Chapter Seven: Dicey Decisions
Espeon created a portal for me at the other end of his room. I observed it, cautious. Upon further inspection, I realized that it resembled the Passage of Time that we used with Grovyle way back then.
“Hey Esp, is this what I think it is?”
“It is indeed a Passage of Time. And I must request that you not call me Esp, but rather by my full species name.”
“How did you build it?” I asked.
“I did not. I built my study around it, in the hopes of learning more about these mysterious phenomena. The endeavour has so far proved particularly fruitless, save for figuring out how to operate it,” Espeon replied. “Now then, off you go. I must ponder the image that the Mists showed you.”
Without another word, he used his magic to push me into the Passage. Upon my return to the Northern Tundra, I noticed Espeon was true to his word. I had returned at the exact moment he summoned me to his time. And yet…
“Wind, did you notice anything strange?” Aurora asked, still focused on healing Spark.
“Strange? Like what?” I asked her, trying to stay true to Espeon’s wishes.
“I do not know… I thought I just felt an overflowing presence of Espan’s magic right where you are standing. I must have imagined it.” Aurora turned her focus back to her work. While I noticed that she did not entirely believe it was nothing, I decided not to dwell on it. My paws carried me out into the berry field to restock.
___
“Right then, let’s figure out how we want to proceed.” I rolled out the map as we gathered around the portable table. “We’re on the edge of Krillian Marauder territory, so we should avoid taking the most direct route.”
“Krillian… Marauder?” Aurora asked.
“They rule the majority of the Mist Continent wilderness. Many explorers go missing when they travel through their territory. If they do show up again, the Pokemon is never the same. Even the forces of the law don’t mess with them.” Spark explained. “Even the toughest of exploration teams tend to avoid them.”
“Which is why we’ll follow a more mountainous path. The Marauders tend to leave them alone, given how tough they can be to navigate.”
Aurora still seemed unsure. “But with my magic, we could avoid them altogether. Didn’t you want to hurry back?”
I was about to respond, but Spark beat me to it.
“Well, yes, but not at the consequence of potentially never showing up again. Even Team Raider was defeated by the Marauders. No one’s seen them since.”
“We have the option of going west along the mountains, towards the Crags of Lament, or going east, heading to Redcliffe Town,” I listed. “The Crags will then provide a safe pathway to Post Town, where we can find easy transport to Noe Town. Redcliffe, on the other hand, will provide a path directly to Noe Town, but the path from Redcliff to Noe is fairly dangerous. Not Krillian Marauder dangerous, but there are still tons of bandits to watch out for.”
“I think we should take the safer path,” Aurora suggested. “I don’t really feel it necessary to put ourselves in danger if the danger is avoidable.”
“Well, I think we should head towards Redcliffe Town! Who cares about the danger when you’ve got the Saviours of the World on your side!” Spark exclaimed.
“Spark, no one calls us the Saviours of the World.” I pointed out.
“I know…”
“Anyways, I’m kind of on Spark’s side here. With both of us plus your magic, I doubt any bandits will be troubling us, Aurora.”
She seemed a little downcast. “I… guess I’m outvoted, then. Redcliffe it is.”
I rolled up the map. “Right, so that’s decided. Before we leave, however, there is something else I’d like to address.”
Spark skidded to a halt, as she was already bolting towards the exit. Aurora sighed. I could sense she just wanted to bathe before the long trip began, and I was interrupting her time.
“What is it, Wind?”
“Well, Aurora, it’s about what your nickname will be.”
“My… nickname?”
Spark immediately perked up. For whatever reason, she absolutely loved explaining these.
“Oh, yeah! We’re not usually very comfortable using true names among strange Pokemon, and no offense, Aurora, but you aren’t exactly what I’d call kin yet. I’d feel more comfortable with a nickname for you.”
“True names? In my time, Pokemon only had two names, species name, used between strangers, and individual, used between communities.”
