Torrent Beach

[Sinderella]

Odette didn't protest as her dual lovers clung to her all the way back out through the portal and onto the beach. All four of their partners, Golisopod, Love, Enora, and a now-human-skinned Odile trudged out behind them. As their feet hit the sand, Guzma perked up with a quirked brow.

"We back in Alola?" he asked.

"No," Odette huffed, "on that island. But we should be good to go now that Orzo's dead."

"̵D̵E̴A̴D̴,̷ ̷d̶e̵a̷d̸.̵ ̷I̷n̷ ̸a̸ ̴b̸o̵t̴t̶l̶e̵ ̶d̵e̷a̶d̵.̶ ̷W̵e̸ ̷d̴i̴d̸ ̸t̷h̷a̷t̵.̵ ̸B̵i̸t̷c̴h̵ ̸d̷i̵d̶n̸'̶t̵ ̴s̴t̵a̴n̸d̵ ̶a̵ ̷c̵h̶a̸n̵c̷e̶,̷ ̷p̸u̴s̴s̶y̸ ̵a̵s̶s̴,̴"̵ Odile sneered, crossing her arms over her chest. "̸T̶h̷o̷u̷g̸h̸ ̸n̸o̸b̵o̵d̷y̶ ̶s̷a̴v̶e̷d̵ ̷m̴e̵ ̸a̷n̵y̷ ̵e̸n̴t̶r̶a̵i̴l̷s̶,̶ ̴b̷u̸t̵ ̴I̵ ̶w̶o̵n̷'̴t̷ ̴h̸a̸r̴p̶ ̶o̴n̴ ̸i̵t̶ ̷b̵e̸c̸a̶u̴s̶e̷ ̴I̶'̸m̴ ̵a̵ ̵c̵h̸a̷n̸g̴e̶d̷ ̷'̵m̴o̴n̶.̵"̶

"Are you?" Clovis asked incredulously.

Odile visibly jolted and took a wide step away from Clovis, eyeing him cautiously over her shoulder. "̵Y̵e̷s̶.̵ ̵D̶o̸n̷'̷t̶ ̵q̶u̵e̵s̶t̴i̷o̵n̶ ̶m̷e̸,̸ ̷f̴u̴c̸k̶e̷r̵.̷"̴

Rolling his eyes, Clovis decided to capitalize on the opportunity of this newfound downtime. With a deep sigh, he pulled Odette into a tight hug, which Guzma didn't hesitate to join in on.

"Gods, you have a penchant for getting involved in the worst possible shit. Do we want to know what happened?" he asked.

"It's a long, very drawn-out story," Odette said. "I'll tell you about it on the way home." She paused to mull over another set of words. "Thank you for helping. You made that very easy. He shouldn't be bothering anybody anymore."

"Well, ya know what they say," Guzma started, "the dildo of consequence rarely ever arrives lubed."

Clovis and Odette frowned deeply, and simultaneously turned to glower at Guzma. It took him a second to notice the latter two staring at him, but when he did, he gave an exaggerated shrug. "What?"

“What the—!? What’s Guzma doing here!? Did Team Skull come here to wreck this place!?”

Zack perked up and saw Guzma as well, glaring at him and getting into a fighting pose. “Oh, we’ll show ‘em!” He was silent in thought for a brief moment before he spoke again. “Unless they just wanna hang out, if what you said about ‘em from the news is anything to go by.”

At the sound of his name, Guzma scrunched his brows. He turned around at the same time the rest of their group did, only to find...birds and a puny dude looking over at them. Setting up to fight? Were they fucking crazy?

He held up a defensive hand, even as Golisopod sunk halfway into his battle stance. Love, Enora, and Odile must have been on high alert, because they also looked ready to pounce.

"Whoa, bitch. Siddown. Be humble," he warned. "Yer not showin' me shit; I'dun even know who y'all are. I'm just here to take my girlfriend home, ya got that?"

 

[Hanafuda]

"Whoa, bitch. Siddown. Be humble," he warned. "Yer not showin' me shit; I'dun even know who y'all are. I'm just here to take my girlfriend home, ya got that?"

“Girlfriend?” Seb asked, scrunching up his face in confusion. “Who…?” It took him a few seconds, but when he turned towards the woman beside Guzma, a realization came to him. “Wait. Really!?” His eyebrows were raised and his mouth was open in an incredulous expression.

“Yo, WHAAAT!?” Zack screeched, just as incredulous as his Trainer. He turned towards Odette and Odile. “Ladies, what is this!? How did ya end up with freakin’ Guzma, of all people, as your boyfriend?”

