A Long Ride

The station that would lead Pokemon in and out of Stirkelm was always busy. With the hustle and bustle of people visiting the city, or just trying to move out and leave, Mudsdale and Rapidash came and left, carrying passengers and their luggage, which stayed in carts the horse pokemon had to pull behind them as they walked. With the news of the outside world becoming more dangerous, more and more pokemon preferred travelling via Rapidash rather than going on foot.

Once the group of three made it to the hub, they attempted to navigate through the crowd, looking for a pokemon that would be strong enough to take them to Ornatro Cavern. There were a wide selection of pokemon, too. Most were Mudsdale and Rapidash, but there was the occasional Sawsbuck, Stantler, and even Girafarig, who were probably all just looking to make quick cash by moving pokemon from one city to another.

"Judging by how much the two of you weigh, I'd suggest that you take a Rapidash as your ride." Brat gestured towards one of the flaming horses as he spoke. "I understand if you're worried about the flames, but don't worry; Rapidash can choose who their flames hurt. I doubt one would hurt you as long as you pay them."

"I think I'd prefer a Mudsdale," Dice muttered as he watched one of said Pokemon walk out of the station with a Wigglytuff and her Igglybuff child on it's back. "Fire isn't my thing. I'm sure you know that."

"Right, I can respect your choice." Brat nodded. "Just don't take too long picking a ride, alright? The sooner you start your quest, the sooner you can come back."

Dice was about to open his mouth, probably to suggest which pokemon to take for a ride, but then, out of the noise of the crowd, they heard a distinct, "Guys!"

The group of three turned around just in time to see a Lucario run towards them, a bag slung around the dog-like pokemon's shoulder. It was obviously Lucca. Dice had no doubts about that, and when the fighting type ran up and scooped them into a hug, it just confirmed his assumption.

"There you are!" The Lucario smiled and nuzzled his head against Dice, which he really didn't enjoy. He didn't think a Lucario would be so affectionate… "I was wondering when you would get here!"

"Yeah! We got here as soon as we could," Sashy had said as Lucario let both of them go, causing them to fall to the ground. Luckily, both of them landed on their feet with relative ease. Apparently Sashy was just used to this sort of thing happening. "We're ready to go on our mission!"

"Well, no you're not." The Lucario shook his head before slipping the bag off of his shoulder and handing it to Dice. He grabbed it and slung it around his own shoulder, adjusting the length of the strap so that it didn't drag against the ground while it was on his arm. When he finished his adjustments, he looked back up at the Lucario, who smiled and nodded at the two. "Now you're ready!"

"Oh, so this is all the stuff you were buying for us?" Dice opened the bag up and looked inside.

The first thing Dice had noticed was the money. His eye was naturally attracted to shiny objects, so seeing all the money that was stacked up has definitely grabbed his attention. There were some other objects in the bag, too. Some seeds, some berries, some apples and other snacks, and even two bottles of water. They were all put into neat little groups inside the bag. It's a surprise they didn't get all mixed up while the Lucario was running.

"There's a lot of stuff in here," Sashy muttered as Dice put the paper that had their quest information into the bag before closing it. "Are we going to need all of this?"

"I'd sure hope you wouldn't use all of it." Brat said with a small chuckle. "An incredibly skilled group of adventurers wouldn't need an item at all, I'm sure. If everything goes smoothly, the most you'll be using would probably be just some water and an apple. Even then, don't worry about using some of the things in there. You have money. More than enough to buy you more items if needed."

"Yeah, and if you think you need anything else, just go ahead and buy it!" Lucca smiled. "You'll get money if you complete the mission. Sure, most of it goes to the guild, but they'll give you some of it, at least. Don't be afraid of spending your money."

"Alright! thanks, Lucca." As Sashy spoke, Dice looked around the crowd and at all of the pokemon around him. There were so many choices to pick from, and he wasn't sure if it really mattered which one he picked. Sure, Rapidash were faster, but...the fire on it wouldn't make for a comfortable ride. A Mudsdale wouldn't hurt, but it goes slower, which leads to a longer trip...

"No problem, Sashy." The Lucario patted the cactus pokemon on the head. Dice still found it impressive how Lucca would willingly touch a cactus. That either takes a lot of courage, or a lack of brains. "We just want to help a friend! It's the least we could do."

Brat nodded. "You've been looking forward to this for a long time, after all. We want to make sure that it starts off with a good start, and that your first mission is a good one."

"Oh..." Dice smiled widely as he looked between the two evolved pokemon. He looked like he might actually tear up. He also looked like he was about to pull the two into a hug, or maybe both. "You guys are the best."

Dice smiled just slightly at seeing the boy so happy, but after a moment of staring at the Maractus, he turned to see a Mudsdale close to the group of four. He walked to the pokemon and waved.

