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Mystery Continent ~ Northern Pines

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Navar

Professional Mudkip Lover
Location
Brazil
Pronouns
He/Him
Partners
  1. swampert
  2. chesnaught-apron
  3. lucario-mega
Shiron had never been on this place before, and whoa, it was beautiful! But... beauty wasn't really the point of him coming there anyway. He took a quick glance to see if Saltriv was there, but didn't find them. Oh well.

I'm not even a good planner, where's Nick when I need-- He's also dead. Great stuff, brain.

He grumbled, now looking down. So many suggestions at once, he couldn't even keep up with the whole thing, but his resolve was still there. For his friends... he had to find a way to get them back. No matter the cost. His heart sank, but he quickly shrug off the feelings of worthlessness before they got too strong for him to handle.

I'll just listen to the conversation, then.
 

Chibi Pika

Stay positive
Staff
Location
somewhere in spacetime
Pronouns
they/them
Partners
  1. pikachu-chibi
  2. lugia
  3. palkia
  4. lucario-shiny
  5. incineroar-starr
"Yes. I have a lot to go over. And I also wanted to demonstrate something I am now capable of, now that some of my strength is back. Several of your team are waiting to be summoned to the living world as phantoms... Not the best, not very solid, but enough that they can communicate. The hope is that I will be strong enough to give them more solid, temporary bodies should we need them for battle... and, ideally, the Tree can be used to restore their bodies completely."
Starr's breath caught in her chest. There they were. Or at least, some of them. Their shadowy forms kept flickering in and out, unstable. Only a few had condensed well enough that she could actually make them out. Cynthian was first, and... holy shit was she a Roserade?

"It's really you? You're okay?" Starr asked hardly daring to believe it. Then her eyes hurriedly swept over the other misty forms next to Cynthian. Diyem had straight-up said that Owen wouldn't be showing up until later. Vix and Cabot were somewhat recognizable, but they hadn't said anything yet.

"The others are coming, right? They're all okay?" She could feel her pulse rising. Brisa was with them, right? She had to be.

“Wait, okay—” She shook her head, trying to keep her voice from revealing how betrayed she felt. “Our friends are… we need them, okay? They’re… we, let’s be serious here for a second. Those of us powered by the Blacklight are the only ones who can even hurt Giovanni to begin with.” Her gaze fell upon Diyem, and she thought of the Charizard back in the abandoned lab. “And you, I guess. You power our bodies after all.”
"We're getting our teammates back," Starr growled. "End of. We need them if we wanna have a shot in hell of standing up against any kind of threat." She wasn't even going to consider the idea of leaving them behind. Not happening.
 
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Fusion

Oh knee on
Location
Here, silly
Pronouns
Him/His
Partners
  1. zoroark
A wispy, light-fixture-like figure appeared not too far from Shiron. It was hard to tell what it was thanks to a convenient thick purple smoke that surrounded its body. All that really mattered was that it was round, had arms, and had two bright yellow eyes. Should be enough for anyone to tell it was Vix.

She listened to what everyone had to say, or most of it at least. There was this strange feedback every now and then that mysteriously blocked out some of the things people were saying. "I think Astrid as a point. We need everyone on Team Spectrum to fight to save Cibus. That's just the fact of the matter. We should tell everyone everything too, at least then we won't have to worry about any backlash if and when we have to kill the tree."
 

Persephone

Infinite Screms
Pronouns
her/hers
Partners
  1. mawile
  2. vulpix-alola
Cuicatl finally flew into the clearing. Petram had held her up for longer than expected but frankly she wouldn't have it any other way. Poor guy needed it. What she saw there was overwhelming. Astrid. Pixie might have exaggerated a little bit, but ninetales were still a lot. Not as cute as Petram but far more elegant. Starr was... the flaming waist didn't make aesthetic sense, either. She felt bad for her. And then... Cynthian. Or a flickering, talking shadow of her. She hovered down near Astrid, unsure if she should try and talk to the plant. "I evolved, too," she tried to whisper but it came out like a hiss because she was a giant murder lizard. "And I'm so glad you're okay. By some definition of okay."
 

