Word Count: 1,063 Level 6 Ganondorf: 15/60 Exp Gained: +2 NEW EXP Balance--- 17/60
Gerudo Town
Sandswept Sky
Finding a weaponsmith wasn’t hard. But finding one from within the tribe proved a bit more challenging. The public smiths were vai from outside the tribe, and it quickly became apparent that they were not the ones that worked on the Gerudos’ weapons. This was likely because these smiths were outsiders and not kin to the tribe itself. But as a fellow tribesman, and especially as the king, Ganondorf had no trouble learning where a member of the tribe could have their weapons worked on.
The Gerudo had their own inhouse smith who operated within the main guard’s barracks. Her name was Linore, however her equipment and services were only available to members of the tribe itself. So it was fortunate then that Ganondorf was a tribesman himself. He had only but to ask one of the many guards and they pointed him right to where Linore could be found. He entered the smith’s workshop and saw an array of tools of the trade in addition to various weapons that were still a work in progress. And hammering away at the anvil was Linore herself. ”Well met, Kinsman.” Ganondrof said to her in greeting, ”I am told that thou art the one that I may entrust my blades to.”
Linore stopped hammering and glanced up at him. She looked surprised at first but then recognized who it was that was speaking to her. She had been too busy to gather at the audience earlier, but clearly she had already been informed of Ganondorf’s arrival. “Aye, that I am.” Linore said simply, “What kind of work do they need?”
At this, Ganondorf removed the twin swords from their scabbards and set them upon the nearby workstation table for her see, ”These blades were sealed away in an underground tomb, I know not for how long. But it is plain to see that they haven’t been touched or polished by a grindstone in some time.”
“Clearly…” Linore said as she peered closely at the weapons in question. “They were definitely forged by the tribe, but this specific design hasn't been employed in a very long time. Ancient blades like this deserve to be treated with great care.”
Meanwhile Ganondorf had counted out a few hundred Zenny that he placed on the table as payment. But the weaponsmith held up a hand and shook her head, “No need for that, Lord Ganondorf. My work is not for the coin, but for my loyalty to the tribe. Besides, I wouldn’t dare try to charge the king for my services.”
”As thou wish.” Ganondorf replied, pocketing the zenny once more, ”I hath other business to attend to. I trust I can return for my swords when that is completed?”
“Of course.” Linore said with a nod and bow, “For you, m’lord, I’ll begin the work immediately.”
”Excellent.” Ganondorf said, ”I shall leave you to it, then.” And with that he exited and began making his way toward his second destination.
The “temple” - Clair de Soleil - was right where Nabooru said it would be, on the northern side of Gerudo Town - incidentally the opposite side of where the train station was located. What Nabooru had conveniently forgotten to mention, however, was the massive 50 foot pit the temple itself was in, the pit’s walls even reinforced by sandstone. Not to mention the scorching hot gold dust that the structure was physically half-buried in. In fact there appeared to be other structures as well, half-buried and half-destroyed monuments of unknown origin on the outside around the temple itself. Clearly the Consul wanted her flame clock to be difficult to reach. But this alone wasn’t enough to deter the warlord. Seemingly unassailable temples was something he was quite familiar with.
Ganondorf summoned the phantom horse and rode it down toward the temple. With its ability to gallop through the air, reaching an entrance without running the risk of touching the gold dust was a simple affair. Maybe the Consul had not counted on any intruders having the ability to fly or move through the air. Either way, Ganondorf was in now. The temple’s architecture was unfamiliar to him, in fact it might as well have been completely alien. He supposed in some places it bore a slight resemblance to the Spirit Temple but that was only here and there and even then the actual resemblance seemed superficial at best. The walls of the temple appeared to be a similar sandstone that lined the walls of the outside pit. But unlike out there, these contained images and symbols inscribed into them. It had to be some kind of language, but like the rest of the temple, its meaning was completely unknown to Ganondorf.
Here and there he also saw support pillars that appeared to be made of a polished green stone. It could almost be mistaken for emerald or jade, at least until one looked more closely at it or felt it with their hand anyway. Deep in the temple, Ganondorf finally came across a spacious room with a stone staircase that led up to the top of a large central platform. And when he climbed the steps, the warlord had finally found what he was looking for. At the center of the platform stood the all-too familiar flame clock. And upon closer examination, Ganondorf noted that it was around two-thirds full. At this point, he put on the linkpearl earring so he could use it to communicate to the rest of the Seekers.
”I hath found the flame clock.” Ganondorf would be heard on all their linkpearls, ”In Clair de Soleil, as Nabooru said. The temple is at the bottom of a large pit on the northern side of the town opposite of where the train station is. And the clock itself appears to be two-thirds full. So that is one more clock whose location we confirmed.”
Ganondorf then paused as another idea came to him. Then he spoke on the linkpearls again, but this time addressing a specific Seeker, ”Ms. Azelhart?” Ganondorf asked Primrose. ”Can thou create for us another linkpearl? I would like to present one to Lady Riju, so that we may have a line of communication with Gerudo Town should the need ever arise.”
Word Count: 757 Level 8 Roxas: 20/80 Exp Gained: +2 NEW EXP Balance--- 22/80
Port Meridian
Dystopiascape
Roxas also climbed to the top deck of the Virgin Victory along with everyone else. And when he got there, he immediately saw the deck swarming with lightning minions that the Consul had summoned. Meanwhile, the Consul himself decided to stay in his chariot and pelt them with lightning rather than actually coming down there directly. Great, a Moebius who was also a pragmatist. Just what they all needed.
Unfortunately, Roxas already knew his ranged attacks were going to be next to useless here. Apart from wasting all his MP flinging spells at the Moebius who may or may not resist them, the only other option was the RockGun which he was pretty certain would probably just do chip damage at most. Better to focus on mopping up the Zeustrikes instead and try to keep them off the other Seekers’ backs who were trying to shoot at Z. However, Roxas did put one strategy in motion by summoning Fortune, who aimed her Rail Cannon at Z’s chariot and began the process of charging her weapon.
Once that was in motion, Roxas used his phantom ruby to summon the virtual cubes and arrange them in a protective cubical shell around Fortune, while still leaving her enough room to not be harmed by them touching her. He hoped this would keep her hidden from view and if worse came to worse, protect her from all the lightning attacks long enough for her to charge her rail cannon and fire it at Z.
And that was largely why Roxas got a slightly late start in going into the fray against the Zeustrikes. Their lightning arms could be problematic, but Roxas was agile enough to mostly avoid those. He wasn’t sure what elements these things were vulnerable to, if any, so he decided to avoid using Spells for the time being. The Nobody was certainly capable enough of cutting his way through these Zeustrikes. They looked like they could hit hard but also looked like they could be taken down with hard enough hits themselves. And that mostly proved true.
After managing to deal with a trio of Zeustrikes that were coming after him directly, Roxas went on the move. Getting around, even on the deck of a moving ship was pretty easy for him thanks to flow motion. So once he was on the move, Roxas made the rounds to hit various groups of Zeustrikes that were bothering the other Seekers. He started first with Geralt, who looked like she was having some trouble with their higher numbers. Roxas put his flow motion momentum into a ground strike that sent out a shockwave that could deal some damage but also knock many of the Zeustrikes off balance and give an opening for Geralt to follow up. But Roxas didn’t stick around long enough to see what the Witcher did, instead going right back on the move again in search of another Seeker he could help out.
At this point Roxas had committed to his decision to minimize his use of magic. With all the lightning raining down on them, there was a pretty real chance he might need to step in and help Blazermate heal everyone up. So with that in mind, Roxas was sticking with his current strategy of using flow motion to dance around the ship’s deck and putting that moment into attacks that could either take out Zeustrikes outright, or leave them open for someone else to follow up on. He figured someone like Sandalphon would likely be pretty well equipped to capitalize on the openings he made among the Zeustrikes. Or if not her, someone else surely would.
His first real problem came when a stray lightning bolt threatened to hit the area where Fortune was currently hidden. Not wanting to take the chance, Roxas zoomed back over to that location and essentially let himself take the lightning bolt instead of her. Lucky for him it wasn’t a chain lightning otherwise this would have been for nothing. But it did still hurt nonetheless, and unbeknownst to Roxas also inflicted him with Charge and Jolted. But at least he kept Fortune unharmed which meant she could keep charging her weapon interrupted. And so the Nobody shook it off and then went back on the move yet again, figuring that staying put too long was just asking to get struck by more lightning or get swarmed by Zeustrikes.
Word Count: 552 Level 8 Roxas: 19/80 Exp Gained: +1 NEW EXP Balance--- 20/80
“Hello, everyone. I have urgent news.” By now Goldlewis was used to Sandalphon’s disembodied voice in his ear, but what she said turned him dead serious in an instant. “Return to the port ASAP. I just received word from Geralt that a consul has arrived in Port Meridian and plans to attack the Virgin Victory. According to the crew, this is the same consul that hounded them all the way from the Land of Adventure. Given our current situation, Commander Nelson has ordered immediate evacuation. You have two minutes.”
”C’mon, Scamp! We gotta hurry!” Roxas suddenly said after a momentary pause to take in that information. He was off in a sprint with the Yamper practically galloping behind him to keep up. Of course a Consul would have to show up and ruin their rest! And here Roxas was without his mask or gauntlets, meaning he’d be without those in the event he’d have to fight.
”Don’t panic.” Roxas told himself aloud as he and Scamp sprinted in the direction of the docks, ”Sandalphon said two minutes, so there’s still time to get out of here before he catches up to us.” By chance, Roxas’ route back to the Virgin Victory took him through the town square. And good thing, too, because while running past, Roxas spotted a woman that very much matched the description of the currently missing crew member.
She certainly stood out with her seemingly oversized coat wrapped around her and her black tail curled next to her. Between the cigarettes she was smoking and the candy wrappers thrown around her, it looked like she was on some kind of break herself. It was definitely the missing Asbestos alright. Well obviously Roxas couldn’t leave her hanging so he skidded to halt in front of her. ”You’re Asbestos, right?” He asked with heavy breaths.
