Dazzling Lake

[Shiny Phantump]

After eating his own breakfast and taking another, larger serving with him, Gladion set out to look for a good place to let out Hazel. He found a spot out in the natural parts of the island with a nice lakeview. He released Hazel.

"Hey, Hazel. Ready for breakfast?"

She trilled in response. They settled down, both staring out over the lake, Gladion leaning against Hazel's flank and feeding her homefries through the helmet.

 

[Sinderella]

Odette sprinted down to the lake, yelling a string of incoherent Kalosian and expletives as she wrestled through the island flora, trying to find that gods forsaken tumbleweed.

“You. Me. A baseball bat. It’s fucking coming,” she raged as she stomped through a bush.

When she arrived at the lake, she didn’t even have the energy to take in its beauty. All she could do was look around, trying to find where the pain in her ass had gone.

“I’m going to count to THREE. If you’re not in front of me by THREE, it’s Smelly Cat for the rest of the night, you hear me?”

No response.

“One…”

Silence.

“Two…”

Still nothing. She felt her fury building.

“TWO. AND. A. FUCKING. HALF…”

There was a sudden splash, and Odile, back in her creepy human form, stuck her head out of the lake.

“̵S̴p̸i̵t̸b̷a̸l̶l̶s̴ ̸a̶r̴e̸ ̸b̷e̴s̵t̵ ̶b̵a̸l̴l̴s̶.̴”̷

“I’m going to kick your ass. What the fuck are you trying to do, pick another fight?”

“̶Y̷e̷a̵h̵,̴ ̷w̶e̶ ̷d̸o̶n̶’̶t̸ ̸l̷i̷k̵e̷ ̷t̴h̵a̶t̵ ̸o̷n̴e̷,̶ ̶r̵e̷m̷e̷m̴b̴e̵r̶?̶”̵

“YES. I UNDERSTAND. That doesn’t mean I’m trying to perpetually anger him. Are you trying to have a repeat of Red? He seemed like the type to want to slit our throats, you think?”

“̶Y̵e̴s̷,̵ ̶a̷c̷t̵u̸a̷l̶l̶y̴.̴ ̷T̶h̷e̸r̸e̷ ̶a̸r̷e̶ ̴n̸o̴ ̷s̷h̵i̸t̶b̵i̷r̵d̷s̷ ̵h̴e̴r̸e̷ ̶t̶o̵ ̶s̸t̵e̵a̸l̵ ̷m̸y̵ ̸k̸i̴l̸l̸s̶.̷”̵

“You—“

She sighed. A long, loud, exasperated sigh.

“You’re such a scumbag. Truly, I want to stick your head in an oven.”



“̶̨̢̹̲̞͌̂̑̃̇͊̒͘͜D̸̛̤̝͍͚̤̖̓̐̆͑O̶̘̙̤̊́̏̀͒̓ ̴͚̖̖̩̘̀̈́͋̒̈̌̾ͅI̸̡͔̺̤̝̪͚̩̊̏T̶̨̺̹͙̱͍̣͒̈́̋̔͋͠ͅ ̵̘̦͎͌͂̒P̵̡̱͕̝̩͉͎̐̓͒͑͛͝U̷̘̎S̵̛̯͙̃Ŝ̵͍̇̌́̾̕Y̸̨̭̻͈̪͓̱̹̓̅̔͂͘,̸͈͙̼́̎̌͛̂̚ ̸̨͇̙̲̂͜͠Y̴̥̩̟̿͊̍̌̂̍͘̕͜Ơ̸͕̯͖͍̓̀̏͝U̷̡̨̡̜͍̯̼͆̉̎͌͘’̴̣͚͉̬͔̞̐̀̎̓́R̵̖͔͐̐̿͆͑̃͝E̵̠͚̠̔́͑̇͑́̃̕ͅ ̴̢͕̯̰͖̰͇̽̈̔̒͗̈́͑͠N̵̫̙̮͚̞͕͖̿͊̾̉̓́͠O̴̳̻̦̱̝̣̜̱͌̆́̓T̵̖͔̥̯͈̪́̉̇͘͘͘ ̴̢̤̲̰̯̓̈́͋̋̆R̵̩̬̞̭͇̀̽͊̀͝È̷͓̙̰̩̣͔̀͗̋̎̿̏̂A̸̙͓̱̾̾̑͆̑̿͜͝Ḷ̴̨̫̖̣͇̏.̵̣͈̣͇̹͇̑͗͛̆̚͠”̸̘̱̭͆̐̿́́̚

She dunked under the water after that.

