Here's the surprise that you're getting instead of Embers of the Past's next chapter! A double Team Charm special?! How can this be?!
Sit back, relax, and enjoy this special story about Weavile and Lopunny!
"Wait for me, Buneary! Slow down!"
The Buneary paused and turned to grin back at Sneasel, who had fallen to her paws and was breathing heavily.
"That's why they call it a race, silly! The whole point is for one of us to win!" However, Buneary hopped back over to Sneasel to offer a paw to her. "What do you say we take a break for now, then race later?"
Sneasel nodded, still panting. Sitting at a table outdoors were their mothers, who were watching them from a distance. The whole situation brought a frown to Weavile's face. Ever since her mate left her a few moons ago, she and her daughter had temporarily moved into the house of her long-time friend, Lopunny. Their two young daughters had made friends almost immediately, but Weavile could tell that things weren't quite right.
"Lopunny, have you noticed how competitive Buneary is becoming?" she asked, shifting in her chair. "Sneasel's never been a fan of always seeing who's better, and lately, she's been complaining that Buneary won't play with her anymore."
"Weavile, darling, you really ought to stop fussing all the time!" Lopunny chided, leaning over the table to tap her on the nose. "What's wrong with a little friendly competition? I always say it fuels the fire in any friendship."
Nodding, Weavile traced a pattern on the table's surface absentmindedly. The day was warm for spring and it brought out many Pokémon from the nearby Mystifying Forest. Weavile would have much preferred to sit inside Lopunny's house to talk with her, where it was cooler, but she needed to be close enough to her daughter to protect her if need be. There had been recent reports of Pokémon becoming more dangerous, though it was only propaganda at this point. Still, it was an unsettling thought that something could be wrong with their world, and Weavile didn't plan on taking any chances.
Buneary and Sneasel were lightly scuffling, batting at each others' ears with their paws and giggling, though they were clearly hot and tired.
"That Buneary's gonna be a heart breaker someday," Weavile sighed.
"Did you say something?"
Glancing at her friend, Weavile asked, "Haven't you seen it? She's been – "
"Flirting her head off at Sneasel, I know," Lopunny replied, laughing. "And she's talking about becoming an explorer some day, too. If her appeal is already defying gender and species, she'll be a nightmare when she evolves."
Weavile nodded again, closing her eyes. "I fear for both of them. Sneasel's been talking about the team thing, as well. But who's there to train them? There aren't any nearby guilds for them to go to. And if the rumours are to be believed – "
"Never trust the conspiracy theorists!" Lopunny cut in. "If they form a team together, I'm certain they'll be fine."
"Thank you." Looking Lopunny directly in the eyes, Weavile went on, "I really do appreciate your efforts to convince me it'll be alright." A smile came to her mouth. "Maybe, someday, I'll even believe you."
"What are friends for, eh?" Lopunny chuckled, patting Weavile's hand. "Us single ladies gotta stick together! Isn't that right, babe?"
That got a laugh out of Weavile. "You got that right, sugar!" she replied teasingly.
In the pitch black of the night, a lone figure slipped from her bed and crept across the floor to the bed adjacent to hers. She climbed onto it and prodded its occupant awake.
"Hmm...what is it?"
"Buneary, it's midnight. You said I should wake you up tonight."
The Buneary blinked hard, then sat up. Sneasel sat beside her awkwardly, swinging her legs back and forth over the edge of the bed. Hopping off the bed, Buneary extended a paw to Sneasel.
"Alright, let's go. But we have to be super-extra quiet, m'kay?"
Sneasel nodded and joined her friend, grabbing her paw. The two slunk through the house as silently as they could, then left out the front door, closing it softly behind them. The night air was cool but the stars were out and gleaming, the moon a distant glowing orb in the sky. Buneary led Sneasel along through a secret path that led into the forest. The first time Buneary wanted to venture in without their parents saying it was okay, Sneasel had held back, feeling a twinge of unease. But after they entered and stayed safe the whole time, she realized it wasn't so bad after all.
"This way! Let's go to our fort!" Buneary continued to speak in a whisper, even though they were outside and there was no danger of their parents waking up to hear them. It just felt like the silence shouldn't be disturbed.