“Well, a lot’s changed in 900 years. It’s also from a different Continent, so there’s that to consider and…”
I let Spark ramble on for a bit before steering the topic back to the original idea. “Anyways, I was wondering what would fit you, Aurora. I’ve several ideas, but I think you should have the final say. You’ll be hearing it quite a bit, after all.”
She wondered for a bit. Spark was also lost in thought. Her thoughts, however, were more directed towards tonight's dinner.
After some time, Aurora spoke again. “I have no ideas. Would you care to enlighten me?”
“Gladly! One of my first ideas was Agate, but honestly, it doesn’t sound right. It’s not elegant, nor is it very easy on the tongue. Another I had was Sapphire, but I threw that out because it doesn’t really fit your personality.”
“I don’t think you’ll find a crystal that really suits me, Wind. Perhaps turn your attention someplace else?”
And before I could respond, Spark again shouts “Azur!”
Aurora and I looked at her in a bit of shock. Noticing our stares, Spark explained. “Yes, I know I was thinking of food, Wind, so don’t call me out on that. I ended up thinking about berries, for the berry stew tonight, and as you and Aurora conversed, I thought about the Coba Berry colour, and how I could defeat that for the stew, and then I thought of its colour! Azure! Just remove the ‘e’ and I think it’d suit you perfectly, Aurora!”
We looked at each other. Aurora nodded. “I like it. It also feels easy to say.”
I smiled. “That’s settled, then. Azur, Spark, I’ve nothing more to keep you here, so feel free to enjoy the rest of the day.”
Spark was gone before I even finished the sentence. Shortly after, we heard a yelp. Peeking out the tent flap, I could see Spark sitting in the middle of a giant pile of cooking utensils. It was hard to stifle my laughter.
“Oh, be quiet, Wind. You’re still coming to the waterfall with me later,” she grumbled.
“Yeah, I guess I did promise you that much. After dinner, though. I don’t know about you, but I’m getting quite hungry!” My statement was drowned out by my belly growling.
“I agree with Wind and his stomach. Dinner would be a great boon before the evening hours, Spark.”
Spark got up and brushed the dirt off. “Right, the stew will be ready in about 30 minutes. Why don’t we play some games until then?”
“That sounds like a good idea. A last day of relaxation before the big trip would do us well.”
“An acceptable suggestion. Unfortunately, I do not have any ideas as to what should be played.”
The three of us sat around, deep in thought trying to figure out something to do. It wasn’t long until Spark piped up again.
“Let’s play Draconius!”
I immediately perked up. Draconius is one of my favourite role-playing games, where you create characters in the form of dragons and tackle adventures or fight powerful bosses. As I was explaining it to Azur, Spark set up the magic portal to the realm of Draconius.
Given that Azur still had to create her character, we resolved to do that and then start the game after dinner. Once the portal was set up, I accompanied Azur through while Spark stayed behind to watch the stew.
I saw her astonishment as I took on the form of a magnificent purple Dragon, though my form was lacking good flying wings as I preferred the more grounded fighting style.
“This is my character, Roenda. It’s a Fighter Style dragon. Anyways, it’s time to create your character. First, the different styles. You have the Fighter Style, like mine. It's leaner and more agile but lacks aero capabilities. Next, you have Flier Style. It has plenty of stamina and powerful wings. It’s great for travelling and aerial battles, but keep it off the ground or you’re in trouble. Following Fighter and Flier, you have the Scout Style. It’s quick in the air and it’s quick on the ground, but it’s small and struggles in combat. Its greatest strength is heightened awareness of their surroundings. And finally, you have the Cleric Style. This is also a supportive class, but it focuses on giving teammates buffs and healing their wounds.”
“I see. And of these four Styles, which does Spark utilise?”
“Spark prefers the skies, so she uses the Flier Style. I think it suits her.”
“I see. Fighter and Scout really do not appeal to me. And Flier is already taken by Spark, so I shall go with Cleric.”
“A fine choice.” A basic Cleric Dragon shape formed in front of us. “Next up, choose your dragon’s colour. Pick wisely, because you’ll be stuck with it until your character dies.”
