A/N

Thanks for reviewing, once more, Muders.

A liepard strode quickly into the café. Her feline eyes swept the room to land on the usual meeting-place. A brown, bulging envelope was on her back.

Sure enough, the table was occupied by both Nettle and the chief. The former tapped his claws slowly on the table, with the latter looking over a notepad.

Basil's eyes briefly flicked to the booth behind, which only housed a single cloaked figure. When looking back, she felt a small pang of hurt in her heart upon spotting the empty seat next to the chief.

The arcanine noticed the look on her face.

"Now, Basil. We've been over this, aye? Don't beat yerself up over it. 'Twa'n't your fault."

A small sigh escaped Basil's chest.

"I know, sweetie."

Nettle briefly stepped out from the booth, allowing the liepard to take her usual spot next to the window.

A goodra soon walked by, placing a mug of coffee in front of Basil. She nodded her thanks as the dragon walked away.

"So," prompted Nettle, "Judging by that envelope... I am assuming you have found what you're looking for?"

The liepard felt a grin tug at her lips. With a confident nod, she placed the envelope on the table. She tore the seal with one claw, then carefully removing its contents. A thick packet of paper was placed down.

"Well, I got in contact with a few specialty shops. I got some recent purchase records right here. You may notice a peculiar trend."

The chief pulled the packet over with his eyebrows raised, setting to work sifting through it.

"Hmm... Yer' right. There's an awful lot of TMs being bought recently. All the same one, too... TM18..." His brow furrowed in thought. Basil motioned him to continue with a paw, as Nettle gave a subtle grin. The chief's eyes nearly bulged from his sockets. "That's... Rain dance!"

Nettle gave a nod.

"That would certainly... Explain a lot." He clasped his claws together. "Assuming this rain group is the same as our disappearing group... That would explain why they target the rich, no? The amount of money needed for this many TMs would be... Ludicrous."

The chief hummed.

"Although... That still don't explain why they're targeting the guild."

"Perhaps it is to prevent us from protecting them, sweetie?"

"That... Could be." The chief scratched his chin in thought. "But, why're they doin' this in the first place? The torrential downpours, 'n all that."

"For each motive found, another dashes just out of reach... Frustrating. Perhaps, however, there's a way to solve that."

The chief nodded.

"I'm listinen', Nettle."

"Pokémon seem to disappear rather easily, no? Perhaps, we could send out a weak team... As bait, for us to ambush the perpetrators, and take them in to interrogate. Or... Maybe even to be captured and used as a spy...?"

"That... Could work," the chief mused.

Basil nodded in agreement. Upon catching movement from the corner of her eye, she turned to see the cloaked figure from before walking out of the café.

Mission Log #2-B

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 stared out at the sands of the town; a sea of sparkling cobalt from the night-sky's striking glow.

My breath came in a volley of short huffs as sweat trickled down my body. I had left the room to sit outside, partially to get out of the inn's intense heat and partially because I probably smelled awful.

I'm not sure how long I was out there, but I just couldn't sleep. I was nervous. I was, admittedly, afraid that... Well, that's a secret. I'll just leave it at this; the mission brought me concern.

Peel's paw-steps fell near-silently into the soft sands as she approached the slouched espeon. She took a seat next to the psychic-type, resting a foreleg around his back.

"Hey, dude."

"H-h-hi..."

The luxray stared up to the moon for a moment. Deciding not to be too forceful, she opted to wait. She figured that Waffle would talk when he was ready.

The espeon was stiff in Peel's loose embrace, leaning away just slightly. He slowly found himself relaxing into it. A small smile crossed his features, as her fluffy coat felt nice through his own short coat. The invisible static dancing across her pelt tickled him just a bit.

It was only a moment before Waffle spoke.

"S-so... Did... Did you need... something, Ms. Peel?"

Peel gave a small laugh. Waffle flushed in mild embarrassment.

"Heh... Sorry, Waffs. Just cut the formality, that cool?" We're comrades."

"M... Yeah... Sorry, Peel." He let his eyes nervously dart to peek at the luxray's expression. Her bright smile elicited a small one of his own.

