This is going to be a long presentation. There's lots to tell.
Fantastic chapter, as always!
Fantastic chapter, as always!
Hyphen (Pokemon Emerald)
Aron almost feels like Zoidberg here, but damn if this isn't cute.
DevilsAdvocate
Always follow the golden rule.
I've already talked at length about how the Village of Kirlia/Ralts can help the Abra/Kadabra civilization. Even how the Abra can help the kirlia by acting as sleeping emergency teleport backpacks to help escape danger, or travel to more distant hunting grounds.
So I will leave it at that, and just wait for baited breath for the conference
So I will leave it at that, and just wait for baited breath for the conference
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I don't know if it's the alcohol or just the time of it I've been having lately, but this made me Happy Cry so fucking much. 😍😭
That's wrong: this story has only been running for 6 years, not 10 years!
Dermonster
The Shittiest Wizard
The thread header only shows when it was created; the thread itself (and thus Hyphen) manifested on September 28th, 2014.
Flairina
Least Omnipotent Goddess
- Location
- The next infinity over
I like this little exchange a lot. Helps very calmly reinforce that even outside of Steven's explanation, your average person has likely at least encountered a psychic or two at some point, and they're barely even considered oddities to some; basically just normal people with a couple extra neat tricks. No one cares nearly as much as Astra thought they did, or would. She can calm down about that aspect of things... finally.
For a second I was envisioning this as like, the white creeping in around her vision disappearing, finally allowed to release her otherwise 24/7 illusion... and then I realized you were just talking about her fake nose vanishing. XD
I'm glad Astra addressed this; it slipped my mind that she hadn't actually spoken to any of her team members since the gym battle. The apology was perhaps necessary both for them to forgive her, and for her to forgive herself, I think.
Marill training for her guest appearance in Pokemon Pinball I see. Also, Slakoth working smart not hard by getting a Grumpiggyback ride; nice.
Noted for future reference, the standard telepathic doorbell sounds like 🏓🏓🏓
The orb blast heard round the world. Wonder if any other psychics that felt that are converging on the fallout site?
How poetic a way to describe Ralts->Kirlia puberty. Turns out it even shifts your mental voice! Is there nothing it leaves untouched?!
Might want to separate this out a little; I thought Echo disappeared and then somehow nodded at the guard and vanished again on first scan.
💗 இ௰இ 💗
Good calm down chapter; I like the direction, and especially enjoyed the ending- oh, and I never did comment on the last several chapters, but I greatly enjoyed them too. Looking forward to the next. `
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Hyphen 41 - Rally
Dermonster
The Shittiest Wizard
Hyphen 41
Rally
Hugs, tears, whispers of sweet reassurances and safety...
For as much as Astra had desperately wanted and needed these things, eventually both she and her grandfather had gotten their fill. The same could not be said of her stomach, however, which was when she'd had a fresh bowl of stew practically shoved into her hands.
Nothing too complex; simply Magikarp and oran berries. But it had been made by Grandpa, concocted in the cast iron cauldron that had been feeding her family for generations. And as she took that first mouthful, tasting the savory-sweet stew carrying the echoing hints of every meal that had come before, she nearly burst into tears once again.
"I've missed this," she said, sniffling through another portion. "It's only been fourteen days and I've missed this so much. Human food is incredible, but..."
"You can have as much as you would like, dear," her grandfather said, his gentle smile doing as much to warm her as the stew's low heat.
Unspoken was that a whole other bowl would have to wait until later. They could both hear the clarion call of a village meeting and couldn't tarry for too long—it had been done on Astra's request, after all—but it would still take time for everyone to awaken and gather together. A few minutes at least, not that her grandfather knew what those were.
Astra sighed in contentment, looking down at her empty bowl in silence. She gently set it to the side, turning to fully face her grandfather, and her smile faded slightly as he sent her a concerned look. She could see the questions building up behind his eyes, a pressure that was threatening to burst any second.
"I'm sorry for worrying you," she started, only to be gently shushed.
"It is my duty to worry, Astra," he explained, the wrinkles around his eyes crinkling as concern was cut with affection. "An apology is not needed here. An explanation would be welcome, however." He frowned, gazing at her intently. "That awful presence I felt the fourth day into your journey—that was the Ancestor's orb, was it not? What caused you to draw on its power?"
Astra shifted uncomfortably, looking away for the first time. "...Nothing," she admitted.
She could feel her grandfather stare at her incredulously, the weight of his eyes nearly physical. "Nothing?"
"There wasn't any cause but me," she quietly reiterated. "Earlier that day, we had reached a human settlement called 'Rustboro'—"
'"We?'" her grandfather cut in, confused. He blinked. "Oh, do you mean you and your team?"
Astra fiddled with her hair. Oh, he was not going to like this. "I may have made some human friends," she said, then paused and stifled a laugh. Her amusement at the inadvertent pun she'd made of her friend's name faded when she saw the complicated expression on her grandfather's face.
"...We shall be discussing that another time," he said, stiffer than a dry log. "Continue."
Astra winced, but forged on. "Rustboro was another human city to the north-west—uh, sunset-ward but to the right some—that had a gym. It was led by a woman named Roxanne. I challenged her to a battle and gained the Stone Badge when I was victorious." She pulled out the little trinket to show it off, and her grandfather stared, transfixed by the little bifurcated diamond. "I evolved right afterwards."
The elderly Kirlia shot up, startled. "You evolved right then? In front of one of their Gym Leaders?"
"No, no," Astra reassured, raising her hands up. "I was able to push it down long enough to find privacy in...uh, well, I evolved in what amounted to a very clean room dedicated to indoor latrines."
Silence, but for the crackling of flame.
"I am so sorry," her grandfather managed.
'It's fine,' Astra didn't say, because it really wasn't. One of the biggest moments of her life had happened in a bathroom stall. She just grimaced, giving him a pained shrug.
"I am proud of you and overjoyed by your evolution," her grandfather continued, looking her firmly in the eye. "I am sure it was an incredible sight to see, and I will forever regret not being there to share it with you. However, when we have your celebration and you retell your story, perhaps you should...embellish the ending a little." The suggestion was paired with a slight, sly smile.
Astra couldn't agree more. That, uh. That wasn't really something she wanted passed around. If she was undertaking such a dangerous journey she should at least sound cool.
