Fading Aria [KtK RP Thread: Mission 2]

[Shiny Phantump]

Melody tuned out of the body's sense of touch and smell so that she didn't have to feel the wind rushing against her, or smell the saccharine wind. Poor Ichiro, with strong olfaction he wasn't used to. At least he wouldn't have trouble keeping the scent. It was tempting to pull up her headphones and drown out the noise too, but they might have to listen to their companions.

"On your guards, needless to say. Ichiro, think you can fight in a pinch? We can also lean on me, if we have to."

If the worst came to pass, she could always teleport the kids away.

 

[System Error]

Based on the number and spacing of the tracks, they were made by bipeds.

"Two legs," the Demon notes. "Any ideas?"

---

Because of Nori's inability to understand trained Pokemon's words, he doesn't get the information unless someone else notes it aloud. Though he'll notice on his own anyway once heading out.

Frowning a bit at the negativity, Luni sent some telepathic words and emotional reassurances to the boy, knowing her spoken voice wouldn't reach him from this far. "Don't take it too harshly. I'm sure Kricketot isn't holding it against you."

Telepathy is one way, though. "Aa?!" he freaks at first. An unfamiliar voice. He wracks his brain on who it could be, but decides to reply anyway. Or try to. It's not that he thinks, though doesn't answer what it really is. Still a lot of negativity guilt over something specifically depending on how precise the sensing is thankfully likely fading as he leaves.

If this Kricketot took offense to not wanting to try attacking, it was weird. But after what he did, he didn't even want to try. Even a person could badly hurt a small Pokemon. Or worse.

#####

Nori is also heading west! He's mostly quiet during the trip unless spoken to, partly out of trying to keep his mind off things but also from taking in the view, so to speak.

"There were a lot of crystals last time too, but not like this," he solemnly quips. What a mess. "They weren't leaking poison or anything. Some of them could change types, and we broke them by hitting them with something they were weak to in sequence."

The Demon's ears immediately twitch. She stands on her hind legs, raises her front ones, and begins to prepare an attack that...doesn't manifest.

"Right, I forgot to mention. Four moves is the limit here," he says before she can start complaining or trying harder. "I guess you can't Earth Power right now. I don't think we have to worry about breaking these just yet. Not much point." At least the limit wouldn't affect her, since she only used a handful of moves up and often up close anyway.

"Someone's going to pay for this," the Demon growls. How dare they limit her.

They eventually reach the city. Nori slowly looks up at it. It was way worse over here. "I think we found the source," he notes. "Or a big target of whoever or whatever caused this. Get ready for any kind of welcome." Hopefully they could fight here if they had to.

The Demon scrapes a paw. "What's with this place? Do they think they're manh or something?" she dismisses the city. Burrows and caves were enough shelter for everything she knew, and the wilderness was their home. No matter. They'd find out soon enough exactly what they were dealing with.

 

[canisaries]

As the group continued along the northward path, they rapidly left behind the manicured nature that had surrounded them in the garden and found themselves in the true wild. The forest grew ever more dense around them, although soon the group would begin to see something that truly didn't belong here: more purple crystals like the one that had encased the keyhole for Meloetta's realm. At first they were tiny, forming clusters only a couple inches high, but as the group continued down the path, they became larger and larger, until they nearly reached Ichiro's shoulders.

The crystals glowed faintly in the dimness of the forest, with a radiance that shifted and faded as though there was something liquid at their cores. As the crystals grew larger, so too did a wind pick up, blowing into the group's faces from somewhere up ahead. It carried the tang and faint sparkle of Fairy energy, plucking at first teasingly, then insistently and finally violently at the fur, hair, and clothes of the people venturing down the path.

The branches overhead tossed, and the wind howled. The forest had grown unnaturally dark, lit by the purple crystals. It was clear there was a powerful pokémon not far up ahead, the source of the wind. But there was something else, too. Barely audible beneath the gusts of wind are the wailing sounds of a reedy instrument playing on despite the grim atmosphere.

"Windy, huh?" Ichiro called out, his mane and ears flapping in the wind. "Maybe there's a flying type ahead, too..."

