Frontier Town Main Street

[Chibi Pika]

"Well that's half the fucking party, I'm assuming we can trust each other, right? It's whoever's already here that's the problem... which tells us, what, that there already are a number of them here?"

"We've got to be able to trust each other," Jade said, maybe too quickly. If you couldn't trust your team in a situation like this, then... then you couldn't do anything. "But yeah, I think... I think the people we need to watch out for have been here a while."

Laura was human, right? Everything from the Nexus was pretty muddled in Jade's brain. She couldn't remember seeing any Pokemon that looked like Kimiko there, so maybe her too...

"Just to be sure... you're confident this traveling partner of yours is... how do I put this nicely... trustworthy? Sane? I've already bumped into one local conspiracy nut. Not sure how I feel about this partner of yours just leaving you to wander around lost by yourself, especially if they knew you weren't from around here."

Jade bristled. "She didn't want to split up," she said, then immediately realized that it sounded too defensive. "Sorry... It's just, we helped each other out of a bad situation, and..."--Jade suddenly remembered the earring and fished it out of her bag--"and she gave me this so that I could get help from 'her people.' I just... don't know where to find them."

 

[Jackie Cat]

Laura's brow furrowed. What kind of 'bad situation' would Jade have been in, that she'd have split up from her only available ally? Was it the kind of bad situation that would follow her here...? Best not to poke at that too much right now, though, maybe...

"Okay... Who are her people? We've been in town long enough to pick up a decent amount of basic information, we might have heard of them. Not sure why she'd be so far east if she was from a Sojavenan group, though."

 

[Shadow Serenity]

"She didn't want to split up," she said, then immediately realized that it sounded too defensive.

Kimiko flinched backwards slightly at Jade's unexpected outburst. Okay, fair, that sounded like a good reason to be defensive. But while Laura calmly responded, Jade's words begun to sink in.

"Hold on, did you say she sent you to get help?"

Kimiko looked down at the earring Jade held in her paw. Pretty little thing, but there was nothing familiar about it. Nothing there to build off of, unless they knew someone who would know the earring's owner... yet again, her mind wandered to Gerome. Still, she'd better just wait to hear a name.

 

[Chibi Pika]

Jade put a paw to her chin, thinking (while trying not to be distracted by the way her tail lashed behind her like it had a mind of its own). "She was out east because... I think she was looking for someone, but she didn't get the chance to tell me who. Anyway, uh, she was a Luxio--Brisa. She said her people lived out west, something like... the Escada Clan?" She paused, frowning. "That's probably off. I've, uh... I haven't slept much the past few days."

 

[Shadow Serenity]

"Escada... Escada..." Kimiko looked out over the town while she attempted to scan her brain. "It does sound vaguely familiar, but... it's been a hectic few days since we got here..."

Maybe it was one of the requests from the job board? She'd not really been keeping track of the names very much though. She'd been more focused on the type of job and the pay. A possibility...

Further back... she didn't think Gerome ever mentioned a name. He'd been very measured in what information he gave. And then... they'd met some more of the squad near talking to...

She turned back to Jade. "Could you mean Escarpa?" she asked. Nico mentioned something about them when talking about the rangers, which is the only reason she remembered now.

 

[Jackie Cat]

Laura bit her lip, and glanced over to take a closer look at the earring.

"Probably the Escarpa," she agreed. "They're one of the regional cultures. Pokémon in town call them 'clanners' a lot, but apparently the politically correct word here is 'roughlanders' when you're talking about nomadic tribes and people like that. At least, in southern Sojavena."

She frowned, wondering why someone from the Escarpa Clan would be so far east it 'took forever' to get back. She'd assumed that 'nomadic' meant 'moving between sites within their territory in the Soja',' not 'going alone on a fuck-long trek east'. Was that small-minded of her? Shit, she really had no idea.

"That name sounds familiar," she said, hesitantly, "but even taking notes, there's just so much info and so many names, it's hard to keep track. I'm pretty sure the Escarpa are the native culture here, people in town talk about them like they're, y'know, scary wild warriors. Kinda reminds me of the way my parents used to talk about people from Spikemuth, so I just glaze over..."

 

[Chibi Pika]

Jade tapped a balled-up paw to her palm. "Escarpa, right! I'm pretty sure that was it." Jade rolled the earring over in her paw, watching the how the dungeon gold piece caught the light. So that was at least one lead figured out. But the idea of chasing that lead right now was... exhausting.