 

[Sinderella]

“Yo, WHAAAT!?” Zack screeched, just as incredulous as his Trainer. He turned towards Odette and Odile. “Ladies, what is this!? How did ya end up with freakin’ Guzma, of all people, as your boyfriend?”

Odile clapped her hands together before holding them up as if she were surrendering. She took a step back. "̸Y̴o̶u̴ ̵a̸r̷e̸ ̶s̸o̵r̶e̸l̵y̴ ̷m̵i̴s̷t̷a̸k̵e̸n̴ ̴i̴f̴ ̴y̷o̷u̶ ̵t̵h̵i̶n̷k̴ ̵I̷'̴m̸ ̸i̵n̵ ̵o̷n̴ ̷t̴h̷a̴t̷.̶"

Odette felt herself growing exasperated, and it became evident that Enora was feeling the same, judging by the looks they ended up exchanging. With a drawn-out breath, she sent them a droopy-eyed look.

"We met. We fucked around. I punched him, he punched me back. Now we're here," she said dully.

"That makes it sound like you're totally dysfunctional," Clovis said, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"I mean," Odette chided, "did you hear what just came out of his goddamn mouth?"

"Guzma of all people..." Guzma repeated under his breath. "What the everlovin' hell is that supposed to mean?"

 

[IFBench]

"Oh, wait, you're Guzma?" Delino asked, walking over to the group. "Dude, Ta Writeer's been DMing my ear off for ages about how much she wants to interview you!"

"I don't think this is the same Guzma..." Coleane said, following her human friend.

"...ah. Well, er, nice to meet you, I guess," Delino said, sheepishly looking away as he pulled out his phone.

 

[Sinderella]

"Oh, wait, you're Guzma?" Delino asked, walking over to the group. "Dude, Ta Writeer's been DMing my ear off for ages about how much she wants to interview you!"

Guzma stared hard at the newcomer. "Interview? Now? Didn't we just fight some fucked up terror 'mon and yer talkin' to me about interviews? Dude."

Both Clovis and Odette moved to cling to him, in an attempt to stop whatever anger storm was brewing inside his brain. "Guz, relax. We're in the multiverse, right?" Clovis said.

Realization seemed to dawn on him. "Ohhhhhhhh," Guzma said, palming the side of his face. "Riiiiiiiiight ri-ri-ri-ri-riiiiiiiight. Same reason there's a fuckin' Gladion over there that I don't fuckin' recognize."

Now, he was smiling a little warmer. "Ah, well. Hopefully yer Guzma sits for an interview or whatever. But this one's fuckin' spent."

 

[Hanafuda]

"We met. We fucked around. I punched him, he punched me back. Now we're here," she said dully.

“Um, okay. I’ll try not to question this too much. I’m just glad you have a boyfriend, miss.” Seb lifted his glasses and rubbed his eyes. He noticed something from the corner of his vision. He crouched down, examining Guzma’s choice of footwear closely. “Huh? Are those… Happiny? Why is he wearing Happiny slippers?”

Zack covered his beak with a wing, suppressing his laughter as best he could. “Dude, that has to be the best thing ever. Imagine the chances.”

 

[Sinderella]

“Um, okay. I’ll try not to question this too much. I’m just glad you have a boyfriend, miss.”

"Boyfriends," Odette stressed. "Plural. Let's not give one more credit than the other."

"No, I'm perfectly content hanging back," Clovis said reassuringly. "This conversation is above my current mental capacity, please carry on."

Huh? Are those… Happiny? Why is he wearing Happiny slippers?”

Zack covered his beak with a wing, suppressing his laughter as best he could. “Dude, that has to be the best thing ever. Imagine the chances.”

Guzma bared his teeth. "Damn fuckin' straight these are happiny slippers. I'm wearin them 'cuz they're CUTE, why the fuck else? They're bomb. And they match my chansey apron. It's a whole ass set, and it's chic."

 

[Hanafuda]

"Damn fuckin' straight these are happiny slippers. I'm wearin them 'cuz they're CUTE, why the fuck else? They're bomb. And they match my chansey apron. It's a whole ass set, and it's chic."

“Actually, yeah, I can respect that,” Seb said, rather dumbfounded. “I also like cute Pokémon and things.” He could not help but feel awkward in this situation. To think that he would have a conversation with Team Skull’s leader…

Zack let out a few soft warbles as he laughed while trying to muffle his voice with his wing. “Yo, I can’t get over this. I mean, Team Skull’s boss wearin’ pink? Dude, like, this is epic!”

