Grass Continent ~ Treasure Town Beach

[Shadow of Antioch]

"Here we are at the beach!" Cynthian said as she stretched her arm out.

With how much she frequently treasure town's beach, the changes caused by the cataclysm didn't go unnoticed. Most of it had been restored to form, but little details like rocks on the shore being in places they weren't before, new crevices on the far off bluff stuck out to her.

"It feels nice to be back here again." Cynthian felt the sand crunch beneath her hooves and sighed in satisfaction, then she glanced over at the blue serpent beside her.

"I'm guessing you're already familiar with this place huh, Alice?"

Alice looked down as she slithered forth, smiling at the sensation of sand sticking to her underside. It was exactly as she remembered it, give or take a few marks in the rock.

"Right there." She pointed at a specific point of the clifftop with a ribbon. "That's where Owen... my world's Owen, at least, stuffed me into a bag and jumped off the cliff to save our idiot friend who was drowning. Try beating that story," she added with a playful smirk.

 

[Adamhuarts]

"Whoa. That does sound like an Owen thing to do. Though was he jumping off a cliff or flying off it?" Cynthian asked, mildly amused.

Well, I don't know about stories that could beat that. There was that one time though," she began, glancing at the shoreline before returning a smirk at Alice. "I didn't get to witness it, but a feraligatr on our team thought it was a good idea to use surf in the guild lobby."

"Oh, Toffee. She was NOT happy about that." She giggled. "Next thing we knew, our poor friend Dill ended up in the infirmary. Lucky for me, Toffee has no qualms about leaves in the guild lobby. I still have to clean them up though of course."

 

[Shadow of Antioch]

"Whoa. That does sound like an Owen thing to do. Though was he jumping off a cliff or flying off it?" Cynthian asked, mildly amused.

Well, I don't know about stories that could beat that. There was that one time though," she began, glancing at the shoreline before returning a smirk at Alice. "I didn't get to witness it, but a feraligatr on our team thought it was a good idea to use surf in the guild lobby."

"Oh, Toffee. She was NOT happy about that." She giggled. "Next thing we knew, our poor friend Dill ended up in the infirmary. Lucky for me, Toffee has no qualms about leaves in the guild lobby. I still have to clean them up though of course."

Alice blinked. "Surf? In the Guild lobby? It's all dug into the dirt and rocks—I'm surprised there wasn't any structural damage!" She covered her giggles with her tail. "Why, they must still be finding water damage to this day."

She floated closer to the water. The coming and going of the waves calmed her. "You'd think Diyem would pick people with more brain than us to save the world. And yet, here we are."

An idea overcame her. "Hey, do you want to see something cool? Come closer."

 

[Adamhuarts]

"Oh?" Cynthian tilted her head and obliged by motioning closer. "What do you want to show me?"

She had no idea what to expect really, but her flowers brimmed with a chocolate fragrance with her rising curiosity.

 

[Shadow of Antioch]

"Oh?" Cynthian tilted her head and obliged by motioning closer. "What do you want to show me?"

She had no idea what to expect really, but her flowers brimmed with a chocolate fragrance with her rising curiosity.

"The seabed."

With that declaration, Alice pushed Cynthian into the coming wave, giggling all the while. "Gods, I cannot believe that worked. Wait—you can swim, right?"

 

[Adamhuarts]

A shriek resounding and was immediately deafened by the crashing of waves and the gurgling of a plant in water.

Cynthian popped out of the water with a coughing fit, and all the while water drained out of her flower crown like a jug.

"Aaah, what was that prank for!" Cynthian grumbled with flailing arms. Well, she was due for a swim in the shallow waters anyway, but getting pranked into it wasn't part of the plan. Still, two could play at that game.

"Okay, I'll admit. You got me good." Cynthian's lips widened in a smirk. "But you know, you can't visit a beach without getting a good ol swim, and you will just love it!"

She shot out a jet of vines, wrapped them around Alice's slender frame and pulled with all her might!

 

[Shadow of Antioch]

A shriek resounding and was immediately deafened by the crashing of waves and the gurgling of a plant in water.

Cynthian popped out of the water with a coughing fit, and all the while water drained out of her flower crown like a jug.

