"What is this?" Chance exclaimed, looking incredulously at a small sack of poké placed in front of him. Previously filled to the brim with currency, it was presently near empty. "There's, uh… two, three… twenty-five poké in here total! What can anyone even get with that?"
Currently, Chance and Vita were standing a distance from the job request bulletin board. Between them and it were Delthea and Vita, and behind them (rather, in front since Chance turned around) was Tenor giving them the stink-eye. "The guild typically takes away ninety percent of reward money from our apprentices to go to bettering us all collectively-"
"Ninety?" Chance screeched, causing Vita to press her paws against her ears.
"Chance, you gotta, uh, tone it down, man."
"Oops, sorry." He shamefully looked at his feet.
Tenor cleared his throat for an unnecessarily long amount of time. "Ahem, as I was saying"-he leered at Chance-"ninety is the norm, but some pokémon thought it to be fun to break our sentry grate. So, until you two, Team Endeavor, compensate our loss, we will sanction ninety-five percent of your reward money."
What a penny pincher. It was an accident! Chance thought. We can get a piece of candy with this reward money, but what else? "Okay…"
"Let's take what we can get. I'm pretty sure he'll do something we'll all regret if we fight him right now," Vita whisper-shouted.
"Umm, sorry I didn't have any more money. That was all I had. Promise," Delthea said.
"And I only had honey on me," Fay sang.
Tenor sighed and twitched his tail. "This is why it is important to note all aspects of the jobs you take. Some are certainly more rewarding than others."
"Whatever." Vita had no problem waving it off. "We helped these two. I feel good."
"Exactly. Well put, Vita," Tenor said. Hm, perhaps this girl can be civil. "That will be all. Feel free to explore some more, but dinner will be served at ten sharp. If you miss it, you miss it. After supper, find me and I'll guide you to your sleeping quarters."
"Our sleeping quarters?" Chance echoed.
"Mm, yes, all apprentices must be based here at the guild until they graduate. Until then." And Tenor was gone, hopping off to the guildmaster's office.
"Cool, cool," Vita said. She turned around to smile at their two clients. Their first clients. "Well, then, I guess that's it."
"That's it?" Chance asked.
"Job's done, we got the"-she pinched the sack of money into the air and dropped it, then cleared her throat-"reward, and there's nothing else to do. So, yeah." She smiled brightly at the three of them.
"Well…" Delthea trailed off. But, I don't think I want to walk away from this. "Uh, guys?"
"Yeees?" Vita and Chance said simultaneously.
"Do you, heh, heh…" Delthea's large eyes darted back and forth. The feather atop her head ticked up and down. "I mean, if it wouldn't be a bother…"
"Say it! Just say it now!" Vita said in a goofy voice, prompting everyone else to laugh and relax further. She smiled satisfactorily.
"It's just that… Could I, I join you guys?"
Both members of Team Endeavor looked slack-jawed at the natu, slowly processing what she had requested. Join us? Us? Wasn't back there in Honey Forest kind of a mess? Chance thought.
"Really, Tuna?" Vita had eyes of wonder. Alright! Things are coming together!
"Tuna?" Fay chuckled at her friend's nickname.
"Shh, shh, Hon-hon." Vita pat Fay gently, making sure she wouldn't swat her out of the air by accident.
"Hon… hon?" All of Fay's faces frowned. "Heeey!"
"Uh, Vita?" Delthea redirected her attention. Please don't stop calling her that, hee hee! "So, what do you think?"
Vita twitched her nose. "What do I think? What do you think?"
"Come again?" Delthea wasn't sure if Vita was being serious or not. Is she teasing me since I say that too much? "Well… I think yes?"
Vita loomed over Delthea and held a straight face. Looking at her from the angle that the natu was, Vita was menacing. Her nose was flared out, eyes narrowed, and paws on either side of Delthea. Breaking the act, she instantaneously smiled and pet her, saying, "Yup."
Melting immediately in relief, Delthea hopped. "Alright!"
"You think?" Chance tried to finish her sentence.
"No. Alright! Yaaay!" Delthea cheered. That was the happiest she had been that day by a long shot. This is going to be fun. I can feel it. I… think. Hmm…
"Alright!" Vita held a paw up perpendicular to the floor, which Delthea hopped up to meet and slap with the feather on her head. "We're goin' places."
"That was easy. Are we missing something? Are there strings attached to new members? Paperwork...?" Chance's scepticism was sky high on how swimmingly the day had went for him. I definitely don't mind Delthea. But, I do mind everything falling into place like it has been today. Life is usually sucky.
"Uh… I think we talk to someone or somethin' like that. Is there an assembly stand thing 'round here?" Vita looked back and forth until her eyes settled on a wooden stand with a chimecho manning it. Pointing at it as if she discovered the meaning of life, she said, "Right there!"
"Chiiiime, chiiime~" the chimecho sang in soprano monotone as she waved her tail like a flag. Just a few more hours… Please hurry up…
The four approached the stand and pokémon with a positive attitude. Vita spoke up, being the only one who was visible past the structure without having to lean over. "Hello."
"Hi, welcome to Chimecho Assembly. I'm Altano, the head honcho of this here stand. Chiiime~" Her voice was soothing and high. The only distracting aspect of her was her unblinking, blank, thousand-yard stare straight ahead.
