Poppin' Arms ~ Dorm Lounge

[Ambyssin]

"It's not just Etherium. Eternatus has destroyed entire galaxies. Planets with varying amounts of life," Bahamut said. "Once it's done with Etherium, it will move onto whatever planet next attracts its attention." He paused. "But none of that has any bearing on Cibus."

 

[windskull]

"I am no therapist, but it feels like, perhaps talking to other people about what happened to you might help. It obviously won't fix things, don't get me wrong, but perhaps it may make it easier to cope. I've seen what bottling in all your negative emotions can do." He glanced out the window again. "But... you're right. That really has little to do with our ability to help Cibus. For the moment, we should probably focus on doing what we can to help. And that means helping our fallen, helping Arceus, and finding Giovanni before he can gather more power."

 

[Ambyssin]

That only served as an unfortunate reminder of how many different factors the team needed to take into account. "At this point, the chips are just going to fall where they may."

 

[windskull]

"Indeed. The coming days are going to be busy." His tails waved slightly as he thought. "Perhaps the business will be good for the grieving. I've found that staying busy helps keep my mind off the worst of it."

 

[Ambyssin]

Bahamut frowned. "Then perhaps you ought to seek the newcomers out and give them a friendlier face than mine." He began to hover back to the door. "A pancham and an electrike. I'm sure you'll see them. Especially since most of the other pokémon in this guild are... substantially larger."

 

[windskull]

"You make a good point. I will at least keep an eye out for them." He paused, and dipped his head. "Stay well, Bahamut. I will see you later." With that, he turned and returned to his cleaning.

<><><><><>

 

[Shiny Phantump]

Soul slunk into the lounge and saw Bahamut was there. He was the really old guy who said a lot of things that sounded wise. They needed a wise old sage to teach them if they wanted to become a hero... or maybe just helpful. Being helpful would be enough for them.

"Hello mister Bahamut. Can you teach me things? I don't know what things I need to learn but you're old and wise so you should know what those things are. Can you teach me, please?"

 

[Ambyssin]

The couches in the lounge were not built for a dragon of his size. At best, he could fit part of his torso. But Bahamut's legs and tail were stuck on the floor. His right wings draped over the back of the couch and his left wings lay on the carpet. When a tiny voice reached his head tendrils, he picked his head up from the arm rest. Bahamut stared blankly.

"... do I know you?"

 

[Shiny Phantump]

Soul stopped to think for a moment.

"Oh. I guess you don't... My name is Soul! I'm a familiar, but I'm not very good at it. That's why I need a wise old person like you to teach me!"

 

[Ambyssin]

With pupilless, lidless, hollow eyes, squinting wasn't possible. Bahamut instead slithered around the side of the couch like a grotesque serpent, then back onto it so he could lie on his side and have his head on the armrest closest to Soul.

"You want me... to teach you how to be a familiar?" he said. Bahamut could only assume this was a poor choice of words. Or because he looked like a grayscale Joule.

 

[Shiny Phantump]

"I..." Soul furrowed their brow. "I want to learn how to be smart and good at things. I don't need to know how to be a familiar, because I already am one and I don't think I could stop being one if I tried. I need someone wise to be something like a mentor or a master. Like, I've read books, and that's how people get better. That's how they become things like leaders or heroes or mages."

 

[Ambyssin]

Bahamut tried his best to keep a neutral expression. Because those were descriptors that didn't apply to him. Not a leader. Not a hero.

... okay, maybe he could qualify as a mage, but this body didn't have the light-manipulating abilities he was used to. So, that was out of the question.

"You will have to be more specific," he muttered. "Good goals... are not only specific, but things you can easily measure to see how close to achieving them you are. Besides," he exhaled a silver cloud, "rare is the person who declares themselves a leader or a hero. More often than not... those are things one achieves through twists of fate."

 

[Shiny Phantump]

"I guess that's why people write stories about them..."

Soul sighed. More specific? What did they really want... "I don't really know. There's just so many things happening, and I can't do anything to change any of it. I want to be able to help. I want to be useful. You're good at that, right? You're big and strong and you can protect people. You saved Joule! I don't think I'll ever be that good, but I still want to learn from you."

 

[Ambyssin]

Big. Strong. Protecting people.

How long had it been since anyone had said that about him? Centuries. Definitely centuries. Well, maybe not the "big" part. Bahamut was used to that, but it was always followed up with "monster" or "jerk." This was an... odd change of pace. Bahamut wasn't sure how to feel about it. At the very least, he didn't want to disappoint Soul. Yet he also wasn't sure the best way to go about this. There was a strong temptation to flat-out state there was little Soul could do individually as a shade. Because they seemed to lack much of the energy proper pokémon had. But that would be too harsh. There had to be a gentler way. A better way.

"Let me ask you a question, then." His mismatched eyes bubbled like lava lamps. "What is your relationship like with your partner? The pokémon who activated your Ultra Stone?"

 

[Shiny Phantump]

"Celeste? He's my dad. He takes care of me, but I want to be able to help him, too. I want him to be proud of me! And he is, sometimes... but he also worries about me. I'm not really as tough as most of the other familiars." Soul puffed up their chest. "That's why I need to learn! I need to get tougher!"

 

[Ambyssin]

Well, wasn't that just adorable? It made Bahamut's light crinkle and the gray hues of his body undulated like stacks of jellatin. "Mmm, I see." His left upper wing slithered up to Soul as if it was sizing them up independent of Bahamut.

"What about during the battles?" He tapped his left upper wing on the carpet. "Think about what your dad does when he's fighting. And what you're doing while he's fighting."

 

[Shiny Phantump]

"He's really hard to hit, so he lets people miss him, then he follows up with hit own attacks. He also heals people, but it's slower than other people's healing so he doesn't do it a lot. And I..."

Soul stared at the floor. "I don't know if it really helps very much, but I can do a little Spite. And Ice. I can do Powder Snow. It's... not a lot, really."

 

[Ambyssin]

... and there it was.

"You're approaching this like a typical pokémon would." Bahamut's head turned up toward the ceiling despite him not moving his body. "Which would be perfectly fine... if you were a normal pokémon. But you shades have... very different properties. They come from those Ultra Stones. And while I can't say I understand them... I believe your Ultra Stone can let you harmonize with your partner. If you want a goal... it should be to support your dad's actions in battle."

Was he really hitting the nail on the head here? Bahamut felt more like he was giving an order. Nngh. Phrasing things for little ones was a thin tightrope.

"I'll give an example. Esper, for all his troublemaking, uses his aura to bolster my defenses and prevent opponents from lowering them." Bahamut's head spun back around. "So, if your dad is focused on dodging and healing, you could try to focus on helping him dodge more efficiently."

His head spun around again to hide his frown. "I know it's easy to think that, by not actually attacking, you're not really helping the team. Most of them are attackers, after all. But we've been in all these fights and I've never done more than throw my weight around against an enemy's shield. I make barriers and heal people. No one's going to thank me for it, but I don't expect them to.

"Heroes and leaders shouldn't ask for recognition. They should look for something they can help with... and do just that."

 

[Shiny Phantump]

"Well, that's too bad. They should appreciate it more..."

"I guess that's what I need to do. I can do things that aren't attacking in order to help Celeste. Even if nobody notices. Thank you! You seem very nice. You help people without expecting anything in return."

 

[Ambyssin]

Bahamut's normal impulse was to brush off that kind of comment, but that wasn't what he should do. It wasn't what his teammates did. But awkward silences made him just as uncomfortable. He had to say something.

"Well, it's pretty easy to ask for nothing when you're used to being a hobo."

... nailed it.