"On your guards, needless to say. Ichiro, think you can fight in a pinch? We can also lean on me, if we have to."

Ichiro felt a little indignant at the suggestion that some human woman who dressed like a moody teenager would be a better fighter than him until he remembered her talking about her psychic powers. Not to mention the whole thing with him being in a completely different body that he'd lived in his whole life up to this point.

"Well, let me check if I can figure out my moves," he said. He focused and felt... some kind of ability resting inside of him, like a limb he was yet to move. A few of them, in fact. Faint impressions of what it would like to perform them brushed against his mind - releasing noxious smoke from his mouth, some kind of fire-breathing attack, a bite enhanced with dark type energy and some manner of mind-altering technique that would agitate the opponent into behaving impatiently. The first one was probably Smog, the second could have been a number of things based on its power, a bite was a Bite (or maybe Crunch? Was he powerful enough for that?) and the last one he wasn't familiar with, but figured wouldn't make him explode if he tried it in a pinch.

He gave the three first moves a quick try after moving a bit further away from the rest, and he felt like he had a good enough handle on each of them. The fiery attack was no Flamethrower, but it was no Ember, either. It would do.

"Yep, seems like I can use them just fine," he said. "But, uh, help is appreciated."

Well, well, well. ███ ████ asking for help? said a thought.

I'm Ichiro now, thought Ichiro. And it isn't the first time.

 

[MegaAbsolOfDespair]

The branches overhead tossed, and the wind howled. The forest had grown unnaturally dark, lit by the purple crystals. It was clear there was a powerful pokémon not far up ahead, the source of the wind. But there was something else, too. Barely audible beneath the gusts of wind are the wailing sounds of a reedy instrument playing on despite the grim atmosphere.

Volo stopped for a moment to listen. "I think I hear something. It sounds like a quiet music." He wasn't sure what the source of the music was, but either way, he whispered to his Togepi: 'We may need to fight whatever awaits ahead of us. Stay alert'

 

[Hanafuda]

As the crystals grew larger, so too did a wind pick up, blowing into the group's faces from somewhere up ahead. It carried the tang and faint sparkle of Fairy energy, plucking at first teasingly, then insistently and finally violently at the fur, hair, and clothes of the people venturing down the path.

Joey shivered after the wind blew. "Hfff. I feel sparkly for some reason." He shook himself. Ugh, he couldn't have that girly stuff on him when he was building his brand as Jo-Jo.

"Yep, seems like I can use them just fine," he said. "But, uh, help is appreciated."

"I can help ya practice. Not sure if this is the right time, though. Checking for this Meloetta, y'know?"

"I think I hear something. It sounds like a quiet music."

He made a sharp turn to look at Volo with wide eyes. "Oh, dang," he said in a hushed tone. "We go there?" Following the music may have lead them closer to Meloetta, maybe. But what if they also got lost along the way? "Whatchu y'all say? We go?"

 

[Negrek]

Luni beamed. "That's the spirit! My trainer and I would be glad to have you!"
Then, deciding to nip the other source of negativity in the bud, she asked Kricketot, "Is that true?" She took him up on his offer, sending a weakened Confusion at him and waited to see what he meant.

Regardless of the reaction though, Luni added. "Well, it's alright if you can't fight. You can still help us by telling us all you know about Meloetta and about where we're going! The kind of Pokémon we'll be encountering, what sorts of surprises will be in wait. Information is key after all."

Hmmm? The kricketot didn't seem to be entirely sure what to make of Luni's question. You're all pretty weird, he said after a moment.

Luni's further questions left him batting at his antenna bashfully. There's not much I can tell you. I've never left the garden before. I'd heard about the ocean, but I've never seen it before! It's so big!

Rachel crouched down, picking up the tablet to inspect it. It was unreadable but was there anything else she could pick up from the ancient relic? Any marks that indicated whether it was damaged by age, moves, or physical attacks?

There weren't any obvious indications of what might have damaged the tablet. However, it was clearly very old--it wasn't unusual that it would be in such a state unless it had been unusually well cared-for.

 

[Shiny Phantump]

"Yep, seems like I can use them just fine," he said. "But, uh, help is appreciated."

