Poppin' Arms ~ Cafeteria

[Negrek]

"Well, the rest of the team fought them," Rocky said modestly. "I was still a rock. But they won the same way we always do, with a lot of teamwork and good strategies! It helps that there are a lot of us, too, and humans who turn into pokémon get super strong. You will, too, once you practice a little!" Rocky flashed Koa a grin and pinned his badge back onto his scarf.

"Plus when we fight in the Reverse World, the dimensions get kind of weird and, like, people from other worlds can send us power to help out. I think? It's kind of weird, and I don't really know how it works. Anyway, that's my job. Arceus gave me a special power that lets me channel that strength into the team. See?" Rocky drew himself up proudly, and golden light glowed from within his chest. Rings of brilliance haloed the stone at the center of it.

"So I helped a lot with that fight, even though I kind of wasn't there. Anyway, I don't know the type that guy was for sure, but I think it was probably dragon and Blacklight. Which is a special type that comes from shadows mixing with Radiance. You'll be able to use those, too, so eventually you'll be able to turn Blacklight-type if you want. You get shadows from Diyem, so you've already got those. And Radiance is from Joule, but you'll pick it up just from being around people who are using it." Rocky tapped a foot, looking annoyed. "Mudkip would be able to show you shadows, at least, but I'm just a familiar. I can't do either of them."

 

[Flyg0n]

Rocky drew himself up proudly, and golden light glowed from within his chest. Rings of brilliance haloed the stone at the center of it.

Koa gaped at the display, in awe. "I can do that?"

"So I helped a lot with that fight, even though I kind of wasn't there. Anyway, I don't know the type that guy was for sure, but I think it was probably dragon and Blacklight. Which is a special type that comes from shadows mixing with Radiance. You'll be able to use those, too, so eventually you'll be able to turn Blacklight-type if you want. You get shadows from Diyem, so you've already got those. And Radiance is from Joule, but you'll pick it up just from being around people who are using it.

He listened, trying his best to take in everything Rocky was saying, even if it wasn't really making sense. Blacklight type? What even was that? He nodded anyway, trying to pretend he got it well enough. Shadows, Radiance... Joule...The only being he really knew was Diyem. Which was hardly at all. "So... everyone on Spectrum gets these uh, black... light powers?" he asked, confusion in his tone.

 

[Negrek]

"Well, not exactly that," Rocky said smugly. "That's my special thing. It's not Radiance like what people that Diyem brought here have. But some people have come up with some pretty cool ways to use that, too. And yeah, every one of them got them eventually! Mudkip's never used Radiance, but I think he's just being dumb. If you talked with one of them, they could probably start to show you how. I'd show you right now if I could!"

The familiar glanced up at the grand library building. "Well, I can at least show you some other places. This is the library, so..." Rocky started off down the street again, waving Koa after him. "Come on, there's a lot of cool stuff to see!"

Rocky led the electrike through Destiny Village's central shopping district, which held shops and stalls of all descriptions, from high-end shops that sold magical items to flower stands to places advertising electronics and the village's strange pokémon-powered technology. "You can get pretty much whatever you want here, and the God Squad pays for all of it, so you don't have to worry about having enough money, either. Make sure you pick up some healing items and things before a big fight. Oh, and there are places to eat, too! They have all kinds of food here. It's really neat."

 

[Flyg0n]

Sick. Koa made a mental note of that. He still didn't get this whole radiance and shadow thing but it sounded powerful. He couldn't wait to test out how to use it. He followed Rocky through the village and into the market district, taking in all the sights and sounds.

"Everything is free?" he asked, gazing around, already mentally trying to plot what kind of items he would buy. Potions, revives... Did they even have stuff like that? He'd have to ask later. "Who is the God Squad again?"

 

[Negrek]

"Well, it's not free," Rocky said with a wink. "It still costs money. Just not your money! Or, well, it's not really the God Squad's money, either, since Arceus basically gave it to them." The familiar strolled down the street while he talked, tail waving cheerfully behind. "Anyhow, the God Squad is like this team of interdimensional superheroes who go around finding worlds in trouble and helping them out! They're all super strong, and they all have crazy Radiance powers. There's a zoroark who's crazy good at illusions, and a decidueye who's super fast! And a guzzlord who can, umm, eat a lot..."

