Intermission 1

Jan 20 22:58:03 *	Scabbard is mostly just thinking and tossing his yarn ball back and forth.
Jan 20 22:58:09 <Alma>	Alma, meanwhile, hangs back. She's still scrubbing at her claws with a clump of grass. "Ah. Scabbard - those stories you were telling earlier.
Jan 20 22:58:19 <Alma>	(whoops, didn't mean to press enter)
Jan 20 22:58:27 <Alma>	About the fruit. What else do you know?"
Jan 20 22:58:37 <Scabbard>	"The Fruit?"
Jan 20 22:59:12 *	Scabbard catches the ball between his scythes. "Not a lot. Just that it can restore... well, anything. To it's original state. I just don't know what that means."
Jan 20 22:59:18 <Scabbard>	"I mean... what is original?"
Jan 20 23:00:02 <Alma>	"It could be when we were children, but that seems... simplistic?"
Jan 20 23:00:19 <Alma>	"It could be a weapon, I suppose."
Jan 20 23:00:33 <Scabbard>	"I mean... possibly? It... might be able to restore the desert to a place where things actually grow. Like it used to be."
Jan 20 23:00:55 <Alma>	"Or it could erase it entirely, returning it to nothing."
Jan 20 23:01:06 <Alma>	Alma makes a frustrated sound and tosses the grass away.
Jan 20 23:01:14 <Scabbard>	"...Are you alright?"
Jan 20 23:02:05 <Alma>	"Just...just a little worried, darling." She gives him a little grin. "Things are so rarely what they seem now."
Jan 20 23:02:17 <Scabbard>	"I mean... I guess you're right."
Jan 20 23:02:23 <Alma>	"I can't stop thinking about... alternatives, I suppose you could say."
Jan 20 23:03:01 <Alma>	"What if what we're chasing was hidden for a reason?"
Jan 20 23:03:06 <Scabbard>	"...That doesn't mean we shouldn't look into it, though. I mean... other people are too."
Jan 20 23:03:11 <Alma>	"And..."
Jan 20 23:03:13 <Alma>	"Well."
Jan 20 23:03:15 *	Scabbard looks at the Helicopter.
Jan 20 23:03:23 <Alma>	"...this will sound strange, but."
Jan 20 23:03:26 <Alma>	"Ah."
Jan 20 23:03:59 *	Alma plops down next to Scabbard's leg. "Do you know the story of how Pokemon came to be?"
Jan 20 23:04:10 <Scabbard>	"I know... some?"
Jan 20 23:04:27 <Scabbard>	"...There are a lot of stories. Not all of them really agree."
Jan 20 23:04:46 <Alma>	"It's true - but most of them have some sort of creator, right?"
Jan 20 23:04:55 <Alma>	"A divine being of immense power."
Jan 20 23:05:03 *	Scabbard nods.
Jan 20 23:05:05 <Alma>	"...Do you know where I'm going with this, darling?"
Jan 20 23:05:15 <Scabbard>	"...I have an inkling."
Jan 20 23:05:27 *	Alma raises an eyebrow. "Tell me, then."
Jan 20 23:05:40 <Alma>	"Let me know it's not as farfetched as I would have thought."
Jan 20 23:06:12 <Scabbard>	"Well... the story is that Arceus created the higher gods... Palkia, and Dialga, and Mew..."
Jan 20 23:06:20 <Scabbard>	"And then Mew created everything else."
Jan 20 23:06:41 <Scabbard>	"...Do... you think all of this? The light? The fruit? Has something to do with that...?"
Jan 20 23:07:18 <Alma>	"..."
Jan 20 23:07:35 <Alma>	"I don't think anything for certain."
Jan 20 23:07:42 <Scabbard>	"..."
Jan 20 23:07:59 <Alma>	"But one must always think of alternatives, right? To be prepared for anything is to reject nothing."
Jan 20 23:08:06 <Scabbard>	"...Right."
Jan 20 23:08:08 <Scabbard>	"I mean..."
