Remove ads

Hyphen (Pokemon Emerald)

Reader mode
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
 
Last edited:
Dermonster said:
"Welcome home."

Astra broke. A keening wail erupted from her mouth, tears falling like rain as a decade's worth of stress and terror, compressed into two weeks, at last escaped into the world. She fell to her knees, pulling her grandfather with her, as she screamed in absolute safety at long last. The first true respite she had known for a long, long time.

They sat there, her grandfather whispering sweet reassurances as she sobbed.

Both in stress, and in joy.

Astra was home.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

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. 😍😭
 
Dermonster said:
Astra looked at him for a moment. She raised a hand, and a pinprick of purple light appeared on her finger. Mr. Briney blinked at it in curiosity and...that was it. Merely a somewhat rare novelty; something to be examined on its own merits rather than scorned or admired intrinsically. Astra could appreciate that.

"An hour ago, they didn't know I could do this," she explained. The light flickered, then vanished. "Now they do."

Mr. Briney waited a moment, then his face hardened. "Aye?" he asked, slowly. "And are they going to be havin' some problems now?"
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Dermonster said:
"Yeah," Astra confirmed. She peered at him curiously. "Though, before I go, can I just ask: what gave me away? You didn't seem surprised at any of...this." She re-lit the Psychic light, twirling it in the air for effect.

"Winter's Eye," Briney answered simply. "To most everyone, myself included, it's just harsh, howling gales. To psychics...well, they don't take it too well, as you found out."
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

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.

Dermonster said:
Then, at long last, her final illusion fell away. Astra saw the annoying spike of white in the corners of her vision vanish, and she knew now that her face was exposed to the world once more.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

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

Dermonster said:
"Alright team, listen up!" she exclaimed, clapping her hands. Aron was saved from her startling large acquisition of friends as they all turned to Astra. She smiled at them, warmth and sorrow coloring her tone. "First off: I'm sorry."

Confusion washed over her, exuded from the team. Grovyle's gaze sharpened, the frond on his scalp rustling expectantly. Astra nodded at him.

"I had a really awful day today, and at no point did I treat any of you right," she said, bowing her head. "I challenged Brawly despite being near the point of collapse, and ignored the concern of those around me—especially you, Grovyle. I lost, and left you, Swablu, and Nincada injured and unconscious all day, ignoring opportunities to heal you. Marill and Slakoth, I left you stuck in your pokeballs since breakfast, running through lunch and dinner without letting you eat, fight, or do anything at all. Aron...I'm happy you're here."
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

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.

Dermonster said:
A series of cries answered her call, and Astra bounded into the forest with wild abandon. A swish of white wings circled overhead, Swablu letting out a warbling cry through the shadowy woods. To her left, Nincada scuttled forward with focused precision, darting across logs and divots with nary a missed step. Marill bounced along to her right, wildly rolling through the underbrush at great speeds until a spinout or tree crash lost her any advantage she'd gotten. Behind her, Astra could hear Aron charging through the path they'd made, the Steel Pokemon building up a fearsome momentum.

Something darted through the canopy above, and for a brief moment she could spot Grovyle in the starlight, smirking down at her even as Slakoth clung onto his back.

Astra just laughed. She just knew they'd pull off some dumb stunt like that!
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

Marill training for her guest appearance in Pokemon Pinball I see. Also, Slakoth working smart not hard by getting a Grumpiggyback ride; nice. :cool:

Dermonster said:
Of course it would be him. Who else could it have been? The world moved in strange ways, but sometimes it felt a bit predictable. She grinned, and reached out.

Ping.

Pong.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

Noted for future reference, the standard telepathic doorbell sounds like 🏓🏓🏓

Dermonster said:
"About ten days ago there was a massive surge of power to the north-west," the Guard explained, watching Swablu playfully zip around Aron with obvious fascination. "It felt....angry. As if the whole world had earned the scorn of the stars. My elder said it was like back when the Alpha Mightyena was defeated. She thought that it had meant you'd failed and had to resort to emergency measures—that you were going to come back soon. But as the days dragged on..."
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

The orb blast heard round the world. Wonder if any other psychics that felt that are converging on the fallout site?

Dermonster said:
"Heh. You must have seen a lot out there. So much so that...I didn't recognize your voice, you know," he observed, to Astra's surprise. "Becoming a Kirlia shifts it a little, sure, but...the human world must be something else for you to change so much."

Astra blinked. Her voice...? She couldn't quite tell by herself—had the tone of her soul shifted to match the experiences she'd lived? She could imagine it a little deeper, perhaps. Richer. Weary, darkened by the stain in the sky and the sorrow beneath the earth.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

How poetic a way to describe Ralts->Kirlia puberty. Turns out it even shifts your mental voice! Is there nothing it leaves untouched?! :o

Dermonster said:
"We aren't alone," Astra said. Echo disappeared. She nodded at the gobsmacked Guard, smiled at her Pokemon, and then turned away. With a pop of displaced air, she vanished from the outskirts.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

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.

Dermonster said:
"Is that you, Elder?" he asked, referring to the Kirlia Astra had spoken to at the stage. Did he not recognize her presence anymore? Had he even checked at all? "I have already told you, I am fine, and there is nothing to grieve. I am in no mood to play Encirclement," he said, groaning as he stood up. He growled, voice toned with stubborn belief. "Your time would be better spent telling those fools that Astra would never —"

He turned around.

Their eyes met.

Astra saw her grandfather pause, confused. Then his breath caught, his eyes darting to her dress, her backpack, her horns. He stood there, staring at her in dawning realization and desperate, burning hope.

"Astra—?" he asked, then stopped.

She had already crossed the distance between syllables and, before he could say another word, pulled her grandfather into the biggest, most desperate embrace of her life.

She stood there, hugging him, feeling his gasp of surprise, then the feeling of his arms wrapping around her as tightly as they could, holding on despite the tremors rocking her form.

"You're back," Grampa whispered.

"I'm back," Astra giggled back, sniffing.

"I knew you would be," he murmured into her shoulder. Not the top of her head. Never again would she feel that particular sensation. "You've gotten taller," he noted.

Laughter ripped itself from her throat, a touch of hysteria coloring the sound.

"Sorry you couldn't be there," she gasped, drinking in the sound of his voice, the warmth of his breath, the smell of his hair.

"It is alright," her grandfather continued, stroking her back. "All that matters is that you've come back to me.

"Welcome home."
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

💗 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. `;)
 
Last edited:
Reader mode
You must login or register to reply here.
Remove ads
Back
Top