It took Timothy a few minutes before his yells of surprise and uncertainty diminished and he clung tightly to the saddle. The furry dragon-shaped creature he rode ignored his noises of protest and flew southward, trees passing below a mere twenty or thirty feet below but slowly climbing.
Sera had little interest in wasting time gaining elevation in this flight. She maintained a vigil on the magic she maintained of the space her charge and his friend now occupied while looking about at the landscape. To her right, the West, was a long mountain range with a particularly wide snow-capped mountain with lesser mountains spreading northward from that point. Behind her was an oblong lake inlet that seemed to join the main sea or ocean waters, but it was hard to tell at this low elevation. She would need to fly higher to get the lay of the land later. She believed she could see signs of bridges by a river to the northwest, but the sun was setting in that direction and making it difficult to see detail beyond that.
After two hours of flight, as a river passed underneath her, the passenger tapped her shoulder.
“That’s Solaceon Town ahead!” He called out when she looked back at him, using a hand to point.
Sera frowned. The ‘town’ he pointed to was even more unnatural than the cities she was accustomed to. While she had expected stone and wood, ahead were square buildings with sloped rooftops of an unknown roofing material joined by more buildings of small stones with wooden beams placed more for decoration than appearing to give it any purpose. The sun was bouncing off numerous panes of glass, which made her eyes narrow.
“That town must have a number of glassworkers if they can afford to have so many windows.” She mused and tried to suppress an urge to grumble.
“What?” The boy called from her back.
“Nothing! We’ll likely arrive in another hour or two!”
“Okay.” Timothy answered “Look for the building with the red roof and a sign of a pokeball!”
“Red roof I can do, but what is a pokeball?” Sera called back.
“It’s these things! Obviously.” The boy said, fortunately holding one in his hand for Sera to see.
“You say obviously, but no such thing exists in my plane to my knowledge.” Sera answered loudly before humming to herself under the wind, “If I had to guess, it would be something out of Numeria.”
“What does a plane have to do with a pokeball? If you can fly, why do you need a plane?”
“Why do you need air to breathe?” Sera asked, rolling her eyes at the dumb question.
“What?” The boy asked, visibly shaking his head and staring in open confusion and partial disdain. “That makes no sense!”
“Neither did your question. Congratulations.” Sera answered.
Timothy protested, but Sera started to ignore his counterpoints. If he knew nothing of the different planes of existence, that was understandable. The common folk and even plenty of nobility had no need for such things. This only cemented in her mind that he would be a useful assistant to information about this plane and keep her from gathering too much attention to herself.
—
An hour passed and she grew close enough to assess the details of individual buildings. Fortunately the boy’s description proved to be particularly helpful. The rooftops were primarily a green color not too unlike the green of the grassy fields of sheep that inhabited the area. The only two roofs that did not share this commonality was the red roofed building and the blue roofed building. She veered slightly toward the red building without much issue.
As Sera made her approach to the city, she debated doing a low flyby of the town, to get a good glimpse of the place and have a sense for the landing, but she decided against it. The young man likely needed to be checked by the healer in the red roofed building for his memory problem. Perhaps it would be a cleric inside? She mused to what patron the temple would have dedicated itself to as she began her descent.
“Carefully… Carefullyyy.” Sera chanted to herself as she beat her wings repeatedly in smaller motions while gliding a dozen feet over the grassland, having already scared the sheep away from her by her mere presence.
A single big wingbeat brought her forward momentum to a standstill, pushing her back. She fell halfway down and gave another single wingbeat to slow the falling sensation before dropping the remaining distance and absorbing the shock with her legs.
“Ooof!” Timothy grunted as he clutched the saddle front with white knuckles, “Remind me to never ride you when you fly again.”
“What was wrong with that!” Sera protested, “I landed perfectly fine mere paces away from the door!”
“You dropped like a rock, stopped and made me lurch and almost launched my lunch out, and then you dropped like a rock again!” Timothy answered.
“Ah,” Sera said, realizing the problem, “You’re right. I knew you might have been injured yet did not take care in making the landing less likely to cause greater injury. I apologize.”
“Good, as long as you mean it.” Timothy answered with a slight grumble.
Sera frowned heavily before deciding to let it not bother her. It would not bother her grove’s founder, it would not bother the gold dragon near their domain, it would not- actually it would bother the green dragon, Lexiconna, but she was an exception as a chromatic.
