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Frontier Town Founder's Square

Reader mode
Oh! And there he went. At least he was hopping this time instead of "teleporting" or something, haha. Leaf nodded at Ghaspius and then trotted after Nidoran. "If you do need help with anything, or if anything looks interesting, just show us," she offered.

She glanced up and down the street as they went, wondering where they'd be heading first.
 
By pure chance, Isidora was walking down the road when the odd nidoran hopped past her. "Huh?" And right after him, Ghaspius and the odd ponyta she recognized as part of their group. "Wha-?"

She had heard the rumors about the nidoran in passing a few times, though she wasn't sure what the deal was supposed to be. Okay, sure, where are his parents, but cryptid? She could have let it lie, but with two other members of the group following after him, she had to know what was going on.

"H-Hey, wait!" She ran to try and catch up, trailing right behind them once she did. "Where're we all going?"
 
Nidoran continued on his way, hopping hopping along. He spared Isidora a glance before continuing along and heading into a shop.

"Why, hello there!" called a curious-looking Graveler. He eyed Nidoran, recognizing the species from the rumors.

Nidoran hopped onto the desk and pulled a piece of paper, nudging it forward.

"Ah, eh... right, eh..."

Nidoran nudged a small bag of coins forward next.

"Sure... I'll get these right for ya..." Graveler, unsettled but not entirely surprised, walked to the side of the counter and began to get various ores and raw minerals.
 
Ghaspius smiled and waved a tassel as Isidora quickly joined their little posse. "Good to see ya again. Isidora, right? I remember ya sayin' it back in that planning meeting." He adjusted his scarf in greeting. "Misdreavus Ghaspius. Or I guess, 'Ghaspius of the Sun', if you're one of those particular offworlders," he said with tilt of his head to imply humanity without saying it outright.

He followed along with a bit of effort, though the casual smile remained on his face. "Shopping, from the looks of it," He chuckled in reply to Leaf. "Not sure why he'd need all these minerals, though..."

He hummed to himself as he made a quick mental note of what the Nidoran was gathering. "He always shop for these kinds of things?" Ghaspius looked up and asked the Graveler.
 
The sudden shouting made Leaf twitch, worried that Nidoran might bolt if a stranger just jumped in on his apparently-sensitive errand, but she relaxed when a quick look his way confirmed he seemed chill enough about it.

"My name's Leaf," she said to the newcomer, "and this is Nidoran! He lives..." Hm. Maybe not the brightest sentence idea; she'd just wanted to make it clear he was a native, but, oops, she had no clue where he actually, like, lived-lived. "...around here," she tried after a few moments' consternation. "I met him before at the library, and right now we're just keeping him company on his errands."

As they made their way to the graveler's shop and Nidoran produced his list, Leaf watched the shopkeeper warily. He still seemed weirded out, but at least he was being civil out of the gate. Apparently Nidoran really had been hopping around frequently enough for people to just get "used" to him. But, hm... if they were only just sort of used to him, then that probably meant he hadn't been running these errands for very long, didn't it? What had he been doing before?

"And has he been coming here for a while?" she added, looking at the graveler.
 
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"Not really. I kinda figured he was with you folks, actually. Showed up a little earlier than that, though..." Graveler shrugged all four arms before getting back to gathering the supplies.

Nidoran's ears twitched again and his attention turned to Leaf. He stared for a little while, inscrutable, and then looked back at Graveler.

"Y'know, it's weird, Nidoran," Graveler said. "Don't say a single word... pretty sure you're feral... but I never get that same threatening vibe I'd feel from a feral heading all the way in here."
 
Ghaspius, Leaf, and... The way Leaf had introduced 'Nidoran' threw her for a momentary loop. "Just Nidoran, huh?"

Isidora put a paw on her hip as she watched Nidoran do business with the shopkeeper. By his apparent name and the way he seemed to carry himself non-verbally, she had to agree with the graveler. "For a wild 'mon, he looks to be at least somewhat socialized. Maybe no one's taught him to use his words yet." Or maybe he doesn't trust anyone enough to speak.

She held a contemplative paw underneath her chin and asked a question directed at no one in particular. "Has he ever been seen with anyone? I doubt he's buyin' rocks for himself."
 
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Ghaspius shook his head. "Ah, I hoped someone did know. Just a bit worried for the lil guy, you know?" He said with a sincere smile and tilt of the head. "Maybe it's for the 'mon that 'socialized' him?" He wondered aloud.

