Destiny Village ~ Central Crossroads

[Ambyssin]

With Cola still on his person, Bahamut flew into the air. The problem with his new form was that there were few places he could float without attracting stares. He might've attributed it to his size, but it was far more likely that he looked too much like the guy who almost cratered the city.

... of course, being up in the sky was probably an even worse idea, but whatever. He was already up.

"Technically speaking, nobody ever plans on being created." Bahamut looked at his bag as he spoke. "It's the creators that do the planning. Whether it's two parents conceiving an egg or... some big fuzzy thing with his gut stuck in a fence making a gaseous cloud. In some respects, you're a unique case, having all this sentience at a young age. Both a blessing and curse."

 

[IFBench]

Saltriv walked through the crossroads, leaf swaying in the breeze. It was so nice to have everyone back again. And Giovanni had even been captured!

Despite everything, though, they felt a bit weirdly sad. Thoughts of home rushed through their head, of Gen, of their family, of Burhalla.

How long has it been since they've seen them all?

 

[Phoenixsong]

*Seated on a bench by the Crossroads, lost in thought as the sound of busy pokémon bustling by fills the air...*​

You'd be forgiven for thinking that flight would be the most exciting part of becoming a vikavolt. Skara had thought so herself, once upon a time. She remembered fantasizing about it as a small child, about being able to dart through the air instead of having to crawl or hope she could find a place to anchor some silk for a swing. She remembered watching her parents take off in the mornings, imagining that the sky touched everything on Mondhame and so they could go literally anywhere. They wouldn't, of course—Father was always bound for the shop, Mother for her patrols—but they could have, and that meant that one day she could, too. She could've seen the city, or the ocean, or the mines where they dug up the sparkling elemental stones the merchants showed off when they came to town. And Cibus, even on fire all the time forever as it was, must surely have had some wonderful vistas to admire from above.

Instead, the first thing she'd stretched after the shell split and loosened its deathgrip were her legs. Mists take the damn wings for all she cared, she had legs again. One pair fewer than she was used to, sure, long and spindly and awkward to balance on now that her mandibles were bigger than her entire charjabug body, but. Legs. Legs that could carry her to a destination before sundown. Claws that were actually useful for climbing and for being able to hold her own badge.

Skara had reached out of that accursed box, grimaced as the blood flowed through muscles that ached from disuse and reconfiguration, tapped gingerly at the ground, tentatively tried to pull herself forward. Her reward had been toppling over, forward and sideways, still mostly tangled in the shell but now with front-heavy jaws in the way for bonus instability. She'd heard Araun trying and failing to stifle a snort behind her. She'd laughed and not even bothered to hide it. She could move.

Even now, several days later, she wasn't sure what had actually caused the evolution as Araun had carried her back from the battle. Maybe she'd reacted, somehow, to all the strange, super-powered lightning flying through the air as that pikachu energized his teammates. Maybe the Frozen Summit had an electromagnetic charge she hadn't had time to read about before arriving. Maybe it was just more Cibus Eterna Matter Light Tree nonsense, once again rendering her every attempt to understand her situation pointless.

It was probably that last one. Perhaps it was for the best if she just accepted that and stopped worrying. Cibus was a fog-damn mess, and given the current excitement back home that was saying something, but how different was it from home, really? There was a logic to whatever the heck was happening, even if it never would make sense to her personally. So leave the logicking to Pop, to the God Squad, to the members of Team Spectrum whose worlds were more similar to this. Do as they did, add her skills to theirs, and that would be enough.

It's not your job to be clever, Paldros always told them. It's not your job, or my job, or anyone's job. Clever is dangerous, because the dangerous things are cleverer than you. Clever is what gets you mocked, taken, broken, changed. Follow your training. Follow the rules.

And that Skara could do. Train, with proper focus, with useful attributes to pour that focus into. She could move. She could fly. (Eventually.) She had lightning, real lightning, not just that background buzzing static charge. She could learn to do what that pikachu did, perhaps. And if it ever really came down to raw firepower... well. She was no Brisa, no battling expert, but just by virtue of her species she imagined she could give the luxray a run for her money.

She still needed to learn to harness all that energy safely, of course. Make sure she actually had the word down pat this time and could stop saying it out loud like a little hatchling.

