Moonlit Forest

[Namohysip]

It always seemed darker in the Moonlit Forest, even by the shoreline. Constant overcast weather led to dimmer skies, the constant threat of rain, and cool winds. During the winter, while not nearly as cold as Destiny Village, it was still enough to put a damper on Grassy spirits in particular.

The water was clear and a chilly blue. Behind them, the forest proper stood with dense trees and a thick canopy. Being near mountains, it seemed that there was always a shadow cast on the forest during the twilight--hence its name, as the moon was all that could keep the light when the sun hid behind the summit.

<><><>​

Maple emerged from the portal first, followed by Cal and the others. "This was the impact site. You can still see some of the disturbances in the sand, there, but no sign afterward of where they'd gone. Some water in one direction, but the trail disappears quickly."

In the ground was a great gash. Something that Maple couldn't see, but the others very definitely could, were remnant sparks and Blacklight haze, even now. The place was contaminated by Blacklight... And that was only from a stray blast!

 

[Negrek]

The air on the far side of the portal was cool and damp, the light muted from the overcast sky overhead. Nate took a deep breath, enjoying the fizz of moisture on his gills. This was more like it. Starr probably fucking hated all the damp, though.

There was something more prickling on his gills than just a bit of water. All around the crater Maple indicated, Blacklight energy still sparkled. How fucking long did that shit last, anyway? Unless someone kept coming back here and dragging it with them. Nate padded closer to the area of disturbed earth, focusing. Maybe there was some kind of trail around here, like, Blacklight... footprints?

Nate used Foresight!

 

[Namohysip]

The ground practically lit up to Nate. The trail of Blacklight led into the forest in a thin but noticeable trail, little threads of ominous energy drifting in the wind like the scent of a cartoon pie fresh from the oven. It was hard to tell precisely where it was going, but it went deep into the forest in a wobbling path. Whoever had been here, they'd made a hasty retreat into the Dungeon...

"Anything odd about it?" Maple asked Nate.

 

[Negrek]

"Well, there's a fuckton of Blacklight shit still hanging around, if that's what you mean," Nate said. "There's a trail going off into the forest." He pointed in the direction it led. "But maybe we should get our super illusion dude over here before we try following it. Just in case, you know?"

 

[Chibi Pika]

So this was where Giovanni had crashed down. Starr couldn't help feeling a flicker of satisfaction from remembering the way he'd been knocked flying by Joule. At least that'd teach him to fucking think he could mind-control gods without it biting him in the ass.

The ground sparkled with residual Blacklight from Joule's attack. Too bad it didn't give much indicator of where he'd gone--

Nate used Foresight!

--apparently it did if you had the senses for it. Starr was just about ready to go marching off in the direction Nate had pointed until he mentioned getting Soda out here...

"Thinking we want stealth on our side?" she asked. There was a small part in the back of her head that wanted to say, 'Screw it, let him know we're coming, let him be afraid,' but she managed to avoid saying as much. Not without backup.

 

[Namohysip]

"Of course." Maple pulled out her badge and started typing into it, glancing at the others. "Do you think Soda will be enough for escape? I suppose as a scout, he would be best... Perhaps I can also bring Truffle."

It took some time, but eventually Maple was able to summon Soda and Truffle to their side, and their small scouting team was ready to head in.

"So, here's the plan," Soda said, glancing at Truffle. "Chip gave me here this tracking device that I'm supposed to keep on. It's going to record any strange energy and it's tuned to Mewtwo specifically. Then, we give the data to Chip, who will be able to set up a worldwide monitor for spikes of energy of the same nature later. With luck, Giovanni or his Mewtwo will expend a ton of energy and we'll be able to track them down for real with a full team."

He stepped forward, Truffle conjuring a few golden shields. Cal stared at the golden shields for longer than she'd admit.

"So the plan is, if we find him, put the pressure on him and hope the device gathers enough data. And be careful of any other weird surprises. We good?" He gestured forward. "Then let's go."

 

[Negrek]

"Figure it can't hurt," Nate said to Starr. "I know you got your new incineroar powers and all, and you were already crazy strong, but even beaten to shit I don't think I could take Giovanni in a straight fight, personally." And he'd really rather Soda cover all of them in an illusion rather than scouting ahead, to be honest.

Nate followed after the rest of the group, watching where the Blacklight trail went. Chip and his fucking weird tech. Went and whipped up a Mewtwo-tracker just like that, huh? "Expend a ton of energy?" he asked. "What do you think he's going to do? He ain't been expending much energy that we've seen, has he? Except maybe when he actually decided to get his hands dirty that one time..."

