Frontier Town Traveller's Haus - Lobby

[Shiny Phantump]

Gladion tried to raise a brow, only to be annoyed again by the relative inexpressiveness of his face. The combination of that tone and those some-true, some-nonsense sentences was possibly the reaction he anticipated the least of any possible option.

“I mean, yeah, I do? I hope that isn’t cause for surprise…”

What worried him more than anything else, though, was the word passionate, an oddly value-neutral word. One that could be praise, indictment, or both— a passionate person could passionately right or wrong.

He was clearly meant to assume the former. He could infer from Nova’s nerves that that assumption was probably intended to be a false one. That was probably not great for him. He needed another moment to think.

“I don’t know who Devon is, honestly. Unless we’re talking Devon Tech but I’ve no particular fear of them. Outside the general ails of corporate consumerism. And…”

The moment it took him to say that was, in fact, not actually long enough to decide what the word ‘passionate’ meant in this context. He’d have to improvise. Emphasize something generally agreeable and safe. See how that goes over and take it from there.

“I guess… Any decent person ought to care about a partner that’ll be dependent on them, so I’m sure the voice-cloud saw that, but other people didn’t end up as the species of their partners so…” He paused to sigh. “I’m still not surprised, honestly. Barring that, the course of my life was also determined by wanting to save her. But… Listen, what I’m getting at is that what you’re worrying about probably isn’t directly applicable to me.”

 

[Ambyssin]

And Nova understood that. It was just... difficult to uncouple the thoughts after all this time. "You're right. Guess it's warped deja vu messing with my head." Nova laughed nervously.

He should've stopped there. And a voice in the back of Nova's hold told him to change subjects. Good first impressions mattered. Honesty and transparency weren't necessary here. The old rules didn't apply to this place. Expect the unexpected.

But Nova's inner warrior fought that logic back. He looked up at the other unit.

"See, Gladion was the name... of the Devon Corp executive helping oversee the mass production of type: full peacekeepers." He looked down. "And I knew him briefly... because I needed to make sure no more of them could be made. For everyone's sake."

Nova winced. "Sorry. That really... has nothing to do with this place." He pawed at the mask with his chitinous foreleg. "Shouldn't've said that..."

 

[Shiny Phantump]

Gladion’s head was spinning. He reflexively said “It’s fine,” but wasn’t sure if that was really true.

“I mean… it’s… It’s not me, so…” Maybe the cloud, functioning on a cosmic scale, had a very different definition of similarity to him. Maybe Gladion’s Odette actually didn’t have— no, for one of his fucking clones or whatever to be named Gladion he’d have to ended up rescheduling around the Nulls so that’d have to be the same. It certainly had been the same here, he just lost his mind afterwards.

(I mean they had said one of the things about their world was that it had fucking axial tilt. The blood had been in the water on that one from the start, he should've figured it out sooner.)

“...Good riddance, I guess?" It was harder to muster the convection he had saying the same thing to Wes, though. More on account of confusion than sympathy, but it felt stranger to commit to either way. "I can't write the name off as a coincidence, but it's so antithetical to... me that it's hard to wrap my head around. Unless it's some sort of fantasy mirror-world where everything is fucked and backwards. Still, I'm glad you told me," he lied, "Better to know than not to. You're not even the first person to have heard of some sort of version of me, so if there's a fourth who also sucks I'll hopefully know what kind of otherworldly bad rep I'm up against..."

What a strange idea, subjecting more creatures to what he'd tried so hard to protect Hazel from. All that time loathing Faba for what he did just to go on and replicate it all himself. Why? It made no sense.

(Though, one thought did brush against the corners of his mind like an uncomfortable cold breeze down his spine: He was going into biology. If he found a way to make them work, living comfortably then... He'd still never do it, especially not as 'peacekeepers' but maybe it wasn't as deeply antithetical to who he was as he'd very much like to imagine it was.)

He took a deep breath.

"Is there anything you want? I guess that was all I had to ask about. Plus some extra stuff worth keeping in mind, too."

 

[Ambyssin]

Nova took a few calming breaths to steady himself. "I have what I need right now." He looked up at the ceiling. "Shelter. Been a very long time since I had a roof over my head." He traced a circle in the floor with his claw. And when he kept tracing it, perhaps Gladion would get that it was actually multiple zeroes. That Nova was not as young as the silly naming pun suggested.

"But I guess... if you want to help me out... then I'd say it's in the group's best interest you make sure I'm not the one making any big decisions. That's all. Got a bit too overboard when the Marshal showed up. Can't change the past."

There was a bit more light in his gray eyes. "I don't have a very good track record with those kind of things." Were the mask not on, there might've been a sad smile. "Happens to all of us, but... fresh start or not, it's hard to forget how your screw-ups played on loop in your head for a very long time."

