Video;

[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

[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. ]

[truthdecided]

But what if they were puppets of something far more powerful? What if these rescue missions are a result of a similar degree of puppeteering?

[offtracks]

I...suppose that is possible...

[ He hate it! But Ingo supposes that he isn't going to like anything that might explain all of this. ]

[truthdecided]

You have doubts?

[The hesitation speaks for itself, really.]

[offtracks]

It disturbs me.

[ Really, one might say he dislikes it because he thinks it possible. ]

[truthdecided]

It's understandable. I'd be more concerned if it didn't.

[It goes unsaid, but a similar discomfort slithers through his thoughts.]

Still, better to consider such possibilities so we don't get blindsided later.

[offtracks]

I suppose you're correct...

[ Well, then. ]

Legendary Pokemon can send other Pokemon into mad frenzies, and...once, our Clan's patron possessed our Clan Leader to speak through her. I could not say if such things are common to all such Pokemon, or only those two in particular. It was certainly not known to any of us before it happened.

[truthdecided]

I see...

[There is some correlation, then. Frenzies, possession... It might very well be their best lead.]

Out of curiosity, do any of them hold a connection to time? Flowey and I have hypothesized that there's an element of time repeating itself in some capacity...

[offtracks]

Dialga does! It was not either of those Pokemon, but it is our patron's counterpart - if Palkia may possess people, then I suppose Dialga would likely be able to as well...

[ Blaming Dialga for this? A lot of Pearl Clan members would jump to that. Ingo's not certain. Though... ]

That...statue which appears differently to everyone. It's not unlike those of Dialga and Palkia that I have seen in the past - in the ruins. At least, that is how it seems to me!

[ But it is, like. The Statue That Looks Different to Everybody. ]

[truthdecided]

I remember the statue.

[He projects his own unstable, unreliable image of it, still unable to make complete sense of it.]

The fact that it warps our perceptions is rather fascinating in itself. There must be a reason for it...

[offtracks]

Hm...yes, the ruins statues certainly did not do that.

[ Which doesn't especially help. But, at least, he projects his own image of Dialga itself. ]

This is what Dialga itself looks like. It has been quite peaceful since it recovered from its frenzy...

[truthdecided]

[What a fascinating creature... Akechi quiets as he takes in the image.]

It must have been quite terrifying for a being of such power to enter such a violent state...

[offtracks]

I did not witness it myself...though, from the frenzies I have seen, I can only imagine.

[ A flash of a large round Pokemon, wreathed in unnatural golden energy, zooming around and shooting off powerful Thunder attacks seemingly at random. ]

[truthdecided]

Do you think there could be so me overlap between these frenzies and the swarms of wild Pokémon we've dealt with before? I suppose the same question applies to the likes of Ursaluna, Dondozo, and Spiritomb...

[His thoughts trail off for a moment, while he soaks in the image of that electrode. It's so... wooden.]

[offtracks]

It seems like a similar effect, but that energy has not been present so far as I have seen...

[ And it's not terribly subtle! Bright golden bolts from the sky, glowing Nobles, and all! ]

[truthdecided]

True. The aura was lacking...

[Folding his wings, he sifts through the evidence. The fog, the rain, the berserk attacks, the missing Pokémon...]

Dialga's temporal anomalies would explain some things, but I have to wonder about the fog and the rain, as well as their effects on memories and perception. That seems closer to the domain of a psychic or ghost type, so it's possible there are multiple different phenomena with differing causes.

[offtracks]

Quite so! The issues in the forest were caused by multiple Pokemon...though I admit, those effects seemed like quite a bit even from Pokemon as powerful as Ursaluna or Spiritomb.

[ He's not gonna say it's impossible. But he'd have expected that only an exceptionally old specimen, with years of memory and grudges behind it, could affect a whole area and everyone in it so powerfully. ]

[truthdecided]

What puzzles me is Dondozo. The fog somehow reached the ocean and influenced both it and Tatsugiri...

[The ocean isn't exactly closes to the forest, is it? Something doesn't add up...]

[offtracks]

I suppose anything might be happening to the ocean's Pokemon, and we would not necessarily know anything of it.

[truthdecided]

True. But the fog seemed to match that of the forest, and it eventually receded. That's what I don't understand.

[So... what is the cause? Are there multiple sources? A twitch of irritation accompanies his thoughts.]

I suppose it's not impossible that multiple species could create similar environments, given that weather changing moves exist.

[offtracks]

Mmm, yes - they are common enough, especially if any Pokemon here might be able to teach another.

[truthdecided]

Truthfully, I've wondered if they might be worth learning to make quests in less ideal climates more manageable.

[Heavy Downmoor and Icefall Lake immediately spring to mind, accompanied by a feeling not unlike a shiver.]