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[Day 263 - 270 ~ New Summer] World Map

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Namohysip

Dragon Enthusiast
Staff
Partners
  1. flygon
  2. charizard
  3. milotic
  4. zoroark-soda
  5. sceptile
  6. marowak
  7. jirachi
The world of Pokemon is vast and interconnected. After years of crises and the collective efforts of villages, towns, and societies all around the world, the globe has become more interconnected than ever. Guilds and Exploration Societies alike have banded together to make travel between towns, countries, and even whole continents simple and easy. As warping technology becomes rapidly more available, even civilians are starting to see the signs of the ever-connected future...

Meta links:
Main character sheet (Google doc)
Official Signups / Character Information
Main Discussion Thread
Official Actions
Prize Volunteers / Tracking
Art & Doodles
Offscreen Activities

Mystery Continent:
Destiny Village ~ Central Crossroads
Destiny Village ~ Library
Destiny Village ~ Parfait Way
Destiny Village ~ X-Eye Cauldron
Destiny Village ~ Chip's Lab
Destiny Village ~ Pasta Plaza
Destiny Village ~ Sundae Park
Destiny Village ~ The Hero
Destiny Village ~ Hot Cocoa Therapy Offices
Destiny Colosseum
Destiny Colosseum ~ Training Room
Destiny Colosseum ~ Stands
Northern Pine Forest
Destiny Tower
Southern Beach

Rocky Road:
Main Street
Brisa, Dave, Koa, Owen
Kate, Cabot, Nip

Poppin' Arms:
Main Lobby
Dorm Rooms
Large Dorms
Dorm Lounge
Study
Infirmary
Holding Cells
Training Facility

Grass Continent:
Lush Prairie
Treasure Town Beach
Sharpedo Bluff
Aegis Cave
Spinda Cafe
Shaymin Village
Amp Plains

Air Continent:
Silver Trench
Pokemon Square
Bone's Abode
Abandoned Laboratory
Great Canyon
Baram Town

Sand Continent:
Isle of Light
Sand Dune of Spirits

Water Continent:
Lively Town
Revelation Mountain Summit

Mist Continent:
Paradise
Moonlit Forest
Swanna Inn
Frozen Summit
Worldcore

Treasure Town:
Main Square
Marowak Dojo
Marowak Dojo ~ Living Quarters
Marowak Dojo ~ Hidden Quarters
Marketplace
Woodland Outskirts
Crossroads
Sunny's Daycare
Wigglytuff's Guild
Residential District

Sea of Wonders:
Hidden Land
Tree of Life ~ Exterior
Tree of Life ~ Interior

Beyond:
Group Communication
Veritas City
Spirits' Edge
Reverse World ~ Rockfall Cavern
Reverse World ~ Core
Downsideup City
Null Realm ~ Blacklight Eternity
 
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Namohysip

Dragon Enthusiast
Staff
Partners
  1. flygon
  2. charizard
  3. milotic
  4. zoroark-soda
  5. sceptile
  6. marowak
  7. jirachi
The following characters are currently unavailable:
None

Character list:

Leadership:

Diyem, the grumpy - A Charizard--technically, the Dark Matter of a world far away--who calls the shots for the team, and who had ultimately sent them all on a mission to save Cibus. As the ruler of Veritas City and someone who can reach into worlds beyond, his powers surpass most entities in the realm, though still nothing truly godlike. In battle, he apparently rarely moves, as his opponents fall before they can reach him. When he does fight, however, it is a sight to behold. Has never been seen smiling.

God Squad:
Maple, the tired - A Smeargle who believes strongly in setting things right when they go wrong. Despite her appearance, she has apparently demonstrated powers on a scale far beyond what the rest of her team is capable of, and is, appropriately, their leader. She is actually a fallen Voice of Life, imbued with the power of light, and synthesized that into Radiance. Her true form is that of a monstrous leviathan. If she does not get enough rest, she falls into a slumber that is difficult to wake from without explosives or other such mundane trauma to her body. Enjoys checkers, but is not fond of chess.

Truffle, the diligent - A Decidueye who puts every ounce of enthusiasm into every task he gets. His personality is as overbearingly bright as his abilities, though he seems to hold himself to a much higher standard than he does others. In battle, he specializes in protection and shielding his allies. Enjoys gardening, and is also quite skilled at word finders.

Soda, the trickster - A Zoroark who believes strongly in working smart and not hard. Is he shirking work, or had he completed his task early and failed to report until the deadline? Soda has mastered the art of doing just enough with the minimum amount of effort. In battle, he specializes in confusing and disorienting opponents. Unbeatable in poker, even without his illusions. They tried. He doesn't use them.

Potluck, the playful - A Silvally with a play first, ask questions later attitude. Perhaps the most carefree of God Squad, Potluck often accompanies Maple on missions due to his lack of focus when fighting on his own. He can barely focus on staying the same type half the time, it often switching with his mood. In battle, he specializes in building up power as he strikes before letting it all out in one great burst. Enjoys 52 pickup, especially when Soda throws them off a cliff.

Leg, the murmur - A Mimikyu who prefers to hide in the shadows where nobody would threaten her. Not one for talking, Leg tends to watch and observe events in silence until she is needed. Her exact role in God Squad is unknown, but her ability to infiltrate even the smallest security flaw is unrivaled. In battle, she focuses on disrupting opponents and distorting their attacks. Enjoys any game with dice, because she likes the sound they make.

Flesh, the gentle - A Guzzlord, disguised often as a large Snorlax far too large for his species, with an appetite to match. Similar to Leg, he isn't one who talks--if he even can--and is likely impossible to move against his terms except by great feats of strength. Despite his great size and strength, Flesh is one of the gentlest members of God Squad, and becomes very upset if he accidentally hurts someone. In battle, Flesh is not very agile, but is often the one to distract and divert enemy attacks toward him. He enjoys playing toppling-towers, because he thinks he can eat the blocks that he picks away successfully.

Joule, the bright - A Necrozma bursting with light, he is considered to be the second leader alongside Maple. The two of them are mates, and their powers combined had given rise to Radiance, and altered their very makeup to become that of Voices of Light. While he has demonstrated extraordinary power and offensive capabilities, he is by his very nature nonviolent unless provoked. And even then, he apparently only counters with the same strength he is given. Legend has it that he had once been stalled for half a day because he wanted to out-growl a feral Poochyena. Likes to play guessing games.

The Spice Family:

Surf, the elder sister - A Croconaw and daughter of Team Spice's two leaders. Cares for her family and while nervous about the insurmountable reputation of her world-saving parents, nevertheless prides herself in giving her all to help her community. Still young, she has not developed any particular battle strategy. Likes stir-fry.

Turf, the younger sister - A Totodile and younger daughter of Team Spice's two leaders. Still going to school, Turf is focused on her studies while very deliberately trying to ignore the shadow that her parents cast over her. Still young, she has not developed any battle strategies, and in fact fears it. Will eat anything her sister says is good.

Thyme, the Hero of Time - A human-turned-Meganium and the only former human in the world to settle down and have a family. While he seems to be conflicted about how much of his old life he'd left behind, he is ultimately happy with the new one he lives today. He does not seem to be the most adept at battle, focusing instead on utilizing augmenting abilities or items to help his mate do most of the damage. Despite his type, doesn't mind fire.

Pepper, the Partner of Time - A Feraligatr who settled down with Thyme after saving the world from stopping in its tracks. Once a meek and shy Totodile, she grew up to become confident and headstrong, though her hesitant personality still peeks through when the pressure increases. That is, in part, why Thyme helps bolster her power in a fight. Hardier than her partner, she often attracts blows her way and keeps the pressure off Thyme so he can disrupt the opponents. Has grown fond of Grass.

Cresselia, the lunar emissary - Once a Pokemon of Legends, Cresselia decided to take a century off to relax with the heroes who saved the world, becoming an aunt for their three kids. She was never the best at battle, and was frequently stocking up on extra Revivers 'just in case,' but is mostly focused on healing..

Darkrai, the king of nightmares - He was the true reason behind time nearly freezing for the world, his spirit twisted and corrupted by Dark Matter's subtle influence. He used those same nightmares to corrupt Darkrai, but was ultimately thwarted by Thyme and Pepper; their final conflict left him, in a bit of karmic retribution, with amnesia the same way he'd given it to Thyme. But now, his memories returned, he only wants to make up for his past sins under Dark Matter's control... and Cresselia is there to help him through. Very meek in battle, he hesitates to use any of his nightmarish techniques.

