Novelux Downtown Novelux

[Jackie Cat]

Wyatt laughed at the word 'elected', his cigar falling from his teeth. He caught it, and wiped his mouth, pulling himself together.

"Yeah, Archie there has it right. He ain't a politician, he's a business boss, and when he wants something to go his way, he can just pay for it. Of course, they'd never call it 'bribery', it's donations, it's lobbying, it's charity fundraisers..."

The Pangoro sucked on his cigar, and shook his head.

"But this ain't a union meeting, you guys didn't come hear to let me jaw your ears off about this, huh? Suffice to say that he's not so well-liked by ordinary 'mon trying to make an honest living in Copperridge, for instance, or Sable Shore. The city's great and good like him plenty, though."

Wyatt looked down one street and gestured with his cigar, stabbing the air like he was playing darts.

"Anyhow. If you want a roof over your heads, a cheap drink, and some breakfast that won't kill ya, there's a hostel and bar – the Smokestack – I can recommend. You'll wanna head down Stellar until you hit Prairie, then take a right..."

Wyatt gave a concise, confident set of directions to follow. Between them, the three 'mon would probably remember how to get to the Smokestack just fine.

"What are you guys are in town for, anyway?" asked the panda, afterwards, puffing on his cigar. "Not a lot of frontier 'mon here, eh?"

 

[Ambyssin]

Again there was a bit of prickling on the back of Nova's head. He... hadn't really thought about why. He'd put one foot in front of the other and ended up on that train and now he was here and part of him was screaming to flee back to the desert's wide open spaces.

"Need some new equipment for mystery dungeon delving," was the best he could come up with on the spot. "Stuff I was using before 's not really built for me. Locals said I need to find sturdier material than what they've got and said to try the city."

He glanced at his satchel, which had ended up coming apart at the seams the day after the Twilight Quarry raid. It looked to be held together with some combination of tape and other sticky things.

 

[Weazel]

The Smokestack, huh? Well, based on Wyatt’s description, it certainly sounded suitable enough. And, should be easy enough to get to, as well. The Dewott made a mental note of the directions, the various streets they’d have to turn down, for later.

“As for me, it’s work related,” Archie said after Nova, a little dryly. He pulled Miror B.’s wanted poster out o his pocket, before unfolding it and showing it to Wyatt, “On the trail of this duck and his goons. Had a run in with them out west, and last I heard they’d headed this direction.”

 

[Jackie Cat]

"Need some new equipment for mystery dungeon delving," was the best he could come up with on the spot. "Stuff I was using before 's not really built for me. Locals said I need to find sturdier material than what they've got and said to try the city."

Wyatt gave a pensive nod, his mouth pursed. "It's a niche industry around here, but there're some delvers – and some suppliers. You know the local dungeons? Ah, I say 'local', most of them are a bit of a hike outta town. All the nearby ones are practically domestic, nothing there for a guy like you. But yeah, you might wanna check out Glass Caldera for a classic one, Quartz Forest if you can get a permit from the 'Nations... maybe Whisperwind Comb if you've really got your shit together."

His brow furrowed as he noted Nova's quivering plume.

"And I really do mean together. You need your shit industrially condensed. You gotta have your shit consolidated."

He stabbed towards Nova with his cigar.

"Shit: together."

“As for me, it’s work related,” Archie said after Nova, a little dryly. He pulled Miror B.’s wanted poster out o his pocket, before unfolding it and showing it to Wyatt, “On the trail of this duck and his goons. Had a run in with them out west, and last I heard they’d headed this direction.”

The Pangoro took the poster and examined it, eyes narrowing. Then he gave it back, and clamped his teeth down on his cigar to free his paws for a knuckle-cracking.

"Yeah, those sons of bitches. If you're chasing them, good luck to ya. You'll be popular in town if you bring 'em in, I can tell you. We've had posters like this up all over 'Lux lately, but anyone who goes after them gets their ass kicked. There's talk of rounding up a posse like they do out west, but the city heelers won't like that, especially if citizen justice shows them up... the other notion is to get Strapping Sammy to do it, but she's not been in town since before the duck rolled in. Let me know if you hear any different, will ya?"

 

[Ambyssin]

All the nearby ones are practically domestic, nothing there for a guy like you. But yeah, you might wanna check out Glass Caldera for a classic one, Quartz Forest if you can get a permit from the 'Nations... maybe Whisperwind Comb if you've really got your shit together

Nova looked somewhat forlornly at his bag. It wasn't as if he intended to face tank a demonic meteor. And he certainly wasn't about to mention that to Wyatt. If he looked the fool, that was fine. He'd rather people underestimate him. Helped that, unlike most Wayfarers, he wasn't human.

