Treasure Town ~ Marowak Dojo

[Ambyssin]

"Hmm?" He looked at Celeste. "Ah, yes, the disaster-senser with no disaster sense. You were making a scene in front of Truffle earlier."

 

[Shiny Phantump]

Celeste let out an awkward laugh. “Aha. Yes. I... That did happen. I haven’t the faintest idea how Diyem managed to separate me from my sense, much less by accident. It was... quite the unwelcome surprise.”

 

[Ambyssin]

"By accident?" Necrozma looked at his right hand. "I'd say it was by design. What better way to make us vulnerable than to take away our best and most useful abilities?"

 

[Shiny Phantump]

Celeste stopped to think for a moment. “Well... when he sent us over, he had full control of our spirits, right? Couldn’t he have just... not sent them? Kept them for himself and destroyed them? Or maybe he could’ve turned us into a school of Feebas instead? If he’s trying to kill us, he’s kinda incompetent...

“Well, he’s either incompetent at killing us or incompetent at helping us. I guess it’s anyone’s guess which one. I figure he probably needs us to help because he’s incompetent at helping people himself.”

 

[Ambyssin]

"He's not trying to kill us directly. He's trying to sacrifice us to the beast that made Magikarp gigantic." Necrozma crossed his arms. "I had a very interesting conversation with Truffle earlier. He said that this world's actually been under threat from a daemon before. One by the name of Dark Matter. This world triumphed over it by summoning a human. Not many humans. One human." He held up a single claw.

"And now, it seems this world is under threat again. So, why isn't the one in charge of this world summoning outside help, hmm?" He tapped his claws against their opposite forearms. "Why would a third-party summon several random people and send them off claiming they need to save a world they know nothing about?"

 

[Shiny Phantump]

Celeste didn’t know what to say. He hadn’t been there for the conversation, and didn’t entirely understand what was said.

“I don’t know. Surely, multiple humans are better than one? We’ve got a few. The rest of us can help, too.”

 

[Ambyssin]

"But why didn't Arceus summon them, then? They're apparently the one in charge of this world," Necrozma growled. "Let me put it another way: why is Diyem having us be so cautious toward Truffle? If we're on the same side, shouldn't we want to fully cooperate with him?"

 

[Shiny Phantump]

Celeste pressed a paw to his forehead, as if he had a headache. He didn’t, but this discussion was giving him an honorary headache. “I don’t know. I... I don’t know. Do any of us really know anything about Truffle? Listen, I don’t like Diyem, but... I have no reason to trust Truffle, either.”

He wished he had someone who knew more about this world to talk to. Maybe Surf? Despite everything, the two of them on reasonably good terms.

 

[Ambyssin]

"He supplied me with light to ease my pain. Diyem did not take that pain away when he made this new body." A twinge of gold flittered about Necrozma's legs. "Those who can wield light in a manner beyond basic attacks must have a measure of purity to their souls... else the light would turn them to ashes. Thus, I have more reason to trust this decidueye than I do our so-called benefactor."

 

[Shiny Phantump]

That sounded to Celeste like a fancy way of saying Truffle had bribed him with food... Well, there was also the matter of “purity to their souls,” which probably counted for something.

“Maybe this is more complicated than two sides. Truffle being somewhat pure doesn’t mean Diyem is trying to kill us. Maybe they just don’t know and trust each other?”

He had a feeling that his companion would find that to be a bit of a stretch... Honestly, he doubted the truth of it himself, but he also didn’t want to give in to paranoia. He just had to find the balance between caution and trust.

 

[Ambyssin]

"Well, perhaps there's more at play with him and his team... but he's still trying to take down the magikarp." Necrozma's gaze fell to the floor. "If a third-party were trying to take advantage of this situation to prey upon this world, don't you think Diyem would've told us upfront?"

 

[Shiny Phantump]

“I don’t know,” Celeste grumbled. “He said the Magicarp might be a symptom of a larger issue, didn’t he? Maybe that larger issue is what he and Truffle are both fighting against.”

Celeste shook his head, as if trying to dislodge his thoughts. “No amount of hypotheticals will conjure information from thin air. There’s other things we could talk about that aren’t such a dead end... Like, for example, you could introduce yourself. That’d be a normal thing to have done by now.”

 

[Ambyssin]

"I have nothing to introduce. I'm just a worthless phantom."

 

[Shiny Phantump]

Celeste took a moment to mull that over.

“There’s got to be more to it then that, Mr Worthless Phantom... Or Miss Worthless Phantom. Or just Worthless Phantom. I can’t really tell, you don’t have much of a scent. I just... the voice.

“A-Anyways, there’s got to be more to it than that. You said you needed light, for one thing. That’s unique... to those who aren’t grass type, at least. You don’t look grass type to me. Maybe Rock. Psychic, too? You can levitate, at least.”

 

[Ambyssin]

"Purely psychic. I lost my other type with all of my light." Small bits of pink expanded in the visible part of Necrozma's brain prism. "This is... all I can do to cobble together what's left of what I lost. It's not pleasant having your legs serve as your arms and segments of your old tail passing as your head."

 

[Shiny Phantump]

Celeste slowly blinked. He really didn’t know what in creation to make of this teammate of his.

“I... Err... Yes. I imagine it wouldn’t be.”

Celeste would also imagine that having your actual head cut off would kill you, but he was clearly imagining that incorrectly.

“Anyways, I was going to go do some stargazing... Maybe I should get around to that. It’s been... interesting talking to you, Mr Wor-

“There’s got to be something better to call you than Worthless Phantom.”

 

[Ambyssin]

"Enjoy the stars, Mister Celeste." Necrozma bowed, then floated off without a particular destination in mind.

 

[Chibi Pika]

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

Starr's body was tense as she walked into the dojo ahead of everyone else, followed by her opponent, and then the gaggle of people who'd come to stare at them.

This was stupid. It wasn't like she couldn't see that. Staking her pride on a pointless fight in a brand-new body that she wasn't remotely used to yet. It was stupid, and yet there wasn't a single inch of her that didn't want to smack that smug look off the Riolu's face. And it's not like Starr was bullshitting when she'd said that it'd be useful. She desperately needed to learn how to fight in this body, and this was as good a time as any. Before the overgrown sushi duo made their way here.

...Jade would still say that this was a bad idea. Well... Jade wasn't here, was she?

 

[NebulaDreams]

Curio strutted into the dojo with Starr already waiting there. She looked really pissed, and even Curio was aware that this whole thing was a pissing contest, but something about Starr's attitude back then pissed her off. How many times was she going to think about the word piss in one thought? Bah, who cares, she had a score to settle soon.

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

Brisa followed close behind. She was itching to watch a good fight, especially if it involved Curio getting Starr to eat dirt. Outstanding.

She brushed past Curio, saying "good luck!" as she did, and took a place on the sidelines.