(You don't need the words here, remember? That's not how Cibus works.) Araun nudged her telepathically, and she winced. So what? she shot back. Old habits died hard, and all the better that they did. She had to keep up her training.

Some hesitation from Araun, and then: (Will that actually matter? I don't think you're gonna remember any of this when you go home... wouldn't it be better to lighten up, since you've got the chance?) Yes, it mattered. After every other attempt to make herself useful had failed, it was the only thing she had to fall back on. It was her last bastion of familiarity and routine, of discomfort.

Araun sighed, whined a little, let it go. Skara shook her head and spoke, verbally this time. "C'mon. I've still got more practicing to do, and you said that place with the pasta had salads. That should be a short enough trip from here for a test run, right?"

It should've been, certainly. This morning she'd finally got the hang of keeping her elytra open and out of her own way, and she imagined she could lock them in place long enough for that distance. The vikavolt shifted position, spread her wings, muttered the word under her breath as she gave the muscles a spark of lightning to kick them into high gear, jumped from the bench—

—and took a digger right into the paving stones, smashing into them jaws-first, pitching forward, and coming to rest on her back with a clatter and an audible *kk-zzzt*. Araun didn't bother trying to hide the laugh this time as he hopped down from his seat and set to turning her over with his nose. Skara could sense that, at least for now, he was enjoying himself enough not to resume his nagging. She decided that distracting him and cheering him up had been her plan from the outset, one hundred percent, and that the delibird guffawing at her from across the street was definitely worth it. Kinda.

Araun set her back on her feet. Skara didn't try spreading her wings again, instead just putting one claw in front of the other as she and her familiar turned toward the restaurant. She would need to learn to fly eventually, and with training and routine it would come.

For the moment, though, she didn't mind not flying, not training, and simply taking the time to stretch her legs.

<><><>​

 

[Ambyssin]

The ultra stone rolled along the road. It gurgled and wheezed. And was it suppressing a laugh?

“... lo... ve. It’s... love. Ha. Kh.”

 

[Namohysip]

A few more days passed quietly. Spy hunting continued, as did the recoveries of the various Pokemon that had come from the Worldcore. And, thankfully, the recoveries came along smoothly. Joule had recovered enough that he no longer needed Groudon, and instead elected to finish his recovery at home on the rooftop. One day, he slipped inside his home and seemed to stay there for quite some time. Eventually, however...

". . . Ah! Oh, goodness, that... stop! That... tickles!"

"Well, perhaps if we tried it another way..."

"Does it hurt at all?"

"I don't believe so. Oaky. Let's try it from..."

"Ah! Ah, ah, no, slower!"

"Er...?"

"Yes, perhaps that way..."

"This is a bit awkward..."

"No more awkward than it has been..."

"This is a bit of a compromising position, you two."

"Shh, we're almost done!"

"You know, Blade, it's not too late to try something with all three of us."

"...I'll keep helping."

"That's the spirit!"

...

And then, near the end of afternoon and into the early evening, the ground shook precisely once. A sudden jolt, like a great weight had slammed into the ground. And then a blinding light erupted from Maple's home, completely exploding the rooftop into several smaller chunks, one of which landed in Diyem's home on his kitchen oven, and another in the middle of the street.

A great Dragon of light emerged from Maple's home in a brilliant silver sheen, screaming for all of Destiny Village to hear.

"AND SO WITH THE VAST ENERGIES OF THE WORLD I REAWAKEN BEFORE YOU! IT IS I, JOULE, THE GREAT DRAGON OF LIGHT! FEAR NOT THE DARK, FOR I AM HERE TO SHINE THE WAY FORWARD! A PROPER HELLO TO ALL!"

 

[Namohysip]

The air was slowly getting warmer in Destiny Village as spring quietly broke through the icy sheet of winter. It was still frigid, even for the fiery Pokemon that flew through the skies, but he could tell from the ease of conjuring his updraft that warmer air would be here within weeks.

He'd long since discovered the best times for aerial training. Ever since Silver and Yveltal had halted their training--well, technically Giovanni and Yveltal--the skies were a lot clearer for his tests and maneuvers. He was getting quicker at calming his nerves and reverting from his manic state, too... and was even to the point where he could stay perfectly controlled even while energized.

