Frontier Town Industrial Park

[Inkedust]

Bellatrix was watching the inteleon like a staraptor. His expression and body language was not lost on her. "Leeched, you say?" she began. "Rather strong imagery that comes to mind with such language. It makes me wonder how you would react at the possibility of a pure pokémon being among this very group."

She hid a smirk. It appeared to be an excellent opportunity to get into the weeds of what this Covenant was truly about. She sat herself down, wrapping her tail around her paws, making herself appear more innocuous. "You've spoken of why you and your organisation places humans on such a high pedestal, but perhaps you could tell us more about their ideals, what is it that drives them, and by extension, you? What does enlightenment mean to the Covenant of Light?"

At this point, the topic of shadows had all but fallen to the back of her mind. It was now secondary in the face of figuring out more about this odd organisation and whether or not they held any good intent.

 

[Jackie Cat]

“So you’re from a group that associates with former humans, and then there’s us. And you’re insinuating that there’s some other third group out there that’s responsible for these Shadows. That’s a hell of a lot of former humans out there, then. You mentioned a research laboratory. I take it your people have one?”

Nolan's mouth twitched.

"Not 'former humans'," he hissed. "Humans. Those summoned here do not become pokémon in mind and spirit when they take up a new physical form, and their descendants are human also. I am human."

He collected himself by smoothing over his crest again, even as his mouth twitched irritably.

"But yes. My organisation does its best to monitor human activity. Unusual or disruptive developments are often a sign of it, and if this 'Wolf' and the incidents in and around Blaguarro weren't enough, there's the matter of your group's appearance at around the same time I arrived to investigate the Shadows."

Nolan tutted, and made a motion with his hand. "And yes, we do have research facilities. We would be able to study a live Shadow and its aura in such a laboratory."

"Leeched, you say? Rather strong imagery that comes to mind with such language. It makes me wonder how you would react at the possibility of a pure pokémon being among this very group."

Nolan's face soured further, as if Bellatrix had just spat in his drink.

"Forgive me if I do not relish the thought of my abilities being siphoned away into any non-human who spends enough time in my presence. You may do as you please, but it would be an error – a grave error – to allow your strength to pass outside your group, and outside your influence. At least the affiliation of non-humans in your group lies with you and not with some native faction."

He swallowed, his expression colder than ever.

"I could tell you of more than one instance of a human making a companion of a native pokémon, only to later have that partnership shattered, leaving immense power in the hands of a rogue pokémon loyal to a cause all their own."

"You've spoken of why you and your organisation places humans on such a high pedestal, but perhaps you could tell us more about their ideals, what is it that drives them, and by extension, you? What does enlightenment mean to the Covenant of Light?"

"You mentioned wishing to know more about my organisation's cause," he continued, relaxing only slightly. "Humans exist on Forlas to safeguard it, and not to further their own petty agendas. Those called by the light tend to understand this implicitly, though not all will agree on what is best for this world. Those born to such humans do not share the same calling, but they share the same responsibility. The Covenant exists to ensure that the descendants of human saviours carry on their legacy, where they might otherwise use their power unwisely. We work to ensure that extraordinary power is never misused, and the world and its population are kept safe. Naturally, if this faction in Blaguarro are humans using their abilities to commit atrocities, then they are of critical importance to us, to put it quite bluntly."

 

[HelloYellow17]

"Not 'former humans'," he hissed. "Humans. Those summoned here do not become pokémon in mind and spirit when they take up a new physical form, and their descendants are human also. I am human."

There was no mistaking the venom in Nolan’s tone. Wes met the mon’s gaze. “So am I, though you probably figured that out already,” he said. “Which begs the question…how did your ancestors get here, then? What was your purpose in coming here—or was it an accident?”

There was no more point in pretending. Wes trusted this guy as far as he could throw him, but at least they’d gained some information. And if they wanted more…they’d have to cooperate at least a little, as much as he detested the idea.

“If we share these documents with you,” he said slowly, “then we should get something in return. I’d like to be in the know with your findings on Shadow Pokémon. And, if you’re willing…we could work together to apprehend this Wolf and see what his deal is.” I’ll be keeping my eye on you the whole time, though.

