Rustle, bustle, chitter-chatter, pitter patter, gossip, glamour, hollering and muttering, talking and boasting. The guildhouse was alive, rejuvenated by the freedom of spring. Adding to it further was the presence of Snivy and Swana at the guild though subtracting from it was the absence of Locke. The shinx was still squared away with his newly discovered family and investing his daily hours to reconnecting with them instead.
As one with a keen awareness of the guild's dynamics might expect, where there was activity and chatter in the guild, there was Tamin the minccino eavesdropping on it. The day was typical in how it began in that way. Just her following the routine she felt a compulsion to establish.
Like a child dipping their toes in cold water to gradually get used to the temperature, the minccino was easing herself into going to the basement. While winter had forced her down there many times out of having nothing else to do, now she was getting comfortable enough to go down without obligation or duress. There was no singular moment of breakthrough, just slow, easy progress on overcoming this strange part about herself over time.
The minccino listened carefully at all the aforementioned chitter-chatters. Eavesdropping wasn't something she would drop like a hot plate, she clung to it, the glimpses into the lives of others was still her favorite hobby. She started in the lobby, but didn't remain there. While things were active there, no one would be willing to discuss gossip and more private matters out in the open. It was just smalltalk and tame subject matter. Rather, Tamin knew she'd have to journey out into places less public to get the truly fascinating subjects, like gossip and members talking behind each other's backs. Thus, she walked down the basement halls to go elsewhere.
After a minute of going around, she began to hear some utterances. She identified it as two female voices, one in a tone similar to how someone sounds when being sarcastic while the other had been speaking very carefully without a hint of being nonchalant, like she was watching her tongue carefully.
She traced where it was coming from and tip-toed to get close enough to make out individual words.
"Huh, interesting," Buizel said, referring to some subject that Tamin did not arrive early enough to hear. "You know, it feels like it's been awhile since we've had a proper conversation."
"Yeah, really has been," Froslass replied.
"More than two years since we joined this guild together… curious how time can slip by so quickly."
"I know. Sorry I haven't spoken with you more, I suppose I've just made other friends and have talked with them more," Froslass confessed.
"It's perfectly fine. We always have time to try and get closer again. Always," Buizel reassured. "Let's start now, in fact. How has being a part of the recruitment process been for you?"
"It's alright. More relaxed then normal missions, so that's always a boon," Froslass said.
"How did the two newest members go?"
"Swana was capable by all means, definitely starting this career off on a strong foot. Snivy I'm more concerned over, ended the mission breathing a bit heavily and distraught over whatever he saw, I don't believe he has the emotional necessary for the job yet."
"I can try to help her with that, if that's the case," Buizel offered.
"Maybe. I'm just not sure that would work out best given your sleep schedules. Talk with her about it directly."
"Will do. I'll gladly stay up if I can help others."
"Mhm," Froslass said. "Say, I know you're staunchly against gossip, but I do want to ask. What do you feel about Yuki and what happened to her?"
"I believe she got the retribution she deserved. Though I do hope she gets better in the future," Buizel stated. "I always felt some dark premonitions when it came to her. I know now that was Arceus telling me to avoid her."
"Wow. Yeah, I can understand that feeling," Froslass said, caught off guard by Buizel's stinging words and supernatural suggestions. "I actually tried befriending her a while back, but backed off after her brother did certain things and she was taking his side. Seems I dodged a disaster there.
I don't think she has any friends outside of her brother, especially once that broke down. Also haven't seen her show romantic affection towards anyone. Although I actually have a feeling that her and Sebastien have been exchanging magazines. Haven't found any solid proof of that, but I'm still relatively sure."
"Gossip," Buizel said, it sounded like a full sentence with a finish despite being just one word.
"Sorry, I'll stop."
"Thank you. Although if I have to be honest, I don't care for Sebastien either. They're both- and apologies for my wording- degenerates."
"I don't typically hear you not holding back when it comes to what you say."
