Frontier Town Sun Stone Saloon

[Namohysip]

A shadowy Charizard glided through the ground, only his head visible from below. It was a wonder what it looked like under the surface while he moved in this way.

"Hey, I think I can still taste," Owen said. "Get me a drink too! Mhynt has money, and stuff."

"And stuff. Owen, don't you have an account with the banks at home that's a large fortune?"

"Well, I kept forgetting I had it..."

Mhynt sighed.

Milotic Zena, meanwhile, slithered into the saloon and eyed a decent stool to coil around. Her large size made some of that awkward, and the desert heat wasn't doing her scales very well. But Gerome's bar had bits of sand everywhere, and she wasn't quite ready for that...

Upon spotting Nova, Mhynt offered a respectful nod. "Nova," she greeted. "Perhaps you would like to rest more? Here, a seat."

 

[Tetra]

Koa trotted into the Sun Stone, aware of Anubis still taking in the surroundings with a perplexed look.

"I still think it's weird," Anubis murmured. "Why have all this stuff...?"

It was easy to forget how weird this had all been to Koa not so long ago. Seeing pokemon behave so different from home. It was even stranger for Anubis, it seemed.

"I guess they like it," Koa offered with a shrug. Upon spotting Laura with a familiar Porygon, he hurried over.

"Betel!" Seeing Betel like this, free, made it feel like all the struggles had been worth it at least a little. He paused to order a sweetened coffee with chocolate for himself, which he'd started to acquire a taste for. Anubis stared for some time at a menu before finally ordering something Koa didn't quite catch the name of. Spicy Mez Palo- something.

Koa was too focused on seeing Betel again to worry too much. "It's good to see you. How are you?"

 

[Ambyssin]

Upon spotting Nova, Mhynt offered a respectful nod. "Nova," she greeted. "Perhaps you would like to rest more? Here, a seat."

"I'm fine," he rasped. Nova sniffed at the air. "Why are so many people showing up? Is there some sort of gathering?"

 

[Jackie Cat]

"Betel! It's good to see you. How are you?"

The Porygon2 somehow brightened as they turned to greet Koa with a polite, bobbing nod.

"I am quite well, thank you, Koamaru! It is good to see you, too. When I was disembodied, I never had a true appreciation of everyone's appearance—only their aura signatures. You look... young and spirited! Is that correct?

"Why are so many people showing up? Is there some sort of gathering?"

Laura gave the melancholy chimera a little wave. "Hey, Nova. Sortof an impromptu team meeting. What with just dismantling the Covenant, and the Red Star thing, and all that. Might not be much time on Forlas left, now."

 

[Tetra]

You look... young and spirited! Is that correct?

Koa barked out a laugh. From someone else he might have been annoyed to have his age brought up but since it was Betel he didn't mind. "Yeah uh... I think so. Whatever qualifies as spirited at least." Now that he considered it... He tipped his head to the side, subconsciously brushing a paw through the fur on his head.

"I never did thank you for the body, I think?" However that worked. It was familiar, and somehow felt like him. "It's uh... nice." Even if he hadn't evolved yet. For some reason. Maybe he should ask Betel...

His attention was pulled away for a moment as his and Anubis' drink was brought over. Koa took a sip of his but couldn't help but stare at the icy beverage as Anubis lapped at it. His eyes widened and he took a few more laps. Reddish powder of some kind dusted the rim and a bright berry floated inside. Koa didn't remember seeing that on the menu.

"Let me try," he whispered to Anubis. Ignoring the dubious look from his pokemon, Koa tugged the drink closer, making the ice clink, and sniffed. Odd scent, but it had a nice tang and juiciness to it. It looked refreshing too.

Picking it up, he tipped the glass and took a sip-

Fire- AHCK-! His throat. Burningburningburning- Moisture sprang to his eyes. He almost dropped the glass as he coughed, which turned into a wheeze. Choking down his embarassment quite literally, he pushed the glass back over to Anubis, his eyes still watering. Awful acrid tang covered his tastebuds, with hardly any fruit taste. Just some kind of nasty flavor he couldn't discern with burning spiciness. 'How can you drink that!'

Anubis snorted. 'When you're older you'll get it.'

'Im older than you now!'

