Treasure Town ~ Marketplace

[Namohysip]

Kecleon Market was now only the first store of this up-and-coming, bustling district of Treasure Town. Past the market, there was a whole road that had several differently-shaped buildings of all kinds. While the stores were currently closed and empty, the marketplace was typically a place that buzzed with activity and commerce for purchases of all kinds. The roads were of more packed dirt and marking stones on the border, and the grass on either side was a healthy, but pale green. Further west was a long and winding path that led to Sharpedo Bluff, a great overhanging cliffside that faced the ocean far below. To the east was the Main Square, where events and other social gatherings took place.

Kangaskhan Storage was also here, though the team would have no use for its services, in addition to Xatu's Treasure Appraisal. For some reason, Xatu was still there, though he stood so still that he blended in with the rest of his tent.

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"It's just this way," Truffle explained, motioning to the collapsed building. "No matter what I try, my power is simply sapped..."

Kecleon Market was in shambles. The heads of the stone Kecleon had fallen inward, and only the purple one's tail was still intact. It seemed they had not invested much in structural integrity, but it was not unlike some of the other buildings nearby. Still, this building, as important as it was for exploration, seemed particularly damaged...

 

[Virgil134]

Cabot looked around the damaged building as he moved along.

"Is this damage all because of the tremors?" he asked.

 

[The Walrein]

Jaro looked around with wonder at all the strange fake-hill dwellings. Did the Pokemon here fashion them to look like themselves because they couldn't remember who had each one, otherwise? Perhaps memory issues like what Owen had were very common in this world, he thought.

"Ah, thanks," he said in response to Cabot's explanation of what Kecleon were. Their ability to change the color of their scales sounded intriguingly similar to humans' fabled ability to change their skin. So a market was a kind of storage place ('sell', presumably, meaning 'to put into storage')? He examined the facade of the Kecleon Market, then walked up to the collapsed stone head and touched it, concentrating to see if he could feel any sort of power-draining effect.

 

[Namohysip]

The stones did not appear to have any particularly strange properties when Jaro touched it. "Well?" asked Truffle. "Do you feel anything?"

Owen approached it next, but instead remarked, "These are pretty heavy stones..."

"Indeed. Raw strength isn't quite enough..."

Owen puffed and inspected the building for a little longer. "These are big boulders..." He focused on them a little longer, trying to get a better read.

Boulders are blocking the way to the item shop.

Clear them away! Required combined Attack: 50

 

[Virgil134]

"I guess we should start trying to move these soon then," Cabot said, before hesitating and looking back to Truffle. "Though how did these special boulders get here if all the damage was only caused by tremors?"

 

[Namohysip]

"I'm not quite sure," Truffle said with a pensive hum. "It's quite odd. This is probably the most useful place for you to get supplies for the fight, and yet it's also the most ruined..."

"You don't think someone did it intentionally, do you?" Owen asked, grasping one of the stones before pushing as hard as he could--it wouldn't budge.

 

[The Walrein]

The stones did not appear to have any particularly strange properties when Jaro touched it. "Well?" asked Truffle. "Do you feel anything?"

"Ah, sorry, I don't feel anything special," he said. "...maybe that's because I'm immune to it?" Jaro frowned at the boulder. It was certainly much larger than what he could've moved in his own world, but Diyem had said something about him having great power, but getting tired quicker?

"Uh, let me try to help," he said to Owen. He pressed both his arms against the boulder and pushed against it with his full strength. Okay, nope, definitely not strong enough to do it on his own, but maybe if that blue dome-headed Pokemon helped...

 

[Virgil134]

"I mean, it does seem to be a bit too coincidental, especially since there's no explanation why there are suddenly boulders that can drain the power of most Pokémon," Cabot mused as he walked over and started helping Owen with some of the stones. "And is your memory coming back to you yet, Owen?"

 

[Namohysip]

"Not yet," Owen said, strained. "Don't worry. I still have vague feelings about my past... and... this vague feeling is telling me I'm used to this sort of thing--" He huffed and pushed with all his might, and, with their combined efforts, the boulders were suddenly sliding aside.

"Ah! Goodness!" Truffle stepped back. "I felt a surge of power from you three, suddenly... My goodness, it's moved!"

Just like that, the boulders were shoved aside, rolling a few extra feet from the sheer momentum.

 

[Virgil134]

"Wait, you do?" Cabot said. He wondered to himself when it was best to bring up what Diyem had said earlier, when he noticed the boulders were starting to move. He pushed a little more, and it didn't take long before he and his teammates had managed to move away the boulders entirely

"Oh we did it!" Cabot exclaimed as he moved closer to see what exactly had originally been underneath the boulders.

