Sojaveña Wilds Las Picaras Bandit Camp

[Chibi Pika]

Hob leered at Rodion, his grin made of pointed seeds. "Well, aren't you eager there, Buizel. I suppose you're hoping we'll break out the hooch an' all be best mates by sundown?" He laughed uproariously at his own joke.

"You strangers best be moving on," Nero growled. "Closest settlement is within a day's walk; if'n you have the sun's mercy on your side, you might make it before the Mandibuzz pick your bones."

"We might need the help, though," a Capsakid mumbled in a tiny voice.

"We could keep 'em under watch until Sonora gets back," Sera suggested, fussing with her bandana.

"I don't like it!" Rillo chittered. "What if one 'o these guys is... a lawmon?" The final word was said with hushed tones.

It seemed the group couldn't agree on things without their leader present.

 

[Keleri]

While Tarahn stayed hidden under the brush, one of the stray cans happened to roll in his direction. It smelled faintly of stew.

Tarahn put out a paw to grab one of the empty cans as it rolled toward him, gathering momentum on some hidden incline. It smelled faintly meaty, but the interior was thoroughly licked clean, and he sighed, disappointed.

The vibe of the discussion with the stranger pokemon still felt bad, and Tarahn wished he had Moriko here to persuade them, Vleridin to intimidate and Stomp everybody, or a more senior ranger already prepared with presents-- wild pokemon usually settled down pretty fast or at least started pushing and shoving among themselves for a crate of berries or similar.

"Hey!" Tarahn called out, waddling into view from under the scrub. He waved the can. "You guys know where we can get some food? Or take it?" he added, grinning.

 

[Spiteful Murkrow]

This... wasn't going the way that Lyle had hoped it would, even if he supposed being given a chance to leave was better than getting attacked off the bat. He wasn't sure what to make of the "naked" comments, and the idea of being under desert sun didn't scare him that much, but by Hob and Nero's own admission, it sounded like they were in treacherous territory.

They couldn't part ways with these five just yet: not until they at least learned of a way of safely getting to alternative shelter.

Besides, a part of him kinda missed being around camps like these...

"I don't expect you to become friends of ours this soon. After all, trust is something that's earned, especially in the line of work of a-"

Lyle caught his tongue cast a glimpse out the corner of his eyes at his companions, and was quietly grateful he had those hard-to-read eyes that Cyndaquil did. He was pretty sure that the Buizel or Sneasel wouldn't bat an eye at him being open about addressing these strangers as Outlaws, but some of the others seemed like they'd grown wary since he'd started addressing Hob.

Maybe it made sense to try and keep things a bit more circumspect.

"... 'Professional forager', I presume," he finished. "Point is, we need a chance to get the lay of the land and to get better-equipped for this journey before going anywhere fast. And it sounds like you're planning something that your friends are unsure you can handle on your own."

Lyle tried to read the expressions of the gathered Outlaws. He wasn't fully sure whether or not he was getting through to them. If he wasn't, he supposed they'd find out just how supportive the Voice was planning on being towards them really fast.

"So why don't we talk a bit about what's going on and if we can come to an agreement? After all, I don't think any of us need extra enemies."

 

[ShadowVulpi]

"You call us lawmon, and I'd have to say that would be rather bold of us to approach your group without gear and as decidedly feeble Pokemon, none of which have evolved even once," Lavender stated flatly to Rillo. "Your paranoia is unnecessary."

He gestured to each of his compatriots, as if to encourage the supposed outlaws to give the wayward group a look over, to see how truly harmless they were.

"Do let us help you. We're allies, not enemies."

 

[RJr3:2]

Aige was glad that the Eevee had made the point that the group was in no way equipped to dispense justice, let alone fit the part.

The Roggenrola was also glad that her unassuming stature in no way implicated that back where she came from, she was indeed a "lawmon" in some sense of the word. If she were still a Gigalith, then she would feel very comfortable taking them all on at once. As a Roggenrola? Certainly someone would be comfortable using her as a footstool.

"Do as you will and make your own decisions if we'll do right by you or not," Aige said finally, picking her words in an attempt to even out the apparent earnestness of the others. That they were at least given the option to walk away was a small comfort, albeit, maybe only for Aige who wouldn't suffer the desert nearly as much as anyone else. She felt a little envious of the Toxel who seemed unbothered by the whole affair.

 

[Chibi Pika]

"Fancy yourself a wordsmith, Cyndaquil?" Nero drawled, unimpressed. Still, the rest of his companions seemed to be waiting for the Scovillain to make a call on the newcomers.

After what felt like an eternity in which the two heads conversed seemingly wordlessly with each other, Nero let out a small scoff and turned away, while Hob flashed a toothy smirk at the visitors. "You lot might just have the sun's favor after all, cause we were already planning to make our way toward Frontier Town come twilight. So if you make yourselves useful around camp, we might just find it in our hearts to let you tag along."

 

[Virgil134]

"Good choice," Rodion said. "Now we've got that out of the way, I think a round of introductions are in order."

