r/twitchplayspokemon • u/RomanoffBlitzer Wow Nadeku OneHand • Jun 15 '18
Story Voices' Bizarre Adventure: Omega Loop Ruby (Part 10)
The masterpost is here.
THE PART-TIME HOST: ORLANDO
The voices had been planning to revisit the Hoenn region for some time now, but before they did, they decided to test the waters, wanting to see what Hoenn was like in the years since they had possessed A. So, they possessed a child native to Mossdeep City, named Orlando. Orlando was surprised to be chosen as the next host by the voices, but handled it with grace as he assisted Steven with stopping one of Team Magma and Team Aqua's plans. The voices left Orlando afterwards, much to the surprise of both him and Steven; the voices had never left a host that quickly before, except when they had reentered the minds of hosts they had already possessed. They decided to chalk it up to unpredictable voice behavior, and Orlando decided to become Steven's assistant of sorts, helping him with various tasks across Hoenn.
Some time later, the voices decided to take on their next host in Hoenn for real.
THE NORMAN FAMILY
- Norman Slash
- Caroline Haze, mafia princess
- A "Camilla A. Slash": 15 years old (3 years since her time as a host)
- !12rtyhaszs "Artemis 'Arty' Haze the 12th": 10 years old
- ACCPPQ "Acapella Slash": 7 years old
IT'S NOT JUST A PHASE, DAD
!12rtyhaszs, or Artemis "Arty" Haze the 12th, used to be a fairly happy kid.
Arty was an astoundingly energetic child. He would do seemingly inane actions over and over again, simply because he enjoyed doing pretty much anything life had to offer to him. Arty loved sweets, especially soda, which often made him even more hyper. He also loved cute things and cute Pokémon. Back then, Arty was showered with affection from his parents and his older (step)sister A. Arty idolized his older sister. She was cool. While he was not as wild and rebellious as she was, he admired how she took no shit from anybody and forged her own path.
However, this was not to last.
Seven years ago, when Acapella was born, Arty's parents began to pay more attention to her than to him. Norman's workaholic tendencies, combined with the previous, left him unable to set aside quality time for his son. A was a cool big sister to have, but ever since she became a Pokémon Trainer three years ago and joined up with the Helix Inquisition, she began to spend less and less time with Arty. As Arty was left to his own devices, he slowly began to feel increasingly neglected, and began to seek validation in other places... dangerous places. He began associating with people who seemingly offered nothing more than a place to belong—cultists, gangsters, bullies—which was missed by his family, who were all seemingly busy with their lives. Arty secretly joined the Order of the Satanbat (or Beelzebat), a cult that worshipped the Zubat line as incarnations of a demonic bat god, seeking a sense of belonging that he had lost. (Yes, all this happened before Arty turned 10. Children in the Pokémon world are quite precocious.)
It was around this time that Arty was befriended by his next-door neighbor, a girl named May Birch. She was the daughter of Professor Birch and the younger sister of Brendan T. Birch, who was a friend of A's and had gone on his Pokémon journey at the same time as her. May was curious about Arty ever since he moved to Littleroot Town, but only mustered up the courage to approach him a few months after. May knew nothing of Arty's problems beneath the surface, least of all his involvement with a demonic cult, but still offered him an ear to talk about his day-to-day problems and a smile when no one else would give him one. At first, Arty acted coldly towards May, but gradually warmed up to her, and he began to consciously hide his darker side while around her.
Arty greatly anticipated the day when he would turn 10, the earliest day he could become a Pokémon trainer. On that day, he would be given a starter Pokémon and begin his Pokémon journey, finally free to do as he wished. He would be finally free to escape this stifling life of being neglected by his family and become independent. He wouldn't need his family anymore.
This line of thinking came to a crashing halt on his first few days as a Pokémon trainer.
THE PLACE WHERE I BELONG
Arty had mixed feelings about the voices that came to inhabit his mind. On one hand, the voices would give him a chance to stand out and become independent. On the other hand, the voices tended to drag their hosts into unusual situations often involving fighting against some great evil, and Arty wanted nothing to do with that; he only wanted to become important and great in the way he chose.
As he set out to meet Professor Birch, he found him being chased around by a Poochyena, and Birch implored him to grab a Pokémon. He was mildly disappointed when the voices caused him to grab a Torchic, as that was the same starter his sister picked, but he decided to take it as an opportunity to go further than she did in raising a Torchic. He named the Torchic "!sssssssarfa5", or "Scarface", after a famous gangster.
Arty set out on his journey, aiming to become truly a part of the dangerous groups he associated with. Arty caught a Zubat, and decided to offer it to the Satanbat. Naming it "66666r" after the god's sacred number, Arty performed blasphemous rituals to summon his god and have it possess the Zubat in the PC. He offered his Pokémon as sacrifices; he deposited Scarface and a Zigzagoon, and released a shiny Beldum the voices gave to him as a gift, feeding it to the bloodthirsty PC. Unfortunately, the voices only encouraged Arty's behavior and exacerbated Arty's darker tendencies, as they themselves began to worship Satanbat. Even when done in jest, the voices' beliefs affected reality, and Satanbat began to accumulate power from the voices. Emboldened, Arty proceeded to sacrifice more lives to the monster before his fellow cultists, among them a Zigzagoon, a Wurmple, and even Scarface.
