When they returned, there was indeed a place set up for them… if moving some things around in the basement could count for such. It had been dark to their view from upstairs, but thankfully, a larger lantern on the ceiling was sufficient to light it up. The floor was mostly dirt with a large black rectangular rug thrown down over it to make at least a chunk of the floor more comfortable, and no shortage of boxes lined the back wall that seemed to be overflowing with mostly items but also a few stacks of papers. A bag of seeds- around thirty Plain Seeds, nothing worth noting- had already spilled onto the ground from one, and the edges of a few scarves poked out from another. Nonetheless, a large stick perch had been jabbed into the wall (apparently Cinder's suggestion or so Rush said, though the fiery avian wouldn't even so much as look at them) and a wooden shelf had been placed close to it, which they could use for setting up whatever items they wanted to keep close by. There were three cushions- one white, one black, and one green- that they could place as they liked, giving just enough flair to be noticeable.
"Yeeaaaah, it's a little meh, but I wasn't thinkin' this team was gonna get any bigger," Rush remarked, crossing his arms and looking around.
"Hah! I'm not complaining!" Arashi brushed it off, fluffing up one of the cushions.
"This is perfect for recharging," Raijin noted, taking his more conically-shaped stance on the dirt.
Astrid was carefully getting a feel of the perch, and promptly decided that she quite liked it too even if it wasn't a snug basket as she was used to. But, then again, almost every winged creature roosted on perches, thus such was likely to be expected.
Rush, however, couldn't help but amusedly eye the Xurkitree's much less mobile state. "A'ight, when you do that, you do look like a damned tree if I tilt my head and cross my eyes a little. I was havin' trouble picturing it when you were just walkin' around."
"Well, trees in your world look a lot different," Raijin meekly noted.
The Scrafty chuckled. "I guess they do! But hey, while we're all down here, let me ask y'all something else- what're your movesets? You can go first, Li'l-li'l Green."
The Dartrix froze up for a second at being suddenly singled out, her feathers fluffing up for just a moment, but she nonetheless replied, "U-um… R-Razor Leaf, Pluck, Ominous Wind, and T-tackle…"
The Scrafty eyed her for a second, apparently not too thrilled and his grin dropping, but looked to the Frogadier next. "What about you, Li'l Blue?"
"Water Pulse, Quick Attack, and… Pound, but I hardly use that one," Arashi answered.
Rush rolled his eyes, letting out an audible sigh. "You only got three?!"
"Well, I guess I could technically use Bubble too, but there's not much of a point to that if I've got Water Pulse, y'know?"
"You ain't wrong," Rush brushed it off, still looking less than enthused. "You, Raijin?"
"Discharge, Dazzling Gleam, Energy Ball, and Signal Beam."
At that, the Scrafty's face lit up. "Then I ain't gotta worry about you! That's some damn good coverage!" However, he looked back to Astrid and Arashi rather pointedly. "You two, though, are pathetic! We gotta fix those shabby sets if you're gonna go dungeon crawling again anytime soon!"
They were a bit taken aback at the sudden chiding, Arashi blushing a bit and Astrid trying to sink into her feathers again. Rush strode over to the boxes against the wall and grabbed one, setting it down with an audible thump. Apparently it was chock-full of items, for he didn't have to reach in very far to find what he was looking for.
"Get over here, you two," he called, motioning them closer.
Astrid and Arashi shared a slightly puzzled glance, but did as Rush said and scurried over.
Almost as fast, Arashi was getting an excitedly shocked look at the contents of the box. "Whoa, are those TMs?! A-aren't those like, crazy expensive and hard to find, though?!"
Raijin took notice too. "You've got so many…!"
Rush laughed, not bothered at all. "Y'all think we ain't got the money or the means?!"
Astrid peered in, for the term 'TM' sounded familiar, but as with most other things that sounded familiar, she couldn't quite place it. The items in question looked like metallic discs of many different colors, some of them with what looked like a rainbow aura and others without. A small few looked dulled and grey, and of those that did, some had broken edges and holes as if the disc had partially disintegrated. The sight of them gave her déjà vu, as if surely she should have known what they were for, but still, she wasn't quite placing it.
"W-what's a TM…?" she asked timidly.
Rush was laughing again, studying her. "The easiest way to learn new moves," the Scrafty answered, smirking a bit. "Y'know, some 'Mon have more moves that they can actually learn than they'd ever naturally figure out, which is where these come in. They ain't easy to make in the first place, since you're basically storing all the power of a move in a little disc you can carry around and bust out whenever, but they're pretty damned useful."
