Sharpedo Bluff

[unrepentantAuthor]

A wink, huh? A wink was good. A 'yes' to sharing the hidden quarters was good, too. Brisa tried winking back.

It came out like a sort of lopsided blink. Oh well.

Time to go.

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[SparklingEspeon]

Amazingly, one of the things Tricky had forgotten to do yesterday was visit the bluff. It wasn't like it was particularly visible from the town, but Tricky had seen it advertised so many times as a selling point of a Treasure Town vacation that there was no way she could let it go ignored!

...Yes, there was trouble on the horizon. Big trouble. But it looked like they had time, and Tricky was determined to visit at least once before berry crackers went down. She silently winced a bit as her stomach growled. Whatever she had picked up and eaten back at that house everymon else had come out didn't settle too well with her. She padded down the stairs and into the bluff's mouth, quickly prancing all the way to the edge and peering out over the sharpedo's massive teeth. The view was just as amazing as she had been told! ...but she quickly got bored of it. A view was just a view, after all.

 

[TheGOAT]

What a disaster that was.

It wasn’t like Astrid hadn’t been a mediating force before, and hadn’t failed before. Mincinno and Helli were enough of a pawful back home… though, that said, those two never fought quite to this extent. They just marched to the beat of their own drum, dragging the other two along.

Her voice had fallen on deaf ears then, and maybe it was just their dynamic. But this? This was… dysfunctional. They had ignored her. Hours before the battle! It wouldn’t stand—it was just a shame she couldn’t put any weight behind that. Their group had no designated leader with paws on the ground, figuratively speaking. If they were gonna have one, they couldn’t come soon enough.

Astrid’s pawsteps echoed off the stairway walls as she trotted down into the mouth of Sharpedo Bluff. For the time being—she decided—she just needed to calm her nerves. A cozy view of the ocean would do just that.

The yellow blotch of fur positioned by one of the large, rocky teeth caught the Vulpix’s eye immediately. Astrid tilted her head; it was Tricky, the Fennekin from the beach yesterday. Maybe she enjoyed the ocean too?

“Hey!” Astrid called out in greeting from the bottom of the stairway. “Um, if I’m intruding, I can leave you be.”

 

[SparklingEspeon]

"Huh?"

Tricky was torn away from the view that she couldn't completely admit she was still at least a little enamored with, looking back at where the voice came from. It was the vulpix from yesterday - one of the cool white-furred ones that never stopped off on the Water Continent because it was too hot there! Tricky didn't remember her name - or if she had given it - but... naaah. It'd be fine. Tricky was sure of it.

"N-nope!" Tricky quickly hopped down from the teeth rocks, remaining oblivious to the vulpix's apparent discomfort. "The bluff's public!"

 

[TheGOAT]

Discomfort eased slightly, Astrid shot her a grateful smile and joined her over by the edge.

Her breath grew a little heavier as the view came into focus. Now this was more like it! From her new vantage point, the horizon expanded well beyond where it had yesterday when she had been confined to sea-level. She could see more islands, more waves—even a Pokémon here and there if she squinted hard enough.

“This is…” She breathed out slowly, taking it in. “…really nice. How cool would it be to live in a place like this?”

 

[SparklingEspeon]

"I wish I lived here," Tricky commented excitedly. "This place is all the rage back where I live! But I've never gotten to go before..."

 

[TheGOAT]

“Mmhm! Same for my world.” So there were others that came from a world like hers? Whaaaat? “—Er, I’ve actually been to Treasure Town before. Didn’t stay long, so I never got the opportunity to stop and catch this view. I wonder if it’s this magical back home…”

Before a lump could form in her throat, Astrid turned to Tricky and looked the Fennekin over. If their worlds really were similar, then she had to address the prevailing question in her mind. “Hey, are you an explorer by chance?” She pawed at the ground, trying to find words that were less forward. “I figured, y’know, since you had the mind to check this place out, you might be one. Sorry if that’s a rash assumption.”

 

[SparklingEspeon]

"I... I'm..." Tricky's eyes flitted up and down for a second. Was she an explorer? Sure, she had a fancy new gadget and all - she had entirely forgotten about that in all the hustle-bustle of yesterday - but when presented with the question, she genuinely didn't know. But she supposed a tiny little bit of a lie wouldn't hurt. Maybe it wasn't even a lie.

"...Yep! I'm an explorer." Tricky nodded her head exaggeratedly to drive the point home.

 

[TheGOAT]

“Ah, cool!” Smiling out at the view again, she continued, “I’ve been exploring as a career for a couple years now, but I was sticking my nose in places it didn’t need to be in long before then. I guess having the will to explore is sort of, like, a ‘heart’ thing. Like, it’s a lifestyle, not just a job. At least, that’s what I learned at the Expedition Society. That’s where I—um, eheh, am I rambling?”

She could only get lost daydreaming of her passions for so long. After all, exploring was no longer her primary objective here. She didn’t get to time this vacation—it just happened to her. She had no choice but to sideline her life’s goal for however long this mission took, and for that matter, it was already going south.

Salty air coursed through her nose as she breathed in again. The sting from before was still there. “…Goodness, it’s already day two and I’m overwhelmed.”

 

[SparklingEspeon]

Tricky frowned, letting her tail swat some stray rocks on the ground absentmindedly.

