Treasure Town ~ Residential District

[kyeugh]

"Leave."

Lauchs didn't recognize the big fellow. Yellow eyes—that meant he was a creature of the night, didn't it? And the way his body flowed like viscous liquid, oozing shadowy fluid... It must be poisonous, right? He'd never seen a mon like this before. It must have been a foreign one. Not native to Callouse, at the least.

In any occasion, it didn't seem particularly pleased to see them. Lauchs took a step backward and tightened his grip on his leek as shadow gathered around the brute's fist. Truffle seemed rather nonplussed about the whole ordeal, but Lauchs had his doubts, personally...

"Now, you seem like a reasonable fellow," he said, making sure he was safely behind Truffle and out of the shadowy mon's reach before speaking. "I'm sure we can come to some sort of agreement, eh? You don't seem all too pleased to be receiving visitors at the minute. Peculiar quality for a neighborhood leader to have. Any unaddressed trauma you'd like to air out with us, by chance?" He grinned nervously. "We're rather good listeners, I should add."

 

[Namohysip]

Whatever Lauchs was saying, it didn't seem to completely register with this twisted Typhlosion. His growling became louder, and eventually it stopped at around the time Lauchs claimed to be a good listener. "...Every day... it is a new complaint... You're one of them, aren't you? I am tired of the blame... for every little thing... your FLOWERS are not being WATERED, THAT IS WHY IT IS DYING!"

"Now, we aren't here to complain about anything," Truffle said gently, stepping between Lauchs and Nate. "However, I would like to humbly apologize regardless for the troubles you are going through."

Truffle bowed, exposing the back of his head to Typhlosion.

Typhlosion, in a sudden act of hostility, blasted Truffle with shadowy fire. A horrible shriek followed, and then an explosion that mixed black with white--yet when the smoke cleared, Truffle was still bowing, and Typhlosion had collapsed backwards with white sparks running up and down his body. It ate at the corruption around him, his body rapidly returning to normal, while a Shade emerged from Typhlosion's left thigh, looking dazed.

 

[Negrek]

What the fuck was that? Something happened so quickly Nate's eyes couldn't follow it, and then . What the fuck had the decidueye done--if it had actually been him at all?

No time to sit around marveling. Something was wriggling its way free of the typhlosion's unconscious body, and that meant the chase was on. Fuck, did they even have something to catch the thing in? Yet another goddamned thing he should have thought of earlier. Nice fucking job.

Nate bounded forward, intent on tackling the shade to the floor. "Yo, featherface! You got another one of those jars?"

 

[kyeugh]

"Well, that wasn't so bad, was it?" Lauchs said with a smirk as the big angry mon in front of them lay steaming. "I'll try to leave a little work for you two next time, though your assistance was greatly appreciated, Mudkip Nate. Maybe pick up the slack a little next time though, eh, Truffle?" His chuckles didn't last long at all before a strange, slug-like creature made its appearance over the mon's thigh.

Nate didn't seem to care for the wee thing.

"Yo, featherface! You got another one of those jars?"

Lauchs frowned. So it was an evil little bugger, was it? It didn't quite look look the part... "I can smack it if necessary," he offered, hoping he wouldn't, in fact, have to smack up the poor thing.

 

[Namohysip]

"I have brought a few just in case!" Truffle responded; along with Lauchs, Truffle had also reacted to the nickname. It seemed that Nate was surrounded by two valiant birdbrains. "However, I cannot see it!"

And so, he gave it forward for either of them to take. "Make haste and capture the Shade, if you will!"

By now, the Shade had emerged completely from the normalizing Typhlosion and was looking for a way out. Seeing as the only exit was the front door, it quickly slithered out in the open.

 

[Negrek]

The farfetch'd spoke up, and Nate stumbled in surprise, missing the shade entirely. What the fuck was--oh, that guy. Also a featherface. Goddammit.

The shade slipped past him and made for the outdoors, and Nate cursed, rounding and running after it again. The farfetch'd was closer, though. "Yeah, you wanna smack it, then smack it!" he called. "Pin it down so I can get it in the jar!" He reached out and grabbed the one the decidueye was holding.

 

[Namohysip]

They had to be quick, but thankfully the team was faster than the slug, and in no time it was sealed in the jar. Truffle looked pleased. "Wonderful! You captured the Shade! It seems that one had been corrupting the neighborhood leader all this time, putting him in quite a bad mood. Hopefully now he will be feeling better."

"Ugh, my head..." Typhlosion groaned, still on his back. "What'd you do that for...?"

 

[Negrek]

Nate glanced at the recovering typhlosion. They'd need to talk to him in a moment, but right now Nate was more interested in the captured shade. He'd been too far away to get a good look at the things during the battle against Team Spice. Now he held the jar up and examined the slug closely. Just what the hell was this thing, anyway?

"Hang on, I want to try something here," he said to the decidueye. He put one hand up to his temple and squinted at the slug, feeling fucking stupid as always whenever he tried to do something even vaguely psychic-y. Foresight wasn't exactly one of his most-used moves, even back in "his" world, but he felt like he'd be able to pull it off even now. "Can you see it now?" he asked.

 

[Namohysip]

Shade
HP: 150
Seems to be stronger than usual, but its power is fading back to normal rapidly.

"Hmm... I'm afraid not," Truffle said. "It appears to still be invisible, but perhaps if we put water in the jar, or otherwise dusted the insides..."

The Shade hissed at Nate from within, banging and spattering its head against the wall, leaving patches of inky blackness that eventually receded back into its body.

 

[kyeugh]

"Mm. It was worth the old college try though, wasn't it, Nate?" Lauchs couldn't help but feel sorry for the poor thing, all cloistered away in that little jar... but it was far better in there than out here.

