “G-Get off. I’m take you down, ya hear me?” he managed to stammer out, though it didn’t seem entirely in character.
 
“‘Alright, let me get out of your hair. Good luck, to the both of you.’ Dicks walks off, waving.”
 
“Okay, I think I know what I want.” Vanille says, selecting the items in the pokedex. “You going to get that skirt, Violet?”
 
“Huh? Y-yeah, sure.” Viol said distractedly.
 
“You walk up to the counter with your times and the cashier rings up your items, Vanille, roll resources.” The clatter of dice and Vanille got a new wardrobe. “When Violet comes to the counter, the cashier says ‘Oh no, it’s already paid for. A nice young man left some money for that exact item. Said it would be a Violet who’ll have it. Here, let me give you a bag.’”
 
Viol got a lot more flustered than he should have over a pen and paper game. “W-what? N-no way, why’d that idiot go and get me something. What, he thinks I’m poor or something that I’m some kinda charity? I-I’ll show him.”
 
Vanille just sat there and looked smug. “Dicks and Violet sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G”
 
“Sh-shut up, Vanille, it’s just a game…”
 
“That’s what I should say to you, bro.”
 
Viol didn’t talk much while they got their pokemon healed, didn’t even groan at Teej’s terrible Nurse Joy joke. (Vanille liked it though “Who are you, Brock? Haha.”)
 
“So before you, now in the Financial district of Hodorium City, standing before the Iron Fist Gym, a massive, cavernous building with tall steel pillars, all polished to a shine in the orange evening light. Inside awaits your most difficult opponent yet, Ollianus. Dare you enter?”
 
Vanille leaned over to her brother. “Hey, you sure you’re okay? Seems like Teej found out about your little advantage. Might be even harder now.”
 
“Yeah, I’m good,” Viol said out loud, louder than he’d be talking since Dicks came around. “Let’s go kick Ollie’s anus… Vann.” He gave a smile that his sister hadn’t seen since the last main-line pokemon release.
 
Vanille returned it eagerly. “Yeah, lets go kick some metal ass.”
 
***
 
“‘You did well, young trainers,’ the large man in the Asbestos suit says as he pins the Salamander badges to your lapels. ‘That was certainly the most invigorating doubles match I had in a long time.’” Teej narrated their victory as Viol was standing in a victory pose and Vanille was doing a little dance in her seat.
 
“You were spot on with that idea to use Icy Wind as a create advantage and knock that Fletchinger out of the air, Viol,” Vanille said excitedly.
 
“Hey, you were the one to think to evolve your Eevee into a Glaceon when we went through that mountain pass and saw an Ice Rock. I know you were hoping to get a Sylveon.”
 
Another three hours, another two gyms were in the bag. The Steel Gym was much harder than either of them expected. Teej didn’t actually think Viol was cheating, so he upped the difficulty to where he thought the two could manage. Viol tried taking the lead like he did with the previous battles only to lose his newly caught Mr. Blue Balls in the first round. But some careful strategizing by Vanille and they were able to win their badges. Compared to the early hours, where they were still getting the kinks out, things went damn smoothly. On the way up to the Salamander’s Fire Gym, they faced up against Team Chaos again, who were trying to get the Mt. Horus volcano to erupt. They even teamed up with Dicks and promised to face off with him later as they went into the gym.
 
“Alright, I think that counts as a Milestone. Refresh your fate, look over aspects and stunts, consider your lineup, anything you need, because you’re gonna blow this Volcano Village in the morning.” Teej started rolling again, resetting his encounters.  
 
“Isn’t that what we just stopped? Next town is supposed to be another city, right? This place didn’t have any good items or clothes.” Vanille was going over the store lists again, make sure there wasn’t something cute hiding.
 
“I dunno, I thought the Fire-Proof suits were pretty useful when preventing Burn,” Viol offered.
 
“You know, you’d make a really bad girl, Bro.”
 