Jelly, the young prince - A Manaphy, born from an egg and awaiting his true power to awaken. Despite growing up quickly, he still feels much like a child to Thyme and Pepper, full of energy and life. While he now spends most of his time in the ocean currents, he frequently visits to see how everyone is doing. Due to the current crisis, he decided to have an extended stay home. Not very experienced in battle, and is more focused on letting the older fighters handle the battling.

Pokemon Square natives:

Bone, the meteoric hero - A Marowak, and the oldest living human in Cibus. Seasoned after hearing of and sometimes battling through four, and soon five, Omens, Bone has become battle-hardened and dauntless in strength and spirit. While her body is starting to show signs of age, her expertise in battle shows that she still has several decades left in her, and she is determined to make good use of it. She regularly practices her aim, saying that if she ever fails in her basic exercises, that would be the day she retires to become a sensei at the dojo instead. So far, she has only gotten better. Her stern mask melts at the sight of children.

Nugget, the meteoric partner - A Blaziken who helped the human hero save the world from a cataclysmic meteor. Despite his intense expression, he is one of the most outwardly friendly, albeit wise, Pokemon who had directly dealt with an Omen. Despite the type disadvantage, he regularly holds his own against Bone, even though he is a little older than she is--at least, they think so. Being a human-turned-Pokemon, it's hard to tell how old Bone's body truly is. Prefers breezy locations.

Tender, the cataclysm prophet - An Absol who followed Nugget and Bone to save the world long ago. Of the three, he is the most aged, and feels that he is close to retiring to be an advisor or teacher instead. Still, his greatest asset--foreseeing great crises before they can arrive. While it usually has to do with the weather, there are a few times when other disasters are picked up, too. Unfortunately, foretelling the future has been disrupted with this new Omen. In battle, he forewarns his allies of incoming, devastating attacks. Is banned from gambling locations.

Treasure Town natives:

Olive, the nice one - One of the two Kecleon brothers that sell their wares in Treasure Town. He's cheerful and optimistic, ready to sell whatever they can to make the lives of their explorers better--for a price, of course. After all, they wouldn't be able to keep helping others if they didn't have the money to keep it all circulating. Fears the dark.

Plum, the mean one - The other of the Kecleon brothers in Treasure Town. Somewhat embittered by the constant crises that took place during his life, it came as almost no surprise that a new one had come along. Still, whatever small part he had in helping, he'd do it. He just wouldn't have that happy smile that Olive has. He admired that. Fears becoming like his father.

Paradise natives:

Pine, the stoic - A Haxorus, once a human, who saved the world from the Bittercold Omen alongside his partner. He apparently sees the world very differently from the other humans who live here, but does not elaborate much on why. He was also the only human who was able to freely travel between his home world and this one, though recently it does not appear to take advantage of this ability. His overwhelming strength in battle lets him move boulders with ease. Rarely reacts outwardly to things.

Nanab, the optimist - A Serperior who helped save the world from the Bittercold Omen. After so much hardship, Nanab grew up to be someone who could smile through any crisis and help rebuild after whatever was lost, just as he had with Paradise and the Bittercold before. She is one of the few Pokemon who has seen Pine emote, and also knows all of his subtle reads that many others miss. Perhaps, one day, she will tell Pine how she really feels... In battle, she increases her own power with moves that should normally weaken her, making for a dangerous foe when she starts moving.

Buffet, the Voice of Life - Currently a Hydreigon, Buffet is considered to be the embodiment of Cibus and its will to survive. In direct contrast to the late Dark Matter, Buffet is cheerful and filled with the hope and light of the world. And also wishes to fill himself with food; perhaps due to the form he takes, or some other aspect of his spirit, Buffet has an appetite that could rival whole families. It's a wonder where it all goes. Recently, Buffet has been harnessing his powers for battle in case another crisis arises, but his greatest abilities are currently unknown... Is apparently dating Xerneas.

Destiny Village residents:

Pop, our Pops - Arceus of Cibus, god of gods. He struggles with modernization but has tried very hard to keep up with the mortals of his realm. While powerless against the Blacklight crisis, he continues to help the team as he can, and seems to have nothing but good in mind for the future of his home. He had since abandoned his attempts to speak in a 'hip' way, and he seems more comfortable with himself now. As Arceus, he is supposedly the strongest entity native to Cibus.

Cola, our Child - A strange, hazy representation of Pop, the only defined feature on this Arceus is his red, circular eyes. He rapidly acquired the behavior of those around him, mimicking and mirroring their manners of speech perfectly before acquiring one of his own. Compared to Pop, he is impish, curious, and outgoing, but also easy to persuade and a little reckless. He technically shares the same soul as Pop, and fears one day that they will have to recombine.

Karat, the anomaly - While he hides his appearance behind a robe, anybody familiar with his appearance would peg him for the legendary Mewtwo. Not one to speak of his past, he instead uses his strange techniques to teach others abilities that they normally shouldn't know. He claims it was from forgotten times, but nobody but Arceus, perhaps, knows for sure. In battle, he is said to have no clear weaknesses. He actually wears the robe to hide from his rabid fans.

Lugia, Guardian of the Sea - Originally possessed by shadows, Diyem's team freed her of that corrupt aura and let her return to her original, shining form. She is stern and does not sugar-coat her assessments, and always acts as if she is busy when wanting to get something done. In battle, she weathers blows and strikes back with full force, taking advantage of her tough scales and natural endurance. Enjoys light drizzles.

Meringue, the sea trainee - A Lugia-in-training, with soft feathers and a smaller form, no larger than a Garchomp. He intends to be the next Lugia and trains under the existing one, prepared to take on whole eras of duty in her place. He was once a hero who saved the world from an ancient omen, given life once more to keep it safe for generations to come. Still learning how to fight, he only performs basic techniques and combinations. Still somewhat afraid of lightning.

Balm, of the future-past - A Sceptile more well-known for having once been Grovyle the Thief. Decades had passed since then, and he mellowed out into a nearly sage-like, but still cheesy Sceptile, and a disciple of Arceus. He wields a trinket around his neck that allows him safe passage between his world and Cibus, and also allows him to lightly manipulate the flow of time around him in battle. A crafty fighter, he is difficult to hit and even more difficult to predict.

Cepa, the timewatcher - A pink Celebi from the future-past. She accompanied Balm here for the same mission, and had also assisted in the restoration of both worlds during the Dark Time Omen. She is cheerful despite her great age, and had once spoken of retiring, similar to Lugia and Ho-Oh. In battle, she rarely attacks directly, opting instead to give opponents trouble with disruptions so the real damage dealers can step in. Doesn't like to wait.

Shield, Telum's fallen hero - Meant to be the human that saved his world form Dark Matter, he instead witnessed its demise before waking up in Cibus. His body and powers are dedicated almost entirely toward protecting others, and his personality is one to match. He avoids failure, but is frustrated at how easily it comes to him anyway. Supposedly a lightweight with beer.

Sword, Telum's Mew - Formally Darkwhite, Sword is the restored partner of Shield, who had been meant to save Telum from Dark Matter before its unexpected and early demise. Back to her full strength, Sword now spends her time with Shield playing pranks and enjoying his company. As it turns out, the chaotic nature of Darkwhite may have only been a slight exaggeration.
 
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Namohysip

Dragon Enthusiast
Staff
Partners
  1. flygon
  2. charizard
  3. milotic
  4. zoroark-soda
  5. sceptile
  6. marowak
  7. jirachi
The Story So Far!

Chapter 1: Start with a Splash

The world of Cibus is under attack!

Diyem, a Charizard of mysterious origins and abilities, watched from a world away as a society of Pokémon sat helpless against a giant Magikarp. It was only a symptom of a greater problem, a new crisis to befall a land that was meant for an era of peace. He sent who he had on-hand: a Charmander by the name of Owen, known for his own acts from a world beyond. While he was not nearly as strong in this world, and while he would be sent down even weaker, it was all Diyem could do to buy time.

Owen was soundly defeated by the Magikarp after running out of stamina, tricks, and luck. In the meantime, Diyem gathered up as many souls as he could from worlds beyond for more assistance, and was answered by some twenty, perhaps thirty individuals all at once. After a quick debriefing of the world, most agreed to enter, and soon they were sent to the nearest large civilization to the Magikarp: Treasure Town.

Once in Treasure Town, several heroes had a short meet and greet with one another, with the Magikarp on the far eastern horizon. Some were less trusting than others, skeptical of Diyem’s true intentions, and suspected that he was behind the crisis from the start. Others thought that the battle was already lost—after all, such a powerful foe, so huge and imposing, was impossible to conquer, was it not?

