Ultra Wormhole RP - Rick

NBP 1 - Ranger Margo Sterling.

“So, from the top.”

Large, intelligent red eyes look back at Margo as the young woman fiddles with the strings of her dark-green hoodie. Spark the Manectric doesn’t respond with more than a slight inclination of her battle-scarred muzzle, but Margo knows that the electric wolf understands.

Deep breath in, then, “We’re going to go into the Ultra Wormhole.” She gestures to the beam of white light shooting into the sky. Ostensibly, it disappears somewhere above the clouds covering every centimeter of the sky, but Margo’s not quite sure. No one, least of all one backwoods Pacifidlogger Ranger, knows much of anything about this giant tear in reality. “The wormhole is going to take us to Ultra Space. And then we’re gonna meet some Pokemon, and this is just… gonna be a regular expedition, apart from the teleporting! Should be interesting.”

Spark tilts her head, then steps forward and nuzzles against Margo’s hand, demanding affection while simultaneously comforting her Trainer. Margo smiles. Apprehensive as she is about entering the Ultra Wormhole, her Pokemon are always a comfort.

The wormhole itself is unnaturally bright. Every inch of the sky is covered in clouds, but the funnel descending from the sky pulses with so much luminescence that it might as well be clear daylight. This works in everyone’s favor - there’s too many people here, eager to throw themselves into new, unexplored dimensions, and darkness would just make everyone risk tripping over each other. The noise is less than ideal, but Margo sits back anyway, idly petting Spark. She’s quite content to wait here for her Trainer to find her amid the hustle and bustle of the overcrowded gate.

Trainer Stats

Spoiler

Name: Rick.
Location: Enigma Ruins gate - it’s super crowded. The weather is cloudy and a bit chilly.
Items: Park Ball (x2), Super Ball (x2), Hyper Ball (x2), Energy Powder (x3), Revival Herb (x1).
Encounters Remaining: 5/5
Pokemon Encountered: ???
Pokemon Captured: ???
Character Count: 0/???

Pokemon Stats

Spoiler

Iris/Rapidash/F/Flame Body/Hardy
Moves: Ally Switch, Attract, Baton Pass, Bide, Body Slam, Captivate, Charm, Confide, Curse, Double Kick, Double-Edge, Double Team, Drill Run, Echoed Voice, Endure, Façade, Flamethrower, Giga Impact, Heat Wave, Hidden Power Electric, High Horsepower, Horn Drill, Hyper Beam, Hypnosis, Incinerate, Iron Tail, Low Kick, Mimic, Morning Sun, Natural Gift, Overheat, Pay Day, Protect, Rage, Reflect, Rest, Return, Round, Secret Power, Skull Bash, Sleep Talk, Smart Strike, Snore, Solar Beam, Strength, Substitute, Sunny Day, Swagger, Swift, Thrash, Throat Chop, Toxic, Wild Charge, Will-O-Wisp.

Zephir/Leafeon/M/Leaf Guard/Mild
EMs: Attract, Bullet Seed, Captivate, Celebrate, Confide, Fake Tears, Grass Knot, Growth, Heal Bell, Iron Tail, Knock Off, Mimic, Natural Gift, Protect, Reflect, Rest, Roar, Secret Power, Strength, Substitute, Tickle, Wish, Worry Seed, X-Scissor, Yawn.

 

The day before, I went to the city to get the supplies for the run, and now was the day for our second expedition to the National Park. That is, if we could call it that way. We would actually explore an Ultra Wormhole that opened up in the island's sky a few days back. One would assume that the staff would probably close the Park while the thing was there. It's never known for how long they remain open, but it is know they're not permanent. Instead, they did the opposite, and are now accepting applies for short expeditions into the Wormhole.

Most like the first, I received the letter confirming that my application has been accepted and taken by one of the rangers. In it it could read:
"Dear trainer Rick, we would like to confirm that we received your application, and we now have a ranger free to take you on your Ultra Wormhole expedition. Please present yourself to the Ranger Margo Sterling in the National Park, by the Enigma Ruins' entrance. You'll get more information there. Regards; from the National Park Staff."

"The Enigma Ruins?!" - I shouted. "Why does everything always have to include that place somehow?" Iris sitted and sighed, as it brought memories. Zephir hopped to my shoulder and stared at the letter, wonder what were we talking about. Back when we had our Trial Run on that place, it was just me and Iris when she was just a Ponyta. Zephir would only join a few weeks later, and since then has never been in National Park before. And this wouldn't necessarily be a "Park" run either.

"Oh, forget it. You would regret being there. But you'll probably get a taste of it, now." - I told him. In some way, it was a quite familiar scenario for me, as the Ruins pretty much do what the Ultra Space was said to do already... kind of... But at least the areas replicated by the Ruins were based on real places. There wasn't any guarantees it would be case inside that Wormhole.

