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[truthdecided]

[Nestled up in his and Ren's room, with his conspiracy wall proudly on display off to the side, Akechi addresses the Pearl with a fluffy blanket wrapped around him. No, it is not cute. Hush.]

Recently, Furfrou went missing. Odile-san, Dolly-san, and I went out to rescue them, and I noticed something all too familiar.

[He draws a breath, slow and soft.]

Whilst we were searching, the intrusive thought, 'They're going to leave me behind!' crept into my mind, and presumably those of my teammates. Moreover, we found Furfrou unconscious, just as what happened before with Zweilous and Phantump.

Given the pattern, I'm certain other groups experienced similar events. I believe it worth sharing our findings, so we can better document this phenomenon and perhaps gain a better understanding.

Those intrusive thoughts in particular seem worthy of cataloguing. It's hardly the first time they've arisen on missions.

Comments

[edgewater]

...were we all lookin' for the same Furfrou?

[ how does that-- never mind. this place is weird. parvati's all cosy, at least. please don't think about how much sugar must be in that coffee of hers. ] Because we got the same thing. Me and Umemiya were talking about it after I got back, actually.

[truthdecided]

Here's the thing. Similar occurrences took place with a missing Phantump and Zweilous, right down to the intrusive thought...

[Perhaps he should be more specific...]

The coma, the multiple disappearances... With Zweilous, the thought was 'Something important is... missing.' With Phantump, it was 'Wait... Wait, stop!'

That being said, the Furfrou we rescued had the Kabuki style and had been muttering about making things right. Moreover, Delcatty was confused by the haircut. Still, given the prior pattern, it's possible that the singular Furfrou got multiple haircuts.

[edgewater]

Hm. [ she pulls a face at that, taking another sip of her drink. ] Our Furfrou was starry blue, and was muttering about "doing it all over". Something to that effect, anyroad.

[ her anxiety is definitely permeating through the network a little. sorry akechi. ] If Delcatty was confused, did Furfrou escape the clinic, get a haircut, run off, and collapse multiple times?

[ that's not the kind of thing you see happen to just anyone. ] Poor thing.

[truthdecided]

Doing it all over... Interesting choice of phrasing.

[In fact, it's... incredibly familiar.]

Zweilous also had been muttering the same thing when we went to find them, while Phantump was fixated on recovering what was lost.

[So that's interesting. Interesting enough for him to pause and scramble for his notes so he can prepare new cards for the conspiracy wall.]

Parvati-san, did you experience an intrusive thought with Furfrou? I'd like to see if there's a deeper element of repetition, like the muttering.

[edgewater]

[ akechi are you not worried about the people at all. hello? ]

"They're going to leave me behind!" [ how did she do that with her voice. ] Got it on our notes and everything. When I asked Six about it he just shrugged. I didn't write it, he didn't seem to. One of us had to, though.

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[paperceptive]

[ Odile is listening, as ever, but she doesn't respond here. Instead she goes to find Akechi in person, when next he's around the Archives. ]

Have we considered that it could be a matter of time manipulation?

[ Yeah that's her whole greeting ]

[truthdecided]

[He turns the moment he hears her approaching, nodding.]

Flowey and I had entertained the idea of something akin to time loops, or some manner of cyclic repetition.

[paperceptive]

The little seed?

[ Interesting. Odile taps a claw against one of her folded arms. She's going to have to bring that up with Siffrin. ]

Such things...could theoretically happen in my world. Experts have always believed that while the theory behind Time Craft is sound, it would simply destroy the user before they could accomplish anything. Too powerful. But I have seen it managed.

[truthdecided]

Temporal manipulation must be more difficult than other forms of magic by virtue of the fragility of time. In time travel stories, one small change can drastically alter everything. It stands to reason that similar principles may apply here.

[But then again, it's all theoretical. Folding his wings like a pair of arms, he thinks back on the false reality...

It wasn't quite time travel, but it did alter aspects of history.]

[paperceptive]

[ Her feathered ears flick. ]

It must take a great deal of power to cause such a thing - quite likely a number of times, too.

[offtracks]

.....it puts me in mind of those voices in the fog...