Now if only he could figure out how to master becoming a tree... That was probably the strangest power yet, but it had quite a few uses. He'd yet to confess that power to anyone, though. It was strange, even for him. But he'd have to do it eventually, for how helpful it seemed to be.

Landing on the road after perhaps an hour of intense flying exercises, Owen finally folded his wings down and exhaled with a sigh and a pant. His body felt sticky from snow and little particles in the air sticking to his scales from all the moisture, and he wasn't in the mood for a water bath. He held up his hand and clicked his claws, forming a little spark.

The spark grew and enveloped his body, starting with his arm and crawling along his whole form like a flame to paper. It sizzled and crackled and ash fell around his body, impurities burned away and into the air. He shook his body and beat his wings, conjuring a powerful, concentrated twister around his body next, which knocked loose the dust and ash that remained, and then enveloped the mess into a ball of darkness.

And just like that, the Charizard was clean. He slipped the tiny mess of burned dust into his bag for proper disposal later.

He had a sense that Cal was nearby and coming closer. Odd. She had been in Treasure Town a while ago, and when he asked how she was doing, she'd only given evasive answers. He was a little worried that she was trying to do something with the spy... but felt that wouldn't be like her, all things considered, even for a risky operation. So, it was nice that she was coming back. Maybe she just wanted to play with Surf and Turf. Or, maybe she was finally going to...

"Hey," Owen called, waving at her as she flew toward--

Flew?

"You evolved!" Owen beamed, spreading his wings even wider, but then winced. The flying exercises left him a little tired and ached. "Cal! I mean, I don't really know how that works, but congratulations!"

The new Charizard landed with a wobbly stumble and nodded at him. "Yeah, I did. I kind of had a moment."

"A moment?" he asked. "Did everything go alright in Treasure Town?"

"Yeah. I just. Um. I went and had to do something with Luz, actually. She wanted to see the real Wandering Light that Brisa talks about."

"Oh! Did that go well?" Owen asked.

Cal nodded. "Yeah. It went really well."

They walked down the road and toward Rocky Road, though it was still far away.

"I think Luz is more at peace with herself. They weren't really that similar. I guess it wasn't too much of a surprise since she was based on stories and all that."

"Yeah, I figured. Never meet your heroes, but maybe this time it makes sense to do that, right?"

"Yeah. She was really cool, but she's a lot like Brisa, too. The way you say she overworks herself, I think maybe that Luz is the same way. But after some talking, it worked out, and..."

"And... you evolved?"

Cal stopped her walking. Owen stopped a few paces later, turning around. He studied what little of her body he could analyze. The golden ember on her tail. The two embers in her head for her false eyes. There was something new there. Her silence was... expectant. What was she expecting? And there was a new strength in her, too. She hadn't made any jokes or pranks or even mischievous movements. Very unlike her. And she was far too young to be all grown up.

She was being too quiet for too long for it to be more than an expectation. No signs of doubt... Right. She knew how perceptive he was supposed to be. So, that was her game. Testing him like always.

Far away, Joule shouted something and roared with laughter. Maple tried to shush him and Joule hastily stifled the rest of his outburst.

Went to see Luz's true self. Cal went as well, and evolved from it. There was more to it.

Oh.

She'd finally done it.

The larger Charizard's body language relaxed, not quite disarming, but not really his formal stance, either. "How was she?" he asked, and he accompanied it with a wry, sad grin.

"...I thought so," Cal said, wings drooping. "You've already gone to see her, and she forgot."

"She did." Owen nodded. "The moment I realized what Spirits' Edge could do, I... how could I not try to seek her out?"

"And you told Buffet not to tell me."

"I didn't want to force you to confront her. You wouldn't have been ready."

Cal's embers flared and shrank, little emotions piling and lessening. "Every goddamn thing has to be a test with you, doesn't it?"

Owen dipped his head. "Sorry," he said. "I didn't really know if..."

"...Must have hurt to meet her again, only for her to forget by the time you visited again. I should've known you'd've seen her by now, so it was weird that she didn't remember you did." Cal clenched her claws. "It's gonna be the same with me, isn't it? She won't remember she'd met me. She'll go back to thinking that her father never wanted to see her again."

