[Mellow] Town Square

[Namohysip]

It was like waking up in the middle of a nightmare.

There Mellow stood in some town that seemed both familiar and unfamiliar. A crowd of shadowy beings that she recognized as village folk were leering at her in disgust or fear, and sometimes both.

"Look at her," said one.

"Look at what she's become..."

"Mutated into some kind of plant..."

But among them all was a shadowy creature that looked more solid than the rest. This one stood shamefully, but had red, glowing eyes--very abnormal. Raven... clutching an arm, conflicted. Raven refused to look Mellow in the eyes, and simply let the villagers speak...

 

[Disco]

Mellow winced as she got her bearings. It had all happened so fast, and now she wasn't sure where she was. It was... somewhere she knew. The Florizard glanced at each of the figures. ...They were staring at her.

She heard their words and flinched. Mutated...? But...it didn't feel like a mutation. It never had felt that way. It just... was.

But Raven was there in the crowd too, and wasn't speaking up for her. She wasn't saying anything. Mellow tried to speak up for herself, but with all the eyes on her, it was hard. She stumbled over her words.

"I- It just happened- I'm fine! I didn't mutate!!"

 

[Namohysip]

"Don't bother... Mellow." Raven's words were cold, but there was a hint of conflict in her voice. Her black feathers, ectoplasmic as they were, seemed to fluff up when the villagers all glared at her, then back at the Florizard in question. "...You're... a bad omen, Mellow. You're... too... different. I'm... I'm close enough. But I can't have you around..." Her red eyes didn't meet Mellow's. "Just go. Otherwise, I'll..."

Raven looks ready to attack...?
Raven: 1,000

The crowd is watching...
Their approval of Mellow is 5%
Their approval of Raven is 30%

 

[Disco]

"...But... I was... I don't understand... I left home to search for a way to help you! To prove it was alright to be different! There's nothing wrong with the way you are!!"

Maybe she was too much, but she wasn't going to let her sister say those things about herself!

 

[Namohysip]

"That's just... the cover, isn't it?" Raven asked. "You just wanted to find a place where you'd be accepted. Well... guess what, Mellow... there just isn't. There... isn't."

But some in the crowd seemed attentive, watching what Mellow was doing.

"Just go away, Mellow. This is your last warning. Go away and find some other place to live. You like living alone, don't you? So what does it matter?!"

Raven called out to Mellow.

The crowd seems confused...
Their approval of Mellow is 15%
Their approval of Raven is 35%

 

[Disco]

"But- you were there with me! We did so much together! And-and when you wanted to explore the world, because- because- you never got the chance to do it here, I never stopped you- And you encouraged me to explore it too! If you hadn't, then I would never have met Zinc- I was living alone because I was afraid!! I'm not afraid anymore!! You shouldn't be afraid either!!"

Mellow called out back!

 

[Namohysip]

"Stop, stop, STOP!" Raven clutched at her head, a few loose feathers falling to the ground, melting when they reached the grass. "I'm... you're... you're just trying to get in my place! I-if you can't go, then..."

The crowd was staring at Raven, looming over her. She looked so small.

"No... I'm--I won't let you! GO AWAY!"

Raven used Wing Attack against Mellow, dealing a grazing 148 damage!

Raven: 1,000

Their approval of Mellow is 25%
Their approval of Raven is 25%

 

[Disco]

Mellow was watching too. There was something wrong with the people around them. Were... they turning on Raven? ...She wasn't going to let that happen, either. When her sister attacked, she made her move:

Mellow used Shadow Toss! Raven was thrown away from the crowd! There's stamina and shadow corruption in there somewhere but I can't count-

Mellow immediately faced the shadowy figured.

"Raven... You've done so much for me while I've been in Cibus. I need to do the same for you!!"

Mellow is waiting for the crowd's response...

 

[Namohysip]

Raven gasped and tired to fly away, but instead toppled over the ground next to Mellow and groaned. "What... are you doing?! I'm--I'm not with you! I'll nevert be with you, I'm with the village, I'm--I was about to be accepted! Why can't you get that? I'm... I need this home. You're... going to go away! When this is all over, you'll be gone! Then what will I have left?! I... need... to stay here. I need..."

Raven appealed to the crowd...

But the crowd was glaring at them both. "Of course they'd be together."

"Does it matter?"

"Maybe she's trying to trick us..."

Raven: 1,000

Their approval of Mellow is 15%
Their approval of Raven is 5%

"No... please, I..." Raven's core flickered. "I don't want to be alone..."

 

[Disco]

Mellow listened to Raven speak.

...Was that what all of this was about?

The Florizard sat down next to the Shade.

"...When this is over... I'll stay as long as I can. Even when I'm gone, though... We'll both have the memories we made. As long as you remember me, I'll still be here. And... We can make friends together. With the Pokémon that live here. So you won't be alone. I'll make sure of it."

Mellow called out to Raven! She also pulled her into a hug.

"Do you need them to accept you...? Is that important?", Mellow asked, then hesitated before continuing. She'd seen the flash in Raven's core...

"...Are you going to hatch?"

 

[Namohysip]

Raven was shaking again. Her core was starting to unravel, and at first, she looked fearful, holding her chest. But when Raven said that it was hatching... she gasped, then held her core a little firmer, as well as she could. She nodded. "That... that must be it," she said. The red lights were dimming; she was starting to look normal. But it was still there. It felt like an influencing presence was fading away.

"But I don't understand..." Raven looked down. "What am I supposed to do with all these memories? What do I do... when..." She looked back. Those shadowy villagers were leaving. They scowled at them both... and departed.

The village approves of neither, and left.

"I don't know what to do with... memories," Raven whispered. "I wanted... something to hold. Someone to be. You'll go home... to the real Raven. And I'll have..."

 

[Disco]

Mellow smiled sadly at that.

"You're just as real to me as she is. No matter what, you're still my sister. Nothing's going to change that. We'll make something so that both of us have a part of each other to hold on too as soon as we get out of this storm. Does that sound good...?"

The villagers left. It was just the two of them now....

She wondered, what should they do...?

 

[Namohysip]

"You will, huh..." Raven sighed weakly. Her core was falling apart, but she nodded. "That... that sounds like it might be okay. Maybe it'll turn out alright. If I just..." She trailed off. "Mellow... I... I'm tired." Her feathers compressed and her eyes closed. "I think I'm going to sleep for a little while... if that's alright... Are the villagers gone?"

Her core dimmed, dissolving into her body...

 

[Disco]

"They're gone. You're safe.", Mellow replied, and gently supported Raven as she fell asleep.

Whatever happened, Mellow believed with all her heart that they would be okay in the end...

 

[Namohysip]

"Maybe... maybe we can make it," she said. "Maybe this... won't be so bad, if we can just... work together. Work with the forest. Like we always have... right?"

The red lights disappeared. Raven was still. The core was gone. And then, after a moment's pause... Raven's normal lighting returned. Eien's influence, whatever it had been, faded away from her, and a new bond formed. While the villagers were gone--had they even been there in the first place?--a new path appeared before them... And a new power awakened inside Mellow.

Mellow's Eternal Spirit awakened!
"The forest's bounty!" - Once per battle, Mellow can at the end of the player phase fully overheal the HP of all allies in the zone. Any money her allies have will mysteriously disappear.

 

[Disco]

Mellow grinned. "Yeah! We can do that!"

When the new path opened up to them, the Florizard and the Shade both followed it, side by side, to the other end...