Spinda Cafe

[Dragonfree]

Dave tilted his head. "Well, not so much with the decimating an entire town, over in my universe. I get the sense Pokémon tend to be not only smarter but also more powerful here and some other worlds than they are in mine. Where I'm from they're broadly competitive, like fighting each other, understand more shit than many people assume, but they don't really have complex communication, as far as anyone can tell. And obviously lots are physically stronger than a human, they've got that advantage of healing battle damage very easily - but like, a Pokémon's no match for human weaponry. Pokémon attacking towns happens, but generally that's a stray one wandering in, mauling one or two people, and then the police come along and shoot them and that's the end of it. So all in all, in my world it'd be uncontroversial to say humans are more dangerous than Pokémon. Guys with guns already kill way more people every year than Pokémon do."

He sipped his beer contemplatively. "See, one of the arguments they nominally made in favor of this law was that when you've got somebody with the brains of a human but the powers and instincts of a Pokémon, they're a bigger danger than a Pokémon and more volatile and aggressive than a human. But really it was pretty much just an excuse for bullshit politics. People are used to other humans walking around with guns for protection, and have a big political lobby campaigning for how that's an essential right. Then they see these weird-looking kids on TV, hear they killed some people with their abilities, never mind that it was obvious fucking self-defense, and then oh, no, that must be stopped, and people clutch pearls and write letters and politicians vying for re-election fall over themselves to appease the electorate by keeping them off the streets. Any idiot with a gun could do more damage for worse reasons, but it doesn't matter, because that's just the status quo, and the morphs are weird and different and people don't want to have to look at them. And that's all there is to it. So yeah. People are shit."

He looked back at Curio. "So what's your world like? It sounds like a shitshow."

 

[NebulaDreams]

Dave tilted his head. "Well, not so much with the decimating an entire town, over in my universe. I get the sense Pokémon tend to be not only smarter but also more powerful here and some other worlds than they are in mine. Where I'm from they're broadly competitive, like fighting each other, understand more shit than many people assume, but they don't really have complex communication, as far as anyone can tell.

“Well, that’s also kind of how it is to some extent. I like a good fight just as much as the next Pokemon, and my natural way of speaking is kind of gimped. Lemme try saying it in my native tongue.” She tried to say ‘why am I talking politics with a hyena pup’, or at least a phrase equivalent to that in her tongue, which came out as a garbled string of canine growls and squeaks. “You hear that? That’s pretty much the extent of our language system, at least in terms of how it sounds. You can’t exactly translate that shit. And the stuff we do understand from humans that trickles down to our language, we just find whatever basic substitute there is for that word. It’s a mess, but the great white goat in the sky probably didn’t design us to grow past using basic commands like ‘go away’ or ‘follow me’.”

Damn her throat, she needed a drink after all. A soft drink this time. She settled for some mago berry juice.

“Crossing the language barrier and speaking the human tongue like I am right now is much easier for us though. Don’t ask me why. And while Pokemon here aren’t necessarily smarter right out of the gate, they have the potential to grow, similar to humans, depending on a few different factors. This wasn’t always the case though, apparently. Why it happened, I don’t know, but I guess we adapted and evolved other time until we gained that potential to be on par with humans. Fuck me, where’s my drink?”

Curio thanked whoever gave her that cup and chugged the juice down. Nice and soothing. Now she was ready to prattle on some more.

And obviously lots are physically stronger than a human, they've got that advantage of healing battle damage very easily - but like, a Pokémon's no match for human weaponry. Pokémon attacking towns happens, but generally that's a stray one wandering in, mauling one or two people, and then the police come along and shoot them and that's the end of it. So all in all, in my world it'd be uncontroversial to say humans are more dangerous than Pokémon. Guys with guns already kill way more people every year than Pokémon do."

“Guns are actually banned in my world, believe it or not.” She laughed. “I’m sure it’s a bitch where you are, but here, for one thing, there’s not much point in owning a gun if you have a Pokemon. And another thing, when something royally screwed up happened to do with guns, people wanted to erase that history. Not that they don’t make ‘em anymore, or that the ban stops bad shit from happening anyway, but that’s another kettle of fish I’d rather not spill.”