"I'll try to spice it up when we get there," she said, nodding. "Anyway, after that I went out to the forest near the city to...well, practice being a Kirlia."
"Ah, I remember my first week," her grandpa reminisced, a far-away glint entering his eyes as the rest of his features softened. "What absolute havoc I caused. It's a heady feeling, having all that power and being able to move so freely…"
"Getting another finger was really helpful," she added, waving her three-digit hand.
"Having to be subtle with my psychic grip made only having the one really awkward." Ah, she was getting distracted. Shaking her head, Astra continued where she'd left off. "Anyway, I went out to the forest, practiced and played around with my new powers and my team, and right before I was going to head back into the city, I...well, I realized that while I'd been given the orb to use in emergencies, I hadn't actually been told how to use it."
"You hadn't been..." her grandfather said slowly, eyes widening. "I didn't...? No, I am certain I would have—but then why do I not recall…" his whispered tones gradually rose as horrified realization gave way to painful regret. "I never told you, did I? Why did I not? How could I have made such an oversight?"
His head fell into his hands, half-hiding the harsh grimace lining his face. "What a fish-brained mistake. I will have to rectify this; I hope you can forgive your oblivious old grandfather someday."
Astra stayed silent, staring at the floor. She wanted to comfort her grandfather, tell him that it was all right or that there was nothing to forgive.
And yet...
"When I tried to use the orb," she started again, turning to look into the fire. "It filled me with power. Even a light touch multiplied what I could output by many, many times over. I poured every last drop into a Psychic Sphere I'd been holding. When I fired it…it carved a gargantuan furrow in the earth until it vanished from my sight, and then an enormous pitch-black pillar filled the sky. It carved a new desert into the woods, and scarred the sky above it with a putrid yellow bruise.
"That was what you all felt, and it caused havoc amongst the humans too. Just from what I personally witnessed, it collapsed a major tunnel, allowed a dangerous man to steal something important, and plunged Rustboro into an anxious, fearful miasma. It feels like every other day I learn a new way in which what I've done has made people's lives worse." With each word, her grandfather's cringe deepened.
"But even that wasn't the worst part," Astra whispered. "While I was holding that power...all I could feel, beyond the euphoria of having so much energy, was hatred. It was as though every slight anyone had ever shown me was magnified a thousand-fold. When I let loose that sphere...
"All I wanted was for it to kill them all."
There wasn't much to say about it after that. Her grandfather could apologize and console her all he wanted, but even if he wasn't solely responsible for the information failure—surely one of the other Elders should have checked and made sure?—the past two weeks and the shadows in her dreams had been constantly haunted by that horrible blast. She never would have tried to figure out how to operate the artifact by herself if she'd been taught how to use it.
But for now, Astra pushed the spark of resentment aside; she was ecstatic to see the only family she had left again. Anything else could be delayed until they weren't pressed for time—she could wait to be furious later.
"An accident," her grandfather sadly concluded. "A relief, in some ways, although still horrid that I failed you so. But while I am immensely relieved that you were not physically harmed, I now find myself confused." He frowned, peering at her curiously. "If you are healthy and the plan has not failed, for what reason have you returned and called an assembly?"
Astra smiled gently, standing up and offering her grandfather a hand, which he took. "Well, that's what everyone's gathering to find out," she said, hefting the elderly Kirlia to his feet. "I'm not about to say it all twice, and I think everyone's nearly gathered. Shall we?"
Huffing in amusement, her grandfather simply nodded. "Already giving addresses all by yourself..." he muttered as the teleportation took form. "Your father would have been so proud."
And with a flash of purple and a muted pop of displaced air, they vanished.
Once more, Astra appeared atop the central platform in a clap of violet light, this time with her grandfather in tow. Below, the main plaza was abuzz with a teeming horde of confused, concerned, and irritated Kirlia. Very few Ralts were present, and she hazarded that many Kirlia had opted to stay home to look after their own. But even two-thirds of the village made for an awe-inspiring sight to behold, and it was a marvel of the plaza's layout that they could all comfortably fit here.
Last time Astra had seen this sight, it was on the eve of her departure. She had been a showpiece then; a demonstrative entity to be shown while her grandfather spoke of their plan.
This time, it would be her doing the speaking.
Their arrival hadn't gone unnoticed: most of the Kirlia had been keeping an eye on the platform, and Astra's appearance—magnified by her obviously human-made dress—had set off a growing wave of realization and noise amongst them all. But more importantly, she noticed the presence of several very old Kirlia right next to her.
"Elders," her grandfather greeted, turning to face his fellows.
Astra followed his gaze and found herself the center of attention of the thirteen other Kirlia. All of their colors were faded to varying degrees of paleness, and they bore the weight of all they'd seen in their heavy gazes and hunched backs. One had cut her hair to the scalp, another had horrible scars across his face and eye where a Poochyena had clearly nearly won a fight, a third had burns all along their arms and face, and while the rest only had cosmetic changes such as a coat dyed a faint pink or beads woven through their hair, they still moved with a certain…authority.
The Elder that Astra had tasked with gathering everybody stepped forward and clasped hands with her grandfather. "Don't 'Elder' me you old coot," he grumbled, smiling. "It is good to see you. I've never been more glad to be wrong."
"I did tell you," Astra's grandfather retorted, smiling back. "My granddaughter is far more capable than you could imagine."
"Capable my tush," another Elder scowled. Astra recognized her from the gathering preceding her initial departure; she'd been the one to speak against the plan, decrying the idea of taking personal names like humans did. If Astra recalled, she was in charge of the communal hatchling enclave—a Matron, in essence. "After that accursed blast, I'm surprised we aren't drowning in human invaders. While it is a relief that she returned, any more missteps like that will necessitate us having words, young Kirlia." She spat, glaring. "I won't have my charges carried off in those terrible spheres you carry around so casually!"
Astra frowned, brushing a hand against the sash she kept her Pokeballs in. "Believe me, I want to stop that as much as you do, but these 'accursed spheres' have let me get within reach of my second badge within fifteen days. I've made mistakes, but I think I've been making good progress too—not that you'd know anything about what it's like out there," she added, glaring back.
The Matron looked affronted, and both her grandfather and his old friend looked ready to intervene—but before any further tirade could erupt the flame-scarred Elder stepped between them all, her singular good eye raking across them balefully.
