PokeGirls: Lucid Method

The story begins...

Arden

"Okay, that seems to be the last of them. Now to see if it works."
A young man sat on the floor, amidst a clutter of various pieces of what would generally be called junk. Generally, but not accurately. In fact, the various disassembled devices he had strewn about him were all integral parts of his current experiment. He doublechecked the connections, and looked over his handiwork admiringly. Nodding in afirmation, he ran a hand through his slightly unkempt brown hair. Steel-grey eyes stared intently at his work, framed by pale skin he looked every bit a typical indoor sort who spent too much time tinkering.

It was complex, all the various wires twining and twisting around each other made it even more so. The origin of the devices wasn't readily determinable, but in fact, they, all twelve of them, were handheld gaming devices. Several Game Boys, several Gameboy Advances, even a pair of Gameboy SPs, all lay dismantled and butchered, mutilated into their current form. Each had a cartridge loaded, but none of them were turned on yet. They were all routed to a single power source, a single button push would activate them all simultaneously. He still wasn't sure just what this experiment would accomplish, he felt the basis of it more at an instinctual level than any real scientific know-how. Somehow, he just had to connect all these systems together, see what happened when they were going at the same time.

Arden adjusted the machines' positions on the floor and moved back a little. The only thing delaying him now was his own hesitation, so he quashed the feelings and pushed the button. First, the telltale chimes as the games started, oddly in stereo. He saw the various screens all going through the standard beginning animations. But then, the pictures grew distorted, fuzzy. Looking closer, he saw the pictures expand impossibly, aactually becoming bigger than the screens themselves. He backed up, wondering how big the pictures were going to get. Already, he'd done something he'd thought impossible, he created a true three-dimensional game. But it wasn't done yet, he knew it.

The pictures expanded rapidly, and soon they met in the middle of their circle. But instead of merely overlaying their images, they merged, the various pictures swirling together. He couldn't translate the image into anything he'd ever seen before, but it almost seemed familiar. It continued to swirl, speeding up until it darkened and became something else. It almost looked like a miniature galaxy or something, with the various arms stretched out, vaguely reminiscent of a buzzsaw. It spun slowly, seemingly stable. Fascinated, he drew closer, tentatively reaching out a hand to it. His hand got within a foot, and he didn't feel any odd effects. No gravitational excess, no undue heat or energy, it seemed relatively stable. He got to his feet, and walked around it, looking at it from all angles. It looked the same from all sides, almost as if it was turning to face him as he moved. Closing his eyes, he made his decision. Picking up and shouldering his bag, he wondered if the anomaly would remain stable long enough for this to work. Breathing in deeply, he closed his eyes and stepped forward. His next step never landed, it felt like he was falling into space. He dared to open his eyes, and immediately wished he hadn't. Everything was so far beyond comprehension that he feld he'd surely lose his mind. The colors were too quiet, the sounds weren't blue enough, nothing made sense, as the darkness ran fingers through his guts and blew words into his eyes. He screamed, yet no sound came.


Sakuya

Sakuya woke up, moving to a sitting position in her bed. Almost as soon as she woke up, she hurried to her mirror, spurred on by the same ritual she did every morning. She spent a long moment doing nothing except staring intently at her reflection. Looking back at her was the same face she saw every morning. The same shoulder-length silvery hair, the same piercing red eyes, the same ivory skin. She still inspected herself minutely for close to an hour, and finally sighed with relief. There were no changes, no signs that she had started to go through Threshold like her sister had. That had been a frightful thing, even for her. She shuddered to think of what must have gone through her sister's mind. Maybe that was the reason she'd made that promise. Today was the last day, she could finally keep it. If she could go through with it. Thinking about it, a wave of hesitation filled her. Could she really do that?

Sighing, she knew better than to spend today of all days worried about something like that. She hadn't seen her sister for almost two years, and today was the day she finally could. She got dressed, making sure to put on one of her best outfits. Finally she was ready, and went downstairs for breakfast. The morning table was suspiciously quiet, but then again what could be said at a time like this? Her parents had never been very fond of that promise, but had allowed it. It was far too late to raise objections.

The meal went quickly, almost too quickly, and then it was time to go. She could have gotten a ride from her parents, but it wasn't far to her destination, she'd just walk. She picked up her bag and shouldered it, then waved a goodbye to her parents before setting out. It was a lovely day, she couldn't have asked for a better one. She looked around, and enjoyed the simple yet beautiful scenery. It helped to put her at ease, she wasn't quite so nervous anymore. She kept moving, and before more than a few hours had passed, she already saw her destination. The Tawaraya Ranch. It wasn't all that famous, but the owner, Tohta, was a friend of her parents, and had agreed to 'house' her sister until this day had arrived. This day, of course, being Sakuya's fourteenth birthday, pretty much the youngest possible age allowed for what she had promised. And that was even stretching things a little, but as long as no one pried too closely, they'd be okay. She had kept moving, and now found herself at the entrance to the ranch. This was it, she was finally here. Whatever happened, there was no going back once she passed through that gate. Closing her eyes and clenching her hands into fists, she stirred up her courage and stepped through the gate.


Gin

The last challenger crumpled to the ground, knocked unconscious like the others. That made fifteen. Gin scowled, he still hadn't found one worthy of his attention yet. Scuffing the ground a little, he turned and went on his way, notbothering to tell his companion to follow. He was an imposing figure, especially considering his age. He wasn't even twenty, but he was already closing in on six feet in height. he was decently muscled, without looking bulky. He had short dark brown hair, kept messy because he couldn't be bothered with styling it. He had a slight tan from many days spent outside, and the lean physique from someone who lived through their own power.

His companion straightened up from their last attack, and silently followed Gin. She looked quite a bit different from what could be called normal. She had long pure white hair, and wore what appeared to be black and purple body armor, with red highlights. She appeared even less emotional than Gin, there wasn't a single trace of feeling on her face, despite her recent vicotry over an entire group of adversaries. She quickened her pace and soon caught up with Gin. Only then did she begin talking to him.

"Master, no damage is reported after the last skirmish. However, physical satiation levels are currently at 35%. Recommended course of action is Taming, within the next twenty-four hours."
"Alright. What were the scans of those last opponents."
"Ten were Rank D, four were Rank C, and one was Rank B."
"Rank B, hmm? Apparantly only barely, they were no match for you."

Gin thought for an instant, and came to a decision. They'd continue to search for strong and worthy opponents, but now they'd attempt a more thorough measure of each opponent. If he had known they had fought a rank B, he would have done a more detailed study. As it was, they'd merely have to pay more attention next time. He took a moment to look around, to get his bearings for where they were. They'd entered this forest the week before after hearing rumors it was home to several very strong opponents. But so far, they'd had no luck. They'd just have to keep searching. He could be patient when he had to.