Author's Note:
Hello to all, this is my first public fanfiction so please feel free to give me advice or point out any errors in the story. I've had this story for a while about halfway complete so I figured I may as well share it. As you might imagine, it takes place in a world similar to the Pokemon Mystery Dungeon series. I won't have a fixed upload schedule so it may be updated randomly. I welcome reviews and I thank you for reading! Enjoy! -Frostimyst
My name is Weavile, and just as my name suggests I'm a Weavile. A female adult Weavile who works as a mercenary, hunting down marks for pay. I live in the forest near a small town called Halfway Town, a play on the fact that the town sits halfway in the middle of nowhere. Well, more like it sits exactly in the middle of the Matte region, the counterpart region to the Auren region. There are of course many benefits to being in the middle of nowhere, such as the beautiful scenery and the large amount of wild berries. But, there are many of drawbacks which don't make it the place for everybody: There are many of renegades and outlaws who take refuge in the wilds and caves.
There's a darkness that not all Pokemon can stomach or thrive in, which you wouldn't expect having been introduced to the hearty town of Halfway Town. The darkness of Halfway Town is what brought me to live there, as there had to be a light to illuminate the darkness… I know, it sounds cheesy, but this Weavile has a sense of honour which isn't shared by many nowadays. Nothing unusual about that, no? Unless you consider a bipedal weasel with retractable clawed paws and a feathered headdress unusual, but in the Pokemon world, almost nothing could be considered unusual. Well, almost nothing, as later that day I'd discover. This is my story, and I welcome you to it.
It all started when I was in the middle of a hunt. I was in pursuit of a thief named Mightyena who had stolen from a local Kecleon merchant; the latter whom quickly posted a bounty on the former's head. I, of course, took the job. This led me to a chase through the Shady Forest, a large wooded area that many rogues and renegades took refuge in surrounding Halfway Town.
Mercenaries are Pokemon who work independently or with a guild and team primarily to capture outlaws for reward. I happen to work independently, as I've always worked better without other Pokemon to slow me down or sway my decisions. However, I often find myself out of work because I work primarily for the residents of Halfway Town. The advantage to a guild is that there's never a shortage of requests to take on, however the guild takes a cut of the reward following a job. Regardless of my choices, I was on a request and had an outlaw to capture.
I panted, pushing myself to run faster after the dark lupine Pokemon who ran just out of my reach. "Getting tired, hunter?" He growled back at me mockingly. "Not tired enough that I couldn't catch you, thief." I growled back, baring my canines. Quickly I was realizing I had to end this game soon, as we were reaching the edge of the forest. I wouldn't be able to outrun Mightyena on the open plain, and my energy was reaching its end. Then, I got an idea. Lithely I jumped onto the bark of a tree, propelling myself off of it to quickly cover ground. With a snarl Mightyena realized what I was doing, twisting to react to my actions. My eyes flashed, "Gotcha." I whispered and did a front flip in the air, bringing my scythe-like claws down his back; finishing with a graceful landing in front of him. The results of my trick had left large, debilitating gashes down the length of his back, the kind that would quickly cause blood loss. As I landed, my paw went to the pouch at my waist to retrieve my Mercenary Badge to send the wounded outlaw into custody.
…And that was when, out of nowhere, a large 'CRASH!' sounded out from behind me, sending up a cloud of dust. Quickly I covered my eyes from the stinging cloud. "Not today, Weavile!" Mightyena's barking laughter sounded from somewhere in the dust, and when I was able to see again he was gone. "Damnit." I cursed, turning to investigate the cause of the dust. My eyes widened in shock, as a wounded Gengar lay in the middle of a small impact crater. Gengar was a ghostly humanoid Pokemon with red eyes and a small tail. "Hey, are you okay?" I shouted in alarm, running to the prone Pokemon's side. There was no response, so I quickly assessed the damage. The Gengar's body was covered in large gashes, slowly leaking blue light; his life force. I lay a paw across his forehead, alarmed by what I discovered. His body was warm and very corporeal. Normally, Gengar tended to have a characteristic chilled body temperature. He was in need of immediate medical attention or he wouldn't make it.
Making up my mind in an instant, I decided to abandon the hunt and bring the Gengar back to my home. Carefully I picked up the wounded Pokemon, and began to run as fast as I could to my cave near Halfway Town. "Hang in there, we're not too far." I whispered to his still form, praying to Arceus he'd make it. I couldn't stand to watch another injured innocent die in front of me.
