. Yeesh, I think I’ll just get it for free when I go there for real. Still, I know where we might go after Otaria at least, so long-term plans are set in stone now. But what about short-term? I guess we just keep heading for the desert.We continue along, Rarity thankfully resisting the other stones enough to curb any oncoming episodes and Twilight is looking up Aron on her pokédex.
“Can’t believe you caught that.” I mutter. “You don’t even know what it is...”
Twilight just gives me a sideways glance. “And yet I’m on par with your skill level.”
“Badges mean nothing.” I say, puffing up a bit. “Neither does amount of pokémon caught.”
“And yet, again, we’re on seemingly the same level.”
“Pfft, in combat maybe...”
“Darlings, it’s rather hard to take nice photographs with you two arguing like an old married couple.” Rarity says getting us to shut up.
“A-anyways...” Twilight starts, blushing in the bluish light of the levitating stones. “There’s another map over here, and it says there’s another cave nearby, and is noted as ‘battle safe’.” she says, gesturing at the park-map style board set on one wall, the faded plastic-coated paper peeling slightly. I notice that there’s no metal in its construction... likely because of the natural Aron population.
“Alright, we keep going then. Though don’t expect a lot of terribly interesting pokémon down there. If this place is battle-ready then there’s likely been plenty of trainers down here who’ve caught most of the good ones.” I look deeper into the cave. “I just hope that the parents of whatever special species were left so that they can breed and repopulate.”
“It would be a shame if something happened to a species and they could no longer breed due to unavailability of a mate...” Rarity muses, sounding exactly like a breeder.
“Yeah, like there’s a place similar to these caves in Unova. Tynamo have become incredibly scarce since that’s their only habitat and they can’t seem to live anywhere else and uncontrolled catching...”
“Could quickly lead to them being endangered.” Twilight finishes, and I nod.
“Worse than that, they would need a specially-made area in a natural reserve to breed in before they go extinct since they have only one habitat unseen in other regions... unless there’s a pool of water in these caves. They’re eel-like. Well actually the Tynamo themselves are more like leeches, but you get the idea, they need electrically-charged still water. Likely mineral-rich as well.”
“That’s awful... but the brochure said that they still haven’t found the bottom of this chasm, so I don’t think the local species are in as dire straights.” Rarity says, “However, if the water in here is compatible... hmm...” she puts on an ‘I’m thinking this over’ face and begins to stare off into the distance.
The three of us continue on, just looking around as we delve deeper into the cave system. At least with these signs around we know we won’t get lost.
We all end up in a large room with a ‘window’ facing out towards the chasm, and we can see the far wall, but not down, and looking up reveals a bunch of slumbering Zubat and a sleepy-looking Golbat watching over the colony on the roof. They don’t seem active right now, and I spot a few tiny, fuzzy yellow spots on them, evidently a transplanted Joltik colony.
The girls look at the Zubat nervously, recalling our first encounter with them but I just remind them to stay quiet and we keep going, slowly so as to not wake them with the sound of footfalls. Now would be a chance to get myself a Joltik, but I’d rather not wake the horde of Zubat so I resign myself to waiting to get one until later.
In the next chamber over, it’s a long tunnel, and barely tall enough for the three of us, with semi-regular ‘windows’ facing out into the chasm, all of which I pointedly ignore the existence of. I get to the end and turn to talk to Twilight and Rarity, only to see that Rarity has stopped, and is inspecting a piece of wall with a rounded yellow stone on it. I’d seen a few others around, and just assumed they were part of the environment.
“What do we have here?” I ask, taking a closer look at the one Rarity was searching.
I take a picture of the stone and plan on running it through a reverse image-search but apparently the internet doesn’t work with all the electrical interference, so we’ll have to study it the old-fashioned way. It looks like a four-inch-wide rounded nub of yellowish rock, with six small crystals, also yellow coming off on two sides. I feel around it to see if it would be plausible to dig it out of the wall. “No good, it’s solid rock all the way through.” I announce as Rarity seems to have had the same idea. “We’d need actual digging tools.”
