MEMORY SHARE: 12 OF BEETROOT EVENT (May)

[voidmissions]

JEMA'GRETHY MEMORY SHARE

The caves of Jema'grethy will allow for a few different ways for memories to be interacted with. But for most, such as those entering in bonds, it will be seen like a vision in their head, putting them in the position and perspective of whose memory it is.

For people sharing bond memories, and also memories being shared while moving through the Memory Cave, this is the spot to place said memories! It's not necessary if you'd like to write it during the thread, but hopefully convenient for others. Just make a toplevel with your character's name in the header, and remember to include any content warnings thereafter for each memory, as applicable!

Comments

CW: Death mentions, Pokemon battle. Light Gore. Pokemon are not nice!

[mtsilver_conquor]

"Why is it always winter?" Eva mutters, more to herself than anyone as she walks, the snow-dusted ground crunching under booted feet. Princess is at her heels and Roro by her shoulder. Erin - flanked by her persian, Mio- and Kate - flanked by her shiny typhlosion Yami- flank Eva, while Daisy brings up the rear with Hiro - her charmeleon- and Akumu, her small banette.

It's safer in a group given it's winter. Given they're out past the bounders of the town, past crop fields and farms and into the wilds of scrubland and trees. Given they don't know if they'll be looking for someone still alive... or a body.

Eva hopes it's not a body. She doesn't think she can deal with another one in as many jun. Yet... Yet given the nature of the distress call Pallet got- No. She has to hope they're alive. Alive, up a tree. Alive with a broken arm. Alive, Mewdamnit. Alive, even if it's been ten minutes since the call. It's possible and she knows it.

Alive, please.

"It hasn't been a bad year..." Kate mummers, the Unovan's voice hoarse from her recent sore throat. Should she be out? Probably not, but Kate never went anywhere without at least two escape ropes around her waist. They all have one on them, too, so it's fine.

It has to be, and by the Mating Flights, this would be easier if they could have teleported, but that's not how it works.

"It really hasn't," Daisy adds, hands stuffed into pockets. "We've no yukimenoko incursions. Only that rogue 'dos, and all the other winter predators haven't come near town."

They all shudder at the memory. The gyarados had only been small, yet it'd been twice as vicious as normal and killed one, and injured a good dozen people before it'd been driven back. But at least it wasn't a froslass.

"Yet," Erin murmured, hand buried deep in her pokemon's fur. "None of them have, yet."

"Don't tempt the Fox," Eva retorts, gentle yet firm, as she glances at Roro, checking the coordinates again. "We're getting close. Eighty or so metres." Please be alive. "Spread out."

"Right," they say with a nod, and slowly, the group fan out as they walk, hands near belts. Just in case it was a body. Just in case it was predators they'd have to drive off.

Just in case. 

75. 70. 65. 60.

The air feels colder now, somehow. Eva shivers as she rubs her hands together. This is odd. It shouldn't be this cold and she debates bringing out Nona as she sees Kate and Daisy stick closer to their fires for warmth.

"Ice?"

"It wouldn't be unheard of."

"Could be a ghost, too," Kate says with a small shrug and they fall silent.

"It could be a young furīzā?" Daisy asks after another twenty metres.

"Yeah, Nah," Eva says with a shake of her head. "The League would've sent one of the keepers out with us if there was one of them in the area. Let's just focus on the here and now."

Eyes flick to Roro. 35 metres to go.

Overthinking leads to people getting killed, and, as the strongest trainer in the group, it's her Duty to keep them all safe. With that in mind, Eva straightens as she wraps the mantle of Champion around her once more. Once a Champion, always a Champion.

30.

Her hand settles on Tanknator's 'ball as the air chill continues to drop. It's odd but if there is a young articuno in the area, it would line up with what she knows.

Then Princess growls.

A glance down -his ears are pricked and his furs bristled enough to be a jolteon, wings half-flared. Eva stops, holds up a hand to halt the group as their pokemon bristle and posture to an unseen threat. "Something's not right."

"No shit, Watson," Kate hisses back as she points up and to the right, her typhlosion's mane of dark quills, hair, and 'feathers' brightening to a ghostly, purpleish flame-like effect as Yami pads out to plant itself between human and threat. Eva follows her gaze and her blood near freezes with fear.

"Birds take us..."

Cryogonal.

Not even twenty-five metres away from them and she knows they should leave, but with the way several of the strange, living, tentacled snowflakes hover above the three on the ground... Eva swallows. That's a feeding formation. 

This isn't going to be pretty at all. Swears she sees what could be two young vanillite with them, but she couldn't be sure. Not when the largest of the cryogonal was probably at least two metres long. The leader and if she knew her pokemon -and she did- that was the meanest of the bunch, too.

