Seeking the Truth; The Ideal Self

Chapter 2: Did I just talk to GOD?

Reno trailed far behind Cynthia, Laventon, and Rei, his pace anchored down by the pokémon still attached to his leg. His steps were hobbled and uneven, each carrying a vastly different weight. He wanted to call out to them and let them know they needed to slow down, but as Cynthia and Laventon were wrapped up in what he could only assume was deep conversation, he held his tongue and trudged along for now.

Surely there was no way this Oshawott would stick to him the entire time, right? It would get bored eventually!

He hoped.

"Thank you for your tireless work keeping us safe, my good guardsmen!" Laventon addressed the two guards at the village entrance with a warm smile, which contrasted greatly with the scowls, sneers, and glares the guards gave in return.

"This young man and young lady have nowhere to go, so I hope you'll forgive me for bringing them into the village for a bit!"

One of the guards mumbled something under his breath, while the other just shook his head and stood off to the side, signaling that all four of them were allowed passage into the village.

As Reno walked past them, he couldn't help but stare back. Their manner of dress was unlike anything he'd ever seen before. Or, rather, anything he'd ever seen in person before. The red kimono-style clothing and the woven hats. He vaguely remembered seeing people dressed in similar forms of outfits in some of the history books that Alder kept stocked in the trainer schools.

"This way, if you please! I'm sure the two of you are weary and looking for some rest!"

Cynthia gently nudged Reno with her elbow, trying to avert his stares away from the guards and back to the path forward. "It's rude to stare," she mouthed to him, adjusting her pace so that the two of them were walking—more or less—side by side.

"Sorry." Reno mouthed back.

"Jubilife Village! It's come a long way, thanks to the fine people of the Galaxy Expedition Team! Fun fact! This road we're on now is known to the locals as Canala Avenue." Once the four of them (seven if you counted the three pokémon that they had with them) got past the guards and into the village walls, Laventon began serenading his new guests with any interesting tidbits of information he could scrounge up regarding their current whereabouts.

He was obviously passionate about all of this, as he barely paused to breathe between his words.

Reno didn't get much of the hype, mostly because his brain had been rubber-banding from completely processing everything that was going on like a normal human being to having absolutely no idea what was going on and internalizing all of his panic by screaming as loud as he could within the confines of his brain.

Cynthia was, quite noticeably, having a blast. She looked like a kid in the candy store, with a sparkle in her eyes and a noticeable shift in her body language. Overall, she just seemed more excited. The sight of such rustic and homey buildings was definitely more impressive to her than to Reno.

Not that Reno couldn't appreciate fine architecture when he saw it, mind you! He just didn't see a lot of the hype in it. Mostly due to the constant back and forth with how he was handling everything right now. The second he had access to a private space –preferably one that was soundproof– he was going to scream as loud as he could. The more stress he could get out of his system, the better.

"The village was built scarcely two years ago... There's much to do yet and not many to do it. And since we know so little of the local pokémon, people hesitate to set foot outside the village. That, as you can imagine, makes Rei and I's work all the more difficult. Finding people willing to not only learn about pokémon but interact with them too is rare." Laventon's previous good mood slowly began to deflate.