Destiny Village ~ X-Eye Cauldron

[Chibi Pika]

"Yeah, they wanna make sure kids don't get any stupid ideas and--" Starr paused, gears turning in her head. "Riiight... I guess your world doesn't have a pact if the Pokemon aren't smart." So humans could just do whatever the hell they wanted to Pokemon? Man, Team Rocket would have a field day in a place like that.

"Uh, the pact, it's like..." How on earth to explain it to someone who'd never heard of it? Starr waved a hand vaguely. "I guess it's like the rules for what Pokemon and humans can do to each other? Y'know like... Pokemon can't attack humans outside the deepwilds, humans can't build shit in the deepwilds, law of the jungle when you're in the wild, that sort of thing. Don't ask me how long it's been a thing, it's like a thousand years old or something."

 

[Dragonfree]

"Law of the jungle, huh?" Dave quirked an eyebrow. "So civilization is just, what, contained within pre-designated cities and routes, and if you go outside of that, it's Pokémon territory and fair game to murder you?" Jesus. "Don't think people'd take kindly to that one in my world. Human societies like to expand and conquer. Guess they can't do much conquering in a world where their survival depends on being in Pokémon's good graces."

On one level, he was kind of tickled by the thought of humanity in its entirety just being at the mercy of sapient Pokémon. What a concept. On another level, it was just fucking unsettling.

"And your Pokémon, what, do they still eat each other out in the wild? What about population growth? Do you get border disputes or what?"

 

[Chibi Pika]

Starr rubbed the back of her head. "'Conquering.' Yeah, I guess there was some of that back in like, ancient times with wars and shit, but I'm not really a history nerd so I don't know." Ajia would've loved to talk about this shit, wouldn't she.

"And yeah we can't go in the deepwilds." Starr shrugged. "Can't play in volcanoes or hurricanes either, so it's not really a big deal? Not like it affects day-to-day life or anything." Pretty wild to imagine wandering around the wilds in Dave's world being totally safe. Maybe they didn't have wilderness? (But he'd been all weird about the idea of kids going on journeys by themselves...)

More questions, geez. Why did any of this matter. "Yeah, wild Pokemon eat each other--not sure what else they're supposed to eat. I guess if there's ever any disputes, the rangers deal with it? I don't think that really... happens. But trained Pokemon are stronger than wild Pokemon anyway." The mental image of a random pack of pissed-off Ursaring trying to take over Viridian was pretty goddamn hilarious.

 

[Dragonfree]

Ancient times with wars and shit. A postwar society? Maybe sapient Pokémon just didn't do war, and they kept human tribalism in check. That'd be something. Killing and eating people, A-okay, but not on an organized scale, you lunatics.

"How big is the 'deepwilds'? Like, you made it sound like that's synonymous with off-route. Is that most territory, or just like, half?"

 

[Chibi Pika]

Starr shrugged. "Eh, you gotta go pretty far off-route. Like at least an hour? I mean, I'm from Kanto, which is a pretty urban region, so we don't have a lot of it. You'd have to go pretty far north--it'd be hard to wind up there accidentally. But yeah, some regions have a lot more of it."

"And like, goes without saying but your odds of passing through safely are a million times better if you've got a strong team," Starr added. "But the Pokemon out there get anxious when they see humans, and kids are always overestimating their team, so it's easier to just teach everyone to stay the fuck out of the wilds."

 

[Dragonfree]

There was that again. "So is like... everyone a trainer in your universe? Adults? Where I live it's mostly kids and the competitive league circuit. I mean, people have pets and all, but not actual battling teams, most of the time."

 

[Chibi Pika]

"Well, I guess most people don't have full teams, no," Starr replied, idly scratching her cheek fur. "My friends and I have full teams, but we're active trainers, so that's what I'm used to." Not to mention all the trained teams she was used to seeing back on the combat unit. "Most adults would probably just have one or two, yeah, unless they've got a lot of free time, or if the Pokemon only stay with them part time, or whatever."

 

[Dragonfree]

“Right. So when people who aren’t trainers need to pass through, they just don’t? Or do people, like, hire a trainer?” He paused. “I guess if you’ve got air travel you can get between places without touching the actual deepwilds per se. What did you do before inventing commercial flight?”

He sipped his soda, thinking. “So do Pokémon generally respect that whole division? Like, if you run across a wild Pokémon on a route, and you’re not a trainer, how worried are you?”

 

[Chibi Pika]

"Uh, they'd just take the train? Or drive, if they've got a car, I guess. Hell, I'm a trainer and I take the train most of the time. I already did the whole 'spirit of adventure' thing when I was 12," Starr replied dismissively. It was still weird that he expected something so basic to be hard for people just because some Pokemon wanted humans to fuck off and leave them alone. “Before trains… well, there’s always ships. Or fliers and teleporters. I think back in the really old days the rangers had Pidgeot on staff in each village.”

“But like on routes, the only Pokemon you run into are gonna be the ones looking for a human. So if you're not a trainer, there isn't much reason for them to give you the time of day. Some Rattata might try to steal your food I guess,” she added with a shrug. But that was the case anywhere.