“Yeah?” The lady answered with a dismissive tone, “Who’s asking?”
”I’m with the Seekers.” Roxas said, ”We just got word that that Consul guy is heading our way looking for trouble. Commander Nelson ordered everyone back to the ship for evacuation. So c’mon, we’ve got less than two minutes to make ourselves scarce!”
“Figures there’d be trouble during my break.” Asbestos said with an exasperated sigh, “Fine, I was getting bored anyway. Let’s go, blondie.”
It was lucky that Roxas was already heading back when the alert went out, since that gave him time to both find Asbestos and have the two of them be more or less the first of the Seekers to make it back to the Virgin Victory. When they did return, Roxas could only see Sandalphon, Zenkichi, Akane, and Midna. So he really was one of the first to make it back. ”Three Consuls in one day?” Roxas asked incredulously once he was regrouped. ”Can’t we ever catch a break?”
By this time he had also swung by the quarters he was given in the ship to switch back to his other outfit. Now he was once again wearing the monochrome cloak outfit as well as his gauntlets and the new bag Rui gave him earlier. Meanwhile his silver mask hung loosely on his hip, and Scamp was now resting inside of his Poke Ball.
If he didn’t have other business to attend to, then Ganondorf could have stood out in that dry air sunlight all day. Just the mere thought of not having to go back underground was enough to keep him in a good mood. But that coupled with the air of familiarity he felt upon finding himself in what was more or less his ancestral homeland made him practically smile underneath the dark shade of his faceless helmet. Deep down he knew this wasn’t technically the actual Gerudo Desert, but rather an iteration of it that was placed here by Galeem. But still, it couldn’t help but make the Gerudo Warlord feel almost… at home being in these desert sands where - once upon a time in another world - he was born and raised.
Gerudo Town itself was a curiosity to him, though. When last he dwelled in the lands of the Gerudo, there was no civilized town built there. The tribe instead lived in a fortress built into the walls of the desert canyon, and the only other notable structures were the Desert Colossus and the Spirit Temple where Kotake and Koume resided. It wasn’t lost on him that things may well have changed since his time in the tribe.
”Keep the Orb handy.” Ganondorf suggested to Nadia, presuming she was still the one carrying it. ”Just in case I have to showeth them my real face.” His intention there was pretty obvious. He would tell them who he was, even show them the Triforce branded on his hand to serve as proof. But if that alone wasn’t convincing enough, then he was also willing to use the Orb to undo his fusions and spiritbindings in order to let them see his true face as undeniable proof of his identity.
When given instructions, Nadia gave a noncommittal grunt. She did still possess the Orb of Undoing, stashed in one of her pouches, but after the exchange with Asgore her eagerness to get to know Ganondorf better had waned. Surly, gruff, and inhospitable she could work with, but now she didn’t know what to believe about the Seekers’ most villainous member.
Approaching the gate, Ganondorf spotted the pair of Gerudo Guardswomen. Neither of them looked at all familiar to him, but they were unmistakably Gerudo nonetheless. The warlord stepped forward and they naturally moved to halt his advance to the gate. So he reached up and pulled the helmet off of his head. In spite of Igos Du Ikana making his face a bit more gaunt, Ganondorf actually did still retain most of his natural Gerudo features. ”Look upon my face, Sisters.” Ganondorf told the guards, ”Thou can surely see that I am of the tribe, just as thee. A Gerudo brother who now returns home where he belongs and to rule as spoken by our laws and traditions. Your King hath returned.”
The reveal took the two warriors by surprise, and they exchanged uncertain glances. While neither would recognize him as anyone in particular, they could not deny the strong Gerudo heritage that lent his face such a distinctively formidable visage. Of course, the fact that their visitor spoke and conducted himself with such authority helped his case. Charisma came in many forms, and one who dominated his surroundings by the mere virtue of his presence was hard to ignore. However, these women were not so easily quashed, and wary of outsiders’ subterfuge. The bandit hordes of the Aregal Salt Plain were never-ending, each vicious trickster more devious than the last. After a moment, the more senior of the two guards nodded at the younger one, then fixed Ganondorf with a stern gaze. “It could be that you speak the truth. Forgive our trepidation, but we must be cautious. We have heard of ways that allow one to steal others’ features for their own, and in this desert we have many enemies.” Her eyes briefly roved around the ragtag group of Seekers at Ganondorf’s back, none of which seemed to be Gerudo in the slightest. “If you speak truly, will you show us the Triforce of Power, birthright of the Gerudo king of legend?”
‘King of Legend’? Such choice of words indicated to Ganondorf that this town and the Gerudo inhabiting it were probably quite far removed from the era of the tribe he was from. Still, if the Triforce was what they needed to see, then that was something he could easily supply. Slowly he held up his right hand and closed it into a fist. As he did so, the fabled golden triangle glowed upon it in the usual telltale way. ”Behold, the Triforce. The golden power bestowed upon Hyrule by the goddesses themselves in ancient times. No spy or trickster could hope to fake something like this.” Ganondorf said, allowing them a moment to look at it before lowering his hand once again.
The sight of something of such mythical importance left the warriors shocked. After a moment, the younger of the two knelt down, bowing her head in respect. “Your highness!”
For another second the senior guardswoman considered the situation, wondering what this meant for the current state of affairs in Gerudo Town. She did not want to dishonor the current governess, but in the end she knelt as well. Better safe than sorry. “Your highness.”
Sectonia watched all of this unfold and was both amused and a bit concerned; mostly amused though. Ganondorf had never shown this power before so her mild concern of him being able to control others was abated almost as fast as it appeared much like the infection they had just fought. So that just left her being amused at these warrior women bowing to this ’king of evil’. Well, it seemed that his title wasn’t for show at the very least. Time would tell.
Ganondorf noted their mention of having enemies in this desert. In his time, the desert was ruled solely by the Gerudo Tribe. But in this twisted amalgamated world of Galeem’s creation, the Goddesses only knew who or what else inhabited this land. Information like this could potentially prove useful in the event that the Gerudo might need to be persuaded further to welcome Ganondorf into their fold. ”These people who accompany me are allies. It is because of them that I escaped my would-be captors and was able to return to thee.”
As he explained, the two hesitated, then awkwardly rose one after the other. “I see,” the designated speaker murmured. She cleared her throat, assuming an officious posture with the butt of her spear planted. “I assume you would like to meet with Lady Riju, chief of Gerudo Town. I can escort you myself. Though you are naturally an exception, voe are not permitted in Gerudo Town, so I would ask that your male allies kindly wait outside.”
Watching and listening in silence, Nadia pursed her lips. Just when it seemed like the team was getting somewhere, the policy Primrose alluded to came into play. Even though it didn’t affect her, she couldn’t help but feel bad for those it did. “Why’s that even a thing?” she muttered under her breath, bemused. It didn’t make sense. Primrose herself had accompanied the group while Therion had gone on to the nearby oasis, since the dancer intended to enter the city. She didn't reply to Ms. Fortune's comment, assuming it was a rhetorical question, but she smiled slightly. Though she didn't say it aloud, personally she thought it was a fine rule. It was nice to just be around other women sometimes, with no men to worry over or about.
”Such is Gerudo law.” Ganondorf said in response, ”In more ancient times, outsiders of any kind were not permitted. Obviously, times have changed since those days.” He remarked as he stepped forward further, ”Lady Riju, you say? Her name is not familiar to me. Between that and these ‘enemies’ thou speaketh of, there is much I need to catch up on.”
It did make him wonder how this Lady Riju would react to him. Convincing a pair of gate guards of his authority was one thing, but a Chief? That may prove to be another matter entirely. And if things became sour then having the Seekers split up could prove disastrous. But Ganondorf couldn’t just walk away. Not now. ”Thou should do as they say for now.” Ganondorf finally told the other male Seekers, ”My authority here must be formally recognised first before I can order an exception to be made for thee. Until then, it is what it is.”
Nadia scratched her head, then sighed with a resigned shrug. “If that’s how it is. Guess I’ll come with you.” Although she didn’t like leaving some of her friends behind, she couldn’t stand the thought of staying behind and missing out when she could get a front-row seat on the action. Plus, if the situation turned sour, she could be the first to let the guys know. “Don’t worry, fellas,” she told them. “We won’t ‘desert’ you!”
"I will come along as well," Primrose said. She undid her ponytail, shook her hair out, and quickly put it back up again to make herself a little more presentable, idly wondering if she should have taken the time to change into the Gerudo outfit she'd picked up last time and if it would even still fit her. She next spoke, it was with a teasing, slightly facetious tone. "It wouldn't do to have the king go without an entourage, hm~?"
She still considered Ganondorf an ally at the moment, despite what Asgore had told them, but she was also still hesitant to let the man take over the all female settlement. It didn't seem right, but she admitted to herself that the Gerudo were a culture unfamiliar to her, and so if their law stated that Ganondorf was their king there was little she was going to do about it. Like Ms. Fortune she was curious, but she also felt the need to be there for defense should things end up less than peaceful - though whether in defense of Ganondorf or from him she wasn't exactly sure yet.
”I wouldn’t want to miss this.” Sectonia said, clearly enjoying the awkwardness of the situation. Although unlike a few others, Sectonia didn’t see how Ganondorf acted to Asgore, so a bit of this was how he’d ‘take over’ his old kingdom. Could be some interesting insights.
The guard nodded at Ganondorf. “My name is Dorrah. If you’re ready, let’s go.”
