The weather had somewhat improved, but only somewhat. Blankets of white snow stretched over the land every which way, reflecting the sunlight to make it hard to look at. Even many kilometers a ways away from the guildhouse, it was much of the same.
So far away from the guild's town, the roads were some of the only parts of the land that weren't drenched in white. On those maintained roads, four pokemon walked westward together.
"How much longer until we reach the coast?" Max the arcanine asked.
"We've still got-t another t-twenty kilometers to Rosiose," Braixen replied, stuttering as he talked.
"So three-ish hours? Max asked again.
"Two-and-a-half idealistically, three-and-a-half realistically. We shouldn't expect to be able to hold a steady pace with all the turns and potential snow banks in our way," Armin the lucario stated, speaking as he adjusted the baseball cap he was still wearing on his head. "Why do you ask?"
"I'm just getting hungry, wanting to know when we'll be able to finally get some lunch," Max explained. His stomach grumbled on cue. "Man, I could just really use some food."
"Heh, you remind me of my sister with that," Nidorino commented. "Always talking about getting some 'noms' and when the next meal will be."
"Well hey, I don't ALWAYS talk about that sort of stuff," Max defended himself, "I just forgot to get a snack before we headed off."
"I understand, I'm just making a comment," Nidorino calmly said, avoiding escalation.
"Oh, okay. But still, it sucks that it'll be awhile before we're at the city."
"B-be glad we didn't bring any of the sh-shorter 'mons along to the s-supply r-run then. We'd be going a lot s-slower if our group speed-d was based on the l-length of a m-meowstic's legs," Braixen told him.
"I'd honestly be okay with letting someone ride on my back if it meant getting to lunch faster," Max explained. "I mean, I've done it a lot before with other missions."
"Small members aren't useful during supply runs as they can't carry too much, and being able to hide isn't necessary and making precise attacks isn't necessary," Nidorino explained, though was talked over and what he said was largely ignored.
"Well we'll be picking up a whole lot more than just lunch and the weight of a pokemon when we get there," Armin informed the group, speaking in a leaderly manner. He pulled out a list and began looking at it. "The list of things we were tasked with getting back to the guildhouse is quite extensive. It's mostly medicine stuff, but there's also some machinery parts that Mawile asked for that'll be a burden."
"Th-that's right," Braixen said. "But Port Rosiose trades a crazy amount with the other continents, so it actually shouldn't t-take us too long to cross off the list. I'd call the walk there and back the hard part."
"Now that I think about it, are you sure you're the best member for this?" Armin asked as he turned to look at Braixen. "I know psychic types aren't too physically strong, and we're going to have to be taking a lot with us. Maybe someone like Nidorina would've been better."
"R-relax, I c-can c-carry more than my weight-t-t. Rosiose was the city I was h-hatched and-and grew up in, so I t-took this mission since it could be a ch-chance to go back to my old home. For nostalgia's s-sake, y-know?" Braixen explained himself. "Besides, I f-figured you would need s-someone who knew the p-proper etiquette for the c-city and how to navigate the roads."
"That's probably wise, although I've been studying those matters as well," Nidorino noted.
"Fair enough," Armin said.
"Tell you wh-what, Max," Braixen said while he turned to him, "when we g-get there, I can sh-show you the ideal restaurant there. Provided it's still open, at least."
"That'd be nice."
"Mhm. A-as for you, Armin and Nido, j-just try not to get f-f-frostbitten on the walk-k."
"We'll be fine, we have coats," Nidorino said.
"Mhm..." Armin added on, his head turning to look off in the distance again instead of at the others on the team, and adjusted his baseball cap again.
"Now that I think about it, why do you have a coat on, Braixen? Wouldn't you be fine with your natural heating?"
"Well, I mentioned the reason for my c-coat earlier," he said.
"What was that reason again, then?" the poison type asked for clarification.
"Proper etiquette," Braixen said, adding on a slight movement of having his pawns faced upwards and bobbing down.
Nidorino just rolled his eyes in the same direction Armin was staring off at, and the four kept moving down the roads.
As they continued through the plains of white, the commonality of structures gradually increased. Around the halfway point they would only see one cabin every few minutes, but as their destination was getting closer there would almost always be a structure within their vision, and various different types of buildings as well.
