Destiny Village ~ X-Eye Cauldron

[Negrek]

Not terribly specific about that, eh? Nate would just have to hope that if the Voice of Life thought any of those old failures were relevant, he would have said something. "Yeah, well. I think 'wary' is the right place to be." Nate caught Rocky with both hands, and the shade wriggled impatiently. He was... bored? Nate frowned. The guy had been acting pretty weird ever since that last battle. "Anyhow, thanks for the talk and all. It cleared a few things up. I only got one last question for you. You said you've got a connection with every living thing native to this world, right, or that you've called here? You got a connection to DarkWhite?"

 

[Namohysip]

Buffet paused at this, like he hadn't considered this a possibility before. "No, actually," he said. "I never felt any sort of connection in that way with Darkwhite. But, to be honest, it becomes difficult to tell. The Blacklight plague, I have trouble... perceiving this kind of corruption. Even infected Pokemon are difficult to discern for me, just as any other Cibus native. T-to be honest, it's a little scary! ...But I do know that our Mew, with Team Gyro on the Water Continent, she's been fine. When we first saw Darkwhite, one of the first things we did was check on her."

The Hydreigon finished the last slider--remarkable how quickly it had gone away--and then glanced at Rocky. "Is your Shade doing okay? He seems... restless."

 

[Negrek]

"Yeah, so I heard. That's good, at least. The last thing we need is more mewthings on a fucking rampage." Rocky bounced enthusiastically when the Voice of Life asked about him, nearly dragging Nate up onto the table. "Oh, yeah, he's fine," Nate said, wrestling the shade back towards his seat. Right? It wasn't like he had any fucking clue how the damn things were supposed to act, and Rocky certainly hadn't been this boisterous before.

The shade wriggled enthusiastically, almost right out of Nate's grip, and for a moment Nate's head was a whirl of disjointed images: sun, palm trees, a huge stadium that rang with cheers. Nate's heart leapt with foreign delight. "Uh, yeah," he said, blinking. "He's fine. Just wants to go somewhere he can roll around more, I think." Reaching under his chair, he tucked Rocky back into his bag, then started hauling the thing out so he could get it on. "Anyhow, I guess I'll be on the lookout for, uh, Bean, then. See if they've noticed anything up. And if you think you've got a clue where any of those people went off to... Let me know, I guess."

 

[Namohysip]

"I will. And I'll let Bean know to see you if he finds anything, too." Buffet smiled and waved with his left head. "Take care! Oh, and if you're looking for a good place to roll around and enjoy things, why not try out the eastern fields?"

 

[Negrek]

"Yeah, take care," Nate said. It took a few seconds to strap his pack back on, but then he was ready to go... back to his room, which is where he'd been headed in the first place. Just how much of a detour had this been?

"Eastern fields, huh?" he said. Never heard of the place. Sounded pretty cold this time of year. But he could feel Rocky nudging at the inside of his bag already. "Yeah, maybe I'll give it a shot."

Not just now, though. For now what he needed to do was rest a bit and think. There were one or two things the hydreigon had said that needed a little stewing over.

<><><><>​

 

[Virgil134]

A few days after the rematch against Shield at Destiny Colosseum, Cabot and Pleo were walking through the streets of Destiny Village. The sun had almost set as they looked around for a place to eat, much to Cabot's shivering dismay.

"Why did we go out here again?" Cabot complained. "I thought you liked the food they serve at the guild."

"I do, but we eat there every day!" Pleo insisted. "And all the buildings here have pretty lights!"

Cabot let out a small sigh as he looked at some the neon lights around them, a cold gust of wind making him tense up and cross his arms. Walking around in cold weather like this sure made him miss having Berecien around.

"I mean, they don't look bad, but it's not like we'd see these lights when insi- Huh?"

The Cranidos blinked out of surprise when he saw another Lugia enter a bar up ahead, one with silvery feathers and that couldn't be taller than a Garchomp...

"Oh! There's another Lugia!" Pleo exclaimed.

"I think that was Meringue," Cabot murmured.

The two went up to the bar, Cabot noticing a sign with 'X-eye Cauldron' on it. He'd heard from his teammates that it was apparently fairly luxurious for a bar and the food served here was supposed to be really good.

"I guess we might as well eat something here."

Eager to get out of the cold, Cabot quickly went inside, Pleo following after.

 

[Namohysip]

It wasn't hard to spot Pleo and Cabot, mostly for the former. A few mumbled to one another about the appearance of another Lugia, this one a mockery of what was supposed to be the Guardian of the Sea. And yet there another one stood, some half-formed abomination with a stone heart.

The wave of relative quiet caught Meringue's attention. He glanced at Cabot, frowning, but then gestured for him to come along; why else would they have come in at this hour, after all?

Meringue had what appeared to be a light, but hard beverage that smelled sour. and was a bright green. "You're... Cabot, right?" Meringue asked.

