Faller, Noun: Someone Experiencing Interesting Times - Chapter 9

The interior of Evergrande was… homely. There was a certain sense of peace that came with looking at a place that someone had lived in and enjoyed living in. Art and photographs lined the walls of the entryway, complimenting the wares on display all around the place.Handmade (pawmade?) accessories, hats of every imaginable variety, and so much more lined the walls in abundance. Over a rather soothing and catchy orchestral piece playing as background music for the store, Neil could just barely make out the sound of metal striking metal.

A young, obviously foreign man slouched behind a counter, perking up slightly as he noticed the group of people coming into the store, “Welcome to Evergrande! I’m Apprentice Pierre. Here to browse or to commission something?”

“Browsing for now, thank you.” Neil replied without missing a beat. Must be quite the experience, being a human apprentice of a pair of pokemon. None of his business, though, and Mawile was already tugging him towards the displayed accessories intended for Pokemon on the right side of the store. Given that the left-hand side had been filled entirely with stuff clearly intended for humans, that wasn’t particularly surprising. Turning his attention more towards what was on offer, Neil whistled. There was a truly impressive variety of items on display. Clothing of myriad styles intended for every conceivable body type a Pokemon could have, from dresses designed for a Muk to a Kimono designed for a canine quadruped. There were a small number of full plate on display as well, specifically one made for a Gallade, one made for a Flygon, and one made for a Manectric. All of them had intricate designs laid in precious metals and gems, though there was a core of functionality behind it all the same. Fine jewelry of all sorts sat amongst glass cases: rings for someone with paws instead of fingers, bracelets that would be more similar to rings on a human intended for someone smaller, necklaces of a truly inspired design intended for a Farigaraf. There was a definite bias towards what Neil would call Japanese and European styles and equipment, but he definitely could boil that down to the fact this shop was situated in legally distinct Okinawa and had an obviously Kalosi (French) apprentice.

“Ah, there we go. Try this on, Mawile.” Neil said as he fished out a black obi with silver detailing in stylized fog clouds and a new moon. “Motif fits with classic Fairy stuff, only question is how well the silver goes with the faded yellow of your fur. We may want to switch it to gold, depending.”

Practically vibrating in excitement, Mawile grabbed the obi chattering away at a mile a minute and threw it on right then and there, doing what she could to tie it behind her back. The smallish Pokemon took obvious care to not damage the (expensive) work of art, looking up towards Neil as she finished dressing herself with a chirp that could only mean ‘How do I look?’ given the mixture of shyness and anxiety filling the obvious question.

The Faller gnawed on his lower lip, brown eyes flicking between the accessory and his starter’s fur and scales. “We’d need to get a few more silver bits for it to really shine, something on your wrists and for your front locks or the base of your second mouth. But even as is, it’s looking good. Want me to tie it properly?”

An affirmative chirp immediately followed and Neil obliged. Before he could comment on her ‘completed’ appearance, however, a cheerful yip from Raiko’s Eevee drew both their attention towards the other pair that had entered the store with them. Eevee, previously lacking any semblance of accessories beyond obviously well groomed fur, was now actually wearing something.

A midnight blue scarf, of all things, decorated with the imagery of a starscape at night. That, however, was not the reason she had presumably reacted audibly. She was staring cheerfully towards one of the sets of armor that Neil had noticed earlier; this one a set of lacquered armor clearly intended for a medium sized quadruped, using dogs as a base.

“...You want one of those, don’t you?” Raiko huffed, a sense of defeat emanating from the girl as she stared mournfully towards the price tag.

A series of excited chirps followed rapidly, the small fox-cat spinning in place rapidly to give her trainer a picture perfect execution of puppy dog eyes, purple orbs watering ever so slightly even as they reflected the light of a nearby lightbulb masterfully.

“Make sure to check on what the maintenance requirements are, and if they have something simpler but that still ticks her boxes.” Neil advised before turning back to his work, giving the obi a little tug to make sure it was snug but wouldn’t be a nightmare to untie before tapping Mawile’s shoulder for her to turn around.

