Destiny Village ~ Sundae Park

[Navar]

Why did Puddle's not-brain have to go there of all places for a greeting?! Puddle gritted its teeth, facepalming. "...How are you, I mean?"

Shiron sat down on the grass, sighing. Oh boy, that was not the question he expected. Anything could be better than... that.

Hiding his emotions was something he was used to for so long, so Shiron simply looked down.

"I'm... fine. Other than two mental breakdowns in such a short period of time, I'm okay. Just... hanging in there. Barely."

Alright, that was too depressing.

"I'm sorry, I just... I'm sorry. For not being able to save them. I just wasn't strong enough..."

 

[Fusion]

Oh geez, he was beating himself up over the fight...

"Ah, don't beat yourself up over it," Puddle said, sitting up and scooting closer to Shiron, just close enough to rest a hand on the blue guy's shoulder. "That was... a lot, for everyone. Honestly I think I'm still shaken up about it too, Vix was... right there, and I still couldn't..." Puddle clenched its fists tightly, then exhaled and let go. It had already gotten over this, mostly, there was no reason to fall back into that pit of wishing it did more.

"Losin' them ain't got nothin' to do with you, aight? It ain't nobodies fault, not yours, not mines... it ain't even entirely Joule's fault either," Puddle was still trying to convince itself about that last bit, even if it knew it was true.

 

[Navar]

Shiron clenched his fist, grabbing some of the dirt. "I get it. I get that, I know it isn't my fault, or anyone's fault!"

He let go, panting and shivering. Not really ready to talk about that. Not right now.

Shiron did it anyway. "It's just that this isn't the first time I watched a friend die. And... and honestly I wish I were in her place. Not like I mean anything. I could be gone without any trouble."

 

[Fusion]

This was not something Puddle was ready to tackle right now, it barely even knew Shiron, and it was still going through it itself. And from the sound of it, Shiron didn't know about the dead not really being dead either.

"L-Look, Shiron, you're kinda a big deal, you know?" Puddle said, thinking as much as it could about what to say every chance it got. "Like, durin' that fight with Giovanni, you, Starr, and Saltriv put all your power together and really put the hurt on that egotistical fuck, you know? None of 'em coulda pulled that off without you!"

Puddle hopped up on its feet, standing before Shiron with both hands on the Marshtomp's shoulders. "And you helped Vix so much durin' that fight too, you... you saved her from that ball thing, and tried to keep her head on straight when she was goin' through some shit..." A small smile stretched across Puddle's face. "I owe you for that, honestly. And Vix... she never got the chance to thank you for it."

Puddle thought about telling Shiron right then that the others were alive and... probably well, but didn't think right then was the right time.

 

[Navar]

"S-Sorry, spoke too much, didn't I?" Shiron frowned, realizing what happened. Puddle was right, they barely knew each other.

"I get that. How we used all our pledges at once. Honestly, I'm a bit proud of that, and rescuing Vix? She didn't need to thank me, that's just what friends do!"

Except that was a really particular situation.

"...Well, it's not like everyday you get to take your friend out of a pokeball. But I think you got the idea. Just... sorry for talking too much. I'm just used to bottling thing up, and I got to my limit."

 

[Fusion]

"Keepin' that shit bottled up ain't healthy, I think. It's good you got it out now rather than later." The only reason Puddle even thought that was because Vix was doing the same thing after that fight with Giovanni. Hell, she might be doing now still. Before it worried too much about Vix, Puddle shook its head and looked back to Shiron.

"I don't wanna see you beat yourself up over these kinda things, and I know Vix wouldn't neither. She cares too much about you to let you get eaten up by all that stuff," Puddle nodded, smiling. "In fact, I think she'd be able to tell you soon enough! As it turns out, the ones who died ain't fully dead! They're inside Diyem, and all we gotta do is help him get strong enough to get them back out!"

