Frontier Town Main Street

[Mr.RMA]

Spidops... He'd heard of such a creature, one of those native to Paldea if he recalled... Shame he never really got a chance to actually visit the region yet, but it was neat to meet one of the Pokemon from the area... for whatever good it was worth, since he was apparently going to forget all of this when the journey was over... but all that was really not important at the moment. What mattered was that this Spidops, Lorenzo, was willing to give them cheap accessories, and even better, offer them all genuine outfits if they helped him out. Now that, to Corey, seemed like a good first mission! Hardly a chance to get the shit kicked out of him acquiring an invitation to a gala.

"Well, Mr. Lorenzo, I can't speak for the others, but that sounds like a pretty reasonable deal to me... Where would you suggest we start looking to get ahold of these invitations?"

 

[VeniaSilente]

They were quickly joined by a Spearow, likewise naked, who introduced himself as Kalas. Archie hadn’t noticed him in the crowd, but there had been a lot of Pokemon, and Spearow was on the smaller side all things considered.

“I, uh, think that Ranger bird was wearing a helmet and some goggles. Seemed pretty practical?” He offered, helpfully. Just what kind of Pokemon was that bird? He’d never seen it before. Something to ask about later, maybe. For now, he followed Kalas and Corey into the shop.

Kalas thought back to the Wattrel and nodded. "True, for the work where one flies a lot. Still, some sort of head covering doesn't sound like a bad idea... are you picking up anything like that?"

Once Clover and her companions had browsed and talked a little, the tailor himself emerged from the back of the shop, clearing his throat to get their attention. He would have had to do so – he was a spidops, and otherwise moved with perfect silence.

"Good morning," he said, stiffly. "I am Spidops Lorenzo, tailor and vendor of this establishment. May I assist you in any way, or would you like to browse unattended?"

Kalas turned to the Spidops and waved a wing. "Oh, sorry. Hello, yes, uhm. yeah—"

He waited for the Oshawott in the group to introduce them.

“Uh, hello! My friends” – he paused to gesture at Kalas and Corey – “are new to town – we all are – but they don’t have anything to wear.

"Yeah I'm Kalas. I was wondering if you would have a tie. And something for my head."

The spidops walked behind his front counter and gestured to his wares.

"Accessories are cheap. Pleasant, essential, but unremarkable – the leavened bread of my art. Outfits are the thing I live for, and there are only so many more I can afford to make on my own dollar, or expect to be commissioned to craft for clients, before I pass on. I am adequately successful, but in old age my thoughts turn to legacy. I wish to make beautiful garments. For this, I need exceptional customers."

Now he gestured to the party – and to Archie specifically.

"Take any item under a dollar and wear it for personal use. The service I ask in return is this: there is a gala later this month at Frontier Hall, hosted by Mayor Ignatius, the empoleon. The well-to-do of this town will be there, as will moneyed guests from Landsverd, Novelux, and elsewhere. Secure invitations to this gala, and attend it, in as conspicuously prestigious a manner as is expedient. I shall furnish you with exquisite clothing to wear at the event, and you shall indicate to anyone whose eye you catch that it was tailored at this establishment."

Lorenzo folded his arms.

"Is this proposal agreeable to you, sirs and miss?"

Kalas thought it over for a moment. It didn't sound like a bad plan — in fact, it sounded quite advantageous. For a very small cost, they could all get access to a meetup of the elite of the town and of nearby areas.

That *and* he could get a tie.

He looked to the others in the party and gave a curt nod of approval, just in case.

 

[Weazel]

“Oh, this is about as dressed as I normally am,” Archie replied to Kalas, gesturing to his fedora and jacket. He was really lucky he’d already had prior experience being an Oshawott to desensitize him to the idea of not wearing pants. That was definitely something that had taken some getting used to when he’d first wound up in his previous world.