"Um, we're Team-" Chance started. Vita picked him up by the head so he could look Altano in the eyes.
"Endeavor," Altano finished for him. "Yes, I know."
"How?" Vita asked while scratching her back.
"I just do. Chiiime~" It was almost disturbing how calm she was. Do these kids seriously think word doesn't go around of a new team around here? The guild is not that big. Well, might as well lead them on that I'm all-knowing. See how dumb they can be.
"Okay, then, we're here to-" Delthea tried to say.
"Register a new member. You, Delthea. Chiiime~" Take the hint.
"Yes…" The natu felt uncomfortable with the character in front of her. Is it because she's a psychic-type? Could I do that?
"It's done. Chiiime~" Her voice was still emotionless. Leave now, kids.
"Th-that's it?" Chance tilted his head and kicked his feet in the air, still being lifted by Vita.
"Yes. Off you go. Chiiime~"
"Ooookay, then. Let's head to Treasure Town." Vita did an immediate pivot, shivering at the odd aura of the psychic-type.
Fay vibrated in the air, a buzz being emitted from her. Delthea, hold on! "Hey, Altano, I wanna-"
"Join too, you say? Already done. Bye, chiiime!" Stop talking already!
"O-oh, right, uh, thanks…" Fay chuckled and tried to hide from Altano under the stand. She's creeping me out.
"Really, Fay?" Delthea asked. But, she never said anything about wanting to explore or anything like that before… What else don't I know about her?
Jeez, these kids aren't going to leave, are they? Altano's right eye started twitching. After dealing with these bothersome explorers that can't comprehend that I already know how to do my job, I have to make dinner. Then I'm off. So, leave. Now.
Fay flew up to match Vita's height, which just so happened to also match her ego. "Of course. Don't worry, I'll help you all. Leave everything to me, and I'll do it ten times better than you guys could alone!" Her Pinocchio nose grew.
"Heh, heh, suuure," Chance breathed out while leaning away from Fay. I didn't expect her to be someone with these kinds of colors.
"As I said, it is done. Chiiime~" Altano said, her voice more strained than it had been previously. You can take this outside, can't you? Blech, these kids...
"I'm serious! I may be a combee, but I'm the strongest bug-type you'll ever come across! I'm close to evolving, too. I can feel it." All of Fay's faces wore a smug smile. "Besides, I guess I'm already registered with you guys, so I'll be tagging along anyway."
Vita waved her arm in the air. "Hear hear!"
"No changing what's done," Chance said. She seems nice enough.
"Alright!" Delthea said. Yay, now I won't have to choose between hanging out with Fay or Vita and Chance.
"I told you guys. I'm a living-"
Altano started puckering her lips before Fay started, but couldn't hold it in any longer. These little brats oughta listen to me when I talk! They're gonna get it. I warned them to get away already. She finally snapped, exploded. "You dumb kids either leave or face my wrath. I've had enough of listening to you babble. Do I look like I want to? No! So shut it and leave!" By the time she finished, she was panting and sweating. The expression she wore was menacing, radiating an air of hostility and darkness. It was impressive that chimecho couldn't learn Glare or Scary Face.
"Yeesh!" Chance let out. Looks like we angered the beast. So this is what she was hiding.
"Run?" Delthea said, hopping and readying herself to use Teleport.
"We'll see you two outside." Fay huddled close to Delthea and in a matter of seconds, the two were gone from the guild.
"So…" Vita tried to continue on.
"Wah, wah! Ah!" Altano started throwing a tantrum. Several other pokémon on the floor, who were not used to her behavior, looked to the source of discord. Her wailing was ear-piercing. Get on with it. I'm making a fool of myself here. "I'm gonna send you two-"
"Vita, why don't we leave?" Chance pecked down on one of Vita's claws and started pulling her away. Muffled, he said, "I think she'll cut it out if we do."
One the two reached the halfway point between Chimecho Assembly and the exit ladders, Altano cleared her throat and returned to humming softly. "Chiime, chiiime~" About time. Phew, at least that wasted a few minutes. I'm hungry.
Vita turned around before leaving and shouted, "Bye, Pitchy. See you soon."
"Bye bye. Chiiime~" She didn't even turn around to look at Vita. Time to relax. Wait, "Pitchy"?
"Again, Altano?" Rory asked as he walked past her booth back to the sentry tunnel. "Even I'm not that loud most of the time."
"Whatever. Chiime~"
"I like her." Vita picked up Chance and started to exit the guild. At least she was honest at the end.
"Sure," Chance said. She means it? Sheesh, that chimecho needs an attitude check. "I would have called her 'Diva' after the way she reacted to us just standing in front of her."
"Eh, whatcha gonna do? We'll be seeing her often now, so..."
Chance shuddered at the thought of another encounter with Altano and her apparent picky temper. "Right…"
Treasure Town was as lively as Chance always recalled it to be at the usual spots, and there only. The Kecleon Bros were calling out bids and offers for slick deals, rhythmic grunts and the beating of a drum emanated from Marowak Dojo, and the chatter of lively pokémon filled the air. The hub was comforting for the most part, and Chance, Delthea, and Fay couldn't help but relax at the sight of no Team Chaos, who typically frequented squatting behind Marowak Dojo and shooting dirty looks at those smaller than them. This was ignoring the fact that at locations other than main shops, the atmosphere was dead, which bothered the four greatly.
