Oscar woke to an empty room. He was usually the first in the group to wake, but yesterday's exertion had taken a lot out of him. He made his way out of the room and into the cavern, where the outlaws were busying themselves with chores or other assigned tasks. He made it about halfway into the cavern before hearing a voice come from a tent to his side.

"Finally decided to grace us with your presence, Fennekin?" Boss asked, Gaia and the rest of his team by the Gabite's side.

"You do not get to look this good without proper sleep."

"Right, you are a bit on the pretty side for a boy, aren't you?" Oscar just bowed, he was very pretty. "Anyway, I just finished telling them the job, they can fill you in on the details. The short version is you are going to intercept some valuable goods on their way to a town about two days south of here, and bring them back. Simple? Simple. See you." Boss left the group and headed towards Luxio and Servine, who were looking over a large paper. Oscar walked up to the group and stood there awkwardly for a few moments. Gaia wasn't looking directly at him, but she didn't look upset like she had the night before either.

"Gaia-" She rushed forward to hug him, lifting him off the ground.

"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to say those things! I was just confused and the whole thing was so strange and-"

"It is fine, Gaia. I do not mind, I understand now that I failed to do my research when seeing what a Pokémon needs to be raised properly. I think I understand why you were angry, I am sorry." She let him down and sniffled.

"Yeah, well. Like I said before it wasn't so bad. It had its perks." She flexed.

"So you are not upset about this 'good enough' thing anymore?" She waived her claw.

"No, I thought about it some more last night and it makes sense. I mean, you did spend your entire life pretty much trying to fix problems in yourself so there was no way you could see that as a bad thing. I guess I just got caught up in it. I'm fine now, really." Oscar nodded, he hoped this was true. She was functionally a Pokémon teenager, and with her evolution she was no doubt experiencing a rush of hormones on top of the neurological changes that come with evolution. She had been taken from a quiet life in a focused and controlled environment where she interacted mostly with humans, and thrust into a chaotic world where 'civilized' Pokémon surrounded her. On reflection, her mood swings and confusion made sense to Oscar. She was only eight, and this was a wild situation. It would get better with time, but for now he would simply need to deal with her more temperamental behavior. There was no fighting her biology, and making a big deal out of it would be counterproductive.

"Good, good. So, did you enjoy your time with Boss?" He teased.

"W-what! No, we just talked." She blushed, hands held up defensively.

"There are lots of ways to talk. Well, just remember to take the proper precautions. You are evolved now and you share the same egg group, so it is important that-"

"Oscar!" She whopped him on the head, not very gently. "Nothing happened."

"If you say so! If you say so! Forget I said anything."

"Aww." Stumpy said, drawing their attention. "You made up."

"You want some too?" Gaia raised her fist.

"I surrender! I'll be good!" They all chuckled for a moment before Oscar asked for the details of the job. Cinder said Oscar should just eat and get ready, everything was already packed and they needed to get moving. They could explain on the way to pass the time. He did so, and after a large breakfast of apples, berries and Pidgey meat, he met up with the group near the mouth of the cave. Machoke was with them, talking to Cinder. He had a backpack on and looked like he was about to go on a trip of his own.

"Good morning, Machoke." Machoke was about to respond but stopped himself at the last moment, looking confused. 'Good Morning' was likely not what was said as the morning greeting around here, and Oscar supposed this was why Machoke was confused.

"Uh," Gaia leaned forward and Machoke bent down to listen, "Oh. Good Morning, Fennekin." He said, a less friendly greeting than the day before, but not hostile. "I'll be joining you for the job. I hope you don't mind company."

"Not at all, I am sure you will be of great help."

"Unless you want to carry 50 kilograms of iron ingot on your back for two days, I think you'll be happy to have me."

"…what?" Oscar asked.

"Details." Cinder said, "We should move out, I'll fill you in." The group left, Cinder leading the way. Apparently the 'cherry, pristine kit' Boss talked about the previous night was a shipment of iron from the Dragon clans in the mountains. Oscar knew iron was relatively valuable in medieval societies, but not that valuable. He didn't see how this could be worth their time. He said as much, and Cinder said that iron was in fact super valuable. Oscar mentioned that he had seen red rock all over the foothills and mountains, and black sand in the river. This land had plenty of iron, he wasn't sure why such an abundant resource would be so valuable. The brass used for the mirror at the tavern should be much more valuable.

