World Tree MUSH

"Operator your hearing has made a remarkable recovery," Ordis's voice was chipper in Ash's ears as the Tenno walked along paths that would lead to a beach Miwa often frequented. After his fight and his eardrums rupturing he decided to come here.

That Ordis was able to repair his hearing was good asit would be a cruel jooke to be friends with a singer and not be able to hear her sing. 

In one hand Ash carried a cooler full of drinks and snacks. In his other he carried a pair of swimming flippers and goggles. He was smiling as he passed diffrent kids, pointing to his lack of pokeballs if any of the locals got over-eager on the idea of trainer fights. Here was happiness and light to him

Also he was going to go do something he rarely did, which was go for a swim.

Miwa had no idea that Ash was planning on visiting her today, but this wasn't anything new as the barriers between worlds makes announcing an impromptu visit ahead of time rather difficult. The primarina had spent much of the morning sunning herself on the beach, relaxing after breakfast. Now as it approaches lunch time, she is practicing her singing on a tiny beach on the very same island that hides her grotto. While she likes singing for others, she also values the ability to practice without distractions and really focus on her singing.

While Ash had heard Miwa sing before that was always around friends or for an audiance. This was diffrent as it was practically her alone in what amounted to her home singing. A smile spread across his face as an idea came to mind. It was a terrible idea as these things went since he was only a middling singer and what he planned was something he had only tried while showering.

Yet he still opened his outh and tried to add his own melody to the rythm Miwa set. Normally he was an alto, but as he allowed his mind the chance to focus on song Void energy spiderwebbed through his body, filling his throat and lungs, pitching his voice down to a deep baritone. There were no words and his pitch needed work, but what he sang was additive rather than a pue mimic of Miwa's song.

Miwa had heard the lander that Ash came in on, so she knew he was there even though she continued singing as if nothing had changed. At least until he unexpectedly began to sing himself, turning her practice song into a sort of duet. She had been singing in Alolan before, but would seamlessly switch to English as she turns to look at him with a hint of a smile showing even as she sings. "At last my love has come along, my lonely days are over and life is like a song as I look up at you."

Ash smiled as he approached, setting both cooler and swim gear down before finishing, "And so I come home to my world." A smile as he knelt down to hug Miwa, half-cradling her during the embrace.

"It is always good to see you." when he pulledaway he would touch his nose to hers and smile. "Amazing what aa few voice lessons does." Well that and space magic anyway. He'd never be as good as she was, but she was formally trained and a professional. He was a professional of a diffrent sortl.

"Feel up for a bit of a swim?"

Miwa wraps her front flippers around Ash as he hugs her, holding him close as he does the same for her. She blushes a bit as his nose touches hers and she nods, both at his greeting and his comment about his singing. 

 "Great to see you as always Ash. I wouldn't have guessed that you could sing, or that your voice was that deep." She says with a small chuckle. "Perhaps we should do this some more sometime, but yes a swim with you sounds grand." She says as she eyes the flippers. 

 "I see you came prepared for more than just casually swimming around at the beach."

Ash was there kneeling by Miwa one moment, an the next, faster than most could blink, he was a few meters away. Then another blink and he was a few meters further. Then a third blink and he was picking his flippers and goggles up. "Well the voice is as part of the body as an arm, or a flipper." Ash smiled as he repeted the process, dashing from point to point seemingly without being in the points between. "I wanna see how well this works underwater." A grin as he sat down beside miwa to put his flippers on. "Plus I imagine it's bautiful down there." 

He laughed as he awquardly walked towards the beach. "Guy at the shop I bought htese from said something about a primarina hopping into a boat the other day, grabbing a snak, and then hopping overboard." THere was a light chuckle, "Friend of yours?"

Miwa grins a bit, watching him warp around using his void powers. It was pretty impressive and she too was curious to see how well it would work underwater. "Maybe we should have a race. Might be fun." She says with a giggle as she makes her way closer to the water and stretches a bit. 

 "So, swim, then snacks and drinks after we're done, is that the plan?" She asks, actually looking pretty excited about this. It'd been a while since she and Ash went swimming together, as she thinks back to the time she first showed him her grotto. "Anything specific you want to do or see?"

