With the trio gone and far out of sight, Crystal felt her body slowly easing the stress out of her muscles. Her fur settled down with a shiver that her reflexes told her to shake out. Her body didn't make a display out of it, working it out with a subtle quivering shake. She hoped she wouldn't have to see those kinds of pokémon again, but she knew that was a naïve fantasy to hope for.

The morpeko huffed, "Damn pussy-ass bitches…" she called them under her breath, the fuchsia flash returning her back to her golden, chipper hue.

She turned back to the building, catching the two watching her slightly with eyes slowly taking in her foul nature. She blinked once and then twice before smiling and holding a finger to her lips. "Why don't we keep that display our little secret?" she suggested with a wink.

"That won't be necessary," a voice said from behind them.

Another body began to exit the building, tall and lean and not at all impressed with the situation. An ampharos stepped calming from the small gathering's rear to the front of their group, rounded the corner of the building and spotted the large hole that still had chucks and bits to give back to the earth below. He avoided being hit in the head by one, watching the pebble bounce and roll into its new home on the ground before looking over his shoulder to the morpeko.

"Malorie," he called her name.

She pretended not to hear him.

"Mal!"

She winced at the second time, "Yeah?"

"Care to explain why we have yet another hole in our walls after we just finished patching up the last one?" he asked, gesturing to her handiwork.

Is this some kind of regular occurrence?

The morpeko shrugged her shoulders, "I swear I had a legit reason this time. The paps were bugging our two new candidates here. Bullying them and whatnot. And, as the front face of ALG's HQ, I had to step in and put a stop to it."

"By blowing another hole into our HQ?!" he shouted, jabbing a hand towards the damage that would surely need to be repaired sooner rather than later.

"Not my fault. They were holed up in the tree so I could only aim up."

"Yes, and I saw what you did to poor, little Trixie too."

Trixie?

"The poor girl didn't ask to have bullies in her branches, why did you have to take off her head with them?"

The tree?

"I've already told you to plant Trixie outside so she wouldn't be caught in the crossfires so that one's on you." the morpeko waved the blame away from her with a turn of her head, pressing a hand to her hip with a soft huff.

"On me?!" he shouted before burying his face into his hands and dragging the skin below his eyes downward. He inhaled deeply, then exhaled. "Fine," he conceded, "Fine, I'll plant her outside. But you owe her at least an apology for hurting her."

"Yeah, sure," she shrugged, accepting that much and he seemed very much relieved that that would be the end of that.

His body straightened and his attention shifted to the two new candidates she had mentioned. Proper introductions had to be made, and after such an eventful first impression, it felt way more necessary to convince the two young girls with their bright eyes and bushy tails that they weren't a group of savages trying to convince the public that they were, indeed, an accredited adventurers' guild.

"I am so sorry for the mess," he said, walking over to the two of them and gently dusting off the muck from the morpeko's one-sided battle. "I promise this isn't an everyday occurrence. Maybe once or twice every other week but certainly not every day." His body moved back to his standing position once he was satisfied that the two were returned to their pristine condition.

Emizella just stared up at him, her eyes dazed with a soft glitter radiating in her gem-like irises. "It's fine…" she answered slowly, holding the papers even closer to her chest.

He glanced down at the sheets and moved his eyes back up to hers, "Did you girls get the chance to sign it yet?"

Emizella was reminded of where they had left off before the simipour's shenanigans had interrupted them, wincing slightly at the realization. "Oh, uh," she looked down at the documents, "No, not yet."

He smiled, "Why don't we head back inside and get that taken care of?" he asked, reaching to escort them both back into the building.

The morpeko walked in with them. She gave a sideways glance at Crystal, taking notice of the stick lingering past her lips. She grabbed it, taking the candy back with a soft pop and returning it back into her own mouth. "Can't be signing anything with a busy mouth, can you?" she asked and walked away to the corner before Crystal could give any kind of response.

The ampharos reached over the desk, standing slightly on the tip of his toes to grab the idling pen laying on the surface. "Got it," he muttered when his grip gained purchase on the slender writing tool, pulling it over and handing it off to Emizella first. "Here you go."

Emizella took the pen from him, her gaze glancing towards Crystal and her warm, encouraging smile. A soft nod of her head gave the riolu the go-ahead to sign her name first. Crystal would have had to take a longer time with writing her own signature and the poor riolu had waited more than long enough.