"Aaah, what was that prank for!" Cynthian grumbled with flailing arms. Well, she was due for a swim in the shallow waters anyway, but getting pranked into it wasn't part of the plan. Still, two could play at that game.

"Okay, I'll admit. You got me good." Cynthian's lips widened in a smirk. "But you know, you can't visit a beach without getting a good ol swim, and you will just love it!"

She shot out a jet of vines, wrapped them around Alice's slender frame and pulled with all her might!

"Pffft, as if that's enough to—EEK!"

She plunged into the water, and emerged after a few moments with damp head wings, spewing water.

"All right," she muttered, "I suppose I did deserve that." She shook herself off, sticking out her tongue at Cynthian. "Say, were there any... romances, say, born out of this mission? Liaisons? Little pecks on the cheek?"

 

[Adamhuarts]

"Oh, romance huh?" Cynthian muttered while using Alice like a floating log. Her cheeks reddened and she couldn't stifle her giggle.

"Well you've met Icetales, right? The ninetales with the charming accent? He and I are bonded," she said with a dreamy sigh.

"It's more than just simple romance though. We've helped each other through various ups and downs. That brought us really close as the days went by." She let go of Alice and allowed herself to float freely while facing the clouds overhead.

"If you're wondering about which others in our team got entangled with each other or with natives, I'm afraid it's not my place to see. You won't find me to be much of a gossip sorry," she added, finishing with a light-hearted laugh.

 

[Shadow of Antioch]

"Oh, romance huh?" Cynthian muttered while using Alice like a floating log. Her cheeks reddened and she couldn't stifle her giggle.

"Well you've met Icetales, right? The ninetales with the charming accent? He and I are bonded," she said with a dreamy sigh.

"It's more than just simple romance though. We've helped each other through various ups and downs. That brought us really close as the days went by." She let go of Alice and allowed herself to float freely while facing the clouds overhead.

"If you're wondering about which others in our team got entangled with each other or with natives, I'm afraid it's not my place to see. You won't find me to be much of a gossip sorry," she added, finishing with a light-hearted laugh.

Alice blinked. "Hold on an instant." She tilted her head. "But wouldn't his... y-you know. You're a grass-type, and he ought to be really cold—not in character! I'm sure he's wonderful personally, but with his core temperature surely it would... hurt..."

She rubbed the back of her head with a ribbon, smiling. "W-well, regardless, I'm happy for you two. Do you plan to move to one of your worlds? A third world?"

 

[Adamhuarts]

She rubbed the back of her head with a ribbon, smiling. "W-well, regardless, I'm happy for you two. Do you plan to move to one of your worlds? A third world?"

"No. We both have our worlds and duties to return to. His is to his people and mine is to seek someone I had once lost," Cynthian replied nonchalantly. She gazed at the beach momentarily.

"At the end of the day, we can only cherish this fleeting bond we share and move on when the time comes. Won't you say so too?"

 

[Shadow of Antioch]

"No. We both have our worlds and duties to return to. His is to his people and mine is to seek someone I had once lost," Cynthian replied nonchalantly. She gazed at the beach momentarily.

"At the end of the day, we can only cherish this fleeting bond we share and move on when the time comes. Won't you say so too?"

"Wow." Alice settled on the sand, regarding the Roserade with a newfound attention. "That's... an incredibly mature thing of both of you to do. N-not that I'm calling you immature! It's just that, in love, you can imagine it's easy to get lost in fantasies and hormones."

She slithered closer to her, nudging the side of her head as the waves licked at her underside. "To acknowledge the intrinsically temporary nature of our assignment, and not only accepting it--but finding the positive aspects... I respect that." Alice smiled, and looked towards the sea. "I made that very mistake myself, during my mission. I wish I had your maturity back then. Oh--completely unrelated, but isn't it odd how everyone here is named after food items? I understand that it's an odd translation and cultural issue, but good gods..."

 

[Adamhuarts]

"They aren't named after food actually, nor does it have anything to do with their culture." Cynthian raised a flower to her chin and hummed.

"From what I gather, it's just a byproduct of Diyem's translation magic or whatever. Much easier for him to use blanket templates for mon depending on affiliations or origins." She leaned against Alice and cupped some water between her roses.