The two entered Mystifying Forest and zigzagged to their fort. Without having to say it aloud, they began to play exploration team, ducking behind trees and attacking imaginary enemies. When a Noctowl hooted as it flew overhead, the two shrieked and dashed to their fort, where they burst into laughter.
The fort was a hollowed-out stump of an old tree with a top deck that Lopunny built for Buneary before Sneasel and her mother moved in with them. Sneasel climbed the short wooden ladder and peeked out the top.
"We're all clear, Buneary!" she called down, hopping off the ladder to join her friend on the lower floor. They saluted each other, then sat down against one of the walls.
"So, what expedition is Team Charm going to go on today?" Buneary asked, grabbing a special pointed stick from beside her and handing it to Sneasel. Sneasel flattened the dirt with her paw, then scratched the plans into the ground.
"There's a lost Servine somewhere in Mystifying Forest," she told her, drawing a crude picture of a Servine. "He needs to be rescued by us!"
Hopping to her feet, Buneary made a determined expression. "Then let's go! Let's go save that Servine!" She grabbed Sneasel's paw again and dashed out the entrance so quickly that Sneasel hardly even had time to drop the writing stick. Giggling, they dashed through the forest along well-worn paths and waving at the inhabitants as they ran along.
They came to a clearing and looked around anxiously. This part of the game was all too familiar to them.
"I don't see him anywhere," Buneary said, shrugging. "Maybe he went home already – Sneasel? Sneasel, where are you?"
Sneasel, who had hidden herself behind a tree, waited until Buneary's back was turned to leap out and pounce on her.
"Ha ha ha! It was all just a trap!" she cackled gleefully. "I lured you out here to defeat you at last!"
"Oh, no!" Buneary wailed, trying to stifle a giggle. "It looks like I'll have to fight back!" She hopped backwards and took a fighting stance. "Look out, criminal, 'cause Team Charm is here to – "
A vine suddenly burst from the ground and covered her mouth. Another wound around her body, trapping her paws to her sides. Sneasel could only stare in bewilderment until two vines came up right in front of her. She quickly slashed at them with her claws but they clamped around her as well. A Pokémon entered the clearing, chuckling darkly.
"Team Charm, is it? Isn't that just precious. You two actually think that you could be strong enough to be an exploration team."
With some effort, Sneasel managed to turn her head and saw that, for some reason, their attacker was Ms. Ivysaur, a kind Pokémon whom they often saw during their daytime trips to Mystifying Forest.
"Little kids like you only stir up trouble," Ms. Ivysaur went on, leering menacingly at them. "It would be so much better if I got rid of you, wouldn't it? Your mothers would thank me for the service."
Buneary began to thrash against the vines that bound her, but she was powerless against them. Trying to force down the panic that was building within her, Sneasel used an Icy Wind attack at Ms. Ivysaur. The attack caused her to take a step back, cringing. Seeing an opportunity, Sneasel kept using the attack until the Pokémon weakened enough for them to escape the vines. For good measures, however, she used one more Icy Wind to knock her out completely before they skirted away.
When they returned, panting, at their fort, the magnitude of what just happened began to sink in.
"That's...that was Ms. Ivysaur," Sneasel managed, gulping. "Why would she...do some...thing like this?"
Buneary shook her head, then smiled at Sneasel. "You saved me back there, Sneasel. Thank you!" Then, taking Sneasel's face in her paws, she reached forwards and kissed her deeply.
Sneasel's eyes widened in shock and she became unable to move. It felt to her like the kiss lasted forever, and when they parted, her heart was pounding in her ears.
"B-Buneary...why'd you...?"
Buneary giggled, winking at Sneasel. "I wanted to see what it was like to kiss someone, and it seemed like a good time. So? Am I a good kisser?"
"Uh...um..." That was definitely a loaded question, Sneasel realized, red spreading across her face. "Well, I, uh...I've never kissed anyone, so I wouldn't know..."
That seemed to be a good enough answer for Buneary. She stood up and offered her paw to Sneasel, who reluctantly took it. "I think Team Charm has had enough adventures for today. Let's go home, okay?"
Sneasel nodded and let Buneary lead her back to the house. They were able to get back into their beds without anyone waking up, and they fell asleep immediately.
