Treasure Town ~ Marketplace

[Virgil134]

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

"I mean, I guess, but Stone Edge is also a lot stronger," Cabot muttered as he looked down at the counter and idly pawed at it. "I actually considered getting Rock Slide last time I went to a move tutor, but went for Stone Edge instead so I could hit enemies harder."

 

[Namohysip]

"Possibly, possibly," Plum said. "You know, if you're unsure, one thing that a lot of people do if they're part of the Guild--and I suppose you are, for now--is ask Chatot for advice. He's very knowledgeable, you know, being the second in command at the Guild!"

 

[Virgil134]

Cabot looked up from the counter and warily tilted his head.

"Huh? But what would he be able to tell me?" the Cranidos asked. "I used to be part of a guild up until two years ago and I know how they work, so I don't think this Chatot could tell me anything I wouldn't already know."

 

[Namohysip]

"Well, maybe in your world," Owen said to Cabot, happily taking a Protect TM from Plum. "But what if they have advice for how things in this world works? You said you didn't know what aura was. What if there's something we don't know? My world... I remember it having aura. But it might work differently here."

"I don't mind waiting until you get your advice. And in the meantime, I'll look for Stone Edge..." Plum nodded, handing more TMs to Nip and Astrid.

 

[TheGOAT]

After doing some math in her head—and feeling fairly sure it probably made sense maybe—Astrid opted for Weather Ball. If what she’d heard around town about changing her ability was true, there could be real potential with that one.

“I’ll go with this one now. Thanks.”

The Vulpix held it out in front of her: a TM. She’d used these before… but the process typically involved smashing it on her forehead and letting the dust inside settle into her skin. Would that work here too, or would that just ruin it? Uncertain, she stared into its black rings.

 

[windskull]

Picking up one of the disks, Nip flipped it over in his paws once, tilting his head. How was he supposed to use this, again? Cabot had said something about a porygon, but he hadn't seen anything like that. "Erm, sorry, how does this work, again?"

 

[Virgil134]

"Well, maybe in your world," Owen said to Cabot, happily taking a Protect TM from Plum. "But what if they have advice for how things in this world works? You said you didn't know what aura was. What if there's something we don't know? My world... I remember it having aura. But it might work differently here."

"I suppose that is true," Cabot mulled as he put a claw to his mouth. The higher ups in Guilds were known to be wise and it certainly wasn't unheard of for Pokémon in town to go to them for advice, but after sailing around the Cradle for two years it wasn't like they'd know anything too shocking that he hadn't already heard of. Especially when it came to something like choosing a TM move.

On the other hand, he had heard the word 'aura' more in the past week than he had in his entire life, and with how different this world had turned out to be so far, maybe he was a bit quick to dismiss their advice. Not to mention it would be a great opportunity to learn more about Cibus, which he'd been hoping to do ever since he first got here. His mind made up, Cabot turned to Owen with a smile and give him a firm nod.

"Alright, let's go there then after lunch," he said, when he noticed the confused faces of Astrid and Nip. He had to admit that it was strange for TMs to just be sold at a Kecleon Market like this, but he figured they just did things different here in Cibus where you'd buy a TM yourself instead of having a Porygon move tutor hold onto it. Things couldn't be that different, right? After all, a TM is a TM...

The Cranidos looked back at the Kecleon brothers and spoke up again. "Er... is there a move tutor somewhere in town that can help us use these TMs?"

 

[Namohysip]

"You don't know how? Not even a little?" Plum asked, leaning forward.

"Hey, now, c'mon. They're, eh, they're not from here, you know?" Olive said gently.

"But, brother, they're TMs! Everyone knows how TMs work!"

"But they aren't from here here," Olive whispered, and suddenly they went under the desk, whispering loudly to one another.

". . . Outworld, is that what they're calling it?"

". . . Chatot called it that . . . "

" . . . something Wigglytuff would. . . "

They were back at the desk. "Well! I suppose with that in mind, a free tutorial would be good. You, Charmander! What's your name."

"Owen!" Already, he was eager to learn.

Plum and Olive blinked. "Er, that's a name?"

"Um, yeah?"

They shared a glance, but then played along. "Well! Er... Owen, it's good that you're so eager to learn! Why don't you place that Protect TM over your head?"

Owen placed the prismatic disk on his head. "Oh, I know how this works. And then I channel some energy from my hand through the hole, right?"

"Yes! Very easy for someone like you, thankfully. Now, why don't you do that slowly?"

"Okay. Let me concentrate..." Owen closed his eyes, a white, Normal-element energy forming at the tips of his claws, much like the preparation for a Scratch attack. The energy was siphoned through the disk in a gentle channel. Then, there was a flash, the prismatic colors of the disk dulled, and a similar, white wave washed over Owen.

