Frontier Town Grand Station Construction Site

[Sinderella]

"At least we made it here at all, if only that cloud had waited until it finished construction," said a sourceless voice behind Odette. She didn't need to look for long, though, as Bellatrix suddenly appeared, sitting next to her; her gaze focused on a distant, wild murkrow loitering on the scaffolding.

Odette’s brow furrowed at the sound of the voice. She turned to see who had been eavesdropping. When she looked to her left though, she was startled to see Bellatrix manifesting next to her.

“Very nice,” she commented with a nod.

Good day," she said with a slight nod. It seemed that, coincidentally, the zorua had gotten the same idea as the mawile.

“Good day,” she greeted in return. “Out on a stroll, too?”

"Then again, we seemed to be astronomically lucky that we were allowed to ride that train at all. If Jaak hadn't been there..."

Odette turned her attention back to the sight of the construction. “Definitely. The rest of them could have easily left us there to wander and burn.” She definitely felt indebted to that vigoroth, and if she needed an extra reason to go back to those outskirts to help out, it would be to return his favor.

“How have you been? Anything interesting cross your path?”

 

[Inkedust]

"Fulfilling some errands for some of the locals," she explained. "The upper-class mon here have taken a bit of a liking to me, even if they could afford to be less stingy with their pay. I was on my way to the north of town to see if any woodworkers were around as one of my clients want a fancy coffee table made of some wood he found near a Dungeon." Her head cocked to the side slightly as she looked back at Odette. "Have you found any work yet?"

There was then a pause as Bellatrix's tail swayed for a moment. "Other than that, my time is taken fulfilling requests from the bulletin board. There hasn't been much aside from that dream I had last night - that voice calling out to me - I think some of the others in our group had it too. Have you?"

 

[Sinderella]

"Fulfilling some errands for some of the locals," she explained. "The upper-class mon here have taken a bit of a liking to me, even if they could afford to be less stingy with their pay. I was on my way to the north of town to see if any woodworkers were around as one of my clients want a fancy coffee table made of some wood he found near a Dungeon." Her head cocked to the side slightly as she looked back at Odette. "Have you found any work yet?"

“You’ve been busy,” she said, something that could be described as respect seeping into her tone. “Oddly specific request though, but whatever pays I guess.”

She crossed her arms as she met Bellatrix’s gaze again. “I have. I sing over at Sun Stone during the night sets. I’ve gotten a little buddy-buddy with some of the one-percent myself, albeit for a much different reason,” she said. “And I agree, you think they’d be a little more liberal with their damn tips.”

Even in worlds probably light years away, the wealthy never changed. She just hoped they were peddling occult drugs in some scheme that could be classified as a conspiracy theorist’s wet dream.

"Other than that, my time is taken fulfilling requests from the bulletin board. There hasn't been much aside from that dream I had last night - that voice calling out to me - I think some of the others in our group had it too. Have you?"

With a scratch to her cheek, Odette huffed. She closed her eyes as she recalled the oddly lucid words she had heard last night. “I did. Tried to remember where I might have heard the voice, but honestly, I was more concerned with trying to figure out whether or not I lost my mind. But it helps I’m not the only one,” she said. “I don’t have enough information about much of anything that would let me figure out who the hell it might have been, but I’m certain there’s gonna be a follow-up sooner rather than later. What it’ll be, well…” she rolled her eyes, “…that remains to be seen.”

 

[Inkedust]

Bellatrix did her best impression of a shrug. "They'll make value where there is none if its covered with enough superlatives. Cover a rock with glitter, tell them it's emera dust and they'll be tripping over themselves to throw money at it." Her ear then flicked at the mention of the Sun Stone Saloon. "I've heard of it, popular place for the gentlemon it seems. How is it?"

There was a brief sigh of relief when she heard that Odette had the same dream. Whatever haunted her dreams in Kythra did not follow her here and no matter what this world was going to throw at her, she would at least be grateful for this reprieve.

"My only guess is that it is the same one that we encountered in the Nexus - the odd cloud that brought us all here in the first place - so there doesn't appear much of a risk to trust it." With a huff she added, "It seems to be having some sort of difficulty, which is inconvenient as we will not be able to know what we must do for the time being. Not to mention that we're still missing a few from our ranks such as that other meowth, the Kantonian one."

A beat.

"I believe she might've died."

 

[Sinderella]

Bellatrix did her best impression of a shrug. "They'll make value where there is none if its covered with enough superlatives. Cover a rock with glitter, tell them it's emera dust and they'll be tripping over themselves to throw money at it."