Despite the warmth of Treasure Town and the familiarity of it, something was definitely off and rather eerie. As Vita had noted earlier that day, there was a large concentration of ghost-type pokémon gathered about, even more so than the last time they were there. The sun had already set, the time of year being one with short days, the dark sky making the town feel even more ominous. Dusk fell on all of them.
A flock of sensu-style oricorio were doing a synchronized dance in the air in the center of Treasure Town, elegance oozing from each flick of their fan-like wings, practically ethereal. A murder of murkrow were watching and hooting up a storm of obvious infatuation for the performing birds. The oricorio and their dance were illuminated from the left and right by two chandelure. The purple glow of their flames complimented and furthered the allure of the birds. Few pokémon not ghost- or dark-type stuck around to admire the show, instead either staying close to the established stalls or hurrying home.
"Wow, is this place a ghost town or what, right? Probably, heh," Delthea said, getting softer when she realized that her pun wasn't panning out quite like she imagined it. The four of Team Endeavor were walking down a well lit road that meandered around the oricorio to Chance's place as their first destination.
"Yeah, it's been like this for a while. That's why I've been going home early lately. But, I guess that's gonna change starting tonight, huh?" Chance said while staring at the oricorio with wonder. They're amazing. I wish I could do that.
"Well, they're not bothering us, so, whatever." Fay flew on with her eyes closed, not a care in the world.
"Why did you say they're here again?" Vita asked.
"Something about a fire from the place they're from. Dread Crypt is the name I've heard thrown around by my parents," Chance said.
"'Crypt'? Like a cemetery?" Fay slowed down until she was only hovering in place. Vita paid her stop no mind and kept walking, unintentionally pushing the bee further ahead with her stomach.
"Well, they're ghost-types, aren't they? They are, right?" Delthea started to doubt common knowledge.
"Yeah, and yeah. I heard that it's a cemetery within a dark forest. Apparently only ghost-types live there, with some dark and poison ones even," Chance said matter-of-factly.
"Why do you know this?" Fay's flying trajectory was getting lower the farther they continued moving.
"That's kinda boring," Vita noted. Let me guess: it's super spooky, too
"Let's just keep going." Chance shuddered, feeling like there was a presence hovering over his shoulder. They continued on, leaving the memorizing oricorio behind.
At the branching path off the main road of Treasure Town, Chance's house peeked out in the distance. Giddiness rose in him with the prospect of going home after a good day of hard work. "You guys go on. I'll talk to my parents and catch up with you here in and few!" Then, he dashed forwards with not a care in the world.
"You sure?" Vita shouted at the top of her lungs. Several pokémon looked her way with annoyance marking their faces. She had absolutely no filter and gauge of her mouth. Her two friends tried to hide themselves from the second-hand embarrassment.
When Chance didn't look back, the three looked at each other and shrugged (at least, Vita did. Delthea and Fay could only tilt themselves to get the motion across). "What now?" Vita had to ask.
"I don't know about you, but I'm gonna swing by Xatu's Appraisal." Delthea jutted her beak towards a green tent with a xatu design, said pokémon manning it. She hopped along, and with nothing else to do, Fay and Vita followed.
The xatu stood tall with his eyes staring off into the distance and wings wrapped around his body. Without turning to the newcomers, he said, "Hello again, Delthea."
"Hi, Yasuhiro. See anything good?" Delthea teleported to the tabletop in front of him.
"I could ask you the same thing." His words caused the natu to sink down and shut up.
Vita nudged Fay from a few feet away. "Psst, what's with them?"
"Her and Yasuhiro? They're friends. Buuut, only because Delthea keeps asking him questions."
"On what?"
"Being a Xatu, being a natu, being a psychic-type, yadda yadda." One of Fay's top faces had a ticked-off expression, the other wore a concerned frown, and her main one held a soft smile.
"Why?"
"You'll see soon enough if you haven't. Ever notice her verbal quirks?"
"Always saying 'I think' and 'probably' and 'maybe'?"
"Stuff like that."
"What is that supposed to mean?" Vita scratched her head and twisted her face. Things got confusing quick.
"I don't think I should say anything else. But, she means well, and Yasuhiro gives her support. But, knowing her, she's probably also gonna reach out to that Altano lady." Fay moved forwards to hover next to Delthea, leaving a stumped Vita behind.
She was snapped out of her stupor once Yasuhiro lifted a wing at her. "Did I not say I saw things looking up for you today?"
"Well, yeah, but… Yeah!" Delthea flapped her tiny wings and hopped. I'll give him that. "It was after encountering Team Chaos again, though."
"All's well that ends well, no? However, I do believe I saw two newcomers in your life for today." I'm never wrong about this. Did something else happen?
"Chance went back to talk to his parents," Vita said as she sauntered over to the flying-types.
"Ah. So I was correct."
"The all-seeing type, huh?"
"I beg your pardon?"