Owen placed the disk on the table and stepped back. He crossed his arms firmly--a green sphere of energy surrounded him, then disappeared. "Hey! It worked!" Owen grinned. "...Different color, though."

 

[Virgil134]

Cabot stared stunned as Owen applied the TM and used Protect afterwards, prompting him to splutter in protest.

"E-Eh?! But that's not how TMs work at all! How is this even possi-?!"

The Cranidos paused as he remembered the one thing that all the strange stuff in Cibus had in common.

"... Wait, you're gonna say something about auras, aren't you?"

 

[TheGOAT]

Astrid shrugged, pressing the TM down on her head. If it worked for Owen, it would surely work for her.

She didn’t think about what happened next—it simply came as naturally as breathing. Energy channeled from her body into the disc’s central cavity. In seconds, the process was finished.

“…Cool!” She grinned sheepishly. “I’ll wait until later to try it out though. Don’t wanna get too tired.”

 

[Namohysip]

"Aura and tuning it properly," Owen said. "It sort of has to do with how you can resonate with the technique, and if the TM is compatible with you, then it'll awaken the technique within you!" He turned to Olive. "Right?"

Olive grinned. "I have no idea! We just sell it."

 

[windskull]

"Makes as much sense as anything else I guess," Nip said before holding up one of the disks to his head, centering the hole around his gem. He took a couple of deep breaths, imagining energy flowing through the hole and into the gem. Then he repeated the process with the other disk.

"We don't have these where I'm from," he explained to the others. "If you wanted to learn a move that wasn't naturally in your skillset, you had to either find someone that could teach you the skill, or else find some other way to teach it to yourself."

 

[Virgil134]

Cabot hesitantly looked at his teammates and then back the Kecleon.

"I mean, if that's how things work in this world... Though I'll hold off on purchasing anything for now. I'll be sure to come back later after visiting the guild though."

 

[Namohysip]

Owen grinned. "Thanks for everything, um, Kecleon!"

Plum smiled a little, but then nodded. "You have my gratitude as well, Charmander, Vulpix, Cranidos, and Sneasel."

Olive waved as they departed, and then sighed. "They're an odd bunch. Their names name no sense, either. Still... they saved the town, didn't they?"

"I suppose so," Plum grumbled. "Brother, was I too hard on them?"

"A little, brother."

"Brother..." Plum trembled. "I was just afraid for our town! Ohh, I took it out on them!"

"Brother..."

"Brother!"

They embraced, thoroughly confusing the passerby Pidgeot that had been looking to purchase a few apples.

<><><>​

 

[Namohysip]

By the time Owen was located, Truffle had realized that it was already time for lunch. The bottled monster would have to wait and would attend them for lunch instead! Though kept securely in a bag instead, for now.

Deeper down the marketplace, where the buildings were nearly finished with repairs from the hazy creature's attack, the team was led to a large building on the east side of a wide street of packed dirt. The sun was high and the grass was a bright yellow, complementing the yellowing leaves of sparse trees behind the buildings. Several of them were shaped like the Pokemon that owned them, but a few were more generic and squarish or circular.

In front of the team was one of those more basic buildings, colored a rustic red like bricks on the outside, with a darker shade of wood-brown on the inside. Truffle stepped in first, his feathers taking on a slightly brighter sheen under the Luminous Orbs that decorated the black ceilings like a starry sky. Apparently, in this world, the basic buildings were considered modern and fancy. Professional. Dignified.

Despite this, the atmosphere within the building seemed to buzz with energy and the distant clanging of kitchenware in the back. Still, nobody could get a closer listen, as Truffle soon reemerged and said, "Unfortunately, they are having trouble accommodating such a large party in a timely manner. We will have to wait a little while, but they promised it would not take too long. So!" Truffle puffed out his chest, addressing the others. "All the more time for the stragglers to catch up, hm?"

 

[Virgil134]

"What sort of food do they serve here, anyway?" Cabot asked.

 

[Namohysip]

"Quite a variety of foods, actually," Truffle said, "but their main attraction is something that they call the Great Curry Bowl Challenge. They say that only the most sturdy, enduring Pokemon are able to withstand an entire bowl in one sitting. It's often used at parties to have an entire group try to eat a single bowl, though..." Truffle hummed. "If you're able to eat an entire bowl on your own, it's free."

 

[Virgil134]

Cabot warily tilted his head.

"What's in it if most Pokémon can't even finish one bowl?"

 

[Namohysip]

"Oh, standard curry fillings depending on what you request," Truffle said, "scaled for the size and species of the customer... but! It is not merely what is offered but the sheer, overwhelming amount that is granted to you! If you cannot finish it... then you have been conquered by the curry." Truffle bowed, solemn. "I, myself, am not worthy to defeat such an impossible foe."