Smirking, Odette stifled a chuckle. “Get them to part with their cash in any way possible, you know? When you have more of it than fucking sense, it’s only fair.”

"I've heard of it, popular place for the gentlemon it seems. How is it?”

A shrug as she mindlessly fiddled with the lock on her jaw’s chains. “I can’t complain. I’m admittedly not quite used to a regular singing gig, but it’s been fun.” It felt good, honestly. When she finally shook off her jitters and just focused on her own voice, nothing else mattered. It served as a temporary escape from the unknown. “All things considered so far,” she continued. “The rich bastards get front row seats to my show, and I get one to their whispers. I swear they all make their money on gossiping.”

"My only guess is that it is the same one that we encountered in the Nexus - the odd cloud that brought us all here in the first place - so there doesn't appear much of a risk to trust it." With a huff she added, "It seems to be having some sort of difficulty, which is inconvenient as we will not be able to know what we must do for the time being. Not to mention that we're still missing a few from our ranks such as that other meowth, the Kantonian one."

“I considered that myself, but call me cautious—“ or traumatized, “—but I’m used to wild curveballs. Whenever it’s able to get through, which is hopefully soon, I’m anticipating something troubling. Of course, being that we’re apparently here to save the world, or whatever, why wouldn’t it be?”

"I believe she might've died."

At the mention of the meowth, Odette’s look on Bellatrix grew far more perplexed. She’d done her best to get at least a glance at everyone who had been in the Nexus, and it was true that she hadn’t come across every face she’d seen a second time. However, that was a hypothesis she hadn’t considered.

“Really?” she queried. “Ghostly sense, or a hunch? If she doesn’t turn up, my first thought would have been some sort of…soul incompatibility, if anything. If that’s the kinda thing that could even happen; all of this ‘new body’ stuff is very new to me. So maybe she’s just lost? But a lost soul might as well be called dead,” she mused.

 

[Inkedust]

Bellatrix's expression remained unchanged but if Odette had listened very closely, she might've heard a tiny snort of laughter. "The nice accessories we got from the train must have helped. They think we're one of them as opposed to any other travelling hick."

Her tail twitched when she thought about the dream. Her mane ruffled with anticipation when her mind raced towards all the hypothetical things it would ask of them. "It is odd," she finally said. "I haven't noticed anything about this world that warrants saving, especially with so large a group. Perhaps something similar to what Jaak described is happening again, though that would beg the question why we'd need a group so big when one human was enough the last time. Surely we'd notice something by now if the scale of it warranted so large a group."

She looked back out towards the construction. The murkrow was gone now. "An educated guess," she answered after a moment. "We were incredibly lucky to not only land right next to a rail with an active train on it but with someone who was willing to take us here with that train. We would've been forced to wander the desert with no food, water, or direction. We would not have made it. Whose to say that those who haven't arrived were put in a similar circumstance without the luck?"

 

[Sinderella]

"It is odd," she finally said. "I haven't noticed anything about this world that warrants saving, especially with so large a group. Perhaps something similar to what Jaak described is happening again, though that would beg the question why we'd need a group so big when one human was enough the last time. Surely we'd notice something by now if the scale of it warranted so large a group."

“Overcompensating? Maybe that other human was just superhuman?” she suggested, the sarcasm evident in her voice. As she dwelled on Bellatrix’s words, something else came to mind. She momentarily debated with herself whether it was worth disclosing, but, being this was a new world entirely, mentioning things about her own felt a little safer. It’s not like anyone here would know any better unless, by some fluke, they also existed where she came from.

“I will say this. While I’m by no means a trained ‘adventurer’ or ‘merc,’” she threw up air quotes around those words, “ or whatever you want to call it, I’m not a stranger to finding the big bad problem. Even if it’s not blatant, you can usually find it with a little bit of digging. All I’ve managed to come up with since getting here is that murkrow have big fucking mouths and some government officials really like their courtesans. Things I don’t think warrant a group as large as ours for ‘help.’”

A garganacl trudged by holding a slab of rock, and Odette briefly lowered her head to watch it go by. When she was certain it was out of earshot, she went on. “So either this is all one big fluke, we’re just not looking hard enough, or we’re in for something, well…entirely fucked and just don’t know it yet. Whatever it is, I’m not feeling particularly great about it.”