He looked over towards Leaf and Isidora. "I'm not even sure if he understands us fully. He might just know certain phrases." His voice lowered to a whisper. "I don't wanna impose, but this is all kinda funky, ain't it? Do ya think we ought to follow when breaks off?"
 
"Not my business," Graveler said, putting the haul of rocks down and looking concernedly at Nidoran. "Gotta say, though. Never saw 'im leave town."

Nidoran happily pushed the ore into his bag, which was now looking quite full and heavy. He offered a happy smile to Graveler and put the bag over his back again, hopping out--lower this time due to the sheer weight.

For a little Nidoran, he seemed a bit strong...
 
"Really now? Did he just teleport out of here or somethin'?" Ghaspius joked as he flipped upside down. "Well, appreciate it, dude. Y'all have a nice day now."

Ghaspius floated down — or "up" from his perspective — as tried to meet the Nidoran at his slightly squished eye level. "You're a strong guy, aren't ya?" He said with an adoring grin. He had to fight back the temptation to offer help. But he was just too cute. "Got everything you needed, or did ya need to go somewhere else?"
 
Leaf frowned slightly at the vibe comment. Getting her head around the whole "feral pokémon" thing was still an uphill battle, but even then, why would a wild pokémon always be threatening? Defensive, confused if it wasn't sure where it was, fine, but threatening?

JFought said:
"Just Nidoran, huh?"
Click to expand...

Leaf tossed her head in a sort of shrug. "That's what it says on his name tag, and it looks like he likes his name tag, so I guess that's what he's okay with being called," she said.

She followed Nidoran out of the rock store (???) and fought the urge to ask if he wanted them to carry anything; he'd managed fine with that big ol' stack of books, after all.

"We could try," she whispered to the others, though there probably wasn't much point in trying to out-whisper a nidoran's hearing. "I do wanna make sure he's okay. But he is pretty slippery. First time I met him, he did manage to duck out of the library without anybody seeing, somehow."
 
And hop away he did, down the road. Leaf would recognize this pattern a little, because even when he gave a satisfied, happy smile to Ghaspius, he was moving a little faster to the nearest alley...

It did seem like he'd gotten everything he wanted, and he was about to head home again. If he got out of their sights...
 
Aaaand he was speeding up right now, wasn't he, right on cue. Leaf gave Ghaspius and Isidora an urgent look and then picked up her pace, jogging to stay as close as she could. "Are you okay going home on your own?" she asked the nidoran.
 
Ghaspius quickly followed alongside Leaf as his eyes widened. "O-oye, don't just go without sayin' bye!" He said, more justifying his sudden chase to himself than to Nidoran. He started to wave his new leafy parasol to try to literally flag the attention of Isidora as well.
 
Isidora caught her companion's signals and her eyes widened. Wait, is he about to bolt?!

Her mind hastily browsed her options. Can't match his speed, or he'll probably start running. She noticed he was heading towards an alley. Is he trying to lose us there? If we can at least see where he's going...

She didn't want to make him feel threatened, so she allowed the other two to try and slow him down. Meanwhile, Isidora broke off and changed her path with the intention of trying to keep her sight line with Nidoran clear around the corner. It was the best idea she had outside of literally chasing him, and even in worst case, they could at least have some idea of where he was trying to go.
 
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Nidoran looked back and offered a friendly smile again, but this time they could catch a hint of nervousness in the way he was hopping. Perhaps he knew he was being followed or they had other intentions than to help? Either way, he continued and went around the corner, out of sight from Leaf and Ghaspius, but directly within Isidora's. His final hop had been decisive, so when he stopped and saw Isidora, Nidoran's confused blinking suggested he wasn't sure what he was supposed to do next.

He waved at her.
 
"Oh butter my biscuits, I can't find 'em!" Ghaspius groaned from down the alley. "I wanted to give give 'em a lil' berry or too for the road!" For most, the statement would be creepy. For him, it was genuine. And a bit spooky. He was a ghost after all.
 
Shoot, where'd he gone now? "Sorry if we startled you," she called, peeking around a nearby corner to see if she could spot him. "It's okay if you have to go. It's just... things have been weird around here lately. I don't want anything weird to happen to you, too."
 
Thankfully, he hadn't gotten too far, and now, Nidoran appeared to be caught between an alleyway on both sides. He hopped around to face Leaf and Ghaspius next, then looked back at Isidora. His previously pleasant demeanor had now become something closer to caution, searching for an escape.
 
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