Frontier Town Nina's Place

[Chibi Pika]

Jade brightened. "Oh yeah, my friend's got an Aerodactyl on her team! I've flown on him a few times; I don't think I'll ever get used to how much faster he is than everyone else." It was funny to realize he was actually the first Pokemon she'd ever flown on. Now that had been jarring.

"The ones I rescued... well there's Aros--he's a Flygon--and Stygian, an Absol. Aros is a pretty huge showoff, and Stygian's a lot more of a quiet loner than everyone else. Took the both of them some adjusting to life outside of Team Rocket, too, but it's been a year since then. And then there's Nine--he's a Pikachu, and he was actually the first Rocket Pokemon I met. He was, uh. Pretty violent at first, to be honest. It's been a while." Jade chuckled awkwardly. "Oh, and my first two partners were Swift and Firestorm--Pidgeot and Charizard."

 

[Phoenixsong]

Leaf listened excitedly as Jade described her team. That was a lot of pokémon Team Rocket had tried to ruin. What a relief to hear that at least some of them had ended up with someone so nice.

"No, that makes sense," she said at the mention of Nine. "Minerva was still so angry for such a long time, and when she gets angry she bites, and well, y'know, aerodactyl—it's part of why she wanted to figure out how to fight better at range, actually. She doesn't want to risk... losing control, I think.

"Oh, that's cool! My friend started out with a charmander and a pidgey." She snorted as an image of a preening pidgeot and serious charizard on a battlefield sprang to mind, their trainer looking smug and confident behind them. "My first partner was Tank, a squirtle. He's a blastoise now, and one of the most reliable people I've ever met. Clyde's a gengar, he mostly just likes messing around... For a second when the Voice first called us I thought it was just him playing a trick, but I probably should've known better because messages like 'you forgot to file your tax extension' are more his style, heh." She waggled her front hooves in a rough approximation of spooky fingers. "And there's Reynard the ninetales, oh and Derby, she's a kangaskhan, she's usually pretty chill but she's been really busy ever since she adopted a daughter, other than me I mean. Mostly keeping her away from Rajah. Rajah doesn't want to hurt Roll or anything, but little kids and that sweet victreebel scent, I get it. That or it's because Rajah looks like a giant pouch, maybe..."

It hadn't really occurred to Leaf how much she'd miss being able to talk shop, to talk about her friends. It really was relaxing to have that little flicker of familiarity in the middle of all... this.

 

[Chibi Pika]

It was hard not to feel more at ease, talking about their Pokemon like normal trainers hanging out in their free time. Jade couldn't help letting a grin cross her face as Leaf rambled about her team, adding little interjections here and there. The energy was contagious.

"Swift was my first partner, and he's definitely he most reliable one out of us. Honestly, it's because of him that I've learned to stop bottling things up, aha..." She couldn't help missing him. All of them.

"So you guys were in Leagues, right? As in, multiple? How'd that go?"

It was a comforting point of familiarity, being able to swap stories about their teams and their journeys. Easy to lose track of time, and Jade wasn't exactly in a hurry to be anywhere.

<><><>​

 

[Jackie Cat]

"I dunno, I might've been in town before, but it would've been a while ago. I was travelling in the frontier about a decade back, if I recall right."

The Monferno sat at Nina's bar was getting long in the limb, his white ruff spreading across his upper body as he grew closer to evolution from age alone. He wore a somewhat battered burgundy derby hat – something like a bowler with a wider brim – and a smart waistcoat.

An Emolga, perched on a seat of her own that hung from the rafters, looked down at the stranger. "And, pray tell, why is it that you find yourself here once more, sir monferno?" she asked, before going back to chewing on her salted nuts.

"Same thing that brought me here last time," he said, with a weary smile. "I'm chasing rumours of humans in this town."

 

[MintyMimix]

"Well, they're more than just rumors!"

If the Emolga had been around for awhile, she might've seen the Misdreavus that decided the floorboards were a cozy place to phase into for awhile. He definitely wasn't trying to eavesdrop on the bartender to see what kinds of mixes existed in Forlas. Definitely not.

"They gone and saved a whole town, ya know. I even got to help a few of 'em recover." Ghaspius asked as he slowly rose back up from the shadows. "Humor a spooky dude. Got a reason why you're huntin' 'em down?"

 

[Mr.RMA]

"Well, they're more than just rumors!"

Of all the times Corey had to try and down his drink...

