Frontier Town Main Street

[Weazel]

Dustin folded his arms, his easy smile faltering a little bit before he managed force it back. So, they were doing mental communication now, were they? Alright, he could play along.

“I don’t know, and it’s seriously pissing me off,” the Buizel thought back. “You, though… You’re Type: Full, right? A Beast Killer.”

Nova, Archie had said his name was. He was a hell of a lot fancier looking than the one Dustin knew, but the overall design was broadly the same. After all the trouble they’d gone through to find one back home, it really was something else to see one just hanging out here like it was nothing.

Archie, meanwhile, found himself distracted from the awkward staring contest the Buizel and Graydian were engaged in by Anubis’s questions to the Lampent. Koa didn’t exactly seem in the mood to talk with so many people around – and the Dewott honestly couldn’t blame him, he was often in much the same boat – but the mustelid figured he could at least take a stab at answering the Houndour’s questions, at least as well as any gossip monger could.

“The problem with the army is that, ultimately, it’s loyal to the government out east,” he said, “But that government is far away, and can’t exactly be relied on to have the best interests of the people who live out here in mind.”

In fact, it very likely didn’t.

 

[Namohysip]

Mhynt had taken a moment to heed the advice of her companions and guided Zena and her water bubble to a nearby river. Only then did she return, this time with a much larger bubble rolling along with them, and the Feebas in question looking a lot more comfortable. Then again, Feebas could apparently live in horrid conditions, so... it was hard to tell. Especially when she was a Feebas with those sunken, wide eyes and perpetual frown.

Even odder was Mhynt's shadow stealing a kiss or two with her.

"Sounds like we got very, very lucky," Mhynt stated plainly as she parsed the passing conversation. "I was expecting much worse. But, speaking of much worse... I can't help but think about Giovanni's warning to us before. Do you all remember?

"Our enemies may not be as cosmically a threat as Alexander, but their hold on this world may be just as thorough. Not enemies of strength, but enemies of the social fabric. And considering the nature of the Covenant, and now the government... It seems quite clear what he meant.

"...Unfortunately, my specialty has been espionage from within, and in the long-term. And I wasn't very... good at it, in retrospect. I was only good at enduring, not solving. But our time here is limited. What can we do to reverse something so pervasive."

"It sounds complicated," Owen agreed. "In a way, we have to win over the public before we can beat them. We have a good reputation, right? But from there..."

"We'd have to expose the corruption somehow. Find guarded proof," Mhynt said. "At least, that's my guess. Either that or we find out their actual power is centralized in a few ringleaders." She flashed her blade. "Then it becomes quite easy."

 

[Ambyssin]

“I don’t know, and it’s seriously pissing me off,” the Buizel thought back. “You, though… You’re Type: Full, right? A Beast Killer.”

"Beast Killer? Can't say I've ever heard that one," Nova mused. He gave the buizel a more mischievous look. "Some folks call me killer in the looks department. But I don't think you're my type, li'l guy."

 

[Chibi Pika]

Wait so that was it... Archie and Dustin had come from different time periods? Jade hadn't even considered that that was even possible. She suddenly found herself imagining if she'd been pulled from her world before everything went south... or if Virga had.

Jean winked. "Woah, miss, don't you know they're listenin' in?" he joked. "To tell the truth, not much. Urban legends about a secret society of elites and leaders, pulling the strings behind... well, just about anything someone doesn't care for. There are whispers that Ignatius – and his ma before him – were members. Somethin' like that."

Ah, so... the average person didn't exactly know much after all. Still, the various comments about being more discreet could be worth following.

"We could make our way to the Haus if we wanna be less out in the open," Jade suggested. "Also the new guys could get checked into the rooms there, at least, the ones who haven't done it already."

 

[Jackie Cat]

"Is this a... good thing?" Anubis asked the Lamp-Ghost, tipping his head. "Is the Army bad?"

Jean gave the dog a quizzical look.

"The Army's the Army, kiddo," he said, tilting his frame a little. "Mm, no, you don't look like a kid. You a feral one, son? Hmmn..."

The Lampent scratched his cap with one arm.

"The Army's like a really strong pack," he said, slowing down his pace of speech. "So if you're part of the pack, you know you're safe and protected, and can get the territory you want, which makes them good. But if you're not part of the pack, they're real scary. Make sense?"