"I'm not sure I want to go chasing them down right away, though," Jade admitted. It wasn't an emergency, right? She wasn't being actively pursued anymore, and no one here had run into any enemies, or else Laura or Kimiko probably would've said so....

"I... I think I need to rest, at least for a little bit."

 

[Jackie Cat]

Laura smiled sympathetically at the other Meowth. What had she been through...?

"Well, we're all holed up at Traveller's Haus, the hotel on the west-east road? It's near a saloon called Nina's Place, it's hard to miss. The town marshal, Prinplup Lucien, is covering our credit there. Just explain you're a late arrival and one of the stranded newcomers, the staff are really understanding. Um. I'll come check on you this evening if you like? Or tomorrow morning. Fill you in a bit more, if that would help."

She took her current notepad and scribbled out a shorthand version of her babbling and offered it to Jade, tail swishing anxiously.

"Rest sounds good. You look like you need it."

 

[Chibi Pika]

Jade smiled gratefully, taking the paper. "Thanks. I, um. I think a check-in later would be good, yeah." Part of her wanted to question why Laura was being so nice, but that was stupid. They were a team now.

(And part of her could help feeling like Laura was familiar somehow, even though that was also stupid. Everyone on the team was from different worlds.)

 

[Shadow Serenity]

"I'm not sure I want to go chasing them down right away, though," Jade admitted.

A look of confusion crossed Kimiko's face briefly, but she returned to a more level expression the second she realized it. Well, Jade didn't seem like she was in any rush to find help for her partner, so whatever it was for couldn't have been anything time sensitive. And Laura was right, too - the other meowth did appear to need the rest.

"There's a tailor not too far from here," Kimiko offered. "You might wanna drop by before you go and see if they can spare you something to wear, unless you plan to carry that bag with you all the time." Kimiko couldn't help but wonder what was in the bag, but really, that was none of her business.

"Also, if-slash-when you do go seeking out these Escarpa, give me a shout. I think Nico mentioned they're expert dungeon divers, and I suspect that's a skill we're gonna want to learn."

She paused a beat, and then added, "Or, y'know, if you just have any questions or wanna hang or something. It's probably also a good idea to get a feel for your teammates."

 

[Jackie Cat]

Laura waved goodbye to Jade, hoping that the rest of the party would receive her with the same kind of welcome, or better. She sighed, and looked to Kimiko.

"That's another one of us for my spreadsheet, I guess. Can't help worrying that there being so many of us means we're either going to need a whole army to deal with this 'threat' or half of us aren't expected to even survive out here."

She grimaced. "Sorry. Don't mean to be a downer."

 

[Shadow Serenity]

"Nah, it's better to be realistic about stuff like this," Kimiko replied with a shrug. "I mean, I'm all for hope and optimism, but I've had the same thought. With so many of us summoned, I figure whoever called us here just expects to need a lot of firepower. Or perhaps just a wide array of skills. I suspect it's going to take a lot more than just physically kicking someone's ass to solve this." Her thoughts drifted to Clover, for some reason... It was difficult to imagine her being summoned here because of her battle prowess.

Then again, she was a ghost, so who knew what she was capable of behind that cheery mask?

Kimiko shook her head. "Worst case, if half of us aren't meant to survive, that just means we're sent home early, right? No one's actually dying." Okay, there was an asterisk in there somewhere, but this is where Kimiko felt their hope and optimism was best applied.

"Anyway, I like our chances. Look at you with all your notes," she said with a grin. "That's impressive. We'll be prepared for whatever it is we're here to handle."

She hoped that statement wouldn't come back to bite her in the ass in the future.

 

[Jackie Cat]

Laura responded with an ironic smile. "Well if you want me to keep being realistic, I'd tell you that it's all too likely I'll miss something important, what with being only one person trying to gather info on an entire world in a hurry. But like, that's exactly why we have to collaborate, I guess. We're all very different from each other, so we must all bring something different to the team. If it was as simple as beating the shit out of some bad guy, you'd think all our worlds would've just sent their toughest badasses or something."

She thought of Tarahn, who was as dumb as a rock and as sweet as candy. He was a trained 'mon back home, but 'tough badass' sure didn't sound right. In combat, he'd be a hexer – running interference to shut down the opponent. And outside of combat...

"I think it matters what kind of people we are," said Laura. She bit her lip, not sure how to follow up on that idea.

 

[Shadow Serenity]

"Oh, I dunno if you're the only one trying to gather info," Kimiko replied. "You're just the most organized of the lot that I've seen. But you're right, we all should be trying to gather whatever intel we can find."

