Thank you for all the reviews on the first chapter! I'm going to try and get these up every Monday, so I'll be trying my best to keep a consistent schedule, and I hope y'all will enjoy what I have in store!


Chapter 2: Welcome to Greenhorne

Takumi had joined Alissa and Robin on the way back to their village. It was an open forest path that tended to go downhill, and was surrounded by lush vegetation. Sunlight pierced through the large trees and created spots of lighting on the ground. While the group was still traveling, Takumi looked at the sea lion next to him, like he wanted to say something to her.

"Hey, Alissa?" he said, with the Popplio looking at him in response. "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure, what is it?" Alissa replied.

"Could you please not tell anyone that I'm human?" the Litten asked.

"But why? I think it's cool," Alissa said with a look of confusion.

"I know you do, but... I don't think many will share that opinion." Takumi started, "They'll probably think I'm lying, or trying to trick them... or something like that."

"Or they'll think you're insane," Robin snarked.

"R-Right..." Takumi tensed at the idea, before looking back at Alissa. "Anyway, can you do that for me?"

The Popplio nodded. "Okay, I understand. My lips are sealed!" she said with a smile.

"Thanks," Takumi smiled back at the sea lion. After that, he looked ahead, finding that the path of trees began to clear ahead.

"I think that's the exit right there! Come on!" Alissa called out as she increased her pace, breaking away from the group. The other two began to follow, then the sea lion stopped and turned around after she exited the forest. As Takumi made his way out, he saw what appeared to be buildings not too far off.

"Takumi, welcome to our home: Greenhorne Village!" the Popplio announced excitedly as they all entered the area.

The village was situated in an open grassy area not far from the ocean, as he was able to see the shore from where he was standing. There were four small houses of wood and straw on the right, one to the left facing north, and a sixth on the opposite side. He could also see some Pokémon moving around, going about their own business, although he couldn't make out what any of them were from that distance.

A village of only Pokémon... I didn't know something like this existed! he thought, trying to contain his excitement as he looked around.

"Pretty cool, huh?" Alissa said proudly, and Takumi nodded in response. "Come on, our house is this way!" she added, pointing at the building in the back, before beginning to move again. Takumi and Robin followed her until they were all standing at the door. Alissa then stood up on her hind flippers, and turned the knob on the door, causing it to open. She walked in, with the others in tow. After they all walked in, Robin closed the door behind them.

"Hey, we're home!" the Popplio announced loudly. However, there was no reply. "Hello?" she called again, still hearing nothing.

"...Is nobody home?" Takumi asked.

"I doubt that, dad is probably just sleeping again," Robin replied with tinges of annoyance in his voice.

The Litten tilted his head to the side in confusion. "In the middle of the day?"

"...Yes," the Rowlet said with a sigh, acting as if this was normal. He and Alissa walked towards the leftmost of the two passageways that were in the house. Takumi looked around and noticed just how small the house was.

There was not much aside from a fairly sized cabinet to the right, and the aforementioned passageways to the other rooms. The floor and walls were made up of simple wooden planks that at least appeared to be well made. There was also a window on the back wall, which allowed light to pass through. Looking above him, he noticed a roof of straw.

"Oh, come on. Again?" his attention shifted upon hearing the quiet yet annoyed voice of Robin from the left room. He walked in, and found two rather large beds of straw. The one of the right was unoccupied, while he found a Toucannon sleeping on the other side. He was sprawled out on his right side with his left wing stretched out, and was snoring loudly.

That does not look comfortable, Takumi mused as he saw the toucan's rather awkward sleeping position. Then suddenly, he heard the loud voice of Alissa.

"Hey, wake up!" she shouted, her voice resounding through the room. The Toucannon's dark blue eyes shot open, and he reacted with a jolt.

"Wha-?" he blurted out, before getting up clumsily and turning to find the three looking at him. "Oh, it's you two," he said groggily, not noticing Takumi for some reason.

"This is Shouta, our pops," Alissa stated, pointing at the avian with her right foreflipper.

"Why must you wake me up at this hour?" he said with an agitated undertone, before finally noticing the Litten in the room. "Wait, who is that?"