It seemed like this Lorenzo fellow wanted them to do some old fashioned advertising. It certainly wasn’t too crazy of an ask, though the Oshawott did think the price limit was a bit much. Certainly it was perfectly reasonable for the Spidops to not want to part with any of the larger or pricier articles, but a dollar? Maybe the currency rate here was different from how it was back home. Well, at least it was something Kalas and Corey could start out with, and both seemed interested enough in taking the deal. That just left the other component of the Spidops’s deal, the invitation to the gala.

“We’re all pretty new in town, we don’t have any connections to speak of, and it sounds like there’s not much time to get established. So if you can give us any ideas about how we can obtain invitations, it would really be appreciated,” Archie said, echoing Corey.

 

[Mr.RMA]

Now, a dollar did seem a bit low at first, but Corey had to remind himself of the environment they were presently in. This was the old west, the frontier... Places like these put a lot more value on their currency, becuase it was naturally more difficult to come by. Really, when factoring that in, Lorenzo was being quite generous to this lot of strangers. Corey took a glance around and eventually eyed a simple green bowler hat. It seemed just a tad above his size, but considering his ralts gaze seemed to have no trouble looking past his hair, the hat sinking low wouldn't be so problematic either.

"I'll take this if that's reasonable... just gotta make a couple adjustments for the horns and all," he said as he awaited to hear if the shop owner had any advice for them.

 

[Jackie Cat]

I was wondering if you would have a tie. And something for my head."

a simple green bowler hat.

Several bowler hats in various sizes and colours were available for anywhere from half a dollar to three dollars. Ties were another item of which there was much variety to choose from, including both bowties and neckties, among others.

"Where would you suggest we start looking to get ahold of these invitations?"

“We’re all pretty new in town, we don’t have any connections to speak of, and it sounds like there’s not much time to get established. So if you can give us any ideas about how we can obtain invitations, it would really be appreciated."

Lorenzo inclined his head towards the town centre. "The mayor is in charge, but you will likely find him intractable. You may have better luck gaining the favour of his son."

The old spider's solemn expression seemed to briefly become quite devilish.

"Or, if you're feeling daring, I believe some outlaw types recently appropriated a few invites for themselves. It's no concern of mine how legitimate your invites are, or even if you have any, so long as you get in... and aren't thrown out."

 

[Neirdae]

"I have very few odd-jobs and errands," he began, "and fewer that I would entrust to complete strangers. Still, I may be able to help you."

Clover put on her cutest, most serious face when she saw the owner. She floated upright, her eyes big and glowing soothing blue, and her tongue was firmly contained in her mouth.
"Actually, I as hoping to find a full time job. I just got here, and I'm not good at battling. But I can do all kinds of things with thread and fabric! I'm made out of it, after all. You could spend time designing and leave the sewing to me!"

"Um, and if you don't need an assistant, could I at least borrow a bit of thread? My buttons are about to fall off."

"I'll take this if that's reasonable... just gotta make a couple adjustments for the horns and all," he said as he awaited to hear if the shop owner had any advice for them.

"Watch this!" Clover said, mostly demonstrating for Lorenzo. Clover took the hat, held it up to Corey's horns to measure, then outlined where the cuts should be with her horn. Perfectly shaped holes appeared in the hat. Clover then plunked it right onto Corey's head. It fit perfectly.
"Tada!" She posed with her arms out.

 

[VeniaSilente]

Several bowler hats in various sizes and colours were available for anywhere from half a dollar to three dollars. Ties were another item of which there was much variety to choose from, including both bowties and neckties, among others.

Kalas skimmed about and eagerly picked up a light blue-ish bowtie: something small and simple. For a hat he had to think it further but in the end he ended up picking the smallest hat he could that would fit his head.

He turned to the others. "I think this looks nice enough... I'll take it. Are we also looking for bags, or would Lucien have those waiting for us?"

"Or, if you're feeling daring, I believe some outlaw types recently appropriated a few invites for themselves. It's no concern of mine how legitimate your invites are, or even if you have any, so long as you get in... and aren't thrown out."

"Hmmm... I'd prefer if we could get in legally but..." Kalas gave a sort of disapproving wave of hand wing. "Well, it beats having to beat up some thugs for *their* invites, assuming you know where they are. At least while we are this... 'young'."