As Teej and Vanille had a sensible chuckle at Viol’s expense the door opened and Be/ck/y poked her head in. “Hey guys, you’re still playing? Aren’t you hungry?”
 
Teej looked at the clock. “Oh crap, it’s past eight already?”
 
“Awww, we were having so much fun too~,” Vanille cooed.
 
“Pfft, if you call THAT casual bit of nonsense ‘fun,’” Viol scoffed back.
 
“Hey, weren’t you just doing Sentai poses a second ago after you just won?” Teej smirked and got up from his seat to stretch as Viol blushed, turning to /ck/. “Yeah, that sounds great, Be/ck/y. In the main dining room?”
 
“Yup!” The three followed /ck/ down the hallway to the dining room, where /d/, /mlp/, /co/, /m/, and /toy/ were already helping themselves to homemade mac and bratwurst.
 
“This everyone?” Asked Viol.
 
“Oh shaddup, bro, that means more for us.” Vanille grabbed a plate and piled on the confection of macaroni, cheese, and breadcrumbs.
 
“Well, /v/’s locked himself up in /e/’s room, and /pol/ has apparently lost interest… I think /k/ and /an/ took /diy/ to dinner with /out/, lay some ground rules. I think everyone else just ate earlier.”
 
“Yeah, like that dirty bastard /mu/.” Commented /co/ through a mouth of his wife’s cooking.
 
“Oh hush, /co/nrad,” /ck/ chided. “And don’t talk with your mouth full.”
 
/co/nrad finished chewing and said, “What, he was hitting on you! Thought I wouldn’t notice too! … I ain’t no cuck...” The last part was mumbled through another bite.
 
“Please, you know /b/ probably put him up to it. Stop taking it so seriously, you’re going to end up like /v/.”
 
“If that means I get to shove my face in your breasts and pretend to cry, I think I can handle that.” /co/nrad gives a sheepish grin.
 
“Don’t bring that shit up.” Teej rolled his eyes. “I’d like to keep that away from the gaming AND the dinner table, thanks.”
 
“So how’s the game going anyway?” /d/emona piped up.
 
“Kicking ass,” Vanille beamed in between mouthfuls.
 
“Of course,” Smirked Viol. “As if there was any doubt how I would do in a pokemon game.”
 
“Yeah, Viol’s character even has a love interest~.” The fairer /vp/ gave a shit-eating grin, some bread crumbs on her teeth.
 
“S-shut up! Is not. We only worked together a bit is all, and when we meet in the next town, I’m gonna kick some rival ass.”
 
“Mmmm~ Methinks the boy doth protesteth too much,” /d/emona cooed. “Don’t worry, hun, Teej makes a really great girl, trust me, I’d know.”
 
The lanky man in the Angry Marine t shirt nearly spat up his brat as /m/usashi and Tori had a sensible chuckle this time at Teej’s expense. “/d/-/d/emona! What the hell!”
 
Instead of laughing along, Viol tensed up a bit and mumbled something out, “I’m actually playing the girl…”
 
“What was that, Viol~?” Vanille was right next to her brother, so she heard him clearly.
 
“I said I’m playing the girl, okay? Jeeze, what, you think I’m gonna be a c-casual or something?” He crossed his arms and pouted a bit. “Besides, it’s just a game. Doesn’t mean I wanna suck cock or anything.”
 
“No one said anything about sucking cock *Snort*” /mlp/ blurted out and then gave a weird shiver. /d/emona was eyeing her kind of suspiciously.
 
“Now, now Emily, no need to try and get poor Viol into spilling spaghetti too~”
 
“S-sorry /d/emona,” /mlp/ said sheepishly back, out of breath for some reason.
 
Vanille leaned into her brother, who seemed as pissy as he was embarassed. “Hey, Viol, don’t take it too hard, we’re just joking around.”
 