"Oh, that's who I wanted to talk to you about!" Alissa started, "I made a new friend today!" the Popplio added as she then used her foreflippers to push a surprised Takumi towards the Toucannon until they were right in front of each other. "Come on, say hi!" she directed as the Litten looked up at Shouta with a nervous expression.

"...Well?" Shouta said sternly. Takumi whimpered, intimidated by the Toucannon.

"M-My name i-is T-Takumi," the Litten stammered, sweating nervously.

"...I tried to stop her, Dad. But you know the way she is..." Robin interjected, looking frustrated.

"It's fine, I am very aware," he replied before looking over at Alissa. "Where did you meet him?"

"Oh, I ran into him in the forest. We talked for a while, and I found he was hu-" she started, cutting herself off when she realized what she said. Takumi flinched upon hearing it, and Shouta looked at him with suspicion. "I-I found he was really cool, I mean!" she tried to cover up her error. "Wow, where did that come from?" she finished, rubbing her head and grinning awkwardly.

Shouta then looked back at the Litten, glaring at him. Takumi could feel the Toucannon's gaze piercing through him. He tried to hide the fear he felt, although he couldn't keep his legs from quivering.

The avian's face suddenly dulled. "Alright, that's good enough for me," Shouta suddenly sounded very calm and casual, which likely shocked Takumi even more. "Now leave me alone so I can sleep in peace," he finished before returning to his earlier sleeping position.

"But it's not even evening yet-" Robin tried to stop Shouta, but then he heard snoring almost immediately after. The Rowlet simply pressed a wing to his face and sighed in frustration. Takumi then awkwardly looked back at the two, looking very bewildered.

"...What just happened?"

As the group exited and returned to the main room, Takumi saw that Alissa appeared troubled.

"Sorry, Takumi... I almost let it slip!" the Popplio apologized before he could even say anything. He noticed that she had a look of pure guilt on her face, an emotion he hadn't seen her show before. It was very clear that she was genuinely upset over her mistake. "That could've messed up everything..." she lowered her head in shame.

Takumi was taken aback by her sudden change of emotion. Whoa, w-what's with the mood swing? After taking a moment to process, he gave a comforting smile. "It's okay. It was an honest mistake, right?" A surprised Alissa lifted her head back up to look at him. "And besides, you caught yourself before you said it, anyway."

Upon hearing those words, the Popplio returned to her usual cheery self. "You're totally right... thanks, you're really nice!" she said with a big smile. "Come on, let's go to my room!" she added, motioning towards the rightmost passageway and then taking off in that direction.

"That's my room too, you know," Robin quipped as he saw the two enter the room. He did not immediately follow them however, instead staying behind briefly, wrapped in thought.

I can't keep my eyes off of him. He may seem alright now, but it's still too soon to trust him, he mused, before also making his way toward the room.

The room had two straw beds in the center, these being smaller than the ones in the other bedroom. Alissa was already laying down on the rightside bed. Takumi looked at the other bed, then turned back to Alissa with a look of uncertainty. The Popplio then tapped on the bed with her right foreflipper, motioning that it was fine to get on it. The Litten then nodded and sat down on the bed. Meanwhile, Robin walked in and decided to sit in the corner in the back that was closest to Alissa.

"Okay, I can't hold this in any longer!" Alissa started, standing back up. "I want to ask you something, Takumi."

"What is it?" Takumi responded.

The Popplio took a deep breath, and then began to speak. A lot. "What are humans like? What do they do? Where do they live? Do they like to play, too? What kind of games do they like? Are they really big? Do they lay eggs? Do they like circus acts? Please tell me they like circus acts." Within seconds, Takumi was bombarded several questions, far too many for him to process in such a short amount of time.

"Whoa whoa whoa, slow down! I-I can't answer all of those!" Takumi faltered, panicking from the wall of questions he was given. "C-Could you just start with one?" he added, trying to calm himself.

"Okay," Alissa answered. Takumi breathed a sigh of relief, and then the Popplio started up again. "What do humans look like?"

"Okay, let me think for a moment..." the Litten responded. He pressed his left forepaw up against his snout as he tried to think of the words to use. A few moments later, he put his foreleg back down and began his explanation.