With the other guard, Merina, remaining behind to ward off the others, Dorrah led Ganondorf and his retinue into Gerudo Town. Beyond the tall, bare walls of sandstone lay a thriving city of swaying palms, intricate tiled mosaics, and aqueducts that sparkled with flowing water. Colorful tapestries adorned the market stalls, and in their stables the sizeable, thickly-furred sand seals either lazed in the sun or barked uproariously. While this place did seem to harbor non-Gerudo citizens, the vai-only tradition was strictly and unilaterally enforced, which made the sudden and inexplicable presence of a voe all the more startling. Dozens of pairs of eyes watched Ganondorf every step of the way, even more shocked than the guards had been. Murmurs and whispers flew freely as a crowd began to assemble to either side of Gerudo Town’s main thoroughfare, and as Ganondorf drew closer to the palace, the confused and fascinated throng closed in behind him.
Though she'd only been to Gerudo Town for a short time in the grand scheme of things, Primrose liked this town. The "no males" policy was just a bonus. Obviously she wasn't the only woman that felt the same, and she was keenly aware of what the crowd must be thinking and feeling. And though she shared some of those feelings, she didn't allow herself to feel bad for unwittingly informing the Gerudo king about this place and thus drawing his attention and presence to it. She kept her head held high as she walked, though few even spared her a glance in the first place when Ganondorf walked just a few steps ahead.
Sectonia glanced at the crowd as well to gauge reaction, and the stunned silence or shock was what she expected. Still, if it wasn’t for her prim and proper form and way of carrying herself, she’d be almost giggling like a schoolgirl at just how absurd this situation was. But she kept her composure and just observed, internally enjoying herself. She did stay a bit behind Primrose so she could watch the whole scene as it was. Although the fact that almost none of the people here looked at her, instead looking at Ganondorf, irked her a bit… hm..
In sharp contrast to how Ganondorf, Primrose, and Sectonia carried themselves, calm and self-assured if not outright at home in the spotlight, Nadia slunk along behind them in a state of uneasy, uncharacteristic quiet. She offered no cordial greetings, and cracked no off-handed jokes. The presence of so many staring eyes seemed to make her uncomfortable, even if she knew that Ganondorf commanded most of the locals’ attention. It wasn’t long before the feral made herself scarce, making no excuse as she slipped away into the crowd -shortly followed by a quick climb to the aqueduct rooftops- to more freely follow along Ganondorf’s path through the town without the heavy gaze of the public eye.
Ganondorf for the most part just kept silent. While most might feel awkward or uncomfortable being surrounded by women, for Ganondorf this was just old hat. He’d lived his entire life being the only male in the tribe and so keeping his composure here was very easy. The gathering stares and murmurs was something he simply ignored. It wasn’t lost on him that he was about to shatter the town’s customs, but as far as he was concerned that was just the law of the tribe. The last thing he wanted was a war against his own people. But what would he do if the current Chief rejected his claims? Well in that scenario he would simply play politics and win her over through some form of bargain. And the information he learned about the tribe having enemies could be an avenue he could take for that end.
For now though, the main avenue he took through Gerudo Town led him through the bazaar and toward a set of stairs leading up to the palace, with its distinctive sandstone goblets. Water cascaded ceaselessly from the water sources held within, feeding the canals that flowed throughout and sustained the whole settlement. It even fell in tiered waterfalls to either side of the palace stairs, and the use of such a precious desert resource as decoration spoke to the resilience of the Gerudo. After ascending, the newcomers followed their guide Dorrah into the royal complex, first passing through a courtyard filled with tropical ferns and flowers. To the right, city guards had amassed in front of the barracks, too impressed by the strange man’s audacity to make a move. The crowd tailed Ganondorf even into the palace, and the women-at-arms joined them. It seemed like nobody wanted to miss his audience with the Gerudo chief.
Word Count: 1,065 Level 8 Roxas: 17/80 Exp Gained: +2 NEW EXP Balance--- 19/80
After another quick lunch with Pit, Roxas found himself wandering the port town on his own again. Well, not actually alone. Scamp was now following after him every step of the way. Of course, that begged the question of what to do now. He supposed at some point he ought to return to the Virgin Victory and introduce Scamp to everyone, but Roxas wanted to look around a little bit more before he did that.
Eventually the Nobody came across a park of some kind. It had a playground but it also curiously had a couple of areas marked by white chalk or paint drawings of rectangular battle lines. These were spots intended to be used for Pokemon or Pal battles. In fact one of the areas was occupied by a pair of kids battling with what looked like a couple of foxes. Clearly different types of foxes though, as one of them was reddish orange and it’s tail had a fiery tip while the other one was a sort of lavender color with white paws and white tips on its ears and tail - and it also looked to be wearing a dark blue cape of some kind. Unfortunately Roxas couldn’t tell if these were Pals or Pokemon, nor could he even tell who was winning between the two.
“That Foxsparks doesn’t stand a chance, if ya ask me.” Said an unfamiliar voice. Roxas looked to see a young kid had come up next to him to see the battle. He was dressed in a yellow t-shrt, blue shorts, and a blue baseball cap that he wore on his head backwards. “That Nox doesn’t go down easily, and I should know. I just got back from the Pokemon Center after losing to them.”
”Um… which one is which?” Roxas asked, having no idea which of the Pals was the Foxsparks and which one was the Nox. Although moments after asking he realized that Foxsparks was probably the one with the flame in its tail.
“Nox is the dark one with the cape.” the Youngster clarified. After that he got a look on his face and then smirked, “After losing I could use a little pick-me-up. You look weak! C’mon, let’s find out which of our Pokemon is tougher!” And without really giving Roxas the option to back down, the two trainers were now locking eyes in one of the battle zones. Youngster Joey wanted to battle.
The kid reached for his Poke Ball and threw it, releasing a small purple rat Pokemon from within it. Youngster Joey sent out Rattata! The Pokemon gave a squeaky-sounding cry and awaited for whatever command that was about to be given to it.
”Go! Scamp!” Roxas with a point of his finger toward the battlefield. Scamp leaped out from behind him and barked at the Rattata in front of him. ”Use Nuzzle!”
“Quick Attack!” Joey called in response. Unfortunately for Scamp, Rattata’s Quick Attack made it attack first and managed the first hit as a result, “Ha, too slow!” Joey taunted. But maybe he spoke too soon, since Scamp’s Nuzzle still managed to connect afterward resulting in his Rattata becoming paralyzed. “Shake it off, Rattata, you’ve got this! Use Quick Attack!”
”Go for it, Scamp!” Roxas shouted with encouragement, ”Use Spark!” Unlike the first time around, the paralysis kept Rattata from moving right away and thus he was given a solid hit by the electrified tackle that was Spark. But Roxas’ opponent didn’t look like he was giving up any time soon. In fact, if anything it almost looked like he was glad his Rattata had been afflicted with a status ailment.
“Hyper Fang!” Joey called out. This time his Rattata was able to move in for the attack, but it was still slowed somewhat by the paralysis allowing Scamp the chance to dodge out of the way of the biting attack that was coming his way. And good thing, too. Unbeknownst to Roxas, Rattata’s Guts ability made its attacks even stronger while it was afflicted with status effects.
”He’s up close now, so use Bite!” Roxas called, reasoning that a Bite would be easier to land from such close range versus a tackle-style attack like Spark. It paid off, Scamp managing to land another solid hit on Rattata and even managing to make it flinch.
“C’mon Rattata, we’ve still got a shot at this!” Joey said, not fazed by the battle turning in his opponent’s favor, “It’s all or nothing now, use Hyper Fang!”
”Meet ‘em head on with Spark, Scamp!” Roxas called, then watched as the two Pokemon barreled into each other. Both managed to land their attacks, but while the Hyper Fang was indeed quite a strong hit, the damage Rattata had already taken by this point allowed Scamp to edge him out and emerge victorious. ”Yeah! You did it, Scamp!” The pup bounded back up to his trainer and licked his face in celebration.
“Return, Rattata.” said Joey, recalling the Pokemon back to its Poke Ball. “Shoot! Lost again! Ah well, them’s the breaks I guess." Then he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small bit of money that he pushed into Roxas’ hand.
”Huh? You don’t have to give me this.” Roxas said with a confused look.
“Nah, it’s the rule.” Joey said with a shrug, “Battles wouldn’t be very exciting if there wasn’t anything on the line after all. Don’t worry about it, I’ll earn that back in a heartbeat - just you wait.” he said before beginning to walk away in order to get his Rattata healed again.
Currency: 120 Zenny
”C’mon Scamp, you should probably get healed up too.” Roxas told Scamp. They went ahead and followed Joey to the Pokemon Center where everyone was healed up. Joey then said his goodbyes and went off to no doubt train his Rattata some more.
After that it was Roxas’ turn to decide what to do next, ”Let’s head back and let you meet all others.” He suggested, beckoning for Scamp to follow him in the direction of the docks where he remembered the Virgin Victory was currently parked. The Yamper happily followed after him, proud that he won their first official battle as Trainer and Pokemon.
Word Count: 929 Level 6 Ganondorf: 6/60 Exp Gained: +2 NEW EXP Balance--- 8/60
To this day, Ganondorf still couldn’t wrap his head around Warp Pipes. He had to imagine that someone at some point had to put them in place. And while for this world that someone was obviously Galeem, it still left him questioning who put the Warp Pipes in place in Bowser’s home world. Well obviously there was some kind of magic to them that he simply didn’t know how to identify. And regardless of how confusing they can be, they still worked as intended regardless.
And this particular pipe led to a pool of icy cold water in the City of Tears. Luckily Ganondorf was capable of jumping again in midair, so he could use that to maneuver himself onto the dry land rather than have to take a full one ice-water bath like Nadia had done. Being back here was… not exactly something he was thrilled about. These people had tried to kill them in an angry mob a while back, and while that was due to powers beyond their control - it still left Ganondorf just wanting to get out of here as soon as possible. Well, that and an overwhelming desire to get back to the surface and breathe actual fresh air again.
As such, Ganondorf didn’t tarry long in the city. Instead he just went straight to King’s Station so he could be among the first on the stags that would take them back up toward the Under’s entrance.
