Glom the Trickster's Story

A vortex of flame ignited in the rafters and swiftly dissipated. The wooden beams creaked as a short creature perched on them. Its long tail snaked along one of the beams and gripped tightly before he let his body fall. Glom's skin was deep red like fire. A thin coat of fur covered his lanky limbs. Two horns protruded from his forehead.

The imp landed on the ground with a thud. There was a sinister mischievous look in his eyes as he snapped his fingers. A poster materialized in his grip, which he promptly stuck to a nearby bulletin board.

A vortex of flame ignited in the rafters and swiftly dissipated. The wooden beams creaked as a short creature perched on them. Its long tail snaked along one of the beams and gripped tightly before he let his body fall. Glom's skin was deep red like fire. A thin coat of fur covered his lanky limbs. Two horns protruded from his forehead.

The imp landed on the ground with a thud. There was a sinister mischievous look in his eyes as he snapped his fingers. A poster materialized in his grip, which he promptly stuck to a nearby bulletin board.

A vortex of flame ignited in the rafters and swiftly dissipated. The wooden beams creaked as a short creature perched on them. Its long tail snaked along one of the beams and gripped tightly before he let his body fall. Glom's skin was deep red like fire. A thin coat of fur covered his lanky limbs. Two horns protruded from his forehead.

The imp landed on the ground with a thud. There was a sinister mischievous look in his eyes as he snapped his fingers. A poster materialized in his grip, which he promptly stuck to a nearby bulletin board before vanishing in a cloud of smoke.

A vortex of flame ignited in the rafters and swiftly dissipated. The wooden beams creaked as a short creature perched on them. Its long tail snaked along one of the beams and gripped tightly before he let his body fall. Glom's skin was deep red like fire. A thin coat of fur covered his lanky limbs. Two horns protruded from his forehead.

The imp landed on the ground with a thud. There was a sinister mischievous look in his eyes as he snapped his fingers. A poster materialized in his grip, which he promptly stuck to a nearby bulletin board before vanishing in a cloud of smoke.

A vortex of flame ignited in the rafters and swiftly dissipated. The wooden beams creaked as a short creature perched on them. Its long tail snaked along one of the beams and gripped tightly before he let his body fall. Glom's skin was deep red like fire. A thin coat of fur covered his lanky limbs. Two horns protruded from his forehead.

The imp landed on the ground with a thud. There was a sinister mischievous look in his eyes as he snapped his fingers. A poster materialized in his grip, which he promptly stuck to a nearby bulletin board before vanishing in a cloud of smoke.

A vortex of flame ignited in the rafters and swiftly dissipated. The wooden beams creaked as a short creature perched on them. Its long tail snaked along one of the beams and gripped tightly before he let his body fall. Glom's skin was deep red like fire. A thin coat of fur covered his lanky limbs. Two horns protruded from his forehead.

The imp landed on the ground with a thud. There was a sinister mischievous look in his eyes as he snapped his fingers. A poster materialized in his grip, which he promptly stuck to a nearby bulletin board before vanishing in a cloud of smoke.

The young Ruulan Champion, having returned briefly to deal with what amounted to an extraterrestrial head-cold, found herself searching for a certain older woman to whom the indigo throne had belonged. This unfortunately does not work out for her however, as she does not manage to find the other. Decidedly quite nosy, Iris soon found herself reading over a bulletin board in search of... /purpose/, she supposed. Sometimes, being ill had you bedridden. Otherwise, it had you wondering why you were stuck in bed.

Hmm... job opportunities, a notice about a wild meowth snatching purses in the area--But what was this? Iris examined a particular poster...

"Are you interested in registering for the tournament?" said a shrill voice. The gangly imp known as Glom materialized behind the girl with a puff of smoke and flame. He landed in a squat and gave Iris a wicked grin. His long tail swayed behind him.

"Care to battle some of the greatest champions across the worlds for wondrous prizes? I would expect one to get tired of battling the same kind of opponents every day - no challenge and no real reward."

The young lady in a lovely pink ball gown looked up with a mild start, peering over her shoulder in a casual manner appropriate for someone who did not fear much for their safety. Yet, as she observed the seemingly human voice her expression twisted into something of mild disturbance.

