Destiny Village ~ Sundae Park

[Negrek]

"It's Nate," Nate said. He wondered briefly how the translation between the two Diyems worked and if the lopunny was just hearing him make some weird noise instead of a proper name. But the lopunny's name sounded normal enough, so hopefully not.

"And I'm Rocky!" the familiar chirped from behind him, unprompted. "Hello! How did you make those glowy lights earlier? Is that one of your Blacklight powers?"

Well, sure, Rocky could just go ahead and hijack this conversation, then. Nate should have expected it. As far as Rocky was concerned, the lopunny and the rest of his team were basically superheroes. "Uh, yeah," he said. "I was just wondering, you know. How it all ended for you guys. You beat up the Blacklight thing, and then you all got to go home? Like Diyem promised? And then you just... forgot?"

 

[Soniclink137]

Lucius took a moment before answering, making sure to put names to faces lest he forget. After putting that to memory, he nodded, deciding to address Rockey first.

"They are, yeah. Specifically my Radiant abilities. I use them to form shields around my allies to protect them from damage. Though actually, they're adaptions of the shields I used to cast around my allies in my old world." Lucius waved his paw and a radiant barrier surrounded him. "In my home world, I was blessed with radiant powers from Xerneas. They work a bit differently then they do here, but the concept is still more or less the same." Lucius rubbed one of his long ears. "Juuust...don't ask about my Shadow abilities. I'd...rather not talk about that."

To Nate's question, Lucius nodded. "Yeah. As Diyem promised, once we were finished with the events in our version of Cibus, we returned back to our world. And..." Lucius' eyes gazed to the sky. "Yeah. We forgot. When I went back to my old world, I didn't have any memories of what happened there. I just sort of...popped back in. It was almost like I never left to me, and it was only after Diyem called us all back did I even remember I went on something like that. It feels...so weird. Especially since my own world is similar to Cibus, though we don't call it that. I saw locations similar to the ones I went through in Cibus, like the Tree of Life, and believed it was my first time seeing it."

 

[Negrek]

"Oh, shields! Radiance is good for that," Rocky said, nodding sagely. "Dave on our team uses Radiance for shields, too!" He was desperately curious about Lucius' Shadow powers, of course, but Marshtomp was sure to get mad at him if he asked. "But that sounds so weird, going and doing all those things in your world for the first time, and then finding out it wasn't! So your world is all pokémon, like Cibus, then? And it has Radiance, too?"

"Yeah... Sounds freaky," Nate said absently. Something about what the lopunny had said must have got him thinking.

 

[Soniclink137]

Lucius nodded. "Yeah. My world is all Pokémon. Well, more or less. There are some humans who were transformed into Pokémon, sort of like what happened in this world. And there was a Dark Matter in my world at one point in time too, though I don't think he was called Diyem. Though I wouldn't say it has Radiance entirely, at least not to the extent of Maple and her crew. I have mine mostly because I draw powers from Xerneas. I suppose if someone drew power from Yvaltal like I did, they'd have more Shadow powers. And an Elekid friend of mine doesn't draw powers from any legendary, but he has the ability to manipulate sound to cause big explosions or to shut off sound entirely." Lucius had a rather bittersweet look on his face as he described his world.

"Ah, but enough about my world. What's your home world like? Is it similar to Cibus, or something entirely different?"

 

[Negrek]

Rocky listened avidly. He always loved hearing about new places, especially if they were on completely different planets. "That's really cool! I guess legendaries can kind of give powers to people here, too, but it sounds like it's a lot more common where you live!" He gave Lucius a curious look. "Does that mean you're going to turn into a xerneas some day? The way the xerneas here used to be a deerling before they ascended?"

"My world?" Nate said. "Nah, it's nothing like here. There's humans, for one, pokémon trainers and all." He paused a second. That guy at the picnic had made it sound like there weren't any human-humans in the group. Maybe they hadn't actually heard of worlds like his that had both humans and pokémon in them. "...If you know what those are. And nothing like Dark Matter. No Shadows or Radiance neither. Glad there ain't."

 

[Soniclink137]

At the question of becoming Xerneas, Lucius had to pause for a moment. "I...don't think I'll be turned into a Xerneas. The current one is pretty much immortal, so I doubt there'd be a need unless he somehow died. But I've...never heard the legend of how he came to be in my world, so I can't exactly say I never would." He had to imagine what being Xerneas would be like for a moment and it was impossible to grasp. So he quickly shook his head and continued.

He nodded towards Nate. "I've actually heard of that before. One of my traveling companions in my world was a former human that came from a world like that. Though it sounds...really strange from a Pokémon perspective. Trainers trapping Pokémon in these strange balls and bringing them out to fight. It doesn't help that one of those balls were used to trap someone I knew. My friend says they're balls of "friendship" though, so..." Lucius shrugged. "I suppose it's all about perspective."

