Mystery Continent ~ Southern Beach

[Magyk]

The former hoimon said a lot of things that confused Ben, but he thought he got the gist. He could never understand what it would be like to change species completely and then turn back without remembering, but he could understand the logic behind interdimensional threats and friends alike.

He still didn't even understand what a Voice of Life was, or what they did.

"Na—Er, Marshtomp has a point," Ben replied gently. "It'd be a two way street, accepting otherworldly friends means I'd be inviting otherworldly threats as well. And...no offence to my friends but I don't know if we can handle threats like that. It might be easier on my world if we stayed separated."

Mergo would tell him something philosophical that he'd mostly grasp, Aria would shrug and claim she'd find him anyways, or beat up the bad guys for him. Owen would say something like how the ocean is connected or whatever, and that if he was fated to remember or see the others again, it'd happen.

Kora would say something stupid and provide no advice whatsoever.

Nero came from a world where everything was connected, his advice wouldn't be any good either.

"I guess it must be harder for hugh-mans—" he was trying to get the word right, "Because it's not your natural form. I wonder if the other hummans here would prefer to stay as Pokemon or can't wait to turn back..."

He grimaced. "I'm sorry, I don't really understand what it's like to be one of you. But did you try asking one of the old heroes of Cibus about their experience? Don't all those teams have a humaan in them?"

 

[Negrek]

Nate resisted the urge to rub his face. "You can call me Nate. It's my literal, actual name. Seriously. Well"--he made a frustrated gesture--"it's short for my literal, actual name, but that ain't what he's being weird about anyhow."

After a moment of thought he added, "That's a good point about the other heroes, I guess. Dunno if it's really the same. I mean, they all ended up back on Cibus, but for us... I don't think that's an option. I think some of them went home for a bit, some of them found out they couldn't go home, but one way or another they ended up back here. " And what were all the Cibus humans? One of those Team Spice people, maybe the meganium? And there was that marowak, right, Bone? Jesus. It was intentional, right, with the name? Had to be. He refused to believe that was an accident.

Nate sighed and rubbed his gills. "One way or another I think most of the other humans on the team would rather stay here if they could. At the very least, swap between here and their home world if they wanted, like that one guy. Uh, the garchomp, I think?" He inclined his head slightly. "Ain't a bad idea, though, to talk to one of them. All of them ended up sticking around here, after all. Maybe there really is some way to swing it for our team, too."

Rocky had gone quiet, tail lashing behind him in agitation. "If it was me, I'd try to find my friends again. No matter what," he said softly. He didn't understand why that seemed to be such an unpopular opinion around here. Everyone kept being all sad they were leaving, so why not try to make it so you didn't have to say goodbye forever?

 

[Magyk]

"Yeah, it's a bit different for us," Ben admitted. "We knew we couldn't stay because our worlds needed us and we missed our friends and family. Diyem also couldn't maintain our bodies here and stuff, I mean, I'm impressed he managed to restore all our powers and stuff."

Then he frowned, looking at Rocky. He had to remember the familiars slash eternatus children were young, and probably didn't understand. "It's...complicated, Rocky. Some worlds wouldn't be able to handle the crossover, and others might not remember at all. Some will remember but won't have a way to travel."

He dug a claw through the sand, drawing two cirles, then a line between them. "Everyone's worlds are at different places. Some more advanced, others not so much. If they clashed..."

He drew a line to connect the circles, crossing through the vertical line that had separated them. "It could upset the balance, make things complicated. An evil Dark Matter could jump from a prepared world to an unprepared one and take over it completely. If one person can cross the line, then anything could."

He drew more lines, making a point to have them each stand out. "It could totally destroy someone's home. A world with gods and super powers could leak into a world without and hurt a lot of people. It'd scare the rest of the world, who don't understand. Why should we put everything on the line for a friendship? We can't risk it."

Then he gazed out to the ocean again.

"Besides...even if we can't see each other again, we're still connected, in here." The arcanine placed a paw on his body, roughly where his heart would be.

 

[Negrek]

Rocky watched Ben's sketching with arms crossed over chest, scowling in frustration. "I know that!" he said, one ear flicking. "It's bad to . But people travel between worlds all the time, even if you don't. Not seeing your friends isn't going to stop a Dark Matter from maybe going to a different world. That's what happened with Cibus, maybe three times I think! If the bad guys are going to do it anyway, why not have fun with it yourself, too?"