She had never quite seen the human form twisted into something quite so... hideous before. For a moment she was taken entirely off guard by the situation. What exactly was she looking at?

Perhaps fortunately, she was not about to point any of her feelings out to Glom--Mostly because it apparently talked. Rather, she quickly swallowed them and scrambled for her briefly lost composure. "...A tournament?" she mused, trying to form a picture in her head. She had decidedly not turned around, choosing instead to continue looking over her shoulder. "I didn't know there were other worlds where people used Pokemon the way we do..!" she added, seemingly just trying to wrap her head around the concept of this tournament.

Yu slowly ran onto the steps leading up to the impressive plateau that resided directly above him. A wild steelix followed him out of the cave, he and his Lucario, Urukami, had somehow managed to rouse the creature from its slumber and it wasn't all too happy to see them... not to mention it hadn't really helped when Yu attempted to run away, however now, seeing that he stood before his destination, Yu realised that leading the large pokemon any further could cause serious damage to the surrounding area and... more importantly... could get alot of innocent people hurt. Realising this he skid on the top step and flicked a single glowing blue tarot card into the air, as it slowly drifted downwards once again the young mans hand shot into the air crushed it like a sheet of thin ice in his hand. Suddenly the blue glow shifted to the young mans fists and eyes. Yu had channeled his own aura and now stood with the absolute focus that gave him his skills as a trainer and battler of pokemon.

"Urukami!" The lucario turned on its padded heel with a growl and charged towards the rampaging steelix. The pokemons own blue aura flaring like a bright flame around his paws. "Now leap! Above it!" Urukami nodded swiftly and propelled himself into the air, the enraged steelix throwing its head backwards and howling like screeching metal with a volume loud enough to shake victory road and the plateau itself. Truly this steelix was as powerful as it was ferocious. Urukami almost lost his balance with unease until Yu shouted his reassurance. "Urukami don't let him intimidate you! Focus your energy and give him an aura sphere!" With a determined roar of rebellion against the larger pokemons attempts at intimidation, Urukami focused his aura into a powerful aura sphere and pushed it directly into the steel snakes forehead. With a wimper of defeat the steelix was launched backwards in an explosion of blue energy, the STAB and raw power of Lucarios fighting projectile launching the massive pokemon into the depths of victory road from wence he came. Laughing lightly and losing his focus Yu and Urukami kept going forward. "Guess he was all bark and no bite, eh buddy?" With a reassuring growl of victory, Urukami agreed and the two entered Indigo Plateau together.

As he entered, Yu was surprised to see the face of the UPL champion... Lady Iris the Dragon Master, in the flesh! Quickly running over with glee to introduce himself to the young pokemon master he recoiled and almost fell over at the sight of Glom. "W... what is that thing?! A pokemon!?" He cried poiting an accusing finger at the beast. It seemed to be advertising... a tournament? Like a pokemon tournament? Was Iris interested in this? Hmmm... if that was the case then maybe Yu should pay attention too... it would be a great chance to become stronger. "What's this about a tournament?" He blurted out after a few moments of surprise.

Glom sneered in amusement at the reactions from the trainers. He snickered before doing a backflip onto a table.

"Not quite, human." the imp grinned wickedly. "Although you could say that your 'pocket monsters' and my kind have... similar ancestry. The Hellfire Colosseum tournament appeals to contestants of all walks of life... Warriors, wizards, gunslingers, and even more. You might even see pokemon trainers there. Victory at all costs is the game. Fame, fortune, glory, titles, powerful artifacts, and a cheat against death is the prize. Eternal damnation is the wager!"

"So tell me, humans." he glanced between them. "Do you have the guts to battle against the champions of Creation and beyond?"

Yu looked questioningly to Urukami. The terms presented were as unreal to Yu as the creature who proposed them... but the rewards offered, fame, fortune, glory, titles, powerful artifacts... and... the ability to cheat death? It was the chance to become one of the greatest trainers in the know Worlds... however the cost was great... eternal damnation did NOT sound fun. Plus judging by the strange woman who had just entered the conversation Yu could guess that the tournament at hand was NOT specific to pokemon battles... no, the battles to be had were sure to be of real threat, against warriors possessing powerful auras. Yu's lower level Litwick was safe in the P.C. so he needn't have worried about her (not that he would consider using her in such a battle regardless)... still letting Urukami deal with such pressure and difficulty alone? No way he could do that... it was too dangerous.

