It's time.
Douglas is on the edge, eyes flickering between his notes and the seven rangers, as Maeve and Emma have taken the spotlight. He already knows Pokémon fusion is a thing but he's still itching to see it happen, also because it's the first time someone outside of his circle of assistants is attempting it.
The two women have already called out their Pokémon and are holding their crystals up in the sky, so that the rangers can notice their colors.
Emma's crystal has already turned pink, matching her Musharna's Psychic type, while
Maeve's is a much darker shade of purple - fitting for the small Polteageist floating around her. In front of them, evenly spread out across the backyard and surrounded by the trees, stand the Pokémon rangers with their companions.
"The first thing to do when starting a fusion is to have both you and your Pokémon touch the crystal at the same time. But after that, it's all a matter of focus! The more you do this, the quicker it will get, and the crystal's color will get more vivid too!" Maeve starts, visibly proud to be in that position. Emma continues from where she's stopped shortly after.
"At first, it will be easier if you all stand still, close your eyes, and clear your mind. A cool way to explain is… try to keep your thoughts as contained inside your mind as you can, focusing just on you and the crystal. The gem will do the rest for you and soon…" Emma pauses to make sure she's grabbed everyone's attention, knowing that usually Maeve beats her in confidence and overall presence. "You may feel like there's some space occupied in your mind, something that wasn't there before. You'll definitely know when it happens!"
"Speaking of knowing when it happens, maybe we should demonstrate the fusion already?" The blonde assistant chimes in, a playful smile directed at her colleague. Emma nods back, and lets her Musharna touch her crystal, with Maeve doing the same with her Polteageist shortly after.
The womens' crystals start to shine, soon enveloping both them and their Pokémon in light that is not too different from what is seen during Pokémon evolution. Musharna and Polteageist seem to lose their shape shortly after, morphing into unstable energy that circles around Emma and Maeve until it connects. It's hard to see what happens, but as the light dims, the two assistants' place is taken up by two hybrids, two
fusions!
Emma and Musharna's fusion, to be fair, still looks like Emma, but with slightly different lineaments and with pink streaks in her hair. What looks like a purple robe has replaced Emma's previous clothes, but the most important detail is that her figure is shrouded in pink smoke, and that she can now levitate, much like Musharna. With her eyes still half closed as if she was trying to sleep, the fusion steps off the ground and gently floats around the place, quickly getting into that curled up position that Musharna often holds when resting.
In the place of Maeve, instead, stands a large teapot - Polteageist's, of course - which acts as armor for the fusion. Inside of it, with their legs hanging from the bottom side of the pot, there seems to be Maeve herself, except the hair is now purple instead of blonde. Much like Emma and Musharna, Polteageist and Maeve can also float, and they demonstrate it by quickly setting off and reaching the other fusion, attempting some kind of airborne hug. Emma lets out a nervous smile as she feels the contact, but then directs the attention of her friends to the rangers.
"I see…" Is all Kent says, and he pushes his glasses up.
Behind him, Mira's jaw has dropped. But she stays silent. Roger is actually watching intently as well, perhaps spooked and wondering where the pokémon went yet why he still feels a pokémon smell from these two levitating creatures.
Nia's eyes were lit up as she saw the miraculous transformation occur right before her eyes. Even Leila looked on with a similarly wide-eyed expression. "Yoooo, that's sick!"
Gin, with Slimy once again sitting on his head, was intensively observing the fusion, looking for any hidden details and unintentionally not letting any emotion to form on his face.
"Hm… you wanted to try first, right Kent and Nia? Feel free to go for it now, it's your time to shine!" Maeve-geist eventually announces, a hand in front of their mouth to hide a happy grin.
Kent takes a deep breath and glances over to his Pokemon. "Indeed, I would like to be the first among us to demonstrate. Well Stoutland… we have no time to waste." Stoutland simply barks back. Kent holds his crystal up, which causes Stoutland to start sniffing the object before he taps his nose to it. When the crystal's light grows increasingly brighter, Kent closes his eyes to brace for whatever is to come.
Initially, the process appears similar to the demonstration Emma and Maeve gave, but right away there are some noticeable differences. If the energy engulfing Emma and Maeve could be described as unstable, the energy Kent and his Pokemon are surrounded by was like that taken to an extreme. The distorted mixture of a pained screech and yelp drives home that what's going on here isn't as painless as hoped. There are multiple instances where it looks like Kent and Stoutland might be losing their shape, but that never lasts for more than a few seconds. In reality, this doesn't take more than a minute of two, but to Kent it feels like a painful eternity- and he can only imagine Stoutland feels the same.