Melody wasn't sure if she'd ever fought as a Houndoom before. If she'd ever picked it up just for the hell of it, she didn't have what was needed to call up that memory right now. "You got actually using the moves down well enough, it seems. Rest's just how to apply 'em in a fight. Say, I know you don't have a partner here but I don't know if you've got any training experience at all. That'd help. And if not, we'll figure it out as we go along. Whoever's out there might not even want a fight."

Maybe becoming combat-proficient using every body she could would be a neat project to fill up a few centuries. Wouldn't mean much if she didn't also care enough to recall it, though. For all she knew, she already had and it was forgettable enough that even thinking the same idea again wasn't enough to call the memory up? In all likelihood, though, she'd just never bothered. At some point she'd get bored enough to start chipping away at it.

For Ichiro's sake, hopefully today would not be the day she started working on building up new proficiencies.

"Hey!" She called out. "Who's out there? We just wanna chat!"

 

[Negrek]

It was difficult to shout over the gusting of the wind, but evidently whatever was ahead could hear Melody well enough.

A deep, rasping voice responded, Who am I? I could ask you the same thing. You're the ones who've decided to come calling at my home, after all. The wind subsided a bit, leaving a haze of fairy energy glimmering in the air. You're a strange bunch, aren't you? Why don't you come a little closer, so I can see you all properly?

 

[ShiniGojira]

Telepathy is one way, though. "Aa?!" he freaks at first. An unfamiliar voice. He wracks his brain on who it could be, but decides to reply anyway. Or try to. It's not that he thinks, though doesn't answer what it really is. Still a lot of negativity guilt over something specifically depending on how precise the sensing is thankfully likely fading as he leaves.

His answer only made Luni more puzzled, the faint feeling of guilt poked at her brain like a needle but she couldn't really understand it as it faded as quickly as it appeared. She gave a brief glance at the retreating boy, deciding that the next time they met, she'd like to comfort the boy for whatever was hurting him.

Hmmm? The kricketot didn't seem to be entirely sure what to make of Luni's question. You're all pretty weird, he said after a moment.

Luni's further questions left him batting at his antenna bashfully. There's not much I can tell you. I've never left the garden before. I'd heard about the ocean, but I've never seen it before! It's so big!

"Hey, everyone is weird in their own way." Luni smiled, not really bothered by his words. "If everyone was normal, life would be super boring, don't you think?"

"But really though," She decide to clarify her earlier question since it didn't seem like he understood her. "You literally can't fight? Do your moves not work? Or is there some sort of mental block preventing you from retaliating?"

Feeling the awe radiating the Kricketot, Luni beamed brighter. "The view's amazing, isn't it? You should see it during sunset or sunrise, it's a truly magical sight during those times!"

There weren't any obvious indications of what might have damaged the tablet. However, it was clearly very old--it wasn't unusual that it would be in such a state unless it had been unusually well cared-for.

Rachel pocketed the remains, deciding that for how old it was, it was probably important.

The eastward path led through a pleasant stretch of airy forest. As the group went on, they would soon begin to hear the sound of distant waves. Then the path took them over a rise, and the group would find an ocean stretching out before them, the path dissolving into a broad, sandy beach.

It was a pleasantly sunny day, and plenty of wild pokémon were in evidence: wingull soaring lazily overhead, krabby shuffling sideways along the beach, and tentacool floating gently on the ocean swells.

There was also faintly-audible music floating across the sand: the mournful twang of a harmonica, although one that sounded slightly garbled. It seemed to be coming from the ocean itself somehow.

The trek down the path was light with sparse conversation, mostly Luni chatting with the Kricketot that followed with maybe some words spoken between her and the others.

The salty scent of the ocean got her to pause, along with the warmth of the sun touching her skin and the sight of numerous Pokémon on the beach.

They all seemed relaxed, unaware of their visitors and there was that contrasting song in the background, making the scene look somewhat eerie. It immediately set her on edge. Maybe she was just being paranoid but something about this situation seemed off and she didn't want to find out if this was all a ploy–

Luni teleported out in the open, waving her hand and greeting them. "Hello! Sorry to disturb you all but can we ask if somebody had seen Meloetta? We heard she might've gone this way? Can any of you tell us any clues you could've seen?