He sipped his beer contemplatively. "See, one of the arguments they nominally made in favor of this law was that when you've got somebody with the brains of a human but the powers and instincts of a Pokémon, they're a bigger danger than a Pokémon and more volatile and aggressive than a human. But really it was pretty much just an excuse for bullshit politics. People are used to other humans walking around with guns for protection, and have a big political lobby campaigning for how that's an essential right. Then they see these weird-looking kids on TV, hear they killed some people with their abilities, never mind that it was obvious fucking self-defense, and then oh, no, that must be stopped, and people clutch pearls and write letters and politicians vying for re-election fall over themselves to appease the electorate by keeping them off the streets. Any idiot with a gun could do more damage for worse reasons, but it doesn't matter, because that's just the status quo, and the morphs are weird and different and people don't want to have to look at them. And that's all there is to it. So yeah. People are shit."

“Damn.” Curio needed another swig of that juice before carrying on. “I don’t have much to say to that, but that sounds so screwed up. Politicians are fucking evil.” She knew that from experience.

He looked back at Curio. "So what's your world like? It sounds like a shitshow."

Curio chuckled. “Well, it is and it isn’t. In my case, everything just fell apart all at once, and I’ve been slowly building myself back up since then. Having that happen to you kind of ages your view of the world, and gettin’ weird looks for this arm certainly doesn’t help. But things are gettin’ better, well, at least until the other shoe drops and one Pokemon decides they’ve had enough.”

She didn’t have the balls to be that kind of Pokemon, even though she desperately wanted to.

“But no, people are startin’ to cotton on to the fact that Pokemon are growing. They opened up a new jobs system for Pokemon in Galar. Even outside of Galar, people want me for work and treat me nicely for teaching Pokemon their ABCs and stuff. I can sneak into all kinds of movie theatres and watch whatever I want. I can go wherever I want with no trainer tellin’ me what to do. So if I can do that, then the world isn’t a complete shitshow.”

“Speakin’ of which, I bet meeting a plain ol’ vanilla Pokemon like me is a bit of a headtrip for you if, yanno, Pokemon can’t really communicate where you are. But here, it doesn’t really matter, so you’re just as much a Pokemon as any other schmuck here. I could’ve lied and said I was a human and you’d be none the wiser. So do you think it matters so much that I’m a Pokemon if I’m having this chat with you right now?”

 

[Dragonfree]

“Well, that’s also kind of how it is to some extent. I like a good fight just as much as the next Pokemon, and my natural way of speaking is kind of gimped. Lemme try saying it in my native tongue.” She tried to say ‘why am I talking politics with a hyena pup’, or at least a phrase equivalent to that in her tongue, which came out as a garbled string of canine growls and squeaks. “You hear that? That’s pretty much the extent of our language system, at least in terms of how it sounds. You can’t exactly translate that shit. And the stuff we do understand from humans that trickles down to our language, we just find whatever basic substitute there is for that word. It’s a mess, but the great white goat in the sky probably didn’t design us to grow past using basic commands like ‘go away’ or ‘follow me’.”

Damn her throat, she needed a drink after all. A soft drink this time. She settled for some mago berry juice.

“Crossing the language barrier and speaking the human tongue like I am right now is much easier for us though. Don’t ask me why. And while Pokemon here aren’t necessarily smarter right out of the gate, they have the potential to grow, similar to humans, depending on a few different factors. This wasn’t always the case though, apparently. Why it happened, I don’t know, but I guess we adapted and evolved other time until we gained that potential to be on par with humans. Fuck me, where’s my drink?”

Dave listened to Curio with interest, raising an eyebrow at the example of her speech, rolling his eyes at the great white goat in the sky reference. "Huh. So you're not born sapient but can become so, and that's a recent thing? How recent are we talking? Seem like a mutation that spread normally through the population by natural selection, or something weirder?"

The gun story piqued his curiosity, but if she didn't want to talk about it, so be it.

Curio chuckled. “Well, it is and it isn’t. In my case, everything just fell apart all at once, and I’ve been slowly building myself back up since then. Having that happen to you kind of ages your view of the world, and gettin’ weird looks for this arm certainly doesn’t help. But things are gettin’ better, well, at least until the other shoe drops and one Pokemon decides they’ve had enough.”

"They stop the people who chopped off your arm, then? Or is that still going on?"