Fortunately, the rise and fall of his chest clued me in that he'd made it the entire trip, as I opened the door and stepped into the vestibule of my cave. The cave was perfect for my line of work, a luxury even. It had a large opening where Pokemon could wait to see me, or leave requests for work. A bulletin board was left there just for that purpose. This cave led to another, with multiple empty rooms. One of these rooms, I'd set up to be my bedroom. And, the best part was the middle room. This one contained a hidden passage outside through an underground river in case I was in trouble. Fortunately I'd never had to use it, but the option was always there.
I headed straight for my room, laying the Gengar down on the pile of dry straw that was my bed. A quick trip back into my storage room yielded some strips of cloth and some medicinal herbs. Laying the materials at the bedside and began to prepare the herbs, placing them on the wounds and then covering them with the cloth, dressing them and cutting off the stem of blue light.
It had taken a few hours, but I'd finally got all of the Gengar's wounds treated. With an exhausted sigh, I slumped against the wall nearby and examined my work. He almost looked harmless, hurt the way he was. But I knew better than to underestimate him, as he was a Gengar; Gengar were known for being powerful ghosts who ate dreams of Pokemon they came across for sustenance. This gave them a bad reputation, and often drove them away from living with other Pokemon. But… there was something about this Gengar that struck me as unusual. I couldn't quite put my paw on it, but for some reason he… wasn't scary. In my line of work, it definitely wasn't a good idea to make assumptions, but somehow I knew there was nothing to fear. So, settling down exactly where I was, I fell asleep.
I was surprised when I woke up that I was still alive. "Ugh…" I groaned, sitting up and rubbing my eyes. To my surprise, I was indoors in what appeared to be a cave. But, I had no idea how I'd gotten here. Everything hurt, I noted, and I saw that somehow my wounds were bandaged. 'What… could have done that? Why would a Pokemon help me?' I let out a sigh, and stood up, looking around the room. Then, I laid eyes upon who I assumed was my rescuer. A Weavile lay asleep, curled up on the ground near the wall. 'Maybe…' I thought, creeping slowly towards the Weavile and examining her. It had crossed my mind that I might eat her dream and leave. But… It wasn't a choice I hoped I'd ever have to make, and maybe this was the fresh start I needed. Resigned, I lay back down and decided to let my choice wait until the morning.
I yawned and rubbed my eyes, ready to greet the day. Beside me I noticed the Gengar had begun to stir. That reminded me, the absence of a telltale migraine that would've suggested my dreams being eaten told me that I was likely safe with this Gengar; I knew that there was something different about him as he could've easily eaten my dreams to recover and escaped in the night. "Good morning." I told the dazed looking Gengar, standing up and extending a paw. "My name is Weavile, I treated your wounds." I introduced myself. His gaze shifted from me, to my paw. "Hmph." He humphed and turned away from me, crossing his arms. "Well you're a pleasant one aren't you." I rolled my eyes, somehow I expected better. "You shouldn't have helped me." He said simply, not moving from position. "And why, may I ask, not? I wouldn't leave a Pokemon in need out to fend for themselves in the forest. You wouldn't have made it if I left you." I argued, frustrated with the unusual ghost. "It's none of your business." He retorted, and his posture told me he wouldn't say any more about it.
"Fine. I'm going to get breakfast, what kinds of berries do you like?" I asked, straightening and extending my claws. "Didn't you hear me the first time? You shouldn't be helping me." He reminded me, as if I'd listen this time. "Look, I'm getting breakfast whether you tell me or not, but I figure at least I can get you something you'll enjoy over something I pick." I crossed my arms in frustration. "...Sitrus." He answered me, finally. I nodded, "I'll be back soon, wait for me here. If you leave, I'm just going to find you and bring you back." I explained cheerfully, ducking out the door before his sarcastic response.
...Of course he'd picked the only berries that couldn't be found naturally in the Shady Forest. But, I was determined to show him that I was trustworthy, so I was going to come back with Sitrus Berries if it killed me. 'How am I going to get Sitrus Berries?' I thought to myself, then realized there may be an easy solution to this. I opened the pouch at my waist, and tipped it into my palm. 1000 Poke fell into my paw, jingling gently as the coins clinked together. "Hmm, I could buy some Sitrus with this..." I contemplated the idea then nodded to myself. I'd head to Halfway Town and see if the Kecleon Merchants had any Sitrus berries in stock.
I sighed, it was getting boring sitting and waiting for the Weavile. One part of me wanted to just flat out leave, ignoring her warning. But the other realized that I wouldn't get anywhere alone... yet, maybe it was better if I just died. I didn't deserve to live, and I certainly wasn't in the mood for living. A bit ironic for a ghost, I know. Raising a hand, I tried my best to summon shadow. But all that appeared was will-o-wisps, I was weak. But, I wouldn't feast on the dreams that would restore my power. It was an endless cycle of frustration. I decided that rather than mope, I'd explore and try to find something to alleviate my boredom. My eyes scanned the room until they fell upon a worn looking book.