Nyakuza Metro
Now this place was definitely something else. If the Under was dark and dirty, then this Metro place was almost the opposite. Brightly lit with neon, and comparatively a lot cleaner overall. It was inhabited pretty much entirely by cats, but that was only a problem for someone who might be allergic to them. Nadia had to feel right at home among these furballs. After taking one of the trains, the Seekers then learned which line would take them to Gerudo Town courtesy of Nadia reading the map signs.
After that, Ganondorf fanned out on his own briefly. He didn’t know about any of the others, but he could use a meal. Or at the very least a drink. And he quickly figured out that the geo the Seekers had been collecting in The Under was not a usable currency here in the Metro. He did, however, find a currency exchange vendor that would purchase all the geo the warlord had on hand for a different currency he called zenny. ”Fine.” Ganondorf said to the vendor, ”Give me whatever this amount is worth.” The Gerudo went ahead and handed over all 1,450 of his geo, reasoning that he likely wasn’t going back to the Under any time soon and thus had no need to hold onto any of his geo.
The vendor took the geo and counted out 1,233 zenny that they then handed over to Ganondorf. Unfortunately he had no context for what this amount was actually worth but he figured it was enough for a drink at least. He also noted this was not the same thing as the “pons” they apparently needed in order to get a Yellow Line Pass. That meant the Warlord would have to go searching for some eventually. But for now, he needed a break. A brief walk around led him to what looked like a bar - a milk bar to be exact. He supposed that would be the drink of choice in a place inhabited entirely by cats. But it was the items on the menu that got Ganondorf to raise an eyebrow.
”...Really?” the Warlord asked himself, wondering if the Lon Lon Milk name was for real or not. Well, there was only one way to know for sure. Ganondorf sat on one of the barstools and asked for Lon Lon Milk. And sure enough he was served a glass bottle that bore the familiar cow logo of Lon Lon Ranch. So that place existed somewhere in this world? And this made him wonder about what other places from his world he could find. He’d already learned of Gerudo Town, and what he presumed was the surrounding Gerudo Desert. This milk indicated the existence of Lon Lon Ranch. He wondered if maybe Hyrule Castle was standing somewhere in this world too.
As Ganondorf drank, the Lon Lon Milk gave him a feeling. A feeling he didn’t think he’d find in this stitched-together world: nostalgia. When was the last time he had ever had a sip of this milk anyway? It had to have been when he was still a kid. He also realized that it was nice to have something he was actually familiar with for a change. For a long-forgotten amount of time he had only been eating and drinking things that were completely alien to him. So the chance to drink something familiar, even something simple like this, was a surprisingly welcome one.
”Well, that’s enough living in the past.” Ganondorf said to himself. He stood from the stool and paid his tab and silently walked out of the bar and back out into the Metro. As nice as that moment of nostalgia was, at the end of the day it was but a fleeting moment. And Ganondorf himself had business to attend to. So he set out to begin his search for pons. Unfortunately it was now time to go back to his main goal of hunting down and destroying Galeem.
Word Count: 6,699 Level 8 Roxas: 10/80 Level 5 Pit: 222/50 Exp Gained: +7 NEW EXP Balance--- 17/80, 229/50
For his part, Roxas was a bit more interested in exploring the port town. That wouldn’t stop him from getting something to eat, of course. Instead, he decided to find something he could eat on the go. And that wasn’t too difficult. The pier had its share of outdoor food stalls. And at one of them, the Nobody got his hands on something called a Rushboar Hot Dog. He had no clue what a “Rushboar” was, but he figured a hot dog was mostly the same no matter what it was actually made of.
”Finally, time to eat.” Roxas said to himself. He’d left his mask and gauntlets aboard the Virgin Victory, figuring that he wouldn’t really need them since he had no intention of picking any fights. Besides, he didn’t want to scare people by running around in that mask all the time anyway, and the gauntlets would have made it harder to hold onto food without it getting messy. In addition, he also changed outfits, switching out of the hooded coat in favor of his casual clothing. Once again, he figured the coat’s functions wouldn’t be super necessary in this particular setting. He did, however, keep the Phantom Ruby necklace with him.
"Oh hey, Roxas!"
A voice cut through the bustling din of the port's main strip. It was Pit, and he didn't hesitate to jog and catch up with the other boy until he fell into step next to him, even if it hadn't been long since they'd last seen each other.
After the Seekers adjourned and split up to explore the city, the angel had made good on his suggestion of getting something to eat. Much too antsy after everything the Seekers had done and learned that morning, Pit had avoided slower cafes and restaurants in favor of the faster outdoor food carts much like Roxas had. He had a duo of skewers in each hand, half savory and half sweet, along with two empty sticks indicating he'd already demolished some of his lunch.
"Did you see all the farms from the water?" Pit said, gesturing vaguely with his food in the direction of the hills behind the city. "It was like the biggest farmland I've ever seen!"
Little did they know, Roxas and Pit were being followed. And before Roxas could even take his first bite, a yellow and tan blur leaped by him and snatched the hot dog right out of his hands, ”Hey! That was mine!” Roxas yelled out in protest. The critter in question looked like a chubby little puppy, with sparks of electricity appearing to jump off its tail as it took off running. Roxas, without much thinking about it, took off running as well in pursuit of the ornery little pup. Now, there was little point in recovering the hot dog now that it had been in the pup’s mouth - and Roxas probably could have just gone and got another one. But no, he was choosing to be stubborn and gave chase - with the sound of Pit's laughter echoing behind him.
Roxas chased Yamper around a couple of blocks. He could try to generate a wall of virtual cubes to corner the dog, but Roxas feared that would cause an even bigger scene. And besides, having to use his powers to catch a single little puppy dog? How embarrassing would that have been? So he kept chasing after the dog normally, right up until he literally crashed into someone as he rounded a corner. It was a redhead girl wearing a blue jacket, white skirt, and pink knee-high boots.
”Ow!” Roxas initially said when the two of them went tumbling. But that was quickly followed up with, ”I’m sorry! Are you hurt?”
“No, I’m fine,” said the girl, shaking her head. Nearby she spotted the dog scarfing down the hot dog it had stolen from Roxas, “Ugh, Yamper!” she cried out in a scolding tone. At that the dog scurried forward and stared up at her with an innocent expression, “How many times do I have to tell you not to steal people’s food!”
”Yam…per?” asked Roxas, realizing that this girl apparently knew the dog. Maybe she was its owner? ”Does he… belong to you?”
“I’m so sorry about Yamper!” said the girl with an apologetic, “He’s such an ornery troublemaker sometimes. But… no, he doesn’t belong to me. Well, I guess he does, in a sense. I’m Rui.” she said, sticking out her hand which Roxas then shook, “I run an adoption center for Pokemon and Pals here in Port Meridian. Yamper here is one of the center’s orphans.”
”What do you mean by ‘orphan’, exactly?” Roxas asked curiously.
“Like a lot of the Pokemon in the adoption center, Yamper here was abandoned by his trainer. I’ve been trying to find a home for him, but… well you can imagine how many people want to adopt a mischievous little scamp like him.” Rui explained.
”I’m guessing not very many.” Roxas said, ”But still, ‘abandoned’? That’s horrible. What kind of person would do that?”
“You’d be surprised how many cruel Trainers and Tamers are out there.” Rui said, “My partner and I do our best to rescue Pokemon and Pals from their abusive owners and try to find real homes for them.”
At this point, Roxas knelt down in order to get a closer look at the Pokemon, ”Yamper, huh? I’m Roxas.” he reached out a hand thinking Yamper might let Roxas pet him, but the puppy stayed where he was. ”Well he sure gave me the runaround. I was gonna explore town, and I guess he made me do it in half the time.” Roxas said with a small laugh.
“I take it that means you’re new?” Rui asked.
”Yep. Just got here, actually.” Roxas said, ”Which I guess makes Yamper here my official welcoming party.”
“Bow-wark!” Yamper barked, his tail beginning to wag.
“You know, it’s not every day I see someone managing to keep up with Yamper as well as you did. Most people only run a few feet before they give up and let him escape.” Rui said with a giggle.
”I guess I’m just persistent like that.” Roxas replied with a sheepish grin.
Pit reappeared not a moment later, his mop of brown hair poking around the wide alley's corner. He had taken his sweet time following after Roxas, made evident by the number of remaining skewers he'd been holding reduced to just one, and might have been content to leave the Nobody to his own devices if he hadn't heard the other boy's voice.
"I guess you didn't end up getting your food back?" Pit chortled, noting the crumbs still clinging to the puppy's snout. He stepped fully into the alley, offering the final glazed fruit skewer to Roxas with one hand and a friendly wave to Rui with the other.
”Not even a nibble.” Roxas replied to the angel as he accepted the skewer, ”This is Rui. And Rui? This is my friend, Pit.”
“Hiya.” the girl said, waving back to angel as he waved at her, “Does that mean you’re new to town, too?”
"Uh-huh! We-"
”Hey, where’d Yamper go?” Roxas interrupted. Looking around to find that Yamper had run off somewhere, ”He was just here, so where could he-?”
“Oh no…” Rui said, pointing somewhere and sounding genuinely afraid. Where she pointed was at a rather flamboyant-looking man snacking on a skewer of his own as he walked. Tall and thin, he stood out like a sore thumb with his purple outfit and comically large afro that was almost cartoonishly colored red on one side and white on the other. “...Yamper, don’t!” she cried out, practically screaming. She seemed less concerned about what Yamper was doing and more concerned about who he was doing it to.
But it was too late. Yamper made a leap to try and snatch the man’s snack. Rui’s shout, however, seemed to get his attention and he was able to dodge out of the pouncing Pokemon’s way but not without dropping his skewer to the ground in the process, “You ruined my snack you little thief!” He said as he instantly retrieved a pair of red-and-white balls from his personage.
“Please!” Rui said to Roxas and Pit in a hushed voice, “I know that guy, he’s bad news. Protect Yamper, and while you do I’ll go bring my partner here to back you up.” she said quickly before taking off in a sprint away from the two. As this happened, the afro man threw the two balls and from them released a pair of dancing, rotund creatures. They were green in color and big plant-based headdresses that almost resembled wide-brimmed hats.
