The empty hallway echoed his footsteps as his claws clacked on the floor. Sydney wore a silent snarl as he eventually passed by a Wigglytuff maid. The balloon pokemon squealed at the sight of him and dropped the sheets it carried as it hid in an empty room. He ignored the pink pokemon and continued his brooding.
Why was the team so adamant about keeping Rowan around? Every instinct in his body told him that the human/pokemon abomination was too dangerous to keep around, yet they insisted on it. How could they not see the danger?
The moonlight pokemon's teeth bared even more as his thoughts became focused on Rowan and his mere existence. It was an affront to everything natural in this world. Worse yet, the bastard had stolen Chloe's affections that were rightfully his.
"How could she feel anything for that monster?" Sydney asked nobody in particular. "He has to go."
As revolting as it was, Sydney knew he wouldn't succeed in driving him out if he was up front about it; he had to talk to him and find a way to convince him to leave on his own accord. A vile taste built on his tongue at the thought of it.
Lifting his coin purse, he knew he was low on funds. Sydney made a mental note to check the notice board to try to make some quick cash while they were in town tomorrow. A few ideas crossed his mind, but he would need money for them regardless. Deciding to leave the hotel, Sydney decided to at the very least allow himself a quick drink to settle his nerves.
"I'm terribly sorry sir," The Indeedee apologised, bowing his head deeply. "I'm afraid your party reserved a room meant for two, and we obliged the request for additional beds, however we simply cannot spare yet another without adequate payment."
"We didn't expect to meet up like this. They were returning from their mission and we only came here for some training," Rowan pleaded. "Are you sure there's nothing you can do?"
The pokemon shook its head sadly. "I'm afraid not sir."
Rowan let out an exasperated sigh. He had been at this for nearly ten minutes and had nothing to show for it. With a defeated nod, Rowan thanked the pokemon for their time and walked back to their room, not exactly eager to rejoin the conversation he had just left.
Myra seemed a bit rough around the edges, but seemed genuinely nice. Her invitation to share the bed with him sent a shiver down his spine. He hoped she was merely joking, he didn't want Chloe to think he was some sort of philanderer.
He paused as he caught himself mid-thought. Lately her advances and actions were painfully obvious, even to him. No matter how much he wanted to reciprocate her feelings, he couldn't bring himself to. He still felt like he wasn't worthy of her, worthy of any sort of intimate feelings until he could prove to her and himself that he had come to terms with being a pokemon.
Leaving the foyer, Rowan walked down the hallway and passed by Sydney. He tried to greet him, but wavered when the pokemon looked at him in disgust. With a gulp, he turned around and called out to him after a moment.
"Where's everyone else?" Rowan asked.
"Where do you think?" The Umbreon hissed. "Figure it out, human."
Rowan froze in shock. He had expected them to eventually tell him, but not so soon after meeting him. Sydney's ears twitched in irritation as he turned with a huff and walked away, completely disinterested in him when Rowan tried to apologise.
A large part of him was disappointed by their interaction. With a past like his, he knew not everyone would be so accepting of his origins, but for it to come from an Umbreon? The entire family of Eeveeloutions was fascinating to him and to see one of his childhood favorites snubbing him hurt him more than he expected.
"I guess it's to be expected," Rowan thought to himself sadly.
Leaving him alone, Rowan turned and headed to their room. He briefly wondered if there was some way he could win him over. Before he could open the door, it swung open on its own.
"Oh shi-" Rowan and Felix exclaimed in unison. Behind Felix, Myra laughed.
"My bad," Rowan apologised. "I didn't mean to scare you."
"See what I mean?" Chloe said, nudging Myra. The canine nodded, sizing Rowan up yet again.
"Sorta," Myra replied with a smirk. "But I don't think two pokemon scaring each other and apologising warrants altruism."
Felix rolled his eyes as Rowan gave him an inquisitive look.
"Don't worry about it, or them," Felix said as he walked out the door.
"Where is everyone going?" Rowan asked when the other two followed him out.
"To celebrate," Myra answered. "Your match today was incredible. It's not often you see a newbie stomp a veteran in their first match."
Without giving him a chance to protest, Myra quickly began pushing him down the hall. He looked to the others in vain for help, but they seemed bent on going out as well. With a sigh he conceded and asked where they were going.
"I know the best place!" Myra replied excitedly. "Come on, let's go!"
"Hope we can afford this…" Rowan grimly thought. A chill went down his spine as he thought of what Fergus would say to such frivolous spending. "He's going to kill us."