Jan 20 23:08:09 <Scabbard>	"..."
Jan 20 23:08:26 <Scabbard>	"...There was a story once, of someone who wanted to become a god."
Jan 20 23:08:32 <Alma>	"...yes?"
Jan 20 23:08:41 *	Alma looks like she wants to say something, but falls silent.
Jan 20 23:08:59 <Scabbard>	"...So he sought out the place where the gods lied, and attempted to steal the power of one. But failed, and the Dark One dragged him to the underworld."
Jan 20 23:09:14 <Scabbard>	"But it's just a legend."
Jan 20 23:09:47 <Alma>	"Well, if we were originally of the gods, and the Fruit returns things to how they were originally..."
Jan 20 23:10:20 <Scabbard>	"...You're saying you want to be a god, then."
Jan 20 23:10:28 <Alma>	"Who would ever want to be a god?"
Jan 20 23:10:36 <Scabbard>	"Not me."
Jan 20 23:10:50 <Alma>	"Again, this is just a theory of what the Fruit might be."
Jan 20 23:11:01 <Alma>	"And the Essence..."
Jan 20 23:11:03 <Alma>	"Well."
Jan 20 23:11:33 *	Alma laughs. "I suppose it does sound strange, doesn't it? We've been out in the sun too long, probably!"
Jan 20 23:11:40 *	Scabbard tilts down his new hat's visor. "...Not that strange."
Jan 20 23:11:47 <Alma>	"...No?"
Jan 20 23:12:11 <Scabbard>	"...They used to say that the gods could take human form, and speak human language."
Jan 20 23:12:18 <Scabbard>	"Now everyone can at least do the latter..."
Jan 20 23:12:33 <Alma>	"Hmmm."
Jan 20 23:12:44 <Alma>	"....Will you do me a favor, Scabbard?"
Jan 20 23:12:49 <Scabbard>	"Yes?"
Jan 20 23:12:59 <Alma>	"I would like you to watch over Arthur, if you could."
Jan 20 23:13:17 <Alma>	"The poor dear... He's had it worse than most of us - than I have, at least."
Jan 20 23:13:40 *	Scabbard cocks his head, a bit confused. "...Of course. But... why are you so concerned for him?"
Jan 20 23:14:15 *	Ullar|ipod has quit ()
Jan 20 23:14:51 <Alma>	"Wouldn't you be concerned if one of your fellow guardsmen started freezing up in battle and claiming to see things?"
Jan 20 23:15:08 <Scabbard>	"...That's a good point."
Jan 20 23:15:23 <Alma>	"You know a great deal more about these matters than I do, and I... well."
Jan 20 23:15:31 <Scabbard>	"I'm wondering how this 'essence' is going to affect all of us..."
Jan 20 23:16:05 <Alma>	"Perhaps we'll become gods, yes?"
Jan 20 23:16:13 <Alma>	"Beautiful and terrible."
Jan 20 23:16:39 <Scabbard>	"...That's still a huge conclusion to leap to..."
Jan 20 23:17:02 <Scabbard>	"And we're not the only ones with this Essence. Even before Fang started his campaign, you could see the light in the sky."
Jan 20 23:17:23 <Alma>	"It is a huge conclusion."
Jan 20 23:18:16 *	Alma stretches out, wiggling her feet. "I'm not too worried, though. It doesn't seem to have done anything to me - not in the same way it has you or Arthur or Getter."
Jan 20 23:18:29 <Scabbard>	"But it might."
Jan 20 23:19:12 <Alma>	"And it might not."
Jan 20 23:19:21 <Alma>	"I'll just have to rely on my stunning good looks then, right?"
Jan 20 23:19:24 <Alma>	Griiiiiin.
Jan 20 23:19:35 <Scabbard>	He laughs a bit at that. "You are fashionable, yes."
Jan 20 23:20:36 <Alma>	"I want... well I'd like, someday, to set up a little clothing store."
Jan 20 23:20:48 <Alma>	"Maybe in one of the human towns, maybe out in the middle of nowhere."