“I-I know that, it’s only a game, I’ve played girls in vidya before. Doesn’t make me a fag.” It seemed more like Viol was telling himself than his sister. “It’s just weird… I don’t get it, rivals are supposed to battle, but Teej… Teej is different. I don’t get it.” He mumbled the last few words lower than Vanille could hear.
 
On the other end, Teej, /m/usashi, and Tori were talking models “Yeah, sure, I have some paints that would look great on a Zaku. Let me finish up eating and I’ll swing downstairs.”
 
“Well, well, Teej, I didn’t take you to swing like THAT?” /d/emona gave Teej that look she always gave him when she was being a tease. “I mean, I always knew you were a little bi curious, but I always thought it was for Elves.”
 
“Don’t talk to me about Elves, /d/emona.” Teej narrowed his eyes back.
 
“Please, I mean” Spaghetti fell out of /d/emona’s pockets. “I mean. Shit. Emily would you be a dear and help me hold my spaghetti?”
 
“S-sure!” /mlp/ helped scoop up some of the soggy noodles on the floor.
 
“Anyway, where was I… Oh right, didn’t think you’d want to try and get Viol cross playing so early. You are a devious one, aren’t you?”
 
“Actually, he’s the one that volunteered. I told him it wasn’t a newbie thing to be able to do, but he’s been doing pretty good,” Teej picked up his empty plate and teased back, “Now, if I’m done protecting Viol’s honor from your dirty mind, I think I’ll be on my way.”
 
/d/emona rolled her eyes and smirked, turning back to Emily, who was eating her date’s spaghetti. “It’s actually pretty good.”
 
“Mmmm, that so?” The master of the perverse said as she reached a finger and whiped a spot of red sauce off of Emily’s nose. She brought it back to her mouth, long prehensile tongue coming out to lick it off. “Give me a taste, won’t you?”
 
/d/emona’s following lunge knocked them both to the floor, inciting ironic catcalls from the spectators. “Get a room you two!”
 
“They have one, problem is, we’re in it!”
 
Vanille took the distraction as an opportunity to follow Teej down the hallway. “H-hey, wait up!” Teej turned at the sound of the teen scampering behind him? “D’you need any help? I-if not it’s fine, I don’t wanna get in the way.”
 
“Nah, c’mon” Teej beconned. “I need to get some more snacks anyway. Be easier if I didn’t have to take two trips.”
 
They walked along like that for a moment in silence. Not an uncomfortable one. If neither of them had anything to say, it would be downright comfy, making figuring out how to break it all the trickier. Finally, Vanille spoke up: “S-so, what were you talking to /d/emona about?”
 
“Oh nothing important, just her usual teasing.”
 
Another pause, again broken by the younger. “Do you…”
 
“Hmm?” Vanille wasn’t sure if she should say what she was about to, but Teej turned to her and gave that normal, open smile, the kind that says “I’ll listen to whatever you have to say.”
 
So she swallowed the sinking feeling in her gut and just asked anyway. “D-do you miss /d/emona?”
 
Teej furrowed his brow, not quite understanding the question. “Miss her? We still hang out pretty regularly. You remember that time she guest starred as a villain, right?”
 
“No, I mean… I mean, like, you know… when you were going out… Do you miss what you, um, you know… had?” Vanille regretted the words as they came out of her mouth. Were they too prying? Too clingy?
 
To her relief, Teej chuckled a bit. “Was that all?” He looked up at the ceiling, as if having a flashback. “I don’t think we really ‘had’ anything. I was in a bad way after /x/, and /d/emona was there when I needed her, kept me out of too deep a funk. I just made the mistake of taking her for granted.”
 
“S-so what about me? An-and Viol.” She added her brother’s name quickly at the end there. “You don’t h-have to hang out with us just because you feel obliged to…”
 
“Why would I feel obliged to?”
 
“Because you were having trouble finding another date?” Vanille offered. Teej stopped in the hall, right outside the door to the basement, and a panic set in to Vanille’s thoughts.
 
