Treasure Town ~ Main Square

[Namohysip]

To the far west of the main landmass of the Grass Continent was a town dedicated to exploration, discovery, and bold steps into the unknown. As the age of exploration slowly dwindles, Treasure Town still kept its namesake as a gem of the Grass Continent, where explorers and civilians alike live in peace.

It is late noon, and the town seems to be oddly deserted. The high elevation of the town made for a windy environment, even in the afternoon summer's heat. To the south was a building in the shape of a Chansey, and on the opposite side of the road, a dojo for training. To the east was a long, winding road of other buildings and facilities--a library, an open field like a park, and even a few eateries. To the west, more explorer facilities dotted the dirt roadside, which still maintained its naturalistic appearance even as other parts of the world modernized.

Yet through it all, nobody was around... Several buildings looked recently collapsed. Signs of a hasty evacuation were easily visible to a perceptive Pokemon: items in good condition, yet strewn so haphazardly: drinks and elixirs still fresh over damp ground; uprooted plants that showed no signs of decay. Tremors shook the land, and another building wobbled and fell with a dull yet mundane crash.

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The team of first arrivals all woke up at around the same time. The breezy winds, with the smallest hint of ocean salt, greeted them, followed by the occasional tremor of the Magikarp on the western horizon. For several of them, the new location wasn't their only surprise: their bodies, subtle or dramatic, were not the ones they were familiar with. Weak. Small. Unevolved, for many. And for the humans... something else entirely.

 

[Shiny Phantump]

Celeste looked around. He seemed to be one of the tallest here, seeing as everyone else had been... devolved?

Oh. That must’ve been what the new body stuff was about.

He also noticed that his horn was on the right side of his head. He sighed. That would be annoying to adjust to... and if that would annoy him, he could only imagine how much worse it would be to be devolved. What a dysfunctional group they were about to be...

 

[RJR Basimilus]

"Oh, I didn't change any," Seyka said to himself. "That's no fun."

He looked around at the others, unsure of what to think.

Oh well, that would come later.

"Hi everyone," Seyka announced. "I look forward to working with all of you! Let's make this world saving business a major success!"

 

[The Walrein]

Jaro surveyed his surroundings in amazement. He'd never seen a settlement like Treasure Town before, and had a brief fright when he mistook the Chansey-shaped building for a giant Pokemon. But apparently it was actually... some sort of hill-burrow, except the hill was made out of wood instead of dirt? It was then that he noticed the changes among his fellow Pokemon. In particular, that very tall and rude biped was nowhere to be seen. A quick survey of his own body confirmed that he, at least, hadn't evolved.

Hearing Seyka speak, he turned to face him. He was obviously some sort of wind-blooded Pokemon, but his wings looked really weird, like they were made out of stiff planks of grey and red... wood? rock? rather than feathers. "Oh, hey. Yeah, I really want to do this whole world-saving thing, too. Uh, weird question... are you using some sort of wind attack right now? I have no idea where this wind is coming from," he said, only then noticing the oddity of the wind coming out of friggin' nowhere. Jaro's frown deepened as he realized it was also weirdly warm, although he was standing a fair distance from the weirdly-colored flame of that droopy white creature and didn't see any other fires in the area large enough to cause the heat.

 

[SparklingEspeon]

Tricky's tail twitched, and the sea breeze tickled her nose. Slowly, she rose up from where she lay, inspecting herself. For a 'new body', she didn't feel very different... her stomach growled, and Tricky remembered what she had been trying to do right before she was zapped away. She let herself fall over backwards in the grass, groaning up at the sky.

"I didn't get my cake..."

 

[windskull]

One moment Nip stood in the strange, unnatural white room, staring at the charizard. The next, he was surrounded by blue sky and white clouds, standing on well-trodden dirt as a breeze ruffled his fur. He took a moment to look himself over. His fur was the same shade as always. And yet, he felt weaker, as if he just didn't have the energy he was used to. Looking over his claws, he realized they seemed duller than usual. He frowned. Later, he would need to do something about that. But not now. Continuing to look for changes, he reached up to touch his face, then the rest of his head, and found that his ear lacked the recent shredding from his fight with the kangaskhan. Brushing his head feather suggested that it, too, was undamaged.

Perhaps this really was the fresh start he had been hoping for, even if not in the way he would want.

Just as he was preparing to test his attacks, to see how much had stuck with this body, his attention was caught by the fennekin nearby. He turned and tilted his head, blinking. "I am... not sure what this cake you speak of is. But I don't think any of us brought anything from the looks of things."