"That guy? With those things? Really?" Pit asked, clearly in disbelief that the stranger could be "bad news." He looked hilarious! And so did the Pokémon he sent out. But the distress in Rui's voice was real, and Roxas didn’t need to be told twice.
”Leave Yamper alone!” he shouted as he sprinted forward to protect Yamper. Pit was only a beat behind him, and the two boys slid to a stop between the three Pokémon.
"Yeah! You're the one that dropped it - besides it still looks good to me!" Pit said, pointing to the fallen food and pretty much implying the stranger should eat it from the ground.
“You’ve GOT to be kidding me!” the man scoffed, “Nobody in their right mind would eat that now. And that mutt is the only reason I even dropped it to begin with. A trainer should ALWAYS keep better control of their Pokemon!” and then he looked around a bit and added, “You ARE this Yamper’s trainer, are you not? Surely one of you has to be, why else would you be this concerned?”
”His trainer?” Roxas echoed, ”Well, uh…”
“Good, then I guess that makes YOU responsible for fixing this mess your Pokemon made!”
”What, you want us to buy you a new skewer?” Roxas asked.
“No… I have a better idea than that.” the man said with a smirk, “I’ll just be taking that Yamper and adding him to my collection of Pokemon. Ludicolos, use Razor Leaf!" This prompted both the man’s Pokemon to suddenly shoot out a volley of leaves capable of cutting like razor blades.
In a flash a pair of divine shields manifested; the razor leaves struck their surface and fell limply to the ground. "What the heck is your problem? You can't just steal people's pets!"
“Watch us.” the man said, deliberately using the word “us” instead of “me” as a pair of oddly dressed goons appeared with Poke Balls in hand. “Let’s crush ‘em, boys!”
“You got it, Boss!” one of them said as he released a ghostly Pokemon from its Poke Ball. The other followed suit and released a burly, large-mouthed Pokemon from its Poke Ball.
“Not so fast, Miror B.!” came the familiar voice of Rui as she came sprinting into the scene. And she wasn’t alone. Following after her was a young man in a blue long coat. And he released two Pokemon of his own, one a purple fox with a red jewel on its forehead, and the other a black fox with golden-yellow accented stripes around its body in various spots.
Rui’s partner quickly retrieved a third Poke Ball from his belt and tossed it to Pit, loaning it to him to battle with when it looked to him like the angel had no Pokemon of his own. Pit scrambled to catch it, confused at first as to why he'd been thrown the Pokéball in the first place. Then it hit him, and a wide grin split across his face. A true Pokémon battle?!
Rui herself was scribbling something on two scraps of paper before she ran up and handed them to the boys, “Here, I jotted the moves those Pokemon can use for you in case you needed it.” the papers each contained a list of the four moves that Yamper and the Pokemon her partner loaned to Pit can use.
“You two?!” shouted the man called Miror B., “Well isn’t this perfect. I get to punish these twerps and get my revenge on the two of you! So let’s dance!”
“Ludicolo, use Magical Leaf! And Ludicolo, use Razor Leaf again!” Miror B. ordered. Both attacks appeared to be the same, but one of them was a special attack and the other a physical attack. In addition, Magical Leaf was an attack that would always hit without fail.
”Yamper, look out! cried Roxas, urging the dog to try and dodge the attack. It could avoid the Razor Leaf, but not the Magical Leaf. Roxas then looked down at the note Rui had handed him, ”Uh… got it, use Nuzzle!” at this the Yamper barked and charged forward. It quite literally nuzzled against the Ludicolo that had used Magical Leaf, dealing a small bit of Electric type damage but also inflicting it with Paralysis.
Though their battle was almost in the middle of a street, only a handful of pedestrians stopped to watch - they must have been used to trainers and Pals already. Hard to believe that there was such strict control over those kinds of things in Midgar, when this place wasn't that far away. Both Roxas and Pit could have settled an actual fight in moments, but where was the fun in that? They'd done enough real fighting for the day and it was still only lunch time. Besides, it seemed like Roxas had already committed, and Pit sort of wanted to try out a proper Pokémon battle anyway. Getting beaten up by Pikachu in tourneys hardly counted.
"Alright!" he said. "Go!"
One over the top throwing motion later and the ball left his hands, the borrowed pocket monster appearing in a brief flash of light. It was some kind of fat yellow snake, with tiny little wings on its back. To some, the Pokémon could be described as cute or charming, but to Pit it was underwhelming - especially compared to those already on the field.
"Aww nooo, a lame one?" the angel complained, his wings drooping slightly. Thankfully the Dunsparce didn't appear to take offense. It did wait for an order however, but as Pit's experience with Pokémon was limited and he couldn't actually read the notes Rui had pressed into his hand (though he had glanced at it to see if there were any helpful drawings), it ended up waiting a longer than usual for those orders to come.
"Well, whatever! You can do it! Do the thing! ...Tackle! Headbutt! Flamethrower!" Dunsparce did none of those things, just patiently waited until Pit finally issued a command it could follow through on. "Just try and take it down!"
Using its tail as a prop, the Pokémon flung itself bodily at the Ludicolo not currently being nuzzled by Yamper, colliding with it head on. It dealt a good-sized blow of Normal-type damage made stronger by the fact that Dunsparce was itself a Normal-type Pokemon. However the attack also came at the cost of recoil damage dealt back against Dunsparce, though comparatively less than what the Ludicolo had suffered.
"Yeah! That's the way!"
As Dunsparce’s attack made contact, the other Ludicolo had finally managed to shake off Yamper. But the damage was already done, “Shake it off!” Mirror B. urged, “Ludicolo, use Sunny Day! And Ludicolo, use Weather Ball!” at this command, the non-paralyzed Ludicolo began to dance, and with that dance, the sunlight grew bright and harsh. The other Ludicolo tried to channel its energy into a Weather Ball, which would have been a scorching hot fire type attack under the current weather. But unfortunately, it sparked with static electricity and remained immobile for now due to paralysis.
Rui had been watching the battles, and now she yelled out a suggestion, “Have him use Fire Fang, Roxas! Just trust me!” to which Roxas nodded in response.
”Do it, Yamper! Use Fire Fang!” he called out. Yamper barked and charged forward and launched itself into a lunging bite attack against the paralyzed Ludicolo. However, Yamper’s teeth and fangs had become wraithed in flames whose heat and power were only increased in the harsh sunlight of Sunny Day. The attack connected and dealt a nice blow to Ludicolo. But it still wasn’t beaten just yet.
Yamper's partner for the battle was enthusiastically issued another Take Down order, given it was the one move Pit had shouted out that worked.
Dunsparce performed the same bodily tackle, throwing its entire weight at the opponent Pokémon. After a second round of smashing into Ludicolo, both Pokémon reeling as Dunsparce bounced back into position, the recoil damage from the attack was starting to become obvious. Huh? Is it hurting itself? Drawing on his small frame of reference, Pit guessed it possible this winged snake was like Pichu and its electricity. Except instead of electricity, it just had really soft skin or something?
"Uh, we'll try something else next!" Pit promised the Pokémon, earning an affirmative warble from Dunsparce.
“He has other moves!” Rui yelled out to Pit, “DIdn’t you read my note? Charm sharply lowers an opponent’s attack, Glare makes them paralyzed, and Ancient Power is a Rock-type attack!” she quickly advised him.
"About that..." Pit said, growing a bit red in the face.
“Pfft, hahaha!” Miror B. laughed, “What kind of Trainer needs advice from the sidelines?” he mocked and then quickly added, “Ludicolo, switch it up and use Rain Dance! And Ludicolo 2? Use Weather Ball!” This time it was the paralyzed Ludicolo who tried to dance. Unlike before, he was able to fight through the paralysis and performed its dance, which in turn caused the weather to change from bright and sunny, to rain and thunder. Miror B. had noticed the boost that Sunny Day had given to Yamper and so he took it away. Now Fire-type moves would be weakened instead of boosted, and conversely the rain would boost the damage of all Water-type moves. Speaking of which, the other Ludicolo charged its energy and fired off its attack. In the current weather, Weather Ball became a Water-type move that consequently would be boosted by the rain, and the attack was heading straight for Dunsparce!
”Again with the weather?” Roxas groaned in annoyance. Clearly this Miror B. character had way more experience with Pokemon Battling than he and Pit did. Not that he was gonna let that deter him, ”Use Nuzzle on the other Ludicolo!” he told Yamper. The Pokemon barked and charged for its target, who was too distracted from attacking Dunsparce to react in time. It got hit and was afflicted with the same paralysis as its partner.
"You're lucky we're just fighting with Pokémon!" was Pit's retort to Miror B.'s jeering. The fact that this was an actual Pokémon battle was what stopped him from jumping in the way to protect his borrowed one from the Weather Ball, like he'd done earlier with the Razor Leaf. All he could do was bid Dunsparce to get out of the way. Unfortunately the 'mon was too slow, taking the blast but still hanging in there.
"No worries!" he told Dunsparce. He thought they could still win, and even if they didn't the battle would be over and they could just... personally prevent these dubious villains from trying anything.
"Do Ancient Power this time!" The Pokémon complied, spinning its tail and jabbing it into the ground as energy gathered around it. Several rocks were conjured up that flew back at the offending, freshly paralyzed Ludicolo. The rocks landed and did semi-decent damage to Ludicolo. But more importantly, Dunsparce managed to also trigger its secondary effect, one that boosted all its stats by one stage each.
Roxas was getting tired of having to respond to Miror B.’s attacks and so he was quick on the draw to give out his next command, ”Use Spark on the other Ludicolo!” And the Yamper obeyed. With a bark it lunged at the dancing Ludicolo and tackled into it while covering its own body with electricity. It dealt medium Electric-type damage, and while Ludicolo’s typing allowed it to resist it somewhat, that still didn’t change the fact that it was getting close to its last legs.