Mira has instinctively taken on a protective stance, fearing that a dreadful mishapen creation will be the end result of the Unovan ranger's overconfidence. Roger, on the other hand, is hiding behind her boots at this point.
Eventually the light completely fades away, and Kent and Stoutland still stand- a failed attempt. Both parties stand frozen for a solid minute, and Kent stands with his eyes wide open while Stoutland shivers and whines.
"That… that might have been one of the worst things I've experienced…" Kent shakily lets out with a cold stare. "I'm unsure how to describe it, but the best way I can put it… it felt like at times I was losing myself…"
By the time he's done speaking, Emma has already flown closer. "Hm, it looks like the fusion process started correctly, but then Stoutland couldn't truly connect with you…" She explains. "Maybe you lost focus or got too stiff, and then felt your own energy almost rushing back inside of you, right? But if you calm down and breathe, I'm sure you'll get it down!"
"
NO!!!" Kent cries instinctively and corrects his position. "Err, apologies for my outburst… what I should have said was that I'll have to refuse. That's an experience I
never want to relive. As much as I hate to not do what is expected of me, I'm afraid it is necessary to do so for my well-being."
At that, Mira blinks in the backline of the onlookers. "You really give up that soon?" she blurts out before she can stop herself, slight distaste in her tone.
"If you went through what I just did, I can't imagine you'd be eager to try again." He says with his back turned.
"Mom! That was rude!" Aiden's voice comes in Mira's ear.
"You're probably not going to make it on the first try either!"
The blonde Kantonian looks around, a slight blush on her cheeks, but still with an irritated look in her eyes. "I will at least try once."
And then she steps forward, even though she truly had not planned on getting in the spotlight and being one of the first rangers to try this out. She's set herself up for this now, and
Mira just isn't the kind of person to back down from something she's started.
Roger follows her feet closely, seemingly still a bit worried.
While Emma tries to reassure Kent and Stoutland one last time, Maeve quickly shifts her focus to Mira and shoots her an encouraging smile. "Alright, best of luck!"
The blonde glances back a bit nervously at the other rangers before nodding once and crouching down to face her Vulpix in the grass.
"You're doing it? Now?! Talk me through it!" Aiden chatters, but with all the people around them and eyes on her, Mira guiltily decided not to respond directly this time either.
"Alright. Roger, this is what we came for." She holds out the small yet hefty colorless crystal in between them. Roger curiously sniffs it. "We don't need to be perfect the first time. We just need to try. Go on."
The fox's nose boops the crystal, and for a second, nothing happens. It's only the blink of an eye, but just enough time for Mira to begin to form the thought that they failed. Then, it happens. A flash of light erupts from the crystal, white or rose tinted in shade, too bright to really discern, and for the next moments that is all Mira can see. She's vaguely aware of something
else being close to her, swirling around her, becoming-
She stands up abruptly as the light fades, stumbling slightly. Her legs feel strange. So does her hands. Yeah, very strange, they have
fingers, that is really freaky, wow. And the teeth aren't at all as pointy as they usually are - what is even possible to chew with these? At least the canines are intact. Wait, no. Her hair is funky too, not as straight and well behaved as it normally is, instead it curls… But not as neatly atop of his head as it normally does. And why is he wearing clothes, Mira, you didn't say that this was the deal, I thought that we were going to become just- What, what did you think exactly? I wasn't even sure of how much you understood when I talked to you about fusion. I talked. You talked? We… talked?
"What-" Mira tries to say out loud, but the tone of voice that comes out startles him. Her? Them?
Roger shakes his head, and Mira shakes hers, and the world then shakes too much, and... It's all too much. A light splits them apart, and the woman and the fox sit on the ground again, staring at each other.
"No worries, no worries!" Douglas' voice is heard from further away. "It'd be better if you all try at least once by yourselves, but if it doesn't work we can have Emma and Maeve assist you!" The assistants nod in sync after that remark, with Maeve-geist even clapping their hands from inside the teapot. "That looked like an actual fusion, you just couldn't keep it up! But that's still great for a first attempt."
