the world is still to be determined.

“ Aw yeah, sweet, ‘at’s where it went!! ”     Kris enjoyed rooting around in autumn leaves perhaps a little more than most others, but she had other things to be doing — so the less time spent trying to recover a capture, the better. She stood up, slapped the grime from her knees, and began towards the stranger with a sloppy grin.     “ Here, toss it, I’ll catch! ”

(A snarl? Contempt? Any such indications of his mood went ignored — or perhaps unnoticed.)

N did not make any motion to throw the Quick Ball as he was told, nor did he make to flee or come closer. He stood his ground, ball still in hand, studying it with narrowed eyes.

“I’ve seen this model of Poke Ball before,” he said suddenly. The words rolled almost unintelligibly quick off his tongue, without pause or hesitation. “The algorithm it uses-- The odds of a successful capture depend solely on the duration of an encounter. In other words, it works best when the Pokemon has first crossed paths with a human, when its guard is down-- when it is least expecting to be attacked. It is given no chance to properly assess the situation before it is locked away, unable to escape...”

Finally, he looked up, fixing Kris with a stony-eyed stare.

Someone’s here, Kells realizes, movement above the water’s surface catching their eye. Clutching a fistful of smooth pebbles, they ride the current to where the river slowed nearly to a standstill, trying to get a better look at the stranger– person-shaped, with lots of green.

Swimmer, bather, fisher? Let’s find out.

Kells kicks off a rock towards the shallows and surfaces with a puff. Shaking and blinking the water out of their hair and eyes, they stand to face the visitor, and then it’s their turn to light up with recognition.

“N!” Dropping their collection, Kells practically trips over themself as they rush up the riverbank to greet their friend. “It’s so good to see you! How’ve you been?”

Pleased at being greeted so amicably, N beams. “It’s good to see you as well! I’ve been faring well enough. But...” His face falls, brow furrowing in sudden concern. “What about you? I hoped you would have found your way home by now.”

None of the possible meanings that immediately come to mind are particularly pleasant. He squints.

Ex-king… They must mean him.

Perched upon a tree stump and looking not unlike a moss-covered gargoyle, N stared, and was eerily silent. His eyes, neutral gray but holding a probing intensity that was almost unnerving to look at, were unblinking. Across from him was an Infernape, which stared back with matching intensity. The two appeared to be locked in the staring contest to end all staring contests.

How they ended up in this situation was anyone’s guess-- but, eventually, N spoke with a smile to ease the tension.

“You have many scars.”

The observation is made plainly, with nothing in his voice but the purest curiosity. His eyes trace each blemish he can see on Red’s skin, carefully counting them, apparently caring not that he might be prying when he asks:

“Is this yours?”

N had only just begun to peel off his turtleneck when he spotted something lurking beneath the surface of the water. This was nothing unusual, of course; the forests were home not just to him, but to countless Pokemon. He considered politely taking his leave and going elsewhere to bathe, but lingered, tilting his head and squinting, for just a few moments too long.

The shape-- a dark and spindly creature with a long, scraggly mane-- darted about at such a speed that he couldn’t tell for certain what it was until it had already come so close as to be upon him. There it emerged and stood, and he saw hiding beneath the mop of sopping brown curls none other than--

ok little liberators i’m just gonna go right in--

i bet he really needs a bath now

Fork paused mid-stride, turned around, and slowly began to creep back toward N. So the trainer was a nice human. Maybe Fork could complete the dare after all? But it wasn’t actually hungry so taking the Pecha berry piece would be mean. 

It stared at the offered food. Oh, so this was one of those “mor-al dih-lem-uhs” Crane sometimes talked about! Well, Fork’s answer was obvious. It didn’t want to be mean. 

With a small shake of its head Fork refused but still sat next to N. It’d be uh, “impolite” (yeah that was the word Crane and Lovelace like use) to run away again. And Fork was a little tired. Transforming and running were hard.

All the while, N stayed silent and kept the food offered out, patiently waiting for the Ditto to make its decision. Eventually, it came back to sit with him, but didn’t take the food. He gave a questioning tilt of his head.

“Not hungry?” After a pause, he smiled. “Okay, then.”

He took a bite of the berry himself. Chewed, swallowed.

[”I told you it was a Ralts.”] If N thought she wasn’t going to keep tabs on the egg after learning what was inside it - 

Sadly, Poppy would never be up this early, especially not on a day off, but with her hectic work schedule and new experimental distancing, she’d agreed to let Noir be the one to take the ghosts out that night while Munmun, cat and bird stayed in. Let them deal with the dropping temperatures.

Needless to say, Noir hadn’t actually gone to bed yet but who needed sleep when there was a Ralts to welcome into the world? The Ghost duo were sluggishly floating into any patches of shade they could find, while Noir was satisfied they were old enough to at least know to avoid direct sunlight, and went to approach the Ralts. 

Somehow, N was not at all surprised to find Noir suddenly there. He gave a chuckle. “You did. And evidently, you were right!”

Euclid was already busy acquainting himself with the audience gathered around him. There were so many things! Just as N had told him when he was still inside his egg. Zoroark’s nose got a pat, as did one of N’s many bracelets.

“Others,” he said. “A lot of. Others.”

“Is it too much for you?” N asked, suddenly concerned.

“No.”

The Ralts was quite enjoying himself, really. Not once did he let go of N’s finger, but as Noir approached, he lifted his head to peer curiously up at her, mouth curving into something like a smile. Instantly, there was an instinctual spark of kinship and a dim sense of familiarity, though he couldn’t place who this Pokemon was.