As Rocky led Koa on out of the shopping district, the crowds began to thin. Trees appeared along the sides of the street, and houses gradually began to replace businesses. "Anyway, their leader's Maple, who's a smeargle, except, umm, not really. She's also kind of a Voice of Life, except she doesn't act like one, real, and supposedly she's from a planet that got destroyed? She's really weird, but she's nice, too, and crazy strong! And then the last big battle we had was against, uh, I guess her boyfriend. That's Joule! He's a necrozma. Giovanni managed to catch him, but he's back to his old self and feeling better now, I guess. Anyway, the two of them... live here!"

Rocky pointed up at a truly massive mansion set back from the street. "All the God Squad have houses around here. Plus..." Rocky grinned. "Kyurem lives over there. And the other Unova dragons are around here, too. And Yveltal! This is where you want to come if you want to see legendary pokémon." Rocky looked around at the quiet residential district, then nodded to himself, as if satisfied by something. "I think I've showed you most things around here," he said, then leaned in close to Koa, smile taking on a mischievous slant. "Unless you want to see if any of the legendaries are home?"

 

[Flyg0n]

Koa was beginning to wish there was handbook for all these new terms. Maybe some kind of required reading list for new Team Spectrum members. Although he supposed he never would have needed it if he had arrived on time. Like a Voice of Life. What was that? He'd heard of a Tree of Life, and Xerneas was the guardian of life, but what was a Voice of Life?

"Uh... What's the Voice of Life?" he asked.

He trailed off to stare at the house. His eyes grew bigger and bigger with each name mentioned. Even though he'd heard how legendaries lived here and even seen one, what with meeting 'Bean', it still felt unreal. Back home, meeting any legendary pokemon was sort of a once-in-a-lifetime thing.

Matching Rocky's mischievous look with one of his own, he leaned in. "Yeah!" he said eagerly.

 

[Negrek]

"Hmm, a Voice of Life, it's supposed to be like the will to live of everything in the whole world, except made into a person. I don't really get it," Rocky said. "Every world is supposed to have one, I guess, and they're also normally bring humans from other worlds to help out when things get bad. Which is a thing pokémon do all the time, I guess. Anyway, this world has one called Buffet. He's a hydreigon. Or, like, not really a hydreigon, because he's a Voice of Life, but that's what he looks like."

Rocky might not know what a Voice of Life actually was, really, but he did have a good idea of how to have fun, and he grinned hugely when Koa agreed to his plan. He was having such a better time right now than he would have had with Mudkip. It was great to be around people who wouldn't just tell him not to do things all the time. "Okay! I'm gonna go see who lives in that house over there!" he said, turning to the house across the street from Maple's. Rocky crept up the walk to the front door, feeling hugely brave as he reached up to ring the doorbell...

 

[Namohysip]

The door rang. At first, there was nothing. Then, a little while later, the ground shook. And shook... and shook a little more, like huge, giant footsteps. And then the door to this home--which was extremely large, only looking normal because it was across from Maple's--opened.

A horrible beast stood on the other end of the doorway with a huge mouth and ravenous pincers coming out from it. Some alien--a Guzzlord.

"AAAAAAAAAAH?" Flesh roared to them. It might have been a question. But it was also a scream that might as well have split the heavens.

 

[Negrek]

The sound of the guzzlord's shriek was so powerful that it actually rippled Rocky's semisolid body. The familiar stumbled back, letting out a whoop of hysterical laughter. No doubt he'd be deafened if he had ears.

"Hi, Flesh!" Rocky yelled. "Hey, Flesh, we have a new teammate. Look, it's Koa!"

Cackling with a combination of exhilaration and delight at the guzzlord's unexpected appearance, Rocky tore back down the walk to the street. "Look, Koa, it's Flesh!" he managed to get out between snickers. "He's one of the God Squad! Say hi, and then come on, let's head back to the Guild!"

 

[Flyg0n]

Koa trotted alongside Rocky eagerly, tail wagging and steps light. What wonderful legendary would he meet? Granted, the house Rocky approached looked... a little odd. Kinda scary. But a little cool too. The atmosphere reminded him of a ghost type's sort of haunt. Perhaps Yveltal? Or... A sudden fear rushed through him as Rocky rang the doorbell.

What if Giratina lived here?- No. Rocky had said something about how... those three were fused. So that was a different house. Swallowing in relief, he waited.

The ground trembled underfoot. Koa's hackles raised on instinct, as what sounded like giant footsteps approached. A growl began to build in his throat and a fight began inside him, between excitement and fear.

Finally, the door creaked open.

