thepurpleone | Cyberformed [] Inbox

Donnie smiled crookedly, brow arching at that. "Well, normally when I see creatures mutate it's due to more unnatural circumstances, so seeing something of the opposite sort kind of threw me." He stroked his chin thoughtfully, then made a face as he remembered he was still wearing gardening gloves.

"So this is more like...a metamorphosis? Though I've never really heard of creatures changing forms completely, just to migrate. So is this how you're going to look from now on?" Ah, there were the questions. He was probably fine.

The turtle blinked, looking back at the flowers. "Gracidea... it was advertised as a fire lily but the ones of the same name I'm familiar with are a lot smaller and more bulbous, but I figured if it cared to bloom any wider it might look like this. Also, parallel dimension so..." He shrugged, then smiled. "There was a shop in the mall we were br- er, visiting once, so I picked up a whole bunch of rare plants. Things have been busy though so I haven't had a whole lot of time to properly set them up, so they've been hanging out in a corner of the hydroponics room."

"You . . . could say that," Poinsettia said, nodding along. "Though, it's more like a form of 'evolution' as the professors and trainers say it back at home. Basically it's kind of like growing up in Pokémon terms!"

Well . . . maybe not quite on their own terms, now isn't it? Sure, they age like any other Pokémon, but not to the ever-changing extent most regular creatures go through.

Thoughtfully, Poinsettia then followed up with a few more words of their own.

"In my case, however, it's more like what humans call a 'costume change'!"

Almost there . . .

"Well, if the 'costume change' is there to help us get to places that our Land Forme would've normally been restricted by, that is!"

There they go!

"And speaking of looks . . ." Poinsettia then began to look around for a clock, confusion now settling onto their facial expressions as they whirled their body around, "Do you know what time it is today? As amazing as it will be for me to stay in this form forever, I can only stay in this form during the day as I'll eventually turn back into my Land Forme the moment the sun sets."

Poinsettia then hopped off of the table and floated down to stand right next to the pot of pink flowers, "Which was partially why I asked about how you've gotten a hold of those Gracidea flowers! I'm legitimately surprised that they would show up in the middle of the mall like that . . . and with that in mind . . . does anyone live in the same room as you do? I think I can help you out on setting those flowers up if you want!"

"Huh, I'm more used to evolutions involving like...time. And circumstance." Was he beginning to wonder about the validity of these professors? Yes.

"Uh. Pok&ecute;...mon?"

Donnie squinted a bit. Costume change? "Yeah that's...not really..." He wrinkled his nose. "More like an equipping of essential traits." He got to his feet, dusting himself off before puffing out his chest a little as he thumbed behind himself. "Like my battle shell, which I wear as armor and an extraneous mode of transportation."

What time? That...was a surprisingly uncommon question despite it being something you'd normally expect... Well, anywhere but on a spaceship. Donnie glanced at his computer bracer, which he wore on his left. After trying to tap futilely with a gardening glove, he grumbled and peeled the things off, tossing them to the table. His fingers end in clawed points, and everything from his hands to just above his elbow was covered (?) in some strange black coating. ...or maybe it wasn't, because if one were to get a closer look the blackness seemed to have some odd depth to them, as though looking into space itself for the swirls of what could have been distant starts shimmering subtly within them.

"Well, that depends, really, because we're currently between systems and conversion rates for hours of a day vary, and usually aren't too relevant when we're just passing through," Donnie continued as he tapped at the screen on his forearm. "My default time keeping is set to Earth's standard time, however I cannot guarantee that it would reflect that of this dimension's given it's from when I last left it.

"And as for the flowers, well, I'm not exactly sure where whoever owned the shop got them."

He shrugged, gesturing towards the Cybertronian-sized recharge slab that took up nearly one side of the room, although to anyone their size, it looked just as it was purposed now, as a secondary level. There was a lift built on the side of it. "I share it with my brothers. Up there's our living space. I keep all my plant things elsewhere," he said, stooping down to pick up the pot again as he began to lead the way deeper into the room, past the pristine space that was his workshop and laboratory areas.

It wasn't difficult to see the vines that were growing up part of the back wall, the flowers all of Cybertronian origin.

