Air Continent ~ Bone's Abode

[Fusion]

Vix would have been all like, "Ha, see? That's you using a move!" but she was too busy being a melted, bubbly mess of a wax puddle. Something was said about Zoroark and normally that would have been enough to distract her anyway, but everything after that sort of fell apart. Well, fell her apart. That didn't sound right, but the point still stands. Whether it was her being a Zoroark herself, or the idea of... well, um... the rest of what Zane said, Vix was no longer capable of proper mental function.

 

[The Walrein]

"So, yeah, I definitely picked up the signature of a move, there- Moon's tears! What happened to Vix?" Jaro cried, quickly deflating. "Are you okay?" he asked her, before quickly turning to Zane.

"Uh, Zane, you can dig with those claws, right? Maybe if we dig a cylindrical, Vix-shaped hole and shove her puddle into it, she'll re-solidify into her normal shape! Hurry!" Jaro grabbed a bone and frantically began scraping at the ground.

 

[Tanuki]

Zane didn't see Vix's melted form. He didn't see anything but red. His blood boiled hotter than Vix's melting wax. The insult—calling it an insult, even, stretched the word's meaning beyond any rational bound—rang in Zane's head louder than a bomb at ground zero. "I'll show you rocks you boneless ball of rubber!" he screamed as he hurled himself forward with glowing claws. He planted his feet firm in Vix's wax to slash at Jaro with all his might and fury.

Zane used Slash!

 

[The Walrein]

Jaro took 51 damage! Jaro: 256/307 hp

"Aaaarggh! Zane! Calm down!" Jaro called out, pressing an arm over his bleeding wound. "Your emotions are clouded by a move! You have to focus!"

Ouch. Okay, maybe Jaro should've expected something like this would've happened when he started throwing around powerful emotion-manipulating moves. Probably should've thought of that before antagonizing the towering Zangoose with claws as long or longer than his whole arm. If this had occurred back in his own world, with nowhere to run and no allies in sight (Vix sadly seemed a little indisposed at the moment), he'd almost certainly would've been in mortal peril. Although Jigglypuff could withstand many crushing or bludgeoning blows with ease, cutting or piercing damage was something of a weakness of the species. Jaro would've been cut to ribbons if this attack had kept up.

But the body Diyem had built for him was strong, and even Zane's Slash didn't cut too deeply into his thick, rubbery skin. Still, he couldn't take too many hits like that... Perhaps it might've been best to not risk antagonizing Zane by responding with a move of his own, but Jaro's instincts told him it'd be safer to start preparing to retaliate...

His eyes began to glow with Radiant Power, and Jaro once more swelled in size, this time not merely with air. The red gash on his body was still noticeable, but it seemed like a lesser wound with his increased size.

Jaro used Radiant Embiggening! Jaro: 332/307 hp

 

[Fusion]

Fantasies of black and red were quickly stomped out by a flash of white.

"H-Huh, what? Wait, what happened?" She blinked. There would appear to be a battle of sorts, which probably wasn't good. There was yelling and flashes of radiant light, and that would have been enough to say things were not going well. Jaro had gotten bigger, and Zane looked more than ready to rip that balloon asunder.

"Guys, calm down!" Vix shouted. She tried to solidify again, but something kept her from doing that. That something was, unsurprisingly, a very heavy leg. It was obvious that Zane wouldn't just move, but she also had to keep Zane from attacking Jaro. Not even for Jaro's sake, he could wipe the floor with Zane. Vix's mind was clouded with what she should do. Should she attack Zane to scare him back? Should she protect him from whatever Jaro's gonna do? Maybe she should stop Jaro entirely, but how? She wasn't fast enough to get help, not that anyone else would. Maybe if she attacked Jaro, he'd attack her instead? But what if he didn't?

"Dammit!" Vix thoughts were getting her nowhere. She had to act fast, and thinking was only slowing her down. First things first, she had to reform. A brief flash of radiance shone from her, then her wax quickly traveled up Zane's leg, encasing him entirely. She didn't notice that she formed around Zane.

"Stop, both of you!" Vix said. "We don't have to be at each other's throats over this!"

 

[Tanuki]

One moment, Zane could think only of popping that pointless pink balloon by digging his claws in. The next, Vix covered every inch of him. Every. Single. Inch.

“Vix.” It took all the concentration he had not to gore himself by trying to tear into her. He didn’t dare move a single muscle because every single one was rearing and ready to tear her (and thus himself) to pieces. “Get. Off. Now.”

 

[Fusion]

"Oh..."

The strange height Vix was at suddenly made a lot of sense to her. Zane not being seen also started making sense. The flame on Vix's, or was it Zane's, head fizzled out of existence. She had to make a note to not, for the love of GOD, think about this further.

Vix silently oozed off of Zane's body, reforming a good couple of feet away. She felt words didn't need to be said, probably because she had nothing to say. At the end of the day, Zane and Jaro stopped fighting, and that was all that mattered.

 

[The Walrein]

Jaro thought it was rather unfair for Vix to describe him as being "at [Zane's] throat" when Zane had been attacking him. Okay, technically he had used the first move on Zane with that Copycat, but - it was like the move was demanding he insult someone around, and there had only been two options. Or, no, that wasn't quite it - it was more like Jaro felt like he had to draw attention to himself, and insults were what was on his mind after Zane went. Possibly that hadn't been Taunt, maybe?

Regardless, it probably was Jaro's fault for Copycat-ing a move he wasn't sure of the exact effects of...

"Okay, that, uh, might not have been the best idea," Jaro said. He shrank down again from his increased size, attempting to do so in such a way that his cut sealed up as an effect of his size diminishing. "I should've been more careful where I was directing the move I copied off of you, Zane. Sorry about that. But, hey, at least we figured out you can use moves, right? At least two - whatever that taunting move was, and that Slash or Scratch you just used on me."

