Mystery Continent ~ Northern Pines

[Namohysip]

"I wasn't sure what to do, either," Owen admitted. "I totally froze up. Bahamut was right... When the time comes, I don't know if I have it in me to actually kill someone when I'm not... in that mutant mindset of mine. It makes me wonder if I should... let it happen sometimes, but..." He sighed, shaking his head. "I think you did your best, Vix. It worked out, and I don't think people... expect you to have to do that on the regular. It's fine."

He regarded Vix with an encouraging smile, but then, perhaps with a thought, he held his hands out, conjuring little flames. His demeanor changed slightly; it looked like Wishkeeper, in a small way, was present when he spoke.

"All in all, I think there are five of me, always competing and discussing which one, or if all of us, should be in 'control.' Which one is right for which moment. But they're all me..."

Five figures appeared under Owen's palm, each one a slightly different shape. One was a Charizard, normal as could be, idly folding and unfolding his wings. Another was a great Charizard that dwarfed all the others, standing proud and stern, hardened by untold strife. A third was a crouched beast, looking left and right eagerly for another fight, another throat to tear. The fourth was a bright-eyed Charmander, holding skyward what appeared to be a badge. And finally, a Charmeleon, hands clasped together in prayer as flowers of embers bloomed around him.

"I feel like I owe it to them all to make sure they have a say. I know, if I ever get a new life, that I, right now, would want to remain."

 

[Fusion]

Vix returned Owen's smile with one of her own, as shaky and uncertain it was. She watched as the flames he made around him came to life, and all the personas they seemed to represent. All of them were Owen, aside from the obvious Wishkeeper, who was still basically Owen, but still. Obviously Vix had absolutely no say in this field, but seeing that Owen managed to hone his fractured memories of countless lives into five distinct versions of himself, and was still counted as sane to most, or some at least, was impressive.

Just another thing to admire the guy for, huh.

"I'd like to say you got yourself figured out pretty fast to be able to do this, but then again, you've probably done this whole thing hundreds of times before. Still, though... just wow," Vix chuckled, then sighed, becoming more and more dim by the moment. "You've really got this mental maze thing figured out, way more than I do at least."

Would Vix have to try and focus on what parts of her are split too? Try to see if there's even enough of what's been broken to put together like Owen did? Did... Owen's situation even apply to her..?

With that last thought, Vix's flame dimmed entirely, being barely a flicker of lavender light in her glass head at best. "...I know we're already going on about one thing, but there is something else I think I need to mention that might also have a say in this?" she began, looking up at Owen. "I'm not... well, I don't know entirely for certain--"

Or I'm still adamant about lying to myself about it...

"--but I don't think I'm a real Pokemon like you and everyone else. I'm more... like... a Void Shadow? Maybe?" Calling herself that... a tinge of pain rose inside her. No... loneliness? Fear? "I-I really don't know but... I think I might be..?"

 

[Namohysip]

Owen chuckled, the rumble enough to vibrate the wax around her body. "I've had more time than you to sort through it," he said. "I don't think that's a fair comparison. But..." He looked Vix over, frowning. "I don't really see how that makes things any different. It was still an old life, wasn't it? You still have a past. And depending on what you think about them, you owe it to your old selves to give them the time to be remembered. I think that's important. Then... you can look at it for how you are now, and see.

"I don't really know hw Void Shadows work where you're from," Owen said, "...but you seem like Vix to me."

 

[Fusion]

Vix blinked, listening to every word and making sense of it in her own head. Owen... had a point. A pretty clear one too. Whether Kane turned into Vix the Void Shadow when he died, or they were two completely different entities the entire time, Vix was, at some point, till Kane... and whoever they were before him. If what or whoever they were before was starting to surface thanks to the conflicting feelings around fighting Soda, then it was still Vix's duty to hear them out.

And Vix was openly ready to admit that up until that very last thing Owen had said.

"I don't really know hw Void Shadows work where you're from," Owen said, "...but you seem like Vix to me."

...
....
.....

"Aw fuck..."

Vix took in a sharp breath, holding it for a moment, then let out a fluttery sigh, chuckle, thing. Her flame brightened up a bit, and a jagged smile cracked along her face. It was surprising how frequent Vix had to pretend she didn't say anything to save face. A shame that face was struggling to not melt. "I-I don't really know how Void Shadows are supposed to work either. I've only ever heard of them here, from Diyem, you know?" she said.

After taking a few short, quick breaths, Vix dusted herself off and shine a tad bit brighter. "A-And, thanks, for... calling me, me. I don't... yet know who I am, thanks to everything going on, but it's really nice to know that I'm still me. For what it's worth, even with five yous inside you, I think you're still Owen to me too!"