He opted for a polite nod and a, "Thanks. Maybe I'll check some of them out. See if I can find anything worth my while."

That last place sounded different. Maybe not "could house a relic" different, but different nonetheless. But Glass Caldera... perhaps a couple or few of the Wayfarers would be enough to reach the center and put down another waypoint. That'd be much easier than the trains, right?

"Hey, Betel? Are you there? Do you think you'd be able to interface with one of the local dungeons if some of us went there?"

 

[Cresselia92]

After taking in the directions for the hostel, Silver merely shrugged when Wyatt inquired about the reason for their travel. “Kinda felt like changing air, so I decided to visit this city. That’s all,” he stated simply, before letting his companions take the lead of the conversation.

Almost unconsciously, his right paw slid to his hip while his left one flicked his head-feather, whose tip had taken a faint lavender tint. The far less dry environment had done wonders to his body and spirit — Sneasel weren’t exactly built to endure the heat for too long — but it still wasn’t enough to induce a change of pelt.

Silver followed quietly the conversation, nodding along to let the others know he was listening, only chiming in when his mind focused on a name. “Strapping Sammy…?” he parroted questioningly, hoping that his curious stare would have prompted some extra information.

 

[Weazel]

Archie made sure to take note of the three locales Wyatt mentioned. Between the three of them, they probably could manage a trip into Glass Caldera, at least, judging by the Pangoro’s description of it. At least, out of the three listed it sounded the most likely. Miror B. and his goons were all humans, and it would take more than Archie by himself – probably more than just the three of them together to be honest – to capture them. Setting up a waypoint so they could move between the city and the frontier quickly was going to be a necessary step.

“I’ll keep my ears open,” the Dewott promised Wyatt, “If you have any recent news about their movements – know any witnesses, any victims willing to tak, anyone who might have any ideas what they’re up to – I’d appreciate it. Last I heard they were knocking over caravans, but news travels slow out west.”

Was Strapping Sammy a slang term, like Bennie Bidoof, or a nickname for someone, like Larceny Lennox? It sounded like the latter, but it was a little hard for Archie to tell. Was this what city slickers always sounded like to country folk? Did the Dewott sound like this to people? He was actually kind of glad that Silver ended up asking the question for him.

 

[Jackie Cat]

“Strapping Sammy…?”

Wyatt looked aghast. "What? No! You've not heard of Sammy? Direct descendant of Hale Haley? Probably the strongest 'mon of this generation, at least in west Landsverd. She's a Chesnaught. I've heard she can knock your block clean off."

Wyatt looked almost as if he'd relish this eventuality.

“If you have any recent news about their movements – know any witnesses, any victims willing to tak, anyone who might have any ideas what they’re up to – I’d appreciate it. Last I heard they were knocking over caravans, but news travels slow out west.”

The Pangoro nodded. "People are saying they move neighbourhood every week or thereabouts, pilfer what they need to get by, hit up local businesses and homes, then scarper to some other district. They keep nabbing dungeon items, so my guess is they're packing some real heat by now. Watch yourselves, huh?"

 

[Ambyssin]

"Eh. Items are items." Nova glanced at Archie's pictures. "If rumors back home were right, though, they're closer to this Sammy lady you're describing than just some random bandit group gaining notoriety. I wouldn't be surprised if law enforcement here hasn't made any headways trying to stop them."

He'd been continuing to look around, trying to desensitize himself to everything unfurling. There was one particular advertisement that caught Nova's eye. He blinked several times.

"What's a Duel Dome? Do they stage fights to the death in this city?"

 

[Jackie Cat]

Wyatt frowned. "Yeah, the heelers aren't exactly bragging about their successes in that regard... Can't say I haven't had the same thought, that they're like Sammy. But who wants to believe that someone could be like that, and such a scumbag?"

The panda sniffed, and his digits squeezed around his cigar. A knuckle cracked, dully.

"Right. Yeah. You were asking about the Duel Dome?" He registered the to the death part and snorted. "It's a sport. A betting 'mon can have a whale of a time there, but it's more than blood and spectacle. The proprietor is some old world gentle 'mon, trying to make duelling respectable. He's got all these rules and regulations, to make it noble and honourable, and clean enough fun that nobody starts up some kinda protest movement about it."

He grinned, a little mischievously. Suddenly it was hard not to notice the soundless hum of a strong Aura around the Pangoro.