He turned away from Ben, tail thrashing around his legs. "Being in each other's hearts doesn't mean much if you never get to make new memories together anyhow."

"Rocky," Nate said, but the familiar only tucked his arms in tighter, refusing to look at the marshtomp. Nate cast an uneasy sidelong glance at Ben and cleared his throat. "Look, everybody's gotta leave sometime, you know? It sucks, but that's life. It's something everyone's gotta deal with eventually."

"Sometime doesn't have to be now! Not unless you let it!" Rocky did look at Nate now, eyes gleaming furiously. "Maybe Ben's okay with just keeping his friends in his heart, but I know you wouldn't. If it was your pokémon that were going to be separated from you forever, you would do anything to see them again, even if it was dangerous! That's what you've been trying to do. You aren't going to try to see me again because you don't care!"

Oh, for fuck's sake. Nate winced. "We can talk about this later, all right? What happened to relaxing on the beach, huh?"

 

[Magyk]

The time for relaxing was over, Ben realised with a grimace. He remembered when he got like this. Except, at least...

"I get it," Ben said gently, "I get it, I really do." He looked up, hoping it would help him keep a grip on his emotions. This conversation felt way too nostalgic, and now he was on the opposite side of it. "Saying goodbye is...really hard. I'm sure it's as hard for heumons as it is for us Pokemon. When it was our time to leave Cibus, I was...too afraid to admit that I was going to miss everyone, and I was going to leave without saying goodbye. I thought not saying my farewells would mean I wouldn't have to say bye at all..."

Then he shook his head. "But I was wrong, Owen helped me see that. By not saying goodbye I was lying to myself. There was a chance I would never see them again, and that's how I want them to remember me by? Nobody can say if we'll meet again, or you guys will meet again, so it's better to say as much as you can now before it's too late. You and your siblings, Rocky, will always remember us, but you'll be forgotten to our minds. Perhaps one day you can visit Nate yourself, and that might make him remember...but until then, once Cibus is saved, it will be goodbye."

 

[Negrek]

"I know that," Rocky said, staring down at the tumbled stones that lined the beach. He kicked one away. "I'm not the one who never wants to talk about anything."

In the surf-washed silence that followed, Nate sidled closer to Ben. "Look, sorry about that," he said in a low voice. "He's having a rough time with having to be on his own, is all." The marshtomp rubbed at his gills and watched his familiar gloomily. "You still up for that run?" he asked after a moment. "Might cheer the guy up a bit."

 

[Magyk]

Ben nodded and got to his feet, stretching out and dipping his body low as he tilted his head back. A gesture for Nate to climb on if he so wished. "Hey...if you do meet a little Eien or a zorua named Taz, can you be her friend for me, Rocky? She...was my companion here, and I don't think we left on the greatest of terms. Taz could really use a friend, and you guys are kinda family, right? I think you'd like her, actually. Loves to play games."

There was a soft smile on his face for a moment, then it widened into a grin. "But enough about that. How about that run, hm? I bet I can go faster than you!"

 

[Negrek]

Nate eyed Ben dubiously. What exactly were the odds of him staying up there versus getting flung off at like a thousand miles an hour?

Rocky looked up again and nodded, his expression serious. "I will. I... I'd like to meet her." He glanced out over the ocean again, just for a moment. "I'd like to meet all the other familiars. I didn't even realize I had cousins in other worlds."

Nate waited uneasily, wondering if he was going to have to prod Rocky into action, but after a moment the familiar simply slipped his pack off and passed it over to Nate. "Ain't a straight race if Ben's gotta be carrying me," the marshtomp pointed out weakly as he slipped the bag on over his shoulder. He didn't know why it made him feel so uneasy. "But I guess if you're okay with it..."

There was no dignified way of getting up on the arcanine's back. Even with him crouched down, Nate's stubby legs made a certain amount of hopping and struggling necessary. Perched on top of the arcanine, Nate carefully dug his fingers into Ben's thick fur. How the hell was this supposed to work? He didn't want to fall off, but he also didn't want to, like, go ripping out a bunch of the poor guy's mane.

