Frontier Town Traveller's Haus - Lobby

[Jackie Cat]

"Oh, uh... Right, it sounded like— Okay."

The reaction was obvious – if Laura hadn't been good enough before to pick up on tells like that, her Forlasan day job had given her the eye for it since. Isidora had been receptive for just a second there, and then... there it was. She really did have no first-hand experience to draw on. Which meant, what— that she was embarrassed? That she was uneasy defending her worldview...?

Laura tried not to let her expression slip, even as a couple barbed comments occurred to her. What if she judged Isidora on the bloodthirsty reputation of Galar tundra sneasel, huh? This wasn't personal after all, she just hated who she was told to hate!

Did she even still care to resolve this after all?

No, press on anyway. Don't waste this, idiot.

Like you've never been thoughtless or unfair out of wounded pride.

Okay, fine. So, was she gonna let Isidora save face, or what? Wide-open as she was for some 'gotcha' about propaganda, or whatever... if it didn't help, it wasn't worth saying.

"Right, it... makes sense that your country would memorialise atrocities like that," she ventured. "So, uh... the pokémon of Liber overthrew humanity, then? In a, y'know, historical revolution, or something like that?"

 

[JFought]

The tone. The pauses. Laura was definitely judging her. Isidora's ears fell slightly. She had no reason to feel guilty for claims she never made, but did anyway.

She sighed and hugged her knees. Might as well answer the question. "It's called the Liberation War. It happened eighteen centuries ago," she explained to the ground. "We only know so much about it, since the only surviving records were written long after the fact. Some 'mon named Lux came in with a power called the First Magic, and used it to start a war against humans. He won some land, drove the humans out, sent it into the ocean, gave it to his Ten Kings, and then sacrificed himself so that others could use magic like he could. That's the abridged version, anyway."

On any other night she would've loved to elaborate. Get deeper into details and theories about what happened and how. But she was only here to explain herself. "The legend goes that Lux was betrayed by his closest human partner. And it led him to realize that he was on the wrong side of an abusive dynamic, being forced to work for masters who didn't have his best interests in mind. There were a lot of pokémon who suffered like that, and he wanted to give us the power to be free from it all. To grant pokémon true liberty."

Just saying that triggered something bitter in her chest, felt most keenly in the void her magic left behind. "Whether he succeeded is up for debate, but he wasn't wrong."

Her claws began to flex impatiently. What was up with all the questions anyway? How much more did Isidora need to explain herself? The bitterness festered. The awkwardness was painful.

"...Satisfied yet?"

 

[Jackie Cat]

Well, at least Laura hadn't really expected to successfully mask her emotional reaction, before. Or intended to, really – it would feel dishonest, somehow, to conceal her feelings outside of basic tact. And hey, Isidora hadn't taken offense. Instead the Sneasel just seemed... smaller.

At least there was an interesting historical-political answer to engage with. So, nearly two millennia since, huh?

She was about to ask about 'liberty', when she heard that quiet, bitter question. Had Isidora even meant for her to hear it? Too late, she'd already paused with the first syllables dead in her mouth.

"I, uh—"

Her gut twisted unpleasantly. Her throat closed up, stuck in stalemate between you don't have to talk about this if you don't want to and nevermind sorry for fucking asking and this just makes me feel like shit why am I even doing this. Laura dug her claws into one palm and centred herself, not so much wrestling the feeling down as sidestepping it, slipping past the surge and back into relative calm.

"You know, I really was enjoying the history lesson," she said, softly. "I was interested. I was gonna ask if you still have a monarchy, whether you do elections – stuff like that. But you know—"

She'd told herself not to rely on Radiance for this, but there it was, saying don't freeze up, look at her, just fucking say something—

"—if it's just gonna make you hate me more, then I won't. I don't wanna bug you."

She kept her eyes on Isidora's face.

"Thing is, I like you. Hoped you'd like me, too. I really did just want to be friends. I get why you don't trust humans, and I don't blame you for that... but if there's nothing I can do to change that, then it's out of my hands."

 

[JFought]

Isidora was confused. After all of the hostility she'd shown, Laura still wanted to be her friend?

I'd like to talk about those things too. Maybe learn more about other worlds while I'm at it.

She sighed. "When you put it like that, what am I supposed to say?"

Isidora needed to stop being pathetic. She pushed herself up to stand, and kept a paw on the wall behind her, trying to look tougher than she felt. "I'm not askin' for much, I just need you to understand where I'm comin' from." She turned her head away. "I can't imagine why you'd still want to be my friend. It's not like I wouldn't like to talk history with you. But... I still don't know if I should trust you yet."

