"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.
