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.

<><><><><>​

 

[Phoenixsong]

"Oh, no you don't. Prove it."

Leaf The rapidash froze mid-overjoyed-bounce, still only halfway across the street from him, and stared down at him in genuine bewilderment. "Prove what?"

"Prove you are who you say you are." Blue glared back up at her, shoulders squared, realizing slightly too late that there'd been a low dog growl under everything he'd just said, god damn it. "Prove you're real."

"But... but you're the one who called out to me?" The rapidash put her hoof down slowly, blinked, took another couple hesitant steps toward him, like she was struggling to understand his eminently reasonable request.

"Yeah, because the people I got stuck with said my friend was here somewhere, but considering the absolute circus sideshow they turned out to be I think I'm allowed a little healthy skepticism." He took a wary step back from the rapidash, only half noticing that he'd knocked over a passing wooloo's groceries. "They already tried to feed me like four bad sci-fi movies' worth of garbage about 'multiverses' and 'alternate versions of people'. And there was a zoroark who was actively impersonating somebody else. I'm not an idiot, y'know." He certainly had not been about to throw himself into a giant hug with the only person here he actually knew. At this rate there was like a ninety-five percent chance she wasn't. "How do I know you're really you?"

"'Cause Beetle's Lighthouse Buddy System thing couldn't've summoned you here for a soul who didn't actually know you?"

Ah, of course. Silly him. That explained everything. "...Make that five. Look. Just say something only the real Linden would know about the real me."

"Right now? Really?"

"I'm not trusting another word outta you until you do."

"If you say so." The rapidash gave a bemused snort, then made a show of frowning as she thought. "Okay, I got one. One time you told me you thought the Teachy TV guy was ho—"

"What I very specifically said," Blue interrupted, crap why had that come out so loud someone would hear get a hold of yourself man, "was that I did not think he was hot." Unlike here. Must be summertime on Made-Up Planet 'cause it sure was warm today! Like, wow, you wouldn't think a growlithe should be able to feel that, but it was definitely super warm! Haha, weird, right? Damn it.

"If you reeeeally wanna play the technicality game, then all right, sure, I guess that's what happened." She smiled innocently down at him, where "innocently" meant "like a persian with a rattata squirming under its claws". "You said you weren't watching the show because you thought the Poké Dude was hot, as an answer that totally made sense for the question I'd actually asked, in a tone that in no way implied you were trying to hide that you did in fact— hey!"

Blue had zero chance of actually clamping her mouth shut, why did he have to be so low to the ground and horses all the god damn way up there, but his desperate, badly-misjudged leap did send him crashing into her side, and that was enough to startle her out of finishing the sentence. Small victories. (Tiny, minuscule, infinitesimally small, actually completely meaningless victories, given how much she'd already spilled. And the way he'd reacted. Why hadn't he just denied it outright? He could've said he had no idea what she was taking about, could've been a different Blue from a different universe, one who had never been so catastrophically uncool as to believe the stupid Teachy TV dude was kinda fine, just a little bit, it was last year okay, anyway he was over it.)

She stumbled, had to take a second to collect herself, but she was laughing when she did. "It's cowboy times, genius. They don't even have television yet. No one here knows what Teachy TV is. Or that it's a show for babies. Relax!"

A bunch of the pokémon on the boardwalks were definitely watching them. None of them seemed like they were about to sneer "the hell is a gym leader watching Teachy TV", fair enough. The wooloo was harrumphing and giving him the stinkeye as she retrieved her scattered vegetables, though. He muttered an apology, nudged a wayward potato back toward her, then looked back at the r— at his friend.

"...Gonna mail all your furniture to Kalos, Linden." He punched the side of her leg, because he couldn't reach her shoulder. He was almost surprised by how solid it felt. Like this still should've been some kinda edgy cartoon D-movie nightmare. But at least there was finally someone here who made sense, who was safe.