Others were more focused on their new bodies. Some, like Cabot, were disappointed to have once again returned to a Cranidos form. Others, like Dave, resented their new appearances and overwhelming instinct to scratch and growl and fight. And others still, like Bahamut, figured that it was well-deserved, one way or another. The rare few were thrilled, such as Cuicatl, whose Dragon blood did nothing but lift her spirits. Everyone had small differences that they had to adjust to—both with the bodies they were given, and the world they had entered.

They had little time to gather their bearings: two scouts arrived, Decidueye Truffle and Zoroark Soda. Both were considered extremely powerful by Diyem, and while he warned them to run at first, he eventually settled on being nice to them instead. Most followed.

Owen elected to search for supplies and found a ruined marketplace. Kecleon Market, the place with the best wares, had been collapsed into itself by an inconveniently placed boulder that had similar properties to the Magikarp. Still, with enough combined strength, Owen, Jaro, and Cabot were able to push the boulder aside to reveal some supplies to borrow for the fight.

Training and mingling continued. Despite the urgency of their mission, some of them had to wait and train and prepare for their team. Several heroes conversed, some ending better than others. Dave and Cynthian had a long exchange about their respective worlds, sharing a sort of kinship discussing genetics, the Grass body, and their pasts.

Astrid, Starr, Tricky, and Cuicatl had a chat on the beach, fretting over the future that they’d just been thrust into without any sense of what would come next. All the while, the past ate at some of them, such as Starr—the very name of the icy Vulpix a constant reminder of things she’d rather forget. Flame and Necrozma also spent some time at the beach, one to relax, the other to brood and absorb sunlight. Several others gathered at the beach to relax as well, perhaps the final noon before the apocalypse, a great, fishy apocalypse…

Meanwhile, at Sharpedo Bluff, Nip, Celeste, and Mellow had uncovered a hidden home—the home of Team Spice, the Heroes of Time. There, Croconaw Surf, elder daughter of the team, confronted Nip for breaking and entering, though she was eventually calmed down. Tensions were high: Surf’s younger sister, Turf, was horribly sick, and the usual remedies had little to no effect. Even if the Magikarp was defeated, Surf wasn’t sure what was going to happen to Turf.

At the dojo, several sparring matches occurred, and their living quarters were introduced. Truffle took the liberty of showing Dave his hidden quarters where he could invite anybody for company and comfort. The Decidueye was absolutely certain that Dave, while hard on the outside, was merely shy and in dire need of close intimacy. He was not one to judge the human; perhaps in his world, such things were normal to desire from Pokémon.

Evening eventually fell, and dinner was arranged for everyone to enjoy, one way or another. Carnivorous Pokémon were confused by the strange “gummi” items that were provided for them, but even stranger was the concept of artificial meats. Was nobody familiar with an honorable hunt in this world? Regardless, apparently true meat existed, but it was not in the food stores.

Truffle approached Necrozma at the beach, late at night, and offered some light from his strange, radiant abilities. It satiated Necrozma somewhat, but it simply wasn’t enough. Meanwhile, on the Bluff, Brisa and Curio were able to talk about their past. They had a surprising amount in common, from semi-feral upbringings to fathers who were less than ideal. This new kinship led to the spark of a new friendship.

At the dojo, Starr practiced against a training dummy, though it seemed that she was not alone. A strange presence messed with her, possessing the dummy and toying with her senses. It ultimately led to a warm, rice-filled explosion that would traumatize the little Litten for days to come.

That presence was not finished. Zane and Seyka, against the advice of Diyem from above, entered the abandoned districts of the marketplace in search off a gift for Dave to make up for a rough beginning. Unfortunately, that involved breaking and entering a shop, which was still active with security alarms. Not only that, Diyem sensed the presence of a strange and powerful entity.

The noise attracted this entity—a mysterious, hazy creature whose eyes and mouth glowed in a cartoonishly stretched grin. Its power was unfathomable, splitting buildings in half with one cleave. She disappeared and reappeared at will. A devastating uppercut against Zane would have killed him outright, yet it seemed she had held back enough to only severely injure him. These wounds weren’t normal—they lasted, even after healing and recovery. They faded much slower… Attacks like those were dangerous.

But thankfully, Diyem was quick to alert the others, and Truffle was quick to call upon their leader, tired as she may have been. A Smeargle of power perhaps even more terrifying appeared to save Zane and the others, also scaring off the hazy creature. The team lives for another day, but not without that first-day reminder that the threat they have to deal with is far greater than a simple, giant fish…

When morning arrived, the crisis of the two Magikarp became an even greater threat: another Magikarp! With the tremors of the approaching duo now twice as quick, the team makes final deliberations and fretting for the incoming fight. Tricky and Astrid, in particular, wondered if they had it in them to defeat such a great, fishy foe. Owen tested Dave's Pokemon body, and to Owen's pleasure and Dave's existential horror, the Poochyena was a natural fighter! Loved it, even! This fact made Dave wonder if his alcoholism, which was certainly not alcoholism, could redevelop.

Nip and Cabot tried to ease their worries by talking about their own worlds, their relative deities, and their old lives. Nip in particular was fascinated, and a little confused, by these strange "gummi" foods. A new arrival, a Mew, came at the last moments. Mithos, a little air-headed and certainly not top-notch hero material, was still another unit to battle against the two Magikarp one way or the other.

However, not all was well among the team. Lots of infighting between personalities had eventually led to trouble in paradise. Curio and Starr, in a battle of wits, punched and clawed and tackled one another in the traditional battle of the mind. And as many debates between Pokemon go, by the end of it, they understood each other a little more.

Not long after, Cynthian, with newfound confidence after Truffle's encouragement, took it upon himself to spar with Brisa and test his skills. However, not long after the match was over--and Cynthian's confidence was solidified--it was time to go.

The Magikarp had made an unexpected jump to Treasure Town. Hours became minutes, and the team rushed to the Crossroads to take them down. After a gruesome struggle that left half the team downed and the other half exhausted, both Magikarp--including the one that had evolved mid-fight--were defeated, and with Treasure Town largely unscathed!

Now, it was time to investigate what had happened, and how they got to that state in the first place...
 
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Namohysip

Dragon Enthusiast
Staff
Partners
  1. flygon
  2. charizard
  3. milotic
  4. zoroark-soda
  5. sceptile
  6. marowak
  7. jirachi
Chapter 2 - A Spicy Predicament
(Week 1 has been summarized by @Adamhuarts)

After the arduous battle had ended, Maple and a few others left to investigate the site Sushi and Sashimi first appeared from as giants. There they found seemingly useless but strange rocky lumps that weren't there before.

After some of the others returned to the Dojo, they were introduced to another member of Maple's God Squad. A friendly Silvally named Potluck. After Maple returned, she shared the rocky lumps out to the team for safekeeping.

Afterwards, Maple gave them a rundown of the crisis affecting Cibus and the ones that came before, how a series of omens and catastrophes had been followed by the arrival of an ancient demon called Dark Matter, who had tried to hurl the planet into the sun. Almost a decade after Dark Matter was cleansed from Cibus, Arceus had noticed an invading presence in their world. Following that was the strange sickness that is spreading, missing Pokemon, huge Pokemon, and recently, berserk Pokemon. It seemed only the pokemon Diyem brought to Cibus have any effect against some of these odd threats. Why that is, remains to be seen.

After Maple finished her explanation and left the team to their devices, exhaustion overtook everyone forcing them to rest for a whole week. Afterwards, Soda informed the group they'd been invited for a lunch party.

Cino met up with Cynthian at the beach after which the two made small talk about their worlds and current events. Meanwhile, Astrid, Nip, and Cabot go shopping for TMs. Cabot was highly surprised TMs also worked based on Aura.

Elsewhere, Maple had invited Necrozma out for light therapy. She appeared to know about his kind and the two bond over their suspicions of each other and Diyem specifically.

At the Sharpedo Bluff, Brisa, Celeste, Ashwood and Mellow visited Surf and Turf, with the latter afflicted by a mutation, caused by a phantom creature, which native inhabitants could not see. Things escalate when Turf fell into a craze by the phantom possessing her. Mellow was able to call for help and Starr was there to split the Phantom from Turf.

The God Squad eventually arrived to assist the group, meanwhile Necrozma successfully apprehended the weakened Phantom into a prison jar. The situation was then under control. Surf and Turf were left to rest, the others dispersed for lunch. However, it seemed Brisa had a few words left for Starr.

(Week 2, courtesy of @TheGOAT )

Starr and Brisa clashed outside Sharpedo Bluff, tossing insult after scathing insult at one another. Diyem’s interruption was the only thing that stopped them from exchanging blows as well. Fortunately they were able to split apart for the time being, with Starr heading off to the lunch and Brisa trailing after her. They would sit at opposite ends of the table, but by then the spat had cooled down. For now.

