A pillar of light shots down from the heavens, landing on the riverside, summoning a frightened Eevee from the dungeon behind him. The cool afternoon breeze brushes against him, startling him and making him look this way and that.
Finally realizing where he is, he lets out a sigh as he collapses on the ground, his badge landing beside him as the splish splash sounds of the river helping him calm down.
He rolls on his back, staring at the rolling clouds up above, blocking the intense sunlight that would have been shining down on him.
"That thing was probably the reason why those two needed help." He frowns. "How did those two end up there anyway?"
His ears twitch to the sounds of faint footsteps, getting louder and louder as the seconds fly by. He turns his head towards the noise and sees a trio of Pokemon walking towards him.
"You okay over there?" an Espeon asks.
The Eevee looks back up at the clouds. "Yeah. Just resting for a bit."
The trio stop a few paces from him. Among them, a Gifarafig frowns at him. "You're not thinking of going inside, are you?"
"I'm a rescuer," the Eevee quickly says.
The Girafarig blinks, and then spots a badge on the ground lying beside the Eevee. "Oh. Uh, sorry. I thought you weren't."
"He can take care of himself," the Meowstic says as he turns to his two companions. "Let's be on our way."
The other two nod in agreement. They bid the Eevee farewell before they continue walking, their retreating footsteps getting fainter until the sounds of nature is all the Eevee can hear.
Still on his back, he grabs his badge and raises it up towards the heavens. "Re..." he trails off, blinking and squinting his eyes at his badge, its soft and round edges reflecting the faint sunlight poking through the thick clouds. "Hm..." He closes his eyes and lightly shakes his head. "Return, Tabindagat City, eastern gate."
A beam of light from the heavens surrounds him, teleporting him outside the eastern gate of the cliffside city. The Hitmonlee gate guard blinks at the teleported Eevee lying on the ground on his back.
Ignoring the fighting-type and a few other Pokemon in the vicinity, he rolls on his paws, stands up on all four and walks straight towards the guild.
"E-excuse me..."
Blinking, the Eevee stops and turns toward the feminine voice...
...and suddenly the world seems to go in slow motion as he marvels at the tired and panting beauty before him, her cream- and purple-colored fur radiating under the cloudy afternoon sun.
He quickly closes his eyes and shakes his head, telling himself to get himself under control. He reopens his eyes in time to see the Delcatty dainty wiping the tiny roll of sweat off of her soft cheek.
She smiles and blushes in embarrassment. "I'm so sorry that you had to see that."
He blinks, feeling his cheeks a bit warmer than usual. "Er..."
She slowly nods an apology, and looks back at him with the sweetest of smiles. "And I'm so sorry to bother you, dear sir, but may you perhaps direct me to the guild?"
Oh, shit. This babe's heading towards the guild, too! Wait, what is he thinking?! He awkwardly smiles at her. "Er..." He's going there, too. Should he offer the two of them to go there together, or just point her to its general direction and he go the other way?
He blinks. He's been doing the latter a lot back home, focusing not on himself but on his sister...
He turns his attention towards the direction of the guild, mostly to hide the sad frown on his face. "I'm...going there myself."
"Oh?" the Delcatty says, her ears perking up. "Do you mind if I ask you to take me there, good sir?"
He closes his eyes and sighs. "Yeah, sure, as long as you stop calling me sir."
She smiles and nods. "Sounds fair, but what should I call you?"
"Nothing." He reopens his eyes and starts walking on the busy street, the Delcatty following close behind him.
"Oh, but that won't do," she tells him with a frown as she quickens her pace until she's walking beside him. "Perhaps an introduction is in order?"
"Just call me Eevee," he quickly tells her. He always shuts them down back home. He can't afford to be distracted, not as long as his sister needed him.
"You seem to be troubled with something." A small smile. "Do you want to talk about it?" She chuckles. Such a wonderful sound. "I have the ears for it," she tells him as she moves her ears.
Life is never easy, at least that's what he convinces himself to believe. No point in talking about unimportant things, especially not in this world. He has made too many connections already.
"We're here," he announces as he stops before the wide steps of the guild.
