Aegis Cave

[Namohysip]

The thorn by Celeste pierced through the slug with ease; it shrieked, writhed for a while, and then suddenly dissolved into nothing, leaving the iron thorn behind.

Meanwhile, Owen, after his first one was jarred, quickly ran toward Skara to help apprehend and seal the other one, looking back worriedly when the last one was attacked.

"Wait, that--oh, it's gone..." He supposed it was at least not a threat anymore.

...Mm. Very good. I've found you. You captured three of them... Diyem watched in silence, then said, You should check on Team Spice. They appear to be breathing. You were all given badges, weren't you? Raise them in the air and shine their light upon their bodies. They will be returned to a safe location predetermined within that badge's configurations. Then, you can shine the light on yourselves and return with them.

 

[Ambyssin]

Necrozma looked at his badge with newfound disdain. So, in this world, this trinket could teleport, but yet he couldn't make his portals? That wasn't remotely fair. But he could channel his bitterness at a different target. One that wasn't physically with them, but was doing his darndest to make himself known.

"You know, given you're the one claiming to have lost contact with us, I find it concerning how little relief you're showing for both our well-being and Team Spice's." His arms were too sore to properly dig through his bag to locate his badge. "Saying things like 'Is everyone alive?' and 'They appear to be breathing.' It sounds so very... detached."

 

[Namohysip]

Well, pardon me for getting to the point in what may be a crisis situation, Diyem growled back.

"I thought you were a Voice of Life or something?" Owen asked, staring up with a frown. "Aren't you... supposed to be happy that we're alive?"

...Yes, I am glad that you were able to subdue Team Spice without killing any of them. But you are on a mission. You can exchange pleasantries later when they are back at the Guild and recovering. Surf and Turf, do they not want to see them as soon as possible? Best not keep them waiting.

That much was true... And it was thoughtful of Diyem, even if he was a little... emotionless about it. Not to mention that outburst before... This wasn't much like a Voice of Life that he'd ever heard of. Owen glanced at the others on the team, unsure if they should have a talk with Diyem or not. But with him watching...

...I can sense that you are all troubled. If you wish, you can speak to me after Team Spice is secured. Come, they're still hurt and fatigued. They should be inspected.

"Right..." Owen grabbed his badge and started for Darkrai first, who was rubbing his head while flat on the ground.

Darkrai said something under his breath, then inched away from Owen.

"N-no, I'm... please, I'm not... I didn't mean..."

 

[Virgil134]

Cabot took a cue from Owen and walked over to Thyme and Pepper. He took out his badge and tilted his head slightly, before raising it up.

"So, like this then?"

 

[Namohysip]

Yes. If this badge works similar to the world I came from, you are to try to channel energy into the badge similar to preparing an attack. From there, it should shine. Direct the light like it was an attack, and aim it at Thyme and Pepper.

"New to exploring?" Thyme asked, smiling weakly. "And we needed to be rescued by you... Talk about embarrassing."

"Hey, we started somewhere, too," Pepper added with a similarly weak laugh, rolling onto her back. She was covered in bruises and smashed scales.

 

[Ambyssin]

"This was hardly an exploration. You had darkened this whole part of the caves with the sickly aura you all were emanating." Necrozma looked into his right hand. "It was a beacon. A darkness beacon."

Stars above, that felt disgusting to say.

 

[Virgil134]

"Well, I was actually part of a Rescue Guild for a couple of years. It's just that in my world we use badges to call Teleporters to help us out of dungeons," Cabot explained. "The badges can't teleport 'mons on their own, so all of this is still kinda new to me."

The Cranidos focused and tried to channel energy into the badge same way he did with the TMs in town. Surely enough, his badge soon lit up brightly.

 

[Namohysip]

Thyme, Pepper, and Darkrai disappeared, followed by Cresselia and Manaphy with the help of a few others on the team. With that taken care of, Cabot, Owen, and others at least slightly more experienced with this strange technology were able to help the others coordinate their warps out. They made sure to be the last ones to go so they were sure nobody got left behind.

It seemed that they were destined for a debriefing at Wigglytuff's Guild.

 

[Tanuki]

Zane laid on the floor, the mud and grime drying his fur into a sticky mess. It sounded quiet. Did they win, or did everyone die? Opening his eyes could help answer that, but he could barely tell they were closed. Voices, there were voices. Familiar. He could ask them, but words struggled to jumble into sentences in his mind. "Did we dead?" he finally rasped.