After a few seconds of coughing and hacking up the liquid from its brief descent into the wrong tube, the ralts sheepishly took his poncho and wiped off the mess he'd made before very quickly pressing his head down against the bar in embarrassment... and just a hint of fear for that matter. After all, the Monferno's explanation for being here was more than a little disconcerting... and Ghaspius' gleeful affirmation to the rumors meant that... if this fellow was indeed looking to... hunt humans, they may have some trouble coming their way...

'Why did I pick this bar... should've just gone with my gut and went over to that dusty old place at the edge of town...' he thought to himself.

 

[Ambyssin]

There was one person who wasn't here for leisure, however. Probably the oddest looking person in the bar. Nova grew numb to the stares after the gala. Instead, he was waiting patiently for the person tending the bar to bring the items his coworkers at the railyard had asked him to pick up. Just a little "hazing" of the new guy and all that jazz.

His fur bristled a bit at the monferno patron speaking a bit too loudly. "Take out a classified, then, fella. You'll get more people's attention that way," he said while stifling a yawn. It'd been another long shift and he was looking forward to going home.

 

[Panoramic_Vacuum]

Steven wasn't entirely sure why he was at Nina's Place. Well, that wasn't exactly true. He was here because he floated in and ordered a plate of food, which was still untouched, because maybe that would be enough to improve his mood. He hadn't wanted to be alone with his thoughts, but he also didn't want to talk to anyone about them, so sitting in a bustling public place seemed like the best middle ground. It hadn't really worked though.

Except as he sat staring at the table, a familiar voice floated over the general chatter of the room.

"Well, they're more than just rumors!"

"Ghaspius?" he said to himself, scanning the room for the amicable ghost type. When had he gotten here?

It was easy work finding his friend, floating up at the bar chatting with a neatly-dressed monferno. Steven only caught the tail end of what Ghaspius was saying, so he had no idea what the topic of conversation was, but it an interesting enough snippet that he tried to listen in as to what the monferno's answer would possibly be.

 

[Jackie Cat]

"They gone and saved a whole town, ya know. I even got to help a few of 'em recover. Humor a spooky dude. Got a reason why you're huntin' 'em down?"

"Take out a classified, then, fella. You'll get more people's attention that way,"

The Monferno chuckled gently. "Well, now, isn't that remarkable? Just the sort of astonishing thing they talk about in the stories, don't you think? I don't think a classified is really the best way to ask around about these sort of things when there are people willing to gossip at the local tavern, no?"

The primate gave a small wave, a tip of his hat, and a smile. He was a fairly softly spoken sort.

"My name's Dakota. Nice to meet you gentle'mon. I'm out in the frontier looking to verify – or disprove, as it may be – whether there are humans abroad again. We hear all sorts of funny things out east, and I'm sure most of them are just tall tales, but can it possibly be true that, as this floating fellow says, there are multiple humans in Sohavenia of late?"

 

[Ambyssin]

All it took was for the guy to mention "east" for Nova's hind legs to lock up. The null did his best to keep a level head. Evidently, his newspaper quip had more weight than he realized, too. Since Laura was kind of enough to put it out in the open on the front page. He probably isn't the reading type.

In the end, Nova settled on saying, "You don't have enough of them running around the Commonwealth? Cuz it kinda sounds that way to me."

 

[MintyMimix]

"My name's Dakota. Nice to meet you gentle'mon. I'm out in the frontier looking to verify – or disprove, as it may be – whether there are humans abroad again. We hear all sorts of funny things out east, and I'm sure most of them are just tall tales, but can it possibly be true that, as this floating fellow says, there are multiple humans in Sohavenia of late?"

"Misdreavus Ghaspius, assistant to Dr. Drungfield," the Misdreavus replied with a nod. "Ya talk a bit funny though. It's Sojaveña, ain't it?" Rather than tilting his head, his whole body seemed to roll along with him.

"Well, it's either that or the stories flyin' around are wilder than a Tauros on morphin—"

"Ghaspius?" he said to himself, scanning the room for the amicable ghost type. When had he gotten here?

"—Howdy Steven!" Ghaspius said, interrupting himself, "Why don't you tell this fella all 'bout this human business in town? You're a better talker than me!" He smiled.

 

[Panoramic_Vacuum]

"—Howdy Steven!" Ghaspius said, interrupting himself, "Why don't you tell this fella all 'bout this human business in town? You're a better talker than me!" He smiled.

"I, uh, h-hello--" Steven startled in his seat, bumping the table and making his plate clatter as he tried to rise. How had Ghaspius even heard him? Ghost types, he'd never figure them out...