“But I really LIKE hanging out with you,” Teej said plainly, and then adding hastily. “And your brother. I really do have fun talking pokemon and learning about new things, and it’s a ton of fun to teach you about all the things I like. I mean, I just… I really like you being around. Puts a smile on my face.” a lanky arm reached behind his head and scratched, he hoped he hadn’t said something wrong. “I just wonder why you’d wanna hang around a weirdo like me, haha.”
 
“I-it’s because I l-like hanging around you too!” Now it was Vanille’s turn “I… I really like it when you smile. You get all goofy and excited and come up with all these really cool ideas, and they’re fun and creative and I can’t even keep up, but I don’t wanna slow you down because you’re having so much fun and I wanna see more and do more and experience more and… I… I…”
 
Vanille was on the edge of hyperventilating, her face red from spilling her guts like that. But not nearly as red as when Teej pulled her into an embrace the moment after “Thanks, Vanille. I’m happy I can make you smile too.” He said as Vanille returned the hug with a gentle squeeze.
 
They parted after a moment, but unwillingly. “Y-you should probably get /m/usashi and Tori their paints, r-right?” Vanille’s face was bright red, but she was smiling sheepishly through it, finding quite a bit of interest in her navel.
 
“Y-yeah,” Responded Teej, suddenly finding a spot on the wall very interesting, blushing a bit himself.
 
They went down the stairs and picked up what they came for from the room, a box of painting supplies and brushes, plus some snacks and drinks from the mini fridge. Teej carried the paints, Vanille the snacks. Just before they were out the door, the gamer turned to her GM. “H-hey Teej?”
 
“Hmm?”
 
Vanille got up on her tippy toes and planted a firm kiss on Teej’s unsuspecting lips, making them both turn redder than they were at the top of the stairs. “Th-thanks. For everything.” And without a second warning, she skipped off to climb the stairs.
 
Teej kinda just stood there for a moment as the events of the last couple of minutes just washed over him.
 
“C’mon, Teej, if you don’t hurry up, I’m gonna tell Viol I found you jacking it to moth porn!” Vanille’s playful call broke the trance. He shook it off. That could be picked through carefully later. For now, there was an adventure to complete.
 
***
 
“They’re still in pursuit down the tunnel, and they’re faster too,” Teej warned, moving Goodra miniatures after the /vp/ twins’ character and pokemon miniatures. “Vanille, roll your Trainer stat.”
 
“Uh… okay.” Fudge dice clattered on the table: 0, -, -, 0. “Uh… I’m going to reroll that, invoking Close Companion.” -, -, +, - “Damnit fucking RNG… Uhg.” With a bit of horror, Vanille looks up at Teej. “What happens?”
 
“Alright, as you’re running, the Chaos Goodra are catching up at a disturbing rate. Before you know it, Sir Chestnut stops. For just a moment, he looks back and catches your eye, smiling a sad smile. ‘Go’ he seems to say to you, ‘I’ll hold them off.’ Quickly, he deploys Spike Shield,  which…” more dice clatter behind the screen. forces back the first couple Goodra, but knocks Sir Chestnut back in the process.
 
“C’mon, Vann, we gotta get out of here,” Viol said in “I’m gonna try and pull him out. with me.”
 
“I can’t just leave him! I’m going to get out Crystal and…”
 
“We already tried that, Vanille, and your Glaceon is in the red. If just one of those things gets a shot off, you lose TWO pokemon. Minus the butterfree you lost when we got from when we got the Krieg badge, we can’t afford to lose any more pokes.”
 
“While you’re having this conversation,” Teej interjects, “Sir Chestnut’s shield finally breaks. He turns, his look pleading that you run now.”
 
Vanille looked at the table sadly, knowing she can’t do anything. “A-alright… I’ll… I’ll go with Violet.”
 