Navar

Professional Mudkip Lover
Location
Brazil
Pronouns
He/Him
Partners
  1. swampert
  2. chesnaught-apron
  3. lucario-mega
A wispy, light-fixture-like figure appeared not too far from Shiron. It was hard to tell what it was thanks to a convenient thick purple smoke that surrounded its body. All that really mattered was that it was round, had arms, and had two bright yellow eyes. Should be enough for anyone to tell it was Vix.

She listened to what everyone had to say, or most of it at least. There was this strange feedback every now and then that mysteriously blocked out some of the things people were saying. "I think Astrid as a point. We need everyone on Team Spectrum to fight to save Cibus. That's just the fact of the matter. We should tell everyone everything too, at least then we won't have to worry about any backlash if and when we have to kill the tree."
Shiron's whole body froze up, shivering from top to bottom. T-That voice. He recognized that voice.

His hear skipped a beat. And then another. And another. He was trembling, and dropped a few tears on the ground. Shiron slowly turned back and finally met eyes with her.

"V-Vix! Y-You're... here!" he cried out, letting the tears stream nonstop. "I-I thought you were dead, but then Puddle told me you w-weren't really... I-I mean, can ghosts die?"

He slapped both cheeks and took a deep breath.

"I'm sorry. I couldn't save you..."
 

Adamhuarts

Mew specialist
Partners
  1. mew-adam
  2. celebi-shiny
  3. roserade-adam
I evolved, too," she tried to whisper but it came out like a hiss because she was a giant murder lizard. "And I'm so glad you're okay. By some definition of okay."

"Oh, that's amazing, Cuicatl!" Cynthian chirped, her eyes lighting up as she swayed back and forth.

"That must mean you can see now, right? I hope you've been enjoying the sights of all the colors around you now." Cynthian chuckled, seemingly forgetting for a moment that they were in the middle of a serious meeting. "I'm happy for you. Would love to hear all about your new experiences... whenever we get out of here."
 

Ambyssin

Gotta go back. Back to the past.
Location
Residency hell
Pronouns
he/him
Partners
  1. silvally-dragon
  2. necrozma-ultra
  3. milotic
  4. zoroark-soda
  5. dreepy
  6. mewtwo-ambyssin
"We're getting our teammates back," Starr growled. "End of. We need them if we wanna have a shot in hell of standing up against any kind of threat."
"Nobody's arguing against that," Bahamut said. "I only mentioned making sure we can do so safely. As in free of Eternatus corruption. As heartbroken as you are now, imagine having to fight your girlfriend because we fail to investigate properly and Diyem revives them with Eternatus' energy flowing through their veins.

"It took the whole team to deal with one corrupted Darkwhite. Imagine trying to deal with seven of our own." He stared off into space. "Hell, I already don't trust this Xerneas character. If they've been at the Tree this whole time, odds are they're compromised and we should stay the fuck away from them."
 

Fusion

Oh knee on
Location
Here, silly
Pronouns
Him/His
Partners
  1. zoroark
"V-Vix! Y-You're... here!" he cried out, letting the tears stream nonstop. "I-I thought you were dead, but then Puddle told me you w-weren't really... I-I mean, can ghosts die?"

The shadowy mass of Vix didn't really turn, instead her eyes kinda just... moved in the direction that called her name. "Shiron? Shiron!" A flame-like column of smoke danced excitedly on Vix's head. She didn't expect anyone to be so excited to see her, honestly, but it was definitely sweet to have someone notice.

"I'm sorry. I couldn't save you..."

"Well what are you apologizing for? It's not like you got me killed in the first place, right?" Vix chuckled, lowering to be level with Shiron. "You've done more than enough for me already, especially back at that fight with Giovanni. Speaking of..." She went to wrap her arms around Shiron, but her not-being-solid ruined the notion.

She snickered and shook her head. "Thank you, Shiron. I'm just glad to see you alive and well."
 