“But no, people are startin’ to cotton on to the fact that Pokemon are growing. They opened up a new jobs system for Pokemon in Galar. Even outside of Galar, people want me for work and treat me nicely for teaching Pokemon their ABCs and stuff. I can sneak into all kinds of movie theatres and watch whatever I want. I can go wherever I want with no trainer tellin’ me what to do. So if I can do that, then the world isn’t a complete shitshow.”

"Hmm, so do you... teach them sapience, or do they come to you after it happens?" Everything about this was a trippy-ass thought. He chuckled. "Man, imagining that happening in my world? Pokémon developing sapience and becoming citizens? The morphs got enough shit just being half Pokémon." He paused, thinking. "But, you know, maybe just there being more of them helps. Hard to fight for rights for exactly eight people in the entire world."

“Speakin’ of which, I bet meeting a plain ol’ vanilla Pokemon like me is a bit of a headtrip for you if, yanno, Pokemon can’t really communicate where you are. But here, it doesn’t really matter, so you’re just as much a Pokemon as any other schmuck here. I could’ve lied and said I was a human and you’d be none the wiser. So do you think it matters so much that I’m a Pokemon if I’m having this chat with you right now?”

Dave shook his head. "Eh, I'm over the talking Pokémon thing by now. Pretty much all of you might as well be human. I just feel like I'm in one of Jean's stupid cartoons by now."

 

[NebulaDreams]

"Huh. So you're not born sapient but can become so, and that's a recent thing? How recent are we talking? Seem like a mutation that spread normally through the population by natural selection, or something weirder?"

"Yeah, fairly recent, I'd say by a couple of hundred years, give or take. But it's been a slow burn, apparently. I don't know the whole story, but I've heard more people are looking into the history of it all. I reckon it's always been a result of us mixing with other Pokemon and humans, since, well, Pokemon aren't necessarily just wild either. Could you imagine a Machoke walking on all fours like a dog and barking? So quite a few Pokemon already had that in them to begin with, it just hasn't been on such a big societal level, and they don't necessarily have to mix with humans. But if you're stuck in the wild and grow up with nothing stimulating at all except hunting, you're gonna revert to a feral state no matter what species you are."

Curio sighed, digging up one particularly painful memory. "I knew one Marowak who was in such a state -- now he was a headache and a half. He had spent all his life in the wild until a few Pokemon rescued him from near death and tried to teach him stuff just like they taught me. I grew up with a bunch of Lucario who knew some things about the outside world, but he had none of that. So a lot of what they tried to teach him went through his head, the poor sod. And he was clever too, just not by human standards, I guess. And it turned out he went through some shit that might've stunted his growth anyway even if he did grow up with more worldly Pokemon." She dug her claws into her lap, not mentioning the part where she had to unpack his trauma first-hand. She still didn't know where he was to this day. She hoped he was happy doing whatever he was doing.

"They stop the people who chopped off your arm, then? Or is that still going on?"

She clutched her arm again. "It's complicated, and again, off limits. Sorry."

"Hmm, so do you... teach them sapience, or do they come to you after it happens?" Everything about this was a trippy-ass thought. He chuckled. "Man, imagining that happening in my world? Pokémon developing sapience and becoming citizens? The morphs got enough shit just being half Pokémon."

"Ah, no, I just teach them to speak human just so I don't have to pick out of trash cans. At that point, they're already sorta acclimated to human living. Good riddance -- I couldn't handle bein' someone's full time teacher." Curio chuckled at Dave's last comment. "And no, we're not really citizens yet, per se. Again, Galar's gettin' better at this, but the rest of the world is still catching up."

"Eh, I'm over the talking Pokémon thing by now. Pretty much all of you might as well be human. I just feel like I'm in one of Jean's stupid cartoons by now."

"That works for me," she said with a smile.

 

[Dragonfree]

"Yeah, fairly recent, I'd say by a couple of hundred years, give or take. But it's been a slow burn, apparently. I don't know the whole story, but I've heard more people are looking into the history of it all. I reckon it's always been a result of us mixing with other Pokemon and humans, since, well, Pokemon aren't necessarily just wild either. Could you imagine a Machoke walking on all fours like a dog and barking? So quite a few Pokemon already had that in them to begin with, it just hasn't been on such a big societal level, and they don't necessarily have to mix with humans. But if you're stuck in the wild and grow up with nothing stimulating at all except hunting, you're gonna revert to a feral state no matter what species you are."

