Destiny Village ~ Parfait Way

[unrepentantAuthor]

Luz grunted something staticky and grabbed awkwardly at her cheek fur. It came away, melding with her fist, transfering from one part of her body to another as if she was so much semisolid liquid.

"Thinkin' more'n usual about certain things," she muttered. "Thinkin' 'bout how I'm not Luz, just a new bein' what acts like it. Thinkin' 'bout how I eat an' drink an' pretend like I'm flesh an' blood, but I ain't. Thinkin' bout how without Brisa around to focus on, I'm..."

She wrung her paw, and it almost seemed to come loose.

"I'm less real."

 

[Namohysip]

And to that, Anthus' expression darkened a little, solemn and understanding. "It isn't very fair to be given memories and then treated as if they aren't yours, but donations from another. Even less so if you were born of an idea..." But to that, as if reminding himself, Truffle smiled a little. "But in the end, do we not all begin, one way or another, as someone else's idea?"

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

Luz raised an eyebrow, cocked her head.

"If'n y'say so, partner. Feel pretty sure not everyone was created intentionally, least of all us familiars."

She thought for a minute, and watched the way Leg behaved with Anthus.

"Guess she's like yer kid, kinda. Right?"

 

[Namohysip]

"What?" Anthus followed the gaze, looking to the Mimikyu. "A-ah. Well... I don't really know."

"Krssss..."

"I suppose I am her guardian," he admitted. "I am teaching her how to talk, some basic mannerisms when in public, generally things to help someone like her adjust to more eclectic societies. Though, she has become a bit attached."

Leg hissed again.

"She's been more attached than usual lately," he added. "I think it has to do with the recent stress. We don't usually spend so long in a world, and, well, with the status of our leader..."

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

"Guess we all wanna reach harder fer those we care fer, in times like these," said Luz. "Maybe that's why I'm here. It ain't like I thought I could fix things fer you, or I had somethin' specific in mind I wanted t'know. I just wanted..."

Why was it hard to say? If she couldn't have the fun parts of being flesh and blood, why did she have to have the rubbish parts, like being tongue-tied?

"I just wanted to be around someone who wanted me around. Someone who might understand how I feel."

 

[Namohysip]

"Oh, dearest..." Anthus gestured with a free wing for Luz to come nearby. "Please, spend as much time as you like. I'm sure so many of them would love to be with you." Leg made some room as well, sinister tendrils shoving away a few of the dolls too leave an alcove for Luz to sink into.

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

Oh, she was welcome to cuddle? That sounded . . . nice. Real nice.

Luz approached, hugging her torso as she walked, then turned and fell backwards into Anthus' wingspan.

"Thank ye kindly," she murmured.

It was harder for Luz to feel dreadful about her body or her relationships with a warm and gentle wing around her. She shrank into her core a little, and her body firmed back up to its usual solidity. Almost as solid as flesh and blood.

<><><><><>​

 

[Flyg0n]

This time, he'd get it right. His cheeks were still burning from his earlier blunder after that.... Whatever it was startled the living daylights out of him and Rocky. Well. Mostly him.

He wandered through the village for several minutes before he saw something that drew his attention immediately. Just in the distance, a feline looking biped walked. Despite the black fur and blue highlights, the form was utterly unmistakeable.

It was a Zeraora. And some kind of shiny or special one, judging by its fur color. His jaw dropped. His tail even wagged slightly, and he made a beeline straight for them.

This would be perfect opportunity to make a good impression on a mythical pokemon. As opposed to the disaster he'd just had.

"Hi!" he barked out a greeting, which came out quite a bit louder than he intended, his excitement getting the better of him. He stared at them for a good couple seconds, in awe. He'd never actually been this close to another legend before, not like this. Not to one he knew at least. "Are you some kind of special Zeraora?" he blurted. His eyes shone with excitement and admiration.

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

Well, that was new. Pretty much everyone in Destiny Village knew the deal with familiars already. Which meant this . . . was a newcomer.