He turned to the large mon on the ground, who was rubbing at its head and showing signs of recovery. "Are you doing well down there? We pulled this wee thing out of your leg or some such, you know," he said, gesturing at the jar in Nate's hands. "We came to have a chat with you, but, well... I'm sure you can piece together what happened from there, eh? Might we pry just a minute of your time now that's all sorted?"

 

[Namohysip]

"What...? But that jar is... empty." Typhlosion rolled and stood, but he looked dizzy. "I'm... I need to rest. I'm sorry... If you have something for the neighborhood association, can it wait until tomorrow?"

"Hmm, we won't be needing to any longer, "Truffle said, "but I have one question. Di you know of anybody else in the neighborhood who fell ill as you did?"

"As I did..." Typhlosion breathed, thinking. "...No, I did not. But... tomorrow, I'll put out a notice. Where should they go? Who should report them to where?"

Truffle hummed, then looked to Nate and Lauchs. "A mission well-done, you two. I shall assist in forming a statement to alert the civilians here, and perhaps that in turn can be used to send alerts worldwide of the symptoms now that we have a greater body of cases to work with."

 

[Negrek]

Nate blinked when he suddenly somehow... knew more about the slug thing? The fuck? Foresight was great if you wanted to laugh at ghosts all bumping into walls because they couldn't phase through them no more, but it didn't let you figure shit out. At least, it hadn't. Before. "Yeah, that works and all," he said in response to Truffle's suggestion. "I was just hoping there might be some way you guys would be able to detect these things on your own. You know, without having to drag one of us 'heroes' around with you everywhere." For a moment he watched the shade hiss and throw itself against the side of the jar, then frowned and tucked it into his bag.

Nate scowled at Lauchs' words and gave a noncommittal grunt in reply. Turning to Truffle, he said, "Yeah, that's a good idea. But you gotta get more people out here looking, too. I mean, this guy was like the second person we even talked to, and he was already possessed. Either we're super fucking lucky or this place is already crawling with slugs. And we still don't know if they can, like, reproduce or whatever the fuck. If people visited this guy while he was out of it, who knows how many of them could be infected now?" He waved a hand at the groggy typhlosion.

 

[Namohysip]

"Hrmm, yes. That is a very good point." Truffle brought a wing just below his beak. "Detecting these Shades will indeed be our top priority going forward. Searching aimlessly and hoping for luck to be on our side is not very efficient, now is it?" Truffle nodded, but then stepped into Typhlosion's home. "Take care, you two. I shall take things from here!"

 

[Negrek]

Owlface would "take it from here," huh? Nate took a step forward, ready to tell the decidueye exactly where he could stick his dismissal, but as his markedly-heavier bag nudged against his side, he hesitated. Talking to the damn bird was like trying to communicate with a boisterous brick wall. He could come back later to make sure somebody was doing something about finding more slugs, maybe when he felt more like dealing with the decidueye's shit. For right now, he had more interesting avenues to pursue.

"Yeah, well, good. Top fucking priority and all that," he said. "You do that. I'll catch up with you later."

Then he turned and left as fast as his nubby little legs could carry him, one of them still twinging whenever he put weight on it. Hopefully the farfetch'd wouldn't get any ideas about following.

"I ain't done with you yet, fucker," he muttered to himself, glancing briefly back at the decidueye in the doorway.

 

[Namohysip]

<><><>
​

Ever since the first month of the Blacklight crisis, the Grass Continent had fallen into an uneasy peace as the general attacks had subsided. Occasionally, strange happenings were reported to the Guild, and they investigated any Pokemon that were behaving oddly, calling upon Cepa or Cresselia for help purifying them if possible. And for the most part, it worked, with only the occasional Team Spectrum member or someone else from Destiny Village being called to exorcize any particularly strong corruption.

So when a sudden, black meteor struck the center of the residential district, right where the roads met for neighborhood meetings, there was certainly a panic. Dark clouds churned and spun in a corrosive vortex that made nearby Pokemon go temporarily mad, lashing out and yelling all of their grievances toward others. This strange aura... There was something, or perhaps someone, in the middle of it, curled up and dizzy.

At the edge of the haze, Balm and Cepa watched carefully.

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

Luz arrived at an easy jog, all smiles and electric-blue sparks.

"Quite the startlin' situation," she remarked. "I volunteer fer the next bit!"

She strode towards the meteor, wondering with a shiver of anticipation whether the figure within would be a friend or foe...

 

[Fusion]

Vix floated beside Balm, waving a hello.

"Did we miss anything? Other than this thing hitting the ground?" she asked.

 

[Virgil134]

Pleo landed not too far from the meteor, warily looking ahead at the dark clouds rising up from it. Would it really be safe to just approach the haze knowing what it had done to the Pokémon that lived here? Not wanting to take any risks, he started beating his wings in an attempt to blow away the haze with a Whirlwind.

 

[Spiteful Murkrow]

At the center of the haze, the black form uncurled and staggered up, revealing a female Sneasel getting up cradling her head in a daze as the effects of Pleo's Whirlwind passing by blew her fur and ear feathers back.

"Blugh, talk about a bad trip... that's the last time I ask for Lansat in my drink for a while. Just how long have I been out of things?"

The Dark-Type's eyes adjusted as she stumbled out of the haze, where much to her surprise she saw the houses of a surrounding village. The Sneasel recoiled before looking down and pawing at her neck, looking down in alarm for a garment she expected to be there that had vanished.

"Huh?! This isn't the hideout! Where the hell is this dump?! And who filched my scarf?!"

 

[Fusion]

"Oh... huh," Vix hummed, floating down towards the Sneasel. "Are you alright?"

"Does she look alright?" Puddle asked from within Vix's bag. It was mostly ignored.