He then raised his eyebrow raised higher and higher as Nolan went off about normal mon “siphoning away” the special human power, or whatever. This guy wasn’t even trying to hide his disdain for the normal Pokémon here, that was for damn sure.

"I could tell you of more than one instance of a human making a companion of a native pokémon, only to later have that partnership shattered, leaving immense power in the hands of a rogue pokémon loyal to a cause all their own."

That sure sounded familiar, too…Wes flicked an ear. “Does one of those instances of ‘rogue mon’ happen to include a Luxio, by any chance?”

Not that he knew what a Luxio looked like, either, but it was worth a shot. Dammit, was there an encyclopedia of all the species around here somewhere?

 

[canisaries]

As Nolan kept speaking, it became more and more obvious how much he revered humans and thought of native pokémon as inferior. Andre clenched his jaw and held back the desire to call him a piece of shit right then and there.

Even if this group of humans ended up being against the group involved with the shadow pokémon, they would still be their enemy on ideological grounds. At least Andre certainly hoped that's how the others saw it. Would there be humans among them that actually agreed? He remembered Ridley saying pokémon weren't people in his world. He seemed to understand well that they were people here, but what if others didn't? What if their preconceived notions of how pokémon were in their world got the better of them? Would they lose them to the enemy?

Andre wanted to believe no such people existed amidst their group - they were supposed to be heroes, after all - but he couldn't be so naive that he'd reject the possibility outright.

 

[Sinderella]

That’s a cult pitch if I’ve ever fucking heard one, Odette thought. And she’d heard some before. So perhaps there were more different nuances to this than she initially thought. Maybe this was a case of Cult against Cult. Shadows inconveniencing the doings of another nefarious organization.

Not to mention, Nolan had a very obvious disdain for non-human Pokemon. She knew Steven was a human. So was Andre. And Dave. And Wes. She realized she wasn’t sure about Bellatrix, and had never said a word to the roggenrola, so those two were up in the air. Something about Nolan’s air of superiority around the subject tickled her Wrath, and she gnawed on the tip of her tongue until she tasted blood. But her expression didn’t waver.

Well, if she couldn’t get anything else about potential employment out of him, the next best thing would be to work on wriggling her way in one inch at a time.

A look that could be described as gently impressed crossed her eyes. “No, I get where you’re coming from,” she said, raising a hand in understanding. “As a human myself, it’d piss me off too if I had my abilities siphoned down. Not interested in giving that kind of leverage to some ‘mon who might use it against me or others. That’s the opposite of safeguarding, which goes against my entire reason for coming here at all.”

 

[Butterfree]

"There is more to this than I can summarise in a pithy statement. It is the nature of humans that by spending time in the company of non-human pokémon, their extraordinary powers are leached into those... associates. It does not surprise me that your non-human affiliates are growing stronger as well. The same is also true of native pokémon who accompany humans."

Nolan looked as if he'd suffered some kind of acid reflux.

Dave raised an eyebrow. Jaak had mentioned companions of human heroes growing stronger in their presence before, but he hadn't made it sound like a zero-sum thing. Nolan's framing of it and the obvious expression of disgust was raising a whole lot of very red flags, and once he started disdainfully going on about summoned humans not becoming 'Pokémon in mind and spirit' so their descendants still count as human he could barely hear him over the fucking klaxons going off. Jesus Christ. It was all well and good if they wanted to stop humans committing atrocities with their ridiculous superpowers, good fucking riddance to Voclain, but somehow he didn't trust the secret society that thought humans were supposed to be the Pokémon's gods and saviours to be the judges of that.

"Well, if what's going on is the Pokémon siphoning off our energy it sure worked quickly, since there hasn't been any notable difference between humans and not in the party since we got here, as far as I could tell. Are you telling me you've done real scientific work on this? Suggesting humans get less powerful when they hang around Pokémon?"

He'd also brought up that Wolf guy again, which reminded him that still didn't make any fucking sense. "Also, what exactly makes you think 'The Wolf' is a shadow Pokémon? You said yourself they don't seem to be acting on higher thought, and people describing him as a 'beast of shadow' isn't exactly evidence."