Rarity pulls out a small set of tools, looking like a tiny pick, hammer, and set of pliers. I’m about to comment on her strangely prepared bag, but the rock suddenly begins to skitter away up the wall at the sight of the tools, revealing it’s a spider-like shape made of rock, with a limb under each of the six crystals, and a tiny set of eye-like gemstones on the front, which appear to have widened in fear at the sight of the little titanium pickaxe.
“Well, that’s something you don’t see everyday...” I admit, having no idea what pokémon it could be. Twilight takes her éTech out and it chirps, having identified the creature.
Sparkite, the Piezoelectric pokémon
- These little geode-based pokémon generate electricity from within due to the pressures exerted on them. The harder the force applied to them, the stronger their jolts become.
- Thanks to thousands of years of compression, they've adapted to turn that physical stress into electrical charges, which they can then use as a defense mechanism.
Rock Type, Electric type
“It’s like a kinetic repulsion field...?” Twilight asks confusedly. “The more pressure you put on it the more it resists?”
“More like the more pressure you put on it the stronger its electrical abilities become.” I correct as Rarity tries coaxing it back to within arm’s reach.
The little, spider-like pokémon seems rather timid, but it does finally come back to Rarity, gripping her outstretched hand with its two, front-most legs, which I see come to blunt, crystal tips. “Spar?”
“Oh, you’re such a dear... we’ve never seen something quite like you~” she coos to the pokémon, who shyly ducks its front half.
“Yeah... not sure how useful a Rock-Electric type really is though.” I say. “It has a definite advantage over Flying types, but most of its natural resistances are made moot by a secondary type. Heck, a Ground type like Geodude would just waste it.”
“Well, see if there’s anything else special about it.” Twilight suggests. “Agh, the interference in here is... wait, gimme a moment.” she turns into a pony once more, and levitates the éTech outside of the cave, poking at the screen with a stylus. “Ha! I’ve got connection~” she sing-songs, grinning broadly.
“Not a bad trick.” I admit. “So what’s it say? It should have some special form of self-defense. Otherwise it wouldn’t last long in a normal cave.”
“Well, apparently, it has three different abilities: Sturdy, Static, and something called Lightning Infusion. Apparently, it can make Thunderstones.”
“That’s interesting... but how does it survive down here? Like does it learn some move to keep away Ground types? And what about Aron? If these things are mineraloids, they’re definitely on an Aron’s menu. They love mineral-rich foods and rocks.” I ponder for a moment. Static would help deter being eaten, but that would mean that only the ones with Static wouldn’t get eaten and that Infusion ability would be considered a birth defect... The biologist in me is screaming for some kind of answer to how this creature survives.
“Well, if they’re making food, then they’d be valuable as-is, not eaten, right?” Twilight reasons. I’m not sure of the logic, but the pokémon world does have its occasional weird circular-logic symbiosis setups.
“So... then the rarest ability one could find would be sturdy as they don’t have a bodily repulsion effect, and can’t make food so if they’re unprotected and can’t provide they must be the ones that get eaten, and as such are the hardest to find.” I deduce. “I mean, that sounds logical. If it’s food and can’t provide better food by living then it would get eaten.”
“That does make sense... morbid as it is.” Twilight says, nodding. “Wait, it has an evolution.” she says. “And... it’s way bigger than this little guy.” she says, brows furrowing, her tail swishing on the floor as she sits back. “And it has much better stats, too.”
“Wouldn’t be the first pokémon to be weak but evolve into a super-monster.”
“A- Actually, Sparkite has really amazing base stats.” Twilight says, eyes going wide as she reviews it. Her head snaps to where Rarity is, happily playing with the little pokémon, who is seeming very friendly, and generally acting adorable. “Here, take a look, Anthony.” she says, and passes it to me. Looking at it, I can see why she was shocked. Around 450 base stat total for that little guy? That’s crazy.
