Poppin' Arms ~ Dorm Lounge

[Torchic]

"To be fair, I had this strange voice in my head I was able to talk to and get responses from before I came here. Now, it's gone, but reappeared as that manifestation. It.. it hates me. It insults me."

"That- that monster! If it shows itself, I will... I will get rid of it myself!" Tary puffed his chest to show he's ready for anything.

Cino shrugged it off. "I'm sure it won't let itself get controlled... though I do wonder how Owen managed to tame his shadow. Maybe that stone where Tary came out of? I'm gonna ask him how he did it when they come back."

"And if it decides to come out of hiding, we will get it."

Cino was sure that Tary didn't know how easily shadows can hide themselves. Negative emotions are a good bait, but once they were out... Cino wasn't sure if he should try it right now, or later, when the rest of his team was back. S'more looked pretty strong, but he wouldn't be able to see it.

 

[Namohysip]

"It is curious," S'more said. "Owen apparently speaks to his Shadow regularly. I do not think he is a standard outcome, but perhaps we can learn a thing or two from that for Team Spectrum's sake..." He sighed. "Well, in any case, I wish you well. If there is ever anything you need of me, do call. I will note down what we found here and let Chip know in case he has any insight."

 

[Torchic]

Owen spoke to it all the time? Cino had briefly tried to 'talk' to his shadow while it had been terrorizing him. That didn't work. How would one calm his shadows enough to be able to talk to them? Maybe Cino's couldn't be talked to, and was just a manifestation of his bad emotions?

"Thanks, S'more. I'll let you know how it went with me and Owen. As long as it doesn't try to control other Pokemon, it's alright."

"So it controlled you after you touched the stone? Mmh... So it wasn't you...?"

"What wasn't me?"

Tary opened his beak, but didn't answer. Instead, he looked away, in thoughts.

"Have I done something? Tary?"

No response.

"...What's with you? Why are you acting so strange?" He looked at Tary, at S'more, and back at Tary. After a short pause and quietness, Cino stood up again. Tary was out of his way. "Alright. S'more, the sooner we can go to one of those memory specialists you talked about, the better. When are we going?"

Tary put his head onto Cino's shoulder. The Torchic's body felt kind of... squishy, like he was made of soft clay.

 

[Namohysip]

"May be a while," S'more said with a solemn nod. "The specialist I was considering is currently occupied with another of your peers, in fact. Though it's not my place to talk of the details beyond that. I'm not aware of them all myself. But perhaps later I will set you up with someone."

 

[Torchic]

Cino sighed. "The sooner, the better, I suppose. Thank you for taking your time to try and help me with this." He glanced at S'more's badge. If it weren't for that urgent call one might guess that he was addicted to it. "Any updates from my team? Did they find anything?"

 

[Namohysip]

"Er... Rayquaza." S'more closed the interface. "I should go. This... may require my assistance if this does not go well. Goodbye, take care." He nodded, and then sank into the ground, his shadow dashing for the depths of the guild.

<><><>​

 

[Cresselia92]

It had been a few days since Petram had hatched from his Ultra Stone and Icetales had recovered completely from the stress-induced illness that plagued his mind and body. Talking to Owen and Wishkeeper about his plight had been a great panacea, indeed, but there was something that troubled his mind.

His bloodline. His escape from home. His duties back home. All of them had been buried in the back of his mind, ignored for far too long.

He wondered if the ghost of his Father had become so aggressive as an unconscious attempt of focusing again on what he needed to do. On what his destiny was. On… who he really was.

The son of a daemon, a tyrant, a royal. Did that mean that, once at home, he had to fight for the throne and… he had to become a daemon, a tyrant, a monster himself…?

…

Icetales sighed and brought a cup of tea into his mouth. He wanted to shelve the matter once more, but it kept popping up in his mind, as if tired of being dismissed.

“Golly, why am I perturbed by such thoughts?” he whispered, staring at his tea. “A prince… why did I have to be born as a royal? It is just a massive itch in the flank, what with all expectations that folks expect from me, and with only spats in the face as a reward…”

But then, his ears picked up some nearby footsteps and he straightened his stance. He took another sip of his tea and glanced around, hoping to not have attracted weird looks.

 

[Virgil134]

"Hey there, Icetales!"

Cabot walked into the lounge and gave a small wave, before making his way over to a cupboard in the corner of the room where he took out a mug and put it right in front of a small machine. He pressed a button as hot water began to boil and turned back to face Icetales.

"You taking some time to unwind as well?"

 

[Cresselia92]

“Ah. Greetings, Sir Cabot!” responded Icetales, beaming a friendly smile. “Yes, we can say so. I am merely… chilling, indeed. Ha ha ha!”

His tails began swaying hypnotically and he glanced outside the window. Snow was falling, the sky was light gray, cries of some young Pokémon echoed from outside… just like in Borealis…

Icetales flicked his ears, before gazing again at Cabot. “I reckon thou art not into cold weather, huh?”

 

[Virgil134]

Cabot chuckled at Icetales' joke as he heard warm water began to pour into his mug.

"Yeah, that's right. Scales don't provide as much protection against the cold, you know?" he said. "At least back home the winters were warmer than this... or at least on most islands."

 

[Cresselia92]

“Ah, an islander! It has been ages since I’ve met one,” chirped Icetales, before nodding in understanding. “Yes, I can imagine that such weather might be unforgiving for thee, if thou art better accustomed to warmer climates. I, myself, have dealt with unforgiving weathers in mine own world.” He shrugged. “Moving from the mountains to the flat land is… something that not many of my kin do.