Poinsettia nodded along happily with a wide grin on their face. There was so much to learn about their newest friend Donnie, especially with the way he took care of those plants oh so nicely.

While the Gracidea plants are easy to take care of, it's frankly very easy to forget that they aren't just there for show and decoration. To know that Donnie is well aware of this fact enough to care for them made Poinsettia very happy from within.

And speaking of time, it's a bit nerve-wracking to know that time is almost non-existent on the R2 shuttle, but they'll manage. If they were able to traverse the ship's hallways as a small hedgehog creature, then they should be able to adapt to when and what time they would transform back into their Land Forme.

Hence the need for the Gracidea flowers for especially tricky navigation and escapes on the shuttle. It's a shame that Donnie wasn't exactly sure where and how the flowers ended up in that particular shop, but they'll figure it out someday.

As they gently flew after Donnie, Poinsettia began to wonder about his siblings and before they knew it, the words tumbled right out of their mouth.

"Your brothers, right?" Poinsettia chirped up, "From the way you speak of them, they must be on the ship too, huh? It's nice that you were able to find them on board . . ."

Their usually chipper expression dropped a tad bit despite their best efforts to hide it, "I hope you and your fellow brothers are able to keep safe on this ship. For me, I wasn't so lucky as I was the only one of my prickle colony to make it here alive . . ."

Donnie admittedly wasn't the best to be looking to for a steady schedule given his tendency to forgo sleep on many an occasion. The work of a mad scientist is never done. Er. Genius. Yes.

He breathed a faint laugh at that. "Well, yeah. Otherwise it'd be kind of weird having the extra space up there for them. ...two out of three, anyway. Briefly all four of us were here but..." He shrugged, leaving it at that, his face carefully neutral as he continued towards the back of the large room.

"We make do. The ship's maybe the safest place to be and it's not like we have a whole lot of choice to be elsewhere. That's not to say that things don't happen even aboard this ship, so just keep alert, yeah? We are technically traveling in the company of this universe's most-wanted and hated species, after all."

Donnie slowed his steps some as the last words sunk in, and he glanced back at Poinsettia. "Wait...so did more of you get brought through the Space Bridge or..?"

It wasn't that he'd never heard of deaths happening between the transfer but that had largely been Soundwave experimenting. Unless this was an instance of that experimentation?

Poinsettia stared worriedly as they floated after Donnie.

What did he mean by "Briefly all four of us were here"? Poinsettia was tempted to ask for more details, but given the way Donnie carefully composed himself, they kept the question to themself. If it was something horribly traumatizing for the turtle boy to relieve, then they understandably didn't want to push the subject.

"I was legitimately surprised that a lot of the huge metallic creatures and humans here were like super nice, Donnie," Poinsettia said as they finally caught up with Donnie's walking pace. "When I first came over here, I thought they were going to eat me! And especially that one big bully who tried to trap me in that starry room . . ."

Poinsettia shuddered at the mere thought of that certain monster, but they quickly brushed it aside in favor of another subject in mind.

"And because of that one bully, I'm making absolutely sure that creatures like him don't pick on me so easily! No wonder you said that he and the other robotic monsters are like super hated . . . and thinking about it almost scares me!"

So then came the hard-hitting question from Donnie, causing them to almost slow down their movements. Poinsettia blinked slowly, and began to work their jaw as they struggled to put the words out.

"Donnie, I —" Poinsettia swallowed intensely, "— I was the only one who made it here. When that big storm happened back at home, me and the rest of the Shaymin tried to escape but we were too slow to make it to safety and some of us got sucked in. I did my best to keep close to some of the remaining ones in the portal, but when that Space Bridge opened up . . ."

Poinsettia then tried to steady their staggered breathing, their facial features scrunching up slightly, "I got separated from them and now I'm the only one left in the R2. It was why I spent most of my first day here searching for the rest of them and hiding away from anyone who could step on me while I was in my Land Forme, Donnie . . ."

"They're not all bad," Donnie couldn't help but sound a bit defensive. "All they want is to save their home. They've just been...historically very bad at it. And politics," he added in consideration.