"I'll take this if that's reasonable... just gotta make a couple adjustments for the horns and all," he said as he awaited to hear if the shop owner had any advice for them.

"Watch this!" Clover said, mostly demonstrating for Lorenzo. Clover took the hat, held it up to Corey's horns to measure, then outlined where the cuts should be with her horn. Perfectly shaped holes appeared in the hat. Clover then plunked it right onto Corey's head. It fit perfectly.
"Tada!" She posed with her arms out.

Kalas couldn't but blink and applaud at how fast and simple had Clover made it look for an impromptu fix. He eyed the Spidops cautiously, wondering if he would take it as some sort of 'resumé'.

 

[Mr.RMA]

Before he could even blink, Clover had taken his hat and managed to alter it perfectly, placing it on his head and leaving him rather dumbfounded.

"...Y'know, with that kinda skill, maybe you should be introducing yourself as the 'tailor ghost'... because that was impressive," he said, eyeing the nearest mirror and looking quite pleased with his new accessory. Still wasn't a fan of the hair though... he was sorely tempted to do something about that once he had an opportunity.

As for the subject of invites and outlaws, Corey pondered over their options for a bit.

"Well, if these outlaws have nefarious reasons to get into this gala, it might be for everyone's best interests if we can snag their invitations so they can't so easily get in, yeah? Of course, that's the riskier option..."

 

[Weazel]

So, their options were to ingratiate themselves with the mayor – or more likely his son, who Archie assumed was the Prinplup he’d seen at the town square – or take the invites off some bandits. Neither seemed particularly practical given the situation they were in now, but it seemed unlikely they’d find any better.

Clover, on the other hand, seemed to know exactly what she wanted and how to get it. And the Oshawott had to admit, she had the skill to back up her request for a job. He couldn’t help but whistle when she easily and expertly modified Corey’s chosen hat into one that would easily fit him. Archie briefly considered asking if she’d be willing to tailor his jacket to better fit him, but, nah. He actually kind of liked it being a little big.

“You’d be a fool if you let that talent go to a competitor,” the Oshawott said to Lorenzo, cheekily.

In the mean time, Kalas and Corey had both taken the opposite sides of the Spidops’ proposal. Both had good points, but the Oshawott definitely thought they each had problems too. Maybe if they tried to synthesize the two?

“Corey’s right about not wanting the bandits to get into the gala, but if we just take the invites and show up ourselves people might assume we’re the thieves,” the Oshawott said, “But maybe if we captured the outlaws and brought them and the invites back to that marshal character, maybe we could ask for legitimate invites as our reward? Could possibly get some of the people who want to be rangers to help, too, since they could get a sponsorship from the Prinplup as a reward, or at least ingratiate themselves with him.”

 

[Mr.RMA]

Corey gave Archie's suggestion some thought, giving a sort of head-tilt-nod, finding the meshing of plans rather agreeable the more he mulled it over.

"That's probably the best way to avoid any misunderstandings, certainly... Really the only caveat is just how strong these bandits are. I mean, if they're small time, we could probably catch them unawares and come out of it okay, but if these fellas are grizzled veterans or something, well... we might not do so hot... but then, this is still the best idea we've got so far. Maybe if we learned a thing or two about these outlaws, where they're stationed and who they're made up of, then we could hatch a plan to deal with them." At that he eyed Lorenzo once more.

"You know who we could contact who might know more about these outlaws?"

 

[VeniaSilente]

As for the subject of invites and outlaws, Corey pondered over their options for a bit.

"Well, if these outlaws have nefarious reasons to get into this gala, it might be for everyone's best interests if we can snag their invitations so they can't so easily get in, yeah? Of course, that's the riskier option..."

In the mean time, Kalas and Corey had both taken the opposite sides of the Spidops’ proposal. Both had good points, but the Oshawott definitely thought they each had problems too. Maybe if they tried to synthesize the two?

