"Something on your mind?" Cindy asks as she and her two companions continue their trek towards their destination. She smiles a sly smile as she playfully punches the serious-looking Shinx's shoulder. "I know you focus too much on our missions, but this is the first time I've seen you being too serious about it."
Shino glares at her. "You picked to apprehend a damn criminal for a mission!" He growls at her. "Of course I'm taking this seriously!"
The Cyndaquil shakes her head in amusement.
"He's right, you know," Vixie says with a frown, walking behind the duo.
"Geeze, you two. Relax."
"We could die," Shino hisses. "And I don't want to die yet!"
"That's always a possibility even with rescue missions, you know." Cindy shrugs. "But hey, what are our badges for, right?"
"The wilds are mindless, Cindy, unlike this Sneasel!"
"And I thought you think of her as a wild?"
The Shinx groans in annoyance. "We're not as happy-go-lucky as you are."
The Cyndaquil chuckles. "You two should try it sometimes." She tries her best imitation of a wink. "Gets you the things you want." A sly smile towards the ice-type. "Especially to you, Vixie." She receives a blush and a frown from her friend, making her chuckle.
The Shinx sighs as he looks forward. "Heads up."
A light breeze rustles the treetops as they stop a few paces from the mouth of a large cave on the base of a rocky mountain, its peak surrounded by thick clouds.
The Shinx approaches the Vulpix and takes out the mission letter from the bag. "Hm... She's last spotted in the twenty-second floor of this mystery dungeon." He inserts the letter back and looks at his companions. "Let's catch ourselves a criminal."
"I hope she's sexy," Cindy chuckles as she heads to the entrance. "Taking point!"
The other two follow her.
"Shino," the Vulpix calls.
"Hm?"
"Are you gonna tell her?"
"Not now. We need to focus." The Shinx sighs. "I don't want to lose our lives here."
The Vulpix nods her head, and they enter the dungeon.
"That was some good shit," the Eevee whispers to himself with a very satisfied sigh.
"I know, right?" the Machop sitting on the next table agrees, and then takes a drink from his glass of juice.
Normally, he won't engage much with strangers, but he doesn't care at the moment as he's in bliss. "Mhmm," the Eevee happily nods his head.
"Sarah's cooking is heavenly," the Zangoose adds. "Her husband must be one lucky Pokémon."
"I wonder if Plu cooks like her," the Machop wonders dreamily.
A quiet yet audible 'eep!' reaches the trio's ears, and then quiet, retreating footsteps follow.
The Zangoose groans as the Machop blushes in embarrassment.
"Do they have no other people working here?" the Eevee suddenly asks, blinking at the Machop.
"Huh?"
The Eevee looks around where almost all tables are filled with dining customers. "I just can't imagine how they can manage, especially with a timid kid as the waitress." He looks back at the two at the next table. "No offence to them, of course. I'm honestly impressed, but it must be really tiring."
"That's a good question," the Zangoose says. "But they make it work somehow." He smirks at his companion. "Why don't you retire as a rescuer and work here? I'm sure you'd love that."
"I would if I could, but," the Machop glares at him. "I don't think I'll survive in this kind of work. And sheesh, it's not like I want to mate her or anything! I'm just admiring her!"
The Zangoose rolls his eyes.
"Well, I'll be heading out," the Eevee says as he grabs his money pouch. "How do we pay?"
"You just leave it on the table, hon," the Miltank suddenly says as she pulls the Eevee's chair to help him out.
"Isn't that risky?" the Eevee asks as he places the exact amount on the table. "I mean, what if the customers don't pay the exact amount, or not at all, or other customers taking it?"
"Hasn't happened before," the Miltank replies as the Eevee jumps off of the chair. She begins cleaning the table and greeting a few customers.
Shrugging, the Eevee heads to the exit, shakes his head as he passes by the timid Nickit taking orders, and then pushes the door—
The door isn't budging.
"Pull it, dear," the Miltank yells after him.
"I was about to do that," the Eevee mumbles to himself, ignoring the many chuckles behind him as he pulls the door open.