Ash grinned as the wavesstarted washing over his flippers, "That's the plan love," He could almost float with how excited he was. OK maybe not literally but he felt very light on his step as he looked at Miwa. "Maybe a lap around the island? I've only seen you swim while working so it'll be nice to see you just... being you." He took a series of deep breaths. Step. Breath. Step. Exhale. Step. Breath.

Then he was floating with arms spread wide after getting his goggles secured. He was pretty sure she could outpace him even with this blink-dash trick, but having a thing to reach for was motivation to improve wasn't it?

Plus she was pleasant company. "Anything really worth seeing while we're down there?" He asked while looking around, attempting to get his bearings. No snorkle. Just fins, goggles, and whatever void voodoo he could muster.

Miwa follows Ash into the water, and swims around near him. The drop off from this small island was steep, and you only had to make it a short distance away from the land before the water was over the head of anyone but a giant. "A lap around the whole island? That's rather ambitious, but sure. I guess this assumes your void skipping works underwater but without anything to stand on, or you really are planning on being on the ocean floor and you have some trick to holding your breath I don't know about." She says with a laugh. 

 "As for what to see, there will certainly be other Pokemon to look at, especially if we head for the reef a little further off shore. Oh, and that Primarina who jumped into the boat? Haven't met them, but now I kinda want to go looking for them. Primarina are pretty rare in the wild, you see more Popplio and Brionne, and even those are fairly rare."

"Could just be a tall tail, or a sea lion that got onto someone's boat and the locals assumed primarina." Ash dove underwater and let his mind focus. WHat was needed was either a complete void of thought or clarity of prupose. Raven, not ot mention others, would snicker and say 'no thinking' was what he was good at. 

Ash reached for that power, guiding it with intent and focused as if it were a muscle to flex.

Sending him shooting forward in a straight line like a torpedo barely beneath the ocean surface. The surge didn't last long, but perhaps curiously he went the same distance underwater as he had on land. Ash would then pop his head above the waves and look about and take a breath before making another dash, this time with his arms out slightly. Yet it made no diffrence. It seemed almost like nothing like drag or momentum affected these short bursts of speed. Curious.

Miwa chuckles a bit and shakes her head, then speaks about the story. "I'd hope people around here would be able to tell the difference between a Primarina and something like a Dewgong, but I have heard that before Primarina were discovered, there were stories of people seeing mermaids, half fish half human. In some parts of the world there were even legends of them calling sailors into the water with their songs and drowning them, among other terrible things." 

 She then watches as Ash suddenly blinks off into the distance as he performs a void leap. It was impressive, and she quickly swims after him, moving with grace and speed as her powerful tail propels her through the water and her flippers guide her direction, she makes it look effortless. Soon she catches up and surfaces next to Ash, taking a breath. "That's pretty amazing."

Ash's head shook, "Yea, can't vary the jump length or curve its path any." A smile as he looked over at Miwa. "Not yet anyway. "So let's go see this reef huh? I'd say so long as I stay above twenty meters I'll be fine." He had read just how far Primarina could go and he and Ordis both agreed that trying to go that far wasa very bad idea.

So instead Ash took a deep breath and suddenly was just below Miwa, touching her belly before pointing down at an interesting to him thing before making another jump in that direction.

Miwa nods as Ash mentions going to see the reef and what his depth limit was for the sake of safety. "That shouldn't be a problem." She agrees, then takes a breath herself and giggles a bit as she feels the touch on her belly as she slips under the surface and follows after his void jump. She wonders how long Ash can hold his breath, having timed herself up to eight minutes, but guessed that Ash was unlikely to be able to match that.

Put blunt? Ash would be lucky to hold hisfor two, and even that was considerably more than most people. He would swim between jumps, but it was more to orient himself for the next jump rather than proper swimming. His mind focused on the journey as his breath held. Granted a rebreather or proper scuba gear would be nice. This is what he had. Plus getting to see Miwa swim was quite nice as is.

