Chapter 16: Final exam! Success or fail? (2/2)
Even if Darky was not happy about it, we had decided to stay here for the night. I already knew, if we'd fail the exam by being too late because of this, I'd never forgive myself. I also knew that Eevee would tell me, that it wasn't my fault. But no matter how it happened, my condition was the reason we could not continue. And what would be if I still wasn't better the day after? Honestly, I hope if that happens, both my teammates will get back to Darkys idea. But it was no use worrying about it all evening and night. I just made myself comfortable and tried to get some rest. While Darky often walked off to inspect the nearest region and to get some extra food, Eevee just stayed by my side all the time. It was clear to me that she was quite worried. And sadly, I couldn't say anything to make her feel better. But deep down, we both knew that everything was going to be alright. And for now, we wouldn't need any words to understand each other. With all that had happened, both of us have grown as Pokemon. And as friends. My parents were right sending me to school. I haven't known it before I went there, but I really need someone like Eevee in my life to be happy. And as the sun slowly went down, I fell into silken slumber.
It must've been around midnight as I woke up again. A rustling from a nearby bush had my attention. At least until it was just Darky stepping out. She put a few berries on the ground and looked at me with despise. "Try not to get her fleas, cuddling with your girlfriend." She lay down and went to sleep herself. Just because of what she'd said I even realised Eevee pressing herself to my flank while sleeping calmly. Luckily nobody saw me, since I probably blushed. Did she just call Eevee my girlfriend? But thinking about what she tried to do, she was very likely just very jealous and angry.
Before I fell asleep again, some thoughts circled around in my head. Many worries, for example if we'd even manage to still pass the exam. But we probably would, because we really had quite a buffer. There were only three tasks from what we were told. We still had to travel, but would get our last paper in Treasure Town. I also was worried about how to go on after school. And one last thought, that I'd definitely keep for myself for the time being, thinking about my best… well and only real friend, still sleeping calmly besides me… Darky had already called her my girlfriend. Would I maybe really want her to be that?
The next morning arrived quite soon. Me and Eevee were both woken by our teammate, obviously not having the patience to wait any longer. "Get done there already! I want to finish that exam! Come on!" Still sleepy, I didn't really think about the day before. "You don't have to rush like that. We still have plenty of time left!" I just realised it myself, as Eevee told me. "So, you can speak again? That's great! Are you feeling alright, Flame?" I felt okay. Still a little sleepy, but well otherwise. "Yes. We can move on now." "We would have either way. If you still can't keep pace, I'll leave you behind! Now let's finally get to Treasure Town!"
It did not take us that long to finally reach our next destination. I already knew the guild and showed my teammates how to enter. The voice at the entrance already expected us. "Pokemon detected! Vulpix, Eevee and Zorua. It's the students!" The gate opened and Wigglytuff came out of the guild. "I thought you were lost. Are you alright?" Before me or Eevee could tell the guildmaster anything, Darky answered. "We had a little accident in Crystal Cave and Flame wasn't able to travel yesterday afternoon. But everything's good now." He didn't really seem surprised. "I already suspected something like that. I told them that they shouldn't send a fire type to Crystal Cave. But it can't be changed now. Here's your last task. Good luck to you!"
One look at the paper he gave us, and we were all confused. There were no words written down. Only one item was glued to it. I recognized it as a Silver Spike. Eevee also recognized it and was confident about it. "They just wanted to test if we know items and if we could find the missing link. We have to go to Silver Town!" Silver Town was the third biggest city of our country by that time. The journey there would take pretty much one day from here. Together with one and a half days for our way back, we had quite the buffer left. They really didn't make the exam hard. We'd definitely manage to finish this. The only challenge we'd have to face would be Spring Forest, the last area before Silver Town. Even with it not being a dungeon anymore nowadays, it still was back then. Not a very difficult one though. We still had more than enough items left. It was nothing more but endurance.
