"I assume you've already got one in mind?"
His smile grew even wider and he nods. "Of course. I need something suitably awesome - how about Chroma the Unseeable? Oh - I've just had an even better idea" He stands, flourishing his hand to cover his face in a dramatic fashion. His voice adopts the weird lilt he had spoken with when I first met him. "Chromulon, the Master of Vision!"
I give him a flat look. "One word. No more than three syllables. Be reasonable."
He drops the accent and sits back down. "Aww…" His reaction is put-upon - he hadn't really expected me to accept those names, had he? "Well, you said my illusions are similar to powers from your world? I think I'll go with something based on that…" He trails off, a speculative expression crossing his face. "Phantom and Veneer are my next ideas, but I don't think Phantom would work 'cause I'm not a Ghost."
Ghosts? Are those are a thing in this world? Or is he just being facetious? ...No - that's ridiculous - of course he's being facetious.
"Veneer isn't bad. Doesn't immediately give away your power, which is good. How about Facade? Guise, maybe?"
"Ooh! I like Guise - nice and mysterious…" He tilts his head, giving it some thought. "Yeah, I'll go with Guise."
"Have you got an idea for your civilian name? I can't be calling you by your Cape name while I'm not dressed as a Cape myself."
"Sure do! Say goodbye to Ignatius - you're talking to Leonard now. I guess you can call me Leo, if you want."
That's… an interesting name. I suppose I haven't got a problem with it, if it's what he wants to be called. "Right then, Leo it is." I turn to Vespiquen. "You said you didn't mind what your name was - is it the same story for your Cape name?"
She shakes her head. "I have no preference at the moment. I'll leave it up to your expertise."
"Well, Queen or Hive are the most obvious choices, but they're a bit on the nose-"
"Anything but them, please. It would not be appropriate." Her voice is cordial, but I can see that she really doesn't like either of them.
"Sure. Order, maybe? Sovereign? It's pretty difficult to come up with Bug-themed Cape names without coming off as Villainous, so I'm playing off your ability to command a swarm, rather than the swarm itself - though those ones sort of make you sound like a Human-Master." Seeing their looks of confusion, I amend "Er, someone that can use powers to control humans."
Guise chips in. "How about Chitin? It fits and doesn't give too much away about what you can do."
She nods, accepting his recommendation. "Chitin is good. I prefer it over the others, in any case."
"Right - Chitin it is. There isn't any real reason we can't change it, but if you're happy with it, I'm happy with it. Now - what sort of civilian name do you want?"
She doesn't immediately respond, giving thought to my question. "Something short and inconspicuous."
Short and inconspicuous? A name jumps to my mind immediately. Anne.
Naming her after my dead mother? That's a bit… gauche.
...I think that I'd rather keep the two of them seperate. Not have memories of one colouring my view of the other - even in a small way.
Amy? No - I don't want the association in my mind, either. Lisa? That one's taken, too.
Gwen? It'll do, I guess.
"Are you okay with Gwen?"
She nods. "Yes. It will do fine."
"Alright, it's settled: Chitin and Guise. Ground rules: if I'm in costume, you can't use each other's civilian names - a Pokemon could overhear and tell. It might only be a small risk, but secret identities are a serious thing - it won't hurt us now, but in the future it may become very serious if ours become discovered. If I'm not in costume, you can't use your Cape names for the same reason: keep them separate. Even if there's nobody around - use the right name just in case someone is listening in. Same goes with my name: when I'm in costume, you call me Weaver." I take a breath, trying to lighten my tone. "I know I might sound pedantic, but I really can't emphasize how important this is - people have been killed because their secret identities got discovered in my world."
Guise stands, nodding solemnly. "Do not worry, Weaver. We'll be careful about it."
"We'll do as you recommend - you're the one that knows what they are talking about." Chitin affirms.