"This dimension's iterations of them have unfortunately caused so much irreparable destruction that they have been blacklisted by the Galactic Council and most of them hunted and eliminated, which is why any that have survived in this universe have gone into hiding, and why we have to tread carefully with our ship."

He had to stare at Poinsettia though, as the explanation of their arrival caught him off guard. Sure, they arrived at questionable moments from their point of extraction at times, but to not know what had become of the rest of their kind...

There was a weird knot in his stomach that he wasn't sure what to do with or how to identify with the otherwise unpleasant sensation as he watched the creature's expression shift. He knew this one, and it was plenty understandable for one to be upset after that.

"I...I'm sorry..." he offered hesitantly, unsure what else to say.

After a brief moment of mulling over the rest of the conversation, Poinsettia nodded along slowly before opening their mouth.

"I-It's alright," Poinsettia replied back, now more quieter than the usual. "I do my best to not dwell on the matter, but wherever the rest of my prickle colony is, I sincerely hope they are OK."

But were they really OK? It's hard to say, especially if the other Shaymin in their group weren't as lucky to come across the Gracidea flowers like they were. And with that aside, now is the time for the Phanpy in the room — the robotic creatures.

From what they have noticed, Donnie was willing to stand up for them, especially since he has mentioned the hardships they were currently going through. Not only the loss of their home, but also the loss of their friends and family.

The more they thought of the creatures' situation, the more it reminded them of their own. No wonder Donnie was willing to side with them, even with a few bad apples. But were all of them that bad, or was it just them having a case of bad luck on their part?

Swallowing nervously, Poinsettia managed to utter out a few words or more to Donnie.

"And about the metallic creatures . . ." Poinsettia began, "Were they nice to you? If they were, then it might've been just me not being as lucky as you are. Like the black creatures were alright, as they were just doing their job, but the blue and gold one I do not like at all . . ."

Donnie could at least hope the same. He wasn't even sure how things might be affected for those who weren't brought through the space bridge. Given that his brothers had told him of things he hadn't yet himself experienced, it seemed like there would still be an unaltered timeline. He wasn't sure whether there were just now several different versions of his world in which either he or one of his brothers just went inexplicably missing, aside from one where they continued on without any disturbances of an extra-dimensional sort.

So perhaps Poinsettia was still somewhere back with those of their kind, maybe they were all safe, or maybe...

He quickly attempted to pull his thoughts away from that dark track.

"For the most part, I've gotten along with them fairly well. It's true that some are more amiable than others, and I won't lie, some of them may be outright dangerous, but many of us have already fought alongside each other on various missions." He supposed that responses to giant robots would be a lot different between a talking, wild (?) creature and a very tech-enthusiastic mutant turtle teenager. "Not gonna lie, some can still be jerks but in my experience that list is comparatively small, and I have been on this ship for over two years now."

...which was always kind of depressing to remember, his expression twisting into something complicated. He shook his head, turning to the flowers.

The Cybertronian blooms along the vines stretched up across the lower part of the wall grew in soft shades ranging from white to blues and faint purples, suggesting a glow even despite the lights being on in the room.

"That's nice to hear, Donnie," Poinsettia said softly, letting out a small, yet relieved smile settle onto their face. "It's good that they make really good friends for you, especially on the R2."

"And I'd admit it, but it took a while for me to get used to those metally r-r —" Poinsettia then worked their jaw for a bit, their lips quivering, before they managed to nail that one word down, "— robots on board!"

Mentally, Poinsettia couldn't help but cheer for themself for finally remembering and pronouncing the name of those metallic creatures correctly!

"Especially with how the first one I've met was like super mean," Poinsettia frowned heavily at the mere thought of this particular robot. "I even had to bite him on the face for being so rude to me! But I totally understand what you mean, given how grateful you are for them."

If they were in their Land Forme, they would've sprouted a ton of pink flowers in response to the amount of gratitude Donnie has. And speaking of pink flowers . . . Poinsettia was wondering how Donnie was able to care for the Gracidea flowers if he didn't know what they were at first.