"Umm... I'll start by saying humans are bipedal. Their bodies are proportioned like, umm... I'd say like a Hitmonchan, or a Gardevoir, or something like that. They have hair on their heads, and their skin comes in a few color variations, typically in shades of white, tan, or brown. Oh, and they wear clothes."

In response to the last sentence, Alissa cocked her head to the side. "Eh? 'clothes'? What's that?" she asked, confused.

...Maybe I should've left that one out, he thought, realizing he probably shouldn't have mentioned something that likely didn't exist in the Pokémon world. Not in the way he was thinking of, anyway. "Uhh... It's something humans make with fabric. It's supposed to keep them warm," he tried to clarify.

"Ohh, I think I get it now," the sea lion responded.

"Okay, getting back on track now..." Takumi resumed his explanation.

"...Most humans look different from each other. The colors of their eyes, hair, and skin usually differs from person to person. Their builds can vary a lot as well. One could be very bulky and strong, kind of like a Machoke, and another could be the opposite of that, being more flimsy and small. One person could be short, and another could be very tall."

Finally finishing, he sighed. "...Was that a good explanation?" the cat asked. Alissa didn't answer, however. She had her right foreflipper up against her cheek, looking like she was imagining something. A few moments later, she started giggling.

"Humans look really funny!" she said, trying not to break into laughter. Takumi looked somewhat surprised and confused, wondering just what was going through the Popplio's mind.

"I-I see..." Takumi uttered, sweatdropping. Meanwhile, Robin quietly watched the two.

What was all of that? He sure knows a lot of weird stuff... the Rowlet mused, perplexed. It all seems to come to him pretty easily. He knows this stuff too well for it to be a prank. He then looked over to the Litten, still distrusting. Takumi... just what are you thinking?

Takumi noticed that the owl was staring at him, but chose not to say anything. Instead, he turned back to Alissa, looking like he had something to say.

"Err, anyway..." he started, "Since I answered one of your questions, could you answer one of mine?"

"Okay, what is it?" Alissa replied, looking attentively at the Litten.

"Where are we, anyway? It's been on my mind for a while now," Takumi inquired.

"You're silly! Didn't I say we were in Greenhorne Village?" the Popplio answered cheerfully. "But if you want to hear more, I'd love to talk about it!"

"Uh-" Takumi tried to interject. What Alissa was about to say was probably not what he was looking for, but before he knew it, she had already started speaking.

"It's really peaceful here, because not a lot of Pokémon live in these parts. Everyone is really relaxed too, so I get to play around with everyone, and pretty much do whatever I want!" she sounded cheery and excited.

Suddenly, her face dampened. "...But, it kinda gets boring after a while. Nothing ever really happens here... I want to do something more exciting, you know? That's why I go explore in the forest a lot. I'd like to go beyond that, though."

"Umm... that's great, but-" Takumi tried to speak, but was interrupted.

"I don't think that's what he meant, Alissa," Robin cut in.

"Wait, really?" the sea lion said with surprise, "What do you mean, then?" she asked, turning back to Takumi.

"I-I meant this region. Or this part of the world, I mean," the Litten replied awkwardly.

"Ohh, that's completely different!" Alissa said in realization, before turning to the Rowlet next to her. "...Could you answer that? I'm not really good with those kinds of things."

Robin looked at her for a few moments, then sighed. "...Fine," he said halfheartedly, moving a bit closer to Takumi before sitting back down.

The Rowlet began his explanation. "...We're on Taiga Island, one of four main islands that make up the Shizen Region. The islands all have varying environments and demographics, so there's a large variety of Pokémon that live in this region. We get a lot of Pokémon moving here from other regions, as well. As for this island... Taiga is mainly forestland. It's also the smallest of the main islands, so we usually don't see many new visitors in these parts. The majority of the population is in Tasnica City to the north."

Takumi smiled gratefully. "T-Thanks, that helps a lot! To be honest, that was a lot more than what I was expecting," he added.

"Not a problem," Robin replied nonchalantly.