Quite a few team members showed up to the lunch service, eager to see what the God Squad had reserved for them. They partook in the Great Curry Challenge, which no one came close to winning… except for Maple, who offhandedly finished off her bowl of curry without breaking a sweat. Astrid, Curio, Starr, and Owen stuck around for a pun-filled exchange, but by then, Maple and several others had left for the beach.

At the beach, Maple sensed someone observing them talk. An unlucky Nate (a Mudkip who had kept away from the group all this time) happened to wander too close to the hiding place of their secret observers: Cepa, a pink Celebi, and Balm, a Sceptile overtaken by blind rage. Quick to act, Maple was able to save Nate from ambush by using more of her portal tricks, and the party was able to free Balm from the shadowy creature controlling him. Balm went on to explain that he’d been feeling especially paranoid lately, and that he believed that creature — a shadow slug like the one that had controlled Turf — had nurtured that paranoia into a manic state. Once secured in a handy jar, Maple resolved to give it to Truffle for further inspection.

Meanwhile, Brisa and Owen had left the restaurant and met up with Cino at the Bluff, where they all visited Surf and Turf. Turf was in a downcast mood after what happened, but they were able to cheer her up a bit. Brisa took a keen interest in the two kids, since her father had been a human too. She presented them with a letter to be sent out to the other human-turned-Pokemon of the world, with Owen’s beady little claws doing their best to write it out.

Necrozma went to visit Xatu. They had a deep conversation that let him re-learn a move from his past. He would then run into Tricky nearby, and they’d chat for a bit before Necrozma left to find Maple. Zane was wandering around in the woods when he encountered a robed figure calling himself Karat. After an intense bout of trial and error, Karat was able to unlock the move Mimic for Zane to use before promptly disappearing. Cynthian visited Sunny’s Daycare, where he was taken on a mind-trip that unlocked new moves for him as well.

A meeting was held at the guild to determine Team Spice’s likely whereabouts. Only a few minutes in, however, the haze that had attacked Zane made a dramatic return — this time revealing itself in physical form. Calling herself Darkwhite, she toyed with everyone in the room by repeatedly implying that Team Spice’s seven known members had all fallen victim to the shadow slugs. The worried crew was left with no choice but to prepare for what would likely be a difficult battle, should they cross paths with Team Spice in that state.

In Veritas City, a new Pokémon had arrived: Skara, a Grubbin ready to take on the challenge laid out for her…

(Part III provided by @SparklingEspeon )

Abruptly disappearing from Karat's presence, Zane found himself in the middle of the woods, startling Brisa. A talk between Zane and Brisa went south fast, resulting in a battle that Brisa ultimately won. Zane broke down after being defeated, prompting Brisa to extend a helping paw.

While sparring at the dojo, Nip, Astrid, and Cabot all sat down to work on a plan of Cabot's that would help them defeat their next enemy, regardless of what it was. Satisfied with their efforts, they left for the main square to rope Owen and others into it too.

After roughly a week of effort, Maple called everyone to the Treasure Town Square to make an announcement: traces of Team Spice had been located in the nearby Aegis Cave, in addition to a few strange rocks that siphoned away the powers of those native to Cibus.

Everyone was given badges and memberships of Arceus' Guild, while also being asked to change their names to ones more befitting of the local culture. To Soda’s confusion, everyone chose food names. Ire over latent feelings of distrust and a haphazard translation oversight was directed towards Diyem, who reacted indignantly. After being confronted by the group, Diyem apologized for his outburst and moved on.

Waypoints were set up, beaming the team to Aegis Cave. Soon after entering, communications with Diyem were cut off – a result of the distortion energy surrounding the cave. Eventually, the party stumbled upon Team Spice, currently possessed by the same malady that had affected Turf a week prior.

Team Spice fought tooth and claw, but Diyem’s Heroes eventually prevailed, landing the final blows on a possessed Darkrai. Upon being defeated, several of the slug-like parasites escaped from the corrupted team’s bodies, many of them slithering away before they could be captured. However, three were successfully caught and taken back to the Wigglytuff’s Guild, where it would quickly be decided what was to be done with them…
 
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Namohysip

Dragon Enthusiast
Staff
Partners
  1. flygon
  2. charizard
  3. milotic
  4. zoroark-soda
  5. sceptile
  6. marowak
  7. jirachi
Chapter 3 – Darkwhite Skies

Team Spice was defeated and freed of the Shades that had possessed them. And while the remaining Shades had possessed Darkrai, Thyme and Pepper had enough strength in them to fight Darkrai back and thwart them completely. Starr had used a Useless Lump on Thyme, and no Shade seemed to emerge from him when he was defeated, but the other four had Shades each. One was destroyed, and the other three captured.

Zane and a few others had some trouble escaping from Aegis Cave due to troubles with operating their devices. However, after a lot of back and forth, Brisa was able to help the Boomgoose into using the new tech to escape.

Mellow, realizing that she was not built for combat in quite the same way as others, decided instead to take on the role of team morale boosting with her talents from home—tea, and set up a stand in the marketplace to help in her own way.

Meanwhile, at the Guild, Maple decided that it was finally time to grant the team the powers over Radiance. While it was normally something that would take a long time to manifest, Maple was confident that, with how quickly they were strengthening, they would be able to adopt these powers rapidly. As a result, Maple created a Radiant sphere for everyone to touch—mere exposure was enough to infuse Diyem’s heroes with Radiance, whether they wanted it or not.

At the beach, Maple followed Bahamut after his strange, trance-like state after seeing the Radiance to give him his own dosage of the light. This restored his old form, albeit without the ability to retain it in the middle of battle.

Shortly after, several members tried to test out how their Radiant powers manifested. Celeste rediscovered a shadow of his old perceptive abilities, able to see attacks coming a split-second in advance, which would, when activated, allow him to evade quite a few strikes. Cino uncovered an ability to protect himself. Icetales, too, helped Cino with his training, with his endless eloquence by his side.

After being prompted about their Radiance, several members including Owen, Jaro, Nate, and Dave decided to get together to comb through town in search of more “slugs,” as they were called, or “Shades” more formally. They narrowed their search down to three key locations: the main square of Treasure Town, where most explorers passed by; the marketplace, where the population was the densest; and the residential district, where an infection was the most likely to spread in undetected silence.

At the marketplace, Dave and Owen set off on their side of the investigation. It was there that they ran into Darkwhite, who was struggling valiantly against the same curry bowl challenge the team had dealt with only a little while ago. After a confrontation, they were able to deduce a few things: Darkwhite was weak physically, but could revive repeatedly, based on Owen and Dave’s readings of her power. She also claimed that there were multiple Pokémon infected in town, with two in the Marketplace. Deciding to trust her words, they searched for a Garchomp, who apparently was the most dangerous of the infected.

A Garchomp they did find, and she was attacking an Arbok in a sparring match gone too far. After some quick thinking, they were able to draw Garchomp’s attention away, and Dave manifested his Radiant power of protection without him even contacting the golden orb from Maple. While this upset him, it was a welcome change in the moment. Owen had been badly injured, but was also able to assist in distracting and ultimately taking down Garchomp with the help from Nip and Soda, who had been alerted thanks to a call from Dave and Mellow heading to the dojo to get more help.

With the Shade defeated, Nip seriously injured the Shade before it was placed in a jar. Despite the injuries it caused to Owen and the others, Owen proposed giving it an Oran because it, too, was hurt. Soda objected, as did Dave and Nip at first, until Owen was healed somewhat with an Oran of his own. Then, reluctantly, they fed the Shade next; not only did it eat the Oran, but it healed, too. From there, its hostility lowered.

Shades were intelligent; they understood what Dave said, and responded to basic mathematical questions in chirps. With this new information, suddenly killing and hunting the Shades was a much stickier endeavor…

The marketplace group disbanded to rest and recover.

Meanwhile, Nate, Truffle, and later Lauchs gathered together in the residential district to do their side of the investigation. They uncovered that a neighborhood leader had been possessed, but Truffle was able to quickly defeat him. It seemed that some possessed Pokémon were not able to absorb normal attacks the way others could, such as the foes that the team had been battling.

Back at the dojo, Cynthian and Seyka had a talk about being a hero. Cynthian continued to doubt himself and his power, the last fight not going as well as he would have hoped. Seyka, similarly, lamented his lack of use for flight. It seemed they both had some trouble in their new bodies.

A newcomer was summoned by Diyem: Icetales, the regal frigid Vulpix. Diyem was growing less careful with his powers by now, and he w as able to catch a glimpse of the black flame at the end of the Charizard’s tail.