Thanks to Dunsparce's stat boosts, when Pit issued the order for attack (another Ancient Power of course) it was quicker to execute it. It wasn't lucky enough for another power up, but even so when the rocks crashed against the other side of the field they benefited from the increase to its special attack.
Miror B.’s confidence was still not shaken yet. Unknown to either of the Seekers, the rain he had set up was now allowing both Ludicolo to gradually regain health every so often thanks to their passive abilities. So if he could stall this out, it could allow them to gain their second wind. “Use Water Pulse!” He ordered both the Ludicolos. The one targeting Dunsparce was too paralyzed to move, but the one battling Yamper managed to spit out a pulsing blast of water. It smashed into Yamper dealing hefty damage thanks to the rain. And fortunately for Roxas, Yamper managed to avoid succumbing to the move’s secondary effect… this time.
So far Pit had gone all in on attacking moves, and frankly he wasn't about to stop now. Offense was the best defense after all - most of the time! Though the angel was very obviously not a Pokémon Trainer, he did have a surprisingly good battle sense, and he could tell that his own 'mon had powered up and the Ludicolos were hurting. He took this as the cue to go back to Dunsparce's stronger attack, both in hopes it had become tougher against its recoil and strong enough to finish off an opponent.
"Alright, for real this time! Take Down!"
"Duuuns!" Dunsparce obediently followed through, throwing itself at the Ludicolo that was stuck in place. At this point, all four of the battling Pokemon were showing their fatigue. They’d all taken their share of licks and damage from one another. But the Ludicolos, in spite of the rain, were the ones that looked slightly more ready to drop. And so Miror B. scowled.
“Return!” he called, recalling both Pokemon back into their Poke Balls. But if Pit and Roxas thought that this meant victory, they were wrong. Miror B. held out one more Poke Ball with a smirk, “No more Mr. Nice Guy.” he grumbled, “You wanna play hardball? Then let’s play! Take the stage!”
He threw the Poke Ball and released the Pokemon from within it. It looked like a dragon with a cute babyface. But something about it was… wrong, somehow. It had an angered expression, and eyes that looked full of hate. And it also bore a dark purple aura that was invisible to everyone… except for one person.
“Wes, that Dragonite!” Rui suddenly cried out, “It’s a Shadow Pokemon!”
“Use Shadow Rush!” Miror B. commanded. At this the dragon Pokemon launched itself into a super fast lunge with but a single beat of its wings. It flew right at Yamper looking to slam into it with all its speed and might. But the attack never connected.
“Umbreon, Protect!”
Seemingly out of nowhere, Wes’ Umbreon launched itself in between Yamper and Dragonite and put up a small barrier shield around itself that absorbed the attack and nullified the damage it would have dealt. And then Wes, quick on the draw, issued a second command.
“Toxic!”
Umbreon then released a stream of thick, purple liquid that sprayed the Dragonite, inflicting it with a poison that would deal an increasing amount of incremental damage as the battle went on. This was all well and good but Yamper and Dunsparce were still pretty damaged from the battle against the Ludicolos. So Roxas decided to fix that problem with a quick Curaga spell, ”Heal!” The spell conjured healing leaves that washed over the two Pokemon and healed them for much of the damage that they’d taken so far.
“3 vs 1?!” Miror B. griped, “And healing magic? You call this a fair battle?”
“Does this look like a tournament battle to you?” Rui retorted, “And that’s rich coming from the guy using a Shadow Pokemon!”
Wes had already wrapped up his battle against the two peons, so he stepped forward and held out both arms in front of Pit and Roxas - offering to battle the Dragonite himself, ”No way! Yamper and I came this far, we’re not running away now!” Roxas said. Pit held a similar notion. Though at this point he was considering this as part of winding down in town after their world saving fight earlier. "This is kinda fun, I want to see it through!"
Their response prompted a smile from the former Team Snagem member, who lowered his arms and nodded to them both. But before he gave control of Dunsparce back to Pit, the Trainer had one command for it.
“Use Charm!” Dunsparce obeyed and proceeded to do a cute little charming gesture at the Dragonite. In spite of its fierce aura, it was still affected and its Attack stat sharply lowered as a result.
With the new battle beginning, Pit jumped right in to give Dunsparce a command himself. Seeing how helpful the paralysis had been against the Ludicolos, he took Rui's earlier advice and used a non-attacking move for once.
"Okay! Try Glare this time!" he said, pointing at the Dragonite dramatically. Dunsparce shuffled forward, transitioning between acting cute for its charm and mustering the meanest glare it could give, given its dopey face. Even with its fierce expression, Dragonite still had kind of a dopey face of its own at the end of the day, so Dunsparce’s Glare worked as intended, afflicting the Shadow Pokemon with paralysis.
Of course, Miror. B had taken notice of all the debuffs his Pokemon was suffering and went with a different strategy now, “Shadow Storm!” he called out. This prompted Dragonite to fight through the paralysis and release a storm of dark shadows onto all of its current opponents. But thankfully Wes still remained quick on the draw.
“Light Screen!” he ordered, prompting Umbreon to make its yellow circles and stripes glow briefly as it summoned an invisible, reflective wall of light to absorb the brunt of the Shadow Storm attack.
”Yamper, use Spark!” Roxas called, sending Yamper into a charging tackle while sparking with electricity. Dragonite’s paralysis had halved its speed so it was unable to avoid taking the hit. The damage wasn’t great, due to Dragonite being naturally resistant to electric attacks, but still - damage was damage. And Wes decided to use that moment of distraction to recall his Umbreon and send out a new Pokemon, blue and oblong with short arms and a flat chubby tail. And then, with dark purple bubbles flaring up around it, Dragonite took its first hit of damage from the poison.
“Shadow Shed!” Miror B. called. Dragonite gave a roar and flared up a shadowy aura that caused the Light Screen to shatter and disappear.
The battle changes had drawn a couple more curious onlookers by now, perhaps because it was flashier than usual. Thankfully since Roxas and Pit were playing by the rules (for the most part), the damage was kept to the Pokémon combatants only, sparing the citizens and architecture from crossfire. Though given how strong this dragon seemed to be, it might not stay that way for long. It could even smash through barriers! So it looked like offense really would be the best defense!
"Another Ancient Power!" Pit called out. Dunsparce once more grounded itself and summoned a hail of stones to float up before whipping towards Dragonite, pummeling it with the Rock-type move. Once again, the move didn’t boost Dunsparce’s stats. But the Rock-type nature of the attack made it super effective against Dragonite.
”Use another Spark” Roxas called, prompting another electrified tackle. But by now Dragonite had regained enough composure to fight through Paralysis and knocked the Yamper back with its tail. And then Wes and Miror B. called their attacks at the same time.
“Shadow Storm!” / “Ice Punch!”
Wes’ Quagsire coated one of its arms in ice and launched itself into an uppercut against the Dragonite, who simultaneously released its wave of darkness at the trio of opponents. Quagsire was able to push its way through to deal a quadruple effective blow against Dragonite. But that didn’t stop the remainder of the Shadow Storm from threatening to overtake Dunsparce and Yamper.
”Yamper!” Roxas cried out. Instinctively he rushed forward and then used the power of the Phantom Ruby necklace to summon a 5-by-5 wall of virtual cubes in front of them to take the incoming attack. That stopped the brunt of the damage, but the cubes weren’t indestructible. The Shadow Storm made them crack and then eventually shatter into pieces that gradually faded away. Roxas knelt down and used his body to shield Yamper, protecting it from the virtual shards that he knew would be harmful to anyone other than himself that touched them.
At the same time, Pit was keeping to his role. His divine arsenal stayed put in whatever ethereal realm it was usually stowed in. He didn't interfere directly, and he felt pretty confident in his Pokémon - clearly the Trainer he borrowed it from was a professional, and Dunsparce was too. He kind of regretted calling it lame before.
"You can weather that storm, Duns!" he said, repeating the sound he'd heard the Dunsparce say as its name. Dunsparce was indeed a Pokémon experienced in battle, and though unbeknownst to Roxas and Pit a former Shadow Pokémon itself. It curled up and braced itself as the Shadow Storm washed over it, and though the damage was super effective Dunsparce managed to hang in there thanks to a combination of buffs, debuffs, and the curaga.
Nearby, Wes decided now was the time. He activated the mysterious machine that had been attached to his right arm this whole time and then put an empty Poke Ball in his right hand. This Ball was slightly different, being mostly black/white instead of red/white and also possessed yellow stripes in the black area. With a quick motion, Wes threw the ball at Dragonite. And while this was normally impossible, the ball he threw briefly became a different type of ball that released a capturing energy shaped like a clawed hand that grabbed Dragonite and snagged it into the Ultra Ball. The ball recoiled back to ground in front of Wes’ feet, and then…its button glowed red and began to wobble.
One.
Rui and Wes watched the ball in tense anticipation. Meanwhile Roxas didn’t know what was happening.
Two.
“Nononono!” Miror B. wailed. He wanted to send his other Pokemon back out to stop this, but they had already been battered and bruised from the earlier part of the battle.
Three.
Wes’ muscles tensed up even more. If this failed then they’d have to survive another attack before he could throw another ball. The ball paused after its third wobble for what felt like a very long time, and then…
Click.
The ball’s red glow suddenly switched to green and then faded back to its default white color, confirming the successful catch. Rui and Wes both relaxed immediately. It was over. Shadow Dragonite was officially snagged.
“Gah! You!” Miror B. pointed an accusatory finger, “This isn’t over!” He declared. As tough as he was trying to sound, he and his two peons were out of Pokemon and had no other choice but to run away.
”Are you okay, Yamper?” Roxas asked, the pup barked up at him happily and proceeded to start licking him in the face. ”Hahaha, okay okay! I’ll take that as a yes.”
"Good riddance!" Pit called after Miror B. before looking at the others, musing, "Do you think he'd be less of a jerk if he had a better haircut?"
