Grass Continent ~ Treasure Town Beach

[Chibi Pika]

Starr stared, dumbstruck. Didn't know what...? What the hell are you on, don't try to act like this is some kind of human-only thing.

But she didn't say any of that. She just rubbed her face with her paw and turned to face the Vulpix, who'd asked something about their Charizard guide. "Yeah, uh, I didn't catch anyone who knew him, no. My vote's still on him being some legend screwing with us--even if he's telling the truth about needing us to kick the crap out of some bigger threat. Wouldn't be the first time legends have forced people to do their dirty work." Wouldn't be the first time one had disguised itself as an ordinary Pokemon doing things no Pokemon should be capable of, either.

 

[TheGOAT]

“My vote’s on him being a—” Did she have an answer for this? Uhh...

“—maybe he’s like, a tier above ‘legendary’?”

Her eyes darted over to the rocky amalgamation off in the distance, way out in the water.

“...Whatever that would even mean? I’ve never heard of any Pokémon doing anything quite like this.”

 

[Chibi Pika]

Starr chuckled. "Something even worse than legends? Yeah, we're seriously screwed if that's the case." Her tail flicked disdainfully as she glanced down at herself. "And why the hell he give us such piss-weak forms if he wants us to go up against something like that? I can't even breath fire. I tried."

 

[Shiny Phantump]

Celeste sighed. “I know. How the hell did he rob me of my disaster sense! I swear that couldn’t have been an accident. How does one get an Absol body without a disaster sense at all, much less by accident.

My nerves are still on edge... I can’t deal with this feeling of unsafety.”

 

[TheGOAT]

“I lost almost all of my old attacks. I’m guessing the body-creation process isn’t perfect,” Astrid said, then promptly paused—did she really just say that out loud like it was supposed to be a normal thing?

 

[Chibi Pika]

Starr scoffed. "Well, it's not like I'm not used to the feeling of always being on edge--that's nothing new. I just figured he'd wanna, y'know, actually deck us out for this threat we're supposed to take down. But noooo, guess we're supposed to do that on our own."

 

[Namohysip]

From nowhere, but perhaps vaguely from above, like a voice from a very irritable god, Diyem spoke. I can hear you, you know.

 

[TheGOAT]

Astrid jumped, flattening her ears as if it would help her hide.

 

[Chibi Pika]

Starr froze, fur standing on end. Why the hell had she forgotten he could do that.

 

[Shiny Phantump]

Celeste almost jumped when he heard the voice, but he regained his composure quickly.

“Good. Give me back my sense, and I’ll take back my assessment of your competence. Deal?”

His heart jumped into his throat. Had he really just said that? Augh... He really wasn’t feeling like himself right now...

 

[Namohysip]

I would gladly give you such an advantageous ability if I could, Diyem replied with a growl. Unfortunately, this world operates under different rules, and I must abide by them. It seems that disaster sense is something too powerful for me to recreate.

 

[TheGOAT]

Astrid deadpanned. Before pausing to think, she said, “Was Ice Beam too powerful to recreate as well?”

 

[Namohysip]

You'll have to find that yourself, said Diyem. I will try to help... but right now, I do not believe we have time.

 

[SparklingEspeon]

Tricky quickly trotted along the sands of the beach in a huff. She was no stranger to pokemon being mean to her, but... this place was supposed to be an escape from that! It dawned on her that she didn't even know fully what she was doing here. Something about a giant magikarp, new bodies (she still didn't feel any different), and some charmander she didn't recognize at all. What had felt like a boatload of fun only half an hour ago had quickly crashed down into uncertainty, and Tricky didn't have the slightest idea of how to deal with it.

...She wanted cake. Did pokemon eat cake here? Maybe they did. But the town was such a mess... all the cake would be long-gone now.

Hmmpf. Whatever. If that big glowy blue thing in the woods wanted to be a stick in the mud, fine by Tricky. She'd find somemon else to talk to. Tricky's strides became more indignant, and she stuck her snout up pridefully in the air as she walked. Unfortunately, that came at the cost of being able to see where she was going. Her paw struck a seashell, and she slipped, faceplanting her snout directly in the sand with a grunt of surprise. When she finally blinked the sand out of her eyes, she saw a white vulpix and a litten staring down at her.

"...Hi." she muttered flatly through the sand.

 

[Shiny Phantump]

Celeste saw something up in the bluff. “I think I’m going to go see that’s happening in the bluff. I think I see someone.”

As he turned to leave, he noticed the Fennekin flopped in the sand.

“Oh... Hello there. Who are you?” He stopped to think for a moment.

“Actually... I don’t think I’ve gotten any of your names. How rude of me, I apologize. Before I leave, what are your names? My name is Celeste... It was nice talking to you all.”

 

[Chibi Pika]

Starr turned from blinking at where the Fennekin had faceplanted to see that the Absol was about to leave. Apparently his name was Celeste. "The name's Starr. See you around, I guess."

 

[TheGOAT]

“Hi,” Astrid said back—one sandy fox to another.

Her six tails oscillated down and up again in a wave as she glanced at the Absol, then at the others again. “It was nice meeting you! I’m Astrid.”

 

[Chibi Pika]

Starr froze, looking like she'd been slapped.

The fuck did she just say? Did she really just--

It's nothing. Don't make a big deal out of it.

Why the hell did it have to be that?

It's just a fucking name, there's no reason to think about that. That's in the past. It doesn't matter. This is a totally separate world, there's literally no reason to think about any of that, stop thinking about it.

Starr turned away sharply, looking visibly shaken by something. In her mind's eye, she saw flashes of lightning.

 

[TheGOAT]

Halfway through glancing at the Fennekin who was yet to answer, Starr caught Astrid’d eye, looking like she’d just swallowed paint.

“Starr?”

Tentatively, the Vulpix lowered her head a few degrees. Had she reacted that way because of her? Was it her voice or something? Maybe her body temperature was making the fire-type uncomfortable? Hopefully that wasn’t it; this group had a lot of those.

 

[Chibi Pika]

Starr blinked, slowly coming to her senses. She realized that Astr--the Vulpix was looking at her with concern.

"...It's nothing. Some bullshit. Don't worry about it."

Don't worry about it. Try telling yourself that.

She swallowed back the bile. "Don't worry about it," she repeated before turning and sprinting back up the path to Treasure Town.