"You should try it out, if you're battling sorts. I hear you frontier types are all battlehearts of some stripe – you could make a tidy spot of money in the arena, huh?"

 

[Ambyssin]

"Fighting... to make money?" Nova blinked slowly. Somewhere deep down he knew that was technically a thing. Trainers did it. Having regulated pokémon battles with prizes on the line. Some monetary, others less so. And yet it still sounded strange to him. Like someone was brushing his fur in an unnatural direction. "I mean... what's wrong with fighting for the fun of it?"

Or to survive?

"That's good enough for me." He tapped a dirty talon against the ground. "Is this old world gentle 'mon also like Sammy?"

 

[Weazel]

Archie hummed to himself, as he folded the wanted poster back up and returned it to his coast. This Sammy Chesnaught sounded like someone to keep in mind, he imagined his line of work would cause him to run into her eventually. As for Miror B. and his entourage, it definitely sounded like they were gearing up for something. If only he had some idea of what that something might be.

“I appreciate the warning,” the Dewott nodded.

As for the battle dome, it was true enough they could probably make some decent money there. On the other hand, it was also a serious risk of drawing unwanted attention. It was interesting how much Wyatt’s description of the place reminded him of Trainers battling Pokemon back home, even including the potential for protest. Once again, he saw the flashing black and white banner in his mind’s eye. But he dismissed that thought.

“I take it you’re a frequent competitor?” Archie asked instead, noticing how the air seemed to crackle with energy around the Pangoro, not to mention his seeming excitement at the thought of people getting their skulls cracked open by a Chesnaught.

 

[Jackie Cat]

Wyatt grinned darkly. "Fighting for the fun of it? That's for battlehearts, pal. Don't go advertising that feature of your personality too hard if you unless you want people to think you're feral."

He said 'feral' like a curse word. But that tone of voice... Did Wyatt's casual attitude towards (and anticipation for) violence suggest he himself was a battleheart – a pokémon that lived to fight?

"I show up in the ring from time to time," he affirmed, in reply to Archie. "Maybe I'll see you there one of these days, eh? Tell the staff I sent you by, maybe they'll fasttrack you. And it is fun – especially when a crowd really cheers for ya."

"Is this old world gentle 'mon also like Sammy?"

The Pangoro nodded, and scoffed. "I'm the only one that thinks so, but I know he's that sort. You can tell from the aura, when you get the sense for it. That guy's strong as hell. Not much of a duellist himself, he's all gentlemanly about it, but you can tell the Dome's the only thing that really keeps his interest. Everything else is just killing time."

Wyatt puffed lightly on his cigar and nodded down one street. The clamouring noise of urban crowds echoed up from it.

"If you're gonna hang around in town a while, and you're purposeful types who know how to fight, I guess I should let you know. Mind how you talk about that stuff. Being strong? Sure, that's admirable. But eagerness to battle is a bit of a faux pas, friends. Best to talk about claiming bounties and that sort of thing in dignified tones. You get me?"

 

[Ambyssin]

Nova smiled innocently. "Most people assume feral when they see a graydian. Doesn't bother me." A tiny pink halo of fairy energy flickered above the front of his crest. Too bad he didn't have wings to sell the act.

"But, y'know, that brings up a good question." He tilted his head skyward. "Just how many big shots around these parts have that 'aura' about them, anyway? The dungeons always whisper that that kind of power is plentiful out east. And now I'm out east..."

 

[Cresselia92]

Silver decided to not press about that Strapping Sammy, but he made a mental note to investigate about them further whenever he got the chance. Whoever they were they sounded like a pretty big shot.

Curiosity flashed in his gaze and his ears flicked at the mention of the Duel Dome. Was that like a stadium or an arena? An intrigued smirk touched his lips.

“Heh! I don’t mind the casual tussle once in a while, but I gotta say that battling for money sounds… enticing.” He brought a clawed hand to his chin and began tapping it. “Something to consider for sure! D’you have champions or popular strong duelists or something like that?”

 

[Jackie Cat]

"Most people assume feral when they see a graydian. Doesn't bother me."

"Is that so?" murmured Wyatt, tapping a digit against his cigar, pensively. "Rough 'n' tumble species, eh?"

“Something to consider for sure! D’you have champions or popular strong duelists or something like that?”

The Pangoro nodded to Silver, and gave him a confident thumbs-up.

