At least the weather is nice here. He's on a path in a forest, with light streaming down through the trees. Ahead of him, the path winds through a patch of tall grass; behind him it goes around a corner.

...That's concerning. This looks? Like Earth grass? The sky is definitely an Earth sky, but Nereus is still in his Ideal Form - a glance confirms Ink's still in her Ideal Form and Ink's Ideal Form is 'far too many black wings and eyes beneath them attached to an abstract concept of a humanoid' which is very not Earthen, Nereus at least could pass for a very pretty someone cosplaying as a magical girl. Last time he checked, Earth's Rules don't allow Ideal Forms.

He climbs to his feet, sees Ink doing the same. "Um? Hello?" he calls, his power clicking on. He'll be very understandable to anyone who can perceive him taking actions.

A bow shimmers into being in her lightly clawed hand. Nereus might understand this to communicate: 'I am alarmed and do not appreciate it.'

The human-sized weird owl that leaps at them out of the undergrowth is also alarmed and also doesn't appreciate it! It communicates this by pecking Ink vigorously.

... Seriously.

Maybe they are in some weird branch of the Dreamlands.

She uses small forcefields to keep it from hitting her, and then jumps back, draws her bow as if wielding an arrow - and one made of force appears. She fires in a single smooth motion.

That wouldn't be deadly even to a frail human, but it should knock the owl back at least a few steps.

"Ink." To the owl: "Sorry about that!" Animals vary in how well they can interpret him, but most Dreamlands creatures are pretty smart, so...

The not-quite-owl is noticeably both stronger and tougher than one would expect, either for an owl or for a human. It says "Noc!" and tries to whack Ink with a wing. It seems to be having fun.

To Ink - "I think it's playing? I can tell it to cut it out if you want me to."

She narrows her many eyes.

To Nereus this'll communicate that she's fine.

She thwacks the wing with her bow - which holds up under the abuse - and channels dark lightning into her hand. A thrust, and it stabs at the owl - and despite the form the electricity still wouldn't be deadly to most humans, but is significantly more than the force-arrow. A human would be dazed, possibly unconscious.

She's holding back dramatically - but she doesn't want to actually kill the thing, which 'vaporizing the surrounding landscape' might, and this sort of play-fighting is a good way to stretch herself, and to get an idea of what kind of power the locals think is acceptable. 

The bird is dazed but not unconscious, and manages to rake its talons across one of her wings.

Ouch. One for Nereus to heal, maybe, except for how he kind of sucks at that.

She drops her wing away from the talon, spins, and fires another force arrow (with a bit of a crackle of lightning) at the owl.

It seems to have had enough fun, because when this hits it lets out a disgruntled "Noctowl!" and flaps away looking exhausted.

" - Oh, hey, which way to people like me?" Nereus calls after the owl.

It gestures with its head in a southerly direction.

"Thanks!"

Then to Ink: "Wanna head over? I'll race ya."

She rolls her eyes and shakes her head, then jumps, flitting into the air high enough to get a decent view. What can she see from up here?

The road (lightly forested).

The sunrise (extremely pretty).

A town (small and cute).

Useful. Also, while the horizon behaves in some places in the Dreamlands, she's increasingly sure this is more of an Earth-analogue. Could there be some little bubble between Earth and the Dreamlands that they just haven't heard of?

She lands, nods to Nereus, and drops back into her human shape. It's a bit easier to talk like this, though with Nereus here she can at least just let him talk...

Well, setting out towards the town it is.

Their little trail quickly widens into a proper if somewhat winding road, and eventually lets out at the town. Along the way they hear rustling noises in the tall grass, but there are no more ambushes.

The town has houses, and a couple shops, and one red-roofed building that looks pretty important. The signage isn't in any Earth language but the people going about their business look human. Some of them have companions, bizzare animals ranging from small enough to sit on a shoulder to large enough to ride.

Making his power work on writing is always a bit annoying but usually he can pick up the meanings of stuff meant for general audiences.

Still, they'll head to the red roofed building. What's inside?

The signage says that the town they're in is Mahogany Town, and what the streets are named, and that the red-roofed building is a Pokémon Center. Inside it is a computer terminal, and a counter where a smiling pink-haired woman attends a piece of gleaming machinery.

Person who maybe works here! In a place that looks vaguely like it'd receive new people!

"Hi!" he calls, bouncing up. "I'm really new here and kind of lost?"

"New to Mahogany Town, or to the Johto region? Either way I can get you a map! Do you have a Pokétech?"