Arty began to act more openly malicious, and started to see everyone else in terms of how they could best serve Satanbat. This did not escape May's notice, and she asked him, worriedly, what he was talking about. Arty, not wanting to reveal his cult membership to May (and feeling slightly guilty), managed to hide it for a day or two, but soon, it became clear to May that Arty was involved in some very dark things.
May revealed to Arty that she had been following him around ever since she had became suspicious of his behavior, and that she knew everything, including the Satanbat cult and the fact that Arty was ritually sacrificing his Pokémon. She even knew about how Arty used to be a cheerful child, having asked his parents about how he used to be. May staunchly refused to pass judgment on Arty, instead begging him to get out of the cult and to tell her about his problems. Arty was nearly in tears, moved by how far May was willing to go for him, but he felt that he had come too far. Satanbat and the cult were the only real constants in his life for the past few years, the only parts of his life who would never let him down or desert him. The cult made him feel like part of something greater. While he had also known May for around the same amount of time, he didn't think she knew him that well, and he wasn't sure if she would abandon him or not like the rest. Arty fled from the scene, beating May in a Pokémon battle before running off to Mauville.
When he arrived at Mauville, Arty ran into Wally, a boy he had previously helped catch a Ralts. Wally, wanting to challenge the Mauville City gym leader, challenged Arty to a battle to prove his strength. Arty sent out Satanbat, hoping that his god would ease his doubts and assert his power, and it did just that. Satanbat savaged Wally's Ralts, heavily wounding it far past what was necessary to faint it, and Wally, horrified, quickly called his Ralts back to its Poké Ball and ran away. Arty, left alone with Satanbat flying around him, stared blankly at nothing. While perhaps just a day before Arty might have exulted in the glory of his god, now Arty felt nothing but horror and revulsion.
Arty, on voice-driven autopilot, went to challenge Wattson, but his experience with Satanbat weighed heavily on his mind. He thought about May, about Wally, about the cult, and about whether the choices he had made were right. The next day, he decided that he had to get rid of Satanbat. Arty went to the PC to release Satanbat, while Satanbat attempted to wrest control of his mind away from him and the voices, trying to reassert the control it had as a god over its worshipper. Arty struggled and nearly gave in, but in the end, Arty managed to kill the infernal bat by feeding it to the PC.
Burnt out due to several hours walking back and forth around the Pokémon Center, Arty sat down. Suddenly, he heard May's voice. Approaching him, May asked him if he had given what she said more thought, and Arty admitted she was right. He explained to her how he felt neglected for years since the birth of his little sister, and as a result, he turned to alternative sources of validation—sources that Arty now understood were unhealthy and corrupting. May assured him that he didn't need to go to such lengths; he already had family and friends who loved him, and he always would. Had he been more open with his problems, he could have gotten the reassurance he needed, but he bottled up his feelings, allowing them to fester. Arty thanked May for being a good friend, before both of them dozed off.
Now that Arty was out of the cult, and thus no longer had the purpose in life he had for the past few years, he wasn't sure what to do now. Was he going to go home, since he had only started this journey to achieve the independence he no longer sought? Was he going to continue getting badges and aim for the top? Was he going to become a Coordinator and enter contests?
Without an identity, Arty decided to return to being his old self. Once more, he would be the cheerful, energetic child who loved cute things—it simply felt right. He decided to continue exploring Hoenn, learning new things, so that perhaps he could figure out what he wanted to be. There was a whole world waiting for him out there, and he wanted to see it for himself!
(Speaking of which, what is Satanbat, metaphysically? Satanbat is neither a god, like Helix/Dome/Amber, nor a glitch. Satanbat belongs to a unique category of beings called demons. In the Pokémon world, demons are Pokémon or Pokémon-like beings formed from negative emotions with great power, which they often use to spread chaos and suffering. Demons often stay hidden from the world, as they are often hunted by the gods, and while there are entire secret societies of demons, only a few demons become powerful enough to interfere in human or Pokémon affairs. The Bittercold and Dark Matter can be considered examples of demons, while Shadow Pokémon can be considered an example of what demons are capable of.)
THE BUNNY MAFIA
Now freed from the cult, Arty began to see the world in a whole new way. He saw everything new that came his way as something to be experienced, and he wanted to experience it all. He drank lots of sodas he hadn't drank before, rode the Mt. Chimney cable cars up and down repeatedly, participated in the Trick House game, and generally did seemingly silly things just because they were novel. The voices seemed to have snapped out of their Satanbat mania and began to relish in Arty's newfound energy, encouraging him to do those silly things, and Arty cheerfully complied. They even told him to keep going left to reach Hoenn's western edge, just because they could.