Real nice fur, though. Nate had to fight down a habitual urge to pet the arcanine. Cibus just made things fucking weird. And that fleeting moment of familiarity only served to make him sad.

Well. That was why he was getting the hell out of here, wasn't it?

"I'm ready," Rocky said. He got into a ready crouch and looked up at Ben. Nate could tell he was working to muster a smile. "Okay! Let's do it. I bet I'm gonna be faster!"

 

[Magyk]

That was better. If Rocky and Nate couldn't resolve their dilemma, at least the infernape had the other familiars he could go looking for. And just maybe...he'd have given Taz more friends and family to replace him.

It made him sad, but that's just how it had to be.

Ben returned Rocky's smile with a grin that was genuine, and once Nate was comfortable, he got into a readied stance.

"Careful what you say, Rocky," Ben challenged. "You're up against an arcanine. Did you know they used to call my species...legendary?"

Oh he was so ready for this.

"Alright Nate, you better count us off! And...you might want to hang on tight."

 

[Negrek]

Oh, God, it was like counting down to his own execution. Nate tried to tighten his grip on Ben's fur without yanking on it. "Five... four... three.." he began.

He barely caught the mischievous gleam in Rocky's before the familiar took off with a whoop, one that could only be genuine delight. "Too slow! Too slow! Can't catch me!"

He really was moving pretty fast, the cheating bastard. Nate opened his mouth to yell something to that effect, but then Ben surged into action under him and he about bit his own tongue at the sudden forward motion. From that point on, all he could do was to hang on--as best he could, for as long as he could, until they caught up with and overtook Rocky's breathless laughter and the water fell far away behind.

<><><>​

 

[Sudmensch]

The beach was quiet as Dill walked off the path, his tail dragging behind him as he looked around. Standing there for a moment, he took a breath before starting to make his way over to the water. He'd needed some time to himself for a while, and now was good a time as any.

 

[Namohysip]

Dill wasn't alone; sitting by the shoreline, where the cold water lapped at her ectoplasmic feet, was Cal. The Void Eterna Charizard, black and mostly see-through, looked behind her and noticed Dill. Her gold-ember eyes flared a little, which was apparently the way her kind tended to smile, and she waved him down.

"Hey," she greeted. "Taking a walk? Uh... Dill, right?"

 

[Sudmensch]

"Huh?" Dill flinched, looking up and noticing the wraithly Charizard. His tail flicked a bit. "O-oh, uh... y-yeah. That'd be me."

 

[Namohysip]

"Hey." Cal motioned for him to come over. "Crazy how it's all almost over, isn't it?" she asked, turning her attention back to the ocean. "Soon, we'll be doing our last big fight, and then..."

 

[Sudmensch]

"Yeah... then you all get to go home, huh?" Dill asked, lumbering over and taking a hard seat.

 

[Namohysip]

Cal blinked, glancing at Dill. "Well, no," she said. "I won't be going, I mean, my home is technically Cibus. It's you guys who are going home to the worlds you came from."

 

[Sudmensch]

"I'm uh... not so sure," Dill sighed. "Thing is... I, uh, think I'm here because I sorta died back in my world."

The river monster hung his head.

"So yeah, jury's still out on me going back, you know?"

 

[Namohysip]

"Oh," Cal said, frowning. "Well, you probably still have an astral sea to go back to, if that's the case. We've been delaying your arrival there, or something, I bet... Diyem would probably know the answer to that!" She grinned, or tried to encourage him, but just then, the ocean waters displaced and a great leviathan emerged with a gasp and a roar.

A Charizard twice Cal's size burst from the water, flaring his wings to shake off the wetness in a wave of heat. There he was--Owen, the black-scaled, prismatic dragon. "How was that?!" he called down.

"Five minutes!" Cal called.

"Gahhh!" Owen flipped through the air, like he hadn't beaten some sort of record.

 

[Sudmensch]

"Well, I just... I don't want to- sweet Groudon below!" Dill swore as he scrambled back at the sudden interruption.

 

[Namohysip]

Owen spotted Dill and smiled, drifting down until he was by the shoreline. His feet sank a few inches into the sand.

"Hey... Dill," Owen said, nodding as he recalled the name. They hadn't talked often. "Getting ready for the fight? We've been trying to take it easy so we could be in top form."