Lucre Merrimere

[Shadow Serenity]

As they walked, Alex listened eagerly to Feyza’s enthusiastic accounts of battles they’d won and such, nodding along and offering the occasional ‘ooh, smart!’. The buizel, he guessed, was younger than his girlfriend’s little sister, and growing up with her around constantly did wonders for his ability to communicate with children.

For her part, Kimiko was again content to remain silent as they walked. Alex paid her no mind; she was probably keeping an eye on their surroundings, making sure Jean and Lyra didn’t run off on their own or something like that. He couldn’t quite read her expression in her new form with a quick glance, but from what he knew about servine, her posture didn’t suggest anxiety or frustration or anything. If that mattered while the servine in question was a former human, anyway. She did, however, seem focused on the rooftops of the village that had just sprung into view, much to Feyza’s clear disappointment.

Ans speaking of the buizel… At the sound of Feyza’s shout, they both turned to see the binacle dismantling the fishing traps. Alex had a mind to speak up, too - were all Pokémon here former humans? Or at least, sentient? Probably not a good idea to be setting traps for them… on the other hand, what did he know of this place? Better not to assume.

Instead, he turned to the buizel. “Friends of yours?” he asked, his tone clear in showing he did not truly think so.

 

[Cresselia92]

Ahhh, the journey toward Feyza’s hometown was so pleasant and peaceful. It really felt like an exciting field trip! Lyra alternated between marveling at their surroundings and listening to the Buizel’s tales with unabated curiosity. Whenever the weasel told something intriguing, Lyra always had some comment to offer.

“Whoa, really?! No way! That’s incredible! So what you did was…?”

“Yikes! Sounds rough! I’m so glad that you…”

“Now that’s what I call a job well done! Still, I can’t help but wonder about…”

And soon they reached Merrimere, which Feyza didn’t seem much thrilled about. Lyra was about to ask the Buizel to show them some interesting places to cheer her up, when…

CREAAAK!

The Buneary’s ears jolted upright as the uncomfortable noise rattled her fine hearing and she let out a soft gasp when Feyza barked at someone. Startled by this sudden change of events, Lyra took a cautious glance at that… those Pokémon.

Um… what was their species’ name? It was some kinda name that started like ‘binary’ and was mixed with… ‘subatomic particle’, then… ah, right! Binacle! That’s the name, yep! And they were fiddling with what seemed to be a trap of sorts, probably used to catch fish.

Now, Lyra wasn’t an expert of traps and fishing by any means — the most she knew was swinging a Good Rod by some random water spot to try to find new water friends — but she was preeeeeetty confident that traps weren’t supposed to look like messy chunks of bent wires that could (gasp!) scratch someone! That’d be very bad!

“Oooh, those rascals! They’ve got some explaining to do!” Lyra huffed before hopping on a wooden surface. She thumped as hard as her tiny body could afford, aiming to make enough noise and get the attention of the bickering Binacle.

“Hey! You! Why are you breaking all that stuff that has been built with a lot of time and effort? That’s, like, very-very rude!” Lyra pouted, her arms pressed on her hips and her foot still thumping, albeit with less energy. “So? Are you like, what, a couple of meanies or something?”

 

[Chibi Pika]

Binacle's twin heads blinked in surprise at Jean and Lyra's outcry before stretching their necks up to their full height and waving their heads around in a manner that was probably meant to be threatening.

"You stay outta this!
"Y-yeah, this's between our crew and these river clan bozos—yipe!"

Both heads suddenly ducked back into their shell to avoid a jet of water that Feyza had fired at them.

"You had to go and wait til' Feroze left 'cause your gang's a buncha cowards," Feyza snapped. She drew herself up to her full height and added, "'Cept you forgot that I'm still here."

The first head emerged from the shell and swung their head claws around. "Psssh, we ain't scared a you!"

"Or your reinforcements!" the second head added, only to be promptly smacked by the first. "Idiot! What'd you say that for when they outnumber us?"

After a few moments' silence, Feyza put on a toothy grin. "Uh, th-that's right! I brought reinforcements to kick you and the rest a the don's crew back to Guilwater where you belong!" And then, in a hushed aside, she added, "Make yourselves look tough."

 

[Namohysip]

Mhynt glanced at Zena, wondering if there was any way a sunken-eyed fish could look tough.

Uh, Mhynt?

Oh, right, I can do that.

Mhynt cleared her throat, and Owen's shadow rose from the ground, melding to mimic her shape. She raised her arms, conjuring swords in either hand tinged with Grass energy.

"Boo."

 

[Cresselia92]

"Make yourselves look tough."

“Tough! Alright! I can do that!” Lyra whispered back, letting her foot stomp the floor one last time and pulling back the rim of her hat. Time for some serious business!

Though, ummm, how could she make her Buneary self look tough? She unconsciously tugged at her pink pelt, as if she were adjusting a skirt, and released some tiny (and awesomely adorable) sparks.