Machoke spoke next. He said that red rock was too difficult to refine, and black sand was too low quality. He said that not many Fire types could make flames hot enough to melt the iron, and only a small fraction of them could maintain the flame long enough to refine ore. Most of the continent's iron came from a few clans of dragons in the mountains, where the quality ore was located. They fought viciously over the mines, and charged a high price for their goods. Oscar asked what they used iron for, and Machoke said most of it was used for tools or for reinforcing parts on ships, but some Guilds or Guardian clans used them to make weapons or armor. He added that few smiths could shape the metal well enough for that. He said iron weapons and armor were rare, and what wasn't used for mercantile purposes was mostly made into jewelry as status symbols. He noted proudly that before he left his home on the Sand Continent, he was one such smith.

Oscar mentioned that smiths were very valued members of society in their time, and asked if that was not the case here. Machoke understood what Oscar was getting at, and said they were, but he had to leave his home because of a mistake and on his honor swore not to work his craft again. A loophole in his oath meant he could still smith, just not for the official power structures like Guilds or Guardian clans. Common Pokémon did not have the poke to afford a smith, which meant working for a bandit organization. Stumpy and Cinder did not know this, even though they had worked with the Machoke for some time. Machoke preempted any questions or concerns about his past by saying the mistake he made was a long time ago, and he had gotten over. He added that he still didn't want to talk about it, thinking the past was best left in the past and he would rather focus on what was before him. He was lighthearted about it, and Oscar knew he was telling the truth about his feelings on the matter.

The group travelled south, and by nightfall had moved out of the mountain biome into grassland. Machoke had stuffed his bag with provisions, with the idea that they could eat Ad libitum on the way there as he had to make room in his bag for the iron on the way back. With no wood for fire or to support a tent, the group simply slept huddled up together under the open sky.

The woke with the morning sun, and had made it to their destination by midday. A dirt road that connected the distant heart of the mountains to a small coastal town whose name Oscar didn't bother to ask. They were a couple of hours out from the town, and the wagon was expected to make town by sundown. That mean they had a few hours to wait if the information was to be believed, and they spent this time preparing their ambush. The grassland had given way to a more arboreal terrain this close to the coast, but the scattered grouping of trees still did not offer the kind of cover the forest did. That was one of the reasons this route was favored for iron transportation, the lack of cover for would-be bandits. The coastal town was not the final destination of the shipment but a port, the iron likely destined to Baram town.

When asked what kind of resistance they could expect, Cinder had told them that the cart would almost certainly be pulled by a Girafarig. The psychic could detect the presence of other Pokémon and it's two set of eyes made it that much better at spotting ambushes. Cinder said that Boss' information wasn't clear, but they could expect at least two more Pokémon as an escort, probably three. The cart would be directed by a Kecleon, the species almost having a monopoly on trade around the world and they would not leave valuable cargo unattended.

Each of the group save Stumpy had been given crystals that weakly emanated Dark type energy, and this should mask their presence from the Girafarig. That still left them with little cover, a wary caravan and four or five Pokémon to deal with. The team needed a plan. Hiding in the trees was the obvious one, but for a shipment this valuable it was likely that the caravan would move off-trail to avoid groups of trees and put as much space between themselves and any potential bandits as possible. The ambush needed to be done up close, as the cart driver was likely faster than all of them, even pulling a cart. After ten minutes of brainstorming, Gaia suggested that they don't try to hide from the caravan. She said two of them could run forward and claim they had been attacked by a small group of bandits ahead. No longer scared of the unknown and confident they could take three bandits, they would continue on the fastest route to town. When the caravan guards confront those who stayed behind, the two 'victims' could attack them from behind. The plan was risky, but popular with the team. Oscar and Stumpy were elected to be the 'victims'. Stumpy could not have his mind read and Oscar could trick a careless psychic into thinking his feelings were genuine.

But first, they had to look the part. After removing their scarves, Oscar and Stumpy rolled in the dirt, and spilled water on the ground to make mud for them to roll in as well. The others tussled and mattered their fur in all the wrong directions, and generally tried to make them look as miserable as possible. Machoke took out an iron knife, and made shallow cuts along their cheeks, withers and thighs. Satisfied with the look, Gaia, Cinder and Machoke hid in the trees while Oscar and Stumpy slowly trotted along the path towards where the caravan should be coming from. After about ten minutes, they saw something crest a hill ahead of them. Before confirming it was the caravan, they sprinted as fast as their faux 'limp' would allow. It turned out this was the caravan, and they made straight for it. It was important they were tired by the time they got there, to sell the lie.

The Girafarig pulling the wagon stopped soon after the two started running, noticing their approach. The Boss' information was good, as three guards took defensive positions around the wagon and a single green Kecleon sat on top. They stopped a respectful distance away from the wagon, and took a moment to catch their breath. Oscar noted that the guards had all had silver badges pinned to their scarves, perhaps they were law enforcement? Stumpy spoke first, the team agreeing that he was the more pathetic sounding of the two. Stumpy didn't mind.