Dunsparce raised the front half of its body and wiggled around in its version of an answer, or maybe it was a cheer for victory. Either way Pit knelt down to pat it on the head before returning it to its Pokéball, having since Trainers do it enough that he could figure it out himself. He approached Wes to return the ball to him, asking some questions as he did.
"What was that? Did you just take that guy's evil Pokémon?" His attention shifted back and forth from Wes, the device on his arm, and Rui. "I didn't even know they could be evil, they're mostly just cute! But that one had something going on, right?"
“Let’s get everyone back to the adoption center to heal up.” Rui suggested, “I’ll answer your questions there.”
They led the two Seekers to their adoption center, which looked like it had been repurposed from a Pokemon Center since it still had the characteristic red roof. And it also had the machine that could be used to fully heal up Pokemon while they were still resting in their Poke Balls. Rui placed the balls for all the Pokemon who had battled into the machine - including the Ultra Ball that contained Dragonite.
“To answer your question,” Rui finally said, “you’re right, that Dragonite did have something going on with it.” She took a breath and continued her explanation, “Some Pokemon who’ve been abused by their trainers end up closing off their hearts, and they become filled with anger and aggression until they become a dark version of themselves. We call those Shadow Pokemon. Normally it’s impossible to tell the difference between a Shadow Pokemon and a normal one, but I’ve always had the gift of being able to see it. Now that we’ve rescued poor Dragonite, we can treat it properly until it opens its heart back and up. Then we can purify it of the darkness and help it find a new home.”
This was actually hitting Roxas rather close to home. All the talk of hearts and darkness reminded him very much of his own world, and it also made him wonder… had Yamper previously been Shadow Pokemon? Was that why he was a bit of a troublemaker?
“Anyway,” Rui continued, “Wes’ machine is called the Snag Machine. His former bosses in Team Snagem created it to steal Pokemon, but Wes took the machine himself to keep it out of the wrong hands. We’ve been using it ever since to rescue Pokemon from abusive trainers, then use our adoption center here to find them better homes.”
Pit took in the center, from the healing machine to a couple of moles that had peeked out from a doorway and waved to Rui once she'd returned. It seemed like a nice place, with nice people. Would that Midgar had something like this instead of subjecting all those confiscated Pokémon to their unpleasant fate. Recalling the hatchery they'd found, Pit looked at Rui curiously.
"Would you take care of baby Pokémon here too?" he asked. "I dunno how far word spread, but there miiiight be a power problem in that giant city over there. I have a feeling there'll be a bunch of orphans headed this way."
That was just his guess anyway. When it came to animals and Pokémon, Lady Palutena had mentioned that most of them eventually go to "a farm upstate," so it only made sense that any refugees that had the mind to rescue those Pokémon and their eggs might bring them to Port Meridian and its huge farmland.
“Huh?” She asked, “Um… well we’ll try, I guess. We’re a bit small here, but I guess this’ll give us a chance to expand!”
And that was when the machine gave its familiar chime to indicate that the healing was done. And this prompted Rui to change the subject as she took Yamper’s Poke Ball off the machine and handed it over to Roxas, ”Huh? What’s this?” He asked, confused by the gesture.
“C’mon, I saw how great you two were together in that battle.” Rui said, “You’d be a great trainer for Yamper.” Nearby, Wes was nodding in agreement.
Roxas reluctantly took the Poke Ball in his hand, ”You… think so?” He asked, then released Yamper from the ball, ”What do you think, Yamper?” Roxas asked, kneeling down. ”You… wanna come with me?”
“Bow-wark!” Yamper said as it excitedly spun around in a circle. Then it leapt up and licked Roxas in the face.
“See? What’d I tell you?” Rui said with a big smile, “He’s all yours, then!” She thought for a moment and then continued, “Y’know, some Trainers like to give their Pokemon nicknames. You can try giving one to Yamper if you like. While you think it over, Wes and I will be right back.”
”Nickname, huh?” Roxas asked. ”With how much of a mischievous scamp you were earlier… maybe I should call you Scamp?” The Yamper just maintained a happy little expression before replying with a “bow-wark!”.
“Here you go, Roxas.” said Rui, now returning from the back room she and Wes had gone to. She held a small backpack with a single shoulder strap that she placed on the front counter.
”A… bag?” Roxas asked, curiously.
“Yes, a bag.” Rui said, “Since you don’t already have one, and you do want something to carry your trainer supplies with, don’t you?” She asked, then started pointing to specific pouches, “See? There’s a pouch for Poke Balls, one for Berries, one for Medicine like potions and antidotes, and even one for TMs in case you find any.”
”Huh?” Roxas was a little overwhelmed by the info dump, but accepted the bag anyway. Rui just sighed.
“Don’t worry, I wrote down some instructions that tell you what all of that means.” She said as she rubbed her temples, “Anyway, make sure you check inside the pouches. Wes wanted to give you a little something to help you get started. Just think of it like a… Pokemon Trainer Starter Kit!” She said with a wink.
”Really? You’re just giving it all to me?”
“As long as you promise to take good care of Yamper, then of course we are.” She replied.
”Yeah, I promise!” Roxas said and accepted the kit.
Obtained: Scamp the Yamper Gender: Male Lv: 20 Ability:Ball Fetch - After the first Poke Ball is thrown during battle and fails, if no other item is held then the Poke Ball will be fetched and can thus be reused later. Moveset Spark (65 base power, physical attack, Electric-type, small chance of inflicting paralysis) Nuzzle (20 base power, physical attack, Electric-type, always inflicts paralysis) Bite (60 base power, physical attack, Dark-type, has chance of making opponent flinch) Fire Fang (65 base power, physical attack, Fire-type, has chance of inflicting Burn and/or making opponent flinch)
Trainer’s Bag: A bag for carrying supplies used to raise Pokemon. Contains pouches for Poke Balls, Berries, Medicine, TMs/HMs, and Misc.
Ball Pouch: Poke Ball (x5)
Berry Pouch: Empty
Medicine Pouch: Potion (x3)
TM/HM Pouch: Empty
Misc Pouch: Empty
If it had been any other kind of gift, Pit would probably have been jealous of Roxas. No, actually, he definitely would have been. Who wouldn't want free stuff after all? But since it was a Pokémon he didn't feel put out one bit. The battle had been fun, sure, but just playing a being a trainer was fine with him. He had his hands full commanding Centurions whenever they actually had to take the field, plus he preferred to handle his opponents himself anyway. So the angel just grinned at Roxas and clapped him on the back a few times in congratulations.
"Welcome to the team little guy!" he then said to Scamp.
Well now they'd officially done one huge good deed and one small good deed today. And maybe one really small one if you counted warning the adoption center about a potential influx of critters needing homes. Yup, all in a day's work, Pit thought. He looked back at Roxas. "I don't know about you, but I'm kind of hungry again."
Roxas’ stomach growled almost as if in response, ”So am I.” He agreed, ”And from now on I better make sure to get double servings in case a certain little someone decides to make off with my lunch again.” He added, prompting a laugh from basically everyone in the room.
“Bye you guys!” said Rui as the Seekers departed, she was standing outside the adoption alongside Wes as they both waved, “Hope we see you again sometime!” Roxas hoped she didn’t mean for a battle against Wes, because he was pretty sure he’d get creamed by a professional trainer like him.
”Lunch, here we come!” Roxas shouted. And Scamp gave his “bow-wark!” in response as he followed after his new Trainer.
Word Count: 473 Level 5 Ganondorf: 55/60 Exp: 1 NEW EXP Balance--- 56/60
Maybe it was one of his recently acquired spirits, but F’s escape didn’t enrage Ganondorf as much as one might expect. At least not outwardly anyway. Of course, some of the new information that F leaked went a long way to temper the Warlord’s rage. Because if nothing else, it gave him an idea for a strategy on how to crush all the Consuls. So F’s time would come soon enough. For now, Ganondorf decided his attention was best directed at the Flame Clocks.
By this time the Koopa Troop had blundered into a tunnel they were digging for themselves. Wherever that led to, Ganondorf was certain it would be a waste of his time. But they weren’t the only ones splitting off from the group. The director, Jesse, was taking her leave. Only for her it was a permanent leave. Well, it was always a pity to lose a useful ally, but Ganondorf had no intention of trying to stop her from leaving. What she did with her life was her own business.
It was Primrose who finally said something that piqued the Gerudo’s interest. Well, multiple things actually. Firstly was her mention of yet another King, who seemed to have useful he had yet to share, which of course meant that Ganondorf wanted to hear it for himself. But then there was the second thing she mentioned.
”Gerudo Town?” he suddenly said, ”Thou mean to tell me that there is a contingent of Gerudo living in this world?” he demanded. For being a Gerudo himself, one might think he’d be happy to hear about a settlement consisting of his kinsfolk, ”Good. I was wondering where I would eventually staketh my claim in this world. But it seems it hath already been done for me.”
None of them had been aware of his being a Gerudo, except possibly for Bowser who was currently not present. ”I, too, am a Gerudo if thou art curious.” Ganondorf clarified, ”They are not quite the female-only race that thou hath likely been led to believe they are. One male is born every hundred years or so, and the rule of the tribe is fated to be his alone. But of course, so long as I continue to live, there shalt be no other Gerudo men born to the tribe.”
He then gave a look to Primrose, ”But I wish not to tarry here. Come! Let us see this king thou speaketh of. I would hear what he has to say as well. And mayhaps you could also taketh me to Gerudo Town, as well? For too long hath I been without my throne and my subjects.”
"Was that everybody?" Pit wondered aloud. He couldn't think of anyone else that he knew for sure would have been operating outside of Alcamoth.
