Chapter 16: So, you're considering joining Sera's team?
Stella gazed up at the night sky, hoping she'd soon receive some answers that could confirm her theory, or perhaps reveal the location of another crystal, but it didn't seem like the stars had anything to show her tonight. Bow was already asleep, tightly hugging a pink blanket while mumbling something in her sleep about candy. Stella looked at the envelope she was holding, having been unable to find Santos and get him to deliver her letter to Silver Woods.
He was probably delivering some mail out of town, and she would have to wait until morning when Santos would come to deliver their mail before asking him to send her letter. She telekinetically picked up the letter that her friend had sent her a few days back, and reread what she had found out about the plant sample Stella sent her.
"I need to get this new information to her as soon as possible…" Stella whispered, as she paced back and forth.
Stella decided it was probably better to just try to get some sleep, instead of staying up when there wasn't really anything she could accomplish by doing so at the moment. She glanced up at the starry sky once more, just in case she did receive a vision. When nothing happened, she closed her eyes, trying to sleep.
At the rescue team HQ, Elina had managed to convey her message to Kala after several minutes of trying to find a way to make her request. The fact that Kala had nearly dozed off a few times while she tried to do so didn't make it any easier.
"So, let me see if I got this right…" Kala muttered groggily. "You want me to reach you how to communicate through telepathy…?"
Elina nodded her head. Kala stared tiredly at the Elgyem for a moment, before falling back down on her pillow and returning to sleep, snoring lightly. Elina had to grab the Abra by her shoulders and shake her awake.
"I'll think about it, okay…?" Kala mumbled, rubbing her eyes. "So, I'll contact you later… if I don't forget…"
Kala went back to sleep, and Elina figured it was best to just let her sleep for now. She knew trying to ask Kala of all Pokémon for help was probably a somewhat crazy idea, but hopefully it was just crazy enough to work. After all, it seemed very unlikely that Kala would be interested in searching through anyone's thoughts on their personal lives and such, and thus Elina wouldn't have to worry about her secrets being found out with Kala as her teacher.
While Kala most likely just wanted to sleep and focus on her job, Elina still hoped that Kala would be willing to teach her, and that they would be able to set aside some time for that. For now, she decided to leave the rescue team HQ, and see if she could find a good place to sleep.
After a fairly uneventful night, the sun rose into the sky, signaling the start of another new day. River the Azumarill got up, and did her usual morning routine, waking up Azure and getting ready for another day of work at the café. After making breakfast, she went to fetch the mail. Inside the mailbox were today's newspaper, and a letter from Azure's father.
"Oh, he finally sent another letter!" River commented, smiling as she held the envelope. "I guess he's been too busy with work to really write… I really wish he'd come home more often."
River brought the letter inside for Azure to read, while making a mental note to herself to write a letter back when she got back home from work. Once she and Azure had finished their breakfasts, they headed off to the café. They met up with the other Pokémon that worked in the kitchen outside the café, and then they headed inside to start preparing for when it was time to open the café.
The Pokémon working in the kitchen went to bring in the supplies that would be arriving soon, and to get things ready to prepare the food and drinks that customers would order. Frederick was probably going to show up soon to help out in the café too. The young Deino only had to work a couple of more days to fully pay off his debt, and it seemed he had enjoyed helping out. He also seemed to get along well with Azure when they were both helping out in the café.
River had no doubts that Frederick would probably continue to be a regular visitor to the café even after he had finished working off his debt.
"Can I go look around town for ways to get gummis when we're done setting up things and stuff here?" Azure asked, bouncing on her tail. "I don't know if I already have enough IQ skill to evolve, but I want to gather some more just in case!"
"Azure, you don't have to be so impatient," River responded, patting her daughter on the head. "I know you want to evolve soon, but you don't have to spend every day until it happens preparing for it."
"Well, what else am I supposed to do, then?" Azure asked.
"How about just taking it easy?" River suggested. "You don't have to be in such a rush all the time."
"I can take it easy after I've evolved," Azure responded, bouncing around. "Please? Can I go take a look around town for ways to get more gummis later?"
"Oh, okay," River replied. "Just remember to keep track of time."
Once everything was in place, and the café was open for customers, things went the way they usually did on a normal day. And once Azure had permission to head out, she immediately headed for the town plaza. As she bounced her way into the main part of the town, she noticed Sera and her teammates over at the shop, buying some items. Azure smiled, and decided to go over to them and say hi.
"Hey guys!" Azure said, cheerfully hopping over to the bronze rank team. "Getting ready for another day of adventures, huh?"
"Uh-huh!" Chiaki responded, nodding his head and smiling. "Sera wanted to buy some Reviver Seeds before they all got sold out!"