Miwa continues swimming toward the targeted destination pointed out earlier by Ash, at what for her was a moderately fast pace, and only coming up for air every few minutes. It really was something different to watch her swim through the ocean compared to how she waddles around on land. Sure she could walk around better than most water types that aren't equipped with normal legs and feet, even run for short bursts, but there was no getting around how awkward it looked, and now, in her element, she moves with the grace of a ballerina and the speed of a torpedo. 

 The reef would start getting larger in view, it stretched out across the ocean floor for quite a distance, and was teeming with dozens of different species of Pokemon in various shapes sizes and colors. Particular standouts were Corsola, whose body seemed to actually be made of coral, Milotic, a serpentine Pokemon with beautiful beige red and blue scales, considered by many to be one of the most beautiful Pokemon, Carracosta, looking like a blue sea turtle with a rock hard shell, and of course a few Popplio and Brionne, the earlier evolutions of Primarina, both looking rather adorable, with Brionne straying more toward the cute end of the spectrum with the tiered frills around it's belly looking like a skirt.

Ash had to surface for air farmroe often than Miwa, andstay up longer not just ot breath but to rest. Sure being able to Burst in any direction was useful, and technically didn't use his muscles, but it felt tiring to constantly do even with rest. 

Another breath and back down he would go, gently placing fingertips on Miwa's back so she coudl tell he was there. He would point to the Brionne and Popplio and smile before looking ratherflabbergastidly at the Corsola, pointing and gesturing at what to him looked like a piece of the reef walking around. His head shook, amused at this part of Miwa's home.

Moreover he marveled at how graceful she was. She was a wonderful singer and had her own charm above water, but here he could see where on this world the mermaid myths came from. He would stare in open admiration at her swimming until forced to surface, silently grateful these bursts of movement didn't properly require muscleuse, as that would take away from what air he had.

"Hooooyea..." he would huff as he lay on hsi back, floating in the ocean. "THis.. .this is somethin else."

Miwa looks as Ash points at the examples of her previous evolution stages, and for a moment tries to remember if she's shown them to him before. She remembers introducing one of her friends to a Popplio at some point, but now can't remember if it was Ash or Alden. She ultimately shrugs, Brionne was new either way, and she wonders if Ash will realize the relation. She grins at his reaction to seeing a Corsola, but would continue swimming further on before finally surfacing near where Ash comes to float for a bit. "So, what do you think of the open ocean? You seem to be enjoying the experience. Certainly seeing a bigger variety of water Pokemon now. Any questions or curiosities?" She asks with a smile as she effortlessly treads water next to him.

Ash shook his head as he laid on his back breathing hard, sucking in air. "OK...Yea..." He managed to keep his head above water as he ontinued breathing deep. "I'm good... Promise." His color was good, he was moving lively enough. Why was he offering reassurances?

"I'm guessing all the little guys were.... younger stages? Evolutions of your species?" He seemed tostumble at the words, but also seemed to grasp the base concept. "What was that coral looking thing? I'd seen a few other things but it's just so colorful down there." Beat. "There's... not anything down there that would try eating me is there?"

Yes he remembered the giant fish. Hard not to when he was the one that got eaten.

"The ones that appear like sea-lions?" Miwa asks with a nod, though goes on to assume as she explains further. "The darker blue one with the frill around the neck is Popplio, the first stage, the lighter blue one with the skirt like frills and white fin tips is Brionne, the second stage. I still clearly remember being a Brionne, but what I know of my time as a Popplio is from stories I've been told by the other members of the troupe. Guess I was too young for the memories to stick around." She says as she pauses and moves to float alongside Ash. 

 "As for the walking coral, those are Corsola, unfortunately around Alola, they are hunted by a Starfish-like Pokemon called Mareanie, so you'll often see Corsola with stubby branches on it's body because they were either bitten off, or the Corsola broke them off intentionally as a diversion to escape being eaten. Speaking of being eaten, the only thing that would be able to eat you or I around here, would be a Sharpedo. They are sharklike Pokemon with stocky bodies and glowing red eyes, an adult being about the same length as me, but about double the weight. They're pretty vicious, and their jaws are strong enough to bite through a sheet of iron. However, they have a type weakness to fairy, so hopefully if any are around, they won't want to risk a fight with me. Probably good to stick somewhat close to me, just in case."