 

[Chibi Pika]

"Figure it can't hurt. I know you got your new incineroar powers and all, and you were already crazy strong, but even beaten to shit I don't think I could take Giovanni in a straight fight, personally."

Starr made a noncommittal sound of approval. She wasn't so agitated that she was about to claim that she could take him head-on now. Sure was nice to think about it being possible, though.

"What do you think he's going to do? He ain't been expending much energy that we've seen, has he? Except maybe when he actually decided to get his hands dirty that one time..."

"Well... if we do wind up tracking him down, seems like he'd either fight back or try to gtfo. So we just hope that either way, he's forced to burn enough energy for that tracking device to work its magic." Course, that'd require things going right for a change, which was a tall fucking order.

 

[Namohysip]

"Gtfo," Maple repeated.

"It means--"

"I think it translated properly," Maple said, nodding. "...Regardless, that's just it. I believe the plan is to get at least some powers so the device can register it."

"Chip also asked to log down the exact time it happens. So, do that, if you can," Soda added. "You got that, Maple? Just log down the time it..."

Soda stopped, turning around. "Where the fuck'd she go?"

She was gone. Cal had disappeared, too. Soda immediately turned to make sure Nate and Starr were still there--they were.

And suddenly, it was nighttime.

 

[Chibi Pika]

Starr blinked a few times, not entirely convinced that she'd seen what she thought she did. Sure, the whole place had been kinda dark since ever they'd got here, but did the sun just fucking vanish or what.

Her eyes were adjusting to the darkness--she'd noticed that it happened way faster ever since she'd evolved--but Cal and Maple were just... not there?

"Okay, am I fucking hallucinating, or did you two see that too? Or, not see it. Whatever." She glanced around hurriedly, tail twitching. "Soda, you'd know if this was some illusion bullshit, right?"

 

[Namohysip]

"I make illusions, I dunno about detecting them. I guess takes one to know one, but this doesn't feel like an illusion. This feels more like some kind of... Dungeon distortion. And a bad one." He narrowed his eyes. "Stuff like this you don't expect unless it's from a massive epicenter of corruption. I don't think Cibus ever had it this bad. What's going on...?"

Tentatively, Soda tossed a rock ahead, which landed on the ground, inert. Nothing seemed to happen. Then, the rock trembled and sprouted six spidery legs, skittering away. It seemed to disappear into the darkness sooner than it should have.

"Fuck." Soda stood closer to Starr and Nate. "Alright. We're in a cursed Dungeon. Don't fuck with anything and keep to the most trustworthy path. Follow me if you don't trust your gut. Fuck this, we aren't prepared for a cursed Dungeon."

Uhuhu... uhu...

Soda's fur was making him look nearly twice as large as he normally did. He kept muttering something to himself, eyes darting left and right. "Dungeons like these aren't just distortions of space and time. Reality itself loses meaning here. It shapes itself based on the latent powers of the Pokemon that had been caught up inside... and that includes us. Literally, don't even think of anything too suddenly, or the Dungeon's distortions might react to it. Thoughts lead to power; the Dungeons reacts to power. Watch."

Soda made a tentative, flashing blast of darkness from his claws, aimed at a tree. It was a weak blast. The branches splintered off, but then stopped in midair--like their very fall had been a video on pause.

And then, the splinters slowly rotated their points toward Soda and shot toward him. He leapt out of the way and they struck the ground, where the wood twisted and churned, bulging and bloating like balloons that conjured themselves into Piplup heads with wings for ears. They flew off, disappearing seconds later in a puff of smoke. Something abut that bothered Soda enough that he looked, briefly, like his mental fortitude had been cracked.

"You guys alright?" Soda finally said, getting back to Nate and Starr. He spun quickly, swiveling his head to check all angles. As he did, two embers made themselves known on Soda's mane--he apparently didn't feel it. But there were two Charmander lounging in his fur, each one with black eyes and glowing irises, and each one with smiles that seemed to go beyond their faces.

 

[Negrek]

With his eyes on the trail of Blacklight energy, Nate didn't notice that Maple had disappeared. He spun around, already picturing that fucking shadow Mewtwo grabbing her from behind, teleporting her away before she could make a sound--and then the fucking lights went out.

Nate almost couldn't hear Soda over the pounding of his heart, but when he caught the word "dungeon," oh, yeah, of course. That made sense. Get a fucking grip. "I fucking hate dungeons," Nate grumbled.