"Just wondering why you're out here! And, uh, sweaty."

Waffle flinched, turning to hide his expression.

"I-I... I'm... Worried."

"About?"

"T-the mission."

"Why?"

"L-Lemon."

"Do you think he'll get hurt? The guy seems tough."

"No! I mean... Yes... But..." Waffle's face went sour. He turned away from the luxray. "Just, go away. It's not your business."

The espeon tensed up a bit, feeling two paws coming to rest on his back. They set to work in a careful, pressuring friction, massaging in a soothing motion.

"I'm afraid it is, dude. If we're stuck with you, you need to be at tip-top performance." Upon feeling the espeon sag in guilt, Peel bit her lip. "Sorry, dude, that came out wrong."

"N-no, I understand."

"You don't. What I mean is, I care about you. Even beyond the practical reasons, we're all a team here, and it's our job to lookout for each other."

"I... Just... Don't wanna talk about it, o-okay? It's... Private."

The luxray gave an understanding nod, despite Waffle being unable to see it.

"Would you like to talk about something else? Take your mind off things?"

"Mm... Okay."

"Hey, wanna hear how I met the love of my life?"

"O-okay! Sounds interesting."

"Well, it was a long time ago, really. I was just walking out of class one day, when, whammy! Skitty right to my face!"

Waffle raised an eyebrow.

"Just like that?"

"Oh, yeah. This girl was just straight up zoomin' down the hall, I' tell ya'. To this day, I don't know why she was, but I'm glad it happened. As you might imagine, I wasn't happy about being barreled into. Could barely even understand her apology. Her speech issues were even worse back then, but she's made a lot of progress since! I helped, of course, 'cuz I'm awesome like that."

Waffle gave a small smile.

"That's very sweet of you, Peel." A smile cracked on his features. "Lemon has always helped me with my social issues, too."

"How'd you meet?"

"Well... It's a bit... Typical, one might say."

"Uh-huh?"

"My sister always saved me from bullies. She and Lemon were, uh, good friends. They were both thieves, so they bonded over that. My sister kinda, uh... Went missing, one day. Lemon didn't really like me back then, but he vowed to protect me in honor of my sister's memory." Waffle looked to the floor, releasing a remorseful sigh.

Peel's eyebrows raised. She'd coorsed the information she needed.

"They were thieves, you say?"

Waffle suddenly gasped, jolting upward. His ears flattened to his head as he backed away.

"Wait! No!"

Peel raised a paw.

"Waffle, I'm not gonna tattle. I just want to help, okay?"

The espeon flopped to the ground, groaning loudly. He covered his eyes with his paws.

"O-okay..."

Peel took a seat next to him. She let her tail drape comfortingly over his back.

"Are you concerned that he'll get caught? End up like your sis'?"

"I... Y-yeah. I f-feel like, with all the b-banditry going on around here, things aren't gonna a-add up, and they'll all find out it w-was him."

"That's... I can't say I don't think he deserves it, but I suggest you seek him out and talk to him. He's got a soft-spot for you, so maybe you can set him down a better path."

"I t-try, but P-Pear always stops m-me."

"You can't let him step all over you, dude. If you really care about your friend, you'll put your foot down and try your hardest to set things right. Okay?"

"I... Yeah... Y-you're right, Peel."

The luxray gave a laugh, and a smirk.

"Yeah, I know! I'm always right."

Well, what I was upset about doesn't really matter much now, I suppose. Peel talked me through it all, so I was feeling a bit better by the morning.

We got a briefing from the police about the situation. This bandit group would invade the market every few days, taking what they could before fleeing. About three of them had been captured and imprisoned thus far.

It seemed that they had been growing more bold, though. With the attack on the train, and reportedly, uh... One more, earlier that morning, which only had two participants.

So, there we sat in the market. Each team ditched their uniforms to avoid suspicion from the bandits, save for Salami, who opted to wrap his black cape around his face like a scarf.

The ampharos felt a tap on his shoulder, turning to look down at Salami.

"Uh, yo, Pesto. I saw someone sussy up there."