"For sure. If you make a name for yourself against other wannabes in the rookie matches, eventually you'll battle 'em for yourself. We've got some real personalities – there's a couple guys whose whole thing is that they're from out west on the frontier. One's this cowboy, sheriff type of guy, and the other guy – the heel, of course – is some outlaw type. There was a real standout a while back, some 'feral clanner' type, y'know, the noble savage archetype, she was great. Accent kept slipping up, though. Then besides that, there's a bunch of different obvious personas. Gentlemon duellist, masked thief from Tenac', underdog face with a 'streets of Magna City' backstory. And of course, Strapping Sammy comes round sometimes doing her thing."

He chuckled.

"Not that you have to do all that stuff. I don't. Not that it stops the marketing guys trying to paint me as the Union fighter – 'hero of the working class', kinda thing."

The corners of his mouth pulled back begrudgingly, as if he didn't really mind this, on balance.

"Just how many big shots around these parts have that 'aura' about them, anyway? The dungeons always whisper that that kind of power is plentiful out east. And now I'm out east..."

Wyatt considered this, paw rubbing at his chin.

"Hard to say. It's not like anyone's done a census, so there sure aren't any figures you can trust. But there's enough. Thing to remember is anyone could be descended, but not everyone who is will want to make anything of it. You have to work for the power, it doesn't exactly come effortlessly. Which is as it should be, of course."

The bear looked about five seconds from a canned tirade about 'mon with power they didn't work for in a more economic sense, but his humour seemed good, and his spirits high.

"I got a letter once asking if I wanted to join some society, or something, but I didn't really see the appeal. I got all the buddies I need at the Union, that much I can tell ya."

Wyatt grinned widely, confidence pouring off him like steam.

 

[Ambyssin]

"A society?" Nova looked around. "Isn't that what the city is already? Of course you'd turn 'em down." He chuckled to himself, but the laughter quickly faded.

"Unless... ohhhh, it's a different society?" Still playing somewhat dumb, he looked at Archie and Silver. "Hey, didn't you guys hear about something like that?"

 

[Weazel]

This was starting to sound less like a proper sporting competition and more like some kind of professional wrestling operation. Big on plot lines and soap opera drama, less keen on displays of practical skill and expertise. Well, Archie supposed that didn’t make the hits any less real, at least. Still, he couldn’t quite say he was all that interested in that sort of thing.

Wyatt’s mention of a letter did get the Dewott’s attention again. He frowned lightly, and folded his arms in thought. He wasn’t sure what game Nova was playing, but maybe he could play along?

“Well, I have heard tales out west, of a Covenant of humans and their descendants trying to make this world more like theirs, and a Vanguard that acts in opposition to them, but I don’t generally put much stock in rumors,” he hummed, before looking back at Wyatt, “Come to think of it though, I seem to recall a heckler shouting at you to ‘tell the Vanguard about it’ during your speech earlier, Wyatt. What was all that about?”

 

[Jackie Cat]

Wyatt's face shifted, the cocky grin tagging-out in favour of a much more serious expression.

"Mind yourself, where you drop that name," he rumbled, lowering his voice. "The Vanguard's some kinda revolutionary group; some call 'em criminals or worse. The city heelers won't like overhearing you run your mouth about them. They're supposed to be anti-human, or something like that. I don't know, it all sounds a bit "Forlas for the Forlasans" to me, and I don't much care for that – my family's from Tsainan, if you take my meaning? Doesn't mean I don't have a right to be here as a proud Noveluxian and Luctemarene."

He sniffed, looking uncomfortable.

"Thing is, they're anti-establishment or anti-government or something like that – it's not like they're giving public speeches like mine or nothin', there's no manifesto to read, so people just get to say whatever comes into their heads – so any time someone criticises the state, or the bigwigs, or federal overreach, or so much as the way something's run... Some wise-guy jackass is gonna make out like you're nuts-deep in the Vanguard. Sometimes I've half a mind to just bark back that I am, and what are they gonna do about it anyway, huh?"

The Pangoro wiped his mouth with the back of the paw that held his cigar, and then scratched his head, the cigar still lit.

"I dunno about a Covenant. That is the word you used, right? ...sounds vaguely familiar, though. Like, maybe I overheard Sammy say something like that, once? About humans and their descendents organisin'. Heh. Kinda sounds like a Heroes' Union..."

 

[Ambyssin]

"I see." Nova tilted his head. "Well, I live under a rock, so I guess it isn't surprising I don't know much about these kinds of groups." He looked over his shoulder. "They don't sound like 'we're super interested in rare species,' so I've got nothing to worry about."

He blinked several times, smiling dumbly, as if some gears had slowly derusted and were now turning again in his head. "Oh, by the way, what was that bit you were saying before with the dome participants? Some, uh, standout savage with a bad accent?"