The only reply from the Houndour was an amused canine smirk. He regarded the Odd Duck curiously. Alpha had told him the idea, but it was still such a strange concept. "Thank you for giving us bodies," he said politely, even if he thought being a Houndoom would have better. "Are you enjoying your own?"

Trying to swallow down the rest of his embarassment, Koa returned to his own beverage, grateful for the sweetness of the coffee and chocolate to wash away the burn.

Maybe nobody saw that.

 

[Ambyssin]

"Dismantling the... huh?" Nova looked... vaguely in Laura's direction. Glassy eyes squinted. Then he heard coughing and looked around in confusion. He fumbled about to open his bag and grab the Psychic Memory to insert. That, at least, clued him into the typings to go along with the voices. Some recognizable. Others, less so. Fire and dark? A houndour or houndoom?

"Did someone blow the place up? What did I miss?" He leaned over and let out a hacking cough. A black, tar-like fluid came out, though he couldn't quite see it against the floor.

 

[Namohysip]

Mhynt recognized and recalled what had happened to Nova and she made herself a little more known with a voice.

"A lot has happened, but in short, Arthur has abandoned his post and intends to rip the world apart so he may put it back together in his image, supposedly one of the world he had come from, one of eternal joy and bliss or other such nonsense." Mhynt nodded to herself.

"Nova seems to have gone blind," she warned the others. "His body is starting to break down. I think the instability of Forlas is making his world call him back soon..." There was a tinge of worry in her voice, but she held strong. "I'm sure... we will finish before he must go. At the very least, we have a plan."

"Or, uh, we're forming one..." Owen sighed.

 

[Ambyssin]

"'m fine," Nova mumbled.

"So, powerful psychic is going to play capital G God?" The silvally sighed. "Do you know where he 'abandoned his post' to?"

 

[canisaries]

At some point during the ongoing conversation, Andre and Ben had slipped into the bar. Neither seemed to be in very good spirits - Ben never was when Andre was around, and Andre was a bit too preoccupied with the idea that this was the first team meeting he'd be part of where everyone knew about his crimes. The deerling didn't order anything as he didn't think he deserved nice things, but Ben got himself a berry juice. He figured he might as well get some enjoyment out of things while he kept an eye on the trainer-killer.

Both did notice Nova's woeful state. Ben was about to ask if he was fine when he very directly said he was. He didn't want to press it. Andre, meanwhile, thought back to how he'd once asked Nova for help in processing the danger awaiting him back home, and Nova hadn't had answers of his own. So he must have been feeling pretty rotten right about now, having to be reminded of his coming death like this... but, well, he'd already shrugged off someone's concern. And he probably didn't want a murderer's pity in any case.

 

[Cresselia92]

If the mood was fairly heavy as is, seeing the ready-for-the-junkyard Nova only made Lyra’s heart feel as heavy as lead. She thumped uncontrollably, not knowing how else to release her building turmoil.

‘You’re literally DYING! That’s a very far cry from ‘FINE’!!’, was what she wanted to scream. Oh, how badly she wanted to holler from the top of her lungs to the bottom of her heart, but she believed that doing so would only vex the chimera and make him feel more miserable than he already was.

The Lopunny gazed at Silver, praying for some support. Alas, her hopes crumbled when he gave her a neutral stare and shook his head, making her sigh in defeat. He wasn’t happy about the situation either, but there was nothing they could do about his inevitable fate.

Thankfully, there was something else they could do.

“Hey. Didn’t you want to meet Betel personally? Why don’t you go and say hi?” he suggested with a whisper, nudging the rabbit toward the Porygon2 with the flat side of his claws. This should keep her mind off that, at least for now.
Lyra nodded and took a deep breath, a faint smile returning timidly. “Yeah, I… I oughta do that…”

It took the Lopunny a few jumps to reach their patron, but that was enough time to clear her head off the gloomy feelings and fill her heart with enthusiasm. There was always time and room to add another friend to her list, after all!

“Yooo, Betey! We meet in the flesh, at last! Or, well, in the flesh and solid, virtual, holographic, huh… divine substance? Whatever you’re, um, made of?” She giggled heartily and wagged her tail. “So! I’ve heard you could get a new body? Are you excited to find out what you could do once you’re 100% more awesome?!”

