Game Week of the Multiverse: Riverside Plaza

[IFBench]

"I... I'm sorry, I wasn't aware of any rumour. I'm looking for a Ninetales, you see, and... and I suppose you would be from a different world, after all, so you wouldn't have been able to meet her anyway... Sorry, I got my hopes up a bit too much."

"No, the rumor's real. I'm just not that human," Lidequir said, a small smile reemerging on her face. "If there's a meteor in your world just like there was in ours, go to the top of Mount Freeze. You'll find who you're looking for there."

"I'm an exploration team leader, I go through low-ranked mystery dungeons, not meet with legendaries! I wouldn't know where to start with something like a meteor!"

"Neither did we," Acacia said. "None of us started off facing super-strong baddies. Me and Lidequir started by rescuing a Caterpie in Tiny Woods, one of the weakest mystery dungeons ever recorded. Apoyime and Pahelia, an exploration team just like you're a part of, started off in Beach Cave aside from that whole thing where Apoyime was in the future but he lost his memories and battle experience from that so I don't think that counts. Pahelia was too scared to even enter without Apoyime's help, or so I heard. And now the two of them are the best exploration team on the planet, having saved the world twice! Gen and Vernir started off going through mystery dungeons just so they could have a house, and now they and the rest of their team are in charge of Paradise! Ayueg and Leviene...well they're a bit of a special case but they also lost their memories and battle experience so...Ayueg started off fleeing from Beeheeyem in the woods and Leviene was a school troublemaker before they made an expedition team together and saved the world. Point being, none of us started off ready to save the world."

"Why couldn't you be able to save the world? Surely you don't think that this human went straight to Rayquaza, do you? If anything, I'm willing to bet he started out a bumbling fool, lost and confused, unable to hold his own in a solo fight."

Lidequir chuckled slightly. "Yeah, Acacia had to bail me out several times during our adventures."

 

[Luxray1000]

He turned to face Dusk, crouching down to be level with him. "Why couldn't you be able to save the world? Surely you don't think that this human went straight to Rayquaza, do you? If anything, I'm willing to bet he started out a bumbling fool, lost and confused, unable to hold his own in a solo fight. Yet you are already part of a team, are you not? You already know your world better than he knew this one. You're starting off with more skill than he did. And where he had to earn the trust of the Pokemon around them, and was nearly captured by the one he wanted to save, you're already a trusted member of a guild."

"Well... I suppose you have a point, but what if I can't get back before-" Dusk caught himself and shook his head. "No, no, you're right. I'm sorry." He thought for a moment. "I suppose it wasn't moving that fast... maybe we've still got a while... if only I could at least warn someone, though..."

"No, the rumor's real. I'm just not that human," Lidequir said, a small smile reemerging on her face. "If there's a meteor in your world just like there was in ours, go to the top of Mount Freeze. You'll find who you're looking for there."



"Neither did we," Acacia said. "None of us started off facing super-strong baddies. Me and Lidequir started by rescuing a Caterpie in Tiny Woods, one of the weakest mystery dungeons ever recorded. Apoyime and Pahelia, an exploration team just like you're a part of, started off in Beach Cave aside from that whole thing where Apoyime was in the future but he lost his memories and battle experience from that so I don't think that counts. Pahelia was too scared to even enter without Apoyime's help, or so I heard. And now the two of them are the best exploration team on the planet, having saved the world twice! Gen and Vernir started off going through mystery dungeons just so they could have a house, and now they and the rest of their team are in charge of Paradise! Ayueg and Leviene...well they're a bit of a special case but they also lost their memories and battle experience so...Ayueg started off fleeing from Beeheeyem in the woods and Leviene was a school troublemaker before they made an expedition team together and saved the world. Point being, none of us started off ready to save the world."



Lidequir chuckled slightly. "Yeah, Acacia had to bail me out several times during our adventures."

"I see..." Dusk was calmer now. "But you went from there to meet the legendary Rayquaza? As in, the Sky God? How did you get from Tiny Woods to meeting a legendary?" He sounded a mix of incredulous, still a little panicked, and very interested. "On my first exploration, I was nearly killed. I've gotten better since then, but I can't imagine ever getting good enough to go searching for a legendary Pokemon."

"And... as for Mount Freeze... th-thank you" the fire-type stammered. "If I can get back to my world... and if my world isn't destroyed... I'll try there. You mentioned a Beach Cave... I recognize that name, so perhaps our worlds are similar. Where would I find Mount Freeze if we assume that my world has the same geography as yours?"

 

[Fusion]

"As long as you are willing to try, and do not curl up die, you will always grow stronger," Lee nodded and grinned, pleased he managed to convince a stranger to not be their own pity party. His grin then fell, because that meant there was less pity to indulge in. Well, aside from his own, but that wasn't nearly as fun. The more the merrier, or... tastier. No that just sounded wrong... Regardless, this was nice. Or, decent. Somewhat. Kinda.

