Frontier Town Sand Veil Archives

[Tetra]

"Thank you," Koa said softly. Even if it amounted to nothing, he felt like he needed to try. Drapion was just another innocent... Just knowing he was still there would help. "I appreciate it."

It was something. A long shot, but still something. "Whatever we learn, we'll have to fight him soon, before he gets stronger or takes anyone else."

 

[Inkedust]

"Of course. I'll see what I can do." In the meantime, Bellatrix returned to flicking through her pile of books, sensing that things were beginning to wind down. Knowledge of one's foe was one of the best weapons to have at their disposal, and the more they learned, the greater the advantage gained.

She turned over a couple more pages, before eyeing Koa again, another question at the back of her mind. Though Bellatrix wanted to internally justify it as trying to find any means of countering their foes, it really was a case of genuine curiosity that had little to do with any of the pressing matters at hand.

Oh, where was the harm? She had time.

"Now you have said that you have looked into some of the legends of Forlas, perhaps you could tell me more about them?"

 

[Tetra]

Excitement sparked in Koa's eyes, but he tempered himself.

"It's really interesting. A lot of Saints are similar to ones back home in species, but their demeanor and the way people see them is completely different. There's a Saint called the Stormbringer, I actually went to visit a shrine to it..."

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[Cresselia92]

“Huff… huff… almost theeere…” panted Lyra as she pushed that oh-so-heavy book up the final step of the stairs and through the main entrance.

Goodness gracious, why didn’t they have pocket versions of certain intriguing books for pocket-sized ‘mons? She didn’t get it! And unfortunately, exactly the day she had to return the book, she couldn’t find someone who was ten times bigger and heavier than her to carry that enormous load of papers and ink from the Haus to that library, and she didn’t want to be late while looking for help.

But hey, on the plus side, that still counted as training! Maybe she had increased her power by a level or two after that intense workout! Two Chansey with one bait, wasn’t it?

And finally, Lyra reached the main desk. After pushing the book to a side, she hopped on the table to return the book… but the librarian was nowhere to be seen. Puzzlement filled the Buneary’s mind, and after a very quick scan of the area, she found a note: I’ll be back soon.

Lyra exhaled a tired sigh and flopped on the desk. Why now? She didn’t have the strength to go back to the Haus without that book, and she didn’t want to leave it unsupervised for long. The other alternative was to spend some time while waiting for the librarian to return, but how—?

As if answering her plea, Lyra got her answer in the form of a Meowth, who seemed busy checking some books. Her instant thought went to Jade, but… no, that Meowth was different. A smoky grey velvety pelt, which would easily pass off as a species with a royal pedigree… oh. Oooh! An Alolan Meowth! Wait… Didn’t the team have a dark cat in the team? Could it be…?

Heartened by the opportunity of making another friend, Lyra hopped off the desk and approached the cat, waving her forepaw excitedly. “Hiii! Are you one of us? Of the Wayfarers, yes? Well, even if you aren’t, I’m Lyra!”

 

[Jackie Cat]

Laura's face underwent a brief, but transformative journey. First: mild horror in the form of a politely fixed smile, at being accosted by a pokémon several hundred times as extroverted as her. Shortly after followed panicked confusion as she tried to process what this rabbit was talking about, and whether she was, maybe, making fun of her somehow? ('Lyra' was a pretty weird mispronounciation of 'Laura', but not weird enough to be actually... mean? What?) And then, finally, relief (and not a small amount of embarrassment) as it clicked in her head that this bubbly girl was simply another new Wayfarer.

Well, it could be worse. Gods, she'd better keep this one away from poor Silver or it'd be like oil and water!

"Hey there," she replied, ears sheepishly flattening a little. "Nice to meet you, Lyra; I'm Laura. Been here since the start, I guess. Aheheh. What's, uh, what's up?"

 

[Cresselia92]

Uh oh! Was her approach too direct? Perhaps a touch too loud, by judging the way Laura blue-screened? Gosh, if her exclamation had been a decibel too high, there was no doubt that the Meowth would be clinging by the roof and looking all puffy right now! Amusing mental image if she were into schadenfreude, perhaps, but definitely not worthy of a good first impression!