Well, at least Buneary did. Sneasel lay on her back, staring at the ceiling blankly. Her mind was racing and she didn't even feel tired. The fact that their usually-friendly neighbour had attacked them was hair-raising, to say the least. It terrified Sneasel. There had been something wrong with the way she looked at them, in an almost ravenous way. And what reason did she have to try to kill them? They never did anything wrong; sure, they could be noisy some days, but never to the point of someone feeling such malice towards them.
And that kiss... Sneasel touched a claw to her mouth, then began to tremble.
It couldn't be... There had to be another explanation...
She was afraid that she was beginning to fall in love with Buneary.
Turning onto her side, she looked over at the lightly snoring Pokémon and sighed. It was the last thing she wanted to happen, ever. Buneary was just her best friend with whom she lived. And Sneasel knew that she didn't feel the same way. All of the flirting and teasing was just her way of fun.
Buneary would never love her back.
It had been unexpected, unforeseen, and unwelcome. Weavile had gone into the woods that summer to collect berries for the girls when it happened.
A strong wind began to blow that knocked over the table and chairs and tore off branches from trees and ripped up the grass. Buneary and Sneasel halted their game to look up at the forest. The trees were shaking furiously and leaves sliced through the air. Then, just as suddenly as it started, it stopped.
Getting up from where she'd fallen, Lopunny yelled at the girls to stay put and ran into the forest. An hour passed before she returned. She walked quietly past Buneary and Sneasel and stood up the table and chairs again. She pulled out one of the chairs and sat down, then covered her face with her hands and began to sob.
"It's – it's happened," she managed, her shoulders shaking. "It's...it's a mystery dungeon."
Sneasel exchanged a glance with Buneary, then stood and walked to Lopunny's side. "Where's mommy?"
"She's gone!" Lopunny screeched, digging her claws into her head so hard that she drew blood. "Anything inside a mystery dungeon is gone forever!" She broke down and wailed, slamming a fist into the table violently enough to crack it.
Sneasel was unable to believe it. Just like that, it was all over. Her mother was gone. The Pokémon who lived there were gone. Their fort was gone.
"Sneasel..." Buneary whispered, coming up from behind her and placing a paw on her shoulder. Sneasel took in a deep breath, then turned and burst into tears. Buneary wrapped her paws around her and sank with her to the ground. A light drizzle started up, then turned into a storm before long. The three headed inside the house without speaking to each other.
Many long weeks passed. Sneasel spent too many of them crying and screaming in her room to the point that Lopunny began to scold her for it. After that, nothing was ever the same for her. Sneasel secluded herself from Lopunny and even Buneary, spending much of her time just at the edge of Mystifying Forest. She stared at the entrance long and hard, praying to Arceus that her mother would magically run out and embrace her tightly.
On one particular day, it wasn't Weavile but Buneary who hugged her from behind.
"Sneasel, I miss you," Buneary whimpered, rubbing her cheek against Sneasel's. "Can we play Team Charm together again? We said that we'd become an exploration team together, right? Can we still do that?"
Sneasel turned her head away but nodded and hugged Buneary back. "I wish none of this happened. I wish this wasn't a mystery dungeon." She let go and wiped her eyes. "Let's just forget about all of that. I want to play with you again."
Even their game of being an exploration team lost its spark for Sneasel. Buneary enjoyed it as much as before, running excitedly through the fields with Sneasel trailing behind her. A new family eventually moved into the area – a Gardevoir, her mate, and her three children – and a Kirlia soon joined their games. Sneasel tried her best to stay cheerful, and it did come easily to her after time, but Kirlia quickly replaced her as Buneary's best friend.
Mystery dungeons began appearing in more areas with more frequency and the demand for exploration teams kept getting higher and higher. Now teams passed by regularly to venture through Mystifying Forest on rescue missions. A guild run by an Alakazam appeared on their continent, then another, run by a Delcatty. They were both too far away for Sneasel, Buneary, and Kirlia to go to, however, and they trained alone.
It was the following summer, when the three were play-battling in the fields, that the exploration team that was about to enter the forest started yelling at each other. Sneasel's ears perked up and she beckoned to her friends with a claw.
"Hey, guys, those two are arguing over there," she pointed out. Buneary and Kirlia disentangled themselves and stared at the team. It was a Medicham and an Ekans who stood right by the entrance, and they were both shouting loudly.
"Let's go over and see what's up," Buneary suggested. They ran over and Sneasel began to be able to make out what they were saying.