Her eyes twinkled and her tail began to wag once more, slowed by apprehension but steadily gaining speed with each letter she engraved alongside so many others.

"I should have said this in the beginning but my name is Alistar. I sort of man the helm while our elusive leader is away, pretty much just keep everything in one piece around here."

The morpeko yelped, jumping out of the way as a chuck of the wall fell from the hole with spectacular timing. They all looked towards her startled expression, her body frozen for just a moment before she cleared her throat and began adding it to her clean up pile.

Alistar sighed, "Well… try to, at least." he muttered under his breath. Her attention shifted back to the two young candidates, "And you've met Malorie."

Crystal watched her silently, catching her give a short salute in their direction before going back to work dragging the bigger pieces of wood to the wall's edge and kicking the smaller pieces to join them.

The pen was handed off to her, hanging at the corn of her eye before she turned to take it into her mouth. Her teeth got a tight hold of if, making sure it wasn't going anywhere while also trying to not break it in her mouth either. Ink mixed with the leftover sugary-sweet taste on her tongue would make for a bad combination, indeed. With her sturdy, careful grip in place, she crouched herself over the paper and began to doodle down the first letter of her name.

"This time of year always gets the pokémon of Harmonia feeling a bit…excited, but I hope we haven't scared you off too much." he continued, drawing Crystal's attention back to their conversation.

"Not at all," Emizella beamed, her excitement back in full swing, "I've been waiting for this day since I was really little so it's going to take a lot more than that to scare me off."

He chuckled, finding delight in her childhood dreams—still pure and untouched by the realities of the profession. Crystal could see it spelled out in his softened eyes: "such innocence," they seemed to sigh fondly. She empathized with the feeling, breathing out a soft chuckle that helped the ink dry onto the page.

One last stroke and there was the day's date printed next to her sloppy writing. Well, at least Lillian's letters will give me some practice, Crystal thought as she squinted to try and make out her own name that she just wrote. All she could do was shrug at the scribblings. It was the best it was going to get for a mouth-drawn signature and there was only so much space to spare.

"All done?" Alistar asked when Crystal began to pull back.

Crystal's gaze turned up, pointing the pen tip towards the ampharos. She nodded with a soft, affirmative hum.

"Excellent! Then I'll just go ahead and take that…" He slid the packet of papers out from under her and grabbed the pen from her slacking jaw. "Well, I certainly wish you two the best of luck, Miss Emizella and Miss Crystal." he smiled, reading off their names from the sheet.

A soft glimmer of recognition came into his eyes as the name rolled off his tongue, looking down at their signatures again and squinting to make sure he read it right.

"Emizella…" he turned his eyes from the paper to the riolu, "Pardon me, but you wouldn't happen to know a lucario by the name of Emizel, would you?"

Emizella blinked, her smile falling from her lips. "Oh, yeah. That's my big brother," she answered.

"I thought so!" Alistar exclaimed, pounding a hand into his palm, "When I saw your application, I could just sense the family resemblance brimming right off the page. To think we could have both the big brother and the little sister in our ranks is quite exciting. Oh! But trust me, you'll have to pass the exam just like everyone else. We don't believe in nepotism here. But still, if you're Emizel's little sister then I'm sure you'll be just as promising as your big brother."

With every word that flowed past his rambling lips, Emizella's face tightened harder and harder until her smile was screwed firmly into her cheeks. The fur at the back of her neck began to stand on end and her tail remained as stiff as a rudder board behind her. Every sign that she wanted to leave, every indication that she was feeling uncomfortable, was kept behind her smile and agreeing nods.

Crystal could say with certainty that the ampharos meant no harm or malice behind his words but it couldn't keep her own fur from standing from her troubled discomfort. Of course, Emizella didn't want anyone to see it, but Crystal wished that he did so he could stop. But he carried on, oblivious in his own excitement and the small fennekin had to take matters into her own paws.

"Pardon me," she spoke up when Alistar stopped to take a breath, "I hate to cut this short so soon but someone is supposed to pick us up once we were done." She felt Emizella's eyes on her and she continued without any objections, "We should wait outside for her so she doesn't have to come looking for us."

