Sharpedo Bluff

[unrepentantAuthor]

Expert? What—?

"How in blazes were you to know that she would survive 'knocking that thing outta her'? Are you always this eager to attack children, or do you only do it when shady authority figures tell you to, huh?"

Brisa's coat rippled with an involuntary surge of electricity.

 

[Chibi Pika]

What the FUCK.

Did she just-- How did she-- WHAT.

She's... she's just pulling stuff out of her ass, she doesn't actually...

"You don't have a fucking clue what you're talking about," Starr hissed. "You don't even give a shit that I was trying to help, do you? No, you just want to act all high and mighty so you can feel like you're better than someone." She took a step forward, matching Brisa's sparks with embers flaring up across her own pelt.

Diyem, I'm gonna fucking murder that Shinx.

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

Brisa snarled viciously. "Did I hit a nerve? Guess that certifies my reckoning of the kinda person you might be. Too bad you ain't hitting the mark back, else I'd think twice about beating you senseless."

The electricity surged. She could take her. She knew it.

 

[Namohysip]

Diyem had watched the tail-end of it without much knowledge about what had come before. He'd only heard the message from Starr, which rudely had interrupted his reading of Ho-Oh's Absurd Escapade. But now, this was perhaps even more absurd than before. After a brief check of their psyche...

ENOUGH!

The booming voice left a ringing in their mind's ears.

I have had enough of your constant infighting! Have you no sympathy for Turf, the very one you're claiming to have the best interests of in mind? I don't give a damn what you think about me, but you saved her, and now she is resting! Quiet down or fuck off!

 

[Chibi Pika]

Starr was frozen midstep. Her hateful gaze had been fixed on the ground ever since Diyem's interruption, his words echoing in her head on repeat. She could actually see the grass smoldering slightly around her paws. Slowly, she forced her eyes upward to meet Brisa's. Dozens of things she still wanted to say, all of them turned to ash on her tongue.

"You heard Diyem," Starr muttered, her voice cold and quiet. The embers in her pelt died down. In one forceful motion, she turned her back to the Shinx and strode back toward Treasure Town, oblivious to whether or not Brisa had called after her.

Goddamn it when was Diyem gonna stop butting in on things that had nothing to do with him or their mission. It was... infuriating.

...But it wasn't like she hadn't asked him to.

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

Brisa bit back a yowl and discharged her electricity into the ground. The frustration was unbearable, but at least she'd got the satisfaction of seeing Starr's chagrined groundstaring during that scolding.

But for fuck's sake! They would have to battle it out eventually if they were ever going to be at ease around each other. Although perhaps right now hadn't been the best time. Both of them had surely been willing to wound the other.

Now there was only the awkwardness of making her way to the market... in the same direction as Starr.

Brisa set off, trailing far enough behind as to not restart the fight.

 

[Namohysip]

<><><>​

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

Brisa returned later, with medicine on hand, just in case.

She spotted the minccino from earlier near the entrance to Team Spice's place and approached to offer her paw. This time she had a greeting scripted for herself ahead of time, well-rehearsed in her head.

"Hey there, sorry for earlier. Had my attention pulled downright every which way. The name's Brisa, pleasure to make your acquaintance proper."

 

[Namohysip]

Owen waved as well, having caught up with Brisa just before they'd gotten to the Bluff.

"Are Surf and Turf down there?" Owen asked, looking toward the open entryway in the ground. "What kind of medicine did you get?" He wondered where Diyem was and what was occupying him, but decided against pestering him for now.

 

[Torchic]

Cino held his couple Orans in his paws, as he heard the familiar voice of the Shinx approaching. "Oh, hey." She also looked different than the Shinx he had met in his world. He decided not to comment on that, or else she could react like Cynthian did back at the beach. He made a mental note that he shouldn't be so curious and shouldn't ask questions without thinking first. That Charmander accompanied her as well. What was his name again? "Yeah, no worries. I'm Cino."

"Are Surf and Turf down there?"

"Not sure, I haven't gone down there yet. What exactly happened in there, anyway? I was at the beach, and heard a horrifying scream coming from up here."

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

"Possession by an invisible shadow only our posse can see," Brisa summarised, wincing at the implausibility of it. "Starr and I beat the thing out of Turf, but she's hurting from it."

She almost felt reluctant to step down. Starr's aggressive finisher had worked but it just plain looked bad to have freed the kid by thrashing her...

 

[Torchic]

He thought he didn't hear right. "Uh- excuse me? Possessed by an invisible shadow that only we can see? What kinda... i-is Turf ok?" He was pretty sure Turf's fine, now that this thing was out of him, but still. They're just laying in bed. Probably. "How did he get possessed in the first place? Or did that happen before you arrived?"