"An educated guess," she answered after a moment. "We were incredibly lucky to not only land right next to a rail with an active train on it but with someone who was willing to take us here with that train. We would've been forced to wander the desert with no food, water, or direction. We would not have made it. Whose to say that those who haven't arrived were put in a similar circumstance without the luck?"

She was right, though. Even with the suboptimal landing, Jaak had been a godsend. And after speaking with Ridley and just idly catching earfuls of other group members talking, she’d come under the impression that cloud has somehow ensured everyone got varying degrees of decent luck with their landings. It hadn’t even occurred to her that there were outliers.

“Yeah, I don’t doubt that’s a possibility,” she said, dragging her thumb over her lower lip. Or…beak, she guessed. “But…the voice in the dream had said ‘you are all okay,’ or something like that. Assuming it was that cloud, or another adjacent entity that was also aware of how we all got here, that makes it sound like they know everyone has survived so far, whether they’re here or not.”

A notch took form in her brow, a less than savory thought being the cause. “Could be that it’s lying by ommission for whatever reason, though. I might be reading too deeply into it, but maybe there’s so many of us because there’s an anticipation that a lot of us aren’t going to make it. A Darwin-type situation for whatever stupid unknown reason that has this world in a headlock.”

 

[Inkedust]

Bellatrix's mane stirred in a non-existent wind. "Overcompensation is my leading theory," she said after a moment. "It doesn't take much deduction to come to the conclusion that whoever brought us here did a poor job given how many and how scattered we were. Considering the overall character of our group, it feels that names were drawn out of a hat than meticulously screened and chosen for such a mission." She turned to look back at the mawile. "Regardless, whatever it is, that voice either took preemptive action or what we need to fight is already present on this world, it just hasn't reached us yet. However the anticipation is, more often than not, worse than the revelation."

She paused. "However, something about this bothers me," she said more lowly. "Back when we first awoke in the Nexus, that cloud said that it was not the one responsible for the call, it was the messenger, meaning that it was someone else, from this world, who called for help. So why has nobody else heard of any impending crisis?"

Bellatrix then got to her feet and took a couple steps towards the construction site. "I'll believe it when I see it, but I highly doubt that something that couldn't put us all together could pull the threads of fate in that way. Unless it was simply focused on providing a safe landing over a close one."

 

[Sinderella]

"Regardless, whatever it is, that voice either took preemptive action or what we need to fight is already present on this world, it just hasn't reached us yet. However the anticipation is, more often than not, worse than the revelation."

"I suppose, yeah," Odette said. "I'm holding my breath for practically anything, though."

"However, something about this bothers me," she said more lowly. "Back when we first awoke in the Nexus, that cloud said that it was not the one responsible for the call, it was the messenger, meaning that it was someone else, from this world, who called for help. So why has nobody else heard of any impending crisis?"

Odette shifted her weight to lean a little closer to Bellatrix to better hear her. Her arms remained crossed, and she released another sigh. "Well, you'd be surprised at how good some big bads are at keeping their bullshit under wraps. It might not be something any average-Joe 'mon, even the wealthy ones, just happen to know. Or, the ones that do are just very good at keeping it from seeping into public circles. Which is why I'm inclined to believe we're just missing something, but..." she shook her head, "who fucking knows. I'm running on pure hypotheticals."

"I'll believe it when I see it, but I highly doubt that something that couldn't put us all together could pull the threads of fate in that way. Unless it was simply focused on providing a safe landing over a close one."

A bitter scoff. "Or it's just a chaos lord. Wanted to watch us scramble before they really got started. And I wouldn't exactly account our landing as a safe one." She appeared to relent after a beat and shrugged her shoulders. "But I'm sure it could have been worse...dropped into a pit of spikes, or a town of fucking...cannibals, maybe, I don't know."

 

[Inkedust]

"A conspiracy case then?" Bellatrix asked, placing a paw beneath her chin. "Normally when I think of crisis, I tend to think more of natural disasters, deities running rampant, then again it does go hand in hand with the common people stirring up something when in a world of only pokémon but I digress. We should be counting our blessings with what we have currently."

She looked back at Odette. "How much have you been training?"

 

[Sinderella]

"A conspiracy case then?" Bellatrix asked, placing a paw beneath her chin. "Normally when I think of crisis, I tend to think more of natural disasters, deities running rampant, then again it does go hand in hand with the common people stirring up something when in a world of only pokémon but I digress. We should be counting our blessings with what we have currently."

"That might be it," Odette said. "Could be anything from a hidden bad guy to a supposed myth to a secret society cult. And gods, do I fucking pray it's not the last one."

