Grass Continent ~ Treasure Town Beach

[Ambyssin]

"You seem to be in brighter spirits than earlier." Internally, Necrozma cringed from that pun.

 

[Shiny Phantump]

Celeste followed the sound of whistling to the beach. Seeing as he needed to blow off some steam, the beach would be a nice place to hang out for a bit. Already there were Maple, Cynthian and... the nameless one.

Hmm, Nameless One sounded like a cool nickname for him. If Nameless refused to give him a name, he’d just have to use the next closest thing.

“Hello. Mind if I just... sit down here for a bit?”

 

[Adamhuarts]

"Sure thing, Absol. Make yourself comfortable," Cynthian said, scooting over a bit. He still didn't know Absol's name, but it had been a week already and would be awkward to ask now.

 

[Namohysip]

If Maple noticed it, she didn't react. "I am," she said. "The time with your team was pleasant and the curry was made well. It seems that you are taking some of that light well, too. Yet, is it still too much right now?"

 

[Ambyssin]

"It's hard to explain." Necrozma looked at the sphere. "I can deal with the burning sensation... but if I take it too much at once my core rattles in an unsettling manner. It's a pain I've... not really experienced before." He tapped a claw against the orb. "The one who sent us here told us he made new bodies for us from scratch. I believe the two are related."

 

[Virgil134]

After leaving the restaurant Cabot opted to check out the town's beach. As soon as he arrived, a feeling of familiarity washed over him as he gazed out at sea. Despite how different Cibus was from his own world, this sea looked just the same as the one he'd been sailing for two years now. Did this world have ships as well? He certainly hadn't seen any...

As Cabot walked along the beach, he noticed Maple and the others up ahead, prompting to go up to them with a cheery wave.

"Oh, hey there! Are you guys out on a walk as well?"

 

[Namohysip]

"You could say that," Maple replied, looking toward Cabot leisurely. "But I think I was looking to relax instead. I've done my rounds of the place and found nothing out of the ordinary. I decided, then, to relax, because Truffle would incessantly request I do so if I don't."

 

[Virgil134]

"Well, the beach is a great place to relax," Cabot said. "Being here and looking out at sea kinda reminds me of my own world."

 

[Shiny Phantump]

"Sure thing, Absol. Make yourself comfortable," Cynthian said, scooting over a bit. He still didn't know Absol's name, but it had been a week already and would be awkward to ask now.

"Oh, hey there! Are you guys out on a walk as well?"

“Hello there, Cabot and Cy... Cynthian? My name is Celeste, for the record. Nice to have a chance to chat with you two. We hadn’t really gotten the chance before.

“It’s nice to see you again, too, O Nameless One. And you, Maple, of course. You holding up fine after getting hit in the bluff? Not coughing up any black smoke or anything?”

 

[The Walrein]

Jaro found his way to the beach soon enough, and stared gobsmacked at the ridiculously large amount of water. He couldn't even see the other side of this lake! It was like it just stretched on forever! Also, why was the water moving on its own? Was this the same sort of phenomenon as wind coming out of nowhere?

There was a bit of a weirdly saline smell in the air, too, coming from off the water. Odd... Jaro strolled up to the water's edge, dipped his arm in it and licked. Blech, salty! Jaro spluttered and spat out the seawater.

...it was then that Jaro realized there were a bunch of other Pokemon on the beach. Crap, they'd probably all noticed that little incident, too...

"Oh, hey everyone," Jaro called out, waving to the assembled group and heading over.

“Hello there, Cabot and Cy... Cynthian? My name is Celeste, for the record. Nice to have a chance to chat with you two. We hadn’t really gotten the chance before.

“It’s nice to see you again, too, O Nameless One. And you, Maple, of course. You holding up fine after getting hit in the bluff? Not coughing up any black smoke or anything?”

"Black smoke? Wait, did... something happen in the bluff or something?"

 

[Ambyssin]

“Something did. It was...” Necrozma went silent. “Honestly, I’m not sure what it was.”

 

[Namohysip]

"Hit in the bluff? When?" Maple remembered having a sudden need to sneeze, but that had been all. Was that one of the invisible creature's attacks? She shrugged. "I suppose it isn't something to worry about. If you see black smoke coming from me, then warn me. I don't think any of us natives were able to notice it, after all."

She sighed, crossing her legs. "In any case," she said, "keep your voices down." And as she said this, she, too, spoke barely above the sound of the waves. "Tell me, do you have any other powerful company that I'm not aware of?"

Her eyes trailed as if looking behind her, toward the greenery at the northern edge of the beach.

 

[Shiny Phantump]

Celeste laughed. “More powerful company? I don’t know of any at all.”

 

[The Walrein]

Wait, something weird was going on here. Who was Maple talking to? Why did they need to keep their voices down? Following her gaze, he looked to the north part of the beach, but couldn't see any real details at this distance with his poor day vision. Was there some sort of hidden enemy there?