“However, at least thou can handle warmer climates better than this old fellow over here, hm? Dost thou like to sunbathe or anything like that?” He tilted his head in mild curiosity.

 

[Virgil134]

"I mean, sometimes I do, since it is kinda nice, but it's not something I do all that regularly like Cynthian for example," Cabot answered. "Besides, I work in the navy so I usually get a good amount of sunlight when I'm at the deck of the ship."

He grabbed his mug along with a tea bag, before making his way over to Icetales and sitting down across of him on the other side of the table.

"Though, I guess you could say that everyone from my world is an islander," the Cranidos continued. "There's no longer a mainland left... or at least not a habitable one."

 

[Cresselia92]

Icetales tilted his head. “A sailor? Most unusual job for a Rock-type, considering that thou have to tread across waters. But if it a profession thou like, then by all means.” He chuckled. “I know I could not deal living on a ship. I am the fellow who much prefer to keep my paws anchored to the still ground.”

He paused as he pondered about what Cabot said. No habitable mainland left? “A world of islands… how peculiar. Then I reckon that thou have advanced means to navigate across the oceans. Dost thou follow the stars, or use other means to orient during the day and night?”

 

[Virgil134]

"Well, I've always wanted to travel to different places and see the world, so of course I'm not just gonna let a little bit of water get in the way of my dreams!" Cabot said with a proud smile. "We have these giant wooden ships that can transport a lot of Pokémon all at once, including plenty of cargo. And yeah, we use the stars among other things! We also got compasses, which always point north. And of course it's important to always know what time of is. The sun helps with that during the day, but at night we use the Travelers in the sky."

 

[Cresselia92]

Icetales smiled at the Cranidos, while assimilating all the information about his world. It was truly heartwarming to hear someone being so enthusiastic about their profession and life choice.

“Ah, yes. Being able to accomplish thy dream must be truly delightful, I reckon. I am truly thrilled that thou have managed to follow thy dream,” commented Icetales, and his smile waned somewhat. “I sure wish… I could do the same and just be able to carve my own path, rather than… well, being forced by… um, shall we say, standards? Commonplaces? Hierarchies?” He shook his head. “Alas, things are not easy in my world, and my bloodline does not help…”

 

[Virgil134]

Cabot tilted his head. He already had a suspicion because of how Icetales talked and his mannerisms, but now that he mentioned his bloodline...

"Icetales, are you a noble by any chance?" he asked.

 

[Cresselia92]

Well, another secret in the open. Not that it was all that secret to begin with — even if his star-shaped markings were unknown in that world, most folks could guess his origins by his speech alone. No point in denying it.

“In a manner of speaking, I am,” replied Icetales, unconsciously taking a more refined posture. “Mother used to be the queen of Borealis, my home empire. And Father, well,” he looked away, “he has… ties with powerful dynasties, shall we say, and he is now the undisputed ruler.”

He paused as he suppressed a growl in his throat, and yet he could do nothing to stop his tails from quivering.

“My blue blood could be considered both a blessing and a curse, a sword with a double blade. Thou have the power to do great things, but goodmons and good ladies despise and fear thee for having such powers. And yet, most folks expect thee to handle matters in thine own paws, and then they flay thy flanks and blame thee even for the most tiny mishap.” He frowned and shook his head. “Noblesse oblige, a most uncomfortable position more often than not…”

He blinked, realizing what he just said, and leaned back. “Oh, pardon me for my ramblings…”

 

[Virgil134]

Cabot gave Icetales a sympathetic look. It sounded like his life was a lot rougher than he'd let on.

"Hey, it's alright," he said reassuringly. "Though, if your mom is the queen, does that mean you're a prince too? I guess that would explain why other Pokémon are expecting so much from you..."

 

[Cresselia92]

Icetales rubbed a forepaw with his leftmost tail. “Well, um… we could say that, but my situation is a tad more… complicated.”

He licked the inside of his mouth. Somehow he had lost moisture, so he poured himself some more chilly tea. There was plenty he needed to explain.

“I do not know how things work in thy world, but I shall try to be thorough regarding the situation in mine.”

The snow outside seemed to have grown thicker, probably as a reflection of the Vulpix’s own mood. Or perhaps it was something else…?

“I am… a prince, yes. However, I am the last in line, the tenth out of ten.” He brought the cup to his mouth and licked some tea. “Which makes me the least privileged of my family. The one who must accept the scraps, whatever my own siblings discarded or refused. And yet, I am not a goodmon, either.”

He sighed and looked to the floor. “So, I am stuck in this awkward line between being too low to be respected as a ‘true’ royal and too high to be considered a goodmon. I am,” he looked up at Cabot, his eyes somewhat pale, “nobody.”

 

[Virgil134]

"H-Hey! That's not true," Cabot insisted. "You're a really nice Pokémon and everyone is really happy to have you on the team. People wouldn't think that if you were just some nobody, would they? Especially after organizing such a great party."

The Cranidos paused a moment as he thought of what he could best say to cheer Icetales up. It's not like he knew exactly what Icetales was going through, and the only other noble's child he knew was Berecien, but he certainly wasn't in the same position as Icetales... Though maybe there was something.

"I can't say I know what it's like for you back home, since I'm not a noble and don't have any siblings, but at least I sorta know what it's like to have your parents expect things from you that you don't want."