Partners
  1. skiddo-steplively
  2. skiddo-px2
  3. skiddo-px3
  4. skiddo-iametrine
  5. skiddo-coolshades
  6. skiddo-rudolph
  7. skiddo-sleepytime
  8. snowskiddo
  9. skiddotina
  10. skiddengo
  11. skiddoyena
  12. skiddo-obs
It was almost kind of distracting, really, watching the phantoms of people who were supposed to be dead steadily coalesce around the little charmander as the group conferred. That one looked like it was resolving into the lampent; that one over there was a roselia... was it? no, it was bigger, with more extravagant roses, but it was probably Cynthian. Others were still hazy and indistinct for some reason. (Probably for the best. You don't need seven concrete reminders that you've been too busy wallowing to help properly.)

Skara shook her head—as vigorously as the pupa shell allowed, anyway—and frowned a little before piping up. "Just so we're absolutely clear here: I thought I'd heard that Diyem needed more power to be able to recover the missing team members. It sounds like you're referring to restoring your strength and restoring them as two separate choices here, though? I agree that getting the rest of the team back is priority number one, but if it's at all possible to solve two problems at once, it'd be helpful to know how that would work—or why it won't work, if it's not."

She paused, gaze drawn back to where the roserade specter hovered. Cynthian looked like he (she? Skara thought she'd heard people call Cynthian "she" recently, must watch out for that) was doing reasonably well for herself. Aside from the whole "dead" thing, at least. Standing (floating?) a little taller, in bearing as well as literal height. (At least that dumb suggestion back in the café didn't screw her up any further.) Skara glanced between the roserade and Bahamut, frowning a little. "Actually... what exactly do we know about this eternatus specifically? Anything at all? Anything that's different from what anyone here knows about any other eternatus anywhere? Any intel we have before we head for the tree for whatever purpose is useful, of course. And... I just wonder whether trying to reason with it is truly completely off the table; the thing that was growing out of Sword might've been tampered with compared to the original, for example. I mean, I'd rather be ready for the extremes than not, and I'm not going to pretend I'd even heard of an eternatus before coming here so I don't know more about them than Bahamut or Diyem would. But if a safe-ish opportunity to try arises, why not have alternatives in our back pocket?"
 
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Navar

Professional Mudkip Lover
Location
Brazil
Pronouns
He/Him
Partners
  1. swampert
  2. chesnaught-apron
  3. lucario-mega
"Well what are you apologizing for? It's not like you got me killed in the first place, right?" Vix chuckled, lowering to be level with Shiron. "You've done more than enough for me already, especially back at that fight with Giovanni. Speaking of..." She went to wrap her arms around Shiron, but her not-being-solid ruined the notion.

She snickered and shook her head. "Thank you, Shiron. I'm just glad to see you alive and well."
"I'm not... well, but thank you. It's good to see you again."

Shiron forced a smile, rubbing his arm. Those words brought him comfort, even if it was just a little bit.

"I'm... I'm finding a eay to bring you back, I promise! I won't lose another friend."
 

Dragonfree

Moderator
Staff
Location
Iceland
Pronouns
she/her/hers
Partners
  1. butterfree
  2. mightyena
  3. charizard
  4. scyther-mia
  5. vulpix
  6. slugma
  7. chinchou
The wispy form that was Dave finally buzzed into focus. "...hey? Can you hear me now?"

Mia perked up. "You're a Mightyena."

He grinned at the sight of her. "Glad you noticed. Anyway..." He narrowed his eyes at Diyem. "I'm on team let's not surprise Maple with a sudden Dark Matter attack on the Tree of Life and try to explain while she murders us afterwards. What exactly will restoring your power do to help us right now, other than reviving us? And why are we worried about Cola? How do you know about Eternatus being in the Tree? Feel like there's a lot going unsaid here."
 

Namohysip

Dragon Enthusiast
Staff
Partners
  1. flygon
  2. charizard
  3. milotic
  4. zoroark-soda
  5. sceptile
  6. marowak
  7. jirachi
  8. meganium
Diyem grumbled to himself, figuring that the team would eventually get thrown off by the slow and steady arrivals of the dead. Honestly, he thought they were going to be mature about it. He told them they were fine. This was far better than the usual finality of death. Yes, the Voidlands wasn't ideal, but frankly they should have been thanking him. Then again, that might have hurt. Perhaps they were being thoughtful after all. Disgusting.

