Little Scriven Luminious Square

[canisaries]

Ghaspius looked to the others. "Seeing as most of y'all can't float or fly, we'll take the long way around," he said, gesturing to the long winding stairwells and bridges leading up to the second floor. "Why don't we get ourselves acquainted while we walk? Misdreavus Ghaspius. Nice to meet y'all."

"Sure!" said Andre, beginning to head for the stairs. "I'm Andre Duval. Or, uh, Deerling Andre now, I guess. It's nice to meet you, too."

 

[MintyMimix]

Ghaspius casually floated alongside the Deerling. "Nice to meet you, Andre. Bet you were one handsome Sawsbuck before, huh?" He said with a soft smile. By the tone of his voice, the comment seemed to be more sympathetic than anything. "What's with the 'Duval' part though? A clan name?"

 

[Phoenixsong]

"What? Books ain't money!" She squawked. "Everyone knows Amelia loves hearing stories; she gives out freebies for good ones! Where are y'all even from? They don't teach you these things?"

"'Course they're not! So since we accidentally left our wallets in our other scarves, guess we're just gonna have to share an extra juicy story." Leaf motioned toward the little starly with the Cosmic Crusade book, then gave her a quick wink before following the group toward the stairs.

Thankfully they weren't as tricky to navigate as she'd thought, spaced out pretty decently to accommodate four-legged folks, but the sticky book was still kind of a sticking point. Wasn't the Galar kind of ponyta supposed to be a psychic-type? Not just this weird glue-telepathy stuff, a for real actual psychic. Now that was something she was gonna have to investigate. Maybe How to Horse, Lesson Three could be developing some Horse Sense.

Ghaspius looked to the others. "Seeing as most of y'all can't float or fly, we'll take the long way around," he said, gesturing to the long winding stairwells and bridges leading up to the second floor. "Why don't we get ourselves acquainted while we walk? Misdreavus Ghaspius. Nice to meet y'all."

"I'm Andre Duval. Or, uh, Deerling Andre now, I guess. It's nice to meet you, too."

"Nice! I'm Leaf Linden." She turned to Andre, head tilted a little in curiosity. He had a last name and Ghaspius (ooh, what a cool name for a ghost!) didn't, and he was a "deerling now", huh? "Lemme guess, you used to be human, too, right? Where from?"

 

[Hap]

"'Course they're not! So since we accidentally left our wallets in our other scarves, guess we're just gonna have to share an extra juicy story."

"Guess we'll just have to hope that getting abducted from another world by a mysterious glowing cloud to play hero counts as a good enough story for a freebie," Ridley said. He gave a little wave. "I also used to be human. Ridley Blackwood, from Galar."

 

[canisaries]

Ghaspius casually floated alongside the Deerling. "Nice to meet you, Andre. Bet you were one handsome Sawsbuck before, huh?" He said with a soft smile. By the tone of his voice, the comment seemed to be more sympathetic than anything. "What's with the 'Duval' part though? A clan name?"

"Uh, I guess so, in a way," Andre said. "It's a family name. Humans like me use them instead of species names. Originally, they came from professions or locations, which is why one common family name is 'Smith', for example. 'Duval' means 'of the valley', I believe."

"Nice! I'm Leaf Linden." She turned to Andre, head tilted a little in curiosity. He had a last name and Ghaspius (ooh, what a cool name for a ghost!) didn't, and he was a "deerling now", huh? "Lemme guess, you used to be human, too, right? Where from?"

Andre nodded. "Well, I used to live in Viridian, Kanto before I got sent here, but I'm originally from Circhester in Galar."

 

[MintyMimix]

Ghaspius stopped in place and took a few moments to just blink at what he had been so casually hearing. After a bit, he flipped over in mirth laughter. "Oh, oh, if my sister were here... Hoo boy!" He caught his breath and drifted over to catch up with the others. "Sorry 'bout that. Makes total sense that you'd want mythical creatures on your legendary adventures. They'd make one groovy set of heroes."

A slick smile pursed his lips as he comfortably followed. "So I guess if I wanted to be more human-sounding, I'd be like... Ghaspius of the Sun Tribe? Or Ghaspius Alchemy?" He lifted his tassels in a shrug. "Seems a bit fanciful if ya ask me, but I can float along with it."

The Misdreavus hummed. "You sure it'd be a good enough story 'round these parts? It only just started." He looked around and his eyes widened for just a moment. "Hang on, weren't there like, twenty of us at that place with the Voice? What happened to all of them?"