He decided to keep himself mostly quiet for the take of geography; he only had knowledge of his own world's layout, which he knew was unique in its design. Instead, he took in everything being said. Or would be said.

 

[IFBench]

"But you went from there to meet the legendary Rayquaza? As in, the Sky God? How did you get from Tiny Woods to meeting a legendary?"

"That's...a long story. Running into Zapdos while looking for Shiftry after we had taken a substantial amount of missions, fighting Zapdos with Team ACT's help, talking to Xatu in Great Canyon, Team Meanies inciting half of all the rescue teams to chase us across the entire continent, proving Lidequir's innocence, fighting Groudon to rescue Team ACT, and only THEN did we find out about the meteor and went to Sky Tower to tell Rayquaza to stop it," Acacia explained. "And you should be able to find Mount Freeze at the most Northeastern point of the Air Continent."

 

[Luxray1000]

"As long as you are willing to try, and do not curl up die, you will always grow stronger,"

"I... I suppose you're right." Dusk nodded. He still wasn't completely convinced. In his mind, of course one could grow stronger, but despite his experiences so far today, actually, properly meeting a legendary was not something you were likely to do unless you were some sort of legend yourself. He decided not to voice this, however. Lee was just trying to be helpful... and maybe he did have a point.

"That's...a long story. Running into Zapdos while looking for Shiftry after we had taken a substantial amount of missions, fighting Zapdos with Team ACT's help, talking to Xatu in Great Canyon, Team Meanies inciting half of all the rescue teams to chase us across the entire continent, proving Lidequir's innocence, fighting Groudon to rescue Team ACT, and only THEN did we find out about the meteor and went to Sky Tower to tell Rayquaza to stop it," Acacia explained. "And you should be able to find Mount Freeze at the most Northeastern point of the Air Continent."

"Wow..." Dusk breathed. "That's amazing. It sounds like you have quite a story to tell, and I'd love to hear more about it... but, maybe now's not the time. I wouldn't want to take up any more of your time than necessary." He nodded when Acacia mentioned the Air Continent. "Ah, yes. My world does indeed have an Air Continent. I believe it's north of where I live. Thank you."

"Alright" he said, after a moment. "I apologise for letting my excitement... and my panic... get away with me. I believe we were going to discuss accommodation while I'm" stranded "here?"

 

[Fusion]

Dusk's uncertainty was still rather prevalent, but Lee didn't expect to turn his worldview around in the span of one conversation. Still, Lee metaphorically patted himself on the back. He was nice, and it only sort of felt like pulling his own teeth out. Perhaps Dusk bumping into him was a good thing in the end.

 

[IFBench]

"Since you're getting along well with Lycanroc, how about you stay with him and Deino?" Lidequir suggested.

 

[Fusion]

That would probably be to Dusk's detriment. And his possible excitement would be entirely annoying. Lee also had no idea about the Houndoom's sleeping habits, like if he snored loudly, or talked in his sleep. He also knew that Houndooms tended to smell of sulfur, which wasn't something Lee wanted to deal with for however long they'd be stuck together.

"It would be my pleasure," Lee nodded.

It's not like he wasn't familiar with unsavory living conditions. Besides, the only real problem would be Hades' hatred towards Lee. Which would only come to light whenever Lee pushed the Deino's buttons. Hopefully Dusk would react... calmly to seeing someone get torn limb from limb.

 

[Luxray1000]

"Since you're getting along well with Lycanroc, how about you stay with him and Deino?" Lidequir suggested.

"I'd be happy to" Dusk replied.

"I would be my pleasure," Lee nodded.

"Thank you" He smiled at the Lycanroc. "I'll endeavor not to be a burden. So, we'll be staying with a Deino, then? What are they like?"

 

[Fusion]

"Thank you" He smiled at the Lycanroc. "I'll endeavor not to be a burden. So, we'll be staying with a Deino, then? What are they like?"

Lee had half a mind to say that Hades was highly aggressive, irritable, and wanted to kill him. That wouldn't be untrue, but did Dusk need to learn any of that?

"Hades is... not unlike me, I'd imagine. He and I didn't exactly get off on the right foot, but I'm sure he's..." Lee paused for a moment. "He's at least one of the more tolerable members of this group. You might enjoy him."

 

[Luxray1000]

"Hades is... not unlike me, I'd imagine. He and I didn't exactly get off on the right foot, but I'm sure he's..." Lee paused for a moment. "He's at least one of the more tolerable members of this group. You might enjoy him."

Well, that was good to know. Though Dusk didn't particularly like the part about tolerable group members, as that implied there were intolerable group members. Admittedly, he hadn't met many of the people here yet, but the ones he had met had all seemed very nice so far.

"Wonderful" he said out loud. "I look forward to meeting him." He turned to the two world saviors. "It was nice to meet you, and I hope I'll have another opportunity to talk in the future, but I suppose I should go and learn my way around here for now."

