I did not sleep easily that night. The forest was absolutely teeming with wildlife - the cries of countless unknown beasts pierced the night. Flashes of coloured light would break the darkness of the moonless night periodically - Blaster powers, a part of me suspected.
So too was my mind plagued by thoughts of the past few weeks. Scion. The Slaughterhouse Nine. Aster.
My friends. Lisa. Rachel. Brian. Aisha.
My father.
My colleagues. Tecton. Golem. Defiant. Dragon.
People that I'd never see again.
I didn't know whether that comforted or upset me. Maybe it did both.
In my nervousness, I had tried to distract myself by trying to use my power to control an insect. All I had gotten for my trouble was a migraine and a nosebleed. No dice. Had I managed to give myself a Thinker headache?
It bears further investigation, but now isn't the time to accidentally give myself a brain aneurysm.
Still, dawn came and I was up and about, a scant few minutes of actual sleep under my belt. I needed to distract myself - at least until I was back somewhere civilized. Somewhere safe.
The goal for today, then: find out about whatever counts for civilization in this dimension. I hadn't found any signs of it yet, so my best bet was probably to backtrack to that river I had found yesterday and follow it.
What about the bugs I had seen yesterday? I don't fancy going up against one - especially with just a knife and my wits. I'll have to be cautious. Best to assume that the rest of the strange fauna might have abilities on the same level, just in case.
I found my way back without trouble. The din of the forest had taken on a more sinister tone to me. Each noise could be some fresh horror waiting in the wings, ready to swoop in and tear me limb from limb.
Nothing I was unused to.
While I couldn't see or hear through the senses of the bugs near me anymore, I could still sense their positions - I had a sort of instinctive awareness of the shape of the terrain near me. It wasn't anything special, but it at least allowed me to keep my eyes on the lookout for threats rather than on my footing.
Following the river was uneventful. I could see many large fish living in the crystal clear waters, so I stayed away from the bank, just in case. The local fauna otherwise steered clear of me. I had seen a few notice me, only to immediately turn tail and run.
Within about an hour - around seven in the morning, by my judgement - I heard what I was after. Voices. Human ones - speaking English. They were coming from downstream.
I further away from the bank and begin moving silently through the underbrush. I don't know what I hope to learn by eavesdropping, but I'd rather not have to introduce myself if I can avoid it.
Too many questions that I don't want to answer.
"...No - I'm telling you man! We're too far west. The ranger said he saw Pinsir on the east side of the shelf."
Male. A New England accent. Late teens. Caucaisian.
"You're still looking to train a Pinsir? Those things are monsters - you'll never control it. Forget it man, let's head back to the city. I want to watch the ball game this weekend."
Similar voice. Deeper tone. Same accent.
I catch sight of the pair. They're sitting in front of a pair of small tents in a clearing a short way away from the river. Their sides are to me. In front of them is a fire and a portable stove.
Campers? But what do they mean by Pinsir? Are they talking about one of the animals?
"Hey - you caught what you were looking for. At least stick with me until I catch what I'm looking for. You know that Joel's going to give me shit if I come back from this trip without a new team member to match his."
"I don't give a damn about what Joel thinks of you. Besides, there's a world of difference, numbskull. I wanted a harmless water monkey. You want a vicious flesh-eating beetle."
The first one slumps, letting out a defeated sigh. "You're right… let's head back. Maybe I can snag a Venipede on the way back instead."
The second stands, fiddling with something on his belt. "Hey - cheer up. Scollipede is a powerful addition to any team. He'll fit right in - without any of the obedience problems you'll have with a Pinsir." He raises his hand, a red and white sphere held out. "Come on out, Panpour."
A flash of white light has me tense. Tinkertech? In an instant, a blue monkey appears in front of the second person, looking up at him expectantly.
"Hey bud, can you put out the fire for me? We're headed out." He's addressing the monkey directly. I had seen them hanging about in the trees earlier. Could they understand language?
The monkey nods, a wide smile breaking out on its face. It moves over to the fire and douses it with bursts of water from its mouth. A Blaster ability? Depending on the pressure it can reach, that could be dangerous.
The first person stands, moving to put away the stove inside a pack. "You want to cut south through the forest and then back west to Nimbasa city along the road, or back the way we came along the trail? We could probably cut a half of a day that way."
"Didn't you listen to the ranger at all? He said that the Vespiquen hives were all that way. If you want to stumble into a deathtrap, be my guest." He turns back to the monkey. "Thanks, Panpour." He raises the Tinkertech ball, and the monkey disappears in another flash of light.
