A/N
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Nettle gave a sigh, leaning back in his chair.
"It's... Not your fault, though. You were only doing your job, after all."
The liepard's gaze remained glued to the floor in shame.
"I still should have maybe challenged my superiors' decision, sweetie. It was obviously dangerous, and... I..."
"You made a mistake. We all do, sometimes... It may have had... Large consequences, but you can still make things right."
Basil's ears perked up. She let her eyes raise to meet the zoroark's.
"However so?"
"You are an... Integral part of this investigation, no? You've got a knack for figuring things out. Just keep doing what you're already doing... These cases will be solved in no-time flat."
The kitty gave a smile, her posture straightening.
"You're right, sweetie. I shall double my efforts!" Her posture soon sagged a bit. "But... I've hit a bit of a brick wall, now. I just can't think of any way that any pokémon could kidnap so many... Let alone cause this much rain, assuming it's even related."
"Perhaps... They're not. Consider this, Basil: Are we dealing with a lone criminal, or an organized group?"
Nettle could not conceal his smirk as he observed the gears turning in her head.
"I... Have an idea. I'll see you at the next meeting, sweetie."
"Good... Good."
Mission Log #2-A
Task: 0626201919
Team(s): Glamour, Waffle, Heroik, Flip
Participants: Peel Outo Heer, Floss Gumms, Barbie Maulle, Coconut Maulle, Pearbutter of the House of Sauce, Waffle Brekky, Lemon Gumms, Salami Sleezer, Tomato Postuh, Spiral Postuh
Logger: Waffle Brekky
Penner: Basil Postuh
I tried my best not to shout in fright as I was sent tumbling off from my bed. Salami kinda kicked my bunk. That dude seriously scares me. I don't understand why he's so mean...
Well, Team Glamour had accepted a mission. One way outta town. A group of bandits have been orchestrating attacks against the local marketers.
Well, the rest of my team decided that we'd go as well (without asking for my input, of course). I wanted to stay home, but Lemon wouldn't let me. I think he doesn't like me being by myself, but he also doesn't wanna give up the opportunity to... Uh, nevermind, I don't think I should be saying that.
Another team had accepted the same task, so we'd all be going with them.
That vulpix didn't seem to want to go, either, until he heard that Team Flip would be joining. He seemed a bit more eager after that, for some reason, but he was still generally kinda mean.
Well, we started off toward the train station early in the morning. I stood tall and proud the whole time!
Waffle cowered behind Lemon as the large group advanced toward the train platform. They approached the ticket booth, to come face to face with a widely grinning rattata. Coco stepped forward, a hefty sack of poké held in his muzzle. He placed it on the desk.
"Ten tickets, please, for the soonest train departing to the East-Scallion Wastes.
With an energetic nod, the small pokémon took the sack, dumping its contents into a register. She tapped her little hands against a few keys. Momentarily, a machine atop the desk whirred to life, quickly printing out ten tickets.
Barbie levitated them with a smile.
"Like, thanks, so much!"
They advanced toward the train that was listed on the tickets. The conductor, a tall maractus, marked each of them with a stamp as they boarded one-by-one.
I thought the train car was cramped as we walked through it. Luckily, our cabin was a bit better. It was still pretty tight, but we managed. I placed my bag down as I sagged against the wall, fishing out my phone. Lemon opted to simply lay across my back, watching me do the stuff and things.
Everyone settled down to interact with each other, for the most part, except for Pear. He just kept to himself in a corner.
My heart was racing. I was, admittedly, absolutely terrified. I'd never been so far away from home, let alone for the purpose of fighting bandits. I felt myself schooching closer to Lemon. He gave me some comforting words. His odd way of phrasing things always makes me feel giddy, and I couldn't help but giggle.
"And, with a flourish, and a twirl..." Tomato waved her wand in a hypnotic trance. A vulpix observed patiently. Salami gave a surprised grunt as the braixen briefly pinched his muzzle, then cupping her paw in an odd way. "Huzzah! Got your nose!"
The vulpix gave an impassive grunt at Tomato's small bowing gesture. He felt a small grin tug at his lips.