[ He means to say more, but it gets lost somewhere. ]

[truthdecided]

As in, the fog from the forest?

[Or is it something else? Either way, consider his curiosity piqued.]

[offtracks]

Hm - oh, yes! That mission when it tried to lure me in. I heard voices calling out in the fog, calling for help. It was...affecting me, certainly, yet I still cannot help but think there was something more than that to it...

[truthdecided]

Perhaps there's something to be said of the fog's origins, given that it also altered the cognition of beings such as Dondozo and Ursaluna... We may have reduced its reach, but that begs the question of why defeating them and Spiritomb stifled it to begin with.

[offtracks]

I remain...somewhat unconvinced that the two of them alone could have produced such a powerful effect...it is well beyond anything I have ever seen from only one or two ghost Pokémon before, at home.

[ Even Zoroark aren't capable of doing all that. The thought flits by vaguely, unvoiced. ]

[hasapoint]

Would this have happened simultaneously? Is it linked with a specific location?

Might be worth returning to see.

[truthdecided]

With the previous missing Pokémon, they went missing at different times, but were always found unconscious. While investigating the matter, each time would experience an intrusive thought, and after comparing with Parvati-san and checking a previous message over the network, it would seem that some thoughts persist regardless of which Pokémon is missing.

There's an element of repetition at play.

[hasapoint]

I see. But this didn't happen with the deer-girl, did it? Do they seem like they're in the same voice?

[truthdecided]

No, this seems to exclusively involve Pokémon of this world. What happened with Noelle-san seemed... different.

[That's the best way he can put it.]

Pokémon go missing, muttering about various things. Wanting to set things right, doing it all over... As we gathered our evidence, the thoughts crept into our minds. It happened to me with Phantump, Zweilous, and Furfrou, and other teams can confirm their own experiences if need be.

Given that some of these Pokémon muttered about the same things as those that came before or after, I'm inclined to believe some manner of hypnosis or mind control may be at play.

[hasapoint]

So it's not particularly feasible to recreate the circumstances to test.

Have you asked the guild? Is it only non-locals who pick up on these thoughts?

Video

[cedricthegreat]

Hm. Siffrin and I found Furfrou unconscious, too. And we did hear something like a Pearl message, but it said "something important is missing".

[Cedric frowns as he looks up in thought. He doesn't like hearing that other Pokémon have been found in a similar fashion.]

Could it be that this world has some sort of curse affecting Pokémon? For example, back home there is a spell called the Deep Sleeps that makes animals sleep for an eternity. Maybe these thoughts are the victims themselves calling for help through whatever enchantment is thrust upon them.

[truthdecided]

A curse isn't a terrible way to put it...

[Nodding, he glances to his conspiracy wall. It may be worth entertaining the idea...]

There's also the possibility of hypnosis or other forms of mind control. What's curious is, the same group of phrases seem to follow these missing Pokémon. I have cross referenced my own experiences with past rescues with this current rescue, and I believe we can narrow down the sentiments...

Something missing, a fear of being left behind, cries of distress... And then there's the muttering. One thing that sticks out to me is "doing it all again." A sense of repetition that most certainly follows these quests.

[cedricthegreat]

[His eyes widen.]

Repetition! Like the other Archives at Heavy Downmoor! It's just like the one here, but in ruins. [And the Dewgong he and Impmon found didn't want to leave...]

Whatever's going on, it seems that something, or someone, is trying to warn us. But nobody knows enough to say what it is we should be warned about.

[truthdecided]

Indeed. Flowey told me about those ruins.

[The implications aren't pleasant, obviously. There's something more, most certainly...]

We had speculated that perhaps there's a cycle of ruin and destruction, and that we may have been beckoned to break that cycle.

[cedricthegreat]

[Of course Flowey did; he and Akechi are the "detectives", after all.]

But how are we supposed to break it if this is all speculation to begin with? If someone brought us here, wouldn't they be better off telling us what's going on?

[As much as he appreciates being deemed so highly, having no knowledge doesn't exactly give him much confidence over the situation. Even the Amulet of Avalor would at least lead you to someone who had answers, according to Sofia.]