"Enough," she intoned, her words falling with the crack of hammer striking anvil. "Arguments and bickering are not what we have gathered for. Our journeying Ralts has returned to us as a Kirlia, and has spoken of a grave emergency. I will brook no more petty distractions."
The Charred looked at Astra, staring intently. "Speak, and tell us of this calamity."
Astra swallowed as every eye turned to her, but then steeled herself and stood tall. She'd expected this, and now it was time to explain… But first, she glanced toward the teeming mass of Kirlia below. "I've never been up here like this," she confessed. "And broadcasting to so many would be strenuous. Will all of them be able to hear what I say and see what I do?"
"There are Kirlia who will be relaying your words and projecting what happens here to the far corners of the main plaza, and a few lesser gatherings as well," the Charred confirmed, unblinking. "They have already begun doing so."
Astra nodded. "Right then," she said, breathing deeply. Then she turned, walking to the back wall.
"In my journey through the human realm," she announced, "I have seen incredible and awe-inspiring things, and things of horrific dread. But while the human world is of great interest, I am not here to talk about humanity at all, except in terms of what harm they have inadvertently done."
She gestured, and a shimmering wall of light appeared across the stage. Upon it laid her memory of the equally-sparkling sight of Dewford city, seen just this morning from the prow of Mr. Briney's ship. "This is Dewford," Astra announced over the wild murmuring of the crowd seeing their first ever human city. "It is a city on an island—disconnected from all other land and surrounded by the ocean—to the south-west...er, sunset-ward and then an eighth spin left.
"And this," she continued, changing out the image, "is the entrance to a gargantuan series of enormous tunnels underneath the island known as the 'Granite Caves.'"
She could hear the crowd's murmuring increase as they beheld the giant maw that led into the caverns, especially when they noticed the many defacements lining the rocky walls. Astra had been too out of her mind to notice them much, so her recollection—and the image—was hazy, but she knew the rough shape of the human art that had been there. But Astra wasn't nearly done.
"And this is what lies within them." Her next image elicited gasps of shock and awe from everybody: her first proper view of the Lord of Steel from above, the titanic Aggron's hollow corpse gently rusting atop his bed. Even now, the iridescent light of the flowing moss lighting his dulled steel was a sight she would never forget.
Astra dropped her hand, and the illusion vanished. She turned to see every Elder giving her their utmost attention; her grandfather was staring at her in wonder, and even the stoic Charred's eyes had widened to the size of dinner plates. The crowd beyond was murmuring rapidly, the overlapping Psychic noise washing over the stage like gentle waves cresting the edge of a beach.
She looked at them all, her face falling from determination into a small, sad smile. A ripple of quiet fanned out, and soon none were left speaking.
"And this," she projected into the silence, "is who lives there."
Beside her, a form took shape. Brown and yellow chitin, clawed feet and hands, bushy yellow tail, long ears, a protruding snout, giant whiskers, a gentle smile…and eyes full of immeasurable sadness. Echo's recreation stared at them all, with a likeness of life that left Astra startled despite the image being her own creation.
She supposed the memory must be embedded deeper in her psyche than she'd thought.
At the Kadabra's feet, three more forms appeared. Abra, sickly and weak, with innumerable hazy shadows mimicking them stretching into an imaginary background.
"This is Echo," Astra said as the deathly quiet drew on. "She is a Kadabra, which to her species is what a Kirlia is to us. These are the Abra she watches over. They all live inside those caves. I did not just discover what humanity has been doing; I found out that our Ancestor had made—and then abandoned—an entire colony on Dewford. They are just like us: They can learn. They can speak.
"And they are dying."
To call the effect her words had upon her village an 'uproar' was a colossal understatement. Horror, disbelief, anger, despair. Even flickers of curiosity and hope. All of these washed over and through her as the sheer enormity of what she'd dropped on them all shattered the masses' control over their emotions. The riot continued to build further as more villagers—those in their homes, only aroused by the cacophony—joined in.
But Astra paid it no mind at all.
She just stared at her illusion of Echo, her mouth formed into a grim line.
"Astra," her grandfather said once everyone had settled down, taking her hand in his. She turned to see a mirror of her own bleak expression on his own. "I..." he trailed off, looking at Echo's image in disbelief. "This is...something I had never even dreamed of. Please," he asked, looking at her imploringly. "What happened to them?"
Astra sighed, wondering how to say it all. "Humanity happened," she finally answered. "The colony managed to hide from them just as we are, but it meant nothing when...it's complicated, but the humans of Dewford were forced to completely eradicate an entire section of the cavern's system of predators and prey. Shortly afterward, the only plant that grew down there completely vanished as well. With nothing left to eat, the Kadabra were forced to hunt and eat solely Zubat."
Horrified and disgusted gasps rang through the plaza. Her grandfather's face shifted between agony and disgust, his fellow Elders only slightly more stoic.
"They tried to fight back, reclaim their life from the humans," Astra continued, nearly whispering. "But even if their home remained hidden, and their...unique way of speaking prevented humanity from discovering they could talk at all, their numbers dwindled down until..."
Astra looked up, her gaze dull and lifeless as memory after painful memory formed a great shadow inside her head. She pointed to the illusion.
"Echo is the only remaining Kadabra in the colony," she said. "She has been alone for forty summers. None of the remaining Abra can talk—they can barely function as well as hatchlings. Once Echo…" the word threatened to clog her mind, but she forced it through, "dies, they will either starve to death, or be eaten by the remaining pokemon within the cave.
"Echo is family, no matter how distant. Her children are hungry, and she is miserable.
"And she needs our help."
Astra glanced around the gathered Elders, and saw upon their countenances a unified thread of steeled determination. They looked upon one another, communicating silently, and as one they nodded.
"Taught by the Ancestor and granted the gift of speech and society, what could they be but our cousins?" the Charred spoke, her voice resounding through the village. "Our family? Thus it is decreed: this tragedy will not stand! Our blood calls for aid, and by the stars in the sky, we shall answer!"
A cacophonous roar shattered the night, even louder than before as the crowd shouted out in support, fury and determination lighting Astra's mind's eye like the sun.
Tears poured from her eyes like a waterfall, her grin so wide it hurt her cheeks. "Thank you," she nearly sobbed while her grandfather pulled her into a comforting hug. "I...thank you all so much."
But even amongst this fervent declaration, there were a few issues to sort out.