"...ditch this mission just because you're too afraid of a B-rank outlaw!"
"I didn't sssay that! I sssaid that I knew him! He wouldn't do sssomething like that!"
"Hi, guys!" Buneary greeted, breaking up the argument. "Why are you fighting?"
"Keep your nossse out of our businessss!" Ekans hissed, showing his fangs to them. "You kidsss don't need to know about thisss stuff!"
"You shut you big mouth!" Medicham snapped at him, putting her hands on her hips. "They were just asking! We're about to go after an outlaw, but Ekans here is too scared of him! He just won't admit it!"
"I am NOT! I knew Banette a long time ago! He isssn't a killer! We were friendsss!"
"That's just an excuse! Why don't you just – "
"Stop fighting!" Kirlia interrupted, using Psychic to blast the two apart. "Why would you two explore with each other if you don't get along?"
Medicham stood up weakly, then shook her head to clear it. "Y'know what, Ekans? She's right. I'm done with you. I'm done with being on Team Meanies! I hated what Gengar had us do, anyways!" Ekans got back up, hurt in his eyes.
"But Medicham...I thought we were companionsss..."
"If you want companions, find some other lowly scum who only want easy money!" Medicham walked over to stand by Kirlia and Buneary and crossed her arms. Lowering his head, Ekans began to go into the forest alone.
"Fine. If that'sss the way you want it. I'm going in. Maybe I can talk some senssse into him." With that, he slithered in.
Sneasel's throat tightened at the sight of Ekans going into the forest on his own, and before she could stop herself, she ran in after him.
"Wait!" she called out, running up to him. He cast her a glare and slithered faster.
"What, you aren't going to ssstick with your friendsss and praise Medicham for all she hasn't done?" he spat.
Shaking her head, Sneasel replied, "I don't think you're a bad Pokémon. If Banette was my friend, I wouldn't want to fight him, either."
Ekans cast her a curious glance. "You believe me?"
"Yeah. I'll even come with you. Maybe we can talk things out with him."
He smiled sadly. "Thanksss. It meansss a lot to me."
Pokémon that once may have been friends attacked Sneasel blindly as they went along through the mystery dungeon. It didn't take long for them to find Banette, but both of them gasped when they saw him. Dark blood stained his claws and he looked up slowly with a malicious grin. Beside him was a bloodied Skorupi, who was trying desperately to stand and crawl away.
"Banette?" Ekans asked carefully. "It is you, isssn't it?"
"Long time no see...friend." Banette approached Ekans slowly, holding up a hand. "It's been a while, hasn't it? I so missed you. Won't you come play with me?"
"Run!" gasped out Skorupi, trembling. "He's gone mad!"
"It...it can't be..." Ekans protested, looking around in horror. "Banette, wake up! Don't go mad! Pleassse!"
Ignoring him, Banette sliced at him with a hand, causing him to jump back in terror. Sneasel gritted her teeth, then leapt at Banette and slashed him with Fury Swipes. The cloth that made up his body tore open and his soul flew out and dissipated into thin air.
"Th-thank you," Ekans stammered, closing his eyes. "I didn't honessstly think...he was alwaysss ssso nice to me..."
"I didn't believe it at first...either," Skorupi managed, "but he was...his will was broken."
Sneasel suddenly remembered that Skorupi was injured and she ran over to pick him up. "Are you alright?!"
"I'll be fine – " Wincing, Skorupi corrected, "Maybe with some treatment or something. Thanks for, well, killing him."
"I...I killed him?!" In that instant, the realization came down on her full-force. She fell to her paws and shook her head. "That – I'm not a killer! Does this make me an outlaw?!"
Ekans came to her side and rested his tail-tip on her arm. "You sssaved usss. If the sheriff asksss, you can explain what happened. We'll back you up, alright?"
She nodded weakly, then got back up to her feet. "Then let's get outta here. The longer we're in here, the more I feel like I've done something horribly evil."
As the weeks passed, Medicham became closer friends with Kirlia and Buneary while Sneasel befriended Skorupi and Ekans. The two groups were becoming very distinct – even when Sneasel was at home with Buneary and her mother, very few words were exchanged between her and her former best friend. It didn't matter – at least, not to Buneary. Despite having two new friends and being generally content with being a social outcast along with them, Sneasel's heart still fluttered when Buneary sent a cheerful smile in her direction.