Still at the moment he was about to reject the offer... the words of his father rang true in Yu's mind. "If you leave now you'll ammount to nothing! You're too weak..." Then, as if in defiance of his own memories Yu felt his mothers tarot card reform in his back pocket, showing his aura was once again ready to be focused.

Nodding then, Yu, in great surprise to the still present Urukami, asked the strange creature a question. "I want to know something..." He began. "I might consider joining if I get the right answer... I want to know if i myself can battle, alongside my pokemon in this tournament. It's obvious to me that this contest isn't pokemon specific... so basically I'm asking if I can team up with my partner and fight alongside him as a pair." Yu finished. Urukami, though utterly shocked by Yu's conviction, remained completely silent, trusting his close friends instincts on the matter. Yu realised that to another trainer like Iris the idea of battling WITH ones pokemon directly would most likely seem insane... but Yu had something most others didn't. His eyes flashed a bright blue color briefly as he focused on it... Yu had his aura.

Iris' eyes widened slightly and she turned back to look over the poster for a moment before putting it back and finally turning to face the others. She had a somewhat disappointed look on her face, both hands drifting to the hips of her pink ball gown. In particular she looked at Yu, a hint of frustration passing over her features before vanishing in favor of a less directed disappointment. She turned her attention back to Glom.

"...A good trainer always seeks out ways to challenge themselves. I remember when I fought Alder for the Unova League Championship--He was really tough." she mused in a slightly awkward yet cheery manner. However, her tone immediately took a more somber note. "...But that's 'sport'. This sounds like /murder/." she remarked, her expression twisting with mild disgust at the thought of using the incredible power of pokemon to literally end someone. Never /mind/ what damnation was. She frankly had no concept of that.

Iris watched the creature before her very closely, expectantly even. You wouldn't be trying to turn the people of my nation into libertines, would you Glom?~

"Murder?" Yu was surprised at the harsh term used by the champion to describe the competition at hand. Wasn't that a little harsh? Yu had absolutely no reason to believe that the other competitors in the tournament would be just as, if not even more powerful than most pokemon, if that wasn't the case then why would the tournament even be advertised in the pokemon world? It didn't make any sense to Yu why Iris would look on the tournament with such harsh judgement. Still... even he had to admit that this entire situation did seem a little sketchy. Had the offer of a new World to explore, a ticket away from his past and powers beyond his comprehension been a little too much for him to pass up? Well obviously, you'd have to be completely idiotic to not at least consider that possibility. Despite this however Yu COULD see where Iris was coming from... pokemon were used in pokemon battles, 'twas common place.

Then again what was the difference between using the powers of pokemon on other beings when compared to using them against other pokemon? This tournament was sport, the consequences for loss were more dire yes, but other than that what was the difference? Was Iris saying it was wrong for Urukami to attack another fighter in this tournament but it was Ok to use it on an innocent wild pokemon? When one looked at it from that perspective... what kind of backwards and wrong views did this champion of pokemon have? Yu sighed deeply. Most likely he was overthinking the situation and so he stopped his mind from going any further and instead corrected his own behavior.

"Aye the champion raises a good point... while I most certainly think calling this contest murder is... well, incorrect, I'll go out on a limb and say the dangers are too much for my pokemon and I most certainly am not letting myself enter alone any more than I'd let Urukami here do so..." He gestures to his Lucario as he finishes speaking. "in other words... never mind?"

As he said this, Yu noticed the rapid approach of another trainer, a girl who he didn't recognise... he was about to introduce himself when he heard her remark on he and the others being "clowns" however, rather than getting angry, Yu simply sighed deeply. "Oh look, a hotheaded trainer with an attitude who thinks she can insult others without a care in the World... lovely." Yu trailed off and began to mutter so that she probably couldn't hear him. "My word... people like her make me wish I'd stayed at home..."

