Sand Continent ~ Isle of Light

[Negrek]

"Yes, it--I don't know if it will be very fast," Rocky said, his tail lashing anxiously. "If Bahamut said... But it took Joule a long time to power up, too." And he'd had more than just the sun to help him in the end.

"Let me see if Mudkip, I mean Marshtomp, can bring the mirrors. That should help." Rocky got out his badge and sent a couple quick messages. "He should be able to come here in a few minutes... He just doesn't like the desert because it's so dry."

Maybe it would be better now that he was a ground-type, though? Well, whatever. He'd come either way. Rocky watched Puddle while they waited, fiddling with his badge. It looked like the other familiar was thinking hard about something...

 

[Namohysip]

Groudon stared again, looking bored, like he'd rather be napping. Karat, meanwhile, refused to look away from Deoxys' core, searching for signs of movement or life or anything. He occasionally seemed to murmur something, and his lips would move, like he was talking... but whatever the conversation was, Deoxys wasn't saying a whole lot in reply.

 

[Fusion]

With how... slow things were going, Puddle was genuinely considering that virus host thing Bahamut suggested. Obviously, Karat would do anything to help Deoxys, and also obviously, Karat would be strong enough to handle that... maybe. From the look of it. Probably.

"...Hmnng," Puddle muttered, its bubble rising to a simmer for a moment. Its patience has definitely grown, but... there weren't even any books here. It had to do something, anything. Gods, it was like watching paint dry! "So... there was another option Bahamut suggested. One I didn't want to try since... it didn't sound right at first." It briefly glanced at Karat, then exhaled. "He said, since Deoxys is a... super virus, maybe having a host would help him heal? Someone strong, that would be alright with that kinda... thing. Sharing nutrients, or something like that."

 

[Negrek]

After a few minutes Nate appeared through a portal, dragging an assortment of mirrors and stands. He'd apparently dug deep to find them--most were basic flat panels, what you might find in any standard restroom, but some were big and ornate, in heavy frames like they were antique or something. Rocky wondered uneasily where Nate had gotten them all.

The two of them set about setting the mirrors up, tilting them so they caught the light and shone intense spots of brilliance down onto Deoxys' core. Nate had found about a dozen of them in total.

"Super virus, huh?" Nate asked, adjusting a stand while he listened to Puddle's thought. "Bahamut explain how he'd actually infect anyone? I mean, are we just supposed to find somebody who's able to swallow his crystal or something?"

Rocky looked over at the crystal, his ears pinned back. It was pretty. He'd never guess anyone was living in there if he didn't already know. He wanted to ask to hold it, to see if he could see any sign of Deoxys in it, but he knew Karat wouldn't like that at all.

 

[Namohysip]

With the mirrors arranged, there didn't seem to be much of a noticeable effect. Karat was murmuring again, and he said, "...He says... that it's a little comfortable. That's all he can say. I don't think he's all that aware, though. I think he knows I'm by him, though..."

"Well, it had an effect," Groudon said, rumbling. "I don't know if I want to spend another few weeks here, though. That's boring. I'm bored."

 

[Fusion]

"Me too," Puddle groaned, rubbing both of its temples. In its boredom and waning patience, it melted into a half-puddle without realizing it, and didn't care to reform either. "I... Alright, Karat, do you know how to give things your energy? Or, like... do you think you can let Deoxys do... that thing viruses do? Suck out some of your energy?"

"I really want to help heal Deoxys safely, honestly, I do... and if you're alright with waiting however long, that's great!" Puddle went on, oozing over to Karat. "But, like Groudon said, doing it like this is going to take forever. Do you think you can spare some of your energy to Deoxys, or nutrients, whatever, I dunno... to help him get better quicker?"

 

[Negrek]

"Well, that's good if he's comfortable," Rocky murmured, resting his chin on his hand while he thought. It sounded like Puddle had the virus angle covered. "Do you need to stay around the whole time?" he asked Groudon. "As long as you're kind of nearby, won't it make the sun super bright still?"

"Did anybody ask Joule if he could donate some Radiance?" Nate said. "That's basically concentrated light, ain't it? I know the guy ain't as bright as usual recently, but..."

"Oh!" Rocky brightened. "In Nate's world, there's supposed to be a special kind of rock that makes Groudon super powerful and makes things even more sunny! Does Cibus have anything like that? Maybe you could try that if it does! It sounds like it would be loads of fun, too."

 

[Namohysip]

"...Oh, that form," Groudon said, rumbling irritably. "Pop got mad because of what we did with Shield. I can't go in that form anymore. Not for now, or until he gives that back to me..."

Karat, meanwhile, stared at the core of light, shining bright and very hot. He could practically feel from the stone the radiating heat...

"...Deoxys... could use my life force to recover?" Karat asked, and he looked tempted.

 

[Fusion]

Puddle nodded. "That's what Bahamut told me at least. And seeing how he was... kinda right about the sunlight thing, I'm willin' to be the life force thingy should be right too."

Puddle then looked at Rocky and shook its head. "Bahamut also said that Joule and Diyem givin' Deoxys their energy would corrupt him again... and I don't wanna fight Deoxys... again." It rubbed at its chest, grimacing slightly. The mark on it itched... "...That chest pain still ain't gone away."

