"An expedition, huh?" the Pangoro asks before he takes a sip of his coffee.
The Eevee nods as he takes a bite out of his meal. He and the Pangoro's family are seated around a table, enjoying a quiet breakfast.
"That sounds interesting."
"What's an expedition?" the Nickit asks, blinking.
The Eevee shrugs. "It's just what they'll call a group of rescue teams that will do missions together."
"Whoa...!" the Nickit gasps in awe, her eyes twinkling.
"But kid, why are you telling me this?"
The Eevee turns to the Pangoro. "Mew said that they'll announce it later today." He frowns. "And she has been holding off a particular dungeon just for me."
"Oh?"
The Eevee nods. "...I wanted to ask if you'd want to join my expedition."
"Just for you?" the Nickit asks, tilting her head. And then she blinks. "Wait... Is it...? Is that dungeon your home?" she asks with a curious tilt of her head.
The Eevee shakes his head. "Nah, but I need to get through it to get home." Hopefully anyway.
"Oh..." the Nickit says, her ears drooping as she frowns at him. "So you're going home already? Today?"
The Eevee sighs. "Probably not today," he tells her as he pats her head. "But soon once I assemble a team that will come with me."
"Oh," the young dark-type says, hanging her head.
The Eevee smiles a sad smile as he continues patting her head. "I'm sorry, Plu, but I really need to get back home."
The Nickit says nothing.
"Aw, Plu dear..." the Miltank says as she approaches and hugs her daughter. "It can't be helped... Jay here needs to be with his family, too."
The Eevee sighs, his ears drooping more.
"Well," the Pangoro starts, scratching his head. "I don't think I got a choice now, do I?" He smirks at the Eevee. "You're part of the family, like it or not. So of course I'll help."
The Eevee smiles. "Thanks, Maz." He blinks. "Uh, I can call you that, right?"
The large dark-type gives him a thumbs up. "Or dad, whichever you want to call me," he tells him as the Miltank breaks the hug.
The Eevee rolls his eyes in amusement. He then smiles at the smiling Miltank. "Thanks to you, too, Sarah."
The Miltank sniffs and wipes a tear out of her eye. "Of course, dear. And thank you as well. We'll miss you, but do visit us from time to time. You're always welcome here."
"I'll try." He then turns to the sniffing Nickit and leans toward her to pat her head. "There, there, Plu."
She looks up at him with a tearful glare. "You promised! So you better visit us! And me!"
A fractured smile. "I... I'll try."
He pulls his paw back and sighs. He never told them about who he really is. Should he? He's been keeping it a secret for the longest time, and only two, wait no, three Pokemon knows of him being a human.
The Pangoro scratches his neck. "I should go tell my team so they can at least prepare, too."
The Eevee blinks and nods. He originally wanted to recruit Maz and only him from his team, but...
"So I'm guessing you have other people in mind, too?"
The Eevee frowns and shakes his head. "I did, but..."
With the minimum rank being gold, he can't recruit Shino's team.
"If there are no others," the Pangoro says, "I have a few friends who I can ask, if you want."
The Eevee sighs. "We'll see..."
"Dad's team is really strong!" the young Nickit chirps. "And I've seen some of his other friends, too!" she quickly continues with her tail wagging excitedly behind her. "You should definitely ask for their help, big bro!"
The Eevee can't help but smile back at her.
"We'll be back soon!" the Pangoro shouts back before walking down the street.
"Bye bye!" the Nickit waves a paw at them before closing the restaurant's front door.
The Eevee sighs. "Why am I on your shoulder again?" he asks with an annoyed frown.
"It's better than me carrying you in my arms, or would you prefer that?" he asks with a smirk.
The Eevee grunts in frustration, but he does like the view from up here, as it reminds him of when he was still a human. "At least the view here's nice."
The Pangoro lets out a laugh as he continues walking down the cobblestone street, heading towards the guild.
They walk by the open gates of the school, and the Eevee glances at the large school building, contemplating.
"Kinda sucks that you're not gonna be here once school starts," the Pangoro says. "I was hoping you'll be walking Plu to and from school." He sighs. "Aw well, can't be helped."
The Eevee frowns. "She's being bullied."
"Yeah, I know." He scratches his head. "Nothing Sarah and I can do about it though, what with my rescue job and Sarah manning the restaurant on her lonesome."
"Hm..." the Eevee hums in thought.
The duo eventually reaches the guild, where once again a large crowd has gathered outside the large structure.
"What do you think they'll announce this time?" the yellow Shinx asks.
The Cyndaquil groans. "Who cares?" She grunts in frustration. "And here I was hoping to sleep the entire day off."
The white Vulpix sighs. "I could use a proper sleep, too..."