Jan 20 23:21:04 <Alma>	"Make the most beautiful things you've ever seen, and have people come from all over to see them."
Jan 20 23:21:09 <Alma>	"They'd be so happy..."
Jan 20 23:21:44 *	Scabbard smiles a little. "...I've never really had a chance to wear anything beautiful. Everything is so... what's the word... utensil-tarian, now."
Jan 20 23:22:08 <Alma>	"Utilitarian, darling."
Jan 20 23:22:20 <Alma>	"Being of utility."
Jan 20 23:22:27 <Scabbard>	"Right."
Jan 20 23:22:37 <Alma>	"Hah... I suppose it's a silly dream, but I don't care."
Jan 20 23:23:25 <Alma>	"The world insists that there's no room for people like me, and I refuse to acknowlege that. I'll spit in the world's eye if I have to, darling."
Jan 20 23:23:43 <Scabbard>	"...I'd like to see a world where people could make beautiful things again."
Jan 20 23:24:51 *	Scabbard leans back and looks at the sky. "And where everyone could live together, and didn't have to fight, or be afraid..."
Jan 20 23:26:25 <Alma>	"All we can do is make that world, Scabbard."
Jan 20 23:26:49 <Scabbard>	"...It's a big world, though."
Jan 20 23:26:51 <Alma>	"No one else is going to do it for us, yes?"
Jan 20 23:27:32 <Alma>	"A big world? Nonsense. It's smaller than the sky, isn't it?"
Jan 20 23:27:41 <Scabbard>	"You're right, but..."
Jan 20 23:27:50 <Alma>	"Smaller than the stars, and certainly smaller than our ambitions."
Jan 20 23:28:02 <Scabbard>	"...I don't know, I'm still dizzy from all of this. I was never a good thinker..."
Jan 20 23:28:10 <Scabbard>	"And... I never really had any plans, aside from..."
Jan 20 23:29:28 <Scabbard>	"I mean... It was more of a hope, I guess."
Jan 20 23:29:35 <Alma>	"Aside from?" she prompts.
Jan 20 23:29:53 <Scabbard>	"...There's a girl I wanted to see again some day. A human girl."
Jan 20 23:30:05 <Alma>	"Is that so?"
Jan 20 23:30:54 <Scabbard>	"...Her name was Gwen, and she was from a place called the Dominion, and she was trying to get to Mantine Bay with her grandmother, but the Legion caught her first..."
Jan 20 23:31:13 <Scabbard>	"She was the one who taught me a lot of these stories... While I was guarding her."
Jan 20 23:32:41 <Alma>	"Well, we're heading to Mantine Bay now, aren't we?"
Jan 20 23:32:46 <Alma>	"Maybe we'll hear something."
Jan 20 23:32:51 <Alma>	"And Scabbard..."
Jan 20 23:32:59 <Scabbard>	"Yeah, but... I haven't seen her since I got these..."
Jan 20 23:33:06 *	Scabbard holds up his arm.
Jan 20 23:33:09 <Scabbard>	"Yeah?"
Jan 20 23:33:31 <Alma>	"No matter what happens, no matter how confusing things get, you can always hold onto that, right?"
Jan 20 23:33:44 <Alma>	"So don't worry so much and pass me that yarn."
Jan 20 23:34:04 <Scabbard>	"I've been really whiny lately, haven't I?"
Jan 20 23:34:10 *	Scabbard smiles and tosses Alma the yarn.
Jan 20 23:35:09 *	Alma leaps into the air and pounces on it! "I wouldn't say so. We have been through so much."
Jan 20 23:35:23 <Alma>	"Do you regret joining up with us? She tosses it back.
Jan 20 23:35:37 <Scabbard>	"Not at all, no."
Jan 20 23:36:10 *	Scabbard springs up and bounces it off his head a few times before swinging it back at Alma. "It's just... a lot of stuff in a short time, I guess."
Jan 20 23:36:29 <Scabbard>	"And that last thing hit pretty close to home..."
