An Ultra Excursion! - Ultra Space

[Darksol88]

"Probably wouldn't be the roughest thing to deal with if I ever had to fight him," Aden remarked, shrugging. "Considering some stuff, that almost sounds less stressful than getting atomized by a weapon better left unused. Anyways, I'll admit I'm not as versed in... well, any of this compared to you, Reno or anyone else that works with you. But I'll do whatever I can."

The next few days went by rather quickly, though he didn't mind the brisk pace it was being perceived as. If anything, it was a good sign, a peaceful one. One that meant he could focus on the task at hand with the suits, though his help was fairly limited. If nothing else, it was certainly an educational few days and he came away from it with a newfound appreciation for the studies Professor Burnet had done, even if he still couldn't totally wrap his head around the whole multiple realities thing. A few chuckles, too, with the stories he and Reno were regaled with. Mostly. Nihilego weren't quite as chuckle-worthy.

Finally, back to the now-present with the suit upgrades complete and the group ready to depart, Aden couldn't help the bagging feeling in his mind too. He hoped nothing too bad came from that whole Kartana incident, but he knew it'd eat at him until he knew for sure.

"We will, don't worry. I... yeah, I know that feeling a bit." His past doubts and frustrations came back to the forefront of his mind in the moment, but he shook it off fairly quickly. That, and seeing Burnet bust out the sandal when he and Reno went outside replaced all that with maybe a slight fear to not upset her. Provided the one in their original reality was anything like this one.

Besides, he wouldn't turn down an extra malasada. Maybe split it in half with Reno when they get home.

---

As the group resumed their travels in Ultra Space proper, Aden couldn't help thinking things were too quiet. It wasn't a bad thing, of course, not having a run in with a stray wormhole or an Ultra Beast getting too close to them. It meant finding the wormhole Kartana went through would come sooner than expected, and they'd be more ready for whatever was on the other end of it. It also meant, maybe, a safe trip back home. But it didn't mean either of those. Instead, it meant Aden's pechant for having something find its way to him and suddenly make the trip interesting again do exactly that.

"I'm not the only one seeing that blur, right?" He asked, looking towards Reno and seeing that blur make its way towards his hoverbike. "Reno, heads-" Suddenly, the blur had a form and he got a better look at it. "...up?" He'd then get an even better look at the foot that came at him, his closest view of an Ultra Beast yet as the kick caught him off guard and sent hurtling through space and to an all-too conviently written wormhole. But Reno and Crystal might hear something from him in the process. "Oh come on, we can't have a normal trip through Ultra Spaaace...!?"

Unlike his last time going through one, he didn't have Reno's hoverbike or Crystal's psychic constructs to make the fall less of an issue. He'd manage to right himself enough to allow his wings to do something for a change, eventually slowing his fall into more of a glide. Much as he wanted to at least land on solid ground, he wouldn't get that wish and was forced to land in a lake, swimming up to the surface afterward and getting to land that way. Even through the suit, the water felt colder than expected and his wings were even less happier about it as he gave a few hard flaps to shake the water off. "Not... how I expected to take a swim, but sure, a kick from a supermodel bug works too..."  

[Darksol88]

"Yeah, minus my wings feeling colder than the rest of me. I was able to slow the fall down once I came out of the wormhole, and it doesn't feel like any water's gotten into the suit. Still colder than I'd expect, but probably a cold snap? It doesn't look like it'd be fall or winter yet..."

A cursory glance from Aden, and potentially Reno or Crystak too, would easily tell the trees all over the area were still full of leaves and just as full of life to match. He doubted any of their SNAGs would exactly give an accurate readout of when they were in this reality, let alone where. But the sign and looking around a bit more had a way of sorting that part out. He'd walk over to the sign after a moment, then look to the lake again.

"No, pretty sure this is it... though it's a little weird we've managed to go into two realities and both of them aren't that different from our home one. Er, minus the colder temps." He really wanted to hope it was just a cold snap, but the back of his mind refused to fully believe that. The talk they had with the hunter still rang in his mind, and they were maybe a half hour from Mahogany Town at worst. As he kept thinking, he also wanted to hightail it and get back home, unsure if he actually wanted to find out if there was truth to what she'd said now that they'd been dumped into the perfect opportunity.

"Though.... if this is the Lake of Rage, we're also close to Mahogany. Probably not far from this reality's HQ either, assuming it's in the same place as our's. I doubt I'm the only one with cold feet here and maybe it's the earlier kick talking, but..." He paused as he tried to ignore the anxious pit in his stomach that began to form. "What if we check by one or both places before getting out and back home? It's probably about as good of a chance as we're getting, and if we need to make a quick escape, I've still got those X Speeds."  

[Reno Vantas]

As Crystal and Aden were beginning to talk, Reno would still be descending from the opening in the sky as he did his best to fight against gravity and the ever growing sensation of how quickly and decisively he would reach the lake beneath him if he relented for a second. And while he was able to more easily control his descent when they had been approaching Alola. whatever lake they were above felt like it was almost ready to freeze over. And for Reno, that meant the two heatsinks that were attached to his body began to suck away at his body heat like a pair of leeches, the rapid chill coursing through him from his arm and leg. So he was forced to keep his powers more to broad applications rather than any level of precision as his focus was slowly being sapped away alongside his heat. But he would eventually reach the ground, visibly shaking like a leaf in intense winds as he pulled up to where Aden and Crystal were on the shore.