It would take quite a few winding steps for them to arrive — providing some ample time for further introductions and chatter, if they so pleased. Of course, if they hurried, they could instead make it straight to the general store much more quickly.

 

[Magyk]

"Hang on, weren't there like, twenty of us at that place with the Voice? What happened to all of them?"

"They must have been put in different places," Grace guessed, trying to keep herself heard. She did well to have a big voice for such a tiny togepi body. She must have practiced back home. "Imagine if all of us appeared in that one shop together! That's something not even a party could fix! Oh, and in case anyone missed it before, Togekiss Grace! Er, well, Togepi. My world doesn't have any Hughmans, but I've heard of them."

She was hurriedly trying to waddle after the group she'd shown up with, which left her quite breathless. "A-Am I able to hitch a ride on someone a little more 'able-bodied?' All of you walk too big-- I have to run to keep up and I don't want to roll after you all and be dirty before our meetings!"

Gosh, and she hadn't even thought about what clothing she would wear! She didn't even have a neck... maybe she could get a bow or something...?

 

[Phoenixsong]

"Guess we'll just have to hope that getting abducted from another world by a mysterious glowing cloud to play hero counts as a good enough story for a freebie," Ridley said. He gave a little wave. "I also used to be human. Ridley Blackwood, from Galar."

Andre nodded. "Well, I used to live in Viridian, Kanto before I got sent here, but I'm originally from Circhester in Galar."

"Oh, that's cool! I'm from Kanto! From Celadon—or, well, Pallet Town now, I guess—and not Viridian, but my friend's the gym leader there!

"Haven't been to Galar yet, myself... not that you could tell from looking at me right now, heh. But I'd love to see it someday! That thing where the pokémon get really big sometimes, like in kaiju movies, the, the dynamites thing—is that really true? Do they really explode after you battle 'em?"

Ghaspius stopped in place and took a few moments to just blink at what he had been so casually hearing. After a bit, he flipped over in mirth laughter. "Oh, oh, if my sister were here... Hoo boy!" He caught his breath and drifted over to catch up with the others. "Sorry 'bout that. Makes total sense that you'd want mythical creatures on your legendary adventures. They'd make one groovy set of heroes."

Oh, and in case anyone missed it before, Togekiss Grace! Er, well, Togepi. My world doesn't have any Hughmans, but I've heard of them.

"Really?" She paused to look around, taking in all the various staring and/or scribbling pokémon in town, trying to remember what the Voice had said during their adorable overexcited rambling. "So... where you come from, it's more like here, then? No humans at all, and towns and flying machines and, uh, clothes?"

Mythical creatures, though? Leaf didn't bother stifling her own laugh. What did that even mean? At first she imagined being able to fly or breathe fire or, dunno, grant wishes or something, but nah, probably not. That sounded like a pretty sweet deal to her, but pokémon could do stuff like that anyway, even little ones! Surely that wouldn't seem very mythical to them. "So, what kinds of 'myths' do they tell about humans, exactly?" Her eyes went wide as she looked at Ghaspius expectantly. Forget giving this Amelia person the book—now these were the stories she wanted to hear.

She was hurriedly trying to waddle after the group she'd shown up with, which left her quite breathless. "A-Am I able to hitch a ride on someone a little more 'able-bodied?' All of you walk too big-- I have to run to keep up and I don't want to roll after you all and be dirty before our meetings!"

"Oh! Duh, of course that'd be tricky... sorry about that. I can carry you!" It took a little wobbling, no thanks to the dumb book (Amelia better consider it worth about a million scarves, at this rate), but Leaf managed to kneel down and waited for Grace to clamber on.

 

[Magyk]

"So... where you come from, it's more like here, then? No humans at all, and towns and flying machines and, uh, clothes?"

"Yeah, it's a little bit like this, actually!" she replied after catching her breath. "Not... exactly like this, but we run and build our own things! Clothes are optional, though, they're more like accessories at home!"

Leaf managed to kneel down and waited for Grace to clamber on.

She wasted no time in wobbling over, having to hop to make the difference in height still to make it onto the pretty ponyta's back. She wriggled a bit to get herself comfortable. "Oh, thank you! Leaf, right? You're such a big help!"