Ash processed all this as he drifted, letting fingertips brush against Miwa's foreflipper. "A shark that can bite through a reasonably thick plate of iron and is aggressive...Huh." He wasn't sure how elemental typing worked here. Oh sure he knew the rock paper shotgun method but it was the 'why' that escaped him. "Water being weak to electric I get. Water being strong to fire I understand. Dark? Dragon? Fairy? Why is Grass evenan 'element' here?" He took a deep breath and smiled, "Questions for later. "Anywhere else interesting down there?"

He was curious on the fact Popplio were essentially too young to have persistent memory. He'd have t otalk to locals who studied the matter since Miwa was proof enough at least some pokemon types had human level intelligence. Understanding or at least talking to them would probably help with the whole 'figuring out how the world works.'

"Also do you fish or is it exclusivly sing for your supper?" He'd never seen Miwafish, at least not that he could recall.

Miwa grins a bit, so he did have more questions, though she couldn't really say she was terribly surprised. "I can only imagine what it's like coming to the world for someone who didn't grow up around Pokemon. Feel free to ask me anything. As for fishing, I do sometimes, but living among people so long has made me a bit lazy I have to admit. There is an Alolan fish called Wishiwashi, which is quite tasty, and my ability to control bubbles through singing actually helps make hunting them easier, but it's still dangerous. Wishiwashi can come together and take a 'school form' which looks like a giant fish but is actually made up of hundreds of small fish, and can perform a water gun attack that surpasses my best Hydro Pump in raw power. Sometimes I'll go hunting if I'm in the mood, but usually I'd rather just buy food prepared by people."

CUe slow blink. Ash had this visual of fish piling together into this giant whale like composite being all eyes and fins somehow linking their tiny fishy minds and bodies together to work in concert. 

He simply blinked, "That sounds rather terrifyingly effective at keeping folk away from them, though I imagine hunting stratagies focus on keeping them from grouping up into whatever critical mass an optimal ghestalt form needs."

He drifted for several seconds longer before righting himself, feet down head up as he looked to Miwa. "I feel better than I have in as long as i can remember, but I know in a full scale fight there are plenty of creatures and a fair number of trainers without pokemon, that could beat me in a fair fight so no... best not press our luck hm?"

He would then dive back down to see what he could see, halfway wishing he had brought an air tank, but also reminding himself the whole point of going tnakless was to limit how reckless he could be and to force himself to focus on breath control.

Miwa nods and chuckles a bit, trying not to think about how actually terrifying a school of those fish could be if they perceived you as a threat. "Yes, they are quite effective at repelling predators both man and pokemon. Even Gyarados will flee from them, and that's saying something, considering they are like what some other off world cultures might call a sea dragon, and here they are sometimes called the 'Atrocious Pokemon'." She explains, then follows as Ash dives into the water, offering a flipper to tow him along so that they could go deeper together on his limited air supply. For a moment she wonders if she could share some air with him, but considering how that would work, she decides it's not something she should try without discussing it first. 

 As they swam closer to the reef, some more Pokemon could be seen, including the manta-like Mantyke and Mantine, the catfish-like Whiscash, both colored deep blue. There were also some Bruxish, a colorful pink fish with light blue spots, purple and light blue fins, some yellow accents, and sharp teeth set against what look like humanish pink lips. There are a few Alomomola, bubblegum pink flounder shaped fish with darker pink fins that grow lighter at the tip. Continuing the pink theme, there are also a couple Gorebyss swimming around, long and slender with a long fin extending from it's forehead, tipped with purple, a purple flat tail fin, and what looks like a purple shell bikini top at it's middle. Miwa kicks hard with her tail so they can get further down for Ash to have a closer look.

Ash took the offered flipper and relaxed so he couldenjoy the sights. He couldn't dive as deep as native sea creatures. Whatever the Void did to his body might allow his lungs to handle pressure better, but even with deep breath exceersizes and training there was a limit to how deep he could go without suffering from pressure sickness.

