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Spirits' Edge

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Namohysip

Dragon Enthusiast
Staff
Partners
  1. flygon
  2. charizard
  3. milotic
  4. zoroark-soda
  5. sceptile
  6. marowak
  7. jirachi
Agreeing to learn an Egg Move from Sunny was a strange prospect indeed. Once considered to be completely tied to your birth, new theories have shown that high compatibility with other Pokemon, often of the same species, can allow one to learn these once-inherited techniques. Yet now, Sunny found yet another method to teach Pokemon moves of their ancestors' past...

This strange land had no horizon and no floor or ceiling. Instead, visitors stood on a flat, invisible ground with the stars above and below them. There was no sun and no moon, no planet and no clouds or sky. It was nothing but darkness decorated with pinpricks of light.

<><><>
 

Adamhuarts

Mew specialist
Partners
  1. mew-adam
  2. celebi-shiny
  3. roserade-adam
"What the what?! Where am I??" Cynthian asked after regaining awareness of himself. Stars ahead, above and below, no matter where he looked, there were nothing but stars.

"What is going on? Am I in some kind of dream? Or did you pull some kind of Hypnosis on me? You're out there, aren't you, Sunny?! Please answer me!" Cynthian sprang to his feet and trembled in place. He'd run, but was there even anywhere to run or hide?
 

Namohysip

Dragon Enthusiast
Staff
Partners
  1. flygon
  2. charizard
  3. milotic
  4. zoroark-soda
  5. sceptile
  6. marowak
  7. jirachi
For a while, only silence answered Cynthian, seconds passing like minutes. And then, the stars seemed to shift a little. Swirls of light and dots collected in front of Cynthian like a nebula, pinpricks forming constellations and soft outlines until, finally, a white, ghostly figure of a Jumpluff appeared.

This Jumpluff tilted its body, inquisitive. It was completely see-through, more like a bubble shaped like a Jumpluff than anything, with dots of white occasionally shifting here and there inside its body like a turbulent galaxy.
 

Namohysip

Dragon Enthusiast
Staff
Partners
  1. flygon
  2. charizard
  3. milotic
  4. zoroark-soda
  5. sceptile
  6. marowak
  7. jirachi
The Jumpluff stared for a while longer, then made a silent motion to the space between them. More constellations formed in the middle, creating a thin, water-like liquid resting in a starry bowl. The Jumpluff then stared at Cynthian, though if he tried to touch the bowl, a barrier would block his way.

Instead, Jumpluff focused on it, drawing its energy away from afar. White vapor drifted to Jumpluff in a thin stream.
 

Adamhuarts

Mew specialist
Partners
  1. mew-adam
  2. celebi-shiny
  3. roserade-adam
Cynthian blinked as the weird jumpluff stared at him, as if things couldn't get more awkward.

Though his heart drummed in his chest, Cynthian couldn't deny there was a certain beauty to the starry dimension. The constellations moved around like light shows performed by illumise. By that point, Cynthian was beginning to calm down.

Cynthian stared at the bowl of stars in front of them. Was he supposed to take it or... Cynthian promptly walked to it and smacked headfirst against the barrier. He held his face and jerked back with a groan.

"Come on! Just tell me what I'm supposed to do here already," Cynthian said in a deflated voice.

Sunny probably had something to do with this. She could've at least given him a heads up or something. Did her 'egg move' process not come with an instructions manual or something?
 

Namohysip

Dragon Enthusiast
Staff
Partners
  1. flygon
  2. charizard
  3. milotic
  4. zoroark-soda
  5. sceptile
  6. marowak
  7. jirachi
Jumpluff continued to stare at the bowl, drawing the white mist toward himself again. It was another silent motion, but it seemed like the stream had become thicker again, bits of the white energy going toward Jumpluff in whole spheres now. Then, Jumpluff glanced expectantly at Cynthian.
 

Adamhuarts

Mew specialist
Partners
  1. mew-adam
  2. celebi-shiny
  3. roserade-adam
Cynthian just rubbed his head and stared at the jumpluff. Come to think of it, the spheres going towards the jumpluff resembled the ones from his Mega Drain. And then it clicked.