"While we interpret the names of Cibus natives as food, they interpret ours like noises. In my case it sounds like a rustling of leaves, and for whatever reason-" she paused to snort, "-Astrid's sounds like Flesh when he's not using his gadget."

 

[Shadow of Antioch]

"They aren't named after food actually, nor does it have anything to do with their culture." Cynthian raised a flower to her chin and hummed.

"From what I gather, it's just a byproduct of Diyem's translation magic or whatever. Much easier for him to use blanket templates for mon depending on affiliations or origins." She leaned against Alice and cupped some water between her roses.

"While we interpret the names of Cibus natives as food, they interpret ours like noises. In my case it sounds like a rustling of leaves, and for whatever reason-" she paused to snort, "-Astrid's sounds like Flesh when he's not using his gadget."

"I like food as much as the next 'mon, but I wouldn't name my children 'Pizza' and 'Gelato'." Alice laughed. Then, she looked at Cynthian's rose-hands. "Actually, I just had an idea... would you like to try something, quickly? Before we head off?"

 

[Adamhuarts]

Cynthian pouted and narrowed her eyes at her with deep skepticism. "You're not about to pull another fast one on me, are you?"

 

[Shadow of Antioch]

Cynthian pouted and narrowed her eyes at her with deep skepticism. "You're not about to pull another fast one on me, are you?"

"I sure am!" Alice replied cheerily. Grabbing her with her ribbons, Alice spun her around and threw her as far as she could, then flew away giggling.

 

[Persephone]

The end was fast approaching.

For her time in this world, at least. It hadn't always been the easiest. The physical and mental scars from her battle with Coco were still fresh.

{You never saw me as your daughter, did you? Just another pet or toy. And you could have been, if you'd bothered, but you didn't. Still don't. I'm just your crutch. She'd bared her teeth, now much, much larger than they'd been when she was first teething a year and a world ago. Still am. Maybe I'll take a wing as payment?}

And she wasn't wrong. Cuicatl was... flawed. Deeply. Even by the standards of the people here. But she'd been trying to do better. Even as a hydreigon she'd occupied your time baking cupcakes with a lonely fox rather than obsessing over the battles to come. And now there weren'tmany battles left to fight before there aren't any more cupcakes to bake. And then she'd go home and... forget all of this. Forget the healing she'd had a chance to do and the fight with her daughter (she doesn't even remember if she sees her as a daughter back home) and any lessons learned. Until her story ends. Whenever that is. Getting Alice back? Honestly, she's not terribly interesting at home. She still maintained that Spectrum would've been better off with pretty much anybody else from her world.

There's not much point in doing things that won't be remembered. So she finds herself at the beach, eyes closed and listening to the sound of the waves. This all began near here in a way much like this. It's fitting to be here so close to the end.

 

[Namohysip]

The peaceful waves were oddly quiet this time around, like there weren't as many feral Pokemon in the water. Curious, because this place was usually thriving with life. Were they away, or were they watching something?

There also appeared to be a large splotch of darkness in the water...

Ripples formed. First, they were small but deep, and then more and more they became rapid. Without warning, something burst from the sea--a creature of black-white flames and scales to match. A triumphant roar came first, then a deep breath, the embers on his tail sparking back to life.

"Ninety!" he gasped, beating his wings a few times before landing flat on his back, sending a large wave to the shore.

 

[Persephone]

Cuicatl's eyes snapped open as something emerged from the water. She saw the wave (and that was still weird) and flew up to avoid it (also weird). She was prepared to at least give a stern talking-to to whoever disturbed her, but her muscles practically relaxed themselves when she saw Owen. Odd.

"Don't Charizard usually avoid the water?" she called out.

 

[Namohysip]

Owen perked up, turning his head. "Oh, uh... Well... yeah. That's why I decided to do some water training." He turned over until he was belly-down, using his wings to pocket some air as he drifted to shore.

"And when I bring out my full power, I think I turn part Dragon instead of Flying," Owen added. "Something about that feels right... but you probably already know that." There was a wry smile in his voice that she didn't need sight to know, even if she had it now. "Just getting some training in anyway."

 

[Persephone]

"But you're still a fire-type, then?" And Cuicatl did know how awesome being a dragon was. Felt much better than being a tiny, fat human. Shame that was going to be taken away soon enough.