Frontier Town The Wanderin' Zera

[Namohysip]

--

Today was a harsh and particularly dry afternoon. Most patrons were drowsy Pokemon having their lunch in the form of a heavy and strong drink. The barkeep, Gerome, made a few extra coins when he recommended some bread to help settle the alcohol.

Gerome glanced out the door, seeing heat lines, but that perplexed him. The heat lines were inside the bar.

No. No, those weren't heat lines. They looked like the distortions of psionic energy. But not quite the same...

Fwoom--POP!

POP POP POP!

CRASH!

And then, an eclectic squad of Pokemon appeared where the distortions had vanished. Astrid--a little icy Vulpix once more -- landed on a table where a half-drunk patron yelped and fell onto his back. Another two--Kimiko and Archie, now a Snivy and Oshawott, landed by the shoulders of a snoozing Granbull who grabbed them as a pillow on instinct. And finally, Eco, a Grubbin, appeared on the shelves that held clean glassware. Two of them fell, shattering on the hard floor.

The others were fortunate enough to appear simply on the floor near the tables.

Gerome growled, which sounded like cement rubbing on sandpaper. He exhaled, creating a tiny vortex of sand in his palm, and then exhaled flames into the palm. The sand morphed into glass, which he carefully molded into a similar shape as its fallen brethren.

As he molded the new glass cup, he stared at the intruders with his usual, harsh glare.

"Yer payin' fer that."

 

[Tetra]

Koa had spent most of the day exploring town, relieved to find they at least had a library (it was woefully small compared to his back home, but all libraries were good in his eyes) but he soon found himself both rather hungry and thirsty. Surely a town like this had to have some kind os restaurant, right? There hadn't been any maps, but he had managed to glean a vague sense of the layout of town.

It took him longer than he would have liked to finally find a rather rundown-ish looking spot at the edge of town. 'The Wanderin Zera'? Like... Zeraora? With a mix of curiosity and apprehension, he poked his nose inside.

The first thing he noticed was the smell, a strange unfamiliar aroma - oh, alchohol. Wait was this a bar? Oh gods this was a bar. An honest to goodness old-timey bar with the tables and the actual bartender (a Tyranitar) and everything. Not the sort of place he should be, nope. He'd never been in any back home but they always seemed nicer from the streets than this. He started to turn back towards the exit.

Just as he was about to leave, he spotted a vaguely familiar looking pokemon. He almost didn't recognize the Roggenrola beneath the massive hat, but the hat itself stuck out like a sore thumb. All the other 'heroes' seemed to have had to make do with whatever clothes they'd found.

Get to know the other pokemon. He didn't particularly feel in the mood to, but thats what he was supposed to do. They were his-- er, a team. Putting on his best amicable face and trying to look like he'd definitely been in bars before, he wandered over to the Roggenrola. "Hey there," he said casually. "You're one of us right? I mean, you were summoned here?"

 

[Butterfree]

Judging from what Dave had read at the library, this place really was basically the Wild West but furrier. The bar Kimiko had named of course turned out to be basically an Old West saloon.

He padded up to the bar and managed to climb onto a barstool. The Tyranitar behind the bar didn’t actually appear to be wearing any clothes at first, but then he turned around, revealing a tiny bow tied around one of his spikes. Would people even see that from afar? The real point here was clearly that nobody was going to fuck with a Tyranitar even if they thought he wasn’t sapient.

Dave still wasn’t entirely sure if Poochyena could drink here without dying of alcohol poisoning, but also, that was definitely the sort of thing no actual Poochyena would be asking about at the bar. In the end he went with, “Got any recommendations for a drink?”

 

[VeniaSilente]

It was a nifty Saturday morning when Kalas found itself at a table at the Zera, mulling over his lack of understanding. The place was nice enough that the Spearow could come in and have something to drink while he ran through his notes, thinking of how to get some pointers towards the underworld of the town.

"...Gah."

Kalas gave the table a frustrated peck. He had to admit, Forlas did not function like back home. And between the dreams and the tiredness of the few last days having gone in a daze, as if he had been absent from them, didn't really help.

 

[Panoramic_Vacuum]

Steven paused outside the doors of the Wanderin' Zera and double checked the sign, just to be sure. That confirmed it. This was the place that someone had said they'd last seen Dave, the poochyena that Andre mentioned had some rather interesting information.

It seemed Dave also preferred an interesting establishment to hang out in. He hadn't expected to find him in the fanciest place in Frontier Town, but the Zera surely had seen better days...

The doors creaked something fierce when Steven bumped his way inside. He scanned the room, but there was no poochyena to be found. What he did find, however, was that he was attracting stares from some of the other patrons.

"Oh, uh, excuse me," he quickly muttered, and found the closest open seat, which happened to be next to a uniquely colored sneasel.