"Hope to see you soon!" the Miltank says as the door closes behind the Eevee.
"I probably will, to be honest," he says to himself as he walks down the road and towards the many benches. He jumps and sits on a bench by the fountain and stares at the blue open sea, the late morning sun's rays reflecting on its wavy surface. "I need money," he mumbles to himself.
'How can I earn money though?' he thinks to himself, drowning the morning traffic's noise behind him. 'This is my reality now, and I need to stop thinking otherwise. Hell, I almost died numerous times.'
He shakes his head.
'I'll probably not be doing any mystery dungeon action anytime soon, unless I really have no other option. Hm...'
He looks down, staring at the docked ships on the edge of the lower parts of the city.
'It'll be easier with a team, I suppose.'
He closes his eyes and shakes his head.
'No. I'm leaving so I'd rather not make any attachments while I'm here.' He frowns. 'I don't think I'll be leaving anytime soon though... I need to save up if I want to travel, but to where?'
He looks back and stares at the many Pokémon walking to and fro.
'Joining a rescue team sounds like the obvious choice if I want to gather information as well.'
He chuckles.
'I could be like that emo, quiet member of the team who just leaves one day without a word.'
He shakes his head.
"I doubt I can do that," he whispers and sighs. "As unfortunate as it is, I'm a social creature, even though I'm mostly an introvert."
He looks back at the vast ocean.
'So,' he thinks, 'I'll just have to find a job here in the city, while gathering information.'
He nods his head.
"Sounds good," he whispers to himself as he jumps off of the bench. "Time to go job-hunting." He turns and sees a pair of Pokémon buying from the Keckleon merchant. "Well, I already made a customer-kind of connection with him, so I might as well."
With a shrug, he walks toward the merchant who's waving goodbye at the duo heading towards the west gate.
A Cyndaquil jumps and delivers a mighty kick on a Houndour's face, sending it flying towards a rocky wall of the dungeon floor.
"Arceus damnit!" she growls as she wipes her sweaty forehead with a paw. "The wilds here are crazy!"
"Did none of you ask about how tough this dungeon was?!" Shino yells while pinning down a paralyzed Swellow.
"I can still go on," Cindy yells, stopping the Vulpix from pulling out an item from her bag.
"Barely," Vixie counters with a frown.
"Save it," Cindy growls back.
"We should turn back," the ice-type suggests as she locks the bag.
"Yeah, we should," Shino agrees with a nod.
"Stop being pussies," the Cyndaquil says. "We're almost there, so come on!"
"Damn it, Cindy," Shino jumps off of the large bird and chases the walking fire-type. "Are you trying to kill us?"
"She's outnumbered." Cindy stops to face him. "And we have a plan on taking her down!"
"Yeah, but none for these guys!" Shino counters as he glares over the fire-type's shoulder.
A Pancham walks from a corner and takes notice of them. A beam of ice quickly lands on its feet, locking it in place. A single punch from the wild breaks the ice, and it resumes its quick approach.
Vixie yelps. "I can barely do anything!"
"You're doing enough, so don't worry," Cindy assures her before running towards the Pancham.
"Damnit," Shino grits his teeth as sparks start to surround him. "This is gonna be a long day..."
"Shino!" Vixie shouts as she spots an Ariados crawling towards them from behind.
"I see it," the Shinx says before dashing towards it, delivering a blinding-fast tackle at the arachnid.
"Gah—!" Receiving a mighty punch, the Cyndaquil is thrown back, but still on her feet as she skids to a stop, her nose bleeding. "That hurt," she growls through gritted teeth as she glares at the Pancham just standing there. "Come on! Come at me!"
The ground beneath her starts to break, startling her.
"What the f—?!"
"Get out of there!" Vixie yells.
But it's too late; a large Onix emerges from underneath the fire-type, sending her flying and bumping the ceiling with a mighty force.
"I got her!" Shino yells as he dashes towards the Onix, runs on its jagged body, and jumps off of it, catching the falling fire-type on his back and braces himself for their landing. "Shit," he curses under his breath as he wraps the fire-type in his paws and—
A beam of ice strikes the ground, forming a small slide.