Curio sighed, digging up one particularly painful memory. "I knew one Marowak who was in such a state -- now he was a headache and a half. He had spent all his life in the wild until a few Pokemon rescued him from near death and tried to teach him stuff just like they taught me. I grew up with a bunch of Lucario who knew some things about the outside world, but he had none of that. So a lot of what they tried to teach him went through his head, the poor sod. And he was clever too, just not by human standards, I guess. And it turned out he went through some shit that might've stunted his growth anyway even if he did grow up with more worldly Pokemon." She dug her claws into her lap, not mentioning the part where she had to unpack his trauma first-hand. She still didn't know where he was to this day. She hoped he was happy doing whatever he was doing.

Dave sipped his beer as he listened. "Mmmm. Yeah, in my world they say there's a critical period where you have to learn language, and if you don't you probably won't ever be able to learn it properly. But most of the time it turns out the famous cases were also physically abused, or disabled from birth and then physically abused. People being shit, a running theme tonight." He shook his head.

"Our wild Machoke are pretty feral, though. Walk on two legs, look kinda humanoid, but as far as anyone can tell what goes on in their heads is pretty similar to what goes through the heads of Ursaring or whatever. Lots of people think they'd be more human just because they look more human, but not really. Not that I've looked into Machoke that much personally, but of the ones I have, the smartest are fucking Scyther." He paused for just a second, looking into the distance. "It's a pretty different kind of smart, though. Predator smart. Scary good at observation and deduction and prediction and coordination, still no real ability to cooperate or communicate ideas or delay gratification or make complex plans."

"Ah, no, I just teach them to speak human just so I don't have to pick out of trash cans. At that point, they're already sorta acclimated to human living. Good riddance -- I couldn't handle bein' someone's full time teacher." Curio chuckled at Dave's last comment. "And no, we're not really citizens yet, per se. Again, Galar's gettin' better at this, but the rest of the world is still catching up."

"Well, here's to social progress and an end to shit." Dave raised his glass in Curio's direction and then downed the rest of it.

 

[NebulaDreams]

"Our wild Machoke are pretty feral, though. Walk on two legs, look kinda humanoid, but as far as anyone can tell what goes on in their heads is pretty similar to what goes through the heads of Ursaring or whatever. Lots of people think they'd be more human just because they look more human, but not really.

"That..." Curio squinted at Dave, trying to parse what she just heard. "That kind of makes no goddamn sense to me." She chugged her soft drink, but she was craving a really bitter one at this point. "Okay, so in my world, they apparently evolved pretty closely to humans. Maybe not exactly, but it explains the humanoid part about them, and they're also very fast learners despite that whole stereotype about them just being meat-headed jocks. But taking that away, why on earth would they evolve to have human-like hands if they're apparently too feral to even use tools? That's what you're implying by saying they're as smart as Ursaring." She laughed at the absurdity of it all.

"It might just be me, maybe in your world they are just dumb animals that just suddenly came into being with human hands and belts and pants made out of skin and shit, but I still can't grasp the concept here. It's as if the god in your world, if there are any legendaries at all, played some cruel joke on that Pokemon." She flexed her non-opposeable thumbs. "If they don't have any use for their hands outside of punching stuff, I'd gladly take 'em."

Curio stopped herself before she went on any further. "Whatevs. I'd be here all day if I prattled on about all the differences in both our worlds. But yeah, to societal progress." She pumped her fist in the air. "Hooray. Anyway, nice talkin' to ya."

 

[Dragonfree]

"That..." Curio squinted at Dave, trying to parse what she just heard. "That kind of makes no goddamn sense to me." She chugged her soft drink, but she was craving a really bitter one at this point. "Okay, so in my world, they apparently evolved pretty closely to humans. Maybe not exactly, but it explains the humanoid part about them, and they're also very fast learners despite that whole stereotype about them just being meat-headed jocks. But taking that away, why on earth would they evolve to have human-like hands if they're apparently too feral to even use tools? That's what you're implying by saying they're as smart as Ursaring." She laughed at the absurdity of it all.