"Even a tall tale can have a measure of truth about it," Nova mused. He blinked, realization of unintentional wordplay quickly setting in. After a chuckle, he continued, "I'm happy to talk juicy details somewhere private. Not saying you have to leave. But many of us are returning from missions abroad, so don't be surprised if folks are a bit tired or would rather catch up with one another."

"We could make our way to the Haus if we wanna be less out in the open," Jade suggested. "Also the new guys could get checked into the rooms there, at least, the ones who haven't done it already."

Jean nodded. "It'd be my pleasure," he drawled. "Though I'm no drinker – save for ambient moods."

He winked at this. It wasn't obvious how true this claim was.

"In a way, we have to win over the public before we can beat them. We have a good reputation, right? But from there..."

"We'd have to expose the corruption somehow. Find guarded proof," Mhynt said. "At least, that's my guess. Either that or we find out their actual power is centralized in a few ringleaders." She flashed her blade. "Then it becomes quite easy."

The ghost glanced silently at Owen and Mhynt, and wordlessly made a small note in his pad. This was of some interest to him, then.

 

[Weazel]

“Oh please. You couldn’t handle me even if you wanted to, ‘big guy’,” Dustin mentally snarked, rolling his eyes; by the way his tails wagged he obviously found some amusement in the Nova’s joke, though. The chimera didn’t deny that he was, indeed, a Type: Full, not that there would’ve been a point to such a denial anyway. Though, it seemed maybe there was a different purpose behind his creation than the one Dustin knew.

Meanwhile, Archie wanted to die. Mhynt had returned and apparently decided the possibility of assassinating high level Covenant or government agents over nebulous claims of ‘corruption’ was worth considering while a journalist dutifully noted down everything she said. The Dewott didn’t need any experience in PR to know that this was a disaster in the making.

“Let’s not make any rash judgments,” he said. “We don’t have the full story.”

 

[Tetra]

Anubis listened intently to Archie and the Lamp-Ghosts explanations of the situation, and to the strange green lizard. The concept was familiar - safety within a pack was a good thing - but it didn't sound like everyone wanted to be a part of the pack. As for who "Government" was and why the Army should be loyal to some other far off pack was beyond him. Alpha had not discussed much of what exactly Government was, even back home. He'd gleaned snatches from Alpha's recounting of events here, but that didn't paint much of a picture.

The Houndour looked like he genuinely understood, both Archie and Jean's words. The Army sounded like a bully pack to him. "I see," he said finally, nodding. "Government sounds stupid." Why should they care if they were so far away?

"If they don't like Government or Army, then they simply need to drive them out, if they cannot agree," Anubis said. "And if this Army is being a bully, they need to be stopped."

Koa stifled a snort of amusement. Oh boy. Was he going to have to give Anubis a crash course on Forlasan politics? Well, he wasn't wrong, per se, Koa decided. They'd managed to depose Ignatius through a fight, after all, though that was only half of it. He stepped forward and nudged Anubis. "Like Archie said, once we get more information, then we'll decide how to help."

"Of course," Anubis replied firmly. Alpha knew better about this, he guessed, though privately he already didn't care for either yet by the sound of it. "Is the... Covenant of Light offering any aid?" Should they not, if they were to be noble and use their power for good?

 

[Ambyssin]

"Government is a very stupid pack," Nova said. "But even stupid packs can thrive when they're sufficiently large."

 

[Cresselia92]

“Y’saying she’s available?” Dustin asked, this time in his own teasing tone, tails flicking back and forth.

Silver narrowed his eyes, trying to not convey too much emotion, but his gaze still gave away a glimpse of his mental response: She’s only fourteen, man!

He listened with keen interest the exchange between Archie and Dustin. So they were from the same world but different times? And it seemed like they had dealt with eldritch horrors in their world, too?

Latching onto that thread, the Sneasel let out a loud snort. “You should come to my world someday. There’s a new catastrophe every other year. Region-wide floods, droughts, shadow storms, time-space being bent… you name them.” He smirked. “We could talk more about that somewhere else, away from certain… curious folks.”

Speaking of curious people, Silver redirected his attention to his now-rabbit friend and the reporter (jeez, he was still here?), wondering what they were talking about now.