What resistance he had was half-hearted at best. He had shared dinner with Chloe and Felix in the past, but that was at home, it felt completely different than the prospect of going out to eat. For better or for worse, he wanted this too. Their finances could be figured out later.
"Okay," Rowan sighed wearily. It didn't matter how much they or he wanted to celebrate, he was still tired. Hopefully they wouldn't stay out for too long. "Lead the way."
"Let's be real here," Felix chuckled as he locked the room behind them. "You're just using this as an excuse to party aren't you?"
Myra glanced towards, giving him a knowing smile. Trotting down the hall ahead of them, the group followed her into the foyer and outside. The sun was still in the air, but was slowly beginning to set, the colosseum casting its shadow into their direction and sinking the area into darkness.
Rowan looked up and admired the sky above them as they walked. Its ordinary blue was beginning its transition into dusk, streaks of orange permeated it as night creeped upon them.
Luckily their destination wasn't far from their lodging. Rowan looked at it in curiosity. Resembling a dive bar from his world, the wooden building was somewhat wider, but significantly shorter than most of the buildings in the area, dwarfed by them in comparison. The double doors swung loosley on their hinges as a pair of patrons, a Plusle and a Minun, left for the night.
Nervously, Rowan followed after Chloe inside, noticing the building being constructed of a mix between wood and forged metal rather than the typical stone and brick the rest of the town had. Myra quickly took them to a corner table and hopped onto one of the seats made for pokemon on four legs.
"Well?" Myra demanded playfully. "Take a seat!"
Before Felix could sit beside her, she quickly put a paw onto it, wagging a claw with the other. She gave them a playful smirk.
"Nuh-uh," Myra chuckled. "New blood is sitting with me tonight."
Rowan felt the heat in his cheeks as he blushed. He was interested in getting to know Myra, her and Sydney were the only ones he hadn't gotten to know in the team, but she was beginning to get real pushy about it.
Rowan frowned, but decided to sit beside her anyway. Across from him, Chloe quickly took her seat while Felix grumbled as he got into his. Chloe leered at Myra for a moment, suspicious of the canine's intentions.
"Relax Chloe, I just want to get to know our friend here," Myra explained with a toothy grin. "You guys had a whole month and a half to yourselves, I'd just like to catch up is all."
A Tyrogue approached them from the side and introduced himself as their waiter for the evening, setting down some plates with bread on them.
"We'll order in a minute, thanks," Myra replied, before turning towards Rowan. "So tough guy, tell me how you pulled that win out of your ass?" Felix grunted, interested as well while Chloe's ears perked up.
"W-well," Rowan began hesitantly, "I assumed I was going to get clobbered… But the guy was an ass about everything so I sorta decided to make him work for it."
"There has to be more to it than that," Chloe replied before taking a bite out of her snack. Felix just thumbed through the menu, listening to the conversation.
"We didn't have a lot of time for me to learn any real control over my moves," Rowan replied sheepishly. "So I kinda improvised. I knew most Arcanines are physical attackers so I froze my fur into armor to protect myself until I could see how he fought."
"Not the wisest choice," Felix said as he flipped a page, glancing at him before returning his eyes to the menu. "That extra weight is what nearly cost you the match."
"True, but it's also what won it too." Rowan countered. Felix raised an eyebrow. The Servine closed the menu, interested.
"Is it now?" Felix asked.
"Yeah," Chloe added. "To us it looked like you just used Take Down to knock him out after making him exhaust himself."
"That was only a part of it," Rowan explained. "I had to keep my ice cold enough to hold its shape and to keep it from melting. When I slammed into him, the ice shattered and dug into him. I still can't believe that worked."
Felix and Chloe were left speechless at his explanation. Rowan poked at his appetizer as he sniffed it. It tasted sweet as he bit into it. For a brief moment, he wondered if pokemon ate nothing but a vegetarian diet, he missed the taste of meat.
"That was one hell of a gamble," Myra responded, impressed. "Not many pokemon can go toe to toe with an Arcanine and win."
"I wasn't about to just roll over for him," Rowan said after swallowing. Their waiter made his rounds again and took their orders. Chloe was nice enough to order on his behalf.
"You like to drink?" Myra suddenly asked Rowan. Surprised, he nodded.
"Good! Do you guys want anything?" Myra asked excitedly. Felix declined, stating that someone had to be the sober one while Chloe accepted.
"I'm surprised Chloe," Myra said as the Tyrogue walked away. "I thought you hated alcohol?"