 

[Jackie Cat]

“How did your ancestors get here, then? What was their purpose in coming here—or was it an accident?”

Nolan's hand clenched. "They weren't summoned, if you must know."

“If we share these documents with you, then we should get something in return. I’d like to be in the know with your findings on Shadow Pokémon. And, if you’re willing…we could work together to apprehend this Wolf and see what his deal is.”

Nolan nodded stiffly. "That is precisely the arrangement I'm suggesting. I'd note that I have thus far given your group a considerable amount of information already, whilst you have yet to so much as tell me your names."

“Does one of those instances of ‘rogue mon’ happen to include a Luxio, by any chance?”

"Not a Luxio," corrected Nolan. "Luxray Sierra, chieftain of the Escarpa Clan."

“No, I get where you’re coming from. As a human myself, it’d piss me off too if I had my abilities siphoned down. Not interested in giving that kind of leverage to some ‘mon who might use it against me or others. That’s the opposite of safeguarding, which goes against my entire reason for coming here at all.”

"Well, if what's going on is the Pokémon siphoning off our energy it sure worked quickly, since there hasn't been any notable difference between humans and not in the party since we got here, as far as I could tell. Are you telling me you've done real scientific work on this? Suggesting humans get less powerful when they hang around Pokémon?"

Nolan eyed Dave with suspicion, but to Odette he looked intrigued.

"If you think of a way to test strength empirically with a control group and so on, please do look into it," he said, caustically. "In the meantime, the Mawile gentlewoman understands the danger, and I suggest you show similar caution."

"Also, what exactly makes you think 'The Wolf' is a shadow Pokémon? You said yourself they don't seem to be acting on higher thought, and people describing him as a 'beast of shadow' isn't exactly evidence."

"As for this Wolf, it's not merely vague figurative language that leads me to my conclusion. I... saw him for myself."

The occasional twitching of jaw and finger that afflicted Nolan when he became stressed were markedly more noticeable, now.

"It was I who took that photo. And I can assure you, he was a wielder of Shadow."

 

[Inkedust]

Bellatrix sat there, considering her options. She took satisfaction that this topic was giving her something to work with. While the topic of the Wolf was of great interest she was far more fascinated by the way the inteleon behaved when it came to the topic of humans. She shot Steven an apologetic look, perhaps he could attempt to salvage this later but right now she was looking for a reaction. A loss of Nolan as a potential partner was a fair trade in her mind, they could figure out more on their own. Besides, how could anyone within their group work with someone who seemed to have an acid reflux every time the word 'pokémon' was mentioned when a good portion of their group were pokémon?

"My name is Bellatrix if you were wondering that. But I must say that it is unfortunate you feel that way about pokémon given that you're speaking to one right now," she said, placing a paw to her chest to gesture to herself. "I certainly don't hold any ill intent towards my human peers but if that is the way you feel..."

She trailed off, waiting for Nolan's reaction.

 

[Sinderella]

"In the meantime, the Mawile gentlewoman understands the danger, and I suggest you show similar caution."

“It’s Odette, sir,” she said through an embarrassed half-grin. “I apologize for my manners today; I’m prone to getting caught up in the moment when I’m learning new things. I hope that doesn’t underscore how valuable I’ve found this conversation to be.”

Then, Bellatrix spoke.

There it is.

Now that she was thinking about it, yes. Of course she was a Pokemon. Odette herself had been rather open about her partnerships during their talk at the construction site, whereas Bellatrix had mentioned knowing things about Dungeons and whatnot. Duh.

Honestly, what a dramatic and well-timed moment for the reveal. And it made her feel all the more bad about the act she was considering putting on. She liked Bellatrix so far. Being a Pokemon made her no less capable than anyone else, and the fact Nolan thought otherwise had Odette gnawing her tongue again.

Still, she gave the zorua a deeply pensive look.

 

[Butterfree]

"If you think of a way to test strength empirically with a control group and so on, please do look into it," he said, caustically. "In the meantime, the Mawile gentlewoman understands the danger, and I suggest you show similar caution."

In other words, they had fuck-all data for that claim and were just pulling it out of their ass to justify segregation and conveniently keeping all the superpowers for themselves. Color him fucking surprised.

