Lucre Wishingmist Falls

[Cresselia92]

Oooh yeah, Jean had a very valid point! While Lyra was 153% positive in being able to pinpoint her Silver — Somehow? Maybe through the “power of heart” or with an “it’s-really-you” moment like in all those rom-com movies! — it would have been best if she gave some description to be extra sure they were talking about the same guy.

Except that, again, she had no idea what Silver looked like as a Pokémon! If only that world came with some online guide or questionnaire to figure out what species humans turned into… but then she realized: she didn’t need any of that! Persons might change bodies, but not their personalities!

“Ah, right! Does the Silver you know talk like this?”

Lyra placed her hat in the floor and ruffled the tips of her ears, making the tufts look spikier and wild. She rolled her left ear to cover part of her left eye and let the right ear fall on her back, mirroring a wild hairdo. Her expression turned into a scowl, definitely much more comical than threatening, and she crossed her arms.

“Hmmmmph! I hate the weak!” she muttered with an exaggerated grumbling tone, before shifting her expression into a overly defiant smirk. She pointed in a direction with one paw and held the other on her hip. “Today! Right here!! I’m gonna crush YOU!!!”

Whoa! What a COOL appeal! Lyra learned Imitate [Copycat]?! …Nope. That’s just a regular imitation!

Lyra dropped her glare with a snort and an amused giggle, and grinned at the others while keeping her last pose. “Something like that. Pretty good act, huh?”

Whistling merrily to herself, Lyra picked her hat again and glanced at a nearby tunnel, her ears twitching. “Anyway, hmmm, I don’t think I hear any wild cry from that direction, so that might be a safe path? We could check that out first and then… oh, dunno, see if we stumble upon something interesting?”

 

[Namohysip]

"A... superhero team," Mhynt echoed. "Yes, of course. I suppose that would make me... Batmon."

Her shadow morphed into a Lunala's outline, briefly, before returning to Owen's visage.

"Oh, that's a really cool comic!"

"I was hoping that wasn't real," Mhynt murmured.

"Staying around won't give us much," Zena said. "We can wander. Hopefully, whichever way we go will... get us to your companions?" She turned her body toward Mhynt and Owen.

"Hopefully. The first thing we need to figure out is what part of the world we're in. But based on the climate..." She glanced at the sky. "...Well. I don't really know anymore. Especially with what happened before..."

 

[Shadow Serenity]

“Y-you know Silver?!”

"How do you know Silver? Are you sure it's the same one?"

“Hmmmmph! I hate the weak!” she muttered with an exaggerated grumbling tone, before shifting her expression into a overly defiant smirk. She pointed in a direction with one paw and held the other on her hip. “Today! Right here!! I’m gonna crush YOU!!!”

The sudden rush of questions and the boundless energy these two had was starting to give Kimiko a headache. Gods, she was too tired for this. On the bright side, she had a little sister, so at least she knew how to hide it. And Lyra's impression was silly, if nothing else, which actually made her smile.

"W-well, I know a Silver, yes. Is it the same one?" She shrugged, as best a servine can. "Can't know for certain, but as far as I know, it's a rather unique name, so it's probably a safe bet. Doesn't sound like the one I know, though... he's actually a good guy, maybe kinda gruff and distant at first but a bit of a softie if you can get him to open up. Oh- has a feraligatr partner named Ordile?" It wouldn't be concrete evidence of being the same Silver, given how many other 'other-worldly' copies the Wayfarers had encountered in their time on Forlas, but it was a start. And maybe their Silver had been a cocky little shit before arriving on Forlas. The one she'd had a heart-to-heart with didn't sound like that punk Lyra was impersonating, but there were... traces if one squinted.

Meanwhile, Alex looked on with growing interest. Just how long had all these other 'mon been here? Kimiko, at least, sounded like she'd been living this life for some time if she'd been able to break down some barriers; he, at least, knew no one named Silver.

“Are you okay with walking? We can always take a few breaks whenever you need them.”

"Perfectly fine by me," Alex answered, oblivious to the fact that the question probably wasn't meant for him. "If we're gonna be here a while, I feel like I'm gonna need some time to get used to this, uh... form." He cast a curious glance at both Lyra and Jean. "...Either of you tried to use a technique yet?"

Behind him, Kimiko rolled her eyes. "I can walk," she added quietly.

Did the voice tell all of you to save the world? We should form a real superhero team!"

Alex looked back at her with interest. "Not me, I heard her calling me." He jerked a... thumb? Claw? Digit? at Kimiko behind him, before turning around to stare, a prompt to take over.

"Er, well... something like that," the servine replied, staring anywhere but at her boyfriend. Had to change the subject. "I dunno about superheroes, but we uh... there are a lot of us here, and you could call us a team of sorts." Wrong direction. Encouraging them was not the move; if anything, they'd need to get Betel to un-summon the newcomers. If that was something Betel could do. Kimiko had been assured she'd be returned home after their mission here was complete, after all... and they were surely going to be getting an earful for the whole 'fabric of reality' thing. They couldn't stay. As much as the thought of having Alex by her side was comforting.

