Lush Prairie

[unrepentantAuthor]

Brisa nursed her cider and observed carefully, luxray vision poring over the new arrivals. Well, this was quite the dramatic event. Hard to know how to handle it. Crowds, why was it always crowds, and always when she was exhausted? And what's more... A duplicate Owen, and a duplicate Diyem. She wasn't sure how she felt about what that implied regarding the multiverse. Sibling worlds were one thing, but the Blacklight Crisis not only echoing another, but echoing several of the concerned outworlds? She swallowed hard. Best to see the silver lining. It would be interesting to meet another Owen and learn more about one of her best friends.

"Aaanyways," she began, raising a paw in greeting. "Aria, at your service."

"Brisa, at yours," she replied, raising her own.

An odd intuition gave her an unaccountable good feeling about that one.

He moved to Brisa. "And an edgy Aria."

Brisa gave this one a withering stare. 'Edgy'?

“My name is Sage,” he said without extending the ‘s’ like a snake probably should. He slithered with purpose around Alice to view their counterparts from a new, taller angle. “We’re called the Miracle Matters. I believe our teams have a lot in common.”

Brisa made a note to introduce herself to that one. Multiversal heroes summoned by Diyem had such a proclivity for zaniness or melancholy, it was nice to see people being normal and polite and serious. Sage might be worth a conversation. It wouldn't surprise Brisa if he was something of a leader. Not really something Team Spectrum had ever had, perhaps because it was so much fucking larger than the Miracle Matters.

Hopefully that wasn't because half the Miracle Matters got wiped out fighting the Blacklight...

 

[Readerlove]

Danithan waved at Brisa and then at koa. "Glad to see a few more electric types, how has cibus been to your group anyways?"

 

[Fusion]

"Kora!" they said with a bright smile, hugging the Zororark back with their vines. "It's so nice to see you again! And yep, I evolved!"

"Color me surprised and impressed! I don't mean to sound like a twat but... I never thought you'd be where I was at one point," Kora purred. "Honestly, I hoped that wouldn't happen, but... Diyem's got a funny way of picking people who need to hero-up instead of all the people that are good already at doin' it."

 

[Negrek]

"Oh! That's good." Rocky did look relieved to hear their counterparts in the other world were doing well. Going along with Eien could be nice, maybe! Maybe... But the emolga didn't seem too happy about the arrangements, and Rocky thought he could understand that, too. "I'm sorry you had to leave them behind. I'm sorry... we're going to have to stay behind." As usual, Nate ignored his pointed look.

"Oh, sure," the marshtomp groused. "No hints for us about the fucking nightmare world that thing is supposedly cooking up out there." Of course not. "What's that, some kind of bullshit paradox thing? The universe gonna collapse if we find out about the future, or whatever the fuck?"

He snorted and sat back, giving the group of Miracle Matters a hard look. "Some of you're humans, too, ain't you?" he said. "Don't tell me our Diyem was the only one to get the fun idea of shoving us in pokémon bodies for whatever fucking reason."

 

[Fusion]

"Oh, sure," the marshtomp groused. "No hints for us about the fucking nightmare world that thing is supposedly cooking up out there." Of course not. "What's that, some kind of bullshit paradox thing? The universe gonna collapse if we find out about the future, or whatever the fuck?"

"Yes." Kora chirped, all the more seriously.

 

[Namohysip]

"What's that, some kind of bullshit paradox thing? The universe gonna collapse if we find out about the future, or whatever the fuck?"

"Somewhat," Miracle Diyem replied. "It is something more effective if you are not aware of it until it happens. Have faith and keep fighting, and such."

"And such," Cal repeated, frowning. "Well, you aren't all that different."

"Mm."

 

[Ambyssin]

"Some of you're humans, too, ain't you?" he said. "Don't tell me our Diyem was the only one to get the fun idea of shoving us in pokémon bodies for whatever fucking reason."

At that, Nero tilted his head. "Mmm. I don't recall anyone being body-swapped or anything throughout the adventure." He blinked a few times. "Are you saying you're human and got turned into the swampert line?" Nero flinched. His cheek bolts sparked a bit. "That... sounds quite unpleasant. Sorry you've had to deal with that."

 

[Magyk]

Ben squinted as he watched Kora and the meganium hug it out. He didn't remember such a face, so why did-

Ah, right, the campfire. He wasn't a fan of those trips, and he had a feeling that even if he had attended all those times he wouldn't have met Team Spectrum there anyways. He noted that Mergo had done a 'classic Mergo thing' and walked off already. If it weren't for Aria and Owen back then, he might have been doing the same.

The arcanine's gaze fell upon Dave and Koa, two individuals that brought back some rough memories of his own time in another Cibus. He gave Aria a wry smile at the thought. Would it help them if he said he could relate to them? Only time could tell. For now he decided he'd stand back and watch as everyone mingled, it felt good to be recognised as a hero. For once he was top dog.

When he heard Cal, Ben perked up, then quickly remembered it wasn't the Cal he knew. He sighed. If only he'd been able to see her again.

