Novelux The Museum of Everlasting Brilliance

[Butterfree]

Dave raised a skeptical eyebrow, staring at him. Was he being serious? More importantly, was there any way to tell, when the multiverse was seemingly designed to fuck with him personally? God.

"Well, if genetics in your universe works anything like in mine, then if humans are genetically more related to simian Pokémon than other Pokémon, then that implies they exist somewhere inside the Pokémon evolutionary tree, with a more recent ancestor with them than with other Pokémon. So no way they evolved separately from an ancestor with no powers under normal evolution by random mutation and natural selection, if that's the case. Either they must have lost the elemental powers somewhere along the way, or some kind of, what, fucked-up mass-scale hyper-specific horizontal transfer is going on? What the fuck." That or intelligent fucking design, but he was not going to be the one to bring that up first. Odette had told him in her universe there were literal demons some of whom she knew personally and an Arceus, at that point why not a universe where humans really were personally created by God to look descended from simians, but no, he was not fucking going there without hard, real actual evidence.

The only way they could be descended from aliens, if genetics worked anything like his world's, was if those aliens were descended from whatever proto-simian Pokémon represented the last common ancestor. So the alien theory would either require proto-simian space travel or proto-simians getting abducted by aliens and then returning. Dave hoped conspiracy theory conferences in Andre's world were hard at work debating which.

"Either way, uh, you said aura? Humans have aura over there? Like, actually, according to real science?" God, he hoped Andre wasn't about to explain some obvious pseudoscience. This multiverse thing was making him straight-up fucking credulous.

 

[canisaries]

"Either way, uh, you said aura? Humans have aura over there? Like, actually, according to real science?" God, he hoped Andre wasn't about to explain some obvious pseudoscience. This multiverse thing was making him straight-up fucking credulous.

"Aura is a type of measurable energy, yeah," Andre said. "Humans and pokémon radiate aura in different patterns when they have certain emotions or they're, like, thinking really hard. Ghosts use aura waves to communicate and to sniff out stressed out targets to absorb life from, lucario convert them into elemental energy to attack with, and aura-sensitive humans and mon use it to sense other creatures' emotions. Me, I used to be aura-sensitive back on my own world, but I lost it when I became a deerling here. It's..." He poked at the floor with a hoof. "It's a shame. See, I used to be able to use my sense to tell when people were lying. Now, I have to deduce it through other clues, if I'm able."

 

[Butterfree]

Huh. That sounded... both a bit like how crank psychics described auras in his world and like the aura concept over here, driving Pokémon attacks. He peered at Andre.

"Wait, so you had human aura powers? How does that work? Like a, some kind of fucking sixth sense, or do you just see it?" God. People actually being able to read emotions from afar sounded creepy as hell; it was creepy enough when it was the police Gardevoir. And... He tilted his head. Andre had said something about experience with criminals. "So, lie detection...? So you worked with the police?"

 

[canisaries]

"Wait, so you had human aura powers? How does that work? Like a, some kind of fucking sixth sense, or do you just see it?" God. People actually being able to read emotions from afar sounded creepy as hell; it was creepy enough when it was the police Gardevoir. And... He tilted his head. Andre had said something about experience with criminals. "So, lie detection...? So you worked with the police?"

"Well, it is kind of a sixth sense, yeah," Andre said. "It's... probably not going to make sense to someone who's never had it, like colors to someone who's been blind since birth, but I guess the closest thing to it is hearing. You can tell what direction an aura is coming from, like a sound, and there are different timbres to it, like a sound, but you can't really perceive how far it is. Or I guess with sound you kind of can tell how far it is through other stuff, like echoes or muffling, but..." He shook his head. "If you know how strong a certain aura is supposed to be, then you can kind of know how far it is based on how much it's faded. But often times, you don't know. That's where sight steps in to fill in the blanks."