"Hopefully. The first thing we need to figure out is what part of the world we're in. But based on the climate..." She glanced at the sky. "...Well. I don't really know anymore. Especially with what happened before..."

Right. Back to business. "I honestly couldn't say where we are," she said, turning to Mhynt. "Definitely not where we were... moments ago. Some sort of... portal, I guess? We could be pretty much anywhere." Hopefully still on Forlas, but she didn't say that part aloud. "I don't recognize... any of this, though." A glance towards the cavern Lyra had gestured towards. "Gotta start somewhere, and that sounds as good a suggestion as any."

Assuming no objections, she began making her way towards the cavern, keeping her eyes open for any possible threats - if any existed, it would be up to her and Mhynt to defend the newcomers, weak and inexperienced as they were... Well, at least grass-types had an advantage against most cave-dwelling 'mon. In theory. Kimiko sorely hoped beyond hope that there was at least one cavern in the universe where zubat did not roost.

Alex spared one more glance for Zena, making sure she'd be able to follow along, whether through hydrokinesis or being carried, before following, sparks playing along his head experimentally as he walked.

 

[Cresselia92]

"W-well, I know a Silver, yes. Is it the same one?" She shrugged, as best a servine can. "Can't know for certain, but as far as I know, it's a rather unique name, so it's probably a safe bet. Doesn't sound like the one I know, though... he's actually a good guy, maybe kinda gruff and distant at first but a bit of a softie if you can get him to open up. Oh- has a feraligatr partner named Ordile?"

“That’s him!” exclaimed Lyra, her eyes sparkling like the first stars of a summer sunset. “Ordile’s his first Pokémon and he is a Feraligatr! So that’s already three outta three — it’s definitely him!”

Lyra nodded vigorously, agreeing with the Servine’s assessment. “And I knooow! He’s such a great guy with a good heart, even if he often downplays that. Bitter and tough as nails outside but very soft and sweet deep inside. But shhh, never tell him that! He values greatly his reputation as a cool and levelheaded guy.”

The Buneary looked down, her smile turning sad. Something was definitely weighing her down, a truth we was unwilling to disclose, but soon that sadness faded and her smile regained its initial cheer. She placed her paws over her heart, sighing contentedly. “Still, I’m so glad he has found some friends here. He would’ve never showed that side of him to people he didn’t trust…”

"...Either of you tried to use a technique yet?"

Lyra glanced at the Elekid and motioned her head toward Jean. “Well, Jean here knows how to use Ember, but I’ve yet to see what I can actually do.”

She held her paws together over her mouth, a mischievous spark glinting in her chocolate eyes as she fantasized the myriads moves and combinations she could try with her new rabbit body.

“I’m sure I can figure something out! My grandparents are caretakers and taught me how to teach moves to all kinds of Pokémon. It’s gonna be lotsa fun to try teaching some of that sparkly stuff to myself~!”

"Gotta start somewhere, and that sounds as good a suggestion as any."

Lyra beamed encouragingly, before standing close to Jean. “Alright! Lead the way!”

And so the group started their journey into the cavern, with the Grass-types as the leads and guardians for the newcomers. A new adventure into the unknown awaited them…

---

The journey through the caverns proved to be equally quiet and long, but in the meantime Lyra got to learn everyone’s names and some information about Forlas. It turned out that the group was currently wandering something called a mystery dungeon, a location where the laws of space and physics were more fluid and fragile. How utterly fascinating: it felt like being the protagonists of some supernatural or sci-fi novel featuring a mystical or cursed location! Maybe they could have found some treasures, too!

The best way out of the dungeon involved finding its ‘heart’, the very essence that gave stability and tangibility to the entire place. For a split second Lyra wondered if it was a literal pulsing ‘heart’ (oh no, that’d be sooo scary!), but that thought was quickly crushed when the others revealed it was something less literal and more ‘symbolic.’

Hmm. Symbolic. What could be considered symbolic about some place filled with waterfalls and populated by fae and fish? As soon as the Wayfarers reached one of the upper levels, they stumbled upon something that might fit the criteria of symbolic.

“Whoooaaa!” Lyra squealed in awe, admiring the marvelous surroundings. “This is so pretty!”

A round rocky chamber welcomed the explorers, housing what seemed to be some stone tablet or maybe even a shrine, and surrounded by a patch of colorful flowers tended by a swarm of Flabébé and Floette. A massive waterfall poured into a medium-sized pond with pure, crystalline water, where Finneon and Lumineon swam placidly and shone their tails. Light filtered through a crack above the waterfall, creating a spectacle of multicolored lights amidst the mist floating at the base of the roaring water, and illuminating stray petals scattered on the surface of the pond.

Oh! Wait! Could that be a puzzle, a clue to find the heart, or maybe a simple yet mystical place of worship?

Time to think, think, think! Perhaps there was some connection between the shrine, the rainbow lights, and the swarm of fae tending to their symbiotic flowers…