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Frontier Town Founder's Square

I leave an offering to the Two Aeons now and then
That was enough to startle Nova. To the point where he had to turn away from the wattrel and the others, leaning over an unleashing a flurry of hacking coughs.

Two Aeons. Two Aeons.

... No! Snap out of it, damn it! Different world meant different rules. And different rules meant words could mean different things. He couldn't think like that now. Couldn't think...

Breath. Focus on something simple. Basic.

Nova took a shuddering breath. "Railway still under construction, huh? Guess communication with this Commonwealth must be limited, then." Unless Sojavena held some crazy magitek the Rangers were blissfully unaware of, Nova guessed the groups intrepid summoner was back there. Which meant getting to them was happening any time soon.
 
Nico looked a little concerned, but it cleared up as Nova's coughing did.

"Nah, I get letters from my dads whenever the continental post comes through, but until the telegraph lines are up and open for business, you gotta use the slowpoke post." The bird giggled. "That's just a saying. I don't think any slowpoke work for the mail."
 
Felin hunched forward, flicked her ears to the side and gave Nova a look. She pulled herself to her feet and hopped to the ground. What was up with him? She didn't know. Still, she walked up to him and pat his ankle awkwardly.

Felin said a few words that only he heard. "Dunno what nightmares haunt you from where you're from, but they aren't here. Try to loosen up."

Those words won't be enough, but Felin didn't know what else to say. She bapped his ankle twice and padded back to the bench., stopped short of climbing up and shot Nico a glance. "Say, where can I find me a pair of boots? I feel quite naked you see?"
 
"Huh?" Nico cocked his head at Felin for a moment. "Oh! Right, yeah, makes sense. Sorry, I just... I see a lot of roughlander types out on patrol and I just kinda stopped caring." He tapped his helmet. "This is more for keeping dust outta my eyes than to let folks know I'm a person."

He scanned the town for a moment, thinking.

"There's the general store? Or I'm pretty sure there's a tailor's or two in town. And a lot of saloons have a lost and found full of stuff that never got found, if you don't take issue with taking it~"
 
"Dunno what nightmares haunt you from where you're from, but they aren't here. Try to loosen up."
"Allergies," was Nova's reflexive excuse. Which was immediately followed by an attempt to save face...
There's the general store?
"What if I prefer the colonel store? Or maybe the captain store?"

... Nailed it.
 
Nico's uncertain response made the Grubbin glance away with a long, quiet sigh. Guess she was a bit too optimistic there, and for the moment, they'd need to wait a bit longer.

However, there was something else the Wattrel mentioned that intrigued her, which prompted another look from the Grubbin. "The journey's unsafe, you say? From what? Ferals? Dangerous Pokémon? Know what it is?"
 
"Okay, so, uh... I'm not totally sure what you guys all mean by all of this, it's pretty, uh, confusing... I've never heard of dungeons working differently on other... continents, maybe you meant...?

"Yes, continents, that's what they meant," Kimiko said with a nod, suppressing the urge to glare at the others. "We've all come from pretty far away." Surely it made sense that folks living far away would use different words for the same subject on occasion.

But I guess I oughta tell you all that the thing about dungeons is that you can just... not go in them?
The Escarpa have been experts at it for generations. Rangers are trained in safe procedure for exploring them, and we have a pretty good idea of which ones are more or less dangerous."

Kimiko bit her lip, her head tilted. Well, that made sense for normal 'mon, at least, given that apparently many of them held day jobs. Kimiko, for one, couldn't imagine Dayle going dungeon diving for treasure.

Still, though... she had a gut feeling that these dungeons were somehow related to their purpose here.

Kimiko relaxed upon Nico's explanation. Risk of vanishing with the dungeon was minimal. Dangerous, yes, but she could live with that. She hadn't agreed to come here expecting a nice, safe job. No one sends a cry for help like that when there isn't a threat of some kind.

She hadn't been entertaining the notion up to this point, and in fact had been puzzled by how many of their party had eagerly expressed interest, but suddenly she found the idea of joining the rangers a good one, or at least a good place to start. If her hunch was correct, they'd need to know about these dungeons, and learn how to navigate them. And maybe they could seek out this Escarpa clan if they got in over their heads.

Laura, who'd been cautiously listening to the clamour, raised a tentative paw.