"I control my tongue and choose all my words carefully. That was no different," she stated.
"I see," Froslass said.
The conversation seemed to spark down after that, a few failed attempts to ignite a proper conversation with a new topic happened, but that didn't stop the talk from collapsing into mundane smalltalk. Thus, she moved on to look for more subjects to overhear.
She walked to a section of the basement with wider hallways and rooms. Finally, she was confident enough in her pathfinding skills to not be lost. Like before, she heard two voices, and walked closer to be able to start making out words. This time, it was one male voice and one female voice.
"How'd you get so high in the guild ranking?" Tamin heard Fraxure ask.
"Well, I got tough and strong. Although to be honest, a lot of it is just because I'm on the missions Armin is on and he just carries the whole team. He's just that good, haha," Max responded to her.
"Really? Well alright then (guess I was hoping for something more)," Fraxure expressed. "I was just wanting to climb the ranks more this year. Been way too lax about that so far."
"Ah. Well if you want, I'd always be up for doing some missions to help you out~" Max said, his voice didn't say flat and informative, it had an uptick in tone, like what someone would have when asking for permission or talking with a lover.
"Maybe, but I was more thinking of if there were any- like- tips you can give me?" Fraxure asked.
"Oh, okay. Sorry, sorry, sorry," Max stuttered out with awkwardness. "Umm, don't charge head-first into combat, just blindly rush attacking often doesn't work out. Especially with trickier pokemon like Mimikyu. But for Psychic types, they're bodies are pretty weak so closing the distance quickly is often a good option, just watch your step and surroundings when you do it. And- well- uh- not sure what else."
"Well I knew all of that," Fraxure said with an air of annoyance peeking through her thin sheet of politeness in her demeanor.
"W-well, I don't know what to give you right now. Like I don't know what you have trouble with or not. Give me some point of reference."
"Ah, okay, fair enough," Fraxure said. "I guess it's dealing with the smaller pokemon. Even with really big ones I can block and watch their movements well enough, but it's hard to reach down at the little ones sometimes."
"I see. Well melee might not be the best options for that then. Try learning something like dragon rage, and get some distance so you have a better angle then. Also no shame in asking for help from your companions."
"I don't like asking for help. What if they're busy and unable to give it?" Fraxure asked.
"Yeah that's something to work on. In fact, I'll always be open to help you out. We can even do a mission together later today," Max said, his tone rising like before.
"You're awfully insistent on doing a mission with me," Fraxure said, annoyed once.
"Umm, forget about that then. Hey, let's try something else. Tell me what your most impressive feat in a mission has been."
"Good question. Let me think… hmm…" Fraxure tuned down for a moment as she pondered. "Oh yeah, last fall I had this epic moment where there was a thin bridge in a dungeon, and I won a one-on-three battle in it. Each of them was something that I'd struggle with on an even fight.
Each of them were charging straight at me, and I was stationary at the start of the bridge. I went forward and managed to seamlessly dodge the first one's attack and then shoved it off the bridge. Then there was a bit of cover from a rock on the bridge that the other two were behind. It wasn't that high, but what I did is that I pulled out a blast seed and slid it along the bridge, getting it right in front of it. They didn't have a line of sight on it, so they didn't notice.
The two others then charged at me. Second one managed to jump over it, but the second vaulted over the rock and stepped right on the blast seed, crushing it. It blew up, the force and the surprise manage to be enough to make them fall off the bridge. The one remaining turned around to look at what happened, and while they were turned I struck them.
It was just magnificent."
"Sounds great. We've all gotten a moment where we did unusually good, like we were momentarily possessed by a much better explorer and executed everything gracefully. Just think of what you did in that moment, and work to replicate that," Max advised. "With a pokemon like you, I'm sure you can start getting moments like that consistently before too long."
"Thanks, I'll be sure to think about that," Fraxure said. "Hey, any feats you have you want to talk about?"