An hour later, they saw a distinct landmark come into sight a distance away: the top of a castle peaking over the horizon. They picked up their pace from there, watching the castle towers slowly become closer and more clear as they walked forward.
They approached it from a hill top, where they stood on the same level as some of the taller buildings and above all the roads. From their perspective, even the larger pokemon were but small dots moving around the streets and alleys. In stark contrast to the fields of white snow, the port's roads had been either completely plowed out or melted down; leaving a bastion of clear pathways and diverse colors in the land. It was utterly massive, and would take hours to just make it from one end to the harbours.
"Th-there she is," Braixen said. "It's n-nice, isn't it?"
"Yep! A real beauty she is," Max said. "I've been here a couple times before. Most things seemed to get so much smaller when I evolved, but I swear this place only got larger."
"Well yeah, that's kind of what cities do: they expand," Nidorino stated.
"Being the biggest t-trade center on the continent-t also helps quite a bit," Braixen added on. "A-anyways, do you g-guys want to go straight-t to getting the s-supplies in the guild we were tasked with, or should we hit-t by some r-restaurants and relax a bit first? Because I know a great c-cafe not far from here that I'd love t-to show you."
"Well… we aren't expected to come back to the guild today, so we've got quite a lot of time. I say we get some grub!" Max exclaimed as they continued looking down on the city. "Armin, what do you think?"
"Either or," the lucario said.
"It's said that shopping on an empty stomach is unwise, and there's a chance of getting robbed when we're seen walking around with the inventory. So when we're going to have to do both eventually, I think the ideal order is clear," Nidorino said, analyzing the situation. "But we should keep an eye on the time."
"Settled it-t is then. Come with -me, I know of the best way to get into the c-city," Braixen told the group while being the first to take the next steps forward. "Provided things haven't-t changed t-too much, Spice Avenue will be way t-too crowded to move through quickly, but there are some c-closeby roads that'll get us where we want to be quickly."
Moving again, they descended down the hill to enter the urban streets.
No longer looking down on the streets from above, they delved into the city. The buildings stood much taller than them and were stacked upon each other so densely, they couldn't even see the ocean behind the countless brick structures.
The pokemon around them were an interesting sight on their own. Instead of being naked or clad in only their own fur, they were all properly dressed in outfits of linen, cotton, wool, and silk. It wasn't just coats to protect against the cold, but there was a clear sense of fashion in the different pieces worn. Red was clearly the favored color to have for the apparel, but gold was a close second.
Much like how Braixen's fur was bent roughly in the shape of a dress despite the fact that he was male, clothing like dresses and skirts weren't seen as explicitly female clothing. It actually wasn't uncommon to see a male pokemon in a dress or skirt, especially if those clothing complimented how their fur usually looked.
Their first stops were at a district of restaurants to be able to fill themselves at. Max found a place to gorge himself on spicy food, which Braixen intended as well (though he ate far more conservatively and with the etiquette he boasted about). Armin just went to the first place he found, caring little. Nidorino found a unique restaurant in a side alley that served poisonous foods which only poison types could safely digest, giving it high exclusivity. He found the meal to be exquisite beyond words.
Once they had gotten their fill, the four grouped up again. They gathered at a public table of a small cliff, which provided a great view of the expansive ocean and buildings that were closer to the ports. There were more chimneys visible than what could be counted, and an endless horizon in front of all that. They had gotten a taste of what the city could offer, but it was just an appetizer that left them wanting to see more of it.
"Anyone have the time?" Max asked.
"It's three-twenty," Nidorino answered.
"Hey, can I s-see that shopping list-t Espeon gave us?" Braixen asked while reaching out his paws.
"Here," Armin said while handing it, his head locked towards the ocean and not looking at Braixen.
The fox took it and spent a moment looking over it, comparing the listed items to where he remembered different shops being located at.
"None of the places on h-here are more than an hour away from each other, so we've still got t-time," Braixen said. "C'mon, there's still so much to see in this c-city. We haven't-t even seen the ships or any performances yet-t. Couldn't-t we burn some more t-time?"