"When will we be doing this?" one of the Elders asked, his coat stained a fading red from Leppa berry dye. "It has been night for quite some time, and I do find myself tired—a state I'm sure many of us share. Will we resume tomorrow?"
Astra stared at him.
"Three hours ago I gave a child a funeral," she said, shocking everyone into silence again. "He'd died of old age, yet he had never been taught, had never been able to speak or eat good food or—I doubt he'd even been told a single story. He'd been a hatchling for all his life until a lifetime of poison aged him until his body just gave out.
"None of them have ever seen the stars. We are not waiting."
None could disagree.
"How will we be helping?" the Matron asked, looking much more subdued. A fire had lit up in her eyes as she looked over at Echo's illusion, but now practicality was banking it. "Do you have a plan on how to get there? What will we be doing once we are?"
"Well, no matter what happens the Abra will need a lot of food," Astra began. "There's about two hundred and fifty of them, and they've been eating nothing but Zubat for forty summers, like I said. Regarding how we get there...I don't know," she admitted, looking down. "I kept thinking about it over and over, but...I can't teleport that far, and if we tried making a boat to get closer we could get caught by humanity, and also that would take a long time. I just can't figure out—"
"No, no, teleportation can work," her grandfather chimed in, stroking his chin. Everybody blinked. "But it will be very arduous."
"Excuse me?" his friend asked, tilting his head. "I know you've mastered teleporting better than most, but I doubt even you could teleport to a place you've not even visited across the endless waters."
Her grandfather smiled mysteriously. "You are right," he admitted. "I couldn't do it alone. But then, would I have to be alone? Astra," he called, and she jumped in surprise as he turned to her. "You can make a decent Psychic Sphere now, correct?"
"Yes?" she half-asked, wondering where he was going with this.
"Could you make one?"
Hesitating a moment, Astra gently conjured a decently-sized orb of twinkling bright-dark purple destruction. It was like a melon, if melons exploded with enough force to throw a Makuhita across a room.
"Oho, you've gotten better!" he praised, grinning. "A decent amount of effort and power for such an orb. But what would happen if I were to...give you a hand?"
He reached out and held his hand a bit away from the sphere. Then, suddenly, his psychic power flooded in and mingled with her own. Astra was startled to find the sphere had grown half-again as large—and more, it felt denser, somehow.
"Oh my," he grinned. "It appears our combined efforts have surpassed the sum of our individual power, hasn't it?"
"Group channeling," the Charred concluded. "You speak of multiple Kirlia working in unison to achieve a greater effect? A rare effort; it usually requires all involved to be singular in purpose and mindset. But to use it to teleport..."
"Isn't side-along teleportation exhausting?" the Matron asked, looking confused.
"It wouldn't be side-along," her grandfather corrected. "That is when you pull someone along. This would be everyone pushing in the same direction, with Astra as the guiding force."
"Like a spear," the mauled Elder chimed in for the first time. "Astra would act as the spearhead, while the others act as the thrusting shaft. Tunneling through the world as though it were the muscle of a Mightyena."
Could that work? Astra hadn't heard of group channeling before; was it that obscure? Or had the technique just not come up? She watched the Charred Elder start directing a couple of Kirlia to the side of the stage, bidding them to find capable teleport users and generally strong psychics, and hope bloomed in her chest.
"But what is our goal for after they get there?" the Matron asked, the past minute doing little to jar loose the worried look on her face. "Are they bringing the food along with them? A quarter of a thousand hatchlings... Oh embers, they've been eating nothing but Zubat." Her voice lowered and quickened into a half-panicked murmur. "Pecha to counter the poison, perhaps in a stew to make it more digestible, the sheer quantity of it is daunting but if I get enough cooks together—are they bringing it all at once or in batches? I can't imagine the former, but—ack, you figure it out, I've got to go!"
"Should we set up an outpost in these caves?" the Scarred elder asked. "If there is only one living cognizant member of this colony left, she will need many hands of help. I could arrange a troupe of guards to assist."
"If these Abra are so ill-taught, they would need teachers as well," another elder chimed in, one wearing a lovely, if amateurishly made flower crown. "I'm sure I could gather several instructors who are passable psychics."
"Hmfh, not any of those, I think," Astra's grandfather mused as they watched more and more Elders come up with ways to help the Colony in some way. He turned to his granddaughter, a twinkle in his eye. "You said they'd never seen the stars, correct?"
"They haven't," she confirmed.
"Then how about we show them some?" he said, eyes twinkling.
Astra stared at him, her eyes slowly widening. There would be problems with this, she knew, but she could not ask for a better solution.
They grinned at each other, then turned to coordinate with the remaining Elders and the slowly organizing crowds of Kirlia below.
It was time for Astra to fulfill her promise.
Fast. Faster. Make it faster.
Shorter. Digestible. Compact it all.
This is what the people want. Their complaints and fatigue ring in my ears at night.
Memory fades, fondness dissapears, interest dwindles.
Ever onward, spiralling away until...
Talk to me on Discord! Update my TvTrope Page! I don't even drink Kofi! More of a hot chocolate guy. But usually just water.
When those who distain empathy try to wreak havoc, you need not make grand spectacles of resistance.
Obsctruct what you can, no matter how small. Lift up your surroundings, no matter how trivial the effort.
Dream of a caring world, so that it may someday come to be. I believe in you. You should do the same.
Thank you for reading. Tell me what you think?
See you next time.
Rally
Hugs, tears, whispers of sweet reassurances and safety...
For as much as Astra had desperately wanted and needed these things, eventually both she and her grandfather had gotten their fill. The same could not be said of her stomach, however, which was when she'd had a fresh bowl of stew practically shoved into her hands.
Nothing too complex; simply Magikarp and oran berries. But it had been made by Grandpa, concocted in the cast iron cauldron that had been feeding her family for generations. And as she took that first mouthful, tasting the savory-sweet stew carrying the echoing hints of every meal that had come before, she nearly burst into tears once again.
"I've missed this," she said, sniffling through another portion. "It's only been fourteen days and I've missed this so much. Human food is incredible, but..."
"You can have as much as you would like, dear," her grandfather said, his gentle smile doing as much to warm her as the stew's low heat.
Unspoken was that a whole other bowl would have to wait until later. They could both hear the clarion call of a village meeting and couldn't tarry for too long—it had been done on Astra's request, after all—but it would still take time for everyone to awaken and gather together. A few minutes at least, not that her grandfather knew what those were.