"One can never have too many Reviver Seeds, after all," Sera said.
"We should probably put some of those away in storage," Blitz commented. "You know, just in case."
"Right, let's get right on that," Sera responded, finishing paying Wade for the purchased items before heading over to Lionel's item warehouse.
Azure continued following the rescue team as they made their preparations, figuring that perhaps she could go on another adventure with them if she did. She wondered if they had already decided on what mission they were going to handle today.
"So, what's the plan for today?" Azure asked.
"Sera received another mission with the mail this morning," Chiaki explained. "Apparently, some Buizel got lost while exploring Harmony Forest."
"Harmony Forest, huh?" Azure responded, balancing on her tail. "Same place where you found one of the missing crystals?"
"That's the one!" Chiaki replied, smiling. "I look forward to visiting it again, even if we won't get to see the monkey tribes this time since the Buizel didn't reach the main part of the forest."
"Ah, I see," Azure responded, bouncing a little. "Mind if I come with you?"
"Oh, you want to join us on this one?" Sera asked.
"Well, I was going to try to get myself some more gummis, but an adventure sounds fun," Azure responded. "That is, if you're fine with letting me come along."
"Sure, why not?" Sera replied, smiling and wagging her tail.
"Great!" Azure responded, happily bouncing around. "When do we head off?"
"Well, I think we've almost gotten all our preparations done," Sera said. "We just need to go over a few more things, and then we're good to go!"
Azure smiled and followed the three as they made their last few preparations, before walking up to the rescue team HQ. Walking right past other rescue teams who were looking at the bulletin boards and trying to decide on today's missions, they entered Kala's room. Sera lightly nudged the sleeping Abra with her paw, waking her up.
"What year is it…?" Kala mumbled, as she sat up, rubbing her eyes.
"Hello, Kala," Sera said, with a friendly smile. "Mind teleporting the four of us over to the entrance of Harmony Forest?"
"No, I don't mind…" Kala responded, nodding off.
"Um…" Sera shook Kala again, waking the Abra up again.
"Oh, you meant right now, didn't you…?" Kala said, yawning and stretching. "All right… Here goes…"
And with a flash of light, the four Pokémon disappeared from the room and Kala could resume her nap until another rescue team showed up. She then remembered that a certain Elgyem had been there last night, asking for her help.
"Right, I should probably think about what to do about that…" Kala said, yawning. "Hmm… I'll sleep on it."
And so, Kala resumed her nap.
Azure followed the rescue team as they explored the first floor of Harmony Forest, which had changed since the bronze rank team was there last. Aside from the vines that were spreading throughout the forest no longer being an obstacle, the entire layout of the floor had changed entirely. Chiaki seemed pretty amazed at how different it looked from the last time they had been there, despite having been told before that mystery dungeons did change like this.
The only things that stayed the same were the number of floors and what kinds of wild Pokémon might appear within them. The lost Buizel was apparently somewhere on the ninth floor of the dungeon. Sera had asked Blitz to remember what floor it was on, and to help keep track of what floor they were currently on.
"So, what Pokémon are there to fight around here?" Azure asked, swinging her tail around a little.
"Well, there are some Ledyba, which I believe we may also have seen in Nectar Woods," Blitz responded, trying to remember which wild Pokémon inhabited this dungeon. "There were also Shroomish here, and I think there might've been Bellsprout…"
"I see," Azure replied, bouncing along. "Do you remember anything else?"
"Hmm… I think there are either Taillow or Starly in here," Blitz said, thinking for a moment. "Some kind of small bird Pokémon, can't remember which one at the top of my head… and I believe there are Pachirisu on the later floors."
"Doesn't sound too difficult," Azure replied.
"I know I missed a few, though," Blitz said, looking around. "And remember to be careful with the Shroomish, since they might release spores that can induce sleep, paralyze or poison you."
"Yeah, I know about Effect Spore," Azure responded. "I'll be careful."
The four Pokémon continued exploring the maze of trees, picking up items and fighting off wild Pokémon on the way. As always, Azure was enjoying the chance to explore with Sera and her teammates, and getting to fight. She didn't think she would ever get tired of going on adventures. Sometimes, when she would look out the windows while helping her mother out in the café, it felt like every part of her just wanted nothing more than to head out and explore.
This was the third time she had joined Sera and her teammates on a mission, and with her love of adventures, she'd probably make a good rescue team member. Perhaps once she had evolved, she could join their rescue team for real? Azure figured her mother probably wouldn't mind that, as long as she remembered her curfew.
Would the rescue team be interested in having her join their team, though? She knew at least that they probably considered her a bit too impulsive and impatient at times. While Sera and Chiaki probably wouldn't mind letting her join, she wasn't too sure about Blitz. Sure, he was a nice Pokémon and liked having Azure as a friend, but would he want her as a teammate?