He hopped off the barrel and extended a paw towards the Scovillain.

"The name's Rodion."

 

[Cresselia92]

The standstill was over. Silver hadn’t realized how much tension he had built up until he breathed out in relief. He somewhat doubted his group would have survived a day-long journey without resources, knowledge of the land or a lot of luck, so that was the best outcome for them all.

And that group of hooligans was going to travel to Frontier Town, huh? Well, whatever place it was, it was a town, which meant civilization. That alone was very promising.

“Hmph! Glad we found an agreement,” Silver said, and his expression shifted from defiance to… the closest he could get to something vaguely amiable. “…Name’s Silver, by the way.”

 

[RJr3:2]

The Roggenrola leaned forward, as if to nod.

"I'm Aige," she said, following Rodion and Silver's lead. Though she still couldn't be sure of the rest of the group's interests, it was best to stick around them since they were all sent together.

 

[ShadowVulpi]

"Whi- Lavender. I'm Lavender," the Eevee said, standing up just a little bit straighter as he spoke. "What would you have us do? Reset the trap we set off perhaps? Serve as lookout?"

He eyed Rodion and his casualness to the situation. Too casual, like he belonged here. Lavender made a note to himself to set the Buizel aside and pry answers out of him. Maybe the Cyndaquil too.

 

[Spiteful Murkrow]

Lyle opened his mouth to speak only to catch himself. He wasn't super eager to give out his real name in front of a bunch of strangers, but if there was something he'd learned over the days before he came out here to Forlas it was that he was terrible with coming up with names on the fly.

After his whole spiel about trust being earned, he supposed it would be for the best to not poison the well with being caught mixing and matching names. Especially if 'Igel' was somehow lazy-sounding in this world, too.

"The name's 'Lyle'. Though what exactly do you have in mind for 'making ourselves useful'?"

 

[Chibi Pika]

Introductions were exchanged and tensions seemed to have simmered down at the moment. Among the bandits were, of course, Scovillain Hob and Nero, Heliolisk Rillo, and Growlithe Sera. The pair of Capsakid reappeared suddenly with exclamations of "Rocco!" and "Carolina!" that were, presumably, their names.

Travel would have to wait until sundown. The topic of what exactly they'd be doing once they reached the town was conveniently absent. In the meantime, there were tasks to be done: scrubbing pots and pans in a barrel of used water, chasing feral mon and poisonous critters out of the camp, and keeping watch.

At one point, cleaning out the tents revealed an old burlap sack containing frayed hats, ripped ponchos, and tattered, empty belt pouches.

"You'll have a fool time blending in anywhere, lookin' like a feral," Hob pointed out. Indeed, most of the newcomers had arrived completely bare. "Don’t expect nothing pretty,” he added with a guffaw.

 

[ShadowVulpi]

Lavender looked over each of the clothing articles, silently debating his options. Truthfully he didn't like wearing clothing too much, but it seemed that was the norm in this world. Not only that, but the ponchos could be useful for keeping warm since he had a feeling it was going to get very cold at night and the fur on this Eevee body didn't keep him warm the way his Glaceon body did.

He picked the least ripped poncho he could find (even if it was stained in multiple places and was too brown for his liking) and struggled his way into it. It felt alright, though it was a bit itchy and it brushed against his ankles. That didn't feel right.

"I'll pass on the hat," he said. "Little too silly for me. And I'd probably lose it in three seconds."

Or just use that as an excuse for when he inevitably threw the hat into the nearest river after getting sick of it bothering his ears.

 

[RJr3:2]

What exactly am I expected to do? Aige thought, looking at the assortment. There were many similar accessories back home, but they didn't exactly fit her either.

"Function over form," she muttered to herself. "Just... any function at all."

There was little point to the pouches which all seemed to be standardized for pokemon with waistlines or at the very least, shoulders. Aige didn't even look at the ponchos.

The Roggenrola finally came to the hats, reaching the same conclusion as before with a quick glance. For a moment, she hesitated, staring at an almost comically overlarge hat with a crown that was as wide as she was.

"At least Eikeva and Hyaeya aren't here," she said, putting it on with a sigh. As expected, it nearly covered her field of vision and came down almost to her feet. It was pretty silly, and Aige stifled a small laugh imagining what she looked like.

 

[Spiteful Murkrow]

"You'll have a fool time blending in anywhere, lookin' like a feral," Hob pointed out. Indeed, most of the newcomers had arrived completely bare. "Don’t expect nothing pretty,” he added with a guffaw.

Lyle pawed through the effects that Hob set out and couldn't help but frown puzzledly. He'd heard that some nobles back home would sometime wear garments like cloaks, but he wasn't sure what to make of the ones set out.

None of them looked like they'd work particularly well as armor, and none of them seemed to have any real standout patterns that they shared in common. He assumed that Hob and the others were all a part of the same band of Outlaws, so it was a bit surprising. Wouldn't it be easy for them to lose track of who was friend or foe in the heat of battle without shared colors and patterns?