 

[The Walrein]

"By the moon's face, we're super friggin' strong now!" Jaro crowed. "Those boulders were huge, and we shoved them aside like pebbles! Hah!" Although to be honest, it felt like the grey and blue Pokemon had done most of the work...

"But, like, if someone had put them there on purpose, that seems like a pretty weird method of sabotage. I mean, if I wanted to keep someone from getting the stuff here I'd have just stolen it all, rather than wasting my energy dragging big stones over to block the entrance," he commented.

Jaro turned back to address Cabot. "Hey, by the way, what's your name and tribe? Don't know if you heard it earlier, but I'm Jaro, a Jigglypuff."

 

[Namohysip]

While Jaro and Cabot introduced themselves, and while Truffle inspected the rolled boulder, Owen went deeper into the shop to see if there was anything they could hope to salvage. His tail flame blazed a happy yellow.

Most of the items were broken or squashed, but perhaps with some luck...

 

[Fusion]

"You find anything we can use, Owen?" Vix asked, unaware that Owen probably didn't know she was there. Her bright, purple light should have given him more than enough warning.

 

[Dragonfree]

Dave sniffed around at the scattered items (and paused, and cringed, but fine, he had a great sense of smell now, no reason not to use it). He hadn't exactly been needed to push aside those boulders, but when he gave them an experimental prod with his paw, he seemed fine.

"So not being affected by this drainage shit is something to do with the, uh, 'hero's aura'?" Frankly he wasn't entirely sure if this place had consistent... 'physics', or whatever one might call it. But it'd be real nice if he could actually get a grasp on the mechanics of it. Even the mafia game had had mechanics, something you could actually reason around, even if the way they worked operated on board game logic. And this seemed like more of an actual place, one that could be real.

Dave very much preferred things that were real.

 

[Virgil134]

Jaro turned back to address Cabot. "Hey, by the way, what's your name and tribe? Don't know if you heard it earlier, but I'm Jaro, a Jigglypuff."

"Nice to meet you Jaro, I'm Cabot! Though I'm not from any tribe. I'm from the Empire of Anyilla."

 

[Namohysip]

"Hmm, hmm..." Truffle nodded to himself. "I'm afraid I don't know what this hero's aura is, but I doubt that's what makes things different for you..."

"I found a few things," Owen said, raising a few items from the rubble. "They don't feel all that strong, though..."

"Hmm, that's also odd. Perhaps we should look into that--ahh, but we don't really have much time for that, I think." Truffle glanced at the Magikarp on the horizon. "Or perhaps we do... It seems to be slowing down. From where it is to here, there doesn't appear to be any large settlements, and we've already evacuated those in danger... which is quite lucky. But..."

"...Y'know, I never considered that, but, do you think giant Magikarp need to sleep?" Owen theorized.

 

[Virgil134]

"I mean... it would make sense that that giant Magikarp would need to sleep eventually," Cabot mused as he looked around the shop for items, picking up a few things that would surely come in handy later.

"Though Truffle, how big is your team anyway?"

 

[Namohysip]

"My team is a squadron of six," Truffle said. "We all have different roles to play in our missions, and what I and my partner do is scouting. Once we finish our findings, we will be able to report back... In fact, I do think I should do that now."

Truffle dug through his explorer's bag--a small, brown sack of well-woven cotton of some kind--and then pulled out a small badge. Golden, circular, with wings and a shining emblem in the middle that was reminiscent of a wheel-like object. "Hello? How are--"

The badge crackled with white noise. A deep, feminine voice followed. "Fighting, will get back to--"

Then came a loud screech, and communications cut off.

"Ah." Truffle slipped the badge back into his pouch. "Well. Perhaps later. She seems to be busy with the threats that don't nullify our power."

 

[Virgil134]

Cabot gave the badge a curious look.

"So you guys are part of a Guild then?"

 

[Namohysip]

"Indeed," Truffle replied, his expression brightening while Owen emerged with a few Oran Berries that had miraculously remained intact. "Far north, in the Mystery Continent, in fact. You could consider me to me part of a worldwide organization." He then bowed, revealing the back of his right wing. After some focus, a small patch of light appeared in the center of it, in the shape of a wheel-like emblem--the same emblem on the badge. "I work under Arceus."

...Cabot, Diyem's voice said slowly. Do not react to my voice. But do not tell him more than you must.