Water Continent ~ Lively Town

[Namohysip]

Considered the main settlement of the water Continent, Lively Town had gone through a lot of development since the final Dark Matter crisis. Buildings were starting to go through renovations to attempt second stories and reinforced structures. The streets retained their traditional layout, but there were certainly more of them branching inland, and the ports were starting to develop a whole fleet of traveling seaworthy Pokemon to take others cross-continent. Boats and other large-scale structures were in regular use, and Lively Town had become a beacon of economic progress for the world.

<><><>
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"Genki? Genki, you here?" someone called. "Genki! We kinda need to talk about something important!"

It was a Charizard with large wings and a Mew resting on the top of her head.

"Maybe he's sparring with someone again," Mew suggested, rolling onto her back. "You should look for a path of destruction."

"Come on, he's not that bad." She crossed her eyes and looked up, only to see Mew's tail dangling over her snout. "Can you fly on your own?!"

"Your head's cozy."

"How?!"

"Because I think it's cozy."

She furrowed her brow, and Mew giggled. "Yeah, do that again, that tickles."

"Oh, for the love of--Pita!" Charizard spun back. "Pita, can you see him?"

"He's just ahead," the Lucario replied leisurely. "Let's find him. Nutmeg, how about you stay back with Mew for now?"

Nutmeg sighed and stopped her advance. "Go ahead. I'll just... make sure Mew stays entertained."

"I'll be entertained if you keep going," Mew suggested.

"Please hurry," Nutmeg begged Pita, who was already advancing further into the town square.

 

[Namohysip]

"So, we've been doing some thinking," Pita said, "and we think we might... actually know how you ended up here. We asked around--you know, the other heroes from the Omens--and... Well. The short version is you might have been part of Team Spectrum, over in the Mystery Continent. It hasn't hit the Water Continent that much, thankfully, but there have been a string of issues on Cibus lately... Team Spectrum has been fighting it off, since the problem absorbs the energy of people native to here."

 

[Namohysip]

"They're apparently working for a patron from another world to help us," Pita explained. "I think we should actually take you there, you think? It might be a bit of a trip unless we call for someone to Teleport us there. Waypoints won't get us cross-country like that... Hmm."

"We could ask Jirachi to help," Nutmeg suggested. "I know he stays in touch with a few people over there, you know, being one of the Legends that Arceus keeps guard of during this time."

"Right. How about you gather your things, Genki?" Pita nodded. "We can arrange to get you sent over right away. We'll help you settle in!"

 

[Namohysip]

"Talk about fast..." Nutmeg rubbed her head. "Hang on, then. Jirachi's almost on his way. And, you're sure you got everything? You might not, um, be coming back here unless it's just for visits." The Charizard looked toward the society to the north. "Sure, you didn't really go on missions with us or anything, but..."

 

[Namohysip]

"Yeah, hey. You're gonna meet your actual team now! We're almost positive that you're the same as them after we saw someone taking a look at your aura and stuff. Has that same, uh... tinge that they're talking about."

Nutmeg looked to Jirachi, who was flying over with Pita.

"Hey, Genki! Good to see that you're ready," Jirachi said. "Uhh, so he's all--"

"Yeah, he's all set."

"Alright. The one trip to the Mystery Continent, coming right up!" Jirachi focused, a bright light starting to emanate from his star-shaped head...

 

[Namohysip]

"All right. Here we go! You know, I've always wanted to meet up with these guys..." Jirachi shrugged. "Never got around to it. What better time than now?"

Nutmeg, Pita, Jirachi, Mew, and Genki all stood together as a white light enveloped them. In a flash, they disappeared.

<><><>​

 

[Adamhuarts]

Cynthian arrived at Lively Town a day later after hanging out with Cabot. If she hadn't already been spending a lot of time on Destiny Village, she might have been taking aback by the bustling town.

Renovated buildings as well as other ongoing construction projects dotted the city scape, and Cynthian found it quite amusing. Not to lose sight of her goal however, Cynthian went about to carry out what she'd gone there for.

"I really ought to have asked where to find Pita and Nutmeg... Do I have to go to the Expedition Society?" Cynthian muttered to herself, though the thought of meeting Cibus' versions of Mama Rosa's former companions left an uncomfortable feeling in her chest. There was no guarantee a version of her mother even existed on Cibus, or even lived the same life.

Cynthian stopped by a random shop stall and politely asked, "Hello, do you know where I can find Nutmeg and Pita? Also known as the heroes who vanquished Dark Matter."

 

[Namohysip]

After some redirection, Cynthian was able to finally find who she was looking for. They made their way out of the Expedition Headquarters and into the Lively Town square, clearly looking for someone that had summoned them.

"Oh, there!" Mew said, landing between Nutmeg's eyes.

"Which way? Oh--that Roserade?"

"Yep." Pita approached with a casual wave. "And you're... Cynthian, right?"

He sounded uncannily like Shield, and Mew similar to Darkwhite. Only, Mew seemed a little calmer, and Pita was much more casual.

 

[Adamhuarts]

"Huh, Darkw—" Cynthian paused before saying the rest of the name. If it hadn't been for the charizard and the obviously pink mew... how uncanny, though she didn't show it on her face.

"Hello, yes, I'm Roserade Cynthian. "You must be Lucario Pita, Charizard Nutmeg and... just Mew, right?" Cynthian said a bit awkwardly as she asked. She thought she'd been prepared for it, but her flowers were giving off the mango scent of gratitude from meeting this particular set of omen heroes...