The electric-type's gaze followed the trajectory of the vulpix's paw, to the top of a clay building. A clefairy and a lillipup were peeking over the edge, seeming not to notice the teams below. The former had a cast around one limb, with the latter having gauze wrapped around its head with red splotches across it.

The clefairy's gaze turned to their canine companion, a worried frown on its pink features.

"Hey, Swiss?"

Swiss' head turned to face his friend. He gave a small smile.

"You good, babe?"

"Um... Yeah. I just need you to write the report', sugar." She shook her medically dressed limb for emphasis.

The lillipup nodded.

"Sure thing, Pie. You dictate, I'll pen."

"Okie! Only new information I've got from my sweep is that Mellow is expectin' a kid, soon, so we probably shouldn't steal from 'er."

"Okay... Got it. If there's nothin' else, feel free to send it off."

Pie gave a nod, focusing her thoughts onto the paper. With a mental squeeze, it was sent through space to a new location.

"Sent!"

"Good! But, uhm..."

"What's up?"

The clefairy placed her good-hand on the dog's back as his ears pinned back a bit.

"You gonna be okay during the attack? Maybe you should sit this one out, since you're injured and all."

"Aww, I'll be fine, sugar. Should be more worried about you; head injuries are no joke!"

"Ahahah... Your presence takes the pain away!"

"Oh, c'mere, you flatterer!"

Limbs found their ways around bodies, as the two pushed their lips together firmly.

"Hah, I think you're right! If my old eyes don't deceive me, I think I just saw a teleport! Likely scouts for the bandits."

"Uh, yeah. I felt it."

"Let's go tell the others!"

"Uh. Shouldn't we apprehend them?"

"If they can teleport, they'll probably just flee and warn the others not to attack!"

"I see."

"I cannot BELIEVE we were put on feeding duty. AGAIN. That's quite FUCKING erroneous, if you ask me..."

"Wells, no one asked you, dawg, so shut yo' bitch-ass up."

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever you say, Eggman."

"I... What?"

The krokorok's slow, thumping steps were matched by the frantic scamper of his eevee companion.

"So, Sherbs, you gonna slow us down talking to the prisoners again?"

"Yeeeuh. A bit o' kindness goes a long way, as they be sayin'. Ya' dig?"

"I GUESS. I just don't see why you care."

"Sheeit, dawg. We's pokémon, they's pokémon. How'd ya' in their position, yo?"

"But they are the ENEMY. They don't deserve rights... Evil bastards... Kehehe."

"Yeeeuh, whatevs ya' say, Egg-dawg."

"You said it wrong!"

"Yeeeuh, whatevs ya' say, Egg-dawg."

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever you say, Eggman."

They cut their bickering as they looked into the cell. A fennekin was staring at them, utterly puzzled.

"Uh... Pardon?"

Sherbert looked up to the fox, giving a wide grin.

"Ayyy, sorry 'bout dat. My homie here's just a dumbass." She ignored Brococli's indignant snort. "What's yo' name, homes?"

"I... None of your business!" The fox turned away, pridefully flaunting his cape. "You're the enemy! I ain't gotta talk t'you."

Sherbert's frown contrasted Broccoli's grin.

"Enemy, aye? Well, smart guy, if you wanna see an enemy... Kehehe..."

"Brocc', don't."

"FINE."

The eevee plucked the food-bag from Broccoli's grasp, then shimmying it into the cell. Her eyes glanced about, first to the ninetales inside, then the minccino, then back to the fennekin.

"Nice gang ya' got, homs."

"Can it, criminal scum!"

The tiny eevee gave a tinier squeak, narrowly avoiding a swipe to the face. The large foot of Broccoli stepped protectively between them.

"Woah woah, calm ya' tits!" exclaimed Sherbert, peaking around the titanic limb.

"Y'all kidnapped my family! And my friends! And me! I haven't seen my parents in weeks! And, after that, yer' tellin' me to be calm?" Shallot pressed his face firmly against the bars, which deformed around his ample fluff. "If I hadn't this inhibitor on, you'd both be piles of ash!"

A silver paw came to rest on the fox's back. He gave a small sigh, slumping down.