“Seeing you run, Sir Chestnut gives one last parting cry before it prepares Earthquake. The walls of the mountain passage begin to crumble. Roll athletics…” more dice clattering. “Alright, you both make it out along with Frank. The passage collapses behind you, cutting you off from Hive City. No way to know what happened to Sir Chestnut, but a whole mountain basically collapsed on him.” Teej peered over his screen at Vanille, who was giving the battle map a thousand yard stare. “You okay, Vanille?”
 
“N-no, I’m fine, I’m fine. Just kinda… I dunno. I mean, it’s stupid, it’s just a game.” The female /vp/ slapped her cheeks a bit to bring herself back into the game. “That’s just so sad though.”
 
“Think of it like this Vanille, he gave his life so we could move on, so we gotta move on and win, for his sake.” Despite going back to essentially roll playing since they got back to dinner, Viol hit the nail on the head. “It’s basic Nuzlocke stuff.”
 
“Thanks bro… Yeah, that’s it. Gotta keep moving on… but still, my starter…”
 
“Well, you have all your badges, you can hit the Champion Road against the Final Three.” Teej offers.
 
“I’m gonna take out my Pikachu,” Vanille said softly.
 
“Leon comes out giving a little ‘Pika?’ wondering you need him for.”
 
“I’m gonna pick him up and cuddle him close, feel his squishy cheeks.” Vanille gets up and goes around the table to Teej, embracing him suddenly, rubbing her cheek against his whiskers.
 
“Blech, get off him, Sis, I’m not playing so I can puke,” Viol pouted.
 
Teej did his best to hide his notes, but he didn’t have to worry, Vanille wasn’t looking for anything than to touch scruffy face. “Alright, alright, I get it, have another fate point,” he laughed, even as he rubbed back a bit. “Leon lets off a bit of electricity to help soothe. He knows just as well as you the sacrifice Sir Chestnut made.”
 
“Thanks, that felt better.” Vanille definitely seemed in better spirits as she returned to her seat, though it didn’t seem like she went and snuggled for anything other than to cheer herself up.
 
“Alright, well can we please get to Victory road?”
 
After Violet and Vann had beat the fighting gym in Hive City, a city in a deep valley in the east of Imperia, there was a surprise attack by Team Chaos. Viol had tried fighting them off, but lost his newly evolved Conkeldurr in the fighting. Dicks, their rival who they were supposed to have a friendly spar with after the gym, got lost in the tussle, but the /vp/ twin convinced themselves he had made it out.
 
Teej started describing the road into the capital of Terra City. Security was as tight as ever, what with the attack in the east. They got a couple of odd fights out of it, but no opportunities to catch any new pokemon.
 
“You walk up the steps to the final building and enter a large, dark room. No crowds like you see on the tv, the arena is empty, until a single spotlight shines on the first of the Final Three, Champion Sinai, who uses Fairy-Type pokemon. Roll perception.” Dice clatters, Teej continues: “She seems wrong, unnatural. Her skin is paler than it should be, and her eyes seem darker and tainted by red. Her voice is husky when she speaks. ‘New trainers, fun~.’ She casts her first pair a Togekiss and a Gardevoir. But you recognize that coloration, they’re Chaos Pokemon!”
 
“W-wait what? Were the Final Three behind this the whole time?” Vanille seems shocked at the revelation.
 
The battle ragee, and eventually, Sinai’s entire team was defeated. Violet and Vann were forced to kill every one of them, and when she was defeated through excellent teamwork (she had a double-size team), the Champion just collapsed. “The color returns to her face as she lies in an uncomfortable sleep.”
 
“So… maybe they’re not behind this?” Viol wonders out loud.
 
“The doors open to the next room, lights beckoning you forth.”
 
“There’s only one way to go from here, Violet.”
 
The next two fights went similarly, the champions had pale skin, red eyes, and Chaos pokemon, all incredibly difficult. The pikachu Vanille’s snuggled up kicked it against the second champion, so for the third they had to be particularly careful. Finally, after hard fighting and pits in their stomach, the final door opened to a fourth room.
 