Astra sighed in contentment, looking down at her empty bowl in silence. She gently set it to the side, turning to fully face her grandfather, and her smile faded slightly as he sent her a concerned look. She could see the questions building up behind his eyes, a pressure that was threatening to burst any second.
"I'm sorry for worrying you," she started, only to be gently shushed.
"It is my duty to worry, Astra," he explained, the wrinkles around his eyes crinkling as concern was cut with affection. "An apology is not needed here. An explanation would be welcome, however." He frowned, gazing at her intently. "That awful presence I felt the fourth day into your journey—that was the Ancestor's orb, was it not? What caused you to draw on its power?"
Astra shifted uncomfortably, looking away for the first time. "...Nothing," she admitted.
She could feel her grandfather stare at her incredulously, the weight of his eyes nearly physical. "Nothing?"
"There wasn't any cause but me," she quietly reiterated. "Earlier that day, we had reached a human settlement called 'Rustboro'—"
'"We?'" her grandfather cut in, confused. He blinked. "Oh, do you mean you and your team?"
Astra fiddled with her hair. Oh, he was not going to like this. "I may have made some human friends," she said, then paused and stifled a laugh. Her amusement at the inadvertent pun she'd made of her friend's name faded when she saw the complicated expression on her grandfather's face.
"...We shall be discussing that another time," he said, stiffer than a dry log. "Continue."
Astra winced, but forged on. "Rustboro was another human city to the north-west—uh, sunset-ward but to the right some—that had a gym. It was led by a woman named Roxanne. I challenged her to a battle and gained the Stone Badge when I was victorious." She pulled out the little trinket to show it off, and her grandfather stared, transfixed by the little bifurcated diamond. "I evolved right afterwards."
The elderly Kirlia shot up, startled. "You evolved right then? In front of one of their Gym Leaders?"
"No, no," Astra reassured, raising her hands up. "I was able to push it down long enough to find privacy in...uh, well, I evolved in what amounted to a very clean room dedicated to indoor latrines."
Silence, but for the crackling of flame.
"I am so sorry," her grandfather managed.
'It's fine,' Astra didn't say, because it really wasn't. One of the biggest moments of her life had happened in a bathroom stall. She just grimaced, giving him a pained shrug.
"I am proud of you and overjoyed by your evolution," her grandfather continued, looking her firmly in the eye. "I am sure it was an incredible sight to see, and I will forever regret not being there to share it with you. However, when we have your celebration and you retell your story, perhaps you should...embellish the ending a little." The suggestion was paired with a slight, sly smile.
Astra couldn't agree more. That, uh. That wasn't really something she wanted passed around. If she was undertaking such a dangerous journey she should at least sound cool.
"I'll try to spice it up when we get there," she said, nodding. "Anyway, after that I went out to the forest near the city to...well, practice being a Kirlia."
"Ah, I remember my first week," her grandpa reminisced, a far-away glint entering his eyes as the rest of his features softened. "What absolute havoc I caused. It's a heady feeling, having all that power and being able to move so freely…"
"Getting another finger was really helpful," she added, waving her three-digit hand.
"Having to be subtle with my psychic grip made only having the one really awkward." Ah, she was getting distracted. Shaking her head, Astra continued where she'd left off. "Anyway, I went out to the forest, practiced and played around with my new powers and my team, and right before I was going to head back into the city, I...well, I realized that while I'd been given the orb to use in emergencies, I hadn't actually been told how to use it."
"You hadn't been..." her grandfather said slowly, eyes widening. "I didn't...? No, I am certain I would have—but then why do I not recall…" his whispered tones gradually rose as horrified realization gave way to painful regret. "I never told you, did I? Why did I not? How could I have made such an oversight?"
His head fell into his hands, half-hiding the harsh grimace lining his face. "What a fish-brained mistake. I will have to rectify this; I hope you can forgive your oblivious old grandfather someday."
Astra stayed silent, staring at the floor. She wanted to comfort her grandfather, tell him that it was all right or that there was nothing to forgive.
And yet...
"When I tried to use the orb," she started again, turning to look into the fire. "It filled me with power. Even a light touch multiplied what I could output by many, many times over. I poured every last drop into a Psychic Sphere I'd been holding. When I fired it…it carved a gargantuan furrow in the earth until it vanished from my sight, and then an enormous pitch-black pillar filled the sky. It carved a new desert into the woods, and scarred the sky above it with a putrid yellow bruise.
"That was what you all felt, and it caused havoc amongst the humans too. Just from what I personally witnessed, it collapsed a major tunnel, allowed a dangerous man to steal something important, and plunged Rustboro into an anxious, fearful miasma. It feels like every other day I learn a new way in which what I've done has made people's lives worse." With each word, her grandfather's cringe deepened.
"But even that wasn't the worst part," Astra whispered. "While I was holding that power...all I could feel, beyond the euphoria of having so much energy, was hatred. It was as though every slight anyone had ever shown me was magnified a thousand-fold. When I let loose that sphere...
"All I wanted was for it to kill them all."
There wasn't much to say about it after that. Her grandfather could apologize and console her all he wanted, but even if he wasn't solely responsible for the information failure—surely one of the other Elders should have checked and made sure?—the past two weeks and the shadows in her dreams had been constantly haunted by that horrible blast. She never would have tried to figure out how to operate the artifact by herself if she'd been taught how to use it.
But for now, Astra pushed the spark of resentment aside; she was ecstatic to see the only family she had left again. Anything else could be delayed until they weren't pressed for time—she could wait to be furious later.
"An accident," her grandfather sadly concluded. "A relief, in some ways, although still horrid that I failed you so. But while I am immensely relieved that you were not physically harmed, I now find myself confused." He frowned, peering at her curiously. "If you are healthy and the plan has not failed, for what reason have you returned and called an assembly?"
Astra smiled gently, standing up and offering her grandfather a hand, which he took. "Well, that's what everyone's gathering to find out," she said, hefting the elderly Kirlia to his feet. "I'm not about to say it all twice, and I think everyone's nearly gathered. Shall we?"
Huffing in amusement, her grandfather simply nodded. "Already giving addresses all by yourself..." he muttered as the teleportation took form. "Your father would have been so proud."
And with a flash of purple and a muted pop of displaced air, they vanished.