 

[Sinderella]

She wasn't sure where the fuck she was trying to run to. She just knew it needed to not be at the cove.

The effects of the Heal Bell were wearing off faster than she was anticipating it to. Just what the fuck even was that flame? Why was it making her own burn have a fucking meltdown like this? She didn't have time for it. She wanted to lay down, she wanted to nap, she wanted to scream, she needed to treat this unbearable tingling, and she felt like she simply didn't have time for any of it. The clock was ticking. For all they knew, the culprit had already struck again, and they were all too busy fighting off some murderous asshole in his Espeon's body to notice.

When she made it upon the familiar sight of the beautiful lake, she threw her bag down on the grass and dropped to her knees, yanking it open and beginning to rifle around in it. By this point, she was already sweating, and letting loose a slew of Kalosian curses.

"Where is it...where the fuck is it..."

Gods, it hurt so fucking bad.

She began curl and uncurl her fingers, as if squeezing at an imaginary stress ball. Or rather, Clovis's hand. Or Guzma's. She could hear both of their voices as she desperately tried to find the stupid ointment.

Squeeze my hand. Hold it. I know you can do it harder than that, Clovis used to coax her. He'd rub her knuckles while she cringed through the pain and the numbness. That was back when it went away on it's own.

You got this. I know it hurts, but you've gotta hard grip. I feel ya, yer good. Guzma never fucking shut up when he was the one in her grasp, even while he rubbed her arm down with the stuff meant to stop the pain. Honestly, it was helpful. It always kept her mind off of how fucking bad it would hurt.

Right now, all she had was the occasional splash of water as a fish breached, and the distant buzzing of cicadas. It wasn't enough.

It wasn't enough to distract her from the burn. It wasn't enough to distract her from replaying the sound of the gunshot in her head, over and over again. It wasn't enough to block her from any sense of guilt she was feeling.

He deserved it, he deserved it, he deserved it.

He did deserve it. It was coming. He was lucky it had only been the leg.

And yet, all she could think about on top of that was every other time she'd been forced to fire that gun. She'd never felt this bad after firing, but how long had it been since she'd shot at anybody? It was years at this point, wasn't it? Why was she traumatized by her own fucking gun?

Dorien. Those fucking guards. All of them...



"Je ne peux pas le trouver putain," she yelled, her voice cracking under the force of a sob. "Je ne peux pas... putain le trouver. J'en ai besoin. Ce n'est pas ici."


Enora rushed up into the clearing not long after Odette had fallen to her knees. As the girl broke down, she gingerly walked forward.

"Take a deep breath. Let me look, okay?" she said softly, using her ribbons to pull the bag out of Odette's grasp.


Meanwhile, Odile crouched down next to Odette, watching as she tried with no luck to rub some more feeling back into that burned arm.

"̴I̴ ̵k̴n̸o̸w̵ ̷i̸t̶'̸s̴ ̴i̷n̷ ̶t̶h̶e̸r̶e̶,̶"̴ she said quietly. ̸"̵I̶ ̸w̸a̷t̷c̶h̵e̸d̵ ̵y̷o̶u̶ ̷p̵a̷c̶k̸ ̸i̸t̷.̴ ̴S̸o̷ ̴i̵t̸'̵s̵ ̵o̵k̵a̵y̷,̷ ̶y̷o̴u̸ ̴d̶o̶n̴'̴t̵ ̵n̶e̴e̷d̴ ̵t̸o̶ ̵c̶r̷y̶.̵"̶


"I know I don't need to cry, and I am not fucking crying, I am having a fucking panic attack because my fucking arm hurts, and there is a massive difference."