"Hey, how much do you pay?" he asked as he glanced behind him to see his partner still talking with his friends.

"It depends on where you're going," the Mudsdale answered, his voice much more articulate and professional than what Dice had been expecting. "But wherever you're going, I'll take you there as fast as I can. No scenic routes unless you ask for it."

"That's definitely what I want to hear." Dice chuckled. "How much is it to go to Ornatro Cavern and then back? We need to go in there for a mission."

"Ornatro Cavern?" the Mudsdale asked with a raise of an eyebrow. "That's quite a ways away, you know, but for there and back…"

Dice could practically see the gears in the ground type's (most likely) small brain turning as it tried to think of a good sum. He doubted Mudsdales were the smartest thing in Dualsa.

"Two hundred Pokedollars," he said. "I won't have anything less."

"Sounds like a good deal to me." Dice said with a grin. Just glancing at the coins that were in his bag, he could tell he had more than enough to pay for the ride. "I'll tell my partner over there, and then we'll get out of here. How long's the trip, anyways?"

"A few hours, I think," the Mudsdale said as Dice turned around to face his partner. The Sneasel couldn't help but let out a light groan at this, but nevertheless, he cupped his hands over his mouth to call to his partner.

"Hey! If you're done talking, we have a cavern to get to. Get moving, alright?"

The Maractus's ears perked up and he looked towards the ice type. He nodded and then hopped towards him, waving goodbye to the two pokemon he was talking to moments ago. "Alright, let's get going."

Dice nodded and gestured towards the Mudsdale, who towered over the two smaller pokemon. "Here, I'll help you on," he said as he got behind the boy and tried to grab the few parts of him that didn't have spikes.

"Oh, okay! Thanks!" Sashy chuckled, but that only lasted for a second as Dice threw him up and onto the Mudsdale's back. For a moment, Dice thought that he overshot, as Sashy had almost flew over the Mudsdale's back, but, with the held of vines that grew out of his hands, he was able to latch onto the Mudsdale and stay on top of him.

Dice then noticed a problem with his plan and he frowned. Oh, wait, how was he going to get up now?

"Hey, Sashy, think you could toss down a vine or something? I gotta get on."

Sashy held back a laugh and nodded. Vines grew out of his feet and tied around the Mudsdale's body, most likely to provide more stability to the cactus. Once the vines stopped growing, Sashy extended his hand out towards Dice. A vine slowly grew out of the cactus and moved towards Dice.

Once the vine came close enough to grab, Dice would do just that, and give it a tug to say he was ready to be pulled up. It took a moment for Sashy to gather his strength, but in a few moments, Dice was slowly being pulled off the ground.

"No offense," Sashy muttered as he pulled the dark type up onto the back of the Mudsdale, "but you're really heavy."

"Oh, yeah, I definitely feel no offense to that." Dice muttered as the Mudsdale slowly rose up to his full height. Before Dice could say anything, or even ask about how paying his ride was going to work, the Mudsdale bolted out of the hub and into the city streets. it was such a sudden start that Dice had to put his arms around Sashy, consequently feeling spikes dig into arms.

"Okay, buddy, the start was a bit too much. A bit of a warning next time would be nice."

"Sorry," the Mudsdale responded as they moved through the town, buildings passing by them and pokemon staying in their vision for only a few moments before leaving their sight. "But if we want to get to Ornatro Cavern as fast as possible, I need to move quickly."

"Right, whatever you say." Dice shook his head and tapped the mule pokemon's back. "Hey, what's your name anyways?" Knowing your ride's name was probably proper riding etiquette, right?

"My name is Stalwart." Already they had left the town, though that wasn't saying much, as the station lay close to the edge of town, but it had gotten Dice hopes up that maybe this ride wouldn't take that long. "And you two are?"

"I'm Sashy, and my friend's Dice!" Sashy had answered before Dice could even open his mouth. He must have been eager to introduce himself. "We just became a rescue team yesterday! We're going on our first mission today!"

"Oh, truly? I assumed you were going on a mission, what with those badges you have on you." The Mudsdale then made a sudden right turn, and it took all that Dice had to make sure he didn't fall off his ride. "I didn't know it was your first mission, though. Sounds incredibly exciting."

"It definitely is!" Sashy chuckled as he seemed to have no problems keeping a hold on the pokemon. "We're going to Ornatro Caverns. Have you been there before?"

"Well, I've been there a few times. I've been just about everywhere you can be. I have many stories to tell, you know."

"Really? That's so cool! Could you tell me some?"

