| Combusken POV |
I don't know when it happened.
One moment, I was fending off goo-zombies with a half-melted traffic sign and a growl that screamed "I'm not edible!"
The next… they started bowing.
And now?
Now I'm the fire goddess of the Rustboro Wastes. Queen of the charred. Savior of the half-ferals.
Please. Send. Help.
"Lady Fire Plume!" some poor bastard croaks behind me—one eye twitching, the other permanently wide. "Your divine ember has led us to safety! We've found more pre-outbreak vending machines!"
A small crowd of half-traumatized survivors cheers like I personally barbecued Arceus.
"I burned a tree that was in the way!" I shout for the hundredth time. "It wasn't a miracle, it was arson! There was a horde behind us! I panicked!"
They just drop to their knees again, whispering things like "Flame be praised" and "Her panic brings salvation."
I slam my face into the nearest intact wall. A puff of soot falls off the top.
I hate it here.
No, seriously. I burned down one goo-possessed Aggron. One. And suddenly I'm a "flame-born redeemer" with followers who flinch every time a toaster sparks.
It doesn't help that every time I try to sneak off, someone offers me half a moldy Oran Berry and asks for blessings.
And just when I thought I'd finally found a moment of peace—in the back room of a half-collapsed Poké Mart, hiding behind a shelf of expired Poképuffs—
rumble
The floor shakes.
Everyone freezes. Me, the cult, the vending machine I was in the middle of robbing.
"Aftershock?" someone whispers.
"She quakes with divine wrath!" someone else cries out.
I slap my forehead. "That was not me!"
RUMBLE.
This one's worse.
The kind of quake that rumbles in your bones. Distant. Deep. Like something massive just rolled over in its sleep.
And the sound?
Like steel screaming under pressure.
Like something buried trying to breathe.
"…That's probably fine," I mutter.
No one believes me.
Not even me.
They start chanting again.
When is Rio coming back... When is Rio coming back...
In their fervor, a group of Dedenne accidentally charges up enough electricity to light up a wrecked Welcome to Soot–something sign like a beacon.
Terrible idea, but honestly? Still better than their chanting.
And I'm pretty sure we already cleared out most of the danger around here. So all that's left is—
Getting the Gym Leaders to move everyone here.
Then we just wait patiently for rescue!
…
"Oh great Fire Plume! What is your divine decree now?"
Never mind. I'd rather go out into the wilderness—at least there's less of a chance of me killing myself out there…
| Roxanne POV |
This might honestly be the best news we've gotten all month.
We managed to secure a safe, easily defended area—thanks to Combusken and her… cult's help.
We managed to get a message out.
And we actually got a reply.
Help is coming!
"Finally… I'll be able to take a shower in peace without fearing that some Muk with too many teeth for eyes crawls out from the drain…"
I really couldn't be happier.
rumble
Okay, maybe I shouldn't jinx us. But seriously—what's the worst that could happen?
Seventy percent of Hoenn was already destroyed. I can't see it getting much worse.
RUMBLE.
…
Excuse my language.
"Fuck."
(To be continued)
MC: Is that someone's stomach? What's up with all the rumbling? Digestive issues?
Oh yeah, totally, digestive issues that can be felt across all of the region.
MC: Big boys have big boy problems. So what's up?
Tectonic movements.
MC: O-O