Um, Diyem? I think we might have a situation here, Jaro thought at him. Can you notice any kind of foe in our surroundings with that weird far-seeing thing of yours?

 

[Namohysip]

What? Give me a moment.

Maple continued to move casually, and it seemed she was expecting the others to do the same. "I see. You are not accompanied by another powerful presence, other than your leader. But I do not think your leader is among us, let alone hiding. ...No. I'm sensing two life forces."

I cannot see anything, but I am also detecting something behind you, in the bushes and palm trees. Be careful.

"Hmm..." Maple leaned forward. "We're being watched." She casually flicked a flat rock over the ocean, skipping it several times.

 

[windskull]

After a quick glance around town in search of Maple had proven fruitless, Nip made his way towards the crossroads, then headed down towards the beach. The sound of voices caught his attention and he looked further up the sandy shores, catching side of Maple! ... but also several other pokemon from his party. Celeste, Necrozma, Cynthian, Cabot, and Jaro were all already there. He wasn't exactly comfortable with all of them yet, so it looked like his heart-felt thanks would have to wait.

Trotting across the sand, he came to a stop next to the group and opened his mouth to say a greeting, only to pause when Maple spoke. They were being watched? Fighting the urge to obviously look around, Nip turned to look at the waves, his ear flicking once as he strained to listen, trying to figure out who or what might be watching them. "Do you have any idea who it is? It's not that haze being we encountered before, is it?"

 

[The Walrein]

Jaro's body tensed. Maybe Nip was right, or maybe it was something even worse. What should he do? He didn't want to just sit there and wait for whatever it was to attack them, but Maple seemed to think they should just try to play it cool.

There was, however, one trick Jaro knew that could potentially give some forewarning of enemy action. He reached deep into himself and concentrated on the power of his Copycat move, sending it reaching out towards the bushes behind him. If someone there tried to use a move, hopefully he'd feel it.

"I'm aiming my Copycat at the bushes," he whispered to Maple, standing beside her. "If you see me suddenly start to perform a move, it means whoever's there is likely attacking us or about to."

 

[Negrek]

Even after pokémon had returned to the town the beach stayed quiet, a few lonely pokémon coming to stare out over the water or wander in pairs across the sand, chatting about whatever the fuck. It was a pretty spot but lonely, or maybe it was the weather keeping people away. With autumn approaching, the ocean breeze had a definite cold edge that didn't exactly put you in mind of sunbathing.

So most of the time Nate had the place more or less to himself and could watch the ocean in peace. The weird angular rock thing showed up to mope around a bit, and then the roselia, but fine, whatever. As far as he could tell they didn't notice him, perched up among the rocks on the beach's southern end. Then that smeargle gated in however she managed that--it was no attack Nate had ever seen, and their lovely hosts, in general seemed to have some fucking wacked abilities, the kind that raised all kinds of alarms. Smeargle, and absol, and then jigglypuff--yeah, they were fixing for some kind of beach party, weren't they? Nate pressed himself closer to the rock, scowling down at the sand. Well, whatever. They'd be too wrapped up in their stupid gossip to notice him up there, anyhow, and he'd have to endure some noise, but they'd go away eventually.

But then the fucking sneasel showed up, and yeah, everybody just fucking decided to go hang out on the beach all of a sudden, didn't they? Just how many people were going to show up? It was leave now or be stuck here for god knew how long while all the rest of the pokémon hogged the sand. God, what if they decided to start a bonfire or some shit. This could go on all night.

They were all chatting with each other, of course, and if he moved fast, they probably wouldn't even notice him. Nate hesitated a moment longer, calculating, then slipped down from the rocks as quietly as he could and set out for Treasure Town at just a hair below a run. The sneasel was going to join the others, good, and Nate gave them all a wide berth, sticking to the extreme upper edge of the beach where leaf shadows dappled the sand.

 

[Namohysip]

Maple didn't notice Nate at first, perched on his rock, but the moment he tried to avoid them, she knew two things. First, that he was among the interlopers that they were hosting, distant as he wanted to be from the others. Two, that he was not the powerful presence that she had sensed, or at least not one of them. She had gone quiet. That Mudkip was the perfect opportunity to test it out.

It all happened in half a second.

First, Jaro's arms suddenly sprouted bladed, sharp leaves. Then, one of the bushes that Nate was about to pass moved in a way that didn't flow with the wind. A green flash, imperceptible unless they were looking for it, came and went. But then Nate passed, and the movement stuttered. It reached forward--the blade smashed down toward Nate.

And finally, it stopped. A disembodied hand of a Smeargle had gotten in the way, catching the Leaf Blade with its bare paw.

Maple, who had reached into a tiny portal, narrowed her eyes and pushed through it, knocking the blade--and the invisible arm that held it--back.

 

[Ambyssin]

“What the–” Necrozma nearly dropper his light orb. “What just happened?”