"Oh thank Arceus!" He panted, "A rescue team! You have to help us, there are bandits on the road!" The rescue team was composed of a Totodile, a Chimchar, and a Turtwig. The Totodile's face turned from one of confrontation to concern, and he moved to help Stumpy up after he 'collapsed' from exhaustion. The other members of the rescue team matched their leader's expression, but the Girafarig and Kecleon stared at the two suspiciously. Oscar could feel the Girafarig scan his mind, and he conjured feelings of

Fear/hate/embarrassment/relief

And the Girafarig did not press further.

"Are you two okay? Where are these villains at?" The Totodile asked.

"Just, hah, down the path." Oscar turned to point at the trees the rest of his team were hiding in, small but still visible from this distance. "A Charmander, a Grovyle, and a Machoke. They jumped right out of the trees!" Oscar spat, "We coulda beaten them if they fought fair! That Machoke looked half-starved." Machoke was skinny for one of his kind, true, but hardly starved. Still, Oscar had to convince them that they had a guaranteed win ahead of them.

"They took our scarves and our food!" Stumpy added pathetically.

"Then go to town and ask for help." The Kecleon said, indifferent. "We are busy."

"We can't! They wouldn't let us. Said it was 'their road' and we have to give them more if we want to make it to town. We probably could have gone around, but we weren't thinking straight."

"Don't be so mean, Kecleon. We should help them." The Chimchar said, looking a little disgusted.

"I paid for a Silver rank team because I thought you would be a little more professional than common guards. You are on a job for us, not them. You can come back later if you want to help them."

"Our job is to escort you to town before sundown." The Totodile said with some venom, turning to face the Kecleon. "And we don't have much time left. We know the bandits are there, and I think with seven Pokémon we can take them. Or do you want to go all the way around and potentially miss the ship?" Kecleon turned red, at the thought of being late or for being talked back to Oscar couldn't tell. But in the end, he relented.

"Fine. Let's move." He said.

The caravan moved forward, and the Chimchar walked alongside the two imposters and offered them both Oran berries. "Here you go, eat these. You will need your strength for the fight to come."

"Thank you."

"Thanks!"

"Don't worry," the Turtwig said, "We'll get your stuff back. You can count on Team Sunshine!" That reminded Oscar, they still needed a team name.

"We don't have much to pay you with, but thank you anyway."

"Don't worry," Totodile said from the lead of the group, not looking back. "We always do what's right." Oscar felt a righteous determination in him, a genuine desire to right a wrong and make the world a better place. His teammates were mostly looking forward to a good fight, but Oscar supposed that kind of idealism was why the Totodile was the leader.

They soon came to the 'ambush' site, and the three hidden Pokémon jumped out of the bush. They feigned surprise, but soon Gaia spoke up.

"So I see you losers didn't get enough the first time. You even brought friends. Well, it won't be enough!"

"We are taking you bullies in, no matter what!" Totodile was full of piss and vinegar, "If you give up, you can go back conscious. If not," he balled his claws and punched it into his open palm. The rest of his team positioned just behind their leader. Kecleon stood on the wagon in a battle stance and Girafarig unhitched itself from the wagon and snorted, ready for a fight. Oscar and Stumpy took position as well, Stumpy next to the psychic and Oscar just behind the Turtwig. "you're going back bloody. So choose."

There was a short standoff, before Gaia said "We choose…"

"…to fight!" Oscar declared, and he flung the Totodile towards the open arms of Machoke before letting off a point-blank ember into the back of the grass type in front of him. She shrieked as she caught fire, her shell cracking in the heat. Stumpy jumped up and let out a vicious Bite to the Girafarig's neck, savaging its belly with his rear claws. Gaia vaulted to deal with the Kecleon, and Cinder charged the Chimchar with a berserker rage. The 'fight' was over in seconds, the defenders completely blindsided by the betrayal. Turtwig passed out soon after catching fire, and Totodile lasted only a few seconds in the 'gentle' embrace of Machoke. The Kecleon went down in a single Pound to the jaw and the Girafarig did not last long with Stumpy's powerful jaws at its neck. The Chimchar was faring a bit better, the only Pokémon not being explicitly ambushed, but he was still failing under Cinder's assault. The team let Cinder handle the fight on his own, and after 30 seconds the Chimchar was out.