"It might just be me, maybe in your world they are just dumb animals just suddenly came into being with human hands and belts and pants made out of skin and shit, but I still can't grasp the concept here. It's as if the god in your world, if there are any legendaries at all, played some cruel joke on that Pokemon." She flexed her non-opposeable thumbs. "If they don't have any use for their hands outside of punching stuff, I'd gladly take 'em."

Dave rolled his eyes hard. "Oh, please. There are no gods. They evolved hands to grasp things, like anything else with hands. Humans had hands before they invented tools, Jesus. But for the record, they can use very primitive tools - like, grab a rock to hit something with. Thing is so can Ursaring. Any Pokémon could, in principle. Kind of what a lot of moves are, after all. Just, you know, varying ability to actually physically pick up the rock."

Curio stopped herself before she went on any further. "Whatevs. I'd be here all day if I prattled on about all the differences in both our worlds. But yeah, to societal progress." She pumped her fist in the air. "Hooray. Anyway, nice talkin' to ya."

"See you." He waved her off, then heavily pulled himself off the chair, paid the bartender and headed back.

<><><><><>

 

[Cresselia92]

An half-empty teapot and a plate with a couple of Pecha biscuits were placed in the middle of a table, accompanied by various papers scattered around and filled with notes and jottings of all kinds.

Seated on a wooden stool was Icetales, flipping though the pages of a book while licking some frozen mint tea from a bowl by his side.

“So, as soon as thou can reach into the opponent’s psyche, lock the memory carefully, and…”

He pushed the book aside and moved His leftmost tail on top of a paper, before scribbling down some notes.

“Our lost comrades are both felines. Hm. Perhaps I should look for something close to sushi or other fish-based dishes, but…”

He redirected his gaze to the book.

“As soon as the memory is locked, keep taunting the target. In this way the effect should last…”

And again, he looked at the note.

“Will I have the time required to bring some fireworks? Do fireworks even exist here? I suppose I could inquire about that with the local Fire-types, and…”

The Vulpix kept going back and forth between the book and the notes. Preparing a rigorous training program and a lovely ‘welcome back’ party were his top priorities and he had no time. Luckily for him, he was a master of the so called multitasking.

“…And once I’m reassured to have locked the Shinx’s memories into Charm, then I can fire an Oran Soda and tray of cupcakes, and…” Icetales paused. “Wait! Huh?! What did I…?”

…Or so he thought, until now.

 

[Adamhuarts]

"Oh, Icetale, there you are!" Cynthian said, peeking into the doorway. His bag swung beside him as he trotted over to Icetales.

"I've been looking for you. Oh, I hope I'm not interrupting your reading," Cynthian said, noticing the various papers, teapot and biscuits on the table when he took a seat in front of Icetales.

"Don't worry, I'll try to be brief so you can get back to what you're doing." Cynthian had his flower over the bag's zipper. He wondered if Icetales would even like the gift. Cynthian didn't know much about him aside from being nobility after all, so narrowing down a present wasn't an easy task.

 

[Cresselia92]

“…Hm?”

Icetales redirected his attention from his papers to the Roselia in front of him, and beamed a friendly smile. “Ah! Greetings, Sir Cynthian! Oh, do not burden thyself with such concern. I am always available to converse with a kindred soul.”

He turned around and swiped the table with his tails, gathering all the papers in a single pile while making sure to not raise any dust. The last thing he needed was some accident involving a freezing sneeze.

“I was merely… um… taking a few notes. Nothing much.”

As soon as he gathered everything, he turned to face Cynthian and sat on his haunches, before dragging the bowl in front of his muzzle.

“Very well. What brings thee here and to my presence in such fair day, sir?” He motioned toward the desk with a paw. “Fancy some fresh water, perhaps?”

 

[Adamhuarts]

"Uh, sure. Water is good." Cynthian wasn't really thirsty in the least bit, but he still ordered the glass of water regardless.

Cynthian took slow sips from his glass, and his eyes would drift between his bag, to Icetales, and then the glass again. How was he supposed to open up the conversation about giving the gift?

As awkward silence began to rear its ugly head between them, Cynthian made an attempt to break the ice. "What are you taking notes for?"