Maybe he could wait here and Dave would show up eventually? But he'd sat next to someone, and this was a bar, and what would he even drink?

Suddenly, a spark of inspiration hit him, and he signaled to the barkeep with a polite chime. He'd seen Wallace pull this maneuver before with great success.

"I'll have what my friend is having," he said, tipping his head to the sneasel's glass.

Then, hurriedly, he whispered to his seat-mate, "Apologies for the intrusion. My name's Steven. What are you having, exactly?"

 

[Panoramic_Vacuum]

Having tipped his head at Silver in farewell, Steven turned back to the bar to address any unpaid drinks, but as he turned he spotted something out of the corner of his eye. A poochyena. A rather drunk poochyena, headed out of the saloon’s doors.

"Dave?” he said aloud, but not loud enough for the poochyena to notice. Then a realization dawned, and Steven chimed in alarm. “Wait, has he been here the whole time?!”

Steven fished out more than enough coins from his pouch and tossed them on the bar before darting for the exit. He was too slow, however, and by the time he reached the swinging doors, there was no poochyena to be found.

Dejectedly, he hovered near the entrance until he noticed a table off to the side from the direction his target had stumbled. Seated there was a mawile with her own drink, an empty seat beside her and glass to match. Steven decided to take a chance, and floated up to the table.

"Excuse me, I couldn’t help but notice. Were you recently sitting with a poochyena, and was their name Dave, by any chance?"

 

[HelloYellow17]

The Zera was, thankfully, not too busy at this time of the day. After unsuccessfully trying to locate Lucien, Wes wandered in to the pub for some reprieve from the hot afternoon sun and an excuse to be off his feet for a bit. He nodded to Gerome as he padded up to the counter, and, as luck would have it, he spotted Jaak a few seats away. Maybe…

He stood there awkwardly for a moment, wondering whether he should approach him. He’d had a few questions for the Vigoroth, but he’d been in quite the rush earlier and Wes didn’t want to slow him further. Now was a perfect chance, but starting a conversation wasn’t exactly Wes’s strong suit…

Oh, screw it. He took a seat beside Jaak and asked Gerome for the sweet drink he’d had a few days ago, then hesitantly cleared his throat.

“Didn’t expect to see you here.” A pause. “How’s, uh. The weather?”

Gods-dammit.

 

[Jackie Cat]

The Zera' had a new patron. A Floragato, who only drank water – or milk, with or without coffee – and who stood near the door, watching the patrons and looking new arrival up and down with a discerning eye. Every now and then she'd appear beside a table and remind patrons that be it as it may that the 'mon playing cards with them is a no-good cheatin' lyin' son-of-a-whore, starting a fight in their drinking house of choice might not be the wisest decision of their evening.

Sonora looked more or less at ease in her role as a bouncer. She spent enough time at similar enough saloons to know how people worked, and so far into her trial stint, nobody had decided to test her mettle.

In a quieter hour, she'd even have time to shoot the breeze with a conversational partner or two...

 

[Magyk]

She was tired.

Grace waddled towards town, the path feeling a hundred times longer to her than many others, but she didn't mind all too much. Togepi Grace was the type to enjoy both the journey and the destination. There was fun to be had wherever she went, even as her body still kind of ached from that Charmander the other day. She'd taken up a scouting mission, and hadn't expected to be attacked like that-- it was a struggle to get away.

But she was mostly recovered now, and with new coins in her little bag, Grace decided to live a little. What's the point in having currency from another world if she didn't know how to spend it?

The togepi waddled towards the saloon she'd been pointed to-- apparently this one was nice and usually peaceful. She hopped up towards the door, never losing her cheer, and she opened the wooden door. Would anyone even notice her at first? Gods, she was eager to evolve, but all that scouting definitely put her behind on the friendship front.

Well, she had to start somewhere!

"Hello!" she called out as she strode up towards the bar.

 

[Tetra]

Koa hurried through Frontier Town, scanning the streets for any glimpse of metallic blue or a pair of chained up jaws. Or even a glimpse of pale gray fur. His insides were twisted in a thousands knots at the prospect of having to actually explain to anyone what happened, but he needed to. This wasn't about him, it concerned Forlas and all the other Wayfarers. But he wanted to try and talk to someone who would at least... hear him out. And who had good judgement. He wished Hazard or Echo or any of his team were here. Or Kitto. But he had to pick someone.

You messed up. You messed up bad. He could practically hear Wes's voice in his head. Except he hadn't meant to play hero. He'd wanted to help and he'd thought... he'd thought Betel could help and he'd had Archie and when Archie suggested the Ravine it seemed fine at the time. In hindsight it felt like a thousand idiotic decisions in a row. Careless. Naive. Trusting.

Growling under his breath, he glanced towards the Wandering Zera. He'd passed by the Sun Stone, but maybe.... He nosed his way inside and glanced around.