"Say, you seem know a lot about geography. Where did you learn all of that?" the cat asked, curious. Robin paused briefly before glaring at Takumi, making him feel rather uncomfortable.

"...You already asked your question," the Rowlet said coldly, the Litten's eyes widening upon remembering.

"Oh, r-right..."

"...Although it's nothing to get worked up about, so..." Robin added, sounding calmer. "...I learned it from my mother, that's all."

"Ah," Takumi responded. Not much later, a knocking sound was heard from outside the room. The Litten's right ear twitched, and he instinctively looked around him. Alissa then hopped up onto her flippers.

"Oh, oh! I'll get it!" she chirped, "You just relax and make yourself comfortable," she looked at Takumi, who nodded in response before the Popplio ran off. With Alissa out of the room, Robin walked up to Takumi.

Getting the cat's attention, he took the opportunity to say what was on his mind. "It seems that Alissa has taken a liking to you... but I'm going to make it very clear that I still don't trust you," the Rowlet's eyes narrowed. "You better not do anything to upset her."

"I won't, I promise," the Litten assured.

"Good. I'll be watching you," Robin replied coldly before exiting the room. Now alone, Takumi curled up on the bed.

As he settled in, he gave a relieved sigh. This is actually pretty comfy... things have been happening so fast today, I've barely had time to think. It's nice to finally relax a bit... he mused. I'm glad I ran into those two, they've been really nice... he smiled softly at the thought of Alissa and Robin. And they've helped a bunch. I'd probably still be lost in that forest if it weren't for them.

His smile soon faded as another thought crossed his mind. Oh, right... I need to learn more about my purpose here. I wonder if they know something that could help me? He couldn't continue his train of thought however, as a Rockruff suddenly charged into the room.

"HI!" he shouted excitedly, his tail wagging. The canine's sudden appearance made Takumi yelp in surprise and he scurried away into a corner. Alissa then hopped into the room, having followed the brown Pokémon. As she looked around, she saw Takumi in the corner, eyes wide and fur standing on end. The Popplio couldn't help but giggle at the sight.

"You can relax, silly! He's one of my friends!" she started, "Come on, say hi!"

Still nervous, Takumi looked at the canine. "Umm, h-hello. My name is T-Takumi," the Litten stuttered as he introduced himself.

"Hi, Takumi! I'm Roderick, but you can call me Ricky!" the Rockruff said excitedly. "You're the new kid that Alissa told me about, right?" he asked.

"Y-Yeah, I g-guess so..." Takumi answered, still uncomfortable.

"Well, come on then! Everyone's waiting!" Ricky said as he suddenly darted out of the room, leaving the cat confused by his words.

"E-Everyone?..."

"Oh, right! I forgot to tell you," Alissa said. "Ricky's mom is back, and everyone's gonna play together," she elaborated. "And you're welcome to join in if you want," she finished.

Takumi thought about the notion briefly, then nodded slowly. "Umm, a-alright."

Alissa smiled brightly at his response. "Okay! Come on, let's go!" she chirped as she ran out. Takumi followed suit, and they both left the house. Robin, who had been watching quietly in the main room, calmly followed them both.

Outside, Takumi saw that there was a group of Pokémon out in the open. Alissa had already caught up to them and was waving back at the Litten with her right foreflipper, motioning him to get over there. He increased his place slightly and joined the group.

As he looked around, he saw that aside from Alissa and Ricky, the group also contained a Poochyena and a Wurmple.

"Everyone, this is Takumi," Alissa said, pointing at the cat. Then, she introduced the other two to him. "Takumi, this is Cross and Viletta," she said, pointing at the Poochyena, then at the Wurmple.

"Nice to meet you!" the Viletta said. Takumi smiled and nodded.

"Hey," Cross said calmly. "I'm guessing you've met my brother?" he asked. Takumi was briefly surprised, but caught on quickly.

"He's... Your brother?" Takumi asked, pointing at Ricky.

"Yep," the Poochyena replied with a nod. "Surprising, right? I mean, we're nothing alike," he said jokingly.

"Oh come on, we have some things in common!" the Rockruff interjected.

Cross chuckled. "I know, I was joking."

