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In the dark stillness of a moonless night, land and sea blend together. I shut off my torch and look out across the yawning abyss. Somewhere in the blackness are the cool, quiet waters of Cygnus Bay. I hear the gentle splash of waves against the rocks. They rise up from the horizon as faint silhouettes, breaking up the twinkling patterns of constellations above.
As my eyes adjust, I see what I came to this bay for: out at sea, tiny red lights blink into existence. Slowly but steadily, more and more of them spread out just beneath the surface. The Staryu’s cores pulse in even synchrony, brightening and fading according to a pattern only they know.
The lights ripple towards the shore, revealing individuals previously hidden to me. I let my own companion out of its Pokeball. I watch in fascination as my Staryu settles itself flat on the sand next to me. It only takes it a moment for it to match the calm rhythm of fading and flowing cores. I wonder, not for the first time, what life it led before our paths crossed. Did it ever come here on the new moon to join its fellows? Why here, of all places? Are they socializing, spawning, evolving?
The pulsing lights offer no answers that I can put into words. I lay on my back and look up at the stars.