Damn it, Luni.

 

[Eal Tides]

"Pot... deer? That's... certainly a name," Rachel murmured, looking back at the Ting-Lu. Personally, she thought it looked more like a bull than a deer.

"It's because Potdeer has a pot on its head," Tomomichi explains.

"I'M CALLED TING-LU BECAUSE I'M A TING-LU," Potdeer adds cryptically. It leans down, hovering its large head over Tomomichi's body. "THIS HUMAN IS VERY GOOD AT NAMING."

"Hold up, a portal? This thing came from a portal?"

"That's right! The portal opened in the sky like the portals in Legend of Ilex Forest, which Celebi travels through when going between times!"

Tomomichi smiles broadly, clearly excited about this subject. It seems whatever happened with the portal and Potdeer wasn't eerie or terrifying, despite the additional mention of a legend.

"We came through a portal to get here... so maybe Meloetta is the same way? Maybe this is a really old place, or one far in the future..."

Her finger started idling tapping her arm. "So you're from Johto. The town with the bug gym, right?" she asked. "What's it like? Never really been to any other regions before so I'm curious."

"Hmm... Azalea Town... well, since Goldenrod Radio Tower was built recently, we get a lot more channels on the TV now. I like watching Legend of Ilex Forest when it airs every afternoon. I pretty much go between home and the gym because Para, who's my paras, is bug-type and Bugsy is the gym leader, so they have all the grass and trees and stuff for them."

He wonders if Jubilife City is a psychic gym and that's where Rachel lived with her ralts. Pretty much everyone was a trainer in Azalea as far as he was concerned, as Azalea Gym was filled with kids about his age all training bug pokemon.

Kricketot looked somewhat taken aback by all the encouragement. He batted bashfully at one of his antennae, which made a faint tinkling sound. I... I do want to help, he admitted. But I've never left the garden before, and I'm really not very strong.

Potdeer thought to itself, THIS POKEMON IS NO DIFFERENT THAN MY HUMAN/PARAS.

"So, how many badges do you have, kid? It must be a lot if Potdeer's praising you so much."

Suddenly, Potdeer laughs, with a brassy bray to it. "THE TELEPORTER AND HER TRAINER ARE THE STRONG ONES. THE CHILDREN I BELONG TO ARE WEAK," it said, and Tomomichi nods as well. "We're really weak! I mean, Para and me. We used to fight the trainers who came to fight Bugsy and lose all the time. Oh, by 'we', I mean Para and me, not Potdeer, because when we got Potdeer we won so much no one got to the gym leader, and people said we should try becoming a trainer and getting the badges instead."

A bit abashedly, the bug catcher pulls down the brim of his straw hat, showing off four badges pinned on the blue ribbon.

He says, "You're nice, though. You have a strong pokemon and went out of your way to ask others to join you, because you two could protect them. You didn't have to but you did. That's nice of you!"

Kricketot squeezed his eyes shut and shook his body again, as though trying to dispel a bad memory. Nobody knows. But we must have made them mad, right? What else could it be?

There really aren't any more details to tell. No one's seen them since that big fight. And we can't even fight anymore, so that must have been why Meloetta was angry.

- The shards of an ancient stone tablet lie scattered on the ground at the mouth of the east path. It was once carved with runes of some sort, though they are now largely unreadable

Potdeer's eyes look over the ancient stone tablets. As a creature from a very old age, it might recognize the runes on the tablet, or it might not.

The trainers and pokemon began to walk into the east path. Turning its head away from the old tablets, the ting-lu fixes its gaze on the kricketot that joined them.

Luni teleported out in the open, waving her hand and greeting them. "Hello! Sorry to disturb you all but can we ask if somebody had seen Meloetta? We heard she might've gone this way? Can any of you tell us any clues you could've seen?

Damn it, Luni.

Tomomichi noticed Rachel's wince, along with her general nervousness. The cheerful-sounding ralts seemed to know what she was saying and did it with a certain fearlessness, on the other hand.

