[ti]story[/ti]SIDE QUEST: GUILD THE LILY

Bunya is soaking wet by the time the hull breach is repaired. She's a pathetic sight, her sriracha-stained lab coat plastered to her skinny body like salami to a vase. She spits seawater, hair dripping. "Peh!! That really got my tail in a knot!"

While orioncayge administers healing spiders to Bergamot Gristleborg's wounds, miracles occur. An oar that would have paddled no one's way to anything makes an adept crank, thanks to Sarah Lee. On the other hand, Laguna's Onix (who no one would have expected to jump into the water) flows through it like polished glass, putting its raw bulk to work.

As Roxy pushes and Orion's Pokemon crank the waterwheel, twin whirlpools on either side of the beached boat form. The two forces fight for dominance, churning saltwater beneath the eyes of wheeling Wingull.

CRE-EAK!
...And then it's free.

NYOOOOOM!
...Oh, and it's fast.

"Hold nyanto your hats, people!" Bunya yowls. "Ooh! Finders keepers!" She snags a passing Carvanha to stuff in her lunch pail for later. Rushing air howls past all of your ears as the Beta Ferry skips waves like a jetski, bouncing and rocking and mysteriously holding together. In the back of the boat the Klink spin and whir, the colors of the vials practically strobing as the makeshift engine finally comes to life.

A shape appears on the distant horizon. A beautiful, beta-ful shape.

"WE'RE BACK!" Bunya shrieks, overjoyed. "BETA ISLAND! I'm nyever leaving you again!"

UNLOCKED: BETA ISLAND

All participants have received a free Commuter Pass!

EPILOGUE

The shore of BETA ISLAND is not as you remember. Well, perhaps it's better to say it's exactly as you remember, at the last time you saw it, during the finale of the High Tide Raid. Glitchy, riddled with holes and all. Bunya practically throws herself at the dock, chatting up a storm with relieved fishermen who hail your arrival.

But there is no sign of Cygnus.

Wherever he escaped to when he absconded with Bunya's kitchen appliances, it was not the island so many Beta Testers once knew. Still, you are not left entirely clueless. The following entry (yes— a diary entry) shows up in your User Interface upon investigating what remains of his workshop, cleverly concealed behind the plaster.

To whichever capable trainer or trainers wrestled this important missive from the piscine paws of 'Doctor' Bunya.

Well done.

If you are reading this, I am almost certainly alive. That may seem presumptuous, but I live to set high expectations and meet them soon afterwards.

My name is Cygnus, leader of the Mythstar guild, and I entrust to you an important task.

This land was only recently cleared of the creeping corruption, and yet my readings show a sharp rise in volume and concentration from the Birchwild Grove zone.

Why? What could be causing the resurgence of corruption?

As leader of Mythstar it is my sacred duty to bring this mystery to a head.

I go on alone, resolute that my will and skill shall suffice in seeing me safely through to the other side.

For your part, I leave a failsafe.

Corruption is infectious. Insidious darkness that changes those it touches.

I have constructed a protective device, but should I return changed, use this codeword to return me to my lucid state.

"sidera somnia ferri"