In fact, they were tempted to ask for a few to take back to the dorm (as shared with a certain somebody they have befriended back at the bar) with them so they can always have something to keep or to use in case of an emergency, but they've only known Donnie for an hour or so! Goodness, how long was it anyway?

And before they knew it, the terrier-like creature morphed back into its hedgehog form and fell onto the ground rear-end first. Poinsettia winced at the pain, and then fell onto their backside.

But hey, at least the pink flowers were able to sprout out of their grassy fur in response to Donnie's gratitude for the robots!

"A-And one last thing," Poinsettia managed to sputter out, the pain searing through their tiny body, "i-is there a way to make a cool garden like yours? i would like to grow some of the Gracidea flowers myself . . ."

"That part about it has been nice," Donnie had to admit. "And even if we are technically kind of still trying to keep our identities hidden, I've still met a lot more people than I've ever met at home."

He blinked as the creature suddenly...changed back? Was that a normal thing? "That has to be impractical if you're doing that in the middle of traveling between terrains," he couldn't help but note.

But it didn't seem an unusual thing to Poinsettia given that the little thing was still speaking. And...blooming. Ah, but that did make more sense as to why they'd been drawn to the flowers in the pot.

"It takes some work, but it's not impossible," Donnie answered without too much thought. After all, it was already fact that it had been done, and aboard a ship there were various ways to do so. "The trick is temperature moderation and programming the appropriate light sources to mimic a standard day as such plants would experience in their natural environment."

"I-I frankly don't blame you at all," Poinsettia said sheepishly, now finally on their paws. "It's why me and the rest of the colony usually migrate by dawn. That way, we aren't super restricted by which places we can go to by the time it becomes dark."

"And besides," Poinsettia carefully stretched out their tiny limbs, "it also protects us from any potential dangers we could've faced during the night, and our Sky Formes serve as a way to defend ourselves whenever they do show up at day-time."

Poinsettia almost furrowed their facial muscles from just thinking about their own long-lost colony, but they were able to brush it aside. Now's not the time to worry, now isn't it?

"A-And for the t-temperature moderations and all that, we used to have Professors who do that for me and my fellow Shaymin whenever we stay indoors during especially stormy seasons," Poinsettia chimed in. "I kind of do wish they were here to meet you, Donnie. I think they would be super excited to have someone to help them perform research on all kinds of wild-life."

"But that aside, I do have a nice roommate who can probably help out on the garden set-up in our dorm!" Poinsettia's eyes sparkled upon thinking about the huge robot who took them in after that stint at Maccadam's, "I'll have to let him know about that first, but I'm not super familiar with computers and the inboxies so I can't really call him in . . ."

Poinsettia then began to ponder over such an idea, but not before their face lit up.

"Actually, I can lead you over to the room and we can work from there! Well, if you're free at the time, that is."

"Oh, so that was why you were asking about the time...?"

Donnie laughed a little then. "Well, I've never actually researched wildlife. Most of my experience is in the upkeep of our lair back home so that my family can live safe and comfortably without risk of being found by humans. I guess we're a little more tolerant of temperature shifts than normal turtles, but extreme cold doesn't really make things easy for us, so environmental control down in the sewers was definitely important."

It sounded like Poinsettia was doing fine for making friends though. Aside from that one person they'd apparently bit? How the little creature even managed to bite through metal without breaking teeth was something he certainly had to wonder. "Already got a roommate? Huh. I mean, I wouldn't mind it, but maybe you should clear it with him first?"

“He was incredibly nice to me when we first met at the bar,” Poinsettia said, nodding along. “I was super passed out at the time and he was able to shelter me at his dorm until I was not drunk anymore.”

Poinsettia then puffed their cheeks for a bit, now visibly embarrassed. While the event itself was a complete fever dream made into reality, they were at least able to get a new friend they could trust in!

But before they could mentally cheer on all that, they immediately realized how right Donnie was … but how were they going to get the OK from their roommate if they had no idea on how to use technology? Sure, they were able to remember his frequency number, but is that of any use if they can’t call anyone with their stubby little body?

Sheepishly, Poinsettia had no choice but to admit defeat about their one weakness — technology.

