Destiny Village ~ Sundae Park

[Navar]

Shiron merely nodded at the story, his eyes getting increasignly wider, even sparkling a bit. He smiled, opening his mouth wide.

"That's... cool! Well, except the part about capturing Pleo. But it's nice that you're trying to help him!"

 

[Virgil134]

Cabot looked at Pleo and smiled. "Yeah. I'm glad I met him and made such a great friend."

Pleo nuzzled his side, making Cabot chuckle in response. As he pet the Lugia's head in return, the Rampardos paused upon hearing his stomach growl. He looked down at his belly in surprise, before turning to Shiron with a sheepish grin.

"I suppose it is almost noon," Cabot said. "Would you like to get lunch with us, Shiron?"

 

[Navar]

"Oh, lunch!" Shiron beamed, rubbing his belly. Cabot had a point.

"Yeah, I don't mind that. I'm hungry too, to be honest. Let's go!"

<><><><><><><><>

 

[Chibi Pika]

Starr stretched her arms above her head and cracked her neck while walking along one of the paths through Sundae Park. She'd fallen asleep in a stupid position, passed out on the couch after staying up late watching movies with Brisa. At least it was better than falling asleep in the dorm lounge--god, she was glad they'd moved out of the dorms. (Even if her roommate had been acting like a fucking moron and now her alternate-universe twin who she'd thought was her dad was gonna be moving in with them and what the fuck was any of this.)

It was a nice day. The days were gradually getting warmer, so she didn't have to bother with keeping her inner fire hot. Maybe she'd try finding some new food stall to try after a morning walk, and then kill time watching a colo match or two. There were some interesting ones scheduled today.

 

[Adamhuarts]

A shrub on the side of Starr's path shook like something hid there. A brief moment later Cynthian poked her head out with a small pink flower in her vines, a faint smile on her face. She didn't seem bothered by the twigs and leaves covering her crown and petals.

"What's a wild camellia like you doing here? Did you get woken by the spring?" Cynthian said with a chuckle, treating the flower tenderly as she channel a faint green light to bloom the flower's size further. "Does that feel better now? You've done well growing here, but somewhere else with a bit more sunshine is just what you need."

It was then that Cynthian felt a presence nearby, and she gasped when she turned her face to find Starr nearby. Cynthian's face reddened and she quickly hid the flower behind her out of instinct.

"Starr! O-out for a walk you are?" She pursed her lips after jumbling up her words. Cynthian quickly stepped out of the shrubbery and reorganized herself. With a wry smile, she said, "Hi."

 

[Chibi Pika]

Starr raised an eyebrow. Cynthian looked a bit like she wanted to vanish to avoid being seen right now. Honestly, Starr would've been ready to assume talking to plants was normal for grass-types. Not like she'd know.

"Hey there. Uh..." She smirked a bit. "Enjoying the spring, I take it?"

 

[Adamhuarts]

"Uh, yeah, of course!" Cynthian said as a leaf slid down the side of her mask. She walked onto the path and shook her body quickly, sending a flurry of leaves and twigs flying off her.

"Sorry you had to witness that. I got a bit excited when I felt a cemellia here and got carried away," Cynthian said with a nervous grin. The flower nestled between her bouquets, its petals rich in a red hue. "Not a lot of mon tend to come here around this hour."

 

[Chibi Pika]

Starr rubbed the back of her head. "Yeah, I guess it's a bit early." Why was she up this early again? "Woke up with too much energy and had to get outta the house. Might have a nap later or something." She tilted her head at Cynthian. "Seems like you've had a lot more energy lately. You know, compared to earlier."

Not just physically, but like, emotionally as well. When she'd first woken up from hibernation, Cynthian had looked like the most miserable person on the team for weeks, and now...

 

[Adamhuarts]

"I've come around." Cynthian held out the camellia and posed. "With a grand mission to strive to and friends lifting one up, even a meek little rose can bloom."

"And I'm in my best mood at any time of year on spring's approach, so that played a part too." Cynthian glanced at an empty patch of soil with little grassy growth. She walked over and tucked the flower's stem into soil. With her vine extended, she channeled more energy to it and helped the flower sprout a few leaves to set it up.

Cynthian crouched and huddled her bouquets over her knees, sighing faintly. "I've not just been messing around the whole time though. There's still work to do."

 

[Chibi Pika]

Starr let out a snort. Definitely a grass-type thing, then. Then she remembered what had just happened not too long ago and said, "Hey, I saw that you were in that colosseum match with Brisa and Icetales. You guys did a damn good job--I mean, no one expected you to be fighting fucking Dialga by the end of that."

