Marowak Dojo ~ Living Quarters

[Equitial]

"Wait, you know a human who's like me?" Ashwood perked up. "All the other Pokemon -- and the humans too -- had been confused when I told them Pokemon don't exist where I'm from. I thought I was the only one. Does he, um, remember anything much about what it was like to be human? I wonder if he and I come from the same place.

"And wait. Where I'm from, stories" -- Ashwood had at some point realized that most of the people here wouldn't know what a video game was -- "are told about humans who go to a Pokemon world in order to save it. I guess kinda like how we're all here now. Is your home world in danger too?"

 

[Torchic]

"I guess he's like you, in a way... he also told me that we only existed in fiction, similar to your stories, so maybe? He doesn't know everything yet, but we're getting there." Cino sighed. "And yeah... it is. There's this... thing trying to rot out everything on our planet. Why it's doing that I have no idea. Power hungry is my guess. It gets the abilities of others if it manages to kill them. Morbid stuff, I tell ya. Oh, and it can also transform into other Pokemon.

"One reason I came here is that I wanted a break from all this... and I think this is a pretty neat place! I dunno what this world needs saving for, but it can't be worse than back home."

 

[Equitial]

"Oh, wow. That sounds rough. Though I guess my world isn't doing too hot either. Not exactly like yours -- it's more like a lot of stuff happening all at once, and, um, actually I'd rather not talk about this. Just, we can be our-worlds-are-collapsing buddies, I guess.

"Though, if it's any help, in my worlds' stories things always get better when once the humans -- or whoever I guess -- show up. You know, I bet if we all can save this world, then that means your world will be fine too! So let's do this thing -- for this place and yours." Ashwood's eye warmed again, and they held out their hand. "It was real nice talking to you. Glad we get to work together."

 

[Torchic]

Cino chuckled. "Yeah, we can. I'm sure we can save this world, with how many we are. Back home we're only three, so it's a little difficult, but we managed it so far."

"It was real nice talking to you."

"Same." He smiled. Everyone here was super friendly so far. It couldn't have been better.

 

[TheGOAT]

Cabot entered the room right after Owen, only to stop upon seeing the Charmander settle down inside of the fire. The Cranidos blinked to make sure he was seeing things right and gave a stupefied look as Owen comfortably dozed off while surrounded by flames.

"That's... weird."

For a brief moment he wondered to himself how Owen was not burning alive right now, before deciding to brush it aside. After all this was a different world and he'd already seen much stranger things than a fireproof Charmander. Cabot shook his head and made his way up to Astrid.

"Hey, we're back," he sighed.

Astrid was seconds from running out there herself when the group returned.

“Hey Cabot!” she greeted back, though her relieved tone gave way to concern the moment she noticed the scorch mark across his side. Her eats flattened against her head. “—Oh, shoot, are you okay?”

She checked to see if anyone else had sustained injuries. Fortunately, it didn’t look like it. Still, the fact that someone got hurt at all…

There would be time to think about that later. For now, though, she had just the thing up her metaphorical sleeve.

After jogging over to the line of food to look them over, she produced one of the gummi dishes that—with some degree of trial and error—she’d cooked while everyone was gone.

Though her mouth was occupied carrying the pan holding the dish, the concern had moved to her eyes. The wound was nothing bad, but she’d been burned before, and it wasn’t fun.

“Here. It’s a rawst-white-gummi blend.”

 

[Ambyssin]

With the rest of the group collectively shrugging off the charmander kid's clearly-nefarious ritual, Necrozma decided to take matters into his own hands. He approached the flames and raised his hands to draw light in from the fire. It gradually decreased, then Necrozma released the tiniest burst of psychic energy. Not enough to harm the kid, but enough to force him out of the fire.

@Namohysip

 

[Virgil134]

Astrid was seconds from running out there herself when the group returned.

“Hey Cabot!” she greeted back, though her relieved tone gave way to concern the moment she noticed the scorch mark across his side. Her eats flattened against her head. “—Oh, shoot, are you okay?”

She checked to see if anyone else had sustained injuries. Fortunately, it didn’t look like it. Still, the fact that someone got hurt at all…

There would be time to think about that later. For now, though, she had just the thing up her metaphorical sleeve.

After jogging over to the line of food to look them over, she produced one of the gummi dishes that—with some degree of trial and error—she’d cooked while everyone was gone.

Though her mouth was occupied carrying the pan holding the dish, the concern had moved to her eyes. The wound was nothing bad, but she’d been burned before, and “Here. It’s a rawst-white-gummi blend.”

"Oh, thanks!" Cabot cheered. "I had almost forgotten about those wounds and was starting to get a bit hungry."

The Cranidos happily took the gummi and took a bite out of it, only for his face to reflexively scrunch up when he tasted it.

"It's... a little bitter."

 

[TheGOAT]

"Oh, thanks!" Cabot cheered. "I had almost forgotten about those wounds and was starting to get a bit hungry."

The Cranidos happily took the gummi and took a bite out of it, only for his face to reflexively scrunch up when he tasted it.

"It's... a little bitter."

“Eheh… I made it for me. That’s what the white gummi was for. But the circumstances changed, and…”

She frowned. What were the circumstances, anyway?

