Destiny Village ~ Parfait Way

[Shiny Phantump]

Dave furrowed his brow. "I mean, I wouldn't say I was letting Squiggly poke around in my brain all that much either. Maybe Chip's just full of shit. Show me your shade?"

“It’s not here, inert hoo tends not much of the partying type, you know? Stays in the room.“

"Wow, Poochy. You aren't even going to ask him to dinner first? For shame." Esper tapped his nubby arms together and clicked his tongue against his cheek.

“Take me to dinner? There’s plenty of food right here.”

 

[Ambyssin]

"Yeah, but it's not really a date unless you two are somewhere more private." Esper giggled into his hand.

 

[Dragonfree]

Dave irritably rolled his eyes at the Poipole. "I'm sorry, who are you again?"

He turned back to Celeste. "We can go check it out right now if you like. Get free of this dipshit."

 

[Shiny Phantump]

Celeste nodded. “I’ll show you the way.”

 

[Cresselia92]

Things were going good. Good...

No fights between teammates, some folks were chitchatting with each other, and he finally sipped some fresh minty tea. Also, Petram sent many cheery waves inside his brain, so he believed that even the shade felt happy about that.

"Well, then, I suppose one thing we could do is to... interact with some new folks. Where should we start?"

Icetales took a glance around, when his gaze lingered on the Charmander-like Shade and a Cinderace...

". . . been really cool about it," Cal explained to Cinderace, who was nodding and writing a few things down in his notebook.

"I see, I see," Cinderace said, nodding. "So, you used to be the very creatures that were infecting other Pokemon in Cibus? Yet here you are now... You can't possess people now, right?"

"I dunno! Figure I shouldn't try, though." Cal flicked her black tail cheerfully, that third golden ember waving with it.

Icetales squinted his eyes when he noticed the notepad in Cinderace's grasp. A notepad... was he a paparazzo or something? Not that he minded too much since the festival was open to anyone, but he couldn't help but wonder what notes he was taking. With nothing else to do for the time being, he strode toward the two Fire-types, followed closely by Petram.

"Ah, greetings, good folks," he said, beaming a smile. "Are you enjoying the festival?"

 

[Tanuki]

". . . been really cool about it," Cal explained to Cinderace, who was nodding and writing a few things down in his notebook.

"I see, I see," Cinderace said, nodding. "So, you used to be the very creatures that were infecting other Pokemon in Cibus? Yet here you are now... You can't possess people now, right?"

"I dunno! Figure I shouldn't try, though." Cal flicked her black tail cheerfully, that third golden ember waving with it.

Zane was somewhere between a rock and a hard place; the rock was sobriety and the hard place was the party. How was he supposed to socialize with just one bottle of whiskey in his system? He already had the team’s bad graces against him (bad graces he earned, admittedly), so changing their minds couldn’t be harder.

That is, unless he could find someone who didn’t already hate him. He’d never seen that cinderace before, and the black charmander (because of course they needed another charmander) looked new. He just needed to figure out how to start a conversation with them.

Casual, smooth, simple. An introduction should make do. “Hey, I don’t think we’ve met before. You two new recruits from Diyem?” He extended a paw noncommittally between the both of them, too high for the charmander, too low for the cinderace. “My name’s Zane.” Forgetting something, he was forgetting something. Right, smile! One introduction too late, he forced a smile. “Enjoying the party?”

 

[Namohysip]

"I'd say so," replied Cinderace with a friendly, toothy smile. "I was just having a talk with Cal here about the team she's part of."

"Yeah," Cal said. "He works with, uhhhh..."

"The Truthful Times," Cinderace said, who then knelt down to hold out a hand for Icetales. "My name is Cinderace Puff. Top investigative reporter." He did the same to Zane, figuring that the introduction would indicate that, no, he wasn't one of Diyem's new recruits.

 

[IFBench]

Saltriv, wanting to get away from the tense atmosphere, ran up to the new Smeargle arrival. "Hi!"

 

[Namohysip]

Maple looked toward Saltriv with a curious tilt. She remembered being told about a new arrival that Diyem had sent down, though they never really heard any word from him about that. Then again, apparently they hadn't heard from Diyem in a while. "Hello," she said. "Are you... with Team Spectrum as well?"

 

[Tanuki]

"I'd say so," replied Cinderace with a friendly, toothy smile. "I was just having a talk with Cal here about the team she's part of."

"Yeah," Cal said. "He works with, uhhhh..."

"The Truthful Times," Cinderace said, who then knelt down to hold out a hand for Icetales. "My name is Cinderace Puff. Top investigative reporter." He did the same to Zane, figuring that the introduction would indicate that, no, he wasn't one of Diyem's new recruits.

“Reporter?” Zane swallowed the air to avoid gasping, but managed to screw it up so badly that some stray phlegm sent him into a coughing fit. He made sure to cover his mouth (mostly to hide his face) by coughing into his left elbow. “Really? You must, uh, report a lot of...

“You said your name was Cal?” he asked. “Pretty cool having so many of your kind on the team, right? I swear, half the team are charmander, though you’re the only black one.” Something in the back of his mind took issue with that phrasing. “Which is cool! Black is, like, the cool color,” wait, do fire types like being called cool? “—er, hot—” that was so much worse, “radical. Very bodacious color, Cal.”

He wanted the entire bar to himself.

 

[IFBench]

"Yeah! I'm Saltriv! Nice to meet you!" they said with a wave of their leaf.