 

[Phoenixsong]

Leaf flinched at Nova's hacking cough. She stopped the server who'd just taken her order and asked for an extra water along with it. "Here's something to drink, if you need it," she offered. She set it where it'd hopefully not be too hard for him to get to if his eyes really were going bad, held it steady with a nudge of telekinesis.

"We don't know exactly where he's gone right now, but Mew is trying to tail him," she explained. "Hopefully he'll be back soon with a better idea. But probably Arthur's gonna try to use either Victini's Red Star or that Eremus Fault place to break through the Astral Plains."

Blue sat off to the side (Linden could buddy up to Yet Another Goddamn Chickenstein on her own, he was fine over here, thanks) with his own sarsaparilla and just watched, still feeling more tired than celebratory or social. Hopefully they'd get to the point sometime this week and start talking business. And hopefully no one would waltz up to him and feel chatty in the meantime.

 

[Cresselia92]

Now that was a detail Silver hadn’t registered until that very moment. When did Mew spawn exactly, and how? During the whole Blacklight mass hysteria or something? But why was he there?

“Ah, so Red is chasing that fool and his equine buddy? Huh. That’s good to know.” He smirked. “After all, he’s a psychic cat with teleport powers, as well as a legendary. If there’s someone who can keep track of Arthur, it’s most likely him.”

“Remind me that I still gotta ask for his autograph, even if I won’t be able to bring it back home or I won’t remember any of this!” he heard Lyra shouting, waving her giant ears to catch his attention. “It doesn’t matter the universe! It’s a matter of principle: I gotta get all autographs from all my favorite Kanto heroes!!”

Silver grumbled to himself, more annoyed than he wanted or expected to be. “But I’m from Kanto, too. Why did you never ask for my autograph? …And why do I even care?!”

 

[Ambyssin]

Leaf flinched at Nova's hacking cough. She stopped the server who'd just taken her order and asked for an extra water along with it. "Here's something to drink, if you need it," she offered. She set it where it'd hopefully not be too hard for him to get to if his eyes really were going bad, held it steady with a nudge of telekinesis.

"Thanks," he mumbled, leaning over and gently lapping at the water. Though he paused for a moment to glance in Blue's general direction. His feathers pulsed with a bit of psychic energy. "Right. Lot of newcomers to the team. I don't think I've met most of them." His cheek bolts tried to turn in their sockets, but the cracked one instead stuttered, giving off a couple of sparks that dropped to the floor. Nova flinched.

"We don't know exactly where he's gone right now, but Mew is trying to tail him," she explained. "Hopefully he'll be back soon with a better idea. But probably Arthur's gonna try to use either Victini's Red Star or that Eremus Fault place to break through the Astral Plains."

"And that's... all straining the world, isn't it?" Another cough threatened to rise up, but Nova fought it back. "I had a dream. Someone... I think with the same group Red and Giovanni are part of, told me my soul's starting to remember the state it's in back home. And my body must be shifting to match it."

 

[canisaries]

"We don't know exactly where he's gone right now, but Mew is trying to tail him," she explained. "Hopefully he'll be back soon with a better idea. But probably Arthur's gonna try to use either Victini's Red Star or that Eremus Fault place to break through the Astral Plains."

“Ah, so Red is chasing that fool and his equine buddy? Huh. That’s good to know.” He smirked. “After all, he’s a psychic cat with teleport powers, as well as a legendary. If there’s someone who can keep track of Arthur, it’s most likely him.”

Andre's eyes shot wide open in dread. "He's here...?" he breathed. "Red is here?"

"Who's Red?" Ben asked.

"Oh Gods, if he's here, if he's a mew, then --"

Andre thought back a bit to what Lyra had said.

“Remind me that I still gotta ask for his autograph, even if I won’t be able to bring it back home or I won’t remember any of this!” he heard Lyra shouting, waving her giant ears to catch his attention. “It doesn’t matter the universe! It’s a matter of principle: I gotta get all autographs from all my favorite Kanto heroes!!”

"No, you absolutely don't want his autograph!" the deerling shouted. "He's -- he's even worse than me! Please, stay as far away from him as you can!"

Ben scratched his cheek. "You're sure it's the same person? Red's an unusual name, but we are working with multiple universes..."

Andre blinked. Blood rushed to his face.

"...Right," he then said, lowering his head. "It's... probably not him. It's probably someone else. Sorry."