"I mean, yes, but we really shouldn't get carried away," Nidorino said. "Is there anywhere specific you're eager to go to?"
"I'd l-like to visit the places I went to in my ch-childhood. Just for some n-nostalgia and r-reminiscing, you know?" Braixen said. As he spoke, his voice suddenly got less energetic and more somber, a sudden shift in demeanor provoked his resurfacing memories. His stuttering persisted, though.
"Well, that is fair enough," Nidorino said.
"I don't know, I don't really like the city. It's so cluttered and loud, I'm worried I'm going to be running into people all the time," Max expressed. "I honestly preferred the walk here over the city."
"You could just continue the mission then," Armin said, still staring off into the distance to watch the ocean's waves. "It doesn't really take two to shop, just to carry everything back."
"That could actually work quite well. You get what we need while the other three of us can explore for a little bit. We can meet back up for dinner," Nidorino suggested.
"Yes, that's what my th-thoughts w-were," Braixen interjected, still sounding a little down. "Armin and Nido, do you know what you're p-plans are?"
"I think I'd like to check the castle out," Nidorino plainly said.
"Umm… I guess I'll just check out the docks," Armin said, not paying full attention to the conversation.
"Looking to get some inspiration for your artwork?" Max inquired.
"Yeah. Sure," Armin said, seeming to snap out of a trance he was in and finally look towards the team again.
"Are you s-sure you don't-t want to check out the f-fashion st-stores for that? Or m-maybe a museum? I can promise there are a lot of th-things to find in th-there that would get-t ideas flowing," Braixen proposed.
"I'll consider the museum, but I want to go down to the docks right now," Armin said, his focus going back towards the water.
"I guess we have a plan then," Nidorino said. "Braixen, where do you believe would be the best place for us to meet up at? We can do that at five or six."
"There's a large st-statue of an e-empoleon right outside the city castle. That'll make an ideal place s-since you can see the castle's t-towers from almost-t everywhere in the city, making it a p-perfect landmark."
"Great plan. Alright, let's split now."
The four got up from the public table, each going their own way. Armin made his way down towards the coast, Braixen took some side roads, Nidorino had his head on the castle towers, and Max went down the city's main roads to take the shortest- but not necessarily the fastest- route to the shops. As Nidorino walked away, he stopped to take one more glance at the now empty table and the other three who had been looking away from it.
"I guess that's what you reap from a team of mostly introverted pokemon," Nidorino quietly said to himself.
Braixen left the gathering areas of the city. He put the major roads behind him, and instead took the smaller routes towards a residential district. They weren't the paths a tourist or visitor would ever take, nor the working pokemon who wanted to get to and from work, and whatever places they could spend the money they earned at. No, it was the paths that would only ever be walked by those who lived at the residential district or coming to visit those that did. Or in this instance, it was one that formerly lived in the area.
While his legs walked across the city lanes, his mind took a walk through memory lane. He had gone through them so many times he could naturally navigate them, and recognize many different structures from his childhood. Braixen could understand quite well what Max meant when he said that everything seemed to get smaller when he evolved, as Braixen could recall what the places looked like when he was just a small and young fennekin, and he could swear they were completely different roads. He did evolve before leaving the city for the guild, but the images in his mind were still the ones forged when he was small.
But despite his romanticized and refined memories, as he took a closer observation, he noticed that it wasn't just a higher up perspective that made it seem like different roads. The weeping willow tree he remembered on the foot of a hill was no longer there; a kiwi tree sapling had taken its place. There was a phone booth that he remembered calling his family at when he was left behind by his sister and lost in the night, but that phone booth was now completely different, replaced by stronger woods and tougher glass. The house of his single middle school friend was repainted from a unique yellow to a generic white, complete with a "FOR SALE" sign in front of it. The clear area reserved for fairs or when the carnival would come around was now overwritten by a dirty and lifeless construction site, it even took a neighborhood's playground with it.
Braixen had wanted to go back to the home he remembered, but as he looked around and saw all that was changed, he wasn't sure he could call it the same place. He had remembered once hearing that "you can never go home again," and those words were ringing in his mind with every difference he spotted. It was enough that he wondered if he was better off never going there so that his memories were untainted. Taunting him was the fact that the other pokemon walked around as though nothing was wrong; it made him question the accuracy of his own recollection.