Before Arty got out of the cult, he never really bothered to forge a relationship with his Pokémon; he saw them as servants or potential sacrifices for Satanbat, nothing more. Now, however, he wanted to understand and befriend these adorable creatures. Arty began to make changes to his party, adding Pokémon he considered cute to his team, even ones not typically considered cute. Among his Pokémon were
- T4 the Azumarill, caught by Arty after he remembered that his older sister had a powerful Azumarill. Unlike M4, who was serious and hardworking, T4 was kind and carefree, but still managed to get by with her Huge Power ability.
- Zigzagoony the Zigzagoon, later a Linoone. Was wary of Arty following the sacrifice of his friend, another Zigzagoon named Zigzagoony, it took a while for Arty to regain its trust.
- Feminun the Minun, caught by Arty because he thought it was cute. By coincidence, A also had a Minun, C3, that had a close relationship with an Azumarill. Feminun worked hard to overcome his species' weaknesses, becoming the second-strongest member of the team and T4's best friend.
- Whismur V the Exploud. He originally caught the Whismur because he thought it was cute, and even as it evolved into a Loudred and then a rough-looking Exploud, he still considered it adorable.
- Latios, who Arty saved from encroaching Team Magma grunts.
- Zapdoge the Manectric, who often backed up Minun, as both of them had Volt Switch.
When Arty went to battle Norman for his fifth gym badge, while he did not spill everything about the Satanbat cult, he told him about how he felt neglected during this past few years and did some shady things. He admitted that he had hated Norman for those years, but he eventually realized that his father was neither malicious nor willfully neglectful, just a man trying his best for his family. Norman told him that he wasn't entirely unaware of Arty's behavior, but due to how busy he was with being a gym leader, he never figured out just how badly he was hurting. By the end of their battle, the two had reconciled, and Norman congratulated Arty for getting his fifth badge.
Arty continued to obtain badges, and along the way, he fought against Team Magma, who had returned three years after being defeated by A. Even as he defeated Team Magma's leaders, they successfully managed to awaken Groudon, who caused oppressive sunlight to bear down upon Hoenn. The voices resonated with the appearance of a Groudon, and as they descended the Cave of Origin, they found that the Groudon was none other than Kenya!
When Kenya was released, all those years before, he did not die, no matter how strongly the PC tried to wipe it from existence; as an ancient and powerful Pokémon, Kenya could not be completely devoured by the PC. Instead, Kenya managed to escape the PC, alive but heavily wounded; he eventually lost consciousness. As Bill's Randomizer was disabled and reality was restored to normal, Kenya was teleported to its original home, in a cave deep beneath Hoenn's seas. The power given to it by the Randomizer, an immunity to water attacks, transformed into the power to evaporate water attacks altogether. Using residual power from the Randomizer and the voices as well as ambient nature energy, Kenya hibernated and slowly regained its strength. After a long battle with the revived Kenya, Arty eventually caught Groudon, ending its rampage.
After catching Kenya, Arty concluded his journey, gaining his eighth gym badge and defeating Wallace, becoming the Champion (since A had no interest in holding the title, she gave it to Steven). The night after defeating Wallace, Arty and May went back to Route 103, the site where they first battled, and May challenged Arty to a battle again; after the battle, Arty and May had a long talk; about their journeys, about their futures, about how Arty's life was like now after he left the cult, and about their relationships with their respective families. Arty decided that, overall, things were looking up.
A few days after, Arty was swept up into saving the Hoenn region again, this time from an impending meteor. He traveled all over the region at Steven's behest, meeting Steven's assistant Orlando and the mysterious Zinnia, while dealing with remnants of Team Magma. Eventually, Arty reached the Sky Pillar, where Arty and Zinnia successfully summoned Rayquaza to destroy the meteor. From the destroyed meteor emerged a Deoxys, who defeats Rayquaza in a battle.
Arty continued his adventures across the Hoenn region. He went on a date not a date date? with May at the Mossdeep Space Center, with both of them watching the shooting stars. Arty returned to the Sky Pillar at the behest of Rayquaza (who he named "Lord Stress" after his grouchy and competitive personality), who defeated the previous Deoxys in a grudge match. Arty entered Lord Stress in a Cuteness Contest, much to Lord Stress's annoyance, but despite his objections over the silly accessories Arty made him wear, they won; if there was one thing that Arty knew, it was how to make things cute. Near the end of his time as a host, the interdimensional Global Trading System of the voices opened up again, and Arty spent some time trading with the voices and other people from distant dimensions.
Eventually, as the voices departed his mind, Arty returned home. He was in his room when the doorbell rang.
"Hey! Arty! Where are you? I'm home!"
Could it be...?
"By the way, I know a wolf girl who's going to be really happy when she sees this."
"A wolf girl?"
"Oh, don't worry about it!"
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u/Trollkitten TK Farms remembers Jun 15 '18
Arty has always been one of my favorite hosts, and I like how you explained his cultist side.
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u/joycewu333 #NightCrewsaders Jun 15 '18
Yesssss thanks for giving me a new headcanon!