 

[Phoenixsong]

"That's not fair. Nobody else is getting 'more like they were before'. If they're letting you stay here to help until we're done then they shouldn't make it harder for you." Leaf shook her head. "Is there anything we can do to help?"

“Ah, so Red is chasing that fool and his equine buddy? Huh. That’s good to know.”

"Someone... I think with the same group Red and Giovanni are part of ..."

"Red is here?"

There was a thump, followed by a "Hrrrrggrrrhhhgh!" that was mostly muffled by the fact that Blue had smashed his face into the table.

 

[Cresselia92]

"No, you absolutely don't want his autograph!" the deerling shouted. "He's -- he's even worse than me! Please, stay as far away from him as you can!"

Lyra gasped in shock and turned to Andre, her eyes wider than plates and her nose twitching involuntarily, flabbergasted by his claim.

“W-WhaaaAAAT?!” she squealed in disbelief, her hands clamping her mouth. It was as if someone had just told her that Santa wasn’t real and he wasn’t gonna bring her or other kids presents anymore!

Lyra puffed her dewlap, flustered, and began gesticulating erratically. “B-But! He defeated Team Rocket once! The bad guys! A-And he became the youngest Champion in the entire world!! And yeah, yeah, I know about all those scaaary rumors of him being somewhat huh… ruthless, what with his introvert personality and the way he can crush his opponents without uttering a word, a-a-and even Ethan told me about his—oh, huh, I can’t tell that! But worse than—?!”

Ben scratched his cheek. "You're sure it's the same person? Red's an unusual name, but we are working with multiple universes..."

Andre blinked. Blood rushed to his face.

"...Right," he then said, lowering his head. "It's... probably not him. It's probably someone else. Sorry."

In an instant, the wild emotions rushing through Lyra’s body evaporated, and her expression shifted from horrified to mortified. She gingerly wiggled her index fingers, her face burning in embarrassment, and she rubbed her woolly feet together.

“Oh! Err… T-That’s okay…” she murmured nervously, showing unusual interest toward the ceiling. “N-No hard feelings! Mistakes and multiversal mishaps happen, heh… heheheh…”

From his own spot, Silver simply blinked, finding himself at a loss of words for what just happened. The Sneasler looked back and forth between the ones who spoke, paying particularly attention to Andre (Who the hell is worse than a serial killer? Some genocidal maniac? Is Red a genocidal maniac in his world?). He crossed his arms, his brows lifting a smidgen.

“…Well, that was awkward,” he remarked offhandedly, hoping that everyone would get the conversation back on track, when he heard a loud thump from behind him.

…Oh. Blue had painted his face on the table. Yeah, his crash-out that totally justified, especially knowing Green’s past.

“But yeah, there’s a Red here. One of the Team Rocket-busting ones, just so we’re on the same page,” he commented before addressing Blue personally with a hint of sympathy. “That must be rough for you, buddy. It sucks having around a living reminder of the worst days of your life, huh?”

 

[Ambyssin]

"That's not fair. Nobody else is getting 'more like they were before'. If they're letting you stay here to help until we're done then they shouldn't make it harder for you." Leaf shook her head. "Is there anything we can do to help?"

"Nobody else... is in my situation." Nova finished drinking the water. "I'll be fine. Considering what I have to do, I probably shouldn't have even been summoned here to begin with." He craned his head toward the ceiling. "That Overseer... must've felt sorry for me. But everything has a limit." He shook his head. "One way or another, sounds like our time here's up shortly. I'd rather it be because that oversized vegetable is stopped... and not because he takes control and kicks us to the cosmic curb."

 

[Phoenixsong]

"...Mmm." Leaf didn't know what to say to that. It almost also felt unfair to hurry things along, if all Nova had to look forward to back home was more of this but Worse. But he seemed okay with it (...how), and they couldn't do that to Forlas, anyway.

"Well that last part won't be a problem," she said, a little more confidently. "We took care of everything else. We've got a lot more going for us now." Assuming these Overseer-whatevers' slacking didn't cause him to fall apart. "What's shutting down one more maniac for the road?"

“That must be rough for you, buddy. It sucks having around a living reminder of the worst days of your life, huh?”

"...What are you talking about," Blue muttered into the table. "That's one of my best friends. Why would I, in the middle of a dangerous and also entirely unrelated situation, still care about some stupid shit we did and then got over years ago.