“Please have some respect, Zack,” Jack muttered in disbelief.

 

[Sinderella]

Zack let out a few soft warbles as he laughed while trying to muffle his voice with his wing. “Yo, I can’t get over this. I mean, Team Skull’s boss wearin’ pink? Dude, like, this is epic!”

“Please have some respect, Zack,” Jack muttered in disbelief.

"The fuck's wrong with pink? Pink's a great color. Why couldn't destruction in human form wear pink?" He wrapped his arms around both Odette and Clovis's waists and pulled them close, his expression becoming intense. "This is a pink. Loving. Polycule."

"Honey I don't think it's that deep..." Clovis droned.

"It IS deep, I'm tired of the pink slander."

 

[Hanafuda]

"This is a pink. Loving. Polycule."

"Honey I don't think it's that deep..." Clovis droned.

"It IS deep, I'm tired of the pink slander."

Seb went to push the laughing Pidgeot away, a rather difficult task for him due to the size and strength difference. “Well, it’s been a big experience over here, but I think we should get going.” He turned towards Odette. “You’ve been a great help in this case, miss. Hope we can count on you when we meet again.”

“Ahah! Oh, dude! It keeps gettin’ better! Stop it! Ohahaha!” Zack walked away with his Trainer and Farfetch’d friend towards another group of people, trying to catch his breath along the way.

 

[IFBench]

"Oh, um, h-hi, uh...aunt Winona?" Gen said, waving at her. "Um, n-nice to meet y-you!"

"Um...I kn-know I'm really w-weird for, um...being a talking Pokemon..." Gen says, looking down at himself.

 

[IFBench]

"Oh, um, th-thanks!" Gen said, perking back up. "I'd r-really like that! Um, i-is there any opportunity for m-me to help with cooking?"

 

[Sinderella]

Seb went to push the laughing Pidgeot away, a rather difficult task for him due to the size and strength difference. “Well, it’s been a big experience over here, but I think we should get going.” He turned towards Odette. “You’ve been a great help in this case, miss. Hope we can count on you when we meet again.”

“Ahah! Oh, dude! It keeps gettin’ better! Stop it! Ohahaha!” Zack walked away with his Trainer and Farfetch’d friend towards another group of people, trying to catch his breath along the way.

"If I can help it, this won't happen again," Odette said. Nonetheless, she flashed him a lazy salute. "'Till next time."

Meanwhile, Guzma was glaring at Zack, his palm outstretched in a questioning fashion. "I wasn't even tryna be funny, what the fuck is he--"

He was silenced when Odette reached up to cover his mouth. "Can we just...go get my stuff so we can go home?" she asked.

"I'll second that motion," Clovis agreed. "Where would it be?"

"The dorms. I'll need to repack everything, but--"

Her eyes suddenly widened, and she gasped. "Oh!"

Without an explanation, she began to look around frantically. When her eyes landed on a head of blonde, she took off for it.

"Kimiko! Olivia!" she shouted. Enora and Odile kept at her heels as she went.

Clovis and Guzma watched her go, exchanging pensive looks, before motioning their partners to follow them.

[[ @Seren ]]

 

[Seren]

As it turned out, Orzo was in no position to set a trap. Clink managed to break through to Xavian and rescue him before confining the Golden King back to his prison. They'd left the bottle with Darkrai, for lack of anything better to do with it. If not keeping guard over it himself, Darkrai would know what to do with it to make sure Orzo didn't get free again for a long, long time.

Kimiko only spent a moment making sure Xavian was okay before leaving him and Clink to their moment. She'd also thanked Darkrai for his assistance before retreating towards the escape portal Hoopa finally managed to conjure. As usual, she'd waited until everyone else had made it through safely before going herself, ushering Olivia and Lucy Gray ahead of her.

They emerged back onto the sandy beach of the island. All around her, the trainers began to unwind from their experience. Lucy faded away, invisible again, once out in the bright sunlight. Olivia and Thorn didn't waste any time getting reacquainted, running around, and generally flinging sand everywhere. As she made to go collapse in her boyfriend's arms, she paused after catching him staring at her, a curious expression on his face.

"...What?" she asked innocently.

"You look like hell, babe."

She didn't doubt that for a second, but he hadn't even hesitated. She rolled her eyes. "I'm sure I've looked worse."

"You wanna tell me what the hell that just was?" He gestured vaguely in the direction of Hoopa's portal.