“These guys must, if you excuse the pun, rock the Little Cup.” At the confused look I explain. “The Little Cup is a tournament that is for small, young pokémon. Low level, small size, etc. Basically it’s a play-battle scenario for all the little ones to participate in without their trainer having to worry about someone throwing out a Garchomp and just obliterating their tinier partners.”
“Like how pegasus fillies wrestle?”
“Kinda, since a pokémon bred for battle would likely start training from a young age and that’s the safest place to go to have them get experience since everything is around the same size and level. The only advantage you could have is stats, and it’s too early for EV training to take effect. But these base statlines... These guys are insane even at low levels...”
“Yeah, and this says they’re only considered ‘rare’ because they aren’t found anywhere e-” a sudden, low thud catches our attention, and from the direction of the cave full of Zubats, which is rapidly emptying of said avian terrors, a large shape begins to arise out of the cave wall, revealing a large, three-legged humanoid shape, composed of floating stone chunks, with crystalline points that emit electricity, binding it together at its ‘joints’. The three legs look like chubbier versions of the ones on the little Sparkite, but they aren’t attached, and begin to motor like crazy getting that mass of stone moving as it charges the Zubats and Golbat, scaring them out of the tunnel. It only pauses to unleash a blast of electricity to help with chasing them out and keep the Golbat from getting any ideas, before its torso turns towards us, four crystal eyes glaring atop its chest, as it doesn’t have a head.
Why do so many pokémon in this region have no heads or too many?
Either way... “Looks like mom woke up...”
The other two nod, and we all begin to scramble away down the tunnel, the monsterosity behind us roaring out in fury. Twilight, still a pony, picks up more speed than Rarity or I, and picks us both up in her magic, screaming as she pours on the speed while carrying two adult humans.
Part of me wonders if it’s fear-fuel, or if she’s actually that strong with her magic, but most coherent thoughts are replaced by wishes for her to go faster.
After nearly a full minute of her running and Rarity and I encouraging her abilities and certainly not screaming in incoherent fear while holding each other and hoping she doesn’t run us into a stalactite, we finally break free onto a long rope bridge, which Twilight runs down at full tilt. I can’t exactly recall how fast those things could get, but whatever it is, I hope Twilight has already outrun it.
I chance a look back and see that it has, in fact, refused to follow us onto the bridge, simply growling angrily. Looking at my companions, I see that Twilight is collapsed and panting, and Rarity is looking shell-shocked and clutching her bag- wait, that’s not a bag, that’s the Sparkite!
“Rarity!” I hiss. “Give the scary pokémon it's kid back!”
She doesn’t respond, just sitting there wordlessly. In the distance, the large rock pokémon slowly returns to its cavern system.
I just stare at Rarity as I move Twilight onto my lap, which I figure to be much more comfortable than the wooden bridge “If that’s how you plan on ‘catching’ pokémon from now on, I’d say you’ve got serious problems, Rares.”
Rarity just continues to stare into the distance, and I realize she’s looking pretty white and breathing really shallowly. A quick glance at the Sparkite in her death-grip shows that it is, reflexively, releasing electricity from the pressure. Great.
I sigh and set Twilight back down as I help Rarity, my first job being to lay her on her back and pulling her arms off the pokémon to end the ‘can’t let go’ effect, being careful to not touch the Sparkite myself.
The moment she’s not gripping it, the electricity stops, and it scuttles in a small circle, poking her and giving a worried-sounding “Spar?”
I honestly forget the procedure for treating shocks at this point, so I just wing it, and hold her down gently and trying to ‘wake’ her. “Come on, just shake it off...”
Rarity recovers slowly, but does so, still looking a bit pale. “Ah-ow...” she mutters, her breathing slowly returning to normal as her muscles relax, one group at a time.
“Electrocution is not fun.” I clarify. “Just be glad this was just standard paralysis. Twilight, how you holding up?”
“I- I’ll... be fine... just... exhausted...” she says, panting, looking about to pass out.
“Yeah, you don’t look fine. We should probably stay here for a bit. And Rarity, no more hugs for Sparkite.”