Sneakily, I got up and walked to the book, picking it up before making a dramatic dive back to bed. I opened the book before my eyes widened in delight. It was the Weavile's diary! I grinned wickedly, reading the pages with no remorse. 'Why write a book that isn't meant to be read?' I thought to myself. I gasped in horror at the realization: her diary contained a large amount of her self-report as work of a mercenary. That would mean... "I have to leave." I told myself, walking to the door and turning the handle. But I stopped halfway, 'She would come through on her threat if I left...' Sighing, I resigned myself to lying back in bed and reading the rest of her diary.
When I reached Halfway Town I was greeted warmly by the residents, who stopped their work to wave and say 'Good morning!'. Many of them I'd taken jobs to protect them from outlaws, retrieve their belongings, or save their lost friends. For that reason, they were always happy to see me. "Good morning!" I greeted them back, heading towards the Kecleon Mart. Before I ran into Dragonite, that is. "Dragonite!" I shouted, running towards him. I was very happy to see him, he was one of the few friends I had; and a powerful Pokemon who assisted with my mercenary work. Unlike me, he was well renowned for his work to help any and all Pokemon in need. Needless to say, I idolized him. "Weavile!" He shouted back, raising a hand and flying towards me with his tiny draconic wings. "High!" I shouted, jumping and giving him a high five. "Low!" He shouted back, and we gave each other a low-five. "Go slow!" I rhymed, and we did a slow motion high five. "Freestyle!" We shouted in unison, doing a silly dance. There were some stares, but we ignored them. We'd been friends forever and the Pokemon of Halfway Town knew it.
"Haha, good to see you Weavile! How has your work been going? What brings you to Halfway?" Dragonite asked me with a smile. "It's been going okay, I lost a mark the other day but I'm sure they'll turn up again. Oh yeah, and I..." I was about to tell Dragonite about the Gengar, but I realized that it probably wasn't a good idea due to the stigma that Gengar's carried. He may not approve of my choice to take in the Gengar. "And you...?" He prompted, confused. "Oh, yeah! I'm here to buy Sitrus Berries." I announced proudly, extending my paw with the 1000 Poke. "Big spender, huh?" He snickered. 1000 Poke wasn't very much in the long run, but it was enough for a few Sitrus Berries. "You know it!" I smiled and put my 1000 Poke back in my pouch. "Well, what if I told you I had some Sitrus Berries? I've been called out on a job from the guild for the last few days and it was to the coast, so I was able to stock up on Sitrus." He explained.
Dragonite was a mercenary like me, but unlike me he worked for a guild. Often times guilds would employ 'Rescue Teams' to take on missions like we do, but Pokemon who travel alone took up the name 'Mercenaries'. Personally, I just took the local jobs and on rare occasions, I might receive a mission from Dragonite or guilds from different regions to take up a tougher task. I was beginning to gain a reputation so these kinds of missions were beginning to appear more and more.
"Oh! Dragonite, I couldn't. But thank you, I can just go to the Kecleon Mart and buy some. Sitrus are rare here, after all." I explained, walking past him toward the Kecleon Mart. "Oh, no! I insist; I get shipments from the guild on occasion too. You know they have healing properties, right? They're good to keep on hand." He blocked me with an arm, turning and putting numerous Sitrus Berries into my paws. "Well, thanks Dragonite! I'll be sure to take them with me on my jobs." I thanked him, putting them in my pouch. "You're welcome! Don't be a stranger; we miss you here at Halfway!" He waved and we continued on our way. I decided I'd still visit the Kecleon Mart, just in case I ran into something I wanted to buy.
"Ahh, Weavile! Welcome!" Kecleon greeted me from behind the counter. "Hello Kecleon, unfortunately I have bad news regarding your request. Mightyena got away, something came up and I had to let them go. It was life or death, I'm very sorry. I'll work on tracking Mightyena down again as soon as possible." I apologized profusely. "Oh don't worry about it~ you can work on my request whenever you're able. Until then, are you here to buy?" He asked hopefully. I smiled. "Why yes, I am. I have 1000 Poke, do you have any recommendations?" I asked, revealing the 1000 Poke. Kecleon's eyes lit up at the sight of the Poke, and quickly he dove beneath the counter, resurfacing with a strange shiny stone and a carton of berries. "This is a Flash Orb, if you break it; it lets out a blinding flash! Maybe you'll find it useful hunting for outlaws." He explained, and then moved to the berries. "Assorted local berries, including Oran, Cheri, Pecha, Persim, Lum, Kelpsy, and Maranga." He pointed out the berries. "1000 Poke." He concluded, waiting for a response. "I'll take it!" I affirmed, handing him the 1000 Poke.