Faller, Noun: Someone Experiencing Interesting Times - Chapter 8

“Right, since Mawile and Eevee want their turn next, we’re headed a little further than usual.” Raiko commented, her Eevee plodding ahead of her for once instead of behind her. The fox was definitely more excited for this than her trainer had been, “There’s a few options, so I figured I’d run them by you so you can choose.”

“Sure. Lay ‘em out.” Neil said with a bob of his head.

Raiko bobbed her head happily, “There’s a traditional place run by a branch of Johto’s ‘Kimono Girls’ in Old Lilycove. It’s definitely the option that’s most out of the way, but it’ll have styles that Mawile are stereotypically known to enjoy.”

Mawile definitely perked up at that and her trainer wasn’t far behind. Some hair tubes and an obi would look killer on the little lady.

“Beyond that, there’s two other options. Lilycove Department Store is a good option for variety and it’ll be slightly cheaper than both the more traditional place and the other option I’m about to get to.”

Eevee trilled, an odd mix of anticipation and joy. The fox definitely knew something about the last option.

“Or we can go to one of the oldest stores in Lilycove. It’s run by a pair of Pokemon now; the old master who ran the place before died without passing his teaching down to any humans, just his Espeon and Umbreon. His death actually caused a bit of a legal crisis.” She paused, grimacing a bit as if she was recalling something particularly foul, “But that’s all in the past and the world’s honestly better for it. The place is called ‘Evergrande’ and there’s some superstition and myths that Hoenn’s League conference was named after that store.” Raiko continued, an odd note of reverence entering her voice before she giggled dispelling the feeling, “It’s all unfounded of course. The truth of the matter is both the store and conference are named after a concept in Hoenn Folklore. There’s a lot of historians that argue about the subject of what Evergrand is referring to, but the general consensus among the scientific community is the Eon Duo.”

“Any idea what the etymology is for Evergrand? Or why Latios and Latias get called the Eon Duo, for that matter.” Neil asked after a moment of digesting the nerd ramble. He’d always wondered why those two had that title, so may as well kill two birds with one stone.

“It’s a combined reference to their species’ inclination to ‘hoard’ cities and serve as guardians to them and their timeless nature. The Eon Duo don’t really age per say. They can still die of natural causes, of course, but age doesn’t ever really seem to kill them. From what I’ve read, their historical title was actually ‘Eternal Guardian’ but it was eventually condensed down to the ‘Eon Duo’ for brevity and due to them sadly becoming extremely rare in the aftermath of several wars.” Raiko responded immediately, more than happy to ramble about something she was clearly interested in. Pausing, she blushed, “As for Evergrande, it’s probably the same. No one actually knows where that phrase came from, but everyone seems to agree it came from the Eon Duo.”

“Evergrande, ever grand, eternally grand? Since I don’t think it's ‘grande’ as in ‘big’.” Neil mused, scratching at the edge of his jaw as he sounded it out.

“Yeah, that’s pretty much what has every linguist tearing their hair out.” Raiko nodded, pausing as she thought of something, “There’s some conspiracies that there are people out there that actually do know, but won’t say because of some government conspiracy.” She huffed, “Highly unlikely. The League’s actually pretty transparent, and the secrets they do keep tend to be secrets for a reason. Some knowledge is just outright dangerous in the wrong hands.” Her expression darkend. There was definitely some history there.

Unfortunately for Neil, he didn’t exactly have time to ask, given Mawile’s rather insistent chirp.

“Right, let’s get our leg workout in. We’re visiting Evergrande and the Kimono Girls place.” The Faller decided with an easy nod. Good thing he’d gone back to working out seriously a few months before this whole thing, else his soles would be plotting mutiny by the end of this.

“Roger that!” Raiko saluted cheerfully, taking off as she and Eevee once again began to weave through the crowds. This time, it didn’t take them all that long to make their way through the bustling crowds. In short order, they were standing before a building that had clearly been renovated several times and yet still kept the appearance it had for generations. Honestly, Neil was fairly sure the building was a literal example of Theseus’ ship. 

It was a humble shop. Constructed lovingly from local materials in a significantly more Kantoian or Johtoian manner than a Hoennian one. If Neil were to compare it to a building of his world, he would liken it to an odd combination between a blacksmith’s workshop and a Japanese castle, if significantly less tall. Wood and stone composed a significant portion of the building, and the roof was tiled with blue. Smoke streamed from a chimney in the attached workshop; the forge clearly currently in operation. The building itself was surrounded by walls; though the owners had clearly done their best to repurpose them from fortifications to something significantly more welcoming. Vines grew up the stone and wood in a dazzling combination of nature and artificial construction. The ground before the walls was practically covered in gracidea flowers, the symbols of gratitude gently blowing in the breeze. Over the gate stood a sign, one that was clearly new yet still lovingly made.

“Evergrande”

“Home of Masters Dawn and Dusk. All are welcome here.”