Mystery Continent ~ Northern Pines

[Namohysip]

"Guess so," Ionys said, rolling his eyes. "Something tells me some of Maple's habits are gonna rub off on me, though. You'll probably hate my guts next time we meet." He smirked. "Might tell you to get your ass into shape if you aren't in some top, 'Living' form, or whatever."

 

[Dragonfree]

"God, spare me." Dave rolled his eyes, but couldn't help smirking. "I mean, hey, you've managed to refrain from turning into Maple so far. What's a few more decades."

He looked back at Flesh. "Hey, Flesh. What are your plans for Telum?"

 

[Namohysip]

"AHHHH?" Flesh asked, his mouth half-full with the final quarter of the pine tree, which was covered in needles that apparently left Flesh completely unbothered. He let out a few more growls, and Ionys translated for him.

"Says he's gonna try to be a peacekeeper," Ionys said. "Probably a place with a lot of Grass Pokemon because their presence makes overgrowth of forests a problem, which, uh, he's the solution to. Kinda ironic, but he'd make for a good forest guardian, don't you think?"

 

[Dragonfree]

Flesh, eco-guardian of overgrown forests. Yeah, suited him. Big friendly hellmonster who just wanted to eat some fucking trees and help people.

"Sounds like a plan. Hope you find some, uh, tasty forests to enjoy." Something inexplicably made him think of Mia. "Are the inhabitants going to understand you? Going to be able to have that translator handy for them?"

 

[Namohysip]

"Flesh is learning Terrestrial," Ionys replied with a proud grin. "We've been having lessons for a while, y'know. Hey, Flesh! What's some of your favorite things?"

Flesh made some growls, trying to adjust his mouth, and then said, in broken Terrestrial, "LIKE... FOOD... I... LIKE... HUGS..."

"So, we're getting there."

 

[Dragonfree]

It was hard not to smile at that, a little. "Well done, big guy."

Dave turned back to Ionys. "Sounds like you've got everything covered, huh?" Which was good. A happy ending. "Well, if you're sure you'll both be fine with all this."

He paused. "Are you going to be stuck in Telum, then? Or can you pop back to Cibus when you want?"

 

[Namohysip]

Ionys sighed. "Once Maple starts working on restoring Telum, I'm gonna be stuck there for a while," he said. "No going around that. I'm probably not gonna be very tangible, either. Or... visible. Or... maybe anything, if restoration gets intensive..." There was a ghost of doubt in Ionys' eyes, but then he shook his head. "Still. Gotta be done. I'll return eventually. I've got everything in order, I'm sure Maple will take some time so I can manifest and visit now and then to check on Flesh...

"But, it's really the end of an era, y'know. God Squad's... probably disbanding. Retiring or settling. Joule might play hero now and then, but I think he's got a home in Telum. Potluck's... probably still crushing on Maple, but he'll get over it eventually. And everyone else... might be settling in Cibus. But, hey. Telum is gonna get recreated in the remnants of the Null Realm that the EB left behind. We'll be cosmic neighbors. Apparently that's easy for Joule to make connections to."

 

[Dragonfree]

Of course there had to be a catch. Or maybe anything. What did that even mean? At least he seemed pretty confident he'd be back.

Dave looked away. "Well, if you ever do get the chance to stop by Cibus again, maybe you can check in on how Mia's doing."

 

[Namohysip]

"Yeah, I'll do that," Ionys replied. "And don't forget, she's got the King of Darkness keeping her in check, too," he added with a smirk. "How's that for good influences?"

 

[Dragonfree]

Dave snorted. "It's pretty fucking hard to influence Mia. She goes her own way and doesn't give a shit what anyone thinks. Sometimes I can argue her into accepting why normal things make sense to other people but that's about as far as I can get." He looked back up at him. "Think you're good as influences go, though. Just look at Flesh."

 

[Namohysip]

"Aah." Ionys waved dismissively. "I'll do what I can. Guess I'm gonna be Uncle Ionys for Mia now and then. Wonder if I can get my head around her mindset, see if there's a way to nudge her into acting... uh, you know. Normal. Should probably get to that sooner than later before she matures into... whatever the fuck those things mature into. Aren't they a new species entirely or something? Bah, who cares."