Diyem listened in on the debates.

"I think Maple, the rest of God Squad and Arceus have a right to know,"
"We'd ruin what little trust we've built to this point if we start acting behind other people's back."
"You all came here to help Cibus, correct? Then our priority should be healing Arceus."

This was true, Diyem thought. But Diyem also found that any trust that Maple might build up toward them was a lost cause. Disposable. But if they thought otherwise, perhaps...

"Can't just tell them about Eternatus and let them decide what we should do? Maybe they can even think of something that doesn't involve attacking the tree."

No matter how much Diyem knew of the Tree, there were always hidden variables involved with Cibus' Tree specifically. Perhaps Pleo had a point...

Err, Joule. He owes his life to our team, and bears some responsibility for the deaths of those we are trying to recover. I would expect him to be much more receptive than Maple, and then it can be his job to tell her.
I think I'm leaning towards that suggestion of having Joule try to feel things out for us.
"Joule is still recovering and, outside of some reconnaissance thing in the Mist Continent, Maple has not left his side. We would be hard-pressed to approach him alone. And, even if we could, it would be a touch cruel to lay such a task at his feet while he's still recovering."

Would Maple listen to honor above her traumas, if it was sourced from Joule and what she owed them? Or would her judgement be clouded by her past? Diyem was less confident... The ire he felt from Maple was more than enough to dissuade him from trying to use Joule as a bargaining chip. "I do not think using Joule as leverage, even slightly, even as a 'you owe me' statement, will earn us favors. We shouldn't lean on this, even if we go the route of telling Joule first."

"Is Eternatus sapient?"

And despite Bahamut's objections... "You should also know that, yes, Eternatus is sapient. But I suspect Eternatus is also corrupted by the same Blacklight we are dealing with."

"Why do I get the feeling there's still something you're refusing to tell us?" Telepathy would have to do. Just one-on-one. "I don't think you're doing it maliciously. Perhaps it's your instinctual negativity getting in the way? I'm sure 'help' sounds like a painful concept to you, but we cannot help you or Cibus to the best of our abilities if we don't have the full picture."

Diyem glanced at Bahamut, frowning. "What I am saying is the truth. The best way to save the Tree while striking Eternatus down is by infiltrating it and attacking from the inside. If we attacked from the outside, the Tree would die first, and then Eternatus, which would leave room for it to escape even more."

And what he said felt like the truth. Diyem's expertise on this... suggested the plan of attack, should they go for it, was sound. Yet, indeed, it still felt like something was missing. Diyem was too confident...

What exactly will restoring your power do to help us right now, other than reviving us? And why are we worried about Cola?

"I need power to restore my own body to how you'd seen me against Giovanni," Diyem said, "...but if I expend my power into reviving your team, I won't be able to do that. Revival is... difficult. I would need even greater amounts of power to do both. And Cola... I do not know. Arceus had a plan, but he has been too weak to elaborate on it. And perhaps that plan is pointless now that he actually survived. We'd have to ask him ourselves."

Actually... what exactly do we know about this eternatus specifically?
How do you know about Eternatus being in the Tree? Feel like there's a lot going unsaid here.

"I do not think," Diyem said to them, "that Eternatus' corruption will be able to infiltrate the revived team as long as I do it from afar, and as long as I am monitoring the revival. Which I obviously must, as I would be performing it. I am familiar with the powers of Eternatus in general. However, going deeper, there is... risk. I still do not know why Xerneas hasn't reported it. Perhaps he did not sense it, himself.

"But in the end, Eternatus is a danger. We have to kill her to save Cibus."

Cal paused. She looked among the others, who had likely noticed the very same thing. And as one of the phantoms finally coalesced into a Charizard, Cal's heart skipped a beat. She thought Diyem had said something odd there, but that all went out of her head when she saw Owen return. She wanted to speak up, but didn't want to distract from the meeting. Instead, she and Owen shared what might have been shapeless grins.
 
