Sea of Wonders ~ Hidden Land

[Namohysip]

High above the mystical archipelago in the center of most world maps was a floating island of rocks and trees. Once a place where time itself flowed in a stable stream when Dark Matter attempted to destroy it, it was now a sanctuary little more than Dialga himself and the native Pokemon that lived there. He preferred, it seemed, the more natural environment compared to Destiny Village to the far north.

Thick green trees and gigantic bushes left little wiggle room to move around through the Highlands. At the edge of this forest, deeper within the island, was an ancient and overgrown temple of stone of unknown purpose, known perhaps only to Dialga and the other Legends, now. Atop was a small platform covered in runes that was likely the traditional way to get to Temporal Tower, which gleamed at the northern edge of the floating island.

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Maple, Balm, and Cepa emerged from the portal at the top of the ancient temple, looking skyward.

"Do they usually do this?" Cepa asked.

"Depends on how you define usually," Maple commented.

Balm sighed. "At least they're keeping it to the skies..."

Far above them, Dialga and Palkia flew in large spirals and occasionally clashed into one another while shrouded in blue or pink spheres. Each clash left small shockwaves in the air as they exchanged blows of Dragon energy. Dialga had a preference for spherical volleys, while Palkia retaliated with cleaving waves.

Thankfully, neither Legend appeared to be infected.

 

[Virgil134]

"Should... someone stop them?" Cabot hesitantly asked.

 

[Disco]

Mellow stood in awe as soon as she caught sight of the two Legends. They kept themselves so secluded back in her world... Now it felt like she was seeing them all so fast. It made her wonder, what other Legends would she see?

 

[Cresselia92]

Icetales hopped out of the portal, his paws landing gracefully on some dull-grass and spreading the sweet pollen of some orange flowers. He had no time to adjust completely to the new location when his ears were bombarded by the noisy clashes of the two dragons.

“Heavens!” he cried out, and toward the heavens themselves he redirected his attention.

The flashes of magenta and azure enthralled him at first, before his awe turned to dread. Dialga and Palkia were fighting? That was terrible! If they pushed their powers to their maximum potential and tore the fabric of timespace… he didn’t even want to fathom what would have happened then.

“That… would definitely be the preferred solution, Sir Cranidos,” said Icetales, before his tails curled up around his body. “Howbeit, we must first determine the cause of their strife…”

 

[Namohysip]

"I'll handle it," Maple said with a tone that suggested both annoyance and fatigue. She raised her hand as little balls of light drifted away from her fingers, which slowly swirled and grew into longer strands.

"Um, what attack is that?" Owen asked.

"Something deserved," Maple replied, and then launched the attack. The filaments of light became great spears that shot into the sky and rained down on both of them. Beams of light knocked against their bodies and left massive welts and scorch marks, and in the midst of their attacks, caught off guard, they both roared in pain and went plummeting toward the temple. They toppled over one another, still wrestling even as they rolled to a stop. Palkia gave Dialga a firm kick, and Maple readied a second Judgement attack in case it was necessary... but it turned out not to be.

The dust settled and Dialga and Palkia both stared skyward. The first to laugh was Palkia, who rolled to his front and stood up; Dialga chuckled next, resting on his haunches. "A draw, then?" Dialga said.

"I'll get you yet," Palkia replied with a smirk, but then glared at Maple. "And to what do we owe the pleasure of your visit?"

"A hello to you as well," Maple replied, her face like stone.

 

[Fusion]

Ah, yes, a reminder that Maple can indeed kill them if she really wanted to. Cool.

"What were you two fighting about?" Vix asked the two dragons. It'd have to be something important, like one of them intruding on the other's territory, or whoever was the stronger of the two. You know, usual dragon-god arguments.

 

[Disco]

The next person to get ogled at by Mellow was Maple.

Right. The one that had given everyone that "Radiant" power that kept almost killing them. And had apparently also threatened to kill them, according to Durian. She frowned and backed away from the Smeargle, but stayed near the rest of the group and glanced between the Legends and Maple wordlessly.

 

[Cresselia92]

Icetales tilted his head and flicked his tails. Well, that was one way to stop the conflict between the two dragons, alright. And flashy, too!

Though, if he had that kind of power, he would have surely opted a more diplomatic approach.

Yes, I can see why Sir Dave is wary of that lady. I ought to keep mine eyes open, in case she were to start her own rampage…

He coughed and stared at the dragons. While he was used to talking to celebrities of the highest status, he had never dealt with deities themselves. How was he supposed to behave with them and not attract their wrath?

…Reverence. Yes. That treatment never failed.

As such, he bowed at the dragons and kept his tails low, showing respect. “Oh, apologies for the interference and for trespassing without authorization, good sirs. Howbeit, we are in dire need to confer with your estimated personas about a most vital matter. We sure hope you will not mind a few queries.”