 

[RJR Basimilus]

The Skarmory shook his head. "I can't feel any wind, but don't count on me for that kind of thing," he said, looking at the Jigglypuff with worry. "You might be coming down with a fever though. You should be careful." Looking over, he frowned, seeing the Fennekin lying on the ground. "More importantly- we can't 'die' die right? He said we just sort of die. So how much do you have to die to die? Can you lose your head and just keep going?"

 

[The Walrein]

Ice shot through Jaro's veins at the Skarmory's words. A fever? That might explain why he felt too warm, but- but Jaro was too young to have a fever, even if he was an evolved-born! Only Pokemon who were mortally sick got fevers! He couldn't die before the adventure even began! But, wait, apparently he might not necessarily die if he died? Jaro's head spun.

"Uh... I dunno about all this not really dying stuff, but let's try to avoid getting our heads cut off or stuff like that," he said to Seyka. Turning to the rest of the assembled Pokemon, he asked "H-hey, does anyone else feel like it's weirdly warm out? Or feel any wind, for that matter? It can't just be me, right?"

 

[Persephone]

Cuicatl woke up sprawled on the ground. That wasn’t particularly unusual. What was unusual is that her body outright refused to stand on her hind legs. Trying left her sprawled in the ground again, dirt coating her scales for her trouble.

...scales. “What am I?” No sooner had she spoke than she realized that her voice had changed. Dramatically. And the words she had spoken made less sense the more she thought about them.

The blindness was constant, though. Figures. At least her sense of smell was much, much better. Alice (and Pix) had called you nose-blind before but you didn’t really understand what that had meant...

Now you do. For better or worse.

 

[Tanuki]

Okay. Lightning wasn’t Zane’s ideal way to go, but he was used to Jolt shocking him at least. He was still standing, though, which was a pain. He wanted to go back to sleep.

He absentmindedly scratched at the scar on his stomach to find his claws met nothing but air. When he looked down, he could barely believe what he saw. Red. Slim(mer). Normal. The curse had been lifted.

He threw his claws up in the air and shouted, “I’m normal!” His glee lasted as long as the punctuation mark once he realized two things. For one, he was surrounded by strangers. He was also in a strange land.

Thinking back, the charizard didn’t specify where he was going. Just asked if he was ready to go. Zane glared into the sky and threw up a crude gesture... that amounted to him pointing up and behind him since he didn’t have a middle finger.

He made sure, however, to broadcast as much hatred back to the charizard as he possibly could. For the sake of being thorough, he even decided on an insult. “Happy with yourself, you fat dragon wannabe?”

 

[Persephone]

“Happy with yourself, you fat dragon wannabe?”

Cuicatl blinked. Fat? An entirely new body and it was still...

“That’s not very nice,” she growled.

 

[Jedi Shulk]

“First time?” Fay spoke to Cuicatl.

 

[Persephone]

“First... lots of things. Can you see? Do you know what type of Pokémon I am?”

 

[Tanuki]

“Not you,” Zane grumbled. He was a master of first impressions, even without his normally hideous form. “You’re a fine... whatever you are.”

 

[Persephone]

Oh. It made her very relieved, not being fat this time. Although not knowing what sort of reptile she had become was annoying.

“Thank you. I’m Cuicatl, by the way. I was the human with green hair before.”

 

[Jedi Shulk]

With a thinking look on his face. Fay gives the answer “A blind dragon?”

 

[Tanuki]

Zane failed to hide his wince. Luckily, that didn’t matter since the offended pokémon couldn’t see. Still, green hair dye? The idea made him cringe on instinct.

His claws slapped over his eyes. God, was he really that shallow as a human? “Nice to meet you. I’m Zane.” The poor thing didn’t have eyes. “Since smoke breath decided you didn’t need to see,” he grumbled at the sky, “I’m a zangoose.” She’d already admitted as much, so he didn’t see any harm in doing the same. “I used to be human, too.”

 

[Persephone]

“Smoke breath?” That wasn’t right. Her soul shaper was a water goddess, not a fire one. Was he referring to the dragon who made this body? “Oh, I was blind before. The, um, ‘fat dragon wannabe’ didn’t do that.”

 

[Jedi Shulk]

“I used to be human, too.”

“Same.“

 

[Tanuki]

Zane hummed in understanding. “Sorry to hear that.” It sparked some echo of what he imagined happiness to feel like to hear her repeat his insult back. Given the charizard hadn’t responded yet, Zane assumed he couldn’t hear them. “Still, Tubster could’ve let you see.”