 

[Fusion]

"I'll assume it'll be alright if I went with you, Dusk? It's not like I know my way around here either," Lee nodded. Getting a scope of the village while getting to know his new roommate was certainly a nice thing to do, right? He'd have to get himself a book detailing all the nice things he could probably do...

Or not, as that felt asinine and degrading. Lee decided he'll just stick to not purposefully aggravating people. Except Hades. Pissing him off is just too much fun to give up.

<><><><><>

 

[Fusion]

In all honesty, Kora got lost on the way to the Cafe. It probably took him and Harvard far too long to get there than it shoulda, and by the time they did, Kora wasn't hungry anymore. But he was in the plaza, so he might as well do some sight seeing, people watching, not killing anyone-ing. Normal things a fox would do.

He found, rather quickly, that people watching was boring. Super boring. So boring that he wondered why old people did it, only to realize that old people were boring. Except Lee. Lee was scary. Luckily, something finally caught his eye. A dog with horns! A uh... uhhhhhhhhhhh... Houndoom! Those things were badass!

Kora tossed all sense of personal space and not-looking-like-a-weirdo and crawled up to Houndoom, he was now his massive fox self instead of monkey, and welcomed the hellhound with a bright, toothy smile. "Howdy!"

 

[Luxray1000]

Dusk was walking back through the plaza, still thinking about his conversation with Gladion earlier. For one thing, he could hardly believe he'd had such a long conversation with an actual human. For another, he could hardly believe how awful the story he had heard was. Perhaps he should have asked Gladion for the names of his sister and mother. That way, he could have kept an ear out for them, and could have helped to reunite them... or steer clear, as the case may be. He certainly had no desire to meet Gladion's mother if he could avoid it.

Another part of him was thinking about the fact that multiple people had come from the same world to end up here. He didn't think it was likely, but could it be?

...no, she had definitely been at home, last he remembered. She hadn't come through before him, he was certain of that, so unless she arrived afterwards, she wasn't here.

...she must be so worried...

Caught up as he was in his thoughts, it took him a moment to register the Zoroark talking to him. "Hmm? Oh, hello. Are you one of the other new arrivals here?"

 

[Fusion]

"Yep! Name's Kora!" the fox nodded. It took a few seconds for Kora to realize what Dusk had said, to which he tilted his head. "Wait, are we already being talked about with the locals, or are you one of us too?" It would have been flattering if they were already famous here, but the why was what scared him...

 

[Luxray1000]

"Nice to meet you, Kora" said Dusk pleasantly. "My name is Dusk. And yes, I've only just arrived here yesterday as well." He thought for a moment. "Hmm, I've heard that name before... ah, you wouldn't happen to know a Lycanroc by the name of Lee, would you?"

If so, that was another case of two people being from the same world...

 

[Fusion]

Kora nodded his head, grinning. "Yup, I brought him here yesterday! Me and him are gonna help everyone look for a way home, or bring them home ourselves!" he said, then his brow furrowed. "Nice to finally meet you, Dusk, I thought I felt he found a new friend! Kinda... not surprised it's a Houndoom either, he's basically a hellhound himself, hehe."

"For someone that Lee's taken a liking to, you're a whole lot nicer than I thought you'd be," Kora hummed. "But a friend of his is a friend of mine, welcome aboard!" He held out a paw to shake Dusk's, waited exactly half a second, then shook Dusk's paw himself.

 

[Luxray1000]

Dusk accepted the pawshake with a smile. "Good to know" he said. "In a place like this, and a situation like this, it's nice to know that there are so many nice Pokemon to count on." He realized what he had said and hurriedly backpedaled. "Uh, or humans, as the case may be. Are you a human? I think Lee mentioned having human friends."

Then something else registered. "Wait, did you say you brought him here?"

 

[Fusion]

"I mean, kinda? I'm half human. My mom's a human Zoroark and my dad was a Lucario," Kora chirped, wincing ever so slightly at the mention of his father.

"Wait, did you say you brought him here?"

Kora put on a bright grin and nodded. "Uh huh! I'm just that powerful!" he snickered. "Travel between worlds got really easy after I ate that weird rock... Meaning I could actually do it," he hummed, shutting his eyes and tilting his head from side to side. "It tasted like vanilla, believe it or not."

 

[Luxray1000]

"Oh, I see." Dusk didn't have any particular reason to question the first bit. It was the second bit that interested him and left him feeling just a little disappointed. "So you can travel between worlds at will? Why stay here, then? I mean, this is a nice place, but if I had that ability, I'd be using it to go home straight away."

He wasn't sure if he should ask the next bit. He could easily see it being taken as rude, or too forward. But he had to know. "I... I don't suppose you could use that power to transport others back to their worlds, could you? Or, failing that... bring people from other worlds here?"