The team congratulated themselves on a job well done, and got to the fun part. Looting. The wagon held only a box with the iron in it and provisions for the trip, presumably to keep it light. Machoke dumped out the rest of the food from his bag and stuffed it with the Iron. When that was done, the team looted the bags of the unconscious Pokémon. 'Team Sunshine' packed light, will only healing berries and few stun seeds. They had about 2 Poke between them, and they all were wearing Stamina Bands, which they were relieved of. Still with a couple hours of light left, the bandits decided it was time to make themselves scarce. Oscar told Machoke to break one of the wheels on the wagon, to slow them down when they woke up and buy them more time before the town sent out a team to hunt them down, and Machoke did so. When asked if they should leave some healing berries for the defeated Pokémon, Oscar strongly disagreed. The longer it took for them to get to town, the more time they had to get away. The Turtwig would live despite its wounds, but would need to be carried to town and this could only help their escape. The other Pokémon thought this was a little vicious, but they couldn't argue with the logic. Their victims would all live, and this bought them valuable time. They would be healed at the town anyway, right? Maybe it wouldn't be so bad to leave them no healing berries.

With their job done, the team left the ambush site and started their roundabout return to the hideout. They travelled through the night, the waning moon still providing enough light to see. They moved northwest first to the forest along the coast, to conceal the direction of their hideout before turning northeast. The stopped to rest in the forest in the early morning, and got a few hours of sleep before the sun woke them and they moved on. It was night on the third day when they finally made it back, tired from the relentless march. Boss greeted them as they came in, and congratulated them before taking the iron to store. What he planned to do with it, Oscar didn't care at this point. He could go for a bath, when was the last time he washed himself? Some food, then sleep. The bath would have to wait, and the team ate their fill and relieved themselves before retreating to their rooms. Gaia joined her team this time, and they found four large hay beds waiting for them when they got there. Without any words, the four Pokémon shambled to their beds and went to sleep.

Author's Notes

Thank you for the comment! I'm glad many people seem to be enjoying this. Sorry for the short update, but I decided to add a chapter between this one and the next and this will take some time to finish.

If it seems like the team are having an easy go in the world so far, keep in mind they are still essentially in the 'tutorial' of their adventure. It took 40,000 words, but all they really have done is go through some dungeons and join a bandit group. That, and they have relied pretty heavily on deception and underhanded tactics, the fight with Team Sunshine would go a little different if it was fair. It's hard to get a position in the Guild, and most teams don't make it past Rookie. A Silver-ranked team is a big deal, which is why they were entrusted with guarding such a valuable shipment in the first place. They just would never expect to be betrayed as they were, most Pokémon simply don't think like that.

To address some specific comments:

LevelNineCPU-

Gaia is basically a teenager, and she is going through mood swings both because of that and because she is in a totally new environment. Her 'master' is no longer the center of her world, but she has still been conditioned her entire life to be deferential to him. My intention with her is that she has one set of behaviors when dealing with Oscar, and another when dealing with anyone else. But I agree she needs more development, they all do really. It should get better as I get more practice doing this!

Jackeroo123-

He is totally making assumptions about Ash! He is making assumptions about everything. Keep in mind that the narrator is fallible in this story, this is all from Oscar's perspective for the most part. For example:

They go to a Fire type den at a volcano and the guard says Grass types are absolutely not allowed in, but doesn't elaborate. The narrator would expand and explain that Oscar suspects this is no doubt due to the prideful nature of Fire types, and they don't want to bother with Pokémon with type disadvantages coming into their hot, arid home. He would also suspect type-tribalism played a part, the Grass types have their forests so just leave the Fire types their volcanoes thankyouverymuch.

But if this were written from Cinder's perspective, the narrator would explain that Cinder thought the rule made a lot of sense. The volcano is hot and the air itself would hurt weaker Grass types. It's best that Grass types are not allowed in, the risk of being injured or even killed is simply too high. Arceus forbid they get into a fight in such an environment! Fighting is fun but it wouldn't be much of a fight in this case, there really is no good reason to let Grass types in.

In this example the reality is that Fire types are prideful and want a place to themselves, and don't like weak Pokémon coming into their home. But the reason they banned Grass types is not any of that, but that they don't want Pokémon just up and dying on them because they overestimated their abilities. The rule is there to protect the Grass types. Maybe it got approved with the help of existing prejudices, but its purpose is to protect and not exclude. Both Oscar and Cinder are right in this case, but each is missing the whole picture.

Most of the time Oscar is correct in his understanding of things, but not always and the narrator will not explain which things are correct and which things are not. Even when Oscar thinks/feels one thing and the narrator says it is in fact something else (like the irony was lost on him), you can interpret this as him subconsciously knowing the reality but it just isn't at the forefront of his mind at the moment.