 

[Virgil134]

Cabot and Pleo traded hesitant looks, before going over to Meringue, ignoring the stares the bar's patrons were giving them. The two joined his table as Cabot tilted his head at Meringue's question.

"Uh... yeah? I mean, we've talked several times in the past," the Cranidos murmured. "Are you doing alright, Meringue?"

Pleo curiously peered over at Meringue's drink, but jerked away upon noticing the sour smell coming from it.

 

[Namohysip]

"Yeah, I've been fine," Meringue said. "I guess I'm just trying to remember your odd names, is all. I remember your face at least." He took a sip; the sourness didn't seem to bother him too much, and some of the liquid stuck to his beak. "...I heard you guys did pretty well against Rayquaza. He didn't look like he was at his best, but, hey. That's still something."

 

[Virgil134]

"Right..." Part of him wanted to explain how Diyem was doing his best translating everything and their names only seemed odd because of it, but he opted to leave it be.

"But, yeah, it was a great fight," Cabot replied. "Though Rayquaza did have a bunch of Radiant attacks he normally doesn't have, so it kinda evens out I think."

"And he wasn't alone!" Pleo chirped. "There was Groudon, Kyogre, Shield, and those six other Pokémon supporting them!"

 

[Namohysip]

Meringue chuckled. "No, I don't think it evens out the same. The raw power Rayquaza was giving off... Seems to me like he was trying to work with a power he didn't know how to use. Though, I'll give you that. You were fighting all three of them at once, and a seasoned team that fought under a human." Then, he rolled his eyes, adding, "Though there were like, thirty of you."

 

[Virgil134]

"That's not entirely true. Not everyone from our team was at there for the rematch," Cabot said. "And we can still do really good in smaller groups, or even on our own if we really have to. Brisa has been fighting alone at the colosseum and has been doing really well... Bahamut too I guess."

 

[Namohysip]

Meringue nodded. "Yeah, you guys are definitely, uh, impressive." He took another sip of his drink, eyes drifting ahead aimlessly. "Sometimes I wish I could get as strong as you guys are, so quickly. But Lugia says that you guys probably won't even last a year with how quickly your auras are losing stability. So, win some and lose some, I guess."

 

[Virgil134]

"Oh..." Cabot trailed off, before pawing at the back of his neck and giving Meringue a sheepish smile. "Well, good thing it's just a temporary body. I mean, I like your world and all, but I do wanna go home and see my friends again a lot sooner than a year from now."

The Cranidos looked over at Pleo. "Ah! Right! I wanna introduce you to Pleo," he said, gesturing to the shadow Lugia besides him. "Maybe you remember me mentioning him, but he's the Lugia from my world. Or at least, my Shade took on his form."

Pleo waved at Meringue with a wing. "Hi!"

 

[Namohysip]

"Er, right, I definitely noticed," Meringue said, nodding at the other Lugia in the room. "It's good to meet you, I guess, Pleo. Do you, uh, how Lugia are you right now, anyway? Or are you just... the shape of one?"

Just outside, it seemed that the actual Lugia was passing by, and stopped when she must have sensed her pupil's presence.

 

[Virgil134]

"Uh... I'm me, I guess?" Pleo answered. "I know that I'm a Shade, but I'm also a Lugia."

"He can do almost the same things as the Pleo in my world," Cabot explained. "The only difference is that he doesn't have any special powers that he can tap into. Nothing that’s... well, godlike."

 

[Namohysip]

"For better or worse," Meringue commented, but then tensed a little when Lugia came into the bar next.

"Meringue," Lugia addressed, her voice cutting through the meandering buzz of the room. "Here again, are we?"

"I'm not drinking that much," Meringue said. "We're done with training today, anyway, right?"

"We are." Lugia still had an air of judgement, in her tone, but she let it go. "Mm. And you again." She looked to Cabot, then Pleo.

 

[Virgil134]

"Oh, hey there Lugia!" Cabot greeted. "It's good to see you again."

Pleo meanwhile shifted a bit uneasily under Lugia's gaze, but didn't say anything.

 

[Namohysip]

"Mm, and good to see you as well," Lugia said with a small but friendly smile.

"Must be odd to have three Pokemon of what's supposed to be one-or-two-of-a-kind all in one room," Meringue remarked, flicking his tail. He glanced at his soft feathers, then at Lugia's tough scales, and then at Pleo's... everything. "Different, uh, textures, too."

 

[Virgil134]

"Huh?" Cabot looked at Pleo, who was still staring at Lugia, before turning back to Meringue. "I mean, Pleo has feathers just like you. I know they look a little different, but-"

"I'm sorry about everything I did."

Cabot blinked and looked over to Pleo in surprise.

"I know I possessed you and made you attack everyone, but back then I couldn't really think like I can now," the young Lugia said. "I promise I don't wanna be mean anymore!"