"Of course! The only problem is trying to figure out where to begin. I have so many tales to tell, it's just hard to...wait! I have one! Now, there was this one time that…"

This was when Dice tuned out and instead began to take in his surroundings. As they moved along the path, they started to enter a forest, trees surrounding both sides of the path and by now making it impossible to go off of the path. Dice could see Mankeys moving through the trees, Venomoth being chased by Beedrill (which had reminded him of Magnus, the guild leader), and he saw the shapes of some bigger pokemon moving among the trees. The forest truly was alive.

Of course, Dice couldn't help but wonder how many fights were starting to break out in these forests. If what Soara said was true, and pokemon were becoming more hostile, then it must be very dangerous living in the forests. Maybe a countless number of fights were happening at this very moment, but he just couldn't see them.

Dice then glanced at Sashy, who was now in full conversation with the Mudsdale, who'd sometimes stop the conversation to tell some long winded story about how he took so and so to some place. Dice had to admit, the kid was very excited about the mission. This was obviously something he had been waiting for for a long time.

The Sneasel didn't think he could be able to handle having to wait so long to just do something he wanted to do. Whenever he wanted to do something, he was always able to do it. Heck, that's what being a thief was all about, right? Doing things you wanted to do? Sashy had to wait for years to do this. Years to just leave the city walls. He couldn't imagine waiting for so long…

"Dice?" The Sneasel blinked and shook himself out of his thoughts, focusing now on the grass type in front of him, who was staring at him with a curious tilt of the head and a small frown. Oh, he had been staring.

"Are you okay? Something wrong?"

"Nah, I was just thinking. Don't worry about me." Dice attempted to dismiss the Maractus's worried with a wave of his hand, and that seemed to work, as the grass type just shrugged.

"Hey, can I ask you something, Dice?" The Sneasel tilted his head and hummed questioningly, and Sashy took it as a sign to continue. "How'd you get caught? You said you were arrested, and that's sort of the whole reason why you're my partner now. What did you do?"

A grin slowly grew on Dice's face and he chuckled. "I've done a lot of things, kid," he answered. "A lot of crimes. Didn't get caught for all of them, thankfully, or else this guild may not be an option."

"But...how did you get caught, then? If you did so much? Shouldn't you have been good enough to not get caught?"

The grin on Dice's face wavered, but he kept his cool composure. "I made a mistake, is all," he answered, trying to sound casual. "I thought Innovan was asleep, or just not home. Turns out he was home, and definitely awake. The old man had called the police, probably with some psychic powers of his, and he caught me up in a fight. When I tried to leave, there was a cop at the door. Not much I could do."

"Oh, huh.." Sashy stared down at the ground for a few moments, taking time to think about that, before looking back at the ice type. "What have you done altogether? Who have you worked with?"

"If I told you who I worked with and what I've done, it'd take as long as one of Stalwart's stories here." He chuckled as he patted the Mudsdale on the back, and the pokemon huffed in response.

"I don't think I talk that much. Besides, the boy here likes it, and who am I to refuse telling a tale to him?"

"Whatever you say, mule." Dice leaned back and looked up at the sky. Clouds were starting to fill the sky, and it was getting dark. Hopefully it didn't rain. That'd make the whole ride a pretty dreadful experience. He hated getting his fur wet.

"But can't you just tell me a few of your stories?" Sashy asked as he turned around completely, now riding the Mudsdale backwards, and he began to give the Sneasel puppy dog eyes. Whether Sashy realized what he was doing or not, Dice had no idea, but it was definitely effective.

Dice stared at the kid and those now pleading eyes of his and realized that he couldn't say no, even if he wanted to. He didn't want to disappoint the kid. Not only did he not want to see those ears slump down and to have him look down at the ground with a frown on his face, but he also didn't want there to be silence the whole ride to Ornatro Cavern, and with sadness there was usually silence.

"You're really good at pulling off that guilt trip face," he muttered before shaking his head. "Yeah, yeah. Sure, I'll tell you."

"Yeah!" Sashy hopped lightly in his seat before leaning against his hands, getting closer to Dice than what was necessary.

"Well...here, let me tell you about my first, uh...adventure, we'll call it," Dice said. "As long as you don't tell anyone about this, I think it will be fine."

"Oh, I won't tell anyone! They might take you away if they find you guilty of any more crimes, and I don't want my partner taken away!" Sashy then looked over his shoulder, towards the Mudsdale's head. "You won't tell anyone, right, Stalwart?"

"My lips are sealed as long as it's a good story," the mule stated as he continued along the path. At least Stalwart wasn't going to snitch to the police. That rules out any possibilities of someone telling the police about this, at least.

"Okay, well, here...it started when I was young. When I first left home," he started. Not wanting to stay on the topic of home for too long, he continued. "I had met a small group of troublemakers at this point. I think they were a Wooper, a Paras, and a Pancham who was quite the cutie…"

Eventually, the words just started to flow out of Dice's mouth, and he probably couldn't stop himself if he even wanted to. He started remembering all of the details and couldn't help but feel a sense of nostalgia as he thought back to his first group of partners in crime. The two other pokemon with him seemed completely invested in his story.