"You got me," admitted the vulpix. "But, that wasn't really a magic trick," he added, a knowing look taking his eyes.
"Oh, isn't it? Well, what if I were to turn your nose... Into a rose?" She placed the tip of her wand to her paw, uncurling her digits as she slowly pulled away. A white, curly flower seemed to slip into existence.
Salami raised an eyebrow.
"That's, uh, a tulip."
"And it's for you!"
The braixen waggled her eyebrows, arm outstretched with the flower in her grip.
Salami's red face reddened further. He leaned forward to carefully pluck the plant from her grasp.
The feew pokémon observing chorused with aws and chuckles as the vulpix curled up in embarrassment.
"That's, like, so sweet! Oooh, do another one!"
"Oh? Perhaps you'd like to be my assistant in my next trick! Ol' Lamilami here seems to be out of commission for the time being."
"Like, oh em gee! That, like, sounds like, like, so much fun!"
Lemon gave a quiet cackle as he observed the scene. He lightly bumped Waffle with a limb.
"Are you being privy to this, Waff'? Gold! Pure, comedy gold!"
"Y-yeah."
Lemon's cheery demeanor took a hit. He turned to his friend.
I just let myself take in the sprawling grassy landscape. With how far we had then traveled, the torrential downpour of Far-North Onya had dissipated into a light drizzle. For the first time in weeks, I saw sunlight peak through the clouds.
It did little to make me feel better. I felt my whole body quivering. My maw hung open as I gave short pants, attempting to combat the oncoming nerves.
"Waffle, relax. You are sweating."
I felt his muzzle graze across my cheek. I briefly pressed into it, before letting my muscles droop.
"I'm just scared," came my stuttering reply. I placed a paw onto Lemon's chest, lightly pushing him away. The fellow eevee looked a tad hurt. As much as I felt he deserved it, the look filled my heart with sorrow. "I just... I didn't want to go. It's scary. I didn't want to leave home to begin with. I'm only here because I worry for you."
Lemon gave a nod, his head turning away. He bit down on his lip hard enough to draw blood. He was silent for a short moment, before nodding.
"Waffle, I... I am remorseful. Truly, so."
Despite myself, a smile cracked onto my lips.
"I know."
"I will always be protecting you, Waffle. Nothing shall bring you down while I am watching."
"And... The same to you, Lemmy."
I squinted my eyes shut briefly, tilting my head to offer my muzzle. My cheeks were red before he even accepted my kiss, and then only flushed deeper.
Pear's eyes tracked the ceiling, slowly moving across.
Tap, tap, tap. The quiet metallic clanking slowly drew across the top of the car. He could barely hear it over the rest of the pokémon, but he trusted his experienced ears not to lie.
His eyes glanced about. The rest of his team was occupied with mushy stuff, that annoying vulpix was unconscious, Team Flip was wasting time with party-tricks, and most of team Glamour were preoccupied with something or the other.
His eyes fell on the luxray.
"Yeah, she hears it too," he confirmed in his head. He waddled over to the electric-type, tapping her back to draw her attention from the ceiling.
"Huh?"
"What should we do about our friends upstairs?"
"Well, should probs tell everyone else. Dunno what they're doin' up there, but we've gotta be prepared for a rumble."
"Okay."
Peel cleared her throat, standing up.
"YO, EVERYONE." The aforementioned everyone went silent, turning to face the luxray with confusion. "We've got company up there, and I'm not so sure it's the friendly kind."
Floss leaped up onto Peel's head.
"Shudn't we tew da cunductow?"
"Totally. Yo go tell em', 'kay sweetums?"
"Okie dokie!"
Peel let out a small purr as the skitty nuzzled the top of her head, before leaping down to scamper out of the room.
A tense silence reigned for a moment.
Tomato turned to the similarly dressed ampharos beside her.
"What should we do, daddy?"
"Prepare to fight, of course! Gwahaha!" The sheep poked his daughter on the cheek with his wand. A small giggle escaped her as a tickly jolt of static met her fur.
"Okay! You ready, Salami?"
"Uh... Sure." The vulpix groggily rubbed a paw at his eyes, yawning quietly. "Man, I hate mondays."