 

[MintyMimix]

The Misdreavus nodded his head. "Pleasure to meet y'all, Leaf, Andre, Grace, Ridley. Don't think I caught Espurr's name though."

Ghaspius snickered at Leaf's antics, and tried to gently take the book from her to free up a bit of weight. "No such things as flying machines I'm afraid, but this place ain't too different from back home. Got as much sand as it, at least," he remarked with light shrug. "Exploding big pokémon, though, that almost sounds like a potion that's gone wrong to me! And ya say that's a thing where y'all live?"

He shook his head. "Well, those myths are the very things my sis has been lookin' into. It's said if a human and a 'mon ever fought side-by-side, they'd both become super strong, and a human's voice was almost like battle cry that could make even legends bow their heads. 'Course, that last one don't seem like it's got much weight here." He swirled one of his tassels in a circle. "Not to mention they made all kinds of crazy things like magic devices that can send illusions anywhere, or little spheres that had entire worlds inside 'em. That true?"

 

[Hap]

"That thing where the pokémon get really big sometimes, like in kaiju movies, the, the dynamites thing—is that really true? Do they really explode after you battle 'em?"

"Dynamaxing?" Ridley said. "Yeah, that's real, although not everywhere has the power spots necessary to allow it. If you've ever wondered why the monsters in so many kaiju movies have that red glow, it's probably because they filmed those scenes in Galar instead of using CGI or models. Although I think some movies made with those methods add the glow in artificially, since it's become a stable trope of the genre..." He shrugged, which from the outside looked like a little full-body wobble of his costume, and then said, "They don't, uh, explode, though, that's just in the movies."

"It's said if a human and a 'mon ever fought side-by-side, they'd both become super strong, and a human's voice was almost like battle cry that could make even legends bow their heads. 'Course, that last one don't seem like it's got much weight here." He swirled one of his tassels in a circle. "Not to mention they made all kinds of crazy things like magic devices that can send illusions anywhere, or little spheres that had entire worlds inside 'em. That true?"

"If that's the case, it might explain why some of us were sent here," Ridley said thoughtfully. "Not the ones who started as pokemon, though." And as a trainer Ridley himself had never quite managed to attain the lofty status of completely mediocre, not that he'd put much effort into doing so. His pokemon were better at begging for treats and demanding attention than anything battle-related, and he liked them that way. "Those devices... might exist? Maybe? If we assume that the descriptions were distorted over time, then there are things in my world which sound similar." Phones and pokeballs, maybe.

Ridley missed his own phone. Luminous Square was even prettier from this higher angle; he wished he could take pictures of it.

 

[canisaries]

He shook his head. "Well, those myths are the very things my sis has been lookin' into. It's said if a human and a 'mon ever fought side-by-side, they'd both become super strong, and a human's voice was almost like battle cry that could make even legends bow their heads. 'Course, that last one don't seem like it's got much weight here." He swirled one of his tassels in a circle. "Not to mention they made all kinds of crazy things like magic devices that can send illusions anywhere, or little spheres that had entire worlds inside 'em. That true?"

Andre frowned - this whole 'stronger with humans' argument had often been used as an excuse to pressure pokémon under human control... but perhaps it was literally true in other worlds.

"If that's the case, it might explain why some of us were sent here," Ridley said thoughtfully. "Not the ones who started as pokemon, though." And as a trainer Ridley himself had never quite managed to attain the lofty status of completely mediocre, not that he'd put much effort into doing so. His pokemon were better at begging for treats and demanding attention than anything battle-related, and he liked them that way. "Those devices... might exist? Maybe? If we assume that the descriptions were distorted over time, then there are things in my world which sound similar." Phones and pokeballs, maybe.

"Yeah, as Ridley said, those devices do exist, but they're not magic. They're just very advanced technology. They work with electricity going through these paths engraved on the machine called circuits, with gates that let electricity pass according to certain rules - like if two paths enter an AND gate and both have electricity going through them, the gate lets the electricity through, but if only one path has electricity or neither has, the gate will not let it through. There are other kinds of gates, too, like --" He quieted. "Sorry, it would actually take days to explain it all, and I only know the basics, anyway, from some MewTube videos I've watched. A-and MewTube, in turn, is a place where you can watch recordings of past events, like lessons..." He sighed. "Sorry, there's a lot in our world that yours doesn't seem to have, and it really would take ages to go through it all."