Icetales made it a point to get to know as many as he could, and one of them was Mellow. After some mingling, they commemorated their meeting with a bow for Mellow, which was both cute and stylish.

Later in the day, Bahamut was finding new places to meditate. During that time, he took the opportunity to speak with, and in a way taunt, Diyem and his insistence on keeping the team in the dark. There, Diyem ultimately also revealed his nature to Bahamut, and they decided that the sooner, the better in terms of disclosing this information to the rest of the team, as well as to Maple.

Brisa had exploded during her training with Radiance, and as a result, had been brought to the Guild infirmary. By a lucky happenstance, Brisa also happened upon Thyme there, as well as Pine, Nanab, and Buffet—the team from Paradise that she had written to a week prior. There, they gave her some perspective on what it meant to be human. It was eye-opening, yet also something of a solemn affair. Brisa’s father was nothing like them, after all, and perhaps that is why his story ended so differently.

Bahamut was not the only person that Diyem had revealed his true nature. In fact, several Pokémon had come before him. Curio and Cabot were among the first, who both took them in vastly different ways. Cabot, while startled, accepted Diyem as someone who could change; Curio, still reeling after a mishap with Brisa’s Radiant Arrest attack dredging up old memories, took it in stride and shrugged it off. In some ways, Diyem had been offended by both reactions.

Zane and Nip busied themselves with a sparring match that, similar to Brisa and several others, left Nip feeling the effects of Radiance very quickly.

Next came Brisa, who also accepted it well. This, too, annoyed Diyem, as he believed at least a scream would have sufficed, regardless of how it may have complicated things. Couldn’t they have at least screamed a little?

At the dojo, Owen also elected to train and awaken his Radiance. It was a resounding success; in fact, it was such a great success that Owen seemed to regain a large portion of his lost memories, as his Grassy form from his Radiant ability has led him to recalling a similar incident at home. Thankfully, he recovered, but it seemed that the cheerful Charmander had a lot more weighing on him…

At the Crossroads, Starr, Astrid, and Cuicatl had a strange hybrid of apologies and why-are-you-apologizing exchanges, eventually got together to have some time eating. Slowly, it seemed, the bonds of friendship between everyone in town had been growing, perhaps from the fires they thrust themselves within, or simply over time as they spent their idle time amongst one another.

Spinda Café was home to many lighthearted and heavyhearted exchanges, several of them between Curio, Starr, and Brisa. Old wounds had been reopened from innocuous battles, leading to cycles of self-loathing and traumas rapidly bubbling to the surface. Still, with some talking, they were able to come to a better understanding of one another… mostly. Eventually. Dave and Curio also had an exchange about science, biology, theology and, of course, alcohol.

Several days passed where several shifts were rotated in the town square to search for Shades. While little happened, eventually Cynthian, after having a less than stellar time after a sparring match against Cabot, Astrid, and Brisa went badly. After lamenting over his loss, a Shade suddenly possessed him, though he managed to resist just enough to get back to the main square. Curio was able to save Cynthian with the power of friendship and violence, and a new Shade and a new set of trauma was acquired by the team.

After Darkwhite’s attack on Celeste, the Absol stayed in the dojo to recover, where Nip helped tend to his injuries and his general mood. During that time, they had a nice chat about gods from their respective worlds.

A few days later, out of the great blue horizon, a Lugia flew and landed on Sharpedo Bluff to be discovered by Cabot and a few others. Taken quickly to the Guild to recover, they learned that he was Meringue, the Lugia-in-training and to-be successor to the current Lugia. They had been training as usual, and suddenly Lugia had disappeared right before his eyes, and he had to run away after being under attack. They were helpless to stop it, and Meringue, crestfallen, did not know if his master was safe.

Back at the Bluff, Bahamut meditated and spoke with Cuicatl, and later Cynthian, about themselves, their power, and of course, Bahamut’s suspicions of Diyem and his concerns over whether keeping everything a secret would be good in the long run.

Brisa and Starr tried to patch things up with another talk. However, a series of terrible phrasing and in general bad understanding on both sides led to a greater rift between the two of them. While Diyem was greatly nourished by this negativity, he was also very disappointed, though he had arrived too late to say anything to them.

After the investigation, and after Dave was able to get Squiggly in a proper jar in his room, confronted Maple and asked why despite not touching the Radiant orb, he still gained Radiant powers. Maple said that it was likely due to their strange bodies, but the confrontation quickly turned cold. Maple expressed her suspicions of their team, and Dave, wanting to get a feel for how powerful Maple was, realized that her power was practically otherworldly. Maple, knowing what Dave was doing, gave him a not-so-subtle threat: If she ever suspected that their team was not truly trying to save Cibus, she would personally end their stay.

On more friendlier terms, Cynthian met with Balm and Cepa once more and asked them about what they were doing here. Their story was simple: They came from the parallel world that had been freed of the dark future from the Time Omen. Afterward, they noted that all of the crises that happened in Cibus happened at a later date in their own Cibus… except for Dark Matter, who did not appear at all.

At the beach one night, Diyem frantically woke everyone to save Celeste, who had been attacked by Darkwhite, battered and beaten into unconsciousness without restraint. Meringue, too, tried to fight against Darkwhite, but all of his attacks had no effect on her. By the time enough of them were gathered, Darkwhite proposed a challenge: To show up at the Silver Trench to fight Darkwhite and a special surprise…

Not long after that took place, Owen and Bahamut had a heart to heart by the beach. Bahamut claimed that Owen would one day crack from the pressure of his cheerful façade, despite the weight of his past. Owen seemed to acknowledge it, though he did not appreciate the delivery… but in some way, at least respected Bahamut’s wisdom, warped by cynicism as it may have been.

Cabot and Meringue had a talk at the Bluff, where Meringue spoke of his past as a mortal, and eventual, potential ascension into becoming the next Lugia. It was very different from Cabot’s world’s pantheon, but nevertheless, Cabot swore to save Lugia and restore order to Cibus. The optimism wasn’t convincing Meringue, but he smiled along anyway.

Days passed, and a few days before Darkwhite returned with her promised match in the Silver Trench, Karat had called for assistance. Team Spice and their kids had failed the mission, and it became clear why: the Rattata had returned, and was running amok. Thankfully, the combined efforts of Owen, Nip, Skara, Mellow, and Icetales allowed them to capture the rat, extract the slug, and save Karat from a cruel and unusual fate of having a nuisance in his edgy isolation forest.

The day finally came. Surprisingly, Darkwhite had followed through with her promise, and Maple spotted Darkwhite at Silver Trench with Lugia. However… Lugia had become something darkened and monstrous. While unsurprising, actually seeing it in person was a sight to behold—a horrifying sight.

They had to defeat her and Darkwhite. Otherwise, there was no telling what destruction she could bring to the world…
 
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Namohysip

Dragon Enthusiast
Staff
Partners
  1. flygon
  2. charizard
  3. milotic
  4. zoroark-soda
  5. sceptile
  6. marowak
  7. jirachi
Chapter 4 - Shadows Within

Week 1 of Chapter 4 provided by @unrepentantAuthor

The party defeated and rescued the corrupted Lugia, and Darkwhite fled the battle. With the fight over, the dungeon began to collapse. In the chaos, most of the party escaped via Maple's portals, but Starr and Brisa were whisked away by Giratina, not to be heard from in some time. Maple remained behind, to witness the two lugia in motion, before following.

Arriving in Pokémon Square, the party debated their best move. As Brisa and Starr were allegedly alive somewhere, some mon made plans to track them down., and some zangoose showed little concern. Bickering led to Curio punching Zane, who left to sulk as the party dispersed, pursued by Vix and Jaro. Maple returned to set up a portal between the two continents, and the party dispersed, to meet again later at the Dojo. Horrified by the possible permanent loss of party members, Icetales fled to Whiscash Lake in a state of mental breakdown. Celeste followed him, and soothed him with an offer of friendship.

Zane went to Bone's Abode to ruminate over his outcast status in his version of Cibus, but first Vix, then Jaro arrived, to offer sympathy and comfort. In an attempt to prove to him that he knows valid pokémon moves, Jaro prompted a brief scuffle.

Later, at the Dojo, the party gathered to hear Diyem confess his identity as Dark Matter, and his certainty that another Dark Matter was responsible in part or entirely for the ongoing events on Cibus. Most took it relatively well, even Bahamut, but Cynthian was deeply horrified. Owen and Mellow did their best to soothe him with advice and hot tea. Later, in the hidden quarters, Owen would show Cynthian his grass form and ask him to trust in his teammates, if not Diyem. Some in the party insisted on not revealing this information to Maple et al, with Bahamut the strongest advocate for coming clean at once.