"̴W̴e̴l̸l̶,̶"̶ she said slowly, falling down to her rear. ̶"̴T̴h̷e̵r̴e̵'̵s̶ ̴t̶e̴a̷r̵s̶ ̷w̸i̶t̴h̷ ̴b̸o̶t̵h̷ ̴o̸f̸ ̴t̸h̶e̵m̷.̷ ̴B̸u̷t̸ ̴I̷ ̴k̸n̶o̵w̴ ̴t̸h̸e̷ ̶o̴i̴n̷t̶m̷e̸n̷t̸ ̸i̸s̷ ̵i̸n̷ ̴t̴h̴e̸r̵e̷,̴ ̷a̵n̷d̵ ̶E̵n̷o̸r̶a̴ ̸w̸i̵l̴l̷ ̸f̴i̷n̸d̵ ̴i̵t̵ ̶b̴e̶c̴a̷u̵s̷e̶ ̸s̴h̸e̷'̶s̸ ̶g̸o̶o̸d̷ ̷a̷t̷ ̸f̷i̵n̴d̸i̴n̷g̵ ̶s̴t̵u̴p̵i̴d̵ ̸l̴i̶t̷t̷l̷e̸ ̴t̶h̵i̶n̵g̷s̵ ̶l̵i̵k̸e̸ ̴t̸h̸a̷t̸.̴"̷


No sooner had Odile spoken did Enora pull the glass tub of the prescribed topical out of Odette's backpack. From the front pocket, no less. "That is correct. It was in the best spot possible. Made it very easy for me," she said as happily as she could manage all while twisting the top off with her ribbon. She was quick to scoop some of the cooling ointment up with her paw, and went to work firmly rubbing it into Odette's gnarled skin.

"See, you had it. It'll be alright."

Enora desperately wanted to drag Odette back to the damn infirmary. But, she wouldn't say that now. Not when she clearly had so much else going through her head.

"In the meantime, I think you should put your head down and breathe, alright?"

 

[Dragonfree]

The clues that they had (according to the group chat that she'd managed to access on her Pokégear after asking around at the hotel) suggested some kind of Psychic-type. Something yellow. Somebody using Flash and Focus Blast.

Well, there was a trainer here with a yellow Grumpig, a Psychic-type that could learn both Flash and Focus Blast. Maybe not teleport, or fly, but it was hard to know exactly what was going on with that anyway. And nobody seemed to have been bothering her all that much.

May kept an eye out as everyone left the cove, noticed the Hatterene and Grumpig trainer heading towards the lake, and followed discreetly, not too far behind, Spirit tight at her side.

 

[Panoramic_Vacuum]

Steven didn't know where he wanted to go, other than away. Away from everyone else. Away from his mistake. Away from... Everything.

He really wasn't paying attention to where he was walking. Normally he'd run from his problems into the depths of the earth, but without Aggron by his side, it was less appealing. So when his shoes found the soft earth at the edge of the lake, he stopped and stared across the glistening water.

It was peaceful. Quiet. A perfect place to let his facade drop, bare his soul and let the lake be witness to everything he'd done; all his lies, all his cowardice. And if the culprit wanted to appear and finish him off, well, who was he to object?

He let his shoulders sag, fingers of each hand spinning one ring around, then another. Tics he tried to carefully hide away from the public eye. A comforting motion that, right now, felt like a bandaid on a laceration. Too little too late.

At least no one was around to see him like this... Maybe he'd be able to cobble the pieces together into some semblance of respectability.

Maybe.

Doubtful.

No wonder Aggron was furious with him. One little crack and he was broken.

 

[Negrek]

With nothing immediately pressing to do, Nate headed out of the cafe, determined to get some actual peace and quiet this time. Not that he minded, actually, that the other two had shown up. But he needed time to think, goddamn it, especially since that conversation had been another huge information dump.

Which meant he probably should have taken it easier on the espresso. The pounding headache wasn't doing him any favors, and he was feeling a lot more scattered than focused, but at least he was very much fucking awake, and goddammit, he was done with feeling tired. He'd been tired when he got here, he'd been tired for fucking weeks before that, and then of course some evil fuck had decided to to steal what little energy he had left. Nate was fucking done.