At the word 'police', Andre flinched. "Uh, no. I'm just a civilian. And how much the police get to use aura sensing or mind reading is kind of a hairy issue. Mind reading is actually illegal where I come from as it's considered an invasion of privacy, not that it can really be policed. Aura sensing, so far, though - that's fine. And it better stay that way, because it's not like we can turn the sense off." He coughed lightly. "The police really want to recruit aura-sensitive people, but they can't legally favor recruits that have it. It's also not viable as proof during investigation - you need something material. Of course, in some extreme cases, like with anti-terrorism, mind reading is allowed, but it has to be a certified psychic with a degree and everything." Andre paused. "Oh, and only some psychic pokémon know how to read minds. Humans don't have that."

 

[Butterfree]

Andre almost flinched at the police question, Jesus. 'Just a civilian'? Was he a drug dealer? Probably a drug dealer.

"Right. Back on the wagon to Terminal Two, you mentioned you had 'experience with criminals'. That plus using your aura sense mostly to detect lies, made sense if that was police work. But hey, I'm not judging." He waved a paw. "Humans with aura shit sounds weird as hell to me, but so does everything else I hear about other universes. Back home, though, the police use Gardevoir sometimes to do something kind of like what it sounds like you do, pick up emotions in case it reveals something. Once brought me into a room with a guy who'd supposedly tried to kill me, in case it could pick up if he was itching to finish the job. Admissible in court as testimony, from the trainer. Turned out the Gardevoir was wrong that time, though, so clearly a pinch of salt required."

Straight-up mindreading for antiterrorism... Well, it was better than government-sanctioned torture, he supposed.

 

[canisaries]

Andre had completely forgotten about the 'experience with criminals' remark he'd made. Gods, he really should have thought twice and considered how that may sound. Thankfully, Dave had said he wasn't judging. If he meant that.

"Humans with aura shit sounds weird as hell to me, but so does everything else I hear about other universes. Back home, though, the police use Gardevoir sometimes to do something kind of like what it sounds like you do, pick up emotions in case it reveals something. Once brought me into a room with a guy who'd supposedly tried to kill me, in case it could pick up if he was itching to finish the job. Admissible in court as testimony, from the trainer. Turned out the Gardevoir was wrong that time, though, so clearly a pinch of salt required."

"Huh." Why had that person tried to kill Dave? Bar brawl? Could you say 'supposedly tried to kill me' about someone you had a bar brawl with? Well, maybe if was just roughhousing and the onlookers got confused. That seemed like a poor guess as to what really happened, though. And why did it have to be a bar brawl? Surely Dave had more to him than just drinking. He was a scientist, right? Wait, Andre could just ask what happened.

"Sorry to hear," he said. "Although I am curious towards the word 'supposedly' in 'supposedly tried to kill me'. What's the story there?"

 

[Butterfree]

Dave took a deep breath. To be expected when he'd mentioned it, really.

"It was this insane religious nut. Got it into his head that the science I was doing was an abomination unto the Lord and he was put on this Earth to fix that with a rifle. He missed and killed my coworker, then his equally batshit brother turned himself in for it to divert suspicion. Gardevoir couldn't tell the difference." He looked away. "Guessing that's not the sort of criminal you've got experience with."

 

[canisaries]

"Oh, wow," Andre said. That certainly wasn't a bar brawl. "No, the criminals I've had to deal with were just... regular gang members, really. It's a long story that I'd rather not get into."

He cleared his throat. "Though I have met some religious nuts in my time. Met one guy who was a devout Zygardist once. He seemed to want to take all the passages about women being property very literally while saying that him being homosexual was perfectly fine because the passages about men who lay with men needing to be put to death were 'mistranslations'. I didn't hang around him for long."

Because I killed him.

"Your story's still wilder, definitely," Andre said. "I haven't been through anything like that."

