Treasure Town ~ Main Square

[Namohysip]

Owen returned Dave's laugh with one of his own. He didn't expect this to get Dave to be so happy! Especially for a human. Maybe he was more accepting of his new form than expected?

Perhaps, then, he could give his Ember attack a spin for Dave. "Try this!" Owen said, spitting a small glob of flames just ahead of him. He aimed for the ground that would be just ahead of Dave at his current speed--a grazing shot--and then sidestepped so he wasn't a standing target.

 

[Dragonfree]

Dave yelped at the sight of flames shooting into his path and made an attempt to slow down or turn around, but his momentum just sent him tumbling over himself, straight into the path of the flames, and from there to sliding a couple feet in the dirt. Ow.

He dragged himself to his feet, everything aching. Already hormones were hard at work pushing the pain to the background, brushing it off as no big deal: he was fine, he could still stand, he had plenty of fight left. One tug of instinct went get the hell out of here now! and another went but REVENGE.

With a heave of effort he raced back in Owen's direction for another Tackle.

 

[Namohysip]

Owen winced in empathy; he didn't expect to trip Dave up that much... But now it looked like Dave was serious. A part of him wanted to stop it to make sure that Dave would have that fire for the fight--but another part of him was too curious what Dave was capable of now that he was worked up. Just one last exchange.

Owen rushed for Dave, white energy illuminating the tips of his claws. He took the tackle head-on--wincing at the bruise he suspected might form--and then countered with a Scratch along Dave's flank, white energy trailing behind his swipe.

 

[Dragonfree]

Dave landed, panting. "Ow, fuck." Something about the bleeding scratches in his side was distinctly worse than Owen's previous hits, a deep stinging sensation. He wanted to lick them, but no. He could at least draw that line.

At this point the instinct to hightail it somewhere safe was definitely stronger than the still-present urge to show Owen what for and win. He glanced back at the Charmander; he didn't seem about to attack again. Okay. They were done.

His head began to clear as he sat down on his haunches, catching his breath. Everything about the fight had, with more sober hindsight, been pretty ridiculous (God, he must've sounded like a lunatic with the laughing). There was still an annoying throb of the battle wasn't done! and you can take him! somewhere in the back of his brain. His wounds still stung with pain, but the urgency of battle that'd made it seem unimportant had given way to a pleasant, tipsy buzz of satisfaction.

All in all, the takeaway: he could fight. Hell, it was easy. He could do this again. The Pokémon body just went and made the whole thing breezy fun. It was bizarre drunk nonsense, but so long as it worked, what the hell. He could face down some giant Magikarp like this. No problem.

 

[Namohysip]

"Not bad, right?" Owen asked, spotting that contemplative look on Dave's face. "Sorry if it's kind of surreal or anything like that. The whole human thing, right? You don't usually fight. It's not too, you know, disturbing, right?"

It was exhilarating for Owen, just as it always was. Always--mm. So he enjoyed fighting in the past, too? Yet he was still self-conscious enough to ask about it. Owen pieced these thoughts together. So where he was from, he loved fighting, but that wasn't normal. Or perhaps he loved fighting too much? Was that different here? He certainly felt normal here...

The tremors were a little louder.

 

[Dragonfree]

"Hah. Yeah, I, uh, don't exactly do a lot of fighting back home." Dave paused. "As for disturbing... I mean, yeah, it's kind of disturbing. But what the hell, apparently being a Pokémon makes it kind of great. Should've figured, I guess, given how much Pokémon like to beat the shit out of each other."

 

[Ambyssin]

"The look on your face, Charmander..." Necrozma crossed his arms. He didn't sound amused. "You seemed a bit too into that battle." Necrozma stared at his right hand. "Those corrupted by the distortion back home were often like that... reveling in the thrill of bringing violence unto others."

It was as he thought. He'd have to keep an eye on Owen.

 

[Dragonfree]

"'The distortion'?" Dave raised an eyebrow.

 

[Namohysip]

Owen flinched, clearing his throat. "Y-yeah, I, er, I mean..." He trailed off. Maybe it was abnormal after all. "I guess I'll be more careful about that so I don't get, you know, carried away..." He stood up. "But I held back because we still have the real fight to worry about. It may be big... but I bet if we tapped into that hidden power Diyem gave us, we can do it! ...And maybe some Blast Seeds."

 

[Ambyssin]

"It? There's two of them, boy. Did you hit your head too hard?" Necrozma shook his head. "Perhaps there are a lot of ferals in your ancestry."

 

[Namohysip]

Owen winced, but then looked at the horizon. "R-right. Two. Sorry, I only remember fighting one at the time, so..." He liked it better when he was recovering with a soft blanket.

 

[Dragonfree]

Dave gave the alien a brief glare.

"What is the hidden power Diyem gave us, anyway?" he asked Owen.

 

[Namohysip]

"I think it's how we output our power all at once instead of gradually like Pokemon normally do," Owen theorized. "It might be why we can pierce through this... nullification power from the Magikarp. Maybe?"

The tremors were getting stronger and he looked at the horizon again. "O-oh."

