Frontier Town Industrial Park

[Namohysip]

"Oh, they didn't," Mhynt said with a rueful chuckle. "Mortals tend to suffer when disagreements of the gods escalate. If you ask me, the world is better without them. But that's neither here nor there."

She rubbed the top of her nose, thinking. "Mmm... Yes. I spoke with the gods. I wouldn't hold them in any high regard; they're similar to people in their physical forms, perhaps with some advanced instincts to run the world as it should for stability. I've been of the opinion that their presence was an indicator of a world unstable without direct intervention. A flawed world. Some agreed."

The Treecko made another gesture with her hand, but nothing happened. Sighing, she instead wet her hands and traced a finger along the sand, having to lean out of her bucket awkwardly to do so. She drew a shape--some kind of creature with huge, crescent moon wings and a head with a similar shape.

"There I am," she said. "An ascendant, you could say. I spoke with the gods because they were my peers. Though, on occasion, mortals could also seek us out."

 

[Spiteful Murkrow]

Lyle stared down at the sigil in the dirt and then back at Mhynt. If this was even a week before he answered the Voice's call to come here, he'd have blown Mhynt off entirely as being full of crap, but... he'd seen enough since then to not do so reflexively. If the Voice could bring beings of myths like humans could be called here, what was a god to it?

That said, he didn't know what to make of that 'ascendant' comment, and he wasn't sure if he recognized the sigil or not. Things had been a blur before coming here which ended with hitting his head at least once from what he recalled and blacking out, and he normally didn't pay much attention to the matter of gods. He hadn't seen a need to most of his life since... well, most of the ones Pokémon knew of back home were busy being dead.

And yet, so much of this conversation felt scarily familiar. The entire war that his homeland was locked in back outside of Forlas was the definition of mortals suffering when disagreements of the gods escalated. As had plenty of others going back to when it and its rival across the sea first clashed after the Great Flash.

"I'm... not sure if I've seen that one before. If that god's also from my world, it's not one that spends a lot of time in my land. If it's even alive right now."

The Cyndaquil shook his head, before turning aside with a low murmur.

"I don't know how on earth it happened, but as different as your world sounds from mine... it somehow sounds like they have quite a bit in common," he said. "Even if I can't say I've ever heard of a god wishing for a world without gods."

 

[Namohysip]

Mhynt smiled wryly. "A good deduction," she said. "I think the world would be much better without us causing such large-scale calamities if we don't agree on how things should be. But... who knows? Maybe then mortals will find some other way to cause trouble when we aren't above them to watch. I was mortal once. Might be mortal again. I certainly know how much trouble we can cause.

"And what about you? Troublemaker back home?"

 

[Spiteful Murkrow]

Lyle cocked his head at Mhynt. Was he really that easy for her to read? Or did she have more of her powers under her command still than just merely teleporting around?

She wasn't exactly Latios, and didn't seem like the type who'd be a patron of thieves. But even so, something about her seemed a lot more approachable than he'd have expected from a god of all Pokémon...

"You could say that, yeah. Even if I wasn't anywhere near as powerful as you were back in mine," Lyle replied. "Did you spend a lot of time with Pokémon like me back in your world or something?"

 

[Namohysip]

"Not really," Mhynt replied, shrugging. "I just guessed. It's not often that I would tell someone that side of myself and be met with such a casual reply. You were either irreverent, seen trouble already, or a peer." She brought her hand to her chin next as if appraising him. "Now, why do you think a troublemaker like you would be summoned here?"

 

[Spiteful Murkrow]

"Honestly, I'm not sure if I understand why myself. Even if I suppose I've seen some things by now, I'm not particularly special. Especially when I can think of others from my world who'd probably have more to offer the Voice than me," Lyle said. "Experience with getting stuck in crazy-sounding situations, maybe?"

The Cyndaquil gave an idle paw at his chest and glanced back through his squinted eyes. He wasn't sure if he was being a bit too open right now, but maybe it was just that sense of peculiar familiarity from holding this conversation with Mhynt that was getting his guard down.

'The Thief and the Goddess'. Hah. It all sounded like some corny book Pokémon would read back home to distract themselves from the world spinning apart. And here it was, just the story of his life right now...

"It doesn't sound like all that good of a reason, but that's all I've got," he said, giving a mirthful chuckle. "I certainly didn't think that I'd go from picking berries for the autumn harvest and trying to get by for a meager winter to this just a couple weeks ago."

 

[Namohysip]

"Hmm." Mhynt took what he said seriously, but seemed to be focused on other things on her mind at the same time.