Some quick raised eyebrows at Ink establishes she'd rather they not blab about the universe-hopping until necessary, so he says, "New to Johto! And don't have a Pokétech, unfortunately."

"Well, welcome! If you don't have a Pokétech it'll have to be paper. Here you go!" She hands over a map. "Was that all, or do you also need your Pokémon healed?"

"How does the Pokemon healing work?"

He's guessing? The Pokemon are maybe the odd creatures?

"You digitize them, and I put the Pokéballs in this machine, and it resets their bodies to be perfectly healthy and not tired at all. But if they learned things or got stronger, those don't reset."

"Neat! Oh - where do I get a Poketech?"

"It is neat! Try the general store; it's a few streets that way."

"Okay! Thanks for all the help!" He'll find someone else to ask about money - making stuff permanent to sell is hard but shouldn't be impossible since their other powers work, or if Ink wins the caution argument they can figure out a job maybe.

"No problem!" says the pink-haired woman, then turns to talk to someone in hiking clothes who just came in the door. He hands her two red-and-white spheres and she puts them in the machine, humming cheerfully to herself.

Then they'll head out and start looking around town for the general store, or a pawn shop, or just general adverts for stuff like dog walkers and lawn mowers, or other ways to make money.

The general store exists, and looks a bit run down but not short on merchandise. The sign outside it says, "Just a Shop - Nothing Suspicious About It - No Need to be Alarmed".

There are also plenty of adverts. Someone wants to trade their crobat for a togetic, someone wants a big pile of boxes couriered to the next town over, someone else has lost their necklace and is offering a reward for returning it (there's a picture of the necklace on the poster). And the local gym wants to hire trainers with at least one ice-type Pokémon, and is offering "P$50 per battle plus standard prize money sharing arrangements."

Ooooh prize money. If it's Pokemon related... Ink's Ideal Form looks kind of like the thing!

He turns to her, grins, and opens his mouth.

She sends him the most thoroughly unimpressed look she can muster. No. She wants no part in whatever scheme. She doesn't care if it sounds fun.

He sticks his tongue out at her. Such a spoilsport...

Anyways, the definitely not suspicious shop sounds likely to be either an actually not suspicious shop, or a fun adventure, so onwards!

The shop sells food and medicines for both humans and Pokémon, plus an assortment of other things including devices labeled as being Pokétechs. All the merchandise looks perfectly fine, except the Pokétechs have stickers with a logo on them. Behind the counter is a gold cabinet and a very sketchy-looking old man.

He bounces up. "Hi! I'm Nereus, and this's my friend Ink, we're new here! I was curious about your Poketechs?"

"Ya wanna buy some Pokétechs, eh? That'll be P$2500. Each."

"Huh. Do you know good ways to make that money? We're kind of new to the continent." Sounds like a lot if P$50 was being offered for a job thing per battle.

He seems to size them up for a while, then says "Ya can do odd jobs, or fight with that Pokémon ya got and get prize money, or find stuff and sell it--trainers're always losing things."

"Okay, thanks!" That seems to track with the posters outside. He... Doesn't really know how to get Pokemon other than charming them. The pink haired lady said something about storing them in pokeballs which... Probably cost money. Which means he's back to 'odd jobs' or 'charm a Pokemon and/or Ink into doing prize fights.'

"We'll be back in a little bit!"

"See ya round, half-pint."

"See you!"

And off.

Hm...

They should probably try to figure out how much food and lodging will cost... Anywhere look like a hostel, or a motel, or something?

Now that he thinks about it, the Pokémon Center where he got the map had a door labeled "Cafeteria".

He'll back track to there to try and get an idea of prices.

The cafeteria contains a serving line, with simple but tasty-looking food and a conspicuous lack of cash register at the far end. The tables are occupied by several people ranging in age from 12 to 18, all accompanied by (and often petting) one or more Pokémon. The Pokémon are eating food on the theme of "paste with berries in it" in various colors.

He'll try to find someone friendly-looking to ask about whether you have to pay for food here, then, and how much it is.

A bubbly fourteen-year-old with something fluffy draped across her shoulders confirms that he doesn't need to pay for food, or for a bunk upstairs so long as there's space. "And there's usually space, especially in small towns like this one." 

"Thanks! This's a really nice town."

"It is, isn't It? Anyway, I gotta get going, I told Darla I'd battle after we ate. Bye!" Off she scampers.

"Bye!"

And to food. Does anyone seem friendly enough to sit with?

He could talk to the two boys talking animatedly about egg-hatching techniques, or the girl who's sitting on the end of a bench to better snuggle her very huggable-looking Pokémon. 