Nia was up next to attempt to fuse. Out of the two of them, Leila was the one that seemed to be a bit uneasy about the whole thing, her brow furrowing as she looked at Nia. It was one thing to be close, but to be literally one…
"Ah come on old friend, ya ain't gettin' cold feet on me, are ya?" Nia kneeled down to be on the Lucario's level, looking her directly in the eyes. "We've been through so much shit together, how much more danger can fusion really put us in that my dumb ass didn't already do back in the day?"
She
did have a point. Teenage Nia was, to put it as she did, a dumbass. A dumbass going through a lot, but a dumbass nonetheless. A smile made its way on Leila's face.
"Thought you'd agree with me taking myself down a peg. Only a peg though, I'm not gonna let myself get outclassed by anyone else but you."
Nia touched the crystal with Leila following right behind, the crystal blinding the two of them with a dark red light. Even her varied experiences as a Ranger and even as a human being couldn't prepare her for the sensations she started to feel as her body shifted in all sorts of ways.
After what seemed like an eternity, Nia (though her mind clearly registered the presence of another being in there as well) emerged from the fusion. She didn't look as drastically different as she had thought, but there were clearly some major changes in her appearance: spikes on her hands and chest, pointier canines, tufts of blue and tan fur roughly corresponding to where they might fit on a human body. Rather than the carefree expression on Nia's face that was most characteristic to her, she adopted a more steely one as she simply stated, "It works."
Paul steps away from the others, facing away from everyone so as not to be distracted. He holds his hand out, palm up with the crystal resting in it. "Focus… clear your mind… Carnivine, when you're ready, touch the crystal with me."
Carnivine lifts off Paul's back, floating over to his hand. He looks at the strange rock, then gently places his mouth around Paul's entire hand, crystal and all. Paul doesn't even react, breathing slowly and deeply as he meditates.
Carnivine's eyes widen as the crystal grows warm in his mouth, and he is soon consumed by the light as it swirls around Paul, and soon Paul is glowing as well. After a moment, the light fades, and Paul slumps in place, his arms hanging at his sides.
He appears mostly unchanged, but from the shoulder down his arms, visible in his sleeveless jacket, are the dull green color and leafy texture of Carnivine's arms. He slowly lifts his hands to his face, flexing his fingers experimentally. "Oh… oh, it worked!"
He turns to the others, slowly smiling. His smile just keeps getting wider, though, and at the corners of his mouth, his cheeks split to form an even larger mouth, revealing rows of sharp teeth as he laughs triumphantly. "Great job you two!" Maeve-geist cheers, still floating around the backyard.
Mira backs off in surprise at the somewhat monstrous appearance. Did her face change too? Although, admittedly, Carnivine does have a slightly more monstrous grin than a Vulpix. Gin is nervously playing with the crystal as he's silently analyzing what he just saw. The strategy for his own fusion was slowly forming up.
But Charlotte looks more like… in awe. Even if Paul and Carnivine may look scary in that state, even if Nia and Lucario now fused into the same being are behaving so differently than the two of them separated, she's looking at them intently.
She then turns at Kent and Mira. Well, Kent specifically. He's failed and feels too uneasy to try again, and that image put right next to Nia-Leila or Paul-vine is too harsh of a contrast. Sundae still looks confident and playful as ever, and she has been like that too
until now. The magic seems to have gone away as their turn to fuse gets closer, and so she finds herself looking for reassurance.
"Well…" She tries to raise her voice. trying to still look like her usual self despite her different state of mind. "Fusion seems fun and all but it's kinda scary if it doesn't work, uh?" She asks, hoping to get an answer from one of the two other rangers who haven't attempted to fuse just yet - at this stage, they're in the same boat… right?
Of course, when Maeve and Polteageist fly over and try to reassure Charlotte, she tries to tell them she's fine, just a bit anxious. But her eyes still scan the area, ready to pick up any sign of a reaction, especially from Reginald and Bexley.
Bex was silently observing from the background, a mixture of awe, horror and excitement brightening her usual deadpan expression. Seeing her colleagues morph before her very eyes and knowing she'd soon be next felt like the anticipation of a rollercoaster ride just before the drop. For all the daring and danger she'd experienced in her youth, nothing could have prepared her for this.
But Charlie's question broke her train of thought. Bex quirks a smile and throws an arm around the girl's shoulders, playfully bumping hips, pretending like she wasn't sharing the same concerns.
"Ain't gettin' cold feet already, are we, little Gracie?" she says.