Soda didn't sound too pleased about the situation. Why the fuck did anybody need to come up with a fucking cursed dungeon, of all fucking things? And it was yet more bullshit about emotions or thoughts or whatever the fuck becoming real. Plus that fucking laugh...

"Right, so," Nate muttered. "Happy thoughts. Happy thoughts. Rainbows and sunshine and butterflies and shit." Sure. Puppies and kittens and smiles and, and ice cream, and... pokémon and... happy things. Not dark things. Happy thoughts. About how they were going to get out of this stupid fucking dungeon just fine and not get lost or cursed or ganked by fucking Giovanni or... Darkwhite or...

"Sword?" Nate called into the gloom. "You fucking with us again?"

Happy thoughts. Goddammit, it was too bad Rocky wasn't here. He always had stupid shit on tap. He'd probably be loving the fuck out of all this distortion nonsense.

Nate's chest seized with fright when the grinning charmander swung into view, but honestly, that wasn't so bad. The familiar one did shit like that with her face all the time. Wasn't like their eyes were bleeding or nothing. "Okay, raise your hand if you ain't some kinda nightmare horror that wants to eat my face," he told them weakly.

 

[Chibi Pika]

"Fuck." Soda stood closer to Starr and Nate. "Alright. We're in a cursed Dungeon. Don't fuck with anything and keep to the most trustworthy path. Follow me if you don't trust your gut. Fuck this, we aren't prepared for a cursed Dungeon."

Starr tensed up, fur standing on end. Cursed dungeon? Why the hell was that a thing?

"Does this kind of thing just... just happen, or is someone causing this?"

She kept her eyes glued to Soda at first, but then every so often glanced over at Nate. They couldn't afford to lose sight of each other. Maybe a light source would help? She was about to ignite her belt from its low smolder into a brighter blaze, when--

"Dungeons like these aren't just distortions of space and time. Reality itself loses meaning here. It shapes itself based on the latent powers of the Pokemon that had been caught up inside... and that includes us. Literally, don't even think of anything too suddenly, or the Dungeon's distortions might react to it. Thoughts lead to power; the Dungeons reacts to power."

Fucking-- Alright, not doing that, then. With any luck it would've just set them all on fire or--no, goddammit, don't even think about that, no.

Starr screwed her eyes shut, forcing herself to breathe through her nose. Not thinking about things. Right. She was good at that. She'd managed to keep herself from thinking about everyone who was gone, hadn't she? Brisa, Cabot, Owen, not thinking about them...

God, they were fucking dead and she'd barely thought about them since then, fuck...

 

[Namohysip]

Happy thoughts. About how they were going to get out of this stupid fucking dungeon just fine and not get lost or cursed or ganked by fucking Giovanni or... Darkwhite or...

Soda spun around again, the wood twisting and turning. There was no sense of direction anymore; the very ground felt like it would give away if it felt like it. This was more twisted than the reverse realm; the sky itself was gaining little streams of bright colors that swirled around like mixed paint. The two Charmander sank into Soda's back and disappeared; he didn't feel it at all. It felt like something was crawling across Starr's shoulder, but if she looked, nothing would be there.

"Sword?" Nate called into the gloom. "You fucking with us again?"

Uhuhu... huhu... The laughter continued, and Soda let out a bark of surprise when something jabbed at his back. He swung around and grabbed a Charmander, who giggled before exploding with a loud POP! of confetti. All that remained was the tail, which wriggled in Soda's grip. Shuddering, he threw it away, where it turned into an Ekans that lunged into the darkness, disappearing.

Brisa, Cabot, Owen, not thinking about them...

God, they were fucking dead and she'd barely thought about them since then, fuck...

"Starr!"

Haggard and covered in cuts and bruises, a Charmeleon stumbled through the darkness--Owen, unmistakably. Just behind him was Brisa, Cabot, and Dave, but they were noticeably missing several others. "How'd you get to the Voidlands?!" Owen shouted. "We--"

A Psychic blast sent Cabot flying into the darkness. With only a shriek off surprise, he was gone. A second one was blocked by Owen's golden Protect, and Dave's Radiant Guard protected himself and Brisa.

A Mewtwo appeared, looking left and right before settling his gaze on Starr. That cold smile returned, and for some reason it seemed even more real than before. The last smile, there was a light in Giovanni's eyes that was uncharacteristic of him. This one was the cold stare that Starr would know all too well, perfectly replicated from the one she'd grown up with.

The ground trembled. Opposite of Nate, in the darkness, Rocky stared at him, giggling silently. He lobbed a fireball at them, and the incoming heat was more than enough to show that, illusion or not, the attacks were very real.