He made his way closer and closer to his old home, going across many blocks and cobble streets. But before he could get there, his eyes caught the sight of a building in particular: an abbey on a small hill. It wasn't altered, it was one of the least changed structures there. Yet, his attention was captured anyways. He paused when he first saw it, staring for a few seconds, and then he changed his route to walk towards it.
He wasn't quite sure why he was going towards it. He knew exactly what was over there, and it wasn't anything that would be good for him to see. There was nothing to discover, nor anything positive to resurface. Yet, he felt an attraction to it, an obligation to come to it.
Scaling a grey stone staircase to go up the hill, he reached the abbey and a graveyard right outside of it. A deep, dark feeling came in his chest and made him feel he had become several grams heavier, it hurt like a knife stabbed into his chest. Yet, his obligation to get closer did not vanish.
A sheet of snow covered the cemetery, but not deep enough to leave any headstone unreadable. Rows and rows of the pokemon no longer living, all equally silent. Feelings deepening, yet still guided by a force to go through it, Braixan's legs guided him to a specific one he knew. His pace slowed more and more, but eventually, he made it.
He stood directly in front of a gravestone, looking downwards on its engravings.
"Katarini Sizzen.
Braixen.
1822-1826.
May she find peace and freedom from turmoil."
It wasn't just any pokemon that laid below that dirt; it was his sister. The feeling in his chest intensified a thousand times, tears began sliding down from his eyes, and he clenched his paws together. The cursed feeling seemed to expand across his whole body and just got heavier and heavier, until the weight was so great he could no longer hold himself up. He collapsed onto his knees and his head fell down. The floodgates released and he cried; ugly and loudly.
When she was alive, he was only able to think about how much he despised her, how much of a narcissist she was, the ways she tormented him, how many friendships she had ruined, how he would have absolutely loved life without her. Yet now that she was dead, the only thing he was able to think about is how much he wished she was still alive.
Braixen stayed there for a minute longer; weeping into the snow until his throat went dry. As he stayed there, a Mismagius in clean robes traveled across the graveyard and noticed Braixen in his grief. He floated over to him and raised his hand up.
"I'm sorry," he said over Braixen's shoulder.
The fox lifted his head up to look towards the source of the voice, but only saw a rough blotch of purple and white through his tears. He had to blink a few times to make out what he was looking at.
"You have reason to feel grief. But know she is finally at peace now. And if she were alive, I'm sure she would want you to move on so that you might accomplish things in life that she was tragically unable to," the Mismagius said to him.
He doubted the cleric's words, but found solace in them nonetheless. He finally managed to hold back his tears and pull himself off of the ground.
"Th-th-thank you," Braixen uttered while pulling himself up.
"Rumi, I presume?" the mismagius cleric questioned.
"Y-yes, th-that's my name. H-how did y-you know?" Braixen asked.
"I know all who rest here and their stories," he stated.
"Oh. Y-y-you do?" Braixen asked for confirmation.
"Yes," the mismagius said with a node. "How your sister went is a tragedy: pushed to commit suicide before even finishing high school. It's terrible to imagine life ending before some would say it truly began, and worse to picture things from her perspective. It is an ending I myself have done my best to prevent for those still living."
"Y-yeah. And I j-just f-felt I had to v-visit her again," Braixen said, turning back to the marble gravestone.
"I understand clearly" the cleric told him. "I'll leave you here and shall not bother you again. But know the graves are being taken care of, and that it wasn't your fault."
After hearing those words, he brought his paws to his mouth and another round of tears rushed out again. In an instant, he felt heavier again. Not wanting to disturb the grieving with more words, the cleric mismagius silently put one hand on his back, reassuringly, and then left to return to the abbey.
While Braixen was in the cemetery and the others were still trying to find their way through the innumerable intersections and roads, Max was doing his best to continue the mission solo.
He managed to get to one of assuredly many marketplaces at the city, and was frequently checking the list to ensure he had gotten everything requested. With every item he got, he crossed it off the list by holding a pen in his teeth. Max knew he didn't want to be carrying around heavy metal equipment for hours without help, so he did the items in order of lightest to heaviest.