"Am I supposed to...? Oh, okay..." Cynthian drew a breath and raised his flowers at the bowl. Then, he tried to picture the vapor stream rising towards him the way they did to Jumpluff.
 

Adamhuarts

Mew specialist
Partners
  1. mew-adam
  2. celebi-shiny
  3. roserade-adam
Cynthian was starting to understand the demonstration more and more, so, he strengthened his focus and pulled even more of the stream to himself.

A wave of invigoration trickled up the veins in his flowers and up to his stalks. Cynthian recognized that feeling, except it felt twice stronger than what he was accustomed to.

"Am I doing this right?" Cynthian asked, a nervous edge to his tone.
 

Namohysip

Dragon Enthusiast
Staff
Partners
  1. flygon
  2. charizard
  3. milotic
  4. zoroark-soda
  5. sceptile
  6. marowak
  7. jirachi
Jumpluff smiled; it seemed so.

Now, for the serious part. Focusing on the pool of energy, the spheres became larger and the streams thicker and denser. This time, it looked like the bowl's contents were starting to fade... but not quite. Cynthian would have to increase how much was drawn away on his own. Energy flowed into Cynthian; it felt like something was just at the edge of his spirit, ready to awaken...
 

Adamhuarts

Mew specialist
Partners
  1. mew-adam
  2. celebi-shiny
  3. roserade-adam
Cynthian felt it, like a new flavor at the tip of his tongue waiting to be tasted. He almost faltered, but he trusted in his instincts and drew in more energy than he ever had before.

Something awakened in him, a feeling that wasn't always there before. Cynthian stared, blinking.
 
R7 ~ Jesse

Namohysip

Dragon Enthusiast
Staff
Partners
  1. flygon
  2. charizard
  3. milotic
  4. zoroark-soda
  5. sceptile
  6. marowak
  7. jirachi
A brief weightlessness befell Brisa and Dave, and then they landed on something smooth and vaguely warm. Everywhere around them was a dark void mixed with small specks of bright lights, like stars without anything like an atmosphere or fires to obscure them. Their platform was a Hydreigon far larger than it should be, though he wasn't made of flesh, bone, and scales, but looked more like a hollow outline of stars and glass.

"Safe landing?" Buffet asked, and the white lines that made up his mouth curled into a smile. His eyes, once black and red, were now hollow with two pinprick stars for pupils. "Welcome to Spirits' Edge, dears. A bridge between the world you're familiar with and the next. Don't fall! It's not very easy to come back. How are you two feeling?"
 

unrepentantAuthor

A cat that writes stories.
Location
UK
Pronouns
they/she
Partners
  1. purrloin-salem
  2. sneasel-dusk
  3. luz-companion
  4. brisa-companion
  5. meowth-laura
  6. delphox-jesse
  7. mewtwo
  8. zeraora
Brisa licked down her hackles. This spirit journey business was Sierra stuff, not Brisa stuff.

"Doin' alright, sir. What next?"
 

Namohysip

Dragon Enthusiast
Staff
Partners
  1. flygon
  2. charizard
  3. milotic
  4. zoroark-soda
  5. sceptile
  6. marowak
  7. jirachi
"Well, I had gone off to contact your father some time ago. The little hints you gave me, and some research on my part, narrowed things down really well. Though, I was a little surprised at what I found... For a while, I was under the impression that Jesse had left for the human world after saving the world you were born in. Not so!"

Buffet continued drifting along the seemingly endless sea of stars.

"He appears to still be a Delphox. And, all things considered, that actually made my trip shorter. We are going to a place where you can more easily communicate with him. I'll handle things behind the scenes, try to make it seem as authentic as possible, even if you'll essentially be projections toward one another. With luck, it can be something more, if... that is what you'd want."
 

unrepentantAuthor

A cat that writes stories.
Location
UK
Pronouns
they/she
Partners
  1. purrloin-salem
  2. sneasel-dusk
  3. luz-companion
  4. brisa-companion
  5. meowth-laura
  6. delphox-jesse
  7. mewtwo
  8. zeraora
He'd... never left.

Which meant he was somewhere in her world, not home, having physically left her behind.