 

[Butterfree]

Dave snorted. "Christ. Yeah, people sure love to cherry-pick their religious scriptures. Justify the bigotry you like, brush aside anything you don't like, then pretend this millennia-old text full of batshit depravity is actually the guide to everything right and true in the world. What else is new. Drives me fucking nuts how you get people who are gay or whatever, constantly targeted by religious nuts, managing to conclude oh, yeah, they're wrong about me in particular, but all the rest of this shit, and this other bigotry, that's all true."

It was still a bit hard to picture such a soft-spoken, timid guy dealing with 'gang members' to the point of describing himself as experienced. Maybe his home-grown marijuana enterprise had spiraled too far. Probably unsurprising he didn't want to talk about it.

"Anyway, uh, you said Zygardist? Is your universe one of the ones where people generally worship legendary Pokémon? Over in mine that's a real fringe thing; the biggest religions are all pretty human-centered. The one I grew up in holds that humans were created to have dominion over the beasts of the Earth. Still similar bullshit about women as property and homosexuality being a sin, though."

 

[canisaries]

Andre nodded along to Dave as he spoke.

"Anyway, uh, you said Zygardist? Is your universe one of the ones where people generally worship legendary Pokémon? Over in mine that's a real fringe thing; the biggest religions are all pretty human-centered. The one I grew up in holds that humans were created to have dominion over the beasts of the Earth. Still similar bullshit about women as property and homosexuality being a sin, though."

"Well, people worship all kinds of things," Andre said, "or used to. Less of that now, but there are still diverse beliefs. Some worship gods that are said to be pokémon, some worship gods that have both human and pokémon forms, some worship gods that only have human forms but might have divine pokémon mounts or servants or messengers. As for Zygarde, that's one of those pokémon gods. Said to keep the world in order and require mankind to keep order of their own. What that order entails differs by doctrine, of which some do the whole bigot thing - but some also just think of it as a discipline thing. Like, wake up early, work out, eat healthy, et cetera. 'Course, some people still take it to extremes and force it upon others." Andre shook his head and smiled. "Me, I wouldn't last a week in their routine. As a self-employed painter, I'm used to sleeping in."

 

[Butterfree]

"Huh. Interesting." Gods that took human and Pokémon forms were definitely a thing in some religions back home, he supposed. "So in your world legendaries are myths, like in mine? Threw me for a loop to come here where they're apparently all just real fucking Pokémon wandering around, but apparently that's the case in lots of worlds, just to fuck with me personally." He rolled his eyes briefly. "Anyway, if people just want to wake up early and go to the gym and eat salad, more power to them, but they don't need a giant fucking snake to tell them."

Self-employed painter, huh. He tilted his head at Andre. "You manage to sell a lot of your art, then? Commission work, or your own stuff?" Marijuana side business sounding more likely by the minute.

 

[canisaries]

"Huh. Interesting." Gods that took human and Pokémon forms were definitely a thing in some religions back home, he supposed. "So in your world legendaries are myths, like in mine? Threw me for a loop to come here where they're apparently all just real fucking Pokémon wandering around, but apparently that's the case in lots of worlds, just to fuck with me personally." He rolled his eyes briefly. "Anyway, if people just want to wake up early and go to the gym and eat salad, more power to them, but they don't need a giant fucking snake to tell them."

"Well, some are myths, but then there are pokémon that were definitely real and were just thought of and worshipped as gods by humans and pokémon alike. Like Ho-Oh and Lugia, of which there are early photographs, and also thousands of consistent paintings. They haven't been seen after the burning of Brass Tower, which happened about 150 years ago, and which Tohjo actually has as the starting point of their year count for the modern era. In Tohjo years, it was 149 AB - After Burning - when I was last in my own world. They were going to have a huge celebration next year... and still are, I assume, when I eventually get back."

Self-employed painter, huh. He tilted his head at Andre. "You manage to sell a lot of your art, then? Commission work, or your own stuff?" Marijuana side business sounding more likely by the minute.