"Well, howdy, partner!" she called, approaching with a confident stride. (She felt just fine after snuggling up to Anthus. No more problems for sure!)

Electrike, male adolescent judging by the voice and scent... This was probably a new Team Spectrum member. Another latecomer, then.

"Special zeraora, huh? I guess so. Sure look that way, don't I?"

She put one giant paw on her hip and offered the other for the lad to shake, if he could reach it.

 

[Flyg0n]

Huh. He'd never heard an accent quite like that before. Definitely not from anywhere he knew well, whatever world she hailed from. Seeing her holding out her paw, he sat up on his hindlegs, and held out one forepaw, placing it awkwardly in hers. Shaking hands was much harder when you were a quadruped, apparently.

"Yeah! Back home, Zeraora have yellow fur. But black looks really awesome."

He inspected her more closely. Dark fur, almost shadowy in appearance. It actually reminded him of Rocky, now that he thought about it. Given how strange legendaries here seemed to be, he supposed either could be true. Or perhaps she was a familiar of a legendary? Was that even possible?

"Are you like... a familiar?" he narrowed his eyes thoughtfully. "Or are you one of the legendaries that live here?"

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

Yeah. Nah. Maybe. Did Luz count as a legendary pokémon or not? To hell with it, she'd answer the other thing.

"Aw, guess you caught me out. Yeah, I'm a familiar. Ultra Shade, Zeraora Luz Escarpa atcher service. Don't tell me—yer a new Team Spectrum member?"

 

[Flyg0n]

Oh wow. What a name. He wondered what it all meant, it was certainly not how people from his world usually introduced themselves.

"Wow that's... That's a long name."

Maybe it was some kind of tradition where she was from to introduce oneself like that? "My name is Koamaru Averon. From Canalave City," he added.

At her next remark, his posture drooped and he stared at the ground, head low. The late thing frustrated him to no end. Being far behind everyone, not knowing what was going on... Being so out of the loop. He hated that. There was a whole team before he even came along.

"And yeah, I guess I am, but apparently I arrived late." He scuffed at the ground with his paw.

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

She shrugged. This fella's pep sure didn't last! Maybe she could get him to stop moping by simply pushing on.

"The name's Luz. The rest is just what I am! Pleased to meet ya, Koamaru."

So, he was bothered about being late to the party, huh? What could she say to that...?

"Y'ain't the only one to arrive late. Technically, every familiar came pretty darn late. The team were fightin' gosh-darn deities afore I even existed. Mind you, 'late' depends on how much is left to come, don't it? 'Cause I'll let ya know now, we have no just idea how much more strife lays ahead of us."

She meant it to sound excited. All she felt inside was dread that things could get worse.

 

[Flyg0n]

Koa nodded in agreement. She was right, he guessed. He felt a little less annoyed at least, being reminded of that.

"Yeah, that's true I guess. I still don't even get what we're fighting against though. There's just so much. Blacklight and fused legends and... I don't understand it yet."

Which was the problem too. Not knowing was maddening. He couldn't wait to just... get caught up. To be part of the team.

He peered up at Luz, studying her. The dark fur, peppy attitude, so different from Rocky.

"Rocky said familiars are like friends...Who can read your mind? Why does Rocky look like an Infernape but you look like a Zeraora?"

What was she? What even were familiars, he wondered.

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

"Aw, bless you darlin'. Rocky's basically a hyped-up kid, no wonder he spewed every piece of info under th'sun atcha. I'll try t'be a lil' more helpful."

Luz ran a few things through her mind while counting off silently on her digits. Yeah, she could keep things concise. Probably.

"So . . . we don't know everythin' about familiars yet, but while they're incubatin' in their cores," she said, gesturing to the dark spot inside her chest, "they take on th'form, personality, and associated memories of someone from their host's life. A couple of my host's friends straight-up got their brothers as familiars, and weren't too happy about it! I'm based on the stories my gal Brisa grew up with of her clan's folk hero. I guess... I wanted to be someone good fer her."