I could talk about our journey to Silver Town as well, but nothing interesting really happened. Some arguments happened, mostly because of Darky trying to provoke Eevee and whining about us having to sleep in the nature the night before. Spring Forest was no challenge at all. Both Eevee and Darky were pretty strong and I really felt useless between the two of them. But thinking about the price they had to pay for their training… their membership as Servants. The sun had nearly vanished behind the horizon as we finally got to our destination. "What do we do now?" I asked my teammates. "I'd say it depends. First off, do we have any place to stay overnight?" "I don't know. We could probably ask if there's any place to spare. And if not, we'll have to spend the night outside." As already expected, Darky wasn't happy. "We'll search that stupid flag now and then we make sure that we won't have to sleep on dirt again!" I didn't really get why she hated the outside so much, but I could agree with her plan. We could mostly finish the exam today by just finding the flag. We'd have nothing to worry about overnight. It was the best for us. Eevee seemed to agree as well. "Good. But where to search? Do you think a villager has it?" Darky combined: "No, they wouldn't do it like that. They'll have hidden it somewhere around here. And looking at this place, there's only one place where it could be." "The tree on the hill." I finished her thoughts.
This hill was probably the most famous thing about this Town. Other than Metro City with its incredible history and Treasure Town with its guild, there wasn't much to make this place known. * But the great tree on the hill at the side of the beautiful Mirror Lake is known as a magical place. Not in a way of actual magic, but it's arguably the most beautiful place on this continent. Its atmosphere is told to be breath-taking.
Up on the hill, we all could see what the people meant. The sundown threw its reflection on the lake. The air was clean as the water of the sea. You could feel friendship and love on this place. It's as if this place would save up all the happiness that has ever gotten her to give it to everyone. As all of us took a few minutes to enjoy the view, I felt Eevee lean against my shoulder. Once again it reminded me of last night. We went through so much together. She was the best friend I'd probably ever have. Or was she more than a friend. The warmth of her and the atmosphere of this blessing of nature made me come to a decision. As soon as we'd graduate, I'd ask her to be my girlfriend. I did not want to deny my feelings any longer.
Darky broke the illusion and wanted us to go on. "If you're done watching water, can we just focus on the mission? The flag will probably be on top of that tree." She was probably right, me and Eevee both knew this. "Okay. Darky, can you go get it? Me and Flame can't get to the top." I was surprised as she seemed keen too. She had some kind of creepy smirk in her face. "Of course." The very next moment, she turned into a Fearow and flew to the top. The leaf canopy of the tree made her fade out of our vision. We could just see the leaves shaking. The very next moment, she jumped out of the tree, a piece of fabric in her mouth. The flag. What was weird was just, that she had turned into a Vulpix.
Standing a few feet away from us, Darky laid down the flag. Eevee didn't seem as suspecting as me. "We did it! We finished the exam!" Darky corrected her, still having her evil smirk. "No, we haven't. We only pass if we bring the flag to the principal." "Yeah that's clear. But what should stop us now?" The smirk grew wider and I know something was wrong. "Me of course!"
Before me or Eevee had any chance of reacting, the fiend had bitten the fabric with a Fire Fang. Within seconds the flag was completely turned into ashes, being blown away by the wind. "What the f*ck did you do? Why did you do this?" Turning back to a Zorua, the Pokemon's madness showed once more. "Did you idiots really think I'd work together with YOU of all people? I don't care if I fail the test too. All I wanted is to ruin you! What will you tell Raichu? That I burned the flag? Without any prove you'll just look like losers trying to find excuses for your failure."
Now that the facade has ended, Eevee became angry. "Are you dumb? If you want to continue your stupid war with me, fine. But keep Flame out of this!" "He became a part of this, thanks to you. Didn't I tell you to stay away from him? You ignoring me made me have to do this. And after rejecting me like this, I realised that he is nothing more than a useless idiot too." She transformed once more. This time, she became an actually strong Pokemon. I already knew where she got this copy ability from… she turned into a Garchomp. "And now that I made sure, that this flag will never see Metro City again, I'll make sure, you will share its fate!" The exam was over. We could not pass anymore. But the true test was starting now. We would finally have a showdown against the pest that wanted to tear me and Eevee apart. It was time for her to get what she deserves!
*as you hopefully know, this will change around 100 years after this story in "Pokemon Mystery Dungeon Walross/Walrus Edition" with Silver Town being the main base of the heroes. The events of PMD 2 in Treasure Town also haven't happened yet to make the city even more famous.
A/N: Even after telling you that I won't make it by today, I somehow managed to finish this chapter today. As I'm writing this, it's literally 5 minutes before publishing. I wrote that whole thing within the last hour. Yay. And next time, there will be the battle you've all been waiting for. And the return of a known character of the prequel!