Lyra flashed a meeker smiling, her eyes glinting in recognition and her paw lowering dramatically slow. “Aaah, oh, okay, so you’re that Laura? Cool! Nice to meet ya in person—well, cat…” She rubbed the back of her head, looking apologetic. “Err, I… Sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you like that. I just got, huh, a little carried away? Yeah. Tee hee hee~”

Hoping to have diffused that little tension, Lyra placed her paws to her hips and grinned more brightly, her tail wagging. “Anyway! Nothing’s really up, I’d say! More like, well, I wanted to return a book but the librarian is gone, and since we’re in the same team as fellow heroes,” she pressed her paws together as in a prayer and showed the friendliest stare from her repertoire, “how ‘bout we have a little chitchat? To learn something about each other’s world, yeah? I’m so curious!!”

 

[Jackie Cat]

Howls afar. Between the two of them, this kid had about 95% of all the energy and verve between them. Laura blinked rapidly and tried to rise to it a little.

"Yeah, sure," she replied, trying to sound casual. "Why not? It's good for us to know each other at least a little. I know some of us are from all sorts of unique worlds, but I'm one of the Wayfarers from some kind of variant of 'Earth Prime', I guess you could say? As in, there's a Pokémon League, and Galar-Kalos-Unova-Kanto-wherever, and humans live alongside pokémon and all that. I'm a trainer, even. How about you?"

Laura patted the table where she sat, inviting Lyra to sit with her. (Privately she wondered if the girl was capable of sitting down, given how amped-up she was.)

 

[Cresselia92]

Lyra hummed with delight, her eyes sparkling like diamonds, and she hopped on the seat beside Laura. "Oooh, fellow earthling, neat!! I'm also from a human-based, League-structured, multicultural, yadda-yadda planet Earth. I'm a Trainer, too... at least technically speaking, as in I'm a human with Pokémon teammates?" She shrugged. "Never been too much into League stuff, y'see, and I consider my team and myself just a group of friends who like to try a bit of this and that. Currently trying out the Pokéathlon in Johto and we're having a blast!"

She glanced back to make sure that the book was still there, then focused again on Laura. "What 'bout you? Are you into the badge-collecting hype or did you pick another path?"

 

[Jackie Cat]

Laura laughed sheepishly and scratched behind her ear.

"Well, uh, I am, is the thing. But, y'know, it's not like it's my only thing, or even my main thing, really—"

She cleared her throat, feeling daft. Lyra was chill. Or, not chill as in relaxed, but easygoing. Laura didn't have to do damage control over having different interests.

"–but honestly, I guess that is the type of trainer I am, really. I was certainly hoping to do the full League circuit when I was a kid, and now that I'm out there catching and training and all that, I guess I'm making up for lost time. I've always been a bit of a competitive buff, really."

As opposed to 'a group of friends who try this and that'? What did Lyra get up to? The Pokéathlon sounded like an athletics thing.

"I like to think of my team as my good mates too, though. The sapient ones, at least. Our side thing is investigating a corporation for kidnapping and illegal genetic engineering, I guess?" She chuckled. "What else do you and yours do, besides athletics competitions?"

 

[Cresselia92]

"I like to think of my team as my good mates too, though. The sapient ones, at least. Our side thing is investigating a corporation for kidnapping and illegal genetic engineering, I guess?"

Oh? That definitely wasn’t the kinda topic you hear about every day, especially not in some public place like a library! Still, did that mean that Laura was some kinda undercover spy or journalist or something?! That was so unbelievably cool!!

Lyra put that information aside for a moment to reply to the older girl’s question. Perhaps their interests were more aligned that she expected.

“Um… Does lending a hand in taking down mafia organizations count?” she ventured with a sheepish grin, barely holding back a giggle. She drummed her paws on her fluffy ‘skirt’, her gaze wandering elsewhere.

“Other than that, well, I’m actually a freelance vlogger. I’ve developed a fairly extensive social network where I share whatever little hobby catches my attention, y’see, and my teammates help me however they can. Basically, with stuff like trying out my special apricorn recipes, or listening to my theories surrounding legends and myths, or appearing in sightseeing videos where we have fun, and… ah! I love teaching people how to better take care of ‘mons!”

She focused again on Laura, the smile never leaving. “My grandparents have a daycare in Johto and they taught me a lotta useful lessons. They’d like me to inherit their activity someday, but huh… I dunno, I wanna see if there’s something else better suited for me? There’re just sooo many possibilities and activities and the world is so big, and I kinda don’t wanna choose a definitive path so soon? If that makes sense?”

Lyra paused. Hm, did she overshare again? Luckily enough, there was an easy fix: getting the other person to talk a bit more about themselves. She tilted her head, her eyes brimming with curiosity.

“Anyway, huh, what’s that deal ‘bout genetic engineering and kidnappings? Is there some reason you’re investigating those things in particular? …If you don’t mind me asking, of course.”