Awww, being tough was no fun! She was so cute and fluffy and small and stars were swirling around her forepaws and—wait wait wait!! Stars?!

Lyra held her paws in front of her face, and a pleasant surprise glinted in her gaze and toothy grin. “I can do that?!” she squealed as she flexed her digits, making her stars shine a bit brighter.

Ah! But that was no time to marvel at her newly-discovered Speed Star! She needed to look tough, and she could do that with something flashy!

“I mean! Duh! Of course I can do that!” Lyra proclaimed boldly, clenching her tiny paws, and focused on a lone rock on the dirt. “Behold my mad skills!” She held out a paw toward it and shot a stream of Swift rays. “Pew pew!!”

The glowing beams collided with the rock, sending it rolling toward the edge of the river, and with one final star-shaped beam, it was sent sinking in the shallow depths of the clear water. Grinning cheekily, Lyra looked again at the Binacle, producing more stars around her paws.

“So! You don’t wanna test your luck, dontcha?” she asked the Binacle with a wink and a tongued smile.

 

[Butterfree]

Jean crouched down in a stance like she was getting ready to pounce, raising her tails threateningly above her head. "We'll torch you!" she announced, gathering flames in her throat. For a sudden moment she jolted weirdly, like it'd be scary and painful, but -- no, it was just a warm, comfortable tickle. She could do this! Nothing would stand in her way!

 

[Chibi Pika]

Binacle recoiled backward, still waving both heads back and forth trying to look threatening, but the effect was clearly a lot more halfhearted than it'd been a minute ago.

"You're gonna regret this!"

"Yeah! The Guilwater Crew doesn't take too kindly to uppity outsiders."

And with that, the pair hopped back into the river and hastily paddled their way downstream.

"And don't come back!" Feyza shouted, waving her spear after them. Then she spun around and flashed a toothy grin at the newcomers. "We sure showed them! They've been givin' us more trouble lately since my cousin left on his quest last month. Sayin' stuff like how 'the river leads to Guilwater so we all gotta pay our dues or there'll be consequences.'" She stuck her tongue out to punctuate what she thought of that.

 

[Namohysip]

"Leads to, or comes from?" Mhynt commented. "You'd think that being upstream would be the advantageous position in that particular relationship. There are tales of sacred rivers where only royalty was allowed to rinse at the very top of a river, with lower ranks able to use water further and further downstream."

Owen returned to the shadows, deciding that lying low in this relatively peaceful land was the right call.

"Quest," Zena repeated. The Feebas wheezed quietly, then added, "A quest down the river?"

 

[Chibi Pika]

Feyza scratched behind her ear. "I dunno, the way they say it, it's like they think they own everything that's connected to their turf. But I like the thinkin' that our part of the river is better, ha!" It seemed to escape her that this was probably why the crew was attempting to muscle in on Merrimere.

At Zena's question, Feyza inclined her head over her shoulder. "Nah, Feroze headed east a'here, toward the mountains. He went to train and get stronger, and when he gets back, he's gonna teach me everything he learned!" She tapped her paws together. "He's... maybe sorta the real strongest warrior in Merrimere... but since he's gone, that makes me the strongest in his place!"

She'd re-shouldered her fishing spear and resumed leading everyone down the trail that led into town, past wooden cabins floating walkways criss-crossing the river. It seemed like they were getting close now, although no residents were within sight, either tending to the water-wheels or frolicking in the waters or lounging in the tree-hammocks. Strange...

 

[Namohysip]

Mhynt eyed the place. Strange indeed. And so, when entering a strange place, she did what she always did in this world.

Owen?

Right.

And sent Owen off to investigate.

 

[Cresselia92]

Phew! Mission accomplished, da-da-da-dadadada victory fanfare, and all of that without having to get into a fight! That was a double—no, triple success in Lyra’s mind!

The Buneary relaxed her stance and let the tiny stars dissipate before beaming at Feyza. “Oh, you’re welcome! Good to see that those rascals are gone… huh, back home or something? Complaining about us to their big boss?” She shrugged. “Heh, there’s nothing we can do about that anymore, I guess. So! Let’s keep going, shall we?”

And the journey continued! Lyra kept a jovial expression and a springy step as she chattered tirelessly about her Speed Star attack and how awesomely cool and sparkly it was. After all, homing stars of light? She was officially a magical girl now!!

(But who could be her loyal magical Pokémon partner? Hmmmmm… ah! Maybe she could have asked Jane if they could be each other’s magical Pokémon partners! That’d be neat!)

The conversation slowed down, and it was in that moment that Lyra realized how utterly alone they were. No single soul to be found, or at least, no single sapient soul. If there were traps that meant there were fishes, but did she actually see any of them swimming or jumping out of the water? She couldn’t remember.

But hey! She was a Buneary now, and if there was something that Buneary were good at, it was picking up faraway noises! As such, Lyra held her ears as high as she could, orienting them in all directions. If there was some kinda (noisy) presence, she would have found it!