"That doesn't matter, I think I'd like to hear more about what you've done."
"I think I'm done talking about that now."
"Oh…" Max said.
After Fraxure said that, Tamin realized she was done listening to them as well.
She shifted further away from those two, knowing that she was not heard and could not have been seen, as they weren't in any position to make line of sight on her. Tamin moved back towards the parts of the basement with thinner hallways, more catered to the typical adventurer.
It seemed like the golden hour for eavesdropping was coming to a close, as Tamin spent several minutes walking around and carefully listening for more discussion. It was this concept that she had picked up on, that the guild was at its most socially active in the morning after breakfast and before the nocturnal pokemon began going asleep. Nine-o-clock in particular was what she deduced the golden hour to be. But as some began going off to early missions, some went to help with getting lunch ready, and some went to bed, it was extremely trivial sociology that the social dynamics would wane after that point.
Tamin was almost ready to call it quits for eavesdropping, part of her mind was thinking about the books in her room she had to read instead of being entirely focused on listening. But before making her final walk back to the lobby, she finally caught two soft voices talking to each other. Like the two times before, she was instantly caught like a fish on a hook, and was instinctively pulled in. Getting close enough to discern precisely what was being said and who was speaking, but not so close to be noticed on her soft minccino feet, she could tell that this time it was two female voices.
She found it to be a fun bit of symmetry that one conversation was with two boys, one with a boy and a girl, and this one had two girls; a kind of symmetry that made this questionable hobby even more fun for the minccino.
"So, what did you want to talk to me about?" Sebastien was heard asking the other pokemon she was with.
"You're still really close with Espeon, right?" Olivia was heard responding, using another question instead of an answer.
"We've had some rocky points, but we got through alright, yeah. We're still in the same flower, but I know he doesn't want me to go too into detail with it," Sebastien answered. "What about it?"
"Great to hear. I was just wondering if you could give me any tips for a relationship. Like, how do you keep things so lively even with the fighting?"
The next thing Tamin heard wasn't an answer nor a question back. It wasn't a non-sequitur to evade, or words at all. It was just a long, defeated sigh coming from the meowstic's mouth.
"Still going after Locke, are we?" Sebastien finally got the words to ask.
"Yeah, I am," Olivia said without guilt, just straightforward and informative. "I heard that sometimes you need to give people some time alone, and if you keep persistent that will just drive them away from you. So I've waited about two months now since I last tried, and I think that's long enough. Now I want to make a strong re-introduction of our relationship."
"Well, it's good that you're not turning stalkery, but I don't think that puts you all the way into the clean."
"What do you mean?" Olivia asked, non-accusatory befuddlement riddling her tone.
"Are you sure this is a 're-introduction'? Like you had a relationship before?"
"Of course I am. We're soul mates. And sometimes some relationships with distance are just what you need," the emolga said. "At least, that's what I read."
"Look, I really don't think Locke is right for you and you're intrinsically bound to him," Sebastien confessed, keeping her tone low and calm to avoid escalating and to give off an aura of being understanding, on the same page. "If he comes around to you, then that's his decision. But if he doesn't love you, I don't think you're on the right track by 'making' him love you. Especially not with moves like Attract. Never use moves or artificial stimuli.
Why are you so convinced he's your soulmate anyways?"
"I can just... feel he is, y'know? I'm sure you feel like that with Espeon as well."
"And why do you feel that way?" Sebastien said, still doing her best to be on the same page instead of argumentative.
"Emotions. You can't convey all of emotions with words and explanations, emotions are emotions. If you could convey it all with words, then that's not pure emotion anymore, that's reason. And that's not what I'm going for when I'm going for a love relationship."
"I understand where you're coming from, but you have to underst- wait, you're telling me you're against reason?" Sebastien said, her calm and understanding tone collapsing.
"Yes. It's love I want, for both me and him, not just words and stuff like that. If I wanted that, I'd go read a book. Love is pure and it's its own thing, it's for the soul."