"It's Friday."
"Fuck you."
Coco and Barbie stood back to back. Their eyes both followed the clattering above them. A subtle shift in atmosphere occurred as the latter focused her psychic across the room, with her brother's intensifying flames bathing the room in a warm front.
A chespin and two eevee huddled together. The chespin had a razor-leaf clutched in his grasp. The smaller eevee had his eyes closed in focus, contributing to the psychic coverage of the area. The larger had an almost chilling aura emanating from him.
Peel stood proud, with electricity excitedly sparking across her pelt. The skitty that had returned to her back danced about, trying to avoid getting zapped.
The footsteps stopped.
The PA system echoed throughout the train.
"Attention, passengers. A group of bandits is currently occupying the train. If you are not able to battle, we urge you to hide until the clear is given. Thank-" the broadcast was cut out by a shout. The sounds of brawl were broadcast across the whole transport. Eventually, however, the sounds ceased. The PA operator did not return.
"I've got a bad feeling about this," Salami sighed. Tomato bonked his head with her wand.
"Chillax, dude. We've got this in the bag!"
Whatever Salami's reply was going to be, it went unspoken as a pikachu dove in through the window.
Before it even hit the ground, a flurry of razor sharp leaves impacted the rodent. It went flying back out of the window with a shout.
The door burst open a second later, a machamp striding in. Floss pounced at the hulking figure with a shout, before being promptly flung against a wall.
Peel felt hot rage fill her system at the sight of her downed partner. Without a word, the machoke was brutally fried to unconsciousness.
Coco advanced forward, with Barbie following.
"Come on," Coco urged. "We are no use cooped up in here; we must protect the other passengers!"
I felt little other than fear as we advanced out of our cabin and into the claustrophobic corridors of the passenger car. Peel stayed behind to care for floss.
I wanted to cry, but I had to be strong. For myself, and for the others!
My brief bout of bravery took a hit as it came to light just how many bandits were on the train. As soon as we made it out, a crowd of pokémon absolutely bodied us. An all-out brawl erupted in the car.
I clawed a rattata's face with a swipe of my paw. It, in turn, spun to strike me with an iron-tail. I didn't fly far, however, as I impacted a clefairy from behind, the two of us tumbling. It aimed a punch at my face. I opened my maw to bite down on the fist. I couldn't help but shout as one of my teeth was ripped straight out. I focused all of my pain, anger, fear, and rage into the hand in my mouth, as I bit down as hard as I could.
The larger pokémon screamed in agony, bringing up its other fist. I felt it begin to roughly pound on the top of my head. Each strike left me more and more dazed, until I could finally hold my bite no longer. It shook me off, before kicking me over.
I felt myself get battered about for a moment or two before I began to regain focus. I noticed a lillipup looking over the fallen clefairy. It turned to gaze into my eyes with a very personal hate. I attempted to summon a shadow-ball into my maw, but my fear paralzed me in place.
Pear's jump-kick soon impacted the canine, saving me from its wrath. The chespin fixed me with a disapproving stare, before returning to the battle.
It felt like ages, but it was only about a minute after leaving our cabin that the car had been cleared. About eight of the bandits laid on the ground. Among them was Salami, who I think fainted after taking an attack for Tomato. The braixen in question picked up the vulpix, rushing back into our room.
We advanced out onto the coupler, before entering the next segment of the train. The dining car seemed to have a greater volume of pokémon, both passengers and bandits. While numerous on both sides had already fallen, they all remained locked in the ever-evolving dance of battle.
Lemon and I stayed closer to each other this time, watching each other's backs. I probably wouldn't have lasted as long as I did if it weren't for him.
I recall that we found ourselves facing a raichu. I felt my furs stand on end. I recalled the conversation that we had had with Team Relic after our battle evaluation.
I quickly hopped to the side with a squeal, narrowly avoiding the hot bolt of lightning. Lemon wasn't so lucky. My friend briefly shook his head to clear it of the pain, before charging toward the raichu.