She shrugged again, and decided not to elaborate on Brisa, or what happened to her. Not yet, anyhow.

"As fer what we're fightin'... We're constantly tryin' to investigate what's really goin' on, t'be honest! But among the key threats is, there's a villainous jackass by th'name of Giovanni, a human from another world, who's tryin' to collect as many volatile energy sources as he can in one place so as he can control the greatest weapon in all creation, or somethin' to that effect. We just got done kickin' him in the shins, an' then he set a blacklight-corrupted necrozma on us. An angry star! Now that took some nerve to fight... Anyway, some of us are huntin' the fella down right now, I hear."

 

[Flyg0n]

Rocky is a hyped-up kid? Maybe it was a figure of speech, or maybe she was serious. It was certainly interesting to ponder. If Rocky was a kid to her, how old was Luz? Did familiars even have an age? SHaking himself mentally, he focused himself on her words, curious to hear her explanation.

So she's based on folk tales of a hero? Excitement flickered through him. That was pretty close to the legends of Zeraora in his own world.

"Wow, so you're kinda like an honest to goodness hero then?"

There it was again. Giovanni. The person apparently behind all this mess. A criminal mastermind, leader of an evil organization, just like- he grimaced inwardly. Nevermind all that. Whatever happened, they'd have to be careful. Those kinds of people were the scariest.

But at least they had a fighting chance. They had these powers, and a team and they could really fight back. He wasn't just a helpless human anymore. There were legendaries, and lots of strong pokemon if Luz and Rocky's words were true.

"I want to help," he growled. "I want to help Team Spectrum stop him and anyone else from hurting people or... pokemon... or anybody here."

Strange determination welled inside him. He was a pokemon now. The possibilities were endless!

Sparks danced across his green fur. "I'm gonna train, get stronger, and together we'll take Giovanni down and save Cibus!"

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

Luz grinned. Sure, kid. Let's be heroes.

"I like yer attitude, Koamaru of Canalave! I don't know that I'd call myself a hero just yet, but . . . I'm doin' what I can. Right now, I reckon the best thing I can do is get you further up to speed and give you a bit of a tour. C'mon. Lemme show ya round town."

She headed off in the same direction she'd been going, confident of Koa following, excited to have something useful to do with someone who wasn't torn up about... about anything unhappy.

Koa followed as expected, earnest excitement spread across his puppy face. Yeah, the two of them were gonna get along like rain and roots.

<><><><><>​

 

[RJR Basimilus]

"Mmmmm," Seyka wandered, talking to himself. "Tree of life? Most trees are alive as far as I know... is one tree really more alive than every other tree?"

The Skarmory sighed. "All this is nonsense. Why can't we just ask any tree?"

 

[Cresselia92]

Petram was bouncing around the place, chewing on a nabab cupcake in his forepaws. His eyes were sparkling brighter than usual — having Daddy back truly cheered him up. One less dead ‘mon was still one less dead ‘mon, even if Daddy didn’t die to begin with.

He glanced around the place, full of houses of all sizes… even though he had forgotten why he had decided to visit that area to begin with. Something something about looking for a legend something?

“Welp! I’m sure I’ll remember, sooner or later! Now, hmm… What can I do to spend the time?”

Then, he noticed the Skarmory wandering around the area. Huh… Who was he again? Was he an inhabitant or someone else? Well, better ask to be safe!

“Hey there! Do you know if I know you?” he asked, approaching the Skarmory and wagging his tails.

 

[RJR Basimilus]

Seyka looked down at the familiar. "I'm Seyka, and not much else. You are... hmmm, a familiar right?"

If the Skarmory had trouble with names normally, the familiars were a nightmarish second layer that he hadn't even attempted to broach. Even associating each one with it's owner was an exercise in futility.