"Wh-wh-no. You can't just be against reason," Sebastien said, too dumbfounded to articulate proper counter arguments. "That's not how it works. Like, just no."
"Emotion and reason are opposites, and it's the emotion I want. That's what I feel with Locky," Olivia explained.
"N-no, no nonononono, you can't just abandon reason like that. You can't ever do that. You're being unreasonable. I mean, quite literally, you are being completely unreasonable if you do not have. Just- n-no."
"Okay, I won't give up reason and stuff. But I'm just looking for some advice," Olivia said, mildly dismissive as though the first sentence wasn't fully honest.
"Well I'm TRYING to give you that, but I'm not sure now I can give you that advice that doesn't include any reason," Sebastien said, still with uncertainty on how to proceed in this confusing conversation.
"Just tell me how you got things to work between you and Espeon so much."
"Okay look, I think you're looking at this from the wrong way. You seem absolutely certain that it has to be Locke, you're certain that he's 'the one' and you just need to figure out how to get to him, not who to get to. But you might not be right with that.
I didn't land with Espeon because I just had some gut feeling he was the one at first sight. I figured it out after spending time with him. And even now there's a possibility we won't get married. It's the same for you. I think- (um, how should I put this)- that you should keep looking and waiting for more boys and be open to the possibility that Locke isn't the one you're destined for.
Yeah, I think that's about everything."
"Well, alright…" Olivia unsurely said before pausing, "... are you sure what you're talking isn't just a psychic type thing?"
"What?" Sebastien asked.
"I mean, you all have some big brains and minds, but other stuff is weaker. So it would make sense if that reason and 'getting to think it out first' stuff would be connected to you guys."
"Olivia, I'm trying to be honest with you, I don't think it is exclusive to psychic types."
"Are you able to prove that at all?"
"Well, I supposed not. Well, at least not now."
This time, it was Olivia who let out a sigh.
"I was just wanting some advice on how to get closer to Locke, and it seems you can't give that. So thanks, but I think this is the best I can get. Cya."
"Olivia, just try to think this out more- wait, where are you going? Olivia, just stay here."
Tamin could sense that the emolga was coming her way as she walked and stopped away from Sebastien, so she acted and moved out of the position to avoid getting within her line of sight.
With soft, silent feet, she walked towards the lobby again, figuring that blending in with a crowd would be a good way to avoid Olivia's potential scorn. Left in her mind was everything from the conversations she just overheard: Frolass and Buizel's talk about their past connections and what relationships Yuki had, the conversation with Max and Fraxure where Tamin couldn't shake the thought that Max seemingly had some crush on her that he was hiding, and the talk Olivia had about her doomed crush on Locke.
Meanwhile, in the lobby below the main floor, Scampi the rockruff was sitting on one of the provided sofas. She wasn't doing terribly much: looking left, looking right, talking here, listening there. But while there, she noticed Tamin emerging from one of the hallways which sprouted off from the lobby. Scampi took notice immediately, but could discern that something was off. Tamin was never much of a smiler, a fact Scampi was well acquainted with, but this time was different in a way that couldn't quite be put into words, only felt. She could see a sense of remorse on her, like that hole one feels in their stomach when something is just missing in their life. Scampi hopped down from her place to approach and investigate, but Tamin didn't notice her. The minccino's mind was still thinking about all the things she had just heard.
Tamin was about to get to one of the staircases up, Scampi called out to her.
"Are you feeling okay?" Scampi asked, her voice as innocent as always.
"Hmm? Oh yeah, everything's okay," Tamin said, her mind elsewhere.
"What's going on with you?" Scampi followed up. "I can tell something's up."
"It really is nothing, I'm fine," Tamin tried to reassure.
"Have you been talking to others a lot? Or at least, like, a good amount?"
"Not really. I'm an introvert, you know that," Tamin relied.
"Hmm..."