"Nico, do you think you could keep an eye out on your patrol for any unevolved pokémon, could be groups or individuals, wandering about looking lost? There were meant to be more of us coming here, possibly, and it'd be a real help if you could point them our way."

Someone beat Kimiko to her next point; she hadn't felt there had been a suitable spot to mention it amidst all the others' questions flying around. She sent the unfamiliar meowth a nod and a silent smile, glad someone else had shown a little concern for their missing companions.
 
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"Yes, continents, that's what they meant," Kimiko said with a nod, suppressing the urge to glare at the others. "We've all come from pretty far away." Surely it made sense that folks living far away would use different words for the same subject on occasion.

Felin quirked a brow at the snivy for speakingon their behalf and pondered for a moment. Did they have a reason to hide the nature of their origins? Outlanders from other worlds sold a more intriguing tale than travelers from foreign continents.

She slinked up beside Kimiko, donned a smile and asked in a whisper, "Hey, Snivy, I'm curious. Any reason why we can't tell them we're from worlds as far away as the northstar is to the horizon?"

Felin reasoned that Kimiko and the rest of her latecomers group must've learned something on their way before arriving to the square. That or she decided this all on her own.
 
She slinked up beside Kimiko, donned a smile and asked in a whisper, "Hey, Snivy, I'm curious. Any reason why we can't tell them we're from worlds as far away as the northstar is to the horizon?"

"Well, we're trying not to sound insane, for one," Kimiko replied, also in a whisper, but not taking her eyes off the rest of the group. "Look at how Nico himself responded to mentions of other worlds. Pure confusion. I suspect that'll probably be one of the friendlier reactions we'd get. Not sure about where you're from, but back home... travelers from other words is very much not the norm. I don't think we should be drawing any more attention to ourselves than we already have, what with our sudden appearance and... lack of knowledge about where we are. We should be trying to fit in."

She hesitated a moment before adding, "There's more to it than that, but I'd rather wait until we're not being watched by the locals." She gestured to the wattrel. Not that she didn't trust him, exactly, but there was no telling who he'd be compelled to report to.

(to off-screen actions)
 
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They were from another continent? That excuse... it was more fathomable than telling Nico outright that they hail from different worlds, but what if the Wattrel were then to ask what continent they were from? What then?

Eco had to fight back a nasty look, but she still could not help but lay eyes on the whispering pair.

There's nothing more suspicious than Pokemon whispering to another, after all.
 
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She hesitated a moment before adding, "There's more to it than that, but I'd rather wait until we're not being watched by the locals." She gestured to the wattrel. Not that she didn't trust him, exactly, but there was no telling who he'd be compelled to report to.

Felin kneaded the Snivys words in her mind like it was a ball of yarn with a color she'd never seen yet. It made sense. With the nature of the subject she also agreed chattering in earshot of Nico might not be the best call.

"You make a lot of sense, Snivy," Felin whispered back. "Though if we're all as dispersed around as I think we are, this non disclosure might be a hard nut to enforce. For all we know the cat's out of the bag already."

As Felin said that, she hoped that wouldn't be the case too. With those words, she prowled back to her spot on the bench to not attract too much attention to their hush hush exchange.
 
At some point, Mhynt must have gotten bored with the conversation after receiving her answer--lodgings and asking around town if anyone needed help or an odd job. So, she walked into a nearby side road and seemed to search for something else to do.

Moments later, after leaving everyone's sight, she appeared to emerge from the side road on the opposite side of the main square. She nodded to herself, looking at her right hand thoughtfully.

"I don't have all of my powers," she said to herself, out of earshot of the civilians, "but it looks like a little bit carried over."

Still, a teleporting Treecko might draw attention. She'd have to weigh when to reveal that. Was this town safe to do so? What other 'talents' were in the area?
 
"Ah, sorry, here you mention therapy and I decide to just spill all my thoughts out at you without warning."
Clover reached out and wrapped Corey in a hug. "It should all work out, right? I think I heard a story once about the big evil world destroyer getting beaten by hugs and friendship. And someone's got to make sure there's a world left after the battlefield fires burn out."

Clover let go of Corey. "I'm going to look for a clothing shop to work in. Do you want to come with me? We might find a library or office you could join."