"Then you are... more or less mundane, but used to more exciting situations," she determined. "I'm trying to find a pattern in why we were summoned, and so far, 'heightened experiences' seem to be the common factor. Have you talked with anyone else? Does that seem to line up?"

 

[Spiteful Murkrow]

"Honestly, not all that much so far, I've mostly been trying to gain my bearings here in town," the Cyndaquil admitted. "Though if the others did have these 'heightened experiences', I can't imagine that they'd be the same as mine. And especially not yours."

Lyle's mind turned back to Mhynt's musings about why their group wasn't entirely composed of humans, when they apparently had an inherent advantage over other Pokémon in this world. Some of the others like Rodion seemed like they had backgrounds like his, but their lived experiences from what he could gather were very different. Others like Lavender seemed like he was more likely to be a guard of some sort in his world of origin. Others Tarahn felt almost like they'd have been Wilders or whatever they'd be called in their home world.

And of course, there were those like Silver were humans from worlds where they still were around. Who didn't seem to fully think like the way the rest of them did...

Unless that was the whole point.

"Actually... now that I think about it, it almost feels like the Voice made a deliberate point of calling 'heroes' that would have different backgrounds from each other," he said. "If the Voice really did call a group that was entirely human over and made a mess of things, wouldn't it make sense that it'd want whatever group came afterwards to try and balance itself out more?"

 

[Namohysip]

"Hmmm." Mhynt's eyes had a glimmer of recognition. "That's true, isn't it? Maybe it was a deliberate choice to include eclectic backgrounds. Maybe that would keep whatever this group is with... human supremacists from recruiting all of us at once. Hmm. When framed in that way, that adds up. And having some humans with us... also may carry over that amplifying aura regardless."

Hm. She should hang around the humans more.

 

[Spiteful Murkrow]

Lyle glanced down at Mhynt in her bucket. He didn't know why this world would affect humans this way, had realizing that they had this 'self-amplifying' power been what turned them against this world?

He cast a glance up at the sky and saw that the sun was starting to peek over the horizon.

"It looks like it's getting late, and you probably still have that 'meditation' thing to get back to," he said. "Though it was nice talking to you, Mhynt. I wouldn't mind doing it again sometime."

 

[Namohysip]

Mhynt nodded. "Take care," she said. "With luck, I'll be able to figure out a few of our answers in the dream that we're having. Assuming I'm lucid enough to ask the right questions, that is... The voice said to remember something. And ironically, I can't. Perhaps I will do better next time."

She closed her eyes and said nothing more.

 

[Spiteful Murkrow]

"Right, see you."

And with that, Lyle headed off into the sunset. Perhaps it'd make sense to try out the Wanderin' Zera that night. After all, there was clearly a lot about this world he still didn't know about, and it'd only make sense to look around a bit more.

Especially if those places had something to drink after a long day.

<><><>

 

[Goat]

Astrid had come the first she'd heard of a 'park'. Hah. How silly she'd been.

She clicked her tongue at every ironclad warehouse she passed between. Knocked her tails together at the squeaky wheels of wagons rolling in the distance. Forced the sawdust from her throat amidst the hubbub of restless progress. Even peeked through a few windows to add some spice to a bland afternoon, one that had been no less confusing than the previous several.

Then she saw a familiar...ly masked face. Any other new arrival she might've mistaken for a young adult frolicking in the paradise of hard labor, but clearly not this guy.

"Oh! Hi!" Astrid said suddenly, as if startled from a daydream. "You're one of the... helmet... fellas. Sorry, um, forgot your name. I'm Astrid."

She walked all the way up to his feet, and he was... fucking huge. Or. Well, no, actually. She was just tiny.

 

[Shiny Phantump]

It was nice to be able to see now. He still didn't have anything to rival his human field of view, but it was manageable. He still needed to get better at working with his other senses, but it didn't feel like a bit of soreness and an above-average sized postcard was all standing between him and living in a state of constant sensory deprivation. It was nice. This place wasn't the nicest around, certainly not compared to even not compared to some of the uglier parts of Alola back home, but he was starved for feelings of normalcy, feeling like he understand what was around him. Inertia and survival had been driving him forward so far. Here, out of sight and out of mind, he could take a moment to indulge in the ability to see gain. Even if nothing about this place made any logical sense, he'd at least be able to perceive it now.

"Oh! Hi!" Astrid said suddenly, as if startled from a daydream. "You're one of the... helmet... fellas. Sorry, um, forgot your name. I'm Astrid."

Had he been in a body more suitable to doing so, he would've jumped. So much for clearly perceiving his surroundings. Shouldn't have jinxed it.