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

The fight was over. Team Spice was safe. The slugs were captured or destroyed.

Instead of battle-satiation, Brisa mostly felt pain, stress, and fear. It wasn't just that fights like this had far higher stakes than she was used to, or that her body was still far weaker than it ought to be. It was also that other people were at risk. It was also the cleaning up that came after.

Most of the others seemed like they could limp away from the battlefield, or had some assistance. Zane, though, was still flat on the ground, and sounded pretty out of it.

"Zane," she called. "We won. Nobody's dead, least that I know of. Can you stand?"

 

[Tanuki]

That voice, Zane recognized that voice. Higher than his, asking if he was all right, he had yellow on the mind, it had to be. “Jolt? Stand, yeah.” He strained to sit up, rolled forward onto his feet, and landed flat on his face. “See?”

Despite his claim, the stone pressed against his face disagreed. “Wait, no.” He pushed back into a sitting position, took a deep breath in, and heaved himself onto his feet. Darkness circled his vision, closing completely just when he saw Brisa.

“You...” he raised a claw to point at the disappearing shinx. This momentum proved enough to topple him forward—right towards Brisa.

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

Brisa caught the zangoose's weight as best she could, with an unstifled groan of pain and frustration. He still sent her thudding to the ground, and it was all she could do not to shock the living daylights out of him. If she even could—she felt close to passing out from all the energy she'd lost.

"Zane, I swear on wind and weather, you better get the fuck off me and activate your fucking badge. We're leaving this forsaken pit. Now."

 

[Tanuki]

Zane’s head spun. Brisa was talking, too. She sounded close. Warm, too. Gradually, he realized warmth came from touch. When did Brisa lay down next to him? Wait, the words started to make sense.

Some of the cloud lifted, just enough to let him stand. “Sorry for I fell for you,” his brain vomited. This could only end well.

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

The human was clearly out of it.

"You're delirious. Don't fall asleep."

Brisa looked about for Cabot, Owen and the others. They were otherwise occupied.

"Where the fuck is your badge, Zane? Zane! Your badge."

 

[Tanuki]

Zane didn’t know why, but he had a feeling Brisa was angry. “Badge, right.” Bag. Badge. Badge goes in bag. Why she wanted it, he had no idea, but he dug it out of his bag and tossed it to her anyway. She didn’t sound like she was in an asking questions mood.

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

"Here. Hold it. Like this -- shine it on yourself. You can do it Zane, you can use your energy. Just put a little of into the badge..."

 

[Tanuki]

Zane looked at the badge without grabbing it. His eyes cleared ever so slightly, but just a bit too slowly. “Didn’t you ask for this?” He raised his brow, ancient memory clawing at his subconscious.

Phones. These were basically phones. He... had a phone at one point. He racked his brain, trying to remember what he could until he finally came to a horrifying conclusion. Lucidity finally seemed to return to him.

There was only one reason someone would ask for his phone just to give it back. For the first time in his life, he appreciated his fur while his cheeks flushed. “Er, Brisa, listen,” he mumbled, scratching behind his ear. “You know how I used to be a human?” He kept his eyes far from hers.

“Well, because of that, pokémon don’t really...,” he trailed off, wanting to not say this with all his being. “You’re nice, okay, but how’s about we stay training partner for now, eh?” He finally met her eyes again with a nervous smile. Zane had yet to touch the badge, much like reality.

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

Ah. More of this. It was like the kitty litty zitty bullshit all over again. Why get angry? He wouldn't understand her any better than she understood him.

"Zane, I don't know what the hell you're thinking, but I'm trying to teach you how to fuckin' teleport outta this dump. Follow my goddamn instructions, will ya?"

 

[Tanuki]

“Eh?” Zane recoiled slightly, face flushing further. “I, yeah, obviously,” he chuckled, snatching the badge up. “Just a joke, y’know? C’mon, lighten up a bit.” He frantically clicked at the comm-badge, desperate for escape. “G-go ahead. I’ve got this,” he mumbled, showing no proficiency in his random clacking.

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

Oh, sky and stars. This was agony.

"Hey Zane. Look what I can do."

Brisa held up her badge -- making what she was doing as theatrically obvious as possible -- shone its light on herself, and lit up her paw with power. There was a glow, the sensation of being shunted thirteen yards into yesterday, and she left the dungeon in an instant.