Despite himself, he feels a bit nervous. The harmonica sounds seemed to be coming from below the ocean's waves, which was strange. "Is there a radio tower underneath the water?" he wondered out loud, his voice hesitant.

Well, try, the kricketot said. Try to attack me. He drew himself up, very brave in the face of any attempt--but it seemed Nori wanted to go off and inspect the west path instead.

"HEY, CRICKET-TOT." Potdeer glances to the side. Good. The others are talking, and therefore distracted. "THE HUMAN MIGHT NOT WANT TO, BUT I WILL." The air dims as dark energy begins to surround the ting-lu, as it starts to use Payback, aiming at the kricketot.

 

[Shiny Phantump]

Who am I? I could ask you the same thing. You're the ones who've decided to come calling at my home, after all. The wind subsided a bit, leaving a haze of fairy energy glimmering in the air. You're a strange bunch, aren't you? Why don't you come a little closer, so I can see you all properly?

Melody felt like “come a little closer so I can see you properly” sounded like it means “come a little closer so I can fucking ambush you” but maybe she was just feeling too flighty with how unfamiliar everything was. She wasn’t used to unfamiliarity anymore, and it’s abundance here left her off balance.

The kids and Ichiro were all less acceptable targets than her, so even if being hit and reacting in an un-humanlike way might be the end of the line for her, she felt obligated to do so anyway. Letting other people get hurt for the sake of the disguise was a step too far. She drew closer, wary for incoming attacks.

“My name is Melody. My allies and I are here because we were told Meloetta is corrupted, and are here to help.”

 

[canisaries]

It was difficult to shout over the gusting of the wind, but evidently whatever was ahead could hear Melody well enough.

A deep, rasping voice responded, Who am I? I could ask you the same thing. You're the ones who've decided to come calling at my home, after all. The wind subsided a bit, leaving a haze of fairy energy glimmering in the air. You're a strange bunch, aren't you? Why don't you come a little closer, so I can see you all properly?

The kids and Ichiro were all less acceptable targets than her, so even if being hit and reacting in an un-humanlike way might be the end of the line for her, she felt obligated to do so anyway. Letting other people get hurt for the sake of the disguise was a step too far. She drew closer, wary for incoming attacks.

“My name is Melody. My allies and I are here because we were told Meloetta is corrupted, and are here to help.”

Ichiro thought that 'why don't you come a little closer so I can see you properly' sounded an awful lot like the Big Bad Houndoom disguised as the grandma trying to eat Little Red -- you'd know all about that -- but it wasn't as if they had many options. He hesitated to be the one to trigger whatever happened next, but Melody beat him to it.

He thought about how he could provide backup. Fairies... are weak to poison, he thought, but Smog was probably hard to direct at someone without affecting his teammates. Maybe fire is better. It should be neutral, I think.

He heated up his throat, just to be sure.

 

[ShiniGojira]

"It's because Potdeer has a pot on its head," Tomomichi explains.

"I'M CALLED TING-LU BECAUSE I'M A TING-LU," Potdeer adds cryptically. It leans down, hovering its large head over Tomomichi's body. "THIS HUMAN IS VERY GOOD AT NAMING."

"Well, with logic like that. Who am I to argue with such a name?" She shrugged.

At the very least it wasn't as ridiculous as someone calling their Water-type, Bubbles, because it knew Bubble.

That's right! The portal opened in the sky like the portals in Legend of Ilex Forest, which Celebi travels through when going between times!"

Tomomichi smiles broadly, clearly excited about this subject. It seems whatever happened with the portal and Potdeer wasn't eerie or terrifying, despite the additional mention of a legend.

"We came through a portal to get here... so maybe Meloetta is the same way? Maybe this is a really old place, or one far in the future..."

"Somehow I kinda doubt ancient society or a sci-fi world would be so... strange and fantasy-like." She thought back to all the key related stuff in the realm they were summoned in. The key trees, the piles of keys, keys in the sky...

Shaking her head, she asked, "Has Potdeer ever talked about where he came from? Because him just appearing out of a portal sounds like something that would happen in an adventure book."

