Mystery Continent ~ Southern Beach

[Namohysip]

"Hmm... I don't understand her." Lugia sighed. "Then again, what is there to understand from someone so inherently chaotic? Is it all just a game to her...?" She narrowed her eyes. "Hello, Meringue. How was training?"

Meringue collapsed into the sand and didn't bother to move.

 

[Virgil134]

"I don't really understand her either. I mean, what does someone like her even do when she's not trying to play games with us?" Cabot tilted his head again and slowly approached Meringue. "Are you alright, Meringue?"

 

[Namohysip]

"Never better," Meringue croaked.

"I suspect we will be seeing her later," said Lugia. "Unfortunately, I'm not sure when... or how. We should certainly corroborate something to lure her and get more information. She was not very strong against you, after all. Is that correct? Hmm..." She sighed.

 

[Virgil134]

Cabot gave Meringue a wary look, before shifting his attention back to Lugia.

"That's right. We took her down fairly easy when we worked together... but the problem is that she somehow healed herself and got back up in less than a minute. She did the same a second time, and it doesn't look like she was using any items either. I... don't think we can truly beat her unless we find a way to stop her from healing herself."

 

[Namohysip]

"She heals herself?" Lugia repeated, though despite being a question, she also seemed to have known this to some extent. "And you don't really know if there's a limit to it, either. If we could find a way to exhaust that healing, we could stop her... But until then, we can only suppress and disrupt her. Assuming we can find her at all..."

 

[Virgil134]

"That sounds about right," Cabot sighed. "Even if there is a limit to how often she can heal herself, she's probably smart enough not to fight us on her own, so it won't be easy to find out what that is."

He glanced over to his Lump again.

"As for finding her... we'd hoped at first that the Shades could lead us to her, but apparently they don't know anything about her either... or at least that's what some of my teammates told me."

 

[Namohysip]

"Hmm..." Lugia nodded. "And Shades are not appearing very much in Destiny Village for now, which is... good, overall. But we need to keep a watchful eye on the area regardless."

Meringue finally had the strength to stand, and Lugia looked toward the Cranidos nearby again. "Was there any other reason you wanted to see me? I understand that you have an affinity for my species."

 

[Virgil134]

Cabot blinked and looked up from his Lump. "Oh, had Meringue told you about that? But I was just exploring Destiny Village when I noticed you two. I hadn't seen either of you since the fight, so I guess I just wanted to see how both of you were doing after everything that happened."

 

[Namohysip]

"We were recovering," Lugia replied with a nod. "Well, I was. Corruption was one thing, but I was also severely weakened by trying to resist it all that time... And as you know, Shadow injuries tend to last longer than typical ones, even with healing. I do not know what they did to me, but... it seems that anybody who falls under the effects of Shadows or those Shades are fatigued afterward. Your group, however, seems to be recovering faster..."

"Maybe it's because they're more... tuned to it?" Meringue theorized, finally sitting up.

 

[Virgil134]

"I think it has something to do with how Diyem created these bodies... I'm not really sure how it works exactly myself," Cabot admitted. "At least it allows us to see Shades as well. We wouldn't have been able to capture them in these strange rocks otherwise." He held out his lump once more.

 

[Namohysip]

"Capture them... Of course." Lugia eyed the stone curiously, warily. "And you've been gathering those Shades in them like pets, then? I believe I heard something like that before..."

"Do you guys hunt them down or something?" Meringue asked.

 

[Virgil134]

"We don't really actively hunt Shades, but we do try to contain any we can find," Cabot explained. "And, well, I know some of my teammates have been keeping them as pets, but..."

He hesitated a bit before continuing.

"It just... doesn't feel right to me. The Shade in here is the same one that corrupted you, Lugia. I can't just act all friendly with it and treat it like some sort of pet knowing the grief it has caused you two."

 

[Namohysip]

"The Shade that possessed me... is within that stone you're holding?" Lugia said, scowling. "...I do remember you were the one to land the final hit against me that released my corruption. Well, one of them..."

"Those things are terrible," Meringue said. "I can't understand why you're all keeping them now. It's that Charmander, isn't it? The bright-eyed one. I heard he somehow got one of them to balance on his head like some tamed wild Pokemon..."

 

[Virgil134]

"That's right. It seems like these strange stones are able to absorb them somehow," Cabot replied, holding his lump up so that Lugia could clearly see it. "And, well, I don't disagree about the Shades being terrible, but it seems like when we hold onto a stone with a Shade inside we get stronger somehow. With everything that we're up against I think we'll need any advantage we can get."

 

[Namohysip]

"I see," Lugia said, frowning. "Well, I hope this doesn't result in you losing yourselves to those things somehow. After all, we don't really know... what will happen with those, do we?" She shook her head. "Do be careful."

 

[Virgil134]

"I promise I will," Cabot said, putting the lump back into his bag. "If it makes you two feel any better, I've been keeping this rock at the bottom of my bag since that fight with Darkwhite. When I found out that there was a Shade inside I've tried to avoid thinking about it too much, since... well, it's just a strange situation and I'm still not entirely sure how I feel about it. But, at least you don't have to worry about someone getting all affectionate with the creature that possessed you and caused you so much harm."

 

[Namohysip]

"Mm. Of course." Lugia nodded.

"Those Shades... How come everyone else seems to think they're friendly?" Meringue asked. "I heard that some of them even understand what you're saying, and can reply to yes and no questions. It seemed like... Apparently they don't even know the situation themselves?"

"Mm. It makes me wonder if they are to be blamed entirely for their actions, or if they are merely being used..."

 

[Virgil134]

"I don't know," Cabot sheepishly said. "I haven't really been trying to talk to mine, so I can't say for sure. The others did say that they don't know about the situation themselves though, which is why they can't lead us to Darkwhite."

 

[Namohysip]

"Mm. A shame."

"I mean, I guess if yours happens to be around..." Meringue shrugged. "Maybe you could try befriending it anyway, or something? Couldn't hurt if we get some of them on our side..."

 

[Virgil134]

Cabot blinked. "You two wouldn't mind?"