Novelux Copperridge Wharf

[Jackie Cat]

There is nowhere in the city harbour where a 'mon cannot hear the shouts of dockworkers, the groaning of machines, and the clamor of gulls. The winter air is cold even through fur, and the metal of railings, containers and cranes is colder still, but it's bright here. Bright, loud, and alive.

If downtown was the heart of Novelux, then Copperridge Wharf was its lungs. The city inhaled imports and exhaled exports all along the edges of its stony docks and sprawling warehouses. The shipping yards had grown to epic proportions since this place was called a 'wharf', and its infrastracture pressed against the constraints of geography and urban planning. Piers and jetties extended at every possible point into the lakefront like plants grasping for light. The thick smoke billowing from towering steamboats bludgeoned other scents aside, while the sense of urgency in the air did the same to would-be loiterers, with goods and pokémon in a constant sprint to satiate the city’s appetite for trade and business.

If one were to divert off the limestone paths, they may find themselves lost in a labyrinth of crates, containers, and constant traffic of workers and wagons. Not to mention the bounty of merchants – honest and shady alike – peddling imported goods. Some were working immigrants hawking their homelands' street foods, or travelling physicians with the most modern medicines from Magna City. Other times, they were craftsmen of a different, less conventional kind. Don't be surprised if that 'supernatural wonder' you just purchased had no effect, with the seller disappeared before you can make a complaint – and if you bought shares in a bridge from a fast-talking Furret in a weatherbeaten bowler hat, then that's your own damn fault.

The port's real treasure was its awe-inspiring lake, its waters a striking cobalt-blue on bright afternoons. At night, they were a stage for the city's lights to dance — equal to the splendour of their stellar cousins and to provide quiet beauty amidst a sea of harsh noise from behind. Further out, white mists concealed the horizon, while to the west and east, viridian conifers hugged the coast as far as unaided eyes could perceive. The lake stretched into the distance like a vast and open inland sea.

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Many thanks to @MintyMimix for helping with the writeup.

 

[Chibi Pika]

Jade stretched her limbs long and squinted against the glare of the afternoon sun off the impossibly large stretch of water that covered the northern horizon. She'd gotten used to the train ride from Frontier Town to Blaguarro, but that was nothing compared to the endless hours in a crowded passenger car. At least she hadn't been alone, and there'd been some decent conversation with the others, but overall she was glad to finally be here. Finally, the Wayfarers' path had led to Novelux, which meant finally tracking down where Brisa had gone. Hopefully.

Of course, she'd been hoping to start the trip off with a little more of a lead than she'd gotten. The ticket counter folks at the big central Novelux train station hadn't said anything about the derailing from 3 months ago aside from the fact that it, well... existed, and that the line had been closed for two days. Seemed like she'd have to talk to the rail workers to get a better picture of what had happened after Brisa detached that rear train car, so that meant heading down to the industrial part of town. At least there was a streetcar to get there.

Jade held her scarf close as a particularly chilly breeze swept over the wharf, making her fur stand on end. The weather was getting colder, although it wasn't super noticeable back in the Soja. Maybe she'd need to get a warmer scarf...

"Well, here's hoping we can finally find a lead on finding Brisa," Jade voiced aloud. And maybe after Brisa, Starr.

 

[Butterfree]

Brisa. It'd been so long Dave wasn't sure at this point if there was even any point in looking anymore. She could be anywhere. Could just be dead, even if she hadn't been before.

But here he was anyway. Something made it hard to leave this particular thread alone, once people were bringing up heading to Novelux. The visit to Jesse Stranger's cabin was still churning away in his brain.

"You said we'd want to speak to the rail workers, right?" he said.

 

[Phoenixsong]

If you squinted—y'know, really, really squinted, there was still a good chunk of old-timey stuff around here—you could almost mistake Novelux for something closer to home. Something sorta Vermilion-adjacent, at least, what with all the international port vibes it was giving off: industrial, ships everywhere, the scents of a dozen different food carts threatening to drive her to (even more) distraction. Not a bad place to people-watch a while, all in all; definitely a nice change of scenery from the pretty but monotonous desert.

Hard to imagine one of the Escarpa wanting to hang around here for long, though. Maybe Brisa was different. Or maybe it didn't matter because there'd still been something important for her to do here. Jade thought it was the best lead they had, in the end, so that was enough for Leaf. Had to start somewhere, right?

"What was it you'd been trying to do before you two got separated?" she asked. "Something about the Covenant or someone?"