"Yeah. I vote on the quick trips through our two likely spots for the other reason we came on this trip. This weather is absolutely killing me." Reno huffed out, right hand shaking as he reached up to his left shoulder. It would take a few extra moments of Reno attempting to manipulate the prosthetic as his hand twitched and shook in an attempt to maintain warmth but soon enough he would succeed in removing the limb. Throwing it into one of the storage areas he had attached to his sidecar, Reno would set to work bundling up a spare shirt over the connector on his shoulder.

"Alright. Now that hypothermia shouldn't be a major concern, how we gonna get to Mahogany Town? Cause I can drive or Crystal can do her light thing. I'd say we could walk to keep a low profile, but I am not wasting time in this winter wonderland that long without winterizing my prosthetics." He told the pair, cinching the knot of his makeshift shoulder cover as he finished.  

[Darksol88]

"That'd probably work. I doubt too many will be coming here with it looking kinda late in the evening, so it's probably our safest place to make an exit too. Otherwise, this sounds similar to traveling through time; reveal as little as possible so there aren't too many questions. You'd think it's to stop a paradox, but usually that just ends in another timeline branching out and collapsing back into another if it ends up being close enough to another's events." Aden gave a nod and got a hoverboard out of the ball he was keeping his stuff in, alongside the X Items; given they were in a smaller format to work with the Wonder Launcher, they'd be easy to keep hidden in a hand. Unlike Alola, something was making him feel more on edge and he wanted to be ready.

"Let's keep the trip as quick as we can, okay? Before it ends up getting any colder."

He wouldn't take off too quickly, not wanting to stray far from Crystal or Reno just in case.  

[Reno Vantas]

Reaching to pluck the key out of the ignition of his bike, Reno would quickly hop over onto the board alongside Crystal while still trying to keep close to the Charizard that was doing its best to keep him warm. "Do I need a fun code name too? Because I can go by Rome while we're here." Reno said, looking between Sundaria and Aden as he began to shiver a bit again. "Wait.....what do we call Aden then? Cause it can't just be two of us with secret names and nothing for the third." Scratching his chin as he began to think on the matter, Reno would eventually realize they were just sitting there for the moment.

"Let's get going. Maybe I'll come up with something on the trip there?" Reno offered, turning to face where he expected Mahogany Town to be. Hopefully this was going to be a simple trip that would let them write off some of the odd bits of this universe as just part of it and not anything deeper than that. Reno had absolutely no belief in this actually panning out, but sometimes a little foolish belief was all he had.  

[Darksol88]

"Hora, if you need a codename" Aden remarked. "I think it means time, usually whatever's the current one? Iunno, my dad sometimes says stuff in another language. Said it was more common from home... can we call Reno 'Fullmetal' instead?"

Though the conversation was a good way to keep his mind at ease in the moment, the anticipation didn't get any lighter. Nor did he feel any more ready for whatever answer they group got, if they got one at all.  

[Darksol88]

As Aden continued down the route, his unease grew when he noticed the lack of Pokemon wandering around. He couldn't even sense much being nearby. Save for the few Sneasel and Swinub, that is. "...wait a minute. Those aren't common... for... this route..." He slowed down for a moment too, trying to process the revelation. "I'd understand it if we were closer to the Ice Path leading to Blackthorn, but we're far enough west of it that they'd be nuts to go this far out. Or they should be, aside from desperation or a bold streak."

He'd shake his head, apprehension getting the better of him and seeing him try to keep it at bay. "Please let this not be a sign- ahh!"

All at once, Aden took a sharp breath as he hunched over and tripped on himself, gasping for air. The weight of the world was practically dropped on him, threatening to crush him then and there if the sudden asphyxiation didn't do it first. Then the fear set in- if not from the one-two punch he just got nailed with, then from whatever, whoever was causing it in the first place. Once he was able to regain his bearings and breathe, he didn't try to get back to his feet yet, staring off into Mahogany Town in the distance like he'd just seen Arceus and all he got in response was "HE COMES."  

[Reno Vantas]

Aden's sudden fall was all Reno needed to snap from his unfocused staring towards Mahogany Town to actually focusing on his surroundings. And....they seemed very strange in comparison to how they usually were. Because instead of the usual bugs and birds, they had a bunch of Swinubs and Sneasals surrounding them. So...that bracing chill that had made him yank his arm off wasn't some strange momentary change in weather. That didn't bode well. "So...I'm assuming it wasn't just the weather that knocked over Aden?" Reno asked, instinctively looking to Harleen as he began to search for any sort of mental presences that might have done this. And it was very unfortunate that for Reno, the thought of it being Blizz's presence doing it was the comforting version of potential events.  

[Darksol88]

"I... I think so," Aden said after a moment, slowly getting back to his feet. His acute awareness of the pressure was biting him hard, but he was gradually getting used enough to still move and breathe, albeit with more effort than he'd like. "All the times I've felt pressure from like, Blizz or dad just felt like training wheels compared to this. Like there's some convention of legendary Pokemon congregating and they're having a heated debate. Definitely coming from the town, though. Come on, let's keep going. But be careful."

His steps seemed slower than before as he continued to the town, reaching it after a relatively short walk otherwise. But for now, he was managing, if suddenly a lot more apprehensive about what might be there.