Once more, Astra appeared atop the central platform in a clap of violet light, this time with her grandfather in tow. Below, the main plaza was abuzz with a teeming horde of confused, concerned, and irritated Kirlia. Very few Ralts were present, and she hazarded that many Kirlia had opted to stay home to look after their own. But even two-thirds of the village made for an awe-inspiring sight to behold, and it was a marvel of the plaza's layout that they could all comfortably fit here.
Last time Astra had seen this sight, it was on the eve of her departure. She had been a showpiece then; a demonstrative entity to be shown while her grandfather spoke of their plan.
This time, it would be her doing the speaking.
Their arrival hadn't gone unnoticed: most of the Kirlia had been keeping an eye on the platform, and Astra's appearance—magnified by her obviously human-made dress—had set off a growing wave of realization and noise amongst them all. But more importantly, she noticed the presence of several very old Kirlia right next to her.
"Elders," her grandfather greeted, turning to face his fellows.
Astra followed his gaze and found herself the center of attention of the thirteen other Kirlia. All of their colors were faded to varying degrees of paleness, and they bore the weight of all they'd seen in their heavy gazes and hunched backs. One had cut her hair to the scalp, another had horrible scars across his face and eye where a Poochyena had clearly nearly won a fight, a third had burns all along their arms and face, and while the rest only had cosmetic changes such as a coat dyed a faint pink or beads woven through their hair, they still moved with a certain…authority.
The Elder that Astra had tasked with gathering everybody stepped forward and clasped hands with her grandfather. "Don't 'Elder' me you old coot," he grumbled, smiling. "It is good to see you. I've never been more glad to be wrong."
"I did tell you," Astra's grandfather retorted, smiling back. "My granddaughter is far more capable than you could imagine."
"Capable my tush," another Elder scowled. Astra recognized her from the gathering preceding her initial departure; she'd been the one to speak against the plan, decrying the idea of taking personal names like humans did. If Astra recalled, she was in charge of the communal hatchling enclave—a Matron, in essence. "After that accursed blast, I'm surprised we aren't drowning in human invaders. While it is a relief that she returned, any more missteps like that will necessitate us having words, young Kirlia." She spat, glaring. "I won't have my charges carried off in those terrible spheres you carry around so casually!"
Astra frowned, brushing a hand against the sash she kept her Pokeballs in. "Believe me, I want to stop that as much as you do, but these 'accursed spheres' have let me get within reach of my second badge within fifteen days. I've made mistakes, but I think I've been making good progress too—not that you'd know anything about what it's like out there," she added, glaring back.
The Matron looked affronted, and both her grandfather and his old friend looked ready to intervene—but before any further tirade could erupt the flame-scarred Elder stepped between them all, her singular good eye raking across them balefully.
"Enough," she intoned, her words falling with the crack of hammer striking anvil. "Arguments and bickering are not what we have gathered for. Our journeying Ralts has returned to us as a Kirlia, and has spoken of a grave emergency. I will brook no more petty distractions."
The Charred looked at Astra, staring intently. "Speak, and tell us of this calamity."
Astra swallowed as every eye turned to her, but then steeled herself and stood tall. She'd expected this, and now it was time to explain… But first, she glanced toward the teeming mass of Kirlia below. "I've never been up here like this," she confessed. "And broadcasting to so many would be strenuous. Will all of them be able to hear what I say and see what I do?"
"There are Kirlia who will be relaying your words and projecting what happens here to the far corners of the main plaza, and a few lesser gatherings as well," the Charred confirmed, unblinking. "They have already begun doing so."
Astra nodded. "Right then," she said, breathing deeply. Then she turned, walking to the back wall.
"In my journey through the human realm," she announced, "I have seen incredible and awe-inspiring things, and things of horrific dread. But while the human world is of great interest, I am not here to talk about humanity at all, except in terms of what harm they have inadvertently done."
She gestured, and a shimmering wall of light appeared across the stage. Upon it laid her memory of the equally-sparkling sight of Dewford city, seen just this morning from the prow of Mr. Briney's ship. "This is Dewford," Astra announced over the wild murmuring of the crowd seeing their first ever human city. "It is a city on an island—disconnected from all other land and surrounded by the ocean—to the south-west...er, sunset-ward and then an eighth spin left.
"And this," she continued, changing out the image, "is the entrance to a gargantuan series of enormous tunnels underneath the island known as the 'Granite Caves.'"
She could hear the crowd's murmuring increase as they beheld the giant maw that led into the caverns, especially when they noticed the many defacements lining the rocky walls. Astra had been too out of her mind to notice them much, so her recollection—and the image—was hazy, but she knew the rough shape of the human art that had been there. But Astra wasn't nearly done.
"And this is what lies within them." Her next image elicited gasps of shock and awe from everybody: her first proper view of the Lord of Steel from above, the titanic Aggron's hollow corpse gently rusting atop his bed. Even now, the iridescent light of the flowing moss lighting his dulled steel was a sight she would never forget.
Astra dropped her hand, and the illusion vanished. She turned to see every Elder giving her their utmost attention; her grandfather was staring at her in wonder, and even the stoic Charred's eyes had widened to the size of dinner plates. The crowd beyond was murmuring rapidly, the overlapping Psychic noise washing over the stage like gentle waves cresting the edge of a beach.
She looked at them all, her face falling from determination into a small, sad smile. A ripple of quiet fanned out, and soon none were left speaking.
"And this," she projected into the silence, "is who lives there."
Beside her, a form took shape. Brown and yellow chitin, clawed feet and hands, bushy yellow tail, long ears, a protruding snout, giant whiskers, a gentle smile…and eyes full of immeasurable sadness. Echo's recreation stared at them all, with a likeness of life that left Astra startled despite the image being her own creation.
She supposed the memory must be embedded deeper in her psyche than she'd thought.
At the Kadabra's feet, three more forms appeared. Abra, sickly and weak, with innumerable hazy shadows mimicking them stretching into an imaginary background.
"This is Echo," Astra said as the deathly quiet drew on. "She is a Kadabra, which to her species is what a Kirlia is to us. These are the Abra she watches over. They all live inside those caves. I did not just discover what humanity has been doing; I found out that our Ancestor had made—and then abandoned—an entire colony on Dewford. They are just like us: They can learn. They can speak.
"And they are dying."