She nods shakily, and gets to standing up, the Sparkite tugging on her skirt hem when she starts to walk away, evidently wanting to come with.
I roll my eyes. “Looks like your incredible charisma has gotten you yet another teammate, Rarity.”
“I- I suppose so...” she says, still sounding very out of it, though she gently picks up the Sparkite, who seems to like the hug.
“Rarity, just put it in a ball. You can take it out of the PC later. Right now he’s a bit of a hazard to literally carry around.” I say with a sigh.
“R-right.” she says, pulling out a ball and tapping it to the stony pokémon, ‘catching’ it without any trouble. The ball immediately transfers to the PC.
Now that that was over, the only thing left to do is wait for the girls to recover and move on. We probably aren’t going to leave any time soon, at least until that thing calms down.
Now that we’re on this side of the bridge, I get a good look around, realizing we’re on something of an island, likely a pillar of some kind... though why there’s cords attached to the sort-of corners of the little pillar we’re on is a mystery.
I hazard a look over the side and see that the cords are there to keep this little island up and that it’s mostly just hanging here. In other words, a dead end. I thought the caves would go further than this. Then I realize I’m standing literally on top of a semi-floating platform and hastily make my way back across the wooden bridge. Nothing to see here. Nope.
Looking to the sides eventually leads me to find... a ladder. A rope ladder leading down the side and to the floor below. That might be our way out, but only if-
Another crashing noise and the creature has burst through another wall, and chases me back across the bridge to the island. Damnit, it was waiting for me!
“I don’t have your kid, leave me alone!” I moan as I just start climbing down the ladder simply to get away from the angry parent. The large pokémon growls and smashes into a wall, tunneling away once more and making the cave more unstable, no doubt. We have gotta get out of here.
I just gesture for the girls to follow me down the ladder when they’re able and continue my downward climb. Going up is always so easy, but down is a nightmare.
Thankfully, we get to the floor just fine, and Twilight takes a moment to turn into a human once more, though she complains that now her ‘everything’ aches. We start off, but I quickly realize this part of the cave wasn’t on the earlier maps, and we’re potentially lost.
“Do either of you remember the way out?” Rarity asks hopefully, looking around.
“Yes.” I say matter-of-factly “It’s up that ladder, across the bridge, and past the giant pokémon that wants to turn us into paste for taking its baby.” Rarity sighs. “Well excuse me, I wasn’t the one who gets every other pokémon they meet to follow them. Some pokémon are best left where they are, y’know?”
Twilight makes a frustrated noise. “Stop, Anthony, she gets it. Let’s just work on getting out... wait, you have a pokémon that knows Dig, right?” she asks.
I nod, holding out my premier ball. “Geodude should be able to bust through this rock wall just fine... Or heck, depending on the level, take out big, rocky, and scary up there.” Geodude appears and looks up at me, waiting for instruction, as there’s nothing to hit in arm’s reach this time. “You can get us out of here, right? Just, you know, dig us a way out?”
He gives a nod... er, a shake of his body. He gestures towards his body, and then waits.
“I guess we just grab on, or...?” I look at Geodude. He’s a little small for all of us to fit on top so it must be something else I’m not understanding. He nods again, and waits for us to get firm grips, before lunging at the rock face and smashing into it, fists windmilling violently as he tears forward, dragging us into the dirt. I can hear Rarity crying out, and Twilight is practically spooning me as we hold on for dear life to Geodude, who is shovelling the pulverized stone behind us, barely leaving room for our toes as he goes along at an impressive pace.
I was thinking it would have been like he digs a hole and we follow him through it by crawling but I have to admit this is faster. After a few minutes of holding on, my knuckles white with the grip I have, my arms start getting tired of being used to drag the entirety of my weight and that of the girls.
Moments before I begin to lose my grip, we burst free of the pitch-black darkness inside the stone, and land on the exterior platform, the seemingly-rickety planks easily taking our sudden arrival with the exact same creaks and groans as when we were gingerly stepping from one to the next. Once everyone is back to their feet I recall Geodude, and we begin our trek back, myself still not trusting the maximum capacity of the boards as I go.
