Treasure Town ~ Marketplace

[Tanuki]

Zane grunted, half in response, the other in exertion. "Surprisingly, that's more luck than I usually get." He twisted his head to the right, keeping Celeste's eyes out of sight as he possibly could while still having a semblance of an idea of what's in front of him. "Same for second chances. Don't be too hasty, though. Feel free to skewer me when you're rested up." Zane phrased it as a joke but left all sense of humor out of his voice. It sounded like a genuine offer.

"You're the boss, Charmy," he grumbled to Owen without so much as a glance his way and continued lumbering forward.

 

[Namohysip]

"Ch-Charmy? Boss?" Owen glanced skyward, wondering if the conspiracy that he and Diyem were working together had spread that much already. It would explain the three Charmander on the team...

 

[Tanuki]

"Not a fan of the nickname?" Zane asked. "C'mon, Owen, you can't expect me to remember every charmander's name. 'Charmy' just makes sense." He smirked as best he could with Celeste smushing half his face. "You can sympathize with memory trouble, I'm sure."

 

[Namohysip]

Owen winced, but tried to hide it in the darkness. That didn't stop his tail from flaring up, though. "I think I'm going to get dinner and then an early night's sleep..."

 

[Virgil134]

Cabot let out a loud sigh. At least things got resolved in the end... sort of.

"Yeah, dinner sounds pretty good right about now."

 

[Tanuki]

Zane's attempt at a smirk dropped. Clearly, he hadn't earned the right to rib. Or he hadn't phrased it properly. Or it was Owen's fault somehow. Zane decided on that one and went back to the dojo.

 

[Tanuki]

<><><><><><>

 

[Jedi Shulk]

Fay walked through the market place trying to find Astrid. Ultimately Fay didn't find her at the marketplace. Can you proceeded to move on to Sharpedo Bluff.

<><><><><><>

 

[TheGOAT]

A greater sense of purpose seized each footstep as Astrid trod along the Treasure Town road. Main street was a whole new beast now that the townsfolk had returned, breathing life into an area she’d only vaguely remembered having any activity—a lingering memory of her own world, she supposed. She much preferred this to the ghost town it had been days prior.

Joining her were Nip and Cabot, the latter of whom had planned the excursion. Given the opportunity to get to know the two better was why Astrid ultimately expressed interest in tagging along, although, she had to admit, varying her moveset sounded like fun as well. If that first battle was anything to go by, fighting here was a whole different gambit than what she was used to.

The Kecleon shop was one of the first buildings to greet them as they entered the marketplace, and the stacks of TMs placed behind the counter spoke for themselves.

“Hi!” she greeted the brothers, ruffling the fluff on her head to keep it out of her eyes. “We’re here to ask about moves.”

 

[windskull]

"So let me make sure I've got this straight," Nip mumbled to Cabot, standing a few steps behind Astrid as she started talking to the shopkeeps. "In your world, you have these... Magical circle things that you use to teach Pokemon certain moves?" He paused to scratch behind his ear. "I'll be honest, that seems pretty out there. Why not just have someone yeah you the move instead? Wouldn't that make more sense? Wouldn't it be easier to learn from someone who knows how to draw out that movie, rather than hoping one of these 'Tee-ehm' things will just grant it too you?"

 

[Namohysip]

"Oh, it's you," said the purple Kecleon. "You know, I have a sinking feeling that you guys are the ones behind this, going for some huge scam to swindle us out of our supplies! Protection services, I call it..."

"N-now, Plum, hang--hang on!" a green Kecleon said frantically, practically flying out of the back room of the hastily repaired building. "Sorry, sorry," he added to the quartet.

"Is--is something wrong?" Owen asked, wincing. "I'm sorry we took from your shop before, but Go--er, Maple's team covered the expenses, right?"

"Yes, yes, they did," Plum replied, though his eyes were fixed on Owen, now. "But not a single coin from you, hmmm? Olive, don't you think that's suspicious, even slightly?"

"No. Plum, they saved our town!" Olive leaned forward. "I'm sorry. Plum has been a little moody lately. You're welcome like any other customer!"