"Oh! Yes, yes, we have been keeping you two much longer than any of us had expected, haven't we? Wouldn't want to keep your host guessing about your whereabouts. We'll see you both on test day, then. Mal," he called the morpeko who was now shoving the sticks out the hole, "Could you put those down and see Emizella and Crystal to the door?"

Malorie tossed the last of the sticks with a bit of a clang, some missing the hole and hitting the still-intact part of the wall instead. "Sure." She scaled down the tree and walked over to the two girls while patting her hands clean of the little wood bits stuck to her fur.

She walked them both to the door, holding it open once they reached the exit. "We'll see you back here next week. Make sure you're all rested up beforehand and don't go doing anything I would do."

Crystal nodded her, "Right. Goodbye, then."

The door closed with a gentle click behind them, leaving the two of them by themselves while the other pokémon civilians carried on with their day. They moved as if there hadn't been an uproar just a few minutes ago. Not even a peep or a whisper of gossip flowed through the air. Guess they're just too used to stuff like that, she figured.

Her scanning eyes landed on Emizella's profile, her smile gone and her face completely worn out by the strenuous effort. She didn't have the strength to frown by Crystal could see the dark clouds rolling into her eyes. What was it? Exhaustion? Disappointment? Emizella let a soft sigh leave her lips and it added even more weight to Crystal's chest. She couldn't stomach that kind of weight on her body, not even for a second.

She looked around again, standing on her hind legs for a better vantage point before sitting back down again. "I don't see Jasmine or Valerie around. They must still be taking care of their business," she noted. She heard a soft hum from Emizella's throat and decided to carry on, "Why don't we wait for them over there?" she suggested, pointing towards the patch of flowers and their colorful spectrum of petals.

Emizella nodded, her face remaining flat despite Crystal's efforts to distract her from this funk. She led the way into the flower bed and took a seat among the stems and grasses.

Crystal sat down beside her, breathing in the fragrant aroma. It all smelt so refreshing, like sunshine and fresh rain, but it felt so diluted if Emizella couldn't enjoy it too. "The flowers look so lovely here. I don't think I've ever seen a city this green before," she said, carefully sliding into the sea of velvety soft kisses as she laid onto her side.

"Mm-hm…" Emizella mindlessly felt at the petals, pinching and lightly pulling at them to make them sway.

Crystal's ears lowered and she reached a paw out to press against the steel bump on the riolu's arm. "Emi…" she called her softly, a gentle whimper decorating her voice.

Dawn came into Emizella's crimson eyes, realization blossoming through the fog to see Crystal on the other side. She breathed out a delicate smile, reaching a hand to stroke through the fennekin's fine fur. "C'mon, don't look at me like that," she asked, almost pleading for it as she ran her digits into the soft fur of Crystal's cheek. "I'm sorry I got you all worried. I'm fine, really."

Crystal rested her head on Emizella's palm, eyes peering up to check the tenderness taking over her face. "Are you sure? We can talk about it if you want."

"It's fine. It's nothing, just me and my silly problems."

Crystal sat up slightly, moving her chin out of Emizella's hand and staring deep into her eyes. "You know, when I had a whole lot of 'nothing' getting me down, I remember a certain riolu being there for me and listening to my silly problems." she said, her cheeks flustered and bashful at the recollection of her restless nights, "So… if it's all the same to you, I'd like to be a certain fennekin listening to your problems."

The sunset seemed to dance in Crystal's eyes, spinning and twirling in the warm embers of her gaze. It bled into her cheeks, making her glow, making her radiate a soothing heat that beckoned Emizella to find comfort in such gentle kindness. She was speechless to the sensation for a moment, just a moment, before she bit into her lips and formed the words over her tongue.

"It's… it's really stupid." she started, a self-deprecating smile coming onto her lips.

"I won't think it's stupid," Crystal reassured her, crawling closer to her and laying her head over her lap. "Go ahead, I'm all ears."

Emizella stared at her, a hand hovering over her head before a chuckle relaxed her arm and landed it on her sunny pelt. "Okay, so… don't get me wrong, I love my big bro and I'm proud to say I'm his little sister, but… I hate when people mention him and me in the same breath." she admitted to the fact, squeezing into Crystal's soft body for comfort, "It's like… I'm more than just Emizel's little sister, but no matter how far I go, no matter how hard I try… It just feels like I'm still in his shadow no matter where I go. And then I think… is it me they want or do they just want another Emizel? I'm trying to be my own pokémon but it's hard when they see my brother first and then me." She let out shaking breath that crashed like shattered glass into Crystal's ears. "But it's not like I can do anything about it… he was here first so of course everyone is going to know him before they get to know me. That's why… it feels a bit stupid to be getting frustrated like this."