From what Azure had seen from the interactions between the three of them, Sera often looked to Blitz for advice when it came to the rescue team stuff, as he probably knew more than she did about it. However, Blitz also seemed like he could easily be talked into something by his two teammates if they wanted it enough.
Was that something Azure could take advantage of? Was it something she wanted to take advantage of?
"We're doing pretty well so far," Blitz commented as they eventually got to the fifth floor of the dungeon. "We're already over halfway there."
"Yeah," Azure responded, still following along. "This is going by pretty fast."
"Well, we did do five missions yesterday," Sera said with a cheerful smile. "So, I suppose one kind of short mission today is a lot less stressful."
"Shame I didn't meet up with you guys in time to join you on your missions yesterday," Azure responded, giggling a little. "I probably would've enjoyed that."
"I guess you would!" Chiaki replied, with his usual cheery attitude. "I bet yesterday's missions would've been even more fun if you had come along!"
"You really think so?" Azure responded. "Because, I was sort of thinking, that maybe…"
"Oh, there are the stairs!" Sera said, spotting the stairs to the next floor. "Let's go!"
Azure followed the rescue team up the stairs, and attempted to figure out how to ask about the possibility of joining their team at some point. However, she couldn't seem to figure out what to say, or how to say it. She found this odd, since it wasn't like her to get all flustered and not be able to get her thoughts across. Maybe this just wasn't the right time to bring it up.
"Hmm… Maybe after I evolve…" Azure whispered to herself.
"Did you say something, Azure?" Chiaki asked, looking over his shoulder at her.
"Uh… No, I didn't say anything," Azure replied, giggling a little.
"Oh, okay!" Chiaki responded, turning back to helping his teammates keep an eye out for items, wild Pokémon and the stairs.
Azure decided that she would wait to ask about joining their team until after she had evolved. It seemed like a good idea, at least. For now, she tried to focus on the mission.
Elina was sitting under a tree, wondering when to head back to the HQ to see Kala. Kala had told her she would think about it, but had admitted she might not remember to do so. And even if Kala did remember, Elina wasn't sure if Kala had given it any thought yet. She wasn't sure what she would do if Kala decided not to teach her to communicate through telepathy.
If that happened, she'd have to find another Pokémon that could teach her, but she didn't really know of anyone else who could. She really hoped Kala would agree to help her…
Suddenly, Kala herself appeared next to Elina in a flash of light, startling the Elgyem.
"All right, I've been thinking about it…" Kala said, still sounding rather sleepy. "And I think I've made my decision…"
Elina tilted her head slightly, and moved a bit closer to the Abra as she anticipated the response. Kala cleared her throat, as if about to speak… only to fall asleep again, leaning against Elina. Elina stared blankly at the snoring Abra for a moment, before shaking her by the shoulders in order to wake her up.
"Zzzz… Oh! Sorry about that…" Kala responded, rubbing her eyes. "Anyways, about the whole telepathy thing… I'm willing to give it a try…"
Elina instantly perked up, and looked to Kala to make sure she had heard right, only to find that the Abra had nodded off again. Elina tapped Kala's shoulder, and the Abra woke up again.
"Yeah… I'll try…" Kala said again, yawning. "Not sure if I'll be any good at it, but whatever…"
Elina excitedly hugged Kala, who nearly dozed off again, but managed to somehow stay awake this time.
"You're welcome…" Kala said, smiling. "But for now, I need to get back to work… See you later…"
And with that, Kala teleported back to her room in the rescue team HQ and went back to sleep. Elina was relieved that Kala had agreed to help her, and that she didn't have to worry about it anymore. However, Kala hadn't specified when her telepathy lessons would begin, so Elina wasn't sure how that would go. She just hoped that Kala wouldn't just randomly appear out of nowhere again whenever she decided to start the lessons.
Sera and her teammates had now reached the eighth floor of the mystery dungeon leading into the deeper part of Harmony Forest, Azure still following closely behind them. They were only one floor away from the Buizel who needed rescue. Azure kept taking note of how each of the three rescue team members handled the situation at hand; trying to figure out what she could contribute to the group if she joined the team for real.
Even if she had been doing a decent job while helping them out on a few missions, she would have to change her battling style regardless once she evolved. It was a bit difficult to fully plan ahead when she didn't yet know the full extent of how her body changing would affect the way she battled.
"All right, there are the stairs!" Sera said, wagging her tail happily as she walked up to the stairs leading to the next floor. "The client is on the next floor, correct?"
"Correct," Blitz responded, nodding his head. "So, let's go help him."