“Corey’s right about not wanting the bandits to get into the gala, but if we just take the invites and show up ourselves people might assume we’re the thieves,” the Oshawott said, “But maybe if we captured the outlaws and brought them and the invites back to that marshal character, maybe we could ask for legitimate invites as our reward? Could possibly get some of the people who want to be rangers to help, too, since they could get a sponsorship from the Prinplup as a reward, or at least ingratiate themselves with him.”

Kalas thought it for a noticeable moment. He ended up adjusting his tie and turned to the Oshawott.

"Well, that'd be nice a nice bust if we were already established names here somehow, but there's the issue: it'd be a big group of us, looking around and knowing scratch about the place, let alone its underworld. Unless these are well-organized bandits, we can pull it off, I think, but," he tapped his talon on the floor for emphasis, "we'd need some sort of starting advantage. Names, faces, places."

Corey gave Archie's suggestion some thought, giving a sort of head-tilt-nod, finding the meshing of plans rather agreeable the more he mulled it over.

"That's probably the best way to avoid any misunderstandings, certainly... Really the only caveat is just how strong these bandits are. I mean, if they're small time, we could probably catch them unawares and come out of it okay, but if these fellas are grizzled veterans or something, well... we might not do so hot... but then, this is still the best idea we've got so far. Maybe if we learned a thing or two about these outlaws, where they're stationed and who they're made up of, then we could hatch a plan to deal with them." At that he eyed Lorenzo once more.

"You know who we could contact who might know more about these outlaws?"

"I agree with Archie, getting help would be a smart play. Honestly, informing the Prinplup would be a good idea if we are going to do this," added Kalas. He turned to the Spidops. "And speaking of... what is the deal with that family? I did notice the one statue in the main plaza is an Empoleon statue..."

 

[Jackie Cat]

"Actually, I was hoping to find a full time job. I just got here, and I'm not good at battling. But I can do all kinds of things with thread and fabric! I'm made out of it, after all. You could spend time designing and leave the sewing to me!"

[...]

"Tada!"

The old spidops scowled stiffly.

"I'll thank you not to make ad hoc adjustments to my stock, young miss," he muttered.

“You’d be a fool if you let that talent go to a competitor,”

Lorenzo glanced sidelong at the oshawott, then stepped forward to examine Clover's handiwork more closely.

He considered it for a moment.

"Well, you have some talent," he admitted. "And more importantly, passion for the craft..."

He cleared his throat, and gestured to Corey to take the hat with a wave.

"You start tomorrow," he said, with finality. "Keep up the... youthful enthusiasm."

"You know who we could contact who might know more about these outlaws?"

Lorenzo chuckled.

"We have wanted posters around town, and a bounty hunter's digest in certain issues of the Frontier Gazette. You'll see 'em."

"And speaking of... what is the deal with that family? I did notice the one statue in the main plaza is an Empoleon statue..."

"That would be young master Lucien's grandmother, the former Mayor Oriane. Our current mayor, Empoleon Ignatius, had it commissioned as a memorial after she passed away. He modeled for it, so in a way, it's really a statue of him..."

 

[Mr.RMA]

Huh... that's both touching and egotistic at once, Corey thought to himself regarding the explanation of the statue. Seemed this place's governing body had a pretty strong nepotism streak going, but that wasn't a big shocker really. Besides, if the worst thing about these ruling penguins was that they had a bit of an ego problem, then that would really be a best-case scenario.

"We have wanted posters around town, and a bounty hunter's digest in certain issues of the Frontier Gazette. You'll see 'em."

"Ah, okay, guess that answers that question... Well, I suppose unless you fellas have more business to attend to here, we ought'a go give those resources a looksee. Thanks a bunch for the hat, Mr. Lorenzo, we'll be sure not to let you down." At that he started to head for the door, though he looked back to see if the others were coming along. The spidops' emotions weren't exactly the brightest and most energetic, so one way or another Corey was intent on seeing himself out before they all could overstay their welcome and said emotions became even further from bright and energetic...

 

[VeniaSilente]

Lorenzo chuckled.