 

[Navar]

"Keepin' that shit bottled up ain't healthy, I think. It's good you got it out now rather than later." The only reason Puddle even thought that was because Vix was doing the same thing after that fight with Giovanni. Hell, she might be doing now still. Before it worried too much about Vix, Puddle shook its head and looked back to Shiron.

Oh, that was right. And God, Shiron had heard that thing so, so many times. It almost wasn't a real word from the million times someone told him those exact words.

"Thanks," Shiron sighed, looking down and clenching his fist again. "It's just something I'm used to, my parents kinda... fucked me up. Brain's all weird, have low self-steem, yada yada yada."

"I don't wanna see you beat yourself up over these kinda things, and I know Vix wouldn't neither. She cares too much about you to let you get eaten up by all that stuff," Puddle nodded, smiling.

Wait. Wait. Wait. What? Shiron rubbed his eyes, blinking quite a few times, and just letting that sink in.

"I-I didn't know she cared about me. Whoa, I'm such a lousy roommate."

But then came the big reveal.

"In fact, I think she'd be able to tell you soon enough! As it turns out, the ones who died ain't fully dead! They're inside Diyem, and all we gotta do is help him get strong enough to get them back out!"

...There was no way that was true. It had to be some trick. Puddle was deceiving him. People didn't come back to life like that! But if they weren't actually dead, then... then that might be real.

Shiron cleared his throat, shivering all over his body. He suddenly stood up, smiling and with sparkly eyes. "T-T-That's... that's great! Holy shit! THey're not dead!"

He couldn't believe it. Not even bothering to hold the tears, just letting the tears go down.

"Thank you for telling me about this. I really appreciate it. And I promise... I'll do my best to help."

 

[Fusion]

Puddle chuckled and beamed. It actually managed to handle someone feeling down in the dumps without anything backfiring! What a relief! "Hey, don't mention it! Just tryin' to do good by one of Vix's buddies! Gotta keep 'em in good spirits for when she gets back, ya know?"

"From what I know, we're tryin' to think of a way to get Diyem close to the Tree of Life so he can get the power he needs. Which sounds easy but... apparently Xerneas is a dick and Diyem still ain't entirely trusted," Puddle tittered. "It might be a little while before we can set up a proper, uh... expedition? I think that's the word, at least."

 

[Navar]

"Well... I need to get stronger if I'm gonna help. It's a promise!"

Shiron lifted up his arm, taking a deep breath.

"I think the next step should be to evolve. Not entirely sure how I'm gonna do that, but... I'll try it. That way, I can help the team!"

 

[Fusion]

"Evolution..? Oh, shit, that's right. We can do that," Puddle chuckled, rubbing the back of its neck. "That totally slipped my mind. We can probably look for a way to evolve together then! I've been sick and tired of this weak lil body. I can't even throw a fuckin' punch without literally throwin' it!"

To prove its point, Puddle turned and threw a punch. Its fist went flying, hitting the ground several feet away with a wet plop. "It was cool, like, the first fuckin' time... and it's still kinda cool now but still."

 

[Navar]

"Well, yeah? It's kinda what came to mind once I decided to become better," Shiron shrugged.

He sat down again, whining. "It's... my decision. I don't want to be useless anymore. I want to believe in myself, become stronger, help my friends! The entire team, the planet... their lives are worthy."

A single thought creeped its way onto his mind. But my life isn't.

"So... sure! Le'ts try to evolve together. It's a promise."

 

[Fusion]

Puddle put on a bright grin, reeling its arm back. "Hell yeah! We'll both get strong as hell, for Vix and the others! And Cibus too I guess, but we need our friends first!" It held up a fist to Shiron, now seemed like as good a time as any to try this out. Vix was always jealous of her friends being able to fist bump back home, where she had lil wax nubbins instead of hands or paws. She'd just be all the more jealous of Puddle then, hehe!