"Alright! Let's get ready." - I said while putting the letter on the belt pocket. Iris got back up, and Zephir leaped out from my shoulder to her rump while I went into the cabin to get the supplies. At the arrival to the National Park, there was the Wormhole in the sky, and staring at it were dozens of people wanting to get in. Which was a quite impressive sighting. I would assume more people would be relutant to even try to venture into something out of this world, especialy since even the rangers themselves didn't have any background on this kind of things, as fas as I knew.

"Hehe... right... no way we're gonna get across this sea of people." - I thought. Zephir droped to the ground, as I dismounted and crounched for him. "Alrigh pal, can you search for a person with these caractheristics? Black hair, dark skin and medium stature." Zephir nodded, and went to the crowd. He actually didn't went too far. Being smaller had its pros and cons. One of the cons is that people don't really pay attention where they step when there's a creature not much bigger than a cat passing through their legs.

I facepalmed. I gave Iris a side look. "You know what?" I mounted on her back and called Zephir back. "Let's just... go through them. They step away for sure." - I told. If it was just like the first time, the ranger would be waiting at the entrance of the Ruins. Plus, waiting in the middle of the crowd when they must meet with a trainer would be counterprodutive. "Excuse me! Mare passing!" - I warned as we passed through. Some people just took a side-step, while others went a few meters back away from the flames. Do they know that these won't burn unless she wanted to? "I'm getting a bit unconfortable here. Go on, go on..." - I told her, to increase the pace.

Once we got past most of the crowd, there was a lady close to the Ruins' entrance, with a Manectric by her side. Taking a look back at the ranger's description in the letter they sent, it matched all the features. "I guess it's her?" - I said to my pokémon. Zephir jumped out of Iris's rump to the ground and ran to the Manectric. I dismounted and followed behind. "Excuse me. We're looking for a ranger named Margo. Is that you? - I asked.

(Word count: 764)
(Character count: 4,114)​

@VeloJello;

 

NBP 2 - Ranger Margo Sterling.

There’s a shift in Spark’s demeanor; she turns round, ears perked and head held high. Her tail is lifted in readiness, but still wagging, an indicator that whatever had caught the Manectric’s eye is interesting but not anywhere close to becoming a threat. Margo follows her gaze to a Leafeon trotting closer; behind the little Grass-type, a young man dismounting a Rapidash’s back with practiced ease. As Spark leans down to sniff the smaller Pokemon, Margo realizes that the man is striding toward her with purpose. This walk looks familiar, Margo notes; the stranger has the look of a Trainer who’s found their Ranger.

“We’re looking for a Ranger named Margo,” the Trainer - Rick, Margo infers, says. “Is that you?”

She nods, “Margo Sterling, at your service,” and offers a smile and her hand for a friendly shake as she takes stock of Rick. Her dossier said that the Trainer is pretty competent, and seeing his gear and Pokemon, she believes it. While the Leafeon seems a little skeptical, his confident body language quickly makes a return. The Rapidash’s flames burn bright, but not too hot; the mare is strong and calm with clear eyes and a long, shimmering horn. These are telltale signs of well-cared for, well-trained Pokemon, and the Z-Ring at Rick’s wrist speaks to some serious battle competence. Margo doesn’t know much about the mysterious Z-Power discovered in her sister region, but she does know that Z-Rings are rare and aren’t given to just anyone. “Pleased to meet you and your Pokemon, Rick.”

Introductions having been finished, Margo claps her hands. “So! Let’s walk and talk? Spark will make sure Leafeon here doesn’t get lost in the bustle while I explain some things.” Margo begins to lead the way toward the Ultra Wormhole, only shoving people out of the way occasionally.

“From what I understand you got a million pages’ worth of paperwork already, but I need to remind you of the main rule anyway.” She has to project her voice a fair bit to be heard over the crowds - and as they get closer, the steady hum of the wormhole. “If you remember one thing here, remember the ‘buddy system’. Unless everyone who’s going through the portal is touching - like, in physical contact - we won’t end up in the same place, which means that no one touches a portal unless everyone is ready.”

Standing directly in front of the Ultra Wormhole is a humbling experience. It’s huge, rippling with bright white light pulsing steadily through it. Before her anxiety can get the better of her, Margo places one hand on Rick’s shoulder and her other hand on Spark’s head, trusting Rick to look after Rapidash and Spark to keep a paw on Leafeon. “Whenever you’re ready, we can go.”