“I thought there were only three Champions? Seriously, we’re going to at least need a heal,” Viol protested.
 
“There’s a machine on the wall of the passage for exactly that.” Teej pulled a final paper from his bag, something he’d been hiding. “After your pokemon have healed, you walk into the final room, a smaller room than the stadiums before it, maybe a kind of media room, except the walls have been overrun by gross disgusting mass. In the middle of it all, there’s a chair, and there sits a familiar person. Dicks Aspen is sitting, but he looks like the others, but worse.”
 
“D-dicks? What’s going on, c’mon, I wanna ask him what’s going on?” Viol reacted rather emotionally to hearing his rival was in the same kind of trouble.
 
“Dicks stands, voice sounding like echos. ‘Your friend is gone, foolish human. I have finally been released from the warp, in no thanks to your efforts. Though in my weakened form, I must take on a host. This “dicks” is a fine host, he is strong. Stronger than you.’ He takes out the familiar pokeballs, his Raichu and Machamp, but now they’re strange, almost transformed, greater than the others, as if they’re corrupted by some evil.”
 
“N-no, I don’t wanna have to fight dicks like this.” Viol whines, though in character or out it wasn’t clear.
 
 
Teej took it as in character. “Dicks cringes for a moment, gripping his head. ‘I’m s-sorry Vann, and I’m especially sorry to you, Violet. There’s nothing I can do’ he mumbled out, as though it took all his strength to come out and say something. But soon he recomposed himself, back to the creepy echo voice. ‘Ha, I will have to say, this host has some spunk. All the more satisfying to dominate. Now come at me, pathetic humans.’” The ensuing battle didn’t go well either. In 27 turns, they had barely made a scratch in Dick’s lineup, while Vann and Violet were down to the last two, Vann’s Glaceon and Violet’s Greninja.
 
“Damnit, no, I don’t wanna lose Crystal!” Vanille cried out.
 
“Can I invoke my Substitute aspect to work on Crystal instead of Greninja?” Viol asked, panicked. He had no idea how he was going to neutralize the Raichu without any of his other pokemon.
 
“Sure, but you already used your free invoke, you’ll need a fate point, and you only have one left,” Responded Teej, surprisingly calm for being just about to cause a TPK.
 
“Okay, then I’ll do it.”
 
“And that should juuuust be low enough for a moderate consequence: Shell Shocked. Glaceon is paralyzed. The Raichu powers itself up for the next attack, zeroing in on Greninja.”
 
“Damnit, I’m sorry Violet, I can’t do anything.” Vanille put her head in her arms and stared at the battle map. Things were going particularly poorly.
 
“Why is he doing this? Who is it? Damnit, can I try to convince him not to stop? Maybe I can get through to Dicks?”
 
“Sure, roll it.”
 
Never had it been so hard for Viol to drop dice. The clatter was deafening while everyone else held their breath.
 
0, 0, 0, +
 
“And let’s see, Rapport is only +1… Failure. Sorry Viol, that’s just how the dice roll. Roll your defense on...”
 
“No! It can’t! I need to get through to him, I’m not gonna let it end like this!” Viol interrupted with a passion neither his sister nor Teej had seen at the table from him since.
 
“Okay. If you can’t roll it, then role play it. Talk to me like I’m Dicks and you’re Violet. If you can convince me, maybe I will.” There’s no challenge in Teej’s voice. He’s just offering another path.
 
Viol breaths deep trying to figure out exactly what to say. “D-Dicks, please don’t. You don’t have to do this, you don’t have to hurt us. You can fight him! But we can’t! He’s done things, terrible things to your pokemon. Look at them, they’re your friends, we’re your… your friends. We don’t want you to hurt us, only be with us... Please, Dicks… We miss you… we… I want to lose you.” Not even Vanille had ever seen Viol so impassioned about something, much less saying it to Teej. It took a moment for Viol to realize exactly what he sounded like while looking Teej right in the eye, and immediately blushed and looked away.
 