He lands on it on his side, sliding on smooth ice and then on craggy ground. "Gah—!"
Writhing in pain, the Shinx groans as he looks at Vixie through blurry vision.
"W-we're leaving."
"Aw, so soon?" a new, feminine voice answers him as the Shinx's vision clears enough to notice the smirking Sneasel with his friend on her hold.
Thick, red blood rolls down her white fur and on the sharp claw piercing her neck.
"Vixie!" Shino shouts.
The Vulpix tearfully looks at her two teammates, barely able to mouth the words, "sorry."
"Bitch!" the Shinx roars, electricity flying out of his fur.
"You want her?" the Sneasel asks before licking his friend's bloody neck. "Mmm... Come and get her." She winks. "If you can."
The ground shakes as the Onix rushes toward him.
"A job, huh?" the Keckleon rubs its chin in thought while a few customers examine his wares. "Hm... Oh!" He blinks and looks at the Eevee. "Come to think of it, lad, I do have some shipment arriving later today. But I'm on my lonesome so I can't go pick them up unless I close shop, but goodness! That'd mean losing potential customers!"
The Eevee frowns at him. "Won't they just deliver them to you?"
"They do, but," he sighs. "It will be sent to the delivery services if no one picks it up, and it could take days for it to be delivered to me!" He quickly turns and smiles at the customers. "Ah! A fine choice! That there's three-fifty pokes."
The Eevee blinks at the exchange. "Pokes?" he mumbles to himself.
"Thank you. Come again!" the Keckleon waves the two customers goodbye. "Such a lovely couple. I do wonder when they'll tie the knot." He winks at the Eevee. "Figuratively and literally."
"Anyway," the Eevee says, not wanting to go to that route of a topic. "I'll just go there and pick your shipment?"
The merchant nods. "Oh, but they'll be in crates, I bet. Hm..." He looks back and frowns at the broken wheel of his cart. "Ah, I do keep on forgetting to get that fixed." He looks back at the Eevee. "It'll take a while for me to fix it, I believe." He rubs his chin with his long tail. "Hm... I believe there's a repair shop around—oh!" He smiles. "Perhaps Missus Sarah can lend her cart?"
A blank blink. "Who?"
The merchant's smile falters a bit. "The owner of the fine restaurant you dined earlier."
"Oh, the Miltank." He nods his head. "Almost forgot her name."
"That, you shouldn't do," the merchant says with a pointed finger. "Else you'll forget her fine cooking, too."
"That ain't happening anytime soon, trust me." The Eevee smiles. "Are all eateries in this city like hers?"
"I dare say not a chance," the merchant claims boldly and proudly. "Only her can whip out such heavenly berry delicacies in this here seaside city!"
"Berry delicacies..." the Eevee repeats quietly. "Huh... I did notice a lack of meat in their menu."
"They used to, lad," the merchant says. "But stopped after they adopted the shy Nickit."
"Huh..." the Eevee says. "Well, either she's really amazing at cooking, or she has some sort of secret ingredient."
"Best not to stick your nose to things you shouldn't, lad."
The Eevee blinks.
"I was pulling your leg there, lad!" He laughs. "Anyway, as I was saying... Perhaps our beloved Miltank will let us borrow her cart for a short while?"
"I'm guessing you want me to go there and ask, huh?"
"Oh, but of course!" the merchant confirms with a nod. "Heavens, I can't leave my stall for even a moment!"
The Eevee rolls his eyes and shakes his head in mild amusement. "Alright, alright, I get it. I'll take the job." He starts heading towards the restaurant but stops and looks back at the merchant. "Oh, and what should I say to get your stuff?"
"Tell the fine workers in the pier that you are hired by Leon—that's me—to collect his shipment." He quickly shifts his attention to a trio of Pokémon that stops by his stall.
With a shrug, the Eevee heads toward the restaurant. "Didn't think I'd visit that place again so soon."