 

[Navar]

Pudle honestly seemed like a nice... not guy, whatever it was. And this conversation went better than Shiron thought it would be. He smiled, a genuine one.

"Hell yeah! We'll both get strong as hell, for Vix and the others! And Cibus too I guess, but we need our friends first!" It held up a fist to Shiron, now seemed like as good a time as any to try this out.

Shiron held his fist into the air as well, connecting it with Puddle's. He nodded, still sporting the smile.

"Right! Thanks, Puddle. I feel a lot better now, and we'll keep fighting!"

The lingering feelings of self-doubt were gone, if only for that moment. That one moment.

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

 

[Persephone]

Cuicatl slowly floated down into the space above the park. The park was a lot greener than she had expected. Sure, she'd known about the concept of green but seeing it so vibrant and everywhere was mind-blowing. She wasn't here to see the trees, though. She was here to meet up with one of the friends who'd been left behind. Or something. Mostly she was just excited to see what vulpix looked like. After all of Pixie's ramblings about how pretty vulpix are, she was expecting a lot.

 

[Cresselia92]

"Cupcakes! Freshly basked cupcakes! Anyone wants cupcakes?" chirped Petram excitedly, holding a couple of the mentioned cupcakes in his stubby paws.

He looked at his current set on the tray, beaming in delight: multiple colors and flavors, ranging from fruity varieties to chocolate to vanilla. It was strange, really: how did he know how to bake cupcakes? He had never done that before, and yet he baked them as if he could always do that. As if... that was something he has forgotten, or something that his real life counterpart used to do. Regardless, that was a good distraction from the small hole he had in his core and a way to cheer himself up as he waited for Daddy to return.

Then, he saw a shadow flying from above and he looked at the sky. His tails wagged and he extended his cupcakes. "Oi, friend! Want a cupcake? They're tasty and good and... tasty!"

 

[Persephone]

Just who Cuicatl wanted to see. And he was so, so precious. Pixie would insist that a ninetales wasn't proper unless it was pure white but the darkness was also really cute. And the tails! She hated to admit it, but maybe her starter was on to something...

Cuicatl descended and air rushed past her. She slowed herself down before she got too close to the ground but she still almost hit it. Getting used to vision would be one thing, but learning flight at the same time felt a little unfair. Once she was hovering right by him Cuicatl had to resist the urge to pet the fox with her mouth hands. "Hello! I would happily take a cupcake."

 

[Cresselia92]

Petram's tails wagged faster and his violet eyes glowed with excitement. "Oh, nice! I bet you're gonna like them!" He grinned and showed both cupcakes in his paws. "So! I have both cheri cup and pecha cup here, but I also have chocolate, vanilla, and nabab! Lemme know what you prefer! And--"

He paused as he realized something. Hm. He had never seen a Hydreigon around, aside from Buffet. Though, that Hydreigon smelled... different. Perhaps even younger and nicer.

"Say, huh... do I know you? Are you a traveler or...?"

 

[Persephone]

"I'm Cuicatl. I used to be a zwelious with two heads. I hung out with..." She had no idea what to call Icetails in relation to the vulpix. "...Icetails sometimes." She saw the vulpix's tails droop and immediately regretted saying it. "Hey, we'll get him back. Promise."

 

[Cresselia92]

“Cuicatl… I’ve heard that name,” said Petram, his mood slightly deflated. “Yeah, huh, Daddy told me about you. He… sees you as a nice friend, yeah…”

He sighed and shook his head, trying to not think about that. Then, he forced a small smile.

“And y-yeah! He will be back, I’m sure about that!”

He has to come back…

“And… you recently evolved, yeah? How is life as a Hydreigon?” he asked. Anything to not think too much about his missing father.

 

[Persephone]

"It's great! I actually couldn't see as a human so sight is a big deal. And I can fly. That's really nice. And weird. Still getting the hang of it." She paused. Right. Cupcake. "I'll take the cheri cupcake, please."