The sneasel crossed her arms and turned to lean her back against the wall. "And no matter what, I'm stickin' to my principles. If it turns out you used to be a trainer, then I don't know how I'm supposed to be okay with that. Especially when..." She got caught on her words, then gestured vaguely to the air. "Especially in the context of all this."

 

[Jackie Cat]

Okay, okay, this was something. Laura tensed and untensed – she was walking a tightrope while blindfolded.

Don't overthink. Trust your gut.

"I don't expect you to just suddenly trust me," she said, feeling breathless. "I just want the chance to build trust, instead of being written off. And... to be judged for what I've said and done."

She swallowed, her throat still tight. The Radiance took the edge off, but it still stung her eyes to say this stuff so earnestly.

"I get that everything you know about humanity... It's awful. I know. And I won't lie, humans have done some awful shit in my world, too – to pokémon, to the planet, and to other humans. But it's also true that humans have fought back, that they've worked – spent whole lifetimes, even – to fix the damage. Change things for the better. And they've done that— they've done that best... alongside pokémon."

"If it turns out you used to be a trainer..."

"I am a trainer," she said. "Not a— a slaver, or a fucking tyrant or something. My partners—"

Howls, but she missed them so fucking bad. What she wouldn't give to have Malachai here right now. To have any of them here right now.

Deep breath. Steady.

"We're a team, and I have a responsibility to all of them. If I let them down, or I'm not what they want any more, then they go their own way. I've already had pokémon leave the team because I wasn't tough enough for them, or they changed their mind about training, or they had a falling-out with their teammates. My ace, Malachai—"

Laura's voice cracked on the name. Her face creased up. She looked away long enough to blink away the welling-up.

"He quit, because I was gonna chicken out of a battle. I nearly dropped out right then, but I guess he got through to me, 'cause I changed my mind. Went ahead with the battle after all. ...Good thing I didn't update my registered team, 'cause guess who showed up at the last minute to save my ass?"

She laughed, partly to disguise a sob.

"I can't imagine why you'd still want to be my friend."

"That's why I don't give up on stuff," she finished. "That's why even if I think I'm gonna fail, I try anyway."

Her paws moved, signing for her when her voice finally broke on her completely. It'd still translate, right? Digits to the temple, point down, the chatter gesture, motion between her and Isidora...

[That's why I'm still here, talking to you.]

 

[JFought]

Isidora felt like she stumbled into an emotional blizzard. For a moment, she just stared at Laura, trying to get all her thoughts back in order.

So Laura was a trainer, just like she suspected. And she had almost made herself cry with that story about it. No one could make all that up. She's so earnest all of a sudden. Do I even deserve all that? She grew more flustered with each second that passed. Nothing in her entire life had ever prepared her for this.

Finally, Isidora sighed and scratched her cheek. "Dammit... Do I look like someone who's good with all this mushy crap?"

She then walked right up to Laura and placed a paw on her shoulder. "First off, you need to be more careful who you choose to pour your heart out to. Way I grew up, you'd get eaten alive for layin' your feelings out like that. Don't you know how easy it'd be for me to kill them right now? It ain't fair to yourself to put that kinda trust in me when you don't know how I'm gonna respond."

She couldn't believe she was doing this. She let go and crossed her arms again, cheeks burning underneath her fur. "A-and second off, if you want to show I can trust you, then just do it! You can tell me a thousand stories about how great friends you are with pokémon, and it ain't gonna change how I feel! Only 'mon with their whole head up their ass believe in words like humans do." She turned away, her voice becoming a little softer. "I told you I feel uncomfortable with all this, so I'm just askin' that you be understanding of that. Just respect my boundaries and don't do anything stupid. Like, one of the others pulled a Poké Ball out on me when I mentioned not liking trainers. The bar ain't that high!"

Isidora's energy was completely spent by the end. She took a couple steps away and raised a paw in gesture, hoping Laura would get the signal. "And don't take any of that personally, okay? I'm giving you advice. And then... maybe we can have another talk."

 

[Jackie Cat]

Laura pursed her mouth tightly, tilted her chin up, forced down the waterworks before they got a chance to turn up. Getting choked up over missing Malachai was bad enough – or good enough, if it had made the difference in Isidora realising she was sincere – she wasn't about to get leaky over maybe-kinda winning over the Sneasel.

She nodded, stiffly, and took a breath. Paw on the shoulder? So macho. Whatever helped Isidora keep some emotional distance – it was still a win, in Laura's book.