Hmm... Azalea Town... well, since Goldenrod Radio Tower was built recently, we get a lot more channels on the TV now. I like watching Legend of Ilex Forest when it airs every afternoon. I pretty much go between home and the gym because Para, who's my paras, is bug-type and Bugsy is the gym leader, so they have all the grass and trees and stuff for them."

He wonders if Jubilife City is a psychic gym and that's where Rachel lived with her ralts. Pretty much everyone was a trainer in Azalea as far as he was concerned, as Azalea Gym was filled with kids about his age all training bug pokemon.

"Goldenrod Radio Tower? Huh, that's strange. Last I heard that thing was built like half a decade ago," she mused, tapping her chin in thought. "Kid must be from a parallel timeline or something."

Rachel shook her head to rid her stirring thoughts. She should probably introduce herself in return. The kid seemed harmless enough. "Well, as you know I'm a psychic who's... alright. I'm mostly an empath, can sense and feel emotions from practically everything, and if I focus real hard I can even do it for Dark-types. I live by myself in Jubilife City, I like watching TV dramas, exercising, practising new ways to use Luni's moves. I used to go to a psychic school in another town with my little sister but things ended up... sour and I came back to the city for my gym circuit. Snagged a whole two badges last year, whoopeedee."

She held back from saying that she only got two badges because she gave up halfway, got bored and tired from hiking through the region just to battle, and other personal reasons she didn't want to think about. Plus, it wasn't like battling was even fun anyway so she'd only got the first two out of necessity.

Suddenly, Potdeer laughs, with a brassy bray to it. "THE TELEPORTER AND HER TRAINER ARE THE STRONG ONES. THE CHILDREN I BELONG TO ARE WEAK," it said, and Tomomichi nods as well. "We're really weak! I mean, Para and me. We used to fight the trainers who came to fight Bugsy and lose all the time. Oh, by 'we', I mean Para and me, not Potdeer, because when we got Potdeer we won so much no one got to the gym leader, and people said we should try becoming a trainer and getting the badges instead."

A bit abashedly, the bug catcher pulls down the brim of his straw hat, showing off four badges pinned on the blue ribbon.

He says, "You're nice, though. You have a strong pokemon and went out of your way to ask others to join you, because you two could protect them. You didn't have to but you did. That's nice of you!"

Rachel laughed awkwardly at the compliments. She hadn't even thought they'd call her strong. "I'm not so sure about that. Potdeer and you got me beat on the badges. I don't even like battling so I don't know why you'd call me strong when Potdeer can probably squish Luni without trying."

The kid was so unabashedly earnest about what he thought of her. Even without her abilities, she could tell the kid was just that honest.

Damn my weakness for cute little things.

"I just thought it'd be a good idea to have some backup, that's all." She deflected with a neutral stare, trying not to look like his words had affected her. She had a reputation to keep after all.

Her hand moved to pat her hip, checking that–Yup, her holster was still gone. "I don't even have my weapon with me so of course, having another abled body to look out for me was the best logical
solution."

Tomomichi noticed Rachel's wince, along with her general nervousness. The cheerful-sounding ralts seemed to know what she was saying and did it with a certain fearlessness, on the other hand.

Despite himself, he feels a bit nervous. The harmonica sounds seemed to be coming from below the ocean's waves, which was strange. "Is there a radio tower underneath the water?" he wondered out loud, his voice hesitant.

Back to the present, just after Luni introduced herself, she heard the boy talking beside her.

Rachel replied, not turning her attention away from the relaxed Pokémon just in case... "Unlikely. Probably some weird Pokémon or machinery. Likely unnatural too. See how they're relaxing despite the sorrowful music?" She paused, her eyes looking around to observe her situation. "I don't know about you but I find it hard that people would be relaxing and acting like this was a beach episode with that background noise. Sounds more fitting for a graveyard or a funeral."

Looking to her side, she noticed the Kricketot looking a little overwhelmed by the sight. She scooped him up in her arms, just in case. Y'know. She didn't think the bug was that cute. She just didn't want to know what would happen if she left the little guy when this whole thing went kaput.

 

[Hanafuda]

“My name is Melody. My allies and I are here because we were told Meloetta is corrupted, and are here to help.”