"Look, homes, as much as I hate it, it's fo' the greata' good. I can, though, getcha' in contact with yo' fam'."

The fennekin's mood instantly brightened.

"Really?! Ya' serious?"

"Yeeuh."

The fire-type's grin widened. He dashed excitedly in circles.

"Oh, thank you thank you thank you! I'd kiss ya' if Tart weren't watchin'!"

The minccino in question raised an eyebrow.

"It is not my place to lecture you on where to put your muzzle, Shally-boy."

Sherbert blinked.

"Oh, huh. You look shockingly femenine, fennekin."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever you say, Eggmen. Come on, Sherbs, we have to finish our work QUICKLY. Agent N would be unhappy if we were to be late to his meeting... Kehehe..."

"Oh! Uh... Yeeuh. Catcha' later, homes." The eevee felt a small shudder fill her frame at the thought of meeting Agent N.

Pesto and Salami told us of suspicious activity amongst the rooftops. Once it was pointed out, I could definitely sense pokémon up there. A lot of them. An involuntary shiver went through my body, despite the intense heat.

Lemon and Pear soon reported the same, having heard them on the roofs. Such an oddly specific ability they had. It intrigued me.

About a half-hour into our patrol, Tomato had recovered enough to join us.

It didn't take much longer for things to go down. They leapt down from above, sending the marketplace into a panic.

"They're here!" cried a miltank. She ran into a tower, locking the door. Shortly after, she emerged at the top, beginning to frantically ring a large bell.

The heavy, reverberating sound began to those outside of ground zero.

Salami weaved throughout the panicking pokémon, seeking out anyone suspicious. His six tails flowed elegantly behind him as he leapt, rolled, and strafed around the crowd. He came up to a stall with a sableye behind it.

The sableye was hurriedly stuffing various bits of jewelry into a sack, as the scorbunny to her left held a pistol to her head.

As Salami approached, he reached out with his mind. While limited in his psychic ability, he was able to muster enough control to subtly flick the safety switch on the gun. The rabbit did not notice.

The vulpix hopped, leapt, then pounced, catching his target in a tackle. The scorbunny squeaked in surprise.

Salami darted his muzzle toward his opponent's neck, only for the muzzle of a gun to smack against him. He gave a sharp hiss of pain. A small click rang out as the scorbunny attempted to fire his gun, to no avail, followed by a second click as he flipped the safety back off.

Salami smacked the gun with an iron-tail attack as hard as he could. The force of the impact triggered the firing mechanism, eliciting a shout of pain from the vulpix. The trajectory of the fired bullet had taken it through his ear, leaving it plagued with both a new hole and the deafeningly loud bang of the gun's fire.

The scorbunny quickly kicked Salami off, sending the fox face-planting into the sand. A ringing filled his ears. He rolled quickly back onto his paws, only to see his opponent with his arms raised in surrender as the sableye held the once-discarded pistol to the back of his head.

With a mutually shared salute between him and the shopkeeper, Salami turned to once-more seek out a new opponent.

He spotted Tomato and Pesto a few yards away, locked in battle with three squirtles, opting to join in.

Across the field, a group of bandits were wandering toward a building. Two fennekin and a purrloin strode inside confidently, advancing toward the shop-keeper inside. The pikachu behind the desk did not look at all worried.

One fennekin shrieked in agony as sharp claws dug into its scalp from above. Before it could react, a fist pounded on its forehead, knocking it into unconsciousness.

Pear disregarded his downed opponent, turning to fling a razor-leaf toward the second fennekin. It dodged swiftly, then pouncing forward onto the chespin. Pear's head hit the ground with a thud, knocking him unconscious.

The fennekin soon joined him in defeat, however, after taking Lemon's iron-tail to the chest. Its ribs each gave a small crack, eliciting a shriek as it dropped to the floor with tears in its eyes.

"No! Cinnamon!" cried the purrloin, lurching forward. "You'll pay!"

Lemon turned to receive hooked claws to the face. He gave a shout, flailing his forepaws toward the felin as his shed blood splashed to the floor. Claws then met his side, then empowered with dark energy, seeming to sap the eevee's consciousness right out of him.