 

[IFBench]

"Color me surprised and impressed! I don't mean to sound like a twat but... I never thought you'd be where I was at one point," Kora purred. "Honestly, I hoped that wouldn't happen, but... Diyem's got a funny way of picking people who need to hero-up instead of all the people that are good already at doin' it."

Saltriv flinched slightly at that, remembering what they had learned on their visit with Gen.

Once they get back...they're going to have to save their own world.

"Yep...I never thought that you'd have done this before!" they said, a slight bit of strain in their smile now.

 

[Soniclink137]

"Somewhat," Miracle Diyem replied. "It is something more effective if you are not aware of it until it happens. Have faith and keep fighting, and such."

"Besides," Lucius chimed in himself. "Learning what happened in another world won't always help you either. After all, just looking around I can already tell things are different enough here compared to what we went through that we couldn't...honestly tell you anything."

As he said that, though, Lucius gave a half-laughing, half-weary sigh. It seemed, at the very least, he wasn't the only one stuck dealing with multiverse shenanigans. Though seeing two Diyem's in one place was certainly something new. He could only imagine what some of his friends would think if he told them he was hanging out with two versions of Dark Matter.

 

[Negrek]

At that, Nero tilted his head. "Mmm. I don't recall anyone being body-swapped or anything throughout the adventure." He blinked a few times. "Are you saying you're human and got turned into the swampert line?" Nero flinched. His cheek bolts sparked a bit. "That... sounds quite unpleasant. Sorry you've had to deal with that."

"What?" Nate shot a furious glare at Diyem. "Are you shitting me? All this bullshit about humans being more powerful and shit, and you woulda been fine leaving all of us at home?"

"It's okay," Rocky told Nero cheerfully. "He's used to it by now."

 

[Namohysip]

"Well, hey," Miracle Owen said, "I think being a Marshtomp is really cool! You're only weak to Grass, for one, and you can make water wherever you go!"

This Owen seemed... significantly brighter and less restrained. Perhaps this was Owen without Wishkeeper's influence.

 

[Flyg0n]

Danithan waved at Brisa and then at koa. "Glad to see a few more electric types, how has cibus been to your group anyways?"

Koa tipped his head in acknowledgement. "Good, I guess. We have our own houses, there's ton's of legendaries, a colosseum to fight in... What's your world-er Cibus, like? And what's your name again?"

 

[Ambyssin]

All this bullshit about humans being more powerful and shit, and you woulda been fine leaving all of us at home?

A nervous blue overtook Nero's synthetics. "Well, uh, you're not physically more powerful, but I've seen for myself just how strong your spirits can be! So that's, uh, something." He laughed nervously.

 

[Readerlove]

Danithan smirked at the mention of the colosseum. "Name's Danithan, lad." The emolga put a paw to his chin, "well, everything looks about the same. I think ..." The emolga looked around before settling his gaze back on koa. "Anything you want to know in specific?"

 

[Fusion]

"Some of you're humans, too, ain't you?" he said. "Don't tell me our Diyem was the only one to get the fun idea of shoving us in pokémon bodies for whatever fucking reason."

"Are you shitting me? All this bullshit about humans being more powerful and shit, and you woulda been fine leaving all of us at home?"

Kora raised a paw. "For what it's worth, I'm half human. And I come from a world full of humans too, they're crazy fuckin' strong." He gave Nate a jagged, yet friendly, grin. "I don't think I've seen 'em be as short as you though, even the other halfbreed Swampert I know."

"Yep...I never thought that you'd have done this before!" they said, a slight bit of strain in their smile now.

Seeing, or maybe even feeling, that slight strain in Saltriv's smile, Kora gave them a gentle squeeze and soothing purr. "I haven't been filled in on the details, but I can tell you've done amazing so far. You'd basically be ready for anything else you gotta deal with after!"

 

[Flyg0n]

Danithan smirked at the mention of the colosseum. "Name's Danithan, lad." The emolga put a paw to his chin, "well, everything looks about the same. I think ..." The emolga looked around before settling his gaze back on koa. "Anything you want to know in specific?"

"Koamaru," he replied. He frowned, taking a moment to think properly. He could ask about their world, irs citizens or.... "What's your team like?" he asked finally. He wondered if there were similarities between Spectrum and... what was the name he'd caught? Miracle Matters?

 

[IFBench]

The strain in their smile disappeared, and their leaf swayed to the side. "Thanks! We've done a lot! We just finished recovering from a fight on the moon!"

 

[Fusion]

"Koamaru," he replied. He frowned, taking a moment to think properly. He could ask about their world, irs citizens or.... "What's your team like?"

"Before anyone can tell you otherwise, I am the most sane and not kid member of the team," Kora said, popping up beside Koa. He then zoned out, deep in shallow thoughts, then perked right back up. "Your name's Konamaodma... Konohanamaru..." He huffed, then shook his head. "Koamaru! Imma guess people just call you Koa for short?"

 

[Readerlove]

Danithan nodded. "Koamaru ... sounds like something that would be a name in gene's world." He smirked. "All ya need to know is that Aria, Owen, and Sage are ungodly strong." The emolga blinked confusedly at Saltriv. "Whatta mean the moon?"