Frontier Town Traveller's Haus - Dining Hall

[Chibi Pika]

Jade laughed a bit. "That name was from his first trainer, actually. I never asked him, but I think he kept it to remember him by."

She bristled at Mhynt's words. Merit in knowing when to kill, huh. "Maybe. Virga told me something like that before, back home. But I still don't think it's something we should be looking for. And I don't regret how we've handled stuff here so far." She thought of Moltres, drowning in paranoia and anger, lashing out at the world for its unfairness, dragging others into her own pit of lonely despair. Desperate to be understood.

Jade leaned her head against her palm. "The legends we've met here aren't all that different than the ones I knew back home. Maybe some of them weren't... coping as well as others. But they're just people, even if they're thought of as gods. I think it was right to give them a chance."

She wasn't so naive as to think that everyone could turn things around, but she'd already forgiven a lot worse.

 

[Namohysip]

"Where would you draw the line, though?" Mhynt challenged, tilting her head.

Owen tensed slightly, sinking into the shadows.

"For example, some Legends didn't seem to mind causing great harm to mortals as collateral, whether they intended or just didn't care. If a cyclone was heading for a settlement, about to kill many, or destroy their homes, or render the sick without shelter... if a Legend, in a tantrum of being misunderstood, caused a great flood, or a drought, cutting off the food supply... and we chose to give them a chance, only for them to continue the same... where would we draw the line? If the people rose up for a clash against them and their irresponsible behavior... who would we side with?

"Personally, I think the gods of this world are deeply flawed. Such great power placed upon mortal minds... It's not too far removed from my home. And my home is due for an apocalypse of the gods. I'm surprised it hasn't already happened here, with what we've seen when we got here, already so far from its state of decay."

Briefly, Mhynt was quiet. Then, she smirked faintly, facing Jade. "What do you think? That speech would probably appeal to the Coven for an upcoming meeting."

 

[Chibi Pika]

Jade's eyes flickered toward Owen as he sank lower. Something told her this might've been a point of contention between the two, if Owen had been the one to hold onto hope for their own world while Mhynt saw it as too far gone.

There was a small beat while Jade processed the last bit of what the Sceptile had said.

"Had me going there..." she said with an awkward laugh. Still, some part of her knew that it wasn't all an act. Where the act had begun, she couldn't say. The topic would've stressed Jade out back home. Arguing about it with Lugia had been agony, and she'd spent enough nights doubting herself for the choices she'd made. Here and now, though...

Jade glanced out the window. "I guess I just don't think we've met anyone here who was too far gone. Lugia's probably done worse, back home. You could ask Virga about it." Was that a stupid thing to say? Maybe. She couldn't help feeling a flicker of giddiness from saying it though, here where the Viridian incident was a world away.

"The people of my world wanted to see the legends put away because they were dangerous, and I tried to help them anyway." She stared down into her own paw, and couldn't help laughing at the absurdity of admitting it so easily, her biggest mistake. "I freed Mewtwo, and he attacked my hometown. Compared to that... helping the legends here almost felt easy."

Whatever else they still had left to do on Forlas, they'd helped. Even the ones who hadn't wanted to be helped.

 

[Namohysip]

"I hope your Mewtwo didn't cheer and sing kids' songs while doing it," Mhynt murmured an oddly specific wish. "But... I understand that light of hope. And you're right--aside from Alexander, thanks for letting me kill him by the way it was very cathartic--the Legends here have not been as dangerous.

"But they could be, if, for example, those hypotheticals came to pass. That part I think is true, and I wonder if the Coven sees it similarly. Loose cannons. If, one day, they aim at innocent towns, endangering the lives of a great many... what then? If you cannot safely contain them, cannot safely halt them without a killing blow... do they have a greater right to life, by merit of being a Legend? Or are they subject to the same laws and rules as mortals? And is that... fair? If you had the power to do otherwise, would you? Should you?"

This time, Mhynt seemed more serious. Owen emerged slightly, like a Feraligatr in a swamp. He, too, seemed curious of Jade's perspective on the value of Legendary life.

 

[Chibi Pika]

Jade tilted her head for a moment at the 'singing and cheering' comment but then thought better of questioning it.

She rubbed her arm. "I'm not sure about the 'greater' part. There's probably a lot of people back home who'd say yes. Maybe I'd have said yes before I got mixed up in all the Legendary business. I just don't think they should get less rights than other Pokemon just because they might be dangerous. Like... maybe if one of them just like, completely went off the deep end, then sure, someone'd have to do something about it. But until then, I'd wanna try to find a better way that isn't just locking them all away forever. 'Cause back home there's a lot of people who keep going on like there is no better way."

Her eyes flickered toward the emerging Owen. "I mean... where I'm from, even ordinary Pokemon are way stronger than any human. I think that's just... part of what comes with coexisting. Humans and Pokemon had to figure out how to do it a long time ago, but now that humans have the tech to imprison the legends, well... there's been some growing pains."

 

[Namohysip]

"That's a pretty serious shift," Mhynt commented. "I could see why everyone involved would be a bit nervous."

"I heard stories of my human world. They've tried that, but usually good humans and their Pokemon put a stop to it. The one time they succeeded, and took Mew... didn't end well."

"Hmm, I don't remember you telling me about this one," Mhynt said. "What happened to those who took Mew? What happened to her?"

"...I don't know what they specifically did to Mew, but it was horrible. Horrible enough that it shook her down to her spirit. It got Arceus' attention, and in a wave of rage, he annihilated everything on the island she'd been taken to."

"Mm. Makes me wonder if humans of your world," Mhynt said, eyeing Jade, "are walking a fine line. If they step too far, if the pushback will bring about a similar ruin. Facing an embodiment of nature... can have real consequences, can't it? Oh, what was the term? I think I heard a human around here say it once. When you shoot for the king, you better not miss, I believe."

 

[Chibi Pika]

They'd gotten Mew. Jade tried to imagine what it would have been like if the Rockets had gotten Mew back home. It was hard to imagine anything that wouldn't end in crushing disaster.

"Yeah, that..." Jade sighed. "That honestly kind of sounds like what happened to Sootopolis. That is—getting an island wiped off the map. I know that's probably small-scale compared to the stuff that goes on where you guys are from, but it was a really big deal back home. It was the first time a lot of people had ever seen that kind of power."

'Remind me again… aren’t you the ones that unleashed the primals?' Dammit, not that bullshit, not now. She wasn't going to let herself think about him.

"So, yeah... it probably sounds a bit ridiculous that that's the kinda thing I've gotta try to deal with when I get back home. But I guess technically it's not as bad as figuring out whether a whole world's gonna be destroyed, so..."—she gave Owen an awkward smile—"I guess that's a plus. I, uh... I hope that gets resolved okay. When you go back home, I mean."

There was a sort of anticlimactic absurdity to it that made Jade feel slightly stupid. 'Hope your world doesn't get destroyed' wasn't exactly the sort of thing she knew how to express.

 

[Namohysip]

"A whole island, wiped away... That's not something to ignore," Mhynt said. "It sounds like you're dealing with large, cosmic problems as well. I wouldn't sell yourself short."

"Anything involving Legends seems like it spirals out of mortal control pretty fast," Owen remarked.

"We appreciate the gesture," Mhynt added. "...But seeing how Alexander was defeated here, I'm more confident it will work out for us, too. A little luck, some resistance... even a god can be toppled with the right kind of power."

"It doesn't sound ridiculous to me," Owen assured Jade. "It must be even scarier as a human. You don't have the powers on your own to fight back. We do..."