A fraction of relief eased the tension in his chest as he spotted the familiar pink body and chained jaws. Odette had taken him seriously before. He only hoped she wouldn't think even less of him after he told her what happened... Without giving himself time to think further and talk himself out of it, he beelined towards her.

"Odette," he panted for a second, catching his breath. "Do you have a second to talk?"

 

[Namohysip]

The atmosphere in The Wanderin' Zera was a little different today.

It was full of people as usual in this afternoon lunch rush, but it was starting to clear out. Dayle was in the corner muttering about some new conspiracy about how the Shadow Pokemon were actually the wrathful damned returning to get their dues.

But the real oddity was that Gerome seemed to be... visibly happier than usual. His steps were a little springier and he had a lot less to say in the way of snark and dry commentary. And that meant something was wrong... especially after the explosion at the jail. Surely, he'd be more serious, and yet...

 

[Ambyssin]

(Note: Takes place after Nova and Mhynt bring Fein to the coroner, but before he meets Grace by the bulletin board. And before his evolution scene.)

The meeting with Lucien had gone... decently enough, as far as Nova was concerned. Though the null underestimated how much carrying that body around would tire him out. He blamed the lack of sleep, between fighting Seth and Powehi's lucid dream. Not to mention that weird irritation in the back of his head. Mhynt said a chunk of his mask had broken, but Nova couldn't see it. Yet the irritation had gotten worse as the day went on.

Nova decided to head for one of the bars. Apparently some of the group like the Wandering Zera. Nova didn't need booze for irritation. He figured persim juice could help both with the thirst and the weird sensation. It had to be more mental than anything, right?

He purchased a glass, then took it to an empty table against the wall. Nova sat facing the door. Something he always tried to do when forced indoors.

 

[Hap]

Ridley had been making nothing but bad decisions recently, and deciding to seek Wes out was probably another one. Wes had made it pretty clear after the whole shadow charmeleon fiasco that he had a low opinion of Ridley and his actions, and Ridley hadn't exactly done anything to raise that opinion. He'd been diligently doing the exact opposite of that, actually.

But Wes knew what it was like to be a shadow pokemon and Ridley needed that information. If he avoided asking about it just because the only guy who could tell him about it looked down on him for being an idiot, and then ended up hurting someone with his ignorant blundering...

Well. Ridley very much doubted that Wes would want to talk about his experience of being a shadow pokemon, and doubted more that he'd want to talk about it with Ridley specifically. It was likely that all he'd get from the attempt would be an invitation to fuck off and leave Wes alone. But he had no excuse not to try.

And so Ridley pushed open the creaky doors to the Wandering Zera, and tried to figure out how he was going to start this incredibly uncomfortable conversation.

 

[Jackie Cat]

You could find any number of solitary strangers, hunched over a glass of something strong, in just about any saloon bar in the frontier.

It was less common to see a Zeraora, her fur a striking silver-white, clothed in a simple cloak and duster, nursing a whiskey.

The other patrons, not that there were many, didn't bother her. Gerome had the clout to keep curious drinkers away from a guest who wanted some peace to herself, and Sonora had eyes in the back of her head by now where troublesome drinkers were concerned. The Wandering Light had some time to herself to enjoy a hard drink, but her shoulders were hunched over, and her ears low.

Her eyes didn't seem to be attentive to the space around her, but rather on something only she could see.

 

[Namohysip]

Shadows on the horizon, sabotage somewhere at home, and all kinds of Saints and other deities amongst them. In all the chaos the world threw at the Wayfarers, they at least had solace in The Wanderin' Zera, where the closest they brushed with all that chaos was when its namesake paid a visit for a nice little drink.

For the regulars, it seemed to be just another day -- though they did note Gerome's more pensive nature. His wife and son, Floinsa and Lucis, were not around just yet; they were doing errands in town, but would return soon.

As usual, Gerome washed a glass and tended to the bar. It was a quiet morning, just before the lunchtime rush. Mhynt had briefly visited sometime earlier for a pick-me-up, but had left with an acknowledging nod before anyone else could spot her.

 

[Shiny Phantump]

Now that he had his helmet off, more of the places in Frontier Town felt open to Gladion. The ability to eat and drink easily in public was nice. He'd never actually been to most of the establishments here, aside from at the team meeting. But he wasn't here for drinking, he had a reason to be here. Albeit something of a half-baked one. Through the door, he felt tempted to just turn around and leave, that maybe he hadn't considered this well enough. But he couldn't just walk in and leave, so he went up to the bar.

He spotted his target, Dave. One of the Wayfarers he hadn't spoken to much, but who he knew from the lab. Now he just had to... talk to the guy. Figure out what his deal was. Or chicken out and sit there doing nothing.

"Hey, Dave. How you holding up? You know, after the lab and whatnot."