No need to point out that stammer, that flustered face. This was a lot for her. Don't ruin it.

"Actions beat words, don't be a fucking tosser, nothing changes overnight," she summarised, with a lopsided grin. "Never expected any different. I guess, uh, we're cool, then."

It didn't come out as a question. Her smiled relaxed as she realised how confident she was of what she'd said. Talk about a release in tension...

Laura glanced away, and swiped her cheek with one paw to try and reset her face.

"I'm gonna call it a night. Thanks— for, y'know. Be seeing you, Isidora."

That was true anyway.

Now, though— it'll be a good thing.

 

[JFought]

"No, I don't know." Isidora waved it off, then returned to sitting against the wall. "I'm gonna stay out here a little longer, then I'll call it too. So, good night." And that was the end of that.

---

A minute later, Isidora was leaning against the railing. Even after Laura had left, the embarrassment from earlier hadn't worn off. Staring at the night sky, she imagined what her old colleagues would think if they had seen her looking so pathetic. They'd probably think I got replaced by some zoroark...

A sigh. Well, I got to clear something up at least. And she could now say that Laura was sincere, if nothing else. Yet, she still felt hesitant to put her on the list of 'safe' humans like Gladion. No matter how she tried to rationalize it away, the discomfort surrounding their relationship still remained.

She said she won't direct me anymore. Maybe I just need time to get over it.

She hoped so.

<><><>​

 

[Jackie Cat]

When Brisa saw Jade last, she'd watched her disappear ahead of her – a shrinking feline figure on a train car's observation platform. She'd been alone and trapped before Jade helped her escape the Lanterns, and then she'd gone straight back to being alone, trapped with the Lanterns, fighting like mad.

Since then, she'd traipsed across the Taleska steppes, sheltering anywhere she could afford, making her way to Novelux. She'd fought at the Duel Dome for coin, and fought well, until the Lanterns found her again. And then she'd hidden herself in Whisperwind Comb... for how long? Weeks? Probably weeks...

And now she was in Frontier Town again. Familiar but wrong, somehow unrecogniseable. Un-real – like waking up from a dream, and realising you're still in a dream.

She was still catching up, but the way she heard it, Jade's gang of 'Wayfarers' had certainly been busy in the past season or so. Gladion had said something about Jade looking into Starr – she couldn't rule out that Jade might know something she didn't. After all, the Wayfarers had had their own run-ins with the Lanterns. Either way, Brisa had to talk to Jade.

Not just because she wanted info. It was that she felt like she was going to keel over and bleed out, if she didn't talk to someone soon. Someone who had enough of an idea of what she was going through.

Brisa found her way to Traveller's Haus before long, it being public knowledge that Wayfarers bunked there, and she only had to enter the lobby to scent the Meowth on the same floor. She found Jade eating cereal in the breakfast hall, reading something, looking a little older, more weathered, than when they'd first met.

"Hey there," she said, trying to soften the roughness out of her voice, at least a little. "You got a minute and a mind ta talk this morn', Jade?"

She offered a fatigued grin.

"You look like you've seen a few storms since last time, partner."

 

[Chibi Pika]

Jade's ears flicked toward the door before she'd even registered that anyone had entered. Then she looked up from her magazine to see that it was Brisa, and whatever she'd been thinking about beforehand flew straight out the window.

"Brisa! Hey—yeah, definitely, I was wanting to talk to you," she said quickly, almost immediately hoping that she hadn't come off too insistent. She wasn't entirely sure how much was too much. She hadn't seen the Luxio in so long, and spent all those months wondering if she was alright...

(Well, they'd seen each other for a moment in the depths of the Comb, but Jade had been late reaching the heart, and hadn't wanted to bombard the Luxio with questions when the it'd looked like she'd just gotten done answering a bunch about more important things. And then there was the fact that Brisa couldn't use the waypoints like the Wayfarers could, so she'd had to take the train all the way back to Frontier Town—)

Not to mention what she'd learned about Starr since they'd last seen each other.

But that all felt like way too much to say all at once, so Jade settled on, "How're things, being back in Frontier Town?"

 

[Jackie Cat]

So keen! Yeah, Jade sure seemed older, but she was still young. Brisa blew a silent chuckle through her nose.

"It's familiar an' strange all at once," she said, summarising the whole ordeal in one short sentence.

Of course, townie folks – was Jade a townie? She seemed like it – didn't do 'laconic' most times, and these offworlder types even less so. She clicked her tongue, and considered how to elaborate.