That sounded more familiar, and Astrid nodded, still studying them.
"These rainbow ones here can be used however much you want, but the plain ones can only be used once," Rush noted, picking up a light grey one with a rainbow glow. "If those humans from waaaaaaay back in the old days were ever good for anything, this is it, 'cause they came up with the system. But we got 'Mon like Alakazam and Orbeetle that figured it out pretty easily too afterwards, so we ain't gonna run out of TMs anytime soon even if the humans ain't here."
"A-ah…" Astrid's voice trailed off, taking it in.
The Scrafty laughed, picking up another in a pale blue shade without an aura. "And I'ma be honest, with movesets like y'all two have, I'm surprised Raijin didn't have to save your asses more than once! Only issue is that middle-stage evolutions usually ain't got near the spread of final evolutions, so y'all are a little limited in what you can learn, but that's alright for now if ya know what you're doing. The gods know that bastard Cinder has enough rage and fury in his little unevolved form for fifteen Talonflames."
They weren't doubting such a claim after their initial encounter with the Fletchinder, for he had certainly seemed rather peeved about something.
"So this one here is Steel Wing and this one here is Ice Beam," Rush noted of the two discs he held. "Li'l-li'l Green, Steel Wing is for you. Ice-types will give you hell with your typing as it is now, and even when you evolve, it's good to have since you'll still be weak to them. That, and you can piss off fairies and Rock-types."
The Dartrix nodded, not protesting it.
"Li'l Blue, you're getting Ice Beam. That'll cover you against Grass-types, and you can piss off plenty of other ones too."
Arashi wasn't protesting it at all, for he was still wearing a big grin.
Astrid wasn't too sure what, precisely, she was supposed to do with the disc in order to learn whatever move data it carried, since amnesiac or not, the idea of actually learning something from it with no outside equipment seemed absolutely ridiculous. Surely, she couldn't just absorb its contents…
Yet that is exactly what Arashi appeared to do, for he took hold of the disc and was momentarily shrouded by an icy blue aura while the TM itself quickly lost its sheen and became damaged. The Dartrix blinked.
"Is that… it…?" Astrid's voice trailed off, studying her partner.
The Frogadier chuckled. "Of course it is, silly! If you're trying to learn a new move, and you get ahold of something with that move's essence, you'll just absorb the essence in no time! It's super easy!"
She blinked again. 'Easy' seemed to be an understatement; 'effortless' was more like it. It surprised her.
What surprised her even more, however, was when Rush giggled at her stupor, then suddenly slapped the disc onto her forehead. She let out a startled squawk and fluffed out, but certainly felt something change when a metallic grey aura temporarily covered her too before fading. However, unlike the icy blue TM, the one for Steel Wing didn't break and retained its vibrancy.
"See, Li'l-li'l Green?!" the Scrafty laughed, throwing the disc back into the box with the others. "It's easy! You ain't gotta be afraid of 'em!"
"A-ah…" her voice uncertainly trailed off. She hadn't been afraid of them, just skeptical, but she didn't deem that worth noting.
"A'ight, then, I want the both of y'all to hit me as hard as ya can with those new ones," Rush declared, getting a big smirk and bracing himself. "Show me whatcha got! Knock my ass out if ya can!"
And yet again, the Dartrix was a bit startled at the happenings, not really wanting to do such, but Arashi had no trouble. An Ice Beam shot off at the Scrafty, who was quickly covered in a flurry of ice crystals but grinned nonetheless while brushing them off.
"That's what I'm talkin' about, Li'l Blue! C'mon, Li'l-li'l Green!"
Astrid blinked, a bit unsure, but nonetheless crouched down with both of her wings spread out. A light grey glow surrounded them with a metallic sheen like metal, and she flew at Rush, slamming into him with her wings that collided much harder than they otherwise would have. The Scrafty, though, didn't appear to be fazed at all by either of their attacks.
"Theeeere we go!" Rush cheered with a smirk. "That's much better. Now tell me somethin' else- whatcha got in the way of items? What do you usually carry around?"
"Not much, usually," Arashi answered, slipping the bag off and peering inside. "Right now, we've only got a Pure Seed and two bananas, just the bare essentials and the seed to use in case the floor gets really bad. A few Oran berries are nice, but we used those up on the last mission we did, and… Well, Salem ran us off before we could get any more."
Yet again, the Scrafty's grin fell for a less-than-enthusiastic look. "Daaaamn, y'all sure do travel light, in that case. Can't have that, either."
