Sharpedo Bluff

[Shiny Phantump]

“Well then. This is... good? It’s probably good. Better than before, anyways. Progress.”

Celeste tried to slip his horn beneath the creature before quickly slicing upwards, hoping to impale the thing upon his horn.

 

[Namohysip]

"What... what are you talking about?" Surf said to Starr. "You're just attacking the air!"

Meanwhile, the strange creature twitched and curled up, searching for a way out. Despite this, its body seemed too badly beat up to move well, and instead hissed when Celeste approached.

"Careful," Maple said with warning, stepping inside to help Necrozma through.

The creature was too fast for Celeste even if it was prone, dodging the horn attack and rolling away. The brief contact Celeste made stung, as if he'd placed his horn in Fairy powder.

"What spawn of the World Ender is that supposed to be?" Necrozma drifted just behind Maple, unable to get a close look at the thing.

"Where is it?" Maple asked, and Necrozma pointed at where he saw the black thing pressing itself up against the stone.

 

[Shiny Phantump]

"What... what are you talking about?" Surf said to Starr. "You're just attacking the air!"

“For some reason, you can’t seem to see what’s going on here. You though Turf looked normal, too, but she... didn’t. I don’t think Maple can see it, either.”

Celeste was annoyed. If he couldn’t hit the thing without getting fairy-burned, what was he supposed to do? Especially when he was finding it hard enough to hit at all. He wished he could count on Maple for help, but she wouldn’t be able to hit it without seeing. It would be too hard for her to aim...

Or would it? He pointed at the creature with one paw.

“Maple, we need your help with this. It’s right there, can you try to hit it?”

 

[Namohysip]

"Right, where do you want me to shoot? There?" Maple aimed at the strange, shadowy thing, or at least where she thought it was, but the thing immediately slithered to the left instead, hissing loudly. It fired a beam of darkness directly into Maple's face with impeccable aim; because Maple couldn't see it, the attack was a direct hit.

Maple sneezed.

"Excuse me," Maple mumbled, and then fired into the wall--it was a beam of light energy so intense that it left a smoldering mark in the stone. "Did I hit it?"

The creature shrieked, its whole body bristling in horror, as it desperately burrowed into the stone wall. It wasn't working.

Necrozma drifted a little closer, the colors of his prism blinking asynchronously. That was a strange slug-looking thing, but it was so malformed that it was hard to tell what it was. It was certainly not a Pokemon, though...

 

[Ambyssin]

“Hold on.” Necrozma held his hands up, one still clutching the light orb. “Whatever this little thing is, we shouldn’t destroy it. We should capture and study it! That way, we know what to do if we find similar creatures.” He turned to Maple. “Can you get a jar with a lid?”

 

[Namohysip]

"A jar with a--" Maple stopped channeling her light energy to stare incredulously at Necrozma. "You can't be serious. We can barely see it!"

"Maple, do you not have such items at home?" Truffle asked, descending the stairway into the Bluff's hidden home. "Ah, and also, what exactly did I miss?"

He saw Surf and Turf in the corner, looking just as confused, though Turf was barely conscious.

After some confused huffing, Maple sighed and carved through a miniature portal. She reached through it, produced an empty, glass jar and a lid, meant to contain berries or jar, and then looked toward the others. "You're serious?"

 

[Ambyssin]

"Absolutely." Necrozma levitated the jar over, though it took quite a bit of effort. "If you can't see the little creature, then it is all the more worth investigating." He popped the lid off the jar. "After all, you claimed your attacks could do nothing to the magikarp. Now, there's a creature you cannot see. You cannot stand there and tell me the two aren't related. I will not believe you." He turned to the little slime-imp. "It's not a Phantom, else your attack would've obliterated it completely. It's something... quite different."

He pounced, launching toward the dazed slime-imp. Necrozma scooped it into the jar and put the lid on. "It seems to have the consistency of that spread mortals like to put on their pastries. In keeping with this world's theme, I will call it... Jam." A pause. "Or Jelly. I'm open to either, really." He tapped the jar with a claw while still holding the light orb in his free hand.

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

Brisa panted hard, and narrowed her eyes not at the 'slug', but at Starr. She'd have a word with that cat, just as soon as they weren't in public.

On the other hand... she just had to know more about this creature. It was an extraordinary development to have captured the thing.

 

[Namohysip]

The slime thing had put up quite a fight at first, blasting Necrozma with several blasts that had stung, but were not particularly strong. With enough squirming around, and some clever maneuvers, the little monster--apparently now called Jelly--was sealed inside. It slammed its head against the glass, but it did little more than splash around when it did.