"Feels different around town. In a good way, I guess – folks're less sour fer sure. Dramatically so. It's like they're expectin' me to forget that they'd never give me the time a' day afore I left, ha. Reckon that's down to you folks from the sky an' stars – an' with you lot around, at least I sure ain't the only town weirdo any more."

She glanced over her shoulder, feeling the pull of the east. Like gravity. She would fall towards Starr sooner or later...

"Ain't gonna stick around too long, though. Touch base, clean house, pack my bags afresh."

 

[Chibi Pika]

Jade nodded along—she'd sorta gathered that Brisa was... something of an outcast around town, back then. Or maybe that was putting it too harshly... she wasn't sure if she fully understood what things were like.

"Right, yeah, I guess you'll need to... finish what you started?" she asked hopefully. Whatever she and Starr had started, which meant finding Starr...

No, no, that's too vague. She had to just say what she was thinking.

Jade exhaled slowly, rubbing her arm. "Hey, so... a while back, when we were figuring out some stuff with the Escarpa, we..." She shook her head—get to the point, dammit. "Sierra told us, about you and Starr. Like, her being human and not remembering anything"—her heart stung—"and you two heading east together."

 

[Jackie Cat]

Well, something about this sure was eating the poor girl, though Brisa didn't have much idea what, exactly...

"Uh, yeah... She got back some idea of who she was over time, though it seemed like the details always stayed pretty fuzzy."

Starr, the disoriented, amnesiac Litten – standoffish, brash, and ridden with directionless guilt. Starr, the human-turned-Torracat, fiercely loyal and smouldering with regret over half-remembered wrongs...

Brisa shook her head clear, ignoring the way her heart shuddered at that line of thought. She took a seat just beside Jade and sprawled herself over it, resting her chin on one paw.

"We were chasin' dreams of hers, mostly. We followed my pa's tracks, sure, but really it were Starr's intuitions that lit the path. Maybe that was the 'Beacon' speakin' to her, I dunno. What're you gettin' at, anyhow?"

 

[Chibi Pika]

She'd got back some details over time? So maybe she'll remember me after all. Jade dared to let her heart leap from that single, shining piece of info before remembering that she needed to keep her expectations... realistic. She... she still didn't know that this Starr even knew her at all. It could've been a situation like with Ralsen; same world, different versions of events. What if Ralsen had never become Stalker and never made the Rebellion and Jade never got involved, never encountered Astrid, never—

Jade pulled a leg up onto the bench, gripping her knee. "Right, uh... I guess I never told you, back when we met, that, uh... that I was human." She winced, all-too aware of how that conversation looked in retrospect. Brisa, trying to warn her about humans on Forlas. Maybe this wouldn't be all that surprising now, not with the reveal that a bunch of the Wayfarers were human. Still felt a bit awkward, though.

"I didn't realize at first, not 'til someone was able to confirm, but..." Her claws were gripping her knee a bit too tight, and she had to deliberately loosen them. "The Starr that you met, she's from my world."

That was an okay place to leave it. She didn't know if she could truthfully claim any more than that, so she shouldn—

"She's my best friend."

Jade hadn't meant to say that, but it'd felt like an invisible fist was going to reach through her ribs and crush her heart flat if she didn't. So she had.

 

[Jackie Cat]

Brisa nodded along, indifferent to the initial awkwardness. She knew Jade was human, it was obvious – it was just like meeting Starr all over again. Not to mention that she'd had enough time to figure out what a human felt like, aura-wise...

"—she's from my world."

She blinked. Played Jade's words over again in her head.

"She's your— Wait, hang fire a sec. That means you—"

Something in her heart worked it out before her brain fully caught up with the answer. The connection snapped into bright relief, like the crack-flash of a storm bolt.

"You're her. The girl who she..."

Hurt. Badly.

"She's not— She's different now, she's changed," Brisa found herself saying, her ears dipping low. "Starr wouldn't do the wrong she's done again, I swear I know it, I know her for who she is now, and.... She's been walkin' salt an' sand here, helpin' folks, makin' up for her past—"

She put a paw to her face and dragged it down her cheek. Get a grip.

"I'm... I'm sorry. Fer what happened, what she did to you. She'd tell you that herself if'n she could, I swear it."