The rockruff's head tilted to the side as she did a deep study of Tamin's face and posture, mentally referencing it with what she knew of her and the current happenings in the guild. She took a quick glance around, studying the pokemon around to get a swift check on what they were doing as well. She thought for a few seconds, Tamin just standing there, until her face suddenly lit up. Her head straightened and came up, her bright eyes widened, and you could practically see a light build appear over your head.
"Oh! I know what's up!" Scampi declared.
"What is it?" Tamin asked, taken aback as she had no idea where the rockruff was coming from.
"Not now, I can't tell you now," Scampi said, tail beginning to wag.
"What?"
"You'll see!"
The rockruff turned and began to run off, leaving a baffled minccino in her wake.
"Scampi, what is it? Where are you going?"
She tried talking, but it was too late, Scampi was already gone just like that. Tamin just hanged back, arms up in a posture of absolute bafflement. She didn't know how to respond, no one in the room who witnessed had. Tamin briefly looked around to check the reactions of the others. A moment later, lacking other things to do, she simply did her best to brush that strange event off and continue on with her day.
The next few hours were as routine as could be. She went to her room to read a book for a little while, eventually heard the lunch bell ring, answered that bell, the whole shebang. It wasn't until the time had reached two in the afternoon that things became out of the norm again.
Right as she was minding her own business, she heard the small yet heavy footsteps of the rock type pokemon getting closer to her. She turned towards the sound, turned to face Scampi, who was a few meters away from her.
"Hey Tamin," Scampi managed to talk first even though Tamin had finally noticed her getting close this time.
"Hey there. Anything you need?" Tamin asked.
"Wanna join on a mission with me?" Scampi eagerly asked, her tail giving a small wag. "You're the last person I need."
"Sure, I don't have any other plans for missions today," Tamin casually replied. "Who else is on the team?"
"Nidorino as well. It's just a three man mission, with you, me, and Nido. Should be pretty chill."
Tamin looked up and behind the rockruff, seeing Nidorino, who had just rounded the corner. The two made eye contact, a wordless exchange.
"Okay, so that's all?" Tamin asked.
"Yepity-yep! Now come on, let's all get ready!"
Once again, Scampi ran off to start getting ready. Tamin could tell that something was off, that Scampi had some kind of plan she wasn't telling. She didn't have the same profound instincts that Locke had, but still had the intuition to tell if something was off. She turned to Nidorino and looked at him. "Do you know what this is about?" she asked.
"No clue," he admitted.
"Mhm."
The two went to where Scampi had run off to this time, seeing her preparing a backpack of supplies for this trip. They began to follow suit.
"So, what is this mission for? Where are we heading?" Tamin asked.
"We just need to break something in a dungeon," Scampi answered.
"It's a search and destroy mission," Nidorino clarified. "Some dungeon pokemon scurried off with some sort of artifact. But instead of asking us to retrieve it, the mission asks us to break it."
"Really? Seems odd they don't want us to get it back," Tamin said. "I mean, if they don't want it, why not leave it there and save the money?"
"Maybe it's something embarrassing," Scampi suggested.
"Who is our client for this mission?" Tamin asked as she grabbed a backpack that fit her.
"House Breach," Nidorino answered for her. "They're one of the noble houses close to the guild. At least they pay well."
"And the object?"
"Apparently, some small magenta statue," Nidorino said.
"Hmm. Still seems strange but alright," Tamin expressed, but still continued packing her backpack. "At least that shouldn't be hard to locate."
The three geared themselves up with the necessary supplies of flares, berries, canteens, and seeds. Specific to this mission they grabbed some hammer and chisels so they could actually crack the object after locating it. Once geared up, they took to the road and walked northward.
The speckles of green were visible in all the trees of all the sprouting leaves, but most areas still hadn't had thick chunks of green that casted solid shadows on the forest grounds yet. They followed the gravel roads as normal.