"AAAAAAAAAAH?" Flesh roared to them

A scream escaped Koa's jaws and he froze up for a second. The creature before him wasn't matching up with anything he knew about legendaries. It looked terrifying. It loomed over him, larger and more terrifying than almost anything he'd seen before. Panic flooded him.

"Hi, Flesh!" Rocky yelled. "Hey, Flesh, we have a new teammate. Look, it's Koa!"

Cackling with a combination of exhilaration and delight at the guzzlord's unexpected appearance, Rocky tore back down the walk to the street. "Look, Koa, it's Flesh!" he managed to get out between snickers. "He's one of the God Squad! Say hi, and then come on, let's head back to the Guild!"

What kind of name was Flesh?? Still, he didn't want to be rude. Maybe Flesh really was some kind of new legendary and... looks were deceiving right? He wanted to make a good impression, to be collected and cool. This might be his first proper meeting with a legendary. Shaking all over, he spoke, doing his best to calm his trembling voice.

Looking up at... whatever constituted the terrifying beings face area, he said: "I'm Flesh! Hi Koa!" he squeaked.

Wait no that wasn't right at all. His mind raced as he hastily tried to backtrack.

"Hey sorry, my bad."

"Hey, you're bad, sorry."

Koa froze as he realized what he'd said. Oh fruit snacks.

"I mean... Never mind"
"Just forget it"

"I mean... Never forget it." His eyes popped wide open and he grimaced and looked away. "sorry," he squeaked.

Then he turned and booked it, feeling more mortified than he ever had in his life.

<><><>><><><>

 

[Navar]

The discussion back at the tree went places. Or rather, it was too convoluted. Shiron just hoped they could bring everyone back from the Voidlands. He wondered what it was like, but ignored it.

Brooding wouldn't help, and neither would an empty stomach, so he decided to get something to eat. The cafeteria came to mind, and soon, there he was, eating an apple slowly, taking his time to chew the fruit. Somehow, it had no flavor, nothing at all. Honestly, that apple was more boring than the usual one, for whatever reason.

"...Eh. I've had worse. At least there's something."

 

[Cresselia92]

Sleeping was supposed to be relaxing and energizing, and yet Icetales felt so tired.

In the Voidlands, the constant fear of being attacked in his sleep by Void Shadows made him somewhat jumpy and paranoiac, and the uncomfortable bedding didn’t help at all. His Shadow watched over the dead comrades, but he didn’t know whether that was reassuring or frightening.

Alas, things didn’t go as smoothly in the world of the living. Countless nightmares and concerns plagued him in his sleep, all related to his comrades still stuck in that dark world. Sure, the God Squad agreed to revive the dead comrades as soon as possible, but… when would that “soon as possible” have happened? Time, time, time… what would have happened in the meantime?

Icetales yawned and shook his head. There wasn’t much he could do about that for the time being, so he decided to shake off some sleep with some strong tea. Perhaps some black tea, with a bit of mint. Yes… sounded lovely.

He entered into the cafeteria and looked around, trying to spot some available seat. Then, he noticed Shiron eating an apple, all alone and with a sorrowful expression.

As such, Icetales decided to try to lift his spirit somewhat, and approached him. “Greetings, Sir Shiron,” he said, wagging his tails and motioning toward the empty seat. “Dost thou mind if I take this seat?”

 

[Navar]

For a moment, his gaze was nowhere at all, and his mind was filled with thoughts, most of them being random ones, without any sort of connection. Sometimes Shiron hated how his brain acted like this whenever he was sad or frustrated. But alas, something else got his attention.

As such, Icetales decided to try to lift his spirit somewhat, and approached him. “Greetings, Sir Shiron,” he said, wagging his tails and motioning toward the empty seat. “Wouldst thou mind if I take this seat?”

"Hm?"

Oh, that was Icetales! Shiron smiled and nodded, taking another bite of the apple. Truth be told, he wanted to chat with the fox for some time, but the constant battling and schedule made that a bit difficult to do, so Shiron was more than happy to agree.

"Sure! I don't mind that at all! Feel free to sit down if you want to, and if it doesn't bother you, of course!"

 

[Cresselia92]

Icetales smiled and nodded. “Much appreciated, good sir.”

With a graceful leap, the Ninetales settled on the seat, letting his tails sway in slow and harmonious motions. He got the attention of the barmon and placed his order of black tea with some pecha cookies, before focusing his attention back to Shiron.