Odette was laying the smarm on thick in a way that sounded distinctly unlike her, presumably to gain the guy's favor and get more out of him. Dave wasn't sure how much longer he could spend in the fucker's presence without wanting to vomit, and definitely wasn't a fan of the idea of the team sucking up to him and legitimizing his insane bigotry. On the other hand, if they were going to try to overcome these people, they probably needed all the info they could get. He sighed in irritation.

"Not a Luxio," corrected Nolan. "Luxray Sierra, chieftain of the Escarpa Clan."

There was that name again. "Oh yeah? What atrocities has Luxray Sierra been getting up to with her powers?"

He peered at Nolan. Apparently none of his ancestors had been summoned? Did he have that right? Then where the fuck did they come from? That seemed a question he wasn't inclined to answer.

"I guess you're saying you got attacked by this Wolf guy yourself?"

 

[Jackie Cat]

"Oh yeah? What atrocities has Luxray Sierra been getting up to with her powers?"

"Murder," said Nolan, immediately, without elaboration.

"I guess you're saying you got attacked by this Wolf guy yourself?"

Nolan's eyelid quivered.

"He... overwhelmed me. I was badly injured. But I escaped."

“It’s Odette, sir,” she said through an embarrassed half-grin. “I apologize for my manners today; I’m prone to getting caught up in the moment when I’m learning new things. I hope that doesn’t underscore how valuable I’ve found this conversation to be.”

"That's quite alright, Ms Odette," replied Nolan, evenly.

"My name is Bellatrix if you were wondering that. But I must say that it is unfortunate you feel that way about pokémon given that you're speaking to one right now," she said, placing a paw to her chest to gesture to herself. "I certainly don't hold any ill intent towards my human peers but if that is the way you feel..."

And then his expression fell cold again. Sullen, one might call it. He said nothing at first, but his hand drew to his chest, fingers curling.

"...Non-human offworlders are a known phenomenon to the Covenant," he said, quietly. "Non-humans summoned by the light are... unprecedented. I cannot conceive of why the light should bring you here, Bellatrix, but clearly you must share some part of your group's responsibility to this world. I wish you... every success."

The Inteleon's face looked as if he resented his mouth for speaking the words.

 

[Sinderella]

Nolan’s metaphorical pain as he spoke to Bellatrix wasn’t easily hidden. His grace to those looking to “safeguard” the world clearly only applied to former humans.

After waiting for Bellatrix to respond, and for her companions to chime in, she allowed another beat to pass before clearing her throat and sending a look toward Steven.

“Right, so…if there’s nothing else that needs to be said, maybe we could seal the terms of this gentleman’s deal and be on our way?” she suggested. “Hard to do more field investigating if we’re in here.”

 

[Inkedust]

Bellatrix kept her gaze even. She had never seen someone who's words were as far from their true feelings quite like this one. Perhaps a few games of poker could help straighten that out but no need to flatten out an advantage. Just where would he go from here?

"Life is full of surprises as they say," Bellatrix replied. "Regardless, the information gleaned here today has been quite illuminating." She spared a glance towards the others. "I believe I have learnt all that I need to know, but if there are more matters to discuss between yourselves then I am fine to wait just a bit longer," she added with a polite nod.

 

[HelloYellow17]

Wes had to resist making a face at Odette’s efforts to Nolan’s prejudiced side. Props to her, honestly; he doubted he could stand to say such things for even ten seconds. He almost thought it would be too obvious to work, but Lizardboy ate it right up.

Wes somehow managed to hide his smirk. Sucker.

He glanced at Bellatrix, surprised at her forthcoming admission, and wondered what Aige thought of all of this, too, as a Pokémon herself. Gods, Wes detested this guy, and he wasn’t even a real Pokémon. He couldn’t imagine how they were feeling.

He looked back to Nolan. “I suppose you’re right. Name’s Wes. And to be perfectly honest, I don’t like you. Don’t trust you, either. But I’m willing to set aside our differences to work on discovering more about these Shadow Pokémon.”