Owen nodded. "It's a curse," he said, "by one of the gods that rules my world. When I came to Cibus, I was freed from it. But the moment I return, so will the curse. When I get back... one of my goals is to lift it. I didn't know it, but that's what I'm trying to do there."

"So that's it, huh..." Cal sighed. "I wish I could help... but I know I can't."

The edges of Owen's mouth twitched into a little smile. "It's good to hear anyway."

Despite the fact that she lacked a proper face, it seemed like the two shared an expression then. When Cal started walking again, Owen went with her.

The two continued down the road, their embers the exact same size.

"Flying lessons?" Owen asked.

"Fuck yeah."

<><><>​

 

[Disco]

Raven flew over the empty path, checking to make sure that nobody was there. Having anyone in range of what would become a launch zone aside from those going to space... Well, it could be damaging to them, to say the very least. She finally landed after she was certain it was just her, for the time being. The other Shades would probably be there soon, as well as Vix...

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

Patrolling the length and breadth of Destiny Village didn't achieve much in the way of productive outcomes, but it made Brisa feel good, and useful, and less fucking restless, so she kept it up. She gave brusque nods to a 'mon or two who recognised her, but she didn't come to a stop until she came face to face with someone she couldn't be mad at.

"Owen. Howdy, fella."

She didn't have it in her to raise a smile, but Owen had his Perceive. He'd know she was pleased to see him.

 

[Fusion]

Damage control wasn't the most fun thing to do, but someone had to do it, and Vix was stuck in the Voidlands until after they saved Maple and Eien.

So... Puddle made sure to grab someone that wouldn't let shit hit the fan. And was strong enough to handle it if shit did hit the fan. And also wasn't currently fighting a god. Or was Bahamut. Because the last thing this make-up needed was Bahamut and Puddle fighting with each other and Puddle wanted to check in with him some other time

"Alright, Owen, thanks for comin' with me for this. I'd have gone by myself, but I didn't wanna ruin this shit even more," the Scraggy Familiar nodded to the dragon. "And that's a nice look. Suits you."

Finding Karat was the first thing they had to do, but perhaps that lucky "run into whoever you're looking for" thing would shine. It's not like they could miss the guy.

 

[Disco]

It was a pleasant, almost spring-like day in Destiny Village. The sun was shining, the bird Pokémon were singing, and Mellow was making her way down the path towards the guild. Her life had settled into a routine that she couldn't be more happy with; she tended to her plants, worked hard on making her potions and elixirs, and spent most days of the week at the infirmary helping Zinc. Nothing could bring her down! Except, something was. Lately, she had noticed the people she passed by and who would normally greet her when she did had grown distant. Like they were avoiding her. There were rumors spreading that she was being haunted... Or that perhaps she was a ghost in disguise.

It was upsetting, to say the least. Being blamed for some kind of increased paranormal activity... Mellow frowned as she came to a stop. Maybe if she asked Raven to look into it...? But Raven had things she was doing, things she wouldn't share with her. She'd been that way ever since she came back from the Voidlands. The Florizard stopped walking and stood in the middle of the path with a frown. She didn't notice Pokémon walking around her while giving her a wide berth, or the sounds of coins hitting the pavement as they were thrown in her direction.

 

[Negrek]

It was always some fucking thing. Karat hadn't fucking died, great, that was one thing off the list. That fucking soda was still out there somewhere, probably ready to pop up at the worst possible time. He should probably get on that, it wasn't like he was going to trust the fucking mightyena to handle that. But the goddamn mewtwo, he needed to deal with the goddamn mewtwo first.

For a little while Nate wandered Destiny Village, thinking of maybe looking for Red. Even if he couldn't handle the mewtwo directly, maybe he'd have some thoughts about what Karat had said. Talk to Diyem, get some sense of there was any Voidlands weirdness they had to worry about now that they had another dark matter inside them. There was so much shit to do.

In the end, chance made Nate's mind up for him. Even among Destiny Village's powerful and sometimes-legendary residents, Bahamut still stood out. Nate stared at him uncomprehending a moment, brought abruptly out of his thoughts, but then he turned and headed after the necrozma, calling out, "Bahamut! Hey, Bahamut! You still got that pokéball I gave you?"