"It's good to see you again," he said to Ghaspius, flashing a sheepish eye-smile as he floated up to the bar, before turning his attention to Ghaspius' conversation partner with the odd accent. "But I'm not sure what else there is to tell when I hardly know about the business myself."

Goodness he was not prepared for a conversation at the moment, let alone with a stranger at a bar. "Though I admit," he said, giving a small chirp that could have been a cough, "I hadn't caught the start of your conversation. What do you mean, 'again'?"

 

[Jackie Cat]

Dakota palmed the back of his head sheepishly, and adjusted his hat.

"Well, that's a fair few questions to answer! Let's see... I say 'again' because – and I think this is common knowledge in these parts – the sheriff of this town is a human, but he hasn't been seen around for some years now... See, that's the thing. Humans are... Well, they're terribly significant, as individuals. We certainly do have some in the heartland, yes, but 'new arrivals' are a real head-turner, you might say! Especially this far out, in Sohavenia of all places. Sohavenia being how we call it in Landsverd."

 

[Ambyssin]

“Yeah, real page turners all right,” Nova said with all the enthusiasm of a lead balloon. “Lot of crazy stuff’s happened here. Dunno what level of crazy reaches human threshold.” He shrugged. “Cuz there’s a machoke running around who’s plum full of crazy. Maybe he's human? They sure like their conspiracies.”

 

[Jackie Cat]

Dakota smiled politely at Nova and adjusted his collar.

"Sir – forgive me, I do not know your species – Sir, I'm no fool. Every town has its local crackpot, but I'm not chasing conspiracy theories. Humans in this world are a matter of fact, not of wild fancy."

The Emolga hanging just above the conversation swallowed her pawful of nuts and cleared her throat. "He's quite right!" she declared. "Why, everyone in this town ought to know the story of how Jesse Stranger and Sierra Escarpa fought to save the region – some dare say, the world! – from the Entropic Crisis of some two-score years ago—"

"It was thirty years ago, Adele, you muppet," snapped Girafarig Nina, arriving with Nova's items.

 

[MintyMimix]

"I don't!" Ghaspius gleefully trilled as he finally completed his roll. "I've been livin' under a rock for awhile!" Technically true. "Got time for a story? A drink's in it for ya!"

His brows furrowed at the last statement, however, as he floated up to a more reasonable position. "Say, what's a muppet, anyways?"

 

[Ambyssin]

"I'm not saying they don't exist." Nova glanced at the table, mentally checking to make sure everything matched up with the list. "Just not worth trekking cross continent for."

 

[Mr.RMA]

"I'm not saying they don't exist." Nova glanced at the table, mentally checking to make sure everything matched up with the list. "Just not worth trekking cross continent for."

“For god’s sake lighten up!” Corey suddenly blurted, immediately regretting it afterwards.

“…Sorry… guess that’s a sign I’ve had enough to drink eh?” He tried to sheepishly remark before pulling his hat further down to hide his face.

Let the record show that a tiny little ralts doesn’t take to liquor quite like a goldeen to water…

 

[Jackie Cat]

"A damn fool is what it means," muttered the giraffe.

"Don't you mind Nina, she's just goin' sour in her old age," scoffed Adele. "I'll gladly tell the tale—"

"No you won't," insisted Nina. "Not if I'd be listening to it for the hundredth damn time."

“For god’s sake lighten up!”

Dakota cleared his throat. "Well. I can't say I disagree with the young man's sentiment... even if I would counsel him to partake of some coffee. In any case, I consider even one human worth crossing the continent for. Several humans – let alone dozens – is worth a considerable expenditure of time and effort!"

That pleasant, tired smile held fast in the face of the verbal snapping and jabbing around the Monferno at the bar.

"After all, humans do burn more brightly than most, especially in the darkest of times."

 

[Ambyssin]

Everything matched with Nova's list. He gently began to move the stuff Nina gave him toward a box-shaped saddle bag. "Humans burn bright when they fly too close to the sun." One boxed dish at a time into the bag. "Leaving folks to dodge the flares in the aftermath.

"If you ask me, some groups rise to meet challenges not because they're all humans or even led by 'em, but because they have strong convictions and want to follow their hearts." Nova almost had everything loaded. "That Jesse guy didn't solve the Entropic Crisis by himself," he noted, all but directly referencing Adele's mention of Sierra. "No memories and he saw a problem, right? So, he worked with others to fix it."