Shino turns to his two companions. "Tell you guys what," he starts with a tired smile. "Why don't you two go home and rest. I'll stay here and report our mission to the office."
Cindy shakes her head. "Nah. I'm not letting you earn more handsome points, handsome," she tells him with a smirk, and gives him a nuzzle.
"And I'm going to wait for Linik," Vixie says with a smile.
"Oh?" Cindy says as she and the Shinx look at her. "Is your date today?"
Vixie blushes and looks away. "N-no, but..." A shy smile. "I think it'll be nice if he sees me waiting for him."
Before the Cyndaquil can say anything, the large speakers come to life. The Infernape holding the microphone taps it a few times to check if it's working.
"Testing... Ah, it's working." He clears his throat and smiles at the gathered crowd. "Good morning, everyone. I know most of you just got back from your missions and are tired. On behalf of the guild, we sincerely apologize and promise to make this announcement brief."
He steps aside and hands the microphone to the Lopunny, who waves and greets at the crowd, who seem to have suddenly become livelier than a few seconds ago.
"Rescuers and explorers," she address the crowd with an excited smile. "It has come to our attention that one team is sometimes not enough to handle rescue and exploration missions. This does not mean that we do not believe in your capabilities, but rather we are simply concerned for your well-being. With that said, we are happy to introduce the expedition system.
"As the name implies, this new system will allow more than one team to perform missions, be it rescues or explorations!" She winks. "But don't think this is a chance for you to get your ranks boosted in a quick manner! The rewarded points will be based on your current rank and your performance!"
As the crowd erupts into murmurs, the Lopunny then gives the microphone to the Keldeo, where he then shares the basics which the majority of the crowd has ignored as they continue talking among one another. With nothing else to talk about, the unaware Keldeo thanks the crowd and informs them to see him if they wish to form an expedition.
The Pangoro then puts the Eevee on the steps as the crowd disperses. "I'll be talking to my team, kid," he tells the Eevee with a smile. "Afterwards, I'm heading back to the restaurant."
The Eevee nods and approaches a trio of familiar Pokemon who are heading towards the guild's entrance.
The Eevee nods and watches the large Pangoro walk up the stairs towards two other tall figures. With nothing else to do, he turns and walks up towards the entrance, but blinks after seeing a familiar yellow Shinx alongside his other friends talking with one another by the large building's entrance.
How will he break the news, he wonders. They're still silver rank, and who knows how long it'll take for them to reach gold.
Can he even wait? He has lingered in this world for far too long already.
He shakes his head and quietly continues on his way towards the entrance, hoping none of them will notice him—
Noticing a familiar brown figure from the corner of his eye, the yellow Shinx blinks and turns to him. "Oh, hey there, dude," he greets him with a tired smile. "How have you been?"
The Eevee bites his tongue. There's no avoiding the issue, apparently.
"Er, is this a bad time?"
The Eevee closes his eyes and shakes his head. "We need to talk."
The trio of friends blink at him in unison.
The fire-type then sharply turns to the electric-type. "Is there something I should know about, Shino?"
"About the dungeon," the Eevee quickly adds with a frown, making the nervous Shinx sigh in relief.
The Cyndaquil 'blinks' at him. "...Oh, okay," she quietly says as the white Vulpix chuckles and pats the Shinx's shoulder.
"I'm gonna go freshen up," the white Vulpix tells them. "Or do you need the three of us?"
The Eevee shrugs. "Doesn't really matter."
"Great!" the Cyndaquil suddenly exclaims as she grabs the startled Vulpix. "Now if you guys will excuse us."
"Cindy? What's gotten into you?!" the white Vulpix exclaims as she finds herself being pushed by the fire-type inside the guild.
The yellow Shinx chuckles and shakes his head. He then turns back to the Eevee with a small and tired smile. "So what's up?" he asks as he and the Eevee sits on the steps.
"You've heard about the expedition just now, right?"
The electric-type nods. "Yeah. Looks like the Mew managed to push it through." He blinks. "Wait... Does this have to do with that dungeon she has for you?"
"Yeah." But the Eevee shakes his head. "Not right now though. I still have a few things to iron out, so it might be a while," he explains as he spots the electric-type's silver badge.
Taking notice, the Shinx looks down and pulls off his badge. "Well, my team and I still need to work hard to reach gold," he says, staring at his own reflection on his badge. Blinking, he looks back at the normal-type. "...you as well, right?"
Ears drooping, the Eevee closes his eyes and shakes his head. "I'm not a rescuer anymore."
The yellow Shinx blinks in surprise. "Wait, really?" After receiving a nod from the Eevee, the Shinx frowns a concerned frown. "Dude, what happened?"
"Nothing, really." He turns his gaze up on the rolling clouds up above. "I can't reach gold on my own, and I don't want to recruit nor do I want to join another team."