The younger girl didn't quite expect Bexley to approach her when she wasn't looking in her direction, nor to come that close to her, but now that she's right here, literally touching her, she can't deny she's feeling somewhat better. "Oh, I am… fine yes, but I may need someone to have my back, you know?" She speaks up hastily, still warming up to the other girl's presence.
"Well watcha think
we're here for then, eh, ya silly girl?" Bex gives Charlie's hair an unceremonious tousle, then breaks away from her personal space. She gestures toward Sundae with a nod. "You and that bundle of sunshine? Like two peas in a pod, you are. Reckon you've got nothin' to worry about. The real trouble is me and this prat."
Tink, the obvious prat in question, just gawks inanely at Sundae. If metal could blush, he'd be doing it.
"Aw, thanks…" Charlie replies, nodding towards Bexley just as Sundae chirps from above her. She seems more concerned with Tink right now, and is looking at him intently while her trainer takes some heavy breaths. "Ok, let's do this!" The pink haired trainer then nods, "I'll try to look over you and then you help me out when it's my turn…"
My turn… Not like she could've avoided it, Douglas still wanted her to attempt a fusion by herself. Charlotte takes a few steps backwards, giving Bexley some more space, and gestures for Sundae to do the same.
Bex's confident smile fades. That didn't go how she wanted—the reassurance had been more self-directed than anything, and it was really to goad Charlie into fusing before her anyway. It was Kent's earlier display of pain and fear that kept her hesitant from trying up until now. If he failed to connect with Stoutland, a Pokémon as loyal as they come, what makes her think she and Tink will do any better?
She glances again at the Klefki hovering beside her. He chatters quietly, sounding like the crackle of a static radio, and Bex knows it to mean he's threatened. Perhaps that in itself is a good sign—that she can read him well. However many times they've wanted to kill each other, Tink has stuck with her through thick and thin, and neither would be where they are now if it wasn't for that.
"It's all or nothing, mate," she says to him. "Let's teach this lot how's it done, what you reckon?"
Tink sways for a moment as he processes her meaning. Then, with a loud, attention-grabbing jingle, he darts into the limelight, Bex smiling as she joins him.
"Right, reckon I've caught on to all this fusion lark," she announces to the group, deftly flicking up her crystal and catching it again. Then she smiles over her shoulder at the professor. "Might want to keep your eyes fixed on me, babe."
Bex doesn't wait for a response. She extends the crystal to Tink, who taps it with a key, enjoying the sound—it takes several taps before Bex hisses for him to shut up and hold it.
So he does. As the light engulfs them, Bex's skin begins to tingle and crawl, her feet almost rise off the ground, and what feels like a magnetic force surrounds her and seems to bind to her will. Her bones are stronger, heavier; her muscles tighten like steel cables. Plates of metal form randomly across her body. A spirit
merges with her own. Then the light fades and she drops to the ground.
For a moment, Bex kneels there, bent forwards and panting hard. It's all so heavy. Even the ring surrounding her is heavy, despite levitating on its own as if it were weightless. Some of Tink's accessories are there—the earring, the pocket knife, the flashlight, all many times their normal size. Wait. But where are the rest of them?
"My gear... who touched my gear?!" she snaps, springing up and whirling on the crowd. "Which of you tossers stole my f***ing keys?!"
A surge of aggression that isn't her own compels her to lash out at the nearest person—who happens to be Paul—but her own conscience kicks in just in time to prevent the attack from landing. The conflict between her and Tink's emotions makes Bex wince hard in pain as she struggles to contain his anger. It shatters their connection. The crystal's light appears once again, and in a flash, Bex and Tink are returned to their true forms.
Bex immediately grabs Tink's ball and seals him in. He resists; once, twice, three times, before realising his possessions are still intact, and the ball finally settles down.
"Blimey," she pants, shakily finding her feet. "What a drama. Sorry 'bout that. Tink gets in a bit of a tizzy, see." She shrugs apologetically at Paul.
Paul just grins at her, shrugging. "No problem. Blem. Blem.
brbrbr." He laughs as he's distracted by the sensation of his own lips, already forgetting that Bex nearly struck him. She crinkles her nose and takes a few steps back, visibly disturbed.
Mira - and actually also Roger - have been watching Bex' attempt with great interest. It seemed to go much the same way as their own, except perhaps a little better in some ways and a little worse in others. Mira glances down at the Vulpix and is surprised to see that he's glancing up at her too with a curious expression. He wants to try again. She swallows hard. They probably should.
