Victoria - Adventure Thread (Johto)

Having come from Ecruteak City, it's not hard to find the first puzzle room. Yaaaay sliding tile puzzles! These ones in particular form images when completed. The previous ones were Kabuto, Omanyte, Ho-Oh, and Aerodactyl. Since the change, however, nobody has quite figured them out. Let alone completed them.

At first, Victoria can't figure it out. What the heck is this thing supposed to be an image of? It's obviously a visual puzzle still, else it wouldn't have little pictures on each tile. Oh, apparently they don't come out like they did before. These ones slide around. That might be why they're so difficult. Sliding puzzles are much more annoying.

A Few Hours Later...

Despite it only being her second official attempt, Victoria struggles a bit to get the pieces where she wants once she gets a basic idea for the puzzle. It turns out that this one depicts... Meloetta? What? Isn't that a Unovan myth Pokemon? What's a picture of it doing all the way out here?

...

Huh. Nothing seems to be happening. At least, nothing obvious. When Victoria turns around to go find another puzzle to mess around with, there's an Unown behind her! This one is...an exclamation mark!?

A mysterious blue box appears in front of Victoria's face, and time seems to slow down; if not stop altogether. An explanation of your current situation is provided, along with a...list of options?

An Unown stands floats before you. What will you do?

A - Talk to it
B - Reach out to touch it
C - Ignore it and walk past
D - ??
F - Back away slowly
G - Use Grazie to talk to it
H - You just realized there was no option "E"
I - You went back and looked to confirm.
J - Do nothing

Time resumes, and Victoria notices the telltale blue glow of psychic energy surrounding the Unown...but they can only use Hidden Power when alone, right? Is it attacking?! No, wait, Victoria feels kinda tingly. Glancing at her hands, she sees that they're also glowing blue...like the Unown...what's it doing?! Victoria watches as all the colors of her skin start to turn the same matte black as the Unown. She begins to shrink rapidly, her body shifting and contorting into a new shape. The last thing she hears before her vision and hearing go out momentarily is the sound of her clothing and possessions falling to the ground. When it all comes back, Victoria feels really weird. She can't feel her hands or her feet, or...anything really, except that she still has a body...and her field of vision seems narrower. Somehow, Victoria just knows that she got turned into an Unown. What shape she's in is uncertain. Thankfully, she still retains her human intelligence and isn't magically connected to the Hive or whatever. She's all by her lonesome as a cute lil' Unown.

Well, it certainly isn't glowing any longer. Thankfully, Victoriown seems to be able to "float" naturally on her own, so no sudden crashes into the ground. Not for this gir-er...Pokemon? Well, that is what she is right now. Of course, Unown do not have any orifices at all. They just have a single eye someplace on their weirdly-shaped bodies. It takes a bit, but previous experience communicating with Grazie helps Victoriown get a handle on her newfound telepathy sooner rather than later. When she finally manages to ask the Unown 'wtf?!' she senses/feels it projecting confusion. Is this not what the human wanted? To understand Unown? It could easily (and would gladly) help her connect to the Hive if she desires. It knows that feeling alone must be worrisome.

As for the how? The Hive can do a great many things. Victoriown only saw the one. It was still connected to the Hive, and could therefore do a great many things that 'tamed/imprisoned' Unown cannot. It turns out that a Poke Ball cuts Unown off from the Hive, restricting them to the most basic abilities. In this case, floating and using the ability that humans call "Hidden Power". If an Unown does not want to be captured/separated, it will not allow itself to be seen in the first place. Humans can generally not be trusted with the full strength of the Hive, so even if the imprisoning devices humans carry didn't cut them off on their own (somehow), then they would do so themselves for the safety of reality. Huh. Turns out Unown (at least the ones connected to the Hive) are a lot smarter than most give them credit for.

Unown seems somewhat startled by Victoriown's declaration. It calms down momentarily, however. The Hive is not all-knowing, it only sensed Victoria's desire to 'understand', and this is the best way they could think of. Would the Hive overwhelm a human mind? Possibly. It's not as if they have a habit of connecting humans to them willy-nilly. However, Victoriown is technically an Unown now. Even if the change is primarily physical (after all, if you suddenly believe you are/have always been an Unown, how can you 'understand' in the way humans seek to?), her mind ought to be at least somewhat more resilient by default. As for returning to her human state, that's a simple enough matter. This one will be with Victoriown until she decides she's ready to be human again (if she ever does; not like that hasn't happened before). It effected the change the first time, so it can do it again just as easily.

Hm. Perhaps instead of connecting to the entire Hive, Victoriown would want to join a Cluster Mind? When Victoriown expresses confusion, she gets images that she vaguely recalls seeing online in the past of the things she mentally refers to as "combo-Unowns". The Hive calls these Clusters 'Primes'. Few humans have been able to form a proper Prime, however. Doing so tends to be exclusionary towards other Pokemon due to the human's "rules" regarding their use of Pokemon. (aka - the League doesn't recognize 'Prime' Unown as a singular entity, like Dugtrio/Magneton. They're counted as six separate mons, even if a Prime can be contained in a single ball.)

Victoriown gets a vague sense of acknowledgement before the ! goes "silent". Likely, it is breaking away from the Hive with a small group that she'll be added to. Seemingly only moments later, Victoriown feels several more minds "attach" to her own. The other five are in harmony with one another. Their thoughts are one as they wash over her. They aren't doing anything untoward, just 'communicating'. Letting her feel what it's like. It's...trippy, to say the least. Victoria's only ever had a fleeting connection with other minds before, and that's just with Grazie for minimal telepathy. She gets the understanding that human psychics can perform similar feats to an 'Unown Cluster Mind', but it's much harder for them because human minds are naturally discordant.

It is...somewhat difficult to stay connected to Victoriown without unconsciously influencing her to be more harmonious. More like them. Based on her previous reaction, Victoriown does not wish that at this time. This is also understandable. However, she may find, after a time, she doesn't wish to part from the Cluster, or wishes to fully merge with the Hive. She may not believe so now, but she may change her mind in the future. Alternatively, she may end up not changing her mind, and wishing to go back to her 'solitary' human existence. For now, the Cluster is here only to aid in Victoriown's desire to 'understand' to the best of her ability. Sensing her mild curiosity about the shape of her new form, she is greeted with an image seen by the ! across from her that shows she is a ?. Good to know, I guess.

The ! drifts alongside of Victoriown, allowing her to explore at her own pace. The Cluster's 'harmony' is ever-present, but seems to have been dulled slightly, as if they're holding back to respect her (current) desire to remain mostly independent. The ruins haven't changed any, but they certainly seem different as a tiny lil' Unown.

! and the Cluster seem somewhat disappointed that Victoriown is not interested in remaining, but again, she is originally human. It is both expected and understandable. It's as disorienting becoming human again as it was becoming an Unown. The major difference now is that Victoria is hyper-aware of her own body. All the bits and bobs that humans have and Unown don't are...weird...now. It's weird being big again after being small for so long. It's extra weird having limbs! Gah, it's going to take ages to get used to this again, and Victoria only spent a couple hours as an Unown! Now that she's human again, the ! disconnects Victoria from the Cluster and departs. She feels weirdly lonely now. Like part of her is missing. Maybe that's what the ! was telling her about earlier? How being 'alone' must be 'worrisome'? Sure, she definitely didn't feel that way pre-Unown experience, but now that she's been connected harmoniously to a group of minds, being without feels...empty.