 

[Virgil134]

"That's right! I don't know how it works exactly, but I guess that's human magic for you," Cabot replied to Nip. "What's so special about them is that they can teach Pokémon moves they otherwise wouldn't be able to learn. Not only that, but you'd only need one Porygon in order to teach everyone a whole bunch of different moves instead of having multiple Pokémon who each only know a few specific moves. I guess you can kinda compare it to a story being written down as opposed to having to be told by a specific Pokémon."

The Cranidos trailed off as he turned his gaze towards the two Kecleon, recoiling slightly at Plum's outburst.

 

[TheGOAT]

Astrid blinked at Plum. Ah, yeah, one of their team members had technically looted a shop. It was only natural most of the locals would be wary of the whole group as a result; they didn’t possess the same impetus to get to know everyone individually and all that. It was a burden they’d all have to shoulder for the time being.

“Do you have Frost Breath? Or Weather Ball?” She tilted her head. “…Maybe Blizzard? Always wanted to try out that one.”

It occurred to her that, for once, she wasn’t the only ice-type around, and glanced at Nip. “What about you? Looking for any ice moves?”

 

[windskull]

"I've never heard of a porygon, but I'm assuming that they're also related to humans." Nip frowed, trying to picture what a porygon might be, then decided not to dwell on it and instead turned his attention to the kecleons, Astrid, and Owen. Goodness, Plum seemed... "friendly." He didn't really see what Plum's problem was. Unless he'd heard about Zane. In which case, okay. Yeah.

Nip suppressed a winced, annoyed just thinking about the zangoose, then realized he was being addressed and answered Astrid. "I'm pretty satisfied with ice shard... for right now. But I wouldn't mind picking up a dark move. Or maybe something like shadow claw - always wanted to try learning that one. My fighting style has always been to strike first and to strike hard. Your opponent can't hurt you if you've already knocked them out, after all."

 

[Namohysip]

"Oh? Are you here for TMs?" Olive leaned forward. "Well that's precisely what will cheer Plum up, now isn't it, brother?"

Plum grumbled and crossed his arms. "I suppose being able to sell some of these would be nice... but if that's the case, I want to make sure you use it and you aren't just planning to... sell it off somewhere, or steal it, or..." It was likely he heard about Zane.

Olive smiled apologetically. "What would you like?"

 

[Virgil134]

"Do you guys have Stone Edge in stock?" Cabot asked as he enthusiastically went up to the counter, wagging his tail slightly at the idea of being able to relearn Stone Edge this soon.

 

[Namohysip]

"Stone Edge, hrmmm..." Kecleon looked through their wares, then frowned. "Nope, sorry. That's one of the few ones we don't have on us just yet, but... Oh! Well, how about Rock Slide?" He looked back, tilting his head. "Yep! We've got that one in stock, and I'll be looking around for Stone Edge in the meantime..."

 

[Virgil134]

Cabot's head drooped in disappointment as his hopes to relearn Stone Edge right here and now sank like a Graveler who'd fallen into sea.

"O-Oh just Rock Slide..."

 

[Namohysip]

While Cabot lamented the loss of his easy TM, Plum returned with several more strange, prismatic disks for the others. "We've got a lot of what you're asking! Frost Breath, Blizzard, Shadow Claw..."

"Well, it's good that most of our stock in the back survived," Olive said. "Helped that we got another delivery recently, too. Always be prepared! Brother, are you in a good mood now?"

"I'll be the judge of that later," Plum replied with a huff, but then brightened toward the others. "So, have you made any final decisions on what to buy?"

"Rock Slide isn't so bad," added Olive. "It may not be as concentrated as Stone Edge, but you can make some wide attacks."

 

[windskull]

Nip brought a paw up to his chin, eyes moving back and forth as he looked over the odd, magical circles. "Come to think of it... Do you happen to have anything that can make me faster? You know. Like... what's that skill... Agility? Oh! and Hone Claws. I've always wanted to know that one." He sure was picking out a lot of moves, though. He still didn't quite understand why those shiny coins could be exchanged for goods, but he'd learned already not to question it. "If you do... I think I'll take those for now. And come back for Shadow Claw later."