There was a little Alolan Vulpix speaking to him. Hm. He had the funniest hunch that wasn't a local species. "Yeah, that'd be me. My name is Gladion. I don't think we've met, so... Nice to meet you, Astrid. You also aren't from around here?"

 

[Goat]

"Nope," Astrid said. "Nope, I'm… definitely not from 'round here. Nice to meet you too, Gladion."

She took her time pronouncing it and let out a chuckle, forcing it somewhat. "I got to know an awful lot of people at the edge of the world--um, my world, I mean--but I've never heard of a name like that. But it makes sense, I think? Different worlds, different dialects..."

A pause and a sigh. Pleasantries were one thing, but there was no use bottling it up. "...Did you... know any of this could happen? Before, I mean. Being yanked into a fantasy world like this one, one day, and leaving your home for however long. I'm taking it in stride best I can to function, but the more we learn the less it all makes sense to me."

 

[Shiny Phantump]

"Interesting. I wonder how the translation works on that. My name is a relatively recent emergence where I'm from," Gladion said. This was true, of course. "I have heard yours before, but it's mostly historical use." This was also true. Any inferred correlation between those two facts was not his responsibility.

"I knew there was in some sense a veil between the conventional space my home is in, and more esoteric other... stuff. But not what the stuff is. In that sense, it's almost how similar it is that confuses me. Why do I recognize almost ever species of everyone I've spoken to? You'd expect natural history to develop differently here. Except with no particular apparent cause, every species I recognize speaks here when we shouldn't have the vocal chords for natural spoken language. And some people here come from circumstances even closer to identical with mine. Nova, the other one of my species here... The circumstances needed for us to exist are so specific that he's even met someone eerily similar to me, but is awful. It would almost be easier to accept a world with natural laws so different as to be beyond hu— my comprehension. Instead, I'm trapped in a dimensional uncanny valley."

He sighed. There was another thing weighing heavier than the rest on his mind, but that was probably enough to dump on a near-stranger. Maybe he'd bug someone else about souls at some point. Or just see if there was anything he could read about it.

 

[Goat]

Astrid's tongue pressed against the roof of her mouth as she listened closely.

laws so different as to be beyond hu— my comprehension.

A slip. Astrid caught it, raised her brow a half-inch, but didn't press when so much else of what he said demanded her brain-space.

"Wish I could say the same, I guess," she said a little lamely. "I've been trapped in a box before--uh, metaphorically, I mean--and had my reality expanded in ways I didn't think possible, 'cause of my environment. But this? This isn't..."

Reality? No. It had been days now. She'd felt pain, hunger, exhaustion. She'd felt comfortable, uncomfortable. She'd even dreamt.

"...Anyway. Patterns between worlds. I've noticed it too, but nothing quite like that. Mmm." A stray thought seemed to demand her attention for a brief pause before she continued. "I wonder what it is we all have in common, as living things? So much of it is consistent, and so much is different. It's like--like every world has a bored god that makes up their own rules, but all use the same template."

Now she apparently believed in god. This sure didn't feel real.

 

[Shiny Phantump]

Gladion sighed, or laughed, or scoffed. Not even he could tell the difference before with his new voice. "Plagiarism is rampant in the field of divine academia. Now they've had to resort to stealing each other's fucking souls just to stay ahead.

Seriously, though, what is a soul even supposed to do? I’d say I don’t think I have one to preserve my understanding of my own world but apparently even that isn’t true. Maybe it’s just something like an appendix, but then that calls into question what the hell I am right now. ‘Cause if so he probably wouldn’t agree I’m him.”

 

[Goat]

Astrid tasted that word for a long moment.

"Think I'd say the same. Um. About preserving my understanding, not... wondering what I am, eheh. I know I'm a Vulpix--" she sighed, "--again. I never minded it until I'd long gotten used to being bigger..."

She puffed crystallized air as a sanity check, and yes, those powers still worked. Seemed surprisingly potent, even. Good.

Then a beat passed.

"The hell were you before, then?"

Then another.

"...Oh. Oh, I think... I might know." She glanced around cautiously; thankfully, they were alone.

 

[Shiny Phantump]

"Yeah, I'm one of those cases. I do know what species this is, but it's one with a very different brain structure from mine. Which means..."

Gladion grumbled. "I'm wasting my time thinking about it. The answer to every question I have is just gonna be 'souls do that' somehow. Reason need not apply. I guess you were a Ninetales, then? Probably a place without... my species? Hm. If you don't mind pushing our translator a little, does it make sense to you if call you an Alolan Vulpix?"