He would tap Miwa's fin and point to a thing tht interested him. Then something else caught his eye. He hated that he had to surface, but a couple minutes? That still felt like a fairly long tim. Long enough to relax.

Then his chest started to ache and burn. He squeezed Miwa's flipper before starting to dash upward. Unlike miwa it wasn't swimming so much as that sort of blinking between point to point. then his dash came up short as somethign swam between two points. He smacked into whatever it was face first. frowned, and tried to brush it aside, kicking to get distance before resuming his ascent.

by the time he got to the surface he all but gasped for air, coughing asa bit of sea water hit his open mouth before he settled on his back.

"OK... need more training to stay down that long." He weezed, trying to control his breathing along with his panic. He was safe. Everything was fine.

Miwa quickly follows after Ash, making sure he made it safely back to the surface, and also helping to hold him above water as he catches his breath. 

"Sorry, I tried not to go too far down, but it's easy for me to forget how much less you can hold your breath compared to me. Hope you enjoyed though! This is honestly the first time I've done something like this with anyone, and it's really neat seeing your reactions to all the Pokemon and other underwater sights, though I guess that's pretty normal for anyone who is not from this world, or even those that are, but have never been diving before." She says as she grins and moves to float on her back next to Ash, lazily paddling along with her tail against the currents. 

"I bet you're getting pretty tired from all this too, maybe it's time we went back and got something to eat."

Ash bobbed in the water, loking at miwa surface to check on him. He manage a smile as he reached out to strokeher neck. "Yea. Feels..." His head shook as he searched for words. "It's like a set of muscles on me is sore but I can't figure out where. I thought it'd wear out my concentration. Isn't that how mental everything works in movies? Use it til you can't think straight?"

He swam over to Miwa and hugged the Primarina gently. "Mind giving me a tow? Maybe we'll do that swim around the island, but for right now no shame in calling it early."

Miwa nods and smiles, giving Ash a chance to grab on. "Sure, I'd be happy to." She offers as she waits till Ash is in position and has a good hold on her before starting off slow back toward the beach, gradually picking up speed until she is swimming fairly swiftly. Of course being on the surface slows her a bit as well as Ash's weight and extra drag, but still, the extra effort doesn't seem to bother her a bit. "So, what was your favorite part of our little trip out into the sea today?"

Ash could havethought ofa thousand and one cheesey lines. However as he focused on his breathing his mind cast to the colorful ecosystem that was down there. "Nature."

He kept his body relaxed, holding onto Miwa with one hand and keeing the rest flattened to minamize drag. "So much color and variety and it'sall just... there. No planning. No interferance. No 'we are growing this to try reclaiming the purity of our home. It's just... life doing it's thing."

Miwa smiles thoughtfully at Ash's answer. She had to give him some respect for not just cheesily saying that being with her was the best part or something like that, when they get to be together all the time. After a moment she nods in agreement. 

"It's nice isn't it? I mean, Alola isn't completely without the influence of people, they've built cities, and brought in non-native Pokemon, some of whom have caused some problems, but for a part of this world that has been settled by people, it still retains most of it's natural beauty and diversity, while allowing for the conveniences of modern civilization. I like the balance honestly, it's homey." She offers with a chuckle as they near her island. 

"Take a deep breath Ash!" She warns before diving down to enter her hidden grotto a moment later, surfacing in the pool inside a moment later and helping Ash up onto dry land before sliding up out of the water herself.

the swim was nice, and while miwa's warningwas appreciated Ash could feel Miwa's muscles twitch and flex so was already taking a breath just before the dive started. 

He smiled when they surfaced. "Be it ever so humble," He reached over to stroke miwa's hair. "I brought food."

Miwa smiles brightly as Ash strokes her hair and offers that he brought food. She leans in for a quick kiss before pulling back. "You did? Great, I'm starving, and this means we don't have to order beach-side food delivery. It gets expensive." She says with a laugh as she flipper-walks over to her cooler and pulls out a bottle of water, popping the cap with her teeth before drinking the entire bottle in a few moments, then calling over to Ash. "Want a drink? I have water, pinap juice, and pecha iced tea, unless you brought something better along with your food."