He felt a foreboding coldness in his chest as he spoke. If there really was a third organization out there with the power to create Shadows, then he didn’t want these people within a hundred damn miles of that tech. To take this deal was a risk, but…it was the best shot they had.

He glanced at Steven—still not a fan of how ready that guy was to trust and work with Nolan. Had he not noticed the red flags? Or worse…did he agree with Nolan’s views on humans and Pokémon? Sands and stars, I sure as hell hope not.

Pushing past these thoughts, he nodded stiffly to the Beldum. “Guess it’s time to make that deal, then.”

 

[Panoramic_Vacuum]

Steven kept his gaze straight ahead, focused solely on Nolan. He knew the others were staring at him, waiting for his response. He resisted the urge to look back, explain himself, but that'd have to be later. This was a business meeting, nothing more, and there was no rule that said you to like the person you were working with...

"No, you're right," he began. "Those with the power to help should do so. And if there are humans who are using that power to create these shadow pokemon, they need to be stopped."

He hovered upright and swung his claw forward in a makeshift handshake.

"Steven," he introduced himself flatly. "I look forward to your cooperation."

 

[Butterfree]

"Murder," said Nolan, immediately, without elaboration.

Right. Yeah, Dave'd read something about some grisly murder case where she'd been a suspect. Never actually solved, and most everything he'd read about the Escarpa clan had been served up with a large helping of obvious racism implying they were dangerous savages because they didn't wear enough clothes. Not trusting that allegation farther than he could throw it. (Not as if people could murder each other without fucking superpowers. No, any murder committed by someone who'd ever been in the presence of a human proved that the races must be kept separate for the greater fucking societal good.)

And then his expression fell cold again. Sullen, one might call it. He said nothing at first, but his hand drew to his chest, fingers curling.

"...Non-human offworlders are a known phenomenon to the Covenant," he said, quietly. "Non-humans summoned by the light are... unprecedented. I cannot conceive of why the light should bring you here, Bellatrix, but clearly you must share some part of your group's responsibility to this world. I wish you... every success."

The Inteleon's face looked as if he resented his mouth for speaking the words.

Oh no, he couldn't conceive of why the light would bring a Pokémon. Almost like they were fucking people. (In some universes, apparently. It was a jarring thought that his own universe's Pokémon had somehow become an afterthought in the time he'd spent here. Cowboy world really was driving him insane.)

"So you're saying sometimes you get offworlders who aren't summoned? How does that happen?"

He watched, scowling, as Wes and Steven prepared to make a deal with Nolan. (Wes made it clear he was holding his nose in doing so, but did Steven actually believe this shit?)

Was Nolan and his human enlightenment cult actually behind the shadow Pokémon? Over the course of the conversation that'd become harder to believe. He'd had a legitimate snap reaction to Odette's spike, which could have been because he wanted to examine it or because he didn't want them to have it, but he'd then made no attempt to make an excuse to keep it, so it had to be the former. And Nolan sure talked about Voclain with abject disdain. Like he thought the guy'd given humans a bad name, when they were supposed to be these lofty fucking savior figures. Same with this Wolf guy. If Nolan wanted to throw them off the scent by sending them chasing after a scapegoat, then what was the fucking point of claiming the Wolf himself was a shadow Pokémon except different from every other shadow Pokémon? If he wasn't actually, wouldn't they find out and Nolan'd immediately look more suspicious for bullshitting them? If he was some kind of escapee from the shadow program that they wanted to get rid of, then wouldn't sending them after the Wolf after telling them he had his mental faculties mean they'd talk to him, and he would tell them? It didn't make any fucking sense no matter how he looked at it.

No, the human supremacists probably just had some concerns about shadow Pokémon. Probably because it created Pokémon even more powerful than their pure, precious segregated humans.

He exhaled through his nose. "Look, okay, we all agree there's some twisted shit going on in Blaguarro. And yeah, we'd love to do something about it, whoever's behind it. But like I said before, last time we encountered shadow Pokémon didn't exactly go fucking swimmingly. We'd need a lot more fucking firepower to waltz in and put a stop to it."

He took a breath. "Also, why do you keep saying our appearance has something to do with the shadow Pokémon? It sounds like it's been going on a whole lot longer than we've been here."