“Donnie, I don’t actually know how to call people on the ship,” Poinsettia dipped her head down in barely concealed shame. “Like I don’t even know how to use the inbox thingie at all! Can you help me out on that so I know next time?”

It was kind of funny to think that this little creature had managed to go get themselves drunk. Donnie tried very hard to suppress a laugh.

"Huh? Oh! Well...you did get a communications device, right? And a...bubble bracelet- I don't know if they actually renamed that to something better but anyway..."

He shook his head. "I imagine it'd be a little cumbersome for you to try to carry around something like a tablet though."

"A-A communication device?" Poinsettia managed to crane their head around, their face lighting up upon seeing a black device placed on their back.

"Oh! That was what it was?" Poinsettia said, their eyes wide. They then looked down at their paws, and realized that they had something that Donnie (or at least the ship's crew of robotic beasts) called a "bubble bracelet".

"No wonder the r-robots who work here were tossing me around when I first got here," Poinsettia looked to the side sheepishly. "I panicked and I ended up running away . . . maybe I should go in and apologize to them for causing them trouble once we call my roommate and get the garden set up. I wouldn't be super surprised if they were still looking for me to see if I was OK."

Poinsettia then tried to rotate around to reach the communication device on their back, but to no avail.

"I-I can't reach, Donnie," Poinsettia puffed out their cheeks in defeat. "Do you think you can type in his frequency number into the device so I can call him? I have the frequency number ready."

"I'm sure they've dealt with worse. I've seen some pretty varying reactions from those that pop up through the Bridge since I help Soundwave in there sometimes," Donnie dismissed, waving a hand. "Being greeted by giant metal robot people can be a lot to process. Here."

He stooped down to pick the tablet up, stroking his chin as he looked at Poinsettia in consideration.

"Some kind of bag, maybe...? You are not the most aerodynamic shape so anything you carry this in might be a little awkward. Not to mention the lack of hands. -well, at least I can fix that much."

Donnie sat himself down on the floor, tapping at the screen as he navigated through options. "Here we go. Voice set up. I need you to provide a vocal sample so that it will respond only to commands from you. Then that way, you won't have to worry about typing things. And when you want to contact someone, you can either just say 'call' whoever, and it should automatically do the rest." He tapped a button, a little light on the device blinking red as he held it up towards the Pokémon.

"So I've heard," Poinsettia said, nodding along slowly. "Sometimes, I tend to pass by that room containing the portal thing and I would usually hear about other people in passing."

Poinsettia almost jumped when Donatello crouched down to her level, but settled when he began setting things up on his tablet. It's hard not to blame him for saying that they weren't the most aerodynamic in their Land Forme. It was no wonder they had no idea the communication device was placed onto their back until now!

Upon seeing the red light blink active, Poinsettia instantly froze, near speechless as they stared into the light. But after registering the rest of Donnie's talk about setting up voice commands to their communication device, Poinsettia cleared their throat awkwardly and provided a voice sample as requested.

Hopefully, that will do for now.

The turtle went about the rest of the setup without comment, but it was relatively easy from there and took no time at all.

"That should do it. All that you need to do is specify the command for what you want to do, like I mentioned earlier. Or you can view directory, or see network posts.... Er. Can you even read?"

That seemed like an important thing to establish.

“U-Uh —“

Poinsettia whetted their lips nervously. For the first time ever, someone has asked them a rather peculiar question. And of all the questions Donnie could’ve asked them … it was if they knew how to read.

Now that’s something really worth considering. Sure, they can speak, but does it really matter if they can read or not? They may be able to say anything, but can they actually read anything?

Poinsettia attempted to recall any instances of them reading anything to no avail.

Despondently, they had no choice but to admit the following sentence:

“Donnie, would you be extremely upset if I told you that I have never read anything in my entire life? Compared to all the other people who are vastly bigger than I am, I’m just a little creature, so how would I be able to read anything at all?”

Or at least two sentences, that is. Poinsettia would understandably be unsurprised if Donnie was able to find and point out the irony of it all.

Honestly, Donnie would have been more surprised if Poinsettia said they could read. He blinked at the hesitation. It wasn't necessarily a difficult question to answer, so far as he was concerned.