 

[Adamhuarts]

"Oh, thanks!" Cynthian said sheepishly. How many others had been watching her performances in the colosseum fights? She watched the trees, pondering.

"Though I've lost every match I've had in the colosseum so far. I don't feel too bad about it..." Cynthian sighed and her shoulders drooped. "It's a bit discouraging though. We were-" she held a pair of vines "-this close to knocking the lights out of Balm."

"I'm just a little discouraged," she said, tilting her head slightly. "Know what I mean?"

 

[Chibi Pika]

Starr gave the Roserade a look. "I mean, even entering a colo fight seems like a pretty damn big step up from before, you know? Sure as hell doesn't seem like the kind of thing you would've done last year."

Shit, was that a bad thing to say? She was trying to make it sound like an improvement.

 

[Adamhuarts]

"Yeah, that's a good point. I used to be scared of the colosseum before ever since that one time we faced you and Nip," Cynthian said with a light nod.

"I don't plan on stopping any time soon though." Cynthian's eyes trailed a falling leaf as she tapped her chin. "If only I could find smarter ways to fight. My tricks are too familiar to others... that's how Sword beat me."

 

[Chibi Pika]

Riiight, that one time. Man, that felt like it'd been ages ago. She'd avoided talking to Cynthian after that one. Everyone else had been talking about it like she and Nip had fought dirty or something, but dammit, they'd needed to go all-out.

Rubbing the back of her head, Starr said, "I bet that first colo match felt like shit. Don't think I ever got to tell you, but Nip and I went all-out cause we knew you'd be able to wreck our shit with status conditions and crap like that."

 

[Adamhuarts]

"O-oh... I'd beaten myself up about that for weeks after that fight." A weight lifted off her chest upon hearing those words from Starr herself.

"I'd always thought I got singled out because I was the easier target. Feels a bit silly in hindsight now..."

 

[Chibi Pika]

"I'll say. Especially after you put such a massive fucking dent in Balm toward the end of that last match." Trying to talk someone up like this was weird, and Starr couldn't help feeling like anything she could say would just make things worse. So the fact that it seemed to actually be working was a nice change.

She'd honestly been expecting the fight with Balm to be a total curbstomp the moment he'd pulled a surprise ascension. But it'd been close...

"I can't remember if Brisa mentioned it, but did you guys have any plans on a rematch? Bet you could take him with a bit more training."

 

[Adamhuarts]

"Oh, absolutely! We know what to expect from him now, so his Dialga power up won't surprise us next time." Cynthian looked fired up, but then she deflated just as quickly.

"Actually, Brisa said she'd be too booked up in other matches for a rematch with Balm and Cepa. We're down a member now." Cynthian folded her arms and pursed her lips. She didn't want to play down her own strength anymore, but if she and Icetales alone took in Balm and Cepa for a whole fight, a thicket of thorns will shroud most paths to a victory.

"It'll be tough..."

 

[Chibi Pika]

Starr let out something between a scoff and a laugh. "Yeah, no kidding. Two-on-two would be all well and good if one of 'em wasn't a legend, and then the second one turns into another goddamn legend. You saw how it took me, Brisa, and Astrid to punch Lugia's lights out, yeah?" Losing Brisa pretty would be a pretty heavy blow. And even Brisa had a hell of a time with that one. The type matchup wasn't the best.

...Then again, Starr had been dealing with a bunch of shitty matchups lately, and she'd done pretty damn good at fighting the actual Dialga back at Temporal Tower, so...

"If you guys really need a third, I could always swap in," she said, crossing her arms behind her head and putting on a look like she didn't care either way.

 

[Adamhuarts]

"Yeah, you guys were awesome back there!" Indeed it'd been one of the most exciting spectacles Cynthian had ever gotten to witness. Just knowing mon like that were on team spectrum elevated her spirits before the timekeepers fight.

"Really? You would?!" Her eyes practically twinkled with stars. Starr could even catch the tangy fragrance radiating off Cynthian at that moment.

 

[Chibi Pika]

Starr raised an eyebrow, but then couldn't help letting out a chuckle. That sure was a hell of a switch.

"Sure, why not. Besides, then I can talk shit to Brisa if I manage to pull it off with you two after she went down," she said with a smirk. There was a pause, and she added, "Not gonna mind if I unload with fire attacks on those two, right?"