"Why yes..." he sneered at Yu. "It is allowed, and encouraged for contestants to enter as teams. It makes much more exciting matches." Glom snickered before turning to Iris. "Silly human... The rules state that the match continues until one contestant or team is incapacitated, not decapitated. Although, I would imagine that would be much more fun..."

Glom grinned as the new person entered. He vanished in a puff of smoke before teleporting at her feet. At full height he would have stood eye to eye to the girl, but the imp slouched considerably. "Greetings, human! My name is Glom and I am promoting the Hellfire Colosseum, which is hosting a grand tournament between some of the greatest champions of the Multiverse! They compete for powerful artifacts, fame, fortune, glory, and a chance to cheat death."

He teleported again. This time, however, he appeared at the feet of Zii. "Immortality is a bit of a misconception, I think." the imp replied. "We all have the capability to die, but there is a part of us that is much more difficult to snuff out. But anyway, if you want to register, just fill out the application attached to the poster."

Iris seemed skeptical of Glom's explanation. She hesitated a moment before becoming distracted by Titania's question not long ago. She turned to the taller, older female. "Um...--I wanted to talk to you, but maybe we should wait a bit." she remarked, gesturing subtly to the fact that they were quite frankly among strange company. She then turned her gaze slightly to Glom.

"...So what's 'eternal damnation' then?" she proceeded to query. That word meant death to her.

Zii looked around, and stepped further out of the shadows. Noticing the trainers, and noticing that Glom took a particular interest in what she was thinking...not what she stated. She never mentioned anything about the fact that she WAS immortal, just that she was not mortal. Regardless, Zii wanted to test her new found abilities that she gained from the Circles of Hell and her encounter with Sirad. Indeed she was not a trainer, just a wondering explorer who wanted nothing more to become stronger. Hence the reason for her being clad in nothing but skin tight black leather, with strap here and there asymmetrically lining her curves and keeping her one with the shadows. The plateau offered much in the ways of training, the Pokemon here were quite powerful, and she beat many with the leveling of 65 and above, but she was certainly working her way rapidly beyond that. She just stuck with that particular level of Pokemon for the reasoning of convenience, and trainers seem to be able to notice her abnormality at that point. Indeed, crossing dimensions and worlds was something people seldom did to train, but she did.

"I think I'll do the registration, long as you have no problem with my summoning skills being pit against these kids and there oversize monsters they call companions. I don't believe in harming kids, but I was never considered 'sane' either."

She announced with a Terran accent, as she placed her hand on her curved blade that hugged her backside. She looked seductive, and lethal. Every movement a pronunciation of exotic lithe purpose, without any wasteful actions, as a result of her training. She looked on with golden outlines of her deep green irises, quizzical, but observant, waiting for a response to her presence, and question.

The imp snickered as his tail swayed across the ground.

"Let me explain it to you this way, human..." Glom began. "Your being is constructed from three parts. First there is your body - your physical flesh. Then there is your mind and consciousness - your soul. Finally, there is your spirit. This is the part that connects you to the realm that you cannot see. When your flesh perishes, your mind and spirit live on. They are immortal. To be damned is to have your spirit claimed by a Lord of one of the Six Circles of Hell. It is not death, as your spirit is eternal."

"How dare you come here and call our best and brightest to Arceus knows where with empty promises of power and glory, you fiend. Be gone with you," Titania growled at Glom, and went over to give him a knuckle sandwich. His only saving grace from this display of girl power was the clash of dragons over on Mt. Silver to the west. Upon seeing Rayquaza go down in flames, there was only one logical response for the veteran steel-type trainer.

She fainted. She simply collapsed onto the floor, overwhelmed by the moment. Or at least she would have, if not for a tall blonde woman dressed in black catching her before Titania could smack her head on the tile. Perhaps Iris would have a more cogent response to this crisis due to her youth allowing her to not jump to any wild conclusions. The blonde looked up.

"Champion Iris, please allow me to put out the fire. You, challenger, call the paramedics. Titania here gets priority, she can come join me when she comes around. I believe you have a public address to make," she added, gesturing towards the storm of TV reporters demanding a statement from the young president of the United Pokemon League regarding the incident.

And somewhere in the vast and unforgiving wilderness, part of which was still aflame despite the intervention of a cosmic entity, there was a little girl, alone and quite possibly afraid.