 

[Namohysip]

"Yeah, I'm not really a Charmander. I'm a Shade in the shape of a Charmander or something." Cal shrugged, then gestured to Wishkeeper. "Owen over there is sorta who I think I'm based off of, or something. Or, well, that's not exactly it. I'm based on a memory. Not too important here, though."

Cal looked to Puff, who wrote a few things down. "Right, right," Puff said. "You guys definitely know how to adapt to new things..."

--

"Good to meet you, Saltriv," Maple said with a nod. "I trust you've... been able to adjust to the team nicely?"

 

[Cresselia92]

Icetales glanced sideways at Zane, before focusing again on the Cinderace. More unknown scribbling from the reporter, which made him wonder if he was writing down about the Zangoose’s blunder.

‘Hmm… I wonder if I should inquire more about those Truthful Times…’

Cal looked to Puff, who wrote a few things down. "Right, right," Puff said. "You guys definitely know how to adapt to new things...

“We could say that, yes. Adaptability is our most essential resource, after all. So many events happening in such short amount of time… thou have to be flexible.”

He sat on his haunches, tails waving slowly. “Hmm… If I am not too indiscreet, what is that Truthful Times about? I do not have much knowledge of magazines and journals as I prefer to read books and novels, so…”

 

[IFBench]

"I'm still getting to no everyone, but they seem really nice!" Saltriv said, before their smile faded. "At least, most of them."

 

[Namohysip]

"Oh?" Maple asked, tilting her head. "Well, I suppose with a team so large, there will always be a few that you aren't as friendly with."

--

"It's one of the best newspapers in the world, if not the best, if you ask me," Puff replied with a proud, wry smile. "We uncover that nobody else can, and we go out of our way to make sure everything we say is verified and accurate. I mean, how can we not? We have the ultimate credibility on our side." He tilted his nose upward.

"Ultimate credibility?" Cal asked. "And what's that supposed to mean?"

"Well, the embodiment of Truth itself, of course," Puff said. "My boss is Reshiram. You didn't know?"

 

[Tanuki]

"Reshiwho?" Zane asked. "Sorry if he's a celebrity in this world, but we're not from around here, so, y'know." Zane had less faith in that sentence with every word. Reshiram was obviously someone important, so he should at least pretend to be respectful. "I meant to say I haven't heard of him."

With that blunder out of the way, it was on to the next. "So, you're one of those shade rock egg things everyone else has been getting?" Zane tried to keep his voice even, but Jefferson's silence struck him right in the heart. How could he abandon him after all they'd been through? Not come back when he had the chance? He had a theory, but he dared not say it aloud, nor allow himself to think about it. "Are you someone he remembers, or just, like, a culmination of all of them?"

 

[Namohysip]

Cal shrugged. "Sorry, not my place to say that one, I guess," she said. "I get the feeling Owen wouldn't be happy about it, so I'm just gonna say I'm Cal. Which is true, that's my name. But..." She trailed off, but ultimately never finished.

Puff looked offended, but he hid it well. "Reshiram is just what I said--the embodiment of Truth. He's part of a set of three, with Zekrom and Kyurem. He pursues the truth and wants to make sure everyone around the world knows it. Pursuit of knowledge... He's also an inventor and works with Chip now and then. Helped come up with the broadcast system that we use to see the Colosseum fights, for example..."

 

[Tanuki]

Oh no Zane offended him. "Oh, Reshiram, right!" He had no chance saving his own pride, but he could at least make the team seem better. "So, that's who everyone's been talking about. I'm not much of a believer in those hocus pocus legendaries—" that's what those big pokémon with magic and stuff were called, right? "—but the team loves them. Especially Reshiram—you said he invented broadband? That's something else!"

He had a feeling he needed more than a shovel to dig himself out of this hole. Luckily, more than a shovel stood right next to him. "Especially—" he really needed to learn his teammates' names, "—Icee here!" He gestured towards Icetails as if Puff had just guessed the mon's name given only the letters R, S, T, L, N, and E on a bright green board. "Icee, tell Puff how much you love Reshiram!" Unfortunately for Zane, no wheel anywhere near him had any amount of fortune to offer, but the price of his dwindling pride was right.

 

[Cresselia92]

Icetales stared at Zane as if he had suddenly sprouted a new head, which would surely be the last thing they needed. Two mouths talking random stuff would just be the cherry on top to place on that cake of embarrassment.

Time to intervene before they slipped into a crevice of discomfort.

“Hmm, well, that is… correct, good sir. I can say without any doubt that Reshiram is… a truly delightful figure,” he started, thinking about his own Reshiram from his own world and hoping that it would have sufficed. “The light that shines in the murkiness of confusion and lies, with an immense power that echoes in every folk’s heart and that brings out the truth of matters.” He nodded. “I have the most respect toward such a fine individual, I can say.”

“But thou mentioned inventions, Sir Puff. Care to enlighten me about some of the most notable ones?” He stared at the Cinderace and brought out his own notepad. “I am curious.”

 

[Namohysip]

"Well," Puff said, gesturing to Icetales and his bag. "For one, your communicators, the cutting edge ones that can send text and images across the aether? Reshiram helped invent it for the free-flowing of information in this new era. In fact, a lot of the tech here that involves information and communication is thanks to Reshiram's efforts. We're in the steps right now to roll this out into the mainstream beyond Destiny Village, you know. Who knows what the world will look like a few decades from now..."

He shrugged, though it seemed whimsical. "But anyway, how about you guys? The rumor is that the world isn't the only thing that's changed. Something about a Dark Matter...?"