"I don't think it's stupid at all…" Crystal told her, rolling under her hand and flashing her downy stomach at the riolu, "I've never met your brother, so I don't know if this counts, but I see you. I see you and all you do to be the very best you can be. It wasn't Emizel who saved me from Axel and his zangooses; it was Emi." She reached a paw up, caressing Emizella's cheek with a feather-light touch, "You're your own hero, Emi. And when you become an adventurer, everyone is going to see it. They're going to see you."

The words resonated in Emizella's mind behind shimmering, wet eyes. Crystal could see the seed sinking deep and making steady work of the riolu's anxieties that shrouded her gaze. The jewels began to shine through once more, pure and bright and unmistakably beautiful. Crystal really did love the color of those eyes. When their gleam was unabated and their clarity was unclouded and pure, Crystal found that she truly, deeply loved those eyes.

Emizella closed them before Crystal was finished appreciating their color, but Crystal could forgive her with that genuine smile of hers illuminating her face like the sun breaking past the horizon. She leaned in closer, pressing their foreheads together and wrapping her arms around Crystal's body.

"Thanks, Crystal…" Emizella whispered close to her face.

Crystal felt her heart seize in her chest before starting up again with a vengeance. It almost felt painful, how her heart kicked at her ribs and pushed against her lungs, but she couldn't call the feeling unpleasant. It just felt like a reminder—an intense reminder screaming at her that she was alive and living beside someone so precious to her.

She nuzzled back into her with a warm chuckle shared between the two of them. "Anytime…" she whispered back, her tail rubbing itself into the flowers and catching the petals in its thick, luscious fur.

"There you darlings are!" A familiar voice called them with its charming ring and refined melody, breaking through the nameless moment and putting an immediate stop to the hard, rhythmic thumping of Crystal's heart. "What are you two doing hiding away in the flowers like a couple of-" Jasmine stopped and stared at the two, her eyes tracing their conjoined shape. A knowing smirk came onto her lips and she turned to look at Valerie, "Looks like we might have interrupted something here." she giggled.

"What?" Emizella asked, rising up carefully with Crystal's head still keeping her lap grounded.

"Should we give you girls a few more minutes alone, or…"

Scarlet mixed with the royal blue of her fur and added a violet hint to the flustered color. Or perhaps the violet was from a lack of oxygen filling her lungs. Crystal lost count of how many seconds Emizella was staring at the two snickering canines with her breathless gasp so her conclusion was starting to lean closer to the latter.

"This isn't- We weren't- It's not like that!" she sputtered and fumbled, desperate for them to understand but failing to find the words to explain themselves.

"Right, right. Whatever you say." Jasmine teased, trying to contain her laughter behind a paw.

"I remember having plenty of 'it's not like that' moments when I was a kid. Take it from someone who's been there: it's best to just be honest." Valerie added with a suggestive wink of her eyes.

"By Xerneas's merciful grace…" Emizella groaned, hiding her face into her hands, "Crystal, do something. Tell them it's not like that."

I could… but that doesn't sound nearly as fun. "It's not like what?" Crystal asked with an innocent tilt of her head, playing up her charms and wiggling her body just a bit further onto Emizella's lap.

The riolu looked down at her squirming body, trust shattering in her eyes as her last line of hope betrayed her when she needed her most. She cried out in her heartbreak, "You're all awful!" she declared, rolling Crystal off of her body before running away from the situation.

Crystal laughed as she rolled herself back onto her feet and took off after her. "Wait! Emi!" she called between her giggles, "I'm sorry! Don't run off!"

"Do they even know the way back?" Crystal heard Valerie ask behind their sprinting bodies.

"Don't know. Why don't we find out?" Jasmine suggested and two more sets of paws joined in on the chase.

They raced down the street without a care for who saw them or what kind of face they were making when they passed. Just one more wild encounter on the streets of Harmonia and one more story to tell at the dinner table. But Crystal supposed that was just life in the big city.