Marowak Dojo ~ Living Quarters

[Cresselia92]

Icetales was chilling by some kind of empty room, grooming his tails with his claws while summarizing what he had gathered from random passerby: some tidbits about parasites called ‘shadows slugs’ or ‘shades’, vague mentions of a certain ‘God Team’ and ‘Team Spice’, and rumors of some force called Radiance… that could make Pokémon… explode…

Heavens! What kind of crazy world is this? Such sorcery would be considered illegal in my homeworld…

Regardless of his own grievances about the situation, there was one thing that truly troubled his mind: all heroes had been there for two weeks already, and had fought many powerful opponents. They all had the time to train and become stronger.

Meanwhile, he… was pretty much blank in terms of battling skills. All he knew were a weak Powder Snow and the slightly stronger — albeit hardly ever used for battling — Freeze-Dry. He needed to catch up, pronto!

…And he just knew who to reach out for.

Sir Diyem, can thee hear me? Um… golly, this is so strange! A-Anyway! My apologies if I am bothering thee with my plight, but I’d need some advice.

Could thee suggest me some way to gain power faster, and perhaps gain some new moves, too? At the moment I have only Ice-type attacks, and… well, getting something useful like Confuse Ray, Quick Attack or any other move would be most helpful.

I… do not want to be a nonentity and to hinder my fellow heroes… I am tired of being considered a disappointment and a nullity in whatever world I am dropped off…

 

[Namohysip]

...Hmm... Well. If you wish to train, you can always consider training with the others in the dojo, or perhaps you can find Marowak and asked for some tutoring. He is very good with that sort of thing.

 

[Cresselia92]

Marowak from Marowak Dojo… What a surprising discovery! He would have never guessed.

At least, in that regard, their worlds weren’t much different. Perhaps the new world was a little more retrograde compared to his own, but the other elements made him feel almost like at… home. And for that, he was somewhat grateful.

Satisfied at having his curiosity sedated, Icetales beamed a grim to the roof. That still felt weird, but at least there was nobody around to see him grinning at the air.

Much appreciated, good sir! This is what I shall do! I wish thee a good rest of the day!

With the new goal in mind, the Vulpix sprinted out of the room. He could feel his excitement and energy seeping out of all his pores, as he was hitching to get active. He had never been someone to stand still for too long — Father was a good motivator, as he reminded him many times that “An inert ‘mon is either useless or dead”.

…

…Right. Father.

…

…Well, he wasn’t relevant at the moment. Focus! He needed to train. He needed to become tougher. To become better. To become… someone.

And strengthening his body with a Tutor was the first step.

<><><><>​

 

[Namohysip]

It had been a few days of recovery for Owen, and even though he had felt just fine by the next day, Chimecho had insisted he stay for one extra day to make sure he was properly recovered. But now, after spending time with Brisa and lamenting their lack of being able to battle during that down time, he was finally able to go out and about.

The first thing he intended to try? Find out what Radiant powers had manifested within him.

Just be careful, Diyem said. You will listen to me while you are doing this. I've had enough close calls with Radiance as it is.

Right, because you're worried about the Dark Matter stuff, right? Owen asked, looking up. How many people have you told about that so far?

A few. I'm... trying to rally up enough support before I make the full announcement.

Right... It had been a small shock for Owen, though he did have a feeling. After all, he had spent the most time with Diyem prior to this whole thing, hanging around with him at Veritas City. Those memories were returning to him, at least a little. And during all those times, Diyem had showed his darker powers, either on accident or otherwise. It only made sense after a while.

Still, Diyem was a good ball of evil, right?

"Okay," Owen said. "Time to start... Radiant-ing..."

 

[Virgil134]

"Oh, hey there Owen!"

Cabot entered the living quarters, giving the Charmander a friendly wave.

"What are you up to?"

 

[Namohysip]

"Training," Owen said, flicking his tail to the left when his concentration broke. "Or, trying to tap into my powers or something, like what Maple said. I think I'm kind of a late bloomer or something here, because a lot of you are already developing yours, but..."

Owen sighed, going out of what seemed to be an upright, meditative stance. "It's not really working. I think I'm trying to find it the wrong way."

 

[Virgil134]

"Hmm, well, Diyem described seeing Radiance as a burning flame that's become part of our aura," Cabot mused "What I did was that I tried to visualize that and imagined drawing power from it. Maybe you can try to do the same?"

 

[Namohysip]

"I tried that, too," Owen said. "But I feel like something's distracting me when I try it. Maybe it's because that's how drawing power works when you really focus, back in my own world. Do I have to go deeper? Or..." He trailed off, sighing. "Well, maybe a little more practice would help."

 

[Virgil134]

"Yeah, practice should definitely help!" Cabot said. He put his bag on the ground next to his bed and sat down, stretching a little. "It's kinda like learning a TM move, except you don't know what the move will be like exactly... or at least, it's like learning a TM move in my world. I guess in this world you don't really need to practice a move after using a TM."

 

[Namohysip]

"Maybe..." Owen frowned, arms crossed. "I think what I need to do is activate it in the heat of battle, maybe. I mean, I know I almost got beat up and stabbed and stuff a few days ago, and it didn't awaken then, so maybe not..."