In the living quarters, the God Squad's scientific liaison, Chip the porygon-Z, arrived. He was here to advocate testing the introduction of shades to useless lumps, despite the ethical objections of Dave in particular. Nevertheless, it appears that lumps containing a shade can be used to empower a party member!

On the beach, Cabot asked Bahamut about his home world, and was perplexed by Bahamut's resignation to the terrible fate Etherium had fallen to. In turn, Bahamut questioned Cabot on his willingness to make utilitarian moral choices.

At the woodland outskirts, Celeste fretted about the possibility that he had the intimidating blood-red eyes of a Cibus-native absol. Cynthian confirmed his fear, but offered to take him to the market to find blue contact lenses for his use, and helped apply them. Pleased with how he'd helped his teammate, Cynthian went about procuring other gifts.

At the cafe, Icetales went to make notes on the various problems concerning the team, and research possible solutions. Cynthian arrived with a gift to welcome him to the team: a black handkerchief with a snowflake decorative pattern. The gift was received with considerable gratitude by the vulpix.


The rest was written by @Namohysip

Darkwhite had appeared in the middle of a conversation between Bahamut and Cynthian within the dojo. She was quick to try to frighten or otherwise annoy and irritate the team, but despite her efforts, Bahamut's indifferent valor instilled courage within the rest of the team. As a result, they ignored Darkwhite, which in turn made her extremely irate. Despite this, however, she did not attack them, and instead fled the scene after taunting them that they would never find the corrupted village.

Bahamut proposed searching randomly instead of in some systematic methodology. This would make it difficult for Darkwhite to track and predict them. In response, Pine rose from where he was sitting and left with Nanab right then, leaving no time for planning or coordination. They went on several spontaneous missions like this, but were largely unsuccessful in their efforts up until they did not appear at all.

Bidoof had gone missing. And then, Pine and Nanab disappeared shortly after.. All of them had last been seen at Shaymin Village. With all the pieces in place, it was clear that the corrupted settlement Darkwhite was referring to was at Sky Peak. And so, with everyone ready, the team set off to cleanse the area.

Pine, Nanab, Bidoof, and the whole Shaymin village had been corrupted by a mysterious machine that looked much like Dark Matter. Not only that, but its dark attributes seeped into the air and corrupted the team as they got close, too. They had to defeat it quickly; otherwise, they, too, would become part of the Shadow horde...
 
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Namohysip

Dragon Enthusiast
Staff
Partners
  1. flygon
  2. charizard
  3. milotic
  4. zoroark-soda
  5. sceptile
  6. marowak
  7. jirachi
Chapter 5 - Creation and Destruction
The battle was a grueling one, emotionally and physically, but Team Spectrum ultimately powered through and freed their friends at the same time. The Shadow Machine was smashed into pieces, but what surprised everyone was the fact that there was more than just scrap metal by the time it was destroyed. Indeed, within the center of that Dark Matter replica was a Cosmog--and more than that, it was a Cosmog with amnesia and the insistent memory that he used to be human.

There was a lot to digest. Maple then proposed to the team that it was time to go to Destiny Village after a long delay of getting it all set up for the team. It was a cold, cold climate, far to the north of most other continents--the Mystery Continent, the place where Arceus erected his tower and where several Legends came to live normal lives. They were, in effect, retiring during the era of peace.

There, the team met several members of Poppin' Arms Guild. Their leader was Marshadow S'more, and according to history books in the library, he was one of the main founders of Destiny Village, a place built with Legends in mind. Apparently, during the era of peace that followed the fall of Dark Matter, the Legends didn't know what to do with themselves. Efforts from the heroes of the past Omens--the meteor, the timecrash, the Bittercold, and Dark Matter himself--had socialized the Legends they encountered and reawakened their past selves.

And as such, they needed a place to live for a few centuries before returning to their cyclical slumbers. Destiny Village was born. It was the leader of technology, which spread throughout the rest of Cibus for an age of prosperity, pioneering technologies that were once only known to the world of humans. Their lead tech, Poryon Z Chip, took it upon himself to analyze the strange machine's scraps.

There, with the efforts of Starr and others familiar with human worlds, a grave discovery was made. Cosmog was not only someone who came from that machine, or was stored inside somehow--that machine was, in itself, the product of Team Rocket. How did they get here? It was only another mystery to add to the strange pile that filled the core of Cibus. That only led to one more mystery: Cosmog, who answered strongly to the name Silver, must have been the key to this somehow... But that was all they knew so far, and all they could guess.

Time passed in Cibus and the team got used to their new homes and dorms. And eventually, after the disappearances of Dialga, Palkia, and Giratina, the team hastily went to search for them at Temporal Tower, only to find that all three had been taken over and possessed by the Blacklight. It was here that the team had to take down the Creation Dragons themselves as reality ripped itself apart around them...
 

Namohysip

Dragon Enthusiast
Staff
Partners
  1. flygon
  2. charizard
  3. milotic
  4. zoroark-soda
  5. sceptile
  6. marowak
  7. jirachi
Chapter 6 - Telum
After a hard-fought battle, the Creation Trio was not only fused together by the corrupting power of Blacklight, but they'd encountered Joule--only, he wasn't himself. His body had been warped into the Blacklight itself, and he mindlessly destroyed all that was around him. While Team Spectrum battled the fused Trio, Maple battled Joule, and lost. Even with the fusion was defeated, Maple sustained serious injuries during the fight; it was only by the interference of a Mewtwo that they were spared Joule's chaotic wrath. Yet this Mewtwo, according to Starr's recognition, was no Mewtwo at all--but a human who had become one. Giovanni, leader of Team Rocket... How did he end up here?

Dialga, Palkia, and Giratina were taken to Destiny Tower in their fused states, where Arceus claimed that he would treat the fusion to pull them apart again. However, he also said that this would take some time, and until then, their powers would not be at their best. Meanwhile, Maple was severely injured and had to be brought to a chamber of light to recover. Curiously, her blood was gold and combustive, and generally dangerous to approach.

However, another issue had come up without anybody realizing until later: Diyem had gone missing. There was no word from their patron ever since the fight against the Creation trio, and his whereabouts were unknown. No amount of reaching out, telepathy, or other calls got a response, and some wondered if Diyem had abandoned them. Others, however, believed instead that something happened to Diyem, and he might be in trouble. Regardless of the theory, however, they had no idea where he went.

A week later, an explosion rocked the outskirts of the Sand Continent, in a place called the Isle of Light. The team went to investigate, only to find Rayquaza, drunk with Radiance, challenging them to a battle. He called them Emissaries of Darkness, and claimed that their patron intended to destroy the Tree of Life once more. Then, withdrawn into a human-made capture sphere--a Poke Ball--Rayquaza left it to a strange Lucario to address them instead. Maple recognized him instantly: Shield, the hero who had failed to save her world from Dark Matter. He was the hero of the destroyed Telum.

Shield claimed that he would save Cibus from the same fate that befell Telum. And so, he challenged the group to a battle at the Great Canyon to settle things once and for all...
 

Namohysip

Dragon Enthusiast
Staff
Partners
  1. flygon
  2. charizard
  3. milotic
  4. zoroark-soda
  5. sceptile
  6. marowak
  7. jirachi
Chapter 7 - Darkwhite, the Ally?
The battle against Rayquaza, Shield, as well as Groudon and Kyogre led to a huge clash that, ultimately, resulted in the victory of the team. Shield was apprehended and Rayquaza and the rest of his trio were captured and returned to Destiny Village, where they were questioned. Shield recognized Darkwhite--she was Sword, his partner during the Dark Matter crisis of Telum. Yet... what happened to her? What happened to that Charmander that Shield knew so well? Darkwhite didn't react well to the name and fled, leaving the team to regroup back home.

After a rematch to truly convince Rayquaza and the others of the hearts within Team Spectrum, Shield willfully went into confinement at the Guild for observations and questioning, as did Rayquaza and the others.

Meanwhile, Darkwhite appeared and started chatting with the team like nothing was wrong. Understandably, everyone was skeptical of that, though Darkwhite then claimed that, indeed, she was helping them the whole time! She had been disrupting the plans of Giovanni for quite a while. Her proof was ultimately that she made the battle against Lugia hopelessly easy, and that she had never taken the battle against them very seriously. And in the end, she said that she was going to leave for another mission to get Ho-Oh from Giovanni next, as well as the three Beasts and Brulee.

While there, Maple and the others found signs of Joule's armor in the abandoned lab in the Isle of Light. This upset Maple greatly, but she still had hope that Joule was alive. Still, her fears were still eating away at her, to the point where the Ultra Stone that she'd acquired for herself manifested... into another Joule, quickly named Millijoule. This did not help her mood, but after some talking, she came to terms with it.