A button fell off Clover's head. "I really need some actual thread to sew my clothes on. That'll get them to be part of my body."
 
"When can we go?" Nova said, claws digging into the soil. "Sorely need some rest. I can't speak for others, but getting here was tiring."
 
"I could use a break too. And some food. I dunno, I'm kinda hungry.."

Shiron put a paw on his belly.

"Mostly hungry. Hungry and tired."
 
"The journey's unsafe, you say? From what? Ferals? Dangerous Pokémon? Know what it is?"

Nico scoffed. "It's a couple thousand miles, give or take, of mostly wild land? Surviving off the grid with the provisions you can carry or forage for is hard enough as it is, friend. Let alone making it through any dungeons you stumble into, or making nice with any territorial locals – wild or sapient – or dealing with unseasonable weather... The safest thing to do would be to hitch a ride on a trade wagon, and that opens you up to attack by bandits. Take my advice and wait for the tracklayers to finish up."

She sent the unfamiliar meowth a nod and a silent smile, glad someone else had shown a little concern for their missing companions.

Laura's tense shoulders relaxed a little, and her tail stilled. She had to remember that however unhinged their situation seemed, there'd be plenty of reasonable and well-intentioned people in the party, and she wasn't alone. Or unappreciated, apparently. Maybe she should try approaching the snivy when she was free...

"When can we go? Sorely need some rest. I can't speak for others, but getting here was tiring."
"I could use a break too. And some food. I dunno, I'm kinda hungry.."

"Yeah, I'm sure you all feel the same way. Just down that road is the Traveller's Haus, the local hotel. Prinplup Lucien is covering you all for bed and board there until you find something more permanent, or move on. You can get fed and rested there whenever you're ready. Or if you can convince the manager to put the cost on a tab, the Sun Stone Saloon serves a real swell menu."

Nico donned and adjusted his goggles, and gave the party a feathery thumbs-up.

"Been real nice meeting you all! I'm heading back to the Ranger HQ, but I'm sure I'll see you round!"

The wattrel ranger departed with an impressively vertical takeoff from the statue, leaving the strangers to find their way to local establishments for rest and recuperation. The indeedee doctor watched him go, sniffing thoughtfully. She lightly cleared her throat.

"If anyone gets theirself bloodied or bruised somehow, you come see me. I'm the town's physician and academically qualified medic. Physical scrapes and ailments of the body are my specialism, but I'm a licensed head doctor if need be." She coughed. "If you knock on my door outside of normal business hours, you'd better be nearly dead already, or you will be."

She gave a curt little bow, and then she, too, took her leave.



Laura took a long breath. There were a dozen or so of the party here, but that felt like a third of the crowd she remembered from the Nexus. She looked at the mountain range on the horizon down the western thoroughfare, and squeezed her wrist to ground and comfort herself. This was her life now, then. This was what she was dealing with. What they all were. Galar, her pokémon, her journey, her family, her real body... It all felt impossibly far away.

Better she get some sleep soon, she supposed. She had a feeling it was going to be a long day.
 
“Traveller’s Haus, huh?” Nova shook himself out. The mask was… much more of a burden on his muscles than he remembered. Definitely weak, then. “Sounds cozy. Hopefully it can fit me and Arcty here.”

He took a few steps forward. “Gonna head over. Up to you if you want to join.”
 
"Ah, okay, thank you!"

Shiron nodded, letting out a sigh of relief. A hotel and a saloon. For now, just the hotel. He'd visit the saloon later.

He stook a few steps forward, taking his leave towards the hotel.
 
Alright, this was definitely not something he expected, a consoling hug from a creature known for reslishing in the misery and hostility of others? Even more surprising, it was actually quite nice!

"Well, ah, I suppose I could stand to look for some kind of attire... At the very least I ought'a figure something out for when and if I end up evolving. Frankly not a fan of the default Kirlia motif..." Corey wasn't a big fan of the ralts motif either, but, what the hell was he going to put on over this body that looked like swaddling baby clothes? At least it gave the illusion of being in some kind of garment...

"A look around the town should do us some good... I think our welcome wagon's pretty much coming to a close anyway. We'll just have to make note of this 'Traveller's Haus' so we can reconvene with the others." He went over to pick up the fallen button and handed it back over to Clover.

"I'm surprised this was staying on you at all without any stitching to speak of."
 
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