 

[MintyMimix]

As Andre went on, Ghaspius's eyes widened and sparkled in delight. "I don't understand half of what y'all are saying but... advanced alchemy could even make entire worlds? That's radical," he said in awe. "What sorts of materials are these artificial Surskit made of? Are they like phosphorus tubes? Do the gates respond to different levels of heat, or light? Can an electric type be used to jumpstart them?"

He swayed in place trying to contain his excitement. "Not sure how you managed to get a Mew in a tube, but maybe you should let 'em out from time to time, though."

Just as he opened his mouth to speak up again, he quickly realized they had already made it to the entrance and had wandered inside. Tables with circular arrangements of soaps, candles, glassware, and small silverware welcomed the group. Perfectly aligned sets of iron tools by exact size and function marked the visible back of house. Very neatly folded and color coordinated piles of fabrics flanked the sides, and miniature towers of pots and pans sat in the corners.

A Masquerain at the desk carefully adjusting her poncho loudly cleared her throat. "So any reason those wilds I've been hearing about decided to stroll in and get sand on my floor? Get out. Shoo."

 

[canisaries]

As Andre went on, Ghaspius's eyes widened and sparkled in delight. "I don't understand half of what y'all are saying but... advanced alchemy could even make entire worlds? That's radical," he said in awe. "What sorts of materials are these artificial Surskit made of? Are they like phosphorus tubes? Do the gates respond to different levels of heat, or light? Can an electric type be used to jumpstart them?"

Andre tittered nervously. "Uh, like I said, I only know the basics... I think the circuits are made of copper? And an electric type trying to jumpstart something usually just overloads it since the electricity used is so weak... But, um..."

A Masquerain at the desk carefully adjusting her poncho loudly cleared her throat. "So any reason those wilds I've been hearing about decided to stroll in and get sand on my floor? Get out. Shoo."

He was glad to have an out of the conversation. "Oh, excuse me, ma'am, but we're not wilds. We're just unfortunately naked. We're hoping we could trade a book for some clothes." He turned to the ponyta. "Leaf, can you give her the book?"

 

[MintyMimix]

The Masquerain reeled back a bit in bafflement. "Are you implying there's a time where it's fortunate to be naked?"

Ghaspius made a mental note to look into the possible mystical properties of copper before clearing his throat. "What he's trying to say is we just want to put something on, and we got one a heck of a story for you to offer for it, Amelia."

The Masquerain harshly blinked and fluttered her wings a bit more defensively. "Don't like strangers calling me by name willy-nilly, but least that's proof you got some capacity for learning." She shook her head. "Fine, fine, just tell me so you make yourselves not look like you've been rolling in the mud like a pile of baby Lechonks on hatchday. And quit hanging around the door like that! You're scaring off the neighbors!"

 

[Phoenixsong]

Leaf had been wracking her brains to come up with something really weird that pokémon couldn't already do, but Ridley and Andre's explanations put the kibosh on that right quick. Oh, he just meant... normal stuff. Which, sure, would probably sound like witchcraft if you didn't have any of it, but was still substantially less badass than being able to thumb wrestle Groudon or making someone's head explode into candy or something.

"Fine, fine, just tell me so you make yourselves not look like you've been rolling in the mud like a pile of baby Lechonks on hatchday. And quit hanging around the door like that! You're scaring off the neighbors!"

"Terribly sorry to bother you when we're indecent like this, Ms. Amelia," Leaf said, gesturing to Ghaspius for the book and endeavoring to look as contrite as possible. "It's just so hard to find thorough teleporters these days; you know how it is." (She felt a little bad ragging on the Voice, but apparently it had required more finesse than they'd possessed, right?) "But we have it on good authority from Spinda Gare that you've got the best threads in town here, and, well. If we're gonna have to make up for that regrettable accident, might as well do it right, yeah?"

She held out the hoof with minimal awkwardness, indicating the book to the masquerain. "We also have it on good authority that you might be interested in some fine new reading material, perhaps? We could even throw in the astonishing but true tale of how we wound up on our little adventure. Just by way of apology, if you want." She gave Amelia a wink.

 

[MintyMimix]

Amelia held her glare for a few seconds in silence before letting out a sigh. "Ah, I can't stay mad at a bunch of lost kids that are being so polite," she relented as a semblance of a smile formed. "Gare doesn't have his head straight most of the time, but he's a good man. Alright, I'll lend an ear."

"Ma'am, I'm almost hitting thirty..." Ghaspius murmured as he tried not to derail the conversation too much.