 

[Negrek]

The dark forest swirled around them, the path vanishing, the sky overhead blooming with strange colors. The world warped and shifted, and Nate squeezed his eyes shut, shaking his head. No, no, come the fuck on. Get a grip. When his mind wouldn't stop running the same nonsense loop, he smacked himself on the nose, and the brief flare of pain distracted him for a moment. Just in time for one of the charmander to fucking explode.

Okay, that was definitely Sword. Right? Right. The whole laughter thing had been before he was thinking of her... before anyone would have thought of her. So she was really here. But how were they supposed to get her to knock it the fuck off, much less come back with them? All this nonsense must be like her dream come true.

The appearance of a charmeleon distracted Nate from his thoughts. But that was--no, it couldn't be Owen. At first Nate was just confused as the dead emerged from the dark forest, but he flinched when a psychic blast cut through the group. and then Giovanni appeared.

No, Nate tried to tell himself. It wasn't him, right? Sure, he was supposed to be in this forest somewhere, but... all this was fake. Giovanni wasn't just going to--

That's when Rocky showed up to shoot a fireball at him, and okay, that was just fucking stupid. Nate started to draw up water for an attack, only to remember at the last second that that was probably a bad idea and scrambled for a protect instead. When the flames had dissipated, they left Nate behind, fuming with irritation. He knew full well his stupid familiar wasn't anywhere near here. This was bullshit. All of this was bullshit. And it was actually starting to piss him off a bit now.

Where in fuck had Owen and all the rest come from? Nate hadn't been thinking about them, and he somehow doubted they were weighing on Soda's mind, either. But following Mewtwo's cold gaze... Oh, no.

"Uh, Starr, you okay?" Nate asked. "You know they ain't real, right? He ain't real." He shot a nervous look at Soda. "The Mewtwo-detector thing says he ain't real, right?"

 

[Chibi Pika]

Starr's heart gave a painful lurch, and for a split second it was them but then--no. No it's not them, get a fucking grip. They're gone, they're gone, they're not here, it's not them.

They were gone. It didn't feel like much of a reassurance when the thought just made her want to scream until her voice gave out and dig her claws into her--

And then he was there. Giovanni. The one they'd been looking for the entire damn time. Except something was... off. Different. Familiar. There was that look, that exact look from the last time she'd seen him in her own world when he'd given her that order with zero doubt that she'd obey because he owned her, and--

"Uh, Starr, you okay?" Nate asked. "You know they ain't real, right? He ain't real."

"I know," Starr growled, clutching her head. "I know. I know, I know."

She knew, but her heart was pounding, ears ringing, and it was taking every ounce of concentration to shut everything out.

 

[Namohysip]

Soda looked at it, then at Giovanni, then back at the detector. "It's... picking something up."

Giovanni's eyes widened a little, like he was taunting them. "I'm not real?" he asked, that voice far too real for Starr's liking. It didn't sound like a Mewtwo, not even slightly. That was the Giovanni from her world. Or was that just the Dungeon messing with her, or her own mind tricking her into thinking it was really him?

"Fuck off!" Soda suddenly shouted, firing another blast of darkness without really thinking about it. The darkness twisted and slammed into the tree behind whatever apparition he had struck--a Prinplup this time. "The fuck do you think you're doing?! This isn't gonna work on me, I know she's not here! She can't be!"

"All because of you," Prinplup replied, tilting her head. "Don't you remember?" Her body expanded and hardened, from Prinplup to Empoleon, but there was an odd glow in her eyes. "All because you're--"

"Fake," Soda spat, blasting Radiance at the illusion. She fizzled, shrieking in pain, as she clutched at her wing.

"H-how... why...?" She looked at Soda, betrayed, tears streaming from her eyes. "Why did you have to fight Him, Soda? We... we could have been together... Why did--"

"SHUT UP!" Soda was still trying to show his irritation, but his voice had cracked. It was getting to him. His mind was frazzled and the distortions around Soda were getting worse. Piplup wings rose from the ground, grabbing him by his feet, and he didn't even realize it. "You aren't REAL! You're a fucking figment of someone I'll never see again, fuck OFF!"

"I'm not real," Empoleon said. "...I could have been, though. But thanks to you, I never will be again."

Soda's voice hitched. There was a crazed look in his eyes. He tripped--he was about to fall into a grave of Piplup ghouls behind him. And for some reason, he looked like he was going to accept it.

 

[Chibi Pika]

It didn't matter if he was real or not, he needed to fuck OFF.