“Well... wanna talk about it?”

 

[TheGOAT]

“Well…”

Of course she did, but where to even start? It wasn’t just any one thing getting to her.

“It’s just… like…”

How could she be nuanced about this? She could channel her leader’s energy and go the ‘half the team has lost their damn marbles’ route; she could channel Helli’s energy and go the ‘who cares, sun’s-a-shinin’ too bright to be worried’ route. It would be a lot easier if they were here with her, but, well…

Astrid pursed her lips as the silence stretched for several seconds, then finally spoke up again. “I‘m honestly just tuckered out. Like, I—don’t get me wrong, I know I have what it takes to see this mission through. And I believe we can all band together and beat both of those Magikarp. I really do. All of us. I think.”

She pawed at the ground further. “But we aren’t… we aren’t doing that right now, and I’m worried we won’t be able to compose ourselves in time to win.”

 

[SparklingEspeon]

Tricky fidgeted in place, suddenly on edge. Granted, she hadn't talked much to the rest of the team - except for Cynthian (he was nice) and that grumpy old tin 'mon who was obsessed with some "World Ender" or whatever - but everymon had seemed friendly enough... Tricky had been sure the adults were making preparations while she'd played. Learning that no-mon was ready threatened to hit her like a truck. She swallowed uncomfortably, and then spoke:

"W-what do you mean we won't be ready? I... I thought there was a plan... what about that charizard? Can't he help us?"

 

[Jedi Shulk]

“Astrid? Are you h...” Before Fay could finish speaking he saw the Pokemon he was looking for Astrid. “I think I should let these two finish talking before I tell Astrid what happened.” Fay thought to himself. Fay sat on the stairs out of view waiting for the conversation the end.

 

[TheGOAT]

What word was the opposite of proactive? Whatever it was, Astrid couldn’t parse it, but she could still attribute that notion to the Charizard—Diyem, she’d heard his name was. His passing comments, somehow witty and dull at the same time, had never gone unnoticed by her, and yet they were the greatest effort she’d truly seen so far…

“I don’t know,” she answered, which was true. “I hope so. But I don’t think we should count on it. He summoned us for a reason, but if we don’t act as a team…” She swallowed. “Well, you saw what happened to Owen. And it’s not like these Magikarp are the end of this world’s problems, I don’t think.”

She needed to stop. She was doing that stupid snowball thing again with her words.

“Anyway!” she piped up, blending together a delighted cheer and a wistful sigh into some sort of strained, unnatural exhale sound. “Team or not, I’m gonna try my best. And, well,” she smiled for real, if only for a moment, “it isn’t like it’s just a free for all or anything crazy like that. I can at least count on you, right?”

 

[SparklingEspeon]

Tricky thought on it for a second - only a second - then nodded with a wordless trill of affirmation. If trouble was on the way, and no-mon else was ready... she wanted somemon to stick to. In case something went down. Besides, this vulpix looked like a good friend. Tricky wanted to keep that.

 

[TheGOAT]

Astrid smiled sweetly. “I’m glad.”

Still, there was no denying the way she felt about it. The Riolu and Starr were probably done fighting by now, but it wasn’t just them anyway.

The view helped. The view made her feel that familiar spark in her legs—that pleasant whirring in her gut—whenever the world showed her something cool. Even better that it carried over to this world as well.

She curled up in place, resting her cheek against the side of a massive, jagged tooth. “…Mmm. Might need to come here more often.”

 

[SparklingEspeon]

Tricky hopped back up next to one of the rocky teeth, setting her eyes back on the view. They only had a few hours left... it was best to enjoy it while they still could.

 

[TheGOAT]

The battle was beginning soon. Eventually, Astrid and Tricky headed towards the crossroads.

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[Shiny Phantump]

Celeste couldn’t shake off the thoughts about the Rattata and Turf’s illness. He wandered his way back towards the bluff, hoping he could find them there... and maybe their parents, too.

He’d offered to Wish on Turf before, and though his wishing was proving much more draining, he still intended to make good on that offer. If the alternative was letting Turf turn out like that Rattata, it would be a small price to pay...

If it worked, of course. He suspected it wouldn’t, but he had to try.

 

[Equitial]

Now that Ashwood was feeling better, they were ready to explore the town more before the lunch party. They had been too distracted by their new body and getting to know their new companions before the Magikarp fight, then they had to recover. With the Pokemon moving back into Treasure Town, the place was beginning to more resemble the town Ashwood knew from the games. Well, this town was way more awesome by virtue of being real, but yeah.

They couldn't believe they had played a part in saving it. They looked at their clay hands -- now familiar -- and their eyes glinted.

They turned west, leaving the more populated areas of the town. They hadn't checked out the Bluff yet; they had stuck near the main town. They had been turning over what Maple had said about the history of this world. This place was the same as the games they had played. Team Spice were the heroes of the Explorers series, which Ashwood had played and replayed so many times. Man... they couldn't even begin with all the implications of this.

Ashwood reached the top of the Sharpedo Bluff -- not quite familiar but still recognizable. And so much better now that they could actually feel the wind against their helmet and hear the waves crashing against the bluff.

They caught sight of Celeste. "Hey, what's up?" they said, but noticed the Absol had on a serious expression. "...Everything good?" they asked, coming up to him.