Charlotte, in the meantime, has taken Bexley's advice just a bit too far. She's barely noticed the commotion as she's going through a whole lot of questions for Sundae. "Are you ready for this? Are you promising you're not going to attack other Pokémon like yesterday? Are we going to agree?" She keeps going, like a young teacher to a class of young kids, while Sundae just nods happily.
"Oh, go on, get a wriggle on, girl!" Bex calls out, rescuing poor Sundae from the endless string of questions.
And so, the moment finally comes for
Charlotte and Sundae as they both hold their hands on the crystal they were given, the Togetic perched right on top of her trainer's head. They stand still in this position for a bit, but to them it seems like time has stopped altogether, all while the light from the crystal slowly builds up around them. All the memories they've shared until now, ever since Sundae hatched from that egg and right in the hands of then-child Charlie, all the time they spent at the park… and then the countless adventures as a Ranger, the selection to become one of the first people to fuse with their Pokémon, the journey to Boon Island, it's more than half of Charlotte's life condensed and compressed into a single moment.
The light gets stronger and what was a well defined shape on top of Charlie's head turns into a cascade of energy flowing around her. But even when that calms down, the eyes of the now fused Charlotte and Sundae seem to glow and sparkle with just as much energy and excitement. The hybrid immediately sets off, and at this point it's clear that Charlotte's consciousness is giving Sundae's full control of the wings that have now appeared on the fusion's back.
"Ok so what are we now, Chardae or Sunlotte or maybe…" She giggles. "Maybe we can assume you're just Sundae Grace and so when we're like this it's just Grace…" That whole sentence is somewhat disconnected as the fusion speaks very fast and stumbles on some words, but neither Charlie or Sundae even care, they're just both in seventh heaven.
"You're all great, I love you all and I'm sure we'll be amazing friends and I never want this to end and also, thank you for all your help!" 'Grace' now approaches all the different rangers and assistants as if they were childhood friends, her eyes still sparkling. Neither Charlie or Sundae expected that it would come easy for them, and that makes it all even more electrifying.
Roger literally hides behind Mira's legs. Oh Arceus. Togetic in humanoid form. And just the same personality. This was horrifying. Mira, meanwhile, can't help but to smile brightly when Charlie succeeded so fast. She'd clap, even, if she wasn't so self-conscious. Their success inspired her. Plus, it did look pretty cool. She snuck another glance at Paul and his amusement at his own form, and then her eyes wandered over to Gin… Who hadn't taken action yet. What was going through his mind now?
"You noticed
that too, right?"
Gin asks Slimy, but isn't waiting for its answer. He knows Slimy probably figured it out even before Charlotte's fusion attempt. He raises his right hand and lets Slimy wrap around it like they did countless times. Slimy settles down on Gin's shoulder and forms a comically large hand at the end of its innards.
Gin tilts his head to touch Slimy's body and then let the crystal to slip from his hand on Slimy's innards. Slimy does the same and with each slip, the gap between their hands closes by a small bit. And with each slip, their movements get more and more synchronized. Finally, their hands meet and they get lost in the blinding light.
Right away, Gin feels like someone is removing every bone from his right hand. This painful experience continues for the right side of his torso, but with each second, it feels less painful. He almost loses his balance when he stops feeling bones in his right foot, but an unexpected thought goes through his mind.
Let the foot grow back. It wasn't his own though, but he felt a part of him in it. And a moment later, he felt his foot once again firmly on the ground. It felt so natural to Gin. Like if he was doing this his whole life.
The light fades away and reveals the result of Gin and Slimy's fusion. Almost the whole right side of Gin's body was replaced by Slimy's innards. But they formed in a way to remind Gin's lost limbs. His head was intact, but his eyes now had a dark purple colour. His hair, now gray and spiky, also had purple lines coming through them. The left side of his body is seemingly untouched by the fusion.
Gin tries to move his right hand, but it bursts in an unformed mess of small tentacles.
I got it. Another thought goes through his head as his hand returns.
"Slimy," Gin finally addresses the source of those thoughts.
"Thanks."
Ranger boats are mostly for the local teams, but you may still use one if you find one available. The public ferries are usually more reliable, departing from each island from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. on the hour and going back and forth between Knot and Kin Island (with a half-way stop at Boon Island every time). Going from Boon Island to the other two takes about one hour in both cases. A Tri Pass, which you already have, will give you unlimited access to these ferries… as long as you don't go to the other islands.