"On the boat," she replied, giving him a guilty, weary smile. "Right now, I need a nap." Of course he'd want to know what she'd gotten herself into, now that they were all out of danger. Finally. Now that the adrenaline rush had worn off, it had begun to sink in. It was over. Despite all the stress and freakouts and absurdity of the past week, they'd survived. They'd won.

But along with that revelation, the effects of the battle had also begun to catch up with her. The sun was starting to dry her clothes and hair, but her whole body ached, and she wasn't sure how much longer her legs would support her weight. She was exhausted, both physically and mentally. What she really needed was a vacation from this vacation.

Thankfully, Alex relented, his voice softening. "Alright, but I'm not going to forget. You ready to go?" It was small comfort, with how she felt at the moment, that he'd stopped pressuring her about her feelings again. That had taken a while after everything else they'd gone through.

And though she wanted nothing more than to just get to her cabin and pass out, she wasn't finished here yet. There were still too many friends to say goodbye to. She looked around for one in particular; surely it wouldn't be hard to find her in the crowd... but then again, the size of the crowd had at least doubled in size since the last time they were all together here. But after a moment of scanning, she failed to find the person she'd been looking for. With a sigh, she shook her head. Maybe she could just catch her somewhere on the boat... But there was no guarantee of that. It would have been so much easier now, knowing she were here somewhere...

"No," she finally answered. "Still wanna say bye to people. Also left some stuff in my dorm room. Should go get that first."

 

[Hanafuda]

After Zack calmed down from his laughing fit, he noticed Coleane nearby talking with a human. He waved a wing. “Yo, Coleane! Say, who’s that? A friend of yours?”

Seb turned to where his Pidgeot was looking, noticing the Oshawott that was with Coleane. He smiled and gave a thumbs-up. “Hey, Gen! Nice job on the cooking! And for helping us save the world. What was all that, by the way? You were huge and you had something shiny with you.”

 

[Negrek]

On the far side of the portal, no one seemed to know what to do. Exhausted trainers and pokemon milled around. A couple were lying facedown in the sand, either literally passed out or having decided that the beach was as good a place as any to catch some shuteye. So they were all supposed to be filing off to their respective different worlds now, was that it? It didn't look like anyone here would be going anywhere for a while. Nothing much to do in the meantime, either.

Nate looked around for somewhere to at least sit the fuck down for a while that wasn't already covered in other people--a rock or something, maybe. There were a few irregular outcroppings, at least, that hadn't been totally claimed. Even a couple that weren't covered in limpets and seaweed and shit. Nate settled down on a not-particularly-comfortable hump of wave-rounded stone, and Mightyena sat gratefully by his feet. And the Freak. Plopped right down in the sand like it belonged there. Nate had really, really been hoping it would just disappear when they walked through the portal.

It was still being way too quiet. Nate hadn't realized it was even possible for the little asshole to go this long without making some sort of stupid comment. But it was just sitting there, looking at the big group of people around them, not even fidgeting or nothing. What in the hell was it up to?

Not his problem. He hadn't asked for that asshole to show up, and whatever it wanted to do, fine, so long as it left him alone. This was nice, actually.

The hum of activity continued all around him. Lots of people catching up with their besties or whoever had gotten dragged along to help them fight. The oshawott was hanging out with Wallace again--Nate supposed the other Wallace was the one who'd just gotten called up here, then. It looked like the weird birds were annoying Odette again. Nothing super exciting.

There were a few new pokemon around, too. One that stood out was a grim-looking blastoise--somebody not to be fucked with, in Nate's estimation. It definitely carried itself with the air of somebody who knew how to use its cannons. It was hanging out near Blue, which would have made sense, except that this particular Blue had apparently picked charmander. Making the blastoise's trainer... Red?

Nate squinted. Maybe in that Blue's universe, Red was a girl? But the kid currently talking Blue's ear off didn't look anything like Red, and she looked to be more or less the opposite, personality-wise. Kind of spooky. Like there wasn't a Red in Blue's universe, so someone else got pulled into the role, like, history demanded that somebody take up Red's place somehow?

A vague idea was beginning to take shape. Nate nudged the freak with his boot. "Hey. Look over there. That's Blue, ain't it?"

It looked. "I think that is Blue."

"Yeah! Great! Why don't you go over there and talk to him, huh? That'd be cool, right? Blue's a cool guy."

The freak kept its freaky stare trained on Blue and his companion, but that was it. "You don't got any clue who the chick is, do you?" Nate prompted after a long moment had passed.

"No."

