AN EXCITING END TO THE DAY

[indigo_events]

Who: Everyone participating in the extra Prom event!
Where: The beach on the south part of the island, and nearby surroundings
When: Sunday, April 15th (night)
Summary: A special kite-flying sendoff goes awry.
Rating: PG-13, most likely
Log:



As night falls on the final day of an excellent beach prom adventure, the staff of Resort Gorgeous usher their guests out onto the beach for one last grand sight to top off the experience. Big, fluffy resort towels have been laid out for people and Pokemon alike to sit on, and locals are off to the sides, handling large and beautiful kites with incredible care. They come in all shapes and sizes, and each depicts a Pokemon you may have seen wandering the shores or swimming in the oceans during your time here. They're incredible works of art all on their own, and as the wind picks up, watching them lift off into the sky becomes an artistic experience in and of itself.

A hush falls over the gathered audience as the kites sail up, up, up into the sky. Small children begin to release lanterns that float up to join them, and the kites dance around them in practiced loops and twirls. In turn, they are illuminated from all angles, a play of shadow and color in the dark, starry night.

But as the show goes on, it starts to become apparent that starlight and lanterns... are not the only things lighting up the night sky.

A growing point of electric blue light that might have been overlooked at first among the rest of the stars becomes brighter and brighter, and bigger and bigger, quickly becoming what is clearly a long and jagged tunnel opening up in the middle of the sky over the island, accompanied by a sound like a clap of thunder.

There's barely enough time to react to the opening of space before, like bees from a hive, ghostly white creatures emerge, at least two dozen of them, drifting serenely down in the direction of the beach-- and, unfortunately, right towards the show, even as the locals gasp in shock and try to pull their kites in.

"What in the world is that?" one person cries out.

"Where did they come from?" shouts another.

But the biggest, most obvious reactions come from the wild Pokemon in the area.

Frightened Wingull take off in enormous clouds from their cliffside nests and scatter to the winds, the sea grows choppy with fish Pokemon of all kinds poking out from the waves to examine the bright light only to splash hurriedly back down, and even the Pyukumuku try to roll themselves back into the ocean, expelling their innards to help pull them across the sand. The landbound wild Pokemon don’t have the ocean or the sky to retreat to, and begin to swarm and stampede in their efforts to either find somewhere to get away from the strange, unnerving creatures...or stand their ground and attempt to fight them. The reaction from the wild Pokemon is so strong, in fact, that the strange creatures seem to panic themselves, jittering this way and that, only for some to get tangled in the strings of the retreating kites. Once ensnared, they start to emit an unsettling cry as they struggle to get free, lashing out with their tentacles at anything that comes near as they come tumbling slowly through the air towards the ground.

It’s chaos on the beach. Some locals try to yank their kites free, or send out their own Pokemon to try and defend themselves. Others run, scooping up children and Pokemon and yelling for others to do the same. Wild Pokemon are flapping and scampering everywhere, so panicky that they’re having a hard time telling friend from foe. The strange creatures are floating all around, lost and fighting with trained and wild Pokemon alike. But the question is...what will you do?


A wild Nihilego appeared!

>FIGHT
>BAG
>POKEMON
>RUN



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Comments

[shiro2hero]

[No one in their right mind was expected to bust out their battle team on a vacation. Shiro just got lucky he had a fairly small team to start with -- these were his usual group, plus Luna, who always traveled with him.]

[He shoots Heather a glance, before calling out to her, over the general noise of fighting giant inter-dimensional jellyfish with magical monsters.]

You can do it! You've got this, Heather! We can cover you!

[While she makes up her mind, or gets her pokemon sorted, or plans things out. Which is where the Red and Blue tag team comes in. Blue casting Protect and Confusion on Red and the jellyfish respectively, while the big muscle cat flings fire and sand at the oncoming monster.]

[It'll be enough until Heather can get her plan together.]

[foolishwren]

<sub>[It's kind of weird being in a fight with actual words of encouragement being shouted at you-- not BAD weird. Just weird. In the Otherworld, typically you're the only one doing the shouting, unless you happen to be fighting an enemy that's human, in which case the shouting is probably going to be disturbing in nature.]

[Any musing on that is cut short when a respectably sized lightning bolt lights up their entire end of the beach and strikes the Nihilego (leaving a disappointingly tiny singe mark, but hey, at least it left something!). Tricia the Manectric is bounding across the sand, teeth sparking with electricity.]