Jan 20 23:38:39 <Alma>	"You don't need to be ashamed of not always feeling your best!" She spikes the yarn into the air before jumping and kicking it at Scabbard. "The books I always read said you had to believe in yourself and your hope more than anything else."
Jan 20 23:39:49 *	Scabbard flies up and swats it back with his scythe. "You're right! But... I mean..."
Jan 20 23:40:02 <Scabbard>	"...All of this fanboying is creeping me out a little."
Jan 20 23:40:26 <Alma>	"Oh that? That's easy to deal with."
Jan 20 23:41:04 *	Alma catches the yarn, holding onto it for a moment. "Don't think about it at all. You don't owe them a damned thing."
Jan 20 23:42:10 <Scabbard>	"I don't?"
Jan 20 23:42:20 <Scabbard>	"But... aren't they... expecting something?"
Jan 20 23:42:34 *	Scabbard hangs in the air, looking rather cartoonishly confused.
Jan 20 23:43:32 <Alma>	"Does it matter if they are?"
Jan 20 23:43:44 <Alma>	"You need to be yourself, not who they expect you to be."
Jan 20 23:43:45 <Scabbard>	"Well, no. But..."
Jan 20 23:45:23 <Alma>	"But?"
Jan 20 23:45:41 <Scabbard>	"It just, feels weird letting them down. They're... expecting something."
Jan 20 23:47:06 <Alma>	"If you become a slave to what everyone else wants, you're no better than those poor friends in the Pokeballs, though."
Jan 20 23:47:27 <Alma>	"I'm not saying you should never help someone, don't get me wrong."
Jan 20 23:47:36 <Alma>	"I'm saying that you should put yourself first."
Jan 20 23:47:45 <Alma>	"Being a martyr never helped anyone."
Jan 20 23:47:48 *	Alma tosses the yarn back, finally.
Jan 20 23:49:09 *	Scabbard catches it between his scythes. "I guess so..."
Jan 20 23:49:25 <Scabbard>	"But... I mean... I'm... not really sure what -I- want, is the thing."
Jan 20 23:49:49 *	Scabbard bounces the ball a bit between his knees.
Jan 20 23:50:12 <Alma>	"So figure that out."
Jan 20 23:50:21 <Alma>	"Doesn't seem too hard to me, darling."
Jan 20 23:51:34 <Scabbard>	"Well, you know what you want."
Jan 20 23:51:38 *	Scabbard kicks it back.
Jan 20 23:52:47 <Alma>	"Well, let me put it another way."
Jan 20 23:52:53 <Alma>	"What do you want to do right now?"
Jan 20 23:53:20 *	Alma spins the yarn ball on the tip of one claw before absently tossing it back.
Jan 20 23:54:00 <Scabbard>	"...I want to figure out what this woman was after, and I want to see Gwen and my friends again, and..."
Jan 20 23:54:12 <Alma>	"There you go!"
Jan 20 23:54:29 <Alma>	"You don't have to have your life all figured out. No one does, darling."
Jan 20 23:55:02 *	Scabbard bounces the ball off of his scythe. "Well... I also want to make sure you're all safe, too. I feel kind of... I dunno... responsible?"
Jan 20 23:55:26 <Alma>	"I appreciate the sentiment, at least."
Jan 20 23:55:55 <Alma>	"Even though I'm more than capable of taking care of myself."
Jan 20 23:57:52 <Alma>	"I suppose I'm talking in circles, and for that I'm sorry, dear."
Jan 20 23:58:01 *	Scabbard baps the ball back. "I know. That thing with the box was pretty cool..."
Jan 20 23:58:07 <Scabbard>	"And so am I, don't worry."
Jan 20 23:58:12 <Alma>	"Hah! I try. I try."
Jan 20 23:58:35 <Alma>	"But I suppose you shouldn't be afraid to put yourself before everyone else when you need to."
Jan 20 23:58:39 <Alma>	"And you'll know when that is."
Jan 20 23:58:55 *	Alma is hit in the face with the ball sometime in the middle of that inspiring speech.