Chloe shrugged, nodding to Rowan. "I do, but tonight's different. I want to celebrate with everyone."
Rowan noticed the pokemon mistakenly left a menu on the table. Sliding it towards himself he flipped its pages, in vain hope something would stick out to him. As usual, the lettering imprinted on its pages spiked a short migraine when he laid eyes on them. With a sigh, he closed the flimsy paper book and slid it back, the pain subsiding just as quickly as it had appeared.
The four spent the night having fun, enjoying each other's company. Chloe had to be cut off early from her drinks, her low tolerance towards alcohol had seen to that. She began to doze off in her seat, sputtering awake randomly. Seeing her friend had fallen asleep, Myra finished her last drink and pointed towards her.
"You want to go ahead and bring her back, Felix?" Myra suggested. She nodded towards Rowan. "I got something I wanna talk to Rowan about... alone."
Felix nodded, carefully cradling Chloe in his vines. The sight of an ice type sleeping so peacefully, nestled within foliage was serene to Rowan. The gentle rise and fall of her chest with each breath held his attention so firmly, he had briefly forgotten Myra had something to talk to him about.
"You two be safe getting back," Felix nodded knowingly before tapping Rowan on the shoulder, getting his attention. "Congratulations on your win again, Rowan."
After thanking him, Felix left enough money to pay for the night and carried Chloe back to the hotel, leaving them alone. The bar still had its fair share of other patrons talking and eating around them. Rowan decided to switch seats, sitting opposite of Myra while giving them both ample room to relax.
"You wanted to…" Rowan swallowed. "Talk about something?"
"Yeah," Myra replied, as she stood up in the seat. Taking advantage of the room she had now, she laid down comfortably and crossed her paws. The canine looked at him with curious eyes.
"I heard that everyone else got to have 'one on one' time with you," Myra said as her tail swung back and forth lazily.
"Oh," Rowan responded. "I guess that's sort of true. Why?"
"Weeeell… I don't feel like waiting. Besides, later there's something I want to ask you when there's less pokemon around," Myra explained. "I guess for now I should let you know that Chloe already told Sydney and me your... origins."
Rowan stiffened on instinct in response. From what he could gather, Sydney didn't seem too fond of him. A part of him regretted his previous life, even resented it.
"I-I see," Rowan stammered. Looking down to his plate, Rowan poked around awkwardly at some leftovers, avoiding her gaze. His only solace was how well the night had gone so far, it proved she didn't have any obvious misgivings knowing he had been human once. Now that they were alone, a quick glance towards her revealed her looking at him expectantly.
"How much did she tell you?" Rowan asked nervously.
"Enough to know that you were once human," Myra replied casually. "That you were an amazing... friend." Rowan felt the knot in his stomach move towards his throat.
"I don't know about that," Rowan said as he drank some water, trying to relieve his discomfort. "Are... are you opposed to it?" he asked.
Myra gave him a toothy grin, sending a chill down his spine. The canine flagged down their waiter and ordered them another round of drinks.
"No," Myra finally said as the Tyrogue walked away. "Not really. However, our team has been together for a very long time. I see everyone as family."
Rowan allowed himself to relax as she explained herself, glad to at least be on good terms with the Lycanroc.
"I've seen what you can do, and I can tell you're of a good sort, unlike Sydney," Myra said with a grin. Rowan frowned at the mention of the Umbreon.
"Then what did you want to talk about?" Rowan asked, confused.
"Just wanted to pick your brain for a bit," Myra laughed. "Don't be so uptight. We've only known each other for a few hours now, it's only natural that I'd like to get to know you right?"
"That's fair," Rowan nodded.
"Good!" Myra replied excitedly. Once their waiter brought them their drinks, the two began talking in earnest. As the night stretched on, he found himself becoming more and more open with his comrade.
The questions she asked were typically simple; what was being a human like, whether he missed his family, and the like. Before long, the bar slowly emptied of its other patrons, leaving them almost entirely alone. Looking around, Myra interrupted him mid-story about being entangled in Felix's vines when he first awoke as a Glaceon.
"Sorry," Myra apologised. "But now that we have the bar to ourselves, I have to ask something.."
Glancing around, Rowan laughed a little. What could she possibly have to ask that would need such secrecy? Taking another drink, Rowan felt the alcohol warm his throat as it washed down it.
"Haha, go for it," Rowan nodded.
"Have you ever been with another human female?" Myra asked, a sly smile spreading across her lips as the question visibly caught him by surprise.