What kind of awful irony would that have been? Whisked away from her own world dealing with a cult problem only to be dropped into another dealing with the same shit. All that sounded like was a bad joke.

"I can count, certainly. But I'm definitely itching for more."

She looked back at Odette. "How much have you been training?"

She shrugged again. "Mostly during my off hours. Letting my tandem jackass," she nodded her head toward the jaws lingering over her back, "take a crack at some old steel and whatnot to toughen them up. I've also gotten a lot better at controlling this form overall, I'd say. But it's a work in progress." Her new body was still not the one she was used to. While she was more than accustomed to having a filter-less angry entity lingering over her shoulder every hour of every day, it was quite different when that entity was attached to her physical body in such a strange way. "I'd call it a labor of necessity. We should be ready--however possible--for whatever reason it was we were called here. What about you?"

 

[Inkedust]

"I see." Bellatrix padded behind Odette to get a better look at her back jaws. Having witnessed what they were capable of, she was sure to keep her distance, even if they were currently chained up. "Mawile is a species I'm largely unfamiliar with but I've never heard of the back jaws acting out on their own. Possibly that's just how it is in this world or... something from your prior life, perhaps?"

She sat herself down next to Odette again. "It goes hand in hand with the errands I run," Bellatrix explained. "Most of it from that bulletin board, which I'm sure you've heard of at this point, there is no much you can do when delivering letters," she added, head gesturing to her tail-scarf. "It has not been too difficult seeing that I lack the need to get used to a new body, but you seem to be adapting quickly. Sensible given the similar body plans."

 

[Sinderella]

"Mawile is a species I'm largely unfamiliar with but I've never heard of the back jaws acting out on their own. Possibly that's just how it is in this world or... something from your prior life, perhaps?"

Odette wasn’t subtle about the wariness that crinkled her nose, or the sense of awkwardness that filled the air between them. She knew it was going to come up sooner or later, but she’d been secretly hoping she could skirt around having to explain herself. At least it was just one person asking and not an entire group.

“I’m mostly familiar with them. Fairy types fall under my umbrella of training knowledge,” she said. “Yes, their jaws are typically just mindless appendages used for offensive purposes where I’m from. I just have…a bit of an ailment, if you will.”

It took her a while to decide if she wanted to elaborate. She knew it was going to sound suspiciously vague, but the idea of having to explain herself thoroughly, which would include disclosing good portion of her ridiculously convoluted home life just didn’t sound inviting. However, finding the right balance of something comfortably vague while still getting the point across wasn’t impossible.

“I’ll try to explain it in a way that might make sense,” she said tentatively, settling down next to Bellatrix. “I have a partner. She’s what I’d call a manifestation of a very particular set of feelings. Namely, anger. When I accepted the call here, I was under the impression she, like the rest of my team, wouldn’t be following me over. But, it looks like her big fucking mouth has given my second head some…personality.”

Spilling my stupid thoughts in the process, she thought disdainfully.

“I don’t really know how, because I know she’s not here. It’s just me in this body. But whatever crap that comes spewing out of my other mouth is definitely her.”

Odette had known for years at this point that Odile and her weren’t like any ordinary trainer/partner duo. Odile, having been tethered to her soul from birth, was pretty much stuck with her until the day she died or decided to relinquish her vessel privileges. The temper Odette had been cursed with was stamped upon her as a mark of possession by the God of Wrath. But, there was no telling where Odile’s influence ended and where Odette’s rage was natural. Even with a few years of blood-type training under her belt, that was still something she couldn’t pinpoint.

That said, was it possible that Odile was so ingrained into her that she just materialized in whatever way possible, despite not being physically present? Was that an aspect of sharing a soul with an eldritch terror that she was blissfully unaware of?

“I’m still trying to figure it out myself. In the meantime, I’m not looking to repeat anything that happened back at that mine, so keeping them muzzled is my best bet. Until I need some reason to let them loose.”

"It goes hand in hand with the errands I run," Bellatrix explained. "Most of it from that bulletin board, which I'm sure you've heard of at this point, there is no much you can do when delivering letters," she added, head gesturing to her tail-scarf. "It has not been too difficult seeing that I lack the need to get used to a new body, but you seem to be adapting quickly. Sensible given the similar body plans."

She had seen the bulletin board; she’d been keeping quite a close eye on it, looking for anything that might have caught her eye as something to do for some extra cash. But between her own training, her packed nights at Sun Stone, and the shmoozing in between, nothing enticing enough had come up. Nonetheless, it was good to hear business was booming for Bellatrix.