The Shaymin asked if he'd be upset, and he blinked again.

"No? I mean... I figured I should ask because hey, if you speak then maybe there was the off-chance that you could read too." He shrugged, not seeming terribly bothered either way. "In any case, given this is not so, I'll just set the audio options so it'll say what each selection is when you tap it. You can do that much at least."

His black claws clicked gently against the screen as he input the settings, then set the tablet down in front of Poinsettia. "That should do it. Now you can call your friend, and I'll go grab something to make into a carry harness for this," he said as he pushed back up onto his feet.

Poinsettia understandably let out a sigh of relief, but kept her face tense for a short while.

Frankly, they weren't even supposed to talk as a simple critter of humble origins. But ever since they came out of the Space Bridge, suddenly being able to talk was now something they can do out of nowhere. It wouldn't be surprising if some of the more scientific people on board started looking into that matter.

"I-I mean, I can write," Poinsettia piped up in a soft-spoken tone, "but I have a feeling that I might be spelling and writing a lot of things wrong, so I will see by the next time I go into your room, my reading skills would've been improved by now."

Upon seeing the tablet be set down in front of them, Poinsettia spoke a command to the tablet to call in their room-mate.

Not that Donnie knew that speaking wasn't a normal thing for such creatures as the Shaymin. And being around a dimension full of giant races that otherwise looked like many Earth creatures, it just seemed like more beings could talk than...not.

"Well it's not like I'm grading you or anything," he snickered, giving Poinsettia space. Turning, the the panels of his battle shell opened up to reveal the jet boosters tucked within, and with a flare of magenta light, he took off towards the second level where he and his brothers made their living space.

Once they have completed recording their message to Silver Justice's inbox , Poinsettia quietly hung up from the voice messaging system and then looked up at Donatello, who was now on the second level of his dorm.

"Thank you so much for the help, Donnie," Poinsettia called out to the turtlely boy, the flowers sprouting out of their grass-like fur in response to their own gratitude towards him. "If it hadn't been for you, I'll still be struggling a lot with technology."

Then, after a brief moment of pondering, their face lit up brightly, "Ah, and I almost forgot! I just left my roommate a voicemail and if he ever calls back, I'll let you know about the details so we can start building up that garden!"

"And besides . . ." Poinsettia spoke out a voice command for the time, and blinked back in surprise, "it's getting late, and I should get back soon . . . but thank you so much again! Is there anything I can do for you in return before I go back to my dorm?"

"Hm? Oh, you done?" Donnie glanced over the edge. "One second-"

He ducked back out of sight briefly before abruptly dropping down off the ledge without warning, his battle shell's jets once again kicking in just in time to slow him from falling. Feet settled on the floor once more, he walked over to Poinsettia, holding something that looked like a long-sleeved shirt. It was a lilac hue and weirdly enough, decorated in beads and lace.

"No probbles!" he assured, picking up the conversation. "That's what I'm here for. Anything to make it easier for people to use tech. Or tech to make things easier for people!" He grinned, giving the little creature a thumbs up. "Sounds good though."

He shook out the shirt, glancing between it and the Shaymin. "You know, you're the only one I've ever heard referring to these rooms as dorms," he chuckled. "Hang on, I just need to... Well, I guess making it adjustable will be better overall."

Donnie folded the shirt over, at which point it just no longer was a shirt. Like some kind of magic trick (which he would absolutely despise the comparison to), the shirt had simply been changed into a sort of sling bag with a clear panel so the tablet could still be seen, and a flap to cover it. Its color matched the darker pinks of the flowers blooming at the sides of Poinsettia's head.

"Here, this should help with the tablet situation," he said as he stooped down, holding it out in silent offer to help slip it on. He'd slide the tablet inside after. "The top of the covering flap has a short strap you can pull to open it when you need to take the tablet out, but otherwise it should be able to respond to commands."

Cyberformed [] Inbox

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it's shaymining time once again and now they're back to normal cause of timey-wimey stuff

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Takes place after Poinsettia's voicemail message to Silver Justice (linked)

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