“I do mean it,” Sera answered, beginning to walk carefully toward the door of the red roofed building and noting the half circle red, empty half circle of white above the strange all-glass doors. “I am taking you into the healer’s hut personal-”
Sera blinked as the doors ahead of her slid to the sides as two notes rang from bells she could not see, as if bidding her to enter. She paused briefly in surprise, then cautiously began to enter the building, inspecting all the foreign surfaces. The chairs and shopkeep counter were the most familiar items in the room, yet were also foreign in their construction.
“Welcome to- Oh! Who is this pokemon?” a lady with pink hair and white outfit said from near the counter, then she spoke again as she lifted the folding hinge of a counter to walk past it, “Timothy? Is that you?”
“Yep! It’s me.” The lad answered, grinning wide as he leaned back with his hands landing on Sera’s fur, “Lookit what I found!”
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“I can see, clearly, and judging by the gear it is already carrying, it found you rather than the other way around.” She answered, giving an appraising eye over Sera’s form far more than Timothy’s
“Nope! I encountered it, told myself I’m gonna catch it-”
“You attacked me without provocation and when I retaliated, you were knocked out cold and when you came to, despite my efforts to heal you, you forgot that you had asked certain questions already while making a couple comments that did not make sense. My concern for your health led me to ensure you saw a healer before I moved on.” Sera injected with a slight glare before turning to face this woman who had a pleasant disposition and moderately tanned skin. “Forgive me madam, I presume you are the healer of this town?”
“Way to ruin the fun…” Timothy grumbled before moving to undo the restraints holding his legs to the saddle.
“Oh, a talking pokemon. My, aren’t you a rare kind.” they observed. “I’m Nurse Joy, and yes, I'm a healer of sorts. And you are?”
“Lady Seranalyn of the Kingdom of Phendrana from the material plane of Golarion, but you may address me as Sera.” Sera answered and gave a curt nod of the head toward Joy. “A pleasure to meet you. This young man as I stated had attacked me with his creatures and in the process of defending myself a large chunk of hail hit his head. I request you ensure he has not suffered permanent damage. I have coin for payment for your services should you need such up front.”
“Oh my, you’re very polite, whatever you might be. No need for payment from what you’ve said. Health care is usually covered, though occasionally limited for certain trainer behaviors.” Joy answered with a reassuring smile and a glance toward the boy. “Please, come this way. We’ll get him, his pokemon, and yourselves patched up in no time.”
“My injuries are mild and will resolve themselves by morning, but I appreciate your hospitality. Please lead the way.” Sera answered, intrigued by the strange idea of not needing payment. Perhaps they simply took payment after treatment had been administered? If so, that was a sneaky business move to wait until they were already in your debt.
Joy gave a small curtsy and then walked toward another door that seemed to only be made of glass at and above the standard head height. Sera followed after her with curiosity only to pause again as the door slid open on its own with minimal noise.
“What magic opens these doors as we approach?” Sera asked as she made herself walk again, certain they would not make any other sudden moves.
“Electricity, duh.” The youth on her back answered, struggling to undo the final latches at the extent of his reach.
“You’re being awfully rude to the nice lady pokemon who made sure you got medical attention when you were hurt, Timothy.” Joy answered with a stern voice, then instantly switched to her sweeter tone, “These doors are run by electricity, yes. A small bit of power runs through some motors, pushing a lever that will swing a door open or with the front doors, slide them along a path. Some wild pokemon do get spooked by the movement but I promise they are completely harmless and unable to keep you from leaving if you feel at all trapped.”
“I’m unfamiliar with such things. Numerian technology is not my region of expertise. Dragons and the balance of nature are my main fields of study.” Sera answered.
“Numerian?” Joy asked, turning to Sera with a confused expression and only saw Timothy shrug in response. Joy led Sera into a nearby room with a few different devices and a counter along one wall, a few chairs along the second, and cabinetry lining the third.
“Don’t worry about it. Likely another place you wouldn’t have heard of.” Sera answered, deciding it was best not to explain further. “I’ve not seen a healer’s shop look remotely like this.”
“Odd, most pokecenters have a similar enough setup, but perhaps ones you’ve been to have more updated equipment? That tends to happen to us out in the sticks, getting upgrades later than the major cities.” Joy commented, then gestured toward one of the devices, a small platform along the wall with the counter. “Would you please stand on that for me while I help get this trainer off your back?”