"We have wanted posters around town, and a bounty hunter's digest in certain issues of the Frontier Gazette. You'll see 'em."

Kalas made gesture to pull up a writing pad from nowhere to take notes, before he remembered he was no longer in any place habitual for him, so he damned his muscle memory. On the other hand, hey, that *was* retained!

"And speaking of... what is the deal with that family? I did notice the one statue in the main plaza is an Empoleon statue..."

"That would be young master Lucien's grandmother, the former Mayor Oriane. Our current mayor, Empoleon Ignatius, had it commissioned as a memorial after she passed away. He modeled for it, so in a way, it's really a statue of him..."

Kalas couldn't but let out a nervous chuckle at his own grace-challenged landing earlier. "Hah... that's a... sporting fellow to pose like that. Let's hope nothing bad ever happens to that statue..."

That said, he did take mental note that he had made good on filing Mayor Ignatius under the list of know-whos to eventually check, just in case.

"Ah, okay, guess that answers that question... Well, I suppose unless you fellas have more business to attend to here, we ought'a go give those resources a looksee. Thanks a bunch for the hat, Mr. Lorenzo, we'll be sure not to let you down." At that he started to head for the door, though he looked back to see if the others were coming along. The spidops' emotions weren't exactly the brightest and most energetic, so one way or another Corey was intent on seeing himself out before they all could overstay their welcome and said emotions became even further from bright and energetic...

Kalas gave Corey a nod. "I have my tie now, so I at least am fine to follow."

 

[Neirdae]

He cleared his throat, and gestured to Corey to take the hat with a wave.

"You start tomorrow," he said, with finality. "Keep up the... youthful enthusiasm."

"Yay! Thank you, Mr. Lorenzo!" Clover spun around, making another button fly off and her scarf unravel. "Oops! I really could use some thread though." Clover saw Lorenzo's barely-contained frustration. "It can wait for tomorrow, though!" she squeaked as she gathered up her accessories.

"Well, if these outlaws have nefarious reasons to get into this gala, it might be for everyone's best interests if we can snag their invitations so they can't so easily get in, yeah? Of course, that's the riskier option..."

“Corey’s right about not wanting the bandits to get into the gala, but if we just take the invites and show up ourselves people might assume we’re the thieves,” the Oshawott said, “But maybe if we captured the outlaws and brought them and the invites back to that marshal character, maybe we could ask for legitimate invites as our reward? Could possibly get some of the people who want to be rangers to help, too, since they could get a sponsorship from the Prinplup as a reward, or at least ingratiate themselves with him.”

"It's not that smart if they let any outlaw in, even with an invitation. We could watch the gala and catch them when they try to sneak in! But if they're that dumb, then we do look like thieves after all. Hmm. Well, I'll talk to you later! I'm gonna see if we have new friends down at the Haus!" Clover danced out of the shop while humming to herself.

 

[Weazel]

For a moment, it almost seemed like the Spidops was about to explode. But, he actually took a moment to stop, and consider what Archie had said. And just like that Clover had a job! Things went so much nicer when people actually listened. It any case, he didn’t want to push his luck any further, and it seemed like everyone else was done too. Clover was out the door before the Oshawott could even get a word in to congratulate her! Ah well, he gave Lorenzo a slightly embarrassed smile and a tip of the hat.

“Thank you for your time and your hospitality. Hopefully you’ll hear from us again later this month,” the Oshawott said, before stepping out after Clover. Hunting down the headquarters of the Gazette was probably a smart option – for more than just the bounty hunters. Getting a handle on current events and the local establishment would go a long way to making him stand out less. So, the Oshawott scanned the storefronts of Main Street, figuring something like the headquarters of the local news agency would make sense to find in the main business district of a town.

"I think I'm going to try and track down this Frontier Gazette place, how about you two?" he asked Corey and Kalas once they'd joined him outside the tailor's. "Nothing wrong with splitting up if you have other plans."