The Delcatty looks up, up and up at the tall and magnificent structure before her, an awestruck smile on her sparkling face. "Oh my... This place is...!" She then blinks and quickly composes herself. "Apologies. I, uh, don't go out often..." she trails off as she spots the Eevee already up and entering the guild's entrance. She tilts her head in confusion. "...Such a weird fellow, that one." She closes her eyes and slightly shakes her head. "I do hope he finds someone who he can open up to." A small smile. "Like I did." A determined nod. "Right..." She takes a deep and brave breath as she takes her first step on the guild's wide steps.
Inside the guild, the Eevee sighs as he walks through the large and spacious and busy lobby. "I can't believe I can fall for a Pokemon," he mumbles to himself.
For better or for worse, he can fall for a Pokemon if he ever decides to stay and live a life in this world. He finds the idea both comforting and horrifying. He quickly kicks that line of thought aside. He has a ticket back home, so it's pointless to be even entertaining such an idea.
He enters the mission room and takes a seat opposite of the Alakazam, who looks up from his work and smiles at him.
"Ah, greetings, friend," he greets him. "How may I be of service? Or are you here to share another one of your fascinating theories?"
Despite it all, the Eevee manages a small smile as he closes his eyes and shakes his head. "Sorry, but no theories for today." He then blinks as he recalls something. "Well, I do have something but it's not worth sharing." He looks up at the psychic-type. "Not yet anyway."
"Oh, I didn't think you'd be such a tease!" The Alakazam lets out a laugh. "I will anticipate the day you share it then. So!" He smiles wide. "You are here to report a completed mission, yes?"
With a nod, the Eevee fishes out the two mission letters from his bag. As the Alakazam takes it with his telekinesis, he blinks as a thought just hits him. Why are the letters, his bag, and heck, even himself weren't wet when he got out of that dungeon?
Ears drooping, he sighs and shakes his head.
"Two rescues in one go? And all by yourself?" the Alakazam remarks as he continues working on the forms. "That is quite impressive if I do say so myself." With his work down, he smiles at the normal-type. "Great work today, Jay."
His eye twitches.
"Your rank will be updated shortly." The Alakazam winks. "I added a little boost to it. I hope it is enough to get you out of the negative."
"T-thanks, I guess?" He wants to tell him not to call him by his name, but decides not to make a scene out of it, be it big or small. "The ones I rescued are in the recovery rooms, right?"
"If the reward money is something you are worried about, do not fret, my good friend!" the Alakazam says. "It will be sent to your bank account." He blinks, his smile fading somewhat. "You...are aware of this, yes?" He looks down at the forms on his desk, twirling his mustache in thought. "I do remember it being mentioned in the handbook."
Oh, right. The handbook. He hasn't really read through it yet, but... "No, I just wanted to ask them a question or two."
"Ah, but of course." The psychic-type nods with a smile. "Curious how they ended up in the dungeon, yes?"
"You read me like a handbook."
The Alakazam laughs. After exchanging goodbyes, the Eevee exits the large room and sees the Delcatty standing by the stairs leading up to the second floor.
She notices him and smiles at him. "Oh, hello again, my good s..." She blinks and chuckles. "Oh, my apologies."
"You're waiting for someone?" Gee, isn't it obvious? He mentally slaps himself.
She nods. "Mhmm. I haven't seen him in quite a while." Despite the smile, her tone carries a hint of remorse. "I... I was hoping to..." She sighs, her ears drooping. "Let's just say that I have not been fair to him."
The Eevee supposes that it was a good call to stop himself from falling for her, even though he really shouldn't fall for anyone in the first place. "Well, good luck, I guess?"
Not in this world at least.
"Thank you." She smiles and nods. "I see that you're busy. Please, don't let me hold you off."
With nothing else to say, the Eevee climbs up the stairs. As he stands by the entrance of the recovery room, he blinks and wonders why he cares about how those two ended up in that underwater dungeon anyway. Perhaps it's his curiosity?
He enters—
"A moment."
Startled, he whips his head towards the voice and sees the blue-ringed Umbreon standing beside him. "Jesus Christ, don't sneak up on me like that!"
The Umbreon arches a non-existent eyebrow. "...Right. My apologies." He then walks toward the library. "Please follow me."