"I'm glad to see you, too, Blue." This time Leaf's smile was genuine, and now she wasn't messing with him she looked about as deeply relieved as he felt. "Man, I was starting to think maybe Beetle actually hadn't called anyone here for me, but—"

Blue froze. He hadn't been sure whether the warmth was actually the temperature, or the fire-type thing, or the relief of seeing someone familiar, or the unfortunate momentary lapse in dignity. Didn't matter; it vanished in an instant. Cold ran up and down his back like he was still stuck in that rainy hellhole. "What do you mean, 'called anyone here for you'?"

Leaf blinked again, confused. "I mean when Beetle was freaking out? Before you guys showed up and everyone got scattered. Their program or whatever was checking what people we were close to? And a bunch of us had friends, or... other people... brought here. Something like that? I'm still not sure I get—"

What the hell did any of that mean. Actually? No. Who cared. "So you asked the 'beetle' thing to drag me here against my will and turn me into a growlithe? You got a little lonely and thought 'hey, you know what'd be great? I should haul my friend into this hellhole with me!'" The dog growl had worked its way back under his words. He kinda didn't care, at the moment.

"What? I didn't ask for anything! It just happened!" She stared at him. "Everything was weird and it felt like somebody was shaking my brain until something fell out and all I could think about was home and then everything went dark—"

"So the beetle, what, attacked you? And then dragged me— wait." Voices in his sleep insisting he was needed in some other world, that someone was in trouble (of course she fucking was, you brought her here, you bastard), low-grade muttering in the back of his head even now. He gripped the edge of the boardwalk so hard his claws dug furrows into the planks. "Is that what Satan Voice is? The thing that babbled nonsense at me in my dreams and then dumped me in a mass grave with a bunch of maniacs I couldn't even fucking talk to? Because if you know where that thing is then I—"

Blue jumped as Leaf slammed her hoof into the boardwalk. "Don't talk about Beetle like that," she hissed, rounding on him. "It's not their fault, and it's not my fault, it's not anyone's fault other than the Coven asshole who forced this to happen! Something went wrong, okay, yes, and if you'd shut the hell up for ten seconds I can try to explain what I understand, but I am not letting you tear me—or Beetle—down for something out of our control when all anyone's trying to do is fix things!"

To Blue's credit, he shut the hell up. Half because there was something genuinely terrifying about being a little puppy dog staring up at a huge angry horse with a very sharp object attached to her face, even one that'd come flouncing off of a rainbow-vomit notebook cover. Half because he knew he'd heard it before: the anger, the frustration, the desperation, the exhaustion—

"I can't believe this. I actually can't believe this. You waste time bullying us instead of helping the people who are literally being held hostage, and then you turn around and rat me out for doing the right thing when you wouldn't? Do you have any idea what I had to deal with when I got dragged home?!"

"No, I— well— I mean... I wanted you to get in trouble, yeah, but... I didn't know it was that bad. I—"

"What did your grandpa say to you when you got home from Saffron?"

"What? Uh... that I should never do that again? He was just glad I was okay? Something like that?"

"Oh! That's nice. You nearly ruined everything, those people barely even mattered to you, but since you were okay then it's all fine, right? No harm done! I try to get my own dad away from Team Rocket and I'm an idiot. I'm a liar. I don't care what happens to anyone other than me. I can't be trusted to do anything or even think for myself. But hey! I'm so happy someone was just glad you were okay."

When he snapped back to himself Leaf had already stepped back, her head and ears drooping and her eyes not quite meeting his. "Sorry. I shouldn't've... What I was trying to say is that if anyone did have to get called, I... I've missed everybody, and I thought better you or someone from my team or something than... I was worried they might've called..." She trailed off, gaze still somewhere down the street. "I'm just tired of some... stuff. Some people. I'm sorry you got brought here, I really am, but... I was glad it was you."

Something twisted in Blue's chest, and he felt a little less glad himself. But he took a deep breath, ran a paw down his face, and sighed. Leaf was invested in this. Even if he still had absolutely no clue what the hell "this" even was. "Yeah... yeah. Okay. Sorry. I just... I have been having kind of a time lately? Doesn't feel great. But I... I believe you didn't mean it. Sorry."

"Come back with me to the Haus, where we're staying, okay?" She inclined her head down the main road, where other streets turned off into less busy parts of town. "We can sort it out there. Beetle, what we're trying to do, all of it. All of it that I, uh, actually for sure understand. Promise."