After a while of talking, and finishing up the story of his first time stealing, he felt a few raindrops hit his fur. Normally he would have complained, but the only reaction he gave it was a slight twitch of his ear before continuing.

"Me and that group...we actually were a pretty good team," he said. "Sure, we weren't the biggest and baddest around, but I'd say that we did a good job considering our conditions. We stayed together after that first time, and we stayed together for a long time afterwards. It was almost a year before we started to fall apart."

"What happened then?" Sashy asked, and Dice could see the raindrops fall on him and be absorbed into his skin. The cactus pokemon must be enjoying the extra water he was absorbing. He may not even need the water bottle that was packed for him, actually.

"Well, things started to get a bit...unstable." The Sneasel shrugged. "The Wooper had evolved into a Quagsire, and he started to get riskier and riskier while we were out stealing things. The Pancham argued with him a lot, and she eventually just...gave up on us. The time we were forced to run away from the scene of the crime was the last straw for her. We were on a decline. She left the next day and we didn't have a leader."

"And...what happened after that?"

Dice ran a hand along his arm, feeling some fur that was starting to get wet. "Well, we didn't have a leader. The Quagsire tried to take up the mantle, but the Paras said he should be the leader now. She was the brains, after all. I stayed to the side, but their arguments had gotten pretty bad. The Quagsire then tried to steal something on his own, to prove that he had some good ideas, but he had gotten arrested while attempting it. That's when the Paras left the group. Then there was just me."

"So you decided to do your own thing?" The Sneasel nodded and Sashy copied the motion. "And then what happened?"

"I went from town to town, that's what." Sneasel shrugged. "I took what I had to to get some money. I stole some food sometimes, but mostly just valuables. I needed the money. What can I say? I was good at it, too. One of the few things I had experience in, and it's not like I could get a job with a lack of experience. So I just kept stealing. Honestly, I was probably going to get caught one way or another."

Dice chuckled and leaned backwards once more, looking up towards the sky. "It's a shame, too. I was hoping to be one of the better thieves in Dualsa. Guess that's not an option now that I'm caught, huh? Oh well."

Sashy nodded, but instead of looking away from the pokemon, he continued to stare at the Sneasel. "What do you plan on doing after your time's up?"

"Huh? Dice adjusted himself and looked at his partner. "When my time's up?"

"You know. You're only in the guild for so long. It's a type of community service. Are you planning on staying in the guild, or are you going to leave? What are you going to do afterwards?"

"Oh, I have no idea." Dice shrugged once more. "That's a few years away, though. I have a lot of time to think about it. Probably won't spend my time here, that's for sure. Got other things to do, kid. You know?"

"Yeah, right…" The Maractus's ears drooped just slightly and he let out a sigh. Dice soon realized that he had hit a soft spot and he frowned.

"Hey, kid, it's nothing against you. You know that, right?" The Maractus just shook his head and looked at the ground. "It's not that I don't want to be your partner or anything, it's just that-"

"Before you continue," Stalwart interrupted. "I think it's a good time to say we made it to your destination."

Dice blinked and looked around. Sure enough, there was a tall mountain in front of them. Not the tallest in the region, but it was definitely tall, and in the face of the mountain there was the opening of a cave, which lead who knows how deep into the mountain.

"Already?" Dice asked as he slowly slid off the Mudsdale. It was a big fall, but he managed to land on his feet. "That didn't feel like it took long at all."

"Well, time does fly when you're telling a good story." Stalwart chuckled as Dice held out his hands to catch Sashy once he slid off. He was pretty sure the kid wouldn't be able to land on his feet if he fell.

Sashy slowly slid off and Dice was able to catch him before he fell. He smiled at the kid before putting him down, though the kid didn't smile back. Apparently the topic of Dice staying or not was a sensitive one. He didn't know why it was such a big deal right now, though. Dice still had quite a ways to go before he could leave.

"You don't mind staying here, do you, Stalwart?"

"I will stay until you return, and then we will leave for Strikelm once more," he announced. "And that is where you will give me my payment."

"Sounds like a plan," Dice said before gesturing for Sashy to follow him as he walked towards the entrance of the cavern. Sashy followed, but not as excitedly as before. And, without any ceremony, they entered Ornatro Cavern, and Dice wondered just what this job had in store for them.

So, thanksgiving break had really thrown a wrench into the system, and I've been unable to update the story very often, and a case of writer's block lead me to not wanting to touch this story for a while, but now the story is here, and I'm going to try and do better on updating it. Not making any promises, but I'm trying.

Uh...see you all in the next chapter.