It leapt forward to meet Lemon half way. They began to swipe, kick, and parry each other with lightning-fast speeds. I could feel the air intensify as the rodent charged another attack. I leapt forward to strike him in the head with an iron-tail, canceling the attack. Lemon and I began to pepper the raichu with numerous blows, leaping in and out of its range with silent coordination.
Soon enough, I could see it getting fed up. As it turned to face me, Lemon pounced from behind. Predicting this, the raichu's body began to glow with power. Before Lemon could stop himself, he impacted the mouse. It released a large blast of electric energy, knocking itself out, but sending us both sailing through the air. As I was farther away, I was only knocked about a meter. Lemon, however, much to my horror, was flying toward the smashed window.
I hesitated. I hate myself for it, but I hesitated. It was only for a second, but I did. I soon shook off any notion of inaction. Faster than I'd ever moved in my life, I felt my limbs frantically pull me forward. I leapt onto the window-sill, reaching out the grip Lemon. I stretched my body as far as I could.
It wasn't enough.
Everything seemed to slow down. Fear, anger, desperation filled my body. The dazed figure of my closest friend, maybe even my only real friend, was on a fatal collision-course for the ground below.
I felt worthless. All of my short-comings culminated in the ultimate failure. I let my fear get the best of me, and I was too slow to act. Even then, maybe if I wasn't so weak, small, and helpless for my age, I'd have been able to still catch him. If I could reach just a little farther, I wouldn't have lost my best friend.
It was at that moment that ambiguity ceased to exist. In its place, clarity of the likes I had never felt filled my mind. I felt like I knew everything at once.
If I just needed to reach a little farther, then I would reach a little farther.
I felt myself grip down on Lemon. Or, at least, I knew that I did. There was no physical sensation; only the knowledge of my friend's safety. I did not see my paws around him, but I somehow knew that my eyes deceived me.
Time seemed to catch back up in an instant. I felt his body fly backward and impact mine, knocking us both to the floor. We briefly tumbled, before coming to a stop, sprawled out.
Upon regaining our dazed thoughts, we stood.
"Ah, I am feeling gratitude, Waffle! You have saved my life. I thank y-" He cut himself off. His eyes seemed to widen as he looked up to meet my gaze.
Up.
But, we were standing?
I looked down further, stumbling backward in shock. Where once my fluffy caramel coat adorned my paws, there was now a bounty of short lavender fur. I craned my neck around and, sure enough, a thin, split-tail met my vision.
I shook my head. So what if I evolved? Lemon was safe, and that's what mattered. I pulled him close with a purr erupting from my chest. We nuzzled into each other. No words could communicate our complex feelings; our shared touch said all that was needed.
"I-I'm just glad you're safe, Lemon."
"I suppose we are what is referred to as "even-Steven", now, yes?"
"Certainly."
"So, the shrimp's purple now. I'll admit, I'm impressed." Pear gave a golf-clap.
The battle had gone well. Floss, Barbie, and Tomato were unconscious from their injuries, but Salami had woken up. The vulpix was curled up against Tomato, who was holding him close.
"You, uh, could at least not be passive-aggressive about it," stated Salami.
"Psh. You're one to talk. Whatever; I'm going out for a smoke."
The chespin left the room in a huff. Those conscious simply shrugged to each other.
Waffle gave a long yawn.
"W-well... What are we g-g-gonna do? With the damage sustained by the train..."
"From what I've heard, the dudes are gonna take an unscheduled stop at the next station for repairs, and to hand the bad dudes off to law-enforcement."
"Ah, yes. I suppose that will be putting a damper on our plans, yes?"
The ampharos had a paw on his daughter's forehead, carefully stroking her fur. He spoke next.
"Repairs will probably take a while! Might be faster to just walk to Vidale Town, eh? Gwaha..."
Peel placed a paw to her chin.
"Hm... Seems rad. Do ya' figure those goons were with the one's we're looking for?"
"I-I c-certainly hope not... That could mean t-that there's a lot more of them than we at first thought..."
We were largely silent until evening. The group was largely all awake at that point, everyone having received medical attention who had needed it. Floss and Peel had retreated to the bathroom for, as they claimed, "celebratory alone-time". Lemon insists that they were probably shagging, but I doubt it!