***

Ultra Space is actually pretty cool. Gravity is gone in this place; Margo floats immobile, drifting on the currents of Ultra Space's fickle quasi-physics. Strange music fills the air, cords of pale light that somehow strain out an alien melody. Behind them, blue-gray space shifts like ocean waves. Beyond it, pinpricks of light pulse and move in strange patterns, like a vast cosmos flickering with sparks of every color. Margo’s mouth opens in breathless awe. She hasn’t been here yet - and gods, she wasn’t expecting it to be this incredible.

As if drawn to the group, motes of light drift closer, then abruptly expand into a rainbow that forms a ring around them, each color bleeding into the next in a series of fractals and filaments. Margo turns to Rick. “It looks like we can reach any zone in Ultra Space from here,” she says, her voice still a little breathless from excitement. “Your choice where we head next; just remember that we have to stay together.

Trainer Stats

Spoiler

Name: Rick.
Location: Ultra Space. A rainbow shimmers all around, a swirl of colors accompanied by an ever-present hum.
Items: Park Ball (x2), Super Ball (x2), Hyper Ball (x2), Energy Powder (x3), Revival Herb (x1).
Encounters Remaining: 5/5
Pokemon Encountered: ???
Pokemon Captured: ???
Character Count: 4114 /???
Portals remaining:

Spoiler

Light Blue: Great Lakes.

• Dark Blue: Sandy Beach.
• Dark Green: The Woods.
• Red: Mt. Deckbi.
• Light Green: Botanical Gardens.
• Yellow: Abandoned Power Plant.
• White: Mt. Oktori.
• Pink: Meteor Valley.
• Purple: Ruined Manor.

Pokemon Stats

Spoiler

Iris/Rapidash/F/Flame Body/Hardy
Moves: Ally Switch, Attract, Baton Pass, Bide, Body Slam, Captivate, Charm, Confide, Curse, Double Kick, Double-Edge, Double Team, Drill Run, Echoed Voice, Endure, Façade, Flamethrower, Giga Impact, Heat Wave, Hidden Power Electric, High Horsepower, Horn Drill, Hyper Beam, Hypnosis, Incinerate, Iron Tail, Low Kick, Mimic, Morning Sun, Natural Gift, Overheat, Pay Day, Protect, Rage, Reflect, Rest, Return, Round, Secret Power, Skull Bash, Sleep Talk, Smart Strike, Snore, Solar Beam, Strength, Substitute, Sunny Day, Swagger, Swift, Thrash, Throat Chop, Toxic, Wild Charge, Will-O-Wisp.

Zephir/Leafeon/M/Leaf Guard/Mild
EMs: Attract, Bullet Seed, Captivate, Celebrate, Confide, Fake Tears, Grass Knot, Growth, Heal Bell, Iron Tail, Knock Off, Mimic, Natural Gift, Protect, Reflect, Rest, Roar, Secret Power, Strength, Substitute, Tickle, Wish, Worry Seed, X-Scissor, Yawn.

@Rick

 

After a brief introduction, we started heading towards the Wormhole. The ranger took that moment to put us on par with the general rules and advices as they often do. Two things to keep when she was speaking: I had quite a big of a Park record already. Which was quite surprising, since at that point I had only been in one run, and that was a short one. Then again, with all the things we went trough at that time - from fires to a missing ranger - I guess it does make sence for them to keep track of all the details for future reference. Altough that was enough for my eyes to open wide in surprise, what she said next made me and Iris wince: people would be sent to diferent places unless touching each other.

"Sweet, it can happen again..." - I mumbled, giving a side-glance at Iris. Zephir was staring at me, inclining his head in confusion. "What? Everything's fine. It's the nerves, you know?" - I said to him, before turning to the ranger. "Yeah, no worries. I had the opportunity to experience in first hand how it is to lose a ranger." I paused, looking at the Wormhole that was now right in front of use. "And I'm not interested to be in that scenario again, especialy in Ultra Space." - I added.

There we were, standing in front of the Wormhole, anxious to get into that alien world. I put my hand on Iris's withers and took a look at the ranger and pokémon to make sure everyone were in contact with one another. "Alright, we're all set. Now we can go." The next few seconds happened pretty fast, like falling asleep for just a fraction of a second, and in the next one we wake up in a completely new place. Teleportation and anything similar to it had always been tricky for me to grasp, but this wasn't as bad as I first envisioned.

Ultra Space was much different from any other place I had been before. The closest thing I could use for comparison would be like floating in Space, and I guess that's the reason why they call it Ultra Space. Except here, even though we had no floor where we could step on with our feet, it was possible to stand still without drifting away - or at least that was the illusion it gave us - and we could actually walk.

"O-kay, it feels... quite a bit odd if you ask me..." - I said in a low tone, while testing with my tiptoe. "But I guess the longer we're here, we'll eventualy get used to it." I added, while taking a look around. Still, in the end, this would just be a hallway for our next destination, all available to be accessed through multi-colored portals. And man did we had options!

