PMD: Stargazer Chronicles

Guildmaster- Empress' Call

Lao Shen at night was more peaceful than back at home. Flareon Light uses his arms as pillows as he leaned on the while railing of the cruise ship, looking out at the fraction of the shorter buildings he could see past the dark night sky. The brightest light on the streets were gentle lampposts instead of blazing skyscrapers, and not all of the buildings still had their lights on. The night breeze blowing out to sea had just began, and the waves reached their hands up against the wooden planks on the harbor.

"Light, you ready?" Slowking Chad called. "That merchant came by. It'll be quick."

"Yah..."

Light uncurled his arms and pushed himself back on the wooden floor. The Wayfarers had gathered on deck this time, set up with a short wooden table with a tall burlap sack on top. Light was just a touch below being able to see over it along with the Emolga Alisha, so he hopped up on top of the table.

Seeds, orbs, and wands laid out in rows on the table. He glanced over all of them. The merchant, a Medicham, stood idle, next to a burlap sack on the floor filled with more.

"Is Ariel coming?" Chad asked quietly.

"She's getting ready for something else," Light said. "I, uh, I'm not so sure about this."

"What's wrong?"

"Reshiram's energy... And, uh, chi," Light said, glancing to Arcanine Zhen, "is too strong for items to make much of an impact. It's too, uh, vast." As Light finished his scan, he noticed a shiny red apple near the edge of the table. "What's... that?"

"An apple injected with steroids."

Light turned to the Medicham, along with everyone else.

"Wait... Uh, seriously?" Light asked.

"Yes. Quick seed, Violent seed, and good food for the middle of combat. It's efficient. Best snack while you're fighting."

The apple flew from the table into the sea's darkness. Over the sounds of the waves, a dunking splash could be heard. Light didn't look to see who threw it, he didn't care.

"It's a good area of focus," Arcanine Zhen broke the silence. "The Reshiram's chi is like that of hundreds of pokemon. If we do use weapons like these, they would only have their place in setting up finishing blows. Actually engaging Reshiram in combat will take much larger scale plans with much larger scale power."

"And I don't have anything in mind," Light said. Something else caught Light's eye. There was a glass, bell-shaped bottle with a purple liquid inside. "What's that?"

"It's a love potion," Medicham said. "Does the same thing as Attract. You just spray someone with it, and it's harder to just shake off than just the move. People use it to defend themselves..." He glanced away. "Once in a blue moon..."

Light cringed. Before he could voice anything, a black hoof covered in purple cotton fur dragged it to the side of the table. Galarian Ponyta Nadia grabbed it in her mouth and whipped her head, putting it in long purple and pale blue fur hanging from the side of her head.

"For... medicinal purposes," Nadia said. "Part of my studies."

Light slowly turned his head away. His eyes came to a brown, grainy rock.

"How about that?" Light asked.

"It's just a rock," Medicham said. "It, uh, is good for throwing."

Another scraping noise went across the table. Nadia picked up another purple bottle and put in her fur.

Light shared looks with the others, but none of them met his gaze except for Drizzile Kenta, who llooked back with a glimmer in his eye highlighted under the stars. He glanced left and right at other faces, but he looked alone in whatever he was thinking about.