"Just tell her," Skorupi suggested when Sneasel finally decided to admit her feelings to her friends.
"When has that ever worked?" Sneasel scoffed, closing her eyes and leaning against a tree. They were sitting in a triangle by the forest's edge, just out of sight of Buneary, Kirlia, and Medicham, who were arm-wrestling each other for fun. An autumn breeze was blowing past, rustling the grasses and remaining flowers around them.
"She'sss jussst getting father from you as a friend," pointed out Ekans, giving her a concerned look. "I'd sssay it'sss now or never, Sssneasel."
Sneasel shook her head. "I already know she'd reject me. There's no point. All that it'll do is sever our bond." Her friends exchanged a glance with each other, then sighed in unison.
"Look, Sneasel," Skorupi began carefully, "your friendship with her is just about done. Whether you want to believe it or not, Kirlia and Medicham totally stole her from you."
"Yeah. And what if she has a crush on you, too, but those two chicksss are keeping you apart? Thisss might jussst be your only hope to get her back."
Miserably, Sneasel looked over in the direction of the three. "You're right. There's no harm in telling her, I guess."
Night began to fall and Ekans and Skorupi headed off to a den they'd made for themselves while Sneasel returned home. She kept the thought of admitting her crush fresh in her mind as she ate the mushroom soup Lopunny had prepared for them. Luckily, Buneary spent the majority of the meal talking to her mother about her plans with her friends for the next day, so she didn't see Sneasel blushing as she watched her out of the corner of her eye.
"'Night, Sneasel," Buneary yawned out once they were in their beds and about to go to sleep. At this point, Sneasel was feeling like a Roggenrola who was sinking in an ocean, but Ekans was right. Now or never.
"Um, Buneary," she began, keeping her gaze trained on her own paws as she spoke, "I...I know we haven't talked much lately, but there's something I think I need to tell you."
"Sure! What is it?"
Trembling, Sneasel added, "Please don't hate me after I say this, okay?"
"Of course not!" Buneary giggled. "Go on ahead; I won't judge you."
"Well...I...I've had a...crush on you for a while, and I..." Sneasel's throat clenched and she was unable to go on. Images of how Buneary was going to react rocketed through her mind – violence or yelling or absolute silence – but despite her terror, she glanced at the other Pokémon. For some reason, Buneary was still smiling.
"I think I knew that, Sneasel."
Did that mean...?
"And I think...you should just forget about it."
That reaction caught Sneasel off-guard and her head snapped up to look at Buneary.
"Wha...what do you...?"
"Look, Sneasel, we're totally different. It would never work out. So you should just forget about your crush on me."
Sneasel blinked furiously against the tears that were beginning to form in her eyes and she shook her head. "I don't get it. How does that make any sense?! I can't just pretend that I never liked you! And you can't know that it won't work out!"
Buneary's cruelly happy expression remained as she went on, "I've decided that Medicham, Kirlia, and I are going to be Team Charm together, and I'm gonna travel all over the world with them. I wouldn't see you at all!"
Sneasel gritted her teeth and her fists clenched without her realizing. "You just rejected me, and now you're telling me that you're excluding me from the team that we formed together when we were kids?! What's wrong with you? When did you get to be like this?!" She tore off her bedcovers and leapt off the bed with hot, angry tears running down her face.
"I'm sorry. I know how you feel, but – "
"Shut up! You can't know how I feel! You're still smiling like some sort of slap-happy idiot!"
"That's because I don't like to feel upset. I just keep smiling instead."
Sneasel jabbed a claw at her furiously. "You're just a pretender! How long can you pretend to be happy, even when you're not?! You can't tell me that you told me all of this while feeling cheerful inside!" Her arm began to shake and she retracted it slowly. "Because the Buneary I knew wouldn't do that. She would express what she felt."
Buneary's smile hardly faltered. "Those days are gone. I'm not going to let anything get me down anymore! I need to smile no matter what!"
Shaking her head in disbelief, Sneasel opened the window between their beds and began to climb out.
"Wait, where are you going?"
Sneasel glanced back slightly and whispered, "I'm going back to my real friends. I'm going to make my own exploration team with them. Buneary, do this one last thing for me." She stood up in the window sill, from where she could see the meadow and the forest beyond that. "The next time you have to force yourself to smile, ask yourself if you're really happy."