First stop was to pick up some spices that were promised to make the sub-par food at the guildhouse be strictly par instead. The second was some cleaning supplies and chemicals to keep the guild tidy and sterilized. The third stop took longer than the first two combined; stopping by a pharmacy to pick up infirmary equipment and medicine took a long while due to the bureaucracy and checks involved in that. The hardest thing was a prescription for a drug requested by Mawile that Max couldn't even pronounce, much less knew. He ended up getting a bottle of small orange capsules, ones he had never seen before in the infirmary or in previous supply runs.
Once he was finally down with the pharmacy, he sat down on the sidewalk and turned to look at the list once more and read the next entry that wasn't crossed off.
"Essentia taplet"
The arcanine's eyes went over it several times to make sure he was reading that correctly, and sure enough, found those to the words inscribed. Max had no idea what that was, or could even have been referring to. He was stumped in a roadblock, having no clue where the next place he needed to go was.
Desperate for a way to make progress, he lowered the list, raised his head up, and began calling out to the crowd.
"Hey, can anyone help me out? Does anyone know what this is? Hello? Anyone?" he called out to no pokemon in particular, only the streams of civilians pacing by in hopes someone would come to aid him. It took a few times to call out, but eventually, he heard someone respond to him.
"Whadya need help with there, pal?"
Max turned to look at the speaker, and had to look down as well. It was a swana in a fluffy coat. She looked up at him, eager to help.
"Do you know what a…" Max looked back at the list, "... 'Essentia Taplet' is, and where I could find it?" he asked.
"Hmm. Now that's a doohickey I haven't heard of in ages," Swana said.
"So do you not know where I could find it?" Max asked.
"'Course not!" Swana raised one of her wings and pointed to a storefront down the street. "Try there first. If they stopped carryin' it or got sold out then I know a couple other places you can try out."
"Oh, thank you so much, I will be sure to check that out," Max told Swana.
"Glad to help ya!" she said. "I can tell you're not quite from 'round here."
"How so?" Max asked.
"Yer accent and just your general confusion, to be frank," Swana told him, smiling in a bit of pride.
"You don't quite sound like anyone I've heard from this city either, to be honest," Max told her.
"I've been bouncing between this city and my sweet home out in the country," Swana explained, still in her shameless and heavily accented voice. "It ain't hard to get to and from when I can fly 'cross the continent. My father's and my mother's family are split between them. I'll be stayin' in the city in the winter where it be better heated."
"Alright, I see. Here, we can walk-n-talk."
Max began moving to the shop that Swana had previously pointed to, and the flying pokemon came along with him by staying to the side of his head.
"For someone who is only here like half the time, you do seem to know the city quite well," Max complimented her.
"Urban or country, I always know my way 'round. Seeing things from above helps wonders, y'know?"
"Makes sense," the arcanine admitted.
"And you? Waddya think of this place so far?" Swana asked.
"Well… not my style, I'll be honest. It's all cramped, almost hard to breath in, and there are lots of buildings… lot's of flammable buildings…" Max said, his voice lowering with a mixture of fear and sadness.
"Keep yer embers to yerself. Where are you from? How long have you been here?"
"I'm from a town a few hours East of here, right on the spot where three counties meet each other. I'm from the exploration guild on this continent, and right now we're doing a supply run. I'll be leaving from here tomorrow once I've met up with my teammates and we get everything we need."
"Oh my! I hadn't realized you were someone so major," Swana admitted, surprised. "Pardon me."
"Oh no-no, it's fine. I'm not wearing a badge or much to identify with, so I understand," Max awkwardly tried to explain.
"Ah, got it-got it. So, what's the life of an explorer like?" she asked as she continued to follow.
"Well, it's high risk-high reward. I've had my low points… unfortunate low points… but I'd be lying if I said it wasn't quite adventurous!"
"I see. Tell me more, I sure think that I'm interested…"
Even though Max and Braixen could quickly reach their destinations, Armin and Nidorino took much longer due to urban chokepoints and crowding. Unlike open nature, euclidean geometry could be essentially disregarded as a path half as long could take twice as long to traverse in a world of so many obstacles, even for most direct routes from point 'A' to point 'B'.