"Now that we're done with introductions, let's get this started!" Alissa shouted in excitement, getting everyone's attention. She started to blow a bubble from her nose. Takumi's jaw dropped as the bubble grew to be just as large as the Popplio, if not larger. Then, the bubble dropped off and she used her hind flipper to jump on it.

The group watched in awe as she then balanced herself on top of the bubble with only her right foreflipper supporting her.

"How do you even do that?" Takumi asked.

"Practice, lots and lots of it," Alissa answered mid-balancing, not even fazed. "But that's not all I can do!" she chirped as she then moved around and stood on the bubble with her hind flippers. Then, she pushed off. The bubble compressed from the pressure, and popped just as the Popplio took off. She did a backflip in the air and touched down on the ground with her hind flippers, landing perfectly.

"Ta-daah!" she said, posing proudly.

"Woah..." Ricky said in amazement.

"She does this all the time, and yet she never fails to amaze me," Cross mumbled. "You know, you could totally be a performer with moves like those," he added, speaking up.

"Thank you all!" she said with a giggle, very much enjoying the moment. She then returned to her normal position, but continued her act. "And now, for my next act, I'll need... A volunteer!"

Ricky's eyes sparkled. "Ooh! Pick me, pick me!" he said, jumping wildly and wagging his tail. As this was going on, Robin had been watching silently. Deciding he had seen enough, he walked up to the house behind them, and used his wing to knock on the door. He waited patiently for a few moments before the door opened slightly and a brown and white canine peeked out the opening.

"Hey, Brock," Robin said calmly.

"Hello to you too, Robin. What's up?"

"I heard Tesla is back. Could I see her?" the Rowlet asked.

"Sure, come on in," the canine replied before opening the door completely and letting the owl in.

Now that his whole body was visible, it could be seen that Brock was a Lycanroc, a wolf-like Pokémon that had mainly light brown fur. He also had white fur on his underbelly, muzzle and feet. His eyes were blue, and he had a large mane of white fur.

"So, how have things been? I heard you made a new friend," Brock asked.

Robin flinched slightly. "...It's more like Alissa made a friend and forced me to deal with it," the Rowlet said, audibly annoyed by the thought.

Brock couldn't help but chuckle. "That Alissa is a special one, ain't she?"

"That's one way of putting it..." Robin replied. "Anyway, where's Tesla?" he added, changing the topic.

"Straight to the point, huh?" Brock started. "She's in the back, come on," he began to walk towards a passageway to the right in the back of the room. Brock walked in, and Robin looked at the room.

It was surrounded by fairly large wood bookcases on the left, right and back. The bookcases were stuffed to the brim with a fairly expansive variety of books. There was also a short wooden desk with a lamp that was turned on. The room was quite untidy, however. There was paper strewn all over the floor, and there were some books on the floor, albeit next to the bookcases. And at the center of it was a Mightyena sitting at the desk. She had glasses on and was trying to write something.

"Oh Tessy, you have a visitor!" Brock teased playfully, eliciting a groan from Tesla.

"I told you to stop calling me that," she grumbled as she turned around, noticing that Robin was present.

"Robin?" she said in surprise.

"Yeah, it's me," the owl responded. "I heard you were on break, so I wanted to come and say hi," he added. "Do you have some time to chat?"

"I was just working on a report, but I can take a break," Tesla said, taking off her glasses and putting them on the desk, while Robin walked into the room.

"Have fun you two!" Brock chirped before leaving, with Tesla facepawing and sighing in response.

"Brock is so annoying sometimes..."

"I have to deal with Alissa every day, so I know what that feels like," Robin quipped, eliciting a chuckle from Tesla.

"That's true..." she said. "So, anyway, how have you been?"

"Well, Alissa dragged a weird Litten into my life... But aside from that, I'm doing fine."

"Weird? How so?" Tesla asked.

"He says he's a human, and effortlessly spouts stuff I've never heard of... So a good 10 out of 10," Robin snarked.

"...Human?... like in those stories?" the Mightyena asked, perplexed.

"Yeah, that kind," Robin replied. Tesla paused for a moment, like she was wrapped in thought.