Teej let Viol’s speech sink in for a minute, and he smirked. “That’s definitely good enough for me. Pass.” Teej shuffled some papers, rolls some dice, and continued. “‘STOP’ cried Dicks, and not in the creepy echoey voice either. He seemed to be having an argument with himself lots of ‘get out of my head’ and similar things and finally he yells out in agony and a pokemon begins to materialize above him. ‘No, pathetic humans,’ you can hear it communicate telepathically. ‘I will corrupt all, I will bring the Chaos!’ But Dicks has managed to pull himself up, ‘Hey Merlin’ he says to his Delphox, out next to his Raichu, both of them now back to normal, shaking their heads. ‘Fire blast!’”
 
“And I’m going to tell Frank to use Hydropump!” Viol rolls his dice.
 
“Great, the combined fire and water blast rips through the weakened Duumrider, killing him instantly. The other champions begin to walk to the back room asking what’s going on, and the gross organic growths on the wall begin to rot away.” Teej concludes the game, describes the Emperor of Imperia giving them a medal for their actions and that they’re declared Champions of Imperia. “Where shall Vann’s and Violet’s, and their new companion Dicks’ travels take them from here? Well, that’s another story. The end.”
 
“Yay!” Vanille cheered. “That was the best game yet! It’s going to be hard going back to the other game after this.”
 
“Haha, well I think for the sake of my sanity, this is the last time I do a one-off like this for a long while.” Teej turned to Viol, who was suddenly very bashful after that speech. “So what about you, Viol, have fun? I thought you played wonderfully.”
 
“Y-yeah, I guess it wasn’t a TOTAL waste of time,” the now-initiated roleplayer mumbled. “It was pretty fun.”
 
“Glad to hear it. Now I gotta get you two to bed or Be/ck/y will give me an earful about being a bad influence.”
 
“Awww, I kinda like your bad influence,” Vanille teased. “I haven’t seen Viol so quiet in years! Haha.”  
 
Surprisingly, Viol didn’t say anything and just followed as they went back to the vidya wing. With /v/ locked up in /e/’s room, things were surprisingly quiet. When they were at the door, they said their goodnights. Vanille gave Teej a hug and kissed him on the cheek when she thought her brother wasn’t looking. “Thanks for the totally fun day. See ya tomorrow,” She said with a blush and a smile, walking on air from what was definitely a very good day.
 
Viol didn’t say anything. In fact, he let the door close behind Vanille without moving from the hall. “Well, you gotta go to sleep t-” Teej didn’t get to finish his sentence, because Viol moved in to give him a hug too. Albeit a stilted awkward one. “W-well, good night to you too.”
 
Teej returned the hug tepidly until Viol pulled away and looked up at him. “I’m only doing this because I had fun today, got it. Doesn’t mean I l-like you or a-anything. That was all just in-character stuff. I don’t actually mean it to you.”
 
“Heheh, sure, I mean, it’s only a game after all,” Teej offered.
 
“Y-yeah, that’s right, just a game. Nothing more.” Voil sounded more like he was trying to convince himself again. “W-well, thanks again.”
 
He didn’t leave entirely. An awkward silence took hold, where Viol was standing in front of Teej with a conflicted look on his face, so Teej just stood there too, waiting for something to happen. And something did happen. Viol leaned up and kissed Teej on the cheek opposite his sister’s.
 
“G-goodnight. Thanks again for the game.” The pained, conflicted look didn’t leave Viol’s face, as he seemed to not even know himself why he had just kissed another man.
 
“Y-yeah, good night. Thanks for playing.” Was all Teej could manage to think to say.
 
Viol entered his room and started to close the door, but stopped half way. “N-no homo.”
 
“R-right. No homo.”
 
The door closed and Teej just stood there for a while. Unsure of what to think. Eventually, he just shrugged and went back to his room. He needed a drink. It was a loooong day.
 
END