"Isn't this the place where explorers get treasure chests open?" Vita eyed several gaudy, empty, colorful boxes behind Yasuhiro. Even more chests were very likely to have been hiding further in the stand, covered by the material of the tent and the darkness of the setting sky.
"That is the primary focus of my business, yes. But, I do divulge predictions and fortunes to those who properly request it." Yasuhiro rummaged around the space in front of him that was obscured by a wooden facade, then pulled pulled out a small, archetype brown and gold treasure chest. "Would you like to see?"
Vita's practically permanent smile arched further, and her eyes were full of wonder. "Yes, please, Mr. Future!" Vita leaned in close with her paws put on the table on either side of the chest, almost salivating. Then, it hit her. She said, "We don't got money."
Yasuhiro visibly faltered as he had previously held his wings open on either side of the chest, above Vita's arms, with his eyes closed, then presently tensed his wings and stepped back. "Er, well…"
"No, we have 25 poké." Fay rammed herself softly into the bag around Vita. "Or can you take I.O.U.s?"
"But, can we just watch you for free? We won't take what's in there," Delthea said with pleading eyes, still feeling bad about ultimately only paying Vita and Chance with a measly 25 poké. Please, Yasuhiro? Wait... why didn't Vita call him "Tuxa" if she calls me "Tuna"? That's not fair! Call me… never mind.
"I was going to do so, so fret not, children." He resumed his position, and, before he could be interrupted again, started glowing a bright blue. The light spread to the small chest, falling into the keyhole and forming a key made purely out of energy. With a mighty caw, the key turned to the left and the energy encompassing the rest of the trunk caused the top half to flip open. Inside lay a pink handkerchief tied with a knot. "And here we have a Special Band."
"Sweet," Vita said, not moving from her place. And free. You're alright, sir.
"That's it? Not some gem or somethi- ow!" Delthea nipped at Fay, effectively cutting her off. What, if we're just gonna look, might as well have been something pretty, not something that I'm seeing right now at Kecleon Market! Fay peered around Xatu Appraisal to see a shelf behind the Kecleon brothers full of pink bands.
"That was really cool! Hey, Yasuhiro?" Delthea waited for him to shove the empty casket into the pile of other chests and give her undivided attention. "Do you think that maybe one day I could possibly do that?"
Yasuhiro gave her a warm smile, or what best resembled one given that he had a beak, and pat her head. "You'll do great things one day. Just be patient."
"Did you have a vision?"
"I don't need one to know that."
"R-right." Delthea turned around to hop to the edge of the table and look at the ground. He's just saying that to make me feel better, isn't he? If it's not one of his predictions, it's not guaranteed to come true. He's lying.
"They've got a nice dynamic goin' on, huh?" Vita whispered to Fay.
Fay smiled and said, "Yeah, kinda like brother and sister. She really looks up to him. To a lot of psychic-types, actually."
"If you're gonna drop hints about what I didn't get earlier, just tell me," Vita whined. Impatience was not a virtue.
"Nuh-uh," Fay sang. Maybe it would be better if she didn't know. She doesn't seem that delicate or bright, no offence. But, it's pretty darn obvious when you think about it.
Delthea was about to teleport to the ground when Yasuhiro stopped her. "Hold, Delthea. Let me put this on you."
"What?" Before she knew it, he used Psychic to tie the Special Band around her such that the knot went below her beak and the material covered most of her backside, below her top feather. "Why? We can't afford it."
"We didn't even pay for it," Fay deadpanned. "Would have been, what, 150 poké for the appraisal?"
"And even more from the Kecleon Market. Take it as a gift. You know what a Special Band does for one who wears it, right?" Yasuhiro returned to the stance they found him in.
"Increases your special attacks in dungeons because of… resonating energy, I think?" Delthea thought it was a stretch to say that. She wasn't completely wrong, though.
"Don't you think it'll be of any help to you? Just a small boost to your abilities. Think of it as a jump start. I know you can do it." He pet Delthea for good measure.
"I guess, if you really mean it." She was already comfortable in the gentle wrap the fabric had around her. Please don't take it. This feels like a dream!
"Off you go. I can tell you that tonight will be well… that is, ignoring one rather persistent nuisance your way come." Yasuhiro turned around and felt satisfaction wash over him. Oh, Delthea. Please keep your happiness and confidence up. "And… sickly aches?" How does that fit in?
"Right." Delthea reveled in her gift until Fay nudged her from behind. "Oh, what time is it?"
"To your left," Yasuhiro said without turning around. The three girls looked in the direction to see a sundial barely lit up by the dying light of the nearly completely set sun.
"7:30? Let's go, Tuna," Fay said, purposely using Vita's nickname for the natu.
"Right, Hon-hon." Two can play it. Without any more warnings, Delthea teleported away while Fay shot straight forward, flying the fastest she could. Vita was left behind.
"So, Mr. Future…"
"Are you referring to me?" He turned around to face Vita with a look of concern for her well being. I believe she knows my name.
"Yeah, you, Yasuhiro or whatever. That was really cool of you to do that for Tu"-she stopped herself from using her nicknames for him-"Delthea. I don't even think she said 'I think' the whole time."
"Yes, she does have that issue."
"Yeah," Vita said awkwardly. It somehow feels weird to talk to him normally. Big words, big breaths, Vita. "Are you sure about the free of charge thing? We can pay you in… after five more missions, give or take."