 

[Mr.RMA]

"I'm gonna level with you, Archie, I'm not the greatest planner, and I don't think I need to go wandering off alone if I have any interest in my own self-preservation... Frankly the Gazette sounds like the best place to go if we want to pursue this whole outlaw gala invite angle. Might even find out if we've managed to get ourselves in the news yet, heaven forbid..."

Corey had hoped he'd eventually get used to being such a tiny little thing in a relatively big environment. He'd grown up near Castelia City after all, surely this couldn't have been much more intimidating than that! But it was more than a matter of simple height difference, it was the unfamiliarity, both regarding his surroundings and himself. The whole thing remained like something out of a warped, yet all too clear dream, and he fretted that, even if no harm came to him, spending too much time on his lonesome would turn him into a paranoid wreck at the very least.

 

[VeniaSilente]

"I think I'm going to try and track down this Frontier Gazette place, how about you two?" he asked Corey and Kalas once they'd joined him outside the tailor's. "Nothing wrong with splitting up if you have other plans."

"Well, thanks for your assistance. We'll see to try what we can now." Kalas tipped his new little hat to the Spidops and turned to follow the others outside.

"I'm gonna level with you, Archie, I'm not the greatest planner, and I don't think I need to go wandering off alone if I have any interest in my own self-preservation... Frankly the Gazette sounds like the best place to go if we want to pursue this whole outlaw gala invite angle. Might even find out if we've managed to get ourselves in the news yet, heaven forbid..."

The Spearow scanned about the street.

"If we want to find any useful information, the Gazette is the best place to go. That said, I'm heading to the Haus right after, I need to get my own accommodations and fallback place in order before hitting the gala, let alone hitting a bunch of bad guys."

 

[Shadow Serenity]

<><><><><>​

(from offscreen activities)

Everyone seemed to be settling in, now that some time had passed since their unorthodox arrival and subsequent re-connections. Kimiko included herself in that observation, despite her own surprise at the fact. She still hesitated to settle down and find a job, or a place to live, or anything like that, as so many of her group had, instead living off the wages provided from the mysterious bulletin board north of town.

Somehow, she survived the scouting quests with Bellatrix and Mhynt (yeah, she wasn't gonna be able to relax around any ghosts any time soon; thank gods Felin had been there). But afterwards, she'd only run into a couple of others from the group, with everyone else busy with their new lives - Dave, a somewhat blunt poochyena (to put it mildly), and Andre, a deerling who struggled to learn how to use his vines.

But she'd yet to run into the one person she'd been intending to find so far; Laura. The meowth had earned some respect points, being the only other one - so far - that really showed any outward concern for their missing allies. Many of them had turned up around town since then, but no one seemed to have a proper headcount. Kimiko couldn't shake the feeling that someone might still be missing... but at this point, she wasn't sure what she could do about it, if anything.

She and Laura had only barely introduced themselves and agreed to meet up, but now Kimiko cursed herself for not settling a time or a place. Neither wandering town nor picking up scouting missions had really helped as she hoped they would. So today, Kimiko decided to skip her daily missions in favor of hanging around the town's main road.

She'd secured three glasses of ice water from Gerome, and settled herself in a shaded section of the raised boardwalk. She had a good view of the town up here, and was reasonably within sight as well; if Laura was anywhere in the area, she might see Kimiko first, assuming she'd remembered. Or, worse, that Laura hadn't thought Kimiko had just brushed her off...

 

[Jackie Cat]

Kimiko was already most of the way through her water when she finally found some success. The silver-furred meowth, now sporting a dark green scarf, gave her a wave as she caught her line of sight. She hurried up to Kimiko in that half-walk, half-job people did when they weren't in a rush but didn't want to seem nonchalant about keeping another person waiting.

"Uh, hey," she said, slightly out of breath, as she came within earshot. "Kimiko, right? Someone said they'd seen you on Main, thought I'd come say hi. Um. How're you keeping? I know a lot of the team are just kindof letting all this roll off them, but I guess those guys were the ones... from not so far away."

Code for 'not human until the other day, like us'.

"It's still all pretty weird to me," finished Laura, with an awkward smile.