 

[Fusion]

"...Follow me," Vix muttered, knowing full well that no one heard her. She cleared her throat and tried again. "H-He used Follow Me, which is why I..." She melted slightly, not wanting to think about it again. "Which is why what happened, happened."

She would treat herself to a bath as soon as possible. Maybe she'll change her fragrance to strawberry or something. Or maybe she'll melt herself away and never come back out. Who knows?

 

[Tanuki]

Zane did all he could to keep still as she slithered off, but having her warm fluid slip, schluck, and caress down every square inch of his fur left him twitching and trembling even after she'd reshaped. Nightmares of this torment would plague him even while awake. He couldn't forget that no matter how hard he tried.

They were talking. Presumably at or about him. When he finally tuned in, he caught the very tail-end of their conversation and crossed his arms. "That proves nothing," he declared, eyes narrow.

 

[Fusion]

"You also slashed Jaro. He had a gash on his body up until he shrank," Vix pointed out. Knowing Zane, he probably did it during a fit of rage and would blame it on that, which would only prove her point. Or at least it wouldn't disprove it.

 

[Tanuki]

At this point, no sane person could refute her. "Are you telling me," Zane, however, was a pokémon, and leapt through that loophole with no apology. "That this," he flicked his claws through the air, "and hurling some insults is equivalent to breathing fire?" He rolled his eyes to sell his incredulity.

 

[The Walrein]

"Not every move has effects that are immediately obvious - those are often some of the more dangerous ones, too. The only reason you got enraged to the point of attacking me at my stupid bone quip was because I was copying your move - there was no way that would've happened if it was just a mundane insult," Jaro said. Or at least, he hoped Zane wasn't that provokable... "Think about how you felt when you were insulting Vix - didn't you feel some sort of energy inside you? That's what using a move feels like." Jaro pondered for a moment.

"But, if you're so attached to the idea of using moves with big flashy effects, maybe you should try to learn something like, say... Protect. Just about every 'mon can learn it. It creates a glowing shield around you that can negate most forms of directly-damaging attacks. Would be pretty useful to know if you still wanted to go the 'get punched in the face' route, too."

 

[Tanuki]

Zane flinched at the mention of protect, but immediately tried to hide it.

 

[Fusion]

Tired and embarrassed Vix may be, but inattentive she is not.

'Of course he knows he can learn moves,' Vix sighed. Zane was more than a handful, and neither Vix nor Jaro had actual hands, but hey, someone has to deal with him. Besides, Vix would rather help out than have Jaro deal with Zane himself.

"Hey Zane, I am going to attack you. I want you to block this attack. If you don't, it will hurt. A lot," Vix made sure to grab his full attention. The plan was simple, it was exactly as she said. She would attack him. Vix is the only one who would be able to attack Zane without actually hurting him, between her and Jaro. A good ol' shadow ball. He either blocks it with Protect, or it does nothing. A win-win.

A shadowy ball of ghost energy formed before Vix, and she checked again if Zane was paying attention to her, firing the shadow ball off once she was sure he was.

 

[Tanuki]

Right as Zane opened his mouth to talk her out of this plan, Vix started forming the shadow ball. The very sight of it beginning to exist sent Zane into a panic. He threw his arms and a leg up in defense, calling out one protect after another while he begged, "NO PLEASE DON'T PLEASE NO DON'T PLEASE DON'T NO NO—," and so on. The translucent shield grew thicker and thicker until it blocked the light entirely.

Just as it threatened to form another layer of slightly darker blue, the forming layer receded. Something thumped the inside of the barrier which sent it rolling slightly back, slightly forward, rocking until it gently rested. Still, blue, silent: tranquil. If Zane was conscious, he wasn't concerned in moving at all.

 

[Fusion]

And there it was, evidence. With Vix and Jaro as witnesses. The shadow ball, which wouldn't have done any harm, fizzled away as it hit the protective barrier. Zane was probably going to hate her, but it was for the sake of being right, er, the sake of helping a friend. Everyone had to start somewhere, and Zane was starting here, whether he wanted to or not.

"Alright. I'm basically done then," Vix sighed, hardly able to keep herself together. "You need help bringing him back Jaro? Or should we just leave him here?"

 

[The Walrein]

Huh, so Zane already knew Protect somehow. How was it even possible for him to have overlooked that before?

"That was pretty clever of you," Jaro said to Vix. "I'll, uh... see what Zane wants. He might've just collapsed from Move-exhaustion, but that should go away in a moment." He walked over to Zane's Protect shell and rapped on it with his arm.

"Uh, Zane? Are you alive in there? Now that you know how to use moves and everything, I was thinking we could head back to the Grass Continent to catch the last part of Diyem's announcement." Although it was probably long over by now, and Jaro would have to get the details from someone else...

 

[Fusion]

"Cool, cool, I guess I'll take my leave," Vix said. "Tell him I'm sorry for attacking him, but also tell him that shadow ball wasn't gonna hurt him anyway."

Vix dropped to the ground, melting almost entirely. "It'll be easier to get back melted than to float. See ya later, Jaro and Zane."

Aside from the embarrassment, and the possibility of Zane hating her more, this was pretty fun. She flowed through the woods, not entirely caring about the twigs and sticks that stuck in her, or where she was going. If she had to, Vix didn't mind resting up in the woods.

 

[TheGOAT]

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Outside, Astrid tapped her paw to some arbitrary rhythm—probably something that had gotten stuck in her head at some point.

She glanced at her badge again, wondering if sending another text was necessary. But probably not.

It should be any minute now…