“So I say we call this venture a bust and try the caves again later...” The girls nod, and I realize they’re holding tight to either side of me, having lost their handholds on Geodude’s rather smooth body. Maybe I shouldn’t have been having him use Rock Polish quite so often; he’s getting rather spherical. That aside, we’re alive and we aren’t being chased, so we just resolve to head back to the pokémon center and work on a new plan for what to do before we leave in a few days. Or maybe even tomorrow. “Anyone got any safe ideas?”
“Uhm... going back and sitting on a couch for a little while?” Twilight asks. “I have some books I’d like to read... and a few pokémon I want to research.”
“And I think I’d like to work some more on my designs... I think I have an idea for a dress based on that larger one...” she says.
“Of course you do...” I sigh. “Alright, guess we’ll just take the rest of today slow then.”
Shortly after we’ve gotten to the center and each had a shower to get the dirt and stone bits off of us, we just find ourselves sitting around the center, reading our own books. I put mine away, done with reading for the time being and I start just letting my mind wander.
Not really having much for my mind wander to I just start fiddling with my éTech, looking for something to do. One thing I’ve been missing a lot is music so I start searching for that. After a bit I find that there’s an actual music app and it begins asking for names of songs I like. I put in a few I remember from before I came to Equestria and find that... most of them actually exist or have very similar counterparts if they don’t exist exactly as before, putting more evidence into the idea of the pokémon world being like an alternate Earth.
After a bit I find one I haven’t heard in awhile, an old favorite with a nice soft but somewhat haunting melody. Glad to see the band exists here and in roughly the same shape, I hit the play button and begin listening to the song while I think of something else to do.
It’s not exactly as I remember it, but that could be just due to not having heard it in a while. The talking about myths and strange occurrences makes me think more about the different pokémon around here in Otaria. Letting the music play in the background I pull up the pokedex and begin rifling through it for interesting-sounding names.
I come across Sparkite, and the pokémon listed directly after it, Granectric, sounds like it’s probably the evolved form that had chased us. I figure I could look over it, maybe find a weakness to exploit if we come across another one.
I open that in a separate tab and go back to the pokedex, finding a name that is entirely new, Rapices. I suppose I haven’t quite got my fill of Water types, so I decide to check that one out after, opening a fourth tab for that one and going for Granectric’s entry.
Granectric, the Ancient Charge pokémon
- These powerful pokémon are very durable. They turn any physical assault directly into electrical potential.
- There is a very large amount research being put into finding a way to use their ability to turn kinetic energy into electrical potential.
- They roam the vast tunnels of their native chasm, and will attack anything they think is a danger to their young.
Rock type, Electric type
Hmmm... and it evolves... like Mamoswine or Yanmega, by knowing Ancient Power when levelling up. So it’s actually considered a truly ancient species... interesting. Well, with its statlines on display I can see exactly why it was so territorial and protective: If I was that tough I wouldn’t exactly be very charitable for no reason.
As for weaknesses, the immediate thing that comes to mind is Grass type as they resist Electrical damage and are effective against Rock. And they don’t learn any really special moves. The only moves that they don’t get STAB from are Dig and Dazzling Gleam. Fairy moves? Strange, still it leaves it wide open to a sufficiently strong Ground type, Ground being immune to half its moves and normally resistant to the other half and it take times-four damage from Ground moves. Yeah, a sufficiently strong Magnitude from Geodude could probably handle one if they were on the same level... wish I thought of that, would have made leaving a lot easier.
Oh well, 20-20 hindsight and all. Let’s see what Rapices is. Must be a fish with a name like that...
Yep, it looks like a metallic-armored swordfish, nose looking like, well, a rapier. Steel type, and definitely a fast one if the fin design is functional as well as looking cool.
Rapices, the Swordfish pokémon
- Rapices can often be found in pairs, sparring one another. They do this to hone their sword like noses. They always bow their head before beginning battle.