Her thoughts were echoed between bites of her own dish. “What happened out there, exactly?” She eyed the burn mark again, then the rest of the crew who had filed into the living quarters. The black spaceship was terrorizing the poor amnesiac Charmander off in the corner, but besides that, everyone looked at least a little bit exasperated in some form or another. “…Or, if you don’t wanna talk about it, that’s okay. It seems like a lot happened, and, let’s face it, it’s been a long day.”

 

[Ambyssin]

"That zangoose miscreant decided to loot a store while it was unoccupied," Necrozma growled. "He and those who tried to stop him were assaulted by a Phantom... who was chased off by someone using holy light." He lifted his right hand and looked at it. "There was a tired-looking smeargle who fell into a portal when the Phantom was gone. It's possible they were the source of the light... even if it sounds ridiculous."

 

[Namohysip]

"Yeep!"

The blast of energy sent Owen rolling out from under the pot and onto the packed dirt next to it. It was more like a shove than anything, but it still startled him a little. And he was just about to go to bed, too... "What was that for?" he complained, squinting at the ceiling. "I was just drifting off..."

 

[Virgil134]

"Yeah, Necrozma's right... or sort of, at least" Cabot replied to Astrid. "Basically Zane, the Zangoose in our team, got attacked by this strange creature while stealing. I got these burns while trying to fight it."

The Cranidos grabbed a Rawst Berry in order to properly heal the wounds.

"I guess we'll just figure out tomorrow what to do with Zane, since he did steal something and some of the shops got destroyed because of him."

 

[Ambyssin]

"What was that for?" he complained, squinting at the ceiling. "I was just drifting off..."

"A like story." Necrozma crossed his arms. "You were trying to complete some sort of daemonic ritual with that fake charizard you call a boss." He glanced at the pot. "Even if you weren't, do you really think the best way to help the group keep a low profile after that zangoose's spat is to go crawling into a fire?"

 

[Namohysip]

"But... but fire's cozy..." Owen looked longingly toward the flames again, then at Necrozma. "Do I have to use that weird blanket again? It's not the same..."

And stop insinuating he's working for me like you aren't, Diyem growled. If I needed to perform some sort of ritual, why would I use Owen? Look at him.

Owen stood up, dusting himself off. He groggily wobbled to the edge of the room to grab the blanket that Truffle had gifted him.

 

[TheGOAT]

Astrid blinked. Was that the violent noise she’d heard outside? Entire shops being destroyed?

Several questions rested on the tip of her tongue, so much so that she had to pause her eating while she mulled them over. A portal? A portal to where? A smeargle? Some other strange creature? A phanto—wait, no, that part was definitely just rambling.

The one question that prevailed above all, however, was one that she simply couldn’t hold in. An innocent curiosity in her eyes, she asked, “What did he try to steal?”

 

[Virgil134]

"I'm not really sure," Cabot admitted. "He took a heart-shaped box, but I don't know what's inside of it."

 

[TheGOAT]

"I'm not really sure," Cabot admitted. "He took a heart-shaped box, but I don't know what's inside of it."

Astrid hummed to herself. “Mmm. What a weirdo.”

A sinking feeling settled in her chest. Entire buildings destroyed… yeah, there was no way they’d avoid backlash for something like that. She could only imagine the poor victims coming home to find that their houses had still been torn to shreds, even though the Magikarp would have been defeated.

Alternatively, they might lose to the Magikarp, and none of it would matter. But it was just a Magikarp, right…?

Fortunately, she had fresh food to distract her from her thoughts. The (kind of?) delicious taste dismissed most of the butterflies in her stomach. Maybe it was just because she’d made it herself.

“Good on you for rushing in there, though,” she said, idly running a paw through her head-fluff. “I won’t hang back next time. Promise.”

 

[Ambyssin]

"Do I have to use that weird blanket again? It's not the same..."

"This place is nothing but dirt floors and stone walls. I doubt you'd set anything on fire." Necrozma watched Owen and, of course, ignored Diyem's stupid question. Owen looked like an easily-suggestible, gullible little lizard. Easy influenced by someone like Diyem. "What would you even need a blanket for? You're a fire-type."

 

[Virgil134]

“Good on you for rushing in there, though,” she said, idly running a paw through her head-fluff. “I won’t hang back next time. Promise.”

"Sounds good," Cabot nodded. The Cranidos looked around the room, before turning back to Astrid and sheepishly pawing at the back of his head. "Also... did you still make any gummis with Watmel in it?"

 

[Namohysip]

"What would you even need a blanket for? You're a fire-type."

"Well, I--" Owen fidgeted, finally finding the blanket as he clutched it against his chest. "It's soft..."

 

[Shadow of Antioch]

"A like story." Necrozma crossed his arms. "You were trying to complete some sort of daemonic ritual with that fake charizard you call a boss." He glanced at the pot. "Even if you weren't, do you really think the best way to help the group keep a low profile after that zangoose's spat is to go crawling into a fire?"

Watching the spat from a corner of the room, Flame crossed his arms and sighed. "With how much you're accusing us of being Diyem's agents, I'm starting to think you might be one. Hah! How do you like it now?"