"Missions?" And "we"? She's including Delthea and Fay? I have not seen this clearly into this outcome. Is she, no, are they perhaps an exploration team? With those two?
"Yeah, they, me, and this cool torchic named Chance make up Team Endeavor!" she proudly stated. When he didn't react, she further elaborated. Shouldn't he know this? "It happened like an hour ago."
"Ah, I see." Things started to click for him. Did Delthea act spontaneously like I believe she did? Good on her, then. "Then the Special Band should be even more helpful to her. But, please, do not worry about payment. For Delthea, I waive the fee this once."
"Jonathan and Joseph sell those things for around 3,000 poké. They tried to swindle me earlier for one."
He couldn't help but let out a breathy, short-lived chuckle. She seems to have good intentions. "If I may, I will let you in on a secret. Just don't tell her or her combee friend."
"Yeah?"
Taking one look into the vigoroth's eyes, he said, "That wasn't a Special Band."
"What?"
One of his eyes started to twitch. Good intentions or not, ignorance is not excusable. How can I phrase this simply? "What was in the chest was placed by me. It was just a regular pink kerchief in the guise of a Special Band."
"That means…?" Vita, usually full of energy, started looking tired. Her eyes wandered and a yawn threatened to escape her. Should I catch up with them now?
"Oh, for the sake of - that was just a normal accessory. That was an act for the most part. A placebo." I probably shouldn't introduce even more complicated words into this. For her sake and mine. "It was only to lift her spirits and confi-"
"Oh, I get it!" Eureka. Vita pointed one claw up into the air and gave an open-mouthed smile. "So it was just a lie?"
Yasuhiro resisted the urge to teleport Vita far away from him with how difficult it was to converse with her. Unless something completely caught her attention, she was not going to dedicate too many brain cells to it. "More positively, it was, like I said, a placebo of sorts. If she believes she can do something, I'm sure she can follow through."
"Okay, then. I'll roll with it."
"Do you not hear me - oh." He had readied himself to counter her inability to comprehend more complicated matters in advance, so he was a bit taken back by her understanding. "That's good. Please, keep it that way."
Vita wouldn't admit to being bored so much as being distracted in the moment. What are they up to now? "Welp, nice talk and all, Mr. Future, but I gotta go."
"Er, indeed," Yasuhiro said with a slightly pained expression. Hopefully she won't walk away from the root of all of their problems. "But, if I could offer you a vision?"
"Do I have to pay?" Her priorities were straight.
"N-no, just listen here. You, Delthea, Fay, that Chance boy, and even more"-he spread his wings for an effect-"you will make it out just fine. Your future is full of ups and downs, allies and foes, wellness and pain, pride and acceptance. Just believe in yourselves. That is all the information I can provide for you." The vagueness and cheesiness of it justified the price.
"Is that a good thing?" She scratched her ear and perked it when she heard the howling of what she assumed to be Mightyena.
"Yes. Find the rest out on your own." He turned around to sort the empty chests behind him after he saw her nod. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'm closing up shop. I will not allow those delinquents to desecrate my business. Keep Delthea and all safe, and be well on your way back."
"Delinquents?" Now Vita was really invested. She had been before, but at the mention of danger, she really got excited.
"Those newcomers. They are danger."
"The pokémon from Dread Crypt?" she asked slowly.
"Yes."
"Have they hurt your business before?"
"No"
"Have they… hurt others' businesses before?"
"No." He was stoic and unmoving.
Vita almost fell back in shock. "Hah? Then how can you talk about them like that? A vision or whatever?"
"No, I don't need one to tell that they are trouble. Just listen to them polluting the air right now. Treasure Town is usually peaceful."
Vita took a sharp intake of air. "Ah, dude, that's kinda… egh." She ended with an uncomfortable, shaky sound with a lack of a better word to describe the way Yasuhiro saw the ghost-types. What'd they do to you?
"We will see. I wish the best to you." With that, he stepped back and used Light Screen to encase his stand, then teleported away with his wares.
"Yeesh, that went weird, fast." Vita walked away slowly with her claws dragging on the ground.
"Vita, hey, Vita!" Chance called from a small distance away from her. He ran forwards head first until her halted right in front of Vita. "I did it! I told my parents, and they said that they were proud of me! Hooray!" He did a small dance that couldn't help but shift Vita's attitude.
"Let's go find Tuna and Hon-hon." They walked off together, but Vita couldn't help but wonder where Yasuhiro got his views from each time they passed by a non-Treasure Town native. I'm probably overthinking it. They seem cool.
In the town center, the oricorio from earlier had finished their dance and left. What took their place was what seemed to be two gengar and their cronies having a Scary-Face-off. Chance shied away from them the farthest he could. Vita had to ask, "Are the ghosts really that bad?"
"What? Um, that's… subjective." Chance tried to laugh it off. When Vita looked at him with a blank face from not understanding the meaning of the word he used, he sighed. "Well, they haven't done anything in Treasure Town, but there have been legends and stories of Dread Crypt being filled with pokémon who didn't want to die, but did. How is a different thing, but I'm pretty sure that stigma has stuck to them because people are scared." Please don't ask me any more about this. That's all I've heard about it from my parents and people around town.