 

[Namohysip]

"Well, that's easier, because that's all their name!" Owen replied with a hearty laugh. They went by aliases for some and followed different titles for others, but they were all, in the end, Owen. In that sense, he had an easier time and harder time than Vix with her identities.

"...I think you'll do just fine, Vix. It sounds to me like you're able to reconcile with yourselves, and that's a lot more than what I think I'm gonna say when I get back home. I... have some work I'll have to do all over again." The embers disappeared and Owen sighed. "But, at least I got to learn it's possible here."

 

[Fusion]

Vix nodded, a somewhat cocky look in her eye. "I think you're pretty naturally great at this kinda thing anyway, so it might not be as rough. As for me, well, even if I remember how to do all of this, I'm not entirely sure how to find my other selves to reconcile with them. Kane was... well, I wanna say he's a special case, but if I can find my other mes, I think I can make up with them pretty quickly!"

"I think, at the very least... there's a me that's reacting to my feelings about... Soda," Vix said, wincing slightly, but shaking it off as best she could. Still, however, her flame darkened a bit. "That fogginess comes right back up whenever I think about him, but I don't feel much worse than that..."

Vix gulped, taking another deep breath before exhaling. Her cockiness and positive glow started to fade, and that fear and loneliness started crawling back up. "I-I... still want to go see him, but what if something happens to me when I'm there? What if I have a version of myself that h-hates him? A-And I try and do something... regretful..? I already..." she clenched her fists, then shook her head.

"I-I already tried to... I mean, I wasn't in the right headspace at the time, but... I already tried to... kill y-you before... If it weren't you, I feel like I could have really hurt someone."

 

[Namohysip]

Owen shook his head. "You can go with someone else, then," he said gently. "There's nothing wrong with needing support now and then, especially for something like this. Pokemon get by through working together, y'know? Even in human worlds, the best and strongest Pokemon are usually part of a team."

 

[Fusion]

"Y-Yeah," Vix said, nodding. She still felt unsure about it, but it was either that or sulk forever wondering if Soda was alright or not. But who could she bring? Someone strong enough to beat her if something happens? Someone close to her? Should she try and figure out type advantages or... no, she already changes types when she call on Kane, who's to say another her wouldn't bring the same change?

Uhg... what a drag...

"I guess... I wouldn't want to bug you again, but I know for a fact that I just couldn't hurt you even if I tried. Maybe Diyem? If I'm really a Void Shadow, he might be able to do something to keep me in check," Vix said, humming. "It'd... be a bit awkward, if I bring him along and nothing happens, though. But if something does, he'd get all powered up from all the... bad, hehe..." she tittered. There was an attempt at levity. Emphasis on "attempt."

 

[Namohysip]

"I think either choice would work," Owen said, nodding. "Diyem would probably do a better job at restraining you, though, if that's what you're worried about. But if he refuses, you can grab me. How's that sound?":

 

[Fusion]

Vix had the faintest twitch of the eye, but gave Owen a grateful smile and a nod. "I'd love to," she said, then froze for a moment. "I mean, that sounds good! Er, I-I mean, uh... thanks."

Can someone kill me again... I'd even take another moon laser canon at this point... maybe Giovanni could blast me to hell this time... That'd be nice.

Taking another breath to rebalance herself, Vix sat herself on the ground and exhaled deeply. "I really mean it, thank you. It's not like there's a lot of people that I can relate to... but I also don't wanna come off like I'm clinging onto you too much. I... wouldn't mind being friends again outside of Cibus, if, no, when we bump into each other again."

 

[Namohysip]

Owen grinned. "Y'know, I wouldn't mind that, either," he said, curling his tail around his body until it could get a hold of Vix. "I didn't really expect it coming in, but I think we have more in common than I thought. Maybe when we see each other again, we'll be more at peace with our past selves, too. Or, we can help each other through it."

 

[Fusion]

Some may believe it coincidence, but as soon as Vix felt Owen grab her with his tail, her flame suddenly sparked back to life, and he jagged smile was more wavy and unfocused. It was cozy, snug even. Honestly, Vix felt pretty safe there. Aside from her mind racing for whatever unknown or coincidental reason. At least her fire helped tune out some of that mental jank.

"I-I-I wouldn't mind, getting more help from you, or helping you out any way I could, you know?" Vix swallowed, not exactly nervous... but she also didn't know what the hell was going on in her head. "Since we're friends and all that, hehaha..."