To call the effect her words had upon her village an 'uproar' was a colossal understatement. Horror, disbelief, anger, despair. Even flickers of curiosity and hope. All of these washed over and through her as the sheer enormity of what she'd dropped on them all shattered the masses' control over their emotions. The riot continued to build further as more villagers—those in their homes, only aroused by the cacophony—joined in.
But Astra paid it no mind at all.
She just stared at her illusion of Echo, her mouth formed into a grim line.
"Astra," her grandfather said once everyone had settled down, taking her hand in his. She turned to see a mirror of her own bleak expression on his own. "I..." he trailed off, looking at Echo's image in disbelief. "This is...something I had never even dreamed of. Please," he asked, looking at her imploringly. "What happened to them?"
Astra sighed, wondering how to say it all. "Humanity happened," she finally answered. "The colony managed to hide from them just as we are, but it meant nothing when...it's complicated, but the humans of Dewford were forced to completely eradicate an entire section of the cavern's system of predators and prey. Shortly afterward, the only plant that grew down there completely vanished as well. With nothing left to eat, the Kadabra were forced to hunt and eat solely Zubat."
Horrified and disgusted gasps rang through the plaza. Her grandfather's face shifted between agony and disgust, his fellow Elders only slightly more stoic.
"They tried to fight back, reclaim their life from the humans," Astra continued, nearly whispering. "But even if their home remained hidden, and their...unique way of speaking prevented humanity from discovering they could talk at all, their numbers dwindled down until..."
Astra looked up, her gaze dull and lifeless as memory after painful memory formed a great shadow inside her head. She pointed to the illusion.
"Echo is the only remaining Kadabra in the colony," she said. "She has been alone for forty summers. None of the remaining Abra can talk—they can barely function as well as hatchlings. Once Echo…" the word threatened to clog her mind, but she forced it through, "dies, they will either starve to death, or be eaten by the remaining pokemon within the cave.
"Echo is family, no matter how distant. Her children are hungry, and she is miserable.
"And she needs our help."
Astra glanced around the gathered Elders, and saw upon their countenances a unified thread of steeled determination. They looked upon one another, communicating silently, and as one they nodded.
"Taught by the Ancestor and granted the gift of speech and society, what could they be but our cousins?" the Charred spoke, her voice resounding through the village. "Our family? Thus it is decreed: this tragedy will not stand! Our blood calls for aid, and by the stars in the sky, we shall answer!"
A cacophonous roar shattered the night, even louder than before as the crowd shouted out in support, fury and determination lighting Astra's mind's eye like the sun.
Tears poured from her eyes like a waterfall, her grin so wide it hurt her cheeks. "Thank you," she nearly sobbed while her grandfather pulled her into a comforting hug. "I...thank you all so much."
But even amongst this fervent declaration, there were a few issues to sort out.
"When will we be doing this?" one of the Elders asked, his coat stained a fading red from Leppa berry dye. "It has been night for quite some time, and I do find myself tired—a state I'm sure many of us share. Will we resume tomorrow?"
Astra stared at him.
"Three hours ago I gave a child a funeral," she said, shocking everyone into silence again. "He'd died of old age, yet he had never been taught, had never been able to speak or eat good food or—I doubt he'd even been told a single story. He'd been a hatchling for all his life until a lifetime of poison aged him until his body just gave out.
"None of them have ever seen the stars. We are not waiting."
None could disagree.
"How will we be helping?" the Matron asked, looking much more subdued. A fire had lit up in her eyes as she looked over at Echo's illusion, but now practicality was banking it. "Do you have a plan on how to get there? What will we be doing once we are?"
"Well, no matter what happens the Abra will need a lot of food," Astra began. "There's about two hundred and fifty of them, and they've been eating nothing but Zubat for forty summers, like I said. Regarding how we get there...I don't know," she admitted, looking down. "I kept thinking about it over and over, but...I can't teleport that far, and if we tried making a boat to get closer we could get caught by humanity, and also that would take a long time. I just can't figure out—"
"No, no, teleportation can work," her grandfather chimed in, stroking his chin. Everybody blinked. "But it will be very arduous."
"Excuse me?" his friend asked, tilting his head. "I know you've mastered teleporting better than most, but I doubt even you could teleport to a place you've not even visited across the endless waters."
Her grandfather smiled mysteriously. "You are right," he admitted. "I couldn't do it alone. But then, would I have to be alone? Astra," he called, and she jumped in surprise as he turned to her. "You can make a decent Psychic Sphere now, correct?"
"Yes?" she half-asked, wondering where he was going with this.
"Could you make one?"
Hesitating a moment, Astra gently conjured a decently-sized orb of twinkling bright-dark purple destruction. It was like a melon, if melons exploded with enough force to throw a Makuhita across a room.
"Oho, you've gotten better!" he praised, grinning. "A decent amount of effort and power for such an orb. But what would happen if I were to...give you a hand?"
He reached out and held his hand a bit away from the sphere. Then, suddenly, his psychic power flooded in and mingled with her own. Astra was startled to find the sphere had grown half-again as large—and more, it felt denser, somehow.
"Oh my," he grinned. "It appears our combined efforts have surpassed the sum of our individual power, hasn't it?"
"Group channeling," the Charred concluded. "You speak of multiple Kirlia working in unison to achieve a greater effect? A rare effort; it usually requires all involved to be singular in purpose and mindset. But to use it to teleport..."
"Isn't side-along teleportation exhausting?" the Matron asked, looking confused.
"It wouldn't be side-along," her grandfather corrected. "That is when you pull someone along. This would be everyone pushing in the same direction, with Astra as the guiding force."
"Like a spear," the mauled Elder chimed in for the first time. "Astra would act as the spearhead, while the others act as the thrusting shaft. Tunneling through the world as though it were the muscle of a Mightyena."
Could that work? Astra hadn't heard of group channeling before; was it that obscure? Or had the technique just not come up? She watched the Charred Elder start directing a couple of Kirlia to the side of the stage, bidding them to find capable teleport users and generally strong psychics, and hope bloomed in her chest.
"But what is our goal for after they get there?" the Matron asked, the past minute doing little to jar loose the worried look on her face. "Are they bringing the food along with them? A quarter of a thousand hatchlings... Oh embers, they've been eating nothing but Zubat." Her voice lowered and quickened into a half-panicked murmur. "Pecha to counter the poison, perhaps in a stew to make it more digestible, the sheer quantity of it is daunting but if I get enough cooks together—are they bringing it all at once or in batches? I can't imagine the former, but—ack, you figure it out, I've got to go!"