"So… everyone's just scared over nothing?" I'm even more confused.
"Well… wouldn't you say they wouldn't be completely wrong to be wary? They just came to town out of nowhere and decided to call it their new home without anyone's consent. They party and howl until the sunrise. Some of them are creepy on purpose, and some even have abilities to take the life out of you!" He let some of his own personal frustrations come out. I haven't slept well because of those Mightyena. And I'm pretty sure someone has been eating my dreams.
"Sure." Vita wasn't completely convinced, but she let it be for then. "But why did they come here?"
"Their place burned down, didn't it? The trees must have went with it, and it was a really dark place. So, the sunlight must have bothered them."
"Why didn't they go to another forest? There's no shade here."
"They only come out at night here, so, yeah. Dunno." Chance hopped closer to Vita when he saw a shuppet going around sticking his tongue out at random pokémon. "I'm sure they'll leave soon enough."
Spinda's Cafe showed sharp contrast to the marketplace of Treasure Town. It was filled with dozens of pokémon chatting about, sharing apple and berry juice, and dancing. The titular spinda was off in the corner shaking juice with a lively crowd around her. At the other corner were two blue pokémon, a wynaut and wobbuffet, holding what seemed to be a Bingo game. Every table was occupied, and many pokémon resorted to standing in order to stay in the cafe.
Vita looked around the whole cafe with wonder, soaking in every square inch of the place. Meanwhile, all three of her partners were holding pleasant conversation, already knowing about the charm of Spinda's Cafe. "This place is impressive."
"Hm?" Chance pecked at a bluk berry, purple juice staining his pale beak. "Yeah, it is. Tonight is even livelier than usual."
"Because of the show!" Fay said.
"This must be some show for us to have had to 'rescue' you for it." Chance gave a light chuckle.
Delthea shot a dirty look at Fay. "Not really. It's only because she bought the tickets with my money weeks in advance and wouldn't stop bothering me about it until I went because I initially told her no!" The natu became red in the face having just said that all in one breath, an even deeper color than her new accessory. "The tickets weren't even for coming, it was for food! So we were going, whether either of us liked it or not!" At least she was sure of her words. Vita and Chance looked down at the table covered in berries.
After a few moments of silence, Chance said, "Isn't that a lose-lose for you either way?"
She sighed and rested her beak on the table. "Yes. But they wouldn't give refunds, so…"
"What's the show?" Chance tried to change the subject.
"Ever seen Flamenco and the Bell-awesomes?" Fay asked, not looking at Delthea, who was still annoyed. Vita and Chance repeated the name together with sheer confusion. "They're an awesome dance crew that work it here. One ludicolo and four bellossom. They usually come out when there's a 'big win' over there at the Recycle Shop, but they've been on break for a while. So, it's hype now."
"Sure," Delthea said bitterly while dipping her beak into a cut-open cactus. "Fay, you really-"
Delthea got cut off by a banging on their table. Three pairs of arms and one pair of blades were the source. Looking up, Team Chaos was standing opposite Team Endeavor. "Lookie what we have here, fellas. So you're an exploration team now, huh?" Blake pointed at Delthea and Fay with one hand and Chance with the other. Behind him, DJ and Chewie were standing, covered in thin white gauze around each appendage.
"Bro, they be lying!" DJ said.
"Yeah, joo really think joo all can be like us? Nah, ese, nah." Chewie squished one of Chance's bluk berries under his hand.
"That was mine…" Chance muttered with his beak under the table.
"You gotta speak up, Chalk, man." DJ leaned across to look down on the fire-type. His bank of words beginning with "ch" to subconsciously use in place of "Chance" was beginning to dwindle.
"Back off, bub." Vita stood opposite the heracross and flared her nostrils. "And his name's Chance."
"No, it's the crazy girl!" Chewie yanked DJ back. The two then proceed to hug each other and cower behind Blake.
"Yeah, yeah, crazy!" Liam echoed, reminding everyone that he was still there.
Blake sighed and hit the table before stepping away. "Sorry to bother you." He obviously didn't mean it. He had to pull his large, useless teammates away with him. Liam tried to stay behind and swipe food from Team Endeavor, but Blake wasn't that blind. The pawniard said, "Damn it, Liam, get your ass over here. Now."
"Y-yes sir, Boss, sir." The cranidos saluted then scampered away without another word.
"I've never seen them act like that before." Fay glanced at Vita. "Did something happen when I was gone?"
"Yeah, you should have seen her! She beat down DJ and Chewie when they were cornering me this morning!" Chance chirped.
"That's why they were in bandages?" Delthea asked.
"That's why they ran away?" Fay felt that to be the more important question.
"Probably," Vita said. The four of them left it at that and turned back to their meal. A large watmel berry caught the vigoroth's attention. Ogling at it, she pulled it closer with one hand and readied the other to use Slash.
"Better share that," Fay said with all faces starting to droop. I need the sugar right now. So sleepy.
Next to her, Delthea tried to say something, but failed to. She kept dipping her head up and down as her eyes were barely open. Chance moved to lie down on the stool he was sitting on as he almost fell down from leaning too far in one direction. Vita herself wasn't unlike her friends. "Was gonna, but…" She lowered her arm, which had started shaking, and rested her head on the watmel berry. "Why'm I so tired? Just wanna sleep. Plus, feel kinda bad," she slurred. This was quite worrisome, given her species.