The summoner thought highly enough of Nova. And that was fine. He just needed to... ease back into things. Simple as that, right?

 

[Shiny Phantump]

"I see... I'll try and keep an eye on you if that's what you want. I hope you'll get used to making your own choices again, too, in time. It may not really be easy to do, per se, but worth it."

He was about ready to leave and find his own room, but one more thing came to mind.

"Hope you find some peace, Nova. Here or back home, or both ideally. See you around?"

 

[Ambyssin]

"See you around. And if you need any tips on, uh, birddogfishing. Feel free to hit me up."

Then Nova got up and lightly headbutted Gladion. He stiffened.

"Ah, sorry. That's just, uh, how us fulls would great each other." A nervous laugh followed. "Don't be a stranger and all that jazz."

<><><>​

 

[Ambyssin]

It was weird to call sleep a strange sensation. But Nova hadn't slept properly in such a long time that the first few times he nodded of he forcibly jerked himself awake, afraid he was going to suddenly stop breathing. Eventually, Nova was able to calm his nerves, relying on the tried and true method of counting mareep until he had conked out.

The null woke up the next morning and stretched his limbs out. Nova slowly lumbered to his feet. He wondered if the extra time had allowed more of the scattered group to make their way to Frontier Town. Nova opened up the door of his room and poked his masked head out to see if anyone was roaming the halls.

 

[canisaries]

The null woke up the next morning and stretched his limbs out. Nova slowly lumbered to his feet. He wondered if the extra time had allowed more of the scattered group to make their way to Frontier Town. Nova opened up the door of his room and poked his masked head out to see if anyone was roaming the halls.

Andre walked through the halls, looking around for anyone he might recognize from the Nexus, when a door opened right as he passed. Andre froze at what he saw - that was the strange masked mon he'd seen in the Gazette - but forced the shock off his face as quickly as he could, hoping the mon hadn't seen it. He would absolutely hate to be rude.

"Oh, hello," he greeted. "You were in the Gazette, right?"

 

[Ambyssin]

"Ah." Nova's gray neck ruff fluffed a bit. "Yeah. I was." He laughed nervously. Was this another one of the people who got summoned or just a civilian who recognized him from the article. "Kinda sorta... popped up in a photography studio." Nova supposed that was vague enough for him to find out for certain.

"And they didn't even get my good side," he quipped for good measure. Nova stepped out the doorway and pivoted to show his left. Which was exactly the same as his right side, despite the mismatched black and white fur.

 

[canisaries]

"And they didn't even get my good side," he quipped for good measure. Nova stepped out the doorway and pivoted to show his left. Which was exactly the same as his right side, despite the mismatched black and white fur.

Andre gave a polite laugh. He extended a vine. "I'm Andre," he said. "One of the 'heroes' called here. Your name was Nova, right?"

 

[Ambyssin]

"Yeah." Nova lifted his foreleg and gently grabbed Andre's vine between his two front talons to shake. "I, uh, came up with it. Though, y'know, that I wanted the world to see me as someone brilliant and shining. Like the supernovas stars give off before they fade away."

There was also the defiant aspect behind the name, but Nova managed to bite his tongue before he said something too deep. "Andre, huh? That with an accent on the last letter?" He sidestepped to let Andre out of the hall. Nova was large enough to block foot traffic, at the very least.

 

[canisaries]

There was also the defiant aspect behind the name, but Nova managed to bite his tongue before he said something too deep. "Andre, huh? That with an accent on the last letter?" He sidestepped to let Andre out of the hall. Nova was large enough to block foot traffic, at the very least.

"Actually, no," said Andre. "My parents made the choice to leave it out. Something about spelling it in a more Galarish way." He stepped into the room. "So, what was your arrival here like? My group arrived at a tinkerer's shop, then we went to a general store for some clothes, then we stayed the night at a library, and then we were escorted here to Frontier Town by a golett - whom I would not challenge to an arm-wrestling match, by the way."

 

[Ambyssin]

“Hard to do with four legs.” As Nova stepped back into his room, he wiggled his talons to emphasize the point. He closed the door. “I appeared in a photography studio in the town. Hence, front page story. Or the best free dating profile a guy could ask for.”

Andre’s answer basically spelled enough out for Nova. “Some of us gathered in the town square and met a ranger of our own. And the marshal, a prinplup. Who, judging by the empoleon statue, is part of the family calling the shots here. He pointed us to this place.”

The null sat down. “I wouldn’t casually drop Galar around like that. Think you’re asking for trouble.” He laughed nervously. “The fact that you had an answer to my accent question was enough to make me suspect you’re human. Then you confirmed it.”