 

[Cresselia92]

“Ah, fair question! I am merely documenting a few… observations of mine, thou see.”

Icetales craned his neck toward the pile to snatch some papers with his fangs, before dropping them in front of Cynthian. A few papers had elaborate and throughout essays with refined cursive texts, while others had some crude drawings of the members of the God Squad. He chuckled in embarrassment.

“Erm… Do not mind these rough sketches. I… well… tails aren’t quite the epitome of dexterity, and I do not label myself as an artist,” he said, scratching his ear with a forepaw. “But, well, to say it briefly, among things I have been working on is gathering all information we currently have about the God Squad, and what kind of role they have related to our plight.”

He tapped some bold texts, which were a few questions. “Where do they come from? Why are they here? What is the true extent of their powers? What is the reasoning behind their animosity toward Dar—” He halted when he reminded himself what happened during the reunion and scrambled for a way to divert the sentence. “Um… err… well, toward the… products of obscurity…”

 

[Adamhuarts]

"Huh." Cynthian reached for one of the papers depicting a crudely drawn soda, the he took a quick glance over at one of the notes and hummed in amusement.

"You've been hard at work it seems. How much have you gathered about them so far? Personally, I know little about Maple and her crew, and perhaps I ought to know more." Cynthian rested his head against his white rose and fiddled with a pen on the table.

"Though, ignorance is bliss sometimes. And well... I wish I hadn't learned of today's great revelation by our gracious overseer." Cynthian uttered the last sentence with a hushed edge to his voice.

 

[Cresselia92]

"You've been hard at work it seems. How much have you gathered about them so far? Personally, I know little about Maple and her crew, and perhaps I ought to know more."

“Truth to be told…” started Icetales, before his ears dropped and he showed an unsatisfied expression. “Not as much as I desired. All I have here are the testimonies of our comrades, like Sir Dave’s statement that Miss Maple is the ‘deadly fester that shan’t be provoked for no reason whatsoever’. Paraphrased by yours truly, of course.”

He shrugged. “I surely would be able to gather more information if I got the possibility to converse with them, but between the attacks of that daemon and the current situation with our missing comrades, well… I got no time to confer with them.”

"Though, ignorance is bliss sometimes. And well... I wish I hadn't learned of today's great revelation by our gracious overseer." Cynthian uttered the last sentence with a hushed edge to his voice.

Oof. There it was, the one topic that Icetales didn’t want to bring up. He ran his tiny claws on the table and stared at some papers of his: the ones with his current thoughts and observations about Dark Matter. He deemed better to not show to his acquaintance those papers.

“…Indeed. Finding out the true identity of our patron has been… quite the revelation, yes.” He took a few licks at his tea, before looking at Cynthian with a concerned expression. “Um… If I am not too indiscreet, how art thou feeling now, Sir Cynthian? If thou wish to vent about something, I am all ears.” He leaned a bit closer and swiveled his ears in the Roselia’s direction to reinforce his point.

 

[Adamhuarts]

"I'm feeling... okay, mostly. Mew knows I've cried enough about it already, and Owen was there to help me get through it. Though I'm giving Diyem the benefit of the doubt for now, it's still hard not to feel so conflicted about this. About him."

Cynthian held his water glass between his flowers and despondently stared at the ripples on the water's surface. "Owen advised me to believe in my companions if I can't believe in Diyem, and that's what I've decided to do."

 

[Cresselia92]

Icetales listened intently to Cynthian, his tails swaying gently. Painful mementos aside, he basically shared the same opinion about their leader.

An eldritch abomination made of darkness and destroyer of worlds… had a change of heart and wanted to save a world instead? Why, didn’t that sound like one of those tragic plays with tragic villains who receive a tragic punishment after they atone for their sins!

“…Those are indeed wise words. At the end of the day, the cortège as a whole is sharing the same predicament involving foul fiends and obscure presences. As an old saying goes, ‘a shared hardship is simpler to bear than a lone inconvenience’,” he commented, before wagging his tails. “At the very least, we all have each other to shield our respective backs and offer our aid, hm? Imagine if any of us had to handle this entire situation alone. That would be… nerve-wracking beyond any imagination, no contest.”