Without warning, a spinda twirled by the table with a juice canister in one hand and a basket of oran berries in the other. In one swift motion, she dropped the basket on Team Endeavor's table and took the one that was already there in exchange, which was still half full of the blue morsels. She laughed shakily and kept spinning by until she reached the drink station, saying over her shoulder, "Sorry. Those ones are more fresh. Juice is on the house for you tonight." She brought the basket close to her face and gave gave a sniff before her face soured.
"Did we all eat something bad? What was wrong with those oran berries?" Chance said with his eyes slowly closing.
"They tasted alright," Vita said. Wait, didn't Mr. Future say…
"Actually, I think mine was really soft and funny tasting. Probably." Delthea hid herself behind her cactus cup in shame.
"They were rotten?" Fay deadpanned. "I wanna go to sleep now."
"Aw, and today was going well." Chance tried sitting up, but dropped his head once it was only inches above the stool. On the table, a large candle with a strong purple flame gave him the drive to get up. Fire warm… Maybe the heat will wake me up. "Candle," he murmured with the slight intent of having Vita help situate him up.
"Candle?" Delthea repeated as she twitched her beak up before she fell asleep. The glob of white wax was not even a foot from her, flame burning large. She tilted her head and narrowed one eye. "Were there always candles at Spinda's Cafe?"
"No?" Fay lethargically spun around to catch wind of all the other tables, none of which sported a candle at all, much less one like the one at theirs. A pang in her stomach bothered her. "Yep, it was the food." An odd gurgle supported her conclusion, to which the other three nodded with a lack of alternative answers.
The candle on their table started shaking slightly. Then, ever so slowly, it rotated. Its purple flame grew even bigger. Team Endeavor leaned in close as much as they could (Chance with a lot of help from Vita) and were unable to find any true difference in it. It had moved, but it seemed the same as it was. That was, until one yellow dot appeared, then flickered on and off. The four leaned in closer to find themselves staring at it intensely. The next change in it was rather dramatic as a large, pink parabolic shape popped out and wiggled at them. It blew a raspberry and the yellow dot reappeared for good.
"Ah!" Chance shot back, mostly leaving gravity and momentum to do the work for him, too tired to be so active. "What is - no, who are you?"
"Heh heh, I heard you're an exploration team, right?" the candle, a litwick, asked with a scratchy and raspy voice. She looked up at the four for an answer.
"So what if we are?" Fay was immediately wary. The candle was too good at disguising herself.
"Hee hee, sweet! I'm Dubiette, and I'm your new member!" She smiled widely and waved her flame.
"No you're not." Stay away from me. I can handle Chance, but you're an open flame. You're gonna ruin this for me, Fay thought as all her heads focused on looking at their point of convergence.
"Yes I am. Aren't I?" She hopped in front of Fay and turned her back to the bee. In turn, Fay rolled her eyes and slowly flew over to hover between Vita and Chance, the spot exactly opposite Dubiette.
"Uh…" the three other members of Team Endeavor uttered together.
"Yeah? When we heading out?"
It's almost eight at night! Chance thought.
Vita scratched the back of her head and groaned. I'm not up for this now. Damn, those oran berries are making me feel bad. "Sorry, Wispy, this is a bad time. Maybe later, 'kay?"
Dubiette reacted in a way none of the four could have imagined. Her eye narrowed and with a loud shout, she flared her flame up so much, it almost reached the ceiling. "No, no! I'm gonna join you guys, we're gonna be friends, and we'll go on adventures!"
All of them were slack-jawed at her attitude shift. Two in one day? I thought Altano was enough with this, but this one is dangerous. She's gonna burn this place down! Chance thought. "Are you okay, Dubiette?"
"No!" Her flame grew even larger if possible. "I wanna join. No ever lets me do what I want."
Vita puckered her face and regretted thinking, I'm sorry, but I don't think we should get any new members now. "Look, Wispy-"
"You even gave me a nickname! That means we're friends, you!" She was desperate. It would have helped if she knew their names. I'm not leaving until you say yes!
Fay felt her initial dislike for the candle turn into pity and annoyance. "That doesn't mean any-"
"Please, please!" Dubiette was not going to let it go.
Vita looked around at her teammates and saw them all sharing the same uncomfortable, tired expressions. "Wispy, look"-she waited until Dubiette calmed down just a fraction-"I don't think you should join us. For now, at least. For one thing, we already have four members. That's the limit on outings. Plus, one of them is a fire-type too. And, we just formed today. Give it some time, and if you really feel that way later, we'll talk." Who knew Vita could be such a diplomat?
Knowing that that would be the best answer she would get that night, Dubiette caved in. "Fine. I'm gonna ask you every day, though, so be ready!" Her flame became large once more as her determination shone through. She was, quite literally, fired up.
"That's… We can't say you didn't try?" Delthea gave her credit for passion and persistence.
That's too much! Why would you even admit that? Chance looked at her in disbelief. "We'll… see to it."
"Bye, then. I'm goin' home." Dubiette jumped off the table, leaving a ring of melted wax behind where she was standing.