"...I'm going to reserve judgement on that until I've met him," Tesla stated.

"...Anyway, what have you been up to?" Robin asked, changing the topic.

"Oh, just your typical rescue work," the Mightyena replied calmly. "We recently had a lot of downtime for missions, so the Guildmaster let me and Miu off on break."

"What about mom? Did she get off, too?"

"...The Guildmaster offered her break time, but she rejected it. I guess she's just really into her work right now," Tesla replied. Robin sighed.

Tesla noticed he looked unhappy, and made an effort to help. "...Do you miss her?" Tesla asked with concern.

"Maybe a little," Robin replied, suppressing his sadness.

Tesla frowned. "You don't need to hide your emotions, it's perfectly reasonable to miss her. It's been a month, after all."

"But I can't show weakness. When she's gone, I have to do most of the work around here. I can't slow down just because I'm lonely," the Rowlet said solemnly. Tesla frowned.

A thought went off in Tesla's head. "...You know, I think that Litten might be a good thing for you." Robin blinked and looked at the Mightyena with surprise.

"What?"

"He's another Pokémon to be around, right? Having another friend would probably make you happier. You wouldn't be as lonely, after all," she explained. "Don't you think that's a good reason to try and trust him?"

"...I hadn't thought about it like that," the owl said.

"Do you feel better now?"

"I guess a little bit, thank you," Robin replied, a small smile appearing on his beak.

"Now that we're all feeling better, why don't I show you one of the books I picked up back on Kauwela? I think you might find it interesting," Tesla suggested.

"Sure, let's see it," Robin said with a nod. Tesla walked over to the bookcase and picked out a book with a red cover on it. Robin walked over and took a look at it.

"...The Ruins of Taiga Island?..." he read out the title aloud. "Wouldn't that just be talking about the Ruins of Conflict?" he asked with an eyebrow raised.

"Not exactly," Tesla started as she began to flip through pages. "In Chapter 4, the author talks about other, smaller ruins on this island. Including..." she continued. "...If I can ever find the dang page..." she said with slight annoyance, struggling to find the page she was looking for. However, she did eventually find it. "...Here we go."

Robin looked over and read the page. When he came up to a particular passage, he read it aloud. "I've heard from several explorers that there are ruins hidden in... Celceta Forest." When he realized what it said, he had to do a double take. "Wait, Celceta Forest?!" the Rowlet shouted, showing the most surprise he probably had in a while.

"Yeah, that's what it says," Tesla confirmed. "I had no idea. And there weren't many Pokémon in the guild who knew, either. Apparently, this book is pretty obscure," she added, before grinning. "I bet it'd be worth a lot if I sold it."

The Rowlet's eyes widened. "No way, you're not seriously planning on selling this, are you?"

Tesla chuckled, trying to hold back laughter. "Nah, I'm just messing with you."

Robin sighed in disbelief. "...Really?..."


Meanwhile, the other kids were still playing around. Ricky and Cross were chasing each other, while Alissa and Takumi were playing around, with Viletta watching. Alissa was blowing another bubble with her snout.

"What number bubble is this one? I think I lost count," Viletta asked.

"Fifteen," Alissa said, her voice muffled because of the bubble blowing.

"Geez, Takumi. When will you just admit defeat?" she teased.

"I won't have to... because I'm sure this will be the one!" the Litten said, determined.

"That's what you said the last fourteen times."

"All done!" Alissa said, finishing the bubble.

"Alright, here.. we.. go!" Takumi said as he hopped on the bubble. He tried to balance himself on four legs, and was managing to do so.

"Hey, he's finally learning!" Viletta said.

But alas, even fifteen bubbles would not be enough, as the instant Takumi attempted to balance on his forelegs, he wobbled over and tumbled off, landing on his back.

"Oh, geez," Viletta said with a sigh. If she had hands, she'd likely be facepalming. "You have to the most unathletic Litten I've ever seen," she snarked.

"You know... I think I'm not very good at acrobatics," Takumi said tiredly.

"You think?"

Alissa giggled as she watched the two banter, when she heard a door open. Turning around, she saw that it was Robin, who was waving back at the Pokémon in Ricky's house.