“I did luck out in that regard. The motor functions of a mawile are practically identical to that of a human…save for the abilities to conjure fae magic and steel.” At least she’d be able to say she now understood what her fairy-type partners personally had to go through to build up their skills.

“But, you’ve always been a zorua?” she inquired, tilting her head with interest. “Do you come from a place like this? With Mystery Dungeons and shit? Is this all standard?”

 

[Inkedust]

Bellatrix nodded along to the story, eyes closed, it was impossible to tell what she was thinking. "Well, whatever that partner was must have left a strong impression," she said when Odette was done. Didn't the voice also said that certain aspects of a person would echo in this world if it was strong or fundamental enough? That treecko, Mhynt, from the bulletin board had claimed to have been some kind of deity and demonstrated an ability to teleport. Perhaps this was something similar. "You at least seem willing to keep it in check," she then added, "as long as it doesn't become a problem we should be fine."

Bellatrix paused at Odette's next question, mulling what to say over. She answered her second question first. "I was called here from a similar world. One littered with Mystery Dungeons and only pokémon. You learn to stop questioning many things after the fourth or fifth time you're confronted with the impossible." As for her first question...

Back with Jaak, she'd kept her mouth shut on the matter given her prior experiences with such a claim back in Kythra and Isidora's strong reaction. She was more than happy to leave the others to make fools of themselves if it was to ever present a problem. But they were alone now, all the workers seemed to have gone out to lunch, and Odette herself was human, surely being honest would not pose much of an issue.

She looked back at the mawile's jaws.

No... She couldn't. Though they were chained now, there was no telling when they would come loose and belt out something incriminating and that was something she just could not risk.

"For as long as I can remember," was her answer. It wasn't a lie, bits and pieces of what came before were hardly enough to constitute as a coherent set of memories, and it gave her enough plausible deniability if the truth ever was to come out at some point. "Humans have just been well documented in my world. I remember seeing artistic interpretations of them in some of the books I found at the library of my hometown," she quickly added.

That should be a good enough excuse.

 

[Sinderella]

"You at least seem willing to keep it in check," she then added, "as long as it doesn't become a problem we should be fine."

“I’d like to hope it doesn’t become a problem, I don’t particularly enjoy drawing negative attention to myself. Doesn’t end well for anyone,” she muttered.

Bellatrix paused at Odette's next question, mulling what to say over. She answered her second question first. "I was called here from a similar world. One littered with Mystery Dungeons and only pokémon. You learn to stop questioning many things after the fourth or fifth time you're confronted with the impossible." As for her first question...

“Amen to that,” she scoffed. Though it was interesting to know that what was just a damn video game in her world was actually real somewhere out in the multiverse. She wondered if any of Aether’s wormholes ever led to one, but she wasn’t too keen to find out on her own. She’d done plenty by just accepting this invitation. “A world full of solely Pokemon is a foreign concept to me, so it just sounds…neat.”

She looked back at the mawile's jaws.

Bellatrix’s pause wasn’t lost on her. When Odette watched the zorua’s eyes cut to her jaws, she kept her gaze fixed, surely figuring out what might have been going on inside her head.

"For as long as I can remember," was her answer. It wasn't a lie, bits and pieces of what came before were hardly enough to constitute as a coherent set of memories, and it gave her enough plausible deniability if the truth ever was to come out at some point. "Humans have just been well documented in my world. I remember seeing artistic interpretations of them in some of the books I found at the library of my hometown," she quickly added.

Equally as comfortably vague and just enough to answer the question. If there was any more layers to it, Odette respected Bellatrix for wanting to keep it to herself. She wasn’t keen on spilling her own guts, either, and they’d only just met. Opening up any deeper set worm cans wasn’t something they needed to be dealing with. Plus, she hadn’t exactly made a good first impression, what with her jaws being able to talk at will and causing a scene. That answer felt like a good place to leave the question for now.

“Interesting to know they’re regarded as these mythics even in other Mystery Dungeon worlds,” she said, nodding. “How does this place hold up to yours? Is it just as…what’s the word…” she snapped her fingers as her Galarian momentarily failed her. “Archaic? Is that insulting to say?”

 

[Inkedust]

Bellatrix nodded at Odette's assertion and moved on. No reason to linger on it, time would tell if her word held any weight.

"The multiverse is full of surprises," she echoed, "but anything your mind can come up with exists out there, somewhere." She liked to think that she'd gotten good at playing along, a necessary skill for this assignment. Hopefully, Odette could learn quickly, the mawile hadn't done anything to disappoint her yet.