"Shit, really? Trail it is, then."
The pair begin packing up their tent. They start talking about the game they had mentioned earlier before departing, headed downstream. I don't follow - I didn't want to risk being discovered. Besides, I've learned quite a bit already.
I move away from the campsite, looking for a place to rest. I find a thick tree with a comfortable-looking knoll beside it's trunk. Sitting down, I start going back over what I had learned in my head.
First: there is at least one ranger in these woods. Not particularly important. Campfires seem to be allowed, so I shouldn't have to worry about attracting attention that way.
One of them had also mentioned that we were on a shelf - noteworthy, but not important. If I need to make a hasty retreat I'll have to be wary of not backing myself into a corner.
The pair were here in order to 'catch' things. Were they poachers? They didn't act like it. Most likely they were after the unusual fauna - one had mentioned catching a 'water monkey'. If I had to bet, that would be the thing he had later called 'Panpour'.
The Tinkertech. Mass compression, stasis, or pocket dimension tech, if I had to guess. It looked like a pair of hemispheres, one red and one white, about the size of an orange. Perhaps it assisted in catching these creatures in some way. Enforced obedience to creatures stored inside?
Would it work on a person?
No - that can't be right. They'd mentioned that a 'Pinsir' would be difficult to control. In that case, I doubt the device has a Master effect to it.
That creature - one of them described it as 'a vicious flesh-eating beetle'. From the way he spoke of it, it sounded fairly aggressive. Was that the brown beetle I had seen yesterday? If it was, then the place I had come from was to the east.
The mentioned a city, too - Nimbasa. It was to the south-west.
One had mentioned the other building a team from these creatures. Presumably, he was also building his own team. Were Capes in this dimension animal tamers? From what I've seen, that would make them fairly potent Masters, especially if they all had access to that Tinkertech. For all I knew, it was mass-produced and sold in stores for a pittance. I don't know. I can't make any decisions based on that yet.
One of them had mentioned another person - Joel - who also had a team of these creatures. Was the practice widespread? It might be. Then again, they might all just be colleagues in a niche profession.
Anything else?
...They had mentioned three other creatures. Venipede - it lived somewhere on the way back to Nimbasa and was less dangerous than Pinsir. Scolipede - 'a valuable addition to any team'. It was somehow linked to Venipede, if I understood correctly. Vespiquen - they were very dangerous. And apparently made hives to the south of here.
Further south, past the hives was a road that leads back to the city.
So. What to do?
It will undoubtedly be much easier to learn about this world in the city. What if I sneak in during the dead of night to see what I can learn?
Maybe - I'd be vulnerable, though. While I'm fairly confident in my abilities as a sneak, I don't want to even try to infiltrate a city with some unknown techbase without so much as a clue to what I need to be looking out for. For all I know, the public surveillance could be on the same level as the Tinkertech that I've already seen.
In this dimension I'm pretty much an illegal alien - a ghost in the system. No records, no ID, no past. I could accidentally trigger some sort of automated alert and bring the authorities down on me. If one of these tamers gets sent after me, I'll have nothing but my knife to fight them off with. Against a Master that controlled multiple creatures like Pinsir? I'd be dead.
Perhaps I'm being overly paranoid.
No. Better to be paranoid than dead.
What if I were to tame a creature of my own? That monkey seemed rather friendly and intelligent. The ones I've seen up in the trees kept their distance - they didn't seem the sort to attack me.
I might be able to pass myself off as one of these tamers, if they're widespread. And, if they're not, at least I'll have an ally of sorts if I get into trouble.
I don't have any Tinkertech to help me out. Could I still manage it? If I spot the opportunity, I'll consider giving it a shot. If I try to tame an insect, maybe the insight from my power be enough to make up for a lack of Tinkertech? I mean, as far as I can tell, they still have to tame the creatures the old-fashioned way. Surely I'd have an advantage over them in that regard.
Were there any alternatives?
The road. Presumably it's a major thoroughfare. I doubt it'll have surveillance - unlike a city. Yes - that seems like an acceptable hedge. Stake out the road to learn more about this dimension. Infiltrate the city if it doesn't seem like too great of a risk. Retreat to the wilderness otherwise.
I have my doubts that the city will be anywhere near as dangerous as I'm planning for, but there's no reason to be reckless - I've got all the time in the world to make an informed plan of action.