"Oh, well..." Andre waved a hoof. "I wouldn't say a lot. It's commission work, mostly, my own art is pretty personal. Though I've also given away some stuff from longer ago I'm not as attached to anymore. The thought of asking money for them just seems... wrong. Like, I'd be selling my emotions. Commissions are different, though. That's providing a service of illustration." Andre paused, hesitating if he should share what he was about to say... but he really should. He shouldn't try to deceive people. "Truth be told, I do get some money from my family to fund the whole artist thing. Rich parents and all that. I do try to live in a modest way otherwise, though, and I'm gonna go to university and get a degree and a 'real' job once I'm a bit older. This is kind of... a gap year thing. Or a few." Gods, what an entitled, privileged baby he was. Yet he couldn't give his life away, not yet. Once he'd fully realized himself, once his art was complete, he could. It wasn't as if the money he had was funding anything ba-

Well.

Well, it was a tradeoff. Some more money to organized crime, which the police handled, to get rid of the people that could not be policed. And he donated to shelters and programs. It was fine. He was doing the right thing.

Hopefully he hadn't looked too suspicious to Dave just now.

 

[Butterfree]

Some legendaries were real? Well, sure. He'd take it. Still no indication they were actually gods over there, just Pokémon that people had latched onto and worshipped.

Rich parents did explain a lot about a guy working as a self-employed painter. "Huh. I was taking you for late twenties, early thirties, but gap year before university doesn't sound like it." He tilted his head. "What field are you thinking of getting into? You seem like a humanities guy, but, you know, it's not too late to defect to the science side." Dave gave a small smirk.

 

[canisaries]

Andre smiled at Dave's smirk, though he didn't know if being mistaken for five or ten years older than he actually was was a good thing. At least it wasn't because of his looks.

"Truth be told, I haven't fully decided yet," he said. "I'd need to find the balance between things I'm interested in and fields where people get employed. I have a passion for history and archeology, but the job market for those must be highly competitive." He sighed. "I just hope I don't have to go into finance. While I'm sure my family could easily nepo me a position, I want to earn my way to the job I get, and..." And the thought of working at the heart of the capitalist machine icked him out, but he knew that if he said that he'd be told immediately that the whole reason he was able to enjoy his lifestyle was because of the money his family had earned through capitalism. "Well. I just don't like finance," he said instead. It wasn't exactly untrue.

"How about you?" he asked. "Why'd you get into the field you got into?"

 

[Butterfree]

It was a bit different to listen to Andre knowing he was practically a kid. Clearly smart and well read and with a strong sense of right and wrong, but he hadn't even been through college, still working through what he wanted to be when he grew up.

"Well, I used to read a lot of science books as a kid, and once I started reading about evolution and grasping how it works, that was it. Figuring out you don't need a designer god to get complex life, and it's all just the laws of physics and chemistry and processes that will happen, once you've got a molecule that replicates itself but can mutate in ways that affect the replicability. Billions of years of complicated evolutionary arms races later you've got a bunch of self-replication vehicles for genes and they've developed brains and technology and altruism and societies and fucking art, and at the end of it all they can decide fuck it, I don't even want kids. That's fucking breathtaking if you ask me."

Dave grinned. "So obviously once it was time for college I went into biology and then specialized in genetics. My parents were a couple of fundamentalist creationists who'd basically disowned me by this point, but I'd been approved for a full-ride scholarship off my high school grades, so I got by on that as an undergrad. Money wasn't exactly great at the start, but today I'm team lead at a private lab doing cutting-edge research and that pays well. So, I followed my passion, and it's been a long time since I had to worry about money. Don't know about history or archeology, though. I guess most of those jobs would be in academia?"

 

[canisaries]

"I'm glad you got to do what you wanted with your life even if your parents opposed it," Andre said.

Don't know about history or archeology, though. I guess most of those jobs would be in academia?"