"You're not gonna stick around for the show?" Vita called out above the uproarious volume of the other cafe-goers.
"Nah." Dubiette hopped off after giving her answer, proceeding to disappear behind a group of swinub.
"Okay, then," Fay said, taking back her original spot. Before anyone could say any more remarks, the lights of the cafe started to dim. Two spotlights focused on the back wall, right between the juice and recycle station.
"Are we ready?" boomed a voice from what seemed to be behind the wall. The whole mass of pokémon in the cafe exploded in cheers and whoops. As a result, in the blink of an eye, the wall was burst down. From a cloud of dust and falling wood came a ludicolo with an infectious smile and four bellossom. "Oh, yeeeaaah!"
Energetic music kicked up from a small ensemble of kricketune and other pokémon holding specially crafted instruments. The bellossom started first, all moving in sync as a pair stood in front of the ludicolo, who Vita and Chance could only assume to be Flamenco, and a pair behind him. They shook themselves to the beat as many pokémon couldn't help but wiggle along as their grass skirts flew with the rhythm. Flamenco booted up, starting to call out words that complimented the music and dancing wildly with all he had. "Alright! Okay! Tonight! We play! Oi, oi, oi!"
"Hey, hey, hey!" responded the crowd. This was the norm for a Flamenco and the Bell-awesomes show.
"This is rad," Vita noted. Oughta come back here later.
"Yeah, it's really lively," Chance said. Delthea and Fay could only watch on in awe. The four of them felt their spirits and energy coming back as they couldn't help but join in and dance themselves.
The show continued on for another few numbers without encountering any hitches. But, by the fourth song, something had to go wrong. In the middle of the dance, the sensu-style oricorio from earlier in Treasure Town went to upstage the bellossom. There were four oricorio, each one flying above one bellossom and doing their own synchronized dance. Then followed an Alolan marowak twirling his bone challenging Flamenco for the floor.
"Hello! Welcome, friend! We dance! No problem!" Flamenco called out over the music, continuing to dance. Let's not have any trouble. We're here to have fun, guys. His bellossom crew was less welcoming of the stage bombers, donning momentary glares, then amping up their routine to capture more attention.
The marowak and oricorio had other plans than to have fun. They ignored Flamenco's welcome and decided to cause trouble. Each oricorio descended down upon a bellossom and danced circles around them, blocking the crowd's view of them. The marowak continuously passed his spinning bone club between hands and moved closer to Flamenco. The ludicolo danced with not a care in the world, eyes closed. The marowak stood not a foot away from Flamenco, and did one final pass of his bone. It went a farther distance than he had been throwing it previously, moving past his open hand and instead conking Flamenco on the head. Flamenco fell to the ground in shock as his head started pulsing from the impact.
The marowak caught his bone and took Flamenco's place as the star of the show. His oricorio crew had chased off the bellossom, the latter of which became sick of the intruding pokémon. The bellossom retreated to the burst hole in the wall, literally dragging Flamenco along with them. "Jerks," they muttered under their breath.
The new performers' dance came to a close as the music started slowing down. They took a bow, and none but ghost- and dark-types in the cafe cheered on. The rest of the pokémon either awkwardly clapped or started leaving the cafe.
"Well, then…" Vita said as several pokémon brushed past her to leave. "What was that?"
"Well, we hope to see you all again tomorrow. Don't worry. Flamenco wasn't injured in that… accident. Have a nice night," announced the spinda that swapped their berry baskets earlier with a shaky voice, who had taken the stage after the stage-stealers stepped down. I don't want to ban anyone from coming here… This is the first time anything like this has happened, and hopefully the last. I'll call it a first offence, but if it happens again…
"We should probably go, heh," Delthea whispered. Without any objections, Team Endeavor went back to Wigglytuff's Guild with the hostilities of the dancing ghosts raging in their minds.
Author's note: And we're alive! But, really, what was holding me back on updating this was the actual content. I have a lot of things planned out, and I have a lot of things not. Of note, I have thought out plenty of character development and a larger cast, but not too much of the overall plot and conflict other than what follows the character development. I wasn't going to throw so many new main characters in anyone's face in one chapter, so I'm going to have to think harder on pacing. Until then, again, slow updates. This story seems to have a low readership count, too, but I personally adore what I'm making of it, and am going to see it through to the end. Thank you for reading, and until next time.
This really doesn't matter, but, as is noticeable in this chapter, I started lower-casing "pokémon " and species names. It's mostly due to another story that's been in my head that I have mostly typed up when I got bored one night where this stylistic choice fit better. So, I'll follow that for this story as well, and will go back and changed the previous chapters later. The only reason that I'm bothering to make a point of this is because I've noticed other people on here making a big point of it. Personally, after becoming so jaded on things, capitalizing and lower-casing both look wrong, so I'll at least be consistent in what I choose. Not like anyone really cares, huh? At least I won't be fighting with my phone's autocorrect as much now. This has been longer than it should have been, but that's what I get when I'm finishing this up at four in the morning for no reason at all.
As to the reviews:
Mythgirl: Yeah, the characters are actually what make this story. I've been thinking about them for a while, and found a way to put them on paper. Get ready for more colorful characters.