"Yeah. Sure. Whatever." All the fight had drained out of him by now. Easier to just give up and wait for Leaf to deliver the Grand Unified Theory of This Mountain of Bullshit. At this point he might as well've been climbing the mountain of bullshit for how dog tired he was, anyway. (...dammit.) Any place with actual, honest-to-god beds sounded amazing.

Then he lost contact with the ground entirely, and before the swooping in his guts had settled he'd been slung over Leaf's back. He sputtered for a couple seconds before remembering right, yeah, the other kind of rapidash was psychic. So she... was carrying him? Not just gonna let him walk? He must've looked as bad as he felt. Well, he wasn't about to pretend he wasn't grateful for the ride.

"Good friggin' luck makin' any sense out of any of this," Blue grumbled as they set off down the street. "Seriously, have you seen this place? I'm a dog, Linden. You're a horse! There are talking pokémon, and some of them have swords. There are magic abandoned heavy construction labyrinths full of ghosts and mangled corpses. There are gunrunning barons locking people up for just walking into their towns. There are vigilantes dragging random people into dangerous half-cooked attempts to humiliate those gunrunning barons, which, by the way, all the other maniacs I got dumped with were nuts enough to go along with like it was just another fuckin' Tuesday!"

He groaned and pressed the bridge of his snout with both paws. "There's a chickenstein somewhere out there, Linden. Chick-en-stein. I don't know how else to underline how fucked up this is?"

"There are pokémon that are swords back home, though? It can't be weirder than— ugh, no." She shook her head. "Not the point. Shocker, I know, but you're not the first person to realize it's dangerous here! I've seen that kind of stuff. I've seen worse stuff. We've had to fight a lot of it. But—"

"You've had to what?!"

"Let me finish! I told you, I'll fill you in later. Most of it wasn't that big a deal anyway," she said, in that way she sometimes did about things that were in fact a deal the size of three wailord in a trenchcoat because she couldn't tell the difference. "But come on. Have you seen this place? Right here, right now. Does Frontier Town look like a 'hellhole' to you?" She gestured around them with her horn. "So what if it has pokémon instead of humans? Forlas is still a normal world. These are still good people who just want normal lives. Yeah, there're problems, and some of the dungeons can be pretty messed up, but nowhere's perfect, yeah?"

They'd turned down another street by now. Quieter around here than by the main shops, which was at least better for the headache that'd settled firmly behind his eyes. A little mercantile, with a duskull flipping a sign around to "Closed". A library or something over that way. A delcatty and a little round pig chatted as they left a restaurant called "Nina's Place". Some of the pokémon before had stared at them, but they'd been shouting, hadn't they? Now they were mostly being ignored, aside from a few here and there who waved at Leaf, and she smiled and nodded back.

Still a bunch of pokémon in clothes running businesses, still super friggin' weird, but no ghost guys (other than the duskull, whatever, not what he meant), no weapons brandished at them, no paths actively twisting around just to spite them. Not a mountain of bullshit. Just a normal town.

...In cowboy times. With no TV. But normal enough for that, anyway.

"There is some really bad stuff going on, but Forlas doesn't deserve to get screwed over. And the Wayfarers have a chance to help everyone who lives here fix it." She looked back over her shoulder at him. "I asked to come here, but you didn't, and that's not fair to you. But I can't stop now. Not yet. Not until I know I've done everything I can to help."

Her tone was apologetic, but he knew that look on her face. Same look she'd had back at Silph: the one that meant she was sure this was right. And the kind of thing she didn't need him fucking up (again) by insisting she go back home.

"This 'Wayfarer' stuff's important to you, huh." He blew out a sigh. "Well. I'm glad one of us is havin' fun, anyway."

"You don't have to help if you don't want," Leaf insisted. "You can stay out of the way, stay safe. Beetle will understand. So will the other Wayfarers. And if they don't they can talk to me about it." She punctuated it with a stomp. "I can make sure nothing happens to you! I'm super strong like this, y'know. Me and some of the others beat a zapdos. Two of 'em, even! Technically."

Blue snorted. "Yeah, right."