She looked at Odette, then back at the scaffolding. "No, I wouldn't say so. It's..." How to describe it? "This strange combination of advanced and primitive," she explained. "Most things, like the architecture, are basic as most things are easily substituted with a pokémon's natural ability and some of the items found in dungeons, and it certainly didn't have any rails or trains. But then there are others that go well beyond what you'd expect of both worlds, such as tiles that would teleport you instantly to the connected tile. A lot of that technology is found within the badges that we use to escape from dungeons."

 

[Sinderella]

"The multiverse is full of surprises," she echoed, "but anything your mind can come up with exists out there, somewhere."

An almost untraceable flicker of doubt crossed her face. Something among the word choice and tone gave off an air of condescension, as if she were talking to a child who didn’t know jack all about how the worlds worked. While there was an air of truth to it, Odette certainly wasn’t daft. The ghost of Odile’s presence urged her to dwell on it, but she opted to let it go. She was no stranger to being underestimated. And she liked Bellatrix well enough aside from that.

“I’m familiar with that much,” she said. “The concept of world hopping in itself isn’t that out there. Hell, I’ve done it.” And it wasn’t like she ended up in a place that was, well, civilized. Just a wasteland full of shitty aliens who were out to kill her. The desert, even if it was straight out of a godsdamned video game, was a welcome change.

“It’s just different to actually see it in the flesh, rather than just hypothesizing about it.”

"No, I wouldn't say so. It's..." How to describe it? "This strange combination of advanced and primitive," she explained. "Most things, like the architecture, are basic as most things are easily substituted with a pokémon's natural ability and some of the items found in dungeons, and it certainly didn't have any rails or trains. But then there are others that go well beyond what you'd expect of both worlds, such as tiles that would teleport you instantly to the connected tile. A lot of that technology is found within the badges that we use to escape from dungeons."

That sounded in line with what little she had seen of the games. An interesting mix of both. Granted, she hadn’t come across anything as high-tech as teleporting plates, but she had a feeling if she was going to find anything like that, it wasn’t going to be in Frontier Town.

“Noted. I appreciate the insight,” she said.

 

[Inkedust]

Bellatrix nodded along in agreement. "It is quite the shock, I'm sure the others will be able to come to terms with the reality in due time." A flick of the ear, the distant shuffle of workers signaled the ending of their break. "I suppose only time will tell how my experiences will translate here," she said, "but we should be off, it looks like construction is beginning again and my client is going to break out in hives if I keep him waiting for much longer."

She turned tail and began to walk away. "You're welcome," she then said after a moment. "I can tell you more if you think it'll be useful later, you seem to be a fast learner."

And then she vanished beneath an illusionary veil, leaving Odette on her own once again.

<><><>​

 

[windskull]

Nip couldn't help but find Frontier Town strange. If Theran Village back on his home world had seemed alien, this was even more so, with larger groups of pokemon and quality of life advancements beyond what he'd seen. Devices that could create a painting in short order... Devices that could print stories en-masse... And then there was the great steel beast that carried pokemon in its belly. Or so he'd heard.

A combination of curiosity and need to get a better lay of the town brought him to the construction site. He hadn't expected to find one of his team members here - though perhaps he shouldn't have been surprised.

It was one of those strange, masked creatures that looked like Mother Mew had taken a bunch of pokemon and mashed them together. He didn't have a name for what they were, but after recent experiences in his home world, pokemon he was unfamiliar with put him on edge.

Who are you? What are your intentions? He couldn't help but stare. Until he realized he'd been staring for an uncomfortably long time. Had the strange pokemon noticed?

 

[Ambyssin]

Nova was going about his work day. His mask was easily better than any silly safety helmet the construction team could whip up. So, all Nova needed was a yellow vest to symbolize he was working with the team. He moved back and forth across the railyard with a large harness buckled to his torso, wheeling around various metal pieces and cinderblocks. Tiring for sure, but every day it was getting a bit easier.

Today, however, aside from occasional glances from his coworkers, there was one person who was consistently watching. Staring, honestly. Far from polite. A sneasel. Venomous, judging from the appearance.

The moment Nova finished setting the cinderblocks down where's he'd been asked, he pivoted and marched right up toward Sneasel.

"This is a restricted site," Nova said, repeating a line he'd heard at least a couple of times when someone showed up uninvited. "I doubt you're here for a job. And I'm sure you can come up with something better to do than stare at me all day."