I smile under my mask. "Thanks. Now - the next thing on my list is to get Pokeballs for you two. I can't act like a trainer without them. But, for that I need money. I've got an inkling about what I could do to earn some, but I would need to do some more investigation first. Does anyone have any ideas of their own?"
Guise speaks up "Have you got anything you could barter with? Pokemarts accept goods in lieu of money - I know my old trainer traded some extra Vitamins for medicine at one point."
A barter system? That's… different. Will I have to brush up on haggling skills? As for goods- the honey!
That goddamn fedora-wearing cheater! How much of this has been orchestrated?
...Whatever. I'll take it - at least I won't have to go baiting muggers to rob myself now. That could have been a recipe for disaster.
"I've got four jars of Vespiquen honey - will that be enough?" I've got a feeling that it will be.
Guise shrugs. "I dunno. You'll just have to wait and see, I guess."
Ok - I've got a plan of action, now: travel to the city, disguise myself using Guise's power, go to this 'Pokemart', trade my honey for Pokeballs and get out of there. Depending on how long it takes to get to the city, I may need to camp outside of the limits while I wait for morning.
"Alright team, we've got a plan, then. Let's start heading towards the city." I gesture in the direction I'm talking about. "-on second thought, can you hold that disguise on me while we travel on the road, Guise? Is there some sort of endurance limit to your power?"
He shakes his head. "It's more of a capacity limit - I can keep an illusion up pretty much all the time, if I wanted to."
"How about multiple ones at once - can you also hide yourself and Chitin?"
"Hide? Not with invisibility - maybe some Zoroark could do it, but I've never managed it myself. I can replace us with something similar-shaped, though. We're both close enough to human-shaped for a human disguise to work. You'll have to be careful that no-one knocks me, or than anyone goes in for personal contact on either of you, though. The first one might break all of the illusions, and the second will make it pretty obvious that something isn't right."
I nod. "Right - we'll go by road in disguises, then. I'll leave it to you to manage the details and make us look inconspicuous. We don't want to be confronted by anyone if we can at all avoid it."
I stand, making my way over to the road. Taking care to check there is nobody nearby, I mount the fence. After I land, my body flickers, the disguise taking its place in my vision. Guise follows suit. Chitin simply flies over the fence, her disguise only taking effect once she is on the other side.
Guise's disguise is a younger man, dark skinned with a prominent nose. On his head is an oversized beret, long locks of braided hair hanging down his back. Chitin is now a large-waisted, lighter-skinned woman. She's wearing a long, billowy dress - not something you'd see someone who intends to be in the wilderness wear. I don't know Guise's thought process on that, but I'll trust that he knows what he's doing. Guise and I both are wearing more typical travelling clothes.
"Keep close to the ground for me, Chitin. I'll have trouble keeping you in that disguise, otherwise."
"Alright, guys. Let's get moving. Codenames for these disguises - they're only temporary, and we shouldn't need to use them. Best to prepare just in case, though. I'm Kelly, you're-" I point to Chitin. "-Belle, and you-" I point to Guise. "-are Benny."
The trip towards Nimbasa city is uneventful. We pass a handful of people, but none give us so much as a second glance. I suspect Guise's hand in that, but don't know for sure. Over the course of a few hours, the sun dips further towards the horizon and the forest beside the road grows thinner.
We don't talk much. Chitin and I keep our eyes on the forest and road, looking out for potential threats. Guise keeps to himself, clearly deep in thought about something or other.
I spend some time giving thought to Guise's ability - it's clearly a mental effect rather than a physical one: there's no way that Chitin could be completely obscured if it's the latter. Can it be trained? I need to ask him more about it as soon as we aren't doing anything else. When we break for camp, maybe?
It's early evening by the time the gatehouse connecting the road to the city is in view. Do we stop, or push on in hopes that the shop stays open late? Maybe Guise will know.
"Benny - that shop you were talking about. Does it stay open late?"
"The Pokemart? It's part of the Pokemon Centre. It stays open all the time."
I don't respond. Really now? That's interesting…
"We're going to push on, then."