"Because - circling back for a sec - I just remembered Bridges. They said they were going to set some 'ky-rall' thing up at Alcamoth and help get back into the Dead Zone. It's kind of impossible right now - there's rain that makes you old, and invisible 'beach things.' There was this meeting, and they... uhm, asked us to help with Ever Crisis, eheh..." Pit couldn't help but grimace, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly given what had transpired immediately before their arrival here. Since their base was in Midgar, he didn't know what was going to happen to them. "If they already got connected to Smash City before it got attacked, maybe they know what happened? Even if they don't, we should probably find them so we can help each other."
He hoped he was making sense. Honestly he had spent most of the meeting just trying to keep all the information straight in his head, and then was blindsided and upset by the whole baby thing. He looked between Shirogane and the people most familiar with Midgar; Goldlewis, Roland, Sandalphon and Zenkichi, really hoping he wouldn't have to try and explain what Bridges itself was if someone else could do better. "You guys know about Bridges, right?"
Goldlewis nodded emphatically, “Yeah, the logistics and delivery company. They're a household name in Midgar. They lent us a hand with the hideout, in fact.” He paused for a moment. “Now that I think about it, they'd know we won ‘cause o’ Karin’s speech. I'd be surprised if they don't reach out to the SOU. Lemme call up home base, see what's goin’ on.”
Shirogane seemed amped up by the prospect of reunification. “Yessir! We Centennials were workin’ with them good folks from Bridges from the beginnin’. In fact, they're the reason why we went to Alcamoth in the first place. Once we reconnect, I reckon we’ll be in business.”
“I remember Mewtwo mentioning them. The leadership of Alcamoth trusted them. We ought to see how they're doing.” Geralt advised.
”Yeah, I’ve had to work with Bridges before, as a Turk.” Zenkichi added. ”They’re legit. Though all of their tech goes way over my head.”
Encouraged by the realization, Goldlewis stepped away to make the call.
”You guys… kinda lost me a while ago.” Roxas admitted. He’d only just joined the Seekers about three days ago or so. But it sounded like they'd already done a ton of stuff before they ever showed up at Twilight Town. And right about now was when he finally remembered that he had some info he needed to share.
”I almost forgot,” Roxas said with a snap of his fingers, ”When I talked to that girl from the Organization this morning, I learned a thing or two from her about them.” he pointed out, knowing that not all the Seekers had been present for that entire conversation. So he figured now was as good a time as any to share what he’d been told.
”She claims that defeating Galeem alone isn’t going to put the worlds back where they belong. Evidently the Organization has some plan of their own to do that, or so they claim.” Naturally, Roxas’ own distrust of the Organization was no secret and so how he was framing them needed to be taken with a grain of salt, ”She didn’t tell me what that plan was, but she did tell me who was giving the Organization their orders. And based on that, I think I may have a possible theory about what that mystery plan is.”
All eyes were on Roxas. “No need to pause for suspense,” Sandalphon told him flatly. “The sooner we know, the better.”
”Xehanort.” Roxas replied, not that he expected any of them to recognize that name or why it was a big deal, ”Remember the man I mentioned a minute ago? You know, the one who wrecked and endangered multiple worlds where I come from?” It was a rhetorical question, but they’d be more than capable of inferring that that was who Xehanort was, ”As for the plan, I think it’s the same plan he tried to execute in the world we both came from…” a brief pause, ”...Kingdom Hearts.” Again, he didn’t expect any of them to know what that was. Nevertheless, the term hung ominously in the cool morning air.
”Kingdom Hearts is… kind of confusing to explain.” Roxas admitted, ”But the simple version is that, in the world Xehanort and I come from, Kingdom Hearts is the name given to the heart of all worlds. Where both Light and Darkness first originated. Someone who can summon and wield its power can use it to rewrite or simply create a whole new world. So if what Xatow said is true and Xehanort is the one giving them their orders? Then I’d bet my Keyblades that’s his ultimate goal.”
Sandalphon nodded slowly. “Our shared encounter with Xatow was, as you might expect, my first rendezvous with Organization XIII. The existence of a larger-scope goal to take the worlds’ salvation into their own hands would explain their assistance.” She peered at Roxas, her power symbols practically staring into his soul. “After this, I would like to go over all the minutia with you.”
”Sounds to me like this Kingdom Hearts thing is yet another path to become a false god. Ugh. Can I get one adventure without somebody becoming a god? Just one?” Zenkichi complained, though it was fairly lighthearted. At least he had plenty of experience with toppling self-assumed gods.
”Salvation… right.” Roxas said with a hint of sarcasm in his tone, ”I wouldn’t exactly count on Xehanort for salvation. Knowing him, the only thing he’ll do is replace Galeem with himself. Not the kind of person you should trust to put the worlds back the way they’re supposed to be.” If Roxas had his misgivings about the Organization before? Then now his distrust and antagonism toward them was ramped up even further now that he knew Xehanort was reportedly involved, ”I’m willing to bet he’s lying to the other Organization members about saving the worlds so that they’ll do what he wants. That’s pretty much how he ran the old Organization back in our own world.” After this he gave a nod to Sandalphon.
”Sure, I can do that with you. Just… fair warning, it’s kind of a long story.”
”This ‘kingdom hearts’ sounds like what the light of the Library was. Although its probably not made from thousands upon thousands of years of suffering trying to find enlightenment.” Roland said, scratching his head.
”Does he know that you know?” Midna inquired ”Because if he doesn’t we have a nice the leg up on him when it comes to the post victory backstabbing.”
Roxas blinked. They couldn’t see it because of his silver mask, but his face was turning a bit red underneath it, ”Um…” he stammered.
By now, Goldlewis had returned. “Dunno,” he muttered, stroking his whiskers. “Xatow was helpful in a roundabout way, and the one we met in Al Mamoon seemed nice enough. Maybe this Xenahort feller’s keepin’ the rest in the dark.”
That question held more importance for Sandalphon than the others might realize. “The answer might depend on what Roxas said to Xatow earlier this morning.” She narrowed her eyes. “If at all possible, we should avoid raising their suspicions.”
”Best to keep our cards close to our chest then, and see if we can get a peek at any of theirs,” Midna agreed.
”Yeah, about that…” Roxas said sheepishly, ”I might have… uh… told Xatow to tell Xehanort that I’m coming after him next once I’m done with Galeem.” he gulped with some embarrassment. In hindsight that was pretty stupid of him to do. At the time he was trying to sound intimidating. Now he was kicking himself for it.
Sandalphon’s pupils turned into lightning bolts.
”But, hey, maybe she didn’t take me seriously?” he offered in his own defense, ”And I wouldn’t be surprised if Xehanort was already aware of my being here, so… maybe he’s already anticipating that I know his plan?” If it sounded like Roxas was grasping at straws, it was because he absolutely was.
As the princess face palmed, the archangel ran a hand through her hair, brushing it out of her face for a moment. “Let us hope so.”
“There is such a thing as overestimating an opponent.” Geralt added, though she hummed. “Still, we ought to take your word for it that he’s bad news, and the type to think through every contingency. Sounds like a real pain.”
“...As for my call, turns out that Bridges did get in touch with the SOU,” Goldlewis mentioned. “They’re interested in patchin’ up our communications issue too. Said they can connect us to the Chiral Network if they can get some folks out.” He glanced at Midna. “I told ‘em we were here. If you’re willin’ to help, they can get some people out to join us and get started straight away.”
”If they need portal jumps, and can get to the places I have them, then I can do that. I very much do not want to be in the dark again about anything like this” Midna immediately agreed.
Sandalphon spoke up next. “Although we have much more to say, I believe that we should adjourn for now. We’ve been constantly embattled throughout the morning, and I suspect that we could all use some time to rest and regain our strength. After all, even if we plan for the future, we will be unable to face it if we’re not up to the task.” She spoke matter-of-factly as always, but after a moment her voice softened somewhat. “I can only assume that the fate of Alcamoth weighs heavily upon you all. The news pains me as well. It would surprise me, though, if you allowed the Consuls this victory over your hearts. If it were my friends…” The archangel paused. “I know their wish would be that I held my head high, and forged onward.”
Goldlewis nodded, pleased that Sandalphon had so elegantly given voice to his own thoughts. “I could sure use a break. After runnin’ around so much, my dogs are barkin’.” He patted his stomach, a bit less self-conscious than usual thanks to his fusion. “It’s gettin’ to be about mealtime, anyhow.”
Pit agreed with both of them, especially Sandalphon. Learning about the state they'd unwittingly put Midgar in, and the fate of Smash City Alcamoth, put a damper on the Seekers' victory. Plus it was impossible not to worry over the safety of all the people that were now missing. But he'd meant what he said before; he had faith that most everyone would have been able to make it out. And with some of their own staying behind to help the citizens of Midgar, they should be fine too. Everyone still around and fighting would just have to take up the torch for any that had passed. On the bright side, the team had just defeated one of Galeem's Guardians - and they could still connect with the widespread Bridges. Get up, fall down, get up again - like always!
"No matter what happens, there's no way we can just give up now!" Pit said, aware that he was speaking for the group at large and hopefully assuaging any doubts. Then he grinned at Goldlewis. "But yeah, let's eat!"
”’Esoteric’...?” Toby repeated back to Aile, ”What’s that supposed to mean?” She was being just as cryptic as the notes were. As if Toby needed any more reason to dislike her. But it sounded like she wasn’t going to be able to give any full answers right now. Terrific.
But that wasn’t the only thing she said that stuck out to him. ‘Skilled duelists’, that was what she said the group was. And they wanted him of all people? The guy who only advanced a single round the other night using a deck that even he couldn’t deny was… budget… at best? Toby’s hand rested on the deck box clipped to his belt.
He wanted to ask “Why me?” but he got the distinct feeling that Aile didn’t have the answer to that, given how she greeted him. The only way he was gonna be able to ask that is if he met someone higher up the totem pole. And right now the only way to do that... was to follow instructions, at least for the time being.
”It says to follow the marked path, right?” he asked, pointing to the note and the lantern hanging nearby, ”Well, how hard could that be?” His vote was clear. They should just follow the instructions and get this over with.
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