 

[Dragonfree]

Dave shook his head. "Don't think she's ever going to act normal. But key is she doesn't have, you know, conventional moral intuitions or empathy. She just wants things to make sense in her logical framework. If you want to convince her not to do something, find a self-interested reason for her not to do it. Consequences that she wouldn't like, even if it's just that, you know, other people won't like her so they won't want to fight her anymore. Pay attention to her whims and stuff she likes and dislikes, and you'll know what works as conversational leverage later."

He stopped, his chest tight and heavy. Was she really still going to mature into some kind of eldritch abomination? He'd thought they were clear of that when the stones had 'hatched'.

"Just... don't give up on her."

 

[Namohysip]

Ionys nodded. "Yeah, yeah. I won't." And this seemed genuine, one way or the other. "And if there's anyone who can manage stuff like that and know what to say, it'd be Diyem, huh? He probably knows all about that. So... Yeah. You can at least go back with some peace of mind."

 

[Dragonfree]

Dave nodded a few times. “Yeah. Thanks.”

They moved on to lighter subjects while Flesh chowed down more of the woods.

<><><><><>​

 

[ExplosiveTurkey]

(Set sometime before the Colosseum fight between Team Spectrum and Miracle Matters)

Crunch.

Crunch.

Crunch.

Despite the lucario's soft footfalls, the snow couldn't help but pierce the deafening silence of the woods.

The sharp fragrance of pine, the bitter chill in the air, and the overwhelming sense of solitude — once a nostalgic memory, now returned to reality, and Aria wasn't sure how to feel about it. She gazed into the distance, wondering if a certain pond existed in this world as well, but she didn't intend on checking. Not when it risked tarnishing her final memory of the place.

Still, it was nice to be alone with her thoughts for once. Any time she was around her peers, her affinity with the Blacklight meant its quiet whispers intruded upon her mind without fail. She'd grown accustomed to it in the past, but a while had passed since then, which meant the current seclusion was a welcome—

'You sure about that?'

Aria blinked, feeling the familiar warmth of radiance poking at her head. How long had she failed to notice that?

In an instant, she was off, racing through the trees towards the source... and to her dismay, it was getting stronger. Fast.

"...Ah fuck," she muttered under her breath, and as if on cue, a distant explosion shattered the serene atmosphere, like a brick against glass.

Aria doubled her pace, not bothering to try and identify the culprit with her aura. There was no need, or so she thought. Before long, she burst through the trees into ground zero, an artificial clearing of charred ground and smoking trees. In the middle, the pokemon responsible.

"Dammit, Sa— I mean, wait... who the fuck are you?"

 

[TheGOAT]

Astrid became acquainted with the new arrivals through word of mouth, through the local news, and eventually one by one as she ran into them. She’d lost track of the order, and knew she’d yet to meet them all, but it was coming along well enough. She was being social again. For now, it was enough.

But not today. Astrid had returned to her training grounds because of that distant sickness again, the symptoms drawing her out here to practice the same moves, again, but with new spins every now and then. Slowly building into something cohesive.

At least she could navigate the Pines with ease. Each crater has been passed dozens of times, and each crater had a date. As the land gradually returned to normal under Cibus’ strange life-abundant influence, Astrid began to track her training by location, preserving hindsight in the terrain itself.

It was a pleasant thought, if only in the face of how she actually felt about the old times. She tended to avoid craters that had almost filled in, but there was always consolation soon after if she ever ran into one on accident — the thrill of creating new ones, safely.

Astrid breathed, breathed… summoned her Blacklight… and jerked in pain, coughing at the ransid taste. That was the first time she’d tried it since it had been ripped out of her on the Moon. Figured that it wouldn’t feel too great.

Come on… okay. I’ll start simple. That meant Radiance only. Building it up was the same as getting ready to fight. All it took was a deep breath, and—

Silence. As usual. She glanced around; was this explosion her biggest yet? Surely not. The ones in battle were always the biggest. But out here? She wasn’t sure.

"Dammit, Sa— I mean, wait… who the fuck are you?"

“Woah!” Now, that was the third time someone had caught her out here.