Suddenly, the Magikarp had used Splash, but in a peculiar way. They were both high in the air, threatening to eclipse the sun, and coming toward town a lot faster...

D-Diyem? They're--

I'll alert everyone.

<><><>​

 

[Shiny Phantump]

Celeste wandered. They’d bested the spectre possessing Turf and thrown it into a bottle. Now that that was done, he had to burn off some energy, so he was going... somewhere.

Definitely somewhere.

Ah, there was a Floatzel in the square. It was somewhat odd to Celeste to see the place occupied by actual civilians instead of just his tentative teammates. He nodded politely to the Floatzel. “Greetings.”

He slowed his pace enough that he could either stop if the Floatzel responded or keep going if he did nothing but return the hello.

 

[Namohysip]

The Floatzel had been reading through some sort of document, brows furrowed and intense, when she suddenly turned around and said. "WAH?" She started to roll up the paper. "Ahhh you, you, you, you, you..."

bop

She smacked Celeste with the rolled up paper, then unrolled it and continued reading. "You, you, you youngins... think that just because you saved the town, you own the place?! Bah! You're no better than Team Spice when they were young troublemakers, though at least they had the decency to not break the shops of a poor, helpless old Floatzel!"

 

[Shiny Phantump]

“Do... what now?”

It clicked. This was the shopkeeper Zane had stolen from. This would be... an interesting encounter. Hmm... should he try to help Zane? Or should he throw Zane below the stampede hooves, so to speak?

No wait. He had a plan. It was a wonderful, beautiful plan. He could try to get Zane off easier, while also giving him a bit of the comeuppance he deserved. He’d only be appearing to be trying to do the former, though, which is what made it such a lovely plan.

“Oh, are you the one who runs that shop? Ah, yes. I head the story. The Zangoose, yes, he’s an odd one. A man of few words, shy, and yet also a man of great feelings. Needed a gift to express his affection, and yet all the shops were closed. Worried he could fall in the battle without ever making his feelings known, he turned to... more desperate measures.

“All the worse when he was attacked after wandering off alone... Yes, he knew we were supposed to travel as a group, but couldn’t bring himself to admit his feeli-

“Ah, I’m rambling. I apologize, I’m a bit lightheaded right now. Where were we? Oh yes. You were hitting me with a paper.”

 

[Tanuki]

Backbreaking. Demoralizing—humiliating! He (was aligned with the people that) saved this town, and he had to do manual labor because of a measly window, box of chocolates, and a card. There'd be no town to rebuild without him! Sure, he did about as much for the team as a well placed rock, but it was the principle of the thing!

Evidently, this world's people somehow convinced themselves he wasn't entitled to any and everything he wanted because of his ability to stand in front of other people. He needed to convince them through other means. He'd have to rely on his charisma, of which he thought he had plenty (despite having none).

He would appeal to the shopkeeper, a floatzel. Not knowing which floatzel led to a few awkward conversations. He thought he'd found the right one when blasted with a hydro-pump on sight, but apparently that floatzel just recognized him and didn't respect his heroic damage soaking.

Drenched and steaming, he finally found the right floatzel. He thought. This was definitely the last one he was talking to today, so if it wasn't, he'd probably pretend she was anyway. Celeste already talking to her seemed like a good sign. He shambled over with a not-at-all-exaggerated limp before prostrating at their feet.

"M-ma'am," he wheezed. "Are you the owner of the brutalized shop?" He looked up with the most pitiable look he possibly could. It was, in fact, very pitiable; looking pitiful was perhaps his greatest talent.

 

[Shiny Phantump]

Oh joy. This plan just got a lot more... interesting.

“Oh. Hello, Zane. Funny that I’d bump into you here, now. I was just giving her some of the context for your... uhh... incident. Just so she understands what happened in proportion and doesn’t... uhh... judge you too harshly. Got a little caught up on the storytelling of it, really. We were just getting back to the part where she was bonking people on the head with her papers. Do you want a turn?”

 

[Namohysip]

Floatzel raised a paw. "I don't need to hear it," she said, waving the paper in the air again. "I don't care if you were doing it for your mama! You took advantage of a crisis not to save the town but loot it! What does that mean for the rest of you, you, you, you..." She narrowed her eyes. "I won't be satisfied until the shop is spotless from the trouble you caused! The Guild may have paid for your damages, but it won't heal the damage in my mind, a helpless Floatzel's mind who feels unsafe in her own shop!"

She went on with grand, sweeping motions, but then stopped. "And you know what the worst part of it all is?" Floatzel pointed accusingly at Zane. "Your lover, your to-be mate, how unlucky to be with you! Not only do you break into a shop, but you do it so hastily, picking whatever catches your eye! No consideration for the right product to steal! It was an insult to my shop!"

 

[Shiny Phantump]

Celeste scoffed. “Well, it’s hardly his fault he was attacked by a spirit of cinder in the middle of the whole affair. I’m sure you saw the building it cleaved in half? Yes, I can see why he fled the scene when that occurred. Anything that both can and will cleave buildings in two is something best to be avoided. The presence of such a thing hardly equals a criticism of your selection.”