- They roam the seas and are surprisingly friendly to humans, though they will fence with anyone they think has insulted them. Their pride is highly important to them, as it is how they rank themselves.
Water type, Steel type
Huh, interesting. Might be useful if I didn’t already have Carvanha... where can I get one? Huh, says something about a Hagane region... whose pokedex looks very... unique. It’s mostly incomplete though as it says I need the region’s pokedex upgrade.
Available on the eShop for 6,000. Yeesh, I think I’ll just get it for free when I go there for real. Still, I know where we might go after Otaria at least, so long-term plans are set in stone now. But what about short-term? I guess we just keep heading for the desert.
Y’know, now that I think about it... I’ve seen a bunch of pokémon that, well, don’t look like the ‘standard’ model I know from the movies, games, show, and merch. So what’s up with that? I get to looking on the éTech for ‘subspecies’ and ‘pokémon variation’, wondering what I’ll find.
And holy crap, there’s just so many possibilities.
Every Region, and there’s at least fifteen going off this list, has some natural variations to its pokemon, similar to the way Gastrodon varies between the two halves of Sinnoh, but it’s across continents. And... looking at this map, I can see why. This version of Earth has, from the looks of things, about three continents, and an absolute shitload of islands and the like, many the size of Japan or Madagascar.
This place will certainly keep us busy until we start getting old, that’s for sure. Heh, we’ll have quite the stories to tell when we finally get back home. heck, this is even sending me recommendations for stories of people doing just that.
Speaking of home, the music has kept playing other songs by similar bands, some I know, others I don’t, but all in the general theme of Abney Park’s typical style. Not bad but what I’ve been really missing is metal, something I just can’t always seem to get right when playing the Lyre. Probably should wait until I’m not in a public hospital before blasting something like that though.
My music itself, the mysterious and flowing style seems to have enraptured Twilight’s subconscious as she has started humming along with the music as she reads. Eventually I return my attention to the various pokémon subspecies and variations, finding things like different kinds of coat for Vulpix to Golurk with a more ancient, ‘ruined temple guardian’ look.
After a bit more browsing I decide to stop, my back getting a bit stiff from sitting still for so long. I get up and walk around, looking at what the girls are doing, Rarity’s working on those dress designs based on the Granectric, and beside it in a huge contrast is the feathered Rayquaza design. The idea of a Rayquaza with feathers is rather silly if you ask me, but if it works it works I suppose. Twilight’s reading about more of our more basic scientific discoveries.
The one she seems to be ogling the most at is clockwork and steam-power. “Yeah, they look pretty cool. Amazing what you can do with brass pipes and gears, huh?” I say, leaning over her shoulder. “You should look up some of the more fictitious examples of steam-power’s applications. Steampunk might even be possible with a bit of unicorn magic.”
“I think some of these designs are entirely workable even without unicorn magic.” she says, changing tabs to one showing steampunk designs, including a ‘steampunk Golurk’ idea for a novel cover, called the Brass Giant.
“Huh, yeah, but things like clockwork golems might be a bit hard without some magical help. Steam power is versatile but it has its limits, that’s why we currently use electricity generated from wind water and sunlight.”
“Oh yes, and I’ve actually finished the potential designs for turning Ponyville’s dam into a hydroelectric one and it should only cost a few hundred bits to set up. Compared to my calculations, that price is nothing compared to what we’d save by converting.” Twilight says happily. “I’m learning so much that can help us... I had no idea you humans were so resourceful. Some of these things I’ve only seen in the Crystal Empire’s library, and even then they were just rough ideas. Here... they all fully work.”
“Yeah, amazing what a resourceful species can do without magic, huh?”
“Well I wouldn’t say completely without magic. A few of these could be vastly improved if put in the right hooves.” she pauses. “Also... I’m not entirely convinced humans don’t have magic.”
I can tell by the tone that her use of the word hooves was inflection, not a verbal mistake.
I shrug and use one of my favorite lines. “Sufficiently advanced science is indistinguishable from magic.”