Armin moved towards the docks, but the crowds only got denser and denser as he got closer. The blunt scent of salt entered the air as well, along with the odd spices being traded at stalls.
Eventually, he did manage to make it to the wooden platforms and shipyards of the docks, coming in exactly on time to hear the bells ringing on a red and white supply ship that was docking in. He saw that half the ships had white masts on them, while the others operated purely from engine power. Armin leaned against a building, getting himself ready to spend a long time down there doing nothing in particular.
Looking past the ships, Armin could make out two- maybe three- islands far in the distance if he squinted. The waves flowing up and down concealed the islands at times. Besides those tiny blips, the perfectly blue ocean continued on past how far the eye could see, until the blue of the water met with the blue of the sky.
The lucario walked along the wooden docks for a while, tracing the edge of the city while his head continued looking far off. Even with pokemon all around him, many of whom in extravagant styles that were made to attract attention, Armin sought out angles where he could view the ocean and civilization without any pokemon standing in the frame. He found the pokemon there strange anyways, no matter how many times he saw it, he couldn't help but find it strange to see male pokemon in feminine clothing. However, those opinions stayed within his mind. He did not speak to anyone, nor did anyone speak to him.
Some say a picture is worth a thousand words, and that is a sentiment Armin would agree to. Hypothetically, if he were tasked with writing a paper on what he did during the time the four team members had split up, Armin would use most of his paper just describing the sights he had admired with a hundred descriptors. But Armin wouldn't have much else to write about either.
Nidorino took the longest to reach his destination out of everyone there. While this was mostly due to his species rather sluggish and methodical movement, the increasing security as he got closer to the keep was also a hindrance. The vicinity around the castle had pokemon who replaced their vibrant and varied clothing with stately and monotonous uniforms to convey allegiance. While they came in different shapes to fit different types of bodies, the patterns were homogeneous.
He reached a rather large square, designated with some small moats littered around the edges in a symmetrical formation and stone benches. The centerpiece of the square was a massive metal statue of an Empoleon. Approaching the statue, he saw a metal plague bolted at the stone below the statue labeling the pokemon as "lord Roseton, city founder."
Turning away from the pokemon statue, Nidorino looked around at the living pokemon around him. Not needing to look for long before he saw one of the guards on their usual patrol and keeping an eye on him.
"Hello sir, do you know where I might be able to find-"
"Sorry, but we're not allowed to talk while on patrols," the guard responded.
"Fair enough, I'll leave you be,"
Not getting any help from them, he followed his own nose. Nidorino moved on from the square and began moving around the castle, staying far enough to avoid getting into any trouble for being on the grounds. He examined the structure's details closely, seeing how almost every brick was placed, how it opened up to have floors wider than the ground floor with great pillars to keep it up, and all the different windows. With considerable interest, Nidorino studied the architecture in every angle he could get.
In retrospect, he wasn't sure what he was hoping for when he came to that section of the city. Obviously the nobles would have been too busy for him to engage in any meaningful interview with them, and the interior would have been barred off to him. But when he did study the building, letting his imagination flow on what it would be like to construct something as grand as it and rule it, it made the walk there feel worth it for him.
After making it fully round the slightly purple tinted castle, he moved on to pacing through the city roads again. His next point of interest was a grand library only a block away, which he walked towards while taking his sweet time; he wasn't in any rush. Once he eventually got there, he immersed himself in the many rows of tall shelves.
The library was large enough that it would be appropriate to give it the prefix of "royal". Three stories tall, and many balconies to overlook the lower floors at. All built with old, yet well maintained wood. Figuring that if he couldn't ask anyone for knowledge, he would simply study it himself. Grabbing what books on the city's politics he could find and a nice table, he sat down to start reading them.
There was an irony to be found in the fact that he was spending time in the city doing the same thing he usually does with his free time at the guild; an irony not lost on Nidorino. But it is what he chose nonetheless.