It wasn't clear if the Masquerain didn't hear or intentionally ignored the comment as she fluttered over to the Ponyta. "Who does your mane? It's so well-groomed, and you got no calluses. You never play outside?" She muttered her observations before looking at the book title. "Gare trying to pawn this off again? Son of a sunless."

Despite her words, she still chuckled as she gently took the book. "Ah well, it's well-meaning, and y'all seem nice enough. Can't spare anything fancy, but I got some hand-me-downs I could give." Amelia zipped behind her desk, grabbed a large lock box labeled 'Donations', and set it down right in front of the group. She clicked her tongue, and shifted it again to make it was exactly center of their formation.

Her voice softened as she clicked it open to reveal one of the only 'disorganized' parts of the store. "Take anything you want from here, and tell me what's got you into this bare mess." Well-worn and scrappy handmade clothes of different sizes presented themselves. Scarves, ponchos, bands, hats, and even a bit of cheap imitation jewelry sat neatly inside.

 

[Hap]

Lost kids? Ridley was an adult! He had a job! He paid taxes!

"Take anything you want from here, and tell me what's got you into this bare mess."

"We're very grateful, ma'am", Ridley thanked her, and started sorting through the donations box as he considered how to answer Amelia's question. There weren't many ways to say "we came here from another world" which didn't sound completely unhinged. The book Leaf had offered had looked sort of science-fiction-y, from the brief glimpse Ridley had caught of it, so maybe she'd find their story entertaining regardless of whether or not she believed in it.

"As for how we got into this mess," Ridley said, "it's kind of a long story. The short version is that we agreed to help someone out and got dropped here without any preparation. None of us are from around here, so we didn't really know what to expect."

There weren't very many options for clothing which would work well with his rotund little mimikyu body. He tried on a hat and then almost immediately discarded it back into the box. Ridley was not, he felt in his soul, a Hat Guy.

"The long version is rather more complicated," he added, leaving a space for one of his companions to continue the narrative.

 

[canisaries]

"The long version is rather more complicated," he added, leaving a space for one of his companions to continue the narrative.

"Well... I don't know if it's that long," Andre said, digging through the donations box with a hoof. "It's not like we know the full story ourselves. But I guess the main point is that we were summoned from different worlds to apparently 'save' this one, turned into pokémon if we weren't them already and teleported downstairs." He sighed. "I know that must sound crazy, but it's true. Or maybe we all are crazy," he muttered under his breath.

From the box, he found a nice, dark brown cowboy hat and a tiny vest of the same color. The hat seemed to fit him quite well, even including some holes for his ears to go through. The vest was also a great fit, but there was one problem.

"Um, sorry to ask for even more, ma'am," he said to the masquerain, "but I'd need a hole cut into the area between the shoulders. That's where my vines come out, and right now, they have no exit to grow out of."

 

[MintyMimix]

"As for how we got into this mess," Ridley said, "it's kind of a long story. The short version is that we agreed to help someone out and got dropped here without any preparation. None of us are from around here, so we didn't really know what to expect."

There weren't very many options for clothing which would work well with his rotund little mimikyu body. He tried on a hat and then almost immediately discarded it back into the box. Ridley was not, he felt in his soul, a Hat Guy.

Amelia's brows raised a bit. "You agreed to help someone without knowing what you were helping with?" Her eyes glanced down into the box. "Pobrecito. At least you learned your lesson, right? Don't talk to strangers who try to rope you into their little schemes. They always avoid the details."

The Masquerain pulled out a small scarf with a couple of pin-sized holes in them. "Had to take off the badges, but maybe this will work for you?"

"But I guess the main point is that we were summoned from different worlds to apparently 'save' this one, turned into pokémon if we weren't them already and teleported downstairs."

Amelia paused as her mouth held open. After a moment of silence, she shook her head. "Kids and their little fantasies," she muttered under her breath and offered a gentle smile. Deciding to "play along", she asked, "Guess you all wandered into a Mystery Dungeon then?"

With a surprising amount of speed and finesse, Amelia channeled a tiny bit of energy into her wings as she cut near-perfect circles for Andre's vines. "I put a little bit of clearance so they can still come out when you grow big and strong!"

Ghaspius wrapped himself in a tattered scarf of scarlet. It wasn't quite his one back home and hung much more loosely, but it would do. His eyes glanced to the others silently asking about the age question.