Without waiting for a response, Sneasel leapt from the window and took off running. She heard Buneary call out after her, but she was done with her. The Buneary that she had fallen for was gone, thanks to Kirlia and Medicham.
Sneasel's eyes narrowed when she thought of Buneary's new friends. She hated them both. Someday, she would make them pay for what they did. Then she'd see if Buneary kept smiling.
"Ssso, you three aren't going to run like the ressst of them? You all think you're ssso fearlessss?"
"Or is it that you admire us? Would you ladies like to ally with us?"
Weavile narrowed her eyes and folded her arms. Team AWD, a name she modelled after Team ACT, a great rescue team from some years back, had reached Boulder Quarry in the late afternoon. They had come when they heard about legends of an indescribably valuable treasure hidden within the mystery dungeon, and had been greeted at the entrance by the sight of a few wimpy explorers who ran off right away, as well as three who stood their ground in front of them. Arbok and Drapion flanked Weavile like oversized body guards. They certainly looked the part, though she definitely didn't need the two of them defending her. Without a doubt, Arbok recognized one of the three women who were confronting them – Medicham; it was clear from the hateful and venomous look he was giving her.
Weavile recognized not only her, but the two others who stood beside her. It had been many years, and they had both evolved, but the Gardevoir and Lopunny were definitely the Kirlia and Buneary she used to know.
"Us, like to ally with you?" Gardevoir asked, chuckling. "Hardly! After we heard about your nasty reputation?"
"We're not scared of you," added Lopunny, "nor do we admire you in the slightest. Team Charm would never lower themselves to your level of scum!"
That infuriating smile was on Lopunny's face. Weavile just wanted to tear it right off with her claws, but Arbok and Drapion were furious enough as it was.
"How dare you?!" spat Arbok angrily. "And after we were ssso kind and open to you!"
"How about we teach 'em a lesson they won't forget?" Drapion suggested, scuttling in to attack. Arbok joined him, but they were easily thrown back with a well-placed Psychic attack from Gardevoir.
"Well, that was easy!" she giggled. "Who would have thought you're really so weak?"
Weavile sighed, glancing back at her companions to make sure they weren't too injured to get up again. She loved them both dearly, but they were too rash sometimes.
"Bossss, whaddaya sssay we fight them?!" Arbok hissed, rattling his tail.
"Yeah!" agreed Drapion. "The three of us can take 'em out, no problem!"
"Hold it!" Weavile snapped, holding up a paw. She walked forwards, causing both Medicham and Gardevoir to bristle in anticipation. However, Lopunny continued to smile brightly. Weavile brushed past her and stopped a metre behind her.
"You...you've made an enemy of Team AWD," she growled softly. The words cut her like thorns, but she knew that they likely didn't even register in Lopunny's mind. That was what stung most of all. Despite the cruel rejection, Weavile was never fully able to forget her emotions for her, nor would she ever. A part of her still longed for Lopunny's love.
"And..." Tears gathered in her eyes and she blinked them away. "You won't regret it, will you?"
Lopunny giggled and replied, glancing back briefly, "Not at all!"
Clenching her teeth, Weavile whispered, "Those words... We won't forget them." She raised her voice and called out, "Arbok! Drapion! Let's get going!" then walked on into the entrance of Boulder Quarry. Her teammates jeered at Team Charm behind her before racing ahead to join her by her side.
"The rudenessss of those three!" Arbok spat. "They've only gotten worssse!"
"My lady Weavile, when we next see them, shall we – are you alright, my lady?"
Weavile snarled at him, "I'm fine! I just got some sand in my eyes, that's all!" He gave her a sympathetic look and laid a claw on her shoulder.
"I know, my lady," he sighed, giving her a weak smile. Resting his tail-tip on Weavile's other shoulder, Arbok nodded at her.
"We get it," he told her gently. Weavile smiled back at them, then went on ahead.
"Keep up, you two, or they'll beat us to the treasure!" she yelled cheerfully. The two were forced to speed up to catch up to her but they did so enthusiastically. Weavile didn't know about Lopunny, but her own smiles were all real. Was Lopunny still denying her emotions in favour of pretend happiness? Did she love her friends as much as Weavile did hers? Did she even care about Weavile anymore?
Did she ever regret what she said on the last night of their friendship?