“That’s... rather profound, but I’m sure there’s some kind of magic here, and I will find a way to harness it.”
I chuckle and squeeze her shoulder. “If anyone can, it’d be you.”
“Why thank you Anthony, it’s unlike you to have much confidence in me.” She replies with a sideways glance and a small smile.
“Yeah, just don’t expect it too often.”
“There we are.” She replies, rolling her eyes and returning to her device, smile still in place. “But I am serious about there being magic here. One of my research topics was into ancient shrines and religious artifacts... they tend to be good places to check for early magic, and there’s some works that are literally impossible without magic, such as pocket dimensions inside of a shrine in Kanto, or the entire region of Kroel just... not existing for one hundred years to the outside world.”
“Well don’t overwork yourself. You still have to focus on getting badges and training if you want to keep up with me.” I remind her as I flop back onto the couch, swiping through more music options. I change the tunes to something more upbeat and Rarity sighs.
“Oh I liked that so much.” She says. “It was like slow dancing in darkness.”
“You can get your own music, just look up songs you’d like to hear.” I advise, turning off my music.
Rarity begins searching through her éTech for music and after a while of swiping and scrolling finds one that makes her eyes visibly light up. “Oooh, this one sounds so romantic!”
The song begins to play and I... recognize it immediately as one of my old favorites, but definitely not romantic in the way Rarity likely imagines. This is made immediately apparent by the sounds of the instruments, but it seems Rarity’s interest is piqued and I wince as she listens to the heavy tones and rather... dark lyrics.
“That... is not a love song...” Twilight says, slowly, hearing it as well. “Is it?”
“Ah, no.” I say, “That’s Alice Cooper.”
“Well... given the lyrics I can’t say the title is misleading but I was expecting something softer and less... violent.”
“Then Alice is not the singer for you. Here, try Abney Park, they’re... gentler.” I suggest.
Once given the name of the band and told how to spell it, Rarity finds the music I had been listening to. “That is much better. I must say, I didn’t exactly believe songs like that existed despite your claim of their popularity. I was under the impression your staged performances were created on the spot...”
“Nope, and for that reason, I say it might be best to run a song by me first. I’m just glad you didn’t get one of Alice’s more raunchy songs.”
“She makes more like that?” Twilight asks.
“Almost all his songs are like that. Yes, Alice is a he.” I correct.
“But, that name sounds so feminine...” Rarity comments. “Why would a male singer’s name be Alice?”
I just shake my head. “You really wouldn’t understand.”
I pause when we’re interrupted by a nurse coming over. “Hello everyone~! I just wanted to come over and make sure everything’s alright; you’ve been sitting at these two tables all afternoon. I’ve never seen trainers sit in one place so long, so...”
“Well, we had reserved the rest of the afternoon to exploring the caves... but we ran into an issue and had to make an emergency exit.” I explain. “There was a Granectric that got exceptionally ticked off when one of us caught a Sparkite.”
“Ah, yes, they sometimes come up from the deeper parts of the crevasse. On behalf of the village, I’d like to offer my apologies; however, it’s actually fairly far into the evening. You’ve been sitting over there since shortly after noon, and it’s nearly eight.”
I look out a window and see the position of the sun. “Oh... wow, we did spend all day here, didn’t we?”
Twilight blinks as she checks the time on her éTech, and Rarity looks a bit confused by the time passing us by, but shakes her head. “Ah, it seems we all got a bit carried away with our own little projects... ah, Nurse, are there any night events you might recommend?”
“Oh of course!” she says, smiling happily. “At night, you can lay on one of the glass-floored buildings and watch the Crevasse Constellations form. They’re the results of large deposits of charged crystals moving slowly along set paths, and they can take up to a year to complete a circuit, just like real stars! They’re really pretty and romantic; I met my boyfriend ‘stargazing’.” she blushes a little at the admission.
“And exactly how thick is the glass, and how secure is it?” I ask, skeptical of this pastime’s safety.