"You guys are still playing around?" he asked as he walked up to the three.

"Yup!" Alissa said with a nod.

The Rowlet then looked at the sky, and noticed the sun was beginning to set. "...It's getting late, probably time to start wrapping up."

"Aww, come on!" the Popplio pleaded.

"I mean, he's got a point. I should probably go and get some rest," said Viletta.

Robin looked down and noticed that Takumi was laying down, exhausted from his... many attempts at acrobatics. "...And I doubt I need to ask what he's thinking," he quipped. Alissa looked at everyone and sighed.

"Oh, alright..." Alissa said, defeated. She then turned to Cross and Ricky off in the distance. "Thank you, this was fun! But we need to go home now!" she shouted, returning to her usual cheerfulness.

"Okay, see you later!" Ricky shouted back at them. Takumi slowly got back up on his feet, and then the three went towards their house.


Once they were back home, everyone went and ate dinner, and they readied to go to their rooms. As Takumi walked in, he noticed something different about the room: there was now a third straw bed in the back of the room.

"Wait, when did that third bed get there?" Takumi started, before looking at Shouta. "Did you do this?"

"Yep, made it while you three were gone. If we're gonna have a guest, might as well make him comfortable," the Toucannon responded.

Takumi smiled, albeit awkwardly. "T-Thanks Shouta, I don't know what to say..."

"Don't worry about it," Shouta replied. "Alright, I'll be heading off to bed now. You three make sure you don't stay up too late," he finished, sounding rather nonchalant. With that, he walked off.

Alissa yawned. "He won't need to worry about that, I'm spent..." Alissa said as she plopped down onto the rightside bed.

"Me too..." said Takumi, who also yawned. He got up onto his new bed and curled up. Robin then sat down of the leftside bed.

"...If you two are interested, I read something interesting today," Robin offered, getting the attention of both the Popplio and Litten.

"What is it?" Takumi asked.

"Well, apparently there's some hidden ruins in the forest, and their rumored to contain relics of the island guardians."

"Wait, really?" Takumi said in surprise.

"Yeah."

Island guardians, huh? Takumi thought.

"Oh, I so know what I'm doing tomorrow!" Alissa said, perking up.

"You can't be serious, right?" Robin was disconcerted by the idea. "The book was pretty obscure, so that information isn't exactly reliable. Who's to say if these so called ruins even exist?" the Rowlet objected.

"Well, how will we know if we don't try?" Alissa replied, still adamant.

"Even if they do exist, It'll probably be dangerous. Anything could be down there." he continued trying to convince her, but he got no reply from the Popplio.

Robin sighed. "...Look. If that's what you want to do, then I won't stop you. But I'd appreciate it if you tried to think things over this time." Alissa looked at the Rowlet blankly for a few moments.

"Okaay..." she said with a yawn, sounding rather disinterested. "...Well, this bed is calling my name, so I'm gonna go sleep now. Night guys!" she finished, still cheerful despite the tiredness in her voice. She then curled up on her bed, and closed her eyes.

It seems like Robin cares a lot about Alissa... Come to think of it, what is their relationship, anyway? They said they were siblings, but they're not even in the same egg group... Takumi mused. He then looked at Robin. He noticed the Rowlet had a wing pressed against his face, and he could hear him give a frustrated sigh. The cat wanted to say something, although he looked very nervous.

"Hey, umm..." the Litten started, getting the Rowlet's attention. "G-Goodnight, Robin," he said awkwardly.

To his surprise, the coldness in Robin's voice that he was getting used to hearing wasn't there. "...You too." Takumi cracked a bit of a smile, feeling hopeful that the Rowlet was perhaps beginning to warm up to him. Robin looked away and began to settle down, leaving the Litten alone with his thoughts.

Those 'island guardians' Robin mentioned sound like they're pretty important... I wonder if they know anything about where I'm supposed to go in the Pokémon world?... As he mused, the tiredness began to get to him, and he yawned again. ...I probably shouldn't worry myself about that tonight, though. I should get some rest.

With that, his thoughts soon faded, and he drifted off into a deep sleep.


Next time: The peace in Greenhorne is disturbed.