Once more Rush was rustling through the boxes, first fishing out a much less tattered-looking bag with some more space and pockets to it (that Arashi was certainly entranced with almost instantly on account of it looking 'more legit'). The Frogadier transferred over their items and money from the old one to the new one, and Rush gathered up some more items that they certainly wouldn't complain about- three Oran berries, an Escape Orb, a Luminous Orb, and a Heal Seed.
"That'll keep you a lot safer," Rush noted, looking over all three of them, "And if ya need to resupply after a mission, those boxes are our stashes, so get whatever ya need out of 'em. I'll leave y'all alone for the time being so you can get settled, and if ya need anything, Dren and Adnea are here, so you can holler at 'em. Me and Rozen are gonna run off for a while, but we'll be back later, a'ight?"
The Starstorm trio nodded.
"Don't go doin' anything crazy in the meantime," the Scrafty cautioned with a smirk. "But how are y'all feelin' about tomorrow? You need some more time to rest, or you wanna get started on missions again?"
They looked at each other.
"I bet you guys already know what I want," Arashi mused simply, smiling.
"I-I'm alright with that," Raijin softly agreed.
"Fine by me," Astrid concurred. "I don't see a reason to waste any time if we've thrown Salem off of our trail for now…"
Rush snickered, crossing his arms. "Y'all still got fighting spirit and I like that!" he exclaimed before turning around and striding back off to the stairs. "Tomorrow morning, a'ight?"
"Yes!" Arashi cried.
"W-will do!" said Raijin.
Astrid only nodded, even if the Scrafty couldn't see her.
Once they were alone again, Arashi simply couldn't contain his excitement and pumped his fists in the air, letting out a gleeful squeal. Astrid grinned a bit too, even if only in amusement when her partner started dashing around the room with his hands still triumphantly in the air.
Nonetheless, Astrid went to roosting on her perch and Raijin went back to resting with his appendages planted in the ground, and soon enough, Arashi had gotten it out of his system and went to arranging the cushions. Both Astrid and Raijin didn't have much of a preference one way or another for what they looked like, thus the Frogadier got the joys of setting up their new 'base' all to himself. Maybe it was just a leftover room that a bunch of stuff had been stashed away in, but it felt… cozy. Astrid honestly would've felt fine to nestle up in one of the boxes, but she figured that was best kept to herself. Raijin certainly seemed to enjoy the dirt floor for the ease of which he could plug into it and feel rejuvenated, and Arashi was entranced with the simple fact that his idols were paying them any attention.
They spent the remainder of the afternoon getting accustomed to their new headquarters and poking through the boxes to see just how far the stash went, and to be sure, it was quite extensive. The box of TMs had only been the start, for as Astrid quickly came to find out, there was hardly a type of seed, specialized scarf, orb, or wand (which she was unfamiliar with but fascinated by nonetheless upon asking what it was) that the Coalition didn't have among their stores. It was to be expected, she figured, as prominent as the Coalition was. She asked her comrades to explain each type of item she didn't recognize, and they did so, Arashi knowing about most of them and Raijin filling in here and there. She certainly appreciated it, and she was especially fascinated by the Mobile Scarf and Petrify Orb, while the Vile Seed seemed like an accident waiting to happen. Nonetheless, she catalogued each piece of information in her mind and tried her best to remember every single one, for if her comrades already knew most of the items' functions between them, then she didn't want to be the weak link in that regard.
Nonetheless, Cinder and Lazuli made their reappearances before Rush and Rozen did, the Azumarill still appearing happy at having new company while Cinder regarded them with little more than a disdainful look and a grunt of disapproval before marching upstairs and into his room. Lazuli skipped down the stairs to check in on them and spent a considerable chunk of time chattering away with Arashi about the mission she'd run off on- some poor Dubwool had accompanied his Marshtomp pal off to Vanishing Swamp in the south and gotten horrendously outmatched by the occupants- while Arashi excitedly listened with sparkling eyes. Apparently, they got on like a house on fire, each of them with a similarly bubbly demeanor. Adnea was scarce, apparently busy with something… but of course, they couldn't tell what, and she didn't seem particularly inclined to share it.
