"What exactly happened?" Ichiro asked. "What made Meloetta leave?"
Why, there was a big fight, haven't you heard? Some sort of petty nonsense, as I understand. Meloetta did her best to stop it, but no one was interested in listening to them. In the end they just left. Enamorus shrugged.
Tragic, isn't it, how people will disappoint you? After all the work Meloetta put in to make that garden a pleasant place. But that's what you get when you let a bunch of riffraff come trampling around in your home.
"I'm not a kid," Joey grumbled under his breath, annoyed. "Hey, we didn't come here all this way just to not see Meloetta. We're here because someone said 'Help me', and we ain't leavin' 'till it's done!" He cleared his throat. He had to control his volume. Times like this always riled him up.
Enamorus chuckled to herself, a deep, rumbling noise.
Have you ever sat for 100 days watching the sun rise and set, just to note the movement of the clouds? Have you seen new land born of the volcano, and old ground crumbled by the earthquake? Known a family eight generations long, and kept all their stories in your head? If not, then you're still a child in my eyes.
"Fair enough, fair enough. Here I was hoping to ask about your neat little melodica there, lovely song it's playing by the way. Always got the impressing you were more sociable than your brothers but I can see why you're a little spooked right now."
They shot Enamorus— or whatever hollow thing was currently appearing as her— a wink. "Not like you've got anything else on your mind right now."
Enamorus' eyes narrowed. Whether or not she'd caught on to the double meaning of Melody's words, she clearly interpreted the line as an insult.
Yes, it is rather nice, isn't it? But you were just leaving, now, weren't you?
The wind began to pick up again, rattling the branches of the surrounding trees. The melodica continued to play, apparently completely on its own.
Tomomichi looked around for something to use. "I need a potion," he said, but he hadn't brought his bag with him, nor modern conveniences. He looked around to see if there were any bushes growing oran or sitrus berries.
Hesitantly, he addressed the wild beach pokemon, "Do any of you, um, know any healing moves?"
There weren't any berry bushes nearby, or much vegetation on the beach in general.
A couple of wingull glanced over from where they'd settled near Rachel, but none seemed particularly interested. Most of the krabby edged away, but one seemed to take pity on Tomomichi, scooting towards him sideways.
No one near here. We'd need to find an alomomola, I think. Can your kind swim? The alomomola don't do well on land.
Potdeer, meanwhile, stretched dramatically. "EARLIER, KRICKETOT, YOU ASKED FOR ONE OF US TO ATTACK YOU. YOU EVEN SEEMED DISAPPOINTED WHEN IT DID NOT OCCUR. WHY DID YOU DO THAT?"
I didn't think it would work... Kricketot said weakly.
Nobody could attack me before.
Rachel wanted to shout more, scold the damn moron until her words reverberated inside that stupid pot on his head for the rest of his life but she had more pressing matters on hand.
Taking off her jacket, she wrapped the little bug inside. It didn't look like he was gonna be able to move and she wasn't willing to just leave him alone for any surprises or Potdeer's potheadedness.
Thankfully, Tomomichi wasn't like his dimwitted companion, and had begun looking for help. Even if it was from the beach Pokémon that she still didn't trust.
Rachel wasn't idle though, likewise looking around for any medicinal herbs or whatever was around to help the injured Kricketot.
Kricketot didn't object to being bundled in Rachel's jacket; he was probably grateful for the lift.
There didn't appear to be any obvious healing herbs, berries, or similar resources nearby.
"Started up today? Maybe a Primarina? Have none of you tried looking for the source? Surely a Krabby would've seen something? The music's an interesting choice for a concert..."
How do you think we'd get down there? These wings are made for flying, not swimming! one of the wingull said, raising her narrow wings above her head to demonstrate.
Most of the krabby don't go too far underwater, said another.
Maybe ask a fish, or someone like that.
« Excuse me. How long have you been living here? Have you just recently moved here, perhaps?»
He asked.
As the group drew closer to the settlement, it became possible to identify the different kinds of pokémon living there. They were primarily the sorts of species one would expect in a rocky, volcanically active area: members of the salandit family, cubone, Alolan geodude, and similar species. The most numerous, though, were members of the charcadet family: armarouge and ceruledge both, and plenty of young charcadet as well, many of them running and playing in groups.
Activity slowed as the newcomers came into town, but although the pokémon seemed wary, they made no move to attack. The young charcadet were boldest of all, and a group of them gathered not too far from Nori, Corbeau, and Raiki. They were happy enough to answer the latter's question.
No, no! We've been here for ages! one piped up.
What about you? I've never seen people like you before!
He approaches another group, motioning for the Demon to stay close. "Hello," he greets with a small wave and smile, although makes sure to keep a few meters away. He places his hands together. "We're travelers. We're curious, and a little worried about these strange crystals around your city and the surrounding land. What are they, if you know?" he asks, being a little more (but not too) direct in his questioning.
A couple of Alolan graveler, lurking around by an entryway carved into the side of the hill, watched Nori and Demon's approach with guarded curiosity. They glanced back and forth for a moment after Nori's question, as though wondering whether the other was really going to answer. After a few seconds, one finally spoke up.
No idea. No one's seen anything like them before.