Travel was obviously synonymous with being an explorer, but it was still the most boring part of the job. Tamin and Nidorino were as quiet as they usually were. Scampi was as unquiet as she usually was.
"So it's been like forever or something since you've worked together on a mission, right?!" Scampi declared.
"I suppose," Tamin said flatly.
"Well to be fair, we weren't able to do too many missions at all until recently. Winter slowed things down," Nidorino stated.
"I also sometimes get out of having to do a mission by cleaning instead," Tamin said.
"Oh, do you?" Nidorino asked the minccino.
"Yeah. If the guildhouse is messy then I can do like two hours of chores instead of heading off for a mission. It's a bit safer."
"I've noticed that the chore days have seem to get a lot easier. I guess that has been your doing, with some more constant maintenance," Nidorino said to Tamin.
"Mhm. It's not hard for me."
"I've also noticed all forms of loose cloth being more folded up across the place."
"Consider that my signature, heheh," Tamin replied.
As the two talked, Scampi just observed them silently. She didn't intervene with her own quips and questions, merely let the two communicate and see how the conversation went.
"Not complaining, I enjoy it being tidy," Nidorino said, not even noticing the rockruff anymore.
"That's good. I unfortunately know a few at the guild who aren't exactly clean with how they live. Glad I don't have to clean the bedrooms."
"I might be a poison type, but I would never live in filth," Nidorino explained. "Who have you seen that don't seem to be clean?"
"I've noticed there seems to always be a scent coming out from Max's room."
"Thank you for informing me."
"No problem."
The conversation seemed to die down, and Scampi noticed as much. She then asked another question to spark up some conversation again.
"So Nido, how did you spend your winter?" she asked.
A cycle formed and continued. Nidorino and Tamin would talk, until the topic eventually died down. Then Scampi would ask a new well picked question to spark the conversation again, hardly making and comments of her own. She asked if they had any friends aside from Locke and Nidorina, she asked what hobbies they had, she asked what environments they liked, what missions they liked, their favorite missions, their reason for joining the guild, their favorite color, what they would choose if they had one wish. The questions never stopped coming, she could always think of a new one whenever the conversation died down.
On the journey there, Nidorino had for once become lost in a conversation and stopped paying attention to the exact distance he had gone. Tamin still maintained some level of vigilance and alertness though, checking around her to ensure no pokemon wound pounce on them. With the way they were going, things got more arid. It wasn't a complete desert, but vegetation wasn't common either. These lands were late to start blooming again, with the shrubs and barren trees made it look like Autumn without the piles of leaves on the ground and cracked dirt.
While still replying to the current conversation, Tamin checked the mission description again: a canyon was their destination. She opened her canteen, took a deep gulp, then looked around at the horizon. Before too long, she spotted out a place in the arid earth where the land dipped down.
"Right, right," Tamin said to dismiss the conversation she was currently in. She raised her paw and pointed. "Is that our destination?"
The other two turned to check out what Tamin was pointing to, and squinted to get a better look at what was in the distance in the arid lands.
"Hmm… Sure seems like it! Let's go, everyone!" Scampi declared.
Scampi ran off in the direction as if she had instant acceleration, seemingly going from a standstill to a full run in and duration of a blink. Tamin and Nidorino were spurred into action, running after her and getting onto all-fours to go faster.
The rockruff showed no signs of exhaustion or stamina loss as she ran the better part of a kilometer towards the canyon, giving the other two a tiresome time at keeping up. One would assume there'd be some point where she got tuckered out and began to slow down, but neither Tamin nor Nidorino saw any indication that was coming.
As she got near, Scampi needed several seconds in order to slow down. For the briefest moments they were actually scared that she'd run right off the ledge into the canyon below, but realistically she still had a few meters between her stopping point and the drop, it was just trick of depth perception as it was difficult to get a sense of depth in such a barren land.
The trio all came to a halt after such a long sprint. Tamin and Nidorino stayed on all fours while they tried to regain their breath. Scampi, on the other hand, only barely panted. Her tongue might have been visible, but she looked to be smiling more than panting.