Joey looked in confusion at Melody before turning his gaze towards where she supposedly was talking to. But the faint voice he heard made him jolt. "Yo, I'm not hearing things, am I?" He could make out a few words. Man, he really needed his ears checked.

Coming closer? Yeah, Jo-Jo and the gang were gonna come closer. But he had to be ready in case a nasty surprise was waiting for them. An Aqua Tail to the face could be a start.

 

[Sinderella]

But somehow, the curse didn't want to leave Bellamy's lips. It was as though the word had gotten caught in her throat somehow. No matter how she tried, she couldn't make herself say it.

There was something else that didn't belong here, though. Some kind of poison was seeping into the garden's soil, toxins spreading underground. A close inspection of the flowerbeds would find small purple crystals growing in them, hidden beneath the leaves of plants. They looked as poisonous as the crystal that Clink had had to fracture to get them into Meloetta's realm in the first place, and there had to be hundreds of them in the garden--but all small, poking no more than an inch out of the earth, and concealed in obscure and shadowy places.

The plants were growing well for now, but surely that couldn't continue in the face of the corruption leaking from the crystals all around.

There were multiple things wrong with this place, and somehow, her inability to curse was the least of it. Nonetheless, it still buzzed in Bellamy’s head. That was so strange, she kept thinking. Why couldn’t I say the word? What was so bad about ‘fuck’ that this place censored her? She didn’t do censorship. When she wanted to say something, she was going to say it, regardless of—

Okay. She needed to focus. Poisonous crystals on the plants. Those were the bigger issue.

“Corbeau, look,” she called, kneeling down near a flower patch to examine the dirt closer. Doing as he was told—a rarity—Corbeau came to kneel next to her. She didn’t need to point very long for him to see her concern.

“So those crystals are everywhere,” he said under his breath.

“If they can suck the life out of the flora, surely anything with a pulse won’t be too far behind.”

Corbeau smirked, mirthless in his scoff. “That’s the nature of poison, isn’t it?”

He stood, brushing off his trousers and scanning the small labyrinth laid out before him. He took a breath, long and exhausted.

“Question is, what—or where—is our antidote?”

The west path continued through the forest for a while, but the trees rapidly began to thin as the soil became increasingly rocky and inhospitable. Soon the group would find themselves traveling through a sparse, rocky landscape, approaching a low range of foothills. Among the boulders, clumps of poisonous purple crystals nestle, becoming larger and more frequent the farther the group travels down the path. Here and there the crystals are smashed or broken in half, as though something had attacked them, but whatever it was clearly wasn't putting much of a dent in the infestation.

As the groups drew closer to the foothills, they could soon recognize, high up on the rocky walls stretching overhead, paths, ladders, terraces and even windows of dwellings built into the hillsides. Here and there pokémon could be seen moving about on their own personal errands, oblivious to the approaching outsiders--though they probably wouldn't remain that way for long. The crystals grew dense around the village, sprouting from the sides of buildings and even jutting up out of thoroughfares, so that passing pokémon were forced to go out of their way to avoid them

He was talking to nobody, of course, so he didn’t expect an answer. Although he could have done without Bellamy’s derisive snort. If he wanted to make clever, hilarious jokes at the expense of their strange situation, he was going to, and she would either have to cope or cover her ears.

In an effort to get away from the more…boisterous company, Corbeau set sights on the west path. Without qualms, Bellamy followed at his side, her eyes bouncing between any of those crystals she could identify. Soon the trees shrunk to foothills and the bushes faded into rocks. There, it was far clearer just how bad this unsightly infestation got.

“That’s hardly efficient,” he said, watching the residents of this new town try and struggle to go about their days with crystalized miasma in their way. As much as he wanted to say he didn’t know their frustration, at least on a metaphorical level, he’d be lying if he did.

To his surprise and quiet relief, his traveling companion was none other than his fellow suit enthusiast and his prickly vulpix friend.

“Why don’t we try our luck with the locals?” he suggested, gesturing before him. “Perhaps if they’re not as skittish, they’ll have some insight.” @Nekodatta