PALACE GAME: Round 1

[cultfavorite]

You open your eyes—

You're standing in the vast lobby of a corporate building, facing the reception desk, where a Team Galactic Grunt is stationed—she's currently on the phone, though, and occupied. A few other grunts move through the lobby, looking as if they're on their way to their next assignment. All of them look identical. And if you watch their paths for a while, none of them actually end up leaving the room.

The walls are a bright, metallic, sterile blue with white, and the floor is made up of gleaming silver metal tiles emblazoned here and there with a gold logo. The reception desk is slightly to your right, and to the left of that there are three doors in the far wall in front of you.

To the right of the reception desk, there's a little area with a vending machine, a large ottoman to sit on, a potted plant, and . . . a dotaku? With a face? It's sitting resting on the floor next to the vending machine, and it's staring right at you with those red eyes.

Directly to your right, closer to the front door, there is a glowing green circle on the floor with a sign on the wall next to it.

What will you d—

Wait. Your phone is buzzing. Whether or not you had it with you back in the prison, you do now, whether in your pocket, in your hand, whatever. It's on your person, and it's vibrating demandingly for attention. If you choose to ignore it, a mechanical voice emanating from it begins literally saying the word buzz! buzzzzzz! buuuzzzzzz! in an increasingly irritated tone.

Check your phone?

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[cultfavorite]

You head down the road to the west, among people and buildings that look dreamlike and unfinished; only the shopping center stands out like a beacon, with its bright lights and many floors.

But occasionally you get the sensation that you've just caught something strange out of the corner of your eye. A person you know and love passing in the other direction, but when you look it's only a stranger; a reflection in the glass window of a closed shop that doesn't seem to reflect the sight it should; the shadow of a cloud passing overhead on a perfectly clear evening.

Well, anyway! That's the sliding glass door of the department store you're approaching!

[fanstheflames]

[ Well, this is uncomfortable. She keeps glancing over her shoulder and then finally rolls them back and heads for the sliding door. It will either get better or weirder, right? ]

[cultfavorite]

The ground floor of the Veilstone Department Store is cheerful and busy. And kinda tacky. It looks a little like a combination of a Target and your grandmother's kitchen, with bright orange-yellow patterned tile flooring, escalators leading both up and down—though these are out of order and roped off, an elevator available at the back wall, and multiple help desks staffed by perky attendants. All of the items for sale are behind the counters, so you'll have to get help to purchase anything, or even get a better look at them. But if you know what a Pokeball looks like, you can probably make some of them out from here, along with a large collection of bottled items.

The attendant at the nearest desk looks up when you enter and flashes a welcoming smile at you.

[fanstheflames]

[ she flashes a smile back, unwilling to lose at Customer Service. ]

Hi! I'm not actually sure what I'm looking for here, but you... sure have a lot of things.

[cultfavorite]

It's a Customer Service battle! This man does seem genuinely pleased to be doing his job, though.

"Haha, yeah, I get that a lot! It must be your first visit to the Veilstone Department Store. Famous region-wide for our selection! Are you a Pokemon Trainer? This floor's the Trainer's Zone."

[fanstheflames]

Well, I don't technically have any Pokemon yet?

What are the other floors? It looks like the escalators are busted...

[cultfavorite]

"No worries at all about that! The elevator is still in service. Top floor's under construction right now, but everything else is fair game. You'll find the TM Corner, Home Goods, uh . . . other stuff."

He trails off a bit nervously with that.

[fanstheflames]

... That! [ She points a finger at him. ]

You hesitated ominously!!

[cultfavorite]

"I did what? I did not!"

He did.

[fanstheflames]

You did! So thank you for your help, but up I go!

[ To take the elevator. Like a civilian. ]

[cultfavorite]

"W-wait!"

Like she's going to listen to him. And he's got customers to help!

It's a normal elevator, and it seems to be in service. You can press the button to go up or down. Technology!

Inside the Elevator:

The elevator door slides shut behind you. The panel of buttons reads as follows:
5F: Home CURRENTLY CLOSED
4F: Home Goods
3F: TM Corner
2F: Prison Shop
1F: Trainer's Zone
B1F: Solaceon Ruins

The 5F button has been torn out of the panel.

[fanstheflames]

... Geez, okay, well he did say under construction...

[ But the Prison Shop? Ruins????

She's gonna hit B1F. ]

[cultfavorite]

The elevator descends smoothly. You can still hear the chattering of other shoppers and employees milling around above, the sound following you down the elevator's shaft. But when the elevator comes to a stop and the door slides open, all sound from above cuts off abruptly, as if you could never hear it at all.