 

[Chibi Pika]

Jade blinked at Brisa's hasty explanations, a rush of emotions hitting her in the face like a truck. This was it, this proved that Starr knew her, it wasn't another version of her, it really was her friend—

And then she fully processed the rest of what Brisa was saying and quickly waved her paws in front of herself. "Whoa, whoa, hey, it's okay, it-it wasn't that—"

'...Wasn't that bad?' An obvious, ridiculous lie, not even worth considering. They both still had scars from that night. That wasn't going away, but....

Jade shook her head and held a paw to her face. "Okay, it was bad, yeah." She jerked her head up, fixing Brisa with a dead-serious look. "But, I mean, I already know she was trying to be better. She—she saved my life, and we've been traveling together, and... that wasn't supposed to be 'friend' past-tense," she added, feeling her voice crack slightly.

Her chest tightened with the realization that Starr had managed to regain a glimpse of... of that. What'd happened in the detention cell. But not anything that'd come after? She suddenly imagined that night being the only thing Starr could remember properly from her human life. Tears, lightning, screaming, pleading—

Or worse. A version of Starr who'd gone through that with her, but not everything that came next. No leaving the Rockets, no moving on, no—

No. Stop it. There's no point thinking about stuff like that.

 

[Jackie Cat]

Brisa got a hold of herself, meeting Jade's eyes. What was that look...? Hard to tell. Emotional, sure, but not... what she'd feared. And sincere, too. Brisa had overreacted, was the message she got.

And Starr had been turning it around already, back home. She'd talked about that – but always with this sense of dread as if it was wishful thinking that she'd already changed, that she'd one day go right back to being exactly how she used to be, that the stain was as permanent as subdermal ink...

She exhaled, swallowed, centred herself.

"I always knew she'd have started makin' amends already," she said, quietly. "Told her so, even. Not that she ever really relaxed about it, none – I reckon she didn't wanna be... complacent. Like you can stamp a letter'n be done with it, reformation complete."

So, she'd saved Jade's life. Been forgiven... at least, enough that she'd been given the chance to earn back trust. Good. Thank stars.

"She... She really cares about you," Brisa found herself saying, like her heart wouldn't let her stay her tongue. "At least, that's what makes sense ta' me, seein' as she's so damned wistful sometimes. Misses you, I think. Her team, too, and others besides, but... She's the kinda person who remembers deep down that there're folks as need her. I bet she'll be fair glad ta' see ya when we go get her back."

They would. They would get her back.

 

[Chibi Pika]

Jade was shaken from the whirlwind of negative what-ifs by Brisa's... surprisingly heartfelt outpouring of support. It wasn't something she ever would have expected, not when she'd been reading the Luxio as more reserved than that. But even if she had no way of knowing whether Brisa's guess was on the mark or not... it helped.

"Yeah. Yeah, we are gonna get her back," Jade said, willing herself to believe it. That Brisa was just as determined to make it happen made the goal feel more real, less daunting and unknowable.

"It sounds like you care about her a lot too, and well... I'm glad that she had you with her while she was stuck here," Jade said, curling her tail around herself. "Where did you guys get split up, anyway?"

 

[Jackie Cat]

Gods, but she did care. Enough to change her, opening her up, her terse demeanour peeling away to reveal the raw feeling beneath...

Brisa looked away, getting a hold of herself after the surge of feeling that Jade's 'reveal' had spurred. As the moment passed, she felt almost unsteady on her paws, unused to speaking like this with anyone but Starr. Or about her, apparently.

(At least her sworn promise had made an impression on Jade. If she hadn't believed in the mission, it would've been like a shackle around Brisa's throat.)

"Yeah, I— Yeah. She's... She's real important ta' me."

Underselling it.

"Guess it weren't a bad thing that she fell through my roof, huh?"

Really underselling it.

"...Anyways, we got separated when the Lanterns jumped us in Magna City. That's in, ah, Alexandria, way out east. There's some kinda Lantern base not far from town, and it could be she's still in lockup back there. I'm pretty fuckin' strong, but... I'd need help to crack that place open. It ain't like fightin' regular 'mon. Lanterns're all goddamn brimmin' with power."

 

[Chibi Pika]

Crack the place open... It almost gave Jade 'invading the Rocket HQ' vibes. Or more recently, Cipher's lair in Terminal Two. They'd managed to storm the base and rescue Sage, hadn't they?

Jade drummed her claws on the table. "Well, I guess one silver lining in it taking us this long to catch up with you—our team's gotten way stronger than we were a few months ago. Had a lotta battles since then, even against other offworlders,"—and Legendaries—"so... I think we'll be able to pull it off."

Finally, finally, there was a way forward that led to finding Starr, and that made it a lot easier to think positive.