He knows nothing about egg-hatching so he'll bounce up to the snuggly girl (Ink trailing behind him like an exasperated cat) and say, "Hi! Your Pokemon looks very fluffy."

"He is! His name's Sparky. You can try to pet him if you want, but if he backs away don't push it or he might zap you."

"Thanks!" Gentle pat, and to Sparky: "You have a very handsome coat!"

Sparky permits petting and says, "Mareep!" 

The kid says, "My name's Christina, what's yours?"

"I'm Nereus, this's my friend Ink."

"Hi Nereus! Hi Ink! Those are cool names. How long have you been on your Pokémon journey?"

"We're actually new to the continent! What's a Pokemon journey?"

"Do they not have Pokémon journeys where you're from? It's when you get your first Pokémon and travel around for a year, seeing the world and bonding with your Pokémon and catching more if you want more. I started at 14, some people start earlier or later."

"Not really, yeah. Sounds like a lot of fun!"

"It's pretty great! Seeing new towns, meeting new people, training and battling and doing odd jobs."

"Sounds it." He'll keep up the conversation a bit longer, try to find out some more cultural assumption stuff, and then focus on eating.

Cultural stuff: everybody except the extremely introverted or responsibility-averse has at least one Pokémon! Pokémon can be stored as information in Pokéballs, which are those red and white balls everyone is carrying! Pokémon are basically like animals, except they're all as intelligent and personable as dogs, and extremely hardy, and love to fight. Pokémon will fight pretty much anything with a strength and enthusiasm thoroughly unrelated to their size, so it's advisable to have one or two strong ones whenever you're somewhere remote. Pokémon are also excellent companions and good at helping the disabled. And of course, Christina says joyfully, if you take good care of your Pokémon, and your friendship with them is strong enough, together you can achieve anything you set out to do! 

Neat! He's really appreciative of the information, and a good listener who nods at all the right parts. (Ink is a terrible listener who ignores the world in favor of eating).

Eventually, conversation seems exhausted, and his food's finished, so he says a cheery goodbye to his conversation partner. Some discussion with Ink, and they have a bit before sleep becomes a good idea, so they decide to explore the town a bit more. Maybe look for work seriously...

The ads from before are still available. They can also get paid to run a package up north to the Lake of Rage, or mow someone's lawn (they have a mower he can use), or help deep-clean the Pokémon Center dorm room, or help the little library inspect and sort its collection (this one pays in both money and first dibs on any damaged books they decide to get rid of).

Then something huge flies past him, so fast it's just a blur and a thunderclap.

The hell?

That seems concerning.

He glances around, sees if people seem alarmed - maybe it's normal here?

People seem very alarmed! Also, someone's shop window exploded, and people are separately alarmed about that! Though fortunately nobody seems to have been hurt.

He exchanges a very meaningful glance with Ink -

And she bursts back into her Ideal Form, and if this'll end up using a lot of magic, she's better at telekinesis than Nereus is at flight so she takes off into the air, pulling him with her.

She can move at supersonic speeds herself, Nereus is worse at it and that's not entirely safe with telekinesis - maybe if she pins down whatever so he can come yell at it -

(She tries to examine the area, drifting close enough to Nereus that he can tap her and enhance her reflexes, perception, and speed. Can she see the creature still?)

If she gets high enough up to see a good chunk of the continent, she will see that there are actually three blurs, going all over the place in an apparently random manner. They mostly stick to the lakes and the wilderness between cities, but occasionally one will blast through a populated area.

- Ugh. Nereus will be the one talking to whatever - but Ink's a better fighter, and faster in the air.

She informs him of what's going on, lets his flight take over for her telekinesis, and rockets to intercept the next one aiming for a population center.

It's hard to argue they're aiming at anything, given how often they change direction, but she can manage to get ahead of one. She is promptly dodged. 

How big is it? (She'll try to grab it with telekinesis, but if it's 'approximately a small elephant' or larger, she's not going to get very far.)

The speedster isn't quite elephant size, but they're as big as the biggest horse you've ever seen, and they fight back against the telekinesis. Ink can't actually stop them, but she can slow them down for a moment, long enough to get a glimpse of what they look like.

Argh.

...Pokemon are weird, maybe they'll understand her, maybe she'll at least give them pause until Nereus can catch up to one -

"Stop," booms a terrible voice. She makes no attempt to filter herself, to tamp down on the writhing, multi-layered sound.

Several bird Pokemon fall out of nearby trees. The blur stops crisscrossing the continent and starts searching the local area, slightly slower than before.