The four Pokémon walked up the stairs, and began looking around for the orange otter Pokémon that was lost somewhere on the floor. Azure tried bouncing as high as she could, in hopes of being able to get a glance over the walls and possibly catch a glimpse of where the Buizel was. Despite her best efforts, she wasn't able to get a good enough view of the dungeon.
"If only I could bounce a little bit higher…" Azure muttered. "And stay up in the air a little longer, too…"
"Don't worry about it," Sera said, wagging her tail. "Let's just look around like usual."
Azure followed the others, keeping an eye out for the Buizel. After a short while, Blitz was able to pick up on the Buizel's scent, and helped Sera find out which way it must've gone. Following the trail, they soon found the room where the Buizel was. As the Buizel spotted them, he motioned for them to be quiet as there were two white squirrel Pokémon with blue ears and yellow pouches on their cheeks asleep nearby, blue sparks of electricity occasionally rippling through the fur of the sleeping Pachirisu.
"I think I can get to him without waking the Pachirisu," Blitz whispered to the other three Pokémon in the group. "Sera, can I borrow the rescue team badge for a moment?"
Sera gave Blitz the badge, and so the Shinx began making his way towards the Buizel. He made sure to not make much noise as he walked through the grass, and even seemed to have a way to control his breathing to move as quietly as possible. He soon reached the Buizel, and held out the rescue team badge.
"Thanks," the Buizel whispered, smiling at Blitz. "I'll give you your reward at the rescue team HQ later."
And with that, the rescue team badge teleported the Buizel out of the dungeon and Blitz made his way back to his teammates.
"Well done, Blitz," Sera whispered, taking the rescue team badge back. "Now, let's get back to the HQ."
As the four Pokémon were sent back to the rescue team HQ, the golden flash of light from the rescue team badge as it teleported them out woke up the two Pachirisu. The two electric squirrels sat up and looked around for the source of the light, and when they didn't see it, decided to move to a different part of the floor.
River was taking some customers' orders when Azure returned to the café. Azure had said goodbye and left right after the rescue team picked up their reward from the Buizel, and gone back to the café so she could tell her mother and Frederick about today's adventure.
"So, you're considering joining Sera's team?" Frederick asked, while he and Azure cleaned some spilled berry juice off the floor.
"Yep," Azure responded, balancing on her tail.
"Sounds nice," Frederick replied. "They seem like a good team. Maybe I should try going on a mission with them sometime?"
"I bet you would enjoy that," Azure responded, bouncing around cheerfully. "I wouldn't mind seeing you in action myself, actually."
"Oh?" Frederick replied, tilting his head slightly.
"Well, you're a dragon," Azure said. "So, I'm assuming you must have some awesome moves!"
"Oh, I don't know if I'm really that awesome," Frederick replied, with a somewhat sheepish smile. "But thanks anyways."
The two continued talking amongst themselves while helping out in the café, until Frederick had to head home. Eventually, it got dark outside, and soon it was time to close up the café for the night and head home. Thanks to a few light crystals set up in certain spots in their house, it wasn't completely dark when they returned home. Azure began heading to her room, only for River to stop her.
"Wait just a moment, Azure," River said, smiling. "I brought something back from the café for you!"
River then held out a white gummi, which instantly brought a smile to Azure's face.
"I saved it just for you!" River said, handing Azure the gummi. "You can go ahead and eat it before you go to bed, if you'd like."
"Thanks!" Azure responded, happily eating the white gummi before bouncing over to her room.
River smiled, and went to write a letter for Azure's father. She took a blank paper from the top of a stack of blank papers and put it down on the small wooden writing desk in front of her, and then got out the quill and ink. Dipping the quill in the ink, she began writing the letter.
As she wrote about how Azure was getting close to evolving, and would probably be a Marill the next time her father saw her, she thought about how it was kind of sad that he wouldn't get to witness his daughter's evolution. She wondered if Azure felt that way too. Then again, Azure probably wouldn't let it bother her that much, as she would probably just look forward to telling her father all about whenever he came home.
River then thought about Azure's father probably felt about it, since he probably felt bad that he wouldn't be able to see his daughter evolve. River sometimes forgot to take his feelings into consideration when she thought about how much she wanted him to come home and spend time with them.
River then looked down at the letter she was writing, taking a few moments to figure out what else to write.
"… I hope we can all see each other again soon," River said, reading what she was writing to herself out loud as she continued working on the letter. "But until then, I suppose as long as we keep each other in our hearts, we're never truly far apart. So, keep up the good work, and I will do the same with my job at the café."
It didn't take much longer before River had finished the letter, and smiled as she looked over it, deciding she was satisfied with it. She left the letter on the desk, deciding to send it when Santos came to deliver the mail the next morning before heading off to work. For now, it was time to sleep.
End of chapter 16.