He also wasn't getting very far with his nerves shot to hell and with Mightyena doggedly trotting by his side, very obviously flagging for all that she tried to put on a brave face. Where could they go to get a bit of peace and quiet that was close?

The lake. It wasn't exactly isolated, but there was plenty of room for people to spread out, so Nate could find a secluded spot even if a bunch of fuckers decided they wanted to go swimming. Mightyena's ears perked up at the sight of the calm, sparkling water, but when Nate asked her if she wanted to wade in a bit, she turned aside with a gruff negative. Nate watched sadly as she found a spot under some overhanging trees and threw herself down in the shade. Nate joined her a moment later, running his fingers through her fur and looking out over the water.

There was probably supposed to be some legendary or other out there, right? Apparently they'd started helping out, saving people from the kidnapper and shit. Nate wasn't exactly keen on meeting another after the whole Manaphy fiasco, but it was pretty goddamn clear that he could use some protection right about now.

The legendaries were only supposed to appear to pure-hearted trainers, right? Nate snorted. Well, he was going to be waiting for one hell of a long time for one to show its face around him, then, wasn't he?

 

[Seren]

The trip to the lake was more anxiety-inducing than Kimiko had anticipated the night before, despite the fact that she wasn't alone today, with Olivia on her heels playing lookout as usual, and Violet and Hazel beside her. It wasn't specified which mythic had saved Silas and his swampert here last night; she knew Latios was already patrolling the island and was the most likely savior, but she couldn't help but wondering (maybe even hoping) that it was the mythic she'd come here seeking. If Cresselia was already defending the island's visitors, recruiting her to their cause should be a cakewalk. Even so, she'd brought Celebi's whistle, just in case. It couldn't hurt to show that they'd already proven themselves worthy to another mythic, should Cresselia have doubts. Though, she wouldn't be surprised if Cresselia had her own test for them to tackle, either.

The other thing on her mind was the morning announcement. Orzo had been there, looking genuinely ill, but still up and about. Seeing whether or not Orzo was actually sick was half the reason for tonight's raid; Still, it could just be a very good act. There were also still too many unanswered questions and too much evidence to be coincidence, so she felt they still needed the break-in to go through, and she figured that was the general consensus. Clink was there too, hiding up on the balcony, but the klefki had the benefit of Shaymin's assistance, so at least that make somewhat more sense. She thought she'd seen Mitch's mightyena attempting to talk to Clink as she left the room; hopefully she and her trainer would get the info she so desperately wanted to know.

Kimiko hadn't been a very good companion, lost in her thoughts during the walk to the late, but a sideways glance at her new friends seemed to indicate that their minds were elsewhere, too. Their reason for visiting Cresselia was more than just to request aid in the island's ongoing mystery; Violet had said something about 'personal assistance'. Kimiko wondered just what that meant, but she wasn't about to pry.

Hazel had been quite a surprise, which the island seemed to have in spades. She indeed wore a lab coat, and apparently could work a phone better than her... trainer? Was that what they were? She wasn't sure how to parse it, but they felt like they had a different kind of relationship than the usual trainer/'mon partnership. Regardless, the weavile had texted the group chat during the meeting, talking about Meloetta and a conversation about bonds. (Kimiko was somewhat sad she missed an encounter with the musical mythic, but she was beyond any hope of just having a good time on this vacation at this point... maybe when everything was resolved there would be time for proper relaxation and entertainment, but for now she knew she wouldn't be able to enjoy anything.) It had been an interesting theory about how to combat their foe, and she definitely tucked it away on the back burner to discuss further at a later point in time, but battle strategies weren't the main focus right now.

They arrived at the lake in relative silence. Olivia was looking around carefully... expectantly. There was definitely something here, but the espeon didn't seem to be on guard, so it was... probably safe. Kimiko hesitated; Celebi had a title, and she'd responded to it. What had Violet called Cresselia last night?

"We request an audience with the Dream Walker!" she called out, looking around the lake for any signs of the mythic. "Cresselia, if you're here, we request your aid!"

"Espiii!" Olivia chimed in, tail swishing in anticipation.