The door opens on a huge, bare temple room, with walls and floor made of ancient-looking polished stone slabs. There are no people here. There's nothing here at all except—a few of something floating around here and there, watching you silently with their big round blinking eyes.

Oh, and the huge inscription carved in strange lettering in the far wall, a little too distant for you to make out from the elevator, and an object resting on the floor near it.

[fanstheflames]

[ Well, this is fun! She's trotting out of the elevator, offering the Unown a little wave before moving to check out the inscription and the object.

She's a curious girl, she can't help it. ]

[cultfavorite]

You make your way across the stone tile. There's not exactly anything in here to stop you, though the little black Pokemon watch you from their corners. As you get closer, it becomes clear that the thing resting on the floor near the inscription is Bronzong, watching you in silence.

A little closer, and the inscription itself . . . well, it's hard to read, no matter how well or not you can read. The letters that make it up are in the same shapes as the little black Pokemon floating around here and there. They resemble Roman lettering, but are just distinct enough to pose difficulty. But it doesn't matter. As soon as you're close enough to be able to see the shapes, the meaning of the inscription simply appears in your head without you having to actually read it, as if placed there by something.

THINK LESS ABOUT WHAT YOU SHOULD DO AND MORE ABOUT WHAT YOU WANT TO DO

[fanstheflames]

Oh-- [ she winces a little, pressing one hand to her temple. Okay, she didn't expect the understanding to suddenly just appear there, but. Sure. The message... ]

Mm... maybe that's a call-out for both of us, huh? Hi, buddy.

[ Whatcha doing just chilling here, Bronzong? ]

[cultfavorite]

Bronzong rises up in recognition and floats over readily to Tsuruno, crying out its low cry in as friendly a way as it can sound in a room that echoes, like, a whole lot. It seems in good enough spirits, watching the Unown drift around the place without any concern.

[fanstheflames]

[ She offers it a pat. ]

What are you doing down here? Do you want to come with me?

[cultfavorite]

It butts into her hand. Bronzong seems perfectly at home and happy to be here, drifting around for a moment in a wide circle among the Unown before returning to Tsuruno's side. It also seems perfectly happy to go with her! What an easy Pokemon to please.

[fanstheflames]

[ Wah it's such a cute bell. She gives it a grin and then moves back to the elevator. Prison Shop next! ]

[cultfavorite]

IS SHE TAKING BRONZONG WITH HER? Either way, though:

The elevator ascends briefly. The doors slide open, revealing . . . the Canteen, from the Inner Prison, immediately recognizable. There are the little tables, the shelves of junk food, the little heater in the front with fried chicken, the coolers of drinks and ice cream. There are no other shoppers on this floor.

There is the counter up front, with no one manning it, just like there was in the Inner Prison, but there is a laminated menu taped to it.

[fanstheflames]

[ OF COURSE SHE IS. NO BRONZONG LEFT BEHIND. ]

And she snorts a little under her breath when she realizes where she is, moving past all of this to check out the counter. And the menu, of course. ]

[cultfavorite]

It follows her, keeping close to her side! Bronzong also recognizes this place, actually, and seems content to float through the aisles exploring it.

The menu reads as follows:

The Magician: Change 1 of your moves (1 secret)
The Chariot: 1 Pokeball (1 secret)
The Priestess: 1 instance of invulnerability (1 secret)
The Lovers: 1 instance of healing (1 secret)
The Universe: The power to change any world (?̸̙͇͉̖̐̈́̈́̎͊̔́̆͠?̴̝̪̯̬̼̠̗̟̬̩̤̗͖͂̅͌̓̒̐̍̍̑̚͜͜?̴̻̥̤͚̙͎̰̘̭̖̠̩͕̔̀̓͂?̷̗̤͓̩̘͕̉̔͑͗̏̀̾̍͊̄?̸̱̋̀͒̈́̄̎?̷̧͇̖͓̫̣̦́̊̒́̆̑̕͝?̴̖̼̰̝̾̐̃͌͒́̅̂͠?̶̲̮̝̥͍͉͖̭̙͙͚̬̯͓̘̉̏̔͊͊͘ secrets)

[fanstheflames]

... Huh? A secret?

[ ???? ] How do I pay a secret? To who?

[cultfavorite]

Bronzong, hearing this, helpfully floats back over and behind the counter to settle there as if it's the cashier, watching her imploringly.