 

[Adamhuarts]

"Funny you mention that. If Owen hadn't been flattened by an oversized Karp when he first got here, none of us would've been sent over right now," Cynthian said with a light snicker.

"Say, I actually came here to give you something." Cynthian reached for his bag's zipper and pulled it open with a vine. He brought out something encased in a wrapper. It was a black handkerchief the same shade as Cynthian's darker flower. He held it by the lone snowflake pattern decorating the corner of the handkerchief and presented it to Icetales with a nervous smile.

"I got this for you. It's not much, but I figured you might like it since you come from a world of nobility and such," Cynthian said while rubbing the back of his head.

"It's my way of thanking you for being an all around pleasant friend to be with, and I also find you to be really cool. No pun intended," Cynthian said with a chuckle.

 

[Cresselia92]

"Funny you mention that. If Owen hadn't been flattened by an oversized Karp when he first got here, none of us would've been sent over right now," Cynthian said with a light snicker.

Icetales stared at Cynthian with wide eyes, his ears flicking nervously. Giant Pokémon and flattened lizards… well, the life of a hero was harsh, indeed. And yet, that Owen fellow seemed fine?

“…I see. That must have been the most heavy of situations for him, I reckon.” He shrugged. There were still so many things he didn’t know about their new bodies and the world.

"I got this for you. It's not much, but I figured you might like it since you come from a world of nobility and such," Cynthian said while rubbing the back of his head.

"It's my way of thanking you for being an all around pleasant friend to be with, and I also find you to be really cool. No pun intended," Cynthian said with a chuckle.

Icetales blinked once, befuddled by the gesture. He glanced at the handkerchief in the vine, then looked again at the Roselia. His tails started quivering and his ears flicked twice.

After a few seconds of silence, he found the words. “T-That… is that present truly for… me…?”

A whirlwind of emotions invaded his mind as he found himself struggling to compute the gesture of the Roselia in front of him. It had… been years since he last received a gift from anyone. He felt… he felt… he felt a sudden warmth radiating inside his body, to the point that he believed he was turning into a fire Vulpix.

He extended a tail toward the handkerchief to collect it, and once he held it in front of his face, he traced the silhouette of the snowflake on the dark background.

“I… I do not know what to say…” he mumbled with a soft and shy voice. He held the gift a bit closer to his muzzle, before raising his head to look into his friend’s eyes. Azure gleams pooled his irises, and a sparkling smile appeared on his face. “That is… such a wondrous gesture, good fellow! I… I am truly touched…”

His tails wagged faster. “Thou are a most kind soul! I shall cherish this handkerchief dearly!” His fur took a faint shade of azure, while faint snowflakes floated around his body. “I am… most honored, sir. Thou are… a truly delightful individual, too.”

 

[Adamhuarts]

"I'm very glad you like it! And it's fine really, it was the least I could do," Cynthian said, beaming up. He didn't know what he'd have done if Icetales hadn't liked the gift, so it overjoyed him that it worked out in the end.

"You mons have been kind to me, and an act of good will always sparks another is what my mother always said." Cynthian smiled warmly. It was endearing seeing how much Icetales liked the handkerchief.

 

[Cresselia92]

“Ah. Yes. That is very true, indeed…” commented Icetales, before looking at the handkerchief again. He had still a smile on his face, but it had slightly shifted to become one of nostalgia. “My dear mother… She always used to tell me that ‘a bright soul gathers more bright souls around it’, and was persistent in making me become… well, one of such bright souls. And I suppose her words were truthful, indeed: I can say to have met many bright souls here.”

He leaned onto the backrest of his seat, wrapping two tails around the gift to keep it secured.

Souls… another soul. He could hear the dark voices starting to whisper again, but the memories of his mother — the glorious and beautiful Ninetales the Magnanimous — shone brighter than a thousand suns, and the creeping nightmares receded.

…No. He would not let his lineage control him. Bright souls. He was confident that other bright souls could have kept him stable. Kept him… happy. Were the memories of his mother the key?

“Mother… yes. Mother taught me everything I needed to learn to be a respectful noblemon, thou see. But more than that, she taught me how to become a good ‘mon.” He smiled. “And I am pleased to hear that I am… um, ‘cool’.”

He wagged his remaining tails. “Though, I wager that thy mother was also a most exceptional lady, wasn’t she?”