“Well, it’s not actually glass, unless you go to one of the really old buildings, but they made their glass nearly a foot thick. The portion here in the Center is actually an impact-proofed polymer of some sort. I don’t really know the specifics, but I do know it’s tested by having a Machamp wail on the sheet for two minutes before being certified.”
I shrug. “Good enough for me, I suppose.” I say, “So where is it?”
She points over at the pokéball symbol in the floor of the main lobby, and I realize that it’s not a black-over-white pokeball, but rather just an open window pointing down. “Also, we can get more comfortable beds to post over it. We don’t get a lot of traffic here in the Center at night, thanks to that hotel opening up two layers up, but that just means it’s quieter here.”
I nod, walking over to the pokéball symbol. “Alright, so it’d be just like, what, looking down at the night sky or something when the glowing starts?”
“Pretty much. I mean, there’s actually rooms with glassed floors, they have beds with face-pillows that let you lay down facing the floor. Like the ones in a massage place.”
“Huh, cool. Guess we’ll take a room then. You got one for three, or....?” I trail off, letting the nurse reply.
“I have a room for four, but effectively yes. There’s no reservations, so you’re in the clear.”
“Alright, we’ll take a room then.”
The nurse smiles and nods. “Right this way. And are you going to stay for several nights or just for tonight?”
“Just tonight... unless you girls can think of anything else to do while we’re here that might take a full day?”
Twilight thinks for a moment. “Well, we should probably retry exploring those caves, we didn’t get very far before we had to leave.”
“Alright, we’ll see what there is to see, and hopefully we won’t have to dig ourselves out again.” I reply, entering the room the nurse shows me to.
“You three enjoy the view.” She smiles and walks back to her station. We walk in and instantly take note of the very see-through floor. It’s very well polished and we’d hate to ruin or scratch it so we leave our shoes inside the door on a rubbery mat, and walk in our stocking’d feet. It’s so far down that I can’t see the bottom, which helps a bit. It kinda looks like an optical illusion, or a long corridor, rather than an endless drop into slightly-blue darkness.
I get on of the beds and lay down, staring into the abyss and while it’s a little odd, it certainly isn’t as bad as I’d expected. I hear Twilight and Rarity move to their own beds and we just stare silently, waiting for the ‘stars’. It really is a lot like looking at the night sky. I sometimes have to remind myself I’m looking down. It’s somewhat disorienting but in a subtle way that doesn’t freak me out completely.
After a bit of waiting I see a little glowing light and more begin showing up. It is a little like stars. On the other hand, I can see them moving, slightly, and as the sun sets, I can get a better look at them. There aren’t as many towards the middle, which I realize is probably because it’s much further down than the sides. As the last of the light bleeds away to night, more lights begin to join, and some easily-visible moving lights drift into the chasm, likely pokemon like Volbeat and Illumise coming in.
It’s a bit strange, but even though I know I’m looking down... I can’t help but feel calm. The multitude of tiny lights don’t flicker like stars, instead pulsing gently, and I’m not entirely prepared when there’s a sudden line or beam connecting two of them, and the outline of a Gengar’s grinning face shows up for a moment as the beam splits hundreds of times into other nearby lights.
It’s a really fantastic display and the whole thing is indeed like stargazing, but if the stars were more... alive. I think about taking a picture but my body is tired and refuses to move from the restful position I’m in. I resolve to just look and watch, though I am feeling pretty drowsy already. Another beam, this time golden yellow instead of electric blue, fires and splits, this time between different lights, and forms a massive, wireframe of a Yanmega.
My body still refuses to take a picture, though I can look at it again tomorrow night. It probably won’t be the same display, but it will be just as nice, I hope. I’m given a bit of a jostle and I hear Twilight ask me what the design is. “It looks like a pokémon, what kind of pokémon is that?”
“Yanmega...” Wow, even my voice sounds sleepy. I guess today was more tiring than I thought. “It’s a... a Bug type, prehistoric. You can look it up in the morning...” I punctuate with a yawn and soon enough I catch a glimpse of another design, a silver-colored Mew’s outline, before my eyes close and I drift off.