 

[The Walrein]

Spoiler: What Jaro was doing during the past week

As the past seven days of bedrest had worn on, Jaro had grown increasingly alarmed at just how long it was taking to recover from this post-battle exhaustion deal. If it was really going to be seven days each time, the enemy wouldn't even need to be trying to catch them in a recovery period, it could happen entirely by accident! Also, everyone staying inside all the time for a week had pretty much sunk any hope of keeping this a secret, the local tribes of this settlement (Jaro still found it really weird how a whole bunch of different tribes lived in the exact same place) must have noticed that! Maybe if Soda had used his illusions to make it look like some of Diyem's chorus of outsiders were occasionally going out and walking through town, they could've fooled them into believing there wasn't much of a problem, but Jaro had thought of that too late. He'd also had the idea of maybe convincing everyone to stick with a story that they were on some sort of secret mission, Maple's portal ability having explained why no-one saw them leaving town, but Jaro had quickly dismissed the idea - no way he'd be able to persuade so many disparate personalities to stick to a single story! Given his social skills, it'd be a miracle if he could convince even a single other Pokemon...

In addition to worrying, Jaro had also been thinking over what he'd learned at the history meeting. So, based on what Cynthian told him, the Dark Matter problem had been solved by 'acceptance' twice before, and by violence once before. Since apparently the 'create a light matter' plan was a bust, if Dark Matter did show up again, it'd probably make since to go with the plan that had worked more times before. This time they'd just have to, you know, accept Dark Matter super-hard or whatever. But the complicating factor was that the violence solution had lasted a thousand or so years, while the acceptance solution had only lasted a few years on this world, and Cynthian's current age minus five years on his. So maybe violence was the answer! Or wait, maybe, another story-telling cliche in Jaro's culture was that the hero would, when attempting to solve a problem, the first time go too far in one direction, the second time go too far in the opposite direction, and the third time strike a middle path. Too reckless, too cowardly, and then brave but cautious. So if that cliche was in effect here, then that meant that the solution was to... violently accept Dark Matter? Did that even make sense? Ugh, this business was giving him a headache...

Then there was the matter of these 'Mystery Dungeons'. Jaro still wasn't willing to give up the theory that the Pokemon living there were trying to stop them from shrinking. If Maple could be believed, when you were 'defeated' in a dungeon, you'd just get warped to the outside of it, minus whatever you were carrying. In Jaro's world, when you were defeated in a real battle, you'd often die, or even get tortured if you were fighting Skitty. If there had been some magical death-free zone in Jaro's world, the tribes would've fought tooth and claw to occupy that territory, and they'd definitely try to stop it from going away if at all possible. Now, it was perhaps possible that these Mystery Dungeons were just awful enough in some way to offset the no-dying benefit, but if so, Jaro'd believe it when he saw it. Which he definitely intended to do at some point. Maybe he could talk Soda into taking him to one? Apparently he trained in them, so - wait, was that how Cabot had gotten to be so ridiculously strong? By going into the Mystery Dungeons on his world and fighting again and again, since there was no real consequence to losing? Okay, now Jaro definitely had to find one of them! All in due time, of course...

The other major thing Jaro had been doing was trying to decipher the mystery of the singing pictures. After noticing Owen making what appeared to be a painting during the history meeting, he'd gone over to see what the painting was of, only to discover it was just a bunch of random shapes that looked vaguely like footprints. After some discussion, it quickly became apparent that these were the mythical 'singing pictures' that humans were said to be able to make, which would sing a story to you when you looked at them, if you could hear their secret language. Owen had brought him a few "books" from a "library" for him to study. Despite spending long hours staring at the glyphs and straining his ears as hard as he could, Jaro had gotten no closer to hearing the language of the pictures, but he'd at least gotten familiar with what most of them looked like.

After hearing about the lunch date, Jaro thought it'd be a nice enough diversion, and had shown up outside the artificial hill-burrow specialized for eating sometime after Cabot arrived.

"Huh, so all you have to do for this 'Great Curry Challenge' is eat a lot of food at once? I could totally do that! Jigglypuff are great at eating things!" Jaro boasted. He was glad it wasn't a contest to see how much poison you could withstand. Sometimes the younger members of Jaro's tribe attempted to prove their fortitude by showing off how many holly berries they could eat at once, and he'd never been able to stomach more than two or three of them.

"Just uh, let me stretch out a bit first..." The Jigglypuff drew in a deep breath, and slowly began to inflate. When he just about looked ready to burst, he expelled a gale of air and shrunk back down again. After repeating this process several times, he felt like his innards had been properly loosened. Now he would be able to handle any amount of curry, whatever that was! Stars, maybe he'd even be able to eat two bowls! Jaro couldn't wait to see the look on the faces of the food-chorus. Which, thinking of...

Turning to Truffle, he waved an arm at the red building and said, "So, uh, if I understand how this place works correctly, the Pokemon in there work making food like, all day? And that's pretty much all they do every day? Doesn't that get, like, really boring for them?"