[Godzilla rumbles a greeting-- now there's FIVE Pokemon fighting, and one of them is a Mega. SURELY they can get somewhere now...]</sub>

[shiro2hero]

[Oh boy are you in for it then, Heather. Because aside from shouting commands at his Pokemon, loud verbal encouragement is Shiro's staple. In between directing their attacks, anyway.]

[Kuro seems to slump a little in relief as Tricia bounds onto the scene. He's definitely starting to take a backseat to the others. Red and Blue are pushing level 100 themselves, after all. If they can't drive off the Jellyfish...]

[He's leaning on his knees, but looks up at Heather.]

If they can't make more of a dent... we need to evacuate. Everyone we can.

[foolishwren]

_{[Two worlds collide.]}

I hear you.

_{[But she's not about to give up yet...]}

Does your big guy know any special attacks?

If we can-- if everybody can drive home a big one at once...

[shiro2hero]

If we hit them with everything we have...

[He nods. Blue is more of a support Pokemon. But the others -- Kuro, Red, Green, and Haunter, all have heavy-hitting moves. Maybe if they all concentrate in one go, they'll deal enough of a blow.]

[It takes more effort than it should, but he straightens up, calling out.]

Everyone! Special attacks! All at once! Metal Burst, Flare Blitz, Solar Beam -- everything at once!

[The pokemon know their own attacks well enough by now that he doesn't have to waste time designating them. It's a good plan. They just have to hope it works.]

[foolishwren]

THUNDER! DRAGON PULSE!

<sub>[The resulting blast of attacks colliding at once emits a sound and a flash of light so piercing that Heather actually recoils, shielding her eyes.]

[When it clears? The creature is literally smoking, toppled sideways with tendrils waving.]

[That did... something all right...]







[Then it rises, flashing its incomprehensible lights and emitting an emotion that, while alien, could closely be approximated to anger.]</sub>


... Oh, fuck.

[shiro2hero]

[Did they... do it? Did they manage to stop this thing? Push it back and hold the line? He lets himself be hopeful for a minute there. Even standing up a little taller despite the sudden wave of exhaustion hitting him.]

[His pokemon step back, bristling. Waiting to see what happens...]

[Heather could not possibly have said it better.]

No way...

[Especially as light folds over Kuro again, the big Aggron slumping back down to all fours, the armor vanishing as the evolution wears off. He's spent. The others crowd closer, looking around worriedly.]

[Then he's grasping for Heather's hand. Without thinking. Whole body operating on autopilot. On memory. Flashing light. They need to move, they need to run. Everything looks colder, glassier. Like it's coated in ice. The flashing lights of the Nihilego more purple than they should be in his vision.]

[He'd have tried to drag her off if Haunter hadn't swooped down, gesturing frantically the sky. Trying to get their attention.]

[foolishwren]

<sub>[She's not exactly in any state to throw off his hand-- if anything they're both more than ready to go scrambling in the very same direction.]

[But in the panic, it's the heat that hits her first.]

[Like the scorching wave that blasts you in the face when the automatic doors of an air-conditioned Pokemon Center slide open to let you out on the hottest summer day, it sweeps over them both before even the light of the flame does.]

[Something blazing bright streaks past overhead, close enough to feel the finer hairs on their faces dry up and go brittle in the space of barely a second.]

[Moltres lets out a cry like fire itself and unleashes a Flamethrower the likes of which no normal Pokemon ever could-- because the alien beast had been about to unleash SOME kind of hell on the two humans and their loyal companions.]</sub>

[shiro2hero]

[Later, he'll regret how he reacted. That he'd just tried to get the nearest human being to safety. Not thinking about his Pokemon in the moment.]

[But suddenly there's a firestorm brewing. Something clawing in the panic has him shove at Heather, to try and get her behind him. Something screaming at him to do more, to act. To--]

Blue! Protect!

[The Gallade throws up his hands, washing both his and Heather's collection of Pokemon in blue light. A dome of protection as heat and fire sear the air around them. The perfect opposite of the terrifying day in memory. It scalds the panicked sweat from his skin, burns away the icy threads of terror taking away his common sense.]

[All of that. In the bare moments it takes for Moltres to appear. Beach sand turning to chunks of glass where the bird's attacks land. As it dimly occurs to him to recall his Pokemon before Blue's protect has a chance to wear thin under the onslaught of fire.]

[foolishwren]

<sub>[Fortunately, they're in a relatively safe outer circle of the blast range-- the last thing Moltres wanted to do was literally toast the humans and Pokemon it was trying to save. But a good old-fashioned Protect can't hurt, after all.]

