1: The Picky Customer
Our story begins in a jewelry store in a rough urban part of town. The clerk there is a 20 year-old hot-headed, bowtie-wearing Karrablast. It was actually a nice sunny day outside, because it would always be cloudy or rainy there. It was their first sunny day in a long while, but the Karrablast didn't seem to notice. He was too grumpy and too busy cleaning up his countertop to even care about it; in fact, he was always grumpy and somewhat cold-hearted for his own reasons He was never like this, until a particular day changed his life, but that will be revealed later.
As he was getting into the too usual rhythm of cleaning in a circular motion, something happened that doesn't really happen anymore: the door opened – a customer came in. It was a humble little Foongus with curious eyes immediately wandering around the room filled with some precious gems of every color imaginable. The Foongus was somewhat excited and couldn't wait to get started to look for the perfect gift. As he approached the front desk to ask the employee for assistance, the busy Karrablast didn't bother looking up at him; he has lost his sense of friendly customer service over time. The Foongus noticed this, and then noticed a little silver desk bell on the countertop and dinged it, hopefully to get his attention. The Karrablast then sighed heavily, looked up from his center of attention to give a quick look at the patient – yet anxious – customer, looked back down again and muttered, "Can I help you?" The Foongus, who waited for this reply, eagerly answered, "Yes. I would like to see what kind of necklaces you have in stock. You see, my first anniversary is coming up, and my wife is very picky when it comes to gifts… well anything, actually. *Chuckle* Anyways, can you –"
"Have a look around and see what you like," the Karrablast interrupted as he waved his arm across the room without looking up once. The Foongus blinked and wanted to continue the talk, but he then considered looking around first and did so. The Karrablast didn't bother asking him what exactly does he have in mind, but he assumed that he would find it, pay it, and leave him alone, just like everyone else has, ever since that day…
The Foongus came back about five minutes later and said, "Do you have any other selections? These simply won't please her." The Karrablast then made eye contact with a straight look and without saying anything. Then he got off of his chair to retrieve a dusty catalog from the bookshelf behind him. He opened up to the necklaces section and handed it to the Foongus. Then he got back up on his chair and resumed his cleaning. With a little more hope, the Foongus skimmed through to see if his ideal gift was there. He had a sort of worried look on his face until he came across a horizontally cut out newspaper article neatly folded in half between the pages. Curiously, he unfolded it carefully and read it. It said:
"Jewelry Store Robbed and Burned!"
The heading seemed to be screaming it out with its big bold letters. He was a bit shocked and continued to read some more. It talked about how an infamous Krookodile known as "Gold Rush" ruined a little jewelry store's reputation of prosperity and how it affected the only clerk who worked there. Since that day, no one checked up on him or even went inside his store, and this all happened about a year ago. The Foongus was so shocked and figured out that he was in the store that the article talked about, where this horrible thing happened.
The Karrablast looked over to see what was taking the Foongus so long to decide and then saw the article in his hands. With sudden alarm, he got down from his chair and rushed over next to the customer. "Don't read that!" he plead, trying to take the article away from his hands. The Foongus refused, but the Karrablast managed to take it away and began to walk back behind the counter. Then the Foongus asked quietly, "Did this really happen?" The Karrablast then stopped and hesitated before answering. He sighed and finally answered. "It was a long time ago. I was barely taking over the family business as my parents left to take a vacation. I was doing pretty good the first week, until I got a phone call from someone telling me that my parents died in a cruise line crash. I thought it was a joke; it had to be. But they never came back. But like my dad always said: 'Life goes on.' So I carried on.
"Despite that terrible incident, I was earning good money and had customers going in and out of my store. Then it all went away when that Krookodile did what he did. He stole the most valuable of the gems I have and then burned the store. It happened in the middle of the night, and it was when I realized I forgot to lock up. He must've been waiting for that moment for a while, and now he got it. Luckily when the fire was put off, there were some things that I was able to save. But the next day, for some reason, nobody hasn't come in here for anything; they just began avoiding my store, even my best customers. I plead for their help, but they always turned me down. I guess they just didn't trust my store anymore. I lost friends, and very few people come in here. It felt like something snapped inside me, and I became this cold Pokémon, and thought of trusting no one. It's been like that ever since…"
The Foongus felt bad that those things have happened to him. Poor guy! The Karrablast then drifted his sad gaze onto the big window facing the rest of the town, remembering everything as if it happened yesterday. The thought alone always tugged his heartstrings. He didn't know why he told a complete stranger all of this, but it sure felt good letting go and finally telling someone about it. He felt somewhat lighter, but his sadness weighed him down a bit still.