The purrloin felt teeth sink into its hind paw. He began to flail about with a shout, before being silenced as he was thrown forcefully through a window. The wooded grate splintered with the impact, chunks of wood embedding themselves into the knocked-out cat's flesh.

Waffle turned to the pikachu with a bashful bow of his head. A blush crept across his face.

"S-sorry for t-the broken window, Mr. Cheddar..."

"No problem, my friend! Solving our thieves problem will do more than pay for the repair cost."

The espeon gave a small nod, moving to lift his injured friends onto his back. He advanced out of the building, shuddering as he felt Lemon's blood trickle down his pelt.

The group found their way back together amidst the chaos.

Aside from Lemon and Pear, Salami and Floss had also been made too injured to further fight. They were, however, still conscious.

"I think we got em', dudes," Peel commented. "They're running away."

Pesto barked a laugh.

"We haven't won yet, gwaha! We may have won this fight, but they'll just keep coming back over and over!"

Salami nodded.

"Uh, that's right. We should pursue them back to wherever their base is."

Tomato ruffled the top of his head, lifting him up. The vulpix flushed in embarrassment.

"By we, of course, that means not you. Daddy, Coco, Barbie, Waffle, you four go after them. Peel and I will get the injured back to receive medical help."

All agreed with the plan.

"Okay, like, hop on, then!" Barbie said, turning away from her brother to Pesto and Waffle.

Pesto climbed onto Barbie's back carefully, with Waffle doing the same to Coco. They settled down onto their mounts.

"Okay, then, we're off," Coco nodded. The two ponyta took off galloping, tailing after the fleeing bandits.

Peel and Tomato shared the load of the injured, turning to retreat back into the town.

The breeze from Coco's high-speeds blew through my fur, the short strands feeling each subtle movement as if acutely aware of the smallest shift. The feeling was amplified in the long, whisker-like tufts I'd gained upon evolution.

I was, admittedly, still uncomfortable with the assault of new sensations that had been placed on my body.

We had lost sight of the bandits about fifteen minutes prior when we saw smoke over the horizon.

"Smog, forth!" Called Coco. "We must be close."

"What's the battle-plan, dude?"

"I was thinking; just get in and cause as much of a ruckus as possible, then stall for as long as we can. We left an obvious trail through the sand, so it is only a matter of time before the police arrive."

I thought Coco's plan sounded really smart! But, also scary. Peel seemed to agree, but I think she was less afraid and more just concerned.

"Are you sure? They're armed, and they outnumber us, dude."

Barbie was next to chime in.

"They'll, like probably be too scared that we found them, and try to run away or something! We'll fight whoever's left, and anyone that's, like, scattered across the desert will probably be useless."

The explanation put me at ease, but just barely.

We were still attacking an entire camp of criminals. It was probably dangerous. I know I wasn't the only one who had seen the chunk missing from Salami's ear.

Coco and Barbie sped up their advance as tents came into view. They made an effort to kick up as much sand as they could, filling the air with a thick storm of dust. The former cloaked himself in a flame-charge as he barreled through the few pokémon at the edge of the camp. The searing pain caused me to leap from his back, assaulting the first foe I saw with a shadow-ball which I had been readying.

Many bandits began to panic and flee as the fight started, and an artificial sandstorm settled over the camp.

I leapt over many retreating figures and engaged in battle with those attacking. I noticed Coco and Barbie both bucking and trampling various pokémon with their hard hooves.

I spotted a familiar raichu advancing on me, with a look of fury in its eyes. My fur's heightened sensitivity allowed me to feel the building electricity before it was even focused on me. I leapt forward just in time, letting the bolt arc high over me.

Several more were fired off in quick succession, which I danced around with no small amount of fear.

Glass shards rained down around us, the sand in the air having been crystalized by the intense heat of his electric attacks. They pelted into my skin easily, and painfully, making me long for the fluffy, protective coat I had lost. I shielded my eyes with a paw, only for a blast of the raichu's lightning to fry my body.