"Cool. Why don't you go find out? That's like an alternate-universe version of Blue over there, so maybe that's a different version of Red. Or, like, somebody who ain't supposed to exist." No response. "Which is pretty fucking sick, right? Alternate universes are cool. Multiverse bullshit, like something you'd see in a movie, right?"

"I think movies sometimes have alternate universes," the freak said at last.

"Exactly! Why don't you go over there and ask them about it, huh? Figure out what's going on. How often do you get the chance to hang out with a former champion and a maybe weird backwards copy of a champion, am I right?"

"Are you telling me to talk to them?"

Somehow the freak had managed to come up with a way to be even more aggravating than usual. "Yes. Yes, I am telling you to fucking talk to them. Go make friends. Fuck off."

And it did. Got right up and trotted over there like nothing could be more natural. Nate watched it go, frowning. He'd been hoping he could send one asshole to annoy the shit out of another asshole, but something was definitely up with the freak. Whatever act it had going on, it was super committed to the bit. Well, at least whatever happened next would probably be... informative.

The child walked over to the trainers the great Nathaniel Morgan had indicated. One of them was Blue. It didn't know the other. It spared only passing glances for the charizard and blastoise accompanying the humans.

"Hello," it said. "The great Nathaniel Morgan told me to be friends with you. I know who you are." It looked at Blue. "But I do not know you." The child doubted the other human was anyone important, but the great Nathaniel Morgan seemed very interested in her for some reason. "You might be somebody who is not supposed to exist. Who are you?"

 

[Hanafuda]

As Seb was talking with Gen, he noticed Wallace nearby. “Oh, Wallace!” He clasped his hands onto his chest and smiled in joy. “Are you okay now? Well, if you ask me, I’m not as okay as I would’ve liked, but…” He looked down, rubbing his cheek. “I mean, we all were pretty scared back there in the fight, but we beat that monster of a king. We saved the world together.” He placed both hands on his cheeks, squishing them and shutting his eyes. There was excitement evident in his tone. “Aah, it feels good! Man, I love catharsis!”

[[ @Torchic W. Pip ]]

 

[Hanafuda]

“Yeah, I’m fine. Mostly physically—”

"I'm... I'm more than okay. I'm with my beloved Winona."

Seb did a double-take, seeing Winona beside Wallace. He was a bit shocked at the sight. “Wha—? Oh. Fortree City’s Gym Leader?” He fixed his glasses and composed himself as he spoke to her. “It’s an honor.”

“Hey, ain’t that the Altaria lady from Hoenn?” Zack asked, pointing a feather at Winona with an irked eye. He smiled as he flexed his arm. “Oh, as if I was gonna pass this chance up. Where’s the chick?”

 

[Hanafuda]

“I see you know Wallace?”

“Yeah.” Seb nodded, placing a hand on his head. “He’s a lot more awesome than I thought. I mean, this isn’t the same Wallace I remember from my world, and I’m assuming you’re not the same Winona, but it’s so nice that you’re together. Kinda unusual, but still nice.”

Aurora chirped with glee. “Hello there! I’m the chick… well, I was the chick. But now I’m the Winona bird of Hoenn: Aurora! How are you, and what might your name be?”

“Name’s Zack,” the Pidgeot replied, smiling at Aurora. “I’m feelin’ great ‘cause just look!” He showed off and flexed his wings, puffing out his chest and smirking. “These muscles belong to a real hero. The guy who saved the multiverse from the tyranny of the Golden King!”

“You weren’t alone in that,” the Farfetch’d said, holding Aegislash over his shoulder.

“Oh, right, this is Jack—you can call him Jack-o if ya want—, he’s my pal and—Is that an actual Aegislash you’re holdin’!?” Zack turned to Jack in bewilderment.

“Oh, right. Master is here, too.” The Farfetch’d planted the living sword on the ground.

“Greetings,” Aegislash said, moving his cloth arms in a similar manner to a bow.

“Yo, that’s awesome!” Zack exclaimed.

 

[Hanafuda]

"A hero! It's wonderful to be friends with a hero..." Aurora looked around at her peers. "...Lots of heroes, in fact! Oh, Horus will be so happy to hear about this!"

“Is this Horus guy a friend of yours?” Zack asked, flexing some more. “Then I’m sure he’ll appreciate the beauty of this hero. You can count on me if ya need any help. Maybe saving ya.”

Seb looked at his Pidgeot talking with Aurora, then turned back in embarrassment. “Oh, uh, the beefcake of a Pidgeot over there is Zack. Don’t mind him too much, he likes to flirt with any female birds he can find.”