"But how can you get to that dungeon now?" the yellow Shinx asks in conern.
With a smirk, the Eevee recalls his conversation with the Mew yesterday...
...where after she pulled the form from the desk with her telekinetic powers and after she confirmed it was the correct form, she handed it to the Eevee.
"Thanks," the Eevee said, and then handed it back to the confused Mew with a chuckle.
"Uh, what are you doing?" she asked him.
The Eevee smiled. "I'd like to hire rescue teams to escort me to this dungeon, if that's okay."
The Mew's eyes grew wide in realization. "Ooohhh..." She smirked. "Yeah, okay. I get it now." She shakes her head. "But you'll have to do that tomorrow because, well..." She shrugs. "The expedition isn't a thing yet."
Reopening his eyes, the Eevee turns to the Shinx with a small smile. "...I'll be hiring other rescue teams to escort me there."
The Shinx blinks, and smirks. "Yeah, okay. I guess that works, too." He chuckles. "Damn, you really are clever."
Frowning, the Eevee looks back up at the heavens. He might as well break the news to him now.
"I guess my team and I should work harder to get to gold faster, huh?" the yellow Shinx suddenly says, and he chuckles after earning the Eevee's gaze. "We don't want to make a client wait too long," he adds with a wink.
The Eevee's frown goes further down. "I ... suppose not."
"Don't worry, dude!" the Shinx says, placing a paw on his shoulder. "We'll get to gold before you even know it, and once we do, we'll quickly go to you, so just sit tight, okay?"
Ears drooping, the Eevee closes his eyes and sighs. "We'll ... see."
The Shinx laughs. "There you go again." He shakes his head, and smiles a tired but friendly smile. "Listen, dude. Just between you and me, you really need to loosen up."
"I can help with that, love."
Startled, the Eevee turns back and immediately finds himself nose to nose with a familiar Buizel. Smirking, she quickly kisses his nose, making him reel back.
He glares at her as he wipes his nose. "I see you're back."
"I hope you didn't miss me too much, love."
"I didn't," he quickly tells her with an annoyed frown.
Chuckling, the Buizel sits on the wide steps beside the confused yellow Shinx. "I see you have found a cute friend," she says, winking at the electric-type.
Smirking, the yellow Shinx brushes the nonexistent dust off of his shoulder. "Appreciate the compliment," he says, winking back at her. "I'd take a sexy girl like you out if I didn't have a girlfriend already." Wait... Will Cindy be against that?
"A shame," she tells him with a smirk. She suddenly chuckles. "And I am guessing our little Eevee friend is no longer with us."
Blinking, the electric-type looks over and around them, but sees no sign of the Eevee anywhere. "Huh..." Frowning, he looks back at the water-type. "Probably went inside the guild."
"That is a safe assumption, yes," the Buizel agrees with a nod. She stands up and turns to the large entrance of the large structure. "Perhaps I should go follow him."
"Before you do," the Shinx suddenly says, stopping her from moving towards the entryway. He slightly tilts his head in curiousity. "Do you like, like him, or...?"
The orange Pokemon simply shrugs. "More or less."
"Really?"
"Mhmm..."
"It didn't look like he likes you though."
An amused chuckle. "And water is wet, love."
"Can I ask what you see in him?"
Her smirk slowly morphs into a small and longing smile as she moves her gaze back to the large entryway, where a large number of Pokemon are walking in and out. "He reminds me of a friend I fell in love with a long time ago, who fell in love with another." She closes her eyes as she lets out a sad sigh. "I was too late to tell him how I truly felt."
The yellow Shinx blinks. "That sounds awfully familiar," he mumbles mostly to himself as a Cyndaquil walks out of the large structure, 'blinking' at the duo as she approaches them.
Smiling at the Shinx, she sits down beside him and looks up at the rolling clouds in the morning sky. "I was too heartbroken to stay, so I moved away, to here, to start anew."
Another sad sigh.
"Did I fall for your friend?" She slowly shakes her head. "Who's to say? Perhaps I'm still chasing after the phantom of my first love."
A sad frown. "I'm... I don't know what to say," the Shinx slowly says, his ears drooping slightly. "Sorry."
The Buizel closes her eyes and chuckles.
"I think you need to sort that out," the Cyndaquil says after feeling it's now appropriate to let her presence be known to the two.
"Mmm, perhaps," the Buizel mumbles, mostly to herself.
The Cyndaquil turns to the smiling Shinx. "Who's your friend?"
"Mister grumpy's secret lover, apparently," the Shinx replies.
The Buizel turns to the couple with a confused look. "...Is that his name?"
The Cyndaquil laughs. "Nah, but I wish it was."
The Buizel smirks in agreement. "The nickname suits him."
"Right?"
The three share a laugh.