“Perhaps a glimmering orange? Or a beautiful lavender.”
“Would you like to go with both colours? That is also an option.”
“It is? Then I shall go with the two aforementioned colours.”
The dragon changed colours into a perfect mix of orange and lavender.
“The next step is to adjust the Dragon’s dimensions. A larger dragon will have more stamina, while a smaller dragon will have more agility.”
Aurora carefully adjusted the size of the model. When she was done, a smaller dragon was visible.
“And what step succeeds this one?”
“Wing size. Larger wings have more powerful wing flaps, but a smaller wing will allow for greater speed. A small-winged dragon is known as a speedster, while a large-winged dragon is called a hauler.”
“A smaller size. A Cleric should be able to move about quickly.”
“Fair enough.” The model’s wings shrunk to a respectable size in relation to the body. “The last step relating to the dragon’s physical attributes is the tail. A wider, club-like tail provides a greater climbing ability, while the thinner, needle-like tail provides a more aerodynamic form.”
“A thin tail, please.”
The model adjusted appropriately. I waited until Azur was happy with how the dragon looked before finalizing the general physical design. Azur quickly adopted her Draconius form.
“It feels incomplete. Was it not the final step?”
“It wasn’t. That was just the general design. Next, we’ll be moving onto traits. Oh, there’s no need to shed the form, Azur. Here, allow me.” Manipulating the magic area, I pulled up her trait selection screen. “Other than the type of breath you choose, these traits will have no additional effects on your character.”
“I see. This is a very complicated process.”
“It’s not that bad once you get used to it. Trust me, Roenda is my 5th character.”
“Hmm… I think I shall go with Electric Breath. The energy it produces, as well as the paralyzing nature of electricity, may work wonders on larger foes.”
“Not a bad choice. As a Fighter Style, I went with Shadow Breath. The ability to cause pain without damage often turns the tides in my favour. Next, you have horns. You could go with Rounded, where the horns are more of a kind of stub on the top of the head, Sharp, which has horns standing straight up, Curved, which has sharp horns bending around to face the front, or Broken, where the horns break off at a certain point.”
“Sharp horns. They fit the character better.”
I helped Azur adjust the length of her horns as they appeared. She ended up settling on a medium length horn size.
“Next up, we have your claws. Do you want more of a hooked claw type or a flat claw type?”
“Hooked. It is the natural claw type.”
“I see. Flat more fits my style as a Fighter. Following that, there’s wing shape. Do you want pointed wings, which is closer to a triangular shape, or rounded wings?”
“More rounded. Given the look of the rest of the body, it would look best.”
“I see your point there. For this section, you finish off with snout shape. You have square, round, or triangle.”
“Square snout.”
“A fan of the box look, I see. But it clashes with your wings. Are you absolutely certain you want a square snout?”
“You do raise a good point. I shall choose the round snout.”
I chuckled, accidentally releasing a cloud of smoke while doing so. “Looking good, Azur. That clears up all but the final step. This one focuses around the eyes. Firstly, we have eye colour. Red, white, blue, black, or green?”
“Do unique colours provide any additional effects?”
“No. They are purely aesthetic.”
“I see. Green eyes, then.”
“Next, eye shape. Round, oval, teardrop, or almond?”
“Round. I assume pupils are next?”
“Yep. Slit pupils, like a Persian, or regular?”
“Regular.”
I stepped back, letting her make the final adjustments on her avatar. Once she was done, she looked back at me. “So, what’s next?”
“You need to name the avatar. An example name could be Druidas.”
“I see. How about Topazei?”
“Topazei… I like it.”
She smiled as she fully adopted her avatar. Truly, she had designed a work of art.
“I know you’d like to just jump in right now, but we should be-”
Spark popped in, taking her Draconius form. “Hey, dinner’s ready! Hurry it up here!” She didn’t linger, leaving shortly after.
“Yeah, that. Come on Azur, let’s go get dinner.”