....Ink what the fuck.

Nereus catches up to a slowed down blur, shouts, "Hey! What's going on?"

A voice echoes in his head: "I am exploring!"

"The speed's causing problems some areas! People might get hurt!"

"But there is so much world to see! And every time I look away for even a moment, it changes."

"If you go too fast, you might damage some of the stuff to look at! A lot of stuff broke when you ran through the town I was in."

"Making things change faster is not ideal. But the important thing is to see as much as I can." Nereus and the Entei are still zooming all over the place, subsonic now but still more than fast enough to startle people. Depending on Nereus' reaction time, he might actually be doing more property damage than Entei is.

He doesn't fly faster than his own reaction time, so is dodging pretty deftly. "You're hurting people. People are affected by what you're doing. There's a lot of areas that're uninhabited - a lot of stuff to see. And slowing down helps you appreciate it. Just... Seeing stuff, as fast as this - it's not the same as really stopping and examining it, you know?"

"I have lamented how every place changes every time I come back to it . . . perhaps my curiosity could be satisfied by watching one area evolve. Somewhere rich and complex and beautiful."

"Yeah! Lotsa jungles are like that! A lot of stuff going on, and I've seen time-lapse videos of like plants growing, it's cool."

A few seconds later, Entei comes to a sudden stop, deep in the middle of what Nereus doesn't know is named Viridian Forest. There are no paths, or other signs, of humanity, anywhere in sight. 

"Here good?" he asks.

"This place is teeming with life, more than many others. By the time I have observed every stone and plant and Pokémon I can perceive, they will have changed subtly, and deserve to be known anew. Yes, I could be quite content here."

"But my cousins may be less willing to slow down and speak to you than I was. Perhaps I should aid you in catching up to them."

"That'd be really appreciated, thanks!"

"Very well." And suddenly they're both moving extremely fast again, but this time Nereus isn't moving under his own power and it's everything else that's a blur.

"Thanks!" (He's used to Ink grabbing him so he's really not that alarmed.)

It's good that he isn't alarmed! They match pace with another massive Pokémon, somewhere on the coast in the mountains on an island in a city crossing a lake in the mountains again.

"Hey!" he calls out to the other Pokemon. "I'd like to talk a bit!"

"Hello!"

"I'm Nereus! What's your name?"

"I am Raikou!"

"Hey Raikou! So I get that you're trying to see everything as quickly as you can, but some of the speed's causing a few problems, and breaking some stuff so it won't be able to be seen again later. Maybe you can find one area to watch really closely, and see all the ways it changes, like Entei did?"

"Seeing everything? No. I wish only to go fast! I am like the lightning, here one moment and elsewhere the next!"

"Well... You can go faster when you're not having to dodge stuff. Like over water! Running so fast you don't sink's really impressive."

"Yes, I am fastest over water, though I could go slower than this and not sink. Perhaps there is a great circle of the planet that is entirely water!" The blur around them becomes mostly blue and starts to feature fewer sharp swerves. 

"Yeah! That'd be cool, if you could run around the whole planet without leaving the water."

"It appears there is no such great circle. Too many inconvenient islands. But if I follow a hyperbola instead . . . Ha!" Now their path is all blue.

"That's great! Have fun figuring out paths!"

"I certainly will!"

"See you later then!" And off to the third blur?

As a matter of fact, no. Entei goes back to that bit of forest and stops dead still in the exact same spot he was previously standing.

Someone else is now standing right in front of him. 

"Hello. I see you have ceased being destructive."

"Uh, hello!" Nereus says.

"I had been chasing my brothers in an attempt to calm them down, but I am the slowest of the three of us, and was avoiding cities besides. I thank you for your help. In return, would you and your companion like to be returned to your home?"

...Hm. He and Ink can probably make their own way back? And this world's kind of cool, but...

"I need to talk to her a bit. If we decide to stay a while, would the offer still be open later?"

"You will not be any less of your own world no matter how long you stay here. If you choose to return home, find me at the Burnt Tower."

She vanishes.

"Thanks!" he calls out, and then turns to Entei. "Thank you, too. I would've had a lot of trouble catching up to the other, and my friend's not really diplomatic..."

"Of course," says Entei, still perfectly motionless and radiating contentment.

"I'll leave you to it, I guess."

And he goes to find Ink. The consensus is to stay here for a time - they might be able to find a way to link the worlds, which'd be cool, and new places are always neat, and it's not like they're expected back anytime soon in their world. She's on summer break, and they both told everyone they were going far-traveling, so.

Onwards! To adventure!