“Oh, certainly.” Sera answered, shifting herself to make accessing the straps easier. She paused as one claw rested on the edge of the platform and Timothy’s first leg was freed, then she moved again positioning herself into the corner as the other leg was presented to the nurse.
Timothy was freed in short order by Joy. He hopped down and moved to take one of the chairs as he watched intently.
“If you don’t mind my asking, I notice you’re wearing a harness. Safe to say it’s yours?” Joy asked as she went to the cabinet, pulled out a clipboard and snow-white paper with pre-printed text on it and another few implements before laying them on the counter, using one to write on the paper while another hand fiddled with the buttons on the device on the counter.
“Yes, of course. It was a special order from Brevoy. It bears my house’s seal,” Sera answered as she looked down at it and noticed the rather plump upside down dragon outline drawn, then grumbled audibly, “though I still need to pester Linzi for a redesign. I still can’t believe the council approved it without asking me first.”
“It looks wonderfully made, traditionally-made too by the look of it.” Joy complimented as she tapped another button, then nodded to herself before writing down some numbers. “Now, while I inspect Timothy here, would you like to have it taken off? I prefer if my patients made themselves comfortable.”
“I appreciate the offer, but I don’t have any plans of staying long.” Sera declined politely.
“That’s too bad. I’d love to hear more, and it’s getting dark so you’ll probably have to rest soon. Did you get any rest on your way here?” Joy asked.
“No, I was going to look for a tavern and an inn-” Sera started to explain, only to be surprised by a small clap.
“You don’t need to worry about that!” Joy answered with her hands put together in front of her wide smile. “You did a public service and none of the rooms here are taken. I’d be happy to provide you a voucher for your stay as payment for what you did. We have plenty of pokechow but if that’s not fancy enough, there is a restaurant down the street you can get food from as long as we get everyone’s checkups done quickly.”
“Oh! I hadn’t expected that.” Sera blinked in surprise, eying the nurse with slight suspicion. “It wouldn’t be an undue burden on you then?”
“Not at all! I won’t stop you from leaving if you believe you must, but I’d be happy to have you stay.” Joy answered with the same eagerness as before.
“Very well, I thank you for your kindness and accept your offer.” Sera answered, giving a brief bow of her head.
“Very good.” Joy smiled in an almost predatory manner that flashed for only the briefest of moments as she turned away from Sera. She walked over to Timothy, inspecting him as she started humming a few measures before quietly singing to herself. “Just a small town Joy. … Livin’ in Solaceon~”
Sera wondered why the healer was in such a good mood, but shook her head and began using her claws to tug at her restraints and carefully get the saddle off of her. She had been wearing it all day and could wear it for days at a time if needed, but it was always pleasant to get it to come off. Certain protections would need to be in place to prevent theft, especially if they did not lock those doors that opened on their own and would not trap her from leaving, but the woman did not appear to have any magic that she could detect.
Joy continued to inspect Timothy, asking a few questions before nodding and then taking his pokeballs off to another room. Sera barely had time to take the saddle and carefully lay it on the ground between the platform and the chairs when Joy had returned to the room.
“Here you are Timothy, they’re all healed and fighting fit. We look forward to seeing you again.” Joy answered with a smile before turning her attention to Sera. “Ahhh, so this is what you look like without the harness. No matted fur, sleek tail, medium length neck, relatively large wings…”
“What are you talking about?” Sera asked, noticing how the nurse had shifted over to the counter and started scribbling on the white parchment furiously in a script she didn’t fully recognize.
“Just making observations in case we have to treat you again later. Pokecenters are visited by trainers and wild pokemon alike. We’re known far and wide as safe havens where no harm comes to any pokemon as long as they do no harm in turn.” Joy answered. “Now, please do me a favor and stay on the platform. Keep your head, limbs, wings, and tail inside the box for just a few minutes and we’ll be done in no time!”
Joy pushed a button on the counter and the platform began to very slightly shake under Sera. She looked down in mild surprise, then looked on in greater surprise and multiple green light walls seemed to rise from each wall surface, from above, below, and in front of her!
“What in the nine hells is this?! Did you trick me?!” Sera asked, her concern mounting quickly.