Shortly after Rush and Rozen returned, though, Astrid and Arashi couldn't help but notice a lovely scent wafting from the kitchen, which upon inspection, was Rozen's doing- the Audino nonchalantly pranced around with a spoon in one hand and a whisk in the other, throwing something together that surely tasted incredible if the scent was anything to go by. The two of them were soon figuring out Rozen's remark of Rush thinking his cooking was the best, for indeed, as good as Nez's chestnut curry had been, the Audino was nothing short of magnificent. He prepared some lovely loaves of bread with a mouthwatering Pinap berry sauce for dipping, along with some roasted mushrooms over a fried Chansey egg (only one of which was plenty for the entire team on account of how absurdly rich it was), and for Dren, a roasted Stantler (from the wild, to be sure). Astrid was sure that, even if she couldn't remember her human life, she'd surely never tasted something so amazing, and Raijin almost lamented not having the physiology to partake.
Arashi went to writing a letter back home afterwards, procuring a few sheets of paper from Adnea's apparent stockpile of such. Astrid and Raijin were perfectly content to simply relax after the day's happenings, but if Arashi hadn't been busy scrawling away, the Dartrix couldn't help but think that they likely would've been darting around the town with the Frogadier nearly fainting in excitement at whatever other prominent team they might've come across.
Nonetheless, when the sun vanished over the horizon and it became time to wind down, in the absence of any outside stimuli, Astrid couldn't help playing over all the things Necrozma had shown them in her head, which kept her awake. She fluffed her feathers out, shook her head, and very softly skittered around on her perch as if that would somehow shake the thoughts out of her head, but having been made aware of such a sinister plot that she and Salem were both at the center of couldn't be brushed off so easily.
She sighed, opening her eyes. Raijin's gentle glow prevented them from being shrouded in complete darkness, and she rather enjoyed it- it was like having the moon's glow without needing the actual moon present.
"Can't sleep?" came the Xurkitree's metallic voice, as soft as it possibly could be.
"Y-yeah…" Astrid whispered back shyly, giving the peacefully snoozing Frogadier on the black cushion below a glance. "A-am I keeping you up…?"
"No; I don't sleep so much as go dormant," Raijin softly replied. "You alright…?"
Another sigh, the Dartrix jumping down from her perch with the softest flutter she could manage. "… I think I need to get some fresh air or something."
Raijin's limbs detached from their places buried in the ground. "Want some company?"
Astrid nodded, her feathers deflating. "… S-sure."
As quietly as they possibly could go, both she and Raijin strolled over to and up the stairs with faint, careful steps. Arashi didn't stir at all, and with Raijin's illumination, Astrid could see that he was still grinning even while he slept. She wasn't particularly surprised at such.
A lone Hoothoot pranced around on another roof and a Gastly aimlessly floated off someplace in the distance. The cool night breeze certainly felt calming, and staring up at the starry sky seemed to vacate Astrid's mind at least somewhat effectively, scattering her thoughts like the celestial bodies scattered about someplace far, far off overhead. She didn't stray too far from HQ's walls, only a few meters away where she could traipse back and forth. Raijin didn't stray far either, sticking close to the curtain door.
"Hey, Raijin?" Astrid said softly, looking more at the ground than anything else as her feet made little pattering sounds.
"What's up?"
"From the way you've been talking… Humans are extinct on this world, but do they still exist in Ultra Space…? You mentioned Nihilegos fusing with them, and the Naganadel line apparently sticking close to them… But Arashi told me that humans couldn't even keep up on this world, and Ultra Space seems a lot harsher…"
The Xurkitree touched his fingers together again and replied, "W-well, that's true, Ultra Space wasn't particularly kind to humans either… Before the entire incident with Void happened, there was a big settlement called Ultra Megalopolis that a lot of them stayed in and Necrozma's presence would keep them safe, but… obviously, that's not happening now. Some of them had smaller village outposts, and they'd have Beast companions and Necrozma to watch over them from afar, but… you can guess how well that's worked out."
Astrid paused, nodding. "… So there aren't many left."
Raijin too looked down at the ground, twitching a bit. "Hardly any… The faction killed a lot of them."
"A-ah…" the Dartrix acknowledged, going back to pacing. "Well, if Necrozma said there was no one left in Ultra Space to fight back, then I know I'm not from Ultra Space… S-say, do you happen to know what world I'm from if it's not this one or yours…?"
"I… I might," the Xurkitree replied, albeit a bit uncertainly, his fingers tapping each other contemplatively. "I haven't been to it, but I know there's a world where humans are a lot more prominent, and there aren't any Beasts barring ridiculously rare occurrences. The Pokémon there are more akin to the wild ones here, and the humans like to keep them as pets or companions, which both sides seem to be fine with it for the most part. As far as I can tell, the only reason that the humans there haven't gone extinct is because they formed a symbiotic relationship with Pokémon, otherwise natural selection would've done away with them a long time ago."