“That was the plan.” His companion shot back immediately, staring into her own partner’s eyes with fond exasperation, “Eevee, no. That’s too expensive and I’d have to do all the maintenance.”

A mournful trill.

“Don’t you give me that nonsense. Come on, I saw some accessories for the scarf you’ve already become hilariously attached to.” Raiko huffed. Eevee blinked, puppy-eyes fading as she tilted her head to the side. She nodded. Evidently, that was an acceptable compromise.

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In the end Mawile had decided to stick with the obi instead of trying anything else. His starter had gotten instantly attached to the outfit to the point that she was insisting on wearing it out of the shop. Accompanying her first choice had been a pair of simple silver bangles for her wrists and a pair of hair tubes for her front locks.

Eevee had ended up sticking entirely with the scarf she had initially gotten, accompanied by a saddlebag that rested on her barrel. In addition, Raiko had purchased her starter a series of accessories intended to be pinned to said scarf and bags, along with a silver choker-slash-collar embedded with a diamond at the center.

As a result of that purchase, Neil had learned that precious metals and gems were slightly less valuable in this world than they were in his. Largely due to the ability for some Pokemon to naturally create some crystals and the march of technology slightly outpacing his own world in some key areas.

When they returned to the counter, they had not been greeted by Pierre. Rather, they had been greeted by an unfamiliar Pokemon. An Umbreon waited for them, amber eyes fixated on nothing as they did the vulpine equivalent of mumbling under their breath, a deluge of small sounds emanating from them.

Neil simply shifted his body language, straightening up his spine and pulling his shoulders back slightly to seem larger and at-attention. That, on top of letting his eyes rest on the Umbreon’s faraway own, were all one really ought to do to get a worker’s attention. Sure, he’d learned this in the context of the food industry, but still.

“Oh! Apologies! My brother required Pierre’s help finagling some of the work he was doing.” The Umbreon explained sheepishly as they started, telepathy slipping into Neil’s mind after a gentle knock at the periphery of his awareness, slotting in like it had always belonged there, “I had expected you to take longer with your selections. Are you all ready to check out?”

‘Nearly, there are a few things I wanted to consult you on.’ Neil replied in the confines of his own mind, luxuriating in not needing to have his mouth play catchup with his thoughts. Instead, he took the small network of concerns and curiosities he had for Mawile’s purchases and pushed it forward like one would a notebook. From the durability of the materials, to concerns about sunlight degradation, to washing requirements and any needs for mineral oil on the silver.

The whole thing was performed in little more than two seconds.

“Ah. So you are aware, Faller, it is considered polite to respond verbally.” The Umbreon blinked, staring towards him without a singular ounce of judgement, “That said, you aren’t wrong. There are concerns you should have with maintenance. Fortunately, I can simply send the standard battery of concerns along with any unique ones to your device…” She paused, blinking slowly, ‘Which you do not have yet. A recent Faller then. Is your companion intending on getting you one today?’

“Yeah. She signed up to help me get all set.” The brown haired man chuckled, brushing past the faux pass he’d apparently made.

“In that case, I will simply send the list over to her, along with the own maintenance concerns her purchases will have. Or her Eevee’s purchases. You never know with some trainers.” Umbreon continued, paws dancing against the register she was perched by, “There. Everything is rung up. May I have your number, Ms Raiko?”

“Of course.” Raiko began, rapidly conveying a phone number to one of the two proprietors of Evergrande, “We’ll be paying separately. Neil should have enough.”

“I don’t think the good nurse will begrudge me blowing most of the money she gave me on making Mawile this happy.” The transmigrator chuckled, counting out the bills.

“If a Joy gave you funds, she would not begrudge you spending them on your partner.” Umbreon agreed, a telekinetic grip taking the bills as Niel laid them out before her. Ruffling through them faster than anyone human could reasonably count, the Umbreon nodded, “Everything appears to be in order. Thank you for your Patronage, and we hope to see you at Evergrande again.”