 

[Negrek]

Oh, that was right. They had seen Groudon do that once before. Rocky frowned. Maybe Pop would let Groudon have that form back for long enough to heal Deoxys if they asked nicely? "That's too bad about Joule," he murmured absently. Had Maple giving her Radiance to the team earlier corrupted everybody, then? Maybe it didn't matter, since everybody was made of shadows anyway...

"How's this life force thing supposed to work, now?" Nate asked warily. "Sounds kinda iffy to me. I'm sure Deoxys wouldn't want you doing nothing that might put you in danger. That'd kinda defeat the point, wouldn't it?"

 

[Namohysip]

"I'm strong," Karat said in a mutter. "I'm one of the strongest Pokemon in all of Cibus. If anybody can handle it, I can. We're compatible."

Groudon tilted his head slowly. "Compatible how?"

"...We just know each other. I'd... I'll ask him. If it'll make him feel better..."

Without thinking, Karat seemed to reach toward it, still communicating with Deoxys quietly.

 

[Fusion]

It was hard to tell if Karat was full of himself, stating a fact, or both. Either way, it felt like he was rubbing in the fact that he was strong and Puddle wasn't. That probably wasn't the case, Karat probably didn't think Puddle worth the effort to make jabs at anyway.

That thing about them being compatible, though... Puddle thought that was a bit odd. But something told it that it did not want to know about it.

Vix, though...

Puddle shook it's head, grumbling and grimacing. "I know you both trust each other but, still, be careful Karat," it said, not as worried as one would think, considering what it was saying.

 

[Negrek]

Nate and Rocky watched Karat's slow reach uneasily, the familiar glancing at his host now and again, as if hoping he'd make the first move.

"Did Bahamut tell you much about how this 'infection' thing worked?" Nate asked Puddle. Rocky tugged on one of his ears, wondering the same thing. They didn't want to end up with both Deoxys and Karat out of commission, if something went wrong...

 

[Namohysip]

"...Deoxys would never hurt me," Karat said slowly, finally grasping the stone. His skin sizzled against it and he winced, yet he refused to let go. He pulled it toward him and Groudon stopped shining his light. The mirrors, too, dimmed. "I'm talking to him now. But perhaps not even he knows... He never met others of his kind. But... I trust him. What do you want, Deoxys...?"

From the stone, little tendrils reminiscent of Deoxys' usual arms limply dangled out, trying to form. They wrapped around Karat's wrist weakly.

 

[Negrek]

"If you're sure," Rocky said, but his eyes were on Nate. He could tell the marshtomp had a bad, bad feeling about this. "Can you share some of your energy with him? Maybe with something like a heal pulse?"

 

[Fusion]

"Honestly, Bahamut didn't go into that virus thing, so..." Puddle shrugged, watching Deoxys and Karat intently. Curiosity and excitement bubbled to Puddle's surface. "I'm... actually kinda interested in findin' out what happens. Since Deoxys and Karat are close and won't hurt each other, I think we just... let 'em figure out what works. If it's anythin' like when me and Cola joined together, it shouldn't be all that dangerous in the first place."

 

[Namohysip]

Karat sensed their caution, particularly Nate's, and looked at the cooling core to see the little tendrils wrapped around his wrist. More telepathy, and he nodded softly.

"Deoxys... doesn't want to risk anything too much," he said. "But... maybe in a safer environment, we will try something."

"Can I go back to sleep now?" Groudon rumbled.

 

[Negrek]

"Yeah," Nate said. "Maybe in the infirmary. Just in case."

"I think so," Rocky said to Groudon. "I'm surprised you can sleep at all, with everything going on! Isn't it scary? What if the planet gets blown up while you're taking a nap?"

 

[Fusion]

"I'm sure he'll be fine," Puddle said, oozing over to Rocky's side. "I ain't surprised he can sleep through all this, I coulda been too if I wasn't so busy."

It was a shame Puddle couldn't see the virus host thing here, in person, and it kinda doubted that Karat would let it hang around when he tried it. What a bummer. Nevertheless, Puddle stretched out its arms and slapped a grin on its face. "Anyway, if Karat sharin' his body is too risky, and Groudon bein' the sun takes too long, that just means I gotta find another way to help Deoxys. Er, we, since ya don't mind stickin' around," it chuckled, grinning up at Rocky. "We can even drag along that not-short-anymore guy if we wanna."

Talking about bummers, Nate went and evolved... all the way up to a Swampert, in fact. Now he was fucking giant compared to Puddle. Damn...

"You can go ahead and hit the hay, big guy. Thanks for helpin' us out a bit," Puddle said to Groudon. "What's your favorite kinda soda? I'll have to bring ya some as thanks!"

 

[Negrek]

Rocky giggled. "He's still pretty short." But when he caught Nate frowning at him, he winced and said, "Sorry."

The marshtomp didn't reply, and he was clearly in a bad mood while he started taking the mirrors down again. Rocky watched dejectedly for a couple seconds before returning to what Puddle had said.

"Other ways to help Deoxys," Rocky mused. "I was thinking we could ask him, now that he's waking up, but if even he doesn't know..." Rocky shook his head. "Well, maybe if there's someone around here who does know a deoxys from their world, we could try to meet them at Spirit's Edge and ask them how we could help! Or maybe Chip would be able to come up with something, like super-concentrated sunlight!"

Rocky's eyes glowed brightly for a moment, then dimmed again as he thought that one through a bit more. Well... He wouldn't exactly blame Karat if he didn't want to let Deoxys anywhere near one of Chip's inventions.