I fell to the ground with a grunt. My muscles failed to respond, and I didn't even feel any pain below my neck anymore as paralysis took my body. I could do nothing but give muffled screams as the rodent kicked sand into my eyes.

I activated my untrained psychic powers, trying to push the grains away from my face. With my vision cleared, I saw two black hooves impact the raichu's head with a loud crack. He was downed in an instant.

Barbie leaned down to place her horn against the gem in my forehead. I felt a soothing warmth flow into my body, and my paralysis was gone in an instant.

While I was happy to be once more able to move, I was less enthused by the restored feeling in my fried nerves.

With a pained grunt, I hopped up to resume the battle.

As predicted, it wasn't long before the police made it to the scene. Gun-fire rang about, with various attacks flying everywhere. Many of the remaining bandits scattered away from the area. Those who didn't were promptly detained.

By the time it was all over, we had twelve more in custody.

We carried them back toward town. I found myself uneasy, as I observed my group taunting and attacking the tied and defenseless pokémon.

We had a short celebration upon making it back. Full-town festival kind of thing. It was pretty fun, but nothing interesting really happened that would warrant in-depth detail.

Tomato and Pesto did a few magic tricks, and picked up a shipment of ingredients for their restaurant.

Team Glamour drank pop until they threw up.

Lemon and Pear reunited with me.

As we boarded on the train that evening, cheered on by the locals, I reflected on my time in Vidale Town.

I had grown stronger, I had come to conclusions, I had been brave, I had been a hero, and I had even made a new friend.

With that in mind, I only had one question as my eyes settled on the tied up bandits, spirits visibly broken as they were paraded around and battered by the various towns-folk.

Why do I feel like the bad guy?

The large, metal door gave off a shrill beep, and a hollow clunk. It began to push open slowly.

Two eyes patiently observed the door from across the room.

A small, brown muzzle peaked through near the bottom of the door, with the rest of its body pushing through with a firm shove. The tip of Sherbert's tail got caught in the closing door, which she freed with a rough yank. The tiny eevee tumbled across the floor with a surprised yelp, before landing sprawled out on her back at the foot of the desk.

After recovering from her daze, she quickly stood up and saluted.

"Agent N, my homie! I mean, sir! Sir homie, sir!" she stammered, a droplet of sweat forming on her brow.

The zoroark in the chair gave a nod of greeting, casually returning the salute as he stood.

"Be... At ease, Sherbert. Where is Broccoli?"

The eevee laughed nervously, stuttering a bit more.

"I-I, uh, oh! He be down a-at his room. Freshenin' up, I thinks, ya' dig?"

"I dig. I assume he won't... Be much longer?"

"Uh... Yeeeuh... Hehehe..."

The door gave another beep, which startled the nervous Sherbert. Broccoli pushed it open with ease, striding in slowly.

"Yo BOSS, I'm really FUCKING sorry about being late, I've GOT to admit." The krok gave a large grin, crossing his arms. "What's the tea?"

The zoroark clasped his claws together.

"I have... An important assignment, for you two." The two subordinates leaned in closer, intrigued. "The guild is going to send in a team... To join us. As spies, of course."

Broccoli gave a nod.

"That's GREAT. That's just fucking GREAT. You want us to capture them, I assume?"

"I want you... To kill them."

Sherbert froze.

"B-b-b-but... T-that's..." Sherbert trailed off, her eyes darting away.

"Plain AWFUL!" Broccoli finished. "I didn't sign on to be a MURDERER, boss."

The zoroark sighed, resting an elbow on the desk.

"It's for... The greater good, you see. I think that they're starting to... Suspect me. I set up an illusionary pokémon to 'spy' on a conversation between the chief and I... I'm quite sure that Basil, at least, noticed. They're going to find out there's a spy sooner or later, so I'm throwing the suspicion off me while the ball is still in our court."

"B-but... Do we have ta' shank em'? Can't we just, I dunno, be all like 'yeah, homes, we know what you're up to', or some shit?"

"Do not question my foresight. You will do this... And you will succeed."

Broccoli and Sherbert both glanced to each other, leveled with unreadable expressions.