 

[Jackie Cat]

"So you're saying sometimes you get offworlders who aren't summoned? How does that happen? Also, why do you keep saying our appearance has something to do with the shadow Pokémon? It sounds like it's been going on a whole lot longer than we've been here."

"Most offworlders arrive without instructions from the light," said Nolan, curtly. "We don't know what causes it, precisely. Only that they have a vague memory of falling into an anomalous ingress of some kind. And, ahem, you'll pardon me for thinking it odd that you should appear in the same week that I arrive to investigate a sharp spike in Shadow activity and muse that it may not be a coincidence."

“Right, so…if there’s nothing else that needs to be said, maybe we could seal the terms of this gentleman’s deal and be on our way?”

"Life is full of surprises as they say. Regardless, the information gleaned here today has been quite illuminating. I believe I have learnt all that I need to know."

“I suppose you’re right. [...] I don’t like you. Don’t trust you, either. But I’m willing to set aside our differences to work on discovering more about these Shadow Pokémon. Guess it’s time to make that deal, then.”

"No, you're right. Those with the power to help should do so. And if there are humans who are using that power to create these shadow pokemon, they need to be stopped. Steven. I look forward to your cooperation."

"Yes, I think we can conclude this meeting," agreed Nolan, doing what little he could to sound pleased rather than frustrated. He reached out and took one of Steven's claws to shake, and then bowed lightly to the rest. "I'll send word by the same means at any time I should be available to inform you of some development or discovery. If you should have information to share or otherwise wish to contact me, I am staying at the Sun Stone Saloon for the duration of my time in town, and the manager should be able to pass on a message. Mr Steven, I shall arrange a time in the near future to come by and take a look at such documents as you have recovered – I should dearly like to learn the economic movements of Voclain's accomplices."

 

[Sinderella]

If you should have information to share or otherwise wish to contact me, I am staying at the Sun Stone Saloon for the duration of my time in town, and the manager should be able to pass on a message.

Odette raised her brows. “Small world. I work there and am pretty friendly with the manager,” she said. “I’d be more than happy to act as a messenger myself, if need be.”

 

[Butterfree]

He was going to just completely ignore the main issue? Well, okay then. Good for him if he was going to blindly entrust rooting out this shadow thing to a bunch of first-stages who already nearly fucking died to a single shadow Pokémon.

A 'sharp spike'. So he thought that was what they were summoned for, or what? Technically the cloud didn't know anything about the nature of the fucking crisis. What, were they going to be expected to just cheerfully help the Racism Society deal with the shadow Pokémon and then merrily go home? Fuck that.

He watched for a few seconds as Nolan shook hands with Steven, jaw clenched.

"You know what, if your entire fucking secret society hasn't thought of any kind of empirical test of strength to test a claim as basic as whether a human's energy is siphoned off when they hang out with a Pokémon, you've got a serious lack of imagination," he then said. "How about 'prepare a succession of similar rocks of different weights, test which ones you can lift'? 'How far can you throw a rock of standard size and weight'? 'How long can you sustain a Flamethrower'? Split into two groups, each person in one group hangs out in a room with another human for a week and the other group spends the week with a Pokémon. Test the same measure both before and after, crunch the numbers. I'm sure if I spent more than ten seconds on it we could refine it, but guess what, it'd be real easy to blind this test because conveniently, without fighting your mystery roommate or them actively blabbing, it'd be impossible to fucking tell."

With that, he turned to leave.

 

[RJr3:2]

Aige followed the developments of the conversation, slowly thinking things over. Nolan's comments about humans and non-humans rang hollow to her, for all it meant he could have been saying the same thing about the rich and the poor. At the very least, she could appreciate how passionate he seemed about it.

Everyone has their hang ups, she thought, glancing around at the others. If Mr. Nolan wants to uphold his peace so bad though, then he's welcome to try.

"Looks like there are enough shadows to go around," she said lightly, "Non-humans just can't keep up."

Another thought occurred to the Roggenrola. Oops, I guess that means me. Oh well, no one said anything about me not becoming one, did they? I'll just say I am if anyone asks and see if that makes a difference.