She squinted, almost called out Curio’s name, but then recognized that this was nobody she’d met yet. If the energy radiating from her was as familiar as it seemed… this could be one of the newcomers.

“Oh, sorry. I just… well, not a lot of people come out here, and, y’know, it’d be cooler if there were some salt flats nearby to practice on. Gotta do it somewhere. Maybe should’ve asked Maple about that…

“I’m Astrid, by the way! Welcome to Cibus version, uh, A. Or, B…?”

 

[ExplosiveTurkey]

"...I think it'd be A for you, B for me," Aria replied, looking around at the numerous craters unleashed upon a patch of innocent land. "Name's Aria, pleasure to meet you. Sorry for, er... intruding like that, I mistook you for someone from my team. But since you're not, I'm thankfully not obligated to rein you in."

She paused, scratching at her cheek. "So... is blowing up like a hobby for you or something? And how come you're still on your feet?"

 

[TheGOAT]

“Don't worry about it,” Astrid quickly said, “I’m just… caught off guard. I chose this place for its remoteness.”

And maybe, she realized, that might be why someone from a world exactly like this one would have done the same and found her out here. The more land she claimed, the more likely it was that someone would notice and follow her, and they weren’t all that far from the most prestigious city in the world anyway. The jig was likely up.

“It’s a ‘fighting’ style,” she corrected her, swallowing bashfully. “Most people don’t push their Blacklight as far as I do, and it creates these windows of opportunity at the cost of, well… some stuff and things. It’s hard to explain, but um, I come here to… understand those costs. It’s like soul-searching, I think, but a little worse for the environment.”

She scooped up some of the atomized terrain and frowned; salt flats were sounding more appealing by the minute. But hey. At least her body could take it.

Her tails flickered. The streaks and voids across her body sizzled and collapsed into nothing, and her eyes lost their piercing glow. Now the most ordinary-looking Ninetales around, her fur was hardly distinguishable from the falling snow, but unmistakable against the dirt and soot scattered across the background and at her feet. If she ever had cover out in these woods, she’d just blown it. Good thing she didn’t feel like she’d need it. Good thing she didn’t speak that pun aloud for Aria to hear.

“I’m still on my feet because… I don’t know. Practice makes perfect! I stopped asking the clouds questions a long time ago.” It was the only legitimate answer she had, really. A tilt of the head followed. “And… you? You look strong. What did you mean by ‘rein me in?’”

Astrid prepared a familiar, bubbly feeling in her chest, ready to pull… fully expecting there to be something to pull from.

 

[ExplosiveTurkey]

"Ah, just old habits dying hard. I used to chaperone the more volatile members of our team," Aria said, before giving a dismissive wave. "Nothing you need to worry about."

But as the lucario dropped her paw back down, a surge of energy drained away from Astrid, while leaving her with nothing to borrow.

"Don't want you blowing me sky high, though, so I guess I can demonstrate."

 

[TheGOAT]

‘Volatile.’ That would describe her, surely. Suddenly she wasn’t sure who she was more interested in talking to: those volatile folks like her (were they anything like her?) or this mysterious Lucario who—aaand just like that, her Radiance was gone. Huh.

“Thanks!” Astrid chirped, carefully noting the two kinds of emptiness she felt. That was no attack, that was Radiance drain. Bahamut and Vix and Saltriv were all good with that; even Owen possessed those capabilities in some form. Heck, anyone who could call out a few choice encouraging words did.

But this was substantial. And smooth. Well-practiced. She could tell the way her Radiance glided right out of her body, like a soft blanket being pulled gently up to her neck. Was she just so used to feeling every nuance of its ebb and flow within her, more than she ever could with her Shadows, that she’d notice something like that? She couldn’t deny that maybe she was just a bit excited now. When it came to the newcomers, there was so much to learn! To discover!

“Oh, oh, you don’t have to worry.” Astrid’s smile didn’t reflect the current subject matter very well. “I can just bend the blast around you if it comes to that, so you’ll always stay unharmed. And these aren’t very strong ones. I can’t do those unless my friends are nearby… but maybe I can show you sometime in the arena! I’ve been out here training for a couple fights I got lined up this week. You guys had the Colosseum too, right?”