 

[Fusion]

Bahamut gave about as much assistance as one would have expected, which was next to nothing. Looked like Puddle had to rely on "Ol' Reliable" once more... aimless wandering.

Or wandering up until it heard someone talking really loudly about their mom. Didn't need an expert to figure out that the shadowy figure that everyone avoided eye contact with was the guy. "The shinin' example of eccentric, he is. This'll be interestin'," Puddle muttered, oozing over to its sibling.

"Anybody take the time to listen to you this time?" it asked with a wave.

 

[IFBench]

Saltriv walked through the streets of Destiny Village, constantly glancing around, trying to find any of the Beans.

They really, really hoped the Zygarde would be able to help.

 

[Dragonfree]

At the Holding Cells, Soda was no longer there. Poffin told Dave he'd left a little while ago, was going to get mozzarella sticks. Only one thing that could mean.

He found the Zoroark on the Crossroads with a takeout bag, seemingly heading home. Yeah. Good. He was recovering, wasn't he?

"Hey, Soda!" he called after him. "Got a minute?"

 

[Ambyssin]

"I have literally saved twice the number of eternatus I've tried killing."

Bahamut moved a keldeo knight piece so it was one move away from a black palkia piece. "Pretty sure that means I'm a failed reproduction. Do I change my name, then? Check, by the way."

The silvally sitting opposite him had his gaze fixed on the chessboard, eyes darting from his king to a bronzong rook. "I'm... not entirely sure that's how it works. Also, like, nobody necessarily needs a reason to change their name? Wouldn't you know that? You lived on Earth at one point. Humans change their names all the time."

Nero settled for moving the palkia piece one space to the right.

"Yes, but humans are weird." Bahamut wrapped a lower wing around a white bisharp piece and diagonally moved it to take a black pawniard piece. "They made multiple mewtwo across different dimensions... all with the same blasted test tube nonsense."

Nero's electronics turned blue. "I'm not sure that's a path you want to go down."

"... hrmph. That's between me and the mewtwo." Bahamut lay on his side. "I could and should tell off that one mingling with deoxys. Those things are devil spawns." He paused. "Also, checkmate."

Squawking, Nero looked down at the chessboard. His head crest drooped and he, too, slumped onto his belly. "You're going to have to find someone else for this. I'm not good at this game."

"Why did you agree to play, then?" Bahamut held up a wing. "Don't answer that, because I assume it's some variation of 'taking pity' and that'll make things more awkward."

 

[ExplosiveTurkey]

"…Before we enter, I should say that I was only half-sure this place even existed."

When Ben had first come to her, asking if she knew of a place to have a moment to themselves, an establishment at the heart of the city hadn't exactly been at the to of Aria's list. But the arcanine wore his heart on his sleeve, and she knew him well enough to realize something was bothering him. It wouldn't hurt to balance things out a little.

Of course, Aria had also been itching to pay the place a visit ever since Mint had told her about it.

And now, they were standing at the entrance to what was clearly a karaoke bar.

With a lopsided grin, Aria glanced over at Ben. "Too late to back out now, by the way."

 

[Namohysip]

Everything was finished; any affairs the team may have had, all of their obligations, their worries, their business. All was over, whether they wanted it or not. Diyem was in good health, but he could sense that soon, their tenuous hold to their bodies would start to break down. Diyem wouldn't want to strain himself more than necessary, especially after the time they'd already given, not to mention the fact that the Miracle Matters were also putting their Diyem through the ringer just to maintain themselves here.

It was time to go.

Everyone who wanted to come had come. Pop was there, several Legends, all of the Omen Heroes. The S'mores, Xernatus. They all watched distantly, wanting to give them a spot to go.

"Well," Diyem said, chuckling. "This will be all, then."

"We will never be able to thank you enough," Pop said. "We can only hope to have you in our memories."

"Someone has to," Diyem said with a wry smile, but then he glanced at Bahamut, who, of them all, was not part of this group. He would be with him. And, in a way... he didn't mind that.

"...Then, this is goodbye," Diyem said. "Everyone... I will be sending you all home, now. If you have any final words... Now is the time."