"Should we set up an outpost in these caves?" the Scarred elder asked. "If there is only one living cognizant member of this colony left, she will need many hands of help. I could arrange a troupe of guards to assist."
"If these Abra are so ill-taught, they would need teachers as well," another elder chimed in, one wearing a lovely, if amateurishly made flower crown. "I'm sure I could gather several instructors who are passable psychics."
"Hmfh, not any of those, I think," Astra's grandfather mused as they watched more and more Elders come up with ways to help the Colony in some way. He turned to his granddaughter, a twinkle in his eye. "You said they'd never seen the stars, correct?"
"They haven't," she confirmed.
"Then how about we show them some?" he said, eyes twinkling.
Astra stared at him, her eyes slowly widening. There would be problems with this, she knew, but she could not ask for a better solution.
They grinned at each other, then turned to coordinate with the remaining Elders and the slowly organizing crowds of Kirlia below.
It was time for Astra to fulfill her promise.
Fast. Faster. Make it faster.
Shorter. Digestible. Compact it all.
This is what the people want. Their complaints and fatigue ring in my ears at night.
Memory fades, fondness dissapears, interest dwindles.
Ever onward, spiralling away until...
Talk to me on Discord! Update my TvTrope Page! I don't even drink Kofi! More of a hot chocolate guy. But usually just water.
When those who distain empathy try to wreak havoc, you need not make grand spectacles of resistance.
Obsctruct what you can, no matter how small. Lift up your surroundings, no matter how trivial the effort.
Dream of a caring world, so that it may someday come to be. I believe in you. You should do the same.
Thank you for reading. Tell me what you think?
See you next time.
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Dermonster
The Shittiest Wizard
Oh, I never responded to comments for 40.
:>
I'm glad you all enjoyed it.
😶
I'm reminded of the ASDF skit where the two super basic animated figures play 'got your nose' and both of them are confused because they dont know what noses are.
She's not been the best trainer, today.
Here's a custom one just for you:
:>
I'm glad you all enjoyed it.
😶
I'm reminded of the ASDF skit where the two super basic animated figures play 'got your nose' and both of them are confused because they dont know what noses are.
She's not been the best trainer, today.
Here's a custom one just for you:
- Location
- Here
Hopeful, I like it.
Do not comply in advance to their demands to obey as if you were a slave, do not believe them, they have not won as long as there is resistance, and resistance can endure more than most can imagine.
They want you divided, because they fear you united.
This chapter feels like the sun rising over the horizon after a long, long night. Beautiful.
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- Location
- Sweden
- Pronouns
- She/Her
good chapter <3
"And Rohan will answer."
Always love a scene where a community is spurred to collective action over an injustice. Fantastic work!
(And, just as my own two cents: take as long as you need and write as much or as little as you want. It's your story: we're just along for the fabulous ride.)
Always love a scene where a community is spurred to collective action over an injustice. Fantastic work!
(And, just as my own two cents: take as long as you need and write as much or as little as you want. It's your story: we're just along for the fabulous ride.)
- Location
- Amongst the ashes.
stares intently at Astra.👀
DevilsAdvocate
Always follow the golden rule.
Love the matron panicking about getting all the Pecha berries they need.
Edit: Fortunately, the return trip should be way easier. At least after you give the Abra some good food and a moment to recover.
The Abra line are masters of Teleportation after all.
Edit: Fortunately, the return trip should be way easier. At least after you give the Abra some good food and a moment to recover.
The Abra line are masters of Teleportation after all.
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Enthusiast#117
This is not the Profile you are looking for
- Location
- United States
Their species being known for their empathy makes this extremely in character for them, and I am here for it.
JmonsterNEO
Spouter of nonsense
- Location
- The quest forums
Empathy and caring is quite literally the basis of the Ralts line's very DNA. There's a very damn good reason why Gardevoir's original Japanese name is Sirknight.
Kai Merah
Hound Hearted Hedonist
- Location
- Somewhere in the corners of my imagination
I think we have different conceptions of knights. To me, knights seem more closely associated with glory and chivalry than empathy and caring. Chivalry might have that thing about 'defending the weak', but that's still a way from 'empathy'.
Now if you told me the original name was Princesshealer, I'd be seeing your point much better.
- Location
- Lake Wobegon
- Pronouns
- He/Him/His
Gardevoir is designed much more like a courtly lover than any kind of warrior.
With some perspective, you can notice that both knight (galantry protecting the weak, not abusing power), samurai (honor, loyalty), or any equivalent in similarly feodal cultures had a stark difference between the ideals and the reality.
Because the quality vaunted were so because the people in the armor were anything but that, and the moral/religious authority were trying to curb the worst excess, with the stories as one of the levers.
Kai Merah
Hound Hearted Hedonist
- Location
- Somewhere in the corners of my imagination
Anyone who's seen Game of Thrones or a lot of other medieval fantasy sort of story has a great idea of how little ideals can match reality... But I was trying to engage honestly with JmonsterNEO, and I assume they were referring to the chivalric ideal rather than the often more disappointing reality.
I've been imagining for the last few chapters "what if Astra was a boss in a Pokemon game?"
It'd probably have a few normal rival-esque battles against her team, but for the climactic showdown, in order to work properly, some misunderstanding would have to make her think the player is an existential threat to her family (whether it is her or the player that has the misunderstanding).
I'm imagining a 6v8 fight a la a certain boss fight in Legends Arceus. First, Trainer Astra fights you with her team. Then, when her team is all downed, Gardevoir Astra casts aside her disguise and fights whatever is left of your team personally. After you defeat this absolute monster of a Gardevoir... she uses the Ancestor's Orb for a last ditch attempt.
It'd probably have a few normal rival-esque battles against her team, but for the climactic showdown, in order to work properly, some misunderstanding would have to make her think the player is an existential threat to her family (whether it is her or the player that has the misunderstanding).
I'm imagining a 6v8 fight a la a certain boss fight in Legends Arceus. First, Trainer Astra fights you with her team. Then, when her team is all downed, Gardevoir Astra casts aside her disguise and fights whatever is left of your team personally. After you defeat this absolute monster of a Gardevoir... she uses the Ancestor's Orb for a last ditch attempt.
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