He saw Kotone jolting when Nova snapped his beak at her and felt some tension building into him (why, though?), but he quickly relaxed when she began giggling.

“You’re funny. I like you already~!” she chirped in her usual saccharine and overly friendly way, and she looked back at forth at Nova and Dustin when they started their staring contest, not the least offended for being ignored so suddenly.

Nothing seemed to truly bother her, huh? It must’ve felt nice to not have any worry in the world and to be so welcoming and non-judgmental toward everyone. Much easier to make connections and to not feel lonely and alone.

But as the ever-observant weasel, Silver noticed the first signs that Kotone was starting to get overwhelmed: her ears swiveled constantly as if she were trying to find a working signal on a radio, and the light in her eyes shifted from awe to confusion to even more confusion as the conversation progressed.

Now worried about her, he reached out to her through Betelepathy. ‘Doing alright over there?’

Kotone jolted again, surely surprised for being snapped out of her wave of overwhelm, and sent a deep sigh in his own mind. ‘Huh, yeah, I’m okay, more or less. Just trying to follow a conversation that I know very little about. There’s so much to learn and to keep track of… should’ve brought a notebook to take notes or something!’

Silver frowned at hearing the tiredness in her voice. He tried to add a teasing tone to his response to lift her spirits. ‘Oh? I thought a social Butterfree like you wouldn’t have struggled with this?’

‘In all fairness, whenever I was interviewed after a Pokéathlon competition, it was to discuss stuff that I was an expert about. How my team and I could’ve done better, how we would have tried to improve our performance next time, our thoughts of our rivals… this kinda stuff. That’s easy for me to discuss and talk about.’

A very earnest response. Silver sent a simple mental ‘hm’, prompting her to continue.

‘But politics? The Army? Troubles with the Covenant? And the government, too? Oh, and a Giovanni who knew about all of this and who warned you? You’ll have to tell me more about this, by the way! It feels like being info-dumped without having the ‘speed up dialog’ or ‘skip cutscene’ options!’

That admission made Silver feel regretful. Kotone might have given him room to catch up with Archie, Koa and their friends, but it was obvious she had shouldered more pressure than she could handle.

“Time to ditch this place, then,” he said with resolution, both with his physical and his mind voice. He walked up to the Lampent and stared intently at him, unconsciously shielding Kotone with his taller body. “Okay, buddy, I’d say that’s enough for now! As they’ve told you already, we’re exhausted after a very long journey and we’ve yet to register the new arrivals to the Haus. So how ‘bout giving us a way to contact you later, once we’re fully rested and everything?”

 

[Jackie Cat]

“Let’s not make any rash judgments,” he said. “We don’t have the full story.”

Jean tipped his metal cap to Archie. "I'm a real journalist, friend. I'm only interested in the full story."

The Gazette was a respectable publication, and had been favourable to the Wayfarers until now – one even worked for the paper. It was unlikely the Lampent would want to drop any of them in hot water for overheard gossip, especially if he had a libertarian streak of his own, as was common in the region.

"Government sounds stupid." Why should they care if they were so far away?

"If they don't like Government or Army, then they simply need to drive them out, if they cannot agree," Anubis said. "And if this Army is being a bully, they need to be stopped."

Jean grinned, his luminosity briefly peaking with apparent enjoyment. "Ain't hard to find folks that'd agree with you, bucko."

Maybe him, one might guess...

"Is the... Covenant of Light offering any aid?"

Jean chuckled. "The mysterious secret society? If they were, I doubt we'd know about it, eh. Hell, who knows, maybe they're behind the Army stuff to begin with? Either way, if anyone can find the truth, I'm gonna try and make sure it's me."

“Okay, buddy, I’d say that’s enough for now! As they’ve told you already, we’re exhausted after a very long journey and we’ve yet to register the new arrivals to the Haus. So how ‘bout giving us a way to contact you later, once we’re fully rested and everything?”

The Lampent peered at Silver, flame flickering in cool hues.

"You seem plenty peppy to me, son," he murmured, drily. "But sure. Here's my card – just give my office a call and if I'm in, they'll put you through. I'm sure we'll get to talk more seriously soon enough, huh? 'Til then, y'all keep well."

The ghost winked, and went on his way, leaving the 'exhausted' travellers to find themselves some restful relief.

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