 

[Jackie Cat]

Laura glanced southward over her shoulder at the high-rise offices and apartments of downtown Novelux. It was weird seeing tall buildings with steel frames in Forlas after months of living in Frontier Town, where Sun Stone Saloon and the mayoral residence were each notable for having a whole three stories. It hit her that Forlasan 'skyscrapers' were a tenth as tall as a modern building in Wyndon's financial district, and felt weirdly displaced in spacetime – yet again.

The chill air and overcast weather, at least, were very familiar.

Her more immediate surroundings – the docks, the warehouses of urban industry, the striking blue waters of Lake Cobalt... And now the railyards, with its tracks splitting and extending in orderly columns like a spreadsheet of wood and iron, boxcars lined up like filled cells. Some distance away, she spotted some 'mon filing in and out of a circular engine house, wearing matching, cobalt-blue headbands and modular toolbelts. Rail workers changing shift, perhaps. If they maintained locomotives and rail cars in there, maybe they'd know about a repair job from three months ago...

"If we talk to those guys," she said, pointing their way, "we might be able to learn what happened to the derailed train, and whether it was the same one Brisa was on when Jade got separated from her..."

...and what happened after. What evidence was left.

She glanced at the control tower overlooking the railyard, a glass curtain wall on its top floor tilted towards the tracks. That was another potential opening for inquiry, if talking to the maintenance staff in the roundhouse didn't go well.

 

[Chibi Pika]

"You said we'd want to speak to the rail workers, right?" he said.

Jade adjusted her shoulder strap. "That's my best guess, anyway. The ticket station didn't have any info, so... I'm hoping the guys who actually had to deal with the cleanup will know more." If they found the right guys.

"What was it you'd been trying to do before you two got separated?" she asked. "Something about the Covenant or someone?"

"Honestly, I was just trying to get somewhere safe," Jade admitted, rubbing her arm. "I'd just dropped in with no clue where I was. Brisa was pretty sure the guys tailing us were after her. I don't know if they had anything to do with the Covenant, but..." But from the way Brisa had been talking about not trusting humans, it would fit, wouldn't it.

"If we talk to those guys," she said, pointing their way, "we might be able to learn what happened to the derailed train, and whether it was the same one Brisa was on when Jade got separated from her..."

Jade glanced in the direction that Laura had pointed, toward the circular engine house and the scattering of Pokemon that were conversing right around the entrance. Rail workers, hopefully? A Gigalith lumbered along with a Raboot sitting perched on his back, flanked by a Heracross and Nidoqueen engaged in conversation. Seemed like they'd just finished their break, so now was probably as good a time as any...

"Hey, um..." Jade began, raising a paw to try grabbing their attention. "Do you guys know who works on the Frontier Line? We, uh... we wanted to ask about an incident that happened a while back. Three months ago."

The Heracross--big, bulky, and sporting a rounded, spade-shaped horn--was the first to notice, elbowing Nidoqueen in the arm. Gigalith briefly made eye contact with Jade (or, wait, those weren't eyes, were they?) before turning away sheepishly. Raboot slid down from his back, paws hidden in his fur as he sized the party up with a impassive look.

"You got somethin' to ask, you take it up with the boss," he said, jerking his head to motion over his shoulder inside the engine house.

 

[Phoenixsong]

Leaf glanced toward the building the raboot had pointed out. Didn't look too busy from here... if whoever was in there wasn't too buried in whatever their job was to talk, anyway. Still, worth a shot to at least try talking to these guys first, right? (Or whoever the actual workers were, if it wasn't them.) More angles wasn't exactly gonna hurt.

"Boss ain't the one who had to put up with fixing everything, though, are they?" She assumed not, at least. Probably Novelux didn't have that TV show where bosses had to go do construction work or whatever for a day, on account of not having TV. "Bet the guys who actually did the work know all the good stuff about what happened."

 

[Jackie Cat]

Nidoqueen put her thumbs through the shoulder straps of her utility belt and pulled against them like she was snapping suspenders. An expression of pride? She regarded the Wayfarers with a mix of interest and distrust.

"Boss never stops working," she said to Leaf, evenly. "He got a reason to speak to a gaggle of out-of-towners rolling into his worksite?"

Laura's whiskers twitched. Lots of approaches, here...

"We don't need to bother him if someone else can talk to us?" she tried.

Nidoqueen shook her head stoically.

"Everything goes through the boss," she said, echoing Raboot. It sounded like a canned line. The crew would be a stone wall without a good reason to be otherwise.