"It's an honor getting to meet heroes like you," Cynthian said with a quick bow. "I hope I'm not taking much of your time. I came here to discuss some matters I hope can assist my team in our efforts."

 

[Namohysip]

"Well, someone's formal," Nutmeg remarked, crossing her arms and folding her wings. Mew slid from Nutmeg's forehead, down her back, and onto her shoulder.

"Sure, we'd love to help," Pita said. "What's going on?"

 

[Adamhuarts]

"It's about Dark Matter... the one you faced," Cynthian began and another nervous chuckle.

"We came to learn that the dark matter omen this world faced is rather different compared to how it happened on other worlds... such as mine." Cynthian sighed. She still struggled to fathom the idea, but there was Diyem already... who's a living example of a dark matter being different.

"Is it really true that after everything they did to prepare, they gave up just like that?"

 

[Namohysip]

To this, Nutmeg and Pita looked at one another confusedly, then back at Cynthian. "Well..."

"Hey, let's find a spot to sit," Nutmeg added, leading them to some benches nearby where a few kids were playing in the plaza near the center of the small town square.

"Dark Matter..." Pita sighed. "I still get nightmares about it now and then, but... you're right. Dark Matter of Cibus had prepared a great deal in advance, like he knew what was going to happen and did a bunch of overkill to make sure it didn't. We barely made it to the Tree and confronted him in his own world, and... right when we thought we were going to fail... he gave up. Just... broke down right there."

"He sounded... confused," Nutmeg said. "Lost and confused. Desperate. Like he was aware of his own negativity and afraid of disappearing, or something. I dunno what came over me when that happened, just that I knew I had to make him feel better. So, I... I dunno. I gave him a few kind words, and then I kinda... understood what he was. Part of us, all of us, in a small way. I accepted him, and... he shattered. He said thanks, and... that was it."

"Thinking back," Pita said, "I don't know why he gave up like that. He could have won..."

 

[Adamhuarts]

"Well, you're not alone in having dark matter related nightmares I can assure you. Let's just say I had a close encounter with its influence back home." Cynthian twirled her vines together while she spoke, then she cleared her throat.

"This may just be my conjecture, but going off the things I know about Diyem... Dark Matter don't choose to be evil because they want to, and it's the anguish their existence brings them that guarantees they take such a path. It's something to do with how collective wills have a beautifly effect. Weird pokemon stuff." Cynthian couldn't believe the words she was speaking, but it made her chest a bit lighter to say them. "They do what they do to release themselves from that pain, and I guess accepting them the way you did is the right way to help them find peace, Nutmeg."

"Anyway, getting back on topic, did your Dark Matter say anything strange when you confronted him? Was there anything specific in his words that stood out to you?" Cynthian debated whether to tell then Eien had contacted a dark matter from one of the Cibuses before... quite possibly the one they'd fought even.

 

[Namohysip]

"...Well... everything about Dark Matter is strange," Nutmeg said after considering Cynthian's words. "But... no, I don't think he said anything that weird. I mean--"

"Well... there was one thing." Pita glanced at Nutmeg, then Mew. "Remember how he said he had a vision?"

"Oh, right. I mean, that's just standard weird stuff, isn't it?"

"Maybe." Pita nodded at Cynthian. "Dark Matter of our world said he saw a vision of... his future self. His future self told him to talk things out, and to find another way to rid himself of his suffering, or something like that. And as proof, he said everything he planned on doing, and then how it would fail."

"It's all kinda nonsense," Nutmeg said, shrugging. "Dark Matter lost his nerve somehow and just talked weird things before I calmed him down. Everyone gets kinda weird when they're panicking, don't they?"

 

[Adamhuarts]

"So, it's just like we thought then!" Cynthian said with a gasp. She brought her bouquet to her chin and deliberated on her thoughts. Then she glanced up at them.

"Pita, Nutmeg, the Dark Matter you fought was not the one from this timeline, but from the one Balm and Cepa originated from. We'd speculated this to be the case, but what you've told me only confirms it now."

Cynthian narrowed her eyes and frowned. "But then that would mean this time line's Dark Matter is still unaccounted for..."

 

[Namohysip]

"...What?" Nutmeg said, frowning. "But the Dark Matter we spoke to said he saw a vision of his future self..."

 

[Adamhuarts]

"We'd gathered that the Dark Matter of Balm's timeline disappeared roughly around the time you two faced one here. Really, It's too close to be a coincidence," Cynthian twirled the pointy side of her mask.

Is it safe to tell them about Eien's contact with this world's Dark Matter, Diyem?

 

[Namohysip]

I don't even know if she did. She likely did. That's all I know.

"That doesn't really explain anything," Nutmeg said.

"If anything," Pita said, "that sounds more like the Dark Matter of that world got a change of heart sooner for some reason, and then told our world's Dark Matter to stop early, and it backfired."

 

[Adamhuarts]

"Wait, ah that's right. The other Cibus is from the future. I somehow thought it was in the past now. Sorry, I got things a little mixed up there," Cynthian said, chuckling nervously while her flowers smelled like vanillas.

Cynthian exhaled a sigh and then smiled. "So, this means we don't have to worry about a rogue Dark Matter hiding around somewhere between the two worlds. That's a relief."

 

[Namohysip]

"...But... what caused that future Dark Matter to lose?" Pita asked. "You're right, I heard from Balm and Cepa that their 'future world' is lagging behind a little because of time unfreezing and stuff. What's going on here... if this Dark Matter saw that Dark Matter? Who approached him to give up and try to... make ours stop?"