Ultimately, that mission was a partial success with the help of the others there. Brulee, Entei, Raikou, and Suicune had all been rescued before they had to flee. Darkwhite then claimed that she would be going back later to save Ho-Oh proper, even as Brulee recovered in the infirmary with Meringue, his brother back from their mortal lives.

The team got the call from Darkwhite. She had done it. She had really done it! Ho-Oh was saved! Now all they had to do was go over there and purify Ho-Oh the good old fashioned way with Darkwhite in their midst. This was going to be their easiest fight yet!
 

Namohysip

Dragon Enthusiast
Staff
Partners
  1. flygon
  2. charizard
  3. milotic
  4. zoroark-soda
  5. sceptile
  6. marowak
  7. jirachi
Chapter 8 - Sword, Shield, and the Machine
The battle against Ho-Oh went smoothly, but the battle that followed against Darkwhite was anything but. Giovanni had been controlling her the entire time, using her body as a source of energy for some strange Eternatus that had been sealed within her--or perhaps, a part of her? Regardless, they had to defeat her if they had any hope of saving her by taking down the Eternatus heads that had emerged from her back.

Giovanni also gave a warning to the team: that he had spies among them, though they had outlasted their usefulness. That if they did not want to be exposed, they would have to find a new way to be useful...

A series of ingenious maneuvers by the team, however, allowed them to save her not only from herself, but from Giovanni's clutches, at least briefly. A well-timed Shadow Isolation kept her from being captured in a timely manner, and they escaped as quickly as they could to a nearby, familiar place--the summit of Revelation Mountain, where the sacred waters had drawn Maple.

Their peace did not last long. Giovanni had attacked Destiny Village, and they had to rush to get back before the place was even more damaged, but they also had to hide Darkwhite. After trying a gambit to save Destiny Village and keep Darkwhite safe, they were only able to perform the former, as Giovanni's true goal had been to acquire Darkwhite from the very beginning.

Darkwhite had dissolved into nothing but a glowing core--she was a familiar the whole time, despite Shield's insistence that it was the real Sword. And yet, now she was in Giovanni's clutches again, and the team was motivated to track him down and defeat him once and for all. Everyone's efforts were centered around finding as much as they could about Giovanni's forces, whereabouts, and power.

Their efforts eventually bore fruit: Team Drumstick had tracked Giovanni's Radiant Machine, but had been corrupted by that same energy. When Team Spectrum went to investigate, they were ambushed from both sides and the Machine was geared to explode. They would have to disarm it or risk a chunk of the Air Continent going away with them...
 

Namohysip

Dragon Enthusiast
Staff
Partners
  1. flygon
  2. charizard
  3. milotic
  4. zoroark-soda
  5. sceptile
  6. marowak
  7. jirachi
Chapter 9 ~ The Voice of Blacklight
Giovanni was soundly defeated by Team Spectrum, but that wasn't the surprise of the night. When the Radiant Machine was destroyed, Diyem emerged from inside, and after countless motivational words from the team and the efforts to weaken the prison that held Diyem in place, he was eventually released! Diyem promptly took the fight to Giovanni himself, conjuring a great hammer of Shadows to do the talking for him. Then, with the combined efforts of God Squad, Team Spectrum, and their freed leader, Giovanni was defeated and forced to flee.

Their celebration did not last long. During their brief moment of rest, Maple received a call: Destiny Village was under attack once more. At the same time, the sky darkened, the ground trembled, and it felt like the very end of the world was upon them once more.

It was Joule, corrupted by the Blacklight and raining Blacklight meteors down upon Destiny Village. By his side was Giovanni and Blacklight Mewtwo, still weak from the fight, but standing behind their ultimate weapon. Yet by some strange miracle, when they tried to direct Joule to attack the town, Joule instead blasted Giovanni across the very ocean... but the miracle ended there. Joule was out of control, and a great orb of Blacklight energy, one that seemed to burn the sky itself, was prepared for the world's destruction.

In a last-ditch effort to buy time, Dialga of the creation trio's fused body tried to freeze Joule in place. It wasn't enough, and Joule broke free. Instead, Dialga accelerated Destiny Village itself, creating what would one day be called the longest day... When their time ran out, after roughly three days' worth of time, it would resume. The team spent the rest of their time preparing for Joule's fight, while Diyem himself was sent to the infirmary to recover. He had overexerted himself... and was now just a Charmander.
 

Namohysip

Dragon Enthusiast
Staff
Partners
  1. flygon
  2. charizard
  3. milotic
  4. zoroark-soda
  5. sceptile
  6. marowak
  7. jirachi
Chapter 10 - Fall of Giovanni?

The battle against Joule was less than ideal, with his overwhelming power risking the entire team being defeated in one fell swoop. Thankfully, they had ample time to prepare thanks to the help of Dialga, and were able to defeat Joule soundly... but not without a great cost. Joule's Blacklight that Burns the Sky had dealt a great deal of damage to Arceus, and a second one would have killed him outright.

Despite this, however, Team Spectrum was the one to take the heaviest blow: the pull of the attack reacted to their Blacklight corruption like gravity, and a decent portion of the team had been vaporized from the incoming blast. The combined efforts of the team, however, saved Arceus by a miracle above even him. While severely injured, he survived, even though some of Team Spectrum did not.

With the last of his strength and a pinch left of his sanity, Joule expelled all of his Blacklight skyward, and then descended to Destiny Village. He was caught and contained, but he appeared to be sane again, and the team learned a new technique thanks to Joule's efforts--Blacklight Z-Burst. But their losses were still fresh.

Upon being informed of what had happened, Diyem said that he would be able to recover the team. However, he needed the help of the Tree of Life to make that happen. While several of Cibus were hesitant--Maple especially--the truth did eventually come out, and with a lot of careful convincing, he was brought there.

That wasn't all, however. Diyem revealed another piece of information to the team about the Tree, now that he was cognizant and aware. He knew where Eternatus was. She was in the Tree. The reason he knew was because he had a strong link to her, and it was the reason he had been able to find Cibus at all. Eternatus, named Eien, was his mate... But now, perhaps she was too far gone to purify. Others on Team Spectrum were more optimistic.

After a tense encounter with Xerneas, where he seemed to be oddly interested in Diyem, the now-Charmeleon foreign king of darkness was able to revive those who had been killed. They had been stored away in the Voidlands as shadowy spirits, where their Shadows took on a form of their own for the time. Thankfully, most of them got along quite well.

Slowly, things returned to a strange normalcy. Giovanni was still at large; after some scouting, they'd encountered a twisted, cursed Dungeon in Moonlit Forest of the Mist Continent. Sightings of Sword--as a Charmander--were cropping up all over the world, particularly in Dungeons, displacing frightened wild Pokemon. It seemed that as one crisis fell, another two rose... Soda in particular seemed badly affected by Moonlit's curse, seeing horrible visions of a past that haunts him. The same went for several others, such as Shield or those of Team Spectrum.

During a morning brief, Maple received a message from S'more: Giovanni and Blacklight Mewtwo had been discovered on a summit in the Mist Continent... defeated. Before they could get more information, they were cut off with a scream. Whoever defeated Giovanni had gotten to them, too. And so, in a rush, Team Spectrum left to investigate... finding a Charizard with a Blacklight flame waiting for them. The team quickly realized this was the same one that had attacked Destiny Tower--and the hat he wore... was unmistakably that of the Legendary Trainer, Red.
 

Namohysip

Dragon Enthusiast
Staff
Partners
  1. flygon
  2. charizard
  3. milotic
  4. zoroark-soda
  5. sceptile
  6. marowak
  7. jirachi
Chapter 11 - The Worldcore
The battle against Red was a frantic struggle to see who could get their big volleys out first, and thankfully, while Red opened with a devastating advantage, it was Team Spectrum that was able to effectively counterattack all at once. But it also didn't look like Red was truly fighting with all his strength. Instead, it seemed like he was sparring, intentionally trying to work through the corruption in his and his team's systems. When one of Team Spectrum launched a Blacklight Z-Burst, Red knew what had to be done, and countered with one of his own, purifying himself after the rest of his team had been properly defeated.

The group returned to Destiny Village to recover. Red needed time in the infirmary; Giovanni was placed in one of the high-security holding cells; Blacklight Mewtwo was placed in a sealed chamber in Chip's lab. Investigating Blacklight Mewtwo led to strange results when trying to physically contact him. Astrid and Nate had a vision of standing in a strange, stormy void with Blacklight Mewtwo on the approach, before some apparition of Diyem fended him off.