"Hell yeah, right!" Leaf grinned back at him. "Ask any of the others. We're just that badass. I could show you later... or, oh, oh, we could battle! As ourselves, as pokémon, for real."

"What? No! I'm not really a pokémon, I don't know how to do that!" Not unless coughing on sausages so hard they needed a burn heal counted.

"Well, you are for now, at least! C'mon, you gotta at least try battling while you're here. Even just once. Do you have any idea how awesome being able to do this is?"

For a second time his stomach dropped out from under him as Leaf threw herself into a sprint, flying the rest of the way down the street so fast they were at the inn's door before all the pokémon-businesses resolved back into solid objects. He grabbed her mane to steady himself even though they'd already come to a stop; she just laughed, a little smug but mostly cheerfully.

"I'm telling you, man, I dunno if I'll be able to go back to just watching battles back home after this." Leaf winked at him, then helped him down in front of the door. "Besides, what else are you gonna do while you're waiting for us to finish up? Might as well have some fun, yeah? I'll hafta go easy on you, of course, but you'll get stronger real fast, too. Not stronger than me, I mean, but." She twitched her head in her weird horse shrug. "Pretty strong!"

Blue didn't answer right away. The run—quick attack?—had startled him, yeah, but only briefly. The rest of the way it'd been familiar, comfortable, exhilarating. Just like riding Arcanine back home. The jab got his attention pretty damn quick, though, and he glared defiantly up at her smug little grin.

...If Arcanine could do that, then he could probably do that. Something in the back of his mind really, really wanted to try. Missing running with his friend, maybe. Or some kinda competitive pokémon instinct. (Or just dog brain desperate to chase a moving object.)

"You know what, Linden? Fine. I'll let you show me how to battle. And then I'll make you regret thinkin' you can outrun an arcanine." Wait, dammit, no. "Growlithe. Whatever. You're on." Was evolving a thing he could do? It would actually be pretty cool if that was a thing he could do.

Maybe Made-Up Planet wasn't a hellhole all the way through. There had to be at least a couple things here he could do to keep himself occupied.

"Deal!" Leaf pushed the door open with her mind, then paused before stepping inside. "What's a 'chickenstein'? Not sure I've heard of..." She frowned, then, somehow, put two and two together even though one of the twos was poultry and the other was a combine harvester. "Ohhh, you mean like Gladion and Nova? No, they're just graydian."

"They're what?"

"They're cool! I think you'd like Gladion, actually. Oh, and Sage, Sage is really sweet. They're—"

"How many chickensteins are there?!"

<><><><><>​

 

[Cresselia92]

Flea market was back to town, and a lost in thought Sneasel walked slowly on the dust-covered path, looking mindlessly at the various merchandise while vaguely listening to the incoherent chatters.

No matter how much he tried to, Silver couldn’t stop thinking about the fact that Kotone was actually in Forlas, probably hopping somewhere in town and oversharing bright smiles and random details about her life with total strangers. (Survival and caution had never been her strongest suits.)

Silver was worried, he couldn’t really deny that. Worried about that place tainting her boundless innocence and excitement. And the Shadows… what was going to happen to her when the darkness of her heart broke the lock of her soul and infested her thoughts? How much darkness did she even have? Was it going to be like those horror movies where a bright soul cast a long shadow?

I guess I’ll have to be ready by then. Be there for her or something, he thought with a sigh and shook his head. Gods! It wasn’t supposed to be like this!

Alas, there wasn’t much else he could about that situation. Kotone was nearly as stubborn as she was cheerful and saccharine, and she made it painfully clear that she wouldn’t have left Silver behind to return to their world. So they were stuck there for a while. Together.

And frankly, he didn’t exactly dislike that situation, either…

Silver scoffed at that thought and focused his gaze on a stall with bags. Right, back to the important matters! He was there for a reason: to get some basic gear so that Kotone could survive her first days in Forlas. Now, what kinda bag would be best for a tiny female rabbit with loose lips…?

 

[Weazel]

“I still don’t see why you needed one of those,” the Dewott groused.