 

[Butterfree]

"We're looking for a missing person," Dave said. "Was on a train close to here. Scuffle on the train, one of the cars got detached. Any of that sound familiar?" Hopefully, even if looking for Brisa wasn't enough of a reason to bother their precious boss, maybe he could at least watch their reactions for any sign that they knew what he was talking about.

 

[Chibi Pika]

Gigalith turned their head in surprise, their body segments making a low rocky grinding sound with the motion. Raboot leaned against the rock-type's side and said, "Mm, that job. A right pain, that one."

Heracross tilted her head. "If you're lookin' for someone, you best head down to the station and fill out a missing person report."

Jade fidgeted with her scarf. "That's not... she's not a resident of Novelux, I don't know what good that'd do." She wasn't even sure if Brisa would've headed back toward the city, even if she had managed to fight off the pursuers. "And, and we wanted to find out more about what happened to the train, since we think it'd give us some leads."

 

[Jackie Cat]

Nidoqueen narrowed her eyes. "Leads? You guys some kinda gumshoes?"

Laura shook her head reflexively. There wasn't a chance in hell they could successfully pretend to be cops. But how to deal with being seen as suspicious...? It wasn't like they could just drop their life stories on the spot...

"We're not detectives," she replied. "I'm a reporter, but I'm not doing this for my paper. I work for the Frontier Gazette – they're more concerned with local affairs, the mayoral election, stuff like that – but still, I'm used to chasing leads by now."

"Off the clock?" asked Nidoqueen. "You got the free time to come way out here outta the goodness of your heart?"

Laura couldn't help but give a single, sharp laugh. "I mean, kinda, yeah. Okay, I'm Laura, this is Jade, Dave, and Leaf. What can I call you?"

"Nidoqueen," replied Nidoqueen, stonily.

The Heracross elbowed her in the arm again.

"Whistler," amended the muscular 'mon. "Alright, alright— I'm Whistler. Earth's teeth, you guys really are from pretty far outta town, huh? We don't get too many people coming east into town, most times it's folks westward-bound. You know it's kinda weird to show up to a 'mon's place of work and ask about wrecked railcars and missing 'mon without a badge?"

Whistler's tone had eased up, but there was still tension underneath. Had she really changed her attitude all that much, or was she just humouring them while sizing them up?

Laura's tail flicked from side to side as she nodded, sheepishly. They didn't know that much about local affairs yet. Did the railworkers think they were spooks, or peons of some local mob, or something like that...?

 

[Butterfree]

Dave exhaled. "No, we're not cops. Jade here was on that train with her, and we're friendly with the missing girl's mom. If you had a missing kid who could be in danger, you'd be trying to do something about it, right?"

Complicating this by blabbing the entire fucking tangle of everything that'd gone on seemed the opposite of helpful, but this was what it really boiled down to. Brisa was missing, had been missing since they got here, and they hadn't had a chance to properly investigate until now, when she might already be long dead, the trail cold.

"She hasn't been seen since the train. We just traveled to where she was seen last and came to talk to some of the only people who might have any clue what happened to her. That's all. I don't know what you think we're up to but we're just trying to find this kid."

 

[Chibi Pika]

Heracross nodded along with Laura's introduction before thrusting a claw in the air as if to show off how big her arm was. "Phillip! And this here's Piston"--she gestured first to the shy Gigalith before motioning to Raboot--"and Jam--"

"Hol' up," Raboot Jam said, peering at Jade suspiciously. "What'chu mean you was there?"

Jade blinked, a bit taken aback. "I--I was just... on the train. When the rear car got detached. I saw it happen."

Jam closed his eyes, showing his paws in his pockets. "Suspicious."

Jade's fur bristled. "Wh--no it's not. Plenty of other people were on the train too!" Granted, none of those people were the targets of a gang of Croagunk who were the reason the rear cars got trashed.

...It was probably also a good idea to leave out the fact that the 'missing person' was the one responsible for detaching the cars and making more work for all of these guys.

 

[Phoenixsong]

"Suspicious? What, are you gonna give the third degree to any little old lady or whatever who was on that train now?" Leaf rolled her eyes at Jam, her tail lashing impatiently. "They were on a train, the train got separated, they got separated, just like any group in different cars right then. That's literally it. You're the ones making a big deal out of a simple question. Why's it even matter to you?"

She just about managed not to demand to know why they were so bothered by people looking into this--was there something they didn't want to tell the cops? (Weren't allowed to tell them?) Something they could only tell the cops and not other people?--instead grinding a hoof on the pavement just a little bit. Half because it felt a little better, half because she could pretend it drowned out the Go ahead, try accusing them of hiding something. I'm sure they'll open right up.