"Got here first!" the rockruff joyfully declared.
"Yeah… we see you there," Tamin said between her inhales.
"So you wanna go down and start searching around for the stuff so we can beat the mission and go home and get the money?!" Scampi asked.
"I think we'll need a minute to rest," Nidorino said, still recuperating.
"Mmm. Okay then! I'll just do some scouting around the place before we go down," she said. "You two can just take a nap here."
"Are you sure you'll be safe?" Tamin asked.
"I'll be more than fine. I know how to be safe," Scampi said, completely unconcerned.
"Okay then," Tamin said.
"Just don't stay too close to the ledge," Nidorino said.
"You two worry too much! I'll be back in twenty."
With a prideful demeanor, Scampi stammered off like a patrolling dog. She began tracing the edge of the canyon, inspecting the dimensions of the land below and watching out for anything and everything that could push her down. Tamin and Nidorino watched her depart from them. The minccino had some words to say, but held her tongue until the rockruff was far enough away. Once she was outside the range where a normal pokemon could realistically hear them, Tamin opened her mouth.
"I know this is rude to say, but I'm glad she's gone for a bit. Scampi's nice, but she's just exhausting after a while," Tamin spoke. She shifted from being on all-fours to sitting down.
"I'll have to agree with you on that," Nidorino replied. "She just talks on and on, and never seems to get tired at all."
"I know, right? I really appreciate her heart and intention, but after long enough, I just want to take a break. I can only go on for so long."
"Right. I think I'm just going to sit down in my room with a book after this. That'll be nice for unwinding."
"Yeah, I might just do the same," Tamin said. "What kind of books do you like?"
"I mainly read historical literature. You?"
"I like adventure stories. Just reading of pokemon going on grand journeys, exploring the world, epic sights, growing along the way, that's what I love."
"You can find a good amount of adventure in history if you know where to look."
"True, but you can't find much in the way of escapism in history."
"I can see what you mean with that, I'll admit."
"Yeah, exactly."
"We actually could try to form some kind of book club within the guild, if you want," Nidorino suggested.
"That would be absolutely amazing."
Tamin leaned back again, looking at the cloudless skies. She felt something she hadn't quite felt before. It wasn't from anything external from the environment, it was from within. It was a soft feeling in the stomach, and a light feeling in the head, though it all felt very pleasant. The feeling wasn't something Tamin could recall really feeling before, but she could remember certain descriptions in the books she had read that seemed to match it. Suddenly, with that thought, she felt like she was in those stories of adventures that she had read of before.
The minccino turned her head to look back at Nidorino, and immediately the feelings all became so much stronger. Her stomach felt even softer, her head felt even lighter, and she could even feel a change in her cheeks. Suddenly she found herself at a loss for words as her brain was coming up with countless conversational threads she could go down, but didn't deeply explore a single one of them. She kept her mouth closed, for if she tried to speak, only bumbling would come out.
She tried to study Nidorino's demeanor, or at least the best she could when afflicted by such strong emotions. She checked his head and posture, and could tell he seemed to be feeling similar things to her. Perhaps not to the same magnitude, but still there.
Eventually, she did manage to figure out something to say, and with enough confidence to avoid bumbling it out.
"Is there anything you like doing in town?" Tamin asked.
"I sometimes go to a cafe in town to unwind," Nidorino answered. "There's a nice place I go to a lot. It even has good music playing at all times. Charming."
"Nice, that sounds nice. So like- so do you think you want us to go together there sometime?" Tamin asked.
"So you- so you mean-" Nidorino said, the stuttering coming to him as well, "you want a date together."
"...Yeah," Tamin said. It was on the tip of her tongue, but she couldn't quite find the word herself. But once Nidorino said that, she instantly knew that's what she was looking for. Once he said that, she instantly understood what she was feeling. "Yeah that is exactly what I want. We actually have quite a bit in common, you know?"