Dustin shot him his usual cocky smirk, his eyes half hidden under the brim of his red fedora – the hat sufficiently similar to the one he used to wear to satisfy the Buizel. In the orange mustelid’s outstretched paw was a gun, hammer cocked. The Buizel squeezed the trigger, the cylinder rotated, and the hammer fell with an empty click.

“I need a focus for my Water attacks,” the Buizel replied. “Besides, the shopkeep says that this, uh…”

“Revolver.”

“Right. Says I can use it even when I don’t have the energy to attack,” Dustin nodded.

That was true enough, though that was assuming the Buizel didn’t accidentally shoot himself, first. Guns did not exist on the world they shared, Dustin instead had used a carved Remoraid figurine as his focus. All because the Buizel seemingly hated using his own mouth as the origin point of his Water attacks like most Water Types did. Though, given the Buizel had apparently become Lugia at some point, Archie seriously doubted there was a focus in the world big enough for such a Legendary. Or that the Buizel’s ego would allow himself to be seen using one at such a stature.

Still, Dustin wasn’t to be dissuaded. The Buizel gave the firearm a twirl around his finger – nearly dropping it in the process, Archie observed – before slotting it into the belt holster around his waist.

“Now I just need some kind of satchel,” Dustin said.

Well, that should be easy enough to find. There was no way Dustin could be half so picky about a simple leather bag as he was about a hat and a gun, right? Archie scanned the stalls lined up and down the street, his eyes eventually settling on a stand selling just the kinds of bags they were looking for… And the Sneasel currently studying its wares.

“Hey, Silver!” Archie called, walking over to the weasel, Dustin in tow.

 

[Cresselia92]

Silver’s ears flicked at hearing his name and glanced in the voice’s direction. He flashed a neutral smile when he saw Archie approaching and waved his paw. “Ah! Hey there, Archie!”

The Sneasel blinked when he noticed the fedora-wearing Buizel, slightly puzzled by that attire — not quite what he would’ve excepted from such a rambunctious weasel — but regained quickly his usual aloof composure. “And Dustin, huh? Fancy hat you’ve got there!” he said with a smirk.

Silver held a paw to his hip, his gaze turning curious. “So! I guess you both were in the mood of some shopping, too?” he asked, glancing briefly at the various bags. “Looking for something in particular?”

 

[Weazel]

The Buizel doffed his hat, sweeping it around him as he performed a low, ostentatious, bow.

“Why thank you, it adds a little something to my rather dashing figure, wouldn’t you say?” He said, before straightening and returning the garment to his head.

“Dustin needs a satchel to carry his essentials-” Archie began.

“Like bullets!” the Buizel cut in.

“Berries and seeds and the like,” the Dewott finished, knowing responding to Dustin would only encourage the Buizel further. He followed the Sneasel’s gaze to the bags on display. “I take it your in the market for something similar?”

 

[Cresselia92]

…Bullets?

Silver studied the Buizel in front of him for a few seconds and quickly spotted the holder wrapped around his waist. So Dustin was a gunslinger or something?

“Heh! Pity that you hadn’t appeared here, like, a few months ago. Could’ve taken the job as a sheriff while it was still vacant,” remarked Silver, flashing a teasing grin at the Buizel. Then he focused on Archie and nodded. “But yeah, I’m here to get some basic stuff, too. Bags, seeds, orbs… y’know, the whole package.”

Silver gazed again at the vast assortment of bags, satchels, and purses, sifting through the individual items with his piercing gaze. “I don’t need to change my current bag, but I still gotta…”

The Sneasel trailed off, his head tilting slightly as something piqued his interest. He leaned forward to grab the source of such focused stare: a round pouch with an adjustable belt, ideal for birds and short creatures. Specks of a fine sparkling dust were scattered across the entire pastel pink, orange and violet surface, mimicking the first stars of an oh-so-cute-and-fluffy sunset. Certainly not the kind of bag expected from someone who mostly wore dark clothes and used neutral-colored gear.

Silver glared intensely at the pouch in his claws, almost as if he tried to incinerate it with the mere gaze, but after a moment, he grumbled, “Jeez, this pouch is so tacky and cheesy!” Then, he added in a quieter tone. “…How much is it?”