 

[Negrek]

"Ooh." Rocky's eyes glowed bright. "It's definitely maybe, then! You never know!" Rocky was clearly rooting for the "turning into Xerneas" possibility.

"Damn, yeah, I bet it's strange," Nate said with a laugh. "Dunno what I'd even do if I heard there was a world out there where pokémon shove humans into little balls or whatever. Freaky shit." He hesitated. "But yeah. Friendship and all. That's important." Wouldn't be a good idea to go into what he did for a living.

Sounded like the guy was a real hero back in his world. Chosen by a legend and all. "Say, did Diyem ever tell you guys how he managed to pick all of you for his project? Ours kept going on about this 'hero's aura' thing, but... some of the people on the team, well, they ain't all that heroic. Don't think I buy it."

 

[Soniclink137]

"He...said the same thing in our situation." Lucius shrugged. "To be honest, thinking of it now, it does seem strange. We had a few people join us at first who disappeared after a while, and it's like you said. While there were certainly plenty that I could see that fitting, take Aria or Nero as an example, there were also others that didn't." Lucius decided not to mention the person who he was certain, without a shadow of a doubt, didn't fit the description. "I'd like to think Diyem did have something to bring us in. Not necessarily a 'hero's aura' but something in us that brought us in. I can't say I know what that is, though, even after all the time I spent there."

 

[Negrek]

"You gotta hope," Nate said. "I guess it worked out. Twice? But I dunno." He sighed. So the other team had never figured that one out, either. Figured. Still seemed weird how that Diyem hadn't managed to scoop up any humans, but there were plenty on Team Spectrum.

"Is it strange, though?" Rocky piped up after a minute. "Diyem brought you back, so now you remember everything again. But that also means you have to go away soon, and you're going to forget everything a second time. Isn't it going to be hard for you, saying goodbye to your friends a second time?"

"Yeah. Can't say I like the idea that I might get yanked back here anytime if Diyem feels like it," Nate said. "I was told this was a one-and-done kinda deal." He could tell Rocky wasn't pleased with that statement, but fuck it. It was true.

 

[Soniclink137]

Lucius was silent at the question. His gaze looked to the sky as he contemplated for a good long while. Through his mind and shown on his face was many conflicted feelings.

"It's...not going to be easy, yeah. Not only will we have to say farewell again, not knowing if we'll see each other again or not. But we also will lose our memories the moment we go back. That's the worst part, if you ask me. Knowing that, as far as we're concerned, once we go back, it'll be like we never came in the first place." Lucius sighed. "I'm trying not to think of it too much, though. No use worrying over something that's going to happen anyways."

Lucius closed his eyes for a moment. "Kinda makes me wonder whether Diyem will either yank you guys or us again. You're right, it was supposed to be one and done. It's possible this might be it for both of us, or we may be called again. And...I can't say I know how to feel about that."

 

[Negrek]

"It's cruel," Nate said bluntly. "Making folks think they gotta leave people behind forever, then teasing them with another chance to see each other, and who knows if it'll happen again... that's just shitty."

"Sorry," Rocky said, his ears drooping. "I shouldn't have brought it up. Of course... of course it would be hard for you. So sorry for reminding you of that. B-but!" He drew himself up staunchly. "You're here now, so you should have a good time while you can! Focus on that! Ummm... What was your favorite memory from when you were on the other Cibus? I bet you had some happy times there, right?"

 

[Soniclink137]

Lucius took the change in subject as an opportunity and nodded, giving a soft smile. "Yeah, there were plenty, yeah. I suppose...just as a general, fighting with everyone. I suppose it sounds strange, especially when you guys just got off of fighting to keep the moon from crashing. But it felt...good. Having so many allies, working and planning with them on the fly. We had strength in numbers, after all. And we overcame so many odds. They were tense back then, but looking back on it now, I remember it well. There was also a time when Nero, Gene, and I all went to get some breakfast at a Shaymin café in Destiny Village. It was a nice light moment between the three of us. We didn't get those moments often. Oh, and Truth or Dare on the beach. We had that one time." Lucius smiled as it almost appeared he was realizing he had those memories at the same time that he was talking about those. "Those were some of the happiest moments we had around here."

Well, Lucius could think of a few others. But those were of a more personal nature, so while he cherished them dearly, he decided to keep it off his lips.

 

[Negrek]

"Oh, wow, that does sound like fun," Rocky said, smiling wistfully. "You're right about battling on a team. And against so many crazy enemies! I mean, we got to fight inside the Tree of Life, and even go to the moon. But the quiet stuff is fun, too. I don't think we've ever played a game as a team before. Maybe Truth or Dare could be good to try. I've never played!"

"Truth or dare?" Nate said skeptically. What was this, middle school?