[When the blaze dims enough to see anything other than the inside of their own eyelids, they'll see the Nihilego reeling backwards, smoking and smoldering-- and Moltres on the sand (which is glittering at its feet-- the heat scorched a path of glass between it and the otherworldly foe.]

[Heather's jaw is just.]

[Figuratively on the ground.]

[Like she's just making this face]</sub>

[shiro2hero]

[It's like that first day. That first moment. When the doors open and the ancient robot towered over him -- the huge, overwhelming presence of it. That same sort of uncertainty, hope and apprehension all rolled into one. It feels exactly like that moment, even with his legs wobbling, with the pokemon around them and the sound of the surf and frightened civilians in his ears.]

[He can't take his eyes off it. Or what it managed to do.]

[And for a second, he wonders if the tightness in his lungs is from the heat or something else.]

... Thank you.

[Shiro has no idea if Moltres can even hear him, and his voice sounds hoarse, even to his ears. But it just saved them. All of them. He, Heather, and all their pokemon.]

[And, you know, sit down in the process. But hey. He managed to thank the creature, right?]

Can you stop them? All of them? [Can it save the rest of the people here?]

[foolishwren]

<sub>[The bird's graceful neck arches enough for it to glance back at them with one gleaming gray eye.]

[Then it opens its beak and lets out another cry-- the answer may not be in plain English, but something about it feels clear enough.]

[No, it can't.]

[The Legendary Bird spreads its wings and takes off again with another long, echoing trill. The Nihilego is rising again, its lights flickering noticeably more weakly than before, and Moltres circles around to unleash another Flamethrower.]

[This one doesn't hit-- instead, it scorches the sand ten feet away from the strange beast and sends it drifting hurriedly in the other direction-- towards the sea.]</sub>


--I'm either fucking crazy or it's trying to herd it back towards the rip.

<sub>[Heather finally got her voice back after... that. Wow.]

[She'll be thinking more about this up-close-and-personal encounter with the Legendary-- the first time she's been in a fifty-foot radius of one attacking-- later. But for now... there's still a crisis unfolding around them.]</sub>

[shiro2hero]

[He won't lie and say the answer is what he wanted to hear. Or say he isn't disheartened by it. He can't say why he knows it's a negative. Just that he does.]

[Then, just as quickly, as it landed, it's gone again. Fire scorching the ground, the sand gleaming in swathes of glass beneath it. Jellyfish seeming to scatter in front of it, out of the way. Toward...]

You're not crazy.

[His own voice comes out hoarse and dry. Crackling around the edges, even after he swallows. Trying to clear it.]

... we need to try and get the people out of its way. Can your team handle that?

[Because Kuro is done. Green and Haunter close. Red and Blue might be the only ones left on his side.]

[foolishwren]

<sub>[Some years ago, she'd have insisted on being the one to go after the monsters herself.]

[But...]

[Getting the people out of the way literally is more important.]</sub>

We can handle it.

Zilla?

<sub>[The Feraligatr, visibly battered, slowly levers himself back onto his feet with his tail and shakes his head, letting out an affirmative rumble.]

[He is ALL for steering humans and Pokemon out of harm's way.]</sub>

[shiro2hero]

Okay... okay, good.

[Really good. He shoots her a grateful look, a relieved one. But that's for the moment, the extent of his ability to function. Despite all previous actions to the contrary, Blue the Gallade worms his way under his trainer's arm. Hoisting him up.]

Take Red with you.

[Zilla might need the backup, and the Incineroar still looks raring for more to do with herself.]

[He's going to... sit down. For a while.]

[Mega Evolution: hell of a thing.]

[foolishwren]

<sub>[For a second she looks kind of confused, like she expected him to either handle the crowd on the other side of the beach or go charging off after Moltres to help with its herding-- but then a glance at Shiro's ashen face makes the lightbulb flick on in her head.]

[Oh.]</sub>

You just take it easy. Find a spot to weather out this... whatever the fuck this is.

_{[She nods to the Incineroar-- they've got work to do.]}

[shiro2hero]

[He'd love to do either of those things. In any other situation, he would have. But this isn't a normal situation. Putting one foot in front of the other is about the extent of his focus, for now.]

Good luck.

[Blue will usher him off somewhere -- the terrible child really does care about his trainer, after all.]

[Meanwhile, the Incineroar flexes, roaring in agreement! Not to worry, Heather! She'll be right on your heels, ready to suplex everything into next Tuesday.]