 

[canisaries]

The null sat down. “I wouldn’t casually drop Galar around like that. Think you’re asking for trouble.” He laughed nervously. “The fact that you had an answer to my accent question was enough to make me suspect you’re human. Then you confirmed it.”

Andre smirked and nodded. "Crafty." Then, he tilted his head. "Why do you figure it's bad to talk about other worlds and being human? So far, all I've faced is disbelief. Is it a question of being taken seriously, or do you have reason to suspect there are people who may want to hurt former humans?"

 

[Ambyssin]

“The latter.” Nova paused. “And maybe not hurt, but definitely try to take advantage of.” There was an air of familiarity to his voice.

“I mean… people like me aren’t going to have the best reaction to humans,” Nova continued. “Their willpower and determination is something special to be sure. But I’m…” He looked down. Tapped a chitinous claw on the floor.

“I’m what you get when that ambition goes too far. Same goes for my creator.”

 

[canisaries]

“I mean… people like me aren’t going to have the best reaction to humans,” Nova continued. “Their willpower and determination is something special to be sure. But I’m…” He looked down. Tapped a chitinous claw on the floor.

“I’m what you get when that ambition goes too far. Same goes for my creator.”

Andre brought a vine to his chin. In his world, there was nothing special about humans compared to sapient pokémon. This talk of 'willpower and determination' sounded a lot like historical propaganda used to put humans above pokémon and justify the terrible things done to native pokémon tribes - the stealing of their land, the enslavement of their kind, the massacres committed in the name of human gods. Forlas seemed to revere humans the same way, but the more likely explanation that Andre thought of was that it was rather something about any off-worlders, proven in part by mon like Nova that were mon before they had come here. He didn't need his aura sense to tell that now was not the time for a rant like that, though.

He drew back his vine. "You wanna talk about it?"

 

[Ambyssin]

“I’m not sure you’d like what I have to say,” Nova said, with another nervous laugh. “Probably doesn’t help our cause here. Whatever cause that actually is.”

 

[canisaries]

“I’m not sure you’d like what I have to say,” Nova said, with another nervous laugh. “Probably doesn’t help our cause here. Whatever cause that actually is.”

"Oh, you can tell me," Andre says. "I'm ready to hear just about anything, and if it turns out I'm not, it'll be on me, not you."

 

[Ambyssin]

Nova took a deep breath. "All right." Inhale. Exhale. He didn't need all the details, just the basics. That was simple enough. Nova could do that.

"I suppose you could say my 'heroism'... was turning against my creator." He found a dusty spot over by Andre. Nova traced a circle in the dust, then surrounded the circle with five diamonds. "I was built as a weapon. An autonomous peacekeeper meant to be able to command entire squadrons that look exactly me." Nova paused. "Well, sans the mask. This isn't part of the design. I'm not some Hollow's Eve freak. I promise."

Then again, Hollow's Eve might not have existed in Andre's world. Whoops.

"She would say it was for the good of the universe. I had to keep the peace... by any means necessary." Nova lowered his head. "It finally occurred to me that I was being used... so I formed a small resistance to try and stop her."

His gray eyes dulled even further. "I took her offline... but there were devastating consequences." Nova traced a double helix in the dust. "Bad enough that I couldn't stop a pokémon from rising up to fill the power vacuum she left behind. So, now he's in charge.

"We have planets of only pokémon back home. Planets with humans and pokémon." Nova sighed. "Doesn't matter. The emperor treats both humans and pokémon as expendable. And I'm... no longer in a position to make a stand against him."

He sat up a bit straighter. Tried to brighten his voice. "But, well, I think whoever summoned us must believe in second chances. Otherwise, that call wouldn't have reached me. So, I've got that going for me at least."

 

[canisaries]

"We have planets of only pokémon back home. Planets with humans and pokémon." Nova sighed. "Doesn't matter. The emperor treats both humans and pokémon as expendable. And I'm... no longer in a position to make a stand against him."

Planets? Andre wondered. They have space travel? FTL? Their technology must be far beyond ours...

He sat up a bit straighter. Tried to brighten his voice. "But, well, I think whoever summoned us must believe in second chances. Otherwise, that call wouldn't have reached me. So, I've got that going for me at least."

Andre smiled. "That's a good attitude to have. Not that it really sounds like you did anything un-heroic to begin with. Not having enough power or resources to stop something isn't a personal failure, and no one could fault you for wanting to take down your oppressor, even if it may have led to something worse. Always remember who the real villains of the story are - they're not you."

He flicked his tail - weird, that came all on its own... "Frankly, you sound like more of a hero than I am. I didn't rebel against my creator or lead any resistance. I'm just a painter from Galar --" He paused as he remembered he wasn't supposed to say that out loud anymore. "I'm just a painter who likes helping people when he can. I've done nothing heroic."

I've only taken care of my duty.