 

[Namohysip]

Owen nodded. "Hey, Vix," he went on, "how about I teach you some meditation techniques? Maybe it'll help with some of that mental fog you have going on. We can start with the basics. Since our bodies are different, maybe just mental exercises..."

 

[Fusion]

Vix nodded, perhaps a bit more enthusiastic than she intended. "Yeah, that'd be nice. Maybe we could spar after, meditating usually leaves me kinda stiff. Which... is probably what you'd expect from a chandelier, right? But it's pretty uncomfortable."

"But... in a few minutes," she requested. She didn't say why, though... How odd.

<><><><><>

 

[Negrek]

The Northern Pines were still unusually damp, and the ground was covered in debris that had been washed into the forest when water levels rose. Stuff from Destiny Village itself, even--Rocky spotted some random silverware, a garbage can, and painted boards that were surely the siding from someone's house. There was still a lot of work to be done getting everything cleaned up.

Still, it was a lovely spring day despite the damp, warm and bright and filled with wildflowers in bloom. The woods' wild pokémon had mostly returned by now, and there were bound to be plenty of them around, enjoying the sunshine. The perfect one was bound to be around here somewhere.

"Thanks for coming with me," Rocky said to Echo. "This is going to be really easy with your super hearing to help out!"

 

[Flyg0n]

"Sure!" Echo chirped happily. "Always happy to help out a friend." Rocky was definitely one his favorite familiars, right up there with Luz. He was cool, and lots of fun, and he'd been nice to Koa when Koa had first showed up.

So Rocky was definitely good in his book.

"So how come you want to find a Pokemon so bad anyway?" he asked as he glided through the trees, keeping his ears perked.

 

[Negrek]

Rocky picked at the strap of his bag and kept his eyes out on the trees. "Marshtomp hasn't felt very good ever since we went to the moon. But he likes pokémon a lot, so I thought I'd see if I could get one to come along with me to cheer him up. I brought a lot of berries, so I hope we can find somebody who'll want to help!"

It didn't feel great, lying to Echo, but it wasn't really a lie, after all. It just wasn't saying everything about what was going on with Marshtomp.

Not that he wanted to be thinking about that much anyway. This was going to be fun! He cast those thoughts away with a flick of his tail and said, "Koa's from Sinnoh, right? This forest probably reminds you of home, then, doesn't it?"

 

[Flyg0n]

"Oh that sounds fun!" Echo detected something in Rocky's tone and behaviour, the same sort of things he sometimes saw Koa do whenever he was trying to hide something. Still, perhaps Rocky didn't want to talk about it now. Which was fine by him. Fun distractions were always a delight!

"Yeah, this is a lot like back home! The trees are kinda different, but I spent a lot of time in forests so its pretty similar anyways. You know, I never asked, what's your world like? You have trainers, right?"

He paused to contemplate. "Is Marshtomp your trainer?"

 

[Negrek]

"I think it's pretty much like yours!" Rocky said cheerfully. "There's a Sinnoh in Marshtomp's world, too, but he doesn't know too much about it. Only that it's cold there a lot! But there's definitely trainers and the pokémon league and battling and everything. Starr's world is pretty close to Nate's." Rocky tilted his head at Echo, curious. "Do they have a Team Rocket in your world? They're in Starr's world, and Marshtomp's, too. Both of them even have a Giovanni like the one who's a bat here! At least in Marshtomp's world, they aren't really in Sinnoh, though... Anyway!" He gave a quick scan of the trees, looking for bird pokémon. But those wouldn't be any good, anyway. Not if they needed to fit under the porch.

"Marshtomp isn't my trainer. He has pokémon, but the person I'm based on isn't a pokémon at all! So they don't have a trainer. But Koa's your trainer, right? It must be so much fun, doing all these cool battles with your best friend."

 

[Flyg0n]

Team Rocket? The name was familiar, he was sure Koa had mentioned it before, but they weren't in Sinnoh, he was sure. "I think they exist, but only in Kanto and Johto, according to Koa. We have..." Echo shuddered slightly. "Team Galactic." His voice trailed off slightly. He hated thinking about them, because Koa hated thinking about them.

Wait... Rocky wasn't based off a Pokemon? But how was that possible? He considered asking, but then decided to wait, at least for now.

"It is!" he said, brightening almost immediately. Koa was his favorite topic next to honey, and... he wasn't sure he had more than two favorite topics. "Koa's the best trainer. He's really strong and he's awesome at battles! And he's a good fighter!" He liked that about Koa, he liked that Koa was willing to fight, even if he was weak compared to even a wild Rattata. Humans were cool like that.