She paused again, giving a glance up at the sky. "What are humans like…? I… I don't remember anything about being one. I guess it doesn't affect me much now, but… I'm just curious, i-if that was my past life and all…"
"Well, they're… they're not so bad," Raijin softly responded, still tapping his fingers. "At least, I don't think so. A lot of the Naganadels I heard talking about them seemed to enjoy their company until Salem intervened, so they seem nice. As far as I can tell, most of them are just trying to navigate their world and go about their lives."
The Dartrix nodded again, giving her feathers a fluff before going back to skittering in a hapless line.
"W-why do you ask?" Raijin shyly inquired, looking a bit timid but studying her nonetheless. "Are you trying to get your memories back…?"
She shook her head. "Well, I kinda think that ship has sailed on my memories. It's just that, if I used to be one… maybe I should know a little about what they actually are. If I'm being honest, I… I like being a Pokémon, and if I had no direction as a human, then there's probably not much worth remembering."
"A-ah, r-right…"
She paced for a bit more, just the tiny pitter-patter of her footsteps and the breeze making a sound, before she paused again and glanced up at her company. "Speaking of memories, if you don't mind me asking… Do you remember anything before they poisoned you…?"
Raijin gave a twitch, looking down at the ground. "Y-yeah, a little bit. I spent most of my time playing around in an electric meadow, just enjoying life and getting happy when a lightning storm would roll in so I could watch it, which happened more days than not. Very rarely, there'd be a human that put on some protective clothing to keep them safe from the sparks and they'd go to collect some Thunderstones, since there were a ton of those lying around… I mean, it wasn't very exciting or anything, but it was peaceful, as far as I can remember."
Another nod, and back to pacing she went. "That sounds terrifying to me, but I guess it must've been nice."
"I-it was…"
"I-I'm not gonna lie, Void scares me even from however many light years away she is, but… hopefully, we can give her a piece of our minds and get that peace back."
Raijin relaxed a bit, albeit still looking at the ground. "A-ah, it feels so good to hear someone else say that…!"
However, the rustling of the door caught their attention, and instantly their gazes fell on a certain Salamence peeking out with a gentle grin.
"My, you two seem to be carrying on rather easily," Dren chuckled, likewise stepping out into the night air. "Is everything alright?"
Astrid ruffled up, and Raijin twitched, the both of them caught off guard.
"W-we're fine, I-I just…!" Astrid stammered haplessly.
"I-I'm just keeping her company; I'm n-not trying to run off with her! I promise!" Raijin cried quickly, holding his hands up disarmingly.
The Salamence chuckled, not looking bothered at all. The two formerly chattering ones stayed tense, but Dren's tail giving both of them a gentle pat put them slightly at ease.
"Trouble sleeping?" Dren inquired, giving Astrid a slightly pitying look.
Still fluffed out, she replied, "Y-yeah… S-sorry to disturb, w-we tried to be quiet…"
"Oh, it's no trouble to me at all," the Salamence brushed it off, not concerned at all. "That's why my room is near the door- to pick up on things outside once the sun goes down."
She stayed fluffed out, but mostly because yet again, Dren's tail practically dwarfed her and made her feel tiny- which of course, in comparison to the dragon, she absolutely was. Nonetheless, Dren's gentle tone assuaged them, and Raijin too eased up.
"I merely wanted to check up is all," Dren mused, giving them both a look. "I always have space in my tail if you need a hug. Don't let the reputation of this place and everyone else based here fool you- there's no shame in needing some support, and I'm happy to listen if you ever need to talk."
The both of them nodded, and shortly the Salamence was vanishing to the other side of the curtain with a soft swooshing sound as it fell back in place. Astrid and Raijin looked at each other.
"I… I'm feeling a lot better now," Astrid mused, still sounding a bit subdued and traipsing over to the Xurkitree. "Th-thanks for staying with me."
Raijin nodded. "O-of course."
Shortly, the two of them were likewise vanishing inside again, leaving the streets empty save for a Zubat that went zooming by overhead. Arashi didn't stir at all when they traipsed back downstairs, a smile still plastered on his face even as he snored ever-so-softly. The Dartrix was drifting off soon thereafter.
Author's note: Regarding TMs, I'm more or less using their in-game depictions in FireRed and LeafGreen where the 'Mon seem to learn the move from the disc itself. I tried looking through official media (even the anime that I haven't watched since 2006), but could find nothing consistent or particularly helpful, so this is the conjecture I'm going with.