Owen rubbed his forehead. "Rrgh, it's this amnesia. It feels like there's still so much I don't remember! I bet if I did, I'd actually have an idea of my inner self or--" Owen stopped. "Wait... inner self... that's it! I need to... look for reminders of my past! Or something!"

Owen looked up. Diyem! Can you remind me of my past?

That is a very broad request.

 

[Virgil134]

Cabot tilted his head, only able to hear Diyem's side of the conversation. "Oh? Are you trying to ask Diyem for one of those reminders? If so, maybe you can ask if he knows about any battles you've fought in the past?"

 

[Namohysip]

...Some things are better left undisclosed while here, Diyem said flatly. They will probably just become distracting.

"Okay, well, you know about my inner self and stuff, right?" Owen asked.

Unfortunately I do.

"Well, remind me about stuff like that!"

Well. You are upstanding. Insufferably optimistic. Easy to trust. Easy to read. An unwavering obligation to help as many people as you can. Tendency toward injury.

"Wait, how is that last one part of my inner self?"

At some point it's frequent enough that it has to somehow have originated from within.

Owen frowned in a half-pout. "I don't see how I can use any of that for finding my inner self now..." He looked to Cabot for ideas.

 

[Virgil134]

"Maybe you could- Hrm..." Cabot crossed his arms as he paused in thought. "What if you can somehow combine those last two things? Try to help someone out, even if it means getting injured? Like trying to shield someone during battle."

 

[Namohysip]

"Well, I already do that..." Owen said. "Protect, remember? That's been doing a lot... But not to mention that, I usually do that anyway, getting hurt while trying to protect others. It comes with the job. That's not much of a big deal. Like that time I had to take down an outlaw and they broke my back, or the time I kept getting electrocuted, and then that... something happened then, what was... Oh, and there was also that time I had to go into a forest fire to rescue some people who got trapped... But... But something's still missing."

All this time, Owen paced around, sighing. "Something special... something special..."

He finally sat down, crossing his arms. With his eyes closed, he took a deep, long breath, like he was focusing inward. That new direction. Helping someone, risking himself, but there was something special there, too. Unconsciously, his hand twitched, and he reached forward, toward something that wasn't there, like a light. He grasped it, briefly...

Owen's scales flashed from orange to green, then back to normal.

 

[Virgil134]

Cabot was about to speak up about how Owen got his back broken in the past, when he noticed Charmander's scales briefly turned green.

"Huh?! What was that?"

 

[Namohysip]

"What was what?" Owen asked, opening one eye before closing it again. "Hang on. I think I'm... I think I felt something for a second there. I just need to..."

Orange to green again, this time a little longer...

"I feel it," Owen said, and just then, the flame on his tail went out, yet Owen seemed just fine. Something bloomed at the end--five white petals spread themselves like they'd woken up from a long, long nap. Orange scales flattened, elongated, and rose into tiny, green feathers, and the cream front of his body became a soft, furry pale olive color.

"...What smells like mint?" Owen mumbled, opening his eyes.

 

[Virgil134]

"Ah... Er..."

Cabot stared at Owen with his mouth wide open, fumbling for words as he tried to think of what to say.

"You look... different..."

 

[Namohysip]

"Different how?"

He stood up, looking at his hands. "It doesn't lo--" His voice hitched, turning his palm over to look at the feathers. At first he didn't fully react, like it didn't totally register what had happened. "What?"

And then he felt his chest, at the soft, fur-like covering he now had, somehow colder than when he had scales and a fiery core. He no longer felt that fiery feeling in his chest, that perpetual warmth that he never realized was there until it left him. Did that mean--

Owen spun and grabbed his tail, pulling it forward. Where his flame was supposed to be, he saw a white daffodil. "Oh."

His heart was beating at least twice as fast and he wasn't sure why. His fingers trembled. He wanted to breathe fire to cool off but all he felt was a strange vine curling and uncurling somewhere in his gut.

"C-Cabot, I think I found it," Owen said, his voice barely a whisper. "I thi..."

He took only one step, and then his eyes had a strange, vacant look. Empty, like a trance, which transitioned into what might have been fear, or dread, or realization? And then...

Complete, utter, overwhelmed panic.

Owen unleashed an ear-splitting scream that was far louder and far longer than any normal Pokemon should have been capable of. It practically vibrated the air, how shrill and constant it was, and Owen may not have even realized the sound he was making, as he had collapsed on the ground, squeezing his head so hard that it tore out the leafy feathers wherever he grabbed. Diyem was saying something but Owen was so loud it drowned him out. Anybody in the dojo would have heard it, and perhaps even a little bit outside...

 

[Virgil134]

Cabot recoiled and covered his earholes as Owen began to scream. Despite his small size, Owen sounded like he could beat an Exploud at a shouting contest right now. Cabot hesitantly moved towards Owen and put a claw on his shoulder in an attempt to comfort him, still covering one ear with his other claw.

"H-Hey, it's okay... It's not that bad..."

 

[Disco]

Mellow had been passing by and considering reaching out to the master of the dojo when she heard the screaming start. It sounded like...

"Owen!?", she called out, and quickly rushed to the scene. What she saw made her recoil in horror. His tail flame- his entire body, what had happened to it!?

"Oh Arceus- He's dying, one of those Shugs infected him!! Somebody get a medic!!"