"I-I've seen that now," Nidorino said, his stomach and head getting lighter. "Want to do that later today when we get back from this mission?"
"Please," Tamin said. "W-wait, I didn't mean that in like a passive-aggressive way. I just-"
"I understand,"
"Phew," Tamin managed to relax again.
"Alright guys, I'm back!" Scampi's voice rang over, far louder than the other two were speaking.
They both looked in the direction she came as she walked up to them. They needed to hide a blush, as they didn't know how much Scampi had heard. The rockruff had a cheeky smile, the kind you'd see one someone prideful that their plan executed successfully.
"You two wanna go down into the canyon for the mission now, or do ya just wanna keep loafing around there?" Scampi said, one could hear her smile by the way she talked.
"Yes, we can go down now," Nidorino said as he picked himself up and shifted his backpack to the right position.
"I'm coming, don't worry," Tamin said while getting up as well.
The three followed Scampi as the rockruff took the lead once more. She had scouted out what the best way to lower themselves into the lowlands would be, so she guided them to it. Once they got there and descended, the true mission had begun.
Tamin may have been emotionally distracted, with her mind going all over the place and having trouble looking at things other than Nidorino, yet her performance was incredible. Every attack from a wild pokemon she dodged, and even had the ingenuity to get them into unfavorable positions and knock a few out herself. Nidorino was still the best fighter though, unquestionably knocking out the most enemies. Moral was high, fear of the worst was low.
The sun was past noon and the canyon stretched from south to north, making it the east side of the canyon be entirely illuminated down to the crevasses and the west side be shadowy. Rummaging over every corner was more difficult than the few fights either way.
Half an hour after reaching the canyon floor, they saw the twinkle of some purple object at the east side. It wouldn't take an expert to deduce that it didn't belong, so they came in for a closer look. Pulling it out of some loose dirt, they found it to be a statue of Palika with some strange markings on it, about the size of Nidorino. It had lifelike details, down to millimeter measurements and designs, aside from the additional symbols engraved into it. The purpose of this item was questionable, but it was undoubtedly the item they were sent for.
"What even is this?" Scampi asked, head tilted.
"Not sure myself, but we should do what our clients asked," Nidorino said while he retrieved his hammer and chisel from his bag.
"Hey, not to sound lazy, but do you think you can handle breaking this yourself?" Tamin asked. "I don't have very much arm strength, so I don't think I can do much damage, and I don't think Scampi could do much more."
"That's alright with me," he replied.
"Wonderful, thank you," the minccino said. She then turned her head to Scampi. "While Nido's doing that, can I talk to you for a minute?"
"Of course!" the rockruff replied.
"Thanks. Let's go somewhere a bit more private now," Tamin said, gesturing to a direction with both her paw and a flick of her tail.
"Yep-yep!"
They walked about twelve meters away from Nidorino to the west side, just enough that she could keep her voice low enough to not have him hear.
Once they got there, Tamin whipped around and spoke.
"Was this your plan for the mission?" Tamin asked.
"What do you mean?" Scampi asked, but had a smile that indicated she knew exactly what Tamin was meaning.
"Do you bring us both on the same mission to get us together?" Tamin specified.
Wellllll~, I noticed you were looking a little down in the guildhouse, so I felt you were missing something. Missing a lil' bit of love," Scampi admitted. "So I took a look around, found a boy that was a single and an introvert like you, and got you two together. Hardest part was getting you to talk, honestly."
"I-" a blush appeared on Tamin's cheeks and she was at a loss on how to respond. She didn't know whether to get annoyed at the rockruff, or be thankful. Her red cheeks spoke for her, however.
Scampi let out a short giggle. "You're welcome!" she told her.
"D-dang it, Scampi," Tamin let out a sigh. "But… thank you."
"I hope things go the best for you. But I'll always be here for ya," Scampi reassured.
End of chapter 27