 

[Dragonfree]

"Wait, I thought you said humans can't build shit in the deepwilds. You've got train tracks and roads going through it? Or are you saying most territory is just like, off-route non-deepwild, and people never have to pass through the actual deepwilds?" That made more sense, probably. (But then why'd she talked about people passing through the deepwilds earlier?) "And the off-route bits are 'law of the jungle', but you still casually build roads and trains and drive through it? Wait, you said Pokémon can only attack humans in the actual deepwilds." God, he was getting a headache. "What precisely is law of the jungle here."

 

[Chibi Pika]

Oh my god, why was this so fucking hard, was he just being dense on purpose. God forbid Starr be even the slightest bit vague without apparently needing to give an essay on travel infrastructure. As if it was impossible to build a railway around a fucking forest.

"Look, I'm not some kind of Pokemon society expert, I just know it's their turf, their rules," Starr grumbled, raising her arms in an exaggerated shrug. "Literally no different than us making them follow our rules on our turf. Amazingly, I don't care because I have no reason to ever go there."

Maybe his world was full of batshit lunatics who'd get super fucking offended if you told them they couldn't shoot a Charizard and move into its cave, but normal people would just go, "cool thanks I didn't want to go there anyway!" Maybe it was a good thing that humans couldn't just do whatever they wanted in her world.

 

[Dragonfree]

Okay, whatever. God forbid he try to understand what the fuck she was talking about with her fifteen kinds of unexplained jargon.

Dave stuffed the rest of the burger into his mouth. What the fuck did it matter anyway? The politics of some other universe he'd never visit anyway and was shortly going to forget he'd ever heard about, inhabited by the temporary girlfriend of his temporary adoptive daughter that he'd also shortly forget ever existed?

He finished the soda in an unsatisfying gulp. "How's it going with Brisa? I gather you're officially together now."

 

[Chibi Pika]

Starr relaxed slightly. "Oh, yeah. She finally asked a while back. I'm sure everyone was just waiting for it to happen, huh?" It hadn't been that long ago--not long after the mission in the Radiant Void. Still, it felt like ages ago. "But yeah, it's been nice." It'd been damn nice. "One of the main reasons I'm not ready to leave."

The words fell out so casually. She'd been saying it in vague, roundabout ways, but never that bluntly.

 

[Dragonfree]

Dave'd finished his food. Should he order more? He wasn't hungry, really, just wanted something to drink or chew or something.

He looked up at Starr instead, silent for a moment. "Yeah. That sucks, huh. Didn't exactly get a lot of time together."

 

[Chibi Pika]

Starr nodded distantly. "Yeah. We knew that from the start. Still worth it, though." She wasn't used to the idea of anything lasting. Of getting to hold onto anything for long. "I know some people are like 'why bother, it's only temporary,' but like... everything is."

 

[Dragonfree]

Dave took a long breath, looking away. "Yeah."

There was a familiar chill snaking through his chest, and before he knew it, Shadow was sitting on the seat beside him, head flat on the table.

"Maybe it's better that we won't remember what we lost."

 

[Chibi Pika]

Starr's eyes automatically drifted toward the shadowy Mightyena before she averted them. "I don't know. There's a lot of things I wish I could forget,"--a cold fist gripped her heart--"but this isn't one of them." Maybe she really did need to talk to Owen...

"I guess you'd rather think back on it as some kind of weird dream, huh." Starr wasn't sure which Mightyena she was talking to. There was a pause, and then: "Even Brisa?"

 

[Dragonfree]

"I mean, I sure fucking hope I don't remember it as some weird dream. Like I said, the fuck are you supposed to do with feeling like you spent months saving other universes as a dog."

Shadow looked up at Starr for a moment, silent. "If I remember Brisa, and Mia, and Soda, and everyone, I'll just know they're gone and I'll never see them again. That Brisa's back in her home universe where everyone hates her, and I can't help. That Soda's dying."

Dave exhaled through his nose. "On the other hand, I'd know Mia's probably having a fucking blast without me over here where she's not dead."

Shadow winced, his ears flattening against his head.

 

[Chibi Pika]

Starr bristled. For a moment, she felt a wisp of cold discomfort in her chest, that he was right, that it was better to forget. But then--

"Brisa's not gonna be taking their shit anymore," Starr said sharply, and she wasn't quite sure who she was saying it to. She ran a hand down her face, struggling to put her feelings into words. "And, I don't know... Soda, you saved him. That happened. That's not nothing." Everything that'd happened here... was worth it. It had to be.

 

[Dragonfree]

Dave took a breath, looking away. "Yeah. I hope so. Not that we'll ever fucking know."

He paused. Wished for a drink again. "Back when we went to Spirits' Edge, we talked to her dad. Convinced him to come look for her and get her help for the shit he's been up to. Maybe that'll jostle her memory. If he fucking remembers."

Dave looked back at Starr. "Look, yeah, the shit that happened here happened. It was worth doing. It's just we're getting no follow-up. No, you know, interdimensional letters from Brisa about how it's going back home. Just... nothing."