The noble house that lived in the castle and ruled the city was named Tirntile, while the greater county they controlled was named Breindirg. The house was founded 102 years ago, beginning with a founding member named Rosianna and they began building the city as one of their first orders of operation. Tirntile was notably a matriarchy, although the city founder seemed to be an exception to that. Nidorino glanced over their family tree and saw that the generations didn't change species very often. The first few generations were Empoleon, then the next few were Dragonite, then there was a long span of Floatzel before the current head and one before that were a Blastoise. It always remained in the water I egg group though.
Fitting with the city's massive fleet of merchant ships, the house had a historic focus on trade. Many members in the family had been tagged as economists in the books Nidorino read, and the books boasted of the massive prosperity they created. But just about every issue seemed rather brushed up upon.
Since the guildhouse was also touching counties named Riten and Mon Pear, he decided to research the houses behind those as well. They were owned by House Breach and House Splendor respectively, but he could tell that the books granted by the library were horribly biased when House Breach were attributed with adjectives such as "Shadowy", "Shady", "Cult-like", "Cunning", and the House Splendor were branded with words like "Pretentious", "Self-indulgent" "Prejudicial", all while no such negative words were used for Tirntile, it was laughable. He hadn't seen that one-sided of reporting with the books at the guildhouse and local library.
Even still, he still sought objective information that couldn't be diluted by a biased perspective from the library books. With this approach, he found that House Splendor had been around for 76 years and its founding member was a shiny gardevoir and the county itself was rather small. On the other hand, House Breach was by far the most recent by being founded only 34 years ago and appeared to have a focus on knowledge seeking. Breach had the least amount of objective facts and cited information out of them; Nidorino closed the books when it started getting the distinct vocabulary of a conspiracy theorist.
The poison type pokemon poured himself into research for a while longer, but then noticed that the room he was staying in seemed to suddenly get dimmer. Raising his head from the reading meterial, he saw that the sun had just passed by the room's main window and there was now a shadow cast over him. The passing of the sun served as a reminder of the limited time he had to Nidorino. Thus, he decided it was time to wrap up. He returned the books to their shelves- double checking that it was the right place- and bid farewell to the library. He returned to the square with the Empoleon statue and waited there.
Nidorino waited on the stone bench by the statue. Not even twenty minutes after sitting down, Braixen stepped into the square, still having a remorseful look on his face. Max and Armin took longer, but not so long that they began to worry. Out of all of them, Max was the only one who got to the square with a smile on his face.
The four regrouped and began their mission without lollygagging again. They talked some about what they did when alone, but not as much as two extroverted people would. After reuniting, the rest of the day was rather unremarkable, only heading from store to store to pick up the more weighty of the items mentioned on the list they were given that Max had not already gathered himself. Afterwards, all they did was seek out a hotel to stay the night at.
The difficulty came not from finding a hotel, as many stood several stories tall and in easily visible locations. Instead, difficulty arose in finding one that wasn't obscenely expensive and also didn't look like it brought a chance of them getting robbed while sleeping. It took half an hour by itself, but they found a place. Exhausted with walking all day and breathing in chilly air, they got two rooms that they checked themselves into. Armin and Max went into one room, Braixen and Nidorino went into the other.
Armin watched the sunset from the room's window, wishing he had brought something to draw with him on the journey and regretting that he had neglected to do so. But eventually, he and all the others went to sleep in the beds.
For most of them they had a sound rest complimented by the sounds of the city. But not for Braixen, despite him being the most acquainted with the city of them all. He squirmed in his bed a night, shifting with some small sounds coming from his mouth while nightmares stirred in his mind.
For most, dreams and nightmares were all fictional events, and almost always nonsensical. But those weren't what troubled Braixen. Instead, it was unshakable memories from the past that haunted him, ones that would never reside. Many say that the frights that fiction can bring pales in comparison what reality shows, and that was a proverb that Braixen could attest to.
Through the entire night, Braixen was tormented by the dark memories from his grim past of being shouted out by his sister almost every day, of having almost no friends at school because of her, of living with his bully everyday for years, of being abandoned in the city by his sister and left lost, of feeling like he could not take it any longer, of getting rope from the basement, of coming into his sister's room while she slept, of strangling her, of carefully propping her body on on a chair and putting her head through a noose, of kicking the chair out, of seeing her 'suicide' being reported, and of trying to figure out just what he had done.
End of chapter 19.