The Foongus, who didn't know how exactly to respond to the Karrablast's story, tried to assure him. "Well, not everyone is bad. There's still good people in this world." The Foongus smiled at the Karrablast, even though he still had his back turned to him. "…Like me," he continued. The Karrablast still didn't say anything and continued his quiet mourning as he continually stared at the window. Then the Foongus extended his arm out. "My name is John, by the way," he said.
The Karrablast then turned around to face him with his sad gaze. He looked at his hand, and deduced that he was doing it out of good intentions. Then he took his hand and shook it. "I'm Philip," he said, without smiling, but with a small change in his eyes. John half-smiled at him and then resumed browsing the catalog. Philip then was about to sit down when he realized something. Maybe this guy isn't as bad as he says he is, he thought. He hasn't talked to anyone else in a long time until he came along, and he seemed like a nice Pokémon. He thought that he should help him out and try out that friendly customer service thing again. Philip walked back again towards John and stopped him. "You know what?" he said, no longer with such a gloomy face. "Let me show you what I have in the back room instead. There's not a lot of stuff there, but they're pretty decent."
John was surprised at the change of the Karrablast's attitude, but he agreed nonetheless as he returned the catalog. Philip then tucked in the article back where it originally was, and signaled the Foongus to follow him. The two little Pokémon proceeded to the back room. When they got there, the room was lit by a dim light bulb hanging low from the ceiling. It was cold in there, and felt somewhat eerie. There were rows of shelves that used to hold countless items, but now it makes up for it by collecting dust instead; they're not used a lot anymore.
They walked up to the end of the fifth row, where there were three necklaces. They were all different in style, but were precious in their own way. One had blue gems, the other had red ones, and the last one had silver ones. The Karrablast then asked, "So, uh, how long have you been married?" The Foongus, who didn't mind the sudden question at all, took out a small leather wallet and revealed a picture of him and a happy little Petilil side by side smiling at the camera. "Her name is Delilah," the Foongus said proudly. "We are going to be married for a year now. I know it's not a lot, but I'm certain we'll spend all of our years together forever." He blushed a little at the thought. They were both looking at the picture for a while. "Well… congrats," said the Karrablast. "You must be very lucky." "Why, yes I am!" the Foongus chimed, almost in sing-song. The Karrablast studied the picture some more. "She'll like the blue one," he said.
"…How do you know?"
"The color complements her face, especially her eyes. Trust me; she'll love it." The Karrablast forgot that he had his "businessman charisma" still flowing through his blood. He's happy that he didn't lose that.
The Foongus was amazed at how well the Karrablast knows the likes of people. "Wow, you must really know what the ladies want, huh? *Chuckle*" he said playfully, trying to break the ice a little. The Karrablast, who was now getting comfortable with the Foongus's presence, replied, "Well, I don't mean to brag but, yes. Yes I do."
"You must be a ladies' man, right?"
"…No… *Awkward Chuckle*"
"Well it seems like you are, man!"
"No, honestly. Love hasn't given me a chance."
"Yet! I'm sure you'll find the gal of your dreams soon. I mean, you're a great guy! I'm sure that day will come anytime soon!"
"…You think so?"
" I know so!"
The Karrablast thought it was a bit awkward talking about his love life. But it felt good talking to someone other than himself for once. As they continued to talk some more, they got to know each other and became good friends. The Foongus was the Karrablast's first true friend he ever had. The sunny weather did make a difference this time after all.
When the Foongus was ready to go, he asked, "So how much will it be?" The Karrablast, now in a lighter and happier mood, replied, "Oh no! It's free! I insist!"
"Oh, but I want to pay for it!"
"It's okay, really! It's my anniversary gift to you!"
"Thank you, but let me pay at least something!"
"Well, if you insist… it will be 550 Poké please."
The Foongus happily paid up and the Karrablast was thankful for getting paid a good amount of money by a good friend. They have promised to keep in touch and the Foongus left, leaving the Karrablast with his loneliness once again. But this time, Philip didn't feel anything negative; he felt relieved, like if a friend was the one thing he needed to free himself. He wished moments like this could happen all the time.