"So!" I clapped hands. "Let's get started, shall we? Now... pink isn't exactly my color, so... we'll go there first, so I don't have to look at it for too long."

(Word count: 516)
(Character count: 2,699)​

@VeloJello

 

NBP 3 - Ranger Margo Sterling.

Margo nods along with Rick’s thoughts, forcing herself to pay attention to the Trainer rather than the environment. “We should adjust, yeah,” she says, doing her best to sound encouraging. “Some people have reported a little discomfort, but we won’t be spending much time in Ultra Space anyway.”

At Rick’s statement, Margo looks to the pink portal. She has to turn a bit to face it properly, which is a weird feeling, given that gravity isn’t behaving even remotely like it should. With a bit of inelegant flailing and some help from Spark, though, she manages to turn toward it. Looking at the portal tells her very little. It flashes a few times, as if in anticipation. Margo turns to Rick and nods again, “Alright, sounds good. Not quite sure what we’ll find here, but it’ll be something.” She reaches out to Rick again, making sure to keep her fingers woven through Spark’s coarse mane so there’s no chance of losing her Pokemon. Once Rick seems to be ready with his Pokemon, she turns back to the Manectric. “If you could do the honors, Spark -”

Nimble blue paws ‘step’ forward, and the instant her muzzle touches the edges of the portal, their bodies jerk through the nothing and then they’re elsewhere. Gravity returns all at once; Margo nearly falls gracelessly on her face but just barely manages to recover. “Whoops,” she grunts, turning toward Rick. “You okay? That was a bit of a shift.”

This place is vastly different from Ultra Space, but it’s also nowhere near Earth, either. The sky is normal, dark but illuminated with billions of shimmering stars, but Margo notices right away that there’s far too much of it. The ground is just gone in places, blue-green grass fading to deep, loamy earth. In the distance, islands float, some too small for even Zephir to stand on, others large enough that they look like they could support a Wailord. Margo’s stomach rolls a little. Without really thinking about it, she withdraws Spark - she’ll have to apologize for the sudden recall later - and looses her Togekiss. If anyone falls, Kayla will be able to catch them.

For now, though… up ahead, the grass changes to thick forest, canopies weaving each island together as they fall progressively lower and lower. “Okay,” Margo says, gesturing to the woods ahead. “Looks like deeper down and further in. I’ll lead, but be careful where you step, okay? If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to ask.” She reaches the edge of the main island and tentatively puts her foot down. Despite the fact that the next island is about the size of a stepping stone, it holds her weight just fine. “And I’ll explain to the best of my abilities. However good that is, heh.”

Trainer Stats

Spoiler

Name: Rick.
Location: A new dimension, located within the pink portal. The islands all around move up and down rhythmically, but without any drastic motions.
Items: Park Ball (x2), Super Ball (x2), Hyper Ball (x2), Energy Powder (x3), Revival Herb (x1).
Encounters Remaining: 5/5
Pokemon Encountered: ???
Pokemon Captured: ???
Character Count: 4,114 /???

Pokemon Stats

Spoiler

Iris/Rapidash/F/Flame Body/Hardy
Moves: Ally Switch, Attract, Baton Pass, Bide, Body Slam, Captivate, Charm, Confide, Curse, Double Kick, Double-Edge, Double Team, Drill Run, Echoed Voice, Endure, Façade, Flamethrower, Giga Impact, Heat Wave, Hidden Power Electric, High Horsepower, Horn Drill, Hyper Beam, Hypnosis, Incinerate, Iron Tail, Low Kick, Mimic, Morning Sun, Natural Gift, Overheat, Pay Day, Protect, Rage, Reflect, Rest, Return, Round, Secret Power, Skull Bash, Sleep Talk, Smart Strike, Snore, Solar Beam, Strength, Substitute, Sunny Day, Swagger, Swift, Thrash, Throat Chop, Toxic, Wild Charge, Will-O-Wisp.

Zephir/Leafeon/M/Leaf Guard/Mild
Moves: Baby-Doll Eyes, Baton Pass, Bite, Charm, Covet, Double-Edge, Focus Energy, Giga Drain, Grass Whistle, Growl, Helping Hand, Last Resort, Leaf Blade, Magical Leaf, Quick Attack, Razor Leaf, Refresh, Sand Attack, Sunny Day, Swift, Swords Dance, Synthesis, Tackle, Tail Whip, Take Down, Trump Card, Attract, Bullet Seed, Captivate, Celebrate, Confide, Fake Tears, Grass Knot, Growth, Heal Bell, Iron Tail, Knock Off, Mimic, Natural Gift, Protect, Reflect, Rest, Roar, Secret Power, Strength, Substitute, Tickle, Wish, Worry Seed, X-Scissor, Yawn.

@Rick