"I think it'd be fun," Rocky said firmly. "For people who like fun, anyway." He smirked, tail quirking playfully. Ugh, whatever.

"We should do something," the familiar concluded firmly. "While all of us are here. Well--I guess the battle counts as that. Maybe we should do something just for Team Spectrum, too."

 

[Soniclink137]

Lucius nodded. "I would do that, yeah. From the sounds of things, your guys' time together in this world is coming to an end soon. You might as well make the most of it while you still have it. You might not see most, if not all, of these Pokémon here after it's all over."

 

[Negrek]

"We will!" Rocky said with fiery determination, his energy flames flaring and hissing tall. "I'm glad you made me think of it!"

Good fucking riddance, Nate thought to himself. Not that there weren't a couple who were tolerable enough. Maybe even kind of okay. But mostly he just wanted to get back to a world where he wasn't having to fuck off to the fucking moon every other week or whatever the fuck. Where he could actually work on getting home. He couldn't believe he was homesick for fucking mudkip-land, but here he fucking was.

"Yeah. Thanks," Nate said with a brief nod to the lopunny. It was good to know that what Diyem had said about going back was true--but it wasn't good at all to think he might get hauled out here again on no notice. And Rocky...

Well. Even if that happened, who knew if Rocky would even be here? The guy had been bursting at the seams to go to space pretty much his entire life. He wasn't sticking around this place.

"Thanks, Lucius. Bye!" Rocky waved while Nate herded him off. A nap. A fucking nap was what he needed, not to be thinking about this shit right now. Fucking depressing.

Nate thought he caught the damn noise again, a snatch of it from somewhere behind him. Whatever. He didn't even fucking care. All he wanted to do now was pass out for a while and not have to think anymore about this whole leaving thing.

<><><>​

 

[Flyg0n]

Koa let out a long sigh as he strolled through the quiet park. The last day or so had been another wave of typical craziness, and all he really wanted was to be alone. Ever since the moon fight he found it hard to actually relax, and he couldn't help but glance over his shoulder at every noise, or keep an eye trained on the sky. He had to keep reminding himself that according to Diyem, the crisis was finally over.

Still, despite his best efforts, he found himself subconsciously keeping one ear open for any threats.

 

[Fusion]

So far, Team Spectrum were full of, more or less, the same kinda people the Miracle Matters were made of. Which was great! That meant Kora wasn't dropping into anything super new! Again! Shiron was fun, adorable even, but Kora knew better than to think more than that. And there were also other super-fun lookin' peeps back at that picnic too! Like that buff cat! Or the buffer cat! Or Skinny-Diyem! Or--

During this whole brain think thing, Kora was floating above Destiny Village, taking in the sights. One such sight was that zappy dog dude from the picnic! What was his name again..? Koraza... no wait, that was Kora. Konanshuno..? Kokomo? Kommo-o..?

Oh! Right!

As the name finally came back to Kora, he made a sudden dive into the ground. Straight into it. Full speed.

Instead of crashing into it with a loud thud, Kora simply phased into it, silently swimming through it until he popped out of the ground, right in front of--

"Howdy, Koa!" Kora chirped.

 

[Flyg0n]

Electricity flared across Koa's fur and he sprang back from the sudden figure that appeared before him. His body reflexively shifted into a battle stance and his lips curled into a snarl. A Zoroark? Soda-!? Without thinking he started to reach for the pool of shadow and radiance within him, ready to lash out with everything he had-

No.

Impossible, Soda was supposed to be locked away. Blinking, Koa realized this Zoroark looked different. Less insane, for one, and not quite like Soda. Different face. Right... he'd met him before, at the picnic. He was the one who'd felt weirdly familiar somehow. Koa relaxed slightly, still scowling at him. What was his name again? Krora or something? Ora? Kara?

"Hey," he said, stiffly. He let the last of his battle instincts subside, but the annoyance in his eyes remained.

 

[Fusion]

Kora hopped right out of the ground, landing on his side to lay down. He matched Koa's outward annoyance and the battle stance he held for a moment with a sly grin and a nod. "Why so on-edge? I thought y'all were on break since you just beat down the big bad and were waiting to beat up the bigger bad?" he asked, bobbing his head from side to side. "Oh, and I'm Kora! You know, you, but a pirate got caught in the middle of your name."

 

[Flyg0n]

"We are on break," he replied. "But-" he hesitated briefly. There wasn't much point hiding the obvious truth from the Miracle Matters. Not if they'd faced some kind of blacklight crisis too. "You are aware that the guy we just defeated was a power-mad Zoroark too, right?" he shook his head. It didn't matter, and the last subject he felt like talking about was Soda.

"Anyways, nice to meet you I guess." He couldn't help but give the Zoroark a once over. Miracle Matters were supposed to be their trainers. Just how would this 'Kora' fare in battle? "How'd you do that? Disappear into the ground?"