"Did... you capture it?" Maple said, frowning. "Mm. Truffle, take that under your care for now, and never open it."

"Understood. If I may," Truffle added, holding out his wing to Necrozma. "We should give these two some time to rest for now," he added, looking to Surf and Turf.

 

[Ambyssin]

Necrozma handed the jar over. "Err, if you can't see it, should you have one of my teammates study it with you?" He glanced around the room. "Perhaps that charmander... Owen? He was babbling nonsensically throughout the fight with the magikarp. I think he likes observing things just a bit too much." He shuddered. "Kids these days."

With things settling down, he took off for the beach.

 

[Namohysip]

"I will find him posthaste!" Truffle said with a dutiful bow, and then, after slipping the jar into his bag, he flew off.

Maple frowned, watching the 'empty' jar slip away. "...A foe we cannot see... and a foe we cannot fight." She looked down. "It doesn't make sense..."

Turf was mumbling something, incoherent, but she was looking much healthier--and, more importantly, normal. A normal Totodile again.

"We should let them rest," Maple said. "No crowding around them. But... if some of you would like to spend time to help them relax, you may, if they agree. Otherwise, you should continue with any other errands you may have." She nodded. "Take care, Surf."

"Thank you." But Surf didn't look at her. She was too focused on her sister. Still, nobody seemed to mind.

<><><>​

 

[Chibi Pika]

Starr was still breathing heavy, muscles tense, fur standing on end. Necrozma had caught the slug, and part of her still wasn't sure they shouldn't just squash the damn thing, but... whatever, his problem now, let him deal with it.

Anyway, the mess here looked like it was basically resolved. The poor Totodile even looked like she was starting to recover, good. Probably best to give them some space, and Starr didn't fancy sticking around anyway. She climbed the stairs back outside and headed for the market. Idle shop browsing always helped her unwind, and the idea of getting decked out for the next fight sounded like a good one.

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

Brisa glanced between the sisters and the exiting Starr. She wanted to help tend to the injuries she'd contributed to, to ask about their human father what the fuck. She wanted to chase down Starr and give her a thorough drubbing. She realised that she'd be in no shape to do either of the first two while still furious with the litten. Very well.

"I'll be back as soon as I can with medical supplies," she told the sisters, and hurried out after Starr.

Starr had just climbed the stairway outside when Brisa caught up with her.

"Hold up. I want a word with you."

 

[Chibi Pika]

Starr's ears flicked toward the voice. She turned to see Brisa climbing out of the entrance to Surf's home, looking just as tense as she had during the fight with the slug thing, like she'd missed the memo that the fight was over or something. She wouldn't stop giving Starr weird looks during the fight, too.

How the hell does she plan to take issue with you leaving?

"Yeah? What do you need?"

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

Brisa controlled herself. This could be a civil interaction yet.

"I know we haven't hit it off so far," the understatement of the week! "but I still hoped you'd back me up in there. That was a risky move and we were darn lucky we got away with a good result."

 

[Chibi Pika]

Starr blinked at the Shinx, utterly baffled. And here she was expecting Brisa to come up with some half-assed complaint about Starr helping when no one asked her to. But no, it was the opposite?

"The hell are you talking about? Did you miss the part where I literally did help kick that slug thing's ass? If you didn't want my help, just say so."

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

Brisa's jaw flapped wordlessly for a second. This wasn't the kind of angry, defensive response she'd expected and prepared for.

"That's... that's my point. I was trying to resolve the situation without putting Turf's life at risk. I wanted your help that way. Didn't you think about that?"

 

[Chibi Pika]

Again, what even was any of this. "Putting her life at risk, what the hell are you talking about? In what world is a low-level Ember gonna kill a Totodile?"

Yeah, okay, maybe this world was different... but Pokémon here seemed even more sturdy than back home. Feraligatr would've laughed at the idea of dying to an Ember, even when she was a Totodile

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

Brisa's hackles rose at the outlandish carelessness on display.

"One who's already taken electric attacks and spent weeks 'n days fighting off some devilish parasite! Any move can be a finisher to a weakened fighter, and when we had a shot at calming her the hell down, you attacked the poor kid again! Are you studying to be a halfwit or somethin'?"

 

[Chibi Pika]

"A shot at calming her down, what are you--?" Starr stopped, shaking her head. Now she's not even trying to pretend like she's not just making shit up.

"So I guess you're the expert here? How the hell do you know she would've survived if we didn't knock that thing out of her as fast as possible? Am I supposed to look at this shadow demon tearing the place up--which you guys were already attacking--and go 'yeah, let's negotiate'?"