The Eevee sighs. Well, he just rescued the two Pokemon from the dungeon, so it's safe to assume that they're still unconscious and are still recovering. And there are more than one recovery rooms, so they're probably not in this one.
His curiosity now hooked on another, he frowns as he follows the dark-type to the library, where the Mew manages to smile and wave at them before going back to her work behind her desk.
"What's her name, by the way?" the Eevee asks as the Umbreon leads him to the spot by the window.
"Hm?" the Umbreon hums as he takes his seat.
"Your wife," the Eevee clarifies as he takes the seat opposite of him.
"Puppy."
The Eevee blinks at him. "Uh... Is that a nickname or something?"
The Umbreon frowns a curious frown at him.
"Right. So what do you want?"
"I have done a bit of research on the side," the Umbreon says, adjusting his glasses.
"About what?"
"You."
The Eevee blinks. "Er...what? Is there a book about me?"
The Umbreon shakes his head. "Have you ever wondered how you got here?"
"Not really." He blinks. "Well, I did, but it's kinda pointless if I'm going back home anyway."
"You are betting all this on this Palkia person?" The Umbreon frowns. "But what if they're not there, or if they cannot send you back?"
"I..." the Eevee trails off, his ears drooping. "...I'd rather not think about it."
The Umbreon nods. "Fortunately, I did thought about it. I believe that if we learn how you got here, we can at least investigate from there and figure out a way to send you back."
There's something about him that just ticks the Eevee off, but, the Umbreon seems to care about him, in his own way anyway. Best to control himself.
The Umbreon frowns. "From the research I did, you humans bring catastrophe to our world, so it is in our best interest to be rid of you as soon as possible."
The Eevee frowns back at him. "Gee, and here I was thinking you're a goodie-goodie." He blinks. "Wait... I'm not the first?"
The Umbreon closes his eyes and slightly shakes his head. "And you are probably not the last."
"I see." He glares at him. "So... Instead of helping me, why don't you just..."
The Umbreon frowns. "...I prefer not to get my consciousness tainted in red, directly or otherwise." He adjusts his glasses, the afternoon light reflecting off of it. "And because of the two latest news about your kind."
He blinks. "Two...latest news?"
The Umbreon nods. "Indeed. While catastrophe did follow them, they weren't the cause. On the contrary, they were the key, or at least a part of, in stopping or fixing the disasters." He frowns. "From these, I have concluded that the ancient writings about your kind have been misunderstood and have not been given proper investigation."
The Eevee frowns. "Okay. So... What? I'm here to stop whatever danger's coming?" He closes his eyes and shakes his head. "Because believe me, I am not gonna be of any help."
"That remains to be seen."
"I can barely hold my own against wilds!"
A curious blink. "Is that so? How curious..." The Umbreon closes his eyes and sighs. "Regardless, the fact that no danger has presented itself is proof that, perhaps, you're not here to save us."
"And I hope it stays that way."
"And speaking of wilds..." The Umbreon stares at him. "I have a theory, if you can call it that. Have you ever wondered whose body it is you are using?"
The Eevee blinks, and frowns. "...I'd like to believe that it's still my human body, just transformed into a Pokemon."
"Yet we can't deny the possibility that you are merely 'borrowing' someone else's body." He taps his chin with a paw. "Perhaps even a body of a wild?"
The Eevee opens his mouth to retort, but no words are coming out.
The Umbreon nods. "Think about it. Or the lack of it." He shakes his head. "Wilds are mindless creatures. What say will happen if someone else's consciousness transfers to a wild, otherworldly or otherwise? There are wild Eevees in the forest where you were found, after all."
The Eevee closes his mouth.
"There are no records as to how humans got here," the Umbreon continues. "At least not yet from my research. I am hoping that the three of you can shed some light on that."
"Three?"
"You and the two from the news of which I have mentioned."
"Oh..." His ears droop, and he lets out a sigh. "Sorry, but I've no clue how I got here."
The Umbreon nods his head. "I see. As I said, perhaps it is best to learn how you got here." He slides off of his seat. "Do give it some thought." He then walks away, leaving the Eevee alone under the rays of the afternoon sun.