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

Brisa shrugged. "I heard she took ill before we even arrived in this world. Her sister was frettin' over her on day one. I take it that the shadow creature has something to do with why we were summoned here. You ready to go in?"

Deep breaths. It was gonna be fine.

Of course, it wasn't really the fight she was worried about, was it? It was what Turf had said while under the spell.

Because of Dad. Because he was human.

The sisters had a human father. Just like her. They were like her.

And their father was still in the picture.

Deep breaths. It was gonna be fine.

 

[Torchic]

"Sure... if Turf's fine again." Cino looked unsure. He turned towards the stairs leading down. What if the shadow still lingered down there somewhere, ready to possess someone again? And what then? Is it just gonna tear us apart?

No, no. Don't think about this now. It's gonna be fine. Turf's laying in bed, probably sleeping too. The shadow's gone. Cino went down the stairs, waiting for Brisa and the Charmander, of whom he still didn't know the name of.

 

[Namohysip]

Compared to their last visit, Team Spice's home in Sharpedo Bluff had a quieter, calmer atmosphere. The wind whistled through the opening of the home from the Sharpedo's stone mouth until they closed it behind them, and Owen trailed in the back of the team of three.

Turf was curled up in her bed of hay, looking much better yet somehow gloomier. Surf sat next to her, running a hand along her back and between the ridges of her younger sister's back. Looking at Brisa, the Croconaw nodded. "Hey," she greeted. "Thanks for going out to get that medicine..."

"Is she okay?" Owen asked, hesitating to ask more.

"Yeah. She's... better."

Turf avoided eye contact.

 

[Torchic]

Cino eyed the two, the Croconaw visibly worried about the Totodile. It made him worried as well, but at least there was no shadow monster that would attack them here. "Brisa told me that we should get some. I heard she..." At the last moment, he caught himself. Better not remind them about earlier. "Shouldn't we get a doctor, or whatever equivalent of a doctor you have in this world? They should know best on what to do here..."

Turf looked very exhausted, as if her energy had been drained by that shadow. Maybe he just needs a good rest, Cino thought.

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

"I've no doubt she'll be on her feet again in no time," said Brisa, her chest aching a little. She studied Surf for... something, some sign that the two of them were alike. "I take it you two are pretty tough."

She provided some medical supplies from the small carry bag she'd stored them in.

 

[Namohysip]

"Yeah, we're definitely tough," Surf said, holding up a fist as if to demonstrate. "Being half human can do that to a gal."

A phantom of a smile crossed Turf's expression, but she tried to hide it, like she wanted to be sad for the time being.

The medical supplies were largely unnecessary but a kind enough gesture that it opened Turf enough enough to sit upright. She had a few burns on her scales that looked like they were already healing on their own, even faster than normal Pokemon. "Thanks," she mumbled.

"I never thought that something... had Turf possessed," Surf said. "Thanks for getting it out of her."

Turf looked like she wanted to say something, but something was holding her back. She silently took the ointments and set aside an energy elixir for later.

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

Half human. She'd never thought of herself as that, not really. She'd always thought about it indirectly — her father who was once a human/she had a transformed human for a parent/there was something downright unusual about her ancestry. She fumbled internally for a way to seize on the topic.

"It's no trouble," she said in return for Surf's thanks. "I just wish we coulda done it more gently. I certainly didn't mean for you to come off worse for wear, and I'm sure neither did my partners in the fight."

Well, who could say? But she wasn't about to sabotage Starr's image to strangers. They could make up their own minds.

"Say," she began, hardly knowing what she was about to say, "it's a peculiar thing, but that 'toughness' you were speakin' of is something we have in common."

She smiled nervously. "On my pa's side, like y'all."

There. It'd been said. Now what?

 

[Namohysip]

Surf's eyes brightened, and even Turf's did a little. "What? You mean you're another half-human?!" Surf nearly sprang up to grab Brisa by the paw, but stopped herself halfway. "I, er--sorry, I got too excited. Y'see, it's not exactly common, since there's only, like, four humans in the whole world right now. Well, humans who became Pokemon, but their spirits are a little human, so that's what carries over, and--" She shook her head.

Owen looked like he wanted to take notes, but instead he sat down near the corner. "Pokemon with a human in their ancestry... That's something else. Still... sounds like we had to rough Turf up to help out."

"It's okay," Turf added, sitting up fully and forcing a smile. "When Mom and Dad had to help Dialga, who kinda lost his mind to darkness, they had to beat him up, too. Dad said that was one thing he was still getting used to about the Pokemon spirit. Battles are how Pokemon understand each other more... I bet if someone else saw what was wrong with me, they'd try to attack to calm me down, too!" Turf laughed--it was the first laugh she'd made in days, and Surf looked at her, stunned.