Jan 20 23:59:07 <Scabbard>	"Gah, sorry!"
Jan 20 23:59:22 <Alma>	"Oof."
Jan 21 00:00:21 <Alma>	"Well, I suppose that's enough of that for right now."
Jan 21 00:00:29 *	Alma picks up the yarn and hands it back.
Jan 21 00:00:42 <Scabbard>	"It takes practice."
Jan 21 00:01:19 *	Scabbard uses the Pokedex to stick it back in his little pouch. "This was all I had to do when I was little."
Jan 21 00:03:02 <Scabbard>	"So I've gotten pretty good at it. Not really used to having a partner though."
Jan 21 00:03:14 <Alma>	"A partner, huh?"
Jan 21 00:03:27 <Alma>	"And here I thought I was competing with you."
Jan 21 00:03:34 <Scabbard>	"I mean, sometimes I'd play with Zephyr, but..."
Jan 21 00:03:48 *	Scabbard laughs. "Head It isn't a competition."
Jan 21 00:04:19 <Alma>	"Anything can be a competition if you do it right!"
Jan 21 00:06:07 <Scabbard>	"I guess, but the point is mostly just to have fun with this." I mean, I've never competed with anyone in it before..."
Jan 21 00:06:09 <Scabbard>	"...Though."
Jan 21 00:06:27 <Scabbard>	"...Gwen told me once that they used to have contests to see who the best looking Pokemon was."
Jan 21 00:07:51 <Alma>	"Hmm. In this group, there's..."
Jan 21 00:07:52 <Alma>	"...."
Jan 21 00:07:58 <Alma>	"Not really that much competition, darling."
Jan 21 00:08:11 <Scabbard>	"Well, they had different categories.
Jan 21 00:08:36 <Scabbard>	"Like... Cute, Smart, Beautiful, Cool, and Tough."
Jan 21 00:09:19 <Alma>	"Are you saying I'm not all of those things, darling?"
Jan 21 00:09:32 <Scabbard>	"You are all of those things, yeah."
Jan 21 00:09:41 <Scabbard>	"...I might win a tough contest though."
Jan 21 00:10:30 <Alma>	"Well, maybe we'll find out some day."
Jan 21 00:10:44 <Alma>	"In any case...thanks for the chat, dear."
Jan 21 00:10:55 <Alma>	"You've given me quite a bit to ponder, you know."
Jan 21 00:11:14 <Scabbard>	"It's no problem... And, yeah."
Jan 21 00:11:21 <Scabbard>	"We should get going soon anyway."
Jan 21 00:11:31 <Alma>	"Mmm. I imagine the others will be quite cross with us."
Jan 21 00:11:44 <Alma>	"But do remember your promise, yes? Keep an eye on Arthur."
Jan 21 00:12:01 <Scabbard>	"You didn't even need to ask."
Jan 21 00:12:39 <Alma>	"Hah. Perhaps not!"
Jan 21 00:14:26 <Scabbard>	"But, uh. I'll make sure he stays safe. Everyone else too."
Jan 21 00:14:35 <Alma>	"Good, good. And yourself?"
Jan 21 00:15:18 <Scabbard>	"...Well, I can't keep everyone safe if I'm dead."
Jan 21 00:16:19 <Alma>	"Right. Being a martyr won't save anyone."
Jan 21 00:18:14 <Alma>	"Wwll, I'm going to go see if they need me. Thank you again, Scabbard."
Jan 21 00:18:14 <Scabbard>	"...I guess."
Jan 21 00:18:19 *	Alma turns to go.
Jan 21 00:19:00 <Scabbard>	"And, uh, you're welcome."
Jan 21 00:19:10 <Scabbard>	"...We can play this again sometime, maybe...?"
Jan 21 00:20:34 <Alma>	"Perhaps!"
Jan 21 00:20:45 <Alma>	"I could use more training if I'm going to defeat you, after all~"
Jan 21 00:21:23 <Scabbard>	"Heh, maybe someday."