"Look, maybe you didn't see anything that'd help us find her--she's a luxio, just in case you did--if you didn't, that's all you had to say. I'm not against talking to your boss if you think he really can help us. Maybe he can, if he's reliable as you say he is. What's he like?" She tried smiling at Phillip. At least she seemed friendly-ish.

 

[Chibi Pika]

Jam let out a dismissive snort but didn't respond to Leaf's pressing.

After the follow-up question, Phillip nodded fervently and pumped a fist. "Boss Buck's the strongest mon here. Looks out for us an' makes sure the company treats us right!" She glanced back at Whistler questioningly. "Maybe we oughta let him know these guys are here?"

 

[Jackie Cat]

"Nah." Whistler clicked her tongue. "I'm sure he already knows."

The Nidoqueen eyed Leaf. It wasn't a hostile look, exactly.

"You look pretty young to be investigating missing persons as a civilian," she remarked, laid-back.

Laura spotted the real implication. It wasn't a jab at youth, it was a veiled suggestion that they weren't civilians. She took a breath.

"Leaf has training from the Soja' Ranger Union," she said, choosing her words carefully. "This isn't an official Ranger operation, but it could be related to how the situation back west shapes up."

Whistler nodded. "Okay. Not cops. Western cops." She smirked at Laura's pained expression. "It's fine, I'm just playing. C'mon."

She gestured with one clawed hand over her shoulder and led the group into the roundhouse. High sheet-metal ceilings, vast windows, criss-crossing beams – until the eye adjusted, the interior was a black and white picture of industrial endeavour. A large locomotive rested on a raised rail, an oil-stained 'mon up to his neck in its metal innards.

"And this girl, she's in trouble for something?" asked Whistler.

Laura shook her head. "She's not an outlaw. She might be hiding from some."

"Well that's mighty interesting," came the gravelly voice of the engineer, removing his head from the vehicle's guts.

He was a Diggersby, clad in overalls and with wrenches hanging off his hip. He removed a pair of pince-nez glasses from his face, letting them dangle from a clip at his neck.

"Buchanan Thorpe," he said, introducing himself. He held out a muscled, prehensile ear that looked as if it could crush a 'mon's metacarpals. "But you can call me Buck, if I like you. I sure hope I got no reason to feel otherwise, eh?"

 

[Butterfree]

"Hi," Dave said, putting out a paw to shake Buck's ear. "The name's Dave. This is Leaf, Jade and Laura. We're here looking for a Luxio who went missing in an incident on a train near here about three months back. Ring any bells?"

 

[Jackie Cat]

Buck shook, his grip very firm. Not a power play, just raw strength.

"And whom might you fine people represent?" he rumbled.

Laura cleared her throat. "We're off duty right now, and we have day jobs, but most of us are part-time Soja' Rangers."

Buck glanced at his colleagues. Whistler gave a minute nod. The rabbit looked back, and smiled cordially.

"Well, I'd be happy to tell you what I know, but I'm afraid I just plain don't know about any Luxio," he replied, in his earthy baritone. "Not a common species near the lakes... maybe more so out in the plains."

"She's Escarpa Clan," clarified Laura. "Grew up in the Frontier."

"Alright – but she was all the way out here, huh? What would a clanner like that be so far east for... Hrrmm. When you say 'near here'...?"

 

[Chibi Pika]

Well, that at least confirmed that Brisa hadn't been anywhere near the train cars by the time the work crew came to deal with the situation... but she'd kind of already been expecting that much.

Jade edged closer to the front of the party, trying to stand as tall as she could. "Right, uh... it would've been somewhere along the Frontier Line from here to Blaguarro. Where that railcar detachment happened a few months back. I'm, uh... guessing the cars were abandoned by the time any workmon arrived?"

Figuring out more about the state of the railcars might give some clues as to how the battle had gone... It seemed worth a shot, anyway.

 

[Jackie Cat]

Buck nodded. "I'm pretty sure I know the incident you mean. The bulk of the train came in as scheduled, but the loco' crew and the passengers were all downright spooked. Since the train was missing a whole car and the rear tug, we sent a crew up to collect it. Bit of a wreck, but salvageable. At least for parts. Nobody around so far as they saw, though. How was it reported, Whist'?"

Whistler sniffed resentfully. "Coupler failure," she huffed. "Chalked up to low-grade metal fatigue. Sent a memo up-river to insist on better quality checks. All bullshit, of course."

Buck grunted an agreement, and shook his head.

"Now, what do you make of that, gentle 'mon?" he said, scratching his chin and leaning back against the engine behind him.