The catharsis of knowing was immediately shunted to one side by anger. She'd hoped that he'd left involuntarily, duty complete at last, unable to say goodbye. She'd hoped that he'd still be somewhere in the world to meet again and explain himself. What she was getting was that he was still around, but she'd had to travel to another dimension and recruit a god to have a word with the bastard.

What could possibly be so important that he couldn't even write a letter home?

"Let's just see how it goes," she growled.
 

Dragonfree

Moderator
Staff
Location
Iceland
Pronouns
she/her/hers
Partners
  1. butterfree
  2. mightyena
  3. charizard
  4. scyther-mia
  5. vulpix
  6. slugma
Still a Delphox in her own world, huh? So not only had this bastard threatened to kill her and wiped her memories of it, he'd just physically left, without saying a word. Not very likely to actually want anything to do with Brisa again, in other words. He'd just ditched her. What a guy.
 

Namohysip

Dragon Enthusiast
Staff
Partners
  1. flygon
  2. charizard
  3. milotic
  4. zoroark-soda
  5. sceptile
  6. marowak
  7. jirachi
They passed by several little collections of stars along the way. Some of them drifted listlessly, others seemed to drift with them like debris in a current. A few were more active, following them like curious children, and when Buffet gave a little smile to one of them, it suggested that perhaps Buffet could see something that they could not.

"It's not far now," Buffet reported. "I'm going to construct a pocket reality for you to stand in. Now, by pocket, I really do mean something very small; don't wander too far, or you won't have any ground under your feet anymore and your 'body' will evaporate. Now, if that happens, just stay where you are and I'll collect you, but it will cut your stay here short. Jesse should be waiting... He might think that this is some sort of dream, but you never know. Everyone is a little different."

A dim light and something that looked solid formed in the void ahead. "These are very dynamic realities," Buffet added. "I don't blame anyone for thinking it's a dream. Jesse might have subconsciously shaped this pocket to be someplace familiar. Get ready for a landing."

The cosmic Hydreigon slowed his flight, descending, if there was a 'down' in a place like this. And soon, their destination faded into view...
 

unrepentantAuthor

A cat that writes stories.
Location
UK
Pronouns
they/she
Partners
  1. purrloin-salem
  2. sneasel-dusk
  3. luz-companion
  4. brisa-companion
  5. meowth-laura
  6. delphox-jesse
  7. mewtwo
  8. zeraora
It was a house. At first she didn't recognise it, from the angle, the lack of surrounding environment, and the way it looked far newer than she was used to, but she knew it. A specific, particular house. Wooden in construction, perched on a stone-strewn knoll, large enough for a small family to live comfortably. Brisa's house.

"What in the wild?" she murmured. "That's home."

They 'landed' on a patch of dust outside Brisa's front door, and she walked forward to push the door open before she lost her nerve. Everything was familiar, for being the same rooms and windows and air she knew, but unfamiliar, for being organised a little differently, for having not quite the same items in quite the same places.

Light was seeping out from the crack under the door to Jesse's room.

She looked over her shoulder to Dave. Yeah, he was still with her, his face and tail looking even more askance than usual. Good. Brisa tentatively paced over to the door, and gave a firm knock.

"It ain't locked, let yerself in," came the reply, in her father's voice. It was unmistakeable. Enough of a townie drawl to pass as a local, but with the occasional clipped vowel hinting at the alien accent he'd worked to lose. It was how she sounded.

She opened the door.

Jesse Stranger was sitting in his office, pushing off against his desk with his hindpaws so as to rest his chair's back against the wall. His hat and jacket hung on a peg nearby, and his wands rested in their holsters on the desktop. He looked... tired.

"Sierra?" he said, one brow rising quizzically.

He peered at Brisa. She shook her head, frozen in place.

"...Brisa."

Jesse dropped his chair to the floor and stood. He was significantly taller than her on his hindpaws. He looked about at the room, at Brisa, at the poochyena standing by her side.

"This ain't a dream," he said, quietly. "I don't get dreams like this no more. What the hell is this?"

Brisa opened her mouth, and voice her voice stalled. How could she begin to explain?
 
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