 

[Umbramatic]

"Wow! Last time I saw Dialga and Palkia fight was at one of Dad's feasts!"

 

[Namohysip]

Owen tried his best to keep calm while Maple casually demonstrated her power, wondering in the back of his mind if she had done that on purpose as a silent warning. Deciding to heed it, Owen also knew that he'd spent enough time with Maple that he could probably get deeper reads on Maple...

Owen used Miracle Eye to gather even more information!
Maple: Smeargle?
HP: 9999
Attack: 999
Defense: 999
Magic: 999
Resistance: 999

Oh. Okay. Owen regretted looking.

"Just a small disagreement," Dialga replied with a grunt. "What are you here for?"

"I wanted to show you some of those interlopers from Diyem," Maple said. "I trust Arceus filled you in on the details?"

"Some of them," Palkia replied, ascending the temple to look them over--he was a truly gigantic Pokemon, as was Dialga, though the latter seemed bigger thanks to his body shape.

 

[Virgil134]

"Er... well it's nice to meet you," Cabot said as he stepped forward, giving the two Legendaries a small wave. "I'm Cabot, and we're with Diyem like Maple said."

 

[Cresselia92]

“Thou can refer to me as Icetales, good sirs,” he said with a gentle voice, spreading his tails upwards like a peacock’s wheel. It was an instinctual action to make himself look bigger, but his size still dwarfed in comparison to the two dragons. “Then, if thou have some information already, how about we cut straight to the chase? Or dost thou have queries of thy own?”

 

[Fusion]

"I'm Vix, pleasure meeting you," Vix smiled and waved. There was certainly a demanding presence coming from Dialga and Palkia, but they seemed to pail in comparison to Maple. She wondered if the Dialga and Palkia of her world fought like these two, but when would she get the chance to find out? It might actually be a good idea to learn as much as she could about these dragons while she had the chance.

 

[Namohysip]

"It's nice to meet you as well," Palkia said with a formal nod. "Well, we were hoping to get a look at your group. It wasn't much, but we were wondering, if you had something to do with this strange... Shadowing crisis, we might be able to find some similar element on you that lets you pierce that energy nullification. From there, I could use my power to find where similar distortions are."

"Temporal Tower is a strong vantage point for finding these things," Dialga said. "The Sea of Wonders in general, really..."

"It's a long shot, but a simple search like that would help." Palkia glanced at Dialga. "Find Giratina. Perhaps all three of us together can find something."

 

[Fusion]

Oh yeah, Giratina was a thing. Weren't they there when they fought Lugia? Hopefully nothing bad happened to her.

"We'd love to help out any way we can," Vix said. She didn't really know how, but it probably involved hitting something really hard.

 

[Disco]

Mellow provided her name to the duo along with the others, but opted to listen otherwise...

 

[Namohysip]

After some waiting, a portal of darkness appeared between Dialga and Palkia, with Giratina flying out and landing in a slightly altered form. Rather than a long, serpentine creature that flew in the sky, Giratina grew six legs and a bulkier frame, landing with her hind legs first, then her midlegs, and finally her forelegs.

"And, stuck the landing," Giratina murmured. "...Hi! So. First of all, I'm pretty sure nobody else landed in the Reverse World, so you should be safe. How come you're here now?"

"Just a shot in the dark," Balm explained, motioning to Cabot, Mellow, Vix, and Icetales. "You see, we thought that we would bring a few from Diyem's group for you to look at in an effort to track down similar interlopers. After all, aside from Reshiram, Zekrom, and Kyurem, you three are some of the closest Legends to Arceus. Perhaps with some effort, you could be able to... do something?"

"Well... it's a vague request," Dialga said frankly. "But Palkia might be the expert there, if he could search for distortions similar to what these ones give off."

 

[Virgil134]

Cabot tilted his head curiously. "What do you need us to do exactly?"

 

[Cresselia92]

Oh?

Icetales blinked in befuddlement. Distortions? They were creating distortions, too? Could having bodies crafted from darkness be the cause of that? Or perhaps it was a result of the dark sorcery called Radiance? Or… something else they were still unaware of?

He took a quick glance at his group. None of them had any particular characteristic or aura that distinguished them from any other Pokémon belonging to that brave new world, aside from a few individual traits. At least, that was on the surface. He wondered how far those dragons could see into their spirits and souls…

“Hm. Well, whatever it is the service thou require from us just let us know,” said Icetales, tails quivering. “If that will be of help in any way, like finding other interlopers or determining the cause of those noxious distortions, then state thy request and we shall see to accommodate to thy desire.”

 

[Disco]

"Anything to help out!", Mellow replied with a smile. Of course they would. Who would say no to any Legend? She glanced over at Icetales and the others.

...Hopefully it wouldn't lead to anything bad...