Despite every voice in her head screaming at her to stop, Starr, found herself launching a burst of flames that somehow managed to miss Giovanni entirely. He stared back, utterly unfazed, utterly in control. God damn what did she have to do to be free of him?

All her earlier thoughts about being strong enough to stand up to him on her own felt hollow and stupid. What the fuck was she thinking? She'd never faced him alone, not really. She'd always had--

"We can beat him, you 'n' I together.

That doesn't mean anything, she's not here! She's gone, she's gone, she's--

"God, I wish she was here," Starr muttered, half-choking on the words.

The usual thoughts, repetitive, predictable, exhausting. Selfish. You deserve this. Brisa believed in you, and you let her down. What would she think of you now? Except... she already knew the answer to that. Brisa had believed in her. She'd seen the worst and chosen to believe in her anyway. And if she were here, she'd still believe. That was her choice, and Starr was better for it. And now...

"I want her back."

Starr's body flared up, not with flames, but with Radiance--golden, sparkling Radiance that danced and flickered and beat with the same pulse as her inner fire always did. And as the darkness surrounding her melted into blinding white flame, there was a moment, a brief flicker where she could swear that she wasn't alone.

Starr used Brilliant Flarestrike!

 

[Negrek]

Some reading, huh? If Sword was around, maybe that meant that scary-ass other Mewtwo was, too. Because whatever the hell that was, that wasn't Giovanni. Nate was going to point this out when Starr started sending flames at the guy, but then her usual fire roared and leapt with brilliant white-gold Radiant flames, and Nate staggered back, shielding watering eyes. Okay. Okay, either Starr was going to have the dungeon throw that back at her at five times the strength, or she had this. And then Soda was--holy shit!

Nate dove at the zoroark, grabbing for his mane to keep him from going over into the pit. "Hey, listen to me! This ain't no cursed dungeon! It's just a fucking forest! The ground's just dirt! The trees is just trees!" And no piplup mass grave what the fuck. "You get me? There ain't nothing here. What is it? Say it! It's just trees! It's just some fucking... some fucking bushes!"

And a campfire, which would bake your face and leave your back icy. Ground probably all wet and gross from rain the night before, and when you got there'd be slimy leaves all stuck on you. Trees as far as you looked, but not far away was the city, all lit up even late at night, and now and then the rumble of a train, blaring horns late at night.

Stupid stuff. Shitty stuff. Normal life.

"Ain't nothing scary here. Nothing weird or freaky or nothing. Just trees. Just dirt. Think of the forest. Remember the forest."

Nate squeezed his eyes shut and tried to fix the scene in his mind and not think about what else was supposed to be there. No dungeon. No curse. Nothing. No one. There was no one here but the three of them. (And Sword?)

"It's boring! It's boring! It's boring!"

 

[Namohysip]

The crazed look in Soda's eyes had melted into confusion and befuddlement. The Piplup had gone quiet, staring, leering at Nate, whispering things that perhaps only Soda could hear. But Nate's voice was the loudest among them. Giovanni jumped away, deflecting the blow, but then stared at his hand, which had been completely blown off. Red energy poured from it instead, crackling, sizzling, and then he flew deeper into the darkness until he was gone.

Brisa was smiling at Starr, but then she, too, withdrew into the darkness. Owen looked less sure, like he still wanted to fight, but then he simply disappeared outright, just like Dave. They leered at Nate.

"Just a... just a forest," Soda repeated, clutching one hand to his head. "It's just a..."

Awww... you're no fun!

The voice echoed a little more. A Charmander appeared next to Nate, looking annoyed.

I just wanted to play, she said. It's so boring here...

The strange Charmander stepped away again, sinking into the darkness.

The Radiance was disrupting the forest's curse. Sword's body looked unstable, if that really was her body, and not just an illusion.

Crescents of Radiance cut through the trees overhead, and like that, the phantasm of Sword dissolved completely, just from exposure.

"What happened?" Maple shouted. Cal was just behind her, looking a little shaken up for some reason.

Soda was trembling, eyes wide, even though the Piplup had all disappeared.

"Soda," Maple said quickly. He didn't respond.

Truffle flew in next, putting up several warding shields.

When Soda didn't reply, Truffle draped a wing over him.

"I'm fine," Soda replied, and it was a complete lie.

"...That's enough for today," Maple said. "We weren't expecting this. We need to regroup and analyze everything we found." She rummaged through her bag, pulling out an Escape Orb. "My powers won't work until we're out of here. Let's go."