"Probably," he said. "Then again, I hear that archeology can be back-breaking. Toiling on a digsite for hours in the sun... doesn't sound appealing, but I also can't turn up my nose at that. That's how all the material is found, and without it, we could only make guesses." Andre scratched his neck with a hoof. "It's possible that a better career for me would be to work some other artistic profession that's more modern than a portrait painter - like a graphic designer. After working on art for so long, I'd expect to have an eye for shapes and colors. Although I'm gonna have to figure out how to do art on a computer for that. My best friend is a webcomic artist, luckily, so she can probably get me started." Andre paused, thinking. "I hope I remember to do that once I get back. I recall having the idea before, but being too busy with other projects, I had to postpone it, and then I just forgot it." He shook his head.

"Anyone artistic in your family or friend circle? Not the bad family, but any good family, if you have it?"

 

[Butterfree]

Dave waved a paw. "No siblings, and extended family's mostly also religious nuts. I don't talk to them. But my daughter likes to draw, if that counts. She's ten, not exactly professional-grade, but not for lack of enthusiasm." He furrowed his brow. Wait, there was Sharon. "Oh, yeah, I've got an acquaintance who does satirical watercolor newspaper cartoons as her main steady gig. Occasionally illustrates children's books and teaches some life drawing classes on the side, alongside some personal work. Doesn't sound lucrative, but I don't know how much she brings in exactly." He tilted his head. "Your friend's making a living doing webcomics? Or just as a hobby thing?"

 

[canisaries]

"No siblings, and extended family's mostly also religious nuts. I don't talk to them. But my daughter likes to draw, if that counts. She's ten, not exactly professional-grade, but not for lack of enthusiasm."

"Oh, that's so cute!"

"Your friend's making a living doing webcomics? Or just as a hobby thing?"

"Well, she's in college, studying linguistics, but she does have a Patraton - oh, right, should explain, that's basically a website where people can support your creative work monetarily - yeah, a Patraton for some income from the webcomic. It used to be a hobby, but then it got popular, and people were willing to support it, so she let them. The webcomic's about, like, queer college students with magical powers that learn about a global conspiracy. It's pretty exciting. I'm a fan." He smirked. "Sounds like it could be a backstory of a Wayfarer, right?"

 

[Butterfree]

Huh. Dave looked back at the nearby diorama, dead-serious cowboy Pokémon history in a world that supposedly needed saving. "Yeah, we are a bizarre bunch. Most everyone I've talked to is somehow entangled in something big and fucked-up back home, larger than life backstories and big dramatic plots. And, I mean, my life involves fewer legendary Pokémon and criminal organizations than a lot of people's but I did nearly get assassinated by a cult and invented the synthesis of Pokémon and human genetics. You may be one of the most normal fucking people on the team. Unless you've got something to tell me about those gang members."

He looked back at Andre with a smirk and a raised eyebrow. It was a joke, but... that was kind of interesting, actually. Betel's summoning had supposedly pulled whatever souls all these worlds sent, and most of those souls seemed to be somehow wrapped up in big things. And then you had Andre, a random college-age artist from a privileged background who wanted to study history and maybe sold some weed? Were there other Wayfarers whose lives were genuinely about as innocuous? He hadn't had in-depth conversations with a fair few of them, he supposed.

 

[canisaries]

"Yeah, we are a bizarre bunch. Most everyone I've talked to is somehow entangled in something big and fucked-up back home, larger than life backstories and big dramatic plots. And, I mean, my life involves fewer legendary Pokémon and criminal organizations than a lot of people's but I did nearly get assassinated by a cult and invented the synthesis of Pokémon and human genetics. You may be one of the most normal fucking people on the team. Unless you've got something to tell me about those gang members."

Oh, dear. Andre had brought this on himself. He took a moment to think about his answer...

"I sold weed," he finally said. "I sold weed and the local gang didn't like it. I was young and stupid. Haven't done it since."