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IFBench

Rescue Team Member
Location
Pokemon Paradise
Partners
  1. chikorita-saltriv
  2. bench-gen
  3. charmander
  4. snivy
  5. treecko
  6. tropius
  7. arctozolt
  8. wartortle
  9. zorua
The moment Saltriv entered the area, their eyes widened, as they saw Vix, Nip, and several others they, only an hour ago, had thought were gone forever.

"You're okay!" they exclaimed, a wide smile on their face. They extended vines to try and hug everyone that had once been lost, only for their expression to fall as the vines phased through them.
 

Ambyssin

Gotta go back. Back to the past.
Location
Residency hell
Pronouns
he/him
Partners
  1. silvally-dragon
  2. necrozma-ultra
  3. milotic
  4. zoroark-soda
  5. dreepy
  6. mewtwo-ambyssin
“We have to kill her?” Bahamut leaned forward. “And just how do you know that particular eldritch monstrosity is a girl?”
 

Fusion

Oh knee on
Location
Here, silly
Pronouns
Him/His
Partners
  1. zoroark
"I'm... I'm finding a way to bring you back, I promise! I won't lose another friend."

Vix chuckled, smiling sweetly. "Thanks but we already have a way, you guys just gotta get Diyem to the tree, then we're all back, good as new!"

She turned back to Diyem, listening to everything he said. She nodded and hummed along, not having much to say, but then he said something... strange. It looked like no one else had picked up on it yet, aside from, Bahamut, Cal, Owen. Maybe now wasn't a good time to press any further with that.
 

windskull

Bidoof Fan
Staff
Partners
  1. sneasel-nip
  2. bidoof
  3. absol
  4. kirlia
  5. windskull-bidoof
  6. little-guy-windskull
  7. purugly
  8. mawile
  9. manectric
"I do not think," Diyem said to them, "that Eternatus' corruption will be able to infiltrate the revived team as long as I do it from afar, and as long as I am monitoring the revival. Which I obviously must, as I would be performing it. I am familiar with the powers of Eternatus in general. However, going deeper, there is... risk. I still do not know why Xerneas hasn't reported it. Perhaps he did not sense it, himself.
"There is another, more worrisome option," Tempest mumbled, scraping a paw against the foreground. Then he raised his head and spoke up. "How recently has anyone been in contact with Xerneas? On the team or otherwise?" He paused, waiting to see if anyone responded. "Is it possible that... That Xerneas has already been corrupted? If so... it would explain why no one was alerted to the current troubles."

Other, more nefarious possibilities swirled in his mind, but he thought it best not to dwell on those.
 

Chibi Pika

Stay positive
Staff
Location
somewhere in spacetime
Pronouns
they/them
Partners
  1. pikachu-chibi
  2. lugia
  3. palkia
  4. lucario-shiny
  5. incineroar-starr
"Nobody's arguing against that," Bahamut said. "I only mentioned making sure we can do so safely. As in free of Eternatus corruption. As heartbroken as you are now, imagine having to fight your girlfriend because we fail to investigate properly and Diyem revives them with Eternatus' energy flowing through their veins.
Starr let out a snort. "Cute," she said, her voice deadpan. "Anyway, I wasn't saying we pull any risky bullshit. I'm just saying out of the four options, it's dead obvious we should pick reviving the team and Arceus. We can protect Diyem. Arceus can tell us what the deal is with Cola. We deal with Eternatus when we're strong enough."

Her eyes drifted back to the shadowy phantoms of the dead. Now Dave was here too. Owen too, she noted, with a wave of relief. But then... where was...
 

IFBench

Rescue Team Member
Location
Pokemon Paradise
Partners
  1. chikorita-saltriv
  2. bench-gen
  3. charmander
  4. snivy
  5. treecko
  6. tropius
  7. arctozolt
  8. wartortle
  9. zorua
Saltriv looked at Diyem warily. "I...I don't trust you anywhere near the Tree of Life. But...I don't want to leave everyone in the Voidlands."

They paused for a second, then said, "Maybe we could plant a reviver seed, have Dialga speed up time for it, then use the power from that? Or...maybe use the Worldcore?"
 
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