Laura's last words gave her pause, and Kimiko again thought back to the ghosts she'd seen in the group. Would the cloud have summoned them if they weren't good people? .....But no, the cloud didn't choose who answered the call, each world supposedly did that on their own. And who knew what the conditions for that were.

"Well, feel free to let me know if you need help organizing those notes. A second pair of eyes never hurts."

 

[Jackie Cat]

Laura scratched the back of her head nervously and did her best to smile.

"Thanks, Kimiko. I don't feel organised, but writing stuff down aggressively at least helps me remember stuff and feel useful. Having someone curate them would unironically be a great help, if you have the time."

She glanced off up the street in the direction Jade had gone.

"And when I do, too. Glad I caught you, and uh, if you ever wanna talk, I'm usually in the Haus for every meal, heh."

This was true, and she hoped Kimiko would join her for breakfast some time to talk more, but really they needed a better way for all the 'heroic spirits' to stay in touch. Maybe it was time she tried to gather everyone for a team meeting. Some kind of 'roundtable'. If there was anywhere that could fit them all.

Laura offered Kimiko a paw-shake, and then waved goodbye. Somehow she had the feeling they were very nearly all together at last...

<><><><><>​

 

[Tetra]

Koa trailed down Main Street, legs on autopilot, gaze on the ground. The day was winding down and he unconsciously headed for the quieter part of town. On a better day he would have spent time appreciating the sunset.

Nothing felt clear. For some reason, he'd assumed that things would be simpler here. Surely if they were summoned to stop a disaster somebody would actually have a disaster that needed solving. Talking to Aige the other day had helped, but it brought a whole new wave of issues, namely the matter of secrets and being human.

And then the issue of their team... As a trainer, his automatic thought was that he needed to get everyone to work together. But it wasn't that simple here. They'd all been scattered around and barely knew each other, and he didn't know any more than they did. Maybe they could do some kind of secret group meeting... get everyone on the same page.

He was so wrapped up in thought, and unused to being so close to the ground that he didn't even see anyone until he bumped into something, snout first. Watch where you're going. He bit his tongue, realizing it was technically his fault. "Sorry..." he said, looking up. A blue Rockruff? Was that a shiny one? It looked familiar too, maybe one of their group. "Hey, you're one of the her- travelers, right? New arrivals?"

 

[HelloYellow17]

Gods, what a day.

Wes trudged down the street, trying not to let his fatigue show. The couple of drinks at the bar had only done so much to take the edge off of his anxiety, and even with the help of Doc’s oran trea—medicine, his leg throbbed after another full day of walking on it.

At least he’d learned quite a bit about this place, got to know some names and faces, and secured a source of income for the time being. Though Wes had had enough socializing in one day to last him a whole damn month.

Thump.

He growled—literally—as someone bumped into him, jarring him from his thoughts and making him stumble—a movement his leg did not thank him for. He glowered at the instigator, an electrike pup, and snapped. “Watch it, kid!”

 

[Tetra]

Koa growled on instinct, glaring at the Rockruff. His hackles rose slightly and he tensed, annoyed. "I said I'm sorry," he snapped irritably. What was this guy's deal? Koa was sure now that he vaguely remembered him, definitely one of their group, but seemed to have an attitude problem already.

And I'm not a kid. He bit back the comment. Starting a fight wasn't a good idea. "It was an accident." It came out a bit harsher than he intended.

He took a second to calm himself, his hackles lying flat. If he hadn't been lost in thought he would have seen the Rockruff probably. And if he was taller. "I am sorry, are you alright?" he said finally, still a bit on edge.

 

[HelloYellow17]

The kid had some nerve to snap back when this was his fault in the first place. Wes had a sharp retort at the ready, but balked a little when the kid apologized—still with a defiant glare, but it was something, at least. Wes deflated slightly with a huff.

“I’m fine. A kid your size isn’t gonna injure me.” He frowned, remembering something else the kid said. “Did you say you’re…” he paused, choosing his words carefully, “New in town?”

 

[Tetra]

There it was again, kid. It made him bristle. Something about the way this Rockruff said it. Nobody back home thought he was a kid like that. This guy was probably one of those annoying adults always telling people what to do, or acting like they knew best. He'd been called here, hadn't he? Not a kid.

"I'm not a kid," he said stiffly. "And yes, I am new in town," he said, resisting the urge to roll his eyes. "I arrived at a cabin outside town. Belonged to someone named Brisa I guess? Where'd you end up? Seems like everyone was pretty scattered."