Meanwhile, talks with Giovanni led to little fruit, but he did make a request to a few people to search for something he was 'missing,' that even he was not sure about. He claimed that he would give information about the spy that is eluding them if they cooperate. Related to spy business, a talk with S'more from Vix indicated that S'more suspects himself, and has been trying to quarantine from any areas where he might be at risk of sabotage. S'more does not know how or why he is a sleeper cell, or if he truly is one.

There are growing suspicions of several others on the team. After several investigations, Regigigas had left a parting message in the depths of Aegis Cave that three people had come down to steal him and his other golems away. One was "Karat," though it seems to have been a case of mistaken identity, as there was only onw known Mewtwo in Cibus at the time. Another was a creature capable of fighting in the shadows and using techniques that were strong against him and the three Regis. And there was a third foe that was impossible to fully detect, only that it was a presence.

That didn't seem to be everything. Brisa, on a chance trip to the Amp Plains to get more information about something from back when they had first arrived! There had apparently been a meteor that landed in the area that was mostly of Shadows but had a tinge of Radiance, but most of all an odd, red glow. It had corrupted Zeraora's hand, but little else after some time focusing her mind. Apparently, there was some invisible assailant that had tried to attack her, but she had gotten away. The assailant used energy attacks of varying types in rapid succession; she otherwise didn't know who or what they were.

More intrigue later, as Astrid "spoke" with Red about his time before being Blacklit. Red seemed to have memories--and pictures on his phone--of a Tree of Life that had rotted away, as well as of Shield and Sword when they were just Riolu, having a good time as partners, despite the gravity of trying to save the world. Silver, as a Flareon, was there was well, and apparently Giovanni used to be a Nidoking prior to all this. Perhaps by the same ascension process that Pop is capable of?

Meanwhile, Joule made a discovery: the Shades, indeed a part of him, could recombine! Shades that did not get into the strange orbs that Team Spectrum had found ended up instead entering Joule's crystalline form. Joule acquired the memories and some of the personality of every Shade he took in, though due to their quirky natures, Joule did not appear to change very much to begin with.

People finally start moving into their proper homes! Roommates took a while to arrange, but eventually everyone found a place to stay, whether they decided to stay there properly or continue to live or hermit in other parts of Cibus. Meanwhile, Maple's true form was also revealed--a monstrous, Radiant dragon of some kind, truly gargantuan in size, to the point where she dwarfed even Joule... But despite her intimidating appearance, she seemed friendly, and it was another oddity to add to the many oddities that Team Spectrum encountered.

The search for Darkwhite continued, with groups splitting off into the Worldcore, Moonlit Forest, and the Reverse World. Their combined efforts revealed that Darkwhite was in the Worldcore, and her Charmander apparitions are because of that corruption flowing all a cross Cibus, even into the Reverse World. They begged to be destroyed so the Worldcore would not destroy Cibus, but everyone seemed determined instead to save her and the world in one swoop. With determination among Team Spectrum, they set off for the Worldcore to confront it...
 

Namohysip

Dragon Enthusiast
Staff
Partners
  1. flygon
  2. charizard
  3. milotic
  4. zoroark-soda
  5. sceptile
  6. marowak
  7. jirachi
Chapter 12 ~ Divine Soft Drinks
After rescuing Darkwhite from a grueling battle, the team emerged from the restored Worldcore to a strange entity that met and then taunted them--someone that they eventually called the Haze. This haze revealed themselves to be the spy--one of the spies that they were unable to discover--said that soon his plan would be set into motion, and just as soon, they were going to take the Blacklight power and harness it themself. Curiously, however, this same haze seemed to be the one to save Darkwhite, as well as Dave when a particularly strong blast had killed him almost instantly.

And so, the great "spy hunt" had truly begun. The haze left a few hints for them to follow, and more importantly left an olive branch for anybody to speak to him in another location in Treasure Town that they'd found familiar. After a lot of deduction, sleuthing, questioning, and in general analyzing what they already knew, they'd found two of the three spies fairly quickly. Both were unknowing of their role, but both felt that something was amiss.

S'more, the Guildmaster of Poppin' Arms, was not S'more at all, but a copy after the original had been killed, spirit hidden away somewhere. The real S'more is gone somewhere, because his body was taken by the false S'more. But his soul was not destroyed, because Bean did not find him in the Overworld. Therefore, he was sealed somewhere in Cibus.

Silver was not Silver at all. Some time before they'd arrived, or perhaps during their early weeks, his mind had been sealed and his memories replaced with that of Giovanni's, and vice versa, by means of Blacklight Mewtwo. It was all part of a great gambit to inevitably become captured by Team Spectrum, only for the true Giovanni--in the form of a Lunala, rather than a Mewtwo--to roam free. Because it was caught early, however, it never came to pass.

Puddle and Rocky made an unsettling discovery while having some fun with 'Team Usurpers' with Soda and Cola. Cola was still feeling unsafe around Pop, but Soda proposed they actually try to do something about it and, after what might have been hesitation,. he revealed that he was the haze... And he intended to gather power to 'make things right' in the world he had come from. Dave, too, learned about this, and tried to get all of the details. In the end, though, Soda was set on doing this... but the bonds he formed with them, and even Cola himself, gave him pause.

There was a final confrontation before approaching the Tree in which Soda, Cola, Rocky, and others confronted Pop, or intended to. It was there that Soda pulled Cola aside and tried to speak with him... but eventually seemed to have second thoughts and told Cola outright that Pop was someone not to fear. Shortly after, Blacklight Mewtwo broke out of the lab, badly harming Chip and several lab rooms before escaping. At the same time, Silver and Giovanni's memories were restored, and S'more had gone berserk before being locked up as he came back to his senses. Something strange had happened, and the team wasn't sure what...

But with that aside, and with an uneasy air, the team entered the Tree of Life a day later. There, they encountered Diyem--gone mad from Eterna power--and Xerneas, taking on a peculiarly Eterna appearance of his own. They had to get in and free Eien--otherwise, the whole world would be in trouble...
 

Namohysip

Dragon Enthusiast
Staff
Partners
  1. flygon
  2. charizard
  3. milotic
  4. zoroark-soda
  5. sceptile
  6. marowak
  7. jirachi
Chapter 13 ~ Parasites

The battle against Diyem and the Tree was chaotic. Xerneas, who had been fully corrupted by Eternatus energy, had spread that same corruption to Diyem himself, and the pair fought at their strongest to halt the team's advance into the Tree. However, despite the many phantoms and Diyem himself going against them, the team was able to make their way to Eien, as well as find the lure that Soda had told them about--a false energy signature meant to get Maple's attention.

As it turned out, it was sorely needed. Maple encountering Eien--the very thing that had been drawing her to obsessively see Eien--instead triggered the corruption within Maple herself, and she went berserk. The team had to flee without Maple, sealing her inside with Eien. They would have to return later to rescue her and figure out precisely what to do...

Not all was lost, however. During that time, Diyem was knocked back into his senses, and even Xerneas, when Eien's power awakened, woke up, as if from a spell. They evacuated as quickly as they could, and soon returned to regroup. Joule was quietly distraught, but had hope they could rescue Maple next, along with Eien. Diyem cursed the fact that they'd gone out with less than they'd gone in with. But most importantly, they at least got information on what to do next. They would wait for Maple and Eien to tire each other out for as long as the tree could endure, and then swoop in for the final strike.

In the meantime, Owen pressed Soda, nearby, about something that he had suspected for a while--that he was still under someone's control, whether he realized it or not. There was a piece of his memory that was still missing, and he believed that it was due to Soda trying to control him.

They soon found the source after gathering a small, tactical team to enter Owen's mind to check. They found in his mindscape a strange, parasitic creature that resembled something similar to what had taken over Xerneas' body. Owen had been powerless to fight it alone, but with encouragement from his allies like Dave, Brisa, and Bahamut, he gained the mental fortitude to seal and then destroy it. They learned from this encounter that Maple might suffer from something similar.

Meanwhile, Vix and a few others wanted to take some action with the moon. They tried to fly to space with the help of Deoxys, but Soda launched a truly devastating attack from the moon--Lunatic Cannon--that instantly killed Vix, badly injured the Ultra Shades with her, and reduced Deoxys to nothing but a core. It seemed to put a dent in how the world saw Team Spectrum, and a small drop in confidence... but the team bounced back.

Soon, it was time to go back to see Maple. After learning of Soda's status on the moon (generally insane) and then preparing to battle Maple from both sides, the team set off for the Tree of Life once more. Its energy was almost completely gone, but Maple and Eien were still battling inside. With Diyem ready, he sent the team into Maple's core with a beam of shadow, where they immediately encountered all of Telum's spirits, unconscious and sealed within her Voidlands...
 
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