"What I care about—" he still did not look up, but one paw shot out and grabbed the back of Linden's poncho "—is that either my friend is here, also forced to ride the Insane Magic God-Killing Murder Theme Park rollercoaster, and my other friend has neglected to tell me this, or there's more multiverse bullshit happening that I'm sick of twisting my brain into knots over and sure wish would lay off sometime soon, thanks."

Leaf yelped as he yanked her back. "Of course I would've told you if he was here," she snapped, tugging her poncho free. "But he isn't! This one's not... not ours. So I didn't say anything, because obviously you were just gonna overreact!" (And because part of it still did feel uncomfortable to her, so close to what she knew in so many ways but off in so many others, trying not to wonder if maybe somehow it was him stuck in that weird half-wild state.)

"Yes, it's multiverse stuff. Yes, it's weirder when it's someone you know, kind of," she sighed, hopefully firmly enough to stop the spiraling for him and also herself. "All that matters is he's helped out with a few things. The button I asked you to find back at the Congress was to signal to him, so he could try and find Arthur. We could go talk to him later if you're sure that's what you want, but I promise this isn't somehow happening specifically to upset you, so if it bothers you that much then you can just not worry about it. Your call."

Blue turned his head, just a bit, so he could fix Leaf with a bleary, one-eyed stare. Then he buried his face back in the polished wood tabletop, made one last, resigned little "hrrrrrgh", and, with not a small amount of effort, decided that finishing his sarsaparilla was a better use of his attention than this. (Maybe it woulda helped if he'd been allowed to have something harder.)

 

[canisaries]

Lyra gasped in shock and turned to Andre, her eyes wider than plates and her nose twitching involuntarily, flabbergasted by his claim.

“W-WhaaaAAAT?!” she squealed in disbelief, her hands clamping her mouth. It was as if someone had just told her that Santa wasn’t real and he wasn’t gonna bring her or other kids presents anymore!

Lyra puffed her dewlap, flustered, and began gesticulating erratically. “B-But! He defeated Team Rocket once! The bad guys! A-And he became the youngest Champion in the entire world!! And yeah, yeah, I know about all those scaaary rumors of him being somewhat huh… ruthless, what with his introvert personality and the way he can crush his opponents without uttering a word, a-a-and even Ethan told me about his—oh, huh, I can’t tell that! But worse than—?!”

In an instant, the wild emotions rushing through Lyra’s body evaporated, and her expression shifted from horrified to mortified. She gingerly wiggled her index fingers, her face burning in embarrassment, and she rubbed her woolly feet together.

“Oh! Err… T-That’s okay…” she murmured nervously, showing unusual interest toward the ceiling. “N-No hard feelings! Mistakes and multiversal mishaps happen, heh… heheheh…”

“But yeah, there’s a Red here. One of the Team Rocket-busting ones, just so we’re on the same page,” he commented before addressing Blue personally with a hint of sympathy. “That must be rough for you, buddy. It sucks having around a living reminder of the worst days of your life, huh?”

"Couldn't imagine that," Ben muttered, staring at Andre.

Andre pretended not to hear that. "Alright. As far as I know, the Red I'm familiar with didn't really beat any Rockets. What he did do was murder a bunch of people - and no, not even like me, not out of any misguided sense of justice, but to sacrifice them for some made up god of his. He's a complete psychopath, through and through. I mean, he ate parts of his victims." He sighed. "He's extorting me back home. Which is why I'm not all that excited to go back, but..." He glanced at Nova. "It's not like I have it the roughest out of all of us."

"Well, it sounds like you're in good company," said Ben.

Andre wanted to argue until he didn't. He did deserve all of that.

 

[Namohysip]

Mhynt gently placed a clawed hand on Nova's flank, feeling a faint tenderness at first, before she quickly pulled away and stared ahead. "Then we will have to hope Mew returns with some information of some kind," she stated. "That will be a good lead for where he went, and other such information. But beyond that... I believe we also have a sparring match to awaken something in Betel, yes? To truly stress test our host and, hopefully, evolve into something new."

"It makes sense, in a way," Owen said. "Porygon evolve when they are given new data. But I heard the Z form is a little... weird. Maybe there's some alternative form if you give Porygon2 new data?"

But suddenly, Owen turned his head. "Found Red," he reported.