Though based off Hob's gang, it looked like just wearing something was the important part in this world. If that was the case...

"I don't suppose you have any scarves in this pile of stuff, do you?" Lyle asked. "Something along the lines of the one that Rodion is wearing?"

Though now that he thought about it, there was something else that Hob mentioned that he couldn't help but wonder about...

"And what are these 'ferals' you're talking about?" he asked. "I've heard of 'mons going off the deep end from pressure or despair before, but not to the point where there was a whole category of them."

 

[Cresselia92]

TLTR:

- Claws and clothing don’t blend together.
- New black poncho!
- Also yeah, what’s the deal with ferals?

---

Another situation, another lesson learned: claws are terrible for sifting through anything shreddable and rippable, and inspecting scraps and accessories was an amazing to test that theory.

Silver huffed, glaring at some thread that got tangled into his claws. ‘Ugh! No wonder I always find holes and claw marks whenever Nyula rummages into my belt bag!’ he mentally grumbled, and began wrestling the cowboy hat that dared to trap his arms.

“Agh! Just let me go, you—!”

Riiip~

“…Uh oh.”

Silver stiffened and stared wide-eyed at the newly-made hole.

‘Dang it!’ He took some furtive glances around, making sure that nobody saw what just happened, then he put the hat back into the box and covered it with other clothes. ‘If anybody asks, it was always there!’

Embarrassed, the former human checked out another corner, and then he found it: a dusty black poncho with red patterns. Just staring at it gave him a feeling of familiarity in that foreign land with foreign people. Without thinking a second too many, he wore it and checked himself out. It felt so cozy and soft on his fur, and he was confident it would have helped in handling sudden changes in temperature.

“Heh.” A neutral smile made its way on his muzzle. “Well! That’ll definitely do!”

His ear flicked when he heard Lyle mentioning feral Pokémon and he focused on the hooligans. “Huh, yeah. That’s something I’m curious about, too. What’s the deal with ‘em?”

 

[Chibi Pika]

Nero raised an eyebow. "Y'ain't even got ferals where you're from?"

Hob scratched his chin. "Suppose that depends on who ya ask, don't it? You got your wild types, y'know--the kind that ain't thinkin' mon like you or me." He inclined his head toward a handful of skorupi skittering around the trash heap, oblivious to the conversation. "Then you got the sorts that, well, I suppose they're thinkin' mon like the rest of us, they just fancy themselves too good for money or possession." He let out a scoff at the notion.

"Living out alone in the wilds does that to a mon, I bet," Sera said with a sage nod.

"Some folks might call 'em clanners or roughlanders but it's all the same," Hob went on. "Y'might run into a few Escarpa Clan if you go wanderin' around them hills."

"Don't forget about them bloodsuckers that been wanderin' out from the mines!" Rillo piped up in a rapid-fire chitter, his frill unfurled.

"Rillo--"

"My cousin's sister's nephew saw one of 'em on the blood moon--!!"

"Rillo, ain't nobody but you thought that were anything more'n a drunkard's tale," Nero deadpanned.

 

[Virgil134]

Rodion quirked a brow as he listened to bandit's explanation. So this world had ferals just like his own called "roughlanders", but then apparently also Pokémon who weren't able to think? He wasn't sure if that Scovillain was just being derogatory towards ferals or if there were genuinely Pokémon here that couldn't speak and only acted on instinct. Under normal circumstances he'd assume the former, Pokémon are Pokémon after all. That said, given that he was in another world entirely, who knew for sure? He supposed he could go over to those Skorupi to find out for himself, though there was something Rillo had said that instead made him look at the Heliolisk skeptically.

"Bloodsuckers?" Rodion questioned. "You talking about feral Golbat here, or actual vampires like in those old human stories?"

 

[RJr3:2]

"Really anyone with teeth or a mouth can be a bloodsucker if they want," Aige said, looking at Rodion. "Not that I wouldn't prefer it to be just a misunderstanding, but you never know what some pokemon do for fun."

The Roggenrola kicked some sand with a foot, turning to Hob. "As for the Escarpa clan you mentioned. By meet, do you mean they'll kill us or just say hello? It's good to know the expected outcome, just in case."

 

[Chibi Pika]

"Bloodsuckers?" Rodion questioned. "You talking about feral Golbat here, or actual vampires like in those old human stories?"

Nero rolled his eyes, but Rillo seemed to brighten at someone asking him to elaborate for once, because he shuffled over to Rodion. "Not Golbat--they're mon that look normal at first glance, til you see the crazed look in their eyes and hear 'em speaking in tongues, and by the time you get that far, you're as good as gone!"

It was clear that none of the other bandits were paying him any mind.

The Roggenrola kicked some sand with a foot, turning to Hob. "As for the Escarpa clan you mentioned. By meet, do you mean they'll kill us or just say hello? It's good to know the expected outcome, just in case."

"Depends on if you piss 'em off!" Hob chortled. "Or if'n you meet 'em in ritualized combat, I suppose. Battlehearts, the lot of 'em."