The mood was pretty relaxed as we stepped off onto the train platform. I had fallen numerous times on the way, still unused to my longer limbs.
Barbie was fawning over my the whole time.
"Like, oh em gee! You are soooo pretty, now!"
She had said that exact sentence at least twice. I found it very sweet! Salami seemed pretty annoyed, though.
My enhanced senses aided to bolster the new scenery's wow-factor. The sprawling sea of sand swallowed the horizon, tinted blue by the faint light of the twilight sky. It felt as if arceus itself had lovingly painted the brilliant clouds with the air as his canvas.
I felt the shallow breeze easily through my short fur as I stepped down onto the ground. The sands still burned with the remaining energy left from the dat's sun, contrasting the cool atmosphere around us.
As predicted, we were informed that Repairs would take a couple days. Serious damage had been inflicted on many of the train's systems, leaving it vulnerable to failure. The risk was low, but a risk was a risk.
Us and another team from the guild in Layer Port were the only ones to decline the station's offer of temporary housing.
My group and I only stayed for dinner before setting off into the sandy expanse. We walked on the train tracks, so as to not lose our way or deal with the discomfort of the numerous grains.
The night had fully set in, by then, chilling us to the bone. I had found myself leaning down to huddle into Lemon's warm, fluffy fur.
It was a grueling. What would have been a forty-five minute train ride took... Take a guess?
TWELVE HOURS.
It was already late in the morning by the time we made it to Vidale. We were not happy. Among us (don't say a word), our two ponyta were the only ones to not be absolutely exhausted. Heck, Lemon, Waffle, and Floss had fallen asleep several hours prior.
I'm usually a bit mild-mannered, but by that point I felt as if I'd rip someone's head off if they so much as inconvenienced me. I wouldn't, of course, but I felt like it.
I was hot, aching, tired, stressed, and it was all in a new body. It was only when we saw the town peeking over the horizon that we had all regained our energy and ran.
We got numerous weird looks as we strode into town. We were on our way to a local inn when we were stopped.
"Halt!"
The group barreled to a stop as an arcanine came into view. His dusty officer's uniform stood out.
"What?" Spat Peel, a growl escaping her throat.
"Y'all bunch are awfully suspicious. Unfamiliar pokémon, Bargin' into town, unannounced, just after the bandits attacked a train. Explain."
Coconut stepped forward, holding out a leg to stop the rest of the group's hostile advance.
"We are the teams sent from Layer Port to assist with the criminal situation, sir." He fished in his bag, then pulling out his guild ID.
The officer squinted at it, then giving a nod.
"Checks out. A bit late, but understandable given the circumstances. Y'lot look tired, so take a day or so of rest before stoppin' by th' station for your debriefin'."
With a mutual nod, they parted ways.
We went largely interrupted as we made our way to the inn. We booked a room, and most of us collapsed pretty instantly upon hitting the beds.
Tomato and her father stayed up to cook breakfast. Barbie, after a twenty minute nap, opted to join them.
The food was really good. I hadn't eaten in a while, and I was in agony, so that might've had something to do with it. The simply dressed pasta was like a rushing river of pure bliss into my empty stomach. The rest of the group also woke up to eat, but went back to sleep after they wer full.
I joined them, of course.
Pear lazed back and forth across the mattress. He swatted away the paw that touched his face with an annoyed grunt. It kept prodding. One eye soon peeked open.
He shot up with a growl, getting face-to-face with Lemon. The eevee's grin widened.
"Ah, you have been awoken!"
"Wonder how that happened. Better ber important."
"Pear, my friend, my buddy, my pally pal, my comrade in crime! The shroud of night has fallen."
"Ah..." The grass-type sat up with a long stretch, sighing as numerous pops went up his spine. "Yeah, okay. We gonna go nab some goods off some suckers?"
"Certainly! Let us depart thusly, yes?"
"Yeah, yeah, whatever."
They snuck over to the window, pushing it open with practiced stealth. They hopped out one after the other.
Salami awoke upon feeling the breeze. He squinted toward the open window with suspicion.