Its cold, icy blue gaze lands on the group and the air temperature drops--

"Eva?" Kate.

"Cold wave. That thing has Cold Wave."

"Spirits," the Unovan hisses and Eva nods, eyes never leaving the ice-type. "We need to get what's left of the body."

Eva's already moving but Princess is ahead of her. Don't think. Act. You are a Champion. You know your Duty. Yami and Kate are not far behind. 'Nona and Helmutt are out before Eva knows it, the pair heading into the fray while Mio, Hiro, and Akumu follow.

This is going to be rough if they don't have more pokemon with fighting, rock, steel, or fire-based attacks. But they have to get that body.

The thing's 'mouth' opens and its two blue-banded but otherwise translucent tentacle-like things spill out-

"Em! Se! Mo!" "Para!" "Gem!" "Dance! Claw!"

The attacks hit the Leader's Ice Beam (or is it an Aurora Beam?) Hard to tell and doesn't matter. It's an ice-type. Don't think, just do. Time speeds up in a wild battle, everyone knows that. This isn't an arena battle.

Eva mentally shakes herself, slams up shields just in case there's any more shocks, and focuses on her pokemon, trusting the other three can handle themselves.

"Te!" She yells, watching as Princess catches three of the things in a telekinetic grip, only to dodge what could have been a rapid spin from a smaller cryogonal. He lobs a moonblast at it, while Hellmut unleashes a Stone Edge on the captive cryogonal while weathering a hail of ice shards from, presumably, a cryogonal.

Somewhere in all of that, too, she hears someone scream in pain, but she can't-

"Em!" Eva swallows as 'Nona leaps into the air as he attempts to roast the Leader with a flamethrower. It misses -the damn thing's fast- and the thing's eyes flash as it takes a swipe at the ninetales, 'Nona twists, lands- just in time for ice spikes to slam into him, drawing blood.

Fuck-

Her head whips around, eyes darting around until they land on the culprit. What she had assumed was a vanillite isn't, though it looks like the 'snowcone' pokemon in many ways. It's something worse, something that will haunt her sleep for the next while.

"TSURAMA! Two of the fuckers!" She all but screams, at the same time as 'Nona breaths flame in its direction.

"On it! Mio, Gem!" Erin calls back. Eva can hear the pain and fear in her voice, yet she turns away as the persian hurls rocky energy at the icicle pokemon. She has other things to focus on and it's probably not that bad-

She ducks just in time to avoid a cryogonal's attempt to take her head off with a Rapid Spin. In a heartbeat, Tanknator is on the field next to Erin's smeargle, while Kate's own banette's out as well.

Eva's gaze sharpens. Don't think about the pain. Act. She lets the world melt away as she hears ice crack under the force of an attack. Someone cries out. It's all chaos and noise, yet between all of them, it doesn't take long to either drive off or kill the wild pokemon. She's not sorry, either, as she looks at the remains of several of the icy monsters. Not when she sees the wounds on 'Nona -the ninetales withdrawn to keep it from getting worse, the way Yami's limping before Kate - also limping from the gash on her calf- recalls it, the cuts Daisy's sporting-

Erin's hand is over her bloodied face, the heel of her hand pressing into her eye, the uncovered one wide with pain- and Eva's heart drops. No--

"Erin?" 

A green eye focus on her. "'M good-"

"No you're not." Not by a long shot. "Get back to Masara, now!" Eva barks as she hurries over to help her friend recall her pokemon and activate the Escape Rope.

It's only three of them now- 

and-

-the bodies.

It takes everything she has not to throw up then and there at the sight. It's not one but five. Three of them are pokemon, but that doesn't change the horror of it all. All of them have the signs of rapid freezing. Humans with greyish-yellow skin, clothes torn open to reveal the flesh, pale and dead pokemon, near solid bodies... or what's left of them.

At least there's no blood, but that doesn't make it any better. Not by a long shot. Not when the three pokemon are birds; mid-stage. She can't breathe, can't stop shaking and damnit all she's better than this. She can't think and her foot connects with one of the dead cryogonal as hard as she can and it goes skittering across the ground. 

It makes her feel a tiny bit better but it doesn't stop the tears.

If they'd gotten there sooner- If Fluffy could have sensed them- if if if-

"Eva." Wide eyes lock onto Kate's pale face. She can see her own horror reflected in hazel eyes. "Come on. Help me and Namami pull this one over here-"

"Right." Eva swallows. She can break down later. She has a job to do and that's getting the bodies back to Pallet for identification and then storage as they track down the families.

Gods. She hates winter.