“Well, then! Quite the evolution of events happened in these past days, hm?” he said, tapping his forepaw on the desk. “Plenty of… events that are tough to fully digest and assimilate, from what I have gathered. And I could not help but wonder,” he tilted his head, “how art thou feeling? If there is something troubling thy mind, I would not mind lending a ear or two.”

 

[Navar]

"Yeah, yeah."

Shiron frowned. Not the best choice to start a conersation, but it was done already, so the least he could do was keep it going. Even if... thinking about the deaths still hurt him.

"I'm fine?" he sighed. "Alright, I'm not sure if I'm fine fine, but I'm better than I was before. Not feeling as worthless as I usually do, so that's... good. What about you?"

 

[Cresselia92]

Icetales straightened his stance, staring intently at Shiron. It was obvious that something was troubling him, but he deemed better to not pursue the matter any longer.

“I must admit that I had better days,” confessed the Ninetales, flicking his ears. “I cannot say to be all too happy about the current situation, but I want to be hopeful, at least. Hopeful that we will manage to get through this, as we always did so far, and that things will be back to normal soon.”

He shook his head. “I wish we could just restore everything with a flick of a tail, but alas. We need time, and power, and… faith.”

Soon, the barmon arrived with the tea and cookies, and Icetales pulled the cup toward himself. With a chilly breath, the tea was frozen instantly, and he lapped at his icy treat.

“Believe me, I know what it feels like to feel worthless. I… felt like that throughout my entire puppyhood. I am the last pup, and the least skilled one. Golly, how many times I have been flung through the dirt and derided by most of my older siblings!”

He paused and took a deep breath, before flashing a hopeful smile. “Howbeit, if there is something I have learned, it is that things do not have to stay stuck like that. Armed with plenty of will, thou can change things for the better.”

 

[Navar]

Shiron nodded, munching the apple again. He gazed at Icetales, listening to what he had to say about the situation. Hope... hope was necessary, yes.

"I know you're right. And yeah, I'll do my best to help bring things back to normal!" Shiron clenched his fist. "To the best of my abilities, of course."

“Believe me, I know what it feels like to feel worthless. I… felt like that throughout my entire puppyhood. I am the last pup, and the least skilled one. Golly, how many times I have been flung through the dirt and derided by most of my older siblings!”

That... didn't sound right. Icetales was so skilled, and a valuable member of the team! How could that be true?!

"Really? I've seen you helping the team, and I think you're doing great..." he sighed. "I had a rough childhood too, no siblings, but my adoptive parents did a lot of dirty work on me."

 

[Cresselia92]

"I know you're right. And yeah, I'll do my best to help bring things back to normal!" Shiron clenched his fist. "To the best of my abilities, of course."

Icetales smiled more brightly, feeling somewhat reassured by those words. “Good, good. I am not expecting anything less nor anything more. Just do what thou can do, Sir Shiron!”

"Really? I've seen you helping the team, and I think you're doing great..." he sighed. "I had a rough childhood too, no siblings, but my adoptive parents did a lot of dirty work on me."

And his mood deflated somewhat, for two different reasons.

“I am doing my very best, but… my siblings are more skilled than me, albeit also more… ruthless.” Icetales rubbed his cheek with his leftmost tail. “Only my sister Fifth is more oriented toward healing than toward battles, but she has a soft heart. She… never wished to fight anyone outside of duels.

“And my heart goes to thee. Troublesome parents… yes, I know about that, too.” He munched a pecha cookie to gather his thoughts. “Or, well, about troublesome natural fathers. My adoptive mother was such a sweetheart, praise her soul, and my father,” his gaze darkened, “is a monster. Plain and simple.”

 

[Navar]

"I get that."

Shiron looked down, sighing. A father who was a monster? Oh no...

"I'm sorry that you had to deal with a father like that, Icetales. I really do. If I could help you, I would. For now, though, just know you have my support."

 

[Cresselia92]

“…Thank thee. It is very much appreciated.”

How many times had he gathered compassion from others? Only the heavens knew, but that was still… a welcome feeling, even with the knowledge that nothing could be done about his situation. He was blood of his father’s blood, and there was nothing he could do about it, aside from… moving on and accepting that someday. Someday…

“But let us not delve too much into such sad feelings, shall we? I know it is difficult, but… now more than ever we need to find the light within ourselves.” He narrowed his eyes and pondered about some more lighthearted topic, before perking up. “Ah! Perhaps I know. Pray tell, what are thy passions in life? Personally, I enjoy spending some time reading ancient books while savoring a good cup of tea.”